February 12 sees the feast of an eighth-century abbot at the monastery of Clonard, County Meath – Saint Forannan. O’Hanlon has a brief entry on what is known of him:

St. Forannan, Abbot of Clonard, County of Meath.

[Eighth Century.]

We read on this day, in the Martyrology of Donegal, that Forannan, Abbot of Cluain Eraird, was venerated. He is said, also, to have been Abbot of Kildare, and to have died, on the 12th of February, A.D. 740, according to the Annals of the Four Masters,- or according to those of Ulster, A.D. 744.

In his diocesan history of Meath, Anglican rector John Healy recorded something of the context for the lives of the successors to Saint Finian:

The establishment at Clonard continued to exist down to the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. It produced a long succession of men who were eminent in their day, but whose names now sound unfamiliar — such is the evanescent character of all human greatness. The annalists for the most part record for us simply their parentage and their decease. Sometimes, however, they give us small details that make us wish that they had not been so concise in all their statements, but had given us some particulars of the lives of these remarkable men . Thus they tell us of Bishop Tola, who was “a worthy soldier of Christ,” and of Faelgus, who was “a wise man of Clonard.” They tell of Suairleach, “bishop, anchorite, and abbot of Clonard, doctor in divinity and in spiritual wisdom, in piety and good deeds, so that his name spread over all Ireland: “and yet again of Ruman the amiable, a bishop who was ” a shrine of wisdom, illustrious, acute, a man of virgin purity,” and ” loved by the hosts of the assembled people.” Then we have Colman, the “wise doctor,” and Maelmochta, ” the head of the piety and wisdom of Ireland ; “Tuathal, the bishop, who “died after a good life,” and Oengus, lord of Laeghaire, who, after a life of turmoil, retired to spend at Clonard his declining days, but was followed thither by his foes, and slain by the lord of Delvin. Such entries suggest many thoughts, but it is left to the imagination to fill in the picture. They tell, however, that the place was the abode of learning and piety, where good and learned men served their generation by the will of God.

Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

On October 7 some of the later Irish calendars of the saints record the name Dubhthach. This name does not appear in either The Martyrology of Tallaght or that of Saint Oengus, but the 12th-century Martyrology of Gorman lists Dubhthach, along with three other saints not mentioned on the earlier calendars. The 17th-century Martyrology of Donegal repeats this information and speculates that Dubhthach may have been mentioned in the hagiography of Saint Moling, as one of those who accompanied the saint in his mission to relieve the Leinstermen of the payment of a tribute known as the Borumha:

7. G. NONIS OCTOBRIS. 7.

DUBHTHACH. I think this is he whom Moling mentions as having gone with himself to seek a remission of the Borumha from Finnachta, king of Erin. This is what he says in the work called the Borumha itself:

“Dear the three who met the difficulty,
Who went with me for my welfare,
Dubhthach, Dubhan, who concealed sorrow,
And Cuan of Cluain-mor.”

The name Dubhthach is borne by a number of Irish holy men but is also known from the pre-Christian era. The most famous pagan bearer of the name is perhaps the chieftain Dubhthach, father of Saint Brigid of Kildare.

Our Dubhthach also started life as a pagan, for he appears in the hagiography of Saint Patrick as one of the early converts. There he is depicted as a poet who along with his pupil. the future Saint Fiacc of Sletty, encounters our national apostle at that fateful Eastertide at Tara. King Laeghaire, knowing that Saint Patrick will be calling, instructs his court to give him a cool reception. Let’s allow Archbishop John Healy to bring us the details of what happens next:

They were all surprised when they saw Patrick, with his attendants, in the very midst of the hall ; but, in obedience to the King’s command, no one rose to do him homage except only Dubthach Maccu Lugair, the chief of  the poets of Erin, and also a youth, then a poet student, namely Fiacc, who afterwards became a wondrous bishop, whose relics now repose in Sletty. Patrick blessed them, for it was not only an act of faith, but a brave, nay, a daring act of faith; and Dubthach, we are told, was the first who believed on that day, and his faith justified him.

Dubthhach’s courage and his learning are great assets to the Patrician mission. Fifteen years after he was granted the privilege of being the first believer from Tara, Saint Patrick consults Dubthhach on choosing a bishop:

When Patrick met Dubthach he besought the poet to recommend to him a suitable person to be made bishop from amongst his own disciples. The chief poet of Erin had a large school of bards under his direction. The course of training continued for many years, and the disciples usually accompanied the master when making his rounds. But Dubthach was now growing old, for he was chief poet of Erin when he first met Patrick at Tara some fifteen years before and rose up to do him honour against the king’s command. Fiacc was there, too, a mere stripling at the time, but already in training for the bardic order. He was a nephew of the king-poet, being his sister’s son, and hence was from the beginning a special favourite of Dubthach.

October 5 is the commemoration of an eighth-century County Meath bishop, Baethallach (Baithalach, Baitellach) of Ath-Truim. The name Baethellaig is found on the Martyrology of Tallaght, but the Martyrology of Oengus devotes its entire entry to a female saint whose feast also occurs today, Sínech of Crohane. The 12th-century Martyrology of Gorman in its verse mentions ‘Baithalach to whom I pray’. The 17th-century Martyrology of Donegal, however, has a much fuller entry and places Baethallach at Ath-Truim, modern Trim:

5. E. TERTIO NONAS OCTOBRIS. 5.

BAETHALLACH, brother of Corbmac, bishop of Ath-Truim, and successor of Patrick. Fuinnecht, daughter of Maelfithrigh, son of Dioma, son of Colman, was his mother; and he and Baeghlach, the pilgrim, are of the race of Colla Uais, monarch of Erin.

The foundation of Trim is ascribed to Saint Patrick in the Irish annals, with this entry in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 432: “Ath-Truim was founded by Patrick, it having been granted by Fedhlim, son of Laoghaire, son of Niall, to God and to him, Loman and Fortchern”. Loman and Fortchern are perhaps the most famous of the saints associated with Trim, but there is also a record of an eighth-century bishop called Cormac, who came from a family which contributed a great deal to the Irish church, as Father John Lanigan explains:

To A.D. 742 is assigned the death of St. Cormac bishop of Trim. He is said to have been of the royal house of the Nialls; and his name appears in various calendars at the 17th of February as the anniversary of his death. Three brothers of his are spoken of; Rumond, a very wise man and deeply skilled in history and antiquities, who died in 743; Baitellach, abbot of Trim, whose death is marked at A.D. 752; and Ossan a priest, the year of whose death is not known.

Rev. John Lanigan, An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, Volume III, 2nd edn., Dublin, 1829, 176-177.

Thus if the Martyrology of Donegal is correct in identifying our saint of October 5 with the Abbot Baitellach of Trim it would allow us to place him in the eighth-century as a member of an aristocratic ecclesiastical family, who contributed to the service of the Irish church in this historic locality.

Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.