OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Meath

  • Saint Celba of Kilbeg, August 21

    Last year on August 21 we looked at the commemoration of Saint Senach, a bishop associated with the famous monastery of Clonard in County Meath. We are staying in the royal county to look at another saint also commemorated today on the Irish calendars, Celba or Caelbadh. Canon O’Hanlon summarizes the little that is known of him:

    St. Celba, or Caelbadh, of Cill-Caelbadh, probably Kilbeg or Kilmainhambeg, County of Meath.

    The published Martyrology of Tallagh, registers Celba, at the 21st of August. In that copy, contained in the Book of Leinster, this name is united with that of another saint, at the present date. From the following account of his locality, lying on the north side of Ceananus, now Kells, in the County of Meath, it may be possible to identify his church. The Martyrology of Donegal mentions Caelbadh, of Cill Caelbaidh, on the north side of Ceananus, as having been venerated, at this same date. Kilbeg or Kilmainham-beg,a parish in the barony of Lower Kells, and in the County of Meath, seems to be the most probable identification for the site of this saint’s former church. It appears also to have given name to that place.

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  • Saint Ernin of Inis-Caoin, July 13

    July 13 is the commemoration of Saint Ernin of Inis-Caoin and the name of both the man and his locality are shared in common with a number of others. Canon O’Hanlon reckons the place in this case is to be found in counties Meath and Cavan. In the Lives of the Irish Saints he lists twenty-five saints with the name Ernin, most of whom, like today’s saint, are obscure figures. There is evidence though that at one time this saint was remembered in his locality by a pattern at a holy well dedicated to him:

    St. Ernin, or Arney, of Inis-caoin, now Inniskeen, Counties of Meath and Cavan.

    At the 13th of July, veneration was given to Ernin, of Inis-caoin, as appears in the Martyrology of Donegal. There are three distinct Inis-caoins, viz. : first, Inishkeen, on Lough Erne; secondly, another on Lough Melvin— both of these are in the county of Fermanagh—and thirdly, Inis-caoin-Deagha, or Iniskeen, in the county of Louth. But, the Enniskeen, or Eniskeen, with which the present saint appears to have been connected, was a parish located, partly in the baronies of Lower Kells and Lower Slane, in the county of Meath, but chiefly in the barony of Clonkee, in the county of Cavan. This old church of Eniskeen has been torn down and uprooted, save and except old crosses and numerous tombs, which serve to mark the resting-places of the faithful. No traces remain at present illustrative of the ancient worship. Here, the festival of St. Arney had been celebrated each 13th day of July. A holy well, dedicated to this saint, springs from the soil, and convenient to the burying-ground. It is now dried up, but stations used to be performed there, on the feast-day. It was called Toberarney. In the days of persecution, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass had to be celebrated on a large block of stone, outside the graveyard of Eniskeen. Anciently, this seems to have been the pedestal of a stone cross or a sanctuary terminus. Various other curious antique objects are in this parish. There is a notice of this saint’s festival, on the 13th of July, as furnished by Father O’Sheerin to the Bollandists.
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  • Saint Conuan of Stackallan, June 29

    On June 29 we commemorate a County Meath saint, Conuan of Stackallan. Canon O’Hanlon brings us the details:

    St. Conuan, Bishop, of Tigh Collain, or Tigh Connain, in Cremhthanna, now Stackallan, County of Meath.

    In the Martyrology of Tallagh, a festival occurs, at the 29th of June, in honour of Conuan, Bishop, of Tigh Collain. The land of Ui-Crimhthainn comprises the present baronies of Upper and Lower Slane, in the county of Meath. It is thought to be highly probable, that the Four Masters are wrong, when they write the name of this place Teach Collain, as it is locally pronounced by the natives; and, it is supposed, the true form of the name had been Teach-Conain, “Conan’s house.” This house of Collan or Connan—now known as Stackallen—was situated nearly midway between Navan and Slane, in the county of Meath. It is curious to remark, that in some of those districts colonized by the Danes and English, the Teach or Tigh of the Irish was rendered into Sta or Sti, as in the present instance. Stackallen is a small village, in the barony of Upper Slane, and county of Meath. After the Anglo- Norman Invasion, Stackallen became a parish church, and it formed a small parish, in the diocese of Meath. Under the head of Teach-Connain, Duald Mac Firbis enters Connan, bishop, from Tech Connain, in Crimthann, at June 29th. Again, in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the same date, he is registered as Cenuan, Bishop, of Tigh Conuain, in Cremhthanna.
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