OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Meath

  • Saint Ethern of Donoughmore, May 27

    On May 27 the Irish calendars remember a a County Meath bishop, Saint Ethern of Donoughmore. Following the work of the nineteenth-century scholar John O’Donovan, Canon O’Hanlon places the saint’s locality of Domhnach-mór-mic-Laithbhe ‘the great church of the son of Laithbe’ near Slane, a position which is still accepted by the recent authoritative work, A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Professor Ó Riain, however, adds that Saint Ethern was himself the son of Laithbe, alluded to in the place name and that May 27 probably represents an octave day of the May 20 festival of Saint Mac Laithbhe. He also quotes from the Patrician texts in the Book of Armagh that among the churches founded by Saint Patrick in Meath was a great Domhnach ‘for the son of Laithbe’ which may have been Donoughmore. Thus this would place our Bishop Ethern among the earliest of the Irish saints. Canon O’Hanlon brings us the details from the calendars:

    St. Ethian or Ethern, Bishop of Donoughmore Mic-Laithbhe, in Mughdorna.

    In the Martyrology of Tallagh, this saint’s name appears, at the 27th of May, as Ethirn, Bishop of Domhnach mor. On the same authority, the Bollandists enter Ethernus, Episcopus de Domnach-Mor. There was a Mughdhorna-Breagh in Ireland, but its position is not well known. From the church of this saint having been here placed within the territory of Mughdorna, Dr. O’Donovan thinks it highly probable, he must have been connected with Donoughmore, near Slane, and in the county of Meath. The Martyrology of Donegal enters a festival on this day, in honour of Ethern, Bishop, of Domhnach-mór-mic-Laithbhe, in Mughdorna. Under the head of Domhnach-mic-Laithbhe, likewise, Duald Mac Firbis enters Bishop Ethern, for May 27th.

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  • Saint Mac Laithbhe of Donoughmore, May 20

    May 20 sees the commemoration of yet another obscure Irish saint whose only memorial is the recording of his feast day on the Irish calendars. In the case of Saint Mac Laithbhe ‘son of Laithbe’ even the recording of an associated locality is of no help as ‘Donoughmore’ is too generic a place name in Ireland to assist in identifying him, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    St. Mac Laithbhe, of Donoughmore.

    At the 20th of May, we find a record of this saint, in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, as Mac Laithbhe Domnaighmoir. This latter word was the name of a place. Many localities, called Donoughmore, are known in various parts of our Island; so that it is difficult to discover that one, with which he had been connected. Marluithaes de Momech-mou is noted by the Bollandists, at the 20th of May, and for this feast, the Tallagh Martyrology is quoted;  but, we suspect, the reference has been taken incorrectly from that source. The Martyrology of Donegal,  on this day, registers Mac Laithbhe, of Domhnach-mor. as having been venerated.

    However, on May 27 we find the feast of Saint Eithearn of Donaghmore. He is associated with Domhnach-mór-mic-Laithbhe ‘the great church of the son of Laithbe’ near Slane, County Meath. It has been established that churches which include the word Domhnach (Lord), in their names are among the earliest in Ireland and are linked to the mission of Saint Patrick. It seems that Eithearn is the son of Laithbe described in the church’s title.  Slane is, of course, a locality with well-established Patrician credentials.  Pádraig Ó Riain, in his 2011 Dictionary of Irish Saints, suggests that as May 27 falls within the octave of the May 20 feast of Saint Mac Laithbe, that both days thus probably commemorate the same man, Eithearn, son of Laithbe. 

    Note: This post, first published in 2014, has been revised in 2022.

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  • Saint Maelochtraigh, April 20

    Among the saints commemorated at April 20 Saint Maelochtraigh, apparently the only saint of this name to be recorded in the Irish calendars. It is a name though that he shares with an eighth-century County Meath abbot whose repose is recorded in the Irish Annals at the year 737, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    St. Moelochtraigh, or Maelochtraigh.

    Like their Divine Master, the truly great among his followers labour with indefatigable zeal and love, to mitigate the afflictions of the poor, the broken-hearted and the erring. The name of this servant of Christ appears, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 20th of April, as Moelochtraigh. This, too, is the only saint of the name, to be found in our Calendars. It is difficult to identify him. We find, a Maelochtraigh, Abbot of Cill-Foibrigh, who died A.D. 737. But, it is not certain, if he be identical with this saint. His place has been set down as Kilbrew, a townland and parish in the barony of Ratoath, in thecounty of Meath. Here, there was an ancient monastery. The old church of Kilbrew has been uprooted, and a Protestant edifice has been built on its site. The parish is dedicated, as we are told, to St. Brigid. This day was set apart for the veneration of Maelochtraigh, according to the Martyrology of Donegal.

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