OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

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  • Feast of the Birth of Saint Colum Cille, December 7

    December 7 marks the feast of the birth of Saint Colum Cille (Columba), an event still remembered in the oral tradition and locality of Gartan, County Donegal. Another account of this feast can be read at my other site here, but below is an account of Gartan and its famous son from a 19th-century antiquarian guidebook.

    GARTAN

    St. Columbkille was born at Gartan, in the territory of Tirconnell, near the base of the Glendowan mountains.

    Manus O’Donnell chief of Tir-Connell, who died in 1532, has furnished the fullest collection of the acts of St. Columba, the patron saint of Tir-Connell… Manus O’Donnell records how it was he who had ordered the part of this life which was in Latin, to be put into Gaelic, and who ordered the part that was difficult (i.e. very ancient Irish,) to be modified, and who gathered and put together the parts scattered through the old books of Erin, and who dictated it out of his own mouth with great labour and a great expenditure of time in studying and arranging all its parts, as they are left here in writing by us, in love and friendship for his illustrious Saint, Relative and Patron, to whom he was devoutly attached”.

    In this work Manus O’Donnell describes the territory of Gartan. “That land, Gartan, which lies in the County of Tir-Connell is desolate, even to the appearance of a wilderness, on account of the very lofty mountains which take up its whole extent to the north, but a declivity which is adjacent to the more cultivated plains and exposed to the rays of the sun, and lakes situate at the foot thereof, render it most delightful in the Summer season”.

    LOUGH BEAGH

    St. Columbcille was born on the 7th December, A.D. 519 (as Colgan, has the date), O’Donnell gives 520, and Reeves gives 521, as that most likely to be the true period; he was forty-two years of age when he removed to lona; his death occurring there thirty-four years later.

    Around Gartan as the birth-place of St. Columbcille, shall always be centered a portion of the interest and veneration that is attached to his name.

    The parish of Gartan extends north to Calabbar Bridge, where the road to Dunlewy branches off. Its western boundary skirts west of the Dooish mountain, as it rises 1994 feet over the waters of Lough Glen-Veagh. Through a chasm formed by some mighty convulsion, the Lough extends for a distance of about three and a-half miles in length, by an average of about four hundred and fifty yards in breadth. Here is ‘ Lone Glenveagh”. The weird beauty of the place must be seen, it cannot be painted or sufficiently described…

    …As we proceed south, its eastern confine passes through the centre of Lough Kibbon, (a corruption of its Irish name Loch-mhic-Ciabain) we reach Gartan Loch, or Lough Beagh, sheltering amidst the more “cultivated plains”, mentioned in 1532 by Manus O’Donnell. This Lough extends in a south-westerly direction about two and a-half miles, with a more sinuous foreground, and is from a quarter to half a mile in width. Here on its banks St. Columbcille was born.

    The lines of St. Mura of Fahan cited by O’Donnell and the O’Clery’s are: “He was born at Gartan by his consent; And he was nursed at Cill-mic Neoin [Kilmacrennan] and the son of goodness was baptized at Tulach Dubhglaise [Temple-Douglas] of God”.

    Dr. Reeves observes that the local traditions decidedly confirm this Irish account. The writer, several years ago traversed every spot of this district, and stood on the flagstone pointed out by the people as St. Columbkille’s Stone, that marks the place where it is traditionally stated he was born. This stone is to be seen to the S.W., in the townland of Lacoo.

    The stone is about eighteen feet in circumference, and is indented with about sixty holes of average depth of two and a half inches. The flagstone itself is about six inches thick.

    W.J. Doherty, Inis-Owen and Tirconnell – being some account of Antiquities and Writers of the County of Donegal (Dublin, 1895), 13-16.

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  • Saint Berehert of Tullylease, December 6

    The Berechtuine Stone

    December 6 is the feast of another saint whose identity and day of commemoration raise the same sort of difficulties as that of Saint Gobban – Saint Berehert founder of a monastery at Tullylease, County Cork.

    The Martyrology of Donegal records:

    6. D. OCTAVO IDUS DECEMBRIS. 6

    BERETCHERT, of Tulach-leis.

    but gives no further details. So what else do we know of this saint? Below is a short paper on Saint Berehert which summarizes some of the sources for his life. I originally sourced this from the Tullylease parish website but can no longer find a working link:

    St. Berehert of Tullylease
    by V. Rev. Robert Forde, P.E. 

    At the Synod of Whitby, in northern England, held in 664 A.D., the majority of those present voted to accept the Roman system for deciding the date of Easter. St. Colman, Abbott-Bishop of Lindisfarne with others disagreed and decided to return to Ireland where they established two monasteries, one for the English monks in Mayo and an island monastery for the Irish monks. 

    Tradition tells us that a young Saxon Prince from Winchester left the group, travelled across Ireland and came to Tullylease, which was then a stronghold of Druidism. Despite firm opposition he established a large monastery which lasted for over 700 years – he was named Berehert. 

    In the Annals of the Four Masters the death of Berichter is recorded ‘Berichter of Tullach-leis died on 6 December, 839.’ If this entry is accurate, the monastery founded by Berehert, almost 150 years before, was well established, and here we commemorate a later Abbot. 

    In 1230 we find the following entry in the Annals: ‘A holy monk, chief Master of Carpenters in Tullach-leis died today’. This entry is important as it clearly shows the extent and the national reputation of the schools and workshops of Tullylease monastery.
    The Monastery also excelled at metalwork. The beautiful cover of St. Patrick’s Bell, now in the National Museum, was decorated by a family of Noonans, who were closely associated with Tullylease. 

    The Berechtuine Stone 

    The Monastery had large stone-carving workshops. Many of these stones are still extant. The most famous is the Berechtuine Stone, incised with a Greek cross, expertly carved and ornamented, with inscriptions in Latin and Greek. The Greek text reads : ‘XPS’ which is the abbreviation for Christus or Christ. The other corner of the stone is missing and probably contained the Greek letters for Jesus.’ IHS’ 

    The Latin inscription translates: ‘Whoever reads this inscription, let him pray for Berechtuine.” For many years, it was accepted that Berechtuine was another name for Berehert and this beautiful monument was erected to honour the Founder. A long article by Professor Henderson of Cambridge and Professor Okasha of University College, Cork on the carved stones of Tullylease showed conclusively that they were two separate people. Therefore, we honour two saints in Tullylease! 

    This Berechtuine Stone is dated about 800 A.D. The extant monastic buildings that we see today date from about 1200 to 1500 

    About 1200, the Monastery took the ‘Rule of The Canons Regular of St. Augustine’ and in 1415, Henry IV annexed the Monastery to the Priory of Kells in Kilkenny. From Tullylease, at least five other churches were founded in Munster, and probably a foundation in Leinster and one in Connaught. 

    In 1993, the historian Dr. Daphne Pochin Mould took an aerial photo of the site in mid-December, on a clear frosty evening. A large portion of the ‘massive external enclosure bank of the early monastic site’ showed clearly on photo. It is now possible to trace the external original boundaries of the monastery. 

    The people of Tullylease are very proud of the Monastery. They take great care of it, and they are most grateful that Bishop Magee chose the Tullylease as a special place of Pilgrimage for Jubilee 2000.

    Now this writer has established two conflicting traditions about Saint Berehert, one that he was a Saxon prince who came to Ireland after the Synod of Whitby and the other that he was a 9th-century monastic bearing the same name as his founder. But there is a further complication as Saint Berehert has also been identified with a saint commemorated on 18 February. This is a Saint Nem, Bishop of Drum Bertach, an even earlier figure associated with Saint Patrick. O’Hanlon in his entry for 18 February records:

    St. Nem, Bishop of Drum Berthach. This holy man is entered in the “Martyrology of Tallagh,” as Nem, Bishop of Droma Bertach. By some writers, this saint has been confounded with a St. Beretchert, Berichter or Berechtuine, of Tullylease, county of Cork—thought to be locally called St. Ben or St. Benjamin. This identification, however, admits of very great doubt. The Martyrology of Donegal records on this day Nem, Bishop of Drum Berthach. It seems difficult to identify this place, but, very possibly, it may be in or near Tullylease. We may ask, too, if the St. Nem of our Calendars could have been corrupted into the local pronunciation of Ben. This seems, at least, possible. Colgan thinks, the present saint may have been St. Patrick’s disciple, who was set over Tullachrise, in the diocese of Connor. It is said to have been one of the churches St. Patrick erected in Dalaradia. Under the head of Druim-bertach, Duald Mac Firbis records, Nemh, Bishop of Druim Bertach, at February the 18th.

    There is thus no doubt that a Saint Nem is commemorated on February 18 but how he became identified with our Saint Berehert is unclear. Interestingly, O’Hanlon also records that:

    ‘Every male child, born on St. Berechert’s day, is called by his name, which is regarded as the Irish for Benjamin. We are told, that from remote times, the saint’s day has been unaccountably transferred from the 6th of December to the 18th of February. At the former date, we shall have more to state, in reference to St. Berechert.’

    Alas, O’Hanlon did not live to publish his December volume so we cannot know what other evidence he might have presented.

    So, it would seem that we cannot identify the person of Saint Berehert commemorated on December 6 with any certainty. I am intrigued by the process which has led the monastic founder of Tullylease to be identified with a 5th-century Patrician Bishop, a seventh-century Saxon refugee and a ninth-century Irish monastic. Which is the real Saint Berehert? I’m not sure if we can ever know.

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  • Saint Colmán ua hEirc, December 5

    We can add Saint Colmán ua hEirc to the long list of Irish saints of this name with a commemoration found on the Irish calendars at December 5. This Saint Colmán is associated with the great Saint Erc of Slane as the Martyrology of Gorman makes clear in its entry for the day:

    5. c.

    Colman ua hEirc oebgel

    which is translated as ‘beautiful, bright Colman, Erc’s descendant.’

    The Martyrology of Donegal simply records the name Colman Ua h-Eirc at this date. It is possible, since the abbatial succession in Irish monasteries was often kept within families, that our saint could be an actual as well as a spiritual successor to Saint Erc of Slane. In a compendium of entries relating to Slane taken from the various Irish annals the Meath diocesan historian, Father Cogan, records more than one successor to Saint Erc who bore this name including: 

    746. Colman of the Britons, Abbot of Slane, died.

    823. Colman, son of Oiliolla, Abbot of Slane, and also of other churches in France and Ireland, died.

    838. Colman, Abbot of Slane, died.

    946. Colman, airchinneach of Slane, was slain by the foreigners.

    Rev. A. Cogan, The Diocese of Meath – Ancient and Modern, Volume I. (Dublin, 1862), 63.
    I cannot, of course, equate any of these individuals with the saint Colmán ua hEirc, commemorated on December 5.

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