OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

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  • A Legend of Saint Molua

     

    August 4 is the feast of Saint Molua, an entry on whose life can be found here. Below, is a charming vignette from the Irish Celtic Revival scholar, Maud Joynt (1868-1940), which records the grief of a little bird at the saint’s passing:

    LEGEND OF SAINT MOLUA

    ONCE there lived in Ireland a saint called Molua son of Ocha, who loved
    all living creatures and was of all living creatures beloved. On the day
    of his death it chanced that a certain holy man, Maelanfair son
    of Anfadach, was walking in the woods and he saw a little bird perched
    on a bough and making great lamentation.

    “Oh, my God,” said he, “what can have happened? I will not taste food till it be revealed to me!”

     Then an angel appeared to him and said: “Be no longer troubled, O
    cleric. Molua the son of Ocha is dead and all living creatures bewail
    him; for he loved everything that lives and breathes, and throughout his
    life he never killed any creature, great or small; wherefore men mourn
    not more for him than do the beasts and the little bird thou seest
    yonder.”

    Maud Joynt, The Golden Legends of the Gael, (Dublin, n.d.), Part II, 81.

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  • An Irish Poem in Praise of the Blessed Sacrament

    This beautiful poem in praise of the Blessed Sacrament was written by a 12th-century poet who may also have been an abbot, Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh, described in The Annals of Clonmacnoise as “Chief of Ireland for poetry.” The Annals of the Four Masters recorded his death in the year 1244 with this entry: “Donagh More O Daly, a poet who never was, and never will be surpassed, died, and was interred in the abbey of Boyle.”  The Irish text is followed by a translation below:

    Here is the literal translation [by Professor O’Looney] of the foregoing, which was written in the twelfth century by Donogh Mór O’Daly, Abbot of Boyle, in the county Roscommon, called for the sweetness of his verses, not for the nature of their themes, the Ovid of Ireland : —
    1. Not more numerous the angels in heaven under the hand of the king; not more numerous the blessed names which are upon the saints; not more numerous the things which God hath created on the face of the world, than the praises of each tongue upon the Sacrament.
    2. Not more numerous the drops which are in the great tidal sea; not more numerous the fishes that swim in the bosoms of all waters; not more numerous the grasses of the world or the sands of the strand, than the praises of the holy Body of the only Son of the Father of grace.
    3. Not more numerous the years in the eternal perpetuity of the King; not more numerous the divine gifts which Christ hath [in store]; not more numerous the lights which are in the King’s high Paradise, than the praises to God which are truly given in the Sacrament.
    4. Not more numerous the radiant stars which appear in the skies; not more numerous the words [of praise] which his clergy read for Christ; not more numerous the small streams which flow into the great sea, than the praises unceasing of the divine, blessed Body of Christ.
    5. Not more numerous the letters to be seen in the Book of the Law; not more numerous the leaves of all the woods by the King made to grow; not more numerous the melodious voices which shall be heard in his kingdom for ever, than the praise of the Son of Mary oft-repeated in the Sacrament.

  • Names of Irish Saints

      I recently ended a series on Irish saints’ names published in the Australian press in 1914, links to which can be found here. There is another example below, this time from 1918, where a selection of ‘euphonious names of
    Irish saints which one hardly ever hears’ are brought to the attention of prospective parents. A sense of regret that traditional names were falling into disuse
    was often expressed during the Irish national revival and immigrants in particular were encouraged to do their patriotic duty by bestowing historic saints’ names on their offspring.  How realistic it was to expect people already facing the challenges of the immigrant experience to assume the responsibility for reviving archaic names, no matter how euphonious, is another question.
     
     
     

     
     
    Names of Irish Saints.
     
    His
    Eminence Cardinal O’ Connell, Archbishop of Boston (U.S.A.), on a
    recent occasion said that the Irish people are returning to the laudable
    practice of giving the beautiful names of Patrick and Brigid in baptism
    to their children, and he cited several instances from his own
    experiences where even converts to the Faith gave their children the
    names of the Apostle and Patroness of Ireland. Apropos of this movement,
    we append a few other euphonious names of
    Irish saints which one hardly ever hears:
     
    For women— Adine, Avine,
    Eileen, Naala, Orla, Reinalt, Saiv, Una, Ita, Colma, Ethne, Faela,
    Aglen, Macha, Melle, Brona, Lassair, Laurenn, Eina, Richelle, Aniltine,
    Feidela. 
     
    For men — Albenan, Alvan, Cathal, Cahal, Cahir, Finn, Bran,
    Colman, Connell, Conor, Dermot, Donal, Flann, Nial, Rury, Art, Frill,
    Fridolin, Conan, Ultan, Angus, Kiran, Meil, Sheirl, Fintan, Bevin,
    Oran, Slevin, Gilnary, Gilchrist, Gilbride, Senan, Falry, Cuthbert,
    Caerlan, Fergus, Oisin, Brendan, Erc, Bron, Columbkille, Carroll, Lon,
    Rumould, Melmary, Kevil, Kilian, Cormac, Blan, Felimy, Loard, Danouhgh,
    Rial, Fergal, Gornan, Lonan, Lurcan, Siris, Oilan, Aleran.
     
     
    Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1932), Thursday 16 May 1918, page 17

     
     

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