OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

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  • A Litany of Irish Family Patrons

     

     
    Following yesterday’s posting on the Litany of the Patron Saints of Irish Dioceses,  below is the second short litany of Irish saints, this time in their capacity as patrons of Irish families. One thing worth noting is that the families are not all of native Gaelic origin, as Norman ‘Old English’ surnames are equally well-represented. It is interesting too to see the decidedly non-Irish Saint Nicholas at the end of the list, but he has his place in the Official Litany of Irish Saints as a patron of Galway. I have no other information about this litany of family patrons, its author or its accuracy but it’s an enjoyable read on this the eve of the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland:
     
    Litany of Irish Saints.
     
    The
    following interesting document, translated from the Gaelic, was among
    the papers of a cultured Irish lady who died recently in New York: —
    Many of the old clans, patriarchal races, and ancient Catholic families
    of Ireland have cherished a traditional devotion to certain
    local saints who have been regarded from time immemorial as their
    patrons, and to encourage this devout observance the following ‘Litany
    of the Patron Saints of the Dioceses of Ireland’ was compiled and
    approved by the ecclesiastical authorities. Subjoined is a list of
    some of the Irish families, who thus are clients of the saints invoked in this litany. There are many other Irish families, clans, towns,
    and localities who invoke the patronage of other illustrious local
    saints, whose names do not occur in this litany of Diocesan saints, to
    which the following list is confined: 
     
    St. Malachi is patron saint of
    the O’Dohertys, O’Reillys, O’Neills, Mc Canns, Nugents, O’ Ferralls, Maguires, and Mc Kennas. 
     
    St. Laurence of the O’Tooles and Purcells. 
     
     St.
    Kevin of the Kilbrides, O’Byrnes, Murrays.
     
    St. Albert of the Cullens,
    Ryans, and Bennetts.
     
     St. Jarlath of the
    Moores and Killeens.
     
    St. Kieran of the O’Connors, Grehans, and
    Brownes. 
     
    St. Columbkille of the O’Donnells and O’Loughlins. 
     
    St. Conlath
    of the Mullens and Duffeys. 
     
    St. Macartan of the O’Flynns, Macartans,
    O’Donnellys, Smiths, and Mc Guinnesses. 
     
    St. Kyrans of the O’Brennans,
    Fitzpatricks, O’Donohoes, and Mahers. 
     
    St. Aiden of the O’Kinselas
    and O’Farralls.
     
    St. Ailbe of the Cullens and Nolans. 
     
    St. Fachanan of
    the Fitzgeralds, Mc Namaras, O’Briens, Mc Mahons, Blennerhassets, Ennisses and O’Shaughnessys.
     
    St. Finbar of the Mc Carthys and Barrys. 
     
    St. Otteran of the Barrons, Wyses, and Walshes.
     
    St. Ascium of the Frenches, Kelleys, and Dysarts.
     
    St. Nicholas of the Blakes and
    Burkes.

     Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW : 1895 – 1942), Saturday 26 May 1900, page 5

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  • A Litany of Irish Diocesan Patrons

    Below is the first of two litanies of Irish saints which I came across in the digital archives of the New Zealand press. This one was published in 1920, a year before the official text of the Litany of the Irish Saints was issued as part of the establishment of the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland, commemorated on November 6. I have already made that official text available here. The litany below is much shorter and links some of the saints to their patronage of Irish dioceses. It concludes with the collect for the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland, albeit in a different translation to that of the official text:

    A LITANY OF IRELAND’S SAINTS. 

    Lord, have mercy on us.

    Christ, have mercy on us.

    Lord, have mercy on us.

    Christ, hear us.

    Christ, graciously hear us.

    Holy Mary, Mother of God.       Pray for us

    St. Patrick, Apostle and Patron of Ireland.

    St. Brigid, Patron of Ireland.

    St. Columbkille, Patron of Ireland.

    St. Malachy, Patron of Armagh, Down, and Connor.

    St. Macanisius, Patron of Connor.

    St. Macartan, Patron of Clogher.

    St. Eunan, Patron of Raphoe.

    St. Felim, Patron of Kilmore.

    St. Mel, Patron of Ardaugh.

    St. Kyran, Patron of Clonmacnoise.

    St. Colman, Patron of Dromore.

    St. Eugene, Patron of Derry.

    St. Finian, Patron of Meath.

    St. Laurence, Patron of Dublin.

    St. Kevin, Patron of Glendalough.

    St. Aidan, Patron of Ferns.

    St. Kyran, Patron of Ossory.

    St. Canice, Patron of Kilkenny.

    St. Conleth, Patron of Kildare.

    St. Laserian, Patron of Leighlin.

    St. Albert, Patron of Cashel.

    St. Ailbe, Patron of Emly.

    St. Finbarr, Patron of Cork.

    St. Brendan, Patron of Kerry and Clonfert.

    St. Munchin, Patron of Limerick.

    St. Colman, Patron of Cloyne.

    St. Fachanan, Patron of Ross and Kilfenora.

    St. Flannan, Patron of Killaloe.

    St. Otteran, Patron of Waterford.

    St. Carthage, Patron of Lismore.

    St. Jarlath, Patron of Tuam.

    St. Nathy, Patron of Achonry.

    St. Asicus, Patron of Elphin.

    St. Colman, Patron of Kilmacduagh.

    St. Muredach, Patron of Killala.

    St. Columban.

    St. Gall.

    St. Enda.

    St. Dympna.

    St. Ita.

    St. Attracta.

    All ye Holy Irish Martyrs.

    All ye Holy Confessors and Virgins of Ireland.

    All ye Saints of Ireland.

    Lamb of God, etc. (thrice).

    Let us Pray.

    Multiply Thy Grace, O Lord, in us who celebrate the Feast of All the Saints of our Island; that we who rejoice in being their fellow-countrymen on earth may deserve to share in Heaven the glorious freedom which by their good works they have purchased. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

    New Zealand Tablet, 19 February 1920, Page 3

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  • Irish Missionaries

    As we approach the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland on November 6, below is a brief reminder of the part Irish saints played in the evangelization of other countries. These missionary saints were a source of great pride to the writers of the nineteenth century cultural revival, including Irish expatriates like Monaghan man John Joseph Lynch, C.M. (1816-1888), Archbishop of Toronto. At a time when mass emigration had aroused anti-Irish and anti-Catholic feeling it was no doubt comforting to take refuge in the achievements of an earlier golden age, when the Irish made a substantial contribution to European Christian civilization. This piece appeared in the New Zealand press in 1878 which syndicated items likely to be of interest to its own Irish population:

    IRISH MISSIONARIES.

    St. Patrick’s bishops and priests were so ardent in their zeal that they carried the light of the gospel into England, Scotland, Germany, France, and even into Italy, regaining to the Church many of those people who had lost the faith on account of the incursions of barbarians, and the breaking up of the Roman Empire. These holy missionaries from Ireland are invoked as patron-saints in these countries. We have venerated their relics in cathedral churches, in monasteries, in rural parishes on the continent of Europe. We found St. Cataldus, the Apostle of Tarentum, near Naples; St. Sedulius famous for his fourteen books of commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul; St. Fridolin, who instituted religious houses in Alsace, Strasbourg, and Switzerland, and who is interred on an island in the Rhine, in a monastery built by himself; St. Columbanus, the founder of the celebrated monastery of Bobbio, near Milan, in Luxan; and Fontaine St. Gall, near Lake Constance, famous to the present time for its learned men and holy monks, the admiration of all travellers St. Fiacre, the Patron Saint of many churches in the diocese of Meaux and through Picardy, and whose relics are the objects of pious pilgrimages to the present day; St. Aidan, who preached the gospel to Northumbrians in England, and who was the first bishop of the See of Lindisfarne; St. Colman, who preached the gospel to the Northern Saxons, St. Fursey, especially invoked in numerous chapels built by him near Paris; St. Abrogast, Bishop of Strasbourg, buried on Mount Michael, where there was a monastery dedicated under his patronage; St. Maidulphus, who established the famous school of Ingleborne, now Malmsbury; St. Cuthbert, son of an Irish Prince of Kells, in Meath, Bishop of Lindisfarne, now invoked as an English saint; St. Killian apostle of Franconia, and first Bishop of Wirtzburg, who gained the crown of martyrdom, like St. John for having reproached the incestuous adulteress, Goilana, St. Virgilius, Bishop of Fiesole, preacher of the gospel to the Etruaians; St. Findin, Abbot of Richew, on the Rhine; St. Buo and St. Ernulphus, who carried the Gospel to Iceland and founded a church under the patronage of St. Columba. We have mentioned enough of illustrious names of the Irish nation to show how they fulfilled their mission on the continent of Europe in early ages. — Archbishop Lynch of Toronto.

    IRISH MISSIONARIES.,New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 271, 12 July 1878
     

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