17 February is a date on which many saints are commemorated in the Irish calendars of whom Saint Ossan of Rathossain in County Meath is one of the lesser-known . In O’Hanlon’s account below I find it curious that there are supposed to be two different saints of this name commemorated on the same day, but the earlier, Patrician saint is not as well-attested as the seventh-century Ossan whose repose is recorded in various Irish Annals.

St. Ossan, Bishop of Rathossain, County of Meath. [Seventh Century.]

Colgan has some notices, regarding this saint, at the 17th of February. He was born, most probably about, or after, the beginning of the seventh century. According to Duald Mac Firbis, we find a Bishop Ossan, from Rath-Ossain, to the west of Ath Truim. It is thought,that he died on the 17th of February, A.D. 686. He is considered to have lived, at a period, somewhat earlier, than another homonymous saint venerated here, and on the same day. Colgan thinks, that a St. Ossan, at or near Trim, is alluded to, as one of the makers of sacred vessels for St. Patrick, under the name of Essa. Yet, this is clearly irreconcilable with chronology. However this be, Ossan, Bishop, is the only mention made of him, in the Martyrology of Tallagh. The Martyrologist, Marianus O’Gorman, calls him “candidus.” In a moral sense, this word indicates his character for intergrity or innocence. If it refer to his physical appearance, we may assume that he was a man of clear or fair complexion. We read, as entered in the Martyrology of Donegal, on this day, Ossan, Bishop, of Rath Ossian. His place is particularly pointed out, as being near the western gate of the ancient borough or city of Trim. The ” Annals of the Four Masters ” place his death at A.D. 685, while calling him Bishop of Mainistir, or “of the Monastery.” The “Annals of Ulster” have his demise at A.D. 686.

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February 12 sees the feast of an eighth-century abbot at the monastery of Clonard, County Meath – Saint Forannan. O’Hanlon has a brief entry on what is known of him:

St. Forannan, Abbot of Clonard, County of Meath.

[Eighth Century.]

We read on this day, in the Martyrology of Donegal, that Forannan, Abbot of Cluain Eraird, was venerated. He is said, also, to have been Abbot of Kildare, and to have died, on the 12th of February, A.D. 740, according to the Annals of the Four Masters,- or according to those of Ulster, A.D. 744.

In his diocesan history of Meath, Anglican rector John Healy recorded something of the context for the lives of the successors to Saint Finian:

The establishment at Clonard continued to exist down to the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. It produced a long succession of men who were eminent in their day, but whose names now sound unfamiliar — such is the evanescent character of all human greatness. The annalists for the most part record for us simply their parentage and their decease. Sometimes, however, they give us small details that make us wish that they had not been so concise in all their statements, but had given us some particulars of the lives of these remarkable men . Thus they tell us of Bishop Tola, who was “a worthy soldier of Christ,” and of Faelgus, who was “a wise man of Clonard.” They tell of Suairleach, “bishop, anchorite, and abbot of Clonard, doctor in divinity and in spiritual wisdom, in piety and good deeds, so that his name spread over all Ireland: “and yet again of Ruman the amiable, a bishop who was ” a shrine of wisdom, illustrious, acute, a man of virgin purity,” and ” loved by the hosts of the assembled people.” Then we have Colman, the “wise doctor,” and Maelmochta, ” the head of the piety and wisdom of Ireland ; “Tuathal, the bishop, who “died after a good life,” and Oengus, lord of Laeghaire, who, after a life of turmoil, retired to spend at Clonard his declining days, but was followed thither by his foes, and slain by the lord of Delvin. Such entries suggest many thoughts, but it is left to the imagination to fill in the picture. They tell, however, that the place was the abode of learning and piety, where good and learned men served their generation by the will of God.

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