OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

ALL THE SAINTS OF IRELAND

  • Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, September 9

     

    Ciarán of Clonmacnoise is considered as one of the 12 Apostles of Ireland, the great monastic founders of the sixth century. After studying with Finian of Clonard and Enda of Aran, two of the most important early Celtic monks, he founded several monasteries. The most famous of these institutions was at Clonmacnoise. Soon after this foundation, while still in his early thirties he died. The foundation at Clonmacnoise, although victimized in raids and battles for a thousand years, became second only to Iona as a centre for Christian learning in the Celtic world. On the banks of the river Shannon, Clonmacnoise became a very wealthy centre of monastic learning. The site was supposedly connected to a pre-Christian holy well and became a centre of pilgrimage because Ciarán promised that many souls would go to heaven from this site.

    Information on Ciarán is scant, mostly reliant on hagiographies compiled by the monks at Clonmacnoise long after the founder had died in 548. His notoriety seems to depend on his connection to Kevin of Glendalough, Finian, Enda and other famous monastic leaders, along with his foundation at Clonmacnoise. Here, even more so than at other Celtic monasteries, a great deal of effort was put into learning and the production of books. The pre-Christian Celtic respect for learning allowed men such as Ciarán, from humble backgrounds, to rise to positions of great repute in the Celtic world. Ciarán had been born in 512. His father was a carpenter and this made Ciarán the only non-noble founder of one of the major sixth-century monasteries in Ireland.

    The impact of education and the natural world occurs again and again in the stories about Ciarán. It is written that a stag wandered up to Ciarán to hold his books in his antlers and retired daily without getting the books wet. Many of the traditional topoi of Celtic hagiography hold true for Ciarán. Hagiographical accounts include the tale of a fox that carried Ciarán’s books back and forth to his tutor, as well as of miracles relating to hospitality and the provision of food for guests. It was in the works of Ciarán and the other monastic founders of the sixth century that the centrality of education to Celtic spirituality appears. Christian teaching was considered essential to the conversion of pagans, and so Ciarán’s ‘monastic university’ stood as a tribute to its founder for centuries after his death.

    Patrick J. Holt

    Patrick J. Holt in P. Jestice (ed.) Holy People of the World: a cross-cultural encyclopedia, Volume 3 (2004), 185.

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  • Saint Disibod of Disenberg, September 8

     

    September 8 is the feast of yet another Irish saint who flourished in seventh-century Europe, Disibod of Disenberg. Below is an account of the saint and of his hilltop monastery taken from a modern scholar’s work on the places associated with the Irish in Europe:

    Disibod/Dodechin – perhaps Dubh dá Chrích?.. Not alone a great monastic ruin on a hilltop in the Palatinate keeps posterity aware of him, but hagiography proffers two separate Lives of the saint, both dating from the twelfth century and hailing from the same place. The first document, the Vita Sancti Disibodi, was written by the famed Hildegard of Bingen who died in 1179, having spent the first part of her life in the nunnery of the Benedictine abbey that superseded Disibod’s foundation. Further at our disposal is a chronicle compiled in the scriptorium of that same monastery, the Annales Sancti Disibodi.

    …This ‘Sybil of the Rhine’, as Hildegard was called, may well have been unwittingly influenced by traditions of the irish Church passed down in her monastery, causing her to embark on medical studies that were to bring her lasting fame. A herbarium was part and parcel of every irish monastic settlement, as can be perceived in religious institutes based upon some foregoing ‘hospitale peregrinorum et pauperum’ named in early charters. Charity implied medical care, the existence of a herbarium was a prerequisite.

    The monastery of Disibodenberg was certainly no exception. Its ruined many-storied hospice protruding from the hill’s wooded crest dates from the twelfth century period of Hildegard von Bingen. .. Halfway up the ascent to the monastic site the road, flanked with vineyards, passes a farmhouse. This is the Disibodenhof, housing a small museum. Its importance lies in the claim to be the site of Disibod’s original monastery. There he was first interred, fulfilling his wish for a humble burial.

    Already during his lifetime recourse to the monastery caused it to overflow and make a transfer necessary. The plateau on the summit of the hill was chosen to accommodate the many converts desiring entrance into the abbot’s religious order. The later translation of Disibod’s remains to the hilltop sanctuary caused a new stream of followers, this time pilgrims to the patriarch’s grave coming to show their respect and pray for indulgences in the abbey church. The precincts became a pivot around which for centuries to come the religious life of the region centred.

    Disibod was a man of mature age on his appearance in the Rhine confines of seventh century Merovingian France. Not stated in the Vitae are his previous whereabouts, nor is his itinerary known. The supposition is that he came in the general movement north of prelates from Aquitaine, or the Poitou. Treated with veneration on arrival with a small attendance in Trier, Disibod was granted the site of his choice for a missionary station in the Palatinate. The allotment was made by the Merovingian ruler seated in Trier, who pronounced the forthcoming monastery crown property. The Franks were intent on re-activating not only Trier’s bishopric but also the episcopal seats of the Romans on the west bank of the Rhine. The aim was to form a chain of defence against the barbarians across the water. the Merovingians regarded the conversion of the Teutonic tribes beyond a political necessity. By donating Disibod’s missionary station to the archbishop of Mainz, the position was strengthened. The Irish abbot became, however, a tool of Frankish expansion policy, Mainz, together with Trier, forming the spearhead of the campaign.

    There is a thread of tradition implying that Disibod left Ireland in the company of St Kilian having crossed the Rhine at Mainz, Kilian made his way up the river Main only to be murdered with two fellow evangelists in Würzburg in the year 688. This immolation Disibod was spared, wisely keeping as he did to the west bank of the Rhine. He was following a vision, being directed to the site of his destination by an angel. He recognised the predicted height ‘where two streams meet’ in the angle of the rise jutting out between the river arms of Glan and Nahe. Here he stopped to settled for good, reaching the then biblical age of eighty-one.

    Disibod was treated with great esteem in hagiography. His clemency, his healing powers and ministry to the poor are documented…

    Disibodenberg abbey was badly exposed to Viking and Hungarian incursions of the ninth and tenth centuries. This is known from the reported visit of the archbishop of Mainz to the ravaged site in the year 975. Dismayed at the conditions he found, including the state of the holy founder’s grave, he caused twelve canons to be installed there. Admirers of the Irish engagement in Europe, they did their best to repair the damage and revitalise devotion to Disibod in the hearts of the people.

    A hundred years later Benedictine monks took over what was by then a double monastery, to be followed in 1259 by Cistercians with their reforms. This was the abbey’s richest period. A magnificent basilica crowned the hill, in which Disibod’s remains, together with those of his three Irish companions, were exposed to veneration in an ornate marble sarcophagus before the high altar.

    Roísín Ní Mheara, Early Irish Saints in Europe – Their Sites and their Stories (Seanchas Ard Mhacha, 2001), 97-101.

    Note: A couple of Hildegard’s ‘Songs for Saint Disibod’ can be found on the blog here.

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  • Saint Elair of Monahincha, September 7

     

    September 7 is the commemoration of an island-dwelling saint of County Tipperary, Elair of Monahincha. This site was one of those visited in person by Canon O’Hanlon who explored Monahincha in May 1870 as part of his research for the Lives of the Irish Saints. Saint Elair’s island retreat has links with two other saints of the Irish church, Cronan of Roscrea and Canice of Kilkenny, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    St Elarius or Helair, Patron, Anchoret and Scribe of Monahincha, near Roscrea, County of Tipperary. (Eighth and Ninth Centuries.)

    The published Martyrology of Tallaght records a festival in honour of Elair of Locha Cre, at the 7th of September.

    This, however, does not accord with the ii. of Nones for this month— although thus set down—and as found in the Book of Leinster copy. The situation of Lough Crea is said first to have attracted the notice of the celebrated St. Cronan before he commenced the erection of his chief religious establishment at Roscrea. In the midst of this “Stagnum Cree” there was an “insula modica,” or moderately-sized Island—now known as Monahincha— and here St. Cronan,it is said, first built a cell. Monahincha lies towards the left, on the high road leading from Borris-in-Ossory to Roscrea; but, the old church is hidden from view, owing to ornamental plantations which surround it in various directions. The greater religious establishment, however, seems to have been fixed at Roscrea —even in the time of St. Cronan— when it is probable Monahincha became a dependent on it, about the beginning of the seventh century. Already have we referred to some remains of antiquity in this town, formerly a place of considerable historic importance, especially in our ecclesiastical annals. After St. Cronan, the earliest saint recorded as having connexion with Inis Loch-Cre, is Coluim or Colum—resolvable into Columba. His period, however, has not been determined; but, it is probable, he preceded the present holy superior in point of time.

    St. Elarius or Helair is called the son of Fintan, sprung from the race of Kein, and his brothers are said to have been Saints Aidan and Conrach. His mother is called Sinacha, third sister to the great St. Columbkille. This latter statement of Colgan must be rejected, if we take into account the date assigned for the death of Elarius. While Sinacha must have been born in the earlier part of the sixth century, the birth of this present Elarius took place, it is probable, at least two hundred years later. The feast of St. Hilair is found in the Martyrology of Marianus O’Gorman, at the 7th of September. In one place, Colgan notes a St. Hilarius Mocukein, a monk of Durrow, to whom he assigns a feast at the 7th of September. We cannot be assured, however, that he was identical with the present Elarius or Helair. On the contrary, he and his brothers, St. Aidan and St. Conry or Conrachus —stated to have been of Kevin’s race —must have lived in the sixth century, if their mother was Sinecha, the sister of St. Columkille. The present saint was undoubtedly of a different family, and he was principally venerated at the place, now known as Monahincha, which the neighbouring people still call The Holy Island. It lies in the parish of Corbally, barony of Ikerrin, and County of Tipperary.

    The lough is now for the most part dried up, but a bog occupies its former site. The old ruins of Monahincha are remarkably beautiful in their architectural peculiarities. Moory soil still extends around, notwithstanding that the waters of the lake have been completely drawn off; while the land is thoroughly drained and reclaimed into fine pasturage, and meadow. Rich grass grows over the soil. Its remarkable old church is covered with a luxuriant growth of ivy, around the whole exterior; but this has been removed from the interior, where all the wall surfaces may be seen. There are two most beautiful doors yet remaining, and almost entire; one of these enters the nave, and the other a small choir. They are semi-circularly headed and elegantly jointed along the jamb-stones, with zig-zag carving around the arches. The fluted columns are surmounted by curious old sculptured heads. Through the ivy on the exterior corners of the nave may be traced projecting columns of rounded and chiselled stones. The ruins stand in a tolerably well preserved state, in the centre of a grave-yard, overcrowded with human remains. The interior of the old church nave is occupied by a family tomb, and around it the floor has been levelled and gravelled; while the landed proprietor of the estate, on which the ruins are situated, seems to have taken special pains to preserve the existing remains. Beside the old Church of Monahincha are some ruins of an ancient monastery.

    Not far from the ruins, some portion of the former extensive lake may be seen; but the inhabitants of the surrounding country have a tradition, that all the vast tract of bog, now extending for several miles towards a range of distant hills, was formerly covered with water, which circled the Holy Island.

    The Church of Inis Lough Cre was dedicated to the St. Helair or Hilarius, whose festival is celebrated on this day, as we are informed. The terms by which he is distinguished in our records indicate, that while he led a life of strict observance and asceticism, he was also the writer of some works, which at present seem to be unknown. Perhaps, he belonged to that band of Coelicoli or Culdees, that lived on the smaller island —as distinguished from the greater —and of which no clear traces now remain; yet, it is recorded, that the passage from one island to the other, in the twelfth century, was made by means of a boat. Helair flourished after the middle of the eighth, and beginning of the ninth century. The death of this Elarius, Anchoret and Scribe, of Lough Crea, is entered in the Annals of the Four Masters, at 802; in those of Clonmacnoise, at 804; in those of Ulster, at 806; but, as we are told by Dr. O’ Donovan, recte, it should be 807. His age at the time of his departure is not known. His name and festival are entered on this day, in the Martyrology of Donegal. In the table appended to this latter work, the name of our saint has been Latinised, Helarius.

    Although Inis-Loch-Cre does not figure very prominently in our Irish Annals, the “Holy Island” appears to have obtained celebrity as a place of pilgrimage and to have had a resident superior in the twelfth century. After the death of St. Cronan, the religious institute he established at Roscrea appears to have flourished in piety and learning, for centuries succeeding his period. A copy of the Four Gospels, called Glass-Kennic, or the Chain of St. Canice, is said to have been there preserved to the time of Archbishop Ussher. Also at Roscrea was recovered the Book of Dimma, a scribe, the son of Aengus, the son of Carthin. Another work, known as the Annals of Roscrea, was probably composed in the monastery there established. A succession of Roscrea Abbots, sometimes styled Bishops, in our Annals, is recorded from A.D. 800 to 1174, when the parent institution seems to have gradually declined, and little account is had regarding it, when its ancient bishopric merged into that of Killaloe…

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