OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

ALL THE SAINTS OF IRELAND

  • Saint Mochaemhog of Inis Caoin, April 13

     

     

    A saint from the lakeland county of Fermanagh, Mochaemhog, is commemorated on April 13. He was an abbot of the island monastery of Inis Caoin, anglicized as Iniskeen, but we do not have many other details of his life, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    ST. MOCHAEMHOG, ABBOT OF INIS CAOIN, NOW INISHKEEN, COUNTY OF FERMANAGH.
    [SEVENTH CENTURY]
    THIS holy man is recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the Ides or 13th of April, as Mocammoc Innsi Cain. There is an allusion to him, by Colgan, under the Acts of St. Mochoemog or Pulcharius [feastday March 13]. We are told there, that this holy man was the son of Endeus, son of Cormac, and belonging to the Colla Dachrich race. He flourished on Iniscaoin Island, about the middle of the seventh century. He was Abbot over Inishkeen, on Lough Erne, in the county of Fermanagh…A commemoration has been made of St. Mochaemog, by Marianus O’Gorman, at the present day. Likewise, at the same date, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal Mochaemhog, of Inis Caoin, had veneration paid him. A similar notice is to be found, at the 13th of April, or at the Ides of this month, in that Irish Calendar, preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. However, these brief notices give us no particulars, that could afford us any light, regarding his personal history.
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  • Saint Ailell (Helias) of Cologne, April 12

     

    April 12 sees the commemoration of an Irish abbot of Saint Martin’s Monastery in Cologne, Ailell, or Helias as he was also known. Our saint fell foul of the Bishop of Cologne, but being an Irish saint it didn’t do to cross him and His Grace did not live to carry out his threat to expel the Irish monks from their foundation. It seems that it was not a good idea to cross Abbot Helias over monastic discipline either, as one of the brethren found out. Abbot Helias is a fascinating man, one of many Irishmen who made a contribution to the Christian life of Continental Europe. Canon O’Hanlon’s account of him follows below, in the future I hope to reprint some papers dealing with the subject of Irish monastic foundations in Germany.

    ST. HELIAS, OR AILELL, OF MUCNAMH, AND ABBOT OVER ST. MARTINS MONASTERY, COLOGNE, GERMANY.

    [TENTH AND ELVENTH CENTURIES.]

    MANY, among our Irish Saints, seem to have heard a voice resounding in their ears, like that speaking to Abraham, “Go out of thine own country, and from thy Father’s house, into the land which I shall show thee.” Those holy men left their native land, not to acquire riches, but to follow Christ, and to bear his sweet yoke. Some Acts of St. Helias, or Ailill, seem to have been arranged by Colgan for publication, at the present date. The Bollandists insert some particulars, regarding Helias Scotus, at the 12th of April; and, he is distinguished, as having been a beatified and a chief servant of God. According to the Martyrology of Donegal, there was a festival held on this day, to commemorate Helias, or Ailell. It is probable, this holy man was born, in the latter part of the tenth century. According to Marianus, he was a Scot by descent, as also a prudent and religious man. He belonged to the family, or religious house of Mucnamh. This place is now known as Mucknoe, a parish in the barony of Cremorne, and county of Monaghan. The present holy man must have been very much distinguished, since he is called by the Four Masters, “head of the monks of the Gaeidhil;” and, it seems most likely, that his religious training was received in Ireland, where he dwelt for some time, before setting out for the Continent. His course was directed to Cologne, where a religious foundation, for men of the Irish or Scottish race, had been long established. It seems probable, that he lived under direction of the Scottish Abbot Kilian, who ruled the house of St. Martin there, from A.D. 986, to the day of his death, A.D. 1003. Helias left Ireland, to embrace a solitary life. He became Abbot over the Scots house, at Cologne, having succeeded Kilian, A.D. 1004, and he governed St. Martin’s Monastery, in that city, for twenty years. Some of his Scottish countrymen lived there, and in the monastery of St. Pantalion. The discipline he enforced was strict and rigorous; and, as we learn, some immortified inmates of the latter house contrived to prejudice the mind of Piligrinus, bishop of Cologne, against their Irish abbot and their fellow monks of Scottish birth. In the year 1027, it is stated, that the cause of religion was greatly promoted, by this holy man, according to Sigebert; but, it seems doubtful, that he survived to this latter year. He was regarded as a prudent and religious man. Marianus Scotus relates a prophetic declaration of this Helias, respecting the death of Piligrinus, bishop of Cologne, who had threatened him and the Scots under his rule, that if they did not remove from the monastery of St. Pantaleon, before he returned from a royal station, they should be expelled. They replied to his threat: “If Christ be for the strangers, Bishop Piligrinus himself should not return from that place alive to Cologne.” It so happened, that his death took place, on the 8th of the September Kalends, A.D. 1037, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Helias.

    We are told, that Ailill died, A.D. 1042; and, at the same year, on the second of the April Ides, corresponding with the 12th day of this month, the death of Helias Scotus is noted, by Marianus Scotus, according to the Bollandists. According to Thomas Dempster, he edited many tracts, but all perished, except a small one, intituled, “De Scotorum Peregrinorum Innocentia ad Imperatorem.” ..Among the illustrious men of the Benedictine Order, Helias is classed, by Trithemius who styles him a saint, and who states, that after death, his many-sided merits became recognised by indubitable evidence. His temper or habits of thought must have been moulded, in extreme views of duty; for, we are told, that a French monk, having written a beautiful Missal without his leave, in the monastery of St. Pantalion, Helias ordered it to be publicly burned, in presence of the monks, so that no other should transgress, in a like manner, without permission. His death may be assigned, to the year 1042, if we follow the computation of G. Waitz, and on the 3rd of the April Ides, as found in the Chronicle of Marianus Scottus. Dempster has an entry of Helias the Solitary, and Abbot of the Scots, as also Arnold Wion, at the 12th of April. He was succeeded by Maiobus Scottus, a chaste, patient and wise man, who ruled eighteen years. Besides the foregoing writers, Dorgan, Menard, Bucelin, and Ferrarius, in his General Catalogue of the Saints, have the same date for his feast. Both at home and abroad, its commemoration seems to have been observed.

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  • Saint Maodhóg of Clonmore, April 11

    April 11 is the commemoration of an important monastic founder and saint of Leinster, Maodhóg of Clonmore, County Carlow. In his lengthy account of the saint in Volume IV of the Lives of the Irish Saints, Canon O’Hanlon illustrates many of the difficulties involved in researching the lives of our native holy men. First, there is the problem of our saint’s name; nineteenth century commentators rendered Irish names in a variety of ways, so the saint may be called, for example,  Maidoc or Moedoc. I have used the form Maodhóg given in Professor Ó Riain’s new Dictionary of Irish Saints. The name is a diminutive or pet form of the name Aedhan, itself rendered in a variety of ways, so our saint’s name would literally translate as ‘my young Aedhan’. Irish Names are also frequently given Latin forms in the medieval sources, so our saint is also called Aedanus. To confuse matters still further, Anglicized versions can reflect how the names are pronounced in Irish and thus our saint is also known as Mogue.  Secondly, Maodhóg of Clonmore is not the only saint to bear this name, he is probably less well-known than Saint Maidoc or Aidan of Ferns, commemorated on the last day of January.  Canon O’Hanlon is convinced that the lives of both Saints Maodhóg have been confused and that some of the incidents involving the holy man of Ferns really belong to the life of his namesake at Clonmore. Professor Ó Riain notes that although Maodhóg of Clonmore was obviously an important saint, he is not the subject of a written Life. His monastic foundation however, developed quite a reputation as a centre for the collection of relics. In one rather amusing anecdote, preserved in the Martyrology of Oengus, the somewhat over-zealous Saint Onchu, who was on a relic-hunting tour of the country, asked Maodhóg of Clonmore for a relic of his own person. Saint Maodhóg replied that that might be a little difficult seeing as he was still alive but finally agreed to cut off one of his fingers. The catch for Onchu,  however, was that Maodhóg prophesied that his relic-hunting journeys would cease and that both he and his collection were destined to remain at Clonmore.   I found Canon O’Hanlon’s entry for this saint very heavy-going and so have omitted a lot of the details of battles, kings and so on, but the full text is available at the Internet Archive. I have also transferred the text of a poem which illustrates Clonmore’s reputation in regard to relics from the footnotes into the main text:

    ST. MAEDHOG AEDHAN, OR MOGUE, ABBOT OF CLUAIN-MOR-MAEDHOG, NOW CLONMORE, COUNTY OF CARLOW.

    [SIXTH CENTURY.]

    THAT the present holy Abbot’s memory had been revered and celebrated, at an early period, in the Irish Church, is evident from various circumstances. His recorded name of Maidoc, or Moedoc, was originally Aedhan; in Latin, it was Aedanus, and it has been Anglicised into Aedan. The Irish diminutive was Aedh-og; and, by prefixing Mo, or my, we have Mo-Aedh-og, or my young Aedh, hence comes Moedhog, or Mogue. Again, Momoedoc, Mionn Gaoidhel, or “my Maidoc, sacred pledge of the Irish,” were words of endearment, applied to saints bearing this name. ..However, as there were three saints, bearing the name of Aedhan, or Maedoc, and who were very nearly contemporaries, in the absence of more ancient records, there can be no more embarrassing task for a student of Irish hagiology, than to fix their respective actions. Colgan apparently had a Life of Abbot St. Maidoc, of Clonmore, ready for publication, at this day; and, he promised, that at the 11th of April, much should be discussed concerning him. The Bollandists merely notice his festival, as occurring at this date, in the Martyrology of Tallagh but, they have evidently misprinted his name, which was to be met with in the original.

    The received opinion is, that St. Aedhan, or Moedoc, of Clonmore, was descended from Dunlang, who was King of Leinster, at the close of the third century. In the old Book of the Borumha Laighean, the present holy man is called Aidus, son to Eugenius: in the Life of St. Comgall, he is named Aedinus, i.e. Aidanus, or Aedanus: by the Martyrologies of Tallagh, Marianus O’Gorman and Maguire, he is called Maidoc. The Menologic Genealogy of the Irish Saints enters his pedigree, in the foregoing sense; and, his family descent is to be found, likewise, in Dudley MacFirbis’ Genealogies…

    …The birth of our saint took place, probably before the middle of the sixth century, but the year is not known. This holy Abbot’s chief house was situated, it is thought, at the present Clonmore, in the Barony of Rathvilly, and County of Carlow. The exact year when it was founded has not been ascertained; and now, there are no vestiges left of the ancient building… According to tradition, the whole valley, extending from Clonmore to Aghold, in former times, was called “Mogue’s great glen,” or “Mogue’s big lawn,” or “Meadow;” while a portion of Clonmore townland, to the westward of the high road, and south of the old castle and cemetery-ground, is called, at the present day, the Big Meadow. On the Ordnance Survey Maps, it is even thus designated.

    The holy Abbot Moedoc died, at Clonmore, probably after the beginning of the seventh century; but the year of his demise has not been recorded. At Clonmore he was interred, likewise, and it would seem this place was remarkable, for the great number of holy persons, who reposed in its sacred soil. In St. Broccan’s Poem, Lay of the Graves, as found in the “Book of Leinster,” the poet says, he had not heard mentioned in any place a cluain like the holy cemetery of Aedh Find. It is thus translated, by William M. Hennessy: —

    “And a cluain like the holy cemetery of Aedh-find, as I relate,
    A delightful place of resurrection, in which are the relics of Erin’s saints.
    Nine score presbyters, five thousand manly nobles,
    With Moedoc, descendant of Dunlang, are their graves.”

    In the Feilire of St. Aengus, at the 11th of April, St. Moedoc is recorded, with a special commendation. Again, Moedoc h Dunlaing, in Cluain Moir, is set down, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at this date. On this day is registered, in the Martyrology of Donegal, Maedhog, of Cluain-mor-Maedhoc, in Leinster. Aedh was his name, likewise, as we are informed.

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