OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

ALL THE SAINTS OF IRELAND

  • Saint Comgan of Gleann Ussen, February 27

    On February 27 we commemorate an Abbot of Gleann Ussen, modern Killeshin, County Laois. There is some confusion around the identity and period in which Saint Comhghán (Comgan, Comhdan) flourished. Some of this has arisen due to conflicting accounts about his pedigree in the Irish genealogies, but also because of the attachment of the suffix ‘cend-inis’ to his name in some of the calendars. This is found in the entry in the Martyrology of Oengus for 27 February:

    With the suffering of Abundus,
    Great his gifts of poems ;
    The feast of Comgan, Cend Inis,
    The finding of the head of
    John [the Baptist].

    In the nineteenth century Margaret Stokes translated this epithet as meaning ‘without reproach’, but some of the earlier hagiographers appear to have believed that Cend Inis (Ceann Innis or Kean-Indse) was a place in Munster associated with the saint and assigned him to the period of the seventh century. Canon O’Hanlon, however, believes that he actually belongs to the ninth century and is more firmly associated with Gleann Ussen. As he explains:

    That St. Comgan was connected with Gleann-Ussen appears, from the authority of the Menelogium Genealogicum, the Martyrologies of Tallagh, of Cashel and of Marianus O’Gorman. This was the name of a remarkable glen, situated in the territory of Hi-Bairche, about two Irish miles to the west of Carlow. There exists a considerable portion of the ruins of an ancient church, called Cill Ussin, anglice Killeshin.

    At Killeshin, St. Diarmaid or Diermit is said to have built or presided over a church or monastery; and, this must have been as late as the ninth century, if we are to identify him with that Diarmaid, Abbot of Gleann-Uissean, whose death is recorded at A.D. 874. Now, Comgan is generally allowed to have succeeded him ; but, at what particular date is not clearly ascertainable, for we cannot find any well-known allusion to him in our Annals.

    We find him placed after St. Diarmaid, in the government of Killeshin Monastery, and he cannot have enjoyed this position, before the close of the ninth century. Probably this was about the time, when our St. Comgan was abbot over that establishment.

    At this day, he is commemorated in our Irish Calendars. We find the simple entry, Comgan, of Gliuni Usin, inserted in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 27th of February. St. Oengus the Culdee, likewise, has placed his festival in the Feilire. The Martyrology of Donegal reads:

    27. B. TERTIO KAL. MARTII. 27.
    COMMAN, Mac Ua Theimhne.

    COMDHAN, [i.e., Diarmaid,] of Glenn-Uissen, son of Diarmaid, son of Deghadh, of the race of Cormac Cas, son of Oilill Oluim ; and Ethne, daughter of Feidhlimidh, son of Tighernach, was his mother.

    The Kalendar of Cashel, the Martyrology of Marianus O’Gorman, and the Martyrology of Cathal Maguire, have entered his festival, at the 27th of February. This holy man appears to have been greatly venerated, in Ireland, where his Office, containing nine Lessons, was formerly recited.

    At the iii. of the March Kalends, or at the 27th of February, we learn from the Kalendar of Drummond, that in the Island of Hibernia, the Natalis of the holy Confessor Comgan, who went to Christ, was celebrated. No further biographical statements, in reference to him, have been preserved.

    In his authoritative 2011 Dictionary of Irish Saints, Pádraig Ó Riain upholds Saint Comhghán’s identification with Killeshin and that cen dinnis means without  reproach. He has been confused with another saint Diarmuid of Gleann Uisean, but they are two distinct individuals. Ó Riain suggests that the importance of Gleann Uisean is reflected in its early twelfth-century ‘chief teacher’ Duibhlitir Ua hUathghaile who wrote a version in Irish of the Sex Aetates Mundi, the Six Ages of the World. Saint Comhghán himself appears in a list of saints whose aid is sought for the men of Leinster in a poem attributed to Saint Moling. Saint Comhghán thus seems to be a good example of a saint who was once  ranked as an important saint of Leinster with a notable monastic foundation, but who is now shrouded in obscurity.

    Note: This post was first published in 2012 and revised in 2024.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Enna of Clonfert, February 26

    Saint Enna, a possible companion of Saint Brendan the Navigator and his successor at Clonfert is commemorated on February 26 on the Irish calendars. There is some discrepancy, however, between the Irish Annals recording the death of this saint at 1st March and his feast being celebrated on the 26th February according to the calendars. Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    Various denominational forms have been applied to this saint, and it has been conjectured, that he was originally called Ena, Enna, or Ennius. Thence it was probably resolved into Mo-Ena, Mo-Enna, or Mo-Ennius. He has also been called Moenus and Mainus. Among the old Irish oe and ai had a like sound, and Mo is merely a prefix, which indicates some special affection. This saint is also called Moinne, Moune, Muinni, or Moen. He is said to have been a Briton, who accompanied St. Brendan of Clonfert, on his return to Ireland, after that celebrated seven years navigation of the ocean, during which he visited the great Western Island, or Continent, and after he had lived some time in Armoric Britain. In the Island of Inis-mac-Hy Chuinn, both master and disciple are said to have dwelt. Whether or not, Moena had been elevated to the episcopal dignity, before leaving the country of his birth, may be questioned ; but, when seventy-seven years old, St. Brendan is said to have founded Clonfert. St. Moen lived with him, and during his sojourn there, a certain youth, who had come with his parents, died. Three days after this occurrence, and when the body was quite rigid, St. Brendan said to Bishop Moena, “Place my staff on the body of the dead brother.” Obeying this command, the youth came to life, and thus miraculously preserved, that brother, confirmed in the faith, was sent home to his native country in Britain. Colgan makes St. Brendan the founder and first Bishop of Clonfert, about the year 553, and he says, that St. ‘Brendan abdicated, having placed St. Moena in his room’. Other writers make St. Moena the first bishop, over this see. A great pestilence, called in the Irish language, Samthrusc, Samthrose, or Sawthrusc, prevailed, in the year 551 or 553, according to various Irish Annals, and it is generally resolved into a Lepra or Leprosy. It might have been that disease, which carried off the youth already mentioned.

    It is very probable, that our St. Enna or Moen was Bishop of Clonfert. Yet, a difficulty occurs, from his festival having been marked, not at the 1st of March, but at the 26th of February. In the “Annals of the Four Masters,” in the third year of Aedh, Monarch of Ireland, we find the death of St. Maeineann, Bishop of Cluain-fearta-Breanainn, recorded at A.D. 570, and it is said to have occurred, on the 1st of March. We find, in the Ulster Annals, under A.D. 571, the death of the first bishop of Clonfert thus remarked, ‘ Moena, Bishop Clonfert-Brenain, went to rest.” St. Brendan, it is stated, was then alive,and this agrees with most of our Annalistic accounts. The Annals of Tighernach state, at A.D. 572, that Maenu, Bishop of Cluanfert Brendan rested. The day of Moena’s death is placed, on the 1st of March. Under the form of Monan, Bishop Forbes assigns him a festival, at the latter date, or at the 26th of February; while, at the same time, a doubt of his identity is properly expressed. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, we find St. Moenna venerated, on the 26th of February. A Manuscript Antiphonarium, classed B. i, 4., belonging to Trinity College, Dublin, at this day, Kal. iiii. Martii, notes him as a Bishop and Confessor, in the Calendar, with an Office of Nine Lessons. In the Martyrology of Donegal, Maonna occurs, at the same date. In that Calendar, prefixed to the Martyrology of Christ Church, Dublin, this holy man is commemorated as a bishop. His feast was celebrated with an Office, consisting of Nine Lessons, as we are there likewise informed.

    Attempts have been made, to shew that the cultus of this saint had extended to different parts of Ireland. A St. Moenna is venerated in Jesu-Mond, diocese of Ossory, on the 26th of February. This concurrence would seem to make the present saint its patron.

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  • Saint Aldetrude of Malbod, February 25

    At February 25 Canon O’Hanlon brings an account of a Belgian abbess, Altedrude of Malbod, whom the seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, claimed was of Irish descent:

    St. Aldetrude, or Aldetrudis, Virgin and Abbess of Malbod, or Maubeuge, Belgium.

    This holy virgin is claimed as belonging to the Saints of Ireland, by Father John Colgan, who inserts her Acts at the 25th of February, because on the father’s side, her ancestral blood was Irish, even although she was born in Belgium, and lived there. The Bollandists, after a Scholiast introduction, produce a brief Latin Life of the saint, adding some few notes, by way of elucidation. These Acts are made up from a Manuscript Codex of St. Aldetrude’s Life, found in the Monastery of Rubra Vallis, near Bruxelles, and inserted in the first part of the Brabantine Hagiology; and again, from Lessons of the Breviary, for the collegiate church of Mons, founded by St. Waldetrude. The father of St. Aldetrude was Maelceadar or Maldegarius, also called Vincent, the latter name having been received on account of numerous victories he obtained, and for this reason, too, he was created Count of Hainault, in the Low Countries, by Dagobert, the renowned King of the Franks. This latter monarch to increase those honours gave his relative St. Waldetrude, or Waldetrudis, in marriage. Their alliance was the happy occasion, for giving at a future time four holy children to the Church, viz. : St. Landric, Bishop of Meaux; St. Dentelinus, Patron of Rosensis, in Cleves; St. Aldetrude and St. Madelberta.

    The sister of St. Waldetrude, called St. Aldegunde, had founded a religious establishment at Maubeuge, a town in French Flanders, and near the southern border line of Belgium. From her earliest infancy, St. Aldetrude, with her sister, St. Maldeberta, was distinguished for her pious dispositions; and both were placed under the charge of their holy aunt Aldegunde, to receive a secular and a religious training. The influence and precepts of this holy woman soon brought her nieces to despise the vanities of this world, and to resolve on dedicating their virgin souls to Christ. Our saint especially loved to hear the Gospel sentences, relating to the wise and foolish virgins, she engaged in fervent and constant prayer, in continual vigils, in abundant alms-givings. One interesting anecdote is related. Being resolved, that the wax used in the altar candles should not go to waste, Aldetrude gathered the scrapings, drippings, and fragments of tapers to put them again into the pot. When placed on the fire, however, and when the wax melted, it caught fire. Thinking there was danger from the blaze, and not wishing to lose the wax, Aldetrude boldly seized the pot, and lifted it in her hands from the fire, to the stone floor. Although some of the melted wax ran over her hands and arms, she miraculously escaped without any burn or hurt, as a consequence of this brave adventure. This gave great edification to all the servants of the convent, who were present.

    Several sisters in her nunnery had remarkable visions, confirming the sanctity of Aldetrude. One of these visions showed a star descending and ascending, as if inviting the nuns to the marriage feast of their heavenly bridegroom. When her holy aunt, Aldegunde, was summoned from earth to heaven, our saint was appointed to succeed her, in the administration of conventual affairs, at Maubeuge. Over this community she presided most religiously, for a term of twelve years. During this period, St. Aldetrude ruled her nuns with great care and charity. One of her spiritual daughters, when the offices for the day had ended, and when all had retired to rest, enjoyed a vision of the Apostle St. Peter and of St. Aldetrude. They seemed to stand, at the corner of the altar, and engaged in conversation. With a benignant smile, the Apostle was heard to exclaim: “Have courage, amiable virgin, for I shall have thee and thy servants under my constant guardianship, and I shall bring to naught the efforts of the old enemy.” Again looking, the nun saw a honey-comb on the lips of her Abbess, and a ladder was near, by which she endeavoured to ascend towards heaven. The relation of this vision gave great comfort to Aldetrude’s religious community.

    Another nun heard one Sunday night the sound. of men’s voices speaking to the Abbess, whose hand she held in the courtyard of the nunnery. Yet could she see no person. But venturing to ask her superioress, what she had learned, the latter said, “I heard them say : because thou art a queen, thou shalt be wedded to an eternal king.” Aldetrude then fell upon her knees, and in joy struck her breast devoutly, saying, “Lord, how can this be, since I am an unworthy sinner?” Another time, eagles were seen flying towards heaven and bearing thither, as it were, St. Aldetrude and her prayers. Yet, she had some doubts regarding their efficacy, and respecting her own merits ; but, she was re-assured in a nocturnal vision, when she saw a large and a bright crystal globe fly before her and towards the East. A few days, afterwards, a holy priest told her, that on the night of the Epiphany, he beheld a venerable long-haired man, coming as an Eastern King, with three wands, bearing flowers, in his hand. These he presented to Aldetrude, saying, “Thou shalt rule them with a wand, and they shall grow in her hand to the clouds.” The holy Abbess fell on her knees, and prayed with tears to God. Again, being in the open space, before the doors of her church, and alone, looking towards the south, she was dazzled with the most vivid flashes of lightning, while a tremendous roar of thunder was heard. This terrified her so much, that she cried out, “Lord Jesus, into thy hands, I commend my spirit.” Suddenly, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in the shape of a most comely young man, passed by, and said, “Be not afraid, I will guard you.” This gave her great confidence and courage.

    One of St. Aldetrude’s religious sisters related to St. Dado or Audoen, the bishop, a full account regarding the Life of her Abbess, not doubting but they should have an account of it for Maubeuge Nunnery, as the Abbot Sobnias, or Sobinus, had written a Life of her aunt, St. Aldegunde, for the Monastery of Nivelles.

    St. Aldetrude departed to bliss, on the 25th of February; and, the year of her death is said to have been A.D. 676, although the Bollandists seem to think, that she survived St. Audeon. But this is by no means certain.

     

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