OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

ALL THE SAINTS OF IRELAND

  • Saint Cronan Beg, January 7

    Among other saints commemorated on the Irish calendars at January 7 is one associated with the monastic settlement at Nendrum on Mahee Island. Here is the entry for the life of Saint Cronan Beg from Volume One of Canon O’Hanlon’s Lives of the Irish Saints:

    St. Cronan Beg, Bishop of Nendrum, County of Down.
    [Seventh Century.] 

    This prelate obtained his cognomen, probably owing to his being under the middle size. Cronan Beg, or “the little,” bishop over the ancient Aendrum, had a festival on this day, according to the Martyrology of Donegal. The Martyrology of Tallaght simply registers Cronan, bishop, at the 7th of January. His place is now distinguished as Inis Mahee, in the county of Down. It is a portion of Tullynakill parish, and it lies about a quarter of a mile from the shore in Strangford Lough. This island is situated about thirteen miles N.N.E. from Downpatrick. The name of this present bishop will be found in a letter, written from Rome, A.D. 640, on the subject of the Pascal Controversy. In his tract on some of the Irish bishops, Duald Mac Firbis says, that perhaps this is he with whom Caendruim is placed; and his remark seems to have reference to a subsequent entry regarding the rest of Cronan, Bishop of Caondruim, who died about the year 639. Other, and more reliable, authorities place his demise at the 7th of January, A.D. 642. As may be seen, this date is only a little over a year later than the date of the epistle from Rome, addressed to him in common with other Irish bishops. Some very interesting remains of antiquity are yet traceable on Mahee Island.

    The Internet Archive also houses a charming pamphlet by John Vinycomb, entitled The Monks of Mahee Island. The author provides an introduction to the site from an antiquarian perspective but quickly proceeds to his own poetry. He offers us first, this poem on the monks and then a composition on the Mermaid of Mahee, a legend of Strangford Lough. This cautionary tale concerns a temptress of the deep who beguiled one of the monks with her siren song, only for the matins bell to recall him to his vocation and to face the wrath of Father Abbot.

    THE MONKS OF MAHEE ISLAND

    In olden days, as I’ve heard say
    Old records tell the story
    How men retired to deserts wild,
    To praise God and His glory.

    To people rude and wild they preached,
    And taught the truth in sadness,
    Besought the Lord to bless the land,
    With thankful hearts, in gladness.

    For all the good His bounty gave,
    Of sunlit sea and sky,
    The beauteous earth, the stars above,
    The hope of heaven on high.

    And some in lonely isles set up
    Their church and tower round,
    Beneath whose shade their prayerful lives
    In benisons were bound.

    In old Mahee, the sacred isle
    By Strangford’s silent shore,
    The peaceful monks in prayer would kneel,
    And aid from heaven implore.

    To banish sin and shame from earth,
    And touch the heart with love :
    To make the world’s all-sinful souls,
    More meet for heaven above.

    The monks are gone, their deeds remain,
    Old savage habits banished :
    The world is better that they lived,
    Tho’ church and tower have vanished.

    To simple faith and honest toil
    Came peace like gentle maiden :
    And in her train the Arts of life
    With love and blessings laden.
    Hear now the words of saints of old,
    Come down from ages hoary :
    “O save the world from sin and strife,
    And give to God the glory.”

    The mermaid poem is too long to cite in full here, but is accompanied by the author’s own sketch of an inn sign at Kircubbin showing the watery lady in all her glory. Wonderful stuff. You can read the original in full here.

    Finally, the paper by Bishop Reeves on ‘The Church of Nendrum’, which both Canon O’Hanlon and Vineycomb cite, is also online. It can be found in Volume 8 of The Ulster Journal of Archaeology (1902), pages 13- 22 and continued on pages 58-68 of the same volume.

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

  • Saint Curnan Beg, January 6

    January 6 is the feast day of a County Limerick holy man, Saint Curnan Beg. Canon O’Hanlon brings us the few details that he has been able to assemble:

    St. Curnan Beg, Patron of Kilcornan, Diocese and County of Limerick

    The present St. Curnan, styled Becc or Beg, “little”, – probably owing to his small stature – is found recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh with a festival to his honour, at the 6th day of January. The later Martyrology of Donegal, while noting the veneration paid to St. Curnan Beg on this day, is more precise in giving his genealogy, and the exact place where he was reverenced as patron. The writer of this Calendar, O’Clery, remarks, that we find a Curnan – it is to be assumed the present holy man – a son of Sinell, belonging to the race of Condri, son of Fearghus, son to Ross Ruadh, who was son of Rudhraige. From this latter was derived the Clann-Rudhraighe. St. Curnan Beg is said to have belonged to Cill-Churnain, a place which doubtless derived its denomination from a church or cell there founded by him. There is a parish, known as Kilcornan or Kilcoran, in the barony of Clanwilliam, and county of Tipperary. There an old church in ruins may yet be seen within an ancient burial-ground. The Cill-Churnan, with which our saint was connected, however, seems to be represented in the etymon of Kilcornan parish, situated within the ancient district of Caenraighe, now the barony of Kenry in the diocese and county of Luimneach or Limerick. Within this parish, and quite close to the beautiful demesne of Curragh Chase, are the ruins of an ancient church at Killeen. These vestiges and the old burial-ground most probably mark the former site of St. Curnan Beg’s religious establishment. At all events, the writer is assured by Aubrey De Vere, Esq., that he had never heard any tradition regarding any other church-site wthin the bounds of Kilcornan parish.

    The following are very nearly the dimensions of this old church. In length, it measures about forty-five feet; in breadth, it is about twenty-four feet; the height of the side-walls reaches to about fourteen feet; while the height of the gables is about twenty-two feet. The walls are about two feet nine inches in thickness. There are windows at both sides, three feet high, and six inches wide. There is a window at the east end. Under the gable, at the west end, there is a space about six feet by two – probably a window, or possibly the space for hanging a bell. The church does not appear to lie exactly east and west. In the northern wall, opposite the entrance, there is an arch, nearly filled up with masonry. This appears to have been, at one time, a second entrance: it is about seven feet and a half-foot in height by about three feet in width. The entrance is at the southern side, and it consists of an arched opening, six feet by three feet. It stands on a gentle, grassy slope, about six feet high, and in a rough green field, with a few bushes and brambles overgrowing. The walls slant externally from about four feet near the foundations, while this circumstance imparts a character of solidity and dignity to the antique structure. It stands on an elevated slope of about twenty feet over the adjoining grounds….

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

  • Saint Cera of Kilkeary, January 5

    January 5 is one of the feast days of Saint Ceara, patroness of Kilkeary, County Tipperary. The account below has been taken from Volume I of Canon O’Hanlon’s Lives of the Irish Saints:

     

    ST. CEARA, CIAR, CYRA, CIOR, OR CERA, VIRGIN, PATRONESS OF KILKEARY PARISH, COUNTY OF TIPPERARY.

    [SEVENTH CENTURY.]

    We find the name of this holy virgin variously written Ceara, Ciar, Cior, Cyra, and Cera in the Irish Menologies. Our national hagiographist, Colgan, has endeavoured to compile acts of this saint for the 5th of January; but it is probable he fell into mistakes during the process. According to his computation, she must have been born sometime about the middle of the sixth century. It seems more likely, however, that her birth took place about or after the commencement of the century succeeding. The father of this holy virgin was named Duibhre. Her origin is derived from the royal race of Conor, King of Ireland. Both in this island and in Scotland many royal and saintly descendants from this monarch flourished. As founders of families and religious houses many of those personages are distinguished.

    St. Cera is said to have been a native of Muscraidhe Thire but in what particular part of the present baronies of Upper and Lower Ormond, in Tipperary county, she was born has not transpired. As she grew, however, the fame of her sanctity and miracles became widely known. A miracle having reference to her is introduced by Colgan, in which it is stated, that at the request of St. Brendan, patron of Clonfert, this holy virgin, St. Cera, by her prayers extinguished a pestiferous fire which had broken out in the region of Muscraidhe Thire.” Her reputation for piety soon drew many virtuous persons to imitate her example. She was then induced to erect a nunnery, which took the name of Cill Ceire from her. It is now known as Kilkeary, near Nenagh, in the barony of Upper Ormond, county Tipperary. Here she governed a community of nuns, but not so early as the sixth century.

    There appears to be no sufficient reason for supposing she lived contemporaneously with St. Brendan of Clonfert; and the story to which allusion has been already made may rest only on popular rumour, or have reference to some other St. Cera. Perhaps, indeed, as we shall see hereafter, she may have lived in the time of a St. Brendan, who was quite a different person; and in the case of homonymous saints, it may often be doubted, if legends prevailing and attributed to one of them may not rather be ascribed to some other, and to a totally distinct person.

    Having ruled over her religious establishment in Muscraighe Thire for some time with great prudence and sanctity, Cera found the number of her postulants daily on the increase. She then resolved on seeking another location where she might erect a second house. Accordingly, the holy woman left Kilkeary, in company with some of her religious. She directed her course, it is said, towards Heli, or Ely O’Carroll country – but it would appear she went beyond its bounds to the northern part of the King’s County. From St. Fintan Munnu she is said to have obtained the site for a nunnery, and at a place called Tech Telle. It is now known as Tehelly. There St. Fintan Munnu lived; but to St. Cera and to the five nuns who accompanied her he resigned that site. Here she is thought to have remained for some time – afterwards she returned to Kilkeary.

    A learned writer supposes St. Cera’s establishment was not formed at Kilkeary until after she had left Tech Telle; but for this opinion he assigns no valid reason. At all events, in Kilkeary she spent many years, which were devoted to the exercises of penance and of a holy life. To reconcile his conjecture that St. Cera lived before the death of St. Brendan the Navigator, Colgan maintains that she must have attained the extraordinary age of 120 or 130 years. This holy virgin resigned her pure soul to the Creator on the 5th day of January, A.D. 679,- but another festival to her memory is held on the 16th of October. The following stanza, from the Leabhar Breac copy of the Feilire of St. Oengus, in Irish, at the Nones of January, with its English translation, was obligingly furnished by Mr. O’Longan : —

    ” The call of Semeoin, the sage,
    To Christ of purest form ;
    A new transitory gentle sun was
    Ciar, the daughter of Duibrea. ”

    According to this translation, the probable inference to be drawn from the foregoing would be that Ciar lived for a short time only, and yet her virtues shone brightly; while it is right to observe the commentator on this passage seemed to think she lived only a short time before St. Oengus wrote, for in a gloss he thus states:

    “not long since, or short since, she was, i.e., in Cill Chen, in Muscraidhe Thire, and she is of the race of Conaire.”

    The Semeoin alluded to in the text was St. Simeon Stylites, venerated at the 5th of January. The “Martyrology of Tallagh,” the “Calendar of Cashel,” Marianus O’Gorman, and the “Martyrology of Donegal,” commemorate a Ceara on both these days. This latter feast, however, may have reference to a different saint of the name, for we find her called Ceara, of Maghascadh. Yet it is expressly stated by Marianus O’Gorman and Charles Maguire that the present St. Cera’s body was buried in the Church of Magh-ascadh. It seems doubtful enough if this can be identical with the Church of Kill-chere, where the “Calendar of Cashel” and other authorities state that her remains repose. Some confusion seems to have arisen, for there are different saints of this name represented as having been assigned to various days in our Menologies. It is conjectured by Colgan that the 5th of January must have been her natalis, or the date for St. Cera’s death – while the 16th of October must refer to some other commemoration or solemnity, probably to a translation of her relics.

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