OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Female Saints

  • Saint Guibhsech of Cloonburren, June 20

    On June 20 we remember one of the female saints of the monastery of Cloonburren, County Roscommon. As is so often the case, all Canon O’Hanlon can bring us are the details of the name of Saint Guibhsech, the locality where she flourished and the Calendars on which she is commemorated:

    St. Guibhsech, of Cluain-boirenn, now Cloonburren, County of Roscommon.

    Veneration was given on this day to Guibhsech, of Cluain-boirenn, as we find registered in the Martyrology of Donegal. Her place is now called Cloonburren, in the parish of Moore, and near the Shannon, in the barony of Moycarn, and county of Roscommon. St. Cairech Dergain [feastday February 9] was patroness of this church. A nunnery seems to have existed here from a remote period. The deaths of some of its Abbesses are found recorded in our Annals.

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  • Saint Luathrenna of Kill Luathrenn, June 8

    Among the saints commemorated on the Irish calendars on June 8 is Luathrenna or Luaithrenn, a female saint from County Sligo. Canon O’Hanlon brings us the details:

    St. Luathrenna, or Luaithrenn, Virgin, of Kill Luathrenn, or Killurin, County of Sligo.

    …The simple entry Luaitrind, Achaidh Coraind, occurs in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 8th of June. The Abbot St. Corbmac—who flourished in the sixth century—predicted the future sanctity of this virgin, according to an account, contained in his Life, as published by Colgan. To this we have elsewhere alluded. This pious woman descended from the race of Corbmac Gaileng, son to Tadhg, son of Cian, son to Oilioll Oluim, according to the compiler of the O’Clerys’ Calendar. This also agrees with a statement of the “Sanctilogium Genealogicum.” This virgin is said to have been the daughter of Colman, son to Falbe, son of Fennflatha, son to Daleus, son of Drona, son to Sualius, son of Fiden, son to Fidheurius, son of Artcherb, son to Fidchorb, son of Corb, son to Lugha —from whom the territory of Lugnia, in Connaught, has been named. In the Life of St. Corbmac, our holy virgin is called daughter of Falbe. But she was rather his granddaughter, as would appear from the foregoing genealogy. Her Acts seem to have perished, if they had ever been recorded; nor has her period been ascertained. The festival of this virgin was kept, on the 8th of June, in the Church of Kill Luathrenn, situated within that territory of Connaught, commonly called Corann. Tradition thus accounts for its name. A gentle and skilful harper, named Corann, received this territory as a free gift, on account of his musical and astrological accomplishments. The topographical tract, which is known as the Duinseanchus, has a legendary account of this district. It would seem, the present Killuran, must be sought for, in the old territory of Corann. According to Dr. O’Donovan, this is now the name of a barony, in the county of Sligo. Within the same county, and in the adjoining barony of Leyny, lies the parish of Killoran. There can hardly be a doubt, but that its denomination has been derived from the present St. Luaithrenn, and probably to her it was specially dedicated. However, there is an old church of this parish in ruins, but the patron is not remembered. It stood in the townland of Killoran North, and near a Lough so called. To a large extent, the surface of this parish is boggy and mountainous; but, owing to drainage, within the present century, the soil has been considerably improved. According to the Martyrology of Donegal, we find, that on this day was venerated, Luaithrenn, Virgin, of Cill Luaithrenn, in Coraun of Connacht.

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  • Saint Cummain of Dal Buinne, May 29

    May 29 is the feast of a female saint Commain, daughter of Aillen, who seems to have flourished in the County Down parish of Ballyphilip, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    St. Commain, Virgin, of Dal-Buinne, and of Derry, Parish of Ballyphillip, County of Down.

    In the “Felire” of St. Aengus, at the 29th of May, a festival is entered for Cummain, who is characterized as “the pure and good.” In the “Leabhar Breac” copy, the following stanza appears, with its translation, by Dr Whitley Stokes:

    —” May Pollio’s great host convey us to the star-heaven,
    with Cummain the pure and good,
    daughter of lovable Aillen.”—

    From the way, in which this holy virgin’s name has been noticed in a stanza of that metrical Calendar, we infer, she was a daughter of Aillen, or Allen. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, at this date, the entry is, Cumne, Virgin, i. Ingen Alleain, in Aird Ulladh. The Bollandists notice her, at the 29th of May, as Cumania, filia Alleani in Ardvladh, while quoting the same authority. She descended from the race of Fiatach Finn —head of the Dal-Fiatach and monarch of Erin—in this wise. Her father Aillen was son of Baedan, son to Echaid, son of Brian, son to Enna, son of Cathbu, son of Echaid Gunnat, son of Fiacc of Dal Fiatach. In another place, she seems to have been connected with a church, in the territory of Dal-m-Buinne—in Latin Dalmunia—but the exact site is now unknown. To it, allusion appears to be made, in the “Felire” of Aengus, at the 29th of May. An alternative conjecture of a commentator seems to be, that a Cill Ingen Aillen, in Idrone territory, county of Carlow, may have been her place. The church of Cumain, as we are told, lay in the Ards of Ulster. Her place has been identified with Derry, “an oak wood,” and a townland in the parish of Ballyphillip, County of Down. The surface of that parish forms a chief part of what is called Little Ardes, and it lies between the neck or sound of Lough Strangford and the Irish Sea…Here, the virgin’s feast was formerly kept, as a gloss on the Martyrology of Aengus states…Also, on this day, veneration was given, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal, to Commain, Virgin, of Daire-inghen-Allen, in Uladh.

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