OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Irish Saints

  • Saint Tassach of Raholp, April 14

    On April 14 we commemorate a saint with a role in Patrician hagiography, Tassach of Raholp, County Down.  For tradition says that it was Saint Tassach who administered the Holy Communion to Saint Patrick on his deathbed. He is associated with the site of a small church at Raholp, and an online report on recent excavations at the site can be read here. Below is Canon O’Hanlon’s account of the saint which draws on the various traditions surrounding him, chief of which was that Tassach was a skilled craftsman whose name is linked to the most famous relic of Saint Patrick, the Bachall Íosa, or Staff of Jesus.

    ST. TASSACH, BISHOP OF RAHOLP, COUNTY OF DOWN.
    [FIFTH CENTURY.]

    FROM his peculiar connexion with the great Irish Apostle, St. Patrick, the present holy personage deservedly fills a niche, among our earliest Christian celebrities. The name of Tassach, Bishop, occurs, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at this date. While the Bollandists enter his name, S. Tassagus, from the same authority, they state, that nothing had come under their reading regarding him, or the other Irish Saints it notices, on the 14th of April. Our national hagiologist. Father John Colgan, appears to have prepared some acts of this saint, for publication, at this day; and, he promised a further dissertation, regarding the present holy man, at the 14th of April. In one passage of the Tripartite Life, our Saint’s name seems to have been rather erroneously written Tassa. The name of this holy bishop is to be found, likewise, in Fitzsimon’s Catalogue of our national Saints.

    It may be reasonably conjectured, that St. Tassach was born some time, in the earlier part of the fifth century ; but where or when, we are not able to ascertain. His parents were pagans, we may presume, and it seems not unlikely they were connected with the northern parts of Ulster, which are associated, likewise, with the ministry of this holy bishop. Being classed, as a disciple of St. Patrick, St. Tassach was baptized, most probably, among the earliest converts made, when that part of Ultonia, where the Irish Apostle first landed, had been visited. Either he was brought up to some skilled workmanship in metals, or he had a natural taste for mechanics and art, in such a direction. But, we are at a loss to discover, when the Irish Apostle formed the acquaintance of Tassach, and learned to appreciate his sincere piety and artistic ingenuity…

    It seems probable, that St. Tassach had been prepared for the priesthood, by St. Patrick himself; but, by whom he was ordained, we do not discover. Again, Tassach had the gift of prophecy, for the Apostle of Ireland, he had predicted, should receive the Holy Viaticum, at his hands. We are informed, that St. Tassach was appointed as bishop over the Church, at Raholp; but, our early annals do not record any successors in this See. The townland lies, in the west angle of Ballyculter Parish. In a sub denomination, called Banagher, or Benagh, about 100 yards to the right of that road, leading from Downpatrick to Ballyculter, are the ruins, called Churchmoyley. Tradition ascribes the foundation of the Church of St. Patrick, to whom the present saint was artificer, and bishop, as stated in an old gloss, to the Martyroiogy of St. Aengus. Here, St. Tassach most probably lived, and in close relationship, with his venerated Master, especially during the declining period of St. Patrick’s life. The church ruins and cemetery there occupy about half a rood of ground. From its elevation above the surrounding field, the latter appears to have been formerly a rath.

    We are furnished with very few details, which might enable us to form a proper estimate of St. Tassach’s missionary career. He was one of Patrick’s most favourite companions, and an artificer, who manufactured for him croziers, crosses, shrines, and bells, according to received accounts. Even, by St. Fiach, we are told, that Tassach was a worker in metals, for St. Patrick; and, it is stated, that he first covered the staff of Jesus, with elegant workmanship, in his art. One of the most remarkable events of his life is the recorded fact, that he was the Tassach, who gave the body of Christ to St Patrick and at the request of the Apostle, in the monastery of Sabhall, or Saul, as the Life of Patrick states. Besides, various Acts of our Apostle allude to him, as having administered the Holy Communion to St. Patrick, when he had been admonished by the Angel of his approaching end, and during the holy man’s last illness. At Kill-Chlopta,near Down, his Natalis was celebrated; but, we have no account of when he died, only that we may safely infer, St. Tassach survived his illustrious master, in the government of his particular See. From an early date, this holy Bishop seems to have been venerated in the Irish Church; and, we find him commemorated by St. Aengus, in his Feilire, at the 14th of April. At the same date, he is noticed, in the Martyrology of Marianus O’Gorman. Likewise, on this day, we find mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegal, the name of Tassach, Bishop, of Rath Colptha, or Raholp, in Ulster, i.e., in Leth-Cathail, now known as Lecale. Under the local heading, Duald Mac Firbis enters, Bishop Tassach—in Rath-Colpa—Patrick’s artist—it was he that gave the communion to Patrick, before his death; at April the 4th is the date for his feast. In Scotland, St. Tassagh was commemorated, likewise, on this day, as we find it, in the Kalendar of Drummond. This commemoration was due, doubtless, to the circumstance of his close connection during life with St. Patrick, whose glorious and holy departure he helped to sooth and lighten, by the body and blood of our Divine Lord.

     

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  • 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 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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