OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Irish Saints

  • Saint Aedhan, August 27

    On August 27 the name of Saint Aedhan (Aidan) appears on the Irish calendars. However, as is so often the case, there are various holy men of this name recorded in our martyrologies so trying to identify this one specifically is well-nigh impossible. Canon O’Hanlon mentions various candidates before admitting that he cannot positively identify them with the saint commemorated on August 27. In his entry for the saint below he also mentions that the seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, thought today’s saint may possibly be linked to Clontarf, County Dublin and to the family of Saint Brigid of Kildare:

    St. Aedhan or Aidan, possibly at Clontarf, County Dublin.

    The simple notice of Aidan appears in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 27th of August. The same mode of entry is to be found in that copy contained in the Book of Leinster. There is a saint having this name, and also called Mocukein or belonging to the race of Kien, nephew to St. Columkille, and son of his sister Sinecha. However, it cannot be said, that he was identical with the present Aidan. There is likewise an Aedhan, son to Lughar, and sprung from the race of Eochaidh Finnfuathart, son of Feidhlimidh Reachtmar, son to Tuathal Teachtmar, from whom Brighet descends.  As we have already found, there are several holy men, named Aedh, Aedhan or Aidan, in our Irish Calendars, at different days of the year; many of those are distinguished by parentage or place, while some are simply noted—-as in this instance—without any such clue to their recognition. According to Colgan, the Aidan, belonging to St. Brigid’s  family, seems to have been venerated at a Cluain Tarbh—now probably Clontarf, County Dublin—either on the 27th of August, or on the 4th of  September. In the Martyrology of Donegal, at this same date, is entered Aedhan, but without any peculiar recognition of family descent or place of residence.

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  • Saint Michan of Dublin, August 25

    August 25 is the feast of a Dublin saint, Michan, a visit to whose church forms an essential part of any visit to the Irish capital. The fame of the church is centred on the mummified remains in the crypt which include a knightly figure known as ‘The Crusader’ and two brothers of the Shears family who were executed during the 1798 Rebellion. The founding saint however, is a shadowy figure around whom there are three main theories regarding his identity:

    1. A 16th-century writer, Meredith Hanmer, suggested that Saint Michan was of Danish origin, a theory which is still held by some today.

    2. A 17th-century hagiologist, Father Henry Fitzsimon, is the source of a quite extraordinary Life of the saint which showed that he was heir to the King of Canaan. Despite this he becomes a priest and then a bishop in the eastern church, even taking charge of Constantinople at one point. Canon O’Hanlon gives a summary of this Life in footnote 2 of the first chapter of his entry on Saint Michan in Volume VIII of The Lives of the Irish Saints:

    The Bollandists alluding to him, at the 25th of August, relate, that they had an apocryphal “Vita Sancti Micheae,” but that abounded altogether in fables; and to prove this statement, they adduce some specimens of absurd narratives drawn from it. This tract was contained in a drawer, among other Manuscript Lives of Irish Saints, received from Father Henry Fitzsimon, and it was marked + M.S. 167 A. That ” Vita Sancti Micheae” was to be found at fol. 20 et seq. In it, the father of St. Michee is stated to have been King over the Chananaeans, and his name was Obeth, the son of Eliud; while his mother was named Alipia, and she was daughter to the King of Arabia. For twenty years she was sterile,when an angel predicted the birth of Michee, and the boy was afterwards baptized by Magonius, Bishop of Alexandria. When he was seventeen years old, Obeth died, then Michee was offered succession over the Kingdom of Chananaeum, but this he refused. He then went to the city of Alexandria, where he received the monk’s habit from the bishop, and he was initiated to the priesthood, in the thirtieth year of his age. Then returning to his native country, he was consecrated bishop, and governed in that capacity for twenty-two years. Afterwards he left that place under angelic guidance. The narrative then continues in the original Latin: “inde perveniens ad ripam Nili fluminis, sociis LX sibi assecutis, fluminis impetum benedictionis oppositione constringens, cum omni comitatu suo securus pertransiit. Deinde ad littus Maris Rubri cum sociis veniens, secundum illud Israelitici populi, ab expugnatione Pharaonis per Dominum salvati, sic (sicco) vestigio transiturn fecit.” The narrative then continues, that having spent two months at Jerusalem, there he continued to exercise the patriarchal ministry for seven years. During that time, he was directed by an angel to Mount Sion, and there he was shown that tree, from which the precious wood (of the cross) had been cut. By order of the angel, he also cut three baculi from it, and the angel took a fourth baculus. Subsequently, Michee is sent to Constantinople, and there he presided over that church. Again, having spent seven years there, he passed over the Alps. Furthermore accompanied by seven thousand companions he travelled over Gaul, the angel accompanying him, and coming to the English sea, he found no ships in which to cross; yet, with his companions, Michee passed over with dry feet. With such abbreviated notice of the narrative, the Bollandists derisively close their account, thinking they had already given more than sufficient of such absurdities. See ” Acta Sanctorum,” tomus v., Augusti xxv. Among the pretermitted Saints, p. 3.

    3.  It is equally possible that Saint Michan is a native Irish figure, a thesis which has been advanced again in a recent academic work on medieval Dublin.  In a short historical piece here by the Irish Capuchins, they suggest that he may also have had a Welsh link. However, given that Saint Michan’s name does not occur in the earlier Irish calendars and occurs for the first time in the 12th-century Martyrology of Gorman, this Welsh link might reflect a Cambro-Norman influence. A Norman influence also seems to be at work in the dedication of the south aisle of Saint Michan’s Church in Dublin to the Anglo-Saxon female saint Osyth of Chich. There is a useful critical edition of her Life which describes the use the Normans made of this saint here.

    So, with all of this in mind we can now turn to Canon O’Hanlon’s account of Saint Michan. I have omitted much of the detail of the later history of the church, but the original volume is available through the Internet Archive if anyone wishes to follow it up:

    ST. MICHAN, PATRON OF ST. MICHAN’S PARISH, AND CHURCH, IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

    [PROBABLY IN THE TENTH OR ELEVENTH CENTURY.]

    IT appears rather strange, that a Saint, intimately connected with a city, which contains so many records of its early history, should have left little trace of his own personality to our time. The forms of his name are very various—Thus, Michanus, Mighan, Myghan, Michee, and Mahano are found in different mediaeval documents, which have reference to him and to the well-known church and parish of which he is the patron. The name Michanus is entered at this date, in the anonymous calendar, published by O’Sullivan Beare. For all that is personally known of the present holy man, we might end the account in a very few paragraphs. But the history of his parish, and of the churches there dedicated to him, may have some interest for our readers.Whether St. Michan is to be regarded as a Danish or an Irish saint is a matter contested. One of our most learned Irish antiquaries seems inclined to think he was of the former race. If we are to follow the prevailing  popular opinion of the inhabitants of Dublin, in the sixteenth century, we are likely to concur in the statement of Rev. Dr. Meredith Hanmer, who calls St. Michan a “Dane and Bishop.”  Notwithstanding the latter distinction accorded him, and for which Hanmer appears to have had even documentary warrant, it does not seem likely, that Michan had been advanced to the episcopal dignity. A very probable opinion may be formed, as the name Michan, in any of its forms, is not found historically to have been at all common in Irish families, that the present holy man was of Danish origin, and born in Dublin, which in his time had been colonized by Scandinavians, who had embraced the Christian faith. The period when he flourished is unknown.

    His name occurs in the Calendar prefixed to the Martyrology of Christ Church, Dublin, under 25th August—viii. Kal., Sept.—as S. Michee Confessoris; while he is described in the Martyrology itself in these terms, and at the same date: “Eodem die; sancti Michee episcopi, confessoris.” However, we are told, that the insertion of the word episcopi is in a more recent hand.  In the Calendars prefixed to two ancient Breviaries—one of these belonging to St. John’s Church, Dublin, the other to Clondalkin—and now in Trinity College Library, Dublin, the word “Episcopi” is inserted before “Confessoris.” By some writers, he is regarded, as not having advanced beyond the grade of priest; and this opinion is altogether probable, since no record presents his parish in the character of having been a primitive See. St. Michan must have lived in the eleventh or perhaps the preceding century; but the year for his decease has not been recorded. The Danes or Ostmen, who had settled in Dublin, and who had surrounded their city with walls, embraced Christianity in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Their conversion from Paganism placed them on more friendly relations with the Irish. Many of the Dublin Ostmen then chose to live on the north side of the Liffey, about 1095 and owing to this circumstance, all that district near the river was known by the denomination of Ostmantown— afterwards corrupted to Oxmantown Green. These residents are thought to have built the Church of St. Michan. This church was dedicated to him, on the 14th of May, and Dr. Meredith Hanmer places the foundation of St. Michan’s Church on the Fair Green or Commune, afterwards called Ostmontowne Green. This parcel of land is said to have been given by Murchard or Moragh, King of Leinster, for that purpose.

    The festival of St. Michan was celebrated always on the 25th of August, and it seems to have been held as a general holy day in that parish, to refrain from servile works. Doubtless religious ceremonies were also prescribed, for its greater solemnity. In the year 1565, we have a glimpse of the manner in which St. Michan’s feast had been observed in Dublin, or at least in that parish of which he was patron. The parish of St. Michan, during six centuries, was the only parish on the north side of the River Liffey, and it is supposed to be coeval with the earliest parishes in the City of Dublin “Within the Walls.” About the year 948, a Benedictine Abbey, since known as St. Mary’s Abbey, was founded on the northern bank of the Liffey. It was endowed with all the rich and fertile pasture land, stretching eastwards along the banks of the River Liffey, so far as the Tolka. The parish of St. Michan is one of the oldest parishes in Dublin. It extended from the River Liffey northwards, so far as Little Cabra; and from St. Mary’s Abbey it reached westward, to Oxmantown Green. In Archbishop Alan’s Register, the church is called ” Ecclesia S. Michie,” and ” Ecclesia S. Micheani.” And in the Calendar prefixed to the Martyrology of Christ Church, the 14th of May is assigned as the date for the dedication of the Church of St. Michan :—” ii Id Maii, Dedicacio Ecclesiae Sancti Michee.” In the Repertorium Viride of Archbishop Alan, it is likewise noticed as ” Ecclesia de Sto Mahano.”…

    …A somewhat remarkable feature attached to the church of St. Michan is, that its founders dedicated the building to St. Michan, and the south aisle to St. Syth, or Osyth. In the vestry-books of St. Michan’s parish it is often referred to as “St. Syth’s Aisle.” Here stood the “Counting Table,” and doubtless, here also were held the meetings of a guild which was called after her name. St. Osyth was a daughter of Redwald, King of East Anglia, who married a king of the East Angles, but the same day she obtained his consent to live always a virgin. That king, confirming her in such religious purpose, bestowed on her the manor of Chick. Having made a vow of virginity, she retired to Chick, now a parish in the hundred of Tendring, County of Essex. There she founded a church and a nunnery, and she presided over them for several years with great sanctity; but these were afterwards plundered by the Danes, who beheaded the foundress near an adjacent fountain. This happened about the year 870, during the inroads of Hinguar and Hubba, the barbarous Danish leaders. For fear of the Northmen pirates, her body, after some time, was removed to Ailesbury, and it remained there forty-six years, after which it was brought back to Chick or Chich, near Colchester, and which was remarkable for its noble Abbey of Regular Canons in times long past, while its name has been derived from St. Osyth, the patroness. This house continued till the dissolution of the monasteries, and it was famous for the possession of relics, which were honoured with the performance of many miracles. The festival of this holy virgin, variedly called Osyth, Syth, Sitha. Scite, is noted on the 13th of May, in some of our Martyrologies and Calendars. Her festival was celebrated with an Office of Nine Lesson, as we find in a Manuscript Breviary of the fifteenth century, and now preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. In the original hand of this Manuscript is the entry “Scite Virginis, ix. lc.” This Breviary was written in Ireland, as appears from an entry on the first leaf; and there is, therefore, some reason to think, that Sitha may be an Irish saint, although no other native Calendar to which the writer has access contains her name, nor is she mentioned by Aengus, Colgan, or any other authority. The introduction of her name into the Calendar, as appears from the recent entries in the Christ Church volume, and in the Chain-Book of the Dublin Corporation, must have taken place, at least in the Diocese of Dublin, about the end of the fifteenth century…

    As has been already stated, at this date, in the ancient Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, and now known as Christ Church, Dublin, there is a record of St. Michan, Confessor. A more recent hand has there inserted his title as a Bishop.  In the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 25th of August, we find that a festival was celebrated to honour St. Michan of Cill Michen, in Ath-cliath, now Dublin city. No records seem to have been preserved, and which might serve to attest the year, when St. Michan’s Church had been first erected; but, it is not probable, that an earlier building stood on the site of its present vaults. However, the upper structure was remodelled or repaired at different periods. Nor is there good warrant for the statement, that St. Michan’s body is yet preserved in one of the church vaults. It is altogether probable, however, that the holy ecclesiastic himself may have built that church during his life-time, and that he may have been buried therein, or at least, in the cemetery adjoining. It is likely, moreover, that the original church and cemetery were laid out, at one and the same time.

    There is a place called Cloonymeaghan, in the barony of Corran, and county of Sligo, and it has been rendered “Cluain-michan, i.e., the retreat of Mhican.” According to tradition, it is stated, that St. Mhican, the patron of a parish in Dublin, which bears his name, was a bishop and confessor, and perhaps an abbot. …

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  • Saint Eugene of Ardstraw, August 23

    August 23 is the feastday of the episcopal patron of the diocese of Derry, Saint Eugene or Eogan of Ardstraw. I have previously posted an account of his life and some of his miracles here, but below is a fuller extract from Canon O’Hanlon’s Lives of the Irish Saints, including a wonderful introduction to the Ireland of Saint Eugene’s time as a land of saints and scholars and an equally delightful homiletic flourish at its conclusion.

    ST. EOGAN OR EUGENE, BISHOP OF ARDSTRAW, AND PATRON OF DERRY. [FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES.]

    UNDER the ceaseless labours of blessed Patrick, Ireland soon became a favoured spot in the vineyard of the Church, when sainted men, like the Apostles of old, left all things at his preaching to follow Christ. Princes and nobles were not ashamed to lay aside the pomps of royalty, and to put on the humbler garb of the Christian missionary. Tender virgins were crowding to the cells of Brigid—the Mary of Erin—and consecrating their lives to the service of God and of His poor. Those were truly the ages of faith, when churches and monasteries rose as if by magic on every mountain and in every valley ; when the music of sacred hymns and of Divine psalmody was borne on every breeze, and when that golden era foretold in burning words by Isaiah of old seemed to be fully realized in this Island. “The land that was desolate and impassable, shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and nourish like the lily.” Whether viewed in a political or religious aspect, Derry is a spot dear to the heart of the annalist, for hallowed reminiscences cluster round it, and the golden glory of bygone days sheds still their lustre on the See of Eugene and the city of Columkille. From immemorial ages, the “place of the oaks ” was sacred ; for here, even the Druids, it is traditionally held, had one of their most famous colleges. From the Holy Island—for such formerly Derry was—went forth the royal poets, the sage legislators, the learned astronomers, and the well-instructed annalists. There the mystic rites of Druidism were once studied, and there in after times the young aspirant to the priestly dignity underwent his long and arduous novitiate.

    The festival of St. Eogan or Eugene dates from a very early period in the Irish Church, and it was held on this date. The learned hagiologist, Colgan, had intended to publish the Acts of St. Eugene, at the 23rd of August, as may be inferred from his list of unedited Manuscripts. However, these Acts of St. Eugenius, bishop of Ardsrata, are preserved in the Burgundian Library at Bruxelles. They have since been edited and published  by Carolus de Smedt and Joseph de Backer, Bollandist Fathers, under the auspices of the Right Hon. John Patrick, Marquis of Bute. At the 23rd of August, the Bollandists present us with Acts of St. Eugene, by some anonymous writer. A previous commentary is added, with several notes, by Father William Cuper, S.J. These Acts were composed as a panegyric on the saint, and evidently they were intended to serve as a sermon for his festival. Briefly, too, does Bishop Challoner enter his record at this day. The Rev. Alban Butler has a short article in reference to him at this same date, as likewise the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, and the Petits Bollandistes. The Life and Acts of St. Eugene are involved in much obscurity, since the most ancient memoir we possess seems to have been written centuries after his period, and it abounds in legends. Still, it must be observed, there are certain coincidences that correspond or are not irreconcilable with synchronous persons, times and places, as gleaned from independent records.

    Eugene belonged to a Leinster family, on the paternal side. He sprung from the race of Laeghaire Lore, son to Ugaine Mór, from whom the Leinstermen are descended, according to the O’Clerys… We are informed, that Cainnech of Leinster was father of Eugenius, while his mother is named Muindecha, and she belonged by race to the territory of Mugdarnia, in the present county of Down. The illustrious St. Kevin ot Glendalough was a near relative…

    While yet of tender years, Eugene, with a great number of other boys and girls, received his early education with the youthful Tighernach, in the school at Clones. From that place, the child was carried away captive to Britain by marauding pirates, and Tighernach also shared this captivity. We are informed, that the holy and wise Neunyo, also called Mancenus, and who was in Rosnat monastery procured their liberation from the King of Britain. Afterwards, he took charge of their religious training, and he found them to be docile students. For some years, they were under the tutelage of St. Ninnian, together with a holy youth named Corpre, who was afterwards bishop of Coleraine, in Ireland. A second time, Eugene, with his companions, was carried into captivity and brought to Brittany—supposed to be in Gaul —as the pirates were from this latter country. They were detained as slaves in Armorica, by a Gallic King, who obliged them to work in a mill. The passion for reading was still strong with the three holy youths, Tighernach, Eugene and Corpre ; but one day, while thus engaged, the milling business appears to have been suspended, when the king’s steward surprised the students, and roughly ordered the work to proceed. When he left, the youths piously besought the Almighty, to give them a respite from labour, and an opportunity for reading. Instantly, the Angels of God appeared, and kept the mill-wheel revolving, while the youths were reading. When the king was informed about this circumstance, he declared that they should return to Rosnat monastery to continue their studies. Having thus recovered miraculously their freedom, they were again restored to their beloved master, giving thanks to God for the favours bestowed on them. After obtaining his liberty from the king, Eugene studied for some years in the monastery of Rosnat. At length, with the earnest recommendation and prayers of his monks, Nennius was induced to sail for Ireland, with both of his disciples, Tighernach and Eugene. They founded monasteries afterwards in the territory of Lagenia, now Leinster.

    It was on this occasion, that Eugene established the monastery of Kilnamanagh, in Cualann—the modern district of Wicklow—and he there led a life of sanctity, mortification and prayer. Over that house he presided as Abbot, for fifteen years, enjoying a character without stain or reproach. There, too, he moulded the minds of many most illustrious prelates and saints, of whom not the least distinguished is said to have been his nephew, Coemghen or Kevin, who, for his singular and unearthly beauty, was stated by the legend to have been baptized by an angel.

    In obedience to a Divine admonition, Eugene set out for the north to preach the Gospel. Still, it was with some degree of regret; especially as his monks sorrowfully asked him who should be their Abbot, if he departed from them. Their holy superior replied: “Let each one of you become Abbot, and prior, and minister; I, although absent in the body, shall be with you in spirit. I shall hear what you say, even when spoken in whisper, and still more when you speak aloud.” About the same time, St. Tighernach left Leinster, and in conjunction with St. Eugene, he founded a celebrated monastery at Clones, otherwise denominated Gaballiunense ; while another religious domicile was founded at a place, the Latin equivalent of which is Sylva humilis. Both of those holy prelates continued that tender affection and firm friendship they had early formed as school-fellows; and as their respective places were not very far apart, they often enjoyed each other’s society, and formed a spiritual alliance in their companionship. Seeking a suitable place to fix his own residence, Eugene, the son of Cainech, in obedience to orders received, established a monastery at Ardstraw. This is at present the name of an extensive rural parish, and it is merely an anglicized form of the ancient Ard-straha which means the height by or near the bank of the river…There, too, it is believed, that St. Eugene established a primitive See, after he had been consecrated a Bishop.

    Considerable doubt exists as to the precise year of his coming to Tyrone; for while some represent him as having been the disciple of St. Patrick, others with more probability assert, that he was the contemporary of St. Columkille, St. Kevin, and St. Canice. This appears the more certain, from the date of his death, which the Irish authorities fix at a late period in the sixth century; while the year 617, or 618, of the Christian era, has even been stated for that event, by some of our annalists… In the monastery at Ardstraw, Eogan led a most holy life, being distinguished for his miracles and for a spirit of prophecy.

    It is stated, that Eugene was living, about the year 570. Having attained a mature term of years, and a full measure of merit in the sight of God, he was happily called out of this world, some time in the sixth century. Having been seized with a grievous infirmity, which grew on him day by day, calling his monks around him, he received Extreme Unction and the Holy Viaticum, with sentiments of the most pious resignation. When such religious rites had been administered, his monks separated into two choirs, and standing, they alternately chaunted appropriate psalms. During that pious and solemn celebration of the Divine Office, Angels received the soul of Eogan, and bore it to Christ, whom he had so long and so faithfully served. It is most generally allowed by our writers, that St. Eugene of Ardstraw died some time in the sixth century although other authorities have prolonged his life to the seventh. The Annals of Clonmacnoise state, that Eugene died so late as A.D. 618…

    The published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 23rd of August, inserts a festival in honor of Eoghan, Bishop of Arda Sratha. Somewhat differently spelled is that entry, in the Book of Leinster, at x. of the September Kalends. He is recorded, in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the same date, as Eoghan Bishop, of Ard-Sratha, in Cinel Moain, in Ulster. It is generally thought, that he died on the 33rd of August; for then his festival occurs in all the Calendars. In the Diocese of Derry, the feast of this holy Patron is celebrated on that day for a Bishop and Confessor, as a Double of the First Class with an octave.

    …Like the charming flowers, that cover the face of our fair Island on each returning May-day, and whose places and forms soon fade even from our view, are many of our holy countrymen. The fragrance of their virtues however remains, and after death again they arise and bloom in a state of immortality, while their remembrance is still treasured among our best inheritances. Their examples yet inspire us to labour for the heavenly crown. We should bear in mind to attain such a reward, that four things especially concur in justification : the infusion of grace, the motion arising from grace and free-will, contrition and the pardon of sin. The saints had an early intuition of God’s purpose to make them vessels of election; they corresponded with the Divine call with alacrity and zeal; they were humble and contrite; while such dispositions were sure to give them place among the true followers of Christ on earth, and a high degree of happiness and glory among the beatified in Heaven.

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