OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Juvenilia

  • A Few of the Most Eminent of the Irish Saints

    Books written for children are among my favourite sources for the lives of the saints. I was recently having a look at an early twentieth-century school textbook ‘A Child’s History of Ireland’, and saw that the author, P.W. Joyce, included a list of what he termed ‘a few of the most eminent of the Irish saints’. I am always interested when reading any source to note which saints are under discussion, since the cult of the saints is not a static thing and interest in individual saints tends to wax and wane over the centuries. In Joyce’s list, which is a footnote to a longer entry for each of the three Irish patrons, he begins by numbering some of the great monastic founders, then moves on to a representative selection of Irish saints who flourished in Europe and finishes with the ninth-century scholar John Scotus Erigena. It is worth noting that in addition to Saint Brigid, he includes another two women in the list, Saints Ita and Dympna:

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    Besides Patrick, Brigit, and Columkille, the
    following are a few of the most eminent of the Irish saints:
    St. Ailbe of Emly in Limerick, who was ordained
    bishop of Cashel by St. Patrick: he was ecclesiastical head of Munster.
    St. Enna or Endeus of Aran in Galway Bay; died
    about 542. This island was afterwards called Ara-na-Naemh [naive], Aran of the
    saints, from the number of holy men who lived in it.
    St. Finnen of Clonard, the founder of the great
    school there: called “The Tutor of the Saints of Ireland”: died 549.
    St. Ciaran [Kieran] of Clonmacnoise, which became
    one of the greatest of all the Irish monasteries: died 549.
    St. Ciaran or Kieran, the patron of Ossory: born
    in the island of Cape Clear; but his father belonged to Ossory: died about 550.
    St. Ita, Ida, or Mida, virgin saint, of Killeedy
    in Limerick; often called the Brigit of Munster: died 569.
    St. Brendan of Clonfert in Galway, or
    “Brendan the Navigator”: born in Kerry: died 577.
    St. Senan of Scattery Island in the Shannon: died
    about 560.
    St. Comgall, the founder of the celebrated scbool
    of Bangor in Down, which rivalled Clonard: died 602.
    St. Kevin, the founder of Glendalough in Wicklow:
    died 618.
    St. Carrthach or Mochuda of Lisrnore, where he
    founded one of Ireland’s greatest schools: died 637.
    St. Adamnan the biographer of St. Columkille;
    ninth abbot of Iona: born in Donegal: died 703.
    Among the vast number of Irish men and women who
    became illustrious on the Continent, the following may be named : —
    St. Fursa of Peronne and his brothers Foillan and
    Ultan; Fursa died about 650 (see page 17).
    St. Dympna or Domnat of Gheel, virgin martyr, to
    whom the great sanatorium for lunatics at Gheel in Belgium is dedicated:
    daughter of an Irish pagan king: martyred, seventh century.
    St. Columbanus of Bobbio in Italy, a pupil of
    Bangor, founded the two monasteries of Luxeuil and Fontaines: expelled from
    Burgundy for denouncing the vices of king Theodoric; preached successfully to
    the Gauls; wrote learned letters: finally settled at Bobbio, where he died,
    615.
    St. Gall, a disciple of Columbanus, patron of St.
    Gall (in Switzerland) which was named from him.
    St. Fridolin the Traveller of Seckingen on the
    Rhine: died in the beginning of the sixth century.
    St. Kilian the apostle of Franconia: martyred
    689.
    St. Cataldus bishop of Tarentum, from the school
    of Lismore, where he was a professor: seventh century.
    Virgil or Virgilius bishop of Salzburg, called
    Virgil the Geometer, from his eminence in science: taught, probably for the
    first time, the rotundity of the earth: died 785.
    Clement and Albinus, placed by Charlemagne at the
    head of two great seminaries.
    John Scotus Erigena, celebrated for his knowledge
    of Greek: the most distinguished scholar of his time in Europe: taught philosophy
    with great distinction in Paris: died about 870.
    P.W.Joyce, A Child’s History of Ireland (Dublin and London, 1910), 81-84.


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