OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Saints of Iona

  • St. Indreachtach O'Finachtain, March 12

    On March 12 Canon O’Hanlon brings the details of a ninth-century abbot of Iona who may also have been a martyr. The final reference to William of Malmesbury would seem to make our saint the same Saint Indreachtach commemorated on February 5:

    St. Indreachtach or Innrechtach O’Finachtain, Abbot of Iona, Scotland, and Martyr.

    [Ninth Century.]

    We learn, from the Annals of Innisfallen, that the surname of this holy man was Ua Finachta or Ua Finachtain. Idreachtach O’Finachtain is called Coarb of Columbkille, and from this it has been inferred, he was abbot over Londonderry Monastery, in the olden time. However, this title he obtained, because he was the twenty-first Abbot of Hy, and he held office A.D. 849, in which year he went to Ireland, with St. Columba’s relics. As the date of his predecessor’s death is not recorded, although we know, that Diarmait, the twentieth abbot, visited Ireland, on a similar errand; it cannot be known, when St. Innrechtach began his rule, over the Iona monks. He was regarded as an eminent sage. On the 12th of March, A.D. 852, he suffered martyrdom, among the Saxons, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. He was on his way to Rome. According to the Annals of Ulster, the date for his departure to Christ is A.D. 853, while the Rev. Dr. Reeves places it, at A.D. 854. A legend, by William of Malmesbury, misdates his martyrdom, by one hundred and sixty-five years, and places it near Glastonbury.

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  • Saint Dubhthach of Iona, February 5

    A further suggestion was made by writer Eoin Neeson in his entry for this day in The Book of Irish Saints. He records: ‘Dubhthach, Duach or Duffy, abbot and alleged nephew, successor and coarb of Colmcille (June 9).’ Neeson does not give references in his book so I am not sure what was the source of the alleged family link with Saint Colmcille. The only Dubhthach, coarb of Colmcille, whom I could find was a Dubthach, son of Duban, whose repose is recorded in the Annals of Ulster at the year 938. Given that Saint Colmcille reposed in the year 597 a contemporaneous family relationship with this Dubhthach can be ruled out, although they were kinsmen. In the introduction to his translation of Adamnan’s Life of Columba, Bishop William Reeves identifies the 10th-century Dubhthach as the saint commemorated on this day:

    XXVI.— DUBHTHACH. Coarb 927-938. Ob. Oct. 7.

    Son of Duban, of the race of Conall Gulban, from whom, according to the pedigree in the Naemhseanchas, he was fourteenth in descent, and in the same line as his predecessor, Maelbrighde. He was abbot of Raphoe as well as of Hy, and is styled by the Four Masters “Coarb of Columcille both in Erin and Alba.”

    Rev. W. Reeves, The Life of Saint Columba: Founder of Hy (Edinburgh, 1874), clxxvi.

    In her study of the monastic familia of Columba, Máire Herbert revises Bishop Reeves’ view that Dubhthach was abbot of Raphoe and Iona and feels it more likely that he exercised his office from the monastery of Kells:

    That Dubhthach was a kinsman of his predecessor, Máel Brigte, as well as of the saint himself, is likely to have been a key factor in his selection as head of the Columban federation. It is not possible to ascertain whether he was based in Kells at the time of his selection, or whether a conscious decision was made at that period to designate Kells in place of Iona as the seat of the comarba. The title of ‘successor of Colum Cille and Adomnán’ which the annals accord to Dubhthach and to his successor Robartach, has been interpreted by Reeves as meaning that the holders were abbots of Raphoe as well as of Iona. However, while the monastery of Raphoe may have been particularly associated with Adomnán, it is clear from a ninth-century annal that it belonged to the familia of Colum Cille. Adomnán was not a founder of a monastic paruchia, and his commemoration is seen alongside that of Colum Cille in various churches of the Columban federation. The title of ‘successor of Colum Cille and Adomnán’ certainly implies especial consideration accorded to the saint’s biographer by the tenth-century leaders of Colum Cille’s familia, and the possibility cannot be discounted that Dubhthach, first holder of the title, held the abbacy of Raphoe, or of another church associated with Adomnán, at some time previous to his appointment as comarba. However, it is not unlikely that Kells, founded from Iona, would also have commemorated the most famous holder of the Iona abbacy after Colum Cille himself…

    Máire Herbert, Iona, Kells and Derry – The History and Hagiography of the Monastic Familia of Columba (Dublin, 1996), 80.

    Professor Herbert makes no reference to a possible date for the feastday of Abbot Dubhthach and thus we cannot be entirely sure if this ninth-century leader of the Columban monastic federation is the saint commemorated today.

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  • Saint Suibhne of Iona, January 11

    Among the saints commemorated on the Irish calendars for January 11 is a seventh-century abbot of Iona, Suibhne, the first of Saint Columcille’s successors to bear that name. Colgan makes the point though that he is also the first of the successors whose genealogy is not recorded, and thus we cannot idenitfy how he is related to the family of Iona’s founder. The commentators also argued over the date of Saint Suibhne’s death and the length of his tenure at Iona, but as we shall see from the following account of Canon O’Hanlon, all agree that he reposed in the 650s after a few years as abbot:
    St. Suibhne, or Suineus, Abbot of Iona. [Seventh Century]
    We are led to believe that St. Suibhne or Suinne, the son of Cuirtre, Cuirtri, or Curthre, was born in Ireland most probably in the sixth—but certainly not later than the commencement of the seventh—century. This holy man was moved with a desire of leading a religious life, and he sought the island of Iona, where Segenius then ruled over a monastery, founded by St. Columkille.
    For many years St. Suibhne dwelt as a monk, in this retreat of piety and learning, while his humility and fervent dispositions of soul endeared him to the abbot and his community. He made such great progress in ecclesiastical learning and monastic perfection, that on the death of Segenius in 651, or 652, the brethren of Iona unanimously proceeded to the election of our saint as successor.
    By all Suibhne was allowed to excel in the virtues and talents requisite for his exalted position. Illustrious by his virtues and sanctity, this saint ruled over the community with great prudence for a period not longer than three years, in Colgan’s opinion; in accordance with another statement, nearly four years and five months; while according to some other authorities, his term was five years. To credit one account he died in the year 654; according to others in 656, or 657, and on the 11th day of January, which is that of his festival and commemoration. The Martyrology of Tallagh of Marianus O’Gorman, of the Commentator on Oengus, and the Martyrology of Donegal, confirm this statement. This saintly superior was buried with all due reverence, within those precincts of Iona’s sacred enclosure, where so many sleep in death. Relating to his necrology, the Annals of Clonmacnoise state that St. Suibhne died in the year 653:”A.D. 653, Swyne mac-Cuirtre, Abbot of Hugh, died.” The Annals of the Four Masters, Ussher, and the Martyrology of Donegal, place this saint’s death under A.D. 654. There the Four Masters say, “Suibhne, son of Cuirtre, Abbot of Ia, died.” Again the Annals of Ulster refer his death to the year of 656 while the Rev. William Reeves prolongs his government of Iona Monastery from A.D. 652 to A.D. 657. We are reminded how this Saint Suibhneus or Suinneus, as the name is Latinized, is the first Abbot of Hy, whose genealogy is not given in the histories.

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