OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Saints of Meath

  • The Character of Saint Finnian

    The Character of Saint Finnian

    Finian died at Clonard, in A.D. 552. An old writer has left us the following sketch of his character: — “He was full of wisdom, as a scribe most learned to teach the law of God’s commandments. He was most merciful and compassionate, and sincerely sympathised with the infirmities of the sick, and the sorrows of the afflicted; and in every work of mercy he was most ready with his assistance. He healed with mildness the mental and bodily ills of all who came to him. Towards himself he exercised the strictest discipline, to leave to others a good example. He loved all from a pure heart. He abhorred all carnal and mental vices. His ordinary food was bread and herbs, his drink water; but on the festivals of the Church, he ate bread made of corn, and drank a cup of ale, or whey. When obliged to take moderate repose, he slept not on a soft and easy couch, but rather on the bare ground, with a stone for his pillow. In a word, he was full of compassion toward all other men, but of strictness and severity to himself.”

    Vita St. Finian,— Colgan’s AA. SS. p. 397.

    W. G. Todd, A History of the Ancient Church in Ireland (London, 1845), 31.

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  • Saint Earnán of Cloonrallagh, August 5

    On August 5/6  the Irish calendars record the feast of Saint Earnán (Eirne, Eirnín) of Cloonrallagh. He is yet another of those Irish saints whose names are preserved along with the date of their feast days, but about whom no other details survive. The name Earnán is shared by a number of Irish saints which does not make the task of identifying the specific individual commemorated today any easier. Canon O’Hanlon in Volume VIII of his Lives of the Irish Saints seeks to associate him with Saint Colum Cille and the Columban family of County Meath:

    Article IV. — St. Erne, or Ernin, of Cluana Railgech or Cluain railgheach, probably in the County of Meath.

    The Martyrology of Tallagh registers Erne, of Cluana Railgech, at the 6th of August. This place bore also the denomination of Druim Relgrach, and it was situated in the territory of ancient Meath. Marianus O’Gorman furnishes an authority for this statement. This saint assisted at the great synod of Dromceat, held A.D. 580. By one writer we are informed, that St. Ernin was Abbot of Cluain Reilgeach or Druim Reilgeach, in the time of St. Columb, and that he was honoured there on the 5th day of August. This writer, treating of the religious establishments in Westmeath, yet places Cluain Reilgeach or Druim Reilgeach, in Kianechta, a territory of ancient Meath; but, he adds, that the place was probably in Meath, although now unknown. A certain Cruimther Collait is mentioned as having been from Druim Roilgech, as being one of the learned in Erinn, and as being a writer, among others, of St. Patrick’s miracles.  The Rev. Dr. Lanigan also alludes to the same Collatus, a priest of Druim-relgeach in Meath; but, no more particular identification of the place is given by him. This monastery, as we are told, was situated in ancient Meath. Probably it was in the neighbourhood of Duleek. Such is the identification of Rev. Anthony Cogan, diocesan ecclesiastical historian. The present saint is commemorated by Cathal Maguire and by Marianus O’Gorman. We find it recorded, likewise, in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 5th of August, that veneration was given to Ernin of Cluain Railgheach.

    Pádraig Ó Riain’s 2011 Dictionary of Irish Saints mentions the genealogical sources linking him to Fearghas Caochán, brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages, whose descendants are linked to the church of Kilskeer, near Kells. He also suggests Cloonrallagh may be in County Longford or in County Westmeath.

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  • The Scholars of Clonard: A poem of Sedulius Scottus

    Below is the translation of a poem on the Scholars of Clonard attributed to the prolific ninth-century Irish poet, Sedulius Scottus. Sedulius made his career abroad in the courts of continental Europe, but like all good Irishmen, he never forgot where he came from. In this poem he pays tribute to the tradition of learning established at the monastic school of Clonard and to three of its scholars in particular – Vinnau/Finnian the sixth-century founder, Ailerán the Wise, a seventh-century scholar and Fergus, a scholar of the ninth century who also features in some of the author’s other poems.

    Look on the marble columns surpassing the stars,
    which the sand of the saint-bearing land supports here
    happy, famous Ailerán, Vinnau, Fergus,
    shining lights made by gift-carrying God.
    O He sent a great present of Scotia [i.e.Ireland],
    rich relics which Pictonia [i.e. Poitiers] wishes to be its own,
    whence comes Titan and where night established the stars
    and where midday is hot with blazing hours
    [i.e. the east and the west and the south].

    David Howlett, ed. and trans., The Celtic Latin Tradition of Biblical Style (Dublin, 1995), 129.

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