OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Saints of Meath

  • Saint Scannlach of Ard Scannlaighe, December 10

    December 10 is the commemoration of an obscure female saint of County Meath, Scannlach of Ard Scannlaighe. The Martyrology of Donegal records:

    SCANLACH, of Ard-Scanlaighe, in Cinel-Ardgail. She was of the race of Laeghaire, son of Niall.

    The Martyrology of Gorman notes ‘young gentle Scanlach whom I will praise’ among the saints it lists for this day. Despite this lovely tribute we have few other details about our saint, although Pádraig Ó Riain’s Dictionary of Irish Saints musters some interesting evidence from genealogical sources. This associates her with a grandfather called Colum Cúile, who is also regarded as a saint and with Saint Rónán of Dromiskin.  


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  • Saint Colmán ua hEirc, December 5

    We can add Saint Colmán ua hEirc to the long list of Irish saints of this name with a commemoration found on the Irish calendars at December 5. This Saint Colmán is associated with the great Saint Erc of Slane as the Martyrology of Gorman makes clear in its entry for the day:

    5. c.

    Colman ua hEirc oebgel

    which is translated as ‘beautiful, bright Colman, Erc’s descendant.’

    The Martyrology of Donegal simply records the name Colman Ua h-Eirc at this date. It is possible, since the abbatial succession in Irish monasteries was often kept within families, that our saint could be an actual as well as a spiritual successor to Saint Erc of Slane. In a compendium of entries relating to Slane taken from the various Irish annals the Meath diocesan historian, Father Cogan, records more than one successor to Saint Erc who bore this name including: 

    746. Colman of the Britons, Abbot of Slane, died.

    823. Colman, son of Oiliolla, Abbot of Slane, and also of other churches in France and Ireland, died.

    838. Colman, Abbot of Slane, died.

    946. Colman, airchinneach of Slane, was slain by the foreigners.

    Rev. A. Cogan, The Diocese of Meath – Ancient and Modern, Volume I. (Dublin, 1862), 63.
    I cannot, of course, equate any of these individuals with the saint Colmán ua hEirc, commemorated on December 5.

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  • Saint Mac Cainne, December 1

    We begin the month of December with the commemoration of a saintly bishop, Mac Cainne (Mac Coinne) who is also associated with a locality in the calendars. The Martyrology of Donegal records:

    1. F. KALENDIS DECEMBRIS. 1.

    Bishop MAC CAINNE, of Ath-da-laarg, by the side of Cenannus.

    The Martyrology of Gorman, in its entry for the day records ‘the great bishop Mac Cainne’ with a footnote adding ‘from Áth da laarg beside Cenannus’. 
    The earlier Martyrology of Oengus locates our bishop at ‘Áth dá loarc beside Kells’, which perhaps places him in County Meath.

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