OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Saints of Wexford

  • Saint Finbarr of Inis Doimhle, July 4

     

    At July 4, the Irish calendars record the commemoration of a saint Finbarr, whom one of the genealogical sources records was related to Saint Brigid. As Canon O’Hanlon’s account below, however, makes clear, it proved difficult in the past to definitively identify the locality where our saint flourished, he himself plumps for a place in County Wexford. Finally, it should be said that everyone seems to agree that today’s saint is a distinct individual from the patron of Cork, whose feast is celebrated on September 25. There is also another Saint Finbarr commemorated on some of the calendars on September 10, in the Martyrology of Tallagh he is noted as Saint Finnbar Mac Bindi or Buidi:

    St. Finbarr or Fionnbharr, Abbot of Inis Doimhle, County of Wexford.
    [Sixth Century.]
    This holy man must have flourished in the early ages of the Irish Church, and on the father’s side he descended through a very illustrious line, from Feidhlimidh Rechtmar, or the Law-giver, King of Ireland. From the latter, he was twelve generations in immediate succession. This brings him one generation later than his illustrious relative St. Brigid, patroness of Ireland. He was son of Dalian, son to Liathan, son to Briun, son of Eoghan, son of Brechin, son of Artur Corb. He was brother to the sons of Aedh, of Ath-cliath. In the “Feilire” of St. Aengus, Findbarr of Inis Teimle is commemorated, on the 4th of July. There is a gloss, likewise, which states, that he belonged to the land of Ui Cennselaig, and that he lived among the Desi. Another gloss adds, that Inis Teimle has been derived from darkness, because such was the Isle, until the two sons of Aed of Ath Cliath, who were Findbarr and Barrfind, went thither.In the Martyrology of Tallagh at the 4th of July, we find entered the name of Finbarr, Abbot of Innse Domle. Marianus O’Gorman commemorates him, at this same date. The Rev. Alban Butler makes him the founder of a famous monastery in the Isle of Crimlen, and remarks, that he is not to be confounded with St. Finbarr, the first bishop of Cork. The Bollandists have noticed St. Finnbarr, Abbot of Inis-Doimhle, on the authority of Father O’Sheerin’s Irish Manuscripts; but, they seem incapable of distinguishing him from another St. Finnbarr, venerated on the 10th or 20th of September. He flourished probably some time during the sixth century. He was abbot in Inis Doimhle, between Ui Ceiunsealaigh and the Deisi. According to a learned Irish topographer, Inis Doimhle would appear to be the place now called Inch, situated in the barony of Shelmaliere, and county of Wexford. In the year 1840, some remains of the old church walls placed in this parish were visible, but they had been so entirely covered over with thorns and briars, that the length and breadth of the former building could not be measured. These ruins had an appearance of great antiquity, and the walls had been altogether built with very large stones. According to tradition, no interment had taken place there, since the middle of the last century. The present holy man is said to have founded a monastery, in the Isle of Drumlen, between Hy Kinsellagh and the Decies of Munster, according to a Manuscript of John Windale. According to another statement, the Irish Damhly of the old Irish Manuscripts was no other than the Insula Sancta Clara, now called Cape Clear Island. The Martyrology of Donegal, at this same date, registers him as Fionnbharr, son of Aedh. In the Irish Calendar belonging to the Irish Ordnance Survey Records, there is an entry of St. Fionabar, at the 4th of July. In Scotland he was venerated, on the same day. The feast of this saint is entered likewise, in the “Circle of the Seasons” at the 4th of July.
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  • Saint Cronan of Ferns, June 22

    June 22 sees the commemoration of a saint of Ferns, Cronan or Mochua. As Canon O’Hanlon explains, his feast day and locality are well-attested in the Irish calendars and his repose in the seventh century is recorded in various of the Irish annals:

    ST. MOCHUA LUACHRA OR CRONAN, ABBOT OF FEARNA, OR FERNS, COUNTY OF WEXFORD.

    [SEVENTH CENTURY.]

    THE present holy personage must have flourished at an early period. In the “Feilire” of St. Aengus, the festival of “mighty Cronan of Ferns” occurs, at the 22nd of June. In the “Leabhar Breac” copy is the following rann, translated into English, by Whitley Stokes, LL.D. :—

    “With James, son of Alpheus,
    twice eight hundreds,
    a fair train,
    the feast of a man who loved not bodily ease,
    mighty Cronan of Ferns.”

    The commentator on the “Leabhar Braec” copy calls him the Comorba, or successor to Moedoc of Ferns. At this date, also, a festival is entered in the Martyrology of Tallagh, in honour of Mochua Luachra idem, ocus Cronan a Ferna. In this passage, St. Mochua and Cronan seem to be distinct persons. However, as already established in a former part of this work, the terms Cronan and Mochua are synonymous, and represent only a single saint. He seems to have been known, likewise, as St. Dachu and Ducua Luachra. There is a Luachair-mor tiara da Inbher, denoting a large rushy land between two streams or estuaries, situated in the barony of Upper Duleek, and county of Meath. There was also a Luachair-Deadhach —now known as Slieve Loughra—near Castleisland, county of Kerry. It seems altogether very probable, that St. Cronan or Mochua had been connected with this district and territory. The present holy man appears to have succeeded St. Moedoc, Bishop of Ferns; and, he is said to have presided over the monastery which was there, in the beginning of the seventh century. The Annals of the Four Masters assign the death of St. Dachu Luachra—as he is called —Abbot of Fearna or Ferns, to A.D. 652, while those of Ulster have A.D. 653. In the Martyrology of Donegal, and at the 22nd of June, is written, Cronan, that is, Mochua of Luachair, Abbot of Fearna. How long the present holy man occupied that position has not been ascertained; but, his name first occurs in the list of Abbots there, after the resignation of St. Moling, whose death has been assigned usually to A.D. 696 or 697. Ferns is the well known See of a Bishop, and situated in the county of Wexford. In this county, also, there is a Tober mac lura, in the barony of Ballaghkeen and parish of Maelnagh. Here, there had been a holy well and a patron. The latter was held on the 22nd of June. Whether or not the present saint attained the episcopal dignity may be questioned; but, the early superiors in Ferns seem to have been styled indiscriminately Archbishops of Leinster, as also Bishops and Abbots of Ferns.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Beoc of Wexford, June 15

     

    Below is a paper by the nineteenth-century scholar, Margaret Stokes, on an Irish saint, Beoc, who is linked to both Wexford and Brittany. His name, however, does not appear in any of the ancient Irish calendars. Modern scholar, Gwenael le Duc, has written a paper on ‘Irish saints in Brittany: Myth or Reality?’ in which he subjects the idea that Brittany was awash with Irish saints to critical examination. His conclusion is that the numbers have, for all sorts of reasons, been highly exaggerated and that Brittany was not a favoured European destination for the Irish at all. He believes that St Beoc (also known as Veoc and Vouagy) is a conflation of a Breton saint, Bee’heu and Vouga, an Irishman celebrated on June 15. As Stokes’ paper below shows, however, whatever the truth of his origins, the saint had a flourishing cult:

    ST. BEOC OF WEXFORD, AND LAN VEOC IN BRITTANY, JUNE 15. (DIED 585.)

    BY Miss MARGARET STOKES, HON. FELLOW.

    By the beginning of the fifth century there dwelt two brothers in the county of Wexford, Bishop Cairpre, [1] and Beoc, [2] now called Veoc. He is said to have been first a priest, and then a bishop, in Armagh. [3] But, seeking a desert place where he could devote his life to contemplation, he left that country and journeyed southwards till he reached the south-eastern point of Ireland, where he remained for some time studying the word of God with prayer and working miracles in healing. He enclosed a small tract of land upon the sandy shore near Carnsore point, and there he built a little cell and oratory, consecrating a holy well close by, whose waters are still held to be possessed of healing virtues.

    The wide sands near Beoc’s cashel are strewn with huge dark boulders rounded by the Atlantic waves. Standing on one of these, Beoc longed to reach the continent that he knew lay beyond the far horizon, but he could see no boat to bear him thither. Then, as he prayed, the stone on which he stood began to move, and gliding down the shore, floated with him out to sea. In a night and a day it bore him to the shore of Brittany and leaving the saint at a place to the south of the bay of Douarnenez, called Lan Veoc, the stone returned whence it came. One fragment, however, that bearing the impress of the saint’s head, was broken off and left behind in Brittany. Albert le Grand thus continues this legend : At the port of Comouaille, the name of which was Penmarch, many who at that time were walking on the shore, and sailors of ships which were standing at anchor in the harbour, when they saw this huge mass floating to them from afar, thought that some great ship was being driven to land by the force of the waves, the storm having broken over it and having destroyed its mast. But when it entered the harbour, they all stood terrified, because that huge rock, like a ship, was carrying towards them a man seated on its summit. The saint descended to land, and immediately the rock turned back to sea, and all the crowd who were present looking on it directed its course towards Ireland whence it came.

    That miracle being noised abroad among the surrounding villages, called up a great multitude of men desirous of seeing the saint. The Penmarchian citizens, also moved by so great a miracle, offered thanks to God, because he had sent to them so holy a man, and receiving him with great hospitality, they assigned him a house wherein to dwell. There he often preached the word of God and miraculously healed the sick, winning many souls to Jesus Christ.

    Subsequently the saint erected a hermitage half a-mile from the city, into which he betook himself to live quietly to God ; but when the people flocked to him daily in great crowds he resolved to change his abode.

    On a certain day, the saint going forth from his hut met a woman upon his way who, inspired by an evil spirit, sang insulting songs before him. The saint gently reproved her, but when nothing availed, leaving her, he silently went his way ; yet she, unhappy woman, soon felt the divine condemnation of her wickedness, for, seized with great internal pain, she fell dead on the earth. Beholding her punishment, St. Veoc ordered the corpse to be carried into the church, and unmindful of the injuries he received from her, he knelt upon the ground, and with tears besought the Lord that he would permit the soul of that wretched woman to return to her body, lest, dying impenitent, she should at the same time forfeit eternal life. The saint had scarcely finished his prayers when she flung herself at his feet, beseeching forgiveness. This being granted, she went home praising God, who had shown himself wonderful in his servant St. Veoc.

    Immediately the fame of so great a miracle spread abroad through all Cornouaille, and called forth very many from all the places around to his hermitage. But he, fearing lest so great a crowd of men should disturb the quiet of his devotion, determined to carry out the scheme he had long proposed to himself. He therefore went across an arm of the sea from LAN VEOC, and came to Brest, where he was unwilling to stay ; but crossing over through the district of Lesneven, he buried himself in a very dense wood, where, having erected an oratory with a little hut beside it, he was joined by some religious men, with whom he spent his time in holy works until it pleased God to call him away to the reward of his pious labours. He died on the 15th of June, about the year 585. His disciples buried him under the altar of his chapel, in which place God afterwards wrought so many miracles through his intercession that, the wood being cut down, a chapel was built in the same place, and dedicated to his name, which St. Tenenan, Bishop of Leon, subsequently raised to the rank of a parochial church. The revered relics of St. Beoc were honourably preserved here until the arrival of the Northmen in Brittany, at which time this country was desolated, and his remains were transferred elsewhere. However, his missal is religiously preserved in his sacred church, by touching which fever patients think themselves relieved. Many of his relics are also preserved in the chapel called after his name, erected on the shore of the great ocean, one mile from Penmarch, in the parish of Treguenec, in the diocese of Cornouuille, which chapel is constantly visited by persons suffering from fever, who gradually regain their health there.

    Some part also of the rock remained which had brought him over, and it stands to this day in the parish of Treguenec, a mile from Penmarch, in a cemetery of a chapel called from the Saint, and on it is seen, even now, the impress of the saint’s head. Wherefore pilgrims who visit the chapel for the sake of religion, in order that they may be relieved from fevers, are wont to recline their head upon the rock, and to carry away with them water blessed by contact with the sacred relics, which is drunk by those suffering from fever, or is sprinkled on their forehead.

    The vestiges of St. Beoc which still remain in the County of “Wexford are to be found on the seashore, in the parish of Cam. They consist of a ruined church, and cashel, enclosing an ancient cemetery, a holy well, and a huge boulder-stone just above tide-mark, on which a cross is incised.

    [Please refer to the original volume for details and illustrations of this church]

    The holy well of St. Beoc is in the field between the church and shore. Here steps may be seen leading down to a natural spring of clear water about two feet in depth. A semicircular enclosure of strong masonry confines three sides of the well, which is open in front, and shadowed by briars and creepers, a tangle of quick and bryony and wild rose-bush threatening to hide the steps from view by which the pilgrims still descend to the healing waters, said by the poor in the neighbourhood to be an unfailing cure for toothache. The stone of St. Beoc, on which he is said to have sailed from Carnsore point to Brittany, and which returned after depositing its burthen on a foreign shore, is still shown upon the seashore. It is a huge boulder, well rounded by the action of the waves. At the sides are two deep cuttings, apparently meant for iron stanchions, by means of which the stone appears to have once been fixed, so as to stand upright. A rude cross is deeply incised on the front of the stone, which, having fallen on its face, only reveals its back to view. However, by kneeling down and peering under the stone a portion of this cross may be discerned. It is possible that at one time it may have been fixed up on end and marked to commemorate the departure of some remarkable person from the shore.

    “The county of Wexford, being the gate of the Kingdom of Ireland” as Colonel Richards, writing in 1656, has termed it, is probably a rich field for the explorer or pilgrim in search of vestiges of the first missionaries to and from the continent in the early Christian period ; yet it will be difficult to find any of greater interest than the view we have here described. As seen from the summit of the casbel or enclosing wall which surrounds its cemetery, it would form a good subject for a landscape painter. To the north-east lies the bright village of Churchtown, its low headland stretching far into the sea, the sandy reaches of the shore to the south scattered with huge dark boulders of granite, whose grey tones, broken by the rich bronze and umber of the sea weed, form a solemn contrast to the dancing wavelets and blue distant sea. Such is the fresh and charming background to the pathetic little ruin, the Irish home of our Breton saint, now overgrown with ivy and brambles, sea-pink, blue scabious, and other sea-side plants.

    Notes

    [1] Cairpre, patron of Cill Carbrey in Wexford, near the meeting of the rivers Boro and Slaney.

    [2] Beoc. The name of this saint has gone through many changes and corruptions, and is now printed Vaugh on the Ordnance Survey Map. He is sometimes styled Mobioc or Dabioc Vake, Vogues, Vauk, Vouga.

    [3] Father Shearman traces his origin to Tennon Dabeog, at Loch Derg in Ulster “Loca Patriciana,” p. 158.

    [Authorities “Boll. AA. SS.,” June 15, p. 1061, par. 4. ” De S. Vouga seu Veo, episc. in Britannia Annorica . . . ab Alberto le Grand.” Lobineau, “Les Vies des SS. de Bretagne,” ed. M. L’Abbe Tresvaux, Paris, 1836, vol. i. Shearman, ” Loca Patriciana,” p. 157. O’Hanlon, ” Lives of Irish SS.,” vol. vi., p. 668.]

    Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1893, 380-385.

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