She showed the same love to all, to the servants as well as to her
spiritual
daughters, to beggars, and to the sick.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
] LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
437
Nicholas Murphy, P. P. , of Kilmanagb, observes, that Cluain Uimurchaire has been identified by Father Shearman with Kilbriccan, near Aghaboe. And the Rostuirc in Magh Roighne is, as all authorities allow, represented
by Rosmore, the adjoining townland to Kilbrahan,20 in the parish of Kilma- nagh. The monastery of St. Broghan is also stated by Colgan to have been
situated ad on the border-land of fines Ossraighe,
Ossory. verifiedconcerningKilbrahan,intheparishofKilmanagh. Attherequest
of St. Ultan of Ardbraccan, Brogan composed the Life and Acts of St. Brigid in an Irish poem. In it, her sanctity and miracles are recorded. The place where this tract was written is said to have been either at Slieve-Bloom or at
the Cluainmore of St. Maidoc.
22
These accounts are gleaned from an
anonymous writer or scholiast in a short preface ; and Colgan places this
Irish poem, with a literal Latin translation, foremost among his six Lives of
St. Brigid. 23 He assigns its authorship to a. d. 526, but this is manifestly
too early a date for its composition, as it ranges back to a year long previous
to St. birth. The " Chronicum Scotorum " the death of
as the Annals of the Four Masters 25 Ultan's give
Brogan's places
Ultan Mac Ui Conchobhair on the second of the Nones of September in
the 2 * year 653.
However,
age to be one hundred and eighty years, when he died on the 4th of
26 September, 656 ;
Colgan argues, that he may have been living a. d. 526, to assist St. Brogan Cloen in the composition of that Hymn in praise of St.
2
Brigid. ? St. Brogan is named as abbot of Rostuirc, at the year 525, by
Archdall,28whorestshisstatementontheauthorityofColgan. Thatearly date, however, cannot be allowed. It is said by an old scholiast, that St. Ultan of Ardbraccan 29 collected the Acts of St. Brigid 3° for St. Brogan Cloen. The same scholiast informs us, that our Saint's poem, on St. Brigid's virtues and miracles, had been composed in the time of King Leogaire's son Lughadh, Monarch of Ireland, and when Alild, son to
was
King
died3 overtwentyyearsbeforetherestofSt. Brigid,33anallusiontowhich
2
19 Addressed to the Kilkenny Journal of
February, 1895.
:o This townland, in the barony of Cran-
2? See "Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita
Prima S. Brigidse, n. 5, p. 518.
2& See " Monasticon Hibernicum, "
Queen's County, p. 596.
29 See his Acts at the 4th of September,
in the present Volume, Art. i.
nagh,
is shown on the ' • Ordnance
Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Kil-
kenny," Sheet 22.
21
a robber, who came with his crew " de
3°
the Second Volume of this work, Art. i.
It is just to state, that Colgan speaks of
See her Life, at the 1st of February, in
of Leinster. 31 But
thinks this in poem
Dulaing,
question could not have been written in King Lugad's time, as the latter
3l See " Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita prima S. Brigidse, nn. 3, 4, p. 518.
32 " The Age of Christ, 503. After
son of had been Lughaidh, Laeghaire,
Abbatis de Magharnuidhe, cap. xxxiv. , struck by a flash of lightning, by the
finibus Ossraighi," to the monastery of St.
"
monachis suis, venire post porcos ad fines
Et S. senior Abbanus rogatus a visitans B. — ab eo
Abban.
Ossraighe Bercanum,
" Acta Sanctorum
in the of Ire- sovereignty
honorifice
Hiberniae," xvi. Martii. Vita S. Abbani, land, he was killed at Achadh-farcha, being
S.
r
W eghaire S son' -
LuShaidh [occurred].
susceptus
est. "
twenty-five years
p. 618.
22
His feast occurs at the nth of April, at which date, notices of him may be found, in the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
miracle of God, on account of the insult which he had offered to Patrick, as the quatrain states :
23 See « Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita Prima
to Brigidce, pp. 515 518
*. . ,,,,, . . .
At Achadh-farcha warlike ;
. , . t . t the death of
24 See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 04 oc,
25 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 268, 269.
26 Archbishop Ussher gives his death at
»
"
a. d. 657. See Brittannicarum Ecclesiarum 525, according to the same authorities. See
Antiquitates. " Index Chonologicus, p. 539. ibid. , pp. 170 to 173.
Colgan justly
wH! u
21 This can be only
tho«t in heaven or here, a praise
Masters," vol. i. , pp. 162 to 165.
33 St. Brigid's death occurred, in the year
heavy
smote him.
—Dr. O' Donovan's " Annals of the Four
"as" °f
lightning
*'
438 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September17.
latter event is contained in a concluding stanza of that hymn. The death of Lugad also occurred before Alild obtained the government of Leinster. Ailild died in the year 526,3* and in the twentieth year of his reign, according to the three different catalogues of the Leinster Kings. Colgan supposes it nearer the truth to maintain, that Brogan's Hymn was composed, in the time of Muircheartach, King of Ireland,35 who was contemporary with the aforesaid Alild of Leinster. Hence he imagines, this poem was written, about the year 525. It was most probably composed in the seventh century,36 as Sir James Ware reckons Brogan amongst the writers of that period ; although his editor, Harris, adopts Colgan's opinion. 3? The poem in honour of St. Bridget contains fifty-three stanzas. In it the author celebrates the virtues and powerful intercession of the Holy Virgin, and manifests his own tender devotion towards her. He also indicates, that a certain measure of reward should be vouchsaved to those, who read or hear it recited. 38 According to O'Reilly, there are Manuscript copies of this Hymn39 extant, in Trinity
34 At this year, his death is thus announced Oilill, son of Dunlaing, King of Leinster,
** Pro nobis precetur Brigida Prgeservationem et securitatem a
periculis
Sub ejus miseri simus patrocinio Antequam veniamus ad conspectum
Spiritus Sancti.
" Succurrat cum gladio ignito
In certamine contra doemones : Perducant nos sanctae ejus preces Ad regnum coeleste liberatos a pocnis-
"Antequam eamus cum Angelis ad certamen
Curramus ad Ecclesiam celeriter : Laudare Dominum prsestantius est
omni officio.
Non amavit Brigida victoriosa mun-
dum.
Precator Sanctam Brigidam
Cum Sanctis Killdariensibus,
Se interponant inter me & poenas
Anima mea pereat. *#***
11
died. "—Ibid. , pp. 174, 175.
35 At the year a. d. 527, the Annals of the
Four Masters give us the following romantic account of this king's death. "After
Muircheartach, son of Muireadhach, son of Eoghan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages,
had been twenty-four years in the sovereignty of Ireland, he was burned in the house of Cleiteach over the Boyne, on the night of Samhain [the first of November] after being drowned in wine. Sin composed this
quatrain
:
I am Teatan the woman who killed the chief of Niall ;
Gannadhaigh is my name, in every place and road.
Ceanfaeladh said :
The king Mac Earea returns to the side
Ui-Neill ;
Blood reached the girdles in each plain ;
the exterior territories were enriched Seven times he brought nine chariots, and
long shall it be remembered,
He bore away the hostages of the Ui-
"
Neill, with the hostages of the plain of Munster. "
" Laudes Christi sermo praeclarus, Adorare Dei filium officium virtuosum, Regnum cceleste obtineat
Quicunque recitaverit vel audierit
{ncmpe hunc hymnuni). "
—Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita prima St. Brigidje, sects, xliv. , xlv. , xlvi. ,
—Ibid. to pp. 174
177.
In tne accompanying notes, [i. j. k. ], pre- vious authorities, annalistic and legendary, are quoted by the learned editor, as serving to illustrate the foregoing entry.
36 The learned Dr. Lanigan seemed to
adopt this opinion. See "Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect. ii. . n. 18, p. 379.
37 See Harris' Ware, vol. ii. " Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap iii. , p. 13.
38 Thus, we may instance, those lines, in the First metrical Life of St. Brigid, as pub-
lished by Colgan :
xlvii. , 1. , Ii. , pp. 517, 518.
39 It commences with—this line,
""
"
:
;
Confidamus in Brigida,
Ut sit protectrix nostris turmis :
Adjuvat nos sancta,
Ut mereamur omnes evadere.
ni caip brviccic bu<v6<\c \>\t Bridget glorious loved not the world. " See "Chronological Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," p. xxxiv. In Colgan's version, this line with its Latin translation, reads. " tli caij\ Oru£iT> buA-oac bioc :" " Non dilexit
Brigida victoriosa mundum :" &c.
September 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 439
College Library, Dublin. After Colgan's time, this poem was again publishedin1792,byMr. RichardPlunkett,oftheCountyofMeath. It was accompanied by a rendering in modern Irish. In a small brochure intituled " A Bouquet for St Bride," the Very Rev. Nicholas Murphy, P. P. , has introduced the following Prayer of St. Brogan : —" I will pray to Holy Bride, with the Saints of Kildare ; that she may stand between me and judgment ; that my soul may not perish : the nun that roamed the Curragh,
is my shield against sharp arrows except Mary who can compare with my
Bride
two
;— are above be
'^SlTMnthy
writes :-" She was |f kand
all the Chaste Head of the tt Sa|nt Bri d fa h mQth all men k
°
When Christ returns to judge the world with fire. "
«»^TMZwkh^c°^*«*/W
H
n ti
St.
Broghan fa
as 6
add
was called
fH Pf
great judgment day. ^
^Uh^e^T^' time trod
" I" S let us Bngid then, oh,
Nung of
For
oTholJ BTgH
J >
^S
faU FErmS
call
" Two virgins are in Heaven above, Their client I would be ;
M y Br prroteTcctUion
.
to me. |gilvVetim? '
"O beautiful
44 See ibid. , pp. xxxiv. , lxxxvi.
of hardy
41 "Shelookednotonthefaceofman
q\«Ai*, Carbry. "
province
Nor husband had, nor brother
:
;
5 115 ;
trust,
, h°St,S
CSSe
my guardians may they
Holy Mary
40
"Brigid never loved the world, and her thoughts were ever in heaven. She was kind-hearted and charitable, and had no care but for God alone, and God worked more wonders through her than through any other Irish saint.
She showed the same love to all, to the servants as well as to her spiritual daughters, to beggars, and to the sick. "41
We are indebted to the poet-priest of Ossory, St. Broghan of Kilbrahan, for some of the most edifying traits in the life of St. Brigid of Erin, as well as for the fervour of the diocesan devotion to the first and most illustrious Irish Nun. 42 Brogan wrote another Poem,4? according to Roderick O'Flaherty. Yet, in another part of his work, O'Reilly seems to attribute this composition to Giolla na naomh O'Dunn, chief bard to the King of Leinster, and who died in 1160. 44 We are told, in St. Abban's Life, that on a certain occasion, some swine belonging to him were stolen by a nephew of this saint. Directing his course towards Ossory,—to recover the property of his monastery, Abban paid a visit to Berchan as he is there called. Our saint accompanied him to the presence of his nephew. Brogan entreated him to restore the stolen property. But that abandoned wretch made an attempt, to take away St. Abban's life, and in the very act struck down his uncle. Again, attempting a stroke at Abban, his hand became paralysed. Our saint was restored, and his wounds were healed by Abban ; while the wicked nephew, feeling remorse for his act, restored those animals he had taken. After this, both the saints established a bond of friendship between themselves and their
holy virgins
and my Bride on whose intercession all my happiness may depend. " ——
;
;
St. Broghan again informs us that
:
40 This has been versified in the following stanzas :—
. , wuu 1, rM, ,
,
,
But where she passed the children ran And hailed the Maid their mother.
OSaint, the favourite of the poor,
The afflicted, weak, and weary ; ~
Like Mar s was that face she b°re 1 y'
y °neS
twTT
TRiT I. g
ray
'
7
•
fr°m mandl0SS
Men called her Erin's
A D^ Vere>
On thle
come so inear ? rZ Has to God.
Mary. "
42 a
• V? a
,
by ^g
-
f Erin's nuns that have been or shall be, ^yf^ *" *"** """^ *" "*
440 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September17.
respectivecommunities. Inthisfederation,onotheroccasions,theyincluded Saints Brandan, Moling, Flannan, Munna, and others. «5 Our saint is also said to have been venerated at a monastery, called Cluainnimurchuir, according to the Salamancan MS. of St. Abban's Life, formerly in Colgan's
6Edward his as in possession. * O'Reilly incorrectly places death, occurring
the year 526. 47 However, the exact year of our saint's death is not known ; but, its day seems to have been the 17th of September, on which his memory was afterwards revered.
Article IV. —St. Riagail, Patron of Tyrella Parish. Very little
is known regarding this Saint. His feast is entered, however, in the Feilire 1
of St. /Engus, at the 17th of September. The Martyrology of Tallagh in
the Book of Leinster contains a notice of St. on the same 2 His Riagail, day.
name is omitted, however, in that version published by the Rev. Dr. Kelly. The Martyrologist, Marianus O'Gorman, has a festival for Riaghuil, at this date; whilehisscholiastadds,thattheSaintwasfromTechRiagla,inLeth Cathail. 3 From this same source, and according to O'Clerys' Calendar,* St. Ryal of Ty-reela, in Lecale, is venerated on the 17th of September. We find a remarkable prediction attributed to him, on a certain subject, known
as the Scuap a Fanait, or the Broom to come out of Fanait, in Donegall. s
"
It was as follows :
remain in Erinn. When a ship can be seen on Loch Rudhraidhe,6 from the door of the refectory, it is then the Broom out of Fanait shall come. A Tuesday, too, after Easter, in spring, must be the day on which the Broom shall issue from Fanait, to avenge the death of John the Baptist. "? Allusion has been made to this supposed destructive apparition in prophecies also
8
attributed to other Irish saints, such as St. Moling, St. Columkille,9 and St.
Aireran or Erearan the Wise. 10 Whilst the two former— with St.
agree Riagail,
thatthecomingofdestruct—ionshallbeonaTuesday St. Airerandoesnot specify any particular day there seems to have been much diversity of
statement as to the form, nature, and exact period, relating to this Scuip a Fainity or, as it. is sometimes called, the Fiery Bolt. The direction, whence it had been expected to come, is also variously stated. " From
45 The memory of these Saints is cele- 2 Thus: H1A5U1I mucc inp.
brated as follows: St. Brendan, May 16th, 3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' " Felire Hui St. Moling, June 17th, St. Flannan, Gormain," pp. 178, 179.
Three days and three nights over a year shall this plague
December 18th, St. Munna, October 21st. Colgan remarks, that St. Alban did not
form a
at the same time ; for it was not probable
that St. Moling was born during the life-
time of Brendan. St. Brendan died in the
year 576 or 577. St. Munna in 634 ; and
St. Moling in 696. See Colgan's "Acta 2545. See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of Sanctorum Hibernian" xvi. Maitit, p. 618,
and nn. 41, 42, 43, 44, p. 624.
with all of these Saints,
5 See
History," lect. xx. , p. 429.
6
drum
7 His lestival occurs on the 24th of June,
friendship
four hundred Ir—ish Writers," p. xxxviii.
"
Article iv. See Transactions of the
Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of
Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p.
Cathail. Or in Muc lnis ("pig-island ") on December.
Lough Derg. Sec ibid. , p. cxlvi. "The accounts of this object cwnlained
46 See ibid. ,
p. 624.
47 See " A Chronological account of nearly
Bay.
His feast occurs on the 17th of June.
9 See his Life, at the 9th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art i.
,0 Also called Eleran, and Lector of was Riagail who is in Tech Riagia in Leth Clonard. His feast occurs on the 29th of
cxxxviii. A commentator that he adds,
4 See the " of Martyrology Donegal,'*
edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves.
"
Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish
Eugene O'Curry's
This Lake is said to have been called after
Rudhruidhe, the son of Parthalon, a. m. *'
the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 6, 7. It is thought to have been identical with Dun-
8
See notices of him at that date, Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
in the
Lectures on the
September 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN7S. 441 the present saint, Tyrella parish derives its name. Taghrolly, Tyreela,
and 12 are also various names to Staghreel, referring
Techrula, Teighriola,
this place, as found in old documents and records. Those Irish forms are
"
rendered into English, as the house of Ryal or Riagail. " St. Riagail is
supposed to have erected a church, on the present site of the modern
Protestant parish church of Tyrella. In a confirmation of certain grants,
made by John de Courcy to the see of Down, this church is called, as in
the Taxation Stegrel. 13 In the Ulster Inquisitions, it is called Starely alias
1
Terrely. * The Feilire of St. ^ngus the Culdee, composed in the eighth
century, states, that a person standing at Tig-Riala, now Tyrella, about a mile distant from the strand, could hear the lonn Rury, one of the three great waves of Ireland. Doubtless, the writer meant, that booming thunder- like roar over the bar, which can be heard at a distance of some miles. *s Hence, the lonn Rury is supposed to indicate the bay of Dundrum. 16 The church and that refectory, to which allusion has been already made, were situatedontheeastsideofDundrumBay,inDownCounty. Thesiteand
cemetery of the ancient parish church lie within Tyrella House Demesne,
commanding extensive views over the Bay, with the magnificent range of Mourne Mountains in the back-ground. Near the old church site in 1832, a cave, artificially constructed of uncemented stones, had been discovered.
l It was roofed with flag-stones, and over them earth had been thickly heaped. i
It is 43 yards in length, by 2^ feet wide, and about five feet high, dividing into three chambers, 60, 45 and 24 feet in length respectively, the last extending its width to six feet.
Article V. —St. Earc, or Eric, Bishop of Donoghmore, of
Magh Cobha, or of Maighe Damhairne, Counties of Down and
1
Antrim. In the published Martyrology of Tallagh and in that as found in
the Book of 2 at the of we find the name of Earc Leinster, 17th September,
set down. Likewise, in the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, the name
in the Leabhar Mor Duna Dioghire, are in Tyrone, becomes **Slaght," as in the evidently of that class known as spurious parish of Connor. It is a curious analogy
prophecies, yet which have received so much
credence the Their cha- among ignorant.
racter has been well described, and what has
been preserved regarding this matter will be
found related in " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
to the change in the word C15, that the
Tur. Lond.
tures on the Manuscript Materials of Antient I4 Ultonia. Inq. Car. I. No. 8. See
Irish History," lect. xx. , pp. 425 to 434. Rev. Wm. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical Anti-
12
In the Ecclesiastical Taxation of the quities of Down, Connor and Dromore," Diocese of Down, compiled in the year PP- 32» 33 and n. (p), ibid.
1306, we find Tyrella set d—own as "a
15 Accordingly, the Rev. Mr. Reeves, in
Eccia de Staghreett—vij. . mar
"The Church of Staghreell— 7 marks— Columba," marked Dundrum Bay with this
decra ix. s. iiij. d. " Thus rendered into English :
the of Ancient which has been Map Scotia,
Tenth, 9s. 4d. " We are told that " in the
taxation, the letter s is prefixed, agreeably
to a usage which prevailed in the English
districts of the country ; and of which to the mouth of Erne River, in the west of numerous instances are to be found in the Donegal. See " Annals of the Four
names with the beginning
" Sta " or vol. Masters,"
n. and vol. i. , (u), p. 7,
syllable
"Sti. " Thus Stackallen is formed from n. (0, p. 611.
ii. ,
C15-C. AlL. Aln ;
Stillorgan from C15-
17 See Lewis'
"
LoncAin and
; Styoun,
the third name of following in the Taxation, from C15-
vol. — Ireland," ii. , p. 664.
the same
By "2
"
"
by
eoin.
(leAcc,
of Donaghmore in Donegal, and Longfield mop niAigi Coba . 1. "Oamoiptie.
xxxiv. a monument "), as in the parishes Thus entered
process,
Laght
Kelly, p.
pt.
Latin word " " should be tego
in Greek.
13 Rot. Pat. 16 Edward ill.
Nicholas Murphy, P. P. , of Kilmanagb, observes, that Cluain Uimurchaire has been identified by Father Shearman with Kilbriccan, near Aghaboe. And the Rostuirc in Magh Roighne is, as all authorities allow, represented
by Rosmore, the adjoining townland to Kilbrahan,20 in the parish of Kilma- nagh. The monastery of St. Broghan is also stated by Colgan to have been
situated ad on the border-land of fines Ossraighe,
Ossory. verifiedconcerningKilbrahan,intheparishofKilmanagh. Attherequest
of St. Ultan of Ardbraccan, Brogan composed the Life and Acts of St. Brigid in an Irish poem. In it, her sanctity and miracles are recorded. The place where this tract was written is said to have been either at Slieve-Bloom or at
the Cluainmore of St. Maidoc.
22
These accounts are gleaned from an
anonymous writer or scholiast in a short preface ; and Colgan places this
Irish poem, with a literal Latin translation, foremost among his six Lives of
St. Brigid. 23 He assigns its authorship to a. d. 526, but this is manifestly
too early a date for its composition, as it ranges back to a year long previous
to St. birth. The " Chronicum Scotorum " the death of
as the Annals of the Four Masters 25 Ultan's give
Brogan's places
Ultan Mac Ui Conchobhair on the second of the Nones of September in
the 2 * year 653.
However,
age to be one hundred and eighty years, when he died on the 4th of
26 September, 656 ;
Colgan argues, that he may have been living a. d. 526, to assist St. Brogan Cloen in the composition of that Hymn in praise of St.
2
Brigid. ? St. Brogan is named as abbot of Rostuirc, at the year 525, by
Archdall,28whorestshisstatementontheauthorityofColgan. Thatearly date, however, cannot be allowed. It is said by an old scholiast, that St. Ultan of Ardbraccan 29 collected the Acts of St. Brigid 3° for St. Brogan Cloen. The same scholiast informs us, that our Saint's poem, on St. Brigid's virtues and miracles, had been composed in the time of King Leogaire's son Lughadh, Monarch of Ireland, and when Alild, son to
was
King
died3 overtwentyyearsbeforetherestofSt. Brigid,33anallusiontowhich
2
19 Addressed to the Kilkenny Journal of
February, 1895.
:o This townland, in the barony of Cran-
2? See "Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita
Prima S. Brigidse, n. 5, p. 518.
2& See " Monasticon Hibernicum, "
Queen's County, p. 596.
29 See his Acts at the 4th of September,
in the present Volume, Art. i.
nagh,
is shown on the ' • Ordnance
Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Kil-
kenny," Sheet 22.
21
a robber, who came with his crew " de
3°
the Second Volume of this work, Art. i.
It is just to state, that Colgan speaks of
See her Life, at the 1st of February, in
of Leinster. 31 But
thinks this in poem
Dulaing,
question could not have been written in King Lugad's time, as the latter
3l See " Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita prima S. Brigidse, nn. 3, 4, p. 518.
32 " The Age of Christ, 503. After
son of had been Lughaidh, Laeghaire,
Abbatis de Magharnuidhe, cap. xxxiv. , struck by a flash of lightning, by the
finibus Ossraighi," to the monastery of St.
"
monachis suis, venire post porcos ad fines
Et S. senior Abbanus rogatus a visitans B. — ab eo
Abban.
Ossraighe Bercanum,
" Acta Sanctorum
in the of Ire- sovereignty
honorifice
Hiberniae," xvi. Martii. Vita S. Abbani, land, he was killed at Achadh-farcha, being
S.
r
W eghaire S son' -
LuShaidh [occurred].
susceptus
est. "
twenty-five years
p. 618.
22
His feast occurs at the nth of April, at which date, notices of him may be found, in the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
miracle of God, on account of the insult which he had offered to Patrick, as the quatrain states :
23 See « Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita Prima
to Brigidce, pp. 515 518
*. . ,,,,, . . .
At Achadh-farcha warlike ;
. , . t . t the death of
24 See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 04 oc,
25 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 268, 269.
26 Archbishop Ussher gives his death at
»
"
a. d. 657. See Brittannicarum Ecclesiarum 525, according to the same authorities. See
Antiquitates. " Index Chonologicus, p. 539. ibid. , pp. 170 to 173.
Colgan justly
wH! u
21 This can be only
tho«t in heaven or here, a praise
Masters," vol. i. , pp. 162 to 165.
33 St. Brigid's death occurred, in the year
heavy
smote him.
—Dr. O' Donovan's " Annals of the Four
"as" °f
lightning
*'
438 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September17.
latter event is contained in a concluding stanza of that hymn. The death of Lugad also occurred before Alild obtained the government of Leinster. Ailild died in the year 526,3* and in the twentieth year of his reign, according to the three different catalogues of the Leinster Kings. Colgan supposes it nearer the truth to maintain, that Brogan's Hymn was composed, in the time of Muircheartach, King of Ireland,35 who was contemporary with the aforesaid Alild of Leinster. Hence he imagines, this poem was written, about the year 525. It was most probably composed in the seventh century,36 as Sir James Ware reckons Brogan amongst the writers of that period ; although his editor, Harris, adopts Colgan's opinion. 3? The poem in honour of St. Bridget contains fifty-three stanzas. In it the author celebrates the virtues and powerful intercession of the Holy Virgin, and manifests his own tender devotion towards her. He also indicates, that a certain measure of reward should be vouchsaved to those, who read or hear it recited. 38 According to O'Reilly, there are Manuscript copies of this Hymn39 extant, in Trinity
34 At this year, his death is thus announced Oilill, son of Dunlaing, King of Leinster,
** Pro nobis precetur Brigida Prgeservationem et securitatem a
periculis
Sub ejus miseri simus patrocinio Antequam veniamus ad conspectum
Spiritus Sancti.
" Succurrat cum gladio ignito
In certamine contra doemones : Perducant nos sanctae ejus preces Ad regnum coeleste liberatos a pocnis-
"Antequam eamus cum Angelis ad certamen
Curramus ad Ecclesiam celeriter : Laudare Dominum prsestantius est
omni officio.
Non amavit Brigida victoriosa mun-
dum.
Precator Sanctam Brigidam
Cum Sanctis Killdariensibus,
Se interponant inter me & poenas
Anima mea pereat. *#***
11
died. "—Ibid. , pp. 174, 175.
35 At the year a. d. 527, the Annals of the
Four Masters give us the following romantic account of this king's death. "After
Muircheartach, son of Muireadhach, son of Eoghan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages,
had been twenty-four years in the sovereignty of Ireland, he was burned in the house of Cleiteach over the Boyne, on the night of Samhain [the first of November] after being drowned in wine. Sin composed this
quatrain
:
I am Teatan the woman who killed the chief of Niall ;
Gannadhaigh is my name, in every place and road.
Ceanfaeladh said :
The king Mac Earea returns to the side
Ui-Neill ;
Blood reached the girdles in each plain ;
the exterior territories were enriched Seven times he brought nine chariots, and
long shall it be remembered,
He bore away the hostages of the Ui-
"
Neill, with the hostages of the plain of Munster. "
" Laudes Christi sermo praeclarus, Adorare Dei filium officium virtuosum, Regnum cceleste obtineat
Quicunque recitaverit vel audierit
{ncmpe hunc hymnuni). "
—Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita prima St. Brigidje, sects, xliv. , xlv. , xlvi. ,
—Ibid. to pp. 174
177.
In tne accompanying notes, [i. j. k. ], pre- vious authorities, annalistic and legendary, are quoted by the learned editor, as serving to illustrate the foregoing entry.
36 The learned Dr. Lanigan seemed to
adopt this opinion. See "Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect. ii. . n. 18, p. 379.
37 See Harris' Ware, vol. ii. " Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap iii. , p. 13.
38 Thus, we may instance, those lines, in the First metrical Life of St. Brigid, as pub-
lished by Colgan :
xlvii. , 1. , Ii. , pp. 517, 518.
39 It commences with—this line,
""
"
:
;
Confidamus in Brigida,
Ut sit protectrix nostris turmis :
Adjuvat nos sancta,
Ut mereamur omnes evadere.
ni caip brviccic bu<v6<\c \>\t Bridget glorious loved not the world. " See "Chronological Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," p. xxxiv. In Colgan's version, this line with its Latin translation, reads. " tli caij\ Oru£iT> buA-oac bioc :" " Non dilexit
Brigida victoriosa mundum :" &c.
September 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 439
College Library, Dublin. After Colgan's time, this poem was again publishedin1792,byMr. RichardPlunkett,oftheCountyofMeath. It was accompanied by a rendering in modern Irish. In a small brochure intituled " A Bouquet for St Bride," the Very Rev. Nicholas Murphy, P. P. , has introduced the following Prayer of St. Brogan : —" I will pray to Holy Bride, with the Saints of Kildare ; that she may stand between me and judgment ; that my soul may not perish : the nun that roamed the Curragh,
is my shield against sharp arrows except Mary who can compare with my
Bride
two
;— are above be
'^SlTMnthy
writes :-" She was |f kand
all the Chaste Head of the tt Sa|nt Bri d fa h mQth all men k
°
When Christ returns to judge the world with fire. "
«»^TMZwkh^c°^*«*/W
H
n ti
St.
Broghan fa
as 6
add
was called
fH Pf
great judgment day. ^
^Uh^e^T^' time trod
" I" S let us Bngid then, oh,
Nung of
For
oTholJ BTgH
J >
^S
faU FErmS
call
" Two virgins are in Heaven above, Their client I would be ;
M y Br prroteTcctUion
.
to me. |gilvVetim? '
"O beautiful
44 See ibid. , pp. xxxiv. , lxxxvi.
of hardy
41 "Shelookednotonthefaceofman
q\«Ai*, Carbry. "
province
Nor husband had, nor brother
:
;
5 115 ;
trust,
, h°St,S
CSSe
my guardians may they
Holy Mary
40
"Brigid never loved the world, and her thoughts were ever in heaven. She was kind-hearted and charitable, and had no care but for God alone, and God worked more wonders through her than through any other Irish saint.
She showed the same love to all, to the servants as well as to her spiritual daughters, to beggars, and to the sick. "41
We are indebted to the poet-priest of Ossory, St. Broghan of Kilbrahan, for some of the most edifying traits in the life of St. Brigid of Erin, as well as for the fervour of the diocesan devotion to the first and most illustrious Irish Nun. 42 Brogan wrote another Poem,4? according to Roderick O'Flaherty. Yet, in another part of his work, O'Reilly seems to attribute this composition to Giolla na naomh O'Dunn, chief bard to the King of Leinster, and who died in 1160. 44 We are told, in St. Abban's Life, that on a certain occasion, some swine belonging to him were stolen by a nephew of this saint. Directing his course towards Ossory,—to recover the property of his monastery, Abban paid a visit to Berchan as he is there called. Our saint accompanied him to the presence of his nephew. Brogan entreated him to restore the stolen property. But that abandoned wretch made an attempt, to take away St. Abban's life, and in the very act struck down his uncle. Again, attempting a stroke at Abban, his hand became paralysed. Our saint was restored, and his wounds were healed by Abban ; while the wicked nephew, feeling remorse for his act, restored those animals he had taken. After this, both the saints established a bond of friendship between themselves and their
holy virgins
and my Bride on whose intercession all my happiness may depend. " ——
;
;
St. Broghan again informs us that
:
40 This has been versified in the following stanzas :—
. , wuu 1, rM, ,
,
,
But where she passed the children ran And hailed the Maid their mother.
OSaint, the favourite of the poor,
The afflicted, weak, and weary ; ~
Like Mar s was that face she b°re 1 y'
y °neS
twTT
TRiT I. g
ray
'
7
•
fr°m mandl0SS
Men called her Erin's
A D^ Vere>
On thle
come so inear ? rZ Has to God.
Mary. "
42 a
• V? a
,
by ^g
-
f Erin's nuns that have been or shall be, ^yf^ *" *"** """^ *" "*
440 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September17.
respectivecommunities. Inthisfederation,onotheroccasions,theyincluded Saints Brandan, Moling, Flannan, Munna, and others. «5 Our saint is also said to have been venerated at a monastery, called Cluainnimurchuir, according to the Salamancan MS. of St. Abban's Life, formerly in Colgan's
6Edward his as in possession. * O'Reilly incorrectly places death, occurring
the year 526. 47 However, the exact year of our saint's death is not known ; but, its day seems to have been the 17th of September, on which his memory was afterwards revered.
Article IV. —St. Riagail, Patron of Tyrella Parish. Very little
is known regarding this Saint. His feast is entered, however, in the Feilire 1
of St. /Engus, at the 17th of September. The Martyrology of Tallagh in
the Book of Leinster contains a notice of St. on the same 2 His Riagail, day.
name is omitted, however, in that version published by the Rev. Dr. Kelly. The Martyrologist, Marianus O'Gorman, has a festival for Riaghuil, at this date; whilehisscholiastadds,thattheSaintwasfromTechRiagla,inLeth Cathail. 3 From this same source, and according to O'Clerys' Calendar,* St. Ryal of Ty-reela, in Lecale, is venerated on the 17th of September. We find a remarkable prediction attributed to him, on a certain subject, known
as the Scuap a Fanait, or the Broom to come out of Fanait, in Donegall. s
"
It was as follows :
remain in Erinn. When a ship can be seen on Loch Rudhraidhe,6 from the door of the refectory, it is then the Broom out of Fanait shall come. A Tuesday, too, after Easter, in spring, must be the day on which the Broom shall issue from Fanait, to avenge the death of John the Baptist. "? Allusion has been made to this supposed destructive apparition in prophecies also
8
attributed to other Irish saints, such as St. Moling, St. Columkille,9 and St.
Aireran or Erearan the Wise. 10 Whilst the two former— with St.
agree Riagail,
thatthecomingofdestruct—ionshallbeonaTuesday St. Airerandoesnot specify any particular day there seems to have been much diversity of
statement as to the form, nature, and exact period, relating to this Scuip a Fainity or, as it. is sometimes called, the Fiery Bolt. The direction, whence it had been expected to come, is also variously stated. " From
45 The memory of these Saints is cele- 2 Thus: H1A5U1I mucc inp.
brated as follows: St. Brendan, May 16th, 3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' " Felire Hui St. Moling, June 17th, St. Flannan, Gormain," pp. 178, 179.
Three days and three nights over a year shall this plague
December 18th, St. Munna, October 21st. Colgan remarks, that St. Alban did not
form a
at the same time ; for it was not probable
that St. Moling was born during the life-
time of Brendan. St. Brendan died in the
year 576 or 577. St. Munna in 634 ; and
St. Moling in 696. See Colgan's "Acta 2545. See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of Sanctorum Hibernian" xvi. Maitit, p. 618,
and nn. 41, 42, 43, 44, p. 624.
with all of these Saints,
5 See
History," lect. xx. , p. 429.
6
drum
7 His lestival occurs on the 24th of June,
friendship
four hundred Ir—ish Writers," p. xxxviii.
"
Article iv. See Transactions of the
Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of
Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p.
Cathail. Or in Muc lnis ("pig-island ") on December.
Lough Derg. Sec ibid. , p. cxlvi. "The accounts of this object cwnlained
46 See ibid. ,
p. 624.
47 See " A Chronological account of nearly
Bay.
His feast occurs on the 17th of June.
9 See his Life, at the 9th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art i.
,0 Also called Eleran, and Lector of was Riagail who is in Tech Riagia in Leth Clonard. His feast occurs on the 29th of
cxxxviii. A commentator that he adds,
4 See the " of Martyrology Donegal,'*
edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves.
"
Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish
Eugene O'Curry's
This Lake is said to have been called after
Rudhruidhe, the son of Parthalon, a. m. *'
the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 6, 7. It is thought to have been identical with Dun-
8
See notices of him at that date, Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
in the
Lectures on the
September 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN7S. 441 the present saint, Tyrella parish derives its name. Taghrolly, Tyreela,
and 12 are also various names to Staghreel, referring
Techrula, Teighriola,
this place, as found in old documents and records. Those Irish forms are
"
rendered into English, as the house of Ryal or Riagail. " St. Riagail is
supposed to have erected a church, on the present site of the modern
Protestant parish church of Tyrella. In a confirmation of certain grants,
made by John de Courcy to the see of Down, this church is called, as in
the Taxation Stegrel. 13 In the Ulster Inquisitions, it is called Starely alias
1
Terrely. * The Feilire of St. ^ngus the Culdee, composed in the eighth
century, states, that a person standing at Tig-Riala, now Tyrella, about a mile distant from the strand, could hear the lonn Rury, one of the three great waves of Ireland. Doubtless, the writer meant, that booming thunder- like roar over the bar, which can be heard at a distance of some miles. *s Hence, the lonn Rury is supposed to indicate the bay of Dundrum. 16 The church and that refectory, to which allusion has been already made, were situatedontheeastsideofDundrumBay,inDownCounty. Thesiteand
cemetery of the ancient parish church lie within Tyrella House Demesne,
commanding extensive views over the Bay, with the magnificent range of Mourne Mountains in the back-ground. Near the old church site in 1832, a cave, artificially constructed of uncemented stones, had been discovered.
l It was roofed with flag-stones, and over them earth had been thickly heaped. i
It is 43 yards in length, by 2^ feet wide, and about five feet high, dividing into three chambers, 60, 45 and 24 feet in length respectively, the last extending its width to six feet.
Article V. —St. Earc, or Eric, Bishop of Donoghmore, of
Magh Cobha, or of Maighe Damhairne, Counties of Down and
1
Antrim. In the published Martyrology of Tallagh and in that as found in
the Book of 2 at the of we find the name of Earc Leinster, 17th September,
set down. Likewise, in the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, the name
in the Leabhar Mor Duna Dioghire, are in Tyrone, becomes **Slaght," as in the evidently of that class known as spurious parish of Connor. It is a curious analogy
prophecies, yet which have received so much
credence the Their cha- among ignorant.
racter has been well described, and what has
been preserved regarding this matter will be
found related in " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
to the change in the word C15, that the
Tur. Lond.
tures on the Manuscript Materials of Antient I4 Ultonia. Inq. Car. I. No. 8. See
Irish History," lect. xx. , pp. 425 to 434. Rev. Wm. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical Anti-
12
In the Ecclesiastical Taxation of the quities of Down, Connor and Dromore," Diocese of Down, compiled in the year PP- 32» 33 and n. (p), ibid.
1306, we find Tyrella set d—own as "a
15 Accordingly, the Rev. Mr. Reeves, in
Eccia de Staghreett—vij. . mar
"The Church of Staghreell— 7 marks— Columba," marked Dundrum Bay with this
decra ix. s. iiij. d. " Thus rendered into English :
the of Ancient which has been Map Scotia,
Tenth, 9s. 4d. " We are told that " in the
taxation, the letter s is prefixed, agreeably
to a usage which prevailed in the English
districts of the country ; and of which to the mouth of Erne River, in the west of numerous instances are to be found in the Donegal. See " Annals of the Four
names with the beginning
" Sta " or vol. Masters,"
n. and vol. i. , (u), p. 7,
syllable
"Sti. " Thus Stackallen is formed from n. (0, p. 611.
ii. ,
C15-C. AlL. Aln ;
Stillorgan from C15-
17 See Lewis'
"
LoncAin and
; Styoun,
the third name of following in the Taxation, from C15-
vol. — Ireland," ii. , p. 664.
the same
By "2
"
"
by
eoin.
(leAcc,
of Donaghmore in Donegal, and Longfield mop niAigi Coba . 1. "Oamoiptie.
xxxiv. a monument "), as in the parishes Thus entered
process,
Laght
Kelly, p.
pt.
Latin word " " should be tego
in Greek.
13 Rot. Pat. 16 Edward ill.
