No More Learning

Februarii. Vita S. Convani, seu verius Vol. II.
Scotise,"
reign of Donald, the fifty-third King of Scot-
land.
=^ According to the English Martyrology
and Camerarius, in his "Lignum Vitae," lib. iii. , among the additions. Yet, Colgan
530 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [February14.
states, that he was born in Scotia, of noble parentage ; but, despising the vanities and attractions of this world, he retired from it to a monastery of Benedictines, in one of the Orcadian Islands, near Scotia. It need scarcely be observed, the whole of this account is misleading. Probably, this holy man came from Ireland and Iona. =4 St. Conran, Conranus, or Conrannius is venerated as a bishop and a confessor. ^5 He is said to have emulated the example of St. Palladius, of St. Seran, Serf, Sair, Serb, or Servan,^^ and of St. Kentigern,=7 and to have selected the Orkney Islands as a field for his labours. Intheseislandsformerlystoodagreatnumberofholymonasteries. ThechiefecclesiasticalstationwasatKirkwall. Thisplacewasthebishop's residence. ^^ Throughthetownsandvillagesthere,goingonfoot,hepreached the Faith. 29 During the day, this was his anxious work, and at night, he spent a considerable time in prayer and vigil, for the welfare of his flock. 3° He preached much, and devised various remedies for the spiritual welfare of souls, committed to his care. He watched, especially over the poor and orphans. It is said, that he retired to a monastery of Culdees, at Pomona,3^ andthoughttobeidenticalwithKirkwall. Atthisday,Kirkwallistheonly remarkable town, in these islands. s^ It is situated on the largest of them, which is thirty miles long. It was called Hrossey, or the " Isle of Horses," by the Norwegians. 33 After its annexation to the Scottish crown, it received thenameofPomona. 34 Foralongperiod,however,theKingsofDenmark andNorwayhaddirectdominionovertheOrkneys. 35 Thepeopleofthis grouphavehad,foralongperiod,agreatvenerationforhismemory. 36 St. Conran is thought to have been a bishop here in the seventh century. For the austerity of his life, zeal and eminent sanctity, his reputation was no less famous in those parts, so long as the Catholic religion flourished there, than were the names of St. Palladius and of St. Kentigern. Ferrarius states,37 that St. Conwan flourished, about a. d. 640, and that Hector Boetius32 and JohnLesley39treatregardinghim. However,Boetiusonlyreferstoacertain
"See "Lives of the Fathers, Mart5rrs
and other Principal Saints," vol. ii. , P^eb-
Orkney, p. 207.
3- in the parishes of Kirkwall and St.
Ola. See ibid. y pp. i to 12 lor a descrip- tion.
33 According to Professor P. A. Munch
of Christiana. See ** of the Proceedings
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. i. , p. 15.
^* This we are told originated in a mis- take,regardingapassagetobefoundinthe geographical work of Julius Solinus, who in
''
ruary xiv.
=3 See
"
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p.
311.
=^ It would be difficult to
whether he lived here during or after the time of St.
Columba.
=5 See Bishop Forbes' ** Kalendars of
ScottishSaints, p. 311.
'^^
Traditionally said to have preached in
the at an date. Orkneys, early
See notices
Thule " Ab Orcadibus says :
of him, at the 1st of July,
=7 See notices of this holy bishop, at the
13th of January, and at the 13th of Novem- ber,
mentioning
Thyle usque quinque dierum ac noctium navigatio est. Sed Thyle larga et diutina pomona copiosa est," cap, 22,
state,
35 See John Pinkerton's
See Rev. Alban Butler's Lives of land from the accession of the House of
'^ '*
History of Scot-
the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints," vol. ii. , February xiv.
=^9 See Camerarius, " De Statu Hominis veteris ac novse Ecclesice, et Infidelium Con- versione," lib, i. , pars ii. , cap, iii. , sect. 2, pp. 127, 128.
3°
John Lesley alludes to him, but incor- rectly, in his work, "De Origine Moribus et Rebus Gestis Scotorum," lib. iv. , pp.
151, 152, in his account of Donald or Done- vald, the fifty-third King of Scotland.
3' Now Mainland. See " The New Sta-
tistical Account of Scotland," vol. xv. , the fifty-third King of Scotland, p. 151.
Stuart to that of Mary," vol. i,, bookvii. , pp, 259 to 267.
35 See Camerarius, "De Statu Hominis
veteris ac novce Ecclesire, et Infidelium Con-
versione," lib. i,, pars ii. , cap. iii. , sect. 2, p. 128.
37 "
in Catalogus Generalis Sanctorum,"
at this date.
38 " Historic Scotorum," lib. ix. , fol.
182.
39 " De Origine, Moribus et Rebus Gestis
Scotorum," lib. iv. , at the reign of Donald,
February 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 531
Connanus, in Scotia, together with other holy men, named by him, and to whom Hilary, the bishop, then holding the Apostolic See, wrote'»° in reference to the usage of the Scottish or Irish Church, regarding the celebration of Easter. 4^ Yet, the most reliable versions of the Roman Epistle and of those
to whom
This is probably a mistake for Cronan quite a different person. Besides, none of those ecclesiastics, named in that epistle, are known to have lived in Scotia Minor or Albania, as all are found to have been historically recorded, and solely in connexion with Ireland. '3 Phillip Ferrarius, at the 14th of February,entersthefestivalofSt. Conuuanus,confessor,inScotia. However, he cites incorrectly the German Martyrology of Canisius, instead of the EnglishMartyrology. InArnoldWion'sadditionstohisMartyrology,among the saints, whose festivals were not known to him, he places Conuanus, Scotus, a monk of the Island Helluensis44—he probably meant Hiensis—who flourished in the year 640. 4s The English Martyrology relates,^^ that after St. Conuan had attained a good old age, his happy life ended on the 14th of February, about the year 640. We know not, on what authority, such a statementhasbeenfounded. -*? OurIrishCalendaristshavenotfailedtoinsert thefeastofthisholyman. ^s Wefindthesimpleentry,Comman,occursin theMartyrologyofTallagh,49atthe14thofFebruary. MarianusO'Gorman has also a record of Coeman for the same date. In the Martyrology of Donegal,5° we read, that Caomhans^ had a festival, celebrated on this day. The name is Latinized Pulcherius, in a table, appended to this Martyrology. s^ In English, it need scarcely be observed to the classical reader, that it has
"
beautiful. " If St. Conran had been bishop at Kirkwall, it was probably before the times, when the Norsemen had made theirdescentonOrkney. Thenoblecathedral,nowtobeseenatKirkwall, was built and was dedicated, there, under the invocation of St. Magnus,53 King of Norway. This is truly one of the architectural glories of the middle ages. S4 It claims attention, in the first instance, for although not the most ancient ecclesiastical monument in the Orkneys, it is certainly the most im- posing. ss It gives the traveller, likewise, an exalted idea, regarding the skill
*° See this epistle more fully explained, 4« At the 14th of February,
in the Life of St, Diman, Dimaus, or Dima, 47 It 1$ probably inferred from Lesley's Dubh, Bishop of Connor, at the 6th of account.
it had been
addressed,
have no of Conuuan or Connan. ^^
the specific signification of
January.
4' Regarding this very abstruse question,
the reader will find a learned and most lucid
explanation from the pen of Rev. William
J. Walsh, D. D,, Maynooth College, in "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol.
xii. , pp. 185 to 199, 233 to 245, 273 to 286,
327 to 334, 409 to 413. The promise of
this will still further excite resuming subject
the interest of those, who desire further infor- mation concerning the Paschal controversy.
42 John Lesley is singularly inaccurate in hisaccountofthismatter. See"DeOrigine, Moribus et Rebus Gestis Scotorum," lib. iv. , pp. 151, 152.
43 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," xiv. Februarii. De S. Convano seu
verius Conano, vel Comano, pp. 335, 336. 4* Here he seems to follow John Lesley's
inexact account, in " De Origine, Moribus . et Rebus Gestis Scotorum," lib. iv. , p. 151.
"-^ " See Colgan's
Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
45 See the Bollandists'
"
Acta Sanctorum,"
land," vol. iii. , plates 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47. Another plate 48 is devoted to the Earl's Palace, so admirably described in Sir Walter Scott's "
tomus Februarii xiv. , p. 741. ii. ,
Pirate," chap. xxxi.
—
entry
nise," xiv. Februarii. De S. Convano, seu
verius Conano, vel Comano, p. 336, and n* 2, ibid.
49 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xv.
^o Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp* 48, 49.
si Dr. Todd adds in a note to Caom-haiH^
"The later hand ' Sed M.
Taml.
Commanus.
'"
adds,
5= See ibid. ^ pp. 372, 373.
S3 His festival is held, on the 1 6th of
April.
S4 Those, who have not an opportunity of
visiting Kirkwall, may form a very correct idea of the magnificence of St. Magnus' Ca- thedral, by inspecting those fine steel en- gravings, in Robert William
" Ba- ronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scot-
Billing's
532 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 14.
and energy of the Norwegians, when they held sway over the north of Scot-
land. It was commenced, by Earl Rogwald IL, in 1137 or 1138, and much oftheoriginalbuildingremainstothepresentday. Hecausedthecathedral
to be erected, in fulfillment of a vow, and for the express purpose of receiving the relics of St. Magnus, his uncle. The earl had inherited his right to a
shareoftheearldomoftheOrkneys,throughSt. Magnus. Averyinteresting history of Orkneymen, the Jarls, and the Odallors of Norwegian origin, who established an earldom in the isles to the north of Scotland, in the ninth century, and whose descendants, for several centuries, had been masters of the Hebrides, and of the north of Scotland proper, will be found in the
" ss xhe Orkneyinga Saga. "
subsequent
Norse Jarls, for three and a half centuries, as given in the pages of the
"
Saga," is the principal authority for the history of northern Scotland. This narrative is chiefly personal, and it embodies the songs of the Skalds. In these were preserved, by oral recitation and tradition, the mighty deeds of the Orcadian heroes. There is historical proof, that the Saga was complete, in its present form, about the thirteenth century, and it is supposed, from internal evidences, that it was finally put together, between the years 1222 and1225. 57 Theintroduction,writtenbyMr. Anderson,occupiesabouta third of the work. It comprises an account of the earliest history of the Orkneys, from the days when the first dawn of Christianity on the isles took place, down to the termination of the Norwegian bishoprics of Orkney and Caithness, in 1469. The most interesting portion of this introduction is that, in which the ancient churches of Orkney, the barrows, cairns, rude stone monuments, and other memorials of the early inhabitants, are described and discussed. That old church on the little isle of Egilsey possesses a chief attraction for the antiquary or lover of ecclesiastical architecture.
In it, we find a connexion with the earlier Christianity of these islands, previous to the Norse invasion. It consists of a small chancel and a nave, lighted by a fewround-headedanddeeply-splayedwindows. Aroundtowerstandsat the west end. This tower is now forty-eight feet high, but fifteen feet were recently taken off the height, to prevent its falling. In old engravings, it is represented, as covered by a stone conical roof, the usual termination for the round towers of Ireland. The Celtic Christians that devised the round tower of Ireland have clearly had a hand in the erection of this, and its date can scarcely be assigned to a later period than that of the ninth century. 58 Some churches of the Orkney Isles contain notable traces, that identify them, doubtless, regarding early Celtic worship. Next to these structures, one of the most conclusive proofs, establishing the Christian occupation of the Orkneys before the time of the Norsemen, is to be found
55 A mround plan, as also an architectural
and archaeological description of it will be found in Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's " Scoti-
to
Monasticon," pp. 173
5^ Lately, we have had published, an ex-
cellent edition of this work, " The Orkney- inga Saga," translated from the Icelandic
language, by Jon. A. Hjaltalin and Gilbert Goudie, edited, with notes and an introduc- lion, by Joseph Anderson. Edmonston and Douglas, Edinburgh, 1873.
57 Tradition, even, is silent, as to the author or authors of the "Orkneyinga Saga," or as regards the compilers of the unwritten
materials, upon which it is based.
but when he comes to assign any reason for his belief, his conclusions appear very im-
5^
Sir Henry Dryden ^oubts its antiquity,
178.
at
page xciii. ,
" On the other hand,
account of this under earldom,
Mr. Anderson follows him, and
potent.
states,
the resemblance to the round towered churches of Norfolk suggests that it may have been of Scandinavian origin. " So far, however, as concerns the round towers of Norfolk and Suffolk, from the elaborate specimen at Little Saxham, to the most un-
couth English forms, if photographs and drawings are of any worth, there is no re- semblance between those towers and the one at Egilsey ; nor, can it be determined, moreover, that the former had not been
built on previously.
February 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN2S, 533
in the discovery of two ancient square-sided bells, at Saverough and Burrian. Thesehavetheinvertedwedgeshape. Bellsofthisdescriptionwerepeculiar totheearlyagesoftheChurch. Thesebellswerenotcast,butmadefrom plates of metal, riveted, and a large number of similar ones have been dis- entombed in Ireland. 59 It is rather curious, when there are such abundant proofs of early Christian settlement in the existence of these bells, in the preservation of ancient crosses, and of saint-styled place-names, that Mr. Anderson should be so hard to convince, regarding the antiquity traceable in the actual masonry of the Orkney churches.
Article IV. —St. Colman, Bishop. Among the various holy men,
calledColman,inourCalendars,it seemsnoeasymattertodetermine,who the present had been, or the time when he lived. The Kalendar " De Nova
Article V. —St. Sineach, of Srath. The Martyrology of Tallagh^ enters the name, at the 14th of February, of Sinach. His place is called
Stratha Irenn. On this day is recorded, in the . Martyrology of Donegal,^ Sineach, of Srath. There are many names of places in Ireland compounded
""
with Srath or Strath, meaning a river bottom'^ or valley. "
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of St. Gobnat, of Ballyvourney,
County of Cork. In his " \Sixth Century. ']
Farina" has the f—east of
Colma—n Priscus^ so called to distinguish him from St. Colman of Lindis- farne3 is said to have preached among the Picts and Scots, together with St. Medan, St. Modan^ and St. Euchinus. s His period is placed at 800. ^ By Dempster, he is said, to have embraced a religious life under St. Congell •^ but, this writer confounds Colman Priscus, with Colman, Bishop of Lindis- farne. It is not pretended, however, that either must be identified with the Colman, bishop, noted at this date.
Colman, bishop,
History
City of Cork,'' Smith says, that St. Gobnat's patron day was kept in Bally-
vourney,andinMuskerry,onthe14thofFebruary. ^ Yet,herproperfestival falls on the nth of this month, where her Acts will be found. In the parish
of Kilshanick,^ it is also stated, that in a mountainy tract, there is a well, dedicated to St. Gobnate, which is also visited, on the 14th of February.
" the bell of Patrick's
from the year 552, when it is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, down to the owner- ship of its late possessor, the Rev. Dr. Todd.
" Works," vol. vi. , Britannicarum Ecclesi-
arum Antiquitates, cap, xv. , p. 221.
* See notices of them, at the 4th of Feb-
S9 Of one of
these,
Will," the history can actually be traced,
It is now in the Royal Irish Academy. A rum," lib. viii. , fol. 1 51.
History and Illustrations of this precious
ReHc have been published at Belfast, in 1850, by Marcus Ward and Co. It is a thin
Imperial 4tovolume,intituled, "FiveCromo-
Lithographic Drawings,representing an Irish Ecclesiastical Bell, which is supposed to have belonged to St. Patrick. And the several sides of the jewelled shrine in which
^" See Bishop Forbes'
tish Saints," p. 304.
by a historical
and illustrative — 185.
it is preserved ; accompanied
chap, ii,,
Description. "
^ *'=^
Article iv. See Bishop Forbes' Ka-
lendars of Scottish Saints," p. 68.
This large parish, situated in the barony of Duhallow, is described on the "Ord- nance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Cork. " Sheets 31, 32, 33, 40, 41, 42, 49, 50.
=^ ** See John Lesley's
Historia Scotorum," 3 See Dr. Elrington's edition of Ussher's
lib. iv. , p. cxliii.
p.
at the xvi. Kalends of March. ^ A
ruary.
s See Hector Boetius'
"
Historise Scoto- Kalendars of Scot-
7 See
*'
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis See-
of the and County
torum," tomus—i. , lib. iii. , num. 239, p. 139. ^
ARTICLE V. Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xv.
" Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
46, 47. — Article vi.
*
See book ii. ,
534 LIVES01THEIRISHSAINTS. [February15.
Article VII. —Saints Valentine and Marcellus, with Com- panions,Martyrs. The"Feilire"ofSt. ^ngus,'atthe14thofFebruary,
has a commemoration of Saints Valentine and Marcellus, together with eighty I others, martyrs. It is probable, St. ^ngus took the ancient Martyrology of EusebiusorofSt. Jeromeforhisauthority. Althoughwefind,aSt. Valentine,
bishop and martyr, at Baga and Taurus, in Spain ; a St. Valentine, at Ve- launensis, in Gaul ; a St. Valentine, priest and martyr, at Rome ; a St. Va-
lentine I. , bishop and martyr, at Imteramna, in Umbria ; a St. Valentine venerated at Gemmetis, in Gaul ; a St. Valentine, a Roman martyr, at Socuel-
lamus, in Spain ; a St. Valentine, a Roman martyr, at Hamedius and Armen-
teria, in Belgium ; a St. Valentine and xxiv. soldiers, martyrs, in Africa ;
yet, we do not meet with a St. Marcellus, commemorated by the Bollandists,
atthisdate. ^ Neitherdowefind80martyrcompanionsmentioned; although,
more martyrs than treble that number, in the aggregate, are venerated, at the 14th of February. It seems most probable, the allusion in St. Angus' " Feilire " refers to the celebrated St. Valentine, priest and martyr, who was beheaded at Rome, about the year 270. 3 From the facts already stated, and only having relation to one day, we may justly infer, how vast has been the number of those holy persons, who suffered martyrdom, in every age of the Church.
jfitteentft Bap of jfefiruarp*
ARTICLE I. —ST. BERACH OR BERACHIUS, ABBOT, PATRON OF KILBARRY, COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON.
[SIXTH OR SEVENTH CENTURY. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—PROPHECY OF ST. PATRICK REGARDING ST. BERACH—ACTS OF THIS HOLY MAN—HIS FAMILY AND BIRTH—BAPTISM AND FOSTERAGE, BY HIS UNCLE, CRUIMHTHER FROECH—HIS EARLY EDUCATION—SENT TO ST. DAGvEUS FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION—MIRACLES AND MERITS OF ST. BERACH.
incomprehensible wonders revealed, by Divine Providence, are
THE manifested to specially man,
in the
and most excellent
highest
manner, through the samts, who, from all eternity, are predestined and pre-
elected. These are, the creatures of earth, so grandly and greatly created, that exhibit chiefly the supreme wisdom, the infinite power, and the perfect
Article vn. —* The following rann. copied from the " Leabhar Breac," and translated into English, by Professor O'Looney, refers to the combat of these soldiers of Christ :—
;
Cxyi. kl I1-I
mA^celluf ^o pin^Gt) ;
In the field of Valentine,
Marcel his was tortured ;
In the kingdom of Christ were
planted
Eighty comely [martyr] cham-
pions.
=* See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Feb-
|\oi
tlAlencme,
^Uich CiMi-c ^AocUrroAT),
1
Uxxjc. CAin cingex).
Fathers,MartyrsandotherPrincipalSaints," vol. ii. , February xiv.
niarii xiv.
3 See Rev. Alban Butler's
"
Lives of the
February 15. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 535
bounty, of God. In far western Ireland, so long buried in idolatry, the
Lord was pleased to raise up many holy persons, to make his designs miraculous, and to visit his children, lest these might be lost. Thus, within
the bounds of Connaught, he was pleased to light, as it were, a shining star, which should remove darkness, and show the way to those erring, or sitting in the shadows of death. Among such great luminaries, Berach seemed as a person sent by God, to prepare his paths through the desert of this world ; hismeritsweresuper-eminent; hewagedwaragainstthepowersofdarkness, by preaching, by reproof, by exhortation, by his visits to sinners, and, in fine, by his miracles. ^
Colgan has published the Acts of St. Berach, at the 15th of February. ^ They have been derived from two' distinct manuscripts. 3 One of these
belonged to the monastery of the island ;+ while, the other belonged to the church of which he was the patron. s Some manuscript Acts of this holy confessor,also,aretobefoundintheBodleianLibrary,atOxford. ^ Father John Bolland, after prefixing a commentary in six paragraphs, publishes a First Life of St. Berachius, or Berach, in four chapters, and thirty-one para- graphs, and a Second Life, in ten paragraphs. 7 These are merely republica- tions from Colgan. There is an Irish Life of St. Berach, transcribed by
Michael O'Clery, and preserved in the Burgundian Library, at Bruxelles. ^ So far as seen, by the writer, the Acts of this holy man appear to abound in
fables, and to have been drawn, chiefly from popular legends. The First
Life, as published, by Colgan, has a prayer to St. Berach appended, and it was probably composed as a sermon for his festival.
Before the birth of St. Berach, when the great Apostle of Ireland9 visited that part of the country, where he was destined to see the Hght, Gentiles and infidels were in possession of it. In vain, the herald of the Gospel soughttowithdrawthemfromerrorandsuperstition. Hisdiscipleswondered, that his admonitions and teaching should there fail ; but, in the spirit of
"
the man of God cried out
after me shall soon appear a man, to be born in these parts, and of this very race, who will remove error from among them, by his life and doctrine : not alone shall he convert this perverse and fierce clan, you now behold, but even many other people, such as these are, shall he bring as gentle lambs to Christ, through his powerful reasoning. " These words of the missionary jorophet were duly fulfilled.
The parents of St. Berach were of noble origin, and belonging to the
province of Connaught, they seem to have been Christians, at a time when Gentileerrorsstillabounded. BerachdescendedfromtheraceofDobhtha,
prophecy,
:
Brethren,
have a for patience while,
'
Article i. —Chapter i. — See his First
Life, in Colgan, chap. i.
=^ See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," XV.
Februarii. Vita S. Berachi, Abbatis, and Supplementum Vitse S. Berachi, pp. 340 to
348.
—3 this Ishall — Throughout article, designate
s This Life, originally in the Irish Ian- guage, has been translated into Latin, by
to their order of
one as the First or Latin Life, and the other
as the Second or Irish Life, or as the Sup-
plement.
4 In Lough Ree. The writer seems to
have been Augustin Magraidin, Canon Re- gular of the religious establisliment there, and who died, A. D. 1405. This Life is written, in Latin. It has narratives not found in the Second Life,
Vita S. Confessoris, et —Abbatis, MS.