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LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 


Oh 


ST.   PATRICK 


WITH   APPENDICES,   Etc. 


BY    THE 

MOST     REV.     DR.     HEALY, 

ARCHBISHOP    OF    TUAM 


Bnblin: 

M.  H.  GILL  &  SON,  Ltd., 
Upper  O'Connell  Street. 

SEALY,    BRYERS   &    WALKER, 
Middle  Abbey  Street. 

BEN2IGER   BROTHERS. 
1905. 


Q^  Me  'ia 


■y^ 


^^ 


-*  LIBRAR"^ 


JUL  1  a  1970 

PRINTED    BY 

SEAI.Y,    BRYERS    AND    WALKER, 

MIDDLE    ABBEY    STREET, 

DUBLIN. 


PREFACE. 


Our  chief  purpose  in  writing  this  new  Life  of  St  Patrick, 
when  so  many  Lives  already  exist,  is  to  give  a  fuller  and, 
we  venture  to  hope,  more  exact  account  of  the  Saint's 
missionary  labours  in  Ireland  than  any  that  has  appeared 
since  the  Tripartite  Life  was  first  written.  For  this  pur- 
pose we  have  not  only  thoroughly  studied  Colgan's  great 
work,  and  made  ourselves  familiar  with  the  really  valuable 
publications  of  our  own  times,  but  we  have,  when 
practicable,  personally  visited  all  the  scenes  of  the  Saint's 
labours,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  so  as  to  be  able  to  give 
a  local  colouring  to  the  dry  record,  and  also  to  catch  up, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  echoes,  daily  growing  fainter,  of  the 
once  vivid  traditions  of  the  past. 

We  have  no  new  views  to  put  forward.  We  shall  seek 
to  follow  the  authority  of  the  ancient  writers  of  the  Acts 
of  St.  Patrick,  which  we  regard  as  in  the  main  trustworthy. 
Those  who  do  not  like  miracles  can  pass  them  over,  but 
the  ancient  writers  believed  in  them,  and  even  when  purely 
imaginary  these  miraculous  stories  have  an  historical  and 
critical  value  of  their  own. 

We  find  it  convenient  to  classify  our  authorities  into 
three  divisions.  The  ANCIENT  authorities  are  those 
that  flourished  before  the  Anglo-Norman  invasion  of 
Ireland,  that  is  before  A.D.  1172.  The  MEDIEVAL 
authorities  will  include  all  those  who  make  reference  to 
St.  Patrick^s  Acts  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  17th 
century.  The  MODERN  authorities  will  comprehend  the 
rest,  including  Colgan  and  Usher,  who  have  written  from 
that  date  (A.D.  1600)  to  the  present  time. 


\V  PREFACE. 

We  have  resolved,  however,  to  follow  in  the  main  the 
guidance  of  the  ancient  authorities,  who,  if  credulous  in 
things  supernatural,  had  no  motive  but  to  write  the  truth, 
so  far  as  it  was  known  to  them,  for  the  instruction  and 
edification  of  posterity.  There  was  then  only  one  Church, 
and  they  could  have  had  no  motive  in  representing  St. 
Patrick  to  be  anything  else  than  what  he  was  known  to 
them — a  great  and  successful  Christian  missionary  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Those  ancient  authorities  are  in  substantial  agreement 
on  all  the  main  points  of  our  Apostle's  history.  Some 
shallow  critics  of  our  own  time,  by  unduly  indulging  in 
what  is  mere  speculation,  have  brought  confusion  into 
the  Acts  of  St.  Patrick,  but  this  confusion,  like  the 
morning  mist  on  the  mountain  side,  is  rapidly  passing 
away.  We  shall  not  follow  their  example  ;  rather  we  shall 
adhere  to  the  ancient  authorities,  and  in  so  doing  we 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  really  great  Irish  scholars  of 
modern  times,  like  Colgan,  Usher,  and  O'Flaherty,  who 
paid  due  regard  to  those  ancient  authorities,  and  under 
their  guidance  gave  their  own  lives,  with  brilliant  success, 
to  the  study  of  Irish  history  and  antiquities. 

The  writings  of  St.  Patrick  himself  must  naturally  be 
made  the  basis  of  any  reliable  history  of  the  Saint.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  Confession  and  the  Epistle  to 
Coroticus  were,  as  the  Book  of  Armagh  says  of  the  former, 
originally  written  by  his  own  hand.  Every  statement, 
therefore,  in  any  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  ancient  or  modern, 
clearly  inconsistent  with  the  tenor  of  these  documents 
must  be  rejected  without  hesitation. 

Concerning  the  miracles  related  in  most  of  the  Lives 
the  reader  will  form  his  own  judgment.  Some  of  the 
stories  are,  in  our  opinion,  of  their  own  nature  incredible  ; 
others  are  ridiculous,  and  several  are  clearly  inconsistent 
with  Patrick's  own  statements  in  the  Confession.  But  we 
cannot  reject  a  story  merely  because  it  is  miraculous. 
The  Confession  itself  records  several  miracles,  and  we  are 


PREFACE.  V 

by  no  means  prepared  to  say  that  St.  Patrick  was  either 
deceived  or  a  deceiver.  The  most  famous  Lives  of  the 
great  saints  of  that  age  are  full  of  narratives  of  the 
miraculous.  St.  Athanasius  wrote  a  Life  of  St.  Anthony  ; 
Sulpicius  Severus  has  left  a  beautiful  Life  of  St.  Martin ; 
Paulinus  of  Nola  has  given  us  an  authentic  Life  of  St. 
Felix — these  were  great  prelates  and  accomplished  scholars, 
who  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of  those  of  whom  they 
wrote,  yet  we  find  miracles  recorded  as  undoubted  events 
in  every  page  of  their  narratives.  The  absence  of  the 
miraculous  in  any  Patrician  document  is,  therefore,  no 
proof  of  its  earlier  date  or  more  authentic  character,  as 
some  modern  critics  seem  to  think.  The  most  authentic 
and  eloquent  writings  of  that  age  are  filled  with  such 
narratives  of  the  miraculous,  and  the  miracles  were 
attested  by  most  trustworthy  witnesses,  and  are  narrated 
as  undoubted  facts  by  contemporary  writers.  In  this  work 
our  purpose  is  not  controversial ;  it  is  to  show  St.  Patrick 
as  he  was  known  to  his  contemporaries  and  their  imme- 
diate successors  who  had  known  the  man,  or  received  the 
living  stories  of  his  disciples.  Most  people  will  think  such 
a  narrative  is  of  far  more  value  from  every  point  of  view 
than  the  speculations  of  some  of  our  modern  critics  and 
philologists,  who  would  rather  do  away  with  St.  Patrick 
altogether  than  admit  that  he  got  his  mission  from 
Rome. 

The  manifold  variations  in  the  spelling  of  Irish  words, 
and  especially  of  Irish  proper  names,  present  great  diffi- 
culty to  a  writer  on  Irish  subjects,  and  render  it  almost 
impossible  to  adopt  a  uniform  system.  As  we  have,  on 
the  whole,  followed  the  guidance  of  the  Rolls  Tripartite, 
both  as  to  the  Irish  text  and  its  English  version,  we  have 
thought  it  desirable  to  adopt  also  its  system  of  spelling 
the  Irish  proper  names.  No  doubt  many  of  its  forms  are 
now  archaic ;  still  they  exhibit,  we  think,  the  language, 
especially  in  this  matter  of  proper  names,  in  simpler  and 
purer  forms  than  those  which  are  at  present  in  use  ;     and, 


VI  PREFACE. 

moreover,  tend  to  preserve  a  uniformity  of  usage,  which 
is  surely  to  be  desired.  Hence,  we  have  adopted,  as  a 
rule,  the  spelling  of  the  Tripartite,  especially  in  proper 
names,  except  in  the  case  of  certain  well-known  words, 
where  a  departure  from  the  existing  usage  might  be 
misleading. 

•i-  John   Healy,  D.D., 

Archbishop  of  Tuam. 
St.  Jarlath's, 

September,  IQOS* 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  1 

Early  Lives  of  St.   Patrick. 

I. — St.   Fiacc's  Hymn        ...  1 
II. — Hymn     of     St.      Secun- 

dinus               ...             ...  4 

III. — Vita   Secunda                ...  9 

IV.— Ft^a  Tertia 10 

y.—Vifa   Quarfa  ...             ...  10 

VI. — Vita  Quinta    ...             ...  11 

YU.—Vita  Sexta      ...             ...  14 

VIII.— F?7a  Septima                ...  15 

IX. — Book  of  Armagh          ...  17 

X. — Epistle  to  Coroticus     ...  19 

CHAPTER  II. 

St,    Patrick's   Birthplace   and 
Family. 

I.— His  Birthplace  ...  ...  20 

II.— Time  of  Birth    ...  ...  26 

III.— His  Parents       ...  ...  29 

IV. — His  Mother  Tongue  ...  33 

CHAPTER  III. 

St.    Patrick's    Childhood    and 
Boyhood. 


I.— His  Childhood 
II. — His    Boyhood 


36 

40 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Captivity  of  St.  Patrick. 

I. — Place   of  his   Captivity  ...  43 
II. — His   Life     as   a     Slave    in 

Ireland           ...             ...  48 

III. — Escape  from  Captivity  ...  53 
iV. — Return    to    his    Home    in 

Britain         .-.            ...  64 

CHAPTER  V. 

St.    Patrick's   Teachers. 

I.— Visit  to   St.    Martin   of 

Tours  74 


II. — At  Marmoutier 
III. — In    Lerins 
IV. — In  the  Island  of  Aries... 
V. — St.     Germanus    and    St. 
Patrick 
VI. — Mission  of    Palladius    to 

Irelana 
VII, — St.        Germanus       sends 
Patrick  to  Rome 


.     75 


81 
86 


93 
96 


CHAPTER  VI. 

St.    Patrick's   Mission  and 
Consecration. 

I. — The  Roman   Mission   of 

Patrick  ...  ...  104 

II. — His     Episcopal      Conse- 
cration ...  ...   112 

III. — He  sets  sail  for  Ireland  116 
IV.— Coasts  Northward        ...  119 


CHAPTER  VII. 

St.   Patrick  in  Ulster. 

I.— He  sails  for  Ulster     ...  124 

II.— At  Saul  126 

III.— Revisits  Slemish  ...  129 

IV.— Founds  Church  of  Bright  131 
V. — Patrick  and  Mochae     ...  133 
VI. — Social    Life  in    Ancient 

Erin  ...  ...  135 

VII. — Druids,       Bards,       and 

Brehons  ...  ...  137 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

St.  Patrick's  Conflict  with  the 
Druids. 

I. — He  sails  for  the  Boyne  140 
n.— At   Slane         ...  ...  142 

148 
154 
158 
162 


III.— At   Tara 
IV.— In  Meath 

V. — He  visits   Trim 
VI.— At   Tailteann 
VII, — Further  Missionary  Jour- 
neys in   Meath  ...  165 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


VIII.— At  Uisneach  ... 
IX. — Patrick    and     Munis     at 
Forgney 
X. — Patrick       in       Southern 
Teffia 
XI.— In    Northern    Teffia    ... 


PAGB 

169 

173 

175 
180 


CHAPTER  IX. 

St.  Patrick  at  Magh  Slecht. 

I.— Probable   Route  ...  182 

II. — Situation        of        Magh 

Slecht  ...  ...  184 

III.— Church  of  Magh   Slecht  187 
IV. — Patrick  crosses  Shannon  189 

CHAPTER  X. 

St.  Patrick  in  Roscommon. 

I. — At  Doogarrv  ...  191 

II.— At   Elphin  ' 195 

III.— At   Clebach  Well        ...  201 
IV, — Royal    Cruaclian  ...  205 

V. — Amongst    the    Ciarraige 

of  MagL  Ai  ...  206 

VI.— At  Oran  ...  ...  208 

VII. — Baptises     the     sons     of 

Brian  at  Magh  Selce    210 
VIII. — Amongst   the    Gregraide 

of  Lough   Gara  ...  213 


CHAPTER  XI. 

St.   Patrick  in  Mayo. 

I. — Amongst    the    Ciarraige 

of  Mayo        ...  ...  218 

II, — Amongst  the  Conmaicne  221 
III.— In  Carra  ...  ...  224 

IV. — ^At  Aghagower  ...  226 

CHAPTER    XII. 

St.    Patrick    on    the    Cruachan 

AlGLE. 

I.— The  Saint's  Fast         ...  229 
II. — His    Mission    confirmed 

by  Pope  Leo  the  Great  234 
III.— In  the   Plains   of   Mayo  237 
IV. — He     revisits     his     Ros- 
common Churches       ...  242 
v.— He  revisits  Tara  ...  246 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


page 


St.  Patrick  in  Tirawley. 

I. — Journey    from    Tara    to 

Tirawley      ...  ...  252 

II.— His    Conflict    with    Tir- 
awley Druids  ...  253 
III.— At  Focluth   Wood       ...  254 
IV.— The  Maidens  of  Focluth 

Wood  ...  ...  257 

v.— Patrick   founds   Killala    259 
VI. — Founding      of    Kilmore- 

Moy  ...  ...  264 

VII. — At    Downpatrick    Head    266 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

St.  Patrick  in  Tireraqh. 

I. — He  recrosses  the  Moy  ...  269 
II. — Patrick    and    the     Gre- 

craide  of  the  Moy    ...  270 
III. — Patrick       and       Prince 

Conall  271 

IV.— Patrick  at  Sligo  ...  275 

CHAPTER  XV. 

St.  Patrick  in  Tirerrill  and 

MOYLURG. 

I. — Churches      founded  in 

Tirerrill        ...  ...  280 

II. — Patrick   in    Moylurg  ...  281 

III. — ^Again  at  Doogarv  ...  283 

IV.— In   Leitrim      ...    '  ...  285 

V. — Founds   Domnachmore      287 

VI.— In   North  Sligo  ...  289 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

St.  Patrick  in  Tirconnell. 

I, — He  crosses  the  Erne  ...  294 
II. — St.   Patrick's    Purgatory 

in  Lough  Derg         ...  299 
III. — He     comes    into    Magh 

Ith  ...  ...   301 

IV. — Patrick      and      Eoghan 

Mac  Nial     .  .  ...  304 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

St.    Patrick   in    Inishowen   and 
Derry. 

I. — Journey  to   Carndonagh  309 
II. — Domnach      Mor     Maige 

Tochair        ...  ...  310 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


PAGE 

III.— At  Moville  ...  312 

IV.— In   County  Derry  ...  314 

V. — At   Keenachta  ...  317 

VI.— At   Coleraine  ...  320 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

St.  Patrick  in  Down  and. 
Connor. 

I. — Uladh,   Dalaradia,    Dal- 

riada  ...  ...  323 

II. — Patrick     in      Elniu,      or 

Magh   Elne  ...  326 

III.— In  Dalriada     ...  ...  329 

IV. — Patrick     and     Olcan    of 

Armov  ...  331 

v.— Other   Churches   of  Dal- 
riada ...  ...  334 

VI. — Patrick's     Churches     in 

Cary  ..  ...    336 

VII. — Patrick       in       Southern 

Dalaradia     ..  ...  339 

VIII.— In  Eastern  Dalaradia  ...  340 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

St.  Patrick  in  Oriel. 

I. — He   recrosses  the   Bann   342 
II.— The  Tribes   of    Oriel    ...  345 
III.— Patrick        and        Mac 

Cartan   in   Clogher   ...  347 
IV. — Patrick  and  King  Echu's 

Daughter      ...  ...  350 

v.— King      Echu     and      St. 

MacCartan  ...  353 

VI. — Patrick    and    Brigid    in 

Clogher        ...  ...  355 

VII.— Patrick    in     Hy    Meith 

Tire  ...  ...  357 

VIII. — In  Cremorne  ...  ...  359 

IX.— In  Farney       ...  ...  360 

X. — Again   in   Meath  ...  362 

XI. — ^Alleged  Visit  of  Patrick 

to  Ath-Cliath  ...  364 

CHAPTER   XX. 

St.  Patrick  in  North  Leinster, 

I. — Geography    of    Leinster    368 
II.— Patrick  in  Magh  Liffe     369 
III. — He    revisits    Hy    Garr- 

chon  ...  ...  372 

IV. — Auxilius   and   Iserninus    374 
V. — Patrick      at       Narragh- 

more  ...  ...  380 

VI. — In     West    Kildare    and 

Queen's  County         ...  382 


PAGE 


CHAPTER   XXT. 


St.  Patrick  in  South  Leinster. 

I. — Patrick        and         King 

Crimthann  ...  387 

II.— He   visits   Dubthach  ...    391 
III. — He      ordains     Fiacc     of 

Sletty  ...  ...  392 

IV. — Fiacc  founds    Sletty     ...  396 
V. — Patrick      founds       other 
Churches      in      South 
Leinster       ...  ...   401 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

St.  Patrick  in  Ossory, 

I.— Maigh   Raighne  ...  403 

II. — Patrick's   other  Churches 

in   Ossory    ...  ...  405 

III.— His  Church  of  Disert  ...  406 
IV.— St.      Patrick      and      St. 

Ciaran  ...  ...  409 

v.— Patrick    in   Cashel        ...  411 
VI.— In  Muskerry  ...  ...  418 

VII.— At  Kilfeacle   ...  ...  419 

VIII.— In    Cullen       ...  ...  420 

IX. — Patrick    and     the     Pre- 

patrician   Bishops     ...    421 
X. — Patrick  at  Pallas  Green  425 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

St.   Patrick  in  the    Diocese   of 
Limerick. 

I. — He   founds  Donaghmore  427 
II.— The  Feast  of  Knockea     428 
III. — Patrick       at        Knock- 

patrick         ...  ...  431 

IV.— In  South   Leinster        ...  433 

V. — ^Amongst  the    Deisi      ...  434 

VI.— In    North    Ormond       ...  436 

VII.— In  Offaley       440 

VIII.— Killeigh  of    Offaley      ...  442 
IX, — Patrick       at       Croghan 

Hill  444 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

St.  Patrick  Reforms  the  Brehon 
Code. 

I. — Origin    and    Nature    of 

the   Brehon   Code     ...  448 
II. — 'Authors  of  the  Revision  451 
III. — Legal       Relations       be- 
tween     Church      and 
State  ...  ...  456 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

IV. — The     Laws     of     Foster- 
age       ...  467 

V. — ^Tho      Brehon     Agrarian 

Code  ...  ...  459 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

St.  Patrick  in  Ulidia. 

I. — Patrick's  Journey  North- 

Avard  ...  ...  464 

II. — Patrick   and    Trian    the 

Cruel  ...  ...  465 

III. — Maccuil's   P&nance        ...  467 
IV.— The  Sabbath-Breakers    of 

Drumbo        ...  ...  471 

V. — Patrick  and  King  Eochaid 

Mac  Muiredach         ...  473 
VI, — St.   Domangart  of  Slieve 

Donard         ...  ...  475 

VII.— Patrick  in  Fir  Roiss  ...  476 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

St.  Patrick  in  Armagh. 

I. — Pre-Christian   Armagh      481 
II. — The       Foundation       of 

Armagh        .  ...  485 

III.— The  Churches  of  Armagh  490 
.  IV.— The  Date  of  the  Found- 
ing  of  Armagh         ...  492 
V. — The       Boundaries        of 

Armagh       ...  ...  494 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

St.  Patrick's  Labours 
Armagh. 


IN 


I. — His    Daily   Labours     ...  500 
II. — Story      of      Lupita      or 

Lupait  ...  ...  501 

III. — Vestment-making      a«d 

Embroidery  ...  503 

IV. — Relics  for  Armat^h       ...  504 

v.— Patrick's    Coadjutors    ...  508 

VI.— Food  for  the  Scholars  ...  511 

VII. — Nuns  at  Armagh        ...  613 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

St.  Patrick's  Synods. 

I. — ^Patrick's    Canon   in   the 

Book   of  Armagh     ...  516 
II. — Synod        of       Patrick, 
Auxilius,      and     Iser- 
ninus  ...  ...  519 


PAGE 

III.— The    Iri.sh    Collection  of 

Canons         ...  ...  526 

IV. — The       Prerogatives       of 

Armagh        ...  ...  527 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

St.    Patrick's    Sickness,    Death, 
AND    Burial. 

1. — His  Sickness  ...  ...  632 

II.— Date  of  his  D^^ath       ...  535 
HI. — St.     Brigid's     Winding- 

Sheet  for  Patrick     ...  538 

IV.— Patrick's   Death  ...  539 

v.— His  Burial      ...  ...  540 

VI. — His    Characteristic    Vir- 
tues ...  ...  544 

VII. — His     Personal     Charac- 
teristics        ..  ...  546 


v'lll. — ^Summary  of  his  Labours  550 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

The    Writings    of   St.    Patrick. 

I. — ^The  Confession  ...  553 

II.— The    Epistle     to     Coro- 

ticus  ...  ...  558 

IIL— The     Faed    Fiada,     or 

Deer^s    Cry...  ...  560 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

St.    Patrick's    School    of 
Armagh. 

I. — His  Itinerant  School   ...  562 
II.— The  School  at  Armagh    664 
III. — Patrick  and  the  Schools 

of  the  Bards  ...  568 

CHAPTER   XXXII. 

The  Household  of  St.  Patrick. 


I. — List  of  the   Gfhcials 
II.— Hi.:  Bishop      .. 
IIL— His  Priest 
IV.— His   Judge       ... 
V. — His   Champion 
VI. — His  Psalm-Singer 
VII. — His  Inferior  OflEicials 
VIII. — His  Artisans  ... 

APPENDIX  I. 

Birth-place  of  St.  Patrick 

APPENDIX  n. 

Burial-place  of  St.  Patrick 


...  570 
...  572 
...  572 
...  573 
...  574 
...  576 
...  578 
...  582 


...  585 


...  691 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


PAGE 


APPENDIX    III. 


St.     Patrick's    Relations    tn 

Ireland  ...  ...  614 

St.  Loman  of  Trim  ...  620 

APPENDIX  rV. 

*  The  Three  Patricks  '  ...  624 

I. — History  of  Palladius   ...  625 
II. — Patricius       Senior,       or 

Sen-Patraic  ...  627 

ni.— The   Great  St.  Patrick     631 
IV. — Patricit    Junior  ...  632 

APPENDIX  V. 

The  Relics  of  St.  Patrick       ...  633 
I. — The   Staff    of  Jesus,    or 

Bachall-Iosa,  ...  633 

n.— The  Bell   of  the   Will     636 
ni.— The       Canon       of       St. 

Patrick         ...  ...  640 

IV.— The      Shrine      of       St. 

Patrick's  Hand         ...  642 

APPENDIX  VI. 

The  Patrician  Pilgrimages    ...  644 
I. — Armagh   Pilgrimage     ...  644 
II. — Downpatrick       Pilgrim- 

a^Q  ...  ...  64S 


PACK 

III. — Croaghpatrick     Pilgrim- 
age ...  ...  646 

IV. — Lough      Derg      Pilgrim- 
age ...  ...  656 

v.— St.    Patrick's   Wells     ...  667 

APPENDIX   VII. 

Text  of  St.  Patrick's  Writings  668 
I. — His   Latin    Writings:  — 

I. — The   Confession     ...  668 
II. — Epistle     to     Coroti- 

cus         ...  ...  696 

II. — His   Irish  Writings  :  — 
The   Faed   Fiada,    or 
Deer's  Cry         ...  705 
III, — Doubtful  or  Apocryphal 
Writings  :  — 
I. — Canons  attributed  to 

Patrick  ...  708 

II.— The  'Rule'  of  Patrick  716 

APPENDIX  VIII. 

Hymn  of  St.  Sechnall  (Secun- 
DiNus),  in  Praise  of  St. 
Patrick  ...  ...  723 

APPENDIX    IX. 

Dedication  of  the  New  Cathe- 
dral OF  St.  Patrick, 
Armagh:  The  Si:r.:,:o5T     ...  726 


CHAPTER     I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 


EARLY   LIVES    OF   ST.    PATRICK. 
I.— St.  Fiacc's  Hymn. 

The  Irish  Hymn  of  St.  Fiacc  is  the  first  of  the  seven 
Lives  of  St.  Patrick  given  by  Colgan,  and,  if  we  except  the 
hymn  of  St.  Sechnall  in  praise  of  St.  Patrick,  seems  to 
have  been  also  the  earliest  of  those  now  extant.  It  is  con- 
tained in  the  two  ancient  MSS.  of  the  Liber  Hymnorum, 
one  of  which  is  preserved  in  Trinity  College;  the  other  is 
at  present  in  the  Franciscan  Monastery,  Merchants'  Quay, 
Dublin.  Colgan  published  the  Irish  text  of  this  latter 
MS.  in  his  own  great  work,'  with  a  Latin  version  for  the 
benefit  of  scholars  ignorant  of  the  ancient  Gaelic.  But 
more  accurate  versions  have  been  given  recently  in  English 
by  competent  scholars,  especially  that  published  in  the 
Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  for  March,  1868,  and  also 
Stokes'  version  in  the  Rolls  Tripartite. 

The  Irish  Preface  to  the  Hymn  gives  a  very  clear 
account  of  the  time,  place,  and  purpose  of  its  composition, 
as  well  as  the  name  and  station  of  the  writer.  "  Fiacc  of 
Sletty,"  it  tells  us,  "  made  this  eulogy  for  Patrick."  This 
would  seem  to  imply  that  Patrick  was  alive  at  the  time ; 
for  it  was,  as  a  rule,  only  living  men  the  poets  praised. 
Now,  Fiacc  was  the  son  of  Ere,  son  of  Bregan,  son  of 
Barraig  (from  whom  are  the  Hy  Barrche),  son  of  Cathair 
Mor.  So  he  was  of  royal  ancestry,  being  fourth  in  descent 
from  the  great  ancestor  of  the  Leinster  kings.  He  was  a 
pupil  of  Dubthach  Mac  Hy  Lugair,  who  was  in  the  time 
of  King  Laeghaire  the  chief  poet  of  Ireland.  It  was  Dub- 
thach who  rose  up  to  do  honour  to  Patrick  at  Tara,  although 
the  king  had  forbidden  any  of  his  nobles  to  rise  up  before 
the  stranger.  Thenceforward  he  became  a  friend  of 
Patrick,  for  Patrick  had  baptised  him  then,  or  shortly  after- 
wards at  Tara. 


^  The  Trias  Thaiimaturga.  Petrie  thought  the  Liber  Hymnorum  was  about 
1,200  years  old  ;  and  Todd  declared  that  it  may  safely  be  pronounced  to  be 
"  one  of  the  most  venerable  monuments  of  antiquity  now  remaining  in  western 
Europe." — Book  of  Hymns ^  p.  1. 


2  EARLY   LIVES   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

Now,  it  was  '  in  the  time  of  this  Laeghaire,  son  of  Niall, 
and  of  Patrick  that  the  poem  was  made' — that  is,  it  de- 
scribed events  that  took  place  in  their  time,  for  the  phrase 
does  not  usually  refer  to  the  time  a  poem  was  composed. 

Patrick  going  through  Leinster  on  his  missionary 
journey  called,  as  might  be  expected,  to  see  his  friend 
Dubthach  at  his  house  in  Leinster.  This  house  was,  we 
are  told  elsewhere,  at  Domnach  Mor, 'beside  the  fishful 
sea.'  Dubthach,  on  his  part,  '  made  a  great  welcome  for 
Patrick,'  and  amongst  other  things  Patrick  said  to  his  host 
— "  Seek  for  me  a  man  of  rank,  of  good  family,  moral,  of 
one  wife  only,  and  of  one  child."  ^  "  Why  seek  you  such  a 
man,"  said  Dubthach.  "  To  give  him  Orders,"  said  Patrick. 
"  Fiacc  is  the  very  man  you  want,"  replied  Dubthach,  "  but 
he  has  gone  on  a  circuit  to  Connaught" — that  is  on  a 
poet's  visitation,  to  collect  the  bardic  dues  for  the  Arch- 
poet  and  his  school.  Just  then  it  came  to  pass  that  Fiacc 
*  and  his  circle,'  or  school,  were  returning  home,  and 
Dubthach  at  once  said — "  There  is  he  of  wliom  we  have 
been  speaking."  '*  But,"  said  Patrick,  "  he  might  not  like 
to  take  Orders.'*  "Proceed,  then,  to  tonsure  me,"  said 
Dubthach,  who  knew  that  tonsure  was  the  first  step  to 
Orders,  and  marked  the  man  chosen  for  the  clerical  state. 
Patrick  set  about  it.  ''  What  are  you  going  to  do,"  said 
Fiacc.  "  To  tonsure  Dubthach."  "  Oh  !  that  would  be  a 
pity ;  Ireland  has  no  other  poet  like  him,"  replied  young 
Fiacc.  ''  I  will  take  you  in  his  stead,"  said  Patrick. 
"  My  loss  to  poetry  will  be  less  than  his,"  said  Fiacc.  So 
Patrick  tonsured  the  young  poet,  shearing  off  the  flowing 
hair  and  beard  which  he  wore  in  bardic  fashion,  "  And 
great  grace  was  given  him,''  we  are  told — and  no  wonder — 
in  return  for  his  generous  self-denial.  "  He  read  all  the 
ecclesiastical  O^^do  " — that  is  the  Mass  and  Ritual — "  in  one 
night,"  but  some  say — and  it  is  more  likely — "  in  fifteen 
days."  And  "  the  grade  of  Bishop  was  conferred  upon 
him,  and  he  became  High-Bishop  of  Leinster,  and  his 
successors  after  him."     So  far  the  Scholiast.^ 

Fiacc,  being  a  professional  poet,  had  a  trained  memory, 
and  must  have  been  an  educated  man  when  ordained,  if  he 


^  It  was  not  necessary  that  a  candidate  bishop  should  have  only  one  child  ; 
but  it  was  from  the  beginning  required,  even  by  St.  Paul,  that  he  should  not 
have  been  twice  married. 

2  He  adds  that  the  place  where  the  Poem  was  written  was  Duma  Gobla, 
to  the  north-west  of  Sletty  ;  and  the  time  was  in  the  reign  of  Liigaid,  son  of 
Laeghaire  (484-507), 


ST.   FIACC'S    HYMN.  3 

was  able  to  learn  to  read  his  Missal,  or  even  his  Ritual,  in 
fifteen  days.  But  his  poem  proves  he  was  an  accomplished 
scholar  in  his  native  tongue,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he 
already  knew  something  of  the  Latin  language,  for  he  was 
a  *  tender  youth '  in  the  retinue  of  Dubthach  at  Tara, 
when  Patrick  appeared  there  some  fifteen  years  before ; 
and  he  must  have  often  afterwards  witnessed  the  clergy 
performing  their  sacred  functions — for  there  can  hardly 
be  any  doubt  that  after  the  conversion  of  his  master  he, 
too,  became  a  Christian.  His  poem  also  proves  that  the 
Bards  of  Erin  could  read  and  write  their  own  language 
even  before  Patrick  came  to  Erin,  for  it  would  have  been 
utterly  impossible  that  a  hitherto  unwritten  tongue  could, 
in  one  or  two  generations,  become,  as  it  did  in  the  poet's 
hands,  a  perfect  written  language,  of  great  vigour  and 
flexibilit}^,  with  fixed  inflections  and  definite  grammatical 
rules.  If  the  Hymn  of  Fiacc  is  authentic,  then  there  was 
certainly  a  written  language  in  Ireland  before  St.  Patrick, 
of  much  grace,  strength,  and  beauty. 

We  do  not  think  that  any  really  valid  argument  has 
been  brought  forward  against  the  authenticity  of  this  most 
interesting  memorial  of  our  ancient  Irish  Church.  The 
'  Stories '  ^  declaring  that  Patrick  was  born  in  Nemthor 
merely  refer  to  the  current  traditions  at  the  time  of  the 
writer,  and  have  no  necessary  reference  to  a  far-distant 
past.  Again,  when  Fiacc  says  that  the  'Tuatha '  or  tribes 
of  Erin  were  prophesying  that  *  Tara's  land  would  be  silent 
and  waste,'  he  merely  tells  us,  what  the  Druids  had  fre- 
quently declared,  that  the  new  religion  would  cause  the 
overthrow  of  the  paganism,  of  which  Tara  was  at  once  the 
centre  and  the  symbol,  for  its  kings  continued  to  be  pagans 
during  the  whole  lifetime  of  St.  Patrick  It  is  by  no 
means  necessary  to  suppose  that,  when  the  poet  wrote, 
Tara  had  already  become  waste  and  silent,  as  it  certainly 
did  after  A.D.  565,  when  it  was  cursed  by  the  Saints.  So 
also  when  Fiacc,  like  a  patriotic  Irishman,  says  **  it  is  not 
pleasant  to  me  that  Tara  should  be  a  desert,"^  the  expression 
does  not  mean  that  it  was  then  a  desert,  rather  the  contrary : 
it  appears  to  mean  that  the  poet,  whilst  rejoicing  in  the 
glory  of  Down  and  Armagh,  would  not  wish  that  royal  Tara 
should  become  a  desert.  This  question  is  further  discussed 
in  the  account  of  St.  Fiacc's  meeting  with  St.  Patrick. 


^  Ni  scelaib. 

"^  Nimdil  ceddithrub  Temair. 


4  EARLY   LIVES   OF  ST.   PATRICK. 

II. — The  Hymn  of  St.  Secundinus. 

This,  perhaps,  may  be  regarded  as,  in  some  respects,  the 
most  ancient  Life  of  St.  Patrick.  There  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  of  its  authenticity,  for  the  evidence,  both  intrinsic 
^nd  extrinsic,  is  very  strong.  It  is  given  in  the  Liber 
Hymnorum,  under  the  title  of  the  '  Hymn  of  St.  Patrick, 
Bishop  of  the  Scots^ ' — that  is,  of  course,  the  Irish  — meaning, 
however,  not  a  hymn  written  by  the  Saint,  but  one  written 
in  his  praise.  The  copy  in  the  Trinity  College  Libei 
Hymnorum  has  a  glossary,  but  no  preface  ;  however,  the 
folio  containing  the  preface  may  have  been  torn  from  the 
MS.  In  the  P'ranciscan  codex  of  the  Book  of  Hymns  ^ 
there  is  a  preface  or  introduction  which  sets  forth,  in  the 
usual  style,  the  time,  place,  author,  and  object  of  the  compo- 
sition. 

This  preface  is  in  Irish,  and  has  been  given  in  Latin 
by  Colgan,  who  first  published  St  Sechnall's  Hymn.  The 
Lebar  Brecc  also  contains  a  copy  of  the  Hymn,  with  a 
fuller,  but  probably  a  less  authentic,  preface.  It  was  also 
published  by  Sir  James  Ware  from  a  copy  that  he  found 
in  the  Library  of  Usher.  It  is  said  to  be  the  Donegal 
copy  ;  but  that  is  rather  doubtful,  for  it  differs  from  Colgan's 
version,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  it  could  go  to  Rome 
from  Usher's  collection.  It  was  also  published  by  Muratori 
and  Villaneuva,  and  lastly,  after  careful  collation,  the  Fran- 
ciscan copy  has  been  printed  by  Stokes  in  his  Tripartite 
Life. 

Reference  is  also  made  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  to  the 
'  recitation '  of  this  Hymn  as  one  of  Four  Honours  ^  due 
to  St.  Patrick,  so  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  its  authenticity 
was  recognised  by  the  earliest,  as  well  as  by  the  latest,  of 
our  Irish  historians  and  scholars. 

The  internal  evidence  is  no  less  striking  and  conclusive. 
The  writer  of  the  Hymn  describes  at  length  the  virtues 
and  labours  of  St.  Patrick,  but  throughout  he  speaks  of 
the  Saint  as  one  living  at  the  time,  not  yet  called  to  his 
reward,  but  who  hereafter  will  possess  the  joys  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom.     A  mere  forger  of  a  later  date  would 

^  Incipit  Hymnus  Sancti  Patritii  Episcopi  Scotorum. 

"^  It  originally  belonged  to  the  Monastery  of  Donegal ;  then  went  to  St. 
Isidore's  in  Rome  ;  afterwards  to  the  Burgundian  Library.  Brussels,  from  which 
it  has  been  transferred  to  the  Library  of  the  Franciscan  Convent,  Dublin. 

*The  Third  Honour  was,  Hymnum  ejus  per  totum  tempus  (ejus  festi) 
cantare.  The  Fourth  Honour  was,  Canticum  ejus  Scotticum  (Irish)  semper 
canere.     Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  333. 


THE   HYMN    OF   ST.   SECUNDINUS.  J 

hardly  be  so  much  on  his  guard  in  his  tenses  when  speaking 
of  the  Saint,  The  Latin  style,  too,  is  characteristic  of  the 
period,  for  the  language  is,  as  we  might  expect,  rather  like 
that  of  St.  Patrick  himself — by  no  means  elegant,  and  not 
always  even  grammatically  correct. 

The  Shorter  Preface  given  by  Stokes  in  Irish,  and  by 
Colgan  in  Latin,  tells  us  the  history  of  the  Hymn.  It  was 
Sechnall,  son  of  Restitutus,  of  the  Lombards  of  Letha,  and 
of  Darerca,  Patrick's  sister,  who  composed  it.  Secundinus 
was  his  Roman  name,  but  the  Irish  called  him  Sechnall. 
Domnach  Sechnaill  (now  Dunshaughlin)  was  the  place  ; 
and  the  time  of  its  composition  was  the  reign  of  Laeghaire,^ 
son  of  Niall.  Its  purpose  was  to  praise  Patrick,  and  also, 
it  would  seem,  to  appease  him.  For  Patrick  had  heard 
how  Secundinus  had  remarked  that  "  he  (Patrick)  is  a  good 
man,  were  it  not  for  one  thing,  that  he  preached  charity  so 
little ;''  and  hearing  it,  Patrick  was  angered.  "It  is  for 
charity's  sake  I  do  not  preach  it,  for  the  saints  after  me 
will  need  men's  gifts  and  service,  and  therefore  I  do  not 
ask  them,"  said  Patrick.  The  Hymn  attained  its  object, 
for  Patrick  *  made  peace  with  his  nephew '  when  he  heard 
it.  *  This  was  the  first  Hymn  made  in  Ireland.'  '  It  was 
composed  in  the  order  of  the  alphabet ' — that  is,  the  first 
letter  of  each  stanza  in  succession  followed  the  order  of  ""jhe 
alphabet.  There  are  twenty-three  stanzas,  with  four  lines 
in  each  stanza,  and  fifteen  syllables  in  each  line.  There 
are,  the  writer  adds,  three  words  in  it  '  without  meaning,' 
that  is,  introduced  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme. 

When  Sechnall  had  composed  his  Hymn  he  went  to  read 
it  for  Patrick,  merely  saying  that  he  had  made  a  eulogy 
for  a  certain  Son  of  Life,  which  he  wished  him  to  hear. 
'*  The  praise  of  God's  household  is  welcome  to  me,"  said 
Patrick.  Then  Sechnall  began  with  the  second  stanza — 
omitting  the  first,  in  which  Patrick's  name  is  mentioned — 
and  proceeded  to  read  through  the  Hymn.  Stopping  him, 
however,  at  the  lines  : 

Maximus  namque  in  regno  coelorum  vocabitur 
Qui  quod  verbis  docet  sacris  factis  adimplet  bonis, 

and  walking  further  on,  Patrick  said  to  Sechnall,  "  How 
can  you  call  him  '  Maximus  in  regno  coelorum  ? '  How  can 
a  mere  creature  be  the  '  greatest  ? ' " — for  he  well  knew  the 
Gospel  only  calls  him   "  great.'* 


^  The  Irish  of  Stokes  has,  *  Tempus  Acda,'  Son  of  Ncill,  or  of  Laeghaire. 


6  EARLY   LIVES   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

"  Oh,  the  superlative,"  reph'ed  Sechnall,  '*  is  there  put 
for  the  positive,  and  only  means  '  very  great.'  "  ^  It  was, 
however,  the  rhythm  and  not  the  meaning  that  needed  a 
word  of  three  syllables.  Then  when  the  Hymn  was 
.finished,  Sechnall  claimed  from  Patrick  the  Bard's  usual 
reward,  thereby  giving  him  to  understand — what  the  Hymn 
itself  showed — that  Patrick  himself  was  the  *  Son  of  Life ' 
who  was  eulogised. 

"  Thou  shalt  have  it,"  said  Patrick  ;  "  as  many  sinners 
shall  go  to  heaven  because  of  (reading)  this  Hymn  as 
there  are  hairs  on  thy  cowl." 

"  I  will  not  be  content  with  that,"  said  Sechnall. 

"  Then  whoever  will  recite  it  lying  down  and  rising  up 
will  go  to  heaven." 

''  I  will  not  be  content  with  that,"  said  Sechnall,  "  for 
the  Hymn  is  long,  and  it  will  be  hard  to  remember  it." 

*'  Then  its  efficacy  or  grace  shall  be  on  the  three  last 
stanzas." 

*'  Deo  gratias,"  said  Sechnall.      ^'  I  am  now  content."  ^ 

The  Preface  in  the  Lebar  Brecc,  besides  giving  a  sketch 
of  St.  Patrick's  history,  adds  very  much  to  the  plain  tale 
given  before,  and  seems  to  contain  unauthentic  and  later 
additions.  Patrick  is  represented  as  going  to  Sechnall  in 
great  wrath  when  he  heard  of  the  latter's  observation  about 
his  not  preaching  charity  as  he  might.  Sechnall,  hearing 
of  his  coming,  or  seeing  him  approach,  left  the  oblation  at 
the  altar  just  before  Communion,  '  to  kneel  to  Patrick ' 
by  way  of  apology ;  but  Patrick,  still  in  wrath,  went  to 
drive  his  chariot  over  Sechnall,  when  God  raised  the 
ground  around  him  on  either  side,  so  that  Sechnall  was  not 
hurt !  Then  followed  the  explanation  of  his  not  preaching 
charity  given  above,  and  a  mutual  reconciliation.^ 


*  The   Longer  Preface  suggests  that   it   means    that    Patrick    was    the 
greatest  of  his  own  race,'  that  is,  tlie  greatest  of  the  Britons  or  of  the  Scots 
in  heaven. —  Tripartite. 

2  The  Tripartite  says  that  Patrick  said: — "Whoever  of  the  men  of 
Ireland  shall  recite  the  three  last  stanzas,  or  the  three  last  lines,  or  the  three 
last  words,  and  shall  come  at  death  with  a  pure  intention,  his  soul  shall  be 
ready  " — to  go  to  heaven,  we  pre-une. 

^  The  picturesque  narrative  in  the  Tripartite  shows  it  was  a  very  friendly 
meeting  that  took  place  for  the  recitation  of  the  Hymn.  Sechnall  and  Pali  irk 
met  at  the  Pass  of  Midluachair,  near  Forkhil!,  north  of  Dundalk.  Each  of  them 
blessed  the  other,  and  they  sat  down  to  read  the  Hymn.  Patrick,  rising  up 
at  the  words,  '  Maximus  in  regno  ccelorum,"  asked  an  explanation  as  they 
walked  together  to  '  Elda/  where  it  was  finished,  and  so  the  explanation 
was  given,  as  stated  above. 


THE   HYMN    OF   ST.    SECUNDINUS.  / 

It  is  evident  the  Scholiast  here  indiili^es  his  fancy  in  a 
very  curious  fashion,  whilst  borrowing  the  substance  of 
the  tale  from  other  incidents  recorded  in  the  Life  of 
St.  Patrick,  to  which  we  have  referred  elsewhere.  We 
have  discussed  in  another  place  the  question  of  the 
parentage  of  Sechnall,  especially  the  strange  statement  of 
the  Scholiast,  that  his  father  Restitutus  was  of  the  Lombards 
of  Letha. 

Letha  is  commonly  taken  to  mean  Italy,  or,  in  a  more 
restricted  sense,  Latium  ;  and  this  statement  would  seem 
to  imply  that  the  Lombards,  or  some  of  them,  had  settled 
there  before  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  whereas  it  is 
certain  that  they  did  not  obtain  a  settlement  in  Italy  before 
the  middle  of  the  sixth  century — the  exact  year  commonly 
given  being  A.D.  568. 

But  does  Letha  mean  Latium  or  Italy  ?  Todd  has 
discussed  the  question  at  some  length  without  coming 
to  any  definite  conclusion.  Our  own  view  is  that  Letha 
means  not  Italia,  but  Gallia  or  Gaul,  especially  Celtic 
Gaul,^  which,  as  we  know  from  Caesar,  extended  from  the 
Garonne  to  the  Seine,  and  from  the  ocean  on  the  west  to 
the  Cevennes  range,  which  separated  Celtic  Gaul  from  what 
was  then  known  as  the  *  Provincia ' — a  name  still  retained 
in  the  modern  Provence.  The  Lombards  certainly  crossed 
the  Rhine  and  settled  in  parts  of  Gaul  long  before  they 
were  established  in  Italy,  and  a  family  or  colony  of  them 
might  have  established  themselves  in  Tours  or  Armorica, 
and  have  there  met  with  relatives  of  St.  Patrick's  family. 
This  would  explain  how  it  came  to  pass  that  a  sister  of 
Patrick,  staying  with  her  own  family  or  relations  in  Celtic 
Gaul,  might  have  met  and  married  there  a  Lombard  of 
Letha — that  is,  a  Lombard  settled  in  Gaul. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Sechnall,  in  this  poetic  eulogy  of 
St.  Patrick,  gives  us  no  definite  facts  regarding  the  life  of 
his  holy  uncle,  confining  himself  to  a  general  description 
of  his  labours  and  his  virtues.  From  this  point  of  view 
the  Hymn  is  valuable,  but  otherwise  it  contains  nothing 
noteworthy. 

After   describing   in    a    general    way    the    holiness   of 
Patrick's  life,  and  his  divine  mission  to  preach  the  Gospel 


*  In  the  Tripartite  we  find  '  Burgidala  Letha'  (p.  239)  and  'Airmoric 
Letha,'  showing  that  Bordeaux  and  Brittany  were  both  in  Letha,  which  seems 
conclusive  proof  that  Letha  =  Gania,  to  which  in  sound  it  is  nearer  than  to 
Itaha. 


8  EARLY   LIVES   OF   ST.   PATRICK. 

to  the  barbarous  clans  of  Ireland,  Sechnall  describes  his 
most  striking  and  characteristic  virtues — his  humility,  which 
glories  only  in  the  Cross  ;  his  zeal  in  preaching  the  Gospel, 
and  feeding  the  flock  intrusted  to  his  care  ;  his  chastity, 
which  keeps  his  flesh  a  holy  temple  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ; 
his  preaching,  which  holds  up  the  lamp  of  the  Gospel  to 
the  whole  world ;  his  saintly  life,  which  fulfils  in  act  what 
he  teaches  by  word  ;  his  utter  contempt  of  worldly  fame 
and  perishable  goods,  which  he  esteems  mere  chaff;  his 
love  of  Sacred  Scripture,  of  constant  prayer,  of  the  daily 
Sacrifice,  of  the  Divine  Office,  with  all  the  other  charac- 
teristic virtues  of  a  saintly  bishop  and  evangelist. 

It  has  been  noticed  by  Stokes  that  there  is  no  reference 
to   the    Roman    Mission   ih   this   Hymn.     Why,    indeed, 
should  there  be?     It  was  a  poetic  eulogy  of  a  living  man, 
praising  his  virtues,  but  not  recording  a  single  fact  of  his 
life,  as  they  were  all  known  to  his  audience.     No  reference 
to  his  birthplace,  to  his  captivity,  to  his  parents,  to  his 
teaching,  to  Germanus,  or  to  Gaul,  or  to  any  other  extrinsic 
facts.      Why,  then,  should  the  writer  go  out  of  his  way  to 
say  that  Patrick  was  sent  by  the  Pope  to  preach  in  Ireland  ? 
Everyone  knew  it ;  no  one  denied  it.      Who,  even  now,  in 
preaching  the  eulogy  of  a  Catholic  bishop,  living  or  dead, 
says  that  he  was  appointed   by  the  Pope?     It  would  be 
altogether  superfluous  ;  everyone  knows  it.     He  says  that 
Patrick  had  a  divine  mission ;  that  God  sent  him  to  preach 
in  Ireland,  just  as  we  now  say  of  any  other  prelate  that  it 
was  God  who  placed  him  over  his  flock ;  but  in  the  case  of 
Patrick  it  was  well  to  emphasise    the    fact,   because   his 
mission  was  extraordinary ;  that  is,  it  was  the  outcome  of 
a    special    divine    command,    questioned    by    some,   but 
emphatically  asserted  by  Patrick  himself. 

Neither  does  this  Hymn  record  any  miracles  of  St. 
Patrick.  It  is  unusual,  certainly,  to  recount  any  saint's 
miracles  during  his  life,  and  least  of  all  to  his  face;  but  the 
Scholiast  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  has  some  of  his  own  to  tell  in 
connection  with  the  Hymn.  Not  content  with  the  promise 
that  its  recital,  morning  and  evening,  would  secure  the 
salvation  of  Patrick's  pious  clients,  he  adds  that  Patrick  also 
said  that  "  wherein  this  Hymn  shall  be  sung  before  dinner, 
scarcity  of  food  shall  not  be  there,"  and  also  that  "  the 
new  house  in  which  it  shall  be  sung  first  of  all,  a  watching 
or  vigil  of  Ireland's  saints  will  be  round  it,''  as  was  revealed 
to  Colman  Elo  and  Coemghen  (Kevin)  and  other  holy  men 
during  the  recital    of  this    Hymn,   for   Patrick   and    his 


THE   VITA    SECUNDA.  9 

disciples  appeared  to  them  as  they  recited  it.  Having 
promises  of  such  efficacy  annexed  to  its  recital  it  is  no 
wonder  the  Hymn  became  a  popular  devotion,  and  one  of 
the  '  Four  Honours  of  St.  Patrick ' — Hymnum  ejus  per 
totum  tempus  in  solemnitate  dormitionisejus  cantare — that 
is,  it  was  constantly  sung  on  the  i6th,  17th,  and  i8th  of 
March,  for  the  solemnity  was  celebrated  for  three  days — 
the  vigil,  the  feast,  and  the  day  after. 

ni.— The  Vita  Secunua. 

The  Second  Life  is  attributed  by  Colgan,  with  some 
probability,  to  Patrick  Junior,  the  nephew  of  St.  Patrick, 
who  was  the  son  of  his  brother,  Deacon  Sannan.  This 
Patrick  Junior  was  probably  Bishop  of  Rosdela,  now 
Rostalla,  in  the  Co.  Westmeath.  Afterwards,  it  would 
appear,  he  resigned  his  See  and  went  to  Armagh,  where 
St.  Patrick  made  him  Ostarius,  or  chief  sacristan,  of  his 
own  Cathedral.  After  the  death  of  his  great  uncle,  Patrick 
Junior,  it  is  said,  retired  to  Glastonbury,  where  he  ended 
his  life  in  the  odour  of  sanctity,  and  wrote  this  '  Vita 
Secunda,'  published  by  Colgan.  Jocelyn  names  Patrick 
Junior  as  one  of  those  who  wrote  a  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  and 
it  would  seem  that  he  had  the  work  in  his  possession.  But 
why  Colgan  identifies  this  Second  Life  with  that  written 
by  Patrick  Junior  is  not  clear.  Its  author  certainly  outlived 
St.  Patrick,  and  St.  Fiacc  also,  for  he  refers  to  their  death, 
and  he  was  perhaps  the  only  one  of  those  referred  to  by 
Jocelyn  who  survived  St.  Patrick ;  that  fact  may  have  some 
weight  in  having  the  Life  attributed  to  him.  In  its  present 
form  it  is  incomplete,  for  it  only  goes  as  far  as  Patrick's 
famous  interview  with  King  Laeghaire  on  the  hill  of  Tara. 
But  it  is  a  very  valuable  Life,  written  in  fairly  good  Latin, 
with  a  few  Irish  phrases  interposed.  The  writer  makes  the 
Confession  the  basis  of  his  own  account  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  Saint's  life,  and  describes  it  as  the  '  Book  or  Books 
of  Patrick  the  Bishop ' — the  usual  heading  being — 
'  Inceperunt  Libri  Patricii  Episcopi,'  as  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh.  The  writer  is  emphatic  in  his  statement  that 
St.  Patrick  was  sent  to  preach  in  Ireland  by  Pope 
Celestine  ;  that  he  was  thirty  years  of  age  when  he  went 
abroad;  and  that  he  came  to  Ireland  at  the  age  of  sixty, 
and  spent  sixty  years  more  preaching  in  this  country. 

Colgan  printed  the  Life  from  a  MS.  of  the  Abbey  of  St. 
Hubert;  in  the  Ardennes,  collating  it  with  another  which  he 


lO  EARLY    i.lVEb   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

procured  from  the  monastery  of  Alna  in  Hannonia  ;  hence 
Colgan  calls  the  latter  the  *  Codex  Alnensis.' 

IV. — The  Vita  Teutia. 

The  Third  Life  given  by  Colgan  was  taken,  as  he  tells 
us,  from  a  manuscript  of  the  convent  of  Biburg,  in  Bavaria, 
which  Father  Stephen  White  had  sent  to  him.  Its  opening 
sections  agree,  almost  word  for  word,  with  the  Second  Life  ; 
but  this  Third  Life  is  complete,  whereas  the  Second  Life, 
as  we  now  have  it,  does  not  come  further  than  St.  Patrick's 
interview  with  King  Laeghaire  at  Tara.  But  though  brief, 
this  Life  is  accurate  and  valuable,  for  it  contains  some  im- 
portant particulars,  to  be  noted  hereafter,  not  found  in  the 
Tripartite.  Its  author  appears  to  be  wholly  unknown. 
Some  consider  the  work  to  be  merely  a  complete  version 
of  the  Second  Life,  copied  from  the  same  original.  Such 
is  not  our  opinion.  There  is  ample  evidence  that  the 
Second  and  Third  Lives  came  originally  from  different 
authors,  although  they  adhered  closely  to  some  common 
authority  which  was  before  them.  This  Third  Life  may  be 
that  written  by  St.  Lomman,  or  by  St.  Mel.  It  was  cer- 
tainly written  in  Ireland,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  by  an 
Irishman. 

V. — The  Vita  Quarta. 

The  Fourth  Life  is  very  similar  to  the  Second  and  Third 
Lives,  and  many  sections  in  the  three  seem  to  point  to  a 
common  origin.  It  was  printed  by  Colgan  from  a  manu- 
script belonging  to  the  monastery  of  Alna  in  Hannonia. 
He  attributes  its  composition  to  St.  Aileran  the  Wise ; 
but  the  only  reason  he  had  for  this  opinion  seems  to  be 
the  better  style  of  the  Latinity ;  and  we  know,  from  the 
fragments  of  his  writings  still  remaining,  that  Aileran  was 
an  accomplished  Latin  scribe.  It  is  quite  obvious,  however, 
that  it  is  a  later  Life  than  the  Second  or  the  Third,  and  the 
author  implies  as  much,  for  he  states  that  he  heard  certain 
things — veracium  relatione  virorum — from  the  narrative  of 
truthful  men. 

Lanigan  caustically  observes  that  if  Aileran  the  Wise 
were  the  author  he  hardly  deserves  his  surname  when  he 
wrote  such  foolish  things.  But  Lanigan  himself  was  not 
always  wise ;  and,  even  at  his  best,  we  cannot  accept  his 
judgment  as  the  standard  of  wisdom. 


THE   VITA   QUINTA.  IX 

The  Life  is  complete,  and  in  some  points  valuable.  The 
leading  facts  of  St  Patrick's  history  are  given  in  these  three 
Lives  in  the  same  order,  and  sometimes  almost  in  the  same 
words,  so  that  the  conclusion  almost  forces  itself  upon  us 
that  they  are  all  derived  from  a  common  original,  but,  at 
the  same  time,  composed  by  different  writers,  who,  whilst 
faithfully  adhering  to  the  facts  of  the  common  narrative, 
added  here  and  there  some  things  of  their  own.  The 
author  of  this  Fourth  Life,  whilst  professing  to  adhere  to 
what  he  found  in  the  *  old  books,'  or  heard  from  trust- 
worthy  witnesses,  adds  reflections  of  his  own  from  time  to 
time,  and  undertakes  to  give  the  narrative  in  a  somewhat 
more  elegant  style  than  his  predecessors.  He  points  out, 
for  instance,  how  much  more  necessary  miracles  were  in 
those  '  priscis  temporibus  '  than  in  his  own  time — a  state- 
ment which  goes  to  show  that  he  lived  long  after  the  time 
of  St.  Patrick,  and  cannot  have  been  one  of  the  contem- 
poraries of  the  Saint,  who,  according  to  Jocelyn,  wrote  the 
Life  of  our  great  Apostle.  It  is  a  pity  we  have  no  clue  to 
the  identity  of  the  author  ;  but,  as  he  mentions  Brendan, 
Columba,  and  other  saints,  he  cannot  have  flourished 
earlier  than  the  end  of  the  sixth  century. 

VL — The  Vita  Quinta  by  Probus. 

The  heading  of  the  Fifth  Life  is  as  follows  : — "  Beati 
Patritii,  Primi  Praedicatoris  et  Episcopi  totius  Britanniae, 
Vita  et  Actus,  Auctore  Probo." 

If  this  title  were  given  to  the  Life  by  Probus  himself, 
it  would  be  inconsistent  with  his  own  narrative,  and 
with  authentic  history.  For  surely  no  one  could  truly 
describe  St.  Patrick  as  the  *  first  preacher  and  bishop  of  all 
Britain.'  'Britanniae'  is  probably  a  transcriber's  mistake  for 
*  Hiberniae,'  but  it  goes  to  show  that  the  copy  was  made 
in  Britain,  or  somewhere  else  outside  Ireland,  where  there 
was  not  much  knowledge  of  Erin's  history  at  that  time. 

Probus  is  not  an  Irish  name;  and  Paulinus,  at  whose 
request  Probus  wrote  the  Life,  is  not  an  Irish  name.  Still 
there  are  many  expressions  in  the  text  which  clearly  prove 
that  Probus  himself  was  an  Irishman,  and  probably  Paulinus 
also.  For  instance  he  speaks  of  Palladius  as  having  been 
sent  to  convert  t/its  island  to  Christianity.  He  speaks  of 
the  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Vartry  river  in  Cualann  as 
'  a  celebrated  port  of  ours ' — apud  nos  clarissimum ;  he 
describes  the  Irish  Sea  as  oursQa.;  he  speaks  of  St.  Patrick's 


12  EARLY   LIVES   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

preaching  as  filling  all  our  lands  with  the  faith  of  Christ ; 
and  other  similar  expressions  are  used,  which  clearly  show 
that  he  regarded  both  himself  and  Brother  Paulinus,  whom 
he  addressed,  as  Irishmen. 

If  we  could  identify  Paulinus,  it  would  be  easy  to  fix 
the  date  of  the  Life.  The  most  probable  conjecture  is  that 
of  Colgan,  who  surmises  that  he  was  that  Maelpoil  whom 
the  Four  Masters,  at  A.D.  920,  describe  as  the  son  of  Ailell, 
a  Bishop,  Anchorite,  and  Scribe  of  Leath  Cuinn,  and 
Abbot  of  Indedhnen.  The  Chronicon  Scotorum  gives  the 
last  title  as  '  Head  of  Purity,'^  and  the  Annals  of  Ulster 
further  add  that  he  was  of  the  race  of  Aedh  Slaine,  that  is 
the  southern  Hy  Niall,  who  dwelt  chiefly  in  Meath.  In 
that  case  his  monastery  would  most  likely  be  somewhere 
in  Meath  ;  and  it  would  be  a  very  probable  conjecture  that 
Probus  belonged  to  the  same  community,  for  which  he 
wrote  this  Life,  at  their  Abbot's  request. 

The  chief  difficulty  against  this  theory  is  the  strange 
blunders  that  Probus  makes  in  his  interpretation  of  Irish 
words,  and  his  reference  to  Irish  names  of  places.  For 
instance — if  it  is  not  an  error  of  the  scribe,  and  it  does  not 
look  like  it — he  described  the  place  of  St.  Patrick's  cap- 
tivity more  than  once  as  near  Slieve  Egli,  or  Cruachan 
Aigle,^  instead  of  Slieve  Mis — which  is  a  very  serious  error, 
and  shows  that  the  author  had  little  or  no  knowledge  of 
Ireland.  Then,  again,  he  foolishly  interprets  St.  Patrick's 
phrase,  *  Modebroth/  as,  '  Your  labour  will  not  profit 
you ' ;  and  his  attempt  to  translate  the  poetic  prophecy  of 
Laeghaire's  Druids  regarding  the  coming  of  St.  Patrick  is 
simply  ridiculous. 

Moreover,  he  inverts  the  order  of  events,  even  inessen- 
tial points,  and  represents  St.  Patrick  as  having  been  three 
times  a  captive,  and  as  having  come  to  Ireland  even  before 
Palladius  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  having  failed  in  his 
mission  returning  to  get  due  authority  from  St.  Celestine. 
All  this  goes  to  show  that  the  writer  was  not  well  made  up, 
either  in  the  facts  of  St.  Patrick's  life,  or  in  the  topography 
of  his  own  country. 

Elsewhere,  too,  he  makes  the  extraordinary  assertion 
that  the  angel  declared  to  St.  Patrick  that  he  (Patrick) 
would  baptise  '  Scotiam  atque  Brittaniam,  Angliam  et 
Normanniam.'      The  prophecy  is  absurd,  but  it   gives  a 

1  Cenn  Indhidnain. 

2  Cruachan  Aigle  was  the  ancient  name  of  Croaghpatrick,  in  the  Co.  Mayo. 


THE   VITA   QUINTA.  1$ 

due  to  the  date  of  the  writer.  The  Normans  settled 
in  the  province  that  bears  their  name  about  the 
year  A.D.  906,  so  that,  if  our  conjecture  as  to  the  identity 
of  Paulinus  be  correct,  the  Life  was  written,  say,  between 
A.D.  910  and  920.  The  motive  of  ascribing  this  curious 
prophecy  to  the  Angel  Victor  was,  in  all  probability,  a 
hope  that  it  might  tend  to  soften  the  ferocious  Northmen 
of  Ireland,  and  bring  them  nearer  to  Christianity,  to  which, 
at  the  time,  many  of  them  were  gravitating  in  various  parts 
of  Ireland. 

Still,  this  Life  by  Probus  has  its  own  value.^  It  seems 
to  be  an  independent  authority;  and  although  it  is  clear 
the  writer  had  St.  Patrick's  Confession  before  him,  from 
which  he  quotes  textually,  he  must  have  also  had  other 
authorities  which  we  have  no  longer  in  our  hands.  But 
his  knowledge  of  ancient  Irish  was  very  poor,  and  some  of 
its  phrases  certainly  puzzled  him.  He  was  unacquainted, 
too,  with  the  country,  for  he  entirely  lacks  the  accurate 
descriptions  of  the  Tripartite  in  portraying  the  labours  of 
the  Saint. 

Hence,  ome  writers  have  concluded — and  it  is  not 
improbable — that  he  was  an  Irishman  living  in  England  or 
France  or  Germany,  who  had  left  this  country  in  his  youth, 
and  had  almost  forgotten  the  little  he  ever  knew  of  its 
language  and  its  geography.  But,  being  an  Irishman,  he 
was  requested  to  write  a  Latin  Life  of  the  great  St. 
Patrick,  which  the  members  of  the  community  could  under- 
stand, and,  doubtless,  he  made  the  best  use  he  could  of 
the  materials  at  his  disposal. 

Some  have  accordingly  identified  him  with  an  Irish 
Probus,  who  was  a  monk  of  St.  Alban's  Monastery  at 
Mayence,  the  correspondent  of  Lupus  of  Ferrieres.  The 
Annals  of  Fulda  give  the  death  of  this  Probus  in  859. 
Others  assign  him  an  earlier  date,  and  say  that  Paulinus, 
for  whom  he  wrote  the  Life,  was  Patriarch  of  Aquilea, 
whose  death  is  marked  under  A.D.  804.  There  seems  to 
be  no  argument  in  favour  of  this  view  except  the  name  of 
the  Patriarch.  We  know,  on  the  other  hand,  that  there 
was  a  great  exodus  of  Irish  monks  to  Germany,  especially 
in  the  ninth  century.      Fulda   and   Mayence  were  both 


^  Cardinal  Moran,  a  very  high  authority,  speaks  approvingly  of  Probus, 
and  says  that  his  authority,  so  far  from  being  weakened,  has  been  confirmed 
every  day  more  and  more  by  the  researches  of  modern  archaeologists. — Irish 
Ecclesiastical  Recordy  October,  1866. 


14  EARLY   LIVES    OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

places  likely  to  receive  them,  so  that  if  we  find  a  Probus 
in  St.  Alban's  Monastery  of  Mayence  at  the  middle  of  the 
ninth  century,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  he  was  the  author 
of  the  Vita  Quinta,  although  it  is  not  easy  to  find  a 
*  Normannia'  at  that  date. 

Colgan,  however,  thinks  it  much  more  probable  that 
Probus  must  be  identified  with  Caeneachair,  Lector  of 
Slane,  who  was  one  of  those  burned  in  its  Round  Tower 
by  the  Danes  in  A.D,  948.  The  name  Probus  is  the  Latin 
equivalent  of  his  Irish  name.  He  was  a  professor  in  the 
College  of  Slane ;  he  was  a  contemporary  of  Paulinus, 
and  also  a  neighbour,  so  that  we  might  fairly  expect 
he  would  be  the  person  to  execute  such  a  literary 
work  for  his  venerable  neighbour,  Bishop  Paulinus.  A 
man  might  know  the  Middle  Irish  well,  it  is  said,  and  still 
know  little  of  the  Older  Irish  of  the  ancient  Lives  of  St. 
Patrick,  and  know  little  also  of  the  topography  of  other 
parts  of  Ireland.  To  that  opinion  we  adhere,  but  not 
without  hesitation. 

VII.— The  Vita  Sexta. 

The  Sixth  Life  was  written  by  Jocelyn  of  Furness. 
Colgan  thinks  that  he  was  a  Welshman,  and  belonged  to 
the  monastery  of  Chester.  In  11 82  John  de  Curci  expelled 
the  secular  Canons  from  the  Cathedral  of  Down,^  and 
imported  in  their  stead  a  colony  of  '  black  monks,' 
apparently  from  Chester.  Amongst  them  was  Jocelyn, 
probably  their  prior,  who,  at  the  request  of  Thomas, 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  and  of  Malachi,  Bishop  of  Down, 
undertook  to  write  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick  in  a  more 
elegant  style  than  his  previous  biographers,  '  pruning  the 
superfluous,  expunging  the  false,  and  elucidating  the 
obscure  statements '  of  the  older  Lives,  composed,  he  says, 
by  illiterate  men.  The  author,  however,  is  rather  pedantic 
in  his  style,  aiming  at  what  he  considers  elegance  of  lan- 
guage, rather  than  accuracy  of  statement.  Thomas 
(O'Connor)  was  created  Archbishop  of  Armagh  in  1185, 
so  the  Life  cannot  have  been  written  before  that  date. 
Neither  was  it  written  after  L186,  for  it  contains  no  reference 
to  the  invention  and  translation  of  the  bodies  of  Patrick, 


^  Father  O'Laverty  thinks  it  probable  that  Jocelyn  was  one  of  the  Cister- 
cian monks  brought  from  Furness  to  the  Abbey  of  Inch,  near  Dovvnpatrick, 
by  John  de  Curci,  in  11 80. 


THE   VITA    SEPTIMA.  15 

Brigid  and  Columcille,  which  certainly  took  place  in  that 
year.  Hence,  we  infer  that  it  was  composed  in  1185-86, 
and  finished  before  the  alleged  invention  took  place. 
Malachi,  the  Bishop  of  Down  at  the  time,  was  not  the  great 
St.  Malachi,  who  died  in  IT48,  but  another  Malachi,  the 
third  of  the  name,  who  ruled  the  See  from  1 176  to  1200,  or 
perhaps  1201. 

Jocelyn  wrote  at  the  request  of  John  de  Curci,  the 
conqueror  and  plunderer  of  Ulster,  but  the  "  loving  servant 
of  St.  Patrick,"  who  wished  to  have  the  Saint's  life  and 
deeds  worthily  recorded.  Some  Irishmen,  however,  sneered, 
it  would  seem,  at  an  Anglican  monk  undertaking  such  a 
task,  but  the  monk  resolved  to  treat  them  merely  as 
*  envious  vipers,'  and,  like  St.  Paul,  shake  them  off  his 
hand  into  the  fire.     So  he  tells  us  himself. 

One  fact  stated  by  the  author  lends  considerable 
authority  to  the  narrative  of  Jocelyn.  He  quotes  more 
than  once  a  Life  of  vSt.  Patrick  written  by  his  nephew,  St. 
Mel.  Unfortunately,  that  Life  appears  to  be  no  longer 
extant,  and  hence  we  are  unable  to  judge  of  the  accuracy 
of  Jocelyn's  quotations  or  references ;  but  that  he  had 
such  a  work  before  him  cannot  be  doubted,  and  this  lends 
to  the  Vita  Sexta  an  authority  which  otherwise  it  cer- 
tainly would  not  possess.  The  fact,  too,  that  he  wrote  in 
Downpatrick  may  have  given  him  an  opportunity  of  collect- 
ing local  traditions  regarding  the  Saint,  which  all  the 
ecclesiastical  writers  did  not  possess.  Jocelyn,  like  his 
countryman  and  contemporary,  Gerald  de  Barri,  was  cre- 
dulous ;  but  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  his  veracity,  and 
hence  the  Sixth  Life  is  of  considerable  value,  as  reflecting 
the  current  views  of  the  literary  men  of  the  time,  in  the 
North-East  of  Ireland,  regarding  the  history  of  our  national 
Apostle. 

VIII. — The  Vita  Septima. 

The  Seventh  Life  is  the  famous  Tripartite,  as  Colgan 
called  it,  and  is  far  the  most  valuable  and  complete  of  all 
the  extant  Lives  of  the  Apostle.  Neither  the  time  nor 
place  of  its  composition,  nor  the  name  of  the  author,  can 
now  be  ascertained  with  certainty ;  but  that  he  was  a  mas- 
ter of  the  Gaelic  tongue,  was  fairly  acquainted  with  Latin, 
and  had  a  marvellous  knowledge  of  the  topography  of  all 
Ireland,  is  quite  evident  from  every  page  of  his  work. 
He  traces  the  missionary  journeys  of  the  Saint  with  the 


l6  EAKLY    LIVES    OF   ST.   PATRICK. 

greatest  care,  showing  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  the 
history  of  the  personages,  and  the  names  of  the  places, 
which  he  often  describes  with  nainute  fideHty.  No  doubt 
the  writer  had  existing  records  before  him,  but  he  must 
have  mastered  them  thoroughly,  and  reproduced  them 
exactly,  if  he  did  not  actually  follow  the  footsteps  of  the 
Saint  throughout  the  land.  In  this  respect  neither  Muirchu 
nor  Tirechan  gives  us  the  same  abundant  details,  nor  the 
same  vivid  local  colouring  to  the  narrative.  And  yet  this 
Life  was  spoken  as  a  homily  in  three  parts,  addressed, 
probably,  on  the  three  festive  days  of  the  Saint,  the  i6th, 
17th  and  1 8th  of  March,  to  the  religious  community  in 
which  the  speaker  resided,  but  which,  unfortunately,  we 
cannot  identify. 

Colgan  attributes  this  Life  to  St.  Evin  of  Monasterevan, 
who  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  and 
regards  it  as  that  which  Jocelyn  describes  as  written  partly 
in  Latin  and  partly  in  Irish,  and  attributes  to  St.  Evin. 
O'Curry,  on  linguistic  grounds  alone,  would  be  pre- 
pared to  admit  that  the  work  might  have  been  written  by 
St.  Evin,  but  he  was  staggered  by  the  various  references 
in  the  text  to  personages  who  flourished,  and  events  which 
took  place,  at  a  much  later  period — some  so  late  as  the 
ninth,  and  even  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century.  Stokes 
— who  was  the  first  to  print  the  Irish  Tripartite,  and  has 
given  us  an  admirable  edition,  not  only  of  that  work  itself, 
but  of  almost  all  the  Patrician  documents  derived  from  the 
Book  of  Armagh  and  other  sources — holds  that  the  "Tripar- 
tite could  not  have  been  written  before  the  middle  of  the 
tenth  century,  and  that  it  was  probably  compiled  in  the 
eleventh." 

His  reasons  are  partly  linguistic,  and  partly  historical. 
The  manifold  forms  of  Early  Middle  Irish  to  be  found  in 
the  text  tend  to  show,  he  says,  that  the  work  was  com- 
piled in  the  eleventh  century,  and  we  must  admit  with  him 
that  some  of  the  historical  personages  referred  to  certainly 
flourished  in  the  ninth  century.  We  will  only  observe, 
with  reference  to  the  first  argument,  that,  in  case  of  popular 
works  like  the  Tripartite,  it  was  quite  a  common  custom 
for  the  scribes  of  successive  generations  to  modify  the  more 
ancient  linguistic  forms,  so  as  to  render  them  intelligible 
to  the  scholars  of  their  own  times ;  and  also  to  inter- 
polate passages  of  their  own,  to  show  the  fulfilment  of  the 
alleged  prophecies  quoted  in  their  text.  We  believe  it  can 
be  easily  shown  that  the  introduction  of  later  grammatical 


THE    BOOK   OF   ARMAGH.  1/ 

forms,  and  of  later  historical  events,  can  be  easily  ex- 
plained, if  we  only  bear  in  mind  these  two  undoubted 
facts.  We  do  not  attribute  the  Tripartite  in  its  present 
form  to  St.  Evin,  but  it  appears  to  us  that  there  is  nothing 
to  prevent  his  being  the  original  author  of  the  work. 

IX. — The  Book  of  Armagh. 

We  need  not  now  give  a  full  account  of  this,  the  most 
authentic  and  venerable  of  all  our  ancient  historical  books. 
It  has  been  conclusively  shown  by  the  late  Dr.  Graves  that 
the  Book  was  copied  in  its  present  form  for  Torbach,  heir 
of  Patrick — who  was  Primate  of  Armagh  in  the  year  807-8, 
for  his  death  took  place  in  July  of  the  latter  year.  The 
actual  scribe  was  Ferdomnach,  who  died  in  A.D.  845  ;  but 
it  is  expressly  stated  he  made  this  copy  from  the  dictation 
of  Torbach,  heir  of  Patrick.  So  the  Book  was  written  in 
808,  or  rather  copied  from  earlier  documents,  which  the 
Primate  himself  read  from  the  old  copies  in  his  custody, 
even  then,  perhaps,  partially  obliterated. 

The  first  document  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  is  the 
Memoir,  or  brief  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  by  Muirchu  Maccu 
Machteni.  He  tells  us,  in  the  short  preface,  that  he  wrote 
it  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  Aedh  (or  Hugh),  Bishop 
of  Sletty,  who  died  A.D.  698.  The  writer  apologises  for 
his  rude  style — vilis  sermo — and  refers  to  the  different 
accounts  of  the  Acts  of  Patrick,  even  then  in  circulation, 
which  made  it  a  difficult  task  for  him  to  produce  one 
clear  and  certain  narrative. 

The  first  leaf  of  this  invaluable  Memoir  is  lost  from  the 
Book  of  Armagh,  but  its  contents  have  been  supplied  by 
Stokes  and  others,  in  their  published  copies  from  the 
Brussels  MSS.^  The  first  page  of  leaf  9  of  the  Book  of 
Armagh  contains  the  Dicta  Sancti  Patritii,  written  in  rather 
rude  Latin  ;  and,  though  immediately  following  Muirchu's 
narrative,  they  appear  to  be  otherwise  disconnected  with  it, 
and  were  probably  not  written  by  him  originally,  but  by 
some  other  scribe. 

The  second  important  document  in  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
beginning  at  the  second  page  of  leaf  9,  is  the  Notes  or 
Annotations  of  Tirechan  on  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick.  They 
do  not,  as  their  name  implies,  form  a  consecutive  narrative, 


*  Published  by  the    Rev.  Edmund  Hogan,  S.J.,  of  University  College, 
Dublin,  in  the  Anecdota  BoUandianc^ 

C 


l8  EARLY    LIVES    OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

but  were  partially  copied  from  an  older  book,  and  partially 
jotted  down  from  the  dictation  of  I^ishop  Ultan,  of  Ard- 
braccan,  who  died  in  A.D.  656,  and  was  tutor  or  foster-father 
of  Tirechan.  The  book  of  Bishop  Ultan,  to  which  Tirechan 
refers,  appears  to  be  the  Conimenwratio  Labonim^  which 
was  said  to  have  been  written  by  St.  Patrick  himself.  If 
this  be  not  the  Confession,  as  we  have  it,  that  work  is  no 
longer  in  existence.  These  Notes  of  Tirechan  being  so 
early,  and  derived  from  sources  so  authentic,  form,  perhaps, 
the  most  authoritative  of  any  of  the  documents  regarding 
St.  Patrick.  The  Additions  to  Tirechan  s  Notes  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh  comprise  many  entries  which  relate  to 
the  associates  of  St.  Patrick,  and  give  short  notices  of  their 
missionary  labours.  Some  briefer  notes  still,  or  catch- 
words, have  been  written  in  a  smaller  hand,  and  by  a 
different  scribe,  in  this  part  of  the  Book  of  Armagh,  but  all 
bearing  on  the  history  of  St.  Patrick. 

At  folios  20  and  21  we  have  what  is  called  the  Book  of 
the  Angel — Liber  Angeli — which  is  quite  distinct  from 
Muirchu's  Memoir  and  from  Tirechan's  Notes.  It  purports 
to  be  a  Revelation  made  to  Patrick  by  an  Angel,  as  he 
rested  or  slept  one  day  near  his  city  of  Armagh.  The 
Angel,  in  reward  for  the  Saint's  great  labours,  by  command 
of  God,  defines  the  boundaries  of  his  vast  See,  and  also  the 
rights  and  privileges  which  it*  was  to  enjoy  amongst  the 
men  of  Erin  for  all  time.  The  record  is  valuable  as 
furnishing  us  with  an  early  and  authentic  account,  not  only 
of  the  extent  of  the  See  of  Patrick,  but  also  of  the  manifold 
prerogatives  which  it  enjoyed  from  time  immemorial.  This 
record  was  of  particular  value  at  a  later  period,  when  the 
Primate  made  his  periodical  visitations,  not  only  in  Ulster, 
but  also  in  Munster  and  Connaught,  and  everywhere 
*  received  his  due.'  Perhaps  it  was  to  lend  additional 
authority  to  this  venerable  record  of  the  privileges  and 
jurisdiction  of  Armagh,  that,  in  after  times,  it  was  attributed 
to  an  Angel,  sent  specially  to  reveal  them  to  Patrick.  This 
would  not  be  considered  wonderful,  as  it  was  known  that 
Patrick  was  often  privileged  to  receive  angelic  visitants. 

The  last  and  most  important  Patrician  document  in 
the  Book  of  Armagh  is  the  CONFESSION  of  St.  Patrick.  He 
himself  at  the  very  end  pathetically  says — "  And  this  is  my 
Confession  before  I  die.''  The  copyist  adds — "  Thus  far 
the  volume  which  Patrick  wrote  with  his  own  hand" — 
which  seems  to  refer  to  the  Confession  only,  and  to  indicate 
that  the  document  which  the  copyist  had  before  him  was 


THE    BOOK   OF  ARMAGH.  I9 

the  autograph  writing  of  the  Apostle  himself.  The 
Confession  is  admitted  by  all  competent  critics  to  be 
authentic,  for  the  evidence,  especially  the  intrinsic  evidence, 
is  quite  conclusive.  The  Confession  never  could  have 
been  the  work  of  a  forger.  The  best  edition  is  perhaps 
that  of  Haddan  and  Stubbs.  We  shall  examine  its  authen- 
ticity more  fully  hereafter. 

X. — The  Epistle  to  Coroticus. 

The  Epistle  to  Coroticus  is  not  contained  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh,  but  the  similarity  of  its  style  to  that  of 
the  Confession,  as  well  as  its  references  and  subject  matter, 
leave  no  doubt  as  to  its  authorship.  Both  these  documents 
are  of  supreme  importance,  and  must  form  the  ground- 
work of  anything  that  purports  to  be  a  genuine  record  of 
the  life  and  labours  of  St.  Patrick, 


CHAPTER    11. 

ST.   PATRICKS    BIRTHPLACE   AND    FAMILY. 

I.— His  Birthplace. 

During  the  past  century  a  great  controversy  for  the 
first  time  arose  regarding  the  birthplace  of  St.  Patrick.  As 
the  question  is  fully  discussed  in  an  appendix  to  this 
volume,  we  need  not  now  refer  to  it  at  length.  It  appears 
to  us  to  be  quite  clear  from  the  account  which  the  Saint 
gives  of  himself,  both  in  his  Confession  and  in  the  Epistle 
to  Coroticus,  that  he  was  a  native  of  the  Roman  province 
of  Britain,  and  in  all  probability  was  born  on  the  banks  of 
the  Clyde  in  Scotland.  He  tells  us  that  his  father, 
Calpurnius,  who  was  both  a  deacon  and  decurion,  dwelt  ^ 
in  the  village  of  Bannavem  (or  Bonnavem)  Tabernia?,  and 
had  a  small  farm  near  it,  whence  he  himself  was  carried  off 
a  captive.  He  describes  Roman  Britain  '^  as  his  native 
country^  and  the  home  of  his  parents  or  relations,^  but  as 
a  different  country  from  Gaul,  where  dwelt  the  saints  of 
God,  his  spiritual  brethren.  Elsewhere  he  says  that  after 
his  escape  from  captivity  in  Ireland  he  lived  with  his 
parents  ^  in  Britain  (Britannis),  who  welcomed  him  as  a 
son.  and  earnestly  besought  him  to  remain  at  home  and 
leave  them  no  more. 

In  the  Epistle  to  Coroticus  he  implies  that  the  soldiers 
of  that  British  prince  were  his  fellow-citizens,  and  fellow- 
citizens  of  the  Christian  Romans^  (of  Britain),  but  were 
unworthy  of  the  name,  clearly  indicating  that  both  he  and 
they  were  all  citizens  of  Roman  Britain,  although  Coroticus 
had  allied  himself  with  the  Scots  or  Irish  and  the  apostate 
Picts,  It  is  therefore  beyond  doubt  that  St.  Patrick  was  a 
native  of  Roman  Britain  and  not  of  any  part  of  Gaul,  if  we 
accept  his  own  statements,  as  contained  in  his  own 
authentic  writings. 

But  in  what  part  of  Roman  Britain  was  this  Bannavem 
Taberniae,  which  the  Saint  tells  us  was  his  father's  home  ? 


^  Fuit  vico,  or  in  vico,  Bannavem  Taberniae. 

^  Brittannias. 

*  Patria.         ^  Parentes. 

^  Cum  parentibus  meis  may  refer  to  either  parents  or  relations, 

^  Sanctorum  Romanorum. 


HIS   BIRTHPLACE.  21 

We  need  not  pay  any  attention  to  identifications  of  places 
which  are  based  merely  on  fanciful  resemblances  between 
ancient  and  modern  proper  names.  It  is  obviously  a 
much  safer  course  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the  old 
authorities,  some  of  whom  flourished  shortly  after  St. 
Patrick  himself.  It  is  out  of  the  question  to  suppose  that 
those  ancient  writers  had  lost  all  memory  of  the  Saint's 
birthplace  and  native  country ;  and,  as  might  be  expected, 
we  find  that  they  are  unanimous  in  their  statements  on 
these  two  points. 

Bannavem,  or  Bonnavem,  is  an  old  Celtic  word,  which 
is  still  in  frequent  use. as  a  place-name  both  in  Ireland 
and  Scotland.  It  is  composed  of  two  root  words,  bon 
or  bun  and  avon,  meaning  simply  the  end  or  mouth 
of  a  river  at  the  point  where  it  falls  into  a  sea  or  lake  or 
larger  river.  In  this  sense  we  have  in  Ireland  the  forms 
Bunavan,^  Bunowen  or  Bunown,^  and  Bonaveen,  giving 
names  to  several  townlands  situated  on  the  banks  of  rivers, 
near  their  mouth  or  their  junction  with  another  river.  A 
similar  usage  is  found  in  Scotland,  especially  in  the  High- 
lands, where  the  Celtic  names  are  most  abundant.^ 

The  curious  word  "  Taberniae  "  has  given  rise  to  much 
speculation,  yet  its  meaning  is  quite  obvious.  The  nomina- 
tive form  Tabernia  is,  Du  Cange  tells  us,  put  for  the  more 
classical  form  Taberna,  which  means  any  tavern,  shop, 
tent,  or  temporary  habitation.  In  St.  Patrick's  Confession 
the  word  appears  to  be  taken  in  a  collective  sense,  as  if  it 
were  a  proper  name  derived  from  Tabernae,  and  meaning 
tavern-field  or  tent-field.  Such  would  be  a  priori  a 
natural  explanation  of  the  place-name  used  by  St.  Patrick 
in  the  Confession  to  designate  his  father's  dwelling-place, 
which  was  certainly  somewhere  in  Roman  Britain. 

Now,  what  do  we  find  in  the  Lives  of  the  Saint  ? 
Fiacc  says  that  Patrick  was  born  in  Nemthor,  or  Nempthur, 
and  his  scholiast  or  commentator  informs  us  that  Nemthor 
was  a  town  in  North  Britain,  namely.  Ail  Cluade,  or  the 
Rock  of  the  Clyde,  and  he  adds  that  the  family  of  the 
Saint  belonged  to  the  Britons  of  Ail  Cluade. 

Nempthur,  then,  is  merely  another,  probably  a  more 
ancient,  name  for  Ail  Cluade,  which  is  itself  another  name 
for  Dunbrittan,  subsequently  corrupted  into  Dunbarton,  the 
P'ort  of  the  Britons  on  the  Clyde. 


*  Parish  of  Ahascragh,  Co.  Galway.  ^  Parish  of  Bunown,  Westmeath. 

*  Like  Bunessan  in  Mull. 


22  ST.   PATRICKS   BIRTHPLACE   AND   FAMILY. 

The  Second  Life  gives  us  further  information.  It  states 
chat  Patrick  was  born  in  the  Plain  of  Taburne,  or  Taberne, 
which  it  interprets  to  mean  the  Plain  of  the  Tents/ 
and  adds,  "  it  was  so  called  because  the  Roman  army 
during  the  cold  of  winter  pitched  their  tents  in  that  Plain." 
It  is  clear,  then,  that  Taberne  came  to  be  a  proper  name, 
meaning  simply  Tent-field.  This  Second  Life  does  not 
expressly  state  where  Taberne  was  situated,  but  it  clearly 
implies  that  it  was  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
Nemthor,  where  it  tells  us  young  Patrick  was  brought  up.^ 

All  this  leads  us  to  conclude  that  the  *  Plain  of  the 
Tents  ' — Campus  Taberne — is  equivalent  to  '  Bannavem 
Taberniae  '  of  the  Confession,  and  was  a  plain  close  to 
Nemthor  or  Dunbarton^  Rock.  The  Third  Life  makes 
exactly  the  same  statement,  formally  explaining  the 
'  Campus  Taburniae  '  as  the  Plain  of  the  Tents,  and  imply- 
ing that  the  '  Bannavem '  of  the  Confession  is  equivalent 
to  the  '  campus  '  or  plain  near  the  river  mouth. 

The  Fourth  Life  gives  further  interesting  particulars. 
It  states  that  Patrick  was  born  in  the  town  of  Nemthor,* 
the  meaning  of  which  (Nemthor)  in  Latin  is  '  turris 
caelestis,'  or  heavenly  tower,  (from  the  Gaelic  n^m,  heaven, 
and  ^or,  a  tower).  That  town,  we  are  then  told,  is  situated 
in  the  Campus  Taburniae,  which  means  the  Plain  of  the 
Tents,  because  the  Roman  armies  once  pitched  their 
tents  there ;  and  then  the  author  of  the  Life  expressly  adds 
that,  in  the  British  tongue,  '  Taberne '  is  equivalent  to 
'tents' — tabernacula.  This  statement  is  important, 
because  it  shows  that  Taburnia  is  merely  the  Latin  for 
the  British  proper  name  Taberne ;  ^  and  that  the  place 
took  this  name  from  the  tents  of  the  Roman  soldiers  usually 
pitched  there. 

The  writer  also  places  this  Plain  of  the  Tents  in  the 
*  region '  of  Strath  Clyde,^  in  which  region  St.  Patrick 
was,  he  tells  us,  conceived  and  born.    These  first  four  Lives, 


^  Campus  tabernaculorum. 

^  Nutritus  ergo  est  in  Nemthor  illc  puer. 

^  The  Third  life  equates  Nemthor  and  the  Plain  of  Taburnia. 

*  In  oppido  Nemthor  nomine."  As  Skene  observes,  the  Irish  Dun  is 
generally  translated  by  "  oppidum." — Chronicles  of  the  Picts  and  Scots : 
Preface. 

^  Brittanica  autem  lingua  Campus  Taberne  idem  Campus  Tabernaculorum 
dicitur. 

*  'In  regionem  Strato  Clude.  In  qua  terra  conceptus  et  natus  est 
Patritius. 


HIS   BIRTHPLACE.  23 

therefore,  bear  concurrent  testimony  that  St.   Patrick  was 
born  at  or  near  Dunbarton,  on  the  banks  of  tlie  Clyde. 

It  is  obvious  also  that  the  Bannavem  Taberniae  of  the 
Confession  is  the  same  as  the  Campus  Taburniae,  or 
Campus  Taberne  of  the  Lives,  and  not  only  the  testimony 
of  those  early  writers,  but  the  nature  of  the  place  and  the 
facts  of  history  corroborate  the  statements  in  the  Lives. 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  the  river  Leven, 
issuing  from  Loch  Lomond,  flows  through  the  town  of 
Dunbarton,  and  falls  into  the  Clyde,  just  under  the  rocky 
brow  of  the  ancient  British  fortress.  The  left  or  eastern 
bank  is  now  covered  with  the  numerous  workshops  of  a 
great  shipbuilding  yard,  but  in  the  days  of  St.  Patrick  it 
was  an  open  plain  stretching  away  to  the  east  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Kilpatrick  hills,  which  here  press  close  on 
the  banks  of  the  Clyde.  At  the  same  point  the  great 
Roman  wall  extending  to  the  Firth  of  Forth  had  its  western 
limit,  which  was  defended  by  strong  fortifications  and  a 
standing  camp  against  the  incursions  of  the  turbulent  Picts 
and  Scots,  who  were  constantly  making  raids  on  the 
Roman  Province.  This  great  plain  would  therefore 
naturally  form  the  Campus  Martius,  where  the  Roman 
troops  would  encamp,  for  it  was  defended  on  the  west  by 
the  Rock  of  Dunbarton,  on  the  south  by  the  Clyde,  and 
and  on  the  north  by  the  great  wall  running  up  to  the  roots 
of  the  hills.  This  was  the  plain  of  Bannavem  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  rivers,  where  the  Roman  troops  had 
their  encampment,  which  caused  it  to  be  known  as  the 
Plain  of  the  Tents,  that  is,  the  Bannavem  Taberniae,  to 
which  St.  Patrick  himself  refers  in  the  Confession.  Dun- 
barton, the  British  capital,  was  the  citadel  of  this  military 
station,  and  the  colony  which  grew  up  around  them  became, 
in  course  of  time,  a  municipium,  or  self-governing  Roman 
colony,  with  the  privilege  of  selecting  its  own  municipal 
governors.  They  were  called  decurions,  and  were  selected 
from  its  most  wealthy  and  influential  citizens.  The  father 
of  St.  Patrick  was  one  of  them.  His  position  as  a  decurion 
of  the  municipium  entitled  him  to  rank  as  a  noble,  and 
hence  the  Saint  describes  himself  as  inheriting  nobility 
from  his  father  ;  but  by  leaving  his  native  town  he  '  sold,'  ^ 
or  forfeited,  that  nobility,  in  order  to  devote  himself  to  the 
conversion  of  the  natives  of  the  barbarous  island  of  Hiberio, 

^  We  can  hardly  think  that  he  sold  it  for  money  ; — no,  it  was  to  gain  the 
souls  of  men  he  sold  it. 


24  ST.  patkick's  birthplace  and  family. 

which,  though  not  far  distant,  was  yet  altogether  beyond 
the  pale  of  Roman  jurisdiction  and  civilization.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  the  great  plain  eastward  of  the  junction 
of  the  Leven  and  the  Clyde  was,  in  the  strictest  sense  of 
the  word,  a  Bannavem  Taberniae,  a  plain  where  the  two 
rivers  met,  and  then  came  to  be  known  as  Tabern  or  Tent- 
field,  from  the  tents  of  the  Roman  legion  usually 
stationed  there,  to  protect  the  western  extremity  of  the 
Roman  wall,  as  well  as  the  estuary  of  the  Clyde,  against 
the  hostile  incursions  of  the  Picts  and  Scots. 

In  all  this  there  is  no  speculation,  no  arbitrary  identi- 
fication of  words,  no  guess-work  founded  on  the  uncertain 
readings  of  uncertain  manuscripts.  We  merely  appeal  to 
the  testimony  of  ancient  writers,  corroborated  by  the  un- 
doubted facts  of  history. 

And  it  is  not  merely  the  authors  of  the  first  four  Lives 
of  St.  Patrick  who  bear  this  testimony.  The  Fifth,  which 
some  regard  as  a  very  accurate  Life,  was  written  by  a 
certain  Probus,  who,  though  apparently  of  Irish  origin, 
seems  to  have  composed  his  work  either  in  France  or 
Germany.  But  he,  too,  states  in  his  very  first  paragraph 
that  Patrick  was  born  in  Roman  Britain — in  Britanniis — 
that  his  father  Calphurnius  dwelt  in  a  village  of  the  district  ^ 
known  as  Bannave  Tiburniae,  which,  he  tells  us,  was 
'  near  to  the  western  sea.'  ^  This  description  also 
most  accurately  applies  to  Dunbarton,  for  there  the  Clyde 
just  opens  its  arms  to  meet  the  advancing  sea,  which,  from 
that  point  westward,  becomes  a  great  estuary,  whose  waters 
at  the  present  time  the  coasting  boats  and  mighty  ocean 
steamers  are  ploughing  with  screw  and  paddle,  both  by 
night  and  day. 

The  Sixth  Life  was  written  by  Jocelyn  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  he,  too,  tells  exactly  the  same  story,  that  the 
father  of  Patrick  was  Calpornius,  a  native  of  Britain,  who 
dwelt  in  the  '  pagus,'  or  village,  of  Taburnia,  which  means 
the  Plain  of  the  Tents,  because  the  Roman  armies  had 
pitched  their  tents  therein,  Taburnia  being,  he  adds,  close 
to  Nemthor,  and  bounding  the  western  sea.^  Jocelyn  thus 
confirms  the  testimony  of  all  the  writers  who  had  gone 
before  him. 

The  Seventh  Life  of  St.  Patrick  is  the  famous  Tripartite, 


^  Regione. 

^  Haud  procul  a  mari  occidentali. 

^  Mari  Hibernico  collimitans  habitatione. 


HIS   BIRTHPLACE.  2$ 

which  has  been  so  carefully  edited  in  the  Rolls  series  by 
Dr.  Whitley  Stokes.  As  might  be  expected,  the  author 
of  the  Tripartite  does  not  differ  from  the  other  ancient 
authorities.  "  As  to  Patrick,"  he  says,  '*  of  the  Britons  of 
Ail  Cluade  was  he.  In  Nemthor,  moreover,  he  was  born. 
Calpurn  was  his  father's  name,  and  Concess  was  the  name 
of  his  mother."  ^ 

We  thus  find,  on  careful  examination,  that  all  the  Seven 
Lives  given  by  Colgan,  written  at  different  times  from  the 
sixth  to  the  twelfth  century,  tell  in  substance  the  same 
story  of  Patrick's  family  and  of  his  birthplace.  Their  very 
discrepancies  in  minor  details  furnish  a  new  proof  of  their 
authenticity  and  credibility,  for  if  their  authors  had  merely 
copied  from  each  other,  or  from  a  common  original,  there 
would  be  no  divergencies  at  all. 

We  find,  too,  that  all  the  great  Irish  scholars  of  the 
seventeenth  century  held  the  same  opinion — Usher,  Colgan, 
Ware,  O'Flaherty,  and  the  rest  whose  names  are  given 
elsewhere.  It  was  only  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  that 
Lanigan  started  a  new  hypothesis,  which  he  certainly  has 
not  proved,  that  St.  Patrick  was  born  in  France,  near 
Boulogne-sur-mer ;  and  that  consequently  all  the  ancient 
writers  of  the  Saint's  Acts,  as  well  as  the  great  modern 
scholars  who  followed  in  their  footsteps,  were  entirely 
mistaken  in  their  statements. 

Lanigan  was  a  learned  man,  but  stubborn,  wrong-headed, 
and  somewhat  fond  of  originality.  Hence,  when  he  once 
took  up  an  opinion  he  adhered  to  it  at  any  cost,  and  with 
small  regard  for  the  views  of  his  opponents,  of  whom  he 
speaks  very  slightingly,  even  when  they  were,  like  Colgan, 
men  far  more  learned  than  himself  in  Irish  history  and 
antiquities.  We  shall  elsewhere  discuss  the  views  of 
Lanigan,  which,  in  our  opinion,  have  nothing  but  their 
novelty  to  recommend  them.  Although  very  ingenious, 
they  are  wholly  unsustained  by  argument,  either  from 
history  or  authority.  We  conclude,  therefore,  without 
any  reasonable  doubt,  that  St.  Patrick  was  born  and  nurtured 
during  his  early  youth  at  or  near  Dunbarton,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Clyde,  in  the  district  which  was  then  known  as 
the  *  Plain  of  the  Tents,'  extending  from  Dunbarton  to 
Kilpatrick. 

The  common  opinion  is  that  he  was  born  at  or  near 


^See  Stokes'  Tripartite^  Vol.  I.,  p.  9.     W^e  take  all  the  Tripartite  read- 
ings from  this  excellent  edition. 


26  ST  Patrick's  birthplace  and  family. 

Kilpatrick,  which  is  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  this  plain, 
about  four  miles  east  of  Dunbarton.  He  was  certainly 
taken  to  be  baptized  there  ;  but  we  think  his  father  lived 
at  the  municipium  of  Dunbarton  or  Alclyde,  and  that  in 
all  probability  he  was  himself  born  there.  The  point  cannot 
now  be  definitely  settled,  as  there  is  no  tradition  fixing 
the  site  of  the  '  flag-stone  '  on  which  he  was  born. 

II. — TixME  OF  Birth. 

As  will  be  seen  hereafter,  the  ancient  authorities 
generally  assign  the  death  of  St.  Patrick  to  the  year  493/ 
when  he  was  in  the  hundred  and  twentieth  year  of  his  age. 
Accepting  this  statement  as  true,  the  birth  of  the  Saini 
must  be  assigned  to  the  year  A.D.  373,  so  that,  if  he  were 
born  after  the  17th  of  March  in  that  year,  he  would  not 
have  quite  completed  the  one  hundred  and  twentieth 
year  of  his  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  ;  but  if  born  earlier 
in  the  year  he  would  have  completed  that  age,  and  that  he 
was  about  120  years  when  he  died  is,  as  Todd  observes, 
the  best  attested  fact  of  his  entire  history.  Some  ancient 
authorities,  however,  give  372  as  the  year  of  his  birth. 
Marianus  Scotus  the  Chronicler  expressly  says  that  he 
was  born  in  that  year  in  the  island  of  Britain,  and  his 
authority  on  such  a  point  must  be  held  to  be  of  great 
weight. 

Assuming  that  Patrick  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the 
Clyde  in  the  year  373,  it  will  be  well  to  get  some  idea  of  the 
state  of  the  country  at  that  time.  He  was  by  birth  a  Brito- 
Roman  ;  that  is,  a  Roman  citizen  of  British  origin,  and 
born  in  the  British  municipal  town  of  Nemthor  or  Ail- 
Cluade.  At  this  time — that  is,  about  A.D.  369 — Roman 
Britain  was  divided  into  five  provinces,  of  which  Valentia 
was  the  young<.^,st,  having  been  formally  constituted  a 
province  by  Theodosius,  after  a  victorious  campaign  against 
the  Picts  and  Scots  in  that  year.  It  was  called  Valentia 
in  honour  of  the  Emperor  Valens,  and  included,  it  is 
commonly  said,  all  the  territory  between  the  Walls — that 
is,  between  the  Wall  of  Hadrian,  extending  from  the 
Solway  Firth  to  the  Tyne  and  the  Wall  of  Antoninus,  just 
then  renewed  by  Theodosius,  which  extended   from  Old 


^  The  learned  Reeves  has  said  that  *  it  is  the  best  estabhshed  era  in  his 
history ' — that  is,  his  death  in  493. 


TIME   OF   BIRTH.  2J 

Kilpatrick  on  the  Clyde/  where  the  hills  close  upon 
the  river  to  a  point  on  the  Firth  of  Forth,  a  little  to  the 
west  of  the  present  Forth  Bridge.  As  it  is  our  view  that 
St.  Patrick  was  born  in  the  Roman  municipality  at  the 
western  end  of  the  Wall,  which  was  always  garrisoned  by 
a  strong  body  of  Roman  troops,  it  may  be  well  to  describe 
the  Wall  in  the  words  of  one  who  went  over  the  ground 
and  knew  it  well.^ 

It  consisted  of  a  large  rampart  of  intermingled  stone  and 
earth,  strengthened  by  sods  of  lurf,  and  must  have  originally 
measured  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  twenty. four  feet  in  breadth  at 
the  base.  It  was  surmounted  by  a  parapet,  having  a  level  platform 
behind  it  for  the  protection  of  its  defenders.  In  front  there 
extended  along  its  whole  course  an  immense  fosse,  averaging 
about  forty  feet  broad  and  twenty  feet  deep.  To  the  southward 
of  the  whole  was  a  military  way,  presenting  the  usual  appearance 
of  a  Roman  causeway  road. 

This  vast  structure  was  first  erected  about  the  year  140 
by  Tollius  Urbicus,  a  Roman  general  sent  by  Antoninus 
to  repress  the  inroads  of  the  Caledonians.  But  the 
Highland  tribes  again  and  again  burst  through  the  Wall, 
so  that  Severus  was  obliged  to  come  in  person,  about  the 
year  208,  to  teach  them  a  salutary  lesson.  Severus  pene- 
trated far  beyond  the  Wall  into  the  heart  of  the  Highlands, 
and  so  punished  the  northern  tribes  that  they  were  obliged 
to  sue  for  peace. 

Severus  reconstructed  the  Wall  from  the  Forth  to  the 
Clyde,  and  planted  several  strong  outposts  in  the  Highland 
territory,  so  that  the  invaders  were  for  a  time  effectually 
curbed,  and  confined  to  the  fastnesses  of  their  native 
mountains. 

There  were,  however,  several  subsequent  revolts,  when 
the  tribes  of  the  north  crossed  the  Wall,  and  harried  the 
Roman  territories.  The  most  formidable  of  these  took 
place  in  A.D.  360,  only  a  few  years  before  the  birth  of  St. 
Patrick.  It  appears  that  the  Picts  from  the  north,  the 
Scots  or  Irish  from  the  west,  the  Attacots  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Galloway,  and  the  Saxons  from  the  eastern  shore, 
all  attacked  the  Roman  province  simultaneously.  It  was 
the  most  formidable  of  the  barbarian  incursions  that  had 


^  Both  Beda  and   Gildas  say  the  Wall  terminated  on  the  west    *juxta 
urbem  Alcluith' — that  is,  Dunbarton. — Hist,  Eccles.,  B.  I.  ch.  12 
^  Skene.   Celtic  Scotland^  vol.  I.  p.  78. 


28  ST.  Patrick's  birthplace  and  family. 

yet  taken  place,  and  affrighted  not  only  the  loyal  Britons, 
but  even  the  authorities  in  Rome  itself.  The  '  vagabond  '  ^ 
Scots  from  Ireland  are  particularly  referred  to  as  harassing 
the  province,  because,  as  they  came  generally  by  water, 
the  Imperial  troops  never  knew  when  or  where  they  were 
About  to  make  an  incursion. 

This  formidable  coalition  of  the  barbarians  demanded 
a  consummate  general;  and  so  Theodosius,  afterwards 
known  as  the  Great,  was  sent  to  repel  and  chastise  the 
raiders.  This  was  in  A.D.  369;  and  it  is  very  probable 
that  amongst  the  high  officials  who  accompanied  the 
victorious  general  may  have  been  Colpurnius,  the  father 
of  the  future  saint,  who  most  likely  had  served  under 
Theodosius  in  Gaul,  and  accompanied  him  to  his  native 
Britain.  That  great  :;eneral  not  only  drove  off  the  invaders, 
but  also  renewed  the  Wall  once  more,  and  strengthened 
the  garrisons  that  defended  its  various  stations  from  the 
Forth  to  the  Clyde.  For  this  we  have  the  express  testimony 
of  the  Roman  historian,  Ammianus  Marcellinus.  It  may  be 
assumed,  then,  as  quite  certain  that  during  this  campaign 
the  plain  from  Dunbarton  to  Kilpatrick  would  have  been 
filled  with  Roman  troops,  for  it  was  their  strongest  position 
along  the  whole  line  of  the  Wall,  so  that  it  might  well  receive 
the  name,  if  it  had  not  received  it  previously,  of  Bannavem 
Tabernise,  or  the  River-End  Plain  of  the  Tents.  We  have 
said  that  Nemthor  was  a  Roman  municipium  or  free-town, 
with  the  privilege  of  self-government.  This  may  be  fairly 
deduced  from  the  language  of  St.  Patrick  himself,  for  he 
expressly  states  that  his  father  was  a  Decurio,  and  leaves 
us  to  infer  that  he  held  that  office  in  the  town  where  he 
lived  at  the  time  of  the  Saint's  birth. 

We  know  both  from  Bede  and  Adamnan  that  after  the 
departure  of  the  Romans  from  Britain,  in  A.D.  410,  the 
Britons  of  the  North-West  of  the  Roman  Province  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  an  independent  kingdom,  extending 
from  the  Derwent  in  Cumberland  to  the  Firth  of  Clyde. 
The  capital  of  this  kingdom  was  the  strongly-fortified 
position  called  Alcluith  by  the  Britons  themselves ;  but  by 
the  Gauls  it  was  more  commonly  designated  Dunbreatan, 
or  Dunbrittan,  from  which  we  have  the  modern  form  of 
Dumbarton,  or  more  correctly  Dunbarton.  During  the 
Roman  occupation  it  was  the  strongest  outpost  of  their 
empire,  and  from  immemorial  ages  was  regarded  as  the 

^  Scot!  per  diversa  vagantes. 


HIS   PARENTS.  29 

great  stronghold  of  the  Britons  in  the  North.  We  know 
from  Ptolemy  that  the  northern  tribes,  both  British  and 
Caledonian,  had  several  *  towns/ ^  which  were  probably 
stockaded  fortresses  in  strong  positions,  held  by  chosen 
warriors  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier.  But  there  was  no 
position  in  Scotland  so  strong  by  nature,  and  so  easily 
defensible,  as  the  Rock  of  the  Clyde,  for  it  was  situated  at 
the  junction  of  the  Leven  with  the  estuary  of  the  Clyde, 
approachable  only  by  a  causeway,  and  even  when  ap- 
proached, absolutely  inaccessible,  except  by  one  steep  and 
narrow  pathway,  partially  cut  through  the  solid  rock. 
Around  this  fortress  grew  up  a  British  town,  and  round 
the  British  town  a  Roman  town  grew  up  in  the  plain  along 
the  river  bank,  both  of  which  were  amalgamated  into 
'  municipium,'^  or  free  town,  whose  inhabitants  were  one 
governed  by  their  own  laws,  and  enjoyed  the  right  of 
Roman  citizenship.  The  governing  body  was  the  local 
Senate  or  Curia,  whose  members  were  therefore  called 
Decuriones.^  The  Senate  chose  the  magistrates  from 
amongst  their  own  body,  to  whom  the  executive  govern- 
ment was  entrusted.  Hence.  St.  Patrick  describes  himself 
as  '  a  free-man  by  birth,'  ^  and  not  only  a  free-man,  but 
a  '  noble,'  because  the  members  of  a  senatorial  family 
belonged  to  the  nobles  of  the  city ;  but  they  forfeited  their 
status  if  they  failed  to  discharge  the  duties^  annexed  to 
their  position  and  office.  Hence  the  Saint  adds  that  he 
'sold  his  nobility^  for  the  good  of  others/  because  by 
going  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland  he  forfeited  the 
privileges  which  he  would  otherwise  enjoy  as  a  decurio 
and  magistrate  of  his  native  city. 

in. — His  Parents. 

St.  Patrick  in  the  Confession  tells  us  that  his  father 
Calpurnius  was  a  deacon,  and,  moreover,  the  son  of  Potitus, 
a  priest.  No  manuscript  copy  of  the  Confession  describes 
Calpurnius  as  a  priest,  although  some  of  the  Lives 
represent  him  as  such.     We  may  be  sure,  however,  that  if 

*  He  calls  them  TroXeig. 

^Municipe?   sunt  cives   Romani    ex    municipiis,    legibus   suis  et  jure  suo 
utentes.      Ge//.  i6,  13-6. 

*  Ingenuus  fui  secundum  carnem.     Epis.  ad  Corot. 

*  The  '  municipes '  in  fact  took  their  name  from  the  *  munia '  they  were 
bound  to  perform. 

"Vendidi  enim  nobilitatem  meam  (non  erubesco  neque  me  paenitet)  pro 
utilitate  aliorum.    Ad.  Corot. 


30  ST.    PATRICK'S   BIRTHPLACE   AND    FAMILY. 

Calpurnius  had  been  at  any  time  raised  to  the  priesthood, 
the  Saint  would  not  have  described  himself  as  the  son  of 
Deacon  Calpurnius,  but  of  Priest  Calpurnius,  so  that  the 
silence  of  St.  Patrick  on  this  point  may  be  accepted  as 
conclusive  evidence  that  his  father  was  not  a  priest, 
especially  when  we  find  him  referring  to  his  grandfather 
Potitus  the  priest,  in  contradistinction  to  his  father 
Calpurnius  the  deacon. 

Some  simple  souls  who  know  little  of  the  history  of  the 
Church  and  the  nature  of  its  discipline  feel  somewhat 
startled  at  these  statements,  and  cannot  well  understand 
them ;  others,  for  their  own  purposes,  lay  stress  on  these 
statements,  as  if  they  furnished  a  justification  for  the 
existence  of  a  married  clergy  in  the  separated  churches. 

As  a  fact,  however,  there  is  no  argument  to  be  deduced 
therefrom,  either  in  favour  of  the  marriage  of  the  parson,  or 
against  the  celibacy  of  the  priest. 

We  must  bear  in  mind,  first  of  all,  that  the  question 
merely  regards  the  discipline  of  the  Western  Church  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century,  and  secondly,  that  being  a 
pure  question  of  discipline,  it  might  vary,  and  to  some 
extent  has  varied,  at  different  times  even  in  the  Western 
Church. 

What  then  was  the  Western  discipline  on  this  point 
about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century? — for  that  is  really 
the  question  at  issue.  And  in  particular,  what  was  the 
discipline  of  the  Church  of  Gaul  ? — for  we  may  assume  as 
certain  that  the  British  discipline  on  the  celibacy  of  the 
clergy  was  not  different  from  what  it  was  in  Gaul  and 
Italy.i 

We  have  no  documents  of  the  British  Church  bearing 
on  this  question  during  the  fourth  century,  but  we  know 
that  British  bishops  were  present  at  some  important 
Councils  in  Gaul,  from  which,  apart  from  other  considera- 
tions, we  may  fairly  infer  their  adhesion  to  the  Gaulish,  not 
to  say  the  Roman,  doctrine  and  discipline. 

The  Spanish  Council  of  Elvira,  celebrated  probably  in 
305  or  306,  forbids  a  bishop  or  any  other  cleric  to  keep 
in  his  house  any  female  except  his  sister  or  a  virgin 
daughter  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God.^     This  shows 

^  See  especially  the  Letters  of  Pope  Innocent  I.,  and,  before  him,  the  Letters 
of  Pope  Siricius. 

^  Can.  XXVTI.  Episcopus,  vel  quilibet  alius  clericus,  aut  sororem  aut 
filiam  virginem  dicatam  Deo  tantum  secum  habeat ;  extraneam  nequaquam 
habere  placuit." 


HIS   PARENTS.  3 1 

that  men  who  had  been  married  might  become  bishops  or 
priests;  but  it  shows  also  that  after  ordination  they  were 
bound  to  remain  continent.  The  language  is  very  strict, 
and  clearly  proves  that  the  Spanish  Church  at  the  time 
repudiated  a  married  clergy  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
word — that  is  a  clergy  living  with  their  wives.  But  the 
thirty-third  Canon  is  even  still  clearer  and  more  emphatic, 
leaving  no  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  twenty-seventh 
Canon.  It  enacts  that  all  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons, 
or  other  clerics  placed  in  the  ministry  should  entirely 
abstain  from  their  wives  (if  married),  and  beget  no  children  ; 
otherwise  they  were  to  be  excluded  from  the  said  ministry.^ 
The  Latin  is  neither  exact  nor  elegant ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  as  to  its  meaning  ;  and  it  is  the  oldest  and  most 
emphatic  legislation  to  be  found  anywhere  regarding  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy  at  that  time. 

The  Greek  Church,  however,  was  not  so  strict.  Priests 
and  deacons  who  were  married  before  they  were  ordained 
were  allowed  to  live  with  their  wives ;  but  they  were  not 
allowed  to  get  married  after  ordination,  except  in  the  case 
of  deacons  who  protested  at  the  time  of  their  ordination 
that  they  could  not  live  in  a  state  of  celibacy.^  Bishops, 
however,  were  neither  allowed  to  marry  nor  to  live  with 
wives  married  before  their  ordination.  The  Council  of  Nice, 
if  we  may  believe  Socrates  and  Sozomon,  influenced  by  the 
earnest  remonstrance  of  Paphnutius,  declined  to  make  the 
law  more  rigid  ;  and  up  to  the  present  such  in  substance 
has  been  the  discipline  of  the  Greek  Church. 

But  the  stricter  discipline  of  Elvira  was  universally 
adopted  throughout  the  Latin  Church  in  the  course  of  the 
fourth  century.  A  married  man  might  become  a  bishop, 
priest,  or  deacon,  as  often  happened,  but  in  all  cases  he  was 
required  either  to  separate  from  his  wife,  or  to  live  with  her 
as  a  sister,  from  the  moment  of  his  ordination.  This  was 
the  law,  although,  no  doubt,  like  other  laws,  it  was  not 
always  observed. 

The  Synod  of  Aries  held  in  314,  at  which  British 
bishops  were  present,  forbids  in  its  twenty-ninth  Canon 
priests  and  levites  who  had  been  married  before  ordination, 

^  Placuit  in  totum  prohibere  episcopis,  presbyteris  et  diaconibus,  vel 
omnibus  clericis  positis  in  ministerio,  abstinere  se  a  conjugibus  suis,  et  non 
generare  filios ;  quicumque  vero  fecerit  ab  honore  clericatus  exterminetur  — 
See  Hefele.     Vol.  I.     147. 

*  Council  of  Ancyia  (314),  Can.  X.,  and  Council  of  Neocaesarea  about 
the  same  time,  Can.  I. 


32  ST.    PATRICKS   BIRTHPLACE   AND   FAMILY. 

to  cohabit  with  their  wives,  on  the  ground  that  such  co- 
liabitation  was  inconsistent  with  the  chastity  and  decorum 
of  men  cny,"aged  in  the  daily  ministry  of  the  altar.^ 

A  Synod  of  Carthage  held  in  387  or  390,  just  about  the 
time  vSt.  Patrick  became  a  captive,  ordains  that  bishops, 
priests,  and  Icvites  must  abstain  from  all  intercourse  with 
their  wives,-  thus  exhibiting  the  discipline  of  the  African 
Church  in  the  fourth  century,  as  exactly  the  same  as  that 
prevalent  in  the  Churches  of  Gaul  and  Spain.  Married  men 
might  be  ordained  priests  and  bishops,  as  often  occurred, 
but  the  law  at  the  time  required  them  to  abstain  from  all 
marital  intercourse  with  their  wives.  The  discipline  in 
Britain,  and  afterwards  in  Ireland,  was  exactly  the  same. 
There  may,  no  doubt,  have  been  crimes  and  abuses,  but 
they  were  never  sanctioned  by  law. 

Having  these  principles  before  our  mind  we  can  easily 
explain  the  statement  in  the  Confession.  Potitus,  the 
father  of  Calpurnius,  may  have  been  ordained  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  or  after  separation  from  his  wife,  or  after 
a  mutual  vow  of  chastity  ;  but  if  any  children  were  born  to 
him  after  his  marriage  it  would  be  a  violation  of  the  exist- 
ing discipline  of  the  Church — ^which  certainly  ought  not  to  be 
rashly  assumed  in  the  case  of  a  man  deemed  worthy  of  the 
priesthood.  So  also  Calpurnius  might  have  been  ordained 
deacon  after  his  marriage,  or  after  the  death  of  his  wife, 
but  we  have  no  ground  whatsoever  for  assuming  that 
Deacon  Calpurnius  would  violate  the  existing  law  by  living 
with  his  wife  after  his  ordination  as  deacon. 

In  many  cases,  indeed,  not  only  on  the  Continent,  but 
even  in  Ireland,  it  was  found  desirable  to  ordain  as  priests, 
and  even  as  bishops,  men  who  had  been  married,  and 
whose  wives  were  in  some  cases  still  alive,  but  living  in 
continence.  Such  men  were,  doubtless,  often  better  subjects 
for  the  sacred  ministry  in  the  infancy  of  the  Church 
than  untried  youths,^  who  in  their  early  years  could  not 
have  been  trained  to  lead  lives  of  chastity  and  virtue.  A 
married  man,   who  had  already  given  proof  of  conjugal 


^  Praeterea  quod  dignum  pudicum  et  honestum  est  suademus  fratribus  ut 
sacerdotes  et  levitae  cum  uxoribus  suis  non  coeant,  quia  ministerio  quotidiano 
occupantur.  Quicumque  contra  banc  constitutionem  fecerit  a  clericatus  honore 
deponatur.  This  decree,  if  not  enacted  by  the  first,  was  certainly  enacted  by 
one  of  the  earliest  Councils  of  Aries. 

2  Hefele,  vol.  II.,  p.  235.  See  also  the  Decretals  of  Pope  Siricius,  died 
398,  and  of  Innocent  I.,  A.D.  404. 

^As  the  writer  of  the  Life  of  St.  Germanus  observes,  the  *  Societas  uxoris' 
was  a  *  testimonium  castitatis  '  in  their  case. 


HIS    MOTHER   TONGUE.  33 

chastity  and  sober  wisdom,  was  at  that  time,  from  many 
points  of  view,  a  more  desirable  candidate  for  the  sacred 
ministry.  Such  was  the  great  Paulinus  of  Nola,  such  was 
Germanus  of  Auxerre,  the  teacher  of  St.  Patrick,  and  many 
other  great  prelates  of  the  fourth  century,  but  in  all  these 
cases  we  find  it  expressly  stated  that,  in  accordance  with 
the  discipline  of  the  Church,  they  abstained  from  all  marital 
intercourse  with  their  wives  after  their  ordination. 

IV.— His  Mother  Tongue. 

It  would  be  an  interesting  question  to  try  to  ascertain 
what  was  St.  Patrick's  mother  tongue.  We  may  assume  it 
as  certain  that  all  the  five  languages  mentioned  by  Bede  ^ 
as  prevalent  in  his  own  time  in  Britain  were  spoken,  even 
so  early  as  373,  on  the  shores  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde. 
For  the  Picts  certainly  dwelt  in  the  mountains  to  the  north, 
and  spoke  their  own  language,  of  which  very  few  traces 
now  survive.  The  Scots,  although  they  had  not  yet  founded 
their  kingdom  of  Scottish  Dalriada,  or  Argyle,  were  hover- 
ing round  the  coast,  and  had  undoubtedly  established 
themselves,  either  as  guests  or  masters,  here  and  there  on 
the  western  islands  and  headlands.  The  Saxons  had  lately 
arrived  on  the  eastern  shores,  and  their  tongue  might  be 
heard  at  any  point  of  the  coast  from  Berwick  to  the  Roman 
Wall  abutting  on  the  Forth.  The  British  or  Welsh  tongue 
was,  of  course,  spoken  by  the  Britons  of  the  Province  of 
Valencia,  especially  in  the  hilly  and  rural  districts.  The 
Latin  was  spoken  by  all  the  educated  classes  ;  and  was  the 
usual  language  in  the  Roman  stations  along  the  Wall,  and 
in  all  the  towns  under  the  Roman  influence.  It  would 
certainly  be  the  official  language  of  the  Roman  municipality 
of  Alclyde  ;  and  the  decurions  or  senators,  most  of  whom 
were  doubtless  old  Roman  officers  or  soldiers,  would 
naturally  use  it,  not  only  in  their  debates  in  the  curia,  but 
also  in  their  own  homes.  It  held  precisely  the  same 
situation  along  the  Clyde,  as  the  English  tongue  did  in  the 
towns  of  the  Pale  in  Ireland  up  to  the  seventeenth  century. 
So  wc  must  assume  that  although  S't.  Patrick  and  his  family 
were  Britons,  still  they  were,  as  he  tells  us,  Roman  Britons 
of  the  upper  class  in  a  Roman  town,  and  would  naturally 
use  the  Roman  language^  in  their  household,  as  the  Saint 
implies  when,  apologising  for  the  rudeness  of  his  Latinity, 

1  Hist.  Ecc.     Book  I.,  C.I. 

2  At  best  It  was  a  corrupt  and  debased  Latin  dialect. 


34  ST.    PATRICK  S    BIRTHPLACE    AND    FAMILY. 

he  declares  that  his  speech — that  is  his  mother  tongue — 
was  changed  into  a  foreign  tongue  by  reason  of  his  captivity 
in  Ireland,  "as  any  one  may  easily  infer  from  the  flavour 
of  my  discourse." 

But  although  the  father  of  St.  Patrick  was  a  Briton, 
'there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  his  mother  was  a 
native  of  Gaul.  Her  name  in  its  Irish  form,  as  given  in 
the  Tripartite,  is  Concess,  and  sometimes  Conchess,^  but 
in  Latin  it  is  usually  written  Conchessa,  and  she  is  said  by 
some  of  the  older  authorities  to  have  been  a  niece,  and  by 
others  a  sister,^  of  the  great  St.  Martin  of  Tours.  It  is 
safer  to  say  that  she  was  merely  a  kinswoman,  for  the 
word  sill}'  used  in  the  Tripartite  may  designate  either  a 
sister  or  any  near  relation.  Jocelyn,  in  the  Sixth  Life, 
tells  a  romantic  story,  to  explain  how  it  was  that  the  Gallic 
maiden  came  to  find  a  British  husband  on  the  banks  of  the 
Clyde.  Conchessa^  was,  he  says,  a  maiden  of  striking 
beauty  and  elegant  manners,  who,  with  her  elder  sister,  was 
carried  off  a  captive  to  the  northern  extremities  of  Britain, 
and  there  sold  as  a  slave  to  the  father  of  Calpurnius.  That 
youth,  fascinated  by  her  beauty,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
admiring  her  devoted  service  and  virtuous  life,  took  the 
slave  girl  to  be  his  wedded  wife.  Her  sister,  about  the 
same  time,  married  another  citizen  of  Nemthor  or  Dun- 
barton,  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  Patrick  was  born  of  one 
French  maiden,  and,  as  we  are  told,  was  nurtured  by 
another — that  is,  by  his  mother's  sister.  This  is  an  ancient, 
and  by  no  means  improbable,  story.  Some  other,  but 
later,  writers  suppose  that  Calpurnius  served  in  France 
during  his  youth  as  a  Roman  soldier,  and  there  met  with 
Conchessa,  whom  he  carried  home  to  his  native  city  on  the 
banks  of  the  Clyde,  when  his  term  of  foreign  service 
had  expired. 

A  recent  writer  *  tells  us  a  still  more  romantic  story — 
but,  we  feel  bound  to  add,  one  that  is  purely  imaginary — of 
how  Conchessa  was  carried  off  a  captive  by  the  Franks 
beyond  the  Rhine,  and  there  'the  high-born  Gallic 
maiden*  was  married  to  one  of  the  rude  barbarians,  Cal- 
purnius by  name,  who  afterwards  became,  mainly  through 
her  influence,  the  Christian   father  of  a  sainted  family ! 

^  Scholiast  on  Secundimis. 
^  Ch'^onicle  of  Marianus  Scotus,  anno  372. 

^  The  Scholiast  on  Fiacc  says  her  father's  name  was  Ocmus,  and  thit  she 
<vas  of  the  '  Franks.'     The  Lebar  Brecc  says,    '  of  P' ranee  was  her  kin.' 
*  See  Siiccat,\iy  Mgr.  Gradwell,  p,  16. 


HIS   MOTHER   TONGUE.  35 

There  is  much  that  is  romantic,  thouc^h  not  ahvays 
historical,  in  the  hfe  o*^  St.  Patrick  ;  but  if  we  are  to  have 
romance  at  all,  let  us  keep  to  the  old  romance  of  bard  and 
sage,  which  is  consistent  with  the  facts  narrated  in  the 
ancient  Lives  of  our  Saint,  and  let  us  not  devise  new 
stories,  wholly  inconsistent  with  wliat  Patrick  tells  us 
himself  of  his  country  and  his  family.  Now,  one  thing 
he  says  distinctly  is  that  he  inherited  his  nobility — he  was 
by  birth  ^  *  ingenuus,'  avd  therefore  his  father  must  have 
been  *  noble,'  either  by  birth  or  by  official  position. 

It  is  clear  also  that  the  family  of  St.  Patrick  must  have 
been  not  only  '  noble '  in  the  official  sense,  but  also  pos- 
sessed of  considerable  wealth,  for  his  father  had  slaves  and 
handmaidens  in  his  household,  when  the  Irish  raiders 
swooped  down  upon  it,  and  carried  off  into  captivity  all 
those  whom  they  did  not  slay.  The  Tripartite  and  the 
Scholiast  on  Fiacc  assert  that  this  raid,  in  which  St.  Patrick 
was  carried  off,  took  place  in  Armorica,  and  that  the  raiders 
were  exiled  Britons.  But  this  is  clearly  a  mistake,  for  St. 
Patrick  himself  in  the  Letter  to  Coroticus  clearly  implies 
that  the  raiders  were  Irish.  "  Do  I  not  show  my  love  of 
sympathetic  pity  by  so  acting  towards  that  nation  (the 
Irish)  who  once  took  me  captive,  and  destroyed  the  men- 
servants  and  maid-servants  of  my  father's  house.  ?  "^  The 
Armorica,  too,  on  which  the  raid  was  made  was  not  the 
Armorica  of  Gaul,  but  the  western  coast-land  (Airmorica) 
of  the  Clyde,  where  the  villa  of  St.  Patrick's  father 
stood. 

These  facts,  referred  to  by  St.  Patrick  himself,  clearly 
show  that  the  raiders  were  from  Ireland,  and  naturally 
returned  with  their  booty  to  the  place  from  which  they 
came.  But  in  this  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  us  accepting 
the  account  given  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  Homily  to  the  effect 
that  the  seven  sons  of  Sechtmad,  King  of  Britain,  were  in 
exile  (in  Ireland) ;  that  the  exiles  wrought  rapine  in  the 
land  of  Britain  by  bloody  raids  ;  that  Ulstermen  were  along 
with  them  in  their  raids,  and  that  it  was  in  one  of  them  they 
carried  off  Patrick  in  captivity  to  Ireland  with  his  sisters 
Tigris  and  Lupita — as  will  be  explained  further  on. 

^  Ingenuus  sum  secundum  carnem,  nam  Decurione  patre  nascor. 
2  Numquid  amo  misericoidiam  quod  sic  agoergaillam  gentem  (Ilibemiam), 
qui  me  aliquando  cepit,  et  devastavit  servos  et  ancillas  patris  mei. 


CHAPTER     III. 
ST.    PATRICK'S    CHILDHOOD    AND    BOYHOOD 

I.— His  Childhood. 

How  Patrick  spent  his  childhood  and  youth  in  his  father's 
home  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.  We  are  not  told  how  he  was  educated,  wlio 
were  his  teachers,  his  companions,  or  his  counsellors.  We 
might  infer  from  the  fact  that  his  father  was  a  deacon  that 
the  boy  was  carefully  trained  in  Christian  virtue  as  well  as 
in  Christian  knowledge,  even  from  his  earliest  years.  We 
are  told  also  in  several  of  the  Lives  that  he  was  not  only 
a  docile  and  obedient  youth,  growing  daily  in  grace  and 
favour  before  God  and  men,  but  that  he  was  consciously 
or  unconsciously  the  author  or  instrument  of  performing 
many  wonderful  miracles  almost  from  his  very  birth.  Stories 
3f  this  kind  are  very  common  in  the  lives  of  all  our  Irish 
saints,  and  there  is  a  famil}^  likeness  about  them,  accom- 
panied sometimes  by  a  certain  puerility,  which  renders 
them  extremely  suspicious.  Still,  in  the  case  of  St.  Patrick 
we  cannot  altogether  pass  them  over. 

If  we  may  credit  several  of  the  Lives,  there  was  no  part 
of  his  career  more  supernatural  than  his  childhood.  No 
doubt  he  was  predestined  by  God,  like  the  prophet  Jeremias, 
from  his  mother's  womb,  to  do  marvellous  things  for  the 
promotion  of  his  Master's  glory.  Still  the  account  which 
he  himself  gives  of  his  early  youth  is  so  inconsistent  with 
the  wondrous  miracles  which  he  is  said  to  have  worked 
during  this  period,  that  we  think  it  best  to  place  the  two 
accounts  in  sharp  contrast  to  each  other,  leaving  our  readers 
to  form  their  own  conclusions  as  to  the  credibility  of  the 
marvellous  statements  recorded  in  the  Lives. 

In  the  opening  paragraphs  of  the  Confession,  St.  Patrick 
thus  speaks  of  himself  during  the  period  preceding  his 
captivity  : — 

'■'■  I  was  then,"  he  says,  "  nearly  sixteen  years  of  age.  I  was 
ignorant  of  the  true  God ;  and  with  several  thousand  persons  I 
was  carried  into  captivity  in  Ireland,  as  we  deserved,  for  we  had 
departed  from  God,  and  had  not  kept  His  commandments,  and 
we  were  not  obedient  to  our  priests,  when  they  admonished  us  con- 


HIS   CHILDHOOD.  37 

cerning  our  salvation.  Then  the  Lord  brought  upon  us  the  chastise- 
ment of  His  wrath  ;  and  He  scattered  us  through  many  nations, 
even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  (that  is  Ireland),  where  now  it  has 
been  allotted  to  my  littleness  to  dwell  amongst  strangers.^  And 
there  the  Lord  opened  my  unbelieving  mind  (sensum  incredulitatis 
meae),  so  that  I  remembered  my  sins,  and  I  was  converted  with 
my  whole  heart  to  the  Lord,  who  had  regard  to  my  humility,  and 
took  pity  on  my  youth  and  on  my  ignorance,  and  guarded  me 
before  I  came  to  know  Him,  and  knew  how  to  distinguish  between 
good  and  evil ;  moreover,  He  defended  me  and  pitied  me,  as  the 
father  pities  a  son." 

This  is  an  exact  rendering  of  the  Latin  of  St.  Patrick, 
which  it  is  not  always  easy  to  translate  and  explain.  Now, 
making  all  due  allowance  for  the  humility  of  a  saint,  and 
for  that  exaggeration  of  their  own.  faults  in  which  saints 
are  wont  to  indulge,  we  think  it  is  clear  that  in  his  own  esti- 
mation Patrick  and  his  companions  were  guilty  of  some 
rather  serious  faults ;  that  they  were  not  well  instructed  in 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  the  law  of  God;  that  they 
were  indifferent  to  the  admonitions  of  the  clergy,  and  set 
small  store  on  the  importance  of  securing  their  eternal 
salvation.  The  Saint  declares,  moreover,  that  they  were 
justly  punished  for  these  sins,  and  he  is,  at  the  same  time, 
grateful  to  God  for  a  captivity  which  opened  their  eyes  to 
their  sinful  state,  and  caused  them  to  have  recourse  to  God, 
their  merciful  Father  and  protector. 

Here  the  Saint  paints  in  vivid  colours  the  spiritual 
destitution  of  himself  and  his  fellow-captives  in  language 
which,  we  think,  it  is  impossible  to  reconcile  with  a  boyhood 
spent  in  holiness  and  abounding  in  manifestations  of  super- 
natural power,  such  as  the  biographers  of  the  Saint  would 
attribute  to  him.  li  we  are  to  believe  his  own  account, 
young  Patrick  was  a  rather  ignorant  and  wayward  boy, 
caring  little  for  his  soul's  welfare,  until  his  captivity  opened 
his  eyes  and  softened  his  heart.  It  is  true,  indeed,  the 
biographers,  even  when  describing  his  miracles,  were  not 
ignorant  of  these  words  of  the  Saint ;  but  they  regarded 
him  as  describing  not  his  own  case  so  much  as  the  state  of 
others  who  shared  his  captivity,  and  with  whom,  in  his 
humility,  he  identifies  himself,  They  call  special  attention 
also  to  that  sentence  in  which  the  Saint  tells  how  God 
pitied  his  youth  and  his  ignorance,  shielding,  defending,  and 
consoling  him  as  a  father  consoles  his  son.     In  our  opinion, 

^  Ubi  nunc  parvitas  mea  esse  videtur  inter  alienigenas. 


38  ST.    PATRICK'S   CHILDHOOD    AND    BOYHOOD. 

however,  these  sentences  refer  to  the  spiritual  awakening 
which  was  brought  about  by  his  captivity,  rather  than  to 
the  state  of  his  soul  before  that  most  important  and  most 
merciful  event. 

With  these  words  before  their  minds,  our  readers  will 
now  be  able  to  judge  whether  the  miracles  narrated  by  his 
biographers  as  occurring  during  these  early  years  can  be 
accepted  as  genuine  or  not.  It  is  certainly  very  hard 
to  reconcile  them  with  a  belief  on  Patrick's  part  that 
he  was  ever  the  instrument  of  working  miracles  in  his 
boyhood. 

It  is  remarkable  that  all  the  early  Lives  given  by 
Colgan,  except  that  of  Fiacc,  narrate  the  same  miracles, 
and  in  substantially  the  same  words,  as  performed  by  St. 
Patrick,  during  the  years  of  his  youth.  In  all  they  number 
twelve,  more  or  less,  and  cannot  be  passed  over  without 
some  reference  in  any  full  Life  of  the  Saint. 

Three  prodigies  are  stated  to  have  occurred  at  the 
baptism  of  the  child.  There  was,  it  seems,  no  priest  near 
at  hand  to  baptise  the  infant,  so  he  was  carried  to  a  blind, 
flat-faced  hermit  called  Gornias,  who  dwelt  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, that  he  might  baptise  the  child.  This  man  had 
a  great  reputation  for  sanctity,  but  he  had  neither  sight  to 
read  nor  water  to  baptise.  Thereupon,  taking  the  hand  of 
the  infant  in  his  own,  he  formed  the  sign  of  the  cross  with 
it  on  the  ground,  when  lo  !  a  stream  of  water  at  once  burst 
forth,  with  which  he  first  washed  his  face,  and  found  his 
sight  thereupon  restored  ;  then  taking  the  book  he  read 
out  the  Order  of  Baptism,  although  he  had  been  blind  from 
his  birth,  and  thus  baptised  the  child  in  that  miraculous 
stream.  A  church,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  was  afterwards 
built  over  that  fountain,  and  the  well  itself  might  be  seen 
near  the  altar,  '  as  the  learned  say.'  The  place  where  the 
church  was  built  was  not  far  from  the  place  where  the  child 
was  born,  and  where  the  wonderful  flag  was  to  be  seen  on 
which  he  was  first  laid.  *'  It  is  still  held  in  great  honour," 
says  the  author  of  the  Third  Life,  ''  on  account  of  perjurers. 
For  the  perjurers,  when  they  swore  upon  it,  saw  it  grow 
moist,  as  if  it  bewailed  their  crimes  with  tears,  but  if  the 
accused  swear  the  truth  it  remains  in  its  natural  state." 

Here,  indeed,  we  have  four  miracles — that  of  the  sweat- 
ing flag,  which  was  a  standing  marvel ;  and  then  the 
miraculous  fountain  ;  the  recovery  of  his  sight  by  the  blind 
man,  Gornias  ;  and  his  reading  letters  that  he  never  knew, 
as  he  was  blind  from  his  birth.     In  some  of  the  Lives  he  is 


aiS  CHILDHOOD.  39 

even  said  to  have  been  a  priest,^  no  doubt  because  he 
undertook  to  baptise  ;  but  in  the  other  Lives  he  is  described, 
not  as  a  priest,  but  as  a  holy  hermit. 

It  is  also  said  that  the  old  church  of  Kilpatrick,  close  to 
the  Clyde,  about  three  miles  east  of  Dunbarton,  was  the 
scene  of  these  wonderful  events.  We  went  carefully  over 
the  ground.  The  existing  church  is  not  a  very  ancient 
building,  but  it  is  surrounded  by  a  large  churchyard  in 
which  there  are  som.e  tombs  dating  from  the  sixteenth 
century.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  built  on  the  site  ot* 
an  earlier  church  dedicated  to  our  Sahit,  which  gave  its 
name  to  the  place.  We  could  find  no  traces  of  St.  Patrick's 
flag,  and  we  believe  that  it  was  not  there,  but  somewhere  near 
Dunbarton,  although  now  it  is  not  to  be  found  in  that  in- 
credulous land.  We  inquired  carefully  for  the  well.  At 
first  we  could  find  no  trace  of  it ;  but  presently  we  met 
an  old  woman,  who  pointed  out  the  spot  where  '  St. 
Patrick's  w^ell  used  to  be.'  She  had  often  carried  water 
from  it  herself,  '  and  very  good  water  it  was ' ;  but  some 
nine  or  ten  years  ago  the  local  authority  of  Kilpatrick 
closed  up  the  well,  which  was  already  half  filled  with  rubbish, 
so  that  now  nothing  remains  to  mark  the  spot  except  a  few 
stones  of  the  wall  that  once  surrounded  it,  rising  still  above 
the  surface,  and  the  few  venerable  trees  that  kept  its  holy 
waters  cool  beneath  their  shade  even  in  the  hottest  summer. 
It  is  the  other  side  of  the  road  just  opposite  the  church- 
yard ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  old  church  was 
built  on  the  very  spot,  or  perhaps  the  ancient  fountain 
moved  away  from  the  church,  as  sometimes  happens.  But 
one  thing  is  clear,  that  the  good  people  of  Kilpatrick  have 
small  reverence  for  blessed  wells,  or  even  for  the  saint  who 
gave  his  name  to  their  town,  for  otherwise  they  surely  would 
never  allow  St.  Patrick's  Well  to  be  filled  with  rubbish  on 
the  very  margin  of  the  highway,  at  the  very  gate  of  their 
ancient  church.  We  almost  regretted  that  the  truth  of 
history  compelled  us  to  seek  for  traces  of  the  birthplace 
of  our  national  Apostle  in  a  place  where  his  name  and 
memory  are  so  little  reverenced. 

We  are  told  in  all  the  Lives  that  the  child  was  called 
Succat  at  his  baptism.  It  is  not  a  saint's  name,  but  was 
doubtless  a  favourite  name  with  the  Britons  of  Dunbarton, 
for  we  are  told  by  the  Scholiast  on  Fiacc  that  the  name  in 
the  British  tongue  signifies  "  brave  in  war" — Su  signifying 

^  In  the  Tripartite,  for  instance,  Vol.  I.  p.  8. 


40         ST.  Patrick's  childhood  and  boyhood. 

'brave,'  and  cat  'war.'  In  Gaelic  catk  certainly  .signifies 
a  battle,  whatever  be  the  meaning  of  the  first  part  of 
the  compound.  He  also  adds  that  Cothrige  was  Patrick's 
name  in  bondage  in  Ireland,  because  he  served  four  masters  ; 
that  Magonius  was  his  name  whilst  studying  under  Ger- 
manus,  because  he  was  doing  more — magis  agens — than  the 
other  monks  ;  and  that  he  received  the  name  of  Patricius 
from  Pope  Celestine  in  Rome.  All  his  biographers  refer 
to  those  four  names  of  Patrick,  although  their  origin  seems 
rather  fanciful. 

II. — His  Boyhood. 

Another  miracle  recorded  of  Patrick's  boyhood  is  in- 
teresting, because  it  goes  to  show  that  the  child  then  dwelt 
in  the  lowlands  near  a  river  like  the  Clyde  or  the  Leven. 
Once  upon  a  time  there  came  a  great  flood  in  winter,  which 
filled  the  house  and  quenched  the  fire  of  his  foster-mother. 
Patrick  was  hungry  and  called  for  food,  but  none  could  be 
had  for  want  of  a  fire.  Thereupon  he  stood  on  a  dry  spot, 
and  dipping  his  fingers  into  the  water  near  him  the  drops 
from  his  fingers  became  five  sparks  of  fire,  which  lit  the 
fuel,  and  caused  the  waters  to  recede  from  the  whole  house. 

At  another  time,  in  winter's  cold,  the  holy  boy  Succat 
brought  home  to  his  foster-mother  ^  his  lap  full  of  icicles. 
" 'Twere  better,'^  she  said,  "you  brought  faggots  for  the 
fire."  "  God  can  make  them  faggots  if  you  only  believe," 
said  Patrick.  So  the  icicles  were  cast  into  the  fire,  and 
when  Patrick  blew  upon  them  they  flamed  like  firewood. 

Once  when  Patrick  and  his  sister  Lupita  were  herding 
sheep,  the  lambs  broke  into  their  dams'  enclosure.  Where- 
upon Lupita,  running  quickly  to  drive  them  off,  fell  and  struck 
her  head  against  a  stone,  '  so  that  death  was  nigh  to  her.' 
Then  Patrick,  in  great  grief,  made  the  sign  of  the  cross 
over  the  wound,  and  she  was  healed  without  illness  ;  but 
the  scar  remained,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  served  afterwards  to 
identify  Lupita  at  a  critical  period  of  her  life. 

Once  as  Patrick  was  herding  the  sheep  a  wolf  carried 
off  one  of  them.  Thereupon  his  foster-mother  blamed  him 
greatly  ;  but  the  wolf  next  day  brought  back  the  sheep  safe 
and  sound — truly  a  strange  kind  of  restitution,  as  the  nar- 
rative quaintly  observes. 

Once,  too,  when  his  foster-mother  was  milking  the  kine 
in  the  byre,  one  of  them  went  mad,  for  a  demon  entered 

^  This  foster-mother  was  his  annt  on  the  mothers  side. 


HIS   BOYHOOD.  41 

her — and  she  killed  the  other  five  kine.  Then  Patrick, 
seeing  his  dear  foster-mother  in  sore  distress  thereat, 
brought  back  the  dead  kine  to  life,  and  cured  the  mad  one, 
so  that  God's  name  and  Patrick's  were  magnified  thereby. 
On  another  occasion  being  present  with  his  foster-parents 
at  '  a  great  folkmote  of  the  Britons,'  his  foster-father  died 
suddenly,  but  Patrick  restored  him  to  life.  Once  again  he 
changed  water  into  honey  for  his  foster-mother,  and  the 
honey  had  a  great  healing  virtue  over  every  kind  of  disease 
and  ailment. 

The  next  miracle,  if  there  is  anything  at  all  authentic 
about  it,  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  simple  manners  of  the 
times.  Here  it  is,  the  Tripartite  version  : — Once  the  reeve 
or  sheriff  of  the  king  (that  is  of  the  Britons)  went  to 
announce  to  Patrick  and  his  foster-mother  that  they  should 
go  to  cleanse  the  hearth  of  the  palace  of  Ail  Cluade. 
Patrick  and  his  foster-mother  went.  Then  came  the  angel 
to  Patrick  and  said — "  Make  prayer,  and  that  work  will  not 
be  necessary  for  thee."  Patrick  prayed.  Then  the  angel 
cleansed  the  hearth.  Whereupon  Patrick  said — "Though 
all  there  is  of  firewood  in  Britain  be  burnt  on  this  hearth, 
thereof  there  will  be  no  ashes  on  the  morrow."  "  And 
this  is  still  fulfilled,"  adds  the  writer. 

This  is  a  curious  legend.  That  there  was  a  nominal 
British  king  of  Ail  Cluade  even  during  the  Roman  occu- 
pation of  Valentia  is  fairly  certain,  and  that  the  sheriffs  of 
the  king  made  strange  demands  for  the  royal  service,  both 
in  Erin  and  Britain,  is  equally  certain.  The  story  hints 
that  it  was  not  proper  to  make  such  a  demand  of  menial 
service  from  Patrick  and  his  foster-mother,  and  therefore 
their  obedience  was  rewarded  by  the  ministry  of  the  angel. 
The  story,  too,  shows  that  they  must  have  lived  at  the 
time  near  the  rock  of  Dunbarton,  and  that  families  dwelling 
near  the  palace  were  required  to  keep  the  royal  kitchen  in 
due  order. 

We  are  told  that  on  another  occasion  the  steward  of  the 
king  came  to  Patrick's  foster-mother  to  seek  the  usual 
tribute  of  curds  and  butter.  She  had  none  to  give  him. 
Then  Patrick  made  curds  and  butter  of  the  snow,  and  they 
were  taken  to  the  king  ;  but  on  the  royal  table  they  became 
once  more  snow  in  the  sight  of  the  king,  whereupon  he 
remitted  the  tribute  in  favour  of  Patrick  for  the  future. 
Such  tributes  in  kind  were  the  rule  amongst  all  the  Celtic 
tribes  both  in  Erin  and  Alba,  so  we  naturally  find  reference 
to  them  here.     The  picture  of  royalty  these  stories  give  us 


42  ST.    PATRICKS   CHILDHOOD   AND    BOYHOOD. 

is  not  after  our  notions,  yet  it  is  quite  in  accordance  with 
the  manners  of  the  times.  Rut  whether  such  a  series  of 
miracles  performed  by  Patrick  during  his  childhood  can  be 
reconciled  with  the  truth  of  the  account  which  he  gives  of 
himself  we  leave  it  to  the  reader  to  judge.  Lanigan  does 
not  deign  to  notice  them  ;  and  even  the  pious  Colgan  justly 
regards  them  as  incredible.  So  that  we  can  very  well  afford 
to  regard  them  as  the  invention  of  imaginative  story-tellers 
of  a  later  age. 


CHAPTER     IV. 
THE    CAPTIVITY    OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

I. — Place  of  His  Captivity. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  story  of  the  Saint's  life  more 
interesting  and  more  instructive  than  the  history  of  his 
captivity.  Here,  too,  we  are  on  firm  ground.  We  have 
his  own  account  of  those  marvellous  six  years  of  his 
captivity,  and  we  have  the  additional  advantage  of  knowing 
the  scenes  which  he  describes,  and,  we  might  almost  say, 
the  persons  to  whom  he  refers.  The  whole  story  is,  there- 
fore, worthy  of  careful  examination  and  reproduction. 

First,  let  us  examine  the  account  of  the  captivity  as 
given  by  himself. 

He  tells  us  in  the  Confession  that  his  father  had  a 
small  farm  or  country-house,^  near  the  village  -  of  Ban- 
navem  Taberniae,  and  that  it  was  there  he  was  taken 
captive.^  The  phrase  he  uses  is  a  strange  one,  by  no 
means  classical ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  its 
meaning.     His  age  at  the  time  was  close  on  sixteen.* 

He  tells  us,  too,  that  many  thousand  persons  were  taken 
captive  in  the  same  raid,  and  that  the  rovers  '  devastated 
his  father's  house,  and  put  to  death  his  men-servants  and 
maid-servants,'  but  he  does  not  state  that  his  parents — 
either  father  or  mother — were  slain  or  captured  at  the 
same  time. 

We  may  assume,  then,  that  as  the  Saint  was  certainly 
born  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  he  was  carried  away 
captive  from  the  country-house  of  his  father,  which 
was  near  (prope)  to  the  town  in  which  he  was  born. 
Now,  this  is  exactly  what  might  be  expected.  A 
high  official  of  the  municipium  would  have  not  only  a 
house  in  the  town  itself  but  also  have  a  country-house 
not  far  oft — located  somewhere  on  the  banks  of  the 
river.       It  would,  therefore,  be  all  the  more  accessible  to 


*  Villulam.         '■^  Pagus. 

•^  Capturam  dedi — in   the  same  sense  as  in   the  phrase   '  psenas  dedi ' — I 
suffered  capliviiy  or  capture. 

*  Eeie  sedecim. 


44  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

the  sea  rovers  of  the  time,  because  it  was  somewhat 
secluded  and  near  to  the  sea.  In  our  opinion,  therefore, 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  Saint  was  carried 
off  by  Irish  raiders  from  his  father's  villa,  which  was 
probably  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river,  somewhere 
between  the  modern  Dunbarton  and  Helensburg,  on  the 
line  of  the  present  railway  to  Helensburg. 

Yet,  it  is  strange  that  some  ancient  writers  who  admitted 
that  St.  Patrick  was  born  at  Alclyde  still  assert  that  he 
was  carried  off  to  Ireland,  not  from  Strathclyde,  but  Irom 
Brittany  in  France.  The  Scholiast  on  Fiacc,  who  expressly 
says  that  "  Nemthor,"  where  Patrick  was  born,  "  is  a  city 
in  North  Britain,  namely,  Ail  Cluade  "  (the  Rock  of  Clyde), 
yet  states  that  Patrick,  with  his  parents — Calpurn,  his 
father,  and  Concess,  his  mother — together  with  his  five 
sisters  and  his  brother,  Deacon  Sannan,  "  all  went  from  the 
Britons  of  Ail  Cluade  over  the  Ictian  Sea  southwards  to  the 
Britons  of  Armorica — that  is,  to  the  Letavian  Britons — 
for  there  were  relatives  of  theirs  in  that  place  at  that  time  ; 
and  besides,  the  mother  of  the  children,  Concess,  was  of 
the  Franks,  and  she  was  a  near  female  relation  of  (St.) 
Martin.  That  was  the  time  at  which  seven  sons  of  Secht- 
mad.  King  of  Britain,  were  in  exile  from  Britain.  So 
they  made  a  great  foray  on  the  Britons  of  Armorica,  where 
Patrick  v/as  with  his  family,  and  they  slew  Calpurn  there, 
and  they  brought  Patrick  and  Lupita  with  them  to  Ireland, 
and  they  sold  Lupita  in  Conaille  Muirthemne,  and  Patrick 
in  the  north  of  Dalaradia.'' 

The  Tripartite  gives  nearly  the  same  account.  That 
story,  too,  seems  to  have  got  into  the  mind  of  Probus,  for 
he  describes  this  foray,  in  which  Patrick  was  captured 
together  with  his  brother  Ructi  and  his  sister  Mila,  as 
having  taken  place  in  *  Arimuric,'  ^  which,  however,  was 
in  the  native  country  (patria)  of  the  Saint,  although  it  was 
the  sons  of  Rethmiti,  the  British  king,  from  Britannia^ 
who  made  the  inroad.  Probus,  however,  is  unreliable  in 
his  narrative  and  his  names,  for  he  admits  that  Patrick 
was  born  in  Britain  (in  Britanniis),  and  he  speaks  of  this 
as  a  second  captivity  from  '  Arimuric,'  quite  distinct 
from  the  first  captivity  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  with  which 
he  nevertheless  confounds  it  in  giving  the  details. 


^  In  our  opinion,  this  word  has  e;iven  cause  to  this  story  of  the  Schoh'ast. 
lie  referred  '  Arimuric '  to  Armorica  in  Britiany,  whereas  it  might  be  applied 
to  any  western  land  on  the  sea-board, 

-  De  Britannia. 


PLACE   OF    Ills   CAPTIVITY.  45 

Here  is  a  grave  difference  of  opinion,  and  the  Book  of 
Armagh  does  nothing  to  settle  the  question,  for  it  makes 
no  reference  to  the  point  at  issue.  It  is  highly  probable 
that  the  Tripartite  and  Probus  took  their  account  from  the 
Scholiast  on  Fiacc  ;  and  the  Scholiast — if  indeed  there  were 
not  more  than  one — seems  to  contradict  himself.  Several 
modern  writers  have  adopted  the  same  view,  following 
most  likely  the  authority  of  the  Tripartite. 

The  author  of  the  Homily  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  gives 
probably  the  true  account  when  he  says  that  these  seven 
sons  of  the  British  king  with  some  Ulster  men  raided 
Britam — not  Brittany — and  carried  their  captives  thence 
to  Ireland.^ 

We  must,  however,  adhere  to  the  plain  statement  of  the 
Saint  in  the  Confession,  that  he  was  carried  off  from  the 
country  house  near  where  his  father  dwelt  in  Bannavem 
Taberniae ;  that  a  great  number  of  captives  were  carried 
off  at  the  same  time,  and  that  the  spoilers  devastated  his 
father's  house,  and  slaughtered  his  men-servants  and  maid- 
servants. He  makes  no  reference  to  the  killing  of  his 
father  or  mother  on  that  occasion,  from  which  we  may 
fairly  infer  that  they  were  not  slain  in  that  foray  ;  and  were 
probably  either  absent  or  dead  at  the  time. 

There  are  many  other  circumstances  that  confirm  this 
view.  The  author  of  the  Second  Life  says  expressly  that 
the  raiders  were  an  Irish  host^  ravaging,  as  was  their  custom 
(de  more),  the  shores  of  Britain.  The  Fourth  Life  also 
describes  them  as  fleets  of  the  Irish  who  were  in  the  habit 
of  crossing  the  sea  to  plunder  Britain.-^ 

The  Roman  writers  tell  the  same  story.  The  Province 
of  Britain  was  first  invaded  by  the  '  Picts  '  and  '  Scots,' 
on  its  northern  limits,  about  the  year  A. D.  360.'^  The  Picts 
crossed  the  northern  wall,  while  the  Scots,  that  is  the  Irish, 
harried  the  western  sea-board  from  the  Clyde  to  the  Severn. 
Four  years  later,  in  364,  a  second  attack  w^as  made  in 
greater  force,  the  Saxons  on  this  occasion  swooping  down 
in  their  long  ships  on  the  eastern  coasts  of  Northumbria. 
Again  and  again   these  attacks  vrere  renewed   until    369, 


^  See  Rolls  Tr/)!>,  p.  439.  They  were  probably  exiled  to  Brittany,  but 
returned  home  to  make  the  raid. 

^  Scotensis  exercitus. 

^  Classes  Hibernensiam  ad  Britanniam  causa  praedandi  Iransnavigare 
solebant. 

^ Ammiamis,  B.  XX,  C.  I.  Breacan,  grandson  of  Kin^  Niall,  had  fifty 
curraghs  trading  with  Britain.     See  O'Curry.     M.M.,  p.  257. 


46  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

when  Theodosius,  a  brave  and  skilful  warrior,  was  sent  over 
to  I^ritain  by  the  Emperor  Valens  to  chastise  the  barbarians. 
He  drove  them  out  of  the  Province,  renewed  the  wall  from 
the  Clyde  to  the  Forth,  and  having  completely  subjugated 
the  country  between  the  two  walls  called  it  Valentia,  in 
honour  of  his  master,  the  Emperor  Valens.  As  we  have 
seen  he  established  its  chief  military  station  and  civil 
capital  close  to  the  British  stronghold  on  the  Clyde.  The 
commander-in-chief  of  the  new  Province  was  called  the 
Dux  Brittaniae,  and  as  it  was  his  duty  to  defend  the 
northern  frontier,  he  naturally  kept  his  headquarters  on  the 
Clyde,  from  which  he  could  keep  both  Picts  and  Scots  in 
check.  He  is  said  in  the  Notitia  Imperii,  or  Army  List  of 
the  time,  to  have  had  no  less  than  8,000  foot  and  600  horse, 
that  is  a  whole  legion,  along  the  line  of  the  northern  wall. 
Bannavem  Taberniae  was,  therefore,  a  populous  and  im- 
portant place  at  thit  period,  that  is  about  the  time  St. 
Patrick  was  born,  in  372  or  373  ;  and  we  need  not  be  sur- 
prised that,  as  the  capital  of  the  new  province  of  Valentia, 
and  the  head-quarters  of  the  army,  it  was  made  a  munici- 
pium  or  free  town. 

One  of  the  chief  officers  of  Theodosius  during  this 
campaign  in  Britain  was  the  Spaniard,  Claudius  Maximus, 
who  afterwards  became  commander-in-chief  in  Britain,  and 
then  revolting  against  the  Emperor  Gratian  was  himself 
proclaimed  Emperor  by  the  army  at  York  in  383.  He 
remained,  however,  only  a  short  time  in  Britain,  for  next 
year  he  crossed  over  into  Gaul  to  vindicate  his  claims  to 
the  western  empire,  and  took  with  him  nearly  all  the 
British  troops,  as  they  were  the  men  who  had  raised  him  to 
the  purple,  and  who  were  likely  to  prove  his  most  staunch 
a]lies.  This  was  in  385  or  386.  The  Picts  and  Scots, 
finding  the  Roman  troops  called  away  from  Britain,  at  once 
renewed  their  incursions,  especially  about  388,  when 
Maximus  collected  all  his  troops  from  all  quarters,  and 
crossing  the  Alps  fought  the  great  battle  of  Aquileia,  in 
which  he  was  defeated  and  slain  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius 
the  Great,  the  son  of  his  former  master.  It  was  about  the 
year  387  that  Britain  was  thus  completely  denuded  of 
Roman  troops,  for  Maximus  was  slain  in  388;  and  this 
is  the  very  time,  too,  that  St.  Patrick  was  carried  into 
captivity  by  '  the  fleets  from  Ireland.'  The  British 
historians,  Gildas  and  Nennius,  tell  us  expressly  that  the 
invaders  were  Picts  and  Scots — the  Picts  coming  from  the 
north,  and  the  Scots  from  the  west,  that  is  from  Ireland. 


PLACE    OF   HIS   CAPTIVITY.  47 

The  poet  Claiidian  also,  when  lauding  the  achievements  of 
Stilicho,  who  drove  back  the  barbarians  a  few  years  later, 
describes  him  as  guarding  the  extreme  limits  of  the 
British  frontier,  curbing  the  ferocious  Scot,  and  curiously 
observing  the  punctured  marks  on  the  bodies  of  the 
slaughtered  Picts.^  We  may  safely  assume,  therefore, 
that  the  raiders,  who  carried  off  from  Strath  Clyde  at  this 
period  '  so  many  thousand  '  persons  into  captivity,  were 
Scots  from  Ireland,  who  crossed  the  narrow  seas  in  fleets 
of  *  hired  boats. "^  These  were  the  years,  too,  during 
which  Niall  the  Great  reigned  in  Ireland  ;  and  except  the 
bards  belie  him,  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  ravaging 
the  coasts  of  France  and  Britain.  We  have  no  historical 
evidence  of  the  raids  into  France,  but  we  have  undoubted 
authority  to  prove  that  the  Scots  harried  the  British  coasts, 
from  which  they  were  driven  off  only  for  a  while  by  Stilicho. 
We  are  assured,^  indeed,  that  Niall  was  slain  at  sea,  on  the 
Muir  n-Icht,  or  Ictian  Sea,  between  France  and  England ; 
but  that  was  several  years  later,  in  A.D.  405. 

We  are  told  that  Lupita,  a  sister  of  Patrick,  was  carried 
off  in  the  same  raid,  although  the  Saint  himself  makes  no 
allusion  to  the  fact.  It  is  in  itself,  however,  not  unlikely  ; 
and  the  venerable  authorities  who  make  the  statement  are 
not  to  be  lightly  set  aside. 

As  St.  Patrick  himself  says  that  many  thousands  were 
taken  captive  on  the  occasion  when  he  was  carried  off  by 
the  Irish  rovers,*  they  must  have  had  many  boats  ;  for  they 
were  not  ships  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term.  Each 
boat  carried  off  its  own  portion  of  the  captives,  and 
doubtless  sold  them  as  best  they  could,  for  the  benefit  of 
themselves  and  their  leaders.  On  their  return,  therefore, 
they  would  not  all  sail  for  the  same  port,  but  each  of  the 
crews  would  naturally  make  for  the  port  where  they  were 
most  likely  to  dispose  of  their  spoil.     In  this  way  we  can 


^Venit  et  extremis  legio  praetentis  Britannis 
Quae  Scoto  dat  frena  truci,  ferroque  notatas 
Perlegit  exanimes  Picto  moriente  figuras. 

De  Bello  Getico, 
^Totam    cum    Scotus   lernen 
Movit   et    infesto    spumavit    remige. 

Claudian. 
^  By  the  Four  Masters. 

^  The  Sccon'l  and  Third  Lives  both  state  that  it  was  an  'Irish  host' 
coming  by  sea  that  carried  him  off  from  Britain.  The  Fourth  Life  says  the 
same — that  it  was  an  *  Lish  fleet'  carried  off  him  and  his  sister  Lupita. 
Jocelyn  merely  calls  the  raiders  '  pirates,'  who  carried  off  Patrick  and  sold 
him  as  a  slave  in  Ireland. 


48  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.   PATRICK. 

readily  understand  how  Liipita  might  have  been  brouglil 
in  one  boat  to  Dundalk  Bay,  and  sold  as  a  slave  in  tlic 
district  of  Conaille  Muirthemne,  the  famed  Ily  Conaillc 
land  around  Dundalk,  where  Cuchulain  fought  and  the 
young  St.  Bridget  prayed.  The  Tripartite  tells  us  there 
were  two  sisters  of  Patrick  sold  as  slaves  in  Hy  Conaille ; 
but  the  older  authorities  mention  only  one.  Patrick  him- 
self was  probably  carried  off  by  a  Dalaradian  crew  that 
landed  somewhere  near  Larne,  and  sold  him  to  the  king  of 
North  Dalaradia,  to  whom  Larne  belonged,  as  his  sister 
or  sisters  were  sold  further  south  in  Conaille  Muirthemne, 
'  and  he  and  his  sisters  knew  nothing  of  each  other.'  ^ 
This  statement  bears  out  the  view  that  the  children  were 
carried  off  in  different  boats,  which  probably  belonged  to 
different  districts  of  the  Irish  sea-board,  to  which  they 
afterwards  returned. 

II. — Life  as  a  Slave  in  Ireland. 

St.  Patrick  himself  does  not  tell  us  in  what  part  of 
Ireland  he  lived  as  a  slave,  but  all  the  ancient  authorities, 
including  the  Book  of  Armagh,  say  that  his  master  was 
Milcho,^  king  of  North  Dalaradia,  and  that  Patrick's  chief 
work  was  herding  sheep  and  swine  on  the  slopes  of  Sliabh 
Mis,  a  mountain  in  the  heart  of  the  Co.  Antrim,  about  six 
miles  east  of  the  town  of  Ballymena.  It  still  retains  its 
ancient  name  under  the  form  Slemish,  and  is  a  ver}'  con- 
spicuous object  in  the  district,  for  it  rises  up  a  huge,  dark 
cone  to  the  height  of  1,437  ^Q^^,  thus  overtopping  all  the 
surrounding  hills. 

North  Dalaradia,  of  which  Milcho  was  king,  extended 
from  Belfast  Lough  to  the  river  Braid,  which  separated  it 
from  Dalriada.^  But  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick  Milcho 
seems  to  have  ruled  over  the  whole  valley  of  the  Braid 
south  of  the  ridge  of  hills  rising  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  river.  For  Skerry  Church,  where  the  angel  appeared 
to  St.  Patrick,  was  north  of  the  Braid,  and  so  it  seems  was 
the  dun  where  Milcho  himself  lived.  The  real  boundary  be- 
tween Dalaradia  and  Dalriada  in  the  time. of  St.  Patrick — 
for  it  varied  at  later  times — was  the  range  of  hills  extending 

1  Tripartite. 

^  Colgan  adopts  the  form  Milcho,  which  we  follow.  The  Tripartite  gives 
the  genuine  Irish  name  as  Miliuc,  of  which  the  genitive  would  be  Milcho. 
He  is  described  as  Miliuc  Maccu  Buain. 

^  See  Reeves. 


LIFE   AS   A   5LAVE    IN    IRELAND.  49 

from  Glenarm  inland  in  a  north-west  direction  to  the 
modern  Bushmills,  which  is  built  on  the  Buas,  as  it  was 
called  in  the  time  of  our  Saint.  The  valley  of  the  Braid, 
extending  from  Ballymena  nearly  all  the  way  toCarnlough 
on  the  coast,  is  a  fertile  and,  in  our  time,  a  highly  culti- 
vated valley,  producing  all  our  Irish  crops  in  great 
abundance.  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  king  of 
Dalaradia  chose  it  as  his  own  demesne  and  dwelt  some- 
where in  the  district — for  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  exact  situation  of  his  dun. 

St.  Patrick  himself  tells  us  that  his  daily  occupation 
during  his  captivity  was  to  feed  swine  ^  and  sheep,  large 
numbers  of  which  were  fed  in  the  woods  and  on  the  slopes 
of  the  mountains.  The  swine-herd  constantly  attended 
them  with  his  dogs  to  drive  away  the  wolves  from  the  flock, 
and  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  robbers,  for  both 
were  quite  common  at  the  time.  At  night  in  winter  the 
herd  was  usually  driven  home  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
master's  dun  for  shelter  and  protection.  But  by  day  and 
night,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  the  young  captive  was 
responsible  for  the  safety  of  his  flock. 

It  was  a  hard  lot  for  a  boy  of  sixteen,  brought  up  in  the 
midst  of  the  comforts  of  a  civilized  '  Roman  '  home.  In 
summer  he  probably  slept  in  the  woods  in  a  sheeling. 
In  winter  he  doubtless  had  better  shelter  from  the  biting 
winds,  but  few  people  cared  how  the  wretched  slaves  were 
lodged,  and  they  were  generally  left  to  provide  for  them- 
selves as  best  they  could,  without  being  excluded,  however, 
from  the  chieftain's  dun.  Yet  it  was  this  hard  life  of  a 
slave  that  made  Patrick  a  saint.  Whilst  they  were  at  home, 
and  he  and  his  fellow-captives  had  forgotten  God  ^ — so  he 
says  himself — and  **  their  sins  have  brought  on  him  and  his 
companions  the  anger  of  God ;  and  He  chastised  them  in 
His  justice  and  mercy,  making  them  slaves  in  a  foreign 
land."  But  now  Patrick's  eyes  were  opened — and  he  betook 
himself  to  frequent  prayer  ;  the  love  and  fear  of  God  grew 
more  and  more  within  him ;  his  faith  was  strengthened  ; 
his  fervour  waxed  warmer,  so  that  during  the  day  he  often 
prayed  a  hundred  times,  and  in  the  night  likewise  ;  and 
whilst  living  in  the  woods  and  mountains  he  awoke  to  pray 
before  the  dawn  in  frost  and  snow  and  rain,  neither  felt  he 


^  Cotidie  pecora  pascebam. — Confession. 

'^  Deum  anum  non  credebam  neque  ex  infantia  mea  sed  in  morte  et  incred- 
uHtate  marjsi  donee  valde  castigatus  sum. 

E 


50  THE    CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 


any  sloth  or  weariness,  as  he  felt  in  his  old  age,  his 
spirit  was  then  so  fervent  within  him.^ 

It  was  a  wonderful  change  brought  about  by  tribulations, 
for,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  cold  and  hunger  made  him  truly 
humble  in  the  sight  of  God,^  and  that  humility  was  the 
basis  of  all  his  subsequent  holiness  and  merit.  These 
sufferings  were  all  for  his  good ;  it  was  by  them  that  the 
Lord  trained  him  to  think  of  others,  and  be  zealous  for 
their  salvation,  whereas,  previously  he  had  no  concern  even 
for  his  own.^  And  so  he  lived  for  six  years,  growing  daily 
in  favour  and  in  the  grace  of  God.  He  had  an  opportunity, 
too,  of  learning  the  Irish  language  during  these  years  of 
his  captivity,  by  which  he  was  afterv/ards  enabled,  through 
the  Providence  of  God,  to  preach  to  the  people  in  their  own 
tongue,  the  inability  to  do  which  on  the  part  of  Palladius 
was,  probably,  one  reason  why  his  Mission  was  a  failure. 

Other  authorities  give  us  glimpses  into  what  may  be 
called  the  domestic  life  of  the  Saint  during  this  period ; 
they  are  very  interesting,  and  in  themselves  not  improbable. 
The  account  given  in  the  Tripartite  ^  tells  us  that  Milcho 
had  three  children,  one  son  and  two  daughters,^  and  these 
simple  children  were  greatly  attracted  by  the  kindly  and 
gracious  bearing  of  the  young  slave.  They  loved  to  be 
with  him,  and  frequently  sought  opportunities  of  speaking 
to  him,  which  was,  doubtless,  deemed  rather  irregular  in 
the  king's  children,  thus  to  associate  with  their  father's 
slave.  They  were  kind  to  him,  too,  and  frequently  carried 
food  to  the  half-starved  boy,  which,  no  doubt,  he  was  very 
glad  to  get  as  a  supplement  to  his  own  scanty  rations.  Very 
naturally  he  came  to  love  the  kind-hearted  children,  and 
made  them  the  only  return  in  his  power  by  giving  them 
rather  surreptitiously,  we  are  told,  some  knowledge  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion.^  But  now  it  came  to 
pass  that  Milcho  had  a  wondrous  dream  or  vision,  in  which 
he  saw  Patrick  come  into  his  house  breathing  flames  from 
his  mouth  and  nostrils,  which  also  shone  in  his  eyes,  and 
even  his  ears,  so  that  his  countenance  became,  as  it  were, 
one  flame  of  fire  which  threatened  to  burn  up  the  whole 


^  Confession. 

^  Et  in  veritatate  humiliatus  sum  a  fame  et  nuditate. 
^  Confession. 
4  Vol.  I.,  p.  19. 

^The  Second  Life  mentions  only  one  daughter. 

^  Patrick  dared  not  do  this  openly,  for  Milcho,  we  are  told,  was  a  magus,  or 
druid,  and  very  hostile  to  the  new  religion. 


LIFE   AS   A   SLAVE    IN    IRELAND.  5 1 

house.  He  thought  that  he  himself  succeeded  in  keeping 
off  the  flames,  but  he  saw  all  his  children  wreathed  in  the 
devouring  fire,  and  reduced,  as  it  were,  to  ashes  in  the 
conflagration. 

Thereupon  Milcho  sent  for  Patrick  and  told  him  what 
he  had  seen,  asking  him,  at  the  same  time,  if  he  could 
explain  its  meaning. 

Thereupon  Patrick  replied  : — "  The  flame  which  you 
have  seen,  O  King,  issuing  from  me  is  my  faith  in  the 
Ploly  Trinity,  with  which  I  am  wholly  fired  and 
enlightened,  and  which  hereafter  I  hope  to  diffuse  by  my 
preaching.  But  in  your  case  my  preaching  will  be  fruitless, 
for  you  will  repel  the  grace  of  God  with  obstinate  mind, 
and  die  in  your  infidelity  ;  but  your  son  and  your  two 
daughters  will  embrace  the  faith,  which  will  be  preached 
to  them,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  will,  by  the  fire  of  love 
divine,  burn  out  of  their  hearts  all  their  sins  and  vices. 
Moreover,  they  will  serve  God  in  justice  all  the  days  of 
their  lives  ;  and,  after  dying  a  holy  death,  their  relics  will 
be  held  in  veneration  throughout  all  Ireland,  and  cure 
many  diseases  and  infirmities.'' 

Milcho,  even  with  the  vision  before  his  mind,  must  have 
thought  this  strange  language  coming  from  a  slave.  His 
reply  is  not  recorded ;  but  the  story  of  the  vision  and 
its  interpretation  is  very  ancient,  for  it  is  given  both  by 
Muirchu  and  Tirechan  in  the  Book  of  Armagh.  The  names 
of  the  children,  too,  are  given — one  became  Bishop 
Guasacht  of  Grandard,  and  the  two  sisters  called  Emeriae, 
I.e.,  Emers,  became  nuns  at  Clonbroney,  in  Longford. 
They  are  referred  to,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  not  only 
in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  but  also  in  nearly  all  the  early 
Lives  of  the  Saint. 

But  Patrick  was  privileged  during  the  years  of  his 
captivity  to  converse  with  even  higher  beings  than  the 
children  of  the  King  ;  and  here  himself  is  our  chief 
informant,  for  if  the  story  were  contained  merely  in  the 
Lives  written  by  others  it  would  have  been  scouted  by  our 
modern  critics  as  the  invention  of  monkish  chroniclers. 
Nay,  we  find  that  some  of  those  critics  who  recognise 
Patrick  as  a  saint  are  yet  sorely  puzzled  how  to  explain 
the  angelic  visions  recorded  by  himself  in  his  Confession. 

His  own  account  is  that  one  night  he  heard  a  Voice  ^ 
saying  to  him   in  sleep — "  You  fast  well,  and  will  soon 


^  Responsum — a  divine  voice. 


52  THE    CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.   PATRICK. 

return  to  your  native  country";^  and  shortly  afterwards 
he  heard  another  divine  Voice  saying  to  him — "  Lo,  your 
ship  is  ready."  Yet,  as  he  adds,  it  was  not  ready  there, 
but  some  200  miles  away,  '  in  a  place  where  I  had  never 
-  been  and  where  I  knew  no  one.'  Such  is  his  own 
account  of  this  warning  vision.  Muirchu  tells  us  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh  that  the  Angel  spoke  to  him  frequently, 
and  that  if  the  swine  happened  to  stray  away  from  him, 
so  that  he  could  not  find  them,  the  Angel  told  him  where 
to  get  them.  Notably  he  spoke  to  Patrick  no  less  than 
thirty  times  from  the  rock  Scirit,  which  is  near,  he  says, 
to  Slemish,  "  and  on  that  rock  of  Skirit,"  he  adds,  "  the 
footprints  of  the  Angel  may  still  be  seen  where  he  was 
standing  when  he  went  to  heaven  in  the  sight  of  Patrick  ; 
and  there,  too,  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  are  known  to 
produce  most  happy  fruit."  The  same  statement  is  given 
by  Tirechan,  who  adds  that  it  was  on  the  rock  of  Scirte 
the  angel  stood  when  he  said  to  Patrick — "  Behold  the 
ship  is  ready  ;  arise  and  set  out  "  ;  ^  and  thereupon  Patrick 
saw  the  angel  ascending,  and  as  he  rose  his  feet  were 
stretched  far  apart  from  hill  to  hill — which  we  take  to  mean 
from  Mount  Scirte,  on  which  the  Angel  stood,  to  Slemish, 
on  which  St.  Patrick  lay.  The  distance  between  the  two 
hills  in  a  direct  line  is  about  two  miles.  In  most  of  the 
Lives  the  name  of  the  Angel  is  given  as  Victor,^  and  else- 
where Victoricus,*  and  he  is  described  not  only  as  Patrick's 
guide  and  counsellor,  but  as  the  guardian  Angel  of  the 
Irish  race. 

In  the  Tripartite,  the  rock  on  which  the  Angel  stood 
when  Patrick  saw  him  is  called  Schirec  Archaille  ;  ^  and 
in  later  times,  as  Colgan  tells  us,  it  was  called  Schire 
Padruic — the  word  "schire"  meaning  a  rock,  the  root  of 
which,  sker,  enters  into  the  composition  of  a  great  many 
Irish  words.^  The  place  still  retains  the  ancient  name,  with  a 
modern  termination,  and  is  called  Skerry.  As  it  became 
a  place  of  pilgrimage  and  holiness,  a  church  was  built  upon 
the  rocky  cliff,  and  behind  the  modern  church  may  still  be 
seen  the  flag  bearing  the  print  of  the  Angel's  feet  which  he 


^  Bene  jejunas,  cito  iturus  ad  patriam  tuam. 

2  Ecce  navis  tua  parata  est  ;  surge  et  ambula. 

3  Third  Life. 

4  Second  Life. 

^  Archaille  was  the  ancient  name  of  the  valley   of  the  Braid. — Fiacc's 
Scholiast. 

8  Like  Skerries,  Co.  Dublin. 


ESCAPE    FROM   CAPTIVITY.  53 

left  when  speaking  to  Patrick  for  the  last  time.  The 
basaltic  hill  itself  is  very  conspicuous  from  the  road  leading 
eastward  from  Ballymena,  crowned  as  it  still  is  by  an 
ancient  but,  we  believe,  now  disused  church  ;  and  the 
summit  of  the  rock  would  be  easily  visible  from  every  point 
of  the  country  round  about,  as  well  as  from  the  slopes  of 
Slemish,  which  rises  up  beyond  the  river  two  miles  to  the 
south,  Skerry  itself  being  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the 
river  Braid.  Hallowed  as  it  was  by  the  footprints  of  an 
angel,  and  with  all  its  traditions  clinging  to  it  still,  the  rock 
of  Skerry  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots  on  Irish  soil, 
even  for  the  antiquarian  who  has  science,  if  not  faith,  to 
kindle  enthusiasm  in  his  soul.  The  learned  Reeves  thus 
describes  this  venerable  spot : — "  What  may  be  called  the 
present  church,  though  now  in  ruins,  is  64  feet  by  19  ;  it 
is  not  characterised  by  any  marks  of  very  great  antiquity, 
but  close  beside  it  on  the  north  are  some  traces  of  a  smaller 
building,  which  was  probably  erected  at  an  earlier  date  " 
— we  should  say,  indeed,  by  St.  Patrick  himself,  when  he 
returned  to  preach  the  Gospel  there — and  such  has  always 
been  the  tradition  of  the  place.  A  few  yards  distant  from 
the  north-east  angle  of  the  church  is  a  patch  of  rock,  on 
the  edge  of  which  is  a  depression  having  a  faint  resemblance 
to  the  print  of  a  shoe,  which  the  Ordnance  vSurvey,  agree- 
ably to  the  local  tradition,  notices  as  St.  Patrick's  foot- 
mark. In  Colgan's  time  it  was,  he  tells  us,  a  famous  place 
of  pilgrimage.  The  Scholiast  on  Fiacc  says  that  the  Angel 
came  to  visit  St.  Patrick  in  the  shape  of  a  bird  ;  but  the 
footprint  would  seem  to  indicate,  like  the  Book  of  Armagh,^ 
that  he  rather  came  and  spoke  in  human  form.'^ 

III. — Escape  from  Captivity. 

So  now  that  the  six  long  years  of  penance,  praj^er  and 
suffering  were  over  it  pleased  God  to  release  the  saint  from 
his  penitential  captivity.  He  was  a  stone  sunk  in  the  mud, 
he  tells  us,  before  God  had  humbled  him  in  captivity  ;  but 
the  Mighty  One  now  raised  him  and  placed  him  high  as  a 
living  stone  in  the  spiritual  edifice  of  His  Church.^  God 
had  destined  him  fur  a  great  work  ;  and  under  His  special 


^  Sicut  homo  cum  homine  loquitur. — Vol.  II.,  p.  300. 

^  There  was  a  holy  well  on  the  south  of  the  road  called   Tubbernacool — 
'a  miraculous  well '  Colgan  calls  it. 
'^  Confession. 


54  THE    CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

guidance  Patrick  was  enabled  to  return  to  his  own  country. 
It  was  brought  about  in  this  way: — 

He  heard  the  AngeHc  voice  saying  that  his  ship  was 
ready,  and  urging  him  to  set  out  at  once  on  his  journey. 
Thereupon  the  saint  forthwith  betook  himself  to  flight/  and 
by  divine  guidance^  was  enabled  to  make  his  way  direct 
to  the  port  where  the  ship  of  which  the  Angel  spoke  was 
tarrying.  Neither  did  he  find  anything  to  fear  on  the 
way,  for  God,  who  was  guiding  him  to  a  higher  destiny, 
protected  him  from  every  danger. 

This  is  his  own  account.  There  is  no  need  to  go 
beyond  it,  or  to  suppose  that  Patrick  paid  a  ransom  in 
miraculous  gold  to  his  master.  He  needed  no  ransom, 
for  he  was  captured,  not  in  just  war,  but  by  violence  and 
injustice,  and  he  might  lawfully  escape  whenever  he  got 
the  chance.  The  Tripartite  says  that  Patrick,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Angel,  asked  Milcho's  permission  to  depart; 
but  Milcho  refused,  unless  a  lump  of  gold  equal  in  weight 
to  Patrick's  head  were  paid  to  him.  Then  the  Angel  who 
appeared  to  him  on  Skerry  Hill  told  him  to  follow 
a  certain  boar  from  the  herd  he  was  tending,  and  that 
the  boar  when  rooting  in  the  soil  ^  would  turn  up  a  lump 
of  gold  large  enough  to  pay  the  required  ransom.  So 
Milcho  getting  this  gold  for  the  time  was  content,  and 
Patrick  was  allowed  to  depart.  This  story  savours  of 
later  times ;  and  appears  to  us  inconsistent  with  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Confession.  It  is  in  our  opinion  a  clumsy 
attempt  to  justify — what  needed  no  justification — St. 
Patrick's  escape  from  an  unjust  and  galling  servitude. 

There  has  been  much  difference  of  opinion  regarding 
the  port  from  which  Patrick  effected  his  escape — whether 
it  was  from  the  Boyne,  or  from  Wicklow,  or  further  south 
from  Bantry  Bay,  or  finally  from  Killala.  In  our  opinion 
everything  points  to  Killala  as  the  port  of  departure,  for  the 
following  reasons.  Patrick  tells  us  that  the  port  was  about 
200  (Roman)  miles  *  from  Slemish  ;  and  that  he  had  never 
been  there,  and  knew  none  of  the  people  there.  When  the 
Saint  was  writing  this  Confession  he  must  have  been  well 


^  Conversus  sum  in  fngam. 

2  In  viitute  Dei,  qui  viam  meam  ad  bonum  dirigebat.  There  is  no  ground 
for  reading  '  Boindum  '   instead  of  '  bonum.' 

^  Tiiere  is  a  townland  still  called  Ballylacpatrick  in  a  straight  line  between 
Skerry  Church  and  Slemish.  It  was  doubtless  some  way  connected  with 
these  angelic  visions. 

^  Ducenta  milia  passus. —  Confession. 


ESCAPE    FROM   CAPTIVITY.  55 

acquainted  with  distances  in  Ireland,  and  especially  with 
the  country  from  Antrim  to  Killala,  for  in  his  missionary 
journeys  he  had  more  than  once  travelled  over  many  parts 
of  it.  Now  200  Roman  mile=;  is  equivalent  to  something 
like  185  miles  English,  and  Killala,  across  the  country,  is 
about  that  distance  from  Slemish.  So  also  is  Wicklow 
town  ;  but  the  mouth  of  the  Boync  is,  of  course,  only  a  little 
more  than  half  that  distance  from  Antrim,  and  therefore 
cannot  have  been  the  port  of  departure. 

Bantry  Bay,  on  the  other  hand,  would  be,  not  200,  but 
nearly  400  Roman  miles  from  the  place  of  the  Saint's  cap- 
tivity. If,  therefore,  we  accept  as  fairly  accurate  his  own 
statement  of  the  distance,  we  must  leave  both  Bantry  Bay 
and  the  Boyne  out  of  consideration.  Neither  would  the 
Saint  be  likely  to  come  to  Wicklow,  for  that  route  would 
bring  him  along  the  eastern  coast  through  the  most  fertile 
and  populous  parts  of  the  country,  where  a  runaway  slave 
of  the  Britons  would  almost  certainly  be  re-captured.  Then 
he  had  been  there  before,  whereas  he  tells  us  himself  he 
had  never  been  in  the  part  whence  he  escaped. 

Besides,  there  is  one  all-powerful  reason  in  favour  of 
Killala.  The  Wood  of  Focluth  was  there  along  the  shore 
of  the  western  sea,  as  all  admit,  and  the  Saint  tells  us  more 
than  once  that  it  was  from  that  Wood  of  Focluth  the  Angel 
Victoricus  brought  him  the  letters  calling  him  back  to  Ire- 
land ;  and  it  was  the  voice  of  those  who  dwelt  by  that 
wood  that  called  him  again  and  again,  inviting  the  holy 
youth  to  come  once  viore  and  walk  amongst  them.^  It  is 
clear  that  these  words  imply  his  presence  at  an  earlier 
period,  whilst  he  was  still  a  boy,  amongst  those  who  dwelt 
by  Focluth  Wood  on  the  western  sea  ;  and  that  previous 
presence  can  only  refer  to  his  brief  visit  to  the  place  when 
escaping  from  captivity.  Lanigan  admits  the  force  of  this 
argument,  and  makes  the  ridiculous  suggestion  that  perhaps 
Patrick  went  there  with  his  master  to  buy  or  sell  pigs,  just 
as  people  in  our  own  time  go  from  all  parts  of  Ireland  to 
the  fairs  of  Ballinasloe  !^  When  so  acute  a  writer  was 
driven  to  offer  such  an  explanation,  it  shows  pretty  clearly 
that  there  is  no  satisfactory  way  of  meeting  the  difficulty 
except  that  which  we  have  suggested. 

The  Tripartite  states  that  Milcho  regretting  the  loss  of 


1  Roc;a.inus  te  sancte  puer  ut  venias  et  adhiic  ambules  inter  nos. 

2  The  suggestion  shows  that  Lanigan  knew  Httle  of  the  social  state  of  Ireland 
at  the  time. 


56  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

a  faithful  slave,  although  he  had  got  his  gold,  pursued 
Patrick  with  a  view  of  bringing  him  back  by  force.  But 
the  light-footed  youth,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
wilds  of  Slemish,  was  enabled  to  evade  his  pursuers  and 
continue  his  journey.  Milcho,  greatly  disappointed,  returned 
home  only  to  find  that  the  gold  which  was  the  price  of 
Patrick's  liberty  had  also  disappeared.  It  was  only  quite 
natural  that  Milcho  should  pursue  a  fugitive  slave ;  but  the 
story  of  the  gold  here  also  reveals  itself  as  a  later  addition. 
Then — continues  the  Tripartite — the  young  fugitive  continu- 
ing his  flight  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne,  where  ht  met 
with  a  certain  Kienanus,  who  seized  Patrick,  as  a  runaway 
slave  no  doubt,  and  sold  him  to  certain  merchants  who  were 
there  at  the  time  for  a  bronze  pot,  such  as  was  used  in 
Ireland  at  that  period.  But  when  he  brought  the  pot  home 
and  hung  it  on  the  wall  he  found  his  hands  fastened  to  it, 
so  that  he  could  not  loose  them.  When  his  wife  came  to 
help  him  her  hands  in  like  manner  clung  to  the  pot,  and 
finally  all  the  family  got  their  hands  glued  to  it,  until  they 
were  glad  to  call  on  Patrick  to  release  them,  which  he  did. 
This  whole  story  is  ridiculous  and  wholly  inconsistent  with 
the  account  of  his  flight  given  by  St.  Patrick  himself. 
Focluth  Wood,  by  the  western  sea,  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  places  referred  to  in  the  Lives  of  St.  Patrick. 
The  name  still  survives  in  a  form  only  slightly  changed 
from  the  original.  In  the  Irish  Tripartite  the  name  is 
Fochlad  ^ — Caille  Fochlad — of  which  the  present  form  is 
beyond  doubt  a  corruption,  or  rather  a  modification,  in 
accordance  with  well-known  phonetic  laws.  The  modern 
townland  of  Foghill  is  a  little  to  the  south  of  Lackan  Bay, 
and  is  marked  in  the  County  map  of  Mayo ;  but  in  ancient 
times  the  Woods  of  Fochlad  extended  all  along  the  low 
ground  from  the  head  of  Lackan  Bay  to  Killala,  and  even 
some  distance  to  the  south-east  of  that  ancient  church. 
There  is  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  present  railway  line, 
just  before  it  enters  Killala,  an  extensive  marsh,  which 
was  once  a  lake  surrounded  by  rather  steep  hills  on  the 
west,  where  in  places  the  natural  wood  still  survives.  We 
can  easily  gather  from  the  Tripartite,  as  will  be  seen  here- 
after, that  all  this  marshy  ground  was  in  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick  a  portion  of  the  great  Focluth  Wood ;  and  it  was 
probably  that  part  of  it  to  which  he  expressly  refers,  when 

^  See  vol.  I,  p.  130.     The  various  forms  are  Fochlad,  Fochloth,  Fochlithi, 
Fochluth,  Focluti,  and  at  present  Foghill  or  Fohill — obviously  the  same  word. 


ESCAPE   FROM   CAPTIVITY.  57 

he  describes  the  voices  of  those  who  dwelt  near  it  as  calling 
him  back  to  Erin  in  language  so  pathetic  and  endearing. 

Killala  was  at  the  time,  as  it  is  still,  a  much  better 
harbour  for  boats  and  light  craft  than  for  large  ships.  It 
has  many  quiet  coves  sheltered  from  every  wind  and  sea, 
where  the  lighter  craft  of  the  olden  time  could  easily  glide 
in  and  out  with  the  full  tide,  and  lie  not  only  secure,  but 
completely  hidden  from  inquisitive  eyes  at  low  water.  Just 
before  reaching  the  station  of  Killala  the  railway  crosses 
over  such  a  cove  at  the  present  day.  In  old  times  the  trees 
of  Focluth  Wood  surrounded  these  quiet  coves,  for  there 
was  no  Killala  then,  that  is  before  St.  Patrick  had  founded 
its  church  for  his  disciple  Muiredach,  whom  he  placed  over 
his  converts,  that  were  newly  baptized  in  the  spring  still 
flowing  by  the  edge  of  the  sea.  It  was  there,  in  our  opinion, 
or  in  some  cove  near  at  hand,  that  the  'ship,'  all  unknown 
to  its  crew,  was  awaiting,  by  Divine  providence,  the  runa- 
way slave — the  ship  destined  to  be  laden  with  the  most 
precious  freight  that  ever  left  the  shores  of  holy  Ireland. 

About  two  miles  more  northward  and  seaward,  near 
the  point  where  the  Rathfran  river  enters  the  bay,  there  is 
a  low-lying  ridge  of  rocks,  still  called  'St.  Patrick's  Rocks,' 
and  marked  as  such  on  the  Ordnance  map.  Beyond  these 
rocks,  a  little  more  to  the  north,  and  just  under  the  ancient 
church  of  Kilcummin,  is  a  small  bay  sheltered  by  the  rising 
ground  to  the  west,  and  protected  from  the  ocean  swell  by 
a  low  rocky  ledge  running  out  at  right  angles  to  the  shore. 
It  affords  secure  anchorage  against  all  winds  and  sea, 
except  the  north-east  gales,  which  sometimes  break  into 
this  estuary  with  great  fury„  It  was  here  the  French  ships, 
under  Humbert,  landed  in  1798;  and  it  may  have  been 
here,  as  some  think,  that  Patrick's  ship  was  drawn  up  on 
the  sandy  beach  just  under  the  rocks  where  the  coast-guard 
station  now  stands.  The  modern  townland  of  Foghill, 
representing  the  old  Fochluth  Wood,  is  less  than  a  mile  to 
the  west,  and  the  spot  certainly  affords  a  convenient  and 
secure  harbour  in  the  summer  months.  We  think,  however, 
that  the  place  where  the  ship  abode  was  in  the  inner  harbour 
of  Killala,  close  to  the  spot  where  St.  Patrick  long  after 
built  a  church  for  the  maidens  whose  sweet  young  voices 
in  many  a  dream  and  vision  called  him  to  come  over  the 
sea  and  walk  once  more  amongst  them.  A  remnant  of  an 
old  Patrician  church  still  stands  over  the  sea  where  the  full 
tides  fill  the  grassy  meadows  beneath  its  venerable  walls. 
We  have  seen  it  when  the  beautiful  estuary  was  lit  up  with 


58  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

the  glory  of  a  summer's  sun  setting  in  the  north-west,  and 
the  murmuring  wavelets  lapped  the  foot  of  the  rocky  Mge. 
on  which  the  church  was  built.  Some  have  thought 
that  this  venerable  ruin — perhaps  the  only  Patrician  ruin 
still  remaining  in  Ireland — was  that  Cill  Forgland  of  which 
the  maidens  '  Crebrin  and  Lesru,  the  daughters  of  Glcru. 
son  of  Cummene,  were  the  patronesses/  and  doubtless  the 
original  custodians.  **  It  is  they,"  says  the  Tripartite, 
''that  called  to  Patrick  out  of  their  mother's  womb  when 
he  was  in  the  isles  of  the  Tyrrehene  Sea."  Others,  how- 
ever, place  the  church  of  Cill  Forgland  about  a  mile  further 
to  the  north  beyond  Killala,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter — but 
still  by  Focluth's  Wood,  on  the  marge  of  the  western  sea> 

The  Saint  having  arrived  at  the  place  where  the  ship 
was,  tells  us  that  on  the  very  day  of  his  arrival  she  left  her 
moorings  to  start  on  her  voyage.  Patrick,  just  then 
coming  up,  asked  to  be  taken  on  board  as  a  passenger, 
working  his  way,  it  would  seem,  but  the  skipper,  in  anger, 
replied  to  the  fugitive  slave — "  You  must  not  on  any  account 
attempt  to  come  with  us."  Thereupon,  the  poor  youth 
hearmg  these  angry  words,  left  the  vessel  to  return  to  the 
hut  where  he  lodged,  and  where,  it  would  appear,  he  had 
stayed  for  some  time  before  he  found  the  ship.  On  the 
way  he  began  to  pray  ;  and  lo  !  before  the  prayer  was 
finished  he  heard  one  of  the  crew  shouting  aloud  : — '*  Come 
back  quickly,  they  are  calling  you."  "  I  immediately 
returned,"  says  the  Saint,  "  and  then  they  said  to  me  : 
'  Come  with  us  ;  we  will  take  thee  in  good  faith,'  " — which 
seems  to  mean  on  credit,  that  is,  trusting  to  your  word  for 
payment.  ''  Make  friends  with  us,"  they  added,  ''on  your 
own  terms."  "  I  refused,  however,"  says  the  Saint,  ''  to 
become  intimate  ^  with  them,  through  fear  of  God,  because 
they  were  gentiles.  Yet  I  had  some  hopes  that  they  might 
come  to  the  faith  of  Christ ;  therefore  I  kept  with  them, 
and  forthwith  we  set  sail." 

The  whole  account  of  this  incident  is  obscure,  and  the 
text  seems  to  be  corrupt.  We  have  given  what  appears  to 
us  to  be  its  true  rendering  in  English.  It  is  worth  noting 
that  Patrick  cannot  have  remained  long  at  Focluth  Wood, 


^  If  Patrick  came  to  Killala  by  the  shortest  route  from  Slemisli,  he  would 
have  crossed  the  Bann  at  Toome  Bridge,  the  Erne  at  Enniskillcn,  then 
passing  through  Leitrim  and  Sligo,  he  would  have  crossed  the  Moy,  perhaps, 
at  Bartragh,  and  so  come  to  Focluth  Wood. 

^  Reppuli  sugere  manimellas  eorum — a  strange  phrase.  It  nppears  to 
mean  that  he  declined  intimate  friendship  with  them. 


ESCAPE    FROM   CAPTIVITY.  59 

since  he  found  the  ship,  as  he  says,  on  the  very  day  of  his 
arrival  at  the  harbour.  Yet  we  find  that  he  lodged  for 
some  time,  at  least,  in  a  hut — tergoriolum  he  calls  it — " 
where,  no  doubt,  he  found  rest  and  refreshment  after  his 
long  journey.  He  may  have  been  there,  however,  some 
time  before  he  found  the  ship,  for  what  he  states  is  that 
she  unmoored  *  on  the  day  he  came  to  where  she  was/ 
It  was,  no  doubt,  in  this  poor  hut  by  Focluth  Wood  that 
Patrick  saw  the  children  'all  light  and  laughter,  angel- 
like of  mien,'  whose  voices  aftervxards  called  him  back  to 
Erin,  growing  up  in  beauty  and  innocence,  yet  walking  in 
the  shadow  of  death.  His  heart  was  touched,  and  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  there,  for  the  first  time,  the  idea  occured  to 
him  of  one  day  returning  to  rescue  those  fair  young  souls 
from  sinful  bondage  and  spiritual  death — a  thought  that 
has  been  beautifully  expressed  by  Aubrey  de  Vere : — 

rrom  my  youth 
Both  men  and  women,  maidens  most,  to  me 
As  children  seemed  ;  and  oh  !  the  pity  then 
To  mark  how  oft  they  wept,  now  seldom  knew 
Whence  came  the  wound  that  galled  them.     As  I  walked 
Each  wind  that  passed  me  whispered,  Lo,  that    race 
Which  trod  thee  down.     Requite  with  good  their  ill ; 
Their  tongue  thou  knowest ;  old  man  to  thee  and  youth, 
For  counsel  came,  and  lambs  would  lick  thy  feet, 
And  now  the  whole  land  is  a  sheep  astray 
That  bleats  for  God.* 

Gratitude,  too,  was  a  striking  trait  in  the  character  of 
St.  Patrick,  as  is  shown  throughout  his  whole  career.  We 
see  it  here  too.  He  was,  it  would  seem,  received  in  the 
poor  hut  where  he  lodged  ^  with  genuine  Irish  hospitality. 
He  was  a  fugitive,  hungry,  foot-sore,  and  friendless,  when 
they  took  him  in,  and  gave  him  food  and  shelter.  The 
two  sweet  little  maidens,  like  Milcho's  children  in  Ulster, 
were  kind  and  confiding.  He  pitied  them,  and  he  loved 
them  with  the  divine  love  which  our  Saviour  had  for  the  little 
children  who  were  brought  to  Him.  Ever  after  in  distant 
lands,  their  faces  were  before  his  mental  vision  ;  their  voices 
were  in  his  ears  ;  he  heard  their  pitiful  cry  over  distant 
seas  and  mountains,  and  we  know  from  his  subsequent 
history,  that  he  never  rested  until  once  more  he  turned  his 


^  The  Confession  rf  St.  Patrick, 
"^  Ubi  hospitabam. 


I 


66  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.   PATRICK. 

steps  to  the  western  sea,  to  lead  them  out  of  darkness 
into  the  glorious  light  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  the  most 
touching  incident  in  the  whole  history  of  our  great  Apostle, 
and  of  itself  proves,  as  we  think  conclusively,  that  Killala 
was  the  port  from  which  Patrick  escaped. 

St.  Patrick  does  not  himself  tell  us  where  the  ship  was 
bound  for,  but  he  says  that  the  Angel  had  told  him  that  he 
was  about  to  return  to  his  7iative  country .  Both  Muiichu  ^ 
and  the  Tripartite,  however,  like  almost  all  the  other 
ancient  authorities,  state  that  she  was  bound  for  Britain — 
that  is  the  Roman  Province  of  Britain.  Indeed  the  reference 
could  not  be  to  any  part  of  France,  for  in  three  days  they 
could  not  possibly  make  the  coast  of  France,  especially  at 
Bordeaux,  which  is  more  than  800  miles  distant  from 
Killala.  Even  Brest,  the  nearest  port  of  France,  is  nearly 
600  miles  distant  by  sea  from  the  mouth  of  the  Moy,  a 
voyage  that  no  vessel  of  that  period  could  accomplish  in 
three  days.  On  the  other  hand,  any  craft  with  a  tolerably 
fair  wind  could  easily  make  the  western  coast  of  Scotland 
— which  was  then  called  Britain — in  three  days ;  and  there 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  such  was  the  destination 
of  the  ship — that  very  country  from  which  he  had  been 
carried  off  a  captive  six  years  before. 

The  Tripartite  and  some  other  Lives  speak  of  a  great 
storm  that  threatened  shipwreck,  but  was  quelled  by  the 
prayers  of  Patrick,  and  was  followed  by  a  favourable 
breeze  that  carried  the  vessel  in  safety  to  its  destined  port  '^ 
in  Britain.  St.  Patrick  himself,  however,  makes  no  reference 
to  this  storm,  though  he  is  very  minute  in  detailing  their 
troubles  after  landing  in  Britain. 

A  recent  interesting  writer  ^  of  lively  imagination  holds 
it  as  quite  certain  St.  Patrick  and  his  companions  were 
driven  by  north-western  gales  into  Morecambe  Bay  in 
Lancashire.  They  stuck  fast  on  the  sands  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Duddon,  but  the  rising  tide  carried  them  a:shore 
near  Heysham ;  St.  Patrick's  sker,  or  Rock,  still  marks 
the  spot.  Patrick  then  undertook  to  lead  the  shipwrecked 
mariners  to  Dunbarton.  They  were  nearly  perishing  of 
thirst  on  the  sandy  coast  of  Bare,  but  in  the  end  they 
found  their  way  to  the  Clyde,  and  left  their  footprints  in 
many  local  names  along  their  route. 


^  INIuiichu  says  : — That  leaving  Ireland — ad  Biittanias  navigavit. 
^  In  optalo  Britanniae  applicuerunt  porlu.     Vol.  I.,  p,  23. 
'  Succaty  by  Monsignor  Gradwell,  p.  294 


ESCAPE    FROM    CAPTIVITY.  6l 

It  is  only  necessary  to  observe  with  reference  to  this 
ingenious  speculation  that  it  is  all  conjecture  and  no  proof. 
It  may  be  all  true,  but  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining 
it.  In  truth,  we  cannot  even  conjecture  at  what  British 
port  St.  Patrick  landed,  nor  do  we  know  whether  his  crew 
were  Irish,  or  Pictish,  or  British.  They  were  certainly 
pagans ;  and  as  we  know  that  they  had  many  dogs  along 
with  them,  it  is  not  improbable  that  they  were  a  hunting 
or  marauding  party  from  Tirawley,  who  crossed  over  to 
Britain  to  hunt  the  deer  and  wild  boar  in  the  great 
Caledonian  Forest.  This  immense  forest,  extending  from 
the  Grampians  to  the  western  ocean,  was  not  unknown  to 
the  Romans,  and  we  learn  from  many  of  our  Irish  bardic 
tales  that  Irish  warriors  were  in  the  habit  of  making 
hunting  excursions  to  Caledonia  long  before  their  kinsmen 
of  Dalriada  had  established  a  Scotic  colony  in  Kintyre  and 
Argyle.  And  we  know,  too,  from  many  a  bardic  tale, 
when  the  Irish  warriors  of  the  North  got  into  trouble  at 
home  they  fled  for  refuge  to  the  glens  and  islands  of  Scot- 
land, just  as  readily  as  their  descendants  slip  off  to  Glasgow 
at  present  when  they  wish  to  avoid  the  police  after  a  hard- 
fought  faction  fight  or  other  trouble  of  that  kind. 

We  can  conjecture,  however,  but  vaguely  that  the  crew 
of  Patrick's  ship  landed  somewhere  on  the  western  coast 
of  Scotland,  and  suffered  much  in  that  wild,  uninhabited 
country.^  St.  Patrick  gives  the  following  account  of  their 
v/anderings  : — 

After  three  days  (from  Killala)  we  made  land,  and  then  for 
twenty-eight  days  travelled  through  a  desert.  They  had  no  food, 
and  were  sorely  pressed  with  hunger.  Then  one  day  the  captain 
(gubernator)  said  to  me  : — 

"  Well,  now,  Christian,  you  say  your  God  is  great  and  omni- 
potent. Why  can  you  not  then  pray  for  us,  for  we  are  in  danger 
of  perishing  from  hunger,  and  we  can  hardly  see  anywhere  a  single 
human  being." 

Thereupon  I  plainly  ^  said  to  them  :  ''  Be  ye  truly  iex  fide) 
converted  to  the  Lord  my  God,  to  whom  nothing  is  impossible, 
that  He  may  send  food  in  your  way  and  you  may  be  filled — for 
He  hath  abundance  everywhere."  And  so,  through  God's  help,  it 
came  to  pass.  A  herd  of  swine  appeared  on  the  road  before 
their  eyes,  and  they  killed  many  of  them,  and  remained  there  for 
two  nights  until  they  were  well  refreshed.     Their  dogs,  too,  were 


^  The  Caledonian  Forest  was  not  a  close  but  an  open  forest  of  native  bush. 
^  Evidenter. 


62  THE    CAPTIVITY   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

filled,  for  many  of  tlieni  had  been  left  half-starved  by  the  wayside. 
Then  they  gave  great  tlianks  to  God,  and  I  was  honoured  in  their 
eyes.  They  also  found  wild  honey  and  offered  me  a  part ;  but 
as  one  of  them  said  it  had  been  offered  to  idols  ^  I,  thank  God, 
tasted  none  of  it. 

Such  is  Patrick's  account  of  this  extraordinary  journeys 
without  the  additions  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  later 
Lives.  The  whole  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  hypo- 
thesis of  the  hunters  losing  their  way  in  the  great 
Caledonian  Forest,  when  seeing  neither  game  nor  men 
they  were  reduced  to  the  verge  of  starv^ation,  as  has  often 
happened  hunters  both  before  and  since,  especially  in  that 
wild  region  beyond  the  Grampians,  in  similar  circumstances. 
The  Caledonian  Forest  was  not  a  growth  of  tall  trees,  but 
rather  an  immense  extent  of  scrub  and  bush,  such  as 
covered  great  portions  of  the  Highlands  down  to  a  com- 
paratively recent  period.  It  was,  in  truth,  a  wilderness,  as 
the  Saint  calls  it — that  is,  a  barren  ^  land,  such  as  the 
Tripartite  describes  it,  empty  and  deserted.  Such  a 
description  would  apply  with  even  greater  propriety  to  the 
wilds  of  Argyle  and  Inverness  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick; 
and,  as  a  fact,  we  find  in  a  very  ancient  ''  Description  of 
Scotland ''  express  mention  made  of  "  the  mountains  and 
deserts  of  Argyle."  ^  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  Scholiast 
on  Fiacc's  Hymn,  who,  explaining  how  Patrick  after 
leaving  Slemish  and  crossing  the  sea  *'  went  over  all 
Alban,''  points  out  that  this  refers  to  the  mount  of  Alban, 
that  is  Drum  Alban,  the  Grampian  range.  In  no  other 
sense  can  it  be  explained  how  Patrick  after  his  escape  went 
over  all  "  Alban  '' — tar  Elpa — except  the  word  means  the 
Alban  Hills — the  Highlands,  in  fact,  as  we  call  them  now. 

At  this  stage  of  their  journey  Patrick  records  a  very 
extraordinary  incident  which  happened  to  himself,  and  has 
sorely  puzzled  some  of  his  recent  biographers.  The  learned 
Todd  thinks  it  was  a  nightmare ;  but,  perhaps,  it  is  safer 
to  take  St.  Patrick's  own  view  of  the  matter  at  the  time, 
than  to  go  to  Trinity  College  for  an  explanation  in  this 
sceptical  nineteenth  century  : — 

On  the  very  night  that  God  had  sent  (to  Patrick  and  his 
companions)  the  hogs  and  the  honey  to  feed  them  in  their  great 

^  Immolaticum  est. 

^  By  the  term  'arida'  in  the  Tripartite  we  understand  *  barren  '  and  rocky, 
not  'dry.'     There  never  could  have  been  a  want  of  water  in  the  Highlands. 
^  See  '  Description  of  Scotland  : '     Chronicle  of  the  Picts  and  Scots,  p.  135. 


ESCAPE    FROM    CAPTIVITY.  63 

need,  whilst  "  I  was  sleeping,"  says  the  Saint,  "  Satan  strongly 
tempted  me ;  and  I  shall  remember  it  as  long  as  I  live  in  this 
body  of  mine.  There  fell  upon  me,  as  it  were,  a  great  rock,  and 
I  had  no  power  in  my  limbs.  And  then  I  know  not  how  it  came 
into  my  mind  to  invoke  Helias.  Whereupon  I  saw  the  sun  rise 
in  the  heavens,  and  whilst  I  kept  invoking  Helias  with  all  my 
strength  the  light  of  the  sun  fell  upon  me,  and  at  once  drove  away 
from  me  all  that  crushing  weight.^  And  I  believe  that  by  Christ, 
my  Lord,  I  was  aided,  and  that  His  spirit  then  cried  out  on  my 
behalf;  and  so  I  hope  it  will  be  in  the  day  of  my  need  always,  as 
our  Lord  says  in  the  Gospel — '  It  is  not  you  who  speak,  but  the 
spirit  of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you.'"^ 

One  thing  is  very  clear  from  this  narrative,  no  matter 
what  others  may  think,  that  Patrick  believed  he  was  tempted 
by  Satan,  that  his  invocation  of  Helias,  or  of  Eli — according 
to  other  readings — was  efficacious,  and  that  Christ  and  His 
Holy  Spirit  thus  invoked  came  to  his  relief  and  drove  away 
the  tempter.  This  may  not  be  a  scientific  explanation, 
but  it  was  clearly  the  idea  of  St.  Patrick  himself,  and  with 
that  we  may  well  rest  satisfied. 

Patrick  tells  us  no  more  in  the  Confession  of  his  friends 
from  Killala.  We  do  not  know  where  they  went,  or  what 
became  of  them;  and,  worse  still,  the  corruptions  of  the 
text  leave  us  greatly  in  doubt  as  to  what  became  of  himself 
during  the  next  few  years.  The  narrative  is  hopelessly 
confused.  Taking  the  Rolls  Text,  Patrick  says,  "  and  once 
more,  after  many  years,  I  again  became  a  captive."  ^  But  we 
are  not  told  where  it  took  place,  or  who  were  the  captors, 
nor  how  the  Saint  escaped.  We  merely  know  that  on  the 
first  night  of  his  captivity  Patrick  heard  a  voice  saying  to 
him,  "  two  months  you  will  be  with  them,"  which  was 
fulfilled,  for  he  was  delivered  on  the  sixtieth  night  by  God 
from  his  captors,  and  after  a  fourteen  days'  journey — or  as 
other  readings  have  it,  a  ten  days'  journey — during  which 
God  provided  them  with  food,  fire,  and  shelter,  they  were 
restored  to  civilization. 

The  words  '  post  multos  annos '  seem  to  refer  to  the 
time  when  he  v^diS  first  carried  off  a  captive.  The  meaning 
would  then  be,  'and  now  so  many  years  after  I  first  became 


^  Gravitudinem — the  oppression  of  spirit  perhaps. 

2  Confession. 

^  Et  iteruni  post  annos  multos  adhuc  capturam  dedi,  i.e.  [multos]  annos  ; 
but  the  'multos'  is  put  in  brackets  as  doubtful.  The  words  'capturam  dedi' 
are  important,  because  they  show  that  'once  more  '  refers  to  the  act  of  his  falling 
in  the  hands  of  his  first  captors,  not  to  the  state  of  captivity. 


I 


64  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

a  captive,  and  having  only  just  succeeded  in  effecting  my 
escape,  I  once  more  became  a  captive.'  The  Lebar  Brecc 
says  he  was  captured  on  his  homeward  journey  in  a  foray, 
and  that  the  raiders  kept  him  with  them  for  two  months, 
when  Patrick  made  prayer,  and  God  deHvered  him  and 
brought  him  safe  to  his  parents.  A  Highland  foray  was 
the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  under  the  circumstances. 
A  party  of  Pictish  warriors  seeing  Patrick  and  his  Scotic 
or  Irish  companions  in  their  territory  would  naturally  try 
to  take  them  prisoners,  and  carry  them  off  to  their  strong- 
holds. Muirchu  says  the  captors  were  '  alienigenae  ' — 
strangers,  therefore,  at  least  not  British  Provincials.  The 
Tripartite,  however,  says  that  this  raid  took  place  three 
months  after  Patrick  had  succeeded  in  reaching  his  own 
country  (patria) — not  his  own  home — and  that  the  raiders 
were  Britons.  If  so,  they  were  probably  of  the  Attacottic 
tribes,  who  were  Britons,  but  in  a  state  of  chronic  rebellion 
against  the  Romans.  It  also  calls  this  a  third  captivity, 
assuming  that  Patrick's  brief  arrest  by  Krenanus  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Boyne  was  a  second  one.  We  have  already 
seen  that  such  a  story  is  wholly  improbable. 

IV.  -  Return  to  his  Home  in  Britain. 

"And  so  once  more,"  says  the  Saint,  ''after  several 
years  ^  I  found  myself  at  home  with  my  parents  (or  perhaps 
relations)  who  received  me  as  a  son  and  earnestly  besought 
me,  after  all  the  trials  I  had  undergone,  never  to  leave 
them  again."  It  was  an  affectionate  and  not  unreasonable 
request.  But  a  higher  messenger  came  to  him  and  made 
known  the  divine  will,  which  Patrick  was  resolved  to  carry 
out. 

We  cannot  understand  the  career  of  St.  Patrick,  or 
interpret  his  language  in  the  Confession,  if  we  do  not 
assume  as  confidently  as  he  himself  did  the  supernatural 
character  of  the  revelations  that  were  made  to  him  by  his 
guardian  angel,  Victor,  or  Victoricus,  as  he  calls  him. 
Again  and  again,  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New, 
we  read  of  God  sending  his  Angels  to  guide,  to  instruct,  to 


^  The  meaning  here  is  doubtful.  It  might  mean  as  the  Second  Life  renders 
it :  'So  once  more  I  spent  some  years  thereafter  with  my  parents,'  etc.,  etc  , 
taking  'post'  to  be  an  adverb,  and  the  'few  years'  to  mean  the  time  he  spent 
with  his  parents  in  Britain  after  his  captivity.  The  text  is  :  '  Et  ilerum  post 
paucos  annos  in  Britannis  eram  cum  parentibus  meis,'  etc.  Cicero  uses  the 
phrase  '  multis  post  annis  '  to  mean  '  many  years  afterwards.' 


i 


PETURN   TO    HIS    HOME    IN    BRITAIN.  6$ 

protect,  and  ^  to  deliver  from  danger  his  chosen  servants. 
We  have  in  the  angel  that  guided  and  instructed  the  young 
Tobias  an  exact  counterpart  of  the  dealings  which 
Victoricus  had  with  St.  Patrick.  He  himself  assures  us 
again  and  again  that  this  angel  manifested  the  divine  will 
to  him  in  various  ways.  The  mission  of  Patrick  was  almost 
as  important,  and  its  fruit  has  been  as  abiding,  as  in  the 
case  of  any  of  the  Apostles  themselves,  for  truly  he  was  a 
great  Apostle.  No  christian,  therefore,  who  recognises 
the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  in  His  Church  at 
all  times  can  consistently  question  the  supernatural 
character  of  these  manifestations,  when  it  is  asserted  so 
emphatically  by  that  great  Apostle  himself  It  would 
be  almost  as  absurd  in  such  a  case  to  say  that  St.  Patrick 
was  deceived  as  that  he  was  a  deliberate  deceiver.  Such  a 
man  with  such  a  mission  could  have  been  neither  one  nor 
the  other. 

The  account  which  he  gives  us  of  the  first  momentous 
message  that  stirred  his  soul  in  Britain  is  full  of  pathetic 
interest,  and  can  never  be  forgotten  in  Ireland. 

Whilst  there  (with  my  relations  in  Britain)  at  midnight  I  saw 
a  man  whose  name  was  Victoricus,  coming  as  if  from  Ireland  with 
letters  innumerable,  and  he  handed  one  of  them  to  me,  and  I 
read  the  heading  of  the  letter,  which  contained  these  w^ords — 
The  Voice  of  Irish.  And,  as  I  read  the  beginning  of  the  letter, 
methought  I  heard  in  my  mind  the  voice  of  those  who  were  near 
the  Wood  of  Focluth,  which  is  by  the  western  sea,  and  it  was  thus 
they  cried  out:  "We  beseech  thee,  holy  youth,  come  and  once 
more  walk  amongst  us."  And  I  was  greatly  touched  in  my  heart, 
so  that  I  could  read  no  more ;  and  thereupon  I  awoke. 

'Thanks  be  to  God,'  he  adds — '  that  after  so  many  years 
the  Lord  granted  them  the  fulfilment  of  that  strong  cry' — 
that  is,  by  bringing  him  back  to  Ireland  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  people  of  Focluth  Wood  by  the  far  off 
western  sea.  This  was  the  first  vision  that,  as  he  tells  us, 
stirred  his  heart  so  deeply  that  he  could  not  read  the  letter 
from  Ireland,  but  only  its  heading.  Strikingly  it  reminds 
us  of  that  mentioned  in  Acts  XVI.  9,  when  "a  vision  was 
shown  to  Paul  in  the  night,  which  was  a  man  of  Macedonia 
standing  and  beseeching  him  and  saying,  'Pass  over  into 
Macedonia  and  help  us.'  " 

It  would  appear  from  the  narrative  that  at  first  Patrick 
had  some  doubts  as  to  whether  the  vision  should  be 
regarded  as  supernatural  or  not,  but  his  doubts  were  soon 

F 


66  THE    CAPTIVITY   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

set  at  rest,  "  for  on  another  night,"  he  says,  ''  but  whether 
within  me  or  without  me  I  know  not,  God  knows,  in  the 
clearest  words,  which  I  heard  but  could  not  understand 
until  the  end,  a  voice  addressed  me  (effatus  est) — '  He  who 
gave  His  life  for  thee  He  it  is  who  speaks  in  thee.'  And  there- 
upon I  awoke  full  of  joy."  The  Saint  appears  to  imply  that 
when  he  heard  the  words  first  he  did  not  realise  their  full 
significance,  but  when  he  awoke  and  realised  their  meaning 
then  his  heart  was  full  of  joy.  Thenceforward  he  had  no 
doubt  that  it  was  the  Spirit  of  God  that  spoke  within  him. 
Once  more — that  is,  a  third  time — he  had  another 
vision  which  confirmed  the  reality  and  supernatural 
character  of  the  two  previous  visions. 

"  I  saw,"  he  says,  "  within  me  Him  who  prayed,  and  I  heard 
Him  that  is  within  the  interior  man,  and  there  He  strongly  prayed 
with  groaning.  And  thereupon  I  was  amazed  and  wondered,  and 
thought  in  myself  who  it  was  who  thus  prayed  within  me.  But 
at  the  end  of  the  prayer  He  announced  that  He  is  the  Spirit.^ 
And  thereupon  I  awoke  and  remembered  the  Apostle  saying, 
'  The  Spirit  aids  the  infirmity  of  our  prayer.  For  what  we  should 
pray  for  as  we  ought  we  know  not ;  but  the  Spirit  Himself  asketh 
for  us  with  unspeakable  groanings  '^ — which  cannot  be  expressed 
by  words.     And,  again,  '  the  Lord,  our  Advocate,  asketh  for  us.' "  ^ 

These  visions,  therefore,  coming,  as  he  was  assured, 
from  the  Holy  Spirit,  convinced  him  that  he  had  a  divine 
call  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland,  which  he  dare  not 
disobey. 

It  is  important  to  bear  this  in  mind,  for  St.  Patrick's 
main  purpose  in  the  Confession  seems  to  be  the  assertion 
of  his  extraordinary  supernatural  mission  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  Ireland. 

The  next  passage  in  the  Confession,  regarding  certain 
charges  brought  against  him  at  a  later  period,  though 
omitted  from  some  MSS.,  we  hold  to  be  clearly  genuine. 
For  it  is  in  the  same  peculiar  style  of  Latinity,  and, 
moreover,  we  can  well  understand  why  it  would  be 
omitted  from  some  MSS.,  lest  it  might  seem  to  militate 
against  the  honour  of  the  Apostle  ;  but  we  can  conceive 
no  reason  why  a  falsifier  should  have  inserted  it.  The 
wording  is  obscure  and  uncertain,  but  its  general  drift  is 


1  Sic   effatus    ut   sit    Spiritus.       'Effatus'   means   a   solemn    utterance   or 
declaration,  especially  of  a  religious  character. 

2  Rom.  VIIL,  26. 

^  The  allusion  is  to  I  Joannis,  II.,  ist. 


RETURN   TO    HIS    HOME    IN    BRITAIN.  67 

unmistakable.  It  is  a  further  argument  that  the  Apostle 
had  what  he  emphatically  claimed,  an  immediate  super- 
natural call  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland  : — 

*'  And  when,"  he  says,  ''  I  was  tempted  by  some  few  of  my 
elders,  who,  on  account  of  my  sins,  went  in  opposition  to  my 
undertaking  this  laborious  episcopate  (in  Ireland),  assuredly  on 
that  day  I  was  strongly  driven  towards  falling  away  ^  (by  opposing 
the  will  of  God)  both  in  this  world  and  for  evermore.  But  the 
Lord,  for  His  namesake,  had  mercy  on  me,  a  stranger  and  prose- 
lyte, and  greatly  aided  me  in  that  humiliation,  so  as  not  to  allow 
me  to  become  a  stain  and  an  opprobrium.  I  pray  God  that  it 
may,  not  be  miputed  to  them  as  an  occasion  of  sin ;  for,  after 
thirty  years  they  found  me,  and  brought  against  me  a  word  which 
I  had  confessed  before  I  became  a  deacon.  At  that  time,  on 
account  of  anxiety  of  mind,  in  great  sorrow  I  confided  to  a  very 
dear  friend  some  things  I  had  done  one  day  in  my  boyhood 
— nay,  it  was  in  one  hour,  for  I  was  not  yet  strong  in  spirit.^  I 
know  not,  God  knows,  if  I  was  then  quite  fifteen  years,^  and 
I  had  not  from  my  childhood  a  practical  belief  in  one  God, 
but  in  death  and  infidelity  I  remained  until  I  was  greatly 
chastised,  and  humbled  by  cold  and  hunger.  And  daily  with 
reluctance  I  tarried  in  Ireland  *  until  I  was  almost  fainting 
away.  But  this  was  all  rather  for  my  good,  for  from  that  time 
I  was  corrected  by  the  Lord,  and  He  prepared  me  to  be  to- 
day what  was  once  far  from  me,  a  person  who  would  care  for 
and  labour  for  the  salvation  of  others,  whereas  at  that  time  I  did 
not  even  think  of  my  own. 

"  Well  then,  on  that  day  on  which  I  was  objected  to  by  the 
aforesaid  elders,  at  night  I  saw  in  a  vision  of  the  night  a  writing 
was  written  against  me  without  honour — [that  is,  to  dishonour  him] 
— and  thereupon  I  heard  a  voice  saying  to  me,  we  look  with 
disapproval  on  the  face  of  thy  accuser — the  person  above  referred 
to — disclosing  his  name  " — which  Patrick  did  not  wish  to  mention. 
"  He  did  not  say,  you  have  disapproved,  but  we  have  dis- 
approved— as  if  He  joined  Himself  to  me  and  said,  who  touches 
you  touches  the  apple  of  My  eye. 

"  Wherefore  I  give  thanks  to  Him  who,  in  all  things,  hath 
strengthened  me  so  that  no  one  could  prevent  me  from  under- 
taking the  mission  on  which  I  had  resolved,  and  from  taking  that 
share  in  the  work  which  I  had  learned  from  Christ  my  Lord. 
Nay  more,  from  that  day  I  perceived  no  sm.all  power  in  myself; 
and  my  fidelity  hath  been  approved  both  by  God  and  men." 

^  Impulsus  sum  ut  caderem. 
^  Quia  need  urn  prsevalebam. 

*  It  was  therefore  before  his  captivity  he  committed  the  fault. 

*  The  wording  is  obscure — "  Et   cotidie  contra  Hiberionem  non   sponte 
pergebam." 


68  THE    CAPTIVITY   OF    ST.   PATRICK. 

The  whole  of  this  passage  is,  as  we  have  said,  somewhat 
obscure,  and  has  been  often  and  gravely  misunderstood. 
The  meaning,  however,  appears  to  us  clear  enough.  The 
Saint  had  referred  to  three  supernatural  manifestations  of 
God's  will  in  his  regard  urging  him  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  mission  in  Ireland.  Here  he  refers  to  a  fourth,  which 
took  place,  however,  later  on  in  his  life,  and  probably  when 
he  was  about  to  be  consecrated  Bishop  in  France  for  the 
Irish  Mission.  Some  persons,  whose  names  he  carefully 
conceals,  opposed  his  consecration,  and  the  opposition 
went  far  to  induce  him  to  renounce  his  project  to  the  peril 
of  his  own  soul.  Amongst  other  charges  brought  against 
him  was  some  fault  or  sin  which,  thirty  years  before,  when 
about  to  become  a  deacon,  he  had  made  known  in 
confidence  to  a  very  great  friend.  It  was  a  sin  committed 
not  then,  but  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  before  he  became  a 
captive,  and  whilst  he  was  still  ignorant  of  God.  It  was 
indeed  a  hard  thing  to  reveal  it  thirty  years  after  its 
confidential  manifestation,  and  some  forty-five  years  after 
its  commission.  But  God  comforted  him  in  that  great 
extremity  by  showing  him  in  vision  the  charge  written 
against  him,  and  at  the  same  time  saying,  we  disapprove 
of  the  action  of  the  accuser — naming  him  at  the  same  time. 
This  vision  gave  new  courage  to  Patrick,  and  was  a  new 
proof  of  a  divine  mission  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland. 

Todd  has  gravely  misunderstood  this  passage  of  the 
Confession,  and  based  an  argument  on  his  own  error.  He 
says^  that  a  fault  ''  which  he  had  committed  at  the  age  of 
15  was  brought  forward  and  objected  to  him  by  his 
friends  30  years  afterwards,  with  a  view  to  prevent  his 
being  consecrated  a  bishop,  and  to  obstruct  his  design  of 
devoting  himself  to  the  Irish  Mission;"  whence  he  infers 
that  Patrick  was  45  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  consecra- 
tion as  bishop. 

But  what  St.  Patrick  says  in  the  Confession  is  not  that 
the  fault  was  objected  to  him  30  years  after  its  commissioyi^ 
but  30  years  after  his  confiding  it  to  his  friend  in  anxiety 
of  mind,  when  he  was  about  to  become  a  deacon.  At  that 
time  the  regular  age  for  receiving  deaconship  was  at  least 
25  years,  and  in  his  case  it  was  probably  30,  so  that  it  is 
in  reality  a  new  proof  that  Patrick  was  60  years  of  age 
when  he  was  consecrated  Bishop,  in  immediate  preparation 
for  the  Irish  Mission.     The  point  is  a  very  important  one. 

1  Todd's  St.  Patrick,  p.  392. 


RETURN    TO    HIS    HOME    IN    BRITAIN.  69 

The  next  passage,  too,  is  a  rather  intricate,  and  closely 
connected  with  the  other.  St.  Patrick,  comforted  by  the 
Divine  visions  he  had  received,  says  : — 

Wherefore,  I  confidently  say  that  (in  undertaking  the  Irish 
Mission)  my  conscience  does  not  upbraid  me  now,  nor  will  it 
hereafter.  I  call  God  to  witness  that  I  have  not  spoken  falsely  in 
all  I  have  stated.  Nay,  I  rather  grieve  for  my  most  intimate 
friend  that  I  deserved  to  hear  such  a  Divine  answer  ^  (responsum). 
For  I  intrusted  my  soul  to  him.  Yet  I  discovered  it — (that  is  his 
manifestation  of  my  fault) — from  some  of  the  brothers  before 
putting  forward  my  own  defence,  because  I  was  not  present  at  the 
time  (the  charge  was  made),  nor  was  I  even  in  Britain,  nor  was  I 
in  any  way  the  cause  that  he  should  thus  strike  at  me  in  my 
absence.  Nay,  he  himself  had  said  with  his  own  lips,  "you  are 
to  be  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Bishop,"  of  which  indeed  I  was 
unworthy.  But  how  was  it  that  he  should  publicly,  before  good 
and  bad  men,  dishonour  me  in  regard  to  that  of  which  he  had  of 
his  own  accord  and  quite  willingly  declared  me  not  to  be 
anworthy.2  But,  God  is  above  us  all.  I  have  said  enough.  Yet 
it  is  not  fitting  that  I  should  conceal  the  gift  of  God  which  He 
has  given  me  in  the  land  of  my  captivity,  where  I  sought  Him 
and  found  Him ;  and  He  it  is  who  has  preserved  me  from  all 
iniquity  through  His  Holy  Spirit,  who,  as  I  confidently  believe,  has 
worked  in  me  up  to  the  present  day.  Daringly  again  I  speak,  but 
God  knows  if  that  man  had  spoken  this  to  me  myself,  in  all 
probability  I  would  have  held  my  peace,  and  borne  it  in  silence  in 
the  charity  of  Christ. 

The  whole  passage  is  obscure,  and  the  Latin  is  intricate 
and  unusual,  we  may  say  intentionally  so  in  this  case.  But 
in  substance  it  is  this.  The  law  of  the  Church  required 
then,  as  it  does  now,  that  all  candidates  for  Orders — especially 
for  the  higher  grades  of  the  Ministry — should  have  good 
testimony  from  those  around  them.  Hence  it  was  usual 
not  only  to  make  careful  inquiries  regarding  the  merits  of 
the  candidate  in  the  place  where  he  was  to  be  ordained,  but 
also  to  get  official  letters  after  careful  inquiry  from  the 
places  of  his  sojourn,  especially  if  it  were  a  prolonged  one. 

When  St.  Patrick  was  about  to  be  consecrated  Bishop 
such  inquiries  were  duly  made  in  Britain,  where  he  had 
dwelt  for  many  years,  and  it  was  then  and  there,  it  seems, 
that    some    person    objected   to   his    promotion    on    the 


*  Which  implied  a  fault  on  his  friend's  part. 
"^  The  text  is  here  doubtful  and  obscure. 


7©  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

ground  of  a  fault  told  to  that  person  in  confidence/ 
and  with  a  view  to  quiet  his  own  scruples  thirty  years 
before,  when  he  was  about  to  become  a  deacon,  but  com- 
mitted when  Patrick  himself  was  only  about  fifteen  years 
of  age,  that  is  just  before  his  captivity  in  Ireland.  Yet 
neither  then  nor  afterwards  did  that  man  raise  any  objection 
to  Patrick's  promotion.  He  went  further  and  said,  '*  You 
will  one  day  be  promoted  to  the  episcopate."  But,  never- 
theless, when  Patrick  was  absent,  he  made  that  charge 
publicly  against  him,  which  greatly  grieved  Patrick,  and 
was  certainly  one  of  the  reasons  why  this  Confession  was 
written.  This  was  the  best  proof  of  God's  call,  and  his  own 
fitness  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  converted  the 
whole  Irish  people  to  the  Christian  faith — which  Patrick 
distinctly  asserts,  but  not  without  many  apologies  for 
speaking  so  strongly,  giving  at  the  same  time  all  the  glory 
and  all  the  thanks  to  God.  It  reminds  us  of  the  defence  of 
his  own  conduct  and  of  his  apostolate  which  vSt.  Paul 
found  it  necessary  to  write  more  than  once,  but  especially 
in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  when  he  was 
unjustly  assailed  by  false  brethren  in  the  ministry,  just  as 
Patrick  was  in  somewhat  similar  circumstances  and  from 
the  same  motives — jealousy  and  disappointed  ambition. 

Here  we  get  incidentally,  as  it  were,  a  picture  of 
the  state  of  mind  in  which  St.  Patrick  was  before  he 
went  to  Gaul.  The  voice  of  God  was  calling  him,  and 
the  Angel  of  God  was  beckoning  him  onward  to  prepare 
for  the  great  work  of  converting  the  Irish  people.  The 
call  of  the  children  from  Focluth  Wood  by  the  western 
sea  was  ringing  in  his  ears ;  but  his  mind  was  anxious, 
and  his  pure  conscience  was  very  scrupulous  as  to  hi? 
fitness  to  become  even  a  deacon,  on  account  of  the  fault 
which  he  had  committed  in  his  boyish  ignorance  ^  before 
he  was  fifteen  years  of  age.  He  sought  counsel  and 
got  it  from  his  most  intimate  friend,  who  told  him,  so 
far  as  we  can  judge,  that  he  might  with  a  safe  conscience 
become  a  deacon,  And  perhaps  he  did  then  become  a 
deacon  about  the  age  of  thirty  and  before  his  departure 
for  France,  although  the  time  and  place  are  by  no  means 
certain.^      His    friends  were   still    anxious   to    keep    him 

^  Not,  of  course,  in  confession,  but  *  propter  anxietatem  animi  insinuavi 
amicissimo  meo ' — to  get  advice  and  quiet  his  scruples. 

^  Nescio,  Deus  scit,  si  habebam  tunc  annos  quindecim  ;  et  Deum  ununi 
uon  credebani  neque  ex  infantia  mea. 

3  It  is  said  he  got  a  monk's  tonsure  from  St.  Martin. 


RliTURN    TO    HIS    HOME    IN    BRITAIN.  71 

at  home,  but  the  voice  of  God  called  him  away,  and  so, 
yielding  to  the  divine  guidance,  he  resolved  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  great  task  before  him. 

A  man  at  that  time  might  be  a  deacon  with  little  know- 
ledge of  Theology  or  Sacred  Scripture,  for  it  was  purely  a 
ministerial  office,  and  did  not  necessarily  imply  either 
great  knowledge  or  further  progress  towards  the  priest- 
hood. St.  Patrick's  father  appears  to  have  remained  a 
deacon  all  his  life,  doing  good  work  in  the  Church,  but 
leaving  to  others  the  ministry  of  the  Word,  and  the  con- 
ferring of  the  Sacraments.  But  a  deacon's  training  would 
not  suffice  for  the  Irish  mission.  He  must  get  divine 
knowledge,  and  official  authority  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
Ireland — and  so  he  resolved  to  set  out  to  visit  and  honour 
the  Apostolic  See,  the  head  of  all  the  Churches  of  the 
whole  world,  in  order  that  in  wisdom  he  might  learn  and 
understand  and  fulfil  the  divine  and  holy  functions  to 
which  God  had  called  him — namely,  to  preach  and  bestow 
divine  grace  on  the  stranger  tribes  (of  Ireland),  by  con- 
verting them  to  the  faith  of  Christ. 

Whether  St.  Patrick  actually  visited  the  Apostolic  See 
or  not,  and  received  therefrom  his  commission,  there  can 
be  no  question  that  such  was  his  avowed  object  in  crossing 
the  sea  to  Gaul  and  Italy.  It  is  expressly  stated  in  the 
oldest  book  we  have — the  Book  of  Armagh  ^ — and  the 
statement  is  confirmed  by  all  the  Ancient  Lives  of  the 
Saint  without  exception. 

But,  as  to  the  route  he  followed  there  is  considerable 
difference  of  opinion.  Muirchu's  narrative  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh  takes  him  right  across  the  southern  British 
or  Iccian  Sea,  with  the  purpose  of  crossing — ut  in  corde 
proposuerat — the  Gallic  Alps  at  their  extremity ,2  and  so 
making  his  way  to  that  city  which  he  regarded  as  '  the 
head  of  all  the  Churches  of  the  whole  world,'  at  once  the 
supreme  seat  of  learning  and  of  authority.  But  meeting 
St.  Germanus  of  Auxerre,  a  great  and  holy  prelate,  he 
remained  with  him  for  a  long  time  in  all  subjection, 
patience,  and  obedience,  a  virgin  in  mind  and  body, 
drinking  in  from  the  instruction  and  example  of  his  great 

^  See  Book  of  Armagh  with  the  heading  of  the  Chapter  : — 

De  aetate  ejus  quando  iens  videre  Sedem  Apostolicam  voluit  discere 
sapientiam. 

His  primary  purpose  when  going  abroad  was  *  to  visit  the  Apostolic  See 
and  learn  wisdom.' 

^  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  Vol,  II.,  p.  496. 


72  THE   CAPTIVITY   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

teachers  not  only  divine  wisdom,  but  chastity,  and  God's 
holy  fear  in  all  simplicity  and  fervour  of  heart. 

It  is  clear,  however,  from  the  fuller  accounts  given  in 
the  other  Lives  of  our  Saint,  that  Muirchu  here  merely 
sums  up  the  outcome  of  St.  Patrick's  tuition  under  Germanus, 
whom  he  justly  designates  as  his  chief  master,  and  God's 
best  gift  to  him.  If  we  are  to  look  for  a  more  detailed 
account  of  the  thirty  years  that  Patrick  spent  in  Gaul  we 
must  go  to  other  authorities,  who  do  not,  however,  contradict 
the  summary  statement  of  Muirchu.  So  far  as  we  can 
judge,  Germanus  was  not  a  bishop,  or  even  a  monk,  when 
Patrick  went  to  Gaul  about  the  year  A.D.  400.  He  was 
then  civil  governor,  and  did  not  become  a  Bishop  for  some 
eighteen  years  afterwards.  So  that  Patrick  could  not  have 
gone  to  him  at  once. 

The  Tripartite  makes  substantially  the  same  statement 
as  Muirchu,  that  Patrick  having  crossed  the  Iccian  Sea,  or 
English  Channel,  went  as  far  as  the  Alps  and  the  southern 
part  of  Letha,^  and  there  met  German,  the  most  celebrated 
Bishop  in  Europe,  under  whom  he  read  the  ecclesiastical 
Canons,  like  Paul  the  Apostle  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel. 

Afterwards,  the  Tripartite  says,  he  went  to  Saint  Martin 
at  Tours  that  he  might  get  the  monastic  tonsure,  and  there 
he  entirely  renounced  all  wordly  cares  and  pleasures,  giving 
himself  entirely  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  monastic  state.^ 
The  Third  Life  makes  a  similar  statement,  but  the  Second 
and  Fourth  Lives  make  no  reference  to  this  visit  to  St. 
Martin. 

Probus,  however,  in  the  Fifth  Life  breaks  new  ground, 
and  distinctly  states  that  Patrick,  escaping  from  captivity 
in  Ireland,  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  Meath  to  certain  men  of 
Gaul,  who  carried  him  to  Bordeaux,  and  afterwards  to 
Trajectum,  where  he  escaped  from  his  captors,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  way  to  his  relative,  the  great  Saint 
Martin  of  Tours. 

The  question,  therefore,  is — whom  did  St.  Patrick  first 
visit  in  Gaul:  St.  German  or  St.  Martin?  In  our  opinion 
the  dates  compel  us  to  assume  that  Patrick  first  went  to 
visit  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  whether  the  monastery  or  the 
man,  or  both,  is  a  secondary  consideration.  For  it  is  said 
in  the  Lives  that  he  left   Britain    when   approaching  the 


^  The  Latin  of  Colgan  has  ItaHa,  but  it  is  certain  the  Irish  word  was  Letha, 
whicli  rather  means  Gallia,  to  which,  too,  it  is  near  in  sound. 

'■^  St.  Martin  was  dead  at  least  sixteen  years  before  Germanus  became  a  bishop. 


RETURN   TO    HIS    HOME    IN    BRITAIN.  73 

thirtieth  year  of  his  age/  that  is  to  say  about  the  year 
A.D.  402.  But  that  is  the  year  in  which,  at  the  latest,  St. 
Martin  died.  Consequently,  if  Patrick  intended  to  see  his 
holy  relative  alive,  his  first  visit  must  have  been  to  Tours, 
for,  next  year,  all  France  knew  that  the  great  Saint  was 
dead. 


*  Annum  jam  aetatis  attingens  trigeslmum. 


I 


CHAPTER    V. 
ST.    PATRICK'S    TEACHERS. 

I. — Visit  to  St.  Martin's  at  Tours. 

We  may,  therefore,  fairly  assume  that  St.  Martin's 
great  Monastery  at  Tours  was  the  first  school  of  virtue  and 
learning  which  Patrick  visited,  and  there  it  is  said  he  spent 
at  least  four  years. 

How  he  journeyed  from  Britain  to  Tours  is  uncertain. 
Adhering  to  the  ancient  authority  of  Probus,  we  may 
assume  that  he  found  a  Gallic  wine-ship  somewhere  in 
Britain  which  took  him  over  '  the  Iccian  Sea,'  or,  as  we 
say  now,  down  the  Channel,  and  thence  across  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  to  Bordeaux.  Then,  as  now,  it  was  a  famous  city, 
with  a  great  coasting  and  foreign  trade,  especially  in  wine. 
It  was,  moreover,  connected  by  great  roads  with  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  Gaul,  and  had  long  been  celebrated  for  its 
schools  and  learned  professors.  Patrick,  however,  does  not 
appear  to  have  made  a  long  stay  in  Bordeaux,  for,  we  are 
told  by  Probus  that  he  journeyed  thence  to  a  place  which  he 
calls  Trajectum.  As  the  name  implies,  this  was  the  point 
where  the  Roman  road  going  north  to  Perigueux  and 
Tours  crossed  the  river  Dordogne  some  fifty  miles  east- 
ward of  Bordeaux.  This  road  would  bring  Patrick  after  a 
long  and  weary  way  to  Poitiers,  the  ancient  Roman  town 
whose  remains  have  been  lately  discovered  in  the  modern 
city,  and  there,  doubtless,  he  would  seek  shelter  and 
hospitality  in  the  great  Monastery  of  Liguge,  founded  near 
the  city  some  fifty  years  before  by  his  relation,  the  great 
St.  Martin.  Going  thence  still  northward — if  we  are  to 
trust  a  very  ancient  tradition — Patrick  came  to  the  Loire, 
which  he  crossed,  some  say,  floating  on  his  cloak,  at  a 
point  a  few  leagues  westward  of  Tours,  where  stand  the 
ancient  Church  and  very  modern  railway-station  of  St. 
Patrice. 

It  was  mid-winter  when  the  weary  traveller,  footsore 
and  hungry,  arrived  at  the  great  river,  seeking  in  vain  for 
some  place  of  shelter ;  but,  finding  none,  he  lay  down  to 
rest  beneath  the  spreading  boughs  of  a  blackthorn  tree 
which  grew  near  at  hand.     They  were  covered  with  hoar 


AT   MARMOUTIER.  75 

frost :  but  lo  !  that  hoar  frost  disappeared  under  the  warmer 
breath  of  air  from  heaven.  The  frozen  boughs  were 
softened  by  the  hving  sap,  and,  throwing  off  the  snowy 
crystals,  were  soon  clothed  with  their  own  flowers  of  purest 
white,  which  covered  the  weary  Saint  like  a  canopy, 
sheltering  him  as  he  slept.  And  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  every  year  at  the  close  of  December  the  "  Flowers 
of  St.  Patrick  "  reappear,  as  if  in  vernal  bloom,  on  the  same 
tree,  in  spite  of  the  utmost  severity  of  the  weather.  The 
fact  has  been  witnessed  by  generations  of  men,  living  and 
dead,  who  have  seen  it  with  their  own  eyes,  and  we  have, 
moreover,  the  official  testimony  of  the  cure  of  the  parish, 
and  also  of  the  President  of  the  Archaeological  Society  of 
Touraine,  who  cites  the  ''Annals  of  the  Local  Agricultural 
Society,"  which  give  a  full  account  of  that  marvellous  bloom 
in  mid-winter.^ 

Having  crossed  to  the  right  or  northern  shore  of  the 
great  river,  Patrick  would  have  no  difficulty  in  making  his 
way  along  its  banks  to  the  great  Monastery  of  St.  Martin 
at  Marmoutier,  near  Tours,  which  he  longed  to  visit  and 
had  toiled  so  hard  to  reach. 

II. — At  Marmoutier. 

And  now  that  we  find  St.  Patrick  at  Tours,  we  must 
give  a  short  account  of  St.  Martin,  and  of  his  celebrated 
Monastery  of  Marmoutier. 

It  is  fortunate  that  we  have  the  Life  of  St.  Martin, 
written  by  one  in  every  way  worthy  to  be  the  herald  of 
his  virtues.  The  'Vita  S.  Martini'  by  Sulpicius  Severus 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  works  in  the  whole  range  of 
Christian  hagiology.  The  historian  was  in  every  way 
qualified  for  the  task,  for  he  was  a  man  of  the  highest 
culture,  possessing  a  chaste  and  polished  style,  and  was, 
moreover,  for  several  years  the  intimate  friend  and  disciple 
of  St.  Martin,  who  loved  him  as  a  son.  Then,  he  was  a 
man  of  austere  virtue,  who  had  voluntarily  renounced 
great  wealth,  high  station,  official  rank  and  authority,  in 
order  to  give  himself  entirely  to  the  service  of  God  as  a 
simple,  self-denying  monk — for  it  is  doubtful  if  ever  he 
became  a  priest.  But  he  loved  and  venerated  Martin  with 
his  whole  soul,  and  he  tells  us  that,  in  recording  the  facts 
of  the  Saint's    life,  what  he  did   not  know  of  his  own 


^  See  Father  Morris's  5/.  Patrick — Appendix,  p.  271. 


y6  ST.   PATRICK'S   TEACHERS. 

knowledge  he  had  learned  from  Martin  himself  or  from  his 
chosen  friends  and  disciples.  When  the  work  appeared, 
shortly  after  the  death  of  St.  Martin,  it  was  sought  after 
everywhere  with  the  utmost  eagerness.  It  was  read 
throughout  all  Gaul.  Copies  could  not  be  multiplied  fast 
enough  in  Rome  to  supply  the  demand,  and  booksellers 
made  large  profits  on  the  work.  It  was  inquired  for  with 
similar  eagerness  in  Africa,  at  Alexandria,  even  in  Syria, 
and  in  Constantinople,  although  written  in  Latin.  Many 
religious  men  carried  it  always  with  them  on  their  journeys, 
and  some  of  them  had  it  almost  by  heart.  If  it  were 
written  by  an  Irish  monk  in  a  rude  style,  Lanigan  and 
writers  of  that  school  would  set  it  aside  as  '  stuff,'  for  it 
is  filled  with  miracles  ;  but  it  is  not  .so  easy  for  a  Catholic 
to  set  aside  the  work  of  a  scholar  and  saint  like  Sulpicius 
Severus,  for  he  was  assuredly  both.  He  may  possibly 
have  been  deceived  himself,  but  such  a  man  could  never 
voluntarily  deceive  others.  In  most  cases  he  cites  his 
authority,  and  frequently  attests  the  truth  of  what  he  says 
with  the  utmost  solemnity  in  the  presence  of  God.  It  is 
not  improbable  that  our  St.  Patrick  met  him  or  saw  him  at 
Tours,  for  he  was  writing  the  Life  of  St.  Martin  and  his 
Dialogues,  or  perhaps  some  of  the  Letters,  at  the  very  time 
that  St.  Patrick  sojourned  at  Marmoutier. 

St.  Martin  was  born  at  Sabaria  in  Pannonia  early  in  the 
fourth  century.  Being  the  son  of  a  veteran  officer,  he  was 
compelled  in  his  youth  to  serve  in  the  imperial  cavalry, 
but  though  only  a  catechumen — for  his  parents  were 
pagans — in  the  midst  of  the  licence  of  a  camp  he  lived 
the  life  of  a  saint.  Escaping  as  soon  as  he  could  from  the 
army,  he  went  first  to  Milan,  where  his  zeal  against  the 
Arians  exposed  him  to  great  danger,  and  finally  caused  his 
expulsion  from  the  city.  He  then  retired  to  the  small 
island  of  Gallinaria,  near  Genoa,  where  he  devoted  himself 
to  a  life  of  silence,  prayer,  and  penance.  Shortly  after- 
wards he  visited  the  great  St.  Hilary  of  Poitiers,  who 
received  him  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  led  him  up 
the  steep  ascent  of  heroic  virtue.  With  the  aid  of  Hilary, 
he  founded,  near  Poitiers,  the  Monastery  of  Liguge,  which 
was  probably  the  earliest  institution  of  its  kind  in  Gaul. 
There  he  raised  to  life  a  catechumen  of  the  Monastery 
who  had  died  in  his  absence,  and  "  who  lived  afterwards 
many  years  amongst  us,''  says  Sulpicius,  "  at  once  the 
object  and  the  testimony  of  the  miraculous  power  of 
Martin." 


AT   MARMOUTIER.  yj 

Then,  most  reluctantly,  he  was  taken  from  his  cell  to 
become  Bishop  of  Tours,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people, 
but  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  certain  ecclesiastics,  who 
thought  the  illiterate^  soldier-monk  unworthy  of  that  high 
station,  for  they  said  '*  he  was  a  contemptible  person,  of 
mean  presence,  with  hair  unkempt,  and  poorly  clad."  ^ 

But  the  '  sordid '  monk,  still  remaining  poor  and 
humble,  became  the  greatest  and  most  venerated  prelate 
in  all  the  Gauls.  At  first  he  dwelt  in  a  little  cell  near  his 
church,  but  being  too  much  disturbed  there  by  crowds  of 
importunate  visitors,  he  built  himself  that  Monastery  which 
still  bears  his  name,^  about  two  miles  from  the  city.  It 
was  a  spot  as  lonely  as  the  desert,  for  it  was  enclosed  on 
one  side  by  a  steep  cliff  running  parallel  to  the  river,  and 
on  the  other  side  by  the  river  itself,  which  at  two  points 
came  quite  close  to  the  cliff,  thus  entirely  insulating  the 
intervening  meadow,  and  leaving  only  a  narrow  passage 
leading  into  the  secluded  valley  which  formed  the  monastic 
enclosure.  There  the  saint  himself  dwelt  in  a  wattled 
cell,  but  his  monks,  climbing  up  the  face  of  the  cliff,  found 
caves  in  its  rocky  walls  which  they  further  excavated,  thus 
forming  for  themselves  little  cells  like  pigeon-holes,  where 
they  watched  and  worked  and  prayed.  There  were  eighty 
monks  there  living  the  life  of  angels  under  the  care  of  the 
blessed  Martin.  They  had  nothing  of  their  own,  they 
bought  nothing,  they  sold  nothing.  They  took  their  food 
together — one  meal  in  the  afternoon.  They  never  knew 
the  taste  of  wine  except  a  brother  got  sick.  They  were 
clothed  in  garmeats  of  camel's  hair.  They  seldom  left 
their  cells  except  to  go  to  the  oratory.  The  elder  ones  gave 
themselves  almost  exclusively  to  prayer,  but  the  younger 
wrote  and  copied  books  or  worked  in  the  garden.  Such  is 
the  picture  of  the  life  led  by  Martin  and  his  monks,  given, 
too,  by  an  eye-witness,  at  the  very  time  that  St.  Patrick 
visited  them.  ''  And  yet,"  adds  Sulpicius,  *'  many  amongst 
them  were  of  noble  birth,  and  brought  up  in  the  lap 
of  luxury,  but  now  of  their  own  accord  they  trained 
their  hearts  in  the  way  of  patience  and  humility." 
It  is  not  surprising  that  many  amongst  them  were  chosen 
to  be  Bishops  of  various  cities  throughout  Gaul  and  all  its 
borders. 

^  Sulpicius  says  Martin  was  '  illiteralus,'  just  like  St.  Patrick — 'untrained 
in  College  learning,  but  not  in  Sacred  Scripture.' 

'^  Hominem  vultu  despicabilem,  veste  sordidum,  crine  deformem. 
^Martini  Moiiasterium,  or  Majus  Monasterium  =  Marmoutier. 


78  ST    PATRICK'S   TEACHERS. 

Such  was  the  first  monastic  school  of  our  St.  Patrick  on 
the  Continent.  The  tradition  of  his  presence  there  is  still 
very  vivid  at  Tours,  and  one  of  the  rock-hewn  cells  is 
pointed  out  to  the  visitor  as  that  in  which  he  dwelt.  These 
cells  are  yet  in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation,  in  the  very 
face  of  the  steep  escarpment  overlooking  the  Loire.  We 
visited  them  all ;  they  were  airy  and  dry,  and,  although 
dimly  lighted,  might  still  be  used  as  sleeping  chambers  or 
small  oratories.  Outside  the  cells  is  a  level  platform  of 
rock,  not  more  than  ten  feet  wide,  but  forty  feet  over  the 
road  beneath.  This  served  at  once  as  a  kind  of  street  before 
the  cells,  and  also  as  a  graveyard  for  the  monks ;  for,  in  the 
solid  rock  are  excavated  graves,  just  the  size  and  shape 
of  the  human  body,  in  which  the  dead  monks  were  laid 
outside  their  cells,  exactly  as  they  slept  during  life  in  their 
habits  within.  They  were  doubtless  covered  with  flags  or 
concrete  after  burial  in  the  old  times  ;  but  these  flags  are 
now  removed,  and  the  empty  grave-chambers  are  quite 
open  in  the  surface  of  the  rocky  platform.  This  platform 
is  approached  from  below  by  a  flight  of  stone  steps  cut 
in  the  rock.  There  must  have  been  a  railing  of  some  kind 
running  along  the  edge  of  the  platform,  otherwise  a  single 
false  step  might  have  been  fatal. 

This  rocky  platform  looks  south  over  the  river  and  far 
away  into  a  richly-wooded,  undulating,  and  very  fertile 
country.  When  we  saw  it,  the  whole  scene  was  bathed  in  the 
rich  effulgence  of  the  mid-day  sun,  and  a  scene  more  varied 
and  more  picturesque  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine. 
The  fare  of  the  monks  might  be  scanty,  and  their  beds 
be  hard — a  rug  covering  the  naked  rock — but  when  they 
emerged  from  their  cells  to  the  rocky  platform  before  their 
door,  they  could  at  least  feast  their  eyes  on  a  glorious  scene 
of  beauty.  In  dry  weather  the  Loire  is  a  mere  stream, 
treading  its  way  through  wastes  of  sand  ;  but  when  the 
mountain  floods  came  rushing  down  and  filled  the  whole 
bed  of  the  river,  it  must  have  presented  a  scene  of  awful 
grandeur.  As  it  fronted  the  south,  too,  the  chambers  in  this 
rocky  escarpment  must  have  been,  during  most  of  the 
year,  both  dry  and  healthy ;  although,  doubtless,  in  the 
long  nights  of  winter,  they  would  be  cold  and  cheerless  for 
those  whose  hearts  were  not  warmed  with  the  fire  of  Divine 
love. 

The  ancient  monastery  at  the  foot  of  the  rock,  once  the 
richest  and  most  famous  in  Gaul,  has  completely  disap- 
peared, with  the  exception  of  a  single  carved  gateway  of 


AT   MARMOUTIER.  79 

exquisite  workmanship,  which  is  now  the  only  surviving 
remnant  of  the  building.  The  grounds,  however,  are — or 
were  until  lately — in  possession  of  the  Nuns  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  who  have  not  only  a  convent,  but  also  a  large  board- 
ing school  for  young  ladies,  which  is  one  of  the  best  in 
France.  The  grounds  are  admirably  kept,  and  the  vine- 
yards seem  to  be  cultivated  with  skill  and  success. 

The  memory  of  St.  Martin  is  still  greatly  revered  in  the 
city  itself  A  new  church  has  been  built  over  his  shrine, 
and  the  chapel  in  the  crypt  has  every  hour  in  the  day  fer- 
vent worshippers,  whose  prayers  to  St.  Martin  are  frequently 
attended  with  most  wonderful  results,  as  their  votive 
offerings  testify. 

As   we    have   seen    from    the   testimony  of  vSulpicius 
Severus,  the  discipline  in  Marmoutier  was  strict,  and   the 
fare  was  meagre  in  the  extreme,   meat  and  wine  being 
only  allowed  in  case  of  sickness.     A  man  of  Britain   must 
have  found  this  fare  harder  than  even  a  man  of  Gaul ;  and, 
moreover,  Patrick  was  not  quite  accustomed  to  it.     So  on 
one  occasion,  we  are  told,  he  greatly  longed  to  eat  some 
pork  that  came  in  his  way ;  but,  in  order  not  to  give  any 
scandal  to  the  brethren,  he  hid  the  pork  under  a  barrel, 
waiting  to  get  a  chance  of  cooking  and  eating  it.    Straight- 
way he  met  a  strange  being,  with  eyes  in  the  back,  as  well 
as  in  the  front,  of  his  head.      Whereupon  Patrick  asked 
him  in  surprise  who  and  what  he  was.     "  I  am  a  servant 
of  God,"  replied  the  monster,  "  and  with  my  eyes  in  front 
I  see  the  ordinary  actions  of  men,  but  with  those  behind 
I  saw  a  certain  monk  hiding  pork  under  a  barrel  that  he 
might  not  be  caught " — and  having  thus  spoken  the  strange 
being  at  once  vanished.     Thereupon  Patrick  was  smitten 
with  sore  sorrow,  and  besought  with  ardent  prayers  pardon 
from  God.     Then  the  Angel  Victor  appeared  to  him,  and 
told  him  that  God  had  forgiven  his  sin,  whereupon  Patrick 
rose  up  full  of  joy,  and  promised  that  he  would  never  again 
in  the  whole  course  of  his  life  eat  flesh  meat — apromisewhich 
the  writer  declares  that  he  kept.     But  still  anxious  to  get  a 
further  assurance  of  pardon,  he  besought  Victor  to  give 
him  some  other  proof  of  forgiveness.      Whereupon   Victor 
told  him  to  throw  the  pork  into  the    water  in   presence 
of  his  monastic  brethren.     Patrick  did  so,  and   in  sight  of 
all  the  pork  was  changed  into  fishes  suitable  for  the  monks. 
Patrick,  it  is  added,  used  himself  to  tell  this  story  to  his 
own  disciples,  in  order  to  teach  them  the  need  and  merit 
of  restraining  gluttonous  desires. 


80  ST.   PATRICK'S   TEACHERS. 

The  Tripartite  also  states  that  it  was  at  St.  Martin's 
Monastery  of  Tours  Patrick  received  the  monastic  tonsure, 
which  is  a  further  proof  tliat  it  was  the  first  of  the  GalHc 
monasteries  that  he  visited  ;  hitherto  he  had  been  tonsured 
as  a  slave.  This  would,  certainly,  seem  to  imply  that  the 
visit  to  Tours  was  paid  shortly  after  his  captivity  in  Ire- 
land. It  is  also  expressly  stated  that  after  he  received 
this  tonsure  from  St.  Martin  he  renounced  all  worldly  cares 
and  pleasures,  and  devoted  himself  entirely  to  prayer  and 
self-denial.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  how  long  he 
remained  at  Marmoutier.  One  writer  says  four  years,  and, 
in  the  absence  of  better  authority,  we  may  accept  the  state- 
ment. If  Patrick,  as  we  think,  came  to  Marmoutier  in 
A.D.  402,  he  came  the  very  year  in  which,  at  the  latest,  St. 
Martin  died.^  We  have  the  express  statement  that  he 
received  the  monastic  tonsure  from  St.  Martin,  and, 
although  then,  as  now,  a  monastery  is  often  called  by  the 
name  of  its  founder,  it  would  be  difficult  to  understand  this 
expression  as  simply  meaning  that  he  received  it  in  St. 
Martin's.  We  are  inclined,  therefore,  to  think  that  the 
saint  did  not  die  until  late  in  402 — the  nth  November  ; 
and  that  St.  Patrick  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  tonsured 
by  his  illustrious  relative,  and  making  his  vow  of  monastic 
obedience  into  his  hands.  Martin  has  been  always  per- 
haps the  most  popular  saint  in  France,  if  we  judge  from  the 
number  of  dedications  under  his  name.  He  has  been  also — 
excepting,  of  course,  St.  Patrick — the  most  popular  saint  of 
foreign  birth  in  Ireland.  His  festival  from  the  earliest 
times  has  been  observed  with  pious  fidelity  by  the  people, 
and  Martinmas  was  one  of  the  'set  times'  of  special 
feasting  in  Ireland. ^  It  is  difficult  to  explain  this  peculiar 
devotion  to  St.  Martin  in  Ireland,  except  on  the  ground  of 
his  known  relationship  to  our  own  national  Apostle,  who, 
doubtless,  from  the  very  beginning  taught  his  Irish  children 
to  pay  special  reverence  to  the  name  and  memory  of  one 
who  was  at  once  his  blood  relation  and  spiritual  father. 

But  much  greater  prominence  is  given  in  the  Ancient 
Lives  to  St.  Patrick's  tuition  under  Germanus  of  Auxerre 
than  under  St.  Martin.  Some  of  the  authorities  say  that 
he  spent  no  less  than  thirty  years  under  the  guidance  of 
Germanus  ;  others  reduce  it  to  eighteen  ;  and  some  still 


^  See  Diet.  Christ.  Biography. 

^  Many  old  churches  in  Ireland  were  dedicated  to  St.    Martin,  and  were 
often  built  near  the  Patrician  churches. 


IN   LFRINS.  Si 

further  to  fourteen,  or  even  to  four  years. ^  It  is  certain 
that  the  period  of  fourteen  years  fits  in  best  with  the  known 
dates  of  the  life  of  Germanus,  for  he  became  Bishop  of 
Auxerre  in  418,  and,  therefore,  if  vSt.  Patrick  had  not  met 
him  while  still  a  layman,  he  could  not  have  been  his  disciple 
for  a  longer  period  than  fourteen  years. 

These  ancient  authorities,  too,  whilst  expressly  stating 
that  Auxerre  was  the  episcopal  city  of  Germanus,  yet  make 
what  at  first  sight  appears  to  be  a  strange  statement,  that 
Patrick  was  trained  under  him  in  the  island  called  **  Ara- 
latensis" — that  is  the  island  of  Aries,  although  Aries  is  an 
inland  city.  Other  authorities  call  this  island  the  Insula 
Tamarensis^ — the  island  of  Tamara,  in  which  he  is  said  to 
have  spent  nine  years.  Then  Probus  makes  the  significant 
statement  that  before  going  to  that  island,  '  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea,'  he  had  spent  eight  years  with 
certain  eremites  and  bare-footed  solitaries  who  dwelt  in 
separate  cells,  but  he  does  not  state  where.  We  have 
personally  gone  over  the  ground,  and  studied  the  Lives, 
and  we  think  all  these  places  can  be  identified  with 
reasonable  certainty,  and  that  the  dates  given  above  will 
fit  in  with  the  known  facts  of  St.  Patrick's  history.  Our 
opinion,  then,  is  that  Lerins  is  the  solitude  of  the  bare-footed 
hermits  where  Patrick  spent  eight  years,  that  the  Isle  de 
Camargue,  as  it  is  now  called,  is  the  Insula  Aralatensis,  or 
Tamarensis,  where  he  spent  nine  years,  and  that  part  of 
that  time  he  was  under  the  spiritual  care  of  St.  Germanus 
at  Aries,  and  for  several  years  afterwards  at  Auxerre,  until 
Germanus,  after  his  return  from  Britain,  sent  Patrick 
to  Rome  to  receive  episcopal  consecration,  and  formal 
authority  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland. 

The  development  of  these  points  has  a  very  special 
interest. 

III. — In  Lerins. 

Lerins  is  a  name  that  is  dear  to  every  Christian 
scholar,  for  it  was  during  many  centuries  a  nursery  of 
learning  and  holiness,  whilst  the  tide  of  barbarism  swept 
over  the  decaying  empire  of  Rome.  The  ancient  Leron 
and  Lerina  are  two  small  islands  off  the  coast  of  Var,  and 
quite  near  Cannes,  in  the  south  of  France.     They  are  now 

^  Vi'^a  Tertia.  Et  mansit  apud  eum  quatuor  annis  legens  et  implens  Scrip- 
turas,  virgo  corpore  et  spiritu, 

'^  Vita  Tertia.  Tamarensem  Insulam.  Transactis  ibi  novem  annis  voluit 
Patritius  visitare  Romam,  etc. 

G 


82  ST.    PATRICK'S   TEACHERS. 

called  St.  Marguerite  and  St.  Honorat,  from  the  holy  sister 
and  brother  who  first  chose  them  to  be  their  monastic 
homes.  St  Honorat,  the  smaller  but  far  more  celebrated 
island,  is  less  than  a  mile  from  St.  Marguerite/  and  hides 
itself,  as  it  were,  behind  the  larger  island  from  the  gaze  of 
the  curious  eyes  on  shore.  But  it  is  very  beautiful,  above 
all  when  the  beams  of  a  southern  sun  light  up  the 
sparkling  waves  that  dash  on  its  rocky  fringe,  and  reveal 
the  snowy  Alpine  peaks  in  the  blue  distance,  and  all  the 
charms  of  the  enchanted  shores  of  this  fairy  island,  with 
its  flowery  meads  and  crown  of  crested  pines  breathing 
out  their  sweet  odours  on  the  bland  and  balmy  air.  Hence 
we  find  that  Lerins  has  been  called  not  only  the  Island  of 
the  Saints,  but  an  earthly  Paradise,  and  the  Pearl  of  the 
Sea,  and  one  enthusiastic  poet  has  said  that  in  Lerins  he 
would  wish  to  live  for  ever,  for  there  is  no  more  beautiful 
spot  in  all  the  world. ^ 

But  Lerins  was  very  different  when  Honoratus  first 
landed  towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century^  on  its 
rocky  shores.  It  is  fortunate  that  we  have  an  authentic 
account  of  his  life  and  character  from  his  own  beloved 
disciple,  St.  Hilary,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  See  of 
Aries,  and  preached  his  funeral  oration,  as  well  as  in 
the  affectionate  references  made  to  him  by  several  other 
members  of  his  saintly  island  family. 

Honoratus,  like  Sulpicius  Severus,  belonged  to  a  con- 
sular family  of  Cologne,  and  received  an  education 
befitting  his  high  station.  His  father  was  a  vain,  worldly- 
minded  man,  who  even  delayed  the  baptism  of  his  son  for 
some  years,  lest  he  might  give  his  young  heart  to  God. 
But  his  efforts  were  vain,  because  God  called.  Leaving 
parents  and  wealth  and  family  behind  him,  as  obstacles  to 
his  salvation,  he  resolved,  in  company  with  his  brother, 
to  serve  God  in  solitude,  and  leave  the  world  for.  ever. 

^  When  Honoratus  came  to  dwell  at  I^erins  his  sister  resolved  to  found  a 
convent  in  the  larger  island.  Once  a  year  only  would  he  allow  her  to  visit  him 
in  his  island.  *'  At  what  season  will  it  be,"  she  said.  "  When  that  cherry  tree  is  in 
bloom,"  he  replied.  Then  St.  Marguerite  prayed  to  God,  and  He  clothed  the 
cherry  tree  with  its  own  white  blossoms  every  month  in  the  year.  So  that 
Marguerite  could  visit  her  holy  brother  according  to  his  promise,  not  once  but 
twelve  times  in  the  year. 

^  Pulchrior  in  toto  non  est  locus  orbe  Lerina.  Dispeream,  hie  si  non 
vivere  semper  amem. 

^  The  local  guide-book  fixes  A.D.  375  as  the  date.  But  the  monastery 
was  not  founded  until  410,  and  although  St.  Honoratus  had  been  there  for 
some  years  on  the  island,  we  can  hardly  admit  so  long  an  interval  before  the 
founding  of  his  monastery. 


Ii 


IN   LERINS.  83 

Accompanied  by  an  aged  priest  named  Coprasius, 
whom  they  took  as  guide  and  spiritual  director,  the  brothers 
travelled  through  Italy  and  Greece,  visiting  the  sacred 
places  and  holy  solitaries,  of  whom  they  had  heard  so 
much  in  their  own  palace  by  the  Rhine.  But  his  brother 
dying  on  the  journey,  Honoratus  returned  to  Gaul  with 
his  remains,  and  after  the  burial  resolved,  with  his  director 
and  a  few  companions,  to  take  possession  of  the  lonely 
island  of  Lerins,  and  there  serve  God  in  solitude  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Hilary,  who  knew  the  island  well,  describes 
its  state  at  the  time.  It  was  a  desert — exactly  what  Probus 
calls  it — horrid,  with  wild  growths,  and  so  full  of  venomous 
snakes,  that  no  one  ventured  to  set  foot  upon  its  shores. 
When  the  tide  rose  a  little,  and  the  water  dashed  over  the 
rocks,  these  serpents  came  out  of  their  holes  and  roamed 
over  the  whole  island.  Then  there  was  no  open  space  for 
cultivation,  and  no  fresh  water  to  be  found  in  its  arid 
wastes.  But  Honoratus,  strong  in  faith  and  armed  by 
prayer,  was  not  deterred  from  his  purpose. 

At  his  strong  prayer  a  fountain  of  limpid  water  burst 
forth  from  the  arid  rock,  and  is  flowing  still,  as  many  a 
tourist  knows,  in  all  its  sweetness  and  purity.  The 
serpents  disappeared  before  the  man  of  God,  or,  if  any 
remained,  they  were  never  known  to  hurt  anyone. 
At  first,  Honoratus  and  his  companions  dwelt  in  separate 
cells  made  of  interlaced  pine  boughs,  and  in  separate 
parts  of  the  island.  They  were  true  solitaries,  living 
on  herbs  and  fruit,  with  abundance  of  pure  water  to 
drink.  Abiding  in  the  desert  like  John  the  Baptist, 
they  were  clothed  like  him  in  a  single  coarse  garment, 
made  of  hair  or  skin ;  but  they  walked,  as  holy  men  do 
still,  bare-headed  and  shoeless.  These  were,  so  far  as  we 
can  ascertain,  '  the  bare-footed  solitaries  in  the  desert,' 
with  whom,  according  to  Probus,  St.  Patrick  lived  for  eight 
years.  When  he  joined  them  first,  about  the  year  406, 
they  had  not  yet  built  their  monastery,  or  formed  them- 
selves into  a  regular  community ;  but  it  was  just  then  in 
process  of  formation.  For  we  are  expressly  told  by  St. 
Hilary,  in  very  beautiful  language,  that  Honoratus  had 
the  arms  of  his  love  wide  open  to  receive  all  who  came  to 
his  lonely  island,  and  that  he  cared  for  them  with  more 
than  the  love  and  tenderness  of  a  father.  The  fame  of 
the  holy  island  and  of  its  sainted  founder  soon  spread  over  all 
Gaul,  and,  as  might  be  expected — for  it  was  the  spirit  of 
the  time — crowds  came  to  Lerins,  not  only  from  Gaul,  but, 


84  ST.    PATRICK'S   TEACHERS. 

as  Hilary  sa}'s,  from  all  parts  of  the  earth,  differing  in 
character  as  much  as  they  differed  in  language.^  But 
Hilary  received  them  all  with  loving  kindness,  and  in  iiim 
'  they  found  home  and  country  and  kindred.' 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  too,  that  at  this  early  period 
there  was  no  other  monastery  in  the  West  except 
Marmoutier,  and  perhaps  a  few  others,  so  that  this  hol}^ 
island  naturally  attracted  crowds  of  strangers  to  its  shores, 
seeking  God  in  solitude. 

Then  Hilary  found  it  necessary  to  build  a  church,  and 
gather  his  solitaries  into  a  regular  community.  With  their 
own  hands  they  built  their  church  in  the  centre  of  the 
island,  where  the  modern  church  now  stands  ;  and  with 
their  own  hands,  too,  they  rooted  out  the  wild  brakes ; 
they  cleared  away  the  useless  trees  ;  they  quarried  the 
stones  from  the  rocky  soil,  forming  new  and  fertile  fields, 
in  which  they  planted  fruit  trees,  and  corn,  and  vines, 
making  that  desert  smile  as  a  rose,  and  produce  teeming 
crops  of  all  that  was  necessary  for  their  self-denying  and 
simple  lives.  St.  Patrick  must  have  seen  it  all,  for  it  was 
during  the  years  of  his  sojourn  there  that  this  wondrous 
change  was  accomplished.  He  must  have  had  his  own 
share  in  the  blessed  work,  and  seen  with  his  own  eyes 
how  much  strong  hands  and  loving  hearts  can  do  for 
God — and  the  lesson  was  not  lost  upon  him  during  the 
sixty  years  of  his  own  manifold  toils  in  Ireland. 

But  Lerins  soon  became  something  more  than  a  place 
of  prayer  and  labour  for  God  ;  it  became  a  great  school 
where  all  the  sacred  sciences  were  taught  with  signal 
success.  It  was  in  his  cell  at  Lerins  that  the  great 
St.  Vincent  of  Lerins  wrote  his  immortal  '  Coinmoni- 
torium,'  or  Admonition,  in  which  he  lays  down,  for  all 
time  and  for  all  men,  a  Rule  of  Faith  that  can  never  be 
assailed — '  Teneamus  id  quod  semper,  quod  ubique, 
quod  ab  omnibus  creditum  est.'  It  was  to  Lerins  that 
Eucherius,  who  has  been  described^  as  '  the  greatest  of  the 
great  pontiffs  of  his  age,'  retired  from  one  of  the  hi'ghest 
offices  in  the  empire  with  his  wife  and  children,  whom  he  left 
— the  girls  with  their  mother  at  St.  Marguerite,  and  the 
boys  at  Lerins.  It  was  from  Lerins  he  himself  was 
called  to  preside  over  the  great  Church  of  Lyons ;  and 
it  was  in  Lerins  he  wrote  his  beautiful  spiritual  treatises : 


^  Tarn  moribus  qiiam  lingua  dissona  (congiegatio). 
2  By  Mameitus. 


IN   LERINS.  85 

*  De  Laude  Eremi,'  and  '  De  Contemptii  Mundi  et 
Secularis  Philosophiae.'  It  was  in  Lerins  that  Cassian 
and  Salvianus,  with  a  host  of  other  great  writers  of  the 
time,  received  most  of  their  training  in  divine  wisdom. 
From  Lerins  there  issued  not  only  prelates  and  doctors 
of  high  renown,  but  Popes  and  Cardinals  and  statesmen  and 
philosophers.  More  than  once,  too,  its  soil  was  reddened 
with  the  blood  of  martyred  monks,  especially  at  one 
great  slaughter  in  A.D.  730,  when  hundreds  of  them 
were  slain.  With  good  reason,  therefore,  did  Pius  IX. 
declare/  that  Lerins  became  a  nursery  of  Saints  for  the 
Church,  of  Apostles  for  the  nations,  and  of  Pontiffs  for 
the  episcopal  Sees ;  and  such  it  remained  down  to  the 
date  of  its  suppression  in   1788. 

The  island  was  shortly  afterwards  purchased  by  an 
actress,  who  loved  its  natural  beauty,  but  made  its  sacred 
sites  the  scene  of  unholy  revels.  From  the  actress  it 
passed  to  an  Anglican  minister,  who  unwittingly  sold  it  in 
1859  to  an  agent  of  the  Bishop  of  Frejus.  The  Bishop  at 
once  took  steps  to  restore  the  island  to  its  ancient  and 
holy  purpose,  with  the  final  result  that  it  was  given  over  in 
1867  to  a  branch  of  the  great  Cistercian  family,  and  is  at 
the  present  moment  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  community, 
numbering  some  sixty  brothers,  with  more  than  twenty 
priests,  who  are  ruled  by  the  Vicar-General  of  the  Order, 
whose  seat  is  the  Abbey  of  Lerins.^  So  once  more 
Lerins  has  been  restored  to  its  ancient  splendour,  and  now, 
as  of  old,  to  the  saints  of  God. 

It  is  manifest  that  Patrick  must  have  learned  much  in 
a  school  like  Lerins,  under  the  guidance  of  a  spiritual 
father  like  Honoratus,  whose  very  letters,  so  sweet  and 
gracious,  seemed  to  have  been  written  with  honey  on 
tablets  of  wax,^  and  in  the  society,  too,  of  the  noble  Gallo- 
Romans,*  who  had  given  up  everything  for  God.  And  how 
they  must  have  sometimes  pitied  the  poor  British  monk 
who  was  tending  swine  in  barbarous  Scotia,  whilst  they 
were  declaiming  in  the  schools  of  Rome  and  Aries,  and 
who  had,  as  might  be  expected,  so  little  of  that  "  Romana 


^  By  Brief,  dated  March  12,  1870. 

^This  was  written  before  the  late  expulsion  of  llie  Religious  Orders  from 
France.     What  has  happened  since  we  do  not  exactly  know. 

3  St.  Hilary. 

*St.  Patrick  makes  one  brief  reference  in  the  Confession  'to  God's  Saints 
in  Gaul,  whose  faces  he  longed  to  see  again,'  but  he  dared  not  leave  his  tlock 
in  Ireland. 


S6  ST.  Patrick's  teachers. 

eloquentia,"  of  which,  as  Hilary  tells  us,  Honoratus  was 
himself  a  master.  But  eloquence  is  not  everything  ;  and 
the  British  monk  in  the  end  accomplished  a  task  greater 
than  they  did.  One  thing  is  certain — we  could  never 
understand  the  life  of  St.  Patrick,  as  he  himself  and  his 
deeds  have  revealed  it  to  us,  except  we  understood  how  he 
was  trained  in  the  School  of  Christ,  and  spent  a  long 
noviciate  under  the  greatest  masters  of  the  spiritual  life. 

IV. — In  the  Island  of  Arles. 

It  was,  we  are  told,^  the  Angel  Victor  that  directed 
Patrick  to  Lerins  to  the  barefooted  hermits  to  learn  the 
lessons  of  the  desert ;  and  it  was  the  Angel  Victor  who 
now  also,  after  eight  years  in  the  desert,  directed  him  to  go 
to  the  '  island  monks  between  the  mountain  and  the  sea.' 
The  expression  is,  as  we  have  said,  a  peculiar  one.  It  was 
not  an  island  in  the  sea  like  Lerins,  but  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea.  This  description  applies  exactly 
to  what  was  then  known  as  the  Island  of  Aries,  but  is  now 
called  the  Isle  of  the  Camargue,  or  the  Camargue 
simply.  It  is  an  island  between  the  Alps  on  the  north- 
east, and  the  sea  on  the  south,  formed  by  the  two  branches 
of  the  Rhone — the  Great  and  the  Little  Rhone — which 
bifurcates  at  Aries,  and  encloses  the  island  between  its 
two  arms  and  the  sea.  In  ancient  times  this  island  was 
not  nearly  as  large  as  it  is  now,  for  the  Rhone  is  daily 
gaining  on  the  sea,  and  filling  up  its  own  shallow  estuaries 
with  the  debris  taken  down  from  the  mountains.  In  the  time 
of  Julius  Caesar  Aries  was  a  seaport  in  immediate  connection 
with  the  sea,  but  now  it  is  many  miles  inland,  and  the 
island  has  grown  in  proportion.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
it  was  always  called  in  ancient  times,  as  it  is  in  the  Lives 
of  St.  Patrick,  the  Insula  Aralatensis.  In  our  opinion 
the  other  name,  Insula  Tamarensis,  is  a  mistake  of  the 
copyist  for  the  Insula  Camarensis,  that  is  the  Island  of 
the  Camargue,  and  so  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
identity  of  these  two  places  mentioned  in  the  Lives  of  our 
National  Apostle. 

Now,  we  know  for  certain  that  Constantine  connected 
the  '  Island  of  Aries '  with  the  city  by  a  great  bridge  of 
stone,  and  that  a  new  suburb  was  built  within  the  island. 
We  know  also  that  a  great  monastery  was  founded  some 


^  By  Probus. 


IN    THE    ISLAND   OF   ARLES.  S^ 

time  during  the  fifth  century  in  the  island,  for  we  have  an 
express  reference  to  it  in  the  Life  of  Caesarius  of  Aries, 
who  was  himself  a  monk  of  Lerins,  from  which  he  was 
taken  to  preside  over  the  island  monastery  of  Aries.  We 
do  not  know  when  it  was  founded,  but  it  seems  highly 
probable  that  it  was  a  daughter  of  Lerins,  and  was  founded 
by  a  colony  of  monks  from  that  holy  island,  which  was 
always  closely  connected  with  Aries.  Is  it  a  rash  conjec- 
ture to  suppose  that  Patrick  was  one  of  the  monks  of 
Lerins,  who  were  sent  there  shortly  after  its  foundation, 
and  whilst  the  island  community  was  still  young  ? 

Then  there  is  a  story  told  of  a  great  beast  which  dwelt 
near  the  well  where  the  monks  got  their  water,  and  Patrick 
was  required  to  go  like  the  rest  in  his  turn  for  the  water, 
otherwise  he  could  not  stay  amongst  them.  So  he  went, 
but  he  prayed  to  God  to  banish  the  fierce  creature,  and  it 
appeared  no  more.  There  are  many  fierce  beasts  in  the 
Camargue  still,  for  a  great  part  of  the  island  is  unin- 
habited, and  even  the  bulls  and  horses  that  graze  there 
become  in  course  of  time  very  wild.  For  the  Rhone 
enters  the  sea  through  a  regular  network  of  lagunes,  marshes, 
and  mud-banks,  which  are  almost  impassable,  and  in  their 
dark  abysses  afford  shelter  to  many  amphibious  creatures 
who  do  not  readily  give  themselves  up  for  inspection.  If 
the  estuary  of  the  Rhone  was  somewhat  similar  in  ancient 
times,  it  would  be  no  way  wonderful  if  some  strange  beasts 
dwelt  in  the  deep  pools  of  its  trackless  marshes. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  it  was  in  this  insular 
monastery  of  Aries  that  Patrick  first  met  the  great  St. 
Germanus  of  Auxerre.  For  Aries  was  then  the  capital  of 
Gaul ;  it  was  the  residence  of  the  Prefect  of  all  the  Gauls, 
as  well  as  of  Spain  and  Britain.  The  chief  schools  of 
Gaul  were  in  that  city  and  the  highest  court  in  the  wide 
Praetorian  Province,  so  that  it  was  usually  crowded  with 
professors,  lawyers,  and  officials  of  every  kind.  Before  he 
was  '  dux '  or  governor  of  his  native  province  Germanus 
had  been  a  brilliant  lawyer,  and  practised,  as  we  know, 
with  signal  success  both  at  Rome  and  at  Aries.  Even 
after  he  became  governor  of  his  own  province,  his  visits  to 
the  imperial  city  of  Gaul  must  have  been  frequent  and 
prolonged.  In  this  way  he  might  naturally  be  expected 
to  visit  the  island  monastery,  and  become  acquainted  with 
its  monks.  Although  he  became  a  Bishop,  like  St. 
Ambrose,  per  saltiim,  still  he  was  certainly  some  time  a 
priest,  and  naturally  would  retire  to  some  monastery  to 


88  ST.    PATRICK'S   TEACHERS. 

prepare  himself  for  the  new  spiritual  duties  imposed  upon 
him.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  even  before  he 
became  Bishop,  in  418,  Germanus  had  opportunities  of 
meeting  our  St.  Patrick  at  Aries,  and  giving  the  British 
monk  advice  in  the  prosecution  of  his  spiritual  studies.  It 
was  a  very  natural  way  of  making  an  acquaintance,  which 
afterwards  ripened  into  friendship  so  fruitful  of  spiritual 
blessings  for  our  own  country.  Then,  to  reside  near  Aries  at 
this  time  was  an  education  in  itself.  It  was  a  very  beautiful 
city.  Constantine  the  Great  had  at  one  time  resolved  to 
make  it  the  capital  of  his  entire  empire,  East  and  West, 
and  although  he  afterwards  gave  that  honour  to  Byzantium 
he  did  much  for  Aries.  He  built  a  royal  palace  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  enriched  the  city  with  many  noble 
buildings.  The  amphitheatre  still  remains  standing,  and 
although  much  smaller  than  the  Coliseum,  it  is  in  far  more 
perfect  preservation.  The  ruins  of  the  theatre  also  remain 
to  attest  the  ancient  splendour  of  the  city.  It  was  called 
Roma  Gallula,  the  Gallic  Rome,  a  miniature  of  the  imperial 
city  in  all  things,  just  as  we  see  it  in  the  fragments  of  its 
skeleton  to-day.  It  was,  therefore,  only  natural  for  Patrick 
to  seek  the  great  monastery  of  this  Gallic  Rome,  and  it  was 
there  his  good  fortune  to  find  the  wisest  guide  and  best 
friend  of  his  life — the  soldier,  statesman,  bishop,  and  saint, 
all  combined  in  the  nobly  born  and  highly  accomplished 
Bishop  of  Auxerre. 

V. — St.  Germanus  and  St.  Patrick. 

This  is  the  proper  place  for  giving  a  sketch  of  the 
career  of  that  truly  illustrious  man  who  so  greatly  helped 
to  plant  the  faith  in  Ireland,  and  preserve  it  in  England. 

In  the  case  of  Germanus,  as  well  as  of  the  two  other 
masters  of  St.  Patrick,  Martin  and  Honoratus,  we  have  an 
authentic  biography,  published  by  a  learned  priest  of  Mar- 
seilles, some  forty  years  after  his  death.  Later  on  in  the 
eighth  century  this  Life  was  versified  and  supplemented  by 
Heric  of  Auxerre,  who,  although  much  later  still,  had  very 
special  sources  of  information  at  his  disposal  in  the  epis- 
copal city  of  Germanus  himself.  We  must  accept,  therefore, 
as  perfectly  authentic  the  main  facts  of  the  life  of  Germanus, 
who  was,  if  not  the  first,  certainly  amongst  the  greatest,  of 
the  Gallic  prelates  of  the  fifth  century. 

Germanus  was  born  about  the  same  time  as  Patrick 
himself,  or  perhaps  a  little  later,  at  Auxerre,  in  the  modern 


ST.    GERMANUS   AND   ST.   PATRICK.  89 

department  of  Yonne.  It  was  an  old  and  noble  city,  not 
inferior  to  many  of  the  great  cities  of  Gaul  in  respect  to 
its  fertile  soil,  its  fruitful  vineyards,  and  its  navigable 
river.i  His  parents  were  noble,  and  sent  their  son  to  the 
best  schools  in  Gaul — which  would  be  at  Aries — and 
thence  he  went  to  Rome  to  study  eloquence  and  law. 
Returning  to  Gaul,  he  practised  before  the  tribunal  of  the 
Prefect,  which  was  certainly  in  Aries,  and  so  successfully 
that  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  six  Dukes  of  Gaul,  with 
very  extensive  jurisdiction.  About  the  same  time  he 
married,  and  gave  himself  up  with  passionate  eagerness  to 
the  chase,  in  which  it  seems  he  was  pre-eminently 
successful,  for  he  brought  home  his  trophies,  and  used  to 
hang  them  on  an  ancient  pear  tree  in  the  very  centre  oi 
his  city  of  Auxerre.  This  tree  was  it  appears,  at  an  earlier 
period  the  object  of  pagan  or  druidical  worship ;  and  once 
more,  by  bearing  the  spoils  of  the  hunting  Duke,  it 
became  an  object,  if  not  of  religious  worship,  at  least  of 
great  interest  to  the  people. 

The  Bishop,  St.  Amator,  was  much  displeased  at  this, 
and,  finding  the  Duke  had  go!ie  one  day  to  his  country 
house,  he  caused  the  pear  tree  to  be  cut  down,  and 
scattered  all  its  'spolia  opima' — 'oscilla'  Constantius  calls 
them.  When  Germanus  returned  to  the  city  he  swore 
vengeance  against  the  Bishop,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
threaten  to  take  his  life. 

But  the  Bishop  took  another  way  of  meeting  the  danger. 
Fearing  for  himself,  he  went  south  to  Autun,  where  the 
Prefect  Julius  was  then  staying,  and  asked  his  permission 
to  have  the  Duke  of  Auxerre  ordained  as  Bishop  of  that 
city  in  succession  to  himself,  for  he  assured  the  Prefect 
that  he  had  only  a  short  time  to  live. 

The  Prefect  consented  ;  and  Bishop  Amator,  returning 
with  the  safe  guard  and  promise  of  the  Prefect,  convoked 
the  people  to  the  church  ;  and  finding  Germanus  therein 
he  caused  him  to  be  brought  before  the  altar,  and  then 
and  there  tonsured  the  mighty  hunter  with  the  tonsure  of 
a  cleric,  thus  giving  him  the  first  grade  in  preparation  for 
the  succession  to  himself 

It  seems  to  us  a  strange  proceeding;  but  the  history  of 
St.  Ambrose  shows  that  it  was  not  an  isolated  case,  for 
Ambrose  was  not  even  baptised  when  he  was  chosen  to  be 
bishop  of  Milan.     Germanus   likewise   received   the   epis- 


Gallia  Christiana. 


90  ST.    PATRICKS   TEACHERS. 

copate  under  protest ;  but  it  wrought  in  him  a  sudden  and 
total  change,  as  the  holy  Amator  had  doubtless  anticipated. 

His  wife  thenceforward  became  to  him  a  sister  ;  he  gave 
up  his  hunting  ;  his  property  he  bestowed  on  the  poor  ;  and 
his  whole  life  he  devoted  to  the  service  of  Christ.  The 
story  of  his  self-denying  asceticism  is  amazing.  His  body 
was  his  only  enemy.  He  slept  on  a  bed  of  cinders,  covered 
with  a  rug  without  a  pillow,  strewn  on  a  framework  of 
boards  ;  he  abstained  from  salt  in  his  food,  from  oil,  vege- 
tables, and  even  wine,  except  on  the  chief  festivals,  when  he 
partook  of  a  little  mixed  with  water.  His  clothing  was 
the  monk's  cowl  and  hood,  which  he  wore  unchanged  until 
they  fell  to  pieces,  and  he  always  carried  a  purse  of  relics 
near  his  heart.  Yet  he  was  hospitable,  and  gave  to  his 
guests  food  and  wine  in  plenty,  barely  tasting  the  rich 
viands  himself  ''  I  can  assure  you,"  says  Constantius, 
"  that  his  life  was  one  long  martyrdom,  voluntarily  under- 
taken in  penance  for  his  sins.''  Such  was  the  man  who,  as 
all  our  Annals  tell,  was  the  chief  teacher  and  patron  of  St. 
Patrick. 

The  river  Yonne  flows  through  the  city  of  Auxerre, 
whose  population  at  present  is  about  17,000.  In  the  time 
of  Germanus,  Autissiodurum,  as  it  was  then  called,  was  a 
busy  and  flourishing  city,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  was  ill 
at  ease.  So  he  built  himself  a  monastery  beyond  the  river 
at  a  point  where  it  bounds  the  town,  and  there  with  his 
monks  he  gave  himself,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  prayerful, 
contemplative  life  which  he  loved.  When  duty  called 
him  to  his  cathedral  he  crossed  the  river  in  a  small  skiff, 
thus  as  far  as  he  could  avoiding  the  crowded  streets  of  the 
city.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  St.  Patrick  spent  several 
years  in  that  monastery  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  greatest  prelate  of  Gaul,  who  was  also  the  highest 
model  both  of  that  active  and  contemplative  life  which 
Patrick  afterwards  led  in  Ireland. 

All  the  Lives  are  emphatic  in  proclaiming  that  Ger- 
manus was  the  principal  teacher  of  St.  Patrick  in  the  Sacred 
Sciences.  Fiacc  says — "he  (Patrick)  read  the  Canon  with 
Germanus" — meaning  thereby,  in  all  probability,  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament,  with  which  he 
certainly  shows  himself  familiar.  The  Second  Life  says  that 
he  remained  "  a  long  time  with  Germanus,  the  holiest  and 
most  orthodox  ^  bishop  in  all  Gaul,  like  Paul  at  the  feet  of 

^  Fide  probatissimum. 


ST.    GERMAN  US   AND    ST.    PATRICK.  9 1 

Gamaliel,  in  all  subjection  and  obedience,  devoting  himself 
with  eager  zeal  to  the  study  of  wisdom  and  the  knowledge 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures."  The  Third  Life  says — "  Patrick 
remained  with  Germanus  four  years,  reading  and  fulfilling 
the  Scriptures,  a  virgin  in  body  and  spirit."  The  Fourth 
Life  uses  the  same  language  as  the  Second,  adding  that 
Patrick  was  received  by  Germanus  '  with  the  greatest 
reverence' — no  doubt  on  account  of  his  holiness — and  that 
he  remained  thirty  years  under  his  guidance;  but,  if  the 
numerals  are  exact,  which  is  very  doubtful,  that  must  be 
understood  of  a  kind  of  general  superintendence  during 
the  whole  period  that  Patrick  was  in  Gaul.  Probus  adds  that 
Patrick  abode  with  Germanus  not  only  '  in  all  subjection,' 
but  *  in  patience,  obedience,  charity,  chastity,  with  perfect 
purity  of  mind  and  heart,  living  a  virgin  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  walking  in  virtue  and  simplicity  of  heart  all  the 
years  of  his  life.'  This,  no  doubt,  is  an  accurate  descrip- 
tion of  the  monastic  life  which  Patrick  led  during  these 
years,  under  the  guidance  of  the  greatest  and  holiest  prelate 
in  Gaul,  as  all  the  Lives  declare  Germanus  to  have  been. 
Similar  language  is  also  used  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  as 
well  as  by  Jocelyn  and  the  Tripartite. 

Yet,  it  is  singular  that  Patrick  in  the  Confession  makes 
no  reference  to  Germanus  by  name,  nor  to  Pope  Celestine, 
his  great  purpose  being  to  vindicate  the  supernatural 
character  of  his  own  mission  to  Ireland  against  certain 
unworthy  detractors  of  his  own  nation,  who  accused  him 
of  rashness  and  presumption  in  undertaking  the  conversion 
of  the  Irish  tribes. 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  events  in  the  life  of 
Germanus  was  his  mission  to  Britain,  in  429,  in  conjunction 
with  St.  Lupus  of  Troyes,  to  extirpate  the  Pelagian  heresy. 
It  is  said  by  the  Scholiast  on  Fiacc  that  on  this  occasion 
Germanus  took  Patrick  along  with  him  ;  and  it  was  only 
natural  that  he  should  do  so,  for  Patrick,  being  a  Briton, 
must  have  known  something  of  the  language,  and  might, 
in  many  other  respects,  be  very  useful  to  Germanus  during 
his  sojourn  in  Britain. 

What  special  connection  Germanus  had  with  Britain  that 
he  should  be  chosen  to  go  on  a  mission  to  that  country 
is  now  impossible  to  tell.  We  only  know  for  certain 
that  the  British  bishops  sent  an  embassy  to  their  Gallic 
brethren — perhaps  to  St.  Germanus  himself — to  announce 
that  the  Pelagian  depravity  had  infected  the  population 
far  and  wide  in  their  country,  and  to  beg  them,  as  soon  as 


92  ST.    PATRICK  S    TEACfTERS. 

possible,  to  bring  succour  to  the  cause  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  Thereupon  a  numerous  Synod  of  the  Gallic  prelates 
was  convened,  who  besought  Germanus  and  Lupus  to 
undertake  the  difficult  task.  That  request  was  conveyed 
to  Rome ;  and  as  Prosper,  a  contemporary  chronicler,  ex- 
pressly tells  us,  the  two  binhops  were  commissioned  to  go 
in  the  name  of  the  Pope^  to  root  the  Pelagian  heresy  out  of 
Britain,  the  soil  of  its  origin.  We  know  that  their  mission 
was  completely  successful,  for  through  their  efforts,  inspired 
by  Celestine,  as  Prosper  says,  the  Roman  Island  (of  Britain) 
w^as  preserved  Catholic,  as  the  barbarous  Island  of  Ireland 
was  made  Christian  by  the  subsequent  mission  of  Palladius, 
whose  commission  was,  however,  really  carried  out,  not 
by  him  but  by  St.  Patrick. 

This  brings  us  to  an  interesting  point — what  was  the  con- 
nection between  Germanus  and  Palladius,  w^ith  Ireland,  as 
well  as  with  Britain  ?  Who  was  Palladius  ?  Was  he  a 
deacon  of  the  British  Church,  or  of  the  Gallic  Church  of 
Germanus,  or  of  the  Roman  Church  ?  We  find  that  it  was 
on  his  representations — '  ad  actionem  Palladii  diaconi ' — 
that  the  Pope  sent  Germanus  as  his  legate,  vice  sua,  to 
Britain.  This  fact  is  undoubted.  We  know  also  that 
when  Palladius  failed  in  Ireland,  he  went  to  Britain  and 
died  there ;  and  we  know  that  the  British  bishops  sent  a 
mission  to  the  Gallic  prelates  to  tell  them  of  the  spread 
of  heresy  in  Britain,  and  ask  their  succour.  Is  it  not 
natural  then  to  conclude  that  Palladius  was  the  head  of 
this  legation,  and  that  when  Germanus  was  requested  to 
bring  help  to  the  Catholics  of  Britain  he  sent  Palladius  to 
Pope  Celestine  to  represent  how  things  stood  in  Britain, 
and  that  the  Pope,  on  his  representations,  commissioned 
Germanus  to  go  to  Britain  ? 

When  Germanus  went  to  Britain  he  had  many  oppor- 
tunities of  learning  the  deplorable  state  of  the  '  barbarians' 
of  Hibernia,  who  were  still  plunged  in  idolatry,  and  alto- 
gether beyond  the  influence  of  Roman  civilization.  We 
might  naturally  expect,  therefore,  that  a  man  of  his  burn- 
ing zeal  would  take  a  great  interest  in  the  conversion  of 
Ireland,  and  strive  to  make  the  light  of  the  Gospel  shine 
in  that  unhappy  country. 

He  returned    home  in   430 ;    and,    no  doubt,  at  once 


^  Ad  actionem  Paladii  diaconi  Papa  Celestinus  Geimanum  Autissio- 
dorensem  Episcopuni  vice  suit  mitiit  ut,  deturbalis  hereiicis,  Ciitannos  ad 
Calholicam  fidem  dirigat. — Chronicle. 


MISSION   OF   PALLADIUS   TO    IRELAND.  93 

reported  to  the  Pope  the  success  of  his  mission  in  Britain. 
But  he  must  have  done  more.  The  close  connection  ot 
events  shows  us  that  either  he  or  Palladius,  or  both,  brought 
the  state  of  Ireland  under  the  notice  of  the  Pope  ;  and  the 
Pope  at  once  resolved  to  consecrate  Palladius  and  send 
him  to  convert  the  '  barbarous  island '  to  the  faith.  The 
choice  of  Palladius  for  this  weighty  work  is  in  itself  a 
strong  reason  for  supposing  that  Palladius  was  a  Briton,^ 
for  the  Pope  would  hardly  have  selected  a  man  wholly 
unacquainted  with  the  language  and  customs  of  the  Irish 
tribes,  to  undertake  so  arduous  and  perilous  a  task  as  the 
conversion  of  Ireland  to  the  Catholic  faith. 

VI. — Mission  of  Palladius  to  Ireland. 

Some  knowledge  of  this  mission  of  Palladius  is  essen- 
tial to  understand  the  subsequent  mission  of  St.  Patrick. 

The  entry  of  Prosper  in  his  Chronicle,  under  date  of 
A.D.  431,  is  brief  but  significant  : — 

"  Palladius^  is  consecrated  (this  year)  by  Pope  Celestine, 
and  sent  as  their  first  bishop  to  the  Scots  believing  in 
Christ." 

The  present  tense  marks  the  contemporary  Chronicler, 
and  the  entry  also  shows  that  in  Rome  they  knew  there 
were  some  Christians  in  Ireland,  although  not  yet  forming 
an  organised  Church.  Of  course,  then,  and  long  after,  the 
term  'Scots'  meant  Irish,  or  rather  the  Gaels  of  Ireland. 
The  Book  of  Armagh  calls  Palladius  Archdeacon  of  Pope 
Celestine,  and  so  no  doubt  he  was  in  a  certain  sense. 

At  least  whilst  in  Rome  he  was  under  the  immediate 
jurisdiction  of  the  Pope,  and  the  epithet,  '  Archdeacon,' 
like  'noble  priest'  in  Irish,  merely  means  that  he  occupied 
an  eminent  position  in  his  office.  The  more  accurate 
Prosper  simply  calls  him  Deacon  Palladius;  but  his  stay 
in  Rome  might  easily  procure  him  the  title  of  Archdeacon 
of  Pope  Celestine. 

Here  the  Irish  Annalists  give  us  further  information, 
of  which  the  Chronicler  of  Aquitaine  knew  nothing.  The 
substance  of  their  narrative  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  : 
Palladius,  with  twelve  companions,  of  whom  two  are 
named,  Sylvester  and  Solinus,  landed  at  Inver  Dea,  in  the 


^  So  think  Father  John  Bollandus,  Usher,  Reeves,  and  many  other  high 
authorities. 

^  Ad  Scotos  in  Christum  credentes  ordinatur  a  Papa  Celestino  Palladius, 
et  primus  episcopus  mittitur. 


94  ST.  Patrick's  teachers. 

territory  of  the  Hy  Garrchon.  This  was  the  district  ex- 
tending northwards  from  Wicklow  town  to  Bray  Mead  ; 
and,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  Inver  Dea  was  certainly  the 
estuary  of  the  Vartry  River,  near  the  town  of  Wicklow — 
'  the  most  commodious  and  celebrated  port  of  that  district ' 
at  the  time.  The  ruler  of  this  territory  was  Nathi,  son  of 
that  Garrchu  who  gave  his  name  to  the  tribe  and  tribe- 
land  ;  and  we  know  also  that  this  Nathi  was  married  to 
the  daughter  of  that  stubborn  old  pagan,  King  Laeghaire, 
who  then  reigned  at  Tara. 

Nathi  was  hostile  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in 
his  territory.  Still  he  did  not  attack  the  newcomers  with 
fire  and  sword  ;  and  they  succeeded  in  founding  three 
churches,  whose  names  are  given  in  the  old  books — Teach 
na  Roman,  i.e.,  the  House  of  the  Romans ;  Cell-fine,  the 
Church  of  the  Relics ;  and  Domnach  Arda,  which  would 
simply  mean  the  Church  of  the  Height.  Special  reference 
is  made  to  the  relics,  which  are  described  as  books  that 
Palladius  got  from  Celestine,^  and  also  a  box  containing 
relics  of  the  Blessed  Peter  and  Paul  and  of  other  saints, 
and  the  tablets  on  which  Palladius  used  to  write,  and  which 
are  called  in  Irish  from  his  name  Pall-ere,  or  Paliad-ere, 
the  burden  of  Palladius. 

As  might  be  expected,  we  are  told  that  all  these 
Palladian  relics  of  the  Church  of  Cell-fine  were  held  in 
great  veneration.  The  third  church,  called  Domnach  Arda 
(or  Ardec)  is  particularly  noteworthy  as  the  place  where 
the  two  holy  companions  of  Palladius,  Sylvester  and  Solinus, 
died  and  are  buried  ;  it  is  added  they  are  held  in  great 
veneration  there.^ 

That  is  the  whole  record  of  the  work  of  Palladius  in 
Ireland — the  founding  of  three  churches  in  the  Co.  Wicklow 
— for,  seeing  that  he  made  little  or  no  progress,  Palladius 
sailed  away  to  Britain,  and  died  there  early  next  year,  if 
not  the  same  year,  that  is  431. 

A  competent  local  authority,  the  late  Father  Shearman, 
identifies  Teach  na  Roman  with  Tigroney,  an  old  church 
in  the  parish  of  Castle  Mac  Adam,  Co.  Wicklow.  The 
building  has  completely  disappeared ;  but  the  ancient 
cemetery  still  remains. 

^  Second  Life- 

*See  the  Second  Life  m  Colgan. 

But  another  account  says,  and  probably  with  truth,  that  the  remains  were 
carried  to  Inis-Baithen,  *  and  are  there  held  in  merited  honour.' —  Viia 
Quarta, 


MISSION   OF   PALLADIUS   TO    IRELAND.  95 

Cell-fine  Shearman  identifies  with  Killeen  Cormac,  now 
an  old  churchyard,  '  three  miles  south-west  of  Dunlavin  ;  ' 
but,  as  might  be  expected  after  the  ravages  of  the  Danes, 
all  traces  of  the  relics  have  completely  disappeared.  The 
third  church,  Dominica  Arda,  as  it  is  called  in  the  old 
Latin,  Shearman  locates  in  the  parish  now  called  Donard. 
in  the  west  of  the  Co.  Wicklow.  We  do  not  assent  to 
Shearman's  location  of  the  last  two  churches,  mainly 
because  we  think  it  improbable  that  Palladius  and  his 
associates,  remaining  tor  so  short  a  time  in  the  country, 
penetrated  the  Wicklow  mountains  so  far  to  the  west.  We 
think  all  these  sites  should  be  sought  for  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  town  of  Wicklow,  where  Palladius  landed  ; 
but,  while  the  matter  is  still  doubtful,  we  may  accept  the 
suggestions  of  Shearman,  as  not  by  any  means  certain,  but 
as  probable. 

The  Scholiast  of  Fiacc  probably  gives  the  true  account 
of  the  subsequent  history  of  Palladius.  He  tells  us  that 
Palladius  was  not  well  received  by  the  people  of  Wicklow, 
but  was  forced  to  go  round  the  north  coast  of  Ireland  until, 
driven  by  a  great  tempest,  he  reached  'the  extreme  part 
of  Mohaidh  to  the  South,'  where  he  founded  the  Church  of 
Fordun.  '  Pledi  is  his  name  there.'  The  Second  Life 
adds  that  Palladius  died  after  a  short  time  in  the  plain  of 
Girginn,  in  a  place  which  is  called  Fordun,  *  but  others  say 
he  was  crowned  with  martyrdom  there' — 'that  is,'  the 
Fourth  Life  adds,  '  in  the  region  of  the  Picts '  ;  others, 
however,  say  that  'he  was  crowned  with  martyrdom  in 
Hibernia,'  but  this  last  suggestion  may  be  summarily 
dismissed  as  altogether  unsupported  by  any  Irish 
authority. 

Palladius  died,  therefore,  shortly  after  leaving  Ireland, 
'  in  the  region  of  the  Picts,'  in  the  plain  called  Magh  Gir- 
ginn, at  the  town  of  Fordun.  Such  is  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  several  of  our  most  ancient  authorities. 
Skene,  a  very  judicious  critic,  suggests  that  this  legend 
"  owes  its  origin  to  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  Fordun  in 
the  Mearns  (Magh  Girginn)  was  dedicated  to  Palladius 
under  the  local  name  of  Paldi,  or  Pledi,  and  was  believed 
to  possess  his  relics,"  and  that  these  relics  were  brought  to 
Fordun  by  his  disciple  Ternan,  either  from  Ireland  or  from 
Galloway.  We  think  it  far  safer  to  adhere  to  ancient 
authorities,  for  vSkene  only  meets  one  difficulty  by  raising 
another.  He  cannot  accept  the  statement  that  the  storm 
blew    Palladius  round   the    north   coast  of   Scotland,  and 


96  ST.  Patrick's  teachers. 

then  down  south  as  far  as  Fordun  ;  so  he  sugp^ests  that  if 
not  iTiart)Ted  in  Ireland  he  must  have  died  in  Galloway. 

But  what  is  to  prevent  us  from  assuminc^  that  Palladius 
was  driven  into  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  and  that,  still  anxious 
to  carry  out  his  mission  so  far  as  he  could  by  preaching 
to  the  Pictish  tribes,  he  made  his  way  overland  to  the 
Mearns,  and  there  founded  the  Church  of  Fordun,  which 
kept  both  his  name  and  his  relics  for  many  ages  ?  The 
fact  that  Palladius,  instead  of  returning  from  Wicklow^ 
direct  to  Gaul,  set  out  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Scotland, 
goes  to  show,  in  our  opinion,  that,  like  St.  Patrick,  he  had 
some  close  connection  with  Britain,  perhaps  with  North 
Britain,  and  that,  failing  in  Ireland,  he  resolved  to  preach 
the  Gospel  in  his  own  country,  '  to  the  apostate  Picts ' 
beyond  the  Roman  Wall. 

Muirchu,  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  says  that  Palladius 
failed  in  Ireland  because  '  God  hindered  him  ' — did  not 
grant  him  success — '  for  no  one  can  receive  anything  from 
earth  except  it  be  given  to  him  from  heaven.'  God 
destined  the  conversion  of  Ireland  for  St.  Patrick,  and  no  one 
else  could  succeed  in  the  difficult  task.  He  implies,  too,  that 
what  we  have  just  now  stated  regarding  an  overland  journey 
to  Mearns  is  highly  probable,  for,  he  says,  on  Palladius' 
return  hence,  having  crossed  the  first  sea  (to  Britain),  and 
having  begun  his  land  journey,  he  died  in  the  territory  of 
the  Britons,  or  perhaps  we  should  translate  *  in  finibus 
Britonum '  on  the  border  lands  of  the  Britons,  which 
might  very  well  apply  to  Mearns. 

And  now  let  us  come  back  to  Patrick,  who  all  this 
time  was  waiting  the  course  of  events,  and  the  fulfilment  of 
God's  will  in  his  monastery  in  Gaul. 

VII. — St.  Germanus  sends  St.  Patrick  to  Rome. 

The  subsequent  narrative,  until  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick 
in  Ireland,  although  clear  in  things  substantial,  is  rather 
confused  in  detailing  the  order  of  events.  Yet,  it  is  of 
great  interest  and  importance,  and  must  be  set  forth  with 
care  in  all  its  details. 

The  narrative  in  the  Fourth  Life  is,  so  far  as  it  goes, 
both  clear  and  orderly.  After  detailing  the  ineffectual 
attempt  of  Palladius  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland,  and 
recording  his  death  in  Pictland,  or,  as  others  say,  by 
martyrdom  in  Ireland  (Hibernia),  the  author  proceeds  : — 
''  Germanus,  thereupon,  as  we  have  stated  before,  sent  the 


GERMANUS    SENDS   PATRICK   TO   ROME.  97 

Blessed  Patrick  to  Rome  in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to 
set  out  on  his  evangelical  mission  with  Apostolic  authority, 
for  so  ri^ht  order  demanded,  wherefore  he  passed  on  ship- 
board through  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  and  received  in  a 
certain  island  the  Staff  of  Jesus,  from  a  certain  young 
man,  Christ  himself  being  his  host.^  And  the  Lord  spoke 
to  Patrick  in  the  mountain,  and  commanded  him  to  return 
to  Ireland.  When  he  arrived  in  Rome  he  was  honourabl}- 
received  by  the  holy  Pope  Celestine,  and  having  obtained 
from  him  the  relics  of  saints,  he  was  by  the  same  Pope 
Celestine  despatched  to  Ireland." 

Then  it  states  in  the  next  paragraph  that  Patrick, 
having  got  this  Micentia  apostolica '  to  preach  in  Ireland, 
though  not  yet  consecrated  a  bishop,  set  out  direct 
for  that  country,  and  coming  to  what  is  now  called 
the  English  Channel,  with  the  Staff  of  Jesus  on  the 
shore  he  changed  a  heap  of  sand  into  a  solid  stone,  in 
answer  to  the  challenge  of  two  turbulent  brothers  contend- 
ing amongst  themselves,  and  whom  he  wished  to  restore 
to  unity.  It  was  at  once  a  proof  of  his  sanctity  and  a 
model  of  the  unity  to  which  he  desired  to  win  their 
adhesion. 

Then  in  the  31st  section,  having  brought  Patrick,  as  it 
were,  to  the  French  shore  of  the  Channel,-  it  tells  how, 
hearing  there  of  the  death  of  Palladius  in  Britain,  which 
his  disciples  Augustine  and  Benedict  and  others  return- 
ing from  Pictland  announced  to  Patrick  and  those  who 
were  with  him,  they  turned  aside  (declinaverunt)  to  a 
certain  holy  and  venerable  bishop,  Amatorex  (Amathore- 
gem)  by  name,  who  dwelt  hard  by.  There  Patrick,  fore- 
knowing what  was  to  happen,  '  received  (episcopal)  grade.* 
There  also  Auxilius  and  Esserninus,  with  others  of 
inferior  grade,  were  ordained,  and  all  set  out  for  their  Irish 
mission. 

Now,  it  is  well  to  note  the  series  of  events  as  set  out  in 
this  narrative. 

(i)  Some  rumour  of  the  failure  of  Palladius  and  of 
his  departure  from  Ireland  reached  Germanus  and  Patrick 
in  Gaul.  (2)  In  consequence  (ergo)  Germanus  resolved  to 
send  St.  Patrick  to  Rome,  and  we  know  from  other  sources 
that  he  sent  with  him  Segetius,  his  own  assistant  priest, 
bearing  testimonial    letters  from  Germanus  in   favour  of 


*  Hospitium  Christo  tribuente.     This  might  mean  that  Christ,  by  a  special 
providence,  procured  hospitality  for  Patrick. 

H 


98  ST.  Patrick's  teachers. 

Patrick.  (3)  They  went,  not  over  the  Alps,  but  by  sea 
(from  Aries  or  Marseilles  to  the  Tiber).  (4)  During  the 
voyage  Patrick  received  the  Staff  of  Jesus  from  a  certain 
young  man  in  a  certain  island,  where  Christ  himself  was 
his  host — but  neither  the  name  of  the  young  man  nor  of  the 
island  is  given.  (5)  The  Lord  also  appeared  to  him  on  a 
certain  mountain,  and  commanded  Patrick  to  return  and 
preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland,  so  that,  like  St.  Paul,  he  had 
a  very  special  extraordinary  mission.  (6)  But  all  the  same 
he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  was  honourably  received  by 
the  Pope,  who  sent  him  to  preach  in  Ireland,  but  did  not 
yet  give  absolute  authority  for  his  consecration  as  Bishop. 
(7)  He  went  with  his  companions  to  the  Gallic  shore  of 
the  British  Channel,  and  there,  it  seems,  authentic  informa- 
tion was  brought  to  them  of  the  death  of  Palladius  in 
Britain.  (8)  Whereupon  they  'turned  aside'  to  the  holy 
Bishop  Amatorex,  who  dwelt  near  at  hand,  and  gave 
episcopal  Orders  to  Patrick  and  other  Orders  to  his  com- 
panions, on  the  strength  of  the  Papal  Commission  which 
they  carried  with  them,  and  which,  it  appears,  gave 
authority  for  the  consecration  of  Patrick,  only  when  certain 
knowledge  of  the  death  of  his  predecessor  would  render  it 
lawful  and  becoming. 

The  narrative,  as  here  set  out  from  the  Fourth  Life, 
may  not  be  exact  in  all  its  details,  but  it  is  reasonable,  and 
as  to  the  Pope's  action  it  is  just  what  we  should  expect 
from  a  wise  and  experienced  Pontiff  like  Celestine.  Patrick 
was  long  anxious  to  set  out  for  Ireland;  the  angel  Victor 
repeatedly  called  upon  him  to  make  ready.  But  Pal- 
ladius had  gone  to  Ireland,  and  for  some  cause  or  other 
not  known  to  us  Patrick  did  not  go  with  him.  But  still 
strong  in  faith  he  waited  the  manifestation  of  God's  will. 
The  winter  of  431  brought  them  news,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  of  the  failure  of  Palladius,  but  not  yet  of  his  death. 
Then  Germanus,  as  the  law  required,  sent  Patrick  to  get 
the  authority  of  the  Pope  to  go  to  Ireland.  The  Pope 
received  him  kindly,  and  gave  him  authority  to  go  and 
preach  in  Ireland  as  a  simple  missioner;  but,  having  no 
information  of  the  death  of  Palladius,  he  declined  to  allow 
him  to  be  consecrated  Bishop  before  he  obtained  certain 
information  of  the  death  or  failure  of  Palladius.  It  seems, 
however,  he  gave  conditional  authority  for  his  consecration 
for  the  Irish  mission ;  and  hence  when  the  messenger 
announcing  his  death  met  Patrick,  so  far  as  this  story 
indicates,  on  the  coast  of  the  British  Channel,  they  went 


GJIRMANUS    SENDS   PATRICK   TO    ROME.  99 

to  a  neighbouring  bishop  named  Amatorex — a  common 
Gauh'sh  name — and  the  latter,  on  the  strength  of  the 
licence  of  the  Apostolic  See  and  the  letters  of  Germanus, 
consecrated  Patrick  and  his  companions,  who  forthwith 
sailed  away  for  Ireland.  Such  certainly  is  the  drift  of  the 
clear  and  orderly  narrative  given  in  the  Fourth  Life,  and 
we  venture  to  think  it  is  the  true  one. 

But  we  must  examine  it  more  closely  point  by  point, 
especially  in  the  light  of  the  facts  recorded  in  the  other 
Lives. 

The  Tripartite  gives  prominence  to  the  fact  that  at 
this  time,  when  Patrick  had  completed  the  sixtieth  year  of 
his  age,  and  the  thirtieth  of  his  sojourn  in  France,  his 
guardian  angel,  the  same  Victor  who  had  watched  over 
him  whilst  he  was  in  bondage  with  Milcho,  now  appeared 
to  him,  and,  it  would  seem  from  the  other  Lives,  more  than 
once  commanded  him  to  prepare  for  his  Irish  mission. 
''  Thou  art  commanded,"  said  Victor,  ''  by  God  to  go  to 
Ireland,  to  strengthen  faith  and  belief,  and  so  bring  them 
by  the  net  of  the  Gospel  to  the  harbour  of  Life.  P'or  all 
the  Irish  cry  aloud  for  thee ;  they  think  thy  coming  is  now 
timely  and  mature," — as  indeed  it  was. 

Some  critics  cannot  understand  Patrick's  long  sojourn 
of  thirty  years  in  Gaul ;  they  think  in  fact  that  God  should 
arrange  things  after  their  own  notions.  Not  so  Patrick  ; 
he  waited  long  and  patiently,  trusting  to  that  divine  guid- 
ance which  was  never  wanting  to  him  in  seasons  of  per- 
plexity and  peril.  The  voice  of  God  spoke  to  him,  and 
he  at  once  obeyed.  He  bade  farewell  to  Germanus,  who 
gave  him  his  blessing,  and  sent  his  own  assistant  priest^ 
along  with  him,  a  trusty  old  man,  Segetius  by  name,  to 
guard  him  and  to  testify  for  him — that  is  to  testify  on  the 
part  of  Germanus  to  his  character,  his  studies,  his  Orders, 
and  the  purpose  that  had  for  many  years  filled  his  heart. 

All  this,  of  course,  implies  that  Germanus  wished 
Patrick  to  get  from  the  Pope  what  he  could  not  lawfully 
give  himself,^  episcopal  orders  and  authority  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  Ireland.  If  it  were  a  mere  question  of  having  Pat- 
rick consecrated  without  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic  See 


^  In  the  functions  oi  the  Church  he  used  to  be  at  Germanus'  right,  or  as 
Colgan  has  it,  he  was  his  Vicar  in  Spirituals. 

^  In  a  letter  to  the  bishops  of  the  provinces  of  Vienne  and  Narbonne 
the  Pope  (July  25,  428)  required  the  Metropolitans  to  be  content  with  their 
respective  bounds,  and  in  no  way  to  intermeddle  with  other  provinces.  See 
Diet,  of  Chris.  Biog.     Sub.  voce. 


100  ST.    PATRICKS   TEACHERS. 

there  was  no  need  of  sending  Patrick  away  at  all.  Ger- 
manus,  the  greatest  prelate  in  Gaul,  or  any  of  his  neigh- 
bours, could  do  themselves  what  was  wanted. 

But  Germanus  knew  well  both  the  law  and  the  practice 
of  the  Church  at  the  time — that  the  missionary  should  go 
forth  to  preach  with  the  licence  of  the  Apostolic  See,  'sic 
enim  ordo  exigebat ' — as  the  Fourth  Life  puts  it.  The  law, 
indeed,  was  clear.  Pope  Siricius,  in  a  letter  to  the  Bishops 
of  Africa,  had  clearly  proclaimed  the  law  that  "  no  one 
should,  without  the  knowledge  and  the  sanction  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  that  is  of  the  Primatial  See,  presume  to 
ordain  '*  ^  (a  bishop).  The  same  law  was  laid  down  by 
Innocent  I.  at  a  later  date,  yet  still  before  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick's  ordination.  But  the  Pope  frequently  delegated 
his  authority  to  the  Metropolitan  for  his  own  province, 
and  in  this  way  also  the  ordination  took  place,  with  the 
sanction  of  the  Apostolic  See.  But  no  Metropolitan  at  the- 
time  in  any  part  of  the  west  would  venture  to  ordain  a 
prelate  for  any  diocese  or  mission  outside  of  his  own 
province,  without  the  express  sanction  of  the  Holy  See. 
Germanus  himself  did  not  go  to  England  without  the 
authority  of  the  Apostolic  See,  although  he  was  chosen  by 
a  synod  of  Gallican  bishops  for  that  purpose.  When  St. 
Ninian  went  to  preach  in  Galloway  about  the  year  A.D. 
400  he  also,  as  Bede  tells  us,  went  to  Rome  to  get  the 
authority  and  blessing  of  the  Apostolic  See,  and  such 
undoubtedly  was  both  the  law  and  practice  during  the  fifth 
century.^ 

As  to  the  fact  we  may  accept  the  testimony  of  the 
ancient  Lives  as  quite  conclusive,  and  that  testimony  has 
never  been  questioned  except  for  controversial  purposes 
by  a  few  later  writers.  We  simply  adhere  to  the  ancient 
authorities,  who  are  unanimous,  and  had  no  assignable 
reason  for  inventing  the  Roman  Mission  of  Patrick,  seeing 
that  no  one  at  the  time  denied  the  Papal  Supremacy, 
either  de  facto  or  de  jure.  As  to  the  purely  negative- 
arguments  usually  advanced  against  the  Roman  Mission 
of  St.  Patrick,  we  shall  deal  with  them  later  on. 

*  Ut  extra  conscientiam  Sedis  Apostolicae,  hoc  est  primatis,  nemo  audeat 
ordinare.  The  letter  is  undoubtedly  genuine  ;  but  in  any  case  the  very  same 
words  are  repeated  by  Innocent  I.  in  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Rouen. 

2  See  the  Letters  of  Innocent  I.  to  the  African  Bishops,  A.D.  413,  which 
expressly  declare  that  it  was  from  the  Apostolic  See  all  episcopal  authority 
was  derived  ;  that  nothing,  even  in  distant  provinces,  could  be  regarded  as 
settled  without  the  sanction  of  the  Apostolic  See,  which  was  the  founiaiii-head. 
from  which  all  minor  streams  ?i^i^--t^piS^^!^i^t!&s»icXy.y.\\.,  etc. 


^^  of  Med/ae 


GERMANUS   SENDS   PATRICK  TO   ROME.  lOI 

It  is  an  interesting  point  to  ascertain  how  did  St. 
Patrick  travel  from  Germanus  to  Celestine.  All  the  Lives 
■appear  to  imply  that  he  went  by  sea.  The  Tripartite  says 
so  too,  and  that  he  sailed  with  nine  companions,  doubtless 
either  from  Aries,  which  was  then  a  much  frequented  sea- 
port, or  from  Massilia.  It  would  be  an  easy  voyage  from 
either  port  to  Rome,  in  fact  merely  a  coasting  voyage, 
during  which  they  called  at  that  island  where  Patrick  saw 
a  *  young  man  '  in  a  '  new  house,'  and  a  very  old  hag, 
who  was  the  grand-daughter  of  the  young  man.  For  the 
latter  had  received  the  gift  of  perpetual  youth,  because  he 
had  once  long  ago  made  a  feast  for  Christ  whilst  He  was 
still  in  the  flesh,  and  as  a  reward  Christ  blessed  their  house 
and  themselves,  so  that  they  were  destined  to  abide  there 
in  perennial  youth — himself  and  his  wife — until  the  day  of 
judgment.  We  may  pass  over  this  as  an  Irish  tale  of  later 
date.  But  the  important  point  is  its  alleged  connection 
with  the  Staff  of  Jesus.  The  Son  of  God  had  foretold  to 
them  how  Patrick  was  to  preach  to  the  Gael,  and  he  left 
them  as  a  token,  to  be  given  to  Patrick,  the  Staff  in 
•question. 

But  Patrick  said  :  "  I  will  not  take  it  till  He  Himself 
gives  me  the  Staff,"  and  that  favour  was  shortly  afterwards 
granted  him. 

For,  having  stayed  with  them  three  days  and  three 
nights,  Patrick  'went  thereafter  to  Mount  Hermon,i  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  island.'  There  the  Lord  appeared 
to  him  and  told  him  to  go  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
Gael,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  the  Staff  of  Jesus  *  to 
be  a  helper  to  him  in  every  danger  and  in  every  unequal 
conflict  in  which  he  was  destined  to  be  engaged.' 

We  shall  say  more  about  the  Staff  hereafter  ;  for  the 
present  we  need  only  say  that  the  tale,  as  here  set  forth,  is 
apparently  borrowed  from  the  history  of  Moses.  vStill,  we 
do  not  venture  to  set  aside  this  narrative  as  a  pure  fiction; 
let  each  man  follow  his  own  opinion  as  to  its  credibility. 

But  an  interesting  geographical  question  in  connection 
with  the  tale  is  to  try  and  ascertain  where  was  the  island. 
Where,  too,  was  the  neighbouring  Mount  Hermon  or 
Mount  Arnon,  and  where  was  Capua,  the  Seven- gated 
■city,  which  was  near  the  scene  of  these  events  ? 


*  Also  given  as  '  Morion '  and  '  Arnon.'  The  variations  show  us  that 
nothing  cuiain  was  known  regarding  this  mountain,  and  it  is  now  impossible 
to  identify  it — if,  indeed,  it  ever  had  any  existence. 


I02  ST.    PATRICK  S   TEACHERS. 

There  was  certainly  only  one  Capua  in  Italy,  the 
famous  capital  of  the  rich  Campanian  plain.  Now,  the 
story  of  Probus  is  that  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to 
Patrick,  and  directed  him  to  go  to  a  certain  St.  Senior,  a 
Bishop  who  dwelt  in  Mount  Hermon,  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  ocean-sea,  and  his  city  ^  there  was  defended  by 
seven  walls.  And  when  he  came  there  the  said  Bishop 
Senior  ordained  him  a  priest,  and  he  studied  with  the 
venerable  Elder  for  a  long  time,  at  the  end  of  which  the 
angel  again  appeared  to  him  commanding  Patrick  to  go  to 
preach  in  Ireland ;  and  Patrick  went,  but  failed  in  his 
mission.  Whereupon  he  threw  himself  on  his  knees  and 
besought  God  to  direct  his  way  to  Rome,  the  head  of  all 
the  Churches,  that  he  might  ask  and  receive  the  apostolic 
blessing  and  authority  to  continue  his  work  in  Ireland. 
This  he  did,  going  first  to  Germanus,  who  sent  not  Segetius, 
but  Regirus,  to  be  the  guide  and  companion  on  his  way 
to  the  Pope.  The  Pope  at  first  declined  to  give  Patrick 
episcopal  ordination  for  the  Irish  mission,  as  he  had  already 
sent  Palladius  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland,  but  hearing 
of  Palladius'  failure  at  Euboria,  he  gave  Patrick  the  apostolic 
authority,  and  he  was  ordained  by  Amator,  as  stated  in 
the  other  Lives. 

We  have  no  hesitation  in  rejecting  the  story  of  this 
first  mission  of  St.  Patrick  to  Ireland  as  a  figment,  because 
we  think  it  wholly  inconsistent  with  his  own  Confession. 
He  refers  only  to  one  mission  in  Ireland,  which  took  place 
a  long  time  after  his  captivity,  and  he  was  so  devoted  ta 
his  converts  that  he  declares  he  never  left  them,  not  even 
to  visit  his  parents  in  Britain,  or  to  see  the  faces  of  his 
brethren,  the  Saints  in  Gaul.  Probus  mixes  up  two  stories 
in  a  most  improbable  fashion,  and  is  not  supported  in  his 
statement  by  any  other  ancient  authority. 

Moreover,  he  knew  so  little  of  the  true  history  of  what 
happened  on  the  Continent  that  he  does  not  give  us 
correctly  the  name  of  Segetius,  the  assistant  priest  of 
Germanus — for  the  name  Regirus,  which  he  gives,  can 
hardly  be  regarded  as  a  mere  error  of  the  scribe  or  printer. 
We  may,  therefore,  leave  this  narrative  out  of  the  question 
in  trying  to  trace  the  journey  of  St.  Patrick  to  Rome. 

Jocelyn's  account  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  givea 
in  the  Tripartite.     He  calls  the  mountain   Mount  Morion,. 


^  He  does   not,  however,    call   the  city  Capua,   nor  was  that  city  on  a. 
jiountain,  although  Mount  Tifata  was  not  more  than  a  mile  distant. 


GERMANUS    SENDS   PATRICK   TO    ROME.  IO3 

which  was,  he  says,  "  near  the  Tyrrhene  Sea,  and  close  to 
the  city  called  Capua.''  ^  *  Morion '  here  is  probably  a 
copyist's  mistake  for  *  Hermon '  as  given  in  the  Tripartite. 

The  Scholiast  on  Fiacc  makes  Patrick  go  to  the  islands 
of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea  after  Pope  Celestine  refused  to  confer 
episcopal  orders  upon  him,  and  "  it  was  then  he  found  the 
Staff  of  Jesus  in  the  island  called  Alanensis,  near  Mount 
Arnon  "  or  Armon,  as  it  is  in  Colgan — but  here  we  have  no 
reference  to  Capua. 

The  Third  Life,  however,  implies  that  the  Angel  took 
Patrick  from  Rome  to  Mount  Arnon — ar  mair  Lethe — 
over  the  rock  of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea,  in  the  city  called 
Capua,  and  there,  like  Moses,  he  saluted  the  Lord,  but 
no  reference  is  made  to  the  Staff  of  Jesus.  Ar  mair  Lethe, 
'  on  the  Sea  of  Lethe,'  seems  to  be  an  insertion  in  Irish 
explanatory  of  the  other  phrase,  '  Super  petram  maris 
Tyrrheni.'  The  word  Lethe  is  generally  taken  to  mean 
Latium,  but  it  is  really  an  Irish  form  of  the  word  Gallia, 
as  we  have  explained  elsewhere. 

It  is  clear  from  these  passages,  especially  the  last, 
that  the  city  called  Capua  was  on  the  Tyrrhene  Sea, 
not  an  inland  city  like  the  capital  of  Campania,  and  it 
must  be  sought  near  the  coast,  or  on  the  coast,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  some  island.  Colgan  conjectures  that 
it  was  Caieta,  where  there  was  certainly  a  famous  and  con- 
venient port,  and  a  strong  city  on  the  sea,  and  although 
much  south  of  the  Tiber  it  would  still  be  the  best  place 
for  a  coasting  vessel  to  find  refuge  if  flying  before  a  storm. 

^  Tyrrheno  mari  vicinum  secus  civitatem  Capuam, 


CHAPTER    VI. 
ST.  PATRICK'S  MISSION  AND  CONSECRATION. 

I. — The  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick. 

Some  few  Protestant  writers  in  our  own  times  have,  for 
controversial  purposes,  sought  to  obscure  or  deny  what 
is  called  the  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick ;  that  is,  his 
commission  from  vSt.  Celestine  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
Ireland.  Their  arguments  are  purely  negative ;  that  is, 
from  the  silence  of  certain  writers,  who,  in  their  opinion, 
might  be  expected  to  make  special  reference  to  the  Roman 
Mission,  they  infer  that  it  had  no  existence.  When 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  vast  array  of  ancient  authori- 
ties that  expressly  assert  in  various  ways  this  Roman 
Mission  of  St.  Patrick,  they  try  to  explain  them  away  as 
the  inventions  of  a  later  age.  These  writers  have  also 
sought  to  mix  up  the  acts  of  Palladius  and  Patrick  with 
a  view  to  throw  doubt  on  both,  and,  ignoring  the  sub- 
stantial agreement  in  the  ancient  Lives  of  our  Saint, 
they  seek  to  magnify  the  minor  points  of  difference  for 
the  purpose  of  throwing  discredit  on  them  all.  Really 
learned  men,  like  Usher  and  Ware,  never  lent  their  autho- 
rity to  controversial  arguments  of  this  kind.  They  set  out 
the  facts  as  they  found  them,  and  let  history  speak  for 
itself. 

We  merely  propose  here  to  give  an  outline  of  the  ques- 
tion, so  that  any  impartial  reader  can  judge  for  himself  the 
real  points  at  issue. 

First  of  all  we  may  point  out  that  the  practice  of  get- 
ting a  Roman  Commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  new 
countries  existed  even  so  early  as  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century.  St.  Ninian  of  Candida  Casa  was  probably  the 
earliest  British  missionary  of  whom  we  have  any  certain 
information.  He  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Southern  Picts, 
*  a  most  reverend  bishop  and  holy  man  of  the  British 
nation,'  ^  and  he  founded  his  Church  of  Candida  Casa,  as 

^  Bede,  E.  H.,  III.  4.  Ninian  studied  several  years  in  Rome,  was  conse- 
crated by  Pope  Siricius  himself,  and  sent  by  liim  as  Bishop  to  the  western 
part  of  Britain.  On  his  journey  to  Scotland  he  called  to  see  St.  Martin  of 
Tours,  from  whom  he  got  masons  to  build  the  Candida  Casa  at  Whitbern.  So 
it  was  Rome  gave  him  his  mission. 


HIS    ROMAN   MISSION.  10$ 

Bede  expressly  tells  us,  towards  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century.  But  though  a  Briton,  he  was  regularly  instructed 
at  Rome  in  the  faith  and  mysteries  of  the  truths*  and  came 
from  Rome  with  apostolic  authority  to  preach  to  his 
countrymen  in  North  Britain.'  ^  So  far  Bede.  ^ 

When  the  Pelagian  heresy  was  rampant  in  the  British 
Church,  we  know  that  St.  Germanus  of  Auxerre  was  sent 
as  his  legate,  vice  sua,  by  St.  Celestine,  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  heresy  in  Britain.  Although  requested  by  a 
synod  of  Gallican  Bishops  to  undertake  the  weighty  task, 
Germanus  would  not  do  so  without  the  express  authority 
of  the  Pope,  as  the  contemporary  Chronicle  of  Prosper 
tells  us.^ 

Again,  when  Germanus  reported  the  state  of  Ireland 
to  the  Pope,  and  suggested,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  the 
propriety  of  sending  missionaries  there,  it  was  Celestine 
who  commissioned  Palladius  to  go  to  Ireland,  ordaining 
him  a  Bishop  with  plenary  authority  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  the  Irish  Scots,  as  the  same  Prosper  asserts,  and  the 
scholars  of  every  school  admit. 

Later  on,  too,  when  the  pagan  Saxons  of  England  were 
to  be  converted,  everyone  knows  that  it  was  Pope  St. 
Gregory  who  sent  St.  Augustine  and  his  companions  to 
carry  out  that  glorious  mission,  which  they  did  with  such 
marvellous  success.  Seeing,  then,  that  it  was  from  Rome 
that  all  the  great  missionaries  whom  we  have  named  were 
sent  to  all  parts  of  the  British  Islands,  is  it  not  natural  to 
expect  that  St.  Patrick  likewise  would  seek  his  commission 
from  the  Pope,  just  as  his  master  Germanus  had  done  before 
him,  and  Palladius  also,  his  immediate  predecessor  in  the 
Irish  Mission  ? 

And,  as  a  fact,  we  find  that  all  the  ancient  writers 
without  exception,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  who  refer  to 
the  question,  as  well  as  all  the  greatest  modern  scholars, 
expressly  declare  that  St.  Patrick  was  sent  to  preach 
in  Ireland  by  Pope  Celestine.  Colgan  gives  all  these 
testimonies  at  length;  we  can  only  touch  upon  them 
briefly. 

Perhaps  the  oldest,  and  certainly  not  the  least  authorita- 


^  Prosper,  in  his  Chronicle,  sub  anno  429,  says  that  *  Pope  Celestine,  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  deacon  Palladius,  sent  Germanus  as  his  representative, 
wr^  5««,  to  Britain.'  And  again  in  his  work,  Contra  Collatorem,  A.D,  432, 
he  speaks  of  Celestine  as  striving  to  keep  the  Roman  island  of  Britain  Catholic 
by  this  mission  of  Germanus. 


lOO         ST.    PATRICKS   MISSION    AND   CONSECRATION. 

tive,  are  the  statements  in  the  Book  of  Armagh.     Tirechan 
says  : — 

In  the  ninth  ^  year  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  Patrick  the 
Sishop  is  sent  to  teach  the  Scots  by  Celestine,  I^ishop  of  Rome. 
This  Celestine  was  the  forty-second'^  Bishop  from  Peter  the  Apostle 
in  the  city  of  Rome.  Palladius  the  Bishop  is  first  sent,  who  was  called 
Patrick  by  another  name ;  he  suffered  martyrdom  amongst  the 
Scots,  as  the  ancient  holy  men  tell.  Then  the  second  Patrick  is 
sent  by  God's  Angel,  Victor  by  name,  and  by  Pope  Celestine ;  in 
him  all  Ireland  believed^  and  he  baptized  almost  the  whole 
country. 

The  original  Latin  of  this  passage  is  found  in  the 
fifteenth  folio  of  the  Book  of  Armagh,^  in  the  original 
hand  of  the  first  copyist.  Bishop  Tirechan  is  there  stated 
to  have  written  these  collections  from  the  dictation,  or 
copied  them  from  the  Book  of  his  own  tutor,  Bishop  Ultan 
of  Ardbraccan,  who  died  A.D.  656.  They  were,  therefore, 
written  by  Tirechan  before  that  date,  and  copied  into  the 
Book  of  Armagh,  as  we  have  it,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
ninth  century.  It  is  not  likely  that  either  of  these  holy 
bishops  invented  the  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick.  They 
simply  record  the  ancient  traditions  of  Ardbraccan  and 
Armagh,  if  they  did  not  take  the  statement  from  the  now 
lost  work  written  by  Patrick  himself,  called  the  '  Com- 
memoratio  Laborum,'  which  Tirechan  had  before  him,  and 
which  seems  to  have  been  different  from  The  Confession, 
called  by  Tirechan  'Scriptio  Sua.'*  This  clear  and 
definite  statement  of  Tirechan  is  of  itself  quite  enough  to 
settle  the  question  of  the  Roman  Mission.  There  is  not  a 
shadow  of  reason  for  rejecting  its  accuracy. 

In  the  Book  of  Armagh  we  also  find  reference  to  the 
Sayings  of  St.  Patrick — well-known  maxims  of  his  handed 
down  by  tradition.  One  of  these  clearly  shows  that  he 
travelled  much  in  Italy,  as  well  as  in  Gaul  and  the  Islands 


^  In  the  MS.  it  is  XIIT.,  but  this  is  a  mistake  of  the  transcriber  in  the 
numerals.  Theodosius  became  sole  Emperor  in  423,  on  the  death  of 
Arcadius. 

'^ Rede  'forty-five'  ;  the  mistake  arises  from  the  copyist  taking  V.  for  II. 

^  Here  is  the  entire  passage  : — Tertio  decimo  anno  Teothosii  imperatoris 
a  Celestino  episcopo  Papa  Romae  Patritius  episcopus  ad  doctrinam  Scotorum 
mittitur.  Qui  Celestinus  XLV.  episcopus  fuit  a  Petro  Aposlolo  in  Urbe  Roma. 
Palladius  episcopus  primo  mittitur,  qui  Patritius  alio  nomine  appellabatur,  qui 
martyiium  passus  est  apud  Scottos,  ut  tradunt  Sancti  antiqui.  Deinde  Patri- 
tius Secundus  ab  an^elo  Dei,  Victor  nomine,  et  a  Celestino  Papa  mittitur,  cui 
Hibernia  tota  credidit,  qui  eani  pene  totam  baptizavit. 

^  See  Stokes'  Tnparlite,  Vol.  I.,  xci. 


HIS   ROMAN    MISSION.  IO7 

of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea.  **  I  had,"  the  Apostle  used  to  say, 
**  the  fear  of  God,  the  companion  of  my  way,  through  the 
Gauls  and  Italy,  and  in  the  Islands  which  are  in  the 
Tyrrhene  Sea."  ^  It  would  be  incredible  if  he  travelled 
through  Italy  without  going  to  Rome ;  and  going  to  Rome 
he  would  naturally  claim  the  sanction  of  the  Pope  for  that 
missionary  journey  to  Ireland  which  he  contemplated.  The 
man  who  always  called  upon  his  flock  '  to  be  Romans  as 
they  were  Christians' — ut  Christiani  ita  et  Romamni  sitis 
— was  not  likely  to  set  out  from  Italy  to  preach  the  Gospel 
in  Ireland  without  the  sanction  of  the  Pope  ;  and  as  a  fact 
all  our  ancient  authorities  are  unanimous  in  asserting  this 
Roman  Mission. 

Take  first  Fiacc's  Irish  Hymn.  There  we  are  told  that 
Patrick  abode  with  Germanus  in  Southern  Letha,^  and 
there  studied  the  canons  under  Germanus,  who  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Pope  Celestine  ]  and  the  ancient  Scholiast 
on  Fiacc  adds  that  'it  was  Celestine,  the  successor  of  St.  ./ 
Peter,  who  conferred  the  name  Patritius  on  our  Apostle' ;  V 
and,  morever,  that  it  was  at  the  suggestion  of  Germanus 
Patrick  went  to  Celestine  to  receive  Orders  and  authority 
from  him  to  preach  in  Ireland.  '  Go,'  he  said,  '  to  Celes- 
tine that  he  may  confer  Orders  upon  thee,  for  he  is  the 
proper  person  to  confer  them ' — that  is,  to  authorise  the 
ordination  of  St.  Patrick  for  the  Irish  mission.  We  also 
know  that  such  was  the  discipline  of  the  fifth  century  ;  for 
no  Metropolitan  but  the  Pope  had  authority  to  ordain 
bishops  for  any  mission  outside  their  own  provinces.^ 

The  Second  Life  in  Colgan  expressly  states  that  after 
the  failure  of  the  mission  of  Palladius  in  Ireland,  St. 
Patrick,  '  by  command  of  Pope  Celestine/  crossed  over 
to  Ireland  and  landed  at  Inver  Dea.'* 

The  Third  Life  makes  the  same  statement  in  different 
words — that  Patrick,  by  command  of  Pope  Celestine, 
returned  to  this  Island.^ 


^  Timorem  Dei  habui  ducem  itineiis  mei  per  Gallias  atque  Italiam, 
etiam  in  insulis  quae  sunt  in  mari  Tyrrheno. 

'^  Letha,  in  our  opinion,  means  not  Latium  or  Italia,  but  Gallia,  as  we  have 
already  explained. 

^  In  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Bishops  of  Southern  France,  Celestine  says — 
'  Let  the  Metropolitans  be  content  with  their  respective  bounds,'  and  not 
meddle  with   other  provinces.     See  Diet.   Chris.  Biog. 

*  Patritius  ab  eodem  Celestino  in  Hiberniam  transmissus  pervenit  ad 
ostium  ejusdem  fluminis  Deae. 

^  Tunc  S.  Patritius  ex  imperio  Papai  Celeslini  reversus  est  ad  hanc 
insulam. 


I08         ST.    PATRICK'S    MISSION    AND    CONSECRATION. 

The  Fourth  Life,  attributed  to  St.  Aileran  the  Wise,  tells 
us  that  Patrick,  on  his  arrival  in  Rome,  was  honourably 
received  by  the  holy  Pope  Celestine,  and  getting  relics  of 
the  saints,  was  sent  by  the  same  Pope  Celestine  to  Ireland.^ 

The  P'ifth  Life  by  Probus  goes  into  more  minute 
details,  and  represents  St.  Patrick  as  failing  at  first  to 
convert  the  Irish,  then  begging  God  to  direct  his  way  to 
the  Holy  Roman  See,  that  he  might  receive  there  proper 
authority  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland  *  He  then  came 
to  Rome,  the  head  of  all  the  Churches,  and  having  received 
there  the  Apostolic  Benediction,  he  returned  once  more  to 
Ireland  to  preach  the  Gospel.' 

The  author  of  the  Sixth  Life,  Jocelyn,  enlarges  on  the 
Roman  Mission,  showing  that  it  was  the  universal  belief  in 
the  twelfth  century ;  and  the  author  of  the  Tripartite  Life 
attributed  to  St.  Evin  is  equally  explicit  in  asserting  the 
Roman  Mission  so  early  as  the  seventh  or  eighth  century,  if 
we  accept  O'Curry's  opinion  of  the  antiquity  of  this  ancient 
Irish  Life. 

The  author  of  the  Irish  Life  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  declares 
likewise  that  Patrick  was  received  with  honour  by  the 
Romans,  and  '  by  their  Abbot,  whose  name  was  Celestine,' 
and  that  it  was  *  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the  Synod  of 
Rome  that  he  came  to  Ireland.'  So  we  see  that  every 
single  ancient  Life  of  our  Apostle  makes  reference  to  his 
Roman  Mission.  So  likewise  Marianus  Scotus  and  Nennius 
formally  assert  the  Roman  Mission  of  Patrick  as  an  un- 
questionable historical  fact. 

Hence  it  is  that  Protestant  scholars,  like  Usher  and 
Stokes,  have  generally  admitted  it,  and  that  no  one  down 
to  our  own  time  called  the  ancient  authorities  in  question 
regarding  this  Roman  Mission  of  St.  i'atrick. 

And  now,  why  should  this  great  host  of  ancient 
authorities  who  affirm  the  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick  be 
summarily  ignored  ?  Because,  forsooth,  they  are  not  con- 
temporary authorities,  and  the  contemporary  authorities 
whom  we  should  expect  to  speak  are  silent  on  the  question. 
A  negative  argument  is  always  unsafe,^  but  let  us  ask  why 
should  we  expect  them  to  speak  on  this  particular  question. 


^  Ab  eodem  Papa  C^^elestino  in  Hiberniam  missus  est. 

2  "  An  argument  from  silence,"  says  Professor  Stokes,  of  Trinity  College, 
in  his  article  on  St.  Patrick  {Diet,  of  Ch.  Biog.),  "is  notoriously  an  unsafe  one  ; 
there  are  so  many  reasons  which  may  lead  a  writer  to  pass  over  even  a  burning 
topic  in  his  day."  This  saying  of  Stokes  is  of  itself  a  sufficient  refutation  of 
Todd's  negative  argument. 


HIS   ROMAN   MISSION  IO9 

The  first  expected  to  speak  would  be  St.  Patrick  him- 
self in  the  Confession.  *  The  one  object  of  the  writer  was 
to  defend  himself  from  the  charge  of  presumption  in  having 
undertaken  such  a  work  as  the  Conversion  of  the  Irish, 
rude  and  unlettered  as  he  was.  Had  he  received  a  regular 
commission  from  the  See  of  Rome,  that  fact  alone  would 
have  been  an  unanswerable  reply.'  ^  Here  one  may  ask — 
why  would  it  have  been  unanswerable  except  for  this  one 
reason,  that  the  contemporaries  of  St.  Patrick  universally 
recognised  the  authority  and  supremacy  of  the  Roman 
See — an  admission  on  which  we  may  observe,  it  is  satis- 
factory to  find  a  writer  like  Todd  basing  his  argument. 

Now,  as  a  fact,  St.  Patrick  in  the  Confession  seeks  not 
only  to  vindicate  himself  from  the  charge  of  presumption 
in  undertaking  to  preach  in  Ireland,  but  likewise  from  the 
charge  of  rashness  in  exposing  his  life  to  danger  amongst 
a  barbarous  people,  and  also  from  any  suspicion  of  self- 
seeking  in  preaching  the  Gospel  in  Ireland.  He  vindicates 
himself  against  all  these  charges,  mainly  by  showing  that 
he  had  a  direct  and  immediate  mission  from  God  Himself 
to  preach  in  Ireland  ;  a  command  which  he  dare  not  disobey, 
and  which  was  again  and  again  intimated  to  him  by  God's 
Angel,  Victor,  by  the  voices  of  the  youth  from  Focluth 
Wood,  which  were  always  ringing  in  his  ears,  as  well  as  by 
the  personal  command  of  Christ  ^  Himself.  He  then 
points  to  the  marvellous  success  of  his  mission  to  prove 
that  God  was  with  him  in  his  work,  and  to  his  constant 
refusal  to  accept  the  generous  gifts  of  the  people,  lest 
anyone  there  or  elsewhere  should  question  his  disinter- 
estedness in  preaching  the  Gospel.  He  sought  neither 
honour,  nor  wealth,  nor  influence  in  Ireland  ;  nothing  but 
the  souls  of  the  people.  Everyone  knew  he  was  sent  to 
Ireland  by  the  Pope ;  no  one  questioned  or  denied  his 
mission  from  Celestine.  Why,  then,  should  he  appeal  to 
his  mission  from  Celestine  when  adopting  this  line  of 
argument  ?  To  appeal  to  a  mission  from  man,  when  he 
was  claiming  an  immediate  mission  from  God,  would 
rather  weaken  than  strengthen  that  argument. 

Hence  St.  Patrick  makes  no  reference  to  the  Pope,  nor 
any  reference  to  St.  Germanus,  the  greatest  and  holiest 
prelate   of   the   time,   his   teacher,    too,    and   adviser.     If 


^  Todd's  S/.  Patrick. 

^  Non  ego  sed  Christus  Dominus  qui  mihi  imperavit  ut  venirem,  et  esse 
me  cuiu  illis  residuum  vitae  meoe. 


no         ST.    PATRICK  S   MISSION   AND   CONSECRATION. 

Todd's  line  of  argument  were  good,  that  Patrick  makes  no 
reference  to  a  mission  from  Rome,  because  there  was  none, 
might  we  not,  at  least,  expect  that  Patrick  would  say,  *  I 
came  to  Ireland  with  the  full  sanction  and  approval  of  the 
great  and  holy  Germanus,  whose  pupil  I  had  been  for  so 
many  years.'  But  he  does  not.  He  appeals  to  no  mission 
from  man,  because  he  claimed  a  direct  and  immediate 
mission  from  God ;  and  he  gave  all  his  thought  and  attention 
to  prove  the  existence  of  that  divine  mission  by  narrating 
the  marvellous  supernatural  facts  of  his  own  life  history,  as 
well  as  the  undeniable  success  of  his  missionary  labours  in 
Ireland.  A  whole  nation  turning  from  the  worship  of 
idols  through  his  ministry  to  serve  the  true  and  living 
God  was  the  all-sufficient  refutation  of  the  charges  made 
against  him,  and  a  complete  proof  of  the  supernatural 
mission  which  he  claimed  for  himself.  To  a  man  who 
argues  in  this  way  it  would  only  weaken  his  case  to  say — 
'  I  was  sent  to  Ireland  by  the  Pope' — a  fact  which  every- 
one knew,  and  which  one  knew  also  did  not  suffice  to 
make  the  mission  of  Palladius  successful  in  Ireland,  nor  his 
own  prudence  unquestionable.  But  Patrick  had  the  divine 
call ;  to  that  he  appealed,  and  rightly  too  ;  for  it  was  that, 
we  know,  which  made  his  mission  a  success. 

But  it  has  been  said — Secundinus,  his  nephew,  In  the 
Hymn  which  he  composed  in  praise  of  Patrick,  makes  no 
mention  of  the  Roman  Mission.  It  is  quite  sufficient  reply 
to  say  that  Secundinus  confines  himself  to  describing  the 
virtues  of  St.  Patrick's  character,  which  he  does  fully  ;  but 
he  does  not  narrate  a  single  fact  in  his  history  beyond  the 
one  central  fact  that  he  preached  in  Ireland.  He  does  not 
refer  to  his  birth-place,  or  parents,  or  country,  or  captivity, 
or  education  in  Gaul,  or  contests  with  Laeghaire's  Druids, 
or  to  any  other  single  one  of  the  well-known  facts  in  the  life 
of  our  great  Apostle.  Why,  then,  should  he  go  out  of  his 
way  to  refer  to  the  Roman  Mission  ?  It  would  not  be  in 
place,  but  decidedly  out  of  place,  in  the  Hymn,  as  it  has 
been  written  by  Secundinus.  But,  it  is  said.  Prosper  the 
Chronicler  makes  no  reference  to  the  Mission  of  Patrick, 
although  he  refers  to  that  of  Palladius  in  431.  '  If  he  knew 
anything  of  Patrick's  Mission  in  432  he  would  have  certainly 
referred  to  it.'  Perhaps  he  would  if  he  did  know  it ;  but 
it  seems  he  knew  nothing  of  the  issue  of  the  mission  of 
Palladius,  which  he  regards  as  successful  ;  for  he  says  that 
by  that  mission  Celestine  made  christian  the  barbaric 
island  (of  the  Scots),  which  we  know  was  not  the  fact ;  or, 


i 


HIS   ROMAN    MISSION.  I  I  I 

it  may  be  that  the  Chronicler  contented  himself  with 
announcing  the  mission  of  the  first  Bishop  sent  to  con- 
vert the  Scots,  implying  thereby  that  Celestine,  through 
him  and  his  successors,  had  christianised  the  island.  The 
Chronicle  is  very  brief  and  by  no  means  full.  So  one 
pregnant  entry  was  made  to  do  all  he  wanted,  that  is  to 
give  the  credit  of  christianising  Ireland  to  Celestine,  who 
certainly  deserved  it. 

It  is,  however,  very  doubtful  if  Prosper  ever  heard  of 
the  failure  of  the  mission  of  Palladius,  or  the  subsequent 
mission  of  St.  Patrick,  for  the  work  in  its  first  form  closes 
in  433,  when  Patrick  had  only  begun  his  preaching  in 
Ireland.  The  Chronicle  was  continued  afterwards  to  A. D. 
444,  and  again  to  455,  but  whether  by  Prosper  himself  or 
by  other  hands  is  doubtful.  It  is  said  by  some  that  Prosper 
died  in  433,  before  he  could  by  any  possibility  have  heard 
anything  of  the  success  of  Patrick's  mission.  To  base  an  argu- 
ment on  the  silence  of  Prosper  in  these  circumstances  does 
not  argue  either  critical  acumen  or  controversial  candour. 

But  Fiacc,  the  disciple  of  Patrick,  is  silent  as  to  the 
Roman  Mission,  although  he  gives  in  the  metrical  Life  the 
leading  facts  of  St.  Patrick's  history.  Yes,  he  gives  some, 
but  he  certainly  does  not  give  them  all  ;  for  the  whole 
poem  consists  of  sixty-eight  lines  only.  He  merely  refers 
in  the  briefest  fashion  to  the  chief  events  in  the  Apostle's 
life,  hinting  at  rather  than  expressly  stating  them.  And  so, 
too,  he  seems  to  hint  at  the  Roman  Mission,  for  we  are 
told  that  Patrick  went  tar  Elpa,  which  Todd  translates 
*  over  the  Alps,'  and  adds  that  he  was  with  Germanus  in  the 
southern  part  of  Letha,  which  the  same  learned  authority 
renders  Latium,  or,  in  other  words,  the  territory  of  Rome. 
To  cross  the  Alps  and  dwell  in  Latium  implies  clearly 
enough  that  Patrick  was  in  Rome  and  came  to  Ireland 
with  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  whose  name  the  poet  would 
find  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  introduce  into  his  Irish 
metre.  But  if  Fiacc  himself  is  silent  on  the  Roman 
Mission,  his  ancient  Scholiast  is  not ;  for,  commenting  on 
Germanus'  connection  with  Patrick,  he  expressly  says  that 
Germanus  told  Patrick — "  Go  to  Celestinus  that  he  may 
confer  Orders  upon  thee,  for  he  is  the  proper  person  to 
confer  them."  So  Patrick  went  to  him,  but  "  he  (the 
Pope)  did  not  at  fii'st  give  him  that  honour,  for  he  had 
previously  sent  Palladius  to  Ireland  to  teach  it  ;  "  but  when 
the  Pope  heard  of  the  failure  of  Palladius  then  he  authorised 
Patrick  to  undertake  the  task. 


112         ST.    PATRICKS   MISSION   AND   CONSECRATION. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  no  sound  argument  car> 
be  deduced  fiom  theallegcd  silence  of  certain  contemporary 
documents  to  overthrow  the  long  array  of  ancient  historical 
testimonies,  derived  from  so  many  different  sources,  which 
expressly  assert  the  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick. 

II.— St.  Patrick's  Episcopal  Consecration. 

This  is  quite  a  different  question  from  St.  Patrick's 
Roman  Mission.  As  Colgan  observes,  all  the  ancient 
authorities — indeed,  all  writers  in  his  time  without  excep- 
tion— admit  the  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick,  but  they 
do  not  quite  agree  as  to  the  question  who  was  the  conse- 
crating prelate,  and  where  the  ceremony  took  place.  The 
Pope  then  claimed,  as  he  now  always  does,  the  right  to- 
institute  bishops  ;  ^  that  is,  he  elects  them  to  the  office  and 
authorises  their  consecration,  but  it  is  only  very  rarely  that 
the  Pope  himself  has  performed  the  ceremony,  either  in 
present  or  past  times. 

Now,  some  ancient  authorities  appear  to  assert  that 
Patrick  was  consecrated  by  St.  Celestine  in  person.  The 
most  important  testimony  to  that  effect  is  the  statement 
in  the  Tripartite.     We  quote  from  the  Irish  text : 

When  Patrick  heard  and  knew  (from  the  messengers  announc- 
ing the  death  of  Palladius)  that  unto  him  God  had  granted  the 
apostleship  of  Ireland,  he  went  thereafter  to  Rome  to  have  Orders 
given  to  him  ;  and  Celestinus,  Abbot  of  Rome,  he  it  is  that  read 
Orders  over  him,  Germanus  and  Amatho,  King  of  the  Romans,, 
being  present  with  them.^ 

We  find  a  statement  in  substance  to  the  same  effect — 
that  is,  that  Patrick  was  consecrated  by  St.  Celestine — 
made  in  several  Breviaries,  which  give  a  special  Office  and 
Lessons  to  St.  Patrick,  notably  in  the  Roman  Breviary, 
the  Rheims  Breviary,  the  Breviary  of  the  Canons  Regular, 
and  also  in  the  Lives  of  several  of  our  Irish  saints,  especi- 
ally St.  Ciaran  of  Saiger  and  St.  Declan  of  Ardmore.. 
Marianus  Scotus,  too,  and   many  later    chroniclers,  who 


^  Innocent  L,  in  his  Letters,  formally  asserts  the  right  to  do  it  directly  or 
indirectly.  See  his  Letters  to  the  African  Bishops,  already  quoted.  But 
frequently  this  right  was  exercised  by  the  Metropolitans,  with  the  sanction  and 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Pope. 

^  It  is  difficult  to  find  an  Amatho,  King  of  the  Romans,  in  genuine  history, 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  Irish  chronicler  here  confused  the  traditional 
account  that  Patrick  was  consecrated  by  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  but. 
through  the  agency  of  Amatorex,  the  Bishop. 


HIS   EPISCOPAL   CONSECRATION.  II 3 

followed  his  authority,  state  the  same  thing.  The  main 
authority  is,  however,  the  Tripartite,  from  which  both 
Scotus  and  his  followers  in  all  probability  borrowed  the 
statement,  and  Jocelyn  may  be  quoted  in  favour  of  the 
same  opinion.  But  it  cannot  be  accepted,  except  in  a  very 
general  sense  not  intended,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  by  the 
author  of  the  Tripartite.  Of  course,  if  St.  Celestine  elected 
St.  Patrick  to  the  episcopal  office  and  authorized  his  con- 
secration for  the  Irish  mission,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  he 
consecrated  him  in  the  sense  that  he  was  responsible  for 
his  consecration,  and  gave  the  necessary  authority  for  per- 
forming the  ceremony. 

But  the  weight  of  ancient  authority  certainly  goes  to 
show  that  St.  Patrick  was  not  consecrated  by  St.  Celestine 
in  person,  nor  consecrated  at  all  in  Rome,  but  in  a  place 
variously  called  Eboria,^  or  Euboria,^  or  Ebmoria,^  and 
by  a  prelate  named  sometimes  Amatus  or  Amator,  but 
much  more  probably  called  Amatorex  by  others,  although 
we  cannot  for  certain  determine  his  See. 

Thus  the  author  of  the  Second  Life  says  that  Patrick 
received  the  Pontifical  grade  from  a  wonderful  man  and 
high  bishop,  Amatorex  by  name,  and  the  place  he  calls 
Eboria.*  The  same  statement  is  made  by  the  author  of 
the  Third  Life  in  almost  the  same  words  ;  ^  but  the  author 
seems  to  imply  that  he  was  ordained  Bishop  before  he  came 
to  St.  Celestine  to  get  his  mission,  not  afterwards,  as  the 
author  of  the  Second  Life  more  correctly  states.  The 
Fourth  Life  says  that  Patrick  first  went  to  Rome,  and  got 
due  licence  from  the  Apostolic  See,  in  virtue  of  which  he 
set  out  for  Britain,  and  had  actually  arrived  at  the  sea  be- 
tween Gaul  and  Britain,  when  he  met  the  messengers 
announcing  the  death  of  Palladius.  Thereupon  they  turned 
aside  from  their  way  to  Amatorex,  a  bishop  dwelling  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  there  Patrick  received  episcopal 
grade  ;  but  the  strange  statement  immediately  follows — 
which  seems  to  be  an  interpolation — that   '  Patrick    was 


^  By  the  authors  of  the  Second  and  Fourth  Lives, 

^  By  Probus  in  the  Fifth  Life. 

^  In  the  Book  of  Armagh. 

"*  Audita  itaque  niorte  Palladii  in  Brittania  (quia  discipuli  ejus  Augustinus 
et  Benedictus  et  caeteri  redeuntes  retulerunt  in  Eboria  de  morte  ejus).  Patri- 
tius  et  qui  cum  eo  erant  declinaverunt  iter  ad  quendam  mirabilem  hominem 
summum  episcopum  Auiathorcgem  in  propinquo  habitantem,  etc. 

^Patritius  quoquc  declinavit  iter  ad  quendam  mirabilem  hominem  sum- 
mum  episcopum  Amatorem  nomine  ;  ab  illo  S.  Patrilius  gradum  episcopalem 
accepit. 

I 


114         ST.    PATRICK'S   MISSION    AND   CONSECRATION. 

ordained  in  presence  of  Celestine  and  Theodosius  the 
younger,  King  of  the  world  ;  and  Amatorex,  Bishop  of 
Auxerre,  is  the  bishop  who  ordained  him.'  The  last 
sentence  looks  very  like  an  interpolation  from  another 
source  by  some  one  who  was  not  satisfied  with  the  accuracy 
of  the  previous  statement.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  clearly  in- 
correct, for  Germanus  was  certainly  Bishop  of  Auxerre  at 
the  time  of  Patrick's  consecration,  since  Amator,  his  pre- 
decessor, had  died  in  A.D.  418. 

Probus  does  not  name  the  place  of  consecration,  but 
says,  like  the  rest,  that  Patrick,  when  the  message  of  the 
death  of  Palladius  was  brought  to  him,  turned  aside  from 
his  journey,  and  was  ordained  by  an  admirable  bishop,  who 
was  a  man  of  great  sanctity,  Amator  by  name.  Jocelyn, 
in  the  Sixth  Life,  merely  says  that  Celestine,  after  consider- 
able delay,  when  at  length  he  heard  of  the  death  of  Palla- 
dius, consecrated  Patrick  a  bishop,  but  whether  with  his 
own  hands  or  not  he  leaves  rather  uncertain.  He  makes 
no  mention,  however,  of  any  other  consecrator,  or  place  of 
consecration,  except  Rome. 

Following,  therefore,  the  weight  of  ancient  authority, 
we  may  accept  it  as  fairly  certain  that  Patrick  was  not 
consecrated  by  St.  Celestine  in  person  at  Rome,  but  by 
some  prelate  named  Amator,  or  Amatorex,  at  a  place 
called  Ebmoria,  or  Euboria,  an  episcopal  city,  which  it  is 
now  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  i(^eiitify. 

It  would  be  very  satisfactory  if  we  cduld  with  certainty 
identify  this  Amatorex  and  Ebmoria  ;  but  we  fear  it  is  no 
longer  possible  to  do  so  with  certainty.  The  ablest  scholars 
have  held  different  opinions  in  the  matter ;  and  it  is  very 
doubtful  if  ever  the  question  can  be  settled  satisfactorily,  as 
these  opinions  are  based  on  mere  conjecture. 

Colgan,  whose  views  are  entitled  to  great  weight,  seems 
to  think  that  Eboria — the  form  of  the  word  which  he  favours 
— must  be  sought  for  amongst  the  Gallic  tribe  called  by 
Caesar  the  Eburones,  who  dwelt  between  the  Rhine  and  the 
Meuse  ;  and  he  makes  x^matorex  either  Bishop  of  Treves 
or  Tongres.  His  chief  reason  is  that  the  Fourth  Life 
brings  Patrick  to  the  sea  between  Gaul  and  England,  where 
he  heard  of  the  death  of  Palladius  ;  and  thereupon  '  he 
turned  aside '  to  a  bishop  dwelling  in  the  neighbourhood, 
from  whom  he  received  episcopal  consecration  in  virtue  of 
the  Pope's  authority,  which  was,  however,  conditional  on 
the  receipt  of  news  of  the  death  of  Palladius,  whence  he 
infers  that  Eboria — perhaps  Liege — was  the  place  to  which 


HIS   EPISCOPAL   CONSECRATION.  II5 

the  message  was  brought,  and  Treves  or  Tongres  would, 
in  that  case,  be  the  most  Hkely  city  where  he  could  find  a 
bishop  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Lanigan  hesitatingly  suggests  Evreux,  the  capital  of 
the  tribe,  called  anciently  Eburovices,  who  were  a  sub- 
division of  the  Gallic  Auterci.  They  certainly  dwelt  near 
the  Channel ;  but  this  is  the  only  reason  that  can  be  alleged 
in  favour  of  identifying  Eboria  with  Ebroica,  which  appears 
to  have  been  the  ancient  name  of  Evreux. 

The  BoUandists  think  that  Eporedia,  now  called  Ivrea, 
not  far  from  Turin  in  the  north  of  Italy,  was  the  Eboria 
referred  to  in  the  Lives.  Cardinal  Moran  defends  this 
view  with  much  ingenuity,  and  there  are  many  things  to 
be  said  in  its  favour.  It  was  situated  in  a  very  strong 
position  on  the  river  Duria,  at  the  mouth  of  the  picturesque 
Val  d'Aosta,  and  thus  commanded  two  of  the  most  fre- 
quented passes  over  the  Alps.  It  was  a  natural  place  for 
Patrick  to  rest  on  his  return  journey  from  Rome,  and  also 
a  natural  place  for  him  to  meet  the  two  messengers, 
Augustine  and  Benedict,  who,  after  crossing  the  Alps, 
were  now  on  their  way  to  announce  the  death  of  Palladius 
to  the  Pope.  They  could  not  pass,  so  to  speak,  without 
meeting  each  other,  for  the  narrow  Roman  bridge  over 
the  river,  which  still  exists,  was  carefully  guarded,  and 
strangers  would  be  required  to  declare  themselves.  The 
Bishop  to  whom  *  they  turned  aside '  was,  Cardinal 
Moran  thinks,  the  great  Maximus  of  Turin,  which  is  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood.  So  the  phrase  that  he  was 
ordained  *  a  Maximo  '  would  not  differ  much  from  '  ab 
Amatore,*  and  might  be  mistaken  for  the  latter.  The 
name  Eporedia,  in  the  process  of  corruption,  might  easily 
become  Eboria,  before  it  was  still  further  shortened  into 
Ivrea. 

Ivrea  is  still  an  interesting  and  important  town  of  some 
8,000  inhabitants.  It  was  certainly,  so  to  speak,  the  gate 
to  and  from  the  Mount  St.  Bernard  Passes,  and  hence  was 
always  an  important  station.  It  has  now  a  double  interest 
for  Irish  Catholics,  for  it  was  there  the  Blessed  Thady 
McCarthy  died  on  his  homeward  journey  from  Rome,  and 
in  the  Cathedral  the  great  part  of  his  holy  relics  were,  till 
quite  recently,  preserved.  We  had  the  privilege  of  vene- 
rating them  ourselves  in  November,  1895.  The  chief  pur- 
pose of  our  visit  was  to  see  if  we  could  find  any  trace  of  St. 
Patrick  in  the  ancient  city.  The  Bishop,  who  received  us 
with  the  greatest  kindness,  knew  nothing  of  any  traditions 


Il6         ST.    PATRICK'S    MISSION   AND   CONSECRATION. 

connected  with  the  Apostle  of  Ireland — they  all  concerned 
the  Blessed  Thadeo.  But  the  place  is  exceedingly  inter- 
esting. It  is  a  neat  and  thriving  town,  beautifully  situated 
under  the  roots  of  the  Alps,  well  cleansed  and  cared  for. 
The  Cathedral  is  a  fine  building,  close  to  the  episcopal 
palace,  and  both  are  situated  near  the  ancient  castle  which 
commanded  the  pass  over  the  river  from  the  days  of 
Augustus  to  the  present  time. 

The  one  great  difficulty,  in  our  mind,  to  accept  Cardinal 
Moran's  view  is  this,  that  the  Fourth  Life  seems  clearly  to 
state  ^  that  the  messengers  announcing  the  death  of  Palla- 
dius  met  Patrick  near  the  sea  between  Gaul  and  Britain, 
and  it  adds  that  after  having  received  his  episcopal  conse- 
cration, he  forthwith  embarked  for  Ireland,  and  landed,, 
after  a  prosperous  voyage,  at  Inver  Dea. 

Wherever  the  consecration  of  Patrick  may  have  taken 
place,  all  the  authorities  admit  that  Auxilius,  Iserninus, 
and  others  of  Patrick's  religious  household  in  Ireland,  were 
ordained  on  the  same  day.  It  was  on  that  occasion  also 
that  he  received  the  Roman  name  Patricius — '  a  name  of 
power,'  says  the  Tripartite,  '  as  the  Romans  think,  to  wit,, 
one  who  looseth  hostages,'  or  bondsmen.  The  name  was 
appropriate  in  his  case,  because  he  freed  the  Gael  from 
their  slavery  to  the  devil.  It  was  in  reality  a  title  of 
honour  2  instituted  by  Constantine  the  Great,  granted  for 
life,  and  only  to  the  very  highest  officials  of  the  Empire. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  in  order  to  lend  dignity  and 
authority  to  the  courageous  missioner  of  a  barbarous  island 
Pope  Celestine  either  granted  or  procured  this  title  for 
Patrick,  w^hich  thenceforward  became  his  personal  appela^ 
tion,  suggestive  at  once  of  dignity  and  paternal  authority. 

III.— Patrick  Sets  Sail  for  Ireland. 

The  old  Lives  tell  us  a  very  beautiful  story,  that  at  the 
moment  '  the  Orders  were  read  out,'  that  is,  when  the 
solemn  words  of  episcopal  consecration  were  being  pro- 
nounced, three  choirs  were  heard  to  join  in  tuneful 
response — the  choir  of  the  angelsin  heaven,  the  choir  of 
the  Romans  in  the  church,  and  the  choir  of  the  children 
from  the  '  wood  of  Focluth   by  the  far-off  western  sea.' 


^  Pervenit  a  mare  inter  Gallias  et  Britannias  positum,  in  cuj'us  litore 
duos  invenit  viros  inter  se  pugnantes ' — and  then  in  the  next  paragraph  it  tells- 
of  Patrick's  consecration. 

2  See  Du  Cange,  sub  voce. 


HE    SETS   SAIL   FOR    IRELAND.  II ; 

We  are  told  they  responded  to  each  other,  giving  glory  to 
God  in  sweet  strains  on  that  great  day  which  made  Patrick 
the  Bishop  of  the  Gael — a  day  that  brought  joy  to  heaven 
and  to  Erin  and  to  Rome.  And  the  burden  of  the  song 
of  them  all  was,  we  are  told,  the  ancient  strain  which 
Patrick  knew  so  well  : — *  We,  the  children  of  Erin,  beseech 
thee,  holy  Patrick,  to  come  and  walk  once  more  amongst 
us,  and  to  make  us  free.'  Now  the  long-deferred  hope 
was  about  to  be  realized ;  their  pitiful  yearning  was  soon 
to  be  gratified  ;  he  was  coming  quick  as  the  winds  could 
bear  him  over  the  Ictian  waves,  coming  with  power  from 
Heaven  and  from  Rome  to  break  their  bonds  and  set  them 
free. 

The  story  of  Patrick's  leper,  which  is  omitted  in  the 
Tripartite,  is  given  in  several  of  the  Lives,  even  in  the 
Second  and  Third,  which  are  certainly  very  ancient.  We 
are  told  that  when  Patrick  came  to  the  sea-shore  to  embark 
for  Ireland  he  found  a  leper  sitting  on  a  rock  by  the  sea, 
and  the  leper  seeing  Patrick  and  his  companions  about  to 
embark  asked  to  be  taken  along  with  them.  But  Patrick 
had  twenty-four  pilgrims^  with  him,  and  having  apparently 
but  one  ship  they  naturally  objected  to  take  a  leper  into 
their  crowded  little  vessel.  Then  Patrick,  commiserating 
the  leper,  threw  the  portable  altar-stone  on  which  he  used 
to  celebrate  Mass  into  the  sea.  The  flag  floated  on  the 
waves^  and  Patrick  told  the  leper  to  sit  upon  the  stone. 
He  did  so,  and  the  stone  bearing  the  leper  floated  near 
the  ship  until  it  came  to  their  destined  port  in  Ireland  ! 
We  are  not  told  the  place  of  debarkation  for  Ireland. 
They  may  have  first  landed  at  some  place  in  Wales  opposite 
the  Irish  shore  ;  but  it  is  more  likely,  from  the  narrative, 
that  the  party  sailed  direct  from  Gaul  to  Ireland,  which 
was  not  an  unusual  thing  in  those  days.  We  know,  how- 
ever, for  certain  where  Patrick  landed  in  Ireland.  It  was 
the  same  '  well-known  and  opportune  port '  at  which 
Palladius  had  landed  the  year  before;  that  is,  Inver  Dea,^ 
in  the  territory  of  Hy  Cualann  (of  which  Hy  Garachon  was 
a  sub-denomination),  extending  from  Wicklow  Head  to 
Bray  Head,  or  perhaps  to  Dalkey. 

Wicklow  Head  is  the  most  conspicuous  point  on  the 
coast,  and,  moreover,  shelters  the  low  shore  to  the  north 


*  'Peregrini '  they  are  called  in  the  Third  Life. 

^  It  took  its  name  from  Degaid,  the  founder  of  the  local  sub  tribe;  hence 
it  is  properly  called  Inver  Degaid  by  Keating. 


ii8      ST.  Patrick's  mission  and  consecration. 

from  the  prevailing  winds.  It  was  in  the  Inver,  however, 
which  at  present  is  close  to  the  town  of  Wicklow,  that 
Patrick  landed  (but  at  that  time  the  Inver  was  probably 
more  to  the  north)  at  the  place  now  called  the  Broad 
Lough.  It  was  just  such  a  beach  as  suited  the  large  flat- 
bottomed  boats  of  the  time,  for  they  were  not  moored  in 
our  modern  fashion,  but  hauled  up  on  the  strand  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  tides.  When  the  party  landed  they 
were  hungry,  and  sought  to  procure  fish  from  the  fisher- 
men who  were  netting  the  Inver.  But  the  churlish  natives 
refused  to  give  them  any,  and  their  ungracious  refusal  so 
annoyed  the  Saint  that  as  a  punishment  for  their  inhospi- 
tality  he  declared  that  the  river  would  be  barren  of  fish 
for  ever  after,  and  so,  we  are  told,  it  came  to  pass. 

Then  the  Saint  '  going  up  '  ^  from  the  sea-shore,  came 
to  the  place,  called  in  the  Third  Life,  Anat-Cailtrin,^  but 
elsewhere  it  is  called  Rath  Inver,  which  was  probably  the 
chieftain's  fort  on  the  higher  ground  over  the  town  of 
Wicklow.  He  was  the  same  Nathi  mac  Garrchon  who 
had  already  refused  to  allow  Palladius  to  preach  in  his 
territory,  and  now  we  are  told  that  he  '  came  against 
Patrick  ' ;  and  the  Third  Life  adds  that  all  his  people 
gathered  together  and  drove  away  the  Saint  and  his 
followers  with  violence — most  likely  with  a  shower  of 
stones.^  Whereupon  Patrick  '  cursed  '  him  as  an  enemy  of 
the  Gospel,  and  we  are  told  that  the  sea,  in  consequence  of 
that  curse,  covered  all  the  ground  by  the  river  from  which 
they  had  driven  off  the  Saint  and  his  companions,  and 
*  men  will  never  inhabit  it.'  This  curse  and  prophecy 
seem  to  have  been  fulfilled.  It  is  highly  probable  that  in 
Patrick^s  time  the  Vartry  flowed  straight  into  the  sea 
some  three  miles  north  of  Wicklow.  But  a  great  sand-bar 
has  since  formed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  choking  the 
passage  and  inundating  all  the  low  ground  southwards  to 
the  town,  where  the  stream  with  difficulty  forces  its  way 
into  the  sea.  A  local  tradition  tells  that  the  Saint,  on  the 
same  occasion,  declared  they  would  never  have  a  native 
priest  or  bishop  at  Wicklow — and,  says  Shearman,  '  the 


^  Perhaps  it  simply  means  landing — '  ascendens  in  terram.' — Third  Life. 

^  It  is  called  Aonach  Tailltean  by  Jocelyn,  but  incorrectly. 

^  Cell  Mantan  was  the  old  name  of  Wicklow,  that  is,  Mantan's  Church. 
He  was  one  of  Patrick's  disciples,  and  had  his  front  teeth  knocked  out  by  the 
blow  of  a  stone  on  this  occasion — whence  his  name,  the  Toothless, — and 
Kilmantan  Hill  may  be  the  place  where  Patrick  was  at  the  time. 


HE   COASTS   NORTHWARD.  I  I9 

oldest  inhabitants  have  never  heard  of  a  priest  who  was 
born  in  Wicklow ;  the  spell,  they  maintain,  has  yet  to  be 
broken.' 

But  even  amongst  these  rude  men  there  were  children 
of  grace,  for  we  are  told  that,  '  Sinell,  son  of  Finchad,  was 
the  first  who  believed  in  God  in  Ireland  through  Patrick's 
preaching,  wherefore  Patrick  bestowed  a  blessing  on  him 
and  on  his  offspring.'  He  must  have  been  quite  a  child 
at  the  time,  if,  as  Lanigan  conjectures,  he  be  the  St. 
vSinell  the  Elder,  whose  death  is  marked  A.D.  548.  But 
there  is  no  proof  of  identity  between  St.  Patrick's  first 
convert  and  the  St.  Sinell  who  died  in  that  year,  except 
the  name,  and  the  interval  is  too  great  to  suppose  that  he 
could  have  been  an  adult  convert  in  432,  which  was 
certainly  the  year  that  vSt.  Patrick  landed  in  Wicklow. 
We  are  told  that  St.  Celestine  authorised  the  mission  and 
consecration  of  St.  Patrick  just  one  week  before  his  own 
death,  which  took  place  towards  the  end  of  July  (about 
the  26th),  432.  St.  Patrick,  as  the  narrative  indicates, 
made  no  delay  in  setting  out  for  Ireland  immediately  after 
his  consecration,  so  that  we  may  fairly  assume  that  he 
arrived  in  Ireland  some  time  during  the  month  of  Septem- 
ber of  the  same  year,  that  is  432. 

It  appears  that  he  also  made  provision  for  the  few  con- 
verts whom  he  had  made  at  Inver  Dea  during  his  brief 
stay,  by  leaving  his  disciple  Mantan  amongst  them  to  minis- 
ter to  their  spiritual  wants.  But  he  himself  shook  off  the 
dust  of  his  feet  against  them,  and  resolved  to  go  northward, 
and  preach  first  of  all  to  his  old  master,  Milcho.^  *  This 
seemed  to  him  fitting,  since  he  had  once  done  service  to 
Milcho's  body  that  he  should  now  do  service  to  his  soul.' 

IV. — Patrick  Coasts  Northw^ard. 

So  once  more  Patrick  stepped  his  mast  and  put  to  sea, 
sailing  by  the  eastern  coast  towards  the,  north  of  Ireland. 
Speeding  quickly  past  Bray  Head,  and  then  making  for 
Howth,  they  left  the  '  Ford  of  Hurdles '  on  their  left, 
and  rounding  Ireland's  Eye  soon  cast  anchor  in  Inver 
Domnann.  It  does  not  appear  that  Patrick  landed  there, 
but  he  sought  to  get   some  fish,  and  finding  none,  '  he 


1  It  would  appear  that  Patrick  had  an  affectionate  regard  for  Milcho  and 
his  family,  for  his  children  especially,  whom  he  knew  in  their  childhood,  and 
to  whom  he  had  already,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  imparted  the  rudiments  of  the 
Christian  faith. 


I20         ST.    PATRICKS   MISSION    AND   CONSECRATION. 

inflicted  a  curse  upon  it,'  says  the  Tripartite.  The  run 
from  Wicklow  to  Malahide  is  something  like  forty  miles, 
so  that  if  Patrick  and  his  companions  started  early  they 
mif>ht  easily  drop  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Malahide,  for  the 
double  purpose  of  procuring  some  food,  and  riding  safely 
at  anchor  during  the  night.  As  they  got  no  fish,  their 
supper  must  have  been  very  scanty,  consisting  probably  o( 
the  monk's  usual  meal  of  bread  and  water.  So  we  can 
understand  how  Patrick  would  not  be  in  very  good  humour, 
and  would  naturally  say  something  harsh  of  the  Ashless 
bay,  which  his  companions  afterwards,  telling  the  story, 
construed   into  a  *  curse.' 

Inver  Domnann  of  the  Tripartite  is  certainly  the  Bay 
of  Malahide,  but  no  traditions  of  St.  Patrick  linger 
round  it,  and,  as  we  have  said,  the  Saint  most  probably 
did  not  leave  his  vessel  during  his  brief  sojourn  in  the 
estuary. 

He  then  went,  we  are  told,  to  Patrick's  Island,  whence 
he  sent  (messengers)  to  *  Inver  Ainge.'  Patrick's  Island  has 
ever  since  borne  that  name — in  the  Irish,  Inis-Patraic.  It 
is  the  largest  and  most  important  of  three  rocky  islets  lying 
off  the  coast  of  the  Co.  Dublin,  about  ten  miles  north  of 
the  bay  of  Malahide.  They  give  their  own  name,  the 
Skerries,  or  rocky  islands,  to  the  neighbouring  village  on 
the  shore,  of  which  they  are,  indeed,  merely  isolated  pro- 
jections. The  nearest  to  the  shore  was  called  Red  Island, 
and  is  now  connected  with  the  village  by  a  stone  cause- 
way. The  second,  half-a-mile  to  the  east,  is  called  Colt 
Island.  The  third  and  largest,  a  half-a-mile  still  further 
out  to  sea  to  the  east  of  Colt  Island,  is  St.  Patrick's  Island, 
a  grassy  islet,  rising  well  from  the  waves,  and  having  still 
a  ruined  church  and  graveyard  at  its  south-western  angle 
called  after  St.  Patrick.  The  graveyard  is  still  much  used 
for  burials,  yet  no  one  lives  on  the  island,  though  its  size 
is  considerable,  and  the  land  is  regarded  as  very  good  for 
pasture.  In  mediaeval  times  there  was  an  important 
religious  establishment  on  the  island,  and  a  Synod  was  held 
therein  1148,^  most  probably  because  it  was  a  place  of 
security  in  boisterous  times.  It  is  sometimes  called  Holm- 
patrick,  and  as  such  gives  its  name  to  the  parish,  and  a 
title  in  the  peerage  to  one  of  the  Hamilton  family. 


^  Both  St.  Malachy  and  Gelasius,  then  Primate,  were  present  at  this  Synod, 
with  15  bishops  and  200  priests.  St.  Malachy  was  on  his  way  to  Rome,  and 
died  the  same  year  at  Clairvaux,  before  he  arrived  at  the  Eternal  City. 


HE   COASTS    NORTHWARD.  121 

The  island,^  although  not  more  than  two  miles  from  the 
shore,  stands  well  out  to  sea,  and  was  a  conspicuous  and 
inviting  landing-place  for  St.  Patrick  and  his  companions 
coasting  northwards.  Leaving  Malahide  in  the  morning, 
a  fair  v/ind  would,  in  two  hours,  bring  them  to  Skerries. 
Their  supper  the  night  before,  and  probably  breakfast,  too, 
were  light.  So  they  landed  to  try  if  they  could  find  any- 
thing on  the  island  in  the  way  of  food  or  refreshment. 
The  search  appears  to  have  been  unsatisfactory,  for  in  the 
brief  entry  of  the  Tripartite,  we  are  told  that  Patrick  'sent' 
from  the  island  to  Inver  Ainge.  Inver  Ainge,  now  called 
the  Nanny  Water,  can  be  distinctly  seen  from  Skerries  as 
the  most  inviting  landing  place  on  the  shore  of  the  main- 
land. The  coast  here,  from  the  point  of  Skerries,  trends 
away  to  the  north-west — a  low,  sandy  beach,  broken  only 
at  Balbriggan  by  a  small  stream,  but  showing  a  more  pro- 
mising opening  just  three  miles  to  the  north  at  Laytown. 
This  little  estuary  is  Inver  Ainge,  for  the  modern  name, 
the  Nanny  Water,  is  simply  the  ancient  Ainge  in  sound 
with  the  article  prefixed.  There  is  not,  we  believe,  much 
of  anything  to  be  had  there  even  now ;  and  it  would  seem 
there  was  nothing  at  all  for  the  hungry  messengers  of  St. 
Patrick.  The  brief  entry  is  expressive — '  nothing  was 
found  for  him  there.'  So  they  came  back  again  to  Patrick 
with  this  unwelcome  message  for  the  half-famished  Apostle 
and  his  crew,  which  included  at  least  a  score  of  Gauls  and 
Britons — bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  too,  amongst  them. 
Then  Patrick  once  more  grew  angry,  and  he  inflicted  a 
'  curse '  upon  it — the  mouth  of  the  Nanny  Water — and 
'  both  ' — that  is,  apparently,  the  Bay  of  Malahide  and  the 
Nanny  Water — '  are  barren  '  in  consequence.^ 

This  brief  record  incidentally  shows  us  what  Patrick 
and  his  companions  had  to  endure  at  the  very  outset  of 
his  great  task.     They  land  in  Wicklow,  are  received  with 


^  Tirechan  calls  the  Skerries — the  islands  of  Maccu-Chor  ;  the  most  easterly 
is,  he  adds,  Patrick's  Island,  and  he  had  with  him  there  '  a  multitude  of  holy 
bishops,  and  priests,  and  deacons,  and  exorcists,  and  door-keepers  (ostiarii)  of 
the  churches,  and  lectors  and  youths  whom  he  had  ordained ' — for  the  Irish 
mission.  This  shows  that  Patrick  had  a  considerable  number  of  associates  from 
Gaul  and  Britain. 

2  It  would  appear  that  next  morning  at  sun-rise  Patrick  himself  sailed  over 
to  the  mainland,  near  the  estuary  of  the  Delvin  River,  at  Gormanstown,  and 
while  resting  there  sent  some  of  his  men  to  seek  for  food,  for  the  subsequent 
narrative  shows  he  was  there  himself.  This  time  the  weary  travellers  were 
successful.  They  came  to  Sescnen's  house,  where  the  whole  party  were  re- 
ceived with  great  kindness  and  hospitality. 


122         ST.    PATRICK'S    MISSION   AND   CONSECRATION. 

a  shower  of  stones,  and  forced  to  re-embark  ;  they  come  to 
Malahide  after  a  day's  sailing  in  an  open  boat,  but  they 
could  get  no  fish  there.  They  land  at  Inispatrick — no  food 
there  either.  They  send  across  to  the  Nanny  Water,  on 
the  coast  of  the  fertile  plain  of  Bregia — still  no  supplies. 
Surely,  it  was  enough  to  try  the  patience  even  of  saints, 
until,  at  length,  they  found  the  hospitable  home  of  Sescnen, 
which  was  a  paradise  for  the  weary  travellers. 

But  one  remarkable  event  took  place  on  that  fertile 
Bregian  shore,  which  renders  it  an  interesting  spot.  It  is 
the  beautiful  and  touching  story  of  young  Benen,  or 
Benignus,  the  first  Irish  boy  whom  St.  Patrick  tonsured  for 
the  service  of  the  Irish  Church. 

'  There,'  ^  says  the  Tripartite,  *  came  Benen  into  his 
service.'  It  seems  his  father,  Sescnen,  dwelt  near  at  hand — 
in  the  valley  of  the  Delvin  River,  so  far  as  we  can  judge 
— who  hospitably  received  the  Saint  and  his  companions. 
But  Patrick,  weary  of  his  toil  by  land  and  sea,  fell  asleep 
'among  his  household,'  apparently  on  the  green  sward. 
Then  the  youthful  Benen,  pitying  the  wearied  Saint,  came 
and  gathered  up  all  the  odorous  flowers  that  grew  around, 
and  put  them  gently  and  tenderly  in  *  the  cleric's  bosom' 
as  he  slept.  Thereupon  some  of  Patrick's  household  said 
to  Benen — '*  Do  not  that,"  said  they,  "  lest  Patrick  should 
awake."  Whereupon  the  Saint,  perhaps  overhearing  the 
words,  woke  up,  and  seeing-  the  gracious  boy  with  his  hands 
full  of  flowers,  with  which  his  own  bosom  was  also  filled, 
he  said — ''  Trouble  him  not ;  he  will  be  the  Heir  of  m}^ 
Kingdom,"  which  was  afterwards  verified  when  Benignus 
became  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Armagh,  and  the  destined 
successor  of  Patrick  himself,  if  God  had  spared  him  to  sur- 
vive his  holy  and  beloved  master.  But  Providence  willed 
otherwise. 

There,  too,  *  in  Sescnen's  Valley,'  Patrick  built  his 
first  church  in  Ireland,  and  left  in  charge  of  it  two  of  the 
foreign  youths  whom  he  had  ordained.^  From  the  Delvin 
River,  according  to  the  Tripartite,  Patrick  sailed  to  Inver 
Boinde — the  Mouth  of  the  Boyne — where  he  appears  to 
have  rested  for  some  time,  for  we  are  told  that  '  he  found 
fish  therein,  and  he  bestowed  a  blessing  upon  it  (the  estuary), 


^  It  would  appear  from  other  authorities  that  this  incident  took  place  after 
Patrick  returned  from  Saul  to  the  Boyne. 

2  So  Tirechan  expressly  states — "  ^Edificavit  ibi  ecclesiam  primam    .    . 
et  reliquit  ibi  duos  pueros  peregrinos." 


HE   COASTS    NORTHWARD.  1 23 

and  the  estuary  is  fruitful ' — and  we  may  add  that  it  is  so 
down  to  the  present  day.  We  are  also  told  that  at  the 
same  place,  Inver  Boinde,^  he  met  a  wizard  or  Druid  who 
mocked  at  Mary's  virginity.  Patrick  then  sained  the  earth 
— made  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  it — and  '  it  swallowed  up 
the  wizard.'  The  explanation  seems  to  be  that  Patrick 
after  landing  took  occasion  to  explain  the  mysteries  of  the 
new  Gospel  which  he  preached,  dwelling,  of  course,  on  the 
Incarnation  and  the  Virginity  of  the  Mother  of  God,  of 
which  the  whole  Church  was  full  at  the  time,  after  the  great 
Council  of  Ephesus,  two  years  before.  The  Druid  mocked 
at  this  new  doctrine  of  a  Virgin  giving  birth  to  the  Son  of 
God,  and  then  Patrick,  if  we  may  credit  the  Tripartite, 
taught  the  blasphemer  of  Mary  that  lesson  which  has 
never  since  been  forgotten  in  Ireland.  Nowhere  else  has  the 
tender,  passionate  devotion  of  the  people  at  all  times  to  the 
Virgin  Mother  of  God  been  more  conspicuously  dis- 
played. 


^  The  Tripartite  says  that  Patrick  went  to  Inver  Boinde — whilst  Tirechan, 
in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  makes  no  mention  of  Inver  Boinde  ;  but  says  that  on 
the  evening  (of  the  day  he  landed)  he  came  to  Inver  Ailbine,  which  was, 
beyond  doubt,  the  Delvin  River,  as  Reeves  has  shown  {Cohimba^  P^ge  108).  It 
is  not  improbable  that  the  Tripartite  made  Inver  Boinde  out  of  Inver  Ail- 
bine. 


C  HAPTER     VII. 
ST.  PATRICK    IN    ULSTER. 

I. — Patrick  Sails  for  Ulster. 

It  would  appear  that  St  Patrick,  on  this  occasion  of  his 
first  visit,  merely  touched  at  the  Boyne  mouth,  and  then 
continued  his  voyage  to  Ulster.  From  the  Boyne  it  was 
plain  sailing  to  Uladh,  for,  from  the  Boyne  mouth,  he 
clearly  saw  Slieve  Donard  and  all  the  noble  peaks  around 
rising  in  stern  grandeur  from  the  sea.  He  sailed  past 
Connaille,  the  ancient  name  of  Louth,  where  Cuchullin 
once  ruled  in  pride,  and  kept  inviolate  against  all  the 
West  the  passes  through  his  own  Northern  hills.  But 
Patrick  did  not  touch  the  low-lying  shores,  with  their  long 
stretches  of  sandy  flats  on  which,  in  broken  weather,  the 
waves  are  always  dashing  in  white  ridges  of  foam.  Onward 
he  swept  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  great  peaks 
frowning  over  the  sea,  '  past  the  coast  of  Uladh,'  until 
he  anchored  in  Inver  Brenea/  ^  as  the  Irish  Tripartite  has 
it,  '  thence  he  went  to  Inver  Slan,^  and  the  clerics  hid 
their  vessel  in  that  stead,  and  went  on  shore  to  put  their 
weariness  from  them,  and  to  rest.'  And  truly  they  needed 
some  repose  after  the  long  inhospitable  coasting  voyage, 
probably  in  October,  from  Inver  Dea  to  Inver  Brenea.  It 
will  be  observed  that  there  are  two  Invers  mentioned — 
one  Inver  Brenea,  in  which  they  cast  anchor  ;  the  second 
was  clearly  an  inner  estuary — Inver  Slan,  where  they  hid 
their  boat,  and  went  ashore. 

Colgan,  in  the  Latin  Tripartite,  only  mentions  Inver 
Slainge,  but  the  Fourth  Life,  with  great  accuracy,  describes 
Patrick  as  passing  through  a  certain  strait  called  Brenasse, 
and  coming  to  the  mouth  of  the  Slan,  and  there  hiding  his 
ship.^     This  confirms  the  Irish  Tripartite,   and  describes 

^  Muirchu  calls  it  Brene. 

2  Ostium  Slain,  in  Muirchu,  where  Slain  is  genitive  of  Slan. 

^  Muirchu  also  describes  how  they  entered  the  farthest  strait,  which  is 
Brene,  and  afterwards  landed  at  Inver  Slain  (within  the  strait).  '  Ad  extremum 
fretum  quod  est  Brene  se  inmisit,  et  descenderunt  in  terram  ad  ostium  Slain.' 
The  language  is  both  graphic  and  accurate.  It  is  highly  probable  that  this 
took  place  in  October,  432.  Patrick  received  his  Commission  from  St. 
Celestine,  before  the  death  of  the  later  on  July  26th,  432.  It  must  have  taken 
him  some  two  months  to  come  to  Ireland,  where  he  probably  arrived  about  the 
end  of  September.  He  would  then  sail  north,  probably  in  the  beginning  of 
October. 


HE   SAILS   FOR   ULSTER.  1 25 

the  course  of  the  Saint  exactly.  The  fretum,  or  strait,  is 
the  long,  narrow,  rocky  waterway  now  called  the  Strang- 
ford  River,  through  which  the  tide  rushes  to  fill  up  the 
vast  basin  of  Strangford  Lough.  This  was  called,  it 
appears,  of  old,  the  Inver  Brenea,  and  at  the  head  of  this 
ocean  river,  turning  to  the  left  out  of  the  rushing  tide,  the 
Saint  cast  anchor  somewhere  near  Audlcy  Castle,  or 
perhaps  a  little  further  inward.  The  name,  it  appears, 
was  long  retained  in  that  of  the  townland  of  Ballibrene, 
which  was  an  alias  for  the  modern  Ballintogher.^  The 
inner  estuary  of  the  Slan  was  admirably  sheltered  both 
from  wind  and  sea,  and  its  green  banks,  clothed  then,  as 
now,  with  shady  groves,  wooed  the  sea-worn  mariners  to 
rest  their  wearied  limbs  on  shore.  Waiting  there,  perhaps, 
for  high  water,  they  took  careful  note  of  the  low  coast 
of  the  Lough,  and  then  getting  up  their  anchor  they 
glided  with  the  tide  into  a  sheltered  nook  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Slan  River,  which  appears  to  have  been  the  stream  that 
flows  from  Raholp,  between  the  townland  of  Ballintogher 
and  Kingban,  and  there  the  tired  crew  hid  their  boat 
beneath  the  branches,  and  went  ashore  *  to  put  off  their 
weariness,  and  rest  themselves  on  the  bank  of  the  stream.'^ 
This  incident  serves  to  explain  one  of  the  stanzas  in  Fiacc's 
Life  of  St.  Patrick,  which  otherwise  would  not  be  easily 
understood  : 

In  (the  fountain)  Slan,  in  the   region  of  Benna  Boirche,  which 

neither  drought  nor  flood  afl'ected, 
He  sang  a  hundred  psalms  every  night;  to  the  angels'  King  he  was 

a  servant. 
He  slept  on  a  bare  flagstone  there,  with  a  wet  mantle  round  him, 
A  pillar-stone  was  his  bolster  ; 
He  left  not  his  body  in  warmth. 

The  fountain  Slan  (the  healer)  is  now  known  as  the 
Wells  of  Struell,  near  Saul,  '  where  is — or  used  to  be — a 
great  station  and  a  drinking  well,  and  a  bathing  well, 
blessed  by  the  Saint.'  He  slept,  tradition  says,  in  the 
rocky  caves  whence  the  waters  flow,  the  mantle  around 


^  See  O'Laverty's  Down  and  Connor,  vol,  i.,  p.  224. 

2  We  cannot  agree  with  those  who  think  that  the  Bay  of  Dundrum  was  the 
place  where  the  Saint  landed.  Its  position  does  not  fit  in  with  the  incidents 
recorded.  The  place  of  landing  was  close  to  Saul,  and  the  swine-herd  appears 
to  have  discovered  the  strangers  at  once.  Then  the  name  of  the  estuary  is  not 
Inver  Slainge,  as  supposed  by  Colgan,  from  the  name  of  the  mountain,  but 
Inver  Slain,  a  name  probably  derived  from  the  well  whose  healing  waters 
flowed  into  it — the  Shruell  Springs. 


126  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ULSTER. 

him  was  surely  cold  and  wet,  lor  the  spray  and  the  damp  air 
would  make  it  so.  His  *  bolster '  is  there,  a  pillar-stone, 
still  pointed  out,  but  it  is  outside  the  cave.  There  he  sang 
his  psalms  and  chastised  his  body,  and  there  his  spiritual 
children  have  done  penance  for  over  1,200  years.  It  was  a 
cold  perennial  fountain,  unaffected,  apparently,  by  drought 
or  flood  :  so  tradition  verifies  every  incident  of  the  ancient 
Life. 

II. — Patrick  at  Saul. 

And  there  it  was  the  swineherd  of  Dichu,  son  of 
Trichem,  found  them  'in  the  stead  wherein  to-day  stands 
Saball-Patraic,'  that  is  Patrick's  Barn.  They  had,  it  is 
said,  advanced  '  a  little  distance,'  from  the  place  where 
they  landed,  but  not  quite  a  mile,  when  the  swineherd 
saw  them.  To  him  they  were  strangers,  and  sailors,  who 
had  come  stealthily  in  ;  and  perhaps  he  had  seen  them 
hide  their  boat  in  the  estuary  of  the  stream.  No  wonder 
he  mistook  '  the  sages  and  clerics '  for  robbers  and  thieves, 
and  that  he  returned  quickly  to  his  master,  and  told  him 
about  the  lurking  strangers  he  had  seen.  Then  Dichu 
came  with  his  dog — perhaps  a  fine  wolf-dog — and  he  set 
his  dog  at  the  strangers,  whereupon  Patrick,  full  of  the 
words  and  spirit  of  the  Scriptures,  chanted  the  prophet's 
verse — 'Ne  tradas  Domine  bestiis  animas  confitentes  tibi,' 
*  Leave  not  the  souls  that  confess  to  thee,  O  Lord,  a  prey 
to  the  beasts,' — surely  a  most  appropriate  and  mighty 
prayer  at  the  moment,  and  thereupon  'the  dog  became 
silent.'  He  barked  no  more  in  anger  at  the  strangers. 
At  the  same  moment  his  master's  heart  was  touched  too,  and 
by  the  same  divine  power  When  Dichu  saw  Patrick  '  grief 
of  heart  seized  him  ; '  he  believed,  and  Patrick  baptised 
him.  We  are  not  told  hew  long  it  took  for  his  instruction 
and  his  preparation.  But  the  very  sight  of  the  clerics  had 
changed  his  heart  and  filled  it  with  remorse.  They  were 
not  robbers  or  pirates,  those  white-robed,  mild-eyed  men. 
Their  message  was  a  message  of  peace  and  love.  He 
believed — this  bold  chieftain — the  first  of  all  the  men  of  the 
North  who  believed  in  Patrick's  God,  and  was  baptised  by 
the  Saint — perhaps  in  the  fountain  Slan,  now  in  truth  the 
Healer.  And  his  was  not  a  faith  of  words,  but  of  deeds, 
for  we  are  told  that  at  once  he  gave  his  Barn  to  Patrick, 
and  that  Saball  or  Saul,  whose  name  will  never  be 
forgotten  in  Ireland,  became,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  first 
Christian   church   in    Ireland,    at    least    it    was   the   first 


AT   SAUL.  127 

consecrated  edifice  of  all  the  land  of  Ireland,  in  which 
Patrick  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  whereupon  the  grateful 
Saint  blessed  Dichu  for  his  generous  gift  to  the  Church  of 
God,  and  it  was  a  bountiful  blessing  to  himself,  to  his 
posterity,  to  his  flocks  and  to  his  herds. 

God's  blessing  on  Dichu, 

Who  gave  me  the  Barn. 
May  he  have  hereafter 

A  heavenly  home,  bright,  pure  and  great, 
God's  blessing  on  Dichu — 

On  Dichu  and  his  children ; 
No  child  of  his  or  grandchild 

Whose  life  will  not  be  long.^ 

And  in  some  sort  that  blessing  is  still  fulfilled  in 
Lecale.  Dichu's  offspring,  in  spite  of  John  De  Curci  and 
Cromwell  and  the  rest,  are  there  still.  Old  Lecale  has 
still  nearly  two-thirds  of  its  population  Catholic — Catholic 
of  the  Catholic,  men  who  have  made  every  sacrifice  for 
the  faith.  Even  the  invaders  there  have  kept  the  faith, 
and  some  of  the  followers  of  John  De  Curci  in  Lecale  have 
fought  as  noble  a  battle  for  the  Church,  as  the  ancient  Celtic 
race  who  held  that  fair  land  before  the  Norman  built  his 
castles  in  Dundrum  or  Downpatrick. 

Lecale^  itself  is  a  very  interesting  district  for  many 
reasons,  but  chiefly  because  it  was  the  cradle  of  the  faith 
in  Ireland. 

Lecale  consists  of  the  two  baronies  that  bear  the  name, 
Upper  and  Lower  Lecale,  on  the  southern  coast  of  the 
Co.  Down,  between  the  Bay  of  Dundrum  and  Strangford 
Lough,  anciently  known  as  Lough  Cuan.  It  is  nearly  an 
island  surrounded  by  the  sea  on  all  sides  except  for  about 
three  miles,  where  the  railway  now  runs  from  the  head  of 
Dundrum  Bay  to  the  Head  of  Strangford  Lough,  at  its 
south-western  corner.  It  is  a  fertile,  undulating  plain, 
anciently  called,  with  great  propriety,  Magh  Inis,  the 
Island  Plain,  of  high  fertility,  but,  from  its  exposure  to  the 
sea,  nearly  destitute  of  trees.  Its  ancient  rulers  were  the 
chieftains  of  the  Dal  Fiatach  race,  who,  although  Ulidians, 
did  not  belong  to  the  Clanna  Rury,  but  to  the  Heremonian 


^  The  Barn  was  dear  to  Patrick's  heart  from  the  first  and  continued  to  be 
dear  to  his  heart  to  the  last.     He  died  there. 

^  The  name  Leath  Cathail,  Cathal's  Half,  is  derived  from  a  chieftain  of 
the  Dal  Fiatach,  who  owned  it  in  the  8tli  Century. 


128  ST.   PATRICK    IN    ULSTER. 

race,  and  gave  many  kings  to  the  Southern  Picts  of 
Dalaradia.  Dichu,  son  of  Trichem,  belonged  to  the  same 
royal  line  of  the  Dal  Fiatach,  and  he  appears  to  have  had 
his  residence  at  Durlas,  the  Strong  Dun,  afterwards  known 
as  Downpatrick. 

When  John  de  Curci  invaded  Ulster  in  1177,  with 
a  soldier's  eye  he  saw  the  strength  of  the  position  and  the 
fertility  of  the  soil.  So  he  drove  out  the  natives,  but  not 
without  difficulty,  and  occupied  their  lands,  in  which  he 
built  two  strong  castles  to  defend  his  conquests  on  the  site 
of  the  ancient  forts  of  the  native  chieftains — one  at  Dun- 
drum  and  the  other  at  Downpatrick.  He  then  divided 
most  of  the  fertile  peninsula  between  his  chief  followers — 
the  Savages,  Russells,  Fitzsimonses,  Audleys,  Jordans,  and 
Bensons — some  of  whom  have  kept  their  lands  and  their 
faith  down  to  our  own  times.  We  are  told  also  that  when 
the  Catholics  were  expelled  from  other  parts  of  the  County 
Down  in  Cromwell's  time  many  of  them  found  refuge  in 
Lecale  with  the  Norman  settlers ;  and  hence  it  has  con- 
tinued to  be  the  most  Catholic  part  of  the  County  Down 
up  to  the  present,  for  out  of  a  population  ot  about  20,000, 
in  round  numbers,  probably  13,000  are  Catholics.  The 
whole  barony  is  filled  with  the  sites  of  ancient  churches, 
holy  wells,  strong  castles,  and  Celtic  duns,  so  that  there  is, 
perhaps,  no  part  of  Ireland  of  the  same  size  more  interesting 
than  Lecale.  Some  of  these  ancient  sites  we  shall  treat  of 
more  fully  hereafter  in  this  present  work. 

Saul  is  about  two  miles  from  Downpatrick  to  the  east, 
and  about  one  mile  to  the  south-west  of  the  place  where 
St  Patrick  landed. 

The  name  certainly  means  a  '  barn  '  in  Gaelic  ;  and 
the  church  most  probably  got  the  name,  not  from  the  fact 
that  it  was  one  of  a  special  set  of  churches  that  ran  north 
and  south,  but  rather  from  the  fact  that  it  was  a  barn, 
which  was  consecrated  as  a  church,  and  retained  the  ancient 
name  in  memory  of  its  ancient  use. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  St.  Patrick  founded  a  church 
at  Downpatrick  on  the  occasion  of  this,  his  first  visit,  to 
Lecale.  Dichu  dwelt  there,  and  at  the  time  his  dun  was 
called  Rath  Celtair ;  but  at  a  later  period  it  came  to  be 
called  Dun-da-leth-glass — the  Rath  of  the  Two  Broken 
Fetters.  When  it  became  famous  as  the  burial-place  of  St. 
Patrick  a  great  church  was  built  there,  and  it  was  made  the 
cathedral  of  the  diocese.  But  even  in  St.  Patrick's  time  it 
must  be  regarded  as  the  chief  cathair  or  city  of  the  kingdom, 


HE   REVISITS   SLEMISH.  1 29 

not  only  of  Lecale,  but  of  South  Dalaradia  ;  and  it  has 
maintained  its  position  of  county  town  and  cathedral 
church,  at  least  to  some  extent,  ever  since. 

It  was  the  invariable  custom  of  St.  Patrick,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  when  coming  into  any  new  tribe  or  territory,  to 
go  first  to  the  Rath  or  Dun  of  the  '  King,'  for  his  subjects 
dare  not  become  Christians  without  his  sanction,  or,  at 
least,  his  toleration.  We  may  assume,  too,  that  St. 
Patrick  in  making  his  way  through  Strangford  Lough  to 
Saul,  simply  sought,  not  merely  a  secure  haven,  but  also 
the  easiest  way  to  reach  the  dun  of  the  King  of  South 
Ulidia.  Perhaps  he  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  place 
during  the  six  years  he  spent  as  a  slave  in  the  County 
Antrim  ;  and,  in  any  case,  he  could  readily  have  obtained 
information  enough  at  the  Boyne  Mouth  to  enable  him  to 
reach  Downpatrick.  It  was  not  by  chance,  but  of  fixed 
purpose,  that  he  and  his  companions  found  themselves  on 
the  territory  of  Dichu,  son  of  Trichem.  It  is  probable  that 
Patrick  lived  in  Lecale  during  the  winter  months  of  432. 
For  he  must  have  come  there  late  in  the  season,  and  now 
had  a  church  for  himself  and  his  companions,  as  well  as  a 
friendly  Christian  prince,  to  supply  them  with  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  So  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  he  did  not 
make  his  way  to  Milcho  in  the  far  north  until  the  early 
spring.  It  was  a  long  road  to  travel,  especially  if  he  went 
on  foot,  and  we  are  expressly  told  by  Probus  that  it  was  a 
journey  on  foot — pedestri  itinere.  Yet,  as  the  Apostle  was 
certainly  anxious  to  visit  his  old  master,  he  may  have  taken 
the  earliest  opportunity  that  presented  itself  in  the  closing 
weeks  of  432  to  accomplish  the  journey,  and,  old  as  he 
then  was,  winter  travelling  had  no  terrors  for  him. 

But  Milcho  was  by  no  means  anxious  to  meet  his  ancient 
slave.  One  account  tells  us  that  Patrick  sought  to  reach 
him  first  directly  by  sea,  landing  somewhere  about  Larne 
or  Glenarm,  the  nearest  seaports  in  the  kingdom  of  Milcho, 
but  he  repelled  Patrick  and  his  companions  by  violence, 
and  would  not  suffer  him  to  effect  a  landing  in  his  territory. 
But  this  story  is  improbable,  and  inconsistent  with  the 
simple  narratives  in  the  Lives. 

III. — Patrick  Revisits  Slemish. 

We  have  already  heard  something  of  Milcho's  palace 
and  kingdom.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  Magus  or  Druid, 
and,  certainly,  must  have  been  a  most  obstinate  pagan. 
The  tale  is  a  very  strange  one,  almost  incredible,  but  in 

K 


I30  ST.   PATRICK    IN    ULSTER. 

later  historic  times  we  have  read  ot  men  allowing  them- 
selves to  be  burned  rather  than  abjure  their  errors,  and  we 
can  well  understand  that  it  does  not  need  much  more 
obstinacy  to  burn  oneself  for  the  same  reason.  Milcho 
must  have  been  then  an  old  man,  for  Patrick  was  sixty, 
and  he  had  been  Patrick's  master  when  the  latter  was  a 
youth  of  sixteen.  So  we  may  fairly  assume  that  he  was  now 
at  least  about  seventy  years. 

'Patrick,'  says  the  Tripartite,  'went  to  impress  faith 
on  Milcho,*  and,  knowing  his  avarice,  he  took  gold  with 
him  to  make  his  preaching  more  acceptable  to  the  greedy 
old  miser.  Perhaps  he  also  meant  to  begin  by  offering 
the  gold  as  the  price  of  his  own  ransom,  which  his  old 
master  might  still  consider  his  due.  But  Milcho  was 
unwilling  to  believe,  and  he  declared  it  shameful  'to  believe 
in  his  own  slave  and  be  subject  to  him.'  Think  of  a 
Virginian  planter  taking  a  new  religion  from  one  of  his 
own  runaway  slaves  !  Yet  he  feared  that  Patrick,  by  magic 
or  by  gold,  or  by  some  other  artifice,  might  bring  this  great 
disgrace  upon  him  in  his  old  age,  so  he  took  counsel  of  the 
Evil  One,  who  suggested,  says  the  Tripartite,  how  to 
prevent  it.  So  Milcho  entered  into  his  palace  with  his 
gold,  his  silver,  and  all  his  treasures,  and  then  set  fire  to 
them  all,  so  that  he  and  they  were  consumed  together, 
'  and  his  soul  went  down  to  hell.' 

Now  Milcho  had  heard  that  Patrick  was  approaching 
from  the  south,  when  he  adopted  this  diabolical  counsel,  so 
it  came  to  pass  that  when  Patrick  arrived  at  the  right  or 
south-eastern  flank  of  Slemish  Hill  on  his  journey,  looking 
down  over  the  valley  of  the  Braed,  he  saw  the  palace  in 
flames,  and  he  knew  by  inspiration  what  happened. 
For  the  space  of  two  or  three  hours  he  was  silent,  standing 
there  on  the  mountain's  slope,  where  the  cross  still  stands 
to  mark  the  spot,  sighing  and  groaning  in  spirit  at  the 
awful  fate  of  his  old  master;  and  then  he  said  to  his  com- 
panions, "  Yonder  is  the  fire  of  Milcho's  house ;  he  is  after 
burning  himself  lest  he  should  believe  in  God  at  the  end 
of  his  life."  ^  Upon  him,"  he  said,  "  there  lies  a  curse  ;  of 
him  shall  be  neither  king  nor  Tanist ;  his  seed  and 
offspring  will  be  in  bondage  after  him,  and  he  shall  not 
come  out  of  hell  for  ever."  Then  Patrick  went  no  further 
north,  but,  turning  about  right-handwise  to  the  south,  he 
retraced  his  steps  to  Magh  Inis,  even  to  Dichu,  the  son  of 
Trichem,  his  host,  and  favourite  disciple.  There,  we  are 
told,  Patrick   stayed  a  long  time,  sowing  the   faith,  until 


HE   FOUNDS   THE   CHURCH   OF   BRIGHT.  I3I 

he  brought  all  the  men  of  Ulidia  (Uladh)  by  the  net  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  harbour  of  Life.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Patrick,  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  spent  many  years  in 
Saul  bringing  the  men  of  Ulidia  to  the  harbour  of  Life,  but 
the  statement  here  seems  to  refer  to  his  stay  amongst 
them  during  the  winter  of  432  and  the  early  spring  of  the 
following  year.  That  he  preached  the  Word  of  Life 
fruitfully  in  Lecale  and  its  neighbourhood  is  shown  by 
the  number  of  ancient  churches  with  which  the  whole  place 
is  studded,  as  well  as  by  the  many  vivid  traditions  that 
still  survive  in  the  memory  of  the  Catholic  inhabitants. 
Memorials  of  St.  Patrick — churches,  stations,  wells,  or 
beds,  are  to  be  found  in  every  parish ;  his  memory,  too,  is 
still  fondly  cherished  with  the  greatest  veneration,  and,  as 
we  know,  he  loved  the  people  dearly,  and  chose  Saul  to  be 
the  place  of  his  death,  and  Down  of  his  resurrection. 

IV. — Patrick  Founds  the  Church  of  Bright. 

Only  one  of  his  missionary  expeditions  during  this 
period  is  specially  referred  to ;  that  is,  his  founding  of  the 
Church  of  Bright.  He  went,  as  we  are  told,  from  Saul 
southwards  to  preach  to  Ross,  the  son  of  Trichem  and 
brother  of  Dichu.  He  dwelt  at  Durlus — the  Strong  Fort — 
to  the  south  of  Downpatrick,  '  where  stands  to-day  the 
small  city  of  Brechtan — that  is.  Bright.'  It  is  called  a 
cathair,  or  city,  because  Patrick  placed  there  Bishop  Loarn, 
who  is  described  in  Latin  as  the  man  who  had  the  courage 
to  blame  Patrick  for  harshly  driving  away  ^  a  boy  who 
was  playing  near  his  church,  and  possibly  disturbing  the 
solemnity  of  public  worship.  Of  Bishop  Loarn  of  Bright  we 
know  nothing  else,  except  that  he  was  a  disciple  of  Patrick 
and  Bishop  of  Bright.  He  was,  doubtless,  one  of  the 
household  or  family  of  twenty-four  disciples  who  accom- 
panied the  Saint  from  the  Continent.  The  name,  however, 
is  a  Gaelic  name,  but  this  would  not  prove  that  he  was 
trained  on  the  Continent  for  the  Irish  mission,  for  there 
were  certainly  many  Christians  and  some  priests  in  Ireland 
before  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick  in  432.  It  is  unlikely, 
however,  there  were  any  such  in  Uladh  at  this  time. 

^  The  Fourth  Life  says  his  hoop  ran  into  a  hole  in  the  Saint's  grave,  and 
the  boy  could  not  extract  the  hoop,  whereupon  Loarn  rebuked  the  Saint,  and 
the  boy  drew  out  liis  hoop.  The  phrase  in  the  Latin  is  '  tenentem  manum 
pueri  1  'laying  hold  of  the  hand  of  the  boy '  to  drive  him  off.  It  reiers  to 
an  incident  that  took  place  when  Patrick  was  alive,  not  after  his  death,  as  has 
been  foolishly  imagined.  Patrick  had  a  hot  temper,  and  Bishop  Loarn  rebuked 
him  for  undue  severity  to  the  boy. 


132  ST.  PATRICK   IX    ULSTER. 

The  old  Church  of  Bright  has  completely  disappeared. 
It  was  situated  four  miles  south  ot  Downpatrick,  and  about 
one  mile  from  the  sea,  in  the  centre  of  a  small  but  very 
interesting  parish,  of  which  O'Laverty  gives  a  full  and  inte- 
resting account.  Derlus,  or  Durlus,  as  it  is  more  commonly 
written — the  Stronghold  of  Ros — was  the  place  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Castle  of  Bright.  Of  this  Ros,  son  of  Trichem, 
who  dwelt  at  Durlus,  there  is  a  curious  story  told  in  the 
Third  Life.  He  was  not  pleased  that  his  brother  Dichu 
had  become  a  disciple  of  Patrick,  and  when  Patrick  went 
to  Durlus  to  visit  Ros,  '  he  fought  against  the  Saint  and 
refused  to  believe.'  Now,  Ros  was  very  old ;  so  Patrick 
said  to  him  : 

"  Why  do  you  strive  for  this  life,  which  is  failing  you, 
and  neglect  the  life  to  come  ?  All  your  senses  are  failing — 
your  eyes  are  getting  blind,  your  ears  are  growing  deaf, 
your  tongue  stutters,  and  your  teeth  are  falling  out — all 
your  members  are  going.  If  anyone  made  you  young 
again,  would  you  believe  in  him  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  old  chief.  ''  If  anyone  gave  me 
back  my  youth  I  would  believe  with  my  whole  heart." 

Then,  by  the  prayer  of  Patrick,  Ros  received  his  youth, 
the  youth  of  a  brave  and  handsome  man,  and  forthwith  he 
believed  and  was  baptised  with  three  other  sons  of  Trichem, 
his  brothers  ;  and  many  others  also  were  baptised  along 
with  them.  It  seems,  too,  that  the  faith  of  Ros  was  fervent 
and  genuine.  As  he  said,  he  believed  with  his  whole 
heart,  for  when  Patrick  asked  him  if  now  he  would  prefer 
to  live  long  on  earth  or  go  at  once  to  heaven,  he  replied: 
**  I  prefer  to  go  at  once  to  the  life  eternal,"  and  immediately 
having  received  the  Sacrifice — that  is,  the  Holy  Com- 
munion— he  went  to  his  Lord. 

This  story  will  have  to  be  examined  more  carefully 
hereafter,  when  we  come  to  consider  who  was  Ros,  one  of 
the  Nine  appointed  by  St.  Patrick  to  reform  the  Brehon 
Code.  If  the  Ros  named  amongst  them  be  the  Ros, 
son  of  Trichem  of  Lecale,  we  must  reject  the  foregoing 
tale  as  a  later  invention  utterly  unworthy  of  credence, 
seeing  that  the  chieftain  in  question  must  have  lived  for 
at  least  seven  years  longer  if  he  took  a  part  in  the  purifica- 
tion and  codification  of  the  Brehon  Laws. 

Another  interesting  occurrence  took  place  during 
Patrick's  stay  through  this  winter  in  Lecale.  On  one 
occasion,  going  his  way,  perhaps  to  Bright,  he  saw  a  tender 
youth  herding   swine.      Mochae  was  his  name.     Patrick 


PATRICK  AND   MOCHAE.  I  33 

instructed  him  first,  then  baptised  and  tonsured  him.  He 
also  gave  him  a  Gospel  and  a  menistir,  as  it  is  called  in 
Irish,  that  is,  the  requisites  of  the  ministerium  or  the  due 
celebration  of  Mass.  At  another  time,  but  of  course  later 
on,  he  gave  him  a  crozier,  which  fell  from  heaven,  its  head 
falling  in  Patrick's  bosom,  and  its  foot  in  Mochae's  bosom, 
that  is,  it  fell  between  them  as  they  sat,  indicating  that 
Patrick  was  to  give  it  to  Mochae,  which  he  did,  thereby 
investing  him  with  episcopal  authority.  The  crozier  thus 
marvellously  given  was  called  the  Etecli,  or  '  winged ' 
crozier  of  Mochae  of  Noendrum.  In  token  of  submission 
and  obedience,  Mochae  promised  to  Patrick,  and  to  his 
church,  a  '  shaven '  pig,  that  is,  the  cleaned  carcase,  every 
year,  and  '  the  same  is  still  offered,'  but  whether  to 
Patrick's  Community  at  Saul  or  Armagh  is  not  stated  in 
the  Tripartite. 

v.— Patrick  and  Mochae. 

The  narrative  explains  to  us  how  Patrick  trained  candi- 
dates for  Holy  Orders.  Mochae  was  a  '  tender  youth ' 
when  Patrick  first  met  him  herding  swine,  and  the  sight 
reminded  him  of  the  old  time  when  he,  too,  still  a  tender 
youth,  was  engaged  in  the  same  work  on  the  slopes  of 
Slemish.  Finding  him  apt  and  bright,  he  caused  him  to 
be  instructed  in  the  catechism  and  the  rudiments  of  the 
Latin  tongue  by  the  clerics  of  his  own  household.  Then 
he  baptised  him,  and  to  show  that  he  was  destined  for  the 
clerical  state,  he  tonsured  him,  giving  him,  at  the  same 
time,  a  copy  of  the  Gospels,  which  was  at  once  his  Latin 
class  book  for  the  study  of  the  language,  and  his  theological 
treatise,  which  his  teachers  duly  explained  in  all  its  power 
and  simplicity.  When  he  was  thus  trained  to  read  the 
'  Lebar  Ord,'  or  Ordinary  of  the  Mass,  Patrick  ordained 
him  a  priest,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  him  the  necessary 
outfit  for  saying  Mass,  such  as  is  now  usually  contained  in 
a  vestment-box — not  elaborate,  perhaps,  as  in  our  time,  but 
certainly  including  a  chalice,  a  paten,  a  small  altar-stone 
witn  relics,  and,  of  course,  his  Mass-book — such  was  the 
menistir. 

Later  on  Mochae  received  episcopal  Orders,  and  was 
invested  by  Patrick  with  the  crozier  as  a  sign  of  his  juris- 
diction. Of  course,  all  this  took  some  time,  but  the  process 
is  here  very  accurately,  though  briefly,  summed  up.  It 
is  not  unlikely  that  this  Mochae  was  the  priest  whom,   in 


134  ST.   PATRICK    IN    ULSTER. 

his  old  age,  St.  Patrick  sent  with  his  Letter  to  Coroticus. 
He  tells  us  himself  that  the  messenger  was  one  whom  he 
had  taught  from  his  infancy,  and  this,  in  a  sense,  would  be 
true  of  Mochae,  and  also  of  Benignus ;  but  the  latter  was 
certainly  dead  when  the  letter  was  written. 

Mochae  was,  we  are  told,  the  son  of  Bronach,  daughter 
of  Milcho;  and  this  fact  at  once  explains  the  deep  interest 
that  Patrick  took  in  the  boy — he  was  the  grand-child  of 
that  stern  old  pagan  master  who  had  committed  himself 
and  all  his  property  to  the  flames  rather  than  become  the 
spiritual  bondsman  of  his  own  slave.  Patrick  probably 
knew  his  mother  while  she  was  yet  a  child  in  her  father's 
dun,  and  he  a  poor  slave-boy  tending  the  swine.  Ancient 
affection  for  the  family  woke  up  within  him,  and  so  he 
resolved  to  make  a  bishop  of  the  boy — and  that  boy 
became  a  holy  and  a  learned  man,  the  founder  of  the 
monastery  and  school  of  Noendrum  in  one  of  the  green 
islands  in  Strangford  Lough,  where  he  in  turn  became  the 
teacher  of  many  distinguished  saints  and  scholars. 

Mochae  is  said  by  some  learned  writers  to  be  equivalent 
to  Mo-Caolan,  the  latter  part  being  the  baptismal  name 
of  '  the  tender  youth,'  and  Mo  the  usual  Gaelic  prefix  of 
endearment.  From  him,  according  to  O'Laverty,  Kilschae- 
lyn,  as  given  in  the  Taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  takes  its 
name,  which  is  elsewhere  called  Ballchatlan,  and  has,  in 
our  own  time,  become  Ballynoe — ancient  church  land  cer- 
tainly belonging  to  St.  Mochae's  monastery  of  Noendrum 
or  Island  Mahee.  If  that  be  so,  we  may  fairly  assume  that 
Ballynoe,  between  Downpatrick  and  Bright,  represents  the 
place  where  St.  Patrick  met  young  Mochae,  where  the 
youth  was  baptised,  and  where  he  afterwards  had  his  first 
church,  which  in  course  of  time  became  subject  to  his 
own  great  monastery  of  Noendrum.^ 

Patrick  remained  in  Magh-Inis  during  the  winter  and 
early  spring,  but  '  when  the  high  tide  of  Easter  drew  nigh 
he  thought  there  was  no  fitter  place  for  celebrating  the  chief 
solemnity  of  the  Church,  that  of  Easter,  than  in  Magh 
Breg — the  Plain  of  Bregia — the  place  which  was  the  chief 
abode  of  the  idolatry  and  wizardry  of  Erin,  to  wit,  in  Tara.' 
So  he  bade  farewell  to  Dichu,  son  of  Trichem,  and 
embarking  with  his  companions,  they  sailed  southward  till 
they  anchored  once  more  in  Inver  Colptha,  at  the  mouth 
Df  the  Boyne. 

*  See  O'Laverty's  Down  and  Connor,  Vol.  I.,  p.  143. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   IN    ANCIENT   ERIN.  1 35 


VI.— Social  Life  in  Ancient  Erin. 

Before,  however,  we  go  with  Patrick  to  Tara,  it  is 
essential  to  get  an  idea  of  the  national  and  social  life  of 
the  naen  of  Erin  at  the  time,  for  otherwise  we  could  not 
understand  the  marvellous  narrative  of  all  the  strange 
things  that  took  place  at  Tara.  Here  was  to  be  the  crisis 
of  Patrick's  career,  and  the  turning-point  of  Ireland's  his- 
tory. 

In  a  previous  passage,  explaining  how  Patrick  was  so 
badly  received  in  Wicklow,  the  Tripartite  gives  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  political  state  of  the  Kingdom  : — ■ 


At  that  time  there  was  a  certain  fierce  heathen  King  in  Erin, 
namely,  Laeghaire,  son  of  Niall,  and  in  Tara  was  his  residence 
and  royal  stronghold.  It  was  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  this 
Laeghaire,  son  of  Niall,  that  Patrick  came  to  Erin. 

After  some  chronological  data,  it  adds  :— • 

This  cruel  king  there  had  wizards  and  enchanters  who  used  to 
foretell  by  their  wizardry  and  heathenism  what  was  before  them. 
Locthru  and  Lucat-mael,  that  is  Lucat  the  Bald,  were  the  chiefs 
of  them,  and  the  chief  professors  of  this  art  ol  false  prophecy. 
They  foretold  that  a  prophet  of  evil  law  was  coming  over  the  sea 
to  Erin,  that  many  would  receive  him,  and  that  he  would  find  love 
and  veneration  with  the  men  of  Erin,  and  that  he  would  drive 
the  (pagan)  kings  and  lords  out  of  their  realms,  and  would  destroy 
all  the  images  of  the  idols,  and  that  the  new  law  which  he  would 
bring  should  abide  in  Erin  for  ever.  Two  or  three  years  before 
Patrick's  arrival  this  was  what  they  used  to  prophesy  : — 

"  Bare-pole  will  come  over  the  wild  sea. 
His  mantle  hole-headed,  his  staff  crook-headed, 
His  altar  in  the  east  of  his  house, 
And  all  his  family  shall  answer 

Amen.     Amen." 

The  Irish  of  this  prophecy  is  given  in  all  the  Lives  of 
the  Saint  with  more  or  less  accuracy,  and,  no  doubt,  it  states 
what  even  human  prudence  could  foresee  at  the  time.  The 
Druids  were  not  ignorant  of  what  was  happening  in  Britain 
and  Gaul ;  they  were  expecting  Palladius  and  they  were 
expecting  Patrick,  for  they  had  ample  means  of  hearing 
of  their  intended  coming.  Their  knowledge  of  contempo- 
raneous events  elsewhere  told  them  what  would  surely 
happen  in  Ireland,  if  the  new  priest  succeeded  in  effecting 


136  ST.   PATRICK   IN    ULSTER. 

a  landing,  and  the  poetic  description  of  the  Christian 
J^ishop  and  his  ritual  was  what  anyone  could  have  seen 
who  had  ever  crossed  to  the  opposite  coast  of  Wales. 

Their  purpose  was  to  keep  their  own  power  and  prestige 
as  long  as  possible,  and  hence  they  bound  up  the  fate  of  the 
Kings  of  Erin  with  the  fate  of  their  Druids,  and  sought  by 
every  means  in  their  power  to  rouse  them  to  fierce  anger 
against  the  foreign  missionaries,  with  a  view  of  excluding 
them  entirely  from  Ireland, or,  if  not,  of  destroying  them  as 
soon  as  possible  after  their  landing. 

In  pursuance  of  this  purpose  they  had  induced  the 
King  to  persuade  his  son-in-law,  Nathi,  King  of  the 
Hy  Garrchon,  to  exclude  both  Palladius  and  Patrick  from 
his  territory,  and  he  had  done  so.  But,  in  the  North 
Laeghaire  had  little  or  no  influence,  and  so  the  Ulster 
chiefs  received  Patrick  with  welcome  and  became  his 
disciples.  Still,  at  the  same  time,  the  well-meaning  Dichu 
told  Patrick  that  if  he  hoped  to  convert  the  men  of  Erin 
generally  he  must  go  to  Tara  and  meet  the  King  and  his 
Druids  face  to  face.  If  he  conquered  them,  all  would  be 
■easy,  but  if  he  failed  there,  he  could  not  win  Erin  to  be  the 
Kingdom  for  Christ.  It  is  certain  that  Patrick,  too,  came 
with  that  conviction  in  his  mind  to  the  Boyne's  Mouth, 
and  it  is  the  real  key  to  his  subsequent  conduct.  He  had 
to  meet  not  only  the  '  fierce,  cruel  King,'  but  also  his 
Druids,  Bards,  and  Brehons,  face  to  face,  and  conquer  them 
or  die — they  would  show  him  no  mercy,  and  he  knew  it 
well. 

King  Laeghaire  himself  was  a  formidable  foe.  He  was 
the  eldest  son  of  the  great  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  and 
he  had  inherited  much  of  the  spirit,  if  not  of  the  abilit}^  of 
his  mighty  sire.  Moore  describes  Niall  as  one  of  the 
most  gallant  of  all  the  princes  of  the  Milesian  race;  and 
Dr.  Joyce,  a  far  better  authority,  justly  calls  him  'one  of 
the  greatest,  most  warlike,  and  famous  of  all  the  ancient 
Irish  kings.' ^  King  Dathi,  his  nephew,  of  the  Connaught 
lineage,  succeeded  Niall  in  A.D.  405,  and  Laeghaire,  the  son 
of  Niall,  succeeded  Dathi  in  428.  Hence,  we  can  under- 
stand why  it  is  said  that  in  the  fifth  year  of  King  Laeghaire 
— that  is,  in  432 — Patrick  came  to  Ireland. 

Niall  the  Great  had  a  large  family,  whose  power  had 
not  disappeared  in  Erin.  Four  of  his  sons  settled  in  Meath 
and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  southern  Hy  Neill,  and 

^  A  SJiort  History  of  Ireland,  p.  134. 


DRUIDS,   BARDS,   AND    BREHONS.  1 3/ 

we  shall  meet  them  later  on ;  four  settled  in  Ulster,  where 
they  won  their  broad  acres  by  the  sword.  The  Hy  Neill 
of  Ulster  became  in  later  ages  the  most  illustrious  princes 
of  Erin,  as  they  were  the  last  who  fought  with  skill  and 
valour  for  her  independence. 

King  Laeghaire  belonged  to  the  southern  Hy  Neill,  and 
his  brothers  of  the  same  stock  held  under  their  dominion 
all  the  royal  lands  of  the  principality  of  Tara,  from  the 
Shannon  to  the  eastern  sea,  and  southward  to  the  Boyne. 
Laeghaire,  as  a  civil  ruler,  appears  to  have  been  just  and 
brave,  but  not  on  the  same  level  as  his  mighty  sire.  He 
was  an  obstinate  pagan,  and  although,  for  appearance  sake, 
he  'yielded  to  Patrick,'  he  never  became  a  true  Christian, 
but  died,  as  he  had  lived,  a  pagan  in  soul  and  spirit. 

VII. — Druids,  Bards,  and  Brehons. 

Around  Laeghaire,  in  the  spring  of  433,  was  gathered 
all  the  estates  of  his  kingdom — the  princes  of  Erin 
ruling  theif  ovm  territories  with  practical  independence ; 
and  along  with  them  were  the  privileged  estates  of  ancient 
Erin — the  Druids,  Bards,  and  Brehons — whom  we  shall 
meet  at  Laeghaire's  court  on  Tara's  Hill,  and  who  were  the 
most  formidable  and  influential  factors  in  the  Irish  nation 
at  the  time,  if  we  can  justly  designate  it  by  that  name. 

Laeghaire's  supremacy  over  Leath-Cuinn,  the  northern 
half  of  Ireland,  was  recognised  by  all  the  kinglets  of  the 
minor  territories,  and  we  find  them  at  his  court  of  Tara 
doing  him  honour  and  yielding  him  obedience.  But  the 
chiefs  of  Leath-Mogha,  or  the  southern  half  of  Erin,  never 
yielded  cordial  submission  to  the  Hy  Neill  princes.  The 
fact  that  Laeghaire  was  in  Tara  gave  him  at  least  a  right 
to  be  called  the  High  King  of  Erin,  but  so  far  as  the  south 
was  concerned  it  was  little  more  than  an  empty  title.  The 
men  of  Leinster,  especially,  never  yielded  anything  but 
a  forced  obedience  to  the  King  of  Tara  ;  between  him 
and  them  there  was  a  bitter  and  life-long  feud.  When 
Laeghaire  first  met  Patrick  in  the  spring  of  433  he  was  still 
a  young  man,  proud  of  his  high  descent  and  fair  domains ; 
anxious,  too,  in  his  own  person  to  maintain  the  ancient 
glories  of  Tara  and  the  high  renown  of  the  High  Kings  of 
Erin.  Around  him  were  gathered  together,  when  Patrick 
met  them,  nearly  all  the  princes  of  his  own  royal  line  who 
ruled  in  Meath  and  in  north-west  Ulster,  and  also  the 
royal  chiefs  of  Connaught,  who  were  his  cousins  by  the 


138  ST.  PATRICK   IN   ULSTER. 

half-blood,  for  they  were  all  descended  in  the  third  or 
fourth  generation  from  the  great  Eochy  Moyvane,  the 
common  ancestor  of  the  kings  of  Meath,  of  Connaught, 
and  of  Ulster.  His  death  took  place  less  than  a  hundred 
years  before,  in  A.D.  365. 

But  the  Druids  were  the  great  defence  of  Laeghaire's 
throne  and  the  old  religion.  We  know  nothing  of  the  Irish 
Druids  from  our  legal  treatises,  for  all  reference  to  them 
was  carefully  expunged  from  the  national  chronicles  ;  so 
that  we  find  little  or  nothing  about  them  in  our  Annals. 
Whatever  information  we  possess  regarding  them  in  Ireland 
is  derived  from  two  sources — the  bardic  tales  and  the  Lives 
of  the  Irish  Saints,  especially  from  the  Tripartite  Life  of 
St.  Patrick, 

Caesar  tells  us  many  things  of  the  Druids  of  Gaul  and 
Britain  ;  and  we  may  fairly  assume  that  the  Druids  of  Erin 
did  not  differ  in  essentials  from  those  of  the  Celtic  nations 
in  Britain  and  Gaul. 

They  were  certainly  priests,  as  Caesar  tells  us  ;  but  they 
were  also  men  of  science,  seers,  magicians,  and  "councillors 
of  State.  As  priests  they  had  the  direction  of  public  wor- 
ship, as  magicians  they  had  power  over  the  elements,  and 
as  prophets  they  foretold  the  future  for  the  guidance  of 
their  royal  patrons.  A  company  of  Druids  always  dwelt 
near  the  royal  rath,  not  only  of  the  High-King,  but  of  all 
the  provincial  kings.  Their  gods  dwelt  in  wells,  and  in 
trees,  and  also  within  the  bosom  of  the  beautiful  green  hills 
of  Erin,  in  the  islets  of  its  lakes,  or  in  fairy  caves  beneath 
their  limpid  waters.  Sometimes  they  offered  human  sacri- 
fice, especially  of  children,  to  secure  abundant  harvests  ; 
they  worshipped  the  sun,  and  perhaps  the  moon  also  ;  and 
had  certain  idols,  mostly  of  stone,  which  they  worshipped 
with  unclean  rites.  They  had  marvellous  power  over  the 
elements,  and  they  adored  especially  the  sun  and  wind  and 
water,  the  great  rulers  of  the  inferior  powers  of  nature. 
Still  it  appears  highly  probable  they  believed  in  one  Supreme 
Being,  and  they  certainly  recognised  some  kind  of  a  future 
state  connected  with  their  doctrine  of  the  transmigration 
of  souls. 

All  this  will  be  made  manifest  from  our  subsequent 
narrative. 

But  they  certainly  had  one  thing  that  gave  them  great 
power  over  the  minds  of  men  in  a  rude  age — they  had 
knowledge,  and  they  made  the  most  of  it.  Few  people 
will  deny  that  they  had  also  great  magical  or  wonder- 


DRUIDS,   BARDS,   AND    BREHONS.  1 39 

working  power,  and  it  was  that  made  them  so  feared  and 
venerated  by  the  kings  as  well  as  by  the  people.  Christi- 
anity was  in  essential  opposition  to  such  a  religious  system, 
and  hence  the  struggle  between  Patrick  and  the  Druids 
was  a  struggle  to  the  death. 

Of  the  Bards  and  Brehons  it  is  only  necessary  to  say 
here  that  they  also  were  privileged  orders  in  Erin.  The 
Bards  were  the  historians  or  chroniclers  of  the  kingdom ; 
but  they  were  also  much  more,  for  it  was  their  duty  to  be 
present  on  the  field  of  battle,  to  record  the  brave  deeds  of 
the  warriors  on  either  side ;  and  afterwards  to  chant  the 
deeds  of  the  victors  at  the  banquet  and  on  the  battle- 
march.  They  went  about  the  country  in  itinerant  schools 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Chief  Bard  ;  they  levied  dues 
from  the  people ;  they  claimed  the  privilege  of  free  enter- 
tainment and  lodging  for  themselves  and  their  scholars, 
and  also  large  gifts  for  their  poems.  Their  avarice  was 
extreme,  and  when  it  was  not  gratified  they  satirised  their 
hosts  without  mercy.  But  they  had  no  special  hostility  to 
Christianity ;  and  one  of  the  first  converts  of  Patrick  at 
Tara  was  the  chief  poet  of  Erin. 

Then  there  were  also  the  Brehons — the  judges  attached 
to  the  High-King's  court,  as  well  as  to  the  courts  of  all  the 
inferior  kinglets.  Their  legal  knowledge  was  kept 
zealously  to  themselves,  and  conveyed  from  father  to  son 
in  a  learned  language  of  their  own,  known  only  to  them- 
selves. But  they  followed  the  laws  of  natural  justice  in 
their  decisions,  and  when  the  code  was  purified  by  Patrick 
at  a  later  date,  it  maintained  its  ground  amongst  the  Celtic 
tribes  of  Ireland  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  its  spirit  is  still  alive  in  Erin. 

It  is  well  to  have  at  least  a  general  notion  of  this  state 
of  society  in  Erin,  in  order  to  understand  the  great  conflict 
between  Patrick  and  King  Laeghaire  with  his  Druids  and 
courtiers  on  the  royal  Hill  of  Tara.  This  is,  indeed,  the 
central  fact  in  the  history  of  his  missionary  life.  It  is  a 
marvellous  narrative,  but  it  is  given  without  substantial 
variation  in  all  the  ancient  Lives  of  the  Saints.  You  may 
reject  it,  if  you  will,  but  then  you  must  still  explain  the 
victory  gained  by  Patrick  ;  and,  to  my  mind  at  least,  the 
victory  cannot  be  explained  without  accepting  the  mar- 
vellous narrative,  at  least  in  its  substance,  or  leaving  the 
mighty  revolution  unexplained. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 
ST.  PATRICK'S  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DRUIDS. 

I. — Patrick  Sails  for  the  Boyne. 

As  we  have  seen,  Patrick  had  resolved  to  celebrate  his  first 
Easter  in  Ireland  in  the  very  headquarters  of  the  idolatry 
and  Druidism  of  Erin.  In  fact  his  friend  Dichu  had  told 
him  what  he  felt  to  be  true,  that  if  he  did  not  conquer 
there  he  could  not  succeed  elsewhere.  A  message  had 
already  been  sent  from  the  High  King  to  Dichu,  bidding 
him  beware  of  the  wiles  of  the  bare-crowned  priest,  and 
yield  him  no  obedience.  This  message  did  not  affect  Dichu, 
but  he  felt  it  might  be  effective  elsewhere,  as  it  already 
had  been  in  Wicklow,  except  Patrick  was  able  to  secure 
)  at  least  toleration  and  liberty  to  preach  from  the  central 
authority  at  Tara. 

Now,  having  come  in  their  boats  from  Strangford 
Lough  to  Inver  Colptha,  Patrick  and  his  companions  left 
their  vessel  in  the  estuary  there,  and  went  by  land  along 
the  swelling  shores  of  the  Boyne  to  Ferta  fer  Feicc — the 
graves  of  Fiacc's  men — now  known  as  the  Hill  of  Slane, 
'  and  Patrick  pitched  his  tent  there,  and  struck  the  paschal 
fire.' 

This  is  a  brief,  but  significant  entry,  and  throws  much 
light  on  the  customs  of  the  time. 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know  what  kind  of  a 
boat  Patrick  and  his  crew  had  on  this  occasion.  As  it  was 
intended  to  ascend  the  Boyne  as  far  as  possible,  we  may 
reasonably  conclude  that  it  was  a  curragh,  such  as  were 
commonly  used  at  the  time.  Some  of  them  were  of  good 
size,  for  we  are  told  in  an  ancient  tale  of  one  that  was  covered 
with  forty  hides,  and  had  twenty  benches  for  the  rowers, 
with  two  thick  tall  masts  and  broad-bladed  oars.  Patrick 
would  not  need  so  large  a  craft  as  this,  but  still  it  was 
probably  of  good  size,  yet  of  light  draught,  so  that  it  could 
be  easily  beached  and  drawn  over  the  shallow  fords  of  the 
river. 

Dichu  had,  no  doubt,  many  such  boats  on  Lough  Cuan, 


HE    SAILS   FOR   THE    BOYNE.  I4I 

and  would  be  glad  to  accommodate  the  Saint  with 
a  suitable  craft.  We  are  expressly  told  that  they  had 
a  prosperous  voyage,  sweeping  out  of  Lough  Cuan,  we 
may  suppose,  with  the  first  of  the  ebb,  and  then  keeping 
away  from  the  mountains  on  the  starboard  and  the 
dangerous  flats  off  the  coast  of  Louth,  they  would  in  about 
ten  hours  cover  the  distance  of  fifty  miles,  and  run  their 
light  craft  into  the  estuary  of  the  Boyne  with  the  next 
flowing  tide.^ 

They  left  their  vessel  in  the  estuary,  somewhere  near 
Drogheda,  in  charge  of  Lomman,  who  was  a  nephew  of 
Patrick,  with  instructions  to  him  and  his  companions  to 
make  their  way  as  best  they  could  up  the  river.  Patrick 
himself,  with  a  few  more  of  his  household,  set  out  for  Tara 
by  road,  keeping,  it  may  be,  the  right  bank  of  the  river  as 
far  as  Donore,  and  then  striking  across  the  bend  of  the 
Boyne  for  the  Hill  of  Slane,  which  is  about  nine  miles 
from  Drogheda.  They  travelled  on  foot,  setting  out,  doubt- 
less, in  the  early  morn. 

We  are  told  that  Patrick  left  his  nephew  Lomman  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Boyne,  to  watch  his  ship  for  the  forty 
days  and  forty  nights  of  Lent,  and  that  Lomman,  in  a 
spirit  of  obedience  to  Patrick,  watched  some  forty  days 
more  before  he  resolved  to  sail  up  the  Boyne  on  his  own 
account.  This  statement  is  improbable,  and  does  not  fit 
in  with  what  is  elsewhere  recorded,  both  in  the  Tripartite 
and  the  Book  of  Armagh. 

What  is  clear  is  this,  that  Patrick,  having  sailed  from  Saul 
with  the  opening  spring,  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne, 
perhaps  about  the  beginning  of  Lent,  and  then  leaving 
Lomman  with  a  few  companions  to  guard  his  *  ship  '  and 
push  up  against  the  stream  as  far  as  they  could,  he  himself, 
with  some  ten  or  twelve  of  his  clerics,  resolved  to  make  the 
journey  to  Tara  by  land.  There  is  some  reason  to  think 
that  it  was  on  this  occasion,  just  after  his  voyage  from  the 
North,  that  Patrick,  tired  after  his  voyage,  enjoyed  the 
welcome  hospitality  of  Sescnen,  father  of  Benignus,  and 
that  it  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Boyne — the  valley  of 
Sescnen — that  the  gentle  boy  clung  to  the  feet  of  Patrick, 
and  would  not  be  parted  from  his  dear  spiritual  father, 
whose  bosom,  as  he  slept  on  the  green  sward,  he  had 
strewn  with  choicest  flowers. 


^  Bene  et  prospere  delati  sunt. 


142  PATRICKS   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS, 


II. — Patrick  at  Slane. 

In  that  case  it  would  appear  that  Patrick,  on  his  land 
journey  to  Slane,  first  took  the  left  or  southern  bank  of  the 
river,  under  the  guidance  of  Kannanus  of  Duleek,  who  was 
probably  a  companion  of  Patrick  and  a  native  of  that  dis- 
trict. It  is  at  least  expressly  stated  that  Patrick  ordained 
him  Bishop  *  at  his  first  Pasch  or  Easter  in  Slane.'  ^  If  this 
account  of  Tirechan  be  correct,  then  we  must  assume  that 
Ciannan  of  Duleek  had  already  received  his  education  in 
Britain  or  on  the  Continent,  whence  he  accompanied 
Patrick  on  his  return  to  Ireland  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
his  native  land.  There  are  certain  statements  in  some  of 
the  Lives  of  St.  Patrick  which  lend  probability  to  this  vievv^ 
It  is  further  stated  by  Tirechan  that  it  was  Ciannan  who 
carried  the  blessed  fire  and  the  wax-lights  from  the  very 
hands  of  Patrick,  to  kindle  them  *  in  the  nostrils  of  King 
Laeghaire  and  his  gentile  lords  and  Druids,'  who  were  in 
conflict  with  his  beloved  master,  St.  Patrick.^  If  all  this 
be  accurate,  St.  Ciannan  of  Duleek  was  the  first  bishop 
whom  Patrick  consecrated  in  Ireland,  and  he  was  conse- 
crated on  that  most  momentous  day  in  Irish  history — the 
morning  of  that  very  Holy  Saturday,  on  the  eve  of  which 
St.  Patrick  came  in  conflict  with  Laeghaire  and  his  Druids 
on  the  Hill  of  Slane. 

Now,  on  Holy  Saturday  evening,  and  after  a  journey 
through  a  district  unsurpassed  in  Ireland  for  beauty  and 
fertility,  they  sat  down  to  rest  themselves  near  the  graves 
of  Place's  men  on  the  very  summit  of  the  Hill  of  Slane.^ 

The  saints  of  Ireland  were  great  lovers  of  the  beauties 
of  nature,  and  now  Patrick's  family  had  a  scene  before 
them  of  grandeur  not  surpassed  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  beautiful  Erin.  The  Hill  of  Slane  dominates 
the  whole  plain  of  Meath,  or,  as  it  was  then  called,  Magh 
Breg — the  Beautiful  Plain — where  nature  pours  out  her 
choicest  gifts  with  lavish  hand.  Far  away  to  the  north,  in 
the  blue  distance,  Patrick  saw  the  great  range  of  the 
Mourne  mountains,  which  he  had  left  behind  him  some 
days  before.  On  the  horizon's  verge,  towards  the  south- 
east,  rose  the  brown    summits    of  the    Wicklow   range, 

^  Kannanus  episcopus  quern  ordinavit  Patricius  in  primo  Pasca  hi  Ferti 
virorum  Feice — that  is  in  Slane,  and  it  would  be  on  Holy  Saturday,  before 
that  Easter  Sunday  that  Patrick  went  to  Tara. 

^  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  page  306. 

^  Ferta  Fer  Feicc  {Trip.).     Ferti  virorum  Fecc  {Mttircku). 


AT   SLANE.  143 

overhanging  that  inhospitable  Crich  Cualann,  from  which 
Nathi  had  driven  him  some  months  before.  Far  away, 
like  a  cloud  on  the  southern  horizon,  rose  the  crest  of  Slieve 
Bloom,  dimly  outlined  against  the  sky,  and  suggesting 
many  a  weary  day  before  he  could  hope  to  preach  the 
Gospel  beyond  its  shadowy  summits.  There,  too,  in  the 
foreground,  some  ten  miles  to  the  south,  was  the  Royal 
Hill  whither  he  was  faring — Tara  of  the  Kings — crowned 
with  many  a  rath,  and  crowded  with  the  princes  and  nobles 
of  the  Scots  who  were  there  at  that  time  from  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom  holding  high  festival.  Then  all  around  them, 
where  they  sat,  were  pleasant  waters,  and  fertile  fields,  and 
long  reaches  of  woodland,  vocal  with  the  manifold  voices  of 
the  opening  spring.  Yes,  it  was  all  very  beautiful  ;  but 
again  and  again  their  eyes  and  thoughts  must  have  turned 
to  yonder  royal  hill,  for  Patrick  knew  it  was  the  very  citadel 
of  the  paganism  and  idolatry  of  Erin.  He  was  now  about 
to  assault  it,  '  to  drive  a  wedge  into  its  very  crown,  so  that 
it  might  never  stand  up  against  the  faith  of  Christ'  It  was 
a  daring  purpose,  which  needed  more  than  human  wisdom 
to  conceive,  and  more  than  human  strength  to  realise.^ 

But  Patrick  lost  small  time  in  these  speculations ;  like 
a  true  apostle,  he  set  to  work  at  once.  He  would  go  no 
further  that  day,  for  it  was  now  growing  late,  and,  in 
accordance  with  the  Church's  rule,  the  Holy  Fire  must  be 
blessed  for  their  Easter  solemnities.  So  he  pitched  his  tent 
on  the  very  summit  of  the  hill,  and  prepared  to  bless 
the  Paschal  Fire.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Church  must  know  that  by  an  ordinance, 
dating  back  to  apostolic  times,  the  'new  fire,'  from  which  the 
Paschal  Candle  was  to  be  lighted  was  struck  from  a  flint 
and  solemnly  blessed,  not,  as  at  present,  in  the  morning, 
but  in  the  evening  of  Holy  Saturday.  From  this  new  fire, 
the  Paschal  Candle,  typifying  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
shining  over  the  world,  through  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
from  the  dead,  was  lighted,  and  then  all  the  other  lamps 
of  the  Church  were  lit  from  the  same  sacred  flame,  and 
were  kept  burning  during  the  night,  to  usher  in  at  dawn 
the    Light   of  the   World.^      Now    St.    Patrick    faithfully 

^  The  Fourth  Life  in  Colgan  truly  declares  that  no  one  should  be  surprised 
to  hear  of  Patrick  working  great  miracles,  for  without  them  the  pagans  would 
never  have  given  up  their  idolatrous  superstitions.  '  Nunquam  pagani  idolorum 
superstitionem  desererent,  nisi  talia  miracula  viderent.' 

^  The  account  that  here  follows  is  taken  almost  word  for  woi'd  from  the 
Latin  version  of  Muirchu,  as  given  in  the  Boo^  of  Armagh,  but  all  the  accounts 
are  in  substance  identical,  differing  only  in  words  and  a  few  minor  details. 


144  PATRICKS   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

observed  this  ceremony,  and  when  evening  came  he 
blessed  the  new  fire  and  lighted  his  Paschal  torch,  which 
from  the  lofty  summit  of  the  Mill  of  Slane  blazed  through 
the  darkness  over  all  the  plains  of  Meath — a  most  appro- 
priate symbol  of  the  Orient  Light  that  was  soon  to 
illumine  all  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Erin. 

Slane  is  distinctly  visible  from  Tara,  so  that  the  light 
of  Patrick's  torch,  shining  on  that  conspicuous  summit, 
was  seen  at  once  from  the  Royal  Hill ;  and  the  sight  filled 
the  beholders  with  mingled  anger  and  consternation.  For 
on  that  very  night  King  Laeghaire  was  holding  a  religious 
festival^  at  Tara  in  honour  of  his  own  gods,  with  his  Druids 
and  nobles,  his  Bards  and  his  Brehons,  all  around  him. 
Now  it  was  a  solemn  ordinance,  proclaimed  in  ancient  laws, 
that  no  man  far  or  near  should  dare  to  light  a  fire  on  that 
night  before  the  beacon  fire  on  the  Royal  Hill  was  kindled. 
Whoever  transgressed  this  edict  was  doomed  to  die,  and 
no  eric  might  be  accepted  for  his  ransom.  When  holy 
Patrick  kindled  his  own  fire  on  the  Hill  of  Slane  he  knew 
nothing  of  the  royal  ordinance,  but  even  if  he  did,  he 
would,  says  the  record,  have  despised  it. 

Now  the  King,  seeing  the  light  on  the  Hill  of  Slane,  in 
great  anger  called  his  officers  and  asked  who  had  dared  to 
trangress  the  royal  mandate.  They  replied  that  they 
knew  not.  Thereupon  the  Druids,  addressing  the  King, 
said,  "  Sovereign  King,  except  that  fire  which  you  see 
on  yonder  hill,  and  which  has  been  kindled  before  the 
fire  in  this  royal  palace,  be  extinguished  this  very  night, 
it  will  never  be  extinguished  in  Erin  ;  and,  moreover,  it 
will  outshine  all  the  fires  that  we  light.  And  he  who  has 
kindled  it  will  conquer  us  all ;  and  his  Kingdom  will  over- 
throw you  and  us  and  your  kingdom  ;  and  he  will  seduce 
your  subjects,  and  rule  over  them  all  for  ever." 

Then  King  Laeghaire,  like  Herod  of  old,  was  sorely 
troubled,  partly  with  fear  and  partly  ivith  anger,  and  all 
his  nobles  likewise.  Whereupon  he  said  : — "  It  shall  not 
be  so.  We  will  go  this  moment  and  see  the  end  of  this 
thing  ;  and  we  will  seize  and  slay  the  man  who  is  guilty 
of  this  outrage  against  our  royal  authority.'^ 

So  Laeghaire,  taking  eight  chariots  full  of  his  chosen 
warriors,  and,  moreover,  his  two  chief  Druids,  Lucat-mael 

^  The  Tripartite  calls  it  tlie  '  Feis  Temra,  a  high  solemnity  of  the 
Gentiles,'  at  which  all  the  nobles  of  the  land  assisted.  Muirchu  declares  that 
it  was  an  idolatrous  festival,  accompanied  with  superstitious  rites  and  arts  of 
wicked  magic. 


PATRICK   AT   SLANE.  1 45 

and  Lochru,  set  out  for  Slane  by  the  great  northern  road 
from  Tara,  which  crossed  the  river  at  the  fords  of  Slane. 
As  they  came  near  to  the  hill  the  Druids  said  to  Laeghaire  : 
"  Go  not  thou  to  the  place  ^  where  the  fire  is  kindled,  lest 
perchance  thou  shouldst  honour  him  who  kindles  it ;  but 
remain  thou  outside,  and  let  him  be  called  before  thee,  so 
he  shall  pay  the  homage  as  is  fitting  ;  and  then  we  shall 
talk  to  him  before  thy  face,  O  King  ;  and  so  shalt  thou 
judge  of  him  and  us."  "  It  is  well  said,"  replied  the  King. 
"  I  shall  do  as  you  have  counselled." 

Accordingly,  when  the  King  with  his  nobles  and 
Druids  came  to  the  hill  of  Slane  they  dismounted  from 
their  horses  and  chariots,  and  sat  down  nigh  to  the  place 
where  the  fire  was  lit,  but  they  entered  it  not. 

Patrick  was  at  once  summoned  before  them  by  com- 
mand of  the  King,  and  *  he  came  out  of  the  place  which 
was  lit  up ' — that  is  the  area  before  his  tent,  which  was,  no 
doubt,  enclosed  in  some  way  as  a  temporary  church  or 
oratory.  "  Let  no  one  rise  before  him  when  he  comes," 
said  the  Druids,  "  for  if  any  rises  he  will  do  him  homage 
and  believe  in  him."  Now  Patrick,  seeing  all  those 
warriors,  with  their  chariots  and  horses,  was  not  afraid, 
but  came  into  the  midst  of  them,  chanting,  with  heart  and 
lips,  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  Hi  in  curribus,  et  hi  in 
equis,  nos  autem  in  nomine  Domini  nostri  ambulabimus."^ 
— Let  them  trust  in  their  chariots  and  horses,  but  we  shall 
walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

No  one,  however,  rose  to  meet  Patrick  when  he  came  be- 
fore the  King  and  his  courtiers,^  except  one  man,  '  inspired 
by  God,'  who  would  not  obey  the  command  of  the  Magi,  and 
he  was  Ere,  the  son  of  Dego,  *  whose  relics  are  now  vener- 
ated in  Slane;'  and,  we  may  add,  whose  ancient  oratory  is 
there  still  beside  the  river,  although  all  the  other  monu- 
ments of  remote  antiquity  have  now  disappeared.  Ere  rose 
to  do  Patrick  homage,  and  that  homage  was  of  itself  an 
act  of  faith,  for  it  was  a  recognition  that  Patrick  was  a 
divine  ambassador.  Whereupon  the  Saint  blessed  him, 
*  and   he  believed   in  the  eternal   God  ; '   wherefore,  most 


1  In  pagan  estimation  charms  and  spells  were  not  so  likely  to  be  effective 
without  the  magic  circle  as  within  it. 

2  Ps.  xix.,  8. 

^  There  is  a  graphic  touch  in  the  Tripartite  narrative  which  tells  how  the 
grim  warriors  of  Laeghaire  sat  around,  '  with  the  rims  of  their  shields  against 
their  chins,'  as  if  pr>)tecting  themselves  against  the  spells  of  the  mighty 
wizard  from  beyond  the  sea. 

L 


146         Patrick's  conflict  with  the  druids. 

fittingly,  Patrick  afterwards  made  the  sweet-spoken  Brehon 
Bishop  of  Slane,  and  also,  for  a  time,  attached  him  to  his 
own  household,  by  appointing  him  judge  or  official  arbi- 
trator in  all  causes  that  came  before  his  tribunal,  and 
especially  in  those  requiring  a  knowledge  of  the  Brehon 
Laws. 

Then,  we  are  told,  they  began  to  'converse,'  and,  no 
doubt  the  first  question  put  to  Patrick  was  to  ask  him  who 
he  was,  and  why  he  dared  to  contravene  the  royal  edict 
by  kindling  his  fire  and  lighting  up  his  house  before  the 
fire  of  Tara  was  kindled.  Patrick  from  this  took  occasion 
to  explain  the  Good  Tidings  that  he  bore  to  the  men  of 
Erin,  dwelling  particularly,  as  was  his  wont,  on  the  great 
mysteries  of  the  Trinity,  Incarnation,  and  Resurrection, 
which,  for  those  simple  folk,  was  the  basis  of  all  his 
teachings.  Whereupon  the  Druid  Lochru,  with  wicked 
words,  reviled  these  awful  mysteries  of  the  Catholic  Faith. 
Then  Patrick,  turning  to  the  blaspheming  Druid  with  angry 
syes,  uttered  aloud  in  words  of  power,  a  strong  prayer  to 
the  Lord  : — "  O  Lord,  who  canst  do  all  things,  and  by  whose 
power  all  things  live,  and  who  hast  sent  me  hither,  let  this 
impious  man  who  blasphemes  Thy  name  be  raised  aloft 
and  quickly  perish.^'  And,  lo  !  forthwith  the  Druid  was 
raised  high  in  the  air,  and  falling  to  the  ground,  his  brains 
were  dashed  out  against  a  stone,  so  that  he  perished 
miserably  in  the  sight  of  all ;  and  thereupon  the  pagans 
were  sore  afraid.  The  writer  in  the  Book  of  Armagh 
adds  : — And  his  stone — whether  that  against  which  he  fell, 
or  the  stone  that  marks  his  grave — is  in  the  south-western 
edge  of  Tara  down  to  the  present  day ;  '  and  I  have  seen 
it  with  my  own  eyes,'  adds  the  writer.  Whereupon 
Laeghaire,  full  of  wrath,  sought  then  and  there  to  slay 
Patrick,  and  exclaimed  : — '*  Seize  him,  the  wretch,  that 
would  destroy  us  all."  At  this  Patrick,  seeing  the  wicked 
Gentiles  preparing  to  rush  upon  himself,  rose  up,  exclaiming 
with  a  loud  voice,^  "  Let  God  arise  and  let  His  enemies  be 
scattered,  and  let  those  who  hate  Him  fly  from  before  His 
face."  It  was  once  more  a  most  appropriate  and  effica- 
cious prayer.  A  dark  cloud  rushed  down  upon  them,  and  a 
dreadful  panic  seized  them.     They  fought  fiercely  ^  against 


1  Exurgat  Deus,  et  dissipentur  inimici  ejus,  et  fugiant  qui  oderunt  eum 
a  facie  ejus. 

2  The  Tripartite  says  that  fifty  men  of  them  fell  in  that  uprising  of  Patrick's 
curse. 


PATRICK    AT   SLANE.  1 4/ 

each  other,  whilst  the  earth  shook  beneath  their  feet,  and 
a  whirhvind  dashed  their  chariots  to  pieces,  and  swept 
themselves  and  their  horses  far  over  the  plain,  so  that,  in 
the  end,  only  a  few  succeeded  in  making  their  escape  to 
Mount  Moduirn.  The  fugitives  rushed  blindly  onward, 
half  dead  from  fright  and  the  effects  of  Patrick's  curse, 
which  still  pursued  them  as  they  fled.  In  the  end,  of  all 
their  host  only  four  remained  at  Slane,  Laeghaire  and  his 
wife,  with  two  attendants  ;  and  they,  we  are  told,  as  well 
they  might,  were  sore  afraid. 

Then  the  queen  approaching  Patrick  said  to  him  :  "  O 
just  and  mighty  man,  do  not  kill  the  King ;  he  will  bend 
his  knees  and  adore  thy  God.''  And  the  King  did,  unwil- 
lingly, however,  bend  his  knees,  and  '  pretended  to  adore 
Him  whom  he  wished  not  to  adore.'  And  when  they  had 
separated,  and  the  King  was  gone  a  little  distance  in 
advance,  he  called  Patrick  to  come  to  him  :  but  it  was  a 
pretence,  for  he  wished  to  slay  him  by  some  means  or 
other.  Patrick  knew  the  King's  design  ;  yet,  blessing  his 
eight  ^  companions,  with  young  Benignus  also,  he  came 
with  them  to  the  King.  The  King  saw  them  and  counted 
them  coming ;  but  lo  !  as  he  looked  they  vanished  from 
his  eyes,  and  he  saw  them  no  more ;  but  the  Gentiles  saw 
eight  young  stags  and  a  fawn  rushing  past  to  the  wood- 
lands, whereupon  Laeghaire,  full  of  sorrow,  fear,  and  shame, 
returned  to  Tara  at  the  dawn  of  day  ;  that  is,  on  Easter 
Sunday  morning. 

This  last  incident  is  somewhat  differently  narrated  in 
the  Tripartite.^  Laeghaire  meditated  killing  Patrick,  and 
said  to  him,  "  Come  after  me,  O  Cleric,  to  Tara,  that  I  may 
believe  in  thee  in  presence  of  the  men  of  Erin."  Yet 
forthwith,  as  he  went,  he  set  an  ambush  on  every  path  from 
Slane  to  Tara  so  that  Patrick  might  be  killed.  But  God 
permitted  not  this.  '  Through  Patrick's  blessing  a  cloak 
of  darkness  covered  them  as  they  journeyed  to  Tara,  so 
that  the  heathen  in  ambush  saw  nothing  but  eight  deer 
going  past  them  under  the  mountain — the  Hill  of  Slane — 

^  Muirchu  here  has  odo,  eight ;  but  when  Patrick  goes  to  Tara  in  the 
morning  of  Easter  Day  he  goes  accompanied  by  five  only — quinque  tantum 
viris.  This  shows  that  the  two  things  are  distinct  in  the  estimation  of  the 
writer — the  attempt  to  slay  Patrick  and  his  eight  companions  with  Benignus, 
and  the  subsequent  journey  of  Patrick  with  only  five  and  Benignus  to  Tara. 

"^  The  narrative  of  the  Tripartite,  although  more  marvellous,  appears 
more  probable,  for  Laeghaire  would  scarcely  at  once  attempt  to  slay  Patrick, 
especially  as  his  men  of  war  were  scattered.  The  ambush  must  have  been  set 
•on  the  road  to  Tara. 


148         Patrick's  conflict  with  the  druids. 

and  behind  them  a  fawn  with  a  bundle  on  its  shoulder. 
That  was  Patrick  with  his  eight  and  Benen,  the  gillie, 
behind  with  his  tablets  on  his  back.' 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Patrick  chanted  the  Faed 
Fiada,  or  Deer's  Cry,  by  which  he  sought  the  protection 
of  God  and  his  Saints  and  Angels  against  the  wiles  and 
magic  of  all  his  enemies.  The  Hymn  is  given  elsewhere 
in  the  Appendix  on  Patrick's  writings.  There  are,  how- 
ever, a  few  points  to  be  noted  here. 

Patrick  on  that  day  was  in  deadly  peril  at  every  step, 
and  he  knew  it  well.  But  he  knew  also  that  he  had  a 
divine  mission  to  preach  in  Ireland,  and  he  was  full  of  hope 
and  confidence  in  God.  The  might  of  faith  and  prayer 
was  never  more  strikingly  shown  than  in  his  case,  and  this 
Hymn  reveals  at  once  his  hopes  and  his  fears.  His  whole 
confidence  was  in  God,  and  to  God  he  pours  out  all  his 
heart  with  a  strong  cry,  and  also  to  all  God's  servants, 
animate  and  inanimate,  to  help  him  and  to  shield  him  in 
the  hour  of  peril.  This  is  the  key-note  to  the  understand- 
ing of  the  Hymn.  If  miracles  were  ever  needed  to  save 
from  the  jaws  of  death  they  were  needed  on  that  day,  and 
if  ever  there  was  just  cause  for  expecting  God  to  work 
miracles  in  favour  of  a  creature,  Patrick  might  well  expect 
them  on  the  Hill  of  Slane  and  of  Tara,  for  the  spiritual 
destinies  of  Ireland  for  all  time  were  the  issue  at  stake. 

Thoughts  like  these  filled  Patrick's  brave  heart : — 

As  forth  to  Tara  he  fared  full  lowly, 

The  Staff  of  Jesus  was  in  his  hand, 
Twelve  priests  paced  after  him  chanting  slowly. 
Printing  their  steps  on  the  dewy  land. 
It  was  the  Resurrection  morn, 
The  lark  sang  loud  in  the  springing  corn, 
The  dove  was  heard  and  the  hunter's  horn. 
The  murderers  stood  close  by  the  way, 
Yet  they  saw  nought  save  the  lambs  at  play.i 

III. — Patrick  at  Tara. 

And  now  the  momentous  conflict  begun  at  Slane  was 
to-day  to  be  fought  out  at  Tara.  Hitherto  it  was  a  drawn 
battle ;  the  final  issue  was  to  be  determined  on  this  Easter 
Sunday  just  then  dawning.  Laeghaire  had  returned  from 
Slane  to  Tara  full  of  shame  and  sorrow ;  Patrick,  too,  with 


^  Aubrey  de  Vere. 


PATRICK   AT  TARA.  I49 

his  nine  companions,  including  Benen,  having  escaped  the 
wayside  ambushes  by  God's  good  Providence,  were  now 
approaching  Tara,  and  they  were  coming  there  on  the 
invitation  of  the  King  himself. 

Then  strange  rumours  filled  all  the  Royal  City — strange 
rumours  of  what  had  taken  place  during  the  night — how 
the  King  had  come  back  shame-faced  and  disheartened  ; 
how  the  great  Druid,  Lochru,  had  his  brains  dashed  out 
against  the  rock  by  the  Cleric  of  the  Shaven-Crown  ;  how 
a  wild  storm  and  whirlwind  had  scattered  the  heroes  and 
braves  of  Tara  when  they  attempted  to  seize  the  Christian 
priest ;  and  how  the  King  himself  and  the  Queen  had  in 
the  end  been  forced  to  beg  for  mercy  at  the  hands  of  the 
mighty  Tailcend.  It  was  whispered,  too,  that  the  great 
Christian  Magus  was  coming  to  Tara  that  very  day,  but 
when  or  how  no  one  knew — only  all  were  filled  with  anxiety 
and  fear,  as  well  as  with  a  strong  curiosity  to  know  what 
might  happen  next  That  curiosity  was  soon  to  be  grati- 
fied to  the  full,  as  we  shall  now  explain,  adhering  strictly 
to  the  original  narrative  of  Muirchu  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh. 

On  that  day,  then,  that  is  on  Easter  Day,  Laeghaire  had 
made  a  great  feast  for  his  sub-kings,  his  chiefs,  and  his 
Druids,  for,  according  to  ancient  custom,  it  was  a  day  of 
high  festival  at  Tara.  So  they  all  sat  down  to  the  feast 
prepared  for  them  in  the  palace  of  Tara,  and  whilst  some 
were  talking,  and  others  thinking  of  what  had  taken  place 
the  night  before,  Patrick  himself,  with  five  men  only,  stood 
in  the  midst  of  the  company,  although  the  doors  were  all 
closed,  and  no  one  had  seen  them  enter.  His  purpose  was 
to  proclaim  the  Good  Tidings  that  they  bore  before  the 
High  King  of  Erin  in  the  very  midst  of  his  assembled 
nobles.  No  doubt  the  scene  of  this  meeting  was  the 
Teach-miodhcuarta — the  great  banquet  hall  of  Tara,  whose 
site  can  still  be  distinctly  traced,  having  seven  great  doors 
on  either  side,  giving  access  to  the  princes  and  warriors,  who 
enjoyed  the  right  of  admission  to  the  splendid  hall.  At  a 
royal  feast  like  the  present,  it  contained  all  that  was  best 
and  bravest  in  Erin,  and  hence  it  was  that  Patrick,  strong 
in  the  strength  of  God,  was  anxious  to  appear  before  the 
King  in  the  great  banquet  hall,  which  was  also  their  council 
chamber. 

They  were  all  surprised  when  they  saw  Patrick,  with 
his  attendants,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  hall ;  but,  in 
obedience  to  the  King's  command,  no  one  rose  to  do   him 


I50  PATRICKS   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

homage  except  only  Dubthach  Maccu  Lugair,'  the  chief  of 
the  poets  of  Erin,  and  also  a  youth,  then  a  poet  student, 
namely  Fiacc,  who  afterwards  became  a  wondrous  bishop, 
whose  relics  now  repose  in  Sletty.  Patrick  blessed  them, 
for  it  was  not  only  an  act  of  faith,  but  a  brave,  nay,  a  daring 
act  of  faith  ;  and  Dubthach,  we  are  told,  was  the  first  who 
believed  on  that  day,  and  his  faith  justified  him.  Now,  at 
the  worst  of  times  an  Irishman  is  not  inhospitable ;  sa 
Patrick  was  invited  to  sit  down  at  the  banquet,  and, 
although  he  knew  some  of  them  meant  mischief,  he  accepted 
the  invitation.  He  sat  near  the  King  and  his  chief 
Druid,  Lucat-Mael,  who,  wrathful  in  mind  at  the  death  of 
his  colleague  the  night  before,  resolved,  if  possible,  to  try 
and  poison  Patrick.  So,  taking  a  suitable  opportunity,  un- 
seen by  Patrick,  but  not  unseen  by  the  others,  he  poured 
poison  into  the  cup  that  he  might  see  what  Patrick  would 
do.  Patrick  knew  his  guile  ;  and  so,  in  the  presence  of 
all  who  had  seen  the  poison  dropped  into  the  cup,  he 
blessed  the  vessel,  and  forthwith  the  contents  were  curdled, 
or,  as  Muirchu  has  it,  were  congealed,  all  except  the  poison. 
Then  Patrick,  turning  the  cup  a  little  on  its  side,  the 
poison  dropped  out,  and  when  he  again  blessed  the  cup 
the  liquor  became  fluid  as  before. 

Failing  to  effect  his  purpose  within  the  great  chamber^ 
the  Druid,  whose  name  and  fame  were  at  stake,  now  chal- 
lenged Patrick  to  a  trial  in  the  open.  ''  Let  us  do  wonders," 
he  said,  "  in  this  great  plain  before  all  the  multitude." 
Patrick  accepted  the  challenge,  but  asked  :  "  What  do  you 
propose  to  do?  "  "  Let  us  bring  snow  upon  the  ground," 
said  the  Magus.  *'  I  like  not,"  said  Patrick,  "  to  do  any- 
thing contrary  to  the  will  of  God."  '*  Well,"  said  the 
Magus,  "  I  will  bring  the  snow  in  sight  of  you  all ; "  and 
by  his  magical  incantations  he  covered  the  earth  with 
snow  to  the  depth  of  their  girdles  in  the  presence  of  all. 
Then  said  Patrick,  "  Lo  !  we  see  the  snow — remove  it  now.'' 
Whereupon  the  Magus  replied,  ''  I  cannot  remove  it  until 
to-morrow."  ''  Then,"  said  Patrick,  "you  are  powerful  for 
evil,  but  not  for  good  ;  not  so  with  me."  So  stretching 
forth  his  hands,  and  blessing  all  the  plain,  the  snow  at  once 
disappeared,  without  rain,  or  cloud,  or  wind.  It  came  as  a 
magical  delusion,  and  like  a  delusion  it  vanished,  where- 
upon  the  crowds  who  witnessed  it  marvelled  much. 


^Erc,  the  Brehon,  rose  up  to  do  honour  to  th;  Saint  at  Sline  ;  at  Tara. 
it  was  the  Poet  and  his  pupil,  Fiacc. 


PATRICK   AT   TARA.  151 

Next  the  Magus,  invoking  his  gods  or  demons,  brought 
very  dense  darkness  over  the  face  of  the  whole  land,  as 
his  associates  did  later  on  over  Magh  Ai ;  and  all  the 
beholders  were  filled  with  amazement.  Then  said  Patrick  : 
"  Drive  away  the  darkness ;  "  but  he  could  not  until  the 
following  day.  Whereupon  Patrick  betook  himself  to 
prayer  and  blessed  the  plain,  when,  lo  !  all  the  darkness 
vanished,  and  the  sun  once  more  shone  out  in  his  meridian 
splendour.  Upon  this,  all  the  folk  cried  out  with  a  loud 
voice,  and  gave  glory  to  Patrick's  God. 

Now,  all  these  things  left  the  victory  still  somewhat 
doubtful  ;  so  Laeghaire  said  :  "  Cast  your  books  into  the 
water " — doubtless  that  very  stream  which  still  flows 
from  the  northern  flank  of  Tara — ''  and  he  whose  books 
come  forth  uninjured  by  the  stream,  we  shall  adore." 
Patrick  said  :  "  So  be  it."  But  the  Magus  said  :  "  No,  he 
hath  water  for  a  god,''  alluding  to  the  Baptism  administered 
and  preached  by  Patrick.  "  Then,"  said  the  King,  "  let 
the  trial  be  by  fire,"  and  Patrick  said:  "I  am  ready." 
But  the  Magus  again  said,  ''  No.  He  hath  fire  for  his 
god  on  alternate  years — one  year  water,  the  next  fire." 
*'  Then,"  said  Patrick,  "  let  the  trial  take  place  this  way : 
You  and  one  of  my  youths  along  with  you  shall  go  into 
separate  parts  of  a  house,  closed  and  locked  on  the  outside. 
My  garment  shall  cover  you,  and  yours  shall  be  given  to 
him,  and  then  let  both  the  buildings  be  set  on  fire  at  the 
same  moment."  This  proposal  was  accepted  by  all  present. 
A  house  of  dry  material  was  built,  and  also  a  house  of  green 
material.  The  Druid  went  into  the  latter  with  Patrick's 
cloak  covering  him,  and  Benignus  went  into  the  former 
with  the  Druid's  cloak  over  him. 

Then  the  doors  were  closed,  and  the  houses  were  fired. 
Patrick  at  the  same  time  began  to  pray,  and  lo  !  in  a  brief 
space  the  flames  consumed  the  green  wood  and  the  Magus 
within  it ;  but  the  dry  wood  around  Benignus  remained 
untouched  by  the  flames,  and  he  himself,  too,  remained 
unscathed,  although  the  Druid's  cloak  around  him  was 
burnt  to  ashes, ^  whereas  Patrick's  cloak  around  the  Druid 
was  untouched. 

It  is  strange  that  Laeghaire  was  once  more  enraged  at 
the  death  of  his  false  Druid,  and  sought  again  to  slay 
Patrick,  but  God  prevented   him.      No  wonder    that    at 


HVhereupon  Patrick  said — '  In  hac  hora  consumpta  est  gentilitas  Hibei- 
nix  tota.'     (It  was  quite  true). — Tirechan. 


152  PATRICKS    CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

Patrick's  prayer  God's  anger  descended  on  the  impious 
King,  and  many  of  his  people  perished,  and  Patrick  said 
to  the  King,  whose  help  he  wished  to  win  :  **  except  you 
now  believe,  you  will  quickly  die,  for  God's  anger  will 
descend  on  your  own  head  also."  The  King  was  then 
afraid,  and  all  his  people  with  him.  He  feared  Patrick  and 
Patrick's  God,  not  without  good  reason  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  would  appear  he  feared  the  Druids,  and  clung,  for 
honour  sake,  to  the  ancient  national  religion.  Besides, 
an  Irish  king  was  not  a  despot.  He  dare  not  act  in  such 
a  crisis  without  the  consent  of  his  nobles ;  so  he  gathered 
them  together  in  the  hall  of  assembly  and  said  to  them, 
"  It  is  better  for  me  to  believe  than  to  perish."  They 
thought  so,  too ;  and  thereupon,  in  accordance  with  the 
will  of  his  chiefs,  '  Laeghaire  believed  on  that  day,  and 
turned  to  the  Lord  God,  and  many  of  his  people  believed 
with  him.'  What  was  more  important  still,  by  this  act  of 
submission  to  Patrick,  insincere  as  it  was,  he  set  an 
example  to  his  chiefs  of  submission,  and  at  the  same  time 
gave  Patrick  not  only  permission  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
but  also  a  guarantee  for  his  personal  safety — a  matter  of 
the  greatest  moment  to  the  Saint.  Still  Patrick  said  to 
him,  "  because  you  have  resisted  my  preaching,  and  given 
scandal  to  others,  although  your  own  reign  will  be  long, 
none  of  your  seed  will  be  king  after  you  " — a  prophecy 
that  was  subsequently  modified  so  far  as  the  child  then  in 
the  queen's  womb  was  concerned — and  he  only  was 
allowed  to  reign.  So  ended  the  mighty  strife  between 
Patrick  and  the  Druids  on  Tara  Hill. 

The  passage  of  the  Tripartite  explaining  how  it  came 
to  pass  that  one  child  of  Laeghaire's  was  excepted  from 
the  curse  is  interesting.  "  Patrick  said  '  since  thou  hast 
believed  in  God,  and  done  my  will,  length  of  days  will  be 
given  thee  in  thy  kingdom  ;  in  punishment,  however,  of 
thy  disobedience  some  time  ago,  there  will  not  be  King  or 
Crown  Prince  of  thee '  " — save  Lugaid,  adds  the  writer, 
the  son  of  Laeghaire,  because  his  mother  besought  Patrick 
not  to  curse  the  child  lying  in  her  womb.  Then  Patrick 
said — "  till  he  opposes  me  (in  preaching  the  Gospel)  I  will 
not  curse  him."  Thereafter  Lugaid  took  the  realm  and 
went  to  Achad  Forchai.  There  he  said,  "  is  not  yon  the 
church  of  the  cleric  who  declared  that  there  would  be 
neither  King  nor  Crown  Prince  from  Laeghaire?  "  There- 
upon a  fiery  bolt  was  hurled  from  the  skies  against  him, 
which  killed  him;  and  therefore  the  place  is  called  Achad 


PATRICK   AT   TARA.  I  53 

Forchai  ^ — the  Field  of  the  Lightning.    With  this  significant 
statement  ends  the  First  Part  of  the  Tripartite. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  foregoing  account  of  the 
struggle  of  Patrick  with  the  Druids  of  Tara  is  a  very 
marvellous  record  ;  yet  it  is  found  in  all  the  Lives  of  the 
Saint  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest,  and  without  substantial 
variation.  For  most  people  it  is  too  marvellous.  Some 
writers  who  reject  miracles  altogether  seem  to  think  that 
they  are  proof  of  the  later  date  of  the  documents  in  which 
they  are  found.  But  will  any  scholar  say  that  this  record, 
marvellous  as  it  is,  is  more  marvellous  than  similar  records 
in  the  Life  of  Anthony,  by  St.  Athanasius,  or  in  the  Life 
of  Felix,  by  Paulinus  of  Nola,  or  in  the  Life  of  St.  Martin, 
by  his  friend  and  contemporary,  Sulpicius  Severus?  They 
were  amongst  the  holiest  men  and  the  greatest  scholars  of 
the  fourth  century,  and  the  Lives  were  all  written  before 
St.  Patrick  set  his  foot  on  Irish  soil. 

Again,  who  will  venture  to  say  that  there  was  more 
need  of  miracles  in  the  case  of  any  of  these  saints  than  in 
the  case  of  St.  Patrick  ?  All  of  them  had  a  great  work  to 
do  ;  but  none  of  them  had  a  greater  work  than  Patrick  in 
the  conversion  of  Ireland  ;  and  if  miracles  be  admitted  in 
the  one  case  there  is  no  reason  a  priori  why  they  should 
not  be  admitted  in  the  other.  In  fact  Patrick  accomplished 
a  greater  work  for  God,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  than  any 
of  the  three  ;  and  if  we  are  prepared  to  accept  miracles  in 
the  case  of  the  former  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  accept  them  in  the  case  of  the  latter  also,  especially  in 
the  account  of  this  great  struggle,  which  must  have  been 
known  to  the  whole  nation,  and  to  which  all  the 
biographers  of  the  Saint  bear  a  unanimous  testimony.  The 
battle  of  the  faith  in  Ireland  was  fought  and  won  on  the 
Hill  of  Tara  on  that  Easter  Sunday  morning.  If  Patrick 
failed,  he  failed  once  for  all.  When  he  won  he  established 
the  supremacy  of  his  new  spiritual  kingdom  over  all  the 
land  of  Erin.  The  victory  was  not  yet  complete,  but  the 
citadel  was  won. 

There  are  many  persons  who  will  not  admit  the 
miraculous  at  all  in  the  lives  of  the  saints.  Then  we  ask 
them — Do  they  admit  the  miracles  of  the  Old  Testament 
or  of  the  New  ?  If  they  do  not  we  cannot  argue  with 
them  here.      But  if  they  do  why  should  they  admit  the 

^  This  place  is  said  to  be  in  the  parish  of  Enniskeen,  barony  of  Lower 
Kells,  at  the  extreme  north  of  the  Co.  Meath.     See  O'Hanlon,  vol.  iii.,  p.  565, 


154  PATRICKS   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

miracles  of  Moses  before  Pharaoh  in  Egypt,  or  the  miracles 
of  the  Apostles  recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  and  yet 
reject  the  miracles  of  a  later  date  performed  by  the  saints  ? 
It  is  true  that  those  are  recorded  in  the  inspired  Word  of 
God,  but  our  Saviour  expressly  told  His  Apostles  that 
they  could  do  what  He  did,  and  that  they  would  even  do 
greater  things  than  He  did,  if  only  they  had  faith,  and,  we 
may  assume,  a  great  occasion  to  make  it  operative.  Surely 
Patrick  had  faith,  and  a  high  purpose,  and  a  great  occasion; 
and  those  who  accept  the  New  Testament  as  inspired,  and 
believe  in  our  Lord's  Word,  must  admit  that  when  preaching 
at  the  peril  of  his  life  to  the  heathen  for  the  salvation  of  a 
whole  nation,  he  had  a  great  occasion ;  so  that  if  ever  the 
Gospel  promise  was  to  be  fulfilled,  we  might  naturally 
expect  its  fulfilment  at  that  momentous  crisis  of  a  nation's 
history. 

IV. — Patrick  in  Meatii. 

St.  Patrick,  by  his  victory  over  the  Druids  at  Tara  and 
his  alliance  with  the  King,  had  gained  two  great  advan- 
tages. He  was  now  free  to  preach  the  Gospel,  not  only  in 
Meath,  but  throughout  Ireland  generally,  and  Laeghaire 
also  pledged  his  royal  word  to  secure  his  personal  safety, 
which,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  he  faithfully  kept.  He 
was  at  heart  a  stern  old  pagan,  and  though  he  yielded 
'  obedience  and  submission '  to  Patrick,  he  would  notbelieve 
'  from  his  heart '  and  become  a  true  Christian.  "  Niall,"  he 
said,  "  my  father,  when  he  heard  the  Druids'  prophecy 
regarding  the  coming  of  the  faith,  enjoined  me  not  to 
believe,  but  that  I  should  live  a  pagan  and  should  be 
buried  in  the  topmost  part  of  Tara  like  warlike  men  ; "  for 
it  was  a  not  unfrequent  custom  of  the  heathen  warriors  to 
be  buried  standing  up  and  clothed  in  their  armour  with 
their  face  to  the  foe.  And  so  it  came  to  pass.  Laeghaire 
was  buried,  like  his  sires,  in  the  ridge  of  his  own  royal 
rath,  standing  up,  with  sword  and  spear,  facing  the  men  of 
Leinster,  whom  he  hated,  until  the  day  of  doom.  One 
cannot  but  feel  some  admiration  for  the  stern  old  warrior,. 
'  whose  honour  rooted  in  dishonour  stood. ^  He  would  not 
accept  the  new  faith ;  he  would  keep  the  faith  he  pledged 
to  his  great  father  Niall ;  and  he  would  also  keep  his  word 
to  Patrick.  He  said  in  effect :  '  I  cannot  believe  without 
breaking  my  word  and  forgiving  the  Leinster  men,  and  I 
am  not  prepared  to  do  either.'  Yet  he  knelt  to  Patrick,, 
we  are  told,  and  believed  in  God,  '  but  not  with  a  pure 


PATRICK    IN    MEATH.  155 

heart.'  It  was  merely  an  external  profession  of  faith  ;  still 
his  subjects  believed,  and  on  that  day,  we  are  told,  many 
thousands  of  them  accepted  the  new  faith  and  were  bap- 
tised. Laeghaire,  too,  was  allowed  to  retain  his  throne 
because  of  his  submission  ;  but  in  punishment  of  his  unbelief 
no  King  or  Crown  Prince  of  his  seed,  save  only  Lugaid  his 
son,  was  destined  thereafter  to  rule  over  Royal  Tara. 

Before  giving  an  account  of  Patrick's  preaching  in 
Meath,  it  may  be  useful  to  say  a  few  words  of  the  Royal 
Province. 

The  history  of  Tara  itself  goes  back  to  immemorial 
time.  We  find  it  mentioned  by  the  Bards  as  a  royal 
residence  under  all  the  High  Kings  of  Erin.  Slainge,  the 
first  king  of  the  Firbolgs,  is  said  to  have  built  his  royal 
rath  on  the  '  hill  of  Temur,'  as  it  is  called  in  Irish,  and 
from  his  time  onward,  under  the  kings  of  the  Firbolg, 
De  Danaan,  and  Milesian  race,  it  continued  to  be  a  royal 
residence.  To  Ollamh  Fodla  is  attributed  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Feis  of  Tara,  but  his  reign  only  glimmers 
through  the  shadowy  cloudland  of  bardic  tradition.  When 
we  come,  however,  to  the  second  century  of  the  Christian 
Era  we  find  ourselves  on  firmer  ground.  Tuathal  Teachtmar 
reigned  for  thirty  years  (130-160),  and  must  be  regarded 
as  the  real  founder  of  Tara.  When  he  came  to  the  throne 
of  Erin  he  convoked  a  Feis,  or  National  Assembly,  of  his 
nobles  and  chiefs  on  the  Royal  Hill,  and  bound  them, 
under  a  most  solemn  oath,  by  all  the  gods  and  elements,  to 
maintain  him  and  his  posterity  against  all  rivals  of  any 
other  race  in  the  supreme  sovereignty  of  the  kingdom  at 
Tara,  '  so  long  as  Erin  was  surrounded  by  the  sea.'  Then 
to  maintain  the  dignity  and  power  of  the  King  of  Tara  he 
took  a  portion  from  each  of  the  four  provincial  kings  to 
form  a  fifth  province,  of  which  Tara  was  made  the  capital, 
and  the  chief  stronghold  of  the  High  Kings  of  his  race. 
From  Munster  he  took  Tlachtga,  the  rich  territory  south 
of  the  Hill  of  Ward,  near  Athboy,  which  was  then  the 
northern  limit  of  the  Munster  kingdom.  FVom  Connaught 
he  took  the  famous  Hill  of  Uisneach  and  all  the  territory 
westward  to  the  Shannon.  From  Ulster  he  took  Tail- 
teann,  with  the  fertile  plains  north  of  the  Boyne  and 
Blackwater  to  the  very  roots  of  the  Ulster  hills ;  and  from 
Leinster  he  took  the  great  Bregian  Plain — Magh  Breagh — • 
between  the  Boyne  and  the  Liffey — of  which  Tara  itself 
was  the  capital  and  stronghold. 

In    this    way    the    great    principality   of   Meath    was 


156  PATRICK'S    CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

formed,  which  extended  from  the  Shannon  to  the  sea, 
and  from  SHeve  Bloom  to  Dundalk,  or,  at  least,  to  the 
Fane  River,  beyond  the  town  of  Louth.^ 

In  later  times  this  great  principality  was  divided  into 
eleven  sub-kingdoms,  each  of  considerable  extent,  as  set 
forth  in  the  Book  of  Rights,  which  was  originally  com- 
posed by  Benignus,  the  disciple  of  St.  Patrick.  We  shall 
have  occasion  to  refer  to  several  of  these  sub-kingdoms  in 
recording  the  missionary  journeys  of  our  Saint 

Tara,  being  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  was  in  direct 
communication  with  all  the  provincial  kingdoms.  Five 
great  roads  led  from  Tara  to  all  parts  of  Ireland  ;  and  it 
may  be  said  that  they  followed  to  some  extent  the 
direction  of  the  great  railway  lines  which  now  radiate  from 
Dublin  throughout  the  country.  We  shall  find,  as  might 
be  expected,  that  Patrick,  who  had  a  numerous  retinue, 
followed  in  his  missionary  journeys  the  line  of  these  roads, 
diverting  from  them,  however,  as  occasion  required. 

On  entering  a  new  territory  or  sub-kingdom,  Patrick 
always  went,  if  he  could,  straight  to  the  residence  of  the 
king  or  chief,  to  secure  his  protection,  and,  if  possible,  his 
conversion.  If  the  chief  and  his  friends  accepted  the  faith, 
and  received  baptism,  there  would  be  little  difficulty  in 
dealing  with  the  tribesmen.  Frequently,  however,  some 
members  of  the  Royal  family  would  readily  accept  the 
faith  ;  while  others  remained  hostile  and  intractable.  In 
dealing  with  those  refractory  chiefs  Patrick  showed  at  once 
great  courage  and  great  prudence.  Sometimes,  as  he  tells 
us,  he  even  made  presents  to  them  and  to  their  sons,  in 
order  to  win  their  good-will  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel. 

His  first  request  was  always  for  permission  to  build  a 
church,  which  was  seldom  refused,  for  the  refusal  was 
nearly  always  visibly  punished  by  some  Divine  chastise- 
ment. 

In  founding  his  churches  it  was  Patrick's  custom,  as  a 
rule,  to  build  them  near  the  dun  or  rath  of  the  chief,  in 
order  that  the  clergy  might  thus  be  protected  from  the 
hostility  of  marauders  or  other  foes ;  and  frequently  the 
chief  gave  one  of  his  own  duns  for  the  purpose.  These 
considerations  will  help  to  guide  us  in  trying  to  trace  out 


^  This  ancient  kingdom  of  Meath  is  still  represented  by  the  vast  modern 
diocese  of  Meath,  extending  from  the  Shannon  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  roots  of 
Slieve  Bloom  to  the  CoUon  Hills. 


PATRICK   IN    MEATH.  157 

the  missionary  journeys  of  the  Saint,  not  only  in  Meath, 
but  throughout  the  country  generally.  We  must  remem- 
ber, too,  that  on  these  journeys  the  Saint  was  attended 
by  a  number  of  clerics — bishops,  priests,  and  others  of 
inferior  grade — who  had  come  with  him  from  abroad,  or 
afterwards  joined  him  when  his  success  was  known  to  be 
assured.  He  also  took  with  him  several  young  clerics  like 
Guasacht  and  Benignus,  whom  he  wished  to  be  trained  up 
for  the  service  of  the  Church  under  his  own  guidance. 
Similar  itinerant  schools  of  bards  and  brehons  were  quite 
usual  in  Erin ;  and,  in  truth,  Patrick  had  for  a  time  no 
resource  except  to  follow  their  example. 

When  the  strife  with  the  Druids  was  over  on  that 
memorable  Easter  Sunday,  the  2nd  of  April,  A.D.  433, 
according  to  Lanigan,  Patrick  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the 
boat  which  he  had  left  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne,  under 
care  of  Lomman,  with  instructions  '  to  row  against  the 
stream.'  It  had  come  to  the  Ford  of  Trim,  and,  so  far  as 
we  can  judge,  the  Apostle  set  out  on  Easter  Sunday  in  the 
afternoon  to  meet  his  nephew  at  the  hospitable  home  of 
the  kindly  British  matron  who  had  received  Lomman  with 
so  warm  a  welcome.  The  story,  as  given  in  the  Tripartite, 
is  full  of  interest,  and  bears  intrinsic  evidence  of  its  own 
authenticity  ^ — it  never  could  have  been  invented. 

It  would  appear  that  Lomman  had  worked  his  curragh 
against  the  stream  up  to  the  ford  of  Trim — Ath  Truim — 
late  in  the  evening,  and  remained  there  during  the  night. 
At  dawn  of  day,  Fortchern,  son  of  Fedilmid,  going  down 
to  the  river,  found  Lomman  '  with  his  Gospel  before  him  ' 
— perhaps  saying  Mass.  Now,  it  was  a  strange  sight,  to 
see  the  British  cleric  with  his  companions  thus  engaged  in 
Divine  worship  at  dawn  of  day  by  the  fords  of  Trim. 
It  would  seem  Fortchern  waited  a  little,  and  then  made 
inquiry  as  to  the  strangers'  purpose.  They  told  him  in  few 
and  simple  words ;  and  we  are  told  that  the  doctrine  he 
heard  was  to  him  a  marvel.  But  he  received  the  Good 
Tidings  in  a  spirit  of  faith  ;  and,  believing,  was  baptised  by 
Lomman  in  the  '  open  well '  close  at  hand.  It  is,  we 
believe,  there  still;  and  reveals  one  of  those  unconscious 
touches  which  furnish  the  most  striking  evidence  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  story.     These  events  occupied   some 


^  O'Hanlon  throws  doubt  on  the  existence  of  Lomman  at  this  early  date  ; 
but  he  was  thinking  of  another  Lomman  of  Lough  Gill,  who  flourished  about 
lOO  years  afterwards. 


158  PATRICK'S   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

time,  possibly  some  hours  ;  until  at  length  the  mother  of 
Fortchern,  wondering  what  kept  him  away  so  long  from 
home,  came  down  herself  from  the  dun  to  the  river  to 
ascertain  the  cause  of  the  delay.  And  there  she  found  her 
son  still  listening  to  the  teaching  of  Lomman ;  and  she 
marvelled  greatly  to  hear  him  speak  in  her  own  British 
tongue,  *  for  she  herself  was  of  the  Britons,'  and  was  rejoiced 
to  see  her  countrymen,  to  whom  she  gave  most  cordial 
greeting.  Like  her  son,  she  believed,  and  was  doubtless 
baptised,  and  then,  returning  home,  she  told  her  husband 
all  that  had  taken  place.  Thereupon  he,  too,  was  rejoiced 
at  the  arrival  of  the  clerics  from  Britain,  because  his  own 
mother  had  been  the  daughter  of  a  British  king,  and  bore 
the  beautiful  name  of  Scoth  Noe — the  Fresh  Flower. 
Coming  down  to  the  bank  of  the  Boyne,  he  saluted  the 
strangers  in  their  own  British  tongue,  and  then  made  full 
enquiry  about  Lomman's  family,  and  the  new  religion  which 
he  preached.  The  other  replied — '  I  am  Lomman,  a 
Briton  and  a  Christian,  a  disciple  of  Patrick,  the  Bishop, 
who  has  been  sent  by  the  Lord  to  baptise  and  convert  the 
Irish  people  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  who  also  sent  me  in 
accordance  with  God's  will.' 

Thereupon  Fedilmid  and  all  his  family  believed,  and 
in  the  first  fervour  of  his  young  faith  he  offered  Ath-Truim 
to  God  and  to  Patrick,  and  to  Lomman,  and  to  his  own 
son  Fortchern,  for  ever. 

V. — Patrick  Visits  Trim. 

Now  Patrick,  hearing  these  things  at  Tara  on  Easter 
Day,  went  down  to  Trim  to  the  hospitable  home  of  Fedilmid, 
where  he  found  Lomman  and  his  companions,  with  their 
kindly  host  and  hostess  of  his  own  British  race.  He 
accepted  Fedilmid's  grant  to  God  with  gratitude,  and 
founded  a  church  at  Trim,  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  before 
Armagh  was  founded,  which  gives  us  457  as  the  date  of 
the  foundation  of  the  primatial  city.^ 

This  narrative,  given  both  in  the  Tripartite  and  the 
Book  of  Armagh,  is  very  suggestive.  It  shows  us  that 
the  church  of  Trim  was  the  first  erected  in  Meath,  and  that 
it  was  endowed  by  a  son  of  King  Laeghaire  himself.  It 
shows  also  that  there  was  much  social  intercourse  between 

^  A.D.  457  is  obviously  the  25th  year  after  433,  counting  both  the 
extremes. 


HE   VISITS  TRIM.  159 

Meath  and  Britain,  for  we  find  that  King  Laeghaire  had  a 
British  wife,  and  that  her  son  Fedilmid  had  another 
British  wife,  and  that  Patrick's  nephew  Lomman  was  also 
a  Briton,  and  conversed  familiarly  with  that  lady  in  her 
own  British  tongue.  We  have  also  this  Prince  Fedilmid 
making  a  royal  gift  of  his  own  stead  to  Patrick  and  to  God, 
migrating  himself  to  another  place  beyond  the  river.^ 

Now  Lomman,  who  ruled  the  church  of  Trim,  died 
young,  and  we  are  told  that  when  his  death  drew 
nigh  he  sent  Fortchern,  '  his  foster  son,'  and  destined 
successor  in  the  See  of  Trim,  to  have  speech  of  his 
(Lomman's)  brother,  Broccaid,  in  Immliuch  Ech  in  Con- 
naught — that  he  might,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  explain  to 
his  brother  his  own  dying  wishes,  for  his  purpose  was  to 
bequeath  his  church  '  to  Patrick  and  to  Fortchern.'  But 
Fortchern  refused  his  foster-father's  inheritance,  and 
entrusted  it  to  God  and  to  Patrick,  whereupon  Lomman 
said  : — "  Thou  shalt  not  receive  my  blessing  unless  thou 
receivest  the  abbacy  of  my  church."  Then  he  consented  ; 
but  he  only  kept  it  for  three  days,  when  he  resigned  it  to 
Cathlaid  the  Pilgrim.  Wisely,  too,  he  acted,  for  Fortchern 
feared  that  his  acceptance  of  what  his  father  had  given  to 
God  might  prove  an  evil  example  in  favour  of  that  heredi- 
tary succession  in  ecclesiastical  benefices  which  afterwards 
wrought  widespread  ruin  in  many  of  the  churches  of  Erin. 

Of  the  other  churches  which  Patrick  founded  in  eastern 
Bregia  we  know  little  or  nothing.  There  is  a  brief  list  of 
them  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  identify 
the  localities.  The  first  is  the  church  'in  Culmine,'  which 
perhaps  may  refer  to  the  Hill  of  Slane,  on  which  Patrick 
no  doubt  founded  a  church.  The  second  is  the  '  Ecclesia 
Cerne,'  in  which  Ere,  who  was  carried  off  in  the  great 
plague  (of  550?)  is  buried.  It  may  be  Kilcarne,  to  the 
south-east  of  Navan.  Another  was  founded— in  Cacumi- 
nibus  Aisse — on  the  summit  of  Asse.  It  has  not,  we 
believe,  been  identified.  A  fourth  was  in  Blaitiniu,  which 
Reeves  correctly  identifies  with  Blaitine,  now  Platin,  in 
the  parish  of  Duleek.  The  fifth  is  said  to  be  in  Columbus, 
in  which  Patrick  ordained  the  holy  Bishop  Eugene.  The 
sixth  is  called  the  Church  of  Mac  Laffy — filii  Laithphi. 
Another  was  in  Bridam — Collis  Bovis — in  which  was  the 
holy  Dulcis,  brother  of  Carthacus.    The  eighth  was  *  Super 


^  Migravit  autem  Fedilimid  trans  amnem  Boindeo,  et  mansit  in  Cluain 
Lagen. 


i6o         Patrick's  conflict  with  the  druids. 

Argetbor,'  in  which  was  the  Bishop  Ciannan,  whom  Patrick 
ordained  on  his  first  Easter  festival  in  Ferta-fer-Feice  — 
that  is  in  Slane.  This  shows  that  Argetbor  was  the  old 
name  of  Duleek.  It  is  curious  there  is  no  reference  to  the 
foundation  of  the  church  of  Dunshaughlin,  over  which 
Patrick  placed  his  own  beloved  nephew,  Sechnall,  whom 
he  destined  to  be  his  successor  in  Armagh.  Yet  it  was 
certainly  one  of  the  earliest  churches  founded  in  Bregia, 
probably  during  the  summer  of  433.  We  should  be  very 
glad  if  we  could  get  further  particulars  about  the  ancient 
churches  of  Bregia  from  any  of  the  clergy  or  antiquaries 
of  the  district. 

Patrick,  in  his  missionary  progress,  now  turned  westward 
from  Tara,  and  on  Easter  Monday — prima  feria — as  it  is 
called  in  the  Tripartite,  that  is,  the  first  week-day  of  the 
Easter  week,  he  came  to  Tailteann,  where  just  then  a 
royal  assembly  was  being  held,^  and  there  he  met  Cairbre, 
son  of  Niall.  Cairbre,  like  his  brother  Laeghaire,  was  a 
pagan,  and,  like  Laeghaire,  he  had,  doubtless,  pledged  his 
word  to  his  great  sire  that  he  would  live  and  die  as  his 
fathers,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  new  doctrines  of 
the  Tailcend  from  over  the  sea.  But  he  was  worse  than 
Laeghaire,  for  apparently,  even  after  the  peace  of  Tara,  he 
desired  to  slay  Patrick,  and  not  finding  an  opportunity  of 
so  doing,  he  scourged  Patrick's  servants  into  the  river  at 
Tailteann,  because,  it  seems,  they  would  not  inform  against 
their  master,  and  tell  the  tyrant  where  he  was.  Wherefore 
Patrick  called  him  God's  foe;  and  foretold  that  his  seed 
should  serve  the  seed  of  his  brother,  "and  of  thy  seed,'' 
he  added,  '*  there  never  shall  be  a  king.''  Moreover,  that 
river  Sele,  the  modern  Blackwater,  which  joins  the  Boyne 
at  Navan,  was  also  cursed  with  the  doom  of  sterility. 
*  There  will  never  be  salmon  in  that  river  owing  to  Patrick's 
curse,'  2    says  the  Tripartite,  and   we  believe  if  they  are 


^The  fair  of  Tailteann  continued  to  be  celebrated  by  the  Hy-Niall  princes 
long  after  Patrick's  time.  So  late  as  8io  it  was  banned  or  inderdicted  by  the 
family  of  Tamlacht,  because  the  Hy-Niall  had  violated  their  Termon,  but 
when  satisfaction  was  made  the  interdict  was  withdrawn. — Annals  of  Ulster. 

2  So  says  the  Tripartite.  '  There  will  not  be  large  salmon  in  it,'  says  the 
author  of  the  Fourth  Life.  If  you  wonder  why,  he  adds,  the  Saint  cursed 
the  innocent  river,  you  must  first  wonder  why  David  cursed  the  mountains  of 
Gilboe,  so  that  neither  snow  nor  rain  fell  upon  them.  We  may  add  that 
the  Saints  said  many  things  not  by  way  of  cursing  but  by  way  of  prophesying. 
God  justly  punishes  sinners  in  the  creatures  that  serve  fhem,  as  he  punished 
the  wicked  Cairbre  here  for  opposing  the  Gospel  by  making  the  river  that 
served  him  barren  of  fish  at  the  prayer  of  Patrick. 


HE   VISITS   TRIM.  l6l 

there  still,  they  are  very  few.  When  the  fish  come  to 
Navan  they  prefer  the  Boyne  to  the  Blackvvater,  and  go 
up  the  stream  to  the  south  rather  than  take  the  accursed 
waterway  of  Cairbre  to  the  west. 

Of  this  Cairbre  we  shall  hear  more  hereafter.  He  was 
one  of  the  eight  sons  of  Niall  the  Great,  four  of  whom 
permanently  settled  in  Meath,  and  four  in  the  north-west 
of  Ireland,  in  a  great  territory  which  they  had  during  the 
lifetime  of  their  father  acquired  by  the  sword.  The  four 
who  finally  settled  in  Meath  and  became  the  ancestors  of 
the  Southern  Hy  Neill,  were  Laeghaire,  Conall  Crem- 
thainn,  Fiacha,  and  Maine.  The  four  sons  who  settled 
in  the  North^  were  Conall  Gulban,  '  chief  of  the  sons  of 
Niall,'  Cairbre,  Eoghan,  and  Enna.  But  some  of  these 
bold  warriors  retained  their  estates  in  Meath  after  their 
conquests  in  the  North,  and  so  we  find  Cairbre  at  Telltown, 
where,  on  this  occasion,  he  probably  presided  at  the  great 
fair,  but  he  certainly  had  a  territory  in  Northern  Teffia, 
which  has  long  borne  his  name,  as  well  as  in  Carbury  of 
Drumcliff,  a  beautiful  and  famous  land  extending  from 
the  Owen  More  River  at  Ballysodare  to  the  Erne  at 
Ballyshannon.  It  was  this  Cairbre  Mac  Neill  who  now 
opposed  St.  Patrick  at  Telltown  on  the  Blackwater. 

It  is  evident  from  the  Book  of  Armagh  that  the  great 
gathering  at  Tara  of  the  King's  satraps — the  leaders, 
princes,  and  nobles  of  Erin — on  Easter  Sunday  eve,  was 
not  the  triennial  Feis  of  Tara,  which  was  a  political 
assembly  of  the  chiefs  of  the  nation,  but  a  '  religious 
assembly,'  or,  as  the  writer  calls  it,  '  an  idolatrous  assembly,' 
under  the  direction  of  the  Druids,  convened  for  the  purpose 
of  celebrating  some  great  religious  festival.  Some  writers 
think  it  was  the  birthday  celebration  of  Laeghaire  himself, 
but  the  stringent  ordinance  forbidding  the  kindling  of  any 
fire  before  it  was  lighted  in  Tara,  rather  suggests  a  religious 
festival  in  connection  with  the  Bel-tine,  or  May-day  festival 
in  honour  of  the  sun-god.  May-day,  it  is  true,  had  not  yet 
come,  but  this  might  have  been  a  preliminary  celebration 
in  connection  with  the  same  solemnity,  of  which  the  games 


^  Conall  Gulban  made  war  on  the  men  of  the  North-west,  to  punish  them 
for  slaying  his  tutor,  Fiacha.  lie  drove  them  out  of  their  territories,  with  the 
lielp  of  his  brothers,  and  then  shared  the  conquered  lands  with  them  as  a 
reward  for  the  assistance  they  had  rendered  him.  In  this  way  Cairbre  got 
the  barony  that  bears  his  name  in  North  Sligo,  Eoghan  got  Inishowen,  Enna 
got  the  Tir-Enna,  and  Conall  himself  Tir-Hugh,  as  far  as  Barnesmore.  See 
Flann's  poem. 

M 


1 62  PATRICK'S   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

at  Telltown  also  formed  a  part,  and,  doubtless,  the  chiefs 
and  nobles  of  Tara  went  from  the  Royal  Hill  to  take  their 
own  share  in  the  great  celebration  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  at  Telltown. 

VI.—Patrick  AT  Tailteann. 

Tailteann  or  Telltown  was  from  immemorial  ages  the 
great  marriage  mart  of  Erin,  not  an  assembly  for  political 
or  religious  purposes,  but  for  amusement.  The  marriage 
fair  was  celebrated  about  the  ist  of  August,  or,  more 
correctly,  on  the  last  Sunday  of  Summer,  and  traces  of  its 
existence  are  still  to  be  found  in  connection  with  Garland 
Sunday.  But  this  meeting  at  Telltown  was  not  the  regular 
annual  gathering,  but  a  special  meeting  in  connection,  no 
doubt,  with  the  great  gathering  of  the  princes  on  Tara 
Hill  a  few  days  before.  Telltown,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Blackwater,  is  about  nine  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Tara, 
so  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  the  chiefs  and  warriors 
ot  Tara  making  their  way  to  the  great  games  on  the  banks 
of  the  Blackwater.  On  this  occasion  we  are  told  that 
Patrick  blessed  the  green  or  place  of  assembly  at  Telltown, 
'  so  that  no  corpse  will  ever  be  carried  away  from  it' 
The  blessing  must  have  been  a  strong  one,  for  although  the 
law  forbade  all  riots  at  such  assemblies,  it  was  not  always 
observed  by  the  passionate  warriors  of  Erin. 

Patrick  never  missed  an  opportunity  of  doing  his 
Master's  work,  and  therefore  went  to  the  Telltown  meet- 
ing on  that  Easter  Monday,  for  he  knew  he  would  thus 
have  an  opportunity  of  meeting  the  men  and  maids  of 
Erin  in  great  numbers ;  and  he  went  there,  too,  which  was 
very  important,  under  the  safe  conduct  of  the  King  of 
Tara. 

No  doubt  it  was  that  safe  conduct  saved  his  life.  We 
have  already  seen  how  the  wicked  Cairbre  received 
Patrick,  and  how  he  treated  his  servants  and  followers, 
and,  doubtless,  he  would  have  slain  the  Saint  if  he  dared. 
But  the  journey  was  not  without  happy  results.  Patrick 
vvas,  it  would  appear,  driven  away  from  Telltown  by 
Cairbre,  but  turning  aside  he  went  to  visit  Conall,  son  of 
Niall,  *  who  dwelt  at  the  place  wherein  stands  Donagh- 
patrick  to-day.'  Unlike  the  graceless  Cairbre,  Conall 
received  the  saint  *  with  great  joy,'  and  Patrick  baptised 
him,  'and  confirmed  his  throne  for  ever.*  Moreover, 
Patrick    said,  "  Thy  brothers'  seed  shall  serve  thy   seed 


PATRICK   AT   TAILTEANN.  163 

for  ever,  thee  and  thy  sons,  and  thy  sons'  sons,  so  that  it 
may  be  an  enduring  blessing  for  my  faithful  children." 
And  so,  we  may  add,  it  came  to  pass,  for  most  of  the 
kings  of  Tara  in  after  times  were  sprung  from  this  Prince 
Conall ;  and  of  Cairbre  there  was  only  one,  namely, 
Tuathal  Maelgarbh,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  grandson 
of  Cairbre,  and  was  slain  in  A.D.  543  by  Diarmaid 
Mac  Cerbhaill,  a  grandson  of  this  Conall  Cremthainn.  Yet 
Cairbre  was,  next  to  his  brother  Conall  Gulban,  amongst 
the  bravest  of  the  sons  of  Niall  the  Great.  He  gained 
several  battles  over  the  Leinstermen,  especially  the  two 
great  battles  of  Granard  in  485  and  in  494;  and  another 
so  late  as  500  at  Magh  Ailbhe,  in  the  County  Kildare.^  In 
the  former  the  Leinstermen  were  the  aggressors,  but 
Cairbre  drove  them  back  to  Kildare,  and  defeated  them  at 
home  like  a  true  son  of  the  Great  Niall.  We  shall  hear  of 
him  again  on  the  banks  of  the  Erne,  and  find  him  there, 
too,  acting  in  the  same  bad  spirit  as  he  did  on  the  banks 
of  the  Blackwater. 

Now,  Prince  Conall  received  Patrick  with  joy  after 
Cairbre's  rude  repulse,  and  gave  him  the  place  of  a  church 
— the  second  in  Meath — near  his  own  fort,  which  was  called 
Raith  Airthir,  a  name  still  surviving  in  Orristown.  *  He 
measured  out  the  site  of  a  church  for  God  and  for  Patrick 
with  sixty  feet  of  his  own  feet ' — that  is,  it  was  sixty  feet  long, 
but  the  breadth  is  not  specified.  It  was,  however,  accord- 
ing to  that  scale  of  length,  about  26  feet  broad ;  ^  and 
Patrick  foretold  that  only  one  slaughter  should  profane  the 
holy  ground,  which  took  place  at  a  much  later  date,  and  is 
recorded  in  the  Tripartite.^  This  church  was  founded 
during  Easter  week,  and  was  probably  dedicated  for  Divine 
worship  on  the  following  Sunday.  Hence,  like  so  many 
other  churches  founded  by  the  Saint,  it  came  to  be  called 
Domnach  Patraic  (Donaghpatrick),  and  it  still  retains  the 
name,  and  gives  title  to  a  parish,  about  three  miles  north- 
west of  Navan,  on  the  left  bank  of  Blackwater.  Patrick 
left  his  flag-stone  there,  too — that  is,  a  portable  altar  con- 
taining relics  of  the  saints — with  some  of  his  people  to 
attend  to  the  religious  services  of  the  church  ;  and  he  said, 


^  Annals  of  Ulster. 

2  This  appears  to  have  been  the  normal  scale  of  the  larger  churches  in  the 
time  of  St.  Patrick,  60  x  26  feet. 

^  The  homicide  referred  to  took  place  at  a  much  later  date.  The  reference 
is  probably  a  later  insertion  in  the  text  of  the  Tripartite.  The  two  sons  of 
Cerball  slew  the  son  of  Bressal  in  the  church  on  a  Sunday. 


1 64         Patrick's  conflict  with  the  druids. 

"  Whoever  shall  profane  this  church,  his  life  and  his 
realm  shall  be  soon  cut  off."  And  that  prediction  was 
afterwards  verified  in  the  case  of  Cinaed,  son  of  Irgalach, 
King  of  Tara,  who  slew  a  man  that  had  fled  for  sanctuary 
to  the  church.  Thereupon  drops  of  blood  began  to  flow 
from  Patrick's  altar-stone,  until  reparation  was  partially- 
made  by  bestowing  on  the  church  three  townlands  as  an 
eric.  Final  reparation  was  not,  however,  made  until  the 
prediction  was  fulfilled,  and  Cinaed  himself  was  slain  in 
battle.  Donaghpatrick  continued  to  be  an  important 
religious  centre  for  many  centuries,  although  it  was  more 
than  once  plundered  by  the  Danes.  The  ancient  building 
has,  we  believe,  entirely  disappeared ;  but  the  old 
churchyard  is  still  a  favourite  burying  place,  and  the 
ashes  of  many  generations  of  holy  men  rest  in  peace 
beneath  its  sacred  sod. 

When  this  Easter  week  was  over,  Patrick  went  further 
up  the  river  on  the  Monday  after  Low  Sunday — the  close 
of  the  Paschal  octave — as  far  as  Ath-da-laarg,  the  Ford  of 
the  Two  Forks,  where  Kells  was  afterwards  founded  by 
Columcille.  And  there  he  founded  a  church,  in  which  he 
left  three  brothers  and  their  sister,  who  were  of  his  house- 
hold, and  seem  to  have  accompanied  him  from  Britain — 
that  is,  Cathaceus,  Cathurus,  Catneus,  and  their  sister  was 
Catnea,  a  holy  virgin  of  great  meekness,  who  used  to 
milk  the  wild  hinds,  '  for  so,'  says  Tirechan,  '  we  have  heard 
the  elders  say.'  Patrick  also  founded  another  church  in 
the  same  neighbourhood,  called  Drum  Corcortri,  and  he 
left  therein  Diarmaid,  son  of  Restitutus  the  Lombard  ;  and 
hence,  it  would  appear,  a  nephew  of  his  own.  The  con- 
nection will  be  more  fully  discussed  hereafter.  The  old 
church  at  the  Two  Forks  was  on  the  river  in  the  modern 
Headford  demesne  ;  Columcille's  later  and  more  famous 
foundation  was  a  little  to  the  west,  at  the  modern  town  of 
Kells.i 

It  was  on  this  same  journey,  probably  when  returning 
to  Tara,  that  Patrick  baptised  the  tribe  known  as  the  Luigne, 
and  founded  for  them  the  great  church  of  Domnach 
Mor  Maige  Echnach,  still  called  Donaghmore,  a  little  to 
the  north  of  Navan.  The  tribe-name  of  the  Luigne  is  still 
retained  in  that  of  the  modern  barony  of  Lune ;  but  it  is 


^Bishop  MacCainne,  of  Ath-da-Laarg,  beside  Kells,  is  commemorated  in 
the  Mar.  of  Donegal  on  the  1st  December,  Kells  was,  for  many  centuries,  an 
episcopal  See.     Bishop  Diarmaid  is  commemorated  on  December  12th. 


FURTHER   MISSIONARY   JOURNEYS    IN    MEATH.        l6$ 

clear  from  the  narrative  that  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick 
the  territory  included  at  least  some  part  of  the  barony  of 
Lower  Navan,  in  which  the  church  and  parish  of  Donagh- 
more  are  situated.  The  ancient  celebrity  of  the  church  is 
still  shown  by  the  beautiful  round  tower  built  near  it,  to 
protect  its  clerics  and  its  treasures  during  the  raids  of  the 
Danes.  All  these  events  took  place,  it  would  seem,  in  what 
was  afterwards  known  as  the  sub-kingdom  of  Laeghaire, 
the  mensal  lands  of  the  monarch  extending  from  Trim 
to  Tlachtga,  near  Athboy,  and  from  Navan  to  Kells,  by 
the  Blackwater.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  most  fertile  and  beauti- 
ful part  of  the  Co.  Meath,  and  the  very  centre  of  the  royal 
principality. 

Patrick  placed  Presbyter  Cassan  in  Donaghmore  ; 
Tirechan  puts  his  name  in  the  list  of  *  Patrick's  Franks,' 
who,  it  would  appear,  accompanied  the  Saint  from  Gaul 
to  aid  him  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Gael.  The 
Tripartite  says  he  was  one  of  six  young  clerics,  with  their 
books  in  their  girdles,  whom  Patrick  met  on  his  journey 
either  to  or  from  Rome,  to  which  city,  it  would  appear, 
they  were  going  on  their  pilgrimage. 

VII. — Further  Missionary  Journeys  in  Meath. 

After  placing  Cassan  in  Donaghmore,  Patrick  returned 
to  Laeghaire  at  Tara,  perhaps  to  seek  his  advice  as  to  his 
next  move  from  that  centre,  for  there  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  established  a  kind  of  friendly  agreement  between 
them,  and  Patrick  did  not  wish  to  take  any  important  step 
without  the  sanction  of  the  High  King.  The  result  seems 
to  have  been  that  Patrick  set  out  on  another  missionary 
journey,  this  time  taking  the  great  road  to  the  west  that 
led  by  Delvin  and  Mullingar  to  Longford,  somewhat  on 
the  line  of  the  Midland  Great  Western  Railway.  This 
road  was  called  Slighe  Asail,  from  Asal,  who  is  said  to  have 
'  discovered  '  it ;  that  is,  traced  it  out  and  cleared  it  in  the 
reign  of  Conn,  the  Hundred  Fighter.  This  hero  seems  to 
have  given  his  name  to  the  Plain  of  Asal,  which  was  one 
of  the  sub-kingdoms  of  Meath,  and  it  is  still  retained  in 
the  name  of  the  barony  around  Mullingar — Moyashal. 
Delvin,  another  of  the  sub-kingdoms,  is  called  Delvin- 
Asail  in  the  Tripartite,  to  distinguish  it  from  other  terri- 
tories of  the  same  name ;  that  is,  Delvin  of  the  Plain  of 
Asal.  From  Tara  by  Trim,  then,  St.  Patrick  went  to 
Delvin,  where  he  seems  to  have  remained  some  time  and 


i66         Patrick's  conflict  with  the  dritids. 

founded  several  churches  in  the  neighbourhood,  in  which 
he  placed  some  of  the  clergy  of  his  household.  Five  are 
specially  referred  to  as  clerics  whom  Patrick  met  on  their 
pilgrimage  abroad,  and,  as  they  had  no  means  of  carrying 
their  books  except  in  their  girdles,  he  gave  them  a  hide  of 
seal-skin  or  cow-skin  to  make  wallets  for  their  books. 
When  they  had  finished  their  pilgrimage  and  education 
they  returned  to  Ireland,  and  joined  Patrick's  household  or 
travelling  College  of  Clerics.  No  doubt  he  was  glad  to 
get  them,  and  he  appears  to  have  located  them  all  in 
churches  in  the  kingdom  of  Delvin,  which  was  much  larger 
than  the  modern  barony  of  that  name,  and  included  at 
least  a  part  of  the  north-west  of  the  Co.  Meath. 

Now  these  are  the  six : — Presbyter  Lugach  in  Cell 
Airthir,  perhaps  Kilskeer;  Presbyter  Columb  in  Cluain 
Ernain,  which  is,  no  doubt,  Clonarney,  north  of  Delvin ; 
Meldan  in  Cluain  Crema,  which  seems  to  be  the  modern 
Loughcrew,  an  easy  substitution  for  Cloncrew ;  Lugaid, 
son  of  Ere,  in  Fordrinan,  perhaps  the  place  now  called 
Fordstown,  north  of  Athboy  ;  and  Presbyter  Cassan,  whom, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  placed  at  Donaghmore,  near  Navan. 
'  These  five  saints  were  of  Patrick's  household  in  Delvin- 
Asail,'  says  the  Tripartite,  and  as  they  were  pilgrims 
together  he  placed  them  near  each  other.  The  sixth  was 
old  Ciaran  of  Saigir,  who  had  settled,  by  Patrick's  advice, 
far  away  to  the  south  at  Seir  Ciaran  by  the  roots  of  Slieve 
Bloom,  for  he  was  a  Munster  man.  In  the  same  connec- 
tion we  find  it  stated  that  as  Patrick  was  setting  out  in  his 
chariot  from  the  hill  (perhaps  of  Tara)  a  certain  woman, 
with  her  son,  met  him.  "  For  God's  sake,"  she  said,  "  O 
priest,  bless  my  son  ;  his  father  is  very  sick."  Patrick 
took  the  boy,  and  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  his 
mouth,  delivered  him  to  Cassan  of  Donaghmore  to  be 
instructed.  '  It  is  said  he  read  the  Psalms  in  twelve  days  '  ; 
that  is,  learned  to  read  them.  *  That  boy  is  (now)  Lonan, 
son  of  Senach,  who  is  in  Caill  Mallech,'  now  Killulagh, 
west  of  Delvin,  and  '  Rigell  ^  is  his  mother.'  ^ 

At  the  same  time  Patrick  placed  Do  Lue,  of  Croibech, 
and  Lugaid,  son  of -^ngus  Mac  Natfrach,  who  were  of  his 
household,  in  Druiminesclaind,  in  Delvin.  Lue's 'place' 
seems  to  be  the  parish  of  Killua,  in  the  north-east  angle  of 


^  Perhaps  Regrella,  in  the  same  parish,  takes  its  name  from  her. 
^  The   community  of  Clonmacnoise  afterwards  got  it  in  exchange  for  Cell 
Lothan  in  Breagh,  and  Cluain  Alad  Deirg  in  the  west. 


FURTHER   MISSIONARY   JOURNEYS    IN    MEATII.         167 

the  county  Westmeath,  and  a  little  east  of  Delvin.  vSo  that 
all  these  churches  appear  to  have  been  founded  whilst 
Patrick  was  at  Delvin,  and  they  were  all,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  situated  in  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Delvin. 

From  Delvin,  it  appears,  that  Patrick  went  south-west 
into  the  ancient  sub-kingdom  of  Feara  Tulach,  that  is  the 
*  men  of  the  hills,'  a  name  still  extant  in  the  barony  of 
Fartullagh,  south  of  Mullingar.  It  appears  to  have 
included  the  whole  of  the  beautiful  hills  and  swelling 
uplands  from  Killucan  to  Lough  Ennell,  and  southwards 
as  far  as  Tyrrellspass.  These  are  the  *  men  of  the  east  of 
Meath,'^  whom  Patrick  baptised,  as  the  Tripartite  tells  us, 
in  Tech  Laisrenn,  in  the  South.  *  His  (Patrick's)  Well  is 
in  front  of  the  church,'  and  he  left  two  of  his  people  there 
— the  virgin  Bice,  and  Lugaid  ;  and  'Bice's  tomb  stands 
to  the  north  of  the  Wei).'  Midhe,  or  Meath,  is  here  dis- 
tinguished from  Bregia,  or  Mag-Bregh,  which  certainly 
extended  as  far  west  as  the  Boyne.  In  fact,  at  this  point, 
the  boundary  between  Meath  and  Bregia  appears  to  cor- 
respond with  the  existing  boundary  between  West  and 
East  Meath.  So  that  the  description  of  the  Tripartite  is 
perfectly  accurate.  But,  where  is  Teach  Laisrenn,  which  is 
thus  noted  with  a  few  graphic  touches  ?  It  must  have 
been  somewhere  near  Mullingar,  for  it  is  added  that  Molue, 
a  pilgrim  of  the  Britons,  and  one  of  Patrick's  household, 
was  placed  by  him  at  Immliuch  Sescainn,  to  the  south  of 
Tech  Laisrenn,  on  the  shore  of  Loch  Aininne,  or  Lough 
Ennel,  as  it  is  now  called.  This  would  seem  to  imply  that 
both  churches  were  near  Lough  Ennel.  It  is  not  unlikely 
they  were  on  the  western  shore  near  the  place  now  called 
Dysart,  that  is^he  desert,  or  pilgrims'  abode,  where  there 
was,  certainly,  an  old  church  and  graveyard,  and  what  is 
still  a  bountiful  spring  of  clearest  water. 

Patrick  thence  went  northward  into  Tir-Asail,  and 
founded  there  a  church  for  the  men  of  Asal,  north  of 
Mullingar,  at  the  place  called  Temair-Singite,  where  he 
baptised  them,  and  it  is  noted  '  that  on  the  road  between 
Raith  Suibne  and  Cluain  Fota  Ainmirech,'  there  was  a 
hawthorn-brake,  but  *  he  who  breaks  anything  therein  will 
not  have  luck  in  his  doings.  Domnach  is  its  name.'  As 
this  was  the  name  usually  given  to  the  churches  founded 
by  St.  Patrick,  perhaps  the  place  referred  to  is  the  modern 
parish  of  Kilpatrick.     This  place  was  nearly  on  his  way  to 

^  Midh  is  different  from  Bregia  ;  the  latter  included  nearly  all  the  modern 
county  Meath,  whereas  Midh  meant  raiher  Westmeath. 


1 68  patkick's  conflict  with  tiik  druids. 

the  spot  where  we  next  find  him  at  Ath  Maigne,^  in  Asal. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  refers  to  the  modern 
parish  of  Moyne,  west  of  Castlepollard.  in  which  there  was 
a  famous  ford  over  the  river  Inny,  about  two  miles  north 
of  the  point  where  it  enters  Lough  Derravaragh.  It  was 
one  of  the  gesa,  or  things  forbidden  to  the  King  of  Tara, 
to  leave  the  track  of  his  army  across  Ath  Maigne  of  the 
bright  salmon  on  the  Tuesday  after  Samhain,  that  is,  the 
Tuesday  after  November  Day. 

At  Ath  Maigne,  Patrick  founded  the  church  which  still 
gives  name  to  the  parish,  and  close  to  the  south  of  it  he 
set  up  one  of  his  household  called  Mac  Dicholl.  The  old 
church  of  Moyne  was  at  the  cross  roads  of  Coole,  and  a 
little  to  the  south,  just  at  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  lake, 
there  was  another  ancient  church  called  Kiltoom,  perhaps 
the  place  where  Dicholl's  son  was  buried.  The  Magh  Asail 
of  the  Tripartite  appears  to  have  been  identical  with  Magh 
Locha  of  the  Book  of  Rights,  a  very  appropriate  name  for 
that  beautiful  '  lake-land,'  still  famed,  as  it  was  in  ancient 
times,  for  the  salmon-trout  that  abound  in  all  its  pleasant 
waters.  The  king  of  the  lake  country  at  that  time  was  a 
certain  Brenain,  who  is  described  as  brother  of  Fergus, 
son  of  Eochy  Moyvane,  and  therefore  an  uncle  of  King 
Laeghaire.  Fergus  died  during  his  father's  lifetime,  and 
the  reference  to  him  at  all  seems  to  imply  that  his  younger 
brother  Brenain  inherited  his  kingdom  round  the  lake. 
He  resisted  Patrick  when  founding  his  church  at  Ath 
Maigne.  Patrick  inscribed  with  his  crozier  a  cross  in  the 
flag-stone,  '  and  he  cut  the  stone  as  if  it  were  soft  clay.'  "  If 
I  were  not  patient  with  thee,"  saith  Patrick,  *'  the  might 
of  God's  power  would  cleave  thee  as  my  crozier  has  cleft 
the  stone."  But  there  was  a  penalty,  though  a  less  one, 
inflicted  for  his  opposition  to  the  Gospel.  Patrick  *  cursed 
him,'  that  is,  said  that  he  would  have  neither  son  nor  suc- 
cessor in  his  kingdom,  and  so  it  came  to  pass.  When 
Brenain's  wife  heard  Patrick  pronouncing  their  doom, 
"  For  God's  sake,  O  Patrick,"  she  said,  "  let  not  thy 
curse  fall  on  me."  "  It  shall  not  visit  thee,"  he  said  in 
reply,  "  nor  shall  it  touch  the  child  that  is  in  thy  womb." 
Still  of  him  there  is  no  successor,  and  so  Brenain's  race 
have  passed  out  of  history,  as  the  cloud  passes  out  of  the 
sky,  leaving  no  trace  behind. 

^  There  was  another  Athmoyne,  now  called  Lismoyne,  in  the  parish  of 
Arnurchu,  which  may  be  the  place  here  referred  to  (see  Annals  of  Clon., 
p.  203).     It  is  in  the  barony  of  Moycashel  =  Magh  Asail. 


PATRICK  AT   UlSNEACH.  169 


VIII.— -Patrick  at  Uisneach. 

As  we  have  just  seen,  St,  Patrick  on  his  second  mis- 
sionary journey  from  Tara  went  first  due  west  to  Delvin, 
where  he  founded  many  churches.  Thence  he  proceeded 
south-west  towards  Lough  Ennel,  south  of  MuUingar, 
where  he  baptised  the  men  of  that  neighbourhood,  but  we 
are  told  nothing  of  their  rulers.  Thence,  going  north-east 
of  the  lakes,  he  founded  several  churches,  until  he  came  to 
the  northern  limits  of  the  royal  territories  at  Ath  Maigne. 
He  did  not  then  cross  the  ford  on  the  Inny,  but  returned 
to  Tara,  doubtless  revisiting  on  his  way  the  first  churches 
which  he  had  founded  on  the  banks  of  the  Blackwater. 

It  is  probable  that  he  spent  the  whole  summer  of  the 
year  A.D.  433  in  founding  these  churches  around  Tara 
towards  the  west,  and  that  he  remained  during  the  winter 
months  perhaps  with  his  nephew,  St.  Lomman  of  Trim, 
and  the  kindly  British  lady  and  her  children  who  had 
received  the  missionaries  so  hospitably  on  their  first 
arrival  at  her  doors.  No  doubt  there  was  plenty  of  work 
to  do  in  his  immediate  neighbourhood,  even  during  the 
short  winter  days,  and  Patrick  was  not  the  man  to  make 
delay  in  doing  the  work  of  God. 

With  the  spring — the  early  spring — of  the  year  434  he 
once  more  set  out  from  Tara,  and  again  journeyed  west- 
ward, visiting  his  recently  founded  churches  till  he  came 
to  Uisneach. 

After  Tara  Uisneach  was  the  most  famous  of  the  old 
historic  hills  of  Erin.  It  was  at  first  called — and  it 
deserved  the  name — Caen-druim,  '  the  Beautiful  Hill.* 
Originally  it  belonged  to  Connaught,  of  which  it  formed 
the  eastern  outpost,^  but  as  we  all  have  already  seen  it  was 
made  part  of  Meath  by  Tuathal  Teachtmhar,  in  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  Era. 

From  immemorial  ages  it  had  been  the  great  meeting 
place  of  all  the  chiefs  and  tribes  of  Erin,  who  celebrated 
religious  games  ^  there,  as  men  did  in  ancient  Greece,  at 

^  It  would  appear  that  before  the  time  of  Tuathal  all  the  provinces  met  on 
a  rock  on  the  summit  of  Uisneach,  called  Aill-na-Miren,  the  Stone  of  the 
Divisions,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  on  the  summit  of  the  hill,  a  grand  memorial 
of  the  far-distant  past. 

^  Keating  tells  us  that  these  games  were  of  a  religious  character,  and  were 
celebrated  in  honour  of  Eel,  the  sun-god.  Two  great  fires  were  lit  in  honour 
of  the  god,  and  the  cattle  were  driven  between  them  to  protect  them  from 
diseases a-nd  other  evil  influences. — Joyce's  Social  History,  vol.  i.,  p.  291. 


I/O  PATRICKS   CONFLICT   WITH    THE    DRUIDS. 

least  once  every  seven  years.  For  this  purpose  it  was 
admirably  suited,  for  it  was  the  very  centre  of  the  king- 
dom, extremely  fertile,  and  well  supplied  not  only  with 
grass  and  water,  but  also  with  sheltered  valleys  on  its  wide- 
spreading  flanks,  where  all  the  hosts  of  Erin  might  find 
shelter  and  abundant  food  for  their  sheep  and  cattle.  We 
have  walked  to  its  summit  and  closely  observed  all  its 
natural  features.  The  rich  grass,  knee  deep,  on  which  the 
bullocks  grow  fat  for  the  English  market,  is  very  remark- 
able on  a  hill  reaching  the  height  of  over  600  feet.  Then 
it  has  a  great  area,  so  that  there  are  on  its  slopes  four  or 
five  plateaux  with  deep  sheltered  valleys,  where  the  flocks 
could  be  penned,  and  the  provincial  kings  with  their 
followers  might  find  ample  accommodation,  yet  perfectly 
distinct  and  well  marked  off  from  the  camping  ground  of 
their  neighbours,  all  around  the  hill.  This  was  most 
important,  for  by  that  means  the  risk  of  a  collision 
between  the  rival  chiefs  was  diminished.  From  its  summit 
there  is  a  prospect  of  far-reaching  grandeur,  for  the  eye 
can  range  over  the  whole  centre  of  Ireland  from  the 
Shannon  to  the  Dublin  Mountains,  except  at  one  point 
where  Rosemount  hill  breaks  the  distant  view  for  a  little 
space  on  the  west.  On  the  summit  of  the  hill,  between 
two  long  ridges,  there  is  a  wide  depression  containing  a 
small  lake  and  a  perennial  fountain.  This  lake  at  different 
points  would  be  accessible  to  all  the  hosts  of  Erin  without 
confusion,  so  that  from  every  point  of  view  the  hill  was, 
without  doubt,  the  most  convenient  in  all  Ireland  to  be  a 
meeting  place  for  the  tribes  of  Erin.  It  is  a  lonely  place 
now,  fertile  and  well  watered  as  of  yore ;  but  the  cattle 
have  taken  the  place  of  men,  and  where  all  the  sons  of  the 
Gael  were  wont  to  assemble  to  celebrate  their  national 
games  for  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  in  ancient  days,  one 
might  now  wander  for  a  long  summer's  day  and  not  meet 
a  living  soul  to  break  the  silence  of  the  great  lone  wide- 
spreading  hill.  All  that  remains  of  the  past  is  the  mighty 
Rock  of  the  Hearings. 

It  is  said  by  Keating  that  King  Tuathal  erected  a  palace 
on  the  summit  of  the  hill  for  his  own  temporary  residence ; 
but  it  appears  also  that  the  right  was  reserved  to  the  King 
of  Connaught  of  getting  a  horse  and  harness  from  each  of 
the  great  chiefs  who  came  to  celebrate  the  games.  The 
site  of  this  palace  or  dun  can  still  be  traced  on  the  crown 
of  the  hill ;  and  not  far  off",  beside  the  lake,  are  the  remains 
of  the  church  which  Patrick  founded  there,  for  the  Tripartite 


PATRICK   AT    UISNEACH.  I7I 

expressly  says  that  he  founded  there  a  cloister  or  monastic 
church.  No  doubt,  the  palace  on  the  hill  belonged  to 
Laeghaire  himself,  and  it  was  in  virtue  of  his  permission, 
as  owner-in-chief,  that  Patrick  founded  his  church  on  its 
summit. 

But  two  of  his  brothers,  sons  of  Niall  the  Great,  who 
dwelt  at  or  near  Uisneach,  *  came  against  Patrick,'  that  is, 
opposed  him  in  building  the  church  and  preaching  to  his 
converts.  Their  names  were  Fiacha  and  Enda,  and  very 
rudely  they  opposed  Patrick,  driving  him  and  his  '  family  * 
away  from  the  famous  hill.  Then  Patrick,  as  was  his 
custom,  denounced  God's  vengeance  against  the  enemies 
of  the  Gospel.  *'  A  curse,"  he  said — "  be  on  the  stones  of 
Uisneach,"  interposed  Sechnall,  his  nephew,  who  was 
standing  by,  and  wished  to  divert  the  curse  of  Patrick  from 
the  men  to  the  stones.  ''  Be  it  so,  then,"  said  Patrick  ;  and 
so  it  was  fulfilled.  The  crumbling,  impure  limestone  of  Uis- 
neach became  good  for  nothing — '  not  even  washing  stones^ 
are  made  of  them,'  adds  the  author  of  the  Tripartite. 

But  there  was  a  great  difference  between  the  two 
brothers.  Fiacha  persisted  in  his  opposition,  and  refused 
to  be  baptised,  although  it  seems  Patrick  paid  him  a  visit 
at  his  own  fort  at  Carn  Fiachach,  which  is  close  to  Uisneach. 
Not  so  Enda ;  he  received  baptism,  and  in  a  spirit  of  great 
self-denial  he  offered  to  Patrick,  for  God's  service,  his 
infant  son,  Cormac,  who  had  been  born  the  night  before ; 
and  with  the  child,  as  its  dowry  for  fosterage,  he  offered 
also  every  ninth  '  ridge '  ^  of  land  that  Enda  possessed 
throughout  Ireland,  and  King  Laeghaire  afterwards  con- 
firmed the  donation,  allowing  Enda  to  alienate  to  the  Church 
for  that  purpose  fifteen  senchleithe  or  townlands,  which 
Laeghaire  had  himself  given  to  his  brother  Enda  in  the 
province  of  Connaught,  hence  called  Enda  Artech  ;  and 
the  name  still  survives,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 

In  connection  with  this  donation  the  Tripartite  here 
anticipates  several  events  by  way  of  interlude,  for  it  tells 
us  that  Patrick  handed  over  the  child  to  be  fostered^  by 

^  The  word  washing  stones  has  been  sometimes  rendered  *  bathing  stones,* 
that  is,  stones  which  were  first  heated,  and  then  plunged  into  water  to  prepare  a 
hot  bath.     This  appears  to  have  been  Jocelyn's  idea. 

'•^  Ridge  seems  to  be  equivalent  to  '  field.' 

■^  There  was  in  ancient  Erin  a  literary  as  well  as  a  civil  fosterage.  The 
pupil  dwelt  in  the  house  of  his  master,  by  whom  he  was  maintained  and  care- 
fully instructed  in  the  learning  he  sought.  The  pupil,  on  the  other  hand, 
loved  and  honoured  the  master  as  a  father,  and  was  bound  to  provide  for  him 
in  his  old  age. 


1/2  PATRICK  S   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

four  of  his  own  household,  who  were  also  his  nephews — to 
wit,  Bishop  Domnall,  Coimid  Maccu  Baird,  Da  Bonne 
Maccu  Baird,  and  another.  Those  holy  prelates  after  a  while 
sent  for  the  child  and  had  him  trained  up  in  his  father's 
territory  of  Enda  Artech,  where  they  themselves  had  got 
their  churches.  Bishop  Domnall  was  established  at  Ailech 
Mor,  called  also  Ailech  Artech,  near  Castlemore,  at 
Ballaghadereen.  Bishop  Coimed  set  up  at  Cluain  Senmail, 
now  Cloonshanville,  near  Frenchpark,  and  Bishop  Da  Bonne 
at  Kilnamanach,  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  The  land 
belonged  to  their  young  pupil,  Cormac,  who  became 
afterwards,  it  appears,  St.  Patrick's  successor  at  Armagh, 
and  in  recognition  of  the  rights  of  Armagh,  it  was  usual 
for  each  of  these  churches  on  All  Saints'  Day  to  send  a  cow 
to  the  successor  of  Patrick  in  acknowledgment  of  the  fact 
that  Cormac  was  his  daltha,  and  that  Patrick  himself  was 
the  chief  fosterer  of  that  saint.  That  *  servitude '  of  the 
churches  of  Enda  Airtech  continued  until  it  was  remitted 
by  Nuada,  Abbot  of  Armagh,  in  A.D.  8io.^ 

Cormac  was  known  as  Cormac  Snithene,  and  Snithene's 
field  is  before  Dermag  Cule  Coennai,  and  Snithene's  tree 
also,  showing  the  place  where  the  youth  was  fostered  ; 
but  the  field  itself  was  never  given  to  Armagh,  much  to 
the  regret  of  Patrick's  community  there,  as  the  Tripartite 
expressly  tells  us.  But  all  this  is  an  episode  in  the  Tri- 
partite story  of  the  doings  of  Patrick. 

From  Uisneach  Patrick  went  to  a  place  called  Lecan 
Midhe,  and  there  he  left  a  number  of  his  household,  with 
Crumaine  as  their  Superior.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
this  Lecan  of  Meath  was  the  old  church  near  the  Inny 
Junction,  to  the  south,  which  has  given  its  name  to  the 
modern  parish  of  Lackan.  Patrick  founded  a  church  there 
about  two  miles  south  of  the  Junction  between  the  railway 
and  the  river,  and  we  are  told  that  he  left  with  the  family 
of  Lackan  relics  of  the  saints,  according  to  his  custom.  It 
is  probable  that  this  was  the  Meath  estate  of  Enda,  whom 
he  baptised  there,  and  after  making  this  excursion  towards 
the  north  he  returned  again  southwards  to  Uisneach,  and 
thence  prosecuted  his  journey  west  by  Templepatrick  to 
Moyvore,  founding  churches  along  his  route. 


1  Abbot  Nuada  went  to  Connaught  that  year  *  with  the  Law  of  Patrick 
and  with  his  shrine,'  that  is,  he  went  to  collect  the  Primalial  dues,  and  it  was, 
doubtless,  on  that  occasion  he  released  the  churches  of  Enda  Artech  from  the 
servitude  referred  to  by  the  Tripartite.    See  Annals  of  Ulster, 


PATRICK   AND   MUNIS   AT   FORGNEY.  I73 


IX. — Patrick  and  Munis  at  Forgney. 

The  territory  west  of  this  point  as  far  as  Lough  Ree 
and  south  of  the  Inny  River  was  the  ancient  kingdom  of 
Cuircne,  a  name  still  retained  in  the  district,  which,  how- 
ever, is  now  better  known  as  the  barony  of  Kilkenny  West. 

Here  at  the  place  called  in  Irish  Forgnaide,  which  bears 
its  name  to  the  present  day,  Patrick  founded  a  church  a 
little  to  the  south  of  the  Inny,  over  which  either  then  or 
at  a  later  period  he  placed  Bishop  Munis,  who  is  described 
as  a  Briton  and  brother  of  St.  Mel  of  Ardagh,  and,  there- 
fore, Patrick's  nephew. 

The  entry  in  the  Tripartite  regarding  these  brothers  is 
important.  '  When  Patrick  went  on  the  sea  from  Britain 
to  journey  to  Ireland,  Bishop  Munis  came  after  him  and 
after  his  brothers  who  were  with  him,'  namely,  Bishop  Mel 
of  Ardagh,  and  Rioc,  of  Inis-bo-fine  (in  Lough  Ree),  '  and 
they  are  sons  of  Conis  and  Darerca,  Patrick's  sister,  as  the 
households  of  their  churches  say,  and  that  is  not  to  be 
denied.'  There  are,  moreover,  sisters  of  these  bishops — 
Eiche..  of  Kilglass,  to  the  south  of  Ardagh  in  Teffia,  and 
Lallocc,  of  Senlis — that  is  Fairymount  in  Connaught;  and 
it  is  considered  that  she  is  the  mother  of  Bard's  ^  sons 
also,  so  that  Darerca  had  seven  sons  and  two  daughters 
doing  the  work  of  God  in  Ireland. 

This  family  history  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  the 
Appendix.  But  here  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  if  we  accept 
the  authority  of  the  Tripartite,  that  Munis  followed  his 
brothers  Mel,  Rioc,  and  Melchu — -whose  name  is  mentioned 
lower  down — to  Ireland,  that  they  came  with  Patrick, 
although  they  were  not  yet  bishops,  but  are  so  called  by 
anticipation,  and  that  they  were  of  the  household  of 
Patrick  in  Ireland  from  the  beginning.  Wherefore  Patrick, 
needing  priests  and  bishops,  placed  them  all  over  churches 
in  this  western  part  of  Meath,  just  as  he  had  placed 
Franks  and  other  Britons,  his  relatives,  over  several 
churches  in  Bregia,  because  they  were  already  either 
priests  or  bishops,  or,  at  least,  fit  for  ordination. 

It  would  seem  from  the  story  told  in  the  Tripartite  that 
Patrick  did  not  at  first  place  Munis  at  Forgney,  although 
he  had,  doubtless,  designated  him  for  that  church.     For  it 


^  In  the  Tripartite  the  phrase  is  '  mater  filiorum  Bairt,'  where  Bairt  seems 
to  be  a  proper  name  in  the  genitive  case. 


174  PATRICK'S   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

IS  implied  that  Munis  accompanied  the  Saint  during  his 
journey  through  Con  naught,  and  Patrick,  who  wished  to 
get  the  new  Pope  Leo's  blessing  upon  his  work,  and  also 
wanted  relics  for  the  altars  of  his  new  churches,  sent 
Munis  from  Croaghpatrick  to  Rome  to  procure  them  in 
the  spring  of  441.  Returning  home  to  Patrick,  who  was 
probably  still  in  Connaught,  Munis  stayed  for  a  night  at 
Clonmacnoise,  doubtless  waiting  to  cross  the  river.  Here 
*  Patrick's  Leper '  had  already  set  up  as  a  pilgrim,  and  as 
he  was  helpless  he  asked  a  stranger  to  dig  a  sod  for  him, 
from  which  a  well  sprang  forth,  which  gave  its  first  name 
to  Clonmacnoise — '  Tibraid,  that  is  the  Well,'  and  then 
asked  to  have  his  grave  made  near  at  hand,  because  he 
knew  it  was  destined  to  become  a  very  holy  place,  and 
there,  we  are  told,  he  was  buried. 

Now,  when  Munis  came  to  the  place  to  spend  the 
night  there  under  the  hollow  elm,  he  put  his  case  of  relics 
into  the  hollow  of  the  elm,  and  as  he  lay  down  to  rest  he 
saw  '  a  service  of  angels '  over  the  Leper's  grave,  so  he 
knew  a  saint  was  buried  there.  When  he  sought  his 
reliquary  in  the  morning  he  found  the  tree  had  closed 
around  it,  and  he  was  sad  thereat.  So  he  went,  apparently 
without  the  relics,  and  told  Patrick  what  had  happened. 
*'  Be  not  disturbed, '^  said  Patrick,  "  they  are  not  lost ;  a 
son  of  Life  will  come  there  hereafter,  who  will  need  them, 
namely,  Ciaran  the  Wright" — the  gieat  founder  of  Clon- 
macnoise, and  of  many  other  dependent  monasteries. 

This  story  is  inserted  in  the  Tripartite  as  a  traditional 
episode  in  the  history  of  Munis.  It  was  apparently  before 
this  journey  that  Munis  had  beeti  told  by  Patrick  where 
he  himself  was  to  settle.  It  was  in  answer  to  a  question 
put  to  Patrick,  by  Munis,  at  Ardagh.  "  My  brothers,"  he 
said,  "  Bishop  Mel  and  Rioc,  have  got  their  own  places ; 
tell  me  in  what  stead  am  I  to  be  placed?"  "There 
is  a  good  station  down  below  there,''  said  Patrick, 
pointing  out  Forgney,  from  the  high  ground  at  Ardagh, 
whence  it  can  be  distinctly  seen  about  six  or  seven 
miles  to  the  south.  The  text,  which  is  corrupt,  seems  to 
imply  that  there  would,  in  Patrick's  opinion,  be  more  souls 
going  to  heaven  from  Munis'  Church  at  Forgney  than  if  he 
were  to  set  up,  as  it  appears  he  wished,  'on  the  high  hill 
yonder,'  perhaps,  Bri  Leith,  near  Ardagh.  *'  The  lake  near 
it — Forgney,"  said  Munis,  ''will  be  troublesome;  I  shall 
have  no  peace  there  ;  the  warriors  passing  there  with  their 
shouts  and  their  tumult  will  leave  no  life  in  me."     It  would 


PATRICK    IN    SOUTHERN   TEFFIA.  175 

seem  that  there  was  a  much-frequented  pass  across  the 
river  at  Forgney;  and  'the  lake'  was  a  watering  place, 
and,  perhaps,  a  camping  place  for  the  hosts  of  Meath 
when  passing  by.  Thereupon,  Patrick  removed  the 
difficulty  by  his  prayers.  The  Lake  of  Forgney  disap- 
peared ;  *  and  it  is  now  Loch  Croni  in  Hy  Maine.' 
There  is,  or  was,  a  small  lake  called  Lough  Croan 
in  the  parish  of  Dysart,  west  of  the  Shannon ;  but  it  is 
more  likely  the  alleged  *  translation '  of  this  lake  took 
place,  at  least  to  some  extent,  by  drainage,  which  formed 
another  lake  in  Hy  Maine,  east  of  Athlone.  Tor  Maine, 
son  of  Niall  the  Great,  ruled  this  territory,  and  it  is  from 
him  that  the  modern  name,  the  Brawny,  is  derived.  It  is 
a  clumsy  corruption  of  Bregh  Mhaine,  that  is  the  Bregia 
of  Maine.^ 

One  thing  is  clear,  the  nephews  of  St.  Patrick  were 
located  helpfully  and  conveniently  for  each  other, — Munis, 
in  Forgney,  near  Ballymahon  ;  Mel,  a  few  miles  to  the 
north,  with  Melchu  ;  his  brother  Rioc  was  in  Innisboffin, 
some  miles  to  the  west  in  Lough  Ree  ;  and  their  sister 
Eiche,  a  holy  nun,  was  in  the  church  of  Kilglass,  just  three 
miles  south  of  Ardagh.  These  undoubted  facts  will  help 
to  explain  subsequent  events. 

X. — Patrick  in  Southern  Teffia. 

The  Tripartite  says  that  Patrick  '  went  into  Southern 
Teffia,  the  place  where  stands  Ardagh — High  Field, 
(Ardachad).'  The  course  of  the  narrative  certainly  gives  us 
to  understand  that  he  crossed  the  river  at  Forgney,  and 
went  thence  due  north  to  Ardagh.  It  was  his  natural 
course,  for  Maine,  the  king  of  South  Teffia,  dwelt  at  Ardagh, 
and  it  was  the  Saint's  settled  practice  to  go  straight  to  the 
dun  of  the  chief  O'Donovan  seems  to  place  southern 
Teffia  south  of  the  Inny,  but  this  was  not  the  view  of  the 
author  of  the  Tripartite.^  He  represents  St.  Patrick  as 
going  to  southern  Teffia,  by  crossing  the  river  from  the 
south,  and  he  certainly  places  Ardagh  in  South  Teffia,  and 
Granard  in  North  Teffia.  This  was  clearly  the  case  at 
that  time.  Teffia  was  a  sub-kingdom  of  the  Royal  province, 
but  distinct  from  Meath.     It  was  bounded  on  the  south  by 

1  See  Book  of  Rights,  188,  n. 

2  The  country  south  of  the  Inny  was  a  portion  of  the  ancient  Meath, 
and  it  still  belongs  to  the  diocese  of  Meath  or  Clonmacnoise,  not  to  Ardagh, 
that  is  Teffia. 


1/6  PATRICK'S   CONFLICT   WITH   THE    DRUIDS. 

the  Inny  and  was  divided  on  the  line  of  the  present 
railway  from  Mullingar  to  Longford,  into  two  parts.  The 
southern  Teffia,  over  which  Maine  ruled,  comprised  the 
southern  half  of  the  Co.  Longford  ;  the  northern  half, 
comprising  the  modern  baronies  of  Longford  and  Granard, 
was  the  principality  of  Cairbre,  '  God's  l^nemy,'  as  Patrick 
called  him. 

Crossing  the  river  then  at  the  ancient  ford  near 
Forgney,  where  the  modern  bridge  stands,  the  Saint  went 
due  north  to  Maine's  dun  at  Ardagh.  No  Irish  chief  ever 
built  his  dun  except  on  a  commanding  height;  and 
Ardagh,  as  its  name  implies,  occupied  a  very  commanding 
position,  and  gave  a  wide  prospect  over  the  vast  plains  of 
southern  Longford.  '  There  he  founded  a  church,  and 
prophesied  of  the  earthly  things,  and  of  the  pregnant 
females ;  and  of  the  men's  dwellings,  what  they  would 
bring  forth  and  how  the  offspring  would  be.'  We  know 
St.  Patrick  had  the  gift  of  prophecy;^  he  proved  it  often, 
and  he  certainly  needed  it  at  that  timiC,  for  we  may  infer 
from  the  brief  but  significant  narrative  given  by  the  author 
of  the  Tripartite,  that  the  men  of  South  Teffia  taxed  his 
powers  to  the  utmost. 

'  There  he  left  Bishop  Mel  and  Bishop  Melchu,  his 
brother.'  Many  of  our  greatest  writers,  relying  chiefly  on 
a  passage  in  the  Life  of  St.  Bridget  taken  in  connection 
with  an  entry  of  her  age  in  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  have 
decided  that  Mel  could  not  have  been  a  bishop  before 
A.D.  454.  We  disagree  with  that  opinion,  because  we 
think  that  Bridget  must  have  been  some  seventeen  years 
older  at  her  death  in  523  than  the  Annals  of  Ulster  assert. 
The  Annals  say  she  died  in  '  the  70th  year  of  her  age,'  ^ 
but  the  Irish  Life  in  the  Book  of  Lismore  says  she  died 
in  her  88th  year;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  Chronicon 
Scotorum,  which  gives  practically  the  same  date,  that  is 
the  87th  year  of  her  age.  If  so,  Saints  Mel  and  Melchu 
could  have  on  their  first  missionary  journeys  in  West 
Meath   with   St.   Patrick   during  the  course   of  the  year 


^  He  says  himself  in  the  Confession  :  *  Neque  abscondo  signa  et  mirabilia 
quae  mihi  a  Domino  ministrata  sunt  ante  multos  annos  quam  fuerunt' — 
'made  known  to  him  many  years  before  they  happened.'  We  cannot  gainsay 
his  own  words. 

2  If  we  take  it  to  mean  her  *  age  in  religion  '  it  would  be  accurate  enough. 
She  was  seventy  years  a  nun,   and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Annals  of 
Ulster  may  have  so  understood  it,  or  misinterpreted   their  authority,  who  so 
understood  it- 


PATRICK    IN    SOUTHERN   TEFFIA.  ,  177 

A.D.  435  met  her  mother,  and  '  blessed  herself  in  her 
mother's  womb/  and  foretold  her  future  greatness.  Hence 
so  far  from  proving  that  Mel  and  Melchu  were  not 
bishops  from  A.D.  435,  it  rather  confirms  the  statement 
that  they  were  then  bishops,  or  became  bishops  very  soon 
afterwards. 

Our  opinion,  therefore,  is  that  St.  Mel  and  St.  Melchu 
came  with  Patrick  from  Britain,  or  very  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  Ireland,  and  were  consecrated  bishops  by  him  in 
434  or  perhaps  435  ;  and,  as  the  brothers  did  not  wish  to  be 
divided,  he  left  them  both  in  the  church  of  Ardagh,  which 
was  the  first  church  founded  since  Patrick  had  left  Tara 
and  the  territory  of  Meath  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the 
word . 

We  have  visited  Ardgah.  It  was  a  noble  site  for  a 
church,  and  a  portion  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  with  massive 
walls  characteristic  of  the  earliest  Christian  architecture 
of  Ireland,  is  standing  there  still.  Unfortunately,  the 
characteristic  features,  that  is  the  windows  and  doors,  have 
disappeared,  but  a  glance  at  the  remnants  of  its  cyclopean 
masonry  is  quite  enough  to  prove  to  those  skilled  in  the 
earlier  types  of  Irish  architecture  that  it  was  indeed  a 
beautiful  primitive  church,  most  likely  dating  back  to  the 
time  of  St.  Patrick  himself 

'  There  on  the  hill  of  Ardagh,  in  his  new  church,  Patrick 
left  Mel  and  Melchu  '  rulers  of  the  church,  which  has  since 
become  the  mother  church  of  the  diocese  of  Ardagh. 
Here  occurs  the  narrative  of  an  interesting  incident  which 
could  not  have  been  invented.  Maine,  son  of  Niall,  was 
ruler  of  South  Tef^a  ;  he  dwelt  at  Ardagh  ;  and  he  believed 
in  Patrick,  who  baptised  him,  and  no  doubt  it  was  he  gave 
to  Patrick  the  site  of  his  church  on  that  noble  hill,  although 
the  fact  is  not  expressly  stated. 

Now,  Maine  was,  like  most  pagans,  of  loose  morals,  and 
kept  concubines  ;  so  he  brought  to  Patrick  a  pregnant 
woman,  who  was,  it  seems,  his  own  niece,  and  he  besought 
Patrick  '  to  bless  the  child  lying  in  her  womb  and  to  bless 
herself  Patrick  at  first  thought  she  was  the  legitimate 
wife  of  Maine,  but  stretching  forth  his  hand  to  bless  her, 
he  drew  it  quickly  back  again,  saying  the  strange  words — 
"  I  know  not,  God  knoweth."  He/<^//  there  was  something 
wrong,  which  stayed  his  hand,  and  he  often  used  the 
expression  in  similar  cases. 

Still  he  was  anxious  to  oblige  the  prince,  and,  so  he 
blessed  the  pregnant  woman  and  her  offspring.  *  But,'  adds 

N 


17?  PATRICK'S   CONFLICT    WITH    THE    DRUIDS. 

the  writer,  '  he  knew  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy  that  it  was 
the  accursed  Cairbre's  grandson  that  was  lying  in  her 
womb,  namely,  he  who  afterwards  became  Tuathal  Mael 
Gairbh,  King  of  Erin.  Patrick  had  '  cursed '  Cairbre  and 
^11  his  seed  at  Telltown,  as  we  have  seen,  and  foretold  that 
no  son  of  his  should  ever  reign,  while  now  here,  unfortu- 
nately, was  one  of  them  whom  he  had  unwittingly  blessed. 
"  Luckless  it  is,  O  Slender  Maine,"  said  the  Saint,  "  there 
shall  never  be  a  king  from  thee  "  (through  this  woman). 
Then  Maine  knelt  and  made  repentance;  and  Patrick,  like 
his  Master,  was  always  moved  by  repentance,  whereupon 
he  added — "  There  shall  be  no  king  in  Erin  who  will  not 
maintain  thee  (and  thy  seed),  and  it  is  thy  bond  which 
shall  remain  longest  in  Ireland.  Moreover,''  said  the  Saint, 
relenting  and  undoing  the  effect  of  the  former  curse,  "  he 
whom  I  have  blessed  (the  child  in  his  mother's  womb)  shall 
be  a  king " — namely,  Tuathal,  grandson  of  the  accursed 
Cairbre.  It  is  strange  that  Dr.  Todd,  in  the  face  of  this 
narrative,  should  represent  Patrick's  curse  on  Cairbre  at 
Telltown  as  an  instance  of  an  unfulfilled  prophecy  of 
Patrick.  He  ought  to  have  remembered  more  of  the 
prophecy  of  Jonas  about  the  destruction  of  Ninive.  Maine's 
penance  modified  the  '  curse/  so  far  as  the  offspring  of  his 
concubine  was  concerned,  just  as  the  penance  of  the  men 
of  Ninive  modified  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of 
Jonas. 

Then  the  author  of  the  Tripartite,  with  great  candour, 
tells  the  story  of  a  '  scandal  which  grew  up  at  Ardagh,'  the 
mere  narrative  of  which  is  in  itself  a  strong  proof  of  the 
authenticity  and  honesty  of  those  ancient  Lives  of  St. 
Patrick. 

'  Through  error  of  the  rabble,'  it  was  given  out  that 
Mel  had  sinned  with  his  'own  kinswoman,'  who  dwelt 
along  with  the  saint  as  his  housekeeper  at  Ardagh.  This 
kinswoman  was  St.  Lupait,  or  Lupita,  sister  of  St.  Patrick, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  carried  captive  with  him  to  Ire- 
land. If  so,  she  must  have  been  at  this  time  nearly  sixty 
years  of  age.  But  the  pagans  could  hardly  understand 
Christian  chastity  ;  and  the  mere  fact  that  a  man  and 
a  woman  were  living  in  the  same  house  gave  them  ground 
for  rash  judgment.  This  rumour  reached  the  ears  of  St. 
Patrick  at  a  much  later  period  than  the  founding  of 
Ardagh,  when  Lupita  must  have  been  at  least  seventy 
years  of  age.  This  fact,  oi  itself,  ought  to  have  killed  rash 
judgments — but  it  is  hard  to  kill  4  calumny.     The  tradition, 


PATRICK    IN    SOUTHERN   TEFFIA.  179 

however,  as  to  the  ston'  and  its  surroundings  is  still  so 
vivid  in  the  locaHty  that  in  substance  it  cannot  be  gain- 
said. 

Now,  when  Patrick  heard  the  rumour,  he  came  at  once 
by  the  north-eastern  road  to  Ardagh  from  Armagh,  as  the 
people  say.  Patrick  is  represented  in  all  the  Lives  as  a 
man  of  hot  temper,  which  was  easily  roused,  especially 
when  scandal  was  given  to  the  weak.  Mel  knew  this,  and 
knew  the  cause  of  his  coming  ;  so  he  had  recourse  to  God 
to  prove  his  own  innocence,  and  God  did  not  desert  him. 
When  he  saw  Patrick  '  coming  down  from  the  North,'  he 
went  '  to  angle  for  salmon  in  the  furrows  '  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  which,  at  the  time,  were  filled  with  water,  doubtless 
after  a  heavy  rain.  But,  in  any  case,  the  field  is  low-lying, 
and  the  furrows  would  be  easily  filled  by  a  good  shower. 
It  seems,  too,  that  he  really  caught  fish  in  the  presence  of 
Patrick,  for  so  God  vouchsafed  to  prove  the  innocence  of 
his  servant  Whereupon  the  '  dry  fishing  '  of  Mel  passed 
into  a  proverb.  The  field  where  he  fished  is  still  shown, 
and  was  called  in  Colgan's  time  an  chora  thirim — the  dry 
fishing,justunder  Canon  O'Farrell's  house — a  Canon  worthy 
of  St.  Patrick's  time — and  the  people  have  no  more  doubt  of 
St.  Mel's  catching  salmon  there  in  the  furrows  than  they 
have  of  their  own  existence. 

Then  Patrick,  going  up  the  hill  on  the  road,  where  the 
present  beautiful  Catholic  church  stands,  met  his  sister, 
Lupait,  '  carrying  live  coals  of  fire  in  her  chasuble,'  and 
her  mantle  was  in  no  way  touched  by  the  flame.  Whence 
the  road  is  to  this  day  called  Tochar  maol  tine — the  road 
of  the  harmless  flame. 

Then  Patrick  knew  that  his  sister  and  nephew  were 
sinless,  for  God  himself  had  proved  it.  Still  scandal,  even 
i)i  its  widest  sense,  must  be  avoided.  Wherefore,  '  though 
he  knew  there  was  no  sin  between  them/  he  said — "  Let 
men  and  women  be  apart,  so  that  we  may  not  be  found  to 
give  any  opportunity  to  the  weak,  and  God's  name  be 
thereby  blasphemed — which  far  be  from  us."  He  added — 
'  Let  Bri  Leith  be  between  them  ' ;  and,  therefore,  he  sent 
Lupait  to  the  west  of  Bri  Leith,  the  beautiful  hill  that  rises 
near  Ardagh  to  the  south-west,  and  there  she  founded  a 
famous  monastery  for  women  at  Druim  Chea.  But  St. 
Mel  he  left  at  Ardagh,  with  his  brother  Melchu,  to  continue 
his  holy  work. 

Bri  Leith  is  now  called  Slieve  Golry.  We  have  stood 
on  its  summit,  and  it  is  worth  a  long  journey  to  stand  there 


I  So         Patrick's  conflict  with  the  druids. 

of  a  clear  day.  The  height  of  the  hill  is  about  650  feet, 
and  the  view  all  over  the  lower  country,  north,  south,  east 
and  west,  is  one  of  surpassing  grandeur. 

Ardagh  itself,  as  its  name  implies,  is  high  ground  ;  but 
Bri  Leith  is  much  higher,  and  gives  a  magnificent  view  of 
the  lowlands  on  every  side,  especially  towards  the  Shannon, 
which  seems  to  wind  like  a  silvery  serpent  through  its 
reedy  borders,  in  the  green  and  grey  of  the  distance.  In- 
deed, we  think  we  have  never  seen  a  more  enchanting  view 
than  met  our  eyes  on  a  bright  Autumn  day  from  the  sum- 
mit of  that  lone  hill,  although  the  breeze  blew  so  strongly 
that  we  could  scarcely  keep  our  feet  on  the  crest  of 
the  heath-covered  cairn  that  crowns  its  summit.  We 
saw  the  site  of  Druim  Chea  about  two  miles  from 
the  western  roots  of  the  hill,  where  Lupita  ruled  her  small 
convent  after  Patrick  had  pronounced  his  decree ;  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  hill,  to  the  east,  was  the  swelling  ridge 
of  Ardagh,  crowned  with  its  old  ruins  and  its  new  church. 
So  the  works  of  men,  the  holiest  and  the  best,  pass  away, 
but  the  lines  of  beauty  and  grandeur,  drawn  by  Nature's 
hand,  are  unchanged  and  unchangeable 

XT— Patrick  in  North  Teffia. 

From  Ardagh  Patrick  went  some  twelve  miles  north 
and  by  east  to  Granard  '  in  the  dark  land  of  northern 
Tef^a.'  So  it  is  described  in  the  Book  of  Rights,  most 
probably  because  it  was  the  territory  of  the  accused  Cairbre, 
and  it  was  a  gesa,  or  unlucky  thing,  for  '  a  true  king  to  go 
at  all  on  a  Tuesday '  into  that  dark  country.  Cairbre's 
royal  dun  was  at  Granard,  and  perhaps  the  great  moat 
marks  the  stern  old  warrior's  grave.  But  though  an 
unbeliever  himself,  his  sons  seem  to  have  been  Christians, 
for  it  is  stated  that  Granard  was  offered  to  Patrick  as  the 
place  of  a  church  by  Cairbre's  sons.  The  old  chief  him- 
self was,  it  would  appear,  either  accidentally  absent  at  the 
time  or  kept  away  on  purpose,  for  he  had  good  reason  to 
fear  the  Tailcend's  curse.  So  Patrick  founded  a  church  at 
Granard,  and  he  left  there  Guasacht,  son  of  his  old  master, 
Milcho,  and  therefore  his  own  foster-brother,  as  the 
Tripartite  calls  him.  But  the  Book  of  Armagh  speaks  of 
him  and  his  sisters  as  the  foster-children  of  Patrick,  because 
whilst  he  was  yet  a  slave  he  cared  them  and  taught  them 
in  secret  the  Christian  religion,  for  he  feared  much  the 


PATRICK   IN    NORTH   TEFFIA.  l8l 

Magus,  that  is,  their  then  father.^  He  left  there  also  the 
two  Emers,  his  own  foster-sisters,  as  they  were  daughters 
of  Milcho,  and  had  accompanied  their  brother  Guasacht  all 
the  way  from  their  far-off  northern  home  to  Granard. 

This  incident  reveals  a  beautiful  trait  of  tender  human 
affection  in  Patrick's  character.  It  would  appear  that 
when  Milcho  burned  himself  in  his  flaming  dun,  Patrick 
took  over  the  guardianship  of  his  son  and  two  daughters. 
He  attached  them  to  his  own  religious  family,  and  had 
Guasacht  trained  for  the  sacred  ministry,  and  now  he 
placed  him,  the  very  first  of  all  his  Irish  disciples,  over 
this  church  of  Granard.  His  sisters,  the  two  Emers,  he 
consecrated  as  virgins  to  God — the  very  first  of  the 
daughters  of  Erin  whom  he  veiled  for  Christ — and  he 
placed  them  near  their  brother  at  a  place  called  Clon- 
broney,  which  must,  we  think,  be  regarded  as  the  first 
convent  of  nuns  established  in  Ireland.  Then  the 
Tripartite  adds  :  *  It  is  the  airchindech,'  or  chief  cleric  of 
Granard,  who  *  ordains  '  the  head  of  the  nuns,  that  is, 
appoints  the  reverend  mother  in  Clonbroney.  '  Now  when 
Patrick  blessed  the  veil  on  the  aforesaid  virgins,  their  four 
feet  went  into  the  stone,  and  the  traces  of  their  feet 
remain  there  for  ever.'  Clonbroney,  which  still  gives  title 
to  a  parish,  is  midway  between  Granard  and  Longford, 
about  six  miles  from  the  former  town.  The  old  grave- 
yard in  the  centre  of  the  parish  marks,  it  is  said, 
the  site  of  the  convent  where  the  two  first  of  that  great 
host  of  Irish  maidens,  who  in  every  age  since  that  distant 
day  have  given  their  pure  young  hearts  to  God,  lived  and 
died  in  peace.  Surely  it  is  a  sacred  spot,  and  if  it  could 
be  ascertained,  even  from  local  tradition,  where  the  holy 
maidens  rest,  it  would  be  a  fitting  thing  to  mark  the  sacred 
spot  with  some  appropriate  memorial. 


^Nutrivit  filium,  Guasacht  nomine,  et  filias  duas  ejusdem  viri,  quando  eraL 
in  sei'vitute,  et  docuit  illos  in  taciturnitate  cum  juramento  pro  timore  Magi. 


CHAPTER     IX. 
ST.    PATRICK    AT    MAGH    SLECHT. 

I. — Probable  Route. 

St.  Patrick's  visit  to  Magh  Slecht  is,  next  to  his  great 
conflict  with  the  Druids  of  Tara,  the  most  noteworthy 
incident  in  his  missionary  career.  It  is  very  briefly  narrated 
in  two  short  paragraphs  of  the  Tripartite,  but  we  must 
examine  it  at  greater  length. 

'  Thereafter  (that  is,  after  he  left  Granard)  he  went 
over  the  water  to  Magh  Slecht,  the  place  in  which  was  the 
chief  idol  of  Ireland,  namely,  Crom  Cruaich,  covered  with 
gold  and  silver,  and  twelve  other  idols  covered  with  brass, 
about  him.'  The  water  here  referred  to  seems  to  be  the 
chain  of  small  lakes  stretching  from  Drumshambo  Lough 
to  GuUadoo  Lough  on  the  borders  of  Co.  Cavan.  There 
are  eleven  or  twelve  of  them  in  all,  and  they  form  the 
mearing  line  between  Longford  and  Leitrim  in  modern, 
as  they  probably  did  between  Teffia  and  Magh  Rein  in 
ancient,  times. 

It  is  expressly  stated  by  Tirechan  that  Patrick  went 
from  Granard  into  Magh  Rein,i  and  therein  ordained 
Priest  Bruscus,  and  founded  a  church  for  him  in  that 
place.  It  is  not  easy  to  identify  this  church  or  Priest 
Bruscus,  of  whom  the  following  curious  story  is  told  by 
Tirechan: — After  his  death  he  appeared  to  another  saint 
who  dwelt  in  Inchicairbre — in  Latin,  Insula  generis 
Cothirbi — and  said  to  him  :  '*  It  is  well  for  you  whilst  you 
have  your  son  with  you,  but  I  am  afflicted  in  death,  for  I 
am  alone  in  the  desert  and  my  church  is  deserted  and 
empty;  no  priests  offer  the  Sacrifice  near  me.''  For  three 
nights  the  island  saint  had  the  same  vision,  so  on  the 
morning  of  the  third  day  he  rose  early,  and  taking  pick, 
shovel,  and  spade,  he  opened  the  lonely  grave  of  Bruscus 
and  carried  off  his  bones  with  him  to  his  own  island,  where 
they  rested  in  peace.     It  would  be  interesting  to  identify 


^  Et  venit  in  campum  Rein  et  ordinavit  Bruscum  presbylerum,  et  ecclesiam 
illi  fundavit. — Rolls  Zr//).,  Vol.,  II.  ?ji. 


PROBABLE    ROUTE.  1 83 

this  island,  but  even  1,000  years  ago  the  scribe  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh  noted  on  the  margin  that  the  place  was 
uncertain.^  Perhaps  it  was  Church  Island  in  Garadice 
Lough.  There  was  certainly  an  ancient  church  on  the 
island,  but  whether  it  was  the  one  here  referred  to  or  not 
is  still  uncertain. 

In  its  wider  sense,  Magh  Rein  designated  the  whole  of 
the  great  undulating  plain  of  southern  Leitrim,  but  it  was 
more  properly  applied  to  the  fertile  plain  around  Fenagh, 
which  in  all  the  old  books  is  called  Fenagh  of  Magh  Rein, 
for  it  was  its  capital  and  religious  centre.  There  is  a 
Lough  Rein  a  little  to  the  north  of  Fenagh,  which  probably 
gave  its  name  to  the  plain,  and  the  lake  itself  was  so  called 
from  Rein,  the  nurse  of  Cobhthach,  son  of  King  Conaing. 
The  youth  was  drowned  in  the  lake,  and  his  nurse,  in 
trying  to  save  him,  also  perished  there,  but  gave  her  name 
to  the  lake  for  ever.^ 

From  immemorial  ages  Fenagh  of  Magh-Rein  was  famed 
in  bardic  story,  and  was,  certainly,  both  in  pagan  and 
Christian  times,  one  of  the  great  religious  centres  of  the 
land.  Its  ancient  name  was  Dunbaile,  and  before  the 
Conmaicne  established  themselves  in  Magh-Rein,  this 
territory  as  well  as  Magh  Slecht  was  held  by  a  Firbolgic 
tribe,  named  the  Maisraige,  who  were  certainly  there  in 
the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  since  they  slew  Conal  Gulban  near 
Fenagh  in  A.D.  464,  a  deed  of  which  they  greatly  boasted, 
for  he  was  the  bravest  of  all  the  sons  of  Niall  the  Great. 

Magh  Slecht  lay  to  the  east  of  Magh  Rein,  but 
O'Donovan  is  not  accurate  in  saying  that  no  part  of  it 
lay  in  the  County  Leitrim.  The  entry  in  the  Annals  of  the 
Four  Masters,  under  date  A.D.  1256,  proves  that  beyond 
doubt  a  great  part  of  the  parish  of  Oughteragh,  north  of 
Ballinamore,  formed  a  part  of  Magh  Slecht.  It  is  true 
that  it  also  extended  into  the  modern  County  Cavan, 
comprehending  the  level  part  of  the  barony  of  Tullyhaw, 
through  which  the  light  railway  now  passes,  by  Bally- 
magauran  to  Ballyconnell,  in  County  Cavan.  Magh 
Slecht  formed  a  part  of  what  was  afterwards  called  Breifne 
O'Reilly,  but  Magh  Rein  belonged  to  Breifne  O'Rorke,  the 
dividing  line  being  marked  by  the  existing  boundary 
between  the  diocese  of  Kilmore  and  of  Ardagh.  The 
parish  of  Oughteragh  is  in  the  diocese  of  Kilmore,  and  its 


*  On  the  upper  margin — '  Isbaile  inso  sis  asincertus.' 
"^  Book  of  Feiiagh^  page  251. 


184  ST.   PATRICK   AT   MAGH    SLECHT. 

boundary  passes  about  one  mile  north  of  Fenagh  and  less 
than  a  mile  south  of  Edentinny,  the  last-named  being  thus 
a  part  of  Magh  Slecht. 

II. — Situation  of  Magh  Sleciit. 

In  our  opinion  Edentinny  is  the  undoubted  Plain  of 
Adoration,  where  *  Crom  Cruaich  and  his  sub-gods  twelve ' 
were  adored  by  the  pagan  Irish  from  time  immemorial. 
It  is  well,  therefore,  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  name  Magh 
Slecht  has  been  used  in  two  senses — first,  to  designate  a 
great  wide-spreading  plain  in  the  baronies  of  Tullyhawand 
Carrigallen,  and,  secondly,  to  imply  the  actual  scene  of 
the  idol  worship,  which  was,  in  our  opinion,  at  Edentinny, 
between  Fenagh  and  Ballinamore. 

The  aspect  of  the  place  is  such  as  would  at  once  strike 
a  visitor  as  marking  a  most  appropriate  place  for  druidic 
worship.  It  is  a  limestone  ridge  about  400  yards  long 
and  80  or  90  yards  wide.  On  the  eastern  side  the  ridge  is 
bounded  by  a  steep  escarpment  rising  from  the  low  ground. 
From  the  base  of  this  rocky  wall  there  issues  full-born,  like 
the  fountains  of  the  Jordan,  a  strong,  clear,  and  rapid 
spring,  powerful  enough  to  turn  a  mill,  coming  out,  as  it 
were,  from  the  very  heart  of  the  hill.  This  is,  no  doubt,  a 
subterranean  stream  coming  down  from  the  lakes  of  Fenagh 
and  Rein,  some  two  miles  to  the  south.  But  there  is  no 
visible  connection  between  them,  and  it  would  strike  a 
simple  people  as  if  the  river-god  dwelt  within  his  rocky 
halls  beneath  the  ridge,  and  poured  out  for  man,  and  beast, 
and  field,  this  perennial  fountain  so  beautiful  in  the 
abounding  wealth  of  its  crystal  waters.  If  the  Irish  held 
the  king  of  waters  to  be  a  god  it  is  no  wonder  they  adored 
him  on  the  green  brow  of  the  ridge  that  gives  birth  to  this 
grand  fountain.  On  its  northern  and  western  side  the 
ridge  is  bounded  by  a  deep  gully  running  all  round  it 
except  on  the  south,  where  the  ridge  falls  slowly  to  the 
level  of  the  surrounding  plain.  This  gully  is  in  winter 
oftentimes  filled  with  water,  and  was,  in  our  opinion, 
the  'fossa'  of  Slecht  to  which  reference  is  made  by  Tirechan, 
for,  when  filled  with  water,  especially  in  the  low  ground  to 
the  east,  where  it  joins  the  bed  of  the  stream,  the  term 
would  be  most  appropriate. 

This  ridge  itself  is  fitly  called  Longstones,  which 
appears  to  be  an  attempt  at  giving  an  English  equivalent 
for  the  Irish  name  Cair^inns.     It  was  a  seat  of  the  Druids 


PROBABLE   ROUTE.  185 

both  before  and  after  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick,  for  they 
ahvays  set  up  near  the  royal  dun,  and  Dunbaile  had  been 
for  ages  a  '  holy  regal  place,'  as  the' Book  of  Fenagh  styles 
it.  We  note  proofs  of  their  presence  on  the  ridge  and  all 
around  it;  and,  beyond  doubt,  they  chose  an  admirable 
site,  for  it  was  visible  from  afar ;  their  sanctuary  was 
isolated  by  nature  itself;  and  the  wondrous  water-god  was 
ever  pouring  out  the  life-giving  stream  from  the  very  heart 
of  their  sacred  shrine.  On  the  flat  summit  of  the  ridge 
there  are  still  remaining  traces  of  two  circular  stone 
enclosures  such  as  the  Druids  used,  and  close  at  hand  are 
the  wonderful  stones,  or  slabs,  which  have  given  their 
names  to  the  place.  One  is  now  prostrate — an  immense 
slab  about  eighteen  feet  long  by  four  broad  ;  the  other  is 
still  standing,  but  inclining  to  the  west,  and  is  partially 
buried  in  the  soil.  Another,  close  by,  is  also  standing,  but 
inclines  to  the  east.  Between  them  is  a  third  slab,  nearly 
sunk  in  the  soil,  and  of  smaller  dimensions.  The  whole 
place  is  suggestive  of  druidical  worship,  and  we  have  no 
doubt  it  was  the  true  scene  of  the  striking  incidents  narrated 
in  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick. 

From  time  immemorial  it  was  a  sacred  place  in  the 
estimation  of  the  pagan  Irish. ^  The  great  King  Tighearn- 
mas,  who  flourished  long  before  the  Christian  era,  and  is 
credited  with  being  the  first  smelter  of  gold  in  Ireland, 
held  a  great  assembly  of  the  men  of  Erin  on  this  very  spot 
for  the  worship  of  Crom  Cruaich,  whom  the  Four  Masters 
describe  as  the  Chief  idol  of  Erin  at  the  time.  But  he  and 
three-fourths  of  his  people  with  him  perished  at  that 
festival,  which  ^  was  held  on  November  eve,  and  the 
Christian  chroniclers  say  that  their  death  was  in  punish- 
ment of  the  impious  rites  which  they  used  on  that  occa- 
sion. But  it  still  continued  to  be  the  Field  of  National 
Adoration  down  to  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  was  to  destroy  the  grim  idol  of  the 
Firbolgs  that  St.  Patrick  took  his  journey  to  Magh  Slecht. 

From  Granard,aswe  have  seen,  he  crossed  the  country 
to  the  north-west,  and  came  into  the  plain  of  Magh  Rein 


^  There  was  the  King  idol  of  Erin— namely,  Crom  Cruaich,  and  around 
him  twelve  idols  made  of  stones,  but  he  was  of  gold.  Until  Patiick's  advent 
he  was  the  god  of  every  folk  that  colonised  Erin.  To  him  they  used  to  offer 
the  firstlings  of  every  issue  and  the  chief  scions  of  every  clan.  'Tis  to  him  that 
Erin's  King,  Tighernmas,  son  of  Follach,  repaired  on  Hallow-tide  together 
with  the  men  and  women  of  Erin  in  order  to  adore  him,  whence  is  Magh 
Slecht,  '  Plain  of  Prostration.' — Dinds. 


1 86  ST.    PATRICK   AT   MAGH    SLECHT. 

most  likely  by  Ballinamuck  and  Cloone.  When  he  arrived 
there,  perhaps  in  the  early  Autumn  of  435  or  436,  he  saw 
the  people  in  the  distance  prostrate  before  the  idol.^  This 
sight  excited  his  angry  zeal,  and  before  he  had  yet  reached 
the  spot  he  protested  against  the  idolatry  in  a  loud,  com- 
manding voice,  whence  the  spot  where  he  stood  was  called 
Guth-ard,  that  is  the  *  loud-shout.'  Those  who  know  the 
ground  can  easily  realize  the  scene.  As  we  have  said,  the 
place  was  an  isolated  ridge,  surrounded  on  the  south-east 
at  least  by  the  waters  of  the  great  fountain  bursting  from 
its  rocky  face.  Then  Patrick,  drawing  nigh,  '  saw  the  idol 
from  the  water  (afterwards)  named  Guth-ard,  because  he 
uplifted  his  voice,  and  when  he  drew  nigh  to  the  idol  he 
raised  up  his  hand  to  strike  it  with  the  Staff  of  Jesus'  ; 
but  before  he  touched  it  the  idol  fell  prone  '  on  its  right 
side,'  for  to  the  south  was  its  face,  namely,  to  Tara,  and 
the  mark  of  the  Staff  still  remains  on  its  left  side,  and  yet 
the  Staff  did  not  move  out  of  Patrick's  hand!  Such  is 
the  version  in  the  Tripartite  of  the  overthrow  of  the  idol  • 
and  it  seems  to  imply,  as  Colgan  renders  it,  that  Patrick's 
cry  from  the  water,  with  his  threatening  gesture,  overthrew 
the  idol,  and  left  the  imprint  of  the  Staff  of  Jesus  on 
the  stone,  although  he  really  did  not  strike  the  idol  with 
his  Staff  at  all ;  and  the  same  account  is  given  by  Jocelyn. 
The  Tripartite  adds  that,  '  the  earth  at  the  same  time 
swallowed  up  twelve  other  images  as  far  as  their  heads, 
and  they  still  stand  thus  in  token  of  the  miracle.'  This 
no  doubt  refers  to  the  circle  of  druidical  stones  standing 
round  the  principal  idols,  and  traces  of  some  of  them  may 
still  be  seen  on  the  ridge  ;  but  whether  the  others  vanished 
or  were  carried  off  by  quarrymen  must  remain  an  open 
question.  That  a  stone  circle  did  exist  there  is,  we  think, 
quite  evident ;  and  we  spent  some  hours  of  a  summer's  day 
examining  the  place  and  its  neighbourhood.  '  Patrick, 
too,  cursed  the  demon  that  dwelt  within  the  idol,  and 
drove  him  to  hell/  and  all  the  people  with  Laeghaire,  the 
King,  who,  it  appears,  was  there  adoring  at  the  time,  saw 
the  demon,  and  they  feared  they  would  perish  except 
Patrick  drove  him  back  to  hell.     In  this  conflict  Patrick 


*  There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  Patrick  came  there  on  the  last  Sunday 
of  summer,  commonly  called  Garland  Sunday.  But  of  old  it  was  called 
Domnach  Cromdubh,  the  Sunday  of  Black  Crom,  which  was  originally  a 
pagan  festival,  but  afterwards  became  a  Christian  festival,  and  is  commemorated 
in  our  Calendars  on  the  31st  of  July.  This  would  seem  to  imply  that  in  that 
year  the  31st  July  was  Sunday,  but  this  is  merely  a  conjecture. 


CHURCH   OF   MAGH   SLECHT.  1 87 

acted  with  '  prowess  against  the  idol,'  and  hence  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  brooch  or  fibula,  which  fastened  his  cloak 
or  cope,  fell  off  and  was  lost  in  the  heather,  so  he  caused 
the  grass  or  heather  to  be  pulled  up  until  he  found  his 
brooch  ;  '  but  no  heather  grows  there  more  than  in  the  rest 
of  the  field.'  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  heather  ever  grew 
in  it,  for  the  limestone  rock  crops  up  everywhere,  and 
heather  does  not  love  the  limestone.  The  word  rather 
means  '  herbage  '  than  *  heather,'  and  of  the  former  there 
is  a  good  crop. 

It  may  be  assumed  as  fairly  certain  that  the  idols  in 
question  were  the  huge  slabs  now  prostrate  on  the  ridge, 
for  such  standing  stones  were  always  held  sacred  by  the 
Druids,  and  their  sacred  enclosures  were  always  surrounded 
by  such  blocks  of  stone.  From  the  earliest  times  these 
slabs,  typical  of  the  water-god  who  sent  forth  the  rushing 
stream  from  the  bowels  of  the  hill,  were  covered  with 
plates  of  bronze,  and  sometimes  no  doubt  also  with  plates 
of  gold  and  silver,  whilst  the  lesser  idols  in  the  circle  were 
merely  covered  with  bronze.  They  were  ancient — very 
ancient — idols  in  this  sacred  place,  and  so  Patrick  resolved 
utterly  to  destroy  them.  He  succeeded  at  least  for  a 
time  ;  but  we  know  from  the  Book  of  Fenagh  that  the 
druidical  worship  still  lingered  on  near  its  old  home,  for 
in  the  time  of  St.  Caillin,  one  hundred  years  later,  the 
Druids  of  Fenagh  and  Magh  Slecht  opposed  him  and  his 
clerics,  and  kept  their  old  unclean  rites  and  ceremonial, 
reviling  the  saint  at  the  same  time  in  very  filthy  language. 
But  Caillin  was  a  '  blazing  fire'  to  destroy  the  enemies  of 
God  and  his  Church ;  so  he  transformed  the  Druids  '  into 
forms  of  stone '  in  presence  of  all  the  multitude.  And 
there  they  are  still  on  the  crest  of  the  Longstones  ridge 
to  testify  the  fact  to  future  ages.  It  is  clear  that  the  scribe 
did  not  wish  that  Caillin  should  in  his  own  country  be 
outdone  by  Patrick. 

III. — Church  of  Magh  Slecht. 

There  are  two  other  things  worthy  of  note  in  connection 
with  Magh  Slecht — first,  St.  Patrick's  Well,  and,  secondly, 
the  church  which  he  founded  there.  The  Tripartite  refers 
to  the  first  very  briefly  : — "  There  at  the  *  Plain  of  Adora- 
tion '  is  Patrick's  Well,  in  which  he  baptised  many.''  A 
little  to  the  north  of  Fenagh,  just  under  the  road  to  Magh 
Slecht,  there  is  around,  deep,  and   limpid  spring,  under  a 


1 88  ST.   PATRICK   AT   MAGH   SLECHT. 

spreading  ash  tree,  which  all  the  people  ref^ard  as  a  holy 
well.  We  asked  if  it  were  St.  Patrick's  Well.  Yes,  our 
informant  thought  so  ;  and  it  is  just  such  a  well  as  St. 
Patrick  would  have  blessed  for  the  baptismal  rite.  It  is 
close  to  a  deep  stream,  coming  out  of  the  rock,  over  which 
there  still  remains  in  situ  a  splendid  example  of  the 
dolmen  or  cromlech,  which  usually  marks  a  hero's  gra\e. 
We  know  that  Conal  Gulban  was  killed  at  Fenagh  by  the 
Firbolgs,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  this  monument 
marks  his  grave.  But  the  well  is  not  in  Magh  Slecht 
properly  speaking,  although  near  the  mearing ;  it  is 
rather  in  Magh  Rein,  and  hence  we  can  hardly  think  it 
is  the  holy  well  referred  to  in  the  Tripartite.  There  is 
another  well,  however,  at  Edentinny,  close  to  the  Field  of 
Adoration,  and  it  was  either  there  or  in  the  copious 
fountain  that  issues  from  the  face  of  the  rock  itself,  that 
Patrick  baptised  his  converts  on  the  great  day  when  he 
overthrew  the  ancient  idols. 

It  is  also  stated  that  he  founded  a  church  in  that  place, 
namely,  Domnagh  Mor  Maige  Slecht,  and  he  left  therein 
Methbrain,  called  also  Patrick's  Barbarian,  a  relative  of  his 
own  and  a  prophet,  who  foretold,  as  Tirechan  adds, 
many  wonderful  things.  There  is  no  old  church  or 
churchyard,  as  far  as  v/e  could  ascertain,  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  place,  and  the  church  founded  by 
Patrick  must,  as  its  name  implies,  have  been  an  important 
one.  Hence,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  this  Domnach 
Mor  is  identical  with  the  parish  church  of  Ballinamore, 
some  two  miles  to  the  east.  It  is  called  the  Church  of  Ough- 
teragb,  or  Oughterard^  and  has  given  its  name  to  the  whole 
parish,  which  was  certainly  a  portion  of  the  ancient  Magh 
Slecht.  We  may  add  that  the  whole  district  is  very  inter- 
esting and  is  full  of  memorials  of  the  past.  Unfortunately 
we  had  no  local  seanachie  to  guide  us  in  our  explorations. 
The  expression,  however,  used  by  Tirechan  here  is  very 
significant.  He  says  that  Patrick  sent  his  relation,  the 
'  Barbarian '  Methbrain,  to  the  dyke  of  Slecht,  where  he 
founded  this  Domnach  Mor.^  As  we  have  already  stated, 
the  dyke  appears  to  have  been  the  low  ground  through 
which  the  great  fountain  flowed  into  the  Dale  river,  and 

^  Mittens  (for  misit)  autem  Patricius  Methbrain  ad  fossam  Slecht, 
barbarum  Patricii  propinquum  qui  dicebat  mirabilia  in  Deo  vero.' — The 
expression  shows  that  the  fossa  was  at  some  distance  from  the  Plain  of  Adora- 
tion. It  also  shows  that  some  of  Patrick's  British  relations  were  not  Roman 
citizens,  and  hence  this  Methbrain  is  described  as  a  barbarian. 


HE   CROSSES   THE    SHANNON.  1 89 

the  church  of  Oughterard  is  really  over  this  dyke  or 
marshy  hollow.  The  word  Barbarian  merely  means  that 
Methbrain  was  not  like  Patrick  himself  and  most  of  his 
relatives,  a  Roman  citizen,  and  hence  the  family  of  the 
Saint  gave  him  this  title  as  a  cognomen,  or  rather  nick- 
name, although,  as  it  is  expressly  stated,  he  was  a  relation 
of  the  Saint,  and  had,  doubtless,  like  the  rest  of  his 
relations,  accompanied  or  followed  Patrick  from  Britain  to 
Ireland. 

IV.— Patrick  Crosses  the  Shannon. 

The  next  stage  in  Patrick's  journey  brings  him  from 
Magh  Slecht  to  the  Shannon.  His  road  lay  due  west  by  the 
roots  of  the  Iron  Mountain,  on  the  line  of  the  present 
light  railway  to  Drumshambo,  at  the  head  of  Lough  Allen. 
It  is  a  picturesque  road,  skirting  many  small  but  beautiful 
lakes,  and  affording  several  sweet  glim^pses  of  exquisite 
rural  scenery.  Tirechan  says  that  Patrick  came,  due 
west,  to  the  bed  of  the  Shannon,  where  his  charioteer 
Buadmoel  by  name,  died,  and  was  buried. 

Patrick  crossed  the  river  at  a  place  called  Sndm-dd-En,^ 
the  Swimming  Ford  of  the  two  Birds.  O'Donovan  says  this 
Ford  was  near  Clonmacoise,  and  that  Patrick  must  have 
crossed  the  river  there.  There  may  have  been  a  place  of 
the  same  name  at  Clonmacnoise,  but  the  narrative  here 
clearly  implies  that  he  crossed  over  into  Magh  Ai,  at 
Doogary,  and  near  Tir  Ailella,  now  Tirerrell,  which 
anciently  came  as  far  south  as  the  Boyle  River, 
a  tributary  of  the  Shannon  separating  Magh  Ai 
from  Tir  Ailella.  We  have  carefully  gone  over  this 
ground,  and  with  the  help  of  the  parish  priest^  easily 
identified  all  the  places  referred  to  in  the  narrative  of  the 
Tripartite.  About  one  mile-and-a-half  north  of  Battle 
Bridge  the  Shannon  cuts  through  a  ridge  now  called 
Drumboylan,  forming  at  the  point  a  considerable  island. 
The  stream  here  is  very  rapid,  but  shallow,  and  the  stepping- 
slones  that  formed  the  ancient  ford  may  still  be  seen  on 
the  bank,  foot-worn  on  the  top  and  water- worn  on  the 
sides  by  the  stream  that -surged  around  them-  for  2000 

^  The  ford  is  called  Bandea  by  Tirechan.  It  is  said  that  Patrick  went  into, 
the  harbour  (port)  at  once,  that  is,  crossed  to  the  other  side  at  once,  and  that 
Euadmoel  died  there,  which  seems  to  imply  that  he  died  on  the  Roscommon 
shore,  and  this  is  borne  out  by  the  living  tradition  of  the  place. 

2  The  Rev.  Father  Meehan. 


190  ST.    PATRICK   AT   MAGH   SLECHT. 

years.  The  Board  of  Works  have  recently  cleared  the 
river  bed  at  this  point, ^  and  so  removed  the  stones.  They 
erected  at  the  same  time  a  foot-bridge  across  the  stream 
for  the  convenience  of  the  people.  When  the  river  is 
full  a  fierce  current  runs  beneath  in  the  main  bed  of  the 
river  ;  yet  an  old  man  assured  us,  that  although  scores  of 
people  had  fallen  into  the  stream  when  the  liver  was  in 
flood,  no  one  was  ever  drowned  there,  owing  to  St.  Patrick's 
blessing  the  ford.  The  tradition  of  his  having  crossed  the 
river  at  this  point  is  quite  vivid  in  the  minds  of  the  people; 
and  they  also  show  where  Buadmoel,  Patrick's  charioteer, 
died  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  also  the  green 
meadow  on  the  brow  of  the  ridge  overlooking  the 
Shannon,  where  he  was  buried,  nigh  to  the  little  church 
that  bore  his  name — Cell-Buaidmoel.  The  church  itself 
has  disappeared,  but  its  site  can  still  be  traced,  and 
human  bones  were  quite  recently  found  on  the  spot. 
It  is  said,  too,  in  the  village,  that  the  very  flag-stone 
on  which  he  lay  when  he  was  dying  is  preserved  in  the 
floor  of  the  house  next  the  ford,  which  was  probably  built 
on  the  very  spot,  for  the  wall  is  now  partially  over 
the  flag-stone.  The  name  of  the  village — Drumboylan 
— is,  undoubtedly,  a  corruption  of  Drum-Buaidmoel,  a 
vocable  easily  shortened  into  Drumboyle  or  Drum- 
boylan. From  Drumboylan  by  the  river's  ford,  the  old 
road  led  straight  to  Doogary,  the  ancient  Duma  Graid, 
called  tumulum-Gradiy  by  Tirechan,  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh.  The  village  is  about  two  miles  from  the  ford, 
and  still  bears  its  ancient  name,  but  there  are  no  traces 
of  an  old  church ;  nor,  indeed,  is  it  stated  that  any 
church  was  founded  there.  But  at  this  point  it  would 
appear  that  Patrick,  before  going  further  South,  met  the 
sons  of  Ailell,  who  crossed  the  P'eorish  River  to  greet  him 
before  he  left  their  territory,  and  there  he  ordained  Ailbe, 
*  who  is  in  Shanco' — Sen-chua — as  a  priest  to  minister  to 
the  sons  of  Ailell.  The  narrative  seems  to  imply  that 
Ailbe  was  ordained  then  and  there.  In  that  case  he  was  in 
all  probability  at  the  time  a  member  of  Patrick's  religious 
family. 


*  The  Shannon  here  is  not  navigable,  but  a  canal  has  been  cut  east  of  the 
river  from  Lough  Allen  which  joins  the  river  at  Battle  Bridge. 


CHAPTER    X. 
ST.   PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

I. — Patrick  at  Doogary. 

When  Patrick  crossed  the  Shannon,  he  touched  the  north- 
eastern extremity  of  the  great  Roscommon  plain  of  Magh 
Ai  in  its  widest  sense.^  The  royal  palace  of  Cruachan,  to 
which  Patrick  was,  in  accordance  with  his  usual  practice, 
making  his  way,  was  in  the  heart  of  Magh  Ai,  near  Tulsk ; 
and  there  Mael  and  Caplait,  two  brothers,  Druids  both, 
dwelt  with  the  daughters  of  King  Laeghaire,  of  whose 
education  they  had  charge.  The  Druids  knew  Patrick 
was  coming,  for  they  must  have  heard  what  had  taken 
place  at  Magh  Slecht,  and  they  were  preparing  to  receive 
him  ;  so,  as  soon  as  he  crossed  the  great  river,  '  they  brought 
a  thick  darkness  over  the  whole  of  Magh  Ai,  through  the 
power  of  the  devil,  for  the  space  of  three  days  and  three 
nights.'  Then  Patrick  bent  his  knees  in  earnest  prayer 
to  God,  and  blessed  the  plain,  so  that  it  became  lightsome 
once  more  for  all  except  the  two  Druids.  Whereupon 
he  gave  thanks  to  God,  who  banished  the  darkness  from 
Magh  Ai. 

The  spiritual  darkness,  at  least,  soon  disappeared  from 
that  fair  and  wide-spreading  plain.  That  the  Druids  might, 
by  the  power  of  the  devil,  have  brought  storm  and  dark- 
ness over  the  plain,  can  hardly  be  doubted  by  those  who 
remember  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  and  believe  with  St.  Paul 
that  the  demons  are  rulers  of  this  air  and  princes  of  dark- 
ness in  high  places.  But  they  could  not  frighten  away 
Patrick,  who  was  strong  in  faith  and  the  power  of  the 
Saving  Name  of  Him  who  is  the  true  Light  of  the  world. 

We  are  told  that  when  Patrick  ordained  Ailbe  as 
chief  priest  at  Doogary,  he,  at  the  same  time,  told  him  of  a 
stone  altar  in  Sliabh  Hy  n-Ailella  under  the  ground,  with 


^  In  the  strict  sense  Maigh  Ai  extended  '  from  Clonfree,  near  Strokestown, 
to  the  bridge  of  Castlerea,  and  from  the  high  ground,  a  little  north  of  Ros- 
common, to  the  Turloughs  of  Mantua,'  where  it  meets  Moylurg  ;  but,  in  a 
wider  sense,  it  included  Moylurg  and  much  of  the  surrounding  territory.  See 
Hy  Fiackrach,  p.  1 79. 


192  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ROSCOMMON. 

four  glass  chalices  at  the  angles  of  the  altar ;  "  beware," 
he  added,  "of  breaking  the  edges  of  the  excavation."^ 

This  is  a  strange  statement,  which  has  greatly  puzzled 
the  Saint's  biographers.  How  did  it  come  to  pass  that 
there  was  an  altar  and  chalices  in  this  remote  and 
rather  wild  part  of  the  country.  The  most  probable  con- 
jecture is  that  Patrick  passed  that  way  long  before  when 
making  his  escape  from  Slemish  to  Killala.^  Anyone  can 
see  that  his  direct  course  would  lie  across  the  country,  by 
the  head  of  Lough  Allen,  over  this  very  Sliabh  Hy  n  Ailella, 
now  called  the  Rralieve  Mountain, and  thence  across  the  plain 
of  Corann  to  Ballina.  In  this  way  the  fugitive  Christian 
youth  might  have  come  across  some  Christian  family  or 
hermit  amongst  the  Hy  Ailella,  and  have  been  entrusted 
with  the  secret  of  this  cave,  which  was,  as  it  were,  a  cata- 
comb for  the  scattered  Christians  of  the  district. 

The  statement  is  certainly  confirmed  by  one  fact,  which 
we  ourselves  observed.  In  the  summer  of  1 898,  accompanied 
by  the  Bishop  of  Elphin,  we  went  to  visit  the  old  church  of 
Shancough,  or  Shancoe,  which  is  situated  about  a  mile  to 
the  west  of  the  modern  church  of  Geevagh,  but  in  a  far 
more  commanding  and  picturesque  site,  that  affords  a  noble 
prospect  of  the  long,  brown  range  of  vSliabh-Ailell  mountain. 
The  ancient  church  was,  as  usual,  built  near  the  rath  of 
the  chief,  of  which  some  traces  still  remain.  We  asked  our 
guide  was  there  a  cave  near  at  hand,  and  soon  discovered 
its  existence  within  twenty  yards  of  the  church  door.  The 
entrance  was  partially  closed  up  ;  but  one  of  the  young 
men  present  assured  us  that  it  extended  underground  as  far 
as  the  church.  This  cave  must,  in  old  times,  have  been 
very  roomy,  and  was  probably  connected  with  the  church. 
There  is  every  ground  to  believe  that  this  is  the  identical 
cave  referred  to  in  the  Tripartite,  and  that  it  was  the  seat 
of  Christian  worship  before  St.  Patrick  ever  crossed  the 
Shannon.  Chalices  of  glass,  or  crystal,  were  certainly 
used  in  early  times,  when  it  was  difficult  to  procure  the 
precious  metals,  or  even  bronze  cups,  for  the  Sacred 
Mysteries, 

Of  St.  Ailbe,  the  first  priest  ever  ordained  west  of  the 
Shannon,  we  know  nothing  else.     His  feast  day  was  the 


^  Et  dixit,  cavendum  ne  frangantur  ore  fossure — e  being  put  for  ae. 

2  There  is  no  ground  whatsoever  for  assuming  that  Patrick  himself  had 
ever  preached  the  Gospel  there  on  any  previous  occasion ;  but  he  may  have 
seen  the  cave  or  heard  of  it  from  others. 


AT   DOOGARY.  I93 

30th  January,^  that  of  Ailbe  of  Emly  was  12th  September. 
His  '  bed '  and  'well '  are  high  up  on  the  mountain's  brow, 
in  full  view  of  his  ancient  church,  but  some  three  miles 
away,  in  a  wild  and  lonely  spot.  It  is  probable  that  he 
retired  to  live  there  as  a  solitary  in  his  old  age ;  and  wished 
to  be  buried,  as  he  had  lived,  alone  with  God,  on  the  bare 
face  of  the  mountain.  The  tradition  that  he  was  ordained 
by  St.  Patrick  is  still  very  vivid  amongst  the  people ;  and 
they  have  a  great  veneration  for  his  *  bed  '  and  *  holy  well.' 
From  his  cell  on  the  lone  mountain  crest,  he  had  full  in 
view  the  whole  parish  over  which  Pat"*  k  had  placed  him. 
There  he  prayed  for  his  people  in  his  uid  age,  as,  no  doubt, 
he  prays  for  them  still  in  his  high  place  near  St.  Patrick  in 
heaven. 

At  Doogary  also,  or  perhaps  at  Shancough,  for  the  text 
is  vague,  Patrick  baptised  the  holy  Mane  or  Maneus,  whom 
Bishop  Bron,  son  of  Icne,  ordained  some  years  later,  and 
who  was  placed  over  the  church  of  Aghanagh  on  a 
southern  arm  of  Lough  Arrow  in  this  same  Tirerrell 
country.  It  is  a  beautiful  spot,  too,  this  old  church  of 
Aghanagh,  standing  over  the  lake  shore,  looking  to  the 
warm  south,  with  fertile  fields  around,  where  the  monks 
of  old  wandered  in  the  sweet  repose  of  their  heavenly 
seclusion.  But  now,  like  so  many  other  ancient  churcfies, 
it  is  shrineless  and  roofless,  open  to  the  wind  and  rain,  a 
lonely  but  a  very  beautiful  home  of  the  dead.  The  country 
around,  the  ancient  Tir-Ailell,  now  Tirerrell,  is  very  pic- 
turesque. Its  lakes  particularly  are  strikingly  beautiful, 
and  all  abound  in  fish.  Lough  Arrow,  Lough  Kee,  Lough 
Skean,  the  Keadue  Lough,  and  several  smaller  sheets  of 
water  are  all  visible  from  any  commanding  point  on  the 
hills  which  overlook  them,  and  lend  a  wonderful  charm 
and  variety  to  a  landscape  which  lacks  no  element  of 
beauty — neither  wood,  nor  water,  nor  hill,  nor  dale,  nor 
rushing  river.^ 

The  ordination  of  Ailbe  and  the  baptism  of  Maneus  at 
Doogary  are  both  interesting  facts,  and  give  rise  to  some 

^  He  is  called  in  the  Martyrology  of  Tallaght,  Ailbe  Cruimtir,  that  is,  Priest 
Ailbe,  which  shows  he  was  never  raised  to  the  Episcopate.  There  are  only 
two  saints  of  the  name  in  our  calendar,  Ailbe  of  Emly  and  Ailbe  of  Shancoe. 
The  Martyrology  of  Donegal  says  the  latter  was  son  of  Ronan,  of  the  race  of 
Conal  Gulban. 

^Aghanagh  has  a  special  interest  for  the  author,  for  it  contains  the 
sepulchre  of  his  ancestors  in  the  nave  of  the  church,  and  stands  on  the  land 
that  once  formed  part  of  Baile  O'Heligh  or  Ilealystovvn,  now  Hollybrook.  It 
is  called  by  both  names  on  the  Ordnance  map. 

o 


194  ST.   PATRICK   IN   ROSCOMMON. 

enquiries  here.  *  Who  was  this  Ailbe? '  There  are  only 
two  of  the  name  mentioned  in  our  Calendars,  Ailbe  of 
Emly,  and  this  Ailbe  of  Shancoe.  The  festival  of  the 
former  is,  as  we  have  seen,  quite  a  different  day  from  that 
of  the  latter,  and  this  second  Ailbe  was  son  of  Ronan,  of 
the  race  of  Conal  Gulban.  Where  then  did  Patrick  first 
meet  him  ?  Most  probably  at  Tara,  or  somewhere  in 
Meath  four  or  five  years  before,  for  he  was  a  young  prince 
of  the  royal  family.  Finding  a  suitable  youth  for  the 
sacred  ministry,  Patrick  at  once  took  him  into  his  own 
family  or  retinue,  where  he  received  the  necessary  instruc- 
tion for  the  priesthood  ;  and,  as  the  foreign  missionaries 
were  now  almost  exhausted,  Patrick  ordained  this  youth 
for  a  church  which  was  not  far  from  his  own  country  of 
Tirconnell,  and  where  he  probably  had  some  friends 
amongst  the  chieftains  of  the  district. 

Mane  or  Maneus,  whom  Patrick  baptised,  was  merely  a 
youth  of  ten  or  twelve  at  the  time.  He  was  afterwards 
ordained  by  Bron,  son  of  Icne,  and  we  know  from  the 
Life  of  St.  Finnian  of  Clonard  that  he  lived  to  be  a 
very  old  man  at  Aghanagh,  for  St.  Finnian  met  him 
there  probably  some  seventy  years  after  the  events  here 
recorded. 

These  things  took  place  at  Doogary  in  the  modern 
parish  of  Ardcarne  or  Tumna,  which  got  its  name  from 
the  Woman's  Tomb,  that  is  from  St.  Edania,  who  is  buried 
in  the  old  church  by  the  Boyle  River,  of  which  she  is  patron 
and  most  likely  founder. 

From  Doogary  Patrick  went,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
southward  across  the  Boyle  River  at  Cootehall  into  Magh- 
glass.  Moyglass,  as  it  was  called  in  later  times,  is  the 
green  and  fertile  plain  extending  along  the  Shannon's 
western  shore  from  Carrick  to  the  bridge  of  Carnadoe 
near  Rooskey.  It  is  low-lying  for  the  most  part,  and 
liable  to  floods  in  winter  ;  but  then,  as  now,  the  green  fields 
of  its  higher  uplands  were  fertile  and  densely  populated. 
So  Patrick,  declining  a  little  eastwards  from  his  straight 
road  to  Cruachan  of  Magh  Ai,  founded  the  church  of 
Kilmore  Maige  Glass,  not  far  from  the  river's  bank,  in  a 
green  meadow,  which  still  bears  the  ancient  name.  There 
he  founded  a  church,  in  which  he  left  two  of  his  household, 
called  Conleng  and  Ercleng.  The  names  are  rather  British 
than  Irish ;  and  indeed  he  could  hardly  have  found  time 
hitherto  to  train  any  of  the  natives,  especially  of  the 
West,  for  the  service  of  the  Church.     In  after  time  Kilmore 


AT   ELPHIN.  195 

Maige  Glass,  or  Kilmore  na  Shinna/  as  it  was  called  later 
on,  became  a  famous  church,  and  at  the  present  time  gives 
name  to  a  parish  in  the  diocese  of  Elphin.  The  Patrician 
church  has  completely  disappeared  ;  but  a  ruin  of  later 
date  still  marks  the  holy  ground,  and  is  surrounded  by  a 
densely-populated  churchyard,  where  the  rude  forefathers 
of  the  hamlet  sleep. 

II.— Patrick  at  Elpiiin. 

From  Moyglass,  Patrick  went  into  the  territory  known 
as  Corca  Ochland,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Tripartite.  It  was 
north  of  Sliabh  Badgna,  now  Slieve  Bawn,  the  most  con- 
spicuous object  on  the  southern  horizon  ;  but  it  was  on 
'  this  side,'  that  is,  to  the  south  of  Hy  Ailella,  for  the  men 
of  Tirerrill  then  claimed  as  their  own  all  the  mountain 
land  from  Lough  Gill,  near  Sligo,  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Elphin.  At  the  present  time  the  district  is  comprised  in 
the  barony  of  Roscommon,  and  was  always  considered  a 
part  of  Magh  Ai.  But  the  term  '  Corcagh  Achlann '  was 
in  later  times  more  properly  applied  to  the  eastern  part  of 
the  district  from  Strokestown  to  Elphin,  which  was  the 
tribe-land  of  the  O'Brennans  and  O'Hanlys. 

Two  brothers  were  biding  in  that  place,  that  is,  near 
Elphin,  namely  Id  and  Hono ;  Druids  they  were  and 
owners  of  the  fertile  plain  around  them.  Patrick,  as  usual, 
asked  the  site  of  a  church.  Then  said  Hono  to  Patrick  : — 
"  What  wilt  thou  give  me  for  the  land  "  (that  you  want)  ? 
"  Life  eternal,"  answered  Patrick.  Then  said  Hono, 
"  You  have  gold ;  give  me  some  of  it."  Patrick  thereupon 
replied,  ''I  have  given  away  all  my  gold;  but  God  will 
give  me  more  (to  give  you)."  And  God  did  give  him 
more.  For,  thereafter,  Patrick  found  a  lump  of  gold  where 
the  swine  were  rooting,  and  he  gave  that  mass  of  gold  to 
Hono  for  his  land.  Ti'r-m-Bro^/za,  that  is, '  the  Field  of  the 
Lump,'  '  is  its  name,'  says  the  Tripartite.  But  though 
Patrick  gave  the  gold  to  Hono,  he  liked  not  his  avarice  in 
selling  the  field  to  God,  wherefore  he  added,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  be  a  king,  nor  shall  any  of  thy  seed  reign  after  thee." 
Then  fear  conquered  avarice,  and    Hono  burst  into  tears. 


^  In  our  opinion  Kilmore  of  Moyglass,  or  Kilmore  na  Shinna,  is  not  the 
Kilmore  Duitribh  where  Columba,  at  a  later  period,  founded  a  great  church, 
Columba's  Kilmore  of  the  Wilderness  was,  in  our  opinion,  the  ancient  church 
which  gives  its  title  to  the  present  diocese  of  Kilmore  or  Cavan. 


196  ST.    PATRICK   IN    ROSCOMMON. 

SO  that  Patrick,  touched  with  pity,  added,  "  Although  thou 
shalt  not  bs  king,  nor  thy  seed — still  he  shall  not  be  king, 
whom  thou  and  thy  posterity  will  not  accept  and  ordain." 
If  they  were  not  to  be  kings,  they  were  yet  to  be,  to  some 
extent,  king-makers.  '  And  that  has  been  fulfilled,'  adds 
the  author,  *  for  the  race  of  Mac  Erce  (sons  of  Hono)  are 
the  mightiest  and  firmest  in  Connaught,  but  they  never 
ruled  as  over-kings  of  the  Province,  nor,  indeed,  as  kings 
at  all.'  This  Hono,  or  Ono,  was  son  of  Oengus,  son  of  Ere 
Derg,  son  of  Brian,^  the  great  father  of  the  Connaught 
Kings. 

When  the  promise  was  made,  and  he  had  got  his  gold, 
Hono  the  Druid  gave  to  Patrick  his  own  royal  dwelling, 
on  the  crest  of  the  beautiful  ridge  of  Elphin,  to  be  the  site 
of  the  new  church.  It  was  then  called  Emlach  Onand, 
from  the  name  of  its  owner,  *  but  to-day  it  is  called  Ail 
Find,  from  the  White  Stone  which  Patrick  took  up  from 
the  stream  just  in  front  of  the  church.'  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  this  was  deemed  a  '  sacred  stone,'  from  which  the 
fountain  flowed,  and  that  it  was  worshipped  by  the  Druids 
as  the  god  of  the  waters.  Wherefore,  Patrick  took  it  up 
out  of  the  fountain,  which  he  blessed  at  the  same  time. 
But  the  rock  still  remained  on  its  margin  before  the  church, 
and  ever  after  gave  its  name  to  the  church,  the  parish,  and 
the  diocese — that  is  Ail  Finn — the  Rock  of  the  Clear 
Stream,  from  which  the  apostle  had  raised  it.  The  ancient 
church  of  Elphin  is  gone,  the  rock  is  gone  too,  but  the 
fountain  flows  for  ever  clear  and  strong  before  the  door  of 
the  '  new  '  Protestant  church,  that  now  stands  on  the  site 
of  the  edifice  founded  by  St.  Patrick. 

Over  this  church  of  Elphin  Patrick  placed  Bishop 
Assicus,  and  Bite,  son  of  the  brother  of  Assicus,  and  Cipia, 
mother  of  Bite,  or  Biteus,  the  Bishop.  They  were  of  the 
race  of  Hono  the  Druid,  for  Patrick  had  promised,  and 
said,  *'  Thy  seed  shall — not  reign — but  be  blessed,  and 
there  shall  be  victory  of  laymen  and  clerics  from  thee  for 
ever,  and  they  shall  have  the  inheritance  of  this  place." 

Herein  Patrick  showed  consummate  prudence.  The 
family  of  Hono  were  of  the  priestly  caste  ;  but  they  were 
also  of  the  royal  race  of  Connaught,  and  hence  possessed 
a  double  influence.     To  set  up  a  Briton  or  a  stranger  in 


^  The  text  of  the  Tripartite  has  Bron,  but  we  beheve  it  is  an  error  for 
*  Brian,'  the  elder  brother  of  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  and  the  great 
ancestor  of  all  the  Connaught  Kings. 


AT  ELPHIN.  197 

Elphin  would  have  been  a  dangerous  experiment,  so  he 
chose  one  of  their  own  race  to  be  the  bishop  of  the  place, 
a  skilled  artisan,  too,  in  metal-work,  just  such  a  man  as  he 
wanted  to  do  the  work  of  the  Church.  The  mention  of 
Bite,  nephew  of  Assicus,  shows  that  the  former  was  now 
rather  advanced  in  years,  and  that  his  title  as  bishop  was 
rather  an  honorary  one.  The  work  was  to  be  done  by 
Bite,  but  Assicus  was  the  nominal  ruler,  and  the  holy 
mother  of  Bite,  the  nephew  of  Assicus,  undertook  to  look 
after  the  new  church  in  those  ways  which  a  woman  can  best 
manage.  The  name  of  Assicus  is  not  found  in  that  form 
in  our  ancient  martyrologies,  but  the  Martyrology  of 
Tallaght  commemorates  Asaach  ^  under  date  of  April  the 
26th,  which  has  long  been  regarded  as  the  feast  day  of 
Assicus  of  Elphin.  This  goes  to  show  that  our  Assicus  of 
Elphin  must  be  identified  with  Essa  or  Essu,  who  is 
described  as  one  of  the  three  artisans  of  Patrick  in  the  lists 
of  his  household.  His  nephew,  Bite,  is  the  second,  and 
Tassach,  who  '  gave  Patrick  the  Sacrifice '  at  his  death,  was 
the  third ;  so  that  Elphin  supplied  two  of  the  famous 
artificers  of  Patrick,  who  were,  perhaps,  the  most  indispen- 
sable and  most  valuable  members  of  his  religious  household. 

This  is  recognised  by  the  Author  of  the  Tripartite,  for 
he  adds  that  the  '  Holy  Bishop  Assicus  was  Patrick's 
copper-smith ;  and  he  made  for  Patrick  altars  and  square 
patens  and  book-covers,  in  honour  of  Patrick,  and  one  of 
these  patens  (doubtless  with  its  cup)  was  in  Armagh,  and 
another  in  Elphin,  and  another  in  Domnach  Mor  Maige 
Seolai,  on  the  altar  of  Felart,  the  holy  bishop  of  the  Hy 
Bruin  Seolai,  far  west  from  Elphin ' — near  Headford,  in 
the  Co.  Galway. 

We  are  told  that  Imlech  Onand^  was  at  that  time  the 
name  of  the  place  where  Ono  dwelt,  which  he  offered  to 
Patrick  to  be  the  site  of  his  church,  '  but/  adds  the 
Tripartite,  '  it  is  called  Ail-Find  to-day.  The  place  is  so 
named  from  the  stone  (ail)  which  was  raised  out  of  the 
well  that  was  made  by  Patrick  in  the  green,  and  which 
stands  on  the  brink  of  the  well ;  it  is  so  called  from  the 
water.'  ^     The  writer  first  says  the  place  got  its  name  Ail- 

^  It  is  quite  clear  that  Asaach,  Essa,  and  Essu  must  be  regarded  as 
different  forms  of  the  same  Irish  rame  ;  and  that  Assicus  was  regarded  as  the 
Latin  equivalent,  which  is  the  form  used  in  the  Tripartite. 

^  That  is  Ono's  Marsh  or  Meadow.  Tirechan  calls  it  Imliuch  Harnon  ; 
but  it  is  probably  the  same  name  corrupted  by  the  transcriber. 

^  De  acqua  nuncupatur  (locus). 


198  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

Find  from  the  '  White  Stone '  taken  out  of  the  water ; 
then  he  seems  to  say  that  the  stone  gets  its  name  from 
the  clear  water,  so  that  Elphin  would  mean  the  Stone  of 
the  Clear  (Stream),  rather  than  the  White  Stone  (over  the 
well). 

The  *  clear  stream  '  of  most  excellent  water  is  still 
flowing  in  the  *  green '  before  the  spot  where  the  church 
of  Assicus  once  stood.  But  the  white  stone  itself  which 
stood  on  its  margin  was  broken  and  carried  off  for  build- 
ing material,  it  is  said,  by  the  Rector  of  the  Protestant 
church,  which  now  stands  on  the  commanding  site  where 
the  original  church  of  Assicus  formerly  stood.  The 
Catholic  church  is  at  the  western  end  of  the  town,  a  new 
and  very  commodious  edifice. 

The  subsequent  history  of  x\ssicus,  as  told  in  the 
Tripartite,  is  not  without  its  own  pathetic  human  interest, 
and  the  mere  recital  of  the  story  is  of  itself  an  evidence  in 
favour  of  the  authenticity  of  those  ancient  documents. 

"  Assicus  thereafter  in  shame,  because  of  a  lie  told  by 
him — or,  rather,  of  him — went  in  flight  into  the  North  to 
Sliabh  Liacc  (now  Slieve  League)  in  Tir  Boguini.  He 
abode  there  seven  years  in  an  island  (that  is  Rathlin 
O'Beirne),  and  his  monks  went  a-seeking  of  him,  and  at 
length,  after  much  trouble,  they  found  him  in  the  moun- 
tain glens^(Glen  Columcille) — and  they  brought  him 
away  with  them,  but  on  his  journey  home  he  died  in  the 
wilderness,  and  they  buried  him  at  Raith  Cungai,  in 
vSereth — now  Racoon,  near  Ballintra — for  he  declared  that 
he  would  not  go  back  again  into  Magh  Ai  on  account  of 
the  falsehood  that  had  been  circulated  there.  Hence 
came  the  proverb,  '  it  is  time  to  travel  into  Serthe,'  ^  that 
is,  we  may  assume,  to  do  penance.  But  the  holy  old  man 
was  rightly  deemed  a  saint  in  Serthe,  and  the  king  of  the 
land  gave  to  him,  and  to  his  monks  after  his  death,  the 
grazing  of  a  hundred  cows,  with  their  calves,  and  of  twenty 
oxen,  as  a  permanent  benefice.  '  His  relics  are  in  Raith 
Cungai,  and  to  Patrick  belongs  the  church,'  as  it  belonged 
to  his  disciples,  '  but  the  community  of  Columcille  and 
Ard  Sratha  have  taken  possession  of  it.'  ^ 


1  This  proverb  would  seem  to  imply  that  the  falsehood  was  spoken  by 

Assicus  himself,  otherwise  it  would  have  no  point. 

^  This  passage  seems  to  imply  that  the  Columbian  house  at  Drumhome 
in  the  neighbourhood  encroached  on  the  possessions  of  the  monks  of  Racoon, 
and  denied  the  claims  of  Armagh  as  mother  church.  The  monks  of  Ardstraw 
also  appear  to  have  seized  some  of  the  land. 


AT    ELPIIIN.  199 

The  venerable  Assicus,  if  he  sinned,  did  penance.  It 
is  a  far  cry  from  Elphin  to  Rathlin  O'Beirne,  a  small, 
storm-swept  island  at  the  very  extremity  of  south-western 
Donegal.  Even  at  the  present  day,  though  green  and 
fertile,  no  one  dwells  there  but  the  lighthouse  keeper. 
There  is  no  lonelier  spot  around  the  wild  west  coast  of 
Ireland,  yet  there  he  dwelt  away  from  men  for  seven  long 
years,  sometimes,  perhaps,  coming  ashore  to  the  glens, 
where  his  monks  found  him  working  at  his  craft,  after  long 
seeking  throughout  the  black  North.  Reluctantly,  it 
seems,  he  consented  to  return.  *  He  was  ashamed  to  go 
back  to  Magh  Ai,'  because  of  the  lie  told  there,  and  he 
sickened  by  the  way— the  long,  rugged  road  that  leads 
down  to  the  North — between  Ballyshannon  and  Ballintra, 
at  a  place  that  still  bears  the  ancient  name,  shortened  into 
Racoon,  in  Magh  Serthe.  There  he  died,  and  there  they 
buried  him  as  a  saint  on  the  summit  of  a  small  round 
hill  to  the  west  of  the  highway  near  Ballintra.  We  searched 
the  place  in  vain  for  any  trace  of  his  grave.  It  is  still  used 
as  a  burial  place  for  children,  but  the  planter  who  got  the 
ancient  site  of  his  monastery  in  Tirhugh  knows  nothing 
of  Assicus.  Still,  he  has  spared  the  holy  spot,  and  the 
grave  of  Assicus  has  not  yet  become  common  earth.  In 
our  view  this  noble  shame  of  the  artist-bishop,  bred  up,  as 
he  was,  in  paganism,  is  a  higher  testimony  to  his  virtue 
and  nobility  of  character  than  if  a  whole  volume  of 
miracles  were  attributed  to  him  by  later,  but  less  trust- 
worthy, writers. 

Thereafter  Patrick  went  from  Elphin  to  Dumacha  Hy  n 
Ailella — the  Mounds  of  the  Hy  Ailella — and  there  he 
founded  a  church  known  as  Senchell  Dumaige,  the  Old 
Church  of  the  Mounds.  This  place  ^  is  only  one  mile 
north-west  of  Elphin,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  southern 
bounds  of  what  was  then  the  territory  of  the  sons  of  Ailell. 
It  still  bears  its  ancient  name,  and  gives  title  to  the  parish 
of  Shankill,  west  of  Elphin. 

The  old  church  was  just  at  the  cross-roads  beyond  the 
Deanery,  and  the  'mounds'  that  gave  it  its  ancient  name  may 
still  be  noticed.  But,  the  building  itself  has  now  completely 
disappeared, although  the  graveyard  is  still  much  frequented. 


^  Colgan  places  it  in  Ciarraige  Arne,  barony  of  Costelloe,  Co.  Mayo  ;  but 
this  is  clearly  a  mistake.  Archdeacon  O'Rorke  places  it  at  Carradoo,  Co.  Sligo. 
There  was  a  Sencell  in  Ciarraige,  but  not  this  one,  as  Colgan  himself  explains 
elsewhere.  At  Carradoo  there  is  no  old  church  at  all,  although  it  is  said  there 
was  a  nunnery  at  Carricknahorna. 


200  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

It  may  be,  however,  that  the  Mounds  of  the  Hy  Ailella 
does  not  signify  that  the  territory  was  theirs,  but  that  it 
was  merely  a  place  name,  where  some  of  that  clan  fell  in 
battle,  and  so  their  burial  mounds  gave  the  place  its 
name.  It  seems  rather  to  have  been  in  Magh  Ai.  At 
this  point  Patrick  was  at  the  meeting  of  three  territories, 
Tir  Ailella,  Corcu  Achlann,  and  Magh  Ai,  in  its  stricter 
sense,  which  designated  merely  the  royal  demesne  of  the 
Connaught  kings.  Their  palace  lay  straight  before  him  to 
the  south-west,  about  four  miles  distant,  on  the  brow  of 
the  beautiful  ridge  which  overlooks  one  of  the  fairest  scenes 
in  Ireland. 

But  before  leaving  Shankill,  Patrick,  as  usual,  provided 
for  the  future  of  the  young  church  which  he  founded  there. 
He  left  in  it  Maichet  and  Cetchen  and  Rodan,  a  chief 
priest,  and,  moreover,  Mathona,  the  sister  of  the  youthful 
Benen.  There  Mathona  received  the  veil  from  Patrick 
and  from  Rodan,  and  thus  became  their  spiritual  daughter. 
It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  carefully  Patrick  provided 
for  his  clerics  and  for  his  nuns,  according  to  their  seniority, 
so  to  speak.  First  of  all,  he  left  the  two  Emers  at  Clon- 
broney.  They  were  the  earliest  holy  maidens  whom  he 
ever  knew  in  Ireland,  and  now  he  leaves,  at  least  for  a 
time,  Mathona,  the  sister  of  Benignus,  who  was  probably 
the  next  of  the  Christian  maidens,  who,  following  her  holy 
brother's  example,  resolved  to  give  her  life  for  Christ.  Of 
Maichet  and  Cetchen,  the  presbyters  of  Shankill,  we  knov; 
nothing.  Their  names  appear  to  be  British,  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  they  were  amongst  the  British  disciples  of 
Patrick  who  had  followed  him  to  Ireland.  Only  one 
Rodan  is  mentioned  in  the  Martyrology  of  Tallaght  under 
date  of  the  25th  of  September.    The  name  merely  is  given. 

The  text  of  the  Tripartite  would  seem  to  imply  that 
from  Shankill  Patrick  went  into  the  Tirerrill  country  and 
founded  the  church  of  Tamnach  (Taunagh)  beyond  Lough 
Arrow  to  the  north,  over  which  Mathona  was  either  then 
or  later  on  appointed  Superioress.^  Our  view,  however,  is 
that  these  things  are  said  by  anticipation  of  what  occurred 
afterwards,  that  Patrick  from  Shankill  went  straight  towards 
Cruachan,  which  was  his  purpose  from  the  beginning,  and 


^The  Book  of  Anna^h  (Rolls,  p.  314)  clearly  shows  that  it  was  Mathona^ 
not  Patrick,  who  went  through  the  mountain  of  the  Hy  Ailella  at  this  time,  and 
founded  the  church  in  Tamnach,  which,  at  a  later  period,  was  visited  by 
I'atrick.     The  nominative  to  the  verb  exiit  is  not  Patricius  but  Mathona. 


AT   CLEBACH   WELL.  201 

that  the  visit  of  the  Saint  to  North  Tirerrill  took  place  at 
a  later  period,  after  he  had  gone  round  through  the 
west  of  Connaught.  It  is  likely,  too,  that  this  Mathona 
was  sister,  not  of  Benen  of  Meath,  but  of  Tirerrill,  as  we 
shall  see  later  on. 

From  Shankill,  then,  Patrick  went  by  the  high  ridge 
stretching  over  the  small  lakes  and  marshes  that  intervened 
on  the  south  by  Cloonyquin  towards  Tulsk  or  Tomona. 
It  was  the  road  to  Cruachan,  and  he  probably  pitched  his 
camp  for  the  night  not  far  west  of  Tulsk.  When  the 
morning  sun  rose  over  the  hills  near  the  Shannon  he  and 
his  clerics  went  at  sunrise  to  the  well,  namely  Clebach,  on 
the  eastern  flanks  of  Cruachan  Hill.  The  well  is  there 
still,  a  great  rushing  fountain  coming  out  from  the  rocks 
just  under  the  road  from  Tulsk  towards  Cruachan,  close  to 
the  spot  where  stood  the  ancient  church  built  expressly  to 
commemorate  this  most  touching  scene  in  the  whole 
history  of  St.  Patrick.  Even  the  old  chroniclers  felt  its 
charm,  and  were  almost  melted  into  poetry  when  they 
described  it.  It  never  fades  from  the  mind  of  those  who 
read  the  history  of  St.  Patrick,  and  to  this  day  no  one  can 
ever  hear  the  story  unmoved.  But  to  appreciate  it  fully, 
one  must  visit  the  place  or,  at  least,  try  to  realize  the  scene. 

III.— Patrick  at  Clebach  Well. 

Patrick  and  his  household  camped  during  the  night  close 
to  this  well  of  Cliabach,  or  Clebach,  intending  next  day  to 
proceed  to  Cruachan.  They  rose  early,  before  the  sun, 
to  chant  their  office,  and  prepare  to  celebrate  the  mystic 
Sacrifice.  They  were  dressed  in  their  long  robes,  worn  by 
the  monks  of  the  time  ;  but  their  tonsured  heads  were  bare, 
and  their  feet  were  sandalled.  There  is  a  green  bank  all 
round  the  well ;  and  limestone  crops  up  here  and  there, 
making  natural  seats  just  on  the  margin  of  the  great  limpid 
fountain.  It  was  a  quiet  and  beautiful  spot ;  and  so  the 
clerics  sat  down  on  the  rocks,  with  their  books  in  their 
hands,  to  chant  their  Office,  just  as  the  sun  was  rising  ovp  • 
the  far-distant  hills  of  Leitrim,  through  which  the^ 
had  traversed  some  days  before. 

But  now  they,  too,  see  a  strange  sight  at  early  morn — 
two  maidens  tripping  down  the  green  meadows  ;  one  of 
fair  complexion,  with  her  golden  hair  streaming  in  the 
wind  ;  the  other  of  ruddier  features,  crowned  with  auburn 
hair.    They  were  attended  by  their  maids  and  by  two  aged 


202  ST.    PATRICK   IN    ROSCOMMON. 

men,  clearly  Druids,  who  had  charge  of  the  maidens,  as  their 
fosterers.  It  was  customary  for  these  royai  girls,  according 
to  the  simple  habits  of  the  times,  to  come  and  wash 
in  the  fountain,  as  royal  maidens  did  in  ancient  Greece. 
But  now,  when  they  came  to  the  fountain  and  saw  the 
clerics  seated  with  the  books  in  their  hands,  dressed  in 
strange  garments,  and  speaking  strange  words,  they  stood 
lost  in  amazement.  But  they  were  royal  maidens, 
daughters  of  the  High  King  of  Erin,  and  they  were  not 
afraid.  Their  curiosity  prompted  them  to  speak,  for,  as 
the  Book  of  Armagh  tells  us — they  knew  not  who  the 
strangers  were  ;  nor  of  what  guise  ;  nor  of  what  race  ;  nor 
of  what  country — they  thought  them  fairy  men,  or  gods  of 
the  earth,  or,  perhaps,  ghosts. ^ 

Wherefore  they  said — "  Who  are  you,  or  whence  have 
you  come  ?  "  Whereupon  Patrick,  repressing  their  curiosity, 
said — "  It  were  better  for  you  to  confess  your  faith  in  our 
true  God  than  to  ask  about  our  race."  The  narrative  is 
exact,  but  the  questions  are  compressed  in  it. 

Then  the  elder  girl,  the  fair-haired  Eithne,  said — ."  Who 
is  your  God  ?  Where  is  your  God  ?  Of  what  is  He  God  ? 
Where  is  His  dwelling  place?  Has  your  God  sons  and 
daughters,  gold  and  silver?  Is  He  ever-living?  Is  He 
beautiful  ?  Have  many  chiefs  fostered  His  Son  ?  Are  His 
daughters  beautiful  and  dear  to  the  men  of  this  world  ? 
Dwelleth  He  in  heaven  or  on  earth — or  in  the  sea,  or  in 
the  rivers,  or  in  the  mountains,  or  in  the  valleys.^  How  is 
He  to  be  loved  ?  Is  He  to  be  found  ?  and  shall  we  find 
Him  in  youth  or  in  old  age  ?  Tell  us  this  knowledge  of 
God,  and  how  He  can  be  seen." 

This  flood  of  questions  the  curious  maiden,  with  royal 
courage,  addressed  to  Patrick,  the  leader  of  those  strange 
beings.  Then  Patrick,  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  says  the 
writer,  replied  to  the  royal  maidens,  answering  all  their 
questions,  but  beginning  with  the  most  important. 

"  Our  God  is  the  God  of  all  men ;  the  God  of  the  heavens 
and  of  the  earth,  of  the  sea  and  of  the  rivers  ;  the  God  of 
the  sun  and  of  the  moon  ;  the  God  of  the  lofty  hills  and 
of  the  deep  valleys ;  a  God  who  is  over  the  heavens,  in 
the  heavens,  under  the  heavens ;  Who  hath  for  His  dwelling- 

^  Sed  illos  viros  «^^,  aut  deorum  terrenorum,  aut  fantasiam  sestimavcrunt. 

P-  315- 

^The  Gaels  worshipped  Terrene  gods,  whom  they  believed  to  dwell  in  the 
fountains,  and  the  green  hills,  or  the  dark  woods,  where  the  Druids  had  their 
temples. 


AT   CLEBACH   WELL.  203 

place  heaven  and  earth  and  sea,  and  all  things  that  are 
therein.  He  breathes  in  all  things,  gives  life  to  all  things, 
rules  all  things,  sustains  all  things. 

"He  kindles  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  the  moon-light 
he  keeps  by  night.  He  made  the  fountains  in  the  dry 
land,  and  the  dry  islands  in  the  sea ;  and  the  stars  He  has 
set  to  aid  the  greater  lights.  He  has  a  vSon  alike  and  co- 
eternal  with  himself.  Neither  is  the  Son  younger  than  the 
Father,  nor  is  the  Father  older  than  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  breathes  in  them  both  ;  nor  are  the  Father,  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  divided. 

"  Now,  as  you  are  the  daughters  of  an  earthly  king, 
I  wish  to  bring  you  nigh  to  this  heavenly  King.  Believe 
ye,  then." 

And  the  maidens,  as  with  one  voice  and  one  heart,  said 
— "Teach  us  with  all  care  how  we  may  believe  in  this 
heavenly  King;  tell  us  how  we  may  see  Him  face  to  face, 
and  how  we  may  do  all  that  you  have  told  us."  Then 
Patrick,  after  instruction,  no  doubt,  said — "  Do  you  believe 
that  by  baptism  the  sin  of  your  father  and  mother  (original 
sin)  is  taken  away  ?  "  They  said — "  We  believe  it."  "  Do 
you  believe  in  penance  after  sin  ?  " — that  is,  as  a  remedy  for 
sin.  "We  believe  it."  "Do  you  believe  in  a  life  after 
death,  and  a  resurrection  on  the  day  of  judgment?  "  "  We 
believe  it."  "  Do  you  believe  in  the  unity  of  the  Church  ?  " 
"  We  believe  it."  ^  Whereupon  they  were  baptised,  and 
Patrick  blessed  a  white  veil  and  placed  it  on  their  heads. 
This  was,  apparently,  not  the  veil  of  the  baptismal  rite, 
but  the  white  veil  of  their  virginity,  which  they  consecrated 
to  God. 

Then  they  *  asked  to  see  the  face  of  Christ,'  but  the  Saint 
said  to  them — "  You  cannot  see  the  face  of  Christ  except 
you  taste  of  death  and  receive  the  Sacrifice  "  (before  death). 
And  they  replied — "  Give  us  the  Sacrifice  that  we  may  see 
our  Spouse,  the  Son  of  God."  So,  by  the  well-side,  under 
God's  open  sky,  the  Sacrifice  was  offered,  and  they 
received  the  Eucharist  of  God,  and  fell  asleep  in  death. 
Then  they  were  placed  in  the  same  bed  covered  with  one 
coverlet ;  and  their  friends  made  great  mourning  for  the 
maidens  twain  ;  but  all  heaven  rejoiced,  for  so  far  as  we  can 


^  It  will  be  observed  that  Patrick  here  merely  requires  faith  in  the  chief 
articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  Ho  had,  no  doubt,  first  instructed  the  royal 
maidens,  and  then  required  them  to  make  a  formal  act  of  faith  in  those  articles, 
as  is  done  still  before  baptism. 


204  ST.   PATRICK    IN    KOSCOMiMON. 

judge  they  were  the  first  of  the  white-robed  host  of  Irish 
maidens  who  passed  the  gates  of  death  to  be  with  their 
Spouse  for  ever  in  heaven. 

*  Give  us  the  Sacrifice.'     Each  bright  head 

Bent  toward  it  as  sunflowers  bend  to  the  sun : 
They  ate ;  and  the  blood  from  the  warm  cheek  fled : 

The  exile  was  over ;  the  home  was  won : 
A  starry  darkness  o'erflowed  their  brain. 

Far  waters  beat  on  some  heavenly  shore : 
Like  the  dying  away  of  a  low,  sweet  strain 

The  young  life  ebbed,  and  they  breathed  no  more  : 
In  death  they  smiled,  as  though  on  the  breast 
Of  the  Mother  Maid  they  had  found  their  rest. 

Aubrey  de  Vere. 

We  have  here  given  the  account  of  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
word  for  word.  To  add  to  it  would  be  to  spoil  it.  The 
same  account,  in  almost  exactly  the  same  words,  is  given  in 
the  Irish  of  the  Tripartite;  so  we  may  fairly  assume  it 
gives  us  not  only  an  exact,  though  brief,  account  of  what 
happened  by  Clebach  Well,  but  also  a  fair  summary  of 
Patrick's  preaching  to  the  people  whom  he  was  about 
to  baptise  there.  Then  we  are  told  of  the  two  Druids 
who  hitherto  were  listeners  only,  if  they  were  at  al) 
present  at  the  earlier  portion  of  this  beautiful  scene.  It 
is  rather  doubtful,  for  it  is  stated  when  the  maidens  fell 
asleep  in  death,  that  Caplait,  who  fostered  one  of  them, 
came  and  wept;  whereupon  Patrick  consoled  him,  no 
doubt,  and  preached  the  Gospel  to  him  also,  '  and  he 
believed,  and  was  shorn  as  a  cleric  ' — that  is,  he  received 
the  tonsure  by  which  he  became  a  cleric  destined  to  the 
service  of  the  Church. 

But  his  brother  Mael  acted  differently  at  first.  He 
came  up  in  anger,  and  said,  *'  My  brother  has  become  a 
Christian,  but  it  must  not  be  so,  nor  shall  it  profit  thee ;  I 
will  bring  him  back  to  heathenism ; "  and  he  spoke  injurious 
words  to  Patrick.  But  Patrick  here,  in  a  patient  spirit, 
made  allowance  for  the  anger  of  the  man.  He  was  long- 
suffering  with  Mael,  and  continued  to  preach  to  him  until 
he  converted  him  also  to  penance;  then  he  tonsured  him 
like  his  brother,  changing  the  airbacc  gmnnae,  or  Druid's 
tonsure,  into  the  frontal  clerical  tonsure  then  used  in  Ire- 
land, whence,  we  are  told,  arose  the  celebrated  Irish 
proverb,  *  Mael  is  like  unto  Caplait,'  which  seems  to 
signify  the  hardened  sinner  has  at  last  been  converted. 


ROYAL   CRUACHAN.  205 

So  both  the  Druids  beh'eved  in  God,  and  when  the  time 
of  wailing  for  the  maidens  was  over  they  buried  them  by 
the  fountain  Clebach,  making  for  them  a  round  grave 
ox  ferta^  according  to  the  ancient  custom  of  the  Scots.  But 
we  call  it,  says  Tirechan,  a  '  relic!  from  the  relics  of  the 
dead  which  are  therein.  And  that  graveyard,  or  ferta, 
with  the  bones  of  the  saints,  was  given  to  God  and  Patrick 
and  to  his  heirs  for  ever.^  They  also  built  a  church  of 
earth  in  the  same  place,  and  it  was  called  Sendomnach 
Maige  Ai,  and  was  given  to  Patrick  for  all  time. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  ancient  church  is  that 
whose  ruins,  though  of  later  date,  still  stand  close  by 
Clebach's  Well.  It  is  called  '  Ogulla'— the  Church  of  the 
virgins — and  has  given  title  to  the  parish.  At  first  sight  it 
might  seem  that  the  well  is  too  far  from  Cruachan,  some- 
what more  than  a  mile,  to  be  the  well  where  the  maidens 
were  wont  to  wash.  But  the  Druids  with  their  charge  may 
have  lived  nearer  to  it,  and  it  is  certainly  the  only  fountain 
on  the  eastern  slopes  of  Cruachan  which  answers  the  de- 
scription in  the  text.  The  name,  too,  of  Ogulla  is  peculiar 
and  convincing. 

IV. — Royal  Cruachan. 

Cruachan  itself,  the  ancient  and  famous  palace  of  Magh 
Ai,  deserves  a  short  notice  here.^ 

We  find  from  various  entries  in  the  Annals  that  princes 
of  the  line  of  Heremon  dwelt  in  Cruachan  of  Magh  Ai  from 
the  beginning,  and  continued  to  dwell  there  down  to  the 
Anglo-Norman  invasion.  The  land  is  fertile,  the  prospect 
over  all  the  royal  plain  is  far-reaching,  so  that  the  advance 
of  a  foe  could  be  seen  at  a  distance,  and  the  air  is  very 
salubrious.  It  was  for  seventy  years  the  scene  of  the  loves 
and  the  wars  of  the  renowned  Queen  Meave  during  the 
first  century  before  the  Christian  era,  and  always  continued 
to  be  the  chief  royal  residence  of  the  Gaelic  kings  of 
Connaught. 

Not  far  from  the  royal  rath  was  the  royal  cemetery, 
which  is  filled  with  the  dust  of  kings.     It  was  perhaps  the 

^  In  the  Registry  of  Clonmacnoise  Ogulla  is  called  Ciliogealba,  and  it  was 
granted  by  Cathal  O'Connor,  with  other  churches,  to  Cluain  as  the  price  of 
his  mortuary  church  in  Ciaran's  holy  ground. 

^According  to  the  Dindsenchas  the  name  is  derived  from  a  lady  named 
Cruachu,  or  Cruachan,  a  handmaid  of  Etain,  who  eloped  with  Midir,  of  Bri 
Leith.  By  the  right  of  the  fairy  king  the  name  of  the  handmaid  clung  to  the 
place  for  ever — *  in  guerdon  of  thy  travail  it  shall  bear  thy  name.' 


206  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

most  celebrated  of  all  the  pagan  cemeteries  of  Erin,  and  an 
ancient  poem  published  by  Petrie  commemoratesthelong  list 
of  kings  and  queens,  and  warriors,  'and  fierce  fair  women,' 
who  sleep  in  the  cemetery  of  the  '  ever  beauteous  Cruachan,' 
as  the  poet  calls  it.  There  was  a  famous  cave  there,  too, 
the  enchanted  cave  of  Cruachan,  which  is  celebrated  in 
fairy  legends,  and  may  still  be  seen  near  the  royal 
cemetery.  And  there,  too,  stands  the  pillar-stone  of  red 
granite — the  famous  Cairrthe-dhearg — which  marks  the 
grave  of  the  renowned  Dathi,  who  fell  either  at  the  Alps, 
or  at  Drum  Alban,  in  Scotland,  on  the  field  of  victory,  and 
was  carried  home  to  the  Relig-na-riogh,  to  sleep  with  his 
royal  sires — the  latest  kingly  tenant  of  the  pagan  burial- 
ground. 

The  enchanted  cave  can  still  be  seen ;  the  royal 
cemetery  can  still  be  traced  ;  and  Dathi's  pillar  still  stands 
erect  above  the  hero's  grave.  But  the  royal  palace  is 
merely  a  great  green  mound  overlooking  all  the  wide- 
spreading  plain  of  Magh  Ai. 

V. — Patrick  amongst  the  Ciarraige  of  Magh  Ai. 

Patrick  next  went  from  Cruachan  into  the  place  which 
the  Tripartite  calls  Tir  Cairedo,  and  Tirechan  Magh 
Cairetha  ;  but  it  is  evidently  the  same  name.  It  is  about 
eight  miles  west  of  Cruachan,  and  lay  around  the  modern 
town  of  Castlerea.  In  this  plain  Patrick  founded  a  church 
near  the  place  called  Ard-lice,  and  he  left  therein  Deacon 
Coeman.  From  him  the  church  came  to  be  called 
Kilkeevan ;  and  the  parish  naturally  took  its  title  from 
the  church.  The  old  church  was  little  more  than  a  mile  from 
Castlerea,  to  the  west,  and  its  ruins,  or  rather  its  site,  in 
the  old  churchyard  may  still  be  seen,  near  the  mansion  of 
O'Conor  Don,  at  Clonalis.  Of  Deacon  Coeman  himself, 
we  know  nothing  else  ;  but  the  epithet  would  seem  to 
imply  that  he  had  been  a  deacon  in  the  religious  family  of 
Patrick,  and  he  is  described  as  a  youth  dear  to  God  and  to 
Patrick.^  The  name  is  Irish,  and  it  may  be  that  he  was 
in  some  v/ay  connected  with  the  district.  The  modern 
parish  of  Castlerea  is,  properly  speaking,  the  parish  of 
Kilkeevan,  and,  as  such.,  is  set  down  in  all  the  parochial 
registers  of  the  diocese  of  Elphin,  of  which  it  forms  the 

*  Boo^  of  Armagh. 


AMONGST    THE    CIARRAIGE   OF   MAGH   AI.  20/ 

most  westerly  district.  It  was  also  called  Sen-domnach, 
being  the  oldest  church  of  the  place ;  but  that  name  has 
disappeared  from  the  memory  of  the  people. 

From  Kilkeevan  Patrick  turned  his  steps  northward, 
and  came  to  Ard  Senlis — the  Height  of  the  old  Fort — 
and  there  he  built  a  church,  wherein  he  placed  the  holy 
virgin  Lallocc ;  and  near  it  he  obtained  another  church 
site  in  Magh  Nento.  It  would  appear  that  Lallocc 
had  her  convent  and  oratory  at  some  distance  from 
the  church  of  Magh  Nento.  The  place  is  now  known 
as  Fairy  Mount,  a  conspicuous  hill  about  five  miles 
north  of  Castlerea.  Magh  Nento  was  the  surrounding 
plain. 

Now,  Patrick  had  in  his  company  at  Fairymount  the 
holy  Bishop  Cethech,  whom  he  first  met,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  at  Duleek,  in  Meath.  Finding  him  a  worthy 
youth,  he  had  him  trained,  and  then  consecrated  him  a 
bishop.  But  though  the  mother  of  Cethech  was  of  the 
Cenel  Sai  of  Domnach  Sairigi,  near  Duleek,  his  father  was 
of  the  race  of  Ailell ;  ^  so  now  when  he  found  himself  near 
his  father's  people  he,  together  with  Lallocc,  and  the  priest 
Df  Magh  Nento,  if  not  with  Patrick  also,  resolved  to  pay 
a  visit  to  his  father's  people.  But  what  came  of  it  is  un- 
certain, for  ?t  is  not  there  but  at  Oran,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  he  founded  his  church  ;  and  Oran  certainly  was  not 
in  Tirerrill.  It  is  distinctly  brought  out,  however,  that 
Bishop  Cethech  used  to  visit  his  mother's  friends  in  Meath  ; 
'  and  it  was  his  custom  to  celebrate  the  Great  Easter  at 
Domnach  Sairigi,  near  Duleek,  but  the  Little  Easter  he 
used  to  celebrate  at  Kells  (Cennannus  ^)  with  St.  Comgilla,' 
because,  as  his  monks  used  to  say,  it  was  he  that  had  given 
the  veil  to  that  holy  maiden,  and  so  he  retained,  at  least 
by  courtesy,  the  right  to  visit  her  convent.  The  whole 
story  is  mentioned  incidentally,  and,  perhaps,  out  of  place ; 
nor  indeed  is  it  likely  that  St.  Patrick  went  further  north- 
ward on  this  occasion. 

But  it  is  stated  expressly  that  he  went  a  little  to  the 
south  into  Hy  Maine.  The  northern  boundary  of  this 
territory  may  be  taken  roughly  as  extending  at  that  time 
from    Ballymoe   on  the   Suck   to    Lanesborough   on   the 


^  The  Tripartite  says  that  Cetech's  mother,  not  his  father,  was  of  the  race 
of  Ailell,  and  that  Cianan  of  Duleek  was  his  father.  We  follow  Tirechan 
in  the  Book  of  An/iagh  as  the  better  authority. 

'^  At  Ath-da-Laracc  in  Cennanus. — Tripartite^ 


208  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

Shannon,^  so  that  when  Patrick  came  into  the  barony  o! 
Ballymoe  he  was  in  the  Hy  Maine  territory.  There  he 
founded  a  church  about  three  miles  west  of  Roscommon 
town  at  a  place  called  Fidarta,  or  as  it  is  now  called, 
Fuerty,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Suck,  although  the  parish 
includes  both  banks  of  the  river  at  this  place.  Therein  he 
left  an  archdeacon,  or  rather  a  chief  deacon,  of  his  house- 
hold, namely,  Deacon  Just  or  Justus,  whom,  of  course,  he 
ordained  as  priest.  To  him  also  he  gave  *  his  own  book  of 
ordinal  and  of  baptism,'  that  is  his  missal  and  ritual,  and 
Justus  baptised  the  Hy  Maine,  and  amongst  them,  we  may 
add,  was  the  celebrated  St.  Ciarain,  the  founder  of  Clon- 
macnoise.  But  this  was  long  after,  in  his  old  age,  as  the 
Tripartite  expressly  states.  It  was  about  the  year  A.D. 
512  when,  according  to  the  Tripartite,  Justus  was  140 
years  old,^  '  as  the  best  authorities  say.'  But  the  numerals 
in  these  cases  given  in  the  manuscripts  are  always  uncer- 
tain. The  ruins  of  an  ancient  church  still  remain  at 
Fuerty  ;  but  it  certainly  was  not  a  building  of  the  time  of 
St.  Patrick. 

In  the  parish  of  Athleague,  south  of  Fuerty,  there  is  a 
stone  called  Gloonpatrick^  (Glun-Phadruig),  so  called 
because  '  it  bears  the  mark  of  Patrick's  knee,  which  he  left 
there  when  praying.'  It  shows  that  Patrick  must  have 
gone  further  south  into  Hy  Many,  either  on  this  occasion 
or  more  likely  later  on  when  he  was  returning  from  the 
West  to  Tara,  and  went  through  Magh  Finn  on  his  way  to 
Athlone. 

VI. — Patrick  at  Oran. 

Patrick  does  not  appear  to  have  gone  further  south  on 
the  present  occasion,  but  turned  back  to  Magh  Ai,  which 
was  in  Roscommon  the  centre  of  his  missionary  activity, 
as  Tara  was  in  Meath.  He  had,  however,  others  amongst 
his  household  who  wished  to  get  churches  in  that  fertile 
territory,  and  who,  it  seems,  began  to  show  signs  of  im- 
patience at  delay.  Amongst  them  were  certain  Franks 
who  had  accompanied  him  from  Gaul.     We  are  now  told 

^  From  Ath-mogha  (Ballymoe)  to  Sidh  Neannta  (Fairymount,  south  of 
Slieve  Bawn),  and  thence  to  the  Shannon  at  Clontuskert  near  Lanesborough. 
See  Ify  A/any,  p.  5. 

2  Tirechan  says  there  were  cxl.  years,  as  the  best  authorities  say,  between 
the  death  of  Patrick  and  the  birth  of  Ciaran.  The  numerals  most  likely  were 
xxi.,  which  would  be  correct. 

2  Jly  Many,  p.  82. 


AT   ORAN.  209 

that  'they  went  from  him,'  as  if  to  set  up  for  themselves. 
So  Patrick  followed  them,  it  would  seem — fifteen  brothers 
and  one  sister,  or  perhaps  five  brothers  and  one  sister ;  but 
only  the  names  of  three  are  given,  Bernicius,  Hibernicius, 
and  Hernicus,  with  their  sister  Nitria.^  And  Patrick  gave 
them  many  places  to  dwell  in  and  serve  God  and  the 
people,  but  the  chief  place  he  gave  them  was  Imgoe 
.Baislicc,^  '  between  Hy  Maine  and  Magh  Ai,'  that  is  it  was 
just  on  the  boundary.  Sachellus  was  their  head,  but  he  was 
not  one  of  the  Franks.  Baslic  is  still  the  name  of  a  parish 
church  in  the  diocese  of  Elphin,  and  a  glance  at  the  map 
will  show  that  it  is  only  a  little  north  of  the  boundary 
line  between  Hy  Many  and  Magh  Ai,  as  we  have  already 
described  it.  The  old  church  was,  we  believe,  near  Castle- 
plunket.  It  would  appear  that  the  Frenchmen  had  found 
out  the  place  for  themselves,  or  rather  Patrick  showed  it 
to  them  'with  his  finger'  from  the  summit  of  the  hill  of 
Oran  a  little  further  south,  where  he  was  at  the  time 
engaged  in  founding  a  church.  Although  they  went  off 
to  provide  for  themselves,  they  had  returned  to  Patrick 
that  he  might  sanction  their  choice  of  the  places  they  had 
found  ;  ^  they  were  clearly  unwilling  to  set  up  anywhere 
without  his  express  approval.  The  graphic  language  in 
which  Tirechan  tells  how  from  the  summit  of  the  Hill  of 
Oran  Patrick  pointed  out  with  his  finger  the  site  of  the 
church  of  Baslic  on  the  high  ground  some  five  miles  away 
due  north,  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
narrative,  which  he  must  have  had  directly  or  indirectly 
from  eye-witnesses.  Incidental  touches  of  this  kind,  which 
are  frequent  both  in  Tirechan  and  the  Tripartite,  clearly 
show  that  the  original  narrative  was  both  truthful  and 
accurate. 

A  stump  of  a  round  tower  still  marks  the  site  of  the 
ancient  church  of  Oran.  The  name  Uaran  means  a  cold 
spring  ;  and  Oran  deserves  it,  for  a  beautiful  spring  pours 
out  its  abounding  waters  close  to  the  tower  and  the  ancient 
church.  Patrick  loved  this  place,  for  he  had  a  keen  eye  for 
the  beauties  of  nature,  and  was  charmed  by  the  swelling 

^  Tirechan  names  only  two  brothers — Bernicius  et  Hernicius. 

^  Tirechan  calls  it  Basilica  Sanctorum,  because,  doubtless,  many  of  the 
foreign  saints  Uved  and  died  there,  but  Sachell,  brother  of  Cethecus  of  Oran, 
was  its  bishop,  or  chief  priest,  and  the  church  itself  was  in  Ciarraige  of 
Magh  Ai  at  its  eastern  extremity. 

^  They  had  found  several  places  in  the  neigi.  jourhood,  the  names  of 
which,  Tirechan  says,  he  did  not  know  except  the  '  Basilica  Sanctorum  '  alone, 
ihat  is  Baslic.     It  still  retains  the  name. 


210  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

fountain  watering  those  green  and  fertile  fields;  and  he 
enjoyed  the  noble  prospect  which  is  revealed  from  the 
summit  ot  the  hill.    He  even  became  poetic  in  its  praises  : — 

Uaran  Gar ! 

Uaran,  which  I  have  loved,  which  loved  me. 

Sad  is  my  cry,  O  dear  God, 

Without  my  drink  out  of  Uaran  Gar, 

Cold  Uaran, 

Cold  is  every  one  who  has  gone  from  it  (with  sadness), 

Were  it  not  my  King's  command, 

I  would  not  wend  from  it,  though  the  weather  is  cold, 

Thrice  I  went  into  the  land, 

Three  fifties  was  the  number  (with  me), 

But  with  thee  .  .  . 

Was  my  consolation,  O  Uaran. 

The  place  is  as  beautiful  as  it  was  of  old,  but  it  would 
be  hard  to  get  '  three  fifties  '  of  human  beings  there  now. 
Of  bullocks  there  are  plenty,  but  of  men  there  are  few. 
One  or  two  wretched  cottages  and  the  broken  tower  now 
mark  the  desolate  site  of  the  church  on  that  fair  but  lonely 
hill  which  Patrick  loved  so  well. 

Over  this  church  of  Oran,  Patrick  placed  Cethecus,  the 
brother  of  Sachell,  or  Sachellus,  of  *  Baslic'  He  was  a 
holy  youth,  and  Tirechan  says  that  he  crossed  the  river 
Suck  without  wetting  his  feet  or  his  shoes,^  which  was 
taken  as  a  proof  of  his  sanctity.  It  would  appear  also  that 
Patrick's  family  at  the  time  numbered  three  fifties,  which 
is  not  wonderful,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  he  had  to  make 
provision  from  amongst  them  for  the  spiritual  care  of  the 
young  churches  which  he  was  every  day  founding.  Many 
of  them  still  were  Gauls  and  Britons. 

VII. — Patrick  Baptises  the  Sons  of  Brian  at 

Magh  Selce. 

'  Thereafter  Patrick  went  to  Magh  Selce,  that  is  to 
Duma  Selce,  where  the  six  sons  of  Brian  were  biding, 
namely,  Bole  the  Red,  Derthacht,  Eichen,  Cremthann, 
Coelcharna,   and   Echaid.'      This    Brian,^  son   of   Eochy 


^  Aridi  pedes  ejus  et  ficones  erant  sudse. 

^  He  is  described  as  a  brown-haired,  powerful,  bull-like  man,  with  solidity 
of  limb,  and  with  the  strength  of  nine,  and  in  either  hand  endowed  with  equal 
weapon-skill. — Silva  Gad.,  374. 


HE    BAPTISES   THE    SONS   OF   BRIAN.  211 

Moyvane,  was  the  ^reat  ancestor  of  all  the  Connaught 
Kings,  and  the  elder  brother,  by  a  different  mother, 
of  Niall  of  Nine  Hostages.  The  six  named  above  were 
therefore  first  cousins  of  King  Laeghaire,  and  if  the 
succession  went  by  seniority  would  have  even  a  better 
claim  than  he  to  the  throne  of  Erin.  Magh  Ai  was,  how- 
ever, their  father's  territory  ;  and  so  we  find  them  now 
not  far  from  Cruachan,  It  has  been  said,  indeed,  that 
Magh  Selce^  was  the  plain  around  Castlehacket,  west  of 
Tuam,  in  the  Co.  Galway ;  but  the  whole  course  of  the 
narrative  here  points  to  it  as  a  part  of  Magh  Ai,  and  we 
think  it  can  be  clearly  identified  therein.  It  means  the 
Plain  of  the  Chase. 

Here  is  the  narrative  of  what  took  place  at  Magh 
Selce  : — 

Patrick  wrote  three  names  in  that  place  on  three  stones,  to 
wit,  Jesus,  Soter,  Salvator — the  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin 
names  of  the  Saviour.  And  he  blessed  the  Hy  Briuin  from 
Duma  Selce  and  Patrick's  Seat  is  there  among  the  three  stones, 
on  which  he  inscribed  the  letters.  The  names  of  the  Bishops 
who  were  with  him  there  are  Bron  (Biteus),  of  Cashel  Irre ; 
Sachell,  of  Baslic  Mor  in  Ciarraige  ;  Brochaid  of  Imlech  Ech, 
brother  of  Lomman  of  Trim  ;  Bronach  the  Priest ;  Rodan, 
Cassan,  Benen,  Patrick's  successor,  and  Benen,  brother  of 
Cethech  ;  Bishop  Felart,  and  a  nun,  a  sister  of  his,  and  another 
sister  who  is  in  an  island  in  the  sea  of  Conmacne,  namely,  Croch 
(now  Cruach),^  of  Cuil  Conmacne.  And  he  founded  a  church  on 
Loch  Selce,  namely,  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Selce,  in  which  he 
baptised  the  Hy  Briuin  and  blessed  them. 

This  narrative  is  highly  interesting  and  instructive. 
Patrick's  purpose  was  always  to  gain  the  chiefs,  for  then 
he  could  easily  win  their  followers.      These  six  princes, 


^  Not  Magh  Selce,  but  Magh  Seola  was  the  name  of  the  plain  around 
Castlehacket.  It  was  the  ancient  patrimony  of  the  O'Flahertys  before  they 
were  driven  westward,  beyond  the  Lakes,  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

^  This  is  now  called  Deer  Island,  but,  properly,  Cruachan  Coelann.  The 
foundations  only  of  her  church  remain.  She  was  the  sister,  it  appears,  of  Bishop 
Felart,  and  must  have  gone  to  the  island  from  Headfort,  her  brother's  church 
— Donaghmore  of  Headford. 

Another  identification  has  been  suggested.  Croch  of  Cuil  Conmacne  is 
the  village  now  called  Cross,  near  Cong,  where  there  was  an  old  church,  beyond 
doubt,  Cuil  Conmacne  being  another  form  of  Conmacne  Cuil  Toladh,  the 
ancient  name  of  the  modern  barony  of  Kilmaine,  in  which  Cross  is  situated.  This 
is  highly  probable,  as  the  nun  in  question  would  naturally  like  to  be  near  her 
brother,  Bishop  Felart,  at  Donaghpatrick,  near  Headford. — See  Knox's  Notes, 


2  12  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ROSCOMMON. 

named  above,  were  the  cliiefs  of  a  great  part  of  Connaught. 
and  hence  he  sought  them  out,  instructed,  and  baptised 
them,  and  erected  these  enduring  memorials  in  stone  that 
there  might  be  some  monument  to  commemorate  the 
great  event.  Carnfree,  near  Tulsk,  was,  from  time  imme- 
morial, the  place  where  the  Kings  of  Connaught  were 
inaugurated.  It  was  the  centre  of  their  royalty,  and  hence 
we  find  that  Patrick  erected  this  memorial  close  to  the 
place  to  be  a  testimony  to  future  ages  of  their  reception  of 
Christianity,  and  their  renunciation  of  paganism.  Oran, 
where  we  last  left  him,  is  only  a  few  miles  to  the  south, 
and  from  Oran,  according  to  the  narrative,  he  came  straight 
to  meet  the  princes  at  Magh  Selce.  We  conclude,  there- 
fore, that  it  was  somewhere  in  Magh  Ai,  not  far  from  Oran, 
and  that  there  was  a  lake  in  the  place,  and  a  church  was 
founded  either  on  the  shore  or  in  an  island  of  that  lake. 
The  parish  of  Killukin,  north  of  Oran,  includes  or  borders 
on  Carnfree ;  in  that  parish  is  a  lake,  now  called  Arda- 
killin  Lake  ;  ^  on  its  shores  stood  the  old  church  of  Killukin, 
and  that  we  believe  was  the  place  where  the  Hy  Briuin  of 
Magh  Ai  were  baptised,  and  where  Patrick  set  up  the 
memorial  stones.  The  holy  well  of  their  baptism  is  on 
the  lake's  shore. 

Then,  again,  St.  Patrick's  church  at  Castlehacket  is 
referred  to  later  on  in  the  Tripartite  as  Domnach  Mor 
Maige  Seolal,  which  is  quite  a  different  name  from  Dom- 
nach Mor  Maige  Selce;  it  proves  in  fact  that  the  two 
plains  and  the  two  churches  were  quite  different^.  More- 
over, we  know  that  the  princes  of  the  O'Conor  line  had  in 
after  ages  a  famous  castle  or  fort  at  this  very  place  which 
is  called  in  the  Annals  Ard  an  Choillin,  now  Ardakillin.^ 
The  ancient  mounds  still  remain  near  the  shore  of  the  lake 
in  the  townland  of  Ardakillin  ;  so  there  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  these  mounds  are  the  Dumae  vSelga  referred  to 
in  the  Tripartite,  which  continued  to  be  for  many  centuries 
a  stronghold  of  the  O'Conors,  especially  of  O'Conor  Roe, 
after  The  O'Conor  Don  had  set  up  further  west  in  his  great 
castle  of  Balllntober.      The  exact  situation    of   the  old 


*  But.  heretofore  called  Cargins  Lake,  and  it  is  so  called  still,  we  believe. 

2  It  is  clear  from  the  Dinnsenchas  that  Dumae  Selga  was  in  Magh  Ai,  and 
Magh  Selga  or  Selce  was  the  plain  around  the  mounds  and  lake.  Rennes 
Dinncejichas ,  471.  There  is  another  lake  now  called  Cloonfree  Lake  nearer  to 
Strokestown,  which  may  be  the  place  indicated. 

3  See  Four  Masters,  A.D.  1388. 


AMONGST   THE   GREGRAIDE   OF   LOUGH   GARA.         21 3 

castle  of  O'Conor  Roe  was  on  the  northern  shore  of  the 
lake,  close  to  the  high  road,  about  two  miles  to  the  west  ot 
Strokestown. 

St.  Patrick's  sojourn  in  this  district  is  further  confirmed 
by  existing  memorials.  For  instance,  there  is  a  St. 
Patrick's  well  on  the  shore  of  Ardakillin  Lake  which 
marks  the  presence  of  the  Saint  in  the  district  not  far,  we 
believe,  from  the  very  spot  where  he  set  up  the  three 
memorial  stones  to  commemorate  the  conversion  of  the 
Hy  Briuin  princes  to  the  Christian  faith.  Local  traditions 
also  still  vividly  testify  to  the  presence  of  St.  Patrick  in 
that  locality. 

VI I L — Patrick  amongst  the  Gregraide  of  Lough 

Gara. 

Patrick  now  went  north  from  Magh  Ai  to  the  Gregraide 
of  Lough  Techet.  This  is  the  beautiful  and  well-known 
lake  south-west  of  Boyle,  now  called  Lough  Gara.  The 
railway  to  Sligo  beyond  Boyle  gives  some  picturesque 
glimpses  of  the  lake  as  well  as  of  the  Boyle  river,  which 
carries  its  superfluous  waters  through  that  town  down  to 
Lough  Key  on  their  way  to  join  the  Shannon.  The 
'  Greagraidhe,'  as  they  are  called  in  the  Book  of  Rights, 
occupied  the  territory  around  the  lake,  which  is  now 
known  as  the  barony  of  Coolavin.  They  had  migrated 
into  this  territory  from  Ulster,  for  they  were  descended 
from  Aengus  Fionn,  who  was  a  king  of  that  province  in 
the  first  century.  Another  colony  of  the  same  tribe  were 
settled  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Moy,  and  they  were  a  rude 
and  ill-conditioned  people. 

There,  east  of  the  lake,  "  Patrick  founded  a  church,  to 
wit,  in  Drumne,^  and  by  it  he  dug  a  well,  and  it  hath  no 
stream  flowing  into  it  or  out  of  it ;  yet  it  is  for  ever  full,  and 
hence  its  name  '  Bithlan,' that  is,  the  '  Everfull.' ''  It  is 
there  still,  and  Is  ever  full,  as  of  yore,  under  the  shade  of 
an  ancient  ash,  about  three  miles  from  Boyle,  on  the  right 
side  of  the  road  to  Frenchpark.  The  spot  cannot  be  mis- 
taken, for  it  is  still  called  St.  Patrick's  Well.  But  the 
church  has  disappeared,  only  the  church-yard  rema  ns. 

"After  that  he  founded  Cell  Atrachta  in  Gregraide,  and 


*  Tirechan  calls  it  Drumma.  Though  east  of  the  lake  it  is  part  of  the 
barony  of  Coolavin,  and  is  still  in  the  Co.  Sligo — a  mere  angle  on  the  *  wrong 
side  of  the  lake,'  as  a  native  described  it. 


214  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

he  placed  therein  Talan's  daughter,  who  took  the  veil  from 
Patrick's  hand,  and  he  left  a  paten  and  chalice  with  her." 
She  is  there  described  as  the  daughter  of  Talan  of  the 
Gregraide  of  Loch  Techet,  a  sister  of  Coeman  of  Airtne 
Coeman.  Patrick  blessed  the  veil  for  her  head,  and  at  the 
time  they  were  biding  in  Drumana^;  '  but  Machara  is  now 
the  name  of  the  place,'  adds  the  Tripartite.  A  '  casula ' 
was  sent  from  Heaven  into  Patrick's  bosom,  whilst  they 
were  biding  there.  "  Let  this  casula  (or  chasuble)  be 
thine,  O  nun,''  said  Patrick;  "not  so,"  she  said, '' for  it 
has  been  given  not  to  me  but  to  thy  Beatitude." 

This  is  an  interesting  narrative,  and  the  local  details  are 
strikingly  like  the  truth ;  yet  there  are  difficulties  about  the 
chronology.  According-  to  the  statement  here  given  by 
the  Tripartite,  which  is  in  all  points  confirmed  by  Tire- 
chan,  an  older  authority,  this  Saint  Attracta,  as  she  is 
now  called,  must  have  been  at  least  some  sixteen  years  of 
age  when  she  received  the  veil  from  St.  Patrick,  most 
probably  about  the  year  437  or  438.  It  is  not  likely, 
tbierefore,  that  she  lived  much  beyond  the  fifth  century; 
yet  her  Life,  as  given  by  Colgan,  represents  the  saint  as 
contemporary  with  Saint  Nathy  and  other  personages,  who 
flourished  in  the  sixth  and  early  part  of  the  seventh 
century.  But  these  stories  cannot  be  accepted  as  authentic, 
or  must  be  referred  to  her  successors  at  Killaraght  rather 
than  to  herself.  The  place  called  the  Maghera  seems  to 
have  been  on  the  south  shore  of  the  lake  which  still  forms 
a  part  of  the  parish  of  Killaraght,  and  contains  an  ancient 
grave-yard  close  to  the  shore,  which  was  probably  the  site 
of  the  nunnery.  There  is  no  saint  of  the  diocese  of 
Achonry  more  celebrated  than  Attracta.  Numerous  old 
churches  and  holy  wells  throughout  the  whole  diocese  still 
bear  her  name,  which  is  also  intimately  associated  with  the 
folk-lore  of  the  district.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
she  was  a  sister  of  St.  Coemhan  of  Airtne,  which  some 
take  to  be  the  most  easterly  of  the  three  islands  of  Aran. 
This  island  was  always  known  as  Ara  Coemhan,  because 
he  was  its  patron  saint,  and  if  we  accept  the  authority  of 
the  Tripartite,  he  was  not  a  brother  of  St.  Kevin  of  Glen- 
dalough,  as  O' Flaherty  says,  but  rather  of  Saint  Attracta 


^  Called  before  Drnmne.  The  learned  Dr.  O'Rorke,  in  his  history  of 
Sligo,  makes  this  place  to  be  Drum,  close  to  Boyle,  on  the  south-east.  But 
the  narrative  shows  it  was  close  to  the  Church  of  Killaraght,  and  th,e  townland 
still  retains  its  ancient  name,  Drummad,  in  the  parish  of  Tibohine. 


AMONGST  THE    GREGRAIDE   OF   LOUGH    GAR  A.         21  5 

of  Loch  Techet.  We  must  assume,  therefore,  that  he  was 
born  in  that  nei^^hbourhood,  and  that  his  father  was  Talan, 
chief  of  the  district  around  the  lake.  His  beautiful  little 
church  in  Inisheer^  still  stands,  and  is  dear  to  the  natives 
of  the  island,  who  often  visit  his  grave,  and  never  fail  to 
invoke  the  powerful  name  of  Coemhan  when  the  tempests 
of  the  wild  west  rage  around  their  little  boats,  and  they 
believe  their  own  beloved  saint  seldom  fails  to  watch  over 
them  and  calm  the  angry  waters. 

Both  Attracta,  then,  and  her  brother  Coemhan  were 
children  of  Talan,  a  chief  of  the  Gregraide  of  Loch  Techet. 
This  tribe  were  descended  from  Cufinn,  otherwise  called 
Aengus  Finn,  a  son  of  the  famous  Fergus  MacRoy.  The 
modern  half  barony  of  Coolavin  (Cuil-o  bh-Finn)  takes  its 
name  from  the  descendants  of  this  ancient  hero,  and  repre- 
sents their  territory  around  Lough  Gara.  As  a  body  they 
might  be  described  as  a  bad  lot  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  he  foretold  that  their  name  and  power  would  disappear 
from  the  land — a  prediction  that  has  been  completely 
fulfilled. 

Patrick  did  not  then  cross  the  lake  to  the  north,  but 
he  went  further  on  towards  Boyle  to  preach  to  the  sons  of 
Ere,  'at  the  place  where  the  nuns  now  live/  says  Tirechan. 
But  the  godless  crew  stole  the  Saint's  horses,  at  the  Ford 
of  the  Sons  of  Erc,^  whereupon  he  cursed  them,  and  said — 
''  Your  offspring  shall  serve  the  offspring  of  your  brethren 
for  ever,"  and  so  it  came  to  pass.  Tirechan  tells  us 
that  these  things  took  place  on  the  southern  shore  of  the 
Boyle  River  at  Eas  Mic  n-Eirc,  now  called  the  Assylin, 
which  was  an  ancient  ford  on  the  Boyle  River,  just  at  the 
point  where  the  railway  now  crosses  it.  The  nunnery  was 
near  the  ford. 

Patrick  did  not  then  cross  the  dark  Curlieu  Hills,  but 
turned  back  again  to  the  south-west  by  Frenchpark  and 
Loughglynn  and  came  into  Magh  Airtig,  which  he  blessed. 
Artagh,  as  it  is  now  called,  still  retains  the  ancient  name, 
and  it  is  said  by  O'Donovan  to  contain  the  parishes  of 
Tibohine  and  Kilnamanagh,^  in  the  north-west  corner  of 


^  O'Flalierty  {J^Vest  Conjiattght,  p.  90.),  says  that  the  genitive  of  Ara  is 
Airtnc  or  Arann  ;  if  this  be  so  the  Tripartite  actually  describes  Coemhau  as  of 
Aran,  that  is  of  Inisheer.     The  islanders  call  him  Cavan. 

'•^  The  nunnery  was  founded  at  a  later  period,  and  the  Ford  was  called 
Assylin.  The  convent  was  close  to  the  Ford,  just  at  the  point  where  the 
railway  now  crosses  the  river.     An  old  churchyard  marks  the  place. 

^  Between  the  River  Lung  and  the  Breedoge.     Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  477. 


2l6  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ROSCOMMON. 

the  County  Roscommon.  It  is  sometimes  called  Ciarraige 
Airtech,  because  this  district  was  inhabited  by  a  tribe  of 
colonists  from  Kerry,  who  had  originally  settled  further 
west,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  It  is  merely  stated  in  the 
Tripartite  that  Patrick  blessed  '  Ailech  Artig^  in  Tclach  na 
cloch,'  but  Tirechan  says  he  returned  (from  Assylin)  to 
Magh  Airtech,  and  he  founded  the  church  of  Senchell-  in 
that  plain  ;  and  then  blessed  the  place  called  Tulach 
Lapidum,  which  is  manifestly  the  same  name  as  Telach  na 
cloch.  It  appears  to  be  the  place  now  called  Tullaghan 
Rock,^  the  last  part  of  which  is  obviously  a  corruption,  and 
is  situated  near  Edmonstown  House,  close  to  Ballagha- 
dereen.  The  ^oldchurch^  in  the  plain,  was,  probably  situated 
in  the  ancient  graveyard,  which  may  still  be  seen  a  little  to 
the  left  of  the  road,  about  a  mile  from  Lung  Bridge,  at  the 
mearing  of  the  county.  This  was  what  is  now  called 
'  Artagh  North.'  Thence  he  went  further  on  towards  the 
south-west,  to  '  Drummat  Ciarraigi,'  now  the  townland  of 
Drummad,  in  the  parish  of  Tibohine,  and  in  the  electoral 
division  of*  Artagh  South,'  which  shows  in  what  a  remark- 
able way  the  ancient  names  have  been  preserved  in  this 
district. 

Here  he  found  two  brothers,  Bibar  and  Lochru,  sons  of 
Tamanchann  of  the  Ciarraige,  fighting  with  swords  about 
their  father's  land  after  his  death.  Patrick,  whilst  yet  an 
acre  away  from  them,^  blessed  their  hands,  doubtless  by 
making  the  sign  of  the  cross,  *  and  their  hands  stiffened 
around  their  sword-hilts,  so  that  they  could  neither  stretch 
them  nor  lower  them.'  Then  Patrick  said — ''  Sit  ye  still," 
and  he  made  peace  between  them.  Then  they  gave  the 
land  to  Patrick  for  the  good  of  their  father's  soul ;  and 
Patrick  founded  a  church  therein,  in  which  he  placed  Conn 
the  artificer,  brother  of  Bishop  Sachell  of  Baslic.  The 
ancient  graveyard,  north  of  Drumlough  Wood,  in  all 
probability  marks  the  site  of  this  Patrician  church,  which 


^  Knox  in  his  Notes  identifies  *  Ailech  Artig '  with  the  place  now  called 
Castlemore.  Ailech  itself  was,  as  its  name  implies,  an  ancient  fort,  that  is  still 
to  be  seen.     The  old  church  founded  by  Patrick  was  within  the  fort. 

2  '  Cella  Senes  '  in  the  text,  which  is  equivalent  to  Senchell,  that  is  '  the 
old  church.' 

^  It  is  not  easy  to  trace  St.  Patrick's  movements  here.  Our  idea  is  that 
he  crossed  by  the  ford  or  togher,  between  Upper  and  Lower  Lough  Gara, 
now  called  the  Cut,  and  came  by  Clogher  to  the  place  now  called  '  Tullaghan 
Rock,'  a  townland  close  to  Edmonstown  House,  where  the  rocky  eminence  is 
still  visible,  and,  hearing  of  the  dispute  between  the  brothers,  he  went  out  to 
Drummad.  .^  Tirechan. 


AMONGST   THE    GREGRAIDE    OF   LOUGH   GARA.         21/ 

was  thus  in  the  very  centre  of  this  extensive  but  barren 
district.  Two  centuries  later  St.  Baithen  built  a  church  in 
the  same  parish,  which  has  given  it  its  present  title  of 
Tibohine ;  but  from  the  account  given  in  his  Life/  as 
sketched  by  Colgan,  we  gather  that  he  was  a  great  grand- 
son of  that  Enda  whom  St.  Patrick  had  baptised  at 
Uisneach,  and  that  he  inherited  this  Patrician  church  in 
Tir  '  Enda '  of  Airtech  as  a  matter  of  spiritual  inheritance 
belonging  to  his  tribe.^ 


^  Feb.  xix 

^  According  lo  the  rules  of  spiritual  inheritance  as  laid  down  in  the  Book  c  t 
Armagh. 


CHAPTER     XL 

ST.    PATRICK    IN    MAYO. 

T. — Patrick  amongst  Ciarraige  of  Mayo. 

Thence  from  '  Ciarraige  Airtech  '  Patrick  went  further  west 
to  *  Ciarraige  Arne,'  where  he  met  Ernaisc  and  his  son, 
Loarnach,  sitting  under  a  tree.  And  Patrick  wrote  an 
alphabet  or  catechism  for  the  youth  Loarnach,  and  he 
remained  with  him — Patrick  and  his  family  of  twelve  men^ 
— for  a  week,  or  more.  And  Patrick  founded  a  church  in 
that  place,  and  made  him  the  abbot  or  superior  thereof, 
and  he  was,  indeed,  a  man  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

This  shows  us  what  we  know  otherwise  must  be  true — 
that  Patrick  spent  a  week,  or  sometimes  a  fortnight,  in  each 
new  district,  preaching,  baptising,  and  building  his  church 
with  the  help  of  the  willing  hands  of  the  people.  On 
Sunday  he  consecrated  it ;  and  when  he  had  no  man  of  his 
own  '  family '  ready  to  place  over  it  he  took  some  other 
likely  youth,  generally  a  son  of  the  chief,  gave  him  a 
catechism,  taught  him  how  to  say  his  psalter,  read  his 
missal  and  his  ritual,  and  then  ordained  him  for  the  service 
of  the  Church.  But  these  boys  were  educated  youths ; 
they  had  well-trained  memories,  for  they  generally  belonged 
to  the  schools  of  the  Bards  or  Brehons,  and  so  in  a  very 
short  time  they  could  be  trained  to  do  the  indispensable 
work  of  the  ministry.  But  we  must  also  assume  that  for 
some  time  they  accompanied  the  Saint  on  his  missionary 
journeys  in  their  own  neighbourhood,  and  when  that  was 
impossible  he  left  one  or  more  of  his  own  *  familia '  to  give 
them  further  instructions  and  moral  guidance. 

VVe  find  reference  in  the  above  passages  to  three 
districts  called  Ciarraige  or  Kerry,  for  the  name  is  the 
same.  This  tribe,  like  their  namesakes  of  the  South, 
derived  their  descent   from  Ciar,  son  of  Fergus   MacRoy 


^  As  Patrick  had  to  camp  out  for  the  most  part,  he  needed  to  have 
several  assistants  with  him.  Their  names  are  given  elsewhere.  They  were  all 
clerics. 


AMONGST   CIARRAIGE   OF   MAYO.  219 

and  of  Meave,  Queen  of  Connaught  It  is  evident  from 
the  Lives  of  St.  Patrick  that  they  were  established  in 
Connaught  before  he  began  to  preach  there,  in  437,  or 
thereabout.  The  territory  which  they  inhabited  to  the 
west  of  Cruachan  is,  perhaps,  the  poorest  and  most  barren 
in  Ireland,  except  one  district,  which  contained  compara- 
tively good  land.  That  is  Ciarraige  of  Magh  Ai,  compre- 
hending the  parish  of  Kilkeevan,  around  Castlerea.^  Their 
patron  saint  in  after  times  was  St.  Caelainn,  a  daughter  of 
their  own  race,  whose  church  and  termon  land  was,  says 
O'Donovan,  about  one  mile  east  of  Castlerea.  The  second 
sub-tribe  of  the  Ciarraige  were  called  the  Ciarraige  of 
Airtech,  in  the  north-west  of  Roscommon,  of  whom  we 
have  just  spoken.  The  third  division  was  the  Ciarraige  of 
Arne,  as  the  Tripartite  calls  them,  that  is  those  who  dwelt 
around  '  Loch  na  n-Arneadh,'  as  the  name  is  given  by 
O'Donovan,^  that  is  the  '  Lake  of  the  Sloe  Bushes.'  It 
is  now  called  Lough  Mannin,  and  is  situated  about  two 
miles  to  the  north  of  Ballyhaunis.  This  is  the  heart  of  that 
wild  territory  of  which  three  quarters,  in  Perrott's  composi- 
tion of  Connaught,  were  taken  to  be  equivalent  to  one 
quarter  elsewhere.  It  was  a  wide  desert,  including  the 
parishes  of  Aghamore,  Knock,  Bekan,  and  Annagh,  de- 
solate, water-logged  and  wholly  undrained,  whose  marshy 
flats  supply  the  head  waters  of  the  Suck,  the  Lung,  and 
many  tributaries  of  the  Moy,  as  well  as  of  several  other 
streams  that  flow  westward  into  Lough  Mask  and  Lough 
Corrib.  That  St.  Patrick  had  the  courage  to  travel  through 
it  in  those  ancient  days,  shows  that  he  was  a  man  to  be 
deterred  by  no  obstacle  in  the  prosecution  of  his  great  task. 
The  church  founded  by  Patrick  in  this  Ciarraige  of  the 
Lake,  over  which  he  placed  Loarnach,^  is,  doubtless,  the 
ancient  church  of  Aghamore,  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
district,  about  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  lake,  that  is. 
Lough  Mannin.     But  Tirechan  adds  that  either  then,  or 


^  It  extended  from  the  Bridge  of  Cloonalis  westward  to  Clooncan,  at  the 
borders  of  Mayo,  and  from  Clooncan  on  the  south  to  Clooncraffield  on  the 
boundary  of  Airtech,  on  the  north. — Book  of  Rights,  103. 

^  This  district  still  bears  its  ancient  name  of  Ciarraige.  It  includes  the 
southern  portion  of  the  barony  of  Costello,  which,  comprising  the  four  parishes 
of  Bekan,  Knock,  Annagh  and  Aghamore,  belongs  to  the  diocese  of 
Tuam.  The  northern  half  of  the  same  barony  (called  Sliabh  Lugha)  is  in  the 
diocese  of  Achonry,  of  which  only  a  small  portion  was  occupied  by  the  '  Kerry- 
men.'     (See  F.  M.,  A.D.  1224.) 

^Tirechan  gives  it  as  '  Locharnach,'  which  seems  to  be  a  name  borrowed 
from  that  of  the  place.     His  father  he  calls  larnaschus. 


220  ST.    PATRICK    IN    MAYO. 

at  a  later  period,  Patrick  left  in  the  same  place,  that  is,  at 
Aghamore,  a  certain  Medbii,  who  in  his  text  appears  to 
be  the  person  described  as  '  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  He 
was  a  deacon  of  Patrick's  family,  and  appears  to  have  after- 
wards studied  at  Armagh,  and  subsequently  founded  a 
church  of  his  at  Imgoe  Mair  Cerrigi,^  wherever  that  was 
— the  text  is  corrupt  and  uncertain.  Aghamore  is  still  a 
large  and  very  populous  parish  in  the  diocese  of  Tuam, 
and  the  modern  Catholic  church  is  only  a  short  distance 
from  the  site  of  the  ancient  church  and  churchyard.^  There 
is  a  tradition  amongst  the  people  that  St.  Patrick  founded 
his  church  close  to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  beside 
the  holy  well  that  still  flows,  as  of  old,  under  the  shadow 
of  an  ancient  white-thorn.  But  the  building  was  bodily 
carried  away  by  the  people  at  a  later  date,  and  rebuilt 
where  its  ruins  still  stand,  near  the  village. 

Thence  Patrick  went  south  by  Ballyhaunis,  it  would 
appear,  and  came  to  Tobur  Mucno,  where  he  erected 
Senchill.  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  it  is  the  well 
now  known  as  Patrick's  Well,  or  Toburpatrick,  about  two 
miles  south  of  Ballyhaunis.  This  marks  the  Apostle's 
route  as  due  south  from  Aghamore ;  and  we  may  fairly 
assume  that  the  '  old  church, '  ^  founded  by  the  Saint,  is 
that  whose  ruins  are  still  to  be  seen,  or  rather  its  site,  a 
little  to  the  west  of  the  well.  It  is  in  the  parish  of  Annagh, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a  part  of  the  Ciarraige 
territory.  We  are  then  told  that  Secundinus  or  Sechnall — 
Patrick's  nephew — was  there  apart  under  a  leafy  elm  ; 
and  '  the  sign  of  the  cross  is  in  that  place  to  this  day.' 
Tirechan  seems  to  imply  that  Sechnall,  who  certainly  accom- 
panied Patrick  in  his  early  missionary  journeys,  built  him- 
self a  cell  or  oratory  under  this  leafy  elm  at  Tobur  Mucno, 
and,  perhaps,  when  leaving,  erected  a  stone  cross  to  be 
a  memorial  of  his  sojourn  there.  The  holy  well  is  there 
still,  but  there  is  no  leafy  elm,  only  one  or  two  eld  white- 
thorns mark  the  site  of  Sechnall's  church. 


1  The  explanation  of  Tiiechan's  text  seems  to  be  that  at  a  later  period  the 
holy  Medbu,  who  came  from  lar  Luachair,  '  in  Kerry,'  when  Patrick  was  in 
this  neighbourhood,  went  to  study  at  Armagh,  under  Patrick,  and  was  ordained 
deacon  by  him,  and  afterwards  came  to  his  relatives  the  Ciarraige  of  Arne, 
and  founded  a  church  there.  Mair  is  probably  put  for  Maige,  that  is  Maige 
Ciarraige. 

2  Some  three  miles  to  the  north-west,  on  the  shores  of  Urlar  Lake,  in  the 
same  desolate  region,  a  Dominican  convent  was  founded  in  1434,  by  the  Cos- 
tello  or  Nangle  family.     It  is  in  the  Diocese  of  Achonry. 

•^  Cellam  Senes  in  Tirechan. 


AMONGST   THE   CONMAICNE.  221 


II. — Patrick  amongst  the  Conmatcne. 

From  this  point  the  missionary  journeys  of  St.  Patrick 
on  the  borders  of  Mayo  and  Galway  are  not  set  forth  with 
clearness.  The  Tripartite  brings  him  at  once  to  the  land 
of  Conmaicne  Cuile  Toladh,  that  is  the  barony  of  Kilmaine  ; 
and  adds  that  '  he  founded  four-cornered  churches  in  that 
place,  one  of  which  is  Ard  Uiscon,  etc' 

Tirechan,  however,  has  an  interesting  paragraph,  though 
the  readings  are  somewhat  uncertain,  which  says  that 
Patrick,  leaving  Secundinus  atToburMuckna,  fared  through 

*  the  desert  of  the  Hy  Enda,'  as  we  take  it ;  and  therein  he 
left  the  holy  Lomman.     He  then  adds  that  after  many  days 

*  Senmeda,  a  daughter  of  Enda,  son  of  Brian,  came  to  see 
Patrick  there,  and  received  from  his  hand  the  pallium  or 
nun's  cloak.'  Moreover,  in  token  of  her  utter  renunciation 
of  the  world,  the  blessed  maiden  gave  up  to  Patrick  all  her 
necklaces  and  bracelets,  also  her  ornamental  sandals  and 
armlets,  '  such  as  the  Scotic  maidens  wear,  which  are  called 
in  their  language  their  ajvs,^  or  ornaments. 

As  this  royal  maiden  was  a  daughter  of  Enda  of  the 
Hy  Briuin  race,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  territory 
called  the  '  desert  of  the  Hy  Enda,'  or  Tir  Enda,  was  the 
present  parish  of  Kiltullagh,  which  never  formed  any  part 
of  the  Ciarraige  territory,  and,  as  a  fact,  still  belongs  for 
that  reason  to  the  Co.  Roscommon.  Lomman's  church 
was,  no  doubt,  the  old  church  of  Kiltullagh,  and  most 
probably  it  was  there  the  blessed  maiden  Senmeda  received 
the  veil  from  Patrick.  As  it  would  not  be  possible  to  cross 
over  Slieve  Dart,  Patrick,  it  would  appear,  passed  from 
Kiltullagh,  by  Clogher,  to  the  old  church  of  Kiltivna,  or 
rather  to  the  place  where  it  once  stood,  and  near  it  was  a 
blessed  well  now  dry.  The  local  traditions  still  tell  of  the 
Saint's  prayers  at  this  old  church,  and  of  his  journey  through 
this  district.  As  Conmaicne  Duine  Moir  (Dunmore)  was 
always  a  fertile  territory,  and  the  residence  of  the  ancient 
chiefs,  Patrick,  no  doubt,  visited  the  place  and  probably 
founded  a  church  there;  and  such  is  the  local  tradition 
of  the  people.  From  this  point  he  went  south-west 
to  Kilbannon,  near  Tuam,  where  he  left  his  disciple, 
Benen,  of  the  Hy  Ailell,  brother  of  Cethech — not  Benen  of 
Meath,  but  of  Tirerrill.  The  two  are  carefully  distinguished 
by  the  Tripartite.  The  imprint  of  Patrick's  knees,  where 
he  prayed,  is  still  shown  at  Kilbannon,  and  the  remnant  of 


222  ST.    PATRICK   IN    MAYO. 

a  slender  round  tower  marks  the  ancient  celebrity  of  the 
place.  Benen  is  described  by  Tirechan  as  son  of  Lugni, 
a  scribe,  a  priest  and  an  anchorite.  His  mother  was 
daughter  of  Lugaith  Mac  Netach.  She  was  of  the  Conmaicne, 
and  her  family,  who  dwelt  near  Kilbannon,  gave  young 
Benen  a  farm  on  which  he  founded  his  church,  dedicated 
to  God  and  (afterwards)  to  St.  Patrick.  Patrick  himself, 
we  are  told,  marked  out  the  site  of  Kilbannon,  and  blessed 
the  place  with  his  crozier ;  and  he  was  the  first  to  offer 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  there,  after  he  ordained 
Benen,  and  he  blessed  Benen,  and  left  him  there  in  his 
place.  It  is  not  improbable  that  Benen  afterwards  retired 
to  Aranmore,  where  he  founded  the  beautiful  little  church 
that  still  bears  his  name,  for  Tirechan  describes  him  as  an 
anchorite,  which  implies  retirement  from  the  world.  Tuam 
was  not  yet  founded  by  St.  Jarlath,  who  was  a  disciple  of 
Benen  at  Kilbannon,  if  not  of  Patrick  himself 

The  Saint  did  not  cross  the  Clare  River  here,  but  passed 
by  Sylane  and  the  old  church  of  Killower  south-westward 
to  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Seolai,  which  was  even  then  the  royal 
seat  of  the  ancestors  of  the  O'Flahertys.  Killower  itself 
takes  its  name — the  Church  of  the  Book — from  a  book 
which  Patrick  left  there,  or  forgot  there,  and  which  after- 
wards became  the  cherished  treasure  of  that  church. 

From  Killower  Patrick  passed,  in  our  opinion,  to  the 
territory  of  Magh  Seolai,  and  there  founded,  near  the 
chieftain^s  dun,  the  church  of  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Seolai, 
now  called  Donaghpatrick,  near  Headford. 

We  have  no  written  evidence  that  Patrick,  on  this 
missionary  journey,  went  further  south  through  Galway 
into  the  Hy  Maine  territory.  There  is,  indeed,  a  '  Patrick's 
Well '  between  Aughrim  and  Kilconnell,  and  another  is 
marked  some  miles  further  west  near  Bullaun.  Colgan, 
too,  thought  that  the  old  church  of  Kilricle,  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood, took  its  name  from  St.  Richell,  a  sister  of  St. 
Patrick,  but  the  evidence  is  vague  and  unsatisfactory.  We 
can,  however,  clearly  trace  the  Saint  from  Ballyhaunis,  by 
Kiltullagh,  Kiltivna,  Dunmore,  Kilbannon,  and  Killower, 
to  Donaghpatrick — and  that  was,  in  our  opinion,  the  road 
he  followed  on  this  missionary  journey.  We  find  traces 
of  the  Saint  in  living  traditions  all  along  this  way,  which 
strongly  confirm  the  meagre  references  of  the  written 
records  in  the  Tripartite  and  Book  of  Armagh. 

In  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Seolai,  better  known  as  Donagh- 
patrick, to  which  we  have  traced  the  Saint,  he  placed  his 


AMONGST  THE   CONMAICNE.  223 

disciple,  Bishop  Felartus,  for  whom  Assicus  of  Elphin 
made  one  of  his  quadrangular  patens,  described  in  the 
Life  of  that  saint.  At  that  time  close  at  hand  was  the 
royal  residence  of  the  princes  of  the  Hy  Briuin  race,  who 
were  ancestors  of  the  O'Flahertys.  In  after  times  it 
became  the  stronghold  of  that  tribe,  whose  chief  dun  was 
situated  in  an  island  of  the  lake,  now  called  Lough  Hackett, 
near  the  old  church. 

It  is  expressly  stated  that  Patrick  founded  several 
churches  in  this  neighbourhood,  but  not  within  that 
territory.  Tirechan  says  that  Patrick  fared  (from  Donagh- 
patrick)  to  the  territory  of  the  *  Conmaicne  hi  Cuil  Tolat ' 
— that  is  to  say,  into  the  modern  barony  of  Kilmaine,  in 
the  Co.  Mayo.  To  do  so,  his  natural  course  would  be  to 
cross  the  Black  River  at  the  fords  of  Shruel,  where  '  the 
Bloody  Bridge  '  was  afterwards  erected.  It  was  a  famous 
and  historic  pass  from  Galway  into  Mayo,  and  we  may 
assume  it  as  fairly  certain  that  Patrick  crossed  over  it. 

There  is  some  reason  to  think  that  he  founded  a 
church  north  of  the  ford  in  Sruthair,  which  was  the 
ancient  name  of  the  village  on  the  Mayo  side  of  the  ford, 
now  corrupted  into  Shruel,^  and  it  is  set  down  as  a  Patrician 
Church  in  some  of  the  old  records.  About  three  miles 
north  of  Shruel  was  Kilmaine  Beg,  which  is,  beyond  doubt, 
the  *  Cellolam  Mediam,'  or  Middle  Little  Church  between 
Shruel  and  Kilmaine  Mor,  in  which  Patrick  left  the  sisters 
of  Bishop  Felartus,  of  the  Hy  Aillel  race.  Felartus  was 
Bishop  of  Donaghpatrick,  so  it  was  quite  natural  that 
Patrick  would  leave  his  sisters  near  him,  yet  not  with  him, 
in  Kilmaine  Beg. 

Some  three  miles  further  north  was  Kilmaine  Mor, 
which  was  always  regarded  as  a  Patrician  Church,  and 
was  certainly  a  larger  and  more  richly  endowed  establish- 
ment than  the  Nuns'  church  at  Kilmaine  Beg.  We  are 
inclined  to  think,  however,  that  Kilmaine  Mor  was  not 
itself  Patrician,  but  of  a  later  date,  and  that  the  real 
Patrician  church  in  this  district  was  the  ancient  church  of 
Cuil  Corre,  now  known  as  Kilquire,  in  which  we  are  told 
Patrick  baptised  many  persons.  It  is  not  more  than  a 
mile  north  of  Kilmaine,  on  the  road  to  Hollymount,  and 
was  undoubtedly  founded,  like  Kilmaine  Beg,  by  St.  Patrick.^ 


^  The  half  obliterated  word  air^  in  Tirechan,  where   Patrick  founded  a 
church,  seems  to  be  the  latter  part  of  the  old  word  Sruthair. 
^  Cuile  Corre  is  expressly  mentioned  in  the  Tripat'tite. 


2  24  ST.   PATRICK   IN    MAYO. 

The  old  church  has  disappeared,  but  the  graveyard  is  there 
still,  not  far  from  the  noble  Anglo-Norman  Castle  of  Kilter- 
nan,  close  to  which  is  a  Tobur  Patrick,  which  indicates  the 
presence  of  the  Saint  in  the  place,  and  where,  doubtless, 
he  baptised  his  converts.  No  fairer  or  more  fertile  fields 
of  richest  green  can  be  found  in  all  the  West  than  those 
around  Kilternan  Castle  and  Kilquire  Church  ;  but  the 
men  who  dwelt  there  of  old  are  all  gone — only  sheep  and 
bullocks  now  depasture  those  most  fertile  fields  of  Mayo. 
So  it  is  as  we  write,  but  that  unnatural  state  of  things  is, 
thank  God,  rapidly  passing  away. 

Tradition,  rather  than  history,  brings  Patrick  from 
Kilmaine,  far  west,  into  the  Mountains  of  Connemara. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  he  founded  a  church  at  the  place 
now  called  Cross,  near  Cong,  and  then  faring  westward 
between  the  Two  Great  Lakes,  he  preached  the  gospel  to 
the  rude  natives  until  he  came  to  the  wild  gap  in  the  hills 
beyond  Maam,  where  Patrick's  Bed  and  Patrick's  Well  may 
still  be  seen.  Farther  progress  through  the  Twelve  Bens 
was  then  impossible,  and,  even  at  the  present  day,  the 
traveller  who  ventures  to  follow  Patrick  on  foot  into  the 
wilds  of  Ross  will  find  his  task  a  difficult  one.  He  blessed 
the  wild  hills  to  the  west,  and  the  wilder  people  who  dwelt 
amongst  them  ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  St.  Fechin  and 
others,  two  centuries  later,  to  bring  them  to  the  faith. 

Patrick  must  have  then  returned  by  Cong  to  Kilmaine, 
or  Kilquire,  and  continued  his  missionary  progress  north- 
wards through  the  plains  east  of  Lough  Mask.  The  terri- 
tory south  of  the  River  Robe,  that  is  the  country  of  the 
Conmaicne  Cuile  Toladh,  was  then,  as  now,  a  fertile  and 
prosperous  land,  of  which  the  modern  town  of  Ballinrobe 
may  be  regarded  as  the  capital. 

We  have  thus  brought  Patrick  to  Kilquire,  but  there- 
after his  progress  northward  is  not  so  clearly  ascertained. 

in. — Patrick  in  Carra. 

Patrick,  at  Kilquire,  a  mile  north  of  Kilmaine,  saw  a 
fertile  and  populous  country  before  him,  stretching  away 
towards  the  north.  We  are  only  told,  however,  that  the 
Saint  went  into  Magh  Foimsen,  which  has  not  been  exactly 
identified,  but  which  we  take  to  be  the  plain  east  of 
Ballinrobe,  yet  south  of  the  River  Robe,-  towards  Holly- 

^  In  ancient  times  the  territory  of  Cera,  or  Carra,  extended  from  the  River 
Robe  northwards  to  a  line  drawn  from  Aghagower  to  Ballyglass.     Aghagower 


IN   CARRA.  225 

mount.  There  he  found  two  brothers — Conlaid  and 
Derclaid,  sons  of  Coiliud.  In  the  Tripartite  they  are 
called,  perhaps,  more  correctly,  Luchtaand  Der<^lam.  The 
latter  sent  his  servant  to  slay  the  intruding  priest,  Patrick, 
but  Luchta,  not  without  difficulty,  restrained  them  from 
attempting  to  commit  such  a  crime  ;  whereupon  Patrick 
said  to  Luchta,  *  There  will  be  priests  and  bishops  of  thy 
race.  Accursed,  however,  will  be  the  seed  of  thy  brother, 
and  his  offspring  will  be  few.'  ^  One  of  the  standing  blessings 
promised  by  Patrick  to  those  who  favoured  the  Gospel  was 
nobility  of  clerics  and  of  laics  from  their  seed  ;  the  '  curse  ' 
on  its  opponents  was  to  have  neither  temporal  nor  spiritual 
rulers  of  their  race — an  appropriate  reward  and  just  penalt}'. 
Magh  Foimsen  appears  to  have  been  a  sub-division  of 
Magh  Carra  ;  if  so,  the  chiefs  even  then  were  of  the  race 
of  Fiachra,  son  of  Eochy  Moyvane,  and  brother  of  the 
renowned  King  Dathi.  His  eldest  son,  Earc  Culbhuide — 
of  the  golden  hair — inherited  Carra  '  of  the  beautiful  fruit,' 
a  fair  and  fertile  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  The 
sweet  district  of  Magh  na  Beithighe — Plain  of  the  Birch 
Trees — is  fondly  described  as  '  a  terrestrial  fairy  palace,' 
where  all  delights  abounded.  He  left  in  that  place  Priest 
Conan,  of  whom  we  know  nothing  else.  The  name  is  Irish 
so  he  was  probably  a  native  of  the  district  whom  Patrick 
had  instructed  in  the  usual  way.  His  church  was  probably 
near  Tobur  Lughna,  in  the  parish  of  Robeen.  This  llughnat^ 
of  Lough  Mask,  from  whom  the  well  gets  its  name,  is  said 
to  have  been  a  nephew  of  St.  Patrick,  and,  doubtless, 
accompanied  his  uncle  on  this  missionary  journey.  He 
loved  this  beautiful  land  of  the  lakes  '  where  the  hazel 
waved  its  hundred  tendrils,'  and  took  up  his  abode  there, 
and  made  it  the  place  of  his  resurrection.  But,  late  in 
life,  he  probably  retired  to  that  island  in  Lough  Corrib, 
where  his  gravestone  still  stands. 


itself  was  west  of  it,  in  the  '  Owles.'  See  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  150.  But,  in  a 
wider  sense,  Carra  included  the  territory  of  Clan  Cuan,  around  Castlebar,  and 
thence  northward  to  the  lakes,  and  some  think  it  also  included  that  Magh 
Carha  in  which  Kilmaine  itself  is  located  by  the  Tripartite.  In  that  case 
Magh  Carha,  in  its  widest  sense,  would  extend  from  the  Black  River  to  the 
Pontoon  Bridge,  on  Lough  CuUin.  We  cannot  agree  with  Mr.  H.  T.  Knox  that 
this  Magh  Foimsen  was  about  Kiltamagh.  We  think  it  was  about  Lough 
Carra. 

^  See  Hy  Fiachrach,  190, 

^  See  Hy  Fiachrach,  201.  Lughnat  is  said  to  have  been  hiniaire  or  pilot 
to  St.  Patrick,  and  his  services  would  be  needed  here  to  ferry  the  saint  over 
the  lakes  of  Carta. 

Q 


226  ST.    PATRICK    IN    MAYO. 

Northward  .still  went  Patrick,  between  the  lakes  to 
Tobur  Stringle,  '  in  the  wilderness.'  ^  This  is  the  place 
now  called  the  Triangle,  a  corruption  of  the  ancient  name. 
It  seems  Patrick  encamped  there  over  two  Sundays,  bap- 
tising and  instructing  the  people.  But  it  is  not  stated  that 
he  erected  a  church  at  Tobur  Stringle,  either  because  it 
was  a  wilderness,  or  he  could  not  procure  a  suitable  site. 
From  Tobur  Stringle  he  went  to  visit  a  place  further  north 
called  P^aithin.^  It  was  the  northern  boundary  of  Carra, 
which  extended  from  the  River  '  Roba  to  Raithin  ; '  and 
the  name  is  still  retained  in  that  of  Raheen  Barr,  a  town- 
land  about  two  miles  south-west  of  Castlebar.  The 
railway  runs  close  to  the  lake,  which  formed  the  boundary 
at  this  point. 

IV. — Patrick  at  Aghagower. 

Returning  from  Raithin  to  vStringle  Well,  Patrick  left 
Magh  Carra,  and  went  further  westward  to  the  boundary 
of  Umall,  at  Achad  Fobair.  This  place  is  now  called 
Aghagower,  a  misleading  corruption  of  the  ancient  name. 
It  was  a  bishopric  in  ancient  times,  and  is  still  an  important 
parochial  Church  in  the  dioce.se  of  Tuam.  Here  Patrick 
founded  a  church,  over  which  he  placed  Senach,  whom  he 
consecrated  a  bishop,  apparently  in  the  same  place.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  meekness  and  piety,  wherefore  Patrick 


^  We  have,  after  some  searching,  found  out  the  Well  of  Stringle  '  in  the 
desert.'  There  is  one  of  the  touches  tliat  .show  the  wonderful  accuracy  of  the 
Tripartite.  The  coarse  '  desert  land  '  is  there  still,  reclaimed  on  one  side  of 
the  well,  but  still  covered  with  the  wild  heather  on  the  other  side.  It  is  a 
beautiful  spring  well  issuing  from  the  rocks  beneath  an  ancient  whitethorn. 
The  people  around  have  a  vivid  tradition  of  Patrick's  visit  to  the  place,  of  his 
blessing  the  well,  and  baptising  the  people  in  it.  The  modern  Triangle  is  at 
some  distance,  where  three  roads  meet,  but  the  old  road,  of  which  traces  still 
remain,  passed  close  to  Patrick's  'Tobur  Stringle  in  the  desert.' 

Near  the  chapel  of  Killavalla  there  was  an  old  road  called  Togher  Patrick, 
which,  we  think,  marks  Patrick's  road  from  Partrj'  to  the  *  Triangle,'  that  is 
Tobur  Stringle.  In  our  opinion  Patiick  did  not  then  visit  Ballintober,  but  at 
a  later  period,  when  he  came  from  Croaghpatrick,  as  the  Tripartite  implies. 
Hence  we  cannot  agree  with  Mr.  H.  T.  Knox  that  Tobur  Stringle  is  the 
well  at  Ballintober. 

2  The  ancient  Raithin  was  the  district  around  Islandeady  Lake,  west  of 
Castlebar.  There  is  a  mediceval  church,  surrounded  by  a  large  churchyard,  in  a 
promontory  running  northward  into  the  lake.  But  this  was  not  the  Patrician 
church.  Its  foundations  can  still  be  traced  in  the  large  promontory  further 
east,  which  afforded  an  admirable  site  for  the  church,  almost  surrounded  by 
the  lake,  which  is  full  of  fish,  and  very  finely  situated,  from  a  scenic  point  of 
view.  The  old  church  was  between  Islandeady  Lake  and  the  southern  angle 
of  what  is  now  called  the  Castlebar  Lake,  somewhat  nearer  to  the  latter-  It  is 
marked  on  the  Inch  Ordnance  Map. 


AT   AGHAGOWER.  22; 

called  him  '  Agnus  Dei.'  His  humility,  too,  was  very 
striking,  for  we  are  told  that  he  made  three  requests  of 
Patrick — first,  that  through  Patrick's  prayers  he  might  not 
sin  after  ordination,  that  the  place  might  not  take  its  name 
from  him — and  his  prayer  has  been  heard  in  this  respect — 
and,  thirdly,  that  what  might  be  wanting  to  his  (full)  age 
when  called  away  by  God,  might  be  added  to  the  age  of 
his  son  Oengus. 

Oengus,  too,  was  a  saint,  and  Patrick  wrote  an  alphabet, 
or  catechism,  for  the  youth,  that  he  might  be  trained  for 
the  priesthood.  His  sister  too,  Mathona  by  name,  became 
a  nun,  and  received  the  cloak  and  veil  from  Patrick  him- 
self; who  likewise  founded  a  church  for  her  and  her  nuns, 
the  ruins  of  which  still  remain  a  hundred  paces  to  the 
north  of  the  ancient  church  of  Aghagower.  Patrick  also, 
edified  no  doubt  by  the  sight  of  so  much  holiness  and 
self-denial  in  one  family,  prophesied  that  many  good 
bishops  would  arise  in  that  church,  and  that  their  spiritual 
offspring  would  be  blessed  for  ever  and  ever. 

Patrick  himself  dearly  loved  Aghagower, — its  swelling 
fields  of  green,  its  streams,  and  wells,^  with  its  walks  for 
silent  prayer  ;  and  he  meditated  making  it  his  own  spiritual 
city  : — 

*  I  would  choose 
To  remain  here  on  a  little  land, 
After  faring  around  churches  and  waters 
Since  I  am  weary,  I  wish  not  to  go  further.* 

But  the  Angel  said  to  him : — 

'  Thou  shalt  have  everything  round  which  thou  shalt  go, 
Every  land, 

Both  mountains  and  churches, 
Both  glens  and  woods, 
After  faring  around  churches  and  waters 
Though  thou  art  weary,  still  thou  shalt  go  on  further.' 

Patrick  at  this  time  had  spent  about  eight  years  in 
Ireland.  So  that  he  must  have,  according  to  the  common 
chronology,  been  then  very  near  seventy  years  of  age — 
the  span  of  life  assigned  to  man  by  the  Psalmist.  His  life 
hitherto  had  been  laborious  and  eventful  beyond  that  of 
most  men.  No  wonder  he  was  weary — climbing  hills,  wading 
through  waters,  camping  out  by  night,  building  churches, 
blessing,  preaching,  baptising  from  farthest  Antrim  to  the 
western  sea. 

^  The  name  Achad-Fobair  means  the  Field  of  ihe  Spring. 


228  ST.    PATRICK    IN    MAYO. 

But  there  was  to  be  no  rest  for  him  yet,  even  half  his 
work  was  not  yet  done.  Such  was  God's  high  will  ;  and 
once  more  Patrick  girt  his  loins  for  his  great  task.  Truly 
his  life  is  a  noble  lesson  of  patient  untiring  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  God,  which  should  inspire  the  prelates  of  Erin  for 
all  time. 

So  he  left  Aghagower  for  a  while — and  he  left  there 
also,  as  the  neighbours  say,  two  small  trout  in  the  stream 
that  still  flows  by  the  road  side  in  front  of  the  church. 
"  Angels  will  keep  them  in  it,"  he  said,  "  for  ever."  Patrick 
had  a  great  love  of  nature,  and  doubtless  saw  the  trout  in 
the  stream,  and  watched  them  with  loving  interest — so 
when  leaving  he  forbade  them  to  be  disturbed.  He  bles.sed 
the  wells,  and  he  blessed  the  stream  with  its  fish  ;  and 
men  fondly  think  it  is  the  same  little  fish  that  are  still 
there.  The  wells  are  often  dry  in  summer,  or  nearly  so,^ 
but  the  stream  flows  for  ever ;  and  let  us  hope  will  never 
want  a  trout  to  remind  us  of  Blessed  Patrick's  tender  love 
for  all  God's  creation,^  both  great  and  small. 

We  are  also  told  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  that  this  church 
of  Achad  Fobair  received  the  Mass  of  Patrick  ^  This 
statement  probably  refers  to  a  later  period,  when  consider- 
able divergence  had  grown  up  in  the  liturgies  used  in  the 
Irish  monasteries.  The  neighbouring  Anglo-Saxon  monk* 
of  Mayo  may  have  introduced  from  lona  or  Lindisfarne  a 
*  Mass '  different  from  the  ancient  Patrician  liturgy ;  and 
this  statement  might  be  intended  to  indicate  that  the 
clergy  of  Aghagower  were  faithful  to  the  traditions  of  their 
founder,  and  adhered  to  the  '  Mass '  introduced  by  St. 
Patrick.* 


1  So  we  were  told  on  the  spot  of  the  well  under  the  great  tree  near  the 
ancient  church. 

2  The  tX^^^  <^^  fis^»  ^^^^  ^  sacred  symbol,  because  its  letters  are  the  initials 
of  the  Greek  words  corresponding  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  our 
Saviour. 

^  Ipsa  est  (ecclesia)  Achad  Fobuir,  et  missam  Patricii  acceperunt  (p.  322, 
Rolls  TriJ>.). 

^  It  was  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  that  these  variations  of  the 
Galilean  liturgy  became  common  both  in  Gaul  and  Britain,  before  the  Roman 
use  was  adopted  in  these  countries.  See  Duchesne's  Christian  Worship,  p.  96. 


CHAPTER     XII. 
ST.    PATRICK    ON    THE    CRUACHAN    AIGLE. 

I. — The  Saint's  Fast. 

From  Aghagower  Patrick  went  to  Cruachan  Aigle.^  The 
beautiful  cone  of  this  hill,  since  called  Croaghpatrick,  rises 
just  over  the  low  hills  surrounding  Aghagower  on  the  west  ; 
and  it  appears  so  near,  so  striking,  so  attractive,  that  the 
heaven-aspiring  soul  of  Patrick  must  have  longed  with  an 
ardent  longing  to  reach  its  summit.  He  would  there  be 
farther  from  men,  he  would  be  nearer  to  God,  and  he  could 
see  from  that  lone  summit  by  land  and  sea  all  the  western 
country  he  had  already  won  or  was  still  to  win  for  Christ. 
It  was  like  Mount  Sinai,  on  which  Moses  saw  God  face  to 
face ;  there  he  would  fast  and  pray  for  Erin,  and  strive 
with  God  for  the  land  that  *  He  had  given  him  at  the  end 
of  the  world/  so  that  neither  men  nor  demons  should  ever 
wrest  it  from  His  sway.  No  one  who  reads  the  Confession 
of  St.  Patrick  will  deny  that  he  was,  like  St.  Paul,  a  man 
of  burning  zeal  and  of  high  enthusiasm  in  the  service  of 
God ;  and  such  a  man  could  hardly  see  Croaghpatrick  near 
him  without  longing  to  ascend  it,  for  the  lone  grandeur  of 
its  soaring  peak  has  a  strange  fascination  for  the  beholder, 
and  attracts  the  eye  from  every  point  of  view. 

Tirechan's  narrative  is  brief  and  simple.  The  Apostle 
went  there  on  Shrove  Saturday,  that  is  the  Saturday  before 
Ash  Wednesday,  and  his  purpose  was  to  fast  the  forty  days 
of  Lent,  thus  following  the  example  of  Moses,  of  Elias, 
and  of  Christ  himself.  He  buried  his  coachman  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  near  the  sea  where  he  died  ;  '^  and 
then  he  went  to  the  summit  himself  and  remained  there 
forty  days  and  forty  nights.     The  birds  were  a  trouble  to 

1  Ad  montem  Egli. — Book  of  Armas^h.  The  plain  at  its  foot  between  the 
mountain  and  the  sea  was  called  Muirisc,  and  took  its  name  from  a  Muirisc, 
daughter  of  Liogan,  who  dwelt  there.  In  after  times  a  famous  Augustinian 
monastery  was  founded  in  the  same  place,  and  still  bears  the  name — the  Abbey 
of  Murrisk. 

2  Totmael  was  his  name ;  over  the  grave  they  raised,  in  Irish  fashion,  a 
great  cam  of  stones,  and  Patrick  said  :  '  So  let  him  remain  for  ever  until  he 
will  be  visited  by  me  in  the  last  days ' — no  doubt  to  give  a  new  life  to  the 
ashes  of  the  dead. 


230      ST.  PATRICK  ON  THE  CRUACHAN  AIGLE. 

him ;  and  he  could  not  see  the  face  of  the  heavens,  the 
earth,  or  the  sea  (on  account  of  them) ;  '  for  God  told  all 
the  saints  of  Erin,  past,  present,  and  future,  to  come  to 
the  mountain  summit — that  mountain  which  overlooks  all 
others  and  is  higher  than  all  the  mountains  of  the  West — 
to  bless  the  tribes  of  Erin,  so  that  Patrick  might  see  (by 
anticipation)  the  fruit  of  his  labours,  for  all  the  choir  of 
the  saints  of  Erin  came  to  visit  him  there,  who  was  the 
father  of  them  all.' 

The  idea  here  clearly  is  that  the  flocks  of  white  birds 
which  disturbed  the  repose  of  Patrick  really  represented 
the  choirs  of  Erin's  saints  who  were  come  to  meet  their  com- 
mon father,  and  join  him  in  blessing  all  the  tribes  of  Erin. 

But  the  Tripartite  enlarges  greatly  on  this  simple 
narrative  in  a  fashion  that  suggests  the  perfervid  imagina- 
tion of  the  Scotic  Chronicler.  Still,  as  it  is  a  very  ancient 
narrative,  and  has  laid  hold  of  the  minds  of  the  western 
people  for  many  ages,  we  shall  give  it  here  in  full,  but  at 
the  same  time  as  briefly  as  possible  : — 

Patrick  then  went  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  not  only  to 
fast,  but  above  all  to  pray  for  the  people  of  Ireland,  and  he  was 
resolved  to  do  violence  to  heaven  until  his  petitions  were  granted. 
The  Angel  then  came  to  him  to  tell  him  that  God  was  disposed 
to  grant  his  petitions,  although  he  was  '  excessive  and  obstinate ' 
in  urging  them,  and  the  requests  were  also  great  in  themselves. 
'  Is  that  His  will  1 '  said  Patrick.  '  It  is,'  said  the  Angol.  '  Well, 
then,'  said  Patrick,  '  I  will  urge  them ;  and  I  will  not  go  from  this 
Rick  till  I  am  dead,  or  till  all  the  petitions  are  granted  to  me ; 
and  so  he  abode  on  the  mountain  in  much  disquietude  without 
food,  without  drink,  from  Shrove  Saturday  until  Easter  Saturday, 
after  the  manner  of  Moses,  son  of  Amra  ;  for  they  were  alike  in 
many  things,  but  especially  in  this  that  God  spoke  to  both  out  of 
the  fire,  that  the  age  of  both  was  at  their  death  120  years,  and 
that  the  burial  place  of  both  is  unknown. 

But  meanwhile  Patrick  was  by  his  prayers  and  fasting 
doing  violence  to  heaven,  and  he  was  greatly  tormented. 
For  towards  the  close  of  his  term  of  forty  days  and  nights 
the  mountain  was  filled  with  black  birds, ^  so  that  he  knew 
not — that  is,  could  neither  see  heaven  nor  earth.  He  sang 
maledictive  psalms  against  them  ;  but  still  they  held  on. 

^  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  Tirechan's  account  the  birds  seem  to  be  the 
Spirits  of  Erin's  Saints  come  to  visit  Patrick  and  bless  the  land  with  him  ; 
but  the  Tripartite  makes  these  black  birds  to  be  demons  come  to  tempt  and 
torment  the  Saint,  whilst  the  white  angelic  birds  come  afterwards  to  comfort 
and  console  him. 


THE    SAINTS    FAST.  2^1 

Then  he  ^rew  wrathful  against  them,  and  rang  his  bell 
against  them,  '  so  that  all  the  men  of  Erin  heard  its  voice  ; ' 
and,  as  the  birds  still  kept  flying  around  him,  he  flung  the 
holy  bell  at  them,  whereby  a  piece  was  broken  out  of  it, 
whence  it  was  called  Bernan   Brigte  or   Brigid's  gapling, 
because   it   seems   Brigid  had  given   the  bell  to  Patrick. 
Then   Patrick's   heart   was   filled  with  grief,  the  tears  in 
streams  flowed  down  his  cheeks,  and  even  his  chasuble  was 
wet  with  them.  At  length  the  demon  birds  disappeared;  and 
no  demon  for  seven  years,  seven  months,  seven  days,  and 
seven  nights  afterwards  came  to  torment  the  land  of  Erin. 
Now  when  the  demon  birds  were  gone  an  angel  came 
to  console  Patrick,  and  the  angel   cleansed  his  chasuble 
from  the  tear  stains    and  brought  beautiful  white   birds 
around  the  Rick,  which  sang  sweet  melodies  to  comfort 
the    afflicted    Saint.      The    angel,    too,    announced    the 
granting    of  the  first  petition.     "  Thou    shalt   bring,"    he 
said,  *'  an    equal   number  of  souls — equal   to  the   birds — 
out  of  pain,  yea,  as  many  as  can  fill  all  the  space  sea-ward 
before  your  eyes."     "  That  is  not  much   of  a  boon,"  said 
Patrick,   "  for  mine  eyes  cannot   reach  far  over  the  sea.'' 
''Then  thou  shalt  have  as  many  as  will  fill  both  sea  and 
land,''   said  the  angel — but  Patrick,  recalling  his  sorrows 
and  the  crowds  of  demons  that  had  surrounded  him,  said 
— "  Is  there  anything  more  that  He  granteth  me"  ?    "  Yes," 
said    the   angel,    ''  seven    persons    on    every  Saturday  till 
Doomsday  shall  be  taken   out  of  hell — that  is,  torment — 
by  your  prayers."     "  Let  twelve  be  given  me,"  said  Patrick. 
"  You  shall  have  them,"  said  the  angel ;  "  so  now  get  thee 
gone  from  the  Rick."     "  I  will  not  go,"  said  Patrick,  "  since 
I  have  been  tormented,  till  I  am  blessed"  (by  having  my 
petitions  granted).     Then  said  the  angel  "  thou  shalt  have 
seven  on  Thursday  and  twelve  on  Saturday,  so  get  thee 
gone   now.''     "  No,"  said  Patrick,    ''  I   must  have   more." 
Then  said  the  angel,  "a  great  sea  shall  overwhelm  Ire- 
land seven  years  before  the  day  of  judgment" — so  that 
they    will    not  be  tormented    in    Erin    by    the    signs   and 
wonders  of  that  day — "  Now  get  thee  gone."     "  No,"  said 
Patrick,  ''  I  must  still  be  blessed. '^     Then   said  the  angel, 
"  Is  there    aught    else   you    would    have?"     "Yes,"  said 
Patrick,  ''that  the  Saxons^  shall  never  hold    Ireland   by 
consent  or  force  so   long  as  I  dwell  in  heaven."     "  Thou 

^  This  was  written  long  before  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  reference  ap- 
pears to  be  to  the  pagan  Saxons,  who  were  concjuering  Great  Britain,  and  who, 
it  was  feared,  might  also  conque/  Ireland. 


232      ST.  PATRICK  ON  THE  CRUACHAN  AIGLE. 

shalt  have  this,  too,"  said  the  angel,  "  so  now  get  thee  gone." 
"  Not  yet,"  said  Patrick.  "  Is  there  aught  else  granted 
to  me?"  "Yes,"  said  the  angel,  "every  one  who  shall 
sing  thy  hymn  (that  is  the  Latin  hymn  by  Sechnall)  from 
one  watch  to  the  other  shall  not  have  pain  or  torture," 
"  The  hymn  is  long  and  difficult,"  said  Patrick.  "  Then 
every  one  who  shall  sing  it  from  '  Christus  ilium. '  to  the 
end,  that  is,  the  last  four  stanzas,  and  every  one  who  shall 
give  aught  in  thy  name,  and  every  one  who  shall  do 
penance  in  Erin,  his  soul  shall  not  go  to  hell  ;  so  now  get 
thee  gone  from  the  Rick."  One  would  think  that  this  was 
giving  much  indeed  ;  but  Patrick  was  not  yet  content.  "  Is 
there  aught  else  I  am  to  get?"  said  he.  "Yes/'  said  the 
angel,  '*  a  man  for  every  hair  on  thy  chasuble  thou  shalt 
bring  out  of  pains  on  Doomsday."  *'  Why,  any  saint  will 
get  that  number,"  said  Patrick.  **  How  many  more  do 
you  want  ? "  said  the  angel.  "  Seven  persons  for  every 
hair  on  my  chasuble  to  be  taken  out  of  hell  (or  pains)  on 
the  day  of  Doom,"  said  Patrick.  "Thou  shalt  get  that, 
too,"  said  the  angel;  "so  now  get  thee  gone."  "  Not  yet," 
said  Patrick,  "  except  God  Himself  drive  me  away." 
"What  else  do  you  want?"  said  the  angel.  "This," 
said  Patrick,  "  That  on  the  day  when  the  twelve  Thrones 
shall  be  on  Mount  Sion,  that  is  on  the  day  of  Doom,  I 
myself  shall  be  judge  over  the  men  of  Erin  on  that  day." 
"  But  this  surely  cannot  be  had  from  God,"  said  the  angel. 
"  Unless  it  be  got  I  will  not  leave  this  mountain  for  ever," 
said  Patrick,  "  and  I  will  leave  a  guardian  on  it  after  me." 
The  angel  went  to  heaven  to  see  about  this  petition, 
and  Patrick  went  to  say  Mass  to  make  his  own  case 
stronger,  no  doubt.  The  angel  came  back  at  None  after 
Mass.  ''  All  heaven's  powers  have  interceded  for  thee," 
said  the  angel,  "  and  thy  petition  has  been  granted.  You 
are  the  most  excellent  man  that  has  appeared  since  the 
Apostles — only  for  your  obduracy.  But  you  have  prayed 
and  you  have  obtained.  Strike  thy  bell  now,  and  fall  on 
thy  knees,  and  a  blessing  will  come  upon  thee  from  heaven, 
and  all  the  men  of  Erin  living  and  dead  shall  be  blessed 
and  consecrated  to  God  with  thee."  "  A  blessing  on  the 
bountiful  King  who  hath  given  it  all,"  saith  Patrick, 
"and  now  I  leave  the  Rick."^ 

^  In  the  Book  of  Artjiagh  Patrick's  three  petitions  only  are  given,  thus  : — 
I.  That  every  one  of  us  doing  penance  even  in  his  last  hour  will  not  be  doomed 
to  hell  on  the  last  day.  II.  That  the  barbarians  shall  never  get  dominion 
over  us.  III.  That  the  sea  will  cover  Ireland  seven  years  before  the  Day  of 
Judgment. — Rolls  Trip  ,  331. 


THE    SAINTS    FAST.  233 

This  narrative  is  evidently  made  up ;  and  yet  it  is  full 
of  meaning.  It  teaches  the  efficacy  of  prayer  in  a  very 
striking  way,  and  it  is  full  of  faith  and  confidence  in  God. 
There  is  no  more  authentic  fact  in  Patrick's  history  than 
this  Lenten  fast  of  Patrick  on  the  Rick.  The  ancient  road 
from  Aghagower  to  the  Sacred  Hill  has  been  worn  bare  by 
the  feet  of  pilgrims  who  in  every  age  followed  the  footsteps 
of  their  beloved  Apostle  even  to  its  very  summit,  as  they 
do  still.  If  the  demon  temptedourSaviour  at  the  beginning 
of  His  public  mission,  we  may  be  sure  he  would  not  leave 
untempted  the  man  who  broke  down  his  ancient  empire 
over  the  Gael  of  Erin.  In  some  things  the  story  is  extra- 
vagant, in  others  almost  untheological ;  but  the  prayer,  the 
yearning  efficacious  prayer,  for  the  men  of  Ireland,  is  no 
myth.  It  has  been  fulfilled,  and  no  greater  marvel  is 
recorded  in  the  history  of  the  Church  than  its  fulfilment. 
It  is  in  itself  a  miracle.  The  common  tradition  that 
Patrick,  by  his  strong  prayers,  on  Cruachan  Aigle,  con- 
quered the  demons,  and  drove  them  far  from  his  beloved 
Erin,  has  been  verified  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  and 
except  through  his  prayers  and  blessing  it  could  never, 
humanly  speaking,  have  been  accomplished. 

Yes,  Croaghpatrick  is  a  sacred  and  beautiful  hill. 
From  most  points  of  view,  it  rises  from  the  sea  on  the 
southern  shore  of  Clew  Bay  as  a  perfect  cone  to  the  height 
of  2,510  feet.^  There  are  larger  and  loftier  masses  of 
mountain  in  Ireland,  but  none  so  striking  from  its  isola- 
tion, and  so  regular  in  its  outline,  especially  when  viewed 
from  the  east.  It  commands  both  land  and  sea,  and  has 
the  great  advantage  of  looking  down  on  the  most  beautiful 
bay  in  Ireland,  with  its  hundred  islets  mirrored  in  its 
glancing  waters.  The  whole  rugged  coast-line  of  the 
West — its  hills,  its  cliffs,  its  havens,  its  rock-bound  islands 
— can  be  seen  from  that  lone  summit  of  a  clear  day  as 
distinctly  as  if  they  were  stretched  at  its  feet.  Then  the 
vast  inland  plains,  their  woods  and  towers  and  towns,  can 
be  traced  with  perfect  distinctness.  You  see  the  rivers 
stealing  serpent-like  to  the  sea,  the  great  brown  bogs  in 
the  distance,  the  clouds  resting  on  Nephin  or  the  Twelve 
Pins  of  Connemara,  the  far-off  hills  of  Donegal  on  the  hori- 
zon's verge,  rising  from  the  main,  the  smoke  of  the  train 


^  Muilrea,  over  Killary  Harbour,  is  the  highest  mountain  in  Connaught — 
2,688  feet  high.  Nephin  (2,646)  is  nearly  as  high.  Croaghpatrick  is  the 
third  in  altitude  (2,510}.     See  Joyce's  Atlas. 


2  34  ^T.    PATRICK   ON   THE   CRUACHAN    AIGLE. 

rounding  Clew  Bay,  the  hookers  and  fishing  boats  with 
their  white  wings  spread  to  catch  the  gale,  the  long  waves 
bursting  in  streaks  of  light  on  the  cliffs  of  Clare  Island  and 
Achill.  Such  a  scene,  combining  at  once  so  much  sub- 
limity, variety,  and  beauty,  cannot  be  found  anywhere  else, 
at  least  in  these  kingdoms.^ 

II. — Patrick's  Mission  Confirmed  by  Pope  Leo 

THE  Great. 

The  Tripartite  states  that  '  when  Patrick  was  in 
Cruachan  Aigle  he  sent  Munis  to  Rome  with  counsel  unto 
the  Abbot  of  Rome,  and  relics  were  given  to  him.'  The 
full  significance  of  this  passage  will  appear  from  another 
and  quite  independent  statement  made  in  the  Annals 
of  Ulster  under  date  A.D.  441: — 'Leo  ordained  42nd 
Bishop  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  Patrick  the  Bishop 
was  approved  in  the  Catholic  faith.'  This  is  a  most 
important  statement  for  many  reasons.  Pope  Leo  the 
Great  was  consecrated  on  the  29th  of  September,  A.D. 
440.  News  of  his  election  would  not  probably  reach 
Ireland  until  the  end  of  the  year,  or  some  time  in 
the  beginning  of  441.  Patrick,  who  was  then  on 
Cruachan  Aigle,  resolved  to  send  one  of  his  disciples  to 
present  his  own  homage  and  submission  to  the  new  Pope, 
to  give  an  account  of  the  Irish  mission,  and  beg  the  Pope's 
blessing.  He  would  also  naturally  ask  for  relics,  and  no 
doubt  in  those  difficult  times  he  would  forward  a  written 
confession  of  his  own  faith  and  teaching  in  Ireland.  The 
Pope  '  approved '  of  Patrick's  doctrine,  confirmed  his 
mission,  and  blessed  his  labours — that  is  what  is  clearly 
meant  by  the  statement  that  '  Patrick  was  approved  in  the 
Catholic  faith.'  The  entry  also  enables  us  to  ascertain 
that  Patrick  was  on  Cruachan  Aigle  during  the  Easter  of 
the  year  441,  which  is  of  itself  a  most  interesting  fact. 

When  Patrick  left  Cruachan  Aigle  on  Saturday  of  Holy 
Week,  he  returned  to  Aghagower,  which  is  not  more  than 
eight  miles  to  the  east,  by  the  ancient  straight  road,  traces  of 
which  still  remain.  There  at  Aghagower,  with  his  beloved 
Bishop  Senach  and  his  holy  son  Oengus  and  the  virgin 
Mathona,  he  celebrated,  doubtless  with  great  joy,  the 
festival  of  Easter.     He  had  been   through  the  desert,  and 

^  An  account  of  the  pilgrimage  to  Croaghpatrick,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


HIS  MISSION  CONFIRMED  BY  POPE  LEO  THE  GREAT.    235 

was  now  come,  as  it  were,  into  the  Promised  Land.  But  it 
was  not  allowed  him  to  remain  there ;  so  once  more  he  set 
out  on  those  toilsome  journeys,  about  which  he  had  already- 
made  some  not  unnatural  complainings. 

The  Tripartite  here  inserts  a  curious  paragraph,  not 
found  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  concerning  the  keepers 
whom  Patrick  had  set  on  various  well  known  hills  in 
Ireland.  They  are  said  to  belong  to  Patrick's  familia,  or 
household  ;  and  the  writer  adds,  '  they  are  alive  in  Ireland 
still.'  Let  us  hope  that  it  is  in  a  spiritual  sense,  for  if  they 
keep  their  lofty  lodging  in  the  body  they  must  often  have 
hard  times  and  windy  weather  to  endure. 

*  There  is  a  man  of  Patrick's  on  Cruachan  Aigle  ' — he 
threatened  to  have  a  guardian  there  if  his  petitions  were 
not  granted — *  and  people  hear  the  voice  of  his  bell  on  the 
mountain,  although  they  cannot  find  himself  There  is 
another  keeper  of  Patrick's  in  Gulban  Guirt — the  beautiful 
hill  called  Benbulbin,  overlooking  the  Bay  of  Donegal,  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  north-west  of  Ireland — and  we  know  it 
well,  for  we  often  sat  upon  its  rocky  brow.  There  is  a 
third  man  from  him  east  of  Clonard  (in  Meath),  together 
with  his  wife.  Well,  he  is  much  better  off  than  his  fellow- 
watchers,  for  there  is  no  hill  there  by  the  infant  Boyne, 
only  a  small  mound  or  tullagh  not  worth  talking  about. 
Besides,  east  of  Clonard  it  is  a  dead  level,  so  what  the  old 
couple  are  doing  there  it  is  difficult  to  see.  The  reason 
assigned  is  that  they  showed  hospitality  to  Patrick  when 
he  was  there  in  South  Meath,  and  he  rewarded  them  with 
an  earthly  immortality  ;  for  *  they  will  remain  there  of  the 
same  age  until  the  day  of  doom.'  There  is  another  in 
Drumman  Breg  or  Bregia,  the  site  of  which  it  is  not  easy 
to  determine.  It  is  probably  the  hill  called  the  Moat,  a 
few  miles  north  of  Slane,  which  rises  to  the  height  of  750 
feet,  and  is  the  most  commanding  summit  of  all  that  over- 
look the  fair  Bregian  Plain.  Patrick  knew  it  well,  for  it 
was  not  far  from  that  other  famous  hill  where  he  lit  his 
first  Paschal  Fire  in  Erin.  There  is  a  fifth  watcher  of 
Patrick  on  Slieve  Slainge — namely,  Domongart,  from 
whom  the  hill  gets  its  present  name  of  Slieve  Donard — in 
Down.  It  will  not  be  denied  that  he,  too,  has  an  airy 
position  and  a  wide  look  out,  but  he  has  a  special  duty 
which  he  waits  to  perform.  It  will  be  his  business  to 
upraise  Patrick's  relics  before  the  day  of  doom.  St. 
Domongart,  son  of  Echaid,  was  a  historical  personage  who 
had  an  oratory  on  the  mountain  ;  but  his  ceaseless  watching 


236  ST    PATRICK   ON   THE   CRUACHAN   AIGLE. 

is  no  doubt  purely  imaginary.  The  writer  adds,  however, 
that  '  he  has  a  fork  and  its  belongings ' — meat,  let  us 
hope — and  a  pitcher  of  beer  always  before  him  at  his 
church  at  Rath  Muirbuilc  on  the  slope  of  the  mountain, 
and  he  gives  them  to  the  mass-folk  on  Easter  Tuesday 
always. 

It  may  be  said  that  in  a  spiritual  sense  all  this  is  true. 
From  these  lone  summits  God's  Guardian  Angels  keep 
watch  and  ward  over  all  the  land  of  Erin  that  Patrick 
loved  so  well.  He  foreknew  that  they  would  be  needed  in 
the  evil  days  to  come,  and  God  placed  them  there  to  watch 
the  land  and  the  people  of  the  land,  and  help  them  in  the 
long  struggle  that  awaited  them.  Patrick's  own  striving 
on  the  Holy  Mountain  was  only  a  figure  of  the  still  more 
desperate  strife  in  which  his  spiritual  children  were  to  be 
engaged,  and  as  God's  angels  comforted  him,  so  they  have 
comforted  them  through  the  prayers  of  Patrick. 

Perhaps,  too,  it  might  have  some  foundation  in  a  more 
literal  sense  if  we  take  it  that  Patrick  ordered  a  perpetual 
watch  to  be  maintained  by  the  religious  of  the  nearest 
monasteries  from  those  conspicuous  summits.  But  even 
that  explanation  will  hardly  suit  the  case  of  the  old  couple 
at  Clonard.  There  certainly  was  an  ancient  oratory  on 
Croaghpatrick,  and  another  on  Slieve  Donard.  We  know  of 
no  trace  of  an  oratory  on  Benbulbin,  although  doubtless 
there  was  a  church  of  some  kind  on  Drumman  in  Bregia. 
The  nuns  of  St.  Brigid  kept  a  perpetual  fire  in  Kildare 
until  it  was  extinguished  by  John  Comyn,  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  who,  being  an  Anglo-Norman,  declared  it  savoured 
of  superstition.  So  it  may  be  that  Patrick  told  his  monks 
to  keep  watch — a  spiritual  watch — on  these  commanding 
hills,  and  by  their  prayers  drive  far  away  the  demons  of 
the  air^  who  might  seek  to  injure  his  own  beloved  land  of 
Erin. 

It  is  also  noted,  both  in  the  Tripartite  and  the  Book  of 
Armagh, that  Patrick's  charioteer, Totmael, that  is  Barepoll,^ 
died  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  of  Croaghpatrick — in  Murrisk 
Aigle — that  is  the  plain  between  the  sea  and  the  mountain. 
So  they  buried  him  there  at  Murrisk,  and  over  his  grave 
they  raised,  after  the  fashion  of  the  country,  a  great  earn 
of  stones  ;  and  Patrick  said  :  "  It  will  remain  there  for  ever, 


^  *  The  spirits  of  wickedness  in  high  places,'  with  whom  St.  Paul  {Eph.^ 
6.  12)  says  Christians  have  to  wrestle. 

^  *  Totus-Calvus,'  in  the  Book  of  Armagh. 


PATRICK    IN   THE    PLAINS   OF   MAYO.  23/ 

and  I  shall  visit  it  on  the  last  day/'  as  if  he  intended  to 
make  sure  of  the  salvation  of  his  faithful  charioteer  before 
the  Day  of  Doom. 

There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  during  his  sojourn 
at  Murrisk  St.  Patrick  paid  a  visit  to  at  least  one  of  the 
islands  off  this  coast.  Caher  Island  is  a  small  green 
island  off  the  coast  of  Mayo,  some  three-quarters  of  a  mile< 
long  and  one  quarter  in  breadth.  There  is  a  vivid  local 
tradition  that  it  was  visited  by  our  saint ;  and  the  ancient 
ruin,  which  still  bears  the  name  of  Temple  Phatraic, 
confirms  the  tradition.  It  is  at  present  uninhabited,  but  its 
very  loneliness  would  be  an  additional  reason  to  induce  the 
Apostle  to  visit  the  island,  which  is  a  striking  object  as 
seen  from  the  shore  beyond  Louisbourg,  for  it  rises  in  a 
peaked  summit  to  a  height  of  i88  feet  above  the  sea.  No 
reference,  however,  is  made  to  this  visit  in  any  of  the 
written  Lives  of  the  Apostles. 

There  is  one  clear  statement,  both  in  Tirechan  and  the 
Tripartite,  that  Patrick  before  leaving  the  '  Owles  '  founded 
a  church  in  the  Plain  of  Umall,^  the  last  being  the  ancient 
form  of  what  has  since  been  called  the  *  Owles.'  This 
church  was  situated  close  to  the  later  church  founded  by 
Columcille,  called  with  reference  to  this  more  ancient 
church  Nuachongbhail,  that  is  the  New  Monastery, 
which  has  been  corrupted  into  Oughaval,  the  modern  name 
of  the  parish.  The  old  church  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
road. 

III. — Patrick  in  the  Plains  of  Mayo. 

From  Aghagower  Patrick  fared  into  the  district  called 
Corcutemne ;  the  Book  of  Armagh  adds  that  he  went  to 
the  well  of  Sini  in  that  territory,  which  has  not  yet  been 
certainly  identified.  This  region  of  Corcutemne,  of  which 
we  have  no  distinct  mention  elsewhere,  is  clearly  the  terri- 
tory east  of  Aghagower,  and  north  of  the  Lakes,  which 
includes  the  Three  Tuatha,  as  they  were  called,  that  is  the 
Tuatha  of  Partry,  the  Tuatha  of  Manulla,  and  the  Tuatha 
of  the  Attacots,^  which,  in  our  opinion,  is  now  comprised 

^  Tirechan  calls  it,  'in  Campo  HumaiL' 

'^'^tt  Hy  Fiachrach,  152.  This  '  Tuath  Aitheachta'  or  Attacottic  Tuath 
is,  according  to  O'Donovan,  the  district  still  known  as  Touaghty,  a  small 
parish  between  Ballyglass  and  Newbrook,  east  of  the  lake  (p.  499).  It  includes 
the  demesne  of  Tower  Hill,  which  is  merely  a  corruption  of  the  ancient 
form  Touaghty.  There  is  the  site  of  a  Patrician  church  and  holy  well  still  to  be 
seen  within  the  demesne. 


238  ST.    PATRICK   ON    THE    CRUACHAN    AIGLE. 

in  the  present  small  parish  of  Touaghty.  These  were 
certainly  distinct  districts,  but  still  adjacent;  they  were  all 
known  as  Tuatha  in  ancient  times,  and  all  contain  ancient 
churches,  which  were,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  originally 
founded  by  St.  Patrick.  The  Tuatha  of  Partry  (Partrigia) 
extended  north  and  south  from  *  Caol  to  Paul,'  that  is, 
from  the  bridge  of  Keel  to  Kilfaul,  near  Ballintober,  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  Lough  Carra.  Whether  the  Tuatha 
of  Magh  na  Beithighe,  the  Birch  Plain,  was  in  St.  Patrick's 
time  included  in  this  territory  or  not  is  uncertain  ;  but 
later  on  it  certainly  was  recognised  as  a  distinct  territory, 
and  may  have  been  one  of  the  Three  Tuatha  to  which 
reference  is  made  in  the  Tripartite.  It  formed  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  parish  of  Ballintober.  Manulla  was 
certainly  one  of  the  Three  Tuatha ;  it  is  called  the  Tuatha 
of  Manulla  by  our  best  authorities,  and  the  word  is  a  fairly 
good  rendering  of  the  ancient  name — Maige  Fiondalbha — 
in  the  genitive  case,  of  course.  The  present  small  parish 
of  Touaghty  represents  the  ancient  Tuatha  Aitheachta — 
that  is  the  Tuatha  of  the  Attacots  or  Firbolgs,  who  still 
kept  their  ground  in  the  district. 

Without  investigating  the  matter  too  minutely,  we  may 
then  safely  conclude  that  Patrick,  after  spending  his  Easter 
at  Aghagower,  went  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  great 
swelling  plain  to  the  east  and  north  of  the  Lakes,  now  com- 
prising the  parishes  of  Ballyovey,  Ballintober,  Touaghty, 
Ballyhean,  and  Manulla. 

O'Donovan  says^  that  *  St.  Patrick's  causeway,  the  name 
of  an  ancient  road  still  traceable  in  many  places,  ran  from 
the  Abbey  of  Ballintober,  in  the  barony  of  Carra,  to  Croagh- 
patrick.'  A  glance  at  the  map  of  the  Co.  Mayo  will  show 
that  Croaghpatrick,  Aghagower,  Stringle  Well,  and  Ballin- 
tober lie  almost  in  a  straight  line  due  east  and  west. 

But  about  Patrick's  Tochar  or  causeway  we  must  say 
something  more.  As  Patrick  went  from  Tobur  Stringle  to 
Raithin,  and  thence  to  Aghagower,  we  think  the  roadway 
in  question  marks  rather  that  by  which  he  returned  from 
the  Holy  Mountain  to  the  Plains  of  Mayo,  than  the  road 
which  he  followed  from  Tobur  Stringle  to  Croaghpatrick 
by  Aghagower. 

It  is  to  a  great  extent  a  matter  of  conjecture,  more  or 
less  plausible ;  we  can  only  give  our  own  view.  To  go 
back,  then,  a  little,  it  appears  to  us  that  Patrick,  having 

^  Hy  Fiach'ack,  498. 


PATRICK    IN   THE    PLAINS   OF    MAYO.  239 

left  his  nephew  Lughnat  at  Tobur  Loona,  east  of  Lou^^h 
Carra,  either  crossed  the  lake  there  or  went  round  it  at  iis 
southern  extremity,  and  then  continued  his  journey  north- 
ward between  the  lakes  of  Mask  and  Carra,  through  the 
modern  parish  of  Ballyovey,  or  Partry,  until  he  came  to 
Killavally  on  the  line  of  the  modern  road  to  Westport. 
At  that  point  we  find  many  traces  of  the  old  road  which 
he  travelled  until  he  came  to  Tobur  Stringle  '  in  the  desert.' 
On  this  occasion  he  did  not  touch  at  the  place  now  called 
Ballintober ;  but  he  came  to  it  at  a  later  period  when 
returning  eastward  from  Croaghpatrick.  On  his  return 
journey  we  think  the  road  he  travelled  can  be  traced 
accurately  enough,  for  in  after  ages  it  was  the  pilgrims'  road 
westward  to  Croaghpatrick.  One  who  has  great  local 
knowledge  says  :  *  It  can  be  very  well  traced  from  Croagh- 
patrick back  to  Drum  (south  of  Castlebar)  ;  it  passed  from 
church  to  church,  thus  from  Balla  to  Loona  Church,  where 
it  is  well  marked,  and  thence  by  Gweeshadan  Church  to 
Drum  Church,  where  it  is  well  marked.  Thence  it  is  well 
ascertained  (westward)  to  Ballintober,  and  from  thence 
to  Aghagower,  passing  in  the  way  a  small  church  marked 
on  the  map  as  Temple  Shannagowna,  near  Bellaburke. 
From  Aghagower  it  went  by  Cloghpatrick  to  Patrick's 
Chair,  and  so  up  the  hill.  We  have  not  been  able  to  trace 
its  course  east  of  Balla,  but  feel  sure  it  must  have  passed 
by  Kiltamagh  and  Cloonpatrick,  and  Patrick's  Well  to 
Balla.'! 

Now,  in  our  opinion,  this  Tochar  Phatraic  fairly 
represents  not  merely  the  road  of  the  pilgrims  westward 
to  the  mountain,  but  also  Patrick's  road  eastward  from  the 
Mountain  through  the  Plains  of  Mayo,  and  we  are  much 
disposed  to  follow  its  guidance. 

Tirechan  says  that  Patrick  came  from  Oughcival  by 
Aghagower  '  into  the  regions  of  Corcu  Temne  to  the 
fountain  Sini,  in  which  he  baptised  many  thousands  of 
men  and  founded  three  churches '  in  that  neighbourhood. 

The  well  Sini  we  take  to  be  that  which  has  ever  since 
been  called  Tobur  Phatraic,  and  the  place  itself  Ballin- 
tober. It  would  be  the  first  stage  on  his  road  coming 
eastward  from  Aghagower  into  the  plains  of  Mayo.  On 
the  road  he  probably  rested  for  a  while  at  that  Clogh- 
patrick ivhich  still  bears  his  name  and  marks  his  road  to 


^  Mr.  H.  T.  Knox,  to  whom  we  owe  this  extract,  is  a  most  painstaking 
antiquary,  and  must  know  this  district  thoroughly. 


240      ST.  PATRICK  ON  THE  CRUACHAX  AIGLE. 

Ballintober.  There  he  would  naturally  stay  and  found 
his  church.  It  was  a  fertile  and  populous  district,  for  the 
soil,  though  shallow,  was  of  limestone,  and  the  herbage 
was  green  and  luxurious,  so  that  in  after  ages  it  was 
chosen  as  the  site  of  a  famous  Augustinian  abbey,  founded 
by  Cathal  the  Red-handed,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  which  has  lately  been  partially  restored 
as  the  parish  church.  But,  no  doubt,  what  most  attracted 
Patrick  was  the  copious  crystal  stream  bursting  out  at 
the  foot  of  a  low  ridge,  which  he  blessed,  and  with  who.se 
waters  he  baptised  the  many  thousand  converts  who 
crowded  around  him  on  its  verdant  banks.  One  thing  is 
quite  clear,  that  Tobur  Stringle  *  in  the  desert,'  was  not 
Ballintober  in  the  green  meads  at  the  head  of  the  lake. 

The  old  church  of  Touaghty,  now  within  Tower  Hill 
demesne,  close  to  which  is  a  Patrick's  Well,  we  take  to 
be  the  second  church  founded  by  Patrick  in  this  district. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  third  was  either  that  old  church  of 
Drum,  close  to  which  Patrick's  Tochar  passed,  or  perhaps  the 
old  church  of  Ballyhean,  which  is  a  little  more  to  the  west. 

Patrick's  next  move,  we  are  told  by  Tirechan,  was  to 
the  Well  of  Findmaige,  which  is  called  Slan  or  the  Healer, 
'  for  the  heathens  and  their  wizards  worshipped  it  as  a 
god,  and  made  immolations  to  its  deity.'  Well-worship 
was  common  in  ancient  Erin  as  well  as  in  ancient  Greece 
and  this  particular  well  was  greatly  venerated  by  the 
heathen.  We  are  told  that  it  was  square,  and  that  a  square 
stone  closed  the  mouth  of  the  well,  but  that  the  water 
forced  its  way  through  the  joinings  of  the  stones — quasi 
vestigium  regale^ — marking,  as  it  were,  the  footprints  of 
the  (dead)  king ;  for  the  gentiles  said  that  a  certain  dead 
prophet  had  made  for  himself  a  shrine  (bibliothicam)  in 
the  water  under  the  rock,  so  that  his  bones  might  be  always 
kept  cool  by  the  stream,  because  he  feared  fire  and 
adored  the  water. 

Now  this  was  told  to  Patrick,  who  in  his  great  zeal  for 
the  living  God,  declared,  "  What  you  say  is  not  true — 
that  this  fountain  is  the  King  of  Waters ; "  and  he  further 
said  to  the  assembled  wizards  and  gentiles,  and  the  crowds 
around  him  : — "  Raise  up  the  rock  that  we  may  all  see 
what  is  under  it — whether  bones  or  not — because  I  say  to 


^  The  passage  is  obscure.  It  seems  to  imply  that  a  square  flag  was  made 
to  cover  the  square  well,  but  that  the  dead  king  left  his  footprints  at  the 
joinings — to  imply  that  he  was  below — through  which  the  water  issued. 


PATRICK    IN   THE   PLAINS   OF   MAYO.  24 1 

you  there  are  no  bones  under  it,  but  I  think  from  the 
cementing  of  the  stones  that  there  must  be  some  gold  or 
silver  there,  but  certainly  none  of  your  foolish  offerings 
made  to  the  god." 

Now  they  tried  to  raise  it,  but  were  unable  to  do  so. 
Then  Patrick  and  his  attendants  blessed  or  exorcised  the 
rock,  and  he  said  to  the  surging  crowds  :  "  Keep  back  a 
little,  that  you  may  see  the  power  of  my  God,  who  dwelleth 
in  the  heavens."  Then  stretching  out  his  hands,  he  raised 
the  rock  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  well,  and  placed  it  on  the 
other  side  over  the  orifice  of  the  stream  ;  '  and  it  is  there 
always.'  But  in  the  well  itself,  beneath  the  stone,  nothing 
was  found  except  the  water,  wherefore  the  heathen  believed 
in  the  Most  High  God.  Then  Patrick,  being  tired,  sat 
down  some  distance  off  on  the  stone,  which  a  certain 
Caeta,  or  Cata,  had  fixed  for  him  ;  whereupon  he  baptised 
that  youth,  and  said  to  him,  "  Your  seed  will  be  for  ever 
blessed."  Then,  it  is  added  : — '  Cella  Tog,  in  the  regions 
of  Corcu  Temne,  belonged  to  Patrick.'  Bishop  Cainnech, 
Patrick's  monk,  founded  it.  Whence  we  infer  that  this 
church  of  Kill-Tog  was  near  the  Well  of  Findmaige,  and 
that  Patrick  left  his  disciple,  Cainnech,  to  rule  over  it. 

We  agree  with  Knox  in  thinking  that  this  well  of 
Findmaige,  called  Slan,  or  the  Healer,  was  the  well  near 
Manulla,  at  present  called  Adam's  Well.  The  name  itself 
has  been  preserved  in  the  mediaeval  documents,  which 
describe  the  vicarage  as  Slanpatrick,  the  lands  of  which 
belonged  to  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  clearly  showing  that 
it  was  a  Patrician  church,^  and  the  Kill-Tog  must  be  either 
at  Manulla,^  or,  perhaps,  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood 
at  Breaghwy. 

^  See  Knox,  Notes,  p.  100.  Rev.  E.  A.  D' Alton,  a  careful  and  competent 
inquirer,  writes  to  us—"  Adam's  Well  is  situated  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
village  of  Manulla  ;  up  to  twenty  years  ago  it  was  always  full  of  the  purest 
spring  water,  and  in  those  days  Mie  well  supplied  the  whole  village  with  water  ; 
but,  in  consequence  of  drainage  operations,  Adam's  Well  became  dry  ;  and  so 
it  has  remained.  No  one  knows  why  it  is  so  called  ;  nor  has  it  any  sacred 
traditions  connected  with  it  as  a  holy  well."  Father  D' Alton  adds  that  Mr. 
Knox  describes  it  accurately,  as  not  more  than  two  feet  deep,  and  about  two 
feet  square,  each  of  its  four  sides  being  protected  by  a  stone  set  upright.  The 
flat  covering  stone  mentioned  by  Mr.  Knox  is  no  longer  there  ;  nor  does  any- 
one in  the  place  remember  to  have  seen  such  a  stone  covering  the  well  ;  but 
there  is  a  flag  lying  flat  on  which  people  step  when  drawing  water  from  the 
well.  "  This  perhaps  was  the  original  covering  stone  displaced  by  St.  Patrick." 
Father  D' Alton  is,  however,  dubious  as  to  the  identity  of  this  well  with  the 
Slan  of  the  Tripartite. 

'^  The  name  Manulla  is  a  corruption  of  the  old  name  Maghfiondalba,  the 
first  part  of  which  is  equivalent  to  Findmaige,  as  given  by  Tirechan. 


242  ST.    PATRICK   ON   THE   CRUACIIAN    AIGLE. 

Neither  Tirechan  nor  the  Tripartite  gives  us  any  further 
particulars  of  the  churches  founded  in  this  district.  The 
name  AgHsh,  the  old  church  of  Castlebar,  would  seem  to 
imply  that  it  was  the  most  important  church  in  that 
locality,  and  most  likely  founded  by  the  Apostle.  The 
ancient  church  of  Turlough,  some  three  miles  north-east  of 
Castlebar,  appears  to  have  been  at  one  time  even  a  still 
more  important  church,  for  the  Round  Tower  attests  its 
antiquity  and  celebrity.  Moreover,  it  was,  and,  we  think 
rightly,  always  regarded  as  a  church  founded  by  St. 
Patrick,  and  hence  belonged  to  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh. 

We  think,  however,  that  on  this  occasion  Patrick  went 
no  further  north,  as  there  was  strife  in  the  lands  of  the 
Hy  Amalgaid.  So  he  turned  his  steps  eastwards  to  Balla, 
where  there  is  a  Patrick's  Well  that  marks  his  presence.^ 
Going  further  eastwards,  there  is  another  Patrick's  Well 
beyond  Balla,  on  the  road  to  Kiltamagh,-  which  was, 
doubtless,  the  route  the  Saint  followed  on  the  return  journey 
to  Tara,  From  Kiltamagh  he  would  go  by  Kilkeily. 
through  the  Lower  or  Northern  Ciarraige,  until  he  came 
to  Ailech  Airtech,  near  Ballaghadereen,  and  so,  crossing 
the  fords  of  the  Lung  River,  he  would  revisit  the  churches 
he  had  founded  in  that  locality. 

Thus  we  find  Patrick  once  more  travelling  in  the  Plains 
of  the  Sons  of  Ere,  that  is,  in  the  Plains  of  Boyle,  where  a 
strange  incident  befel  him. 

IV. — Patrick  Revisits  His   Roscommon  Churches. 

'  Dichuil,  in  the  territory  of  the  sons  of  Ere,'  was  the  scene 
of  this  curious  story  of  the  Giant's  Grave.  As  Patrick  and 
his  familia  came  to  this  place,  they  found  an  enormous 
grave,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length,   and  were 

^  Tirechan  does  not  imply  that  Patrick  crossed  the  Moy  after  founding 
Kill- Tog,  rather  the  reverse,  for  he  at  once  brings  the  Saint  into  the  plains  of 
Maicc  Hercae,  namely  into  Dichuil  and  Archuil,  and  thence  to  Magh  Finn,  no 
doubt  on  the  road  to  Tara.  Indeed,  the  Saint  would  not  cross  the  Moy  at  all 
going  from  Turlough  into  Tirawley,  although  he  naturally  would  it  going 
direct  into  Tireragh. 

2  This  is  a  bullaun  well,  formed  in  a  hollow  stone.  There  is  a  similar 
Patrick's  Well  'a  little  east  of  Ballinamore  House,'  and  the  place  where 
Patrick  knelt  in  prayer  is  still  shown  at  these  places.  There  is  a  third  well  of 
the  same  kind  sacred  lo  Patrick,  '  between  Lallinamore  and  Kiltamagh, 
and  there  is  an  old  saying  that  the  part  between  the  three  stones  (on  which 
Patrick  knelt  at  the  three  wells)  will  be  always  safe  from  wars  and  destruc- 
tion.' It  is  then  beyond  reasonable  doubt  that  Patrick  passed  through  this 
territory  on  his  journey  eastward  from  Kill-Tog  to  the  Plains  of  the  Sons  of 
Ere.     See  Knox's  Notes. 


HE    REVISITS    HIS   ROSCOMMON   CHURCHES.  243 

filled  with  amazement  at  the  sight.  Probus  gives  the 
length  as  thirty  feet,  which  is  the  more  likely  figure,  as 
an  X  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  a  C  by  the  transcriber.^ 
"  We  cannot  believe,"  they  said,  "  that  anyone  so  tall  ever 
existed."  Then  Patrick  replied — "If  you  wish,  you  will  be 
able  to  see  him."  So  they  answered — *'  Yes,  by  all  means ; 
we  should  like  to  see  him."  Then  Patrick  struck  the  head- 
stone of  the  huge  grave  with  his  Staff,  and  he  drew  the 
Sign  of  the  Cross  over  the  grave,  saying,  at  the  same  time 
— "  O  Lord,  open  this  tomb."  The  tomb  opened  forthwith  ; 
and  the  huge  giant  stood  up  whole  in  body,  and  said — 
"Thanks  be  to  thee,  O  holy  man,  that  you  have  even  for 
one  hour  relieved  me  of  my  great  pains."  At  the  same 
time,  he  wept  bitterly  as  he  spoke,  and  said — "  Shall  I  go 
with  you  ?  "  But  Patrick  said — "  No  ;  you  cannot  come 
with  us,  for  men  would  be  afraid  to  look  at  you  ;  but  believe 
in  the  God  of  heaven,  be  baptised  with  the  Lord's  baptism, 
and  you  will  return  no  more  to  the  place  of  torments  where 
you  were.  And  now,"  said  Patrick,  "  tell  us  who  you  are." 
He  replied — "  I  am  the  son  of  Mac  Cas,  the  son  of  Glas, 
and  I  was  swine-herd  to  King  Luger,  the  King  of  Hirot. 
Soldiers  of  the  son  of  Mac  Con  slew  me  in  the  reign  of 
Cairbre  Niafer,  just  one  hundred  years  ago  from  this  day." 
So  he  was  baptised,  '  having  made  confession  of  faith  in 
God,  and  he  rested  and  was  once  more  laid  in  his  grave.' 

The  story  is  a  strange  one  for  Tirechan  to  record  in  his 
sober  history ;  and  it  cannot  be  accepted  as  true  in  its 
present  form.  A  man  dead  for  one  hundred  years  was 
raised  to  life  in  order  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  Patrick's 
disciples,  and  then  he  was  baptised,  and  by  his  baptism 
released  from  purgatory,  if  not  from  hell  itself!  That  the 
story  was  current  we  may  assume  as  certain,  but  how  it 
originated  it  is  now  impossible  to  ascertain.  The  alleged 
chronology,  too,  has  its  difficulties.  This  '  resurrection ' 
took  place,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  about  the  year  A.D.  441. 
The  warriors  referred  to  flourished  not  one,  but  two  hundred 
years  before  that  date. 

After  this  it  would  seem  Patrick,  still  faring  towards 
Tara,  came  into  Magh  Finn,  in  the  country  of  the  Hy 
Maine.  Magh  Finn,  afterwards  known  as  Keogh's  Country, 
was  a  well-known  territory  comprising  the  present  parish 

^  That  is,  XXX  might  be  mistaken  for  cxx.  The  fact  that  the  grave  was 
thirty  feet,  or  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  in  length  does  not  prove  that  the 
giant  was  of  that  height.  Such  stone  chambers  of  great  length  were  used 
as  sepulchres,  but  several  people  were  usually  buried  within  them. 


2z^4  ST.    PATRICK   ON    THE    CRUACHAN   AICLE. 

of  Taghmaconnell,  in  the  south  of  the  County  Roscommon. 
The  Hy  Maine  were  not  there  in  the  time  of  Saint  Patrick, 
for,  according  to  their  own  tribal  records,  they  only  came  in 
the  next  century,  when,  with  the  help  of  St.  Grellan,  their 
patron  saint,  they  expelled  the  Firbolgs  from  their  ancient 
seats  on  the  RiverSuck,and  took  possession  of  the  conquered 
territory,  which  was  called  Hy-Maine,^  from  their  great 
leader,  Maine  Mor.  The  name,  therefore,  like  many  other 
names  in  the  Lives  of  Patrick,  is  here  given  to  the  district 
by  anticipation,  that  is  the  writer  calls  it  by  the  name  used 
in  his  own  time. 

Patrick,  journeying  through  this  territory,  saw  a  cross 
erected  and  two  new  graves  near  each  other.  And  the 
Saint,  perhaps  wondering  at  the  cross  in  that  remote 
district,  spoke  from  his  chariot,  and  asked  "  who  was 
buried  there  ?  "  Whereupon  a  voice  from  the  grave  replied : 
''  A  wretched  gentile  man  I  am.''  "  Why  then,"  asked  the 
Saint,  "  is  the  cross  placed  over  your  grave  ?  "  "  Because," 
the  voice  replied,  ''  the  man  who  is  buried  near  me  asked 
his  mother  to  have  the  cross  erected  over  his  grave,  but 
the  foolish  man  (who  erected  it)  by  mistake  placed  it  over 
mine."  Then  Patrick  leaped  down  from  his  car,  and 
pulled  up  the  cross  from  the  gentile's  grave,  and  placed 
it  over  the  Christian's  grave.  He  then  got  on  his  car  again, 
and  went  his  way,  praying  in  silence  to  the  Lord.  When 
the  prayer  was  over,  and  he  came  to  Libei'a  iios  a  inalo,  his 
charioteer  asked,  "  Why  did  you  leave  the  gentile  man 
unbaptised  in  his  grave  ?  Let  us  return  to  him,  for  I  pity 
a  man  left  without  baptism.  Would  it  not  be  better  to 
pray  for  him  to  God  by  way  of  baptism,  and  pour  the 
baptismal  water  on  his  grave?"  The  charioteer  was  no 
theologian  ;  and  Patrick  made  him  no  reply.  '  I  think,'  adds 
the  writer,  '  the  reason  Patrick  left  him  (without  baptism) 
was  that  God  was  unwilling  to  save  his  soul ; '  but  he  evi- 
dently thought  baptism  might  even  then  have  saved  him.^ 

These  two  stories  are  closely  connected,  at  least  in  the 
mind  of  the  writer,  who  could  not  understand  why  Patrick 
baptised  and  saved  the  one  dead  man,  but  left  the  other  to 
his  fate. 

The  story,  however,  shows  that  from  the  earliest  times 
in   Ireland  the  sign  of  the  Cross  in  wood  or  stone   was 

^  Hy  Many,  12. 

2  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  strange  expression  of  St.  Paul — *  Otherwise  what 
shall  they  do  that  are  baptised  for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  do  not  rise  at  all?' — 
might  have  given  origin  to  those  erroneous  notions  about  baptising  the  dead. 


HE  REVISITS   HIS   ROSCOMMON   CHURCHES.  245 

usually  placed  over  the  Christian  graves  as  an  emblem 
of  their  hope  of  salvation  by  the  Cross  in  life  and  in  death. 
We  are  told,  too,  by  the  Tripartite  that  Patrick  had  a 
special  devotion  to  the  Cross,  and  that  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  signing  himself  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross  a  hundred 
times  every  day  and  every  night.  And  when  driving  or 
riding  through  the  country  on  his  missionary  journeys 
wherever  he  saw  a  cross  he  would  go  and  visit  it,  even 
though  it  were  a  thousand  paces  from  his  road.  The  writer 
adds  that  on  this  journey  through  Magh  Finn  Patrick  did 
not  see  the  cross  as  he  travelled  past;  but  his  charioteer 
reminded  him  of  his  omission  when  they  reached  their 
station,  whereupon  Patrick  got  up  again  into  the  chariot, 
and  went  to  visit  the  cross,  asking  at  once  who  was  buried 
there ;  and  when  he  heard  it  was  a  heathen,  he  said — "  that 
is  why  I  did  not  see  it  as  I  passed." 

The  writer  also  makes  reference  on  this  occasion  to 
Patrick's  assiduity  in  prayer,  even  during  his  long  and 
wearisome  missionary  journeys.  '  No  one,'  he  says,  '  can 
realize  the  greatness  of  his  diligence  in  prayer.  For  he 
used  to  chant  every  day  psalms  and  hymns  and  the 
Apocalypse,  and  all  the  spiritual  canticles  of  the  scriptures, 
whether  remaining  in  one  place  or  going  on  his  journeys.' 
This  is  what  every  priest  is  nov/  bound  to  do  to  some 
extent,  for  the  spiritual  canticles  seem  to  refer  to  the 
Benedictus  and  the  Magnificat  and  other  canticles  which 
form  a  part  of  the  daily  office.  It  would,  however,  be 
difficult  in  those  days  to  have  regular  lessons  of  what  is 
now  called  the  *  Scripture  Occurring,'  that  is  the  lessons 
assigned  to  that  day.  It  may  be,  then,  that  fixed  portions 
of  the  Apocalypse  were  read  instead  of  our  daily  Scripture 
lessons,  or  perhaps  got  by  heart.  But  the  number  of 
psalms  then  recited  every  day  was  much  greater  than  at 
present ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  Patrick  and  his 
clergy  made  it  a  fixed  duty  to  recite  the  whole  psalter  not 
every  week,  as  at  present,  but  every  day.  Before  all  things 
Patrick  was  a  man  of  prayer. 

The  writer  also  adds  that  Patrick  never  travelled  from 
first  Vespers  on  Saturday  until  None  on  Monday.  That 
time  he  gave,  with  his  familia,  entirely  to  the  worship  of 
God ;  and  on  a  certain  Sunday  evening  when  Patrick  was 
abroad — doubtless  praying — a  great  rain  overtook  him 
there  pouring  down  upon  the  earth,  but  where  Patrick 
stayed  in  the  open  it  was  dry  like  Gideon's  fleece,  though 
all  around  was  wet  with  the  rain. 


I 


246      ST.  PATRICK  ON  THE  CRUACHAN  AIGLE. 

The  journey  through  the  Plains  of  Boyle  and  thence  to 
Magh  Finn  seems  to  imply  very  clearly  that  Patrick  went 
south  through  the  County  Roscommon,  revisiting  the 
churches  which  he  had  founded  there  the  previous  year. 
This  visitation  would  bring  him  to  Fuerty,  and  from 
Fuerty  he  would  naturally  pass  through  Magh  Finn  on  his 
way  to  the  ford  at  Athlone,  which  was  certainly  the  usual 
place  for  crossing  the  Shannon  at  that  time.  He  would 
thus  have  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the  churches  he  had 
founded  in  Westmeath  on  his  way  to  Tara,  where  he  went 
in  all  probability  to  meet  the  sons  of  Amalgaid,  who  were 
coming  to  plead  before  the  King.  The  Book  of  Armagh 
and  the  Tripartite  give  a  consecutive  account  of  Patrick's 
foundations,  but  they  do  not  attempt  to  give  any  account 
of  his  subsequent  visitations  of  his  churches ;  and,  unfor- 
tunately, they  never  tell  us  when  or  where  he  wintered. 
We  must  now,  however,  accompany  him  to  Tara  and  see 
what  took  place  there. 

V. — Patrick  Revisits  Tara. 

Patrick  had  more  than  one  purpose  in  view  in  going  to 
Tara  at  this  time.  It  is  stated  in  the  Chronicon  Scotorum 
and  other  weighty  authorities  that  the  '  Seanchus  Mor  was 
written  '  in  438,  that  is,  the  ancient  code  was  purified  of 
pagan  principles,  and  corrected  in  accordance  \\'ith  the 
maxims  of  the  Gospel.  We  shall  fully  discuss  this  question 
hereafter,  but  it  may  be  observed  that  it  was  in  the  same 
year,  if  we  ti-ust  the  Chronicon,  that  Secundinus,  Auxilius, 
and  Iserninus  were  sent  to  Ireland.  The  two  former 
were  nephews  of  St.  Patrick,  and  the  latter,  though 
probably  a  Briton  like  the  others,  appears  to  have  had 
an  Irish  mother  from  the  Co.  Carlow.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  Patrick  met  his  two  nephews  in  Leinster.  and  after- 
wards took  them  with  him  on  his  mission,  but  Bishop  Fith, 
as  Iserninus  was  called,  remained  in  South  Leinster 
preaching  the  Gospel. 

It  was  in  this  year,  then,  that  is  438,  that  the  famous 
Commission  of  Nine  was  appointed  to  examine  and  codify 
the  Brehon  Laws.  But  the  work  must  have  taken  time, 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  leading  purpose  of  Patrick  in 
returning  from  the  West  to  Tara  was  to  promulgate  the 
new  Code.  This  work  could  only  be  accomplished  with 
the  sanction  and  help  of  the  King,  and  hence  he  returned 
to  Tara  to   secure  his  approval  and  authority.     He  had 


HE    REVISITS   TARA.  ^47 

already  found  by  experience  how  necessary  it  was  to 
purify  the  ancient  code,  for  it  was  closely  interwoven  with 
druidic  doctrines  and  practices. 

It  is  clear  Patrick  returned  to  Tara  before  going  into 
Tirawley,  although  that  is  not  expressly  stated  in  the 
Tripartite.  As  we  have  already  said,  the  main  purpose 
both  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  and  of  the  Tripartite  is  to 
record  Patrick's  missionary  journeys  and  the  founda- 
tions of  his  new  churches,  taking  no  account  of  his  inter- 
ruptions or  subsequent  visitations,  except  when,  now  and 
then,  they  recorded  some  striking  miracle  or  other  extra- 
ordinary event.  Hence,  after  giving  an  account  of  his 
foundations  in  Corcu-temne,^  that  is,  the  portion  of  the 
modern  barony  of  Carra  north-east  of  the  lake,  both 
Tirechan  and  the  Tripartite  give  the  general  statement 
that  he  crossed  the  Moy  to  come  into  Tirawley. 

This  statement,  however,  of  itself  implies  that  he  did 
not  immediately  go  into  Tirawley  from  Carra,  for  if  he  diof 
he  would  not  cross  the  Moy,  but  proceed  along  the  line  of 
the  present  railway  to  Ballina  and  Killala,  keeping  all 
through  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Foxford.  His  'crossing'  the  Moy  therefore 
implies  that  he  had  left  Carra  and  gone  eastward  some- 
where, and  then,  returning  through  the  great  and  wide 
territory  of  Corann  in  the  Co.  Sligo,  came  to  the  banks  of 
the  Moy,  and  crossed  it  to  come  into  Tirawley,  as  we  shall 
presently  see. 

This  is  clearly  enough  implied  in  the  Tripartite,  for, 
after  stating  that  he  crossed  the  Moy  to  go  to  Tirawley,  it 
goes  back  to  explain  how  it  came  to  pass.  The  narrative 
certainly  implies  that  he  met  the  sons  of  Amalgaid  some- 
where in  the  west,  at  the  time  when  they  were  on  their 
road  to  Tara. 

'  There  came  to  him  twelve  sons  of  Amalgaid,  son  of 
Fiachra,  son  of  Eochy  Moyvane.'  Amalgaid  was  King  of 
Connaught  at  the  time,  and  was,  although  now  advanced 
in  years,  still  the  ruler  of  the  province.  He  had  a  very 
large  family,  eight  sons  by  one  wife  and  seven  by  another, 
according  to  the  official  Chronicle  of  his  own  Kingdom. 
He  was  first  cousin  of  the  King  of  Tara  at  the  time,  that 
is    Laeghaire,    for   their   respective    fathers    Fiachra   and 


^  It  is  quite  clear  from  Tirechan  (p.  329)  that  Corcu-temne  was  in  Carra. 
It  was,  in  fact,  the  territory  around  Castlebar  afterwards  called  Clan-Cuain. 
Kill-Tog  was  in  that  district. 


248      ST.  PATRICK  ON  THE  CRUACHAN  AIGLE. 

Niall  the  Great,  were  both  sons  of  Eochy  Moyvane.  His 
lands  were  some  very  rich  and  some  very  poor ;  but  the 
chief  strife  was  who  should  succeed  him  as  King  of 
Connau^ht,  or  at  least  as  King  of  Tirawley. 

No  doubt  at  this  time  some  of  his  sons  were  dead,  but 
the  Tripartite  gives  the  names  of  the  twelve  who  were 
contending  for  the  sovereignty.^ 

The  real  competitors,  however,  were  two,  namely, 
Oengus,  the  haughtiest  of  all  the  sons  of  Amalgaid,  who  gave 
a  nickname  to  all  his  brothers  because  the  tribesmen  were 
unwilling  to  have  anyone  with  a  nickname  reign  over  them. 
The  real  cause,  however,  was  that  the  nickname  was 
supposed  to  indicate  some  personal  defect  or  deformity, 
and  persons  of  that  kind  were  not  considered  eligible  for 
the  headship  of  a  tribe.  Oengus  wished  to  note  such 
defects,  whether  real  or  imaginary,  and  hence  he  sought  to 
give  a  nickname  to  all  his  brothers  in  order  to  disqualify 
them  for  the  kingship. 

The  second  formidable  competitor  was  Enda  Crom, 
who  is  represented  as  the  eldest  of  the  twelve  sons,  and 
therefore  having  the  right  of  seniority.  But  the  '  nick- 
name '  marks  a  personal  defect,  and  hence  the  hunchback 
chief  would  not  be  well  in  the  running.  Now,  Enda  had  a 
son,  Prince  Conal,  young,  vigorous,  eloquent,  and  energetic; 
and  this  youth  was  determined  to  assert  his  own  rights, 
derived  through  his  father,  to  the  last.  These  facts  will  help 
to  explain  what  follows.  It  would  appear  from  the  course 
of  the  narrative  that  all  parties  concerned  wished  to  refer 
the  question  to  the  arbritation  of  the  King  of  Tara.  Such, 
too,  was,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  advice  of  St.  Patrick ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  he  himself  resolved  to  see  the 
question  settled  in  Tara  before  entering  on  his  mission  in 
Tirawley.  One  thing  is  quite  clear — it  would  be  fruitless 
to  go  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Tirawley,  whilst  the  rival 
chiefs  were  absent  in  Tara  trying  to  settle  the  succession. 
Even  if  he  had  no  other  business  on  hand  in  Tara,  Patrick's 
wisest  course  was  to  accompany  the  sons  of  Amalgaid  to 
the  Court  of  the  High  King;  and  we  are  expressly  told 
that  he  resolved  to  do  so,  making  at  the  same  time  a  visita- 
tion of  the  Churches  which  he  had  founded,  as  we  have 
already  explained,  both  in  Roscommon  and  Westmeath. 

^ '  There  came  to  meet  him  twelve  sons  of  Amalgaid,  son  of  Fiachra  : — - 
Oengus,  P'ergus,  Fedilmid,  Enda  Crom,  Enda  Cullomm,  Cormac,  Coirpre, 
Echaid  Oenau,  Echaid  Diainim,  Eoghan  Coir,  Dubchonall,  and  Ailill  Kettle- 
face.'     Patrick  could  do  nothing  in  Tirawley  until  this  strife  was  settled. 


HE   REVISITS   TARA.  249 

Now  the  sons  of  Amalgaid  went  to  Tara  in  twelve 
chariots  to  lay  their  case  before  the  King ;  '  but  in  the 
Books  of  Patrick  it  is  found  that  only  seven  brothers  of 
them  submitted  to  the  judgment/  that  is,  were  prepared 
to  accept  the  arbitration  of  the  King.  The  'Books  of 
Patrick '  here  referred  to  seem  to  mean  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  which  contains  Tirechan's  Notes  and  Muirchu's 
Life  of  Patrick.  Tirechan  states  that  six  of  the  sons  of 
Amalgaid  came  to  judgment  before  Laeghaire,  besides 
Enda  (and  his  young  son  Conall),  that  is  seven  ;  that 
Laeghaire  and  Patrick  judged  the  cause,  and  decided 
that  they  should  divide  the  inheritance  into  seven  parts, 
and  that  Enda  made  offering  of  his  son,  and  of  his  own 
share  of  the  inheritance  to  God  and  to  Patrick  for  ever.^ 

The  version  of  the  judgment,  given  in  the  Tripartite, 
is  fuller  and  more  significant.  '  When  the  princes  came 
to  Tara  they  found  welcome  from  the  King,^  Oengus 
especially,  for  he  was  a  foster  son  of  Laeghaire's,'  that  is, 
he  was  brought  up  by  Laeghaire  in  the  royal  palace  of 
Tara.  Now  Oengus  was  astute  as  well  as  ambitious,  and 
feared  young  Prince  Conall,  who  was,  it  appears,  both 
eloquent  and  earnest  in  defending  his  father's  right,  which 
was  also  his  own.  So  he  begged  the  doorkeepers  of  the 
palace,  whom  he  knew,  not  to  admit  young  Conall  into  the 
royal  dun  ;  and  they  accordingly  refused  him  admittance 
to  the  King,  so  that  he  could  not  plead  his  father's  cause. 

Whilst  Conall  was  thus  biding  outside  the  court  of  the 
King,  '  he  heard  the  voice  of  Patrick's  Bell  from  Patrick^s 
Well ' — Tobur  Patrick — which  was  close  to  the  fortress  or 
court  of  the  King.  Thereupon  Conall  went  to  meet 
Patrick  ;  and  the  Saint  gave  his  blessing  to  the  gracious 
young  chieftain.  '^  O  Cleric,"  said  Conall,  "  knowest  thou 
what  language  is  this  that  is  in  my  memory  :  '  Hibernenses 
omnes  clamant  ad  te  pueri '  ^ — all  the  children  of  Erin  call 
upon  thee — which  two  girls  sang  out  of  their  mother's 
womb  in  our  territories  ?"  The  phrase  'out  of  their  mother's 
womb '  seems  to  mean,  as  we  have  before  stated,  '  in 
tenderest  childhood,'  as  they  were  when  Patrick  saw  them 
long  ago.  Yes,  he  remembered  them  well ;  they  were  the 
voices    of  those    who    dwelt    by   Focluth's  wood    on    the 

^  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  309. 

"^  They  were  his  cousins — first  cousins  once  removed,  for  their  father  and 
Laeghaire  were  grandsons  of  Eochy  Moyvane. 

■*  Of  course  Conall  spoke  the  words  in  Irish,  but  the  Tripartite  gives  them, 
as  a  set  phrase,  in  Latin. 


250  ST.   PATRICK   ON   THE   CRUACHAN   AIGLE. 

western  sea,  which  he  often  heard  in  far  off  lands,  and  he 
at  once  said  to  Conall  :  "  It  is  I  who  was  called  thus,  and  I 
heard  that  voice  when  I  was  biding  in  the  Isles  of  the 
Tyrrhene  Sea,  and  I  knew  not  whether  the  words  were 
spoken  within  me  or  outside  me ;  and  I  will  go  with  thee 
into  thy  country  to  baptise,  to  instruct,  and  to  preach  the 
Gospel." 

How  Prince  Conall  came  to  know  the  words  is  by  no 
means  clear.  It  might  well  be  known  in  Tirawley  that  the 
great  Bishop,  who  came  from  over  the  sea  to  preach  in 
Erin,  and  whose  fame  was  now  spread  Over  all  the  land, 
was  in  truth  the  fugitive  slave,  who  many  years  ago  took 
shipping  from  their  own  port  of  Killala.  Perhaps,  too, 
the  prattling  of  the  children,  who  in  tender  childhood 
asked  the  holy  youth  to  promise  to  come  once  more 
and  dwell  amongst  them,  was  well  remembered  ;  for 
these  maidens  still  dwelt  in  their  home  by  the  western  sea, 
and  could  never  forget  the  memorable  scene  of  their  child- 
hood.^ And  so  Prince  Conall  in  Tirawley  came  to  hear  the 
wonderful  story  ;  and  reminded  Patrick  of  the  strange, 
prophetic  words.  One  thing  is  clear,  that  they  touched  a 
deep  and  tender  chord  in  the  heart  of  the  Saint,  who  from 
that  hour  became  Conall's  friend  and  protector. 

Then,  we  are  told  that  Patrick,  now  deeply  interested 
in  young  Conall,  asked  why  he  had  come  to  Tara,  and 
Conall  told  the  cause,  adding  that  he  was  excluded  from 
the  palace  by  the  door-keepers.  But  the  doors  were  opened 
at  Patrick's  bidding ;  and  he  said  to  the  young  prince — 
"  Enter  now,  as  the  doors  are  open,  and  go  to  Eoghan,  son 
of  Niall,  who  is  a  faithful  friend  of  mine^ ;  and  he  will  help 
thee  if  thou  take  secretly  the  finger  next  his  little  finger, 
for  that  is  always  a  token  between  us."  Patrick,  we  know, 
had  many  enemies  at  Tara,  and  needed  powerful  friends 
at  court,  especially  when  he  was  absent  himself.  So, 
doubtless,  this  token  was  agreed  upon  in  an  age  when  no 
letters  could  be  written,  as  a  secret  means  of  making  known 
to  Eoghan,  who  wasgeneral-in-chiefat  Tara,  the  messengers 
and  friends  of  Patrick.  What  follows  makes  this  quite 
clear.  When  his  finger  was  touched,  "  Welcome,"  said 
Eoghan,  "what  is  Patrick's  desire?"  "To  help  me," 
said  Conall ;  and  then  the  young   prince  was  allowed  to 

^  Prince  Conall  himself  dwelt  close  to  the  wood  of  Focluth,  and  might 
have  easily  got  word  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  Patrick  in  that  locality. 

2  He  had,  doubtless,  made  Eoghan's  acquaintance  and  secured  his  friend- 
ship some  years  before  at  Tara. 


HE    REVISITS   TARA.  25  I 

state  his  cause  before  Eoghan  and  the  King.  ''  If,"  said 
he,  "  it  is  according  to  my  age  the  questions  of  the  palace 
and  the  land  are  to  be  decided,  I  must  admit  that  I  am  the 
youngest  and  have  no  claim.  But,  if  it  be  according  to  my 
father's  age,  then  my  father,  Enda  Crom,  is  the  oldest,  and 
has,  therefore,  the  right  on  his  side."  Laeghaire  reluctantly 
acquiesced  in  this  reasoning,  and  adjudicated  the  chieftaincy 
to  the  eldest  of  the  sons  of  x^malgaid,  directing,  however, 
that  the  land  should  be  divided  between  them,  and  that 
each  should  retain  the  jewels  and  other  personal  property 
already  in  his  possession.  No  doubt  the  astute  Oengus 
had  already  provided  himself  well  in  this  respect ;  but  he 
was  defeated  on  the  main  issue.  We  have  already  noticed 
that  Enda  Crom,  as  his  name  implies,  was  rather  stooped, 
and  perhaps  not  well  fitted  to  be  a  warrior,  for  which  reason 
some  of  the  tribesmen  objected  to  him  on  account  of  his 
deformity.  But  Conall,  being  young  and  vigorous,  could 
take  his  father's  place  as  a  warrior,  and  was  well  able  to 
defend  his  rights  against  the  intrigues  of  Oengus.  This 
controversy  serves  to  explain  much  of  what  follows. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRAWLEY. 

I. — Patrick's  Journey  from  Tara  to  Tirawley. 

Now  that  their  dispute  was  settled  at  Tara,  the  sons  of 
Amalgaid  set  out  for  their  native  territory.  They  travelled 
in  twelve  '  chariots,'  and  Patrick,  who  accompanied  them, 
gave  a  place  in  his  own  chariot  to  young  Prince  Conall,  so 
that  it  was  the  thirteenth  chariot.  Their  route  from  Tara 
lay  by  the  great  north-western  road,  through  Meath  and 
Longford,  crossing  the  Shannon  somewhere  near  Carrick- 
on-Shannon.^  It  was  a  much-frequented  track,  and  was 
called  sometimes  Slighe  na  g-carbad,  or  the  Road  of  the 
Chariots.  Patrick,  too,  in  fulfilment  of  his  promise  to 
Conall,  and  perhaps  also  at  the  request  of  Laeghaire,  was 
accompanied  by  Enda  Crom,  as  well  as  by  young  Conall, 
who  were  now  his  devoted  friends  and  protectors.  But 
Oengus  had  no  affection  for  them — either  for  Patrick  or  for 
his  own  nephew,  Conall.  He  hated  both  cordially ;  and 
he  was  determined,  if  possible,  to  get  rid  of  them.  So 
going  forward,  in  advance  of  their  party,  he  solicited  his 
brothers,  Fergus  and  Fedilmid,  to  kill  Patrick  and  Conall. 
They  agreed  to  do  so,  as  soon  as  they  came  to  the  territory 
of  Corann  in  the  Co.  Sligo,  part  of  which,  it  seems,  belonged 
to  their  family.  But  this  plot  miscarried,  for  the  brothers, 
on  consideration,  refused  to  kill  the  holy  Patrick,  as  well 
as  their  own  brother  and  brother's  son. 

Then  the  party  journeyed  onward  through  the  west  of 
Sligo,  and  crossing  the  Ox  Mountains,  most  likely  by  the 
wild  valley  of  Lough  Talt,  they  would  soon  descend  to 
Ballina,  where,  doubtless,  they  crossed  the  Moy,  and  so 
they  came  into  their  father's  land  of  Tirawley.  Now,  the 
wicked  Oengus,  disappointed  in  Corann,  once  more  sought 
the  life  of  Patrick.  Tirawley,  being  a  royal  seat,  had  a 
college  of  the  Druids,  who,  as  usual,  dwelt  near  the  King's 
dun.  Oengus  went  forward,  and  raised  their  anger  against 
the  daring  cleric,  who  was  coming  into  their  own  territory 

^  If  the  river  was  low  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  driving  chariots  over 
the  fords  of  the  Shannon  at  Drumboylan,  where  Patrick  himself  had  crossed. 


HIS   CONFLICT   WITH   THE   TIRAWLEY    DRUIDS.        253 

to  overthrow  their  worship.^  So  they  all  gathered 
round  the  chief  Druid,  Rechred  by  name,  who  urged  them 
to  combine  and  kill  their  common  enemy.  The  Tripartite 
says  they,  with  their  retainers,  formed  themselves  into  two 
bands,  one  of  which  was  led  by  the  Druid,  Reon,  and  the 
other  by  Rechred,  the  chief  Druid,  who  had  nine  of  his 
disciples  with  him,  all  clothed  in  their  white  priestly  gar- 
ments. 

II. — Patrick's  Conflict  with  the  Tirawley 

Druids. 

The  scene  that  followed  is  somewhat  differently 
described  by  Tirechan  and  the  Tripartite,  but  in  the  main 
the  accounts  agree.  Patrick,  with  Enda  Crom  and  young 
Conall,  had  come  to  the  place  called  afterwards  Cross- 
patrick,  and  the  Saint  was,  it  appears,  then  engaged  in 
baptising  a  number  of  the  Tirawley. men,  who  were,  doubt- 
less, followers  of  Enda  Crom.  The  scene  of  their  baptism 
was  the  holy  well  which  still  flows  in  a  copious  stream 
about  one  hundred  yards  west  of  the  old  church  of  Cross- 
patrick,  and  close  by  the  modern  road  to  Killala.  Just  then 
they  heard  that  the  troop  of  the  heathen  was  approaching 
against  them,  and  whilst  Enda  Crom  seized  his  arms  to 
repel  them,  it  seems  Patrick  sent  Conall  forward  to  indicate  to 
him  by  some  sign  where  exactly  the  Druids'  leader  stood. 
They  were  then  about  one  mile  distant  to  the  west.  Patrick 
saw  them  clearly  from  the  cross  to  the  west  of  Crosspatrick 
church — it  was  doubtless  placed  there  to  mark  the  spot. 
He  had  heard  that  Reon  the  Druid  declared  that  as  soon 
as  he,  Reon,  would  see  Patrick  he  would  cause  the  earth 
to  swallow  him  up.  But  Patrick  replied,  ''It  is  I  shall 
first  see  him,''  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  Reon,  '  the  earth 
opened  to  swallow  him  down.'  "  I  will  believe,"  said  Reon, 
*'  if  I  am  saved  from  death."  Then  the  earth  threw 
him  up  again  ;  he  believed  and  was  baptised.  But  Rechred, 
the  leader  of  the  pagan  host,  was  lifted  high  in  the  air, 
and  falling  down,  his  head  was  broken  against  a  rock, 
and  fire  from  heaven  burnt  his  body  to  ashes.^  Tirechan, 
however,  does  not  give  these  particulars,  but  merely  says 
that  when  Patrick  saw  the  Druid  host  he  raised  his  left 
hand  to  heaven  and  cursed  the  chief  Druid,  whereupon  he 


^  Audierunt  quod  sanctus  vir  venisset  super  eos  in  suas  regiones  proprias. 
— Book  of  Armagh.  ^  £xustus  est. 


254  ^T.    PATRICK   IN   TIRAWLEY. 

fell  dead  in  the  midst  of  his  fellows  ;  his  followers,  too, 
were  scattered  over  the  whole  countr}',  and  he  was  burned 
to  ashes  in  the  sight  of  all. 

The  locality  of  this  wonderful  event  is  defined  with 
great  accuracy,  and  all  the  places  referred  to  can  be  readily 
identified.  '  There  is  a  church  there  '  (where  Patrick 
stood)  says  the  Tripartite.  Crosspatrick  is  its  name,  to 
the  east  of  the  wood  of  Focluth.  Telach  na  n-Druad  is 
the  name  of  the  place  wherein  was  the  troop  of  the  heathen 
(one  mile)  ^  to  the  west  of  Crosspatrick.  Glaiss  Conaig  is 
between  them — this  was  the  stream  that  flowed  and  still 
flows  from  Meelick  Lake  to  the  sea.  The  church  and 
holy  well  at  Crosspatrick  are  well  known,  and  Patrick's 
seat  is  still  shown  just  outside  the  old  churchyard.  Telach 
na  n-Druadh,  where  the  magus  perished,  was  near  Killala, 
and  a  church  was  built  on  the  spot  to  commemorate  the 
miracle.  The  church  and  the  Druid's  stone  have  entirely 
disappeared,  but  we  learned  from  some  old  men  that  both 
were  to  be  seen  in  their  youth  in  a  field  a  little  to  the  left 
of  the  new  road  to  Palmerstown,  just  beyond  the  village 
of  Killala.  The  '  improving '  owner,  however,  cleared  all 
away. 

III.— Patrick  at  Focluth  Wood. 

This  victory  opened  the  way  for  Patrick  in  Tirawley. 
When  the  people  saw  that  wondrous  miracle  they  believed, 
'  and  he  baptised  a  great  number  on  that  day '  at  Cross- 
patrick Well,  it  seems  ;  and  he  ordained  for  them  Bishop 
Mucna,  the  brother  of  Cethiacus,  and  Patrick  gave  Mucna 
the  seven  books  of  the  law,  which  Mucna  afterwards  left  in 
turn  to  Bishop  Mac  Erca,  the  son  of  Mac  Dregain.  More- 
over, he  built  a  church  for  Mucna  at  the  Wood  of  Focluth, ^ 
called  Donaghmore,  where  his  relics  rest,^  because  '  God 
told  Patrick  to  leave  his  law  there,  and  to  ordain  bishops, 
and  priests,  and  deacons  in  that  region.'  And  Patrick  was 
prompt  to  obey  the  voice  of  God,  for  the  Wood  of  Focluth 
was  dear  to  his  heart,  and  the  voices  of  its  children  were 
ever  sounding  in  his  ears;  and  now  that  God,  after  so  many 
years,  had  fulfilled  his  soul's  desire,  and  realised  his  voca- 
tion, it  was  only  natural  that  Patrick  would  pour  out  with 
full   hand    the   richest  treasures  of  his  ministry  on    that 


*  *  Mille  passuum,'  says  Tirechan. 
^  Super  silvam  Focluth. —  Tirechan, 
^  In  qua  sunt  ossa  ejus. — Tirechan, 


AT   FOCLUTH   WOOD.  255 

blessed  region.  And  so  in  truth  he  did.  There  was  no 
other  district  of  the  same  extent  throughout  all  Ireland, 
where  he  founded  so  many  churches,  ordained  so  many 
bishops,  and  performed  so  many  wondrous  miracles  as 
around  that  ancient  Wood^  of  Focluth  by  the  western  sea. 
O'Donovan^  says  that,  although  the  old  church  of 
Donaghmore  has  completely  disappeared,  the  name  still 
survives  as  that  of  a  townland  in  the  parish  of  Killala.  We 
cannot,  however,  find  it  in  the  published  list  of  Irish  town- 
lands,  at  least  in  that  form.^  Colgan  identifies  Mucna,  or 
Mucneus  of  Donaghmore  with  Muckin  of  Moyne,  whose 
festival  is  fixed  by  our  martyrologies  on  the  4th  of  March. 
This  is  highly  probable,  as  Moyne  is  close  to  Crosspatrick, 
and  in  the  parish  of  Killala.  The  site  of  the  old  church 
can  still  be  traced  near  the  bank  of  the  Moy,  a  little  to  the 
south  of  the  beautiful  ruin  known  as  the  Abbey  of  Moyne, 
which,  of  course,  being  Franciscan,  is  of  a  much  later  date. 
Donaghmore  was,  probably,  the  first  church  which  Saint 
Patrick  founded  in  Tirawley,  and  as  usual  its  site  was 
admirably  chosen.  It  was  apparently  near  Crosspatrick,  to 
which  the  Saint  returned  from  Donaghmore,  that  Patrick 
performed  two  other  miracles  recorded  in  immediate  con- 
nection with  his  victory  over  the  Druids.  A  poor  blind 
man,  seeking  to  be  cured,  came  hastily  to  Patrick,  and 
appears  in  his  haste  to  have  stumbled,  whereupon  one 
of  Patrick's  household  laughed  aloud  at  him.  "  My  troth," 
said  Patrick,  *'  it  were  meet  that  thou  shouldst  be  the 
blind  man,"  and  forthwith  the  blind  became  hale,  and  the 
hale  became  blind  in  punishment  of  his  ill-timed  mirth. 
Mignae  was  the  cleric's  name,  and  Roi  Ruain  was  the 
name  of  the  place  where  the  blind  man  was  healed, 
because  his  name  was  Ruan,  and  he  was  son  of  Cu  Cnama, 
the  charioteer  of  King  Amalgaid.  The  place  itself,  in 
memory  of  the  miracle,  was  given  over  to  Patrick  for  the 
Church.  The  chastisement  was  severe,  but  it  made  the 
delinquent  a  saint,  for  he  became  thenceforward  a  hermit 
in  Disert-Patraic,  which  was  the  name  given  to  the  wild 
woodlands  between  Crosspatrick  and  Killala  around 
Meelick  Lake.  They  were  wild  and  lonely  then,  and  they 
are  the  same  to  the  present  day,  as  anyone  can  see  who 
notes  the  place  on  the  left  of  the  road  to  Killala. 

^  '  The   oldest   wood   that   ever  grew   in   Eire  was   Focluth   Wood,  and 
gloomiest.' 

2  Hy  Fiach?-ach,  p.  466. 

'  The  townland  narne  has  been  corrupted  into  Tawnaghmore. 


256  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRAWLEY. 

About  the  same  time  and  locality  two  lame  men  came 
to  Patrick  at  Ochtar  Caerthin  to  be  healed  of  their  infir- 
mity. They  dwelt  near  the  mountain,  and  they  complained 
that  they  were  unable  to  travel  from  the  highlands  to  the 
plain,  and  they  had  land  in  both  places.  Patrick  cured 
them  at  once. 

There,  too,  at  the  well  of  Crosspatrick,  Aedh  the  Tall, 
Son  of  Eochaid,  Son  of  Oengus,  besought  the  Saint  to 
cure  his  lameness.  Patrick  heard  his  prayer,  and  the 
grateful  youth,  therefore,  bestowed  on  Patrick  two  ox- 
gangs  of  land  for  the  site  of  a  church,  in  which  Patrick 
left  two  of  his  household  to  minister,  namely,  Teloc  and 
Nemnall.  This  appears  to  be  the  church  of  Crosspatrick 
itself,  which  got  its  name  from  Patrick's  Cross,  erected,  no 
doubt,  to  commemorate  his  signal  triumphs  over  the 
Druids  on  that  holy  ground.  The  donor  was  the  grandson 
of  the  wicked  Oengus,  who  sought  to  slay  the  Saint ;  but 
Oengus  now,  having  seen  or  heard  of  all  those  marvels, 
declared  himself  willing  to  believe,  if  Patrick  would  raise 
his  sister  from  the  dead,  that  is  Fedlem,  daughter  of 
Amalgaid,  '  who  had  died  long  ago.*  ^ 

It  was  apparently  at  this  time  that  a  certain  man,  by 
name  Mac  Dregain,  came  to  Patrick,  bringing  his  seven 
gentile  sons  along  with  him,  and  asked  God's  baptism  for 
them  all.  Patrick  was  pleased  with  this  man's  good  dis- 
positions, and  after  their  baptism  not  only  gave  a  special 
blessing  to  him  and  his  children,  but  chose  one  of  the  sons 
to  be  educated  for  the  ministry.  The  youth's  name  was 
Mac  Erca,  and  Patrick  wrote  '  elements'  for  him,  that  is  a 
catechism  of  Christian  Doctrine,  both  dogmatic  and  moral. 
The  father,  however,  did  not  wish  his  son  to  go  far  away 
from  home.  *'  It  will  grieve  me,"  he  said,  "  if  my  son  goes 
far  away  with  you."  Then  Patrick,  like  St.  Paul,  making 
himself  all  to  all  men  that  he  might  gain  all,  replied,  ''  I 
will  not  take  him  with  me,  but  I  will  place  him  under  the 
care  of  Bron  Mac  Icni  and  Olcan  " — two  bishops  whom  he 
left  in  that  country — one  near  Sligo  and  the  other  at 
Kilmore  Moy.  Then  raising  his  hand,  he  pointed  out 
where  the  young  cleric  would  have  his  church  and  after- 
wards his  grave,  and  on  that  spot  he  erected  a  cross  to 
mark  the  site,  according  to  his  custom.     The  place  which 


^  Not  Amalgaid  himself,  but  his  daughter.  The  old  king  was  baptised  at 
Killala  a  short  time  before  his  death.  He  was  the  *  first  King  of  Connaught 
after  the  faith  ' — that  is,  the  first  Christian  King. — ChronicoJi  Scotofiwi. 


THE    MAIDENS   OF   FOCLUTH   WOOD.  257 

St.  Patrick  thus  pointed  out  is  the  old  churchyard  of 
Kilroe,  over  the  estuary,  about  a  half-mile  north  of  Cross- 
patrick.  It  is  the  only  Patrician  church  of  which  even 
the  remnant  of  a  ruin  now  remains  in  Tirawley.  The  site 
was  beautifully  chosen  on  the  very  brow  of  a  rocky 
escarpment,  whose  base  is  washed  by  the  waters  of  the 
high  spring  tides  when  they  sweep  up  the  estuary  of  the 
river.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  south  wall  still 
remains,  built  of  very  large  stones  with  little  or  no  mortar. 
The  grey  old  walls  still  frown  above  the  flood,  and,  doubt- 
less, the  bones  of  Mac  Erca,  as  Patrick  said,  are  now 
commingled  with  the  dust  of  the  old  churchyard.^  The 
place  is  well  worthy  of  a  visit,  and  is  not  more  than  fifty 
or  sixty  yards  to  the  right  of  the  old  road  to  Killala. 

IV.— The  Maidens  of  Focluth  Wood. 

Tirechan  adds  that  '  two  maidens  came  to  Patrick ' — 
apparently  in  the  same  place — '  and  they  received  the 
pallium  from  his  hand,  and  he  blessed  a  place  for  them  at 
the  wood  of  Focluth.^  The  Tripartite  is  more  explicit — it 
says  he  baptised  the  women,  namely,  Crebriu  and  Lesru, 
the  two  daughters  of  Gleru,  son  of  Cummene.  It  is  they 
that  called  to  Patrick  out  of  their  mother's  womb,  when  he 
was  in  the  isles  of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea.  It  is  they  that  are 
patronesses  of  Cell-Forgland  in  Hui  Amalgada,  west  of 
the  Moy. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  passages  in  the  life 
of  St.  Patrick.  Some  forty  years  before  he  came  to  these 
shores  footsore  and  weary,  a  fugitive  slave  seeking  a  pas- 
sage to  Britain,  and  he  lodged,  he  tells  us  himself,  at 
Focluth  Wood,  in  a  poor  cottage  by  the  sea.  There  he 
saw  the  children,  these  very  children  of  Gleru,  whom  he 
promised  to  instruct  and  baptise;  theirs  were  the  voices  he 
heard  calling  him  over  the  sea;  and  now  he  had  come 
as  he  promised,  after  many  years  travelling  over  seas  and 
mountains,  bearing  with  him  the  message  of  salvation. 
Joyfully  they  came  to  him,  grown  up  women  now,  but  still 
unmarried,  waiting  all  the  long  years,  with  their  hearts 
filled  with  the  hope  of  his  return  and  the  fulfilment  of  his 
promise  that  he  would  bring  them  to  God.     What  a  joy  it 


1  Some  have  identified  Kilroe  with  Cell-Forgland,  the  church  that  Patrick 
built  for  the  maidens  twain,  whose  voices  called  him  over  the  sea,  but  that 
church  was  north-west  of  Killala,  and  has  now  disappeared. 


258  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRAWLEY. 

must  have  been  to  him  and  to  them  when  they  knelt 
before  liim  to  receive  from  his  hand  that  'palhum'  which 
was  the  bridal  robe  that  made  them  spouses  of  Christ  for 
ever.  Then  he  built  them  a  little  church  there  by  Focluth 
Wood  in  the  hearing  of  the  sea,  and  he  blessed  it  '  with 
the  blessing  of  a  father,'  and  close  at  hand  he  built  their 
little  convent  cells,  where  they  spent  the  remaining  years 
of  their  holy  and  joyous  lives  praising  and  serving  Him 
who  had  so  marvellously  led  them  from  the  darkness  of 
paganism  into  His  admirable  light. 

Ten  years  in  praise  to  God  and  good  to  men 
That  happy  precinct  housed  them.     Grief  her  work 
In  life's  young  morn  for  them  had  perfected ; 
Their  eve  was  bright  as  childhood.     When  the  hour 
Came  for  their  blissful  transit,  from  their  lips 
Pealed  forth  ere  death,  that  great  triumphant  chant 
Sung  by  the  Virgin  Mother.     Ages  passed  ; 
And  year  by  year,  on  wintry  nights,  that  song 
By  mariners  was  heard — a  cry  of  joy. 

— Aubrey  de  Vere. 

They  were  the  '  patronesses '  of  the  church  of  Cell- 
Forgland,  so,  doubtless,  it  was  there  they  lived  and  prayed, 
and  there  their  relics  rest.  At  one  time  I  thought  Kilroe 
was  the  church  of  the  maidens  twain ;  and  it  would  be  a 
satisfaction  to  know  that  even  one  of  its  broken  walls  still 
remained.  It  seems,  however,  from  the  narrative  in  the 
Tripartite,  that  Cell-Forgland  was  their  church,  and  that 
its  site  was  at  Telach  na  n-Druadh  *  over '  the  wood  of 
Focluth,  as  we  have  already  explained.  The  exact  spot 
cannot,  we  fear,  be  now  ascertained.  But  the  name  of 
Focluth  Wood  still  remains.^  Foghill  is  yet  the  name  of 
a  townland  beyond  Killala  in  the  parish  of  Kilcummin. 
It  is  undoubtedly  the  ancient  name,  modified  as  usual,  and 
it  shows  that  the  '  wood  '  really  extended  from  Cross- 
patrick  along  the  low  ground  past  Killala  to  Palmerstown, 
and  thence  to  the  head  of  the  bay  at  Lackan.  But  the 
wood  merely  meant  woodlands  interspersed  with  open 
glades;  and  a  glance  even  at  the  present  aspect  of  the 
country  will  show  that  such  must  have  been  its  character 
in  ancient  times.  Some  of  the  natives  told  me  they  remem- 

^  We  find  the  forms  Fochlad,  Fochlot,  Fochlnth,  in  the  Tripartite.  Any 
Irish  scholar  will  easily  see  that  Fochlad  is  nearly  the  same  in  sound  as  the 
modern  '  Foghiil.' 


HE    FOUNDS   KILLALA.  259 

bered  the  time  when  portions  of  the  '  old  wood  existed.' 
They  exist  still  between  Crosspatrick  and  Kiliala  around 
Meelick  Lake ;  but,  so  far  as  we  could  ascertain,  nowhere 
else.  The  woods  at  Palmerstown  appear  to  be  modern 
plantations,  which  now  occupy  at  least  a  portion  of  the 
ground  occupied  by  that  ancient  Focluth  Wood  of 
immemorial  fame. 

V. — Patrick  Founds  Killala. 

It  would  appear  from  the  context  of  the  Tripartite  that 
the  Maidens  of  Focluth  Wood  were  baptised  by  Patrick  in 
the  holy  well  at  Killala.  It  is  there  still,  close  to  the  shore, 
under  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  covered  over  with  a  small 
stone  house.  The  reference  to  Killala  itself  is  very  brief  in 
the  Tripartite,  but  very  important.  It  simply  states  that 
'  Patrick  founded  Cell  Alaid  (Killala),  and  left  therein  an 
aged  man  of  his  household  (or  religious  family),  namely 
Bishop  Muiredaig.'  Tirechan  makes  no  reference  to 
Killala  or  to  St.  Muredach  during  Patrick's  journey  in 
Tirawley,  but  when  he  crossed  the  Moy  and  was  going 
round  the  coast  to  Sligo  he  came  to  '  Muirisc,'  or  in  Irish 
'  Muirsci,'  to  Bishop  Bron,  son  of  Icni,  and  he  blessed  there 
a  youth  named  Mac  Rime,  who  became  a  bishop,  and  he 
wrote  elements,  that  is  a  catechism,  for  him  and  for 
'  Muirethacus,  the  Bishop,  who  was  at  the  River  Bratho.' 
Both  the  youths  in  question  are  named  bishops  by 
anticipation.  The  River  Bratho  is  the  Borrach,  which 
flows  into  the  sea  near  Aughris  Head,  in  the  barony  of 
Tireragh,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  It  seems  highly 
probable  that  this  district  was  the  native  place  both  of 
Mac  Rime  and  Muredach,  that  they  learned  at  least  some 
of  their  Latin  and  Theology  there,  that  Muredach,  who 
was  then  of  ripe  years,  joined  the  family  of  St.  Patrick  for 
a  time,  and  was  afterwards  appointed  by  the  Saint,  perhaps 
-before  he  left  Connaught,  the  chief  Bishop  of  the  Northern 
Hy  Fiachrach.  and  established  in  the  church  of  Killala, 
which  was  the  parish  church  of  the  royal  dun  at  Mullagh- 
horn,  close  to  Killala. 

The  chief  difficulty  against  this  view  is  the  genealogy 
of  Muredach,  Bishop  of  Killala,  quoted  by  Colgan  from  the 
Sanctilogium.  Muredach  is  there  represented  as  fifth  in 
descent  from  Laeghaire  Mac  Niall,  who  was  King  of  Ireland 
at  the  very  time  St.  Patrick  was  preaching  in  Tirawley. 
Besides  the  Life  of  St.  Farannan  at  the  15th  of  February, 


260  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRAWLEY. 

states  that  Muredach,  the  Bishop  of  Killala,  met  Columcille 
at  the  Synod  of  Easdara  about  the  year  A.D.  580,  that  is, 
after  the  Synod  of  Drumceat.  Hence  Lanigan  and  other 
critics  deny  that  St.  Patrick  placed  Muredach  over  the  See 
of  Killala. 

The  mistake  that  Lanigan  makes  is  to  assume  that 
there  was  only  one  Muredach  Bishop  of  Killala.  It  was  a 
very  common  name  amongst  the  Hy  Fiachrach,  and  as  a 
fact  we  have  the  undoubted  testimony  of  Mac  Firbis  of 
Leacan,  in  Tireragh,  who  certainly  knew  what  he  was 
talking  about,  that  there  were  seven  Bishops  of  Killala  of  the 
Clan-Cele,  and  amongst  them  we  find  the  name  of  a  Bishop 
Muredach  third  on  the  list,  and  certainly  not  the  founder 
of  the  See.  Those  prelates,  too,  derived  their  descent  from 
a  Laeghaire,  but  it  was  not  Laeghaire  Mac  Niall,  but  from 
another  Laeghaire,  the  grandson  of  King  Dathi,  who  was 
ruler  of  the  very  district  in  which  Killala  is  situated.^  There 
is  no  good  reason,  therefore,  for  denying  the  statement  in 
the  Tripartite  that  St.  Patrick  founded  the  church  of 
Killala  and  placed  over  it  his  own  disciple,  St.  Muredach, 
who  was,  probably,  a  native  of  Templeboy,  in  Tireragh. 

The  island  of  Inishmurray,  in  the  Bay  of  Donegal,  in 
our  opinion,  takes  its  name  from  this  saint.  He  must  have 
known  it  well,  for  it  is  only  about  fifteen  miles  distant  from 
Aughris  Head,  where  his  family  dwelt,  and  hence,  when  in 
his  old  age,  he  was  anxious  to  live  alone  with  God,  nothing 
would  be  more  natural  than  that,  like  so  many  Irish  saints 
of  the  time,  he  should  seek  a  *  desert '  in  the  ocean,  and 
retire  to  that  lonely  island  surrounded  by  the  wild  Atlantic 
billows.  Yet  he  was  not  the  patron  saint  of  the  island. 
St.  Molaise,  who  flourished  a  century  later,  is  universally 
recognised  as  the  patron  saint  of  Inishmurray.  Still  it  is 
strange  that  the  festival  day  of  both  saints  is  the  same,  that 
is,  the  1 2th  of  August,  which  would  seem  to  imply  some 
connection  between  them.  But  that  of  itself  is  no  reason 
for  identifying,  as  some  have  done,  Muredach  of  Killala 
with  Molaise  of  Inishmurray.^  We  find,  however,  that 
the  truly  learned  Dr.  O'Rorke  is  inclined  to  that  view. 

The  scene  is  now  transferred  from  the  low  ground  near 
Killala  along  the  river  to  the  hill  of  Mullaghfarry,^  which  is 

^  See  O'Donovan's  Hy  Fiachrach. 

2  Some  think  the  island  may  have  taken  its  name,  not  from  the  first 
Muredach  of  Killala,  but  from  his  namesake,  who  was  a  contemporary  of 
Columcille  more  than  a  hundred  years  later. 

^  He  calls  it  '  Foirrgea  filiorum  Amolugid.' 


HE   FOUNDS   KILLALA.  261 

some  three  miles  south-west  of  Killala.  It  was  the  tribal 
meeting.place  of  the  men  of  Tirawley,  and  hence  its  name 
— mullagh-forraigh— the  Hill  of  the  Meeting,  where  the 
princes  of  Tirawley  were  inaugurated,  and  all  the  important 
gatherings  of  the  tribe  were  held.  It  still  bears  the  ancient 
name,  and  is  well  known  to  everyone  around  Killala. 

Tirechan  says  that  Patrick  went  there  ^  to  divide  the 
territory  amongst  the  sons  of  Amalgaid,  doubtless  in 
accordance  with  the  instructions  which  King  Laeghaire  had 
given  him  before  his  departure  from  Tara.  The  place  was 
admirably  adapted  for  a  tribal  open  air-parhament.  It  is  a 
spacious  flat-topped  hill,  commanding  from  its  summit  a 
splendid  prospect  of  all  the  swelling  plains  and  fertile 
valleys  of  Tirawley  far  and  near  from  Ballina  to  the  sea, 
and  from  Nephin  to  Slieve  Gamh  beyond  the  river.  Tirechan 
then  adds  that  Patrick  built  on  its  summit  a  quadrangular 
mud-wall  church,^  '  because,'  he  says,  '  there  was  no  wood 
near  the  place.'  All  the  ordinary  turf  buildings  were  circular, 
and  hence  he  notes  that  this  church  was,  according  to  the 
Christian  usage,  quadrangular.  It  shows,  too,  that  stone 
was  seldom  employed  in  those  primitive  churches,  for  the 
writer  here  complains  not  of  want  of  stone  but  of  wood. 
When  a  stone  church  was  built  it  was  called  by  the  special 
name  of  daimhliac. 

No  doubt  all  the  sons  of  Amalgaid  and  the  men  of  the 
'twenty-four  old  tribes '^  were  gathered  at  this  great  meeting. 
It  was  a  momentous  one  for  them,  for  not  only  was  the 
land  to  be  divided  but  the  religious  question  was  to  be 
finally  settled,  and,  besides,  they  would  all  see  the  wonderful 
priest  of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much.  It  was  a  no  less 
important  assembly  for  Patrick,  for  it  was  necessary  to 
prove  his  mission  and  gain  their  good  will,  if  his  work  was 
to  endure  in  Tirawley.  He  had  friends  there,  like  Enda 
Crom  and  Conall,  but  he  had  enemies  too,  for  the  guileful 
Oengus  was  not  yet  converted,  and  the  Druids  still  had 
their  own  adherents  in  the  tribe.  Miracles  were  needed, 
surely,  for  the  tribesmen  were  not  people  to  listen  to  either 
philosophical  or  theological  arguments.  If  the  rude  infidels 
were  to  believe  they  must  see  signs ;  and  they  saw  them, 
too,  there  on  that  day,  and  elsewhere.  It  was  not  necessary 
for  Patrick  in  the  might  of  his  faith  to  cast  Mount  Nephin 

1  It  is  doubtful  if  MuUaghcarn  was  yet  established  as  the  royal  fort  of 
the  Hy  Awley  kings.     See  Hy  Fiachrach. 

2  Ecclesiam  terrenam  de  humo  quadratam  quia  non  prope  erat  silva. 
^  Probably  the  Firbolgs  of  Err  is. 


262  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRAWLEY. 

into  the  sea  ;  but  it  was  very  necessary  for  him  to  prove 
to  the  rude  tribesmen  of  Tirawley  by  visible  signs  that  he 
was  sent  by  God  to  preach  the  new  Gospel  and  destroy  the 
religion  of  their  fathers. 

Here,  again,  Tirechan  is  very  brief.  He  merely  says 
that  they  brought  to  Patrick  a  sick  woman  having  a  child 
(alive)  in  her  womb,  and  that  he  baptised  the  child  in  the 
womb  of  its  mother.  This  is  sometimes  done  still  in  case 
of  necessity,  when  the  baptismal  water  can  reach  a 
partially  born  child.  But  Tirechan  adds  that  this  baptismal 
water  was  also  the  water  of  the  communion  of  the  mother. 
Perhaps  the  reading  is  inaccurate,  but,  if  not,  it  merely 
means  that  a  portion  of  the  water  blessed  for  baptism  was 
used  to  enable  the  dying  woman  to  receive  the  holy 
Viaticum,  and,  perhaps,  the  Viaticum  may  have  been 
under  the  species  of  wine,  which  at  that  time  was  certainly 
not  unusual.  He  adds  that  they  buried  her  '  in  cacuminibus 
ecclesiae  ' — the  roof  of  the  church — a  very  strange  place  ; 
but  we  must  remember  that  this  church  was  just  then  being 
built,  that  it  was  constructed  of  turf  or  earthen  sods,  and 
that  in  those  buildings  there  was  sometimes  a  kind  of  croft 
or  loft,  which  might  be  used  for  the  burial.  A  vault  above 
the  loft  is  in  itself  not  more  objectionable,  rather  less,  than 
a  vault  below  the  floor.  But  in  all  this  there  is  nothing 
miraculous,  and  the  narrative  clearly  alludes  to  something 
not  fully  explained. 

The  Tripartite,  however,  more  than  makes  up  for  this 
omission  of  Tirechan.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Oengus 
said  he  would  believe  '  if  my  sister  is  brought  back  to  life.' 
Now,  the  Tripartite  tells  us  that  at  this  great  meeting  of 
the  Sons  of  Amalgaid,  the  seven  sons  of  the  king  believed 
in  Patrick,  together  with  Enda  and  with  the  old  King 
himself.  Then  it  is  added — '  Therein,  on  the  hill,  it  is  that 
he  baptised  the  pregnant  woman  and  her  child,  and  raised 
another  woman  to  life.'  Then  we  are  told  how  it  happened. 
Patrick  and  Conall  went  to  the  grave  wherein  the  dead 
pregnant  woman,  namely  Fedilm,  was  biding,  by  the  lower 
path  to  Killala.  Oengus  (her  brother),  however,  went  along 
the  upper  path  (to  Killala).  They  reached  the  grave  (at 
Killala).  Patrick  raised  the  woman  to  life,  and  the  boy  in 
her  womb.  And  both  were  baptised  in  the  well  of  Oen- 
adarc  (the  One-horn).  '  From  the  steep  little  hillock  of 
earth  that  is  near  it  the  well  was  so  named.'  And  when 
she  was  brought  to  life,  '  she  preached  to  the  multitude  of 
the  pains  of  hell  and  the  rewards  of  heaven,  and  with  tears 


HE    FOUNDS    KILI.ALA.  263 

she  besought  her  brother,  Oeiigus,  to  believe  in  God, 
through  Patrick  ;  and  in  that  day  twelve  thousand  were 
baptised  in  the  well  of  Oen-adarc ' — and  he  left  with  them 
Manchen  the  Master.  If  the  tribesmen  were  eye-witnesses 
of  these  great  miracles,  or  even  heard  of  them  from  the 
actual  eye-witnesses,  it  is  no  wonder  that  twelve  thousand 
believed  and  were  baptised  on  that  day. 

Such  is  the  story  in  the  Tripartite.  The  text  leaves  it 
doubtful  where  the  baptism  of  the  twelve  thousand  took 
place — whether  at  Killala  or  at  Mullaghfarry.  To  us  it 
appears  clear  that  it  was  at  Killala,  and  that  the  well  of  the 

*  One-horn,'  or  hillock,  was  not  at  Mullaghfarry,  but  at 
Killala.  It  still  flows  there  under  the  hillock,  as  anyone 
can  see ;  there  is  no  such  hillock  at  Mullaghfarry,  and  no 
well  near  the  site  of  the  old  church  there.  Then  it  is  evident 
that  when  Oengus  challenged  Patrick  to  raise  his  sister  to 
life  as  the  condition  of  his  believing,  Patrick  accepted  the 
challenge,  going  to  Killala  by  the  '  lower  road,'  while 
Oengus  took  the  higher  or  western  one.  The  two  roads 
are  there  still.  No  doubt  the  multitude  accompanied  them 
to  see  the  miracle  at  the  grave  ;  they  saw  it,  and  twelve 
thousand  of  the  men  of  Tirawley  were  accordingly  baptised 
on  that  day  at  Killala.  We  have  gone  over  the  whole 
ground — walked  every  inch  of  it — and  we  have  no  doubt 
even  those  who  might  deny  the  miracle  would  be  greatly 
surprised  at  the  extraordinary  fidelity  of  the  narrative  in 
all  its  local  details. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  who  Manchen  the  Master 
was.  No  native  of  Tirawley  was  at  this  time  fit  to  take 
charge  of  a  church.  The  *  bishops  '  referred  to  are  so 
called  by  anticipation  ;  they  were  then  only  learning  their 

*  elements '  or  '  alphabets,'  that  is,  their  catechisms,  in 
preparation  for  their  ministry.  Hence  Patrick  left  to  the 
men  of  Tirawley  one  of  his  own  followers  from  Britain,  or 
who  had  been  trained  in  Britain,  and  was  thus,  as  his  title 
shows,  well  qualified  to  teach  both  the  clergy  and  the 
people.  But  he  took  his  students  from  the  sons  of  the 
native  chieftains,  thereby  strengthening  the  infant  Church 
through  the  rising  influence  of  a  local  clergy  and  their 
manifold  tribal  connections.  On  this,  as  on  many  similar 
occasions,  Patrick  showed  consummate  prudence  in  the 
organisation  of  his  infant  Church. 

Oengus  was  baptised  after  the  miracle  at  Killala,  and 
Patrick  now  went  to  visit  his  territory,  which  was  at  Loch 
Daela,  now  Lough   Dalla,  a  small  lake  about  five  miles 


264  ST.   PATRICK    IN    TIRAWLEY. 

south-west  of  Crosspatrick.  The  Saint  was  anxious  to  get 
the  place  of  a  church  there,  and  subsequently  got  it,  not, 
however,  without  rudeness  and  reluctance  on  the  part  of 
Oengus.  The  old  warrior  came  half  drunk  to  Patrick,  and 
treated  him  with  disrespect,  for,  like  King  Laeghaire,  '  it 
was  not  from  the  heart  he  believed,'  but  rather  from  fear 
or  policy.  Patrick  reproached  the  drunken  chief  severely. 
"  By  my  troth,"  he  said,  "  it  were  right  that  thy  dwellings 
and  thy  children  after  thee  should  not  be  exalted.  Thy 
successors  will  be  ale-bibbers,  and  there  will  be  parricides 
from  thee."  It  is  noteworthy  that  O'Donovan  says  of  the 
descendants  of  Oengus,  who  were  once  in  Tirawley,  that 
their  family  names  (mentioned  by  Mac  Firbis  as  those  of 
the  Cenel-Oengusa),  are  all  obsolete  at  present  in  the 
barony  of  Tirawley.^ 

VI.— Founding  of  Kilmore-Moy. 

From  Lough  Dalla  Patrick  went  eastward  to  Lecc 
Finn,  that  is  towards  the  place  where  Ballina  now  stands. 
Lecc  Finn,  or  the  White  Rock,  was  the  name  of  a  large 
stone  cropping  up  on  the  summit  of  the  high  ground 
just  over  the  old  church  of  Kilmore  Moy,  and  it  is  quite 
accurately  described  in  the  Tripartite,  *  as  over  the  church 
to  the  west.'  It  was  afterwards  called  Lia  na  Monagh,  or 
the  Monk's  Stone,  from  St.  Olcan,  the  founder  of  the  church 
of  *  Kilmore  Ochtair  Muaide.'  This  rock  was  a  conspicuous 
object  in  the  field,  having  on  one  side  a  smooth  face,  rising 
over  the  soil.  On  this  face  of  the  rock  Patrick,  who  had 
special  reverence  for  the  symbol  of  our  redemption,  incised 
a  cross,  thus  marking  it  out  as  the  place  of  a  church, 
*  although  there  was  no  church  there  at  that  time.'  The 
old  church  has  completely  disappeared,  although  the  grave- 
yard remains,  but  Patrick's  Cross  engraved  on  the  face  of  the 
living  rock  still  remains.  It  is  sometimes  covered  with  the 
earth  which  has  risen  up  around  the  rock,  but  it  is  there ; 
and  by  removing  the  clay  the  visitor  may  see  it  at  any  time, 
and  surely  the  sacred  spot  is  worthy  of  greater  care  than 
it  has  received  from  the  local  proprietors.^ 

Bishop  Olcan,  who  accompanied  Patrick  to  this  sacred 
spot,  was  probably  his  own  nephew,  the  son  of  his  sister, 
Richella,  as  has  been  already  explained.     Olcan  carried  an 

^  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  7,  note. 

^  We  venture  to  suggest  that  the  clay  should  be  removed  from  the  face  oi 
the  rock  and  the  lines  of  Patrick's  Cross  be  clearly  brought  to  light. 


FOUNDING   OF   KILMORE-MOY.  265 

axe  on  his  back  for  the  purpose,  it  seems,  of  procuring 
timber  for  his  new  church,  but  Patrick  had  not  yet  fixed 
the  exact  site.  "  Go  and  and  build  it,"  said  the  Saint,  ''at 
the  spot  where  the  axe  will  fall  from  your  shoulder — there 
your  residence  will  be."  The  axe  fell  at  the  place  *  where 
Kilmore  Moy  is  to-day,'  just  under  the  White  Rock,  and 
there  Olcan  built  his  church,  on  a  very  beautiful  site,  close 
to  the  highway  from  Ballina  to  Killala,  and  not  more  than 
half-a-mile  from  the  former  town.  It  was,  in  fact,  the 
parish  church  of  Ballina,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river. 

Just  beneath  the  old  church  there  flows  a  bounteous 
spring,  '  right  in  the  doorway  of  Kilmore  Moy,'  as  the 
Tripartite  says,  and  along  the  high  road  that  passes  close 
to  it.  This  well,  or  stream,  was  just  then  the  scene  of  a 
wondrous  miracle,  as  recorded  in  the  Tripartite.  Eochaid, 
son  of  the  great  King  Dathi,  was,  it  seems,  ruler  of  the 
district,  and  was  baptised  in  this  well.  His  wife,  Echtra, 
had  died  a  short  time  before,  and  he  besought  Patrick  to 
raise  her  to  life.  Patrick  heard  his  prayer  ;  and  *  he  raised 
Echtra  to  life  at  Ath-Echtra  (that  is  the  Ford  of  Echtra), 
over  the  little  stream,  right  in  the  doorway  of  Kilmore. 
And  Echtra's  grave-mound  is  on  the  edge  of  the  P'ord.  It 
is  in  the  knowledge  of  them  in  this  country ' — the  story 
which  commemorates  this  miracle.^  The  grave-mound  of 
Echtra  was  there  until  quite  recently,  when  an  '  improving ' 
farmer  levelled  it  to  manure  his  field  ;  but  the  spot  is  still 
pointed  out :  and  we  can  testify  that  the  story  is  still  green 
in  the  memory  of  the  people.  The  writer  of  the  Tripar- 
tite is  perfectly  candid.  He  points  to  the  tradition  of  the 
locality,  as  the  evidence  of  the  miracle,  and  hence  he  is  so 
precise  in  defining  the  places  referred  to ;  and,  as  usual,  his 
description  is  perfectly  accurate.  Tirechan,  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  makes  no  reference  to  this  miracle  ;  but  his 
account  is  confessedly  brief  and  imperfect. 

Then  Patrick  faced  again  northwards,  and  passing  on 
beyond  Killala  he  came  to  the  place  called  Lecc  Balbeni, 
where  he  found  the  sons  of  Amalgaid  *  and  blessed  them.' 
There  can  hardly,  we  think,  be  any  doubt  that  'Lecc  Balbeni, 
or  the  Stone  of  Balbeni,'  is  the  very  striking  pillar-stone, 
standing  near  the  strand  at  the  head  of  Lackan  Bay ; 
placed  there,  no  doubt,  to  mark  the  grave  of  some  ancient 
hero,  who  probably  perished  in  the  tide-way.  St.  Patrick's 
Well,  a  deep  and  beautiful  spring,  stands  near  the  pillar- 

Mt  is  a  challenge  to  the  local  historians  to  deny  the  fact  if  they  can. 


266  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRAWLEY. 

stone,  and  of  itself  points  to  the  presence  of  the  Saint  in 
the  district.  It  was  there  he  probably  baptised  the  people 
of  that  remote  territory. 

The  Tripartite  does  not  follow  the  Saint  further  north  ; 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  on  this  occasion  he  crossed 
the  hill  over  Lackan  Bay,  and  journeyed  to  the  very  remark- 
able promontory  that  still  bears  his  name,  that  is,  Down- 
patrick  Head. 

VII. — Patrick  at  Downpatrick  Head. 

This  is  a  very  wild,  but  highly  picturesque  spot,  and 
naturally  attracted  one  who  had  so  keen  an  eye  as  Patrick 
for  the  beauties  of  nature.  On  the  land  side  it  is  low,  not 
much  above  the  level  of  high  tide  ;  but  then  the  headland 
gradually  rises  towards  the  sea,  affording  a  fine  view, 
especially  westwards,  of  all  the  bold  coastland  of  Erris,  with 
the  Stags  of  Broadhaven  rising  from  the  sea  in  the  distance. 
The  turf  under  foot  is  soft  and  green,  with  all  the  tender 
elasticity  of  a  velvet  carpet.  Upward  still  you  walk  and 
seaward  as  you  advance,  watching  the  glorious  prospect 
on  either  side,  until  suddenly  a  deep  abyss  opens  betore 
you,  with  the  roaring  waves  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
beneath.  Involuntarily  you  step  backward,  for  it  is  a  place 
to  try  one's  nerves,  and  then,  getting  courage,  you  see 
before  you  an  island,  Doonbriste  it  is  popularly  called, 
that  is,  the  Broken-off-fort,  and  such  it  clearly  is.  It  was 
the  sea  that  tore  off  the  island  from  the  main ;  they  are 
exactly  the  same  height,  and  the  little  island  shows  the 
same  strata  and  the  same  gradual  elevation  towards  the  sea. 
Broken  off  it  surely  was  from  the  promontory  on  which  you 
stand — and  an  impassable  gulf  now  yawns  between  them — 
but  when  no  man  can  tell.  They  say  there  is  an  ancient 
fort  on  the  island,  built  there  before  the  fracture.  It  could 
not  have  been  done  since,  for  no  man  can  now  surmount  it, 
either  from  the  land  or  from  the  sea.  The  wild  birds  have 
it  all  to  themselves,  and  they  know  it.  The  cliffs,  the 
rocky  ledges,  and  the  green  area  of  the  summit  of  Doon- 
briste are  literally  alive  with  them  ;  they  build  their  nests 
everywhere,  even  on  the  bare  rocks,  in  perfect  security 
that  they  cannot  be  disturbed.  It  would  be  a  cruel  and 
fruitless  thing  to  shoot  them ;  they  might  be  destroyed, 
but  nothing  could  be  gained  thereby. 

On  the  slope  of  the  hill  there  is  an  old  ruin,  which  the 
people  say  was  an  ancient  church   built  by  St.  Patrick, 


AT   DOWNPATRICK    HEAD.  26/ 

It  is  not  cyclopaean,  and  we  think  it  is  not  so  ancient  as 
the  time  of  St.  Patrick ;  but  as  all  the  characteristic 
features  have  disappeared,  it  is  now  hard  to  say  what  it 
was.  The  tradition,  however,  that  St.  Patrick  came  there, 
and  founded  an  oratory  on  the  Head,  is  still  very  vivid, 
and,  we  have  no  doubt,  is  founded  in  fact.  The  name 
itself  is  sufficient  evidence  of  the  Saint's  sojourn  there  for 
some  brief  period.  Knox  thinks  the  church  may  have 
been  that  called  by  the  Tripartite  the  church  of  Ros  Mac 
Caithni.  O'Donovan,  however,  more  justly  places  this 
church  at  Ross  Point,  near  Killala.  I  do  not  think  there 
was  a  church  on  Doonbriste ;  the  ruins  are  those  of  a  very 
ancient  fort ;  although  there  certainly  was  a  church  called 
Dunbristia,  but  it  was  on  the  mainland — that  is,  on  Down- 
patrick  Head. 

It  is  likely  that  St.  Patrick,  returning  from  Downpatrick, 
came  by  way  of  Mullaghcross  to  Fearsad  Treisi,  close  to 
the  old  Abbey  of  Rafran.  It  was  the  usual  way,  and 
besides  it  was  a  place  likely  to  be  visited  by  the  Saint. 
Mullaghcross — the  Hill  of  the  Cross — appears  to  take  its 
name  rather  from  the  cross  roads  than  from  any  ancient 
cross  erected  on  the  spot.  But  it  is  a  remarkable  place, 
for  it  seems  to  have  been  the  original  seat  of  Druidism  in 
Tirawley.^  The  great  stone  circle  surrounding  the  Druid's 
altar  still  remains  on  the  left  of  the  road  to  Palmerstown ; 
and  close  to  the  cross  roads  a  very  ancient  ogham  pillar 
once  stood.  When  we  saw  it  the  monolith  was  overthrown, 
so  that  we  could  make  no  attempt  to  copy  the  inscription, 
but  we  have  since  heard  that  it  has  been  re-erected,  and 
that  the  inscription,  though  much  defaced,  has  been 
deciphered. 2 

The  whole  locality  is  at  once  very  remarkable  and  also 
very  picturesque. 

From  the  cross-roads  St.  Patrick  would  descend  a  gentle 
slope  through  green  and  fertile  meadows  to  the  ford  at 
Rafran.  Here  the  Pagan  and  Christian  memorials  stand 
side  by  side  at  a  spot  which  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  Connaught.  The  bay  of  Rafran  penetrates 
far  into  the  land — the  tidal  waters  coming  up  to  meet  the 
mountain  river  at  Palmerstown,  but  the   ancient  ford  was 

^  Amalgaid  himself  had  his  chief  dun  near  at  hand  over  the  river  at 
Rafran. 

2  It  is  in  the  townland  of  Breastagh,  and  the  inscription  signifies  : — '  (Stone) 
of  Carrbri,  son  of  Ammllagnitt.'  The  elder  Amalgaid  ( +  449)  had  a  son 
named  Cairbre. 


268  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRAWI.EY. 

about  half-a-mile  to  the  seaward  of  the  present  road,  just 
under  the  old  abbey.  It  was  called  Fearsad  Treisi  because 
Tresi,  daughter  of  Nadfraoch,  King  of  Munster,  who  was 
wife  of  King  Amalgaid,  was  drowned  at  the  crossing.  In 
later  times  it  came  to  be  called  Fearsad  Raith  Bhrain 
(Rafran)  from  the  rath  of  Brunduibh,  which  stood  at  the 
same  spot — doubtless  to  command  the  ford ;  and  the  rath 
certainly  was,  and  most  fitly  too,  one  of  the  royal  forts  of 
the  kings  of  Hy  Fiachrach.^  The  friars  were  not  likely 
to  miss  such  a  spot — it  was  so  quiet,  so  fishful,  so  pic- 
turesque. Wherefore  the  Dominicans,  at  a  very  early 
date,  got  a  grant  of  the  place  from  the  conquering 
D'Exeters,  and  built  their  beautiful  church  just  over  the 
river  in  one  of  the  most  charming  sites  in  Tirawley.  The 
ford  is  a  little  below  it,  and  is,  we  believe,  still  used  by 
those  who  wish  to  shorten  the  way  to  Killala  by  crossing 
the  river  at  this  point. 

There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  it  was  over  this  ford 
St.  Patrick  passed  into  the  peninsula  of  Ross,  when  he 
returned  from  Lecc  Balbeni  to  cross  the  Moy  to  the  east. 
The  peninsula  of  Ross  retains  its  name ;  and  Tirechan — 
not  the  Tripartite — tells  us  that  Patrick  founded  a  church 
there  'with  a  certain  family  in  the  bosom  of  the  sea.'^ 

This  description  of  the  place  is  very  picturesque  and 
quite  exact.  We  spent  a  day  rambling  through  the  sand  hills 
of  Ross  to  find  out  the  site  of  this  church,  and  at  length 
found  it,  just  one  hundred  yards  south  of  the  coast-guard 
station,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  promontory, 
looking  towards  Bartragh  Island. 

It  is  described  happily  as  '  in  the  bosom  of  the  sea,' 
for  it  is  a  sand-hill  with  the  tide  flowing  nearly  all  round  it ; 
but  it  is  a  pleasant  spot  at  any  time,  and  in  summer  it 
must  be  quite  delightful.  It  is  strange  the  good  people  of 
Killala  seem  to  have  deserted  it  for  Enniscrone  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  bay.  The  few  lodges  around  it  are 
roofless  and  desolate. 


1  See  Hy  Fiachrach,  p,  173. 

^  Apud  familiam  in  sinu  maris,  id  est,  Ross  filiorum  Caitni 


CHAPTER     XIV. 
ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERAGH. 

I. — He  Recrosses  the  Moy. 

From  this  southern  point  of  Ross  St.  Patrick  crossed  the 
shallow  bar  of  Killala  harbour  into  the  western  Bertriga, 
as  Tirechan  has  it,  or  Bertlacha,  as  it  is  in  the  Irish  text. 
We  have  the  name  still  in  the  form  Bartragh — '  the  flowery 
Bartragh '  ^ — which  is  a  long  narrow  sandy  island  ridge 
thrown  up  by  the  waves  where  they  meet  the  river  floods ; 
and  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  the  tide  at  high  water  in 
our  own  time,  just  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  St.  Patrick. 
According  to  the  Tripartite,  '  Patrick  went  from  Bertlacha 
in  the  west  to  Bertlacha  in  the  east  of  the  estuary  of  the 
Moy  over  against  the  sea.'  Here  again  we  see  the  wonder- 
ful accuracy  in  his  topographical  descriptions  shown  by 
the  writer  of  the  Tripartite — an  accuracy  which  no  sub- 
sequent writer  has  even  attempted  to  imitate.  The  island, 
as  we  have  said,  and  as  the  ordnance  map  shows,  is 
divided  into  two  islands  at  high  water  of  spring  tides. 
The  Moy  mostly  flows  past  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
eastern  island,  which  the  river  floods  have  thrown  up 
against  the  sea  waves  ;  but  at  low  water  this  eastern  bar, 
like  the  western  or  Killala  bar,  is  not  more  than  three  or 
four  feet  deep.  Over  or  through  this  the  Apostle  and  his 
companions  crossed  ;  but  it  seems  in  crossing  '  a  girl  was 
drowned  before  him  there ; '  and  then  he  blessed  the  port 
or  estuary,  and  said  that  no  one  should  be  drowned  there 
for  ever  after — a  prediction  which,  let  us  hope,  will  not 
too  much  encourage  the  bathers  at  Enniscrone  to  do  foolish 
things.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  not  alone  Patrick  but 
Brigid,  Muredach,  Columcille  and  others  blessed  the  port 
of  Killala.  Patrick's  blessing,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  bestowed  not  on  Killala  Bay,  but  rather  on  the  eastern 
estuary  of  the  Moy  along  the  Sligo  shore. 

Patrick   also    prophesied    that   this    eastern    Bartragh 
would   belong  to  him,  that  is  to  his  church  of  Armagh. 

1  M'Firbis'  Hy  Fiachtach, 


270  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRERAGH. 

'  It  stands  in  one  of  their  histories — local  histories — that 
in  the  day  of  war  the  king  of  that  land  shall  call  on 
Patrick,  and  he  shall  be  victorious.'  It  appears  that  eastern 
Bartragh  and  the  Tireragh  shore  adjoining  belonged  to 
Prince  Conall  at  that  time.  Prince  Conall  and  his  father 
had  made  at  Tara  an  offering  of  their  territory  '  to  Patrick 
and  to  God  ;  '  and  so  it  came  to  be  especially  under  the 
Saint's  protection. 

II. — Patrick  and  the  Grecraide  of  the  Moy. 

But  all  the  natives  were  not  equally  courteous  or 
generous.  A  rude  tribe  called  the  Grecraide,  whose 
principal  home  was  at  Lough  Gara,^  in  the  County 
Sligo,  had,  it  seems,  a  colony  near  the  Moy,  at  this 
place ;  and  those  savages  received  the  Apostle  and  his 
followers  just  as  they  were  emerging  from  the  water,  after 
crossing  the  bar,  with  a  shower  of  stones.  '  They  flung 
stones  at  Patrick  and  his  household  there  at  the  stream.' 
Patrick  was  not  the  man  to  allow  this  to  pass  with  im- 
punity. *^By  my  troth,"  he  said,  "in  every  contest  in 
which  ye  shall  be  ye  shall  be  routed,  and  ye  shall  abide 
under  spittle  and  wisps  and  mockery  in  every  assembly 
at  which  ye  shall  be  present."  We  find  that  both  the 
Grecraide  and  the  Calraige  of  the  County  Sligo  were  kin- 
dred tribes,  and  both  opposed  the  preaching  of  St.  Patrick. 
They  were,  probably,  of  the  Firbolgic  race,  although  the 
Grecraide  are  said  to  have  been  descended  from  JEngus 
Finn,  son  of  Fergus  Mac  Roy.  We  find  the  Calraige 
around  Lough  Gill,  and  also  in  Murrisk  (of  Tireragh) 
and  Coolcarney,  that  is  in  the  mountains  of  North  Sligo. 
The  Grecraide  we  find  in  Coolavin,  Leyney,  and  Gallen, 
but  they  were  driven  out  of  the  plains  of  Corran  by  the 
Luigne,  and  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  mountains  east 
of  the  Moy  and  along  the  eastern  shore  of  that  river.  In 
St.  Patrick's  time  these  tribes  still  held  those  territories, 
but  the  sons  of  Amalgaid  had  already  crossed  the  Moy, 
and  were  driving  them  into  the  great  wild  range  of  the 
Ox  Mountains,  extending  in  a  semicircle  from  Foxford  to 
CoUooney,  where  their  descendants  are  to  be  found  to  this 
day.      Both    opposed    the    progress    of  the    Gospel,    and 

^  O'Flaherty  tells  us  that  the  Grecraide  of  Lough  Gara,  now  the  half 
barony  of  Coolavin,  were  sprung  from  ^^ngus  Finn,  son  of  Fergus  MacRoy, 
and  Queen  Maeve.  From  this  Finn  the  barony  itself  of  Coolavin  (Cuil  ua 
Finn)  is  said  to  have  taken  its  name. 


PATRICK   AND    PRINCE    CONALL.  27 1 

Patrick  declared  that  they  would  be  utterly  routed  and 
despised.  So  it  came  to  pass.  O'Donovan  declares  "  we 
hear  no  more  about  the  Grecraide,  afterwards  they  were 
consigned  very  properly  by  Patrick  to  deserved  infamy 
and  oblivion." 

III. — Patrick  and  Prince  Con  all. 

Not  so,  young  Prince  Conall.  He  either  accompanied 
Patrick  from  the  West,  or  met  him  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  river.  Patrick  was  greatly  pleased  with  this  affectionate 
and  generous  devotion.  "  Arise,  O  Conall,"  he  said,  "  thou 
must  take  the  crozier" — the  bachal,  or  symbol  of  ecclesi- 
astical authority.  *'  If  God  wills  it  I  am  even  ready  to  do 
so  "  (that  is  to  become  a  cleric)  said  Conall.  "  Not  so," 
said  Patrick,  *'  for  the  sake  of  thy  tribe  and  their  heritage 
thou  shalt  be  a  warrior,  but  thou  shalt  bear  the  crozier  on 
thy  shield,  and  thou  shalt  be  Conall  of  the  Crozier  Shield. 
Dignity  of  laymen  and  clerics  from  thee,  and  every  one  of 
thy  descendants  in  whose  shield  shall  be  the  sign  of 
my  crozier,  his  warriors  shall  never  be  turned  in  flight." 
*  Which  thing  Patrick  did  for  him,'  adds  the  Tripartite. 

Thou  shalt  not  be  a  Priest,  he  said ; 
Christ  hath  for  thee  a  lowlier  task  ; 
Be  thou  His  soldier  !  Wear  with  dread 
His  Cross  upon  thy  shield  and  casque  ! 
Put  on  God's  armour,  faithful  knight  ! 
Mercy  with  justice,  love  with  law  ; 
Nor  e'er  except  for  truth  and  right 
Thy  sword,  cross-hilted,  dare  to  draw. 

A.  DE  Vere. 

Conall  had  given  his  inheritance  to  Patrick,  and  he  was 
ready  to  give  himself  also  to  his  service  ;  but  Patrick 
rather  made  him  the  champion  of  the  Church  as  well  as 
of  his  tribe,  to  defend  the  rights  of  both  under  Patrick's 
special  protection.  Lands  thus  given  over,  or  '  immolated' 
to  St.  Patrick,  were  not  forgotten  by  his  successors  in 
Armagh.  So  we  find  in  the  '  Additions  '  to  Tirechan  that 
the  Hy  Fiachrach  immolated  to  Patrick  for  ever  the  plain 
of  the  North,  between  the  Gleoir  and  the  Ferni,  with  all 
the  tenants    (servis)    ministering  to  them    therein.     This 

^  Item  campum  Aquilonis  inter  Gleoir  et  Ferni  cum  servis  in  eo  sibi  famul- 
antibus  filii  Fiachrach  Patriiio  in  sempiternum  immolaverunt,  p.  337.  The 
tenants  were  the  Grecraide. 


272  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERAGH. 

northern  plain  by  the  sea  extended  from  Enniscrone, 
where  Patrick  landed,  north-eastwards  to  the  Gleoir, 
which  O'Donovan  has  shown  is  the  Leaffony  River,  that 
flows  into  Killala  Bay  about  three  miles  north  of  Ennis- 
crone. It  contained  the  ancient  church  of  Kilglass  and 
the  Castle  of  Leacan  Mac  Firbis,  a  name  that  will  for  ever 
be  dear  to  Irish  scholars  as  the  ancestral  home  of  a  race 
of  hereditary  antiquaries,  whose  learning  and  dili^^ence 
were  never  excelled,  not  even  by  their  ancient  fellow- 
tribesmen,  the  renowned  O'Clerys  of  Donegal.  Leacan 
by  the  sea  knows  them  no  more ;  their  castle  is  now  a 
ruin,  and  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  masters  fell  by  the 
hand  of  a  vile  assassin  in  1666,  when  there  was  no  law  for 
Catholics  in  Ireland ;  but  the  name  of  Mac  Firbis  of 
Leacan  will  never  be  forgotten  in  their  native  land  whilst 
the  ancient  tongue  is  spoken  and  the  ancient  learning  is 
prized  by  her  sons. 

It  was  here,  according  to  Tirechan,  that  Patrick 
founded  a  church,  '  juxta  fossam  Rigbairt,'  that  is  at 
Rath-Rigbairt ;  but  the  exact  site  has  not  been  deter- 
mined. It  was  probably  near  Kilglass  by  the  Moy, 
although  O'Donovan  says  a  place  of  this  name  was  near 
Killasbughbrone,  not  far  from  the  town  of  Sligo.^  It  is 
quite  clear,  however,  from  the  Tripartite,  that  Rath-Rigbairt 
was  near  the  Moy  at  this  place,  for  it  tells  us  that  as  Patrick 
came  over  the  river  into  Grecraide  three  wizards  sought  to 
poison  him  at  Rath-Rigbairt,  but  failed  in  the  attempt. 
St.  Patrick's  progress  now  lay  eastward  through  Tireragh, 
by  the  coast  road  towards  Sligo.  Few  particulars  are 
given  of  his  journey  through  this  district,  but,  as  usual,  the 
statements  of  the  Tripartite  are  strikingly  accurate  from 
the  topographical  point  of  view. 

We  are  told  that  'he  went  eastward  into  the  territory 
of  the  Hy  Fiachrach  by  the  Sea.'  The  Hy  Fiachrach 
here  referred  to  are  known  as  the  Hy  Fiachrach  of  the 
Moy — whose  principal  seat  was  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river — and  they  have  given  their  name  to  the  territory 
since  known  as  Tireragh.  They  took  their  tribe  name 
from  Fiachra,  son  of  the  great  King  Dathi,  whereas  the  race 
of  which  they  were  only  a  sub-division  took  their  name  from 
Dathi's  father,  Fiachra,  the  son  of  Eochy  Moyvane.^ 


^  See  Hy  Fiachrach^  p.  496.     But  this   Rath-Rigbairt  seems  to  have  been 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Moy. 

^  That  is  Fiachra  Foltsnathach. 


PATRICK   AND    PRINCE    CONALL.  273 

Now  as  Patrick  was  advancing  eastward  by  the  sea 
road,  which  still  exists,  we  are  told  that  '  a  water  opposed 
him,' that  is,  a  great  unnatural  flood  therein,  and  he  cursed 
it.  Many  an  angry  water  comes  down  to  that  wild  coast 
from  the  slopes  of  the  Ox  Mountains  when  the  rain  clouds 
of  the  west  sweep  over  their  summits,  but  the  Easky  River 
is  perhaps  worst  of  all  in  times  of  flood.  Its  deep  bed  is 
strewn  with  granite  boulders  carried  down  by  the  raging 
waters,  still  its  name  implies  that  it  is  a  fishful  river  though 
its  unnatural  floods  angered  the  Apostle  so  much  as  to 
merit  a  malediction.  This  'cursing'  of  the  river  could  be 
understood  if  the  proprietor  brought  it  upon  himself  by  his 
opposition  to  the  Gospel,  as  often  happened ;  but  the  mere 
fact  that  angry  waters  swollen  by  the  rains  barred  the 
Apostle's  progress  is,  of  itself,  scarcely  a  reason  for  cursing 
the  impetuous  stream.  Every  impediment  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  land  more  or  less 
ruffled  the  apostolic  zeal  of  St.  Patrick ;  and  it  is  not 
Jinlikely  that  the  traditional  narrative  may  express  his 
impatience  of  delay  in  stronger  language  than  he  really 
used.  Our  Saviour,  no  doubt,  '  cursed  '  the  fig-tree  because 
it  was  barren,  but  there  at  least  there  was  a  moral  lesson 
intended  to  be  conveyed.  Perhaps  Patrick,  too,  if  indeed 
he  'cursed'  the  river,  intended  that  his  followers  should 
learn,  even  from  inanimate  things,  a  similar  moral  lesson 
concerning  the  wickedness  of  impeding,  in  any  way,  the 
progress  of  Gospel. 

*  By  that  water  there  was  a  stead,  Buale  Patraic  is  its 
name,  that  is  Patrick's  byre  or  shed,  and  there  is  a  small 
round  cross  thereon.'  From  this  we  gather  that  Patrick 
found  it  necessary  to  await  the  subsiding  of  the  flooded 
stream,  and  built  a  shed  for  himself  and  his  family  on  the 
bank,  which  as  usual  he  marked  with  the  symbol  of  the 
Cross.  There  was  a  church  built  afterwards  on  that  left 
bank  of  the  river,  at  the  same  place,  but  Patrick's  Byre 
was,  no  doubt,  the  original  church  where  the  Apostle  and 
his  companions  celebrated  the  Sacred  Mysteries  whilst  they 
waited  for  the  subsidence  of  the  rushing  waters  ;  for  it 
is  added,  '  he  tarried  there  a  little  while.' 

His  course  still  lay  east  by  the  shore,  through  the 
*  mead-abounding  Muirisc,'  that  is  the  Sea  Plain,  which, 
says  O'Donovan,  extended  eastwards  from  the  Easky 
River  to  the  stream  which  flows  into  the  sea  between  the 
townlands  of  Ballyeeskeen  and  Dunnacoy.  It  is  now  called 
the    Ballymeeny    River.      The    Calraige    probably  dwelt 

T 


274  S*^-   PATRICK    IN   TIRERAGIL 

there  still  as  tenants,  but  the  chiefs  seem  to  have  been  of 
the  Hy  Fiachrach.  In  after  times  O'Conmy  ruled  this 
district,  and  one  of  the  family  even  now  worthily  rules  the 
ancient  See  of  St.  Muredach. 

There,  we  are  told,  probably  at  Duncontreathain,^  where 
the  chief  dwelt,  "  Patrick  met  Bishop  Bron,  son  of  Icni, 
and  he  blessed  another  youth,  (afterwards)  Bishop  Mac 
Rime,  of  Cell-Corcu-Roide,  and  also  Bishop  Muirethacus, 
who  dwelt  on  the  Bratho,  and  he  wrote  elements  for 
them."  2 

This  passage  is  very  significant.  It  seems  to  imply 
that  the  three  prelates  were  natives  of  this  district^,  that 
Bron*  was  already  there,  for  Patrick  is  said  to  have  come 
to  him  there — apud  Bronum  filium  Icni — then  'they' 
wrote  elements  for  the  two  youths,  Mac  Rime  and  Muire- 
thacus, who  are  called  '  bishops '  by  anticipation.  Mac 
Rime  here  referred  to  is  called  Mac  Rime  of  Cell  Corcu 
Roide  in  the  Tripartite  ;  it  is  the  place  called  Corcagh  by 
Mac  Firbis,  and  the  name  is  still  retained  at  Aughros,  in 
the  parish  of  Templeboy.  The  church  of  Corcu  Roide, 
where  Bishop  Mac  Rime  dwelt,  was,  in  all  probability,  the 
old  church  of  Templeboy.  The  Bratho  where  Muredach 
dwelt  was  the  river  now  known  as  the  Borrach  of  bright 
streams,  as  Mac  Firbis  calls  it,  which  flows  into  the  sea 
east  of  Aughris  Head  ;  and  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt, 
as  we  have  said  above,  that  he  was  the  Muredachus  whom 
St.  Patrick  at  a  later  date  placed  over  the  See  of  Killala. 
Bron  of  Cashel  Irra  appears  to  have  been  their  senior,  and, 
in  some  degree,  their  teacher,  although  the  Tripartite, 
which  makes  no  mention  here  of  Muredach,  says  that 
Patrick  wrote  elements  there  for  Bron  and  Bishop  Mac  Rime. 
It  is  more  likely,  however,  that  Tirechan  is  correct  in  stating 
that  '  they,'  Patrick  and  Bron,  wrote  the  elements  for  the 
other  two  younger  men,  one  of  whom  is  expressly  stated 


^  Patrick's  church,  or  Domnach,  was  built  near  Lis  na  Draighne,  as 
this  fort  was  afterwards  called. 

2  The  words  of  Tirechan  are  significant — "  Venit  in  Muiriscam  apud 
Bronum  filium  Icni  et  benedixit  filium,  qui  est  Mac  Rime  episcopus  et  scrip- 
serunt  (Patricius  et  Bronus  ?)  elementa  illi  et  Muirethiaco  episcopo  qui  fuit 
super  flumen  Bratho." 

^  My  venerable  and  learned  friend,  Archdeacon  O'Rorke,  makes  Bishop 
Bron  a  native  of  Coolerra  ;  but  the  present  passage  is  against  him. 

*  Ardnaglass,  also  known  as  Ardnabrone,  in  the  parish  of  Skreen,  con- 
tained an  old  fort,  and  later  an  old  castle,  which  may  have  been  the  due! ling- 
place  of  the  Bron's  family,  who  were,  doubtless,  chiefs  of  the  district,  //j' 
fiachrach^  p.  478. 


PATRICK    AT    SLIGO.  275 

to  have  been  a  youth,  '  flh'um/  If  the  word  does  not  signify 
that  he  was  the  son  of  Bron  himself  This,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  was  Patrick's  last  stage^  in  the  diocese  of  Killala 
as  at  present  circumscribed. 

IV. — Patrick  at  Sligo. 

His  next  journey  brought  him  to  the  famous  Traigh 
Eothaile  (now  Trawohelly),  a  wide  beach  of  white  sand 
separating  the  diocese  of  Killala  from  that  of  Achonry,  and 
bounding  Tireragh  on  the  east.  In  the  time  of  Bishop 
Bron,  however,  Hy  Fiachrach  extended  to  the  Drumcliff 
River,  north  of  Sligo,  and  hence  in  our  ancient  martyrologies 
Cashel  Irra  or  Cuil  Irra  of  Bishop  Bron  is  expressly  stated 
to  be  in  Hy  Fiachrach  of  the  Moy.^ 

Traigh  Eothaile,  which  took  its  name  from  an  ancient 
warrior  who  fell  there  after  the  battle  of  Moytura  of  Cong^ — 
if  that  be  indeed  the  real  origin  of  the  name — was  some- 
times a  very  dangerous  place  to  cross.  There  were  shifting 
sands  in  it,  and  the  tidal  waves  at  high  springs  came  in 
with  a  rush  and  a  roar  that  might  appal  the  stoutest  heart. 

But  St.  Patrick  certainly  crossed  it,  for  it  was  the 
ordinary  route  eastwards,  and  then  came  to  another  ford  or 
pass  at  Streamstown,  which  led  across  the  strand  of  Bally- 
sadare  to  Cuil  Irra,  just  under  Seafield  House.  It  was 
called  Fintragh  Pass,  and  in  ancient  days  was  the  usual 
route  from  Coolerra  into  Tireragh.  At  this  time,  as  we 
have  said,  Coolerra  was  a  part  of  the  Tireragh  territory, 
although  it  afterwards  became  a  portion  of  the  barony  of 
Carbury,  and  now  belongs  to  the  diocese  of  Elphin. 

Tirechan  merely  says  that  Patrick  crossed  the  strand 
of  Eothaile  (Authili)  with  Bron  and  the  son  of  Ere 
Mac  Dregin,  and  came  into  the  plain  called,  doubtless  from 
the  latter,  Ros  Dregain, '  in  which  is  preserved  the  chasuble* 
of  Bron.'  '  And,  as  he  sat  down  there,  a  tooth  of  Patrick 
fell  out,  which  he  gave  to  Bron,'  who  preserved  it  as  a  relic. 
Patrick  added  also  that  the  sea  would  in  the  last  days  drive 


1  Grangemore,  in  the  parish  of  Templeboy,  is  described  as  '  Patrick's 
Seat '  by  Mac  Firbis.  It  is  near  the  Borragh  River,  and  further  on  to  the  east 
is  Tobur  Patrick,  which  marks  another  station  of  the  apostle  on  his  iourney  to 
the  'beautiful  strand  of  Eothuili.' 

^  Martyrology  of  Donegal  and  The  Four  Masters,  A.  D.  511. 

2  There  are  various  derivations  of  the  name  given.  See  O'Rorke's 
Ballysadareand  Kilvarnet,  251. 

^  Cassulus  Brooni. 


276  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERAGIl. 

them  from  that  place,  and  then  he  said — "  You  will  go  out 
(from  the  Ros,  or  promontory)  to  the  wood  by  the  Sligo 
river."  The  Tripartite  is  more  precise  as  to  the  foundation 
of  the  Church,  for  it  says  that  '  Patrick  marked  out  (the 
church  of)  Caissel  Irre,'  and  in  the  middle  of  the  hall  or 
porch  of  the  cashel  stands  the  flag-stone  on  which  Patrick's 
tooth  fell.  Bishop  Bron  is  in  that  place ;  and  Patrick 
prophesied  that  the  place  would  be  desolated  ^  by  the 
heathens,  which  thing,  it  adds,  'has  come  to  pass.'  And 
Patrick,  we  are  told,  sang  a  stave  after  the  manner  of  the 
bards  ;  but  its  meaning  is  by  no  means  clear,  except  that 
it  expresses  great  affectioij  for  Bishop  Bron. 

The  heathens,  that  is  the  Danes,  devastated  this  place 
early  in  the  ninth  century,  and  the  sea,  too,  has  been 
encroaching  on  Bishop  Bron's  ancient  church.  It  is  situated 
at  the  very  extremity  of  the  promontory,  amongst  the 
dunes,  and  is  at  times  nearly  covered  with  the  blowing 
sand.  It  was  long  ago  deserted,  as  Patrick  had  prophesied, 
and  the  principal  church  of  the  district  is  now  by  the  vSligo 
river,  close  to  the  site  of  the  ancient  wood.  But  the  vener- 
able ruin  still  exists  ;  and  it  is  of  the  very  earliest  type  of 
Christian  architecture.  The  flag-stone,  on  which  Patrick's 
tooth  fell,  is  still  pointed  out ;  and  the  local  description  of 
the  Tripartite,  as  usual,  is  found  faithful  in  every  detail. 
The  parish  still  bears  the  name  of  Bishop  Bron  ;  it  is  called 
officially  Killasbugbrone,  although  it  is  now  more  com- 
monly known  by  its  ancient  name  of  Coolerra,  that  is,  the 
Western  Corner,  a  very  appropriate  appellation.  It  was 
once  the  head  church  of  the  district,  and  Bishop  Bron  and 
his  successors  for  many  centuries  appear  to  have  exercised 
episcopal  jurisdiction  over  that  and  the  neighbouring 
parishes.  Bron  himself,  who  was  certainly  one  of  the 
favourite  disciples  of  St.  Patrick,  lived  to  a  great  age,  for 
we  find  his  death  noticed  by  the  Four  Masters  at  the  year 
A.D.  511,  that  is  about  eighteen  years  after  the  death  of  his 
venerable  master. 

It  would  appear  from  Tirechan  that  Bishop  Bron  was  a 
native  of  Muirisc,  as  he  calls  it,  probably  a  son  of  the 
chieftain  of  the  district,  who  at  that  time  appears  to  have 
dwelt  at  the  place  now  called  Donaghintraine,  for  Dun  Cinn 

^  This  is  one  of  the  passages  cited  to  show  that  the  Tripartite  was  written 
after  the  ninth  century,  when  the  Danes  first  appeared  off  the  SHgo  coasts.  It 
rather  proves,  however,  that  this  particular  passage,  written  in  Latin,  as  if  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  original  text,  was  written  by  the  transcriber  after  the 
ninth  century. 


PATRICK   AT   SLIGO.  I']'] 

Treathain,  the  ancient  name,  was  one  of  the  royal  seats  of 
Hy  Fiachrach,  otherwise  called  Lis  na  Draighne  by  the  Sea, 
which  was  not  far  distant.  There  is  some  reason  to  think 
that  Patrick  remained  a  considerable  time  there  preaching 
and  teaching  the  three  youths,  Bron,  Mac  Rime  and  Muire- 
thacus,  for  whom  he  wrote  alphabets  and  afterwards  desig- 
nated as  Bishops — making  Muirethacus,  or  Muredachus, 
Bishop  of  Killala ;  Mac  Rime,  Bishop  of  Aughris,  on  the 
Batho,  where  Muredachus  was  for  a  time;  and  Bron  him- 
self Bishop  of  Ros  Dregain,  or  Coolerra. 

The  next  entry  in  the  Tripartite,  which  is,  however, 
omitted  by  Tirechan,  brings  St.  Patrick  to  the  bank  of  the 
Sligeach,  or  Sligo  river.  He  and  his  familia  wanted  food, 
so  they  asked  the  fishermen  to  shoot  their  nets  in  the 
stream.  But  they  said — ''Salmon  are  not  caught  here  in 
winter  ;  but  as  you  ask  us  we  will  do  it."  They  shot  their 
nets  and  caught  some  large  salmon,  which  they  gave  to 
Patrick.  Then  he  blessed  the  river,  *  so  that  the  Sligeach 
became  the  very  milch-cow  of  Irish  rivers,  for  salmon  is 
caught  in  it  every  quarter  of  the  year.'  A  few  years  ago 
an  investigation  was  held  by  the  Fishery  Commissioners 
as  to  the  proper  time  for  the  opening  of  the  salmon  fishery 
in  the  Sligo  river.  Some  old  fishermen  swore  at  the 
enquiry  that  fish  in  prime  condition  might  be  found  in  the 
estuary  at  every  season  of  the  year  ;^  and  hence  it  was  decided 
to  open  the  fishery  on  the  first  of  January,  so  that  it  is  in 
very  truth  the  '  milch-cow  of  Irish  waters  ' — for  only  one 
or  two  other  streams  in  Ireland,  or  in  England  either,  afford 
salmon  at  that  season,  when  it  sometimes  fetches  up  to 
eight  or  ten  shillings  a  pound  in  the  London  market. 

It  is  not  stated  that  Patrick  crossed  the  Sligo  river, 
and  the  context  both  in  the  Tripartite  and  Tirechan  seems 
to  imply  that  he  did  not  then  cross  it  to  the  eastern  shore. 
Tirechan  brings  Patrick  directly  from  Killasbugbrone, 
through  the  mountain  of  the  Hy  Ailella,  into  the  barony 
of  Tirerrill,  and  so  we  think  the  Tripartite  also  must  be 
understood,  for  there  is  no  reference  to  his  crossing  the 
river  and  coming  into  Calry.  But  at  this  point  the 
Tripartite  interposes  a  curious  paragraph  regarding  Bishop 
Rodan,  Patrick's  herdsman,  whom  he  left  in  Muirisc- 
Aigle,^  that  is  at  the  foot  of  Croaghpatrick.     He  was,  it 

^  His  words  were  an  unconscious  reproduction  of  the  statement  in  the 
Tripartite. 

"  There  were  two  !Muiiiscs — Muirisc  Aigle,  under  Croaghpatrick,  and 
Muirisc,  in  Tiieragh. 


278  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERAGH. 

seems,  a  first-rate  herdsman,  for  his  calves  used  only  to  do 
what  he  permitted  them — they  would  not  even  suck  the 
cows  without  permission.  Patrick  had  a  large  company 
to  provide  for,  and  his  family  brought  their  sheep  and 
cows  along  with  them  ;  so  it  was  necessary  to  have  some 
person  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  drovers.  This  was  Bishop 
Rodan's  office.  He  got  a  church  to  look  after  at  Croagh- 
patrick,  but  still  he  kept  with  his  beloved  master,  and 
came  with  him,  it  seems,  this  far  at  least.  Dr.  O'Rorke 
thinks  that  the  church  of  Kildalough,  at  Streamstown, 
near  the  pass  over  the  estuary  into  Coolerra,  was  his  church, 
for  the  old  people,  he  says,  always  connect  its  foundation 
with  that  of  Killasbugbrone,  and  say  '  they  are  the  two 
churches  first  prayed  for  in  Rome.'  This  would  explain 
the  reference  to  Bishop  Rodan  here,  but  the  Muirisc  of  the 
Tripartite  is  not  the  Muirisc  of  Tireragh,  and,  in  any  case, 
that  latter  Muirisc  did  not  extend  beyond  Aughris  Head, 
nor,  indeed,  quite  so  far  east.  The  reference  to  Rodan 
here  does  not  otherwise  affect  the  narrative. 

Here  the  Tripartite  says  that  after  Patrick  got  the  fish 
from  the  river  in  Sligo,  '  the  Calraige  of  Cule  Cernadan  were 
in  a  secret  place,  ahead  of  Patrick,'^  and  they  struck  their 
shields  with  their  spears  to  terrify  Patrick  and  his  house- 
hold. ^'  By  my  troth,"  said  Patrick,  "  not  good  is  that 
which  you  have  done.  Every  battle  and  every  conflict 
that  you  and  your  children  after  you  shall  deliver,  ye  shall 
be  routed  therein."  Whereupon  they  all,  except  five, 
knelt  to  ask  pardon  of  Patrick.  Then  Patrick  added, 
"  Every  battle  in  which  you  shall  be  routed,  though  all  Con- 
naught  were  against  you,  there  shall  not  fall  more  of  you 
than  five  men,  '  as  is  fulfilled.'  " 

It  is  not  stated  where  this  took  place,  but  it  must  be 
on  Patrick's  journey  towards  Tirerrill,  for  we  think  it  can 
be  clearly  shown  that  on  this  occasion  he  did  not  cross 
the  Sligo  river ;  his  immediate  purpose  being  to  visit  the 
territory  of  the  sons  of  Ailell,  and  perhaps  revisit  some 
of  the  churches  in  South  Tirerrill,  which  he  had  directed 
to  be  founded,  but  did  not  yet  visit. 

There  were  several  districts  in  Ireland  called  Calraige — 
now  Calry — all,  it  would  appear,  taking  the  appellation 
from  the  descendants  of  Cal,  grand-uncle  of  Maccon,  who 
flourished   in   the    second    century  of  the  Christian  Era. 


^  The   phrase  *  ahead  of  Patrick  '  is  a  curious  one,  and  seems  to  imply 
that  the  object  of  the  noise  was  to  cause  Patrick  to  turn  back. 


f>ATRICK   AT   SLIGO.  ^79 

There  was  a  Calry  in  Westmeath  ;^  a  Calry  in  Mayo,^  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  Calraige  dwelt  in  the  Ox  Mountains 
in  Sligo,  extending  even  into  Leitrim — the  last  district  in 
part  still  bears  the  ancient  name. 

Tirechan  is  here,  no  doubt,  our  safest  guide,  and  he 
speaks  of  Calrige  Tre  Maige,  which  was  certainly  the 
district  round  Drumahaire.  Then  he  speaks  of  Calrige 
Ailmaige,  which,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  was  the  adjoin- 
ing parish  of  Killasnet.  These  are  in  Leitrim,  but  the 
present  parish  of  Calry,  in  Sligo,  is  called  by  McFirbis, 
Calry  Laithim,  and  we  cannot  afford  to  set  aside  his 
authority.  Where  then  was  Calrige  Cule  Cernadan  ? 
O'Donovan,^  we  think  rightly,  identifies  it  with  the  district 
still  known  as  Coolcarney,  comprising  the  parishes  of 
Kilgarvan  and  Attymas,  in  the  Co.  Mayo,^  on  the  slopes 
of  the  Ox  Mountains.  The  adventure  here  referred  to  is  in- 
troduced as  an  incident,  but  it  is  not  stated  where  it  occured. 
It  might  well  happen  that  some  of  this  tribe  who  held  the 
Ox  Mountains  would  meet  the  Apostle  as  he  was  going 
into  Tirerrill  by  the  'Gap,'  at  the  edge  of  the  Ox  Mountains, 
and  try  to  frighten  him  back,  lest  he  might,  perhaps,  come 
amongst  themselves  by  the  pass  at  Collooney,  which  led 
into  the  plain  of  Leyney.  Such  seems  to  us  the  most 
probable  explanation  of  the  meeting  of  St.  Patrick  with 
the  men  of  Coolcarney. 

They  likely  held  the  whole  of  the  Ox  Mountains,  and 
made  an  excursion  towards  Ballisodare  to  frighten  the 
Saint.^  But  Patrick  did  not  go  westward  in  Leyney  as 
they  perhaps  anticipated,  but  due  northward  by  the  well- 
known  pass  called  the  Bernas  Hy  Ailella,^  under  Slieve  da 
En.  The  old  road  passes  through  it  still ;  and  it  is  a 
lonely  and  romantic  spot,  for  the  hills  rise  steeply  on  either 
side,  clothed  with  dense  woods,  which  in  disturbed  times 
made  it  a  peculiarly  dangerous  gap  of  very  evil  repute. 

^  See  F.  M.,  A.D.  787  ;  A,D.  281,  also  A.D.  1225  and  1251. 

"^  There  were  several  other  places  called  Calry  besides  these.  See  Index 
to  Four  Masters — Sub  Voce.  We  also  find  reference  to  Calry  of  Lough  Gill 
and  Calry  of  Drumcliff — different  sub-divisions  of  the  same  territory. 

^  See  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  247,  and  F.  M.,  anno  1225. 

**  Seven  townlands  of  Coolcarney  properly  belonged  to  the  barony  of 
Tireragh,  Co.  Sligo,  but  were  forcibly  withheld  from  the  said  barony  in  1585, 
when  Perrott's  composition  was  made. — la?-  Connaughty  p.  341. 

^  Can  it  be  that  the  men  of  Calry  referred  to  were  really  the  men  beyond 
the  Sligo  river  to  the  east,  and  they  made  the  row  to  deter  Patrick  from 
crossing  the  stream  into  their  own  territory.  He  did  not  cross  it,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  on  this  occasion. 

^  Trans  montem  filiorum  Ailello. 


CHAPTER     XV. 
ST.  PATRICK    IN   TIRERRILL  AND    MOYLURG. 

I.— Churches  founded  in  Tirerrill. 

Going  southward  then  through  Tirerrill,  Tirechan  says 
that  he  founded  four  churches  there — '  Tamnach,  Echenagh, 
Cell  Angle,  and  Cell  Senchuae.'  All  these  still  retain  their 
ancient  names,  and  three  at  least  give  titles  to  parochial 
churches  in  the  diocese  of  Elphin. 

We  have  seen  before  that  when  Patrick  founded  the 
church  ofShankill,  near  Elphin,  he  left  there  Rodan,  an 
arch-priest,  and  under  his  care  he  placed  Mathona,  Benen's 
sister,  *  who  received  the  veil  from  Patrick  and  from  Rodan,' 
and,  as  it  would  appear,  remained  there  some  time.  Now, 
Patrick  coming  south  from  Sligo,  founded  the  church  of 
Tawnagh,  near  the  northern  extremity  of  Lough  Arrow, 
and  over  it  he  placed  Cairell,  a  native  of  the  district,  as 
bishop.  It  appears,  too,  that  Patrick,  Bron,  and  Bite,  of 
Elphin,  consecrated  him  on  that  occasion.  Mathona,  the  nun 
of  Shankill,  had  also,  it  seems,  some  connection  with  the 
place,^  for  Patrick  now  placed  her  there  with  her  nuns  under 
the  care  of  Bishop  Cairell.  But  she  did  not  forget  her  old 
church  of  Shankill.  *  She  made  friendship  with  Saint 
Rodan's  relics' — he  had  probably  died  in  the  meantime — 
his  relics  were  the  great  treasure  of  his  church,  and 
Mathona  visited  them  there  frequently,  so  that  the  churches 
of  Shankill  and  of  Tawnagh  were  closely  connected 
through  the  spiritual  friendship  of  their  founders,  or,  as  the 
Tripartite  quaintly  puts  it,  *  their  successors  feasted 
together  in  turns,'  that  is,  celebrated  together  the  festivals 
of  their  respective  founders.  Tawnagh  is  a  small  parish, 
but  it  has  a  very  large  graveyard,  and  we  believe  traditions 
of  the  holy  nun  Mathona  are  still  vivid  in  the  memory  of 
the  people.  There  is  also  a  holy  well  called  after  St. 
Patrick,  in  which,  no  doubt,  he  baptised  his  first  converts, 
and  a  *  patron '  was  usually  held  there  on  St.  Patrick's 
Day,  but,  we  believe,  it  is  now  discontinued. 

^  She  was  a  sister  of  Benen,  whose  father — and,  therefore,  her  father — 
was,  we  are  told,  of  the  Hy  Ailella,  that  is  of  this  very  district. 


PATRICK    IN    MOYLURG.  28 T 

It  would  appear  that  this  Mathona,  who  is  often  des- 
cribed as  the  sister  of  Benignus,  St.  Patrick's  Coadjutor  in 
Armagh,  was  in  reality  not  his  sister,  but  the  sister  of  the 
second  Benignus,  to  whom  reference  is  made  in  the  Tripar- 
tite,^ as  we  have  elsewhere  explained.  This  family  connec- 
tion would  also  serve  to  explain  why  she  became  a  nun  at 
Tawnagh,  and  was  placed  under  the  protection  of  Bishop 
Cairell,  who  was  probably  her  near  relation. 

From  Tawnagh,  Patrick  still  going  southward  by  the 
western  shores  of  Lough  Arrow,  where  the  noble  woods  of 
Hollybrook  demesne  now  beautify  the  scene,  came  to  the 
green  swelling  meadow  overlooking  the  south-western 
angle  of  the  lake,  and  there,  in  a  most  picturesque  site, 
founded  the  ancient  church  of  Aghanagh  ^ — Horsefield — 
over  which  he  placed  the  holy  Bishop  Maine,  whom  he  had 
baptised  at  Doogary,  when  he  had  first  crossed  the  Shan- 
non some  years  before,  and  whom  he  now  consecrated 
bishop  of  this  young  church,  doubtless  giving  him  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  other  smaller  churches  around  the  lake.  He 
left  there  also  under  his  care  a  holy  man,  Gemtene  by 
name,  who  seems  to  have  succeeded  him,  and  whose  ashes 
also  rest  in  Aghanagh.  It  was  from  this  point  that  Patrick, 
instead  of  crossing  the  Curlew  Hills  directly,  went  west- 
ward beyond  Kesh  hill  and  founded  the  church  of '  Cell 
Angle,'  which  appears  to  be  identical  with  Killanly,  west 
of  Toomona.  Tobberpatrick  is  there  still,  in  the  parish  of 
Kilturra,  and  most  likely  marks  a  station  on  the  road  of 
the  Apostle  southwards  to  Moylurg. 

This  course,  too,  by  Kesh  and  Gurteen,  would  be  a 
more  likely  one  than  the  direct  route  over  the  Curlew 
Mountains  at  Ballaghboy,  which  was  then  a  rugged  and 
almost  impassable  way. 

n.— Patrick  in  Moylurg. 

And  now,  bending  first  to  the  west  and  then  to  the 
south-east,  the  Saint  fared  onwards  until  he  came  to  the 
Boyle  river,  for  he  was  anxious  to  revisit  some  of  his 
foundations  in  Moylurg.  But  when  crossing  over  the 
rough  bed  of  the  river  in  order  to  go  into  Moylurg,  as  the 
Tripartite  says,  the  chariot  appears  to  have  been  upset  at 
the  ford,  and  Patrick  fell  into  the  Buall,  '  that  is  the  river 


^  He  is  there  described  as  Benen,  brother  of  Cethech, 
^  '  Echenach  '  in  the  Book  of  Armagh. 


282  ST.    PATRICK   IN   TIRERRII.L   AND   MOYLURG. 

that  comes  out  of  Lough  Techet.'  ^  Thereafter  the  ford 
was  called  Ath  Carpait,  '  the  Ford  of  the  Chariot,'  and  it  is 
near  Eas  Mic  n'Eirc,  close  to  which,  we  may  add,  the 
railway  now  crosses  the  river. 

The  Saint  must  have  got  both  a  wetting  and  a  shaking, 
for  the  writer  adds,  in  his  usual  style,  that  Patrick  *  cursed 
the  eastern  half  of  the  river.'  '  But  why  hast  thou  spared 
the  western  half  ? '  some  one  said — the  part  going  up  to 
Lough  Gara — '  Because,'  said  Patrick,  '  there  shall  come  a 
Son  of  Life,  who  will  set  up  there  afterwards,  and  he  will 
like  to  have  a  fruitful  water  at  his  stead.'  Patrick  alluded 
to  Columbcille,  who  afterwards  founded  a  monastery  at 
Eas  Mic  n'Eirc,  the  site  of  which  may  still  be  noticed  in 
the  old  churchyard  just  beside  the  railway  bridge  over  the 
river  to  the  right  going  north,  where  the  stream  tumbles 
headlong  over  the  rough  ground.  *  The  best  fishing  in 
Ireland  every  one  has  there  still,'  adds  the  chronicler,  '  but 
from  that  down  eastward  there  is  not  much  fish  caught.' 
The  story  looks  as  if  it  were  made  up  by  some  ingenious 
chronicler  at  a  later  period  ;  but,  beyond  doubt,  the  stream 
is  still  fishful  up  to  Lough  Gara. 

Now,  as  Patrick  fared  through  Moylurg,^  that  is  the 
Plains  of  Boyle,  the  sons  of  Ere  stole  his  horses — it  would 
appear,  too,  that  this  was  their  second  theft — and  Patrick 
'  cursed  '  the  people  of  that  country.  One  could  hardly 
blame  him  for  denouncing  their  conduct  in  strong  language, 
and  foretelling  its  punishment.  But  the  thieves  had  an 
intercessor.  Bishop  Maine,  of  the  Hy  Ailella — for  Moy- 
lurg  was  then  a  part  of  the  territory — whom  Patrick  had 
just  set  up  in  Aghanagh,  besought  Patrick  to  forgive  his 
brethren ;  and  his  prayers  '  weakened  the  malediction.' 
The  good  bishop  even  washed  Patrick's  feet  with  his  tears, 
and  drove  the  stolen  horses,  now  recovered,  into  a  meadow, 
where  he  himself  cleaned  their  muddy  hoofs  '  in  honour 
of  Patrick.'  Patrick  to  some  extent  relented  ;  still  he  said 
— '  there  will  be  weeping,  and  wailing,  and  lamenting  with 
the  people  of  that  country,  and  there  will  not  be  good 
neighbourhood  amongst  them  in  saecula  saeculorum  ' — as 
'  is  fulfilled,'  says  the  chronicler.  Patrick  said  also  that  he 
would  have  afterwards  a  great  part  of  that  country ;  and 

^  Lough  Techet  is  the  modern  Lough  Gara. 

^  The  ancient  Moyhirg  corresponds  with  the  present  barony  of  Boyle, 
except  that  the  latter  includes  the  parish  of  Kilronan,  the  ancient  Tir  Tuathail, 
which,  though  a  portion  of  the  principality  of  M'Derniolt,  is  distinguished 
from  Moylurg. 


PATRICK   AGAIN   AT    DOOGARY.  283 

that,  too,  was  fulfilled,  for  Nodan  ^  of  Loch  Uama,  now 
Cavetown,  founded  a  church  there,  and  gave  its  patronage 
to  Armagh.  This  shows  that  Patrick  founded  the  church  of 
Eastersnow,^  and  preached  there  in  person.  It  was  on 
the  southern  limit  of  Moylurg,  and  Patrick  did  not,  on 
this  occasion,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  travel  further  south. 

No  doubt,  being  now  in  North  Roscommon,  he  may 
have  visited  Shankill  and  some  other  of  his  earlier  found- 
ations beyond  Moylurg,  and,  perhaps,  wintered  there,  but  we 
have  no  intimation  thereof;  but  the  author  of  the  Tripar- 
tite, as  well  as  the  original  writer  in  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
make  it  their  purpose  merely  to  record  the  missionary 
journeys  of  St.  Patrick  through  the  Island  for  the  first 
time.  Indeed,  there  is  hardly  a  single  instance  in  which 
we  have  any  account  of  what  would  now  be  called  a 
visitation  of  an  existing  church. 

We  can,  however,  trace  with  great  probability  Patrick's 
return  journey  from  Moylurg,  where  he  probably  wintered,^ 
in  order  to  prosecute  his  purpose  of  going  round  the 
North  of  Ireland.  From  the  neighbourhood  of  Easter- 
snow,  where  the  Tripartite  leaves  him,  we  find  him  next 
coming  to  Doogary,  the  place  which  he  first  reached  some 
years  before  after  crossing  the  Shannon.  It  was  just  in 
his  way  to  the  north-east,  for  a  glance  at  the  map  will 
show  that  if  he  came  up  I0  Moylurg,  west  of  Lough  Key, 
he  would,  by  going  north  and  by  east,  pass  to  the  east  of 
the  Lakes,  that  is  he  would  go  by  Ardcarne  and  Knock- 
vicar,*  into  that  part  of  the  modern  parish  of  Cootehall,  in 
which  Doogary  was  situated. 

III. — Patrick  again  at  Doogary. 

It  is  not  expressly  stated  that  he  went  there  on  this 
occasion,  but  it  is  distinctly  implied  in  the  earlier  portion 
of  the  Tripartite  narrative.  For  it  is  said  that  whilst 
Patrick  was  abiding  at  Doogary  (Duma   Graid),  ordaining 

^  Colgan  is  mistaken  in  placing  this  Loch  Uama  in  Breffhey,  Bishop 
Maine's  church  of  Aghanagh  also  belonged  to  Patrick's  successors  as  a 
Patrician  church. 

^  Eastersnovv,  as  the  place  is  now  strangely  called,  is  a  corruption  of  Ath- 
disert  Nodain. 

^  When  he  came  from  Tireragh  to  the  Sligo  river  it  w  as  growing  late  in 
the  season,  for  the  fishermen  said  that  salmon  were  nut  to  be  taken  there  '  in 
winter.' 

*  The  ford  across  the  Boyle  water  at  Knockvicar  was  the  usual  way  for 
persons  going  from  Magh  Ai  to  Ulster  or  vice  versa.  Hugh  Roe  O'Dunnel 
crossed  it  many  times  on  his  expeditions  to  Roscommon. 


284  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRERRILL   AND   MOYLURG. 

the  great  host,  he  smiled.  "  What  is  that  ?  "  saith  Benen — 
that  caused  him  to  smile.  "  Not  hard  to  say,"  saith 
Patrick — it  was  the  ancient  bardic  formula  for  answering  a 
question — "  Bron  and  the  Monk  Olcan  are  coming  towards 
me  along  the  Strand  of  Eothaile,  and  my  pupil,  Mac  Erca, 
is  with  them.  The  wave  of  the  flood  (of  the  inrushing  tide) 
made  a  great  dash  at  them,  and  the  boy  (Mac  Erca)  was 
afraid  of  being  carried  away."  *  That,'  adds  the  Tripartite, 
*  was  a  prophecy' — that  is  a  manifestation  of  a  thing  that 
could  only  be  known  to  Patrick  by  a  Divine  revelation. 
The  smile  seems  to  signify  their  folly  in  not  trusting  to 
God  and  Patrick. 

This  clearly  points  to  Patrick's  visitation  of  Doogary  at 
a  later  period  than  his  first  crossing  the  Shannon.  Foi 
we  have  seen  that  these  holy  persons  were  all  left  in 
Tirawley  and  Tireragh  by  Patrick,  and  that  Mac  Erca  was 
left  there  to  learn  his  rudiments,  in  charge  of  Bishop 
Bron.  Patrick  had,  it  would  appear,  invited  them  to 
come  to  him  in  Moylurg  to  aid  him  in  ordaining  the 
bishops  and  clerics  necessary  for  the  new  churches  now 
founded  in  Tirerrill.  So  when,  in  obedience  to  his  call,  they 
were  faring  to  him  across  the  famous  Strand,  that  inrush  of 
the  tide  took  place,  which  moved  him  to  smile  at  their 
fears  of  danger  in  obeying  the  call  of  God.  We  think 
this  passage  clearly  shows  that  Patrick  on  his  return 
journey  northward  crossed  the  Boyle  water  at  Knockvicar, 
and  revisited  Doogary  in  the  parish  of  Tumna,  which  was 
the  scene  of  his  earliest  labours  west  of  the  Shannon. 

From  Doogary  then  Patrick  passed  north  under  the 
mountain  of  the  Hy  Ailella,  now  called  Bralieve,  and  about 
four  miles  further  on  he  came  to  Shancough,  where  he  had 
at  his  first  visit  directed  Ailbe  to  seek  for  the  altar  and 
the  chalices  of  glass  in  the  cave  under  ground.  Patrick 
had  not  visited  the  place,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  on  his 
first  arrival  at  Doogary,  because  it  was  then  his  purpose 
to  go  direct  to  the  royal  palace  at  Cruachan.  But  now  as 
he  was  going  north  from  Doogary,  and  his  road  certainly 
lay,  as  it  lies  still,  close  to  the  old  church  of  Shancough, 
there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  visit  it,  and  confirm 
all  that  had  been  done  there  by  his  disciple,  St.  Ailbe. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  Book  of  Armagh  describes  'Cell 
Senchuae ' — that  is  Shancough — as  one  of  the  churches 
founded  by  Patrick  on  this  occasion.  We  have  already 
observed  that  the  memory  of  Ailbe  is  still  vividly  remem- 
bered   in    this  locality  ;  and    that  his   hermitage  and  his 


PATRICIA    IN    LEITRIM.  285 

'  bed '  are  still  pointed  out  by  the  peasantry  high  on  the 
mountain  side  to  the  east,  but  within  view  of  the  church 
and  the  cave  with  its  chalices  of  glass. 

From  Shancough  Patrick  kept  still  on  his  way  to  the 
north,  and  so  after  about  six  miles  he  came  to  Kilellin 
in  the  modern  parish  of  Kilross,  which  may,  perhaps, 
be  the  site  of  the  ancient  church  mentioned  by  Tirechan 
as  one  of  the  four  churches  founded  by  Patrick  in  Tirerrill, 
that  is  Cell  Angle/  Those  familiar  with  Irish  will  easily 
perceive  how  the  change  of  name  might  have  taken 
place.  It  was  certainly  the  ancient  church  of  the  district, 
for  Kilross  was  founded  so  late  as  1233,  by  Clarus 
Mac  Mailin  of  Trinity  Island,  in  Lough  Ce,  the  greatest 
church  builder  of  his  own  time  perhaps  in  all  Ireland. 
Kilellin  had  its  own  cemetery  in  ancient  times,  but  the 
newer  church  of  the  Trinitarians  became  a  more  popular 
place  of  sepulture.^  Kilellin  is  quite  close  to  Ballygawley, 
and  hence  would  be  near  Patrick's  route  either  when 
coming  into  Tirerrill  by  Slieve  da  En,  or  when  leaving 
it  by  the  ancient  track  into  North  Leitrim,  which  certainly 
passed  by  Ballintogher,  as  the  name  implies. 

IV. — Patrick  in  Leitrtm. 

At  this  point  Tirechan  says  Patrick  came  into  Calrigi 
Tre  Maige^  and  founded  a  church  there  at  Drumlease,"* 
and  baptised  many  persons  thereat.  This  Calry  Tre  Maige 
was  also  called  Druim  Daro,  as  we  know  from  the  Tripar- 
tite; and  at  present  it  is  called  Drumahaire,  in  Irish  Druim 
da  Ethiar,  a  beautiful  ridge  overlooking  the  famous  valley, 
near  O'Rorke's  castle,  which  Moore  has  for  ever  immor- 
talized in  his  well  known  poem — 'The  Valley  lay  smiling 
before  me.'  It  was  smiling  then,  and  it  is  smiling  still, 
upon  one  of  the  fairest  scenes  in  Ireland,  where  every 
charm  that  can  lend  beauty  to  a  landscape — lake  and 
river,  plain  and  wood,  and  mountain — show  themselves  in 


^  Killanly,  north  of  Ballymote,  was  not  in  Tirrerill.  Still  the  name  is  more 
like  the  original  tlian  Kilellin,  and  the  sons  of  Ailell  may  have  possessed  it  at 
the  time.     But  it  is  in  Corran. 

'^See  Archdeacon  O^YLox\ie^s  History  of  Sligo,  Town  and  Catnity,  Vol.  II., 
247. 

^  St.  Patrick's  Rock  is  still  shown  close  to  the  modern  village  of 
Drumahaire. 

*' Patrick  set  up  in  Druim  Daro  that  is  in  Drumlease.'  Additions  to 
Tirechan.     It  is  written  Druim  Dara  and  Druim  Daro, 


286  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRERRILL   AND    MOYLURG. 

marvellous  richness  and  variety  of  perspective,^  to  which 
neither  poet  nor  painter  can  do  full  justice. 

Patrick  was  not  the  man  to  pass  heedless  by  so  fair  a 
scene.  He  not  only  built  a  church  there;  but,  it  seems,  he 
remained  a  considerable  time  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
it  was  from  Patrick's  stations  and  from  the  *  sheds/  liasa, 
which  he  erected  there  that  the  place  took  its  name  of 
Drumlease.  It  would  appear  he  set  his  heart  upon  it,  and 
had  some  intention  of  settling  down  there,  for  he  left  his 
foster  son,  Benignus,  as  the  incumbent  of  Drumlease  for 
eighteen  or  twenty  years,  until  he  himself  had  finally 
resolved  to  settle  at  Armagh ;  and  it  was  only  then,  so 
far  as  we  can  judge,  he  resolved  to  sever  finally  his  own 
connection  with  that  radiant  land  of  fairy  hills  and  sunlit 
waters. 

Nor  did  he  even  then  give  up  all  his  rights.  The 
"  Additions  to  Tirechan  "  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  go  to 
great  lengths  in  pointing  out  Patrick's  rights  in  Drumlease. 
The  Annotations  say  that  he  baptised  there  Cairthen  (the 
prince  of  the  district),  and  Cairthen's  son,  and  Caichan  ; 
and  they  add  that  Caichan  offered  his  fifth  of  the  territory 
to  God  and  to  Patrick  for  ever,  and  that  the  '  King  (that  is 
Cairthen)  made  this  offering  free  of  all  rents  and  tributes  to 
God  and  to  Patrick  for  ever.'  Then  the  writer  sets  out 
most  carefully  the  boundaries^  of  this  Patrician  territory 
in  Drumlease,  and  asserts  that  both  lord  and  vassal  im- 
mediately after  their  baptism  offered  all  this  to  Patrick  as 
a  free  and  perpetual  gift. 

But  Caichan  gave  both  his  land  and  his  daughter  to 
God.  Lassar,  daughter  of  Anfolmid,  of  the  family  of 
Caichan,  took  the  veil  from  Patrick  ;  and  she  abode  there 
in  Druim  Dara  after  Benignus  for  '  three  score  years.'  The 
holy  nun  was  doubtless  very  young  when  she  took  the 


^  This  part  of  the  ancient  Calry  was  the  Grianan  Calry,  the  sunny  land- 
scape at  the  head  of  the  lake  of  which  was  said  : — 

Connaught  is  the  grianan  of  Ireland  ; 

Carbury  the  grianan  of  Connaught ; 

Calry  is  the  grianan  of  Carbury  ; 

And  the  Hill  is  the  grianan  of  Calgaich  (Calry). 

2  Additions  to  Tirechan^  p.  339. 

"These  are  the  boundaries  of  the  fifth  part,  that  is  Caichan's  fifth.  From 
the  stream  of  the  hill  of  Berach  Abraidne  as  far  as  a  .  .  .  from  the 
mountain.  From  the  stream  of  Conaclid  to  Reiriu,  and  from  the  border  of 
Druim  Nit  to  the  stream  of  Tamlacht  Dublocho,  by  the  stream  to  Long 
Grenlaich  by  Ront " ;  and  so  on  round  the  whole  estate.  See  Rolls 
Tripartite f  Vol.  II.,  339. 


PATRICK   FOUNDS    DOMNACHMORE.  287 

veil,  and  has  probably  given  her  name  to  the  parish  of 
Killarga,  where  she  Hved  first  under  the  guidance  of  St. 
Benignus,  and  afterwards  of  his  comarbs  in  the  same  parish. 

The  succession  in  Drumlease  to  the  rich  glebe  left  by 
Caichan  to  Patrick  was  carefully  regulated,  and  is  set  forth 
minutely  in  the  Book  of  Armagh.  The  record  is  valuable 
to  us,  showing  how  the  succession  in  such  cases  was 
usually  regulated.  There  should  not  be  a  family  right  of 
inheritance  to  Drumlease  (for  it  belonged  to  Patrick); 
but  the  race  of  Feth  Fio — that  is  the  head  of  the  tribe — 
should  inherit  it,  if  there  were  any  one  of  the  clan  who 
should  be  '  so  good,  so  devout/  as  to  be  worthy  of  the 
church's  inheritance.  But  if  not,  then  it  was  to  be  seen  if 
any  one  (even  of  another  clan)  of  the  community  of  Drum- 
lease  or  its  monks  should  be  found  worthy.  But  if  not, 
then  a  member  of  Patrick's  community  in  Armagh  was 
to  be  sought  out  for  the  vacant  church.^ 

Other  offerings  of  land  made  to  this  church,  the  most 
celebrated  in  North  Leitrim,  are  also  given  in  the  Anno- 
tations, one  of  which  is  particularly  interesting  because  it 
shows  that  not  only  was  there  a  flourishing  community  of 
nuns  there  from  the  beginning,  but  also  that  besides 
Benignus  Patrick  left  there  two  of  his  own  nephews,  and 
they,  like  the  native  chiefs,  afterwards  became  benefactors 
of  the  Church  of  Drumlease.  '  Nao  and  Nai,  sons  of  Patrick's 
brother,  and  Dall,  son  of  Hencar,  whom  Patrick  left  there, 
offered  three  half  indli  or  ploughlands  of  their  own  land  to 
Patrick  in  perpetuity.  And  Conderc,  son  of  Dall,  offered 
his  son  as  a  cleric  to  Patrick.'  ^ 

This  points  to  a  settlement  of  some  members  of  Patrick's 
family  at  Druim  Dara,  who  were  not  clerics,  and  by 
marriage  or  otherwise  got  a  share  of  the  land.  It  appears, 
however,  they  made  a  good  use  of  it ;  but  of  their  history 
we  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  anything  satisfactory. 

V. — Patrick  Founds  Domnachmore. 

From  Drumlease  Patrick  still  going  north-east  ascended^ 
the  rising  ground  of  Almaige,  which  seems  to  mean  the 
cliff  of  the  plain  ;  and  there  he  founded  a  church  which  we 

^  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  340.  We  cannot  say  whether  the  present  incumbent, 
our  friend,  Father  Cormac  McSherry,  is  of  the  race  of  Feth  Fio  or  not,  but  he 
is  certainly  a  worthy  successor  of  Benignus  in  the  ancient  and  famous  Church  of 
Drumlease.     This  was  written  betore  the  recent  death  of  Father  McSherry. 

2  Rolls   Tripartite^  341. 

^  Erexit  se.  The  phrase  is  peculiar  bu\  it  is  used  by  the  writer  elsewhere 
in  the  same  sense. 


288  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERRILL   AND    MOYLURG. 

take  to  be  the  same  as  that  described  in  the  Tripartite  as 
founded  'amongst  the  tribe  of  Muinremar  in  the  glens 
eastward  of  Drumlease.'  This  description,  quite  exact  as 
usual,  points  to  the  old  Church  of  Domnachmore  Aelmaigh 
in  the  tovvnland  that  still  bears  the  old  name  in  the  parish 
of  Clooncare  close  to  Manorhamilton.  *  Patrick's  two 
nostrils  dropped  blood  on  the  road,'  perhaps  from  his 
exertions  in  climbing  the  hill.  It  would  appear  he  then  sat 
down  to  rest  himself.  ''  Patrick's  flagstone  is  there,  and 
Patrick's  hazel — by  which  perhaps  he  sat — a  little  distance 
from  the  church  westward.  He  set  up  there.  Sraith 
Patraic — Patrick's  Meadow — it  is  named  to-day.  Domnach 
Sratha  its  name  before.  Patrick  rested  on  Sunday  there, 
and  this  is  his  only  church  in  that  territory."  The  details 
were  evidently  given  by  an  eye  witness,  who  had  gone  over 
the  ground,  for  they  are  minutely  exact  in  every  particular, 
and  leave  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  location  of  Dom- 
nach Sratha,^  afterwards  called  Domnachmore. 

The  learned  and  judicious  Reeves  raises  a  difficulty 
here.  He  says  the  tribe  of  Muinremar  were  located  in  the 
Glynns  of  Antrim,  and  that  this  passage  is  here  inserted 
out  of  its  place.  But  there  is  no  sign  of  insertion  out  of 
place  in  the  Tripartite,  and  we  find  the  same  order  in 
Tirechan,  so  that  we  can  hardly  assume  an  interpretation 
in  both  places  of  a  wrongly-placed  passage.  The  learned 
Dr.  O'Rorke  places  this  '  Srath  Patraic'  near  Collooney, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Unshion  river,  but  the  text  clearly 
states  that  it  was  '  eastward '  of  Drumlease,  so  we  think 
his  view  is  quite  untenable.  The  learned  writer  was, 
perhaps,  unconsciously  desirous  of  doing  honour  to  his 
own  parish. 

We  know  that  many  of  the  old  tribes  of  that  district 
were  driven  out  of  it  by  the  Hy  Neill,  especially  by 
Cairbre  and  Conal,  so  that  there  might  be  a  tribe  of  the 
Muinremar  in  the  Glynns  of  North  Leitrim  then  and  long 
afterwards,  although  some  of  them  had  fled  from  Conal's 
conquering  sword  far  away  to  the  Glens  of  Antrim. 

We  have  no  hesitation  in  locating  the  place  as 
north-eastward  of  Drumlease,  in  the  valley  near  Manor- 
hamilton which  lead  out  into  Magh  Ene,  the  route  exactly 
laid  down  by  Tirechan  and  the  Tripartite. 


1  Srath  is  a  river  meadow,  and  the  Bonnet  river  flows  hard  by  the  side  of 
the  Church.  On  one  side  was  the  river,  on  the  other  the  Chff,  between  them 
the  meadow, 


PATRICK    IN    NORTH    SLIGO.  289 

From  this  Domnach  Sratha  it  is  more  probable  that 
Patrick  went  north  through  the  Glenade  and  not  the 
Glencar  Valley.  Our  opinion  is  that  he  went  due  north 
through  Glenade,  for  it  was  the  usual  route,  and  in  this 
way  we  can  best  reconcile  the  statements  of  Tirechan  and 
the  Tripartite.  Tirechan  says  he  went  from  Domnach 
Almaige  (or  Domnach  Stratha),  where  he  had  remained 
three  days,  into  Magh  Ene — '  Campum  Aine/  and  founded 
a  church  there,  which  the  Tripartite  calls  Domnach  Mor 
Maige  Ene ;  and  which  we  take  to  be  the  old  church  of 
Rossinver,  about  a  mile  north  of  Glenade,  where  the  valley 
opens  into  the  plain — Magh  Ene.  Then,  Tirechan  adds, 
*  Patrick  returned  towards  Euoi  and  the  plain  of  Cetni.' 
Euoi  is  the  same  as  Eabha,  and  the  name  is  still  kept  in 
the  well-known  appellation  of  Magherow  (Maghera  Eabha), 
the  great  plain  along  the  sea  from  Grange  to  Knocklane. 
Cetni  is  the  famous  Magh  gCedne,  the  Plain  of 
the  Tributes.  It  is  not,  as  O'Donovan  asserts,  identical 
with  the  plain  of  Magh  Ene.  Tirechan  clearly  dis- 
tinguishes between  Campus  Aine,  that  is  Magh  Ene,  and 
Campus  Cetni,  or  Magh  gCedne,  for  he  represents 
Patrick,  after  founding  a  church  in  Magh  Ene,  as  coming 
into  the  Campus  Cetni.  Then  the  Four  Masters,  who 
ought  to  know  the  place,  describe  (A.D.  1536)  O'Don- 
nell's  forces  as  coming  from  Ballyshannon,  and  encamping 
between  the  rivers  Duff  and  Drowes,  and  after  dinner 
sending  guards  and  sentinels  '  to  watch  the  pass  between 
them  and  Magh  gCedne ' ;  which  shows  clearly  that  Magh 
gCedne  was  west  of  the  Duff  River,  since  we  are  told 
they  were  afraid  of  the  O'Conors  from  Grange  and  Sligo 
coming  to  surprise  them,  and  therefore  they  watched  the 
pass  over  the  Duff  River. 

VI. — Patrick  in  North  Sligo. 

This  Magh  gCedne  then  extended  from  the  Duff 
River  to  Grange,  beyond  which  stretched  the  plain  of 
Euoi  away  to  Knocklane,  which  still  bears  its  ancient 
name  in  the  form  Magherow.  This  enables  us  to  explain 
Tirechan's  language  clearly  when  he  describes  Patrick  as 
turning  from  Rossinver  of  Magh  Ene  towards  Magherow 
and  Magh  gCedne.  The  Saint  did  not  wish  to  leave 
that  great  district  unvisited,  and  probably  founded  the 
Church  of  Ballintemple,  near  Knocklane.  No  doubt,  being 
there,  he  would  cross  the  narrow  estuary  and  visit  Bishop 

U 


290  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERRILL    AND    MOYLURG. 

l^ron  at  Cashel  Irre  (Coolerra).  Returning  thence  to  the 
North,  he  would  cross  the  strand  at  the  Rosses,  for  it  was 
the  shortest  as  well  as  the  usual  course,  and  so  leaving 
Drumcliff  on  his  right,  as  the  Tripartite  says,  he  passed 
eastward  by  the  old  road  at  Cashelgarron  down  to  Magh 
Ene. 

To  get  into  Magh  Ene  he  had  to  cross  the  Duff  River 
down  near  the  sea  shore,  and  he  *  cursed '  that  river 
because  of  the  refusal  the  fishermen  gave  him ;  but  he 
blessed  the  Drowes,  two  miles  further  on,  owing  to  the 
kindness  which  '  the  little  boys  who  were  fishing  there  did 
to  him.'  Even  small  boys  can  catch  fish  there  still ;  '  and  a 
salmon  of  the  Drowes  is  the  finest  of  Ireland's  salmon,' 
so  that  when  a  particularly  fine  salmon  was  taken  at  the 
Erne  '  the  fishermen  say  it  is  a  salmon  of  Drowes,  because 
peculiar  to  the  Drowes  is  the  beautiful  salmon  there 
through  Patrick's  blessing.'     So  says  the  Tripartite. 

This  river  Drowes  has  a  short  course  of  about  two 
miles  from  Lough  Melvin  to  the  sea  near  Bundoran,  but  it 
is  still  famous  for  the  number  and  excellence  of  its  salmon. 
The  Duff,  too,  has  some  salmon  still,  but  it  is  far  inferior 
to  the  Drowes  both  in  the  quantity  and  quality  of  its  fish. 

The  Drowes  has  been  for  ages  the  boundary  at  that 
point  between  Connaught  and  Ulster.  The  stream,  just 
before  entering  the  sea^  bifurcates,  forming  a  small  green 
island.  On  this  island  stood  the  ancient  fortress  of  Dun 
Cairbre,  which  commanded  the  pass.  It  was  built  by 
O'Conor  SHgo  on  the  site  of  an  old  dun,  and  for  the  most 
part  was  held  by  the  O'Connors  as  the  northern  bulwark 
against  the  O'Donnells.  The  island  fortress  was  itself  the 
scene  of  a  hundred  bloody  conflicts  between  the  North 
and  the  West.  Not  a  stone  of  the  Castle  now  remains  in 
view,  but  its  site  can  still  be  noticed  just  inside  the  wall 
on  the  left  of  the  road  from  Tullaghan  to  Bundoran, 
between  the  two  arms  of  the  river,  where  the  salmon  ma}' 
be  frequently  seen  rushing  up  the  shallow  streams  from 
the  sea.  Dun  and  castle  are  gone  ;  but  the  river  and  the 
fish  remain  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick. 

There  is  an  entry  in  the  Annotations  to  Tirechan  ^ 
which  appears  to  refer  to  Patrick's  preaching  in  Carbury 

^  Rolls  Tripartite.,  Vol.  II.,  341.  The  entry  follows  those  which  refer  to 
Patrick  at  Drumlease,  and  appears  to  us  to  prove  clearly  that  Patrick  went 
from  Drumlease  either  by  Glencar  or  Glenade  into  Magherow,  and  there 
founded  the  church  referred  to  in  the  text,  which  was  probably  that  called 
Ballintemple  near  Roughly. 


PATRICK    IN    NORTH    SLIGO.  29I 

and  most  probably  at  Magherow.  It  is  said  that  Mari  (or 
Marii)  offered  three  hsdi-inc^/i  of  his  land,  and  Mac  Rime 
offered  his  son,  and  Patrick  baptised  them  and  built  a 
church  in  their  heritage.  And  '  Cairbre  offered  the  kingdom 
with  them  to  Patrick,' — that  is,  we  presume,  placed  both  it 
and  the  chiefs  under  his  protection.  This  Cairbre,  son  of 
Niall,  was  the  same  that  ill-treated  Patrick  at  Telltown,  and 
later  on  ill-treated  him  again  on  the  banks  of  the  Erne. 
His  kingdom  included  not  only  the  modern  barony  of 
North  Carbury,  extending  from  Sligo  to  the  Duff  river, 
but  also   the   coast-line   thence   even    beyond    the    Erne. 

Who  Mac  Rime  was  is  not  clear,  if  he  were  not  that 
Mac  Rime  for  whose  son  Patrick  wrote  the  alphabet  at 
Muirisc  in  Tireragh,  leaving  him  at  that  time  in  charge  of 
Bishop  Bron.  The  youth  is  there  called  a  bishop  by 
'anticipation.'  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Patrick  consecrated 
him  now  for  this  new  church  which  he  founded  in  the 
territory  of  Carbury,  and  which  we  take  to  be  at  Ballin- 
temple  near  Ard  Tarmon,  where  there  certainly  was  an 
ancient  church.  The  land  belonged  to  Mari,  of  the  Hy 
Fiachrach,  who  gave  it  for  the  new  church.  Mac  Rime 
gave  it  to  his  son,  and  Cairbre,  as  head  chief,  confirmed  the 
grant.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  for  certain  the 
identity  of  this  ancient  church.  There  is  some  reason 
to  think  that  Magherow  at  that  time  belonged  to  the 
chieftains  of  Tireragh  ;  but  no  doubt  Cairbre  was  Mef 
lord  over  all  the  swordland  which  still  bears  his  name,  and 
which  would  certainly  include  the  district  yet  known  as 
Magherow,  that  is  Machaire  Euoiy  as  Tirechan  has  the 
last  part  of  the  word. 

We  think  this  passage  lends  great  countenance  to  our 
view,  that  Patrick,  coming  out  of  the  valley  of  Glenade  into 
Magh  Ene,  turned  westward  to  Magherow,  as  Tirechan 
has  it,  and  having  founded  a  church  there,  over  which  he 
placed  Mac  Rime,  crossed  the  narrow  estuary  to  visit 
Bishop  Bron,  and  then  returned  northwards  by  the  Rosses, 
leaving  Drumcliff  on  his  right  hand,  and  such  we  know 
was  the  usual  route  in  after  times. 

Having  brought  Patrick  through  all  the  West  to  the 
mearing  of  the  Province  at  the  Drowes  river,  the  Tripar- 
tite sums  up  his  labours  in  Connaught  :  '  Thrice  did 
Patrick  cross  the  Shannon  into  the  land  of  Connaught. 
Fifty  bells  and  fifty  chalices  and  fifty  altars  with  their 
altar  cloths  he  left  in  the  land  of  Connaught,  each  set  in 
its   own    church.'       So   we    must   conclude   that   he   also 


292  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRERRILL   AND    MOYLURG. 

founded  fifty  churches  in  Connaught.  He  left  them  a 
blessing  then,  as  he  was  about  to  depart  from  them  ;  '  he 
blessed  their  duns,  and  their  rivers,  or  estuaries,  and  their 
churches,'  as  he  did  those  of  the  Cenel  Conail  later  on. 

Tirechan  says  that  Patrick  crossed  the  Shannon  three 
times  and  spent  seven  years  in  the  west  country.^  He 
could  not,  indeed,  in  less  time,  convert  the  whole  province 
and  establish  so  many  churches  throughout  its  wide  area. 
We  may  fairly  assume  that  he  spent  a  year  in  Roscommon, 
that  is  in  the  modern  Diocese  of  Elphin.  Another  year 
would  be  necessary  to  go  through  East  Mayo  and  North 
Galway.  Then  the  great  region  of  Carra  and  the  Owles, 
including  his  stay  on  Croaghpatrick,  would  take  another 
year.  Tirawley,  with  its  numerous  churches,  and  his 
journey  along  the  seaboard  of  Tireragh,  would  require  a 
fourth  year.  Tirerrill  would  need  a  fifth,  and  his  prolonged 
stay  in  Leitrim  and  Carbury,  including  Kilasbugbrone, 
would  require  the  remainder  of  the  time.  The  text  of  the 
Tripartite  seems  to  imply  that  he  crossed  the  Shannon 
three  times  coming  into  Connaught ;  he  certainly  crossed 
it  three  times — twice  coming  and  once  leaving,  which  is 
perhaps  all  that  the  writer  meant. 

As  to  the  fifty  churches  with  their  equipment  which  he 
founded  in  the  West,  we  cannot  rely  on  the  numerals,  but 
the  number  must  have  been  at  least  fifty.  Of  these  we  find 
from  the  record  that  he  founded  not  less  than  twelve  in  the 
County  Roscommon,  belonging  to  the  diocese  of  Elphin. 
In  Mayo  he  founded  eleven  or  twelve  more  in  the  diocese 
of  Tuam,  to  which  express  reference  is  made.  In  Tirawley 
he  founded  seven  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Moy.  In 
Tireragh  he  founded  at  least  five,  including  Kilasbugbrone. 
In  Tirerrill,  he  certainly  founded  four,  and  two  in  the 
diocese  of  Achonry,  also  in  County  Sligo.  In  Leitrim  he 
founded  three,  and  in  Carbury  three  more,  giving  close  on 
fifty  in  all.  Of  all  these  express  mention  is  made,  so  that 
if  we  add  the  few  cases  in  which  churches  seem  to  have 
been  founded,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  although  express 
reference  is  not  made  to  them,  we  shall  find  that  the 
Tripartite  is  quite  exact  in  giving  the  number  of  churches 
as  fifty  or  thereabouts  founded  by  Patrick  in  the  Western 
province.  It  shows  also  how  careful  he  was  in  giving  to 
each  church  a  complete  equipment,  not  perhaps  in  our 
modern  sense  of  the  word,  but  still  in  providing  it  with 

*  Occidentali  plaga. 


PATRICK   IN   NORTH   SLIGO.  293 

the  essentials  of  Divine  worship — the  altar,  the  chah'ce, 
the  bell,  and  the  books,  which  he  copied  frequently  with 
his  own  hand.  The  Province  of  Connaught  is  blessed  in 
having  had  our  great  Apostle  the  founder  of  so  many  of 
its  churches,  on  which  he  spent  such  loving  zeal  in  pro- 
curing the  necessary  utensils.  Nor  has  St.  Patrick  down 
to  the  present  day  any  more  loving  and  loyal  disciples 
than  his  faithful  children  of  the.  West. 


CHAPTER     XVI, 
ST.   PATRICK    IN    TIRCONNELL. 

I. — Patrick  Crosses  the  Erne. 

Patrick  was  now  at  the  gates  of  the  North,  for  coming  to 
the  crest  of  the  hill  east  of  Bundoran  he  saw  spreading  out 
before  him  that  fair  valley  : — 

Where  the  sunny  waters  fall  at  Assaroe, 
By  Erna's  shore; 

and  no  one  has  ever  seen  it  without  admiring  it.  There 
the  mighty  river,  filled  with  half  the  waters  of  the  North, 
rushes  down  its  foaming  staircase  from  Belleek,  and  takes 
,  its  final  plunge  into  the  sea  over  a  great  ledge  of  limestone 
rock.  Just  below  the  great  fall  is  the  islet  where  the  first 
colonist  that  ever  came  to  Erin  landed  and  fortified  himself. 
Rising  high  over  the  foaming  waters  on  the  right  bank 
is  that  Sid  Aed,  where  the  drowned  warrior,  who  gave 
his  name  to  the  cataract,  dwelt  in  his  fairy  palace  and  kept 
nightly  watch  and  ward  over  that  fair  land  of  his  love. 
The  deep  pools  beneath  the  cataract  are  nearly  always 
filled  with  salmon,  which  may  be  seen  taking  mighty 
leaps  in  their  efforts  to  surmount  the  fall.  Then  seaward 
Patrick  might  see  the  great  ocean  surges  breaking  on  the 
bar  which  always  prevented  Ballyshannon  from  being  the 
emporium  of  all  the  North.  He  saw  the  whole  scene.  He 
had  seen  the  banks  of  the  Boyne  from  the  Hill  of  Slane, 
the  swelling  plains  of  Roscommon  from  Oran,  the  glories 
of  Clew  Bay  from  Croaghpatrick,  but  here  was  a  scene 
that  surpassed  them  all — even  the  beautiful  valley  and 
lake  that  he  had  seen  a  short  time  before  from  the 
'  Ridge  of  the  Sheds,'  when  sunset  flushed  the  bowery 
spray  of  peerless  Lough  Gill.  In  his  own  heart  he  said  to 
himself,  "  I  would  it  were  God's  high  will  to  leave  me  here 
and  found  my  See  in  this  beautiful  valley  beside  these 
fishful,  murmuring  waters."  But  when  he  looked  across 
the  river  his  heart  misgave  him,  for  he  saw  Cairbre,  whom 
he  had  met  before  at  Telltown,  with  his  grim  warriors  on 


HE    CROSSES   TflE    ERNE.  295 

the  northern  bank  waiting  as  if  to  dispute  his  passage, 
and  certainly  affording  him  scant  hope  of  'setting  up'  on 
the  beautiful  banks  of  the  Erne. 

This  is  not  imagination — the  dry  record  bears  us  out  in 
all  its  details,  for  we  are  told  that  the  Saint  '  desired  to  set 
up  there  in  the  place  where  are  Disert  Patraic  and  Lecc 
Patraic  ' — most  likely  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river. 
But  Cairbre,  who  then  owned  the  land  northwards  as  far 
as  Racoon,  resisted  him ;  and  he  sent  two  of  his  people, 
Carbacc  and  Cuangus,  to  drive  him  forcibly  away  from  the 
place.  "  What  you  do  is  not  good,"  said  Patrick.  "  If  a 
dwelling  were  given  to  me  here,  my  city,  with  its  Eas-Ruaid 
flowing  through  it,  would  be  a  second  Rome  of  Latium, 
with  its  Tiber  through  it ;  and  your  children  would  be  my 
successors  therein."  With  his  keen  eye  for  natural  beauty, 
Patrick  admired  and  loved  that  beautiful  valley  with  its 
wealth  of  fishful  waters.  But  the  wicked  Cairbre  was 
obdurate,  and  his  graceless  servant  Carbacc  *  set  a  dog  at 
Patrick  ' ;  whereupon  his  fellow-servant,  with  some  sense  of 
decency,  *  smote  the  dog  with  a  rod.'  ^ 

Then  Patrick  said  that  the  race  of  the  rude  Carbacc, 
who  had  treated  God's  servants  with  so  much  contumely, 
'  would  be  few  in  number,  and  that  no  dignity  of  laymen 
or  clerics  would  ever  arise  from  his  family.'  And  that  has 
been  fulfilled.  No  one  has  ever  heard  of  them  since. 
Cuangus,  too,  was  to  be  punished  for  having  consented  to 
expel  Patrick  by  having  his  race  reduced  to  a  small  band  ; 
but  as.  he  showed  some  respect  to  the  Saint,  amongst  them 
there  would  be  the  dignity  of  ordained  men.  '  And  so/ 
adds  the  Tripartite,  *  it  has  come  to  pass.' 

It  seems,  indeed,  that  Cuangus  was  reluctant  to  under- 
take the  odious  task  of  expelling  Patrick ;  so  Cairbre 
promised  him,  if  he  undertook  the  work,  all  the  land  that 
he  could  see  to  the  north  of  Slieve  Cise.  This  is  probably 
the  conspicuous  summit  now  called  Bulbin  ^  Hill,  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  north-east  of  Ballyshannon.  It  afifords  a 
fine  view  of  Magh  Sereth  by  the  Sea,  from  the  Erne  estuary 
northward  towards  Ballintra;  but  when  Cuangus  turned 
round  on  the  crest  of  the  hill  to  mark  the  limits  of  his  wide 
domain,  a  dark  cloud  closed  round  about  him,  so  that  he 

^  Cairbre  is  here  more  opposed  to  Patrick  than  he  was  at  Magherow  ;  but 
there  he  was  merely  the  over- lord,  sanctioning  what  he  could  not  well  refuse  ; 
here  he  was  the  actual  lord  in  possession,  and  as  much  opposed  to  Patrick  at 
the  Erne  as  he  was  by  the  Blackwater, 

^Colgan  says  that  the  stream  at  its  foot  was  in  his  time  called  the  Kisse, 


296  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRCONNELL. 

could  see  nothing  to  the  north  ;  he  only  saw  'as  far  as  the 
sea,  that  is,  the  estuary  of  the  Erne  westward,  and  as  far  as 
the  Uinsenn  eastward.'  TheUnshin  river  is  the  small  stream 
that  rises  in  the  Unshin  Lake,  which  is  situated  about  a 
mile  east  of  13ulbin  peak,  and  there  flows  round  the  hill, 
first  to  the  north  and  afterwards  to  the  west,  until  it  falls 
into  the  Erne  at  Abbey  Assaroe.  So  this  dark  cloud  made 
the  promised  reward  very  small  indeed,  as  small  as  the  race 
that  was  destined  to  inherit  it.  It  is  very  remarkable  how 
accurately  the  author  of  the  Tripartite  defines  the  locality; 
and  the  ancient  name  both  of  lake  and  river  still  survive. 

Cairbre,  too,  was  to  be  punished  for  his  churlish  oppo- 
sition to  the  Gospel.  "The  river,"  said  Patrick,  "that 
God  has  given  thee,  Cairbre,  thy  share  therein  shall  not 
be  fruitful  as  regards  fishing,'^  that  is,  *  the  northern  half 
of  the  river  lengthwise  was  Cairbre's  share,  to  wit  the  half 
towards  the  Cenel  Conaill,'  for  Cairbre  at  that  time  had 
the  territory  of  Conall  as  far  as  Rath  Cungai — now  Racoon, 
near  Ballintra.  ''But,"  he  added,  "the  share  of  Conall 
(the  half  to  the  south  of  it),  will  be  fruitful."  And  so  it 
came  to  pass,  until  Muirguis,^  son  of  Moel  Duin,  son  of 
Scannlan,  a  wonderful  king  of  the  race  of  Cairbre,  gave 
his  barren  shore  to  Columcille,  '  and  now  that  Colum- 
cille  has  it,  it  has  become  fruitful.'  His  prayers  and 
merits  annulled  the  curse  of  barrenness  pronounced  by 
Patrick. 

Cairbre's  river  is,  of  course,  the  Erne,  and  it  appears 
that  at  that  time  his  territory  extended  as  far  north  as 
Racoon  ;  but,  as  explained  by  the  writer  of  the  Tripartite, 
the  head  of  the  tribe  afterwards  gave  it  to  Columcille,  that 
is,  to  him  and  his  monks,  who  had  a  great  monastery  at 
Drumhome,  by  the  sea-shore,  beyond  Ballintra.  So  the 
whole  territory,  from  the  Drowes  to  Barnesmore,^  became  a 
part  of  ancient  Tirconnell ;  but  it  was  specially  known  by 
the  name  of  Tirhugh,  which  the  barony  still  bears.  King 
Aedh  Mac  Ainmire,  from  whom  the  barony  took  its  name, 
was  a  contemporary  of  Columcille,  and  both  were  present 
at  the  great  Synod  of  Drumceat  in  575. 

The  river  Erne  is  still  a    fishful   river,  abounding  in 


^  Muirguis  died  in  695  ;  his  father,  Moel  Duin,  in  665  ;  so  that  the  offer- 
ing was  made,  not  to  Columcille  himself,  but  to  his  monastery  of  Drumhome 
most  likely. 

'^  This  great  gap  in  the  mountain,  through  wliich  the  railway  now  passes, 
was  anciently  called  Bearnas  Mor  of  Tirhugh,  because  it  was  the  pass  to  and 
from  that  famous  territory. 


HE   CROSSES   THE    ERNE.  297 

salmon.  It  is  one  of  the  most  productive  salmon  rivers  in  all 
Ireland.  Some  years  ago  the  fishing  was  sold  to  a  private 
company  for  £50,000  ;  and  it  was  considered  a  great  bargain. 

But  the  Erne  at  Ballyshannon  has  more  than  its  valuable 
fisheries  to  make  it  interesting.  As  we  have  said,  history, 
poetry,  and  romance  have  flung  their  radiance  around  that 
fair  scene,  and  have  peopled  it  with  teeming  associations. 
That  little  island  just  below  the  waterfall  is  Inis  Saimer, 
and  it  has  taken  its  name  from  Saimer,  a  hound  of 
Partholan,  one  of  the  first  of  the  great  heroes  who  landed 
in  Ireland.  The  bards  tell  us  that  he  landed  there  for 
caution  sake,  and  fortified  it ;  but  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  in 
regard  to  his  wife,  he  killed  her  faithful  hound,  whence  the 
island,  and  the  river,  and  the  neighbouring  Cistercian 
monastery  have  ever  since  been  called  from  the  name  of 
the  hound.  The  poets  speak  of  the  river  valley  as 
Saimer's  *  green  vale ; '  the  Cistercians  called  their  great 
abbey  close  by  '  De  Samario ; '  and  so  the  whole  place  is 
aglow  with  the  light  of  bardic  story. 

The  waterfall  gets  its  name  from  Aed  Ruad,  the 
father  of  Macha  of  the  Golden  Hair,  who  founded  Emania  ; 
the  hill  over  the  cataract  is  still  called  from  him  Sid  Aedha 
(Ruaidh),  because  he  was  buried  there  ;  and  the  old  abbey 
will  be  for  ever  immortal  as  the  first  home  and  school  of 
the  founder  of  the  O'Clerys  of  Tirconnell. 

Patrick  now  continued  his  journey  between  Assaroe 
and  the  sea,  through  the  modern  parish  of  Kilbarron,  until 
he  came  to  Conall's  territory,  '  where  to-day  is  Rath 
Chungai '  or  Racoon.  This  was  the  mearing  at  that  time 
between  Cairbre  and  Conall  ;  ^  and  Racoon  itself  seems  to 
have  been  in  the  territory  of  Prince  Conall,  for  we  do  not 
read  that  Patrick  founded  any  church  in  the  territory  of 
the  accursed  Cairbre,  who  drove  him  away  from  his  lands. 
'  But  he  set  a  stake  there  at  Racoon,  and  said  .it  would  be 
a  territory  lor  seven  bishops ,  and  there  is  Bite  (buried), 
the  son  of  the  brother  of  Asicus  from  Elphin  ; '  and  there 
also,  we  may  add,  as  we  have  already  stated,  is  Assicus 
himself,  Bishop  of  Elphin,  and  there  also,  no  doubt,  other 
prelates  rest  in  Christ  beneath  His  Cross. 

The  phrase,  '  he  set  a  stake  there,'  seems  to  mean  that 
he   traced    out    the    site   of  a   church    in   the    place,  and 


*  This  Conall  is  of  course  Conall  Gulban,  brother  of  Cairbre,  quite  a  dis- 
tinct personage  from  Prince  Conall,  son  of  Enda  Crom,  whom  Patrick  first 
met  at  Taia,  and  then  on  the  banks  of  the  Moy. 


29^  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRCONNELL. 

marked  with  a  cross  the  place  of  the  altar,  as  we  do  still. 
Tirechan  calls  this  place  Rath  Argi  in  Magh  Sereth ;  and 
he  adds  that  Patrick  encamped  in  the  plain  near  where  he 
founded  the  church.  There  he  found  a  good  man  of  the 
race  of  Lathron,  whom  he  baptised,  together  with  his 
young  son  Hina  or  Ineus  by  name,  and  he  was  so-called 
because  he  was  born  by  the  wayside  as  his  parents  were 
coming  down  from  the  hills,  and  his  father  carried  the 
child  in  a  cloth  tied  around  his  neck.  This  youth  Patrick 
caused  to  be  instructed,  and  he  wrote  an  alphabet  for  the 
boy ;  and  afterwards  he  was  consecrated  by  Patrick  '  with 
the  consecration  of  a  bishop.'  ^  It  was  he  who  after- 
wards extended  hospitality  to  Assicus  of  Elphin  and  his 
monks  at  Ard  Roissen,  '  that  is  in  Rath  Chungai/  of 
Magh  Sereth,  and  that  was  in  the  time  of '  Kings  Ferghus 
and  Fothadh.'  Ferghus  Cennfada,  son  of  Conall,  was 
grandfather  of  Columcille,  and  his  brother  Fothadh,  who 
appears  to  have  been  with  him  joint  king  of  the  tribe, 
died  in  546,  according  to  the  Four  Masters.  It  was  from 
this  Fothadh,  son  of  Conall,  that  Ard  Fothaidh,  close  to 
Racoon,  appears  to  have  derived  its  name.  Patrick  pre- 
pared to  found  a  church  in  that  place,  and  had  set  up  a 
stake  to  mark  the  spot — probably  a  wooden  cross — but  on 
the  morrow,  when  they  were  about  to  begin  the  church, 
Patrick  found  the  stake  '  bent,'  whence  he  concluded  that 
it  was  not  destined  to  be  the  site  of  a  church,  but  of  a 
royal  palace  ;  and  he  prophesied  that  Domhnall,  son  of 
Aedh,  son  of  Ainmire,  would  build  his  royal  dun  in  that 
place,  which  afterwards  came  to  pass.  This  was  Domhnall, 
King  of  Erin,  of  the  line  of  Conall  Gulban,  whose  death 
is  marked  by  the  Four  Masters  in  A.D.  642.  He  was  fifth 
in  descent  from  Conall  Gulban,  and  before  he  became  King 
of  Erin  had  his  royal  palace  at  Ard  Fothaidh,  near  Racoon. 
The  Tripartite  here  adds  that  on  Sid  Aedha  Patrick 
blessed  Conall,  son  of  Niall ;  and  he  also  placed  his  hands 
on  the  head  of  Ferghus,  son  of  Conall,  and  fervently 
blessed  him.  This  was  a  marvel  to  Conall  that  he  should 
bless  the  child  ;  but  Patrick,  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy, 
explained  the  blessing,  saying  : — 

A  youth  (Columcille)  will  be  born  of  his  tribe, 
He  will  be  a  sage,  a  prcphet,  a  poet ; 
Who  will  not  utter  falsehood. 

^  As  the  child  was  then  an  infant  he  could  not  be  consecrated  for  many 
years  afterwards  ;  bat  probably  Patrick  blessed  him  at  the  time  willi  a  special 
blessing,  and  foretold  that  he  would  become  a  bishop  later  on. 


HIS  PURGATORY  IN  LOUGH  DERG.        299 

St.  Brlgid  is  represented  as  uttering  a  similar  prophecy, 
but  it  must  have  been  at  a  later  period. 

The  order  given  in  the  Tripartite  would  seem  to  imply 
that  Sid  Aedha^  was  near  Racoon  or  Aid  Fothaidh  ;  but 
the  fairy  hill  of  Hugh  still  bears  its  name,  and  is  now 
called  Mullaghshee,  the  hill  on  which  the  Protestant  church 
stands,  just  over  the  Erne  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  at 
Ballyshannon.  At  that  time  it  appears  to  have  been  in 
Cairbre's  territory  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  ;  but  the 
modern  Tirhugh  now  includes  the  whole  district  from  the 
Erne  to  Barnesmore. 

II. — St.  Patrick's  Purgatory  in  Lough  Derg. 

Tirechan  adds  that  Patrick  also  founded  a  church  in 
Magh  Latrain,  and  a  second  called  the  Cell-mor  Sir 
Drummo  in  Doburbar,  a  church  of  which  the  family  of 
Devenish  afterwards  took  possession.  These  churches 
have  not  yet  been  identified.  The  church  in  Magh  Latrain 
was  probably  the  old  church  at  Laghy  on  the  way  to 
Donegal.  But  the  locality  of  Kilmore  Sir  Drummo  is 
still  open  to  question.  In  our  opinion  it  is  somewhere  in 
the  parish  of  Templecarne,  if  it  is  not  identical  with  the 
old  church  of  Templecarne.  The  greater  part  of  the 
parish  was  in  the  ancient  Tirconnell,  and  still  forms  a  por- 
tion of  the  barony  of  Tirhugh ;  yet  it  all  belongs  to  the 
diocese  of  Clogher,  because,  as  Tirechan  says,  the  monks 
of  Devenish  came  down  upon  it  and  kept  possession  of  it.^ 
We  must  look  for  that  Kilmore  therefore  somewhere  in 
Templecarne  parish  or  on  its  borders.  It  must  have  been 
from  this  point,  too,  that  is  Ballyshannon  or  Ballintra, 
that  Patrick  went  to  Lough  Derg,  and  founded  there  his 
famous  Purgatory.  We  know  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
spending  the  Lent  in  retirement  and  penance,  so  nothing 
would  be  more  natural  than  that  he  should  retire  there, 
perhaps,  during  his  first  Lent  in  Tirconnell,  to  strengthen 
his  soul  by  prayer  and  gird  himself  for  the  great  work  that 

^  It  is  the  same  Aed  who  has  given  his  name  to  the  cataract  and  to  the 
hill,  that  is  Aed  Ruad  Mac  Badharn,  who  was  drowned  in  the  cataract,  and 
buried  in  the  hill  over  the  falls.  It  was  also  a  famous  fairy  hill,  and  tiieir 
choice  of  this  hill  for  a  palace  shows  the  good  taste  of  the  fairies.  Aed  Ruad 
was  father  of  the  famous  foundress  of  Emania — Macha  of  the  Golden  Hair. 

^  St.  Patrick  first  spent  a  Lent  most  likely  at  Saint's  Island  in  Lough  Uerg, 
parish  of  Templecarne.  Then  his  disciple,  Uabheog,  a  VS^'elshman,  settled 
there,  and  became  patron  of  the  place  ;  afterwards  St.  Molaise  of  Devenish 
occupied  it,  and  thus  originated  the  claim  of  that  familia. 


300  ST.    PATRICK   IN   TIRCONNELL. 

lay  before  him  in  the  North  ;  yet  it  is  strange  that  no  refer- 
ence is  made  to  the  Holy  Lake  either  in  the  Tripartite  or 
in  Tirechan,  although  the  tradition  of  the  Apostle's  stay 
there  is  so  vivid  and  so  universal  throughout  the  whole 
North  and  West  of  Ireland. ^  Here  we  merely  observe 
that  St.  Patrick's  Cave  was  not  in  the  present  '  Station 
Island  *  in  Lough  Derg,  but  in  that  called  the  '  Saint's 
Island,'  and  sometimes  Island  Dabheog.  This  saint  was 
a  disciple  of  St.  Patrick,  and  it  would  appear  that  Patrick 
at  his  departure  left  Dabheog  in  charge  of  the  religious 
establishment  which  grew  up  under  his  care  on  the  island. ^ 

The  Saint  Dabheog  here  referred  to,  if  he  were  indeed 
a  disciple  of  St.  Patrick,  was  himself  of  Welsh  origin, 
being  the  son  of  Brecan,  or  Brychan,  the  great  father  of 
a  host  of  Welsh  saints,  many  of  whom,  as  their  father 
was  of  Irish  origin,  became  themselves  closely  connected 
with  Ireland.  In  this  way  we  can  easily  understand  how 
Dabheog  became  a  disciple  of  St,  Patrick,  and  was  left  by 
his  master  to  take  charge  of  the  church  and  hermitage  in 
Tirhugh.  Another  Saint  Dabheog  sprung  from  Dichu, 
son  of  Trichem,  of  the  Dalfiatach  race,  is  commemorated 
in  our  martyrologies,  but  he  flourished  at  least  one  hundred 
years  later  than  the  time  of  St.  Patrick. 

It  has  often  been  considered  strange  that  there  is  no 
reference  to  St.  Patrick's  sojourn  at  Lough  Derg  in  the 
ancient  Lives.  The  Tripartite  is,  certainly,  silent  on  the 
point,  but  we  think  the  entry  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  points 
to  the  Saint's  sojourn  at  Lough  Derg.  The  '  great  church,' 
ecclesia  magna — called  Sir  Drommo,  which  the  Devenish 
community  afterwards  grabbed — shows  clearly  two  things 
— first,  that  this  foundation  was  a  well-known  church,  and, 
secondly,  that  it  was  a  church  which  became  subject  to 
Devenish,  and,  therefore,  to  the  diocese  of  Clogher. 
This  church  must  have  been  somewhere  in  the  parish  of 
Templecarne,  for  there  is  no  other  parish  in  the  barony 
of  Tirhugh  belonging  to  Clogher.  It  was,  therefore,  most 
probably  the  old  church  of  Templecarne,  which  stood  close 
to  the  road  from  Pettigo  to  Lough  Derg,  and  still  contains 
a  very  large  churchyard,  although  the  ancient  buildings 
have  disappeared.     The  old  road  to  Saint's  Island  passed 


■  An  account  of  this  famous  place  or  Purgatory  will  be  found  in  Appendix 
No.  5. 

2  Perhaps  the  Kilmore  Sir  Drum  mo  was  that  founded  in  the  original 
Station  Island  of  Lough  Derg, 


HE   COMES    INTO   MAGH    ITH.  3OI 

from  this  church  by  the  south-western  shore  of  the  lake, 
and  was  known  as  the  '  Pilgrims'  Tochar '  or  road  to  the 
Holy  Island.  There  was  an  ancient  church  also  on  the 
Saint's  Island  itself,  but  that  probably  was  founded  at  a 
later  period,  when  the  pilgrimage  became  celebrated. 
Subsequently,  an  '  Augustinian  '  monastery  was  founded, 
and  subsisted  down  to  the  year  1632,  when  the  buildings 
were  entirely  defaced  and  destroyed. 

III. — Patrick  comes  into  Magh  Ith. 

And  now,  Patrick  having  gone  through  Tirconnell,  and 
blessed  its  territory,  its  princes,  and  its  people,  passed  with 
his  familia  through  the  wildly  picturesque  Glen  of  Barnes- 
more,  and  came  into  Magh  Ith.  Barnesmore  is  the  most 
remarkable  mountain  pass  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  It  was 
quite  visible  to  Patrick  during  his  whole  journey  through 
Magh  g-Cedne,  Magh  Ene,  and  Tirhugh,  for  it  is  the  only 
visible  break  in  the  great  range  of  the  Blue  Stack  Moun- 
tains as  they  look  south-westward  towards  the  ocean.  The 
hills  on  either  side  of  this  wild  pass  rise  some 
2,000  feet  high,  and  press  so  closely  on  the  valley 
that  they  barely  leave  room  for  the  road  and  the 
railway  which  now  sweeps  through  it  from  Stranorlar 
to  Donegal.  No  enemy  ventured  to  pass  through 
it  when  the  sons  of  Tirconnell  held  the  heights,  for 
their  destruction  would  have  been  assured,  as  the  pass 
is  about  three  miles  in  length,  and  the  assailants  on  the 
heights  would  have  need  of  no  weapons  but  the  loose  rocks 
on  the  hill-sides  to  destroy  the  invading  foe. 

The  Tripartite  represents  Patrick  after  coming  through 
this  Great  Gap  as  passing  direct  into  Magh  Ith.  It  was 
a  famous  plain  extending  from  Stranorlar  to  Inch  on  the 
inner  shore  of  Lough  Swilly  for  a  distance  of  nearly  twenty 
miles.  On  the  west  it  is  bounded  by  the  mountains,  on 
the  east  by  the  Rivers  Finn  and  Foyle.  It  is  the  most 
fertile  territory  in  Donegal,  and  has  been  the  scene  of  its 
more  stubborn  conflicts.  The  O'Neills  and  O'Donnells 
reddened  all  its  fairest  fields  with  their  best  blood,  shed  in 
fratricidal  strife.  At  a  later  period  it  was  the  battle-ground 
of  the  Gaels  and  Saxons,  and  it  was  in  Magh  Ith  that  the 
gallant  Heber  M'Mahon,  Bishop  of  Clogher,  drew  a  sword 
that  could  not  save  the  fallen  cause  of  his  country,  and 
paid  the  penalty  by  a  glorious  death  at  Enniskillen. 

The  name  of  this  ancient  plain  carries  us  back  to  the 


302  ST.    PATRICK   IN   TIRCONNELL. 

very  dawn  of  Erin's  bardic  story.  Ith  was  the  uncle  of 
Milesius,  and  when  his  sons  had  resolved  to  invade  the 
country  they  sent  their  uncle  to  spy  out  the  coasts  of  the 
land,  and  tell  them  of  its  resources.  He  landed  somewhere 
in  Lough  Swilly,  most  likely  at  the  place  now  called  Inch, 
in  the  l.agan.  There  he  surely  saw  even  then  a  fertile  and 
smiling  land  ;  but  the  princes  of  the  country,  jealous  of  the 
stranger,  waylaid  him  and  his  companions  on  their  return 
to  their  ships.  He  was  slain  in  the  conflict,  and  gave  his 
name  to  the  plain;  but  his  sons  and  companions  succeeded 
in  carrying  off  his  body,  and  brought  both  sad  and  joyous 
tidings  home  to  Spain.  The  result  was  the  invasion  and 
conquest  of  Erin. 

Patrick,  as  usual,  having  come  into  Magh  Ith,  directed 
his  course  straight  towards  the  royal  palace,  which  was  there 
since  the  time  of  Ith  himself,  for  it  took  its  name  from  its 
founder,  Ailech  Neid,  who,  it  is  said,  dwelt  there  when 
Ith  first  landed  in  sight  of  the  royal  hill.  To  the  same 
royal  palace  Patrick  now  directed  his  footsteps.  But  he 
was  not  idle  on  the  way. 

The  Tripartite  says  that  having  come  through  Bearnas 
Mor  Patrick  founded  there  Domnach  Mor  Maighe  Itha,  over 
which  he  placed  Dudubac,  son  of  Corcan,  one  of  his  house- 
hold. The  old  church  has  disappeared,  but  it  has  given 
its  title  to  the  parish  of  Donaghmore,  on  the  right  or  south 
bank  of  the  River  Finn.  Eoghan  was  not  there  at  the  time, 
and  Patrick  was,  it  appears,  doubtful  as  to  the  reception  he 
was  likely  to  meet  with  from  this  Eoghan,  son  of  Niall,  and 
brother  of  Cairbre  and  of  Conall.  "  Beware,"  he  said,  as 
they  advanced — to  his  household — "  beware  lest  the  lion 
Eoghain,^  son  of  Niall,  come  against  you.'* 

When  they  were  now  come  near  Donaghmore  Patrick 
and  his  family  met  Muiredach,  son  of  Eoghan,  with  a  troop 
of  warriors,  who  were,  perhaps,  keeping  the  passes  of  the 
river.  This  gallant  prince,  the  father  of  a  still  more  gallant 
son,  who  was  called  the  Hector  of  the  Gael,  was  favourably 
disposed  to  Patrick.  Sechnall,  too,  Patrick's  nephew,  most 
likely  by  his  advice,  sought  to  win  over  the  young  prince, 
if  he  could,  to  the  cause  of  the  Gospel  by  prudent  means. 

Said  Sechnall  to  Muiredach — "  Thou  wilt  have  from  me 
a  reward  if  thou  prevailest  on  thy  father  to  believe."    *'  What 


^  Yet,  as  we  have  seen  before,  Eoghfin  was  friendly  to  Patrick  at  Tara. 
The  old  warrior  was,  however,  jealous  of  admitting  strangers  into  his  territory, 
and  hence  Patrick's  warning  to  his  clergy  to  beware  of  the  old  lion. 


HE    COMES    INTO   MAGH    ITU.  303 

reward  ?"  said  he.  "The  kingship  of  thy  tribe  shall  be 
thine  for  ever,  i.e.,  from  thee,"  said  Sechnall.  So  Muiredach 
prevailed  on  his  father  to  believe;  and  his  father  consented. 
This  was  in  the  Fidh  Mor  or  Great  Wood  which  has  been 
identified  with  Veagh,  in  the  parish  of  Ramochy,  *  where 
the  flagstone  is ; '  and  there  Eoghan  believed  in  God  and 
in  Patrick. 

But  it  does  not  appear  that  Fidh  Mor  was  in  Eoghan's 
territory  ^  for  Patrick  said  "  if  thou  hadst  believed  in  thine 
own  country,  hostages  of  the  Gael  would  come  to  thy 
country,  that  is,  as  that  of  a  sovereign  prince,  but  now  only 
those  hostages  will  come  whom  thou  shalt  win  by  thy 
prowess  in  arms."  It  seems  that  Patrick's  complaint  was 
that  Eoghan  did  not  come  to  meet  him  at  Donaghmore 
when  Patrick  first  came  into  his  territory,  he  rather  held 
back  and  waited  until  Patrick  had  come  into  Tir  Enna, 
which  was  his  brother's  territory,  on  the  south-eastern 
shore  of  Lough  Swilly  and  outside  Eoghan's  jurisdiction. 

Donaghmore,  near  Castle  Finn,  appears  to  have  been 
the  only  church  which  Patrick  founded  in  Magh  Ith. 
Colgan  observes  that  there  were  two  famous  churches  in 
the  plain,  one  towards  the  west,  namely  Domnach  Moi 
Maighe  Itha,  and  the  other  towards  the  north,  namely 
Clonleigh  (Cluin  Laogh)  founded  by  St.  Carnech,  and 
that  these  two  churches  were  not  far  from  each  other.  In 
this  he  is  quite  accurate.  The  old  church  of  Donaghmore 
was,  we  believe,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Finn,  mid-way 
between  Stranorlar  and  Castle  Finn  ;  whereas  the  church 
of  Clonleigh,  also  in  Magh  Ith,  was  about  a  mile  to  the 
west  of  Lifford,  and  gives  its  title  likewise  to  the  parish  of 
Clonleigh.  It  is  noteworthy  also  that  these  two  parishes 
are  still  in  the  diocese  of  Derry.  Anciently  they  belonged 
to  the  diocese  of  Ardstraw,  which  was  incorporated  with 
that  of  Derry,  and  those  parishes  belonged  to  the  territory 
of  Eoghan,  the  eldest  son  of  Niall  the  Great. 

It  appears  clear,  however,  that  Patrick  did  not  on  this 
occasion  go  westward  towards  Castlefinn  but,  as  was  his 
custom, went  straight  from  Donaghmore  northwards  towards 
Ailech.  Muiredach,  son  of  Eoghan,  doubtless  accompanied 
him  ;    and  so  they  passed  right  through   the  barony  of 


^  Conal's  territory  at  this  time  extended  to  Barnesmore.  Eoghan's  territory, 
it  would  appear,  extended  along  the  Finn  and  Foyle  from  Barnesmore  to  Derry 
or  rather  Ailech  where  he  dwelt  ;  whilst  Enna's  territory  stretched  along  the 
western  shore  of  Lough  Swilly,  and  round  the  head  of  the  Lough  to  Fidh  Mor. 


304  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRCONNELL. 

Raphoe  to  the  head  of  Lough  Swilly.  It  was  not  far 
distant — only  some  ten  miles  north  from  Donaghmore. 
We  are  told  that  the  meeting  between  Eoghan  and  Patrick 
took  place  in  Fidh  Mor  at  the  place  where  *  the  flagstone 
is.'  It  is  not  called  '  Patrick's  flagstone/  but  the  flagstone 
simply,  although  most  probably  the  reference  is  to  some 
flagstone  which  Patrick  blessed  for  the  purpose  of  saying 
Mass,  and  which  was  afterwards  kept  there  in  great 
veneration  and  gave  its  name  to  the  present  parish  of  Leek, 
which  is  just  at  the  head  of  Lough  Swilly  and  adjoins 
Veagh  in  Ramochy.  It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  the 
parish  is  not  called  Leckpatrick  but  simply  Leek,  in  this 
corroborating  the  accuracy  of  the  Tripartite. 

IV. — Patrick  and  Eoghan  Mac  Nial. 

The  Great  Wood  of  Veagh  extended,  as  far  as  we  can 
judge,  from  Leek  to  the  place  now  called  Manorcunning- 
ham.  It  is  likely  the  meeting  took  place  either  at  the  old 
church  of  Leek  or  at  the  old  rath  which  has  given  its 
name  to  the  parish  of  Ramochy.  The  woods  have  long 
been  cleared ;  and  the  district,  which  was  planted  with 
Scottish  settlers  after  the  Flight  of  the  Earls,  is  now  one  of 
the  most  fertile  and  highly  cultivated  in  Ulster.  But  even 
in  ancient  times  it  was  fertile  and  beautiful,  for  the  ancient 
monastery  of  Bellaghan,^  near  Manorcunningham,  means 
in  Irish  the  'town  of  the  beautiful  field,'  and  well  deserves 
the  name.^ 

Here  on  the  shore,  by  the  rushing  tides  of  Lough 
Swilly,  Patrick  and  Eoghan  had  a  long  and  momentous 
interview,  to  which  the  lively  Celtic  imagination  of  later 
days  has,  we  suspect,  added  some  extraordinary  incidents. 
Muiredach,  son  of  Eoghan,  claimed  a  reward  for  believing 
at  Donaghmore,  so  far  as  we  can  judge;  and  now  Eoghan 
himself,  according  to  the  strange  account  in  the  Tripartite, 
makes  a  similar  demand.  *'  Not  stately  am  I,"  said  Eoghan, 
"and  my  brothers  upbraid  me  often  for  my  ugliness."^ 
"  What  shape  would  you  like  to  have  ?  "  said  Patrick.  "  The 
countenance  and  shape  of  the  youth  who  is  carrying  your 
box,  namely  Rioc"  (of  Inisbofifin,  in  Lough  Ree).  Patrick,  we 
are  told,  then  covered  them  both  with  one  mantle,  the  two 


^  See  Cardinal  Moran's  Archaall,  Vol.  II.,  p.  178. 
^  Baile-aghadh-chaoin. 

^  Stokes  translates  it,  '  give  a  great  wergild  for  my  ugliness.'     We  give 
Colgan's  version  here. 


PATRICK   AND   EOGHAN    MAC    NIAL.  305 

arms  of  each  of  them  around  the  other.  They  sleep  thus, 
and  afterwards  awake  with  exactly  the  same  countenance, 
their  tonsures  only,  or  style  of  the  hair-cutting,  being 
different.  Rioc  had  the  clerical  tonsure,  and  Eoghan,  we 
may  presume,  had  the  flowing  locks  of  a  Gaelic  warrior. 

But  Eoghan  was  not  yet  content.  "  My  size  is  not  to 
my  liking."  "  What  stature  would  you  like  to  have?  "  said 
Patrick.  "  This  high,"  replied  Eoghan,  raising  his  spear 
high  over  his  head.  And  straightway  he  grows  that 
height !  There  is  nothing  of  this  in  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
and  we  may  set  it  down  as  altogether  fanciful.  At  that 
time  Eoghan  was  an  old  and  famous  warrior,  for  mention 
is  made  of  his  grandsons,  and  at  that  age  it  is  not  likely  he 
was  so  anxious  about  either  his  stature  or  his  appearance; 
but  he  was  always  what  his  clansmen  valued  much  more — 
the  bravest  of  the  brave. 

Then  Patrick  blessed  Eoj^han  and  his  sons.  '*  Which 
of  them  is  dearest  to  thee?"  said  Patrick.  ''  Muiredach," 
said  Eoghan.  "  Kingship  will  be  from  him  for  ever,"  said 
Patrick.  "And  next  to  him  ?"  said  Patrick.  ''Fergus," 
said  Eoghan.  "  Ordained  men  will  descend  from  him," 
said  Patrick;  "and  whom  next  do  you  prefer?"  "  Eochy 
the  Melodious,"  said  Eoghan.  "  Warriors  will  spring  from 
him,"  said  the  Saint;  "and  after  him,  who  is  next  in  your 
estimation  ?  "  "  All  the  rest  are  equally  beloved  by  me," 
said  Eoghan.  "  Then  let  them  share  your  favours  accord- 
ing to  their  merits,"  ^  said  Patrick — a  very  fair  award. 

Patrick  then,  accompanied  by  Eoghan  and  his  sons, 
went  northward  about  seven  miles  by  the  fertile  shore  of 
Lough  Swilly,  until  he  came  to  the  ancient  road  that  led 
up  from  the  lough  to  the  far-famed  Ailech  ^  of  the  Kings. 
It  was  a  steep  ascent  on  that  side,  for  the  royal  hill  rises 
from  the  lough  to  the  height  of  802  feet,  and  the  ancient 
fortress  crowns  its  very  summit.  Even  then  it  had  fronted 
the  storm  for  well  nigh  1,500  years,  for  it  is  said  to  date 
back  at  least  1,000  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  was 
commonly  regarded  both  in  splendour  and  antiquity  as 
second  to  Tara  alone.  Emania  had  fallen  more  than  a 
hundred  years  before  Patrick  founded  Armagh  ;  but 
Ailech  was  still  in  its  glory,  and  flourished  down  to  the 

^  So  Colgan  gives  it.  The  Rolls  Tripartite  has  it,  *  One  man's  love  shall 
be  on  them ' — the  meaning  of  which  is  not  clear. 

^  It  is  often  called  the  Grianan-Ailech  or  Grianan-Ely,  that  is,  the  Sunny 
Ailech ;  and  it  deserved  the  name,  for  if  the  sun  was  to  be  seen  at  all  it  must 
have  caught  his  rays. 


306  ST.    PATRICK    IN   TIRCONNELL. 

year  A.D.  iioi,  when  it  was  finally  dismantled  as  a  royal 
fortress  by  Murtagh  O'Brien,  in  revenge  for  the  destruction 
of  Kincora  by  Donnell  McLoughlin  some  twelve  years 
before.  The  name  was  kept  long  after  as  a  title  of  the 
Northern  Hy  Niall ;  but  they  had  transferred  their  chief 
residence  to  Inis  Enaigh,  in  the  Co.  Tyrone. 

Even  still  the  grand  old  walls  crown  the  hill  and  front 
the  storm  as  proudly  as  of  old,  although  the  O'Neill  no 
more  holds  rule  in  any  part  of  Ulster,  and  the  stranger 
reaps  the  harvests  of  golden  grain  along  the  Foyle  and 
winding  Swilly.  According  to  Michael  O'Clery,  the  name 
Ailech  merely  means  a  stone  palace.^  It  is  rudely  circular, 
about  70  feet  in  diameter,  that  is,  the  inner  cashel  or  stone 
fort,  which  seems  to  have  been  always  open  to  the  sky. 
There  was  only  a  single  entrance,  but  there  are  galleries  in 
the  walls,  and  steps  to  reach  the  parapets,  which  are  like 
those  found  in  Dun  Aengus  in  Aranmore,  and  similar 
stone  forts  of  ancient  Erin.  This  inner  cashel  was  sur- 
rounded with  several  outer  concentric  ramparts  of  stone 
and  earth,  which  rendered  the  access  of  an  enemy 
extremely  difficult.  The  walls  have  recently  been  restored, 
and  the  visitor  can  now  realise  the  general  character  of  the 
ancient  inner  fort  almost  as  distinctly  as  St.  Patrick  and 
his  familia  could  have  done. 

From  its  height  and  commanding  position  the  Grianan 
of  Ely,  as  it  is  now  called,  affords  a  magnificent  panorama 
of  all  the  surrounding  country,  to  the  farthest  summits 
of  the  distant  mountains.  At  its  feet,  as  it  were,  the 
tourist  sees  the  two  noble  estuaries  of  the  Foyle  and  the 
Swilly  stretching  away  on  either  hand  seaward  to  the 
north-east  and  north-west.  He  can  look  down  into  the 
streets  of  Derry  and  trace  the  outline  of  its  historic  walls. 
He  will  see  the  smoke  of  the  trains  from  Enniskillen  and 
Donegal,  for  an  hour  before  their  arrival,  as  they  cross  and 
recross  the  gleaming  windings  of  the  Finn  and  Foyle  far 
away  to  the  south.  The  dark  mass  of  Slieve  Snaght, 
buttressed  by  surrounding  hills,  rises  in  gloomy  grandeur 
far  away  to  the  north ;  the  great  sun-lit  cone  of  Errigal 
overtops  all  its  rivals  on  the  west ;  the  massive  summits  of 
Tyrone  bound  the  horizon  on  the  east ;  so  that  at  every 
point  far  and  near  the  prospect  is  full  of  variety  and 
grandeur.  St.  Patrick  knew  how  to  appreciate  such  a 
scene;  and  no  doubt  gazed  with   a  full  heart  over  these 

*  Ail-tech  =  stone-house. 


PATRICK   AND    EOGHAN    MAC    NIAL.  307 

far-reaching  hills  and  fertile  valleys  which  God  had  given 
to  him  to  be  the  field  and  the  crown  of  his  labours. 

We  are  told  that  Patrick  blessed  the  fortress,  that  is 
Ailech  of  the  Kings  ;  and  he  left  his  flagstone^  there, 
and  he  prophesied  that  kings  and  prelates  from  Ailech 
would  hold  rule  over  Erin,  and  we  know  that  the  prophecy 
was  fulfilled  for  many  ages ;  and  that  the  last  vain  but 
glorious  stand  against  foreign  rule  in  Erin  was  made  by 
the  gallant  princes  of  the  North,  whose  fathers  had  ruled 
in  Ailech  for  more  than  one  thousand  years. 

Furthermore,  apparently  addressing  Eoghan,  Patrick 
said,  "Whenever  you  or  your  successors  after  you  put  your 
foot  out  of  bed  (to  go  on  an  expedition)  the  men  of  Erin 
will  tremble  before  you."  And  he  not  only  blessed  the 
palace,  but  from  Belach  Ratha  he  raised  his  hand  and 
blessed  in  the  distance  before  him  all  the  land  of  Inis- 
Eoghan  where  the  sons  of  the  King  then  ruled,  and  into 
which  Patrick  now  proposed  to  journey  himself. 

This  Belach  Ratha  appears  to  be  the  highest  point  of 
'the  broad  ancient  road  which  leads  to  the  summit  between 
two  natural  ledges  of  rock.'  ^  The  fortress  itself  is 
frequently  called  a  dun  and  a  rath  as  well  as  an  ailech  ^  or 
stone  cashel ;  and  this  ancient  road  descending  to  the 
Lough  on  the  west  gave  from  its  crest  a  magnificent  view 
of  Inis-Eoghan  in  the  distance.  The  old  poetic  blessing 
is  given  in  the  Tripartite  : — 

My  blessing  on  the  tribes 

I  give  from  Belach  Ratha  ; 

On  you  descendants  of  Eoghan 

Grace  till  Doomsday. 

So  long  as  the  fields  shall  be  under  crops 

Victory  in  battle  be  with  their  men  ; 

The  head  of  the  men  of  Erin's  hosts  be  in  their  place, 

They  shall  attack  every  high  ground, 

The  seed  of  Eoghan,  son  of  Niall, 

Bless,  O  fair  Bridgid. 

Provided  that  they  do  good, 

Rule  shall  be  from  them  for  ever. 

The  blessing  of  us  both 

On  Eoghan,  son  of  Niall, 

On  every  one  who  shall  be  born  of  him, 

Provided  he  act  according  to  our  will. 

^  The  flagstone — leic,  as  the  Tripartite  has  it — was  probably  an   altar 
stone  which  he  consecrated  for  use  of  the  residents  in  the  palace. 
'^  See  Ordnance  Survey  of  Templemore,  p.  217. 
^  See  the  Dinnseanchus  of  Ailech — eodem  loco. 


308  ST.    PATRICK    IN    TIRCONNELL. 

We  are  also  told  that  Echaid,  son  of  Fiachra,  son  of 
Eoghan  (that  is  his  grandson)  was  baptised  along  with 
Eoghan  on  this  great  occasion  ;  and  that  Patrick  told  them 
that  if  they  kept  not  their  sacred  promises  on  that  day 
they  would  be  childless,  and  without  burial  in  the  earth. 

It  is  uncertain  what  is  meant  by  Patrick's  flagstone 
which  he  left  in  Ailech.  The  word  sometimes  means  an 
altar  stone,  but  there  is  no  reference  to  a  church  in  the 
place,  and  no  trace  of  one  has  ever  been  found  there,  nor 
is  it  probable  Patrick  would  leave  a  consecrated  altar  stone 
in  this  barbaric  palace  of  warlike  kings.  There  is  now 
preserved  at  Belmont,  near  Derry,  a  great  flat  slab,  rudely 
rectangular,  more  than  seven  feet  across,  which  is  called 
Columba's  Stone.  O'Donovan  thinks  it  was  the  stone 
used  in  the  inauguration  of  the  Kings  of  Ailech,  and  that 
it  was  originally  kept  there  for  that  purpose.  Patrick, 
blessing  Ailech  and  all  its  belongings,  would  naturally 
bless  also  this  historic  stone.  Columba  would  probably  do 
the  same,  when  the  princes  of  his  own  lineage  came  to 
rule  there,  and  thus  the  stone  would  bear  his  name  also. 
But  when  Ailech  ceased  to  be  a  royal  fortress  the  stone 
was  likely  transferred  to  some  place  near  Derry,  whence  it 
found  its  way  to  its  present  abode.  But  all  this  is  mere 
conjecture. 


CHAPTER     XVII. 
ST.    PATRICK    IN    INISHOWEN    AND    DERRY. 

I. — Journey  to  Carndonagh. 

From  royal  Ailech  Patrick  set  out  with  his  usual  familia 
to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Eoghan's  Island.  Inishowen 
deserves  the  name,  for  it  is  almost  entirely  surrounded  by 
the  sea,  except  at  the  narrow  neck  from  Derry  to  Inch,  on 
Lough  Swilly,  which  connects  it  with  the  mainland  of 
Donegal.  As  Patrick  set  out  from  Ailech,  he  probably 
went  by  Burnfoot  to  Buncranagh,  and  then  travelled  along 
the  western  slopes  of  Slieve  Snaght  to  the  fertile  valley 
beyond  its  snowy  summit,  that  is,  says  the  Tripartite,  into 
the  territory  of  Fergus,  son  of  Eoghan,  who  ruled  the 
north-west  of  the  peninsula.  Patrick  came  to  the  place 
called  Aghadh  Drumman,  which  is,  in  all  probability,  the 
district  now  known  as  Maghera  Drumman,  in  the  parish 
of  Donagh.  He  was  anxious  to  found  a  religious  house  in 
that  place ;  but  Coelbad,  son  of  Fergus,  expelled  the  Saint 
from  the  district ;  whereupon  Patrick  said,  as  he  always 
said  in  similar  cases,  that  none  of  his  race  would  ever 
enjoy  it  in  future.  Which  thing,  adds  the  writer,  has  been 
lately  verified,  when  Comman,  son  of  Algasach,  of  the  race 
of  this  Coelbad,  who  dwelt  at  Eas  Mic  nEirc,  sought  to 
set  up  in  this  very  place.  He  built  himself  a  house  there, 
but  'he  had  not  put  a  rush  of  thatch  on  it'  before  it  was 
entirely  demolished  by  a  student  from  the  neighbouring 
monastery  of  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Tochair.  Eas  Mic 
nEirc  is  a  ledge  of  rock  in  a  mountain  stream  that  comes 
down  from  Slieve  Snaght,  over  which  the  water  leaps  into 
a  deep  pool  below.  The  wild  mountain  stream  rushes 
down  its  rocky  bed  as  of  yore,  seeking  the  sea  at  Traw- 
breaga ;  and  it  is  on  its  bank  at  a  point  a  little  lower  down 
that  the  famous  church  of  Domnach  Mor  once  stood. 
When  Patrick  was  repulsed  by  the  rude  Coelbad,  he 
advanced  further  through  the  glen,  and  was  met  by  Aed, 
brother  of  Coelbad,  who  received  him  with  joy,  and  gave 
him  the  place  of  his  church.  "  Thou  shalt  have  welcome 
with  me,"  said  Aed  ;   and  so  Patrick  built  his  church  in 


310  ST.    PATRICK    IN    INISHOWEN   AND    DERRY. 

the  beautiful  glen,  and  he  dwelt  there  for  forty  days,  and 
he  left  a  bishop  in  it,  even  Cairthenn's  son,  of  whom  more 
presently. 

11. — DOMNACH    MOR    MaIGE   TOCHAIR. 

Domnach  Mor  Maige  Tochair  ^  has  given  its  name  to 
the  parish  of  Donagh,  which  comprehends  some  25,000 
acres  of  this  wild  but  beautiful  district ;  and  it  will  never 
be  forgotten  by  Irish  scholars,  for  '  it  was  on  the  lands  of 
this  very  church,'  says  John  Colgan,  'that  I  was  born. '  ^ 
Patrick's  memory,  too,  is  still  fondly  cherished  in  this 
romantic  glen,  and  every  year  great  crowds  of  pious 
pilgrims  assemble  near  the  old  Cross  of  Donagh  to  go 
their  rounds  of  penance  at  *  Patrick's  Bed  * ;  nor  is  there  in 
all  Ireland  a  spot  where  the  memory  of  their  great  Apostle 
is  greener  than  in  this  wild  mountain  valley  of  far 
Inishowen. 

He  left  there  as  bishop  Cairthenn's  son,^  the  brother  of 
St.  Mac  Cartan  of  Clogher.  The  Tripartite,  which  is  always 
candid,  tells  us  then  a  story  of  these  two  prelates,  which  is 
not  without  a  moral  lesson  for  our  own  times. 

When  Patrick  was  biding  at  Ailech  Airtich,  in  Tir 
Enda  of  Connaught,  Enda,  son  of  Niall,  prince  of  the 
district,  met  Patrick  one  day ;  whereupon  Patrick  asked 
him  for  the  place  of  a  church  therein  for  one  of  his  familia. 
"As  if  we  had  not  clerics  of  our  own,"  said  Enda,  "  to  put 
in  the  place."  The  native  chieftains  were  extremely  jealous 
at  seeing  strangers  assume  the  spiritual  sovereignty  in  their 
tribe-land.  So  at  first  he  refused  Patrick  for  the  church 
land ;  but  he  came  next  day,  bringing  with  him  his  own 
one-eyed  son,  Eochy,  'who  rests  in  Inver.'"^  Patrick  at 
the  time  was  engaged  elsewhere  with  most  of  his  household 
'  baptising  and  conferring  Orders  and  sowing  the  faith.' 

^  The  Tochar  is  said  to  have  been  a  serpent  that  infested  the  glen,  which 
was  destroyed  by  St.  Patrick  ;  but,  as  a  fact,  the  name  Magh  Tochair  dates 
back  to  the  time  of  Nemedius,  at  least  in  bardic  story.     See  Keating. 

^  Colgan's  words  are  : — '  This  was  formerly  a  bishop's  see,  of  which  the 
first  bishop  was  Mac  Carthen,  the  brother  of  Mac  Carthen,  Bishop  of  Clogher. 
In  the  lands  of  this  very  church  I  was  born ;  it  is  at  this  day  only  a  parish 
church  in  the  diocese  of  Derry,  and  commonly  called  Domnach  Glinne  Tochair. 
Here  is  to  be  seen  St.  Patrick's  penitential  bed  enclosed  by  rough  stones, 
visited  by  great  numbers  of  people.' 

'^  Mac  Cairthenn  of  the  Tripartite  is  the  same  as  Mac  Carthen  of  Colgan, 
and  Mac  Cartan  of  more  recent  authorities — all  different  forms  of  the  same 
name,  as  too  often  happens  in  Irish  literature. 

^  Inver,  called  anciently  Inver  Naille,  a  large  parish  west  of  the  town  o\ 
Donegal. 


DOMNACH    RIOR    MArcp.   tOCHAlR.  3II 

Not  finding  Patrick,  Enda  asked  the  two  sons  of  Calrthenn, 
who  were  already  bishops,  to  ordain  his  one-e}  ed  son  for 
the  vacant  church.  "  Confer  ye  the  rank  of  a  bishop  on 
my  son,"  he  said ;  and  being  a  prince  and  son  of  Niall  the 
Great,  he  spoke  peremptorily.  But  Mac  Cartan,  after- 
wards of  Clogher,  said,  '*  You  must  ask  that  of  Patrick/' 
The  other  Mac  Cartan,  however,  said,  ''  It  is  our  duty  to 
do  it" — seeing,  no  doubt,  the  rank  and  power  of  Prince 
Enda.  *The  Order  is  conferred';  and  Patrick  at  once 
hears  of  it.  "What!"  he  said,  ''to  confer  that  Order  in 
my  absence  on  the  son  of  a  wolf."  The  Orders  were  valid, 
and  could  not  be  recalled  ;  but  the  ordination  was  wholly 
irregular.  vSo  Patrick  in  wrath  said :  "  There  shall  always 
be  contention  in  the  church  of  one  of  the  twain  of  you, 
and  there  shall  be  poverty  in  the  church  of  the  other." 
Neither  of  them  had  a  church  at  the  time,  but  they  got 
them  afterwards.  One  of  the  brothers  was  placed  by 
Patrick  in  Domnach  Mor  of  Inishowen,  and  the  other  in 
Clogher.  'And  this  thing  was  fulfilled,' adds  the  Tripar- 
tite— 'contention  there  was  in  Donagh,^  and  poverty  in 
Clogher.'  Certainly  the  village  of  Clogher  now  is  a  poor 
place  ;  but  Monaghan  has  a  very  beautiful  cathedral,  which 
is  the  head  of  a  great  diocese.  So  it  was  Patrick's  prophecy, 
as  we  must  presume,  that  has  driven  the  Bishop  away  from 
Clogher,  which  is  now  quite  as  poor  as  St.  Patrick  had 
foretold. 

Neither  did  the  angry  Saint  ^  spare  the  young  prince 
who  was  irregularly  ordained.  The  passage  giving  the 
prediction  in  the  Irish  Tripartite  is  corrupt  and  almost 
unintelligible ;  but  Colgan  gives  the  sense  as  follows : — 
'The  sanctuary  in  which  the  bones  of  a  cleric  so  irregularly 
ordained  are  buried  will  be  the  dwelling-place  of  two 
homicides  and  robbers  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  years ; 
it  will  then  be  occupied  by  a  Son  of  Life  from  southern 
parts,  but  will  afterwards  be  restored  to  me.'  And  this 
was  all  fulfilled,  for  the  bones  of  Bishop  Eochy,  which 
were  at  first  interred  on  a  pleasant  hill,  were  afterwards 
removed  to  a  squalid  valley  ;  and  his  first  resting-place 
became  a  refuge  for  homicides  and  robbers.  The  place 
was  then  given  to  Ciaran,  son  of  the  Wright,  but  was  after- 


^  Colgan  reverses  the  sentence — '  Contention  and  discord  in  Clogher,  and 
poverty  in  Donagh. '     It  was  perhaps  an  oversight  of  transcription. 

-  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Canons  even  then  imposed  very  severe 
penalties  on  all  concerned  in  such  an  irregular  ordination  as  that  of  Enda  s  son. 


3 12  ST.    PATRICK    IN    INISIIOWEN   AND    UliKKY. 

wards  restored  to  Patrick's  successors  in  Armagh.  'This 
Eochy  (or  Echu),  son  of  Enda,  is,'  adds  the  Tripartite, 
'  known  to-day  as  Bishop  Ecan ' ;  but  neither  the  Tripar- 
tite nor  Colgan  tells  us  precisely  where  his  church  was 
situated. 

The  Tripartite  says  that  at  the  time  of  this  irregular 
ordination  Patrick  was  biding  in  Tir  Enda  Airtich  in  Tulach 
Liacc  in  Letter^,  adding  that  he  set  up  a  horse  rod  there 
which  grew  into  a  bush,  and  ordained  three  bishops  who 
bore  the  name  of  Domnall  —  namely,  Domnall,  son  of 
Crimthann  in  Ailech  Airtich,  '  as  we  mentioned  above,' 
Domnall,  son  of  Coilcne  in  Tullach  Liacc,  and,  thirdly, 
Domnall,  of  Cuil  Conalto.  It  is  quite  clear,  however,  that 
the  entire  episode  refers  to  Tir-Enda,  in  Connaught,  and  is 
introduced  here  merely  in  connection  Bishop  Mac  Cartan  of 
Domnach  Mor  Maige  Tochair,  whose  church  was  destined  to 
suffer  for  his  share  in  the  irregular  ordination  of  Enda's  son. 

The  site  of  the  old  church  is  very  grand.  It  commands 
a  splendid  view  of  the  widest  plain  in  Inishowen,  looking 
out  on  the  fine  expanse  of  what  is  now  called  Trawbreaga 
Bay  on  the  west,  with  the  crests  of  Malin  Head  to  the 
right,  and,  further  off  still  eastwards,  we  get  glimpses  of 
the  ocean,  with  Culdaff  Bay  gleaming  in  the  sunlight,  but 
only  when  the  cloudy  skies  of  the  North  clear  off,  as  they 
seldom  do,  and  let  the  full  glory  of  the  sun  light  up  their 
rocky  peaks  and  stormy  shores. 

III.— Patrick  at  Moville. 

Patrick  went  from  western  Inishowen,  that  is,  from 
Carndonagh,  into  eastern  Inishowen,  which  is  called 
Bretach  in  the  Tripartite,  but  in  later  times  was  generally 
written  Bredach,  a  name  which  is  still  preserved  in  that 
'  of  a  glen  and  also  of  a  small  river  flowing  through  the 
ancient  territory  into  Lough  Foyle  at  Moville.''^  So  says 
Colgan,  and  he  ought  to  know,  for  he  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
a  native  of  the  neighbouring  territory.  In  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick  it  was  the  patrimony  of  Oengus,  son  of  Ailell,  son 
of  Eoghan  ;  and  O'Dugan  says  that  his  descendants  were 
'  the  noblest  sept  of  the  race  of  Eoghan.'  ^ 


1  We  have   shown  before  that   this    place    v/as  at    Edmondstovvn,  near 
Ballaghadereen,  in  the  County  Mayo. 
-  Trias.  Thatim.,  145,  1^5- 
"  See  Irish  Topogr.  Poems,  p.  23. 


PATRICK   AT    MOVILLE.  313 

No  doubt  on  this  occasion   Patrick   passed  on  the  line 
of  the  present  road  leading  from   Carndonagh  to   Movillc 
by  the  roots  of  the  hills  which  buttress  Slieve   Snacht  on 
its  northern   flanks.     You  get  from  time  to  time  glimpses 
of  the  northern    ocean    beyond   Culdaff,    and    further  on, 
towards   Inistrahull,  which  rises  from  the  sea  in  solitary 
pride  beyond  the  farthest  cliffs  of  Malin  Head.     *  There' — 
that  is  at  Moville — we  are  told,  'he  found  the  three  Dechnans, 
sister's  sons  of  Patrick,  in  the  district  of  Ailell,  son  of 
Eoghan.'     Colgan  suggests  *  deacons,'  instead  of  Dechnans, 
that  is,  three  deacons,  sons  of  Patrick's  sister,  and  intimates 
that  they  may  have  been  the  three  Deacons  commemorated 
in  our  martyrologies  as  Deacon  Reat  on  the  3rd  of  March, 
Deacon  Nenn^  on  the  25th  of  April,  and  Deacon  Aedh  or 
Aidus  of  Cuilmaine  on  the  31st  of  August.     He  admits  he 
cannot  otherwise  establish  their  identity  ;  but  he  says  that 
these  names  seem  to  be  those  of  foreigners,  which   is  true, 
and  that  there  was  a  church  called  Cluain   Maine  in  Inish- 
owen  in  which  three  nephews  of  Patrick   are  said  to  have 
been  established.     This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that 
Conis,  husband  of  Darerca,  Patrick's  sister,  is  said  to  have 
given  his  name  to  the  church  of  Bothchonais  in  Inishowen.- 
Colgan  describes  it  as  a  '  great  and   celebrated   monastery 
in  the  diocese  of  Derry,'  and  O'Donovan  has  located  it  at 
the  old  cemetery  of  Binnion  in  the  parish  of  Clonmany, 
down  near  the  wild  waves  which   for  ever  break   on  the 
broad  sands  of  Trawbreaga  Bay.     The  text  would  seem  to 
imply  that  the  '  deacons '  were  already  at  Moville ;  it  may 
be  Patrick  had  sent   them  on   before  him,  and   that   Conis 
and  his  sons  had  already  established  themselves  as  'pilgrims' 
in  that  remotest  corner  of  Ireland.     Darerca  certainly  had 
many  children,  and  was,    doubtless,    married    more    than 
once  ;  so,  in  the  absence  of  better  evidence,  we  may  accept 
both  the  etymology  and  the  story  which  places  Conis  by 
the  sea  at  Binnion,  and  his  sons  somewhere  in  Bredach  by 
the  swelling  tides  of  the  Foyle. 

The  Tripartite  merely  says  with  reference  to  Patrick's 
stay  in  Bredach  that  he  ordained  there  Oengus,  son  of 
Ailell — the  prince  of  the  district — and  rested  for  one  Sun- 
day in  that  place  ;  '  Domnach  Bill  is  its  name.'     That  is 

^  He  is  called  Deacon  Menn,  which  is  probably  a  mistake,  in  the 
Martyrology  of  Donegal,  and  is  there  described  as  of  Cluain  Arathair — 
doubtless  some  church  in  Inishowen.  There  are  two  townlands  of  the  name 
in  the  county  Sligo. 

"  See  Cardinal  Moran's  Archdall,  vol.  i.,  p.  179. 


314  ST.    PATRICK    IN    INISHOWEN   AND    DERRY. 

the  Church  of  the  Old  Tree — perhaps  some  ancient  tree 
sacred  to  the  Druids'  worship ;  and  the  name  is  still 
retained  in  *  Moville ' — that  is  Magh  Bili — the  Plain  of 
the  Old  Tree.  The  existing  remains  of  the  ancient 
monastery  of  Moville  show  that  it  must  have  been  the 
religious  seat  of  a  wealthy  and  numerous  community.  It 
was  beautifully  situated  on  a  low  eminence  gently  sloping 
down  to  the  Foyle,  and  commanding  a  fine  view  of  the 
estuary  itself,  and  a  broad  reach  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
sparkling,  when  we  saw  it,  under  the  cold  blue  of  the 
northern  sky.  The  town  is  now  a  place  of  considerable 
trade  with  Derry,  and  is  a  favourite  watering-place  in  the 
summer  season.  Here  in  far  Inishowen  one  cannot  help 
admiring  the  indomitable  zeal  and  energy  of  Patrick,  who 
penetrated  into  the  very  remotest  bounds  of  the  wild  pro- 
montory of  Inishowen,  to  bear  the  blessed  light  of  the 
Gospel  to  those  sea-bound  children  of  the  Gael. 

IV.— Patrick  in  County  Derry. 

From  Moville  Patrick  crossed  the  estuary  of  the  Foyle, 
but  at  what  point  we  know  not,  and  came  into  the 
modern  County  Derry.  *  He  goes  into  Daigurt  (thence) 
into  Magh  Dula,  and  founded  there  seven  churches 
at  the  River  Fochaine ' — that  is  the  modern  Faughan 
River,  which  flows  down  from  the  highlands  of  Derry, 
and  falls  into  the  Foyle  opposite  the  Fort  of  Culmore. 

Colgan  says  that  even  in  his  own  time  the  names 
of  these  ancient  churches  in  Faughan  Vale  were  lost,  and 
although  we  have  sought  to  get  information  from  the  best 
local  authorities,  we  fear  they  are  still  lost.  Their  names 
as  given  in  the  Tripartite  are  : — Domnach  Dola,  Domnach 
Senliss,  Domnach  Dari,  Domnach  Senchue,  Domnach 
Min-cluane,  Domnach  Cati,  and  Both-Domnach. 

Now  these  seven  churches  *  are  on  the  River  Fochaine ' 
— the  Faughan  River ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  even  yet 
there  are  just  seven  parishes  on  the  Faughan  River  from 
its  mouth  to  Sawel  Mountain — namely,  Faughan  Vale, 
Clondermot,  Lower  Comber,  Upper  Comber,  Learmount, 
Boveagh,  and  Banagher. 

Tirechan  here  is  our  safest  guide  in  determining  the 
order  of  events.  He  is  very  brief,  merely  naming  the 
localities  in  the  order  in  which  Patrick  visited  them.  He 
says — *  Patrick  came  from  Magh  Tochair  (in  Inishowen) 
into    Dulo    Ocheni,     and    founded    seven  churches  there. 


PATRICK    IN   COUNTY   DERRV.  315 

Thence  he  came  to  Ardstravv  and  ordained  Mac  Ercae  as 
bishop.  Then  he  went  out — exiit — into  Ard  Eolorg,  and 
Ailgi,  and  Lee  Bendrigi,' — after  which  he  crossed  the 
Bann.  In  this  brief  paragraph  he  sums  up  all  Patrick's 
work  in  the  Co.  Derry,  fixing  his  route,  however,  exactly, 
and  in  this  we  must  follow  his  guidance. 

That  part  of  the  present  Co.  Derry  into  which  Patrick 
came  when  he  crossed  the  Foyle  is  the  modern  barony  of 
Tirkeeran — anciently  Hy  Mic  Caerthainn — which  is  really 
the  same  name.  They  were  not  of  Hy  Niall  race,  but 
were  sprung  from  Colla  Uais,  and  hence  paid  tribute  to 
the  King  of  Ailech.^  They  were  a  different  race  altogether 
from  the  Cianachta  of  Glengiven,  who  occupied  the  modern 
barony  of  Keenacht,  to  the  east  and  north-east  of  Tir- 
keeran. Now  it  would  appear  that  Patrick  first  preached 
the  Gospel  to  the  people  of  Tirkeeran,  going  through 
their  entire  district  from  Daigurt  through  Magh  Dula 
to  the  very  sources  of  the  Faughan  River.  And  in  this 
district  he  founded  seven  churches.  Patrick's  course  will 
be  clear  if  we  notice  the  physical  features  of  the  Co. 
Derry. 

The  habitable  portions  of  Derry,  besides  the  coast 
land  on  the  north  and  the  river  banks  of  the  Foyle  and 
Bann,  consist  of  three  fertile  valleys  which  pierce  the 
central  mountain  r^inge,  that  is  the  valley  of  the  Faughan 
and  of  the  Roe  on  the  west,  with  the  Moyola  valley  on  the 
east,  reaching  down  to  Lough  Neac^h.  These  great  vales 
are  fertile  and  picturesque,  exhibiting  every  variety  of 
scenic  beauty.  It  seems  from  the  brief  account  given  in 
the  Tripartite  that  Patrick  first  penetrated  the  valley  of 
the  P'aughan  River  to  its  very  sources  in  the  mountains, 
founding  as  he  went  the  seven  churches  whose  names  are 
given  above. 

Our  opinion,  then,  is  that  Patrick  crossed  the  Foyle  at 
Culmore — its  narrowest  point — and  came  into  Daigurt, 
near  the  modern  railway  station  of  Ballynagard,  where  the 
high  banks  were  dry  and  accessible.  Thence  he  went  to 
Magh  Dula,  where  he  founded  the  first  of  the  seven  churches 
described  in  the  Tripartite,  and  continuing  his  journey  up 
the  beautiful  Vale  of  Faughan,  he  founded  the  other  six 
churches  referred  to  on  either  bank  of  the  river.  Having 
come  to  the  heart  of  the  hills,  he  passed  through  the  deep 
glen  between  Sawel  and   Meenard,  and  so  came  out  into 

^  See  Book  of  Rights^  122. 


3l6  ST.    PATRICK    IN    INISHOWEN    AND    DERRY. 

Magh  Dola,^  west  of  Draperstown.  The  name  is  still 
preserved  in  that  of  the  River  Moyola,  one  of  whose 
sources  in  the  plain  is  a  small  lake,  still  called  Patrick's 
Lough.  His  purpose  in  coming  there  was  in  all  probability 
to  destroy  the  druidical  worship  of  which  it  was  a  seat ; 
and  a  Druids'  circle  still  remains  to  mark  the  spot.  Then, 
turning  to  the  west  from  Moyola,  he  went  towards  the 
modern  Newtownstewart,  and  passing  through  Glenelly, 
he  founded  the  church  called  Both  Domnach,  or  Upper 
Badoney,^  which  shows  the  route  Patrick  followed  to  Ard- 
straw.  Here  he  founded,  according  to  Tirechan,  the 
ancient  and  famous  church  of  Ardstraw,  over  which  hef 
placed  Mac  Ercae  as  Bishop.  Patrick,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
left  a  youth  of  that  name  to  study  his  theology  under 
Bishop  Bron  in  Tireragh,  but  as  he  promised  his  father  at 
the  same  time  that  he  would  not  take  the  youth  from  his 
own  country,  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  this  is  the 
Mac  Ercae  from  Tirawley.  Ardstraw  was  for  many 
centuries  an  episcopal  Church,  with  jurisdiction  over  the 
surrounding  territory,  but  after  the  foundation  of  the  see 
of  Derry  in  the  twelfth  century  it  was  united  to  that  See. 

From  Ardstraw  Tirechan  tells  us  Patrick  went  to 
Ard-Eolorg.  Leckpatrick,  some  two  miles  north  of  Ard- 
straw, doubtless  marks  the  Apostle's  route  so  far.  Then 
trending  to  the  north-east  through  the  hills  towards  Dun- 
given,  he  passed  most  likely  by  the  place  since  called 
Patrick's  Lodge,  in  the  parish  of  Donaghedy,  which  was 
probably  itself  a  Patrician  Church,  as  its  name  implies. 
As  the  kincf  of  Cianachta  had  his  chief  fort  at  Duneiven, 
Patrick  would  surely  visit  the  place,  and  no  doubt  he 
founded  a  church  there. 

From  Dungiven  his  route  would  lie  through  the 
picturesque  Valley  of  the  Roe,  as  far  as  Limavady,  which 
aestles  beneath  the  shelter  of  the  Keady  Mountains. 
Patrick,  going  thence  to  the  north-east,  would  go  around 


^  Magh  Dola  and  Magh  Dula  seem  to  be  the  same  name  ;  and  the  modern 
Moyola  is  simply  the  phonetic  form,  originally  Magh  Dola,  which  probably 
included  the  whole  valley  of  the  Faughan  River,  but  afterwards  came  to  be 
restricted  to  the  plain  at  the  source  of  the  river.  The  church  of  Domnach  Dola, 
sometimes  called  Domnachmore  Maigh  Dola,  was  in  this  plain,  for  the  priest, 
Bescna,  the  chaplain  or  sacristan  of  St.  Patrick,  is  described  as  of  Domnach 
Dola  by  the  Faughan  River.  Some  authorities,  however,  distinguish  between 
Magh  Dula  in  Faughan  Vale  and  Magh  Dola  in  the  mountains — the  latter 
being  the  modern  Moyola. 

^Now  Badoney,  of  which  St.  Aithen  was  the  patron  saint.  Glenelly — 
Gleannaichle — was  the  birthplace  of  St.  Colman  Ela. 


PATRICK   IN    KEENACHTA.  317 

the  flank  of  these  hills,  and  so  reach  '  Ard  Eolorg  and 
Ailgi,  and  Lee  Bendrigi.'  These  places  can  be  all 
identified  with  tolerable  certainty,  as  we  now  purpose  to 
show. 

The  Four  Masters,  A.D.  557,  describe  the  battle  of 
Moin-doire-lothair,  which  took  place  between  the  Hy 
Neill  and  the  Picts  of  Dalaradia,  The  latter  were  defeated, 
and  lost  the  territories  which  they  had  held  west  of  the 
Bann  from  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Ocha.  These  terri- 
tories then  were  given  as  a  reward  to  the  Hy  Fiachragh  of 
Dalaradia,  for  their  services  in  enabling  the  clanna  Neill  to 
overthrow  the  monarch  Oilioll  Molt,  who  belonged  to  a 
different  family.  The  two  territories  are  called  Lee  and 
Carn-Eolairg  by  the  Four  Masters.  Lee,  or  Lei,  as  it  is 
often  called,  extended  from  Bior  to  Camus  on  the  ivestern 
bank  of  the  Bann  ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
other  territory  extended  from  Camus,  a  little  south  of 
Coleraine,  as  far  as  Magilligan  point — that  is,  it  compre- 
hended the  north  and  north-west  of  the  Co.  Derry.  An 
ancient  poem  attributed  to  Columcille  makes  reference  to 
this  Magh  n-Eolairg,  that  is,  the  plain  beneath  the  height. 

V. — Patrick  in  Keenachta. 

Colgan  and  Manus  O'Donnell  speak  of  a  Carraig 
Eolairg  as  bordering  on  the  estuary  of  the  Foyle,  It  is 
not  unlikely  that  the  great  cairn  west  of  the  road  to  Mill 
town  was  the  grave  of  some  ancient  warrior,  who  gave  his 
name  to  the  hill,  the  plain,  and  the  rock  of  Eolairg.  In 
that  case  Ard  Eolorg  ^  of  Tirechan  would  mean  the  high 
lands  from  Coleraine  to  Magilligan,  and  thence  round  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Roe.  In  this  territory  Patrick  founded 
several  churches,  but  the  names  of  only  three  are  given, 
namely,  '  Dun  Cruithne,  where  he  left  Bishop  Beo-aed 
after  reconciling  him  to  Eoghan  (son  of  Niall),  Domnach 
Brechmaige,  and  Domnach  Airthir  Arda.  Patrick's  Well  is 
there.' 

The  learned  Reeves  identifies  Dun  Cruithne,  not  with 
Dun  Ceithern — that  is,  the  Giants'  Sconce — but  with 
Duncrun,  a  townland  in  Magilligan  parish,  through  which 

^  The  Tripartite  calls  it  Ard  Dailauig,  and  Colgan,  following  the  Tripartite, 
describes  the  place  as  '  agro  Ardaoluig,'  but  Tirechan  seems  to  give  the 
proper  word.  The  great  earn  itself  is  a  most  conspicuous  object  in  the  land- 
scape, overlooking  the  whole  country.  It  is  about  two  miles  west  of  the  great 
fort  called  the  Giant's  Sconce. 


3l8  ST.    PATRICK    IN    INISHOWEN    AND    DERRY. 

the  railway  now  passes.  On  the  top  of  the  hill,  called  the 
Canon's  Brae,  was  the  ancient  dun,  and  within  it  were  tlie 
foundations  of  a  small  building  thirty-five  feet  by  nineteen. 
'  There  is  also  a  long  rude  stone,  having  the  figure  of  a 
cross  in  relief.  The  cemetery  has  been  disused,  but  was 
undoubtedly  very  ancient  and  much  frequented.'  We  may 
take  it  as  certain  that  this  represents  the  site  of  St.  Patrick's 
church,  and  marks  his  course  eastwards  towards  Coleraine 
The  mountain's  brow  may  be  taken  as  part  of  that  Ard 
Eolorg  already  referred  to;  but  the  Carn  Eolairg  itself  was 
further  inland. 

Domnach  Brechmaige  has  not  been  identified  with 
certainty.  Perhaps  it  is  the  church  certainly  founded  by 
St.  Patrick  which  is  described^  as  that  'of  Achadh  Dub- 
thaigh,  in  Magh  Li,  on  the  banks  jf  the  Bann,  on  the  west 
side  between  Lough  Neagh  and  the  sea.^  Tirechan  brings 
Patrick  to  Li,  which  was  certainly  on  the  west  of  the  Bann, 
but  he  does  not  mention  any  church  he  founded  there.  It 
is  stated  in  the  Tripartite  that  Setna,  son  of  Drona,  son  of 
Tighernach,  came  to  some  one  of  these  churches  in  Cian- 
acht — most  likely  Domnach  Airthir  Arda — and  there 
Patrick  baptised  him,  and  blessed  his  pregnant  wife,  and 
the  child  in  her  womb — that  is,  Cianan,  of  Duleek  (in  the 
Co.  Meath) ;  and  he  read  with  Patrick,  and  there  Patrick 
prophesied  of  Cainnech,  and  said  that  the  land  should  be  his. 

The  third  church,  Domnach  Airthir  Arda,  of  the 
Eastern  Height,  has  been  identified  with  the  church 
of  Magilligan,^  the  situation  of  which  on  the  slopes  of 
Binevenagh,  would  justify  the  epithet,  but  the  point  is 
by  no  means  clearly  ascertained.  It  was  anciently  called 
Tamlacht-Ard,  and  got  its  name  of  Magilligan  from  the 
hereditary  erenachs  who  bore  that  appellation.  The  ruins 
of  the  old  church  were  in  the  townland  of  Tamlacht,  and 
it  appears  that  Patrick  placed  Catan,  'a  priest  of  his  family,' 
over  it ;  for  the  Book  of  Lecan  describes  him  as  the  Priest 
Cadan,  of  Tamlacht-Ard.  His  tomb  is  there,  and  the  well 
near  it  once  blessed  by  Patrick,  hence  called  Patrick's 
Well.^  One  of  the  churches  mentioned  before  as  founded 
near  the  Faughan  river  was  Domnach  Cati ;  but  it  appears 


^  Martyrology  of  Donegal.  The  modern  name  of  this  ancient  church  is 
*  Aghadowey,'  no  doubt  different  from  Donagh-Breaghwy,  which  would  be  the 
modern  name  of  the  other  ancient  church. 

2  See  Cardinal  Moran's  Archdall,  Vol.  I.,  p.  1 73. 

^  The  parish  was  first  called  Tamlaght-ard  ;  afterwards  Ard  Mac  Gilligen, 
from  the  erenachs  of  the  church. 


PATRICK    IN    KEENACHTA.  319 

to  be  a  difTerent  foundation.  In  this  church  was  pre- 
served a  famous  scrinium,  or  shrine  of  Columba,  '  but  really 
dating  from  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  It  was  made  by  Conla, 
the  wright,  and  was  at  first  kept  in  Dun-Cruithne,  but  was 
afterwards  transferred  to  Ballynascreen  in  Moyola,  and 
finally  to  Ard-Magilligan.^ 

It  would  appear  that  Patrick  located  several  of  his 
household  by  the  Faughan  river.  In  the  list  of  his  fami- 
lia  we  find  Presbyter  Mescan,  of  Domnach  Mescan  at 
Fochain,  his  brewer ;  and  Presbyter  Bescna,  of  Domnach 
Dula,  or  as  Colgan  has  it,  Domnach  Dola,^  his  chaplain  or 
sacristan ;  and  finally  we  have  Presbyter  Catan,  and 
Presbyter  Acan,  his  waiters  or  table-ministers.  These 
appear  to  be  British  rather  than  Irish  names,  and  doubtless 
these  good  men  wished  to  be  settled  near  each  other.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  identify  their  'places'  with  certainty. 
We  have  seen  that  Catan  '  is  in  Tamlacht-Ard,'  over  the 
rushing  Foyle.  Presbyter  Bescna  was  probably  settled  at 
Ballynascreen,  in  the  Moyola  Plain,  and  Domnach  Mescain 
was  certainly  in  the  Faughan  valley,  perhaps  at  the  place 
called  Tamnymore,  in  Lower  Cumber,  which  seems  to  be 
a  corruption  of  Domnachmore.  Then  we  hear  of  a  Saint 
Aithcen,^  seventh  in  descent  from  CoUa  Meann,  as  patron 
saint  of  Badoney,  in  Glenelly.  The  name  is  very  like  that 
of  Presbyter  Acan,  one  of  the  waiters  of  Patrick,  and 
indeed,  if  the  other  '  waiter '  were  established  near  Lima- 
vady,  it  is  only  natural  that  this  one  should  find  a  place  in 
the  neighbourhood.  This  helps  us  then  to  another  identi- 
fication ;  for  we  may  conclude,  with  a  fair  amount  of  proba- 
bility, that  the  old  church  of  Badoney  in  Glenelly  was  indeed 
the  veritable  church  of  St.  Acan,  the  personal  attendant  of 
St.  Patrick  for  at  least  nine  or  ten  years  of  his  missionary 
labours  in  Ireland.  This  parish  of  Upper  Badoney,  or 
Glenelly,  has  a  special  interest  of  its  own  ;  for  it  was  the 
native  place  of  the  great  St.  Colman  Ela,  whose  relations 
with  the  saints  of  the  North  we  shall  have  to  refer  to  again. 

There  is  also  an  entry  in  the  Four  Masters,  A.D.  992, 
which  would  seem  to  imply  that  during  the  unhappy  period 
when  lay  usurpers  reigned  in  Armagh,  the  true  successors 
of  Patrick  for  a  time  found  a  refuge  in  the  deep  recesses  of 
Glenelly  ;  for  we  are  told  that  Muireagan,  of  Both-domnagh 


*  Idem.,  p.  174. 

2  And  the  Book  of  Leinster,  '  Domnach  Dula.' 

3  Cardinal  Moran's  Archdall,  Vol.  I.,  p.  161. 


320  ST.    PATRICK   IN    INISHOWEN   AND    DERRY. 

— that  is  Badoney  of  Glenelly — successor  of  Patrick,  went 
on  his  visitation  in  Tirovven,  and  he  conferred  the  degree  of 
King  upon  Aedh,  son  of  Domnhall,  in  the  presence  of 
'  Patrick's  congregation,'  and  afterwards  he  made  a  great 
visitation  of  the  men  of  the  North  of  Ireland. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  of  the  Patrician 
origin  of  the  church.  It  is  in  the  north-east  angle  of 
Tyrone,  too,  but  still  in  the  diocese  of  Derry,  which  goes  to 
show  that  it  was  a  Patrician  church,  but  founded  in  that 
territory  which  the  Derry-men  claimed  as  their  own. 

Thereafter,  that  is  from  Ard-Eolorg  or  Magilligan, 
Patrick  went  to  Lee,  which  is  on  the  west  of  the  Bann, 
'  where  up  to  that  time  men  used  to  catch  fish  only  at 
night.'  But  thenceforward  Patrick  blessed  the  place,  and 
ordered  that  they  should  catch  them  by  day ;  'and  thus  it 
shall  be  until  the  end  of  the  world.'  They  surely  catch 
them  there  still,  and  in  great  abundance,  both  in  the 
estuary  of  the  Bann  and  at  the  Cutts.  The  Cutts  is  a 
pool  iDeneath  the  waterfall,  where  the  Bann  pours  his 
abounding  flood  over  a  ledge  twelve  feet  deep ;  but  when 
the  river  is  shallow  the  fish  cannot  leap  up  the  cataract, 
and  hence  are  taken  in  great  numbers  at  the  Cutts. 

The  territory  called  Lei,  Lee,  or  Li,  is  erroneously  stated 
to  be  east  of  the  Bann  in  the  Irish  text  of  the  Tripartite ; 
the  tribe-land  is,  and  always  was,  west  of  the  Bann,  but  at 
a  later  period  the  Fir  Li,  or  men  of  that  territory,  were 
driven  over  the  river  by  the  O'Neills  ;  and  most  likely 
they  were  there  on  its  eastern  or  right  bank  at  the  time 
when  the  Tripartite  was  written,  which  accounts  for  this 
mistake.  They  certainly  were  not  there  in  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick,  for  a  host  of  authorities  could  be  cited  to  prove 
that  the  territory  known  as  the  Lei  or  Lee  extended  from 
the  Bior  or  Moyola  water,  near  Lough  Neagh,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  lake  and  river,  to  Camus,  at  Coleraine. 

VI. — Patrick  at  Coleraine. 

This  Camus,  or,  more  correctly,  Camas, '  the  bend  of  the 
stream/  was  about  a  mile  south  of  the  modern  town  of 
Coleraine,^  but  it  marks  the  ford  or  ferry  called  the  Fearsad 
Camsa,  which  was  the  usual  place  of  passage  in  ancient 
times.  It  was  commanded  on  the  right  bank  by  the  great 
fort  known  as  Dun-da-bheann,  the  Fort  of  the  Two  Peaks, 

^  The  Abbey  of  Coleraine  was  a  later  foundation, 


PATRICK   AT   COLERAINE.  321 

one  of  the  greatest  fortresses  in  Ulster.  It  is  placed  in 
romantic  legend  on  the  same  level  as  Emania  and  Cuchul- 
lin's  fortress  at  Castletown,  near  Dundalk,  as  one  of  the 
keys  of  Ulster.  It  was  also  the  scene  of  the  Mesca  Ulaid, 
or  the  Intoxication  of  the  Ultonians,  a  tale  well  known  in 
the  history  of  the  Cuchullin  Cycle.  This  brings  us  now  to 
the  verge  of  the  great  Dalriadan  Kingdom,  which  requires 
a  special  chapter. 

The  history  of  what  was  once  the  County  Coleraine, 
and  is  now  the  County  Derry,  before  St.  Patrick  crossed 
the  Foyle,  is  almost  a  blank.  The  original  kingdom  of 
Ulster  extended  from  the  Drowes,  near  Bundoran,  to  the 
Boyne,  at  Drogheda,  and  '  it  enjoyed  a  succession  of  thirty- 
one  kings,  from  Cimbaoth,  son  of  Fintan,  B.C.  305,  to 
Fergus  Fogha,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Achadh  Lethderg 
in  332.'  During  this  period  Emania,  near  Armagh,  was 
the  seat  of  the  royalty,  that  is,  for  630  years.  The  power 
of  this  line  of  kings  was  broken  in  332,  and  thenceforward 
they  were  driven  to  the  eastern  counties  of  Down  and 
Antrim  by  the  Collas. 

But  the  Collas  themselves  and  their  offspring  soon  met 
with  a  similar  fate.  When  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages  came 
to  the  throne  in  379-^  he  was  a  very  powerful  monarch,  and 
had  a  number  of  brave  and  warlike  sons.  They  at  once 
set  out  to  carve  territories  for  themselves  with  their  swords 
in  the  north-west  of  Ireland.  They  did  not  assail  their 
cousins  in  Connaught,  who  really  belonged  to  the  elder 
line  of  Eochy  Moyvane ;  but  they  turned  their  arms 
against  the  north-west,  where  the  Collas  were  weakest, 
for  they  had  not  yet  time  to  consolidate  their  authority  in 
those  wild  districts.  So  Cairbre  took  the  country  which 
still  bears  his  name  in  the  north  of  Sligo.  Conall  Gulban, 
the  bravest  of  them  all,  got  Tirhugh,  as  far  as  Barnesmore. 
Enda  got  the  territory  south  and  east  of  the  Swilly ;  and 
Eoghan  won  all  the  country  on  either  side  of  the  Foyle, 
towards  Derry,  and  moreover  the  peninsula  of  Inishowen, 
which  still  bears  his  name. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Eoghan  and  his  sons  and 
brothers  confined  the  Ulster-men  to  the  south-west  of 
Tyrone  and  the  County  of  Armagh,  or,  to  mark  it  more 
accurately,  to  the  territories  included  in  the  diocese  of 
Clogher  and  Armagh,  but  exclusive  of  the  Maguire  country 
in  Fermanagh. 

^  Four  Masters, 


322  ST.    PATRICK    IN   INISHOWEN   AND    DERRY. 

In  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  therefore,  the  County  Derry 
belonged  to  the  sons  of  Eoghan,  as  head  lords,  but  the 
whole  of  the  County  Tyrone  did  not  by  any  means  form  at 
this  early  date  a  part  of  their  territory.  The  eastern  half 
was  still  an  independent  sub-kingdom  under  the  princes  of 
the  Colla  line.  The  County  Derry  itself  had  at  the  time 
two  or  three  ancient  families  still  in  possession,  but  subordi- 
nate to  the  rulers  of  Ailech. 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 
ST.  PATRICK  IN  DOWN  AND  CONNOR. 

I. — Uladh,  Dalaradia,  Dalriada. 

Now,  while  St.  Patrick  is  crossing  the  Bann  into  Dala- 
radia, it  may  be  useful  to  give  a  sketch  in  this  place  of  the 
territories  of  Uladh,  as  well  as  of  the  leading  facts  of  their 
history. 

As  we  have  alreadv  seen,  the  name  Uladh  was 
originally  given  to  the  whole  northern  province,  from  the 
Drowes,  near  Bundoran,  to  the  Boyne  at  Drogheda.  But 
if  it  thus  included  Louth,  it  excluded  Cavan  ;  for  that 
territory  never  became  a  part  of  the  province  of  Ulster 
until  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Emania,  near  Armagh, 
was  the  capital  or  chief  royal  seat  of  the  province,  and  its 
rulers  for  the  most  part  belonged  to  the  Clanna  Rury 
(Rudhraighe),  and  were  sprung  from  the  royal  line  of  Ir. 

But  in  A.D.  352,  as  the  Four  Masters  tell  us,  the 
famous  battle  of  Achadh-leith-dheirg  was  fought  between 
the  three  CoUas  and  Fergus  Fogha,  which  marks  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  Ulster.  The  race  of  Rury  were  utterly 
defeated,  their  great  palace  of  Emania  was  destroyed,  the 
survivors  were  driven  from  central  Ulster  eastwards  beyond 
Lough  Neagh  and  the  River  Righe,  or  the  Newry  Water, 
as  it  has  since  been  called. 

Two  Ulsters  were  thus  created — the  Ulster  of  the 
CoUas,  called  Orghialla,  and  in  later  times  Oriel,  west  of 
that  boundary  line,  and  the  reduced  Ulster,  which  retained 
the  ancient  name,  but  with  less  than  a  third  of  the  ancient 
territory.  This  eastern  Ulster  is  generally  called  in  Latin 
Ulidia,  whilst  the  name  Ultonia  designates,  as  a  rule, 
the  whole  province. 

Uladh  or  Ulidia,  in  this  sense  denoting  all  the  territory 
east  of  the  Bann  and  Lough  Neagh  and  of  the  Newry 
Water,  included  the  three  ancient  dioceses  of  Down, 
Dromore,  and  Connor,  and  their  circumscription  at  the 
present  day  gives  us  quite  accurately  the  limits  of  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  Uladh  after  the  destruction  of  Emania 
in  332. 


324  ST.    PATRICK    IN    DOWN    AND   CONNOR. 

But  these  three  dioceses  also  represent  very  important 
sub-divisions  of  that  kingdom  of  Uladh.  The  diocese  of 
Down  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  half-kingdom  of 
southern  Uladh  in  opposition  to  Dalaradia,  which 
belon":ed  with  Dalriada  to  the  diocese  of  Connor.  In 
later  times  this  half-kingdom  of  the  more  ancient  Uladh 
appropriated  that  designation,  so  that  Uladh  meant  the 
County  Down  with  a  small  portion  of  Antrim.  The  diocese 
of  Connor,  on  the  other  hand,  included  the  whole  of  Dala- 
radia, and  after  a  while,  when  the  Dalriadans  lost  their 
own  episcopal  Church  of  Armoy,  it  included  Dalriada  also, 
that  is,  almost  all  the  County  Antrim — not  quite  all,  how- 
ever, for  its  south-ivestern  angle  belonged  to  the  diocese 
of  Dromore,  which  also  comprised  that  part  of  Uladh 
anciently  known  as  the  kingdom  of  Iveagh.  It  nearly 
corresponds  at  the  present  day  with  the  two  baronies  of 
Iveagh,  which  fairly  represent  that  ancient  kingdom. 
This,  however,  was  a  later  sub-division,  for  in  the  time  of 
St.  Patrick  we  find  in  the  Kingdom  of  Uladh  only  three 
sub-divisions — Dalriada,  Dalaradia,  and  Uladh — in  its 
restricted  sense  as  designating  the  County  Down,  with  a 
small  portion  of  Antrim. 

It  is  necessary  to  define  exactly  the  extent  of  these 
territories  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  and  here  the  Tri- 
partite itself  is  our  best  guide,  for,  as  usual,  its  topography 
is  confirmed  at  all  points  by  our  ancient  Annals. 

First,  with  regard  to  Uladh  or  Ulidia — when  Patrick 
first  came  to  Ulster  he  is  described  as  ssiiUng  past  Uladh 
into  Strangford  Lough,  that  is  on  his  voyage  from  the 
Boyne  Mouth.  When  he  baptises  Dichu  at  Saul  the  latter 
is  said  to  be  the  first  in  Uladh  who  received  faith  and 
baptism  from  Patrick.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  when 
Patrick  goes  to  Slemish  to  preach  to  Milcho,  and,  failing  to 
convert  him,  returns  again  to  Saul,  it  is  said  that  he  went 
back  again  into  Uladh,  thus  clearly  showing  that  Slemish 
was  not  in  Ulidia,  as  understood  by  the  author  of  the  Tri- 
partite ;  but  Seapatrick,  near  Banbridge,  was  in  Uladh,^ 
and  in  the  diocese  of  Dromore ;  we  also  find  that  the 
Bishops  of  Down  were  sometimes  called  bishops  of  Ulidia, 
that  is  at  a  later  date,  when  the  diocese  of  Down  had 
absorbed  all  the  smaller  sees  around  it  except  Dromore. 


1  We  find  the  men  of  Uladh  (Ulltu)  distinguished  from  the  men  of  Oriel 
and  the  Hy-Neill.  The  latter  strove  to  bring  Patrick's  body  to  Armagh  ;  but. 
the  men  of  Uladh  were  resolved  to  keep  it  in  Down. — Tripartite^  p.  256. 


ULADII,    DALARADIA,    DALRTADA.  325 

We  may  take  it  for  granted,  therefore,  that  Uladh,  as  used 
in  the  Tripartite,  did  not  include  Dalaradia,  but  did  include 
all  the  territory  comprised  in  the  two  dioceses  of  Down 
and  Dromore,  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  County  Down  and 
that  part  of  the  County  Antrim  south  of  a  line  drawn  from 
VVhitehouse  on  Belfast  Lough  by  the  Clady  Water  to  the 
north-eastern  extremity  of  Lough  Neagh.  This  part  of 
Antrim  includes  the  two  baronies  of  Massarene  on  Lough 
Neagh  as  well  as  that  of  Upper  Belfast. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Dalaradia,  or  Dal  Araide  of 
the  Tripartite,  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Dalriada,  on 
the  west  by  the  Bann,^  on  the  south  by  Lough  Neagh  and 
the  Clady  Water.  Slemish  was  in  it,  and  Milcho  is  more 
than  once  described  as  King  of  Dal  Araide,  where  it  is 
clearly  distinguished  from  Uladh,  with  which  he  had 
nothing  to  do.  Hence,  the  Dalaradia  of  St.  Patrick 
certainly  included  the  barony  of  Lower  Belfast,  the  two 
baronies  of  Antrim,  the  two  baronies  of  Toome,  and  at 
least  a  portion  of  Glenarm. 

The  northern  boundary  line  between  Dalriada  and  Dala- 
radiais  the  Ravel  Water,  which,  flowing  south-west,  becomes 
the  Clogh  River  until  it  joins  the  Main.  The  Glenariff, 
falling  into  Red  Bay,  probably  marked  its  southern 
boundary  towards  the  sea,  and  the  Bush  River  from  its 
source  to  the  sea  formed  its  western  boundary.  But,  at  a 
later  period,  Dalriada  certainly  included  on  the  one  side 
the  district  between  the  Bush  and  the  Bann,  and  on  the 
south-east  included  the  two  coast  baronies  of  Glenarm  as 
far  as  the  old  church  of  Glynn,  a  little  to  the  south  of 
Larne.  Dalriada,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be  taken  as 
including  the  two  baronies  of  Dunluce,  Kilconway,  Carey, 
and  Lower  Glenarm.  To  put  it  in  another  way,  Dalriada 
was  the  north-east  of  Antrim,  Dalaradia  was  the  centre  of 
Antrim  from  the  Bann  to  the  sea,  and  Ulidia  was  the 
south  of  Antrim  and  the  whole  of  the  Co.  Down.  But 
these  boundaries  varied  with  the  fortune  of  war,  and  we 
only  give  them  for  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  At  a  later 
period  the  men  of  Dalaradia  had  established  themselves 
in  the  south  of  Antrim  and  in  the  north-east  of  Down, 
especially  on  the  sea.  The  two  races  were  also  greatly 
intermixed — the  Pictish  element  predominating  in  Dala- 


^  It  is  clear  that  the  district  of  Ehie,  or  Elniu,  between  the  Bush  and  the 
Bann,  belonged  at  that  time  to  Dalaradia,  for  Natsluaig,  a  brother  of  Saran,.  is 
its  ruler,  and  gives  Patrick  the  site  of  a  church  at  Coleraine. 


326  ST.    PATRICK   IN    DOWN   AND   CONNOR. 

radia,  while  the  Dal  Fiatach,  of  Heremonian  origin,  were 
the  leading  clan  and  ruling  tribe  in  Uladh.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Dalriadans  were  sprung  from  Cairbre  Riada,  son 
of  King  Conaire  II.,  who  was  married  to  a  daughter  of 
Conn  of  the  Hundred  Fights.  These  things  will  serve  to 
explain  Patrick's  missionary  labours  in  Antrim  and  Down.^ 

II.— Patrick  in  Elniu  or  Magh  Elne. 

Patrick  now  crossed  the  fishful  Bann  and  came  into 
the  district  between  that  river  and  the  Bush,  which  was 
then  called  Magh  Elne,  and  sometimes  Elniu.  It  was  a 
part  of  Dalaradia,  and  is  described  as  such  both  in  the 
Tripartite  2  and  in  the  Notes  to  the  Calendar  of  ^ngus. 
No  doubt,  the  Saint  crossed  by  the  ancient  ford  known  as 
Fearsad  Camsa,  the  Ford  of  the  Bend,  because  at  that  point 
the  river  takes  a  sharp  turn  from  the  north-west  to  the 
north.  It  was  the  scene  of  many  a  bloody  conflict,  and 
gave  the  Latin  name  of  Camus  both  to  the  town  and,  at  a 
later  period,  to  the  great  Dominican  Monastery  of  Cole- 
raine. 

When  Patrick  crossed  the  noble  river  which  bears  the 
surplus  waters  of  Lough  Neagh  and  all  its  feeders  to  the 
sea,  we  are  told  ^  that  '  men  used  to  catch  fish  there  only 
at  night,'  but  he  blessed  the  stream  '  and  ordered  that  they 
should  catch  them  by  day,  and  thus  it  shall  be  till  the  end 
of  the  world.'  And  so  in  truth  it  has  been.  The  Bann 
abounds  in  salmon  at  all  seasonable  times.  In  the  year 
1843,  21,660  of  these  fish  were  taken  at  Coleraine,  and  the 
average  would  probably  amount  to  15,000  every  year.  At 
times,  when  the  river  is  low,  the  hole  known  as  the  Cutts, 
below  the  fall,  is  literally  filled  with  fish  '  riding  on  the 
backs  of  one  another,  and  with  great  ease  and  pleasant 
divertisements  they  are  taken  up  in  loops.'  * 

The  ancient  fortress  of  Dun  Da  Bheann — the  Two- 
topped — now  called  Mount  Sandell,  commanded  the  ford, 
and  from  the  days  of  the  Red  Branch  Knights  was 
regarded  as  the  border  stronghold  of  the  Clanna  Rudh- 
raidh  in  the  north.     It  was  famed,  too,  in  the  romantic 

^See  Reeves'  Down,  Connor,  and  Dromore  for  a  fuller  description  of  those 
territories,  318,  334,  352. 

2  Tripartite,  Vol.  I.,  i6i. 

'  Tripartite,  same  page. 

*  See  O'Laverty's  Down  and  Connor,  Vol.  11.  p.  156.  A  similar  scene  is 
observable  in  the  Gal  way  River. 


PATRICK    IN   ELNIU   OR   MAGH   ELNE.  327 

tales  of  the  bards,  who  told  many  a  thrilling  story  of  Niall 
of  the  Shining  Deeds  and  his  son  Fintan,  and  of  the 
other  brave  heroes  who  kept  the  ford  and  sometimes  drank 
so  deep  at  night  that  their  warrior  guests  were  wholly 
unable  to  find  the  right  way  home  ^  in  the  small  hours  of 
the  morning. 

Now,  when  Patrick  came  to  Elniu,  the  province  of  the 
Dal  Araide^  was  governed  by  the  twelve  sons  of  Caelbad, 
who  had  parcelled  out  the  country  amongst  themselves. 
This  Caelbad  of  the  Rudrician  race  was  King  of  Uladh. 
and  having  slain  the  King  of  Ireland,  became  himself 
high-king  for  one  year,  at  the  end  oi  which  he  in  turn  was 
slain  by  the  son  of  his  predecessor,  who  succeeded 
him  in  the  sovereignty.  He  was  the  celebrated  Eochy 
Moyvane,  the  great  ancestor  of  all  the  kings  of  the 
North  and  North-west  of  Ireland,  whose  reign  began  in 
A.  D.  357,  that  is  about  eighty-five  years  before  Patrick 
crossed  the  Bann.  It  is  more  likely  therefore  that  Saran, 
Connla,  and  Natsluaig,  who  are  mentioned  in  connection 
with  St.  Patrick,  were  grandsons  of  Caelbad,  whose  death  is 
recorded  in  A.  D.  357.  If  they  were  his  sons  they  must 
have  then  been  very  old  men,^  between  eighty  and  a 
hundred  years  of  age,  which  is  out  of  the  question. 

It  was  the  usual  practice  of  the  Saint,  as  we  know, 
when  he  came  to  preach  in  any  territory,  to  go  straight  to 
the  fortress  of  the  chief  of  the  district.  Saran  Mac  Caelbad, 
as  he  is  called,  seems  to  have  been  the  eldest  of  the 
descendants  of  Caelbad,  but  he  probably  dwelt,  at  the  time, 
in  Southern  Dalaradia.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  he 
refused  Patrick  the  site  of  a  church  at  Cell  Glass,  and 
rudely  drove  him  away  from  the  place.  Patrick  thereupon 
was  full  of  wrath  and,  in  the  language  of  the  Tripartite, 
'  deprived  Saran  of  heaven  and  earth,'  that  is,  as  we  now 
say,  excommunicated  him.  It  is  a  strong  phrase,  as  must 
be  admitted ;  still  the  language  of  the  Tripartite  is  hardly 
stronger  than  that  of  St.  Paul  '  who  delivered  over  to 
Satan  the  incestuous  Corinthian  for  the  destruction  of  his 
flesh,  but  for  the  salvation  of  his  spirit '  in  case  he 
repented,  as  he  afterwards  did. 

Saran's  brother,  however,  Natsluaig,  *  was  humble  to 
Patrick ' ;  but  was  in  bondage  when  Patrick  arrived  at  the 

*  It  was  the  scene  of  the  story  called  Mesca  Ulaid. 
"^  See  Tripartite. 

'^  The  words  da  mac  decc  of  the  Tripartite  might  mean  offspring  or 
descendants,  as  it  probably  does  here. 


328  ST.    PATRICK    IN    DOWN   AND   CONNOR. 

great  Northern  fortress  of  the  Dal  Araide.  No  doubt  he 
had  heard  much  of  Patrick,  and  was  anxious  to  secure  his 
influence  with  a  view  to  his  own  liberation,  if  not  trom 
higher  motives.  '*  Thou  shalt  have  from  me,"  ^  he  said  to 
Patrick,  "  the  site  of  thy  cell."  "  Where  do  you  grant  it 
to  me?"  said  the  Saint.  "  On  the  brink  of  the  Bann  to  the 
west  (of  the  fortress),"  said  Natsluaig,  ''  in  the  place  where 
the  children  are  burning  the  fern."  Patrick  at  once 
accepted  the  gift,  saying — "  it  shall  be  mine ;  moreover  a 
descendant  of  mine  and  thine  shall  be  there  " — to  wit, 
Bishop  Coirbre,  son  of  Deggell,  son  of  Natsluaig.  It  is 
he  'who  is  in  Coleraine  (Cuil  Raithin,  i.e.,  the  ferny 
meadow),  on  the  brink  of  the  Bann  in  the  east'  Coirbre 
was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Brucach  of  Rath  Maige 
Oenaich,  now  Oenach,  near  Ballymoney ;  and  as  Bishop 
Brucach  had  been  himself  consecrated  by  Patrick,  Coirbre 
of  Coleraine,  the  grandson  of  Natsluaig,  was  also  the 
spiritual  grandson  of  Patrick.  He  and  his  immediate 
successor  Conal  are  the  only  two  bishops  of  Coleraine 
mentioned  in  our  annals.  Coirbre  died  about  the  year 
560 ;  and  we  know  that  St.  Conall  entertained  Columcille 
after  the  synod  of  Druimceat  about  590. 

Judging  from  the  Notes ^  of  Tirechan  the  '  little  church  ' 
of  Coleraine  built  in  the  ferny  meadow  that  overlooked 
the  swelling  waters  of  the  Bann  was  the  first  founded  by 
St.  Patrick  in  Magh  Elniu.  It  probably  occupied  the  site 
of  the  Protestant  church,  and  though  small  at  first  it  after- 
wards became  the  nucleus  of  a  great  monastery,  which 
flourished  for  many  ages.  In  the  13th  century,  however, 
the  ancient  Celtic  monastery  disappeared  to  make  room 
for  an  Anglo-Norman  castle  which  was  built  there  in  12 13 
to  guard  the  passage  of  Bann  against  the  fierce  inroads  of 
the  Hy  Niall  tribes.  Some  thirty  years  later  a  Dominican 
convent  was  founded,  most  probably  by  Walter  de  Burgo, 
which  flourished  down  to  the  time  of  James  I.,  when  its 
broad  acres  and  fishing  rights  were  granted  to  Sir  James 
Hamilton,  who  conveyed  them  for  cash  to  Sir  Thomas 
Phillips,  an  enterprising  but  rapacious  Undertaker  of  that 
day.     His  family,  too.  have  completely  disappeared. 

We  are  also  told  by  Tirechan  that  Patrick  founded 
many  other  churches  in  Elniu,  but  he  does  not  give  their 

1  This  would  seem  to  imply  that  Elniu  was  the  territory  o^  Natsluaig  and 
Dun  da  Bheann  his  fortress. 

^  From  the  Tripartite  it  would  rather  appear  that  it  was  founded  by 
Patrick  towards  the  close  of  his  mission  in  Dalaradia. 


PATRICK    IN    DALRIADA.  329 

names.  He  insinuates,  however,  that  the  *  Connor  folk' 
took  possession  of  these  churches,  which,  more  properly, 
in  his  opinion,  should  belong  to  Armagh.  The  ancient 
See  lands  of  Coleraine  were  certainly  granted,  not  to 
Connor,  but  to  the  primatial  See,  most  likely  on  the 
ground  that  Coleraine  was  a  foundation  of  St.  Patrick. 
There  was  much  ecclesiastical  litigation  about  these 
churches  in  later  times,  but  it  would  rather  be  out  of  place 
to  give  an  account  of  it  here. 

III. — Patrick  in  Dalriada. 

From  Magh  Elne  Patrick  crossed  the  river  Bush,  and 
came  into  the  ancient  and  famous  territory  of  Dalriada, 
afterwards  known  as  the  Route.  The  Bush  is  an  im- 
petuous stream  coming  down  from  the  central  highlands 
of  North  Antrim,  and  hence  furnishes  great  water-power 
to  the  mills  on  its  banks.  It  is  not  fishful  like  the  Bann, 
but  it  affords,  we  believe,  excellent  material  for  making 
whiskey,  which  is  distilled  in  large  quantities  in  the  town. 
The  famous  Giants'  Causeway  rises  magnificently  over 
the  waves  about  two  miles  further  on  to  the  north. 

Dalriada,  though  of  limited  area  and  rather  barren 
soil,  was  fruitful  of  brave  men,  who  not  only  held  their 
own  against  all  their  foes  in  this  isolated  corner  of 
Antrim,  but  also  sent  more  than  one  colony  to  Scot- 
land, who  founded  a  great  kingdom  there,  the  rulers  of 
which  afterwards  mounted  the  throne  of  Scotland,  and 
gave  their  name  to  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  Scots. 

At  this  period  the  Dalriad  kingdom  was  bounded  on 
the  west  by  the  Bush,  on  the  south  by  the  Ravel  Water, 
and  on  the  north  and  east  by  the  sea  as  far  south  on  the 
eastern  coast  as  Glenarm  or  Red  Bay.  The  precipices, 
caves,  and  castles  of  its  northern  rock-bound  shores  are 
unequalled,  perhaps,  in  the  British  Islands  for  scenic 
grandeur,  and  yearly  attract  thousands  of  tourists  from  all 
parts  of  Europe  and  America.  It  is  a  wildly  beautiful 
region,  teeming  with  romantic  legends,  and  well  worthy  of 
a  visit  both  from  the  tourist  and  the  antiquarian. 

The  first  incident  recorded  in  connection  with  the 
Saint's  missionary  journey  into  Dalriada  is  of  a  very 
striking  character.  The  following  is  the  narrative  as 
given  in  the  Rolls  Tripartite  ;  — 

Then  Patrick  went  (from  the  Bann)  into  Dal-Araide,  and 
afterwards  (by  crossing  the  Bush)  into  Dal  Riada.     Then  came  to 


330  ST.    PATRICK   IN    DOWN   AND   CONNOR. 

him  Doro,  King  of  Cam  Setnai,  in  the  North.  'He  heard  the 
crying  of  the  infant  out  of  tlie  earth.  The  earn  is  broken  up,  the 
grave  is  opened.  A  smell  of  wine  comes  round  them  out  of  the 
grave.  They  see  the  live  son  with  the  dead  mother,  a  woman  who 
had  died  of  ague.  She  was  taken  by  them  oversea^  to  Ireland, 
and  after  her  death  brought  forth  the  infant,  who  lived,  they  say,^ 
seven  days  in  the  earn.  '^  Ok  (bad)  is  that,"  said  the  King  (Doro). 
"  Let  Olcan  be  his  name,"  said  the  Druid.  Patrick  baptised  him. 
He  is  Bishop  Olcan,  of  Patrick's  household  in  Airthir  Maige,  a 
noble  city  of  the  Dal  Riatai. 

Such  is  Dr.  Stokes'  version  of  this  important  passage  ; 
and  it  appears  to  us  to  be  an  accurate  rendering  of  his  Irish 
text.  Colgan's  Latin  version  of  the  Tripartite  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  except  in  two  points.  He  makes  St. 
Patrick  baptise  the  infant ;  and  the  odour  exhaling  from 
the  open  tomb  he  describes  as  a  *  sweet '  odour  instead  of 
an  odour  of  wine.  As  he  knew  the  Irish  idiom  perfectly 
from  the  days  of  his  childhood  in  Inishowen,  we  may 
fairly  assume  that  he  has  rendered  the  Irish  expression 
accurately  in  his  own  figurative  language.  But  we  are 
fully  justified  in  concluding  that  there  are  some  in- 
accuracies in  Hennessy's  version  as  given  in  Miss 
Cusack's  Tripartite.  It  is  not  said,  as  that  version  has  it, 
that  Patrick  proceeded  to  Carn-Sedna,  southwards,  or  that 
it  was  Patrick  who  heard  the  screams  of  an  infant  from  out 
of  the  ground.  So  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  incident  here 
must  have  happened  long  before  St.  Patrick  came  to 
Dalriada.  Doubtless  he  baptised  St.  Olcan  ;  but  the  Irish 
text  does  not  say  that  Olcan  was  then  an  infant.  It  was 
the  Druid  of  King  Daire,^  or  Doro,  that  gave  him  his 
name,  not  St.  Patrick,  although  the  incident  is  narrated  as 
if  the  baptism  took  place  immediately  after  the  finding  of 
the  child.  That  may  be  so,  but  it  is  not  stated  in  the  Irish 
Tripartite ;  and  it  seems  on  the  whole  more  probable  that 
Olcan,  at  the  time  of  his  baptism,  was  not  a  child,  but 
a  youth  arrived  at  least  at  the  years  of  discretion.  The 
whole  story  is  strange  and  improbable;  but,  allowing  for 
the  exaggerations  of  the  Celtic  imagination,  it  is  not 
by  any  means  an  incredible  one.  The  sepulchral  chambers 
within  the  cairns  were  roomy  enough  to  allow  a  woman  to 
live  for   some  days    if  she   were  interred  in  a  swoon    or 

^  Probably  as  captive. 
"^  Ut  fertur. 

'  Daire  was  one  of  the  twel  ve  '  sons  '  of  Ere  ;  and  at  this  time  appears  as 
*  king '  or  chief  of  Dalriada. 


PATRICK   AND   OLCAN   OF   ARMOY.  33 1 

a  trance  ;  and  a  living  child  might  be  delivered  in  such 
circumstances,  and  so  scream  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  passers  by.  The  story  was  certainly  very  widely 
believed  in  Dalriada,  and  left  its  impress  on  the  traditions 
of  the  country. 

IV. — Patrick  and  Olcan  of  Armoy. 

But  where  was  Carn  Setnai  ?  or  Carn  Sedna,  as  Colgan 
has  it.  We  know  that  Olcan  became  Bishop  of  Armoy — 
Airthir-Maige — and  hence  both  Colgan  and  Reeves  think 
that  the  place  must  be  somewhere  in  that  neighbourhood. 
O'Laverty,  however,  seems  inclined  to  identify  it  with  a 
place  called  Drumbulcon,  in  the  parish  of  Rasharkin,^ 
which  is  some  ten  miles  south-east  of  Armoy,  and  belonged, 
not  to  Dalriada,  but  to  the  Dal  Araide.  The  evidence  of 
this  identification  is  not  satisfactory,  and  we  think  that 
the  identity  of  Carn  Setnai  is  yet  an  open  question. 
We  should  be  inclined  to  look  for  it  somewhere  to  the 
north  of  Armoy,  on  the  sea  coast,  for  that  appears  to  be 
implied  in  the  Tripartite. 

Another  interesting  question  is  —  When  did  Olcan 
become  Bishop  of  Armoy  ?  Patrick  baptised  him — that 
we  know  for  certain,  and  we  may  safely  say  he  did  so 
about  the  year  443,  when  he  first  came  into  Dalriada.  We 
are  also  told  that  Olcan  belonged  to  Patrick's  household ;  ^ 
so  we  may  fairly  assume  that  he  was  educated  by  the 
Saint,  and  prepared  for  his  episcopal  duties  under  his 
guidance.  Usher  thinks  he  was  not  consecrated  Bishop 
until  some  thirty  years  later,  about  474,  when  Patrick  him- 
self had  been  long  established  in  Armagh ;  and  perhaps 
this  is  the  safest  opinion.  But  the  Tripartite  speaks  of 
his  baptism  and  episcopacy  in  the  same  context,  as  if  he 
became  bishop  very  shortly  after  his  baptism.  In  certain 
cases,  as,  for  instance,  vSt.  Fiacc's,  such  was  the  fact ;  but 
we  can  hardly  assume  it  as  probable  in  the  case  of  St. 
Olcan.  Our  opinion  is  he  became  Bishop  before  St. 
Patrick  finally  left  Dalaradia. 

By  anticipation,  no  doubt,  another  singular  fact  is 
related  regarding  Olcan.  Saran  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
Prince  of  Dalaradia  when  St.  Patrick  crossed  the  Bann. 
He  was  very  justly  excommunicated  by  Patrick,  not  only 

^  It  has  been  conjectured  that  Rasharkin  is  the  Derkan  of  Jocelyn,  who 
places  Olcan  there  ;  but  Rasharkin  is  not  in  Dalriada. 
2  Tripartite. 


332  ST.    PATRICK   IN    DOWN    AND    CONNOR. 

because  he  refused  him  the  site  of  a  church,  but  also 
because  he  drove  him  and  his  followers  with  contumely- 
out  of  his  territory.  In  that  state  of  excommunication 
Saran  must  have  lived  for  several  years. 

But,  'after  a  certain  time,'  this  very  Saran  made  a  raid 
into  Dalriada,  and  carried  off  many  captives  from  that 
territory.^  Bishop  Clean  met  him  carrying  off  his  prey. 
The  wretched  captives,  bewailing  their  hard  fate,  besought 
the  bishop  to  help  them.  He  implored  the  fierce  chief  to 
liberate  them  ;  but  Saran  rudely  refused,  except  on  condi- 
tion that  Bishop  Olcan  would  procure  him  '  admission  to 
heaven,  from  which  Patrick  had  excluded  him.'  *'  Verily," 
said  Olcan,  "  I  cannot  do  that  since  Patrick  hath  taken  it 
from  thee."  Then  said  Saran,  "  I  will  slay  not  alone  these 
captives  but  all  your  people,  sparing  only  yourself.  And 
wherever  I  find  a  shaveling — that  is,  a  tonsured  man — I 
will  put  him  under  the  edge  of  the  sword." 

Saran  was  a  decided  anti-clerical  of  the  worst  type,  so 
thereupon,  the  affrighted  bishop  '  promised  heaven  to 
Saran,'  or,  in  other  words,  released  him  from  Patrick's 
terrible  excommunication,  and,  no  doubt,  got  off  his  own 
followers,  as  well  as  the  captives,  scot  free  from  the 
vengeance  of  the  fierce  warrior. 

Now,  Patrick  soon  after  heard  all  this,  and  when  Olcan 
went  from  the  North — doubtless  to  Armagh — to  do  his 
will,  that  is  at  Patrick's  command,  Patrick  happened  to 
meet  him  on  the  road,  at  a  place  called  Cluain  Fiacnae. 
Olcan  was  sore  afraid  at  this  renconti^e^  for  he  had  heard  that 
Patrick  was  wrathful  against  him,  '  because  he  promised  a 
blessing  and  baptism,  and  heaven  to  the  man  from  whom 
Patrick  had  taken  them  away.'  It  seems  the  road  was 
narrow,  and  that  Olcan  threw  himself  on  his  knees  to 
implore  forgiveness.  **  Over  him  with  the  chariot,"  said 
Patrick.  *'  I  dare  not  drive  over  a  bishop,''  said  the 
charioteer.  Then  Patrick,  still  angry,  foretold  how  Olcan's 
cloister  would  not  be  high  on  earth,  and  he  added  that 
three  great  evils  would  overtake  it — poverty  (midgla), 
decay,  and  blood-defilement.  "  Your  land,  too,"  said 
Patrick,  "  shall  belong  to  that  little  boy  carrying  your 
vestment-box,  who  is  one  of  your  own  household " — 
namely,  Mac  Nissi  of  Condere  —  *  and  to  one  not  yet 
born  '—namely,  Senan  of  Inis-altich.^ 

^  Such  is  clearly  the  true  reading  both  of  Colgan  and  the  Egerton  MS.  of 
the  Irish  Life. 

'^  '  Inis  Cathaig '  in  the  Irish  text  is  clearly  a  mistake  of  the  scribe. 


PATRICK   AND   OLCAN   OF   ARMOY.  333 

These  predictions,  if  ever  uttered,  were  certainly  ful- 
filled. Armoy  now  belongs  to  the  diocese  of  Connor,  to 
which  in  far  distant  times  all  its  See  lands  were  annexed. 
It  was  burned  by  Echaid,  son  of  Bresal.  And  its  pave- 
ments reeked  of  blood  in  the  slaughter  made  by  Scandal, 
King  of  the  Dal  Araide,  and  also  by  Cu  Curain,  another 
chief  of  the  same  territory.  So  the  successors  of  Saran, 
by  a  kind  of  poetic  justice,  were  the  instruments  of  the 
chastisement  inflicted  on  the  successors  of  Olcan.  He 
was,  no  doubt,  guilty  of  a  grave  violation  of  ecclesiastical 
law  by  absolving  a  man  outside  his  jurisdiction,  who  had 
made  no  satisfaction  for  his  crimes ;  still,  as  he  meant  well 
and  was,  morally  speaking,  coerced  to  do  it,  Patrick 
inflicted  no  penalties  on  himself,  but  foretold  these  tem- 
poral penalties  that  would  overtake  his  church  and  his 
flock  as  the  chastisement  of  his  disobedience.  That 
chastisement,  however,  took  place  many  years  after  the 
death  of  Olcan.  Saran  appears  to  have  been  contumacious 
for  a  good  while,  since  a  considerable  period  must  have 
elapsed  between  the  baptism  of  Olcan  and  his  absolution 
of  Saran. 

Armoy,  Olcan's  episcopal  See,  is  described  in  the 
Tripartite  as  '  a  noble  city  of  the  Dal  Riada.'  The  word 
*  cathair  '  implies  that  it  was  a  place  of  strength  ;  and  we 
know  that  it  belonged  to  Fergus  Mor,  son  of  Ere,  who 
devoutly  made  an  offering  to  Patrick,  in  return  for  his 
blessing,  of  the  best  part  of  his  patrimony,  that  is,  the  town 
of  Armoy  with  its  adjacent  territory.  The  holy  Patrick 
then  blessed  Fergus,  and  said  to  him — "  Though  thy 
brother  hath  not  much  esteem  for  thee  to-day,  it  is  thou 
that  shalt  be  king.  The  kings  in  this  country  and  over 
Fortrenn  ^  shall  be  from  thee  for  ever."  And  the  Tripar- 
tite adds — '  this  was  fulfilled  in  Aedan,  son  of  Gabran,  who 
took  Scotland  by  force.'  It  is  true  still,  for  the  blood  of 
Fergus,  though  greatly  diluted  by  foreign  admixtures,  still 
flows  in  the  veins  of  King  Edward  VII. 

There  are  no  remnants  of  the  primitive  church  at 
Armoy,  but  the  stump  of  a  round  tower  shows  that  the 
episcopal  See  of  Dalriada  was  once  a  place  of  ecclesiastical 
importance.     It  is  now  a  small  parish  near  Ballymoney. 

St.  Olcan's  festival  is  celebrated  on  the  20th  of  February ; 
and  Colgan  gives  a  sketch  of  his  life  at  that  date.  He 
adds  nothing,  however,  to  what  the  Tripartite  tells    us, 

^  Fortrenn — that  is  the  Scottish  Dahiada. 


334  ST,    PATRICK    IN    DOWN   AND    CONNOR. 

except  the  doubtful  statement  that  St.  Patrick  sent  him  to 
study  in  Gaul,  about  the  year  460 ;  that  he  returned  home 
after  completin^^  his  studies,  and  opened  a  great  school  in 
his  native  territory,  in  which  he  trained  up  many  disciples 
in  sacred  learning,  the  most  celebrated  of  whom  was  St. 
Mac  Nissi,  the  first  Bishop  of  Connor.  Usher  thinks  St. 
Olcan  became  Bishop  of  Armoy  in  474,  which  is  not 
unlikely.  A  strange,  but  unsupported,  statement  is 
made  in  the  Martyrology  of  Salisbury  that  Olcan's 
mother  was  a  sister  of  St.  Patrick.  We  are  told,  it 
is  true,  that  she  was  a  woman  '  who  came  over  the 
sea,'  perhaps  from  Scotland,  the  nearest  land  to  Dalriada  ; 
but  no  other  ancient  authority  makes  her  a  sister  of  our 
Apostle. 

The  Tripartite  says  that  Mac  Nissi  of  Connor  (Condere) 
read  his  psalms  with  Patrick ;  and,  according  to  Colgan's 
version,  misbehaved  in  a  way  that  brought  him  under  the 
grave  censure  of  his  master,  who  prayed  that  the  offending 
hand  of  the  pupil  might  be  cut  off.  Thereupon  it  fell  off 
of  itself,  and  was  buried  at  a  place  called  from  the  fact 
Carn  Lamha,  that  is,  the  Cairn  of  the  Hand.  But  this,  if 
it  ever  occurred,  must  have  taken  place  at  a  later  period, 
though  referred  to  by  anticipation  at  this  place  in  the 
Tripartite.  The  fragment  of  St.  Mac  Nissi's  Life  in  the 
Salamanca  MS.  states  that  Patrick  baptised  the  child,  and 
then  gave  him  over  to  be  educated  by  St.  Olcan.  When, 
however,  the  latter  offended  Patrick  by  absolving  the 
excommunicated  Saran,  Patrick  foretold  that  his  land 
would  belong  '  to  the  little  boy  who  was  carrying  his  box,' 
namely,  Mac  Nissi  of  Condere — a  prediction  which,  as  we 
already  observed,  has  been  literally  fulfilled. 

v.— Other  Churches  of  Dalriada. 

Though  Armoy  appears  to  have  been  the  chief  See  of 
Dalriada;  it  was  not  the  first  nor  the  only  church  founded 
there  by  our  Saint.  In  another  paragraph  we  are  told 
that  he  founded  therein  *  many  churches  and  cloisters.'  ^ 
Six  are  expressly  named.  He  founded  Fothrad,  and  left 
therein  two  of  his  household,  the  Priest  Cathbad  and 
Dimman  the  Monk — (Manach).  This  ancient  church  has 
not,  we  believe,  been  yet  identified.  ^      Then  he  founded 


^  The  cloisters  were  monastic  institutions  of  some  kind. 

2  It  was  in  the  territoiy  of  vEngus,  one  of  the  sons  of  Caelbad. 


OTHER   CHURCHES   OF    DALRIADA.  ^  335 

Rath  Mudain,  and  left  Priest  Erclach  therein.  This  ancient 
church  still  retains  its  name — Ramoan — and  gives  title  to 
the  large  parish  of  which  Ballycastle  is  the  chief  town. 
Mudan  was,  it  seems,  the  local  dynast  in  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick,  and,  like  many  another  chief,  gave  his  own  rath 
to  be  the  site  of  a  church,  whence  its  name.  St  Erclach's 
day  is  the  3rd  of  March  ;  but  of  his  ancient  church 
no  trace  now  remains.  Mgr.  O'Laverty  says  that  it  was 
built  on  the  site  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Protestant 
church.  No  traces  of  a  rath,  however,  now  remain; 
There  was  a  holy  well,  too,  not  far  off,  and  stations 
were  held  there  until  1828,  when  the  well  was  finally 
closed  up. 

Further  eastwards,  near  the  river  Shesk,  Patrick  founded 
another  church  in  a  place  then  called  Drumman  Findich, 
over  which  he  placed  Enan,  who,  according  to  Colgan,  was 
son  of  Mudan,  of  Rath  Mudain.  It  was  Patrick's  usual 
course  to  promote  to  Orders  the  sons  of  the  chieftains, 
when  he  found  them  worthy  of  that  honour.  He  thus 
strengthened  the  influence  of  the  Church,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  showed  his  gratitude  for  their  generous  endowments. 
This  church  afterwards  came  to  be  called  Killenan,  from 
the  name  of  its  first  pastor.  *  It  was  situated  on  a  gentle 
eminence,  a  little  west  of  the  river  Shesk,  about  one  mile 
south-west  of  Bunnamargy.'  '  Portions  of  the  walls  of  the 
old  church  remain,'  says  O'Laverty,  '  but  the  grave- 
yard itself  is  now  under  tillage.'  Drumman  Findich  is 
supposed  to  be  identical  with  Drumeeny,  the  modern  name 
of  a  neighbouring  townland  ;  but  we  are  informed  that 
there  are  no  remains  of  a  church  or  churchyard  there  at 
present.  Many  of  the  Scotch  settlers  in  Dalriada  had 
small  regard  for  ancient  churches. 

We  are  also  told  in  the  same  paragraph  that  Patrick 
left  Bishop  Nehemiah  in  Telach  Ceneoil  ^ngusa.  This 
is  supposed  by  Reeves  to  have  been  the  ancient  parish 
now  called  the  Grange  of  DrumtuUagh.  It  is  to  the  west 
of  Ramoan  parish,  and  the  district  apparently  belonged 
to  another  branch  of  the  family  known  as  the  Race  of 
/Engus.  The  site  of  the  old  church  is  probably  marked 
by  the  old  churchyard,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the 
road  from  Coleraine  to  Ballycastle.  It  would  be  then 
on  the  direct  route  of  the  Apostle  from  the  Bush  along 
the  sea  eastwards ;  and  such  was  clearly  the  course  he 
followed,  so  far  as  we  can  gather  from  the  narrative  in 
the  Tripartite. 


336  ST.    PATRICK    IN    DOWN   AND   CONNOR. 


VI. — Patrick's  Churches  in  Gary. 

The  Saint  also  founded  Domnach  Cainri,  in  Cothraige, 
over  which  he  placed  the  two  Cennfindans.  The  whole 
barony  is  now  called  Gary  (Gothraige),  but  the  place  here 
referred  to  is  more  accurately  marked  by  the  course  of  the 
river  Garey,  which  is  east  of  the  Shesk.  It  had  a 
number  of  small  churches — the  churchyards  still  remain 
in  this  district — but  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  determine 
which  was  Domnach  Gainri.  Perhaps  it  was  the  place  still 
called  Killyphadrick.^ 

Last  of  all,  we  are  told  he  placed  Bishop  Fiachra  in 
Guil  Echtrann.^  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  place 
now  called  Gulfeightrin — for  it  is  the  same  name — which 
gives  a  title  to  a  large  parish  extending  from  Bunnamargy, 
all  the  way  round  to  Torr  Head.  It  is  the  north-eastern 
'  corner '  of  Antrim  and  of  Ireland,  wild  and  bare,  but 
singularly  picturesque.  The  Feast  of  St.  Fiachra  is 
assigned  to  the  28th  of  September,  but  of  his  personal 
history  nothing  else  is  known,  and  no  successor  of  his  is 
named  in  our  annals,  sacred  or  profane.  *  The  ruins  of 
Gulfeightrin  church  stand  on  a  gently  rising  ground,  in  the 
townland  of  Ghurchfield,  which  is  merely  a  translation  of 
its  ancient  name,  Magheratemple.'  ^  The  graveyard  is  now 
devoted  to  tillage  by  the  frugal  tenant,  who  cares  little  for 
the  sanctity  of  God's  acre.  From  the  high  grounds  over 
the  church  the  spectator  has  a  noble  view  of  Rathlin  Island, 
with  the  wild  and  restless  sea  that  laves  its  rocky  shores, 
stretching  far  away  to  the  bare  hills  of  Kintyre,  in  the  blue 
distance.  The  people  of  Gulfeightrin,  from  time  imme- 
morial, were  nearer  to  their  Scottish  cousins  than  to  the  Dal 
Araide  around  Belfast  Lough.  They  were  hardy  mariners, 
too,  and,  in  truth,  it  was  easier  for  them  to  cross  the  sea 
than  the  wild  mountains  that  bounded  their  native  territory 
on  the  south.  The  Scottish  hills  were  in  their  view  on 
any  clear  day,  but  the  ultramontane  regions  to  the  south, 
most  of  them  had  never  beheld.  This  physical  fact  will 
help  to  explain  much  of  the  history  of  the  Irish  Dalriada, 
and  especially  its  close  connection  with  the  south-western 
parts  of  Scotland.     When  St.  Patrick  stood  on  the  eastern 

1  See  Reeves,  page  280. 

'-*  The  old  church  was  situated  a  mile  And  a  half  south-east  of  Ballycastle. 
—Reeves. 

s  O'Laverty. 


HIS   CHURCHES    IN   CARY.  337 

slopes  ot  Knocklayd  he  could  easily  see  the  highlands  of 
Ayrshire  almost  up  to  the  place  whence  he  was  carried  off 
a  captive  to  the  shores  of  Ireland,  and  the  Dalriadans  of 
Culfeightrin  might  hoist  a  signal  on  Benmore  that  would 
be  visible  to  the  keen  eyes  of  their  cousins  on  the  Mull  of 
Kintyre,  for  the  deep  but  narrow  sea  is  not  more  than 
twelve  or  fourteen  miles  wide  from  shore  to  shore. 

We  are  also  told  by  the  Tripartite  that  *  Patrick  blessed 
Dun  Sobairci,  and  Patrick's  Well  is  there,  and  he  left  a 
blessing  thereon.'  It  is  not  stated  that  he  founded  a 
church  or  left  any  priest  or  bishop  in  the  place,  but  still 
the  entry  is  a  very  interesting  one.  Dun  Sobairci  has 
been  corrupted  into  the  modern  Dunseverick,  a  huge 
dismantled  castle,  situated  on  an  insulated  cliff,  over- 
hanging the  boiling  waves  of  that  wild  coast,  so  well  known 
to  every  tourist  who  journeys  coastwise  from  Ballycastle 
to  the  Giant's  Causeway.  The  primitive  dun  was  erected 
shortly  after  the  Milesian  colonization  of  Ireland,  for  the 
Four  Masters  tell  us  that  the  hero  from  whom  it  is  named, 
Sobhairce  of  the  White  Side,  was  a  great  grandson  of  Ir, 
and  kept  his  court  as  King  of  Northern  Ireland  on  the 
beetling  cliff  over  that  stormy  sea.  It  was  a  well-chosen  site, 
however,  and  was  held  in  turn  by  every  ruler  of  northern 
Antrim,  from  Sobhairce  to  Shane  O'Neill.  It  was  the 
strongest  fortress  of  the  Dalriads  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  was  the  first  place  which 
Patrick  went  to  visit  after  he  had  crossed  the  Bush  and 
come  into  Dalriad  territory.  The  oldest  of  the  sons  of 
Ere  doubtless  ruled  in  Dunseverick  at  the  time,  but  as  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  was  friendly  to  Patrick,  the  Saint 
founded  no  church  at  the  grand  old  fort,  nor  did  he  even 
enter  the  stronghold  itself,  but  sat  on  a  rock  quite  near 
it,  which  has  been  called  Patrick's  Rock  ever  since.  We 
are  also  told  that  it  was  there  he  ordained  Olcan,  Bishop 
of  Armoy.  If  so,  it  was  at  a  later  date,  perhaps  on  his 
return  from  his  mission  in  those  districts.  We  are  told 
that  '  Patrick's  Well '  is  also  there  at  Dunseverick,  and  *  he 
left  a  blessing  thereon,'  no  doubt,  when  he  blessed  its  water 
for  the  baptism  of  his  converts. 

After  this  visit  to  Dunseverick  Tirechan  expressly  says, 
"  that  Patrick  returned  into  Magh  Elne,  and  founded  many 
churches,  which  the  *  men  of  Connor'  now  possess."  The 
Tripartite,  too,  says  that  Patrick,  leaving  Dunseverick, 
'  went  into  Dalaradia,'  where  he  found  Coelbad's  twelve 
sons   before   him.      He   asked  to   get  the   place,   '  where 

z 


338  ST.    PATRICK    IN    DOWN   AND    CONNOR. 

Kilglass  now  stands,'  but  was  rudely  refused,  most  likely  by 
Saran — *  yet  he  has  it  still,'  adds  the  writer,  which  seems 
to  imply  that  although  refused  at  first  by  Saran  he  after- 
wards got  Kilglass  from  some  other  of  the  sons  of  Coelbad. 
Therein  he  left  two  of  his  household,  namely,  Glaisciu  and 
Presbyter  Libur.  We  are  inclined  to  think  Kilglass  would 
be  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ballymoney,  but  it 
has  not  yet  been  identified.  We  next  find  Patrick  seeking 
to  get  from  the  same  sons  of  Coelbad  *  the  place  in  which 
Lathrach  Patraic  is  now.  Therein  he  placed  Daniel,  called 
from  his  purity  the  Angel,  but  from  his  small  size  he  was 
named  Patrick's  Dwarf.  *  Close  by  is  Patrick's  well — 
Slan  the  Healer  is  its  name.'  In  that  place  Patrick's  nua 
echuivy  that  is  the  *  new  key,'  was  found.^  The  wicked 
Saran,  however,  drove  off  Patrick  from  this  place  also, 
wherefore  '  Patrick  deprived  him  of  heaven  and  earth.' 

Both  Colgan  and  Reeves  think  this  Lathrach  Patraic, 
or  Lann  Abhaich,  the  Dwarfs  Church,  is  that  afterwards 
called  Glenavy  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lough  Neagh.  We 
rather  think  it  was  at  the  place  still  called  Slan  ^  or  Slane, 
the  Healer,  in  the  parish  of  Skerry,  north-east  of  Bally- 
mena,  for,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  Patrick  was  on  his  way 
from  Magh  Elne  to  visit  the  family  of  Milcho  at  the  foot  of 
Slemish  ;  and  by  Slan,  not  by  Glenavy,  his  route  would  lie. 
Besides  Slan  is  a  very  peculiar  word,  meaning  the  '  health- 
giver,'  which  the  Tripartite  tells  us  was  the  name  of 
Patrick's  Well  at  Lathrach  Patraic. 

Tirechan  here  tells  us  that  Patrick  '  went  up  '  to  the 
mountain  of  Slemish  Boonrigi,  because  he  had  care  in  that 
place,  when  a  slave,  of  Milcho's  son,  Guasacht  by  name, 
and  also  of  his  two  daughters.  The  Tripartite  adds  that 
he  took  them  now  into  his  own  family,  and  brought  them 
out  of  Dalaradia  to  place  them,  as  we  have  seen  elsewhere 
— the  son  as  Bishop  of  Granard,  and  the  sisters  as  nuns  at 
Clonbroney  in  the  Co.  Longford.  On  this  occasion  also 
Tirechan  tells  us  he  visited  the  hill  of  Skerry  (Skirte)  '  on 
which  he  saw  the  Angel  standing,  and  where  his  footprints 
are  still  to  be  seen,'  when  he  told  Patrick,  long  before,  that 
his  ship  was  ready  to  carry  him  home  to  his  native  land. 

The  Tripartite  then  gives  a  list  of  other  churches  which 
Patrick  founded  in  Dalaradia,  but  it  does  not  pretend  to 
give  the  order  of  foundation  or  route  of  Patrick  in  founding 


^  Some  relic  of  Patrick's. 

*  See  Reeves'  Down  and  Connor^  p.  23, 


PATRICK  IN  SOUTHERN  DALARADIA.        339 

them.  Saran,  as  we  have  seen,  repulsed  the  Apostle  at 
Slan,  but  his  brother  Conlae  received  Patrick  with  honour, 
and  offered  him  Domnach  Combair,  that  is  the  place  after- 
wards called  by  that  name,  as  a  site  for  his  church  ;  where- 
upon Patrick  blessed  him,  and  left  hirn  the  promise  of  a 
race  of  kings  and  princes  from  his  seed  for  ever. 

Colo^^an  states  that  this  Domnach  Combair — the  Church 
of  the  Confluence — is  identical  with  Magh-Combair,  after- 
wards corrupted  into  Muckamore,  and  that  the  plain  got 
its  name  from  the  junction  of  the  Clady  Water  and  the 
Six  Mile  Water  at  that  place,  or  as  others  say,  on  account 
of  the  junction  of  the  united  streams  with  Lough  Neagh. 
It  was  always  a  fertile  and  highly  cultivated  plain,  but  no 
doubt  the  labours  of  the  good  monks  of  Muckamore  in 
later  times  contributed  much  to  its  fertility.  We  are  not 
told  whom  our  Saint  placed  there,  but  Jocelyn  says  that 
St.  Patrick  on  one  occasion,  passing  through  a  place  in 
Dalaradia,  called  Mucoomuir,  addressed  his  companions  in 
these  words  :  *  Know  ye,  my  beloved  sons,  that  in  this 
spot,  d  certain  child  of  life,  called  Colmanellus,  will  build 
a  church,  and  will  gather  together  therein  many  sons  of 
light  and  many  fellow-citizens  of  the  Angels.'  This  was 
St.  Colman  Elo,  patron  also  of  Lynally  in  the  King's 
County,  who  about  the  year  550  built  a  noble  monastery 
at  Muckamore  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  which 
flourished  down  to  the  time  of  the  general  suppression. 
In  later  times  a  Franciscan  Friary  was  founded  at  Mas- 
sarene  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood,  but,  of  course, 
that  also  has  disappeared. 

VII. — Patrick  in  Southern  Dalaradia. 

Instead  of  going  southward  into  Uladh,  our  Apostle 
now  appears  to  have  turned  eastwards,  and  founded, 
we  are  told,  many  churches  in  Dalaradia,  the  names  of 
which  are  given  by  the  Tripartite.  The  first  two  are 
Domnach  Mor  Magh  Damoerna  and  Raith  Sithe.  The 
latter  is  certainly  the  old  church  still  known  as  Rashee,  in 
the  barony  of  tipper  Antrim,  which  was  included  in  the 
ancient  Magh  Line.  The  parish  still  retains  the  name,  and 
*  the  old  graveyard  is  much  used,  but  no  traces  of  the 
church  remain.^  We  find  reference  to  two  Bishops  of 
Rashee,  A.D.  618,  St.  Comgall  and  St.  Eoghan.     It  was 

^  Reeves*  Down  and  Connor,  p.  69. 


340  ST.    PATRICK    IN    DOWN   AND    CONNOR. 

then,  doubtless,  the  chief  church  of  the  sub-kinj^dom  of 
Magh  Line,  of  which  Conlae  seems  to  have  been  the  ruler. 
Domnach  Mor  Magh  Damoerna  has  not  yet  been  iden- 
tified. It  appears  to  us  that  as  Patrick  was  travelling  east 
from  Muckamore — and  this  is  the  first  church  named  in  the 
list — it  was  probably  the  old  church  now  known  as  Temple- 
patrick,  which  is  about  midway  between  Muckamore  and 
Rashee,  on  the  very  route  the  Apostle  would  take  through 
Magh  Line.  It  gives  its  name  to  the  parish,  and  was 
probably  adopted  as  equivalent  to  Domnach  Mor,  which 
also  signifies  a  Patrician  church.  In  these  two  churches  the 
Saint,  we  are  told,  left  two  of  his  household,  but  their  names 
are  not  given. 

VIII. — Patrick  in  Eastern  Dalaradia. 

From  Rashee  the  Saint  appears  to  have  journeyed  into 
the  ancient  territory  of  Latharna,  now  Larne.  It  included 
the  small  barony  of  Upper  Glenarm,  comprising  the 
parishes  of  Carnacastle,  Killyglen,  Kilwaughter,  and  Larne.^ 
It  is  stated  that  Patrick  founded  in  Larne  two  churches — 
'  Telach,  that  is,  Cell  Conadain,  and  Gluare,  and  he  left 
Mac  Lessi  therein.' 

There  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  that  the  latter  is  the 
ancient  church  of  Glore  near  Glenarm,  for  it  not  only 
retains  the  name  but  is  still  called  St.  Patrick's  Church  by 
the  people.  Cell  Conadain  appears  to  take  its  name  from 
a  St.  Conadan ;  but  it  was  afterwards  shortened  into  Conic, 
and  is  still  known  as  the  chapelry  of  St  Cunning  in  the 
parish  of  Carnacastle  to  the  south  of  Glore.  It  may  be, 
too,  that  '  Telach '  is  still  preserved  in  Tullacur,  an  ancient 
vicariate  in  the  same  district.  Mac  Lessi,  of  the  Irish 
Tripartite,  is  probably  a  mistake  for  Mac  Nessi. 

We  are  then  told  that  he  founded  Glen-Indechta  and 
Imlech  Cluane  in  Semne — 'Coeman  is  therein — and  Raith 
Episcuip  Findich  in  the  country  of  Hy  Darca  Chein.' 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Glen  Indechta  is  the  parish  of 
Killyglen,  or  Killglynn,  as  it  is  called  in  more  ancient 
documents. 

It  is  a  very  extensive  parish  ;  and  the  ruins  of  the  old 
Patrician  church  occupied  a  highly  picturesque  site  in  a 
shady  glen,  from  which  the  name  was  doubtless  derived. 
The  locality  of  Imlech  Cluane  in  Semne  is  more  open  to 

^  Reeves'  Down  and  Coiuor,  p.  333. 


PATRICK    IN    EASTERN    DALARADIA.  34 1 

question.  Colgan  thought  it  should  be  identified  with  Kill 
Chluana,  or  else  Kill-Choemhain  ;  and  he  places  the  latter 
in  Hy  Tuirtre,  east,  we  presume,  of  the  Bann.  These 
names  are,  however,  now  unknown,  according  to  Reeves, 
and,  in  our  opinion,  do  not  indicate  the  true  site  of  this 
Patrician  church.  This  Magh  Semne  was  in  Antrim,  not 
in  Down,  and  lay,  according  to  O'Donovan,  to  the  north 
of  Magh  Line.  It  was,  therefore,  the  great  and  fertile 
plain  in  Lower  Antrim  Barony  round  Ballymena  and 
Broughshane.  About  one  mile  south  of  Broughshane  is 
the  old  churchyard  of  Rathcavan,  or  Racavan.  Reeves 
says  the  word  means  the  Rath  of  the  Hollow  ;  but  it  might 
also  mean  Rath-Coemhain,  which  would  certainly  be  pro- 
nounced, as  it  is  in  Wexford  and  the  Aran  Islands,  '  Rath 
Cavan.'  Besides,  Raths  were  not  in  hollows;  and  the  place 
in  question  is  the  site  of  an  ancient  church  in  the  very 
heart  of  Magh  Semne.  Hence  we  are,  v/e  think,  justified  in 
concluding  that  it  was  the  church  in  which  St.  Coeman 
was  placed  by  St.  Patrick. 

The  last  clause  in  the  statement  of  the  Tripartite  is 
that  Patrick  founded  '  Raith  Episcuip  Findich  in  the 
country  of  Hy  Darca-Chein.'  Colgan  places  this  church 
in  the  valley  of  the  Braid,  to  which  Reeves  strongly 
objects,  as,  according  to  him,  that  territory — Hy  Darca 
Chein — was  in  the  sub-Kingdom  of  Uladh  '  in  the  county 
of  Down  or  on  the  confines  of  Down  and  Antrim.'  We 
can  only  say  that,  judging  from  the  context,  we  think 
Colgan  was  right ;  but  on  the  other  hand  we  cannot  show 
Reeves  was  wrong. 

In  our  view  Patrick  went  from  Skerry  to  Glenarm,  and 
thence  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Antrim  southwards  until 
he  came  to  Larne,  near  to  which  he  founded  the  ancient 
church  of  Glynn.  From  this  point  he  turned  to  the  west 
by  the  southern  flanks  of  Slemish  until  he  came  to  Rashee. 
Thence  he  went  southwards  to  Templepatrick,  from  which 
he  again  went  westward  by  Muckamore  and  Antrim  to  the 
bridge  or  ford  at  Toome.  The  Tripartite  appears  some- 
what confused  in  narrating  the  order  of  events ;  but  it  is 
in  most  cases  so  reliable  that  it  is  not  safe  to  reject  it  here. 

What  stirring  memories  must  have  crossed  the  mind  of 
Patrick  as  he  once  more  trod  the  heathery  braes  of  Slemish. 
He  remembered  the  years  of  his  youth  more  than  half  a 
century  ago,  when  he  was  a  friendless,  half-famished  slave 
in  the  dark  woods  of  Slemish.  He  thought  of  a  later  visit 
to  the  same  familiar  scenes  some  fifteen  years  before  when 


342  ST.    PATRICK    IN    DOWN    AND   CONNOR. 

he  came  to  visit  his  old  master  Milcho,  and  saw  his  home 
in  flames  from  the  brow  of  the  mountain.  Now  he  returned 
again  to  those  wild  scenes  of  his  youth,  the  recognised 
Apostle  of  all  Erin  from  sea  to  sea.  He  had  proclaimed 
the  Good  Tidings  on  the  Hill  of  Tara,  and  thence  to  the 
far  west  of  Mayo,  and  the  remotest  valleys  of  Inishowen, 
and  now  God  brought  him  to  preach  with  success  to  the 
people  amongst  whom  he  had  dwelt  as  a  fugitive  slave.  He 
felt  indeed  that,  in  his  own  touching  words,  God  had  raised 
him  from  the  mire  and  placed  him  high  as  a  very  corner 
stone  in  the  spiritual  edifice  of  His  Church.  We  may  be 
sure  that  many  a  fervent  *  Deo  Gratias '  rose  to  his  lips  as 
he  thought  on  all  these  things ;  for  we  know  that  he  felt  in 
his  heart  what  he  proclaimed  as  the  last  word  of  his  Con- 
fession, that  verily  and  indeed  it  was  all  the  gift  of  God. 


CHAPTER     XIX. 
ST.    PATRICK    IN    ORIEL. 

I.— Patrick  Re-crosses  the  Bann. 

We  are  now  told  that  *  Patrick  went  out  of  the  province  of 
the  Dalaraide  by  Fertais  Tuamma  into  Hy  Tuirtri/  or,  in 
other  words,  he  came  from  Antrim  into  Derry  by  the 
*  crossing '  over  the  Bann  at  Toome.  This  crossing  at 
Toome  is  near  the  point  where  the  great  river  issues  from 
Lough  Neagh,  bearing  all  its  wealth  of  waters  northward 
to  the  sea  at  Coleraine.  The  name  Tuamm  simply  means 
a  burial  mound,  but  nothing  is  known  of  the  ancient  hero 
or  warriors  who  sleep  at  this  point  on  the  banks  of  the 
Bann. 

Crossing  the  river,  Patrick  came  into  the  territory  of 
the  Hy  Tuirtre,  who  at  this  time  dwelt  on  the  west  of  the 
Bann,  between  Slieve  Gallion  and  Lough  Neagh.  At  a 
later  period  they  were  driven  across  the  river  by  the  Hy 
Niall,  and  occupied  on  its  eastern  bank  the  modern 
baronies  of  Upper  and  Lower  Toome,  which  ecclesiastically 
formed  the  deanery  of  Hy  Tuirtre.^ 

This  tribe  took  their  name  from  Fiachra  Tort,  a  grand- 
son of  Colla  Uais,  and  were,  therefore,  of  the  wide-spread 
Oriel  race.  The  Per  Li,  who  dwelt  further  north  on  the 
same  bank  of  the  river,  were  of  the  same  race  as  their 
kinsmen  the  Hy  Tuirtre,  and,  like  them,  were  driven  east- 
ward of  the  great  river,  as  we  have  already  explained. 

The  Hy  Tuirtre  occupied  the  fertile,  wide-spreading 
plain  between  the  lake  and  the  mountains,  of  which 
Magherafelt  may  be  regarded  as  the  modern  capital.  It 
abounds  in  wood  and  water,  and  the  skill  and  enterprise  of 
its  industrious  population  have  made  it  one  of  the  most 
well-cultivated  and  productive  districts  in  all  the  north. 
Although  it  is  in  the  modern  Co.  Derry,  as  a  part  of  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  East  Oriel  it  rightly  belongs  to  the 
Archdiocese  of  Armagh. 

When  Patrick  came  into  this  fair  and  fertile  district, 
with  his  keen  sense  of  natural  beauty  he  was  anxious  to 

^  Reeves,  p,  294, 


344  ST.   PATRICK    IN    ORIEL. 

erect  a  monastic  church  therein,  '  because  it  seemed  to  him 
convenient,  with  Lough  Neagh  on  one  side  and  Sh'eve 
Gallion  ^  on  the  other '  ;  and  we  are  told  he  was  so  pleased 
with  the  place  that  he  abode  forty  nights  in  Findabur,  as 
the  Tripartite  has  it,  but  which  Jocelyn  and  Colgan  give 
as  Finn-abhair,  and  the  former  says  it  means  *  albus 
campus,'  that  is  the  *  white  plain.'  The  word  in  the  Rolls 
Tripartite  might,  we  think,  be  more  correctly  rendered  as 
the  '  crystal  well.' 

But  Cairthenn  Mor,  king  of  the  country,  went  to  Patrick 

and  told  him  to  clear  out  with  all  his  family,   whereupon 

Patrick  took  away  the  kingship   from   him  and  from  his 

children  likewise.     Moreover,  he  bestowed   the  kingdom 

on  Cairthenn  Beg,  who  was  in  exile  at  the  time,  for  he  was 

driven  out  by  his  brother.     He  was  probably  not  far  off  in 

the  territory  of  some  friendly  chief,  for  it  is  added  that 

Patrick  either  then  or  afterwards  baptised  him  and  blessed 

his  wife  and  the  child  that  lay  in  her  womb  with  a  special 

blessing.     Patrick,  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  declared  at 

the  same  time,  "  By  my  troth,  the  child  that  is  in  thy  womb 

will  be  full  of  the  grace  of  God,  and  it  is  I  that  will  bless 

the  veil   on  her  head."     This   lady,  the  wife  of  Cairthenn, 

was  Morgan,  daughter  of  Fergus  Mor,  son  of  Nesse  of  the 

Dalriada,  and  the  child  of  grace  whom  she  then  bore  in  her 

womb   was  the  virgin  Trea,  who  has  left  her  name  to  the 

old  church  and  parish  of  Ardtrea,  on  the   north-western 

shore  of  Lough  Neagh.^     *  It  is   Patrick  who  afterwards 

blessed  the  veil  of  virginity  for  her  head,  as  he  foretold.' 

It  was  the  angels  brought  down  that  veil  from  heaven  and 

set  it  on  her  head,  low  down  over  her  eyes.     Patrick  began 

to  lift  it  up.     "  Why,"   said   she,  "  is  it  not  good  that  it 

should  remain  as  it  was  placed  (by  the  angels)  ?  "     "  Good, 

indeed,  it  is,"  said  Patrick,  "  be  it  so."     During  her  life  the 

holy  virgin  saw  nothing  except  what  she  beheld  through 

that  veil.     There  are  graceful  maidens  still  in  Magherafelt 

and  Ardtrea  who  have  learned   from   the  example  of  St. 

Trea  to  prize  modesty  like  hers  as  the  fairest  gem  an  Irish 

maiden  can  wear.^ 

1  '  Slieve  Calland '  in  the  text. 

2  We  may  add  that  a  beautiful  new  church  dedicated  to  this  holy  virgin 
was  built  by  the  late  parish  priest  of  Magherafelt.  His  Eminence  Cardinal 
Logue  dedicated  the  church,  and  the  present  writer  preached  the  sermon. 

^  Those  who  were  present  at  the  dedication  of  Armagh  Cathedral  in  the 
presence  of  two  Cardinals  in  1904  will  remember  the  services  rendered  to  the 
guests  in  the  evening  by  the  daughters  of  St.  Trea,  whom  Canon  Quinn 
brought  trom  Magherafelt  to  Armagh. 


THE   TRIBES   OF   ORIEL,  345 

In  this  fertile  and  populous  territory  of  Hy  Tuirtre 
Patrick  founded  no  less  than  seven  churches,  which  after- 
wards belonged  to  him  and  his  successors,  namely,  Dom- 
nach  Fainre,  Domnach  Riascad,  Domnach  Fothirbe, 
Domnach  Rigduinn,  Domnach  Brain,  Domnach  Maelain, 
Domnach  Libuir.  The  first  is  now  known  as  Donaghenry, 
which  touches  Lough  Neagh  on  the  west.  Stewartstown 
is  near  its  centre.^  The  second,  now  called  Donaghrisk,  lay 
to  the  west  of  Donaghenry.  Reeves  could  not  identify  the 
site  of  the  other  churches,  except  that  Donnabaran,  in  the 
deanery  of  Tullahoge,  seems  to  resemble  Domnach  Brain. 
The  rest  are  uncertain. 

Thereafter  we  are  told  Patrick  went  to  the  men  of 
Gabrae,  and  they  were  obedient  to  him.  Patrick  foretold 
that  they  would  come  thereafter  '  with  tribute  to  his 
church  in  winter  time,  and  that  foreign  tribes  would  take 
their  lands  afterwards/  The  men  of  Gabrae  dwelt  in  the 
district  between  Stewartstown  and  Dungannon ;  but  it  is 
not  easy  to  ascertain  the  locality  of  their  ancient  church. 
It  was  somewhere  near  Coal  Island.  The  stranger  tribes 
referred  to  were  doubtless  the  Hy  Niall,  who  seized  this 
territory  at  a  later  period,  and  made  Dungannon  their  chief 
stronghold.  It  was  probably  in  process  of  accomplishment 
to  some  extent  when  the  Tripartite  was  written.  Reeves, 
however,  shows  that  the  Hy  Tuirtre,  who  crossed  the  Bann 
to  the  east,  maintained  their  tribal  independence  down  to 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  were  governed  by  their  own 
chiefs,  whose  family  name  was  O'Flinn,  Lords  of  Hy 
Tuirtre. 

Patrick  passed  from  the  men  of  Gabrae  to  the  men  of 
Imchlar,  whom  he  baptised  and  blessed,  and  for  whom,  we 
may  add,  he  founded  the  church  of  Donaghmore.  Therein 
he  left  Presbyter  Columb,  who  got  from  Patrick  his  own 
bell  and  book  of  ritual,  here  meaning  his  Mass-book. 

II. — The  Tribes  of  Oriel. 

The  second  part  of  the  Tripartite  leaves  Patrick  at 
Donaghmore  amongst  the  men  of  Imchlar.  The  old  church 
was  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  modern  town  of  Dungannon  ; 
but  we  believe  no  traces  of  the  ancient  building  now 
remain.  An  '  improving  '  farmer  in  the  north  removes  old 
walls  of  that  kind  to  make  his  byres  or  his  fences. 

^  There  is  an  Ardpatrick  about  a  mile  west  of  Stewartstown,  which  marks 
the  route  of  the  Saint  southward. 


346  ST.    PATRICK    IN^   ORIEL. 

Then,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Third  Part,  after  a  mis- 
placed paragraph  referring  to  Armoy,  in  the  Co.  Antrim, 
the  Tripartite  brings  Patrick  to  Telach  Maine,  which  would 
be  now  Tullamain  ;  but  it  cannot  be,  as  Stokes  suggests, 
Tullamain  in  the  parish  of  Faughanvale,  for  the  whole 
course  of  the  narrative  suggests  its  location  as  some- 
where  south  of  Donaghmore,  on  the  road  to  Ballygawley, 
near  the  boundary  between  the  dioceses  of  Armagh  and 
Clogher.  He  found  welcome  there  from  Maine,  son  of 
Conlaed,  '  who  showed  great  respect '  to  the  Saint,  so  that 
Patrick  blessed  him  and  blessed  his  wife,  who  became  with 
child  and  brought  forth  two  daughters.  Patrick  baptised 
them  (afterwards,  it  would  appear),  and  blessed  a  veil  for 
their  heads,  and  left  an  old  man  to  teach  them.^ 

Then  it  is  significantly  added  that  Patrick  did  not 
proceed  to  Macha  on  this  occasion,  but  went  into  '  the 
district  of  Hy  Cremthainn,  in  which  he  founded  churches 
and  cloisters.'  In  other  words,  instead  of  going  from  Tulla- 
main south-east  into  the  kingdom  of  East  Oriel,  of  which 
Armagh  was  the  chief  city,  he  went  south-west  into 
the  kingdom  of  West  Oriel,  of  which  Clogher  was  the 
cathair,  or  chief  city. 

It  is  well  to  remind  our  readers  here  of  what  we  have 
already  explained  at  length,  that  the  men  of  Oriel,  who 
were  of  a  different  race  from  the  men  of  Tirowen  and  Tir- 
connell  on  the  west,  as  well  as  from  the  men  of  Dalaradia 
and  Uladh  on  the  east,  were  themselves  divided  into  two 
kingdoms — the  Eastern  and  Western  Oriel.  The  King  of 
the  Eastern  Oriel  dwelt  at  Armagh  ;  the  King  of  the  Western 
Oriel  at  Clogher,  and  their  respective  territories  are  even 
to  this  day  fairly  represented  by  the  dioceses  of  Armagh 
and  Clogher.  The  Kings  of  Oriel  were,  therefore,  the 
rulers  of  central  Ulster  in  its  modern  sense,  that  is,  of 
South  Tyrone,  Monaghan,  Armagh,  a  considerable  portion 
of  Fermanagh — and  of  Louth  as  far  south  as  the  Boyne. 
Most  of  this  Oriel  country  in  later  ages  came  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Hy  Niall  princes,  whose  chief  stronghold 
was  at  Dungannon,  but  we  must  not  confound  the  more 
extended  sovereignty  of  the  princes  of  Tirowen.  which  they 
acquired  in  later  times,  with  their  more  limited  sovereignty 
in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  Derry  even  then  practically 
belonged  to  the  Hy  Niall,  but  most  of  Tyrone  did  not. 


*  It  would  appear  that  Patrick  claimed  such  heaven-sent  children  for  the 
special  service  of  God  and  of  His  Church. 


PATRICK    AND    MAC    CARTAN    IN    CLOGHER.  347 

There  were  twelve  sub- chiefs  in  the  kingdom  of  Oriel, 
exclusive  of  the  Co.  Louth,  six  of  whom  belonged  to 
Western  Oriel,  that  is,  the  diocese  of  Clogher,  and  six  to 
Eastern  Oriel,  or  the  diocese  of  Armagh.  When  St.  Patrick 
crossed  the  Bann  and  came  into  Hy  Tuirtre,  between  Slieve 
Gallion  and  Lough  Neagh,  that  territory  was  still  regarded 
as  belonging  to  Oriel,  but  the  Hy  Niall  pressed  on  the 
descendants  of  the  Collas,  and,  at  a  later  period,  drove 
both  the  Fer  Li  and  the  Hy  Tuirtre  from  the  western  to 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  Bann.  In  still  later  times  O'Neill 
made  Dungannon  his  chief  residence  and  stronghold, 
which  shows  that  the  Hy  Niall  were  pressing  eastwards 
and  southwards  from  their  original  seat  at  Ailech  until 
they  came  to  be  recognised  as  lords  paramount  of  the  vast 
territory  represented  by  the  counties  Derry,  Tyrone,  and 
Armagh,  with  a  nominal  kingship  over  the  whole  northern 
province.^ 

HL — Patrick  and  Mac  Cartan  in  Clogjier. 

The  Tripartite  says  that  Patrick  went  from  Telagh 
Maine,  that  is,  the  Hill  of  Maine,  son  of  Conlaed,  into  the 
district  of  the  Hy  Cremthainn,^  that  is,  by  Ballygawley 
and  Augher  to  Clogher,  which  was  the  royal  seat  of  the 
men  of  West  Oriel.  It  was  his  usual  custom  to  go  straight 
to  the  king's  dun  when  he  entered  any  new  territory, 
preaching,  however,  and  baptising  by  the  way.  The 
stream  at  Ballygawley  was  probably  the  boundary  between 
the  two  territories.  It  is  a  fertile  and  beautiful  country, 
well-wooded  and  well-watered,  nestling  under  the  shelter 
of  Slievemore,  which  screens  it  from  the  bitter  winds  of 
the  north.  At  Augher  the  track  crossed  the  Tyrone 
Blackwater,  and,  no  doubt,  it  was  at  the  ford  there  that 
St.  Mac  Cartan  complained  for  the  first  time  of  failing 
strength  and  toilsome  years.  He  was  Patrick's  '  strong 
man,'  his  helper  and  protector  during  the  weary  journeys 
of  some  fourteen  long  years  in  Meath,  in  Connaught,  and 

^  The  existing  dioceses,  as  already  explained,  still  fairly  represent  those 
principalities.  Raphoe  or  Tirconnell  belongs  to  the  Cenel  Conail  ;  Derry 
and  Armagh  show  the  later  territory  of  Tir-Eoghan  ;  Clogher  is  the  ancient 
Oriel  in  great  part,  while  Down  and  Connor,  with  Dromore,  represent 
Ulidia. 

2  Colgan  seems  to  think  the  Hy  Cremthainn  here  referred  to  were  in 
the  north  of  Meath,  but  in  this  he  is  clearly  mistaken.  The  Hy  Cremthainn 
of  Meath  were  sprung  from  Conal  Cremthainn,  son  of  Niall  the  Great ;  the 
Hy  Cremthainn  of  Oriel  were  sprung  from  Cremthainn  of  the  race  of  CoUa 
Uais. 


348  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ORIEL. 

in    Ulster.      He  stood   beside  the   Saint  before  many  an 
angry  warrior,  and   he  bore   him  in   his  strong  arms  over 
many    a    swelHng    flood.       He    saw    his    companions    of 
Patrick's    '  family '    settled    in    their    churches    at    many 
pleasant  places   by  the  Shannon,  the   Moy,  and  the  Erne, 
and   it   was   no   wonder   he   thought   it   time   that  he,  too, 
should   be  allowed   to  rest.     He  remembered,  no  doubt, 
his    fault   at   Tir    Enda   Airtech,    but   he   trusted    to    his 
master's  kindness  to  forgive   it.     Lifting  Patrick  over  the 
stepping-stones  or,  perhaps,  wading  through  the  river,  he 
murmured  "  Oh,  oh  ! "  as  he  laid  down   his  burden.      It 
was  a  painful  sigh  of  relief.     "  By  my  troth,"  said  Patrick, 
"  it  was  not  usual  for  thee  to   utter  that  word."     Where- 
upon Mac  Cartan  replied,  "I  am  an  old  man  now,  and  infirm, 
and  thou  hast  left   my  comrades  in  churches  whilst  I  am 
still  on   the  road."     Patrick,  though  not  yet  thinking  of 
rest  for  himself,  felt  this  complaint  was  not   unreasonable, 
so  he  said,  "  I  will  leave  thee  then  in  a  church,  and  it  shall 
not  be  too  near  for  good  neighbourhoood  nor  yet  too   far 
to  pay  a  friendly  visit."     And   so,  shortly  afterwards,  when 
Patrick  founded  the  See  of  Clogher,  he  made  Mac  Cartan 
its  Bishop,  and,  moreover,  gave  him  the  Domnach  Airgid, 
which  had  been  sent  to  Patrick  from  heaven  when   he  wa5 
coming  over  the  sea  to  Ireland.     According  to  the  frag- 
ment of  St.   Mac   Cartan's   Life   in  the  Salamanca   MS., 
Patrick  said  to  him,  upon  hearing,  his  complaint,  "  Go  in 
peace,  my  son,  and  build  yourself  a  monastery  in  the  green 
before  the  royal  seat  of  the  men  of  Oriel,  whence  you  will 
rise  in  glory  hereafter.     The  abode  of  those  who   merely 
seek  earthly  goods  will  be  laid  desolate,  but    thine    will 
daily  be  enlarged,  and  from  its  sacred  cemetery  very  many 
will  rise  to  the  blessed  life  hereafter."     He  added,  more- 
over, *'  Take  this  staff  that  I  have  so  long  carried  to  sup- 
port my  limbs,  and  this  shrine  which  contains  relics  of  the 
holy  Apostles,  and  of  the  hair  of  the  blessed  Mary,  and  of 
the  holy  Cross  of  the  Lord,  and  of  His  sepulchre,  and  of 
other  Saints  also." 

The  Domnach  Airgid  is  the  most  famous  of  our  early 
shrines,  and  is,  fortunately,  still  in  existence.  It  has  been 
fully  described  by  Petrie  and  also  by  O'Curry,  who  declares 
that  in  his  opinion  no  reasonable  doubt  can  exist  that  it 
was  actually  sanctified  by  the  hand  of  our  great  Apostle. 
Its  construction  strongly  confirms  that  opinion,  for  the 
inner  oblong  box,  apparently  of  yew,  was  evidently  con- 
structed to  contain  what  it  still  contains — a. very  ancient 


PATRICK  AND   MAC   CARTAN    IN   CLOG  HER.  349 

MS.  of  the  Four  Gospels,  written  in  Irish  Uncials,  still 
quite  legible,  though  portions  of  the  leaves  are  greatly 
decayed  from  damp,  and  adhere  closely  together  in  one 
mass.  The  box  was,  therefore,  originally  a  curndach,  or 
book-cover,  made  to  contain  that  precious  volume  which 
St.  Patrick  carried  about  with  him  in  his  missionary 
journeys.  This  inner  box  was  afterwards  enclosed  in 
another  cover  of  copper,  plated  with  silver,  and  adorned  with 
interlaced  ornament  in  the  peculiar  Celtic  style.  Finally, 
in  the  14th  century,  this  second  box  was  placed  in  another 
still  more  elaborate  receptacle  made  of  silver,  but  plated 
with  gold,  and  richly  ornamented  with  precious  stones  and 
various  figures  of  Our  Saviour,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and 
other  saints.  This  cover  served  also  the  purpose  of  a 
reliquary,  and  has  a  small  compartment  specially  con- 
structed for  that  purpose.  It  is  evident  that  this  was  the 
*scrinium,'  which  the  author  of  the  Life  of  St.  Mac  Cartan 
describes,  for  he  knew  nothing  apparently  of  the  precious 
volume  within.  Inscriptions  on  this  outer  cover  record 
that  it  was  made  by  a  native  artist,  John  O'Barrdan,  at 
the  suggestion  and  expense  of  John  O'Karbri,  comarb  of 
St.  Tighernach  of  Clones,  who  died  in  the  year  1353.  St. 
Tighernach  was  second  Bishop  of  Clogher,  but  dwelt  in 
the  monastery  of  Clones,  where  he  died  in  548,  that  is, 
forty-two  years  after  St.  Mac  Cartan  himself.  This  shrine 
is  now  in  possession  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  and  may 
be  seen  in  the  National  Museum,  at  Kildare  Place,  Dublin. 
A  fuller  account  of  this  most  ancient  and  interesting  shrine 
will,  if  space  allows,  be  given  elsewhere. 

The  Life  of  Mac  Cartan  in  the  Salamanca  MS.,  imperfect 
though  it  be,  helps  us  to  understand  more  fully  the  state- 
ments in  the  Tripartite. 

It  is  clear  enough  that  when  Patrick  and  Mac  Cartan 
came  with  their  companions  to  the  royal  fort  of  Oriel  they 
found  its  ruler  by  no  means  friendly.  That  fort  is,  beyond 
doubt,  Rathmore,^  the  Great  Palace,  the  site  of  which  still 
exists  within  what  was  once  the  episcopal  demesne  of 
Clogher.  It  is  a  curious  commentary  on  the  words 
attributed  to  St.  Patrick — that  the  abode  of  the  earthly 
ruler  would  be  desolate,  whilst  the   power  of  the   spiritual 

^  Rathmore,  as  its  name  implies,  was  a  lofty  earthwork  or  fortress,  sur- 
rounded by  a  deep  fosse,  portions  of  which  still  remain  on  the  south  and  west. 
There  was  another  rath  near  it,  probably  for  the  royal  household  ;  and  further 
southward  is  a  little  raised  earthwork  enclosing  a  tumulus  or  cairn,  which  was 
likely  the  folke-mote  or  place  of  public  assembly. 


.').■) 


O  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ORIEL. 


prince  would  be  increased  as  the  ages  passed.  The  suc- 
cessor ot  St.  Mac  Cartan  is  still  powerful  in  Oriel,  and  his 
power  has  been  increasing  ;  but  where  are  the  rulers  of 
Rathmore,  and  where  are  the  successors  of  those  who 
seized  it  by  violence,  and  held  it  by  force?  Time  will 
tell,  for  the  old  order  changeth  giving  place  to  the  new — 
to  the  ever  ancient  yet  the  ever  new  royal  line  founded  by 
St.  Patrick,  and  established  in  the  green — the  'platea' — 
before  the  royal  palace.  This  expression  very  happily 
describes  the  situation  of  the  ancient  church  and  monastery 
founded  by  the  Saint — it  was  '  before '  the  royal  fort  of 
Clogher.  The  name  Clogher  itself  has  been  variously 
but  not  quite  satisfactorily  explained.  In  Irish  it  is 
Clochar,  not  clogh-oir,  which  makes  a  very  great  difference, 
as  we  shall  presently  see. 

IV. — Patrick  and  King  Echu's  Daughter. 

Echu,  son  of  Crimthann,  who  gave  his  name  to  the 
territory,  was  ruler  of  this  sub-kingdom  of  Clogher  at 
the  time,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  the  chief  king  of 
all  Western  Oriel.  In  the  Book  of  Rights  ^  he  is  described 
as  *  King  of  Leamhain,  Ui  Crimthainn,  and  Siol  Duibh- 
thire ' ;  and  these  three  sub-tribes,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
possessed  at  the  time  the  district  now  known  as  the  barony 
of  Clogher.  It  is  clear  that  Echu,  at  Patrick's  request, 
gave  him  a  place  for  Mac  Cartan's  monastery  and  church 
near  his  own  royal  dun  ;  but  it  appears  also  that  he  did  so 
with  great  reluctance,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
reason  of  his  reluctance  was  the  fact  that  Mac  Cartan,  who 
was  placed  over  the  new  foundation,  was  a  stranger  in  that 
kingdom^ — a  thing  which  the  native  chiefs  greatly  disliked 
there  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

King  Echu  had  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  of  whom 
special  mention  is  made.  '  Cairbre,  surnamed  Damargait, 
believed,  and  Patrick  blessed  him  and  blessed  his  seed,'  in 
whom  the  royal  race  was  continued  ;  but  Breasal,  the 
second  son,  refused  to  believe,  and  '  Patrick  cursed  him  ' ; 
that  is,  he  foretold  that  his  offspring  would  not  be  enduring 


^  See  page  145. 

^  According  to  the  Martyrology  of  Donegal,  August  15th,  Aedh  was  the 
personal  name  of  the  saint,  Mac  Cartan  being  his  patronymic.  He  was,  it  is 
said.  Abbot  of  Dairinis  at  first,  and  was  also  called  Fer  da  Chrioch.  His 
pedigree  was  traced  to  Eochaidh,  son  of  Muiredach,  and  thence  to  Heremon, 
but  he  was  not  of  the  race  of  the  Three  CoUas. 


PATRICK   AND    KING   ECHU'S    DAUGHTER.  35 1 

or  prosperous.  The  maiden,  Cinnu,  the  King's  daughter, 
however,  was  a  child  of  grace,  and  the  Tripartite  tells  a 
most  touching  story  of  her  generous  self-sacrifice  in  the 
cause  of  God. 

Her  father  wished  the  maiden  to  wed  a  man  of  noble 
birth  and  great  power,  namely — Cormac,  son  of  Cairbre, 
and  therefore  grandson  of  Niall  the  Great.  This  young 
prince  might  also  be  described  as  their  neighbour,  for  the 
growing  power  of  the  Hy  Niall  encompassed  the  men  of 
Oriel  on  all  sides,  and  Cairbre  ruled  over  North  Longford 
as  well  as  Drumcliff.  The  alliance,  therefore,  from  every 
point  of  view,  was  one  greatly  to  be  desired. 

Just  then,  however,  as  Cinnu  was  walking  with  her 
maidens  near  Clogher,  she  happened  to  meet  Patrick  with 
his  companions;  and  Patrick,  who  never  missed  an  oppor- 
tunity of  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ,  preached  to  the 
royal  maiden,  and  recommended  her  to  unite  herself  to  the 
spiritual  Spouse,  giving  up  her  earthly  love,  and  devoting 
herself  thenceforward  to  His  service.  Thereupon  '  she 
believed,  and  followed  Patrick,  and  Patrick  baptised  her 
afterwards,'  when  she  was  properly  instructed.  Meanwhile, 
her  father  was  urging  her  espousals  to  Prince  Cormac. 
Thereupon  both  Patrick  and  the  maiden,  who  had  resolved 
to  become  a  nun,  sought  an  interview  with  her  father,  or, 
in  the  words  of  the  Tripartite, '  went  to  converse  with  him  ' 
on  the  subject.  Patrick  asked  her  father  to  allow  her  '  to 
be  united  to  the  Eternal  Spouse'  by  making  her  religious 
profession.  Echu  reluctantly  consented ;  but  it  was  on 
the  condition  that  heaven  were  given  to  himself  by  Patrick 
in  exchange  for  his  daughter,  and,  moreover,  that  he 
*  should  not  be  compelled  to  be  baptised  ' — at  that  time,  as 
we  must  assume.  Patrick  promised  to  do  these  two  things, 
although,  the  Tripartite  naively  remarks,  '  it  was  a  difficult 
thing  for  him  to  do.'  Then  the  King  allowed  his  daughter 
Cinnu  '  to  be  united  to  Christ,  and  Patrick  caused  her  to 
become  a  female  disciple  of  his '  ;  and  delivered  her  to  a 
certain  virgin  to  be  taught,  namely — to  Cechtumbar  of 
Drum  Dubain,  '  in  which  place  both  virgins  have  their 
rest.' 

The  Life  of  St.  Patrick  abounds  in  beautiful  and 
touching  stories,  but  there  is  none  more  beautiful  and 
touching  than  this;  and  its  simple  pathos  is  augmented  when 
we  read  St.  Patrick's  own  account  of  it,  for  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  is  this  royal  maiden  to  whom  he  particularly 
refers  in  his  Confession,  when  he  wishes  to  show  the   zeal 


352  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ORIEL. 

of  the  Irish  men  and  maidens  in  devoting  themselves  to 
the  service  of  God  in  rehgion.  '  One  blessed  Irish  maiden/ 
he  says,  '  of  full  age,  noble  birth,  and  very  beautiful,  whom 
I  myself  baptised,  came  to  me  a  few  days  after  (her  baptism) 
for  an  urgent  reason,  for  she  told  me  that  she  had  received 
a  divine  inspiration  urging  her  to  become  a  virgin  of  Christ, 
in  order  that  she  might  come  nearer  to  God.  Thanks 
be  to  God  !  Six  days  after,  most  religiously  and  zealously 
she  realised  that  divine  vocation,  like  so  many  other  vir- 
gins of  God,  who  follow  the  same  course,  not  with  the 
good  will  of  their  parents,  but  rather  enduring  contumely 
and  persecution  at  their  hands.'  ^ 

Here,  surely,  we  have  a  very  striking  picture  of  the 
infant  Church  of  Ireland,  and  in  the  foreground  must 
always  stand  the  beautiful  figure  of  the  royal  daughter 
of  Oriel  spurning  an  alliance  even  with  a  prince  of  the 
great  Hy  Niall  race,  and  devoting  herself,  with  all  the 
peerless  graces  of  her  spotless  maidenhood,  to  the  life-long 
service  of  her  Eternal  Spouse. 

It  was  truly  a  great  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  King  Echu 
to  part  with  such  a  daughter ;  and,  it  appears,  if  we  can 
trust  the  Tripartite,  that  God  forgave  his  '  ignorances,'  half- 
pagan  as  he  was  ;  and  for  Patrick's  sake,  and  his  daughter's 
sake,  saved  him  at  last.  We  may  safely  accept  the  truth  of 
the  story,  for  surely  Cinnu  would  be  as  dear  to  her  Spouse 
in  Erin  as  even  Martha  and  Mary  were  in  Bethany. 

After  many  years,  we  are  told,  'the  aforesaid  Echu' 
came  to  die  ;  but  he  said  to  those  standing  around — *'*  Bury 
me  not  until  Patrick  shall  have  come."  Now,  Patrick, 
at  that  time,  was  biding  at  Saul  in  Uladh,  where  we  know 
he  lived  much  in  his  old  age  ;  and,  having  an  inspiration 
about  Echu's  approaching  death,  he  resolved  to  journey 
all  the  way  to  Clogher.  There  he  found  that  Echu  had 
been  dead  for  twenty-four  hours.  Then  putting  outside  all 
the  watchers  around  the  corpse,  ''  Patrick  bent  his  knees 
to  the  Lord,  and  shed  tears,  and  prayed,  and  afterwards  said 
with  a  clear  voice — '  O,  King  Echu,  in  the  name  of  Almighty 
God,  arise'  ;  and  straightway  the  King  arose  at  the  voice 
of  God's  servant."     Patrick  then  instructed  the  King  and 


1  Et  etiam  una  Scotta  benedicta,  genitiva,  nobilis,  pulcherima,  adulta  erat, 
quam  ego  baptizavi  ;  et  post  pancos  dies  una  causa  venit  ad  nos  ;  insinuavit 
namque  nobis  responsum  accepisse  a  nutu  Dei,  et  monuit  earn  ut  esset  virgf) 
Christi  et  ipsa  Deo  proximaret.  Deo  gratias  ;  sexta  ab  hoc  die  optime  et 
avidissime  arripuit  illud — {i.e.,  vocationem  ut  Deo  approximaret).  See 
Confession.    Rolls  Trip.,  p.   369. 


KING   ECHU   AND    ST.  MAC   CARTAN.  353 

baptised  him,  and  furthermore  offered  him  fifteen  years  in 
the  quiet  enjoyment  of  his  throne,  or,  if  he  thought  it 
better,  he  might  at  once  go  forth  to  heaven.  Thereupon 
Echu  said  that  even  if  he  were  to  get  the  kingship  of 
the  whole  globe,  he  would  prefer  to  die  and  enjoy  the 
glory  of  which  he  had  seen  a  dim  vision.  So  Patrick  said 
— '  Go  in  peace,  and  depart  to  God,  and  thereupon  his 
spirit  went  forth  to  heaven.'  Not  for  Echu's  sake,  but 
because  of  his  blessed  daughter,  Patrick  did  these  wonder- 
ful things  ;  and  they  are  by  no  means  of  themselves  in- 
credible. Yet,  perhaps,  the  true  history  of  the  case  would 
be  that  Patrick,  hearing  of  King  Echu's  danger,  went  to 
see  the  old  king  at  his  urgent  request,  that  he  gave  him  the 
long-deferred  baptism,  and  the  resurrection  from  sin,  which 
was  in  itself  a  foretaste  of  the  joys  beyond  the  grave,  and 
so  sent  him  straight  to  heaven. 

These  things  took  place,  as  we  are  expressly  informed, 
at  Clochar  Mac  Doimni — that  is,  at  Rathmore  palace — and 
those  who  bear  them  in  mind,  when  they  journey  through 
that  fair  and  fertile  vale  of  Clogher,  will,  doubtless,  look  on 
the  grand  old  rath  with  a  far  livelier  interest  than  heretofore. 

V. — King  Echu  and  St.  Mac  Cartan. 

Whilst  Patrick  was  present  it  would  appear  that  King 
Echu  was  afraid  to  molest  Mac  Cartan ;  but  after  the 
departure  of  the  dreaded  ^master,  Echu  troubled  Mac  Cartan 
in  many  ways.  He  was  still  addicted  to  the  worship  of  the 
Druids,  and  one  of  their  sacred  groves  was  only  two  miles 
from  Clogher.  No  doubt  they  incited  the  king  to  drive 
away  the  new-comers,  and  so  caused  much  trouble  to  God's 
servants.  Mac  Cartan  had  a  cow  for  the  use  of  his  family. 
The  king  would  not  allow  the  poor  animal  to  graze  near 
the  monastery,  but  had  her  driven  off  and  tied  up  so  that 
the  pitiful  bellowings  of  the  animal  were  heard,  even  in  the 
royal  court.  ''  Drive  them  all  off,"  said  the  Druids,  "  or 
this  place  will  be  theirs.''  The  king  sent  his  son  to  bid 
them  go  away,  but  the  boy  fell  asleep  and  forgot  to  execute 
his  father's  orders,  and  through  the  influence  of  the  queen 
the  wrath  of  the  king  was  assuaged,  and  Mac  Cartan  was 
allowed  to  remain  at  Clogher.^ 

^  At  a  later  period,  too,  when  Mac  Cartan  must  have  been  very  old,  St. 
Tighernach  of  Clones,  who  was  a  grandson  of  King  Echu  (by  his  daughter 
Dearfrasich),  paid  a  visit  to  Clogher,  when  the  old  king  declared  he  would 
expel  Mac  Cartan  the  stranger  and  give  the  monastery  to  his  grandson.  But 
Tighernach  thereupon  fled  from  Clogher  lest  he  might  be  the  occasion  of  such 
sacrilegious  violence. 

2  A 


354  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ORIEL. 

Thereafter  Patrick  went  (from  Clogher)  into  Lemain. 
This  is  Magh  Leamhna  of  the  Book  of  Rights,  which 
formed  a  part  of  the  Clogher  kingdom.  It  is  the  beautiful 
plain  east  of  Cloglier,  extending  from  the  slopes  of  Slieve 
Beagh  at  Altadaven  down  to  Augher  by  Favor  Royal,  and 
beyond  the  Blackwater  as  far  as  Rallygawley.  The  North 
of  Ireland  presents  no  fairer  prospect  than  this  beautiful 
and  fertile  plain,  with  its  embowering  woods  and  fishful 
rivers  fronting  the  south,  well-sheltered,  highly  cultivated, 
and  rather  thickly  peopled  with  a  comfortable  and  indus- 
trious population. 

*  Findabair  is  the  name  of  the  hill  on  which  Patrick 
preached.'  This  has  been  identified  with  Findermore  by 
Hennessy.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  hill  over  the 
beautiful  dale  of  Altadaven,  which  is  so  closely  connected 
with  St.  Patrick's  preaching  in  the  local  traditions  of  the 
people.  It  was  two  young  unbroken  oxen  *  from  Finda- 
bair,^ that  is  from  Clogher/  that  by  direction  of  the  Angel 
carried  Patrick's  dead  body  from  Saul  to  Downpatrick, 
where  they  stayed  to  mark  the  place  of  his  burial ;  and,  as 
dainhan  means  in  Irish  a  young  ox,  we  may  fairly  suppose 
that  the  beautiful  glen  itself,  that  is  Altadaven,  takes  its 
name  from  that  circumstance.  Then  it  would  be  impossible 
to  find  a  more  convenient  place  to  address  a  large  crowd 
than  the  rocky  ridge  that  penetrated  the  glen  from  the 
higher  ground  above.  Beneath  it->there  is  a  green  meadow, 
in  the  midst  of  which  bubbles  up  Patrick's  Well,  a  full 
fountain  of  purest  water.  Seated  or  standing  by  his  rocky 
chair,  which  is  there  still,  Patrick  could  address  the  crowds 
below  as  conveniently  as  he  could  from  the  pulpit  of  a 
modern  church.  The  huge  rock-table  on  which  he 
celebrated  Mass  is  still  in  its  position  before  the  'chair,'  so 
that  he  could  not  only  preach,  but  say  Mass  in  presence  of 
the  vast  congregation.  The  cliff-like  walls  on  either  side 
of  the  glen  gave  perfect  shelter  from  the  wind,  and  if  they 
were  clothed  then,  as  they  are  now,  with  a  thick  growth  of 
trees  and  evergreen  shrubs  of  densest  foliage,  they  would 
also  afford  shelter  even  from  the  pitiless  storms  of  the 
north. 

Those  who  have  seen  this  singularly  romantic  glen  will 
not  then  be  much  surprised  to  learn  from  the  Tripartite 

^  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  young  oxen  were  brought  all  the  way  from 
Clogher,  because  the  men  of  East  Oriel  and  Uladh  were  at  strife  amongst 
themselves  as  to  where  Patrick  was  to  be  buried,  and  neither  party  would 
consent  to  take  the  unbroken  oxen  from  the  territory  of  the  opposite  party. 


PATRICK   AND    BRIGID    IN    CLOGIIliR.  355 

that  Patrick  was  preaching  there  for  three  days  and  three 
nights,  and  '  it  seemed  to  them  no  longer  than  one  hour.' 
Of  course,  what  is  meant  is  that  Patrick  remained  there  for 
three  days  and  three  nights  preaching,  baptising,  and 
instructing  the  crowds  who  came  to  hear  him,  and  who 
also  remained  with  him  all  the  time  in  the  beautiful  and 
well-sheltered  glen.  There  would  be  no  inconvenience  at 
any  time  in  summer  weather  in  camping  out  there  and 
holding  a  mission  for  three  days,  or  a  much  longer  time,  if 
necessary.  But,  Patrick  had  a  special  object  in  view. 
There  is  strong  reason  to  think  that  this  sheltered  glen, 
shaded  with  the  dark  foliage  of  its  native  oak  and  mountain 
ash,  was  sacred  to  druidism,  and  was,  in  fact,  a  chosen 
shrine  for  druidical  rites.  As  usually  happened,  the  Druids 
dwelt  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  royal  dun,  for  they  were 
the  counsellors  as  well  as  the  priests  of  the  king,  and  he 
rarely  acted  against  their  advice.  Altadaven  suited  them 
exactly,  and  hence  Patrick,  having  gained  over  the  king  at 
Clogher,  was  now  anxious  to  root  out  druidism  from  its 
last  retreat.  It  was  for  this  purpose  chiefly  he  went  to  the 
glen  and  blessed  it,  and  erected  his  altar  there,  and  baptised 
the  people,  and  left  a  standing  miracle  there  in  the  shape 
of  a  small  basin  in  the  dry  rock  which  is  ever  full  of  water, 
to  which  we  shall  presently  refer. 

VI. — Patrick  and  Brigid  in  Clogher. 

But  the  Tripartite  makes  another  reference  to  this 
preaching  of  Patrick  for  three  days  in  Altadaven,  which 
it  is  more  difficult  to  explain.  It  says  that  Brigid  fell 
asleep  during  his  preaching  ;  and  Patrick  would  not  let 
her  be  rudely  awakened.  Afterwards  he  asked  the  girl 
what  she  had  seen,  and  Brigid  replied  :  "  I  saw  white 
assemblies,  and  light-coloured  oxen,  and  white  cornfields; 
speckled  oxen  were  behind  them,  and  black  oxen  after 
these.  Then  I  next  saw  sheep,  and  swine,  and  dogs,  and 
wolves  quarrelling  with  each  other.  Thereafter  I  saw  two 
stones,  one  a  small  stone,  the  other  a  large  one.  A  shower 
fell  upon  them.  The  little  stone  increased  at  the  shower, 
and  silvery  sparks  would  break  forth  from  it.  The  large 
stone,  however,  wasted  away.''  "  These,"  said  Patrick,  **  are 
the  two  sons  of  Echu,  son  of  Crimthann,  the  King  of 
Clogher."  One  of  them,  Cairbre  Damargait,  believed,  and 
Patrick  blessed  him  and  his  seed.  Bressal,  however,  refused 
to  believe,  and   Patrick   cursed   him.     Patrick,  moreover, 


356  ST.    PATRICK    IN    OKIEL. 

explained  the  whole  vision  of  Brigid  in  a  striking  manner, 
that  is,  as  Colgan  understands  it,  he  explained  the  vision 
as  symbolizing  the  present  and  the  future  state  of  the  Iiish 
Church.  And  surely  it  is  not  difficult  for  us,  at  least, 
looking  back  in  the  light  of  history,  to  see  its  application — 
the  first  fair  centuries  of  its  primitive  holiness,  the  darker 
days  of  the  Dane  and  Norman  adventurers,  and  then  the 
dogs  and  wolves  of  a  still  later  period  ravening  like  wild 
beasts,  and  devastating  the  flock  over  which  Patrick's 
successors  ruled  in  later  and  more  unhappy  times. 

It  is  not  stated  that  this  maiden  was  Brigid  of  Kildare; 
but  it  seems  to  be  implied.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  suppose 
that  she  could  have  been  present  at  Altadaven  at  this  early 
period,  still  it  is  by  no  means  impossible.  It  is  commonly 
said  that  Brigid  was  born  about  452 — the  Annals  of  Ulster 
says  in  457 — but  the  Chronicon  Scotorum  gives  439  as  the 
true  date,  and  says  that  she  died  in  523  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven,  or  seventy-seven,  '  as  some  assert.' 

The  Irish  Life  says  she  died  in  the  eighty-eighth  year 
of  her  age,  and  if  we  take  O'Flaherty's  opinion  that  this 
was  the  year  523,  then  she  was  born  in  A.D.  435  or  436. 
Such  also  is  our  opinion.^  She  was  in  her  mother's  womb 
when  Bishops  Mel  and  Melchu  passed  through  Offaly 
about  434  or  435,  and  rested  in  her  father's  house.-  In 
that  case  she  might  now  be  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age, 
and,  therefore,  old  enough  to  hear  the  preaching  of  the 
Saint.     We  are  also  told  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  that  St. 

*  Mac  Cairthinn  of  Clogher  was  an  uncle  of  Brigtae ' — for 
so  the  names  are  given.     This  is  merely  another  form  of 

*  Brigit '  of  the  Tripartite,  and  if  the  fact  is  so,  it  gives  a 
natural  explanation  of  the  maiden's  presence  on  this  occa- 
sion. Her  mother's  father  was  Dalbronach,  who  belonged 
to  the  *  Dal  Conchobair  of  the  South  of  Bregia.'  ^  This 
would  go  to  show  that  St.  Mac  Cartan  of  Clogher  belonged 
to  the  same  tribe,  as  did  also  St.  Ultan  of  Ardbraccan  in 
Meath  at  a  later  period,  who  was  certainly  a  relative  of 
St.  Brigid — but  he  can  hardly  have  been  an  uncle,  as  some 
authorities  assert. 

We  find  in  the  Lives  of  St.  Brigid  that  she  was  at 
least  on  four  different  occasions  in  the  society  of  St. 
Patrick.     The  occasion  recorded  here  was,  no  doubt,  the 


^  And  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  BoUandists  also. 
■^  This  statemenr  is  made  in  most  of  the  Lives. 
"^  Irish  Life  of  St.  Brii^id. 


PATRICK    IN    HY   MEITH    TIRE.  357 

earliest.^  Then  she  met  the  Saint  at  the  great  Synod  of 
Telltovvn,^  to  which  she  went  under  the  guidance  of  her 
spiritual  father,  St.  Mel  of  Longford.  It  was  on  that 
occasion  she  vindicated  the  character  of  the  Holy  Bishop 
Bron  from  the  false  charge  made  against  him  by  a  wicked 
woman,  who  accused  him  of  the  paternity  of  her  illegiti- 
mate child.  Brigid  made  the  Sign  of  the  Cross  on  the 
child's  mouth,  and  commanded  the  infant  to  reveal  the 
name  of  its  real  parent,  which  it  did  in  presence  of  the 
multitude.  Once  again  we  find  her  meeting  St.  Patrick 
at  Armagh  after  he  had  founded  his  primatial  church  in 
that  royal  city ;  and  it  would  appear  that  Brigid  dwelt 
then  for  a  considerable  time  at  Armagh,  and  also  paid  a 
visit  to  the  Saint  at  Saul,  near  to  which  (at  Down)  she 
foretold  that  his  blessed  body  would  one  day  rest.  Then 
Patrick  asked  Brigid  to  make  with  her  own  hands  the 
winding  sheet  in  which  his  body  would  be  laid.^  Brigid 
promised  to  do  so,  and  kept  her  promise ;  for  which  cause 
also  God  ordained  that  her  own  holy  relics  should  sleep 
beside  those  of  Patrick  in  Down.* 

The  facts  that  Brigid  was  present  at  Patrick's  preaching 
near  Clogher,  and  also  at  the  Synod  of  Telltown,  that  she 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  St.  Mel  and  Bishop  Bron,  as 
well  as  of  St.  Ere  and  St.  Ibar,  would  all  go  to  prove  that 
she  flourished  at  an  earlier  date  than  that  commonly 
assigned.  We  may,  therefore,  accept  the  statement  of  the 
Irish  Life  that  she  was  in  the  eighty-eighth  year  of  her 
age  when  she  died,  that  she  was,  therefore,  born  about  the 
year  436,  as  the  Bollandists  assert,  and  that  she  was  an 
intimate  and  beloved  disciple  of  St.  Patrick,  who  called 
her  his  dear  daughter  in  Christ. 

VII. — Patrick  in  Hy  Meith  Tire. 

From  the  smiling  Plain  of  Lemain,  with  its  pleasant 
woods  and  waters,  Patrick  went  to  the  territory  of  Hy 
Meith  Tire,  that  is  to  the  portion  of  it  called  Tech  Talan. 
His    route  lay,    no  doubt,  through  the    parish  of  Errigal 

^  The  Vita  Quarta  of  Brigid  would  seem  to  imply  that  Patrick  first  met 
lier  at  Telltown  ;  and  that  she  accompanied  Patrick  from  that  place  to  the 
north  ;  but  the  vision,  as  narrated  in  the  Life,  is  somewhat  different  from  that 
recorded  here. 

2  The  Feis  of  Tara  was  held  by  Laeghaire  in  453  ;  if  the  Telltown  meeting 
was  then  held  Brigid  would  be  about  sixteen  years  old, 

'^  Vila  Quarta,  No.  60. 

*  Patrick  also  met  Brigid  at  the  church  of  St.  Lassara  in  Meath,  but  it  is 
impossible  to  identify  the  locality. 


358  ST.    PATRICK   IN   ORIEL, 

Trough  by  Emyvale  and  Glaslough,  until  he  came  to  the 
old  church  of  Tehallen  (Tech  Telan),  which  gives  its  name 
to  the  modern  parish,  and  is  situated  a  little  to  the  east  of 
the  town  of  Monaghan.  The  Hy  Meith  Tire^  of  the 
Tripartite,  that  is  the  Inland  Hy  Meith,  is  so  called  in 
contradiction  to  Hy  Meith  Mara,  in  the  Co.  Louth,  whose 
territory  bordered  on  the  sea.  The  latter  still  retains  its 
ancient  name  under  the  form  O'Meath,  a  district  including 
some  ten  townlands  between  Carlingford  and  Newry.'^  The 
inland  Hy  Meith  Tire,  called  also  Hy  Meith  Macha,  because 
it  bordered  on  Armagh,  included  the  parishes  of  *  Tully- 
corbet,  Kilmore,  and  Tehallan,'  that  is  to  say,  that  part  of 
the  barony  of  Monaghan  east  and  south  of  the  town 
of  Monaghan,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  most  fertile  and 
beautiful  part  of  the  country.  The  *  House  of  Talan,' 
which  became  the  site  of  the  Patrician  Church,  is,  of 
course,  no  longer  there,  but  the  old  churchyard  was 
situated  about  three  miles  east  of  Monaghan,  close  to  the 
road  leading  to  Middletown. 

We  are  told  only  of  one  incident  that  took  place  in 
this  part  of  Hy  Meith  ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is 
an  extraordinary  one.  A  sub-tribe  of  the  district  called 
the  Hy  Torrorrae  stole,  and,  it  appears,  killed  and  ate  one 
of  Patrick's  two  goats,  which  were  employed  to  draw  water 
for  the  Saint's  needs.  When  they  were  accused  of  the 
theft,  and  confronted  with  Patrick,  they  denied  it  on  oath, 
perjuring  themselves  before  the  Saint.  'But  the  goat 
bleated  out  of  the  bellies  of  the  three,  who  attempted 
to  deceive  Patrick,'  whereupon  he  said — "  By  my  troth,  the 
goat  himself  announces  the  place  where  he  was  eaten." 
''  From  to-day  for  evermore,"  saith  Patrick,  "  goats  shall 
cleave  to  your  children  and  to  your  race,"  '  which  thing  is 
fulfilled ' ;  for,  as  the  grave  and  learned  Colgan  informs  us, 
the  men  of  that  race  have  goat-like  beards,  which  mark  them 
as  the  descendants  of  the  goat-stealers  who  robbed  Patrick  I 
The  story  is,  no,  doubt,  an  amplification  of  the  original 
tale  ;  but  it  shows  one  thing  which  is  interesting — that 
goats  were  sometimes  used  as  beasts  of  burden  to  carry 
water  from  the  well  to  the  camp,  but  whether  the  pitchers 
were  slung  from  their  backs  or  their  horns  we  have  no 
means  of  knowing. 


^  Book  of  Rights,  p.  149. 

2  The  Hy  Meith  took  their  name  from  Muireadliach  Meith,  a  grandson  of 
Colla  Da  Crioch,  and,  therefore,  they  '  got  some  of  the  best  land  in  Oriel.' 


PATRICK   IN   CREMORNE.  359 

A  certain  Eugan,  son  of  Brian,  son  of  Muireadhach 
Meith,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  territory,  is  said  to 
have  been  king  of  Hy  Meith  at  the  time.  He  and  his 
people  believed  with  earnest  faith  in  Patrick,  whereupon 
the  Saint  blessed  them  with  a  cordial  blessing.  We  are 
told,  too,  that  so  strong  was  the  faith  of  the  king  that 
he  entreated  Patrick  to  raise  to  life  his  grandfather  Muir- 
eadhach, who  must  have  been  some  years  dead,  Patrick 
raised  him  to  life,  baptised  him,  and  then  buried  him  at 
a  place  called  Omne  Rende,  on  the  borders  of  Mugdoirn 
and  Hy  Meith ;  *  but  the  place  ot  burial  belongs  to 
Mugdoirn,'  adds  the  Tripartite.  It  is  difficult  to  account 
for  the  origin  of  a  story  like  this,  which  is  so  much 
opposed  to  the  common  teaching  about  the  necessity  ot 
baptism  before  death ;  and  it  proves  clearly  that  the 
inventor  was  no  theologian.  The  place  of  burial  is  said  to 
have  been  somewhere  near  Castleblaney,  but,  as  far  as  we 
know,  there  are  no  local  traditions  now  that  recall  this 
strange  story.  The  locality,  however,  is  at  present  not 
one  likely  to  preserve  the  ancient  traditions  of  the  Irish 
saints. 

VIIL—Patrick  in  Cremorne. 

Patrick  then  went  further  south-east  into  Mugdoirn, 
now  corresponding  with  the  modern  barony  of  Cremorne 
(Crioch-Mugdoirn),  and  came  to  the  place  called  Domnach 
Maigne,  which  still  retains  its  name — Donaghmoyne — an 
old  church  about  two  miles  north  of  Carrickmacross  in 
Farney.  The  church  has  disappeared,  but  the  churchyard 
is  there  still,  finely  situated  in  a  secluded  vale,  surrounded 
by  those  swelling  hills  so  characteristic  of  Ulster  scenery, 
which  at  once  give  variety  and  repose  to  the  landscape.  A 
certain  Victor  dwelt  there,  whose  name  sounds  foreign, 
though  he  appears  to  have  been  a  native  of  the  district. 
He  was  in  no  hurry  to  become  a  Christian ;  so  when  he 
heard  of  Patrick's  approach,  he  hid  himself  in  a  brake, 
hoping  to  remain  undiscovered.^  But  a  divine  radiance 
lit  up  the  brake  '  so  that  even  in  the  darkness  of  night 
everything  was  clear  as  day  therein.'  Victor,  seeing  that 
he  was  discovered  in  this  wonderful  way  by  a  kind  ot 
divine   search-light,    came   out   of    his   hiding-place    and 


^  This  goes  to  show  that  the  people  generally  at  this  time  were  ready  to 
accept  the  Gospel  Message  of  Patrick  ;  but,  in  exceptional  cases,  some  of  them 
still  clung  to  their  old  creed. 


360  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ORIEL. 

'  submitted  to  Patrick  ' — that  is,  he  believed,  or  professed  to 
believe,  and  was  baptised.  What  is  stranger  still — after 
suitable  instruction  Patrick  ordained  him,  and  gave  him  a 
church  to  rule  as  pastor,  and  afterwards  bestowed  the 
order  of  a  bishop  upon  him,  and  left  him  in  the  church  of 
Donaghmoyne,  which  consequently  must  be  regarded  as 
the  mother  church  of  all  the  barony  of  Cremorne.  And 
we  are  told  that  Patrick  was  so  pleased  with  his  reception 
in  that  territory  that  he  baptised  the  men  of  Cremorne,  and 
blessed  them  with  a  special  blessing,  saying  that  nobles 
and  clerics  would  spring  from  them ;  and,  having  thus 
enriched  them  with  his  blessing,  he  bade  them  adieu. 

IX. — Patrick  in  Farney. 

Donaghmoyne  was  on  the  southern  limits  of  Cremorne, 
having  to  the  south  the  neighbouring  half-kingdom  of  Fir 
Roiss,^  which  included  not  only  most  of  the  barony  of 
Farney,  but  also  extended  into  the  neighbouring  parts  of 
both  Louth  and  Meath.  Hence  Patrick,  still  going  south- 
east from  Donaghmoyne,  came  to  the  place  called  Enach 
Conglais,  where  he  rested  for  a  Sunday,  '  for  it  was  not  his 
'  custom  to  travel  on  the  Lord's  Day.'  The  tribe  who  dwelt 
there  were  called  the  Hy  Lilaig,  and  they  were  about  the 
worst  type  of  Irishmen  that  Patrick  had  met  hitherto — even 
worse  than  the  Gregraide.  They  put  poison  in  the  curds, 
and  then  gave  the  cheeses  to  Patrick,  hoping  to  destroy 
him ;  but  he  blessed  the  cheeses,  and  they  were  turned 
into  stones.  He  left  them  as  soon  as  he  could,  on  Monday 
morning,  giving  them  no  blessing  and  founding  no  church 
in  their  land.  But  they  followed  him  and  his  '  familia  ' 
with  fifty  horsemen,  and  sought  to  slay  the  Saint  as  he 
crossed  the  ford  Here,  too,  they  failed,  for  God  was  with 
him.  But  when  Patrick  and  his  lamily  had  crossed,  just 
in  time  to  escape  the  assassins,  he  turned  toward  them, 
*  on  the  hillock  to  the  south  of  the  wood,'  and  whilst  they 
were  yet  crossing  the  stream  he  raised  his  left  hand,  and 
said — *  Ye  shall  not  come  out  of  the  ford  on  this  side,  nor 
shall  you  go  out  on  that.  But  there  in  the  ford  you  shall 
remain  until  the  day  of  doom.'  The  water  went  over  them, 
and  there  they  remain ;  whence  the  ford  is  called  Ath  Hy 
Lilaig  for  ever,  in  commemoration  of  their  crime,  even  as 


1  In  the  Book  of  Rights   Mugdoirn  and  Ross  formed  one  sub  kin'^dom 
(p.  155) 


PATRICK   IN   FARNEY.  36 1 

the  Stone  cheeses  remain  at  Enach  Conglais  as  a  further 
testimony  against  them. 

Enach  Conglais  appears  to  be  the  place  still  called 
Killanny-  the  church  of  the  Enach — about  three  miles  west 
of  the  town  of  Louth.  The  Saint's  road  thence  lay  south 
across  the  La^an  to  Rath  Cule,  a  locality  which  still  retains 
the  name  of  Coole,  and  is  situated  a  little  south  of  the 
river  in  the  barony  of  Lower  Slane.  It  is  not  difficult 
then  to  determine  the  point  at  which  the  ford  of  the  Lagan 
lay  on  the  road  from  Killanny  to  Coole,  in  the  district  of 
Siddan.  The  ford  was  probably  at  the  place  now  called 
the  Lagan  Bridge,  near  the  junction  of  Louth,  Meath,  and 
Monaghan — for  bridges  are  usually  built  at  the  ancient 
fords,  where  the  water  was  shallowest  and  the  foundation 
hardest.^ 

Tirechan,  however,  omits  all  reference  to  these  mira- 
culous events,  and  brings  Patrick  direct  from  Donaghmoyne 
in  Cremorne  to  visit  Laeghaire  and  Conall  at  Tara.  In 
any  case,  Patrick  must  have  crossed  the  ford  on  his  way  to 
Tara,  but  there  is  no  reference  to  it  or  to  the  miracles. 
He  makes  a  very  interesting  statement,  too,  regarding 
Victor,  whom  Patrick  had  left  as  Bishop  at  Donaghmoyne. 
*  Having  left  Machia,'^  he  says,  '  Patrick  came  to  Mugdoirn. 
and  there  ordained  Victoricus  Bishop  of  Machia — Machin- 
ensem  episcopum — and  he  founded  a  great  church  there, 
and  afterwards  proceeded  to  Laeghaire  and  Conall,  sons  of 
Niall.'s 

Does  this  Macha,  or  Machia,  refer  to  Armagh  (Ard- 
macha),  or  to  Hy  Meith  Tire,  which  was  also  called  Hy 
Meith  Macha?  The  latter  seems  the  more  probable 
reference,  so  far  as  we  can  judge.  But,  then,  if  he  left 
Bishop  Cilline  in  Tehallan,  why  should  he  consecrate 
Victor  or  Victoricus  Bishop  of  Hy  Meith  Macha  ?  We 
think  this  consecration  of  Victor,  who  was  only  then  bap- 
tised, must  refer  to  a  later  date,  when  Patrick  consecrated 
him  and  gave  him  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  territory  of 
Hy  Meith  Macha  and  Cremorne.  Others,  however,  under- 
stand Macha  to  refer  to  the  royal  city  of  Armagh,  which 
they  say  Patrick  then  founded,  leaving  Victor  to  rule  the 
church  in  his  absence.     But  Victor  is  not  mentioned  in 


^  There  was  another  ford  where  Essex  and  O'Neill  met  in  1599,  on  the 
Glyde  River,  hence  called  Essexford,  which  may  have  been  the  place  indicated 
in  the  Tripartite. 

^  Relicta  '  Machia,'  not,  however,  *  Ard-Macha.* 

8  Rolls  Trip.,  330. 


362  ST.    PATRICK   IN   ORIEL. 

any  of  the  lists  as  a  Bishop  of  Armagh  in  any  sense,  and, 
in  our  opinion,  he  never  was  assistant  of  St.  Patrick  there, 
but  he  was  bishop  of  the  territory,  and  that  explains  why 
some  ancient  authorities  say  Armagh  was  founded  in  A.D. 
444/  which  gives  us  also  the  date  of  Patrick's  sojourn  in 
Monaghan. 

X. — Patrick  again  in  Meath. 

When  Patrick  came  to  Rath  Cule  he  blessed  the  Fir 
Cule — that  is  the  men  of  Cule — a  place  which,  v^e  are  told, 
was  in  Hy  Segain.  The  modern  parish  of  Siddan  seems 
to  retain  the  ancient  name  of  the  district,  as  the  townland 
of  Coole  retains  the  sub-denomination  ;  and  doubtless  the 
ancient  rath  might  still  be  traced  in  the  townland.  He 
left  them  his  blessing,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  place 
called  Bile  Tortain,  the  Old  Tree  of  Tortan,  which  was  in 
the  kingdom  called  Hy  Dortain  in  the  Book  of  Rights, 
and,  properly  speaking,  was  a  sub-kingdom,  not  of  Meath, 
but  of  Oriel.  It  is  said  by  Colgan  to  have  been  near 
Ardbraccan  ;  but  the  Irish  text  only  states  that  the  church 
which  Patrick  founded  there  for  Presbyter  Justan  '  now 
belongs  to  Ardbraccan.'  It  is  probable  that  the  church  of 
Justan  was  somewhere  in  Lower  Slane,  for  the  mountains 
of  Slieve  Breagh^  formed  the  southern  boundary  of  Hy 
Dortain.     It  was  most  likely  near  Julianstown. 

Here,  however,  Tirechan  notably  differs  from  the 
Tripartite,  for  the  former  brings  Patrick  straight  from 
Donaghmoyne  to  Tara,  where  he  finished  his  '  circle  '  ^  or 
missionary  *  round '  from  Tara  through  the  west  and  the 
north  of  Ireland.  And  it  is  from  Tara  he  represents 
Patrick  as  *  setting  out '  to  found  a  church  for  Presbyter 
Justan  (Justano)  at  Bile  Tortain,  'which  belongs  to  the 
family  of  Ardbraccan,'  and  he  founded  another  in  eastern 
Tortan  'in  which  the  tribe  of  Tech  Cirpain  abides,  but  is 
always  free '  (from  servitude  to  the  religious  of  Ard- 
braccan). Then,  having  founded  there  two  churches, 
Patrick,  according  to  Tirechan,  directs  his  course  to  the 
territories  of  the  men  ot  Leinster — namely,  to  Druim 
Urchailli. 


^  Annals  of  Ulster^  which  are  usually  accurate. 

2  The  Book  of  Armagh  assigns  the  Dorsi  Breg  as  the  boundary  of  Armagh 
diocese,  that  is  of  Oriel  at  that  point. — Page  352,  Rolls  Trip. 

^  Finito  autem  circulo  (when  he  came  to  Laeghaire  and  Conall,  sons  of 
Niall),  exiit  et  fecit  ecclesiam  Justano  presbytero  juxta  Bile  Torten  quae  est 
apud  familiam  Aird  Breccain. 


PATRICK  AGAIN    IN    MEATII.  363 

We  know  little  of  Patrick's  further  progress  through 
Bregia.  He  was  there  before  ;  and  now,  doubtless,  visited 
the  old  churches  and  founded  new  ones  of  which  we  know 
nothing  but  the  names,  as  given  in  the  Additions  to 
Tirechan.  The  Tripartite  merely  states  that  he  journeyed 
from  Domnach  Tortain  into  Leinster,  and  slept  for  one 
night  at  a  place  called  Druim  Urchailli,  which  Colgan 
places  in  the  territory  called  from  the  King  '  Laeghaire ' ; 
but  other  authorities,  with  greater  probability,  identify  it 
with  Drummuragill  in  the  north  of  Kildare,  as  Tirechan 
certainly  does.^ 

Here  we  find  two  significant  paragraphs  in  the  Lebar 
Brecc  Homily  regarding  this  journey.  We  are  told  that 
*  he  went  afterwards  to  the  men  of  Bregia  and  mightily 
preached  the  word  of  God  to  them,  and  baptised  and 
blessed  them.'  *  And  he  visited  the  Ford  of  Hurdles 
(Dublin)  and  found  great  welcome  there,  and  Patrick  said 
there  would  be  rank  and  primacy  in  that  place,  even  as  is 
still  fulfilled.' 

The  last  statement,  on  the  face  of  it,  is  a  suspicious- 
looking  paragraph,  and  savours  of  a  later  interpolation  ; 
but  the  first  seems  to  be  quite  true.  The  purpose  of 
Patrick  certainly  was  to  go  to  Leinster,  and,  as  usual,  to 
go  straight  to  the  royal  dun,  which  was  at  Naas ;  but  he 
had  to  pass  through  parts  of  Bregia  in  a  district  where  he 
certainly  had  founded  churches,  and  no  doubt  he  revisited 
many  of  them  on  this  very  journey. 

Of  these  the  most  important  was  that  of  Dunshaughlin, 
over  which  he  had  placed  his  nephew,  Sechnall  or  Secun- 
dinus,  whose  name  it  bears.  It  was  in  the  direct  route  of 
the  Saint  through  Bregia,  southwards  to  Druim  Urchailli, 
on  his  way  to  Naas.  The  Annals  of  Ulster  state  that 
Secundinus,  Auxilius,  and  Iserninus,  then  bishops,  were 
sent  to  Ireland  to  aid  Patrick  in  A.D.  438  or  439.'"^  There 
is  reason  to  think  that  they  accompanied  the  Apostle  on 
his  missionary  journey  through  the  north-west  and  north 
of  Ireland,  and  now  returned  with  him  to  Meath. 
Secundinus  was  the  oldest,  for  he  is  said  to  have  died  in 
447  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age;  and  was  therefore 


*  He  places  it 'ad  fines  Lageniensium  .  .  .  Super  viam  magnani  in 
valle.'  It  was  therefore  in  a  valley  near  the  highway  on  the  Leinster  borders. 
Colgan  seems  to  confound  the  territory  (Laeghaire)  with  the  man. 

"^  Some  think,  however,  that  Secundinus  came  over  with  St.  Patrick  in  the 
beginning,  that  is  432,  that  he  was  appointed  to  Dunshaughlin  about  434,  when 
Patrick  was  in  Meath,  but  having  gone  once  more  abroad  returned  at  this  time. 


364  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ORIEL. 

as  old  as  Patrick  himself.  It  was  only  natural  then  that 
the  Saint,  setting  out  for  Leinster  and  Munster,  should  have 
some  one  to  look  after  the  churches  of  Meath  and  Ulster 
during  his  absence.  He  made  Secundinus  Bishop  of 
Dunshaughlin,  and  also  appointed  him  as  his  coadjutor 
and  representative  through  all  the  North  during  his 
absence.  Hence  it  is  that  Sechnall  is  commonly  described 
as  comarb,  or  successor-designate  of  Patrick  at  Armagh  ; 
*and  that  his  tenure  of  that  office  is  given  as  thirteen  years 
■ — that  is  from  the  date  of  his  appointment  in  434  to  his 
death  in  447.^  It  also  fixes  the  date  of  Patrick's  setting 
out  on  his  missionary  journey  through  Leinster,  which  we 
may  take  to  be  either  444  or  the  early  spring  of  445.  He 
had  performed  the  circuit  of  Ulster  in  three  years,  and 
probably  spent  three  more  in  Leinster;  but  he  is  said  to 
have  spent  seven  years  in  Connaught  and  seven  in 
Munster. 

XI. — Patrick's  Alleged  Visit  to  Ath  Cliath. 

Here  we  must  pause  to  consider  the  question  whether 
or  not  Patrick  really  visited  the  place  called  in  his  time 
Ath  Cliath,  but  known  as  Dublin  to  the  Danes  or  Ostmen. 
We  have  already  referred  to  the  brief  and  suspicious  refer- 
ence in  the  Homily  on  St.  Patrick  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  to 
this  alleged  visit  of  the  Saint  to  Ath  Cliath.  But  Jocelyn 
gives  a  much  fuller  account  of  this  visit  which,  in  substance, 
is  as  follows  : — 

Patrick,  in  his  journey  from  Meath  to  Leinster,  having 
crossed  a  certain  stream  called  Finglass,  came  to  a  hill 
about  one  mile  distant  from  Ath  Cliath,  which  is  now 
called  Dublin  (Dublinia).  Looking  towards  it,  he  blessed 
the  place,  and  foretold  that  though  now  a  small  village, 
it  would  one  day  become  the  capital  city  of  the  kingdom, 
a  prophecy  which  has  been  manifestly  fulfilled.^  He  then 
came  to  the  Ford  of  Hurdles.  On  his  entry  into  the  town 
(villa),  the  people,  who  had  heard  of  his  wondrous  miracles, 
received  him  with  great  joy.  The  Saint  then  healed  the 
only  son  of  the  ruler  of  the  place,  who  was  on  the  point 
of  death,  and  restored  him  to  his  father ;  whereupon  all 
the  people  believed  and  were  baptised  by  Patrick.  More- 
over, as  the  tide  made  the  river  water  brackish,  the  matron 

^  It  is  more  likely,  however,  that  he  lived  to  457,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 
2  Chapter  69.     The  prediction  here  looks  very  like  one  made  after   the 
event  predicted. 


HIS    ALLEGED   VISIT  TO   ATH   CLIATH.  365 

in  whose  house  the  Saint  lodged  complained  of  the  want 
of  sweet  water;  upon  which  Patrick,  striking  the  earth 
twice  with  the  Staff  of  Jesus,  caused  a  most  abundant 
spring  to  gush  forth  from  the  earth,  whose  waters  are  not 
only  sweet,  but  powerful  to  heal  diseases.  Seeing  this, 
all  the  people  greatly  rejoiced ;  and  the  fountain  has  ever 
since  been  fitly  called  St.  Patrick's  Well. 

Here  we  have  at  least  a  simple  narrative ;  but  imme- 
diately follows  another  chapter  which  gives  an  entirely 
different  and  wholly  inconsistent  account  of  Patrick's 
reception  in  Dublin.  We  are  told  in  chapter  seventy-one 
that  Patrick  came  on  his  missionary  journey  to  a  famous 
city  called  Dublin,  inhabited  by  Norwegians  and  natives 
of  the  Isles,  who,  however,  recognised  the  King  of  Ireland, 
in  an  uncertain  fashion,  as  their  Suzerain.  It  was  a  city 
steeped  in  the  filth  of  idolatry  and  wholly  ignorant  of  the 
true  God.  Just  then,  however,  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
son  of  the  King  died  suddenly  in  his  marriage  bed,  and 
his  sister  was  drowned  in  the  river  Liffey  ;  but  Patrick, 
the  miracle-working  prelate  of  Armagh,  restored  both  to 
life,  to  the  great  joy  of  King  Alphinus  and  all  his  people. 
The  maiden,  who  was  brought  to  life  by  Patrick,  was 
called  Dublinia,  and  gave  her  own  name  to  the  city.  Both 
King  and  people,  too,  were  baptised  by  Patrick  in  a  well 
on  the  south  of  the  city,  which  issued  from  the  soil  where 
Patrick  struck  the  earth  with  his  crozier.  Moreover,  the  whole 
city  agreed  to  pay  large  offerings  to  Patrick's  church  of 
Armagh  for  ever,  and  built  a  church  in  his  honour  near  the 
well,  which  was  outside  the  city,  and  another  within  the  walls 
in  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  close  to  which  they  also 
assigned  a  mansion,  or  residence,  to  Patrick  and  his  suc- 
cessors for  all  time. 

This  ridiculous  story  seems  to  be  an  interpolation  in 
the  original  text  of  Jocelyn,  and  is,  of  course,  utterly 
worthless. 

But  the  first  account  seems  to  have  been  really  written 
by  Jocelyn,  and  must  be  taken  as  his  version  of  a  living 
tradition  in  the  time  of  the  writer.  Yet  we  cannot  attach 
much  historical  importance  to  the  narrative.  It  is  not 
corroborated  by  any  of  our  annalists,  nor  is  anything  like 
it  found  in  any  of  the  ancient  Lives  of  our  Saints.  There 
is  no  reference  to  Patrick's  visit  to  Ath  Cliath,  or  to 
Dubh-linn,  in  either  the  Tripartite  or  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
nor  in  any  of  the  other  Lives  published  by  Colgan.  We 
know,    indeed,    that   at  a   later  period  a  monastery  was 


366  ST.   PATRICK   IN   ORIEL. 

founded  by  St.  Mobhi  on  the  banks  of  the  Tolka,  near 
Glasnevin,  which  is  not  far  from  Finglas.  Dubious  refer- 
ences are  also  made  at  a  much  later  period  to  St.  Livinus 
and  St.  Rumoldus  as  Bishops  of  Dublin  ;  but  these  Lives 
were  written  on  the  Continent  by  scribes  who  knew  little  or 
nothing  of  our  domestic  history,  and  it  would  seem,  after 
the  Danish  occupation  of  Dublin. 

The  Ford  of  Hurdles,  which  gave  its  Irish  name  to 
Dublin,  was  a  rude  bridge  over  the  Liffey,  somewhere  at  the 
head  of  the  tide  near  Kingsbridge.  The  Black  Pool,  from 
which  the  city  got  its  Danish  appellation,  was  a  deep  hole  at 
the  junction  of  the  Liffey  and  the  Poddle,  which  was  used 
as  a  harbour  by  the  Danes.  To  protect  their  shipping  they 
built  a  dun  or  castle  on  the  high  ground  just  over  the  pool, 
and  thenceforward — that  is  from  about  the  year  835,  when 
the  Danes  made  their  first  permanent  settlement  there — 
the  place  came  to  be  called  Dublin. 

Yet  the  presence  of  St.  Patrick's  Well,  and  the  dedica- 
tion even  by  John  Comyn  of  his  great  church  outside  the 
walls  in  honour  of  St.  Patrick,  as  well  as  the  narrative  of 
Jocelyn  in  chapter  69,  go  to  show  that  Patrick  did  visit  the 
place,  coming  through  Bregia  to  Finglas,  and  crossing  the 
river  at  the  Black  Pool. 

Such  a  visit,  though  not  explicitly  referred  to,  either  in 
the  Tripartite  or  the  Book  of  Armagh,  is  not  excluded, 
and  is  expressly  referred  to  in  the  Irish  Homily  from  the 
Lebar  Brecc  already  quoted.  We  know,  too,  that  Patrick 
on  his  journey  southward  passed,  not  through  Meath 
(Midhe),  but  through  Bregia,  which  included  north  Dublin 
to  the  Liffey ;  and  if  he  were,  suppose  at  Dunshaughlin,  it 
would  be  very  easy  for  him  to  turn  aside  for  a  little,  and 
visit  Finglas  on  the  north,  or  even  the  pagus  or  village 
between  the  Poddle  and  the  south  bank  of  the  river. 

It  is  true  w^e  have  no  account  of  any  royal  dun  near 
the  Hurdle-Ford ;  but  still  ancient  authorities  represent 
the  place  as  one  of  considerable  trade  from  the  earliest 
times.  Our  annals  tell  us  that  the  fact  of  the  northern 
shore  of  the  Liffey  being  more  frequented  by  ships  than 
the  southern  shore,  was  one  of  the  causes  that  gave  rise  to 
the  great  strife  between  Conn  the  Hundred  Fighter  and 
Eoghan  Mor.  The  ancient  Life  of  St.  Kevin  of  Glenda- 
loch  describes  the  place,  which  is  called  in  Irish  Dubh- 
linn,  as  a  powerful  and  warlike  city.  We  think,  however, 
although  Colgan  seems  to  differ  from  us,  that  this  descrip- 
tion was  written   by  one  who  knew  it  after  Dublin  was 


HIS  ALLEGED   VISIT  TO   ATH   CLIATH.  367 

occupied  by  the  Danes.  St.  Sedulius  also  is  described  as 
abbot  of  Dublin ;  but  here,  too,  the  writer  uses  a  term  that 
was  not  in  use,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  in  the  time  of  St. 
Kevin,  and  being  a  foreign  writer,  he  was  probably 
unacquainted  with  the  true  history  of  the  city.  We  can 
only  say,  therefore,  that  the  story  of  St.  Patrick's  visit  to 
the  ancient  Ath-cliath  is  very  uncertain,  although  the 
presence  of  his  well  there  and  the  ancient  church  dedicated 
to  him,  go  far  to  prove  that  Ath  Cliath  was  visited  by  our 
Apostle.^ 


^  The  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Donnelly,  Bishop  of  Canea,  assures  me  that  three 
churches,  dedicated  to  three  saints,  were  founded  in  Dublin  at  an  ancient  date 
— that  is,  St.  Patrick's,  St.  Martin's,  and  St.  Biide's.  These  were  certainly 
Irish,  not  Danish,  dedications,  and  are  often  found  together. 


CHAPTER     XX. 
ST.  PATRICK  IN  NORTH  LEINSTER. 

I.— Geography  of  Leinster. 

It  Is  well  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  Leinster, 
or  Laigin,  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  Ancient  Leinster 
did  not  comprise  more  than  half  the  modern  province.  It 
included  the  territory  still  contained  in  the  four  dioceses  of 
Glendaloch  and  Kildare  on  the  north,  and  ofLeighlin  and 
Ferns  on  the  south — that  is  all — and  these  dioceses  still 
represent  very  accurately  its  most  important  *  kingdoms.' 
Ancient  Leinster,  then,  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Liffey,  from  its  mouth  to  Leixlip,  thence  due  westward  by 
the  Rye  water  and  other  smaller  streams  as  far  as  the 
Boyne.  From  this  point  the  boundary  ran  south-west 
through  King's  County  as  far  as  Slieve  Bloom,  then 
followed  the  line  of  the  Nore  to  the  south-east  as  far 
as  Abbeyleix,  and  further  south  the  line  of  the  hills  west 
of  the  Barrow  to  the  sea. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  Leinster  included  the 
counties  of  Wexford,  Wicklow,  Carlow,  and  Kildare,  with 
south  Dublin,  the  eastern  third  of  King's  County,  and  the 
greater  part  of  Queen's  County — that  is,  all  between  the 
Nore  and  the  Barrow.  This  wide,  and  for  the  most  part, 
fertile  territory,  included  some  twelve  or  thirteen  sub- 
kingoms,  but  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick  two  of  them  appear 
with  special  prominence — that  is,  the  kingdom  of  North 
Leinster,^  represented  by  the  diocese  of  Kildare,  of  which 
the  royal  dun  was  at  Naas;  and  the  kingdom  of  South 
Leinster,  represented  by  the  counties  of  Carlow  and  Wex- 
ford, whose  chief  fort  was  at  Rathvilly,  on  the  Slaney,  in 
the  Co.  Carlow.  The  two  sub-kings  of  Cualann,  and  of 
Inver  on  the  coast  of  Wicklow,  were  cut  off  by  the  moun- 
tains from  their  neighbours ;  but,  as  we  shall  see,  they  did 
not  escape  the  pastoral  zeal  and  vigilance  of  St.  Patrick. 

Cathair  Mor,  who  was  not  only  king  of  Leinster,  but 
monarch  of  Erin   in  the  second  century,  was  the  great 

^  Tuath  Laighean  and  Deas  Laighean,  or  Deas  Gabhair — Book  of  Rights ^ 
195. 


PATRICK    IN    MAGH    LIFFE.  369 

ancestor  of  most  of  the  kinglets  who  ruled  the  province. 
It  is  said  that  he  had  three  wives  and  thirty  sons,  ten  of 
whom  he  mentions  in  his  will,  which  was  a  very  famous 
document.  These  sons  became  the  ancestors  of  several  of 
the  ruling  families,  and  gave  their  names  to  the  subject 
tribes  in  the  usual  way.  Many  of  them  are  referred  to,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  in  the  missionary  journeys  of  St. 
Patrick  through  the  plains  of  Leinster.  The  late  Father 
Shearman  followed  the  footsteps  of  St.  Patrick  very  care- 
fully through  this  province;  but  his  narrative  is  confused, 
and  his  speculations  are  sometimes  very  unfounded  and 
misleading,  especially  in  dealing  with  the  question  of  the 
'  Three  Patricks,'  where  his  statements  are  wholly  un- 
reliable. 

II. — Patrick  in  Magh  Liffe. 

Both  Tirechan  and  the  Tripartite  state  that  Patrick 
went  from  Bile  Tortain  to  Druim  Urchailli  in  Leinster, 
where  he  spent  at  least  one  night  according  to  the  latter ; 
but  the  former  adds  that  he  built  there  a  relic-house,  or 
Martarthech,  as  it  is  called  in  Irish,  that  is  a  house  for  the 
relics  of  the  martyrs.  But  it  really  means  that  he  left  in 
the  church  of  the  place,  and  no  doubt  in  a  suitable  shrine, 
some  special  relics  of  the  martyrs,  which  gave  it  its  name ; 
and  we  are  further  told  that  this  relic-church,  or  house,  was 
situated  over  the  high  way  through  the  valley,  and  that  a 
Leac  Patrick,  or  Stone  of  Patrick,  is  there  also  by  the  way- 
side. 

It  would  be  most  interesting  to  identify  with  certainty 
this  church  of  Druim  Urchailli ;  but  it  has  not  yet  been 
done.  Shearman  seems  to  think  it  was  west  of  Kilcock, 
between  that  place  and  Cloncurry,  at  Drummurragill,  but 
he  gives  no  satisfactory  proof,  except  the  similarity  of 
sound  in  the  names.  Our  own  opinion  is  that  it  is  the  old 
church  of  Donaghmore,  about  a  mile  east  of  Maynooth, 
and  the  churchyard  may  be  seen  from  the  railway  on  the 
slope  of  the  ridge,  which  is  crowned  by  the  noteworthy 
obelisk  called  the  '  Folly.'  ^ 

This  site  was  certainly  on  the  brow  of  a  ridge.  It  was 
on  the  way  from  Bile  Tortain  to  Naas,  and  the  name  itself 
implies   that    it  was   a   Patrician    church  of  considerable 

^  The  old  church  itself  has  completely  disappeared ;  but  the  church- 
yard remains,  neatly  enclosed  by  a  stone  wall,  close  to  the  railway,  and  near 
the  Carton  gate,  which  opens  on  the  Celbridge  road. 

2B 


370  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

importance.  But  we  have  no  certainty  about  it ;  and  the 
point  is  open  to  further  investigation.  From  Donaghmorc, 
the  road  to  Naas  would  lead  by  Straffan,  where  Shearman 
tells  us  there  is  a  remarkable  stone-roofed  oratory  '  of 
dubious  antiquity/  but  he  admits  that  it  is  still  called  '  St. 
Patrick's  Church ; '  and  very  near  it,  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  a  hill,  to  the  north  of  the  road,  called  Ardrass,  is  'St. 
Patrick's  Bed,'  situated  in  a  grassy  hollow,  encircled  by 
bushes.  At  its  base,  as  might  be  expected,  is  St.  Patrick's 
Well,  which  has  always  been  greatly  frequented  by  pilgrims. 
These  facts  leave  no  doubt  that  St.  Patrick  visited  Straffan, 
either  then  or  on  some  other  occasion  ;  but,  as  it  was  clearly 
in  the  direct  route  to  Naas,  we  think  it  highly  probable 
that  he  must  have  passed  that  way  on  this  occasion. 

The  reference  to  'St.  Patrick's  Bed  in  the  grassy 
hollow  under  the  ridge,'  would  go  far  to  show  that  if 
Donaghmore  was  not  Druim  Urchailli,  we  might  fairly 
seek  it  at  Straffan,  and  perhaps  the  '  stone-roofed  oratory' 
would  be  the  identical  *  domus  martirum '  to  which  Tire- 
chan  refers. 

Patrick  might  cross  the  Liffey  at  Straffan  and  go  direct 
to  Naas,  which  was  due  south;  or  he  might  go  up  the  left 
bank  of  the  Liffey  as  far  as  Clane,  and  cross  the  Liffey  there 
by  the  celebrated  Ford  of  Clane.  There  is  near  the  ford, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  a  very  remarkable  mound, 
and  on  its  western  side  there  is  a  well  called  Sunday  Well, 
or  in  Irish  Toburdonaigh,  a  name  which  is  usually  given 
only  to  those  places,  where  the  Saint,  after  a  week's  instruc- 
tion, baptised  his  catechumens  on  Sunday.^ 

Crossing  the  river  at  this  point,  the  Saint  had  only  five 
miles  to  cover  in  order  to  reach  Naas.  The  Tripartite  is  here 
an  invaluable  and  accurate  guide.  '  Thereafter  Patrick 
went  to  Naas.  The  site  of  his  tent  is  in  the  green  of  the  dun, 
to  the  east  of  the  road  ;  and  to  the  north  of  the  dun  is  his 
well,  wherein  he  baptised  Dunling's  two  sons,  namely, 
Ailill  and  Ulan,  and  also  baptised  Ailill's  two  daughters, 
Mogain  and  Fedelm ;  and  their  father  offered  to  God  and 
to  Patrick  their  consecrated  virginity.  And  Patrick 
blessed  the  veil  on  their  heads.' 

We  have  gone  over  the  ground  ;  and,  merely  from  this 
description,  identified  all  the  places  referred  to.     The  green 


^The  ford  of  Clane  was  the  usual  passage  over  the  Liffey  at  this  part  of 
its  course,  and  the  present  bridge  may  be  taken  as  marking  the  site  of  the 
ford,  which  is  often  mentioned  in  our  legendary  story. 


PATRICK    IN   MAGH   LIFFE.  3/1 

of  the  fort,  or  dun,  is  still  the  fair-green  of  the  town. 
Patrick's  tent  was  there  very  naturally,  for  it  was  then,  as 
it  is  now,  an  open  space.  The  ancient  rath  of  the  Kings 
of  Naas  has  disappeared,  but  its  site  can  be  easily  identi- 
fied in  an  enclosed  field  to  the  '  east  of  the  road,'  just  inside 
the  fair-green.  The  holy  well  is  to  the  *  north  of  the  fort,' 
beyond  the  town  itself,  just  inside  the  demesne  wall, 
which  now  bounds  the  road  by  which  Patrick  came  to 
Naas  from  Clane.  The  old  dame  at  the  gate-house  will  at 
®nce  conduct  the  visitor  to  it,  and  tell  him  that  it  is  St. 
Patrick's  Holy  Well. 

Dunling  was  dead  at  the  time,^  and  his  two  sons  were 
joint  kings  of  North  Leinster.  When  the  tribesmen  saw 
their  kings  and  the  kings'  daughters  baptised  in  that  blessed 
well  by  the  wayside,  they  were  not  likely  to  hesitate  long 
themselves  in  embracing  the  faith.  The  maidens  twain 
who  thus  consecrated  their  virginity  to  God  afterwards 
retired  to  a  little  church  near  Dunlavin,  to  the  east  of 
Magh  Liffe,  where  they  lived  and  died  in  peace  and  holiness. 
It  was  called  Cill  na  n'Inghean,  and  the  festival  of  the 
Holy  Daughters  was  celebrated  ever  afterwards  on  the 
9th  of  December,  which  was  probably  the  date  of  the  death 
of  the  longest  survivor.^ 

Ailill,  the  father  of  the  nuns,  appears  to  have  been  the 
elder,  and  he  seems  to  have  died  long  before  his  brother 
Ulan,  who  afterwards  became  a  great  friend  of  St,  Brigid 
of  Kildare,  by  whose  blessing  his  life  was  prolonged,  in 
spite  of  many  foes  and  many  battles,  down  to  the  year 
506,  when  he  is  said  to  have  reached  the  great  age  of  120, 
and  to  have  been  buried  in  Brigid's  church  of  Kildare. 

But  all  the  men  of  Naas  were  not  so  fervent.  Fallen, 
the  King's  steward,  did  not  come  to  meet  Patrick,  and  get 
instruction  and  baptism.  Then  Patrick  sent  to  summon 
him ;  but  he  came  not,  pretending  to  be  asleep  when  the 
messenger  called.  So  the  messenger  returned  to  Patrick 
to  make  excuses  for  the  reeve — telling  Patrick  that  he 
was  asleep — ''  By  my  troth,"  said  Patrick,  **  it  would  not 
be  strange  to  me  if  it  were  his  last  sleep."  And  so  it 
proved  to  be.     Fallen  awoke  no  more — whence  arose  the 


^  It  is  said  he  was  buried  in  his  armour  in  the  ramparts  of  Maisten,  or 
Mullaghmast  (the  scene  of  the  terrible  massacre  by  Cosby),  no  doubt  facing 
Tara,  just  as  Laeghaire  was  afterwards  buried  in  the  rampart  of  Tara  facing 
the  men  of  Leinster. 

2  See  Shearman's  Zora /*^fr.     120. 


3/2  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LKINSTER. 

proverb,  Fallen's  sleep  in  the  fort  of  Naas.^     It  is  not  safe 
to  mock  God  or  His  Apostles. 

This  narrative,  too,  shows  how  Patrick  and  his  familia 
travelled.  They  were  not  welcomed  into  this  fort  of  Naas, 
but  they  had  their  tents  and  pitched  them  in  the  public 
green  before  the  fort.  This  green  was  an  ancient  and 
famous  place  of  assembly  for  the  tribes  of  North  Leinster,. 
even  from  the  time  of  the  Tuatha  de  Danaan.  The  word 
Nas  itself  means  an  assembly,  and  gave  its  name  to  the 
royal  fort.  It  continued  to  be  a  royal  residence  down  to 
the  year  904,  when  King  Cearbhall  MacMuiregan  was  slain, 
'  and  Nas  is  without  a  king  ever  since.'  It  is  still  a  thriving 
town,  finely  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  fertile  plain  of  the 
Liffey,  which  surrounds  it  in  a  wide  semicircle.  The  roots 
of  the  Wicklow  mountains  rising  from  the  eastern  margin 
of  the  plain,  are  very  conspicuous  in  the  distance,  and 
afford  a  fine  background  to  the  swelling  uplands  that  stretch 
away  to  the  base  of  the  hills  ;  their  western  flanks,  looking 
towards  Naas,  varied  in  outline  and  well-wooded,  when  lit 
up  by  the  morning  sun.  rising  over  the  hills,  afford  many 
charming  views  of  a  landscape  highly  pleasing  and  pictur- 
esque. The  old  Irish  kings  were  masters  in  their  own 
land ;  and,  to  their  credit  be  it  said,  invariably  built  their 
duns  in  the  fairest  sites  which  it  afforded. 

III.— Patrick  Revisits  Hv  Garrchon. 

Surely,  Patrick,  looking  over  those  darkly-wooded  hills 
of  Wicklow  from  the  fort  of  Naas,  must  have  remembered 
how  he  landed  on  the  coast  far  beyond  them  some  fifteen 
years  before,  how  he  was  driven  away  by  Nathi,  King  of 
Inver  Dea,  and  how  a  few  Christians  had  remained  behind, 
left  there,  some  by  himself  and  some  by  Palladius  before 
him,  in  the  wild  mountain  valleys,  which  opened  }'onder 
to  the  east.  Was  Nathi,  the  fierce  king  of  the  Hy 
Garrchon,  alive  yet,  he  would  naturally  ask.  '  No,  Nathi 
was  dead,'  but  his  son,  Dricriu,  reigned  in  his  place,  and 
he  also  was  married  to  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  high- 
king  of  Tara. 

So  Patrick  resolved  to  visit  this  new  king,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  see  how  the  scattered  Christian  communities 
fared  in  that  pagan  land  of  Wicklow.     It  must  have  been 


^  Colgan  says  it  was  used  as  an  imprecation,  in  his  own  time,  '  May  his 
sleep  be  like  Fallen's  in  the  fort  of  Naas' — that  is,  may  he  never  awake. 


HE    REVISITS   HY   GARRCHON.  373 

a  toilsome  journey  over  those  pathless  hills,  but  nothing  in 
the  way  of  difficulty  or  danger  deterred  Patrick  when  he 
had  God's  work  to  do.  He  could  easily  procure  guides  at 
Naas  who  would  lead  him  through  the  passes  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  he  resolved  to  set  out  at  once.  We  have  no 
account  of  his  journey,  but  his  way  would  naturally  lie  by 
Ballymore-Eustace  and  Hollywood  through  the  VVicklow 
Gap,  and  so  on  to  Rathnew,  or  Rath  Inver,  where,  as  far 
as  we  can  judge,  the  king  of  Hy  Garrchon  dwelt  at  the 
time.  It  came  to  pass  that  Dricriu  just  then  had  a  great 
feast  and  meeting  of  his  nobles  at  his  royal  rath  ;  and 
perhaps  it  was  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  that  brought 
Patrick  there  just  in  time  for  the  feast. 

But  the  son  was,  like  the  sire,  as  rude  as  he  was 
irreligious,  and  as  his  wife  was  one  of  Laeghaire's 
daughters  we  are  told  that  for  '  Laeghaire's  sake  he 
refused  to  invite  Patrick  to  the  feast  and  the  meeting  at 
Rath  Inver.'  The  hungry  Saint  and  his  companions,  after 
their  journey  through  the  mountains,  were  left  out  in  the 
cold  ;  and,  it  seems,  had  nothing  to  eat.  But  Cilline,  a 
poor  man  though  a  relative  of  the  king,  took  pity  on 
Patrick,  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome,  and,  killing  his  one 
cow,  gave  meat  to  Patrick,  and  gave  him  also  the  measure 
of  meal  which  he  had  brought  out  of  the  king's  house  for 
his  own  use.  His  wife  cooked  the  meat  and  baked  the 
bread,  and  whilst  she  was  cooking,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
tending  her  little  son,  Patrick  said  : — 

O,  woman,  cherish  that  little  son, 
A  great  boar  comes  from  a  pigling, 
A  flame  comes  from  a  spark, 
Thy  son  will  be  hale  and  strong. 
The  corn  is  the  best  of  plants, 
So  Marcan,  son  of  Cilline 
Is  the  best  of  Garchu's  issue. 

This  blessing  was  fruitful  for  the  child,  who  became  the 
ancestor  of  the  Christian  kings  of  Hy  Garrchon,  a  far 
braver  and  better  race  than  their  rude  and  inhospitable 
sires.  ^ 

Patrick,  however,  saw  that  it  was  fruitless  to  hope  for 
the  conversion  of  Dricriu,  or  of  those  under  his  control,  so 


^  The  chieftains  and  men  of  Hy  Garrchon  at  that  time  must  bear  the 
infamy  of  being  beyond  all  others  in  Erin  rude,  inhospitable,  and  anti- 
Christian,  without  one  saving  trait  in  their  character. 


374  ST.   PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

he  resolved  to  return  once  more  to  the  plains  of  Kildare. 
But  he  doubtless  visited  the  three  Palladian  churches 
that  still  existed  in  Wicklow.  Tigroney  (Teach  na  Roman) 
was  in  the  parish  of  Castlemacadam,  and,  as  a  fact,  we, 
find  traces  of  St.  Patrick  in  the  parish  immediately  to  the 
east — that  is  at  Ennereilly,  where  there  is  a  Kilpatrick 
Bridge  and  a  Kilpatrick  House,  showing  that  there  was  a 
Patrician  church  there  too,  which  would  be  situated  exactly 
on  the  by-road  from  Rathnew  to  Tigroney.  From  Tigroney 
Patrick  would  naturally  return  to  Kildare  by  the  Glen  of 
Imaile,  which  was  a  famous  pass  since  the  earliest  times, 
from  east  to  west,  almost  parallel  to  the  pass  through  the 
Wicklow  Gap,  but  further  to  the  south.  There  is  some 
reason  to  think  that  he  was  accompanied  on  this  return 
journey  by  his  host,  Cilline,  the  grandson  of  Dricriu,  and 
if  we  can  accept  the  authority  of  Shearman,  it  was  for  him^ 
or  his  son,  Marcan,  then  merely  a  child,  that  Patrick  founded 
the  church  of  Donaghmore,  which  gives  title  to  a  parish  at 
the  western  end  of  the  Glen.  Donard,  where,  according  to 
Shearman,  Sylvester  and  Solinus,  the  companions  of 
Palladius,  preached  and  died,  was  just  two  miles  to  the 
north,  so  that  Patrick  would  not  lose  this  opportunity  of 
visiting  them  or  their  successors  in  the  Palladian  church. 
Killeen  Cormac,  too,  would  not  be  far  off,  which  is, 
according  to  Shearman,  the  Palladian  church  of  Cell 
Fine  ;  for  he  makes  its  site  identical  with  that  of  an  old 
churchyard  *  three  miles  south-west  of  Dunlavin.'  This 
would  be  exactly  on  his  road,  if  not  to  Naas  at  least  to 
KilcuUen,  and,  if  it  were  there  at  all,  would  certainly  be 
visited  by  Patrick.  We  have,  however,  our  doubts  as  to 
this  identification,  and  as  to  making  Donard,  north  of 
Donaghmore,  identical  with  Domnach  Aird  we  are  still 
more  sceptical,  and  feel  inclined  rather  to  identify  it  with 
Dunard,  near  Redcross,  not  far  from  Tigroney — exactly 
where  we  should  expect  it  to  be. 

IV. — AUXILIUS   AND    ISERNINUS. 

In  our  view  St.  Patrick  returned  from  Wicklow  to  Naas^ 
or,  perhaps,  to  Killashee,  about  three  miles  south  of  Naas, 
where  some  of  his  family  were  erecting  a  church,  whilst  he 
was  making  his  excursion  into  Wicklow.  It  is  not  said  that 
Patrick  founded  a  church  at  Naas,  or  placed  a  bishop  there  ; 
but  it  is  said  that  after  his  return  from  Hy  Garrchon  *  he 
went   into  Magh    Liffe— the    Liffey   Plain — and    founded 


AUXILIUS   AND    ISERNINUS.  375 

churches  and  cloisters  therein ;  and  he  left  Auxilius  in 
Cell  Usaili  (Killashee)  and  Iserninus  and  Mac  Tail  in 
Cella  Culind,  or  Kilcullen  ;  and  other  saints  he  left  in 
other  churches.' 

This  is  a  highly  interesting  paragraph,  because  it  once 
more  introduces  us  to  Auxilius  and  Iserninus,  whose  names 
are  so  often  mentioned  in  Patrician  history,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  Synod  in  which  they  with  Patrick  were 
the  chief  legislators. 

As  we  have  seen,  all  the  principal  authorities  are  agreed 
that  *  Auxilius,  Iserninus,  and  others  of  Patrick's  house- 
hold were  ordained  on  the  same  day'  on  which  he 
himself  was  consecrated  bishop,  but  they  did  not,  it  appears, 
accompany  him  to  Ireland  after  his  consecration — at  least 
Iserninus  did  not.  There  is  no  reason  for  doubting  the 
truth  of  the  statement  made  in  the  Book  of  Armagh 
regarding  him — not  by  Tirechan  himself,  but  in  the  '  Anno- 
tations '  to  Tirechan. 

*  Patrick  and  Iserninus  were  with  Germanus  in  the  city 
of  Olsiodra  (Auxerre).  Then  Germanus  said  to  Iserninus 
that  he  should  come  to  Ireland  to  preach.  And  he  was 
ready  to  go  anywhere  else  except  to  Ireland.  Then  Ger- 
manus said  to  Patrick — '  Will  you  be  obedient  (and  go).' 
And  Patrick  said — *  Be  it  as  you  wish.^  Then  Germanus 
said — '  Settle  it  between  you,  but  Iserninus  will  not  be  able 
to  avoid  going  to  Ireland.'  Afterwards  Patrick  came  to 
Ireland,  and  Iserninus  was  sent  to  another  region  (some- 
where in  Britain),  but  a  contrary  wind  carried  him  to  the 
right  hand  part  of  Ireland  ' — the  south.  So  far  the  scribe 
writes  in  Latin ;  then  he  gives  further  details  in  Irish,  for 
he  feared  to  attempt  to  Latinise  the  Irish  names. 

'  Then  he  went  (after  landing)  to  his  province  — a  small 
tribe  in  Cliu,  named  Catrige.  He  went  thence  and  set  up 
at  Toicule.  He  left  a  saint  of  his  family  there.  After  this 
he  went  and  set  up  at  Rath  Falascich.  Therein  he  left 
another  saint  of  his  family.  Thence  he  went  to  Lathrach 
Da  Arad,  in  the  two  Plains.  Therein  went  to  him  Cathbad's 
seven  sons  ;  he  preached  to  them  ;  they  believed  and  were 
baptised  ;  and  he  went  with  them  southwards  to  their 
abode.  Whereupon  Enna  Cennselach  banished  them  (the 
seven  brothers),  because  they  believed  before  everyone 
else  there.  Bishop  Fith  went  with  them  into  exile,  each 
of  them  going  apart.     Then   Patrick  came  into   Leinster, 

i  Rolls  Tn'f.,  Z\2. 


376  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

and  Dunling's  seven  sons  believed  in  him.  After  this  he 
(Patrick)  went  to  Crimthann,  son  of  Enna  Cennselach, 
and  he  himself  believed  at  Rath  Bilech.  Patrick,  after 
baptising  him,  besought  him  to  let  go  (that  is  forgive) 
Cathbad's  seven  sons  and  Iserninus  together  with  them, 
and  he  obtained  the  boon.' 

Shearman's  topographical  notes  on  this  passage  are 
valuable,  and  with  their  aid  we  can  here  give  a  detailed 
narrative  of  the  events  referred  to,  which  need  considerable 
elucidation. 

It  has  been  said  that  Iserninus  was  a  native  of  Gaul, 
but  we  rather  think  that  he  was  a  Briton  ;  perhaps  one  of 
those  who  went  over  to  Gaul  about  the  year  429,  in  con- 
nection with  the  spread  of  Pelagianism  in  Britain.  The 
fact  that  the  Catrige  of  Cliu,  near  Mount  Leinster,  are 
spoken  of  as  belonging  '  to  his  own  province,'  seems  to 
imply  that  he  must  at  least  have  had  friends  or  relatives 
residing  there.  We  know  that  Gaelic  families  from  the 
south-eastern  coasts  of  Ireland  had  long  been  settled  in 
Wales,  and  that  frequent  intermarriage  took  place  between 
the  Irish  and  the  Welsh.  We  may  fairly  conclude,  there- 
,  fore,  either  that  the  family  of  Iserninus  had  come  to 
Britain  from  Cliu,  or  that  his  mother  had  probably  be- 
longed to  that  territory  before  her  marriage  to  a  Welsh- 
man. 

The  reluctance  of  Iserninus  to  go  to  preach  in  Ireland 
arose  at  first  most  likely  from  his  knowledge  of  the  rude 
reception  which  Palladius  and  his  associates  had  got  in 
Wicklow.  But  when  he  found  that  St.  Patrick  was  success- 
ful in  Meath  and  in  the  West  of  Ireland,  this  reluctance 
disappeared  ;  if  his  advent  to  the  coast  of  Wexford  were 
not,  indeed,  as  is  stated,  the  work  of  adverse  winds  rather 
than  of  his  own  purpose  to  preach  in  Ireland.  It  appears 
he  landed  somewhere  in  Wexford,  most  probably  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Slaney,  and  he  followed  the  course  of  that 
river  till  he  came  amongst  his  relatives,  the  Catrige  of  Cliu. 

Shearman  says  that  this  '  small  tribe  of  Cliu '  ^  dwelt 
on  the  northern  slopes  of  Mount  Leinster,  and  therefore 
in  the  modern  barony  of  Idrone  East,  not  far  from  Clon- 
more,  in  the  Co.  Carlow.  Thence  he  moved  to  a  place  in 
the  neighbourhood   called   Toicule,-    perhaps  the  cuil  or 


1  Cliu  is  the  nominative,   Cliach  the  genitive,  mentioned  by  the  Four 
Masters,  A.D.  527. 

2  Shearman  thinks  it  may  have  been  '  Cowle,'  west  of  Knockatomcoyle. 


AUXILIUS    AND    ISERNINUS.  377 

corner  of  the  chief  named  Toica,  who  was  the  ancestor 
both  of  St.  Ailbe  of  Emly  and  of  St.  Scuthin  of  Tascoffin. 
We  find  him  now  called  by  the  Irish,  Bishop  Fith,  the 
equivalent  doubtless  of  his  Roman  name,  and  having  left  a 
saint  of  his  '  family '  there  at  Toicule  to  minister  to  his 
converts,  he  himself  proceeded  further  west  to  a  place 
called  Rath  Falascich,^  if  that  be  the  true  reading,  and 
there  he  left  another  saint  of  his  '  family,'  which  goes  to 
show  that  the  preaching  of  Bishop  Fith  in  South  Carlow 
was  fruitful.  Thence  he  went  to  a  place  called  Latrach  da 
Arad,  *  in  the  two  Plains.'  Shearman  holds  that  the 
village  of  Lara,  between  Clonmore  and  Aghold,  in  the 
parish  of  Mullinacuff,  is  the  place  referred  to  as  the  abode 
of  the  Two  Charioteers,  and  that  the  two  plains  are  Magh 
Fea,  on  the  north,  and  Moyacomb  (Magh  da  Con),  on. the 
south  of  Lara.  This  identification  is  important,  because  it 
was  there  at  Lara  that  Bishop  Fith  met  Cathbad's  seven 
sons.  *  He  preached  to  them  ;  they  believed  and  were 
baptised,  and  he  went  with  them  to  their  abode,'  which 
appears  to  have  been  somewhere  near  Old  Leighlin,  in 
Idrone. 

But  they  were  not  allowed  to  remain  there  long  in 
peace.  At  that  time  (438  or  439)  Enna  Cennselach  was 
king  of  South  Leinster.  When  he  heard  that  these  seven 
sons  of  one  of  his  sub-kings  believed  in  the  new  religion, 
*  before  everyone  else,'  he  was  wrathful,  and  drove  them 
from  their  native  territories,  so  that  they  were  compelled 
to  take  refuge  with  their  kinsmen  in  different  parts  of  the 
South,  and  we  are  told  that  Bishop  Fith  went  into  exile 
with  them ;  that  is  to  say,  he,  too,  was  driven  out  of  Carlow 
by  the  king,  and  accompanied  the  exiled  chieftains,  or 
some  of  them,  to  the  new  abodes  in  South  Kildare. 

After  some  time  Bishop  Fith  made  his  way  to  Patrick, 
and  joined  his  '  family  '  about  the  time  that  the  Saint  was 
setting  out  on  his  mission  through  Leinster.  His  help  in 
that  province  would  be  particularly  valuable,  as  he  was 
connected  with  it  by  family  ties  of  some  kind,  and  had 
already  laboured  successfully  therein.  One  great  obstacle 
also  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  was  now  removed  by  the 
death  of  Enna  Cennselach  about  the  year  445.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Crimthann,  who,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  mainly  by  the  influence  of  Dubthach,   the  arch-poet 


^  Shearman  conjectures  that  this  Rath  may  be  the  great  Moat  of  Clonmore, 
which  is  some  fifty  feet  high. 


378  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

of  Tara,  became  himself  a  Christian,  and  at  the  instance  of 
Patrick,  revoked  his  father's  decree  and  recalled  the  exiled 
sons  of  Cathbad  to  their  own  territory.  So  it  came  to 
pass  that  when  Patrick  was  coming  south  through  Kiklare 
with  Iserninus  in  his  *  family,'  as  the  latter  had  no  place 
of  his  own,  Patrick  set  him  up  as  Bishop  with  Mac  Tail  in 
Old  Kiicullen,  but  from  the  fact  that  two  bishops  were  left 
there,  we  may  gather  that  it  was  Patrick's  intention  at  a 
later  period  to  re-establish,  if  he  could,  Iserninus  in  his 
old  territory  in  Carlow.  Meanwhile,  he  gave  him  regular 
jurisdiction  in  the  place  of  his  exile,  that  is  South 
Kildare. 

Now  Patrick  first  set  up  his  nephew  Auxilius  at  the 
place  now  called  Killashee,  which  is  the  form  that  best 
represents  the  pronunciation  of  the  ancient  Cell-Usaili  ^ — 
the  Church  of  Auxilius.  Auxilius  was  the  son  of  Restitutus 
the  Lombard  and  Liemania,  sister  of  St.  Patrick,  of  whom 
more  will  be  found  in  an  Appendix.  He  v/as,  as  we  have 
seen,  with  St.  Patrick  when  word  was  brought  to  them  of 
the  death  of  Palladius  in  North  Britain,  and  he  was  one  of 
those  '  ordained  '  along  with  St.  Patrick — the  common 
account  being  that  Auxilius  was  ordained  a  priest  on  that 
occasion  and  Iserninus  a  deacon.  We  may  fairly  infer 
from  the  fact  of  his  not  being  placed  in  Meath,  but  in 
Leinster,  that  he  did  not  accompany  St.  Patrick  to 
Ireland,  but  came,  most  likely,  with  Iserninus  at  a  later 
date,  that  is  about  438,  as  stated  in  the  Chronicon  Scot- 
orum.  It  is  probable,  too,  that  he  joined  St.  Patrick  soon 
after,  and  doubtless  accompanied  him  during  part  of  his 
missionary  journeys  in  the  North,  or  perhaps  he  may  have 
remained  all  through  with  Iserninus,  although  there  is  no 
special  reference  to  the  fact.  As  it  is  highly  probable 
that  St.  Patrick  did  not  enter  on  the  Leinster  mission  for 
some  years  after  the  death  of  Enna  Cennselach,  which 
took  place  about  445,  we  may  fairly  date  his  first  visit  to 
Leinster  about  448,  which  will  also  mark  the  date  of  the 
appointment  of  Auxilius  and  Iserninus  to  their  churches  in 
Magh  Liffe.  The  Scholiast  on  the  Martyrology  of  Tallaght 
describes  Auxilius,  or  Auxilinus,  as  he  writes  it,  as  '  Co- 
episcopus  et  frater  Patricii  Episcopi ; '  and  he  adds  that 
he  was  son  of  Patrick's  sister,  as  well  as  the  friend, 
spiritual  father,  and  comarb  of  Patrick.  '  Comarb  '  could 
only  mean  his  destined  successor  in  Armagh,  that  is  after 

^  Aiisaili  is  the  nominative  ;  Usaili  the  genitive  form. 


AUXILIUS   AND    ISERNINUS.  379 

the  death  of  Secundinus,  which  is  given  under  date  of 
448.  The  word  meant  in  both  cases  assistant  bishop  and 
destined  successor  to  St  Patrick. 

It  was  thoughtful  of  St.  Patrick  to  place  the  two  old 
friends  and  fellow-students  so  near  each  other  in  the  plains 
of  Kildare.  Killashee  is  not  more  than  five  miles  north  of 
Kilcullen.  There  is  an  ancient  church  there  still — but  not 
the  Patrician  church.  A  rather  ancient  Round  Tower 
euriously  erected  on  a  square  base  has  been  utilised  as 
the  tower  of  a  comparatively  modern  church.  It  is  finely 
situated  on  a  rising  ground  surrounded  by  fertile  wood- 
lands, and  overlooking  the  valley  in  which  Patrick  so  long 
ago  baptised  his  converts  in  the  Blessed  Well,  which  still 
flows  from  beneath  a  hawthorn  tree,  as  full  and  clear  as  on 
the  day  that  Patrick  and  Auxilius  blessed  its  waters  and 
poured  them  on  the  heads  of  the  kneeling  throngs  around 
them.  Auxilius,  after  many  labours  and  miracles,  finished 
his  holy  life  in  his  church  at  Killashee,  about  the  year  455. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  famous  Synod,  of  which  more 
shall  be  said  hereafter,  was  held  at  this  church  of  Killashee, 
for  it  was  convenient  to  Kilcullen,  and  would  also  be  a 
convenient  place  for  Patrick  to  remain  during  his  journeys 
through  Leinster. 

The  name  of  Auxilius  is  also  connected  with  the  church 
of  Cill  O  mBaird  in  Donegal;^  and  the  compilers  of  the 
Martyrology  of  Donegal  who  had  special  knowledge  of  the 
country  attribute  its  foundation  to  him.  It  may  be  that 
when  Auxilius  first  came  to  Ireland  he  joined  Patrick 
at  the  opening  of  his  mission  in  Donegal,  which  took  place 
shortly  after  the  arrival  of  Auxilius  in  Ireland,  and  so  the 
Apostle  placed  him  for  a  time  in  charge  of  that  far-off 
church  in  Tirconnell.  His  'day'  is  not  fixed  with 
certainty.  By  some  it  is  given  as  March  19th  ;  by  others 
as  July  30th,  and  the  Martyrology  of  Donegal  gives  it 
at  August  the  27th,  which  is,  most  probably,  the  true  date. 

Kilcullen,  where  Patrick  placed  Iserninus,  is  a  still 
more  conspicuous  site  than  that  of  Killashee.  New  Kil- 
cullen is  a  modern  village  with  a  fine  new  church  at  the 
ancient  pass  across  the  Liffey,  but  Old  Kilcullen  is 
situated  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill  over  the  ancient  road 
some  two  miles  to  the  south.     It  commands  a  wide  view 


^ '  Is  it  ]ie  that  was  abbot  of  Cill  O  mBaird,  a  good  parish  of  the 
diocese  of  Ralhbotha  ?  I  think  it  was  he  without  doubt.'  O'Clery's  note, 
p.  477- 


380  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

of  the  fertile  Plain  of  Kildare,  and  the  windings  of  the 
Liffey  from  the  point  where  it  breaks  through  the  Wicklovv 
Hills  at  Bally  more  all  along  its  tortuous  course  to  New- 
bridge, which  can  be  distinctly  seen  about  ten  miles  away 
to  the  north-west.  The  ruins  of  a  very  ancient  church  and 
some  fine  old  crosses  remain  in  the  cemetery,  which  is 
crowded  with  graves,  but  not  so  much  with  weeds  as  some 
cemeteries  are  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

Just  one  mile  to  the  west  of  the  church-yard  rises 
the  still  higher  hill  of  Dun  Aillinne,  crowned  by  what 
is  beyond  doubt  one  of  the  finest  raths  in  Ireland.  It 
must  cover  an  area  of  not  less  than  fifteen  or  twenty  acres, 
and  the  earthen  rampart  around  the  brow  of  the  hill  is  still 
almost  perfect,  so  that  a  regiment  of  soldiers  with  quick- 
firing  guns  could  hold  it  against  an  army.  This  hill, 
which  rises  up  in  perfect  symmetry  to  the  height  of  600 
feet,  overlooks  the  whole  country,  and  affords  one  of  the 
finest  prospects  we  have  ever  seen  over  as  fertile,  well- 
wooded,  and  well-watered  a  landscape  as  any  part  of  Ireland 
can  show.  This  beyond  doubt  is  the  Hill  of  Almhan,  on 
which  Finn  and  his  famed  warriors  kept  their  court  just 
two  hundred  years  before  Patrick  built  his  church  of  Kil- 
cullen  on  the  twin  summit  to  the  east.  The  great  road  to 
the  south  ran  between  them ;  and  no  doubt  Patrick  there, 
as  elsewhere,  built  his  church  near  the  king's  dun  for  pro- 
tection in  troublesome  times.  The  other  Hill  of  Allen, 
beyond  Newbridge  to  the  north-west,  has  not  now  a 
single  trace  of  any  ancient  mound  or  rampart  on  its 
summit ;  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  was  never  used  as 
a  stronghold  at  any  period  in  the  far  distant  past. 

The  Tripartite  says  that  besides  Killashee  and  Kil- 
cullen,  Patrick  founded  other  churches  and  cloisters  in 
Magh  Liffe.  No  doubt  Donaghmore,  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  Liffey  opposite  Harristown,  is  one  of  these,  although 
now  it  is  little  more  than  a  name  giving  title  to  the  parish. 
Still  further  east,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is  a  Kilpatrick, 
near  Baltinglass,  which  if  not  founded  on  the  return 
journey  from  Wicklow  was,  in  all  probability,  founded  at 
this  period,  or,  perhaps,  a  little  later  on  during  a  subse- 
quent visit  of  Patrick  to  Killashee. 

V. — Patrick  at  Narraghmore. 

From  Kilcullen  Patrick  went  into  the  territory  called 
Western  Liffe,  extending  south-westwards  towards  Athy, 
between  the  Liffey  and  the  Barrow.   Briga  of  the  Hy  Ercain 


PATRICK   AT   NARRAGHMORE.  38 1 

tnbe\  who  was,  apparently,  a  Christian  maiden  belonging 
to  the  tribe  exiled  for  their  faith  by  the  King  of  South 
Leinster,  gave  timely  warning  to  Patrick  that  '  pit  falls ' 
were  prepared  for  him  on  his  road  through  this  district  of 
Western  Liffe.  But  Patrick,  strong  in  faith  and  con- 
fidence in  God,  pushed  on  after  giving  a  blessing  to 
the  maiden  Briga. 

Now  the  sons  of  Laigis  (son  of  Find)  had  made  deep 
pools  on  the  road  and  covered  them  with  green  sods  so  that 
Patrick  might  unawares  drive  into  the  bog-holes.  But,  re- 
membering Briga's  warning,  when  he  came  to  the  pit  he 
stopped.  The  youths  were  watching  the  event.  "For God's 
sake,"  they  said,"  drive  on,''  as  if  they  said,  "Trust  in  your 
God,  and  drive  on."  **  Yes,  for  God's  sake  drive  on, "  said 
Patrick  to  his  charioteer,  and  he  drove  safely  over  the 
treacherous  holes.  He  did  nothing  or  said  nothing  harmful 
to  the  boys,  who  knew  no  better;  but  he  cursed-  Laigis,  son  of 
Find,  who  had  instigated  them  to  do  the  wicked  deed.  He 
said  there  never  would  spring  from  him  king  or  bishop, 
and  that  a  foreign  prince  would  be  over  them  for  ever. 
Laigis  dwelt  at  the  place  afterwards  called  Moin  Columcille, 
now  Moone,  in  the  South  of  Kildare ;  and  it  may  be  that 
the  prophecy  had  special  reference  to  the  Geraldines, 
princes  of  another  race,  who  have  ruled  that  territory 
around  their  castle  of  Kilkea  almost  from  the  Conquest  to 
the  present  day, 

Briga,  daughter  of  Fergna  of  the  Hy  Ercain,  who  gave 
the  warning  to  Patrick,  was  blessed  by  him  with  a  fruitful 
blessing — and  not  herself  only  but  her  father,  her  brothers,^ 
and  all  the  Hy  Ercain  were  blessed  by  the  Saint.  They 
dwelt  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  place  now  called  Narragh- 
more,  and  Patrick  went  to  visit  them  there,  and 
remained  with  them  for  some  time,  for  he  founded  a  church 
in  that  stead.  It  was  of  old  a  famous  place,  and  was 
known  as  Bile  Mace  Cruaigh  (the  Tree  of  the  Sons  of 
Cruach),  but  'to-day  it  is  called  Forrach  Patraic,'*  that  is 


^  The  Hy  Ercain  take  their  name  and  origin  from  Ercaii,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  eighth  in  descent  from  Eochaidh  Finn  Fothart. 

'The  'cursing'  here,  as  often  elsewhere,  simply  means  the  prophetic 
denunciation  of  the  Divine  chastisement  of  wicked  men  who  opposed,  or 
sought  to  oppose,  by  evil  deeds  the  progress  of  the  Gospel. 

•^  Briga  had,  it  is  said,  ten  brothers  and  three  sisters.  The  brothers 
became  great  chiefs,  and  many  clerics  sprang  from  them.  The  sisters  became 
nuns.  The  King  of  North  Leinster,  too,  gave  them  the  privilege  of  getting 
quite  a  royal  share  at  the  royal  feasts. 

*  The  forum  Patricii  it  is  sometimes  called  in  Latin. 


382  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

the  Meetin^^  Place  of  Patrick,  where  he  sat  and  taught  and 
baptised  the  people.  The  sacred  tree  had  been  previously 
the  scene  of  pagan  rites  celebrated  especially  at  the  inau- 
guration of  the  local  chiefs,  which  took  place  on  the  hill. 
But  now  that  it  was  blessed  by  Patrick  it  took  his  name, 
and  became  the  scene  of  Christian  assemblies  gathered 
there  for  the  worship  of  God.  Narraghmore  is  merely 
Forraghmore  with  the  article  prefixed  and  the  change  of  a 
letter,  and  still  gives  its  name  to  a  townland,  parish,  and 
barony  in  the  south  of  the  County  Kildare.  Briga,  a 
different  person  from  the  great  St.  Brigid  of  Kildare,  was 
daughter  of  Fergna,  son  of  Cobhtach,  of  the  Hy  Ercain, 
whose  sons  were  driven  from  Carlow  by  Enna  Cennselach. 
She  must  have  been  therefore  a  Christian  herself,  and  a 
niece  of  those  sons  of  Cobhtach  to  whom  we  have  referred 
before.  A  branch  of  their  family  had  previously  occupied 
this  territory  around  Narraghmore,  and  so  it  would  seem 
the  exiled  brothers  and  sisters  took  refuge  with  them 
when  they  were  driven  from  the  south  of  Leinster.  The 
maiden  herself  and  her  six  sisters  became  holy  nuns,  and 
Patrick  founded  a  church  for  them  close  to  the  place  where 
they  dwelt  at  Glais  Kile,  which  still  retains  its  name  in  the 
form  of  Glas  Hely,  and  is  situated  about  one  mile  south  of 
Narraghmore.  Near  at  hand,  too,  is  St.  Patrick's  Well, 
which  he  blessed  for  the  special  use  of  the  seven  virgin 
sisters.  Their  festival  is  celebrated  on  the  7th  of  January. 
Fergna,  their  father,  and  their  brother,  Finnan,  are  also 
said  to  have  retired  from  the  world  to  serve  God  in 
solitude  and  prayer,  so  that  the  blessing  of  Patrick  on  the 
maiden  herself  and  upon  her  father  and  her  brothers,  was, 
indeed,  a  bountiful  blessing.  It  seems  highly  probable, 
too,  that  when  Bishop  P'ith  went  into  exile  with  his 
converts  from  south  Carlow  he  accompanied  this  holy 
family  to  Narraghmore,  and  remained  with  them  until  he 
heard  of  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick  at  the  royal  dun  ot 
Naas.  If  this  conjecture  be  well  founded  we  may  safely 
conclude  that  there  were  Christians  in  Narraghmore  before 
they  were  to  be  found  in  any  other  part  of  the  County 
Kildare. 

VI. — Patrick  in  West  Kildare  and  Queen's  County. 

No  doubt  Patrick  founded  other  churches  also  at  this 
time  in  South  Kildare.  There  is  a  Patrick's  Well  at  Belin 
near   Narraghbeg.      It  was  a   ford    on    the    river  Greese 


IN   WEST   KILDARE    AND   QUEEN'S   COUNTY.  383 

anciently  called  Ath  Biothlin,  and  was  occupied  by  a  tribe 
called  the  Hy  Loscan.  There  is  a  Knockpatrick,  too,  in 
the  parish  of  Graney-,  which  seems  to  testify  to  the 
presence  of  the  Saint  in  that  district.  But,  as  this  was  the 
extreme  southern  limit  of  the  kingdom  of  North  Leinster, 
it  is  probable  he  returned  from  that  point  to  Tara  before 
he  ventured  to  penetrate  into  the  hostile  territory  of  the 
King  of  Hy  Cennselagh. 

The  Tripartite  certainly  represents  Patrick  at  this  point 
as  going  from  Tara  to  visit  his  friend  Dubthach,  the  arch- 
poet,  for  he  was  long  before  this  time  a  Christian.  Our 
view,  then,  is  that  Patrick,  having  completed  his  mission  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  kingdom  of  North  Leinster, 
returned  to  Tara  through  its  western  borders,  where, 
although  we  have  no  formal  account  of  his  journey,  we  find 
many  traces  of  his  presence. 

There  is  a  Kilpatrick  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Barrow, 
about  three  miles  south  of  Monasterevan,  which  was 
doubtless  founded  by  our  Saint ;  and  close  to  the  old  castle 
of  Ballyadams,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  there  are 
two  wells  of  healing  virtue,  said  to  have  been  blessed  by 
St.  Patrick.  This  would  go  to  show  that  St.  Patrick 
crossed  the  river  at  Athy,^  and  went  first  to  Ballyadams, 
where  there  was  an  ancient  fort. 

From  Ballyadams  the  Saint  would  go  by  Stradbally  to 
a  place  which  he  certainly  visited  then,  or  later  on,  that  is 
Domnach  Mor  Maige  Rata,  which  still  retains  the  ancient 
name  Magh  Reta  in  the  modern  name  of  Morett  Castle,  in 
the  Heath,  Maryborough.  This  place  was  then  the  seat  of 
the  local  dynast,  and  Patrick,  in  accordance  with  his  usual 
custom,  went  direct  to  the  royal  dun.  '  He  abode  there 
for  a  Sunday,'  we  are  told,  *  and  founded  the  Great  Church 
of  Morett.'  Now,  on  that  Sunday  the  gentiles  were 
digging  the  foundation  of  Rath  Baccain,  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood.  It  was  to  be  the  new  royal  stronghold  in 
that  place.  Now,  Patrick  sent  to  forbid  them  to  do  this 
work  on  Sunday.  But  they  heeded  him  not.  Then 
Patrick  said  ''  the  building  will  be  unstable  unless  offering 
— that  is  Mass — is  made  there  every  day."  He  further 
added  that  the  dun  would  not  be  occupied  or  inhabited 

^  Its  name  indicates  that  Athy  was  a  ford,  and  no  doubt,  from  time 
immemorial,  it  was  the  usual  place  for  crossing  the  Barrow  from  South 
Kildaie  into  Leix.  But  the  baronies  of  Portnahinch  and  Tinahinch  formed 
part  of  the  ancient  Offaley,  and  it  is  there  we  find  the  traces  of  Patrick  on  his 
return  journey  to  Tara. 


384  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTCR. 

until  the  wind  (Gaeth)  should  come  out  of  the  lower  hill. 
This  referred,  they  said,  to  Gaethine  (little  wind),  who 
rebuilt  and  occupied  the  fort  in  the  reign  of  Fedilmed  and 
of  Conchobar,  of  Tara.  Patrick's  curse,  it  would  seem, 
deterred  an}'one  from  occupying  the  fort  after  it  was  built, 
so  it  fell  into  decay,  until  some  graceless  fellow  named 
Gaethine,  heedless  of  the  Saint's  malediction,  rebuilt  and 
occupied  the  stronghold  sometime  between  800  and  847, 
for  Fedilmed  died  in  the  last-named  year.  But  church 
and  fort  are  now  equally  prostrate;  a  new  church,  however, 
has  arisen  near  the  place,  but  no  O'Moore  now  rules  at 
Morett  or  on  the  rock  of  Dunamase.  For  ages  it  belonged 
to  the  Fitzgeralds. 

Then  Patrick,  if  he  were  going  northward  to  Tara, 
must  recross  the  Barrow  somewhere  at  Portarlington  or 
Monasterevan,  and  then  travel  by  Rathangan,  a  few  miles 
to  the  north-west  of  which  there  was  an  ancient  church- 
yard called  the  Relig,  which  Shearman  thinks  was  a 
Patrician  foundation.  There  is  a  Patrick's  Well  on  the 
road  to  Newbridge,  and  an  old  church  and  cemetery  called 
Cross  Patrick  some  two  miles  west  of  the  Hill  of  Allen. 
A  little  further  north  is  the  parish  of  Kilpatrick.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  these  were  Patrician  foundations,  for 
the  name  Cross  Patrick  is  often  used,  and  always  signifies 
the  place  where  Patrick  set  up  a  cross  to  mark  the  site  of 
a  new  church  in  strict  accordance  with  both  law  and  usage 
from  the  apostolic  times.  From  this  point  to  the  old 
church  west  of  Kilcock,  which  Shearman  takes  to  be  Druim 
Urchailli,  his  route  to  Tara  was  quite  direct  to  the  north 
and  by  a  well  known  highway.  '  Patrick's  Stone,'  says 
Shearman,  '  is  not  far  off  at  a  place  locally  called  Clochara.' 
The  old  church  occupies  the  summit  or  crest  of  a  ridge, 
and  its  name,  Kilglyn,  in  the  modern  parish  of  Balfeaghan, 
might  refer  to  the  Relig  or  Domus  Martyrum  over  the  high- 
way in  the  valley  or  glen.^  It  can  make  little  difference 
whether  Patrick  was  there  when  going  to  or  when  returning 
from  Naas.  But  the  circumstances  clearly  point  to  the 
fact  that  he  founded  a  church  there,  and  that  the  parish 
was  sanctified  by  his  holy  footsteps. 

There  were  several  weighty  reasons  which  might  well 
bring  Patrick  to  Tara  at  this  time.  First  of  all,  having 
heard  in  South  Kildare  of  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  King 
of  Hy  Cennselagh,  it  was  only  natural  that  he  should  try 

^  Quae  sita  est  super  viam  magnam  in  valle. 


IN    WEST    KILDARE   AND   QITEEN'S   COUNTY.  385 

to  secure  the  support  of  Laeghaire  in  his  missionary 
journey  through  that  country,  and  although  the  authority 
of  the  High  King  was  merely  nominal  in  Leinster,  still  the 
kinglet  of  South  Leinster  would  not  wish  to  do  anything 
to  violate  Laeghaire's  guarantee  for  Patrick's  personal 
safety.  It  would  seem  that  Patrick  wished  also  to 
communicate  with  his  old  friend  Dubthach  before  going 
to  South  Leinster  and,  as  a  fact,  he  went  there  for  the 
ostensible  purpose  of  visiting  him. 

It  may  be,  too,  that  the  great  Commission  of  Nine  for 
the  revision  and  purification  of  the  Brehon  Laws  had  not 
yet  completed  their  labours  at  Tara,  and  of  course  they 
would  need  the  guidance  and  counsel  of  Patrick  at  many 
important  stages  of  their  work.  Though  Laeghaire 
tolerated  this  revision,  he  cannot  have  been  very  zealous 
in  forwarding  it,  so  that  all  Patrick's  authority  would  be 
needed  to  push  the  work  forward  to  completion. 

This  great  work  was  begun,  as  the  Four  Masters  tell  us, 
in  438  or  perhaps  439,  but  it  must  have  taken  a  long  time 
to  accomplish,  and  it  is  probable  that  it  was  not  completed 
until  seven  or  eight  years  later.  The  entry  in  the  Four 
Masters  is  significant  :  '  A.  D.  438 — The  tenth  year  of 
Laeghaire.  The  Seanchus  and  Feinechus  of  Ireland  were 
purified  and  written,  the  writings  and  old  books  of  Ireland 
having  been  collected  in  one  place  at  the  request  of  St. 
Patrick.  These  were  the  Nine  supporting  props  by  whom 
this  was  done :  Laeghaire,  King  of  Ireland,  Core  and 
Daire,  three  kings  ;  Patrick,  Benen  and  Cairneach,  three 
saints ;  Ross,  Dubthach  and  Fergus,  three  antiquaries.' 
It  is  quite  evident  that  this  work  could  not  be  accomplished 
in  a  short  time,  and  as  the  Nine  came  from  all  the 
provinces  of  Erin  it  is  only  natural  they  would  meet  at 
Tara.  We  shall  have  more  to  say  of  the  constitution  and 
labours  of  this  Commission  hereafter. 

Then,  as  some  say,  St.  Sechnall  of  Dunshaughlin  died 
about  this  time — that  is,  447  or  448.  The  Four  Masters 
give  the  former  date,  but  it  is  a  year  late.  His  death  would 
certainly  bring  Patrick  to  Meath  if  it  were  at  all  possible 
for  him  to  reach  it  in  time,  and  he  might  easily  do  so  from 
Kildare.  For  Sechnall  was  his  nephew  and  dearest  friend  ; 
he  was  with  him,  as  some  say,  from  the  beginning  in  Ire- 
land ;  he  accompanied  Patrick  on  most  of  his  missionary 
journeys  through  the  West  and  North ;  he  had  composed 
a  famous  Latin  poem  in  honour  of  his  sainted  uncle ;  he 
was  his  coadjutor  and  destined  successor  in  the  primacy  of 


386  ST.    PATRICK    IN    NORTH    LEINSTER. 

Erin.  So  it  must  have  been  a  hard  blow  to  Patrick  to  lose 
him,  whilst  he  was  still  comparatively  young  and  vigorous. 
But  Patrick  was  not  the  man  to  question  the  will  of  Pro- 
vidence or  yield  to  vain  regrets,  yet  surely  he  would  go  far 
to  bury  his  beloved  friend  and  companion ;  and,  if  Patrick 
did  not  sit  by  his  sick  bed,  we  may  be  sure  he  sought  to 
bless  him  in  the  grave.  It  may  be  it  was  to  see  him  or  to 
bury  him  that  Patrick  went  to  Tara  and  thence  to  Dun- 
shaughlin  on  this  occasion. 

But  this  date  of  447  or  448,  given  by  the  Four  Masters 
and  the  Chronicon  vScotorum,  is  open  to  grave  question. 
The  Book  of  Leinster  gives  it  under  date  of  457,  the  year 
in  which  Armagh  was  founded,  when  '  Sechnall  and  old 
Patrick  rested/  and  the  two  lists  of  Patrick's  successors  in 
the  Rolls  Tripartite  give  an  episcopacy  of  thirteen  years 
to  Secundinus  in  Armagh  ;  thus  dating  his  coadjutorship 
from  the  '  first '  founding  of  the  See  of  Armagh  in  444  to 
his  death  in  457.  But  this  merely  means,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  that  so  early  as  444  Patrick  had  chosen 
Secundinus  to  be  his  assistant-bishop  and  destined  suc- 
cessor in  Armagh,  or  wherever  else  he  might  fix  his 
primatial  see.  We  shall  return  to  the  consideration  of 
this  question  later  on.  In  the  same  year,  457,  the  Annals 
in  the  Book  of  Leinster  mark  the  death  of  old  Patrick. 


CHAPTER     XXI. 
ST.  PATRICK  IN  SOUTH  LEINSTER, 

I.— Patrick  and  King  Crimthann. 

The  Tripartite  does  not  mark  intervals  or  interruptions  in 
St.  Patrick's  missionary  work,  but  it  states  very  distinctly, 
after  giving  an  account  of  his  mission  in  Kildare,  that 
Patrick  went  from  Tara,  and  that  he  and  Dubthach  Maccu 
Lugair  met  at  '  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Criathar  in  Hy 
Cennselagh.'  Magh  Criathar  was  a  territory  in  the  barony 
of  Rathvilly,  or  rather  in  that  part  of  it  which  lies  between 
Hacketstown  and  Clonmore,  a  beautiful  district  surrounded 
on  the  north,  south,  and  east  by  the  Wicklow  Hills. 
vShearman  places,  however,  Donaghmore  further  east  on 
the  seashore  in  the  present  parish  of  that  name,  about 
three  miles  north  of  Cahore  Point. 

But  Patrick  did  not  go  at  once  to  visit  Dubthach  at 
Donaghmore.  The  real  order  of  this  visitation  of  South 
Leinster  is  given  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  where  it  is  stated 
that  Patrick  first  went  into  North  Leinster,  and  Dunling's 
seven  sons  believed  in  him ;  then,  it  adds,  *  after  this  he 
went  to  Crimthann,  son  of  Enna  Cennselach,  and  Crimthann 
believed  at  Rathvilly;^  and  Patrick,  when  baptising  him, 
besought  him  to  ''let  go'*  Cathbad's  sons  and  Iserninus, 
together  with  them,  and  he  obtained  the  boon.'  This  is  a 
most  interesting  passage,  and  throws  much  light  on 
Patrick's  journeys  in  South  Leinster.  He  came  from  Tara, 
and,  according  to  his  custom,  went  direct  to  the  king's 
dun  at  Rathvilly.  No  doubt,  wending  southward,  he  visited 
the  churches  which  he  had  already  founded  in  Kildare, 
and  perhaps  it  was  on  this  occasion  he  baptised  the  rest  oi 
the  seven  sons  of  Dunling,  for  the  baptism  of  two  of  them 
only  is  said  to  have  taken  place  at  Naas.  His  road  to 
Rathvilly  would  lie  through  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
Slaney  over  the  fringes  of  the  hills  by  Baltinglass.  The 
ancient  fort  at  Rathvilly,  where  the  king  dwelt,  may  still 

*  See  Rolls  Tripartite^  p.  343. 


388  ST.    PATRICK   IN    SOUTH   LEINSTER. 

be  seen  over  the  modern  village — on  a  fine  commanding 
height  overlooking  the  pleasant  waters  of  the  Slaney,  which 
here  comes  out  into  the  freedom  of  the  plain  to  rest  a  little 
after  its  rugged  and  turbulent  course  through  the  hills. 

Crimthann  was  soon  won  over  to  the  Gospel  by  Patrick's 
power  in  word  and  work.  Doubtless  he  had  heard  how 
the  kings  of  Naas  and  their  brothers  had  given  their 
adhesion  to  the  new  religion  ;  he  must  have  learned  also 
of  the  many  wonders  wrought  by  Patrick  in  the  plains  of 
Kildare,  and  these  things  predisposed  him  to  receive  the 
new  Gospel.  An  ancient  poem,  attributed  to  Dubthach, 
who  was  probably  there  at  the  time,  tells  us  that : — 

The  King  believed  in  Patrick  without  hard  conditions. 
He  received  him  as  a  chaste,  a  holy  soul's  friend, 
At  Rathvilly. 

The  blessings  which  Patrick  gave  there  never  decay 
Upon  beautiful  Mel,  upon  Dathi,  and  upon  Crimthann. 

The  beautiful  Mel,  a  daughter  of  the  King  of  the  Deisi, 
was  the  wife  of  Crimthann,  and  Prince  Dathi  was  his  son 
and  successor  on  the  throne.  They  were  all  baptised  at 
the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  Blessed  Well  which  is  still 
shown  close  to  the  ancient  fort.  This  was  a  great  victory 
for  Patrick.  Having  won  over  the  king,  he  would  have 
little  difficulty  with  his  sub-chiefs.  Some  of  them  were 
already  Christians,  and  the  others  would  not  be  slow  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  king  and  his  family. 

Patrick  utilised  these  favourable  dispositions  to  procure 
the  restoration  of  the  exiled  sons  of  Cathbad,  who  had  been 
driven  out  of  the  country  by  the  King's  father.  The  phrase 
used  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  is  that  Patrick  besought  the 
king  at  his  baptism  *  to  let  them  go,'  and  Bishop  Fith  (that 
is  Iserninus)  along  with  them.  Perhaps  he  had  some  of 
them  in  bonds  as  hostages  ;  but  it  is  more  likely  that  the 
meaning  is  that  he  let  them  go  home  to  their  own  terri- 
tories in  the  south  of  Carlow,  and  let  Bishop  Fith  go  there 
along  with  them.  The  context,  too,  implies  as  much,  for 
it  is  immediately  added  that  Cathbad's  sons  went  there- 
after to  their  own  abode.  '  They  are  the  Fena  of  Fidh. 
And  they  came  to  meet  Patrick  and  King  Crimthann  at 
Sci  Patraic  ' — that  is  Patrick's  Thorn. 

Shearman  says  that  the  place  of  this  meeting  was  near 
Killaveny  in  the  barony  of  Shillelagh,  in  the  extreme 
south-west   of  Wicklow.      Near   it,    he   says,   there   is   a 


PATRICK   AND    KING    CRIMTHANN.  389 

Patrick's  Well,  which  gives  name  to  a  townland  ;  and  close 
to  the  well  is  Patrick's  Bush,  which  has  long  been  a  place 
of  pious  pilgrimage.  The  townland,  however,  that  bears 
this  name  is  not  in  the  barony  of  Shillelagh,  Co.  Wicklow, 
but  in  the  barony  of  Rathvilly,  Co.  Carlow,  some  few  miles 
to  the  north.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  scene  of  the 
interview,  and  marks  the  direction  of  Patrick's  missionary 
journey  from  Rathvilly,  south-east  towards  Clonmore. 

Moreover,  at  this  interview  King  Crimthann  made 
liberal  provision  both  for  the  exiles  and  their  bishop,  giving 
them  some  of  the  finest  land  in  Carlow.  He  gave  them 
'  all  the  land  under  Grian  Fothart,  from  Gabor  Liphi  as 
far  -as  Suide  Laigen  ' — that  is  to  say,  the  present  barony  of 
Forth  in  Carlow,  extending  from  the  Wicklow  Hills  at 
Rathglass  on  the  north,  to  Mount  Leinster  in  the  south. 
Iserninus  also  got  a  place  for  his  church  at  a  ford  on  the 
Slaney,  called  Aghade,^  where  the  green  meadows  by  the 
banks  of  that  fair  river  might  well  console  him  for  the  loss 
of  a  wider  prospect  from  his  church  on  the  summit  of  the 
hill  at  Kilcullen.  It  is  hard  to  find  a  sweeter  scene  than 
that  which  the  banks  of  the  Slaney  disclose  at  Aghade 
Bridge,  which  is  built  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  ford.  Rich 
foliage  of  many  hues,  sparkling  waters,  flowery  meads,  and 
one  lone  ruin  of  the  past,  all  combine  to  lend  their  charms 
to  a  landscape  of  harmonious  beauty  and  repose. 

Iserninus  had  previously  set  up  in  the  barony  of  Forth, 
without  any  express  authority  from  Patrick ;  yet,  without 
Patrick's  help,  his  apostolic  work  in  that  district  would 
have  turned  out  to  be  a  failure.  But  now  he  recognised  in 
the  most  formal  and  canonical  way  the  primacy  and 
authority  of  Patrick  over  him  and  the  Leinster  churches. 
'  He  knelt  to  Patrick,'  and  on  his  own  behalf,  and  that  of 
his  monastic  family,^  he  received  his  church  and  his 
church  lands  from  Patrick,  to  whom  the  king  had  given 
them ;  whereupon  Patrick  in  his  turn  *  gave  them  to 
Bishop  Fith,  and  to  the  sons  of  Cathbad,  to  be  the  See 
lands  of  their  church.'  The  saint  afterwards  lived  and 
died  there  with  his  first  converts  in  Carlow.  The  year  of 
his  death  is  not  recorded,  but  the  date  of  his  festival  is. 


^  Ath  Fithot,  or  Ath  Fathot  =  Aghade.  It  is  six  miles  south  of  *  Patrick's 
Bush.' 

^  The  phrase  in  the  text  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  says  that  he  knelt  to 
Patrick  for  his  7nanche  and  annoit.  It  means  to  do  homage  for  his  church  and 
monastery. 


390  ST.   PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTER. 

marked  in  the  Martyrology  of  Donegal  at  July  14th  as 
that  of  the  '  Bishop  of  Aghade  (Ath  Fithot),  in  Leinster.' 
What  a  singular  commentary  on  the  statement  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh  : — "  Patrick  and  Iserninus,  that  is  Bishop  Fith, 
were  with  Germanus  in  the  city  of  Auxerre  (Olsiodra). 
Germanus  asked  Iserninus  to  come  to  preach  in  Ireland ; 
but  he  would  not,  although  willing  to  go  anywhere  else  to 
preach  except  Ireland.  Then  said  Germanus  to  Patrick, 
*  Will  you  be  obedient,  and  go  to  preach  in  Ireland  ? ' 
Patrick  said,  '  Yes,  if  you  wish  it'  Then  Germanus  said, 
'  Let  the  task  be  upon  you  both,  for  Iserninus  too  will  have 
to  go  to  Ireland.'"  And  so  it  came  to  pass.  The  winds 
drove  him  hither;  but  Patrick  had  the  reward  of  his 
obedience,  whereas  Iserninus,  who  set  up  for  himself,  and 
came  first  to  Cliu,  then  to  Toicule,  and  afterwards  to  Rath 
Falascich,  and  finally  to  Lathrach  Da  Arad,  did  not  find 
success  until  he  got  Patrick's  approbation  and  blessing. 

We  now  come  to  the  meeting  between  Patrick  and 
Dubthach  at  Donaghmore  Maige  Criathar,  in  Hy  Cenn- 
selagh.  As  we  have  already  stated.  Shearman  identifies  it 
with  Donaghmore  on  the  sea  shore  north  of  Cahore  Point. 
He  holds  that  Magh  Criathar  was  the  plain  extending 
northwards  from  Cahore  Point,  and  now  forming  the  parish 
of  Donaghmore.  The  word  means  the  Plain  of  the  Marsh, 
and  would  be  perfectly  applicable  to  that  low-lying  sandy 
sea-board  so  often  flooded  by  the  high  tide.  Dubthach  was, 
it  is  true,  of  the  Hy  Lugair  tribe,  who  originally  dwelt  in 
the  south  of  the  Co.  Kildare ;  but  his  family  had  lost  their 
possessions  there,  and  the  arch-poet  has  left  a  poem  in 
which  he  tells  us  how  the  King  of  South  Leinster  gave  him 
a  new  domain,  *  sea-bound,  slow- waved  ;  eastward  it  was  by 
the  fishful  sea.'  He  also  calls  it  Formael,  a  district  which 
Shearman  identifies  with  Limbrick,  in  the  parish  of  Kil- 
cavan,  Co.  Wexford,  and  which  it  appears  extended  east- 
wards as  far  as  Donaghmore  by  the  sea. 

If  these  identifications  be  true,  of  which  we  have  little 
doubt,  Patrick's  course  from  the  scene  of  his  interview  with 
the  king  at  '  Patrick's  Bush '  lay  south-east  by  Tinahely 
through  the  parish  of  Crosspatrick,  which  is  in  both 
counties,  and  touched  the  ancient  territory  of  Formael  or 
Limbrick  at  its  western  extremity.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
the  Saint  passed  this  way,  for  the  name  of  the  old  church 
implies  that  Patrick  founded  it  and  set  up  the  cross  to 
mark  the  sacred  site.  It  was  situated  close  to  the  mearing 
of  the  Co.   Wicklow  on  the  road  to  Gorey.     From  this 


PATRICK   VISITS    DUBTHACH.  39 1 

point  he  passed  by  Limbrick  to  Dubthach's  fort  at  Donagh- 
more  by  the  sea.  Traces  of  an  ancient  rath  may  still  be 
observed  near  the  ruined  church,  and  it  was  usual  for 
Patrick  to  build  his  church  for  safety  sake  near  the  rath  or 
dun  of  the  chieftain,  as  we  know  from  many  examples. 

II. — Patrick  Visits  Dubthach. 

Patrick  had  now  traversed  a  large  portion  of  Hy  Cenn- 
selagh  ;  but,  although  he  had  placed  Iserninus  at  Aghade, 
we  are  not  informed  that  he  placed  any  bishop  at  Rathvilly 
or  in  any  other  portion  of  the  royal  territory.  So  he  must 
now  find  a  bishop  for  that  territory,  and  it  was  not  easy  to 
do  so,  for  his  family  had  been  quite  depleted  by  previous 
appointments,  and  just  then  he  had  no  candidate-bishop 
for  the  office  in  South  Leinster. 

The  interview  between  the  Saint  and  the  arch-poet  is 
highly  interesting.  The  version  given  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh  is  probably  the  most  authentic. 

When  Patrick  met  Dubthach  he  besought  the  poet  to 
recommend  to  him  a  suitable  person  to  be  made  bishop 
from  amongst  his  own  disciples.  The  chief  poet  of  Erin 
had  a  large  school  of  bards  under  his  direction.  The 
course  of  training  continued  for  many  years,  and  the 
disciples  rsually  accompanied  the  master  when  making  his 
rounds.  But  Dubthach  was  now  growing  old,  for  he  was 
chief  poet  of  Erin  when  he  first  met  Patrick  at  Tara  some 
fifteen  years  before  and  rose  up  to  do  him  honour  against 
the  king's  command.  Fiacc  was  there,  too,  a  mere  strip- 
ling at  the  time,  but  already  in  training  for  the  bardic 
order.  He  was  a  nephew  of  the  king-poet,  being  his 
sister's  son,  and  hence  was  from  the  beginning  a  special 
favourite  of  Dubthach. 

It  would  appear,  too,  that  the  old  bard  had  destined 
Fiacc  to  be  his  successor  in  the  office  of  chief  poet  of 
Erin,  and  on  this  occasion  we  find  that  Fiacc  and  '  his 
school '  were  making  their  bardic  round  in  Connaught,  and 
collecting  the  gifts  of  the  nobles  for  themselves  and  the 
chief  poet,  which  no  one  ventured  to  refuse  to  an  order  of 
men  so  dreaded,  so  influential,  and,  we  may  add,  so  rapa- 
cious. It  is  not  unlikely,  too,  that  Patrick  in  making  this 
request  had  himself  his  eye  on  Fiacc  as  suitable  material 
of  a  bishop,  but  he  preferred  that  the  suggestion  should 
come  from  Dubthach  rather  than  from  himself.  He  asked 
for  one  of  the  bardic  school,  because  the  young  Bards  were 


392  ST.    PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTER. 

the  best  educated  men  of  the  tune  except,  perhaps,  the 
Druids  ;  but  Patrick  would,  of  course,  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  latter.  Their  memory  was  highly  trained,  they 
certainly  knew  how  both  to  read  and  write,  their  minds 
were  stored  with  the  songs  and  traditions  of  the  nation's 
past  history,  and  their  knowledge  both  of  declamation  and 
music  would  be  of  use  in  the  ministry  of  the  young  Church 
of  Erin. 

So  Patrick  asked  the  chief  poet  to  recommend  him  one 
of  his  bardic  school,  who  would  be  '  a  free  man,  of  good 
lineage,  without  defect,  without  blemish,  whose  wealth  is 
not  too  little  or  too  much  '  ^ — that  is,  a  man  of  moderate 
means.  He  added,  too,  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  that 
he  should  be  a  man  of  one  wife,  that  is  not  twice  married,^ 
and  the  Book  of  Armagh  makes  Patrick  add — what 
certainly  St.  Paul  did  not  say — that  he  should  have  only 
one  child  born  to  him.  The  description,  however,  of  a 
suitable  candidate  seemed  to  point  especially  to  Fiacc,  and 
so  the  arch-poet  understood  it,  for  he  at  once  replied,  "  I 
know  no  such  man  of  my  '  school '  or  household,  except  it 
be  Fiacc  the  Fair  of  Leinster,  and  he  has  gone  from  me — 
on  his  bardic  rounds — into  the  lands  of  Connaught."  The 
archpoet  had  pupils  from  all  Ireland,  and  hence  he  describes 
Fiacc  Finn,  his  nephew,  as  a  Leinster  man,  and  therefore 
specially  suited  to  be  a  bishop  in  Leinster. 

in. — Patrick  Ordains  Fiacc  of  Sletty. 

Just  as  they  were  speaking  of  Fiacc  they  saw  the  young 
poet  and  his  company  returning  from  their  visitation  in 
Connaught.  It  seemed  to  both  quite  providential,  but 
neither  Patrick  nor  Dubthach  wished  to  ask  the  youthful 
bard  directly  to  abandon  the  glorious  prospect  of  becoming 
Chief  Poet  of  Erin.  Dubthach,  however,  suggested  a 
means  of  getting  Fiacc  to  volunteer  for  the  service  of  the 
Church.  "  Proceed,"  he  said,  "  as  if  to  tonsure^  me — the 
first  step  to  make  him  a  bishop — for  the  young  man  is  very 
dutiful  to  me  and  he  will  be  ready  to  be  tonsured  on  my 


*  The  meaninj^  here  is  obscure.     Some  explain  it  of  his  powers  of  speech. 

2  So  even  the  best  Protestant  commentators  explain  it — not  as  a  positive 
but  as  a  negative  requirement. 

^  Then,  as  now,  a  man  became  a  cleric  when  he  was  tonsured,  thereby 
renouncing  the  world  and  taking  the  service  of  God  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Chuich  as  his  only  inheritance.  The  step  was  not  irrevocable,  but  it  could 
not  he  easily  revoked,  especially  by  God-fearing  men. 


HE   ORDAINS   FIACC   OF    SLETTY.  393 

behalf" — that  is,  instead  of  Dubthach.  So  it  came  to  pass. 
When  Fiacc  saw  Patrick  going  to  tonsure  the  king-bard 
he  said,  "What  is  being  done?"  They  replied,  "  Dub- 
thach is  going  to  be  tonsured."  ''And  that  is  a  foolish 
thing  to  do,"  he  said,  "  for  Erin  has  no  poet  like  him,  and 
if  he  were  to  become  a  bishop  he  must  give  up  his  pro- 
fession and  all  its  privileges."  "'  You  will  be  taken  in  his 
stead,"  said  Patrick.  "  Very  well,"  said  Fiacc,  "  I  shall 
be  a  much  smaller  loss  to  Erin  and  the  Bardic  Order.'' 
So  Patrick  tonsured  him,  shearing  off  his  hair  and  beardj 
and  giving  him  the  peculiar  monastic  tonsure  of  the  time, 
from  ear  to  ear,  which  raised  such  a  quarrel  afterwards.^ 

'Then  great  grace  came  on  Fiacc  after  his  ordination,' 
and  no  wonder,  for  he  had  made  a  generous  sacrifice  of 
himself  for  the  sake  of  the  Church  and  of  his  beloved 
master  ;  *  and  he  read  all  the  ecclesiastical  Ordo — that  is, 
the  Mass — in  one  night;  but  others  say — what  is  much 
more  likely — in  fifteen  days.  And  a  bishop's  rank  was 
(afterwards)  conferred  upon  him,  and  he  thenceforward 
became  the  chief  bishop  ot  the  men  of  Leinster,  and  his 
successors  after  him.' 

If  he  learned  to  read  the  Ordo  of  the  Mass  in  fifteen 
days,  except  he  had  some  knowledge  of  Latin  before,  he 
must  have  been  a  remarkably  clever  man.  But,  in  any 
case,  the  young  poet  must  have  been  a  scholar  and  would 
have  little  difficulty  after  some  time  in  learning  to  read  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church.  Patrick  then  gave  him  a  case,  or 
vestment  box,  with  the  usual  ecclesiastical  equipment ;  but 
particular  reference  is  made  to  its  containing  a  bell,  a 
chalice^,  a  crozier,  and  what  we  now  call  altar-charts  ^  or 
tablets,  containing  the  invariable  portions  of  the  liturgy  of 
the  Mass. 

This  account  of  the  ordination  of  St.  Fiacc  is  un- 
doubtedly authentic,  for  Muirchu,  who  narrates  it  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  expressly  states  that  he  transcribed  it  from  the 
dictation  of  Aedh,  bishop  and  anchorite  of  Sletty,  who  died 
in  698.  This  Bishop  Aedh  was  of  the  same  race  as  Fiacc 
— that  is,  of  the  Hy  Bairrche,  and  succeeded  him,  though 


^  That  is,  when  it  was  sought  to  get  the  Irish  tonsure  from  ear  to  ear 
changed  to  the  Roman  tonsure  of  the  whole  crown. 

^  The  Irish  meus^ir  =mimstenmn,  that  is  the  requisites  for  the  Holy 
Sacrifice,  especially  the  chalice  and  pyxis  or  ciborium.  It  is  sometimes  used 
to  designate  the  latter  alone. 

^  Poolire  or  polaire,  variously  translated.  We  have  given  the  most 
natural  rendering. 


394  ^'^'    PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTEK. 

not  immediately,  in  his  church  of  Sletty,  so  that  he  got 
this  account  from  men  who  were  themselves  disciples  of  St. 
Fiacc,  and  who  would,  no  doubt,  most  carefully  preserve 
the  statements  and  traditions  of  their  spiritual  father  and 
founder  of  their  church  of  Sletty. 

Then  Fiacc  established  his  See  at  Domnach  Fiacc^  in 
Hy  Cennselagh,  at  a  place  which  King  Crimthann  gave 
him  at  the  request  of  Patrick.  It  was  situated  between 
Clonmore  and  Aghold,  now  Aghowle,  but  within  the  latter 
parish,  which  is  in  Wicklow.  The  Book  of  Armagh  further 
tells  us  that  Patrick  left  there  with  St.  Fiacc  seven  of  his 
own  household  to  assist  him  in  preaching  the  Gospel 
in  South  Leinster.  Their  names  are  given,  and  they  were 
doubtless  well  known  to  the  informants  of  Bishop  Aedh  of 
Sletty.  They  are — Mo  Catoc  of  Inis  Fail;  Augustin  of 
Inis  Beg  ;  Tecan,  Diarmaid,  Nainnid,  Paul,  and  Fedilmid. 
They  lived  together  in  community  life  with  Fiacc  in  his 
monastery  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  but  went  on  missionary 
journeys  to  preach  the  Gospel  throughout  all  South  Leinster, 
and  afterwards  they  established  churches  and  monasteries 
of  their  own.  We  can  get,  however,  only  partial  and  un- 
certain glimpses  of  their  history.^ 

Mo  Catoc  is,  perhaps,  the  same  person  as  Presbyter 
Catan,  who  is  described  as  one  of  Patrick's  two  waiters,  or 
guest  ministers  of  his  family.^  The  Book  ofLecan  speaks 
of  this  Catan  as  of  Tamlacht  Ard,  and  so  does  the  Book  of 
Leinster.  Here,  however,  Mo  Catoc,  St.  Fiacc's  disciple, 
is  described  as  of  Inisfail,  which  was  undoubtedly  the  small 
island  (now  joined  with  the  mainland),  called  Beg  Erin,  or 
Begery  in  Wexford  Harbour.  From  this  we  may  infer 
that  Catoc  preached  in  the  south-east  part  of  Wexford,  and 
afterwards  retired  to  the  little  island  oratory  to  end  his  days 
in  peace  and  solitude,  communing  with  God  alone.  His 
remains  were  enshrined  there,  and  held  in  great  veneration, 
until  the  appearance  of  the  Danes  on  the  coast,  when  they 
were  removed  for  greater  security  to  the  kindred  monastery 
founded  by  St.  Fiacc  at  Sletty  on  the  Barrow,  near  Carlow. 

There  is  every  reason  to  think  that  the  Augustin  here 
referred  to  is  the  same  as  Augustine,  who  accompanied 
Palladius  to  preach  in  Ireland,  and  afterwards  returned 
with  Benedict  to  the  Pope  to  announce  the  death  of  their 


^  Called  also  Minbeg,  between  Clonmore  and  Aghold. — Shearman, 
^  Loca  Pat!-iciaiia,  223. 
^  In  old  Irish  foss. 


HE   ORDAINS    FIACC   OF    SLETTY.  395 

master  in  North  Britain.  They  met  Patrick,  as  we  have 
seen,  at  Ivrea  or  Evreux — no  matter  where — and  they 
would  then  naturally  associate  themselves  with  Patrick  in 
the  new  attempt  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ireland.  Augustin 
was  probably  a  Briton,  like  St.  Patrick  himself,  with  a 
Roman  name,  and  would  naturally  desire  to  be  in  that 
part  of  the  country  which  was  nearest  to  Britain,  and 
maintained  most  frequent  intercourse  with  its  shores.  So 
we  find  him  also  sent  to  preach  in  Wexford  and  establish- 
ing himself  in  Inisbeg,  which  is  apparently  another  island 
in  Wexford  Harbour,  but  smaller  than  Inisfail.  His  relics, 
too,  were  enshrined  there  by  the  loving  care  of  his  fol- 
lowers, and  were  likewise  translated  to  Sletty  at  a  later 
period. 

Tecan  is  perhaps  the  Tecce  whom  the  Martyrology  of 
Donegal  merely  names  on  the  9th  of  September.  There 
is  a  Kiltegan  east  of  Baltinglass  in  Wicklow,  which  gives 
title  to  a  parish.  The  old  churchyard  is  situated  in  a 
secluded  spot  in  a  deep  mountain  valley  almost  encom- 
passed by  hills.  Its  proximity  to  Domnach  Fiacc  makes 
it  highly  probable  that  it  was  Tecan  who  gave  his  name 
to  this  church  rather  than  to  Kiltegan,  near  Clonmel;  but 
he  may  have  founded  both.  Diarmaid,  who  was  a  relative 
of  St.  Fiacc,  ^  was  probably  only  a  boy  at  this  time,  but 
like  his  associates  he  preached  in  Hy  Cennselagh,  and 
most  likely  founded  the  ancient  church  which  still  bears 
his  name — *  Kildiermit,  situated  on  the  east  of  Tara  Hill 
over  Courtown  Harbour,  in  the  north  of  Wexford.'  The 
ruins  of  the  ancient  church  are  marked  on  the  Ordnance 
map.  It  is  improbable  that  this  Diarmaid  is  the  same  as 
Diarmaid,  son  of  Restitutus,  the  Lombard,  and  nephew  of 
St.  Patrick,  who  retired  to  Inisclorann  in  Lough  Ree. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  their  identity,  and  the  circum- 
stances make  it  improbable.  All  St.  Patrick's  nephews 
were  located  in  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Meath  or  on  its 
confines,  because  they  were  his  earliest  associates  in 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  Erin. 

Of  the  Nainnid  or  Naindid,  here  named,  nothing  can 
be  ascertained  with  certainty.  Shearman  speculated  much 
about  identifying  him  with  Manchen  the  Master,  and  even 
with  Gildas  the  Wise ;  but  the  speculations  are  baseless, 
and  seem  to  be  purely  imaginary. 


1  He  was  a  great  grandson  of  Dubthach,  Fiacc  being  his  nephew.     See 
Loca,  Patr.j  229. 


396  ST.    PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTER. 

Neither  do  we  know  anything  with  certainty  of  Paul 
or  Paulinus,  disciple  of  Fiacc.  His  name  implies  that  he 
was  of  foreign  origin,  probably  a  disciple  of  St.  Germanus, 
who  accompanied  St.  Patrick  to  Ireland,  but,  not  being 
familiar  with  the  language,  was  not  placed  over  any  of  the 
earlier  Patrician  foundations.  Kilpool,  near  the  town  of 
Wicklow,  perhaps  bears  his  name  and  holds  his  relics,  for 
we  do  not  think  that  the  early  Celts  in  Ireland  dedicated 
their  churches  to  the  saints  of  Scripture,  but  rather  to  the 
founders  of  the  churches.  They  simply  called  them,  as  a 
general  rule,  by  the  name  of  their  holy  founders — a  very 
natural  thing  for  a  simple  people  to  do. 

Shearman  makes  Fedilmid  (Felimy),  like  Diarmaid,  a 
great  grandson  of  Dubthach.  This  is  not  unlikely,  for 
when  Fiacc  set  up  his  monastery  and  monastic  school  at 
the  foot  of  the  Wicklow  Hills,  nothing  would  be  more 
natural  than  for  the  chieftains  of  his  family  to  send  their 
children  there  to  be  educated  for  the  service  of  the  Church. 
No  church  bearing  his  name  is  found  in  Hy  Cennselagh, 
but  Shearman  holds  that  he  went  from  his  monastic  school 
to  visit  his  relatives  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  that  he  is 
the  founder  and  patron  of  the  church  of  Kilmore,  which 
has  given  title  to  the  diocese  of  that  name  in  Leitrim  and 
Cavan.  This  is  not  improbable ;  but  the  question  is  a 
large  one  and  cannot  be  discussed  here. 

IV.— FiACC  Founds  Sletty. 

Now  Fiacc  abode  at  Domnach  Fiacc  in  the  south- 
western corner  of  Wicklow,  *  until  three  score  men  of  his 
community  had  fallen  beside  him  ' — had  died  and  were 
buried  there.  The  community  was^  no  doubt,  a  large  one. 
Fiacc  was  a  great  bishop  ;  but  he  was  also  a  poet  and 
a  scholar  of  the  royal  blood  of  Leinster,  so  that  his  school 
must  have  attracted  a  large  number  of  monks  and  clerics 
from  all  parts  of  the  province.  We  cannot  exactly  ascer- 
tain how  long  he  remained  at  the  foot  of  the  Wicklow 
Hills,  but  his  stay  there  must  have  been  considerable  if  he 
saw  fifty  01  his  community  buried  in  the  cemetery  around 
his  church. 

Then  an  angel  came  to  him,  and  said — "  To  the  west 
of  the  river  (Barrow)  in  Cuil  Maige  (the  Corner  of  the 
Plain)  will  be  the  place  ot  thy  resurrection.  The  place  in 
which  they  shall  find  the  boar,  let  it  be  there  they  shall 
put  the  refectory  (of  the  monastery),  and  the  spot  in  which 


FIACC   FOUNDS   SLETTY.  397 

they  will  find  the  doe,  let  it  be  there  they  shall  put  their 
church."  Fiacc  knew  well  where  Cuil  Maige  was  beyond 
the  river  to  the  west,  for  it  once  belonged  to  his  own  royal 
race  of  the  Hy  Bairrche  before  King  Crimthann  had 
driven  them  far  away  even  to  the  North  of  Ireland  ;  but  he 
was  afraid  to  go  there  without  the  sanction  of  the  king, 
and,  as  Patrick  had  placed  him  where  he  was,  he  said  he 
would  not  leave  it — even  at  an  angel's  bidding — without 
the  sanction  and  authority  of  Patrick.  In  this  Fiacc  was 
quite  right ;  he  could  not  carve  out  a  new  diocese  for 
himself,  or  even  establish  a  new  cathedral  church,  without 
the  sanction  of  Patrick,  who  had  given  him  his  Orders  and 
his  mission. 

Patrick,  hearing  this,  went  to  Fiacc,^  and  marked  out 
for  him  with  his  own  hands  the  site  of  his  new  church  and 
See  beyond  the  Barrow.  '  He  consecrated  it,  and  put  his 
meeting-house  there  ;  '  that  is,  he  made  it  the  cathedral 
church  of  Fiacc  for  the  future.  Crimthann,  at  the  request 
of  Patrick,  had  made  a  grant  of  the  place  to  himself,  for  it 
was  Patrick  who  had  baptised  Crimthann,  and  he  had  thus 
a  special  claim  on  the  king's  gratitude  and  obedience,  and 
it  was  there  in  Sletty,  we  are  told,  that  Crimthann  was 
buried  after  he  had  been  slain  by  his  own  grandson 
Eochaid  Guinech,  in  revenge  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Hy 
Bairrche  from  their  native  principality  in  North  Carlow 
and  South  Kildare  on  both  sides  of  the  Barrow.  This 
shows  that  Fiacc,  at  least,  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
parricide,  else  he  would  not  have  given  a  place  in  his 
church  to  the  corpse  of  the  king,  who  had  been  the  unre- 
lenting foe  of  all  his  family.  It  was  fitting,  too,  that 
the  king  should  be  buried  by  Fiacc,  at  Sletty,  for  it  was  to 
Crimthann  he  owed  the  place  of  both  his  churches, 
although,  in  the  case  of  Sletty  particularly,  it  is  expressly 
stated  that  it  was  to  Patrick,  not  to  Fiacc,  the  king  had 
given  it. 

In  a  beautiful  meadow  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Barrow,  almost  directly  opposite  the  residence  of  the 
present  Bishop  of  Kildare,  which  is  on  the  left  bank — in 
that  quiet  '  corner '  of  the  great  plain  of  the  Barrow,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  hills  of  Slieve  Margy,  Fiacc  spent  the 


*  Of  course  this  was  at  a  much  later  date  than  that  of  the  present  journey, 
and  Patrick  must  have  come  from  Armagh  in  his  old  age  to  do  it.  But  Patrick 
greatly  loved  Fiacc  and  his  uncle  Dubthach,  for  they  were  the  first  to  do  him 
homage  in  Tara  at  the  peril  of  their  lives. 


398  ST.    PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTER. 

remaining  years  of  his  life  in  retirement  and  prayer.  He 
was  then  an  old  man,  broken  down  by  years  and  labours, 
but  he  did  not  on  that  account  intermit  the  journeys 
necessary  for  the  government  of  his  great  diocese  of  South 
Leinster.  It  would  seem  from  the  curious  story  told  in 
the  Book  of  Armagh  that  even  then  he  performed  his 
visitations  mostly  on  foot,  and  also  that  he  was  suffering 
from  some  physical  infirmity  which  made  his  journeys  very 
toilsome  for  him. 

Bishop  Sechnall  (of  Dunshaughlin),  hearing  of  Fiacc's 
sore  infirmity  and  difficult  journeyings,  went  to  his  uncle 
at  Armagh,  and  said  to  Patrick,  "  it  were  better  for  you  to 
give  your  chariot  to  Fiacc,  for  he  wants  it  more  than  you 
do."  "  I  did  not  know  that,"  said  Patrick,  ''  let  him 
have  it."^  So  Patrick  sent  the  chariot  and  horses  without 
a  driver,  we  are  told,  all  the  way  from  Armagh  to  Sletty. 
The  wise  animals,  however,  knew  well  where  to  stop  in 
friendly  quarters.  On  the  first  day  they  went  to  Dun- 
shaughlin, where  the  saint  of  that  church  took  good  care 
of  them,  and  allowed  them  three  days  to  rest  and  refresh 
themselves.  Then  they  travelled  still  south  to  Manchan, 
who  kept  them  also  for  three  nights,  and  thence  they  went 
to  Sletty.  But  the  Tripartite  gives  fuller  details  of  this 
marvellous  journey,  for  it  states  that  on  the  first  day  they 
went  to  the  hermitage  of  St.  Mochta,  near  the  village  of 
Louth  ;  next  day  they  went  to  Dunshaughlin  ;  thence  to 
Killashee,  where  the  friendly  St.  Auxilius  took  good  care 
of  them.  From  Killashee  they  went  to  Kilmonach,  which 
appears  to  be  the  church  of  Manchan,  in  South  Kildare, 
and  thence  to  Sletty.  The  story  is  useful  as  showing  the 
stages  that  in  all  probability  St.  Patrick  himself  made  on 
his  journey  southward  to  mark  out  the  site  of  Sletty 
church  and  consecrate  it,  and  it  was  on  that  occasion,  we 
are  told,  that  Sechnall  suggested  to  his  uncle  Patrick  to 
give  his  chariot  to  Fiacc.^  But  Patrick  could  not  be 
expected  to  do  so  until  he  himself  returned  to  Armagh, 
and  then  he  sent  back  the  team  by  the  same  road,  and 
they  returned  of  their  own  accord  to  Sletty. 

Now  Fiacc,  notwithstanding  his  lameness,  at  first  refused 


^  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  horses  could  have  been  sent  to  Fiacc,  at 
Sletty,  at  the  suggestion  of  Sechnall,  who  died  so  early.  He  might  have  sug- 
gested their  being  sent  to  Fiacc ;  the  scribe  probably  added  Sletty,  with 
which  Fiacc's  name  was  chiefly  associated. 

^  This  version  of  the  story,  as  given  in  the  Tripartite,  was  evidently 
'  made  up  '  at  a  later  date. 


FIACC   FOUNDS    SLETTY.  399 

the  gift.  He  was  unwilling  to  deprive  Patrick  of  his  own 
chariot  and  horses.  The  steeds,  however,  showed  they 
meant  to  stay,  for  they  kept  going  round  the  church  of 
Fiacc  until  the  angel  said  to  him,  "  Patrick  has  sent  them 
to  thee  because  he  has  heard  of  thy  infirmity.'^  Then, 
and  then  only,  Fiacc  consented  to  keep  them.^ 

But  Sechnall's  connection  with  this  story  can  hardly 
be  reconciled  with  Patrician  chronology.  For  Sechnall 
died,  according  to  one  account,  in  448,  being  '  the  first 
bishop  who  went  under  the  sod  in  Erin.'  Another  account 
dates  his  death  at  458,  but  in  either  case  he  must  have 
been  gone  long  before  Fiacc  came  to  Sletty,  if  the  latter 
remained  long  enough  east  of  the  Barrow  to  see  three 
score  of  his  community  fall  around  him.  Perhaps  the  tale 
really  had  its  origin,  not  at  Sletty,  but  at  Domnach  Fiacc. 
Still  the  reference  to  Armagh  points  to  a  date  after  the 
death  of  St.  Sechnall,  for  although  Sechnall  is  said  to  have 
been  coadjutor  and  destined  successor  of  Patrick  for 
thirteen  years,  these  years  must  be  dated  from  434  or  435, 
when  perhaps  Patrick  placed  him  at  Dunshaughlin.  He 
was  never  a  prelate  resident  in  Armagh  in  any  capacity. 

Fiacc  in  his  old  age  lived  a  life  of  extraordinary 
austerity.  At  the  beginning  of  Lent  he  usually  left  his 
monastery  unattended,  taking  with  him  only  five  barley 
loaves,  and  these  strewn  with  ashes.  He  forbade  any  of 
his  monks  to  follow  him,  but  he  was  seen  to  go  to  the  hills 
to  the  north-west  of  Sletty,  a  wild  and  solitary  district.  In 
one  of  these,  called  Drum  Coblai,  he  had  a  cave  which 
sheltered  him.  The  hill  itself  has  been  indentified  with 
the  Doon  of  Clophook,  which  is  just  seven  miles  to  the 
north-west  of  Sletty.  Its  eastern  slope  'which  is  steep  and 
beetling'  rises  abruptly  to  the  height  of  150  feet;  at  its 
base  is  the  cave  thirty-six  feet  deep  by  twelve  in  width. 
Close  at  hand  there  was  an  ancient  church  and  cemetery, 
doubtless  founded  there  in  honour  of  the  saint.  Local 
tradition  still  remembers  him  ;  but  as  he  was  not  seen 
coming  or  going  to  his  church  at  Sletty,  the  wise  people 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  an  underground 
passage  through  the  mountains  all  the  way  to  his  own 
church.  The  fame  of  his  sanctity  and  austerities  still 
clings  like  the  mists  of  morning  to  the  mountain  sides  of 
Slieve  Margy,  where  he  spent  his  last  and   holiest  days. 

1  The  infirmity  referred  to  was  either  a  sore  in  the  leg  caused  by  a  cock- 
chafer, or  a  '  fistula  in  the  coxa,'  which  would  be  equally  troublesome. 


400  ST.    PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTER. 

The  poet-saint  sleeps  amid  many  miracles  with  kindred 
dust  in  his  own  church  of  Sletty,  within  view  of  the  spires 
of  Carlow.  An  ancient  stone  cross  still  standing  is  said  to 
mark  the  spot  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river — almost 
opposite  the  residence  of  his  successor  on  its  left  bank — 
where  his  holy  relics  rest.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  of 
our  native  prelates,  he  led  an  austere  and  humble  life,  he 
was  deeply  attached  to  the  person  and  to  the  memory  of 
his  beloved  master  St.  Patrick,  and  his  influence  has  been 
felt  for  many  ages  in  all  the  churches  of  Leinster.  His 
poetic  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  to  which  we  have  already  referred, 
is  beyond  doubt  an  authentic  poem  ;  and  if  so  it  is  the 
earliest  and  most  authentic  of  all  the  Lives  of  the  Saint. 
In  any  case  it  is  an  invaluable  monument  of  the  history, 
the  language,  and  the  learning  of  the  ancient  Church  ol 
Ireland. 

Fiacc  when  ordained  had  one  son  called  Fiachra,  who 
is  said  to  have  succeeded  his  father  in  the  government  of 
the  church  of  Sletty.  He  had  a  church  also,  doubtless 
before  his  father's  death,  at  a  place  called  Cluain  Fiachra, 
but  the  locality  is  uncertain.  It  may  have  been  the  old 
church  which  has  given  title  to  the  parish  of  Kilferagh  two 
miles  south  of  Kilkenny,  for  the  son  of  so  great  and  holy 
a  father  would  have  little  difficulty  in  getting  the  site  of  a 
church  from  any  of  the  neighbouring  chieftains. 

One  of  Fiacc's  successors  in  Sletty,  as  we  have  already 
stated,  was  Bishop^  Aedh  who  died  in  696,  according  to 
the  Chronicon  Scotorum.  The  Book  of  Armagh  tells  us 
that  this  Bishop  Aedh  of  Sletty  went  to  Armagh  and 
brought  a  bequest  to  Segene  of  Armagh.  Segene  in  his 
turn  gave  an  offering  to  Aedh,  and  the  latter  '  gave  that 
offering  and  his  kin,  and  his  church  to  Patrick  for  ever.' 
*  Aedh  left  his  bequest  with  Conchad,  and  Conchad  went  to 
Armagh,  and  Fland  Feblae  gave  his  church  to  him 
(Conchad)  and  he  took  himself  as  abbot' 

This  is  a  very  curious  passage — one  of  the  last  in  the 
Additions  to  Tirechan's  Collections.  Segene  was  Comarb 
of  Patrick  in  Armagh,  and  died  there  in  684.  His  imme- 
diate successor  was  Forannen  for  one  year.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Fland  Feblae,  who  ruled  for  twenty  years,  dying 


1  The  Book  of  Armagh  calls  him  *  Slebhensis  civitatis  episcopus,'  whilst 
the  Chronicon  merely  calls  him  an  anchorite  ;  he  was  in  reality  both,  like 
Fiacc  himself,  who  was  an  anchorite  and  a  Bishop.  In  that  year  696  the  se^ 
from  Erin  to  Alba  was  frozen  over  by  the  intense  frost. 


HE  FOUNDS  OTHER  CHURCHES  IN  SOUTH  LEINSTER.     4OI 

in  702.  It  appears,  then,  that  when  Conchad  went  to 
Armagh,  bearing  the  bequest  of  Aedh  of  Sletty  with  him, 
which  was  doubtless  some  formal  acknowledgment  of  the 
primacy  of  Armagh,  made,  perhaps,  by  will,  Flann  was 
about  to  be  appointed  Primate.  So  he  gave  his  own  church, 
which  he  then  held,  to  the  Leinster  saint,  and  the  latter 
accepted  it,  making  formal  recognition  of  Flann  as  his 
abbot,  or  ecclesiastical  superior,  both  in  Leinster  and 
Ulster.  This  note  must  have  been  added  by  Tirechan, 
perhaps  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Aedh.  It  is  valuable 
for  this  reason,  that  it  seems  to  be  the  only  formal  recog- 
nition of  the  primacy  of  Armagh  which  was  ever  made  by 
any  of  the  Leinster  prelates.  It  is  singular,  too,  that 
although  we  have  accounts  of  the  visitation  of  the  other 
provinces  by  the  Primate,  and  of  the  dues  paid  to  him  in 
recognition  of  his  primacy,  we  have  no  account  of  any 
visitation  of  Leinster  made  by  the  Primates  of  Armagh, 
although  St.  Patrick  founded  so  many  churches  in  that 
province. 

V. — Patrick  Founds  other  Churches  in  South 

Leinster. 

Of  the  subsequent  proceedings  of  Patrick  in  South 
Leinster,  after  the  ordination  of  Fiacc,  we  know  little. 
He  did,  however,  we  are  expressly  told,  travel  through 
the  country,  and  found  many  churches  and  cloisters 
therein.  Several  of  these  still  bear  his  name,  and  give  us 
indications  of  his  whereabouts  at  the  time. 

Finally  he  left  his  blessing  to  the  Hy  Cennselagh  and 
to  all  Leinster,  after  which  (at  a  later  period)  '  he  ordained 
Fiacc  the  Fair  zn  Sletty  unto  the  bishopric  of  the  province,' 
as  we  have  already  explained.  Fiacc  was  not  metropolitan 
at  first,  and  was  never  metropolitan  in  the  modern  sense 
of  the  word;  but  it  seems  that  Patrick  gave  him  some  kind 
of  general  authority  over  the  churches  of  South  Leinster, 
both  bishops  and  clergy.  Indeed,  this  would  be  only 
natural,  as  several  of  them  were  the  disciples  of  Fiacc, 
scholars  of  his  own  teaching  and  monks  of  his  own 
obedience. 

A  glance  at  the  Ordnance  map  will  show  us  some  of 
the  places  visited  by  Patrick  during  these  unrecorded 
journeys  in  South  Leinster.  We  find  a  Kilpatrick  and  a 
Toburpatrick  in  the  parish  of  Kilgorman,  close  to  the  sea- 
shore, in  the   north-east  angle  of  the  County   Wexford 

2  D 


402  ST.   PATRICK    IN    SOUTH    LEINSTER. 

We  find  another  Kilpatrick  in  the  parish  of  Kilnamanagh, 
barony  of  Ballaghkeen  North,  which  shows  that  our  Saint 
preached  the  Gospel  south  of  Donaghmore,  by  the  sea,  for 
there  are  numerous  traces  of  his  journey  through  the  north- 
east of  Wexford  ;  and,  we  believe,  popular  tradition  is 
still  vivid  regarding  his  labours  in  this  part  of  Hy  Cenn- 
selagh.  It  is  probable  that  St.  Ibar,  of  Beg  Eri,  had 
already  established  a  monastery  in  that  island,  or  the  neigh- 
bourhood, for  he  is  one  of  the  four  saints  who  are  said  to 
have  preached  the  Gospel  in  the  south  of  Ireland  before 
the  advent  of  St.  Patrick.^  If  so,  Patrick  would  prefer  not 
to  preach  in  his  parochia,  or  district,  seeing  that  he  had 
more  than  enough  of  work  to  do  elsewhere.  Besides  we 
are  told  that  the  Wexford  saint  was  rather  jealous  of 
Patrick's  claim  to  jurisdiction  over  all  Ireland,  and  was, 
only  with  great  difficulty,  persuaded  to  recognise  it  so  far 
as  it  affected  his  own  territory. 

But  the  time  now  came  for  our  Saint  to  cross  the 
Barrow,  and  preach  the  Gospel  beyond  the  hills  of  Slieve 
Margy.  There  were  two  famous  fords  across  the  river,  one 
was  at  Athy,  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  Patrick 
returned  so  far  north  before  going  into  Ossory.  The  second 
was  the  famous  ford  at  Leighlin,  which  was  the  usual  place 
for  crossing  the  river  from  South  Leinster  into  Ossory,  by 
Bealach  Gabrain  ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that 
it  was  at  this  point  the  Saint  and  his  household  crossed 
the  stream,  but  the  pass  through  the  hills  was  about  three 
miles  south  of  the  fort  on  the  river,  and  the  territory,  from 
the  pass  on  the  west  to  the  pass  on  the  east  of  the 
Barrow,  formed  a  part  of  Hy  Cennselagh,  as  it  still  forms  a 
part  of  the  Co.  Carlow.  This  great  western  highway  to 
Cashel  crossed  the  Nore  at  Ballyreddin,  south  of  Kilkenny, 
and  then  bifurcated,  one  branch  going  northward  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Nore.  the  other  continuing  westward, 
through  the  plain  north  of  the  King's  River,  into  Munster, 
as  vve  shall  presently  explain  at  greater  length. 


^  Ailbe  of  Emly,  Ciaran  of  Saiger,  Declan  of  Ardmore,  and  Ibar  of  Beg 
Eri,  are  said  to  have  been  pre-Patrician  bishops  in  the  south. 


CHAPTER     XXII. 
ST.    PATRICK    IN    OSSORY. 

I. — Magh  Raighne. 

The  ancient  kingdom  of  Ossory,  in  its  widest  sense, 
extended  from  the  Suir,  at  Waterford,  to  the  slopes  of 
Slieve  Bloom  ^ — that  is,  about  sixty  miles  north  and  south  ; 
but  its  average  breadth  from  the  Slieve  Margy  hills  over 
the  Barrow,  to  the  confines  of  Munster,  was  not  more  than 
sixteen  miles.  It  was  nearly  conterminous  with  the  modern 
diocese  of  Ossory,^  but  not  with  the  modern  county 
of  Kilkenny,  for  the  Barrow  bounds  the  county  on  the  east 
for  many  miles  ;  but  it  was  not  the  river,  but  the  long  range 
of  the  Slieve  Margy  mountains,  and  their  continuation 
south  of  Gowran,  under  the  name  of  the  Slieve  Grian,  or 
Coppenagh  Hills,  that  separated  ancient  Ossory  from 
Hy  Cennselagh.  On  the  north,  too,  Ossory  included  the 
three  baronies  of  Clarmallagh,  Clandonagh,  and  Upper 
Woods,  which  now  form  the  south-western  part  of  Queen's 
County.  That  portion  of  the  kingdom  was  called  Upper 
Ossory,  and  sometimes  Leath  Osraige — that  is,  Half- 
Ossory. 

The  river  Nore  for  the  most  part  flowed  through  the 
centre  of  this  fertile  and  extensive  territory  ;  but  on  the 
north-east  for  some  distance  it  separated  Ossory  from  Leix. 
The  central  portion  of  Ossory  consists  of  a  rich  and  pictu- 
resque undulating  plain,  extending  from  Bealach  Gabhrain 
on  the  east,  across  the  country,  to  Bealach  Urlaidhe 
on  the  west ;  and  from  Kilkenny  southward  to  Thomastown 
and  Killamery  on  the  border  of  Munster.  It  was  the 
royal  territory,  and  was  known  under  the  name  of  Magh 
Raighne ;  and  hence  the  King  of  Ossory  was  sometimes 
called  the  King  of  Magh  Raighne. 

Now,  the  Tripartite  has  only  two  short  paragraphs 
regarding  St.  Patrick's  journey  through  Ossory,  but  though 


^  From  '  Bladhma  to  the  sea'  at  Waterford. —  C Heerin. 

^  We  do  not  here  take  account  of  the  little  parish  of  Seir  Kieran  (Saigher 
Ciarain),  in  King's  County,  which  is  completely  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the 
diocese. 


404  ST.    PATRICK    IN    OSSORY. 

brief  they  are  significant : — '  Me  then  went  (from  H}- 
Cennselagh)  by  Bealach  Gabhrain  into  the  land  of  Osraige, 
and  founded  churches  and  cloisters  there.  And  he  said  that 
of  them  there  would  be  most  distinguished  laymen  and 
clerics,  and  that  no  province  should  prevail  over  chem  so 
long  as  they  were  obedient  to  him.  After  this  Patrick  bade 
them  farewell,  and  he  left  with  them  relics  of  sainted  men^ ; 
and  a  party  of  his  household  in  the  place  where  the  relic- 
house  (Martarthech)  stands  to-day  in  Magh  Raighne." 
Then  two  incidents  only  of  this  journey  are  recorded  : — 
"AtDruim  Conchinn  in  Mairg,  the  cross-beam  (domain) 
of  Patrick's  chariot  broke  as  he  was  going  to  Munster. 
Another  was  made  of  the  wood  of  that  ridge.  This  broke, 
too,  at  once.  Then  a  third  was  made;  that  broke  also. 
Patrick  declared  that  never  would  any  building  be  made  of 
the  wood  of  that  grove,  which  thing  is  fulfilled ;  even 
a  skewer  is  not  made  of  it.  Patrick's  hermitage  (disert) 
stands  there^  but  it  is  waste.'      So  far  the  Irish  Tripartite. 

Tirechan  gives  only  three  lines  to  this  Ossorian  mis- 
sion : — 'He  ascended^  by  Bealach  Gabrain,  and  founded  in 
Raighne  the  church  of  the  Relic  House.'  And  then  he 
goes  straightway  to  Cashel. 

Taking  the  Tripartite  text  as  it  stands,  it  appears 
to  us  clear  that  Patrick  entered  Ossory  by  the  road  that  led 
from  the  Barrow  through  the  pass  of  Gowran,^  which  was 
indeed  the  only  way  of  entering  Ossory  from  the  east.  He 
then  followed  the  line  of  the  present  railway  from  Gowran 
to  Kilkenny,  making  his  way  as  usual  to  the  royal  residence 
of  the  principal  chieftain  of  the  district.  The  best  local 
authorities  assure  us  that  the  royal  dun  of  Magh  Raighne 
stood  on  that  noble  eminence  over  the  Nore  at  Kilkenny, 
which  is  now  occupied  by  the  great  castle  of  the  Butlers ; 
and  Patrick,  according  to  his  usual  custom,  would  found  his 
church  not  far  from  the  royal  dun.  We  are  not  informed 
who  the  King  of  Ossory  was  at  the  time,  or  how  he  received 
Patrick  and  his  associates ;  but  we  must  infer  from  the 
narrative  that  he  gave  Patrick  a  site  for  his  church,  in  which 
the  Saint  left  so  many  relics  that  it  came  to  be  known  as  the 


^  Martrai  Sruithi — that  is,  of  '  venerable  men,'  as  Sruith  epscop  means  a 
sainted  or  venerable  bishop. 

2  Et  erexit  se  per  Belut  Gabrain. 

^  A  pass  between  Slieve  Margy  and  the  Coppenagh  Hill — which  is  about 
four  miles  wide — that  is,  from  lidge  to  ridge  ;  the  valley  itself  is  much  narrower. 
It  was  a  very  frequented  pass,  hence  it  is  called  the  'noisy  Bealach  Gabrain'  in 
the  Circuit  of  Muircertach. 


HIS   OTHER   CHURCHES    IN    OSSORY.  405 

'  Martarthech,*  or  Relic  House.  The  ancient  name  has 
disappeared  ;  but  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  ^  that  this 
was  the  church  known  as  Donaghmore,  about  two  miles 
south  of  Kilkenny.  Reference  is  made  to  this  church  in  the 
Life  of  St.  Canice  of  Kilkenny,  who  then  dwelt  at  Aghaboe, 
and  that  reference  seems  to  imply  that  it  was  an  important 
church  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kilkenny,  although  its 
glory  was  afterwards  eclipsed  by  the  younger  foundation  of 
St.  Canice  himself. 

We  are  told  also  that'  Patrick  left  a  party  of  his  house- 
hold there'  to  minister  in  the  church,  and,  doubtless,  also 
to  make  it  a  missionary  centre  for  the  whole  of  Ossory, 
just  as  he  had  left  several  companions  with  Fiacc  in 
Domnach  Fiacc,  east  of  the  Barrow;  but  their  names  are 
not  recorded,  and  it  is  best  perhaps  not  to  indulge  in 
speculation.  There  was  an  old  church  and  a  holy  well 
a  little  to  the  west  of  Kilkenny,  called  '  St.  Rock's  Well,' 
where  a  '  patron  '  used  to  be  celebrated  on  the  first  Sunday 
of  August.  The  first  of  August  was  the  natalis  of  St. 
Patrick's  nephew  Rioc,  of  Inishbofifin  in  Lough  Ree,  and 
this  would  seem  to  point  to  him  as  founder  of  this  church, 
and  one  of  Patrick's  companions  on  this  journey. 

There  are  other  traces  of  Patrick  near  Kilkenny.  There 
is  a  Glun  Patraic  'on  the  Kells  road  about  two  miles  from 
Kilkenny"^  and  his  knee-marks  in  the  rock  show  where  he 
prayed.  In  the  demesne  of  Sheestown  was  a  rock  which 
was  called  Ciscaem-Patraic,  because  the  marks  of  his  foot- 
steps were  traced  on  the  rock.  There  was  another  place 
near  Kilkenny,  but  different  from  this,  called  '  St.  Patrick's 
Steppes,'  which  belonged  to  St.  John's  monastery,  and 
doubtless  marked  the  course  of  the  Apostle's  journey.  All 
these  ancient  memorials  of  the  Saint  near  Kilkenny  show 
that  Donaghmore  Maigh  Raighne  was  undoubtedly  the 
Martarthech  referred  to  in  the  Tripartite. 

IL — Patrick's  Other  Churches  in  Ossory. 

It  is  stated,  as  we  have  seen,  that  Patrick  founded  '  other 
churches  and  cloisters  in  Ossory.^  No  doubt  he  made 
some  missionary  journeys  through  that  territory,  although 
it  is  now  difificult  to  trace  his  course.    There  are  three  other 


^  An  Inquisition  taken  at  Kilkenny,  i8th  April,  16.23,  describes  it  as  '  St. 
Patrick's  Church  of  Donaghmore.'     See  K.  A.  S.  fur  1865,  p.  247. 
^  Loca  Fairiciana,  276. 


406  ST.   PATRICK   IN    OSSORY. 

churches  that  bear  the  name  of  Donaghmore  in  the  diocese 
of  Ossory,  and  these,  if  not  founded  by  himself  in  person, 
were  doubtless  founded  under  his  authority  by  some  of  his 
household.  One  is  near  Rathdowney  in  the  Queen's  County  ; 
another  was  near  Johnstown  ;  and  the  third,  close  to  Bally- 
ragget,  gives  title  to  the  parish.  There  is  a  Patrick's  Well 
close  to  this  old  church  at  Ballyragget,  which  goes  to  show 
that  Patrick  visited  this  place  in  person  and  baptised  his 
converts  in  the  well.  It  is  about  ten  miles  from  Kilkenny 
to  the  north.  The  beautiful  valley  of  the  upper  Nore  inter- 
venes— that  famous  plain  known  in  ancient  times  as  the 
Airged  Ros,  in  which  Heremon  built  a  royal  palace  on  the 
brow  of  the  bright- waved  river  known  as  Rathbeith  ;  and 
it  was  there  the  great  father  of  the  northern  kings  closed 
his  stormy  life ;  and  there,  too,  he  was  buried  in  the  hear- 
ing of  its  murmuring  waters. 

The  royal  fort  was  just  seven  miles  above  Kilkenny  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  stream,  and  still  bears  almost  the  old 
name  Rathbeagh.  The  site  was  a  most  picturesque  one, 
for  it  gives  a  grand  view  of  the  '  fair  wide  plain  of  the 
Nore,'  as  O'Heerin  calls  it,  towards  the  place  where, 
a  little  higher  up  the  stream,  at  Argad-Ros,  silver 
armour,  if  not  silver  mcne}^,  was  fashioned  for  the  men  of 
Ireland  some  650  years  before  the  Christian  era.  It  is  not 
likely  that  if  Patrick  were  at  Kilkenny  he  would  leave  this 
beautiful  and  famous  place  unvisited.  We  may  be  sure  he 
ascended  the  stream  and  founded  in  person  Donagh- 
more at  Ballyragget,  and  blessed  with  his  own  hands  the 
holy  well  that  still  flows  beside  the  ancient  cemetery,  and 
still  bears  his  name. 

III.—Patrick's  Church  of  Disert. 

In  the  second  passage  given  above  we  are  told  that  the 
place  where  the  cross-tree  of  Patrick's  chariot  broke,  as  he 
was  *  going  to  Munster  ' — not  to  Ossory — was  at  Druim 
Conchinn  in  Mairg,  or  Maircc,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Tripartite, 
'  Patrick's  hermitage  (disert)  is  there,  but  it  is  (now)  waste.' 
Colgan  thought,  and  such  is  our  opinion  also,  that  this 
Disert  Patraic  must  be  looked  for  in  the  west  of  Ossory, 
for  it  is  expressly  stated  that  he  was  then  on  his  way 
(from  Magh  Raighne)  to  Munster.  His  route,  therefore, 
would  lie  through  the  great  plain  of  Raighne  westward  to 
Bealach  Urlaidhe,  which  was  the  usual  road  from  Ossory 
into  Munster;  that  is,  he  went  from   Donaghmore  west- 


HIS   CHURCH   OF    DISERF.  407 

ward  through  the  valley  of  the  King's  River.  On  this  road, 
about  four  miles  north  of  Callan,  we  find  there  was  an 
ancient  church  called  '  Disert '  or  the  hermitage.  It  still 
gives  its  name  to  the  *  Desart  Demesne/  and  a  title  to  the 
Earl  of  Desart.  The  church  has  disappeared  before  the 
*  improvements  '  in  the  demesne  ;  but  *  Church  field  '  still 
remains  to  mark  the  site,  which  being  a  '  disert,'  or  lonely 
place,  chosen  for  retirement  and  prayer  by  the  Saint,  was, 
in  all  probability,  some  distance  from  the  great  highway  to 
Munster.  Shearman  declares  that  there  is  no  ridge  there, 
and  that  the  oak  woods  of  Desart  must  have  been  too  good 
at  all  times  to  merit  the  malediction  of  St.  Patrick.  There 
may  be  no  ridge  in  the  demesne  of  Desart  itself,  but  there 
are  many  ridges  a  little  to  the  south,  and  it  was  probably 
across  one  of  these  southern  slopes  that  Patrick  was  pass- 
ing when  the  crossbar  broke.  It  is  called  the  ridge  of 
Conchinn,  which  Shearman  says  was  the  name  of  a  ridge 
in  Slieve  Margy,  and  the  Tripartite  seems  to  state  the  same. 
But  it  is  more  likely  that  the  ridge  of  Conchinn  was  some- 
where on  the  boundary  line  between  Ossory  and  Munster. 
Fer  Conchenn,  daughter  of  Fodb, '  dwelt  in  the  sidh  or  fairy- 
hill  of  the  men  of  Femen'.^  Magh  Femen  was  the  plain 
around  Slievenaman,  and  bordered  the  Ossorian  territory 
near  Mullinahone,  from  which  a  pass  led  by  Callan  into 
Ossory.  We  are  safe,  therefore,  in  assuming  that  the 
ridge  of  Conchinn  was  somewhere  in  this  neighbourhood, 
and  that  it  was  there  the  cross-bar  of  Patrick's  chariot 
broke,  *  as  he  was  going  into  Munster.' 

We  think  also  that  '  Maircc '  of  the  Tripartite  does  not 
designate  Slieve  Margy  on  the  east  of  Ossory,  but  possibly 
the  Slieve  Ardagh  range  on  its  western  extremity,  which 
was  the  ancient  boundary  between  Ossory  and  Munster, 
or,  perhaps,  the  Dromderg  ridge  which  unites  with  Slieve- 
naman and  may  have  been  the  Drum  Conchinn  referred  to 
in  the  Tripartite,  where  the  fairy  lady  dwelt  in  her 
enchanted  palace. 

If,  however.  Shearman's  view  be  adopted,  then  Patrick, 
having  left  the  County  Carlow,  went,  as  we  have  already 
explained,  to  Morett,  in  the  Queen's  County,  where  he 
founded  a  church  close  to  the  royal  dun.  Then,  going 
southward,  he  came  into  Ossory  by  Slieve  Margy,  that  is 
by  the  ancient  road  from  Athy  to  Castlecomer.  It  was  a 
little  south  of  Castlecomer,  at  the  place   now  called  Dysart 

^  See  Dmdseanc/ias  of  Croita  Cliach,  Ren>ics  D.  441, 


408  ST.   PATRICK    IN   OSSORY. 

Bridge,  that  his  chariot  broke  down,  and  it  was  there  he 
built  a  hermitage,  close  to  the  impetuous  Dineen,  which 
has  since  nearly  swept  away  the  ancient  cemetery.  There, 
too,  as  tradition  tells,  he  was  going  to  curse  the  Hy 
Duach,  but  his  disciples  averted  the  curse  by  praying  that 
it  might  fall  not  on  the  tribe-land  but  on  the  thatch  of  their 
stacks;  and  when  he  was  again  repeating  the  curse  they 
made  the  tops  of  the  rushes  its  object;  and  once  more, 
when  he  essayed  to  curse,  they  said,  *  let  it  be  the  red 
Dineen'  ;  so  it  came  to  pass.  The  thatch  of  their  stacks 
is  often  blown  away;  the  to[)s  of  their  rushes  are  withered 
by  the  same  fierce  blasts ;  and  the  rushing  river,  red  with 
mountain  mud,  carries  away  everything  before  it,  when  the 
rains  sweep  over  Slieve  Margy.  This,  of  course,  is  all 
mere  tradition,  which  fathers  on  St.  Patrick  the  wrath  of 
their  rushing  waters  and  angry  storms.  It  is  more  likely 
that  Dysart  was  founded  by  St.  Brendan  than  by  St. 
Patrick,  and  so  the  inhabitants  say,  as  we  were  informed 
on  the  spot. 

It  would  appear  from  some  passages  in  the  life  of  St. 
Ciaran  that  Patrick  crossed  into  Munster  somewhere 
between  Callan  and  Killamery.  The  ancient  pass  through 
Windgap  led  into  Magh  Femen  ;  still  it  was  not  Patrick's 
purpose  to  go  there  but  into  the  plain  of  Cashel ;  hence,  he 
would  cross  on  the  line  of  the  present  road  from  Callan  to 
Mullinahone,  and  thence  proceed  almost  due  west  to 
Cashel.  Mr.  Hogan  says  that  he  must  have  crossed  the 
borders  near  the  place  now  called  Harley  Park,  which  is 
some  three  miles  north  of  Mullinahone.  It  is,  indeed, 
reasonable  to  believe  that  the  Saint  traversed  all  the 
western  borders  of  Ossory,  for  we  find  Rath-Patrick  and 
Cross-Patrick,  which  seem  to  be  memorials  of  his  presence, 
so  far  north  as  the  barony  of  Galmoy.  We  find  also  a 
parish  of  Rathpatrick  in  the  south-east  of  Ossory,  and  a 
Glun  Fadraic  andCnock  Patrick  in  the  parish  of  Kilcolum, 
but  no  details  of  the  Saint's  labours  therein  are  forth- 
coming. 

It  is  stated  in  the  Tripartite  that  Patrick  when  leaving 
Ossory  foretold  that  '  most  distinguished  la)-men  and 
clerics '  would  in  after  ages  spring  from  the  men  of  that 
territory.  Speaking  only  of  its  clerics,  there  is  no  part  of 
Ireland  has  produced  more  distinguished  ecclesiastics  than 
Ossory — scholars,  saints,  and  martyrs — and  there  is  no 
other  district  of  the  same  area  which  has  produced  them, 
in    greater    numbers.     We    have    been    assured    by    the 


ST.    PATRICK   AND    ST.   CIARAN.  4O9 

venerable  prelate,  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Brownric^g,  who 
now  rules  in  Ossory,  that  the  single  parish  of  Mconcoin, 
in  the  south  of  the  diocese,  has  given  more  than  120 
priests  to  the  church,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  within 
the  present  generation.  The  Diocesan  Seminary  of 
Kilkenny,  too,  not  only  provides  a  supply  of  clerics 
for  the  diocese,  but  every  year  sends  a  considerable 
number  of  young  priests,  all  natives  of  Ossory,  to  preach 
the  Gospel  in  every  English-speaking  land.  No  part  of 
Ireland  has  been  more  sorely  tried  in  the  past,  yet  no 
other  district  or  diocese  has  shown  at  all  times  more 
unswerving  loyalty  to  the  Church,  or  furnished  more 
conspicuous  proofs  of  an  enduring  spiritual  vitality.  So 
the  blessing  of  Patrick  was  surely  an  efficacious  one  for  the 
Ossorians. 

IV. — St.  Patrick  and  St.  Ciaran. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  question  to  investigate  whether 
there  were  any  Catholics  in  Ossory  before  St  Patrick  came 
to  preach  there.  If  we  include  in  Ossory  the  district 
around  Seirkieran,  at  the  roots  of  Slieve  Bloom,  the  answer 
will,  to  a  great  extent,  depend  on  the  solution  of  the  other 
question — whether  St.  Ciaran,  of  Seirkieran,  came  to  preach 
the  Gospel  in  Ossory  before  the  advent  of  St.  Patrick. 
This  question  has  been  keenly  controverted — one  party 
maintaining  that  St.  Ciaran  was  born  so  early  as  the  year 
A.D.  352,  that  is  before  the  birth  of  St.  Patrick  himself, 
that  he  was  educated  abroad,  and  met  St.  Patrick  at  Rome 
some  twenty  years  before  the  latter  came  to  Ireland,  and  that 
itwas  in  obedience  toSt.  Patrick's  prophetic  counsel  he  came 
to  Saigher,  in  the  centre  of  Ireland,  and  there  established 
his  church,  and  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  natives.  The 
Life  of  St.  Ciaran,  published  by  Colgan,  is  the  chief 
authority  for  this  view  ;  and  it  is  said  the  genealogy  of  the 
saint  confirms  it.  On  the  other  hand,  Todd  states  that 
this  genealogy  refutes  that  view,  as  Aengus  Osraige 
flourished  in  the  third  century,  and  that  Ciaran,  if  ninth  in 
descent  from  him,  must  have  belonged  to  the  sixth 
century.  Besides,  Ciaran  was  at  the  College  of  Clonard, 
founded  about  A.D.  520,  and  his  death  is  recorded  in  the 
Annals  a  little  later  still.  The  question  is  surrounded  b}- 
many  difficulties  to  which  it  is  not  easy  to  find  a  satisfac- 
tory solution. 

The  Tripartite  makes   no   reference  to  any  meeting  or 


410  ST.    PATRICK    IN    OSSORY. 

colloquy  between  St.  Patrick  and  St.  Ciaran,  the  patron  of 
Ossory.  VVe  must  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  Ciaran 
founded  his  monastery  at  Saigher,  far  away  to  the  north,  at 
the  western  base  of  Slieve  Bloom.  But  the  Life  of  Ciaran, 
if  it  be  authentic,  contains  many  important  references  to 
St.  Patrick.  Colgan  attributes  the  Latin  Life  of  St. 
Ciaran  which  he  has  published  to  St.  Evin ;  and  there  is  a 
very  ancient  Life  extant  which  is  in  substantial  agreement 
with  it.^  The  saint  was  born  at  Traigh  Ciarain,  in  Cape 
Clear  Island,  where  his  mother  dwelt  at  a  place  called 
Dunanoir,  on  an  isolated  cliff  over  that  wild  sea.  On  the 
strand  itself,  close  to  an  old  church  dedicated  to  his 
memory,  Ciaran,  after  his  return  from  Rome,  erected  a 
stone  pillar,  inscribed  with  an  ancient  cross,  It  stands 
there  still  by  the  sea,  the  first  cross  ever  erected  in  Erin, 
an  enduring  memorial  of  the  spiritual  edifice  which  he  was 
the  first  to  build  in  Ossory.  The  Life  states  that  he  was 
thirty  years  old  before  he  went  abroad  to  pursue  his  sacred 
studies.  He  was  ordained  bishop  in  Rome,  where  he  had 
remained  twenty  years  engaged  in  sacred  study,  and  then 
he  came  to  Ireland  to  preach  the  Gospel  with  the  blessing 
of  the  Pope  and  of  St.  Patrick  also,  who  met  him  in  Rome. 
Patrick  told  him  to  return  to  Ireland  before  himself,  and 
travel  to  a  place  called  Fuaran  in  the  centre  of  Ireland  on 
the  confines  of  the  North  and  South  of  Erin.  There  he 
was  to  found  his  monastery  by  that  'cold  stream,'  at  the 
place  where  the  bell  which  Patrick  gave  him  would  sweetly 
ring  of  its  own  accord.  Ciaran  followed  out  these  instruc- 
tions, and  founded  his  monastery  in  the  wild  woods  of 
Saigher  thirty  years  before  Patrick  came  to  Ireland,  and 
therefore  about  the  year  A.D.  402.  His  mother,  Liadhan 
(Liadania)  accompanied  her  son,  or  followed  him,  to 
Saigher,  and  founded  a  convent  for  holy  nuns  which  she 
placed  under  his  direction  at  the  place  that  bears  her  name 
to  the  present  day  in  the  form  Killyon  (Cill  Liadhan), 
some  two  miles  north  of  Saigher.  If  all  this  be  true,  St. 
Ciaran  must  have  been  at  least  as  old  as  St.  Patrick,  and 
yet  his  death  is  set  down  as  later  than  530.  He  would  be 
in  that  case,  as  Colgan  gravely  states,  about  192  years  of 
age,  when  he  went  to  sleep  in  the  Lord.^ 

We  can   hardly  accept  these  figures  as  accurate  ;  yet, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Ciaran  was  a  contem- 

^  It  has  been  published  by  the  Marquis  of  Ormonde.     There  is  also  a 
shorter  Latin  Life  in  the  Salamanca  MS. 

2  The  Martyrology  of  Donegal  says  he  was  360  years  when  he  died. 


THE    SAINT   IN    CASHEL.  4I  I 

porary  of  St.  Patrick,  that  in  all  probability  he  was  in 
Munster  before  our  Saint  went  to  preach  there,  and  had 
received  his  mission  and  his  education  from  a  foreign  source. 
Ciaran  is  said  to  have  been  ninth  in  descent  from 
^ngus  Osraige,  who  flourished  in  the  first  century  of 
our  era,  certainly  before  Cathair  Mor,  who  in  his  will  left  a 
legacy  to  his  grandson,  if  we  accept  the  will  as  an  authentic 
document.  In  that  case  the  genealogies  both  of  his  father 
and  mother  would  go  to  show  that  Ciaran  was  born  before 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century.  The  Life  of  the  saint 
expressly  states  that  he  and  three  other  bishops,  Ailbe, 
Ibar,  and  Declan,  preached  in  Ireland  *  before  the  advent 
of  Saint  Patrick/  which  may,  however,  be  understood  of 
his  advent  to  their  country  in  the  South  of  Ireland.  He  is 
represented  as  the  friend  of  ^Engus,  King  of  Cashel,  long 
before  the  death  of  the  latter,  in  489. 

On  the  other  hand, he  is  also  represented  as  contemporary 
of  Brendan  of  Birr,  and  of  St.  Ciaran  of  Clonmacnoise, 
who  was  not  born  until  A.D.  512;  and  also  as  present  in  the 
great  school  of  Clonard,  which  was  founded  about  520. 
We  need  not,  however,  attach  much  importance  to  these 
stories  of  the  miracles  said  to  have  been  wrought  when 
these  saints  visited  each  other.  Both  the  visits  and 
the  miracles  are  oftentimes  due  to  the  imagination  of  the 
narrator,  who  frequently  mixes  up  the  stories  of  different 
saints  bearing  the  same  name.  That  Ciaran  lived  to  a  great 
age  is  certain,  for  he  is  represented  as  a  decrepit  old  man 
before  his  death,  If  he  lived  as  long  as  Patrick  he  might 
easily  have  come  to  Ireland  before  him  to  preach,  and  yet 
have  lived  some  thirty  years  after  him,  and  seen  many  of  the 
saints  of  the  fifth  century.  In  the  Life  of  St.  Declan  it  is 
said  that  Ciaran  yielded  subjection  and  concord  and 
supremacy  to  Patrick,  both  absent  and  present.  There  is 
no  account  of  St.  Ciaran's  meeting  St.  Patrick  in  person  ; 
only  it  is  stated  in  the  Life  that  St.  Ciaran  visited  ^ngus 
shortly  afterwards,  and  he  frequently  met  Ailill,  brother 
to  ^ngus,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Cashel  in  489. 
In  our  opinion  the  Life  is  substantially  authentic. 

V. — Patrick  in  Cashel. 

Cashel  was  the  chief  royal  residence  of  Munster^  in  the 
time  of  St.   Patrick,  and  for  many  centuries  afterwards. 

^  There  was  another  royal  seat  about  five  miles  south  of  Cashel,  at  Knock- 
grafifon,  on  the  Suir.  it  was  in  later  ages  held  by  the  O'Sullivans  until  they 
were  driven  out  by  the  Anglo-Normans. 


412  ST.    PATRICK    IN    OSSORY. 

The  name  simply  means  the  Stone  fort  by  excellence,  with 
special  reference,  no  doubt,  to  the  rock  on  which  it  was 
built.  But  the  Book  of  Rights  suggests  that  it  meant  the 
Stone  of  the  tribute — Cais-il,  because  the  Munster  tribes 
paid  their  tribute  on  the  Rock.  Long  before  it  became  a 
royal  residence  it  was  called  Sid-Druim,  or  Fairy  Hill,  a 
picturesque  and  appropriate  name. 

Cashel  was  the  capital  city  of  Munster  (the  ancient 
Mumha),  and  next  to  Tara,  and,  perhaps,  to  Armagh,  was 
the  most  celebrated  of  the  provincial  courts.  Munster 
itself  was  divided  at  this  time  into  two  chief  divisions — 
North  Munster,  or  Thomond,  and  South  Munster,  or  Des- 
mond. Cashel  would  be  in  East  Munster,  called  Ormond 
at  a  later  date  ;  but  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick  it  was 
recognised  as  the  royal  city  of  Desmond,  or  South 
Munster,  with  supremacy,  however,  over  all  other  royal 
duns  in  the  whole  province. 

Its  relations  to  Ossory  were  peculiar.  Ossory,  properly 
speaking,  belonged  to  Leinster,  but  it  became  a  portion  of 
the  Munster  kingdom  in  consequence  of  the  murder  of 
Fergus  Scannal^  by  the  Leinster  men.  The  forfeiture  of 
Ossory  was  decreed  as  an  eric  for  that  crime,  with  nominal 
subjection  to  the  King  of  Cashel.  Yet  it  is  expressly 
declared  in  the  Book  of  Rights  that  Ossory  owes  no 
tribute  to  the  King  of  Cashel.  In  this  respect  it  was 
placed  on  an  equality  with  the  royal  tribes  of  Munster, 
who  owed  no  tribute,  but  merely  subjection  and  military 
service,  to  the  King  of  Cashel,  for  which  in  return  they 
were  entitled  to  receive  certain  stipends  and  gifts  from 
that  potentate. 

We  thus  find  in  Munster,  as  elsewhere,  that  some  of 
the  tribes  were  tributary  to  the  ruling  house  of  the 
province;  but  the  chieftains  of  the  royal  family,  who  might 
in  their  turn  become  kings,  and  were  eligible  as  such, 
paid  no  tribute,  yielding  only  military  service  and  enter- 
tainment of  the  king  on  his  royal  visitation.  It  is  expressly 
stated  that  besides  the  Dalcais  of  Thomond,  who  were 
themselves  of  the  royal  race,  there  were  several  kings  in 
Munster  who  paid  no  tribute,  namely,  the  King  of 
Hy  Fidgente,  the  King  of  the  noble  Aine,  and  of  Gleann 
Amhain.     Neither  did  the  chief  of  North  Ossory,  nor  of 

^This  took  place  at  a  later  date,  in  5S0.  In  the  time  of  St.  Patrick 
Munster  had  no  claim  on  Ossory,  but  constant  wars  took  place  between 
Ossory  and  Munster. 


THE    SAINT   IN   CASHEL.  413 

South  Ossory  (that  is,  the  King  of  Gabhran),  nor  the  King 
of  Loch  Lein,  a  branch  of  the  ruling  family,  nor  the  King 
of  Raithleann,  near  Bandon,  who  belonged  to  the  same 
race. 

Besides  these  we  find  ten  tributary  tribes  are  specially 
mentioned,  to  whqm  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  during 
the  progress  of  St.  Patrick  amongst  them,  so  that  in  all 
there  are  enumerated  no  less  than  eighteen  sub-kings,  both 
tributary  and  non-tributary,  who  were  subject  to  the  King 
of  Cashel.^ 

Oilioll  01  um  was  the  great  father  of  all  the  kings  of 
Munster.  He  had  several  sons,  but  the  two  most  cele- 
brated were  Eoghan  Mor  and  Cormac  Gas.  From  the 
former  sprang  the  Eoghanachts,  or  Eugenian  line  ;  from 
the  latter  the  Dal  Gais,  or  Dalcassian  princes.  Their 
father  willed  that  they  should  take  the  sovereignty 
alternately  in  each  line  ;  but  this  arrangement  was  by  no 
means  regularly  carried  out. 

When  St.  Patrick  arrived  in  Munster,  about  the  year 
A.D.  450,  Jhjugus  Mac  Natfraich  was  King  of  Gashel,  with 
supremacy  over  the  entire  province.  His  own  immediate 
territory  consisted  of  the  vast  undulating  plain  now  com- 
prising the  baronies  of  Slieveardagh  and  Middlethird — a 
part  of  that  golden  vale  the  fertility  of  which  is  still 
renowned  throughout  Ireland.  He  was  sixth  in  descent 
from  Eoghan  Mor,  and  his  family  were  recognised  as  the 
head  of  all  the  Eoghanachts  of  Munster.  His  wife  was 
Eithne,  daughter  of  that  Grimthann,  King  of  the  Hy 
Gennselagh,  who  received  Patrick  with  such  kindness  in 
Leinster,  so  that  the  Saint  might  fairly  expect  to  receive  a 
warm  welcome  in  Gashel  also,  at  least  from  the  queen  of 
the  royal  Rock. 

^ngus  was  a  just  and  generous  prince,  famed  through- 
out the  land,  and  he  had  a  long  family  of  sons  and 
daughters,  who  afterwards  became  the  parents  of  many 
kings  and  saints  in  various  parts  of  Ireland. 

Patrick's  road  from  Gallan  to  Gashel  lay  due  west  from 
Mullinahone,  with  a  bend  to  the  south  at  Fethard,  but  we 
find  no  reference  in  the  Tripartite  to  his  founding  churches 
on  this  journey.     His  invariable  custom  was  to  go  straight 

^  These  are,  in  the  order  of  the  Book  of  Rights — the  King  of  the  Dal  Cais, 
of  Osraige  (north),  of  Deise,  of  Ui  Liathain,  of  Fermoy,  of  Muskerry,  of 
RaithHann  (Bandon),  of  Corca  Luighe,  ofDrung,  of  Loch  Lein,  of  the  Ciarraidhe, 
of  Leim  na  Con,  of  Gabhran  (South  Ossory),  of  Bruree,  of  Aine,  of  Uaithne,  of 
Ara,  and  of  Eile  (O 'Carrol). 


414  ST.    PATRICK    IN   OSSORY. 

to  the  royal  dun  and  procure  the  conversion,  or  at  least  the 
toleration,  of  the  chief  before  preaching  to  the  tribesmen. 
It  would  appear  that  Patrick  and  his  household  arrived  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  royal  city  in  the  evening  and 
encamped  there,  waiting  to  seek  an  interview  with  the 
King  in  the  morning.  But  when  ^ngus  arose  with  the 
sun  he  found  his  palace  in  terror  and  confusion,  for  all 
the  idols  were  overthrown  during  the  night  and  were 
found  lying  flat  on  their  faces.  This  would  show  that 
there  were  Druids  at  Cashel  as  well  as  at  Tara,  and  that 
they  had  a  temple  of  some  kind  with  idols,  probably  of 
stone,  on  the  royal  Rock.  Just  then,  it  would  appear,  the 
King  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the  strangers,  and  he  came 
down  from  the  Rock  to  receive  them,  for  *  Patrick  with 
his  household  found  him  beside  the  fort.  Whereupon  he 
gives  the  strangers  welcome,  and  brings  them  into  the 
fort  to  the  place  where  Patrick's  flagstone  is  to-day.*  The 
flagstone  often  means  the  altar  stone  on  which  the  Saint 
said  Mass  or  erected  his  altar.  It  is  not  used  in  that 
sense  here;  it  rather  means  the  great  stone  on  which 
he  sat  within  the  fort  during  his  interview  with  the  King. 
The  Book  of  Armagh,  however,  seems  to  imply  that  it  was 
the  flag  over  which^  he  baptised  the  King  and  his  brothers, 
the  sons  of  Natfraich,  so  we  may  fairly  assume  it  was  there 
also  he  erected  his  altar  and  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  '  He 
also  left  blessing  and  prosperity  on  the  sons  of  Natfraich, 
and  he  blessed  the  fort,  namely,  Cashel,  and  he  said  that 
until  Doom  only  one  slaughter  should  take  place  there. 
And  he  abode  seven  years  in  Munster.'  And  the  learned 
count  that  he  celebrated  Mass  on  every  seventh  ridge 
which  he  traversed  in  Munster.  The  word  ridge  here 
probably  means  something  like  the  modern  '  townland.' 
These  were  likely  separated  from  each  other  by  fences  or 
ridges,  which  gave  their  name  to  the  whole  townland. 
The  townland  was  held  in  rundale,  and  hence  the  neces- 
sity of  marking  off  its  boundaries  by  a  fence. 


*  Et  baptizavit  filios  Natfraich  i  Tir  Mumae  super  petram  Coithrigi  hi 
Caissiul.  This  passage  seems  to  show  that  Patrick  was  still  often  called  by 
his  old  Irish  slave  name.  The  King's  sons  seem  to  have  stood  on  the  stone 
whilst  they  received  this  spiritual  inauguration  into  the  heavenly  kingdom. 
The  stone,  however,  is  there  still,  surmounted  by  an  ancient  weather-worn 
cross,  also  of  stone.  It  was,  doubtless,  the  stone  on  which  the  Kings  of  Cashel 
were  inaugurated,  and,  perhaps,  supported  an  idol,  but  it  was  blessed  by  St. 
Patrick,  and  thenceforward  came  to  be  used  for  the  inauguration  of  the 
Christian  Kings  of  Cashel,  and  thus  became  a  symbol  of  the  Christian  faith. 


THE    SAINT   IN   CASHEL.  415 

The  Tripartite  then  tells  the  famous  story  of  Patrick's 
crozier  piercing  the  foot  of  the  King  :  *  while  Patrick  was 
baptising  ^Engus  the  spike  of  the  crozier  went  through  his 
foot.'  When  Patrick  perceived  this  after  the  baptism  he 
exclaimed,  "  Why  didst  thou  not  tell  this  to  me  ?  "  "  It 
seemed  to  me,"  said  ^ngus,  "  that  it  was  a  rite  of  the 
faith  " — that  is,  a  portion  of  the  ceremony.  "  Thou  shalt 
have  its  reward,"  saith  Patrick.  •'  Thy  successor  (comarba) 
(that  is,  of  the  race  of  ^ngus  and  of  Aillil,  sons  of  Natfraich) 
shall  not  die  of  a  wound  from  to-day  for  ever."  And  then 
the  Tripartite  adds  : — '  No  one  is  King  of  Cashel  until 
Patrick's  successor  instals  him  and  confers  rank  (grad) 
upon  him.'  The  word  '  grad  '  here  means  kingly  unction, 
a  kind  of  ordination,  such  as  bishops  give  to  kings,  ordain- 
ing them  for  their  high  office. 

Patrick  does  not  promise  immunity  from  a  mortal 
wound  to  ^ngus  himself,  and  we  know  that  both  the 
King  and  his  wife  Eithne  were  slain  at  the  battle  of  Cel- 
losnadh,  or  Kellstown,  in  the  Co.  Carlow,  in  489.  It  was 
in  Magh  Fea,  about  four  miles  east  of  Leithlin  The  Life 
of  St.  Ciaran  points  out  that  their  untimely  end  was  a 
divine  chastisement  on  the  queen  for  the  crime  of  adultery, 
which  she  meditated  but  did  not  commit,  and  on  the  King 
for  aiding  the  King  of  Hy  Cennselagh  in  his  unjust  aggres- 
sions on  the  chiefs  of  northern  Leinster.  But  it  appears 
the  queen  did  penance  and  confessed  her  sin  to  St.  Ciaran; 
and,  although  the  temporal  penalty  remained,  she  and  her 
husband  found  mercy  with  God,  and  remission  both  of  her 
sin  and  of  the  eternal  punishment  due  to  it. 

A  very  widespread,  living  tradition  tells  another  well- 
known  story  of  Patrick's  preaching,  either  on  the  Rock  of 
Cashel  or  on  Tara  Hill.  When  trying  to  explain  the 
mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity  to  his  hearers,  he  saw  the 
trefoil  growing  on  the  green  sod  beneath  his  feet,  and 
taking  it  up  in  his  hand,  he  pointed  out  how  the  triple 
leaf  sprang  from  the  single  stem,  even  as  the  Three  Divine 
Persons,  really  distinct  from  each  other,  were  yet  One  in 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead.  It  was,  of  course,  an  imperfect, 
but  yet,  for  a  simple  people,  a  very  apt  illustration  of  the 
great  Mystery  he  was  trying  to  explain.  We  can  find  no 
trace  of  this  story  in  the  ancient  Lives  of  the  Saint ;  still 
it  has  caught  the  popular  imagination,  and  made  St. 
Patrick's  Shamrock  the  immortal  symbol  of  Ireland's 
faith  and  nationality. 

^ngus,   *  the   praiseworthy,'   is  called  by  an  old   poet, 


4l6  ST.    PATRICK   IN   OSSORY. 

quoted  by  the  Four  Masters  *  a  tree  of  spreading  S^^^/  so 
many  were  the  saints  and  kings  and  chieftains  of  his 
race.  Even  at  this  day  there  are  no  other  Irish  famih'es 
so  widely  diffused  both  at  home  and  abroad  as  the 
McCarthys,  O'Keefes,  O'Callaghans,  and  O'Sullivans;  and 
they  are  all  off-shoots  oi  that  spreading  tree  of  gold.  The 
Tripartite  tells  us  that  twenty-seven  kings  of  the  race  of 
^ngus,  and  of  his  brother  Ailill,  ruled  in  Cashel  '  under 
a  crozier,'^ — which  seems  to  imply  that  they  were  duly 
anointed  kings — until  the  time  of  Cenn-gecan,  who  was 
slain  in  897,  as  the  Four  Masters  tell  us,  by  his  own  tribe. 
His  death,  as  well  as  that  of  Cormac  MacCullinan,  at 
Ballaghmoon,  in  907 — and  they  were  both  Kings  of  Cashel 
of  the  race  of  ^ngus — would  seem  to  show  that  Patrick's 
prophecy,  promising  immunity  for  ever  to  the  kings  of  his 
blood  from  mortal  wounds,  cannot  have  been  fulfilled, 
except  we  understand  it  to  mean  that  '  the  wounds  received 
in  battle  would  not  prove  fatal  after  their  return  home.' 
Being  a  fighting  race  they  must  have  got  many  a  broken 
head,  and  even  that  partial  immunity  from  the  conse- 
quences of  their  wounds  would  be  a  very  great  privilege 
for  them. 

It  is  not  stated  in  the  Tripartite  that  St.  Patrick 
founded  any  church  at  or  near  Cashel  or  appointed 
any  '  Bishop  of  Cashel.'  The  real  reason  cannot  be 
that  ^ngus  would  not  gladly  have  given  him  a  site  for 
a  church  near  the  royal  Rock,  and  land  to  support  the 
church.  Rather  we  must  assume  that  St.  Ailbe  had 
already  set  up  his  See  not  far  off  at  Emly  and  within  the 
territory  of  the  King  of  Cashel.  Hence  Patrick  would  be 
loath  to  set  up  a  new  jurisdiction,  which  might  possibly 
give  rise  to  serious  troubles  in  the  district.  Patrick  visited 
the  King,  who  was  still  a  catechumen,  or  perhaps  half  a 
pagan,  and  was  well  received  by  him  and  his  sub-chiefs, 
from  whom  he  got  full  authority  to  preach  the  gospel  over 
the  whole  of  Munster,  which  was  what  he  chiefly  sought. 

As  a  fact  Cashel  continued  to  be  the  chief  royal  residence 
of  the  Kings  of  Munster  down  to  the  year  1 100,  that  is,  for 
some  640  years  later.  During  all  these  centuries  we  have 
no  mention  in  our  native  Annals  of  any  bishop  or  arch- 
bishop of  Cashel.     Cormac  Mac  Cullinan  is  indeed  some- 


^  Colgan  seems  to  think  it  means  that  they  were  clerics  and  had  received 
tonsure — in  monachos  tonsi.  We  think  it  refers  to  the  episcopal  inauguration 
of  these  kings,  described  above  ;  quite  different  from  the  tribal  inauguration. 


THE    SAINT    IN    CASUEL.  417 

times  described  as  archbishop  or  bishop  of  Cashel,  but  only 
by  inaccurate  later  writers.  He  was  a  bishop,  it  is  true, 
and  for  some  years  King  of  Cashel,  but  he  is  never  called 
Bishop  of  Cashel.  Cashel  was  still  the  seat  not  of  the 
spiritual  but  of  the  temporal  kingdom.  In  iioi,  however, 
all  was  changed.  The  King  of  Cashel,  Murtagh  O'Brien, 
made  a  formal  grant  of  the  Royal  Rock  and  the  territory 
around  it,  in  presence  of  all  the  nobles  and  clergy  of  Leath 
Mogha,  to  O'Dunan,  '  noble  bishop  and  chief  senior  of 
Munster.'  Thenceforward  Cashel  became  the  seat  of  the 
Archbishops  of  Munster,  of  whom  O'Dunan  was  the  first, 
so  far  as  the  primate  St.  Celsus  could  make  him  an  arch- 
bishop. Afterwards,  at  the  Synod  of  Kells,  in  11 52,  the 
Archbishop  of  Cashel  received  the  pallium,  and  his 
successors  have  ever  since  been  recognised  as  metropolitans 
of  the  ecclesiastical  province  of  Cashel,  which  comprises 
practically  the  whole  of  Munster. 

Cashel  is  a  great  limestone  rock  rising  to  the  height  of 
nearly  a  hundred  feet  above  the  surrounding  plain.  Its 
summit  was  barely  large  enough  to  contain  the  royal  fort, 
and,  at  a  later  period,  the  ecclesiastical  buildings,  with  an 
open  courtyard  of  richest  green  in  front.  On  this  green 
stood,  and  still  stands,  'St.  Patrick's  Stone'  now  sur- 
mounted by  an  ancient  cross.  But  the  stone  stood  here 
for  ages  before  St.  Patrick,  and  was,  without  doubt,  the 
stone  on  which  the  ancient  Kings  of  Cashel  were  in- 
augurated. At  the  same  sacred  spot  ^ngus  received  his 
own  inauguration  as  a  Christian  king  by  receiving  the 
sacraments  of  Baptism  and  Confirmation,  through  which 
he  was  *  ordained  '  a  king  in  the  new  kingdom  of  Christ. 

As  St.  Patrick  stood  by  that  great  stone  surrounded  by 
the  kings  and  sub-kings  of  Munster,  and  cast  his  eyes 
towards  the  South  and  West,  he  saw  spread  out  before  him 
the  most  fertile  plain  in  Ireland,  stretching  far  away  to  the 
distant  hills  from  Slievefelira  in  the  north  to  the  Galty 
Mountains  in  the  south.  It  was  a  glorious  land,  which  he 
had  already  well-nigh  won  for  Christ,  when  he  had 
baptised  the  King  and  his  family.  But  he  resolved  to 
complete  the  work  and  visit  in  person  every  part  of  that 
fertile^  far-reaching  plain,  well-wooded  and  well-watered, 
for  he  could  see  from  where  he  stood  the  noble  Suir, 
sweeping  southv/ards  through  the  woods,  its  waters  here 
and  there  gleaming  bright  in  the  sunshine, 


2  E 


41 8  ST.    PATRICK    IN   OSSORY. 


VI. — Patrick  in  Muskerry. 

Leaving,  tlien,  the  Ro\al  Rock  and  King  TRngus, 
Patrick  proceeded  westward  to  Muskerry  by  the  road 
that  now  leads  to  Tipperary.^  On  this  road  we  find  many 
traces  of  his  presence.  The  ancient  parish  west  of  Cashel, 
called  St.  Patrick's  Rock,  doubtless  takes  its  name  either 
from  the  Lecc  Phatraic,  already  described,  or  from  some 
other  rock  where  he  set  up  his  altar  and  built  a  church, 
but  we  are  not  told  that  he  left  any  of  his  family  as  Bishop 
of  Cashel.  It  would  appear  that  in  this  Patrick  acted 
prudently,  for  it  is  said  that  Ailbe  had  already  established 
his  see  at  Emly,  not  very  far  to  the  west,  and  claimed 
some  kind  of  jurisdiction  over  the  royal  territory.  After- 
wards,  it  is  said,  he  made  due  submission  to  the  highei 
authority  of  Patrick,  but  on  this  occasion  he  does  not 
appear  at  all  at  Cashel. 

At  a  much  later  period,  the  Cistercians  founded  a  noble 
abbey  in  the  rich  meadows  at  the  foot  of  the  Rock — and 
its  lonely  ruins  are  now  a  very  striking  feature  in  a  scene 
so  fertile  and  so  fair.  But  there  was  no  church  there  then, 
although,  doubtless,  a  priest  was  left  to  say  Mass  for  the 
King  at  Patrick's  fla^^stone  on  the  Rock  itself. 

The  Muskerry  (Muscraige)  into  which  Patrick  journeyed 
from  the  plain  of  Cashel,  by  crossing  the  Suir  at  Golden, 
is  called  Muscraige  Breogain  in  the  Tripartite.  It  takes  its 
name  of  Muskerry  from  Cairbre  Muse,  son  of  Conaire 
Mor,  a  king  of  Ireland  in  the  opening  years  of  the  first 
century.  His  race  was  widely  spread  through  Munster, 
for  O'Heerin  mentions  six  ^  different  territories,  which 
bore  his  name  and  were  inhabited  by  his  descendants.  We 
may  be  sure  that  if  they  were  not  powerful  by  valour  and 
numbers  they  would  not  be  permitted  to  keep  the  golden 
vale  between  Cashel  and  Tipperary.  Their  territory  there 
was,  strictly  speaking,  conterminous  with  the  barony  of 
Clanwilliam,  whose  fair  and  fertile  fields  attracted  the 
followers  of  William  FitzAdelm  De  Burgo,  from  whom  it 


^  It  was  called  from  an  early  period  Bothar  Mor,  and  was  the  scene  of 
many  a  fierce  conflict  in  later  times.  Foicr  Masters,  A.D.  1560.  The  view 
from  the  Rock  of  Cashel  to  the  south-west,  in  the  line  of  the  Bothar  Mor, 
shows  the  v/hole  of  the  Golden  Vale,  the  richest  landscape  in  Ireland. 

^They  were  Muscraige  Miiine,  Muscraige  Luachra,  Muscraige  Tir 
Maige,  Muscraige  Treitheirne,  Muscraige  liavthae  Femin,  and  Muscraige 
Thire  in  the  north  of  Munsier. 


PATRICK   AT   KILFEACLE.  419 

received  a  new  name,  and  who  in  their  turn,  at  a  later 
date,  were  dispossessed  by  the  greedy  soldiers  of  Crom- 
well. 

*  Patrick  founded  many  churches  and  cloisters  in  Mus- 
craige  Breoghain,'  some  of  which  bear  his  name  to  this 
day.  There  is  a  parish  called  Kilpatrick,  with  an  old 
cemetery  and  holy  well,  in  the  barony  of  Kilnamanagh 
Lower,  close  to  the  railway,  about  three  miles  north-east 
of  Limerick  Junction.  There  is  another  Kilpatrick  giving 
name  to  a  townland  in  the  parish  of  Lattin,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Junction,  about  three  miles  to  the  south-west. 

Vn. — Patrick  at  Kilfeacle. 

But  special  reference  is  made  in  the  Tripartite  to  the 
church  of  Kil-fiacla,  now  Kilfeacle,  that  is  the  Church  of 
the  Tooth,  which  is  about  three  miles  from  Tipperary  on 
the  road  to  Cashel,  and  which,  therefore,  marks  the  route 
of  the  Apostle  when  journeying  westward  from  Cashel  into 
Muskerry.  One  day,  as  Patrick  was  washing  his  hands  in 
a  ford  there,  a  tooth  fell  out  of  his  head  into  the  ford. 
Patrick  went  on  a  hill  to  the  north  of  the  ford,  and  (missing 
his  loose  tooth)  sent  to  seek  it,  when  straightway  the 
messenger  saw  the  tooth  '  shining  bright  like  the  sun  in 
the  ford.'  So  he  brought  it  back  to  Patrick,  and  there- 
fore the  ford  was  called  Athfiacla,  the  Ford  of  the  Tooth  ; 
and  when  Patrick  founded  the  church  close  at  hand  he  left 
the  tooth  there,  and,  moreover,  four  of  his  household, 
namely — Cuircthe  and  Loscan,  Cailech  and  Beoan,  and, 
bidding  them  farewell,  he  left  his  blessing  with  them  in 
Muskerry. 

From  this  narrative  we  may  infer  that  the  four  clerics  of 
Patrick's  family  wished  to  keep  the  tooth  as  a  relic  of  their 
beloved  master.  It  would  seem  also  that  Patrick  made 
Kilfeacle  the  principal  church  in  that  district,  and  left  four 
of  his  disciples  there  to  preach  and  found  other  churches 
in  Clanwilliam.  Tipperary — in  Irish,  Tibraid  Arann — 
though  an  ancient  parish,  rose  to  importance  only  at  a 
later  date,  when  King  John  built  a  castle  there  to  guard 
the  ford  of  the  i\.ra,  on  the  great  southern  road  from  Tip- 
perary to  Cork. 

There  is  a  stream  flowing  northward  by  the  old  church 
of  Kilfeacle  to  join  the  Multeen  River  on  its  way  to  the 
Suir.  It  was  doubtless  at  the  ford  on  this  stream  that 
Patrick  lost  the  tooth  which  gave  its  name  both  to  the  ford 


420  ST.    PATRICK    IN   OSSORY. 

itselt  and  to  the  parish.  On  tlie  western  bank  of  the  Suir, 
some  two  miles  to  the  east  of  Kilfeacle,  Wilham  de  Burgo, 
the  conqueror  of  Connaught,  founded  a  Priory  for 
Augustinian  Canons,  where  he  himself,  with  his  great- 
grandson,  Walter,  Earl  of  Ulster,  and  the  renowned  Red 
Earl,  the  first  of  all  the  Burkes,  after  stormy  lives,  sleep  in 
peace  beside  the  vSuir,  in  the  hearing  of  its  murmuring 
waters.  The  old  abbey  is  a  roofless  ruin,  the  monks  are 
gone,  and  the  Burkes  are  gone ;  but  the  Suir  still  calmly 
flows  tlnuugh  fields  as  fair  and  woods  as  green  as  when 
Patrick  blessed  the  beautiful  and  bounteous  river  at  the 
Ford  of  Golden  so  long  ago. 

After  this,  we  are  told,  Patrick  went  north-westward  '  to 
AradaCliach,  and  abode  in  Ochtar-Cuillen  in  Hy  Cuanach.' 
Cullen  is  still  the  name  of  a  parish  and  a  village,  just  one 
mile  west  of  the  Junction,  on  the  borders  of  Tipperary  and 
Limerick.  Coonagh  is  the  name  of  the  modern  barony, 
which,  no  doubt,  anciently  included  the  parish  of  Cullen. 
Arada  Cliach  was  the  name  of  a  considerable  territory, 
which  comprised  the  barony  of  Coonagh,  and  the  east  of 
Coshlea  barony  in  the  Co.  Limerick,  with  that  part  of  Clan- 
william  west  of  Tipperary  town,  which  lies  between  them. 
This  territory  belonged  to  the  diocese  of  Emly,  for  St.  Ailbe, 
its  founder,  was  a  member  of  its  ruling  family,  and  estab- 
lished his  church  in  his  own  tribe  land.  The  CHu — of 
which  Cliach  is  the  genitive  case — came  originally,  it  is  said, 
from  South  Leinster,  under  the  guidance  ot  a  certain  Laidir 
of  the  race  of  Fergus  MacRoy.  This  Laidir  was  'ara,' 
that  is  charioteer  to  the  King  of  Leinster,  hence  the  tribe 
name  became  Ara,  or  Arada  Cliach.  There  was  another 
branch  of  the  same  tribe  located  further  to  the  north,  who 
gave  the  name  to  the  barony  of  Ara,  now  joined  with  that 
of  Owney,  east  of  the  Shannon  at  Killaloe. 

VIII. — Patrick  in  Cullen. 

But  though  the  tribe  took  its  name  from  this  Arada 
Cliach,  part  of  the  territory  belonged  to  the  race  of  Eoghan 
Mor,  who  were  established  at  Cashel.  Hence  we  are  told 
that  when  Patrick  came  to  Cullen,  the  Eoghanacht  of 
Eastern  Cliach  (Airthir  Cliach),  that  is  the  portion  of  the 
territory  bordering  on  the  royal  territory  of  Cashel,  opposed 
him.  Just  then  it  came  to  pass  that  a  dreadful  mishap 
occurred,  which  Ailill's  wife  came  to  announce  on  the  hill 
where  Patrick  was  biding,  saying,  "  Swine  in  their  savagery 


PATRICK   AND   THE    PRE-FATRICIAN    BISHOPS.  42 1 

have  devoured  our  son,  O  Ailill."  Upon  this  Ailill  said 
to  Patrick,  "  I  will  believe  if  you  bring  my  son  to  life 
again."  Then  Patrick  ordered  the  bones  of  the  half-eaten 
child  to  be  gathered  together,  and  he  told  Malach  the 
Briton  to  restore  the  child  to  life.  "  I  will  not  tempt  the 
Lord,"  said  Malach — that  is  by  attempting  to  perform  a 
miracle  so  extraordinary.  Then  Patrick  said,  **  Sad  is 
that  word  of  thine,  O  Malach  ;  thy  cloister  will  not  be 
lofty  on  earth  ;  thy  house  will  be  the  (small)  house  of  one 
man."  He  was  to  have  neither  companions  nor  successors 
as  the  penalty  of  his  distrust  in  God.  '  That  cloister  of 
his  was  in  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  southern  Deisi ; 
it  was  called  Cell  Malaich,  but  five  cows  could  hardly  be 
fed  on  the  land  belonging  to  his  church.'  Thereupon 
Patrick  ordered  Bishops  Ibar  and  Ailbe  to  bring  the  boy 
to  life,  and  he  himself  besought  the  Lord  along  with  them. 
Then  the  boy  was  brought  to  life  through  Patrick's  prayer. 
It  is  added  that  the  boy,  when  restored  to  life,  preached 
to  the  hosts  and  to  the  multitudes  in  Patrick's  presence. 
Ailill  and  his  wife  also  believed,  as  well  they  might ;  and 
the  Hy  Coonagh,  too,  believed  and  were  baptised  in  that 
town.  In  the  same  place  in  which  the  boy  was  brought 
to  life  is  the  seat  of  the  aforesaid  four  persons,  Patrick  and 
Ailbe  and  Ibar,  and  the  little  boy.^  It  was  on  that  occasion 
that  Patrick  said,  "  God  heals  by  the  physician's  hand." 
We  may  add  that  the  small  cloister  of  Malach  Brit  is  not 
Kilnidllock  but  Kilmaloo,  which  is  accurately  described  as 
in  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  southern  Deisi,  now  known 
PS  Decies  within  the  Drum,  near  Ardmore  in  the  county 
Waterford. 

IX.— Patrick  and  the  Pre-Patrician  Bishops. 

Now  this  alleged  meeting  of  Patrick,  Ailbe,  and  Ibar 
on  this  occasion  close  to  Emly  and  in  the  midst  of  what 
appears  to  be  a  pagan  population,  gives  rise  to  some  very 
interesting  questions.  Ailbe  and  Ibar  are  two  of  the  four'^ 
prelates  who  are  called  pre-Patrician  bishops,  and  have 
been  recognised  as  such  by  eminent  authorities  like  Usher 
and  Colgan.  Yet  the  death  of  Ibar  is  marked  in  the 
Annals  of  Ulster  A. D.  500,   and  the  rest  of  St.    Ailbe  is 

*  Colgan  says  that  there  were  four  great  stones  set  up  to  commemorate 
'.the  event. 

2  The  other  two  are  Ciaran  of  Saigher  and  Declan  of  Ardmore. 


422  ST.    PATRICK   IN    OSSORY. 

marked  in  the  same  Annals  at  526,  and  again,  but  with 
hesitation,  at  533  and  541,  showinij  that  the  real  date  was 
rather  uncertain.  Still,  it  is  clear  that  he  lived  into  the 
sixth  century,  for  St.  I  bar  is  recognised  as  his  senior,  and 
he  died  first  of  them  all. 

The  fact  seems  to  be  that  both  Ailbe  and  Ibar,  as  well 
as  Declan  of  Ardmore  and  Ciaran  of  Saigher,  were  not 
disciples  of  Patrick  in  the  ordinary  sense.  They  did  not 
belong  to  his  familia,  they  were  not  ordained  or  consecrated 
by  him,  and,  in  all  probability,  they  were  preaching  in 
the  south  of  Ireland  before  his  arrival  there.  But  their 
authority  was  somewhat  doubtful,  and  their  success  was 
only  partial.  When  Patrick  came  to  preach  in  Munster 
they  were  induced  to  recognise  his  apostolic  authority  and 
supreme  jurisdiction  in  Ireland.  The  evidence  of  facts, 
too,  was  in  his  favour,  for  his  apostolic  mission  was  already 
successful  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Ireland,  whilst 
they  had  made  little  or  no  impression  even  in  their  own 
province,  as  the  facts  here  narrated  go  to  show.  It  was 
Patrick  converted  and  baptised  the  King  of  Cashel,  and 
that  of  itself  gave  him  a  claim  to  pre-eminence  in  the 
southern  province.  Now  we  find  him  preaching  in  the 
tribe-land  of  Ailbe  himself,  which  afterwards  became  his 
diocese  of  Emly  ;  yet  it  is  Patrick  who  takes  the  lead,  and 
it  is  through  his  prayers  that  the  half-devoured  child  was 
resuscitated.  We  are  told  also  that  Patrick  and  King 
^ngus,  with  all  the  people,  ordained  that  the  archbishopric 
of  Munster  should  be  in  the  city  and  see  of  St.  Ailbe,  who 
was  then  b}^  them  ordained  archbishop  for  ever.  This 
savours  of  a  later  date,  and  is  a  very  suspicious-looking 
statement,  written  apparently  at  a  time  when  efforts  were 
being  made  in  the  twelfth  century  to  secure  the  recognition  of 
Cashel  as  the  archiepiscopal  See  of  Munster.^  There  was, 
it  appears,  more  reluctance  on  the  part  of  Ibar  to  consent 
to  the  recognition  of  the  primatial  authority  of  Patrick,  for 
'he  was  unwilling  to  receive  a  patron  for  Ireland  from  any 
foreign  nation;'  and  one  can  hardly  blame  him  when  they 
had  so  many  saints  of  their  own  at  home.  He  belonged 
to  a  northern  tribe  and  was  apparently  educated  in  Wales, 
with  which  the  saints  of  the  north  had  at  a  very  early 
period    frequent  intercourse.       Hence    he  gets  credit  for 

^  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  word  *  archbishop '  is  often  not 
used  in  its  technical  sense,  but  simply  means  high  bishop  or  noble  bishop  ;  and 
the  pre-eminence  here  is  not  given  to  Cashel  (which  did  not  exist  as  a  See)  but 
to  Emly,  which  was  Ailbe's  church  and  diocese. 


PATRICK  AND   THE    PRE-PATRICIAN    BISHOPS.         423 

saying,  in  consequence  of  his  disagreement  with  Patrick, 
that,  no  doubt  through  his  influence  in  the  North — he  was 
of  the  Hy  Eochach  of  Ulad — "  he  would  leave  the  roads 
full  and  the  kitchens  empty  in  Armagh."  Whereupon 
Patrick  replied,  "  Thou  shalt  not  be  in  Ireland  at  all." 
"  It  is  in  Ireland  (Eri)  I  shall  be,"  replied  Ibar  ;  and  so  it 
came  to  pass  that  word  of  both  saints  was  verified,  for  Ibar 
set  up  in  Beg  Erin  in  Wexford  Harbour,  and  there,  about 
the  year  485,  he  built  his  little  cell  and  oratory,  around 
which  grew  up  in  a  few  years  a  great  school  of  saints  and 
scholars.  These  tales  go  to  show  that  these  four  saints 
were  in  Munster  before  St.  Patrick,  and  that  there  was 
some  jealousy  of  the  British  saint  who  came  amongst  them 
claiming  pre-eminence  and  exercising  apostolic  authority 
over  the  whole  Church  of  Ireland. 

Then  the  Tripartite  tells  us,  in  connection  with  Patrick's 
stay  in  CuUen,  that  four  persons  stole  his  horses  '  in  the 
north,'  but  Patrick  forgave  them.  The  leader  of  the  four 
was  Cainchomrac,  a  leech,  another  was  an  artisan,  a  third 
was  a  servant,  and  the  fourth  a  groom  of  the  attendant  or 
servant,  whose  name  was  Aedh.  Patrick  called  this  Aedh 
and  blessed  his  hands,  and  said  that  from  that  day  his 
name  should  be  Lamh-Aedh,  or  Hugh  of  the  (blessed) 
fland;  and  it  is  from  him  that  the  Lamhraige  descend, 
who,  apparently,  give  their  name  to  the  parish  of  Killamery, 
on  the  borders  of  Cashel  and  Ossory.  There  is  a  story 
told  in  the  Life  of  St.  Ciaran,  which  seems  to  refer  to  this 
stealing  of  the  horses  of  Patrick,  and  conveys  a  striking 
moral  lesson.  After  the  conversion  and  baptism  of  ^ngus 
at  Cashel,  a  certain  Mac  Ere,  of  the  Hy  Duach  of  Ossory 
(stole  and)  killed  a  horse  belonging  to  Patrick.  When 
yEngus  heard  this  he  was  wrathful,  and  seized  the  man 
with  the  intention  of  putting  him  to  death.  Whereupon 
Ciaran,  at  the  request  of  the  culprit's  friends,  came  to  the 
king  to  intercede  for  the  criminal,  offering  at  the  same 
time  to  pay  his  eric  in  gold.  The  gold  was  paid,  but  when 
the  prisoner  was  liberated  it  disappeared.  Then  the  king, 
in  great  anger,  said  to  Ciaran — "  not  gold  but  the  shadow  of 
it  you  have  given  me  for  this  man."  "  All  these  precious 
metals,"  replied  the  saint,  "are  not  realities,  only  shadows 
made  of  nothing."  Whereupon  the  king  threatened  the  saint, 
but  forthwith  he  became  blind,  and  was  glad  to  have  his  sight 
restored  by  Ciaran's  prayer,  and  thought  no  more  of  his  gold. 

It   seems   a    complete    reconciliation    was    afterwards 
effected,  for  we  are  told  that  both  Patrick  and  ^ngus,  with 


424  ST.    PATRICK   IN    OSSORY. 

a  great  host  of  cliiefs  and  followers,  went  to  visit  Ciaran  at 
Iiis  monastery,  and  Ciaran  had  eight  oxen  killed  for  their 
refection  ;  but,  as  the  host  was  very  large,  it  needed  a  miracle 
to  multiply  the  food  so  as  to  feed  them  all.  Ciaran,  too, 
by  his  prayer,  changed  the  water  of  his  well,  even  Fuaran, 
into  wine  to  refresh  his  guests.  As  this  was  the  well  that 
Patrick  had  told  Ciaran  ot  some  fifty  years  before,  it  was 
only  fitting  that  its  waters  should  now  give  gladness  to  the 
heart  of  the  Saint  and  his  companions.  This  is  the  only 
personal  interview  between  Patrick  and  Ciaran  recorded 
in  the  life  of  either.  It  may  be  that  when  the  king  went 
north  to  arrest  and  punish  the  horse-stealers  of  Upper 
Ossory  both  he  and  Patrick,  with  the  king's  retainers,  went 
on  to  Seir  Ciaran  to  visit  the  monastery  of  that  saint 
before  they  returned  to  Cashel. 

It  is  said  that  Patrick  performed  another  miracle  before 
he  left  Cullen.  Aillil's  wife  was  pregnant,  and  sore  sick- 
ness overtook  her.  "  What  is  wrong  ? '' — said  Patrick.  The 
woman  answered,  "  I  saw  an  herb  in  the  air,  and  on  earth  I 
never  saw  its  like  ;  "  and,  she  added,  except  she  got  that 
herb  to  eat  and  thus  gratify  her  longing — "  I  shall  die,  and 
my  child  in  my  womb  will  die."  "What  was  the  herb  like  ?" — 
said  Patrick.  "  Like  rushes,"  said  the  woman.  Then  Patrick 
blessed  some  rushes,  and  they  became  a  leek.  The  woman 
ate  thereof,  and  became  well :  and  she  brought  forth  a 
son,  and  Patrick  declared  that  women  who  eat  the  leek  in 
similar  circumstances  w^ill  find  their  longing  gratified. 
The  blessing  might  cure  the  longing  without  any  miracle 
at  all. 

The  Tripartite  here  tells  us  that  Patrick  desired  to 
remain  beside  Clar  at  the  Rath  of  Cairbre  and  Broccan, 
but  a  certain  Colman,  the  owner,  doubtless,  would  not  allow 
him  to  remain  there  ;  wherefore  Patrick  foretold  that  neither 
king  nor  bishop  would  ever  come  of  his  race.  He  added 
also  that  the  place  would  yet  be  his,  which  was  verified  ; 
and  there  he  left  a  man  of  his  household,  namely,  Coeman, 
of  Cella  Rath. 

Clar,  or  Slieve-Claire,  is  a  conspicuous  flat-topped  hill — 
whence  its  name — west  of  Galbally,  and  south  of  the  little 
parish  of  Cullen.  There  is,  as  we  have  said,  a  Kilpatrick, 
which  gives  name  to  a  townland  in  the  parish  of  Lattin, 
south  of  Cullen,  and  this  most  likely  marks  the  site  of  the 
church  in  question  ;  if  not,  it  certainly  marks  the  route  of 
the  Saint  westward  towards  Slieve-Claire,  which  is  now 
called,  we  believe,  Slieve  Reagh. 


PATRICK   AT   PALLAS    GREEN.  425 

If  we  are  right  in  this  identification  of  the  locality 
described  in  the  Tripartite,  it  would  bring  St.  Patrick  very 
near  the  place  that  St.  Ailbe  had  chosen  to  be  his  own.  It 
is  probable,  however,  that  although  St.  Ailbe  was  then 
preaching  in  his  native  territory  of  Arada  Cliach  he  had 
not  yet  selected  the  seat  of  his  episcopal  See.  The  Tripar- 
tite tells  us  that  he  came  in  contact  with  St.  Patrick  at 
Cullen,  but  there  is  no  reference  to  his  See,  which  was  not 
yet,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  definitely  established  at  Emly. 
The  relation  of  the  tvyo  saints,  however,  needs  further 
elucidation,  which  we  are  riot  at  present  able  to  furnish. 

It  would  not  be  right  to  assume  that  Colman's  refusal 
to  allow  Patrick  to  found  a  church  at  the  Rath  of  Cairbre 
was  in  any  way  instigated  by  Ailbe,  although  the  circum- 
stances are  suspicious. 

X. — Patrick  at  Pallas  Green. 

Not  getting  then  the  site  of  his  church  and  cloister 
from  Colman  at  Clar,  Patrick  sought  it  elsewhere,  and  went 
west  of  Cullen  to  Grian  in  Arada  Cliach,  but  still  within  the 
same  district.  Now  Dola,  the  owner,  opposed  them  there, 
and  would  give  Patrick  no  place  for  a  church,  whereupon 
Patrick  said  that  he  himself  would  have  no  home  there,  or 
at  best  it  would  be  a  poor  one ;  that  its  people  would 
be  only  two  or  three,  *  and  even  these  will  be  slaves,  and 
of  a  lowly  race,  and  the  rest  will  migrate  from  it ' — which 
they  did  to  the  neighbouring  territory  of  eastern  Cliach, 
and  '  they  are  called  Dal-mo-Dola  to  the  present  day.'  It 
is  not  easy  to  say  whether  it  was  those  who.  migrated,  or 
those  who  stayed  that  have  given  their  name  to  the  parish 
of  Oola,  near  the  junction,  but  in  any  case  it  is  only  a  very 
small  town,  and  quite  unknown  to  fame.^ 

Patrick  was  angry  at  this  reception,  and  when  a  certain 
Nena  went  to  him,  he  refused  to  see  him,  saying,  '  of  Nena 
will  be  nothing' — with  a  neat  play  on  the  Irish  words, 
Nipa  ni  Nena — which  was  verified  ;  for  his  descendants 
were  slaves  with  their  kindred  in  Muskerry  Mitine,  in  the 
west  of  Cork.  It  is  probable  they  were  driven  out  by  the 
Eoghanachts  of  Eastern  Ara  Cliach.  They  are  called  the 
Menraighe. 

^  Quite  near  the  village  may  be  noticed  a  rising  ground,  which  was,  no 
doubt,  the  residence  of  the  chief  at  the  time.  The  remains  of  his  dun  are  there 
stilL 


426  ST.    PATRICK    IN    OSSORY. 

But  although  the  head  men  of  Pallas  Green  received 
Patrick  so  badly,  their  wives  were  not  of  the  same  spirit, 
and  they  bewailed  the  Saint's  departure  without,  so  far  as 
we  can  judge,  founding  a  church,  or  leaving  them  a  bless- 
ing. Then  Patrick  was  softened,  and  blessed  the  women- 
folk, and  he  said  moreover  that  their  children  begotten  '  of 
foreign  husbands  would  be  dignified  ;  '  but  it  is  implied 
that  the  offspring  of  the  native  men  would  be  contemptible 
and  under  a  ban.  It  is  not  safe  for  anyone  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  the  Gospel. 

Then  going  a  little  to  the  South,  Patrick  came  to 
Kilteely — so  called  from  the  hill  Tedel,  which  was  also  in 
Arada  Cliach.  When  he  was  leaving  this  place — bidding 
them  farewell — two  youths  of  his  family  remained  behind,  it 
seems  on  purpose,  for  they  were  found  sleeping  in  a  brake. 
"  Here  will  be  their  resurrection, '^  said  Patrick,  *  and  so  it 
came  to  pass.  They  died  soon  afterwards,  and  were  buried 
in  the  church  of  Kilteely,  which  belongs  to  Patrick  ' — 
doubtless  because  he,  or  some  of  his  household,  founded  it. 
On  the  whole,  the  people  of  Arada  Cliach  around  Emly, 
treated  Patrick  shabbily.  Perhaps  they  had  some  secret 
dislike  to  the  foreign  Bishop,  who  came  amongst  them 
claiming  to  be  superior  even  to  their  own  kinsman,  Ailbe 
(of  Emly).  No  word,  however,  issaid  of  the  SeeofEmly  here, 
for  it  was  not  yet  founded  by  St.  Ailbe,  although  on  this 
journey,  as  we  have  seen,  he  recognised  the  primacy 
of  Patrick,  and  made  formal  submission  to  him.  Patrick, 
on  his  part,  if  we  can  credit  the  Life  of  St.  Ailbe,  or  rather 
of  St.  Declan,  recognised  Ailbe  as  '  Archbishop '  of  Munster, 
in  an  informal  sense,  however,  just  as  Fiacc  was  recognised 
as  '  Archbishop '  of  the  men  of  Leinster.  We  have  referred 
to  this  subject  elsewhere,  and  declared  our  opinion  that 
Ailbe  was  preaching  in  Munster  before  the  advent  of  St. 
Patrick,  with,  however,  only  very  partial  success.  It  would 
appear,  too,  from  this  narrative  in  the  Tripartite  that  the 
people  of  this  district  did  not  receive  St.  Patrick  well ;  and 
this  only  goes  to  confirm  what  we  have  said,  that  having 
already'a  Bishop  of  their  own,  they  were  not  anxious  to 
receive  the  Saint  amongst  them.  Ailbe  himself,  however, 
knew  better,  and  recognising  the  apostolic  authority  and 
missionary  success  of  Patrick,  yielded  him  due  obedience, 
and  was  by  Patrick  canonically  constituted  chief  Bishop  of 
East  Munster.    . 


CHAPTER    XXIII, 
ST.  PATRICK  IN  THE  DIOCESE  OF  LIMERICK. 

I. — Patrick  Founds  Donaghmore. 

From  Kilteely  in  Ara  Cliach  Patrick  went  into  the   sub- 
kingdom  of  Hy  Fidgente/  as  it  is  called  in  the  Tripartite. 
The   territory   took   its  name  from  a  certain    Fiach,    or 
Fidach,  who  was  a  grandson   of  OilioU  Flanbeg,   King  of 
Munster,  and  it  got  the  name  of  Fidgente  from  a  v/ooden 
horse  which  he  is  said  to  have  exhibited  at  Colman's   fair 
on  the  Curragh  of  Kildare.      It  was,  therefore,  royal  tribe- 
land,  exempt  from  tribute  to  the  King  of  Cashel,  and  at  that 
time  it  appears  to  have  comprehended  nearly  the  whole  of 
the   territory  now  included   in  the  diocese  of  Limerick. 
The  term   Hy  Fidgente  was  not  then  confined    to    the 
country  west  of  the  Maigue  and  Morning  Star,  for  we  know 
that  the  Church  of  Donaghmore,  near  Limerick,  was  in  it  ; 
and  the  Tripartite  clearly  implies  that  Patrick  leaving  Ara 
Cliach  came  at  once  into  the  territory  of  Hy  Fidgente,  and 
into  that  part  of  it  now  known  as  the  barony  of  Clan- 
william.     The  boundary  line  between  the  dioceses  of  Emly 
and  Limerick  really  represents  the  division  between  those 
two  ancient  kingdoms  ;  that  is  to  say,   it  ran  from   near 
Limerick,  east  of  Donaghmore,  by  Lough  Gur  to  Ard- 
patrick,  or,  in  other  words,  nearly  due  south  from  Limerick 
to  the  Ballyhoura  hills.      Bruree    and    Croom  were  the 
principal  lorts  of  the  king  of  this  extensive  district ;  but, 
no  doubt,  he  had  strong  places  in    other    parts    of    his 
territory  likewise.      It  is  clear    that  Patrick   did  not  go 
south  on  this  occasion  towards  Bruree,  but  rather  due  west 
towards  Knockainy  Hill.      Knockainy,  a  famous  fairy  hill, 
was  on  the  borders  between  the  two  territories,  and  just  at 
the  base  of  the  hill  on  the  north  there  is  a  Patrick's  Well, 
which  we  may  fairly  assume  was  blessed  by  the  apostle  for 
the  baptism  of  the  people  around   Lough   Gur — a  district 
that  still  bears  abundant  evidence  that  it  was  a  favourite 
residence  of  the  ancient  chiefs  of  the  Hy  Fidgente. 


^  The  diocese  of  Emly  still  represents  the  ancient  territory  of  Ara  Cliach. 
The  Hy  Fidgente  territory  belongs  to  the  diocese  of  Limerick. 


428         ST.    PATRICK    iN   THE    DIOCESE   01^   LIMERIcK* 

From  this  point  Patrick  went,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
due  north  to  Knockea,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Tripartite, 
Mullagh  Cae.  There  is  no  probability,  in  O'Donovan's 
opinion,  that  this  was  Seefin  Hill,  south  of  Ardpatrick. 
The  whole  context  shows  that  Patrick  was  rather  going 
north  from  Kilteely,  that  he  travelled  through  Magh 
Aine  to  Donaghmore,  and  that  Mullagh  Cae  was  on  his 
road  thither.  Magh  Aine,  which  became  a  sub-kingdom 
afterwards,  designated  the  large  and  fertile  plain  extending 
from  Knockainy  northwards  to  Limerick.  It  may  be 
regarded  as  roughly  co-extensive  with  the  barony  of  Clan- 
William. 

We  quite  agree  with  a  local  authority  that  *  Knockea. 
Hill,  near  Balling  irde  in  the  parish  of  Fedamore,^  must  be 
regarded  as  the  JMallagh  Cae  of  the  Tripartite.'  It  has  the 
same  name,  it  was  on  the  direct  route  of  the  Saint  to 
Donaghmore,  it  contains  many  traces  of  ancient  dwellings 
on  its  slopes  and  summit,  and  if  it  were  not  the  palace  of 
the  King  of  Hy  Fidgente,  he  must  have  dwelt  not  far  off 
to  the  west  at  Croom  on  the  Maigue. 

II. — The  Feast  of  Knockea. 

The  subsequent  narrative  of  the  Tripartite  gives  us  a 
lively  picture  of  the  social  life  of  the  times.  There  was  a 
great  feast  being  prepared  for  the  king  and  his  nobles  on 
the  summit  of  the  hill,  which  is  described  as  to  the  south 
of  Carn  Feradaigh — a  famous  cairn,  but  not  yet  certainly 
identified.  We  can  only  infer,  from  the  many  battles 
fought  there,  that  it  was  on  the  highway  from  Limerick  to 
Cork. 

It  is  stated  in  the  Tripartite  that  Loman,  or  Lonan, 
son  of  Mac  Ere,  made  this  feast  for  Patrick,  and  it  appears 
that  Deacon  Mantan,  who  doubtless  had  some  skill  in 
cookery,  at  least  so  far  as  to  please  Patrick,  was  helping  to 
prepare  the  least  at  the  king's  house  or  rath.  Just  then  a 
train  of  jugglers  or  mountebanks,  who  were  always  welcome 
at  such  assemblies,  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  at  once 
demanded  food.  Bards,  jugglers,  and  strollers  of  every 
kind  were  privileged  people  on  these  occasions,  and  were 
often  most  unreasonable  and  importunate  in  their  demands. 
Still  no  one  ventured  to  refuse  them,  through  fear  of  their 

^  The  Rev.  John  Begley  in  the  I.  E.  Record  for  1896,  who  has  written  a- 
very  intelligent  article  on  St.  Patrick's  mission  in  the  Co.  Limerick. 


THE   FEAST   OF   KNOCKEA.  429 

lampoons,  which  were  often  scurrilous  and  bitter,  and  were 
recited  by  the  itinerant  strollers  all  over  the  country.  It 
was  a  principle  both  of  prudence  and  of  honour,  at  all 
cost,  to  yield  them  their  demands. 

Now,  the  food  was  not  ready,  but  the  strollers  were 
hungry, 'and  would  take  no  excuse.'  The  King  himself 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  present  at  the  time,  so 
Patrick  said  to  the  strollers,  "  go  to  the  King  (Loman)  and 
to  Deacon  Mantan,  they  will  help  me,"  that  is,  save  him 
from  the  dishonour  of  a  refusal.  But  the  King  and  the 
Deacon  would  not  give  them  a  share  of  the  banquet  before 
anyone  else  partook  of  it,  saying  not  unnaturally — '  It  is 
not  public  criers  that  shall  bless  for  us  the  beginning  of 
our  banquet' — it  was  intended  for  St.  Patrick  and  his 
clerics,  not  for  such  strollers. 

Patrick,  however,  saw  that  the  poor  jugglers  were  really 
hungry,  and  at  all  cost  he  wished,  in  a  spirit  of  genuine 
charity,  to  give  them  food  even  before  he  got  it 
himself.  Just  then  he  saw  a  youth  accompanied  by  his 
mother  coming  to  the  King's  feast  with  a  cooked  ram  on 
his  shoulder,  for  provisions  were  requisitioned  in  this  way 
for  the  royal  banquets  when  the  guests  were  numerous. 
Thereupon  Patrick  said  ; — 

The  boy  who  arriveth  from  the  North, 

To  him  the  victory  (of  charity)  hath  been  given, 

Unto  Cothraige  (that  is  Patrick)  he  is  near  to  help  him. 

With  his  wether  on  his  back. 

Then  Patrick  asked  the  boy  to  give  him  the  wether 
that  he  might  give  it  to  the  hungry  jugglers,  and  thus  save 
his  own  honour  and  the  episcopal  character  for  charity  and 
hospitality.  The  boy  at  once  gave  it  gladly  ;  although  his 
mother  was  reluctant  to  give  it  for  fear  of  the  King.  Then 
Patrick  gave  the  jugglers  the  mutton,  and  forthwith  *  the 
earth  swallowed  them  up,'  which  is,  perhaps,  a  strong  way 
of  saying  that  having  eaten  the  King's  sheep  they  at  once 
disappeared,  vanishing  as  completely  as  if  the  earth  had 
swallowed  them  up.  Derg,  son  of  Scirire  of  Deisi,  was 
their  leader.  Still,  Patrick  resented  the  refusal  of  the 
King  to  give  the  food  at  his  request ;  and  he  said  of 
Loman's  race  there  never  would  be  king,  nor  crown  prince, 
nor  bishop.  He  said,  also,  that  the  cloister  or  house  of 
Deacon  Mantan  on  earth  would  not  be  lofty,  and  that  sheep 
and  swine  would  trample  on  his  grave.     But  to  Nessan  the 


430         ST.    PATRICK    IN   THE    DIOCESE    OF   LIMERICK. 

charitable  he  said — "  Thou  art  mighty  of  race,"  and  he 
baptised  him  afterwards,  and  ordained  him  a  deacon,  and 
founded  a  church  for  him,  that  is  Mungret,  the  ruins  of 
which  still  survive,  though,  perhaps,  not  of  that  early  date. 
Neither  did  Nessan's  mother  escape  the  penalty  of  her 
timorous  reluctance  to  be  chaiitable.  Patrick  said  she 
would  not  enjoy  the  privilege  of  a  grave  in  her  son's 
church,  and  '  that  is  true,*  the  writer  adds ;  '  her  grave  is  in 
the  ground  to  the  west  of  Mungret,  and  the  bell  out  of  the 
great  cahir  or  church  steeple  of  Mungret  is  not  heard  in 
that  place,  yet  they  are  not  far  distant,  only  a  wall 
separates  them.' 

It  is  clear  that  Patrick,  besides  saving  his  honour  for  Irish 
hospitality,  wished  to  impress  upon  all  his  followers  the 
great  lesson  that  charity  is  the  first  of  all  virtues,  and  that 
the  call  of  urgent  need  should  never  be  refused  in  any 
circumstances  whatsoever. 

Going  thence  northward,  Patrick  founded  the  church  of 
Domnach  Mor  Maige  Aine  about  three  miles  to  south  of 
the  modern  city  of  Limerick. 

If  Mantan,  the  Deacon  referred  to  above,  be  founder  of 
Kilmantan  of  Wicklow — as  seems  likely — Colgan  tells  us 
that  he  visited  his  church  there,  and  found  the  site  of  the 
church  a  refuge  for  sheep,  swine,  and  other  animals — but 
the  same  has,  alas !  too  often  happened  to  many  of  our 
ancient  and  holy  churches.  Still,  the  coincidence  is  strik- 
ing. This  Mantan  is  said  to  have  landed  with  St.  Patrick 
at  Wicklow  in  the  beginning,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
lost  a  tooth  from  a  blow  of  a  stone — whence  his  name. 
This  sin  on  this  occasion  clearly  manifested  a  spirit 
of  disobedience  as  well  as  a  want  of  charity,  and 
hence  the  temporal  penalty  with  which  it  was  afterwards 
visited. 

The  Saint  remained  there,  it  would  seem,  for  some  time 
instructing  and  baptising  the  people  of  Hy  Fidgente.  Word 
of  this  was  brought  to  their  kinsmen  north  of  the  Shannon,  so 
fearing  that  Patrick  would  not  venture  to  cross  the  great  river 
the  men  of  Thomond  to  the  north  of  Luimnech  came  in  their 
*  sea  fleets '  to  meet  him  at  Donaghmore,  then  called 
Dun-n-Oac-Fene  ;  and  Patrick  baptised  them  in  Tirglass 
to  the  south  east  of  the  dun.  This  is  not  Terryglass 
(Tir-da-glas)  in  north  Ormond,  which  is  far  away  from 
Luimnech  to  the  north  east,  but  it  is  the  place  now  called 
Patrick's  Well,  which  is  accurately  described  as  south-east 
of  Donaghmore. 


PATRICK    AT    KNOCKPATRICK.  43 1 

At  their  head  was  Cairthenn,  son  of  Blatt  (or  Bloid), 
King  of  the  Dal-cais  of  Thomond,  who  beheved  in  the 
1  -ord  and  was  baptised  by  Patrick  at  Sangel.^  His  children 
lip  to  that  time  had  been  in  one  way  or  another  deformed 
from  their  birth,  but  by  Patrick's  blessing  the  next  son, 
Eochu  Baillderg,2  was  born  a  shapely  child,  fit  to  inherit 
his  father's  kingdom.  There  is  still  an  ancient  graveyard 
near  Limerick  to  the  north-east,  which  is  said  to  be  the 
site  of  this  church  of  Sangel,  or  as  it  is  now  called  Singland. 
It  was  close  to  the  palace  of  Cairthinn  Finn,  King  of  the 
Dalcassians,  whom  with  his  infant  son,  Eochu  Bailldcrg, 
Patrick  baptised  on  that  occasion.  Through  the  blessing 
of  Patrick,  this  Eochu  became  the  founder  of  a  mighty 
race  of  kings  and  saints,  whose  forts  and  towers  and 
churches  are  scattered  over  Clare,  lending  to  that  historic 
county  a  romantic  interest,  sacred  and  profane,  which  few 
other  counties  in  Ireland  can  rival. 


III. — Patrick  at  Knockpatrick. 

We  are  then  told  that  Patrick  went  to  Fininne,  to  the 
north-west  of  Domnach  Mor,  a  hill  from  which  is  seen  the 
country  to  the  north  of  the  Shannon  (Luimnech).  It  is, 
doubtless,  said  to  be  north-west  because  the  traveller  goes 
first  to  the  river,  which  is  to  the  north  from  Donaghmore, 
and  then  travels  west  to  Fininne.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  is  the  hill  a  little  south  of  Foynes,  now  called 
Knockpatrick.  It  rises  to  the  height  of  574  feet  over  the 
level  of  the  river,  and  it  is  the  only  hill  south  of  the 
Shannon  from  which  Patrick  could  obtain  that  far-reaching 
view  over  the  County  Clare  described  in  the  Life  of  St. 
Senan.  It  is  said  he  viewed  the  land  and  blessed  it  north- 
wards as  far  as  Slieve  Elne,  and  eastwards  as  far  as  Echte — 
now  Slieve  Aughty,  between  Clare  and  Gahvay.  Pointing 
also  *  to  the  green  island  in  the  west,  in  the  mouth  of  the 
sea,'  that  is  Scattery  Island,  he  foretold  how  vSenan  would 
dwell  therein,  and  be  the  light  of  God's  household  there, 
and  the  head  of  the  counsel  of  all  their  country  round 
about.     Patrick's  Well  is  still  to  be  seen  at  Knockpatrick, 


1 '  It  was  a  different  angel  from  Victor  (sain  angel)  that  conversed  with 
Patrick  on  that  day.'     Hence  the  name. 

2  Patrick  formed  him  of  a  clot  of  gore,  and  that  spot  remained,  hence  the 
name — a  foolish  story. 


432        ST.    PATRICK    IN    THE    DIOCESE    OE   LIMERICK. 

and  the  ruins,  or  rather  the  site  of  the  ancient  church,  is 
marked  on  the  map,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  very  extensive 
graveyard. 

It  is  probable  that  there  was  another  Donaghmore  in 
this  neighbourhood,  and  that  it  was  near  Patrick's  Well, 
for  it  is  said  in  the  Life  of  St.  Senan  that  Bole  of  the 
Cinel  Dine,  King  of  the  Corca  Baiscinn,  came  over  the  river 
from  the  north  in  a  great  sea  fleet,  and  invited  Patrick 
to  cross  Luimnech,  and  preach  and  baptise  in  his 
country.  But  Patrick  baptised  them  in  the  well  or  in  the 
river,  as  the  Life  says,  and  then  blessed  themselves  and 
their  country  from  the  top  of  the  hill  of  Knockpatrick.  It 
is  more  likely  this  visit  took  place  at  Foynes  than  at 
Limerick,  and  that  there  was  a  second  church  called 
Donaghmore  which  Patrick  founded  in  that  district  for  the 
Western  Hy  Fidgente,  vvhich  by  its  description  seems  to 
be  different  from  the  Domnach  Mor  Maige  Aine  referred  to 
before — this  is  called  Domnach  Mor  Cinel  Dine.  It  was 
most  likely  the  church  whose  site  may  still  be  traced  on 
the  summit  of  that  hill  overlooking  the  rushing  tides  of 
the  Shannon,  and  which  appears  to  have  been  for  ages  a 
favourite  burying  place  for  the  people  of  that  district.  It 
is  a  very  commanding  site,  rising  so  high  over  the  river, 
and  affording  a  noble  prospect  of  the  wide-spreading 
Shannon,  with  the  dark  hills  of  Clare  in  the  distance. 

From  Knockpatrick  we  are  told  that  Patrick  went 
southwards  towards  Slieve  Luachair,  but  he  did  not  cross 
Luachair  to  go  into  West  Munster.  He  prophesied,  how- 
ever, of  Brenainn  or  Brendan  Maccu  Ailte,  who  was  to  be 
born  there  thirty  years  afterwards.  The  text  has  cxx., 
but  the  c.  is  clearly  a  mistake  of  the  transcriber  for  x.  As 
Brendan  was  born  in  A.D.  4S4,  this  would  give  us  453  or 
454  as  the  year  of  Patrick's  preaching  in  West  Limerick, 
which  we  know  from  other  sources  must  be  very  near  the 
truth.  Slieve  Luachair  was  the  great  range  of  hills  that 
bound  the  plain  of  Limerick  on  the  south,  sweeping  round 
in  a  semicircle  from  the  Shannon  at  Tarbert,  and  gradually 
growing  wilder  and  higher  towards  x\bbeyfeale,  east  of 
which  they  rise  up  as  a  great  mountain  wall  all  along  the 
south  of  Limerick  to  Charleville.  Patrick  had  no  desire  to 
bring  himself  and  his  family  over  this  wild  range  into  the 
remoter  valleys  to  the  west  of  Kerry,  especially  as  he  knew 
that  Brendan  was  the  destined  evangelist  of  that  country 
in  which  he  was  to  be  born  within  a  period  of  thirty  years. 
Kerry  is  one  of  the  two  or  three  counties  in  Ireland  into 


IN   SOUTH   LIMERICK.  433 

which  St.  Patrick  never  penetrated ;  Clare  is  another,  and 
we  find  few  traces  of  the  Saint  either  in  Cork  or  Waterford, 
except,  perhaps,  on  their  northern  borders, 

IV. — Patrick  in  South  Limerick. 

We  have  nothing  but  local  tradition  to  guide  us  as  to 
Patrick's  movements  in  South  Limerick.  It  appears  he 
went  due  south  from  the  Shannon  to  the  village  of  Ardagh, 
three  miles  north  of  Newcastle  West.  It  is  the  only  place 
in  the  south-west  of  the  County  Limerick  where  his  name 
lives  in  the  memories  of  the  people ;  and  it  was,  probably, 
when  turning  eastward  from  Luachair  that  he  foretold  the 
birth  of  Brendan.  He  can  be  traced  thence  to  Ballingarry, 
*and  near  Clooncagh  church  there  is  a  small  enclosure, 
where,  it  is  said,  he  remained  for  one  night'  It  is  not 
improbable  that  he  took  an  opportunity  on  the  journey 
eastward  of  visiting  the  royal  burg  of  Bruree,  but  no 
express  mention  is  made  of  the  fact.  It  was,  however, 
directly  on  his  way  from  Ballingarry  to  the  southern  Ard- 
patrick  beyond  the  pass  at  Charleville.  Just  at  this  point 
he  passed  out  of  the  territory  of  Hy  Fidgente  and  came 
into  that  of  the  Southern  Deisi. 

At  Ardpatrick  we  are  told  he  desired  to  found  a  cloister 
or  monastery ;  and  he  even  marked  out  the  site  of  his 
church,  and  left  there  his  flag-stone — that  is  the  altar-slab 
on  which  he  said  Mass  ;  but  the  local  dynast,  Derball,  son 
of  Aedh,  opposed  him,  and  said,  in  mockery  it  seems — '*  If 
you  can  remove  the  mountain  there  before  us  so  that  I  can 
see  Loch  Lungae  over  it  to  the  south  in  the  plain  of  Fir 
Maige  Peine  (Fermoy)  I  will  believe."  '  Cenn-Febrat  is  the 
name  of  that  mountain,  which  immediately  began  to  melt, 
and  Belach  Legtha,  or  the  Pass  of  Melting,  is  the  name  of 
the  pass  that  was  then  opened.'  But  yet,  when  the  moun- 
tain began  to  melt  before  his  eyes,  the  impious  man 
declared,  ''  Even  though  thou  do  it  I  will  not  believe." 
Whereupon  Patrick  said  to  him,  "  There  will  not  be  till 
Doom  either  king  or  bishop  of  thy  race,  and  the  men  of 
Munster  will  peel  (that  is,  plunder)  you  every  seventh  year 
like  an  onion." 

It  is  a  strange  story ;  yet  it  is  not  more  difficult  to 
'  melt '  a  mountain  than  to  cast  it  into  the  sea,  and  both 
can  be  done  for  adequate  cause  by  the  apostle  who  has 
faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed.  To  deny  it  is  to  deny 
the  Gospel.     The  road   from  Ardpatrick  to  Fermoy  runs 

2  F 


434        ^T.    PATRTCK    ly   THE    DIOCESE    OF    LIMERICK. 

through  a  deep  glen  east  of  Seefin  Mountain,  which  must 
be  the  '  Pass  of  the  Melting.'  There  is,  however,  no  lake 
now,  we  believe,  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  so  that 
Loch  Lungae  must  have  been  drained  in  the  course  of 
time. 

v.— Patrick  Amongst  the  Deist. 

Although  not  expressly  stated,  it  is  likely  that  Patrick 
crossed  the  hills  by  this  pass,  and  then  journeyed  eastward 
through  the  territory  of  the  Deisi,  a  wide-spread  and  war- 
like tribe  that  dwelt  between  the  mountains  and  the 
southern  sea,  reaching  eastward  as  far  as  Creadan  Head, 
over  Waterford  Harbour. 

These  Deisi  were  originally  a  Meath  tribe  that  dwelt  in 
the  barony  of  '  Deece,'  which  takes  its  name  from  them."" 
But  they  were  expelled  from  their  territory  in  the  third 
century  by  Cormac  Mac  Art,  whose  life  they  attempted, 
and  were  forced  to  take  refuge  for  a  time  in  the  South  of 
Ireland.  O'Donovan  says  they  subdued  all  the  country 
from  the  river  Suir  to  the  sea,  and  from  Lismore  to  Water- 
ford  Harbour.  In  the  fifth  century,  not  long  before  the 
advent  of  St.  Patrick,  ^ngus,  King  of  Cashel,  gave  them 
the  vast  and  fertile  plain  called  Femen  in  the  Tripartite, 
south  of  Slievenaman,  towards  the  east  of  the  Galty 
Mountains.^  It  is  clear,  too,  from  the  Tripartite  that  a 
branch  of  this  tribe,  called  the  Deisi  Beg,  had  pushed  west- 
ward as  far  as  Ardpatrick,  and  northwards  to  Knockainy,^ 
but  being  surrounded  by  the  Munster  men,  they  were 
often  pillaged  and  '  peeled '  like  an  onion,  and  finally 
expelled  from  that  part  of  the  country.  The  Northern 
Deisi  may,  therefore,  be  the  men  who  occupied  the 
Baronies  of  Iffa  and  Offa  East  and  Ifia  and  Offa  West,  in 
the  south  of  Tipperary,  while  the  Southern  ^  Deisi  oc- 
cupied the  whole  of  the  County  Waterford.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  St.  Patrick,  crossing  the  mountains  at 
Seefin,  went  eastward  through  the  territory  of  the  Deisi, 
probably  by  Mitchelstown  and  Clogheen,  towards  the  Suir, 
at  Ardfinnan. 


'The  modern  diocese  of  Lismore  shows  the  ancient  bounds  of  the  whole 
Deisi  territory,  both  north  and  south  of  the  mountains.  It  included  not  only 
the  county  Waterford,  but  all  South  Tipperary,  and  a  small  portion  of  East 
Cork,  near  Mitchelstown. 

^Sse  Four  Masters,  A.D.  1 560.  Note  where  Cuchullin  describes  Knock- 
ainy  as  situated  in  Deisi  Beg. 

■^  It  is,  perhaps,  more  likely  that  the  phrase  '  Southern  Deisi,'  in  the  Tripartite 
is  to  be  understood  of  the  Deisi  of  Waterford,  in  opposition  to  the  Deisi  of  Meath . 


AMONGST  THE    DEISI.  435 

Somewhere  there  Patrick  was  kept  awaiting  the  king 
of  the  country,  namely,  Fergair,  son  of  Ross.  On  his 
arrival  the  Saint  said  to  him — "Thou  hast  come  slowly." 
"  The  country  is  very  stiff,"  said  the  King  ;  sure  enough 
it  was  a  stiff  country  between  the  Knockmealdown 
Mountains  and  the  Galtys,  and  so  Patrick  said  ;  but 
he  did  not  believe  the  excuse  to  be  genuine,  for  he  added 
— "  a  king  shall  never  come  from  thee."  "  What  (really) 
delayed  you  to-day  ?  " — said  Patrick.  "  Rain  delayed  us," 
said  the  King.  "  Your  tribal  gatherings  shall  be  showery," 
said  Patrick. 

^Patrick's  Well  is  in  that  place,  and  there  is  the 
church  of  Mac  Clarid,  one  of  Patrick's  household.  More- 
over, the  Deisi  held  their  gatherings  at  night,  for  Patrick 
left  that  word  upon  them,  since  it  was  at  night  they  came 
to  him.'  In  this  way,  doubtless,  they  hoped  to  escape  the 
penalties  threatened  by  Patrick.^ 

There  is  a  Patrick's  Well  in  the  parish  of  Inislounaght, 
near  Clonmel,  which  is,  probably,  the  place  here  referred 
to.  If  so,  it  is  likely  that  Patrick  crossed  the  river  Tar  at 
Clogheen,  and  the  Suir  at  Ardfinnan,  and  so  came  to 
Patrick's  Well.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  narrative: 
'  Patrick  cursed  the  streams  of  that  place  because  his  books 
had  been  drowned  in  them — thrown,  perhaps,  into  the 
river  at  the  ford — and  the  fishermen  had  refused  to  give  him 
fish.'  x^nd,  although  they  were  fruitful  hitherto,  he  said 
that  there  would  be  no  mills  on  these  streams,  but  '  the 
mills  of  the  foreigners  would  be  nigh  to  them ' — perhaps  at 
Clonmel  or  Waterford.  The  '  foreigners  '  were,  doubtless, 
the  Danes.  But  he  blessed  the  Suir  and  its  banks  ;  and 
that  river  is  fruitful  except  where  the  other  streams  enter 
it.  These  streams  must  be  either  the  river  Tar  or  the  Nar, 
or  both,  for  they  enter  the  Suir  from  different  directions 
quite  close  to  each  other.  If  Patrick  went  from  Ardfinnan 
to  Clonmel,  he  would  pass  by  the  parish  oi  Tubbrid, 
famous  for  all  time  as  the  birth-place  and  parish  of  Geoffrey 
Keating,  the  greatest  of  our  Irish  historians. 

In  the  Life  of  St.  Declan  it  is  said  that  having  himself 
yielded  due  submission  to  Patrick  at  Cashel,  at  his  return 
he  besought  the  chieftain  of  the  Deisi,  who  dwelt  at  a  place 


^  There  are  many  living  traditions  of  Patrick  on  the  northern  slopes  of 
Knockmealdown  Mountains  ;  and  it  is  said  he  even  went  as  far  as  Ardmore  to 
visit  St.  Declan,  but  there  is  no  reference  to  this  visit  in  Tirechan  or  the 
Tripartite. 


43^         ST.    PATRICK    IN   THE    DIOCESE    OF    LIMERICK. 

called  Hynneon,  to  go  with  his  followers,  and  meet  the 
Apostle,  to  receive  baptism  at  his  hands,  and  i^ain  his 
blessing  for  himself  and  his  tribesmen.  But  the  stubborn 
chieftain  refused,  and  Declan  found  it  necessary  to  choose 
another  leader  named  Fearghal,  who  duly  submitted  to 
Patrick,  and  gave  him  large  grants  of  land  not  far  from  the 
Suir,  perhaps  at  Donaghmore,  where  the  name  implies  that 
Patrick  founded  a  church.  The  name  of  this  unbelieving 
chieftain  is  called  Lebanny,  and  he  is,  perhaps,  the  same 
who  came  late  to  visit  Patrick,  and  may  afterwards  have 
refused  to  receive  baptism  for  himself  and  his  people  at  his 
hands.  The  place  where  he  dwelt  is  called  Hynneon, 
which,accordingtoHennesy,  is  identical  with  Mullaghnoney, 
about  two  miles  north-west  of  Clonmel.  Perhaps  Rath- 
ronan,  in  that  neighbourhood,  contains  the  same  name. 
Knockgraffon,  still  further  north,  was,  certainly,  a  royal 
palace  at  that  time,  and  this  chieftain  of  the  Deisi  may 
have  dwelt  there.^ 

From  Clonmel  of  the  Deisi  Patrick  returned  north  ; 
most  likely  by  Cashel. 

The  Tripartite  never  brings  Patrick  twice  through  the 
same  territory  on  his  missionary  journeys,  its  main  object 
being  to  show  the  new  districts  which  he  evangelized  and 
the  churches  which  he  founded.  Patrick  did  not,  we  think, 
cross  the  Blackwater  at  all,  nor  enter  any  part  of  the  Co. 
Waterford,  for  St.  Declan  had  that  as  his  own  special 
territory,  and  had  already  preached  the  Gospel  with  success 
in  the  diocese  of  Ardmore,  which  included  the  district 
now  known  as  Decies  within  Drum.  The  old  church  and 
beautiful  round  tower  of  Ardmore  still  mark  the  site  of 
his  cathedral,  on  a  commanding  eminence  overlooking  the 
southern  sea. 

VI. — Patrick  in  North  Ormond. 

From  Cashel  Patrick  came  unto  Muscraige  Thire, 
which  comprised  the  modern  baronies  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Ormond;  along  the  eastern  shore  of  Lough  Derg.  His 
purpose  was  to  baptise  and  preach,  and  establish  the  faith 
therein,  probably  about  the  year  454.  He  met  there — it 
is  not  stated  where — three  brothers,  the  dynasts  o*  that 
region,  namely,  Fuirc,  Munnech  and  Mechar,  sons  of  Fora, 
son  of  Connla.     Munnech  believed  at  once — before  all  the 

^Sce  O'Hanlon,  Vol.  III.,  p.  331. 


In  north  okmond.  437 

rest.  Mechar  also  believed,  yet  not  so  promptly,  but  the 
furious  Fuirc  opposed  Patrick,  and  hence,  though  a  hoary 
man,  and  apparently  the  eldest  of  the  three,  he  was  post- 
poned to  the  others,  '  and  his  race  was  nowhere  in  the 
kingdom  ; '  a  thing,  adds  the  bardic  historian,  not  lament- 
able. 

Now  Munnech  had  twelve  sons,  who  all  came  to  visit 
Patrick,  but  they  all  came  late  except  Muscan.  Wherefore 
Patrick,  the  man  of  God,  destined  his  father's  kingdom  for 
him  in  preference  to  all  the  others,  '  and  that  rule  still 
remains  unaltered,'  that  is,  the  succession  of  his  family,  as 
the  reward  of  his  promptness  in  the  service  of  God.  It  is 
a  striking  lesson  for  all  time. 

Now  Coninn,  one  of  the  brothers,  excused  himself  on 
the  ground  that  he  was  building  a  fence ;  whereupon 
Patrick  said  his  family  would  never  effectively  secure  their 
homes  or  their  fields  with  walls  or  fences.  '  If  they  dig 
the  earth  and  make  a  fosse  it  gapes ;  if  they  put  up  a  fence 
it  soon  falls  ;  if  they  build  crannogs  in  a  bog  they  never 
stand  firmly.'^  Another  of  the  twelve,  Cellachan,  said  he 
came  late  because  of  his  debts — '  whether  due  to  him  or 
due  by  him  I  know  not' — says  the  writer.  It  was  probably 
the  former,  and  he  was  collecting  them.  Then  Patrick  said 
"  when  my  amnesty  in  Munster  is  over,  if  thou  shalt  do 
harm,  even  though  others  may  escape,  you  and  your  family 
will  not  escape,  but  must  either  give  up  the  delinquent  or 
pay  his  eric — seven  cumals."  That  is,  the  penalties  of  the 
law  would  be  rigorously  exacted  in  their  case,  as  he  him- 
self exacted  them  in  the  case  of  his  debtors.  The  amnesty 
shows  that  Patrick  insisted  on  a  truce  to  the  incessant 
tribal  wars  during  his  presence  in  any  territory — a  most 
necessary  and  excellent  lesson  of  Christian  charity. 
Carthach,  another  brother,  said  he  would  come  and  believe 
at  once,  but  he  was  awaiting  to  know  whether  his  foster- 
father  would  forbid  him  to  do  so  or  not.  The  excuse  was 
an  ingenious  and  plausible  one,  for  it  was  difficult  to  blame 
the  youth  for  waiting  to  ascertain  the  wishes  of  his  foster- 
father.  Wherefore  Patrick  said  his  descendants  would  be 
expert  and  subtle  in  worldly  questions,  but  they  would  be 
separated  from  this  kingdom — of  Muskerry  apparently — 
that  is,  have  no  share  in  its  government.  So  to  each  he  '  said 
a  word,'  meting  out  suitable  temporal  penalties  for  their 

^  Crannogs,  built  on  poles  driven  into  the  mud,  were  often  built  in  lakes 
and  marshes  for  safety  sake. 


438        ST.    PATRICK    IN   THK    DIOCESK    OF   LIMERICK. 

negligence,  '  and  that  word  has  been  fulfilled,'  adds  the 
writer. 

It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  passage  that  when 
Patrick  was  preaching  in  Munster  he  required  the  kings  of 
the  province  to  keep  peace  with  each  other — an  inestimable 
blessing,  if  it  could  be  effectually  carried  out.  Reference 
is  made  in  an  old  poem,  quoted  in  the  Tripartite,  to  an- 
other rule  of  Patrick,  imposed  by  him  on  Munster,  as  well 
as  on  all  the  rest  of  Ireland.  This  '  rule  '  seems  to  be  the 
payment  of  some  tribute  to  the  church  of  Armagh,  in 
recognition  of  its  Primacy  as  the  See  of  Patrick  and  the 
Mother  Church  of  all  Ireland. 

When  Cothraige,  that  is  Patrick,  imposed  a  rule  upon 
Virginal  Ireland,  on  the  host  of  the  isle  he  conferred  a 
lasting  blessing  : — 

This  is  the  blessing,  he  gave  it  up  to  seven  times, 
On  everyone  who  shall  keep  his  rule  and  his  law, 
Whoever  breaks  the  rule — awful  example — 
He  said  they  would  not  see  him  in  the  land  of  the  Saints. 
And  that  his  race  would  not  be  in  esteem  ever  after, 
And  his  race  would  never  have  its  reprisal. 
Patrick's  rule  in  great  Munster  was  imposed  on  every  clan, 
Until  Dungalach  of  the  race  of  Failbe  Flann  broke  it, 
Dungalach,  son  of  Faelgus,  the  grandson  of  true  Natfraich, 
It  is  he  who  first  transgressed  Patrick's  rule  in  the  beginning. 
It  is  told  in  old  tales,  every  multitude  knows  it, 
His  successorship  is  not  in  Cashel  of  the  Kings, 
Though  he  won  battles,  of  his  offspring  there  is  not 
A  high  bishop,  nor  an  erenagh,  nor  a  prince,  nor  a  sage, 
There  is  no  illustrious  man  of  his  strange  race, 
If  there  is  none  now,  neither  will  there  be  any  found  till  the  Day 
of  Doom. 

The  rivalry  between  Conn's  Half  and  Mogh's  Half  of 
Erin  made  it  very  difficult  for  Patrick  and  his  successors 
in  Armagh  to  secure  at  all  times  a  recognition  of  their 
spiritual  primacy  in  Munster.  The  princes  of  the  South 
feared  that  this  recognition  might  involve  a  recognition  of 
the  claim  to  temporal  supremacy  also,  as  a  right  of  the 
northern  kings.  Hence  the  tribute  to  Armagh  was  not 
paid  with  regularity,  and  the  primates  were  rarely  in  a 
position  to  enforce  their  claims,  either  by  the  spiritual  or 
temporal  sword.  We  are  told,  indeed,  that  ^ngus  for- 
mally recognised  this  obligation  when  he  was  baptised  by 
Patrick  in  Cashel,  and  that  on  behalf  of  himself  and  the 
Kings  of  Munster  for  ever  he  promised   to  fulfil  it  faith- 


TN   NORTH   ORMOND.  439 

fully^  But  we  see  that  at  a  later  period  Dungalach,  grandson 
of  another  Natfraich,  who  was  himself  a  grandson  of  Failbe 
Flann,  repudiated  this  supremacy  of  Armagh,  and  refused 
to  pay  the  tribute.  He  appears  to  be  the  King  of  Hy 
Liathain,  whose  death  is  recorded  A.D.  y6Q>,  by  the  Four 
Masters.  But  in  the  twelfth  century,  as  we  shall  see,  the 
primacy  of  St.  Celsus  was  recognised  throughout  the 
South,  and  he  levied  the  tax  of  Patrick  in  all  the  churches 
that  were  recognised  as  Patrician  churches  founded  by 
the  Saint — of  these  Ardpatrick  appears  to  have  been  the 
chief,  and  Celsus  for  some  time  made  it  his  home. 

The  subsequent  work  of  Patrick  during  his  stay  in 
Munster  is  then  summed  up — '  He  founded  churches  and 
cloisters ;  he  ordained  folk  of  every  grade  ;  he  healed  all 
manner  of  sick  people ;  and  he  raised  the  dead  to  life. 
Then  he  bade  the  Munstermen  farewell,  and  left  his  bless- 
ing with  them,'  when  he  came  to  Brosnacha  river,  which 
was  practically  the  northern  limit  of  their  territory.  The 
story  of  the  parting  is  very  touching. 

Patrick  went  to  the  Brosnacha,  and  the  men  of  Munster 
went  after  him  '  as  if  each  of  them  would  outstrip  the  other/ 
when  they  heard  he  was  going  to  leave  them.  Nay,  whole 
households — men,  women  and  children — fared  after  Patrick 
to  the  river ;  and  when  they  overtook  him  at  the  stream, 
they  uttered  a  great  shout  and  a  cry  of  ]oy}  because  they 
saw  him  once  more  before  he  left  them  ;  and  it  was  from 
that  great  cheering,  so  full  of  joy,  that  the  river  got  its 
name.  And  then,  in  presence  of  all  the  people,  Patrick 
brought  to  life  one  Fot,  son  of  Derach,  a  youth  of  the  age 
of  twenty-seven.^  And  he  fed  the  whole  multitude  at  the 
Craibecha,  by  blessing  a  bushel  of  corn  which  was  given  to 
him  by  Bishop  Trian,  a  pilgrim  of  the  Romans,  whence  it 
was  called  the  Feast  of  the  Bushel.  After  that  he  blessed 
them  once  more,  saying  : — 

A  blessing  on  the  Men  of  Munster, 
On  men,  boys,  and  women. 
A  blessing  on  the  land 
That  gives  them  fruit  ; 
A  blessing  on  every  treasure 
That  shall  grow  on  their  plains, 
So  that  no  one  shall  want  help  ; 
God's  blessing  be  on  Munster ; 

^  Broscar,  Colgaii  says,  means  joy. 

2  '  Not  twenty-seven  years  dead ' — that  is  not  stated.  The  other  is  the 
more  likely  meaning.     The  figures  are  merely  given  XXVU. 


440        ST.    PATRICK   IN   THE   DIOCESE   OF   LIMERICK. 

A  blessing  on  their  hills, 

On  their  hearth  stones, 

A  blessing  on  their  glens, 

A  blessing  on  their  highlands, 

Like  sand  of  the  sea  under  ships 

Be  the  number  of  their  homes, 

On  slopes,  on  plains, 

On  mountains,  on  peaks. 

There  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  that  the  scene  of  this 
touching  farewell  was  the  place  now  called  Riverstown, 
which  was  then  a  ford  on  the  Brosna  river,  less  than  a  mile 
to  the  south  of  the  modern  Birr.  It  was  the  great  pass 
from  Munster  to  the  north,  and  to  this  day  the  diocese  of 
Meath  comes  close  to  the  town  of  Birr,  which  is  itself  in  the 
diocese  of  Killaloe,  whose  boundary  at  the  present  day 
represents  the  ancient  limits  of  the  kingdom  of  Thomond. 

But  the  barony  of  Ballybritt,  which  extends  eastwards 
from  Birr  to  the  northern  extremity  of  Slieve  Bloom,  was 
certainly  in  the  ancient  Munster,  and  is  still,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Seirkieran,  in  the  diocese  of  Killaloe.  Now,  it 
is  expressly  stated  that  Patrick  went  from  Munster,  not 
into  Meath,  but  into  Offaley.  Hence  we  must  conclude 
that  he  crossed  the  river  either  at  Riverstown,  or,  what  is 
more  likely,  further  south  at  the  village  of  Brosna,  seeing 
that  he  passed  not  into  Meath,  but  through  Ely  O' Carroll, 
along  the  western  slopes  of  the  mountain,  until  he  came 
to  its  northern  extremity,  where  he  passed  into  Offaley.^ 

VII. — Patrick  in  Offaley. 

This  ancient  and  famous  kingdom  extended  from  the 
northern  edge  of  Slieve  Bloom  eastward  to  the  Hill  of 
Allen,  in  Kildare,  and  from  Croghan  Hill  in  the  north  to 
the  Heath  of  Maryborough,  where  it  joined  Leix,  on  its 
southern  border.  With  the  exception  of  the  Hill  of  Croghan 
and  the  Ridge  of  Killeigh,  it  is  one  vast  plain,  interspersed 
with  bogs  and  fertile  cluains,  as  level  as  the  sea,  so  that 
looking  north  from  Portarlington,  not  a  single  eminence, 
except  the  Hill  of  Croghan,  is  conspicuous  enough  to  catch 
the  eye.     It  is  one  wide  expanse  of  moorland  and  lime- 

^  The  river  Brosna,  from  Birr  westward  to  the  Sliannon,  was  the  boundary 
of  Munster  where  it  touched  Meath  ;  from  Birr  southward,  it  was  the  boundary 
between  Muskerry  and  Ely  O'CarroU  ;  but  the  latter  was  a  part  of  Munster, 
though  not  of  Muskerry. 


IN   OFFALEY.  44 1 

stone  plain,  through  which  the  sluggish  feeders  of  the  infant 
Barrow  carry  off  the  drainage  of  the  bogs. 

Cathair  Mor,  the  famous  Leinster  King,  who  flourished 
in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  bequeathed  this 
territory,  as  well  as  a  great  part  of  western  Kildare,  to  his 
eldest  son,  Ros  Failge ;  and  his  descendants  held  the  land 
in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  Now,  the  ruling  prince  at  that 
time  was  called  Failge  Berraide ;  and  when  he  heard  that 
Patrick  was  coming  into  his  territory  he  boastfully  declared 
that  he  would  kill  the  tailcend  in  revenge  for  Cenn  Cruach, 
or  Crom  Cruach,  Failge's  god,  whom  Patrick  had  overthrown 
at  Magh  Slecht,  in  Leitrim.^ 

Patrick's  servants  heard  of  those  vain  boastings :  still 
they  concealed  their  fears  from  Patrick,  who  knew  nothing 
of  the  special  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed  in  Offaley. 
But  his  devoted  charioteer,  Odran,  resolved  to  save  the 
life  of  his  beloved  master,  if  necessary  at  the  sacrifice  of 
his  own.  So  when  they  came  round  the  point  of  Slieve 
Bloom  at  Brittas  into  Offaley,  Odran  said  to  Patrick,  "  I 
am  now  a  long  time  driving  for  you,  my  good  master 
Patrick  ;  will  you  take  my  place  to-day  and  let  me  sit  to 
rest  myself  in  your  place  ?  "  Patrick  readily  granted  this 
request  of  his  old  and  faithful  servant.  So  they  drove 
northward  from  Brittas  to  Killeigh,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
and  from  Killeigh  to  the  place  now  called  Geashill,  but 
which  was  then  named  Bridam — it  is  in  fact  the  same 
name  under  another  form.  No  doubt  there  was  a  royal 
dun  at  this  place,  for  it  was  always  one  of  the  strongholds 
of  Offaley,  and  many  a  bloody  struggle  took  place  in  its 
neighbourhood  between  the  Gael  and  the  Saxon  in  later 
ages.  There  it  was  that  the  accursed  Failge  Berraide 
approaching  the  chariot  of  the  Saint,  gave  suddenly  a  spear 
thrust  to  Odran,  who  sat  in  Patrick's  seat,^  and  thus 
received  the  deadly  blow  intended  for  his  master.  Patrick 
at  once  cried  out  in  anger,  "  My  curse  " — "  on  the  tree  of 
Bridam,"  said  the  dying  Odran,  who  thus  diverted  the 
curse  of  his  master  from   his  slayer  to  the  tree.     Patrick 


^  "  He  heard  of  pagan  altars  dishonoured  and  overthrown,  etc 

Then  sware  he  by  his  demons,  with  proud  and  wicked  will, 
That  he  would  lie  'neath  tree  and  sky  ; 
Would  watch  in  light  and  muiky  night, 
And  that  impostor  kill." — Poem  by  Rev.  M.  Watson,  S.J. 
^  It  would  appear  that  Patrick  was  leading  the  team  on    foot,  as  his 
charioteer  used  to  do.     The  tracks  were  bad,  and  it  was  necessary  very  often 
to  lead  the  team. 


4-12        St.    t>ATRICK    IN   THE    DIOCESE    OF   TIMERICK. 

yielded  too  when  he  saw  the  great  charity  of  his  servant. 
"  Be  it  so,"  he  said.  '  Still,'  says  the  Tripartite,  '  Failge 
died  at  once  and  went  down  to  hell,'  '  But  as  to  Failge  ^ 
Ross,'  who  appears  to  have  been  his  brother,  '  he  meditated 
no  guile  against  the  Saint,  and  it  is  his  children  who  are 
in  the  land  to-day.'  He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  three 
great  families,  the  O'Conors,  the  O'Dempseys,  and  the 
O'Dunns,  who  in  after  times  ruled  all  the  land.  The 
O'Conors,  the  eldest  branch  of  the  line,  held  the  kingship 
for  many  centuries,  and  dwelt  chiefly  at  Geashill  and 
at  Croghan,  where  they  had  a  strong  fort  on  the  southern 
slope  of  the  hill.  They  did  not  dwell  at  Philipstown,  which 
was  an  Anglo-Norman  stronghold.  O'Dunn's  chief  fortress 
was  on  the  southern  border  at  the  foot  of  Slieve  Bloom; 
and  the  O'Dempsey,  who  became  Viscount  Clanmaliere  in 
the  time  of  Charles  the  First,  had  his  chief  fortress  at 
Ballykeane,  about  six  miles  north-west  of  Portarlington. 
Patrick  blessed  their  common  ancestor,  Failge  Ross,  and 
the  writer  of  the  Tripartite  adds  that  from  him  is  the 
sovereignty  of  the  land  for  ever.  It  was  so  then  and  for 
many  centuries  afterwards,  but  Cromwell  and  King  William 
made  many  changes  in  Erin  never  dreamt  of  by  the  holy 
men  who  wrote  the  Tripartite.  Still  the  Gael  may  get 
their  own  again  and  verify  the  prophecy. 

Patrick  was  badly  treated  in  Offaley,  and,  if  we  can 
judge  from  the  brief  narrative  of  his  journey,  he  made  only 
a  short  stay  there,  merely  passing  through  it.  We  are  not 
told  that  he  founded  a  single  church  or  left  a  single  one  of 
his  disciples  in  that  territory ;  yet  we  find  a  few  traces  of 
him  in  the  district,  but  v^ry  slight  ones  they  are. 

VIII.— KiLLEiGH  OF  Offaley. 

Killeigh  is  called  in  Irish  Cell  Achadh  Droma-Fada — 
the  Church  of  the  Field  of  the  Long  Ridge ;  and  most 
appropriately,  for  a  long  ridge  rises  up  from  the  great 
plain  just  over  the  church,  and  it  would  appear  that  over 
this  long  ridge  lay  the  great  highway  to  the  north.  So 
Patrick  must  have  passed  there,  and  Colgan  thinks  the 
church  was  founded  by  his  disciple,  St.  Sinell  of  the  Hy 
Garrchon  of  Inver  Dea — the  first  man  whom  Patrick  bap- 
tised in  Erin.  *  Sinell,  son  of  Finchad,  is  the  first  who 
believed  in   God   in  Ireland  through  Patrick's  preaching. 

^  *  Failge  '  was  a  family  or  gentile  name,  from  their  ancestor. 


KlLLEIGH   OF   OFFALEY.  443 

And  Patrick  bestowed  a  blessing  on  him  and  on  his  off- 
spring.' We  are  not  told  his  age  at  that  time,  in  432,  but 
his  death  is  marked  at  549,  so  he  must  have  lived  to  a 
very  great  age.,  perhaps  to  be  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years  old  before  he  died — not  three  hundred  and  thirty,  as 
some  manuscripts  have  it,  doubtless  through  an  error  of 
the  scribes.  He  was  of  the  royal  blood  of  the  Leinster 
kings,  and  migrated  from  the  unbelievers  of  the  Hy 
Garrchon  to  his  kinsmen  in  the  west  of  Leinster.  It  is 
doubtful  if  he  was  there  at  Killeigh  when  Patrick  passed 
by.  Most  probably  he  was  not,  for  the  inhabitants  seem  to 
have  been  still  pagans.  But  his  church  afterwards  became 
the  centre  of  a  great  school  and  monastery,  and  also  a 
home  for  many  pious  pilgrims  from  foreign  lands.  The 
Litany  of  ^ngus  commemorates  '  thrice  fifty  holy  bishops 
with  twelve  pilgrims  under  Senchill  the  Elder,  a  priest,  and 
Senchill  the  Younger  (perhaps  his  nephew  or  son),  a 
bishop  ;  and  twelve  other  bishops,  who  settled  in  Cell 
Achadh  Droma-Fada  in  Hy  Failgi.'  The  '  Pious  Rules 
and  Practices  '  of  this  ancient  and  holy  community  are 
still  extant  in  the  original  Irish,  and  go  to  show  that  it 
must  have  been  one  of  the  most  famous  establishments  of 
the  kind  in  Ireland ;  it  certainly  was,  after  Kildare,  the 
most  famous  in  North  Leinster.  We  know,  too,  from  the 
entries  in  the  Annals  that  its  abbots,  scribes,  and  anchorites 
continued  to  flourish  down  to  the  time  when  Lord  Leonard 
Grey  plundered  the  church  of  Killeigh,  and  carried 
off  its  organs  and  its  stained  glass  for  the  use  of  the 
young  Collegiate  Church  of  Maynooth,  which  was  founded 
by  the  great  Earl  of  Kildare  in  the  opening  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  whilst  Henry  VIII.  was  still  a  good 
Catholic,  if  not  in  morals  at  least  in  doctrine.  It  was  at 
her  castle  of  Killeigh,  too,  that  Lady  Margaret,  daughter 
of  0' Carroll  of  Ely,  and  wife  of  O'Conor  Faly,  gave  the 
famous  feast  to  which  all  the  Bards  and  Sages  of  Erin 
were  invited  on  the  festival  day  of  the  founder  of  the 
church,  the  5th  of  April,  145 1.  Never  since  or  before 
was  such  a  feast  given  to  the  scholars  of  Erin,  and  those 
who  could  not  attend  on  the  first  occasion  were  invited  to 
a  second  feast,  which  was  given  in  the  same  year  by  the 
same  noble  lady.  She  died  a  nun  in  the  convent  of  Kil- 
leigh ;  and  the  old  chronicler,  who,  doubtless,  shared  her 
bounty,  whilst  he  asks  a  prayer  for  her  soul  and  the  blessing 
of  all  the  saints  '  from  Jerusalem  to  Inisglora  in  Erris  on 
her  going  to  heaven,'  winds  up  with  a  hearty  *  curse  on  the 


^44        ST.    PATRICK   IN   THE    DIOCESE   OF   LIMERICK. 

sore  in  her  breast  that  killed  Lady  Margaret.'  She  probably 
died  of  cancer.^ 

If  St.  Sinell  was  at  Killeigh  when  Patrick  was  going 
north,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  gave  a  hearty  welcome  to 
the  beloved  master  who  first  preached  to  him  the  saving 
truths  of  faith  and  cleansed  his  soul  in  the  laver  of 
regeneration. 

IX. — Patrick  at  Croghan  Hill. 

The  Hill  of  Croghan — Cruachan  Bri  Eile — is  situated 
on  the  northern  verge  of  Offaley,  but  within  that  ancient 
territory.  It  is  a  very  conspicuous  hill,  rising  from  the 
vast  plain  around  it ;  and  from  its  summit  the  King  of 
Offaley  could  easily  see  every  part  of  his  wide  domain. 
The  northern  ro:iJ  passed  near  it,  and  that  road,  or 
causeway,  leading  through  the  bog  near  the  hill  was  the 
battle-ground  of  many  a  hard  fight,  and  still  gives  name 
to  a  townland  near  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  castle  that 
commanded  the  pass. 

We  may  then  regard  the  'green  smooth  Hill  of 
Croghan  *  as  the  chief  stronghold  of  that  cattle-abounding 
land.  It  was  probably  the  place  where  the  Kings  of 
Offaley  were  inaugurated,  although  O'Donovan  says  he 
could  find  no  trace  of  the  Inauguration  Stone  on  the 
summit  of  the  hill.  The  ruins  of  the  ancient  church 
founded  by  St.  Macaille,  a  nephew  of  St.  Patrick,  are 
still  to  be  seen  on  its  south-eastern  shoulder,  and  a  small 
mound,  though  now  much  defaced,  once  occupied  its  sum- 
mit. It  was  probably  the  grave-mound  of  the  famous 
warrior,  Congal,  whose  remains  are  said  to  rest  on  Bri 
Eile ;  or  else  it  may  be  the  monument  of  Eile,  daughter 
of  Eochaidh  Fedlech,  who  gave  her  name  to  this  beautiful 
hill.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  is  St.  Patrick's  Well,  which 
shows  that  the  Saint  was  there,  and  that  he  used  its  waters 
to  baptise  the  men  of  Offaley.  The  good  people  of  the 
neighbourhood  point  out  the  place  where  the  Saint's  horse, 
running  down,  the  hill,  leaped  on  the  rock,  and  left  the 
mark  of  his  knee  and  of  his  shoes.  The  water  of  the  holy 
well  cannot,  it  is  said,  be  boiled  or  even  warmed.^ 

1  For  a  lull  account  of  Lady  Margaret's  feast  see  Four  Masters,  anno  145 1, 
Note.  The  learned  of  Erin — '  philosophers,  poets,  guests,  strangers,  religious 
persons,  soldiers,  mendicants,  and  poor  orders,'  to  the  number  of  2,700  per- 
sons, never  got  such  a  spread  before. 

'^  See  the  late  Dr.  Comerford's  Kildare  and  Leighliti^  vol.  ii.,  321,  from 
which  many  of  the  foregoing  particulars  are  taken. 


AT   CR0GHA3SI    HILL.  445 

But  Queen  Eile's  Hill  is  sacred  to  the  memory  of  a 
still  more  famous  Irish  maiden,  the  great  St.  Brigid  of 
Kildare.  We  believe  it  to  be  almost  quite  certain  that  it 
was  in  St.  Maccaille's  church,  on  the  south-eastern  slope 
of  the  hill,  that  the  Virgin  Saint  of  Kildare  received  the 
veil  from  Bishop  Maccaile.  As  we  have  already  pointed 
out,^  St.  Brigid  was  born  about  the  year  A.D.  436.  The 
Irish  Life  in  the  Book  of  Lismore  says  she  received  the 
veil  from  Bishops  Mel  and  Maccaile  in  her  eighteenth  year 
in  *  Telcha  Mide.'  Now  this  '  tulach  '  of  Meath,  which  has 
given  its  name  to  the  barony  of  Fartullagh,  was  at  that 
time  considered  a  part  of  Meath,  but  afterwards  it  became 
a  part  of  the  sub-territory  of  Offaley.  It  was  just  on  the 
boundary  line  between  the  two  territories,  and  the  fortune 
of  war  transferred  it  from  one  kingdom  to  the  other.  We 
are,  therefore,  justified  in  concluding  that  it  was  there  St. 
Brigid  received  the  veil  from  St.  Maccaile,  and  there,  too, 
in  the  little  church  that  once  stood  on  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
the  virgin  saint's  touch,  as  she  took  her  vows,  made  the 
dry  wood  of  the  altar  green  again  in  all  the  freshness  of 
its  vernal  bloom. 

At  this  point,  near  the  head  waters  of  the  Boyne, 
Patrick  had  completed  the  entire  circuit  of  all  the  land  of 
Erin.  Some  twenty-one  years  before  he  had  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Boyne  on  his  way  to  Tara,  friendless  and  un- 
known, except  to  his  own  immediate  companions.  Now  he 
returned  to  the  sources  of  the  same  historic  river,  having 
successfully  carried  the  Gospel  message  through  all  the 
provinces  of  Erin.  He  had  preached  not  only  in  the  plains 
of  royal  Meath,  east  and  west,  but  he  had  crossed  the 
vShannon,  and  from  the  centre  of  the  idolatry  of  the  west  at 
Magh  Slecht,  he  had  triumphantly  carried  the  Cross  of 
Christ  to  the  very  summit  of  Cruachan  Aigle,  over  the 
western  sea.  He  had  penetrated  to  the  farthest  valleys  of 
Inishowen,  where  the  northern  surges  break  on  Malin  Head. 
He  had  gone  round  through  Antrim  and  Tyrone  with  the 
same  message  of  peace;  he  had  met  the  unrelenting  Kings 
of  Laigen  at  their  own  doors,  and  baptised  them ;  he  had 
stood  on  the  Rock  of  Cashel,  and  won  its  sovereign  to 
the  service  of  Christ ;  at  the  peril  of  his  life  he  had  passed 
through  Offaley ;  and  now,  triumphant  in  the  might  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  he  stood  on  the  summit  of  Croghan  Hill, 
and  was  able  to  see  the  fountains  of  the  infant  Boyne,  at 

^  See  chapter  on  St.  Patrick  in  Clogher. 


44^        ^T.    PATRICK   IN   THE    DIOCESE   OF   T.TMERICK. 

whose  mouth  he  had  landed  so  many  years  ago,  and  look 
northward  over  the  fertile  plains  of  Meath  and  Bregia,  where 
the  prelates  whom  he  had  appointed  over  the  churches  of 
the  royal  kingdom  could  now  point  to  a  young  and  fervent 
ge^neration  of  youths  and  maidens  growing  up  around  them 
in  all  the  ardent  fervour  of  the  infant  Church  of  Ireland. 
We  may  be  sure  that  on  that  day  he  murmured  a  fervent 
*  Deo  Gratias  '  to  the  good  God  who  had  made  his  ministry 
so  marvellously  successful  through  all  the  land  of  Erin — 
and  surely  the  children  of  Ireland  to  the  end  of  our  nation's 
hfe  have  good  cause  to  join  in  that  fervent  prayer  of  their 
spiritual  father. 

The  Annals  of  Ulster,  and  the  Four  Masters  also,  state 
that  the  Feis  of  Tara  was  celebrated  by  King  Laeghaire 
in  A.D.  454  ;  and  Petrie  adds  that  it  was  the  only  Feis 
celebrated  by  Laeghaire  during  the  whole  of  his  reign.  If 
so,  it  was  a  national  event  of  supreme  importance  ;  and  we 
may  fairly  assume  that  Patrick,  the  spiritual  Head  of  all 
Erin,  would  make  an  effort  to  be  present  at  that  great 
National  assembly. 

It  is  not  without  solid  reasons,  therefore,  that  we  may 
assign  to  454  the  completion  of  Patrick's  missionary  circuit 
of  the  whole  island.  He  would  thus  appear  before  the 
King  and  his  nobles  clothed  with  all  the  authority  of 
his  marvellously  successful  apostolate.  He  would  have 
powerful  friends  from  all  parts  of  Ireland  at  the  Conven- 
tion, and  hardly  anyone,  not  even  the  unbelieving  King 
himself,  would  venture  to  dispute  his  authority. 

No  doubt  most  of  the  bishops  whom  he  had  appointed 
to  various  sees  throughout  the  island  would  also  be  present 
at  the  national  parliament ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  it  is 
to  this  period  we  should  refer  the  formal  promulgation  of 
the  great  Code  of  Laws  known  as  the  Senchus  Mor.  The 
Commission  appointed  by  Patrick  for  the  purification  of 
the  ancient  Code  had,  it  is  true,  been  appointed  as  early  as 
438 ;  and  it  is  said  they  had  completed  their  labours  in 
441.  Still,  the  new  Christian  Code  could  not  have  received 
a  formal  national  approval  except  in  the  Feis  of  Tara 
before  the  Kings  and  Chiefs  of  all  Christian  Ireland ;  and 
hence  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  this  was  one 
of  the  purposes  for  which  the  great  assembly  was  convoked, 
at  which  for  the  first  time  the  Apostle  of  Erin  and  many  of 
the  prelates  whom  he  had  ordained  would  take  a  part  in 
the  great  council  of  the  nation. 

This  will  be  then  the  rnost  suitable  place  to  give  a 


AT   CROCzHAN    HILL.  447 

short  account  of  that  great  reform  of  the  Brehon  Laws 
which  was  accompHshed  under  the  guidance  of  St.  Patrick. 
The  Brehon  Code  is  no  longer,  it  is  true,  in  force  in 
Ireland  ;  but  almost  the  whole  body  of  the  Laws  has  been 
recently  published  in  five  volumes  quarto,  with  a  glossary, 
and  these  volumes  serve  to  throw  great  light  on  our 
national  history  and  ancient  institutions.  The  Introduction 
to  the  first  volume  of  this  great  compilation,  called  the 
Senchus  Mor,  gives  an  excellent  summary  of  the  history  of 
that  great  work.  We  can  only  afford  a  brief  sketch  of  it 
here,  but  long  enough  to  occupy  the  next  chapter,  which 
will  show  the  manifold  wisdom  and  indefatigable  zeal  of 
Patrick  in  providing  for  the  urgent  needs  of  his  own  time 
and  the  future  development  of  the  Irish  Church  and  the 
Irish  people  with  a  view  to  their  best  temporal  interests, 
but,  above  all,  in  accordance  with  the  unchangeable 
maxims  of  the  Gospel. 


CHAPTER     XXIV. 

ST.  PATRICK    REFORMS    THE    BREHON  CODE. 

I. —Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Brehon  Code. 

One  of  St.  Patrick's  greatest  works  was  his  reform  and 
ratification  of  the  ancient  Brehon  Laws  as  embodied  in  the 
great  compilation  known  as  the  Senchus  Mor,  or  Great 
Antiquity.  His  labours  in  this  respect  claim  special 
attention,  for  the  Brehon  Code  prevailed  in  the  greater 
part  of  Ireland  down  to  the  year  A.D.  1600,  and  even  still 
its  influence  is  felt  in  the  feelings  and  habits  of  the  people. 
The  laws  of  a  nation  necessarily  exercise  a  great  and  per- 
manent influence  in  forming  the  mind  and  character  of  the 
people  ;  nor  can  the  provisions  of  the  Brehon  Code  be 
safely  ignored  even  now  by  those  whose  duty  it  is  to 
legislate  for  Ireland. 

As  explained  before,  the  Brehon  Code  which  St. 
Patrick  found  in  Ireland,  owed  its  existence  mainly  to 
three  sources — first,  to  decisions  of  the  ancient  judges  (of 
whom  the  most  distinguished  was  Sen,  son  of  Aighe), 
given  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  natural  justice, 
and  handed  down  by  tradition ;  secondly,  to  the  enact- 
ments  of  the  Triennial  Parliament,  known  as  the  Great 
Feis  of  Tara ;  thirdly,  to  the  customary  laws,  which 
grew  up  in  the  course  of  ages,  and  regulated  the  social 
relations  of  the  people,  according  to  the  principles  of  a 
patriarchal  society,  of  which  the  hereditary  chief  was  the 
head.  This  great  Code  naturally  contained  many  provi- 
sions that  regulated  the  druidicai  rights,  privileges,  and 
worship,  all  of  which  had  to  be  expunged.  The  Irish,  too, 
were  a  passionate  and  warlike  race,  who  rarely  forgave 
injuries  or  insults,  until  they  were  atoned  for  according  to 
a  strict  law  of  retaliation,  which  was  by  no  means  in 
accordance  with  the  mild  and  forgiving  spirit  of  the 
Gospel.  In  so  far  as  the  Brehon  Code  was  founded  on 
this  principle,  it  was  necessary  for  St.  Patrick  to  abolish  or 
amend  its  provisions.  Moreover,  the  new  Church  claimed 
its  own  rights  and  privileges,  for  which  it  was  important 
to  secure  formal  legal  sanction,  and  have  it  embodied  in 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  BREHON  CODE.   449 

the  great  Code  of  the  Nation.  This  was  of  itself  a  difficult 
and  important  task. 

During  the  pre-Christian  period  in  Ireland  the  custo- 
mary laws  by  which  the  Celtic  tribes  were  governed  were 
formulated  in  brief  sententious  rhymes,  which  were  trans- 
mitted, at  first  orally,  and  afterwards,  it  seems,  in  writing, 
by  each  generation  of  poets  to  their  successors.  Up  to 
the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era  the  poets  had  thus  not 
only  the  custody  of  the  laws,  but  also  the  exclusive  right 
of  expounding  them  and  of  pronouncing  judgments.  Even 
when  the  king  undertook  to  adjudicate,  the  file,  or  poet,  was 
his  official  assessor,  and  the  king  was  guided  by  his  advice 
in  administering  justice.  The  poets  were  exceedingly 
jealous  of  this  great  privilege,  and  lest  outsiders  might 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  law  they  preserved  the  archaic  legal 
formulae  with  the  greatest  secrecy  and  tenacity.  So  that 
at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ  the  language  of  the 
lawyers  was  quite  unintelligible,  even  to  the  chiefs  and 
princes  of  the  kingdom. 

This  was  very  strikingly  shown  in  the  reign  of  Conor 
Mac  Nessa,  King  of  Ulster,  about  that  period,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  legal  discussion  between  two  rival  poet- 
judges,  which  took  place  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and 
his  nobles.  The  rival  claimants  for  the  gown  of  the  poet- 
judge  were  so  learned  and  obscure  in  the  language  which 
they  used,  that  neither  the  king  himself  nor  any  of  his 
courtiers  could  understand  the  strange  and  mystic  language 
in  which  they  conducted  the  discussion.  Thereupon  the 
men  of  Erin  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  this  system  of  esoteric 
learning,  and  so  it  was  ordained  by  the  king  and  his  nobles 
that  thenceforward  the  office  of  judge  should  not  be  confined 
to  the  poets  alone,  but  should  be  open  to  all  who  duly 
qualified  themselves  by  acquiring  the  learning  requisite  for 
the  office  of  Brehon  or  Judge  of  Erin. 

It  was,  however,  in  the  third  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  during  the  reign  of  Cormac  Mac  Art,  that  the  Brehon 
Code  seems  to  have  been  first  digested  and  reduced  to 
writing.  Cormac,  son  of  Art,  and  grandson  of  Conn  the 
Hundred  Fighter,  reigned  from  A.D.  227  to  267,^  and  was, 
perhaps,  the  greatest  and  most  celebrated  of  the  old 
Milesian  kings.  During  his  long  reign  of  forty  years  the 
arts  of  war  and  peace  flourished  greatly  throughout  all  the 
kingdom.     He  was  the  first  king  who  established  a  stand- 

*  Four  Masters. 

2,  G 


450    ST.  PATRICK  REFORMS  THE  BREHON  CODE. 

ing  army  for  the  protection  of  his  kingdom — they  were  the 
celebrated  Feini,  whose  exploits  under  their  great  leader, 
Finn,  the  son  of  Cumhal,  are  so  celebrated  in  the  romantic 
stories  of  Ireland.  By  their  aid  he  curbed  the  power  of 
the  provincial  kings  during  his  reign,  although  after  his 
death  the  dissensions  among  the  Fenians  themselves  led 
to  the  bloody  fight  of  Gavra,  and  greatly  weakened  the 
military  strength  of  the  kingdom.  It  was  Cormac,  too,  who 
first  introduced  water  mills  for  grinding  corn  into  Ireland. 
He  built  the  great  Rath  of  Tara,  which  still  bears  his 
name,  and  also  the  Great  Hall  of  Banquets  called  the 
Teach  Midchuarta,  in  which  the  National  Triennial 
Assembly  was  celebrated  by  him  with  great  splendour 
and  magnificence.  The  site  of  that  splendid  hall  can  still 
be  traced  on  the  Hill  of  Tara,  and  actual  measurements 
made  on  the  spot  by  Dr.  Petrie  prove  beyond  doubt 
the  accuracy  of  the  statements  made  regarding  all  its 
arrangements  in  an  ancient  Irish  poem  copied  into  the 
Book  of  Leinster — a  work  written  so  far  back  as  the 
twelfth  century.  Many  writers  attribute  the  founding  of 
the  Feis  of  Tara  to  the  pre-historic  times  of  Ollamh 
Fodhla ;  but  if  the  Feis  of  Tara  dates  back  so  far,  it 
seems  to  have  fallen  into  disuse,  and  to  have  been  re-estab- 
lished by  Cormac  with  more  than  its  ancient  splendour. 

This  National  Assembly  of  the  men  of  Erin  met  every 
three  years  for  a  week,  at  November  Day,  for  the  three-fold 
purpose  of  enacting  laws,  of  verifying  the  chronicles  of 
Erin,  and  of  causing  them  to  be  transcribed,  when  thus 
verified,  into  the  Saltair  of  Tara,  which  was  the  official 
record,  now  unfortunately  lost,  of  the  entire  kingdom,  and 
was  always  kept  in  the  custody  of  the  High  King  at  Tara. 
Cormac  was  himself  a  great  jurist  and  scholar,  and  the 
authorship  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Book  of  Aicill  con- 
tained amongst  the  Brehon  Laws  is  in  that  work  itself 
attributed  to  the  pen  of  Cormac,  who  wrote  it  after  he  had 
retired  from  the  affairs  of  state  to  enjoy  quiet  in  his  old 
age.  We  may  fairly  assume,  then,  that  the  pagan  Code  of 
the  ancient  Laws  of  Ireland  was  reduced  to  written  form  in 
the  reign  of  Cormac  Mac  Art,  and  from  his  time  remained 
almost  unchanged  until  the  conversion  of  the  kingdom  by 
St.  Patrick.  It  was  then  that  the  ancient  tracts  now  pub- 
lished by  the  Brehon  Law  Commission  were  subjected  to 
a  new  revision,  and  again  formally  sanctioned  as  the  great 
code  of  the  Irish  nation.  How  it  was  brought  about  we 
are  told  in  the  ancient  introduction  prefixed  to  the  Senchus 


THE  AUTHORS  OF  THE  REVISION.         45 1 

Mor  itself,  and  it  is  a  most  interesting  and  undoubtedly 
authentic  narrative. 

This  Senchus  Mor  is  the  principal  of  all  the  Brehon  Law 
treatises,  and,  according  to  the  old  Celtic  custom,  the  place 
and  time  of  its  composition  are  first  of  all  stated.  The 
place  of  the  vSenchus  was  Tara  '  in  the  summer  and  autumn, 
on  account  of  its  cleanness  and  pleasantness  during  these 
seasons.'  But  during  the  winter  and  spring  the  revisers 
adjourned  their  sessions  to  *  Rath-guthaird,  where  the  stone 
of  Patrick  is  at  this  day  in  Glenn-na-mbodhur,  near  Nithne- 
monnach,  on  account  of  the  nearness  of  its  firewood  and 
its  water,  and  on  account  of  its  warmth  in  the  winter's  cold.' 
These  indications  point  to  one  of  the  large  raths  on  the 
banks  of  the  River  Nith,  quite  close  to  the  village  of 
Nobber,  in  Meath,  where  *  Patrick's  Stone '  is  still  pointed 
out,  and  marked  on  the  Ordnance  Map.  It  was  to  the 
north  of  Tara,  close  to  wood  and  water,  and  well  sheltered 
from  the  bitter  wintry  winds  to  which  Tara  was  so  much 
exposed  from  its  elevated  situation. 

The  time  of  composition  was  the  reign  of  Laeghaire, 
the  son  of  Niall,  King  of  Erin,  and  Theodosius  was  monarch 
of  the  world  at  the  time.  The  exact  date  of  the  composi- 
tion of  the  Senchus  Mor  is  not  fixed  in  the  Introduction  to 
that  venerable  record,  but  the  Four  Masters  fix  the  period  : 
The  age  of  Christ  438.  The  tenth  year  of  Laeghaire  the 
Senchus  and  the  Feinechus  were  purified  and  written. 
So  also  the  Chronicon  Scotorum  tells  us  that  in  438  the 
Senchus  Mor  was  written — the  year  in  which  Auxilius, 
Secundinus,  and  Iserninus  were  sent  to  aid  Patrick  in 
preaching  to  the  Irish.  The  work,  however,  really  occupied 
three  years,  from  438  to  441,  and  was  not,  we  may  assume, 
formally  promulgated  until  the  Feis  of  Tara. 


II. — The  Authors  of  the  Revision. 

The  Introduction  then  tells  us  the  cause  why  the 
Senchus  was  written,  and  the  persons  who  were  engaged 
in  its  composition.  The  cause  was  to  bring  the  laws  of 
Erin  and  the  Gospel  preached  by  Patrick  into  harmony  ; 
for  it  was  found  that,  as  in  the  case  of  murder,  so  in  many 
other  laws  also,  the  Brehon  code  was  not  in  accordance 
with  the  Gospel  preached  by  Patrick,  and  hence  Laeghaire 
said,  "  It  is  necessary  for  you,  O  men  of  Erin,  that  every 
other  law  should  be  settled  and  arranged  by  us  as  well  as 


452  ST.    PATRICK    RETORMS   THE    BREHON    CODE. 

this."  "  It  is  better  to  do  so,"  said  Patrick;  whereupon 
King  Lacghaire  appointed  the  first  l^rehon  Law  Commis- 
sion, consisting  of  nine  persons,  to  whom  was  entrusted  by 
the  men  of  Erin  the  task  of  revising  and  purifying  all  the 
laws  of  the  kingdom.  The  Commission  consisted  of 
Patrick  and  Benen  and  Cairnech,  three  bishops  ;  Laegh- 
aire  and  Core  and  Daire.  three  kings  ;  Rossa  and  Dub- 
thach  and  Fergus,  three  poet-judges. 

Benen  was,  it  appears,  secretary  to  the  Commission. 
He  was  the  favourite  disciple  of  Patrick,  a  skilful  scribe, 
and  a  sweet  singer,  and  afterwards  became  assistant  bishop 
to  Patrick  in  the  See  of  Armagh.  Cairnech  was  the  patron 
saint  of  Tuilen,  now  Dulane  in  Meath,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  a  native  of  Cornwall.  He  died  about  the  year 
470. 

Laeghaire  was,  of  course,  the  High  King  of  Tara,  Core 
was  King  of  Munster,  and  Daire  was  the  King  of  Ulster  of 
that  name  who  gave  the  site  of  Armagh  to  Patrick  for  his 
cathedral  church. 

Of  the  poets,  Dubthach  was  the  celebrated  Dubthach 
Mac  ua  Lugair,  who  rose  up  to  do  honour  to  St.  Patrick  at 
Tara  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  to  King  Laeghaire's 
court,  and  afterwards  became  one  of  his  earliest  and  most 
influential  converts.  Rossa  Mac  Trichem  was  also  a  poet, 
but  his  speciality  was  that,  like  Dubthach,  he  was  an 
Ollave  or  doctor  of  the  Bearla  Feini,  which  was  the  ancient 
technical  dialect  of  the  lawyers.  Fergus  is  simply 
described  as  a  poet,  one  of  the  bardic  order,  which  was  too 
numerous  and  too  influential  not  to  be  represented  on  this 
Commission. 

When  the  Commission  was  thus  duly  constituted, 
Dubthach,  the  royal  chronicler  and  poet  of  Tara,  was 
ordered  by  the  king  to  exhibit '  the  judgments  and  all  the 
poetry  of  Erin  and  every  law  which  prevailed  amongst  the 
men  of  Erin  through  the  law  of  nature  and  the  law  of  the 
seers,  and  in  the  judgments  of  the  island  01  Erin  and  in 
the  poets.*  This  was  the  ancient  code  existing  in  its 
rudimentary  form  from  time  immemorial,  afterwards 
perfected  and  arranged  by  the  poets  and  the  judges,  and 
sanctioned  at  various  times  in  the  Feis  of  Tara.  Then 
Dubthach,  in  obedience  to  the  king's  command,  exhibited 
to  Patrick  and  to  his  associates  '  all  the  judgments  of  true 
nature,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  spoken  through  the 
mouths  of  the  Brehons  and  the  just  poets  of  the  men  of 
Erin,  from  the  first  occupation  of  the  island  down  to  the 


THE   AUTHORS   OF   THE    REVISION.  453 

preaching  of  the  faith/*  Whatever  clashed  with  the  truths 
of  the  Gospel  was  rejected,  or  purified  to  bring  it  into 
harmony  with  the  Christian  law  ;  but '  what  did  not  clash 
with  the  word  of  God  in  the  written  law  and  in  the  New 
Testament  and  with  the  consciences  of  the  believers  was 
confirmed  in  the  Brehon  laws  by  Patrick  and  by  the 
ecclesiastics  and  by  the  chieftains  of  Erin.'  Hence  the  new 
code  was  called  the  Cain  Patraic,  or  Patrick's  Law,  and 
'  was  written  in  a  book  which  is  the  Senchus  Mor,  and  no 
human  Brehon  of  the  Gaedhil  is  able  to  abrogate  anything 
that  is  in  the  Senchus  Mor.' 

Such  was  the  origin  of  this  famous  code,  as  set  forth  in 
the  preface  to  the  work  itself,  and  corroborated  by  the  text 
of  the  volume.  This  preface  or  introduction  is  not,  indeed, 
so  old  as  the  text,  but  even  in  its  present  form  it  bears 
intrinsic  evidence  that  it  was  written  more  than  one 
thousand  years  ago.  It  is  true  that  various  objections 
have  been  raised  to  this  account  of  the  recension  and 
codification  of  our  ancient  laws  as  set  forth  in  the  Intro- 
duction to  the  Senchus.  These  difficulties,  however,  are 
mostly  chronological,  and  are  found  to  disappear  on  closer 
examination. 

It  has  been  urged,  for  instance,  that  St.  Benignus  could 
not  have  been  old  enough  to  act  on  this  Commission  in 
A.D.  438,  seeing  that  he  was  merely  a  boy  when  baptised 
by  St.  Patrick  in  A.D.  432.  The  answer  is  simple.  In 
438  he  would  have  been  at  least  a  youth  of  twenty-one, 
and  as  we  know  from  other  sources  that  he  was  an  accom- 
plished scholar  and  the  favourite  disciple  of  St.  Patrick,  he 
is  just  the  person  whom  the  Saint  would  naturally  select  to 
act  as  secretary  to  the  Commission,  and  in  this  way  he 
would,  of  course,  be  set  down  as  one  of  its  members. 

Then,  again,  it  is  said  that  King  Core  could  not  have 
been  then  alive,  since  we  read  that  his  grandson  yEngus 
Mac  Natfraich  was  baptised  by  St.  Patrick  when  the  latter 
visited  Munster.  But  as  ^ngus  was  quite  a  youth  when 
baptised  by  St.  Patrick,  about  A.D.  445,  and  only  came  to 
the  throne  m  A.D.  453,  according  to  Keating,  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  his  grandfather  being  alive  and  King 
of  Munster  from  438  to  441. 

Another  alleged  anachronism  has  arisen  from  con- 
founding St.  Cairnech   of  D'llane,   who  flourished   in  the 


^  The  oracles  of  natural  justice  are  justly  aUiibuted  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  is  Author  of  natural  as  well  as  supernatural  law. 


454  ST.    PATRICK    REFORMS   THE    BREHON    CODE. 

fifth  century  and  was  a  contemporary  of  St.  Patrick,  with 
St.  Cairnech  of  Druim  Lighean,^  who  died  about  the  year 
530.  There  is  no  ground,  therefore,  for  not  accepting  the 
dehberate  opinion  of  our  two  greatest  Celtic  scholars, 
O'Donovan  and  O'Curry,  who  most  carefully  examined 
this  question,  that  these  objections  against  the  alleged 
origin  of  the  Senchus  are  not  well  founded,  and  that  '  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement  that  the  nine  authors 
of  the  Senchus  Mor  were  contemporaries  and  were  all 
alive  at  the  time  when  the  work  is  said  to  have  been  com- 
posed.' Neither,  we  may  add,  is  there  any  solid  reason  to 
doubt  the  fact  of  their  joint  authorship  of  this  great  com- 
pilation in  the  sense  already  explained,  so  that  in  the 
Senchus  we  have  a  most  venerable  and  most  authentic 
memorial  of  the  laws  and  institutes  of  ancient  Ireland, 
dating  in  its  substance  from  pre-Christian  times,  and 
merely  digested  and  purified  by  the  historic  Commission 
presided  over  by  our  national  Apostle. 

The  text  of  the  laws  is  beyond  doubt  very  ancient. 
O'Donovan  believed  that  both  the  text  and  the  poem  of 
Dubthach  Mac  Ua  Lugair,  quoted  in  the  Introduction  to 
the  Senchus,  are  the  genuine  production  of  the  age  of 
St.  Patrick.  It  may  be  said  that  O'Curry  was  of  the  same 
opinion,  and  Todd,  a  most  competent  critic,  thought  that 
portions  of  the  text  of  the  Senchus  are  of  a  very  high  anti- 
quity, and  that  even  the  more  recent  portions  cannot  be  of 
later  date  than  the  ninth  or  tenth  century.  Petrie,  too, 
observes  that  the  Senchus  is  frequently  quoted  in  Cormac's 
Glossary  to  explain  the  meaning  of  certain  terms  ;  and 
Cormac's  Glossary,  if  not,  as  some  think,  the  work  of  the 
king-bishop  himself,  was  certainly  composed  not  later 
than  a  century  after  his  death.  And  Graves,  the  late 
Protestant  Bishop  of  Limerick,  has  pointed  out  that  portions 
of  the  text  of  the  Senchus  are  in  regular  Irish  v^erse — a  fact 
which  of  itself  goes  far  to  corroborate  the  statement  made 
in  the  Introduction,  that  the  original  text  was  really  the 
work  of  the  bards,  and  that  it  was  merely  arranged  and 
purified  in  the  time  of  vSt.  Patrick  by  Dubthach  and  his 
brother  poets,  who  '  put  a  thread  of  poetry  round  the 
Senchus  for  St.  Patrick,'  as  it  is  quaintly  expressed  in  the 
Introduction  to  that  work. 

The  commentary  and  glosses  are,  of  course,  of  more 
recent  composition,  for  they  represent  accretions  to  the 

*  Now  Drumleene  on  the  western  bank  of  Lough  Foyle,  near  Liftord. 


THE    AUTHORS    OF    THE    REVISION.  455 

original  text  made  by  different  writers  at  different  times,  and 
belonging  to  different  schools  of  law.  But  the  same  original 
and  authoritative  text  is  recognised  by  them  all,  with  only 
these  minor  variations  that  must  have  inevitably  arisen  from 
the  mistakes  of  commentators  and  copyists.  For  the  anti- 
quarian, however,  as  well  as  for  the  historian,  even  the.se 
commentaries,  by  various  hands  and  of  various  dates,  will  Le 
full  of  interest  and  instruction,  embodying  as  they  do  uncon- 
scious references  or  allusions  to  the  manners  and  customs  of 
so  many  various  times  and  localities. 

The  Brehon  Laws  were,  however,  never  codified  or 
reduced  to  a  system  deduced  from  first  principles.  The 
very  nature  of  their  growth,  arising  from  the  social  needs  of 
the  time,  forbids  this  idea.  We  have  them,  so  to  speak, 
in  their  historical,  not  in  their  scientific,  development. 
They  were  written,  too,  for  men  perfectly  familiar,  not  only 
with  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  times,  but  also  with 
all  the  fundamental  principles  and  the  daily  practice  of  the 
Brehon  Code.  And  hence  we  find  so  many  things  and 
terms  left  unexplained  in  the  text  and  the  commentary, 
which  nevertheless  were  perfectly  familiar  to  the  law 
students  of  those  days. 

This  is  one  of  the  great  difficulties  in  dealing  with  the 
Brehon  Laws.  Not  only  is  the  language  technical  and 
archaic  in  the  highest  degree,  but  the  very  life  and  civiliza- 
tion, of  which  it  was  the  expression,  have  completely  passed 
away.  We  are  living  in  an  entirely  different  world,  and  we 
have  lost  beyond  hope  of  recovery  the  key  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  these  laws,  which  perished  with  the  Brehons  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  '  The  key  for  expounding  both  the 
text  and  the  gloss  was,  so  late  as  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
First, possessed  by  the  Mac  Egans,  who  kept  the  law  school 
in  Tipperary,  and  I  dread,'  says  C.  O'Conor  of  Belanagar, 
'  that  since  that  time  it  has  been  lost.' 

This  also  explains  why  it  is  that  so  many  terms  were  left 
untranslated  by  eminent  scholars  like  O'Donovan  and 
O'Curry.  They  were  no  longer  terms  living  in  the  language, 
and  there  was  no  glossary  to  explain  them.  The  complete 
and  careful  study  of  the  laws  themselves  could  alone  furnish 
the  key — a  task  which  they  did  not  live  to  accomplish. 
Even  still  the  latest  editor  can  only  guess  at  the  meaning 
of  many  of  the  words. 

But  all  these  things  go  to  prove  the  undoubted 
authenticity  of  these  ancient  laws.  The  language  itself  is  the 
best  proof  that  they  are  what  they  claim  to  be,  the  ancient 


456  ST.    PATHICK    REFORMS   THE    BREIION    CODE. 

laws  of  Erin  handed  down  at  first  by  oral  tradition  from  im- 
memorial times,  and  afterwards  collected  and  purified  by  the 
authors,  who  have  transmitted  them  in  their  present  shape  to 
our  day.  The  language  of  the  text  is  not  the  middle,  nor 
even  the  old  Irish — it  is  something  older  still,  manifestly 
bringing  us  back  to  pre-Christian  times,  and  still  showing 
fragments  of  the  ancient  rhymes  in  which  it  was  handed 
down  by  the  poet-judges  from  generation  to  generation,  even 
before  the  art  of  writing  was  introduced  into  Erin. 

It  has  been  confidently  said  by  many  writers  that  it  was 
St.  Patrick  who  first  introduced  the  use  of  letters  into  Ire- 
land. As  if,  forsooth,  during  the  centuries  that  the  Romans 
were  in  Britain  and  Gaul  no  tincture  of  their  civilization 
could  cross  our  narrow  seas,  at  a  time,  too,  when  many  exiles 
from  Ireland  were  forced  to  spend  years  in  these  countries, 
and  great  kings  like  Cathair  Mor  and  Cormac  Mac  Art  had 
foreign  soldiers  in  their  service,  and  held  frequent  inter- 
course, sometimes  friendly  and  sometimes  hostile,  with  these 
countries. 

III. — Legal  Relations  Between  Church 
AND  State. 

The  relations  between  the  Church  and  the  Irish  tribes 
were  very  intimate,  but  also  somewhat  peculiar. 

The  Brehon  Code  places  the  King  and  the  Bishop  on 
terms  of  equality  in  the  social  scale,  the  Bishop  being  the 
spiritual,  and  the  King  thetemporal  head  of  the  tribe.  Hence 
an  equal '  dire  '-fine  was  fixed  for  a  King  and  for  a  Bishop  ; 
or,  as  it  is  elsewhere  explained,  the  honour-price  of  both 
was  equal  in  the  estimation  of  the  law.  Even  at  the  social 
board  the  haunch,  as  the  choice  joint,  was  reserved  by  law 
for  the  King,  the  Bishop,  and  the  Ollave,  or  literary  doctor. 

It  has  been  often  said  that  there  were  no  tithes  in 
Ireland  before  Henry  II.  introduced  them.  vSuch  state- 
ments are  unfounded,  for  the  Brehon  Code  prescribes 
payment  of  '  tithes,  first  fruits,  and  offerings  '  to  the  clergy, 
on  the  ground  that  the  payment  of  these  dues  are  a  return 
for  spiritual  benefits,  and  also  such  payment  averts  plagues, 
and  maintains  amity  between  the  rulers  and  the  people, 
and  averts  strife  and  wars.  The  dependence  of  the  monk 
on  his  abbot  was  also  legally  recognised,  so  that  no  contract 
of  the  monk  was  valid  in  law  without  the  consent  of  his 
abbot.  But  if  a  Bishop  '  stumbled  '  he  was,  like  a  false- 
judging  King,  to  be  degraded,  and  he  forfeited  thereby  all 
claim  to  *  dire  '-fine  or  honour-price. 


THE    LAWS    OF   FOSTERAGE.  457 

So,  likewise,  the  word  of  a  King,  Bishop,  or  Ollave  was 
accepted  as  higher  than  the  oath  of  any  of  the  inferior 
orders,  both  clerical  and  lay.  The  furniture  and  relics  of 
a  church  were  also  specially  protected  against  seizure  by 
distress ;  and  the  regulations  regarding  distresses  were  all 
made  with  the  advice  and  concurrence  of  the  Church. 
Clerics  were  also  by  law  exempted  from  the  duty  imposed 
on  other  spectators,  of  intervening  by  the  strong  hand 
to  prevent  unjust  aggression  of  the  weak.  Recourse  to 
violent  methods  was  deemed  inconsistent  with  their  sacred 
character. 

But  ecclesiastics,  though  specially  privileged  in  many 
ways,  were  not  exempt  from  distraint  if  they  failed  to 
fulfil  their  obligations.  Their  cattle  could  be  seized  and  a 
'  gad-tye  be  put  upon  their  bell-houses  ' ;  and  they  might 
be  warned  not  to  officiate  in  public  until  they  had  satisfied 
the  claims  of  justice. 

The  observance  of  Sundays  and  Festival  days  was  also 
recognised  by  law,  and  a  better  dress  than  ordinary  was 
prescribed  to  be  worn  by  the  higher  classes,  according  to 
their  station,  on  those  days. 

The  Church  enjoyed  certain  lands  within  the  termon, 
whose  tenants  were  bound  to  pay  rent  in  kind  to  the 
ecclesiastics  of  the  Church.  On  the  other  hand  the  clergy 
of  the  church  were  bound  to  give  the  tenants  '  preaching  * 
and  '  offering '  (mass),  to  give  them  '  right  repentance  '  and 
*  instruct  their  children.'  Tithes,  first  fruits,  and  offerings 
were  due  from  the  tenants ;  spiritual  service  from  the 
Church.  Restitution  was  to  be  made  for  any  illegal  seizure 
of  Church  property ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Church  was 
bound  to  feed  the  poor,  who  had  neither  tribe,  nor  land, 
nor  cattle. 

These  regulations  in  the  laws  are  most  minute,  and  are 
based  on  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  with  special 
application  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  country. 
From  this  point  of  view  the  Code  is  conceived  in  a  truly 
Christian  spirit ;  its  provisions  are  admirably  designed  to 
promote  charity  and  good  will ;  but  they  are  sometimes 
very  complex  and  hard  for  us  to  understand. 

IV.— The  Laws  of  Fosterage. 

Although  the  practice  of  Fosterage  was  by  no  means 
peculiar  to  the  Celtic  tribes,  it  is  still  little  understood,  and 
its  influence  in  the  formation  of  our  national  character 
seems  to  have  been  quite  ignored.     In  Ireland  the  custom 


458  ST.    PATRICK    REFORMS    THE    BRFIION    CODE. 

of  sending  out  the  children  of  the  chieftain  class  to  ht 
fostered  by  some  family  of  the  tribe,  seems  to  have  been 
universally  prevalent  in  the  Celtic  districts,  and  continued 
to  exist,  in  parts  of  the  country,  even  so  late  as  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  it  gradually  fell  into  disuse. 

The  laws  which  regulate  the  practice  of  Fosterage  are 
of  great  value  for  rightly  understanding  the  social  relations 
and  the  educational  system,  if  it  can  be  so  called,  in  vogue 
with  our  Celtic  forefathers.  There  were  two  kinds  of 
Fosterage  recognised  by  the  law  ;  one  for  payment,  altrum 
ar  iarraith  ;  and  one  from  aftection,  altriun  ar  airitir ;  but 
it  is  with  the  former,  as  might  be  expected,  the  law 
principally  deals.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  accepted 
principle  that  "  the  Fosterage  of  every  son  is  according  to 
his  price  of  Fosterage."  Hence  the  law  is  very  minute  in 
its  provisions,  and — what  is  specially  interesting  to  us — it 
sets  forth  with  great  exactness  the  mutual  obligations  of 
the  natural  father  and  the  foster  father,  and  regulates  the 
food,  clothing  and  education,  which  is  to  be  given  both  to 
male  and  female  foster  children.  The  price  of  Fosterage 
for  the  farming  classes  was,  generally  speaking,  three 
*  seds,'  something  less  than  three  cows  in  value ;  for  the 
chieftain  classes  the  price  varied  with  the  rank  of  the 
parents,  until  it  reached  thirty  cows  in  the  case  of  a  king's 
son.  The  food  was  generally  stirabout,  with  butter  or 
honey  as  a  savour.  No  legal  prevision  seems  to  have 
been  made  for  the  literary  education  of  the  foster-children ; 
but  the  law  is  imperative  on  giving  them  useful  technical 
education  according  to  their  position  in  life.  The  youths 
of  the  farming  classes  were  to  be  taught  to  herd  lambs, 
calves,  kids  and  young  pigs ;  and  also  kiln-drying,  wool- 
combing  and  wood-cutting — the  useful  arts  of  domestic  life. 
The  girls  of  the  same  class  were  taught  to  grind  with  the 
'  quern '  or  hand-mill,  to  sieve  the  meal  and  knead  the 
dough  for  baking.  The  daughters  of  the  chieftain  classes 
were  required  to  sew,  cut  out,  and  embroider ;  and  the 
chieftains'  sons  were  taught  military  and  athletic  exercises 
— horsemanship,  spear-throwing,  shooting,  chess-playing 
and  swimming.  If  the  foster-father  neglected  his  duty  in 
procuring  the  prescribed  instruction  for  the  children,  he 
was  by  law  subjected  to  a  heavy  fine,  payable  to  the 
father,  or  afterwards  to  the  child  himself,  to  whom  the 
wrong  was  done. 

The  foster-father  was,  moreover,  responsible  for  injuries 
to   the    child    arising    from   his    neglect,    and   was   also 


THE  BREHON  AGRARIAN  CODE.  455 

responsible  for  the  injuries  clone  by  the  boy  which  the 
foster-parent  might  have  prevented.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  was  entitled  to  a  portion  of  the  eric-fine,  payable  for 
any  injury  inflicted,  without  his  knowledge  and  against 
his  will,  on  his  foster-children,  just  as  if  they  were  his  own 
children. 

The  fosterage  terminated  at  the  sl^g  of  fourteen  for 
girls,  and  seventeen  for  boys.  The  foster-father  sent  a 
gift  with  the  youth  when  returning  home.  This  was 
intended  to  remind  both  the  foster-child  and  his  parents 
tliat  in  poverty  or  in  old  age  the  foster-parents  were 
entitled  by  law  and  affection  to  be  maintained  like  the 
natural  parents  by  the  foster-children.  This  was  a  most 
beautiful  provision  of  the  law.  It  tended  to  preserve  and 
deepen  the  bonds  of  family  affection  between  the  various 
members  of  the  tribe,  and  cement  them  together,  in  rude 
and  turbulent  times,  by  the  tenderest  and  closest  ties. 
And  we  know  from  Irish  history  that  the  greatest  affection 
subsisted  between  the  foster-child  and  his  adopted  family, 
and  that  it  was  deemed  as  impious  for  him  to  wrong  any 
one  of  them  as  if  they  were  members  of  his  own  family. 
In  this  respect  the  spirit  of  the  Celtic  code  is  beautifully 
expressed  in  Ferguson's  well-known  ballad,  "  The  Welsh- 
men of  Tirawley.^' 

We  can  say  only  a  few  words  of 

V. — The  Brehon  Agrarian  Code. 

The  tracts  on  the  Agrarian  Laws  and  on  Social 
Connections  are  decidedly  the  most  interesting  and 
instructive  parts  of  the  Senchus  Mor,  and  deserve  a  word 
of  special  mention  here.  The  Brehon  Land  Laws,  though 
now  extinct  for  more  than  three  centuries,  still  profoundly 
affect  the  thoughts  and  habits  of  Celtic  Ireland,  especially  in 
the  south  and  west.  The  Irish  people  never  took  kindly  to  the 
Feudal  system ;  it  was  in  direct  opposition  to  all  their 
inherited  instincts  and  most  cherished  traditions.  It  is 
true,  indeed,  that  some  few  of  the  old  proprietors  who  still 
survived,  and  many  of  the  best  of  the  new  landlords,  acted 
rather  in  accordance  with  the  soirit  of  the  old  tenure  than 
the  letter  of  the  new;  but  after  all,  these  were  but 
exceptions.  The  rule  was  a  strict  exaction  of  all  the  legal 
rights  deriving  from  an  absolute  and  unsympathetic 
ownership  of  the  soil,  which  was  wholly  unknown  to  the 
Brehon  Code.     This  oppression  burned  into  the  souls  of 


460  ST.    PATRICK    REFORMS   THE    BREHON    CODE. 

the  people  a  bitter  and  undying  hatred  of  Irish  landlordism, 
which  is  the  real  efficient  cause  of  that  marvellous  uprising 
against  landlordism  as  an  institution  which  we  have  wit- 
nessed in  our  own  days. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Brehon  Land  Laws,  we  must 
always  bear  in  mind  certain  fixed  principles  that  were 
regarded  as  fundamental  laws  of  all  tenure  by  the  Celtic 
tribes. 

(a)  There  was  no  such  thing  recognised  as  absolute 
ownership  ol  the  land  by  any  individual  in  his  private 
capacity.  The  land  of  the  Celtic  tribes  essentially  belonged 
to  the  community,  although  it  was  held  by  the  various 
members  under  varying  conditions  of  tenure.  From  this 
principle  two  important  consequences  followed — First,  upon 
failure  of  lawful  occupants  in  any  family,  the  land  reverted 
to  the  tribe,  and  was  then  disposed  of  by  the  chieftain  as 
head  of  the  tribe,  but  in  a  definite  manner  fixed  by  law. 
Secondly,  no  member  of  the  tribe  could  alienate  to 
strangers  any  portion  of  the  tribe  land  without  the  consent 
of  the  community. 

(d)  A  second  principle  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  the 
nominal  owner,  in  letting  his  land,  invariably  supplied  to 
the  tenant  the  stock  necessary  to  graze  and  work  the  farm, 
getting  in  return,  as  rent,  a  certain  fixed  annual  share  of 
the  stock  raised  on  the  farm. 

This  cattle  rent,  however,  seems  rather  to  have  been 
paid  for  the  use  of  the  stock,  than  for  the  use  of  the  land. 
For,  every  tribesman  legally  qualified  had  a  right  to  a 
share  of  the  soil.  His  chief  difficulty  when  beginning 
life  was  to  find  the  stock  to  graze  and  work  his  land,  and 
this  he  usually  got  from  the  head  of  the  tribe  or  some  of 
the  inferior  chieftains,  who  must,  therefore,  be  regarded 
rather  as  great  stock-masters  than  as  landlords,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  term.  The  chieftain,  indeed,  repre- 
sented the  tribe  in  all  its  agrarian  operations  with  its  own 
members  and  with  other  tribes,  and  this  of  course  gave 
him  much  power  and  influence  in  the  sub-division  cf  the 
land  ;  but  still  he  had  no  absolute  ownership  even  of  his 
own  estate,  and  was  therefore  very  far,  indeed,  from  being 
a  landlord,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word. 

Even  his  office  of  chieftain  was  not  of  private  and  strictly 
hereditary  right.  It  was  partly  hereditary  and  partly 
elective.  The  candidates  should  be  of  the  blood  royal  of 
the  tribe,  but  the  tribesmen  elected  the  individual  who 
was    to  succeed,    and   who   as   heir  apparent   was  called 


THE    BREHON   AG1<:AKIAN    CODE.  461 

the   tanaist,   and    as   such    enjoyed    a    recognised    official 
position. 

There  were  two  principal  forms  of  tenure  in  ancient 
Ireland — saer-stock  tenure,  and  daer-stock  tenure.  The 
lawyers  do  not  give  any  formal  definitions  of  these 
terms  in  the  Senchus.  They  were  writing  for  per- 
sons to  whom  both  these  things  were  perfectly  well 
known  from  every-day  experience,  and  while  the  jurists 
are  most  minute  in  their  commentaries  and  glosses  on 
all  the  various  incidents  of  these  tenures,  they  give  us 
no  scientific  explanation  of  the  terms.  We  may,  however, 
gather  an  explanation  of  their  nature  from  various  inci- 
dental references  made  to  the  subject. 

Saer-stock  and  daer-stock  tenure  have  been  some- 
times translated  as  '  free '  and  '  base '  or  villein  tenure 
respectively,  but  quite  inaccurately.  In  fact,  no  terms 
borrowed  from  the  feudal  tenures  can  adequately  describe 
the  Celtic  tenures,  which  were  of  an  essentially  different 
character,  as  was  pointed  out  above.  The  main  difference 
between  these  tenures  is  very  clearly  expressed  in  the 
commentary.  In  saer-stock  tenure  the  tenant  got  stock 
from  his  king,  or  chieftain,  and  gave  no  security  in 
return.  In  this  case  the  tenant  was  generally  a  member 
of  one  of  the  ruling  families,  and  as  such  entitled  to  this 
honourable  privilege.  But  he  was  bound  to  give  to  his 
chief  in  return  a  cattle-rent  proportionate  to  the  stock 
received,  but  only  for  a  certain  number  of  years.  He 
was  also  bound  to  give  '  manual  labour,'  especially  when 
the  chief  was  building  his  dun,  or  gathering  his  harvest, 
and  to  accompany  his  chief  on  military  expeditions  for  a 
certain  period  each  year,  if  called  upon,  and,  moreover, 
owed  '  full  homage,'  that  is  personal  attendance  and  dutiful 
obeisance,  which  was  rendered  to  the  chief  in  person  at 
certain  stated  times. 

Although  this  form  of  tenure  appears  to  have  been  the 
more  honourable,  it  was  commonly  regarded  also  as  the 
more  burdensome,  especially  on  account  of  the  manual 
labour  and  homage  payable  to  the  chief  It  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  compulsory  on  certain  families  in  the 
tribe.  In  some  cases  only  it  was  optional,  that  is  when 
the  land  was  held  in  saer-stock  tenure  of  inferior  lords,  who 
had  not  the  same  right  to  compel  homage  and  service  as 
the  righ,  or  king-chief 

The  daer-stock  tenure  was  purely  optional,  and  pre- 
vailed far  more  widely  amongst  the  tribes  of  Celtic  Ire- 


462    ST.  PATRICK  REFORMS  THE  BREHON  CODE. 

land.  Under  this  tenancy  the  tenant  was  oblij^cd  to  give 
security  for  the  stock  received,  and  he  was,  moreover, 
bound  to  pay  yearly  a  certain  food-rent  fixed  by  law 
and  proportionate  to  the  stock  received.  The  original 
stock,  too,  was  to  be  returned  to  the  lord  at  the  termina- 
tion of  the  tenancy ;  whereas,  under  the  saer-stock  tenure, 
the  original  debt  was  extinguished  by  an  annual  pay- 
ment every  year,  for  seven  years,  of  one-third  of  the 
stock  which  the  tenant  received  when  entering  on  his 
tenancy. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  in  the  laws  relat- 
ing to  daer-stock  tenure  is  the  penalty  which  it  provides 
for  arbitrary  eviction  on  the  one  hand,  or  for  desertion  of 
the  farm  on  the  other.  The  tenancy  was,  it  is  true,  legally 
a  tenancy  at  will,  and  might,  therefore,  be  determined  by 
the  act  of  either  party.  It  was  provided,  however,  that  if 
the  landlord  called  back  his  stock  and  thus  terminated  the 
tenancy,  when  there  was  no  fault  on  the  tenant's  part,  the 
tenant  was  then  entitled  to  retain  as  a  fine  for  disturbance 
one-third  of  the  returnable  stock,  and,  furthermore,  his 
own  '  honour-price,'  if  the  landlord  treated  the  tenant 
with  contempt.  Neither  was  he  bound  to  pay  any  food- 
rent  for  that  year,  so  that  the  landlord  was  severely  fined 
for  any  such  arbitrary  eviction,  to  which  consequently  he 
very  rarely  had  recourse. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  tenant  chose  to  determine 
the  tenancy  against  the  will  of  the  chief  or  stock-owner, 
he  was  bound  to  pay  back  to  the  chief  double  the  amount 
of  stock  which  he  had  originally  received,  and,  moreover,  a 
double  food-rent  for  the  last  year  of  the  tenancy.  Thus, 
without  giving  absolute  security  of  tenure,  the  law  made 
it  the  interest  of  both  parties  to  try  and  get  on  well 
together,  and  thereby  protected  both  without  injuring 
either. 

Another  admirable  provision  of  the  law  fined  the  tenant 
who  was  able  but  unvvilling  to  pay  his  food-rent  or  service, 
by  compelling  him  to  pay  a  double  rent,  when  he  was  a 
defaulter,  and  also  a  quantity  of  cattle  proportionate  to 
the  '  honour- price '  of  his  chief  or  landlord.  But,  if  the 
tenant  failed  to  pay  from  causes  over  which  he  had  no 
control,  he  was  acquitted  of  all  liability  by  simply  restoring 
the  cattle  which  he  had  originally  received  from  the  land- 
lord. *  No  one,'  says  the  text,  '  should  be  oppressed 
when  in  difificulty  ; '  that  is,  the  gloss  adds,  *  one  is  not  to 
be  oppressed  about  a  thing  which  he  is  not  capable  of 


THE  BREHON  AGRARIAN  CODE.  463 

rendering  in  his  difficulty,  that  is  in  his  poverty,  whether 
he  be  chief  or  tenant.'  The  very  last  provision  in  this 
admirable  law  of  daer-stock  tenure  ordains  that  '  if  the 
tenant  be  indigent,  he  may  repay  the  value  of  the  seds  (or 
stock)  which  he  received  by  service  according  to  arbitra- 
tionj  so  that  there  be  no  fraud.*  How  much  more  wisely 
did  the  Brehon  Law  deal  with  the  land  question  than  any 
code  yet  devised  by  Imperial  England. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
ST.  PATRICK  IN  ULIDIA. 

I. — Patrick's  Journey  Northward. 

The  narrative  of  the  Tripartite  seems  to  imply  that  Patrick 
went  from  Offaley  to  UHdia — that  is  East  Ulster,  without 
making  any  stay  at  Tara  or  elsewhere  in  Meath.  His  road 
would  take  him  near  Dunshaughlin ;  and  he  certainly 
would  not  pass  that  episcopal  city  without  visiting  his 
nephew  Secundinus,  if  he  were  then  alive. 

Now  two  very  ancient  authorities^  represent  him  as 
assistant  bishop  to  his  uncle  for  thirteen  years.  If  these 
years  are  to  be  counted  from  438,  when  the  Chronicon 
Scotorum  assures  us  that  he  came  to  Ireland  as  bishop,  his 
death  could  not  well  have  occurred  before  45 1 .    Old  P  atrick, 

*  the  tutor  of  our  Elder,'  is  represented  as  next  coadjutor 
to  St.  Patrick  for  two  years.  Benignus  succeeded  for  ten 
years  as  destined  successor  of  Patrick,  which  would  bring 
us  near  467,  which  is  set  down  as  the  year  of  his  death. 
We  must  bear  in  mind  that  in  all  these  cases  there  is  no 
question  of  actual  succession  to  Patrick  ;  they  were  merely 
assistant  bishops,  and  destined  successors  01  the  great 
Saint,  who  long  outlived  them  all.  This  is  clearly  stated  in 
the  catalogue  of  St.  Patrick's  household  given  in  the 
Tripartite,  and  is  also  implied  in  the  ancient  lists  of  St. 
Patrick's  successors,  given  both  in  the  Book  of  Leinster 
and  the  Lebar  Brecc,  for  the  fifty-eight  full  years  assigned 
to  Patrick's  apostolate  in  Ireland,  dating  from  432, 
clearly  include  the  periods  assigned  to  his  three  immediate 

*  successors.'  Moreover,  again,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
there  are  good  reasons  for  thinking  that  Sechnall  accom- 
panied Patrick  on  his  journey  northward,  on  this  occasion, 
from  Meath  to  Down.  It  probably  took  place  in  455,  so 
that  it  is  not  unlikely  Sechnall  lived  until  457,  as  the  Book 
of  Leinster  states,  and  such  is  our  opinion.^ 

After  narrating  the  attempt  to  take  Patrick's  life  in 
Offaley,  when  Odran  was  slain  in  his  stead,  the  Tripartite 

^  Lebar  Brecc  and  Book  of  Leinster.     See  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  547. 
2  See  Rolls  Trip.,  p.  513. 


PATRICK   AND   TRIAN   THE    CRUEL.  465 

passes  on  immediately  to  mention  his  journey  into  Uladh, 
or  Ulidia,  by  the  ancient  road  called  Midluachair.^  We 
know  from  the  Dindsenchas-  that  this  was  one  of  the  five 
great  roads  leading  from  Tara,  and,  according  to  Petrie,  it 
was  the  north-eastern  road  going  to  Ulidia,  by  Duleek  and 
Drogheda.  Now,  various  references  in  our  Annals  show  that 
it  passed  from  Tara  to  Slane,  crossing  the  Boyne  by  the 
celebrated  fords  of  Slane,  and  then  it  went  due  north  by 
Collon,  Ardee,  Dundalk,  and  the  Moira  Pass,  on  the  line  of 
the  present  railway.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  road  of 
Midluachair,  by  which  Patrick  went  either  from  Tara,  or 
perhaps  from  Slane,  into  the  land  of  Uladh,  as  the 
Tripartite  tells  us. 

II. — Patrick  and  Trian  the  Cruel. 

On  the  way,  at  some  place  which  is  not  determined,  he 
met  with  certain  wrights  who  were  felling  a  tree.  They 
were  slaves,  and  from  the  severity  of  their  labour  the  palms 
of  their  hands  were  blistered,  and  the  blood  was  oozing 
through  the  broken  skin.  ''  Who  are  you?"  said  Patrick. 
"  We  are  slaves,"  they  said,  "  to  Trian,  son  of  Fiacc,  son 
of  Amalgaid,  a  brother  of  Trichem  (of  Down).  We  are  in 
bondage  and  in  great  tribulation,  and  are  not  even  allowed 
to  sharpen  our  axes  against  a  grindstone,  lest  the  labour 
might  be  lightened  for  us ;  and  so,  as  you  see,  the  blood 
comes  through  our  hands.'' 

This  was  a  case  not  only  of  cruel  usage  of  the  poor 
slaves,^  but  of  cruelty  that  was  needless  and  deliberate. 
Patrick  at  once  gave  them  some  relief  by  blessing  the  iron 
tools  with  a  blessing  *  that  sharpened  them  for  their  work, 
even  better  than  a  flagstone  would  have  done.*  But  he 
did  more — he  went  at  once  to  the  king  at  Rath  Trena  to 
remonstrate  with  him.  Unfortunately,  we  cannot  exactly 
identify  the  place.  Trian,  Trichem,  and  Dichu  were  three 
brothers.  Dichu,  St.  Patrick's  first  friend  in  Ulidia,  dwelt 
somewhere  near  Saul.  Trichem  dwelt  at  Down,  so  we 
may  safely  infer  that  Trian  dwelt  beside  or  near  a  lake, 
as  the  narrative  shows,  on  the  road  to  Down  from  the 
south,  or  south-west.     It  was  probably  either  at  Castle- 

*  In  the  genitive  Midhluachra. 

^  The  Rennes  Dindsenc/tas,  by  Whitley  Stokes,  p.  455. 

^  There  can  be  no  doubt  ihat  slaves  and  even  hostages  of  the  noblest 
families  were  subject  to  great  hardships  in  Ireland.  St.  Patrick  had  personal 
experience  of  the  hard  lot  of  the  former. 

2  ij: 


466  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ULIDIA. 

wellan  or  Dundrum,  for  there  was  a  lake  at  both  places, 
and,  indeed,  not  one  but  several  sheets  of  water  were  in 
that  neic^hbourhood. 

Patrick  approaching  begged  the  cruel  chief  to  have 
pity  on  his  slaves  ;  'but  Trian  did  nothing  for  him.'  Then 
'Patrick  fasted  against  him,'  that  is,  kept  urging  his 
request  at  the  door  of  the  chieftain's  dun,  taking  neither 
food  nor  drink  until  his  petition  would  be  granted.  Still 
the  rude  chief  churlishly  refused  the  request  of  the  man  of 
God.  Thereupon  Patrick  turned  away  on  the  morrow 
from  the  fort,  having  fasted  in  vain  ;  but,  instead  of  casting 
the  dust  off  his  feet  against  it,  as  the  Gospel  directs,  he 
cast  his  spittle  on  a  rock  by  the  wayside — no  doubt  in 
anger — and  lo,  the  rock  broke  into  three  parts,  and  one  part 
was  flung  away  a  thousand  paces.  "One-third  of  the 
fasting,''  said  Patrick,  "  be  upon  the  rock,  one-third  on  the 
king  and  on  his  fort,  and  one-third  on  the  district.''  To 
some  extent  he  spared  the  guilty  prince ;  but  he  added, 
"there  will  never  be  of  him  either  King  or  Crown  Prince. 
He  himself  shall  perish  soon,  and  he  shall  go  down  to  the 
bitter  hell."  ^ 

And  so  it  came  to  pass — all  the  sooner  because  Trian, 
instead  of  repenting,  committed  a  new  crime  against  God 
and  his  Apostle.  He  himself  in  person  went  to  bind  and 
beat  the  poor  wood-cutting  slaves,  who  had  told  Patrick  of 
their  harsh  treatment.  This  new  crime  sealed  his  doom. 
On  the  way  his  horses  dashed  wildly  into  the  lake  by  the 
roadside,  carrying  with  them  the  chariot  with  Trian  and 
his  charioteer  along  with  him.  '  That  was  his  last  fall,' 
says  the  Chronicle.  He  was  heard  of  no  more;  but  the 
lake  has  borne  his  name.  It  is  still  called  Loch  Trena  ; 
though  the  unhappy  chief  will  never  come  out  of  the  lake 
until  the  eve  of  the  judgment  day,  '  and  he  will  not  come  to 
happiness  even  then.'  If  Patrick  worked  miracles  at  all, 
or  by  divine  authority  denounced  God's  vengeance  on 
oppressors,  there  could  hardly  be  any  crime  more  worthy 
of  just  chastisement  than  this.  It  was  a  lesson  greatly 
needed,  and  must  have  produced  an  excellent  effect  on 
savage  masters  like  Trian. 

But,  although  divine  vengeance  so  promptly  and  so 
terribly  overtook  the  wicked  King  Trian,  his  family,  at 
least  partially,  escaped  the  doom.  The  king's  wife, 
seeing  what  had  happened,  went  to  Patrick  and  fell  on  her 
knees  in  penitential  sorrow.  Then  Patrick,  accepting  her 
sincere  penance,    blessed   her  womb  and    her  children— 


I1 


maccuil's  penance.  467 

namel)',  Setne,  son  of  Trian,  and  Jarlaide,  his  brother,  also 
son  of  Trian.  '  Sechnall  baptised  Setne,  Patrick  baptised 
Jarlaide  '  ;  and  Patrick  said  that  he  would  afterwards  be  a 
successor  of  his.  And  so,  indeed,  he  was.  He  succeeded 
Benignus  as  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Armagh  after  the  death 
of  the  latter  in  467;  and,  according  to  the  ancient  lists 
already  referred  to,  continued  in  that  office  for  fourteen 
years,  so  that  he  must  have  died  about  the  year  481. 
So  Patrick  put  four  coadjutors,  or  assistant  bishops, 
under  the  sod  before  himself;  but  the  next,  Cormac,  was 
destined  to  outlive  his  master,  only,  however,  for  a  very 
brief  period. 

The  incidents  here  related  beget  some  chronological 
difficulties.  The  narrative  seems  to  imply  that  it  v/as  on 
this  occasion  that  Sechnall  baptised  Setne,  son  of  Trian. 
If  so,  either  Sechnall  must  have  lived  after  Patrick's  return 
from  the  South  of  Ireland,  or  the  visit  here  mentioned 
must  have  taken  place  at  an  earlier  date.  Yet,  no  reference 
is  made  to  any  such  visit  of  our  Apostle  to  the  County 
Down  after  his  first  departure  from  Dichu  to  go  to  Tara. 
As  we  have  said,  the  date  of  Sechnall's  death,  as  given  in 
the  Chronicon  Scotorum,  is  too  early  ;  it  must  be  placed 
at  least  thirteen  years  subsequent  to  his  appointment 
to  the  see  of  Dunshaughlin,  which  probably  took  place 
after  his  return  from  foreign  parts.  In  that  case  he 
might  have  accompanied  Patrick  on  this  occasion  from 
Dunshaughlin  to  Down  ;  and  it  was  probably  during  the 
journey,  while  they  were  wending  their  way  north  through 
the  Pass  of  Moira,  that  the  famous  interview  took  place  at 
which  Sechnall  presented  his  poem  in  praise  of  Patrick  to 
the  Saint,  keeping  back  his  name  to  the  end. 

III. — Maccuil's  Penance. 

To  this  period  of  Patrick's  life  the  Tripartite  refers 
the  wonderful  conversion  of  Maccuil,  who  afterwards  be- 
came Bishop  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  The  narrative,  as  given 
in  the  Tripartite,  is  brief,  but  Muirchu,  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  gives  a  much  fuller  and,  apparently,  an  earlier 
account,  which  we  reproduce  here. 

This  Maccuil  Maccu  Greccae,  as  he  is  called,  dwelt  in 
Uladh,^  and  was  an  impious  and  cruel  tyrant,  so  that  he 
got  the  nick-name  of  the  Cyclops.     He  is  described  in  a 

*  In  regionibus  Ulathorum. 


468  ST.    PATRICK    IN    UT.IDIA. 

series  of  Latin  epithets  as  evil-minded,  violent  in  speech, 
wicked  in  his  deeds,  wrathful  in  purpose,  cruel  of  heart, 
unclean  in  body;  a  pagan,  without  conscience  or  remorse. 
He  lived  at  a  place  called  Druim  Maccu  Echach,  a  moun- 
tainous and  remote  stronghold,  from  which  he  preyed  like 
a  wild  beast  on  all  the  strangers  who  happened  to  pass 
that  way,  robbing  and  slaughtering  them  without  mercy. 

Just  at  this  time  it  was  that  Patrick,  glorious  in  the 
light  of  faith,  and  strong  in  his  confidence  in  the  divine 
goodness,  happened  to  pass  that  way,  near  the  stronghold 
of  the  tyrant.  Whereupon  the  wicked  chief,  purposing  to 
destroy  the  Saint,  said  to  his  followers,  "  Look  here,  that 
deceiver  and  beguiler  of  men,  who  has  deceived  and  seduced 
so  many  by  his  magical  acts,  is  now  coming  this  way. 
Let  us  go,  then,  and  try  if  he  has  indeed  any  power  from 
that  God  in  whom  he  glories."  So  these  wicked  men 
resolved  to  tempt  Patrick  in  this  fashion — one  of  the 
party,  Garvan  by  name,  pretended  to  be  dangerously  ill, 
and  they  covered  him  with  a  cloak  or  mantle,  intending  to 
ask  Patrick  to  heal  him,  in  order  that  he  might  thus 
show  a  specimen  of  his  alleged  miraculous  cures.  Hence, 
when  Patrick,  with  his  household,  came  up,  they  said  : — 
"  Lo,  one  of  us  has  just  now  got  grievously  sick — come  and 
chant  thy  incantations  over  him,  and  perchance  he  may 
be  healed."^  But  Patrick,  knowing  their  guile,  at  once 
replied,  without  flinching,  *'  It  would  not  be  strange  if  he 
were  sick  indeed."  The  word  alarmed  them.  So  raising 
the  cloak  from  the  face  of  the  pretended  sick  man  they 
found  him  dead.  Whereupon  all  cried  out  at  once, 
"  Surely  this  is  a  man  of  God.  We  have  done  evil  in 
tempting  him." 

Then  Patrick,  turning  to  Maccuil,  said,  "  Why  have 
you  sought  to  tempt  me  ?  "  The  wicked  tyrant,  terror- 
stricken,  replied,  "  I  am  sorry  for  this  evil  deed.  What- 
ever you  bid  me  I  shall  do,  and  I  surrender  myself  into 
the  hands  of  that  great  God  whom  you  preach."  It  was 
a  conversion  like  St.  Paul's,  complete  and  instantaneous. 
Then  Patrick  replied,  "  Believe  thou  in  my  God,  even  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  confess  thy  sins,  and  be  baptised  in 
the  name  ot  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost." — Thereupon  he  believed,  repented,  and  was  bap- 


'  The  Tripartite  says  he  pretended  to  be  dead,  but  the  story  as  given  by 
Muirchu  is  more  likely  the  true  one. 


maccuil's  penance.  469 

tised  ;  he  confessed,  too,  that  he  had  intended  to  slay^ 
Patrick,  and  asked  the  Saint  to  award  him  penance  for 
that  great  crime.  '*  No/'  said  Patrick,  "  I  will  not  judge 
you,  but  God  will  judge  you.  Go  now  from  this  place, 
unarmed,  to  the  sea-shore,  and  leave  this  land  of  Ireland, 
taking  nothing  with  you  but  one  poor  garment  to  cover 
your  body  ;  neither  eating  nor  drinking  of  the  produce  of 
the  island  (of  Inch),  and  bearing  this  mark  of  your  penance 
on  your  head.  When  you  come  to  the  sea-shore  lock 
your  feet  in  iron  fetters — as  the  hostages  were  locked — 
fling  the  key  into  the  sea,  and  set  out  in  a  currach  of  one 
hide — the  smallest  made — without  helm  or  oar,  leaving  the 
wind  and  sea  to  bear  you  wherever  it  is  God's  will  that 
they  should  carry  you.  There  dwell,  doing  God's  high 
will."  At  once  Maccuil  replied,  *'  I  will  do  as  you  have 
said — but,  what  of  this  poor  dead  man."  "  He  will  rise  up 
without  pain,"  said  Patrick ;  whereupon  the  Saint,  in  that 
same  hour,  restored  Garvan  to  life. 

Then  Maccuil  set  out  straight  for  the  seaside,  going 
to  the  right  hand;  that  is  to  the  south  or  south-east  of 
Magh  Inis,  now  called  Lecale.^  There  he  entered  his 
skiff,  locking  his  feet  in  fetters,  and  flinging  the  key  into 
the  sea,  without  food  or  companion,  or  helm  or  oar,  he 
committed  his  little  boat  to  the  great  deep,  to  be  borne 
whither  God  willed.  A  north  wind  springing  up  carried 
him  southward,  toward  the  island  called  Euonia,  or 
Eubonia,  that  is,  the  Isle  of  Man,  where  he  was  found  by 
the  two  holy  men,  who  at  that  time  were  preaching  the 
Word  of  God  in  the  island,  namely,  Conindri  and  Rumili. 
They  had  converted  the  islanders  to  the  Christian  faith  by 
their  preaching,  and  had  baptised  almost  all  the  people, 
being  the  first,  it  is  said,  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  island. 
And  now  seeing  this  poor  man  of  one  garment,  with  feet 
bound,  in  the  boat,  they  pitied  him,  and  taking  him  out,  they 
brought  him  home  with  joy.  He  lighting  thus  on  the  holy 
fathers,  as  God  willed,  formed  himself,  body  and  soul, 
according  to  the  rule  of  these  holy  bishops,  until  at  length 
he  became  their  successor,  in  their  high  office  in  the  island 
— where  he  is  called  Maccuil  di  Mane,  or  Maccuil  of  Man, 
Bishop  and  Prelate  of  (the  church  of)  Arddae  Huimnonn — 


^  St.  Patrick  intimates  even  when  v/riting  his  Confession,  towards  the 
end  of  his  life,  that  he  still  was  in  danger  of  death,  and  ardently  desired 
martyrdom. ---Rolls  'Tripartite,  p.  372. 

-  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  Lecalc  is  almost  an  island. 


470  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ULIDIA. 

which  seems  to  signify  the  Hill  of  Man — 'whose  prayers 
we  pray  may  help  us,'  the  Tripartite  piously  adds. 

There  are  some  things  worthy  of  note  regarding  this 
wonderful  story  of  the  conversion  of  Maccuil.  The  IsJe  of 
Man  had  in  ancient  times  a  much  closer  connection  with 
Ireland,  and  especially  with  Ulster,  than  with  any  part  of 
Great  Britain.  Sixty  per  cent  of  its  place  names  are  of 
Celtic  origin.  The  Irish  Sea  God  Manannan  Mac  Lir  was, 
according  to  the  oldest  tales,  King  of  Man.  The  Firbolgs 
fled  for  refuge  to  Man  and  other  islands  of  the  sea  when 
they  were  driven  out  of  Ireland.  At  a  later  period,  A.D. 
322,  when  the  Ultonians  were  driven  into  Down  and 
Antrim  by  the  three  Collas,  many  of  them  crossed  the  sea 
and  took  refuge  in  Man ;  sometimes,  also,  intermarriages 
took  place  between  the  Picts  of  Ulster  and  the  Picts 
of  Man.  These  facts  would  help  to  explain  why  Maccuil, 
a  prince  of  Uladh,  would  be  so  well  received  and  so  kindly 
treated  in  the  island. 

The  Book  of  Armagh  states  that  Conindri  and  Rumili 
were  the  first  who  preached  the  Word  of  God  in  Man,  and 
baptised  the  people.  We  may  accept  the  statement  as 
true,  for  although  Jocelyn  says  that  a  certain  Germanus, 
a  disciple  of  St.  Patrick,  was  left  there  by  our  national 
Apostle  to  preach  the  Gospel,  his  statement  is  not  con- 
firmed by  any  of  our  native  authorities,  nor  do  we  find  any 
disciple  of  St.  Patrick  bearing  that  name,  although  of 
course,  as  is  well  known,  his  great  master,  the  illustrious 
Bishop  of  Auxerre,  was  called  Germanus.  A  writer  in  the 
Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  is  inclined  to  identify  the 
Germanus  mentioned  by  Jocelyn  with  St.  Coeman,  son  of 
Brecan  of  Wales,  who  was,  it  seems,  a  disciple  of  St. 
Patrick.  But  the  identification  is  at  best  only  a  conjecture 
unsustained  by  evidence.  With  more  probability  he  seeks 
to  identify  Conindri  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  with 
Coindre  of  Domnachcoindre,  whose  feast  is  assigned  to  the 
17th  of  September  ;  and  Rumili  is  supposed  to  be  identical 
with  Romulus  or  Romarius,  whom  some  ancient  authorities 
mention  on  the  18th  of  November.  But  these,  too,  are 
only  conjectures,  although  it  is  extremely  probable  that  the 
two  holy  bishops  whom  Muirchu  declares  were  the 
first  to  preach  in  the  Isle  of  Man  were  Irish  saints  from 
some  part  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  trained,  perhaps,  in  some 
monastery  of  Wales,  or  it  may  be  at  Candida  Casa. 

The  whole  course  of  the  narrative  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh  seems    to    imply  that    Maccuil    dwelt  in  Lecale, 


SABBATK-BREAKERS   OF    DRUMBO,  47 1 

although  we  cannot  now  identify  the  site  of  his  lofty  dun. 
It  was  probably  somewhere  on  the  hills  near  Killard,  if  that 
be  not  itself  the  locality  referred  to.  The  fact  of  St.  Patrick 
sending  the  penitent  chief  straight  to  the  sea-shore  without 
food  or  drink,  and  bidding  him  to  embark  in  a  currach  at 
the  right  hand  of  Magh  Inis,  would  seem  to  imply  that  he 
dwelt  somewhere  near  the  shore,  at  the  mouth  of  Strang- 
ford  Lough,  where  the  ebbing  tide  would  soon  carry  his 
light  craft  out  to  sea  towards  the  Isle  of  Man,  whither  she 
was  borne  ;  although  it  can  hardly  be  described  as  to  the 
south  of  Magh  Inis.  But  his  course  at  first  was  certainly 
to  the  south,  and  that  is  all  that  is  implied. 

Tradition  still  connects  this  south-eastern  angle  of 
Lecale  with  St.  Patrick  and  the  Isle  of  Man.  There  is  in 
the  parish  of  Dunsfort,  west  of  Killard  Point,  a  townland 
called  Sheepland,  by  the  sea-shore.  Here  we  find  a  Patrick's 
Well,  which  was  greatly  venerated  in  the  past,  as  the  many 
votive  rags  on  its  margin  testified.  A  few  perches  from 
the  well,  overhanging  the  sea,  is  a  road-shaped  rock,  which 
people  say  St.  Patrick  made  for  his  own  accommodation 
when  coming  from  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  they  even  show  the 
part  of  the  rock,  now  covered  with  white  lichen,  on  which  he 
hung  his  casula  or  cloak  after  his  long  journey.  The 
tradition  is  chiefly  valuable  as  connecting  this  point  of  the 
coast  with  St.  Patrick  and  the  Isle  of  Man.^  We  are  then 
fairly  warranted  in  assuming  that  Dunsfort  represents 
the  strong  abode  of  the  wicked  chief  Maccuil,  and  that 
'  Patrick's  Road '  marks  the  spot  whence  he  started  as  a 
penitent  to  the  Isle  of  Man  ;  nor  is  it  improbable  that  the 
Saint  afterwards  paid  a  visit  to  the  island,  setting  out  from 
the  same  holy  spot. 

IV. — Sabbath-Breakers  of  Drumbo. 

The  next  incident  referred  to  in  our  Apostle's  life 
clearly  took  place  somewhere  near  Downpatrick,  and  most 
probably  on  the  occasion  of  this  visit  to  Lecale.  It  is 
narrated,  both  by  Muirchu  and  the  Tripartite,  in  immediate 
sequence  to  the  history  of  Maccuil's  conversion. 

Patrick,  we  are  told,  was  once  resting  or  sleeping,  of  a 
Sunday  afternoon,  we  may  presume,  over  the  sea  near  the 
saltwater  marsh,  which  is  north  of  Drumbo,  but  not  far 
from  it.     In  Latin  the  ridge  is  called  Coilum  Bovis  or  Ox- 


*  See  O'Laverty,  Vol.  I.,  page  180. 


47^  i5T.    PATKICK   IN    ULlDIA. 

Neck,  doubtless  from  a  real  or  fancied  resemblance  between 
the  neck  of  the  beast  and  of  the  landscape. 

The  Apostle,  weary  with  his  labours  and  vigils,  was 
disturbed  during  his  brief  slumber  by  the  clamours  of  a 
number  of  men  working  close  at  hand,  where  they  were 
building  a  rath  on  the  day  of  rest.  Patrick  sent  for  them 
and  requested  them  to  observe  the  Sunday's  rest,  as  God 
and  His  Church  commanded.  But  they  refused,  and  even 
mocked  the  Saint  in  their  folly.  "  Then,"  said  Patrick, 
"  by  my  word,  you  may  labour  if  you  will,  but  it  will  profit 
you  nothing."  His  word  was  soon  fulfilled.  On  the  follow* 
ing  night  a  great  wind  raised  the  sea,  whose  swelling  tide 
utterly  destroyed  the  work  which  the  gentiles  had  raised 
on  the  sabbath. 

There  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
exact  scene  of  this  interesting  incident.  It  cannot,  of 
course,  be  Drumbo  in  the  north  of  County  Down,  which  is 
far  from  the  sea.  Reeves  and  some  others  are  inclined  to 
think  it  was  the  inner  Bay  of  Dundrum,  which  is  only 
about  five  miles  west  of  Downpatrick.  But  to  us  it  appears 
that  this  Drumbo,  or  Ox-Neck,  as  it  is  called  in  Latin, 
must  be  near  Quoile  Bridge,  which  is  only  a  short  mile 
north  of  Saul.  It  was  the  place  where  St.  Patrick  first 
landed  in  Ulster,  at  that  little  islet  now  crossed  by  the 
road  to  Strangford,  where  the  stream  from  the  well  near 
Saul  church  falls  into  the  sea.  It  is  a  '  Salsugo  '  or  Salt- 
marsh,  in  which  the  waters  of  the  Quoile  River  mingle  with 
the  sea,  and  at  times  still  flood  all  the  meadows  up  to 
Downpatrick.  At  this  point  there  was  a  fearsad,  or  ford, 
where  the  bridge  now  stands,  which  was  the  usual  crossing 
place  from  Lecale  to  the  northern  districts.  It  was  there, 
at  that  same  Drumbo,  that  the  strife  took  place  for  the 
body  of  St.  Patrick,  when  the  men  of  Oriel  wished  to 
bring  it  to  Armagh,  and  the  men  of  Lecale  refused  to  allow 
them.  Great  floods  at  spring  tides  do  still  rise  high  in  the 
estuary ;  and,  if  a  strong  wind  blew  in  from  Strangford 
Lough  with  a  high  tide,  the  swelling  waves  might  well 
overwhelm  a  work  hurriedly  raised  on  the  shore.  It  is 
most  likely  this  rath  was  being  built  to  guard  the  ford 
against  the  men  of  the  north,  and  hence  would  be  built 
near  the  sea.  It  is  likely,  too,  that  the  rath  was  built 
close  to  the  pier,  which  now  stands  on  the  estuary  near 
the  Bridge  of  Quoile,  that  the  high  ground  over  the  shores 
was  the  Collum  Bovis  of  the  text,  and  that  Patrick  was 
then  lodging  somewhere  near  at  hand  '  over  the  sea/  which 


PATRICK  AND  KING  EOCliAID  MAC  MUIREDACH.       473 

at  this  point,  as  we  have  said,  is  only  a  very  short  distance 
from  his  Church  of  Saul. 

The  Salt-marsh  here  referred  to  seems  to  have  been  a 
kind  of  proper  name,  which  is  explained  by  another 
incident  related  in  the  Book  of  Armagh.  There  was  in 
Magh  Inis  or  Lecale  a  harsh  and  greedy  man,  whose 
avarice  led  him  to  wrong  Patrick.  For  when  the  two  oxen 
that  Patrick  drove  in  his  chariot  were  resting  one  day  after 
a  journey  in  Patrick's  meadow  and  under  his  own  eyes, 
this  wicked  man  drove  them  away  from  the  field  as  if  it 
were  his  own.  "  By  my  troth,*'  said  Patrick  in  anger,  **  that 
field  will  never  profit  thee  aught ;  "  which  was  fulfilled,  for 
the  sea  came  over  it,  and  it  became  a  *  Salsugo/  or  Salt- 
marsh,  and  so  remains  to  the  present  day.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  this  was  the  same  Salt-marsh  already  referred 
to,  nigh  to  which  Patrick  was  resting  when  the  Gentiles 
began  to  erect  on  Sunday  that  rath  which  was  overthrown 
by  the  waves. 

V.~Patrick  AND  King  Eochaid  Mac  Muiredach. 

The  next  incident  referred  to  by  the  Tripartite  may 
have  occurred  during  a  later  visit  which  Patrick  paid 
to  Lecale  after  the  foundation  of  Armagh;  but  such  is  not 
our  opinion,  Here  we  find  Patrick  in  conflict  with  Eochaid, 
son  of  Muiredach,  who  was,  it  seems,  at  the  time,  either 
prince  or  king  of  Uladh.  Muiredach,  who  was  ninth  in 
descent  from  Fiatach  Finn,  of  the  line  of  Heremon,  died 
in  479,  when  his  son  Eochaid  succeeded  to  the  throne, 
It  is  not  stated  where  this  prince  had  his  dun  or  palace,  but 
the  probability  seems  that  he  dwelt  at  Dun-Leth-Glaisse, 
which  was  from  the  earliest  times  the  strongest  fortress  in  the 
the  country.  So  early  as  the  Lime  of  Conor  Mac  Nessa  it  was 
called  Rath  Celtchair  because  it  was  the  stronghold  of  the 
chief  who  bore  that  name;  and  from  its  position  it  was  almost 
impregnable.  For  the  rath  was  a  natural  circular  mound 
rising  on  all  sides  steeply  from  the  Sea-marsh,  by  which  it 
is  still  partially,  as  it  was  then  completely,  surrounded.^ 
Besides,  Eochaid,  being  of  the  Dal  Fiatach  line,  would  be 
more  likely  to  have  his  residence  in  Lecale,  which  was 
always  the  inheritance  of  his  family,  than   in  Kinelarty  or 

'  Monticulus  circumclusus  palude  pelagi. — -Jocelyn.  An  aim  of  the  sea  from 
Lough  Strangford  then  surrounded  it  completely,  and  to  some  extent  the  high 
tidal  waters  still  flow  round  it. 


474  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ULIDIA. 

Iveagli,  which  belonrred  to  the  rival  famiHes  of  the  Clanna 
Rury,  of  the  line  of  Ir.^ 

Now  Patrick  was  hostile  to  prince  Eochaid,  and  not 
without  good  reason.  For  two  young  maidens,  doubtless 
of  noble  family,  had  offered  their  virginity  to  the  Lord  by 
the  ministration  of  Patrick,  who  himself,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  gave  them  the  veil.  Whereupon  the  wicked  king 
bound  them  on  the  sea-shore  under  the  rising  waves 
because  they  refused  to  worship  his  idols  and  get  married. 
Word  of  this  gross  outrage  was  brought  to  Patrick,  who 
at  once  went  to  entreat  the  king  to  set  the  maidens  free ; 

*  but  he  got  them  not  from  the  king.'  Then  Patrick,  justly 
angered,  pronounced  against  him  the  judgment  of  God  — 

*  that  no  king  of  Uladh  would  ever  descend  from  him  ; 
and,  moreover,  that  of  his  race  there  never  would  be  men 
enough  to  form  an  army  or  a  folkmote  in  Uladh,  that  they 
would  be  scattered  and  dispersed,  that  his  own  life  would  be 
short,  and  his  end  would  be  violent.'  "  Thy  brother  Cairell, 
too,  whom  you  smote  with  a  rod  for  helping  me,  will  become 
the  king  in  thy  stead,  and  from  him  will  descend  the  kings 
and  princes  who  will  rule  over  thy  children  and  all  the 
land  of  Uladh." 

'  And  that  has  been  fulfilled/  adds  the  Tripartite,  '  for  in 
accordance  with  Patrick's  word,  the  race  of  the  Uladhs  for 
ever  are  sprung  from  Deman,  son  of  Cairell,  son  of  Muir- 
dach.'  But  as  often  happened  before,  the  prayers  of  a  penitent 
woman  softened  this  hard  doom.  Eochaid's  wife  threw 
herself  on  her  knees  at  Patrick's  feet  and  besought  him 
to  spare  her  children.  Then  Patrick  blessed  the  sorrowful 
suppliant,  and  the  child  that  then  lay  in  her  womb,  who  after- 
wards became  the  great  Saint  Domangart,  from  whom  Slieve 
Donard  takes  its  name.  We  are  told  by  y^ngus  that  the 
name  of  this  lady  was  Derinilla,  and  that  she  was  the 
mother,  not  only  of  St.  Domangart,  but  also  of  Ailleanus,  of 
Aidan,  of  St.  Mura  of  Fahan,  of  Mochumma  of  Drumbo, 
and  of  Cillen  of  Achadhcail  on  the  shore  of  the  estuary  of 
Dundrum.  The  second  and  third  of  these  saints  appear  to 
have  founded  churches  in  Leinster  and  Connaught,  whence 
their  mother  was  called  Derinilla  of  the  Four  Provinces, 
because  one  or  more  of  her  sons  was  in  each.^ 

^The  Ulidian  kings  of  the  Dal  Fiatach  line  had  also  a  stronghold  at  Dun- 
Eathach,  now  Duneighter,  near  Lisburn,  on  the  northern  bounds  of  their 
territory  ;  but  the  narrative  here  seems  to  point  to  Lecale. 

2  Cethuir-chicheach.  See  Reeves'  Antiquities,  p.  236.  But  O'Donovan  in 
the  Maityrology  of  Donegal  renders  it  Derinill  of  '  the  four  paps.' 


ST.    DOMANGART   OF   SLIEVE    DONARD.  475 


VI. — St.  Domangart  of  Slieve  Donaru. 

St.  Domangart  was,  however,  the  most  famous  of  all 
these  saints ;  and  the  Tripartite  adds  the  curious  statement 
that  '  Patrick  left  him  (alive)  in  his  body,  and  that  he  will 
live  therein  for  ever.'  Elsewhere  the  Tripartite  states  that 
Domangart  is  one  of  the  keepers  whom  Patrick  placed  on 
the  highest  hill-tops  of  Erin,  to  watch  over  the  land  until 
doomsday,  that  he  dwells  in  Slieve  Slange — called  from 
him  Slieve  Donard — and  that  he  will  upraise  Patrick's  relics 
shortly  before  the  doom.  His  church  is  Rath  Muirbuilc 
on  the  side  of  Slieve  Slange,^  *  and  there  is  a  larac  with 
its  belongings,  and  a  pitcher  of  beer  before  him  on  every 
Easter,  and  he  gives  them  to  the  mass-folk  on  Easter 
Tuesday  always.'  This  is  a  very  curious  passage;  and 
what  is  stranger  still,  it  is  confirmed  by  a  still  living 
tradition.  The  saint's  church  of  Rath  Muirbuilc,  now 
called  Maghera,  was  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  near  the 
sea,  but  he  had  also  an  oratory  on  the  very  summit  of  the 
hill.  The  tradition  is  that  a  subterranean  passage  connects 
the  two,  that  the  saint  dwells  within  the  mountain,  and 
was  seen  there  in  his  robes  by  some  men  who  entered  the 
cave  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  but  they  were  warned  off  by  the 
saint ;  that  he  still  says  Mass  on  his  altar  on  the  lone 
mountain  summit,  and  so  keeps  his  long  vigil  till  the  day 
of  doom,  praying  for  Erin  and  watching  far  and  wide  over 
the  land.  No  doubt  the  larac  and  the  beer  are  the  pro- 
visions of  which  even  saints  must  eat,  more  or  less,  whilst 
they  are  in  the  flesh,  and  they  are  provided  for  His  servant 
on  Slieve  Donard  by  the  same  Power  Divine  that  fed 
Elias  and  Anthony  in  the  wilderness.  But  how  he  '  gives 
the  fragments  to  the  mass  folk  on  Easter  Tuesday  always ' 
does  not  appear. 

There  are  still  two  ruined  caves  on  the  hill,  one  of  which 
was  the  reputed  monument  erected  in  pre-historic  times  to 
Slainge,  son  of  Partholan,  who  was  buried  there.  The 
other  was  the  oratory  of  St.  Domangart,  where  he  certainly 
said  Mass  and  prayed  of  old  ;  and  where  pious  pilgrims  still 
kneel  to  perform  their  devotions  in  honour  of  the  saint. 
In  one  sense  at  least  he  has  for  many  a  year  kept  watch 
over  his  beloved  Uladh  by  land  and  sea,  Many  a  foe  has 
swept  that  fair  land  with  fire  and  sword  since  John  De 


*  So  called  froin  the  mythical  hero. 


47^  ST.    PATRICK   IN    ULIDIA. 

Curci  first  swooped  down  on  the  fields  of  Lecale.  Later 
still,  a  strange  race  and  a  new  religion  destroyed  all  the 
ancient  shrines  of  Uladh,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Clanna 
Fiatach  and  Clanna  Rury  are  lords  of  the  land  no  more ; 
but,  during  all  the  dreadful  time,  faithful  souls  of  the  ancient 
race  were  found  to  climb  the  steeps  of  Slieve  Donard,  and 
pray  at  his  mountain  shrine,  gathering  new  strength  and 
courage  before  its  broken  altar.  There  at  least  they  were 
free  to  pray  ;  and  as  they  rose  from  their  knees,  and  looked 
out  over  that  glorious  vision  by  land  and  sea,  where  the 
saints  of  their  own  race  so  often  prayed,  and  their  warriors 
bled,  a  new  light  shone  in  their  eyes,  and  a  new  hope 
filled  their  hearts,  which  nerved  them  to  continue  the  long 
struggle  with  their  ruthless  tyrants.  No,  the  saint  was 
not  dead ;  they  felt  his  presence  on  the  holy  mountain; 
he  gave  them  strength  and  courage,  and  food  for  their 
souls  if  not  for  their  bodies  also. 

The  death  of  Domangart  is  given  under  date  of  507. 
If  that  be  the  true  date  and  if  he  were  indeed  a  child 
in  his  mother's  womb  at  the  time  of  St.  Patrick's  quarrel 
with  his  father,  that  event  most  probably  took  place  before 
the  founding  of  Armagh,  and  is  given  here  in  its  natural 
sequence. 

It  may  be  that  at  the  time  old  King  Muiredach  was 
still  alive,  and  that  Eochaid  was  merely  the  tanist  heir- 
apparent,  but  with  great  power  within  his  father's  territory 
— and  such  is  our  opinion. 

VII. — Patrick  in  Fir  Roiss. 

After  this  we  are  told  Patrick  went  back  to  Fir  Roiss, 
and  began  to  build  a  monastery,  or  dwelling,  '  in  Druim 
Mor  of  Fir  Roiss,  over  Cluain  Cain.'  Ross,  or  Fir  Roiss, 
was  the  name  of  ancient  territory  extending  from  near 
Castleblaney,  southwards,  to  Ardee.^  Patrick  had  already 
passed  through  that  territory,  on  his  journey  from  Clogher 
to  Meath,  some  ten  years  before.  It  was  a  fair  and 
pleasant  land  of  green  swelling  hills  and  fertile  vales,  with 
great  abundance  of  wood  and  water.  On  its  southern  borders 
was  the  stream  where  Cuchullin,  the  bravest  hero  of  the  Gael, 
kept  the  ford  against  the  invading  hosts  of  Meave.  Fir  Roiss 
included  also  the  north-east  angle  of  Meath,  as  far  probably 

^  The  first  part  of  the  name  is  still  retained  in  Farney  (P'eara  mhag) ;  the 
second  in  Cairickmacross. 


IN    FIR    ROISS.  477 

.  as  Siddan,  where  the  Fir  Cule  dwelt,  and  we  know  that 
Patrick,  at  his  departure  from  the  place,  left  a  special 
blessing  to  the  men  of  Fir  Cule  and  Fir  Roiss,  by  whom 
he  was,  on  the  whole,  kindly  received.  No  doubt,  on  that 
visit  the  men  of  Fir  Roiss  promised  to  give  Patrick  welcome 
if  he  returned  amongst  them  once  more,  and  so  he  did. 

Why  Patrick  preferred  Fir  Roiss  to  Lecale  as  the  seat 
of  his  Primatial  Chair  is  not  quite  clear,  except  it  be  that 
its  central  position — not  far  from  Tara,  too — would  render 
it  a  more  convenient  place.  No  doubt  also,  he  was  attracted 
by  the  great  natural  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  country. 
He  had  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  beauties  of  nature,  for, 
like  all  the  saints,  he  saw  in  the  fair  face  of  nature  a  mirror, 
which  reflected  for  him  the  power  and  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  God.  The  quiet  beauty  of  Aghagower,  in  the  Co. 
Mayo,  had  attracted  him  long  before,  and  he  thought  of 
building  '  his  City '  there,  but  was  forbidden  by  an  angel. 
Later  on,  when  he  saw  the  various  beauties  of  that  sweet 
landscape,  by  the  winding  banks  of  Erne,  he  meditated 
building  his  City  there,  making  it,  as  he  said,  the  Rome  of 
Ireland,  with  the  Erne  as  its  Tiber — but  the  malice  of  a 
rude  prince  drove  him  away.  And  now  he  had  journeyed 
round  all  the  provinces  of  Erin,  and,  doubtless,  he  felt 
again  what  he  had  said  before  : — 

I  would  wish  to  remain  here  on 
A  little  land.     After  faring  round 
Churches  and  waters  I  am  weary, 
And  I  fain  would  rest. 

It  was  no  wonder,  indeed,  that  he  was  weary.  He 
was  now  about  eighty  years  of  age.  He  had  spent  twenty- 
three  years  on  his  missionary  journeys  throughout  Erin — 
where  there  were  no  roads,  no  bridges,  but  fords  ;  no  hotels, 
but  a  tent  in  the  open  ;  no  rest  from  preaching,  baptising, 
ordaining,  and  building.  So  once  more  he  said,  in  his 
heart,  ''  I  would  wish  to  remain  here  on  a  little  land.  I 
am  old  and  weary,  and  fain  would  rest." 

The  Tripartite  tells  us  the  place  which  he  loved — it 
was  in  Dromore  of  Fir  Roiss,  over  Cloonkeen.  Dromore 
and  Cloonkeen  are  there  still — the  Long  Ridge,  command- 
ing a  wide  view  of  a  rich  and  varied  landscape,  with  the 
Beautiful  Meadow  at  its  feet,  watered  by  many  streams  ; 
fragrant  of  sweet  flowers  ;  vocal  with  the  songs  of  birds. 
There  he  would  build  his  cloister ;  and  now  that  his  long" 


478  ST.    PATRICK    IN    U  LTD  I  A. 

day's  work  was   nearly  donc^  he  would  spend  the  remnant 
of  his  life  in  peace  and  in  prayerful  repose. 

But  it  was  not  the  will  of  God.  The  an^cl  came  to 
him  and  said,  "  Not  here  hath  it  been  granted  to  thee  to 
abide."  "  Where  then,"  said  Patrick,  "  am  I  destined  to 
stay  ? "  "  Go  to  Armagh,  in  the  North,"  said  the  angel. 
"  But  sec,"  said  Patrick,  "  how  beautiful  is  the  meadow 
down  below," — as  if  he  said  what  a  pity  to  leave  it.  "  Let 
that  be  its  name  then,"  said  the  angel,  *'  even  Cluain  Cain, 
the  Beautiful  Meadow ;  and  it  will  not  be  lost  to  the 
Church  ;  a  pilgrim  of  the  Britons  will  come  and  set  up 
there,  and  it  will  be  thine  afterwards  " — that  is,  within  his 
jurisdiction.  Then  the  holy,  much-enduring  old  man, 
bowing  his  head  in  submission  to  the  Divine  Will,  said, 
"  I  give  thanks  to  God — Deo  gratias  ago.'^  Through  good 
and  ill  that  word  was  always  on  his  lips,  and  now  that  he 
was  bidden  to  leave  the  Beautiful  Meadow,  on  which  he 
had  set  his  heart,  he  still  said  "  Deo  gratias  " — thanks  be 
to  God. 

But  though  Patrick  himself  was  bidden  by  God's  Angel 
to  go  north  and  establish  his  own  See  in  Armagh,  he  was 
yet  desirous  to  found  a  church  near  Louth.  So  he  went 
eastward  of  Louth  to  the  place  that  still  bears  his  name, 
that  is  Ardpatrick,  and  there  he  desired  to  found  a  con- 
vent, or  cloister.  The  Dal  Runtir,  amongst  whom,  as  it 
appears,  he  first  wished  to  settle,  were  sore  grieved  at  his 
departure  from  amongst  them,  and  followed  Patrick  east- 
ward of  Louth,  still  seeking  to  detain  him  amongst  them- 
selves ;  but,  unable  to  do  this,  they  gave  him  over,  as  it 
were,  to  a  kindred  tribe  at  Ardpatrick.  Patrick  was  touched 
by  their  deep  devotion  to  himself,  and  he  blessed  them 
with  an  abundant  blessing — promising  them  famous  laymen 
and  great  ecclesiastics,  and  home  rule  under  their  own 
chiefs,  seeing  that  they  had  left  their  homes  to  follow 
Patrick. 

It  would  seem  that  when  the  Saint  first  thought  of 
setting  up  at  Cloonkeen,  St.  Mochta,  '  the  pilgrim  of  the 
Britons,'  was  not  yet  there.  But  he  must  have  come 
shortly  after,  for  Patrick  used  to  come  every  day  from  the 
east,  that  is  from  Ardpatrick,  whilst  Mochta  used  to  go  from 
the  west  beyond  Louth — where  the  old  Abbey  was — and  so 
they  met  every  day  for  conversation  at  Lecc  Mochtai,  that 
is  Mochta's  Flagstone,  which  was  nearly  mid-way  between 
them.  In  this  sweet  companionship  of  his  fellow-countryman 
Patrick  was  well  pleased,  so  that  it  seems  he  put  off  his 


IN    FIR    ROISS.  479 

journey  to  the  north  for  a  time.  There  one  day,  as  the 
two  saints  sat  together  in  holy  converse,  the  Angel  came 
and  laid  a  letter  on  the  flagstone  between  them.  Patricl<, 
taking  up  the  letter,  read  out  its  contents : — 

Mochta,  pious  and  faithful, 
Let  him  remain  where  he  has  set  up, 
Patrick  goes  north  at  the  King's  word, 
To  rest  in  smooth  Armagh. 

The  divine  message  touched  the  conscience  of  both  the 
saints.  At  once  they  resolved  to  part,  and  Patrick  gave 
up  to  Mochta  the  twelve  lepers  whom  he  left  at  Ardpatrick  ; 
and  Mochta,  faithful  to  his  master's  trust,  used  himself  in 
person  to  carry  to  them  every  day  from  Louth  the  rations 
assigned  to  them.  It  was  a  dangerous  thing  to  visit  so 
often  the  stricken  lepers  ;  but  Mochta  resolved  at  all  cost 
to  keep  the  promise  made  to  Patrick. 

This  is  a  fitting  place  to  say  a  word  of  Mochta  him- 
self. Adamnan  gives  us  a  brief,  but  pregnant  descrip- 
tion of  the  saint,  which  corroborates  the  language  of  the 
Tripartite.  He  describes  Mochta  as  *  a  British  pilgrim  or 
stranger,  a  holy  man,  the  disciple  of  St.  Patrick  the  Bishop.' 
How  far  he  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Patrick  is  rather  uncertain. 
The  ancient  but  anonymous  Life  of  St.  Mochta  describes 
him  as  of  British  origin,  born  in  the  household  of  a  certain 
British  Druid  named  Hoam,  with  whom  the  child  and  his 
parents  came  to  Ireland,  where  the  Druid  found  himself 
a  home  in  Co.  Louth  ;  that  is,  the  ancient  Hy  Connail 
territory.  Either  in  Britain  or  Ireland  the  boy  got  some 
knowledge  of  Christianity — perhaps  from  his  parents — and 
by  the  advice  of  an  angel  went  to  Rome,  where  the  Pope 
made  him  Bishop  and  sent  him  back  to  Ireland  to  preach 
the  Gospel. 

Whether  he  went  to  Rome  or  not,  he  certainly  built 
himself  a  monastery  in  the  woods  of  Hy  Meith,  in  the  Co. 
Monaghan,  which  was  known  as  Kilmore,  or  the  great 
church,  and  appears  to  have  been  situated  somewhere 
near  Castleblaney  in  the  Co.  Monaghan.  But  his  neigh- 
bours there,  jealous  of  the  stranger,  treated  the  saint  badly, 
forcing  him,  in  fact,  to  leave  the  country.  He  distributed 
his  wordly  goods  to  his  monk.s,  telling  them  that  God  would 
take  care  of  them.  "  As  for  myself,"  he  said,  "  I  shall 
keep  nothing  but  the  fountain  at  our  door;  it  will  follow 
me  and  my  monks  wherever  we  shall  go."  He  went 
straight  to  the  place  called  Louth,  whither  the  fountain 


480  ST.    PATRICK   IN    ULIDIA. 

followed  him,  and,  c^athcrinf^  strenfjth  in  its  progress,  it 
became  the  beautiful  river  Fane,  which,  starting  from  its 
humble  fountain  at  Kilmore,  followed  the  saint  through 
Monaghan  and  Louth,  so  that  it  was,  as  he  said,  a  boon 
and  a  blessing  to  himself  and  his  monks  for  future 
ages. 

This  curious  story  is  not  without  a  value  of  its  own, 
for  it  clearly  implies  that  if  we  patiently  follow  back  the 
course  of  the  Fane  river  from  the  plain  of  Louth,  we  shall 
come  to  the  site  of  Mochta's  primitive  monastery  in  the 
woods  of  Hy  Meith,  where  the  beautiful  river  has  its  source. 
It  tells  us,  too,  what  happened  to  the  saint.  When  the  rude 
natives  drove  him  and  his  monks  away,  he  gave  them  all 
the  earthly  goods  he  had,  keeping  nothing  for  himself 
Only  he  followed  the  stream — or,  as  the  Life  phrases  it,  the 
stream  followed  him — until  both  arrived  in  a  more  plenteous 
and  hospitable  country,  in  those  beautiful  meadows  around 
the  present  town  of  Louth,  which  Patrick  so  reluctantly 
abandoned. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  for  a  short  time  both  Mochta 
and  Patrick  were  near  neighbours,  until  the  latter  was 
directed  by  God's  Angel  to  go  to  Armagh.  St.  Patrick 
was,  however,  the  elder  of  the  two ;  and,  no  doubt,  gave 
much  goodly  counsel  to  his  fellow-countryman  at  Louth. 
There  was,  it  seems,  an  understanding  between  them,  that 
whoever  died  first  should  assign  the  care  of  his  monastic 
family  and  their  possessions  to  the  survivor.  Mochta  lived 
longest ;  but  still  at  his  death  he  recognised  the  primacy 
and  jurisdiction  of  Patrick's  successor,  who  from  that  day 
to  this  has  always  exercised  his  jurisdiction  over  the  beau- 
tiful plains  of  Louth  southward  to  the  Boyne. 

Mochta's  monastery,  too,  grew  to  be  a  great  school ; 
and  its  monastic  annals  were  of  high  authority  amongst 
the  scholars  of  Erin.  The  chieftains  of  Oriel  endowed  it 
with  lavish  generosity ;  and  when  the  evil  day  came  and 
the  last  abbot  of  Louth  was  forced  to  surrender  his  pos- 
sessions to  the  Crown,  there  were  few  richer  monasteries  in 
the  kingdom  than  the  ancient  house  of  St.  Mochta,  and 
few,  we  may  add,  had  niade  a  better  use  of  their  wealth. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ST.  PATRICK  IN  ARMAGH. 

I.— Pre-Christian  Armagh. 

We  novv  come  to  Patrick's  labours  in  his  own  Royal  City 
of  Armagh,  which  occupied  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life, 
and  are,  in  many  respects,  the  most  important  and  fruitful 
of  his  apostolate  in  Ireland.  First  of  all,  however,  it  is  well 
to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  pre-Christian  Armagh  before 
we  come  to  speak  of  the  founding  of  Patrick's  primatial 
City. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  name  Armagh  means 
'Macha's  Height,*  not  the  Height  of  the  Plain,  as  Usher 
thought,  for  the  Rook  of  Armagh  itself  gives  the  Latin 
equivalent  as  Altitudo  Machae,  which  settles  the  question. 
Why,  however,  the  Ridge  of  the  Willows,  as  Daire  called  it, 
came  to  be  known  as  Macha's  Height  is  more  open  to  dis- 
cussion. In  our  opinion  the  narrative  of  the  founding  of 
the  pre-Christian  Armagh  given  in  the  Dindsenchas  is 
at  once  the  most  ancient  and  the  most  natural.  In 
substance  it  is  as  follow^s  : — 

There  were  three  kings  equally  entitled  to  the  joint 
sovereignty  of  Ireland,  to  wit— Dithorba,  son  of  Dimman  of 
Usnach,  Aed  the  Red,  son  of  Badurn  of  Tirhugh  in  Donegal, 
and  Cimbaeth,  son  of  Fintan,  of  Magh  Inis,  now  Lecale, 
County  Down.  These  three  princes,  being  sons  of  three 
brothers,  had  an  equal  right  to  the  kingship  of  Erin  ; 
wherefore,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  it  was  agreed  that  each 
should  rule  the  kingdom  in  turn  for  seven  years,  and  then 
peaceably  yield  the  throne  to  the  next  brother.  This 
arrangement,  too,  w^as  solemnly  sanctioned  and  guaranteed 
by  seven  Druids,  seven  Bards,  and  seven  Kings.  Under 
this  agreement  each  king  had  ruled  for  three  terms,  that 
is,  tw^enty-one  years  in  all,  when  it  came  to  pass  that  Aed 
the  Red  was  drowned  just  at  the  close  of  his  own  term,  in 
the  w^aterfall  at  Ballyshannon,  which  has  ever  since  borne 
his  name,  as  we  have  already  explained. 

2  I 


482  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAGH. 

He  left  one  child  only,  the  maiden  Macha  of  the  Golden 
Hair,  who  claimed  to  inherit  his  kingly  rights.  Now,  when 
Cimbaeth  and  Dithorba  had  completed  their  years  of  king- 
ship and  the  turn  of  her  father  arrived  again,  if  he  had  been 
alive,  Macha  claimed  the  sovereignty  as  her  father's  repre- 
sentative. But  they  refused  to  yield  it  to  a  woman  ;  where- 
upon Macha,  like  a  queen,  gathered  her  own  and  her  father's 
friends,  who  routed  her  uncles'  forces,  and  took  the  throne 
by  right  of  the  strong  arm.  When  her  term  of  seven  years 
was  over  she  declined  to  resign  what  she  had  won  by  force, 
and,  moreover,  she  routed  the  rival  claimants  in  the 
great  battle  of  Corann,  driving  them  into  the  wilds  of 
Boirenn. 

Nay,  more,  she  had,  it  is  said,  recourse  to  a  stratagem, 
to  seize  the  fugitive  princes,  which  is  more  creditable  to  her 
cunning  and  valour  than  to  her  modesty.  To  secure  her 
own  power  Macha,  having  disposed  of  Dithorba,  now 
married  Cimbaeth,  the  remaining  claimant  to  the 
sovereignty,  and  thus  became  undisputed  mistress  of  the 
whole  island.  It  appears  that  Cimbaeth  dwelt  somewhere 
near  Armagh,  for  we  are  told  that  Macha  carried  thither 
the  captive  sons  of  Dithorba  to  build  her  a  royal  rath, 
which  would  be  the  home  of  her  race  for  ever.  She  traced 
the  site  of  the  fortress  with  the  golden  brooch  from  her  own 
fair  neck — eo  muin — whence  the  palace  got  the  name  of 
Emain,  or  in  Latin  Emania,  and  it  became  after  Tara  the 
most  famous  of  all  the  royal  raths  of  Erin.  According  to 
the  Dindsenchas  this  took  place  405  years  before  the  birth 
of  Christ,  but  the  more  accurate  computation  of  Tighernach 
assigns  its  foundation  to  some  330  years  before  the  Christian 
era. 

The  existing  remains  of  Navan  Fort  fully  bear  out  the 
traditional  accounts  of  its  ancient  strength  and  splendour. 
In  mere  extent  it  is  one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the  very  largest, 
fort  in  Ireland.  There  was  a  double  line  of  circumvallation 
around  the  hill — one  around  the  summit,  which  contained 
the  royal  buildings  properly  so  called  ;  the  other,  of  much 
greater  extent,  surrounded  a  large  area  of  the  hill,  and  was, 
no  doubt,  intended  for  the  tents  of  the  troops  and  camp 
followers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  watch  and  ward  over 
the  royal  enclosure  on  the  summit.  A  glance  at  those 
portions  of  the  ancient  moat  still  remaining  will  show  at 
once  the  great  strength  and  extent  of  the  fortified  enclo- 
sure, especially  in  ancient  days,  where  there  were  neither 
shells  nor  Mauser  rifles  to  disturb  the  defenders.     If  it 


PRE-CHRISTIAN   ARMAGH.  483 

were  to  be  taken  at  all  it  must  be  taken  by  the  strong  hand 
in  face  of  almost  insurmountable  difficulties. 

We  have  personally  examined  the  chief  royal  forts  of 
ancient  Erin,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  there  were  only 
three  other  fortresses  comparable  to  Emania  in  extent  and 
natural  strength.  Tara  was  older  ;  its  area  too,  is  greater, 
for  it  included  many  separate  raths  ;  but  its  natural  position 
and  artificial  defences  do  not  appear  to  be  at  all  equal  to 
those  of  Emania.  Cuchullin's  fort  at  Castletown,  near 
Dundalk,  was,  in  our  opinion,  the  strongest  of  all  the  royal 
raths  of  Erin,  except,  perhaps,  Downpatrick,  but  the  area 
was  rather  limited  ;  its  sides,  however,  were  very  steep,^ 
thus  rendering  it  almost  inaccessible  to  a  foe  who  could 
not  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  defenders.  The  fort  most 
like  that  of  Emania  is  the  celebrated  stronghold  of  Finn 
M'Cool,  on  the  summit  of  Dun  Allen,  near  Old  Kilcullen, 
in  the  County  Kildare.^  It  is  grandly  situated  on  the  very 
summit  of  a  round  hill  rising  over  the  plain  to  a  height  of 
600  feet,  and  commanding  a  magnificent  prospect  of  the 
surrounding  country.  There  was  only  a  single  line  of 
circumvallation  enclosing  an  area  of  some  fifteen  acres ; 
but  the  ditch  was  deep  and  the  fence  was  high,  so  that,  in 
Dur  humble  opinion,  it  was,  for  a  numerous  garrison  like  the 
Peine,  the  strongest  and  most  commanding  position  in 
Erin.  Cruachan,  in  the  County  Roscommon,  another  great 
and  famous  royal  stronghold,  was  not  at  all  comparable  to 
these,  either  in  its  artificial  defences  or  the  strength  of  its 
natural  position. 

This  fort  of  Emania,  built  by  Queen  Macha  of  the 
Golden  Hair,  will  be  for  ever  renowned  as  the  greatest 
school  of  chivalry  in  ancient  Erin.  The  fame  of  the  Red 
Branch  Knights  will  never  die.  The  tragic  story  of  the 
fate  of  the  sons  of  Uisnach  still  gilds  the  ancient  rath  with 
a  glory  that  no  storm-clouds  can  darken.  It  is  the  very 
seat  and  centre  of  all  the  bardic  legends  that  float  around 
King  Connor  and  Cuchullin,  Fergus,  and  Conal  Cerneach. 
Those  heroes  of  ancient  Uladh  stand  out  in  heroic  linea- 
ments like  the  men  who  fought  and  fell  around  Troy. 
There  is  nothing  mean  or  commonplace  in  all  their  glorious 
story.     They  were  noble,  even  when  criminal.     They  could 


^  In  this  respect  it  is  somewhat  like  the  great  fort  of  Downpatrick  ^'Dun- 
•da-leth-Glaisse),  but  the  latter  had  the  additional  advantage  of  being  surrounded 
by  water — as  it  is  even  to  the  present  day. 

^  We  are  strongly  of  opinion  thai  that  is  the  real  site  of  Finn's  fort. 


4B4  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAGH. 

not  break  their  faith  —  even  the  least  of  them.  They 
renounced  their  allegiance  to  a  perjured  prince  for  the  sake 
of  the  hapless  maiden  whose  woeful  tale  still  lights  up  the 
Royal  Hill,  and  who  was  faithful  to  her  love  in  life  and  in 
death,  so  that  even  Christian  chronicles  can  show  no  more 
pathetic,  no  more  loving,  no  truer  woman  than  the  ill-fated 
Deirdre  of  Emania.  The  grandest  tales  of  Erin  still  hover 
over  the  fateful  ridge  of  Macha's  glorious  Hill.  The  story 
of  its  queens  and  warriors  touch  our  hearts  with  more  than 
Homeric  power.  We  are  caught,  despite  ourselves,  by  the 
nobility  and  grandeur  of  those  heroic  figures  who  peopled 
the  ancient  dun.  Whether  real  or  imaginary,  it  matters  little 
— they  are  very  real  for  us  ;  and  their  fame  lights  up  the 
Height  of  Macha  with  a  glory  that  can  never  fade. 

Emania  was  destroyed  by  the  three  Collas  after  the 
great  battle  of  Achad-leth-deirg  in  the  year  A.D.  332,  and 
was  waste  and  silent,  therefore,  in  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick.  Twice,  at  least,  in  after  times,  the  Ultonians 
sought  to  return  to  the  palace  of  their  fathers,  but  were 
again  and  again  overthrown  in  battle,  and  the  remnant 
were  driven  back  to  Ulidia. 

But  even  in  the  time  of  its  greatest  glory  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  King  himself  dwelt  at  Emania.  It  was 
the  palace  of  the  Red  Branch  Knights.  So  far  as  we  can 
judge,  Emain  Macha,  in  the  time  of  Conor  Mac  Nessa,  was 
not  the  royal  palace  of  the  Ulidian  Kings.  It  seems  that 
the  fortress  was  set  apart  as  a  kind  of  great  barracks  for 
the  heroes  of  the  Red  Branch,  who  formed  the  royal 
regiment  of  guards  at  the  time.  The  King  himself  appears 
to  have  dwelt  in  a  palace,  which  tradition  still  points  out 
somewhat  nearer  to  Armagh,  and  not  far  off  was  the  col- 
lege of  the  Royal  Druids,  whose  sacred  enclosure  can  still 
be  traced,  about  one  mile  to  the  north-east  of  Armagh, 
but  within  view  both  of  Emania  and  of  the  ro}'al  dun, 
which  was  still  nearer  to  the  college  of  the  Druids.  We 
cannot  here  examine  these  points  in  detail,  but  we  wish  to 
point  out  distinctly  that  Emania  was  at  least  two  miles  to 
the  west  of  Armagh,  that  the  dun  of  King  Daire  was 
about  a  mile  to  the  north-west  of  the  city  of  Patrick,  and 
that  the  Druids  had  their  college  near  the  royal  court. 
It  is  well,  then,  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  sacred  sites  of 
Christian  Armagh  were  quite  distinct  from  the  Pagan 
forts,  and  that  when  Patrick  asked  the  Ridge  of  the 
Willows  for  his  church,  he  asked  a  commanding  site,  no 
doubt,  not  far  from  the  royal  dun,  but  still  quite  outside 


FOUNDATION   OF   ARMAGH.  ^85 

its  boiinHs,  and  further  still  from  that  Height  of  Macha 
which  has  given  its  name  even  to  Patrick's  Christian 
stronghold. 

II. — Foundation  of  Armagh. 

We  now  come  to  narrate  the  foundation  of  the  Pri- 
matial  See  in  Armagh  ;  and  the  chief  events  which 
occurred  during  St.  Patrick's  sojourn  in  his  Royal  City.  In 
many  respects  it  is  the  most  interesting  and  important 
chapter  of  the  laborious  and  varied  life  of  our  national 
Apostle. 

The  narrative  in  the  Tripartite,  and  also  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  gives  a  brief,  but  a  very  graphic,  account  of 
Patrick's  arrival  and  introduction  to  the  chieftain  of  the 
district. 

*  Thereafter,'  says  the  Tripartite,  '  Patrick  went  at  the 
word  of  the  Angel  (from  Louth)  to  Armagh,  to  the  place 
where  Rath  Dari — that  is,  Dari's  Fortress — stands  to-day.' 
The  Book  of  Armagh  more  accurately  calls  the  chieftain 
Daire,  and  describes  him  as  a  rich  and  honourable  man, 
who  dwelt  '  in  regionibus  Orientalium/  or,  as  it  was  then 
called  in  Irish,  Orior ;  and  the  name  is  still  retained, 
although  now  applied  to  a  portion  of  the  Co.  Armagh  still 
further  to  the  east.  The  Tripartite  says  that  this  Daire 
was  son  of  Finchad,  son  of  Eogan,  son  of  Niallan  ;  and  in 
virtue  of  his  descent  he  was  chief  of  the  Hy  Niallain  (a 
race  sprung  from  Colla  da  Crioch),  whose  name  is  still 
preserved  in  the  two  great  baronies  of  North  Armagh, 
Oneilland  East  and  Oneilland  West.  They  were  the  ruling 
race  of  Eastern  Orghialla ;  just  as  the  race  of  Crimthann, 
sprung  from  the  same  stock,  were  the  royal  race  of  Western 
Orghialla ;  and  as  Clogher  was  the  royal  seat  of  the  latter, 
so  Armagh  was  the  royal  seat  of  the  former  tribe. 

Having  come  to  Armagh,  Patrick,  according  to  his 
custom,  went  straight  to  the  royal  dun  and  asked  Daire  to 
give  him  a  site  for  his  church.  Said  Daire  then  in  reply  : 
"  What  place  dost  thou  desire?"  "  I  wish,"  said  Patrick,  "to 
get  the  high  ground,  called  the  Ridge  of  the  Willows,  that 
I  may  build  thereon  my  church." — '  It  is  the  place  where 
Armagh  stands  to-day,'  adds  the  Tripartite — that  is,  the 
ancient  Cathedral  of  Armagh.  But  Daire  was  unwilling 
to  give  to  Patrick  that  commanding  eminence  which  was, 
in  fact,  higher  than  his  own  royal  fort  about  a  mile  away 
to  the  north-west.     So  he   replied :  '  I   will  not  give  you 


486  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAGH. 

tl^e  Ridge  of  the  Willows ;  but  I  will  give  you  a  site  for 
your  church  in  the  lower  ground  ' — the  place  where  FertcC  ^ 
Martyrum,  adds  the  writer,  that  is,  the  Grave  of  the 
Martyrs,  stands  to-day.  Patrick  accepted  the  gift,  and 
built  his  first  church  there,  and  dwelt  therein  with  his 
family,  '  close  to  Ardmacha'  for  a  good  while. 

Now,  while  dwelling  there  a  strange  thing  came  to 
pass.  Daire,  still  greedy  of  what  he  had  given  to  God, 
sent  his  horse  or  horses  ^  to  graze  in  the  grassy  meadow 
which  surrounded  the  Church  of  the  Martyrs.  Then 
Patrick  was  angry  because  Daire  thus  trespassed  on  God's 
acre  ;  and  he  said  :  "  You  have  acted  foolishly  in  sending 
}'our  horses  to  disturb  the  little  field  which  you  gave  to 
God."  But  the  chief  relented  not,  whereupon  the  same 
night  his  horses  died  in  the  churchyard  field.  The  King's 
gillie,  going  to  his  master  in  the  morning,  said  : — "  The 
Christian  has  killed  thy  horses  because  they  grazed  on  the 
grass  growing  round  his  church.''  Then  Daire,  in  great 
wrath,  said :  "  Let  him  be  slain  ;  go  ye  now  and  kill  him 
on  the  spot."  But  lo  !  whilst  they  were  making  ready  to 
carry  out  the  King's  orders  a  deadly  sickness — *  a  sudden 
colic/  the  Tripartite  calls  it — seized  upon  Daire,  so  that 
he  was  at  death's  door — '  death  was  nigh  to  him,'  says  the 
Tripartite.  Then  his  wife  said  to  him  that  the  cause  of 
his  death  was  the  unjust  attack  made  upon  Patrick ;  and 
she  forbade  her  servants  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  the 
King.  Moreover,  she  sent  two  of  her  attendants  to  the 
*  Christian,'  and  they,  concealing  the  illness  of  Daire,  merely 
asked  holy  water  for  the  Queen.  "  Only  for  her,"  said 
Patrick,  "  Daire's  resurrection  from  death  would  never  take 
place."  So  for  the  wife's  sake  he  blessed  the  water,  and 
gave  it  to  the  messengers,  who  carried  it  to  the  Queen. 
When  she  sprinkled  the  water  over  her  husband  he  became 
well  again,  and,  moreover,  the  horses  that  were  dead  when 
sprinkled  with  the  same  holy  water  also  came  to  life. 

This  was  a  sharp  lesson  for  Daire,  and  what  happened 
afterwards  showed  that  he  needed  it.  He  went  to  pay  a 
grateful  visit  to  Patrick,  and  carried  with  him  as  a  present 
a  great  brazen  cauldron  '  brought  from  over  the  sea ' — a 
gift  not  unworthy  of  a  king,  and  likely  to  be  useful  to  the 
Saint,  whose  familia  was  large.     Handing  it  over  to  Patrick 

^  Muirchu  used  the  plural  form,  the  Tripartite  has  the  singular  Ferta,  which 
we  shall  use  henceforward.  It  primarily  meant  a  grave,  then  the  graveyard,  then 
this  particular  Church  of  the  Martyrs,  then  the  relics  themselves. 

2  The  Book  of  Armagh  gives  the  singular,  the  Tripartite  the  plural. 


FOUNDATION   OF   ARMAGH.  487 

he  said — **  It  is  yours."  *'  Gratzacham,"  said  Patrick — that 
is,  '  Gratias  again,'  let  me  thank  you.  The  phrase  '  Deo 
gratias/  or  *  Gratias  agam/  was  always  on  his  lips,  and  so 
he  used  it  now  to  thank  the  king  for  the  cauldron.  But 
the  rude  Irish  chief  did  not  understand  it.  For  the  time 
he  said  nothing,  but  when  he  went  home  he  said  "  He  is  a 
rude  man  to  say  no  word  of  thanks  for  my  wonderful 
three-measure  cauldron,  except  '  Gratzacham.'  Go,"  he 
said  in  anger  to  his  servants,  *'  and  bring  it  back  to  me 
again."  They  went  and  told  Patrick  that  they  were  ordered 
to  take  home  the  pot.  "  Gratzacham,"  said  Patrick  ;  '^  take 
it  with  you."  They  took  it  and  brought  it  home.  '*  What 
did  the  Christian  say  to  you  when  you  asked  for  the  pot  ?  " 
said  Daire.  ''  He  only  said  '  Gratzacham,'  "  they  replied. 
*'  *  Gratzacham'  when  it  is  given,"  said  Daire  ;  and  "'Gratz- 
acham *  when  it  is  taken  away.  The  word  must  be  good  ; 
bring  it  back  to  him  again."  Daire  himself  went  with  the 
bearers  and  said  to  Patrick,  "  Lo,  the  pot  is  thine ;  thou 
art  a  man  of  constancy  and  courage.  Moreover,  I  will 
give  now  that  plot  of  land  on  the  Hill  of  the  Willows 
which  you  asked  for  before.  It  is  thine ;  go  and  dwell 
there."  *  And  that  hill  is  the  city  now  called  Ard  Macha,' 
that  is,  Macha's  Height — a  name  of  old  renown  in  pagan 
times,  but  of  world-wide  fame  since  Patrick  made  it  the 
seat  of  his  Primatial  City  and  the  Rome  of  the  Church  of 
Ireland. 

The  next  paragraph,  both  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  and 
the  Tripartite,  is  most  significant,  and  deserves  to  be 
recorded  word  for  word.  We  give  the  version  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh : — 

Then  the  two  went  out  together — Patrick,  to  wit,  and  Daire  — 
to  examine  that  wonderful  oblation  and  most  pleasing  gift,  and 
together  they  walked  up  the  hill,  and  on  the  summit  they  found 
a  doe  with  her  fawn  lying  on  the  spot  where  now  stands  the 
altar  of  the  left-hand  chapel  ^  in  Armagh  ;  and  the  companions  of 
P.i trick  wished  to  seize  and  slay  the  doe  and  her  fawn.  But 
Patrick  said  '  No.'  He  would  not  permit  it.  Nay,  more,  he 
himself  took  the  fawn  and  carried  it  on  his  own  shoulders,  and  the 
doe  followed  him  quite  tamely  and  confidently,  just  as  a  ewe 
follows  the  shepherd  when  he  carries  her  lamb,  until  he  let  the 
fawn  loose  in  a  brake  situated  to  the  north  of  Ard  Macha,  where 
even  up  to  our  own  time  there  are  not  wanting  marvellous  signs> 
as  the  learned  say. 

^  Ecclesia  Sinistralis. 


488  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ARMAGH. 

But  the  greatest  sign  of  all  has  happened  in  our  own 
time.  For  this  northern  hill,  which  in  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick  was  a  wooded  brake,  is  now  the  site  of  the  new 
Cathedral  of  St.  Patrick,  the  largest  and  the  most  com- 
manding church  in  Ireland.  Its  site  is  indeed  unrivalled  ; 
it  is  even  higher  ground,  and  is  certainly  more  striking, 
because  more  isolated,  than  the  site  of  Patrick's  first 
cathedral  on  Macha's  Hill,  and  was  procured  with  no  less 
difficulty.  It  is  a  glorious  building,  too,  in  every  respect, 
but  its  most  striking  features  are  the  twin  western  towers 
overlooking  the  city  and  the  old  cathedral,  whose  square 
stunted  tower,  though  venerable  from  its  antiquity,  has  no 
such  architectural  features  to  enhance  its  commanding 
position.^ 

Patrick  would  not  allow  his  followers  to  hurt  the  startled 
doe.  Like  the  Good  Shepherd,  he  carried  the  fawn  on  his 
own  shoulders  to  a  place  of  rest.  A  wild  fawn  it  was,  like 
the  wild  people  round  about  him  ;  the  more  need  he  had 
to  teach  them  a  lesson  of  pity  and  forbearance.  Patrick, 
who  sav;  through  the  mystic  veil  of  the  future,  no  doubt 
saw,  too,  how  that  doe  with  her  fawn  was  a  figure  of  his 
own  church  of  Armagh,  destined  to  be  hunted  and  perse- 
cuted so  often  in  the  future — '  so  often  doomed  to  death, 
yet  fated  not  to  die ' — and  he,  too,  must  have  got  a  vision 
of  the  glory  that  awaited  his  church  on  that  northern  hill 
in  the  far  distant  ages.  All  the  facts  are  typical  of  the 
history  of  the  Church  of  Armagh,  and  it  is  clear  that  the 
ancient  annalists  who  recorded  them  felt  them  to  be  such. 

The  Tripartite,  in  describing  the  visit  of  Daire  and 
Patrick  to  the  crown  of  Macha's  Hill,  gives  us  more  infor- 
mation than  the  Book  of  Armagh.  They  were  attended 
by  the  nobles  of  Orior,  and  they  went  up  the  hill  '  to  mark 
it  out  and  bless  it  and  consecrate  it.'  In  another  paragraph, 
which  seems  to  have  been  misplaced,  we  are  told  how  the 
'  consecration  '  took  place — that  is  the  dedication  of  the 
site.  The  way  in  which  Patrick  measured  the  rath  (or  site 
of  his  church)  was  this  : — '  The  angel  before  him,  and 
Patrick  behind  the  angel  with  his  household,  and  with 
Ireland's  Elders,  and  with  the  StafT  of  Jesus  in  his  hand; 
and  he  said  that  great  would  be  the  crime  of  him  who 
should  sin  therein,  even  as  great  should  be  the  reward  of 
him  who  would  do  God's  will  therein.      Then  Patrick  laid 


*  A  tuller  account  of  this  noble  cathedral  and  of  its  dedication  in  July, 
1904,  will  be  tound  in  an  Appendix. 


FOUNDATION    OF   ARMAGH.  489 

out  the  ferta  ^  or  cemetery  of  the  church.  Seven  score 
feet  in  its  circular  enclosure — probably  its  diameter — with 
seven  and  twenty  feet  in  the  great  house,  and  seventeen 
feet  in  the  kitchen,  and  seven  feet  in  the  oratory,  and  in 
that  way  it  was  he  used  to  found  his  convents  or  cloisters 
always.' 

The  sacred  function  here  described  appears  to  have 
been  that  which  is  now  called  the  Blessing  and  Laying  of 
the  Foundation  Stone.^  It  is,  like  the  Dedication  of  the 
Church,  a  very  ancient  ceremonial  to  which  St.  Athanasius 
appears  to  refer  in  his  reply  to  the  charge  that  he  had  made 
use  of  an  undedicated  church.  He  pleads  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  and  adds  that  the  building  was  called^  'The 
Lord's  House  from  the  laying  of  its  foundations.'  It 
essentially  includes  the  marking  out  and  blessing  of  the 
sacred  enclosure,  the  erection  of  the  Cross,  and  taking 
possession  of  the  place  by  the  bishop  or  his  delegate  in  the 
name  of  God  and  the  Church,  for  the  purposes  of  public 
worship.  The  presence  of  the  king  and  his  nobles  with 
the  clergy  and  the  people  added  great  solemnity  to  the 
sacred  function,  making  a  great  public  act  of  faith.  Patrick, 
with  mitre  and  crozier,  represented  the  Church,  and  the 
angel  going  before  him  referred,  doubtless,  to  the  invisible 
presence  of  Victor,  his  own  guardian  Angel,  who  was  his 
guide  and  counsellor  in  all  the  great  events  of  his  life,  and 
now  fitly  appears  to  Patrick  to  bring  the  approbation  of 
heaven  to  the  most  solemn  act  of  his  life — the  foundation 
of  his  Primatial  Church  and  See  on  the  *  fair  crown  of  that 
sacred  Hill' 

Patrick,  too,  most  fitly  took  occasion  to  explain  the 
nature  of  the  ceremony  to  his  rude  audience,  dwelling 
particularly  on  the  sanctity  of  the  place  which  they  had 
given  to  God,  and  on  the  awful  nature  of  the  crime  of 
profaning  it ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  he  pointed  out  the 
special  reward  that  would  be  given  to  those  \vho  would 
do  God's  will  therein,  either  by  aiding  in  the  erection  of  the 
church,  or  joining  in  the  public  worship  of  God  within  that 
sacred  enclosure. 

As  to  the  dimensions  given  above,  they  are  taken  from 

^  Here  ferta  means  the  church-yard  or  consecrated  area. 

"^  See  Diet.  Chr.  Antiq.  p.  428.  We  know  that  it  was  Patrick's  custom  to 
measure  and  bless  the  site  of  his  churches,  and  we  saw  before  that  Fiacc  would 
not  accept  the  site  of  his  church  of  Sletty  until  Patrick  came  to  mark  out  his 
lis  for  him  and  consecrate  it.  The  '  lis  '  means  the  consecrated  site  of  the 
church  and  churchyard. 


490  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAGH. 

Stokes'  translation  of  the  Tripartite.  But  in  our  opinion 
the  Irish  word  'traiged,'  which  certainly  means  feet  or 
the  tracks  of  the  feet,  must  be  understood  here  of  the  foot- 
prints left  by  a  walker  measuring  the  ground.  In  that  case 
\he  seven  score  '  feet '  will  mean  the  space  covered  by  the 
man  who  left  after  him  seven  score  tracks  or  footprints — 
in  other  words,  seven  score  single  paces  or  yards.  Then 
the  diameter  of  the  '  lis '  or  enclosure  would  be  one 
hundred  and  forty  yards  ;  and  that  would,  of  course, 
include  the  cemetery.  The  '  great  house,'  that  is  the 
church,  would  be  about  sixty-eight  feet  in  length,  if  we 
take  the  pace  or  track  to  be  about  two  feet  and  a 
half.  The  kitchen,  including,  no  doubt,  the  refectory, 
would  be  about  forty-two  feet  in  length,  and  the  '  airegal,' 
or  sacristy,  adjoining  the  church  would  be  something 
like  eleven  feet  long.  The  word  '  ferta '  here  appears  to 
mean  in  its  secondary  sense  the  cemetery  or  the  entire 
area  of  the  enclosure,  which  in  Irish  is  called  the   '  lis.' 

These  measurements  bear  out  the  statement  that  such 
was  Patrick's  manner  of  founding  his  monastic  churches. 
Sixty  feet  long  by  twenty-six  feet  wide  was  the  standard 
measurement  of  the  largest  Patrician  churches^ ;  and  if,  in 
the  case  of  Armagh,  the  dimensions  were  somewhat 
enlarged,  it  is  only  what  we  should  expect  from  the 
importance  of  the  primatial  church  and  its  surround- 
ings. 

III. — The  Churches  of  Armagh. 

It  will  help  to  explain  the  further  history  of  St.  Patrick 
in  Armagh  if  we  here  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  principal 
ecclesiastical  foundations  on  the  Sacred  Hill.  The  learned 
Bishop  Reeves  is  here  our  safest  guide. 

I. — The  oldest  church  of  Armagh  was  certainly  that  called  Na 
Ferta  in  the  Tripartite,  and  Fertae  Martyrum  in  the  book  of 
Armagh.  In  our  opinion  the  expression  does  not  mean  here  either 
the  '  graves  *  ^  or  the  '  miracles  ' ;  but  it  means  the  '  relics  '  of 
the  martyrs  which  St.  Patrick  had  obtained  from  Rome  to  be 
used  as  the  law  and  custom  of  the  time  required  in  the  consecration 


^  See  Petrie's  Round  Towers,  p.  23. 

'The  relics,  no  doubt,  were  taken  from  the  *  graves '  of  the  martyrs,  and 
often  worked  miracles,   hence  the  secondary  meanings. 


THE  CHURCHES  OF  ARMAGH.  49 1 

of  his  churches.  These  reHcs  were  kept^  in  the  first  church  which 
Patrick  founded  in  the  lower  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and 
hence  the  church  itself  came  to  be  called  Fertse  Martyrum,  or 
simply  Na  Ferta,  that  is,  the  Church  of  the  Relics.  As  Patrick 
remained  there  '  a  long  time  '  at  the  church  in  '  the  lower  ground,* 
it  must  have  been  built  some  years  before  the  Great  Church  on 
the  Hill.  Reeves  thinks  that  it  was  situated  in  the  place  now 
known  as  Scotch  Street. 

II. — The  great  Stone  Church  on  the  hill  called  Damhliac,  was, 
probably,  a  much  later  erection.  We  have  no  evidence  to  show 
that  it  was  originally  built  of  stone  ;  but  it  is  highly  probable,  for 
Patrick  wished  to  make  it  his  primatial  church,  and,  therefore, 
would  seek  to  build  it  of  the  most  enduring  materials.  Then  the 
name  itself  seems  to  imply  that  from  the  very  beginning  it  was  a 
great  stone  church.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  occupied  the  site 
of  the  present  Protestant  cathedral  church  of  Armagh. 

III. — Near  it  on  the  north  was  built  the  church  called  Saball, 
or  the  Barn,  a  much  smaller  church  intended  for  the  daily  use  of 
the  monastic  family.  It  got  its  name  either  from  the  original 
Saball,  near  Downpatrick,  which  ran  north  and  south,  or  from 
its  being  intended  to  be  a  reproduction  and  memorial  of  that 
church,  which  was  always  especially  dear  to,  St.  Patrick.  It 
is  called  Ecclesia  Sinistralis  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  for, 
looking  to  the  sacred  east,  the  left  hand  is  to  the  north,  and 
the  right  to  the  south ;  hence  came  the  name  of  the  church  which 
was  near  the  northern  transept  of  the  cathedral,  or,  perhaps, 
occupied  its  site. 

At  a  later  period,  during  the  Danish  wars,  a  Round 
Tower  or  Cloictech  was  built  on  the  Sacred  Hill,  and,  if  it 
occupied  the  usual  position,  it  would  be  some  thirty  or  forty 
feet  from  the  north-west  angle  of  the  Great  Stone  Church. 
But  there  was  no  tower  there  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick, 
nor  long  after. 

IV. — There  was  also  a  Damhliac  Toga,  or  Stone  Church  of 
the  Elections.  This  building  served  the  purpose  of  a  chapter 
house,  and  was,  no  doubt,  of  much  later  date  than  the  Great  Stone 
Church.  Its  site  cannot  now  be  accurately  determined,  There 
were  many  other  buildings  also  on  the  Sacred  Hill ;  as,  for  instance, 
a  sacristy  (airegal)  adjoining  the  Great  Church,  and  the  Great 
House  of  the  Abbot,  or  Archbishop's  Palace ;  there  was  a 
Scriptorium  called  in  Irish  the  Tech  Screaptra,  for  copying  and 

^  Whilst  Patrick  was  travelling  through  the  country  on  his  missionary- 
journeys  he  carried  these  relics  with  him  in  a  small  box,  or  other  reliquary,  for 
he  needed  them  every  day  when  he  was  consecrating  the  altar  stones  for  his 
churches.  But  after  he  came  to  settle  down  at  Armagh  the  relics  would 
naturally  be  preserved  in  a  church.    Hence  its  name. 


492  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAGH. 

preserving  the  manuscript  books  ;  there  was,  of  course,  a  kitchen — 
in  Irish,  Cuicin — with  its  refectory  adjoining ;  and  there  was  a 
Prison  (Carcar)  for  dehnquent  or  refractory  persons,  whether 
clerical  or  lay.  Then  there  was  a  Relec  or  Cemetery  on  the  south 
of  the  Great  Church,  which  was  also  called  the  Grave-yard  of  the 
Kings,  so  many  persons  of  royal  blood  were  interred  within  it,  of 
whom  the  most  celebrated — Brian  Boru — was  interred  there  after 
the  battle  of  Clontarf.  Reference  is  also  made  in  the  Annals  to 
the  Culdee's  House,  to  the  Hospice,  or  Fort  of  the  Guests,  and  to 
the  Fidh-nemedh,  or  Sacred  Grove,  which  is  mentioned  in  the 
Tripartite 

It  is  highly  probable  that  all  these  buildings  occupied 
the  level  area  of  the  hill,  and  were  surrounded  by  a  strong 
rampart  of  earth  after  the  fashion  of  the  Irish  raths,  and 
this  enclosed  space  itself  is  called  a  rath  in  the  Tripartite. 
The  entrance  was  b}^  a  strong  gate,  to  which  reference  is 
made  in  the  Annals.  Reeves  thinks  it  was  on  the  eastern 
side,  so  that  the  sacred  Hill  was  approached  from  the 
present  Market-street  by  a  rather  steep  ascent,  at  the  top 
of  which  stood  a  cross  just  outside  the  gate  of  the  rath,  to 
mark  the  termon  or  limit  of  the  consecrated  enclosure. 

In  later  times,  as  Armagh  grew  larger,  when  monks 
and  scholars  flocked  to  Patrick's  sacred  City  from  all 
quarters,  a  second  earthen  rampart  was  raised  round  the 
hill  at  its  base,  just  as  the  second  rampart  surrounded  the 
Navan  Fort  enclosing  a  large  space  for  soldiers  and  cattle 
and  horses.  This  wide  area  was  afterwards  divided  into 
trians  or  wards  where  the  different  '  nations '  had  their 
quarters — Saxons  and  Gaels — whose  names  are  still 
preserved  in  Scotch  street,  English  street,  and  Irish  street. 

V. — The  Date  of  the  Founding  of  Armagh. 

The  exact  date  of  Patrick's  founding  his  Primatial  City 
of  Armagh  has  given  rise  to  considerable  discussion,  owing 
to  the  apparently  contradictory  statements  in  some  of  our 
most  venerable  authorities. 

In  the  Additions  to  Tirechan  it  is  expressly  stated  that 
Trim  was  founded  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  before  the 
Church  of  Armagh  was  founded.  Now  the  former  was 
founded  in  433,  therefore  Armagh  was  founded  in  457,  for 
the  twenty-five  years  were  not  complete,  and  that  is  the 
date  commonly  accepted  as  the  true  one.  But  that  date 
marks  the  foundation  of  the  Great  Church  on  Macha's 
Hill,  and  we  are  told  in  the  Tripartite  that  Patrick  and  his 
family  remained  *  a  long  time '  in  the  Church  of  Na  Ferta  in 


THE    DATE    OF   THE    FOUNDING    OF   ARMAGH.  493 

the  v'alley  before  he  founded  Armagh  itself  on  the  Ridge 
of  the  Willows.  When,  then,  was  Na  Ferta  itself  founded  ? 
The  Annals  of  Ulster  say  Ard-macha  was  founded  in  A.D. 
444,  1,194  years  from  the  founding  of  Rome.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Four  Masters  corroborate  the  author  of 
the  Additions  to  Tirechan,  for  they  distinctly  assert  that 
Ard  Macha  was  founded  by  St.  Patrick  in  457,  it  having 
been  granted  to  him  by  Daire.  We  think  these  statements 
can  be  reconciled  by  taking  the  Ulster  Annals  to  refer  to 
the  Church  of  Na  Ferta,  Patrick's  first  foundation  in 
Armagh,  and  understanding  the  Four  Masters  to  refer  to 
the  Great  Church  on  the  Hill,  as  is  quite  manifest  from 
their  words. 

This  view  is  corroborated  by  Tirechan's  phrase  that 
Patrick,  after  baptising  the  Hy  Tuirtre,  having  left  Macha, 
came  into  Cremorne^  (Maugdornu),  and  he  ordained 
Yictoricus  Bishop  of  Macha,  and  founded  there  a  great 
church.  No  doubt  '  Machia '  seems  to  mean  the  territory 
of  Hy  Meith  Macha,  but  that  certainly  bordered  on 
Armagh,  if  it  did  not  include  it.  It  is  very  likely,  then, 
that  Patrick  paid  a  passing  visit  to  Armagh  on  that 
occasion.  The  date  also  corresponds,  for  444,  as  far  as 
we  can  judge,  would  be  the  year  in  which  Patrick  passed 
through  Hy  Meith  Macha,  after  preaching  and  baptising 
in  the  Hy  Tuirtre  territory  west  of  Lough  Neagh.  We  think 
it  most  likely,  therefore,  that  the  Church  of  Na  Ferta  was 
founded  in  444,  but  that  the  great  primatial  church  on  the 
Hill  of  Macha  was  not  founded  until  457. 

There  is  an  incident  regarding  St.  Patrick  which  is 
narrated  in  the  Life  of  St.  Colman  of  Dromore,  and  as 
it  took  place  about  this  time,  may  be  fittingly  inserted  here. 
Our  version  is  taken  trom  the  Life  of  St.  Colman  in  the 
Salamanca  Manuscript : — "  It  came  to  pass  that  as  St. 
Patrick  was  on  a  certain  occasion  journeying  from  Armagh 
to  Saul,  he  received  hospitality  on  the  way  from  a  bishop, 
who  in  honour  of  so  great  a  guest,  resigned  to  Patrick 
at  his  departure  next  day  both  himself  and  his  monastery. 
But  Patrick,  always  despising  mere  worldly  goods,  said — • 
'  Not  for  me  you  and  your  territory  are  destined  by  God,  but 
for  one  who  sixty  years  to  come  will  found  his  monastery 
in  that  neighbouring  valley  which  I  saw  this  morning 
before  I  celebrated  Mass  a  multitude  of  angels  frequenting 
as  I  looked  out  through  the  window  of  this  church  of  yours.' 

^  Relicta  Machia,  venit  in  Maughdornu, 


494  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAC;iI. 

And  Patrick  said  the  same  to  another  bishop  of  that  neic^h- 
bourhood  who  wished  to  give  up  to  him  his  church  and  his 
territory." 

From  this  we  may  infer  that  Patrick  claimed  no  imme- 
diate spiritual  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  of  Iveagh,  and 
that  he  willed  that  territory  to  be  reserved  for  a  bishop  of 
the  native  race — that  is,  St.  Colman  of  Dromore,  who 
founded  his  See  there  about  the  year  514 — that  is,  some 
sixty  years  after  the  time  St.  Patrick  founded  the  See 
of  Armagh.  St.  Colman,  who  was  nephew  of  the  elder  St. 
•Colman  of  Kilroot,  belonged  to  the  great  tribe  of  the 
Dal-Araide,  whose  cradle  was  the  southern  portion  of  the 
Co.  Antrim  between  Larne  and  Lough  Neagh ;  and  a  small 
portion  of  their  original  territory  still  belongs  to  the  diocese 
of  Dromore.  Seapatrick,  which  is  merely  a  modern  form 
of  the  ancient  Suide  Patraic,  that  is  Patrick's  Seat, 
is  another  memorial  of  the  Saint's  visit  to  that  territory. 
There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  by  Dromore  was  his 
usual  route  from  Saul  to  Armagh,  and  from  Armagh  to 
Saul,  and  there  can  be  hardly  any  doubt  that  Patrick 
frequently  passed  that  way  during  the  thirty  years  which 
he  spent  in  Armagh.  But  Iveagh  was  in  the  territory  of 
the  Uladh,  and  therefore  outside  the  temporal  jurisdiction 
of  the  chief  of  Armagh  ;  hence  Patrick  did  not  wish  to 
complicate  matters  by  claiming  immediate  spiritual  juris- 
diction in  a  territory  where  the  jealous  chiefs  of  the 
Dal-Araide,  the  Picts  of  Erin, might  be  disposed  to  question 
his  authority,  so  long  as  he  was  located  at  Armagh. 

There  is  some  evidence  to  show  that  the  chiefs  of  that 
race  were  inclined  to  set  up  for  themselves  in  matters 
spiritual  as  well  as  temporal,  and  hence  we  find  reference 
to  St  Colman  of  Kilroot,  disciple  of  St.  Ailbe,  to  St. 
Colman  of  Dromore,  nephew  of  the  first  Colman,  and 
to  other  local  saints  as  the  spiritual  authority  amongst 
the  Dal-Araide,  even  at  the  time  when  St.  Patrick  dwelt 
in  his  old  age  at  Armagh ;  for  the  elder  Colman  at  least 
must  have  belonged  to  that  period.  Hence,  we  find,  too, 
that  the  diocese  of  Dromore,  though  rather  small,  has  its 
•own  independent  jurisdiction  ever  since. 

V. — The  Boundaries  of  Armagh. 

Patrick  having  erected  his  cathedral  church,  naturally 
thought  of  defining  the  diocese  that  would  be  subject  to  his 
own  immediate  jurisdiction.      His   usual  practice   was  to 


THE  BOUNDARIES  OF  ARMAGH.  495 

establish  a  bishop  near  the  chieftain's  dun  in  each  sub-king- 
dom, for  he  knew  well  that  the  men  of  one  tribe  would  be 
very  reluctant  to  submit  themselves  to  a  spiritual  jurisdiction 
seated  in  another  tribe.  Now  the  great  kingdom  of  Oriel, 
founded  by  the  Collas,  bad,  at  that  time,  as  was  shown 
before,  its  chief  royal  seat  at  Clogher ;  wherefore  Patrick, 
in  accordance  with  his  usual  practice,  had  gone  there 
several  years  before  and  set  Bishop  McCartan  over  the  see 
which  he  had  founded  close  to  the  royal  residence. 

But  Oriel  (Orghialla)  was  a  very  extensive  territory, 
and  really  included  two  great  kingdoms,  those  of  Eastern 
and  of  Western  Oriel.  The  name  of  Eastern  Oriel  is  still 
retained  in  that  of  two  modern  baronies  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Orior,  in  the  Co.  of  Armagh,  and  reference  is  made 
to  it  also  in  the  Tripartite,  where  it  is  said  the  Daire  and 
the  nobles  of  Orior  (Oirthir)  attended  St.  Patrick  when  he 
was  measuring  and  consecrating  the  site  of  his  cathedral 
church  on  the  hill  of  Armagh. 

In  this  sense  of  the  word,  Oirthir,  or  Eastern  Oriel, 
appears  to  have  included  six  territories  or  sub-kingdoms ; 
of  these  the  King  of  the  Ui  Niallan,  '  of  shining  fame,' 
appears  to  have  been  the  nominal  chief,  and  he  dwelt  at 
Armagh,  partly  on  account  of  its  ancient  fame  as  the 
royal  seat  of  Ulster,  and  partly,  no  doubt,  because  the 
land  around  it  is  amongst  the  best  in  the  province.  There- 
fore Patrick  resolved,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Angel,  to 
set  up  his  own  cathedral  church  in  the  same  seat  of  ancient 
royalty,  and  thus  include  all  Eastern  Oriel  within  his  own 
diocese  of  Armagh,  as  he  had  already  assigned  Western 
Oriel  to  the  See  of  Clogher. 

There  was  some  reason  to  fear  that  all  the  sub-chiefs 
might  not  sanction  this  arrangement,^  and  it  would  appear 
that  Patrick  was  not  himself  free  from  all  apprehension  on 
the  subject.  But,  according  to  the  Tripartite,  as  he  was 
resting  at  the  end  of  a  night — the  early  dawn — ^^at  Tipra 
Cerna,  in  Tir  Tiprat,  the  Angel  went  to  him  and  awoke 
him.  Then  Patrick,  somewhat  alarmed,  said  to  the  Angel, 
**  Is  there  aught  in  which  I  am  wont  to  offend  God,  or  is 
His  anger  roused  a^^^ainst  me  ?  "  "  There  is  not,"  said  the 
Angel,  "but  it  has  been  ordained  for  thee  by  God,  if  it 
seems  good  to  thee,  that  no  one  else  shall  have  a  share  in 


*  It  was  the  custom  to  give  a  bishop  to  every  tribe,  and  that  principle  is 
formally  recognised  in  a  very  ancient  Rule,  attributed  to  St.  Patrick.  He 
generally  acted  upon  it  himself. 


49^  ST.    PATRICK    IN    ARMAGH. 

Ireland  save  thee  alone — (that  is,  that  he  should  have 
primatial  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  country)— and  the 
extent  of  thine  own  termon,  or  boundary  of  thy  See,  from 
God  is  from  Dromma  Breg  to  Sliab  Mis,  and  to  Bri 
Airigi."  "But,  surely,"  replied  Patrick  "Sons  of  Life 
will  come  after  me,  and  I  desire  that  they  should  have 
honour  from  God — (that  is,  jurisdiction) — after  me  in  the 
land."  "  That  is  charitable  of  you,"  said  the  Angel,  in 
reply,  "  but  God  hath  given  all  Ireland  to  thee,  and  every 
freemar:  that  abides  in  Ireland  shall  be  thine  " — that  is  sub- 
ject to  thy  primatial  jurisdiction.  "  I  give  God  thanks," 
said  Patrick. 

A  somewhat  different  account  is  found  in  the  Liber 
Angeli,  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  a  treatise  which  was 
intended  to  set  out  the  prerogatives  and  privileges  of  the 
vSee  of  Armagh,  and  hence  is  more  or  less  open  to  suspicion 
as  a  record  of  fact.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  Angel 
came  to  Patrick  to  make  known  to  him  the  will  of  God  at 
all  the  most  critical  times  in  his  life,  and  Patrick's  Confes- 
sion assures  us  that  he  had  such  celestial  visitants  more 
than  once.  This  occasion,  too,  was  certainly  an  important 
one,  when  there  was  question  of  defining  the  extent  of 
his  own  episcopal  jurisdiction.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Book  of  the  Angel  appears  to  have  been  written  for  a 
purpose,  after  the  death  of  Patrick  himself,  and  is,  conse- 
quently, open  to  grave  suspicion  in  narrating  the  angelic 
visions  alleged  to  have  been  vouchsafed  to  the  Saint. 

The  account  of  this  particular  vision  is  very  circumstan- 
tial and  plausible. 

On  a  certain  occasion,  it  tells  us,  Patrick  went  from 
his  city  of  Armagh  to  baptise,  teach,  and  cure  a  great 
number  of  people  at  the  well  (Tipra  Cerna,  as  above), 
which  is  close  to  the  eastern  part  of  the  aforesaid  city. 
And  he  went  before  dawn  of  day  to  await  the  crowds 
who  gathered  there,  and  as  he  was  weary  from  his  vigils, 
sleep  overpowered  him  at  the  well.  Then  the  Angel  came 
quickly  from  heaven  and  awoke  him  from  sleep.  "  Lo,  I 
am  here,"  said  Patrick.  "  Have  I  done  ought  wrong  in 
the  sight  of  God  ?  If  so  I  crave  His  pardon."  "  No," 
said  the  Angel ;  "  not  so,  but  God  has  sent  me  to  console 
you,  seeing  that  you  have  converted  all  the  Irish  to  the 
true  faith  in  Him  ;  for  you  have  brought  them  to  God  by 
hard  labour  and  much  preaching,  luminous  with  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  most  beneficial  to  all  these  tribes 
of  Ireland.     And  you  have  laboured  at  all  times  ;  in  many 


THE    BOUNDARIES   OF   ARMAGH.  497 

dangers  from  the  heathen  ;  in  cold  and  hunger  and  thirst; 
journeying  daily  from  tribe  to  tribe,  for  the  salvation  of  all. 
Now  God  sees  your  present  place,  which  we  see  close  at 
hand  on  the  hill — how  small  it  is,  with  your  little  church, 
and  how  it  is  hemmed  in  by  the  people  of  the  place,  and 
how  its  confines  do  not  suffice  to  be  a  place  of  refuge  for 
all.  Therefore  it  is  that  God  assigns  very  wide  bounds  to 
your  City  or  See  of  Armagh,  which  you  love  so  beyond  all 
other  lands  of  Erin,  namely,  from  the  Ben  of  Berbix  (a 
pinna  Berbicis)  to  Sliab  Mis,  and  from  Sliab  Mis  to  Bri 
Erigi,  and  from  Bri  Erigi  to  Dromma  Breg  (ad  Dorsos 
Breg) ;  such  if  you  wish  will  be  the  extent  of  your  diocese. 
And,  moreover,  God  has  given  to  you,  and  to  this  your 
City  of  Armagh,  all  the  tribes  of  Erin,  to  be  under  your 
jurisdiction  (in  modum  parochiae)."  Then  Patrick,  falling 
on  his  face,  gave  thanks  to  God  for  giving  him  such  glory. 

Now,  here  we  have  the  primatial  jurisdiction  which 
extends  over  all  Erin,  clearly  distinguished  from  the 
diocesan  jurisdiction  which  is  bounded  by  the  mountains 
named  above. 

These  boundaries  would  almost  define  the  limits  of 
the  diocese  of  Armagh  at  the  present.  In  our  opinion 
Pinna  Berbicis  is  the  Latin  of  Ben  Boirche  ^ — the  '  wether's 
head ' — so  called,  doubtless,  from  a  supposed  resemblance. 
Sliab  Mis  is  the  well-known  mountain  in  the  Co.  Antrim, 
but  here  it  seems  to  denote  the  whole  range  beyond  Lough 
Neagh  to  the  east,  and  in  this  wide  sense  the  limit  may 
be  accepted.  Then  Bri  Erigi  we  take  to  be  the  Height 
of  Errigal,  a  name  which  is  still  retained  in  that  of  the 
parish  of  Errigal  Keiran,^  in  the  heart  of  Tyrone,  but 
belonging  to  the  diocese  of  Armagh.  The  word  Bri  means 
a  conspicuous  flat  or  round-topped  hill,  and  designates, 
we  think,  the  great  hill  now  called  Slievemore,  which  is 
in  the  parish  of  Errigal,  and  on  the  extreme  western 
border  of  the  diocese  of  Armagh.  The  Dromma  Breg,  or 
Ridges  of  Bregia,  extend  across  the  north-east  of  Meath 
and  south-west  of  Louth,  forming  the  boundary  of  the 
diocese  of  Armagh  at  that  point.  The  name  itself  is  still 
retained  in  that  of  Slieve  Bregh,  north  of  Slane,  the  highest 


1  The  Notes  in  Fiacc's  Hymn  say  the  peak  gets  its  name  from  Bairch,  the 
herdsman  of  a  King  of  Uladh,  who  used  to  dwell  there;  but  the  Scholiasts 
are  often  very  imaginative,  and  such  double  derivations  are  quite  common,  as 
for  instance  in  the  Dindsenchas. 

^  Or  Errigal  Keerogue,  as  it  is  in  the  Ordnance  Map. 

2  K 


498  ST.    PATRICK    IN   ARMAGH. 

point  of  which,  called  the  Moat,  rises  to  the  height  of  753 
teet,  and  is,  we  believe,  that  Dromman  Breg  on  whose 
summit  vSt.  Patrick  placed  a  man  to  watch  over  that  fair 
Bregian  plain  until  the  Day  of  Doom. 

The  Book  of  the  Angel  then  gives  some  further  decla- 
rations made  by  St.  Patrick,  apparently  on  this  occasion, 
which  do  not  tend  to  confirm  the  authenticity  of  the  alleged 
vision. 

Patrick  also  said  to  the  Lord,  represented  by  his 
Angel — "  I  foresee,  O  my  Lord,  that  many  chosen  souls 
will,  through  Thy  ineffable  grace  and  holy  word,  arise  in 
this  island,  who  will  be  as  dear  to  me  as  if  they  were  my 
own  children,  and  who  will  devoutly  serve  Thee  as  Thy 
friends,  and  they  will  surely  need  for  themselves  some 
kind  of  a  diocese  of  their  own  for  the  necessary  maintenance 
of  their  churches  and  monasteries  after  my  time.  There- 
fore, it  is  fitting  and  just  that  I  should  share  with  these 
perfect  religious  of  Ireland  the  abundant  gifts  undoubtedly 
bestowed  upon  me,  so  that  I  and  they  may  enjoy  together 
the  richness  of  God's  goodness,  which  have  been  all  given 
to  us  to  spend  in  divine  charity."  The  object  of  this 
appears  to  be  to  point  out  that  the  monastic  houses  and 
even  the  other  bishops  held  their  lands  and  sees,  not  oi 
strict  right,  but  rather  by  grace  of  the  successors  of  vSt. 
Patrick. 

He  also  said — ''  Will  not  that  be  enough  for  me  which 
pious  Christian  men  may  freely  vow  or  freely  bestow  on 
me  from  their  own  lands  and  goods,  according  to  their  own 
good  pleasure?"  But  this  generosity  is  qualified  in  the 
next  paragraph,  where  Patrick  is  represented  as  saying  to 
the  Angel — "  Am  I  not  content  to  be  the  apostolic  teacher 
and  chief  leader  of  all  the  nations  of  Erin,  especially  as  / 
retain  a  special  tax  to  be  duly  paid  to  me,  which  has  been 
granted  to  me  by  Heaven,  and  is  justly  and  truly  due  from 
all  the  free  churches  of  the  provinces  of  this  island.  More- 
over, a  tax  has,  without  any  doubt,  been  imposed  on  all 
the  monasteries  of  Coenobites  in  favour  of  the  Rector  of 
Armagh  for  ever."  It  is  not  here  stated  expressly  that 
the  Angel  ratified  these  claims;  but  it  is  clearly  implied 
that  Patrick  claimed  these  rights  for  himselt  and  his  suc- 
cessors for  ever,  in  virtue  of  the  jurisdiction  which  God 
had  granted  to  him  over  all  the  churches  and  tribes  of 
Erin. 

These  extracts  clearly  show,  in  our  opinion,  that  the 
Book    of  the  Angel,   and    the    visions  which    it  records, 


THE    BOUNDARIES   OF   ARMAGH.  499 

cannot  be  relied  on  as  strictly  authentic.  They  were 
inserted  by  some  later  scribe,  after  the  death  of  Patrick, 
to  lend  authority  to  the  claims  of  his  successors  as  regards 
their  diocesan  and  primatial  jurisdiction.  The  rights 
claimed  were  undeniable,  but  this  was  an  attempt  to  give 
them  a  special  sanction  from  Patrick  and  the  Angel,  which 
would  render  them  altogether  unquestionable. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

ST.  PATRICK'S  LABOURS  IN  ARMAGH. 

I. — His  Daily  Labours. 

Patrick's  life  during  his  residence  in  Armagh  during  this 
last  period  of  his  career  was  in  many  respects  quite  different 
from  the  more  active  years  of  his  earlier  missionary  life  in 
Ireland.  From  his  arrival  in  Ireland  in  432,  to  his  founda- 
tion of  Armagh  in  457,  his  life  was  that  of  an  active  mis- 
sionary prelate,  as  the  whole  course  of  this  narrative  hitherto 
has  amply  shown.  He  shrank  from  no  labour,  he  was 
deterred  by  no  obstacles,  he  feared  no  dangers.  In  this, 
as  in  many  other  respects,  his  life  and  labours  bear  a  striking 
resemblance  to  the  life  and  labours  of  St.  Paul  during  his 
missionary  journeys. 

But  when  he  had  settled  down  in  Armagh,  his 
course  of  life  was  of  necessity  greatly  changed.  Thence- 
forward the  routine  of  his  life  did  not  in  any  essential 
points  differ  from  that  of  other  great  prelates  with 
an  enormous  diocese  to  govern.  We  may  be  sure 
he  never  neglected  the  daily  celebration  of  the  Divine 
Office  and  of  the  Sacred  Mysteries.  To  the  former  he 
was  bound  as  a  priest ;  as  a  man  of  prayer,  living  in  con- 
stant communion  with  God,  we  may  be  sure  he  would  not 
neglect  the  latter. 

Then,  it  is  a  primary  obligation  on  all  prelates  to  visit 
from  time  to  time  personally,  or  by  deputy,  the  churches 
within  their  jurisdiction.  As  it  is  said  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  all  Ireland  was  Patrick's  parochia,  or  diocese,  as  it 
was  called  later  on.  If  any  grave  matter  occurred  in  any 
of  the  churches  of  the  Irish  Tribes,  especially  in  those 
founded  by  himself,  Patrick  would  not  neglect  either  to 
visit  the  place  in  person,  or  send  his  Coadjutor  to  investigate 
the  case  and  apply  a  suitable  remedy.  In  fact  we  find, 
as  in  the  case  of  Ardagh,  that  if  any  rumours  of  a  grave 
scandal  occurring  in  any  of  his  churches  reached  his  years, 
Patrick,  in  spite  of  his  years,  made  an  effort  to  visit  the 
place  himself,  and  apply  a  suitable  remedy.  In  this  matter 
his  life  affords  a  noble  lesson  of  unwearied  zeal  to  all  Irish 
bishops  for  all  time. 

Then,  again,  when  Patrick  founded  his  Primatial  See  of 
Armagh  that  city  became  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  fervent 


STORY   OF    LUPITA   OR    LUPAIT.  501 

Christians,  not  only  from  all  parts  of  Ireland  but  also  from 
Britain  and  Gaul.  References  are  made  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh  to  these  pilgrimages,  and,  as  it  was  customary  to 
see  the  Irish  Saint  and  get  his  blessing,  just  as  people  now 
go  to  Rome  to  see  the  Pope  and  get  his  blessing,  the  Saint 
must  have  spent  many  an  hour  in  receiving,  and  blessing, 
and  giving  counsel  to  priests  and  prelates  from  all  parts 
of  Ireland,  and  sometimes  from  Gaul  and  Britain. 

Then  Patrick  had,moreover,theordinary  workof  a  prelate 
in  the  diocese  under  his  immediate  jurisdiction  in  relation 
to  his  clergy,  his  mionks,  his  nuns,  his  students,  his  flock 
generally ;  and  although  we  know  he  had  the  assistance  of 
a  Coadjutor  in  his  declining  years  to  aid  him  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  manifold  duties,  still  to  the  last  his  must 
have  been  an  anxious  and  laborious  life,  burdened  with 
many  cares  and  crowded  with  many  toils. 

We  must  bear  in  mind,  too,  that  at  this  time  Patrick 
was  very  old,  though,  doubtless,  very  hale,  in  consequence 
of  his  temperate  life,  spentfor  the  most  part  in  the  open 
air.  But  in  the  midst  of  all  his  toils  he  was,  as  he  tells  us 
himself,  sustained  by  God,  to  whom  he  justly  attributes  all 
the  success  of  his  manifold  labours.  This  was  in  truth  the 
whole  secret  of  his  marvellous  work  in  Ireland.  He  was  a 
man  of  prayer,  who  always  lived  in  the  presence  of  God, 
and,  conscious  of  the  Divine  Commission  and  the  Divine 
help,  he  faced  every  danger  and  overcame  every  obstacle. 
Such  is  in  fact  the  whole  tenor  of  his  Confession  ;  and, 
as  we  have  said  more  than  once,  Patrick's  conversion  of 
Ireland  in  face  of  the  difficulties  he  had  to  encounter  can- 
not be  rationally  explained  on  any  other  hypothesis.  It 
was  the  work  of  God  through  the  agency  of  a  devoted 
man,  '  for  whom  the  love  and  service  of  Christ  my  Lord,* 
as  he  said,  was  the  one  all-absorbing  purpose  of  his  life. 

He  had,  however,  to  deal  with  some  things  that  caused 
him  great  trouble,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  own  religious 
family,  if  we  can  credit  the  story  told  in  the  Tripartite 
regarding  Lupita  when  she  dwelt  at  Armagh,  which  it  is 
our  duty,  as  faithful  historians,  to  reproduce  here. 

II. — Story  of  Lupita  or  Lupait. 

'Patrick,' we  are  told,  '  was  enraged  with  his  sister, 
namely,  Lupait,  for  the  sin  of  lust  which  she  committed, 
so  that  she  became  pregnant.  When  Patrick  came  into 
the   church   from   the   east — perhaps   from  Saul — Lupait 


502  ST.    PATRICK  S   LABOURS    IN   ARMAGH. 

went  to  meet  him,  and  .she  cast  herself  down  on  her  knees 
before  the  chariot  in  the  place  where  the  cross  stands  in 
Both  Arcall.'  This  was  probably  the  termon  cross  of 
Armagh  on  the  eastern  road,  for  there  was  a  cross  on  each 
road  to  mark  the  limit  of  the  Church's  territory  in  the 
suburbs  of  Armagh.  *'  Drive  the  chariot  over  her,"  says 
Patrick;  *  and  the  chariot  went  over  her  three  times,  for 
each  time  she  would  come  and  place  herself  in  front  of  it. 
Wherefore  she  went  to  heaven  there  at  the  Ferta,  and  she 
was  afterwards  buried  by  Patrick,  and  her  requiem  was 
sung' — in  Armagh,  no  doubt.  *  Colman,  son  of  Ailill,  of  the 
Hy  Bressail,  was  the  man  who  brought  this  ruin  on  Lupait 
at  Imdual.  Aedan,  son  of  Colman  and  Lupait,  was  the 
saint  of  Inis  Lothair,  for  Lupait  when  dying  besought 
Patrick  not  to  take  away  heaven  from  Colman  and  his  off- 
spring ;  and  Patrick  relenting,  it  would  appear,  did  not 
take  heaven  from  them.  He  only  said  they  would  be 
always  weakly.  Now,  the  children  of  Colman  are  the 
Hui  Failain  and  the  Hui  Duib-Dare.' 

This  is  a  very  strange  passage,  and  must  not  be  set  aside 
merely  because  it  attributes  sin  to  a  sister  of  Patrick,  who 
is  herself  described  as  a  saint  in  our  calendars.  Some 
great  saints  have  been  great  sinners,  and  the  time  of  this 
story  was  a  rude  age,  with  a  people  newly  converted  from 
paganism,  many  of  whom,  no  doubt,  from  time  to  time, 
relapsed,  as  the  Corinthian  Christians  did,  into  their  old 
carnal  sins.  Neither  can  we  reject  the  story  because  it 
sets  St.  Patrick  in  what  seems  to  be  a  cruel  and  odious 
light.  St.  Patrick  was  a  man  of  God  ;  he  was  zealous  for 
the  observance  of  God's  law ;  and  when  that  law  was 
violated,  especially  by  persons  of  his  own  kindred,  he  was 
capable  of  doing  harsh  things,  which,  no  doubt,  he  would 
afterwards  regret.  Neither  is  it  likely  that  this  story  was 
a  pure  invention,  for  no  Irish  writer  would  be  likely  to 
invent  such  a  story,  either  regarding  Patrick  or  Lupait, 
and  it  is  very  circumstantial  in  many  of  the  details. 

Still,  in  so  far  as  the  story  refers  to  St.  Lupait  or 
Lupita,  the  sister  of  St.  Patrick,  it  must  at  once  be  set 
aside  as  intrinsically  impossible.  For  this  Lupita  was 
nearly  of  the  same  age  as  St.  Patrick  himself.  She  was 
carried  off  a  captive  with  him  when  he  was  only  sixteen 
years  of  age.  She  was  sold  as  a  slave  and  dwelt  in  Conaille 
Muirthemne  during  the  years  that  St.  Patrick  herded 
swine  in  Antrim.  Therefore,  at  the  time  that  Patrick 
founded  Armagh  she  must  have  been  more  than  seventy 


VKSTMENT-MAKING    AND    KMBROIDHRY.  503 

years  of  age,  and  hence,  even  if  she  were  not  indeed  alto- 
gether free  from  the  hists  of  the  flesh,  she  was  certainly 
incapable  ot  bearing  children.  We  must,  therefore,  accept 
the  suggestion  of  Colgan  that  either  the  name  Lupait  was 
introduced  by  the  copyist  on  his  own  authority,  or,  what 
appears  to  us  to  be  more  likely,  that  there  is  question  not 
of  Lupait,  the  sister  of  the  Saint,  but  of  a  younger  Lupait, 
perhaps  a  niece  or  daughter  of  the  first,  who  came  to  dwell 
with  the  Saint  at  Armagh.  The  word,  '  Siur,'  sister, 
might  also  mean  a  relation,  and  the  odious  crime  might 
thus  be  attributed  to  St.  Lupita,  sister  of  St.  Patrick, 
which  was  really  committed  by  a  younger  relative. 

The  circumstantial  details  given  in  the  Tripartite  tell 
strongly  in  favour  of  the  substantial  authenticity  of  the 
story.  That  a  young  chief  of  the  blood  royal  like  Colman 
should  succeed  in  attempting  to  seduce  a  young  religious 
in  that  rude  age  is  by  no  means  improbable.  We  think, 
however,  the  severity  with  which  Patrick  treated  the  erring 
maiden  when  she  sought  his  pardon,  is  greatly  exaggerated. 
He  would,  doubtless,  pass  her  by  unheeded  in  his  anger, 
but  the  statement  of  his  driving  his  chariot  over  her  three 
times  is  clearly  an  exaggeration  of  later  times. ^  The 
maiden's  heart  was  broken,  that  is  clear  enough  ;  yet  like 
a  true  woman  she  besought  the  Saint  to  spare  her  child 
and  her  seducer,  and  the  Saint  granted  the  petition,  and 
forebore  to  inflict  on  them  any  heavier  doom.  By  her 
self-sacrifice  she  saved  them  from  the  punishment  of  the 
sin  2  of  the  parents. 

III. — Vestment-making  and  Embroidery. 

In  bright  contrast  with  the  strange  story  related  of 
Lupait  is  that  which  tells  us  later  on  how  Patrick  had  four 
holy  nuns  who  spent  their  lives  making  vestments  and 
altar  clothes  for  the  churches  at  Armagh  and  elsewhere. 
These  things  could  not  be  purchased  at  the  time,  a  regular 
supply  could  not  be  got  over  the  sea,  so  if  they  were  to  be 

^  Patrick  appears  to  have  heard  of  the  scandal  before  his  arrival.  Lupait 
cast  herself  in  the  narrow  track  to  implore  pardon.  Patrick  said  :  "  Drive  on,"' 
and  the  maiden  may  have  been  hurt.  Again  and  again  she  threw  herself  before 
him,  and  again  and  again  he  said  :  "  Drive  on,  don't  mind  her."  It  is  easy  to 
see  how  the  exaggerations  could  arise  from  facts  like  tliese. 

2  Colman,  son  of  Ailill  of  the  Ify  Bressail,  was  a  member  of  the  ruling 
family  of  that  tribe,  which  dwelt  south-east  of  Lough  Neagh,  and  was  after- 
wards called  the  Clanbrassil.  Colgan  does  not  know  where  Inis-Lothair  was— 
perhaps  it  was  in  Lough  Nengh. 


504  ST.    PATRICK  S    LABOURS    IN    ARMAGH. 

liad  at  all  Patrick  must  have  them  made  for  himself.  The 
four  holy  nuns  whose  names  arc  given  as  thus  working  for 
God  and  for  Patrick  are — Cochmaiss  and  Tigris  and  Lupait 
and  Darerca.  It  is  not  said  that  they  all  worked  together 
at  Armagh,  indeed  the  contrary  would  seem  to  be  implied  ; 
but  they  are  enumerated  amongst  those  holy  workers  who 
devoted  their  lives  to  the  service  of  Patrick's  churches. 
Three  of  those  named  were  his  own  sisters,  and  the  fourth 
seems  to  have  been  a  royal  maiden  from  Ulidia.  The 
Lupait  here  referred  to  was  not  the  Lupait  whose  sad  story 
has  been  just  recorded.  Aubrey  de  Vere  has  given  us  a 
beautiful  picture  of  their  assiduous  labour  for  God  : 

Beneath  a  pine  three  vestals  sat  close-veiled ; 

A  song  these  childless  sang  of  Bethlehem's  Child, 

Low-toned,  and  worked  their  Altar-cloth,  a  Lamb 

All  white  on  golden  blazon  ;  near  it  bled 

The  Bird  that  with  her  own  blood  feeds  her  young. 

Red  drops  her  holy  breast  affused.     These  three 

Were  daughters  of  three  Kings. 

—  The  Af'raignment  of  St  Patrick. 

IV. — Relics  for  Armagh. 

The  Tripartite  gives  a  curious  account  of  the  way  in  which 
St.  Patrick  procured  relics  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  from 
Rome  to  be  used  in  the  consecration  of  his  Irish  churches. 
To  make  it  intelligible  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  law  and 
practice  as  to  the  use  and  veneration  of  the  relics  of  the  saints. 

We  know  from  the  testimony  of  the  most  learned  of 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Feathers  that  great  veneration  was 
paid  to  the  relics  of  the  martyrs  from  the  earliest  ages  of 
the  Church's  history,  and  great  efficacy  was  attributed  to 
their  possession  or  application.  St.  Ambrose,  A.D.  393, 
speaks  of  the  relics  of  the  martyrs,  Vitalis  and  Agricola, 
as  *  trophies  of  the  cross,  whose  virtue  you  perceive  in 
their  works.'  St.  Chrysostom  says,  *  let  us  fall  down 
before  their  remains,  let  us  embrace  their  coffins,  for  the 
coffins  of  the  martyrs  can  acquire  great  virtue.'  St.  Basil 
says  that  *  the  ashes  of  the  Forty  Martyrs  when  thrown  into 
a  stream  carried  blessings  to  all  the  neighbouring  coasts. 
Like  towers  closely  set,  they  afford  protection  against  the 
incursions  oi  our  enemies ' — and  numberless  quotations  Oi 
a  similar  kind  might  be  cited. 

The  custom  01  erecting  altars  over  the  bodies  of  the 
martyrs  had  its  origin  in  the  catacombs,  and  afterwards  it 


RELICS    FOR   ARMAGH.  505 

became  customary  to  build  churches  and  altars  over  the 
place  where  the  martyrs  suffered  ;  but  in  these  cases  it  was 
always  required  that  some  of  the  relics  should  be  really 
preserved  in  or  under  the  altar.^  And  vSt.  Jerome  expressly 
states  that  the  Popes  used  in  person  to  offer  sacrifice 
over  the  bodies  of  St.  Peter  and  Paul,  whose  tombs  were 
the  altars  of  Christ.  This  custom  became  so  universal  that 
it  was  made  obligatory  by  law  in  all  cases,  as  it  is  still,  to 
have  the  relics  of  the  martyrs  under  the  altar  or  inserted 
in  the  altar  stone  or  table  itself,  and  it  was  ordered  that 
wherever  churches  or  altars  had  been  dedicated  without 
those  '  sacred  pledges  '  of  the  saints,  they  were  as  soon  as 
possible  to  be  supplied  with  them. 

This  practice  and  legislation  was  in  full  force  when  St. 
Patrick  came  to  Ireland;  and  he,  of  course,  as  far  as 
possible,  complied  with  the  requirements  of  the  Church. 
He  brought  both  books  and  relics  with  him  when  first  he 
came  to  preach  to  Ireland  ;  but  the  supply  soon  became 
exhausted,  and  he  found  it  necessary  to  procure  more. 
Rome  was  naturally  the  great  place  to  send  for  a  supply  of 
relics ;  and  we  know  that  during  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries  it  had  become  a  common  practice  to  send  from 
all  parts  of  Europe  to  Rome  for  relics  to  be  used  in  the 
consecration  of  churches  and  altars,  and  the  Liber  Diurnus 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs  contains  a  copy  of  the  form  of 
application  to  be  made  in  all  such  cases.^ 

When  these  relics  were  brought  to  any  place  for  the 
consecration  of  a  new  church,  it  was  prescribed  that  vigils 
should  be  kept  and  prayers  recited  betore  the  relics  during 
the  whole  of  the  preceding  night ;  and  when  a  quantity  of 
relics  were  kept  in  any  place  they  were  to  be  preserved  in 
a  shrine  or  other  reliquary,  with  the  utmost  reverence  and 
care.  P'rom  time  to  time,  especially  on  the  great  festivals  of 
the  Church,  they  were  to  be  exposed  to  the  devotion  of  the 
people,  and  the  clergy  were  required,  particularly  on  Sun- 
days, to  recite  certain  prayers  and  psalms  before  the  relics, 
by  way  of  invoking  the  intercession  of  the  saints  in  heaven. 
Numberless  decrees  of  Councils,  some  of  them  dating  from 
the  earliest  times,  point  to  these  observances  as  not  only- 
laudable  but  obligatory ;  and  they  are  set  out  at  great 
length  and  with  much  learning  by  a  Protestant  writer  in 
the  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities. 


1  Council  of  Carthage,  A.D.  401,  7th  canon. 

2  See  Dictionary  of  Chris.  Biogi  <i/>hy,  sub.  voce,  p.  1,774. 


506  ST.    PATRICK'S    LABOURS   IN    ARMAGH. 

Now,  when  Patrick  was  going  through  the  country  of 
necessity  he  carried  his  reUcs  about  with  him  in  some  kind 
of  portable  pix,  or  theca,  or  reHquary,  or  sacrarium,  for 
these  terms  have  been  all  applied  to  sacred  vessels  used  for 
this  purpose.  But  now  that  he  had  finally  settled  at 
Armagh  he  established  a  fixed  place  for  keeping  his  relics, 
and,  in  our  opinion,  his  first  church  of  Na  Ferta  took  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  the  relics  of  the  martyrs  were  kept 
there.  Then,  as  we  have  said,  when  they  began  to  run 
short,  he  had  to  procure  a  fresh  supply  from  Rome,  which 
was  the  spiritual  treasury  of  the  whole  Christian  world  for 
this  purpose.  So  he  had  either  to  go  himself  to  Rome,  or 
send  some  person,  to  procure  relics  for  him  in  the  Holy  City. 

The  Tripartite  represents  Patrick  himself  as  going  to 
Rome  to  procure  his  relics,  and  relates  the  fact  in  a  very 
curious  fashion. 

"  One  day/'  it  tells  us,  "  the  Angel — -Victor,  no  doubt 
— came  to  Patrick  in  Armagh  and  said  to  him,  '  To-day 
the  relics  of  the  apostles  (and  martyrs)  are  to  be  divided 
in  Rome  so  as  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the  various 
churches  of  Christendom,'  and  as  Patrick  was  then  old,  and 
besides  could  not,  in  human  fashion,  travel  to  Rome  in  a 
day  or  two,  the  Angel  added,  ''  I  will  carry  you  thither," 
so  that  he  might  get  a  share  of  the  relics.^ 

'  Now,  there  were  seen  at  the  Southern  (termon)  Cross 
of  Aenach  Macha,  four  chariots,  which  were  brought  to 
Patrick  that  he  might  set  out  on  this  Roman  journey.' 
We  are  also  told  that  at  the  Northern  Cross  of  Armagh 
he  saw  our  Saviour  himself,  as  He  will  come  to  judge  the 
world  on  the  day  of  judgment ;  that  is,  in  great  power 
and  majesty.  So  Patrick  no  longer  hesitated,  but  leaving 
Sechnall,  his  beloved  nephew  and  coadjutor  'in  the  bishopric 
with  the  men  of  Ireland,'  he  himself  entered  one  of  the 
chariots,  and  in  the  first  day's  journey  he  was  carried  all 
the  way  to  Comar  Tri  n  Uisce — that  is,  apparently,  the 
confluence  of  the  Suir,  Nore,  and  Barrow,  near  VVaterford. 
There  Patrick  found  a  ship  from  Burdigala  of  Letavia — 
the  modern  Bordeaux. ^  Embarking  in  this,  he  was,  after  a 
time,  carried  up  the  Tiber,  even  to  Rome  itself     Just  then 

^  '  Juxta  ecclesiarum  exigentiam  dividerentur.' — Golgan. 

^  We  need  not  wonder  that  a  ship  of  Bordeaux  should  come  to  Port 
Lairge  (Waterford)  in  the  fifth  century,  for  Ireland's  ports  were  well  known  to 
foreign  merchants  from  the  time  of  Tacitus,  and  wine  especially  would  be 
needed  for  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  Wicklow  and  Waterford  were  the  most 
frequented  ports,  but  Waterford  was  at  the  time  more  Christianised. 


RELICS    FOR   ARMAGH.  50/ 

sleep  or  torpor  came  over  the  people  of  Rome,  so  that  Patrick 
carried  off  as  much  of  the  holy  relics  as  he  wanted  for  the 
needs  of  his  Irish  churches,  and  theywere  all  taken  to  Armagh 
by  the  counsel  of  God  and  the  counsel  of  the  men  of 
Ireland.  They  included  three  hundred  and  three  score 
and  five  relics,  together  with  the  relics  of  Peter  and  Paul, 
and  of  Laurence  and  Stephen,  and  of  many  others.  They 
also  included  a  sheet  with  Christ's  blood  thereon,  and  with 
the  hair  of  Mary  the  Virgin.  Patrick  brought  the  whole 
collection  to  Armagh,  according  to  the  will  of  God,  and  of 
his  angel,  and  of  the  men  of  Ireland. 

This  story,  as  it  stands,  must  be  rejected,  first  of  all 
because  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  Confession  of  Patrick, 
for  the  Saint  very  clearly  states  that  although  he  was 
anxious  to  go  to  'the  Britains'  to  visit  his  native  country 
and  relations  (parentes),  yea,  and  go  further,  even  to  Gaul 
itself,  to  visit  his  (spiritual)  brethren,  and  see  once  more 
the  face  of  the  Saints  of  God,  yet  he  was  restrained  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  testified  to  him  that  he  should  not  go, 
but  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Ireland.^  Then 
the  miraculous  mode  of  travelling  shows  that  the  writer  of 
the  narrative  was  conscious  of  the  difficulty  of  bringing  St. 
Patrick  to  Rome  in  the  ordinary  way. 

As  to  the  pious  theft  of  the  relics  we  have  ample  evi- 
dence that  the  surreptitious  abstraction  of  relics  was  quite 
common  at  the  time,  and  had  to  be  forbidden  under  severe 
penalties  by  various  Popes  and  Councils.  But  it  seems-to 
be  entirely  a  gratuitous  statement  to  make  St.  Patrick 
guilty  oi  a  pious  fraud  of  this  kind,  seeing  that  he  could 
easily  have  got  the  relics  without  it. 

We  may,  then,  fairly  assume  that  the  narrative  is 
imaginary,  so  far  as  it  brings  St.  Patrick  himself  to  Rome. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  may  readily  admit,  indeed  we  must 
admit,  that  he  sent  some  one  to  Rome  to  procure  relics  for 
the  purposes  already  explained,  and  it  is  only  natural  to 
conclude  that  these  relics  would  be  preserved  in  Armagh. 

The  Tripartite  adds  that  a  letter  was  brought  from  the 
Pontiff  to  Patrick  directing  that  there  should  be  vigils  before 
the  relics  with  lamps  and  lights  in  the  nights  always,  and 
Mass  and  psalm-singing  by  day,  and  prayer  in  the  night, 
and  that  they  should  be  exposed  every  year  for  the  multi- 
tudes to  venerate  them.     All  this  was  the  common  law  and 


^  The  passage  is  rather  obscure,  and  the  Latin  is  corrupt,  but  there  can  be 
do  doubt  as  to  the  drift  of  the  meaning  to  be  conveyed. 


5o8  ST.    PATRICK'S   LABOURS   IN   ARMAGH. 

practice  of  the  time,  and  it  applied  not  merely  to  the  eve 
of  the  dedication  of  the  church  where  the  relics  were  exposed 
to  the  veneration  of  the  faithful,  but  to  every  church  or 
chapel  which  was  set  apart  for  the  custody  of  celebrated 
relics.  Of  this  we  have  ample  evidence  in  the  teaching  oi 
the  Fathers  as  well  as  in  the  decrees  of  the  early  Councils. 
As  we  have  said,  some  church  at  Armagh,  most 
probably  the  Na  Ferta,  was  chosen  to  be  the  repository 
of  the  sacred  relics  sent  to  Patrick  from  Rome,  and  they 
were  enclosed  in  a  reliquary  or  receptacle,  called  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh  by  the  curious  name  of  a  sarcophagus,^ 
which  is  described  in  the  margin  as  '  du  ferti  martyr'  (i.e.) 
the  graves  or  relics  of  the  martyrs.  Nay,  more,  in  the 
Book  of  the  Angel  we  have  the  very  psalms  prescribed 
to  be  said  every  Sunday  when  going  in  procession  from 
Armagh  on  the  Hill  to  these  Graves  of  the  Martyrs,^  an 
injunction  which,  as  we  know,  was  quite  in  conformity  with 
the  practice  of  the  universal  church  at  the  time. 

V. — Patrick's  Coadjutors. 

The  statement  of  the  Tripartite  that  when  Patrick  was 
setting  out  for  Rome  from  Armagh  he  left  Sechnall  ^  in 
charge  thereof  during  his  absence,  raises  difficulties  of 
another  kind.  Was  St.  Sechnall  alive  after  Patrick  had 
founded  Armagh,  about  the  year  455  ?  This  is  an 
interesting  question  of  itself  and  open  to  considerable 
discussion,  but,  as  we  have  already  referred  to  it  more  than 
once,  we  need  not  further  discuss  it  here. 

On  the  other  hand  the  Annals  of  Ulster  assign  Sechnall's 
death  to  447,^  and  he  is  described  as  the  first  Bishop  that 
went  under  the  sod  in  Ireland,^  which  would  go  to  show  an 
early  date  for  his  death.     The  question  is  surrounded  with 


^  In  the  text  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  '  Sargifagum  Martyrum.' 

2  Fundamentum  orationis  in  unaquaque  die  dominica  in  Alto  Machae  ad 
Sargifagum  Martyrum  adeundem  ab  eoque  revertendum  scil :  Domine 
clamavi,    &c.,    &c.     Rolls'  Trip.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  356. 

^  The  Scholiast  in  the  Preface  to  Sechnall's  hymn  in  the  Lebar  Brecc 
states  that  Patrick  sent  Sechnall  to  Rome  for  the  relics,  which  is  much  more 
probable,  or  if  not  Sechnall,  someone  else  to  get  them  in  Patrick's  name.  In 
this  way  the  procuring  of  the  relics  would  come  to  be  attributed  to  Patrick 
himself. 

^  A.D.  447.  Repose  of  Secundinus  the  Holy  in  the  75th  year  of  his 
age. 

5  The  Lite  of  St.  Declan  says  of  Sechnall — '  De  quo  fertur  quod  ipse 
primus  episcopus  sub  humo  Ilibernite  exivit.' 


HIS   COADJUTORS.  509 

considerable  difficulty,  and  cannot,  we  fear,  be  determined 
in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge. 

The  whole  narrative  regarding  Sechnall's  poem  in 
praise  of  his  uncle,  as  given  both  in  the  Tripartite  and  by 
the  Scholiast,  represents  him  as  meeting  St.  Patrick  in 
Armagh,  and  the  story  about  Fiacc's  chariot  tends  in  the 
same  direction. 

It  was  about  this  time  also,  whilst  Patrick  was  sojourn- 
ing at  Armagh,  that  Sechnall  made  the  panegyric  in  praise 
of  his  uncle,  which  is  referred  to  elsewhere.  "  When  shall 
I  make  a  panegyric  for  thee?  "  said  Sechnall.  "  The  time 
for  that  is  not  yet  come,"  said  Patrick,  who  did  not  wish  to 
be  praised  during  his  life.  "But  it  must  be  made," 
said  Sechnall.  "  Then  by  my  word,"  said  Patrick,  "  the 
sooner  it  is  done  the  better,'^  for  Patrick  knew  that 
Sechnall's  death  was  not  far  off;  and  he  was  the  first 
bishop  who  went  under  the  sod  in  Ireland. 

The  occasion  of  writing  the  poem  is  then  explained. 
Sechnall  had  said  to  some  of  Patrick's  household  at  Ferta 
Martar^ — the  first  church  founded  by  Patrick — ''Patrick  is 
a  good  man ;  were  it  not  for  one  thing  he  is  a  most  excel- 
lent man."  That  remark  went  out  amongst  Patrick's 
family,  so  that  he  himself  coming  to  hear  it  asked  Sechnall 
what  it  meant.  "  I  meant,"  said  Sechnall,  "  O  my  father, 
that  you  did  not  preach  charity,  that  is  the  giving  of  alms 
and  offerings."  ''  But  my  little  son,"  said  Patrick,  "  it  is 
for  charity's  sake  that  I  do  not  preach  that  charity.  For 
if  I  preached  it  I  should  not  leave  a  yoke  of  two  horses 
for  any  of  the  saints  present  or  future  that  are  to  come 
after  me.  Everything  would  be  given  to  me^  my  share 
and  their  shares." 

Then  Sechnall  felt  he  had  done  Patrick  a  wrong,  and 
he  resolved  to  make  amends  by  writing  after  the  fashion 
of  the  Irish  Bards  this  ainhra  or  eulogy  on  St.  Patrick. 
So  Sechnall,  having  composed  his  hymn,  came  to  Patrick 
with  it,  and  it  appears  they  met  at  the  Pass  of  Midluachair, 
now  the  Moira  Pass,  as  Patrick  was  coming  southwards 
into  the  territory  of  Conaille. 

Patrick,  on  his  journey  southward,  was  resting  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  when  Sechnall  hastened  up  to 
meet  him,  coming  apparently  from  the  opposite  direction. 


*  This  is  an  incidental  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  story,  for  Na  Ferta 
was  the  earliest  church  founded  at  Armagh.  The  church  on  the  hill  was  not, 
in  all  probability,  founded  during  Sechnall's  life. 


5IO  ST.   PATRICK'S   LABOURS   IN   ARMAGH. 

The  'mountain'  appears  to  refer  to  SHeve  Gullion,  which 
overhangs  the  pass,  and  in  that  case  the  west  of  the  moun- 
tain would  mean  the  slopes  of  Slieve  Gullion  overlooking 
the  road  which  led  through  the  pass  from  Forkhill  to 
Armagh. 

When  they  met  in   the  pass  they   blessed  each  other, 
and  Scchnall,  addressing  Patrick,  who    was    still  resting 
himself  by  the  wayside,  said,  *'  I  wish  you  would  listen  to 
a  eulogy  which  I  have  made  for  a  certain   man  of  God." 
"  Welcome  to  me,"  said  Patrick,  "  is  the  praise  of  God's 
household."     Then  Sechnall  began  after  the  manner  of 
the  bards  and  recited  the  poem,  suppressing  the  stanza 
which    mentioned    Patrick's  name  as  the  subject    of  the 
poem.     Patrick  listened  until  Sechnall  came  to  the  verse 
which   describes  the  subject  of  the  poet's    eulogy,    as — 
Maximus  namque  in  regno  coelorum  ;  that  is,  '  the  greatest 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'     Then  it  seems  Patrick  began 
to  grow  uneasy,  either  because  he  thought  the  epithet  too 
strong,  or  it  seemed  to  be  intended   to  apply  to  himself. 
So  he  rose  from  the  place  where  he  was  sitting  by  the 
public  highway  or  pass  called  Elda,  and  when   Sechnall 
asked   why  he  interrupted   the  reading,    Patrick  replied, 
''  Let  us  go  to  a  quieter  place,  you  can  finish  the  reading 
of  your  poem  there."     As  they  walked  on  to  a  quieter  spot 
Patrick  said,  **  How  can  it  be  said  of  anyone  that  he  is 
the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  "      "  Oh,"  replied 
Sechnall,  "  the  superlative  is  there  put  for  a  strong  positive  ; 
it  only  means  that  he  excels  most  of  his  race,   whether 
Britons    or    Scots."      Just    then  they  came  to  the  place 
called  Dallmuine,  where  Patrick  once  more  prayed  and  sat 
down,  whereupon  Sechnall  recited  for  him  the  remainder 
of  the  poem,  including  the  stanza  naming  Patrick  as  its 
subject.     Patrick  now  submitted  to  the  eulogy,  and  even 
wished  joy  to  Sechnall  as  the  author  of  the  poem. 

"  Now,"  said  Sechnall,  after  the  manner  of  the  Bards, 
"  I  claim  the  reward  of  my  poem  ;  "  but  it  was  not  a  sordid 
reward.  The  text  of  the  Rolls'  Tripartite  is  either  corrupt 
or  very  obscure,  and  Colgan's  version  does  not  make  clearer 
the  exact  nature  of  the  reward.  But  we  gather  from  it, 
and  from  the  explanation  of  the  Scholiast,  that  Patrick  first 
promised  that  as  many  of  those  who  recited  the  hymn 
would  go  to  heaven  as  there  were  hairs  in  the  woollen 
chasuble  of  Sechnall.  But  Sechnall  was  not  content  with 
that.  Then  Patrick  promised  that  every  disciple  of  his 
who  kept  up  the  custom  of  reciting  the  poem  every  morn- 


FOOD    FOR   THE   SCHOLARS.  511 

ingand  evening  would  go  to  heaven.  "  It  is  good,"  said 
Sechnall,  "  but  the  poem  is  long  and  difficult."  "Then," 
said  Patrick,  "  he  shall  still  be  saved  if  he  keep  up  the 
custom  of  reciting  the  three  last  stanzas  or  even  the  three 
last  lines  ;  yea,  even  the  three  last  words."  "  I  give  thanks 
to  God,"  said  Sechnall. 

The  hymn,  which  came  to  be  known  as  Patrick's  Hymn, 
having  such  a  promise,  came  to  be  recited  in  after  times 
by  most  of  the  holy  men  of  Ireland,  both  in  monasteries 
and  private  families,  and  it  was  known  to  produce  marvel- 
lous results.  Once,  says  the  Tripartite,  Colman  Elo 
recited  it  three  times  in  his  refectory.  Patrick,  long  dead, 
came  from  heaven  and  stood  with  the  brethren  in  the 
refectory  whilst  they  were  reciting  the  hymn.  But  all  did 
not  see  him,  for  one  who  was  present,  not  a  brother  but  a 
layman,  cried  out,  '  Have  ye  no  other  prayer  to  recite  but 
this  one  ? '  Then  Patrick  departed  at  the  word  of  the 
foolish  man. 

Once  again  when  Cainnech  was  at  sea,  perhaps  going  to 
lona,  he  saw  a  crowd  of  demons  passing  his  boat  through 
the  air.  "  When  you  return  tell  me,"  said  Cainnech,  "  where 
you  were."  The  demons  obeyed  the  Saint  and  said,  "  We 
went  out  to  meet  the  soul  of  a  rich  man  who,  with  his  sons 
and  sons-in-law,  used  to  celebrate  every  year  Patrick's 
feast  with  a  great  banquet,  at  which,  it  seems,  they  usually 
ate  and  drank  more  than  was  good  for  them.''  *'  But,"  said 
the  devil,  "  he  used  to  repeat  everyday  two  or  three  stanzas 
of  Patrick's  Hymn  ;  and  although  I  declare  to  your 
holiness  that  it  was  rather  a  satire  than  a  panegyric  (from 
the  way  he  recited  them),  still  by  that  we  have  been 
vanquished  and  the  sinner  has  been  saved.'' 

VI.— Food  for  the  Scholars. 

The  next  and  one  of  the  last  incidents  related  in  the 
Tripartite  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  St.  Patrick's  efforts  to 
establish  and  maintain  a  school  in  his  young  church  at 
Armagh.  It  is  true  indeed  that  the  locality  is  not  exactly 
determined,  but  the  circumstances  point  to  Armagh  as  the 
most  likely  scene  of  the  narrative. 

A  pious  couple,  named  Berach  and  Brig,  brought  to 
Patrick  three  cheeses  made  of  curds  with  a  quantity  of 
butter  also.  "  These,"  they  said,  ''  are  for  the  boys." 
"  Good,  indeed,"  said  Patrick,  for  he,  doubtless,  well  knew 
how    soon   his    hungry  scholars  would   dispose   of  them. 


512  ST.    PATRICK'S   LABOURS    IN    ARMAGH. 

Thereupon  a  torcign  Druid,  Galklrui,  he  is  called,  who  had, 
it  seems,  come  to  visit  Patrick  from  Britain  or  elsewhere, 
said — "  I  will  believe  in  your  religion  if  you  turn  these 
cheeses  into  stone."  And  Patrick  by  the  power  of  God, 
did  turn  them  into  stones.  ''Now  turn  them  back  again 
into  cheeses,'' said  the  Druid.  '  Patrick  did  so.'  "Turn 
them  once  more  into  stones,"  said  the  incredulous  Druid, 
and  once  more  Patrick  changed  the  cheeses  into  stone. 
"  Now  turn  them  back  again  into  cheeses.''  "  No,"  said 
Patrick,  **  they  shall  remain  stones  for  ever  in  commemora- 
tion of  this  deed — of  God's  power  and  your  incredulity — 
until  shall  hither  come  another  servant  of  God  to  take 
:harge  of  them."  '  He  meant  Dichuill,  who  is  in  Ernaide.' 
Then  at  length  the  Wizard  believed  in  God  and  St. 
Patrick. 

Patrick,  perhaps  in  anger,  threw  his  hand-bell  from  him 
into  a  thick  brake  which  grew  in  the  place  ;  and,  as  it 
remained  there,  a  young  birch  tree  grew  up  through  its 
handle — -that  is  through  the  hole  formed  by  the  handle. 
When,  in  after  times,  Dichuill  came  to  the  place,  he  fo'und 
the  iron  bell,  with  the  birch  growing  through  it,  hence  its 
name,  Bethechan,  and  he  took  it  to  his  oratory,  where  it 
still  remains.  And  there,  too,  near  the  oratory,  stand  the 
two  stones  that  were  made  out  of  the  cheeses.  But  the 
third  stone — there  were  three  cheeses — was  carried  to 
Louth  by  Dichuill  when  he  became  abbot  there.  *  It 
stands  to-day  in  Gort  Conaich,  and  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
church.' 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know  exactly  the  site 
of  this  miracle.  If  it  was  not  Armagh  it  must  have  been 
somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Louth,  and,  doubtless, 
took  place  whilst  Patrick  was  sojourning  there.  Colgan 
thinks  the  Dichuill  here  referred  to  was  Dichuill  of  Cluain 
Braoin,  whose  festival  is  assigned  in  the  Martyrology  of 
Donegal  to  the  ist  of  May.  Cluain  Braoin  was,  he  tells  us, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Louth,  where  the  saint  had  his 
first  oratory,  but  when  he  became  Abbot  of  Louth  he  took 
the  bell  with  him,  and  the  cheese-stone,  which  he  kept  in 
the  church,  to  be,  as  Patrick  said,  a  memorial  of  the 
miracle  for  coming  ages.  The  Church  (or  the  stone)  stands 
to-day,  says  the  Tripartite,  in  Gort  Conaich.  We  cannot  find 
the  name  near  Louth,  but  there  is  a  townland  called 
Gortconny  in  the  parish  of  Ramoan,  Co.  Antrim,  which, 
however,  can  hardly  have  been  the  place  here  referred  to 
by  the  author  of  the  Tripartite.     The  narrative  shows  one 


NUNS   AT    ARMAGH.  513 

thing  at  least,  that  in  the  time  of  St  Patrick  the  Irish 
made  their  cheeses  at  home,  although  now  it  is  the  fashion 
to  import  them  from  England.  Butter,  too,  as  we  know 
from  the  Lives  of  several  of  our  early  saints,  was  always 
extensively  made  in  Ireland,  and  was  highly  valued  as  an 
article  of  food.  The  Brehon  laws  prescribe  a  ration  of 
butter  for  the  sons  of  chiefs,  when  they  were  at  school  ; 
from  which  we  may  fairly  infer  that  it  was  more  or  less  of 
a  luxury  for  the  lads  of  inferior  degree.  On  this  occasion, 
although  Patrick  changed  the  cheeses  that  were  destined 
for  the  scholars  into  stones — when  the  honour  of  God 
demanded  it — he  did  not  touch  their  butter,  which  no 
doubt,  they  greatly  relished. 

This  story  of  the  cheeses  and  butter,  according  to  the 
Scholiast  on  Sechnall's  Hymn,  is  closely  connected  with 
the  first  recitation  of  the  Hymn.  We  are  told  that  when 
Sechnall  had  finished  reciting  the  Hymn,  Berach  and  Brig 
came  up,  bringing  food  to  Patrick,to  wit,  cheese  and  butter. 
Whereupon  Patrick  said  '*  wherever  this  Hymn  shall  be 
sung  before  dinner,  no  scarcity  of  food  shall  be  there"  ; 
because  it  would  appear  that  on  this  occasion  it  brought 
up  the  cheese  and  butter.  *'  And,"  added  Patrick,  *'  the 
new  house  in  which  it  shall  be  sung  first  of  all,  shall  have 
Patrick  and  the  saints  of  Erin  to  watch  over  it,"  If  this 
story  be  true,  then  the  miracles  of  the  cheeses  changed 
into  stone  would  have  taken  place  somewhere  near  the 
pass  at  Forkhill,  on  the  road  to  Armagh,  and  the 
youngsters  would  be  some  students  in  the  train  of  Patrick, 
although  there  is  no  other  reference  to  them  here. 

VII.— Nuns  at  Armagh. 

Then  we  are  told  of  another  strange  event,  which  throws 
more  light  on  St.  Patrick's  sojourn  in  Armagh.  It  probably 
happened  some  years  after  his  first  sojourn  there, 
when  his  name  and  fame  had  spread  far  and  wide  over 
Christendom  ; — *'  Once  on  a  time  there  came  nine  daughters 
of  the  King  of  the  Lombards,  and  a  daughter  of  the  King 
of  Britain  on  their  pilgrimage  to  Patrick.  They  stayed 
at  the  east  of  Armagh  in  the  place  where  Coll  na  n-Ingen 
(the  Maidens'  Hazel)  stands  to-day.  They  sent  to 
Patrick  to  ask  if  they  might  go  to  see  him  (to  Armagh). 
Patrick  said  to  the  messengers,  '  Three  of  the  virgins  will 
go  to  heaven,  and  do  ye  bury  them  in  the  place  where  they 
are — namely,  at  Coll   na  n-Ingen.     Let    the    rest  of  the 

2  L 


514  ST.    PATRICK'S    LABOURS    IX    ARMAGH. 

virgins  go  to  Druim  Fendeda  (or  the  Champion's  Ridge), 
and  let  one  of  them  go  as  far  as  the  hillock  in  the  east.' — 
and  this  thing  was  done.'' 

The  story  is  a  strange  one,  but  by  no  means  improbable. 
It  was  an  age  of  pilgrimage,  when  companies,  both  of  men 
and  maidens,  left  their  homes  to  go  and  find  some  place 
of  penance  where  they  might  dwell  alone  with  God. 
'  Seven  daughters  '  of  a  British  King  went  all  the  way  to 
the  Aran  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Galway  on  pilgrimage,  and 
their  memory  is  still  revered,  and  their  graves  and  holy 
well  are  still  pointed  out  to  the  visitor  by  the  islanders. 
There  were  kings  of  the  Lombards — Longobardi — beyond 
the  Rhine,  long  before  they  conquered  for  themselves  that 
territory  in  the  north  of  Italy  which  still  bears  their  name. 
There  is  some  evidence  that  one  of  St.  Patrick's  sisters  was 
married  to  a  Lombard,  and  that  many  of  his  family  settled 
in  Ireland.  We  are  not  to  be  surprised,  therefore,  if 
the  daughters  of  a  regulus  of  the  Longobardi,  hearing 
that  Patrick  had  become  a  great  saint,  and  had  now  settled 
at  Armagh  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  should  seek  out  the 
Apostle,  who  may  have  been  a  relative,  in  order  to  live 
near  him  on  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  and  thus  ensure  for 
themselves  a  place  nigh  to  him  in  heaven. 

But  the  monastic  rules  regarding  the  admission  of 
women  to  the  monastic  cities  were  very  strict,  although  at 
that  time,  under  the  first  order  of  saints,  they  were  not  so 
rigorous  as  they  afterwards  became. 

"  Three  of  them,"  said  Patrick,  ''will  die  and  go  to  heaven 
from  the  place  where  they  are  " — for  no  doubt  they  were  worn 
out  after  their  long  journeys  by  land  and  sea  to  find  out 
their  guide  and  spiritual  father.  The  others  cannot  come 
here  to  his  sacred  city  on  the  Hill — it  was  for  men  only — 
but  let  them  go  to  the  Champions'  Ridge  near  Armagh,  and 
settle  there  in  their  own  convent.  One,  however,  he 
directed  to  go  as  far  as  the  hillock  to  the  east  of  Armagh — 
and  it  was,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  near  to  the  City — and 
settle  there. 

This  was  the  virgin  Cruimtheris,  who  set  up  at  Cengoba, 
the  hillock  to  the  east ;  and  Benen  used  to  carry  food  to  her 
every  evening  from  Patrick.  Benen's  virtue  had  been 
proved,  so  that  Patrick  might  well  entrust  this  charitable 
mission  to  him.  Moreover,  Patrick  planted  for  her  an 
apple-tree,  which  he  had  taken  from  a  field  to  the  north  of 
that  place,  in  a  fertile  field  near  the  holy  virgin's  cell,  called 
Achad  innaElta,  the  Field  of  the  Doe  ;  and  hence  that  field 


NUNS   AT   ARMAGH.  515 

afterwards  came  to  be  called  Aball  Patraic,  or  Patrick's 
Orchard,  in  Cengoba.  The  milk  of  the  doe,  with  the  apples 
from  the  orchard,  fed  the  holy  virgin  and  the  little  lapdog 
that  remained  with  her  in  Cengoba.  We  may  fairly  ask, 
was  that  Field  of  the  Doe  the  spot  where  the  doe  hunted 
from  the  Hill  of  the  Willows  found  rest;  where  the  holy  virgin 
Cruimtheris  had  her  little  cell;  and  where  that  other  milk- 
white  Hind  hunted  from  old  Armagh  has  at  last  found  a 
refuge  and  a  home  ?  It  is  surely  passing  strange  that  the 
hunted  doe  should  have  fled  to  the  north-east,  where 
Tulach  na  Licce  stand  to-day;  strange  that  the  royal 
maiden  should  have  been  bidden  by  Patrick  to  remain 
alone  at  the  hillock  towards  the  east;  that  a  doe  should 
give  her  milk ;  and  that  Patrick  and  Benen  should  feed 
her  during  all  the  years  of  her  pilgrimage  at  Armagh. 
It  was  surely  the  royal  hill  where  the  hunted  doe,  the 
Spouse  of  Christ,  so  long  the  nursling  of  the  woods,  and 
the  outcast  of  men,  has  found  at  last  a  refuge  and  a  home. 


CHAPTER     XXVI  II. 

ST.  PATRICK'S  SYNODS. 

I. — Patrick's  Canon  in  the  Book  of  Armagh. 

Patrick,  having  now  established  his  primatial  See, 
found  it  necessary  to  convene  a  Synod  for  (a)  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  and  defining  the  nature  and  extent  of  his 
own  jurisdiction  ;  (d)  for  recognising  and  proclaiming  the 
due  subjection  of  the  Irish  Church  of  Patrick  to  the  See  of 
St.  Peter  at  Rome ;  (c)  for  making  such  statutes  and 
regulations  as  the  special  circumstances  of  the  Irish  Church 
rendered  necessary.  Patrick  knew  well  that  such  national 
or  provincial  synods  were  held  from  time  to  time  through- 
out the  Universal  Church,  as  a  matter  of  obligation  incum- 
bent on  the  metropolitan  who  summoned  them,  and  on  all 
the  prelates  of  the  province  or  exarchate,  who  were  bound 
to  attend  them.  "  Such  councils  were  the  essential  frame- 
work, as  it  were,  and  bond  of  union  and  of  good  govern- 
ment in  the  Church,  and  became  part  of  its  ordinary 
machinery  early  in  the  second  century,  and,  probably, 
from  the  very  beginning,  but  are  first  mentioned  of  the 
East  by  Firmilianus,  of  Caeserea,  in  Cappadocia,  where  they 
regularly,  and,  of  necessity  (necessario)  recurred  in  Asia 
once  a  year  for  purposes  of  discipline,  and  of  the  west  by 
St.  Cyprian  at  the  same  period."^ 

We  may  be  quite  sure,  therefore,  that  Patrick,  so  exact 
in  the  discharge  of  all  his  duties,  would  take  an  early 
opportunity  of  convening  the  Irish  prelates  to  confer  with 
himself  on  the  needs  of  the  Irish  Church,  and  make 
suitable  regulations  or  Canons  for  its  discipline  and  govern- 
ment. We  know,  too,  that  such  was  the  fact.  The  Book 
of  Armagh  makes  reference  to  some  of  the  more  important 
Canons  enacted  by  Patrick  and  his  fellow-prelates;  and 
we  have  more  than  one  collection  of  Canons  handed  down 
to  us  from  the  earliest  times,  as  enacted  by  Patrick  in  these 
Synods. 

It  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  these  Synods  were 
held  at  Armagh,  although,  perhaps,   one  was  held  at  the 

*  See  Diet.  Chris.  Ant. ,  473. 


PATRICK'S   CANON    IN   THE    BOOK   OF   ARMAGH.       517 

great  Feis  of  Tara,  which  was  celebrated  by  Laeghaire,  as 
the  Four  Masters  tell  us,  in  454. 

The  famous  Canon  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  stands  in 
the  names  of  '  Auxilius,  Patricius,  Secundinus,  and 
Benignus.'  Now,  if  Secundinus  died  so  early  as  447,^  this 
Synod  must  have  been  held  at  an  earlier  date,  perhaps 
444,  when,  according  to  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  Armagh  was 
founded.  But,  in  our  opinion,  Secundinus  lived  until  457, 
and,  therefore,  might  have  assisted  at  this  Synod,  if  it  were 
held  at  the  Feis  of  Tara,  or  even  so  late  as  457  in  Armagh. 
In  discussing  this  question,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
carefully  between  what  we  may  call  the  *  Armagh  Canon,' 
attributed  to  'Auxilius,  Patricius,  Secundinus,  and 
Benignus,'  and  the  '  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Patrick/ 
which,  in  its  own  Acts,  is  described  as  '  the  Synod  of  the 
Bishops,  that  is,  of  Patricius,  Auxilius,  and  Iserninus.'^ 
Here  Secundinus  is  left  out,  so  also  is  Benignus,  which 
shows  that  both  were  probably  dead  at  this  time,  for 
otherwise,  being  destined  Heirs  of  Patrick,  their  names 
would  certainly  not  be  omitted.  Whence  we  infer  that 
the  vSynod  was  celebrated  most  probably  at  Armagh,  and 
after  467,  the  year  in  which  Benignus  died. 

Then  there  is  what  is  called  the  '  Irish  Collection  of 
Canons,'  which  does  not  purport  to  be  the  legislation  of 
any  particular  Synod,  but,  as  its  name  implies,  a  collection 
of  canon  law  used  in  the  Irish  Church,  and  which,  as  we 
might  naturally  expect,  includes  not  only  the  Canons  of 
the  Synods  of  Patrick  and  his  colleagues,  but  also  many 
other  Canons  from  the  general  legislation  of  the  Church 
appropriate  to  the  needs  of  the  Irish  Church.  This  '  Irish 
Collection  '  of  Canons  was  published  about  the  year  700  ; 
and  is  itself  distinct  from  the  '  Canons  of  the  Irish  Synod 
held  in  694  or  695,  but  not,  of  course,  by  Patrick. 

Of  all  the  Patrician  Canons,  by  far  the  most  important 
is  that  found  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,^  and  which,  for 
brevity  sake,  we  may  call  the  Armagh  Canon.  It  contains 
two  parts — the  first  asserting  the  primatial  rights  of  Armagh 
to  which  we  have  referred  elsewhere  ;  the  second  asserting 
the  supremacy  of  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  in  Rome  over  the 
See  of  Armagh  itself,  as  well  as  over  all  prelates  and  judges 

^  Annals  of  Ulster ;  but  it  really  is  448,  as  these  Annals  date  from  the 
Incarnation  of  our  Lord. 

^  Incipit  Synodus  Episcoporum,  id  est  Patritii,  Auxilii,  Isernini — 
Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Vol.  ii.,  Part  ii. 

^  Folio  21,  bb. 


5l8  ST.   PATRICK'S   SYNODS. 

in  Ireland.  The  fact  that  Secundinus  is  mentioned  as  one 
of  those  who  issued  the  decree  proves  that  it  was  issued 
before  his  death,  and,  therefore,  at  the  latest,  before  457. 
On  the  other  hand,  as  special  reference  is  made  to  the 
prerogatives  of  the  See  of  Armagh,  it  cannot  have  been 
issued  before  the  year  444,  which  is  the  earliest  date 
assigned  to  the  foundation  of  Armagh.^  The  second  part 
is  as  follov/s  :  '  Also,  if  any  very  difftcult  cause  shall  arise, 
unknown  to  all  the  judges  of  the  tribes  of  the  Scots,  it  is 
duly  to  be  referred  to  the  See  of  the  Archbishop  of  the 
Irish,  that  is  Patrick,  and  to  the  examination  of  that 
prelate.  But  if  in  that  See  with  its  sages  it  cannot  be 
easily  decided,  then  the  cause  of  the  matter  aforesaid,  we 
decree,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  Apostolic  See,  that  is,  to  the 
Chair  of  Peter,  having  authority  over  the  City  of  Rome.'^ 

This  Armagh  Canon  clearly  recognises  the  Chair  of 
Peter,  the  Apostle,  which  rules  in  Rome,  as  the  supreme 
judge  of  controversies  for  the  Irish  Church  in  all  matters 
of  doctrine,  morals,  and  discipline — whatever  grave  cause 
may  arise — and  that  is,  in  briefest  form,  the  essence  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  Holy  See.  Armagh  had  its  own  primacy  ; 
but  if  the  matter  could  not  be  settled  in  Armagh,  then  it 
was  to  be  referred  to  Rome.  That  is  all ;  but  it  settles  the 
question. 

It  has  been  said,  however,  that  this  decree  from  the 
Book  of  Armagh  proves  nothing  regarding  the  primacy  of 
Rome,  but  that  Patrick  acted  wisely  in  appointing  some 
Court  of  Appeal,  the  best  and  wisest  in  Christendom,  when 
the  Irish  prelates  could  not  settle  the  matter  themselves. 

It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  the  decree  directs 
them,  as  a  matter  of  obligation,  to  refer  it  to  the  Apostolic 
Chair — the  Chair  of  Peter  the  Apostle — and  that  this  was 
the  real  ground  of  the  reference,  namely,  that  it  was  the 
Apostolic  See.     And  so  the  Irish  prelates  understood  in 


*  Hi  sunt  qui  de  hoc  decreverunt,  id  est,  Auxilius,  Patiicius,  Secundinus, 
Benignus. 

"^  Usher's  translation  is  practically  the  same  as  our  own  ;  here  it  is  : — 
*  whenever  any  cause  that  is  very  difficult  and  unknown  unto  all  the  judges  of 
the  Scottish  na' ions  shall  arise,  it  is  rightly  to  be  referred  to  the  See  of  the 
Archbishop  of  the  Irish  (that  is  to  say,  of  Patrick),  and  to  the  examination  of 
the  prelate  thereof.  But,  if  there  by  him  and  his  wise  men  a  cause  of  this 
nature  cannot  easily  be  made  up,  we  have  decreed  it  shall  be  sent  to  the  See 
Apostolic — that  is  to  say,  to  the  Chair  of  the  Apostle  Peter,  which  hath  the 
authority  of  the  Ciiy  of  Rome.'  This  translation  is  exact  and  literal,  and  we 
make  no  objection  to  it.  See  Usher's  Dissertation  on  the  religion  of  the 
ancient  Irish,  page  84. 


SYNOD  OF  PATRICK,  AUXILIUS,  AND  ISERNINUS.      519 

after  times,  for  when  a  really  grave  question  arose  regarding 
the  date  of  Easter  and  the  form  of  the  tonsure,  the  Synod 
of  Magh-Lene  in  630  decided,  as  St.  Cummian  of  Clonfert 
tells  us  in  his  Letter  on  the  Paschal  Question,  to  refer  the 
dispute  to  Rome,  '  in  accordance  with  the  canonical  decree, 
that  if  questions  of  grave  moment  arise,  they  shall  be  re- 
ferred to  the  head  of  Cities.'  '  Wherefore  we  sent  such  as 
we  knew  to  be  wise  and  humble  men  to  Rome  to  ascertain 
the  Roman  theory  and  practice,  with  a  view  to  a  final  settle- 
ment of  the  question.' 

The  Canons  known  as  the  Irish  Collection  were  not,  so 
far  as  we  can  judge,  collected  in  their  present  form  before 
the  year  700,  hence  their  way  of  formulating  the  Canon 
of  the  Book  of  Armagh  is  somewhat  different,  but  not  less 
expressive.  '  Patrick  decrees: — If  any  grave  controversies 
arise  in  this  island,  they  shall  be  referred  to  the  Apostolic 
See.'  ^  Exactly ;  Patrick  was  the  author  of  the  Canon, 
with  the  assent  of  Auxilius,  Secundinus,  and  Benignus  ; 
and  then  long  after  their  death  it  was  embodied  in  the 
form  in  which  we  now  have  it  in  the  Collection  of  Irish 
Canons.  But  the  Book  of  Armagh  gives  the  original 
form,  and  the  original  authors  of  the  decree,  and  its  autho- 
rity is  altogether  independent  of  the  authority  of  the 
Collection  of  Irish  Canons. 

II. — The  Synod  of  Patrick,  Auxilius,  and 

ISERNINUS. 

This  is  sometimes  called  St.  Patrick's  First  Synod.  It 
was  most  probably  held  at  Armagh.  We  find  no  reference 
to  Secundinus,  who  was,  doubtless,  dead  at  the  time,  nor 
to  Benignus,  although  he  lived  until  468.  Iserninus,  of 
old  KilcuUen,  takes  their  place  ;  he  died  in  469.  Auxilius 
of  Killossy  (now  Killashee)  died,  it  is  said,  in  460.  So  we 
may  fairly  infer  that  this  Synod  was  held  in  Armagh 
about  the  year  459,  when  the  Irish  Church  was  regularly 
constituted,  and  the  primacy  of  Patrick  in  Armagh  was 
universally  recognised. 

*  Patricias  Ait :  *  Si  quae  difficiles  quaestiones  in  hoc  insula  orientur  ad 
Sedem  Apostolicam  referantur.' 

In  the  Bo»k  of  Armagh,  as  we  have  seen,  the  words  are  : — '  Hi  sunt  qui 
de  hoc  decreverunt,  id  est,  Auxilius,  Patritius,  Secundinus,  Benignus.'  Auxilius 
is  placed  first,  perhaps  as  an  outsider,  enjoying  more  or  less  independent  juris- 
diction, and  yet  assenting  to  the  decrees  regarding  the  primacy  and  the  appeal 
to  Rome,  in  both  of  which  Patrick  and  his  coadjutors  concurred. 


520  ST.    PATRICK'S   SYNODS. 

This  Synod  issued  thirty-four  Canons,  the  authenticity 
of  which  is  generally  recognised.  They  are  found  in  the 
Irish  Collection  of  Canons,^  published  so  early  as  the  open- 
ing of  the  eighth  century.  Moreover,  the  decrees  them- 
selves furnish  unmistakable  proofs  of  their  own  authenticity. 
It  may  be  that  minor  changes  took  place  in  the  text  when 
all  the  Irish  Canons  were  collected  together,  but  that  does 
not  interfere  with  the  substantial  authenticity  of  the  decrees 
themselves.  Patrick  would  certainly  convene  a  Synod  at 
the  earliest  suitable  opportunity,  and  we  may  take  it  that 
we  have  the  results  of  his  work  in  this  Synod,  which  bears 
his  own  name  and  that  of  his  colleagues,  Auxilius  and 
Iserninus.  We  may  assume,  too,  that  it  was  held  at  Armagh 
in  the  year  458  or  459.  It  is  not  likely,  indeed,  that  Patrick 
would  attempt  to  frame  any  set  of  Canons  before  he  had 
completed  his  missionary  circuit  through  the  five  provinces 
and  established  his  primatial  See.  It  was  only  then  he 
could  know  the  wants  of  the  whole  country,  and  the  prac- 
tical difficulties  that  would  arise  in  the  infant  Church  of 
Ireland.  Secundinus  was  dead;  but  Patrick  called  to  his 
counsels  many  other  bishops,  and  particularly  those  two 
prelates,  Auxilius  and  Iserninus,  who,  like  himself,  had 
been  trained  in  the  canon  law  in  Gaul  and  Italy,  and 
had  received  a  formal  commission  to  help  him  in  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  in  Ireland. 

This  appears  to  us  to  be  the  real  reason  why  these 
two  prelates  are  specially  named  in  the  Acts  of  the  Synod. 
Patrick  represented  himself  and  all  the  bishops  whom  he 
had  consecrated,  whether  British  or  Irish;  but  Auxilius 
and  Iserninus  were  ordained  priests  at  the  time  that 
Patrick  was  consecrated  Bishop  for  the  Irish  mission.  This 
does  not  imply  that  many  other  Irish  prelates  were  not 
present  at  the  Synod,  but  it  was  considered  unnecessary 
to  mention  their  names,  as  Patrick  spoke  in  the  name  of 
them  all. 

On  the  other  hand,  Auxilius  and  Iserninus  had  a  kind 
of  independent  mission  In  Ireland,  though  subordinate  to 
Patrick.  We  are  told  that  they  were  invited  by  Germanus 
to  accompany  him  to  Ireland,  but  they  declined  to  go  at 
that  time.  Afterwards,  however,  hearing  of  his  success, 
they  accepted  the  mission,  and  were  sent  to  aid  Patrick  in 
Ireland.  They  had,  therefore,  both  superior  knowledge 
of  the  canon   law,   and   also  an    extrinsic  authority  from 

^  Codex  Canonum  Hibtinensium. 


SYNOD  OF  PATRICK,  AUXILIUS,  AND  ISERNINUS.      52  1 

the  Holy  See,  as  far  as  we   can  judge,  which  lent   special 
weight  to  their  decisions  in  reference  to  the   Irish  Church. 

The  Synod  contains  thirty-four  decrees,^  which  are 
commonly  admitted  as  authentic  by  the  best  critics.  Todd, 
indeed,  and  some  other  writers  following  him,  hold  that 
the  sixth  decree,  which  directs  clerics  to  cut  their  hair 
more  Romano ;  and  the  twenty-third  decree,  which  speaks  of 
offerings  made  to  the  Bishops  on  the  occasion  of  their 
visitation  as  a  mos  antiquiis,  point  to  a  much  later  period  of 
the  Irish  Church,  when  the  dispute  about  the  tonsure  had 
arisen,  and  there  was  time  for  a  custom  to  have  become 
*  antiquus  '  in  Ireland.  But  this  reasoning  has  no  founda- 
tion. The  sixth  decree  merely  directs  the  clerics  to  cut 
their  hair  after  the  clerical  fashion  practised  in  Rome,  and 
not  let  it  grow  long  in  the  way  referred  to  in  the  tenth 
decree  of  the  Synod.'^  The  mos  antigims,  too,  as  to  the 
offerings  does  not  imply  an  ancient  custom  in  the  Irish 
Church,  but  in  the  universal  Church,  which  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing.  There  is  not  a  word  to  show  that  the  reference 
is  to  the  Irish  Church ;  in  fact,  if  the  custom  existed,  the 
decree  would  be  needless.  Its  object  is  to  bring  the  Irish 
Church  into  harmony  with  the  custom  of  the  Universal 
Church  in  making  offerings  to  the  bishop  on  the  occasion 
of  his  visitation,  of  which  he  alone  had  the  right  to  dispose, 
either  for  the  necessary  uses  of  the  Church  or  the  benefit 
of  the  poor,  as  he  might  judge  proper.^ 

The  decrees  of  this  Synod  throw  great  light  on  the 
condition  of  the  young  Church  of  Ireland,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  furnish  intrinsic  evidence  of  their  own  authenticity. 
Slavery,  with  all  its  attendant  evils,  was  still  quite  common 
at  the  time.*  St.  Patrick  and  his  sister  were  sold  as  slaves 
into  Ireland.  St.  Brigid  was  the  daughter  of  a  captive ; 
and  she  herself  had  in  her  youth  to  bear  the  hard  lot  of  a 
captive  maiden,  as  we  know  from  her  Life.  The  value  of 
a  female  captive  in  cattle,  was  in  fact  the  chief  standard 
of  exchange  in  the  country,  and  is  called  a  ciimal  in  the 
Brehon  Laws. 

Now,  Christianity  did  not  abolish  slavery  at  once  without 
regard  to  the  rights  of  others ;  and  hence  we  find  that  the 
very  first  Canon  of  Patrick's  Synod  declares  that  if  any  one 


■^  See  Appendix. 

"  '  Comam  habere,'  that  is,  *  long  flowing  hair.* 

^See  Canon  25. 


^  Canon  32 


522  ST.    PATRICK'S   SYNODS. 

seeks  the  redemption  of  a  slave,  without  lawful  authority, 
he  deserves  to  be  excommunicated.  But  if  he  had  the 
sanction  of  the  master,  he  might  collect  the  price  of  the 
captive,  and  thus  redeem  him,  giving  the  balance,  however, 
to  be  disposed  of  as  the  Bishop  thought  proper.  From  this 
we  infer  that  systematic  efforts  were  made  to  procure  the 
liberation  of  the  Christian  captives,  by  collecting  amongst 
the  faithful  the  price  of  the  slave,  and  if  any  balance  re- 
mained it  was  '  to  be  placed  on  the  altar  of  the  bishop.' 
Gold  and  silver  must  have  been  in  circulation  at  the  time, 
probably  by  weight,  for  although  cattle  was  the  general 
medium  of  exchange,  they  could  not  be  placed  on  '  the  altar 
of  the  bishop.' 

Measures  ^  were  taken,  too,  to  keep  clerics  of  all  grades 
to  their  own  churches  and  their  own  dioceses.  The  clerics 
were,  for  the  most  part,  recruited  from  the  professional 
classes — from  the  Bards,  Brehons  and  Poets,  and  these  pri- 
vileged classes  were  in  the  habit  of  ranging  freely  through 
the  whole  country,  their  professional  character  not  only 
securing  them  against  insult  or  injury,  but  also  procuring 
them  hospitality.  The  canon  law,  however,  could  not 
allow  vagrancy  of  this  kind,  and  hence  the  second  Canon 
directs  every  lector  '  to  know  the  church  in  which  he  is  to 
sing  the  holy  office ; '  and  the  third  Canon  directs  in  general 
terms  that  there  must  be  no  vagrant  clerics  amongst  the 
people.  '  Clericus  vagus  non  sit  in  plebe.'  Rambling  clerics 
were  never  tolerated  in  the  Church  at  any  period  of  her 
history. 

Following  out  this  principle,  the  twenty-seventh  Canon 
ordains  that  no  strange  cleric  shall  presume  to  baptise  or 
make  offering — that  is,  say  Mass — or  do  anything  else 
amongst  the  flock  of  another  bishop  (without  his  leave) 
under  penalty  of  excommunication.  The  twenty-fourth 
Canon  is  to  the  same  effect,  that  he  must  not  do  these 
things — nor  consecrate,  nor  build  a  church  without 
the  permission  of  the  bishop,  '  for  he  who  gets  permission 
from  the  gentiles  or  pagans  is  an  alien  from  the  church.' 
This  shows  that  some  intruding  clerics,  perhaps  them- 
selves bishops,  came  into  another  prelate's  diocese,  relying 
on  the  authority  of  the  pagan  chief — the  Christian  chief 
would  not  give  it — and  presumed  not  only  to  baptise  and 
*  offer  sacrifice/  but  also  to  consecrate  and  build  churches. 
This  Canon  also  goes  to  show  that  the  bishops  of  the 

*  Canons  24  and  27. 


SYNOD  OF  PATRICK,  AUXILIUS,  AND  ISERNINUS.      523 

time  had  each  his  own  diocese,  and  that  it  was  unlawful  to 
trespass  on  his  territorial  jurisdiction — a  very  important 
point  to  bear  in  mind. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  sixth  Canon,  which 
forbids  any  cleric,  from  '  the  porter  to  the  priest,'  to  be 
seen  without  his  tunic,  like  laymen,  at  the  risk  of  unveiling 
his  nakedness,  and  commands  him  to  have  his  hair  shorn 
more  Romano ;  and  a  married  woman  must  not  walk  un- 
veiled— otherwise  let  both  the  cleric  and  the  married 
woman  be  alike  despised  by  the  people,  and  separated  from 
the  Church.  The  text  is  given  below. ^  The  reference  in 
the  first  part  of  this  Canon  is  certainly  not  to  the  Roman, 
as  distinguished  from  the  Irish  or  British  tonsure,  but  to 
the  wearing  of  the  hair  long  after  the  manner  of  laics,  as  it 
is  expressed  in  the  tenth  Canon,  where  he  is  forbidden 
comam  nutrire — to  wear  long  hair.  By  the  *  uxor '  or  mar- 
ried woman,  according  to  some  critics,  must  be  understood 
the  wife  of  the  *  cleric,'  and  we  find  ^  ejus^  inserted  after  '  uxor 
in  some  of  the  printed  copies  of  the  Synod.  In  others  it 
is  certainly  omitted,  for  Martene  does  not  give  it.  But 
it  really  makes  little  difference.  The  clerics  in  the  lower 
grades  might  marry  then  as  now,  if  they  were  content  to 
remain  in  the  lower  grades  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy, 
but  not  if  they  ascended  to  what  are  now  called  '  Holy 
Orders,'  that  is  deaconship  and  priesthood. 

And  in  these  higher  grades  it  must  have  frequently 
happened  that  married  men  were  ordained  priests  and  even 
bishops,  and  ministered  as  such,  on  condition  of  living 
apart  from  their  wives.  The  wife  in  that  case  took  the  veil 
like  a  nun,  which  was  the  sign  of  her  continence.  So 
the  decree  would  simply  mean  that  if  the  cleric  went 
clothed  as  a  laic,  and  his  (former)  wife  put  aside  her  veil, 
then  they  were  to  be  despised  by  the  people,  and  separated 
from  the  church,  as  both  had  broken  their  vows.  That, 
in  our  opinion,  is  the  clear  meaning  of  the  Canon,  which  must 
have  have  been  a  necessary  one  in  the  infant  Church  of 
Ireland. 

Another  wise  regulation  for  the  young  Church  forbids  a 
monk  and  nun  to  remain  even  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
hospice,  or  to  travel  in  the  same  car,  or  to  hold  prolonged 


^  Quicunque  clericus  ab  hostiario  usque  ad  sacerdotem  sine  tunica  visus 
fuerit  atque  turpitudinem  ventriset  nuditatem  non  tegat,  et  si  non  more  Romano 
capilli  ejus  tonsi  sint,  et  uxor  (ejus)  si  non  velato  capite  ambulaverit,  pariter 
a  laicis  contemnentur  et  ab  Ecclesia  separentur. 


524  ST.    PATRICK'S    SYNODS. 

conversations  together — and  such  has  always  been  the  rule 
and  spirit  of  the  Church. 

Some  of  the  Canons  show  that  many  of  the  people 
were  still  pagan.  If  a  cleric  became  security  for  such  a 
pagan,  he  is  still  bound  to  pay  the  debt  if  the  pagan  fails  to 
do  so,  rather  than  resist  by  force  of  arms.  But  it  was  not 
permitted  '  to  receive  offerings  from  pagans  or  excommu- 
nicated persons.'  It  was  also  strictly  forbidden  to  have  re- 
course to  soothsayers,  like  the  pagans,  or  to  believe  in 
witches,  as  they  did.^ 

No  woman,  who  had  once  vowed  her  virginity  to  God, 
was  allowed  afterwards  to  marry;  and  Christian  women, 
with  lawful  husbands,  might  not  separate  from  them  on 
the  pretence  that  they  were  not  Christian — that  is,  so  long 
as  the  husband  did  not  seek  to  pervert  or  corrupt  his  wife. 
It  is,  in  fact,  the  celebrated  case  made  by  St.  Paul  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Neither  was  it  lawful  to  defraud 
a  pagan  of  any  just  debt  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a 
pagan.  So  we  see  how  St.  Patrick  gave  no  license  to 
Christians  to  repudiate  their  obligations  towards  the  pagans, 
either  in  marriage,  or  in  contracts,  or  as  sureties.  But  if 
Christians  had  controversies  amongst  themselves,  they  are 
directed  to  have  them  settled  in  the  Church,  that  is,  by  the 
priest  or  bishop,ratherthan  go  before  non-Christian  Brehons, 
for  we  must  assume  that  some  of  them  still  remained  in  the 
land. 

The  30th  Canon  is  very  important,  because  of  itself  it 
completely  refutes  the  idea  that  the  early  bishops  in  Ireland 
had  not  dioceses  strictly  circumscribed  according  to  the 
general  law  and  practice  of  the  Church.  It  declares  that 
'  no  bishop  who  goes  from  his  own  parochia  or  diocese  into 
another  diocese  shall  presume  to  ordain  there,  except  he 
have  received  the  permission  of  him  who  is  within  his  own 
principality  ;  nor  can  he  on  Sunday,  without  the  same 
permission,  offer  the  Holy  Sacrifice  except  by  receiving  it. 
Let  him  be  content  to  obey.'  This  Canon  of  itself  clearly 
shows,  first,  that  each  bishop  had  his  own  diocese — his 
parochia  or  principatus — in  which  no  other  bishop  could 
officiate  without  his  sanction.  It  was  the  law  from  the 
beginning,  as  it  is  the  law  still,  and  it  disposes  effectually 
of  all  the  foolish  talk  of  there  being  no  strict  diocesan 
jurisdiction  and  circumscription  in  ancient  Erin.^ 

^  Canon  14. 

2  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  diocese  or  parochia  at  the  time  was  co-^r- 
minous,  as  a  rule,  with  the  territory  of  the  '  king  '  or  chief — a  lact  wliich  is 


THE    IRISH    COLLECTION    OF   CANONS.  525 

Clerics  coming  from  Britain  to  Ireland  might  live 
amongst  the  people,  but  were  forbidden  to  minister  except 
they  had  commendatory  letters  from  their  own  prelates  at 
home. 

There  is  a  Second  Synod  attributed  to  St.  Patrick, 
containing  34  Canons,  the  authenticity  of  which,  however, 
is  more  than  doubtful.  In  their  present  shape  they 
certainly  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  work  of  any  synod 
held  by  St.  Patrick.  Some  of  the  Canons  are  found  in  the 
Irish  Collection,  but  are  not  there  attributed  to  St.  Patrick, 
but  rather  to  Roman  Synods,  the  decrees  of  which  were 
adopted  in  a  later  Irish  Synod.  There  is,  in  fact,  nothing 
specially  Irish  about  those  Canons,  nor  anything  that 
would  indicate  their  Irish  origin.  The  only  reason  for 
attributing  them  to  St.  Patrick  is  the  closing  sentence — 
*  Patrick's  Synod  ends  (here).'^ 

The  Canons  appear  to  be  of  French  origin  ;  at  least 
they  were  found  in  a  French  library  at  Angers  in 
France  and  sent  by  Sirmonde  to  David  Rothe,  Bishop  of 
Ossory,  who  sent  them  to  Usher,  from  whom  Spelman 
received  them  for  insertion  in  his  own  great  collection. 

III.— The  Irish  Collection  of  Canons. 

The  Irish  Collection,  to  which  we  need  not  further  refer 
here,  is  a  compilation  of  much  later  date,  but  full  of  interest 
from  the  light  it  throws  on  the  history  of  the  early  Irish 
Church.  Its  most  important  Canons  are  those  taken  from 
the  '  Synod  of  Patricius,  Auxilius  and  Iserninus,'  and  also 
from  the  Book  of  Armagh,  as  has  been  already  explained. 
But  it  contains  several  other  Canons  of  great  interest, 
which  it  attributes,  and  no  doubt  with  justice,  to  St. 
Patrick  himself. 

For  instance,  we  have  the  following  Canons  attributed 
to  Patrick  in  the  most  formal  way  in  the  Collection. 

Patrick  the  Bishop  saith — '  He  who  sins  in  Orders  (sub 
gradu)  ought  to  be  excommunicated,  because  great  is  the 
dignity  of  this  name  (of  priest) ;  yet  he  can  redeem  his 
soul  by  penance  ;  but  to  return  to  his  former  grade  is 
difficult.  I  know  not,  however,  but  God  knows  (how 
difficult  it  is).'     This  Canon  expresses  the  whole  tenor  of 

evident,  even  in  our  own  times  ;  for  the  actual  circumscription  of  our  dioceses 
very  closely  corresponds  with  the  circumscription  of  the  ancient   minor  king- 
doms, as  set  forth  in  the  Book  of  Rights. 
^  '  Finit  Patricii  Synodus.' 


526  ST.    PATRICK'S   SYNODS. 

Patrick's  dealings  with  erring  ecclesiastics.  He  left  them 
sometimes,  after  an  excommunication  more  or  less  formal, 
to  be  punished  as  it  might  please  God,  but  he  did  not 
exclude  them  utterly  from  the  ministry  or  the  communion 
of  the  faithful. 

Again  Patrick  saith — '  If  any  difficult  questions  should 
arise  in  this  Island  let  them  be  referred  to  the  Apostolic 
See.'  This  is  a  mere  summary  of  the  Canon  contained 
in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  brief  but  accurate. 

Then  we  have  attributed  to  Patrick  a  noble  exposition 
in  a  few  words  of  the  duties  of  ecclesiastical  judges. 
Regarding  the  judges  of  the  Church,  what  manner  of  men 
they  ought  to  be,  Patrick  saith — '  The  judges  of  the  Church 
must  have  the  fear  of  God,  not  of  men,  because  the  fear  of 
God  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  The  judges  of  the 
Church  should  have  the  wisdom  of  God,  not  worldly 
wisdom,  because  the  wisdom  of  this  world  is  folly  in  the 
sight  of  God.  The  judges  of  the  Church  must  not  accept 
gifts,  because  gifts  blind  the  eyes  of  wise  men  and  pervert 
the  words  of  the  just.  In  their  judgments  there  must  be 
no  accepting  of  persons,  because  there  is  no  such  accepting 
of  persons  before  God.  They  must  have  before  their 
minds,  not  the  cunning  of  secular  wisdom,  but  the  pre- 
cedents of  the  Divine  law.  The  servants  of  God  should  be 
wise  but  not  astute.  They  should  not  be  quick  to  judge 
before  they  know  the  nature  of  the  evil,  for  the  Scripture 
saith,  do  not  judge  in  haste.  The  judges  of  the  Church 
should  be  sparing  in  their  words  ;  above  all  things,  they 
should  never  utter  a  word  that  is  false,  for  falsehood  is  in 
them  a  grave  crime ,  but  they  must  judge  in  all  things 
justly,  because  as  they  judge  others,  by  the  same  standard 
shall  they  themselves  be  judged.'  It  is  obvious  that  noble 
principles  like  these,  solemnly  inculcated  by  the  great 
Teacher  of  the  Irish  tribes,  must  have  exercised  a  very 
great  influence  in  teaching,  not  only  the  ecclesiastical 
judges,  but  all  classes  of  the  people,  respect  for  law  and 
for  the  rights  of  others,  which  is,  indeed,  the  foundation  of 
all  true  religion  and  civilization,  and  was,  above  all,  needful 
'  in  a  country  like  Ireland,  where  the  want  of  a  strong 
central  government  offered  a  strong  temptation  to  rapacity 
and  crime. 

He  also  forbade  the  secular  tribunals  to  encroach  on 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  (judicia  ecclesiae).  Then, 
going  still  higher,  he  lays  down  the  following  admirable 
maxims  for  the  guidance  of  the  petty  kings. 


THE   PREROGATIVES   OF  ARMAGH.  527 

Patricius  saith — '  The  duty  of  a  just  king  is  to  judge 
no  one  unjustly ;  to  be  the  defender  of  the  widow,  the 
orphan,  and  the  stranger  ;  to  punish  thefts  and  adulteries  ; 
not  to  encourage  unchaste  buffoons ;  not  to  exalt  wicked 
men,  but  root  out  the  impious  from  the  land  ;  to  put  to 
death  parricides  and  perjurers ;  to  protect  the  churches 
and  give  alms  to  the  poor;  to  select  wise  ministers  and 
prudent  counsellors ;  to  give  no  sanction  to  druids  or 
pythonesses  or  augurers  ;  to  defend  his  country  in  strength 
and  justice  against  all  adversaries  ;  at  all  times  to  put  his 
confidence  in  God,  neither  puffed  up  by  prosperity  nor 
cast  down  by  adversity ;  to  profess  the  Catholic  faith  in 
God ;  to  restrain  his  sons  from  evil  deeds ;  to  give  stated 
times  to  prayer,  and  not  waste  it  in  unseasonable  banquets.' 
This,  he  says,  is  the  justice  of  a  king  which  secures  peace 
to  the  people,  protection  to  the  nation,  the  defence  of  the 
poor,  the  care  of  the  infirm,  the  happiness  of  the  com- 
munity, with  all  other  temporal  blessings  which  they  can 
desire,  including  mildness  of  climate,  calmness  on  sea, 
fruitfulness  of  the  earth,  comfort  for  the  poor,  wealth  for 
children  to  inherit,  abundant  crops,  fruitful  trees,  and 
hopes  of  future  happiness. 

Those  noble  principles,  so  eloquently  expounded  in 
the  Canon,  were  inculcated  by  Patrick  in  his  preaching, 
formulated  in  his  laws,  and  enforced  by  all  the  weight  of 
his  authority.  It  is  no  wonder  they  were  so  potent  in 
creating  that  young  Christian  Ireland  which  became  the 
home  of  so  many  saints  and  scholars  and  the  admiration  of 
all  Christian  Europe. 

IV. — The  Prerogatives  of  Armagh. 

There  is  a  paragraph  in  that  part  of  the  Book  of  Armagh 
known  as  the  Book  of  the  Angel,  in  which  the  writer  speaks 
of  '  The  Special  Reverence  due  to  Armagh,  and  the  Honour 
(or  prerogatives)  of  the  Prelate  of  that  City.'  They  are 
worth  noting,  if  not  exactly  as  the  authentic  canon  law  of 
the  Church  of  Ireland,  still  as  the  expression  of  what  the 
prelates  and  clergy  of  Armagh  believed  and  claimed  as  of 
right  for  themselves  and  the  Royal  City  of  St.  Patrick,  in 
virtue  of  his  primatial  jurisdiction. 

I.  Now  this  city  has  been  constituted  by  God  supreme  and 
free  from  all  service  (libera) ;  and  it  has  been  specially  dedicated 
by  God's  Angel  and  by  the  holy  apostolic  man,  Patrick  the  Bishop. 

II.  By  special  privilege,    therefore,   and   by  the  authority  of 


528  ST.  Patrick's  synods. 

the  chief  Pontiff,  its  founder,  it  is  the  head  (praeest)  of  all  the 
churches  and  monasteries  of  the  Irish  without  exception.  Further- 
more, it  ought  to  be  venerated  in  honour  of  the  greatest  of  the 
martyrs,  Peter  and  Paul,  Stephen,  Laurence,  and  the  others  (whose 
relics  it  contains).^  How  very  great  then  is  the  veneration  and 
honour  due  to  it  by  all. 

III.  But,  more  than  this,  it  is  to  be  venerated  on  account  of 
that  priceless  treasure  which  it  possesses  by  a  secret  arrangement, 
namely,  the  most  precious  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  linen 
winding  sheet,  together  with  the  relics  of  other  saints  preserved  in  the 
Southern  Church,  where  repose  the  bodies  of  the  holy  pilgrims  from 
afar  beyond  the  sea,  together  with  Patrick  and  the  other  holy  men. 

IV.  Wherefore,  in  consequence  of  this,  its  aforesaid  pre- 
eminence, it  is  not  lawful  to  set  up  as  co-ordinate  with  it  the 
authority  of  any  church  of  the  Scots,  or  of  any  prelate,  or  abbot, 
in  opposition  to  its  ruler  (heredem) ;  yea,  rather  its  authority  is 
rightly  invoked  even  on  oath  against  all  churches,  and  the  rulers 
thereof,  whenever  real  necessity  may  require  it.^ 

V.  Again:  Every  free  church  and  city  of  episcopal  grade  through- 
out the  whole  Island  of  the  Scots,  and  every  place  which  is  called 
Domnach  (Dominicus)  appears  to  have  been,  through  the  mercy 
of  God,  founded  by  our  holy  Doctor,  and,  according  to  the  word 
of  the  Angel,  ought  to  be  under  the  special  jurisdiction  or  custody 
(societate)  of  Patrick  the  Bishop,  and  the  comarb  of  his  city  of 
Armagh,  because,  as  we  have  said  above,  God  granted  the  whole 
Island  to  him. 

VI.  Again  :  We  ought  to  know  that  any  monk  of  any  church, 
if  he  returns  to  Patrick's  Church  of  Armagh,  does  not  break  his 
religious  vow,  especially  if  he  devote  himself  (to  the  service  of 
Patrick)  with  the  consent  of  his  former  abbot. 

VII.  Wherefore,  no  one  is  to  be  blamed  or  to  be  excommunicated 
if  he  go  to  the  church  of  Patrick  through  love  of  him,  because  he 
it  is  who  will  judge  all  the  men  of  Ireland  in  the  last  terrible  day 
in  presence  of  Christ. 

The  Liber  Angeli  then  recounts  the  privileges  of  the 
prelate  of  Armagh  on  his  primatial  visitations.  It  is 
headed : — 

Concerning  the  Prerogatives  (honores)  of  the  prelate  of 
Armagh,  who  occupies  the  seat  of  the  Chief  Pastor. 

I.  If  the  aforesaid  high  priest  shall  come  in  the  evening  to  the 
place  where  he  is  to  be  received,  one  refection  fit  for  the  comfort 

^  The  relics  were,  as  we  have  seen,  contained  in  the  church  called  Na  Ferta. 

2  The  text  here  is  obscure.  It  appears  to  mean  that  an  oath  on  the  relics 
or  insignia  of  Patrick  was  to  be  recognised  as  lawful  and  conclusive  in  any 
case  of  dispute  between  other  prelates  or  other  churches.  It  was  one  way  of 
asserting  the  primatial  authority  over  other  churches. 


THE   PREROGATIVES   OF   ARMAGH.  529 

of  the  visitors  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  shall  be  supplied, 
together  with  forage  for  their  horses,  not  to  speak  of  entertainment 
for  the  strangers,  and  the  sick,  and  the  nurses  of  the  foundlings, 
and  others,  whether  good  or  bad. 

And  if  anyone  shall  refuse  to  furnish  the  aforesaid  prelate  with 
this  hospitality,  and  close  his  doors  against  him,  he  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  pay  by  way  of  fine  the  price  of  seven  handmaids,  or  do 
seven  years  of  penance. 

Moreover,  if  anyone  shall  despise  or  profane  the  consecrated 
relics^  of  the  Saint,  that  is,  of  Patrick,  he  shall  pay  twofold  for  the 
injury  done.  But  if  the  contempt  was  shown  to  the  relics  or 
insignia  of  other  saints  the  fine  shall  be  two  cumals^ — that  is,  the 
price  of  two  handmaidens  to  be  paid  to  the  Heir  of  Patrick,  the 
holy  Doctor. 

Furthermore  :  Whosoever,  of  malice  aforethought,  shall  inflict 
any  wrong  or  injury  on  the  religious  family  or  diocese  of  Patrick, 
or  shall  despise  his  insignia,  shall  come  for  trial  before  the  just 
tribunal  of  Patrick,  which  will  investigate  the  whole  cause  without 
regard  to  any  inferior  tribunal  whatsoever. 

The  last  of  these  Armagh  Canons  is  by  far  the  most 
important,  because  it  shows  that  no  matter  how  much  they 
were  intended  to  extend  the  prerogatives  of  the  primatial 
See,  they  still  recognised  the  papal  supremacy  as  of  superior 
binding  force  in  Ireland,  as  was  elsewhere  explained. 

The  extracts  given  above  show  very  clearly  that  St. 
Patrick  and  his  comarbs  were  regarded,  at  least  in  the  8th 
century,  as  possessing  a  primatial  jurisdiction  over  the 
whole  of  Ireland,  and  he  certainly  claimed  and  exercised 
the  same  himself.  Throughout  the  Confession  he  speaks 
of  the  Irish  as  a  people  whom  he  had  won  for  God  at  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  in  the  opening  of  the  Letter  to 
Coroticus  he  professed  himself  to  be,  however  unworthy,  the 
divinely  appointed  Bishop  of  Ireland.  No  man  ever  had  a 
better  right  to  the  title  and  the  jurisdiction  it  involved 
than  St.  Patrick  had  in  Ireland.  He  was  sent  to  preach  to 
the  Irish  by  the  Pope  ;  he  converted  them  to  Christ  by 
sixty  years  of  incessant  labour ;  he  ordained,  practically 
speaking,  all  the  priests  and  bishops  in  Ireland  ;  so  that  he 
had  every  claim  to  be  regarded  as  supreme  in  his  jurisdic- 
diction  over  the  whole  country.  As  it  is  expressed  in  the 
Book  pf  the  Angel,  he  was  Apostolic  Teacher  and   Chief 


^  The  relics  of  Patrick  here  referred  to  were  his  Crozier,  the  Staff  of  Jesus, 
lis  Book,  and  his  Bell,  of  which  we  shall  say  more  hereafter. 

2  The  cumal  riieant,  it  seems,  originally  the  price  of  a  slave  girl. 

2  M 


530  ST.    PATRICK'S    SYNODS. 

Guide  of  all  the  tribes  of  Ireland,^  and,  therefore,  it  was  said 
he  also  obtained  from  God  the  privilege  of  judging  all  the 
men  of  Erin  on  the  last  day. 

Fiacc  also  recognises  expressly  that  the  spiritual 
sovereignty  of  all  the  land  resided  in  Armagh,  just  as 
the  temporal  sovereignty  was  at  Tara;  and  Sechnall  in 
his  Hymn  truly  says  that  the  Irish  Church,  of  which  God 
had  made  him  the  Apostle,  was  built  on  Patrick,  as  the 
Universal  Church  is  built  on  Peter.  And,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  no  Irish  ecclesiastic^  ever  questioned  this  primacy 
of  Patrick's  See  down  to  the  time  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
invasion,  and  it  was  then  for  the  first  time  questioned,  not 
by  Irishmen,  but  by  Englishmen,  for  their  own  purposes. 

Neither  was  it  in  those  days  a  mere  primacy  of  honour. 
It  was  a  real  primacy  of  jurisdiction,  as  set  forth  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh,  involving  (a),  the  right  of  visitation  ;  (d). 
the  right  of  appeal ;  (<;),  the  right  of  tribute.  During 
periods  of  violence  the  exercise  of  these  rights  might 
remain  for  a  time  in  abeyance ;  but  we  have  ample 
evidence  that  the  '  Law  of  Patrick,'  that  is,  the  right  of 
tribute  and  visitation,  was  recognised  and  exercised  in 
all  the  provinces  of  Ireland  except  Leinster.  We  find 
no  express  reference  to  any  visitation  of  the  churches  of 
Leinster  by  the  Primate  or  his  representative,  which  was 
probably  due  to  the  almost  constant  state  of  warfare 
that  existed  between  Ulster  and  Leinster,  so  that  it  was 
unsafe  for  the  Primate  to  venture  into  that  province. 
But  even  there  the  right  was  recognised,  and  the  vener- 
able Gelasius  presided  as  Primate  at  the  Synod  of  Clane 
in  the  year   1162.^ 

Another  striking  proof  of  the  recognition  of  the  primacy 
throughout  all  Erin  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  Brian 
Boru  himself,  from  Mogh's  Half,  solemnly  recognised 
Armagh  as  the  seat  of  the  primacy,  and  laid  his  offerings 
on  the  altar  of  the  great  Church  in  recognition  of  that 
primacy.  We  know  also,  from  the  testimony  of  St.  Bernard, 
that  Celsus,  in  virtue  of  his  primatial  authority,  appointed 
a  second  archbishop  in  the  South  of  Ireland,  although  the 
appointment  could  not  at  the  time  be  deemed  canonical 
until  the  new  archbishop  was  recognised  by  the  Pope  and 

'  Apostolicus  doctor  et  dux  principalis  omnibus  Hiberniacum  gentibus. 

^  The  bishops  of  the  Danish  towns  of  Dublin,  Waterford,  and  Limerick 
were  not  Irish  ecclesiastics,  and  their  colonies  were  not  then  Irish  towns. 

^  It  is  said  that  Patrick,  in  honour  of  his  dear  daughter,  St.  Brigid,  granted 
to  Leinster  exemption  from  the  '  Law  of  Patrick.' 


THE   PREROGATIVES   OF   ARMAGH.  531 

received  the  pallium,  as  he  afterwards  did,  at  the  Council 
of  Kells. 

We  need  not  here  refer  to  the  subsequent  claims  to  the 
primacy  set  up  by  the  English  prelates  of  Dublin.  Even 
though  they  obtained  some  title  thereto  from  the  Crown, 
such  title  would,  of  course,  be  uncanonical,  except  in  so  fai 
as  it  was  sanctioned  by  the  Pope.  When  the  rival  claimants 
afterwards,  at  different  times,  referred  the  matter  to  Rome, 
the  decision  was  always  in  favour  of  the  successors  of  St. 
Patrick.  He  alone  was  recognised  as  the  '  Primas,'  the 
first  of  all  the  prelates  in  Ireland,  for  many  centuries  both 
in  honour  and  jurisdiction ;  but,  in  later  times  in  Ireland, 
as  elsewhere,  it  has  become  merely  a  primacy  of  honour. 


CHAPTER     XXIX. 

ST.  PATRICK'S  SICKNESS,  DEATH,  AND 

BURIAL. 

I.— His  Sickness. 

MuiRCIIU  tells  us,  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  that  when 
Patrick  felt  the  end  of  his  long  and  laborious  life  drawing 
nigh,  he  was  minded  to  go  from  Saul,  where  he  happened 
to  be  at  the  time,  and  repair  to  his  dear  church  of  Armagh, 
that  he  might  die  amongst  his  own,,  and  there  find  the 
place  of  his  resurrection.  But  such  was  not  the  will  of  God. 
As  Patrick  was  setting  out  for  Armagh,  the  Angel  of  God 
said  to  him,  "  Return  to  the  place  from  whence  you 
have  come,  that  is,  to  Saul.  There  you  shall  die  and  enter 
on  the  way  of  your  fathers,  but  your  petitions  have  been 
granted  by  God,  that  is  to  say  : — 

"  First. — '  That  in  Armagh  shall  be  the  seat  of  your 
jurisdiction.' 

**  Second. — '  That  whoever  on  the  day  of  his  death  shall 
recite  the  Hymn  composed  in  your  honour,  you  shall  have 
the  right  to  fix  the  penalty  due  to  his  sins.' 

'*  Third. — '  That  the  children  of  Dichu,  who  received 
you  with  so  much  kindness,  shall  obtain  mercy  and  not 
perish  for  ever.' 

*'  Fourth. — 'That  all  the  Irish  in  the  Day  of  Judgment 
shall  be  judged  by  you,  that  is,  all  those  whose  Apostle  you 
have  been,  even  as  the  Lord  said  to  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
you  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel.'" 

As  Patrick  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Irish,  God  gave  him 
the  same  privilege  to  judge  his  own  people  as  He  had 
promised  to  the  Twelve  to  judge  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

It  would  seem  from  the  language  in  the  Tripartite  that 
Patrick  was  very  anxious  to  return  and  die  in  his  own  city 
of  Armagh  : — 

I  have  chosen  a  place  for  my  resurrection, 
Armagh  is  my  Church  ; 

I  have  no  power  over  my  freedom  (his  own  acts), 
It  is  bondage  to  the  end. 


His  SICKNESS.  533 

It  is  Armagh  that  I  love, 
My  dear  thorpe,  my  dear  hill ; 
A  dun  which  my  soul  haunteth  ; 
Emania  of  the  heroes  will  be  waste. 

But  the  x\ngel  consoled  the  aged  Apostle.  "  No," 
he  said,  "  it  will  not  be  waste ;  thy  crozier  will  be  for  ever 
in  Armagh,  and  great  will  be  the  power  and  dignity  of  thy 
Church  " — a  prediction  which  has  surely  been  fulfilled,  for 
though  false  priests  and  ruthless  foes  have  desolated 
Patrick's  Royal  City  again  and  again,  it  has  risen  anew 
from  its  ashes.  Patrick's  power  has  never  failed.  Patrick's 
crozier  has  never  been  broken.  His  successors  have  been 
driven  repeatedly  from  the  Royal  Hill,  as  the  Popes  have 
been  driven  from  Rome ;  they  have  been  hunted,  imprisoned, 
and  slain ;  but  the  succession  has  not  failed  ;  the  crozier 
was  always  there,  as  the  Angel  foretold.  And  in  our  own 
time  we  have  seen  the  great  twin  towers  rise  in  pride  and 
strength  over  Patrick's  City,  proclaiming  to  all  the  world 
that  Patrick  is  still  enthroned  on  Macha's  Hill,  clothed 
in  larger  glory,  for  the  Comarb  of  Peter  has  robed  his  seat  in 
the  crimson  of  Rome,  in  which  it  was  never  draped  before. 
These  truths  were  brought  home  to  the  minds  of  thinking 
men  in  a  very  striking  way  on  the  24th  July,  1904,  when  for 
the  first  time  in  Irish  history,  two  Cardinals,  one  the  heir  of 
Patrick,  the  other  a  special  delegate  from  the  Pope  himself, 
accompanied  by  all  the  Prelates  of  Ireland,  with  many  also 
from  England  and  Scotland,  and  surrounded  by  the  represen- 
tative clergy  and  laity  of  all  the  land,  met  on  Macha's  Hill 
to  dedicate^  the  beautiful  new  Cathedral  of  Armagh  for  the 
worship  of  God,  under  the  invocation  of  St.  Patrick. 

We  have  no  particulars  of  the  last  illness  of  our  great 
Apostle.  At  the  age  of  120  years  ke  must  have  been  very 
feeble  in  body,  only  longing  for  the  hour  when  God  would 
call  him  home.  He  might  well  say,  with  Simeon  :  '  Now, 
thou  dost  dismiss  thy  servant,  O  Lord,  according  to  Thy 
word,  in  peace.'  His  long  day's  work  was  done.  He  had 
finished  his  course  and  kept  the  Faith,  and  saved  the  people 
whom  the  Lord  had  given  him.  '  And  now,'  he  says  in 
his  Confession,  '  I  give  up  my  soul  to  my  faithful  God, 
whose  poor  minister  I  am,  but  it  was  He  Himself  chose 
me  for  this  work.  What  return  shall  I  make  to  Him  for 
all  that  He  has  given  to  me — what  shall  I  say  or  what  shall 


^  A  fuller  account  of  this  memorable  ceremonial  will   be   given  in   an 
Appendix. 


534     ST.    PATRICK'S    SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND   BURIAL. 

I  promise  to  my  Lord  ?  He,  the  searcher  of  hearts,  knows 
that  I  have  long  been  desirous  to  drink  of  His  chalice  and 
die  for  His  sake,  if  it  were  only  His  will.  One  thing  only 
I  ask  from  my  Lord,  that  I  shall  never  lose  His  people 
whom  He  has  won  for  Himself  here  at  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  I  pray  the  Lord  to  give  me  perseverance  and  make 
me  His  faithful  witness  to  the  end  of  my  life ;  and  let  all 
believe  that  whatever  little  I  have  done  is  the  gift  of  God. 
And  this  is  my  Confession  before  I  die.' 

The  Tripartite  then  gives  its  own  eulogy  of  Patrick. 
'  A  righteous  man  verily  was  this  man,  with  purity  of  nature 
like  the  Patriarchs.  A  true  pilgrim,  like  Abraham.  Mild, 
forgiving  from  the  heart,  Hke  Moses.  A  praiseworthy 
psalmist  like  David.  A  student  of  wisdom,  like  Solomon. 
A  choice  vessel  for  proclaiming  righteousness,  like  Paul  the 
Apostle.  A  man,  full  of  the  grace  and  fervour  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  like  John  the  youthful.  A  fair  herb-garden,  with 
plants  of  virtues.  A  vine  branch  of  fruitfulness.  A  flash- 
ing fire,  with  the  fervour  of  the  warming  and  healing  of 
the  Sons  of  Life,  lor  kindling  and  for  enflaming  charity. 
A  lion  in  strength  and  might.  A  dove  for  gentlenesss 
and  simplicity.  A  serpent  for  prudence  and  cunning  in 
what  is  good.  Gentle,  humble,  merciful  unto  the  Sons  of 
Life.  Gloomy  and  ungentle  to  the  Sons  of  Death.  A 
laborious  and  faithful  servant  unto  Christ.  A  king  for 
dignity  and  power  as  to  binding  and  loosing,  as  to  liberat- 
ing and  enslaving,  as  to  death-giving  and  life-giving.' 

Then,  having  in  one  sentence,  summed  up  the 
labours  of  the  Saint,  the  writer  adds  the  brief  statement 
that  *  Patrick  received  Christ's  body  from  Bishop  Tassach 
according  to  the  Angel  Victor's  counsel  j  and  then  sent 
forth  his  holy  spirit  to  heaven  in  the  hundred  and 
twentieth  year  of  his  age.  His  body  is  here  still  on  earth 
in  honour  and  veneration.'  ^ 

Tassach  was  bishop  of  the  neighbouring  church  of 
Raholp.  That  church  was  founded  by  St.  Patrick  himself, 
who  placed  Tassach  over  it,  and,  it  would  seem,  gave  him 
some  intimation  that  he  was  destined  to  give  his  beloved 
master  the  Sacrifice  at  the  approach  of  death.  It  is  some 
two  miles  north-east  of  Saul,  and  about  lOO  yards  from  the 
road  which  leads  from  Downpatrick  to  Ballyculter.     The 


^This  would  seem  to  imply  that  the  tomb  of  Patrick  was  then  well  known, 
doubtless  after  the  Invention  by  Columcille,  and  was  held  in  honour  and  venera- 
tion by  all  the  faithful. 


DATE   OF   PATRICK'S    DEATIi.  535 

ruins  of  a  church  are  there  still,  but  hardly  date  back  to 
the  time  of  St,  Patrick.  The  ancient  name  was  Rath-colpa, 
and  Reeves  says  that  the  elevation  of  church  area  over  the 
surrounding  field  would  go  to  show  that  it  was  built  within 
an  ancient  rath,  from  which  it  doubtless  took  its  name. 

II. — Date  of  Patrick's  Death. 

Almost  all  the  ancient  anthorities  are  unanimous  in 
stating  that  Patrick  had  reached  the  great  age  of  120  years 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  but  there  is  some  difference  of 
opinion  in  fixing  the  exact  year. 

Tighernach's  Annals,  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  the  Four 
Masters,  the  Chronicon  Scotorum,^  and  the  Lebar  Brecc, 
all  agree  in  assigning  the  date  of  Patrick's  death  to  the 
year  A.D.  493.  '  Patritius  the  arch-apostle  of  the  Scoti 
(or  Irish)  rested  on  the  i6th  day  of  the  calends  of  April 
(17th  March)  in  the  120th  year  of  his  age,  and  also,  the 
60th  year  after  he  had  come  to  Ireland  to  baptise  the 
Scoti.'^  Such  is  the  statement  in  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  and 
it  certainly  records  the  opinion  of  ouroldest  and  best  authori- 
ties, such  as  Colgan,  Usher,  O'Flaherty  Ware  Todd,  and 
quite  a  host  of  other  writers.  One  strong  argument  in  favour 
of  493  being  the  exact  year  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  in 
that  year  the  17th  of  March  was  a  Wednesday,  and  the 
ancient  authorities  all  give  Wednesday  as  the  day  of  the 
Apostle's  death. 

Lanigan's  view  that  the  Saint  died  in  A.D.  465  may 
be  dismissed  as  a  novel  opinion  of  his  own,  unsupported  by 
any  authority.  The  so-called  Annals  of  Innisfallen  which 
he  quotes  in  his  favour  are  notoriously  post-dated  by  many 
years,  and  have  no  weight  as  an  authority  in  chronology. 
Lanigan  foolishly  identified  St.  Patrick  with  Sen  Patrick, 
quite  a  different  person,  who  really  died  in  A.D.  457,  on 
the  24th  of  August,  on  which  day  the  Felire  of  ^ngus 
marks  the  death  of  Old  Patrick,  champion  of  battles, 
'  lovable  tutor  of  our  Sage.' 

The  Bollandists  give  the  date  of  Patrick's  death  as 
A.D.  460,  but  as  Lanigan  observes,  it  is  a  mere  guess,  not 

^A.D.  489  is  marked  in  the  margin,  but  a  verse  quoted  from  the  Irish  poet  ex- 
pressly states  it  was  '  four  hundred  fair  ninety  and  three  exact  years  after  Christ.' 

^  The  year  in  the  margin  is  marked  492,  but  the  criteria  for  the  Calends  of 
January — Friday  moon  27 — show  that  it  was  really  the  year  493.  The  early 
part  of  these  Annals  date  not  from  the  Nativity  but  the  Incarnation,  and  hence 
are  a  year  late. 


536        ST.    PATRICK'S   SICKNESS,    DEATH,   AND   BURIAL. 

based  on  any  authority,  and  like  his  own  guess  may  be 
summarily  set  aside.  Stokes,  the  editor  of  the  Tripartite, 
speaks  of  his  death  as  having  '  probably '  taken  place  in 
or  about  463,  and  Professor  Bury  adopts  the  same  opinion. 
Stokes  describes  Patrick  as  *  coming  to  Ireland  in  432,  when 
he  was  sixty  years  old,'  and  later  on  he  says  that  he  spent 
sixty  years  in  Ireland,  partly  as  a  priest  and  partly  as  bishop. 
But  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  laboured  in  Ireland  as 
a  simple  priest ;  whence  we  infer  that  he  was  sixty  when  he 
came  to  Ireland  as  bishop,  for  so  he  describes  himself,  and 
having  laboured  sixty  years,  died  in  493,  in  the  120th  year 
of  his  age. 

A  recent  writer)  thinks  his  age  was  61  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  but  his  opinion  appears  to  be  based  on  the  state- 
ment in  Tirechan  that  *  436  years  are  reckoned  from  the 
Passion  of  Christ  to  the  death  of  Patrick  '  or,  as  others  have 
it,  432.  He  assumes  that  the  Passion  of  Christ  occurred  in 
A.D.  29,  and  adding  that  to  432  we  get  461,  *  the  true  year.'  ^ 
Now  no  year  between  460  and  470  can  be  the  true  year  of 
Patrick's  death,  if  it  were  only  for  this  one  simple  reason, 
that  in  that  case  he  would  set  about  converting  Ireland 
when  he  was  between  eighty  and  ninety  years  of  age ! 

We  need  not  concern  ourselves  about  the  minor  points  ; 
the  real  thing  is  to  explain  the  entry  as  we  now  have  it 
in  Tirechan.  To  understand  it  we  must  take  it  altogether. 
'Now  from  the  Passion  of  Christ  are  reckoned  to  the 
death  of  Patrick  436  (or  it  may  be  432  years),  Laeghaire 
reigned,  however,  either  two  or  five  years  after  the  death 
of  Patrick.  The  whole  time  of  his  reign,  as  we  think,  was 
thirty-six  years.'  It  appears  to  us  that  no  weight  can  be 
attached  to  this  sentence,  as  it  stands^  because,  either 
through  the  fault  of  the  copyists  or  the  ignorance  of  the 
original  scribe,  it  cannot  be  reconciled  with  itself.  P'or 
according  to  the  Four  Masters  and  all  our  authorities, 
Laeghaire  died  in  458,  not  after,  therefore,  but  some  years 
before  the  death  of  Patrick,  according  to  the  numerals 
given  in  the  text.  Then  again  the  writer  does  not  appear 
to  be  certain  about  his  dates,  for  he  says,  speaking 
of  the  years  of  the  king's  reign,  it  was  32  or  36,  as  we 
think.     It  was  really  only    30   years,  from  428   to  458.^ 

1  Rev.  Dr.  White. 

2  A  passione  autem  Christi  coUiguniur  anni  ccccxxxvi  usque  ad  mortem 
Patricii.  Duobus  autem  vel  v  annis  regnavit  Laeghaire  post  mortem  Patricii- 
Omne  autem  regni  illius  tempus  xxxvi  (anni)  utputaiiius. 

^  Four  Masters.     Sub  A  n  n  is. 


DATE    OF   PATRICK'S    DEATH.  53? 

So  we  cannot  accept  the  text  before  us  here  as 
accurate.^ 

The  true  explanation  seems  to  be  that  Tirechan  put  down 
the  death  of  the  great  St.  Patrick  at  the  year  which  he 
found  was  assigned,  not  to  his  death,  but  to  the  death  of 
Sen-Patrick.  This  will  be  obvious  on  closer  examination 
of  the  dates  given  by  Tirechan  himself.  His  statement 
that  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  years  intervened  between 
the  Passion  of  Christ  and  the  death  of  Patrick,  which,  he 
adds,  occurred  either  two  or  five  years  before  the  death  of 
Laeghaire,  cannot  be  accepted.  But  if  it  is  understood  of 
Sen- Patrick's  death  it  fits  in  well  enough,  for  he  probably 
died  about  two  years  before  the  death  of  the  High  King, 
although  it  is  now  perhaps  impossible  to  fix  the  exact 
year.  In  our  opinion,  therefore,  this  entry  as  to  the  death 
of  •  Patrick,'  which  Tirechan  got  either  from  the  Book  or 
the  lips  of  Bishop  Ultan,  must  be  understood  as  having 
reference  to  Old  Patrick,  who  died  about  that  time,  not  to 
the  great  Patrick,  Bishop  of  Hiberio,  as  he  calls  himself, 
who  died  long  after. 

Again,  all  the  ancient  authorities  fix  432  as  the  date  of 
St.  Patrick's  advent  to  Ireland  as  bishop.  All  give  him 
sixty  years  of  an  apostolate  here.  Whereas  if  he  died  in  46 1 
or  463  or  465  he  must  have  been  about  ninety  years  when 
as  bishop  he  undertook  to  preach  the  Gospel  throughout 
Ireland,  from  Tara  by  Croaghpatrick  to  Inishowen — a 
consequence  which  cannot  be  accepted  for  a  moment. 

There  was  an  ancient  tradition  that  Patrick  was  born 
on  a  Wednesday,  baptised  on  a  Wednesday,  and  died  on 
a  Wednesday.  We  can  take  it  then  as  fairly  certain  that 
his  death  took  place  on  Wednesday,  the  17th  March,  493, 
for  it  is  expressly  stated  by  many  of  our  most  venerable 
authorities,  nor  is  it  at  all  likely  that  the  feast  day  of  so 


^  Dr.  White  says  the  Ultonian  Annals  support  the  year  461  as  that  of 
Patrick's  death.  \\Tiat  they  say  is  this — '  Here  (A.D.  461)  some  record  the 
repose  of  Patrick ' — but  under  date  of  493  they  have  the  full  and  correct  entry 
as  follows  :-^ 

*  A.D.  492  (recte  493). 

Patritius  archiapostolus  (vel  archiepiscopus  et  apostolus)  Scotorum 
quievit  c'""  xx"^*^  anno  setatis  suse  16  Kal.  Aprilis,  Ix"  quo  venit  ad  lliber- 
niam  anno  ad  baptizandos  Scotos.'     Or  in  English — 

(492)    *  Patrick  the  arch-apostle  (or  archbishop  and  apostle)  of  the  Scots  rested 

on  the  sixteenth  day  before  the  Kalends  of  April,  in  120th  year  of  his  age, 

and  also  the  60th  year  after  he  had  come  to  Ireland  to  baptise  the  Scoti.' 

With  this  entry  before  him,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Dr.  White  could  assert 

that  the  Ultonian  Annals  support  ihe  view  ihat  Patrick  died  A.D.  461. 


53^        ST.    PATRICK'S   SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND    BURIAL. 

great  a  saint  would  have  passed  out  of  public  memory. 
But  we  have  not  the  same  satisfactory  evidence  about  his 
birth  and  baptism  on  a  Wednesday,  although  Usher  is 
inclined  to  accept  the  statement  as  true,  and  he  quotes  the 
'  Book  of  Sligo  '  to  that  effect.  In  the  Felire  of  /Engus,  at 
the  5th  of  April,  it  is  said  that  '  the  baptism  of  noble 
Patrick  was  performed  in  Erin  ; '  but  this  seems  to  refer,  as 
the  Scholiast  says,  to  the  baptism  of  Sinell,  his  first  con- 
vert in  Erin,  or  perhaps  it  was  designed  to  commemorate 
some  great  baptismal  ceremony,  such  as  we  know  took 
place  at  Tara  when  Ere  Mac  Dego  was  baptised  on  the 
Royal  Hill. 

III. — St.  Brigid's  Winding  Sheet  for  Patrick. 

In  the  Third  and  Fourth  Lives  of  St.  Brigid  of  Kildare 
we  find  a  very  interesting  statement  regarding  that  saint's 
promise  to  make  a  winding  sheet  for  the  blessed  body  of 
St.  Patrick.  It  would  appear  that  Brigid  with  several  of 
her  nuns  paid  a  visit  to  St.  Patrick  when  he  was  biding  at 
Saul  in  his  old  age.  One  day,  whilst  Patrick  was  preaching 
to  the  people  in  the  presence  of  Brigid  and  her  nuns,  a 
luminous  cloud  came  down  from  the  sky  and  stood  for  a 
while  poised  in  mid-air,  close  to  the  assembly.  Then 
sweeping  slowly  onward,  the  cloud  settled  over  the  fort  of 
Leth  Glaisse,  or  Downpatrick,  to  the  amazement  of  all  the 
beholders. 

Full  of  awe,  they  feared  to  ask  Patrick  what  the  cloud 
signified,  but  they  asked  Brigid,  and  at  Patrick's  bidding 
Brigid  told  them  the  meaning  of  the  vision.  "  Patrick's 
Angel,"  she  said,  "  is  borne  in  that  cloud  of  glory,  and  he 
has  come  here  first  to  show  us  that  Patrick  will  die  here, 
and  his  body  will  remain  here  for  some  days ;  and  then 
the  Angel  went  to  the  fort  or  hill  of  Down  to  show  that 
Patrick's  body  will  be  taken  from  this  to  be  buried  in 
Down,  and  there  it  will  remain  until  the  day  of  judgment. 
I,  too,  and  another  saint  to  be  called  Columcille,  shall  rest 
in  the  same  grave,  and  we  shall  rise  together  from  that 
tomb  on  the  last  day." 

Then  all  the  people  were  amazed  and  gave  praise  to 
God,  and  Patrick  asked  Brigid  to  weave  with  her  own 
hands  the  winding  sheet  in  which  his  body  would  rest  in 
the  tomb.  Brigid  faithfully  promised  to  do  so,  and  had 
the  holy  shroud  ready  against  the  day  of  Patrick's  death, 
and  in  that  shroud  his  body  was  laid.     This  statement  in 


DJIATH    OF    PATRICK.  539 

the  Lives  of  St.  Brigid  is  also  valuable  because  it  describes 
exactly  what  took  place  after  the  death  of  Patrick  at  Saul, 
and  so  far  confirms  the  statements  in  the  Tripartite  and 
the  Book  of  Armagh.  But  the  tone  of  the  prophecy,  as  a 
prophecy,  is  very  artificial,  and  rather  indicates  what  was 
known  than  what  was  foretold  to  the  writer. 

IV. — Death  of  Patrick. 

As  might  be  expected,  tidings  of  the  death  of  St. 
Patrick  at  Saul  were  heard  throughout  all  Ireland  with  the 
deepest  grief,  and  his  obsequies  were  celebrated  at  his  own 
little  church  of  Saul  with  great  solemnity.  The  narrative, 
too,  is  very  touching,  for  it  tells  us  in  its  own  simple  way 
how  heaven  and  earth  kept  watch  around  his  bier,  and 
joy  and  sorrow  struggled  for  the  mastery. 

St.  Patrick's  body  was  kept  in  the  little  church  of  Saul 
unburied  for  twelve  days.     No    doubt,    this    long    delay 
was  arranged   in  order  to  give  time  to  bishops  and  chiefs 
from  all  parts  of  Ireland   to  be  present  in  person,  or  send 
representatives  to  be  present,  at  the  funeral  of  the  spiritual 
chief  and  father  of  all  tne  tribes  of  Erin.     And  we  are  told 
that  for  these  twelve  nights,  during  which  the  elders  of 
Erin  were  watching  around  the  bier  of  their  great  Apostle, 
'  there  was  no  night  in  Magh  Inis,  but  an  angelic  radiance 
lit  up  the  plain,' ^     We  are  also  told  that  *  Ireland's  elders 
heard  the  singing  of  angelic  choirs,  and  that  a  great  host 
of  heaven's  angels  came  to  wake  his  body  on  the  night  of 
his  death.'  ^     A  similar  statement  is  made  by  Muirchu  in 
the  Book  of  Armagh.     '  On  the  first  night  of  his  obsequies,' 
he  says,    '  the  angels    themselves    kept    watch    over    the 
Saint's  body  and  chaunted  the  usual  psalms,  the  human 
watchers  having  all  fallen  asleep.'     But  on  the  other  nights 
men  kept  watch  around  the  body,  praying  and  singing 
psalms.     Moreover,  when   the    choir    of  angels    went    to 
heaven  they  left  behind  them  in  the  chamber  of  death  a 
sweet  fragrance,  as  it  were,  of  honey  and  wine,  so  that  the 
word  of  the  patriarch  was  fulfilled  :  *  Behold  the  smell  of 
my  son  is  as  the  smell  of  a  plentiful  field  which  the  Lord 
hath  blessed.' 

The  idea  of  a  heavenly  radiance  lighting  up  Magh  Inis 
might  come  from  the  great  number  of  lights  that  burned 


1  Tripartite. 

2  Lehar  Brecc  Homily 


540       ST.    PATRICK'S   SICKNESS,    DEATH,   AND   BURIAL. 

round  the  bier  both  day  and  night ;  and  no  doubt  the  great 
crowd  of  strangers  who  encamped  around  the  Httle  church 
would  also  have  their  own  lights,  which  would  be  seen  far 
and  wide  over  the  plain  ;  for  Saul  is  on  high  ground,  and 
the  lights  within  and  around  the  little  church  would  be 
seen  from  all  parts  far  over  the  plain.    Yet  surely  it  would 
not  be  strange  if  a  radiance  from  heaven  shone  round  that 
little  church  which  contained  the  body  of  one  who  had  done 
so  much  for  God  and  for  Ireland.     And  if  Victor  was  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  Patrick  so  often  during  life,  we  should 
naturally  expect  him  to  come  with  a  heavenly  choir  to  chant 
the  psalms  of  the  Church  over  his  blessed  body.     But  it  was 
onl)  on  the  first  night,  before  strangers  had   yet  arrived, 
and  the  monks  of  the  little  monastery,  worn  out  with  their 
own  watchings,  had  fallen  asleep  ;  then  the  angels  took  their 
place,  and  sang  the  strains  of  heaven  around  the  holy  bier 
where  Patrick  lay,  wrapped  up  in  the  shroud  that  holy 
Brigid  had  wrought  for  him  with  her  own  hands.     The 
history  of  the  saints  of  Erin  gives  us  glimpses  of  many 
a  beautiful  death,  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord ;  but  it 
affords  no  holier,  or  more  touching  sight  than  this — that 
bier  bearing  Patrick's  blessed  body  in  the  little  church  of 
Saul,  where  he  said  his  first  Mass  in  the  North  ;  the  shroud 
which  the  blessed  Brigid  wove  for  that  poor  body,  spent 
with  sixty  years  of  missionary  toil ;  the  monks  of  Patrick's 
family  chanting  with  streaming  eyes  the  psalms  of  requiem 
for   the   soul    of    him    whom    they    loved    so    well ;    the 
listening  angels  taking  their    places    in  the  choir,   as    the 
monks  fell  asleep  from  their  long  vigils ;  the  priests  and 
prelates   crowding  at  day's    dawn   from  all  parts    to   the 
obsequies  of  their  spiritual  father ;  the  vast  plain  filled  with 
the  lights  at  night,  and  their  voices  rising  all  the  day  in  Mass 
and  psalms  for  the  dead — such  a  scene  Ireland  had  never 
seen  before,  and  surely  never  will  see  again. 

V. — Burial  of  Patrick. 

Now,  when  the  obsequies  were  over,  and  the  last  psalm 
was  chanted,  and  the  last  Mass  was  said,  the  bishops  and 
clergy  were  in  sore  distress  to  devise  means  to  bury  their 
beloved  father  in  peace.  They  knew  that  it  was  his  own 
wish  to  be  buried  at  Saul,  or  near  it,  for  so  God's  Angel 
had  directed.  It  was  his  first,  and,  in  some  respects,  his 
best-beloved  church.  It  was  said,  too,  that  he  had  pro- 
mised  Dichu  and  his  sons  that  as  they  gave  him  a  home 


BURIAL   OF   PATRICK.  541 

and  a  church  when  he  first  came  amongst  them,  homeless 
and  weary  of  the  sea,  he  would  lay  his  bones  amongst  them 
for  ever.^  The  high-spirited  Ultonians  of  Magh  Inis  loved 
their  dead  father  with  a  deep  and  tender  love,  and  rather 
than  see  his  holy  body  taken  away  from  them  they  were 
ready  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  men  of  Orior,  and  the  fierce 
warriors  of  O'Neilland,  who  dwelt  around  Armagh,  when 
they  heard  of  the  Saint's  death,  said  : — *  He  is  ours,  our 
bishop  and  our  father  ;  he  chose  Macha's  Hill  to  be  his 
seat  for  ever ;  there  he  ruled  in  life,  and  there  he  must  rest 
in  death.'  So  the  warlike  sons  of  Colla  and  the  Hy  Neill 
gathered  together  all  their  warriors,  and  came  to  Lecale, 
determined  at  any  cost  to  carry  back  with  them  the  body 
of  their  beloved  Bishop  to  Armagh.  They  encamped,  it 
would  seem,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  estuary,^  at  the 
ford  of  Quoile,  not  venturing  to  disturb  the  obsequies,  but 
waiting  until  the  funeral  would  be  over  to  carry  off  the 
blessed  body  of  the  Saint. 

Now,  it  would  appear  that  the  prelates  and  chiefs  of 
Lecale  did  a  wise  thing.  They  waited  quietly  until  the 
rushing  tide  of  Strangford  Lough  had  filled  up  the  estuary 
at  Quoile  Ford  with  its  swelling  waters,  which  the  men  of 
Armagh  could  not  cross.  Then,  instead  of  burying  the 
Saint  in  the  little  churchyard  at  Saul,  which  would 
be  open  to  an  attack  from  the  men  of  the  North,  they 
hurriedly  placed  the  body  on  its  bier,  and,  bearing  it  to 
Downpatrick,  buried  it  in  a  deep  grave  on  the  hill  close  to 
the  impregnable  fort  of  the  sons  of  Trichem,  which,  as  it 
was  almost  surrounded  by  water,  was  practically  unassail- 
able. There  they  buried  Patrick  in  the  very  stronghold  of 
Dun-leth-glaisse,  which  afterwards,  in  honour  of  the  Saint, 
changed  its  name,  and  has  been  called  Downpatrick  ever 
since. 

We  have  here  given  what  appears  to  us  to  be  the  natural 
and  true  account  of  the  burial  of  St.  Patrick,  and  is  also 
in  accordance  with   the  express  statements  of  the  ancient 


^  It  is  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  that  one  of  the  last  petitions  of  the 
dying  Saint  was  for  God's  blessing  on  Dichu's  family.  The  chieftain  was, 
probably,  dead  at  the  time.     See  above  '  Patrick's  Petitions  to  the  Angel.' 

2  Tirechan  says  they  were  preparing  for  the  fight  during  the  whole  twelve 
days  of  the  obsequies.  '  But  on  the  twelfth  day,  as  each  of  the  hosts  saw 
Patrick's  body  on  its  bier  amongst  themselves,  they  did  not  come  to  blows.' 
Some  stratagem  may  have  been  adopted  to  beguile  the  men  of  Armagh.  An 
empty  coffin  might  have  been  brought  to  them. 


542        ST.    PATRICK'S   SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND    BURIAL. 

authorities,  which  we  may  now  examine  a  little  more  at 
length. 

It  is  only  in  recent  times  that  any  writer  has  ventured 
to  set  aside  the  ancient  tradition,  which  always  proclaimed 
that  St.  Patrick  was  buried  in  Downpatrick.  The  desire  to 
start  something  new  is  characteristic  of  our  age  ;  some 
apparently  plausible  reasons  were  assigned  for  saying  that 
Patrick  was  really  buried  in  Armagh ;  while  others  seemed 
to  show  that  his  grave  was  to  be  sought  in  the  little 
churchyard  of  Saul,  two  miles  east  of  Downpatrick.  He 
certainly  died  there  ;  but  we  think  it  can  be  clearly  shown 
that  he  was  not  buried  there. 

Muirchu's  testimony  is  express  on  the  point ;  and 
moreover  it  is  contained  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  itself.  He 
says  that  before  his  death  the  Angel,  foreknowing,  doubtless, 
the  danger  of  strife,  had  said  to  Patrick,  "  Let  two  wild  oxen 
be  chosen  (to  carry  the  bier)  ;  let  them  go  wherever  they 
will,  where  they  shall  stop  a  church  shall  be  built  in  honour 
of  thy  poor  body."  This  was  done  according  to  the  counsel 
of  the  Angel.  The  wild  steers  were  brought  to  Saul,  all 
the  way  from  Clogher,  in  Tyrone,  and  when  they  were 
yoked  to  the  bier  '  they  went  out,'  says  Muirchu,  *  from  Saul 
under  Gcd's  guidance  ^o  Dun-leth-glaisse^  where  Patrick 
was  buried.^  ^ 

Then  the  Angel  added  :  ''  Lest  the  relics  of  your  body 
be  taken  from  the  grave  let  a  cubit  of  earth  rest  over  the 
body."  The  cubit  here  means  a  man's  cubit,  that  is  the 
height  (or  depth)  which  a  man  standing  up  can  reach  with 
his  arm,  that  is,  between  seven  and  eight  feet,  so  that 
Patrick  was  buried  to  that  depth  in  the  soil ;  and  it  was 
done  secretly  in  order  that  no  man  might  know  where  he 
rested,  except  a  trusted  few,  for  otherwise  the  men  of  Oriel 
might  come  at  night  and  try  to  bear  off  the  body. 

At  a  later  date,  when  they  were  building  the  church  of 
Downpatrick  in  honour  of  the  Saint,  the  workmen  in 
making  their  excavations  happened  to  come  near  the  grave, 
whereupon  fire  burst  forth,  and  they  touched  no  more  that 
sacred  spot. 

Then  Muirchu  refers  to  the  imminent  danger  of  a 
bloody  strife  at  Drumbo,  between  the  Hy  Neill  and  men 
of  Orior  on  one  part  and  the  Ultonians  on  the  other,  for 
the  body  of  Patrick ;  but,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  he 


1  Et  exierunt  Dei  nutu   regente   ad   Dun   Leth  Glaisse  ubi  sepultus  est 
Patritius. 


BURIAL   OF   PATRICK.  543 

says,  the  swelUn^]^  waves  rushed  up  the  estuary, 
separating  the  combatants,  and  rendering  it  impossible 
for  either  party  to  cross  the  ford. 

Meanwhile  the  clergy  had  buried  Patrick  at  Dun,  but 
still  the  Hy  Neill,  when  the  flood  subsided,  resolved  to 
cross  the  ford,  and,  if  possible,  bear  off  the  body.  Then, 
lo  !  there  appeared  before  them  two  oxen,  drawing  what 
seemed  to  be  a  bier  with  the  body  of  the  Saint,  whereupon 
the  multitude,  thinking  they  had  secured  their  treasure, 
jo)' fully  followed  the  wain  as  far  as  Cabcenne,  where  the  sup- 
posed body  disappeared  from  their  eyes.  Muirchu  calls  it  a 
*  felix  seductio,'  and  it  was,  probably,  a  ruse  designed  by 
the  clergy  to  draw  off  the  men  of  Orior  and  Armagh ; 
if  it  were  not  a  story  devised  at  a  later  period  to 
soothe  the  wounded  vanity  of  the  warriors  of  the  Hy 
Neill.i 

It  has  been  objected  to  this  statement  of  Muirchu  that 
Tirechan  says  of  Patrick  that  he  was  like  Moses  in  this 
also  ;  that  '  where  his  bones  are  no  one  knows.'  From  what 
we  have  said  that  statement  appears  to  be  quite  true.  The 
exact  spot  where  Patrick  was  buried  was  kept  carefully 
concealed  ;  and  after  a  time  when  those  who  had  buried 
him  had  died,  no  one  knew  exactly  where  his  bones  rested, 
until,  it  is  said,  the  place  was  divinely  revealed  to  Colum- 
cille.  That  this  is  the  real  meaning  of  Tirechan  is  obvious 
from  what  he  adds  immediately,  that  '  Columcille  showed 
the  sepulchre  of  Patrick,  confirming  where  he  is  (according 
to  tradition)  namely,  in  Saul  of  Patrick — that  is,  in  the 
church  quite  close  to  the  sea,  where  the  gathering  of  the 
relics  is — that  is,  of  the  bones  of  Columcille  from  Britain, 
— and  the  gathering  of  all  the  saints  of  Erin  on  the  day  of 
judgment'  ^ 

The  sepulchre  was  near  Saul  then,  yet  not  in  the  church 
of  Saul,  but  in  the  church  very  near  the  sea,  that  is,  the 
church  of  Downpatrick,  which  was  surrounded  by  the  sea 
at  high  water,  whereas  the  church  of  Saul  was  about  a  mile 
from  the  sea  at  its  nearest  point. 


^  It  is  not  at  all  clear  that  the  men  of  Orior  did  not  make  an  attempt  later 
on  to  get  St.  Patrick's  body,  for  we  read,  A.D,  495 — two  years  after  his  death — 
that  Dun-leth-glaisse  was  stormed. — Atinals  of  Ulster. 

^  Columcille's  relics  were  brought  from  Scotland  to  be  interred  in  Patrick's 
grave  in  Down,  and  there,  too,  would  be  the  gathering  of  all  the  saints  of  Erin 
on  the  day  of  judgment,  to  be  judged  by  Patrick  after  the  general  resurrec- 
tioji. 


544         ST.    PATRICK'S    SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND    BURIAL. 


VI.— Patrick's  Characteristic  Virtues. 

We  have  no  difficulty  in  realizing  the  moral  grandeur 
of  St.  Patrick's  character,  because  it  is  revealed  to  us  in  all 
its  features  not  only  in  his  active  life  and  labours,  but  even 
still  more  strikingly  in  his  Confession.  In  the  Confession 
we  see  his  character  reflected  as  in  a  mirror,  so  that  we  can 
have  no  doubt  as  to  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  It  was 
written,  he  tells  us,  for  that  very  purpose,  to  enable  all  his 
brethren  and  friends  to  know  his  '  quality  ' — scire  quali- 
tatem  meam — and  clearly  see  the  workings  of  his  heart. 
Hence  it  is  not,  and  never  was,  designed  to  be  in  any  sense 
a  biographical  memoir  of  the  Saint.  It  does  not  deal  with 
the  external  facts  of  his  life  (except  incidentally),  but  with 
'  the  fixed  purpose  of  his  soul ' — votum  animae  mese.  From 
this  point  of  view,  in  spite  of  its  rugged  language  and  rude 
Latinity,  it  is  a  most  beautiful  revelation  of  Patrick's  lofty 
character  and  exalted  virtues. 

Hence  it  is  that,  apart  from  other  considerations,  and 
judging  it  by  intrinsic  evidence  alone,  all  competent  critics 
have  recognised  its  authenticity.  The  language  might  be 
the  work  of  a  forger  ;  but  the  spirit  that  breathes  in  every 
line  is  the  manifest  outpouring  of  a  heart  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  inspired  with  one  great  purpose  to  live, 
and,  if  need  be,  to  die,  for  the  conversion  of  the  tribes  of 
Erin.  We  will  not  here  enlarge  on  the  critical  proofs,  both 
intrinsic  and  extrinsic,  in  favour  of  the  authenticity  of 
the  Confession,  because,  as  we  have  said,  it  has  not 
been  questioned,  so  far  as  we  know,  by  any  competent 
critic. 

We  said  the  Confession  is  a  mirror  which,  consciously 
or  unconsciously,  reveals  all  the  characteristic  virtues  of 
Patrick's  noble  character.  First  of  all,  as  might  be 
expected  in  the  case  of  so  great  a  saint,  we  note  his 
wonderful  humility.  In  his  early  youth  he  says  he  knew 
not  the  true  God,  with  thousands  of  others  he  was  carried 
into  captivity  *  as  we  deserved,  because  we  did  not  keep 
God's  commandments,  and  were  disobedient  to  our  priests, 
who  admonished  us  about  our  salvation.'  It  was  in 
captivity  that  God  opened  the  understanding  of  his 
unbelief  so  as  to  recall  his  sins  to  mind,  and  turn  his  whole 
heart  to  God.  He  was  a  stone  sunk  in  the  mire  when 
God,  in  his  mercy,  raised  him  up  and  placed  hirq  in  the 


PATRICK'S   CHARACTERISTIC    VIRTUES.  545 

topmost  wall.^  At  the  end  of  the  Confession,  too,  after 
recounting  his  labours  in  the  cause  of  God,  he  emphatically 
declares  that  *  whatever  little  thing  in  his  ignorance  he  had 
accomplished  no  one  should  think  or  believe  it  to  be  aught 
else  than  the  gift  of  God.' 

Then,  again,  Patrick  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  Confession 
as  a  man  who  maintained  at  all  times  an  intimate  union 
with  God  by  unceasing  prayer.  We  can  almost  listen  to 
the  '  unspeakable  groanings '  of  the  vSpirit  of  God  com- 
muning with  his  soul.  That  wondrous  spirit  of  prayer  he 
first  acquired  in  the  woods  on  the  slopes  of  Slemish,  where 
a  hundred  times  a  day,  and  as  many  times  at  night,  he 
bent  his  knees  to  pray  in  the  midst  of  the  frost  and  snow 
and  rain  ;  yet  felt  his  spirit  all  aglow  with  divine  fervour. 
In  every  crisis  and  in  every  danger  his  heart  turned  to  God 
in  prayer.  During  his  long  journeys  from  church  to  church 
he  communed  with  God  in  silent  prayer.  It  is  said  he 
read  the  whole  psaltery  every  day  with  his  religious  family  ; 
and  we  know  that  he  spent  one  whole  Lent  on  the  windy 
summit  of  Croaghpatrick,  and  another  in  a  lonely  island 
in  Lough  Derg,  like  our  Saviour  in  the  desert,  wholly  given 
to  fasting  and  prayer.  At  Armagh  he  spent  entire  nights 
in  prayerful  vigils  until  his  wearied  body  sought  repose  for 
a  time  before  the  dawn.  '  His  conversation  was  in  heaven' ; 
and  it  is  no  wonder  at  all  that  God's  Angels  spoke  to  him 
in  familiar  converse. 

Another  characteristic  virtue  of  Patrick,  exhibited  in 
his  whole  life  and  labours  and  in  the  very  striking  language 
of  his  Confession,  was  his  burning  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
souls,  and  his  passionate  love  for  the  flock  committed  to  his 
charge  by  God.  In  this  respect  there  is  a  very  striking 
resemblance  between  the  Irish  Apostle  and  the  Doctor  of 
the  Gentiles.  Though  most  anxious  to  revisit  his  native 
country  and  friends  in  Britain,  and  to  see  once  more  the  faces 
of  his  brethren,  the  saints  of  God  in  Gaul,  he  felt  himself 
constrained  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  remain  in  Ireland,  lest 
he  should  lose  any  part  of  the  fruit  of  his  labours  during 
his  absence.  He  declares  that  for  the  sake  of  his  flock  he 
was  ready  to  shed  his  blood  and  let  his  body  be  cast  out, 
unburied,  to  be  torn  by  wild  beasts  and  birds  of  prey,  and 
to  drink  to  the  dregs  the  chalice  of  Christ,  his  Lord,  rather 
than  he  should  lose  any  of  the  flock  which  he  had  gained 

^  We  need  not,  and,  indeed  we  ought  not,  accept  this  language  as  strictly 
true,  except  in  a  high  spiritual  sense.     But  it  shows  the  humility  of  Patrick. 

2  N 


54^      ST.    PATRICK'S    SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND    BURIAL. 

for  God  at  the  ends  of  the  earth.  In  the  Epistle  to 
Coroticus  we  find  him  animated  with  the  same  passionate 
love  for  his  flock — *'  My  brothers  and  my  children,  most 
beautiful  and  most  loving  " — he  cries  out  in  grief  and 
bitterness  of  heart,  "whom  I  have  begotten  for  Christ,  what 
can  I  do  for  you?  am  I  unworthy  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
men  to  be  able  to  help  you  ? ''  For  their  sake,  too,  lest  the 
infidels  should  have  any  grounds  for  defaming  his  ministry, 
or  impeding  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  and  the  salvation 
of  souls,  he  declares  that  he  gave  his  ministry  to  all  without 
fee  or  reward,  except  what  he  hoped  to  obtain  in  heaven. 
"  Though  I  have  baptised  so  many  thousands  of  men  did 
I  ever  hope  to  get  from  them  so  much  as  half  a  scruple  ? 
Tell  me  when,  and  I  will  restore  it.  Though  God  ordained 
so  many  clerics  throughout  the  land  through  my  poor 
ministry,  did  I  ever  ask  from  any  of  them  the  price  of  my 
sandals  ? — tell  me  and  I  will  restore  it."  Disinterestedness 
like  this  is  quite  equal  to  that  of  St.  Paul,  and  conveys  a 
no  less  striking  lesson  for  all  Patrick's  successors  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Irish  Church.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
people  of  Ireland,  with  the  knowledge  of  these  facts  in 
their  minds  from  the  beginning,  should  love  their  great 
Apostle  with  a  deep  and  passionate  love  which  is  certainly 
not  excelled  in  the  case  of  any  other  saint  in  the  Calendar, 
except  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

VII. — Patrick's  Personal  Characteristics. 

It  would  be  interesting  for  us  if  we  could  ascertain  any- 
thing for  certain  regarding  Patrick's  personal  appearance 
and  physique.  But  neither  from  his  own  writings,  nor  in 
the  early  Lives,  do  we  find  anything  to  give  us  the  remotest 
idea  of  his  personal  appearance. 

Jocelyn,  however,  has  something  to  say  on  the  subject, 
which  he  may  have  gathered  from  the  floating  traditions 
still  surviving  amongst  the  monks  of  Down  ;  and  although 
they  were  seven  centuries  later  than  Patrick,  they  were 
still  seven  centuries  nearer  to  him  than  we  are.  He  tells 
us  that  Patrick  was  not  tall,  but  of  rather  low  stature,  and 
hence  he  sometimes  called  himself  a  little  man  (homuncio), 
not  only,  we  presume,  in  a  metaphorical,  but  also  in  a  literal 
sense.  The  fact  that  he  had  his  strong  man,  MacCartan  of 
Clogher,  to  carry  him  over  the  flooded  rivers,  seems  to 
confirm  that  statement  of  Jocelyn.  When  young,  he  adds, 
Patrick  walked  on  foot ;  when  older,  he  made  his  journeys 


PATRICK'S    PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  547 

in  a  chariot,  from  which  he  also  preached  to  the  people. 
He  raised  his  right  hand  in  blessing  and  his  left  in  *  cursing,' 
and  in  both  his  prayer  was  visibly  efficacious.  Like  a 
true  monk,  he  gave  some  time  to  manual  labour, 
especially  to  gardening  (agriculturae)  and  fishing,  and  took 
a  part  himself  in  building  his  churches,  in  this  matter 
setting  an  example  to  all  his  disciples ;  but,  above  all 
things,  he  was  indefatigable  in  preaching,  baptising  and 
ordaining. 

Over  his  tunic  he  wore  a  white  or  grey  habit  of  undyed 
wool,  with  the  usual  hood  worn  by  monks.  From  the 
Confession  we  infer  that  he  wore  not  shoes,  but  sandals. 
Whatever  offerings  he  received  he  gave  all  for  the  needs  of 
the  Church.  He  knew  four  languages — British,  Irish, 
French  and  Latin,  which  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  since  he 
spent  several  years  in  the  countries  where  they  were  spoken. 
He  was  himself  an  excellent  scribe,  and  Jocelyn  tells  us 
that  besides  the  Canoin  Patraic — which  he  takes  to  be,  not 
the  Book  of  Armagh,  but  a  collection  of  Canons — he  also 
wrote  in  Irish  a  Book  of  Prophecies.  This  shows  at  least 
that  there  was  a  number  of  prophecies  in  Irish  attributed 
to  Patrick  in  circulation  when  Jocelyn  wrote,  but  there  is 
no  evidence  of  their  authenticity.  On  solemn  occasions  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  using  the  strong  affirmation — '  Mo  De 
broth,'  which,  according  to  Jocelyn  and  Cormac,  a  much 
better  authority,  means  '  as  God  is  my  Judge.'  ^ 

During  his  long  and  laborious  life  no  reference  is  made 
to  any  illness,  which  goes  to  show  that  if  he  was  a  small 
man,  like  many  other  small  men,  he  was  hardy  and  ener- 
getic, discouraged  by  no  obstacles  and  deterred  by  no 
dangers. 

That  he  was,  though  small,  a  man  of  imposing  presence 
may,  we  think,  be  fairly  inferred  from  the  awe  which,  we 
are  told,  his  very  countenance  inspired,  not  only  in  the 
ordinary  beholders,  but  even  in  the  boldest  of  Erin's 
kinglets.  Of  course,  there  was  always  a  Divine  majesty 
in  his  countenance,  arising  from  the  perpetual  indwelling 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  here  we  rather  speak  of  that 
dignity  of  gracious  manhood,  which  would  impress  the 
rude  chieftains  even  more  than  the  subtler  radiance  of 
holiness  manifesting  itself  through  the  expression  and  play 
of  gesture  and  features. 

*  Cormac  says  the  correct  form  is  '  muin  Duiu  braut,'  i.e.,  '  My  God 
judge  (is).'     See  Rolls  Tripartite^  571. 


548     ST.    PATRICK'S    SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND    BURIAL. 

That  Patrick  had  a  powerful,  far-reaching  voice  seems 
to  be  a  matter  of  fair  inference  from  the  story  told  of  his 
'uplifting  his  voice'  at  Guth-Ard  to  forbid  the  adoration 
of  Crom  Cruach.  His  *  shout '  was  heard  from  afar  over 
the  water,  and  appears,  with  the  threatened  stroke  of  the 
Staff  of  Jesus,  to  have  paralysed  the  idolators  and  over- 
thrown their  idols. 

It  would  appear,  also,  that  Patrick  had  the  Celtic  love 
of  music  deep  in  his  heart ;  and  hence  he  not  only  pro- 
tected the  Bards  and  purified  their  songs,  but  it  would 
seem  that  he  also  established  a  school  of  Church  music  in 
Armagh,  of  which  he  made  the  sweet-voiced  Benignus  the 
teacher  and  head.  It  was,  doubtless,  this  known  love  of 
music  made  later  Bards  tell  how  when  Ossian  in  his  old 
age  was  blind  and  helpless,  Patrick  took  him  in,  kept  him 
in  his  household  at  Armagh,  and  sought  to  win  the  heart 
of  the  old  warrior  poet  from  the  wild  strains  of  battle  and 
victory  to  the  diviner  music  of  the  Church's  oldest  hymns. 

We  have  few  specimens  of  Patrick's  preaching.  The 
fullest  is  that  beautiful  instruction  which  he  gave  the  royal 
daughters  of  King  Laeghaire  on  the  green  margin  of  Clebach 
Well.  It  is  brief ;  but  it  is  wonderfully  powerful  and  com- 
prehensive, and  uttered,  as  it  was  without  doubt,  with  all 
the  mingled  energy  and  pathos  of  Patrick's  great  heart,  we 
are  not  surprised  at  the  extraordinary  effect  which  it  pro- 
duced. Equally  marvellous  effects  are  elsewhere  recorded 
as  the  outcome  of  his  sermons  ;  but  we  have  not,  on  those 
occasions,  the  advantage  of  knowing  the  purport  of  the 
Saint's  address. 

That  Patrick  was  a  man  of  excellent  health  and  great 
physical  energy  cannot,  we  think,  be  fairly  questioned.  A 
man  who  lives  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years, 
must  have  had  a  great  store  of  health  and  physical  vigour, 
and  have  abstained  from  all  sensual  indulgence  likely  to 
impair  it.  No  doubt,  this  longevity  in  Patrick's  case  was, 
to  a  great  extent,  due  to  the  hardy,  frugal  life  of  his  youth- 
hood,  passed  in  the  open  air  in  the  woods  and  brakes  of 
Slemish.  Then,  as  a  monk  in  France  and  Italy  for  some 
thirty  years,  he  passed  through  another  great  and  health- 
ful discipline  of  abstemious  self-denial.  So,  also,  in  Ireland 
for  thirty  years,  he  lived,  for  the  most  part,  a  frugal  life  in 
the  open  air  during  the  whole  prolonged  period  of  his  mis- 
sionary activities. 

That  Patrick  was  a  man  of  very  ardent  temperament 
cannot,  we  think,  be  denied.      The  natural  ardour  of  his 


PATRICK'S    PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  549 

character  was  in  fact  the  basis  of  his  supernatural  energy 
in  the  service  of  God.  In  this  respect,  as  in  many  others, 
he  was  very  like  St.  Paul.  If  we  are  to  put  any  trust  in 
the  Lives  of  the  Saint,  he  was  not  only  ardent,  but  hot- 
tempered  and  prone  to  anger  when  scandal  was  given  to 
the  weak,  or  the  doing  of  God's  work  was  impeded  by 
wicked  men.  We  think  the  Confession,  and  especially  the 
Epistle  to  Coroticus,  clearly  reveal  this  trait  in  St.  Patrick's 
character.  It  is  very  frequently  the  case  with  zealous  men  ; 
their  fiery  zeal  brooks  no  delays,  and  is  apt  to  get  chafed 
into  wrath  by  sinful  opposition.  We  see  traces  of  this  fiery 
energy  even  in  St.  Paul,  and  when  he  denounces  the  in- 
cestuous Corinthian,  his  language  is  quite  as  vigorous 
as  that  attributed  in  the  Lives  to  our  own  National 
Apostle.^ 

To  deliver  up  to  Satan  is,  from  any  point  of  view,  quite 
as  strong  a  proceeding,  as  the  '  cursing  '  attributed  to  St. 
Patrick.  In  both  cases  the  evil  effects  might,  at  least  to 
some  extent,  be  averted  by  penance.  If,  however,  the 
criminal  continued  contumacious,  then  St.  Patrick,  like  St. 
Paul,  would  have  no  hesitation  in  denouncing  God's 
vengeance  against  God's  enemies  in  very  strong  lan- 
guage. 

What  is  harder  to  explain  is  Patrick's  alleged  severity 
in  the  case  of  repenting  sinners.  The  strongest  cases  are 
those  of  St.  Lupita  and  St.  Olcan,  both  of  which  seem  to 
have  happened  at  Armagh.  In  the  former  case  grave 
scandal  was  given  by  a  female  closely  connected  with  the 
Church  ;  in  the  latter  case  a  bishop  transgressed  the  eccle- 
siastical law  in  a  very  important  matter.  The  order  'to 
drive  over  them  '  we  regard  as  a  manifest  exaggeration, 
for  which  not  even  Patrick's  zeal  in  the  service  of  God 
could  offer  any  adequate  excuse.  An  Irish  scribe,  however, 
would  easily  deduce  that  phraseology  from  the  language, 
which  Patrick  probably  used,  namely,  '  Drive  on ;  don't 
heed  them.'  No  doubt  Patrick  soon  relented,  as  quick- 
tempered people  nearly  always  do,  when  the  angry  impulse 
is  over  ;  but  in  these  things  Patrick  would  be  himself  the 
first  to  deny  that  he  was  altogether  blameless — that  is,  if 
he  really  acted  as  some  of  the  writers  allege. 


^  Our  Saviour  himself  denounced  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees  in  lan- 
guage at  least  equally  vehement. 


550       ST.   PATRICK'S    SICKNESS,    DEATH,    AND    BURIAL. 


VIII. — Summary  of  His  Labours. 

The  Tripartite  gives  the  following  brief  summary  of 
Patrick's  labours : — 

After  founding  churches  in  plenty,  after  consecrating  monas- 
teries, after  baptising  the  men  of  Ireland,  after  great  endurance 
and  great  labour,  after  destroying  idols  and  images,  after  rebuking 
many  kings  who  did  not  do  his  will,  and  raising  up  those  who  did 
his  will,  after  ordaining  three  hundred  and  three  score  and  ten 
bishops,  after  ordaining  three  thousand  priests  and  folk  of  every 
grade  in  the  Church  besides,  after  fasting  and  prayer,  after  mercy 
and  clemency,  after  gentleness  and  mildness  to  the  Sons  of  Life, 
after  love  of  God  and  his  neighbours,  he  received  Christ's  Body 
from  the  Bishop  Tassach,  and  he  then  sent  his  spirit  to  heaven. 

Though  brief,  it  is  a  very  complete  summary  of  Patrick's 
manifold  labours.  The  author  does  not  give  the  number 
of  churches  founded  by  Patrick,  but  Nennius,  in  the  ninth 
century,  gives  it  at  365,  while  Jocelyn  puts  it  doivn  as  700. 
Again,  Nennius  says  that  the  number  of  bishops  conse- 
crated by  Patrick  was  365  ;  the  Tripartite  here  gives  it  as 
370,  and  Jocelyn  has  it  as  350 — whom,  he  says,  Patrick 
consecrated  with  his  own  hand.  Both  Jocelyn  and  the 
Tripartite  give  the  number  of  priests  whom  Patrick  or- 
dained as  3,000,  in  round  numbers,  we  may  assume ;  but 
Jocelyn  raises  the  figure  to  5,000. 

No  doubt  it  will  appear  strange  to  many  persons  that 
Patrick  should  consecrate  350  bishops  in  Ireland,  whilst 
in  our  own  times  we  have  not  more  than  twenty-seven  or 
twenty-eight  independent  Sees.  But  in  ancient  times 
bishops  were  much  more  numerous  than  they  are  under 
the  present  discipline  of  the  Church.  Every  town  of  any 
importance  had  at  that  time  its  own  bishop. 

In  Ireland,  too,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  in  Patrick's 
time  there  was  a  great  number  of  tribes  and  sub-tribes, 
practically  independent,  each  of  which  would  claim  to 
have  its  own  bishop,  and  be  thus  as  independent  in  spiri- 
tuals as  in  temporals.  At  present  we  have  in  Ireland  more 
than  300  baronies,  which  usually  represent  the  ancient  sub- 
tribes,  so  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  Patrick  found 
it  necessary  to  appoint  some  350  bishops  in  Ireland  during 
his  primacy — for  it  is  not  said  that  they  were  all  alive 
at  one  time.  The  number  of  priests  also  appears  large, 
but  it  probably  includes  the  clergy   of  all   grades  in  the 


SUMMARY   OF   HIS    LABOURS.  55I 

Church — both  Secular  and  Ree^ular,  as  we  now  say.  No 
doubt  a  large  number  dwelt  in  religious  houses  of  some 
kind,  which  the  Tripartite  usually  calls  cloisters  1  or  habi- 
tations, but  sometimes  monasteries.^  These  monasteries 
included  first  the  less  or  liss,  that  is  the  enclosing  rampart, 
then  a  tech  mor  or  great  house,  a  cuile  or  kitchen,  and  an 
aregal  or  oratory  for  the  little  community  of  monks  or 
clerics.  The  great  house  served  the  purpose  of  a  living 
house,  and  probably  a  sleeping  house,  for  the  monk  gener- 
ally slept  in  his  habit  on  a  bed  of  rushes,  with  a  rug  or 
blanket  over  him. 

Although  the  figures  given  above  might  at  first  sight 
appear  to  be  exaggerated,  they  are  in  substance  confirmed 
by  statements  made  by  Patrick  himself  in  his  Con- 
fession. He  says  that  he  ordained  clerics  everywhere ; 
and  that  Ireland  (Hiberione),  which  previously  had  no 
knowledge  of  God  and  had  always  worshipped  idols  and 
things  unclean,  was  now  become  the  people  of  the  Lord, 
and  were  called  the  Sons  of  God.  In  this  sentence  Patrick 
clearly  claims  the  conversion  of  the  country  as  a  whole. 
He  also  refers  to  his  preaching  and  baptising  and  ordain- 
ing priests  even  in  the  remotest  districts,  where  no  Christian 
priest  had  ever  penetrated  before.  It  was  surely  true;  for 
Patrick  had  not  only  preached  the  Gospel  in  the  great  inland 
plains  but  penetrated  into  the  fastnesses  of  the  western 
hills,  surmounted  the  soaring  cone  of  Cruachan  Aigle, 
crossed  the  great  rivers  of  the  West  and  North,  stood  on 
the  brow  of  the  Grianan  Ely,  saw  the  wild  waves  that 
break  aiound  the  northern  shores  from  Malin  Head  to 
Ben  More,  and  thence  carried  the  Gospel  through  the 
Wicklow  Hills  as  far  south  as  Knockmealdown,  and  south- 
west to  the  hills  of  Slieve  Luachair. 

No  other  man  before  or  since  ever  travelled  so  far  or 
accomplished  so  much  for  God  and  for  Ireland,  in  the  face 
of  so  many  difficulties  and  dangers,  as  was  accomplished 
by  St.  Patrick.  St.  Paul,  in  self-defence,  gives  an  account 
of  his  own  labours.  St.  Patrick,  also  in  self-defence,  refers 
to  his  own  toils  and  perils  and  success  in  preaching  the 
Gospel,  and  in  truth  they  were  not  less,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  than  those  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
Twelve  times  he  tells  us  his  life  was  imperilled,  and 
even  to  the  last  he  was  in  danger  of  death  or  captivity 

^  Congbail. 
^  Manistrech. 


552      ST.   PATRICK'S   SICKNESS,    DEATH,   AND   BURIAL. 

from  relentless  foes  of  the  Gospel,  so  that  God's  angel  was 
sent  to  console  him  in  his  tribulations,  and  assure  him 
that  God  would  give  him  all  the  tribes  of  Erin  to  be  his 
own — those  tribes  whom  he  had  converted  to  the  Lord  by 
arduous  labours  and  mighty  preaching  at  all  times  in  the 
face  of  manifold  dangers  from  the  Pagans,  in  heat  and 
cold,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  daily  journeying  with  tireless 
zeal  from  tribe  to  tribe  for  the  conversion  of  them  all. 
No  wonder  the  '  tribes  of  Erin  *  at  home  and  abroad  still 
cherish  the  memory  of  Patrick  deep  in  their  hearts,  and 
love  him  with  such  a  passionate  and  enduring  love. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE  WRITLNGS  OF  ST.  PATRICK. 

Here  we  merely  propose  to  give  a  sketch  in  a  general 
way  of  Patrick's  writings  in  Latin  and  Irish.  A  critical 
examination  of  the  whole  subject  is  beyond  our  scope, 
but  a  brief  account  of  the  writings  of  our  national  Apostle 
is  necessary  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  task  we  have  proposed 
to  ourselves.  Here  we  give  merely  a  sketch  of  the  purport 
of  the  Saint's  writings ;  later  on,  if  space  allows,  we  shall 
give  the  text,  both  of  the  Latin  and  Irish  writings  of  the 
Saint,  with  a  few  brief  notes  on  the  most  important  textual 
difficulties. 

I.— The  Confession. 

The  first  and  most  important  of  the  writings  of  St. 
Patrick  is  the  celebrated  document  known  as  his  CONFES- 
SION. Its  authenticity,  both  from  internal  and  external 
evidence,  is  beyond  any  reasonable  doubt.  It  was  evidently 
in  the  hands  of  all  the  ancient  writers  of  his  Life,  who  cite 
it  textually  in  many  passages,  and,  without  hesitation, 
recognise  its  authority.  The  modern  critics  also,  almost 
without  exception,  accept  it  as  the  genuine  composition  of 
our  national  Apostle.  The  internal  evidence  is  of  itself 
convincing — its  peculiar  style ;  its  soul-stirring  sincerity  ; 
its  incidental  allusions ;  its  spiritual  fullness,  manifestly 
proceeding  from  a  soul  animated  by  the  Spirit  of  God — all 
go  to  prove  that  it  is,  indeed,  the  outpouring  of  the  great 
heart  of  our  own  St.  Patrick.  No  forger  could  ever  write 
in  such  a  spirit — so  fervent,  so  touching,  so  sympathetic. 
Like  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  it  proves  its  own  authorship ; 
so  that  the  most  sceptical  critic  cannot  doubt  its  authentic 
city,  for  he  is  silenced  when  he  reads  it. 

We  find  copies  of  the  Confession  in  several  ancient 
manuscripts.^  Perhaps  the  earliest  now  extant  is  that 
contained  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  where  it  is  described  as 
one  of  the  '  Books  of  St.  Patrick,  the  Bishop,'  ^  which  seems 

^  Six  in  all.  In  the  Book  of  Armagh,  incomplete,  but  the  oldest  ;  the 
Vedast,  or  Vaast  ;  the  British  Museum  MS.  ;  the  two  Bodleian  MSS.,  and  the 
Rouen  MS. 

^  Incipiunt  Libri  Sancti  Patritii  Episcopi. 


554  THE    WRITINGS   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

of  itself  to  imply  that  the  Saint  left  other  'Books'  also, 
although  they  are  not  contained  in  that  work.  We  find  it 
also  quoted  under  the  same  title  as  the  '  Liber  Patritii 
Episcopi ' — both  in  the  Second  and  Third  Lives,  as  given 
by  Colgan.  In  the  Fourth  Life  it  is  cited  as  one  of  the 
'  Bc'oks  of  (his)  Epistles,'  ^  and  Probus,  in  the  Fifth  Life, 
cites  it  textually,  showing  that  he  had  the  Confession  in 
some  form  before  him  when  he  wrote.  Jocelyn  also  quotes 
textually  from  the  Confession — whether  directly  or  from 
the  Tripartite  is  not  easy  to  determine  ;  but  the  author  of 
the  Tripartite  formally  quotes  passages  from  the  '  Book  of 
his  own  Epistles.'  ^  There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that 
the  Confession  was  in  the  hands  of  all  these  ancient  writers, 
and  that  it  was  accepted  without  question  by  them  all  as 
the  genuine  composition  of  St.  Patrick. 

Manuscript  copies  of  the  Confession  are  also  found  in 
various  public  libraries — in  that  of  St.  Vedast's  Monastery 
near  Beauvais ;  in  the  Cottonian  Library  of  the  British 
Museum  ;  in  the  Bodleian  at  Oxford,  and  in  the  Library  of 
Salisbury,  as  well  as  in  many  others  named  by  Hardy  in 
his  Catalogue. 

It  has  been  frequently  published  also — by  Ware,  in 
1656;  by  the  Bollandists,  in  1668;  by  Charles  O'Connor, 
in  1814;  by  Betham,  in  1826;  by  Villaneuva,  in  1835  ;  by 
Haddan  and  Stubbs,  in  1878,  and  very  accurately,  after 
careful  collation,  by  Stokes,  in  1887,^  and  quite  recently 
by  Rev.  N.  J.  D.  White,  D.D.  But  Colgan,  no  doubt  to 
his  great  regret,  could  find  no  copy  of  the  Confession, 
which  was  so  invaluable  for  the  perfect  accomplishment  of 
his  own  great  task.  Of  course,  we  have,  especially  of  late 
years,  several  translations  and  explanations  of  the  Confes- 
sion in  the  English  language,  although  by  no  means  always 
accurate,  and  sometimes  not  even  quite  intelligible. 

Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at ;  for  the  style  of  the 
Confession,  as  St.  Patrick  himself  admits,  is  often  rude 
and  sometimes  scarcely  grammatical  in  its  structure.  The 
vernacular  for  him  was  the  debased  provincial  Latin  of 
Roman  Britain.  Even  that  he  almost  lost  during  his  six 
years  captivity  in   Ireland ;  and  in  Gaul  he  gave  himself 

^  Ex  Libris  Epistolaium.  .  ._ 

2  '  Ut  constat  ex   Libro  Epistolarum  ipsius,'  and  then  the  writer  cites  the 

words. 

8  The  text  given  by  Haddan  and  Stubbs  is  not,  perhaps,  so  accurate  as 
that  of  Stokes,  but  it  contains  all  the  various  readings  at  foot,  which  is  a  matter 
of  great  importance. 


THE    CONFESSION.  555 

not  to  the  cultivation  of  the  ancient  classical  writers,  but  to 
the  much  more  important  study  of  sacred  Scripture.  In 
Ireland,  too,  he  preached  in  Gaedhlic  to  his  audiences,  for 
they  could  understand  nothing  else ;  and  he  only  used  the 
Latin  in  the  recitation  of  his  Psalms,  in  the  Mass,  and  the 
Sacramental  Ritual  of  the  Church.^  Hence  his  Latin 
style  was  always  rude ;  and  although  full  of  vigour,  and 
pregnant  with  Scriptural  language  and  allusions,  it  is  fre- 
quently so  harsh  and  ungrammatical  that,  even  without 
the  faults  of  the  transcribers,  it  must  have  been  difficult  at 
all  times  to  ascertain  the  meaning,  as  it  assuredly  is  for 
us,  in  many  passages. 

Still  this  Confession  is,  after  the  Holy  Scripture,  the 
most  precious  literary  heirloom  of  the  children  of  St. 
Patrick,  both  from  a  historical  and;  above  all,  from  a  reli- 
gious point  of  view.  It  reveals  to  us  the  whole  spiritual 
beauty  of  the  man — the  moral  greatness,  as  well  as  the 
fatherly  tenderness  of  his  character.  But  it  does  much 
more,  it  establishes  beyond  question  his  own  existence, 
and  sheds  a  flood  of  light  on  the  whole  history  of  his 
times.  Without  it  the  sceptical  critics  of  modern  times 
would  surely  call  his  very  existence  into  question — but 
now  any  critic  worthy  of  the  name  must  first  explain  the 
existence  of  that  document.  Even  still,  as  we  know,  some 
of  the  smaller  fry  of  critics  would  strive  to  dissect  the 
Apostle,  and  give  us  three  Patricks  instead  of  one  :  as 
they  would  dissect  also  his  glorious  toil,  according  to  their 
own  crude  fancies.  But  the  Confession  by  itself  refutes 
them  all.  It  shows  us  one  God-like  man — like  to  St.  Paul — 
our  father  and  our  Apostle,  *  the  Bishop  of  Ireland,'  ^^who 
gave  his  labour  and  his  mind  and  his  life  to  bring  the  Gael, 
or  the  Scots,  as  he  calls  them,  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel;  who  loved  them  with  the  yearning  love  of  a  father; 
who  thought  of  them  all  from  the  first  to  the  last ;  who,  like 
Moses,  struggled  with  the  Angel  of  God  to  secure  a  pro- 
mise of  their  final  perseverance,  and  sought  to  be  allowed 
to  befriend  them  even  on  the  last  day  as  the  merciful 
assessor  of  their  Judge.  From  this  point  of  view  the 
Confession  is  our  most  precious  inheritance,  because  it 
establishes  beyond  dispute  the  existence  and  personal 
identity  of  one  National  Apostle  of  all  Ireland ;  and  also 


^  He  also  wrote  in  Latin  to  Coroticus  and  his  soldiers,  who,  like  himself 
were  acquainted  with  the  debased  Latinity  of  the  Roman  province  of  Britain. 
2  Hiberio  or  Hiberione,  as  Patrick  calls  it. 


556  THE   WRITIx\GS   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

sets  his  character  before  us  in  the  clearest  and  most  strik- 
ing way,  for  it  is  he  himself  who  holds  the  mirror  that 
reveals  all  the  workings  of  his  heart. 

It  may  be  useful  here  to  call  attention  to  some  things 
in  connection  with  the  mission  of  St.  Patrick,  which  the 
Confession  clearly  establishes.  We  shall  note  them  in  the 
order  of  the  text  itsejf,  as  given  in  the  Rolls  Tripartite. 

First,  then,  we  note  that  St.  Patrick,  in  describing  him- 
self as  '  an  unlettered  sinner,'  '  the  least  of  all  the  faithful, 
'  and  despicable  in  the  estimation  of  many,'  shows  his  own 
humility,  which  is  manifest  in  every  page,  but  also  covertly 
alludes  to  the  opprobrious  terms  which  some  of  his  adver- 
saries had  applied  to  him.  Elsewhere  he  calls  himself 
'  indoctus  '  or  unlearned,  and  says  that  those  who  opposed 
his  undertaking  the  Irish  mission  did  so  not  exactly  out 
of  malice  but  rather  on  the  plea  that  he  was  a  '  rustic,' 
unequal  to  a  task  so  weighty  and  so  dangerous.  In  the 
Letter  to  Coroticus  he  also  describes  himself  as  *  a  sinner 
without  learning  ; '  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  from  the 
whole  tenor  of  the  Confession  that  the  Saint  was  fully 
conscious  of  his  own  literary  deficiencies,  and  especially 
of  the  rudeness  of  his  Latin  style,  for  which  he  apologises 
by  stating  that  in  his  youth  he  had  not  the  educational 
opportunities  of  others,  who  had  no  cause  to  drop  the  use 
of  their  mother  tongue,  as  he  had,  *  whose  speech  was 
changed  into  the  tongue  of  the  stranger  ; '  and  he  might 
have  added,  at  an  age  when  most  educated  young  men 
spend  their  time  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  the 
cultivation  of  their  native  language.  During  those  years 
of  collegiate  education,  from  sixteen  to  twenty-two, 
Patrick  was  herding  swine  and  striving  to  speak  Irish  in 
the  glens  and  on  the  hills  of  Antrim.  Yet  these  very 
years,  that  left  him  a  bad  Latinist,  were  instrumental  in 
preparing  him  for  his  great  work  in  Ireland,  by  bringing 
about  his  own  sanctification,  and  enabling  him  to  acquire 
that  knowledge  of  the  Irish  tongue  which  was  essential 
for  his  work  in  Ireland. 

The  Confession,  too,  clearly  proves  that  the  Saint  was 
a  native  of  some  part  of  Britain,  which  he  describes  as  his 
native  country,  and  the  home  of  parents  or  relations.^  It 
shows  us  also  how  deeply  he  was  attached  to  his  flock, 
seeing  that  for  their  sake  he  would  not  pay  even  a  passing 


^  Patria  ;  Parentes. 


THE   CONFESSION.  557 

visit  to  Britain  or  Gaul,  lest  in  his  absence  their  salvation 
should  be  in  aught  imperilled.  From  this  we  may  also 
infer  that  from  the  time  Patrick  came  to  preach  in  Ireland 
he  never  left  the  country  for  any  purpose,  or  under  any 
pretext. 

The  Confession  shows  us  also  the  manifold  dangers  to 
which  he  was  exposed,  and  the  hardships  he  had  to  endure 
during  all  his  years  in  Ireland,  as  we  have  elsewhere 
pointed  out. 

The  Confession  likewise  shows  that  although  Patrick 
was  an  indifferent  Latinist,  he  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  both  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testament.  He  constantly  uses  the  language  of  Scripture, 
whether  consciously  or  unconsciously ;  and  always  uses  it 
with  telling  effect.  He  was,  like  St.  Paul,  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Scriptures,  and  his  language  is,  as  it  were,  a 
very  outpouring  of  the  language  of  Scripture. 

So  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  version  with  which  he  was 
familiar  was  the  Vetus  Itala,  or  old  Latin  version.  St. 
Jerome's  corrected  version  was  certainly  in  use  during  the 
first  quarter  of  the  fourth  century ;  but  it  was  not  yet  in 
general  use,  and  it  is  most  likely  that  the  version  used  in 
the  schools  of  Gaul  at  that  time  was  the  older  Italian 
Vulgate. 

From  the  spiritual  point  of  view,  the  Confession 
deserves  careful  study,  and  is  eminently  calculated  to 
elevate  the  mind  and  improve  the  heart.  As  we  have 
already  stated,  it  is  in  no  sense  a  biographical  memoir  ; 
there  is  no  reference  to  any  places  in  Italy  or  Gaul ;  even 
in  Ireland  there  is  no  reference  to  Tara  or  his  own 
Armagh,  or  to  Saul,  the  church  of  his  earliest  love ;  or 
to  his  teachers  by  name,  or  to  his  friends,  or  to  his  asso- 
ciates in  the  great  work  of  converting  the  Irish  people — 
all  this  is  left  a  blank,  and  shows  the  absurdity  of  deduc- 
ing any  argument  from  his  silence  about  what  is  called  the 
Roman  Mission. 

There  are  some  other  important  points  which  we  can 
infer  from  the  Confession.  It  seems  to  us  clearly  to  prove 
that  Patrick  was  about  sixty  years  of  age  when  he  came  to 
preach  in  Ireland,  that  he  came  but  once  to  Ireland  as  an 
Apostle  and  never  left  it ;  that  he  converted  the  whole 
island  to  the  Christian  faith,  that  he  penetrated  where  no 
one  had  ever  been  before  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  that 
he  was  exposed,  even  to  the  end  of  his  life,  to  perils  of 
various  kinds,  which  we  cannot  now  realise. 


558  THE   WRITINGS   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 


II. — The  Epistle  to  Coroticus. 

The  Epistle  to  Coroticus  was  also  called  'The 
Second  Book  of  St.  Patrick,'  and  sometimes  '  The  Second 
Book  of  St.  Patrick's  Epistles  ' — the  P"irst  Book  being 
the  Confession.  It  is,  without  doubt,  the  genuine  com- 
position of  the  Saint,  for,  not  only  is  the  style  and 
'  flavour  '  of  both  *  Letters  '  the  same,  but  sometimes  entire 
phrases  are  reproduced  from  the  Confession,  showing  that 
both  came  from  the  same  mind  and  the  same  hand.  It  is 
not  found  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  although  Muirchu's 
story  of  the  '  King  of  Aloo  '  shows  that  he  was  aware  of  the 
existence  of  this  Letter.  We  have,  however,  several  early 
MS.  copies  dating  a;s  far  back  as  the  tenth  century. 

It  is  much  more  likely  that  this  Coroticus  was  King  of 
Dumbarton,  or  Ail-Cluade,  that  is  of  the  Strathclyde 
Britons,  than  of  Cardigan,  in  South  Wales.  The  vStrath- 
clyde  Britons  were  fellow-citizens  of  Patrick,  as  we  have 
seen,  which  gives  point  to  the  reference  in  this  Letter 
where  he  says  he  will  call  them  fellow-citizens  no  longer, 
on  account  of  their  crimes  and  associations  with  the 
'  apostate  Picts  and  Scots  ' — a  phrase  that  shows  of  itself 
that  the  reference  is  rather  to  a  King  of  Strathclyde,  who 
was  their  neighbour,  than  to  a  certain  Ceredig,  in  South 
Wales,  who  was  far  away  from  them.  Those  Picts  and 
Scots  (of  Scotland)  were  converted  by  the  preaching  of  St. 
Ninian,  of  Candida  Casa,  but  afterwards  fell  away  from  the 
faith,  or,  at  most,  were  only  half-Christian,  like  Coroticus 
himself. 

The  incursion  on  the  Irish  shores  which  called  forth 
this  indignant  letter  of  Patrick,  probably  took  place 
towards  the  close  of  our  Saint's  life,  and  very  likely  some- 
where on  the  coast  of  Down  or  Antrim  ;  most  probably  the 
former.  Patrick  may  have  been  in  Saul  at  the  time,  and 
would  thus  have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  all  about  the 
bloody  raid  of  the  pirates  from  the  Clyde.  The  raiders 
were  merciless  in  the  extreme.  The  white  garments  of  the 
neophytes  were  stained  with  their  own  blood  and  the  blood 
of  their  slaughtered  companions.  Numbers  of  men  and 
women  were  carried  off  into  slavery,  whilst  the  holy  oil  of 
Confirmation  was  yet  glistening  on  their  foreheads.  The 
Letter  is  written  in  a  spirit  of  mingled  grief  and  indig- 
nation, extremely  touching,  because  it  reveals  in  a  most 
striking  way  the  deep  and  ardent  affection  which  Patrick 


THE   EPISTLE   TO   COROTICUS.  559 

had  for  his  flock.  He  entrusted  the  delivery  of  the  Letter 
to  a  priest — whom  he  tells  us  he  had  taught  from  his 
infancy! — with  instructions  to  read  it  for  the  soldiers  of  the 
tyrant,  and  then  hand  them  the  document  itself  to  be 
perused  at  their  leisure.  It  was  a  perilous  task  for  the 
messenger  to  undertake,  for  it  contained  what  was  virtually 
an  excommunication  of  Coroticus  himself  and  his  abettors, 
since  the  Saint  called  upon  all  true  Christians  not  to  receive 
their  alms,  nor  associate  with  them,  nor  take  food  or  drink 
in  their  company. 

Many  incidental  references  are  made  by  the  Saint  in  this 
Letter  to  his  own  personal  history.  It  was  purely  for 
God's  sake  he  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Irish  people — 
forgetful  of  all  the  claims  of  flesh  and  blood — to  the  nation 
who  once  took  him  captive  and  harried  the  men-servants 
and  maid-servants  of  his  father's  house.  By  birth  the  son 
of  a  Decurion,  for  their  sake  he  sold  or  forfeited  his 
nobility,  making  himself  a  slave  of  Christ  for  the  service  of 
a  foreign  nation.  It  was  the  custom  with  the  Gaulish  and 
Roman  Christians  to  pay  large  sums  for  the  ransom  of 
Christian  captives — *'  but  you — you  mercilessly  slay  them 
or  sell  them  to  infidels,  sending  the  living  members  of 
Christ,  as  it  were,  into  a  brothel.  Have  you  any  fear  of 
God ;  what  Christian  can  aid  you  and  abet  you  in  your 
crimes?" 

Then,  in  language  of  passionate  grief,  he  bewails  the 
fate  of  the  captives.  "  Oh  !  my  most  beautiful  and  loving 
brothers  and  children,  whom  in  countless  numbers  I  have 
begotten  for  Christ,  what  shall  I  do  for  you?  Am  I  so 
unworthy  in  the  sight  of  God  and  men  that  I  cannot  help 
you?  Is  it  a  crime  to  have  been  born  in  Ireland  ?  And 
have  not  we  the  same  God  as  they  have  ?  I  sorrow  for 
you  ;  yet  I  rejoice,  for,  if  you  have  been  taken  out  of  the 
world,  yet  you  were  believers  through  me,  and  are  gone 
to  paradise."  And,  last  of  all,  he  commands  his  Letter  to 
be  read  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people,  yea,  and  in  the  hear- 
ing of  Coroticus  himself,  that  God  may  inspire  them  with 
a  desire  to  amend  their  wicked  lives,  and  liberate,  at 
least,  the  women  captives,  who  were  baptised  in  Christ. 
The  Letter,  like  the  Confession,  abounds  in  quotations  from 
the  Old  Italian  Version  of  the  Scriptures. 

Muirchu,  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  has  a  reference  to 
this  conflict  of  Patrick  with  the  King  of  '  Aloo,'  whom  he 

^  Perhaps  Mochae,  of  Nendrum. 


560  THE    WRITINGS    OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

calls  Coirthech,  and  Corictic.  Both,  however,  are  the  same 
name.  As  the  impenitent  tyrant  was  sitting  on  his  throne, 
listening  to  the  chanting  of  a  magic  or  druidical  song,  at  a 
certain  point  of  the  recitation  he  came  down  from  his 
throne,  and,  in  the  sight  of  all,  was  changed  into  the 
shape  of  a  fox,  which,  running  off  like  a  stream  of  water, 
disappeared  for  ever  from  the  eyes  of  men. 

III.— The  Faed  Fiada,  or  Deer's  Cry. 

This  poem  is  called  in  Irish  the  Fead  Fiada,  or  Cry 
of  the  Deer,  because  it  was  chanted  by  the  Apostle  and 
his  companions,  when  they  sought,  under  the  appearance 
of  a  deer  and  her  fawns,  to  escape  the  deadly  ambushes  pre- 
pared for  them  by  King  Laeghaire,  on  their  way  from  the 
Hill  of  Slane  to  Tara,  at  the  early  dawn  of  Erin's  First 
Easter  Sunday  morning.  It  is  also  called  the  Lorica,  or 
Corslet  of  Patrick,  because  it  was  a  shield  to  protect  him 
and  his  against  the  wiles  of  Laeghaire  and  his  Druids. 

Prayer  was  always  at  every  crisis  of  his  life  the  sword 
and  shield  of  Patrick,  to  protect  himself  and  strike  down 
the  enemies  of  God.  He  was  not  insensible  to  danger  on 
this  occasion,  for  he  knew  that  the  Druids  sought  his  life 
with  implacable  malice,  and,  moreover,  possessed  dreadful 
magical  powers  to  injure  those  who  were  not  specially  pro- 
tected by  God.  Hence  faith  and  prayer  were  more  than 
ever  necessary  for  Patrick  at  this  supreme  crisis  of  his  life ; 
wherefore,  we  are  told,  he  made  this  poem  in  Irish,  "  to  be 
a  corslet  of  faith  for  the  protection  of  body  and  soul 
against  devils,  and  human  beings,  and  vices ;  and  whoever 
shall  sing  it  every  day,  with  pious  meditation  on  God, 
devils  shall  not  stay  before  him." 

The  demons  claimed  dominion  over  the  elements,  and 
sometimes,  by  God's  high  permission,  made  use  of  their 
agency  to  work  their  own  evil  purposes  on  men.  Patrick, 
in  this  poem,  first  of  all  appeals  to  the  Holy  Trinity,  the 
Triune  God,  to  protect  him  against  all  dangers,  and  weaken 
the  might  of  the  wicked.  And,  as  the  Druids  sometimes 
wrought  evil  by  the  powers  of  nature,  Patrick  invokes  all 
these  creatures  of  God  to  be  with  him  in  this  struggle  and 
aid  him  against  the  wiles  of  the  demon.  That  is  the  key- 
note of  the  whole  poem. 

We  have  not  the  same  certainty  of  the  authenticity  of 
this  poem  as  we  have  of  the  Confession  and  of  the  Epistle 
to  Coroticus.     Very  high  authorities,  however,  declare  that 


THE    FAED    FIADA,    OR    DEER'S   CRY.  561 

it  is  the  genuine  work  of  our  Saint,  and,  certainly,  neither 
in  language  or  sentiment  is  it  unworthy  of  him,  or  incon- 
sistent with  the  date  to  which  it  is  ascribed. 

Colgan  refers  to  other  writings  attributed  to  St.  Patrick, 
but  we  do  not  think  that  any  of  them  can  be  regarded  as 
authentic.  We  have  explained  elsewhere  in  what  sense 
the  Canoin  Patraic,  which  we  take  to  be  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  must  be  attributed  to  St.  Patrick.  It  is  a  com- 
pilation, containing  his  genuine  writings,  and  also  the  most 
authentic  accounts  of  his  life,  but  is  his  work  in  no  other 
sense.  If  it  be  taken  to  mean  the  'Canons  of  St.  Patrick,' 
we  have  already  explained  in  a  special  chapter  how  far,  in 
our  opinion,  the  so-called  collection  of  Irish  Canons  can  be 
fairly  regarded  as  the  work  of  St.  Patrick. 

As  to  the  Irish  Prophecies  of  St.  Patrick,  mentioned 
by  Jocelyn,  we  believe  the  work  is  no  longer  in  existence. 
He  calls  it  a  libellus  or  little  treatise,  but  we  find  no  refer- 
ence to  it  in  any  of  the  earlier  authorities.  Such  books  of 
prophecies  attributed  to  Patrick,  to  Brigid,  and  to  Colum- 
cille,  have,  we  suspect,  been  in  circulation  in  Ireland  for 
many  centuries,  but  are  destitute  of  any  authority  whatso- 
ever. No  doubt,  Patrick  was  a  prophet,  and  we  have 
recorded  in  the  Tripartite  many  prophecies  of  his,  which 
appear  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  a  very  wonderful  way,  but 
we  cannot  go  further  in  attributing  prophecies,  oral  or 
written,  to  our  national  Saint. 

There  is  also  a  '  Rule '  attributed  to  St.  Patrick,  which 
has  been  lately  printed  by  Mr.  J.  G.  O'Keeffe,  in  the  Journal 
of  the  School  of  Irish  Learning,  Dublin.  It  is  a  brief 
document,  and  ancient,  probably  derived  from  some 
original  Rule  written  by  St.  Patrick.  In  its  present  form 
it  cannot,  we  think,  be  regarded  as  the  genuine  production 
of  our  Saint.^ 


*  Col^an  refers  to  this  Rule  in  his  Notes  on  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick. 


2  O 


CIIArTER     XXXI. 

ST.  PATRICK'S  SCHOOL   OF   ARMAGH.' 

I. — His  Itinerant  School. 

x^S  we  have  already  seen,  during  the  course  of  this  work, 
St.  Patrick  had  organised,  from  the  beginning,  a  kind  of 
itinerant  or  peripatetic  school  for  the  instruction  of  young 
clerics,  destined  for  the  ministry  of  the  Irish  Church. 
With  far-seeing  wisdom,  he  perceived  that  if  his  work  in 
Hiberio  was  to  endure,  he  should  make  provision  for  the 
training  up  of  a  native  ministry,  who  would  be  qualified  to 
continue  and  perfect  the  work  of  his  own  apostolate  in 
Ireland.  When  the  Saint  came  to  Ireland  in  432  he  took 
along  with  him  a  large  number  (multitudo)  of  holy  bishops, 
and  priests,  and  deacons,  and  exorcists,  and  door-keepers, 
and  readers,  and  youths  also  whom  he  had  ordained^ — 
that  is  destined  for  the  service  of  the  Church,  by  having 
them,  at  least,  duly  tonsured. 

The  bishops  and  priests,  as  we  know,  he  placed  over 
various  churches  in  Meath  and  Connaught  during  the 
nine  years  that  he  was  preaching  in  those  wide  territories. 
Meantime,  the  school  of  '  youths,'  whom  he  had  brought 
with  him  to  Ireland  from  Gaul  and  Britain,  accompanied 
the  Apostle  on  his  missionary  journeys,  and  received  in  that 
way  an  excellent  training  for  the  ministry.  They  became 
familiar  with  the  Irish  tongue  ;  they  were  present  at  the 
catechetical  instructions  given  by  the  Saint,  or  his  assistant 
priests  and  prelates  ;  they  took  a  share,  according  to  their 
respective  orders,  in  public  worship  and  the  administration 
of  the  Sacraments  ;  they  were  taught  to  read  and  chant 
the  Divine  Office  with  the  clergy;  and  in  this  way  they 
received  an  excellent  practical  training  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry. 

But  from  the  beginning  Patrick  resolved  to  recruit  this 
school  with  pupils  of  Irish  birth.  Benignus,  from  the  banks 
of  the  Boyne,  was  one  of  the  first  to  join  it.  Later  on 
Guasacht,     son    of    Milcho,     Ailbe    of     Shancoe,    Bron, 

^  Much  of  this  chapter  is  taken  from  the  chapter  on  the  Schools  of  Armagh, 
in  the  author's  Insula  Sanctorum  et  Doctomm,  p.  58,  1 10. 
2  Tireckan,  p.  303. 


HIS   ITINERANT   SCHOOL.  563 

MacRime,  Fiacc  of  Sletty,  and  a  host  of  other  Irish  boys 
were  admitted  to  this  itinerant  school  of  Patrick,  and 
trained  in  the  way  we  have  indicated  above.  They  were 
excellent  candidates  for  the  ministry.  Many  of  them 
belonged  to  the  schools  of  the  Bards  or  Brehons,  and  had 
not  only  a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  own  tongue,  but 
had  highly  trained  memories,  and  without  doubt,  were 
skilled  in  the  use  of  letters  and  well  able  to  read  and  write 
in  the  native  fashion.  Admission  to  this  school  soon 
became  an  object  of  ambition  for  the  sons  of  the  petty 
chieftains,  for  their  parents  and  themselves  soon  perceived 
that  to  be  head  of  a  tribal  church  was  not  only  desirable 
from  a  spiritual,  but  also  from  a  temporal  point  of  view. 

The  greatest  difficulty  found  in  practice  was  to  provide 
books  for  the  students  of  this  school.  The  supply  originally 
given  to  Patrick  by  St.  Celestine,  as  old  authors  say,  was 
soon  exhausted  ;  and  then  Patrick  was  forced — either 
himself  or  his  attendant  prelates — to  write  '  alphabets '  for 
his  pupils.  The  'alphabet'  was  simply  a  catechism,  or 
compendium  of  Christian  doctrine,  which  was  given  to 
the  young  cleric  to  get  by  rote,  and  was  of  course,  duly 
expounded  for  him  by  the  teachers  of  the  school,  so  that 
in  a  short  time  he  became  qualified  to  teach  others  all  that 
he  had  learned  himself. 

In  the  same  way,  copies  of  the  Lebar  n  Uird,  or  Liber 
Ordinis,  that  is  the  Ordo  of  the  Mass.  and  also  of  the 
Lebar  Baptismi,  or  Ritual,  were  multiplied  and  expounded 
for  the  students,  who  were  thus  enabled  to  celebrate 
Mass  and  administer  the  Sacraments  under  the  guidance 
of  their  elders,  until  they  were  themselves  deemed  qualified 
to  be  placed  over  churches  of  their  own.  Sometimes  when 
Patrick  found  a  prelate  specially  qualified  to  instruct  others 
he  gave  him  the  means  of  establishing  a  school  of  his  own  ; 
as  he  did  in  the  case  of  Bishop  Mucna  of  Domnachmore, 
near  Killala,  to  whom  he  gave  the  '  Seven  Books  of  the 
Law,'  with  full  authority  to  'ordain  bishops  and  priests 
and  deacons  in  that  region.'  This  Mucna  was  a  brother  of 
Cethech  or  Cethechus  of  Baslic,  and  was  himself  most 
probably  educated  in  Gaul  or  Britain.  We  find  reference 
made  to  Manchen  the  Master,  or  Mancen — so  the  Irish  Tri- 
partite has  it — as  dwelling  there  also  ;  whence  we  may  infer 
that  Bishop  Mucna  was  authorised  by  Patrick  to  establish  a 
kind  of  theological  seminary  at  Domnachmore  '  over  the 
Wood  of  Focluth  '  by  the  western  sea,  probably  the  first 
of  the  kind  established  in  Ireland. 


564  ST.    PATRICK'S    SCHOOL   OF   ARMAGH. 


II. — The  School  at  Armagh. 

Now,  however,  that  Patrick  had  estabhshed  his  own 
primatial  See  at  Armagh,  his  first  care  would  be  to  estabhsh 
a  seminary  for  the  education  of  his  own  clergy,  and  also 
for  the  training  of  such  professors  and  students  as  might 
come  to  the  primatial  City  from  all  parts  of  Ireland.  We 
may  assume,  therefore,  that  the  School  of  Armagh  dates 
from  the  very  foundation  of  the  See  of  Armagh.  It  has 
always  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  primary  duties  of  every 
bishop  to  make  suitable  provision  for  the  education  of  his 
clergy,  as  far  as  possible  under  his  own  immediate  super- 
vision. We  have  seen  how  Patrick,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, sought  to  discharge  that  imperative  duty,  so  far 
as  circumstances  permitted.  Now  that  he  had  settled  down 
by  direction  of  God's  Angel  in  the  city  of  Armagh,  we 
may  be  sure  he  took  measures  at  once  to  found  the  School 
of  his  primatial  See. 

This  School  of  Armagh  was,  of  course,  primarily  a 
theological  seminary  for  the  professional  education  of  the 
clergy.  This  is  quite  natural ;  the  seat  of  authority  should 
be  also  the  fountain  of  sound  doctrine.  But  theology  in 
those  days  was  taught  in  a  very  different  way  from  that 
with  which  we  are  familar  in  our  own  times.  The  theology 
of  the  schools  in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick  and  of  his 
successors  for  many  years,  mainly  consisted  in  the  study  of 
Sacred  Scripture  and  the  Writings  of  the  Fathers,  as  known 
to  them.  The  Sacred  Scripture  was  always  in  the  hands 
of  our  ancient  scholars.  They  read  and  re-read  it ;  they 
meditated  upon  it;  they  discussed  it  in  their  conferences; 
they  recited  it  for  their  prayers.  It  was  light  for  their 
minds  and  food  for  their  souls,  their  hope,  their  consolation, 
their  abiding  joy.  The  beautiful  psalm  '  Beati  immaculati 
in  via 'was  ever  on  their  lips  and  deep  in  their  hearts. 
Every  one  of  them  might  say  '  Oh,  how  I  have  loved  thy 
law,  O  Lord  1  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day.  Thy  word 
is  a  lamp  to  my  feet  and  a  light  to  my  paths.'  It  was  the 
'  Seven  Books  of  the  Law  '  Patrick  left  to  Bishop  Mucna  for 
his  school  over  Focluth  Wood.  The  Books  of  the  Law 
were  his  own  study  and  meditation  night  and  day.  In  his 
Confession  he  thinks  and  writes  in  the  language  of  the 
Law,  and  so  we  must  infer  the  Books  of  the  Law  of  the 
Lord  were  the  foundation  of  all  the  studies  at  Armagh. 


THE   SCHOOL   AT   ARMAGH.  565 

Then  the  study  of  the  Fathers  and  the  narratives  of 
the  Lives  of  Saints  were  next  in  order  of  importance. 
The  Lives  of  the  Saints  show  us  the  Gospel  reduced  to 
practice,  and  were  constantly  read  in  our  Irish  schools. 
In  the  Book  of  Armagh  we  have  a  copy  of  the  beautiful 
Life  of  St.  Martin,  by  Sulpicius  Severus,  which  shows  us 
how  highly  it  was  prized  by  St.  Patrick  and  his  disciples. 
At  a  later  period  the  '  Morals  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great ' 
became  a  famous  class  book  in  all  our  Irish  schools,  but  it 
could  not  have  been  in  their  hands  at  this  early  date.  In 
their  Scriptural  studies,  it  would  appear,  from  references  at 
a  later  period,  that  the  Irish  teachers  chiefly  followed  St. 
Jerome,  whose  works  had  a  very  wide  circulation,  and  were 
greatly  esteemed  throughout  the  whole  Church. 

In  what  is  now  called  Dogmatic  Theology,  that  is,  the 
history,  exposition,  and  defence  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  they  relied  chiefly  on  the  apologetic  writings  of 
the  early  Latin  Fathers,  and,  of  course,  they  could  not 
follow  safer  guides.  But  the  system  was  entirely  different 
from  our  own.  It  is,  however,  a  difference  which  regards 
the  form  rather  than  the  matter,  for  in  all  cases  the  matter 
is  derived  from  divine  revelation.  ''  The  Fathers  enforced 
and  explained  the  great  principles  of  Christian  doctrine 
and  morality,  with  rhetorical  fulness  and  vigour,  exhibiting 
much  fecundity  of  thought  and  richness  of  imagery,  but 
not  attending  so  closely  as  the  great  Scholastics  to 
scientific  arrangement,  or  the  accurate  development  of  their 
principles,  and  the  logical  cogency  of  their  proofs.  Each 
of  these  systems  has  its  own  merits  and  defects ;  the 
former  is  better  suited  for  the  instruction  and  exhortation 
of  the  faithful,  the  latter  for  the  refutation  of  error;  the 
Positive  Theology  was  of  spontaneous  growth ;  the 
Scholastic  system  has  been  elaborately  constructed  ;  the 
one  is  a  stately  tree  that,  with  the  years  of  its  life,  has 
gradually  grown  in  size  and  beauty  to  be  the  pride  of  the 
forest ;  the  other  is  a  Gothic  cathedral  that,  from  its  broad 
and  deep  foundations,  has  been  laboriously  built  up,  stone 
by  stone,  into  the  glory  of  its  majestic  proportions  and  the 
strength  of  its  perfect  unity .^ 

From  the  contents  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  itself  we  can 
get  glimpses  of  other  studies  pursued  in  the  School  of 
Armagh  from  its  earliest  period.     Besides  the  historical 


^  Ireland's  Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars ^  p.  117. 


566  ST.    PATRICK'S    SCHOOL   OF   ARMAGH. 

documents  connected  with  St.  Patrick  and  his  Church  of 
Armagh,  wc  also  iind  : — 

1  A  complete  copy  of  the  New  Testament ; 

2  St  Jerome's  Preface  to  his  version  of  the  Four  Gospels  ; 

3  The  Ten  Canons  of  the  Concordances  of  the  Gospels  ; 

4  A  Brief  Interpretation  of  each  of  the  Gospels ; 

5  St.  Martin's  Life  by  Sulpicius  Severus  ; 

6  The  Dialogues  and  Epistles  of  the  same  about  St.  Martin ; 

7  The  Apocryphal  Epistle  to  the  Laodiceans. 

We  know  that  there  was  also  a  '  School  of  Psalm-Sing- 
ing'  or  Plain  Chant,  at  Armagh,  for  Benen  is  described  as 
Patrick's  Psalmist,  that  is,  the  teacher  and  conductor  of  his 
choir  in  the  public  offices  of  the  Church.  We  know,  too, 
that  Patrick  had  what  we  may  call  a  technical  school  of 
ecclesiastical  art,  in  which  his  smiths  and  his  bronze- 
workers  produced  all  the  various  articles  in  stone,  iron, 
and  bronze,  necessary  for  the  service  of  the  altar  and  the 
use  of  the  church,  such  as  bells,  altar-stones,  chalices, 
patens,  book-covers,  reliquaries,  and  so  forth.  In  ancient 
Ireland  these  crafts  were  hereditary  in  certain  families,  but 
Patrick  appears  to  have  set  apart  certain  members  of  his 
clerical  family  for  this  purpose,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to 
train  apprentices  to  continue  their  work,  who  also  belonged 
to  the  clerical  order.  There  was  also  a  school  of  embroidery 
for  making  the  vestments  and  altar  cloths  used  by  the 
clergy  in  their  ministrations  ;  and  we  are  told  the  names 
of  the  nuns  who  gave  their  lives  to  the  work,  and,  doubt- 
less, trained  their  successors.  A  class  of  scribes  or  copyists 
would  also  be  deemed  an  essential  department  in  a  large 
school  like  Armagh.  In  his  old  age  Patrick  could  no 
longer  write  '  Alphabets  '  himself  for  his  favourite  pupils  ; 
but  he  would  take  good  care  to  have  certain  clerics  of  his 
school  specially  trained  for  that  most  important  work.  At 
a  later  period  frequent  reference  is  made  in  the  Annals  to 
those  scribes  of  Armagh ;  and  the  choice  scribe  of  the 
school  not  unfrequently  was  raised  to  the  supreme  dignity 
of  Heir  of  Patrick. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  Benignus,  skilled  as  he  was  both 
in  the  learning  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Gael,  was  the 
first  Rector  of  the  School  of  Armagh,  which  in  the  sixth 
century  attracted  most  distinguished  scholars  and  great 
numbers  of  students  from  Britain  as  well  as  from  all  parts 
of  Ireland.  Gildas  the  Wise  is  described  as  Rector  or 
Regent  of  the  School  of  Armagh   in   the  opening  years  of 


THE   SCHOOL   AT   ARMAGH.  567 

the  sixth  century  by  his  biographer,  Caradoc  of  Llancar- 
van.  Tlie  dates  are  uncertain,  but  it  appears  that  Gildas 
returned  to  Wales  in  508,  where  he  heard  tliat  his  brother 
Huel  was  slain  by  Kin^^  Arthur.  Gildas  is  described  as  '  a 
holy  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  who  went  from  Wales  to 
Ireland,  and  there  converted  many  to  the  true  faith.'  He 
is  likewise  known  as  '  the  Historian  of  the  Britons,*  and 
deserved  the  name,  for  his  chief  work,  '  The  Destruction  of 
Britain,'^  has  come  down  to  us  ;  and  is  by  no  means  compli- 
mentary to  the  military  chiefs  of  his  own  nation.  It  is 
fairly  certain  that  this  Gildas  the  Historian  is  identical 
with  Gildas  who  was  for  many  years  Rector  of  the  great 
School  of  Armagh,  whose  fame  largely  helped  to  make  the 
College  of  Armagh  so  well  known  to  his  own  countrymen. 
We  cannot  pursue  the  subject  further  here,  except  to  note 
that  so  great  was  the  number  of  students  flocking  to 
Armagh  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  that  the  city 
came  to  be  divided,  for  peace  sake,  we  presume,  into  three 
wards  or  thirds,  named  respectively  the  Trian  Mor,  the 
Trian  Masain,  and  the  Trian  Saxon,  the  last  taking  its 
name  from  the  crowds  of  students  from  Saxon-land,  who 
took  up  their  abode  therein,  where,  according  to  the 
express  testimony  of  the  Venerable  Bede,  they  were  all 
supplied  gratuitously  with  books,  education,  and  main- 
tenance. No  more  honourable  testimony  has  been  ever 
borne  to  Irish  hospitality  and  love  of  learning  than  this. 
In  later  ages  the  men  of  Saxon-land  made  an  ungrateful 
return,  when  they  utterly  destroyed  the  Catholic  schools 
of  Erin,  and  drove  away,  pitilessly,  both  professors  and 
students  to  seek  shelter  and  education  in  foreign  lands, 
from  which  it  was  made  penal  to  return  home,  except  at 
the  peril  of  their  lives. 

St.  Patrick's  School  of  Armagh,  in  spite  of  foreign  and 
domestic  wars,  continued  to  flourish  down  to  the  period 
of  the  Anglo-Norman  invasion.  In  the  Synod  of  Clane, 
held  in  1162,  it  was  enacted  that  no  person  should  be 
allowed  to  teach  Divinity  in  any  school  in  Ireland  who 
had  not,  as  we  now  say,  graduated  in  Armagh. 

To  aid  in  making  Armagh  worthy  of  its  scholastic 
renown,  we  find  that  in  1169 — the  very  year  in  which  the 
Anglo-Normans  first  landed  at  Bannow  Bay,  Rory 
O'Conor,  the  last  King  of  Ireland,  granted  '  ten  cows 
every  year  from  himself  and  from  every  King  that  should 

*  The  full  title  is  : — De  Excidio  BrilauAZ  Liber  Quaerulus, 


568  ST.   PATRICK'S   SCHOOL   OF   ARMAGH. 

succeed  him  for  ever  to  the  Chief-professor  of  Ard-macha, 
in  honour  of  St.  Patrick,  to  instruct  the  youths  of  Erin 
and  Alba  in  learning.'  The  Chief  Professor  at  the  time 
was  Florence  O' Gorman,  '  head  moderator  of  this  school 
and  of  all  the  schools  in  Ireland,  a  man  well  skilled  in 
Divinity,  and  deeply  learned  in  all  the  sciences.'  He 
ruled  the  schools  of  Armagh  under  Gelasius,  the  Heir  ol 
Patrick,  for  twenty  years,  until  his  death  in  1174.  Not 
too  soon  he  died  ;  four  years  afterwards  John  De  Curci 
and  his  ireebooters  swooped  down  on  Patrick's  Royal 
City ;  they  plundered  its  shrines,  carried  off  its  most 
sacred  books  and  reliquaries  ;  drove  away  its  students  or 
slaughtered  them  all — priests,  professors,  and  scholars — 
and  so  the  glory  of  the  primatial  City  and  its  ancient 
school  was  extinguished  in  a  deluge  of  blood.  Shall  we 
ever  see  the  torch  of  sacred  learning  kindled  once  more 
on  Macha's  Hill  in  all  its  ancient  radiance  ?  Time  alone 
can  tell ;  we  have  seen  even  stranger  things  come  to  pass, 
in  our  own  generation. 

III. — St.  Patrick  and  the  Schools  of  the  Bards. 

We  may  with  propriety  say  a  word  here  about  Patrick's 
dealings  with  the  Bards  of  ancient  Erin.  Nothing  else  in 
his  whole  career  shows  in  a  more  striking  way  his  practical 
wisdom  and  consummate  prudence.  The  Bards,  as  we  have 
seen,  were  one  of  the  three  privileged  orders  in  ancient 
Erin,  a  class  of  great  influence  and  of  old  renown,  who 
might  be  made  either  powerful  friends  or  unrelenting  foes. 
They  were,  until  their  lampoons  and  extortions  became 
intolerable,  very  popular  with  all  classes,  and  being  a 
kind  of  close  hereditary  college  or  corporation,  were  for- 
midable from  their  profession,  their  numbers,  and  their 
organised  power.  As  a  class  they  had  no  special  interest 
like  the  Druids  in  opposing  the  spread  of  the  new  religion 
in  Erin.  Dubthach  Mac  Ua  Lugair,  the  Arch  Poet  of 
Erin,  was  the  very  first  to  rise  up  to  do  honour  to  Patrick 
and  accept  his  doctrine.  Afterwards  he  became  Patrick's 
fast  friend,  and  most  sagacious  counsellor.  He  was  ready, 
as  in  the  case  of  Fiacc  of  Sletty,  to  hand  over  to  Patrick 
his  most  promising  pupils  for  the  service  of  the  infant 
Church.  In  the  reform  of  the  Brehon  Laws  his  services 
were  simply  invaluable,  for  as  Chief  Poet  he  had  a  profes- 
sional knowledge  of  the  whole  Brehon  Code,  and  was  thus 
enabled  to  exhibit,  as  we  are  told,  to  Patrick,  'all  the  judg- 


PATRICK  AND  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  BARDS.  569 

merits  and  all  the  poetry  of  the  men  of  Erin,  and  expound 
every  law  which  prevailed  amongst  the  men  of  Erin, 
through  the  law  of  nature  and  the  law  of  the  seers,  and 
in  the  judgments  of  the  island  of  Erin  and  in  the  poets.' 
Chiefly  through  his  assistance  Patrick  was  enabled  to  pro- 
duce an  expurgated  code  of  the  ancient  laws  of  Erin,  and 
secure  its  adoption  by  the  King  and  the  chiefs  of  Erin. 
For  such  services  Patrick  was  duly  grateful  to  Dubthach, 
and  to  all  the  Bardic  Order,  and  he  always  welcomed  its 
junior  members  into  the  service  of  the  infant  Church. 

This  friendly  alliance  of  Patrick  with  the  Bards  is 
recognised  in  all  our  national  traditions,  and  finds  expres- 
sion in  the  ancient  tales  of  the  Saint's  kindly  relations 
with  Ossian,  the  most  renowned  of  all  the  Bards  of  ancient 
Erin.  He  was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  great  warriors  who 
fell  in  the  fatal  field  of  Gavra  (Gabhra),  leading  a  kind  of 
enchanted  life  in  the  new  and  strange  order  of  things 
which  arose  in  Erin.  He  was  friendless  and  alone,  living 
in  the  past  rather  than  in  the  present,  waking  always 
notes  of  woe  when  his  feeble  fingers  touched  the  strings 
that  were  once  attuned  to  the  fierce  joys  of  battle  or  the 
melting  lays  of  love. 

Then  Patrick,  in  the  mild  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  took  the 
forlorn  old  warrior  into  his  own  family,  soothed  him  in  the 
sorrows  that  clouded  his  age,  let  him  rave  as  he  would  of 
the  olden  glories  of  pagan  Erin,  and  then  gently  brought 
him  back  to  the  present,  lighting  up  the  old  man's  heart 
with  the  light  of  faith,  and  consoling  his  stricken  spirit  with 
the  hope  of  a  happier  life  beyond  the  grave. 

"  And  now  I  tread  a  darker  brink, 

Far  down  unfriendlier  waters  moan, 
And  now,  of  vanished  times  I  think, 
Now  of  that  bourne  unknown. 

"  Say,  Patrick  of  the  mystic  lore, 

Shall  I,  when  this  old  head  lies  low, 
My  Oscar  see,  and  Fionn,  once  more, 
And  run  beside  that  Doe  ?" 

And  Patrick  cried,  "  Oisin  !  the  thirst 

Of  God  is  in  thy  breast ; 
He  who  hath  dealt  thy  heart  the  wound, 

Ere  long  will  give  it  rest." 

Aubrey  De  Vere. 


CHAPTER    XXXli. 

THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF  ST.  PATRICK. 

I. — List  of  the  Officials. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  of  the  Tripartite 
Life  gives  us  a  brief  account  of  the  household  or  family  of 
St.  Patrick.  The  list  comprised  twenty-four  persons,  who 
are  described  as  *in  Orders/  though  we  need  not  assume 
that  they  were  all  in  Holy  Orders.  The  same  list,  with 
very  slight  variations,  is  given  in  the  Book  of  Leinster  and 
in  the  Lebar  Brecc,  so  that  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  very 
ancient  and  authentic  catalogue.  It  is  particularly  valuable 
on  account  of  the  light  which  it  throws  on  the  social  life  of 
the  period,  and  the  many  difficulties  of  St.  Patrick's  mis- 
sionary career  in  Ireland. 

In  order  to  understand  the  document  we  must  bear  in 
mind  that  Ireland  at  the  time  was,  as  St.  Patrick  himself 
says,  a  '  barbarous  '  country,  that  is,  one  entirely  beyond 
the  pale  of  Roman  civilisation.  It  contained  no  towns,  no 
roads,  no  bridges,  no  hotels,  in  the  m^odern  sense  of  the 
words.  The  people  lived  a  simple,  primitive  life,  subsisting 
for  the  most  part  on  the  produce  of  their  flocks  and  herds, 
with  some  tillage,  and  also  the  spoils  of  the  chase  and  the 
fishings  of  their  rivers.  It  is  certain,  indeed,  that  there  was 
some,  but  not  much,  foreign  commerce,  for  as  the  ports  of 
Erin  were  known  to  merchants  in  the  days  of  Tacitus,  they 
must  have  become  still  better  known  in  the  reign  of  Niall 
the  Great  and  his  successors. 

But  they  had,  of  course,  before  Patrick's  time,  no 
Christian  churches,  no  appliances  of  public  worship,  no 
sacred  books.  Whatever  Patrick  and  his  companions  did 
not  bring  with  them  for  the  equipment  of  their  churches, 
they  must  of  necessity  produce  themselves,  as  best  they 
could  from  their  own  resources. 

Then,  again,  in  their  missionary  journeys  through  the 
country,  though  Patrick  and  his  companions  would,  no 
doubt,  sometimes  accept  the  hospitality  of  their  new  con- 
verts, it  was  not  always  tendered  to  them,  and  it  would 
not,  even  if  tendered,  have  been  always  safe  to  accept  it. 
The  Apostle  tells   us  himself  that  his  life  was  often  in 


LIST  OF   THE   OFFICIALS.  571 

danger,  and  we  know  that  at  least  one  attempt  to  puison 
him  was  made  by  the  Druids  at  the  table  of  the  High-King. 
It  was,  therefore,  necessary  for  the  Saint  and  his  com- 
panions to  carry  tents  and  waggons  with  them  for  their 
accommodation.  When  a  longer  stay  than  usual  was  made 
in  a  desirable  place  they  built  for  themselves  sheds  of 
wood  or  wattles,  as  at  Drumlease,  in  Leitrim,  which  took 
its  name  from  those  sheds. 

No  doubt,  too,  they  found  it,  generally  speaking,  both 
safe  and  desirable,  from  many  reasons,  to  cook  their  own 
food.  These  considerations  will  serve  to  explain  the  list 
of  clerical  officials  belonging  to  St.  Patrick's  household. 

The  following  is  the  catalogue,  as  given  in  the  Tripar- 
tite :— 

Sechnall,  his  bishop  (epscop], 

Mochta,  his  priest  (saccart). 

Bishop  Ere,  his  judge  (breithem). 

Bishop  Mac  Cairthinn,  his  champion  (trenfer). 

Benen,  his  psalmist  (salmchetlaig). 

Coeman  of  Cell  Riada,  his  chamberlain  (maccoem). 

Sinell  of  Cell  Dareis,  his  bell-ringer  (astire). 

Athcen  of  Both  Domnaig,  his  cook  (coicc). 

Presbyter  Mescan  of  Domnach  Mescain  at  Fochain,  his  brewer 
(scoaire). 

Presbyter  Bescna  of  Domnach  Dala,  his  chaplain,  or  rather  his 
sacristan  (sacart  meisi). 

Presbyter  Catan  and  Presbyter  Acan,  his  two  attendants  at 
table  (da  foss). 

Odran  of  Disert  Odrain  in  Hui  Failgi,  his  charioteer  (ara). 

Presbyter  Manach,  his  fire-woodman  (fer  connadaig). 

Rottan,  his  cowherd  (buachaill). 

His  three  smiths,  namely,  Mace  Cecht;  (Laeban)  ofDomnach 
Laebain ;  it  is  he  that  made  the  (bell  called)  Findfaidech,  and 
Fortchern  in  Rath  Adine — or,  as  it  is  elsewhere,  Rath  Semni. 

His  three  wrights  (cerda),  Essa,  and  Bite,  and  Tassach. 

His  three  embroideresses  (druinecha),  Lupait  and  Ere, 
daughter  of  Daire,  and  Cruimtheris  in  Cengoba. 

He  had  also  three  masons,  not  given  here,  namely,  Caeman, 
Cruineach,  and  Luireach  the  Strong.^ 

The  provincial  kings,  we  are  told,  all  had  similar  house- 
holds ;  and  it  was  not  fitting  that  the  High  Bishop  of  all 
Erin  should  have  less.  As  a  fact,  they  were  all  necessary 
officials. 


^  See  Brash,  page  3. 


572  tHE    HOUSEHOLD   OF   ST.   PATRICK. 


II. — Patrick's  Bishop. 

Scchnall,  *  his  bishop,*  was,  as  we  have  seen,  his  own 
nephew,  whom  he  placed  over  the  church  of  Dunshaughhn, 
in  the  county  Meath.  But,  as  Patrick  had  so  many  priests 
and  bishops  to  ordain,  so  many  churches  to  consecrate, 
and  so  many  other  episcopal  duties  to  discharge,  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  have  a  coadjutor,  or  assistant  bishop, 
who  would  assist  him  in  his  functions,  and  act  generally  as 
his  vicar  in  the  government  of  the  Irish  Church.  Hence  it 
was  that  Patrick  chose  Sechnall  as  his  coadjutor  and  des- 
tined *  successor/  So  we  find  the  name  of  Sechnall, 
son  of  Restitutus,  as  first  in  the  list  of  '  Patrick's  suc- 
cessors '  ;  but  this  merely  implies  that  he  was  his  coadjutor, 
and, therefore, his  destined  successor;  and  it  is  said  that  he 
held  the  office  for  thirteen  years.  We  think,  as  the  Book 
of  Leinster  implies,  that  he  lived  until  457,  which  vvould 
allow  him  thirteen  years  as  assistant  bishop  to  St.  Patrick. 
For,  as  he,  with  his  associates,  came  to  Ireland  *  to  help 
St.  Patrick,*  and  as  he  was  the  senior  of  them  all,  he 
would  be  set  down  as  assistant  bishop  almost  from  the 
time  of  his  arrival  in  Ireland  until  his  death.  The  Life  of 
St.  Declan  tells  us  that  it  was  said  he  was  the  first  bishop 
buried  in  the  soil  of  Ireland.^  May  he  rest  in  peace.  It 
is  said  that  Sechnall  was  seventy-five  years  old  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  In  that  case,  he  would  have  been  born  about 
the  same  time  as  Patrick  himself — that  is  about  373. 

III. — Patrick's  Priest. 

The  next  official  mentioned  is  Mochta,  '  his  priest.' 
This  was  the  Abbot  of  Louth,  and  one  of  the  oldest  and 
dearest  disciples  of  St.  Patrick.  He  was,  like  Patrick 
himself,  a  Briton,  who,  it  is  said,  came  to  Ireland  in  his 
youth,  landing,  probably,  at  Carlingford  or  Dundalk. 
Going  inland,  he  founded  a  monastery  in  the  woods  of 
Hy  Meith,  before  he  came  to  Louth.  His  functions  in 
relation  to  St.  Patrick  were,  probably,  as  Colgan  thinks, 
those  of  arch-priest  in  the  Western  Church  at  the  time. 
This  official  was  originally  the  senior  priest  of  the  diocese 
by  ordination,  but  afterwards  became  a  dignitary  '  whose 
functions  correspond  to  those  of  vicar-general  in  the  city, 

^  De  quo  fertur  quod  ipse  primus  episcopus  sub  humo  Hiberniae  exivit. 


Patrick's  judge.  573 

or  rural  dean  in  the  country  districts.*  It  was  also  his 
privilege  to  assist  the  bishop  both  at  the  throne  and  altar 
in  the  more  solemn  episcopal  functions.  He  was,  in  fact, 
the  first  dignitary  of  the  diocese  after  the  bishop. 

The  holy  and  venerable  Mochta  was,  from  every  point 
of  view,  entitled  to  be  arch-priest  to  St.  Patrick.  He 
was,  probably,  by  ordination,  amongst  the  oldest  of  the 
disciples  of  Patrick.  He  was,  also,  his  countryman  and 
intimate  personal  friend,  remarkable,  too,  for  great  learning 
and  great  holiness,  and  thus  in  every  sense  worthy  of  the 
high  honour  of  being  the  priest  to  St.  Patrick.  It  is  said, 
also,  that  he  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  personal  dis- 
ciples of  our  great  Apostle,  and  lived  on  to  the  year  A.D. 
535,  when  he  must  have  been  as  old  as  Saint  Patrick 
himself  was  at  the  time  of  his  own  death.  Louth  is  not 
more  than  twenty  miles  from  Armagh,  and  is  still  a  parish 
of  the  Primate's  diocese,  so  that  Patrick  and  his  priest 
might  frequently  meet  without  inconvenience  at  the  most 
solemn  functions  of  the  Church.  His  office  as  arch-priest 
goes  to  show  that  Mochta  was  simply  a  presbyter  abbot, 
like  the  great  St.  Columba,  and,  doubtless  through 
humility,  never  accepted  the  higher  grade  of  bishop. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  he  was  also  confessor,  or  soul's 
friend,  to  St.  Patrick. 

IV. — PATRICK'S  Judge. 

The  third  official  of  Patrick's  household  was  'Bishop 
Ere,  his  judge.'  This  was  the  celebrated  Bishop  Ere  of 
Slane,  who  was  by  profession  a  Brehon,  or  judge,  before 
his  baptism  and  subsequent  elevation  to  the  episcopate. 
When  he  rose  up  to  do  honour  to  Patrick  at  his  interview 
with  King  Laeghaire  on  the  Hill  of  Slane  he  is  described 
as  a  mere  youth,  one  of  the  king's  pages  in  the  royal 
retinue,  and,  no  doubt,  attached  to  the  school  of  Brehons 
at  Tara.  Like  the  young  poet  Fiacc  of  Sletty,  he  was 
after  some  time  promoted  to  the  episcopal  rank,  and  made 
bishop  of  that  very  place  where  Patrick  blessed  him  for 
his  faith  and  courtesy.  But  he  still  continued  his  legal 
studies,  and  hence  was  a  most  suitable  person  to  be 
chosen  by  Patrick  as  his  judge  or  assessor  in  all  cases 
connected  with  the  Brehon  code  that  might  be  carried 
before  his  tribunal.  Such  a  dignitary  was,  in  fact,  indis- 
pensable to  Patrick,  especially  after  the  purification  of  the 
Brehon  code  by  the  Commission   of  Nine^,  of  which  Ere 


574  THE    HOUSFHOLD   OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

himself  was  a  member.  He  became  famous  as  a  rI<^hteous 
and  painstaking  judge,  and  his  selection  by  Patrick  as 
chief  judge  of  his  ecclesiastical  court  shows  the  practical 
wisdom  of  the  Saint  in  his  government  of  the  Irish 
Church.  In  the  Lebar  Brecc  the  following  quatrain,  in 
Gaedhlic  of  course,  is  added  after  the  name  of  Ere  ; — 

Bishop  Ere — 

Whatever  he  adjudged  was  just. 
Everyone  who  passes  a  just  judgment 
Bishop  Erc's  blessing  succours  him. 

It  is  a  very  beautiful  thought  that  the  righteous  judge  still 
looked  down  from  his  high  place  in  heaven  and  watched 
over  the  judgments  of  the  Brehons  of  Erin,  giving  his 
patronage  and  blessing  to  every  righteous  judge  in  the 
land.  Bishop  Ere  was  the  spiritual  father  of  the  great  St. 
Brendan  of  Clonfert,  and  in  his  old  age  he  must  have 
resigned  his  see  of  Slane,  for  we  find  him  chiefly  residing 
in  the  west  of  Kerry  beyond  Tralee,  which  seems  to 
have  been  his  native  territory,  though  he  came  of  the  royal 
line  of  Ulster's  kings. 

We  also  find  that  he  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the 
great  St.  Brigid  of  Kildare.  Under  his  protection  the  holy 
virgin  went  on  a  missionary  journey  through  a  great  part 
of  Munster,  and  dwelt  some  time  with  her  nuns  in  a  little 
convent  nigh  to  where  Bishop  Ere  dwelt  in  the  South. 
That  place  was  certainly  Termon  Eire,  as  it  is  still  called, 
by  the  sea  near  Ardfert.  But  he  afterwards  returned  to 
his  own  little  church  at  Slane,  where  he  died  ^  A.D.  512. 
His  hermitage  still  stands  in  a  lonely  glade  within  the 
demesne  of  Slane,  close  to  the  river — a  sweet,  retired  spot 
for  the  old  Brehon  to  end  his  days  in  peace  and  prayer. 

V. — Patrick's  Champion. 

*  Bishop  Mace  Cairthinn,  his  champion,'  is  the  next 
entry  in  the  household  list.  The  Irish  term  simply 
means  his  strong  man — a  trenfer.    Now  Patrick  had  need 

^  *  Cujus  nunc  reliquise  adorantur  in  ilia  civitate  quse  vocatur  Slane.'— 
Muirchu.  This  seems  to  imply  that  the  relics  of  Bishop  Ere  were  enshrined 
and  venerated  at  Slane  in  the  time  of  Muirchu. 

2  There  is  no  evidence  of  stone  bridges  in  Celtic  Ireland,  but  at  some 
important  passes  there  were  wicker  bridges  laid  on  piles,  and  at  a  later  period 
strong  wooden  bridges  were  constructed  during  the  eleventh  and  the  first  half 
of  the  twelfth  century.     See  Joyce's  Social  Ireland. 


PATRICK'S   CHAMPION.  575 

of  a  strong  man.  There  were  no  bridges  in  Ireland, ^  and 
many  could  not  be  crossed  on  a  chariot,  for  the  ground 
was  broken  and  rough.  But  stepping-stones  were  placed 
at  these  fords,  which,  however,  were  sometimes  too  far 
apart  for  an  old  man  to  step  lightly  over,  and  the  flood 
was  sometimes  high,  and  the  middle  reaches  of  the  streams 
were  often  deep  and  dangerous.  Here  it  was  that  an 
active  young  giant  like  Bishop  MacCarlan  came  to  aid 
his  master.  If  the  stream  was  shallow  he  led  him  gently 
over  from  stone  to  stone,  guiding  his  footsteps  and  bearing 
his  weight,  but,  if  it  was  deep  and  dangerous,  he  took  the 
old  man  on  his  broad  shoulders  and  bore  him  lightly  over 
the  flood  from  step  to  step,  and  when  the  steps  were 
too  far  apart,  or  had  been  carried  away  by  the  flood,  then 
he  was  tall  enough  and  strong  enough  to  carry  Patrick 
through  the  rushing  waters  without  so  much  as  wetting 
the  feet  of  his  dear  master.  And  we  know  that  such  was 
his  custom^  for  it  is  stated  in  express  terms — ut  solebat. 

But  the  young  giant  might  have  been  the  champion  of 
our  Saint  in  another  way  too.  Sometimes  the  rude  chiet- 
tains  of  the  time  treated  the  companions  of  St.  Patrick  with 
violence  and  cruelty,  as  when  the  wicked  Cairbre  drove 
his  servants  into  the  river  Sele,  or  Blackwater,  near  Telltown, 
in  Meath.  Sometimes  he  himself  and  all  his  companions 
were  received  with  a  shower  of  stones,  as  happened  at 
Enniscrone,  near  Ballina,  when  the  Saint  was  crossing  the 
Moy,  at  Bertragh,  where  the  accursed  Gregaide  received 
them  with  such  a  shower  of  missiles.  Sometimes,  too,  the 
Druids  and  their  hirelings  were  hostile  and  actually  violent. 
It  was  well  on  such  occasions  for  the  aged  Saint  to  have, 
close  at  hand,  an  active  man  of  might,  with  a  formidable 
staff,  whose  very  look  was  apt  to  inspire  fear,  if  not  respect, 
into  those  who  had  no  regard  for  grey  hairs  or  holy  apparel. 
If  the  danger  was  grave,  St.  Patrick  knew  how  to  use  his 
spiritual  arms,  but  for  ordinary  cases  a  big  priest  with  a  big 
stick  and  a  strong  arm  was  a  useful  and,  indeed,  a  neces- 
sary companion  in  those  lawless  times.^  vSt.  Mac  Cartan 
deserved  his  promotion  when  he  got  it ;  so  he  said  him- 
self; and  so  St.  Patrick,  like  a  sensible  man,  admitted ;  but 
like  other  superiors,  he  was  rather  unwilling  to  lose  a 
trusty  and  faithful  companion  so  long  as  he  could  avoid  it. 

^  St.  Paul  says  that  a  bishop  should  be  no  striker  ;  but  St.  Paul  does  not 
prohibit  legitimate  self-defence  for  priest  or  bishop,  then  or  now,  when  there 
is  no  other  law  to  protect  him. 


57^  THE    HOUSEHOLD   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 


VI. — Benignus,  his  Psalm-Singer. 

We  have  already  spoken  much  of  Benignus.  It  is 
probable  he  belonged  to  a  bardic  family,  and  in  this  way 
had  an  hereditary  gift  of  music  and  of  song.  The  Gaels 
have  been  always  passionately  fond  of  music,  and  the  bards 
were  always  a  privileged  class  amongst  them,  with  heredi- 
tary estates,  and  in  earlier  times  an  acknowledged  right  to 
make  an  official  circuit  of  all  the  great  houses  of  the 
country,  where  they  received  rich  gifts  and  abounding 
hospitality. 

No  doubt  St.  Patrick  was  well  aware  of  the  attractive 
influence  which  the  music  of  the  Church  would  naturally 
exert  over  such  a  people.  So  he  gave  Benen  charge  of 
his  church  choirs,  with  the  duty  of  training  his  young 
ecclesiastics  in  the  psalmody  of  the  Church.  Moreover, 
Patrick  himself,  who  had  dwelt  so  long  in  the  greatest 
monasteries  of  Gaul  and  Italy,  would  be  well  acquainted 
with  the  grave  and  noble  psalmody  of  the  Church,  as  it 
existed  at  that  time,  and  we  may  fairly  assume  that 
Benignus  taught  the  same  solemn  chants  to  his  own  church 
choirs.  That  he  had  a  sweet  and  musical  voice  is  shown 
from  the  incident  recorded  of  Daire's  daughter,  who  was 
melted  into  love  'by  the  voice  of  his  chaunting.'  And  his 
sweet  strains  of  heavenly  melody  must  have  had  a  softening 
influence  on  the  wild  warriors  who  gathered  round  him, 
and  were,  as  we  know,  extremely  susceptible  to  the  mani- 
fold influences  of  music  and  song. 

But  Benignus  was  something  more  than  Patrick's 
psalm-singer.  He  was  a  member,  probably  the  secretary, 
of  the  great  Commission  of  Nine,  who  were  intrusted  with 
the  purification  of  the  Brehon  Laws.  In  that  work  he 
may  be  regarded  as  the  representative  of  St.  Patrick  him- 
self, whose  manifold  duties  would  render  it  impossible  for 
him  to  give  personal  attention  to  minute  details.  Then, 
again,  Benignus  had  of  course  a  far  better  knowledge  of 
the  language,  and  a  much  wider  acquaintance  with  the 
institutions  of  his  native  country  than  Patrick  could  pos- 
sess, and  so  we  may  be  sure  that  he  took  a  leading  part  in 
successfully  accomplishing  the  revision  and  purification  of 
the  Brehon  Code. 

The  original  composition  of  the  Book  of  Rights  is  also 
attributed  to  St.  Benignus.     He  composed  it  in  poetry,  or 


BENIGNUS,    HIS    PSALM-SINGER.  57^ 

rather  he  wrote  out  in  enduring  form  the  bardic  poems 
which  defined  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  kings  and 
chiefs  throughout  all  the  land  of  Erin.  Those  poems  also, 
in  some  things,  doubtless,  needed  revision  to  make  them 
harmonise  with  the  new  Christian  polity  introduced  by  St. 
Patrick,  and  Benen  would  be  naturally  the  person  best 
qualified  to  accomplish  the  work.  The  very  title  of  the 
book  attributes  it  to  Benignus.  '  The  Beginning  of  the 
Book  of  Rights  (Leabhar  Na  g-Ceart),  which  relates  to  the 
revenues  and  subsidies  of  Ireland,  as  ordered  by  Benen, 
son  of  Sescnen,  Psalmist  of  Patrick,  as  is  related  in  the 
Book  of  Glendaloch.'  Such  was  the  original  title.  This 
work  was  afterwards  enlarged  and  corrected,  as  we  now 
say,  up  to  date,  by  Cormac  Mac  Cullinan,  and  at  a  later 
period  by  McLiag,  the  secretary  of  the  renowned  Brian 
Boru.  But  all  these  authorities  themselves  admit  that  the 
original  work  was  completed  by  Benen,  though,  no  doubt, 
with  the  aid  of  the  Bards  and  Brehons  around  him  at  the 
time. 

Benen  was  also  a  great  missionary  bishop,  although  we 
cannot  now  admit  that  he  was  the  founder  of  Kilbannon, 
near  Tuam,  or  of  the  beautiful  little  church  that  bears  his 
name  in  Aranmore.  But  most  likely  it  was  he  that  Patrick 
left  for  some  time  at  Drumlease,  to  watch  over  tiiat  infant 
church,  which  at  the  time  Patrick  designed  to  make  his 
own  primatial  See.  But  providence  had  ordained  other- 
wise, and  Benen  as  well  as  Patrick  had  to  leave  that  smiling 
valley  at  the  head  of  Loch  Gill  far  behind  them  for  the 
colder  coasts  of  the  stormy  North.  Benen  was  greatly 
devoted  to  his  beloved  master,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
he  never  sought  a  church  of  his  own,  but  always  remained 
in  Patrick's  family.  When  Sen  Patrick  ^  died  about  the 
year  A.D.  457  St.  Patrick  chose  Benignus  to  be  his  coad- 
jutor and  destined  successor  ;  and  thenceforward  we  may 
assume  that  he  dwelt  chiefly  at  Armagh.  The  duration 
of  his  episcopacy  in  Armagh,  as  Patrick's  '  destined 
successor,'  is  set  down  as  ten  years  in  the  Irish  list  of  the 
Book  of  Leinster.  So  the  date  of  his  death  given  in  the 
Annals  of  Ulster  as  A.D.  467  is  correct,  but  as  they  date 
from  the  Incarnation,  the  year  from  the  Nativity  would  be 
468,  which  appears  to  be  the  exact  year. 


^  In  some  lists  Sen  Patrick  is  not  mentioned  at  all,  but  Benen  succeeds 
Secundinus  immediately.  In  any  case  Sen  Patrick  only  held  office  for  two 
years, 

2  P 


578  THE    HOUSEHOLD   OF   ST.    PATKICK. 

The  Martyrology  of  Donegal,  in  recording  his  death  at 
Nov.  9th,  says  of  him  : — 

Benignus,  that  is,  Benen,  son  of  Sescnen,  disciple  of  Patrick, 
and  his  (destined)  successor,  that  is  Primate  of  Ard-Macha. 
He  was  of  the  race  of  Cian,  son  of  OlioU  Olum.  Sodelbh,. 
daughter  of  Cathaoir,  son  of  F'eidhlimidh  Firurglass  of  Leinster, 
was  his  mother.  The  holy  Benen  was  benign,  was  devout,  he  was 
a  virgin  without  ever  defiling  his  virginity  ;  for  when  he  was  psalm- 
singer  at  Armagh,  along  with  his  master  St.  Patrick,  Earcnat, 
daughter  of  Daire,  loved  him,  and  she  was  seized  with  a  disease, 
so  that  she  died  suddenly ;  and  Iknen  brought  consecrated  water 
to  her  from  Patrick,  and  he  shook  it  upon  her,  and  she  arose  alive 
and  well,  and  she  loved  him  spiritually  afterwards,  and  she 
subsequently  went  to  Patrick  and  confessed  all  her  sins  to  him, 
and  she  offered  afterwards  her  virginity  to  God,  so  that  she  went 
to  heaven,  and  the  name  of  God,  and  of  Patrick  and  Benen  was 
magnified  through  it. 

It  is  a  very  touching  and  romantic  story,  which  has 
caught  the  fancy  of  our  poets  and  chroniclers,  and,  as  the 
scribe  in  the  Martyrology  declares,  gave  glory  to  Patrick 
and  to  Benen  after  God  :  but  none  the  less  is  the  holy 
maiden's  name  glorified  also,  whose  young  heart  was 
touched  by  human  love,  which,  in  the  spirit  of  God,  was 
purified  and  elevated  to  the  highest  sphere  of  sinless  spiri- 
tual love  in  Christ,      It  has  often  happened  since. 

VII.— Inferior  Officials. 

Of  the  other  inferior  members  of  Patrick's  household 
we  know  comparatively  little. 

His  chamberlain  was  Coeman  of  Gill  Riada,  which  is 
apparently  Kilroot,^  an  ancient  church  that  stood  on  the 
northern  shore  of  Belfast  Lough,  a  little  beyond  Carrick- 
fergus.  His  special  relations  with  Patrick  are  otherwise 
unknown. 

Sinell  of  Cell  da  Reis  is  described  as  bell-rino^er  to  the 
Saint.  It  was  an  important  office,  because  in  those  days 
the  bell  was  the  symbol  of  jurisdiction,  and  the  man  who 
carried  it  represented  the  authority  of  Patrick  himself,  and 
doubtless  enforced  obedience  to  his  orders,  and  maintained 
due  decorum  in  all    the  ecclesiastical  assemblies.     There 


^  In  the  I^ife  of  St.  Ailbe,  this  church  is  called  Cell  Roid,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  founded  by  St.  Colmaij  the  Elder.  But  Coeman  may  have  preceded 
him  there. 


INFERIOR    OFFICIALS.  579 

were  two  SInells — one  the  elder,  who  appears  to  have  been 
the  person  here  referred  to.  His  feast  day  was  the  26th 
March,  and  his  church  was  Killeigh,  near  Geashill  in  the 
Queen's  County.  Its  founder  was  certainly  a  disciple  of 
St.  Patrick,  and  had  a  celebrated  monastery  and  school  at 
Killeigh,  to  which  scholars  and  even  bishops  came  on 
pilgrimage  from  foreign  lands. 

There  was  another  Sinell,  who  was  an  anchorite  in  one 
of  the  islands  of  Lough  Melvin,  in  the  Co.  Leitrim.  The 
island  is  still  called  Inishtemple,  and  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
church  and  churchyard  still  remain,  and  are  much  vene- 
rated by  the  people.  Colgan  thinks  that  he  may  have  been 
the  bell-ringer  of  Patrick,  and  retired  there  after  the  death 
of  his  beloved  master,  to  spend  the  remnant  of  his  days  in 
prayer  and  penance.  No  doubt  the  bell  used  by  Sinell 
was  the  famous  '  Bell  of  the  Will '  ^  which  is  now  in  the 
National  Museum  in  Dublin — '  a  rude,  quadrangular  bell, 
with  rounded  angles,  made  of  rivetted  plates  of  hammered 
iron,  about  61  inches  high,  with  the  handle  at  the  top.  It 
was  covered  with  a  beautiful  shrine,  made  in  the  beginning 
of  the  twelfth  century  by  order  of  Domnall  O'Loghlin, 
King  of  Ireland. 

His  '  cook '  was  Athcen  of  Both  Domnaig,  The 
name  of  this  church  now  is  Badony,  the  same  in  sound  as 
the  ancient  name.  It  was  an  old  church  in  the  diocese 
of  Derry,  and  Co.  Tyrone,  where  St.  Athcen,  who  is  called 
also  by  the  name  of  Cormac,  has  been  long  venerated  as 
its  holy  founder.  His  festival  was  the  3rd  of  May.  He 
was  of  the  race  of  Colla  Menn.  Of  course  a  cook  would  be 
an  indispensable  official  for  the  household  of  Patrick,  which 
was  large  and  migratory  for  the  most  part.  It  is  likely, 
too,  that  the  '  cook  '  had  not  only  to  superintend  the 
cooking  of  food,  but  also  to  provide  it,  which  at  times  must 
have  been  a  rather  difficult  task,  although,  no  doubt,  the 
chiefs  and  people,  as  a  rule,  gave  generous  supplies  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  Saint  and  his  family.  Still  we  know 
that,  especially  in  the  beginning,  the  cook  was  often  hard 
up  for  provisions,  and  the  family  he  had  to  feed  was  large. 
His  office  was  practically  the  same  as  bursar  or  ceconomus 
in  more  modern  times.  His  assistants  used  spits,  gridirons, 
and  hot  stones  for  roasting ;  and  had  great  cauldrons  for 
boiling  joints  of  meat  and  other  provisions.      A   similar 


Clog  an  udhachta.     See  Appendix. 


580  THE    HOUSEHOLD   OT    ST.    PATRICK. 

official  was,  at  a  later  period,  to  be  found   in  all   the  great 
monasteries. 

Presbyter  Mescan,  of  Domnach  Mescain,  at  Fohain, 
was  '  his  brewer.'  It  does  not  appear  from  this  that  either 
Patrick  or  the  members  of  his  household  were  total 
abstainers  ;  and  if  they  were  to  have  beer  at  all,  they  could 
only  have  it  by  brewing  ^  it  themselves.  There  were  no 
great  breweries  and  no  beer-shops  in  those  days,  and  there 
was  no  excise  duty.  Every  chief  and  farmer  brewed  what 
was  necessary  for  himself  and  his  retainers.  The  corn  was 
ground  with  the  quern  or  hand  mill,  and  the  malting  and 
fermentation  would  be  a  comparatively  easy  process.  Col- 
gan  thinks  that  Mescan  is  merely  Mo-Escan,  that  is  Escan 
with  the  prefix  of  endearment.  The  name  of  Escan  is 
mentioned,  on  the  20th  of  November,  by  the  martyrologists 
in  connection  with  Both-chluain,  which  is  described  as  in 
Leix,  to  the  east  of  Clonenagh,  or  in  Inis  Mac  Earca.'"^ 

Presbyter  Bescna,  of  Domnach  Dola,  was  'his  chaplain,' 
or  rather  sacristan.  This,  too,  was  an  important  office, 
for  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  Sacristan  to  provide  all 
necessaries  for  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  and  make  due  provision 
for  the  proper  celebration  of  Divine  worship  on  all  Sundays 
and  other  festivals  of  the  Church.  Magh  liola,  now  Moyola, 
was  the  name  of  a  plain  and  river  in  the  Co.  Derry,  which 
flows  into  Lough  Neagh  ;  so^  doubtless,  the  church  (Dom- 
nach) of  Dola,  or  Dula,  was  in  the  same  plain.  Colgan 
thinks  that  this  Bescna  is  the  Presbyter  of  Domnach  Mor 
(of  Magh  Dola),  whom  the  Martyrologies  mention  under 
date  of  November  i  ith.  The  church  itself  is  in  the  diocese 
of  Armagh,  which  goes  far  to  confirm  this  conjecture,  as 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  Patrick  located  those  officials  of  his 
family  in  churches  near  himself  after  the  foundation  of 
Armagh,  when  his  missionary  journeys  were  over,  and  he 
was  in  a  position  to  make  provision  for  his  old  and  faithful 
servants. 

Presbyter  Catan  and  Presbyter  Acan  were  '  his  two 
guest  ministers.'  Their  duty  was  to  attend  on  Patrick  and 
his  guests,  and  see  that  they  wanted  nothing.  The  Irish 
saints  were,  as  we  know,  very  hospitable  to  strangers ;  and 
every     monastery    had     its     own    guest     minister     spe- 

^  The  ancient  Irish  drinks  were  wine,  mead,  and  ale  (courmi) — the  last 
being  their  usual  beverage.  It  was  mostly  made  of  barley,  and  a  supply  was 
kept  in  every  decent  house  ;  yeast  or  leaven  was  used  in  the  brewing,  and  the 
ale  seems  to  have  been  of  excellent  quality. 

'^  Marty rologij  oj  Donegal. 


INFERIOR   OFFICIALS.  581 

cially  deputed  to  look  after  their  needs.  It  is  the  case 
still  in  all  large  religious  houses.  Colgan  conjectures  that 
the  second  name  should  be  *  Cadoc,'  and  that  the  two 
saints  in  question  were  the  son  and  nephew  of  Brecan,  who 
are  described  as  disciples  of  St.  Patrick.  The  Book  of 
Lecan  describes  Catan,  or  Cadan,  as  being  of  Tamlach- 
tain  Ardda  ;  but  nothing  more  is  known  of  them  or  of 
their  locality, 

Odran,  of  Disert  Odrain  in  Offaley,  was  '  his  charioteer.' 
This  was  the  great-souled  saint,  who  gave  his  own  life  to 
save  his  master  when  he  was  waylaid  on  his  journey  through 
Offaley,  as  has  been  already  described.  There  is  a  town- 
land  called  Dysert  in  the  north-west  of  Offaley,  in  the 
parish  of  Dunfierth,  which  may,  perhaps,  mark  the  ancient 
Disert  Odrain.  The  old  churchyard  very  probably  con- 
tains the  martyr's  grave.  At  an  earlier  period  of  his  mis- 
sionary career  in  Meath  and  Connaught,  Patrick  had 
another  charioteer  who  died,  we  are  told,  at  the  foot  of 
Croaghpatrick,  and  was  buried  by  the  sea  at  Murrisk.  The 
cairn,  which  in  Irish  fashion  was  raised  over  his  grave,  is 
still  shown,  as  we  noted  above.  It  would  appear  that  in 
all  his  journeys  Patrick  used  the  ancient  two-wheeled 
chariot — carbaid — to  which  sometimes  one  and  sometimes 
two  horses  were  yoked  in  difficult  ground.  The  body,  of 
wicker-work,  with  a  frame  of  wood,  was  fixed  to  a  tough 
holly  axle-tree,  shod  with  iron  or  bronze,  and  generally 
proved  equal  to  the  rough  work  on  the  ancient  roads  or 
tracks. 

Presbyter  Manach  was  'his  woodman.'  Fuel,  of  course, 
would  be  wanted  for  Patrick's  family ;  and  that  could  only 
be  had  by  cutting  wood,  which,  however,  was  very  abun- 
dant at  the  time.  So  this  priest  had  charge  of  the  wood- 
cutters— a  highly  useful,  if  not  honourable,  occupation,  for 
otherwise  they  could  neither  cook  their  food  or  warm  their 
tents. 

Rottan  was  Patrick's  '  cowherd,'  for  even  saints  need 
milk  and  butter  and  beef,  when  it  can  be  had.  St.  Brigid 
of  Kildare  was  a  famous  dairymaid,  and  we  know  that  the 
chief  wealth  of  every  family,  whether  secular  or  religious, 
consisted  in  their  cattle.  On  a  journey  Patrick's  familia 
drove  the  cattle  with  them ;  but  when  stationary  the  cattle 
would,  of  course,  be  fed  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  would 
need  to  be  carefully  looked  after.  No  doubt  the  cowherd 
also  looked  after  Patrick's  horses,  without  which  he  could 
not   possibly   make   his    numerous    missionary    journeys 


582  THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

through  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country.  We  know 
the  horses  were  stolen  once  or  twice  by  evil  men,  and  no 
doubt  robbers  would  sometimes  lift  the  cattle  also  if  the 
cowherd  and  his  assistants  did  not  do  their  duty  with 
vigilance. 

VIII. — Patrick's  Artisans. 

Then  Patrick  had  also  three  smiths,  Mac  Cecht, 
Laeban  of  Domnach  Laebain,  and  Fortchern  in  Rath 
Adine.  It  was  Laeban,^  we  arc  told,  who  made  Patrick's 
famous  bell,  called  the  Findfaidech  or  sweet-sounding, 
but  apparently  different  from  the  Bell  of  the  Will.  We 
speak  of  the  latter  elsewhere.^  Rath  Adine,  where  he 
dwelt^  is  called  in  the  Book  of  Lecan  Rath  Semne,  which 
was  a  famous  dun  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Bay  of 
Larne,  called  in  later  times  Island  Magee.  These  smiths 
would  also  find  much  occupation  in  building  churches  for 
Patrick  as  well  as  in  making  bells,  cauldrons,  and  other 
heavy  work  of  a  similar  character,  and  generally  of  iron. 

For  more  delicate  metal  work  in  gold,  silver,  and 
bronze,  Patrick  had  three  other  *  artisans,*  Essa,  Bite,  and 
Tassach.  Essa  appears  to  be  the  same  person  as  Assicus, 
Bishop  of  Elphin,  who  was  a  most  skilful  artificer ;  Bite 
was  his  nephew  and  assistant  at  Elphin  ;  and  Tassach  was 
no  doubt  the  holy  bishop  who  gave  the  Viaticum  to  Patrick 
in  his  dying  hour.  His  church  of  Raholp  was  only  two 
miles  from  Saul ;  and  it  is  likely  that  Patrick  placed  him 
over  that  church  that  he  might  be  near  at  hand  to  execute 
necessary  works  for  his  churches — such  as  chalices,  patens, 
altar-stones,  reliquaries,  and  book-covers. 

Last  of  all  are  mentioned  Patrick's  three  embroi- 
deresses,  Lupait,  Ere  (or  Ercnat),  daughter  of  Daire,  and 
Cruimtheris  of  Cengoba.  Lupait,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken  before,  was  Patrick's  sister,  and  was  sold  as  a  slave 
into  Ireland  with  her  holy  brother,  when  she  was  quite 
a  child.  Of  Ercnat  we  have  already  spoken.  When 
she  was  healed  by  Benen  from  her  sore  sickness  she 
devoted  her  life  ever  after  to  the  service  of  God's  altar. 
Cruimtheris  was,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the  nine  daugh- 
ters of  a  king  of  the  Lombards,  who  came  to  Armagh  on 
a  pilgrimage.  She  dwelt  at  Cengoba,  not  far  from  the 
cathedral,  for  it  is  described  as  a  hillock  to  the  east  of  the 


^  Colgan  says  it  was  Mac  Cecht. 

^  In  the  Appendix  on  the  Relics  of  St.  Patrick. 


PATRICK'S   ARTISANS.  5^3 

City,  and   there  she  and  her  nuns  spent  all  their  days  in 
the  service  of  God  and  His  Church. 

Such  was  the  '  familia'  or  household  which  Patrick  kept 
employed  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  Many  of  them 
dwelt  far  from  Armagh  towards  the  end  of  Patrick's  life  ; 
but  they  were  always  ready  to  carry  out  his  wishes  in 
working  for  God.  It  would  appear  that  a  somewhat 
similar  staff  was  maintained  at  Armagh  in  later  times, 
for  the  Primate  was  a  great  spiritual  prince,  and  needed 
the  service  of  them  all.  Hence,  the  writer  in  the  Tri- 
partite observes  that  an  equal  number  of  high  officials 
sat  down  at  the  table  of  the  King  of  Cashel  in  the  time 
of  Feidlimid  Mac  Crimthann,  and  we  know  that  then,  and 
long  after,  every  Irish  ri,  or  kinglet,  had  a  similar  staff 
of  high  officials  to  serve  him  both  in  peace  and  in  war, 
who  had  ample  domains  at  home,  but  were  entitled  to  the 
hospitality  of  the  King,  when  they  came  on  state  occasions, 
to  render  their  official  service  to  their  royal  master. 

It  will  also  be  observed  that  this  household  of  Patrick 
in  Armagh  was  self-sufficing.  They  produced  everything 
that  was  needed  for  domestic  purposes,  as  well  as  for  the 
service  of  the  Church.  They  had  no  need  to  buy  any- 
thing, except  the  wine  for  the  use  of  the  altar  ;  everything 
else  was  their  own  work — churches,  vestments,  books, 
bells,  food,  clothing,  fire,  bronze  and  iron  utensils  ;  beer 
and  mead  for  drink ;  fruit,  corn,  vegetables,  fish — they 
procured  everything  of  their  own,  and,  in  this  respect, 
showed  themselves  far  wiser  and  better  Irishmen  than  their 
descendants  in  our  own  time. 


APPENDIX    I. 

THE  BIRTH-PLACE  OF  ST.  PATRICK. 

The  discussions  in  reference  to  this  question  afford  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  erratic  tendencies  of  the  human  mind 
when  it  ignores  authority  and  trusts  to  its  own  wayward 
speculations.  The  author  of  Colgan's  Fourth  Life  is  perhaps 
the  earliest  writer  who  makes  any  reference  to  such  specula- 
tions regarding  the  birth-place  of  St.  Patrick.  There  were, 
he  says,  even  at  that  early  date,  some  persons  who  alleged 
that  Patrick  derived  his  origin  from  the  Jews,  who,  when 
expelled  by  the  Romans  from  Judaea,  settled  down  amongst 
the  Armoric  Britons,  and  from  them  Patrick's  race  was 
derived.  This  opinion,  however,  the  author  rejects  ;  yet  he 
declares  that  Patrick's  parents  belonged  to  the  Armoric 
Britons,  but,  migrating  thence,  they  came  to  the  region  of 
Strathclyde  where  Patrick  was  born.i 

The  Scholiast  on  Fiacc,  whilst  expressly  declaring  that 
Nemthor,  Patrick's  birth-place,  was  in  North  Britain,  namely 
Ail  Cluade,  adds  that  young  Patrick  with  his  parents,  brother, 
and  sisters,  went  from  the  Britons  of  Ail  Cluade  over  the 
Ictian  Sea  southwards  to  visit  their  relatives  in  Armorica, 
and  that  it  was  from  the  Letavian  Armorica  that  Patrick 
was  carried  off  a  captive  to  Ireland.  The  Scholiast  here 
confounds  the  Armoric  Britons  of  the  Clyde  with  the  Armoric 
Britons  of  Gaul  or  Letavia,  who  had  no  existence  there  at 
so  early  a  date.  No  doubt  they  were  kindred  races  ;  but 
the  names  Britannia  and  Britons  were  not  at  that  time 
given  to  Armorica  of  Gaul. 

It  is  in  modern  times,  however,  that  certain  writers  have 
given  loose  reins  to  their  speculations  as  to  the  birth-place 
of  St.  Patrick.  This  arose  chiefly  from  unwillingness  to 
give  the  honour  of  the  Saint's  birth  to  a  country  which 
had  ceased  to  profess  the  faith  of  Patrick,  and  was  bitterly 
hostile  to  Irish  Catholics. 

Philip  O'Sullivan  Beare,  a  man  of  learning  and  authority, 
declared  in  his  '  Patriciana  Decas,'  that  Patrick  was  born 
in  Bretagne.  He  was  the  first  writer  of  note  who  put  forward 
that  opinion,  for  no  ancient  writer  known  to  us  ever  advanced 
it. 


1  Parentes    ejus    in    regionem    Strato-Clude    perrexerunt,    in    qua 
terra  conceptus  et  natus  est  Patricius — which  is  highly  probable. 


586  APPENDIX   I. 

Patrick  Lynch,  Secretary  of  the  Gaelic  Society,  held 
in  his  *  Life  of  St.  Patrick,'  that  the  '  Nemthor  '  referred 
to  by  Fiacc  and  others  as  the  birth-place  of  St.  Patrick  meant 
*  Holy  Tours  '  of  Gaul  ;  but  he  advanced  not  a  single  authority 
to  support  that  view.  Moreover,  the  '  Turones  '  of  Gaul 
was  altogether  a  different  name,  and  still  more  so  was  the 
more   ancient   form,    Caesarodunum. 

Lanigan  modified  this  view,  making  not  the  western  but 
a  northern  Britannia  of  Gaul,  the  birth-place  of  St.  Patrick. 
He  says  that  the  '  Bonnavem  Taberniae  '  of  the  Confession 
was  the  same  town  as  Boulogne-Sur-Mer  in  Picardy,  and 
was  the  birth-place  of  our  Saint.  But  the  Confession  does 
not  state  that  Bonnavem  Taberniae  was  Patrick's  birth- 
place ;  but  that  it  was  the  place  where  his  father  had  a  villa 
from  which  he  himself  was  carried  off  a  captive,  when  he 
was  some  sixteen  years  old.  Moreover,  there  is  no  similarity 
between  the  ancient  name  of  Boulogne,  that  is,  Gessoriacum, 
well  known  to  the  Romans,  and  Bonnavem  Taberniae  ;  and 
even  the  form  Bononia,  which  Lanigan  alleges  was  a  later 
Roman  name  for  Boulogne,  is  very  different  from  the  Celtic 
Bonnavem  or  Bannavem.  Besides,  Bononia  or  Gessoriacum 
was  a  flourishing  sea-port  all  through  the  Roman  period, 
and  could  never  be  described  as  a  vicus  or  village,  as 
Bonnavem  Taberniae  is  called.  Neither  does  Lanigan 
give  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  Taberniae,  which  he 
attempts  to  identify  with  Tarvanna,  a  place  some  thirty 
miles  from  Boulogne.  He  also  seeks  to  identify  the  Nentria 
Provincia,  to  which  Probus  asserts  Bannavem  belonged, 
with  Neustria  in  Gaul.  But  this  latter  is  a  much  later 
German  name,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as  equivalent  to 
Nentria  of   Probus. 

Cashel  Hoey  followed  Lanigan,  but  identified  Taberniae 
with  the  modern  Desvres,  sometimes  rendered  Divernia 
— not  Tabernia — in  mediaeval  Latin ;  and  he  turns 
Nemthor  of  the  Lives  into  Tournahem  !  By  such  a  system 
of  identifications  one  could  prove  anything.  Besides, 
Divonia,  not  Divernia,  was  the  ancient  Latin  form  of 
Desvres. 

Messrs.  Handcock  and  O'Mahony,  joint  editors  of  the 
second  volume  of  the  Brehon  Laws,  would  have  Patrick  born 
near  Bristol  ;  but  they  advance  no  argument  of  any  weight 
to  prove  their  contention.  Nemthor  of  Fiacc,  they  say,  is 
identified  by  the  Scholiast  with  Ail-Cluade,  but  Ail  Cluade 
was  also  called  Caer-Britton ;  Bristol  was  likewise  called 
Caer-Britton ;  therefore,  Nemthor  is  Bristol — as  if  both 
places  could  not  be  called  a  Fortress  of  the  Britons  without 
being  one   and  the  same. 

Some  later  writers  have  advanced  even  stranger  opinions 


THE    BIRTH-PLACE   OF   ST.    PATRICK.  587 

regarding   the   birth-place  of  St.   Patrick,  but  we   can   only 
briefly  allude  to  them  here  : 

The  Rev.  S.  Malone  has  advocated  what  has  been  called 
the  South  Wales  theory  of  St.  Patrick's  birth-place.  At 
one  time  he  asserted  that  *  Usktown  stands  forth  as  the 
birth-place  of  St.  Patrick,  proof  against  all  objections  derived 
from  a  hnguistic,  geographical,  historical,  or  any  other 
source.'  i  But  at  another  time  he  says,  *  with  the  evidence 
before  us  we  cannot  avoid  connecting  the  particular  spot  of 
his   birth  with   Bath  on  the  banks  of  the  middle  Avon.'  ^ 

Father  Alfred  Barry  3  would  make  St.  Patrick  a  native 
of  North  Wales,  and  asserts  that  the  '  Rock-of-Clwyd 
referred  to  in  the  early  authorities,  was  situated,  on  the  banks 
of  the  River  Clwyd  in  the  vale  of  Clwyd,  near  the  present 
town  of  Rhyl ' — a  statement  we  believe  entirely  unsupported 
by  evidence. 

Dr.  O'Brien,'*  emeritus  Professor  of  Maynooth  College, 
goes  all  the  way  to  Spain  ^  to  find  out  where  St.  Patrick  was 
born.  He  has  certainly  the  merit  of  discovering  a  new 
theory — but  hardly  anything  else.  We  cannot  admit  that 
there  is  any  ground  for  identifying  the  places  mentioned  in 
the  Confession  with  the  Spanish  localities  to  which  Dr. 
O'Brien  has  transferred  them.  No  solid  argument  can  be 
based  on  fanciful  similarities  between  the  names  in  question, 
and  there  is  no  other  reason  adduced  to  prove  the  thesis  of 
the    learned  writer. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  go  over  the  ground  already 
covered  by  the  arguments  briefly  adduced  in  our  second 
chapter.  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Moran,  in  his  exhaustive 
article,^  has  fully  discussed  the  whole  question  from  every 
point  of  view  ;  and  his  arguments,  we  think,  must  bring 
conviction  to  every  impartial  and  unprejudiced  mind.  We 
shall  here  merely  notice  a  few  of  the  objections  commonly 
brought  against  accepting  Kilpatrick  on  the  Clyde  as  the 
birth-place  of  our  national  Apostle. 

One  objection  often  brought  is  that  if  St.  Patrick  were 
a  Briton  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  he  would  hardly 
describe  Ireland,  whose  hills  were  visible  from  the  Scottish 
shores,  as  '  a  barbarous  nation,'  *  at  the  ends  of  the  earth,' 
which  he  certainly  does  more  than  once.  But  this  des- 
cription from  the  Roman  imperial  point  of  view  was  quite 

1  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  May,  1889. 

2  Dublin  Review,   1886,  p.   334. 

3  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  December,    1893. 
^  Irish   Ecclesiastical  Record,  May,    1899. 

^  '  He  was  a  native  of  a  Greek  speaking  town  (in  Spain)  Emporium,' 
p.  25. 

6  Dublin  Review,  April,   1880. 


588  APPENDIX   I. 

accurate.  Patrick  was  a  Brito-Roman,  the  son  of  a  Roman 
official,  dwelling  in  or  near  a  Roman  municipium.  Ireland 
was  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  Empire,  and  was  in  very  truth 
at  the  end  of  the  earth,  for  there  was  no  known  land  beyond 
it,  nothing  but  the  boundless  streams  of  ocean.  It  was 
also  entirely  beyond  the  pale  of  Roman  civilization,  and  as 
such  was  regarded  as  a  '  barbarous  '  country  without  any 
tincture  of  the  civilization  of  Imperial  Rome.  Such  a 
description  of  Ireland  was  therefore  quite  accurate  and  quite 
natural  for  a  citizen  of  Imperial  Rome  such  as  Patrick  declared 
himself  to  be.  We  may  fairly  assume,  too,  that  it  was  the 
language  which  the  British  Romans  used  every  day  with 
reference  to  Ireland  in  their  camps  and  cities.  The  Anglo- 
Normans  of  the  Irish  towns  used  similar  language  at  a 
much  later  period  of  the  wild  Irish  in  their  own  neighbour- 
hood, whom  they  d  3  :ribed  as  wild,  savage,  and  uncivilized — 
because  they  did  not  speak  the  English  tongue,  and  dress 
themselves  in  the  English  fashion. 

It  has  been  also  said  that  there  could  not  have  been  at 
the  period  of  Patrick's  birth  a  Roman  town,  with  a  curia  and 
decurions,  using  the  Latin  tongue,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Clyde.  People  who  speak  thus  do  not  know  the  full  history 
of  the  Roman  occupation  of  Britain. 

There  were  many  municipia  at  the  time  in  Britain  that 
might  be  regarded  as  almost  Latin  cities — in  language,  in 
customs,  in  civic  life,  in  religion.  Christianity  was  well 
known  in  some  of  them  for  at  least  150  years,  and  was  a 
*  legitimate  '  religion,  with  many  followers  favoured  by  the 
authorities  for  more  than  half  a  century.  The  Station 
at  the  Roman  wall  from  the  Firth  to  the  Clyde  was,  as 
Skene  has  shown,  one  of  their  most  important  strongholds, 
garrisoned  with  a  whole  legion  of  troops,  who  had  a  standing 
camp  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  wall,  around  which 
there  naturally  grew  up  a  Roman  Colony,  with  all  the 
privileges  of  local  self-government  accorded  to  such  municipal 
towns  under  the  wise  administration  of  Imperial  Rome. 
That  there  was  such  a  municipium  at  or  near  Ail-Cluade,  the 
strongest  point  of  the  Roman  frontier  on  the  north,  has  been 
already  shown,  and  we  need  not  repeat  the  proofs  here. 

Then,  again,  it  has  been  said  that  the  Britain  which  Patrick 
describes  in  his  Confession  as  his  native  country  and  the 
home  of  his  parents  might  well  refer  to  Armoric  Britain, 
afterwards  called  Bretagne,  or  perhaps  to  that  district  around 
Boulogne-Sur-Mer  where,  according  to  Lanigan,  a  tribe 
called  the  Britanni  dwelt.  But  the  language  of  St.  Patrick 
explodes  these  speculations.  He  says  that  he  was  most 
anxious  to  go  to  the  '  Britannias  '  as  to  his  country  and  his 
parents,  and  not  only  that,  but  to  go  as  far  as  '  Gallias,*  that 


I 


THE    BIRTH-PLACE    OF    ST.    PATRICK.  589 

he  might  visit  the  brethren  and  see  the  face  of  the  saints 
of  his  Lord  whom  he  knew.^  The  word  '  Britanniae  '  was 
never  appHed  to  any  country  but  Great  Britain ;  and 
it  is  here  clearly  distinguished  from  the  *  Gauls  *  (Gallias), 
which  included  all  the  Roman  Gaul,  as  Britanniae  included 
all  the  five  provinces  of  Roman  Britain.  The  native  country 
(})atria)  of  St.  Patrick  was,  therefore,  some  part  of  Roman 
Britain,  and  could  not  have  been  any  part  of  Gaul  which 
is  so  clearly  distinguished  from  that  Britain  which  was  the 
Saint's  birth-place  and  the  home  of  his  parents  (parentes) 
or  relations.  Besides,  the  best  authorities  tell  us  that  the 
name  Britannia  (Minor)  was  never  applied  to  Bretagne  or 
any  other  part  of  Gaul  before  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,^ 
*  or  about  the  year  458,'  that  is,  eighty-six  years  after  St. 
Patrick  was  born.  The  single  sentence  which  we  have 
quoted  from  the  Confession  refutes  all  arguments  in  favour 
of  any  part  of  Gaul  as  the  native  country  of  St.  Patrick. 

But  it  has  been  urged  by  Lanigan  and  others  that  Nemthor 
or  Nemthur,  which  Fiacc  tells  us  was  the  birth-place  of 
Patrick,  and  is  identified  by  Fiacc's  Scholiast  *  with  Ail- 
Cluade,  a  city  in  North  Britain,'  is  not  referred  to  as  such 
by  any  other  ancient  writer.  The  famous  Rock  had,  how- 
ever, many  names — the  Roman  name  of  Theodosia,  the 
Celtic  name  of  Ail-Cluade,  or,  as  Bede  calls  it,  Alcluith, 
the  British  name  of  Dunbritton,  and,  moreover,  what  we  may 
call  the  Welsh  name  of  Nevthur,  which  anyone  can  perceive 
is  the  same  as  Nemthur.  This  name  is  found  in  a  poem  ^  of 
the  Welsh  bard,  Taliessin,  in  the  Black  Book  of  Caermarthen, 
and  clearly  shows  that  it  was  applied  to  Ail-Cluade,  as  the 
Scholiast  on  Fiacc  tells  us.  Neither  Colgan,  however,  nor 
Lanigan  had  an  opportunity  of  learning  this  most  important 
identification.  The  Black  Book  of  Caermarthen  was  not 
then  published.  It  goes  to  show,  too,  that  the  name  Nemthur, 
or  Nevthur,  as  the  Black  Book  has  it,  really  means,  '  Holy 
Rock  '  or  Tower,*  because  there  was  a  famous  Shrine  on  the 
Rock  dedicated  to  St.  Patrick  from  immemorial  ages. 

The  name  Nentria    which    Probus    uses    in    reference    to 


^  Unde  autem  possem,  etsi  voluero  amittere  illas.  et  pergere  in 
Britannias  et  libentissime  paratus  irem  quasi  ad  patriam  et  parentes  ; 
sed  non  id  solum  sed  etiam  usque  ad  Gallias  visitare  fratres,  &c.    &c. 

2  Lobineau,  Histoire  de  la  Bretagne,  Vol.  I.    p.  5. 

2  When  Rederech,  the  hero  of  the  poem,  set  out  from  Wales  to 
recover  his  Kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  he  sailed  to  Nevthur,  where, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  he  fought  a  great  battle  and  won  his 
kingdom.        See  Skene,  Celtic  Scotland,  Vol.  II.,  p.  436. 

*  The  Celtic  Tor  or  Tuv,  in  composition  lyior,  means  a  tower  or 
tower-like  rock  :  and  the  root  Nem  (Cymbric  Neii)  means  '  holy.' 
The  text  of  Fiacc  shows  that  the  n  is  not  euphonic,  but  belongs  to 
the  root, 


590  APPENDIX    I. 

Patriclc's  birth-place  is  also  easily  explained.  He  declares, 
like  all  our  ancient  writers  who  have  touched  the  subject, 
that  Patrick  was  born  in  Britain  (in  Britanniis  natus  est), 
and  that  his  parents  were  from  Bannave  in  the  district  of 
Tiburnia,  not  far  from  the  Western  Sea,  *  which  village  we 
have  ascertained  beyond  doubt  belonged  to  the  province  of 
Nentria,  where  giants  are  said  to  have  dwelt  of  old.'  i 

It  appears  to  us  quite  clear  that  this  form  Nentria  is 
merely  an  attempt  to  latinize  the  Welsh  form  Nevthur  or 
Nemthur,  the  district  or  province  taking  its  name  from  the 
capital.  There  were  doubtless  '  giants'  graves  '  of  Celtic 
origin  on  the  fringes  of  the  hills  around  Dunbarton,  just 
as  they  were  in  Ireland,  and  these  graves  would  naturally  lend 
countenance  to  the  tradition  that  a  wild  race  of  gigantic 
stature  once  occupied  the  northern  shores  of  the  Clyde — 
which  was  doubtless  true  enough. 

The  Bannave  of  Probus  is  clearly  a  scribal  error  for 
Bannaven,  or  perhaps  it  is  an  attempt  to  give  the  name 
in  the  ablative  case  by  dropping  the  n.^  This  Regio  Tiburnia 
is  the  Bonnavem  Taberniae  of  the  Confession,  the  Campus 
Tabernaculorum  of  the  Latin  Lives,  and  the  Magh  Tabern  of 
the  Celtic  or  British  Scribes.  It  means,  simply,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  the  Plain  of  the  Tents  by  the  River-Mouth, 
a  most  apt  description  of  the  great  plain  occupied  by  the 
Roman  camp  at  the  junction  of  the  Leven  and  the  Clyde, 
and  there,  we  conclude  without  hesitation,  St.  Patrick  was 
born  in  the  year  A.D.  372  or  373. 

^  'Quern  vicum  indubitanter  comperimus  esse  Nentriae  Provinciae. 
Probus. 

2  De  vico  Bannave  Tiburniae  regionis — from  the  village  Bannaven 
of  the  district  of  Tiburnia. 


APPENDIX    II. 

THE  BURIAL-PLACE  OF  ST.   PATRICK. 

The  birth-place  of  our  national  Saint  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  controversy  ;  but  till  our  own  time  his  burial- 
place  was  not,  we  believe,  seriously  questioned.  Recently, 
however,  thfe  ancient  traditional  claim  of  Downpatrick  to 
possess  the  remains  of  St.  Patrick  has  been  rather 
lightly  set  aside,  and  it  is  sought  to  bestow  on  Armagh  i 
the  double  honour  of  his  tomb  and  his  '  kingdom.'  It 
is  worth  while,  therefore,  in  the  lirst  place,  to  examine 
the  evidence  in  favour  of  the  Ulidian  claim ;  and  then 
to  weigh  the  newly- found  arguments  in  favour  of 
Armagh.  The  subject  is  surrounded  by  many  difficulties, 
and  even  so  capable  and  impartial  a  critic  as  the  late 
lamented  Bishop  Reeves  admitted  that  the  evidence  in 
favour  of  Downpatrick  was  '  not  altogether  unexceptionable.' 
We  shall,  therefore,  briefly  examine  the  evidence  and  the 
objections,  such  as  they  are  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  we 
shall  touch  on  the  wider  question,  whether  the  relics  of  Brigid 
and  Columcille  also  repose  in  the  sacred  soil  of  Downpatrick. 
In  our  opinion,  the  oldest,  though  perhaps  not  the  clearest, 
reference  to  St.  Patrick's  burial  at  Down,  is  contained  in 
Fiacc's  Hymn,  which  is  older  even  than  Muirchu's  Memoir 
contained  in  the  Book  of  Armagh.  The  arguments  hinted 
at  by  Todd  and  Stokes  against  the  authenticity  of  this 
Hymn  will  be  found  to  disappear  on  close  examination. 
Fiacc  says  : — 

In  Armagh  there  is  a  kingdom,  it  long  ago  deserted  Emain, 
A  great  church  in  Dun-leth-glaisse  ;  that  Tara  is  a  waste,  is  not 
pleasant  to  me.'^ 

The  Lives  of  St.  Patrick  generally  declare  that  the  angel 
told  him  his  '  kingdom,'  or  spiritual  sovereignty,  was  to 
remain  in  Armagh,  but  that  his  body  was  to  rest  in  Down- 
patrick ;  that  is,  of  course,  Dun-leth-glaisse,  or,  as  it  has 
been  written  in  later  times,  Dun-da-leth-glaisse,  that  is,  the 
Fort  of  the  Two-Half-Chains — alluding,  it  is  said,  to  the 
broken  fetters  of  the  two  sons  of  Dichu,  who  were  kept  in 

1  See  the  Rev.  T.  Olden's  paper,  lead  before  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  27th  February,    1893. 

2  "  In  Ard  Macha  fil  rigi  iscian  doreracht  Emain,  iscell  mor  Dun 
leth-glaisse  nimdil  ciddithrub  Temair,"  See  Stokes'  text  and  trans 
lation  as  above. 


592  APPENDIX    TI. 

bondage  by  King  Laeghaire,  but  whose  bonds  were  broken 
miraculously  by  St.  Patrick,  and  carried  by  them  to  their 
father's  stronghold  at  Down.  The  only  meaning  of  the 
reference  to  the  great  church  of  Down  in  this  couplet,  in 
connection  with  our  Apostle,  must  arise  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  buried  there.  Its  church  cannot  be  conceived  as  great 
for  any  other  reason  in  connection  with  St.  Patrick.  His 
spiritual  sovereignty  continued  in  Armagh,  but  his  body 
remained  at  Down. 

Still  more  explicit  is  Muirchu's  statement  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  dating  at  least  from  the  end  of  the  eighth  century. 
This  author,  writing  in  that  very  book  which  was  always 
esteemed  as  the  most  cherished  treasure  of  the  Church  of 
Armagh,  declares  expressly  that,  when  Patrick  felt  the  hour 
of  his  death  approaching,  he  was  anxious  to  return  to 
Armagh  so  that  he  might  die  there,  '  because  he  loved  it 
before  all  other  lands.'  ^  But  the  angel  Victor  sent  another 
angel  to  the  Saint  to  tell  him  to  return  to  Saul,  where  he 
was  then  staying  ;  that  his  petitions  to  the  Lord  were 
granted  ;  and  that  at  Saul — his  earliest  foundation  — he  was 
destined  to  die.  As  the  end  approached,  Tassach  of  Rath- 
colp  gave  him  the  '  Sacrifice,'  and  there  the  Saint  gave  up 
his  holy  soul  to  God.  But  the  same  angel  told  them  to 
harness,  after  the  obsequies,  two  wild  steers  to  a  waggon,  and 
let  them  go  whither  they  would  with  the  Saint's  body.  This 
was  done,  and  '  they  came,  by  divine  guidance,  to  Dun-leth- 
glaisse,  where  Patrick  was  buried.^  Then  we  are  told  of 
the  contest  with  the  men  of  Oriel  for  his  remains.  It  is 
impossible  to  have  more  explicit  testimony  than  this  of  the 
burial  in  Down. 

Again,  in  the  Tripartite,  we  have  the  same  testimony  in  a 
somewhat  different  form.  "  Go  back,"  says  Victor,  "  to  the 
place  from  which  thou  hast  come,  namely,  to  Saul  (the 
barn  church)  ;  for  it  is  there  thou  shalt  die,  and  not  in 
Armagh."  "  Let,"  he  added,  "  two  unbroken  young  oxen, 
of  the  cattle  of  Conall,  be  brought  out  of  Findabair,  that  is 
from  Clochar,  and  let  thy  body  be  put  into  a  little  car 
behind  themi,  and  be  thou  put  a  man's  cubit  into  the  grave, 
that  thy  remains  and  thy  relics  be  not  taken  out  of  it." 
Thus  was  it  done  after  his  death.  The  oxen  brought  him  as 
far  as  the  stead,  '  wherein  to-day  standeth  Dun-leth-glasi, 
and  he  was  buried  in  that  place  with  honour  and  veneration.'  ^ 
Now,  here  is  practically  the  same  statement  given  by  our 
two   most   ancient   and  perfectly  independent   authorities  — 

1  Quam  prae  omnibus  terris  dilexit. 

2  Et  exierunt,  Dei  nutu  regente,  ad  Duu-leth-glaisse,  ubi  sepultus  est 
Patricius. 

3  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  vol.  i.,  p.  254. 


THK    BURIAL-PLACE    OF    ST.    PATRICK  593 

one  written  in  Latin,  and  the  other  in  GaeHc  ;  and  the 
substance  of  that  statement  is  :  first,  that  St.  Patrick,  feehng 
his  end  approaching,  wished  to  return  to  Armagh,  the  city 
of  his  love,  that  he  might  die  there  ;  secondly,  that  instead, 
he  was  commanded  to  return  to  Saul,  which  shows  that  he 
was  already  on  the  road  for  Armagh  ;  thirdly,  that  he  died  at 
Saul ;  and,  fourthly,  that  he  was  buried  not  there,  but  some 
two  miles  distant  at  Dun-da-leth-glaisse,  or  Downpatrick. 

It  is  worth  noting  also  that  a  command  was  given  to 
bury  him  deep  in  the  ground — five  cubits  according  to  one 
account,  or  a  man's  cubit  according  to  this  Tripartite 
account  which  seems  to  mean  the  height  or  depth  that  a  man 
standing  up  could  reach  with  his  arm,  that  is,  between  seven 
and  eight  feet  in  either  case.  And  the  reason  is  given — '  that 
thy  remains  may  not  be  taken  out  of  the  grave,'  either  by 
the  men  of  Oriel  or  by  any  other  marauders  :  a  very  wise 
and  necessary  precaution,  as  subsequent  events  clearly 
proved. 

The  later  Lives  of  St.  Patrick,  by  Probus  and  Jocelyn — 
the  former  writing  in  a  German  monastery  in  the  ninth 
century,  and  the  latter  in  an  English  monastery  of  the 
twelfth — repeat  the  same  statements,  which  at  least  go 
to  prove  that  the  tradition  in  favour  of  Downpatrick  was 
universal  and  unquestioned  in  the  time  of  those  writers. 
Moreover,  there  is  collateral  evidence  of  a  very  early  date. 
Usher  quotes  from  an  early  Life  of  St.  Brigid  a  para- 
graph which  states  that  St.  Patrick  was  buried  in  Dun- 
leth-glaisse,  and  that  his  body  will  remain  there  until  the 
day  of  judgment.!  And  in  the  Testamentum  Patricii,  a  work 
also  of  very  ancient  date,  we  have  in  Irish  and  Latin  the 
couplet : — 

Dun  i  mbia  m-eseirgi  a  Raith  Celtair  Mic  Duach, 

Dunum,  ubi  erit  mea  resunectio  in  colle  Celtaris  filii  Duach, 

in  which  the  Saint  proclaims  that  it  is  in  Down  his  resurrec- 
tion will  be. 

The  '  hill  *  of  Celtar,  to  which  this  verse  refers,  is  the 
great  rath  a  little  to  the  north  of  the  modern  cathedral  of 
Downpatrick,  which  still  rises  to  a  height  of  about  sixty 
feet  above  the  plain,  with  a  circumference  of  more  than 
seven  hundred  yards,  surrounded  by  a  treble  line  of  circum- 
vallations.  A  right  royal  fort  it  was  in  size  and  strength, 
and  fitly  took  its  name  from  Celtar  of  the  Battles,  who  was 
either  its  builder  or  its  most  renowned  defender.      This  hero 


1  Sepultus  est  in  Arce  Ladglaissc^  vel  Leathf^Iaysse,  et  ibi  usque  ad 
diem  judicii  corpus  ejus  permanebit.  (Woilcs,  vol.  vi.,  p.  457,  as 
quoted  by  Reeves.) 

2Q 


594  APPENDIX   II. 

was  one  of  the  knights  of  the  Red  Branch,  who  flourished 
about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  His  fort  was 
called  Dun  Celtair,  and  sometimes  Rath  Celtair,  and  also 
Aras  Celtair,  or  the  habitation  of  Celtair.  This  '  habitation — 
or  civiias,  as  it  is  called  in  Latin — is  described  in  the  Life 
of  St.  Brigid,  by  Animosus,  as  situated  in  regione  Ultoriim 
prope  mare,  which  explains  the  statement  of  Tirechan,  who 
describes  the  church  of  St.  Patrick's  grave  as  jiixta  mare 
proxima — close  by  the  sea — because  at  that  time  a  small  arm 
of  the  sea  from  Strangford  Lough  flowed  almost  quite  up  to 
the  ancient  Dun  and  the  church  beside  it.  There  are  other 
considerations  also  which  leave  no  reasonable  doubt  that 
St.  Patrick  was  buried  at  Downpatrick. 

The  men  of  Orior  and  the  Hy  Niall  around  them,  though 
very  anxious  to  possess  the  body  of  St.  Patrick,  and  quite 
ready  to  engage  in  a  bloody  conflict  in  order  to  secure  it, 
never  claimed  to  have  succeeded  in  their  purpose.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Book  of  Armagh,  belonging  to  their  own  great 
church,  whose  prerogatives  it  would  naturally  exalt,  expressly 
testifies  that  the  Saint  was  buried,  not  at  Armagh,  as  he 
wished,  but  at  Downpatrick  ;  and  that,  too,  by  the  direction 
of  an  angel.  If  there  was  any  doubt  about  the  matter,  if 
they  had  even  a  shadow  of  claim  in  their  favour,  is  it  likely 
that  the  scribes  who  wrote  the  Book  of  Armagh,  and  naturally 
make  the  most  of  its  privileges  and  rights,  would  not  also 
claim  this  great  honour  instead  of  yielding  the  glory  to 
Downpatrick  ?  They  certainly  never  failed  to  exalt  the 
prerogatives  of  their  own  church,  as  they  had  a  right  to  do  ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  never  claimed  to  possess  the 
body  of  their  great  Apostle,  which  is  of  itself  a  conclusive 
argument  that  history  and  tradition  always  pointed  to  Down 
as  the  place  of  his  burial.  And  the  fact  that  the  authors  of 
the  Book  of  Armagh  so  distinctly  admit  it,  is  a  strong  proof 
of  their  honesty  as  historians  ;  for  we  may  well  believe  them 
in  other  things,  when  they  are  so  truthful  in  what  tells 
against  the  renown  of  their  own  royal  city.  In  Armagh 
was  his  '  kingdom,'  as  Fiacc  says,  but  in  Down  was  the  '  great 
church  '  that  contained  his  remains. 

Now  this  brings  us  to  examine  the  objections  or  argu- 
ments on  the  other  side,  if  we  can  call  them  such.  First  of 
all,  there  is  Tirechan's  statement  in  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
where  he  says  Patrick  was  in  four  things  like  to  Moses  ; 
and  the  fourth  is,  that  '  where  his  bones  are  no  one  knows.' i 
Therefore  it  certainly  follows  that  they  were  not  in  Tirechan's 
time  known  to  be  in  Armagh  ;  in  fact,  Armagh,  as  we  have 
seen,  never  claimed  to  possess  them.       Tirechan,  however, 

*  Ubi  sunt  ossa  ejus  nemo  novit. 


THE    BURIAT.-PLACE   OF   ST.    PATRICK.  595 

explains  what  he  means  clearly  enough  in  the  following 
paragraph,  which  has  not  been  faithfully  rendered  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Olden,  in  his  paper  read  before  the  Royal  Irish  Academy, 
and  which  is  meant  to  be  explanatory  of  the  statement  that 
'  no  one  knows  where  his  bones  are  '  : — 

Two  hostile  bands  [he  says]  contended  during  twelve  days  for  the 
body  of  the  blessed  Patrick,  and  they  saw  no  night  intervene  during 
these  twelve  days,  but  daylight  always  ;  and  on  the  twelfth  day  they 
came  to  actual  conflict  ;  but  the  two  hosts,  seeing  the  body  on  its  bier 
with  each  party,  gave  up  the  conflict.  Columcille,  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  pointed  out  the  sepulchre  of  Patrick,  and  proves  where  it 
is  ;  namely,  in  Saul  of  Patrick  ;  that  is,  in  the  church  nigh  to  the  sea^ 
where  the  gathering  of  the  relics  is — that  is,  of  the  bones  of  Columcille 
from  Britain,  and  the  gathering  of  all  the  saints  of  Erin  in  the  day  of 
judgment. 

As  this  is  an  important  passage,  we  append  the  Latin  text 
below,  as  given  by  Dr.  Stokes  in  his  edition  of  the  Tripartite. 

Ubi  sunt  ossa  ejus  nemo  novit.  Duo  hostes  duodecim  diebus 
corpus  Sancti  Patricii  contenderunt,  et  noctem  inter  se  duodecim  diebus 
non  viderunt  sed  diem  semper  ;  et  in  duodecima  die  ad  praelium 
venerunt,  et  coipus  in  giabato  duo  hostes  viderunt  apud  se,  et  non 
pugnaverunt.  Columcille,  Spiritu  Sancto  instigante,  sepultuiam 
Patiicii  ostendit  (et)  ubi  est  confirmat,  id  est,  in  Sabul  Patricii,  id  est 
in  ecclesia  juxta  mare  proxima,  ubi  est  conductio  martirum,  id  est 
ossuum  Columcille  de  Britannia,  et  conductio  omnium  sanctorum 
Hibeiniae  in  die  judicii.       (Vol.,  ii.  p.  }^12.) 

This  passage  gives  rise  to  several  very  interesting  questions  ; 
and  first  of  all  we  ask,  is  ours  the  correct  translation,  and 
what  is  its  true  meaning  ?  Now  any  scholar  can  compare 
the  translation  with  the  text,  and  judge  for  himself. 

The  meaning  also  of  Tirechan  appears  to  us  to  be  clear 
enough,  although  the  Latin  is  rather  rude.  No  one  knew 
the  exact  place  where  Patrick's  bones  were  deposited  until 
Columcille  pointed  out  the  spot ;  and  that  spot  is  in  Saul,  that 
is,  in  the  church  near  to  the  sea,  where  the  relics  of  Colcumcille 
were  brought,  and  where  all  the  saints  of  Ireland  will  be 
gathered,  doubtless  as  assessors  to  Patrick,  who  is  to  judge 
the  Irish  on  the  day  of  judgment.  *  In  Saul '  here  clearly 
means  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Saul,  for  it  is  explained  to 
mean  the  church  very  near  the  sea,  whither  the  relics  of 
Columcille  were  brought  from  Britain.  Downpatrick  is 
only  two  miles  from  Saul  ;  the  church  very  near  the  sea  is, 
as  we  have  already  shown,  the  church  of  Downpatrick. 
Saul  had  no  church  that  could  be  described  as  quite  close  to 
the  sea  as  Downpatrick  was  ;  and,  moreover,  it  was  to  that 
church  of  Downpatrick  the  relics  of  Columcille  and  Brigid 
were  afterwards  brought — to  the  very  spot  which  Columcille 
himself  had  pointed  out  as  the  grave  of  Patrick, 


596  APPENDIX    II. 

Taking  this  account  of  Tircchan  in  connection  with  the 
other  early  accounts  given  in  the  Tripartite,  and  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  we  can  fairly  judge  what  took  place  after  the  death 
of  Patrick.  He  died  at  Saul,  as  all  admit,  and  news  of  his 
illness  first,  and  afterwards  of  his  death,  was  quickly  carried 
over  all  the  north,  and  bishops,  priests,  and  people  came  in 
crowds  from  all  quarters  to  be  present  at  the  obsequies  of 
their  beloved  father  in  God,  to  whom  they  owed  their  salvation. 
The  obsequies  were  prolonged  for  twelve  days,  to  give  them 
all  time  to  arrive,  and  the  lights  in  the  little  church  around 
his  body  and  without  the  church,  where  *  the  elders  of  Ireland 
were  watching  him  with  hymns,  and  psalms,  and  canticles,' 
were  so  many  and  so  bright,  that  '  there  was  no  night  in 
Magh  Inis  ;  '  or,  as  it  is  elsewhere  said,  there  was  almost 
no  darkness,  but  rather  a  bright  angelic  radiance — which  is 
certainly  not  unlikely. 

But  meantime  the  men  of  Orior  from  Slieve  GuUion  to 
the  Bann,  and  the  fierce  Hy  Niall  of  Lough  Neagh,  had 
resolved,  when  the  obsequies  were  over,  to  carry  home,  at  any 
cost,  the  body  of  their  beloved  Patrick  to  his  own  cathedral 
of  Armagh  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  proud  Ulidians  were 
as  sternly  resolved  to  prevent  them.  With  themselves  he 
had  founded  his  first  church  in  Erin,  that  very  Barn,  where 
his  remains  now  lay  ;  with  them  he  came  to  die  by  direction 
of  God's  angel ;  and  with  them  he  would  be  buried  in  spite  of 
all  the  warriors  of  Orior.  The  two  parties  were  watching 
each  other  all  the  time  that  the  priests  were  praying  ;  but 
as  soon  as  the  body  was  moved,  the  strongest  party  would 
try  to  carry  it  off.  The  men  of  Orior  and  O'Neilland  were 
gathered  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  estuary  running  up  to 
Downpatrick  from  Strangford  Lough,  now  called  the  Quoile 
river  ;  the  Ulidians  stood  watching  them  on  its  southern 
shore  between  Saul  and  Down.  When  all  was  ready,  the 
body  was  placed  by  divine  direction,  it  is  said,  on  a  wain, 
drawn  by  two  unbroken  steers,  and  it  was  to  be  buried  at 
the  spot  where  the  steers  would  stop  of  their  own  accord. 
And  now  a  battle  was  imminent,  but  the  Ulidians  wisely 
took  the  opportunity  of  setting  out  when  there  was  a  high 
tide  in  the  estuary,  and  Providence  divinely  interposed 
and  raised  still  higher  the  swelling  waves,  so  that  the  men 
of  Armagh  could  not  cross  the  ford  at  the  Quoile  bridge, 
as  it  is  now  called,  or  Drumbo,  as  it  seems  to  have  been 
called  at  that  time.i  So  the  Ulidians  utilised  the  favourable 
time  ;  probably  they  had  the  grave  already  made  nigh  to 
their  own  royal  fort,  and  before  the  tide  receded,  they  had 

1  Monsignor  O'Laverty  has,  in  oui  opinion,  left  no  doubt  as   to  the 
exact  site  of  Drumbo— the  Collis  Bovis  of  the  Book  of  Armagli, 


THE   BURIAL-PLACE   OF   ST.    PATRICK.  597 

the  Saint's  body  buried  seven  feet  deep  with  a  huge  flag 
over  it,  and  the  earth  and  the  green  sward  over  all,  so  as  to 
leave  no  visible  trace  of  the  exact  spot,  for  they  feared  that 
the  men  of  Orior  might  come  and  remove  the  body,  either  by 
stealth  or  by  the  strong  hand. 

The  men  of  Armagh,  however,  were  resolved  to  cross 
the  ford,  and  fight  for  the  sacred  treasure,  which  the  Ulidians 
were  guarding,  when  suddenly,  to  their  great  joy,  there 
appeared  amongst  the  men  of  Orior  that  very  identical 
waggon  drawn  by  two  steers  and  bearing  the  Saint's  body 
which  they  had  seen  coming  from  Saul  to  Drumbo.  It  was 
the  Saint  himself,  as  they  thought,  gave  his  body  to  Armagh, 
so  they  set  out  with  great  joy  to  return  home  ;  but,  alas  ! 
when  they  came  near  to  Armagh,  to  the  river  called  Cabcenne, 
the  steers  and  waggon  and  body  suddenly  disappeared 
from  their  eyes,  and  were  seen  no  more.  Then  the  men 
of  Orior  and  the  Hy  Niall  knew  that  it  was  God's  will  that 
the  Saint's  body  should  not  be  in  his  own  city  on  Macha's 
Height,  so  they  made  no  further  attempt  to  recover  it. 
Whether  the  appearance  of  the  second  waggon  was  a  real 
miracle,  or  a  pious  ruse  to  prevent  bloodshed,  or  a  later 
invention  to  gratify  the  disappointed  vanity  of  the  Hy  Niall, 
it  is  now  impossible  to  ascertain.  The  story,  however,  is 
quite  consistent  and  natural,  and  clearly  shows  why,  for 
greater  security,  the  Saint  was  buried  at  Down,  near  the 
royal  fortress,  rather  than  at  Saul,  and  why  in  a  few  years 
no  man  knew  the  exact  spot  where  his  bones  were  laid,  until 
Columcille  revealed  it  sixty  years  later,  in  a.d.  552.  In  that 
year  we  are  informed  by  the  scribe  of  the  Ulster  Annals — a 
high  authority — who  quotes  from  the  Book  of  Cuanu,  that  : — 

The  relics  {m'nuia)  of  Patrick  were  placed  in  a  shrine  at  the  end  of 
threescore  years  after  Patrick's  death  by  Columcille.  Three  splendid 
minna  were  found  in  his  tomb  ;  to  wit,  his  Goblet,  and  the  Angel's 
Gospel,  and  the  Bell  of  the  Testament.  Columcille,  at  the  bidding  of 
the  Angel,  gave  the  Goblet  to  Down,  the  Bell  of  the  Testament  to 
Armagh,  and  kept  the  Angel's  Gospel  for  himself ;  and  the  reason  it 
is  called  the  Angel's  Gospel  is,  because  it  was  from  the  Angel's  hand 
that  Columcille  received  it. 

The  first  scribe  of  the  Book  of  Cuanu  was  probably  as 
ancient  as  Tirechan  himself. 

This  entry  is  very  interesting,  because  it  not  only  explains 
and  confirms  Tirechan' s  statement  regarding  the  burial  of 
the  Saint,  but  also  goes  to  prove  that  the  date  of  his  death 
was  493,  since  his  relics  were  enshrined  threescore  years 
after  his  death.  The  word  coach,  which  has  been  translated 
'  goblet,'  means  a  cup,  and  usually  a  wooden  cup.  The  cup 
found  by  Columcille  in  the  grave  of  St.  Patrick  was  probably 
a  chalice,  and  perhaps  a  wooden  chalice,  although  the  word 


598  APPENDIX    II. 

cailech,  obviously  a  loan  word  from  the  Latin,  is  that  which 
is  used  for  *  chalice  '  in  the  Irish  Tripartite.  Chalices,  both 
of  glass  and  wood,  were  certainly  used,  although  of  course 
not  exclusively,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  Church. i  St.  Boniface 
is  reported  ^  to  have  said  that  in  old  times  they  had  wooden 
chalices  but  golden  priests  ;  now,  however,  there  were  golden 
chalices  but  wooden  priests.  It  was  the  custom,  too,  in  the 
earlier  ages  of  the  Churc^,  and  to  -ome  extent  the  custom  is 
still  preserved,  to  bury  with  the  deceased  the  insignia  of  his 
office.  It  would  be  more  pagan  than  Christian-like  to  bury 
an  ordinary  drinking  goblet  with  the  Saint,  and  the  clergy 
who  stood  round  his  bier  would  never  permit  it.  But  to 
bury  a  chalice  with  him — perhaps  the  very  one  he  first  used 
in  the  Barn-church  at  Saul — would  be  appropriate,  if  not 
usual.  The  three  splendid  minna  found  by  Columcille  in 
Patrick's  grave  would  thus  be  the  appropriate  insignia  of 
his  high  office — the  chalice  would  typify  the  sacrificing 
priest,  the  Gospel  the  preacher,  and  the  bell  was  always 
taken  in  the  early  Irish  Church  to  signify  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Saint,  which  extended  at  least  as  far  as  its  sound 
could  be  heard. ^ 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  church  in  Down  when 
Patrick  was  buried  there  ;  but  the  church  was  afterwards 
built  around  his  grave,  although  the  exact  spot  where  his 
body  lay  seems  to  have  been  doubtful.  For  we  are  told  that 
the  workmen,  when  digging  the  foundations  of  the  church, 
suddenly  beheld  flames  issuing  from  the  grave,  and  there- 
upon withdrew,  fearing  the  burning  fire.*  The  grave  was, 
doubtless,  then  closed  in  again,  and  no  one  dared  to  disturb 
it  until  Columcille  was  inspired  to  enshrine  the  holy  relics. 

Another  reference  to  the  alleged  burial  of  the  Saint  at 
Saul  occurs  in  Colgan's  Fourth  Life,  where  : — 

It  is  related  [says  Rev.  Mr.  Olden]  that  a  boy  playing  in  the  church- 
yard there  lost  his  hoop  in  a  chink  in  St.  Patrick's  grave,  and  having 
put  down  his  hand  to  recover  his  plaything  was  unable  to  withdraw  it. 
Upon  this  Bishop  Loarn  of  Bright,  a  place  near  at  hand,  was  sent  for, 
and  on  his  arrival  addressed  the  Saint  in  the  following  words  : — 
"  Why,  O  Elder,  dost  thou  hold  the  child's  hand  ?  " 

This  entire  passage  is  founded  on  a  mis- translation  of  an 
incident,  which  is  correctly  recorded  in  the   Tripartite  : — 

Then  Patrick  went  from  Saul  southwards,  that  he  might  preach  to 
Ross,  son  of  Trichem  (the  brother  of  Dichu  of  Saul).     He  it  is  that 

^  See  Du  Cange's  Glossary,  sub  voce. 

2  By  Walafridus  Strabo,  in  his   Vita  Bonafacii,  c.  24. 

3  See  Life  of  St.  Brendan,  c.  xiv. 

^  See  Muirchu,  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  p.  298,  Stokes'  edition. 


1 


THE    BURIAL-PLACE   OF   ST.    PATRICK.  599 

dwelt  in  Derlus,  to  the  south  of  Downpatiick — there  stands  a  small 
town  there  to-day,  n:uiiely,  Bright — uhi  est  e|)iscopus  Loairn,  qui 
aususestincrepare  Patricium  tenentem  mauum  pueri  ludentisecclesiam 
juxta  suam. 

The  incident  occurred  during  the  lifetime  of  St.  Patrick, 
for  Loarn  was  of  his  '  familia,'  and  probably  died  before  him  ; 
and,  as  Dr.  Stokes  observes,  the  phrase  '  tenentem  manum  '  in 
the  Latin  seems  to  be  a  translation  of  the  Irish  gabail  lama, 
which  is  constantly  used  in  the  Tripartite  to  signify  expelling 
or  driving  away — showing  one  off  the  premises.  Loarn  was 
Bishop  of  Bright,  three  miles  south-east  of  Down,  and  the 
south  of  Saul.  We  are  told  that  St.  Patrick  often  resided 
at  Saul  during  the  intervals  of  his  missionary  labours  ;  the 
boy  doubtless  disturbed  him,  and  the  Saint  drove  him  away, 
perhaps  with  too  much  severity  ;  and,  therefore,  his  disciple 
'  rebuked  '  him  for  his  harshness  to  the  child.  This  story  is 
intelligible,  and  even  probable,  for  Patrick,  if  we  can  believe 
the  Tripartite,  was  not  always  meek  and  patient.  But  the 
incident,  as  recorded  in  Colgan's  Fourth  Life,  is  evidently 
due  to  the  imagination  of  a  scribe  who  did  not  understand 
the  record  from  which  he  was  copying.  The  author  of  the 
Tripartite  was  apparently  so  much  afraid  of  scandalizing 
anybody  by  the  story,  that  he  narrates  the  incident  in  Latin, 
and  not  in  the  vernacular.  When  Loarn  was  in  Bright  and 
Patrick  in  Saul  there  was,  as  we  have  said,  neither  church  nor 
bishop    in    Downpatrick.  That    church    became    famous 

because  it  was  Patrick's  burial-place  ;  and  hence  the  first 
prelate  of  Down  of  whom  we  know  anything  is  *  Fergus, 
Bishop  of  Dun-leth-glaisse,*  who  died  in  583  ;  that  is,  thirty 
3^ears  after  Columcille  had  revealed  St.  Patrick's  grave. 

In  Colgan's  Latin  Tripartite,  as  quoted  by  Bishop 
Reeves,!  there  is  a  passage  which  might  be  easily  misunder- 
stood. The  angel  Victor  is  described  as  saying  to  Patrick  : 
'  Revertere  ad  monasterium  Sabhallense,  unde  veneras,  ibi 
et  non  Ardmachae  migrabas  ad  Deum,  tiiumque  sepelietur 
corpus.'  But  the  last  clause  is  not  in  the  Irish  Tripartite, 
as  we  have  it ;  and  if  it  were  it  could  only  mean  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Saul ;  for,  on.  the  same  page  it  is  distinctly 
stated  that  the  oxen  carried  his  body  from  Saul  to  Dun-leth- 
glaisse,  and  that  he  was  buried  there  with  honour  and 
veneration. 

There  is  also  a  strange  entry  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four 
Masters,  a.d.  1293.  *  It  was  revealed  to  Nicholas  MacMaclisa 
(Comarb  of  Patrick),  that  the  relics  of  Patrick,  Columcille, 
and  Bridgid  were  at  Sabhall  ;  they  were  taken  up  by  him, 
and  great  virtues  and  miracles  were  wrought  by  them,  and 


^  Antiquities  of  Down  and  Connor^  p.  224. 


600  APPENDIX    II. 

after  having  been  honourably  covered  were  deposited  in  a 
shrine.'  The  Dubhn  copy  of  the  Ulster  Annals  has  a 
similar  entry.  These  entries  seem  to  ignore  the  celebrated 
invention  and  translation  of  the  same  relics,  which  took 
place  in  the  Cathedral  of  Down,  in  1185,  in  presence  of  the 
Papal  Legate,  the  Bishop  of  Down,  and  John  de  Courcy. 
Could  the  shrine  have  been  lost  or  stolen  in  the  meantime  ? 
Or  was  it,  as  some  writers  suggest,  an  Irish  Invention  of  the 
relics  got  up  for  Armagh,  as  a  set-off  against  the  Anglo- 
Norman  Invention  by  John  de  Courcy  in  Down  ?  Or,  what 
is  much  more  probable,  was  the  Saul  of  which  there  is 
question  the  church  of  that  name  which  undoubtedly 
existed  at  Armagh,  and  which  contained  relics  of  the  three 
saints  originally  brought  from  Down,  but  forgotten  or  hidden 
there  during  the  wars  of  the  Danes,  and  the  subsequent 
disturbances  in  the    primatial  city  ? 

There  are  several  other  arguments  put  forward  in  favour 
of  the  Saint's  burial  at  Armagh.  One  of  them,  but  not 
the  main  argument,  is  based  on  the  assumed  identity  of  our 
National  Apostle  with  Sen  Patrick,  who  is  said  to  have 
died  at  Armagh.  This  is  not  a  question  into  which  we  can 
now  enter  ;  but,  inasmuch  as  no  attempt  is  made  to  prove 
this  identity,  and  the  epithet  itself  implies  distinction  from 
the  great  St.  Patrick,  we  may  dismiss  this  argument  without 
further  discussion. 

Then  we  are  treated  to  another  lirie  of  reasoning  in  favour 
of  Armagh.  Both  Muirchu  and  Tirechan,  it  is  said,  agree  in 
stating  that  *  at  the  time  of  his  (Patrick's)  death,  Armagh 
claimed  to  possess  his  remains.'  We  could  not  find  the  least 
foundation  for  this  extraordinary  statement.  On  the  con- 
trary, both  writers  state  that  at  or  after  the  obsequies  the  men 
of  Orior  tried,  but  tried  in  vain,  to  secure  the  precious  treasure. 
And  hence  Bishop  Reeves,  who  was  so  well  acquainted  with 
the  contents  of  the  Book  of  Armagh,  says  that  the  claim 
of  Down  was  in  the  early  ages  conceded  by  Armagh  ;  that 
the  Book  of  Armagh  would  scarcely  introduce  a  fiction 
in  favour  of  Down  or  Saul ;  and  that  the  church  of  Armagh 
would  never  have  acquiesced  in  a  mock  translation  at  Down 
in  the  twelfth  century,  if  the  general  belief  had  not  given 
sentence  in  favour  of  Down.  Besides,  neither  Muirchu  nor 
Tirechan  anywhere  states  that  *  Armagh  claimed  to  possess 
his  remains  at  the  time  of  his  death.'  Muirchu  distinctly 
states  that  he  was  buried  in  Down  ;  and  then  adds  that, 
through  the  mercy  of  God  and  the  merits  of  Patrick,  the 
sea  swelled  up  between  the  opposing  hosts  of  Orior  and  Uladh, 
so  that  bloodshed  was  prevented.  *  Seduced,'  he  adds, 
*  by  a  lucky  deception,  they  fancied  they  had  secured  the 
waggon  and  oxen   that  bore  the  Saint's  blessed  body,   but 


THE    BURIAL-PLACE    OF    ST.    PATRICK. 

when  they  came  to  the  River  Cabcenne  the  body  dis- 
appeared." I  We  have  already  explained  Tirechan's  state- 
ment at  length,  in  which  he  declares  that  the  burial-place 
of  Patrick  was  shown  by  Columcille  to  be  near  Saul,  in  the 
church  close  to  the  sea,  whither  the  relics  of  Columcille  were 
also   brought  from  Britain. 

But  it  is  urged  that  frequent  reference  is  made  to  the 
shrine  of  Patrick,  which  was  in  the  custody  of  his  successors 
at  Armagh  during  the  ninth  century.  Yes  ;  but  it  is  beyond 
all  reasonable  doubt  that  the  shrine  in  question  contained 
not  any  part  of  the  Saint's  body,  but  the  celebrated  '  Bell  of 
the  Will,'  which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  given  to 
Armagh  by  Columcille.  That  bell  was  the  symbol  of  the 
primatial  jurisdiction  ;  and  it  was  deemed  so  sacred  and  so 
precious,  that  it  had  a  hereditary  custodian  assigned  for  its 
preservation.  A  new  shrine  was  made  to  contain  it,  about 
the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  the  inscription  thereon 
records  that  it  was  made  for  Domnall  M'Loughlin,  King  of 
Erin,  i.e.,  at  his  expense,  and  for  Domnall  M'Auley,  the 
Comarb  of  Patrick,  and  for  Cathalan  O'Mailchallan,  the 
custodian  of  the  bell.^  We  know  also  from  other  sources  3 
that  these  ancient  bells  were  deemed  very  sacred,  and  that 
the  violation  of  an  oath,  if  taken  on  the  bell,  was  deemed 
a  most  terrible  crime,  which  was  sure  to  bring  the  vengeance 
of  the  outraged  saint  on  the  head  of  the  perjurer.  There 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  shrine  of 
Patrick  which  Artri,  Abbot  of  Armagh,  carried  into  Connaught 
in  8i8,  and  which  Forannen  the  Primate  brought  to  Munster 
in  841,  when  driven  by  the  Danes  from  his  primatial  city, 
was  the  enshrined  Bell  of  the  Will,  the  possession  of  which 
was  the  symbol  and  the  pledge  of  the  jurisdiction  which 
he  derived  from  St.  Patrick. 

As  to  the  obiter  dictum  of  St.  Bernard,  where  he  speaks 
of  the  primatial  see  of  Patrick,  '  in  which  he  presided  when 
alive,  and  rests  now  that  he  is  dead,'  it  is  obvious  that  it  is 
a  loose  rhetorical  expression  designed  rather  to  round  the 
sentence  than  to  make  any  definite  assertion  regarding  the 
place  of  St.  Patrick's  burial,  of  which  he  probably  knew 
nothing.  And  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  statement  of 
another  foreign  writer,  William  of  Newbridge,  who  informs 
us  that  the  primacy  was  bestowed  on  Armagh  in  honour  of 
St.  Patrick,  and  the  other  indigenous  saints  whose  remains 

*  Sed  felici  seducti  sunt  fallacia,  putantes  se  duos  boves  et  planstrum 
invenire  et  corpus  sanctum  rapere  aestimabant,  et  cum  corpora  .  .  . 
ad  fluvium  Cabcenne  pervenierunt,  et  corpus  tunc  illis  non  comparuit. 

(P.  299.) 

2  See  Reeves'  Antiqiiiiies,  p.   371. 

3  See  Colgan's  Acta  Sanctorum,  p.   ii-i. 


602  APPENDIX   II. 

rest  there.  Such  a  statement  from  a  foreign  source  is  too 
vague  to  weigh  for  a  moment  against  the  exphcit  testimony 
of  our  native  annahsts. 

Lastly,  a  reference  to  the  tomb  of  St.  Patrick  as  existing 
at  Armagh,  is  supposed  to  be  made  in  the  Book  of  Armagh, 
although  it  has  hitherto  escaped  notice — even  the  great 
learning  and  critical  acumen  both  of  Todd  and  Reeves 
were  unable  to  detect  it.  In  that  portion  of  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  called  the  '  Angel's  Book,'  the  following  passage 
occurs  : — 

The  foundation  of  the  prayer  on  every  Sunday  at  Armagh  on  going 
to  and  returning  from  the  Sarcophagus  of  the  reHcs  is  '  Domine 
clamavi  ad  Te'  to  the  end  ;  '  Ut  quid  Deus  repulisti '  to  the  end  ;  and 
'  Beati  immaculati '  to  the  end  of  the  blessing,  and  with  the  twelve 
Gradual  Psalms  it  finishes.^ 

It  is  surprising  what  a  superstructure  it  is  sought  to 
build  up  on  this  passage  of  bad  Latin  in  the  original. 

The  words  *  sargifagum  martyrum,'  are  glossed  in  the 
margin  by  the  Irish  du  ferti  martur — that  is,  to  the  *  Grave 
of  the  Relics.'  Now,  it  is  argued,  this  '  Grave  of  the  Relics  * 
must  have  been  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  for  the  prayers  of  the 
*  Station  *  are  here  prescribed.  The  place  which  bore  the 
name  of  the  Ferta  at  Armagh  was  so  called  from  this 
grave,  and  it  was  the  place  where  St.  Patrick  established 
his  first  church  at  Armagh.  He  lived  there  a  long  time 
before  he  removed  to  the  greater  church  on  the  hill ;  and 
when  he  died  he  must  have  been  buried  there,  for  there  seems 
no  other  adequate  reason  for  calling  it  the  Grave  of  the 
Relics,  and  for  making  it  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  than  the  fact 
that  it  possessed  his  relics. 

It  is  surprising  that  the  people  who  argue  in  this  fashion 
did  not  first  read  the  Tripartite,  where  they  would  find  a 
very  clear  and  simple  explanation  of  the  name  and  of  the 
pilgrimage.  Ferta  means  a  grave,  but  as  a  proper  name  it 
means  here  the  cemetery — in  fact,  both  church  and  church- 
yard, as  the  following  passage  with  reference  to  this  very 
Ferta  clearly  shows  : — *  In  this  wise  then  Patrick  measured 
the  Ferta,  namely,  sevenscore  feet  in  the  enclosure,  and 
seven  and  twenty  feet  in  the  great-house,  seventeen  feet 
in  the  kitchen,  and  seven  feet  in  the  oratory."  ^ 

The  writer  then  proceeds  to  tell  us  that  an  angel  told 
Patrick  *  this  day  the  relics  of  the  Apostles  are  divided  in 

^  Fundamentum  orationis  in  unaquaque  die  Dominica  in  Alta 
Macha  a,d  Sargifae:um  Martyrum  adeundum  ab  eoque  revertendum 
id  est,  *  Domine  clamavi  ad  Te  '  usque  in  finem  ;  '  tJt  quid  Deus  re- 
puUsti  '  in  finem,  et  '  Beati  Immaculati '  usque  in  finem  benedictionis, 
at  duodecim  psalmi  graduum,      Finit. 

2  Vol.  i.,  p.  237. 


THE    BURIAL-PLACE   OF    ST.    PATRICK.  603 

Rome  for  the  four  quarters  of  the  Globe  ;  '  and  thereupon 
he  carried  Patrick  through  the  air,  and  afterwards,  with  the 
help  of  a  ship  of  Bordeaux,  brought  the  Saint  to  Rome, 
whence  Patrick  carried  away  as  much  as  he  wanted  of  the 
relics. 

Afterwards  these  relics  were  taken  to  Armagh  by  the  counsel  of 
God,  and  the  counsel  of  the  men  of  Ireland.  Three  hundred  and 
threescore  and  five  relics,  together  with  the  relics  of  Paul,  and  Peter, 
and  Laurence,  and  Stephen,  and  many  others.  And  a  sheet  was  there 
with  Christ's  Blood,  and  with  the  hair  of  Mary  the  Virgin.  And 
Patrick  left  the  whole  of  that  collection  in  Armagh  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  and  of  the  Angel,  and  of  the  men  of  Ireland. 

Furthermore,  a  letter  was  brought  to  him  from  the  Abbot 
of  Rome,  directing  that  there  should  be  '  watching  of  the 
relics  with  lamps  and  lights  in  the  night  always,  and  mass 
and  psalm-singing  by  day,  and  prayer  in  the  night,  and  that 
they  should  be  exposed  every  year  for  the  multitudes  (to 
venerate  them ').  These  relics  were,  of  course,  kept  in  the 
only  church  then  to  be  had  at  Armagh ;  that  is,  the  church 
afterwards  called  the  Ferta,  and  which  on  that  account  came 
to  be  called  Ferta  Martyr,  or  the  Fertae  Martyrum,  as 
Muirchu  has  it,  or  the  Sarcophagus  Martyrum,  as  the 
Book  of  the  Angel  has  it.  Thus  the  simple  narrative  of  the 
Tripartite  overthrows  all  the  ingenious  speculations  put 
before  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name. 
St.  Patrick  had  numbers  of  churches  and  altars  to  consecrate, 
for  which  purpose  he  needed  relics  ;  he  either  sent  for  them 
or  brought  them  from  Rome  ;  they  were  kept  in  his  church 
at  Armagh  in  a  Ferta,  or  sarcophagus,  or  sepulchre  made 
for  the  purpose,  hence  called  Ferta  Martyrum,  which  name 
afterwards  passed  to  the  church  itself  as  it  became  a  place 
of  public  pilgrimage  for  the  faithful  to  venerate  the  relics. 

We  have  seen  that  there  is  very  conclusive  evidence  that 
St.  Patrick  was  buried,  not  at  Saul  or  at  Armagh,  but  at 
Downpatrick.  Now,  there  is  a  very  ancient  and  general 
tradition  that  the  relics  of  St.  Columcille  and  of  St.  Brigid 
were  also  enclosed  in  the  same  tomb  with  those  of  our  National 
Apostle.  We  now  come  to  examine  what  historical  evidence 
can  be  adduced  in  favour  of  this  wide-spread  tradition. 

First  of  all,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  St.  Columba  died 
in  his  monastery  at  lona,  about  the  year  597,  in  the  seventy- 
seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  that  he  was  buried  by  his  devoted 
disciples  in  the  monastery  where  he  died.  The  testimony 
of  his  biographer  Adamnan,  a  holy  and  learned  man,  with 
reference  to  those  facts,  cannot  for  a  moment  be  called  in 
question  by  any  competent  scholar.  His  blessed  body, 
rolled  up  in  clean  linen,  was  placed  in  a  husta,  or  ratabusta 
according  to  the  common  text,  and  was  then  buried    with 


604  APPENDIX    II. 

all  due  veneration.!  Lower  down  in  the  same  chapter  this 
humatio  is  described  as  a  sepnUio,  and  in  the  next  section 
as  a  sepultiira  ;  so  that  the  writer  clearly  meant  that  the 
remains  of  the  saint  were  enclosed  in  a  coffin,  and  then  buried 
in  the  earth  ;  but  he  nowhere  indicates  the  exact  spot  where 
the  grave  was  made.  The  word  ratabusta  is  not  found 
in  Du  Cange,  nor  anywhere  else,  so  far  as  we  know.  It  is 
probably  an  error  of  the  scribe,  who  wrote  '  in  ratabusta' 
for  *  intra  busta,'  the  latter  phrase  according  to  its  classical 
usage  meaning  a  grave  rather  than  a  coffin.  It  matters 
little,  indeed,  because  the  meaning  is  in  either  case  that  the 
body  of  the  saint  was  buried  in  an  ordinary  grave. 

Adamnan,  however,  though  so  explicit  as  to  the  burial, 
makes  no  reference  to  any  enshrining,  or  translation,  or 
disturbance  of  Columba's  relics  ;  so  that  it  is  only  natural 
to  assume  that,  up  to  the  period  when  he  wrote,  Columba's 
grave  was  undisturbed.  Adamnan  became  abbot  in  679  ; 
and  the  Life  of  Columba  was  certainly  written  during  his 
tenure  of  office  as  abbot ;  but  in  all  probability  not  before 
the  year  690.  After  that  period  he  spent  most  of  his  time 
in  Ireland  ;  whereas  certain  references  to  lona  indicate  that 
the  Life  was  written  during  his  abbacy  in  that  island. 

Now,  although  Tirechan  expressly  declares  that  his 
Annotations  were  derived  from  the  oral  information,  or  from 
the  book  of  Bishop  Ultan,  who  died  about  657,  we  need  not 
assume  that  they  were  written  during  the  lifetime  of  his 
master,  and  perhaps  not  even  until  many  years  after  his 
death.  Tirechan  himself  most  probably  lived  on  to  the  end 
of  the  seventh  century  :  and  he  might  well  have  composed 
his  Annotations  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life.  The 
statement  which  he  makes,  that  there  was  a  *  conductio 
martirum,  id  est,  ossuum  Columcille  de  Britannia '  to  Down- 
patrick,  appears  to  be  an  explanation  given  by  Tirechan 
himself  to  identify  the  '  church  very  near  to  the  sea,'  as 
that  to  which  the  bones  of  Columcille  were  carried  from 
Britain.  Bishop  Reeves,  indeed,  thought  these  words  were 
at  first  a  gloss  on  Tirechan's  text,  which  was  afterwards 
inserted  in  the  text  by  the  copyist ;  but  even  in  that  case  the 
gloss  must  have  been  there  before  807,  when  the  Book  of 
Armagh  was  copied.  Our  own  opinion  is  that  the  words 
were  an  explanation  given  either  by  Tirechan  or  his  copyist ; 
that  they  cannot  have  been  written  before  690  ;  and  possibly 
may  have  been  added  by  some  copyist  during  the  eighth 
century,  but  not  later.        Hence  we  infer  that  the  bones  of 


^  Venerabile  corpus  mundis  involutum  sindonibus,  et  praeparata 
positum  m  ratabusta,  debita  humatur  cum  veueratione  (Book  iii., 
c.  23). 


THE    BURIAL-PLACE    OF   ST.    PATRICK.  605 

Columcille,  or  some  notable  portion  of  them,  were  actually 
transferred  to  Downpatrick  at  some  time  during  the  eighth 
century ;  and  most  probably  about  the  beginning  of  that 
century. 

But  here  several  difficulties  crop  up,  which  it  is  necessary 
to  explain. 

The  question  occurs  at  once,  if  the  relics  of  Columcille 
were  transferred  to  Downpatrick  so  early  as  the  beginning 
of  the  eighth  century,  or  perhaps  even  earlier,  how  are  we 
to  explain  certain  entries  in  our  national  annals  of  a  later 
date  ?  For  instance,  when  the  Danes  desolated  lona,  in 
824,  we  are  told  by  Walafridus  Strabo,  who  probably  got  his 
information  from  one  of  the  companions  of  the  martyred 
abbot,  that  when  Blathmac  refused  to  surrender  the  hidden 
treasure — 

Pretiosa  metalla 
Reddere  cogentes,  quels  Sanctae  Columbae 
Ossa  jacent,  quam  quippe  suis  de  sedibus  arcam 
Tollentes  tumulo  terra  posuere  cavato, 
Cespite  sub  denso,  guari  jam  pestis  iniquae  ; 
Hanc  praedam  cupiere  Dani. 

the  saint  was  most  cruelly  martyred  by  the  greedy  pirates. 
But  how  reconcile  this  story  with  an  earlier  translation  to 
Downpatrick  ? 

The  answer  appears  to  be  that  a  portion  of  the  saint's 
relics  were  retained  at  lona,  when  the  rest  were  carried  to 
Downpatrick ;  that  this  portion  v/as  enshrined,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  during  the  eighth  century,  in  a  precious 
shrine — preciosa  metalla — an  expression  that  could  hardly 
be  used  of  the  plain  husta,  or  wooden  coffin,  in  which  they 
were  first  interred.  In  other  words,  it  was  the  shrine  of  the 
relics  of  St.  Columba  that  was  hidden  away  ;  a  shrine  richly 
adorned,  as  we  know  was  then  the  custom,  with  gold  and 
precious  stones,  but  which  at  the  same  time  did  not  contain 
all  the  relics  of  the  saint,  but  only  that  portion  of  them 
preserved  at  lona,  when  the  rest  were  transferred  to  Down- 
patrick about  the  beginning  of  the  eighth,  or  the  close  of 
the  seventh  century. 

It  is  stated  in  the  Annals  of  Ulster  that  some  four  years 
later,  in  a.d.  828,  *  Diarmait,  Abbot  of  la,  went  to  Alba 
with  the  reliquaries  of  Columcille.'  This  seems  to  imply 
that  they  were  carried  from  Ireland,  to  which  they  had  been 
brought  in  824,  back  again  to  Alba,  or  Scotland,  by  the 
newly-elected  Abbot  of  lona.  Now  the  word  minna,  which 
is  used  by  the  annalist,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  not  applied  to 
designate  the  corporeal  relics  of  a  saint ;  but  it  usually 
designates  what  may  be  called  the  extrinsic  relics  of  the 
saint ;  that  is,  things  intimately  connected  with  him  during 


6o6  APPENDIX   II. 

life,  but  at  the  same  time  quite  distinct  from  his  bones  or 
ashes.  The  late  learned  Bishop  Reeves  adopted  tliis  view 
as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  minna,^  as  used  in  the  Annals  ; 
and,  if  this  be  true,  the  conveyance  of  the  minna  of  Columcille 
from  Erin  to  Alba  and  back  again,  more  than  once,  docs 
not  mean  that  his  blessed  bones,  or  any  part  of  them — the 
'  martira '  of  the  saint — were  taken  from  Downpatrick, 
but  that  certain  extrinsic  relics  of  Columba — his  bell,  his 
psaltery,  his  cowl,  or  his  staff,  it  may  be — were  carried 
hither  and  thither  by  the  abbots  of  lona.  We  venture  to 
think  that  this  is  the  true  view  of  the  various  translations 
of  the  minna  of  St.  Columba  reported  in  the  Annals  ;  and 
it  will  go  far  to  reconcile  the  apparently  conflicting  statements 
of  Tirechan  and  of  the  writers  who  come  after  him. 

All  these  subsequent  writers  of  the  Annals  are,  in  our 
opinion,  to  be  understood  in  the  same  sense.  For  example, 
in  A.D.  830,  the  minna  of  Columcille  were  again  brought 
back  to  Ireland  ;  and  once  more,  in  848,  the  minna  of  the 
saint  were  carried  to  Ireland,  which  shows  that  they  must 
have  returned  to  lona  in  the  meantime.  Again,  in  ?)jy,  the 
*  shrine  of  Columcille,  with  all  his  minna,  arrived  in  Ireland 
to  escape  the  foreigners.'  ^  In  all  these  cases  we  have  re- 
ference to  a  serin,  or  shrine,  of  the  saint,  containing,  it  may 
be,  some  small  portion  of  the  relics  of  his  sacred  body  ;  but 
it  is  quite  evident  that  its  chief  contents  were  the  minna, 
which,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Annals,  must  not  be 
understood  as  martra — or  martira  in  Latin — that  is  corporeal 
relics,  but  rather  of  extrinsic  relics  connected  with  the  saint 
during  life,  of  the  character  which  we  have  already  explained. 
It  is  quite  obvious  that  all  those  translations  of  the  minna 
of  Columcille  would,  in  that  case,  be  quite  compatible  with 
the  quiet  rest  of  his  corporeal  relics  in  Downpatrick. 

With  regard  to  St.  Brigid's  remains  there  is  somewhat 
more  doubt  and  uncertainty.  That  she  was  at  first  interred  in 
her  own  church  at  Kildare,  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  high 
altar,  is  beyond  question.  This  is  expressly  stated  in  her 
Life  by  Cogitosus.3  He  declares  that  in  that  church  '  the 
glorious  bodies  of  both,  that  is,  of  Bishop  Conlaeth  and  of 
this  virgin  Saint  Brigid,  repose  on  the  right  and  left  hand 
of  the  decorated  altar,  placed  within  tombs  richly  adorned 
with  various  decorations  of  gold  and  silver,  and  gems  and 
precious  stones,  with  crowns  of  gold  and  silver  pendant  from 
above.'      As  this  passage  is   very  important,  and  has  in  our 


1  See  Afla.mnan*s   Vita  Cnlumhae,  page  316,  note, 

2  Ammls  of  Ulster. 

3  See  Vita  S,  Byigidae,  chap.    xiv. 


11 


THE   BURIAL-PLACE   OF   ST.   PATRICK.  607 

opinion    been    greatly    misunderstood,    we    have    translated 
it  literally,  and  subjoin  the  Latin  text  in  the  note.^ 

From  this  passage  Petrie  makes  a  very  strange  deduction 
He  assumes  that  the  *  monuments  '  which  are  here  described 
were  shrines,  in  which  the  bodies  of  the  saints,  or  rather  their 
relics,  were  enshrined,  according  to  the  custom  that  certainly 
became  very  general  during  the  course  of  the  eighth  century. 
And  as  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  under  date  of  a.d.  799,  tell  us 
that  the  relics  of  St.  Conlaeth  were  placed  in  a  shrine  {serin) 
in  that  year,  he  infers  that  the  Life  of  Brigid,  by  Cogitosus, 
must  have  been  written  after  that  year,  but  before  835  ; 
when,  as  we  know  from  the  same  Annals  of  Ulster,  Kildare 
was  plundered  by  Gentiles  from  Inver-Dea,  and  half  the 
church  burned.  It  is  clear  that  the  beautiful  tombs  would 
not  be  left  intact  in  that  raid,  if  they  existed  at  the  time. 

But  '  monumenta '  are  not  shrines  at  all.  The  word, 
both  in  classical  and  mediaeval  Latin,  when  used  in  this 
connection,  means  a  tomb,  monument,  or  grave,  in  which 
the  dead  were  buried.  On  the  other  hand,  the  shrine  or 
scrinium,  or  scri7i,  as  it  is  called  in  Irish,  was  a  small  and 
highly  ornamented  metal  case  for  containing  the  relics  or 
some  memorial  of  a  saint,  of  which  we  have  several  examples 
still  existing.  But  they  cannot  with  propriety  be  called 
'  monumenta,'  and  we  do  not  recollect  that  the  word  has 
ever  been  applied  to  any  of  them.  Then,  again,  Cogitosus 
describes  the  bodies  of  the  saints  as  resting  within  the 
monuments ;  whereas,  whenever  there  is  question  of  en- 
shrining, the  word  always  used  is  relics  ;  that  is,  reliquiae  in 
Latin,  and  martra  (a  loan  word)  in  the  Irish,  to  express 
corporeal  relics. 

In  our  opinion,  therefore,  Cogitosus  in  this  passage  de- 
scribes the  tombs  in  which  the  saints  were  buried — where, 
as  he  says,  their  bodies  reposed  in  his  time  ;  whence  we  infer 
that  he  must  have  written  before  any  enshrining  took  place, 
and  therefore,  in  all  probability,  long  before  the  enshrining 
of  St.  Conlaeth's  relics  in  799,  as  described  in  the  Ulster 
Annals.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  Cogitosus  died,  as  Dr. 
Graves  thinks,  about  the  year  a.d.  670,  or  perhaps  somewhat 
later.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  in  his  time  the  body 
of  St.  Brigid  was  reposing  in  a  splendid  monument  within 
her  own  church  at  Kildare. 

But  the  next,  that  is  the  eighth  century,  was  the  great 

^  Nee  de  miraculo  in  reparatione  Ecclesiae  tacendum  est,  in  qua 
gloriosa  amborum,  hoc  est  episcopi  Conlaeth  et  hujus  virginis  S. 
Brigidae  corpora  a  dextris  et  a  sinistris  altaris  decorati,  in  monumentis 
posita  ornatis  vario  cnltu  auri,  et  argenti,  et  gemniariim,  et  pretiosi 
lapidis,  atqne  coronis  aureis  et  argeiiteis  desuper  pendentibus, 
requiescunt.        (Messingham's  Florileaium.) 


6o8  APPENDIX    II, 

period  for  enshrining  the  relics  of  the  saints.  We  find  no 
less  than  twelve  instances  expressly  recorded  in  the  Annals 
during  that  century.  Doubtless,  there  would  be  great 
reluctance  to  disturb  the  bodies  of  the  two  saints  that  lay 
within  their  splendid  tombs  on  either  side  of  the  high  altar 
of  the  great  Church  of  Kildare — tombs  at  which  wonderful 
miracles  frequently  took  place — '  quas  nos  virtutes  non 
solum  audivimus,  sed  etiam  oculis  nostris  vidimus  ' — says 
Cogitosus;  speaking  of  his  own  time. 

That  reluctance,  however,  would  be  overcome  at  the 
approach  of  the  Danes.  They  had  been  hovering  round  the 
Irish  coasts  for  some  years.  Rechra  was  burned  by  the 
Gentiles  in  794  ;  Sci  was  pillaged  and  wasted  in  the  same 
year  ;  Inis-Patraic  was  burned  in  797  ;  the  shrine  of  Dachonna 
was  also  broken  by  them  (the  Gentiles),  and  they  committed 
other  great  devastations  both  in  Erin  and  in  Alba.^  It 
was  high  time,  therefore,  to  put  the  relics  of  St.  Brigid  and 
St.  Conlaeth,  as  well  as  the  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  which  adorned  their  tombs,  in  a  more  portable  form 
to  save  them  from  the  plunderers.  So  we  are  told  that  in 
799  "  the  relics  of  Conlaeth  were  placed  in  a  shrine  of  gold 
and  silver."  ^  But,  strange  to  say,  there  is  no  reference 
here  to  the  enshrining  of  the  relics  of  St.  Brigid.  Surely  they 
did  not  leave  her  body  in  the  tomb,  when  they  took  up  and, 
for  greater  security,  enshrined  the  remains  of  her  companion 
saint  in  a  shrine  of  gold  and  silver. 

We  think  the  only  probable  explanation  of  this  omission 
is  the  fact  that  the  relics  of  St.  Brigid  must  at  that  time, 
or  perhaps  a  very  short  time  previously,  have  been  taken  up 
from  the  grave  and  carried  for  greater  security  to  Down- 
patrick.  At  this  time,  as  we  know,  Patrick,  Brigid,  and, 
Columcille,  were  recognised  as  the  national  patrons  of  the 
Irish  Church,  and  of  the  Irish  people.  The  remains  of 
Patrick  and  Columcille  were  already  reposing  together  in 
Downpatrick — what  more  natural  than  that,  if  they  were  to 
be  disturbed  at  all,  the  remains  of  the  third  great  patron  of 
Ireland  should  also  be  carried  thither  to  repose  in  the  same 
grave  ?  This,  however,  would  be  done  as  quietly  as  possible, 
not  only  for  fear  of  the  Danes,  but  also  for  fear  of  the  people, 
who  certainly  would  not  readily  permit  the  transfer.  So  we 
have  no  reference  to  the  date  of  this  translation  in  our 
annals,  as  it  was  not  a  public  fact ;  but  afterwards  we  find 
it  expressly  stated  by  those  who  must  have  known  that  it 
was  true. 

The  principal  authority  for  this  translation    to  Down- 

1  Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  797. 

2  Positio  reliquiarum  Conlaid  hi  serin  oir  agus  argait 


THE    BURIAL-PLACE    OF   ST.    PATRICK.  609 

patrick  is  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Life  of  St.  Brigid,  as 
pubhshed  by  Colgan.  Colgan  himself  attributes  the  author- 
ship of  the  Life  to  a  certain  Animchad,  latinised  Animosus, 
who  appears  to  have  been  first  a  monk  and  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Kildare.  and  whose  death  is  assigned  in  the  Chronicon 
Scotorum  to  the  year  a.d.  979.  The  author  of  the  Life 
was  manifestly,  as  may  be  gathered  from  his  prologue,  a 
monk  of  Kildare,  and  therefore  must  have  been  well 
acquainted  with  the  tradition  of  the  translation  of  the  saint's 
relics  then  current  amongst  his  community. 

In  one  passage  of  this  Life  it  is  expressly  stated  that 
St.  Patrick  was  buried  in  Down,  and  that  St.  Brigid  also,  and 
the  relics  of  the  Blessed  Columcille,  were  many  years  after- 
words placed  in  the  same  tomb.i  This  passage,  however,  is 
suspiciously  like  an  interpolation  in  the  text  of  Animosus, 
and  as  such  has  been  printed  between  brackets  in  the  Fourth 
Life  of  St.  Brigid.  But,  in  the  same  chapter,  there  is  given 
an  alleged  prediction  of  St.  Brigid,  that  she  herself  with 
Patrick  and  Columcille  would  arise  from  the  same  tomb 
on  the  day  of  judgment ;  which  proves  that,  at  the  time  of 
the  writer,  the  bodies  of  those  three  saints  were  supposed  to 
be  within  the  same  tomb  in  Downpatrick.  The  evidence, 
indeed,  is  not  quite  satisfactory  ;  but  still  it  goes  far  to  show 
the  existence  of  this  belief  in  Kildare  so  early  as  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century. 

It  will  be  observed  that  we  place  the  translation  of  the 
remains  both  of  Brigid  and  Columcille  to  Downpatrick 
at  an  earlier  date  than  that  commonly  assigned.  However, 
we  have  given  our  reasons,  which  will  doubtless  be  estimated 
at  their  proper  value.  There  is  one  fact  which  goes  far  to 
show  that  the  remains  of  St.  Brigid  were  not  transferred  to 
Downpatrick  until  a  somewhat  later  period.  It  is  this,  that 
we  find  the  same  ecclesiastic,  Ceallach,  son  of  Ailill,^  was 
abbot  both  of  lona  and  Kildare  at  the  very  time  that  the 
ravages  of  the  Danes  were  most  severely  felt  at  Kildare. 
What  more  natural  than  that  this  eminent  man  should 
transfer  the  holy  remains  to  Downpatrick,  a  place  of  com- 
parative security,  where,  as  he  well  knew,  the  remains  of  the 
great  apostle  of  the  Picts  had  already  been  transferred  ? 
There  is  much  plausibility  in  this  view  ;  and  the  only  thing 
that  makes  us  hesitate  to  accept  it  is,  that  there  is  no  mention 
of  the  enshrining  of  St.  Brigid's  relics  in  799,  when  the  relics 
of  St.   Conlaeth  were  certainly  enshrined.         This,   in  our 


1  Ubi  sepultus  est  (in  arce  Leth-glaisse)  ipse  Sanctiis  Patritins, 
Beata  Brigida  et  reliquiae  beatissimi  Abbatis  Columbae  post  multos 
annos  collectae  in  sepulchro. 

2  He  died,  a.d.  865. 

2  R 


6rO  APPENDIX   IT. 

opinion,  goes  far  to  show  that  the  remains  of  St.  Brigid 
had  been  ah'eady  carried  elsewhere,  although  for  prudential 
reasons  their  destination  was  not  made  public  at  the  time. 

This  brings  us  to  the  later  Invention  and  Translation 
of  the  relics  of  our  three  great  national  patrons  towards  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century. 

It  is  remarkable  that  our  native  annalists  make  no  refer- 
ence to  this  discovery  of  the  relics  of  the  three  saints  in  Down- 
patrick.  The  Four  Masters,  for  instance,  although  careful 
to  give  an  account  of  the  visit  of  Cardinal  Papiron,  in  1151, 
and  the  Synod  over  which  he  presided  in  1152,  and  also  of 
Cardinal  Vivian's  visit  in  1177,  make  no  reference  at  all  to 
the  visit  of  Cardinal  Vivian  in  1186.  Gerald  Barry,  how- 
ever, a  contemporary  writer,  and  at  that  very  time  in  Ireland 
with  Prince  John,  expressly  declares  that  the  bodies  of  the 
three  saints,  Patrick,  Brigid,  and  Columcille,  were  found  in 
his  time  in  the  city  of  Down — in  the  very  year  that  Prince 
John  first  came  to  Ireland — hidden,  as  it  were,  in  a  triple 
hole  or  cave — Patrick  lying  in  the  middle,  with  the  other 
two  on  either  side.  Thereupon,  under  the  direction  of  John 
de  Curci,  then  ruling  in  Ulster,  thc^3  three  noble  treasures 
were  by  a  divine  revelation  made  known  and  translated.^ 

Cardinal  Vivian  came  to  Ireland  as  Papal  Legate  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1177,  and  met  John  de  Curci  in 
Down.  He  afterwards  held  a  Synod  in  Dublin,  on  the 
13th  of  March,  the  first  Sunday  of  Lent,  to  which  the  Four 
Masters  refer  ;  but  the  Masters  make  no  subsequent  reference 
to  his  reappearance  in  Ireland  in  1186  ;  nor  does  any  other 
Irish  annalist,  so  far  as  we  are  aware.  This  invention  and 
translation  of  the  relics  of  the  three  saints  is  narrated  in 
minute  detail  by  several  modern  writers.  It  is,  however 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  contemporary  evidence  is 
very  unsatisfactory  as  to  these  circumstantial  details.  Usher 
quotes  John  Brompton,  Ralph  of  Chester,  and  others  ;  but 
these  were  English  and  later  writers,  who  knew  very  little 
about  Ireland.  Gerald  Barry's  testimony  as  to  the  sub- 
stantial fact  is  most  valuable  ;  but  he  gives  no  details  ;  and 
the  verses  usually  given  as  quoted  by  him  are  not  found  in 
the  best  MSS.  of  the  Topographia  ;  that  is  : — 

In  Burgo  Duno  tumulo  tumulantur  in  uno 
Brigida,  Patritius,  atque  Columba  pius. 

1  Apud  Ultoniam  in  eadem  civitate  Dunensi  scilicet  ipsorum  tria 
corpora  sunt  recondita.  Ubi  et  his  nostris  temporibus,  anno  scilicet 
quo  Dominus  Joannes  primo  in  Hiberniam  venit,  quasi  in  spelunca 
triplici,  Patricio  in  medio  jacente,  aliis  duobus  hinc  inde,  Joannes  vero 
de  Curci  tunc  ibi  praesidente,  et  hoc  procurante,  tres  nobiles  thesauri, 
divina  revelatione  inventa  sunt  et  translata.  {Top.  Hih.,  oh.  xviii.^ 
Rolls  Edition.) 


THE   BURIAL-PLACE   OF   ST.    PATRICK.  6ll 

Messingham,  who  has  collected  so  many  other  important 
documents  in  his  Florilegium,  gives  us  also  the  Lessons  for 
the  Feast  of  this  Invention  and  Translation,  which  was  first 
celebrated  on  the  gth  of  June.  1186.  They  furnish,  perhaps, 
the  weightiest  evidence  in  favour  of  the  truth  of  the  details 
connected  with  this  remarkable  event.  Here  is  the  substance 
of  these  historical  Lessons  : — 

It  is  said  \^Jeriur\  that  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Ireland  by  the 
English,  there  was  a  certain  Malachias,  a  man  of  great  merit,  and  of 
holy  life  and  conversation,  who  was  Bishop  of  Down,  where  the  bodies 
of  the  aforesaid  saints  were  buried.  This  bishop  being  instant  in 
prayer,  almost  daily  besought  the  Lord  that  He  would  deign  to  make 
known  to  him,  in  His  own  time,  where  that  precious  treasure,  the  relics 
of  the  aforesaid  saints,  was  hidden.  One  night,  whilst  he  was  thus 
most  earnestly  praying  in  the  Church  of  Down,  he  saw,  as  it  were,  a 
ray  of  sunlight  beaming  through  the  church  up  to  the  place  of  burial  of 
the  bodies  of  the  aforesaid  saints.  The  bishop,  greatly  rejoicing  in 
this  vision,  prayed  still  more  earnestly  that  the  ray  of  light  might  not 
depart  until  he  should  find  the  hidden  relics.  Thereupon,  rising  up,  he 
took  quickly  the  necessary  tools,  and  going  to  that  bright  spot  he  dug 
there  until  he  found  the  bones  of  the  three  aforesaid  bodies.  Then  on 
the  spot  where  the  light  was  shining  he  enclosed  the  bones  separately 
in  wooden  shells  \illa  in  tabulis  separatim  iiiserebat\  and  thus 
enclosed  \tabulatd\  replaced  them  under  ground  in  the  same  spot. 

Then  the  Bishop  narrates  his  vision  to  John  de  Curci, 
the  Conqueror  of  Ulster,  *  a  man  much  given  to  the  service 
of  God,'  by  whose  advice  and  assistance  supplication  was 
made  to  the  Pope  for  the  translation  of  the  relics.  The 
Pope  graciously  assented,  and  sent  over  John,  a  Cardinal 
Priest,  under  the  title  of  St.  Stephen  on  the  Caelian  Mount, 
as  Apostolic  Legate  in  Ireland,  who,  on  the  gth  day  of  June, 
with  all  due  reverence  and  devotion,  transferred  the  holy 
relics  from  the  spot  in  which  they  were  laid  by  Malachias 
the  Bishop  to  an  honourable  place  specially  prepared  for 
them  in  the  church.  There  were  present  at  this  translation, 
besides  the  Legate,  fifteen  bishops,  with  very  many  abbots, 
provosts,  deans,  archdeacons,  priors,  and  other  orthodox  men, 
who,  in  solemn  assembly,  decreed  that  the  festival  of  this 
Translation  was  thenceforward  to  be  observed  on  the  9th 
of  June,  the  feast  of  St.  Columba,  which  latter  was  to  be 
transferred  to  the  day  after  the  octave  of  the  Feast  of  the 
Translation. 

It  has  been  frequently  insinuated  that  this  Invention 
and  Translation  was  a  political  device,  arranged  by  John 
de  Curci  and  the  bishop,  to  reconcile  the  Ultonians  to  the 
conquest,  by  giving  it  a  kind  of  heavenly  sanction  in  their 
eyes.  But  John  de  Curci  was  not  a  schemer  ;  and  the 
Bishop  Malachias  was  a  native  Irishman,  who  was  no  friend 


6l2  APPENDIX    II. 

of  the  conquest  or  the  conquerors.  Indeed,  if  the  bishop 
were  an  Anglo-Norman  the  entire  business  would  look  very 
suspicious  ;  but,  as  it  stands,  the  narrative  is  entirely  trust- 
worthy, for  the  revelation  is  made  to  this  Celtic  bishop,  and 
as  we  Catholics  know  often  happened  before,  in  answer  to 
humble  and  fervent  prayer. 

It  has  been  said  also  that  if  the  remains  of  Columba  and 
Brigid  were  carried  to  Down  in  the  eighth  or  the  ninth 
century,  and  were  enclosed  in  the  grave  of  St.  Patrick,  a 
spot  so  s^xred  could  not  be  utterly  forgotten  even  by  the 
clergy  of  the  church.  There  is  an  obvious  answer  to  this  : 
that  during  the  depredations  of  the  Danes,  the  churches 
were  burnt,  not  un  frequently  burnt  to  ashes,  and  the 
clergy  were  often  all  slaughtered.  What  grave  of  our  early 
saints  is  known  outside  the  Aran  Islands  ?  Hardly  a  single 
one.  The  same  motive,  too,  that  led  to  bringing  the  remains 
to  Down  would  lead  to  the  place  where  they  were  buried 
being  kept  a  profound  secret,  except  from  a  very  few.  Thus, 
in  the  course  of  generations,  the  knowledge  of  the  place 
might  be  utterly  lost,  although  it  was  well  known  that  the 
^acred  remains  were  hidden  somewhere  within  the  Church 
of  Down.  Similar  events  have  led,  even  in  more  recent 
times,  to  the  same  uncertainty  as  of  old.  Hence,  although  the 
relics  of  Patrick,  Brigid,  and  Columba  were  then  buried 
in  Down,  no  one  now  can  tell  the  exact  spot  where  these 
holy  relics  repose. 

There  is,  indeed,  in  the  cemetery  attached  to  the  Pro- 
testant Cathedral,  or  the  Abbey,  as  it  is  still  called  by  the 
people,  an  ancient  grave,  which  is  commonly  reputed  to  be 
the  grave  of  St.  Patrick.  It  is  now  hollowed  out  by  the 
excavations  of  pious  Catholics,  who,  when  about  to  emigrate, 
always  carry  away  with  them  a  small  portion  of  '  the  clay 
from  St.  Patrick's  grave.'  It  is  said  that  over  this  grave 
there  was  formerly  erected  a  granite  cross  to  mark  the 
sacred  spot,  but  it  was  carried  off  and  broken  in  pieces  by 
certain  bigots  amongst  the  Orangemen  of  Downpatrick,  who 
afterwards,  as  might  be  expected,  all  came  to  a  bad  end. 
No  one  can  regret  if  St.  Patrick  showed  his  power  on  men 
like  these.  This  grave,  however,  could  not  have  been  the 
original  grave  of  St.  Patrick,  nor  that  into  which  the  remains 
of  the  Trias  Thaumaturga  were  enclosed  in  1186  ;  for,  in 
both  cases,  the  grave  was  within  the  cathedral,  and  no  church 
ever  stood  over  the  present  grave. 

But  a  certain  writer  in  the  Ulster  Examiner,  under  date 
of  Feb.  9th,  1870,  declared  that,  thirty  years  before,  a  man  of 
the  name  of  Millar  told  him  that  he  remembered  the  time 
when  the  cathedral  was  restored  (in  1790)  ;  that  three  stone 
cofhns  were   discovered  near  the  high  altar  ;  that  these  holy 


THE    BURIAL-PLACE   OF   ST.    PATRICK.  613 

remains,  supposed  to  be  those  of  the  three  saints,  were  trans- 
ferred to  a  new  grave  in  the  churchyard,  and  to  mark  the 
spot  an  ancient  market  cross  was  carried  there  and  placed 
over  the  grave — that  very  cross,  we  must  assume,  that 
was  afterwards  broken  to  pieces  by  the  Orangemen.  It 
is  a  point  that  deserves  further  investigation,  which  we  must 
leave  to  the  zeal  of  the  local  antiquaries. 


APPENDIX  III. 

ST,  PATRICK'S  RELATIONS  IN  IRELAND. 

This  is  a  question  which  Colgan,  who  had  studied  it  very 
carefully,  admits  is  a  complex  and  difficult  one.  The 
difficulty  arises  not  merely  from  errors  of  transcribers,  but 
also  from  the  discrepancy  amongst  our  most  ancient  and 
venerable  authorities.  Yet  it  is  an  interestmg  inquiry  to 
try  and  ascertain  who  were  the  foreign  prelates  associated 
with  St.  Patrick  in  the  conversion  of  the  Irish  nation  ;  how 
many  were  of  his  own  blood  ;  where  were  the  churches  over 
which  he  placed  them  ;  and  what  were  the  festival  days  on 
which  they  were  venerated  by  the  faithful. 

To  the  cursory  reader  of  the  Lives  of  St.  Patrick  it  will 
appear  strange  to  find  reference  to  so  many  sisters  of  the 
Saint,  and  to  the  great  number  of  his  nephews  especially 
who  became  bishops  in  Ireland.  Many  persons  are  inclined 
to  think  such  statements  are  highly  improbable  in  them- 
selves ;  and  even  learned  men  like  Lanigan — who  speaks  of 
these  stories  as  '  stuff ' — are  disposed  to  believe  that  there 
must  be  much  exaggeration  in  the  current  accounts  of  the 
family  connections  of  St.  Patrick  in  Ireland. 

In  our  view  such  speculations  are  always  misleading  ; 
and  the  only  safe  course  is  to  examine  carefully  the  ancient 
authorities,  comparing,  criticising,  and,  if  need  be,  correcting 
them  by  comparison  with  each  other,  and  with  external 
authorities,  but  never  rejecting  them  wholesale  as  unworthy 
of  credence.  The  more  carefully  a  man  studies  those  ancient 
documents  the  more  will  he  find  them  honest  and  trust- 
worthy in  substance,  although  by  no  means  free  from  error 
in  statement  or  exaggeration  in  language.  It  is  in  this  spirit 
we  shall  deal  with  the  ancient  writers,  who  speak  of  the 
blood-relations  of  St.  Patrick  in  Ireland. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  authorities.  One  of  the  earliest 
is  the  Scholiast  on  Fiacc.  He  says  that  Patrick  had  five 
sisters,  namely  Lupait,  Tigris,  Liamain,  and  Darerca,  and 
the  name  of  the  fifth,  Cinnenum  ;  his  (Patrick's)  brother 
was  Deacon  Sannan.i  Deacon  Sannan  is  the  only  brother  ^ 
of  St.  Patrick  to  whom  any  reference  is  made  by  ancient 
writers,  and  it  is  commonly  said  that  Patrick  Junior  was 


^  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  412. 
*  See  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  413. 


ST.    PATRICK'S    KELATIONS    IN    IRELAND.  615 

the  son  of  Sannan,  and  was  a  member  of  Patrick's  household 
or  rehgious  family  in  Ireland.  Of  him  and  his  namesake, 
Old  Patrick,  we  shall  speak  in  Aj)pcndix  IV. 

The  same  five  sisters  are  noticed  in  the  Book  of  Lecan,i 
except  that  instead  of  Cinneniim  we  hax^e  Ricend — Liamain 
being  omitted  apparently  by  an  oversight.  But  explicit 
reference  is  made  to  five.  It  would  appear  from  his  mode  of 
expression  that  the  Scholiast  on  Fiacc  was  rather  doubtful 
as  to  the  name  Cinnenum  ;  and  it  certainly  does  not  seem  to 
be  appropriate  as  a  woman's  name,  but  of  that  we  shall 
presently  say  more. 

Now,  returning  to  the  Lives  of  St.  Patrick  and  the  most 
ancient  of  our  Calendars,  we  find  the  following  references  to 
the  children  of  these  five  sisters  of  Patrick.  Tirechan — an 
ancient  authority  surely — speaking  of  Loman  of  Trim,  says 
that  his  family  was  of  British  origin,  that  he  was  the  son  of 
Gollit,  whom  Colgan  thinks  the  same  as  Gallus,  and  that 
his  mother  was  the  sister  of  Patrick.^  He  adds  that  the 
following  brothers  of  Loman — brothers  apparently  by 
father   and   mother — were   bishops  : — 

Munis  of  Forgney  by  the  Cuircni  ;  Broccaid  of  Imbliuch 
Ech  in  Ciarraige  of  Connaught ;  Broccan  in  Brechmag  or 
Breaghwy,  in  Hy  Dorthim  ;  and  Mugenoc  of  Cill  Dumi  Gluinn 
in  South  Bregia. 

Here  we  have  in  all  five  brothers,  four  and  Loman  of 
Trim,  who  were  apparently  all  sons  of  Gollit,  the  Briton, 
and  nephews  of  St.  Patrick.  Their  sees  too  were  all  in  Meath 
or  Bregia  except  the  See  of  Broccaid,  which  was  amongst 
the  Ciarraige  of  Connaught. 

The  Tripartite,  referring  to  the  foundation  of  the  church 
of  Trim,  which  took  place,  it  tells  us,  twenty-five  years 
before  Armagh  was  founded,  likewise  declares  that  Loman 
was  of  the  Britons,  that  his  father  was  Gollit,  that  his  mother 
was  own  sister  to  Patrick,  and  that  the  four  bishops  named 
above  were  brothers  of  Loman.  It  also  places  them  in 
the  same  sees  respectively,  so  that  we  must  accept  as  a 
well-established  fact  that  Gollit  had  five  sons  who  were 
bishops,  and  that  their  mother  was  a  uterine  sister  of  Patrick. 

Neither,  however,  of  these  two  authorities  mentions 
Tigris  as  the  mother  of  those  five  bishops,  but  Jocelyn 
expressly  says  that  Tigris  was  the  mother  of  four  of  them — 
Loman,  Broccaid,  Broccan,  and  Mugenoc.  He  omits, 
however,  the  name  of  Munis  as  a  son  of  Gollit  and  Tigris, 
and  apparently  confounds  her  with  another  sister,  namely 
Darerca.      He  says  that  Tigris  had  no  less  than  seventeen 

1  Page  Sga. 

2  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.   335. 


6l6  APPENDIX    III. 

sons  and  five  daughters,  as  will  be  explained  below.  ^  She 
certainly  had  the  five  sons,  all  bishops,  named  above,  but 
no  mention  is  made  of  any  of  her  daughters  in  the  older 
authorities. 

Liamain,  called  in  Latin,  Liemania,  had,  it  appears,  a 
still  more  numerous  family.  No  reference  is  made  to  her 
name  in  the  Lives  themselves,  but  from  the  Martyrologies 
we  gather  that  she  was,  by  Restitutus  the  Lombard,  the 
mother  of  Sechnall  of  Dunshaughlin,  of  Nectan  of  Kill-unche, 
and  of  Fennor  near  Slane,  of  Auxilius  of  Killossey  near  Naas, 
and  also  of  Dabonna,  Mogornon,  Darioc  and  Presbyter 
Lugnath-i^  The  Tripartite  adds  two  other  sons  of  Restitutus 
the  Lombard — Diarmait,  whom  Patrick  placed  over  the  church 
of  Druim  Corcortri  near  Navan,  and  Coimid  Maccu  Baird 
(the  Lombard),  who  became  bishop  of  Cloonshanville  near 
Frenchpark.  We  have  therefore  good  authority  for  assuming 
that  Liemania  and  Restitutus  had  nine  sons,  eight  of  whom 
were  bishops  whose  names  are  given,  and  whose  sees  can 
be  determined. 

We  now  come  to  Darerca.  Recurring  again  to  the 
Tripartite,  we  find  that  '  when  Patrick  went  on  the  sea  from 
the  land  of  Britain  to  journey  to  Ireland,  Bishop  Muinis 
came  after  him  and  after  his  brothers.  Bishop  Mel  of  Ardagh 
and  Rioc  of  Inis-bo-finne,  and  they  are  sons  of  Conis  and 
Darerca,  Patrick's  sister,  as  the  households  of  their  churches 
say,  and  that  is  not  to  be  denied.'  There  are  moreover  sisters 
of  those  bishops,  namely,  Eiche  of  Cell  Glass  (Kilglass),  to  the 
south  of  Ardagh  in  Teff ia,  and  Lalloc  of  Senlis  in  Connaught, 
and  it  is  thought  that  she  (Darerca)  is  also  the  mother  of 
Bard's  sons,  so  that  she  has  seven  (or  in  Colgan's  version 
seventeen)  sons  and  two  daughters.3 

Here  it  is  distinctly  stated  that  Conis  and  Darerca  had 
four  sons — Muinis,  Mel — Melchu,  '  his  brother,'  is  mentioned 
further  on — and  Rioc  of  Inisboffin  in  Lough  Ree.  The  Bishop 
Muinis  here  referred  to  certainly  seems  from  the  context 
to  be  Munis  of  Forgney,  whom  Tirechan  distinctly  states  to 
have  been  a  son  of  Gollit.  Colgan,  however,  thinks  the 
Tripartite  is  here  right,  and  that  Munis,  son  of  Gollit,  must 
be  sought  for  elsewhere,  most  likely,  he  thinks,  at  Tedel  in 
Ara  Chach,  where  Patrick  certainly  left  one  of  '  his  family,' 
called  in  Irish  Muin  and  in  Latin,  Munis.  With  that  opinion 
we  are  inclined  to  agree. 

^  Jocelyn  as  a  reliable  author!  ty  cannot  be  compared  with  either 
Tirechan  or  the  Tripartite. 

2  Lugnath  had  a  church  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lough  Carra,  Co. 
Mayo.  His  well,  Toberloona,  and  the  site  of  his  church  are  there  still, 
He  himself  is    probably  buried  in     Inchagoill,  in  Lough  Corrib. 

3  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  83. 


ST.    PATRICK'S    RELATIONS    IN    IRELAND.  617 

But  Darerca  had  other  sons  besides  these  four.  The 
Martyrologies,  especially  the  Opuscula  of  i^^ngus,  give  the 
names  of  four  more  who  can  be  distinctly  traced.  These  are  :  1 
Crummine  of  Lecna,  Midnu  or  Midgnu,  Carantoc,  and 
Bishop  Maccaille,  who  gave  the  veil  to  St.  Brigid.  Colgan 
objects  to  some  more  of  the  names,  but  admits  the  above. 

Now  here  a  grave  difficulty  arises.  From  the  lists 
already  given  we  gather  that  Tigris  was  mother  of  nine 
saints,  bishops  all,  it  would  seem ;  Liemania  was  the  mother 
of  nine,  all  bishops  except  Presbyter  Lugnath  ;  and  Darerca 
apparently  of  eight  bishops  at  least.  But  many  ancient 
authorities  assert  explicitly  that  Darerca  was  the  mother 
of  seventeen  holy  bishops  ;  and  those  who  by  some  authorities 
are  described  as  sons  of  Liemania  are  by  others  called  sons 
of  Darerca.  Whence  Colgan  infers  that  Liemania  and  Darerca 
were  merely  two  names  of  the  same  person — that  the  proper 
name  was  Liamain  or  Liemania — who  was  first  married  to 
Restitutus  the  Lombard,  and  after  his  death  was  married  to 
Conis  the  Briton,  and  thenceforward  was  generally  known 
as  Darerca,  which  is  an  epithet  or  cognomen  rather  than  a 
proper  name.  This  view  would  also  seem  to  have  been 
adopted  by  the  author  of  the  Tripartite,  for  he  says  "it  is 
thought — putatur — that  she  was  also  the  mother  of  the  sons 
of  '  Bard,'  that  is  the  '  Lombard.'  "  In  that  case  Darerca 
would  indeed  be  the  mother  of  no  less  than  seventeen  holy 
bishops,  if  not  of  one  or  two  priests  in  addition,  besides  the 
two  holy  nuns  Eiche  and  Lalloc,  who  are  admitted  by  all 
to  have  been  her  daughters. 

Of  course  in  that  case,  although  the  sisters  of  St.  Patrick 
went  under  five  names,  there  would  be  only  four  different 
persons,  or,  leaving  out  Cinnenum,  about  whom  there  is 
some  doubt,  there  would  be  really  only  three,  Lupait,  Tigris, 
and  Darerca,  and  this    is  expressly  asserted  by  Jocelyn. 

We  now  come  to  Lupait.  Her  name  is  once  or  twice 
put  by  mistake  for  Liemania,  as  for  instance  in  the  Book 
of  Leinsterji^  where  the  family  of  Liemania  are  set  down 
as  children  of  Lupait.  It  is,  however,  clearly  an  error  of 
transcription. 

Lupait  was  never  married.  She  was  taken  captive  with 
St.  Patrick  in  his  boyhood,  carried  over  to  Ireland,  and  sold 
as  a  slave  in  Conaille  Muirthemni,  that  is  in  the  Co.  Louth. 
Of  her  subsequent  history  up  to  the  time  of  the  return  of 
St.   Patrick   to   Ireland  we   know  nothing.3       She  appears, 


1  See  flolls  Tripartite,  p.  551,  and    Trias  Thaumaturga,  p.  227. 

2  Page  372,  line  21. 

3  We  attach  no  importance  to  the    story  of  her  meeting  Patrick 
in  the  house  of  Milcho. 


6r8  APPENDIX    III. 

however,  in  Longford  with  her  nephew,  St.  Mel,  whom  St. 
Patrick  had  placed  over  the  church  of  Ardagh.  At  that 
time  she  must  have  been  at  the  lowest  calculation  over  fifty 
years  of  age.  Nevertheless  calumny  did  not  spare  her,  and 
some  evil  tongues  accused  her  of  undue  intimacy  with  her 
own  nephew.  The  newly  converted  Pagan  population  were 
as  yet  unable  to  understand  the  chastity  of  priests  and  nuns, 
who  lived  near  to  each  other,  just  as  there  are  Protestants 
who  do  not  understand  it  to-day.  The  rumour  reached  the 
ears  of  St.  Patrick,  and  he  went  to  ascertain  if  there  were  any 
grounds  for  '  this  error  of  the  rabble.'  i\s  Patrick  approached 
Ardagh,  Bishop  Mel  went  fishing  in  the  furrows  of  his  field 
after  rain,  and  apparently  caught  salmon,  for  that  '  dry ' 
fishing  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  proof  of  his  innocence  and 
passed  into  a  proverb.  Lupita  carried  fire  in  her  mantle  or 
'  chasuble,'  and  the  fire  harmed  it  not,  so  that  this  '  fatuus 
ignis,'  or  harmless  fire,  also  passed  into  a  proverb  as  a  proof 
of  innocence. 

Still  St.  Patrick  judged  it  well  to  remove  all  cause  even 
for  suspicion  of  evil,  and  laid  down  an  excellent  maxim 
not  only  for  religious  but  for  all  unmarried  persons.  "  Let  men 
and  women  be  apart,  so  that  we  may  not  give  opportunity 
to  the  weak,  and  so  that  by  us  the  Lord's  name  be  not 
blasphemed,  which  thing  be  far  from  us."  So  he  put  Bri 
Leith,  now  Slieve  Golry,  between  Mel  and  his  aunt,  leaving 
him  at  Ardagh  on  the  east,  and  putting  her  at  Druim  Chea 
on  the  west  side  of  the  mountain,  where,  as  we  have  elsewhere 
explained,  she  ruled  over  a  holy  community  of  nuns  for  many 
years. 

When  St.  Patrick  in  his  old  age  went  to  dwell  at  Armagh 
Lupita  lived  there  also  in  a  convent  near  the  church.  She 
and  her  sister  Tigris  with  another  holy  maiden,  Ere,  daughter 
of  Daire,  devoted  all  their  time  to  the  holy  and  appropriate 
work  of  making  vestments  for  the  use  of  the  clergy.  Hence 
she  is  described  as  one  of  the  three  embroideresses  of  the 
family  of  Patrick — the  other  two  being  Ere,  daughter  of 
Daire,  and  Cruimtheris  of  Cengoba  near  Armagh.  There  is 
a  strange  story  told  in  the  Tripartite,  apparently  of  some  one 
of  the  nuns  of  Armagh,  who  is  described  as  a  '  sister  '  of 
Patrick,  and  is  by  the  scribe  strangely  called  '  Lupait.' 

We  have  elsewhere  given  the  curious  story  of  this  '  Lupait,' 
but  the  guilty  maid  cannot  have  been  Lupait,  sister  of  St. 
Patrick,  for  at  that  time  she  could  not  have  been  less  than 
seventy-five  years  of  age,  if  she  were  alive  at  all  at  the  time. 
There  may  have  been  another  relation  of  Patrick  at  Armagh 
who  bore  the  same  name,  and  might  be  called  by  Irish  usage 
a  siitr,  for  the  term  is  applicable  to  any  near  relation,  or  it 
might  mean  a  religious  sister,  in  the  same  sense  as  we  use  it 


ST.    PATRICK'S    RHI.AriONS    IN    IRF.LAND.  619 

still  to  express  a  nun,  and  then  tliere  would  be  no  difficulty, 
for  she  too  might  bear  the  name  of  Lupait — if  this  be  indeed 
the  true  name  of  the  penitent  in  question,  whose  sin  was 
great  and  whose  penitence  was  also  great.  The  unhappy 
woman  might  have  thrown  herself  in  shame  and  sorrow 
before  the  car  of  the  Saint,  and  a  '  drive  on  '  might  easily 
be  exaggerated  into  a  '  drive  over  her ; '  but  the  story  as  it 
stands  cannot  be  admitted,  for  it  would  make  Patrick  re- 
sponsible for  her  death.  Patrick  in  his  anger  may  have 
refused  at  first  to  forgive  her,  but  her  pitiful  prayer  for 
Colman  and  her  child  show  that  she  did  not  die  at  once, 
but  probably  died  soon  after  of  grief  and  shame  for  her  own 
misconduct. 

With  regard  to  Cinnenum,  the  so-called  fifth  sister  of  St. 
Patrick,  there  is  more  difficulty  as  to  herself  and  her  children. 
The  Book  of  Lecan,  as  we  have  seen,  calls  her  Ricend,  and  the 
Lebar  Brecc  Homily  calls  her  Richell,i  which  is  probably 
the  true  name.  Colgan  seems  to  think  she  is  the  patroness 
of  the  church  of  Kilricill,  four  miles  east  of  Loughrea,  in  the 
diocese  of  Clonfert.  It  is  apparently  the  same  name,  and 
although  we  have  no  written  account  of  St.  Patrick  going 
so  far  south  in  the  Co.  Galway,  we  find  a  Patrick's  Well  at 
Bullaun,  three  miles  to  the  west  of  Kilricill,  on  the  line  of 
route  which  the  apostle  might  be  supposed  to  take  on  his 
journey  to  Headford,  near  to  which  he  undoubtedly  founded 
a  church. 

In  the  Additions  to  Tirechan  we  find  reference  to  '  Rigell 
mater  duLuae  Chroibige,'  ^  and  in  the  Tripartite  itself 
we  find  the  latter  described  as  Do-Lue  of  Croibech,  who 
with  Lugaid,  son  of  Oengus,  son  of  Natfraech,  is  said  to  be 
of  Patrick's  household,  and  '  both  are  in  Druim-Inesclaind 
in  Delbna.'  Rigell  is  also  described  in  the  same  place  as 
mother  of  Lonan,  son  of  Senach,  who  is  in  Caill-Mallech,  now 
Killolagh  in  the  Co.  Westmeath.  There  is  some  ground  there- 
fore for  thinking  that  Richell,  the  fifth  sister  of  Patrick,  is 
identical  with  Rigell,  mother  of  Lonan  and  Do-Lue,  two  saints 
of  Meath.  The  father  of  both  was  '  Senach  de  genere  Comgil,' 
as  he  is  described  in  the  Notes  to  Tirechan.  Then,  it  is  further- 
more expressly  stated  that  Patrick  found  in  Bretach  (in 
Inishowen)  '  three  Dechnans,  that  is  Deacons,  sister's  sons  of 
Patrick,'  3  who  likely  accompanied  Eoghan,  son  of  Niall, 
from  Tara  to  the  North.  It  is  not  unlikely,  though  by  no 
means  certain,  that  these  also  were  sons  of  Rigell.  So  the 
fifth  sister  would  have  five  sons,  all  given  to  the  service  of 


*  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  432. 

2  Rolls  Tripartite,  p.   349, 

3  Tripartite,  p.   156. 


620  APPENDIX    III. 

the  Irish  church.  We  know  also  that  Patrick  set  over  the 
church  of  Domnach  Maige  Slecht  near  Fenagh,  Co.  Leitrim, 
a  relative  of  his  own — cognatus — who  was  called  Mabran, 
otherwise  known  as  Barbarus  Patricii — Patrick's  Boor,  if 
we  may  so  translate  that  rather  uncomplimentary  epithet 
for  a  bishop  and  a  prophet.  It  is  not  stated,  however,  that 
he  was  a  nephew  of  Patrick.  This  may  be  said  to  exhaust 
the  list  of  St.  Patrick's  episcopal  relatives,  although  there 
are  two  or  three  others  who  may  be  regarded  as  doubtful 
cases,  so  that  in  all  it  seems  there  were  between  twenty-eight 
and  thirty  of  his  nephews  amongst  the  prelates  of  the  early 
Irish  Church,  and  at  least  two  nieces  who  were  nuns. 

St.  Loman  of  Trim. 

St.  Loman  of  Trim,  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from 
another  St.  Loman  of  Lough  Gill  in  the  Co.  Sligo,  is  the  first 
of  St.  Patrick's  nephews  who  meets  us  in  Ireland.  He  was 
also,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  first  Bishop  whom  St. 
Patrick  placed  over  an  Irish  see,  and  that  Church  of 
Trim  was  the  first  which  the  Saint  founded  in  Ireland, 
twenty-five  years  before  the  founding  of  Armagh. 

Patrick  having  resolved  to  smite  the  paganism  and 
idolatry  of  Ireland  in  the  very  seat  of  its  supreme  power, 
determined  to  make  his  way  to  the  Court  of  King  Laeghaire 
at  Tara.  So  bidding  farewell  to  his  friend  Dichu,  son  of 
Trichem,  at  Saul,  he  put  to  sea  and,  crossing  the  wide  bay 
of  Dundalk,  he  soon  brought  his  ship  i  to  anchor  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Boyne,  then  called  Inver  Colptha,  from  the 
famous  Colptha,  son  of  Milesius,  who  was  drowned  there 
when  crossing  the  bar.  This  was  at  the  beginning  of  Lent, 
433,  for  Patrick  had  not  been  duly  authorised  to  come  to 
Ireland  until  the  summer  of  432. 

The  Saint,  having  disembarked  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
resolved  to  make  his  way  to  Tara  by  land,  but  it  is  likely 
he  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  Lent  in  that  neighbourhood, 
engaged  as  usual  in  penitential  exercises,  for  he  did  not 
reach  Slane  until  Holy  Saturday.  At  his  departure  he  left 
Loman  in  charge  of  the  boat,  with  instructions  to  row  up  the 
Boyne,  '  until  he  should  get  to  the  place  where  Ath-Trim 
stands  to-day.'  It  is  likely  both  Patrick  and  Loman  had 
heard  that  there  were  friendly  Britons  in  that  neighbourhood 
who  would  receive  Loman  hospitably  and  protect  him  from 
danger.  The  Saint,  too,  had  an  idea  that  Trim  was  not  far 
from  Tara,  which  was  his  own  destination,  and  thus  he  hoped 
to  secure  his  boat,  and  find  it  readily  again. 


1  Others  say  his  *  fleet ' — perhaps  of  two  or  three  boats. 


ST.   LOMA>y   OF  TRIM.  62I 

From  Trim  to  Droghcda  the  Boyne  flows  for  25  m'les 
through  fertile  plains  and  swelling  uplands,  all  haunted 
with  the  thrilling  memories  and  historic  monuments  of 
more  than  two  thousand  years.  It  is  not,  strictly  speaking, 
navigable,  but  the  light  boats  of  the  time  could  be  easily 
pushed  over  the  fords  or  shallows.  Loman  had  to  row  against 
the  stream,  and,  as  his  course  was  first  west  and  then  south, 
most  probably  against  the  wind  also.  Jocelyn  would  re- 
present his  progress  up  the  river  against  stream  and  wind 
as  a  miracle  in  itself.  It  was  more  likely  the  result  of  one 
or  two  days'  hard  rowing  by  Loman  and  his  companions.  Late 
at  night,  it  seems,  they  came  to  the  Ford  of  Trim  and  rested 
where  they  were,  for  in  the  morning  we  are  told  that  young 
Fortchern,  son  of  Feidlimid,  who  dwelt  in  the  fort  of  Trim, 
and  kept  the  Ford,  going  down  to  the  river  in  the  early 
morning,  found  Loman  *  with  his  Gospel  before  him  '  either 
in  his  boat  or  on  the  bank.  And  at  once  it  seems  Loman 
proceeded  to  explain  to  the  young  chieftain  the  message 
of  the  Gospel.  '  And  a  marvel  it  was  to  him  the  doctrine 
which  he  heard,'  but,  touched  by  grace,  he  believed  and  was 
baptised. 

Now,  the  mother  of  this  young  prince  was  a  British  lady,  ^ 
and  no  doubt  she  taught  both  to  her  son  and  to  her  husband 
Feidlimid  the  British  tongue.  This  will  explain  how  it  came 
to  pass  that  Fortchern  was  able  to  understand  the  language 
of  Loman.  Now,  that  lady  herself,  noting  the  absence  of 
her  son,  and  seeing  him  talking  to  strangers  at  the  Ford, 
came  down  herself  to  the  river  seeking  her  son.  And  finding 
out  that  the  strangers  were  Britons,  her  own  countrymen, 
she  made  welcome  to  the  clerics,  for  of  the  Britons  was 
she — namely,  Scoth,  daughter  of  the  King  of  the  Britons. 2 

Now,  her  husband,  Feidlimid,  who  was  the  son  of  King 
Laeghaire,  the  great  ruler  of  Tara,  by  a  British  lady,  came  to 
meet  the  strangers,  and  he,  addressing  them  in  the  British 
tongue,  gave  them  hearty  welcome.  Then  he  had  speech 
of  Loman,  who  explained  to  him,  as  he  did  to  his  son,  the  glad 
tidings  of  the  Gospel,  and  Feidlimid,  too,  believed,  and  was 
baptised.  Moreover,  with  all  the  fervent  zeal  of  a  sincere 
and  generous  heart,  he  made  over  Ath-Trim  to  God  and  to 
Patrick  and  to  Loman  and  to  his  own  son  Fortchern,  who, 
it  seems,  resolved  to  join  Loman  in  preaching  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  striking  scenes 
recorded  in  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  that  meeting  of  Loman 
with  that  holy  family  by  the  Ford  of  Trim. 

1  '  Brittonissa,' — Tirechan. 

2  Tirechan    says    the    mother  of  Feidhmid  was  also  a  British  lady, 
and  that  she  had  the  beautiful  name,  Scoth  Noe — the  fresh  flower. 


622  APPENDIX    III. 

In  the  meantime,  as  we  know,  Patrick  went  first  to  Slane, 
and  afterwards  to  Tara,  where  on  Easter  Day  he  had  that 
celebrated  conflict  with  the  Druids  of  the  King  which  is 
recorded  in  all  the  Lives  of  the  Saint,  and  is  justly  regarded 
as  the  most  remarkable  event  in  his  career.  It  was  in  fact 
the  crisis  and  the  victory  of  the  Christian  faith  in  Ireland. 

On  that  very  day,  it  would  appear,  he  went  down  from 
Tara  to  Trim  to  ascertain  how  Loman  and  his  companions 
had  fared  on  their  journey  up  the  river.  It  may  be  that  Loman 
had  sent  a  messenger  to  Patrick  at  Tara  to  announce  his 
own  good  fortune ;  and  Patrick  was  very  naturally  anxious 
to  visit  the  British  lady  who  had  received  his  nephew  so 
kindly,  and  with  her  family  had  embraced  the  faith  sc 
fervently.  So  he  went  himself  in  person  and  founded  Ath- 
Trim  twenty-five  years  before  the  founding  of  Armagh,  and 
there  he  left  his  disciple  Loman. i  '  Of  the  Britons,  moreover, 
was  the  race  of  Loman,  son  of  Gollit,  and  his  mother  was 
own  sister  to  Patrick.'  That  happy  mother  was,  as  we  have 
seen  elsewhere,  Tigris,  and  she  was  also  the  mother  of 
Broccaid,  Broccan,  and  Mugenoc,  holy  prelates,  two  of  whom 
were,  it  appears,  placed  by  St.  Patrick  over  churches  in 
Meath,  and  the  third  at  Emlagh,   in  Connaught. 

Of  the  subsequent  history  of  Loman  of  Trim,  little  is  known. 
He  may  have  been  a  bishop  before  his  arrival  in  Ireland  <^  ; 
if  not  he  was  in  all  probability  consecrated  by  St.  Patrick 
before  his  departure  from  Meath. 

After  '  some  time  '  his  death  drew  nigh,  and  then  he  went 
with  '  his  foster  son  Fortchern  to  have  speech  of  Broccaid 
his  brother,'  that  is  to  pay  him  a  friendly  visit  at  Emlagh  Ech 
amongst  the  Ciarraige  of  Connaught.  Returning  home  to 
Trim  '  he  bequeathed  his  church  to  Patrick  and  to  Fortchern,' 
who  was  still  comparatively  young.  But  Fortchern,  with 
truly  Catholic  instinct,  refused  at  first  to  enter  upon  this 
inheritance,  for  the  lands  were  the  inheritance  of  his 
father,  and  if  he  now  succeeded  as  bishop  it  would  seem 
that  it  was  not  by  virtue  of  a  canonical  election  but 
of  hereditary  descent — which  would  set  a  very  dangerous 
example  to  other  churches.  Still  Loman,  no  doubt  with  the 
assent  of  Patrick,  said — "  Thou  shaft  not  receive  my  blessing 
except  thou  receivest  the  abbacy  of  my  church."  Then 
Fortchern,  loth  to  forfeit  the  blessing  of  his  spiritual  father, 
consented  to  accept  the  abbacy  ;  but,  yet  true  to  his  own 
noble  resolve,  he  resigned  it  after  three  days  to  Cathlaid, 
v/ho  appears  to  have  been  a  pilgrim  from  the  Britons.  So 
the   early   succession   in     Trim   was     British ;    and     British 

*  Tripartite. 

2  In  Tirechan's  list  he  is  set  down  as  a  priest. 


ST.    LOMAN   OF   TRIM.  623 

influence  prevailed  long  centuries  afterwards  at  the  Ford 
of  the  Ridge.  The  site  of  the  Patrician  Church  has  com- 
pletely disappeared,  but  Trim  has  a  noble  modern  church, 
and  is  full  of  venerable  ruins  which  eloquently  attest  the 
faith  and  power  of  the  conquering  Normans. 

Fortchern  went  further  south  to  Leinster,  and  established 
himself  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Tullow  in  the  Co.  Carlow. 
There  he  built  himself  a  church  close  to  a  blessed  well  which 
still  bears  his  name,  and  in  which  the  great  St.  Finnian 
of  Clonard  was  baptised.  That  old  church  has  disappeared  ; 
but  the  w^ell  is  flowing  yet  beneath  the  hill  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  town,  for  in  ancient  books  it  is  always  known  as 
Tullagh-Fortchirn — the  true  name  of  that  neat  and 
prosperous  town,  which  still  retains  its  ancient  character  as 
a  centre  of  holiness  and  religion. 


APPENDIX  IV. 

THE  '  THREE  PATRICKS.' 

Some  few  recent  writers  have  done  much  to  confuse  the 
history  of  our  national  Apostle,  and  detract  from  the  reverence 
which  is  so  justly  due  to  him  as  the  spiritual  father  of  the 
Irish  people,  by  mixing  up  the  events  recorded  concerning 
the  *  Three  Patricks  '  in  our  ancient  annals,  and  in  the  Lives 
of  St.  Patrick.  These  writers  complain  that  the  ancient 
authorities  are  '  so  confused  and  inconsistent '  in  their  facts 
and  dates,  that  it  is  impossible  to  reconcile  their  statements 
with  the  commonly  received  narrative  of  the  life  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  so  they  undertake,  of  their  own  authority,  to  divide 
and  distribute  the  various  events  narrated  in  the  life  of  our 
great  Apostle  amongst  the  three  saints  who  bore  the  name 
of  Patrick.  The  result,  as  might  be  expected,  is  only  to 
make  confusion  worse  confounded,  and  to  cause  superficial 
readers  to  turn  away  with  something  like  disgust  from  their 
vain  speculations.! 

As  a  fact,  however,  the  confusion  will  be  found  to  exist 
not  in  ancient  authorities  but  in  the  minds  of  the  modern 
scribes  who  undertake  to  criticise  them  ;  and,  with  a  view 
of  presenting  something  new,  very  often  mistranslate  and 
misrepresent  them.  We  do  not  mean  to  deny  that  both  as 
to  facts  and  dates  there  are  many  inaccuracies  and  incon- 
sistencies recorded  in  the  existing  copies  of  those  ancient 
and  venerable  documents.  But  they  have  reference  to 
minor  points,  and  in  most  cases  have  arisen  from  the  ignorance 
and  errors  of  transcribers.  On  the  other  hand,  we  assert 
that  there  is  between  them  a  very  striking  agreement  in 
all  substantial  points,  and  that  their  statements  afford  no 
foundation  whatever  for  dislocating  the  history  of  our 
national  Apostle  in  this  extraordinary  fashion. 

With  a  view  to  establish  this  statement  we  propose 
to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  '  Three  Patricks,' 
which  will  show  how  carefully  the  early  writers  distinguished 
between  them,  and  how  little  ground  there  is  for  attributing 
to  any  of  them  but  one,  the  great  glory  of  being  the  national 
Apostle  of  Ireland. 

The  phrase  '  Three  Patricks  '  is  not  found  in  the  early 
Lives  of  our  Irish  saints,  except  once,  where  it  is  said  '  Three 

^  The  late  Father  Sherman's  '  Essay  on  the  Three  Patricks  '  is  a 
fair  specimen  of  this  kind  of  historical  criricisn^. 


HISTORY   OF   PALLADIUS.  625 

Patricks  '  were  together  in  a  certain  island  of  the  Tyrrhene 
Sea,  I  and  where  it  seems  to  mean  simply  men  of  Patrician 
dignity,  that  is  Patricii.  The  '  Three  Patricks '  to  whom 
modern  writers  refer,  and  whom  they  mix  up  so  much 
together,  are  Patrick  Senior  or  Sen-Patrick,  Patrick  the 
Great,  son  of  Calpurn,  and  Patrick  Junior,  his  nephew. 

Palladius  also  got  the  name  Patrick  as  an  alias  from 
one  ancient  writer  ;  but  the  main  facts  of  his  life  are  so 
well  ascertained,  that  there  can  be  no  ground  for  mixing 
up  his  history  with  that  of  our  national  Apostle. 

I. — History   of  Palladius. 

We  do  not  know  to  what  country  Palladius  belonged,  although 
the  great  interest  which  he  took  in  the  churches  both  of 
Britain  and  of  Ireland  would  seem  to  imply  that  he  or  his 
family  was  in  some  way  connected  with  the  former  country, 
either  by  birth  or  official  station.  We  know,  however, 
for  certain,  on  the  authority  of  the  contemporary  chronicler, 
St.  Prosper  of  Aquitaine,  two  most  important  facts  in  his 
history  :  the  first  is,  that  he  was  in  429  Archdeacon  of  St. 
Celestine  in  Rome,  and  that  it  was  at  his  instance  the 
Pope  sent  St.  Germanus  to  Britain  to  root  out  the 
Pelagian  heresy  from  that  country.  The  second  fact  is,  that 
he  himself  was  consecrated  a  bishop  by  Pope  Celestine  two 
years  afterwards,  in  431,  and  was  sent  as  first  bishop  to  the 
Scots,  that  is  the  Irish,  who  believed  in  Christ.'^ 

The  Irish  authorities  then  take  up  the  narrative,  and 
tell   us   exactly   what  afterwards   happened. 

The  Book  of  Armagh  says  that  Palladius  was  unable  to 
convert  the  Irish  *  because  no  one  can  receive  anything  on 
earth,  except  it  be  given  to  him  from  heaven  '  ;  and  also 
because  *  the  wild  and  savage  men  '  to  whom  he  preached 
would  not  readily  receive  his  doctrine,  and  he  himself  was 
unwilling  in  the  face  of  these  difficulties  to  remain  in  a 
strange  land,  but  preferred  to  return  home  to  him  who  had 
sent  him.  However,  on  this  return  journey,  after  having 
crossed  the  first  (or  Irish)  Sea,  and  begun  his  land  journey,  he 
died  in  the  territory  of  the  Britons.3 


*  Tripartite,  apud  Colgan,  106.  He  thinks  they  became  Gallic  or 
Italian  Bishops 

2  Prosper  Aquitan.  anno  431. 

3  The  Vita  Sec.  makes  him  die  '  in  Pictavorum  finibus ' — 
that  is  the  region  of  the  Picts— Fordun.  The  Additions  to 
Tirechan  say  that  Palladius,  also  called  Patrick,  (as  a  title  of  honour) 
martyrium  passus  est  apud  Scottos — meaning  here  no  doubt  not  the 
Scots  of  Ireland,  but  of  Scotland. 

2  S 


626  '  APPENDIX    IV. 

The  Scholiast  on  Fiacc's  Hymn  enters  into  further  details: 
for  he  adds  that  in  Ireland  Palladius  founded  some  churches, 
namely  Teach  na  Roman,  that  is  the  House  of  the  Romans, 
Killfine,  and  others.  But,  not  being  well  received  by  the 
people,  he  was  compelled  to  go  round  the  Irish  coasts  towards 
the  north,  until  at  length  he  was  driven  by  a  tempest  to 
the  farthest  part  of  Mohaidh  towards  the  south,  where  he 
founded  the  church  of  Fordun  (in  the  Mearns),  and  was 
known  under  the  name  of  Plede.^  This  passage  clearly 
implies  that  the  tempest  drove  the  saint  round  the  west 
and  north  of  Scotland — a  wild  inhospitable  coast  on  which 
he  did  not  wish  to  land  until  he  reached  the  estuary  of  the 
Dee. 

Then  Colgan's  Second  Life  enters  into  further  details 
of  the  Irish  Mission  of  Palladius.  He  landed,  we  are  informed, 
on  the  territory  of  the  men  of  Leinster,  where  Nathi  Mac 
Garrchon  was  chief,  and  who  rudely  opposed  him.  But  others 
listened  to  his  preaching,  and  he  baptised  them  and  built 
for  them  three  churches  in  that  same  district,  one  of  which 
is  Cellfine,  in  which  he  left  books  that  he  got  from  St. 
Celestine,  and  a  box  containing  relics  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul  and  other  saints,  and  waxen  tablets,  on  which  he  used 
to  write,  and  which  bear  his  name  Pallere,  or  Pallad-ere. 
The  second  church  was  Teach  na  Roman  ;  and  the  third 
was  Domnach  Ardec,  or  Domnach  Aracha,  in  which  are 
buried  the  holy  men  of  the  family  of  Palladius — Silvester 
and  Salonius  (Solinus),  who  are  honoured  there.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  died  in  the  plain  of  Girginn,  in  the  place  which 
is  called  Fordun,  but  others  say  he  was  crowned  with 
martyrdom  there. 

This  extract  defines  the  territory  in  which  Palladius 
preached,  the  churches  which  he  founded,  and  gives  the 
name  of  the  chieftain  who  opposed  him,  as  he  also  opposed 
St.  Patrick.  Nathi  was  son  of  Garrchu,  and  ruled  over 
the  territory  or  tribe  known  as  the  Hy-Garrchon  from  his 
father's  name.  They  dwelt  on  the  sea  plain  from  Wicklow 
to  Bray  Head  ;  and  hence  we  find  that  both  Palladius  and 
Patrick  must,  as  Keating  expressly  tells  us,  have  landed  at 
Inver  Dea,  which  is  now  known  as  the  Vartry  River.  It 
is  exactly  such  a  harbour  as  would  suit  the  light  craft  of  the 
time — a  stretch  of  fine  sand  on  which  they  could  draw  up 
their  boats  or  run  them  into  the  river  as  would  be  found 
most   convenient.  The    Fourth   Life   gives    one     further 


1  '  He  fared  round  Ireland  to  the  north,  and  a  mighty  storm  came 
upon  him,  and  he  reached  the  south-eastern  extremity  of  the  Modad, 
and  he  founded  a  church  there  named  Fordun,  and  Pledius  is  his  name 
there.' 


i 


PATRICIUS    SENIOR    OR    SEN-PATRAIC.  627 

particular;  that  : — "  others  say  that  Palladius  was  crowned 
with  martyrdom  in  Hibernia  " — the  common  statement  being, 
however,  that  he  died  in  the  region  of  the  Picts. 

These  few  paragraphs  reaUy  contain  all  we  know  about 
Palladius.  His  Mission  in  Ireland  was  a  failure  ;  he  himself 
felt  it  to  be  so  ;  he  founded  three  churches,  indeed,  in  one 
district,  but  founded  no  more  ;  and  then  disappointed  and 
broken-spirited  he  tried  to  return  home,  but  met  his  end 
either  from  natural  causes  or  from  violence  in  the  region 
of  the  Picts,  that  is  at  Fordun  in  Magh  Geirginn.  The 
narrative  is  clear,  is  natural  in  the  circumstances,  and  is 
substantially  the  same  in  all  the  authorities. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  Palladius  had  little  or  no  share 
in  the  work  of  the  great  St.  Patrick.  And  that  is  emphatically 
stated  in  the  Annotations  to  Tirechan  as  given  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  and  in  the  very  passage  which  informs  us  that 
Palladius  was  sometimes  known  by  the  name  of  Patrick. 
Here  it  is  : — 

Palladius  episcopus  primo  mittitur,  qui  Patricius  alio  nomine 
appellabatur,  qui  martyrium  passus  est  apud  Scottos,  ut  tradunt  sancti 
antiqui.  Deinde  Patritius  Secundus  ab  angelo  Dei  Victor  nomine,  et 
a  Caelestino  Papa,  mittitur.  Cui  Hibernia  tota  credidit,  qui  eam  pene 
totam  baptizavit. 

It  was  Patrick,  therefore,  second  of  that  name,  not 
Palladius,  whose  teaching  all  Ireland  received,  and  by  whom 
almost  all  Ireland  was  baptised. 

If  it  be  asked  how  was  it  that  these  different  saints  bore 
this  name  of  Patrick,  the  answer  is  that  it  was  not  a  personal 
name,  but  an  honorary  title  at  first  given  to  laymen,  and 
afterwards  to  eminent  ecclesiastics.  The  nearest  example 
is  the  title  of  Monsignor  now  given  to  distinguished  ecclesiastics 
whom  the  Pope  wishes  to  honour.  Something  similar  took 
place  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  The  ancient  and 
honourable  title  of  Patricius  or  Patrician,  which  under  the 
Republic  was  only  applied  to  noble  Romans,  under  the 
Empire  came  to  be  an  official  title  given  at  first  to  eminent 
officials  of  the  Empire,  and  afterwards,  when  the  Empire 
became  Christian,  to  eminent  ecclesiastics  also. 

II. — Patricius  Senior  or  Sen-Patraic. 

The  name  of  this  venerable  man  has  been  the  cause  of  much 
confusion  in  Patrician  hagiology,  and  in  bungling  hands 
has  tended  to  do — what  he  certainly  would  not  wish  to  do 
himself — to  diminish  the  well  deserved  fame  of  our  great 
Apostle.  Who  then  was  this  Sen-Patraic  ?  We  can  only 
collect  the  principal  notices  regarding  him  which  are  to  be 


628  APPENDIX    IV. 

found  in  our  Annals  and  in  the  Lives  of  St.  Patrick  ;  and 
leave  our  readers  to  draw  their  own  conclusions. 

The  earliest  and  most  valuable  reference  to  Sen-Patraic 
is  found  in  the  metrical  Calendar  of  i^ngus,  under  date  of 
August   24  : — 

*  With  the  series  of  the  host  of  Zenonius, 
—Tidings  of  them  have  been  heard — 
Old  Patrick,  champion  of  battle, 
The  amiable  tutor  of  our  Elder.' 

On  this  the  Scholiast  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  has  the  following 
note  : — *  Old-Patrick,  that  is  in  Glastonbury  of  the  Gael  in 
Saxon-land.  Old-Patrick  of  Ros-Dela  in  Mag  Locha ; 
but  it  is  truer  that  he  is  in  Glastonbury  of  the  Gael  in  the 
south  of  Saxon-land.  For  Irishmen  formerly  used  to  dwell 
there  in  pilgrimage.  But  his  relics  are  in  Old- Patrick's 
tomb  in  Armagh.' 

From  this  we  gather  that  Old- Patrick  was  at  one  time 
a  monk  of  Glastonbury ;  that  he  was  in  some  sense  a  tutor 
of  our  great  Apostle  ;  that  he  became  bishop  of  Ros-Dela, 
now  Rosdalla,  in  Westmeath  ;  and  that  he  was  buried  at 
Armagh.  But  the  Book  of  Leinster  gives  us  a  third  very 
important  reference,  in  which  it  describes  Sen-Patraic  as  : — 

*  Ostiarius  of  St.  Patrick,  and  Abbot  of  Armagh.'  These 
are  the  only  facts  of  the  life  of  the  saint  that  can  be  said  to 
be  known  with  certainty. 

As  to  his  death  we  find  it  noted  at  different  times  in  our 
Annals  ;  and  these  obituary  notices  have  led  to  much  con- 
fusion. The  Annals  of  Ulster,  under  date  of  a.d.  457,  have 
the  entry  *  quies  Senis  Patricii  ut  alii  libri  dicunt ' — marking 
curiously  enough  the  Synod  of  Chalcedon  (451)  as  held  in 
the  same  year.  In  the  Book  of  Leinster  the  year  is  not 
given,  but  the  entry — Secundinus  et  Senex  Patricius  quiever- 
unt — is  given  after  the  foundation  of  Armagh,  and  before 
the  death  of  Ailill  Molt  in  463,  whilst  the  entry — 'Patricius 
Scottorum  episcopus  quievit ' — is  found  further  on  after  the 
battle  of  Cellosnaid.  The  Book  of  Leinster,  therefore,  clearly 
distinguishes  between  the  death  of  Sen-Patraic,  and  that 
of  the  '  Bishop  of  the  Scots,'  the  great  St.  Patrick,  which 
it  fixes  at  a  much  later  date,  without  giving  the  exact  year. 

In  the  Annales  Cambriae  we  find  the  following  entry — 

*  Annus  XIII.  Sanctus  Patricius  ad  Dominum  migratur/ 
whilst  the  birth  of  St.  Brigid  i  is  marked  in  the  tenth,  and 


1  St    Brigid  was  born  in  ad.  453  (An.  Ulstei),  so  that  this  would 
place  the  death  of  St.  Patricius,  a.d.  456. 


PATRICIUS    SENIOR    OR    SEN-PATRAIC.  629 

the  rest  of  Benignus  in  the  twenty- fourth  year  of  the  same 
era.  This  *  Sanctus  Patricius  '  was  therefore  Old- Patrick  ; 
but  as  he  was  a  Welsh  Saint,  it  is  only  natural  that  Cambrian 
Annals  should  note  his  death,  and,  by  omitting  any  reference 
to  his  great  namesake,  try  to  make  him  out  to  be  the  great 
saint  of  Ireland — a  thing  that  has  been  often  attempted 
since  by  the  Welshmen. 

Several  lists  of  St.  Patrick's  '  successors  '  are  given  in 
our  old  books,  with  the  length  of  their  episcopacy  in  Armagh, 
but  to  reconcile  the  dates  would  be  a  hopeless  task,  owing 
to  the  errors  of  transcribers  in  copying  the  Roman  numbers. 
But  the  order  of  succession  is  practically  identical ;  and  in 
one  of  these  lists  Old- Patrick  is  given  as  Bishop- Abbot  after 
Sechnall  and  before  Benignus.  As  Sechnall  or  Secundinus 
was  the  first  bishop  who  *  went  under  the  sod  '  in  Ireland, 
this  list  clearly  shows  that  the  earlier  prelates  noticed  therein 
as  '  successors '  of  St.  Patrick  in  Armagh  were  really  co- 
adjutor Bishops  whom,  after  the  foundation  of  Armagh,  St. 
Patrick  left  in  the  primatial  city  to  rule  his  church  and  his 
abbey  during  his  own  prolonged  missionary  journeys.  In 
the  list  in  Book  of  Leinster  the  incumbency  of  Sechnall  is 
given  as  thirteen  years,  that  of  Old- Patrick  as  two,  and  that 
of  Benignus  as  two,  of  Jarlath  fourteen,  and  of  Cormac 
twelve,  whilst  St.  Patrick  himself  gets  credit  for  presiding 
for  fifty-eight  years — that  is  from  his  coming  to  Ireland  to 
his  death — thus  clearly  showing  that  his  life  in  Ireland  was 
contemporaneous  with  the  lives  of  his  five  immediate 
*  successors,'  who  were  merely  his  co-adjutors  in  succession  in 
Armagh. 

The  point  we  want  to  insist  on  is,  that  the  very  catalogue 
in  the  Book  of  Leinster  which  represents  these  saints  as 
comarhada  of  the  great  St.  Patrick  shows  that  he  outlived 
them  all  except  St.  Cormac. 

The  list  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  begins  by  stating  that  Patrick 
rested  in  the  hundred  and  twentieth  year  of  his  age  ;  and 
then  amongst  his  comarbs  it  puts  Sechnall  first  and  Benignus 
second,  omitting  all  reference  to  the  abbacy  of  Sen-Patraic. 
The  chronological  tract  in  the  Lebar  Brecc  states  that  Patrick 
completed  his  victorious  course  in  the  nineteenth  year  of 
Cormac,  Patrick's  comarb  or  *  successor.*  The  exact  year 
given  is  perhaps  not  accurate,  but  it  serves  to  explain  what 
we  find  elsewhere ,'i  after  the  statement  that  Patrick,  Bishop 
of  the  Scots  rested — the  next  entry  : — '  Cormac,  first  abbot  of 


*  Sen-Patraic   is   not   given   in   the  list   of   Patrick's  successors  in 
the  Lebar  Brecc. 

2  Annals  from  the  Book  of  Leimier.     Rolls  Tripartite,  p.  513. 


630  APPENDIX    IV. 

Armagh.'  He  was  therefore  the  sixth  Bishop  of  Armagh, 
but  at  the  same  time  the  first  Abbot-Bishop  after  St.  Patrick 
having  independent  jurisdicton. 

From  these  entries,  therefore,  we  get  a  ghmpse  of  the 
real  history  of  Sen-Patraic,  and  we  can  also  infer  very  clearly 
the  share  he  had  in  the  conversion  of  Ireland.  He  was  a 
Welshman  by  birth,  and,  if  not  an  uncle,  was  certainly  an 
older  man  than  his  namesake,  the  great  Apostle  of  Ireland. 
He  spent  some  time  in  the  monastery  of  Glastonbury,  which 
then  and  long  afterwards  was  much  frequented  by  Irish 
saints  and  scholars,  so  that  it  came  to  be  called  Glastonbury 
of  the  Gael.  It  is  clear  that,  if  not  a  near  relation  of  our 
Apostle,  he  made  his  acquaintance  most  probably  during 
the  time  that  St.  Patrick  was  in  Wales  with  St.  Germanus 
in  429.  There  grew  up  a  close  intimacy  between  the  older 
and  the  younger  saint,  so  that  the  former  came  to  be  called 
'  the  beloved  tutor  of  our  Elder.'  It  was  only  natural, 
therefore,  that  when  St.  Patrick  came  to  Ireland  in  432, 
bringing  with  him  associates  for  the  great  task  before  him 
in  Ireland,  the  older  Patrick  should  volunteer  to  be  one  of 
the  companions  of  his  beloved  dalta,  now  duly  authorised 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Irish.  Of  his  subsequent  career 
we  know  little,  except  that  in  the  familia  or  ecclesiastical 
household  of  St.  Patrick  he  occupied  the  responsible  ofhce 
of  ostiarius  or  sacristan  to  the  Saint,  that  he  was  sub- 
sequently made  by  St.  Patrick  Bishop  of  Ros-Dela  in  the 
parish  of  Durrow,  in  the  County  Westmeath,  and  that  after 
the  death  of  Sechnall,  who  had  for  many  years  been  assistant 
bishop  to  Saint  Patrick,  the  latter  appointed  the  venerable 
old  man  to  take  the  place  of  Sechnall  in  Armagh  as  Bishop- 
Abbot  and  co-adjutor  to  himself.  But  he  held  the  office 
only  a  very  short  time,  not  more  than  two  years.  Shortly 
after  Armagh  was  founded  as  the  primatial  see,  and  there 
of  course  he  was  buried  by  St.  Patrick,  and  there  his  relics 
were  for  ages  held  in  veneration  by  the  faithful  Christians  of 
the  Royal  City  on  Macha's  Height.  How  greatly  the 
old  man  loved  his  pupil  St.  Patrick,  and  how  tenderly  he 
was  attached  to  him,  is  shown  by  the  old  story  which  tells 
that  after  death  the  soul  of  Old-Patrick  did  not  ascend 
to  heaven,  but  waited  for  the  death  of  his  beloved  dalta,  and 
then  both  ascended  in  joy  and  glory  to  their  thrones  in 
heaven.  This  is  a  clear,  consecutive  story,  proved  to  be 
true  by  the  brief  statements  in  our  annals  ;  and  it  shows  also 
that  Old- Patrick  had  no  doubt  a  very  meritorious  but,  at 
the  same  time,  only  a  very  subordinate  part  in  the  great 
work  of  the  conversion  of  Ireland. 

If  further  proof  were  needed,  that  it  is  to  St.  Patrick, 
and  to  him  alone,  the  great  work  of  the  conversion  of  Ireland 


I 


THE    GREAT    ST.    PATRICK.  63 1 

must,  as  a  whole,  be  ascribed,  we  can  find  it  in  the  Confession 
of  the  Saint,  and  in  the  express  testimony  of  all  our  ancient 
authorities  without  exception.  To  this  view  of  the  case, 
however,  we  can  at  present  make  only  very  brief  reference. 

III. — The  Great  St.  Patricia 

St.  Patrick  appears  greatest,  where  he  is  humblest,  in  his 
own  Confession.  No  competent  Irish  scholar  has  ever 
ventured  to  question  the  authenticity  of  this  work,  because 
it  bears  on  all  things  the  stamp  of  its  own  genuineness. 
It  never  could  in  any  hypothesis  be  conceived  as  the  work 
of  a  forger  or  impostor,  because  its  author  was  manifestly 
a  saint  like  Paul.  Now,  throughout  the  Confession,  the 
Saint,  though  speaking  like  St.  Paul  in  self-defence  and 
with  the  utmost  humility,  represents  the  conversion  of 
Ireland  as  his  own  work  through  the  goodness  and  mercy  of 
God.  "  I  am,"  he  says,  ''  greatly  the  debtor  of  God,  who 
has  given  to  me  this  great  grace,  that  through  me  many 
peoples  should  be  born  again  unto  God,  and  that  clerics 
should  be  everywhere  ordained  for  them — a  nation  lately 
coming  to  the  faith  whom  God  has  raised  up  at  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth."  And  a  little  further  on  he  describes  the 
Irish  as  a  people  who  never  before  had  any  knowledge  of  God, 
and  up  to  that  time  had  always  worshipped  idols  and  unclean 
things,  but  now  are  become  the  people  of  the  Lord,  and  sons 
of  God — nay,  the  sons  of  the  Scots  and  the  daughters  of  their 
kings  are  seen  to  become  monks  and  virgins  of  Christ.  In 
these  passages,  therefore,  the  Apostle  describes  the  entire 
conversion  of  the  Irish  nation  as  his  own  work  through 
the  grace  of  God. 

And  again  he  describes  how  he  spent  himself  in  their 
service. — '  Amongst  you  I  went  everywhere  for  your  sake, 
in  many  dangers,  even  to  the  uttermost  parts,  beyond  which 
no  one  dwells,  and  where  no  one  had  ever  come  to  baptise  or 
ordain  clerics,  or  confirm  the  people,  but  through  the  gift 
of  God,  diligently  and  willingly  for  your  salvation  I  have 
regenerated  all.'  And  therefore  he  prays  so  earnestly 
that  it  may  never  happen  that  he  should  lose  any  of  those 
souls  whom  he  had  won  for  God  at  the  end  of  the  world. 
Whoever  admits  the  authenticity  of  the  Confession  must 
also  admit  that  there  was  only  one  Patrick,  who,  by  the 
special  grace  and  calling  of   God,  converted  the  Irish  nation. 

And  it  was  always  the  conviction  of  the  Irish  nation 
testified  throughout  all  their  history,  that  there  was  one  and 
only  one  Patrick  to  whom  they  owed  their  conversion,  and 
whom  they  have  always  loved  with  a  passionate  yearning 
love.      Such  love  does  not  take  a  historical  shadow  for  its 


632  APPENDIX   IV. 

object ;  it  is  born  of  a  living  reality,  and  can  only  grow  up 
around  a  great  historical  figure  brought  into  the  most  intimate 
relations  with  the  whole  nation.  The  pilgrimages  to  Armagh, 
to  Croaghpatrick,  to  Lough  Derg,  of  which  all  our  history 
is  full,  testify  to  the  historical  individuality  of  our  great 
father  in  Christ.  The  references  in  the  Lives  of  our  early 
saints  and  our  national  Annals  tell  the  same  story.  The 
very  wells — the  holy  wells  in  all  parts  of  Ireland  that  bear 
the  name  of  Patrick— would  alone  be  sufficient  to  prove  that 
there  was  one  great  saint  who  blessed  them,  who  used  them, 
who  baptised  the  people  in  their  limpid  waters,  and  whose 
name  has  ever  since  been  kept  in  the  memory  of  the  people 
by  annual  pilgrimages  to  the  fountains  sanctified  by  his 
presence  and  his  blessing. 

IV. — Patrick  Junior. 

Of  Patrick  Junior  we  know  little  for  certain.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  the  son  of  Deacon  Sannan — St.  Patrick's  only 
brother,  according  to  the  Scholiast  on  Place's  Hymn.  Jocelyn 
assures  us  that  after  the  death  of  his  holy  uncle  he  returned 
to  Britain,  and  retired  there  to  the  ancient  and  famous 
monastery  of  Glastonbury  where  he  wrote  his  Life  of  St. 
Patrick.  Colgan  identifies  it  as  the  Second  amongst  the 
Lives  published  by  himself,  and  remarks  that  the  writer 
was  well  skilled  in  the  Irish  language,  for  he  uses  several 
Gaelic  phrases,  and  must  have  written  after  the  death  of 
St.  Patrick,  since  he  describes  the  Saint  as  being  sixty  years 
when  he  came  to  preach  in  Ireland,  and  spending  sixty  more 
in  this  country  before  his  death,  i  In  its  present  form  the 
Life  is  incomplete,  but  so  far  as  it  goes  it  is  of  great  historical 
value.  From  a  reference  the  author  makes  to  Fiacc,  it 
would  appear  he  survived  that  saint,  and  must  therefore 
have  lived  somewhat  later  than  510,  the  probable  year  of 
Fiacc's  death. 

^Ch.  22. 


APPENDIX  V» 

THE  RELICS   OF   ST.    PATRICK. 

We  use  the  word  *  Relics  '  here  in  its  widest  sense  to  include 
all  those  things  that  are  specially  worthy  of  veneration  on 
account  of  their  intimate  connection  with  our  National 
Apostle.  They  are  of  two  classes,  (i)  the  marlra,  or  covporedl 
relics  of  the  Saint ;  and  (2)  the  minna  or  extrinsic  relics 
which  are  worthy  of  veneration  because  they  were  the 
personal  implements  used  by  the  Saint  in  discharge  of 
his  duties,  and  hence  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  insignia  or 
symbols  of  his  high  office  as  the  Head  of  the  Irish  Church. 
Hence,  also,  these  holy  minna,  sanctified  by  the  use  of  the 
Saint,  came  to  be  held  in  the  highest  veneration,  and,  as  the 
sacred  symbols  of  the  primatial  office,  were  regarded  as  in- 
dispensable for  the  exercise  of  the  primatial  functions.  The 
prelate  who  had  the  minna  of  St.  Patrick  in  this  way  came 
to  be  regarded  as  the  true  comarb  of  Patrick ;  without  them 
no  one  was  regarded  as  his  lawful  successor. 

The  most  venerable  of  the  minna  of  St.  Patrick,  from  this 
point  of  view,  was  the  Staff  of  Jesus. 

1. — The   Staff  of  Jesus,   or  Bachall-Iosa. 

The  early  history  of  this  most  venerable  relic  has  been 
admirably  summed  up  by  Colgan  in  a  special  dissertation 
on  the  subject.  It  is  not  long,  but  it  is  clear  and  accurate  so 
far  as  it  goes. 

Following  the  chronological  order,  the  earliest  writer  who 
refers  to  the  Staff  of  Jesus  is  probably  the  author  of  the 
Third  Life.  He  merely  states  that  Patrick  '  having  set 
out  on  his  journey  to  Rome  went  to  a  certain  hermit,  who 
dwelt  in  a  certain  place ;  from  him  Patrick  received  the 
Staff,  which  had  been  in  the  hand  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord, 
that  under  its  guidance  or  companionship  he  might  be  pros- 
perous in  his  (missionary)  journey,  and  the  Staff  remains 
to  this  day  in  the  City  of  Armagh,  and  is  called  the  Baculus 
Jesu,  or  Staff  of  Jesus.' 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  writer  here  does  not  determine 
in  any  way  the  place  where  the  person  from  whom  Patrick 
received  the  Stafi  dwelt,  beyond  saying  that  he  was  a  hermit 
dwelling  in  a  certain  place. 

The  Fourth  Life  goes  further,  and  says  that  Patrick  on 
his  voyage  through  the  Tyrrhene   Sea   '  received   the  Staff 


634  APPENDIX    V. 

of  Jesus  from  a  certain  youth  wlio  dwelt  in  a  certain  island, 
and  there  had  given  hospitality  to  Jesus  Christ.^  '  It  adds, 
however,  that  the  Lord  spoke  to  Patrick  on  the  mouniiain, 
and  commanded  him  to  come  to  Ireland.  The  '  sland  ' 
and  the  '  youth  '  are  not  determined  ;  but  the  statement  of 
a  special  command  given  to  Patrick  by  our  Lord  himself 
is  strikingly  borne  out  by  his  own  words  in  the  Confession, 
where  he  says  that  Christ  the  Lord  commanded  him  to  come 
to  Ireland  and  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  with  his  converts 
in  that  country.^ 

Jocelyn  amplifies  these  brief  accounts, — saying  that  the 
hermit  or  solitary  was  one  Justus  in  name  and  in  deed,  that 
he  gave  to  Patrick  the  Stafi  which  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  had 
appeared  to  him,  held  in  His  own  hand,  and  ordered  to  be 
given  to  Patrick  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  island.  There  were 
other  solitaries  also,  he  adds,  in  the  island,  some  young  and 
some  old,  but  all  dwelling  apart ;  the  younger  hermits  told 
Patrick  that  they  used  to  give  hospitahty  to  all  comers,  and 
on  one  occasion  they  gave  it  to  a  Person  who  had  the  Staff 
in  His  hand,  and  this  Person  said,  after  partaking  of  their 
hospitality,  "  I  am  Jesus  Christ,  whose  members  you  have  been 
ministering  to,  even  as  now  you  have  done  to  Myself " — 
thereupon  He  gave  the  Staff  which  He  held  in  His  hand  to 
their  superior,  with  instructions  to  give  it  to  a  certain  stranger 
called  Patrick  who  would  come  there  in  later  times. — Having 
thus  spoken  He  ascended  into  Heaven,  but  He  left  to  them 
of  that  generation  the  gift  of  perpetual  youth  in  reward  of 
their  charity  ;  whilst  the  peaceful  old  men  whom  Patrick  saw 
were  their  children,  who  did  not  enjoy  the  same  privilege. 
So  Patrick  took  the  Staff  from  the  Elder,  and  having  remained 
for  some  days  with  the  holy  solitaries  bade  them  farewell  and 
went  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

It  will  be  observed  here  that  there  is  no  question  of  a 
personal  appearance  of  our  Saviour  to  Patrick,  nor  any 
special  mandate  given  to  him  to  preach  the  gospel  in 
Ireland. 

But  the  Tripartite  gives  a  fuller,  and  perhaps,  more 
satisfactory,  explanation  than  any  of  the  other  Lives. 
According  to  this  venerable  authority  Patrick  on  his  voyage 
through  the  Tyrrhene  Sea  came  to  a  certain  island,  and  found 
there  a  new  house,  in  which  a  young  married  couple  dwelt, 
but  he  saw  also  an  old  woman  scarcely  able  to  crawl  along 


1  Hospitiiim  Cliristo,  tribuente — the  participle  appears  to  be  the 
present,  but  the  reference  is  clearly  to  the  past. 

2  Et  non  ego  sed  Chris tus  Dominus,  qui  mihi  imperavit  ut 
venirem  esse  cum  illis  residuum  aetatis  meae.  The  construction  is 
patrician. 


THE    STAFF   OF   JESUS,   OR    BACHALL-IOSA.  635 

the  ground.  The  young  man  then  informed  him  that  long 
ago  when  exercising  hospitahty  they  had  received  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  as  their  guest,  that  He,  in  return  for  their 
charity,  gave  them  and  their  house  a  blessing,  which  pre- 
served both  from  decay,  but  that  the  blessing  was  not  given 
to  their  children,  who  were  not  then  born.  In  consequence 
the  children  grew  old  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  the  old  crone 
whom  he  saw  was  the  granddaughter  of  the  speaker,  that  is 
the  daughter  of  his  daughter,  who  was  a  still  older  and  more 
decrepit  woman. 

The  Staff  which  our  Saviour  held  in  His  hands  He  then  gave 
to  the  young  man.  His  host,  with  instructions  to  keep  it  safely 
for  a  certain  stranger  who  would  thereafter  visit  them,  and 
was  the  destined  apostle  of  Ireland.  And  so  he  offered  the 
Staff  to  Patrick.  But  Patrick  said,  "  No,  I  will  not  take  it 
except  the  Lord  Himself  confirms  this  donation  as  His  own." 
He  then  spent  three  days  with  them,  and  thereafter  he  came 
to  the  mountain  called  Hermon,  where  the  Lord  himself 
condescended  to  appear  to  him,  and  commanded  him  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Irish  people,  and  at  the  same  time 
gave  him  the  staff,  which  is  '  now  everywhere  called  the 
Staff  of  Jesus,'  to  be  his  stay  in  weakness,  and  his  defence 
in  adversity.  Then  follows  a  long  catalogue  of  all  the  wonders 
which  Patrick  had  accomplished  during  his  missionary 
career  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  Staff  of  Jesus.  So  far 
the  Lives. 

Now,  it  appears  to  us  the  one  strong  point  in  this  narrative — 
for  it  is  substantially  one  narrative — is  that  the  Special 
Mission  from  Jesus  Christ  referred  to  as  given  to  Patrick, 
directly  or  indirectly,  is  confirmed  by  his  own  language  in 
the  Confession,  for  that  language  undoubtedly  implies  an 
immediate  supernatural  mission  from  his  Divine  Master, 
He  who  admits  this  will  have  little  difficulty  in  admitting 
that  our  Lord  would  at  the  same  time,  and  naturally,  as  it 
were,  give  him  a  Crozier  to  be  a  proof  of  that  mission, 
for  the  Crozier  is  the  symbol  of  episcopal  authority ; 
and  if  the  mission  was  thus  extraordinary  and  supernatural 
we  might  naturally  expect  that  the  Crozier  too  would  be 
given  in  a  supernatural  way.  Such,  at  least,  was  the  belief  in 
Ireland  down  to  the  time  of  Henry  VII I. ,  for  all  the  authorities 
admit  that  the  Staff  was  held  in  the  highest  veneration, 
and  all  without  exception  call  it  the  Staff  of  Jesus — many 
of  them,  too,  explaining  the  origin  of  the  name. 

St.  Bernard  first  of  all  calls  especial  attention  to  the  Crozier, 
gold-covered  and  adorned  with  most  precious  gems,  which 
Nigellus  the  pseudo-primate  carried  off  with  him  from 
Armagh,  and  along  with  the  Book  of  Patrick  exhibited  as 
undoubted  proofs  of  his  own  claim  to  the  primacy.     "  For," 


636  APPENDIX   V. 

he  adds,  "  the  fooHsh  people  thought  that  he  who  possessed 
these  venerable  relics  was  indeed  the  true  successor  of  St, 
Patrick." 

Gerald  Barry,  too,  refers  to  the  Staff  of  Jesus  as  the  most 
famous  and  wonder-working  Crozier  in  all  Ireland.  It  was  by 
it,  he  says,  that  St.  Patrick  is  said  to  have  driven  all  venomous 
reptiles  from  the  island  ;  and,  although  its  origin  is  doubtful, 
its  virtue  is  undoubted  (certissima).  '  In  our  times,  and  by 
our  people,  this  celebrated  treasure  has  been  taken  away 
from  Armagh  and  brought  to  Dublin.'  ^  There  for  more 
than  300  years  it  was  preserved  and  venerated  as  of  old  in 
Armagh.  It  was  kept  in  the  Cathedral  of  Christ  Church  until 
George  Browne,  the  apostate  friar  and  first  Protestant  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  had  it  forcibly  taken  from  the  Cathedral 
and  publicly  burned  in  High  Street,  to  the  great  horror  and 
indignation  of  all  the  people. 


II. — The  Bell  of  the  Will. 

The  second  of  Patrick's  minna  is  the  Bell  of  the  Will ;  in 
later  Irish  called  the  Clog-Phadruig.  It  is  one  of  the  three 
relics  of  Patrick  which  were  discovered  by  Columcille  in 
the  tomb  of  the  Saint  at  Downpatrick  sixty  years  after  his 
death,  and  was  assigned  by  him  to  the  custody  of  the  Church 
of  Armagh.  As  we  know,  this  statement  is  made  in  the  Annals 
of  Ulster,  under  date  of  the  year  552,  and  the  writer  quotes 
as  his  authority  the  very  ancient  Book  of  Cuana.  Why  it 
has  been  called  the  Bell  of  the  Will  is  not  stated  ;  but  it  is 
supposed  to  be  so  called  because  it  is  the  Bell  referred  to  in 
an  ancient  document  known  as  the  Testamentum  S.  Patritii, 
which  assigns  this  Bell  to  the  custody  ot  the  Church  of  Armagh. 
Of  this  Testamentum  Patritii  we  shall  have  something  more 
to  say  later  on. 

In  a  Paper  read  before  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  in  1863 
the  learned  Reeves  gives  a  full  account  of  this  Bell  of  the  Will 
from  every  point  of  view.  Here  we  merely  summarize  his 
conclusions,  as  many  of  the  points  discussed  by  him  have 
been  already  referred  to  in  this  work. 

In  a  very  ancient  poem  attributed  to  Columcille  the 
author  refers  to  this  Bell  in  striking  language,  which  shows  the 


1  We  also  find  similar  references  made  to  the  Staff  by  Henry  of 
Saltrey,  and  also  in  the  Office  of  St.  Patrick  (Paris,  1622),  but  it  is 
unnecessary  to  quote  them  here. 


THE    BELL   OF  THE   WILL.  637 

reverence  in  which  it  was  held,  and  also  alludes  to  its  Invention 
by  Columcille  in  the  tomb  of  St.  Patrick  : — 

My  love  to  thee,  O  smooth  melodious  Bell. 

Which  was  on  the  Tailcenn's  breast ; 
Which  was  permitted  me  by  the  guileless  Christ — 

The  raising  and  delivering  of  it. 

I  command  for  the  safe  keeping  of  my  bell 

Eight  who  shall  be  noble,   illustrious; 
A  priest  and  a  deacon  amongst  them, 

That  my  Bell  may  not  deteriorate. 

The  instructions  attributed  to  Columcille,  whether  really 
given  by  him  or  not,  were  faithfully  carried  out,  and  to  that 
precaution  we,  doubtless,  owe  the  preservation  of  this  most 
sacred  Bell  down  to  our  own  time,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

The  Bell  itself  is  one  of  the  primitive  type  in  Ireland — 
quadrilateral  in  shape  *  and  formed  of  two  pieces  of  sheet- 
iron,  which  are  bent  over  so  as  to  meet,  and  are  fastened 
together  by  large-headed  iron  rivets.'  It  would  appear  that, 
at  a  later  period,  it  was  coated  with  bronze  to  preserve  the 
iron  from  corrosion.  '  Its  height  is,  with  the  handle,  7I  inches — 
exclusive  of  the  handle,  6J  inches.  The  breadth  of  the  crown 
is  5,  and  the  width  i|  inches.  The  entire  weight  is  3  lbs. 
II  oz.'  It  is  at  present  preserved  with  its  shrine  in  the 
National   Museum,    Kildare   Street,    Dublin. 

The  maker  of  this,  the  original  Bell  used  by  St.  Patrick, 
and  bequeathed  by  him  to  his  Church  of  Armagh,  was,  it 
would  appear,  the  artificer  Mac  Cecht,  one  of  the  three  smiths 
employed  by  Patrick  to  make  his  bells.  He  had  three  artificers, 
as  we  know  from  the  Tripartite,  Mac  Cecht,  Laeban,  and 
Fortchern — smiths  they  were  for  iron  work,  not  cerda,  or 
artificers  for  the  finer  work  in  bronze.  The  three  smiths, 
however,  were  members  of  Patrick's  religious  family,  and, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  he  gave  each  of  them  a  church 
wherein  to  dwell — ^whether  parochial  or  episcopal  is  not 
stated. 

This  Bell  of  the  Will,  made  for  Patrick's  use  by  one  of  his 
own  family,  used,  too,  by  himself,  for  many  years  in  Armagh, 
if  not  also  elsewhere,  to  summon  his  own  flock  to  religious 
functions,  became  the  symbol  of  his  power,  and,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  his  people,  its  sound  was  the  very  voice  of  Patrick,  if  not 
of  God  himself,  calling  them  to  His  worship.  Hence  it  also 
became  an  object  of  the  highest  veneration ;  and  that 
veneration  was  greatly  intensified  when  the  Bell  was  found 
by  Columcille  on  the  very  breast  of  Patrick  in  his  tomb, 
and  was  by  the  Saint  of  lona  restored  to  the  Church  of  Armagh, 


6^8  APPENDIX    V. 


'w> 


in   accordance   with   the   dying   wishes   of   Patrick   himself. » 
It  thus  came  to  be   regarded   as  one  of   the  great  treasures* 
of  the  church  of  Armagh  ;  it  was  one  of  the  symbols  of  the 
primatial   authority ;   and,  of  course,   it  was  preserved  with 
the  greatest  care  and  jealousy. 

But  Armagh  was  liable  to  be  burned  at  any  time  ;  and 
was  burned  often — churches,  schools,  books,  and  reliquaries. 
Hence,  at  an  early  date  a  special  keeper  was  assigned  for 
the  safe  custody  of  the  Bell  of  the  Will,  who  was  bound  to 
preserve  it  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  under  the  most 
sacred  obligation,  at  the  risk  of  life  and  limb.  Eight  persons, 
amongst  them  a  priest  and  deacon,  the  old  poem  attributed 
to  Columcille  prescribes  for  its  safe  custody.  We  know,  at 
least,  that  an  official  custodian  of  the  Bell  was  appointed  ; 
that  he  had  lands  assigned  for  his  support,  and  doubtless 
he  had  assistants  to  ensure  the  safe  custody  of  the  precious 
treasure.  He  would  be  bound,  ex-offl  io,  to  bring  the  Bell 
to  Armagh  on  great  occasions,  and  also  he  was  specially 
bound  to  accompany  the  Comarb  of  Patrick  on  his  official 
visitations  in  Ulster,  Munster,  and  Connaught,  for  without 
the  Bell,  and  the  Staff,  and  the  Canon  of  Patrick,  the 
primate  would  not  be  recognised  as  the  real  Comarb  of  the 
Saint. 

Now,  in  course  of  time,  the  Bell  began  to  grow  the  worse 
of  the  wear,  and  it  became  necessary  to  provide  a  suitable 
cover  or  shrine  which  would  serve  at  once  to  protect  it  from 
injury,  and  also  show  the  high  veneration  in  which  it  was 
held.  So  a  truly  noble  shrine  was  wrought  for  the  Bell  of 
the  Will — the  joint  work  of  the  High  King,  the  Primate,  and 
the  ablest  artist  whom  the  North  of  Ireland  could  produce. 

The  great  work  was  accomplished  in  the  highest  style  of 
artistic  beauty.  An  inscription  in  uncial  letters  on  the  shrine 
itself  tells  who  were  the  authors  of  the  work.  **  It  was  executed 
at  the  expense  of  the  King  of  Erin,  Domnall  O'Lachlainn, 
for  the  Heir  of  Patrick  (Domnall,  son  of  Amalgaid),  for 
Cathalan  O'Maelchalland,  Custodian  of  the  Bell ;  and 
Cudulig  O'Inmainen,  with  his  sons,  were  the  men  who  made 
the  cover."  Though  last  not  least,  most  skilful  wrights, 
your  workmanship  to  this  day  is  in  its  own  way  unapproached 
and  unapproachable. 

We  need  not  describe  this  beautiful  cover  or  shrine  at  length. 
It  can  be  seen  in  Dublin,  and  reflects  the  highest  credit  on 
all  concerned  in  its  execution.       It  was  wrought  between 


*  Patrick  died  at  Saul  and  was  buried  at  Down.  The  Ulidians,  un- 
willing to  give  the  Bell  to  Armagh,  caused  it  to  be  buried  with  the 
Saint.  But  Columcille,  knowing  the  will  of  Patrick,  had  it  restored  to 
Armagh. 


THE  BELL  OF  THE  WILL.  639 

1090  and  1105,  so  that  no  foreign  hand  had  anything  to  do 
with  it.  Of  itself  it  affords  a  very  striking  proof  of  the  fertihty 
of  design  and  dehcacy  of  execution  of  our  Celtic  artists  at 
the  beginning  of  the   12th  century. 

Miss  Stokes,  a  very  competent  authority,  describes  the 
shrine  as  a  fine  example  of  goldsmith's  work  made  at  the  close 
of  the  eleventh  century.  ''It  is  made  of  brass  on  which 
the  ornamented  parts  are  fastened  d:3wn  with  rivets.  The 
front  is  adorned  with  silver-gilt  plates,  and  knot-work  in 
golden  filigree.  The  silver  work  is  partly  covered  with  scrolls, 
some  in  alto-relievo,  some  in  bas-relief.  It  is  also  decorated 
with  gems  and  crystal,  and  on  the  sides  are  animal  forms 
elongated  and  twisted  into  interlaced  scrolls." 

**  The  sides  of  the  shrine  are  in  more  perfect  condition  than 
the  front,  owing  to  the  substantial  character  of  the  work."  And, 
quoting  Stuart's  Armagh  Petrie  adds  that  the  left  side  exhibits 
above  and  below  the  circle  which  surrounds  the  handle 
ornaments  of  fine  gold,  representing  serpents  curiously  and 
elegantly  intertwined  in  most  intricate  folds,  and  in  various 
knots.  Below  the  knob  and  ring  by  which  it  is  suspended, 
there  are  eight  serpents,  so  singularly  enfolded  and  inter- 
mingled with  one  another  that  it  requires  minute  attention 
and  considerable  discrimination  to  trace  each  separately,  and 
to  distinguish  it  from  its  fellows.  The  whole  description  is 
full  and  accurate,  but  we  cannot  reproduce  it  here. 

The  O'Mulchallans  (O  Maelchalland)  were,  as  the  in- 
scriptions imply,  hereditary  keepers  or  custodians  of  the 
Bell  of  the  Will.  In  virtue  of  his  office  the  Keeper  inherited 
certain  erenach  lands  belonging  to  the  Church  of  Armagh  as 
his  family  property,  subject  to  deprivation  by  the  Primate  for 
failure  of  the  due  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  office.  These 
lands  were  situated  near  Stewartstown  in  the  Co.  Tyrone,  and, 
as  the  property  of  the  Keeper  of  the  Bell,  were  called  Baile 
Chluig  or  Ballyclog.  As  one  of  the  high  officials  of  the  Church 
of  Armagh  the  Keeper  also  enjoyed  great  consideration, 
and  on  more  than  one  occasion  he  and  all  his  retainers  were 
exempted  from  the  effects  of  interdicts  and  other  diocesan 
penalties  inflicted  on  their  neighbours.  At  a  subsequent 
period  the  Primate  transferred  the  custody  of  the  Bell  to 
the  O'Mellans ;  but  it  again  reverted  in  the  seventeenth 
century  to  the  representatives  of  its  ancient  custodians,  who 
in  latter  times  were  known  as  Mulhollands. 

O' Curry  thought  that  the  Bell  of  the  Will  was  identical 
with  that  known  as  the  Finnfaidhech,  or  Sweet-sounding, 
referred  to  in  the  Tripartite  as  the  work  of  Laeban,  one  of 
Patrick's  three  smiths.  But  Petrie  shows  that  they  were  two 
distinct  bells,  and  that  the  sweet-sounding  bell  with  other  rslics 
of  St.  Patrick  were   carried  ofi  by  John  de  Curci,  and  the 


640  APPENDIX   V. 

Bell  was  never  given  back  to  Armagh,  although  the  Canon  of 
Patrick,  that  is,  the  Book  of  Armagh,  was  returned  later  on. 
Most  likely  the  Keeper  of  the  Bell  of  the  Will  had  it  in  his 
own  custody,  west  of  Lough  Neagh,  when  John  de  Curci 
swooped  down  on  Armagh,  and  so  the  beautiful  Bell  fortunately 
escaped  profanation,  if  not  utter  destruction,  like  the  Staff 
of  Jesus  at  the  hands  of  the  English. 

The  Bell  of  the  Will,  like  the  Cathach  of  St.  Columba  and  the 
Misach  of  Cairnecht,  was,  it  would  appear,  sometimes  used  as 
a  battle  standard,  that  is,  it  was  carried  within  its  shrine 
by  the  Keeper  into  the  field  of  battle,  in  order  to  secure  the 
special  aid  of  Patrick  for  those  who  fought  under  its  pro- 
tection. It  was  also  used  for  the  ratification  of  compacts  and  of 
solemn  promises,  the  violation  of  which,  if  they  had  been  sworn 
on  the  Bell  of  Patrick,  was  regarded  as  the  profanation  of  the 
relic  itself,  which  was  sure  to  bring  upon  its  authors  some 
dreadful  chastisement  from  the  dishonoured  Saint.  For 
instance,  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  A.D.  1044, — Niall,  King  of 
Ailech,  carried  off  from  the  men  of  Hy  Meath  and  Cuailne 
1200  cows  and  a  number  of  captives  *  in  revenge  for  the 
violation  of  the  Bell  of  the  Will.'  The  avengers  in  these 
cases  looked  upon  themselves  as  authorised  by  Patrick 
himself  to  vindicate  his  honour  and  punish  the  profanation 
of  his  minna. 

III. — The  Canon  of  St.  Patrick. 

The  third  of  the  minna  of  the  Saint  was  known  as  the  Canoin 
Patraic,  now  known  as  the  Book  of  Armagh,  which  was 
always  held  in  the  highest  veneration  as  in  part  at  least 
written  by  the  Saint  himself,  and,  moreover,  as  the  official 
record  of  his  own  Church  of  Armagh,  setting  forth  Patrick's 
copy  of  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  ^  the  facts  of  his 
life,  the  letters  which  he  wrote,  the  maxims  he  inculcated, 
the  chief  canons  he  enacted,  the  prerogatives  of  his  see,  and 
the  bounds  of  his  diocese. 

We  have  elsewhere  referred  to  the  contents  of  this  famous 
volume  at  some  length,  so  that  we  need  not  refer  to  it  here, 
except  very  briefly.  It  is  described  as  a  small  vellum  quarto, 
7I  inches  in  height,  5|  in  breadth,  2J  in  thickness.  The  writing 
is  mostly  in  double  columns,  and  all  seems  to  be  the  work  of 
the  same  scribe,  Ferdomnach,  who  died  in  A.D.  845.  But  as 
the  scribe  wrote,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  at  the  dictation  of 
Torbach,  Heir  of  Patrick,  who  held    the    primacy  only  for 

1  The  only  complete  copy  coming  down  from  the  Scribes  of  our 
ancient  Irish  Church.  The  rest  were  all  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  It 
also  contains  the  spurious  epistle  to  the  Laodiceans. 


THE   CANON    OF    ST.    PATRICK.  64 1 

one  year,  namely  807,  we  are  forced  to  infer  that  the  entire 
volume  was  written,  or  rather  copied,  in  that  year  from  an 
older  copy  which  even  then  was  sui^ering  from  the  injuries 
of  time.  The  older  MS.  in  the  hands  of  the  Primate  was  in 
all  probabihty  the  original,  partly  written  by  St.  Patrick 
himself  and  partly  by  Muirchu,  Tirechan,  and  the  other  original 
scribes  of  the  venerable  records. 

Like  the  other  minna  of  Patrick,  this  volume  was  held  in 
the  greatest  veneration  as  being  partly  the  work  of  the  Saint, 
and  a  record  of  the  most  ancient  and  important  documents 
connected  with  his  church.  Hence  we  find  that  at  a  very  early 
date  it  was  enshrined  in  an  elaborate  cumdach,  as  the  Four 
Masters  tell  us. 

A.D.  937.  The  Canoin  Phadraig  was  covered  by  Donchadh,  son 
of  Flann,  King  of  Ireland. 

This  cumdach  is  unfortunately  no  longer  in  existence. 
It  was  probably  seized  by  John  de  Curci  and  his  soldiers 
when  they  pillaged  Armagh,  and  carried  off  the  Canon  of 
Patrick  with  many  other  venerable  relics  of  the  primatial 
church.  The  Primate  himself  was  made  a  prisoner  also,  but 
he  was  sent  home  from  Down,  and  the  Canon  of  Patrick 
with  him — ^stripped,  however,  it  would  seem,  of  its  beautiful 
cover.  That  and  the  other  reliquaries  were  never  restored  : 
'  the  foreigners  have  them  all  to  the  present  time,'  adds  the 
annalist.  Some  of  them,  however,  like  the  Staff  of  Jesus, 
they  wantonly  destroyed  at  a  later  period. 

Like  the  Bell  of  the  Will,  the  Canon  of  St.  Patrick  had  its 
own  official  custodian  or  steward.  He  was  called  the  Maor 
or  Steward,  because  he  had  the  custody  of  the  book,  and,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Bell,  the  office  became  hereditary  in  one  family  ; 
they  were  allowed  large  lands  for  their  maintenance,  and  took 
their  surname  from  their  office.  Hence  they  were  known  as 
Mac  Moyres — the  descendants  of  the  Keeper.  Yet — the 
pity  of  it — when  Oliver  Plunket,  the  noblest  Heir  of  Patrick 
that  ever  sat  in  his  chair,  was  arraigned  for  high  treason  in 
1681  before  a  hostile  judge  and  jury  in  London,  it  was  two 
of  those  very  Mac  Moyres,  Florence  and  his  brother  John — 
whom  the  martyred  prelate  himself  described  as  '  merciless 
perjurers  ' — ^that  swore  away  his  life,  for  they  were  amongst 
the  chief  faithless  witnesses  upon  whose  foresworn  testimony 
he  was  convicted.  And  what  is  perhaps  saddest  of  all,  Florence 
Mac  Moyre,  at  that  time  the  official  custodian  of  St.  Patrick's 
Book,  pawned  it  for  the  miserable  sum  of  £5  to  a  Protestant 
gentleman,  Arthur  Brownlow,  of  Lurgan,  to  enable  him  to 
procure  money  to  go  to  London  to  swear  away  the  life  of  the 
gentle-hearted  and  blameless  Primate.  Patrick  himself  was 
willing,  as  he  tells  us,  at  any  time  to  give  his  life  for  his  flock. 

2  T 


642  APPENDIX    V. 

Plunket  gave  it,  but  it  was  his  own  betrayed  him.  the  very 
men  whose  office  obhged  them  to  follow  the  Heir  of  Patrick 
and  bear  his  insignia  even  unto  death. 

Mr.  Brownlow  was,  however,  a  more  faithful  custodian  of 
the  Book  of  Armagh  than  its  official  keepers.  He  had  the 
Book  incased  and  carefully  preserved  in  his  private  library 
down  to  the  year  1853,  when  it  was  i)urchased  by  the  late 
venerable  and  learned  Dr.  Reeves  for  the  sum  of  ;f300.  Reeves 
was  perhaps  the  man  in  all  Ireland  most  fitted  to  edit  and 
publish  the  sacred  volume,  but  he  did  not  live  to  accomplish 
his  task.  The  Book  passed  from  him  to  Primate  Beresford, 
a  large  and  liberal-minded  prelate,  who  presented  it  to  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  where  it  still  remains.  We  understand  that 
Dr.  Gwynn,  the  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  University, 
has  continued  the  labour  of  Reeves,  and  that  the  work  is 
now  on  the  eve  of  publication. 


IV. — The  Shrine  of  St.  Patrick's  Hand. 

Another  interesting  relic  of  our  Saint  is  the  Shrine  of  his 
Right  Hand,  which  is  at  present  in  secure  keeping  amongst 
other  sacred  relics  in  the  Museum  of  the  Diocese  of  Down 
and  Connor,  at  St.  Malachy's  College,  Belfast.  This  shrine 
has  had  a  strange  and  eventful  history,  to  which  we  can  only 
briefly  refer  here.  On  the  9th  June,  1186,  as  we  have  seen 
already,  Cardinal  Vivian,  the  papal  legate  in  Ireland,  had 
the  remains  of  our  three  great  national  patrons  translated  with 
all  due  solemnity  to  an  honourable  place  prepared  for  them 
in  the  Church  of  Downpatrick.  On  this  occasion  the  right 
hand  of  St.  Patrick  was  placed  in  a  shrine,  and  laid  i  pon  the 
High  Altar  of  the  church,  where  it  remained  till  the  pillaging 
of  the  sacred  edifice  by  Edward  Bruce  in  1315.  The  shrine 
soon,  however,  found  its  way  into  the  worthier  keep'ng  of  a 
religious  family  named  Magennis,  of  Castlewellan,  with 
whom  it  was  a  precious  heirloom  for  centuries.  On  the  marriage, 
within  comparatively  recent  times,  of  an  only  daughter  of 
that  house  to  a  Charles  Russell  of  Killough,  it  passed  to  him, 
and  through  his  second  wife  to  a  Colonel  Nugent,  who  fitly 
transferred  it  to  Father  James  Taggart,  parish  priest  of 
Portaferry.  This  good  priest,  at  his  death,  left  it  to  Mr. 
McHenry,  of  Carrstown,  a  descendant  of  the  Russell  mentioned 
above. 

In  1840  the  shrine  was  taken  over  by  the  Most  Rev.  Dr. 
Denvir,  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  and  deposited  by  him 
in  the  Diocesan  Museum  at  Belfast.  On  being  opened  by  his 
Lordship  in  1856,  the  slirine  was  found  to  contain  only 
pieces  of  wood.      These    probably    originally    enclosed    the 


THE   SHRINE   OF   ST.    PATRICK'S    HAND.  643 

bones  of  our  Saint,  which  through  the  centuries  had  decayed 
or  been  removed. 

The  shrine  itself  is  of  massive  silver,  measures  one  foot  three 
and  a  half  inches  in  length,  and  takes  the  form  of  a  hand  and 
arm  richly  clothed  in  ecclesiastical  fashion. 

People  full  of  faith  in  Patrick  came  from  far  and  near 
to  touch  this  remarkable  shrine,  in  the  hope  of  gaining, 
through  his  intercession,  relief  in  their  trying  afflictions  of 
mind  or  body. 


APPENDIX    VI. 

THE  PATRICIAN  PILGRIMAGES. 

There  were  in  ancient  times  four  famous  pilgrimages  to 
places  sanctified  by  the  fastings,  prayers,  and  special  blessing 
of  St.  Patrick,  namely,  Armagh,  Downpatrick,  Croaghpatrick, 
and  Lough  Derg.  The  two  former,  having  been  for  many 
centuries  in  the  hands  of  Protestants,  have  almost  ceased 
to  be  places  of  pilgrimage,  but  the  latter  are  as  much  frequented 
in  our  own  times  by  pious  pilgrims  as  at  any  time  in  the 
past ;  and  of  these  we  propose  to  give  a  somewhat  fuller 
account. 

I. — ^Armagh  Pilgrimage. 

Armagh,  as  the  primatial  See  of  Patrick,  was,  even  during 
his  own  lifetime,  regarded  as  the  most  sacred  city  of  the 
Gael,  because,  as  Fiacc  said,  it  was  the  seat  of  Patrick's 
Spiritual  Sovereignty.  With  the  flight  of  years  the  other  centres 
of  sovereignty  in  Ireland — Emania,  Tara,  Ailech,  Cashel, 
and  Cruachan — had  all  become  waste  and  silent,  so  that 
the  hearts  of  the  people  were  turned  all  the  more  to  the 
great  centre  of  the  spiritual  authority  at  Armagh,  until  the 
day  when  Patrick's  Heir  was  driven  far  from  his  sacred 
city,  and  no  Catholic  prelate  or  priest  w^as  allowed  to  dwell 
\vithin  its  bounds.  There  were  many  circumstances  to 
intensify  this  feeling.  It  was  by  command  of  God's  Angel 
St.  Patrick  chose  Armagh  to  be  his  residence  and  s^e.  When 
he  was  marking  out  and  blessing  the  site  of  his  Cathedral 
on  the  Hill  of  Macha,  the  same  Angel  of  God  went  before 
him  to  guide  his  footsteps  and  bless  the  ground  with  Patrick. 
On  his  journey  thither,  most  probably  on  that  occasion, 
as  he  neared  Armagh,  a  great  stone  la}^  on  the  narrow  road 
before  his  chariot,  but  the  angels  took  away  the  stone, 
laying  it  on  one  side,  where  it  stood  for  ages  and  was  called 
Lee  innan  Aingel,  says  the  Tripartite.  *  And  it  was  from  that 
place,  namely  from  Druimchaili,  Patrick  blessed  Armagh 
out  of  his  two  hands  ' — not  one  but  both  his  hands  he  raised 
aloft  over  against  Armagh,  begging  God  to  give  his  blessing 
for  all  time  to  the  city  of  his  choice  ;  and  the  Book  of  the 
Angel  tells  us  that  he  '  loved  his  city  of  Armagh  before  all 
other  places.'  The  same  authority  tells  us  that  there  was  a 
well  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  said  city  of  Armagh,  and  Patrick 
used  to  go  there  '  to  baptise  the  great  multitudes  of  men 
and   women,   who  doubtless  carne   thither  from  «»U   parts, 


t 


bOWNPATRICK   PILGRIMAGE.  645 

and  to  instruct  them  and  cure  them  '  at  the  holy  well.  And 
there  he  was  before  the  dawn  of  day  awaiting  the  crowds  when 
sleep  overpowered  his  wearied  limbs,  and  during  his  slumber 
he  was  favoured  with  the  vision  of  the  Angel,  who  announced 
the  future  greatness  of  the  city  and  parochia  of  Armagh,  as 
we  have  elsewhere  explained. 

It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  its  churches,  and  wells, 
and  relics,  and  ramparts,  all  so  intimately  associated  with 
Patrick,  and  so  specially  blessed  by  him  and  his  guardian 
Angel,  should  become  a  favourite  place  of  pilgrimage  for  all 
the  children  of  the  Gael. 

We  find,  for  instance,  frequent  reference  in  the  Annals 
to  princes  and  prelates  from  different  parts  of  Ireland  who 
died  on  their  pilgrimage  at  Armagh.  It  is  well  known  that 
in  1004  the  great  Brian  Boru,  the  Imperator  Scotorum, 
accompanied  by  the  princes  of  Ireland,  though  warring  at 
the  time  against  the  north,  went  in  a  penitential  spirit  to 
Armagh,  and  laid  an  offering  of  twenty-two  ounces  of  gold 
on  Patrick's  altar.  His  secretary  at  the  same  time  made 
an  entry  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  in  which  he  formally  re- 
cognised, on  behalf  of  his  master,  the  supremacy  of  Patrick's 
see  over  all  the  land  of  Erin,  including  his  own  Southern 
province  of  Cashel  or  Maceria,  as  he  somewhat  quaintly 
renders  the  Irish  name  into  Latin. 

But  in  after  ages,  when  Armagh  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  English  and  became  the  residence  of  the  Protestant 
primate,  who  had  no  love  for  shrines  or  pilgrimages,  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  visit  Armagh  as  a  pilgrim.  Catholic 
antiquaries  might  visit  the  city  and  the  Cathedral  of  Patrick, 
but  they  dare  not  kneel  to  say  a  prayer  lest  they  should  be 
summarily  expelled  from  its  precincts.  All  that  has  been 
happily  changed ;  and  once  more  the  pious  pilgrim  who 
comes  to  Armagh  to  honour  Patrick  will  find  new  temples 
and  shrines  and  altars,  if  not  holier,  certainly  more  beautiful 
and  artistic  than  ancient  Armagh  ever  saw  in  the  palmiest 
days  of  its  chequered  history. 

II. — DowNPATRiCK  Pilgrimage. 

In  Catholic  times,  Down,  like  Armagh,  was  a  place  of  frequent 
pilgrimage  to  honour  the  tomb  of  St.  Patrick.  Even  so 
early  as  the  time  of  Columcille,  who  discovered  and  opened 
the  tomb  of  Patrick,  we  find  this  pilgrimage  was  in  vogue. 
Later  on,  when  we  are  told  that  the  relics  of  Brigid  and 
Columcille  himself  were  interred  in  the  same  tomb,  the 
pilgrimage  became  still  more  celebrated.  Although  it  would 
appear  there  was  always  some  doubt  as  to  the  exact  location 
of  the  tomb,  there  was  never  any  doubt  amongst  the  ancients 


646  APPENDIX    VI. 

that  the  Saint  was  buried  somewhere  within  the  Cathedral 
precincts  on  the  Hill  of  Downpatrick.  As  we  have  discussed 
this  question  more  fully  elsewhere  in  the  Appendix  on  the 
Burial-Place  of  St.  Patrick,  we  need  not  refer  to  it  here. 
We  have  also  referred  at  length  to  the  two-fold  invention 
of  the  relics  of  Patrick  at  Down,  which  was  a  great  stimulus 
to  the  pilgrimage. 

When  the  place  passed  into  Protestant  hands  the  pilgrimage 
practically  came  to  an  end  ;  for  the  persecuted  Catholics 
dared  not  venture  into  the  enclosure  of  the  Cathedral  to  pray 
over  the  grave  of  the  beloved  Saint.  But  it  was  never 
wholly  given  up,  and  still  there  is  a  grave  in  the  churchyard 
said,  on  very  poor  authority,  to  be  the  grave  of  the  three 
saints,  whose  relics  were  transferred  there  from  the  Protestant 
Cathedral,  which  is  frequently  visited  by  pilgrims,  especially 
by  those  about  to  emigrate,  who  usually  carry  off  a  small 
portion  of  the  blessed  clay  to  their  distant  homes  in  America 
or  Australia.  We  may  venture  to  hope  that  their  beloved 
Saint  in  heaven  will  not  be  insensible  to  this  tender  devotion, 
and  will  watch  over  them  in  far  off  lands,  as,  he  tells  us  himself, 
God's  Angel,  Victor,  watched  over  him  in  the  land  of  his 
captivity. 

III. — Croaghpatrick   Pilgrimage. 

This  famous  pilgrimage  had  its  origin  in  the  fact  that  Patrick 
spent  one  whole  Lent  of  forty  days  and  nights  on  Cruachan 
Aigle,  the  beautiful  conical  hill  that  rises  over  the  sea  on 
the  southern  shore  of  Clew  Bay.  We  have  already  given  a 
full  description  of  the  hill  itself  ;  it  only  remains  for  us  here 
to  indicate  the  principal  points  connected  with  Patrick's 
sojourn  on  the  '  Holy  Mountain  '  which  have  rendered  it  so 
sacred  a  place  in  the  estimation  of  all  the  people  in  the  West 
of  Ireland. 

It  would  appear  from  the  narrative  in  the  Book  of  Armagh- 
that  Patrick  went  first  from  Aghagower  to  Murrisk,  at  the 
base  of  the  mountain.  There  his  car-driver,  Totmael  the 
Bald  One,  sickened  and  died,  rather  suddenly  it  would  appear, 
and  there  they  buried  him  in  the  ancient  Irish  fashion,  raising 
a  great  cairn  of  stones  over  his  grave,  which  is,  we  believe, 
still  to  be  seen.  The  simple  people  of  Murrisk  had  at  the  time 
little  or  no  idea  of  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  so  Patrick, 
standing  by  the  great  cairn,  said — "  Let  him  rest  there  until 
the  world's  end,  but  he  will  be  visited  by  me  in  those  last 
days  " — and  raised  from  the  dead.^ 

Thereafter,  Patrick,  we  are  told,  ascended  the  summit  of 

*  The  ancient  graveyard  is  there  still,  beside  a  small  stream ;  hence 
it  is  called  Glas-Patraic,  and  is  the  undoubted  site  of  Tolmael's  grave. 


CROAGHPATRICK    PILGRBIAGF.  647 

the  mountain,  and  remained  upon  it  forty  days  and  forty 
nights — that  is  the  whole  of  Lent — but  as  a  fact  he  spent 
more  than  forty  days  and  forty  nights  on  the  Holy  Hill, 
for  he  ascended  it,  we  are  told,  on  Shrove  Saturday,  i.e.,  the 
Saturday  before  Ash  Wednesday,  and  remained  there  until 
Holy  Saturday,  the  eve  of  Easter  Sunda}^  We  can  even 
fix  the  exact  year  and  the  day  of  the  month  on  which  St. 
Patrick  ascended  the  Reek.  The  Annals  of  Ulster,  under 
date  A.D.  441,  have  this  important  entry — '  Leo  ordained 
42nd  Bishop  of'  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  Patrick  the  Bishop 
was  approved  in  the  Catholic  Faith.'  There  is  also  a  sentence  in 
the  Tripartite  Life  which  helps  to  explain  this  entry.  It  is 
this — '  When  Patrick  was  on  Cruachan  Aigle  (that  is  on  the 
Reek),  he  sent  Munis  (his  nephew)  to  Rome  with  counsel  for 
the  Abbot  of  Rome  ' — that  is  tl  e  Pope — '  and  relics  were 
given  to  him  *  to  carry  home  to  Patrick. 

Now,  St.  Leo  the  Great  was  consecrated  Pope  in  Rome  on 
the  29th  September,  in  the  year  a.d.  440.  Croaghpatrick 
was  a  long  and,  at  that  time,  a  very  difficult  journey  from 
Rome,  so  that  news  of  the  new  Pope's  election  could  hardly 
reach  Patrick  in  the  far  West  before  the  early  Spring  of  the 
following  year.  As  soon  as  the  news  did  reach  him  on  the 
Reek,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  send  off  at  once  his  own  nephew, 
Bishop  Munis,  to  congratulate  the  new  Pope,  to  give  an 
account  of  his  own  mission  and  preaching,  and  to  beg  the 
Pope's  blessing  and  authorisation  to  continue  his  work. 
This  authority  Munis  readily  received  from  the  Pope,  with 
many  relics  for  the  consecration  of  the  altars  in  the  new 
churches  which  Patrick  was  founding  in  Ireland,  and  we 
hear  of  him  on  his  return  journey  at  Clonmacnoise.  That  is 
the  meaning  of  the  phrase — that  '  Leo  was  ordained  42nd 
Bishop  of  Rome,  and  Patrick  the  Bishop  was  approved  in 
the  Catholic  Faith '  in  Ireland.  It  is  an  exceedingly 
important  statement  and,  as  might  be  expected,  Protestant 
writers  have  not  called  attention  to  its  full  meaning.  It  is  a 
very  interesting  fact  connected  with  the  history  of  this  Holy 
Mountain  that  it  was  from  its  summit  St.  Patrick  sent  this 
wise  message  to  Rome,  and  got  back  the  Pope's  blessing. 

The  Tripartite  tells  us  that  during  the  time  Patrick  w^as 
on  the  Reek,  he  abode  there  in  much  discomfort,  without 
drink  and  without  food,  from  Shrove  Saturday  to  Holy 
Saturday.  There  can  be  no  doubt  the  Saint  must  have  spent 
those  days  on  the  great  mountain's  summit  in  much  discomfort. 
He  was  exposed,  day  and  night,  to  all  the  fury  of  the  elements — 
wind  and  rain,  sunshine  at  times,  but  not  improbably  much 
snow  and  hail  also,  in  the  early  months  of  spring.  He  had 
the  poor  shelter  of  four  stones  round  about  him  ;  and  at  night, 
when  he  sought  to  rest,  his  head  was  pillowed  on  a  flag,  the 


648  APPENDIX   VI 

five  stones  making  the  shape  of  a  rude  cross — great  dis- 
comfort surely  of  body,  and  no  doubt,  too,  much  anguish  of 
mind  ;  but  it  is  by  the  cross  the  saints  reach  their  glory. 
Hence,  all  our  ancient  writers  compare  Patrick  on  the  Reek 
to  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai.  Both  were  bidden  by  God's  angel 
to  spend  the  forty  days  upon  a  holy  hill  ;  both  fasted  and 
prayed  for  their  people  :  both  fought  against  demons  and 
druids  ;  both,  it  is  said,  lived  to  the  same  great  age  of  120 
years,  and  the  sepulchre  of  both,  the  exact  spot,  no  man 
knows — for,  although  we  know  that  Patrick  was  buried  at 
Downpatrick,  the  exact  spot  has  been  unknown  for  many 
ages,  even  from  the  day  of  his  burial,  since  it  was  dehberately 
concealed  lest  his  body  might  be  stolen.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  too,  that  Patrick  suffered  much  anguish  of  spirit  on 
the  Reek.  He  was  fasting  in  prayer  for  his  people,  over 
whom  the  demons  of  paganism  had  ruled  so  long  ;  and  the 
demons  resolved,  so  far  as  they  could,  to  tempt  and  torment 
him.  They  tempted  Christ  himself,  as  we  know — why  not 
try  to  tempt  his  apostle  ?  They  covered  the  whole  mountain 
top  in  the  form  of  vast  flocks  of  hideous  black  birds,  so  dense 
that  Patrick  could  neither  see  sky  nor  earth  nor  sea.  They 
swooped  down  upon  him  and  over  him  with  savage  beaks 
and  black  wings  ;  they  filled  the  air  with  discordant  screams, 
making  day  and  night  horrible  with  their  cries. 

Patrick  chanted  maledictive  psalms  against  them  to  drive 
them  away,  but  in  vain  ;  he  prayed  to  God  to  disperse  them, 
but  they  fled  not ;  he  groaned  in  spirit,  and  bitter  tears 
coursed  down  his  cheeks,  and  wet  every  hair  of  the  priestly 
chasuble  which  he  wore — still  prayers  and  tears  were  in  vain. 
Then  he  rang  his  bell  loudly  against  them — ^it  was  said  its 
voice  had  always  power  to  drive  away  the  demons — 
whereupon  they  gave  way,  and  to  complete  their  rout,  he 
flung  the  blessed  bell  amongst  them,  and  then  they  fled 
headlong  down  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and  over  the  wide 
seas  beyond  Achill  and  Clare,  and  were  swallowed  up  in  the 
great  deeps,  so  that  for  seven  years  no  evil  thing  was  found 
within  the  holy  shores  of  Ireland.  The  bell  itself,  rolling 
down  the  mountain,  or  from  the  excessive  ringing,  had  a 
piece  broken  out  of  its  edge,  although  such  bells  were  made 
of  wrought  iron  or  bronze  ;  but  an  angel  brought  it  back 
again  to  Patrick,  and  when  dying  he  left  it  to  Brigid — ^who 
prized  it  greatly — hence  it  was  called  Brigid's  Gapling,  or 
Brigid's  Broken  Bell.  This  is  a  very  ancient  tale,  and  you 
may  believe  as  much  of  it  as  you  please.  If  it  should  seem 
strange  why  the  voice  of  the  bell  should  have  more  virtue 
than  Patrick's  prayers  and  tears,  let  us  remind  you  that 
it  was  Patrick's  Bell,  the  symbol  of  his  spiritual  authority, 
and,  as  it  were,  the  voice  of  his  supernatural  power. 


CROAGHPATRICK   PILGRIMAGE.  649 

The  bells  from  the  earliest  days  in  the  Western  Church 
were  blessed,  or,  as  it  came  to  be  said  later  on,  they  were 
baptised — that  is  sprinkled  with  holy  water  and  salt,  and 
anointed  with  the  holy  Chrism,  and  had  a  special  name 
given  to  them.  The  very  oldest  form  of  blessing  that  we 
have  shows  that  the  bells  were  not  only  used  for  calling  the 
people  to  the  Divine  Offices  in  the  Church,  but  their  sound 
was  regarded  also  as  powerful  to  drive  away  demons,  and 
repel  storms  and  lightning.  In  Ireland  these  blessed  bells 
were  especially  esteemed ;  and  one  of  them  was  always 
regarded  as  an  essential  part  of  the  equipment  of  Bishop  or 
Abbot.  He  was  to  have  a  bell,  a  book,  a  crozier  or  bachul,  and 
a  menistir  or  chalice,  with  its  paten,  and  an  altar  stone;  and 
when  St.  Patrick  had  St.  Fiacc  consecrated  Bishop  of  Sletty, 
he  gave  him  a  case  containing  all  these  four  articles.  This 
explains  why  the  voice  of  the  blessed  bell  was  so  powerful, 
and  why  the  demons  could  not  bear  its  sound  or  its  presence. 
The  voice  of  Patrick's  bell  on  the  holy  mountain  was,  as  it 
were,  the  voice  of  God  proclaiming  the  routing  of  the  demons 
and  the  victory  of  the  Cross.  And  hence,  it  is  said  in  some 
of  the  Lives  that  all  the  men  of  Erin  heard  the  voice  of 
Patrick's  Bell  on  the  Reek — sounding  the  triumph  of  the 
Cross — and  from  the  same  lone  height,  in  one  sense  at  least, 
it  may  be  said  that  its  voice  is  still  heard  over  all  the  land. 
It  was  heard  on  the  i6th  August  just  passed  ;  and  with  the 
blessing  of  God  the  voice  of  Patrick's  Bell  will  be  heard  every 
year  by  all  who  dwell  along  these  western  shores,  far  over 
land  and  sea.  It  is  no  new  sound  ;  it  verily  and  indeed  is 
the  voice  of  Patrick's  Bell  that  you  will  hear  coming  down 
to  us  through  the  ages,  and  sounding  once  more  from  the  Reek 
over  all  the  land. 

In  the  might  of  God,  and  by  the  power  of  God,  Patrick 
drove  off  the  demons  from  the  Reek  and  from  the  West — 
let  us  hope  for  ever.  He  was  victorious,  but  worn  out 
after  the  long  conflict,  and  his  Angel  Victor  suggested  that 
he  might  now  leave  the  sacred  Hill  and  return  to  Agha- 
gower  to  celebrate  Easter. 

And  to  console  Patrick  the  whole  mountain  summit  was 
filled  with  beautiful  white  birds,  which  sang  most  melodious 
strains  ;  and  the  voices  of  the  mountain  and  the  sea  were 
mingled  with  their  melody  ;  so  that  the  Reek  became  for  a 
time,  as  it  were,  the  paradise  of  God,  and  gave  one  a  fore- 
taste of  the  joys  of  heaven.  "  Now  get  thee  gone,"  said  the 
Angel,  "  you  have  suffered,  but  you  have  been  comforted. 
These  white  birds  are  God's  saints  and  angels  come  to  visit 
you  and  to  console  you  ;  and  the  spirits  of  all  the  saints  of 
Erin,  present,  past,  and  future,  are  here  by  God's  high  com- 
mand to  visit  their  father,  and  to  join  him  in  blessing  all  this 


650  APPENDIX    VI. 

land,  and  show  him  what  a  bountiful  harvest  his  labours  will 
reap  for  God  in  this  land  of  Erin."  The  Book  of  Armagh 
goes  no  further,  but  the  Tripartite  and  the  later  authorities 
add  much  more. 

Taking  Colgan's  version  of  the  narrative,  he  tells  us  that 
God's  angel  promised  to  Patrick  that  through  his  prayers 
and  labours  as  many  souls  would  be  saved  as  would  fill  all 
the  space  over  land  and  sea  so  far  as  his  eye  could  reach — 
more  numerous  far  than  all  the  flocks  of  birds  he  beheld. 
Furthermore,  by  his  prayers  and  merits  seven  souls  every 
Thursday  and  twelve  every  Saturday  were  to  be  taken  out  of 
Purgatory  until  the  day  of  doom  ;  and  thirdly,  whoever 
recited  the  last  stanza  of  Patrick's  Hymn  in  a  spirit  of 
penance  would  endure  no  torments  in  the  world  to  come. 
Moreover  he  prayed,  and  it  was  granted  to  him,  that  as  many 
souls  should  be  saved  from  torments  as  there  were  hairs  in 
his  chasuble,  also  that  those  Whitely  Stokes  calls  the 
Outlanders  should  never  obtain  permanent  dominion  over 
the  men  of  Erin  ;  that  the  sea  would  spread  over  Ireland 
seven  years  before  the  judgment  day,  to  save  its  people 
from  the  awful  temptation  and  terrors  of  the  reign  of  Anti- 
christ ;  and  that  Patrick  himself  would  be  like  the  Apostles 
over  Israel,  and  judge  the  men  of  Erin  on  the  Last  Day  ;  and 
this  too  was  granted,  but  not  without  great  difficulty. 
Such  is  the  substance  of  the  wrestling  of  Patrick  on  the 
Holy  Hill,  and  the  wonderful  favours  he  obtained  for  the 
men  of  Erin  by  his  strong  prayers.  What  wonder,  then, 
that  the  Reek  has  been  esteemed  the  holiest  hill  in  all  Erin  ; 
that  it  has  been  from  the  beginning  a  place  of  pilgrimage, 
and  that  somehow  an  idea  has  got  abroad  that  whoever  did 
penance,  like  Patrick,  on  this  Holy  Hill  would  have  his 
special  blessing,  and  by  the  powerful  prayers  of  the  Saint, 
escape  eternal  punishment  ? 

But  Patrick  was  not  content  with  praying  for  his  beloved 
flock,  and  watching  over  them  during  his  own  life  :  he  left  holy 
men  of  his  family,  it  is  said,  to  watch  over  the  men  of  Erin 
until  the  Day  of  Doom.  One  he  left,  first  of  all,  on  the  Reek 
itself,  to  watch  over  all  this  western  land  and  over  the  islands 
of  the  main,  and  his  bell,  they  say,  is  often  heard,  although 
he  himself  cannot  be  seen.  Another  he  left  on  Ben  Bulbin, 
which,  after  the  Reek,  is  the  most  beautiful  hill  in  Erin,  and 
he  watches  over  the  north-west ;  a  third  he  left  on  Slieve 
Donard,  who  gave  his  name  to  that  grand  mountain  over- 
looking all  the  north-east  ;  a  fourth  on  Drumman  Breg,  to 
watch  over  the  plains  of  Meath  ;  a  fifth  at  Clonard,  and  a 
sixth  on  Slieve  Cua,  the  great  ridge  overlooking  at  once  the 
plains  of  Tipperary  and  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Black- 
water.     Well,  all  we  can  say  is,  if  the  men  of  Patrick's  family 


Croaghpatrick  pilgrimage.  651 

have  not  kept  watch  and  ward  on  these  lonely  heights  for  the 
past  fourteen  hundred  years,  God's  Angel-guardians  have 
done  it  ;  for,  otherwise,  the  Irish  race  and  the  faith  of  St. 
Patrick  would  have  been  utterly  rooted  out  of  the  land. 

It  is  a  common  belief  that  it  was  from  the  Reek  that 
St.  Patrick  drove  all  the  poisonous  reptiles  and  serpents  into 
the  sea,  so  that  none  has  ever  since  been  found  in  Erin.  We 
find  no  trace  of  this  ancient  tradition  in  the  Book  of  Armagh  or 
in  the  Tripartite,  or  other  more  ancient  Lives  of  the  Saint. 
Still  the  tradition  is  very  ancient. 

Jocelyn,  in  his  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  written  towards  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century,  expressly  states  that  from  the 
day  the  Saint  blessed  the  Reek,  and  from  the  Reek  all  the 
land  of  Ireland,  with  all  the  men  of  Erin,  no  poisonous 
thing  has  appeared  in  Ireland.  Patrick  expelled  them  all  by 
the  strength  of  his  prayers,  and  the  virtue  of  the  Staff  of 
Jesus  which  he  bore  in  his  hand. 

Gerald  Barry,  who  wrote  some  years  later,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  refers  to  the  same  popular  belief  as 
almost  universal.  He  himself,  however,  does  not  attribute 
the  absence  of  all  poisonous  reptiles  to  the  power  of  Patrick 
and  his  crozier.  He  says  rather  that  it  is  due  to  certain 
properties  in  the  air  and  in  the  soil  of  the  land  which  render 
it  fatal  to  all  venomous  things ;  and  he  quotes  Venerable 
Bede,  who  wrote  in  the  eighth  century  and  states  the  same. 
The  Welshman  declares,  furthermore,  that  if  anything 
poisonous  was  brought  from  other  lands,  it  perished  at 
once,  when  it  touched  the  soil  of  Ireland.  We  will  not  attempt 
to  settle  this  controversy,  or  decide  on  the  truth  of  the 
alleged  facts.  For  eight  hundred  years  at  least  the  popular 
voice  has  attributed  this  immunity  to  the  merits  of  St. 
Patrick  and  his  blessing  of  Ireland  from  the  Reek.  That 
he  drove  away  the  demons  of  infidelity  and  paganism,  cor- 
poreal or  incorporeal,  cannot  be  questioned  ;  and  Jocelyn 
says  he  drove  away  the  toads  and  serpents  also,  in  order 
that  the  demons,  if  they  returned,  might  have  no  congenial 
abode  in  which  to  take  refuge. 

Patrick  having  received  all  these  great  favours  from  God 
descended  the  mountain  on  Holy  Saturday,  and  returned  to 
Aghagower,  where  he  celebrated  the  great  Easter  festival 
with  his  beloved  friends,  Senach  the  Bishop,  Mathona  the 
Nun,  and  Aengus  the  student,  who  was  then  learning  his 
catechism  and  his  psalms. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe  that  pilgrimages  for  the 
purpose  of  visiting  in  a  spirit  of  faith  and  penance  holy  places 
sanctified  by  the  penance  and  by  the  labours  of  our  Saviour 
and  His  Saints,  have  been  in  use  from  the  earliest  days  of 
Christianity,  and  will  continue  to  the  end  of  time.      They 


6S^  APPENDIX    VI. 

are  the  natural  outcome  of  Christian  piety,  and  they  have 
always  proved  to  be  a  most  efficacious  means  of  enlivening 
Christian  faith  and  deepening  Christian  devotion.  Pilgrimages 
to -the  sacred  scenes  in  the  Holy  Land  were  made  long  before 
the  time  of  St.  Helena,  and,  one  way  or  another,  are  still  made 
every  year  by  members  of  every  Church  that  calls  itself 
Christian. 

Now,  we  find  the  pilgrimage  to  the  Reek  existing  from  the 
very  beginning.  The  ancient  road  by  which  the  pilgrims 
crossed  over  the  hills  from  Aghagower  to  the  Reek  can  still 
be  traced,  worn  bare,  as  it  were,  by  the  feet  of  so  many 
generations  of  Patrick's  spiritual  children.  No  doubt  the 
celebrity  and  sanctity  of  the  place  in  popular  estimation  arose 
not  only  from  the  fact  that  St.  Patrick  prayed  and  fasted 
there  for  forty  days,  and  blessed  the  hill  itself,  and  the  people, 
and  all  the  land  i-om  its  summit,  but  also  from  the  promise 
of  pardon  said  to  be  made  in  favour  of  all  those  who  per- 
formed the  pilgrimage  in  a  true  spirit  of  penance.  In  the 
Tripartite  Life  the  first  privilege  St.  Patrick  is  said  to  have 
asked  and  obtained  from  God,  is  that  any  of  the  Irish  who 
did  penance  even  in  his  last  hour  would  escape  the  fire  of 
hell.  That  is,  no  doubt,  perfectly  true,  if  there  be  real  pen- 
ance ;  but  in  popular  estimation  it  came  to  mean  that 
penance  at  the  Reek  was  an  almost  certain  means  of  salvation, 
through  the  influence  of  the  prayers,  example,  and  merits 
of  Patrick.  Moreover,  if  any  sinners  were  likely  to  obtain 
the  special  favour  of  the  saint,  it  would  be  those  who  trod 
in  his  sacred  footsteps,  praying  and  enduring,  where  he 
himself  had  prayed  and  endured  so  much.  This  is  a  perfectly 
sound  and  just  view.  Penance — ^sincere  penance — ^performed 
anywhere  will  wash  away  sin,  even  in  the  latest  hour  of  a 
man's  life  ;  but  the  penance  is  far  more  likely  to  be  sincere, 
and  the  graces  from  which  it  springs  are  far  more  likely  to  be 
given  abundantly,  in  the  midst  of  those  places  which  Patrick 
sanctified,  and  through  the  efficacy  of  his  intercession  for 
such  devoted  disciples.  He  prayed  for  all  the  souls  of  Erin  ; 
but,  naturally  enough,  he  prays  especially  for  those  who 
honour,  and  love,  and  trust  him.  On  the  soundest  theo- 
logical principles,  therefore,  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Reek  is  likely 
to  be  a  most  efficacious  means  of  obtaining  mercy  and  pardon 
through  the  prayers  and  merits  and  blessings  of  Patrick. 
And  Colgan  tells  us,  in  a  note  to  the  promise  referred  to  above, 
that  the  Reek  was  constantly  visited  by  pious  pilgrimages 
with  great  devotion,  from  all  parts  of  the  Kingdom,  and 
many  miracles  used  to  be  wrought  there.  That  was  some 
three  hundred  years  ago.  But  the  pilgrimage  was  an  old 
one  many  centuries  before  the  time  of  Colgan,  for  Jocelyn 
tells  us  in  the  twelfth  century  that  crowds  of  people  were  in 


_L 


CROAGHPATRICK   PILGRIMAGE.  653 

the  habit  of  watching  and  fasting  on  the  summit  of  the  Reek, 
beUeving  confidently  that  by  so  doing  they  would  never  enter 
the  gates  of  hell,  for  '  that  privilege  was  obtained  from  God 
by  the  prayers  and  merits  of  St.  Patrick  ' — and  that  hope  is 
no  doubt  the  chief  motive  of  the  pilgrimage.  Even  in  those 
ancient  days  it  was  considered  a  great  crime  to  molest  any 
persons  on  their  way  to  the  Reek  ;  and  we  are  told  in  the 
Annals  of  Loch  Ce  that  King  Hugh  O'Connor  cut  off  the 
hands  and  feet  of  a  highwayman  who  sought  to  rob  one  of 
the  pilgrims.  Sometimes,  too,  the  pilgrims  suffered  greatly, 
like  St.  Patrick,  not  only  on  their  journey  thither,  but  on  the 
Reek  itself.  St.  Patrick's  Day  also,  being  within  Lent,  was 
a  favourite  day  for  the  pilgrimage,  and  we  are  told  in  the 
Annals  '  that  thirty  of  the  fasting  folk '  perished  in  a 
thunder  storm  on  the  mountain  in  the  year  a.d.  1113,  on  the 
night  of  the  17th  of  March.  But  like  those  who  die  in 
Jerusalem  on  pilgrimage,  no  doubt  their  lot  was  considered 
a  happy  one. 

It  was  doubtless  the  hardships  and  dangers  attendant  on 
the  pilgrimage  to  such  a  steep  and  lofty  mountain  that  in- 
duced the  late  Archbishop,  Most  Rev.  Dr.  MacEvilly,  to 
apply  to  the  Pope  for  authority  to  change  the  place  of 
pilgrimage  to  some  more  convenient  spot.  The  petition  was 
granted  on  the  27th  May,  1883,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
plenary  indulgence  was  granted  on  any  day  during  the  three 
summer  months  to  all  who  would  visit  the  church  designated 
by  the  Ordinary  ;  and  a  partial  indulgence  of  100  days  for 
every  single  visit  paid  to  that  church  during  the  three 
months  named — June,  July,  and  August.  There  is  nothing, 
we  believe,  to  prevent  the  Ordinary  still  '  designating '  the 
little  oratory  i  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  we  did  so 
last  Summer,  with  very  wonderful  results.  We  should  not 
wish  to  see  this  ancient  pilgrimage  discontinued.  We  know 
His  Eminence  Cardinal  Moran  is  of  the  same  mind.  Moreover, 
it  is  practically  impossible  to  transfer  the  scene  of  such 
pilgrimages  to  other  places^  and  so  it  has  proved  here.  The 
blessing  of  God  and  Patrick  has  been  on  the  ancient  pil- 
grimage, and  on  the  pilgrims  too.  It  will  be  with  them 
still,  and,  for  our  part,  we  shall  authorise  the  celebration  to 
take  place  every  year  on  the  very  summit  of  the  Reek  ;  and 
we  believe  it  will  bring  graces  and  blessings  to  all  those  who 
ascend  in  fact  and  make  the  pilgrimage,  or   if  they  cannot 

*  That  little  oratory  called  Templepatrick  was  a  small  shed,  built  of 
dry  stones,  and  open  to  the  wind.  The  author  and  his  administrator. 
Rev.  M.  M'Donald,  of  Westport,  have  just  completed  a  new  oratory, 
solidly  built  of  concrete,  which  will  be  dedicated  on  July  30.  as  these 
sheets  are  going  through  the  press.  It  will,  of  course,  be  also  called 
Templepatrick,  and  will  be  dedicated  to  our  national  Apostle. 


654  APPENDIX   VI 

ascend  in  fact,  will  ascend  in  spirit  with  the  pilgrims  to  pray 
on  Patrick's  Holy  Mountain.  We  can  say  for  ourselves,  that 
the  vision  of  this  sacred  hill  has  been  constantly  before 
our  mind  for  many  3^ears  during  all  our  Irish  studies.  We 
have  come  to  love  the  Reek  with  a  kind  of  personal  love, 
not  merely  on  account  of  its  graceful  symmetry  and  soaring 
pride,  but  also  because  it  is  Patrick's  Holy  Mountain — the 
scene  of  his  penance  and  of  his  passionate  yearning  prayers 
for  our  fathers  and  for  us.  It  is  to  us,  moreover,  the  symbol 
of  Ireland's  enduring  faith  ;  and,  fronting  the  stormy  west, 
unchanged  and  unchangeable,  it  is  also  the  symbol  of  the 
constancy  and  success  with  which  the  Irish  people  faced  the 
storms  of  persecution  during  many  woeful  centuries.  It  is 
the  proudest  and  the  most  beautiful  of  the  everlasting  hills  that 
are  the  crown  and  glory  of  this  western  land  of  ours.  When  the 
skies  are  clear  and  the  soaring  cone  can  be  seen  in  its  own 
solitary  grandeur,  no  eye  will  turn  to  gaze  upon  it  without 
delight. — Even  when  the  rain  clouds  shroud  its  brow  we  know 
that  it  is  still  there,  and  that  when  the  storms  have  swept 
over  it,  it  will  reveal  itself  once  more  in  all  its  calm  beauty 
and  majestic  strength.  It  is,  therefore,  the  fitting  type  of 
Ireland's  Faith,  and  of  Ireland's  Nationhood,  which  nothing 
has  ever  shaken,  and  with  God's  blessing  nothing  can  ever 
destroy. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  country  around  the  Reek  is 
teeming  with  living  traditions  of  our  Saint.  One  who  has 
dwelt  in  the  midst  of  them  from  his  earliest  years  ^  supplies 
us  with  a  few  that  may  be  of  interest  to  our  readers.  In  the 
first  place  we  shall  give  the  unwritten  *  Order  of  the 
Croaghpatrick  Station,'  as  he  himself  has  learned  it  : — 

At  the  base  of  the  cone  of  the  mountain,  as  one  ascends  from 
Murrisk,  or  from  Aghagower,  is  met  the  first  'garden,'  or  heap  of 
stones.  Around  this  the  pilgrim,  provided  with  seven  pebbles  for  the 
purpose  of  counting  his  circuits,  walks  barefooted  seven  times,  all  the 
while  repeating  appropriate  prayers — generally  the  Rosary.  He  then, 
wearing  his  shoes,  if  he  so  desires,  struggles  to  the  summit,  and  there, 
starting  from  the  little  chapel,  walks  barefooted  around  a  beaten  path- 
way, saying  his  Rosary  as  before.  Instead  of  the  fifteen  rounds  bare- 
footed, one  round  on  bare  knees  will  suffice.  This  done,  the  pilgrim 
approaches  the  altar  of  the  oratory  ofTemplepatrick  on  his  bare  knees. 

The  next  portion  of  the  station  consists  in  going  to  the  second 
'garden,'  which  is  on  the  west,  or  Lecanvey  side  of  the  Reek,  where 
there  are  three  piles  of  stones,  round  all  of  which,  taken  together,  the 
pilgrim  walks  barefooted,  all  the  while  praying,  and  then  seven  times 
in  like  manner  around  each  of  the  piles  taken  separately.  Thus  the 
station  is  finished.  Many  pilgrims,  however,  finish  by  a  visit  to 
Kilgeever  Well,  but  this  is  not  part  of  the  Croaghpatrick  station. 

1  The  Rev.  James  Campbell,  till  lately  Prefect  of  Studies  at  St. 
Jarlath's  College,  Tuam, 


CROAGIIPATRICK    PILGRIMAGE.  655 

Our  informant  vouches  for  the  truth  of  the  following  re- 
markable example  of  filial  devotion,  and  of  faith  in  the 
power  of  Patrick ; 

About  30  years  ago  a  respectably  dressed  man,  carrying  a  bag, 
came  to  a  house  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  begged  lodging  for 
the  night,  which  was  willingly  given.  He  manifested  the  greatest 
anxiety  about  the  bag,  which,  it  was  noticed,  he  never  allowed  from 
his  own  keeping.  On  being  questioned  regarding  his  conduct  he 
frankly  gave  his  explanation.  The  bag  contained  the  bones  of  his 
mother,  who  died  some  years  before  in  America.  The  good  woman  had, 
it  appears,  some  time  before  her  death,  promised  to  perform  a  station 
upon  the  Reek,  but  the  hand  of  death  forestalled  her  pious  intention. 
Her  devoted  son  was  determined  the  promise  should  be  kept,  as  far  as 
possible,  and  so,  bearing  the  mortal  remains  of  his  dead  mother  upon 
his  shoulder,  he  himself  therewith  made  the  station  upjn  the  Holy 
Mountain. 

MURRISK   PATRON. 

When  St.  Patrick  came  down  from  the  mountain,  on  Holy 
Saturday,  it  is  said  that  he  and  his  followers  knelt  to  give  thanks  in  a 
field  at  the  foot,  now  called  the  '  Old  Patron  Field.'  It  is  immediately 
to  the  right  of  the  path  leading  from  the  public  road  at  Murrisk  to  the 
Reek.  A  *  Patron '  is  still  held  in  this  field  to  commemorate  the 
Saint's  Thanksgiving  Prayer. 

The  road  to  the  Reek  is  now  called  *  Boher  Na  Miasa,'  /.<?.,  the  Road 
of  the  Dishes,  because  it  is  said  refreshment  was  there  provided  for  St. 
Patrick  and  his  people  as  they  came  down  from  the  Holy  Mountain. 

THE    BLACK    BELL. 

The  Black  Bell  of  St.  Patrick  used  to  be  exhibited  on  the  top  of 
Croaghpatrick  on  Garland  Friday.  A  charge  of  two  pence  was  made 
to  each  pilgrim  to  be  allowed  to  see  the  Bell,  for  which  they  had  a 
very  great  veneration. 

This  Bell  remained  for  centuries  as  an  heirloom  with  an  old  family 
named  Geraghty.  From  Murrisk  it  passed  to  Curvay,  in  the  parish  of 
Aghagower,  where  it  was  purchased,  about  i87o,  by  Sir  William 
Wilde,  when  staying  at  Roe  Island.  It  is  said  Sir  William  presented 
it  to  the  Dublin  Museum.  In  1883  it  was  lent  to  the  British  Museum 
to  be  shown  at  the  International  Exhibition  in  London  in  that  year. 

We  have  not  space  to  write  of  many  other  interesting 
local  traditions,  for  example,  of  Patrick's  slaughter  of  the 
White  Bull,  which  led  to  the  conversion  of  the  chieftain, 
Cam  Dhu,  on  the  last  Friday  in  July,  now  called  '  Garland 
Friday  ' ;  of  the  bringing  to  life  of  Glashna,  at  a  place  called 
Glashpatrick  near  the  sea-shore ;  of  the  remarkable  faith 
and  the  devoted  attachment  to  Patrick's  holy  mountain 
of  Robert  Benn — or  '  Bob  of  the  Reek,'  as  he  was  known 
to  all  the  country  around — a  modern  stylite,  who  voluntarily 
spent  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life  as  much  as  possible 
upon  Croaghpatrick,  and  whose  mortal  remains  at  present 


656  APPENDIX   VI. 

rest  upon  its  highest  summit. »  Near  to  the  grave  of  this  holy 
man,  the  chapel  of  St.  Patrick  is  at  present  rising  in  simple 
grandeur — a  lilting  crown  upon  the  head  of  our  Irish  Mount 
Sinai. 

IV. — Lough  Derg  Pilgrimage. 

I.  — THE  NEIGHBOURHOOD  OF  LOUGH  DERG. 

From  Pettigoe,  *  the  honestest  Httle  town  in  all  the 
North,'  which  snugly  nestles  between  three  of  those  low, 
round,  fertile  hills  so  characteristic  of  Ulster  scenery,  the 
road  runs  nearly  due  north,  for  four  miles,  to  Lough  Derg. 
We  started  from  the  village  early,  and  walked  to  the  lake. 
As  you  advance  into  Donegal,  the  land  looks  colder  and  more 
barren,  the  houses  grow  less  frequent,  cultivation  is  confined 
to  scanty  patches  of  potatoes  and  oats  that  seemed  in  no 
hurry  to  ripen,  even  in  mid-September.  A  little  further  on 
there  are  no  houses  to  be  seen,  and  moorland  hills  rise 
threateningly  in  advance,  as  if  to  bar  the  traveller's  further 
progress.  You  have,  however,  all  the  way  the  companionship 
of  a  turbulent  and  tortuous  stream,  that  plays  some  curious 
pranks  in  its  downward  journey  from  its  home  in  the 
mountains — now  running  along  the  road,  two  or  three  times 
crossing  it,  then  receding  and  disappearing,  only  to  show  its 
noisy  and  turbid  waters  a  few  moments  afterwards. 

From  the  hill's  crest  the  entire  lake  bursts  at  once  upon  the 
view  ;  and  a  dreary  and  desolate  expanse  of  water  it  is,  about 
thirteen  miles  in  circumference,  containing  2,140  statute  acres. 
The  encircling  hills  are  heathy  and  barren,  rising  from  400 
to  700  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake.  On  the  north-east, 
the  superfluous  waters  force  their  way  through  a  narrow 
gorge  to  join  the  River  Foyle.  The  hills  near  the  lake 
axe  in  reality  the  boundary  line  between  the  watershed 
of  northern  and  southern  Ulster.  Lough  Derg  itself  supplies 
the  head  water  of  the  Foyle,  while  the  stream  at  our  feet 
flows  down  to  the  Erne  valley  to  join  the  sea  at  Bally- 
shannon.  The  basin  of  the  lake  is  a  huge  quarry  of  the 
metamorphic  rock  known  as  mica  slate,  or  schist,  upheaved 
in  ages  azoic  by  some  fiery  agent,  so  that  the  stratification 
is  now  almost  perpendicular  to  the  surface.  It  crops  up 
all  round  the  shore,  and  through  the  lake  into  numerous 
rocky  islets  and  hidden  reefs,  whose  projecting  points  are 
sharp  as  iron  spikes,  and  render  the  navigation  of  the  lake 
a  matter  of  great  caution. 

There  is  no  grandeur  in  the  surrounding  scenery ;  every- 
where is  the  same  wilderness  of  heather,  the  same  dreary 

1  Where  they  T,vere  found  by  the  bviilders  of  the  new  Templepatricl>. 


LOUGH    DERG    PILGRIMAGE.  657 

moorland  hills — no  variety  in  their  outline,  no  steep  cliff  or 
bold  escarpment  to  vary  the  scene,  not  even  a  single  patch  of 
green  to  relieve  the  eye,  except  in  one  corner  where  there  is  a 
small,  paralysed  plantation  of  stunted  Scotch  firs.  Not  a 
living  thing  was  to  be  seen  when  we  visited  the  place — neither 
man  nor  beast  nor  game  on  the  mountains,  nor  bird  on  the  lake. 
We  were,  however,  told  afterwards  that  hares  and  moor-fowl 
do  contrive  to  live  there,  and  a  certain  kind  of  small  mountain 
sheep  with  long  horns  and  black  faces,  a  leg  of  whose  mutton 
a  hungry  man  might  easily  dispose  of  at  a  single  meal.  So 
much  for  the  fauna.  There  was  no  flora  except  moss  and 
heather.  In  fact,  nature  here  clothes  herself  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes  ;  the  very  aspect  of  the  place  induces  solemn 
thought,  and  makes  it  meetest  shrine  for  penance.  It 
seemed  to  us,  too,  that  the  bare,  whitewashed  houses  on 
the  *  Station  Island '  were  somewhat  out  of  tone  with 
nature's  wild  surroundings.  Seeing  no  person  to  apply  to, 
and  unwilling  to  return  with  our  task  unaccomplished,  we 
resolved  to  try  and  reach  the  island  ourselves  in  a  boat  which 
we  found  on  the  shore.  We  had  nearly  succeeded,  when  the 
freshening  breeze  compelled  us  to  desist,  and  we  were  very 
glad  to  find  rest  and  shelter  under  the  lea  of  a  kind  of  insular 
promontory,  connected  with  the  shore  by  a  narrow  ford, 
where,  fortunately,  we  were  discovered  by  the  owners  of  the 
boat,  who  rowed  us  up  to  the  island  in  the  teeth  of  a  very 
stiff  wind. 

II. — ^THE    STATION    ISLAND 

is  a  mere  rock,  rising  only  a  few  feet  above  the  water, 
and  apparently  not  much  more  than  half  an  Irish  acre  in 
extent.  It  is  a  hundred  and  twenty  yards  long,  and  varies 
in  breadth  from  twenty  to  forty  yards.  There  are  now  two  neat 
churches,  St.  Patrick's  and  St.  Mary's,  St.  Patrick's  being 
the  '  prison  chapel ; '  a  commodious  dwelling-house  for  the 
three  or  four  priests  who  reside  on  the  island  during  *  station 
time  ; '  an  excellent  hospice  for  the  pilgrims,  and  also  five  or  six 
lodging-houses,  where  they  get  some  rest  and  refreshment 
during  their  stay — but  many  never  dream  of  going  regularly 
to  bed.  These  houses  are  untenanted,  but  not  now  uncared 
for,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Their  owners  only 
make  a  small  charge  per  day  for  such  accommodation  as 
they  afford.  The  prison  chapel  has  now  taken  the  place 
of  the  original  cave  called  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory.  There 
are  also  seven  '  penitential  beds  '  of  stone  between  the  church 
and  the  '  prison.'  Their  position  is  marked  with  much 
accuracy  on  Ware's  map  of  the  island,  drawn  more  than 
200  years  ago,  and  they  are  dedicated  respectively  to  Saints 
Patrick,  Brigid,   Columcille,     Brendan,    Molaise,     Catherine 

2U 


658  APPENDIX   VI. 

and  Dabeog  or  Fintan  ;  the  two  latter  are  the  patron  saints 
of  the  island.     The  Four  Masters  invariably  call  Lough  Derg 
'  Termon  Dabeog,'  or  the  Abbey-land  of  St.  Dabeog.     These 
stone  beds  were  originally  little  penitential  cells,  where  the 
saints  of  old  spent  many  a  weary  vigil  in  prayer  and  penance. 
Now  they  are  merely  circular  spaces  paved  with  stone,  or 
the  naked  rock,  and  surrounded  by  a  low  wall,  about  a  foot 
and  a  half  high.      The  '  station  '   begins  at  '  St.   Patrick's 
Bed,'   in  the  centre  of  which  there  is  an  upright  circular 
stone  shaft,  about  four  feet  high,  and  eight  inches  in  diameter, 
with  spiral  fiutings  and  a  plain  iron  cross  fixed  on  the  top. 
This  stone  shaft  is  said  to  be  the  genuine   '  clogh-oir,'  or 
golden-stone,  from  which  the  diocese  of  Clogher  has  derived 
its  name.      It  was  originally  a  pagan  idol,  and,  like  Apollo 
Pythius,  seems  to  have  delivered  oracular  responses,  until 
it  was  exorcised  and  blessed  by  our  Apostle.     Two  circular 
iron  bands,  nearly  eaten  away  by  rust,  lend  some  colour  to 
the  idea  that  this  stone  was  originally  covered  with  metal 
plates,  which  were  secured  by  these  iron  clamps.    This  seems 
to  be  the  only  ancient  relic  in  Station  Island.    There  are  four 
inscribed  stones   in   the   south   wall   of  the   prison   chapel  ; 
two  of  them  were  headstones  over  the  graves  of  Friar  Doherty 
and   Friar   M'Grath,   whose   names   are   written   in   English 
characters  of  the  last  century.     The  third  stone  contains  the 
names  of  four  of  the  saints  (the  remaining  names  are  now 
undecipherable)   to  whom  the   *  beds '    are   dedicated ;   but 
they  are  written  in  characters  by  no  means  archaic.      The 
*  cave  '  of  Station  Island  was  long  ago  filled  up,  and  a  neat 
belfry  of  cut  stone  is  now  erected  on  the  spot.    Peter  Lombard 
describes  from  hearsay  what  that  *  cave  '  or  *  prison  '  was 
in  his  time  (1620)  :     "A  few  paces  to  the  north  of  the  church 
is  the  cave — a  narrow  building  roofed  with  stone  which  could 
contain  twelve,  or  at  most  fourteen,  persons  kneeling  two- 
and-two.       There  was  a   small  window,   near  which  those 
were  placed  who  were  bound  to  read  the  Breviary."     Ware 
marks  the  spot  on  his  map  and  gives  the  dimensions  of  the 
cave,  16 J  feet  long  by  2  feet  i  inch  wide.     "  The  walls,"  he 
says,  "  were  of  freestone,  the  roof  of  large  flags  covered  over 
with  green  turf."     It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was 
only  an  artificial  '  cave,'   constructed,  when  the  *  station  ' 
was  transferred  to  this  island,  in  imitation  of  the  genuine  cave 
on  Saints'  Island,  which  was  the  real  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory. 
The  boatmen  also  pointed  out  the  rock  on  the  margin  of 
the  lake,  and  within  a  few  paces  of  the  cave,  bearing  the 
mark  of  St.  Patrick's  knee  where  he  prayed  (and  where  the 
penitents  always  conclude  the  station),  when  he  killed  the 
great  serpent  who,  my  informant  added,  had  followed  him 
all  the  way  from  Croaghpatrick.      Here  is  the  story  taken 


LOUGH    DERG    PILGRIMAGE.  659 

from  an  old  Irish  MS.  of  the  O'Clerighs,  and  given  by 
O'Connellan  in  the  notes  to  his  translation  of  the  Four 
Masters  : — 

**  An  extraordinary,  monstrous  serpent,  called  the  '  Caol,' 
was  in  the  habit  of  thus  passing  its  time.  It  came  to 
Finnlough  (Lough  Derg)  every  morning,  where  it  remained 
until  night,  and  then  proceeded  to  Gleann-na-Caoile  near 
Lough  Erne,  and  there  during  the  night  it  consumed  a  ^eat 
deal  of  the  produce  of  that  locality  until  the  religious  champion 
of  God,  St.  Patrick,  came  to  Ireland,  and,  hearing  of  this 
monster,  he  went  straight  to  Finnlough,  where  the  serpent 
then  was  on  an  island  in  the  lake,  and  immediately  it  took 
to  the  water  and  with  its  devouring  mouth  open  it  set  all 
the  lake  in  commotion  ....  and  finally  directed  its 
course  to  the  shore  (of  the  island)  and,  opening  its  mouth, 
it  cast  forth  its  internal  poisonous  matter,  like  a  shower  of 
hailstones,  over  the  lake,  but  chiefly  towards  the  place  where 
the  Saint  and  his  clergy  stood.  The  Saint,  however,  having 
prayed  to  God,  cast  his  crozier  at  the  serpent,  which  pierced 
its  breast,  so  that  it  turned  its  back  at  him,  and  its  blood 
flowed  so  profusely  that  it  turned  all  the  water  of  the  lake 
red.  After  that  St.  Patrick  said  that  Finnlough  (the  fair  lake) 
would  be  called  Lough  Dearg  (the  red  lake)  thenceforth  until 
the  Day  of  Judgment." 

The  BoUandist  writer  caUs  the  Irish  a  '  natio  poetarum 
fabulis  facilis  credere,'  and  we  confess  we  plead  guilty  to  the 
soft  impeachment  so  far  as  to  profess  our  belief  that  this 
fanciful  legend  is  founded  on  a  substratum  of  truth. 

Unfortunately,  the  wind  blew  so  briskly  that  we  tried  in 
vain  to  reach  the  Saints'  Island,  which  is  two  miles  to  the 
north-west  of  Station  Island.  It  is  considerably  larger 
than  the  latter,  and  was  anciently  connected  with  the  shore 
by  a  wooden  bridge.  The  boatmen  pointed  out  distinctly 
the  site  of  the  old  monastery,  whose  foundations  can  scarcely 
now  be  traced,  and  on  the  highest  point  of  the  island  they 
showed  me  where  a  few  trees  marked  the  ancient  cemetery 
in  which  was  the  cave  called  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  '  quae 
est  in  caemeterio  extra  frontem  ecclesiae,'  says  Henry  of 
Saltrey.  The  *  cave,'  however,  was  long  ago  filled  up  and 
its  site  quite  forgotten.  Wright  tells  us  in  his  work  on  St. 
Patrick's  Purgatory  (London,  1824),  that  a  certain  Frenchman 
from  Bretagne  employed  workmen  during  two  summers  to 
discover  the  original  cave,  but  without  success. 


660  APPENDIX   VI. 


III. — ST.    PATRICK  S    PURGATORY. 

The  history  of  this  Purgatory  of  St.  Patrick  is  very  curious 
and  interesting.  The  first  recorded  account  of  the  place 
is  from  the  pen  of  Henry,  a  Benedictine  monk  of  Saltrey, 
in  Huntingdonshire,  England,  who  wrote  a  treatise  '  De 
Purgatorio  S.  Patritii,'  about  the  year  1152.  He  declares 
that  he  received  his  information  from  Gilbert,  a  monk  of 
Luda,  or  Louth,  in  Lincoln,  who  himself  received  all  the 
details  from  a  certain  '  Oenus  Miles,'  or  a  soldier-knight 
called  Owen,  who  served  in  the  armies  of  King  Stephen. 
Owen  was  an  Irishman,  and  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
Purgatory,  all  of  which  he  in  confidence  communicated  to 
Gilbert.  Henry  of  Saltrey  adds  that  Owen's  account  was 
confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  Patrick,  third  of  that  name, 
who  was  bishop  of  the  place  where  Lough  Derg  is  situated, 
and  who  also  declared  that  '  many  of  those  who  visited  the 
cave  never  returned,  and  even  those  who  return  pine  away 
because  of  the  great  torments  they  suffered.'  i  There  is 
no  bishop  of  the  name  of  Patrick  at  this  time  in  the  lists 
given  by  Ware  either  for  the  diocese  of  Clogher  or  Raphoe. 
Henry  of  Saltrey's  story  is  to  this  effect :  "  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  visibly  appearing  to  Saint  Patrick,  led  him  into 
a  desert  place,  and  there  showed  him  a  circular  cave  (fossam 
rotundam)  dark  inside,  and  at  the  same  time  said  to  him, 
whoever,  armed  with  the  true  faith,  and  truly  penitent,  will 
enter  that  cave  and  remain  in  it  for  the  space  of  a  day  and 
a  night,  will  be  purged  from  the  sins  of  his  whole  life — in 
modern  language,  obtain  a  plenary  indulgence — and  moreover, 
passing  through  it,  if  his  faith  fail  not — (si  in  fide  constanter 
egisset) — he  will  witness  not  only  the  torments  of  the 
damned  but  also  the  joys  of  the  blessed."  He  then  adds, 
that  after  this  vision,  St.  Patrick  in  great  joy  built  a  church 
on  that  spot,  and  made  the  Canons  of  St.  Augustine  guardians 
of  the  same,  and  he  surrounded  the  cave,  which  is  in  the  church- 
yard in  front  of  the  church,  with  a  wall,  and  closed  it  with  a — 

Dore  bowden  with  iron  and  stele, 
And  locke  and  key  made  thereto, 
That  no  men  should  the  dore  undo. 

Metrical  Version. 

He  gave  the  key  to  the  prior  of  the  convent,  without  whose 
permission  no  man  could  enter  the  cavern.  Owen  then 
narrates  what  he  himself  witnessed  in  the  cavern — how 
he  met  fifteen  venerable  men  clothed  in  white,  who  received 

*  See  Dr.  Kelly's  notes  to  Cambrensis  Eversus. 


LOUGH    DERG   PILGRIMAGE.  66 1 

him  kindly,  and  told  him  to  act  manfully  or  he  would  perish 
body  and  soul,  that  he  would  be  assaulted  by  demons  who 
would  by  torments  strive  to  drive  him  back  : — 

But  if  they  will  thee  beat  or  bind, 
Look  thou  have  these  words  in  thy  mind — 
Jesus,  as  thou  art  full  of  might, 
Have  mercy  on  a  sinful  knight. 

Metrical  Version. 

So  when  he  was  attacked  by  the  demons,  who  were  about  to 
throw  him  into  hell,  the  invocation  of  the  Holy  Name  saved 
him.  He  then  had  to  cross  a  high,  narrow,  slippery  bridge,  called 
the  bridge  of  the  three  impossibilities,  but  strengthened 
by  faith  and  prayer,  he  crosses  it  safely.  Next  he  comes  to 
a  bright  crystal  wall,  having  a  door  adorned  with  gold  and 
jewels,  through  which  he  is  admitted  to  the  terrestrial 
paradise  where  the  unwise  Adam  and  Eve  dwelt  when  on 
earth,  and  where  many  persons  still  remain  free  from 
sensible  pain  (a  pcenis  liberi  sumus),  but  not  yet  admitted 
to  the  joys  of  heaven  (Nondum  tamen  ad  supernam  sanctorum 
laetitiam  ascendere  digni  sumas).  Owen  was  very  anxious 
to  remain  there,  but  was  not  permitted.  Then  a  '  Bishop  ' 
showed  him  the  celestial  paradise  and  the  hill  leading 
thereto,  after  which  he  is  let  out  of  the  cave,  safe  and  sound, 
to  the  great  joy  of  the  clergy.  His  life  was  ever  afterwards 
changed  for  the  better  ;  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land,  and  lived  many  years  after  his  return,  when  at  length 
he  died  a  holy  death. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  if  this  is  merely  an  allegory  it 
contains  an  excellent  moral  lesson.  The  Bollandist  writer 
remarks  that  we  must  not  suppose  Owen  Miles  saw  all  this 
'  oculis  corporeis,  sed  imaginationi  sunt  subjecta  quae  ita 
prorsus  hominem  afhciunt  ac  si  corporeo  intuitu  fuerunt 
usurpata '  (Boll.  Acta  SS.  17  Martii). 

Before  any  person  was  permitted  to  enter  this  cavern — 
and  few  even  of  those  who  made  the  pilgrimage  had  the 
courage  to  enter  it — ^it  was  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  to 
get  the  permission  of  the  bishop  by  letter  addressed  to  the 
Prior,  and  the  bishop  always  dissuaded  the  pilgrims  from 
attempting  it.  Having  presented  the  bishop's  letter  to  the 
Prior,  the  latter  also  dissuaded  the  adventurous  individual, 
but  if  he  persisted  in  his  purpose,  he  had  to  remain  five 
days  in  retreat ;  then  a  Requiem  Mass  was  celebrated,  at 
which  he  received  the  Holy  Communion,  and  he  finally  made 
his  will.  After  these  somewhat  terrifying  preliminaries,  if 
he  was  still  determined  to  visit  the  cavern,  the  clergy,  in  solemn 
procession,  accompanied  him  to  the  pit's  mouth,  singing 
the  litanies,   the  Prior  unlocked  the  door,   the   adventurer 


662  APPENDIX    VI. 

took  holy  water,  signed  himself  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross, 
and  entered  the  cave,  which  was  closed  after  him.  Next 
day  the  clergy  went  again  to  the  pit's  mouth  ;  if  there  was 
no  appearance  of  the  pilgrim,  he  was  given  up  for  lost,  but 
if  he  did  appear,  he  was  taken  out,  the  clergy  with  great  joy 
conducted  him  to  the  church,  where  he  spent  fifteen  days 
more  in  thanksgiving  for  his  deliverance,  which  was  almost 
regarded  as  a  mark  of  predestination.  ^ 

We  have  not  space  to  discuss  whether  this  alleged  vision 
of  St.  Patrick  was  an  imposture,  or  a  reality,  or  a  delusion. 
Lanigan  calls  Henry  of  Sal  trey's  account  '  stuff,'  which  he 
would  not  condescend  to  refute.  A  Spanish  Benedictine, 
called  Feijoo,  wrote  a  treatise  against  the  genuineness  of 
St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  which  was  received  with  great 
approbation  on  the  Continent.  Their  arguments  may  be 
briefly  summed  up  : — 

1.  There  is  no  evidence  that  St.  Patrick  was  ever  in  Lough 
Derg  at  all. 

2.  There  were  no  Canons  Regular  of  St.  Augustine  in 
Ireland  before  the  beginning  of  the  12th  century ;  and, 
therefore,  they  could  not  have  been  made  guardians  of  St. 
Patrick's  Purgatory  in  the  5th  century. 

3.  It  is  heretical  to  speak  of  the  terrestrial  paradise  as 
the  abode  of  souls,  and  distinct  from  Purgatory  and  Heaven  ; 
the  II  Council  of  Lyons,  and  the  Council  of  Florence, 
according  to  Feijoo,  at  least  implicitly,  condemn  this  error. 

In  our  opinion  these  arguments  are  by  no  means  conclusive. 
It  does  not  surely  follow,  because  we  have  no  written  record 
of  the  fact,  that  St.  Patrick  never  visited  Lough  Derg.  Have 
we  written  records  of  all  the  places  he  visited  during  his 
seven  years'  sojourn  in  Connaught  ?  We  have  a  strong  and 
vivid  traditional  record  that  he  visited  Lough  Derg,  and 
this  tradition  is  confirmed  by  Lanigan's  own  account  of 
how  our  Apostle,  when  in  the  district  of  Tyrconnell,  went 
back  eastward  towards  Lough  Erne,  the  very  place  where 
Lough  Derg  is  situated.  We  know,  too,  that  our  Saint  was 
in  the  habit  of  withdrawing  to  lonely  and  retired  places  for 
the  purpose  of  prayer  and  penance,  and  no  place  could  be 
more  suitable  for  that  purpose  than  an  island  in  Lough  Derg. 

The  Bollandists  answer  the  second  objection.  It  is  true 
there  were  no  Canons  Regular  in  Ireland  before  Imar  of 
Armagh  introduced  them  to  his  great  Church  of  St.  Peter 
and  Paul,  built  about  1126 ;  but  as  the  Canons  Regular 
reformed  or  repeopled  most  of  the  old  Irish  monasteries 
desolated  during  the  Danish  wars,  the  custom  gradually 
grew  up  of  calling  their  monastic  predecessors  also  in  those 

*  Acta  SS.,  loco  citato. 


LOUGH    DERG    PILGRIMAGE.  663 

houses  Canons  Regular,  and  even  St.  Patrick  himself  was 
called  a  Canon  Regular,  and  his  festival  specially  celebrated 
in  their  Order.  As  to  the  charge  of  heresy  no  one  expects 
that  the  vision  of  a  rough  soldier  like  Owen  would  conform 
to  strict  theological  accuracy.  The  Councils  mentioned, 
too,  were  held  since  the  time  of  Henry  of  Saltrey. 

St.  Patrick  most  likely  did  visit  the  lake,  and  may  have 
spent  some  time  in  one  of  the  islands,  or  in  this  lonely  cave. 
He  certainly  was  frequently  favoured  with  heavenly  visions, 
whether  the  one  recorded  by  Henry  is  genuine  or  not.  At 
any  rate  the  place  was  sanctified  by  his  presence.  St. 
Dabheoc,  who  founded  a  monastery  there  about  the  year 
490,  and  his  disciples,  would  follow  St.  Patrick's  example 
and  use  the  cavern  as  a  duirteach,  or  solitary  praying-cell  ; 
'  some  had  visions,  like  those  recorded,  others  imagined 
they  had,  and,  perhaps,  some  pretended  they  had  ;  '  and 
thus  the  origin  and  history  of  the  cave  might  easily  be 
explained  without  insinuating,  as  Dr.  Lanigan  does,  that 
St.  Patrick's  Purgatory  on  Lough  Derg  was  got  up  as  a 
rival  to  Patrick's  Purgatory  at  Croaghpatrick,  mentioned 
by  Jocelyn. 

Henry  of  Saltrey's  story,  improved  by  Cambrensis  after 
his  peculiar  fashion,  and  copied  by  Mathew  Paris,  soon 
made  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory  famous  all  over  the  Continent. 
Three  metrical  French  versions  of  Henry's  story  were  published 
in  the  13th  century,  and  two  English  ones,  one  in  the 
14th  and  one  in  the  15  th  century  ;  copies  are  in  the 
British  Museum.  It  was  celebrated  in  an  Italian  romance 
called  '  Guerino  detto  il  meschino,'  and  Calderon  made  the 
'  Purgatorio  de  San  Patritio  *  ^  famous  throughout  all  Europe, 
Illustrious  pilgrims  from  every  country  came  in  crowds  to 
Lough  Derg.  It  was,  like  our  own,  an  age  of  pilgrimages. 
Great  men  in  those  days  committed  great  crimes,  for  which 
they  had  the  grace  to  do  rigorous  penance.  In  1358,  Edward 
III.  granted  to  one  Malatesta,  a  Hungarian  knight,  and  to 
Nicholas  de  Brecario,  of  Ferrara,  in  Italy,  a  safe  conduct 
through  England,  on  their  way  to  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory. 
Richard  II.  granted  a  similar  safe  conduct  to  Raymond, 
Viscount  of  Perilleux,  a  knight  of  Rhodes,  with  a  train  of 
twenty  men  and  thirty  horses.*^ 

Froissart  gives  an  account  of  Sir  W.  Lysle  and  another 
knight's  visit  to  the  cave  when  Richard  was  in  England. 
Raymond  of  Perhilos,  a  Spanish  nobleman,  visited  St. 
Patrick's  Purgatory,   and  his  experiences  there,  even  more 


1  One  of  the  first  of  his  works  translated  by  Denis  Florence  MacCarthy 
— selected  partly,  no  doubt,  for  the  sake  of  its  subject. 

2  Rhymer's  Foedera. 


664  APPENDIX    VI. 

marvellous  than  those  of  the  knight  Owen,  are  given  at 
length  in  O'Sullivan  Beare.  The  Four  Masters,  under  date 
of  the  year  15 16,  tell  of  a  French  knight,  who,  on  his  return 
from  Lough  Derg,  stopped  at  Donegal  with  O'Donnell,  and, 
in  return  for  his  generous  hospitality,  sent  him  a  ship,  with 
large  guns,  which  enabled  him  to  retake  the  Castle  of  Sligo 
from  O'Connor  Sligo.  But  it  seems  the  very  fame  of  the 
place  led  to  abuses. 

A  Dutch  monk,  from  the  monastery  of  Eymstede,  came 
in  pilgrimage  to  Lough  Derg.  With  great  difficulty  he  got 
the  requisite  permission  from  ths  Bishops,  Prior,  and  Prince 
of  the  territory,  to  enter  the  cavern — 'omnes  enim  petierunt 
pecuniam ' — and  he  had  none  to  give.  However,  he  was 
let  down  into  the  cave  by  a  rope,  taking  with  him  a  little 
bread  and  water ;  but,  whether  from  a  want  of  faith  or  of 
imagination,  he  saw  nothing  in  the  cavern.  Going  forthwith 
to  Rome,  he  declared  the  whole  story  of  the  cave  was  a  fraud, 
and,  by  way  of  proof,  narrated  his  own  adventures  in  Lough 
Derg.  Accordingly,  in  1494,  Alexander  VL  issued  a  Brief, 
directed  to  the  Guardian  of  the  Convent  of  Donegal,  and 
the  official  of  the  Deanery  of  Lough  Erne,  ordering  the 
suppression  of  the  pilgrimage  and  the  destruction  of  the  cave — 
'  quia  fuit  occasio  turpis  avaritiae.'  The  aforementioned 
monk  was  himself  the  bearer  of  this  Brief  to  Ireland.  On 
the  17th  March,  1497,  the  orders  of  the  Pope  were  executed  ; 
the  pilgrimage  was  suppressed  and  the  cave  destroyed. 

Strange  to  say,  the  Four  Masters,  writing  little  more  than 
a  century  afterwards  at  Donegal,  make  no  mention  of  this 
suppression.  But  it  is  recorded  in  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  by 
Cathal  M'Guire,  their  author,  who  was  '  Dean  of  Lough  Erne 
and  Deputy  of  the  Bishop  for  fifteen  years  before  his  death,' 
and  who  was  one  of  those  who  aided  in  the  execution  of  the 
Pope's  order. 

The  pilgrimage,  however,  soon  revived  ;  very  probably  it 
was  never  wholly  suppressed,  for  we  find  the  visit  of  the 
French  knight  recorded  by  the  Four  Masters  in  15 16.  It  is 
not  easy,  however,  to  determine  when  the  formal  transfer 
of  the  station  to  Station  Island  took  place,  or  when  the 
guardianship  of  the  place  passed  to  the  Franciscans.  In 
Peter  Lombard's  time  the  change  of  place  had  occurred,  but  not 
of  guardianship.  The  Canons  Regular  w^ere  still  on  Saints' 
Island,  but  the  Prior  of  the  Purgatory  lived  on  Station  Island. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  the  change  took  place  on  the  revival 
of  the  pilgrimage  after  the  Pope's  prohibition.  In  1632, 
some  years  after  the  plantation  of  Ulster  by  the  English 
and  Scotch  *  Undertakers,'  by  order  of  Adam  Loftus  and 
Richard  Boyle,  Lords  Justices,  Sir  James  Balfour  and  Sir 
William    Steward  '  drove  the  friars  from  the  island,  caused 


LOUGH   DERG   PILGRIMAGE.  665 

their  dwelling  to  be  demolished,  and  the  cell  (on  Station 
Island)  to  be  broken  open,  in  which  state  it  hath  lain  ever 
since,  so  that  the  pilgrimage  is  now  come  to  nothing,'  says 
Boate  (in  his  Natural  History),  who  wrote  in  Cromwell'? 
time.  But  as  soon  as  the  fury  of  the  persecution  had  blown 
over,  the  pilgrimage  was  again  resumed,  for  in  the  2nd  of 
Queen  Anne,  it  was  enacted  that — "  whereas  the  superstitions 
of  Popery  are  greatly  increased  and  upheld  by  the  pretended 
sanctity  of  places,  and  especially  of  the  place  called  St. 
Patrick's  Purgatory,  in  the  County  Donegal,  be  it  enacted 
that  all  such  meetings  shall  be  deemed  riots  and  unlawful 
assemblies,  and  all  sheriffs,  dec,  &c.,  are  hereby  required 
to  be  diligent  in  putting  the  laws  in  force  against  all  such 
offenders." 

The  pilgrimage,  however,  flourished  all  through  the  i8th 
century.  Dr.  Burke,  the  learned  author  of  Hibernia  Dom- 
inicana,  who  himself  visited  the  island  in  1748,  and  greatly 
extolled  its  fame  and  sanctity,  tells  us  that  Benedict  XIII. 
when  a  cardinal,  preached  a  sermon  in  Rome,  in  which  he 
praised  and  approved  of  the  penitential  austerities  of 
Lough  Derg. 

IV. — DEVOTIONAL  EXERCISES  DURING  THE  PILGRIMAGE,  i 

'  Unless  you  shall  do  Penance,  you  shall  all  likewise  perish.' 

— Luke,  xiii.,  3. 

The  station  commences  with  a  visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in 
St.  Patrick's  Church. 

The  pilgrim  them  proceeds-to  '  St.  Patrick's  Cross,'  near  the  same 
church,  and,  kneeling,  repeats  there  one  Pater,  one  Ave,  and  Creed. 

Next  he  goes  to  '  St.  Brigid's  Cross,'  where,  kneeling,  he  recites 
three  Paters,  three  Aves,  and  one  Creed. 

Then,  standing  with  his  back  to  the  Cross,  and  with  outstretched 
arms,  he  thrice  renounces  the  devil,  the  world,  and  the  flesh. 

He  then  makes  seven  circuits  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  repeating  in 
each  circuit  one  decade  of  the  Rosary,  and  adding  a  Creed  to  the  last 
decade. 

He  next  proceeds  to  the  penitential  cell,  or  '  bed,'  nearest  to  St. 
Mary's  Church,  called  St.  Brigid's  Bed,  and  says  three  Paters,  three 
Aves,  and  one  Creed,  whilst  thrice  making  the  circuit  of  this  Bed  on 
the  outside.  The  same  prayers  are  repeated  while  kneeling  outside 
the  entrance  of  the  Bed,  the  same  repeated  while  making  three 
circuits  of  it  on  the  inside  ;  and  the  same  prayers  are  repeated  while 
kneeling  at  the  Cross  inside  the  Bed. 

The  same  penitential  exercises  are  performed  successively  at  St, 
Brendan's  Bed,  St.  Catherine's  and  St.  Columba's. 


1  Taken    from    Canon    O'Connor's    learned    work,     '  St.    Patrick's 
Purgatory.' 


666  APPENDIX    VI. 

Around  the  large  penitential  Bed  six  circuits  are  then  made 
on  the  outside,  while  repeating  nine  Paters,  nine  Aves, 
and  one  Creed.  The  Pilgrim  then  kneels  at  the  first  entrance 
of  this  Bed,  and  recites  three  Paters,  three  Aves,  and 
one  Creed.  He  next  repeats  three  Paters,  three  Aves, 
and  one  Creed,  while  making  the  inside  circuit  of  it  :  and 
again  three  Paters,  three  Aves,  and  a  Creed,  kneeling  in  the 
centre.  He  now  proceeds  to  the  second  entrance  of  this  Bed  (which 
entrance  is  the  one  nearer  to  St.  Patrick's  Church),  and  kneeling,  re- 
cites three  Paters,  three  Aves,  and  one  Creed.  The  same  prayers  are 
recited  whilst  making  the  inner  circuit  of  it;  and  the  same,  kneeling 
in  the  centre. 

The  Pilgrim  now  goes  to  the  water's  edge,  where  five  Paters,  five 
Aves,  and  one  Creed  are  repeated,  standing,  and  the  same  prayers, 
kneeling. 

After  this  he  returns  to  St.  Patrick's  Cross,  from  which  he  had 
first  set  out ;  and  here  says,  on  his  knees,  one  Pater,  one  Ave,  and  one 
Creed. 

He  then  enters  St.  Patrick's  Church, where  the  station  is  concluded 
by  saying  five  Paters,  five  Aves,  and  a  Creed  for  the  Pope's  intention. 

Three  stations  with  the  foregoing  prayers  are  performed  each  day, 
each  station  being  usually  followed  by  five  decades  of  the  Rosary  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin. 

The  Pilgrim  enters  'Prison'  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day,  and 
there  makes  the  stations  for  the  second  day  by  reciting  the  prayers  of 
each  station  as  already  given. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  pilgrimage  each  one  goes  to  Confession. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  exercises  the  Pilgrim  assists  each  day 
at  Morning  Prayer,  Mass,  Meditation,  Visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
Evening  Prayer,  Sermon,  and  Benediction  with  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

Any  information  regarding  the  fast,  etc.,  may  be  easily  obtained  on 
the  Island. 

The  station  opens  each  year  on  the  ist  of  June,  and  closes  on  the 
Festival  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  15th  August. 

There  is  a  large  ferry  boat  which  can  contain  some  sixty 
pilgrims  and  makes  the  passage  from  the  main  to  the  island 
in  ten  or  twelve  minutes.     The  charges  are  only  a  few  pence. 

Pilgrims  are  strictly  interdicted  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks  upon  the  island,  or  within  three  miles  of  it,  or  any- 
where during  the  three  days  of  the  Station.  They  are  also 
forbidden  to  carry  off  memorials  of  any  kind,  even  water 
from  the  lake,  lest  they  might  give  rise  to  superstitious 
practices  at  home. 

The  fast  consists  of  one  meal  of  meagre  food  each  day, 
except  there  is  need  for  some  relaxation,  which  is  readily 
granted  by  the  Prior,  who  is  always  in  residence  during  station 
time.  All  persons  on  the  island  are  subject  to  the  Prior, 
who  is  himself  responsible  to  the  Bishop  for  the  due  observance 
of  all  rules  and  regulations  made  for  the  proper  conduct  of 
the  pilgrimage. 

One   thing   is   certain  :    this   pilgrimage   has   done     much 


i 


LOUGH    DERG    PILGK IMAGE.  667 

during  the  most  disastrous  centuries  of  our  history  to  keep 
alive  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  the  spirit  of  our  holy  faith 
and  its  characteristic  practices.  Our  enemies  themselves 
attest  '  how  much  the  superstitions  of  popery  are  greatly 
upheld  by  the  pretended  sanctity  of  that  place  called  St. 
Patrick's  Purgatory,  in  the  County  Donegal.'  In  the  midst 
of  a  district  peopled  by  the  bigoted,  transplanted  Puritans, 
the  plundered  and  persecuted  pilgrims  found  a  shrine  where 
the  poor  friars  taught  them  the  lesson  of  patient  endurance 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  and  poured  into  their  breaking  hearts 
the  cordial  of  spiritual  strength  and  vitality.  And  every 
priest  in  the  neighbouring  counties  knows  well  from  ex- 
perience what  lasting  fruits  of  penance  are  to  this  day  pro- 
duced by  a  pilgrimage  to  the  holy  island.  It  is,  in  truth,  a 
sacred  spot,  that  barren  rock,  rising  from  dark  waters,  and 
surrounded  by  bleak  and  frowning  hills.  The  rough  stone  is 
worn  smooth  by  the  bare  knees  of  the  generations  of  penitents 
who  prayed  and  fasted  there.  Many  a  mile  they  travelled, 
poor,  toil-worn,  and  foot-sore,  to  reach  that  lonely  island. 
Many  a  bitter  tear  of  penance  was  mingled  with  the  waters 
of  the  lake.  Many  a  weary  vigil  they  passed  in  that  '  prison  ' 
chapel  or  on  those  '  beds  '  of  stone.  Ay,  and  man}^  a  darkened 
soul  got  light,  many  a  sinful,  sorrow-laden  heart  found  there 
abiding  consolation.  These  thoughts  thronged  our  mind 
as  we  left  the  shore  sacred  to  solitude  and  penance  ;  and  the 
poet's  prayer  rose  unbidden  to  our  lips  : — 

God  of  this  Irish  isle, 

Blessed  and  old, 
Bright  in  the  morning  smile 

Is  the  lake's  fold  ; 
Here  where  thy  saints  have  trod, 

Here  where  they  prayed. 
Hear  me  !  O  saving  God  1 

May  I  be  saved. 


V. — ST.  Patrick's  wells. 

The  various  wells  throughout  the  country  associated 
with  the  name  and  work  of  Patrick  are  almost  countless  in 
number,  and  they  are  all  more  or  less  places  of  pilgrimage. 
We  are  not  in  a  position  now  to  give  a  list  of  these  holy  wells, 
but  at  some  future  time  we  may  perhaps  be  able  to  do  so. 


APPENDIX   VTI. 


TEXT  OF  ST.  PATRICK'S  WRITINGS. 
I. — His  Latin   Writings. 
I. — The  Confession.i 


Incipiunt  Libri  Sancti 
Patricii  Episcopi.<2 

I.  Ego  Patricius  peccator, 
rusticissimus  et  minimus 
omnium  fidelium  et  con- 
temptibilis         sum  apud 

plurimos. 

Patrem  habui  Calpornium 
diaconum,  filium  quendam 
Potiti  presbyteri,  qui  fuit  uico 
Bannauem  Taberniae.  Uillu- 
1am  enim  prope  habuit,  ubi 
ego  capturam  dedi. 

Annorum  eram  tunc  fere 
xui.  Deum  uerum  ignora- 
bam,  et  Hiberione  in  cap- 
tiuitate  adductus  sum,  cum 
tot  milia  hominum,  secundum 
merita  nostra,  quia  a  Deo 
recessimus  et  praecepta  eius 
non  custodiuimus,  et  sacer- 
dotibus  nostris  non  oboedien- 
tes  fuimus,  qui  nostram 
salutem   admonebant.  Et 

Dominus  induxit  super  nos 
tram  animationis  suae  et 
dispersit     nos     in     gentibtis 


Here  begin  the  Books  of 
Holy  Patrick  the  Bishop. 

I,  Patrick,  a  sinner,  the 
most  rustic  and  the  least  of 
all  the  faithful,  and  in  the 
estimation  of  very  many 
deemed  contemptible,  had  for 
my  father  Calpornius,  a 
deacon,  the  son  of  Potitus, 
a  presbyter,  who  belonged  to 
the  village  of  Bannavem 
Taberniae  ;  for  close  thereto 
he  had  a  small  villa,3  where 
I  was  made  a  captive. 

At  the  time  I  was  barely  six  - 
teen  years  of  age.  I  knew  not 
the  true  God  ;  and  I  was  led  to 
Ireland  in  captivity  with 
many  thousand  persons  ac- 
cording to  our  deserts,  for  we 
turned  away  from  God  and 
kept  not  His  commandments, 
and  we  were  not  obedient  to 
our  priests  who  used  to 
admonish  us  about  our 
salvation.  And  the  Lord 
brought  upon  us  the  indigna- 
tion    of     His     wrath,     and 


^  See  page  553,  present  work. 

2  The  text  we  have  adopted  is  chiefly  that  of  the  Rolls  Tripartite, 
with  some  emendations  from  Dr.  White's  very  carefully  collated 
text.  We  have  followed  him  in  giving  the  scriptural  phraseology  in  italics. 
Dr.  White  has  also  given  an  excellent  translation  which  in  some 
points  we  have  likewise  adopted.  See  '  Proceedings  of  the  R.  I.  A.' 
Vol.  XXV.,  Sec.  C. 

3  '  Enon  '  is  not  found  in  the  MSS.  ;  the  word  is  '  enim.' 


THE    CONFESSION. 


669 


multis  etiam  usque  ad 
ultimurn  terrae  ubi  nunc 
paruitas  mea  esse  uidetur 
inter    alenigenas. 

2.  Et  ibi  Dominus  aperuit 
sensum  incredulitatis  meae  ut 
uel  sero  rcmemorarem  dilicta 
mea  et  ut  coniicrterem  toto 
corde  ad  Dominum  Deum 
mcum  qui  respexit  humili- 
taieni  meam  et  missertus  est 
adoliscentiae,  et  ignorantiae 
meae,  et  custodiuit  me  ante- 
quam  scirem  eum,  et 
antequam  saperem  uel  dis- 
tinguerem  inter  bonum  et 
malum,  et  muniuit  me  et 
consulatus  est  me  ut  pater 
filium,     . 

3.  Unde  autem  tacere  non 
possum,  neque  expedit 
quidem,  tanta  beneficia  et 
tantam  gratiam  quam  mihi 
Dominus  praestare  dignatus 
est  in  terra  captiuitatis  meae  ; 
quia  haec  est  retrihutio  nostra 
ut  post  correptionem  uel 
agnitionem  Dei  exaltare  et 
confiteri  mirahilia  eius  coram 
omni  natione  quae  est  sub 
omni    caelo. 

4.  Quia  non  est  alius  Deus, 
nee  umquam  fuit,  nee  ante 
nee  erit  post  haec,  praeter 
Deum  Patrem  ingenitum,  sine 
principle,  a  quo  est  omne 
principium,  omnia  tenentem, 
ut  dicimus,  et  eius  Filium 
lesum  Christum,  qui  cum 
Patre  scilicet  semper  fuisse 
testamur  ante  originem 
saeculi  spiritaliter  apud 
Patrem  inenarrabiliter  geni- 
tum  ante  omne  principium. 
Et  per  ipsum  facta  sunt 
uissihilia  et  inuisihilia,  homi- 


scattered  us  amongst  many 
nations  even  to  the  utmost 
part  of  the  earth,  where  now 
my  littleness  may  be  seen 
amongst   strangers. 

And  there  the  Lord  opened 
the  understanding  of  my 
unbelief,  so  that  at  length  I 
miglit  recall  to  mind  my  sins 
and  be  converted  with  all 
my  heart  to  the  Lord  my 
God,  who  hath  regarded  my 
humility  and  taken  pity  on 
my  youth  and  my  ignorance, 
and  kept  watch  over  me  before 
I  knew  Him,  and  before  I  had 
discretion,  or  could  distinguish 
between  good  and  evil  ;  and 
He  protected  me  and  consoled 
me  as  a  father  does  his  son. 

Wherefore  I  cannot  conceal, 
nor  is  it  indeed  fitting,  the 
great  favours,  and  the  great 
grace  which  the  Lord  has 
vouchsafed  to  bestow  on  me 
in  the  land  of  my  captivity ; 
for  this  is  the  return  we  make, 
that  after  our  chastening  or 
after  our  recognition  of  God 
we  should  exalt  and  proclaim 
His  wondrous  ways  before 
every  nation  which  is  under 
heaven. 

For  there  is  no  other  God, 
nor  has  there  been  heretofore, 
nor  will  there  be  hereafter, 
except  God  the  Father  un- 
begotten,  without  beginning, 
from  whom  is  all  beginning, 
upholding  all  things,  as  we 
say,  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  we  likewise  confess 
to  have  always  been  with  the 
Father — before  the  world's 
beginning  spiritually  and  in- 
effably of  the  Father  begotten 
before  all  beginning  ;  and  by 
Him    were    made    all   things 


670 


APPENDIX   VII. 


nem  factum,  morte  deuicta, 
in  caelis  ad  Patrcm  reccptum. 
Et  dedit  illi  omnem  potest atem 
super  omne  nomen  caelestium 
et  terrestrhim  et  infernormn, 
et  omnis  lingua  conflteatur  ei 
quia  Dominus  et  Deus  est 
lesus  Christus  quern  credi- 
mus.  Et  expectamus  adu- 
entum  ipsius  mox  futurum 
iudex  uiuorum  atque  mor- 
tuornm.  Qui  reddet 

unicuique  secundum  facta  sua. 
Et  effudit  in  nobis  habunde 
Spiritum  Sanctum,  donum  et 
pignus  inmortalitatis,  qui 
facit  credentes  et  oboedientes 
ut  sint  fUii  Dei  et  cohe redes 
Christi,  quem  confitemur  et 
adoramus  unum  Deum  in 
Trinitate  Sacri  Nominis. 


5.  Ipse  enim  dixit  per 
profetam,  Inuoca  me  in  die 
tribulationis  tuae  et  liberabo 
te  et  magnificabis  ms.  Et 
iterum  inquit,  Opera  autmt 
Dei  reuelare  et  confiteri 
honorificum  est. 

6.  Tamen  etsi  in  multis 
inperfectus  sum  opto  fratribus 
et  cognatis  meis  scire  quali- 
tatem  meam  ut  possint 
perspicere  uotum  animae 
meae. 

7.  Non  ignore  testimonium 
Domini  mei  qui  in  psalmo 
testatur,      Perdes    eos       qui 


visibfe  and  invisible,  (who) 
was  made  man  and  having 
triumphed  over  death  was 
taken  up  to  the  Father  in 
heaven.  And  to  Him  (the 
Father)  gave  all  power  above 
every  name,  so  that  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow  of  those  that  are 
in  heaven,  on  earth,  and 
under  the  earth,  and  every 
tongue  should  confess  to  him 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Lord 
and  God  in  whom  we  believe, 
and  whose  coming  we  expect 
will  soon  take  place,  the 
Judge  of  the  quick  and  the 
dead,  who  will  render  to 
every  one  according  to  his 
works  ;  and  who  hath  poured 
out  on  us  abundantly  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  gift  and 
pledge  of  our  immortality, 
who  maketh  those  who 
believe  and  obey  become 
children  of  God  and  joint- 
heirs  with  Christ,  whom  we 
confess  and  adore  as  one  God 
in  the  Trinity  of  the  Sacred 
Name. 

For  He  himself  through 
the  prophet  saith,  *  call  upon 
me  in  the  day  of  trouble  and 
I  will  deliver  thee  ;  and  thou 
shalt  glorify  lie.'  And  again 
He  saith  :  '  But  (it  is)  honour- 
able to  reveal  and  confess  the 
works  of  God.' 

Yet  though  in  many 
things  I  am  imperfect  I  wish 
my  brethren  and  kinsfolk  to 
know  what  manner  of  man  I 
am,  so  that  they  may  be  able 
to  perceive  the  purpose  of  my 
soul. 

I  am  not  ignorant  of 
the  testimony  of  my  Lord, 
who  witnesseth  in  the  psalm  : 


THE    CONFESSION. 


671 


loquntuY    mendacinm.  Et 

iterum  inquit,  Os  quod  menti- 
iur  occidit  animam.  Et  idem 
Dominus  in  euangelio  inquit, 
Verhiim  otiossuni  quod  lociiti 
juerint  homines  red  dent 
rationem  de  eo  in  die  iudicii. 

8.  Unde  autem  uehimenter 
debueram  cum  timore  et 
tremore  metuere  lianc  sen- 
tentiam  in  die  ilia  ubi  nemo 
se  poterit  subtrahere  uel 
abscondere  ;  sed  omnes 
omnino  reddituri  sumus 
rationem  etiam  minimorum 
peccatorum  ante  tribunal 
Domini  Christi. 

9.  Quapropter  ollim  cogi- 
taui  scribere,  sed  et  usque 
nunc  hessitaui ;  timui  enim 
ne  incederem  in  linguam 
hominum,  quia  non  dedici 
sicut  et  caeteri  qui  optime 
itaque  iura  et  sacras  literas 
utraque  pari  mo  do  combi- 
berunt,  et  sermones  illorum 
ex  infantia  numquam  muta- 
verunt,  sed  magis  ad  per- 
fectum    semper    addiderunt. 


Nam  sermo  et  loquela  nostra 
translata  est  in  linguam 
alienam,  sicut  facile  potest 
probari  ex  saliua  scripturae 
meae,  qualiter  sum  ego  in 
sermonibus  instructus  atque 
eruditus  ;  quia  inquit 
Sapiens     : — Per  linguam 

dinoscetur  et  sensus  et  scientia 
et  doctrina  ueritatis. 


10.  Sed    quid   prodest   ex- 
cussatio      iuxta       ueritatem, 


'  Thou  wilt  destroy  those  who 
speak  a  lie,'  and  again  He 
saith  :  '  the  mouth  that 
belieth  killeth  the  soul.'  And 
the  same  Lord  (saith)  :  *  The 
idle  word  that  men  shall  speak 
they  shall  render  an  account 
for  it  in  the  day  of  judgment.' 

Wherefore  then,  1  ought 
greatly  with  fear  and  trembling 
dread  that  sentence  on  that 
day,  when  no  one  shall  be  able 
to  absent  or  conceal  himself, 
but  when  all  of  us — every 
one — shall  have  to  give  an 
account  of  even  his  smallest 
sins  before  the  judgment 
seat  of  Christ  the  Lord, 

For  this  reason  I  have  long 
been  thinking  of  writing  (this 
Confession),  but  up  to  the 
present  I  hesitated ;  for  I 
feared  lest  I  should  transgress 
against  the  tongue  of  (learned) 
men,  seeing  that  I  am  not 
learned  like  others,  who  in 
the  best  style  therefore  have 
drunk  in  both  laws  and  sacred 
letters  in  equal  perfection ; 
and  who  from  their  infancy 
never  changed  their  mother 
tongue ;  but  were  rather 
making  it  always  more  per- 
fect. 

My  speech,  however,  and 
my  style  were  changed  into 
the  tongue  of  the  stranger, 
as  it  can  easily  be  perceived 
in  the  flavour  of  my 
writings  how  I  am  trained 
and  instructed  in  languages, 
for  as  the  wise  man  saith  : 
'  By  the  tongue  wisdom  will 
be  discerned,  and  under- 
standing, and  knowledge, 
and   learning   of   the    truth.* 

But  what  availeth  an  excuse 
though    in    accordance    witk 


672 


APPENDIX    VII. 


praesertim  cum  praesump- 
tione  ?  quatinus  modo  ipse 
adpeto  in  senectute  mea  quod 
in  iuuentute  non  conparaui ; 
quod  obstiterunt  peccata  mea 
ut  confirmarem  quod  ante 
perlegcram.  Sed  quis  me 
credit  etsi  dixero  quod  ante 
praefatus  sum  ? 


Adoliscens,  immo  pene  puer 
imberbis,  capturam  dedi, 
antequam         scirem  uel 

quid  adpeterem  uel  quid 
uitare  debueram.  Unde  ergo 
hodie  erubesco  et  uehimenter 
pertimeo  denudare  imperi- 
tiam  meam,  quia  non  desertus 
breuitate  sermonem  explicare 
nequeo  ;  sicut  enim  Spiritus 
gestit  et  animas  et  sensus 
monstrat  adfectus. 

II.  Sed  si  itaque  datum 
mihi  fuisset  sicut  et  caeteris, 
uerumtamen  non  silerem 
propter  retrihutionem.  Et 
si  forte  uidetur  apud  aliquan- 
tos  me  in  hoc  praeponere  cum 
mea  inscientia  et  tardiori 
lingua ;  sed  scriptum  est, 
Linguae  halhutientes  uelociter 
discent  loqui  pacem.  Quanto 
raagis  nos  adpetere  debemus 
qui  sumus,  inquit,  aepistola 
Christi,  in  salutem,  usque  ad 
ultimum  terrae,  etsi  non 
deserta,  sed  ratum  fortissi- 
mum  scriptum  in  cordibits 
uestris,  non  atramento  sed 
Spiritu  Dei  uiui.  Et  iterum 
Spiritus  testatur,  Et  rustica- 


truth,  if  it  is  joined  to  pre- 
sumption. As  if,  forsooth, 
now  in  my  old  age  I  were 
seeking  that  (elegance  of 
style)  which  I  did  not  acquire 
in  my  youth,  for  my  sins 
prevented  me  from  mistering 
that  which  I  had  not  acquired 
earlier  in  life.  But  who  has 
given  me  credence  even 
when  I  repeat  what  I  have 
said  before? 

When  a  mere  youth,  nay 
a  beardless  boy,  I  was  taken 
captive  before  I  knew  what  I 
ought  to  seek  or  to  avoid. 
And  therefore  even  to-day 
I  am  ashamed  and  greatly 
dread  to  make  known  my 
inexperience,  because  not 
being  learned  I  cannot  explain 
it  in  a  few  words  ;  for  as  the 
Spirit  desireth,  both  mind  and 
sense  disclose  its  affections. 

Yet  even  had  I  that  gift  of 
speech  like  others,  ^  still  I 
would  not  be  silent  on  account 
of  the  reward.*^  And  if  it 
should  seem  to  some  people 
that  I  am  (unduly)  thrusting 
myself  forward  in  this  matter 
with  my  want  of  knowledge 
and  slower  tongue,  yet  it  is 
written  :  '  The  stammering 
tongues  shall  quickly  learn 
to  speak  peace  ;  '  how  much 
rather  should  we  covet  to  do 
this  who  are  ourselves  the 
epistle  of  Christ  for  salvation 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth  ; 
and  although  not  an  eloquent 
one  still  an  effective  and  most 
powerful    (letter)    written    in 


1  And  therefore  have  no  need  to  defend  myself  against  the  charge 
of  presumption.  , 

'  Promised  to  those  who  reveal  the  gift  of  God. 


i 


THE    CONFESSION. 


673 


tionem    ah    AUissimo    creata 
est. 


12.  Unde  ego  primus  rusti- 
cus,  profuga,  indoctus  scilicet 
qui  nescio  in  posterum 
prouidere ;  sed  illud  scio 
certissime  quia  utique  pritis- 
quam  humiliarer,  ego  eram 
uelut  lapis  qui  iacet  in  luto 
profimdo  ;  et  uenit  qui  potens 
est,  et  in  sua  missericordia 
sustulit  me,  et  quidem  scilicet 
sursum  adleuauit  et  collocauit 
me  in  summo  pariete. 

Et  inde  fortiter  debueram 
exclamare  ad  retribuendiim 
quo  que  aliquid  Domino  pro 
tantis  beneficiis  eius,  hie  et 
in  aeternum,  quae  mens 
hominum  aestimare  non 
potest. 

13.  Unde  autem  ammira- 
mini  magni  et  pusilli  qui 
timetis  Deum,  et  uos  domini- 
cati  rethorici,  audite  et 
scrutamini.  Quis  me  stultum 
excitauit  de  medio  eorum 
qui  uidentur  esse  sapientes  et 
legis  periti  et  potentes  in 
sermone  et  in  omni  re  ?  Et 
me  quidem  detestabilem 
huius  mundi  prae  caeteris 
inspirauit,  si  talis  essem ; 
dummodo  autem  ut  ctim 
metu  et  reuerantia  et  sine 
qtcerella  fideliter  prodessem 
genti  ad  quam  caritas  Christi 
transtulit  et  donauit  me, 
in  uita  mea,  si  dignus  fuero 
denique  ut  cum  humilitate  et 
ueraciter  deseruirem  illis. 


14.  In  men  sura  itaque  fidei 


your  hearts,  not  with  ink  but 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Living  God. 
And  again  the  Spirit 
witnesseth  :  '  Rusticity,  too, 
was  ordained  by  the  Most 
High.' 

Whence  I,  at  first  a  rustic 
and  an  exile,  unlearned 
surely  as  one  who  knows  not 
how  to  provide  for  the  future 
— yet  this  I  do  most  certainly 
know,  that  before  I  was 
humbled,  I  was  like  a  stone 
which  lies  in  the  deep  mire, 
and  He  that  is  mighty  came 
and  in  His  mercy  lifted  me 
up,  and  placed  me  on  the  top 
of  the  wall.  And  therefore 
I  ought  to  cry  out  and  render 
something  to  the  Lord  for 
these  benefits  so  great  both 
here  and  for  eternity,  that 
the  mind  of  man  cannot 
estimate  them. 

Wherefore,  be  ye  filled  with 
wonder  both  small  and  great, 
who  fear  God,  and  ye  too, 
lordly  rhetoricians,  hear  and 
search  out.  Who  was  it  that 
exalted  me,  fool  though  I  be, 
from  the  midst  of  those  who 
seemed  to  be  wise  and  skilled 
in  the  law,  and  powerful  in 
word  and  in  everything  else  ? 
And  me  truly  despicable  in  this 
world  He  inspired  beyond 
others,  though  being  such, 
that  with  fear  and  reverence, 
and  without  blame  I  should 
faithfully  serve  the  nation 
to  whom  the  love  of  Christ 
transferred  me  and  bestowed 
me  for  my  life,  if  I  should  be 
worthy — that  in  humility 
and  truth  I  should  serve 
them. 

Wherefore  in  the  measure 

2  X 


6/4 


APPENDIX    VII. 


Trinitatis  oportet  distingiiere, 
sine  reprehensione  periculi 
notum  facere  doniim  Dei  et 
consulationem  aeternam,  sine 
timore  fiducialiter  Dei  nomen 
ubique  expandere,  ut  etiam 
post  obitum  meiim  exagallias 
relinquere  fratribus  et  filiis 
meis  quos  in  Domino  ego 
babtizaui,  tot  milia  hominum. 


15.  Et  non  eram  dignus 
neque  talis  ut  hoc  Dominus 
seruulo  suo  concederet  post 
erumpnas  et  tantas  moles, 
post  captiuitatem,  post  annos 
multos,  in  gentem  illam 
tantam  gratiam  mihi  donaret, 
quod  ego  aliquando  in  iuuen- 
tute  mea  numquam  speraui 
neque  cogitaui. 

16.  Sed  postquam  Hib- 
erione  deueneram,  cotidie 
itaque  pecora  pascebam,  et 
frequens  in  die  crab  am ; 
magis  ac  magis  accedebat 
amor  Dei  et  timor  ipsius,  et 
fides  augebatur  et  spiritus 
agebatur,  ut  in  die  una 
usque  ad  centum  orationes 
et  in  nocte  prope  similiter, 
ut  etiam  in  siluis  et  monte 
manebam.  Ante  lucem 
excitabar  ad  orationem  per 
niuem  per  gelu  per  pluiam  ; 
et  nihil  mali  sentiebam,  neque 
ulla  pigritia  erat  in  me,  sicut 
modo  uideo,  quia  tunc 
spiritus  in  me  feruehat. 

17.  Et  ibi  scilicet  quadam 
nocte  in  somno  audiui  uocem 
dicentem  mihi,  Bene  ieiunas, 


of  our  faith  in  the  Trinity  it 
is  fitting  to  explain  and 
without  censure  of  rashne  s 
m  ike  known  the  gift  of  God 
and  the  everlasting  hope, 
moreover  without  fear  to 
spread  everywhere  the  name 
of  God  with  confidence,  so 
that  after  my  death  I  may 
leave  a  legacy  to  my  brethren 
and  my  sons  whom  I  baptised 
in  the  Lord — so  mmy  thous- 
ands   of    m3n. 

Neither  was  I  worthy,  nor 
such  that  the  Lord  should 
grant  this  to  His  poor  servant 
after  calamities,  and  trials  so 
great,  after  captivity,  after 
so  many  years, — that  he 
should  bestow  on  me  this 
great  grace  in  favour  of  that 
nation — a  thing  that  formerly 
in  my  youth  I  never  hoped 
for  or  thought  of. 

Now  after  I  came  to 
Hiberione  (Ireland)  daily  I 
herded  flocks,  ^  and  often 
during  the  day  I  prayed. 
Love  of  God  and  His  fear 
increased  more  and  more, 
and  my  faith  grew,  and  my 
spirit  was  stirred  up,  so  that 
in  a  single  day  I  said  as  many 
as  a  hundred  prayers  and  at 
night  likewise,  though  I  abode 
in  the  woods  and  in  the  moun- 
tain. Before  the  dawn  I  us  3d 
to  be  aroused  to  prayer  in 
snow  and  frost  and  rain,  nor 
was  there  any  tepidity  in  me, 
such  as  I  now  feel,  because 
then  the  spirit  was  fervent 
within  me. 

And  there  truly  one  night 
I  heard  in  my  sleep  a  voice 
saying  :    *  Thou   fastest  well, 


\  '  Pecora  '  may  include  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine. 


THE   CONFESSION. 


675 


cito  iturus  ad  patriam  tuam. 
Et  iterum  post  pauliilum 
tempus  aiuliui  responsiim 
dicentam  milii.  Ecce  nauis 
tua  parata  est.  Et  non  erat 
prope,  sed  forte  habebat  •  cc  • 
milia  passus  Et  ibi  num- 
quam  fueram,  nee  ibi  noium 
quemquam  de  hominibus 
habebam.  Et  deinde  post- 
modum  conuersus  sum  in 
fugam,  et  intermissi  hominem 
cum  quo  fueram  .ui.  annis  ;  et 
ueni  in  uirtute  Dei  qui  uiam 
meam  ad  bonum  dirigebat,  et 
nihil  metuebam  donee  perueni 
ad  nauem  illam. 

18.  Et  ilia  die  qua  perueni 
profecta  est  nauis  de  loeo  suo. 
Et  loeutus  sum  ut  haberem 
unde  nauigarem  cum  illis  ;  et 
gubernatori  displicuit  illi,  et 
acriter  cum  indignatione  re- 
spondit,  Nequaquam  tu 
nobiscum    adpetes    ire. 

Et  cum  haee  audiissem 
seperaui  me  ab  illis  ut 
uenirem  ad  tegoriolum  ubi 
hospitabam ;  et  in  itenere 
caepi  orare ;  et  antequam 
orationem  consummarem 

audiui  unum  ex  illis,  et 
fortiter  exclamabat  post  me, 
Ueni  cito  quia  uocant  te 
homines  isti ;  et  statim  ad 
illos  reuersus  sum. 

Et  coeperunt  mihi  dicere, 
Ueni,  quia  ex  fide  reeipi 
mus     te.  Fae      nobiscum 

amieitiam  quomodo  uolueris. 
Et  in  ilia  die  itaque 
reppuli      sugere      mammellas 


thou  art  soon  to  go  to  thy 
fatherland.'  And       again 

after  a  little  time  I  heard  the 
divine  voice    saying  to  me  : 

*  Lo,  thy  ship  is  ready.'  And 
it  was  not  near  at  hand  but 
distant  about  200  miles. 
And  I  had  never  been  there  ; 
nor  had  I  knowledge  of  any 
person  there.  And  thereupon 
after  a  little  I  betook  myself 
to  flight,  and  left  the  man 
with  whom  I  had  been  for  six 
years,  and  I  came  in  the 
strength  of  God,  who  pros- 
pered my  way  for  good  ;  and 
I  had  no  cause  to  fear  any- 
thing until  I  came  to  that  ship. 

And  on  the  very  day  I 
arrived  the  ship  left  its 
place,  and  I  asked  that  I 
might  have  leave  to  sail 
with  them  ;  i  but  it  displeased 
the  captain,  and  he  replied 
harshly  with  anger  :  '  on  no 
account  seek  thou  to  come 
with   us.' 

When  I  heard  this,  I  left 
them  to  go  to  the  hut  where 
I  was  lodging ;  and  on  the 
way  I  began  to  pray  ;  and 
before  I  had  finished  my 
prayer  I  heard  one  of  them 
calling     loudly     after     me : 

*  Come  quickly,  these  men  are 
calling  thee,'  and  forthwith 
I  returned  to  them. 

And  they  began  to  say 
to  me  :  *  Come,  we  take 
thee  in  good  faith,  make 
friendship  with  us  as  thou 
pleases  t.'  And  on  that 
day  I  refused  to  suck  their 


1  Et   loeutus   sum   ut     haberem   unde     navigarem  cum  illis.       The 
language  is  dubious  ;  the  above  seems  the  most  natural  meaning. 


6/6 


APPENDIX   VTI. 


eorum'  propter  timorem 
Dei  ;  sed  uerumtainen 
ab  illis  speraui  uenire  in  fidem 
lesu  Christi,  quia  genteserant, 
et  ob  hoc  obtinui  cum  illis, 
et  protinus  nauigauimus. 

19.  Et  post  triduum  terram 
caepimus,  et  xxuiii  dies  per 
disertr.ni  iter  fecimus,  et  cibus 
defuit  illis  et  fames  inualuit 
super  eos.  Et  alio  die  coepit 
gubernator  mihi  dicere,  Quid, 
Christiane,  tu  dicis  ?  Deus 
tuus  magnus  et  omnipotens 
est ;  quare  ergo  pro  nobis 
orare  non  potes  ?  quia  nos  a 
fame  periclitamur ;  difficile 
est  enim  umquam  ut  aliquem 
hominem  uideamus.  Ego 
enim  euidenter  dixi  illis, 
Conuertemini  ex  fide  et  ex 
toto  corde  ad  Dominum  Deum 
meum,cui  nihil  esti  npossihile, 
ut  hodie  cibum  mittat  uobis 
in  uiam  uestram  usque  dum 
satiamini,  quia  ubique 
habundat  iUi. 


Et  adiuuante  Deo  ita  fac- 
tum est.  Ecce  grex  por- 
corum  in  uia  ante  oculos 
nostros  apparuit,  et  multos 
ex  illis  interecerunt  et  ibi  .ii. 
noctes  manserunt  ;  et  bene 
refecti,  et  canes  eorum  re- 
pleti  sunt,  quia  multi  ex  illis 
defecerunt  et  secus  uiam 
semiuiui  relicti  sunt. 

Et  post  haec  summas 
gratias  egerunt  Deo,  et  ego 
honorificatus  sum  sub  oculis 
eorum,  et  ex  hac  die  abun- 


breasts  through  fear  of  God  ; ' 
but  still  I  hoped  that  some  o*^ 
them  would  come  to  the 
faith  of  Christ,  for  they  were 
heathen,  and  on  that  account 
I  stayed  with  them — and 
forthwith  we  set  sail. 

And  after  three  days  we 
made  land,  and  for  28  days 
we  journeyed  through  a 
desert,  and  food  failed  them, 
and  hunger  overtook  them. 
And  one  day  the  shipmaster 
said  to  me :  '  What  sayest 
thou,  Christian  !  thy  God 
is  great  and  almighty ;  why 
then  can  you  not  pray  for 
us  ?  for  we  are  in  danger  of 
starvation.  It  will  be  hard 
for  us  if  ever  we  see  a  human 
being  again.'  Then  I  said 
plainly  to  them :  *  Turn 
earnestly  and  with  all  your 
hearts  to  the  Lord  my 
God,  to  whom  nothing 
is  impossible,  that  He 
may  send  you  food  for 
your  journey  until  you  be 
filled,  for  everywhere  he  hath 
abundance.* 

And  by  God's  help  it  so 
came  to  pass.  Lo,  a  herd 
of  swine  appeared  on  the 
road  before  our  eyes ;  and 
they  killed  many  of  them ; 
and  spent  two  nights  there  ; 
and  were  well  refreshed,  and 
their  dogs  also  were  sated, 
for  many  of  them  had  fainted 
(from  hunger)  and  were  left 
half-dead  by  the  way. 

And  thereafter  they  gave 
greatest  thanks  to  God,  and 
I  became  honoured  in  their 
eyes ;    and    from    that    day 


^  Sugere     mammellas    eorum — the   phrase   was   sometimes   used   to 
express  intimate  Iriendship. 


THE  CONFESSION. 


677 


danter  cibum  habuerunt. 
Etiam  mel  silitistre  inuenie- 
runt,  et  mihi  partem  ohttile- 
runt.  Et  unus  ex  illis  dixit, 
Hoc  immolaticum  est.  Deo 
gratias,  exinde  nihil  gus- 
taui. 

20.  Eadem  uero  nocte  eram 
dormiens,  et  fortiter 
tcmptauit  me  Satanas,  quod 
mcnior  ero  quandiii  fuero  in 
hoc  cor  pore.  Et  cicidit  super 
me  ueluti  saxum  ingens,  et 
nihil  membrorum  meorum 
praeualui.  Sed  unde  mihi 
uenit  ignore  in  spiritum  ut 
HeHam  uocarem  ?  Et  in 
hoc  uidi  in  caelum  solem 
oriri,  et  dum  clamarem 
Heliam,  Heliam,  uiribus  meis, 
ecce  splendor  solis  illius  de- 
cidit  super  me,  et  statim 
discussit  a  me  omnem  graui- 
tudinem.  Et  credo  quod  a 
Christo  Domino  meo  subuen- 
tus  sum,  et  Spiritus  eius  iam 
tunc  clamabat  pro  me.  Et 
spero  quod  sic  erit  in  die 
presurde  meae,  sicut  in 
aeuanguelio  inquit :  In  ilia 
die,  Dominus  testatur,  Non 
uos  estis  qui  loquimini,  sed 
Spiritus  Patris  uestri  qui 
loquitur  in  uobis. 

21.  Et  iterum  post  annos 
multos  adhuc  capturam  dedi. 
Ea  nocte  prima  itaque  mansi 
cum  illis.  Responsum  autem 
diuinum  audiui  dicentem  mihi; 
'  Duobus  autem  mensibus  eris 
cum  illis.'  Quod  ita  factum 
est.        Nocte  ilia  sexagesima 


they  had  food  in  abundanse. 
They  also  found  wild  honey 
and  offered  me  a  part.  But 
one  of  them  said  :  Tt  is  an 
idol-offering  ' — thanks  be  to 
God,  I  took  none  of  it  there- 
after. 

Now  on  that  same  night 
when  I  was  sleeping,  Satan 
tempted  me  strongly,  which 
I  shall  remember  as  long  as  I 
am  in  this  body.  And  there 
fell  on  me  as  it  were  a  huge 
rock,  and  I  had  no  power  in 
my  limbs.  But  whence 
came  it  into  my  spirit  I  know 
not  I  that  I  should  invoke 
Helias.  And  thereupon  I 
saw  the  sun  rise  in  the 
heaven,  and  whilst  I  kept 
invoking  Helias,  Helias,  with 
all  my  might,  lo,  the  splendour 
of  the  sun  fell  upon  me  and 
shook  off  from  me  all  the 
weight.  And  I  believe  I  was 
aided  by  Christ  my  Lord, 
and  that  His  Spirit  was  even 
then  calling  out  on  my  behalf. 
And  I  hope  that  it  will  be  so 
in  the  day  of  my  distress  ; 
as  in  the  Gospel  He  says  : 
'  In  that  day  it  is  not  you 
that  speak  but  the  Spirit  of 
your  father  that  speaketh 
in  you.' 

And  a  second  time  after 
many  years  "^  up  to  that  I 
became  a  captive.  On  that 
first  night  then  I  remained 
with  them;  I  heard  a  Divine 
voice  saying  to  me  :  '  For 
two  months  yet  thou  shalt 
be  with  them.'       And  so  it 


1  The  word  '  ignoro  '  omitted  in  some  MSS.  seems  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  sense. 

2  '  After  many  years  ' — from  his  first  capture. 


678 


APPENDIX   VII. 


liherauit      me      Dominus 
manibus  eorum. 


de 


22.  Etiam  in  itenere 
praeuidit  nobis  cibum  et 
ignem  et  siccitatem  cotidic 
donee  deeimo  die  peruenimus 
omnes.  Sicut  superius  in- 
sinuaui,  xx  et  .uiii.  dies  per 
disertum  iter  fecimus.  Et  ea 
nocte  qua  peruenimus  omni 
de  cibo    nihil  habuimus. 


23.  Et  iterum  post  paucos 
annos  in  Britannis  eram  cum 
parentibus  meis,  qui  me  ut 
filium  susciperunt  et  ex  fide 
rogauerunt  me,  ut  uel  modo 
ego  post  tantas  tribulationes 
quas  ego  pertuli  nusquam  ab 
illis  discederem. 


Et  ibi  scilicet  uidi  in  uisu 
noctis  uirum  uenientem  quasi 
de  Hiberione,  cui  nomen 
Uictoricus,  cum  aepistolis 
innumerabilibus.  Et  dedit 
mihi  unam  ex  his,  et  legi 
principium  aepistolae  con  tin - 
entem,  'Uox  Hyberionacum ' ; 
et  dum  recitabam  principium 
aepistolae  putabam  ipso 
momento  audire  uocem  ipso- 
rum  qui  erant  iuxta  siluam 
Focluti  quae  est  prope  mare 
occidentale ;  et  sic  exclamaue- 
runt  quasi  ex  uno  ore,  Roga- 
mus  te,  sancte  puer,  ut  uenias 


came  to  pass,  on  the  sixtieth 
night  thereafter  the  Lord 
dehvered  me  out  of  their 
hands.  Moreover  on  our 
journey  He  provided  us  with 
food  and  fire  and  shelter 
every  day  until  on  the  tenth 
day  we  all  reached  our 
destination.  As  I  explained 
above,  for  28  days  '  we 
marched  through  a  desert. 
And  on  that  night  on  which 
we  arrived  at  our  destination, 
we  had  no  more  fpod  left. 

And  (now)  once  more  after 
some  years  (of  absence)  I 
was  in  Britain  with  my 
family  (parentibas)^  who 
received  me  as  a  son,  and 
earnestly  besought  me  that 
now  at  least  after  so  many 
tribulations  which  I  had 
endured  I  should  never  go 
away  from  them. 

Now  there  it  was  I  saw, 
in  a  vision  of  the  night,  a  man 
coming  as  if  from  Ireland, 
whose  name  was  Victori'^us, 
with  very  many  letters.  And 
he  gave  one  of  them  to  me, 
and  I  read  the  beginning  of 
the  letter  purporting  to  be 
the  '  Voice  of  the  Irish,'  and 
whilst  I  was  reading  out  the 
beginning  of  the  letter  I 
thought  that  at  that  moment 
I  heard  the  voices  of  those 
who  dwelt  beside  the  wood 
of  Focluth  which  is  by  the 
western  sea ;  and  thus  they 


^  There  is  a  difference  of  reading  here  in  the  MSS.  Some  have  the 
*  fourteenth,'  others  the  '  tenth  '  day. 

2  Above  we  have — '  et  iterum  post  annos  multos  adhuc  capturam 
dedi ;  here  we  have,  '  et  iterum  post  annos  paucos  in  Britannis  eram  cum 
parentibus  meis.'  I  would  venture  to  translate  the  latter — '  and 
once  more,  for  a  few  years  afterwards  I  remained  with  my  parents 
in  Britain. 


THE    CONFESSION. 


679 


et      adhuc      ambulas      inter 
nos. 


Et  iialde  conpunctus  sum 
corde  et  amplius  non  potui 
Icgere,  et  sic  expertus  sum. 
Deo  gratias,  quia  post  pluri- 
mos  annos  praestitit  illis 
Dominus  secundum  clamorem 
illorum. 

24.  Et,  alia  nocte,  nescio, 
Deus  scit,  utrum  in  me  an 
iuxta  me,  uerbis  peritissimis 
quos  ego  audiui  et  non  potui 
intellegere,  nissi  ad  posterum 
orationis,  sic  effatus  est,  Qui 
dedit  animam  suam  pro  te, 
ipse  est  qui  loquitur  in  te.  Et 
sic  expei[gefuc]tus  sum 
gaudibundus. 

25.  Et  iterum  uidi  in  me 
ipsum  orantem,  et  erat  quasi 
intra  corpus  meum,  et  audiui 
super  me,  hoc  est  super 
interiorem  hominem,  et  ibi 
fortiter  orabat  gemitibus.  Et 
inter  haec  stupeham  et  am- 
mirabam  et  cogitabam  quis 
esset  qui  in  me  orabat  ; 
sed  ad  postremum  orationis 
sic  effatus  est  ut  sit  Spiritus ;  et 
sic  exper[gefac]tus  sum,  etre- 
cordatus  sum  apostolo  dicente, 
Spiritus  adiuuat  infirmitates 
orationis  nostrae.  Nam 
quod  or  emus  sicut  oportet 
nescimus,  sed  ipse  Spiritus 
postulat  pro  nobis  gemitibus 
inenarrabilibus  quae  uerbis 
expremi   non   possunt.         Et 


cried,  as  if  with  one  mouth  : 
*  We  beseech  thee,  holy  youth, 
to  come  and  walk  once  more 
amongst  us.'  i 

And  I  was  greatly  touched 
in  heart,  and  could  read  no 
more,  and  so  I  awoke.  Thanks 
be  to  God  that  after  very 
many  years-  the  Lord  granted 
to  them  according  to  their 
earnest  cry. 

And  on  another  night, 
whether  within  or  beside  me 
I  know  not,  God  knoweth,  in 
the  clearest  words,  which  I 
heard  but  could  not  under- 
stand until  the  end  of  the 
prayer  He  spoke  out  thus  : 
'  He  who  laid  down  His  life 
for  thee.  He  it  is  who  speaketh 
within  thee.'  And  so  I  awoke 
full  of  joy.  And  once  more 
I  saw  Him  praying  in  me 
and  He  was  as  it  were  within 
my  body ;  and  I  heard  him 
over  me,  that  is  over  the 
interior  man ;  and  there 
strongly  He  prayed  with 
groanings.  And  meanwhile 
I  was  astonished  and  mar- 
velled, and  considered  who 
it  was  who  prayed  within 
me  ;  but  at  the  end  of  the 
prayer  He  spoke  out  to  the 
effect  that  he  was  the  Spirit ; 
and  so  I  awoke  and  re- 
membered the  Apostle  saying: 
'  The  Spirit  helpeth  the  in- 
firmities of  our  prayer.  For 
we  know  not  what  we  should 
pray  for  as  we  ought  ;  but  the 
Spirit  Himself  asketh  for  us 


'  '  Adhuc  *  in  the  text  clearly  qualifies  not  '  venias  '  but  '  ambules, 
which  is  the  true  reading. 

2  '  Post  plurimos  annos  ' — showing  that  a  long  term  of  years  in- 
tervened. 


68o 


APPENDIX   VII. 


iterum,     Dominus    adiwcaius 
noster  postulat  pro  nobis. 


26.  Et  quando  temptatus 
sum  ab  aliquantis  senioribus 
meis  qui  uenerunt  ob  peccata 
mea  contra  laboriosum  epis- 

copatum     meum utique 

in  illo  die  fortiter  inpulsus 
sum  lit  caderem  hie  et  in 
aeternum ;  sed  Dominus 
pepercit  proselito  et  peregrino 
propter  no  men  suum,  benigne 
et  ualde  mihi  subuenit  in  hac 
conculcatione  quod  in  labem 
et  in  obprobrium  non  male 
deueni.  Deum    oro,     ut 

non  illis  in  peccatum  re- 
putetur    occasio. 

27.  Nam  post  annos 
triginta  inuenerunt  me,  et 
aduersus  uerbum  quod  con- 
fessus  fueram  antequam 
essem  diaconus.  —  Propter 
anxietatem  mesto  animo  in- 
sinuaui  amicissimo  meo  quae 
in  pueritia  mea  una  die 
gesseram,  immo  in  una  hora, 
quia  necdum  praeualebam. 
Nescio,  Deiis  scit,  si  habebam 
tunc  annos  quindecim,  et 
Deum  uiuum  non  credebam, 
neque  ex  inf  antia  mea  ;  sed 
in  morte  et  in  incredulitate 
mansi  donee  ualde  castigatus 
sum,  et  in  ueritate  humiliatus 


with  unspeakable  groanings, 
which  cannot  be  uttered  in 
words.  And  again  :  '  The 
Lord  our  advocate  maketh 
intercession  for  us.' 

And  ^  when  I  was  tempted 
by  certain  of  my  elders,  who 
came  and  (urged)  my  sins 
against  my  laborious  epis- 
copate— truly  in  that  day  I 
was  strongly  pushed  that  I 
might  fall  here  and  for  ever  ; 
but  the  Lord  graciously  had 
pity  on  the  stranger  and 
sojourner  for  His  name's  sake, 
and  He  helped  me  greatly  in 
that  humiliation,  so  that  I  did 
not  utterly  fall  into  disgrace 
and  reproach.  I  pray  God 
that  the  occasion  be  not 
reckoned  to  them  as  a  sin. 
For  after  thirty  years  they 
found  me  and  (it  was)  against 
a  word  which  I  had  confessed 
before  I  became  a  deacon  "^ — 
on  account  of  my  anxiety 
with  sorrowful  mind  I  confided 
to  my  dearest  friend  what  I 
had  done  one  day  in  my 
youth,  nay  in  one  hour,  for 
I  was  not  yet  strong  (in  virtiie) . 
I  cannot  tell — God  knoweth 
it — if  I  was  then  fifteen  years 
old,  and  I  did  not  believe  in 
the  living  God,  nor  had  I 
from  my  infancy ;  but  I 
remained  in  death  and  un- 
belief    until    I    was    greatly 


1  This  long  passage  down  to  *  noctem  '  is  omitted  from  the  copy 
in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  dehberately,  no  doubt,  lest  it  might  seem 
to  reflect  on  the  holiness  of  the  great  Apostle — a  very  foolish  thought. 

2  Patrick,  when  about  to  become  a  deacon,  confided  the  sin  which 
he  had  committed  about  the  age  of  fifteen  to  a  friend  in  order  to 
quiet  his  own  scruples.  The  friend,  thirty  years  afterwards,  alleged 
that  sin  against  Patrick's  promotion  to  the  episcopate.  At  that  time 
the  age  for  receiving  deconship  was  30,  So  Patrick  when  he  was  con- 
secrated Bishop  must  have  been  60  years  of  age.  There  is  no  question 
of  sacramental  confession;  it  was  counsel  Patrick  sought  in  confidence — 
'  insinuavi  amicissimo  meo.' 


THE   CONFESSION. 


68 1 


sum   a   fame   et   nuditate  et 
cotidie. 

28.  Contra,  Hiberione  non 
sponte  pergebam  donee  prope 
deficiebam.  Sed  haec  potius 
bene  mihi  fuit,  quia  ex  hoc 
emendatus  sum  a  Domino  ; 
et  aptauit  me  ut  hodie  essem 
quod  aliquando  longe  a  me 
erat,  ut  ego  curas  haberem 
aut  satagerem  pro  salute 
aliorum,  quando  autem  tunc 
etiam  de  me  ipso  non 
cogitabam. 

29.  Igitur  in  illo  die  quo 
reprohatus  sum  a  memoratis 
supradictis,  ad  noctem  illam 
uidi  in  iiisu  noctis.  Scrip- 
tum  erat  contra  faciem  meam 
sine  honore.  Et  inter  haec 
audiui  responsum  diuinum 
dicentem  mihi,  Male  uidimus 
faciem  designati  nudato 
nomine.  Nee  sic  praedixit, 
Male  uidisti,  sed  Male  uidi- 
mus ;  quasi  ibi  se  iunxisset. 
Sicut  dixit,  Qui  uos  tamiuit 
quasi  qui  tanguit  pupillam 
oculi  mei. 


30.  Idcirco  gratias  ago  ei 
qiii  me  in  omnibus  confortaiiit 
ut  non  me  inpediret  a  pro- 
fectione  quam  statueram  et 
de  mea  quoque  opera  quod  a 


chastened  and  humbled  in 
truth  by  hunger,  and  naked- 
ness, and  that,  too,  daily.' 
Towards  ^  Ireland  of  my  own 
accord  I  made  no  move  until 
I  was  almost  worn  out.  But 
these  things  were  rather  a 
gain  to  me,  because  thereby 
I  was  corrected  by  the  Lord  ; 
and  he  prepared  me  to  become 
to-day  what  once  was  far 
from  me — that  I  should  care 
for  and  procure  the  salvation 
of  others,  whereas  at  that 
time  I  did  not  think  even 
about  myself. 

On  that  day,  then,  on 
which  I  was  rejected  by  the 
those  referred  to  above, 
during  that  night  I  had  a 
vision  of  the  night.  There 
was  a  writing  opposite  my 
face  without  honour.3  And 
meanwhile  I  heard  a  divine 
voice  saying  to  me  :  '  With 
pain  We  have  seen  the  face 
of  the  (bishop)  designate  4 
spoiled  of  his  name.'  He  did 
not  say  '  Thou  hast  seen  with 
pain,'  but '  We  have  seen  with 
pain,'  as  if  in  that  matter  He 
had  joined  Himself  with  me  ; 
as  He  hath  said  :  '  He  that 
toucheth  you  is  as  he  that 
toucheth  the  apple  of  Mine 
eye.' 

Wherefore  I  give  thanks 
to  Him,  who  hast  strengthened 
me  in  all  things,  so  as  not  to 
hinder  me  from  that  journey 
on  which  I  had  resolved,  and 


^  '  Daily'  is  sometimes  connected  with  ths  following  sentence. 

2  '  Contra  Hibcrionem  '  (or  Hiberione),  non  sponte  pergebam  ' — 
the  reading  is  uncertain  and  the  phrase  obscure.  We  have  given  the 
most  natural  rendering. 

^  That  is,  a  writing  dishonouring  me,  as  unworthy  of  the  episcopate. 

*  '  D^signatus  '  means  one  elected  to  an  office,  which  he  has  not  yet 
entered  on. 


682 


APPENDIX   VIT. 


Christo  Domino  meo  didi- 
ceram,  sed  magis  ex  eo  sensi 
in  me  uirtutem  non  paruam, 
et  fides  mea  probata  est  coram 
Deo  et  hominibus. 


31.  Unde  autem  aiidenter 
dico  non  me  reprehendit  con- 
scientia  mea  hie  et  in 
futurum.  Testem  Deum 
habeo  quia  non  sum  mentitus 
in  sermonibus  quos  ego  retuli 
nobis. 

32.  Sed  magis  doleo  pro 
amicissimo  meo  cur  hoc 
meruimus  audire  tale  re- 
sponsum.  Cui  ego  credidi 
etiam  animam  !  Et  comperi 
ab  aliquantis  fratribus  ante 
defensionem  illam,  quod  ego 
non  interfui,  nee  in  Brit- 
tanniis  eram,  nee  a  me  orietur, 
ut  et  ille  in  mea  absentia  pro 
me  pulsaret.  Etiam  mihi 
ipse  ore  suo  dixerat,  Ecce 
dandus  es  tu  ad  gradum 
episcopatus.  Quo  non 
eram  dignus.  Sed  unde 
uenit  illi  postmodum,  ut 
coram  cunctis,  bonis  et 
malis,  et  me  pubHce  deho- 
nestaret,  quod  ante  sponte 
et  laetus  indulserat,  et 
Dominus  qui  maior  omnibus 
est  ? 

33.  Satis  dico  ;  Sed  tamen 
non  debeo  abscondere  donum 
Dei  quod  largitus  est  nobis  in 
terra  captiiiitatis  meae,  quia 
tunc  fortiter  inquisiui  eum, 
et  ibi  inueni  ilium,  et  seruauit 
me  ab  omnibus  iniquitatibus. 
Sic  credo,  propter  inhabitan- 
tem  Spiritum  eius,  qui  opera- 


from  that  undertaking  which 
I  had  learnt  from  Christ  my 
Lord  ;  nay  rather  I  felt 
within  me  no  small  virtue 
coming  from  Him  and  my 
faith  has  been  approved 
before  God  and  men.- 

Wherefore  then  I  say  boldly 
my  conscience  does  not  blame 
me  here  or  hereafter.  I  call 
God  to  witness  that  I  have 
not  lied  in  those  statements 
I  have  made  to  you.  But 
rather  do  I  grieve  for  my  very 
dear  friend,  that  we  should 
have  deserved  to  hear  such  a 
voice  from  God  as  that.  And 
I  discovered  from  some  of  the 
brethren  before  that  in- 
vestigation— for  I  myself  was 
not  present,  nor  was  I  in 
Britain,  nor  was  it  at  my 
request — that  he  fought  for 
me  in  my  absence.  Even  he 
himself  with  his  own  lips  had 
said  to  me  :  *  Lo,  thou  art  to 
be  raised  to  the  rank  of 
bishop,  of  which  I  was  not 
worthy.  How  then  did  it 
occur  to  him  afterwards  to 
put  me  to  shame  before 
everybody,  good  and  bad,  in 
respect  to  that  (ofhce)  which 
before  of  his  own  accord  and 
gladly  he  conceded  to  me, 
and  the  Lord,  too,  did,  who  is 
greater  than  all. 

I  have  said  enough  ;  but  yet 
I  ought  not  conceal  the  gift  of 
God  which  he  hath  bestowed 
on  me  in  the  land  of  my 
captivity,  because  then  I 
zealously  sought  Him,  and 
there  I  found  Him  ;  and  He 
preserved  me  from  all  in- 
iquities,    as     I     believe     on 


*  Bv  the  success  of  his  mission  in  Ireland. 


THE    CONFESSION. 


683 


ius  est  usque  in  hanc  diem  in 
me.  Audenter  rursus.  Sed 
scit  Deus  si  mihi  homo  hoc 
effatus  fuisset,  lorsitan 
tacuissem  propter  caritatem 
Christi. 


34.  Unde  ergo  indefessam 
gratiam  ago  Deo  meo  qui  me 
fidelem  seruauit  in  die  tempta- 
tionis  meae,  ita  ut  hodie 
confidenter  offeram  illi  sacri- 
ficium,  ut  hostiani  uiitentem, 
animam  meam  Christo 
Domino  meo,  qui  me  seruauit 
ah  omnibus  angustiis  meis,  ut 
et  dicam  :  Quis  ego  sum, 
Domine,  uel  quae  est  uocatio 
mea,  qui  mihi  tantam  diuini- 
tatem  aperuisti  ?  ita  ut  hodie 
in  gentibus  constanter  exal- 
tarem  et  magnificarem  nomen 
tuum  ubicumque  loco  fuero  ; 
nee  non  in  secundis,  sed  etiam 
in  pressuris ;  ut  quicquid 
mihi  euenerit,  siue  bonum  siue 
malum,  aequaliter  debeo  sus- 
cipere,  et  Deo  gratias  semper 
agere,  qui  mihi  ostendit  ut 
indubitabilem  eum  sine  fine 
crederem,  et  qui  me  audierit, 
ut  et  ego  inscius  in  nouissi- 
mis  diehus  hoc  opus  tam  pium 
et  tam  mirificum  adire  ad- 
grederer,  ita  ut  imitarem 
quispiam  illos  quos  ante 
Dominus  iam  olim  praedixe- 
rat  praenuntiaturos  euange- 
lium  suum  in  testimonium 
omnibus  gentibus  ante  finem 
niundi.  Quod  ita  ergo  ut 
uidimus,  itaque  supple  tum 
est.  Ecce  testes  sumus  quia 
euangelium  praedicatum  est 
usque  ubi  nemo  ultra  est. 


account  of  His  indwelling 
Spirit  who  hath  worked  in  me 
until  this  day.  Daringly 
again  (I  speak  out).  But 
God  knoweth,  if  man  had 
said  this  to  me  perchance  I 
would  have  held  my  peace 
for  the  love  of  Christ. 

Hence  therefore  I  render 
ceaseless  thanks  to  my  God 
who  kept  me  faithful  in  the 
day  of  my  temptation,  so 
that  to-day  with  confidence 
I  offer  sacrifice  to  Him,  as  a 
living  victim,  even  my  soul  to 
Christ  my  Lord ,  who  hath  saved 
me  from  all  my  troubles,  so 
that  I  can  say  : — who  am  I,  O 
Lord,  or  what  is  my  vocation, 
that  thou  hast  opened  to  me 
this  so  great  dignity,  so  that 
to-day  amongst  the  nations 
I  constantly  exalt  and 
magnify  Thy  name  wherever 
I  may  be,  as  I  will  in  prosperity 
as  also  in  adversity ;  so  that 
whatever  befall  me,  good  or 
bad,  I  ought  to  receive  with 
equal  mind,  and  always  give 
thanks  to  God  who  showed 
me  that  I  might  to  the  end 
put  my  trust  in  Him  as  un- 
failing ;  and  who  hath  heard 
me,  so  that  I,  though  ignorant, 
should  in  these  last  days 
undertake  to  set  about  this 
work  so  holy  and  so  wonderful, 
and  thus  I  might  in  some 
degree  imitate  those  whom 
the  Lord  long  ago  foretold 
would  proclaim  his  Gospel 
for  a  testimony  unto  all 
nations  before  the  end  of  the 
world.  And  accordingly,  as 
we  see,  this  too  has  been 
fulfilled.  So,       we      are 

witnesses  that  the  Gospel  has 
been  preached  to  the  places 
beyond  which  no  one  dwells. 


684 


APPENDIX    VII. 


35.  Longum  est  autem 
totum  per  singula  enarrare 
laborem  meum,  uel  per  partes. 
Breuiter  dicam  qualiter  piissi- 
mus  Deus  de  seruitute  sepe 
[me]  liberauit  et  de  periculis 
xii  quibuspericlitata  estanima 
mea,  praeter  insidias  multas, 
et  quae  uerbis  expremere  non 
ualeo,  ne  iniuriam  legentibus 
faciam  ;  sed  Deum  auctorem 
habeo  qui  nouit  omnia  etiam 
an  tec  nam  fiant,  ut  me 
pau^)crculum  pupillum  idiotam 
tamcn  responsum  diiiinum 
creberrime  admon.-:. 


36.  Unde  mihi  haec  sapi- 
entia,  quae  in  me  non  erat, 
qui  nee  numerum  dierum 
noueram,  neque  Deum  sapie- 
bam  ?  Unde  mihi  post- 
modum  donum  tam  magnum 
tarn  salubre  Deum  agnoscere 
uel  diligere,  sed  ut  patriam  et 
parentes  amitterem  ? 

37.  Et  munera  multa  mihi 
offerebantur  cum  fletu  et 
lacrimis.  Et  offendi  illos, 
necnon  contra  uotum,  ali- 
quantos  de  senioribus  meis; 
sed,  gubernante  Deo,  nullo 
modo  consensi  neque  adquieui 
illis  ;  non  mea  gratia,  sed  Deus 
qui  uincit  in  me,  et  resistit  illis 
omnibus  ut  ego  ueneram  ad 
Hibernas  gentes  euangelium 
praedicare,  et  ab  incredulis 
contumelias  perferre,  ut 
aiidirem  ohprohrhun  pere- 
grinationis  meae  et  perse- 
cutiones  multas  itsqiie  ad 
uincida,  et  ut  darem  in- 
genuitatem  meam  pro   utili- 


Now  it  were  long  to  narrate 
all  my  labour  in  all  its 
details,  or  even  partialiy 
I  shall  briefly  say  in  what 
manner  the  most  gracious 
God  often  rescued  me  from 
slavery  and  from  the  twelve 
perils  by  which  my  life  was 
endangered,  besides  many 
ambushes,  and  plots  which 
I  cannot  declare  in  words, 
lest  I  should  weary  my 
readers.  But  I  have  God  as 
much  surety  who  knows  all 
things  even  before  they 
happen,  that  His  Divine 
voice  very  often  admonished 
me,  poor,  humble,  unlearned 
(as  I  am). 

Whence  came  to  me  this 
wisdom  which  was  not  in  me, 
who  neither  knew  the  number 
of  (my)  the  days,i  nor  relished 
God  ?  Whence  afterwards 
came  to  me  that  gift,  so 
great  and  salutary,  to  know 
God  and  love  Him,  nay, 
also  to  give  up  fatherland 
and  parents? 

And  many  gifts  were  pro- 
ferred  to  me  with  weeping  and 
tears.  And  I  displeased  them, 
and  also,  againstmy  wish,  some 
of  my  elders ;  but  through 
God's  guidance  in  no  way 
did  I  yield  them  consent  or 
acquiesce  (in  their  desires). 
Not  my  grace  it  was,  but  God 
who  conquered  in  me  and 
resisted  them  all  so  that  I 
came  to  the  Irish  tribes  to 
preach  the  Gospel  and  to 
bear  insults  from  the  un- 
believers, so  as  to  hear  the 
reproach  of  my  going  abroad 
(amongst  them),  and  (bear) 
many  persecutions  even  unto 


1  An  allusion  to  Psalm  38.,  5. 


THE   CONFESSTON. 


685 


tate  alionim ;  et  si  dignus 
fuero  promptus  sum,  ut 
etiam  animam  meant  incunc- 
tanter  et  libentissime  pro 
nomine  eius,  et  ibi  opto 
inpendere  earn  usque  ad 
mortem  si  Dominus  mihi 
indulgeret. 


38.  Quia  ualde  debitor  sum 
Deo  qui  mihi  tantam  gratiam 
donauit  ut  populi  multi  per 
me  in  Deum  renascerentur  et 
postmodum  consummarentur, 
et  ut  clerici  ubique  illis 
ordinarentur,  ad  plebem 
nuper  uenientem  ad  creduli- 
tatem  quam  sumsit  Dominus 
ah  extremis  terrae,  sicut  olim 
promisserat  per  profetas  suos: 
Ad  te  gentes  uenient  ah  ex- 
tremis terrae,  et  dicent,  Sicut 
falsa  comparauerimt  patres 
nostri  idola  et  non  est  in  eis 
utilitas.  Et  iterum  :  Posui  te 
lumen  in  gentihus  ut  sis  in 
salutem  usque  ad  extremum 
terrae. 


39.  Et  ibi  uolo  expectare 
promissum  ipsius  qui  utique 
numquam  fallit,  sicut  in 
aeuanguelio  pollicetur  :  Ueni- 
ent ah  oriente  et  occidente  et 
ah  austro  et  ah  aquilone, 
et  recumhent  cum  Ahraam  et 
Issac  et  lacob  ;  sicut  credimus 
ab  omni  mundo  uenturi  sunt 
credentes. 


40.  Idcirco  itaque  oportet 


bonds,  and  that  I  should 
giv&  up  my  free  state  for  the 
profit  of  others.  And  if  I 
should  be  worthy  I  am  ready 
to  (give  up)  even  my  life 
most  willingly  and  un- 
hesitatingly for  His  name's 
sake,  and  there  I  desire  to 
spend  it  until  I  die,  if  the 
Lord  would  grant  it  to  me. 

Because  I  am  immensely 
a  debtor  to  God,  who  granted 
me  this  great  grace  that  many 
peoples  through  me  should 
be  regenerated  unto  God, 
and  afterwards  confirmed, 
and  that  clerics  should  be 
ever3Avhere  ordained  for  them 
— for  a  people  newly  come  to 
belief,  whom  God  took  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  as 
heretofore  He  foretold  by  his 
prophets :  '  To  thee  the 
Gentiles  shall  come  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  and  shall 
say,  as  our  fathers  have  got 
for  themselves  false  idols, 
and  there  is  no  profit  in 
them.'  I  And  again  :  '  I 
have  set  thee  to  be  the  light 
of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou 
mayest  be  for  salvation  to 
the  utmost  part  of  the  earth.' 

And  there  I  wish  to  wait 
for  His  promise  who  verily 
never  disappoints ;  as  He 
promises  in  the  Gospel — 
*  They  shall  come  from  the 
east  and  the  west  and  from  the 
south  and  from  the  north  and 
shall  sit  down  with  Abraham 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob  ;  as  we 
believe  that  believers  will 
come  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.' 

For     that     reason,     then. 


1  Jeremias  j6.  19.     Acts  13,  14. 


686 


APPENDIX   VIT. 


bene  et  dilegenter  piscare, 
sicut  Dominus  praemonet  et 
docet  dicens  :  Uenite  post  me 
et  faciam  itos  fieri  piscatorcs 
hominum.  Et  iterum  dicit 
per  prophetas  :  Ecce  mitto 
piscatores  et  uenaiores  midtos^ 
dicit  Deus,  et  caetera. 

Unde  autem  ualde  oporte- 
bat  retia  nostra  tendere  ita 
ut  mitltititdo  copies sa  et  turba 
Deo  caperetur,  et  ubique 
essent  clerici  qui  babtizarent 
et  exhortarent  populum  in- 
degentem  et  dissiderantem. 
sicut  Dominus  in  aeuanguelio 
ammonet  et  docet  dicens  : 
Euntes  ergo  nunc  docete  omnes 
gentes  babtiz  antes  eas  in 
nomine  Patris  et  Filii  et 
Spiritiis  Sancti  ;  docentes  eos 
ohseruare  omnia  quaecunque 
mandaui  nobis ;  et  ecce  ego 
uobiscum  sum  omnibus  diebas 
usque  ad  consummationem 
saeculi.  Et  iterum  dicit : 
Euntes  ergo  in  mundum 
uniuersum  praedicate  aeuan- 
guelium  omni  creaturae  ;  qui 
crediderit  et  babtizatus  fuerit 
saluus  erit,  qui  uero  non 
crediderit  condempnabitur.  Et 
iterum  :  Praedicabitur  hoc 
euangelium  regni  in  uniuerso 
mundo  in  testimonium  omni- 
bus gentibus  ;  et  tunc  ueniet 
finis. 


Et  item  Dominus  per 
prophetam  praenuntians  in- 
quit  :  Et  erit  in  nouissimis 
diebus,  dicit  Dominus,  effun- 
dam  de  Spiritu  meo  super 
omn^m  camem,  et  prophetabunt 


we  ought  to  fish  well  and 
diligently  as  the  Lord  fore- 
warns   and    teaches,   saying : 

*  Come  after  me  and  I  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men,' 
and  again  He  saith  through 
the  prophets :  '  Behold,  I 
send  fishers  and  many  hun- 
ters,' and  so  forth. 

Wherefore  then  it  was  very 
necessary  that  we  should 
spread  our  nets,  so  that  a 
great  multitude  and  a  throng 
should  be  taken  for  God,  and 
that  everywhere  there  should 
be  clergy  to  baptise  and 
exhort  the  poor  and  needy 
people,  as  the  Lord  in  the 
Gospel  warns  and  teaches, 
saying :  '  Going,  therefore, 
now  teach  ye  all  nations, 
baptising  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you  ;  and  behold 
I  am  with  you  all  days  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the 
world.'    And  again  he  saith  : 

*  Going,  therefore,  into  the 
whole  world,  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature. 
He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptised  shall  be  saved  ;  but 
he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
condemned.'  And  again  : 
'  This  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom 
shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  world,  for  a  testimony 
to  all  nations,  and  then  shall 
the      consummation      come.' 

And  in  like  manner  the 
Lord  foretelling  by  the 
prophet  saith  :  '  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  will  pour 
out   of   my   spirit   upon   all 


THE   CONl'ESSION. 


687 


fiia  uestri  et  filiae  itesfrae,  et 
filii  uestri  ttisiones  tiidebttnt  et 
seniores  uestri  somnia  somnia- 
bunt ;  et  quidem  super  seriios 
meos  et  super  ancillas  meas  in 
diehus  illis  effimdam  de 
Spiritu  meo  et  prophetahunt. 
Et  in  Osee  dicit  :  Uocabo  non 
plehem  meam  plebem  meant, 
et  non  misericordiam  con- 
s  e  c  u  t  a  m  misericordiam 
consecutam.  Et  erit  in  loco 
ubi  dictum  est :  Non  plebs  mea 
uos,  ibi  tiocabuntur  filii  Dei 
uiui. 


41.  Unde  autem  Hiberione 
qui  numquam  notitiam  Dei 
habuerunt,  nissi  idula  et  in- 
munda  usque  nunc  semper 
coluerunt,  quomodo  nuper 
facta  est  plebs  Domini  et  filii 
Dei  nuncupantur  ?  Filii 
Scottorum  et  filiae  regulorum 
monachi  et  uirgines  Christi 
esse  uidentur. 


42.  Et  etiam  una  bene- 
dicta  Scotta  genitiua,  nobilis, 
pulcherrima,  adulta  erat, 
quam  ego  baptizaui ;  et  post 
paucos  dies  una  causa  uenit 
ad  no3  ;  insinuauit  nobis  re- 
sponsum  accepisse  a  nutu 
Dei,  et  monuit  etiam  ut  esset 
uirgo  Christi  et  ipsa  Deo 
proximaret.  Deo  gratias, 
sexta  ab  hac  die  optime  et 
auidissime  arripuit  illud  quod 


flesh,  and  your  sons  and  your 
daughters  shall  prophesy,  and 
your  young  men  shall  see 
visions,  and  your  old  men 
shall  dream  dreams  ;  and 
upon  my  servants,  indeed, 
and  upon  my  handmaids,  I 
will  pour  out  in  those  days  of 
my  spirit  and  they  shall 
prophesy.'  And  he  saith  in 
Osee  :  '  I  will  call  them  my 
people,  who  were  not  my 
people,  and  her  that  obtained 
mercy  one  which-had-not- 
obtained-mercy.  And     it 

shall  come  to  pass  that  in  the 
place  where  it  was  said,  ye 
are  not  my  people,  there  shall 
they  be  called  the  children 
of  the  living  God.'^ 

Whence  Ireland,  which 
never  had  the  knowledge  of 
God,  but  up  to  the  present 
always  adored  idols  and 
things  unclean — ^how  are  they 
now  made  a  people  of  the 
Lord,  and  are  called  the 
children  of  God?  The  sons 
of  the  Scots  and  the  daughters 
of  their  chieftains  are  seen  to 
become  monks  and  virgins  of 
Christ. 

And  especially  there  was 
one  blessed  lady  of  Scotic 
birth,  noble  rank,  very 
beautiful;  of  full  age,  whom  I 
myself  baptised,  and  after  a 
few  days  she  came  to  me  for  a 
certain  purpose.  She  told  us 
in  confidence  ^  that  she  had 
received  a  secret  admonition 
from  God,  and  it  warned  her 
to  become  a  Virgin  of  Christ 
and  so  come  nearer  to  God. 


^  Acts  2,  17.     Romans  9,  25. 

2  *  Insinuavit,' — the  word  Patrick  uses  above  to  express  the  telling 
of  his  own  sin  in  confidence  to  his  very  dear  friend, 


688 


APPENDIX   VII. 


etiam  omnes  uirgincs  Dei  ita 
lioc  faciunt ;  non  sponte 
patrum  earum,  sed  et  perse- 
cutionem  patiuntur  et  in- 
properia  falsa  a  parentibus 
suis,  et  nihilominus  plus 
augetur  numerus,  et  de  genere 
nostro  qui  ibi  nati  sunt  nesci- 
mus  numerum  eorum,  praeter 
uiduas  et  continentes. 


Sed  et  illae  maxime 
laborant  quae  seruitio  deti- 
nentur.  Usque  ad  terrores 
et  minas  assidue  perferunt ; 
sed  Dominus  gratiam  dedit 
multis  ex  ancillis  meis  nam 
etsi  uetantur  tamen  fortiter 
imitantur. 


43.    Unde       autem       etsi 
uoluero  amittere  illas,  et  ut 

pergens    in    Brittanniis 

et  libentissime  paratus  eram 

quasi     ad     patriam     et 

parentes,  non  id  solum  sed 
etiam  usque  ad  Gallias,  uisi- 
tare  fratres  et  ut  uiderem 
faciem  sanctorum  Domini 
mei ;  scit  Deus  quod  ego  ualde 
optabam.  Sed     alligatus 

Spiritu  qui  mihi  protestatur 
si  hoc  fecero,  ut  futurum 
reum  me  esse  designat,  et 
timeo  perdere  laborem  quem 
inchoaui ;  et  non  ego  sed 
Christus  Dominus  qui  me 
imperauit        ut  uenirem 

essemque  cum  illis  residuum 
aetatis  meae,  si  Dominus 
uohierit,  et  custodierit  me  ab 


Thanks  be  to  God,  on  the 
sixth  day  afterwards,  with 
best  dispositions,  and  most 
eagerly,  she  realised  that 
(Divine  vocation),  as  all  the 
virgins  of  Christ  do  in  like 
manner,  not  with  the  sanction 
of  their  fathers,  nay  rather 
they  endure  persecution,  and 
lying  reproaches  from  their 
parents,  and  nevertheless  their 
number  is  all  the  more  in- 
creased ;  and  we  know  not 
the  number  of  our  race  who 
are  thus  regenerated  besides 
the  widows  and  the  conti- 
nent. 

But  they  who  are  kept 
in  slavery  suffer  especially. 
They  constantly  endure  even 
unto  terrors  and  threats  ; 
but  the  Lord  hath  given 
grace  to  many  of  my  hand- 
maidens, for  although  they 
are  forbidden  still  they 
courageously  follow  the 
example  (of  the  others). 

Wherefore  then,  even  if  I 
wished  to  leave  them,  and 
proceeding  to  Britain — and 
very  ready  I  was  to  do  so — 
as  (going)  to  my  country  and 
my  parents,  and  not  only 
that  (but  to  go)  even  unto 
Gaul  to  visit  the  brethren, 
so  that  I  might  see  the  face 
of  the  saints  of  my  God — 
God  knows  I  greatly  desired 
it.  Yet  I  am  bound  in  the 
Spirit  who  testifieth  to  me 
that  if  I  should  do  this  He 
would  note  me  as  guilty ; 
and  I  fear  to  lose  the  labour 
which  I  began — ^^^et  not  I 
would  lose  it  but  Christ  the 
Lord,  who  commanded  me 
that  I  should  come  and 
remain    with    them    for    the 


THE   CONFESSION. 


689 


Dmni  Ilia  mala,  ut  non  peccem 
coram  illo. 


44.  Spero  autem  hoc  de- 
bueram ;  sed  memetipsum 
non  credo  quamdin  fiiero  in 
hoc  cor  pore  mortis,  quia  fortis 
est  qui  cotidie  nititur  subuer- 
tere  me  a  fide  et  proposita 
castitate  religionis  non  fictae 
usque  in  finem  uitae  meae 
Christo  Domino  meo.  Sed 
caro  inimica  semper  trahit  ad 
mortem,  id  est,  ad  inlecebras 
in  infelicitate  perficiendas.  Et 
scio  ex  parte  qua  re  uitam 
perfectam  ego  non  egi  sicut 
et  caeteri  credentes  ;  sed  con- 
fiteor  Domino  meo  et  non 
erubesco  in  conspectu  ipsius, 
quia  non  mentior,  ex  quo 
cognoui  eum  a  imientute  mea 
creuit  in  me  amor  Dei  et 
timor  ipsius ;  et  usque  nunc 
fauente  Domino  fidem 
seruaiii. 


45.  Rideat  autem  et  in- 
sultet  qui  uoluerit,  ego  non 
silebo  neque  abscondo  signa 
et  mirabilia  quae  mihi  a 
Domino  ministrata  sunt  ante 
multos  annos  quam  fuerunt, 
quasi  qui  nouit  omnia  etiam 
ante  temp  or  a  saccular  ia. 

46.  Unde  autem  debuero 
sine  cessatione  Deo  gratias 
agere,  qui  sepe  indulsit  in- 
sipientiae  meae  et  negle- 
gentiae  meae,  et  de  loco  non 


rest  of  my  life,^  if  the  Lord 
should  so  will,  and  who  hath 
preserved  me  from  every 
evil  way,  so  that  I  should  not 
sin  before  Him. 

Now  I  hope  this  as  I 
ought ;  but  I  do  not  trust 
myself  as  long  as  I  shall  be  in 
this  body  of  death,  because 
he  is  strong  who  daily  strives 
to  turn  me  away  from  the 
faith  and  from  that  chastity 
of  sincere  religion  which  I 
have  proposed  to  myself  (to 
keep)  to  the  end  of  my  life 
for  Christ  my  Lord.  But  our 
enemy  the  flesh  is  always 
charming  us  to  death,  that 
is,  to  allurements  to  be 
enjoyed  in  woe.  And  partly 
I  know  in  what  thing  I  have 
not  led  a  perfect  life  like 
other  Christians  ;  but  I  con- 
fess to  my  God,  and  I  am 
not  ashamed  in  His  presence, 
for  I  lie  not,  from  the  time 
I  came  to  know  Him  in  my 
youth  the  love  of  God  and 
His  fear  grew  in  me,  and 
unto  this  hour  through  God's 
favour  I  have  kept  the  faith. 

Let  who  will  laugh  and 
mock,  I  will  not  be  silent 
nor  conceal  the  signs  and 
wonders  which  were  minis- 
tered to  me  by  God  many 
years  before  they  came  to 
pass,  since  He  knoweth  all 
things  even  before  the  world's 
beginnings. 

Therefore  I  ought  without 
ceasing  give  thanks  to  God, 
who  oftentimes  pardoned  my 
folly  and  negligence,  and 
moreover  not  in  one  place  only 


1  This  clearly  shows  that  Patrick  never  left  Ireland  after  he  came 
to  it  to  preach  the  Gospel. 


2  Y 


t)9o 


APPENDIX   VII. 


in  uno  quoque  ut  non  mihi 
uehementer  irasceretur  qui 
adiutor  datus  sum,  et  non 
cito  adquieui,  secundum  quod 
mihi  ostensum  fuerat,  et 
sicut  Spiritus  suggerebat.  Et 
misertus  est  mihi  Dominus 
in  milia  milium,  quia  uidit 
in  me  quod  paratus  eram, 
sed  quod  mihi  pro  his  ne^^cie- 
bam  de  statu  meo  qudi 
facerem,  quia  multi  hanc 
legationem  prohibebant. 

Etiam  inter  seipsos  post  ter- 
gum  meum  narrabant  et 
dicebant,  Iste  quare  se  mittit 
in  periculum  inter  hostes  qui 
Deum  non  nouerunt  ?  Non 
ut  causa  mahtiae,  sed  non 
sapiebat  ilUs,  sicut  et  ego  ipse 
testor,  intellegi,  propter  rusti- 
citatem  meam,  Et  non  cito 
agnoui  gratiam,  quae  tunc 
erat  in  me.  Nunc  mihi 
sapit   quod    ante   debueram. 


47.  Nunc  ergo  simphciter 
insinuaui  fratribus  et  con- 
seruis  meis,  qui  mihi  credide- 
runt,  propter  quod  praedixi 
et  praedico  ad  roborandam  et 
confirmandam  fidem  uestram. 
Utinam  ut  et  uos  imitemini 
maiora,  et  potiora  faciatis ! 
Hoc  erit  gloria  mea,  quia, 
Filius  sapiens  gloria  patris 
est. 


48.  Uos  scitis  et  Deus 
quahter  apud  uos  conuersatus 
sum  a  iimentute  mea  et  fide 
ueritatis  et  sinceritate  cordis. 
Etiam  ad  gentes  illas  inter 
quas   habito,   ego   fidem   ilhs 


He  might  be  greatly  angry 
with  me  who  am  given  as  a 
helper  ;  yet  I  did  not  quickly 
yield  assent  to  what  was 
shown  to  me,  and  what  the 
Spirit  suggested.  And  the 
Lord  showed  mercy  to  me 
thousands  of  times,  because 
He  saw  that  I  was  ready, 
but  that  I  did  not  know 
what  in  my  state  I  should  do 
in  return,  for  many  were 
opposing  this  embassy  of 
mine.  And  behind  my  back 
they  were  talking  among 
themselves  and  kept  saying  : 
— '  Why  does  he  expose 
himself  to  danger  amongst 
enemies,  who  know  not  God?  ' 
Not  for  malice  sake,  but 
because  they  did  not  approve 
it,  as  I  myself  can  testify, 
and  understood,  on  account 
of  my  rusticity.  And  I  did 
not  quickly  recognise  the 
grace  that  was  in  me  at  the 
time.  Now  I  have  that 
wisdom,  which  I  ought  to 
have  had  before. 

Now,  therefore,  I  have 
simply  disclosed  (it  to  you)  my 
brethren  and  fellow-servants, 
who  have  believed  in  me ; 
lor  which  reason  I  told  you 
before  and  foretell  to  you  now 
for  the  strengthening  and 
confirming  of  your  faith. 
Would  that  you  too  would 
imitate  greater  things  and 
do  better  things.  That  will 
be  my  glory,  for  a  wise 
son  is  the  glory  of  his  father. 
You  know,  and  God  also, 
in  what  way  I  have  lived 
from  my  youth  amongst  you 
in  faith  of  the  truth  and  in 
sincerity  of  heart.  Even 
towards  the  Gentiles,  amongst 


THE    CONFESSION. 


6gr 


pra-estaui  et  praestabo.  Deus 
fcit,  neminem  illorum  cir- 
ciimueni ;  nee  cogito,  propter 
Deum  et  ecclesiam  ipsius,  ne 
excitem  illis  et  nobis  omnibus 
persecuHonem,  et  ne  per  me 
blasphemaretur  nomen 
Domini  ;  quia  scriptum  est  : 
Uae  homini  per  quem  nomen 
Domini  hlasphematur. 


49.  Nam  etsi  imperitus  sum 
in  omnibus,  tamen  conatus 
sum  quippiam  seniare  me 
etiam  et  fratribus  Christianis 
et  uirginibus  Christi  et 
mulieribus  religiosis,  quae 
mihi  ultronea  munuscula 
donabant,  et  super  altare 
iactabant  ex  ornamentis  suis, 
et  iterum  reddebam  illis.  Et 
aduersus  me  scandaliza- 
bantur  cur  hoc  faciebam. 
Sed  ego  (id  faciebam)  propter 
spem  perennitatis,  ut  me  in 
omnibus  caute  propterea 
conseruarem,  ita  ut  me  in 
aliquo  titulo  infideles  non 
caperent  uel  ministerium 
seruitutis  meae,  nee  etiam 
in  minimo  ineredulis  locum 
darem  infamare  sine  detrac- 
tare. 


50.  Forte  autem  quando 
baptizaui  tot  milia  hominum 
sperauerim  ab  aliquo  illorum 
uel  dimidio  seriptulae  ?  Dicite 
mihi  et  reddam  nobis.  Aut 
quando  ordinauit  ubique 
Dominus  clericos  per  modi- 
citatemmeam  et  ministerium 
gratis  distribui  illis,  si  poposci 
ab  aliquo  illorum  uel  pretium 


whom  I  dwell,  I  have  kept 
faith  with  them,  and  will  keep 
it.  God  knoweth,  I  have 
defrauded  none  of  them,  nor 
even  think  (of  it)  for  God's 
sake,  and  the  sake  of  His 
church,  lest  I  should  raise  a 
persecution  against  them  and 
against  all  of  us,  and  lest 
through  me  the  name  of  God 
should  be  blasphemed  ;  for  it 
is  written  :  'Woe  to  the  man 
through  whom  the  name  of 
the   Lord   is   blasphemed.' 

But  though  I  be  rude  in 
all  things,  still  I  have  tried  to 
some  extent  to  keep  watch 
over  myself — even  as  regards 
the  Christian  brethren,  and 
the  Virgins  of  Christ,  and  the 
religious  women,  who  used  of 
their  own  accord  to  present 
me  with  their  little  gifts  and 
laid  on  the  altar  some  of  their 
ornaments,  which  I  returned 
to  them.  And  they  were 
scandalised  because  I  did  so. 
But  I  did  it  on  account  of  my 
hope  of  immortality,  that  I 
might  keep  myself  cautiously 
in  all  things,  that  the  heathen 
on  one  ground  or  another 
ground  might  receive  me  or 
the  ministry  of  my  service, 
and  that  I  should  not  even 
in  the  smallest  thing  give 
occasion  to  the  unbelievers 
to  defame  or  disparage. 

Perchance  then  when  I 
baptised  so  many  thousands 
of  men  I  hoped  (to  get)  from 
any  of  them  even  half  a 
scruple  ?  Tell  me,  and  I 
shall  restore  it  to  you.  Or 
when  the  Lord  ordained 
clergy  everywhere  by  my 
mediocrity,  and  I  gave  them 
my  ministrations  gratis,  did  I 


69  I 


APPENDIX    VII. 


uel  calciamenti  mei,  dicite 
aduersus  me  ct  reddam  uohis 
magis. 

51.  Ego  inpendi  pro  uobis 
ut  me  caperent ;  et  inter  uos 
et  ubique  pergebam  causa 
uestra  in  multis  periculis 
etiam  usque  ad  exteras  partes 
ubi  nemo  ultra  erat,  et  ubi 
numquam  aliquis  peruenerat 
qui  baptizaret,  aut  clericos 
ordinaret  aut  populum  con- 
summaret,  donante  Domino, 
diligenter  et  lihentissime  pro 
salute  uestra  omnia  gessi. 

52.  Interim  praemia  dabam 
regibus  praeter  quod  dabam 
mercedem  iiliis  ipsorum,  qui 
mecum  ambulant  et  nihi- 
lominus  comprehenderunt  me 
cum  comitibus  meis.  Et  ilia 
die  auidissime  cupiebant  in- 
terficere  me ;  sed  tempus 
nondum  uenerat.  Et  om- 
nia quaecumque  nobiscum 
inuenerunt  rapuerunt,  et  me 
ipsum  ferro  uinxerunt.  Et 
quarto  decimo  die  absoluit 
me  Dominus  de  potestate 
eorum  ;  et  quicquid  nostrum 
fuit  redditum  est  nobis 
propter  Deum  et  necessarios 
amicos  quos  ante  praeuidimus. 


53.  Uos  autem  experti  estis 
quantum  ego  erogaui  illis  qui 
indicabant  per  omnes  regiones 
quos  ego  frequentius  uisita- 
bam  ;  censeo  enim  non  mini- 
mum quam  pretium  quin- 
decim  hominum  distribui  illis, 
ita  ut  me  fruamini ;  et  ego 


ask  from  any  of  them  so 
much  as  the  price  of  my 
sandal  ? — tell  it  against  me 
and  I  shall  restore  you  more. 

I  spent  (myself)  for  you 
that  you  might  receive  me, 
and  both  amongst  yourselves 
and  wherever  I  journeyed 
for  your  sake,  through  many 
perils  even  in  remote  parts 
where  no  man  dwelt,  and 
where  no  one  had  ever  come 
to  baptise  or  ordain  clergy, 
or  confirm  the  people,  I  have 
through  God's  goodness  done 
everything  carefully  and  most 
willingly  for  your  salvation. 

Sometimes,  too,  I  used  to 
give  presents  to  the  kinglets 
besides  the  hire  I  used  to 
give  their  sons,  who  accom- 
panied me,  and  nevertheless 
they  seized  me  (once)  with 
my  .  companions.  And  on 
that  day  they  most  eagerly 
desired  to  kill  me,i  but  mv 
time  had  not  yet  come. 
And  everything  they  found 
upon  us  they  plundered,  and 
myself  they  bound  in  iron 
bonds.  And  on  the  fourteenth 
day  the  Lord  freed  me  from 
their  power ;  and  whatever 
was  ours  was  restored  to  us 
for  God's  sake,  and  the  sake 
of  the  good  friends  whom  I 
had   provided    beforehand. 

You  know  also  of  your 
own  knowledge  how  much  I 
spent  on  those  who  guided 
us  through  all  the  districts, 
which  I  used  to  visit  more 
frequently,  for  I  think  that  I 
distributed  to  them  not  less 
than  the  price  of  fifteen  men, 


^  It  was  probably  the  occasion  when  Patrick  was  going  from  Tara 
to  Tirawley. 


THE   CONFESSION. 


693 


nobis  semper  fritar  in  Deum. 
Non  me  poenitet,  ncc  satis 
est  mihi ;  adhuc  inpendo  et 
superinpendam,  Potens  est 
Dominus  ut  det  mihi  post- 
modum  ut  mcipsum  inpendar 
pro  animahus  uestris. 


54.  Ecce  testem  Deum 
muoco  in  animam  meant  quia 
non  mentior.  Neque  ut  sit 
occassio  adulaiionis  uel 
atiaritiae  scripserim  uobis, 
neque  ut  honorem  spero  ab 
aliquo  uestro.  Sufficit  enim 
honor  qui  nondum  uidetur 
sed  corde  creditur.  Fidelis 
autem  qui  promisit ;  num- 
quam  mentitur. 

55.  Sed  uideo  iam  in  prae- 
senti  saecido  me  supra  modum 
exaltatum  a  Domino.  Et 
non  eram  dignus  neque  taHs 
ut  hoc  mihi  praestaret,  dum 
scio  certissime  quod  mihi 
mehus  conuenit  paupertas  et 
calamitas  quam  diuitiae  et 
dihciae.  Sed  et  Christus 
Dominus  pauper  fuit  pro 
nobis.  Ego  uero  miser  et 
infehx,  etsi  opes  uoluero  iam 
non  habeo,  neque  meipsum 
iudico,  quia  quotidie  spero 
aut  internicionem  aut  cir- 
cumueniri  aut  redigi  in 
seruitutem,  sine  occassio 
cuiuslibet.  Sed  nihil  ho  rum 
uereor  propter  promissa  caelo- 
rum  ;  quia  iactaui  meipsum 
in  manus  Dei  omnipotentis, 
quia  ubique  dominatur,  sicut 
propheta  dicit  :  lacta  cogita- 
tum  tuum  in  Deum  et  ipse  te 
enutriet. 

56.  Ecce  nunc  commendo 
animam     meam     fidelissimo 


so  that  you  might  enjoy  me 
and  I  might  always  enjoy  you 
in  God.  I  am  not  sorry  for 
it,  nor  is  it  enough  for  me. 
Still  I  spend  and  will  spend 
more.  The  Lord  is  powerful 
to  grant  me  hereafter  that  I 
shall  myself  be  spent  for  your 
souls. 

Behold  I  call  God  as  witness 
on  my  soul  that  I  lie  not. 
Nor  was  it  that  it  might 
be  an  occasion  of  flattery  or 
gain  that  I  have  written  to 
you,  nor  do  I  hope  for  honour 
from  any  of  you.  Sufficient 
is  the  honour  that  is  not  seen 
but  is  believed  in  the  heart. 
And  He  that  promised  is 
faithful ;  He  never  lies.  But 
I  see  that  in  this  present 
world  I  am  exalted  above 
measure  by  the  Lord.  And  I 
was  not  worthy,  nor  am  I  such 
that  he  should  grant  this  to 
me,  since  I  know  for  certain 
that  poverty  and  affliction 
become  me  better  than  riches 
and  luxury.  Nay,  Christ  the 
Lord  was  poor  for  our  sake. 
But  I,  poor  and  wretched, 
even  should  I  wish  for  wealth 
I  have  it  not,  nor  do  I  judge 
myself,  for  daily  I  expect 
either  a  violent  death  or  to 
be  robbed  and  reduced  to 
slavery,  or  the  occurrence  of 
some  such  calamity.  But  I 
fear  none  of  these  things  on 
account  of  the  promises  of 
heaven  !  I  have  cast  myself 
into  the  hands  of  Almighty 
God,  for  He  rules  everything, 
as  the  prophet  saith  :  *  Cast 
thy  care  upon  the  Lord,  and 
He  Himself  will  sustain  thee.' 

Behold,  now,  I  commend 
my  soul  to  my  most  faithful 


694 


APPENDIX    VII. 


Deo  meo,  pro  quo  legationem 
fungor  in  ignobilitate  mea, 
sed  quia  personam  non  accipit 
et  elegit  me  ad  hoc  officium 
ut  unus  essem  de  suis  mini- 
mis minister. 

57.  Unde  autem  retrihuam 
illi  pro  omnibtts  quae  re- 
trihuit    mihi  ?  Sed    quid 

dicam  uel  quid  promittam 
Domino  meo  ?  quia  nihil 
uideo  nisi  ipse  mihi  dederit, 
sed  scrutatur  cor  da  et  renes, 
quia  satis  et  nimis  cupio  et 
paratus  eram  ut  donaret 
mihi  bibere  calicem  eius  sicut 
indulsit  et  caeteris  amantibus 
se. 


58.  Quapropter  non  con- 
tingat  mihi  a  Deo  meo  ut 
numquam  amittam  plebem 
suam  qttam  adquisiuit  in 
ultimis  terrae.  Oro  Deum 
ut  det  mihi  perseuerantiam, 
et  dignetur  ut  reddam  illi 
fme]  testem  fidelem  usque  ad 
transitum  meum  propter 
Deum  meum. 

59.  Et  si  aliquid  boni  um- 
quam  initiatus  sum  propter 
Deum  meum  quem  diligo, 
peto  illi  det  mihi  ut  cum  illis 
proselitis  et  captiuis  pro 
nomine  suo  effundam  san- 
guinem  meum  etsi  ipsam 
etiam  caream  sepulturam, 
aut  miserissime  cadauer  per 
singula  membra  diuidatur 
canibus  aut  bestiis  asperis, 
aut  uolucres  caeli  comederent 
illud.  Certissime  reor  si 
mihi  hoc  incurrisset  lucratus 
sum  animam  cum  corpore 
meo,   quia  sine  ulla  dubita- 


God,  whose  ambassador  I  am 
in  my  lowhness,  only  because 
He  accepteth  no  person  and 
He  chose  me  for  this  office 
that  I  should  be  His  minister, 
but    amongst    the   leaist. 

And  now  what  shall  I 
render  to  the  Lord  for  all  the 
things  He  hath  rendered  to 
me?  Nay  what  shall  I  say 
or  what  shall  I  promise  to  my 
Lord,  for  I  see  nothing  except 
what  He  Himself  has  given  to 
me ;  but  He  searcheth  the 
heart  and  reins  knoweth 
that  fully  and  greatly  do  I 
desire  and  have  been  long 
ready,  that  He  should  grant 
me  to  drink  of  His  cup,  as  He 
hath  granted  to  others  who 
love  Him. 

Wherefore  may  it  never 
happen  to  me  from  my  God 
that  I  should  ever  lose  His 
people  whom  He  hath  pur- 
chased at  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  I  pray  God  to  grant 
me  perseverance,  and  deign 
that  I  may  render  myself 
a  faithful  witness  unto  Him 
until  my  passing  away  for  the 
sake  of  my  God. 

And  if  I  ever  accomplished 
anything  good  for  the  sake 
of  my  God  whom  I  love  I  ask 
Him  to  grant  me  that  I  may 
shed  my  blood  with  the 
strangers  and  the  captives 
for  His  name  sake,  even 
though  I  should  want  burial, 
or  my  body  should  most 
miserably  be  divided  limb 
by  limb  for  the  dogs  and 
wild  beasts,  or  that  the  fowls 
of  the  air  should  devour  it. 
For  surely,  I  think,  if  this 
should  happen  to  me,  I  have 
gained  my  soul  with  my  body, 


THE   CONFESSION. 


695 


tione  in  die  ilia  resurgemus 
in  claritate  solis,  hoc  est, 
in  gloria  Christi  lesu 
redemptoris  nostri,  quasi 
fiUi  Dei  uiui  et  coheredes 
Christi,  et  con  formes  futurae 
imaginis  ipsius  ;  quoniam  ex 
ipso  et  per  ipsum  et  in  ipso 
sunt  omnia :  ipsi  gloria  in 
saecula  saeculorum,  Amen.  In 
illo  enim  regnaturi  sumus. 


60.  Nam  sol  iste  quern 
uidemus,  Deo  iubente,  propter 
nos  cotidie  oritur,  sed  num- 
quam  regnabit  neque  per- 
manehit  splendor  eius  ;  sed  et 
omnes  qui  adorant  eum 
in  poenam  miseri  male 
deuenient.  Nos  autem  qui 
credimus  et  adoramus  solem 
uerum  Christum,  qui  num- 
quam  interibit  neque  qui 
fecerat  uoluntatem  ipsius,  sed 
manehit  in  aeternum,  quo- 
modo  et  Christus  manehit  in 
aeternum  qui  regnat  cum  Deo 
Patre  omnipotente  et  cum 
Spiritu  Sancto  ante  saecula 
et  nunc  et  per  omnia  saecula 
saeculorum,  Amen. 

61.  Ecce  iterum  iterumque 
breuiter  exponam  uerba  con- 
fessionis  meae.  Testificor  in 
ueritate  et  in  exultatione 
cordis  coram  Deo  et  Sanctis 
angelis  eius,  quia  numquam 
habui  aliquam  occasionem 
praeter  euangelium  et  pro- 
missa  illius  ut  umquam  re- 
direm  ad  gentem  illam,  unde 
prius  uix  euaseram. 

62.  Sed  precor  credentibus 
et  timentibus  Deum,  quicum- 
que  dignatus  fuerit  inspicere 
uel  recipere  hanc  scripturam 
quam  Patricius   peccator   in- 


because  without  any  doubt 
we  shall  rise  on  that  day 
with  the  brightness  of  the 
sun,  that  is  in  the  glory  of 
Christ  Jesus  our  Redeemer, 
as  sons  of  the  living  God  and 
co-heirs  with  Christ  and  con- 
formed to  His  future  likeness  ; 
for  of  Him,  and  through  Him, 
and  in  Him  are  all  things. 
To  Him  be  glory  for  ever  and 
ever,  Amen;  for  in  Him  we 
shall  all  reign. 

For  that  sun,  which  we 
see,  by  God's  command  rises 
daily  for  our  sakes,  but  it 
will  never  reign,  nor  will  its 
splendour  endure ;  but  all 
those  who  worship  it  shall 
go  in  misery  to  punishment. 
But  we  who  believe  in  and 
worship  Christ  the  true  Sun, 
who  will  never  perish,  nor  will 
anyone  who  doeth  His  will, 
but  he  will  abide  for  ever, 
who  reigneth  with  God  the 
Father  Almighty,  and  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  before  the 
ages  now  and  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen. 


Lo,  again  and  again,  I  shall 
in  brief  set  out  the  words  of 
my  confession.  I  testify  in 
truth  and  in  the  joy  of  my 
heart  before  God  and  His  holy 
angels  that  I  never  had  any 
motive  except  the  Gospel  and 
its  promises  in  ever  returning 
to  that  nation  from  which  I 
had  previously  with  difficulty 
made  my  escape. 

But  I  pray  those  who 
believe  and  fear  God,  who- 
soever will  have  deigned  to 
look  on  this  writing  which 
Patrick   the   sinner   and    un- 


696 


APPENDIX   VII. 


doctus  scilicet  Hibeiione  con- 
scripsit,  ut  nemo  umquam 
dicat  quod  mea  ignorantia, 
si  aliquid  pussillum  egi  uel 
demonstrauerim  secundum 
Dei  placitum,  sed  arbitramini 
et  uerissime  credatur  quod 
donum  Dei  fuisset.  Et  haec 
est  confessio  mea  antequam 
moriar. 


learned,  no  doubt,  wrote  in 
Ireland,  that  no  one  shall  ever 
say  it  was  my  ignorance 
(did  it),  if  I  have  done  any 
small  thing  or  showed  it 
(to  others)  in  accordance  with 
God's  will ;  but  think  ye,  and 
let  it  be  most  firmly  believed, 
that  it  was  the  gift  of  God. 
And  this  is  my  confession 
before  I  die. 


II.     Epistle   to    Coroticus.i 


I.  PATRiciuspeccatorindoc- 
tus  scilicet : — Hiberione  con- 
stitutum  episcopum  me  esse 
fateor.  Certissime  reor  a  Deo 
accepiid  quod  sum.  Inter  bar- 
baras  itaque  gentes  habito  pro- 
selitus  et  profuga  ob  amorem 
Dei.  Testis  est  ille  si  ita  est. 
Non  quod  optabam  tam  dure 
et  tam  aspere  aliquid  ex  ore 
meo  effundere.  Sed  cogor 
zelo  Dei  et  ueritatis  Christi 
excitatus,  pro  dilectione 
proximorum  atque  filiorum 
pro  quibus  tradidi  patriam  et 
parentes  et  animam  meam 
usque  ad  mortem.  Si  dignus 
sum,  uoui  Deo  meo  docere 
gentes  etsi  contemnor  a 
quibusdam. 


2.  Manu  mea  scripsi  atque 
condidi  uerba  ista  danda  et 
tradenda,  militibus  mittenda 
Corotici ;  non  dico  ciuibus 
meis,       ciuibus       sanctorum 


1.  I,  Patrick  the  sinner, 
unlearned  no  doubt : — I 
confess  that  I  have  been 
established  a  bishop  in 
Ireland.^  Most  assuredly  I 
believe  that  I  have  received 
from  God  what  I  am.  And 
so  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
barbarous  heathens,  a  stranger 
and  exile  for  the  love  of  God. 
He  is  witness  if  this  is  so. 
Not  that  I  desire  to  utter 
from  my  mouth  anything 
so  harshly  and  so  roughly  ; 
but  I  am  compelled,  moved 
as  I  am  by  zeal  for  God  and 
for  the  truth  of  Christ;  by 
love  for  my  nearest  friends 
and  sons,  for  whom  I  have 
not  given  up  my  fatherland 
and  parents,  yea,  and  my 
life  unto  death.  I  have 
vowed  to  my  God  to  teach 
the  heathen  if  I  am  worthy 
though  by  some  I  be  despised. 

2.  With  mine  own  hand 
have  I  written  and  composed 
these  words  to  be  given  and 
handed  to  and  sent  to  the 
soldiers   of  Coroticus  : — I  do 


1  See  page  588,  present  work 


'  Or  '  Bishop  of  Ireland. 


EPISTLE   TO   COROTICUS. 


697 


Romanorum,  sed  ciuibus 
daemoniorum  ob  mala  opera 
ipsorum.  Ritu  hostili  in 
morte  uiuunt,  socii  Scottorum 
atque  Pictorum  apostatarum, 
quasi  sanguine  uolentes 
saginari  innocentium  Christ- 
ianorum,  quos  ego  innumeros 
Deo  genui  atque  in  Christo 
confirmaui. 


3.  Postera  die  qua  crismati 
neofiti  in  ueste  Candida — 
flagrabat  in  fronte  ipsorum 
dum  crudeliter  trucidati 
atque  mactati  gladio  supra- 
dictis, — misi  epistolam  cum 
sancto  presbytero  quem  ego 
ex  infantia  docui  cum 
clericis  ut  nobis  aliquid 
indulgerent  de  praeda  uel 
de  captiuis  baptizatis  quos 
ceperunt.  Cachinnos  fecerunt 
de  illis. 


4.  Idcirco  nescio  quod 
magis  lugeam  an  qui  inter- 
fecti  uel  quos  ceperunt  uel 
quos  grauiter  Zabulus  in- 
laqueauit.  Perenni  poena 
gehennam  pariter  cum  ipso 
mancipabunt  quia  utique  : 
qui  facit  feccatiim  seruus 
est  et  filius  Zahuli  nuncupatur. 


5.  Quarepropter  sciat  omnis 
homo  timens  Deum  quod  a 
me  alieni  sunt  et  a  Christo 
Deo  meo  pro  quo  legal: onem 


not  say  to  my  fellow-citizens, 
or  to  the  fellow-citizens  of 
the  holy  Romans,  but  to 
fellow-citizens  of  demons 
because  of  their  evil  works. 
In  hostile  guise,  they  are 
dead  while  they  live,  allies 
of  the  Scots  and  apostate 
Picts,  as  though  wishing  to 
gorge  themselves  with  the 
blood  of  innocent  Christians, 
whom  I,  in  countless  numbers, 
begot  to  God,  and  confirmed 
in  Christ. 

3.  On  the  day  following 
that  on  which  the  newly- 
baptised,  in  white  array, 
were  anointed  with  the 
chrism — it  was  still  gleaming 
on  their  foreheads,  while  they 
were  cruelly  butchered  and 
slaughtered  with  the  sword 
by  the  above-mentioned 
persons — I  sent  a  letter  with 
a  holy  presbyter,  whom  I 
taught  from  his  infancy,  with 
some  clerics,  to  request  that 
they  would  allow  us  some  of 
the  booty,  or  of  the  baptised 
captives  whom  they  had 
taken.     They  jeered  at  them. 

4.  Therefore  I  know  not 
which  I  should  the  rather 
mourn,  whether  those  who 
are  slain,  or  those  whom 
they  captured,  or  those 
whom  the  devil  grievously 
ensnared.  In  everlasting 
punishment  they  will  become 
slaves  of  hell  along  with 
him,  for  verily  whosoever 
committeth  sin  is  a  slave, 
and  is  called  a  son  of  the 
Devil. 

5.  Wherefore  let  every 
man  that  feareth  God  know 
that  aliens  they  are  from 
me    and     from     Christ    my 


6q8 


APPENDIX    VII. 


fiingor  ;  patricidae,  fratricidae, 
liipi  rapaces  dcuorantes 
plebem  Domini  ut  cihiim 
pants.  Sicut  ait :  Iniqui 
dissipauerunt  legem  tuain 
Domine,  quam  in  supremis 
temporibus  Hiberione  optime 
et  benigne  plantauerat,  atque 
instruxerat,  fauente  Deo. 


6.  Non  usurpo.  Partem 
habeo  cum  his  quos  aduocauit 
et  praedestinauit  euangelium 
praedicare  in  persecutionibus 
non  paruis  usque  ad  extremum 
terrae,  etsi  inuidet  inimicus 
per  tirannidem  Corotici  qui 
Deum  non  ueretur  nee 
sacer dotes  ipsius  quos  elegit, 
et  indulsit  illis  summam 
diuinam  sublimem  potestatem 
quos  ligarent  super  terram 
ligatos  esse  et  in  caelis. 


7.  Unde  ergo  quaeso  pluri- 
mum,  sancti  et  humiles  corde, 
adulari  talibus  non  licet  nee 
cibum  nee  potum  sumere  cum 
ipsis,  nee  elemosinas  ipsorum 
recipere  debere  donee  crude- 
liter  poenitentiam  agentes 
effusis  lacrimis  satis  Deo 
faciant,  et  liberent  seruos  Dei 
et  ancillas  Christi  baptizatas, 
pro  quibus  mortuus  est  et 
crucifixus. 


8.  Dona  iniquorum  repro- 
hat  Altissimus.  Qui  offert 
sacrificium  ex  substantia 
pauperum  quasi  qui  uictimat 
filium  in  conspectu  patris  sui. 
Diuitias  inquit  quas  con- 
gregauit  iniuste  euomentur  de 


God,  for  whom  I  am  an 
ambassador ;  patricides,  frat- 
ricides, raven  ng  wolves  eating 
up  the  people  of  the  Lord 
like  bread-stuffs.  As  he 
saith  :  O  Lord,  the  ungodly 
have  destroyed  Thy  law,  which 
in  the  last  times  He  had 
excellently  and  kindly  planted 
in  Ireland,  and  built  up  by 
the  favour  of  God. 

6.  I  make  no  false  claim. 
I  have  part  with  those  whom 
He  called  and  predestined  to 
preach  the  Gospel  amidst  no 
small  persecutions,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  earth,  even 
though  the  enemy  envies  me 
by  means  of  the  tyranny  of 
Coroticus,  who  fears  neither 
God  nor  His  priests  whom  He 
chose,  and  to  whom  He 
granted  that  highest  divine 
sublime  power,  that  whom 
they  should  bind  on  earth 
should  be  bound  in  heaven. 

7.  Whence,  therefore,  ye 
holy  and  men  humble  of  heart 
I  implore  you  earnestly — it 
is  not  right  to  pay  court  to 
such  men,  nor  to  take  food  or 
drink  with  them,  nor  ought 
one  to  accept  their  alms- 
givings, until  by  doing  hard 
penance  with  shedding  of 
tears  they  make  amends 
before  God,  and  liberate  the 
servants  of  God  and  the 
baptised  handmaidens  of 
Christ,  for  whom  He  died 
and  was  crucified. 

8.  The  Most  High  approveth 
not  the  gifts  of  the  wicked.  He 
that  offereth  sacrifice  of  the 
goods  of  the  poor  is  as  one  that 
sacrificeth  the  son  in  the 
presence  of  his  father.  The 
riches,  he  saith,  which  he  had 


EPISTLE   TO   COROTICUS. 


699 


uentre  ems ;  trahit  illnm 
angehis  mortis  ;  ira  dracomim 
midtabitiLr ;  inter ficiet  ilium 
lingua  cohtbris  ;  comedit  eum 
ignis  inextinguibilis.  Ideoque 
Uae  qui  replent  se  his  quae 
non  sunt  sua.  Uel,  Quid 
prodest  homini  ut  totum 
mundum  lucretur,  et  animae 
suae  detrimentum  fatiatur. 


9.  Longum  est  per  singula 
discutere  uel  insinuare  per 
totam  legem  carpere  testi- 
monia  de  tali  cupiditate. 
Auaritia  mortale  crimen. 
Non  concupisces  rem  proximi 
tui.  Non  occides.  Homicida 
non  potest  esse  cum  Christo. 
Qui  odit  fratrem  siium 
homicida  adscrihitur.  Uel, 
Qui  non  diligit  fratrem  suum 
in  morte  manet.  Quanto 
magis  reus  est  qui  manus 
suas  coinquinau:'!;  in  sanguine 
liliorum  Dei  quos  nuper 
adquisiuit  in  ultimis  terrae 
per  exhortationem  paruitatis 
nostrae  ? 


10.  Numquid  sine  Deo,  uel 
secunditm  carnem  Hiberione 
ueni  ?  Quis  me  compulit — 
Alligatus  spiritu — ut  non 
uideam  aliquem  de  cognatione 
mea  ?  Numquid  a  me  piam 
misericordiam  quod  ago  erga 
gentem  illam  qui  me  ali- 
quando  ceperunt,  et  deuas- 
tauerunt  seruos  et  ancillas 
domus  patris  mei  ?  Ingenuus 
fui  secundum  carnem.  De- 
corione  patre  nascor.  Uendidi 
enim     nobilitatem     meam — 


gathered  unjustly  ivill  he 
vomited  up  from  his  belly. 
The  angel  of  death  draggeth 
him  away.  He  will  be  tor- 
mented by  the  fury  of  dragons. 
The  viper's  tongue  shall  kill 
him ;  unquenchable  fire 
devoureth  him.  And  there- 
fore, Woe  to  those  who  fill 
themselves  with  what  is  not 
their  own.  Or  again.  What 
doth  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  suffer 
the  loss  of  his  own  soul  ? 

9.  It  would  be  tedious  to 
discuss  or  declare  [them]  one 
by  one,  to  gather  from  the 
whole  law  testimonies  con- 
cerning such  greed.  Avarice 
is  a  deadly  sin  :  Thou  shall 
not  covet  thy  neighbour' s  goods. 
Thou  shalt  not  kill.  A 
murderer  cannot  be  with 
Christ.  He  that  hateth  his 
brother  is  reckoned  a  murderer. 
Or,  again,  He  that  loveth  not 
his  brother  abideth  in  death. 
How  much  more  guilty  is  he 
that  hath  stained  his  hands 
with  the  blood  of  the  sons  of 
God,  whom  He  recently 
gained  in  the  ends  of  the 
earth  through  the  exhortations 
of  my  littleness. 

10.  Did  I  come  to  Ireland 
without  God,  or  according  to 
the  flesh  ?  Who  compelled 
me — I  am  bound  by  the  spirit 
— not  to  see  an^^  one  of  my 
kinsfolk  ?  Is  it  from  me  it 
is  that  I  show  godly  com- 
passion towards  that  nation 
who  once  took  me  captive 
and  harried  the  menservants 
and  maidservants  of  my 
father's  house  ?  I  was  free- 
born  according  to  the  flesh. 
I  am   born  of  a  father  who 


700 


APPENDIX    VII. 


non  erubesco  neque  me 
poenitet  —  pro  utilitate 

aliorum.  Denique  seruus 
sum  in  Christo  genti  exterae 
ob  gloriam  ineffabilem 
perennis  uitae  quae  est  m 
Christo  lesic  Domino  nostro. 


II.  Et    si    mei     me     non 

cognoscunt,  propheta  in 
patria  sua  honor  em  non  habet. 
Forte  non  sumus  ex  tmo 
ouili  neque  unum  Deum 
Patrem  habemus  ;  sicut  ait  : 
Qui  non  est  mecum  contra 
me  est  et  qui  non  congregat 
mecum  spargit.  Non  conuenit : 
Unus  destruit,  alter  aedificcit, 
Non  quaere  quae  mea  sunt. 


Non  mea  gratia  sed  Deus 
quidem  hanc  sollicitiidinem 
[dedit]  in  corde  meo  ut  unus 
essem  de  uenatoribus  sine 
piscatoribus  quos  olim  Deus 
in  nouissimis  diebus  ante 
praenuntiauit. 

12.  Inuidetur  mihi.  Quid 
faciam  Domine  ?  Ualde 
despicior.  Ecce  ones  tuae 
circa  me  laniantur  atque 
depraedantur  a  supradictis 
latrunculis,  iubente  Corotico 
hostili  mente.  Longe  est  a 
caritate  Dei  traditor  Christian- 
orum  in  manus  Scottorum 
atque     Pictorum.  Lupi 

rapaces  deglutierunt  gregem 
Domini  qui  utique  Hiberione 
cum  summa  diligentia  optime 
crescebat ;  Et  filii  Scottorum 
et  filiae  regulorum  monachi 
et  uirgines  Christi  enumerare 
nequeo.  Quam     ob    rem 

iniuria      iusto'^um     non      te 


was  a  decurion,  but  I  sold  my 
nobility,  I  blush  not  to  state 
it,  nor  am  I  sorry,  for  the 
profit  of  others.  In  short 
I  am  a  slave  in  Christ  to  a 
foreign  nation  on  account  of 
the  unspeakable  glory  of  the 
eternal  life  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord. 

11.  And  if  my  own  know 
me  not,  a  prophet  hath  no 
honour  in  his  own  country. 
Perchance  we  are  not  of  one 
and  the  same  fold  nor  have 
one  God  and  Father.  As  He 
saith  :  He  that  is  not  with  Me 
is  against  Me,  and  he  that 
gather eth  not  with  Me  scatter eth. 
It  is  not  meet  that  one  pulleth 
down  and  another  buildeth 
up.  I  seek  not  mine 
own. 

It  was  not  my  own  grace, 
but  God  that  put  th:s  earnest 
care  into  my  heart,  that  I 
should  be  one  of  the  hunters 
or  fishers  whom  long  ago 
God  foretold  would  come  m 
the  last  days. 

12.  I  am  envied.  What 
shall  I  do,  O  Lord  ?  I  am 
exceedingly  despised.  Lo, 
around  me  are  thy  sheep 
torn  to  pieces  and  spoiled, 
and  by  the  robbers  afore- 
said, by  the  orders  of 
Coroticus  with  hostile  intent. 
Far  from  the  love  of  God  is 
he  who  betrays  Christians 
into  the  hands  of  the  Scots 
and  Picts.  Ravening  wolves 
have  swallowed  up  the  flock 
of  the  Lord,  which  verily  in 
Ireland  was  growing  up  ex- 
cellently with  the  greatest 
care.  And  the  sons  of  Scots 
and  the  daughters  of  chieftains 


EPISTLE    TO    COROTICUS. 


701 


placeat ;  etiam  usque  ad  inferos 
non  placebit. 


13.  Quis  sanctorum  non 
horreat  iocundare  uel  conui- 
uium  fruere  cum  talibus  ? 
De  spoliis  defunctorum 
Christianorum  repleuerunt 
domus  suas.  De  rapinis 
uiuunt.  Nesciunt     miseri 

uenenum ;  letalem  cibum 
porrigunt  ad  amicos  et  filios 
suos  :  sicut  Eua  non  intellexit 
quod  utique  mortem  tradidit 
uiro  suo.  Sic  sunt  omnes 
qui  male  agunt ;  mortem 
perennem  poenam  operantur. 


14.  Consuetudo  Romanorum 
Gallorum  Christianorum — 
Mittunt  uiros  sanctos  idoneos 
ad  Francos  et  caeteras  gentes 
cum  tot  milia  solidorum  ad  re- 
dimendos  captiuos  baptizatos ; 
tu  toties  interficis  et  uendis 
illos  genti  exterae  ignoranti 
Deum.  Quasi  in  lupanar 
tradis  membra  Christi. 
Qualem  spem  habes  in  Deum 
uel  qui  te  consentit  aut  qui 
te  communicat  uerbis  adula- 
tionis  ?  Deus     iudicabit ; 

scriptum  est  enim :  JVon 
solum  fa  denies  mala,  sed 
etiam  consentientes  dampnandi 
sunt. 


15.  Nescio  quid  dicam  uel 
quid  loquar  amplius  de 
defunctis  filiorum  Dei  quos 
gladius    supra    modum    dure 


who  were  monks  and  virgins 
of  Christ  I  am  unable  to 
reckon.  Wherefore,  Be  not 
pleased  with  the  wrong  done 
by  the  unjust  ;  even  unto  hell 
it  shall  not  please  thee. 

13.  Which  of  the  saints 
would  not  shudder  to  jest 
or  make  a  feast  with  such 
men  ?  They  have  filled 
their  houses  with  the  spoil 
of  dead  Christians.  They  live 
by  plunder.  Wretched  men, 
they  know  not  that  it  is 
poison,  they  offer  the  deadly 
food  to  their  friends  and 
sons :  just  as  Eve  did  not 
understand  that  verily  it 
was  death  that  she  handed 
to  her  husband.  So  are  all 
they  who  do  wrong.  They 
work  death  eternal  as  their 
punishment. 

14.  The  custom  of  the 
Roman  Christian  Gauls  is 
this  : — ^They  send  holy  and 
fit  men  to  the  Franks  and 
other  heathens  with  many 
thousands  of  solidi  to  redeem 
baptised  captives.  Thou 
slayest  as  many  and  sellest 
them  to  a  foreign  nation  that 
knows  not  God.  Thou 
deliverest  the  members  of 
Christ  as  it  were  to  a  brothel. 
What  manner  of  hope  in  God 
hast  thou,  or  whoso  consents 
with  thee,  or  who  holds  con- 
verse with  thee  in  words  of 
flattery  ?  God  will  judge  ; 
for  it  is  written.  Not  only 
those  who  do  evil,  hut  those  that 
consent  with  them,  shall  be 
damned, 

15.  I  know  not  what  I 
should  say,  or  what  I  should 
speak  further  about  the  de- 
parted ones  of  the  sons  of  God, 


702 


APPENDIX   VII. 


tetigit.  Scriptum  est  enim  : 
Flete     cum     fientilms.  Et 

iterum  :  Si  dolet  umim 
membrum  condoleant  omnia 
membra.  Quapropter  ecclesia 
plorat  et  planget  iilios  et 
filias  suas  quas  adhuc  gladius 
nondum  interfecit,  sed  pro- 
longati  et  exportati  in  longa 
terrarum,  ubi  peccatum 
manifeste  grauetur,  impuden- 
ter  habundat.  Ibi  uenundati 
ingenui  homines,  Christiani 
in  seruitutem  redacti  sunt, 
praesertim  indignissimorum 
pessimorum  apostatarumque 
Pictorum. 


i6.  Idcirco  cum  tristitia 
et  merore  uociferabo  :  O 
speciosissimi  atque  aman- 
tissimi  fratres  et  filii  quos 
in  Christo  genui,  enumerare 
nequeo,  quid  faciam  uobis  ? 
Non  sum  dignus  Deo  neque 
hominibus  subuenire.  Prae- 
ualuit  iniquitas  iniquorum 
super  nos.  Quasi  extranei 
fadi  sumus.  Forte  non 
credunt  unum  baptismum 
percepimus  uel  unum  Deum 
Patrem  habemus.  Indignum 
est  illis  de  Hiberia  nati  sumus. 
Sicut  ait :  Nonne  unum  Deum 
habetis  ?  Quid  dereliquistis 
unusquisque  proximum  suum? 


17.  Idcirco  doleo  pro  uobis 
doleo.  carissimi  mihi ;  sed 
iterum  gaudeo  intra  meipsum. 
Non  gratis  laboraiii  uel 
peregrinatio  mea  in  uacuum 
non  fuit.  Et  contigit  scelus 
tam  horrendum  et  ineffabile  ! 


whom  the  sword  has  touched 
sharply  al)ove  measure. 
For  it  is  written  :  Weep  with 
them  that  weep,  and,  again, 
//  one  member  suffer,  let  all 
the  members  suffer  with  it. 
The  Church,  therefore,  be- 
wails and  will  lament  her 
sons  and  daughters  whom 
the  sword  has  not  as  yet 
slain,  but  who  are  banished 
and  carried  off  to  distant 
lands  where  sin  in  the  light 
of  day  weighs  heavy  and 
shamefully  abounds.  There 
freemen  are  put  up  for  sale. 
Christians  are  reduced  to 
slavery,  and,  worst  of  all,  to 
most  wicked,  most  vile,  and 
apostate  Picts. 

16.  Therefore,  in  sadness 
and  grief  shall  I  cry  aloud, 
O  most  lovely  and  loving 
brethren,  and  sons  whom  I 
begot  in  Christ,  I  cannot  the 
number  tell,  what  shall  I  do 
for  you  ?  I  am  not  worthy 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  either 
God  or  men.  The  wickedness 
of  the  wicked  hath  prevailed 
against  us.  We  are  become 
as  it  were  strangers.  Per- 
chance they  do  not  believe 
that  we  received  one  baptism, 
or  that  we  have  one  God  and 
Father.  It  is  in  their  eyes  a 
shameful  thing  that  we  were 
born  in  Ireland.  As  he  saith, 
Have  ye  not  one  God  ?  Why 
have  ye  each  one  forsaken  his 
neighbour  ? 

17.  Therefore  I  grieve  for 
you,  I  grieve,  O  ye  most  dear 
to  me.  But  again,  I  rejoice 
within  myself.  I  have  not 
laboured  for  nothing,  and 
my  journey  to  a  strange 
land  was  not  in  vain.      And 


EPISTLE   TO    COROTICUS. 


703 


Deo  gratias,  creduli  baptizati 
de  saeculo  recessistis  ad 
paradisum.  Cerno       uos. 

Migrare  cepistis  ubi  nox  non 
erit,  neque  Indus,  neque  mors 
amplms,  sed  exultahitis  sicut 
uituli  ex  uinculis  resoluti,  et 
conculcahitis  iniqnos,  etertmt 
cinis  sub  fedihus  iiestris. 


18.  Uos  ergo  regnabitis 
cum  apostolis  et  prophetis 
atque  martyribus ;  aeterna 
regna  capietis,  sicut  ipse 
testatur  inquiens ;  Uenient 
ah  oriente  et  occidente  et 
recumbent  cum  Abraham  et 
Isaac  et  Jacob  in  regno 
caelorum ;  Forts  canes  et 
uenefici  et  homicidae ;  et 
mendacibus  et  periuris  pars 
eorum  in  stagmim  ignis 
aeierni.  Non  merito  ait 
apostolus,  Ubi  iustus  uix 
saluus  erit,  peccator  et  impius 
transgressor  legis  ubi  se 
recognoscet  ? 


19.  Unde  enim  Coroticus 
cum  suis  sceleratissimis, 
rebellatores  Christi,  ubi  se 
uidebunt  ?  qui  mulierculas 
])aptizataspraemiadistribuunt 
ob  miserum  regnumtemporale, 
quod  utique  in  momento 
transeat  sicut  nubes  uei 
fumus  qui  utique  uento 
dispergitur.  Ita  peccatores 
fraudulenti  a  facie  Domini 
peribunt,  iusti  autem  epulentur 
in  magna  constantia  cum 
Christo,  iudicabunt  nationes, 


yet,  there  has  happened  this 
crime  so  horrid  and  un- 
speakable !  Thank  God,  it 
was  when  baptised  believers 
that  ye  departed  from  the 
world  to  paradise.  I  can  see 
you.  Ye  have  begun  to 
remove  to  where  there  shall 
be  no  night  nor  sorrow  nor 
death  any  more,  but  ye  shall 
leap  like  calves  loosened  from 
their  bonds,  and  ye  shall  tread 
down  the  wicked,  and  they 
shall  be  ashes  under  your  feet. 

18.  Ye  therefore  shall  reign 
with  apostles,  and  prophets, 
and  martyrs.  Ye  shall  take 
everlasting  kingdoms,  as  He 
Himself  witnesseth,  saying  : 
They  shall  come  from  the  east 
and  west,  and  shall  sit  down 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and 
Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Without  are  dogs 
and  sorcerers  and  murderers  ; 
and  liars  and  false  swearers 
shall  have  their  portion  in  the 
lake  of  everlasting  fire.  Doth 
not  the  apostle  rightly  say  : 
Where  the  just  man  shall 
scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall 
the  sinner  and  the  ungodly 
transgressor  of  the  law  find 
himself  ? 

19.  Well  then,  where  shall 
Coroticus  with  his  guilty 
followers,  rebels  against 
Christ,  where  shall  they  see 
themselves — they  who  dis- 
tribute baptised  damsels  as 
rewards,  and  that  for  the 
sake  of  a  miserable  temporal 
kingdom,  which  verily  passes 
away  in  a  moment  like  a  cloud 
or  smoke  which  is  verily  dis- 
persed by  the  wind  ?  So  shall 
the  deceitful  wicked  perish  at 
the  presence  of   the  Lord,  but 


704 


APPENDIX    VII. 


et  regibus  iniquis  domina- 
buntur  in  saecula  sacculorum, 
Amen. 


20.  Testificor  coram  Deo  et 
angelis  suis,  quod  ita  erit 
si  cut  intimauit  imperitiae 
meae.  Non  mea  uerba,  sed 
Dei  et  apostolorum  atque 
prophetarum,  quod  ego 
Latinum  exposui,  qui  num- 
quam  mentiti  sunt.  Qtd 
crediderit  salmis  erit,  mii 
uero  non  crediderit  con- 
dempnahitur.  Deus  enim 
locutus  est. 

21.  Quaeso  plurimum  ut 
quicumque  famulus  Dei 
promptus  fuerit  ut  sit  gerulus 
litterarum  harum,  ut  ne- 
quaquam  subtrahatur  a 
nemine,  sed  magis  potius 
legatur  coram  cunctis  plebibus, 
et  praesente  ipso  Corotico. 
Quod  si  Deus  inspirat  illos  ut 
quandoque  Deo  resipiscant, 
ita  ut  uel  sero  poeniteant 
quod  tam  impie  gesserunt. — 
Homicida  erga  fratres  Domini 
— et  liberent  captiuas  bap- 
tizatas  quas  ante  ceperunt, 
ita  ut  mererentur  Deo  uiuere, 
et  sani  efficiantur  hie  et  in 
aeternum.  Pax  Patri  et 
Filio  et  Spiritui  Sancto, 
Amen. 


let  the  righteous  feast  in  great 
constancy  with  Christ.  They 
shall  judge  nations,  and  shall 
have  dominion  over  ungodly 
kings  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen. 

20.  1  testify  before  God  and 
His  angels  that  it  will  be  so 
as  He  has  signified  to  my 
unskilfulness.  The  words 
are  not  mine,  but  of  God  and 
the  apostles  and  prophets,  who 
have  never  lied,  which  I 
have  set  forth  in  Latin.  He 
that  helieveth  shall  he  saved, 
hut  he  that  helieveth  not  shall 
he  condemned.  For  God  hath 
spoken. 

21.  I  beseech  earnestly 
that  whatever  servant  of  God 
be  ready  that  he  be  the 
bearer  of  this  letter,  so  that 
on  no  account  it  be  suppressed 
by  anyone,  but  much  rather 
be  read  in  the  presence  of  all 
the  people,  yea,  in  the 
presence  of  Coroticus  himself, 
if  it  so  be  that  God  may 
inspire  them  to  amend  their 
lives  to  God  some  time,  so 
that  even  though  late  they 
may  repent  of  their  impious 
doings  (murderer  as  he  is  in 
regard  of  the  brethren  of  the 
Lord),  and  may  liberate 
the  baptised  women  captives 
whom  they  had  taken,  so 
that  they  may  deserve  to  live 
to  God,  and  be  made  whole, 
here  and  in  eternity. 

Peace  to  the  Father,  and 
to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.       Amen, 


J 


THE   FAED    FIADA,    OR    DEER'S    CRY. 


705 


II. — St.  Patrick's  Irish  Writings. — The    Faed    Fiada,  ^ 

OR  Deer's  Cry. 


I. 


Atomriiig  indi'u 

Niurt  tren  togairm  Trinoit, 

Cretim    Treodataid    foisi[ti]n 

Oendatad, 
In  dulemain  dail. 


I. 


I  bind  to  myself  to-day 

The  strong  power  of  an  invoca- 
tion of  the  Trinity, 

The  faith  of  the  Trinity  in 
Unity, 

The  Creator  of  the  elements. 


2. 

Atomriug     indiu 
Niurt     Gene     Crist     co     n-a 
Bathius, 

Niurt  Crochta  co  n-a  Adnocul, 

Niurt  n-Eseirge  co  Fresgabail, 

Niurt  Toniud  do  Brethemnas 
Bratha. 


2. 


I  bind  to  myself  to-day 

The  power  of  the  Incarnation 

of  Christ  with  that  of  His 

Baptism, 
The  power  of  the  Crucifixion, 

with  that  of  His  Burial, 
The  power  of  the  Resurrection 

with  the  Ascension, 
The  power  of  the  Coming  to 

the  sentence  of  Judgment. 


Atomriug  indiu 
Niurt  Grad  Hiruphin, 

In  urlataid  Aingel, 
[Ifrestul    nan    Archaingel] 
Hi  frescisin  Eseirge  ar  cenn 

fochraice, 
In  ernaigthib  Huasal  Athrach, 

I  tairchetlaib  Fatha, 

Hi  praiceptaib  Apstal, 
In  hiresaib  Fuismedach, 
In  endga  noem  Ingen, 
Hi  ngnimaib  Fer  Firean. 


I  bind  to  myself  to-day 

The    power    of    the    love    of 

Seraphim, 
In  the  obedience  of  Angels, 
[In  the  service  of  Archangels,] 
In  the  hope  of  Resurrection 

unto  reward. 
In  the  prayers  of  the  noble 

Fathers, 
In    the    predictions    of    the 

Prophets, 
In  the  preaching  of  Apostles, 
In  the  faith  of  Confessors, 
In  the  purity  of  holy  Virgins, 
In  the  acts  of  Righteous  men. 


1  See  page  560,  present  work. 

We  give  the  text  and  translation  adopted  by  Haddan  and  Stubbs — 
Vol  II.,  Part  II.,  pp.  320-321. 

2  Z 


70b 

APPENDIX   VII. 

4. 

4. 

Atomriug  indiu 

I  bind  to  myself  to-day 

Niurt  nime, 

•The  power  of  Heaven, 

Soilse  grene, 

The  hglit  of  the  Sun, 

Etrochta  snechtai, 

The  whiteness  of  Snow, 

Ane  thened, 

The  force  of  Fire, 

Dene  lochet, 

The  flashing  of  Lightning, 

Luathe  gaethe, 

The    velocity    of    Wind, 

Fudomna  mara, 

The  depth  of  the  Sea, 

Tairisem  talmain, 

The  stability  of  the  Earth, 

Cobsaidecht  ailech. 

The  hardness  of  Rocks. 

5. 


5. 


Atomriug  indiu 

Niurt  De  dom  luamaracht 

Cumachta  De  dom  chumga- 

bail 
Ciall  De  domm  imthils 

Rose  De  dom  reimcise 

Cluas  De  dom  estecht 
Briathar  De  dom  eriabrai 

Lam  De  domm  imdegail 

Intech  De  dom  remthechtas, 

Sciath  De  dom  ditin 

Sochraite  De  domm  anucul 
Ar  intledaib  demna 

Ar  aslaigthib  dualche 

Ar  irnechtaib  aicnid 
Ar     cech     riduine     mi'dds 
thrastar  dam 

I  cein  ocus  in  ocus 
I     n-uathed     ocus    hi 
sochaide. 


I  bind  to  myself  to-day 

The  power  of  God  to  guide 

me 
The  might  of  God  to  uphold 

me, 
The  wisdow  of  God  to  teach 

me, 
The  eye  of  God  to  watch  over 

me, 
The  ear  of  God  to  hear  me. 
The  word  of  God  to  give  me 

speech. 
The  hand  of  God  to  protect 

me. 
The  way  of  God  to  prevent 

me, 
The  shield  of  God  to  shelter 

me. 
The  host  of  God  to  defend  me. 

Against      the      snares      of 
demons, 

Against  the  temptations  of 
vices, 

Against  the  lusts  of  nature, 

Against    every    man    who 
meditates  injury  to  me, 
Whether  far  or  near, 
With  few  or  with  many. 


THE   FAED    FIADA,    OR    DEER  S   CRY. 

6. 


707 


6. 


Tocuirius  etrum  thra  na  huile 

nert  so 
Fri     cech     nert     n-amnas 

n-etrocar- 
Fristi    dom    churp    ocus 

domm  anmain 
Fri    tinchetla    saibfathe 

Fri  dubrechtu  gentliuchta 

Fri  saibrechtu  heretecda 

Fri  himcellacht  n-idlachta 

Fri  brichta  ban  ocus  goband 

ocus  druad 
Fri  cech  fiss  a  ra  chuiliu 

anman  duini, 


I    have    set    around    me    all 

these  powers, 
Against  every  hostile  savage 

power, 
Directed  against  my  body 

and  my  soul, 
Against  the  incantations  of 

false  prophets. 
Against  the  black  laws  of 

heathenism. 
Against   the   false  laws  of 

heresy, 
Against     the     deceits     of 

idolatry, 
Against  the  spells  of  women 

and  smiths,  and  druids, 
Against       all       knowledge 

which  blinds  the  soul  of 

man. 


Crist  domm  imdegail  indui 
Ar  neim,  ar  loscud, 

Ar  badud,  ar  guin, 

Conomthair  ilar  fochraice. 


7. 


Christ  protect  me  to-day 
Against      poison,      against 

burning, 
Against  drowning,   against 

wound. 
That  I  may  receive  abund- 
ant reward. 


8. 

Crist  lim,  Crist  rhim, 


8. 


Christ  with  me,  Christ  before 

me, 
Crist  im  degaid,  Crist  innmm,      Christ     behind     me,     Christ 

within  me, 
Crist  issum,  Crist  uasum,  Christ    beneath    me,    Christ 

above  me, 
Crist  dessum,  Crist  tuatlium,      Christ  at  my  right,  Christ  at 

my  left, 
Crist  illius,  Christ  in  the  fort, 

Crist  issius,  Christ  in  the  chariot-seat, 

Crist  i  nerus.  Christ  in  the  poop. 


70S 


APPENDIX    VII. 


Crist  i  cridiu  cech  duine  imm      Christ  in  the  heart  of  every 

imrorda,  man  who  thinks  of  me, 

Crist  i  n-gin  cech  6en  rodom      Christ  in  the  mouth  of  every 


labrathar, 
Crist     in     cech     ruse     nom 

dercaedar, 
Crist    in    cech    duals    rodam 

cloathar. 


man  who  speaks  to  me, 
Christ  in  every  eye  that  sees 

me, 
Christ  in  every  ear  that  hears 

me. 


10. 

Atomriug  indiu 

Niurt   tren   togairm   Trinoit, 

Cretim  Treodataid  foisitin 

Oendatad, 
In  dulemain  [dail]. 


10. 

I  bind  to  myself  to-day, 

The  strong  power  of  an  in- 
vocation of  the  Trinity, 

The  faith  of  the  Trinity  in 
Unity, 

The  Creator  of  [the  elements]. 


II. 


II. 


Domini  est  salus, 
Domini  est  salus, 
Christi  est  salus, 
Salus  tua  Domine  sit  semper 
nobiscum. 


Salvation  is  of  the  Lord, 
Salvation  is  of  the  Lord, 
Salvation  is  of  Christ, 
May  thy  salvation,  O  Lord, 
be  ever  with  us. 


in. — ^Doubtful  or  Apocryphal  Writings  Attributed 

TO  St.  Patrick. 


I. — Canons  attributed  to  the  Saint.i 

(A),    Canons  attributed  to  a  Synod  of  Bishops,  consisting  of 
S.  Patrick,  Auxilius,  and  Isserninus. 

. 
Incipit    Sinodus     Episcoporum,     id      est     Patricii. 
AuxiLii,  IssERNiNi. — Gratias  agimus  Deo  Patri,  et  Filio,  et 
Spiritui   Sancto.       Presbiteris   et   diaconibus   et   omni   clero 
Patricius,  Auxilius,  Isserninus,  Episcopi,  salutem. 

Satius  nobis  neglegentes  prsemonere,  quam  culpare  quae 


1  See  Chapter  XXVIII  present  work. 

We  follow  text  given  in  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Vol.  II,,  Book  II., 
Pages  328-338. 


CANONS    ATTRIBUTED    TO    THE    SAINT.  7O9 

facta  sunt ;  Solamone  dicente,  "  Melius  est  arguere  [quam] 
irasci."  Exempla  difinitionis  nostrae  inferius  conscripta  sunt, 
et  sic  inchoant : — 

1.  Si  quis  in  questionem  captivis  quaesierit  in  plebe  suo 
jure,  sine  permisione,  meruit  excommonicari. 

2.  Lectores  denique  cognoscant,  unusquisque,  ecclesiam 
in  qua  psallat. 

3.  Clericus  vagus  non  sit  in  plebe. 

4.  Si  quis  permissionem  acciperit,  et  collectum  sit 
pretium,  non  plus  exigat  quam  quod  necessitas  poscit. 

5.  Si  quid  supra  manserit,  ponat  super  altare  pontificis, 
ut  detur  alii  indigenti. 

6.  Quicunque  clericus  ab  hostiario  usque  ad  sacerdotem 
sine  tunica  visus  fuerit,  atque  turpitudinem  ventris  et 
nuditatem  non  tegat,  et  si  non  more  Romano  capilli  ejus 
tonsi  sint,  et  uxor  (ejus)  si  non  velato  capite  ambulaverit, 
pariter  a  laicis  contempnentur,  et  ab  Ecclesia  separentur. 

7.  Quicunque  clericus  ussus,  neglegentiae  causa,  ad 
collectas  mane  vel  vespere  non  occurrerit,  alienus  habeatur, 
nisi  forte  jugo  servitutis  sit  detentus. 

8.  Clericus  si  pro  gentili  homine  fideiusor  fuerit  in  qua- 
cunque  quantitate,  et  si  contigerit  (quod  mirum  non  est)  per 
astutiam  aliquam  gentilis  ille  clerico  fallat,  rebus  suis 
clericus  ille  solvat  debitum  ;  nam  si  armis  compugnaverit 
cum  illo,  merito  extra  Ecclesiam  computetur. 

9.  Monachus  et  virgo,  unus  ab  hinc,  et  alia  ab  aliunde,  in 
uno  hospitio  non  commaneant,  nee  in  uno  curru  a  villa  in 
villam  discurreant,  nee  adsidue  invicem  confabulationem 
exerceant. 

10.  Si  [quis]  incoeptum  boni  operis  ostenderit  in  psallendo, 
et  nunc  intermisit,  et  comam  habeat ;  ab  Ecclesia  excludendus, 
nisi  statui  priori  se  restituerit. 

11.  Quicunque  clericus  ab  aliquo  excommonicatus  fuerit, 
et  alius  eum  susciperit,  ambo  coaequali  poenitentia  utantur. 

12.  Quicunque  Christianus  excomminicatus  fuerit,  nee 
ejus  elimosina  recipiatur. 

13.  Elimosinam  a  gentibus  offerendam  in  Ecclesiam 
recipi  non  licet. 

14.  Christianus  qui  occiderit,  aut  fornicationem  fecerit, 
aut  more  gentilium  ad  aruspicem  juraverit,  per  singula 
cremina  annum  poenitentise  agat ;  impleto,  cum  testibus 
veniat,  anno  poenitentise,  et  postea  resolvetur  a  sacerdote. 

15.  Et  qui  furtum  fecerit,  de medium  poeniteat  ;  viginti 
diebus  cum  pane  ;  et,  si  fieri  potest,  rapta  repraesentet ;  sic 
in  Ecclesiam  renuetur. 

16.  Christianus  qui  crediderit  esse  lamiam  in  saeculo,  qUcT 
interpretatur  striga,  anathema[ti]zandus,  quicunque  super 
animam  famam  istam  imposuerit ;    nee  ante  in  Ecclesiam 


710  APPENDIX   VII. 

recipiendus,   quam  ut  idem  creminis,   quod  fecit,  sua  iterum 
voce  revocet,  et  sic  poenitentiam  cum  omni  diligentia  agat. 

17.  Virgo  quae  voverit  Deo  permanet  kasta,  et  postea 
nubserit  carnalem  sponsum,  excommonis  sit,  donee  conver- 
tatur :  si  conversa  fuerit,  et  dimiserit  adulterium, 
poenitentiam  agat ;  et  postea  non  in  una  domo  nee  in  una 
villa  habitent. 

18.  Si  quis  excommonis  fuerit,  nee  nocte  pascharum  in 
ecclesiam  non  introeat,  donee  poenitentiam  recipiet. 

19.  Mulier  Christiana,  quae  acciperit  virum  honestis 
nuptis,  et  postmodum  discesserit  a  primo,  et  junxerit  se 
adulterio  ;    quae  haec  fecit,  excommonis  sit. 

20.  Christianus  qui  fraudat  debitum  cujuslibet  ritu 
gentilium,  excommonis  sit,  donee  solvat  debitum. 

21.  Christianus  cui  dereliquerit  aliquis,  et  provocat  eum 
in  judicium,  et  non  in  Ecclesiam,  ut  ibi  examinetur  causa  ; 
qui  sic  fecerit,  alienus  sit. 

22.  Si  quis  tradiderit  filiam  suam  viro  honestis  nuptis,  et 
amaverit  alium,  et  consentit  filiae  suae,  et  acceperit  dotem, 
ambo  ab  ^^icclesia  excludantur. 

23.  Si  quis  presbiterorum  ecclesiam  aedificaverit,.  non 
offerat  antequam  adducat  suum  pontificem,  ut  eam  consecret ; 
quia  sic  decet. 

24.  Si  quis  advena  ingressus  fuerit  plebem,  non  ante 
baptizet,  neque  offerat,  neque  consecret,  nee  ecclesiam  aedificet, 
[dojnec  permissionem  accipiat  ab  Episcopo :  nam  qui  a 
gentibus  sperat  permissionem,  alienus  sit. 

25.  Si  quae  a  religiosis  hominibus  donata  fuerint,  diebus 
illis  quibus  pontifex  in  singulis  habitaverit  Ecclesiis,  ponti- 
ficalia dona  (sicut  mos  antiquus)  ordinare  ad  Episcopum 
pertinebunt,  sive  ad  ussum  necessarium,  sive  egentibus 
distribuendum,  prout  ipse  Episcopus  moderabit. 

26.  Si  quis  vero  clericus  contra  venerit,  et  dona  invadere 
fuerit  deprehensus,  ut  turpis  lucri  cupidus  ab  Ecclesia 
sequestretur. 

27.  Clericus  Episcopi  in  plebe  quislibet  novus  ingressor, 
baptizare  et  offerre  ilium  non  licet,  nee  aliquid  agere  ;  qui 
si  sic  non  faciat,  excommonis  sit. 

28.  Si  quis  clericorum  excommonis  fuerit,  solus,  non  in 
eadem  domo  cum  fratribus,  orationem  facit,  nee  offer[r]e 
nee  consecrare  licet,  donee  se  faciat  emendatum ;  qui  si  sic 
non  fecerit,  dupliciter  vindicetur. 

29.  Si  quis  fratrum  accipere  gratiam  Dei  voluerit,  non 
ante  baptizetur  quam  ut  XLmum  agat. 

30.  iEpiscopus  quislibet,.  qui  de  sua  in  alteram  progreditur 
parruchiam,  nee  ordinare  praesumat,  nisi  permissionem 
acceperit  ab  eo,  qui  in  suo  principatu  est ;  die  Dominica 
offerat  tantum  susceptione,  et  obsequi  hie  contentus  sit. 


CANONS   ATTRIBUTED   TO   THE   SAINT.  71I 

31.  Si  quis  conduxerit  e  duobus  clericis,  quos  discordare 
convenit  per  discordiam  aliquam,  prolatum  uni  e  duobus 
hostem  ad  interficiendum,  homicidam  congruum  est 
nominari  :  qui  clericus  ab  omnibus  rectis  habetur  alienus. 

32.  Si  quis  clericorum  voluerit  iuvare  captivo,  cum  suo 
pretio  illi  subveniat  ;  nam  si  per  furtum  ilium  inviolaverit, 
blasp[h]emantur  multi  clerici  per  unum  latronem  ;  qui  sic 
fecerit,  excommonis  sit. 

33.  Clericus  qui  de  Britanis  ad  nos  venit  sine  epistola,  etsi 
habitet  in  plebe,  non  licitum  ministrare. 

34.  Diaconus  nobiscum  similiter,  qui  inconsultu  suo  abbate 
sine  Uteris  in  aliam  parruchiam  absentat,  nee  cibum  ministrare 
decet  ;  et  a  suo  presbitero,  quem  contempsit,  per  poenitentiam 
vindicetur.  Et  monachus  inconsultu  abbate  vagulus  debet 
vindicari. 

Finiunt  Sinodi  Distituta. 

(B). — Single  Canons  attributed  to  S.  Patrick. 

T.    PaTRICIUS,  de  UNITATE  ET  SUBDITORUM     *      *     *    ^    Q^jg 

ergo  audet  scindere  unitatem,  quam  nemo  hominum  solvere 
vel  reprehendere  potest  ?  "  Multitudinis  autem  credentium 
erat  cor  unum  et  anima  una,  et  nulla  erat  separatio  in  eis, 
nee  quisquam  ex  bonis  suis  dicebat  esse  aliquid,  sed  erant 
illis  omnia  commonia  :  [...]  gratia  quoque  erat  magna  super 
illos  omnes  ;  nee  vero  in  eis  aliquis  indigens ;  nam  quicunque 
possessores  agrorum  aut  domorum  erant,  vendentes 
adferebant    pretia    illorum    et    ponebant    ante    Apostolorum 

[pedes],    et    dividebatur   unicuique    ut    opus    erat    [ ] 

Quidam  autem  vir,  nomine  Annanias.  cum  Safirra  uxore 
sua  [...]  ;  et  adferens  partem  aliquam  ante  pedes  Apo- 
stolorum [...] :  dixit  autem  Petrus  illi,  Annanias,  cur 
implevit  Satanas  cor  tuum  ad  mentiendum  Spiritui  Sancto, 
ut  fraudem  faceres  de  pretio  agri  ?  Nonne  manens  tibi 
manebat,  et  venditum  in  tua  potestate  erat  ?  Quare 
posuisti  in  corde  tuo  facere  hoc  malum  ?  Non  es  hominibus 
mentitus  sed  Deo.  Audiens  autem  Annanias  haec  verba 
cecidit  et  expiravit."  [MS.  C.C.C.C.  279  {olim  O.  20), 
fol.  59-62  :  and  partly  in  S.,  /.  54  ;  and  W.,  I.  3.  4.] 

2. — Canon  of  S.  Patrick  from  the  Book  of  Armagh, 

Item  quicumque  similiter  per  industriam  atque  injuriam 
vel  nequitiam  malum  quodque  opus  contra  familiam  seu 
paruchiam  ejus  perfxcerit,  aut  praedicta  ejus  insignia 
dispexerit,  ad  libertatem  examinis  ejusdem  Airddmachai 
pra::sulis  recte  judicantis  perveniet  caussa  totius  negotionis, 
caeteris  aliorum  judicibus  praetermissis. 

Item  quaecumque  causa  valde  difficilis  exorta  fuerit  atque 


712  APPENDIX    VII. 

ignota  cunctis  Scotorum  gentium  judicibus,  ad  cathedram 
Archiepiscopi  Hibernensium  id  est  Patricii,  atque  hujus 
antestitis  examinationem  recte  rcffcrenda. 

Si  vero  in  ilia  cum  suis  sapientibus  facile  sanari  non  poterit 
caussa  praedictae  negotionis  ad  sedem  Apostolicam  decrevimus 
esse    mittendam,    id     est      ad     Petri     Apostoli     cathedram 
auctoritatem   Romae  urbis  habentem. 

Hii  sunt  qui  de  hoc  decreverunt,  id  est,  Auxilius,  Patricius, 
Secundinus,  Benignus.  Post  vero  exitum  Patricii  sancti 
alumpni  sui  valde  ejusdem  libros  conscripserunt. 

(C). — Canons  of  a  Second  Synod  attributed  to  S.  Patrick, 

I.  De  hahitatione  cum  fratrihiis  peccatorihus. 

De  eo  quod  mandastis  de  habitatione  cum  fratribus 
peccatoribus,  audite  Apostolum  dicentem,  "  Cum  hujusmodi 
ne  cibum  quidem  sumere.'*  Non  ejus  escas  sumas  cum  eo. 
Caeterum  si  bos  sis  et  trituras,  hoc  est,  si  doctor  es  et  doces, 
''  non  obturatur  tibi  os,"  et  "  dignus  es  mercede  tua ;  " 
sed  "  oleum  peccatoris  non  impinguet  caput  tuum "  sed 
corripe  adhuc  et  argue. 

II. — De  oblationibus  eorum. 

Contentus  tegmento  et  alimento  tuo,  caetera  dona 
iniquorum  reproba,  quia  non  sumit  lucerna  nisi  quod  alitur. 

III.  De  pcenitentia  post  ruinas, 

Statuitur  ut  abbas  videat,  cui  attribuetur  potestas 
alligandi  et  solvendi ;  sed  aptior  est,  juxta  Script urae  exempla, 
veniam.  Si  vero  cum  fletu  et  lamentatione  et  lugubri  cum 
veste  sub  custodia,  pcenitentia  brevis  quam  longa,  et  remissa 
cum  temperament!  s. 

IV.  [De  excommunicato  repellendo], 

Audi  Dominum  dicentem,  "  Si  tibi  non  audierit,  sit  tibi 
velut  gentihs  et  publicanus."  Non  maledices  sed  repelles 
excommunicatum  a  communione,  et  mensa,  et  missa,  et 
pace  ;  et  si  haereticus  est,  post  unam  correptionem  devita. 

V.  De  suspectis  causis, 

Audi  Dominum  dicentem,  "  Sinite  utraque  crescere  usque 
ad  messem  ;  " — hoc  est,  "  donee  veniat,  Qui  manifestabit 
consilia  cordium  ;  " — ne  judicium  ante  diem  judicii  facias. 
Vide  ludam  ad  ntensam  Domini,  et  latronem  in  paradise 


CANONS   ATTRIBUTED   TO   THE    SAINT.  713 


VI.  De  vindidis  Ecclesice. 

Audi  item  Dominum  dicentem,  "  Qui  effuderit  sanguinem 
innocentem,  sanguis  ipsius  effundetur  ;  "  sed  ab  eo  qui  portat 
gladium  ;  dictator  autem  vindictae  innocens  habetur.  De 
caeteris  autem  per  legem  Evangelicam,  ab  eo  loco  in  quo  ait. 
"  Et  eum  qui  aufert  aliquid  a  te,  ne  repetas ;  "  sed  libenter, 
si  ipse  quid  referat,  humiliter  recipias. 

VI I.  De  haptismatis  incertis- 

Statuunt  ne  rebaptizati  [sint],  qui  symboli  traditione[m] 
a  quocunque  acceperunt,  quia  non  inficit  semen  seminantis 
iniquitas.  Sin  vero,  non  est  rebaptizare  sed  baptizare.  Non 
baluendos  autem  lapsos  a  fide  credamus,  nisi  per  impositionem 
manus  accepi[antur]. 

VIII.  De  rets  autem  abstractis  ab  Ecclesia. 

Non  ad  reorum  defensionem  facta  est  Ecclesia ;  sed 
judicibus  persuadendum  est,  ut  spiritali  morte  eos  occiderent, 
qui  ad  sinum  matris  Ecclesiae  confugiunt. 

IX.  De  lap  sis  post  gradum. 

Audi  canonica  instituta.  Qui  cum  gradu  cecidit,  sine 
gradu  surgat.  Contentus  nomine  tantum,  amittat  ministerium: 
nisi  qui  tantum  a  conspectu  Domini  peccans  non  recessit. 

X.  desideratur. 

XI.  De  separatione  sexuum  post  lap  sum, 

Consideret  unusquisque  in  conscientia  sua,  si  amor  et 
desiderium  cessavit  peccati,  quia  corpus  mortuum  non 
inficit  corpus  alterius  mortui ;  sm  vero,  separentur. 

XII.  De  oblatione  pro  defunctis. 

Audi  Apostolum  dicentem,  "  Est  autem  peccatum  ad 
mortem,  non  pro  illo  dico  ut  roget  quis."  Et  Dominus, 
"  Nolite  donare  sanctum  canibus."  Qui  enim  in  vita  sua 
non  merebitur  sacrificium  accipere,  quomodo  post  mortem 
illi  poterit  adjuvare  ? 

XIII.  De  sacrificio. 

In  nocte  Paschae,  si  fas  est  ferre  foras,  non  foras  fertur, 
sed  fidelibus  deferatur.  Quid  aliud  significat  quod  in  una 
domo  sumitur  agnus,  quam  [quod]  sub  uno  fidei  culmine 
creditur  et  communicator  Christus  ? 


714  APPENDIX    VII 


XIV.  De  ahstinentia  votiva  vel  legaH  a  cihis. 

Statutum,  ut  [post]  Christi  adventum  sponsi  nul^as  ratas 
leges  inveniat  jejunii.  Quid  autem  inter  Novatianum  et 
Christianum  interest,  nisi  quod  Novatianus  indesinenter, 
Christianus  vero  per  tempus  abstineat ;  ut  locus,  et  tempus 
et  persona  per  omnia  observetur. 

XV.  De  relinquenda  vel  docenda  pairia. 

Docenda  patria  prius,  per  exemplum  Domini ;  et 
derelinquenda  postea  si  non  proficiet,  juxta  exemplum 
Apostoli.  Sed  qui  potest  facere,  licet  periclitatur,  ubique 
doceat,  et  se  ostendat ;  qui  vero  non  potest,  taceat  et 
abscondat.  Alius  quippe  ab  Jesu  in  domum  suam  mittitur, 
alius  sequi  jubetur. 

XVI.  De  falsi s  Episcopis, 

Qui  non  secundum  Apostolum  electus  est  ab  altero 
Episcopo,  est  damnandus ;  deinde  ad  reliquam  plebem 
declinandus  et  degradandus. 

XVII.  De  prceposito  monachorum. 

Monachi  sunt,  qui  solitarii  sine  terrenis  opibus  habitant 
sub  potestate  Episcopi  vel  abbatis.  Non  sunt  autem  monachi, 
sed  vactro-periti  (hoc  est,  contemptores  soliciti).  Ad  vitam 
perfectam  in  aetate  perfecta  (hoc  est,  a  viginti  annis)  debet 
unusquisque  constringi,  non  adtes.ando  sed  voto  perficiendo  : 
ut  est  illud,  "  Unusquisque  sicut  proposuit  corde  suo  faciat ;  " 
et,  "  Ut  vota  mea  reddam  in  conspectu  Domini,"  et  reliqui. 
Quo  voto  vivitur,  situs  locorum  coartat,  si  superabundantia 
in  omnibus  devitetur  in  vita  ;  quia  in  frigore  et  nuditate, 
in  fame  et  siti,  in  vigiliis  et  jejuniis,  vocati  sunt. 

XVIII.  De  trihiis  seminibus  Evangeliorum, 

Centesimum  Episcopi  et  doctores,  qui  omnibus  omnia  sunt ; 
sexagesimum  clerici,  et  viduae,  qui  continentes  sunt ;  tricesi- 
mum  laici,  qui  fideles  sunt,  qui  perfecte  Trinitatem  credunt. 
His  amplius  non  est  in  messe  Domini.  Monachos  vero  et 
virgines  cum  centesimis  jungimus. 

XIX.  Qtta  cetate  haptizandi  sunt. 

Octavo  die  chatechumeni  sunt ;  postea,  solemnitatibus 
Domini  baptizantur,  id  est,  Pascha,  et  Pentecoste,  et 
Epiphania. 


CANONS   ATTRIBUTED   TO   THE    SAINT.  715 


XX.  De  parrociis. 

Cum  monachis  non  est  dicendum,  quorum  malum  est 
inauditum,  qui  unitatem  vero  plebis  non  incongrue  suscepimus. 

XXI.  De  retinendis  vel  dimittendis  monachis. 

Unusquisque  fructum  suum  in  Ecclesia,  in  qua,  im- 
butus  est,  perfruatur ;  nisi  causa  majoris  profectus  ad 
alterius  ferre  permissa  abbatis  cogat.  Si  vero  ex[t]i[t]erit 
causa  utilior,  cum  benedictione  dicatur,  "  Ecce  Angus  Dei;  " 
non  quod  sua  sunt  singuli  quserentes,  sed  quae  lesu  Christi  : 
vocationis  autem  causam  non  permittunt  subditos  discurrere. 

XXII.  De  sumenda  Eucharistia  post  lapsum. 

Post  examinationem  carceris  sumenda  est ;  maxime  autem 
in  nocte  Paschae,  in  qua  qui  non  communicat,  fidelis  non  est. 
Ideo  brevia  sunt  et  stricta  apud  eos  spatia,  ne  anima  fidelis 
intereat  tanto  tempore  jejuna  medicinas  ;  Domino  dicente, 
*'  Nisi  manducaveritis  carnem  Filii  hominis,  non  habebitis 
vitam  in  vobis." 

XXIII.  De  juramento. 

"  Non  jurare  omnino."  De  hoc  consequente  lectionis 
series  docet  non  adjurandam  esse  creaturam  aliam,  nisi 
Creatorem  :  ut  prophetis  mos  est, — *'  Vivit  Dominus,"  et, 
"  Vivit  anima  mea,"  et,  "  Vivit  Dominus  Cui  assisto  hodie." 
Finis  autem  contradictionis  est  nisi  Domino.  Omni  enim 
quod  amat  homo,  hoc  et  juratur. 

XXIV.  De   contentione   duorum   absque   testibits. 

Statuunt,  ut  per  quatuor  sancta  evangelia,  antequam 
communicet,  testatur,  quid  probatur  ;  et  deinde  sub  judice 
fama  relinquatur. 

XXV.  Do  toro  fratris  defuncti, 

Audi  decreta  synodi, — "  Superstes  f rater  thorum  defuncti 
fratris  non  ascendat  :  " — Domino  dicente,  "  Erunt  duo  in 
carne  una  :  "  ergo  uxor  fratris  tui  soror  tua  est. 

XXVI .  De  meretrice  conjuge. 

Audi  Dominum  dicentem, — "  Qui  adhaeret  meretrici,  unum 
corpus  efficitur."  Item, — "  Adultera  lapidetur  :  '* — id  est, 
huic  vitio  moriatur,  ut  desinat  crescere  quae  non  desinit 
moechari.  Item,  si  adulterata  fuerit  mulier,  nunquid  revertitur 
ad  virum  suimi  priorem.  Item,  "  Non  licet  viro  dimittere 
uxorem,  nisi  ob  causam  fornicationis :  " — ac  si  dicat,  ob  hanc 


7l6  APPENDIX   VTT. 

causam  ;   unde,  si  ducat  alteram  velut  post  mortem  prioris, 
non  vetant. 

XXVII.  De  vohmtate  virginis  vel  patris  in  conjugio. 

Quod  vult  pater,  faciat  virgo,  quia  caput  mulieris  vir* 
Sed  requirenda  est  a  patre  voluntas  virginis,  dum  "  Deus 
reliquit  hominem  in  manu  consilii  sui." 

XXVIII.  De  primis  vel  secundis  votis. 

Eadem  ratione  observanda  sunt  prima  vota,  et  prima 
conjugia,  ut  secundis  prima  non  sint  irrita,  nisi  fuerint 
adulterata. 

XXIX.  De    consanguinitate    in    conjugio, 

Intelligite  quid  L^  c  loquitur,  non  minus  nee  plus  :  quod 
autem  observatur  apad  nos,  ut  quatuor  genera  dividantur, 
nee  vidisse  dicunt  nee    legisse. 

XXX.  De  vindicandis  adsuetis, 

Nunquam  vetitum ;  licet.  Verum  observandae  sunt  leges 
jubilei,  hoc  est,  quinquaginta  anni,  ut  non  adfirmetur  inserta 
vice  ratio  temporis.  Et  ideo  omnis  negotia[tio]  subscriptione 
Romanorum  confirmanda  est. 

XXXI.  De    gentilihus    qui    ante    haptismum    creduntj    quam 
pcenitentiam  haheant. 

Remittuntur  quidem  omnium  peccata  in  baptismo ;  sed 
qui  cum  fideli  conscientia  infidelis  temporarius  vixit,  ut 
fidelis  peccator  judicandus  est. 

Finit  Patricii  Synodus. 


II.— THE  RULE  OF  PATRICK.i 

RIAGAIL  PATRAIC.  TRANSLATION. 

I.  Forata      anmanda      fer  i.  It    is    on    the    souls    of 

nErenn     a     timna     Patraic.  the  men  of  Ireland  from  the 

Primepscop     cecha     tuaithe  Testament      of      Patrick : — 

accu  fri  huirdned   a  n-oessa  each    tribe    to   have    a   chief 

graid,  fri  coisecrad  a  n-eclas,  bishop  for  the  ordination  of 


1  See  page  561,  present  work. 

We  adopt  the  text  and  translation  as  given  by  Mr.  J.  G.  O'Keefe 
in  Erin,  the  Journal  of  the  School  of  Irish  learning,  Dublin,  Vol.  I., 
Part  II.,  1904. 


THE    RULE    OF    PATRICK. 


7T7 


7  fri  hanmchairdes  do  flaithib 
7  do  airchindc[h]ib,  fri 
noemad  7  bendachad  a  clainde 
iar  mbathius. 


2.  Ar  nach  tiiath  7  nach 
cenel  oc  na  biat  epscoip 
frisna  gnimaib  seo,  atbail 
dliged  a  creidme  7  a  n-irsi, 
conid  i  suide  teit  cech  duine 
assa  richt  choir  na  tabair  toeb 
fri  hanmcharaid  craibdech,i 
7  conid  aire  na  bi  crich  la 
nech  fri  peccad  eter  fingail 
ocus  duinorgain  ocus  etrad 
7  cech  olc  archena.  Nach 
fer  graid  didiu  oc  na  bi 
dhghed  na  eolus  timthirechta 
a  graid  7  cona  bi  tualaing 
oiffrind  na  ceileabartha  ar 
belaib  rig  7  epscop,  ni  dlig 
saire  na  eneclainn  fir  graid  i 
tuaith  na  i  n-eclais. 


3.  Nach  epscop  dol^eir 
uasaigrada  for  nech  na  bi 
tualaing  [a]  n-airberta  eter 
chrabud  7  leigend  7  anm- 
chairde  na  eolus  rechta  na 
riagla,  is  bidba  bais  do  Dia  7 
do  doinib  in  t-epscop  sin. 
Ar  is  imdergad  do  C[h]rist  7 
da  eclais  a  comgrada  do 
thabairt  for  neoch  na  bi 
tualaing  a  n-airberta  fri  nem 
7  talmain,  co  mbi  brath 
do  thuathaib  7  do  ecailsib, 
conid      aire      dlegar      secht 


their  clergy,  for  the  conse- 
cration of  their  churches, 
and  for  the  spiritual  guidance 
of  princes  and  chieftains, 
for  the  sanctification  and 
blessing  of  their  offspring 
after  baptism. 

2.  For  the  tribe  and  the 
nation  wliich  have  not  bishops 
for  these  works,  the  law  of 
their  beUef  and  of  their 
faith  dies,  and  then  it  is 
that  each  person,  who  does 
not  trust  to  a  pious  soul- 
friend,  forsakes  his  proper 
guise ;  and  therefore  there 
are  no  bounds  with  anyone 
to  sin,  both  parricide  and 
manslaughter,  and  lust  and 
every  other  villainy.  Any 
ordained  man  then  who  is 
mindful  neither  of  the  rule 
nor  of  the  knowledge  of 
service  of  his  order  so  that 
he  is  not  capable  of  the 
Offering  or  of  celebrating 
the  Hours  before  kings  and 
bishops,  he  is  not  entitled 
to  exemption,!  or  to  the 
honour-price  of  one  ordained, 
in  tribe  or  church. 

3.  Any  bishop  who  confers 
high  orders  on  anyone  who 
is  unable  to  practise  them 
in  piety  and  reading  and 
spiritual  gaidance,  and  who 
has  not  a  knowledge  of  the 
law  or  of  the  rule,  that 
bishop  is  guilty  of  death  to 
God  and  to  men.  For  it  is 
an  insult  to  Christ  and  to 
His  Church  to  confer  their 
orders  on  anyone  who  is 
incapable  of  using  them 
towards   Heaven   and   earth, 


^  i.e.,   all  the  privileges  of   the  clergy ;   no  taxes,     freedom    from 
military  service,  &c. 


7i8 


APPENDIX   VII. 


mbliadna  peinne  7  secht 
ciimail  fri  henech  in  Duileman. 
Ar  is  ed  fotera  galar  7 
angccssa  forsna  clanna,  eter 
eltrai  7  milliuda  olchena,  cen 
baithus  ndligthech  7  cen  dul 
fo  laim  n-epscoip  i  n-aimsir 
thechtai,  ar  ni  thic  comlaine 
in  spirta  noim,  cipe  a  leire 
baistither  in  duine,  mane  te 
fo  laim  n-epscoip  iar  mbathus. 


4.  It  e  inaccan  co  macu 
secht  mbliadna  ni  bi  acht  a 
cursad  ina  chet-chinaid  co 
n-abaind  no  cpijris  no  bois 
.i.  tri  beimenna  [Col.  853] 
forru  CO  m-bais  no  c[h]ris 
no  abaind  co  cend  secht 
mbliadnae.  Nach  fer  graid 
tra  tairmit[h]eid  a  grada  co 
caillich  for  follus,  asren  dire  a 
grad  dond  eclais  saraiget[h]ar 
no  is  diles  a  tecmail  lais  do 
cech  t[h]orba  7  is  diles  don 
tuaith  a  tecmail  leo  do 
fuillmiud  7  indile,  7  ni  dlig 
ni  a  raind  ecaillsi  De  'na 
degaid  sin,  mane  penne  do 
reir  apad  no  anmcharat 
chrabdig. 


5.  Ar  ni  full  aitreib  nime  do 
anmain  duine  nad  baithister 
o  baithus  dligt[h]ech  re  cech 


so  that  it  is  ruin  to  peoples 
and  churches ;  wherefore 
seven  years  of  penance  and 
seven  cumals  are  necessary 
by  way  of  reparation  to  the 
Creator.  For  it  is  this 
which  causes  plague  and 
sickness  to  tribes,  both  .... 
and  other  destructions,  not 
having  lawful  baptism,  and 
not  going  '  under  the  hand ' 
of  a  bishop  at  the  prescribed 
time ;  for  the  perfection  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  comes  not, 
however  fervently  a  person  is 
baptised,  unless  he  *  goes 
under  the  hand '  of  a 
bishop  after  baptism. 

4.  It  is  children  up  to  boys 
of  seven  years  who  are  only 
chastised  for  their  first  crime 
with  scourge  or  belt  or  palm 
of  hand,  to  wit,  three  blows 
on  them  with  palm  of  hand 
or  belt  or  scourge  to  the  end 
of  seven  years,  i  Anyone  in 
orders,  however,  who  plainly 
transgresses  his  orders  with 
a  nun  pays  the  fine  of  his 
orders  to  the  church  which 
he  outrages,  or  it  is  the 
lawful  property  [?  of  the  man 
himself]  what  falls  to  him 
of  every  profit,  and  it  is  the 
lawful  property  of  the  people 
what  falls  to  them  of  dead 
cattle  and  live  cattle.  And 
he  [the  ordained  man]  is 
entitled  to  nothing  on  the 
part  of  the  church  of  God 
after  that,  unless  he  does 
penance  at  the  will  of  an 
abbot  or  a  pious  soul-friend. 

5.  For  there  is  no  heavenly 
abode  for  the  soul  of  a  person 
who  is  not  baptised  according 


*  i.e.,  till  their  seventh  year. 


THE    RULE    OF    PATRICK. 


7iq 


ret,  conid  aire  forata  anmanda 
[fer]  nErenn  cona  flaithib  7 
a  n-airechaib  7  a  n-airchind- 
chib  CO  raib  l)aithius  7  comna 
7  gabail  ecnairce  o  cech  eclais 
do  manchaib  techtaib,  ar  as 
oc  tri[s]t  7  miscad  Patraic  co 
noemaib  Erenn  for  cech 
flaith  7  for  cech  manach  na 
timairg  for  a  eclais  saindiles 
baithius  7  comnai  7  gabail 
ecnoirce  iuti» 


6.  Nach  epscop  tra  soertha 
tuatha  7  eclaisi,  is  e  as 
anmchara  dond  aes  graid,  7 
is  lais  dogniad  urddu  techtai, 
7  is  e  dobeir  fortacht  doib  co 
roiset  a  n-dliged  hi  tuaith  7 
i  n-eclais,  7  is  e  timairg  for 
cech  eclais  co  raib  a  durrthech 
7  a  relec  hi  nglaine,  7  co  raib 
in  altoir  cona  haidmib  techtaib 
ar  c[h]ind  ind  oessa  graid 
dogres. 


7.  Ocus  cech  airchindech 
fiitai  in  lessa  doboing  .i.  bis 
ind  agaid  in  ordaigthi  sea  no 
ac  nach  bi  ind  eclas  he  dligid 
in  t-epscop  cumail  de  asa  reir 
budesin  no  a  reir  neich  bus 
chomgrad  do,  co  raib  fretra 
mbathius  7  comna  7  gabail 
ecnairce  do  cech  duine  isa 
eclas  techta  hi,  7  co  raib 
idbairt  chuirp  Crist  for  cech 
altoir.  Ar  is  dith  na  huile 
chredme  dii  na  bia  in  cetharda 
sa,  7  nach  duine  fristarga  'na 


to  lawful  baptism  before 
everything ;  wherefore  it  is 
upon  the  souls  [of  the  men] 
of  Ireland  with  their  princes 
and  their  erenachs  and  their 
chiefs  that  there  be  baptism 
and  communion  and  the 
singing  of  the  intercession  by 
every  church  to  proper 
manach  tenants ;  for  the 
curse  and  malediction  of 
Patrick  and  the  saints  of 
Ireland  is  on  every  prince 
and  every  manach  tenant 
who  does  not  impose  on  his 
own  special  church  baptism 
and  communion  and  the 
chanting  of  the  intercession 
therein. 

6.  Any  bishop  whom 
peoples  and  churches  free,  it 
is  he  who  is  spiritual  adviser 
to  the  ordained  folk  ;  and  it 
is  with  him  they  perform 
their  prescribed  offices  ;  and  it 
is  he  who  gives  help  to  them 
so  that  they  may  attain  to 
their  due  in  tril^e  and  church  ; 
and  it  is  he  who  coiisfrains 
each  church  to  have  its 
oratory  and  its  burial-ground 
purified,  and  that  the  altar 
has  its  proper  fittings  always 
in  readiness  for  the  ordained. 

7.  And  each  erenach  who 
opposes  the  dues  which  he 
levies  (?)  that  is,  who  is 
against  this  ordinance  or  to 
whom  the  church  does  not 
belong,  the  bishop  is  entitled 
to  a  cumal  of  it  at  his  own 
will  or  at  the  will  of  one  who 
is  of  equal  rank,  so  that  there 
be  an  equivalent  of  baptism 
and  communion  and  the 
singing  of  the  intercession 
to  each  person  whose  proper 
church    it    is ;    and    so    that 


720 


APPENIX    VII. 


aigid,  ni  fuil  siiil  do  fri  haitreib 
nime. 


8.  Ocus  nach  eclas  oc  na 
be  tuara  manach  do  baithis  7 
comna  7  gabail  ecnairce,  ni 
dlig  dechmad  na  boin  cen- 
naithe  na  trian  n-imnai. 
[Col.  854.] 


9.  Ni  dlig  airchindech  a  reir 
for  a  manchu  na  dlig  dire  a 
seoit  na  toichneda  a  eclais  side 
manibat  oga  a  frithfolaid  asa 
eclaisi  di  baithias  7  comna  7 
gabail  n-ecnairce,  conid  aire 
for  at  a  anmanda  fer  nErenn, 
maine  elat  dliged  a  creidme 
7  a  n-irse  7  mani  diultat  a 
n-Duilemain  7  ma  frisailetar 
dul  a  n-angnais  na  noem,  co 
raib  ind  eclas  for  tubus  fir 
graid  fri  baithius  7  comna  7 
gabail  ecnairce  manach  eter 
biu  7  marbu  7  co  roib  oiffrenn 
for  a  altoir  hi  sollamnaib  7 
primfeilib  7  domnaigib  7  co 
rabat  aidmi  oc  cech  altoir  7 
terimpetoir  7  anarta  coise- 
carthai. 


10.  Ar  nach  eclas  oc  na  bi 
a  techta  ni   dlig  dire  eclaisi 


there  be  an  offering  of  the 
Body  of  Christ  on  each  altar  ; 
for  it  is  ruin  of  all  behef  where 
these  four  are  not  found ; 
and  any  person  who  shall 
oppose  it,  there  is  no  hope  for 
him  of  an  abode  in  Heaven. 

8.  And  any  church  in  which 
there  is  no  service  to  manach 
tenants  for  baptism  and 
communion  and  the  singing 
of  the  intercession  ;  it  is  not 
entitled  to  tithes  or  to  the 
heriot  cow  or  to  a  third  of 
[each]  bequest. 

9.  An  erenach  is  not 
entitled  [to  impose]  his  will 
on  his  manach  tenants,  nor 
is  he  entitled  to  the  fine  of 
his  *  sed '  ...  of  his 
church  unless  the  reciprocal 
obligations  of  the  church  be 
fully  discharged  of  baptism 
and  communion  and  the 
singing  of  the  intercession ; 
wherefore  it  is  upon  the 
souls  of  the  men  of  Ireland, 
unless  they  evade  the  rule  of 
their  behef  and  their  faith, 
and  unless  they  deny  their 
Creator,  and  if  they  hope 
to  go  in  the  company  of  the 
saints,  that  the  church  should 
be  on  the  conscience  of  an 
ordained  man  for  baptism 
and  communion  and  the 
singing  of  the  intercession 
for  manach  tenants  both 
living  and  dead,  and  that 
there  should  be  Offering  on 
its  altar  on  solemnities  and 
chief  feasts  and  Sundays,  and 
that  there  should  be  fittings 
on  each  altar  and  portable 
altar  and  consecrated  linen 
cloths. 

10.  For  the  church  which 
has  not  its  proper  equipment 


THE    RULE   OF   PATRICK. 


721 


De  7  ni  heclas,  acht  uam 
latrand  7  tadat  a  hainm  la 
Crist. 


II.  Nach  eel  as  hi  mbi  fer 
graid  di  mineeailsib  na 
tuaithe  cenmotat  moreclaisi 
dligid  tuarustul  a  graid  .i. 
teeh  7  airlisi  7  dergud  7  deig- 
cheltaib  7  aenamad  rodfera 
cen  turbaid  een  diehell  do 
neoeh  bes  hi  cumung  na 
eclaisi  .i.  miach  cona  indiud 
7  bo  blieht  in  cech  raithe  7 
biad  sollaman. 


12.  Aitire  dogo  fria  laim  de 
manchaib  cech  eclaisi  bes 
fora  chubus  fri  tuarustul  coir 
eter  logmbaithis  7  techta 
comna  7  gabail  ecnairce  na 
n-uile  manach  eter  biu  7 
marbu  7  oiffrend  cecha  dom- 
naig  7  cecha  prim-sollamain 
7  cecha  prim-feile  7  ceileabrad 
cecha  tratha  7  tri  coecaid 
cech  tratha  do  chetal,  mani 
thairmesca  forcetul  no  anm- 
chairdes  .i.  ongad  7  baithis. 


13.  Ma  beth  tra  do  huaite 
ind  aessa  graid  lasna  tuatha, 
cia  beit  tri  hecailsi  no  a 
cethair  for  cubus  cech  fir 
graid    acht    roso    comand    7 


is  not  entitled  to  the  fine  of 
God's  church,  and  it  is  not  a 
church,  but  its  name  accord- 
ing to  Christ  is  a  den  of 
thieves  and  robbers. 

11.  Any  church  in  which 
there  is  an  ordained  man  of 
the  small  churches  of  the 
tribe  apart  from  the  great 
churches,  he  is  entitled  to 
the  wage  of  his  order,  that  is, 
house,  and  enclosure  and 
bed  and  clothing,  and  his 
ration  that  is  sufficient  for 
him,  without  exemption, 
without  neglect  of  all  that  is 
in  the  power  of  the  church, 
that  is,  a  sack  with  its 
*  kitchen,'  and  a  milch  cow 
each  quarter,  and  the  food 
of  festivals. 

12.  A  hostage,  whom  he 
shall  choose  from  the  manach 
tenants  of  each  church  which 
is  on  his  conscience,  [he  shall 
have]  as  a  security  for  just 
wage,  both  price  of  baptism 
and  the  dues  of  communion 
and  the  singing  of  the  in- 
tercession of  all  the  manach 
tenants  living  and  dead  ;  and 
Offering  every  Sunday  and 
on  every  chief  solemnity  and 
every  chief  festival,  and  the 
celebration  of  each  canonical 
Hour,  and  the  singing  of  the 
three  fifties  ^  every  canonical 
Hour,  unless  instruction  and 
spiritual       guidance,       even 

•  unction  and  baptism,  prevent 
[him]. 

13.  If  in  the  opinion  of  the 
tribe  the  ordained  folk  be  too 
few,  [it  is  lawful]  that  there 
be  three  churches  or  four  on 
the      conscience      of      each 


^  i.e.,  the  150  Psalms. 


722 


APPENDIX    VII. 


baithius  do  anmain  chaich  7 
oiffrend  hi  sollamnaib  7  feilib 
fora  n-altoir. 


14.  It  e  a  frithfolaidi-seom 
dond  fir  graid  .i.  la  air 
n-indraic  cech  bliadna  cona 
sil  7  a  ithir  7  a  lethgabol  etaig 
do  brutt  no  da  leinid  no  do 
inur.  Pruind  chethruir  ar 
notlaic  7  chaise  7  chingcis. 


15.  Ma  beith  tra  do  uaisle 
ind  fir  graid  7  a  airmidin 
doformagar  a  dhgid  7  a  saire 
forsanni  doruirmisem. 

16.  Ar  is  ed  ba  dhged  fer 
graid  cecha  chille,  uair  uad 
bi  landire  na  eclaisi  De  acht 
du  i  mbi  oes  graid  7 
maiccleirig  indraice  at  e 
endaic  fri  athigid  n-ecalsa. 


ordained  man,  provided  that 
tliere  come  communion  and 
baptism  for  the  soul  of  each 
and  Offering  on  solemnities 
and  festivals  on  their  altars. 

14.  These  are  his' reciprocal 
duties  to  the  ordained  man  : 
a  proper  day's  ploughing 
each  year,  with  its  seed  and 
its  arable  land,  and  half  of 
material  for  mantle  or  for 
shirt  or  for  tunic.  Dinner 
for  four  at  Christmas  and 
Easter  and  Pentecost. 

15.  In  proportion  to  the 
dignity  of  the  ordained  man 
his  due  and  his  exemption 
are  increased  over  and  above 
what    we    have    enumerated. 

16.  For  it  is  this  that 
would  be  due  :  an  ordained 
man  to  every  church,  since 
there  is  not  full  fine  of  the 
church  of  God  save  where 
there  are  ordained  men  and 
proper  young  clerics,  and 
the  innocent,  for  frequenting 
the  church. 


1  * 


i.e.,  the  manach  tenant's. 


72 


APPENDIX.   VIII. 

HYMN  OF   S.  SECHNALL    (SECUNDINUS)   IN  PRAISE 

OF  S.  PATRICK. 

Incipit  Ymnus  Sancti  Patricii,  Episcopi  Scotorum. 

Andite,  omnes  amantes  Deum,  sancta  merita 
Uiri  in  Christo  beati  Patricii  Episcopi  : 
Quomodo  bonum  ob  actum  simulatur  angelis, 
Perfectamque  propter  uitam  aequatur  Apostolis. 

Beata  Christi  custodit  mandata  in  omnibus ; 
Cuius  opera  refulgent  clara  inter  homines, 
Sanctumque  cuius  sequuntur  exemplum  mirilicum  ; 
Unde  et  in  celis  Patrem  magnificant  Dominum. 

Corstans  in  Dei  timore  et  fide  immobilis, 
S  uper  quem  edificatur  ut  Petrus  Ecclesia ; 
Cuiusque  Apostolatum  a  Deo  sortitus  est ; 
In  cuius  porta  aduersus  inferni  non  preualent. 

Dominus  ilium  elegit,  ut  doceret  barbaras 
Nationes  ;  ut  piscaret  per  doctrinae  retia ; 
Ut  de  seculo  credentes  traheret  ad  gratiam, 
Dominumque  sequerentur  sedem  ad  aetheriam. 

Electa  Christi  talenta  uendit  euangelica, 

Quae  Hibernas  inter  gcntes  cum  usuris  exigit ; 
Nauigii  huius  laboris,  tum  operae,  pretium, 
Cum  Christo  regni  celestis  possessurus  gaudium. 

Fi  delis  Dei  minister,  insignisque  nun  tins, 

Apostolicum  exemplum  formamque  praebet  bonis  ; 
Qui  tam  uerbis  quam  et  factis  plebi  praedicat  Dei, 
Ut  quem  dictis  non  conuertit,  actu  prouocet  bono. 

Gloriam  habet  cum  Christo,  honorem  in  seculo  ; 
Qui  ab  omnibus  ut  Dei  ueneratur  angelus  ; 
Quem  Deus  misit  ut  Paulum  ad  gentes  Apostolum, 
Ut  hominibus  ducatum  praeberet  regno  Dei. 


^  See  page  4,  present  work. 

We  adopt  the  text  of  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Vol.  II.,  Part  II.,  page  324. 


724  APPENDIX   viir. 

Humilis  Dei  ob  metum  spiritu  et  corpore, 

Super  quern  bonum  ob  actum  requiescit  Dominus  ; 
Cuiusque  iusta  in  carne  Christi  portat  stigmata  ; 
In  Cuius  sola  sustentans  gloriatur  in  cruce. 

Inipiger  credentes  pascit  dapibus  celestibus, 
Ne  qui  uidentur  cum  Chris  to  in  uia  dedciant ; 
Ouibus  erogat,  ut  panes,  uerba  euangelica  ; 
In  cuius  multiplicantur,  ut  manna,  in  manibus  : 

Kastam  qui  custodit  carnem  ob  amorem  Domini, 
Quam  carnem  templum  parauit  Sanctoque  Spiritui ; 
A  Quo  constanter  cum  mundis  possidetur  actibus, 
Quam  ut  hostiam  placentem  uiuam  offert  Domino  : 

Lumenque  mundi  accensum  ingens  euangelicum, 
In  candelabro  leuatum,  toti  fulgens  seculo, 
Ciuitas  regis  munita  supra  montem  posita, 
Copia  in  qua  est  multa  quam  Dominus  possidet. 

Maximus  nanque  in  regno  celorum  uocabitur, 

Qui  quod  uerbis  docet  sacris,  factis  adimplet  bonis  ; 
Bono  precedit  exemplo  formamque  fidelium, 
Mundoque  in  corde  habet  ad  Deum  Muciam. 

Nomen  Domini  audenter  annunciat  gentibus, 
Quibus  lauacri  salutis  aeternam  dat  gratiara ; 
Pro  quorum  orat  delictis  ad  Deum  quotidie  ; 
Pro  quibus  ut  Deo  dignas  immolatque  hostias. 

Omnem  pro  Diuina  lege  mundi  spernit  gloriam, 
Qui  cuncta  ad  cuius  mensam  estimat  ciscilia ; 
Nee  ingruenti  mouetur  mundi  huius  fulmine, 
Sed  in  aduersis  laetatur,  cum  pro  Chris  to  patitur. 

Pastor  bonus  ac   fidelis  gregis  euangelici  ; 
Quem  Deus  Dei  elegit  custodire  popuhim, 
Suamque  pascere  plebem  Diuinis  dogmatibus  ; 
Pro  qua  ad  Christi  exemplum  suam  tradidit  animam. 

Quem  pro  meritis  Saluator  prouexit  pontificem, 
Ut  in  celesti  moneret  clericos  militia  ; 
Celestem  quibus  annonam  erogat  cum  uestibus. 
Quod  in  Diuinis  impletur  sacrisque  affatibus. 

Regis  nuntius  inuitans  credentes  ad  nuptias ; 
Qui  ornatur   uestimento  nuptiale  indutus  ; 
Qui  celeste  haurit  uinum  in  uasis  celestibus, 
Propinansque   Dei  plebem  spirituaU  poculo. 


HYJMN   OF   ST.    SECHNALL.  725 

Sacrum  inuenit  tesaurum  sacro  in  uolumine.. 
Saluatorisque  in  carne  Dietatem  pieuidit ; 
Ouem  tesaurum  emit  Sanctis  perfectisque  meritis  ; 
Israel  uocatur  huius  anima  uidens  Deum. 

Testis  Domini  fidelis  in  lege  catholica, 

Cuius  uerba  simt  Diuinis  condita  oraculis  ; 

Ne  humane  putrent  carnes  essaeque  a  uermibus, 

Sed  celeste  salliuntur  sapore  ad  uictimam. 

Uerus  cultor  et  insignis  agri  euangelici, 
Cuius  semina  uidentur  Christi  euangelia ; 
Quae  Diuinc  serit  ore  in  aures  prudentium, 
Ouorumque  corda  ac  mentes  Sancto  arat  Spiritu. 

Xps  :  ilium  sibi  legit  in  terris  uicarium, 
Qui  de  gemino  captiuos  liberat  seruitio  ; 
Plerosque  de  seruitute  quos  redemit  hominum, 
Innumeros  de  Zabuli  obsoluet  dominio. 

Ymnos  cum  Apocalipsi  Psalmosque  cantat  Dei, 
Quosque  ad  edificandum  Dei  tractat  populum ; 
Quam  legem  in  Trinitate  sacri  credit  Nominis, 
Tribusque  Personis  Unam  docetque  Substantiam. 

Zona  Domini  precinctus  diebus  et  noctibus, 
Sine  intermissione  Deum  orat  Dominum  ; 
Cuius  ingentis  laboris  percepturns  premium, 
Cum  Apostolis  regnabit  sanctus  super  Israel. 

Audite  omnes, 

[In  memoria  eterna  erit  iustus  ; 
Ab  auditione  mala  non  timebit. 

Patricii  laudes  semper  dicamus. 
Ut  nos  cum  illo  defendat  Deus. 

Hibernenses  omnes  clamant  ad  te  pueri, 
Ueni,  sancte  Patricii,  saluos  nos  facere.] 


APPENDIX  IX. 

THE   DEDICATION    OF   THE   NEW   CATHEDRAL   OF 
ST.  PATRICK,  ARMAGH. 

Since  the  day  when  St.  Patrick  in  person,  with  the  Staff  of 
Jesus  in  his  hand,  the  Angel  of  God  before  him,  and  Ireland's 
Elders  around  him,  blessed  the  site  of  h^'s  first  Cathedral  on 
Macha's  Hill,  Ireland  has  never  witnessed  a  grander  cere- 
monial than  the  dedication  of  the  new  Cathedral  of  Armagh 
by  his  Eminence  Cardinal  Logue,  on  July  24th,  1904.  As 
the  Freeman's  Journal  truly  said  next  morning,  there  was 
nothing  in  the  long  and  glorious  religious  records  of  Ireland, 
illumined  by  many  a  splendid  ceremonial,  to  excel  that 
wonderful  celebration  in  ancient  Armagh.  Fully  five  hundred 
priests  of  all  orders,  all  the  bishops  and  archbishops  of 
Ireland,  the  Archbishop  of  Westminster,  the  Archbishop  of 
Edinburgh,  with  seven  other  prelates  from  England  and 
Scotland,  and  one  from  far  Australia,  together  with  a  vast 
crowd  of  laymen  from  all  parts  of  Ireland  and  England,  of 
all  ranks,  professions,  and  ages,  from  England's  premier  Duke 
down  to  the  poor  wayfarers  from  the  remotest  hills  of  the 
North,  were  present  on  that  great  day  to  do  honour  to  God 
and  our  glorious  patron,  St.  Patrick. 

What  lent  special  solemnity  to  the  scene  was  the  presence, 
for  the  first  time  in  Irish  history,  of  two  illustrious  Cardinals 
at  the  same  ceremonial — one  the  Cardinal  Primate,  th? 
Comarb  of  Patrick  himself,  and  the  other,  Cardinal  Vincenzo 
Vannutelli,  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Palestrina,  and  Legate 
a  latere  of  his  Holiness,  Pope  Pius  X.,  especially  commissioned 
to  represent  the  Holy  Father  on  this  memorable  day. 

The  following  sermon,  preached  on  the  occasion  by  the 
author,  will  serve  as  an  authentic  account  of  the  ceremonial, 
with  all  its  religious  and  historical  significance,  especially  iH 
relation  to  St.  Patrick: 

"  You  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen  you  ;  and  I  have 
appointed  you,  that  you  should  go,  and  should  bring  forth  fruit  ;  and 
your  fruit  should  remain  ;  that  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  the  Father 
in  My  Name  He  may  give  it  you." — John,  chapter  xv.,  verse  16. 

May  it  please  your  Eminences,  my  Lords  Bishops,  Very 
Rev.  and  Rev.  Fathers,  and  Dearly  Beloved  : — We  are  all 
assembled  here  to-day  to  take  part  in  what  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  sublime  and  significant  function  in  the  majestic  ritual 
of  the  Catholic  Church.     The  high  priest  of  this  Archdiocese 


1 


7^. 


^^if<^£>^    ^^UU^'  CP^^ 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL,  ARMAGH.         727 

has  consecrated  this  beautiful  temple,  and  in  the  name  of  all 
the  clergy,  and  of  all  the  people,  and  of  all  Ireland,  has  given 
it  over  to  God  to  be  His  House  for  ever — a  House  of  Prayer 
and  a  House  of  Sacrifice,  the  Throne  of  His  Grace  and  the 
Fountain  of  His  Mercy  ;  for,  as  God  Himself  has  declared, 
*  His  Eyes  and  His  Heart  will  be  here  always.'  Most  fitly, 
too,  this  new  cathedral  in  this  primatial  city  of  Armagh  has 
been  dedicated  to  God  under  the  invocation  of  our  National 
Apostle,  St.  Patrick.  Under  God,  St.  Patrick  is  the  central 
figure  here  to-day,  not  only  as  Titular  and  Patron,  but  also,  in 
a  sense,  as  the  primary  founder  of  this  church,  for  I  look  upon 
it  as  the  latest  outcome  of  his  apostolic  work  in  Ireland. 
There  is,  of  course,  no  other  name  of  saint  or  hero  in  our 
history  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Irish  people  as  St.  Patrick's. 
It  is  a  great  name  in  Heaven,  for  the  saints  of  his  family  are 
countless  before  the  throne  of  God  ;  and  his  name  is  a  great 
and  living  power  on  earth  also,  not  alone  in  Ireland,  but 
wherever  the  children  of  the  Irish  race  are  scattered  through- 
out the  world.  It  is  that  great  name  that  has  built  this 
church  here  in  his  own  city  of  Armagh,  and  it  is  that  name 
that  has  brought  us  all  here  to-day  to  bless  this  building, 
and  give  it  over  for  ever  to  God  and  to  St.  Patrick.  Where- 
fore it  is  of  Patrick,  and  of  his  life  and  work  in  Ireland,  that 
I  shall  speak  to-day  before  this  illustrious  assemblage. 

If  ever  there  was  an  apostle  outside  the  twelve  and  St. 
Paul,  to  whom  the  words  of  my  text  are  applicable  in  the 
fullest  sense,  that  man  was  St.  Patrick.  His  vocation  or  call 
to  the  ministry  was  not  the  ordinary  one  manifested  by 
special  fitness  ai^  the  voice  of  superiors  ;  it  was  a  personal 
supernatural  call  from  God.  His  commission  to  preach  in 
Ireland  did  not  come  from  the  Pope  merely  ;  it  was  an  extra- 
ordinary commission,  like  that  of  St.  Paul,  from  Christ 
Himself ;  he  was  called  to  leave  his  country  to  prepare 
himself  for  his  work,  and  afterwards  preach  the  Gospel  in 
Ireland.  With  God's  help  he  produced  abundant  fruit,  and 
that  fruit  has  remained  in  a  very  marvellous  manner.  And, 
lastly,  God  bestowed  upon  him  not  only  the  gift  of  efficacious 
prayer,  but  all  the  manifold  supernatural  powers  which 
Our  Saviour  promised  to  the  Twelve  when  sending  them 
forth  to  preach  the  Gospel.  These  are  the  points  to  which 
I  wish  to  chiefly  direct  your  attention.  In  fact,  that  verse 
from  St.  John  sums  up  the  whole  history  of  Patrick's  life  ;  it 
furnishes  the  key  to  his  character  ;  it,  and  it  alone,  explains 
his  wonderful  mission  in  Ireland. 

If  we  read  the  Confession  of  the  Saint — a  work  beyond 
doubt  authentic — with  these  words  of  Our  Saviour  before  our 
mind,  we  can  see  the  man  of  God  as  he  really  was — humble, 
penitent,  prayerful,  of  lofty  purpose  and  dauntless  courage. 


728  APPENDIX    IX. 

heedless  of  self,  zealous  for  God,  passionately  devoted  to  his 
flock.  In  the  Confession  he  lays  bare  all  the  workings  of  his 
heart  in  rugged  language,  but  with  a  directness  that  compels 
our  assent.  Yet  it  is  a  very  wonderful  story,  which  can  only 
be  fully  understood  by  those  who  believe  in  Patrick's  super- 
natural life  and  mission.  '  You  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I 
have  chosen  you,'  said  Our  Saviour  to  the  Twelve.  It  was 
a  personal  supernatural  call,  and  Patrick  declares  again  and 
again  in  the  Confession  that  he  received  a  similar  supernatural 
call  to  preach  in  Ireland.  He  was  chosen  by  God,  as  Moses 
was  chosen,  to  bring  the  Irish  people  out  of  the  land  of  bondage 
into  the  light  and  freedom  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  There 
were  people  then,  as  there  are  people  now,  who  thought 
Patrick  was  mistaken  in  declaring  that  it  was  the  Voice  of 
God  called  him  to  preach  in  Ireland.  They  said,  in  effect, 
like  the  Jews  of  old,  '  the  Lord  hath  not  appeared  to  thee ; 
yours  is  a  rash  and  dangerous  undertaking,  for  which  you  are 
not  fitted  by  any  special  training  or  education.'  And  Patrick 
for  a  time  was  sore  perplexed  ;  but  he  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  within  him  clearly  speaking  to  his  heart. 
The  Word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him,  as  it  came  to  the 
prophets  of  old,  '  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners,' 
but  always  to  the  same  effect ;  so  that  he  felt  constrained  to 
obey  the  mandate  of  the  Lord.  The  angel  Victor  came  to 
him  with  letters  innumerable  calling  him  to  Ireland  ;  the 
voices  of  the  children  from  Foclath  Wood  by  the  western  sea 
were  ever  ringing  in  his  ears  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  spoke  to  his 
heart,  and  he  was  assured  in  clearest  words  that  *  He  Wlio 
gave  His  Life  for  him.  He  it  was  that  spdke  within  him.' 
When  certain  elders  opposed  his  purpose  of  going  to  preach 
in  Ireland,  be  tells  us  that  the  same  Holy  Spirit  encouraged 
him  to  persevere  in  carrying  out  that  purpose,  *  which  I 
have  learned  from  Christ  My  Lord.'  It  has  been  said  that 
these  things  are  the  fancies  of  an  excited  imagination,  or  the 
promptings  of  an  ardent  spirit ;  but  Patrick  himself  believed, 
beyond  doubt,  that  it  was  the  Voice  of  God ;  and  so  also  do 
we  believe,  and  Ireland's  history  proves  it. 

'  I  have  chosen  you  and  I  have  appointed  you.'  The 
appointment  or  formal  commission  to  teach  only  came  to 
Patrick  after  thirty  years  of  waiting  and  of  preparation  ;  and, 
like  the  call,  it  was  supernatural.  All  the  ancient  Lives  tell 
us  that  he  got  his  crozier,  the  Staff  of  Jesus,  from  Christ 
Himself.  St.  Patrick  says  the  same  in  effect.  His  nephew, 
Secundinus,  who  wrote  a  Hymn  in  praise  of  the  Saint,  the 
authenticity  of  which  cannot  be  questioned,  expressly  says 
that  Patrick,  Hke  Paul,  had  a  special  mission  from  God  to 
preach,  not  to  all  nations,  but  to  the  tribes  of  Ireland.  Of 
course,    besides    this   extraordinary    commission    from    God, 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL,  ARMAGH.         729 

he   had   also    the  ordinary  commission    from  the    Pope,   St. 

Celestine.      All    the    ancient    Lives    of  the  Saint  assert  it ; 

all    om'    native    annalists   assert   it ;    the  Book   of    Armagh, 

the   official   record   of   the   ]>rimatial   rce,    asserts   it ;      the 

ablest   Protestant    writers,  like    Usher,    have   admitted   it.^ 

In  fact,  the   *  Roman  Mission'  was  never  questioned  until  our 

own   times,    and    then   only   for   controversial   purposes,    by 

certain  scholr.rs  who  had  nothing  to  rely  on  but  a  purely 

negative  argument — that  if  the  Pope  had  sent  him  to  preach 

in  Ireland,  Patrick  would  have  certainly  mentioned  the  fact 

in  the  Confession.      He  did  not  mention  it  just  because  it 

was  perfectly  well  known  to  those  whom  he  addressed  ;   and, 

secondly,  because  his  main  purpose  was  to  vindicate  himself 

against  the  charge  of  rashness  and  presumption  in  undertaking 

a  great  and  dangerous  work,  for  which  he  was  not  qualified 

by  early  education  and  previous  training.    He  admits  candidly 

his  own  unworthiness  and  want  of  early  education  resulting 

from  his  captivity  in  Ireland.      His  defence  is  that  the  task 

was  put  upon  him,  not  by  man,  but  by  God,  that  he  had  a 

divine   mandate   to   preach   in   Ireland   notwithstanding  his 

unworthiness,  for  he  admits  that  he  was  a  stone  sunk  in  the 

mire — and  then  he  appeals  to  the  success  of  his  mission  in 

Ireland  as  the  clearest  proof  that  his  commission  was  divine, 

and  that  God  was  with  him  in  his  work.     That  is  precisely 

what  our  Saviour  Himself  gives  as  the  effect  of  His  Own 

Mission  of   the  apostles — that  they  should  bring  forth  fruit, 

and  that  their  fruit  should  remain.      The  argument  of  the 

Saint  was  irresistible — his  statements  were  undeniable.      He 

might  appeal  to  the  fact  that,  like  Pelagius,  he  was  commis/^^^^J^- 

sioned  by  the  Pope  to  preach  in  Ireland  ;   bur  that  commission"    ' 

in  the  case  of  Pelagius  did  not  bring  success,  because  the 

work  was  not  assigned  to  him  by  God.      Patrick  claimed  to 

have  a  still  higher  commission  from  Christ  Himself,  and  he 

points  to  the  marvellous  fruit  of  his  preaching  in  Ireland  as 

the  clearest  proof  that  God  was  with  him  in  his  work. 

But  St.  Paul,  though  divinely  authorised  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  '  went  to  Jerusalem  to  see  Peter, 
with  whom  he  tarried  fifteen  days,'  before  he  set  out  on  his 
first  public  mission.  No  prelate  of  the  Western  Church  in 
the  fifth  century  would  dream  of  setting  oat  to  preach  in  a 
new  territory  without  the  sanction  of  Peter,  that  is,  the  Pope. 
It  was  the  Pope  sent  St.  Ninian  to  preach  to  the  Southern 
Picts,  it  was  the  Pope  sent  Pelagius  to  Ireland  the  year 
before  he  sent  Patrick,  and  we  a!ll  know  it  was  the  Pope  sent 

^  Another  learned  scholar  of  Trinity  College,  Professor  Bury,  now  ol 
Cambridge,  makes  the  same  admission,  throwing  over  Todd  and  all 
his  school.  He  places  St.  Patrick's  death  in  461,  not  463,  as  we 
inadvertently  said  elsewhere. 


730  APPENDIX    IX. 

St.  Augustine  to  England.  Rome  was  the  fountain  from 
which  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland  received  the  faith. 
Those  who  adhered  to  Rome  kept  the  faith  ;  those  who  broke 
away  from  Rome  lost  it. 

'  I  have  chosen  you  and  have  appointed  you  that  you 
should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit.'  In  fulfilment  of  this  com- 
mand Patrick,  like  St.  Paul,  left  home  and  friends  and  country 
and  high  station  and  worldly  prospects.  His  country, 
'  patria,'  was  undoubtedly  some  part  of  Great  Britain  :  he 
says  so  himself ;  his  parents,  or  it  may  be  his  relations — 
*  parentes  ' — were  there  ;  and  they  sought  to  keep  him  at  home 
by  every  means  that  affectionate  ingenuity  could  devise. 
When  he  returned  home  after  his  escape  from  Ireland  they 
received  him  with  the  warmest  and  most  sincere  affection, 
and  they  earnestly  besought  him,  that,  after  the  many 
tribulations  which  he  had  endured,  he  would  never  leave 
them  again.  When  he  declared  his  fixed  purpose  to  obey  the 
divine  command,  they  still  implored  him  with  prayers  and 
tears  to  stay  at  home  ;  and  they  offered  him  large  gifts,  he 
says,  to  induce  him  to  stay  with  them.  But,  like  St.  Paul  in 
similar  circumstances,  he  would  not  listen  to  the  claims  of 
flesh  and  blood.  He  gave  up  his  home,  his  country,  his  friends, 
and  broke  all  the  bonds  of  natural  affection  that  he  might 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  God  that  called  him  away — '  I  have 
appointed  you  that  you  should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit ' — 
that  was  the  only  voice  he  heard — the  only  voice  he  obeyed. 
He  went  forth  in  the  face  of  the  most  formidable  difficulties 
to  prepare  himself  for  the  task  which  God  had  imposed  upon 
him.  He  had  hitherto  received  no  training  in  the  schools  of 
rhetoric  or  philosophy.  He  had  almost  forgotten  the  provincial 
Latin  which  was  his  mother  tongue,  and,  as  he  admits  himself, 
he  never  after  acquired  it  properly.  When  other  youths  wcre 
at  school  or  college  he  was  herding  swine  on  the  hills  of 
Antrim ;  and  he  was  rather  old  to  begin  to  learn  now.  Yet 
he  had  to  learn  much,  not  only  secular  knowledge,  but  moral 
theology.  Scripture,  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  rubrics — all 
that  he  was  destined  to  teach  afterwards  to  his  clergy  in 
Ireland.  His  counsellors  in  Britain  thought  it  a  rash  and 
hopeless  undertaking  ;  but  the  Voice  of  God  encouraged  him  ; 
and  the  cry  of  the  children  from  the  wild  woods  by  the  western 
sea  was  ever  ringing  in  his  ears. 

First,  it  would  appear,  he  went  to  the  great  monastery  of 
]\Iartin  at  Tours — Martin  was  his  mother's  kinsman — there 
he  was  trained  in  the  religious  hfe,  and  received  the  clerical 
tonsure.  Thence  he  made  his  way  to  Germanus  of  Auxerre, 
scholar,  statesman  and  warrior — no  longer,  however,  leading 
the  armies  of  Rome,  but  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross.  There, 
under  the  greatest  prelate  in  France,  he  made  much  progress 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL,  ARMAGH.         73I 

in  the  sacred  sciences,  especially  in  the  study  of  Scripture, 
with  which  he  shows  himself  thoroughly  familiar,  both  in  its 
letter  and  spirit.  Thence,  by  the  advice  of  Germanus,  he 
went  further  south  to  the  great  school  of  Aries,  in  which 
Germajius  himself  had  studied,  and  from  Aries  most  probably 
to  Lerins,  which  was  itself  the  fountain  head  of  the  learning 
of  Aries.  Finally,  by  the  advice  of  Germanus,  he  sought  out 
the  great  Pope  Celestine,  but  the  holy  Pontiff  at  first  declined 
to  have  Patrick  consecrated  for  the  Irish  mission,  because 
Pelagius  had  been  sent  there  already  by  the  Pope.  When, 
however,  it  was  ascertained  that  Pelagius  had  given  up  the 
Irish  mission  and  died  in  Scotland,  that  obstacle  was  removed, 
and  Patrick  was  duly  consecrated,  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Pope,  and  sent  to  preach  in  Ireland. 

*  I  have  appointed  you  that  you  should  go  and  bring  forth 
fruit.'  Patrick  was  a  very  different  man  from  Pelagius^  Both 
were  received  in  the  same  hostile  spirit  by  the  same  savage 
chief  when  they  landed  in  the  County  Wicklow.  Pelagius, 
after  some  delay,  turned  and  fled  to  Scotland  ;  but  Patrick 
was  a  man  of  courage  and  resolution,  and  though  driven 
from  Wicklow  he  was  not  dismayed  or  disheartened.  After 
a  short  stay  in  Down  he  resolved  to  confront  the  high  king  with 
all  his  fierce  chiefs  and  Druids  on  the  Hill  of  Tara  itself.  He 
had  his  life  in  his  hands,  and  he  knew  it,  but  trusted  in  God, 
and  God  visibly  protected  him.  The  enemies  of  the  Gospel 
were  overthrown,  and  the  Saint  received  from  the  high  king 
a  reluctant  permission  to  preach  the  Gospel  throughout  the 
whole  island.  It  was  a  prolonged  and  laborious  apostolate, 
encompassed  with  manifold  dangers,  but  fruitful  beyond  the 
Saint's  most  sanguine  hopes.  For  sixty  years  Patrick  laboured 
in  Ireland,  thirty  of  which  he  spent  in  missionary  journeys 
throughout  the  whole  island,  and  the  last  thirty  he  chiefly. 
spent  here  in  Armagh  consolidating  his  work.  It  is  not  easy 
for  us  now  to  realise  all  the  difficulties  he  had  to  face.  There 
were  no  roads  at  the  time  but  mere  tracks,  there  were  no 
bridges,  no  hotels.  For  the  most  part,  he  and  his  attendants 
— his  family,  as  they  are  called — had  to  camp  out  and  provide 
themselves  with  everything  they  needed.  He  had  to  build 
his  churches,  and  to  write  his  own  books  when  the  original 
supply  was  exhausted.  He  had  to  make  his  sacred  vessels 
and  altar  stones,  to  train  and  educate  his  own  clerics,  at  first 
in  a  kind  of  itinerant  school,  for  all  the  grades  of  the  sacred 
ministry ;  and  he  had  to  do  all  this  throughout  the  whole 
country,  north,  south,  east,  and  west.  He  penetrated  through 
the  misty  hills  and  watery  moors  of  Connaught  and  Ulster, 
where  no  Christian  voice  was  ever  heard  before.  We  find 
his  bed  and  his  well  in  the  heart  of  the  Twelve  Benns  in 
Connemara.   He  spent  a  whole  Lent  on  the  summit  of  Croagh- 


732  APPENDIX    IX. 

Patrick,  fasting  and  praying  for  Ireland.  We  find  traces  of 
his  sojourn  in  the  islands  of  the  great  lakes  and  even  of  the 
far  western  ocean.  Twelve  times,  he  tells  us,  his  life  was  in 
peril.  On  one  occasion  his  devoted  servant  was  slain  by  his 
side,  because  he  was  mistaken  for  the  master.  He  was  often 
insulted  by  the  unbelievers,  and  once,  at  least,  he  was  put  in 
bonds.  But  he  pursued  his  work  undeterred  by  all  these 
dangers  and  difficulties.  God  was  with  him.  What  he 
blessed  was  visibly  blessed  by  God  ;  what  he  banned  withered 
up  like  the  fig-tree  cursed  by  our  Saviour. 

There  is  no  more  striking  trait  in  the  character  of  the 
great  apostle  than  his  disinterestedness  in  preaching  the 
Gospel.       He  describes  it  himself  in  necessary  self-defence. 

*  Though    I  baptised  so  many  thousands  of  men,'    he  says, 

*  did  I  ever  hope  to  get  from  any  of  them  so  much  as  haif  a 
scruple  ?  Although  the  Lord  ordained  clerics  everywhere  by 
my  poor  ministry,  did  I  not  give  that  ministry  gratis  ?  If 
ever  I  asked  from  any  of  them  so  much  as  the  price  of  a  shoe, 
tell  me  and  I  will  restore  it.'  Like  St.  Paul,  he  was  a  burden 
to  no  man,  and  preached  the  Gospel  without  hope  of  earthly 
reward.  His  converts,  indeed,  laid  generous  gifts  upon  the 
altar,  which  Patrick  must  have  needed,  not  for  himself,  but 
to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  had  to  bestow 
gifts,  he  says,  on  the  kings,  and  give  wages  to  their  sons  to 
protect  him  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  We  know  from  the 
example  of  Daire,  who  gave  Patrick  the  site  of  his  chief 
church  on  yonder  hill,  how  hard  it  was  to  manage  the  wild 
chieftains  of  the  time.  But  Patrick's  prudent  and  steadfast 
courage  conquered  them  ;  and  from  his  heart  he  thanks  God 
again  and  again,  who  blessed  his  labours  with  such  abundant 
fruit.  The  whole  island  became  Christian,  and  the  hearts  of 
the  people  were  fervent  in  faith  and  strong  in  grace  ;  '  the 
sons  of  the  Scots  became  monks,  and  their  daughters  in 
crowds  became  virgins  of  Christ ' — giving  up  all  things  for 
Him,  so  that  the  men  of  Erin,  he  tells  us,  who  before  wor- 
shipped idols  and  things  unclean,  now  became  '  the  people  of 
the  Lord  '    and   '  sons  of  the  Living  God.' 

How  dearly  he  loved  this  flock,  which  he  won  for  Christ 
at  the  ends  of  the  earth,  he  shows  by  word  and  deed.  He 
would  not  leave  them  even  for  a  short  time  to  visit  his  friends 
in  Britain,  or  see  the  faces  of  the  saints  in  Gaul  once  more. 
When  some  members  of  his  flock  were  maltreated  by  the  tyrant 
Coroticus,  he  bewails  them  in  the  language  of  a  mother  robbed 
of  her  children,  and  fiercely  denounces  the  vengeance  of  God 
on  the  tyrant  and  his  accomplices.  For  their  sake  he  lived 
and  laboured  ;  and  for  them  he  was  ready  to  die  ;  nay,  even 
to  have  his  body  cast  out  unburied,  to  become  a  prey  piecemeal 


II 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL,  ARMAGH.         733 

to  the  dogs  and  l^easts  and  birds  of  heaven — he  was  ready  to 
endure  all  for  his  flock  if   God  so  willed  it. 

Such  was  the  Apostle  sent  by  '  Pope  Celestine  and  by 
God's  Angel  Victor,'  as  the  Book  of  Armagh  tells  us,  to  convert 
our  fathers  to  the  iaith.  No  wonder  the  fruit  was  abundant  ; 
ind  surely  it  was  abiding.  *  I  have  appointed  you  that  you 
should  go  and  should  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit 
should  remain.'  Yes,  the  fruit  of  Patrick's  preaching  has 
remained  in  Ireland,  I  think  I  might  venture  to  say,  as  it 
has  remained  nowhere  else  ;  for  nowhere  else,  where  the 
faith  has  remained  as  a  nation's  faith,  were  the  trials  and 
persecutions  which  the  people  endured  for  their  faith  so 
great  and  so  prolonged  as  they  were  in  Ireland.  I  now 
merely  mention  the  fact  that  if  the  fruit  brought  forth  by 
the  preaching  of  an  apostle  has  remained  anywhere,  it  has 
remained  in  Ireland.  It  is  a  fact  that  no  one  has  ever  ventured 
to  question.  Not  so  in  many  places  elsewhere.  Where  are 
now  the  great  patriarchal  churches  of  the  East,  founded  by 
the  Apostles  themselves  ?  Well,  they  exist,  but  it  is  only 
in  name.  The  Moslem  dwells  in  St.  Sophia  ;  the  great 
churches  of  Cyprian  and  Augustine  are  no  more  ;  Canterbury 
has  no  Divine  Victim  on  its  altars  ;  lona  is  desolate  ;  the 
sea-birds  nestle  in  Lindisfarne  ;  Melrose  and  Fountains  Abbey 
attract  tourists  who  admire  their  fallen  glories  ;  but  they 
have  no  community  of  faith  or  feeling  with  the  holy  men 
who  dwelt  in  their  beautiful  cloisters.  Not  so  in  Ireland. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  material  buildings  were  despoiled  or 
overthrown ;  yet,  thanks  to  God,  all  over  the  country, 
as  in  Armagh,  they  are  rising  up  again  in  more  than  their 
ancient  splendour.  But  the  spiritual  edifice  reared  in  Ireland 
by  St.  Patrick  has  never  been  overthrown — and  why  ? 
Because  Patrick  built  his  house  upon  the  Rock,  and  that 
Rock  was  Peter,  upon  which  Christ  Himself  built  His  Church. 
•  The  rain  fell  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  they 
beat  upon  that  house,  yet  it  fell  not,  because  it  was  founded 
on  the, Rock.'  In  the  collections  of  Tirechan  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh,  dating  back  to  the  seventh  century,  we  are  told 
that  after  the  death  of  Pelagius  (who  was  also  called  Patricius 
or  Patrick)  '  the  second  Patrick  was  sent  by  the  Angel  of 
God,  Victor  by  name,  and  by  Celestine,  the  Pope  ;  in  him, 
Patrick,  all  Ireland  believed.'  Patrick  brought  the  Gospel 
message  from  Rome  to  Ireland.  When  he  heard  in  the  far 
West  of  Ireland  of  the  accession  of  Pope  Leo  the  Great,  the 
Saint  sent  his  own  nephew.  Munis,  from  Croaghpatrick 
'  with  counsel  for  the  Abbot  of  Rome,'  as  the  Annals  of 
Ulster  tell  us  ;  and  his  messenger  brought  back  the  blessing 
of  the  Pope  on  Patrick's  work  and  the  confirmation  of  his 
apostolate  in  Ireland.      In  the  same  Book  of  Armagh  there 


734  APPENDIX   IX. 

are  four  dicta  or  maxims  of  St.  Patrick,  which  were  ever  on 
his  hps,  and  one  of  them  was — '  Ut  Christiani  ita  et  Romani 
sitis' — as  you  are  Christians  (built  on  Christ),  so  be  ye 
Romans  (built  on  Peter) — you  cannot  be  one  except  you  are 
also  the  other.  That  maxim  he  inculcated  all  his  life,  and 
with  his  latest  breath,  on  the  Irish  prelates  and  the  Irish 
people  ;  it  was  inserted  amongst  his  dicta  in  the  official 
record  of  his  primatial  church  ;  and  it  was  never  forgotten 
by  Patrick's  bishops  or  by  their  successors.  In  the  same 
Book  of  Armagh  was  inserted  the  famous  Canon  of  Patrick's 
Synod,  directing  appeals  in  all  the  causae  majores — the  most 
difficult  and  important  causes — to  be  sent  to  Rome.  The 
acts  of  this  Synod  are  recognised  as  authentic  by  the  most 
competent  authorities  ;  and  the  Book  of  Armagh  quotes  it 
expressly  as  decreed  by  Auxilius,  Patricius,  Secundinus,  and 
Benignus — the  two  latter  his  dearest  friends  and  coadjutors. 
So  we  find  Patrick  by  this  solemn  synodical  decree  formally 
directing  his  successors  and  the  other  Irish  prelates  to  transmit 
the  causae  majores  to  Rome,  '  to  be  decided  by  the  authority 
of  the  Apostolic  See  of  Peter,  which  has  jurisdiction  over  the 
City  of  Rome.' 

In  the  seventh  century,  when  such  a  grave  cause  arose 
in  Ireland  regarding  the  Paschal  controversy,  and  the  Irish 
prelates  were  divided  amongst  themselves,  it  was  unanimously 
resolved,  in  accordance  with  the  Canon  of  St.  Patrick,  as  St. 
Cummian  expressly  states,  to  send  delegates  to  Rome  for  a 
final  decision  of  the  question.  *  They  went  as  children  to 
their  mother  ;  '  they  heard  the  teaching  and  saw  the  practice 
of  Rome,  which  was  found  to  be  different  from  the  Irish 
practice,  and  when  they  returned  with  their  report  the  Roman 
usage  was  at  once  accepted  by  the  Irish  Church — lona  alone 
holding  out  for  some  time  longer. 

During  the  Danish  wars  communication  with  Rome  was 
infrequent  and  difficult,  but  certainly  did  not  cease,  as  I 
might  easily  show,  if  time  allowed.  No  sooner,  however,  was 
the  Irish  Church  free  to  reform  herself  than  at  once  her 
prelates'  turned  to  Rome  for  light  and  guidance.  Imar 
O'Hagan,  the  teacher  of  St.  Malachi,  and  one  of  the  authors 
of  that  reformation,  died  on  his  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  St. 
Malachi,  the  great  primate  who  reformed  the  Church  of 
Armagh  and  of  Down  and  of  all  Ireland,  went  in  person  to 
Rome  to  confer  with  the  Pope,  and  Innocent  II.  put  his 
own  mitre  on  his  head  and  his  own  stole  about  his  neck, 
thereby  constituting  him  his  Legate ;  and  thus  with  plenary 
powers  sent  him  back  to  Ireland.  At  a  later  period  Christian 
of  Lismore,  one  of  Malachi's  friends  and  monks,  became 
Papal  legate  ;  and  so  the  good  work  of  reformation  sped 
apace  under  the  guidance   and  by  the  authority  of  the  Holy 


DEDICATION  OT  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL,  ARMAGH.         735 

See.  Another  Papal  Legate,  Cardinal  Paparo,  the  first 
Cardinal  that  ever  appeared  in  Ireland,  presided  at  the  great 
Synod  of  Kells,  in  1152 — before  the  Norman  ever  set  foot  in 
Ireland — in  which  the  four  Archbishops  for  the  first  time 
received  their  pallia  from  the  Pope,  and  the  Irish  dioceses 
were  determined  in  number  and  circumscription  practically  as 
they  are  at  present.  Since  that  Synod  down  to  the  present 
day,  as  everyone  knows  and  admits,  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Ireland  continued  in  most  intimate  communion  with  the 
Apostolic  See.  When  the  day  of  trial  came,  and  the  whole 
weight  of  the  English  power  was  brought  to  bear  on  Catholic 
Ireland  in  order  to  destroy  the  faith,  it  was  communion  with 
Rome  that  saved  it.  They  were  anchored  in  the  Rock,  and 
they  clung  to  it  immovable  in  the  fierce  storm  that  swept 
over  them.  'Twas  the  wine  from  the  Royal  Pope  that  gave 
them  spirit  and  life  in  their  darkest  hours  :  it  was  missionaries 
from  Rome  that  kept  the  faith  ahve  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  ; 
it  was  money  from  the  papal  treasuries  that  kept  the  Irish 
students  in  their  foreign  colleges,  ^nd  the  Irish  prelates  and 
priests  at  home  from  starving.  Therefore,  I  say  that 
Patrick's  word  has  remained,  because  he  built  his  house  upon 
the  Rock,  and  that  Rock  was  Peter,  on  which  Christ  Himself 
declared  He  built  the  Church. 

But  there  was,  under  God,  another  cause  for  the  per- 
severance of  the  Irish  people  in  the  Faith,  and  that  was  the 
earnest,  persevering,  efhcacions  prayer  of  Patrick  himself. 
Our  Saviour  had  promised  that  '  whatsoever  you  ask  the 
Father  in  My  Name  He  will  give  it  to  yoa.'  That  promise 
was  a  part  of  Patrick's  commission  ;  he  realised  it  in  a  way 
that  few  saints  have  ever'  realised  it ;  and  for  him  it  was 
fulfilled  in  a  very  marvellous  manner.  T  have  already  pointed 
out  that  Patrick  claimed  an  immediate  divine  call,  and 
subsequently  a  divine  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
Erin.  He  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Sacred 
Scripture,  he  knew  the  promise  of  our  Saviour  given  to  the 
apostles,  and  he  claimed  its  fulfilment  in  his  own  case  with 
the  most  importunate  insistence — '  Whatever  you  ask  the 
Father  in  My  Name,  that  He  will  give  you ' — there  was  the 
promise.  He  resolved  to  ask  for  the  preservance  of  the  Irish 
people  in  the  faith  as  a  nation,  and  it  was  granted  to  him. 
Such  is  my  view ;  and  it  explains  what  otherwise  it  is 
difficult  to  explain — Patrick's  wrestling  in  prayer  with  God 
on  the  Holy  Mountain  during  his  forty  days'  fast  on  its 
wind-swept  summit.  I  have  heard  good  men  saj^ — 
theologians,  too — why  spend  the  whole  Lent  on  the  windy 
summit  of  that  desolate  hill  ?  why  so  daring  in  his  petitions  ? 
why  so  extravagant  in  his  demands  ?  why  so  insistent  in 
their  iteration  ?      My  text  explains  it  all — whatever  you — 


736  APPENDIX    IX. 

the  Apostle  of  Ireland — ask  the  Father  in  My  Name,  that  He 
will  grant  you.  He  cannot  refuse  it,  because  it  has  been 
promised  by  infallible  Truth.  That  thought  was  in  Patrick's 
mind  ;  more  than  a  mother's  love  for  his  flock  was  in  his 
heart,  and  not  only  for  his  flock  in  his  own  time,  but  for  their 
children  to  the  end  of  the  world.  In  prophetic  spirit  he  saw 
the  trials  of  the  future ;  therefore,  with  the  tears  rolling 
down  his  cheeks,  and  the  yells  of  tormented  devils  sounding 
in  his  ears,  he  besought  the  Lord  for  Whom  he  had  suffered 
so  much  to  hear  his  earnest,  passionate  prayers  for  his  flock  ; 
and  he  would  not  even  at  the  bidding  of  the  Angel,  leave 
the  Holy  Mountain  until  he  got  an  assurance  from  God  that 
they  were  heard  and  granted.  Then  he  said  '  Deo  gratias,' 
and  descended  like  Moses  from  the  Irish  Sinai. 

There  is  a  strange  story  told  in  the  old  Lives  of  the 
Saints  that  shows  how  dearly  Patrick  loved  his  Irish  children. 
They  tell  us  that  he  left  seven  of  his  own  religious  family — 
one  on  each  of  the  commanding  hills  that  overlook  the  land 
— to  keep  watch  and  ward  over  his  beloved  flock  and  their 
children  until  the  day  of  doom.  It  is  true  in  one  sense  at 
least  that  Patrick  and  the  saints  of  his  family  in  heaven  have 
watched  over  and  prayed  for  Ireland  during  all  the  dreadful 
years  of  the  past,  and  it  may  be  that  God's  Angel  Guardians 
at  Patrick's  prayer  are  stationed  by  God  on  those  lone 
summits,  to  watch  over  all  the  hills  and  valleys  of  holy  Ireland. 
And  he  prayed  not  for  Ireland  merely,  but  for  all  those  whom 
Irish  apostles  have  brought  to  the  faith  in  many  far  off  lands. 
I  need  not  tell  this  learned  assemblage  of  the  missionary 
labours  of  the  Irish  saints  and  scholars  during  the  interval 
between  St.  Patrick's  death  and  the  Danish  invasions,  when 
they  were  the  greatest  christianising  and  civilizing  influence 
in  Western  Europe.  The  same  missionary  zeal  has  manifested 
itself  in  our  time.  So  that  the  children  of  St.  Patrick  have 
been  the  chief  means  of  propagating  the  Catholic  faith  through- 
out all  English-speaking  countries. 

I  said  in  the  beginning  that  I  looked  upon  this  splendid 
temple  as  the  latest  outcome  of  Patrick's  spiritual  work  in 
Ireland — that  he  is,  as  it  were,  its  primary  founder.  It  is,  I 
think,  undeniable.  Crolly,  a  great  and  good  Primate,  began 
the  work  on  a  scale  of  what,  at  the  time,  was  daring  magni- 
ficence, that  is  in  1840,  and  funds  were  collected  from  the 
clergy  and  people  throughout  all  Ireland.  Then  the  famine 
intervened,  and  the  work  was  arrested.  Dixon,  learned  and 
laborious,  in  1854,  took  up  the  unfinished  work,  and 
inaugurated  it  by  a  Pontifical  High  Mass  within  its  unroofed 
walls,  v/hich  was  celebrated  in  a  fierce  storm  that  might  be 
regarded  as  a  symbol  of  the  fiercer  storm  of  persecution  frorn 
which  the  Catholics  of  the' North  were  just  then  emerging. 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL.  ARMAGH.         737 

But  the  builders  weathered  both  storms  ;  the  work  went  on 
steadily,  large  sums  coming  from  America  to  help  its  progress. 
The  venerable  M'Gettigan  built  the  twin  towers  that  rise  so 
proudly  over  this  sacred  hill,  and  blessed  the  church  in  1873. 
Another  illustrious  son  of  Old  Tirconnell  has  now  completed 
the  work  in  a  style  of  the  highest  artistic  elegance ;  and 
to-day,  in  presence  of  the  Papal  Legate,  his  Eminence  has 
given  it  over  to  God  and  St.  Patrick.  Still  Patrick  is  the 
primary  founder.  His  name  is  a  power  wherever  the  children 
of  the  Gael  are  scattered  over  the  world.  The  primates  I 
have  named  got  the  money  to  build  and  decorate  this  church 
because  they  are  the  spiritual  Heirs  of  Patrick.  He  lives 
again  in  his  successors  ;  their  voice  is  the  voice  of  Patrick, 
their  power  is  the  power  of  Patrick.  In  the  past  the  prelate 
who  got  possession  of  the  insignia  of  Patrick — his  Crozier,  his 
Bell,  and  his  Book — was  regarded  as  the  living  representative 
of  Patrick,  and  heir  to  all  his  power  and  privileges.  Armagh 
itself  was  St.  Patrick's  sacred  city — a  centre  of  learning  and 
authority  for  all  the  land  ;  and  it  became  a  place  of  pilgrimage 
for  all  Ireland.  The  pilgrims  deemed  themselves  happy  if 
they  died  in  Armagh  and  were  buried  in  its  sacred  soil.  The 
greatest  of  the  Irish  Kings,  who  fell  at  Clontarf,  not  only 
visited  Patrick's  city  whilst  living,  and  made  rich  offerings  to 
Patrick's  altar,  but  he  ordered  his  body  to  be  taken  to  Armagh 
and  buried  in  its  sacred  soil. 

Then  succeeded  evil  days  for  the  ancient  faith  and  the 
ancient  race.  There  was  a  time  when  the  Catholics  were 
driven  from  Armagh  as  the  Jews  were  driven  from  Jerusalem  ; 
but  it  has  happily  passed  away.  The  temple  has  been  rebuilt, 
the  priesthood  restored,  and  the  throne  of  Patrick  again  set 
up  in  his  own  city.  His  glory  lightens  over  all  those  marble 
altars  ;  his  name  resounds  from  this  pulpit ;  it  is  his  voice 
that  has  called  you  here,  and  it  his  hand  and  the  Pope's  that 
will  bless  you  when  this  sermon  is  over.  This  vast  assemblage 
— prelates,  priests,  and  people — have  come  from  afar,  but  it 
is  one  purpose  inspires  them  all,  to  give  glory  to  God  and 
honour  to  Patrick  and  to  Patrick's  Heir.  Our  Holy  Father 
the  Pope,  successor  of  that  St.  Celestine  who  sent  St.  Patrick 
to  preach  to  our  fathers,  has  sent  here  an  illustrious  Cardinal 
all  the  way  from  Rome,  as  his  Legate,  to  preside  in  this 
assembly,  to  bring  his  blessing  to  us  on  this  great  day,  and 
to  show  the  whole  world  that  this  new  temple,  like  that 
which  Patrick  first  built  in  Armagh,  is  built  upon  the  Rock, 
and  that,  as  we  are  Christians,  so  we  are  Romans,  as  united 
and  as  devoted  to  the  See  of  Peter  now  as  our  fathers  have 
always  been  in  the  past.  Last  night  I  heard  the  letter  read 
which  Cardinal  Vannutelli  bears  from  Our  Holy  Father  the 
Pope  to  his  Eminence  the  Cardinal-Primate,  and  which  I  have 

3  B 


738  APPENDIX    IX. 

no  doubt  will  be  published  in  a  few  days.  It  is  a  beautiful 
and  touching  letter,  and  shows  the  ardent  affection  which 
Our  Holy  Father  has  for  the  Irish  people.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  read  or  to  see  anything  more  touching  or  more 
beautiful.  I  believe  I  can  speak  in  the  name  of  the  Prelates 
here,  of  the  clergy  here,  and  of  the  people  here,  when  I  say 
that  we  return  to  Our  Holy  Father  and  to  his  Eminence  the 
Cardinal  Legate  our  most  grateful  and  heartfelt  thanks,  and 
assure  them  that  it  is  a  favour  we  can  never  forget,  and  that 
the  mission  of  his  Eminence  to  this  church  to-day  has  been 
the  means  of  binding  us  closer  in  intimate  and  loyal  Union 
with  the  See  of  St.  Peter. 

And  the  Irish  Bishops  are  here  to-day  to  show  their  love 
for  Patrick,  and  for  the  Heir  of  Patrick,  and  pay  their  homage 
to  the  Primate  of  all  Ireland.  The  clergy,  secular  and 
regular,  are  here  to-day  in  greater  numbers  than  I  have  ever 
seen  before  to  join  their  pastors  in  paying  this  loving  homage 
to  the  Chair  of  our  National  Apostle.  Many  Prelates  of 
England  and  Scotland  are  here,  headed  by  the  successor  of 
St.  Augustine,  to  testify  to  their  union  with  us  in  faith  and 
charity,  and  pay  the  homage  of  themselves  and  of  their 
flocks  to  the  memory  of  the  great  Saint  who  came  to  us  from 
Britain,  and  whose  spiritual  children  of  Irish  birth  or  blood 
are  to-day  the  mainstay  of  their  flocks  in  the  Britain  of 
Columba,  Augustine,  and  Bede.  In  the  same  spirit,  and  for 
the  same  purpose,  we  see  here  to-day  countless  crowds  of  the 
laity  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  in  life,  from  the  first  of 
England's  nobles — noblest  in  blood — ^but  nobler  still  in 
unswerving  faith  and  stainless  honour — down  to  the  dusty 
wayfarers,  who  have  come  hither  from  Ulster's  farthest  hills 
and  valleys  to  join  in  the  ceremonial  of  this  great  day. 
Neither  Armagh  nor  any  other  part  of  Ireland  has  ever  seen 
an  assemblage  like  this  on  a  similar  occasion.  It  was  a  great 
day  recorded  in  our  Annals  when  Cormac's  beautiful  chapel 
on  the  Rock  of  Cashel  was  consecrated  by  the  Archbishop 
and  Bishops  of  Munster,  and  *  the  nobles  of  Ireland,  both 
lay  and  ecclesiastical,'  but  it  was  really  only  a  gathering  of 
the  South,  whilst  here  to-day  we  have  a  gathering  of  all 
Ireland.  There  was  another  great  assemblage  when  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Mellifont  was  dedicated  by  the  primate  and 
the  prelates  and  princes  of  Meath  and  Oriel,  who  gave  generous 
offerings  in  gold,  silver  and  embroidery  for  the  use  of  the 
church  ;  but  their  numbers  were  not  as  great,  their  offerings 
were  not  so  large,  their  character  was  not  so  representative, 
as  in  this  assembly  gathered  round  the  Cardinal  Primate  of 
Armagh.  It  is  a  celebration  unique  in  its  character,  and  will, 
I  have  no  doubt,  be  recorded  in  our  national  annals  down  to 
remotest  ages.     Nor  has  this  city  of  Armagh  ever  seen  such 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  NEW  CATHEDRAL,  ARMAGH.         739 

a  church  before.  From  the  beginning  it  was  a  city  of 
churches  and  of  schools  where  Celt  and  Saxon  met  together 
to  learn  and  pray.  St.  Patrick  himself  erected  probably  four 
churches,  and  it  would  appear  that  at  one  time  there  were  no 
less  than  ten  churches  in  all  around  the  Sacred  Hill.  The 
first  Cathedral  built  by  Patrick  himself  on  yonder  hill, 
whose  foundations  he  traced  and  blessed  under  the 
guidance  of  God's  Angel,  Victor,  was  a  comparatively  small 
and  plain  building.  It  was  often  destroyed,  accidentally  or 
deliberately,  by  fire,  and  as  often  restored.  It  was  often 
profaned,  and  pillaged,  and  used  as  a  barracks  or  a  fortress  by 
the  victors.  It  has  long  passed  from  Catholic  hands,  and 
early  in  the  last  century  was  restored  at  great  cost  by  the 
Protestant  primates.  But  it  can  no  longer  vie  either  in  its 
commanding  site,  or  in  grandeur  of  its  proportions,  or  in  the 
richness  of  its  decorations  with  this  noble  temple. 

It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  this  primatial  city  of  holy 
Patrick  should  rejoice  to-day.  The  ancient  land  of  Oriel  is 
glad.  The  hills  of  Old  Tirconnell  feel  a  thrill  of  joy — all 
Catholic  Ireland  at  home,  and  the  greater  Ireland  beyond 
the  sea,  exult  in  the  advent  of  this  glorious  day,  which 
gives  over  this  national  temple  to  God  and  St.  Patrick. 
And  they  exult  not  only  in  the  dedication  of  this  splendid 
temple,  but  they  also  rejoice  on  this  the  episcopal  jubilee  of 
him  who  so  worthily  wields  the  crozier  of  St.  Patrick.  His 
Eminence  is  the  109th  Primate  who  has  sat  in  Patrick's 
Chair  on  this  Royal  Hill — a  long  and  illustrious  line  including 
Saints  and  Confessors  and  Martyrs — great  and  holy  names 
like  Patrick  and  Benen,  Celsus  and  Benignus,  Malachi  and 
Gelasius,  Creagh,  Plunkett,  and  M'Mahon,  whose  virtues  and 
sufferings  light  up  our  chequered  story  as  with  a  light  from 
Heaven  ;  but  his  Eminence  is  the  only  one  of  that  illustrious 
line  that  sat  in  Patrick's  Chair  clothed  in  the  purple  of  Rome. 

My  Lord  Cardinal,  Primate  of  All  Ireland,  and  Heir  of 
St.  Patrick,  we  bring  your  Eminence  cordial  greetings  to-day, 
not  only  from  our  cities  and  towns  but  from  the  remotest 
hills  and  valleys  of  holy  Ireland  ;  we  offer  you  our  hearty 
congratulations  on  this  jubilee  of  your  episcopal  reign ;  and 
we  pray  God  to  prolong  the  hfe  of  your  Eminence  for  many 
years  to  come.  We  rejoice  that  you  have  been  spared  to  see 
this  great  church  completed,  and  given  over  to  God  and  to 
St.  Patrick  on  the  very  crown  of  this  Royal  Hill.  And 
looking  back  to-day  from  this  mystic  summit,  where  the 
milk-white  Hind,  'so  often  doomed  to  death  yet  fated  not 
to  die,'  like  Patrick's  hunted  stag,  has  at  length  found  shelter 
and  repose  ;  looking  back  through  the  perilous  ages  that  are 
gone,  is  it  not  our  duty,  one  and  all,  with  grateful  hearts  to 
give  a  nation's  thanks  to  God  to-day  who  guided  us  with  the 


740  APPENDIX    TX. 

light  of  His  grace  and  shielded  us  with  the  strength  of  His 
arm  through  the  stress  and  the  storm  of  the  past  ?  Not  to 
us,  O  Lord,  but  to  Thy  name  give  the  glory.  We  have  sinned 
and  we  have  suffered  ;  but  thou  didst  not  cast  away  Thy 
inheritance,  nor  make  void  the  prayers  of  Patrick  on  the 
Holy  Mountain,  nor  the  blessings  wherewith,  with  uphfted 
hands,  he  blessed  this  primatial  city,  and  his  entire  flock 
throughout  this  land  of  his  love.  And  do  Thou,  O  mighty 
Lord,  deign  to  be  with  us  and  our  children  in  the  future  as 
Thou  wast  with  our  fathers  through  all  the  terrible  past  : 
not  on  our  own  works,  but  on  Thy  great  mercy  and  on  the 
prayers  of  our  blessed  Mother  Mary  and  of  all  the  saints  of 
Erin  do  we  rely.  To  our  father  and  to  their  father — our 
own  St.  Patrick,  the  patron  of  this  City  and  of  this  Cathedral 
— we  make  this  day  in  his  own  temple  a  special  appeal.  He 
loved  his  flock,  as  we  know,  with  a  love  stronger  than  death, 
and  we — we  love  him  in  return  with  a  deep  and  tender  and 
abiding  love.  O  great  Saint,  watch  over  us,  as  thou  hast 
watched  over  our  fathers,  pray  for  us  as  thoa  didst  pray  for 
them  on  this  Holy  Hill.  May  we  learn  from  your  bright 
example  to  fear  the  Lord  our  Gorl,  and  walk  in  His  ways, 
and  love  and  serve  the  Lord  oui-  God  with  all  our  hearts  and 
with  all  our  souls.  So  this  templr>  which  we  thy  servants  have 
built  on  this  Holy  Hill  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  honour  of 
thy  name  shall  stand  rooted  in  the  Rock,  a  memorial  for  the 
coming  ages  of  that  love  for  the  beauty  of  God's  House 
which  fills  the  hearts  of  thine  own  people,  a  memorial  of 
their  undying  devotion  to  thee,  their  Spiritual  Father,  and  a 
memorial  also  of  that  steadfast  faith  which  has  conquered 
the  world,  and  their  immortal  hopes,  which  have  conquered 
the  grave. 


INDEX. 


AcAN,     one     of     Patrick's     guest 

ministers,   319,  580. 
Achiid  Forchai,  152,  153. 
Adamnati,  603,   604. 
Aedh,  Bishop  of  tSletty,  393,  400. 
Aengus,    Calendar  of,   628. 
Mac     Natfraicb,     Bishop     of 

Cashel,   413. 

and    his     brothers    baptised, 


414. 


Patrick's       Crozier       pierces 


foot  of,  415. 

race  of,  416. 


Age  of  Patrick  at  Consecration,  68. 

'  according  to  Todd,  68. 

Aghade,   Iserninus'   Church   at,  389. 
Aghagower,    Patrick    at,    219,    220, 
226,  228. 

Patrick  celebrates  Easter  at, 

234„ 

Aghamore,  214,  215. 
Aghanagh,  Church  of,  193,  281. 
Aglish,   Church  of,  242. 
Agrarian  Code  of  Brehon  Laws,  459, 

seq. 
Ailbe,  St.,  of  Emly,  421,  426. 
Ailbe,    St.,   of    Shancoe,    192,    193, 

194,  284,  562. 
Ailech,  Neid,  302. 
Ailech  of  the  Kings,   305,   306. 
Aileran  the  Wise,  10. 
Ailill,  370,   371,  420,  421. 
Allen  Hill,  380. 
Almaige,  287. 
Almham  Hill,  380. 
'  Alphabets  '  of  Patrick,  563. 
Altadaven,  354. 
Amalgaid,  246,  247. 

dispute  of  sons  of,  249  ;  and 

judgment,  249  ;  IWipartite  version 
of  judgment,  249. 

Amatorex,    attempts  at   identifying, 

114,  115. 
Ancyra,  Council  of,  31. 
Anecdota  Bollandiana,   17. 
Angel,  Book  of ;  (see  Liber  Angeli). 
Annales  Cambriae,  628. 
Apostolate,  Patrick  defends  his,  70. 
Apostolic  See,  71. 
Appearance,    personal,   of    Patrick, 


Arada  Cliach,  420. 

Aralatensis,  identification  of,  81,  86. 

Patrick  in,  87,   88. 

Ardagh,  Maine's  dun  at,  176. 

description   of,    177. 

Ardmore,  436. 

Ardour   of  Patriot's   character,   648. 

Ardpatrick,  433. 

Ard   Eolorg,    Churches  in,  317. 

Ardlice,    206. 

Ardrass,   370. 

Ard  Senlis.  207. 

Ardstraw,  316. 

diocese   of,   303. 


Armagh,   pre-Christian,   481. 

origin   of  word,   481. 

■  founded,  485. 

story  of  doe  and  fawn,  487, 


new  Cathedral,  488. 

laying    of    foundation    stone 


of,   489. 

measurements  of,  490. 

Churches  of  490,  viz.  :  — 

Na  Ferta,  490.  » 
Damhliac,  491. 
Saball,  491 
Damhliac  Toga,   491. 
other  buildings  in,  491,  492. 

date  of  founding  of,  492. 

boundaries    of,    according    to 


Tripartite,     495 ;      according     to 
Liher  Aiujeli,  496. 

daily  labours  of  Patrick  in. 


500,    501'. 

prerogatives    of,    from  Liher 


Angeli,  527,  528. 

privileges  of  prelates  of,  528, 


532. 


529. 

Patrick   anxious   to    die  in, 

prediction     of    greatness   of, 
fulfilled,  533. 

School  of,  564  ;  fame  of,  567 ; 


hospitality  of,  and  how  requited, 
567 ;  Eory  0' Conor's  grant  to, 
567 ;   De  Curci  devastates,  568. 

Book    of,     17,   18,    19,   390, 


594 ;  documents  in,  17,  18,  19 ; 
sometimes  called  Canoiii  Patraic, 
640 ;     description    of,    640 ;    cover 


3c 


742 


INDEX. 


made  for,  640  ;  custodian  of,  640  ; 
later  history  of,  641. 
Armagh,  dedication  of  new  Cathedral 
at,  726 ;  Freeman'' s  Journal  on 
dedication,  726  ;  dedication  sermon 
at  (see  Sermon). 

Pilgrimage   to    (see    Pilgrim- 
age). 

Primacy   of,    438,   439,  518 ; 

recognised  by  Leinster  prelates, 
401 ;  asserted  by  Fiacc  and 
Sechnall,  530;  first  questioned, 
530 ;  primacy  of  jurisdiction,  530  ; 
recognised  by  Brian  Boru,  530 ; 
claims  of  English  prelates  to,  531. 

Aries,  Synod  ol,  31,  32. 
Armoy,  331,   333. 
Artisans   of  Patrick,    582. 
Assicus,  Bishop,  196. 

history  of,   198. 

his  penance,  199. 

Athcen,  Patrick's  cook,  579. 
Ath-da-learg,  Church  of,  164. 
Athfiacla,   419. 

Ath  Maigi,  168. 
Attracta,  St.,  214. 
Augustin    of    Inis    Beg,    394. 
Augustine,   St.,  his  Roman  Mission, 

105. 
Augustinian  Canons,  420. 
Auxerre  Monastery,  90. 
Auxilius,  363,  375,^378,  379. 

Bachall  Iosa  (see  Jesus,   S_tail  of). 
Badoney,    old    Church    of,    519. 

Upper,  316. 

Balla,  Well  at,   242. 
Ballina,  264. 
Ballinamore,   188. 
Ballintemple,  289. 
Ballyadams,   383. 
Ballybrit,  440. 

Ballyhaunis  to  Donaghpatrick,  jour- 
ney, 222. 
Ballymoney,   333. 
Ballyragget,    406. 
Bann  as  a  fishmg  river,  326. 

Patrick   re-crosses,   343. 

Bannavem  Taherniae,  20,  21,  22, 

23,  45,  590. 
'  Barbarus  Patricii,'  620. 
Bards,  139,  568,  569. 
Barnesmore,    301, 
Barrow  river  crossed,  402. 
Barry,    Gerald,  610,    651. 
Bartragh.   269. 
Baslic,  Church  of,  209. 
Bede,  27. 

Beglev,  Rev.   John,  428. 
Belach  Ratha,  307. 


Bell.   Black,  655. 

of  the  Will,  579,  601,  636. 

invention  of,   637. 
description  of,  637. 

use  of,  637. 

keeper  of,  638. 

shrine  of,  638,  639. 

O'Curry     identifies      it     with 
Finnfaidhech,  639. 

Petrie  on,  639. 

used  as  battle  standard,  640. 
Bellrinoer  of  Patrick,   578. 
Bells   in  Western  Church,   649. 
Bellaghan,  304. 
Belmont,   308. 
Benignus  or  Benen,    122,   141,   222, 

286,  514,  562.  566,  576,  577. 
Berach,  511,  512,  513. 
Bernard.  St.,  530,  601,  635. 
Bemas  Hy  Ailella,  279. 
Beresford,  642. 

Bescna,   Patrick's  sacristan,  580. 
Betham,    554. 
Bethechan,  512. 
Birth  of  Patrick,  date  of,  26. 
Birthplace  of  Patrick,  20-26. 

Place's  Scholiast  on,  585. 

O'SuUivan  Beare  on,  585. 
Lanigan  on,  25,  586. 
Cashel  Hoey  on,  586. 
Lynch  on,  586. 
Handcock  and  O'Mahony  on, 

587. 
Father     Alfred     Barry     on, 

587. 
Cardinal  Moran  on,  587. 
objections  against  Kilpatrick 
as,  examined,  587  to  590. 
Bishop,   Patrick's,   572. 
Bishops,    consecrated     by     Patrick, 

550. 
Bite,      Bishop,     one     of     Patrick's 

artisans,  196,  582. 
Blessing  of  Ailech,  307,  308. 
'  Bob  of  the  Reek,'  655. 
Bollandists,  535,  554,  662. 
Boniface,   St.,  598. 
Books    in  School    of   Armagh,    565, 
566. 

scarcity     of,     in     Itinerant 


school,  563. 
Bovhood    of  Patrick,    miracles    of, 

40,  41,  42. 
Boyne,  Patrick  sails  for,  140,  141. 
Bralieve,   284. 
liredach,  312. 
Bregia,    Eastern,    Churches   in,    159, 

160. 
Brehon   Cede,   origin  of,  448. 
nature  of,  449. 


INDEX. 


743 


Brehon  Code,  time  of  composition  of, 
451. 

revision  of,  451,  452. 

difficulties  answered,  453,  454, 

text  of,  very  ancient,  454. 

relations    of   Church    and    State 
in,  456-457. 

law  of  fosterage  in,  457,  458,  459. 
Brehon  Agrarian  Code,  459,  seq. 
Brehons  of  Ancient  Ireland,  139. 
Brenain   opposes   Patrick,   168. 
Brendan  of  Clonfert,  574. 
Brewer  of  Patrick,  580. 
Brian  Boru,  530,  645. 
Brian,    son   of   Eochy,   sons   visited, 

210  to  213. 
Brig,   511,   513. 
Briga  of  the  Hy  Ercain,  380. 
Bright,   Church  of,   131. 
Brigid,    St.,  of   Kildare,    445,    574; 

vision  of,  355,  356. 

dat«  of  birth  of,  356. 

meetings  with  Patrick,  357. 

burial-place  of,  606. 

difficulties       regarding       burial- 
place  of,  answered,  607,  seij. 

Fourth  Life  of,  609. 
Bri  Leith  described,  179,  180. 
Hritonissa,   621. 

Broccaid  of  Imbliuch  Ech,  615. 
Bron,  Bishop,  274,  276,  277. 
Brosna,  440. 

Brosnach,  Patrick  goes  to,  439. 
Browne,   George,   636. 
Brownlow,   642. 

Brownrigg,  Most  Rev.  Dr.,  409. 
Buadmael,  death  of,  190. 
Bulbin   Hill,   295. 
Hurial  of  Patrick,  540,  seq. 
Burial-place  of  Patrick,  only  recently 
disputed,  591. 

Fiacc  on,  591. 

Muirchu  on,  592. 

Tripartite  on,   592. 

Probus  and  Jocelyn  on,  593. 

Testamentmn  Patricii  on,  593. 

Booh  of  Armagh  on,  594. 

difficulties  regarding,   answered. 
594,   seq. 

Book  of  Cuanu  on,   597. 

place  of,   revealed  by  Columcille, 
597. 

St.  BernarJ  on,  601. 
Burial-place  of  Brigid  (see  Brigid). 
Burial-place  of  Columcille  (see  Col- 
umcille). 
Bury,  Professor,  536,  729. 
Bushel,  Feast  of  the,  439. 

Cadan  or  Catan,  318. 


Caher  Island,   237. 

Cainnech,    318,    511. 

Cairbre,  son  of  Niall  of  Nine  Hos- 
tages, 161,  162,  291,  294,  295. 

Calderon,    663. 

Calpait  the  Druid,  204. 

Calpurnius,   29,  30. 

Calraige,  278,   279. 

Camargue,  81,  86. 

Camas  or  Camus,  320,  326. 

Campbell,    Rev.   James,    664. 

Canice,    St.,   405. 

Canoiti  Patraic  (see  Armagh,  Book 
of). 

Canon  in  Book  of  Armagh,  Patrick's, 
517,  518,  711. 

Canons,  Irish  Collection  of,  525. 

Canons  of  Synod  of  Bishops,  708, 
711. 

single  attributed  to  Patrick, 

711. 

of    second  Synod    attributed 

to  Patrick,  732  to  716. 

Cairthenn  Beg,  344. 

Mor,  344. 

son  of  Bloid,  431. 

Captivity,  Patrick's  place  of,  43  to 

48. 

life  in,  48  to  53. 

■  escape  from,  53  to  64. 

second,  or  some   say,    third, 

64. 

Britain  at  time  of,  46,  47. 

Capua,    identification   of,  103. 
Carbacc,  295,   296, 
Carndonagh,   309. 

Carnech,  St.,  303. 

Carn-Eolairg,  317. 

Carnfree,    212. 

Carn  Setnai,  331. 

Carra,  Patrick  in,  224,  225,  226. 

Carthach,  437. 

Carthage,  Synod  of,  32. 

Cary,   Churches  in,  336. 

Casiiel,  411  to  417. 

■  Archbishop  of,  417. 

Catan,      one      of     Patrick's      guest 

ministers. 
Causeway,   St.  Patrick's.  238. 
Celibacy  of   Clergy,   30-33. 
Cell   Buaidmoel,    190. 
Cell  Forgland,  58,  258. 
Celsus,  St.,  439,  530. 
Celtar,  Hill  of,  593. 
Celtic  Scotland,  27. 
Cengoba,   514,   515. 
Cetchen,  200. 
Cethech,   Bishop,  207. 
Cetni,  289. 
Chamberlain  of  Patrick,  578. 


744 


INDEX. 


Champion  of  Patrick,  S?^, 

need  fo),  575. 

Ridgo  of,  514. 

Chaplain  of  Patrick,  580. 
Character  of  Patrick.  534,  549. 
Charioteer  of  Patricic.  581. 
Cheeses  made  at  home,  513, 
Childhood  of  Patrick,  36. 
Chronicle  of  Marianus  Scot  us,  34. 
Chroiiicon  Scotoj'um,   535. 
Churches   founded   by  Patrick,   292, 

293,  550. 
Ciannan  of  Duleek,  142.   318 
Ciaran  of  Ossory,  409,  410,  411. 
Ciaran,  son  of  the  Wright,  311. 
Ciarraige  of  Magh  Ai,  206,  207,  208. 

of  Mayo,  218,  219,  220. 

Cilline,  373. 

son  of,  373. 

Cinnenum,  614,   619. 

Cinnu,  daughter  of  Echu,  351. 

Cistercians  at  Cashel,  418. 

Clane,  Synod  of,  567. 

Clanwilliam,  Barony  of.  428. 

Clar,  or  Slieve  Claire,  424. 

Claudian,   47. 

Clebach  Well,  201  to  205. 

Clochana,  384. 

Clogher,   Patrick  in,  347. 

derivation  of  word,  350. 

Cloghpatrick,    239. 

Clonard,  235. 

Clonbroney,  first  convent  of  nuns  in 

Ireland  at,  181 
Clonleigh,  303. 
Clophook,  Dun  of,  399. 
Coadjutors  of  Patrick,  508  to  511. 
Codex  Alnensis,  9. 
Coelbad,  son  of  Fergus,  309. 
Coeman,  Deacon,  206. 

St.,  341. 

of      Cill      Riada,      Patrick's 

chamberlain,  578. 

Coirbre  of  Coleraine,  328. 
Coleraine,  Patrick  in,  321. 
Colgan,  310,  311,  347,  372,  416,  421, 

535,  561,  572,  579,  580,  581,  609, 

626,  632,  650. 
Collas,  321. 

Colman  Elo,  St.,  319,  511. 
Colman  of  Dromore,  493. 
Columcille,  597. 

burial-place  of,  603  to  606. 

Comerford,  Most  Rev.  Dr.,  444. 
Comgall,  St.,_  339. 
Commemoratio  Lahorum,  18,  106. 
Commission  of  Nine,   385. 

Conal  of  Coleraine,  328. 
Conal,  son    of   Niall   of   Nine   Hos- 
tages, 162,  163. 


Conal,   Prince,    son    of    Enda,   249 

250. 
Conan,    Priest,  225. 
Conchessa,   34. 
Conchinn,    40/. 
Confession   of  St.    Patrick    18,   19, 

70,    106,   544. 

summary       of       labours     of 


Patrick  from,   551. 

authenticity  of,  553, 

style  of,  554. 

value  of,  555. 

humility  of  Patrick  in,  556. 

proves     Patrick      native     of 


Britain,    556. 

shows  Patrick's  acquaintance 


with  Sacred  Scripture,  557. 

great  spiritual  treasure,  557. 

not    a    biographical    memoir, 


557. 


other  important  points   con- 
cerning,  557. 

Patrick    as    he    appears    in. 


631. 


text  of,  in  Latin  and  English, 
668  to  696. 
Conleng,   194. 
Conn  the  Artificer, 
Conis,  313. 

children  of,  616  to  617. 

Connin,  437. 

Conmaicne,  Patrick  amongst,  221  to 

224. 
Consecration,  Episcopal,  of  Patrick, 

112  to  116. 

bv  whom,  113.  114. 

place  of,   114,   115. 

Cardinal    Moran's    view    re- 
garding, 116. 

story  concerning,  117. 


Cook  of  Patrick,  579. 

Coole,  361. 

Coolerra,   275. 

Coonagh,   420. 

Corca  Ochland,  195. 

Corcutemne,  237. 

Cormac  Mac  Art,  449,  450. 

Cormac  Mac  Cullman,  416,  597. 

Cormac  Snithene,   172. 

Coroticus,   Epistle  to,   19,   546,  556. 

genuine  compos,   of  Patrick, 

558. 

gives  some  of  Patrick's  per- 
sonal history,  559. 

text  of,  Latin   and  English, 


696-704. 

Copyists,  class  of,  at  Armagh,  666. 
Cowherd,  Patrick's.  581. 
Crebrui,  257. 
Cremorne,  359. 


INDEX. 


745 


Crimthann,  son  of  Enna  Cennselacb, 
377, 

and  his  wife,  388 

Croa<>lipatrick,      Patrick     on,     229- 

239. 

Patrick's     coachman     buried 

at  foot  of,  229. 

narrative     of    Tireclian    con- 


cerning, 229. 

narrative   of   Tripartite   con- 


cerning, 230. 

struggle    with    demons     on, 


230. 


232. 


petitions  of  Patrick  on,  231, 

description  of,  233. 

date  when  on,  234. 

new  oratory  on,  653. 

pilgrimage    (see    Pilgrimage). 

Croghan,  Hill  of,  440,  444,  445. 
Crom  Cruaich,  185. 

Cross,  near  Cong,  224. 
Crosspatrick,  253,  254. 
Cruachan  Royal,  205,  206. 
Cruachan       iVigle        (see        Croagh- 

patrick) 
Cruimtheris,  of  Cengoba,  one  of  St. 

Patrick's  embroideresses,  514,  582. 
Cuangus,  295. 
Cuilfeightrin,  336. 
Cullen,  Patrick  in,  420,  421. 
Culmore,  315, 
Cumal,  529. 
Curci,  John  de,  568. 
Cursing  of  river,   273, 

of  part  of  river,  282. 

Cutts,  320. 

Dabheog,   St.,  300. 

Daire  and  Patrick,  485,  seq. 

Dalaradia,  extent  of,  324,  325. 

Eastern,  340',  341,  342. 

Southern,  Churches  in,  339. 

Dalriada,  extent  of,  324,  325. 

Patrick  in,  329. 

■ —  Churches  in,  334,  335. 

D'Alton,  Rev.  E.  A.,  241. 

Daniel  the  Angel,  338. 

Darerca,  Sister  of  Patrick,  313,  614. 

children  of,  616,  617. 

Deacons  at  Moville,  313. 

Death  of  Patrick,  26,  535  to  539. 
Decies,  436. 

Declan,  St.,  Life  of,  411, 
Deer  Island,  211. 
Deer's  Cry  (see  Faed  Fiada). 
Deisi,  the,  434. 
Delvin  Asail,   166. 
Dergh,   Lough,   Patrick's  Purgatory 
in,  229  to  301.  i 


Doi-gh,  Lough,  pilgrimage  to  (see  l*il- 

griniage). 
Derghim,  225. 
Derinilla,     mother    of    St.     Doman- 

gart,  etc.,  474. 
Derry,   Patrick  in,  314. 

physical   features  of    county, 

315. 

Devenish,   299,   300. 

Diarmaid,  rehitive  of  Fiacc,  395. 

Dichu,  126,  127. 

Dichuill,  512. 

Dindsenchas,    185,    205,     212,    481, 

482. 
Dioceses,   circumscription  of,  524. 
Disert  Patraic,   406,   407. 
Disinterestedness  of  Patrick,  546. 
Domhnall,  King  of  Erin,  298. 
Domnach  Airgid,  348,  349. 

Brechmaige,  318. 

Cainri,  336. 


Domnach  Mor  Church,  288. 

Cinel   Dine,    432. 

—    Maige  Aine,  430. 

Maige  Echnach,  164. 


Domnall,  three  bishops  called,  312. 
Domangart,    St.,    of   Slieve  Donard, 

235,  475,  476. 
Donagh,  parish  of,   310. 
Donaghmore  Church,  302,  303. 
Donaghmore    in    Limerick    Diocese, 

428. 
Donaghmoyne,   359. 
Donaghpatrick,  222. 
Donard,  Slieve,   235. 
Donnelly,  Most  Rev,  Dr,,  367. 
Doogarry,  Patrick  at,  191  to  195. 

Patrick  again  at,  283. 

Doonbriste,  266. 

Down  and   Connor,  324  seq. 
Downpatrick,   128,  129,  266. 

Patrick  buried  at,  541,   542. 

543. 

Pilgrimage   to    (see    Pilgrim- 
age). 

Dress  of  Patrick,  547. 

Dicriu,  son  of  Nathi,  372. 

Drinks,   ancient  Irish,   580. 

Dromore  diocese,  324,  494, 

Drowes,  river,  290. 

Druids,  136,  137,  138,  144,  191. 

Druim  Urchailli,  369. 

Drumahaire,  285. 

Drumbo,   Sabbath  breakers  of,  471, 

472, 
Drumceat,  296, 
Drum  Corcortri,  164. 
Drumhone,  296. 
Drumlease,   285,   286. 
Drummad.  216. 


746 


INDEX. 


Drumman  Breg,  or  Bregia,  235. 
Dublin,   alleged  visit  of  Patrick  to, 
364,  365,  366. 

Review,  587. 

Dubthach  Mac  Hy  Lugair,    1,   150, 

383,  390,  391,  568,  569. 
Dumacha  Hy  n'Ailella,  199. 
Dumbarton,  25. 
Dun  Aillinne,  380. 
Dun  Ceithern,  317. 
Duncontreathum,  274, 
Duncrun,  317. 
Dungiven,  316. 
Dunlevin,  371. 
Dunling,  370,  371. 
Dunmore,  221. 
Dunseverick,  337. 
Dunsfort,  471. 
Dunshaughlin,  160,  363. 

Earcnat,    Ere,    or  Ercnat,    one    of 

Patrick's  embroideresses,  578,  582. 
Eastersnow,   Church  of,  283. 
Eboria,  Ebmoria,  Euboria,  attempts 

to  identify,  114,  115, 
Ecclesiastics,     erring,    how    Patrick 

dealt  with,  526. 
Echtra  raised  to  life,  265. 
Echu,   son  of  Crimthann,  350,  351, 

352. 
■  his  daughter,  Cinnu,  351. 

and  St.  M'Cartan,  353. 

Edmondstown,  312. 
Edward  VII.,  333. 

Eile,  Queen,  Hill  of,  444-445 
Elniu,  or  Magh  Elne,  326. 
Elphin,  Patrick  at,  195  to  201. 

origin  of  name, 

Elvira,  Council  of,  30,  31. 
Emania,  321,  483,  484. 
Embroidery  at  Armagh,   566. 
Embroideresses  of  Patrick,  582. 
Emers,  or  Emeriae,  51,  181. 
Emly,  Diocese  of,  427. 

Enda,  son  of  Niall,  171,  310. 

Crom,  248,  251,  253. 

Enna  Cennselach,  377. 
Ennereilly,  374. 

Eochaid  Mac  Muiredach,  473,  474. 

Eochu  Baillderg,   431. 

Eochy,  son  of  Enda,  310,  311,  312. 

Eoghan    MacNial     304,    305,    307. 

Eoghan,  St.,  339. 

Episcopal    Consecration    (see    Conse 

oration). 
Epistle  to  Coroticus  (see  Coroticus). 
Escape    from    captivity     (see     Cap 

tivity. ) 
Ere,    Patrick's  judge,   145,  573. 
Ercleng,  194. 


Erne  crossed,  294. 

Esse,  one  of  Patrick's  artisans,  582. 

Eugan,   359. 

Eviction,  arbitrary,  462. 

Faed  Fiada,  or  Dttrs  Cry,  148, 
560. 
reason   of  name  of,  560. 
also  called  Lorica,  560. 
authenticity  doubtful,  560. 
text  of,   Irish  and  English,   705 
to  708. 
Failge  Berraide,  441. 

Ross,   442. 

'  Fallen's  Sleep,'  372. 
Family  of  Patrick,  noble,  35. 
Farney,  Patrick  in.  360,  361. 
Father  of  Patrick  a  Briton,  34. 
Fatliers,  Writings  of,  564,  565. 
Faughan,  vale  and  river,  318,  319. 
Fault  of  Patrick  in  early  life,  67. 
Feara  Tulach,  167. 
Fechin,  St.,  224. 
Fedilmid,  157,  158. 

disciple  of  Fiacc,  394,   396. 

Feis  of  Tara,  446, 

Felartus,  Bishop,  223. 
Felire  of  Aengus,  538. 
Fenagh,  183. 

Fergus  Mor,  son  of  Ere,  333. 
Fiacc,   1  to   5,   125,  150,    391,   392, 
393,  394,  530,  563. 

founds  Sletty,  697. 

austere  life  of,  399. 

charactei   of,  400. 

his  Hymn,  1  to  5. 
Fiacha,  171. 
Fiachra,  son  of  Fiacc,  400. 

Bishop,   336. 

Fidarta  or  Fuerty,  208. 
Findabair,    354. 
Findmaige,  240. 

Fir  Roiss,  477. 

Fith,  Bishop,  377. 

'  Flagstone  of  Patrick,'  304. 

'Flowers  of  St.  Patrick,'  75. 

FloriUgium,  607,  611. 

Focluth  Wood,  55,  254. 

Maidens  of.  257. 

Foghill,   258. 
Foimsen,   Magh,  224. 
Forkhill,    513. 

Fortchern,  foster  son  of  Loman,  159, 

622,  623. 
Fortchern   in    Rath    Adine,    one    of 

Patrick's  smiths,  582, 
Forts,   greatest  in  Ireland,  483. 
Fosterage,  457,  458,  459. 
Freeman,  Patrick   describes    himself 

a,  29. 


INDEX. 


747 


Freeman's  Journal,  726. 
Fueity,  246. 

Gabrae,  Men  of,  345. 
Gaethine,  384. 
Galldrui  the  Druid,  512. 
Garland  Sunday.  186. 
Gemtene,  281. 

Germanus  of  Auxerre,   33,   71,  72, 
105. 

Patrick    under,    for   fourteen 

years,  81,  8/,  88. 

account  of,  88  to  93. 

sends  Patrick  to  Rome,   97, 


98,    99. 

Giant's  Grave,  242. 

Gildas  the  Wise,  395,  566,  567. 

Gildas    and    Nennius,    British   His- 
torians, 46. 

Glaiscu,  338. 

Glas  Hely,  382. 

Glaspatrick,  646. 

Glenade,  289. 

Glenavy,  338 

Glenelly,  319. 

Gleru,  daughters  of,  257. 

Gloonpatrick,   208. 

Goat  of  Patrick  stolen,  358. 

Gollit,  615. 

Gort  Conaich,  512. 

Gradwell,   Monsignor,  34,  60. 

Granard,  Church  in,  180. 

Graney  Parish,  383. 

Gratitude  of  Patrick,   59,  60. 

Grecraide  of  the  Moy,  270. 

Greek  Church,  celibacy  of  clergy  in, 
31. 

Gregraide  of  Lough  Gara,  213-217. 

Grianan  of  Ely,  306. 

Guasacht,    Bishop   of  Granard,   51, 
181,  338,  562. 

Guest  ministers  of  Patrick,  580. 

Gulbin  Guirt,  235. 

Gullion,  Slieve,  510. 

Gurth-ard,  186. 

Gwynn,  Dr.,  642. 

Haddan  and  Stubbs,  554,  705,  708, 

723. 
Hand,  Shrine  of  St.   Patrick's,  642, 

643. 
Handcock  and  O'Mahony,  586. 
Health  of  Patrick,  robust,  548. 
Healystown,  now  Hollybrook,  193. 
Hefeie,  31. 

Heremon,  101,   102,   103. 
Hoey,  Cashel,  586. 
Hogan,  Rev.  Edmund,  17. 
Holy  Daughters,  Festival  of,  371. 
Hono  the  Druid,  195. 


Honoratus,  Life  of,  82,   83,  84. 
Honours,   Four,   dm;  to  Patrick,   4. 
Household  of  Patrick — 

account  of  in  Triparfitn,  570. 

shows  social  life  of  time,  670. 

list  of,   as  given  in   Tri  pari  iff, 
671. 

self-sufficing,  583. 
Humility  of  Patrick,  544. 
Hy   Duach,    408. 
Hy  Fiachrach,  191,  272. 
Hy  Fidgente,  426. 
Hy  Garrchon,  373. 
Hy  Lilaig,   360. 
Hy  Maine,  208. 
Hy  Meith  Tire,  357,  358. 
Hy  Tuirtre,  343,  344,  345. 
Hynneon,  436. 

Ibas,  Bishop,  421. 

Id  the  Druid,  195. 

Idols,  destruction  of,  186,  187. 

Imaile,  Glen  of,  374. 

Imchlar,  men  of,   345. 

Inch,  302. 

Imlech  Cluane,  340. 

Inishowen,    309    seq. 

Inishtemple,  572,  579. 

Innismurray,  260, 

Insula     Sanctorum     et     Doctorum, 

562,  565. 
Inver  Boinde,  122,  123, 
Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  13,  428, 

587. 
Irish  language,  Patrick  learns,  50. 
Iserninus,    Bishop,    246,     363,     375, 

376,  377,  378,  379. 
Ivrea,  115. 

Jerome,   St.,  565,  566. 

Jesus,  Staff  of,  633,  634,  635,  636. 

Jocelyn,  14,  34,  364,  546,  547,  550, 

554,  593,  615,  616,  632,  634,  651. 
Johnstown,   406. 
Journey    from    Britain  to   Tours    of 

Patrick,  74. 

from     Germanus    to    Celsus, 


101. 

Joyce,  Dr.,  136,  169,  574. 
Judge,  Patrick's,   561. 
Judges,  ecclesiastical,  526. 
Jugglers  at  Knockea  Feast,  429. 

Kannanits  of  Duleek  (see  Ciannan). 
Keenachta,  Patrick  in,  317  to  320. 
Keepers  on  Irish  Hills,  235. 
Kells,  164. 

Synod  of,  417. 

Kilbannon.  221,  222. 
Kilcullen,  379, 


748 


INDEX. 


Kilcummin,   57, 
Kildalough,  278. 

Kildare  West,   Patrick  in,  382  .seq. 
Kildare    and   Leigh  Jin,    Most    Rev. 

Dr.  Comerford's,  444. 
Kilellin,  285. 
Kilfeacle,  419. 
Kilglass,   338. 
Kilkeevan,  206. 
Killala,  269. 

probably    port    of    Patrick's 

escape,  54,  55. 

described,    57. 

founded,  259. 

12,000  baptised  at,  263. 


Killanly,  281. 

Killanny,  361. 

Killarga,  287. 

Killasbugbrone,  276. 

Killashee,   379. 

Killeen  Cormac,  374. 

Killeigh  of  Oflfaley,  442,  443,  444. 

Killower,   222. 

Kill  Tog,  241. 

Killyglen,  340. 

Killyphadrick,  336. 

Kilmaine  Mor,  223. 

Beg,  223. 

Kilmore  Maige  Glas,  or  Kilmore  na 

Shinna,   194. 
Kilmore  Moy,  founded,  264. 
Kings,  petty,  rules  for,  526. 
Kilpatrick,  26. 

St.   Patrick's  Well  at,  39. 

Kilquire,  224. 

Kilricill,   619. 

Kilroe,  258. 

Kilteely,    426. 

Kiltivna,  221, 

Kiltoom,  168. 

Kiltullagh,  221. 

Knights  of  Red  Branch,  483. 

Knockea,  428. 

feast  of,  428. 

Knockpatrick,  431. 
Knockvicar,   284. 

Knox,    H.   T.,    211,    216,    239,   241, 
267. 

Labours  of  Patrick   summarised, 

550. 
Laeban  of  Domnach  Laebain,  one  of 

Patrick's  smiths,  582. 
Laegis,  son  of  Find,  381. 
Laeghaire,     King,     136,     152,     154 

155. 
Languages,  Patrick  knew  four,  547. 
Lanigan.  55,  535,  586. 
Larne,  Churches  in,  340. 
Lassar,  286. 


Law,  Seven  Boohs  ofy  the,  563,  564. 
Lebanny,  436. 
Lecale,  127,   128. 
Lecan,   liooh  of,   581. 
Lecan  Midhe,  Chuicli  of,   172. 
Leek,   parish  of,  304. 
Leckpatrick,  316. 
Lee,  or  Lei,  or  Li,  317,  318,  320. 
Leinster,  geography  of  in  Patrick's 
time,  368. 

North,     in    Patrick's     time, 

368. 

South,  Churches  in,  401-402. 

Leitrim,  Patrick  in,  285  stq. 
Lemain,  354. 

Leo  the  Great,  234. 

Lerins  in  time  of  Honoratus,  83. 

Patrick  in,  81  to  86. 

great  school  of,  84,  85. 

subsequent  history  of,  85. 

Lesru,  257. 

Letha,  meaning  of,  7. 

Lethe,   103. 

Liamain,   sister  ot  Patrick,  614. 

children  of,  616. 

Libtr  Angeli,     18,     496,    497,     498, 

527,  528,  529,  602. 
Liber  Hymnorum,  1. 
Libur,   338. 

Liffe,  Western,   Patrick  in,  380. 
Limerick,    West,     date  of    Patrick's 

preaching  in,  432. 

South,  Patrick  in,   433. 

Lismore,  diocese  of.  434. 

Lives  of  St.  Patrick,  early,  1  to  19. 

Loarn,  Bishop,  of  Bright,  131,  598, 

599. 
Loarnach,  218. 
Lodge,  Patrick's,  316. 
Loman,  son  of  Mac  Ere,  428. 
Loman  of  Trim,  620  to  623. 

converts     Fedilmid     and 

family,  157,  158. 

meets    family  of    Fedilmid, 


621. 


Patrick    founds   Ath    Truim 

for,  623. 
Lorica    (see   Faed   Fiada,    560). 
Lucat  Mael  tries  to  poison  Patrick 

136,   137. 
Luchta,   225. 
Lughnat,   239. 
Lupait,  or  Lupita,  sister  of  Patrick. 

and    one    of    his    embroideresses, 

47,  48,    178,   179,   501,    502,    503, 

617,  618. 
Lynch,  Patrick,  586. 

M'Cartht,  Denis  F.,  663. 


INDEX. 


749 


M'Donald,  Rev.   M.,  653. 

M'Liag,    secretary   of  Brian   Boru, 

577. 
M'Mahon,  Heber,  Bishop  of  Clogher, 

301. 
MacCartan,  Bishop  of  Clogher,  310, 

311,  347,  348,  349,  350,  353. 

Patrick's  Champion,   574, 

575. 

MacFirbis  of  Leacan,  272. 
Mac  Nissi  of  Condere,  332,  334. 
Mac  Rime,  274,  291,  563. 
Macaille,  St.,  Church  of,  444. 
Maccuil's  conversion,  467,  468,  469. 
Macha,  or  Machia,  361. 
Macha  of  the  Golden  Hair,   482. 
Mael  the  Druid  converted,  204. 
Magh  Dula,  Church  of,  315. 

Ene,  289,  290. 

Finn,    or  Keogh's   Country, 


243. 


Ith,  301. 


Magilligan  Parish,  317. 

Church,  318 

Magh  Liffe,  Patrick  in,  369  to  372. 

Churches  in,  380. 

Raighne,  403. 

—    Slecht    (see    Slecht). 


Maghera  Drumman,  309. 

Magherow,  289. 

Maichet,  200. 

Maidens  of  Focluth  Wood,  257. 

Royal,  at  Clebach  Well,  202. 

203. 
Maine,  son  of  Niall,  177,  178. 

Bishop,  281. 

son  of  Conlaed,  346. 

Hy,  244. 

Mairco,  407. 

Malach  the  Briton,  421. 

Malone,    R^v.    Sylvester,    587. 

Man,  Isle  of,  470. 

Manach,  Patrick's  woodman,  581. 

Mane,  or  Maneus,  193,  194. 

Mantan,  Deacon,  429,  430. 

Marcan,  374. 

Marmoutier,  75  to  81. 

Marriage   of    clerics,   ancient    canon 

regarding,  523. 
Martarthech,  369,  405. 
Martin  of  Tours,  St.,  34,  72,  76, 

77. 

Life  of,  565,  566. 

—  Irish  devotion  to,  80. 

Martyrology   of  Salisbury^   334. 

Donegal,   578. 

Mass  of  Patrick,  228. 

Masters^  Annals  of  Four,  535,  599. 
Mathona  receives  veil,  200,  280,  281. 


Mayo,  Patrick  in,  218  to  242. 

in  phiins  of,  237  to  242. 

Meath,  Patrick  again  in,  362,  363. 
Meehan,  Rev.  Father,  189. 

Mel,  618. 

Mel    and    Melchu,     Bishops     about 
435,   177. 

and  Lupita,  178-179. 

Memoir  by  Muirchu  Machteni,    17. 
Menraighe,  425. 

Menster,  or  Ministerium,  393. 
Mesca  Ulaid,  321. 
Mescan,   Patrick's  brewer,  580. 
Messinghams's   Florilegium,    611. 
Methbrain  the  Barbivrian,   188. 
Milcho,  130. 

children  of  and  Patrick,  50, 


51. 

vision  of,  50. 

son  and  daughters  of,  338. 

Miracle  at  CuUen,  424. 

of  the  Cheeses,   512, 

Miracles   of  Patrick's  youth,   38. 

at  Tara,  150,  151,  152,  153. 

near  Crosspatrick,  255,  256. 

Mission  of  Patrick  confirmed,  234, 

alleged  earlier,  102. 

Mo  Catoc,  394. 

Moat,  Hill  of,  235. 

Mochae,   grandson  of  Milcho,   132, 

133. 
Mochta,    Patrick's  Priest,  572. 

and   Patrick,   478,    479,    480, 


Moin  doire  lothair,  battle  of,  317. 

Molaise,  260. 

Monasteries,  551, 

Moone,  South  of  Kildare,  381. 

Morals  of  St.    Gregory  the   Great, 

565. 
Moran,   Cardinal,    13,  587. 
Morett  Castle,  Maryborough,  383. 
Morris,  Father,  Life  of  St.  Patrick 

by,  75. 
Mother  of  Patrick,   33. 
Mother  Tongue  of  Patrick,  33. 
Moville,  312,  313,  314,  315. 
Moy  re-crossed,  269. 
Moyglass,  194. 
Moylurg,  281,  282,  283. 
Moyne,  255. 
Moyola,  316. 
Mucna,    Bishop    of    Domnachmore, 

563. 
Muckamore,  339. 
Mugenoc,  615. 
Muinremar,  288. 
Muirchu,  17,    125,   147,   393,    542, 

543,   558,   559. 
Muireagan,  319. 
Muiredach,  son  of  Eoghan,  302,  303. 


750 


INDEX. 


Mullaghshee,  299. 

Mun,i,a'et,  430. 

Munis,  Bishop  of  Forgney,  173,  174, 

175,  234,  615,  647. 
Munnech,  437. 
Minister,         Patrick's      work       in, 

summed  up,  439 

Patrick  blesses,  439. 

Muredach,    Bishop    of    Killala,    259, 

260,  274. 
Murrisk,    *  patron  '     of,    655. 
Music,  Patrick's  love  of,  548. 
Muskerry,  Patrick  in,  418. 

origin   of   name,  418. 

Churches  in,  419. 

Naas,  Patrick  at,  370,  371. 

■ description  of,  372. 

Na  Ferta,  Church  of,  506,  508. 

Nainnid,  or  Naindid,  395. 

Names,  four,  of  St.   Patrick,  40. 

Nar,  River,  435. 

Narraghmcre,   Patrick  at,  382. 

Nathi,  372. 

Natsluaig,  327,  328. 

Navan  Fort,   482. 

Negligence  reproved  by  Patrick, 
437. 

Nempthur,  21,  22,  585,  586. 

Nennius,  550. 

Nento,  Magh,  207. 

Neo    Caesarea,    Council   of,   on  celi- 
bacy of  clergy,  31. 

Nephews  of  Patrick,  287. 

Nessan,  429,  430. 

mother  of,  430. 

Newbridge,  William  of,  602. 
Niall  the  Great,  47. 

of  Nine  Hostages,  321. 

Nice,     Council    of,  on    celibacy    of 

clergy,  31. 
Ninian  of  Candida  Casa,  104. 
Nodan  of  Cavetown,  283. 
Nuns  at  Armagh,  513,  514,  515. 

O'Brien,  Rev.   Alfred,  587. 
Obsequies  of  Patrick,  539,  596. 
O'Connor,  Canon,  665. 

Chas.,  554. 

O'Conor,  Rory,  567. 
O'Curry,  639,  640. 

Odran,  Patrick's  charioteer,  441, 

581. 
Oengus,  son  of  Senach,  227. 
Oengus,    of  Loch  Daela,    challenges 

Patrick's  power,  263. 

baptised,  263. 

son  of  Ailell,  313. 

OfFaley,  Patrick  in,  440. 
O'Flaherty,  215,  535. 


O'Gorman,  Florence,  568. 
Ogulla,  205. 
O'Hanlon,  Dr.,  153. 
O'Keeffe,  J.   G.,  561,  716. 
Oilioll   Olum,   413. 

his  sons,  413. 

O'Laverty,  Monsignor,  14,  596. 
Glean  of  Kilmore  Moy,  264,  265. 
Olcan,   Bishop  of  Armoy,  330,  331, 

332,  333,  334,  337. 
Olden,  Rev.  Mr.,  590,  595,  597. 
Ollamii  Fodia,  155. 
O'Logblin,    Domnall,  579. 
O'Maelchaliand,  638,  639. 
Oran,  Church  of,  207, 

Patrick  at,  208,  209,  210. 

meaning  of  word,  209. 

Patrick  places  Cethecus  over 


Church  of,  210. 
Ordo  of  Mass,  563. 
Oriel,  or  Orghialla,  323. 

West,  Patrick  in,  346. 

•  division  of,  346. 

sub-chiefs  of,  347. 

Eastern  and  Western,  495. 

Ormond,  North,   Patrick  in,   436, 

437. 
O'Rorke,   Archdeacon,   260,   274, 

288. 
Ossian  and  Patrick,  569. 
Ossorv,  where  entered,  404. 
Churches  in,  405-406. 

Patrick's    prophecy   regard- 
ing, 408,  409. 

O'Sullivan  Beare,  585. 
Oughaval,   237. 
Oughteragh,   188. 
Owles,  237. 

Palladiits,  92,  93,  625. 

•  his  mission  to  Ireland,  93. 

to  96,  626,  627. 

opposed  by  Nathi,  94. 

founds  three   Churches,   94, 


95. 


his  Roman  mission,   105. 
subsequent   history,   95-96. 
his  death,  94. 


Parents  of  Patrick,  29  to  33. 

Paschal  Fire  on  Hill  of  Slane,  144. 

Patrick  Junior,  account  of,  9,  632. 

Patrick  the    Great,    in   the    Confes- 
sion, 631. 

Patricks,  the  three,  624  to  632. 

Patritius,  senior  (see  Sen  Patraic). 

Paul,  St.,  549. 

Paulinus,    at  whose   request   Vita 
Quinta  was  written,  11,  12,  13,  14. 

Paulinus  of  Nola,  33. 

disciple  of  Fiacc,  396. 


INDEX. 


751 


Personal   Characteristics  of  Patrick, 

546,  547. 

Petitions  of  Patrick  granted,  532. 

Petrie,  607,  639. 

Pilgrimages,   Patrician,    644. 

Pilgrimage  to  Armagh,  history  of, 
644 ;  Brian  Boru  as  pilgrim,  645  ; 
cessation  of,  645 ;   revival  of,  645. 

' —  to        Croaghpatrick,        646  ; 

Saint's  fast  on  mountain,  647 ; 
Munis  sent  to  Rome,  647 ;  Saint's 
temptation  on  mountain,  648 ; 
Saint  uses  his  bell,  648  ;  promises 
made  to  Saint,  650 ;  drives 
reptiles  into  the  sea,  651 ; 
celebrity  of  the  place,  652 ; 
oratory  on  summit,  653 ;  tradi- 
tions connected  with,  654,  655, 
order  of  pilgrimage  station,  654 

to  Downpatrick,  645,  646, 

to  Lough  Derg,  656 ;   neigh- 


bourhood of  Lough  Derg,  656 
Station  Island,  657,  658,  659 
St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  660,  661 
alleged  vision  of  St.  Patrick,  660, 
seq.  ;  arguments  against  genuine- 
ness of  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory 
answered,  662 ;  suppression  of 
pilgrimage,  664 ;  revival  of,  664 ; 
devotional  exercises  during,  665, 
666 ;  rules  regarding,  666 ;  good 
results  of,  667. 

Plain  Chant  in  School  of  Armagh, 
566. 

Plot  against  Patrick's  life,  147. 

Potitus,  father  of  Calpurnius,  32. 

Prayer,  spirit  of,  in  Patrick,  245, 
545. 

Preaching  of  Patrick,   548. 

Pre-patrician  Bishops,  421. 

Priest,  Patrick's,  572. 

Priests  ordained  by  Patrick,   550. 

Primacy  of  Armagh  (see  Armagh). 

of  Rome,  518. 

Primate,   Cardinal    739. 
Probus,  11,  12,  13]  14,  72,  593. 
Prophecies,  Book   of,    547. 

Irish,   of  St.    Patrick,  561. 

Prosper,  Chronicle  of,  105. 
Psalm-singer  of  Patrick,   576. 
Purgatory,      Patrick's      (see     Derg, 

Lough ;   and  Pilgrimage). 

Queen's    County,    Patrick    in,   382 

seq. 
Quinn,  Canon,  344. 

Racoon,  297 
Rafran,  267. 
Raholp,    Church  of,   634. 


Ramochy,   304. 

Rashee,    Churcli    of,   339. 

Rath  Argi,   298 

Rath    Rigbairt,   272. 

Rathbeith,   406. 

Rathdowney,    406. 

Ilathmore,   349,   353. 

Rathvilly,    Patrick  at,   387. 

Reading  and  Writing  of  Irish,  3. 

Reeves,    26,    288,     317,    535,     591, 

604,  606,  636,  642. 
Relations    of    Patrick   in    Ireland, 

614  to  623. 
Relics    of    Patrick,    597,    633. 
Relics    of     Saints,     law    regarding, 

504,      505;      alleged     miraculous 

journey  of   Patrick  to  Rome  for, 

506,    507. 
Reptiles  driven  into  sea,  651. 
Return   to    his    home    in  Britain   of 

Patrick,   64   to   73. 
Restitutus,   children   of,   616. 
Ricend,  Richell,  or  Rigell,  sister  of 

Patrick,   615,    619. 
Bights,   Book  of,    576. 
Rioc,  304,  305,   405. 
Ritual,    copies   of,   made,   563. 
Riverstown,    440. 
Ro€,  Valley  of,  316. 
Rodan,  a  chief  priest,  200. 
Roman  Britain  at  time  of  Patrick's 

birth,   26  to  29. 
Roman  Mission,  96  to  100,   104  to 

112 ;      only     negative     arguments 

against,  104;    practice  of  getting, 

104,    105;    shown    from    Book  of 

Armagh,    106,   107 ;    testimony  of 

the    Lives,    etc.,     regarding,    107, 

108  ;   objections  to,  answered,  109, 

110,    111. 
Rome,    Supremacy  of,   518,  529. 
Ros,  story  of  conversion  of,  132. 
Roscommon,   St.  Patrick  in,   191  to 

217 ;    Churches  in,   revisited,   242 

to   246. 
Ross,  268. 
Rossinver,  289. 

Rottan,   Patrick's  cowherd,  581. 
Round  Tower  at  Armagh,  491  j    at 

Turlough,  242. 
'  Rule  of  St.  Patrick,'  561. 
text   of,    Irish  and    English, 

716  to  722. 

Sacred   Scripture  in  School   of 
Armagh,  564. 

Sacristan,  Patrick's,   580. 

Sails  for  Ireland,  Patrick,  116-119 ; 
lands  at  Inver  Dea,  117 ;  up  to 
Rath       Invei ,       118 ;        converts 


752 


INDEX. 


Sinell,  119  ;   goes  to  Inis  Patraic, 

120. 
Saimer,    297. 

Saints,    Lives  of  the,   565, 
Saltm;irsh,    473. 
Saltrey,   Henry  of,   660,   663. 
Salvation  of   souls,    Patrick's  zeal 

for,    545. 
Sa7ictilogium,   259, 
Sanction  of  Apostolic  See,  law  con- 
cerning, 100, 
Sangel,    Church   of,   431. 
Sandel,  Mount,  326. 
Sannan,   brother  of  Patrick,   614, 
Saran  Mac  Caelbad,   327,   331,  332, 

333,  338. 
Saul,    532,    seq.  ;     origin   of    name, 

128;    Patrick   converts   Dichu   at, 

126. 
'  Sayings   of   Patrick,'   106. 
Scholiast  on  Lahar   Brecc,  628  ;    on 

Fiacc,    53,    585,    626 ;    on    Secun 

dinus,  34. 
School  of  Armagh  (see  Armagh). 

Patrick's  Itinerant,   562. 

Schools  of  the  Bards,  568,  569. 
Scirit,    Scirte,    or   Skerry,  Rock  of, 

52,  53. 

Scoth  Noe,  158,   621. 

Seapatrick,  494. 

Secundinus,  or  Sechnall,  of  Dun- 
shaughlin,  4  to  9,  302  303,  363, 
364,  385,  530;  Patrick's  Bishop, 
572. 

— ■ Hymn  of,  4,  5,  6,  513  ;    one 

of  Four  Honours  of  Patrick,  9 ; 
occasion  of  writing,  509 ;  author 
recites  it  for  Patrick,  and  claims 
reward,  510;  Patrick's  promise, 
511 ;  efficacy  of  Hymn,  511 ;  text 
of,  723  to  725. 

Sedulius,   St.,   367. 

Seefin  Hill,  428. 

Sen-Patraic,  600,  627 ;  account  of. 
628,   629,   630, 

Senach,  Bishop,  226, 

Senan  of  Inisaltich,  332, 

of  Scattery,   431. 

Senchell   Domaige   founded,   197. 
Senchus  Mor,  447,   448, 
Sendomnach  Maige  Ai,  205. 
Sermon,      Dedication,     at    Armagh, 

726 ;  synopsis  of : — Patrick's  special 
vocation,  727 ;  Patrick  as  he  ap- 
pears in  the  Confession,  728 ; 
ordinary  commission  received 
from  Rome,  729 ;  prepares  him- 
self for  his  task,  730 ;  his  train- 
ing, 730 ;  history  of  his  aposto- 
late,  731 ;   his  disinterestedness  in 


preaching  Gospel,  732  ;  his  love 
for  his  flock,  732 ;  enfluringness 
of  his  work,  733 ;  his  dependence 
on  Rome,  734 ;  his  persevering 
prayer,  735 ;  his  zeal  for  liis 
people,  736  ;  history  of  the  build- 
ing, 736,  737 ;  great  day  in  his- 
tory of  Ireland,  738;  peroration, 
739,  740. 

Sescnen  receives  Patrick,   122,   141, 

Severity,   alleged,  of  Patrick,   549, 

Shamrock,    415. 

Shancough,    Church   of,   192,  284. 

Shankill,   199,  280, 

Shannon,  Patrick  crosses,  189 ; 
crossed    three   times,    292. 

Shearman,    Father,    369,  376,    377, 
624. 

Shruel,  223. 

Sickness    of   Patrick,    532, 

Silva  Gadelica,  210. 

Silvester  and  Solinus,   374, 

Sinell  of  Cell  de  Reis,  578. 

of  Lough  Melvin,   579. 

■  son  of  Finchad,  442. 

Siricius,   Pope,   30, 

Sisters   of  Patrick,   48. 

Skene,    Celtic  Scotland,  27,  589. 

Slainge,  155. 

Slan,  the  Healer,  125,  240,  338, 

Slane,  Patrick  at,  142,  143; 
Patrick's  conflict  with  Druids  at, 
145  to   148, 

Slanpatrick,  241. 

Slavery  in  Ireland,   521   (also  see 
Captivity), 

Slecht,  Magh,  Patrick's  visit  to, 
182;  probable  route  to,  182, 
183 ;  situation  of,  184 ;  Church 
of,  187,  188,  189;  Well  near, 
188 ;  Domnach  Mor  Maige 
Slecht,   188. 

Slemish,  Life  on,  48 ;  revisited, 
129,    130,  341. 

Slieve  Luachair,   432, 

Slieve  Slainge,   235. 

Slighe  Asail,  Patrick  takes  road  of. 
165. 

Sligo,  Patrick  at,  275,  seq. 

North,    Patrick   in,    289   to 

293. 

Sligo  River,  277. 

Smiths,   Patrick's,  582. 

Social  Life  in  Ancient  Ireland,  135, 

136,   137. 
Staff  of  Jesus  (see  Jesus). 
Stokes,  25,  108.  536,  595. 

Miss,  639. 

Straff  an,  370. 


INDEX. 


753 


Succat,   name   given  Patrick  at 
baptism,  34,  39,  40,  60. 

Succat,  by  Gradwell,  34. 

Suir,  435. 

Sulpicius  Severus,  75;  his  Life  of 
St.    Martin,   76. 

Sunday  Well,  370. 

iSynods  of  Patrick,  516 ;  purpose  of, 
516 ;  Patrick's  Canon  in  Book  of 
Armagh,  516. 

Synod,  of  Patrick,  Auxilius,  and 
Iserninus,  etc.,  519;  thirty-four 
canons  at,  520 ;  authenticity  dis- 
cussed, 520 ;  date  and  place  of, 
520;  objections  of  Todd  against 
authenticity  of  some  decrees, 
521 ;  throws  light  on  condition 
of  Young  Church  in  Ireland, 
521 ;  forbids  clerical  vagrancy, 
521 ;  other  regulations,  523, 
524 

Synod,  second,  authenticity  doubt- 
ful,   525. 

Tailteann,  Fair  of,  160 ;  Patrick 
at,  162  to  165. 

Tamrach   ChurcJi,   20O. 

Tar  River,  435. 

Tara,  prophecy  of  Tuatha  regard- 
ing, 3  ;  Patrick  at,  148  to  154  ;  in 
the  banquet-hall,  149 ;  conflict 
with  the  Druids  at,  150,  151  ; 
history  of,  155,  156 ;  revisited, 
246  to  251,  384. 

Tassach,  one  of  Patrick's  artisans, 
582 ;  gives  Patrick  Holy  Viati- 
cum, 534. 

Taughmaconnell,  244. 

Tawnagh   Church.   280. 

Teach   Saisrenn,    situation  of,   167, 

Teachers  of  Patrick,  72  to  103. 

Tecan,  395. 

Tech  Talam,  357,  358. 

Technical  School  at  Armagh,  566. 

Teflfia,  Northern,  Patrick  in,  180, 
181. 

Southern,  Patrick  in,  175  to 

181. 

Temair  Singite,  167. 

Templecarne,  299,   300. 

Templepatrick,   340. 

Tenants   under  Brehon   Code,    461, 
462,  463. 

Tenure,  forms  of  in  ancient  Ireland, 
461. 

Telltown  (see  Tailteann). 

Testamentum  Patricii,  593. 

Tighearnmas,   185. 

Tighernach's  Anvals,   535. 

Tigris,  Sister  of  Patrick,  614,  615. 


Tigroney,  374. 

Tirawley,  Patrick  in.  252;  conflict 
with  Druids  at,  253. 

Tirconnell,  sons  of,  301. 

Tirconiiell    Patrick  in,  294  seq. 

Tirechan,  'l06,  121,  536,  537,  543, 
594,  595,  604,  615. 

Tireragh,  Patrick  in,  269. 

Tirerrill,    Churches  in,   280 

Tirglass,  430. 

Tirkeeran,   315, 

Toburpatraic,  near  Ballyhaunis, 
220. 

Todd,  521,   535. 

— — —  on  age  of  Patrick,  26 ;  oti 
Patrick's  temptation  and  prayer, 
62,  63 ;  on  Patrick's  age  at  con- 
secration,  68, 

Tonsure  from  St,  Martin,  70,  80. 

Topogi-aphia  Hihernia,   610. 

Totmael,  Patrick's  coachman,  229, 
236. 

Touaghty,   237,  240. 

Tours,  time  of  visit  to,  80. 

Translation  of   remains   of   Brigid 
and  Columcille,  609,  610. 

Trawohelly,   275, 

Trea,  Virgin,  344. 

Trian  the  Cruel  and  Patrick,  465, 
466. 

Triangle,   or  Tobur  Stringle,  226, 

Trias  Thaumaturga,   1. 

Trim,  first  Church  erected  in 
Meath,   158, 

Tripartite,  15,  16,  17,  25,  123,  145, 
147,  276,  307.  438,  506.  570,  592, 
598,  599,  615,  634;  character  of 
Patrick  in,  534 ;  summary  of 
Patrick's  labours  from,  550. 

Trout,  Patrick's,  at  Aghagower, 
228, 

Tuatha,   the  three,   237. 

Tuathal  Teachtmair,  155. 

Tubbrid,    birthplace    of  Keating, 
435. 

Tulach  na  Licce,  515, 

TuUamain,  346. 

Turlough,  Church  of,  242. 

UiSNACH,   sons  of,   483, 

Uisneach,    Patrick  at,    169   to  172 ; 

described,     170 ;     Patrick     curses 

stones   at,    171. 
Uladh,    or   Ulidia,    history   of,    323, 

324,  325,  464;  Patrick  in,  464  to 

480. 
Ultonia,   323. 
Usher,  518,   535,  610. 


754 


INDEX. 


Verk,  Aubrey  de,  quoted,  148,  204. 

258,  271.  504,   569. 
Vestment-making,  503. 
Victor,   Angel,  52,   599. 
Bishop    of    Doiiaghmoyne, 

359,   360,   361,   362. 
Victorious,    152. 
Vilianeuva,   554, 
Virtues,    characteristic,    of    Patrick, 

544. 
Vision    of    Patrick    when   about    to 

be   consecrated ,   67. 
Vita  Secunda,   9-10 ;    author  of,  9  ; 

asserts  Roman  Mission,  9  ;   called 

by  Colgan    Codex  Alnensis,  9. 
Vita  Terfia,  history  of,   10. 
Vita   Quarta,    history  of,    10, 
Vita   Quinfa,   11  to   14,   particular 

value  of,  13. 
Vita  Sexta,   14,  15;   cliief  worth  of, 

14. 
Vita  Septima  (see   Tripartite). 
Vivian,    Cardinal,    610. 
Voice  of  Patrick,  powerful,  548. 


'Voice  of  the  Irish,'  65,  66. 
Voices,    divine,    speak    to  Patrick, 
51,  52. 

Ware,  535,  554. 

Well,  St.  Patrick's,  at  Balla,  242; 
Ballyadams,  383;  Ballyragget, 
406 ;  Bullaun,  619 ;  at  foot  of 
Croghan  Hill,  444;  Dunseverick, 
337;  Dunslort,  471;  Inisloun- 
aght,  435;  Kiltimagh,  242;  Kil- 
iaveny,  389;  Knockainy,  427; 
Knockpatrick,  431 ;  near  Nar- 
raghbeg,  382  •  Narraghmore, 
382;    Newbridge,   384. 

Wells  of  St.  Patrick,  667. 

White,   Rev.    Dr.,  536,   537,    554, 
668. 

William  of  Newbridge.   601. 

Winding-sheet  for   Patrick,  538. 

Woodman,   Patrick's,   581. 

Writings  of  Patrick,   553,  seq. 

Young   Church  of  Ireland,   521, 
Youth,  miracles  of,  38. 


SEALY,  BRYERS  AND  WALKER,  MIDDLE  ABBEY  STREET,  DUBLIN. 


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HEALY,  JOHN,  APB. 


The  Life  and  writings  of 
St.  Patrick... 


BQX 
.Hl^ 


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