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Ar676m GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1135628
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
, 3 1833 00674 1745
RECORDS
RELATING TO
ARDAGH AND CLONMACNOISE
RECORDS
RELATING TO THE DIOCESES OF
ARDAGH AND CLONMAGNOISE
BY THE
VEEY EEY. JOHN CANON MQNAHAN, D.D., V.E.
^^/.Ucit' Mit]^ lap.
DUBLIN" M. H. GILL AND SON, O'CONNELL STREET
1886
M. H. GILL AND SON, PRINTERS, DUBLIN.
1135S2S
TO
^ THE RIGHT KEY. DR. WOODLOCK,
BISHOP OF ARDAGH AND CLONMACNOISE, V . THIS COLLECTION OF
RECORDS
I
AS A TOKEN OF
GRATEFUL FEKLING FOR THE
MANY FAVOURS
RECEIVED AT HIS HANDS,
BY
HIS DEVOTED FAITHFUL SERVANT,
J. CANON MONAHAN, D.D.
Banagher,
28tli August, :
PREFACE.
At the suggestion of my venerated Bishop, the Right Rev. Dr. Woodlock, I commenced the collection of these records, with the view of rescuing from oblivion the names and actions of those prelates who, in their days, ruled over these an- cient dioceses, pleased God, and were found just. Such a suggestion should have for me the force of a command. Besides, it is fitting that the history of our Bishops should be known, and their names held in benediction amongst us, from generation to generation. St. Paul has commanded us to remember our " prelates." I, therefore, entered upon this work witKa willing and earnest spirit. The field of inquiry I soon found to be vast — ^much neglected, and scattered over with ruins and few inscriptions upon them. Some portions of that field I found almost barren and waste, without remain or trace of cultivation of any kind. Other parts were, indeed, strewn with fallen fruits ; but being huddled together in such heaps of disorder and negli- gence, as rendered it very difficult to collect much that is pala- table and digestible for cultivated and refined appetites ; thus the prospect generally, presented a dismal and disheartening coup-d'mil. Happily, there were here and there bits and corners in very good order, upon which evidently the care and atten- tion of highly skilled and accomplished labourers had been employed ; and these cheered me on when I was tempted to aban- don the work for want of continuity of materials. I am fully
conscious of Low imperfectly I have accomplislied the object I placed before myself, viz., to collect and publish a fairly read- able record of the names of the prelates that succeeded SS. Mel and Kieran, in the government of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, down to the present time ; to accentuate the chief ecclesiastical events occurring within the limits of these dioceses, during their episcopate, and to touch remarkable historic facts that took place outside the boundaries of their Sees, but with which they had notable connection. The task was certainly a laborious one, and in some respects a thankless one. It is a branch of Ktera- ture commanding only a very limited number of votaries. From its admirers I confidently expect an indulgent sympathy in condoning the shortcomings and defects of these collections. To all others I say —
•' Oh, blame me not if I love to dwell on Ardagh's early glory ; Oh, blame me not, if too oft I tell the same inspu'ing story. 'Tis much to know that our loved saints then To their cloisters the strangers drew, And taught the Goth and Saxon men All of heaven the old earth knew. 'Tis much to know that in the West, The sun of our wisdom rose. And the barbarous clouds that scarred its breast, Were scattered like baffled foes ; To know that in our hearts there dwell. Some seeds of the men of story.
' ' Oh, blame me not if I love to tell. Of Ardagh's ancient glory."
— Irene.
In conclusion, I gratefully thank the many kind friends who assisted me, by written or oral instruction, by the loan of books, or otherwise aided me in this undertaking. Prominently amongst them I shall always remember his Eminence Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney; the Eight Eev. Dr. Wood- lock, Lord Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise ; the Right Rev. Dr. Healy, Bishop of Clonfert; the Yery Rev. Dr. Bugler, P.P., V.G., Birr ; the Yery Rev. Dr. Gargan, Y.P. & Y.G., St.
Patrick's College, Majnaooth ; the Rev. Denis Murphy, S.J., University College, Stephen's- green ; Very Rev. Pius Devine, Mount Argus. I have borrowed much, as the volume itself will tell at the proper place, from the " Spicilegium " of his Eminence Cardinal Moran. I also thank the subscribers who have aided me in bearing the expenses of publication.
J. Canon Monahan, D.D.
Feast of St. Augustink, 2Sth August, 1886.
RECOKDS.
DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
Some writers have erroneously stated that St. Mel was the founder of the See of Ardagh. This See was founded by St. Patrick, and its first Bishop was St. Mel. Colgan A. S. S. p. 261, c. 9. col. 2, writes : " For he (St. Patrick) left Mcel* in Ardachadh, to the east, and his sister in Druuincheus, to the west of the mountain called Bri-leith, lying between both places." And in chapter 10 it is stated: "that St. Patrick regenerated Mann, the Lord of South Teffia, in Longford, in the laver of baptism, and afterwards built a church in a place called Ardachadh, which, to this very day, is the See of Ardagh, and consecrated his sister's son, Melus, Bishop of it ; with whom he left Milchuo, Co-Bishop. Milchuo was brother to St. Melus. Mann is the progenitor of the people of Tefiia."
The Cathedral of Ardagh is justly reckoned amongst the most ancient churches in Ireland. It was founded in 454. An illustrious champion and preacher of the Gospel was placed over it. His name Mel, or Melus, suggests those honeyed stores of divine wisdom and celestial virtues which had been laid up in his mind. He was not only Bishop, but also Abbot of this church. For as Ware remarks, " in the infancy of Christianity in Ireland the bishoprics and abbeys were frequently blended together, and such ecclesiastics as were consecrated bishops often resided both as abbots and bishops. Under the first title they governed their monks, and, as bishops, they had the country about the monastery under their care, to ordain priests, and execute other parts of the episcopal functions."
The " Trias Thaum.," p. 227, contains the following remark- able statement : " St. Mel, the son of Darerca, sister of St. Patrick, who was the mother of seventeen bishops, one of whom was St. Mel, Bishop of Ardachadh in Teffia^ Again, the same authority contains the following statement : " The virtuous sons of Darerca are found seventeen foreign bishops and two daugh- ters, viz. : Achea, who raised the dead and cured the lepers ; and Lalloca, of Lenlios behind Mount Bradgna." This high authority does not tell us that Mother, in the previous sentence, is to be
* Maol, in Irish, signifies the man of the large tonsure.
2
2 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
understood as spiritual mother ; we may understand it in that sense. St. Mel is the patron Saint of the Diocese of Ardagh. The ruins of his church are still to be seen near the village of Ardagh, which lies about five miles south- east of the town of Longford. The style is nearly Cyclopean, the greater number of the stones being almost eight feet long. The doorway is perfect, but remarkably low. The church itself was never large. Not far from these ruins now stands a beautiful and graceful Gothic church, erected by the present distinguished pastor. Very Rev. Canon Reynolds, P.P., V.F. The great qualities of head and heart, which made him so re- markable in his classes at Maynooth, and afterwards as President of St. Mel's College, are to some extent illustrated in this beautiful church. It is a source of deep regret to the many admirers of his great talents and other endearing qualities that the heavy labours inseparable from the erection of so large and costly a church have impaired his once powerful and robust constitution. SS. Rioch and Munis, the travelling companions and co-labourers of St. Patrick, are said to have been brothers of St. Mel. Our annalists also state that St. Mel received the gift of prophecy. This was exemplified in St. Bridget's case. He foretold the greatness and sanctity of that holy virgin before her birth. Some time after her birth he administered to her the sacrament of Confirmation ; and afterwards gave the reli- gious veil to that youthful spouse of Christ. A great intimacy thus arose between SS. Bridget and Mel, which lasted as long as his life. St. Mel wrote the Acts of St. Patrick, his maternal imcle, who survived him. Ware relates that fact in the follow- ing words : " St. Mel, the nephew of St. Patrick by his sister Darerca, first bishop of the church of Ardagh, wrote a book on the virtues and miracles of St. Patrick, who was then living. St. Mel died at Ardagh in the year 488, or, according to the Annals of Ulster, 487, ic/iere he {i.e. his bones) rests."
The following question will be interesting to those who have studied this matter.
Who performed the ceremony of Bridget's religious profes- sion, and where did it take place ? On this question there is a con- troversy which has excited a good deal of attention. I cannot pretend to close this dispiite amongst learned writers by showing, beyond all doubt, who it was that professed her and where the religious ceremony was gone through. I shall, however, endea- vour to prove by sufficiently satisfactory evidence (if not wholly conclusive) that St. Mel performed the ceremony of her religious profession, and in his church at Ardagh. Before advancing the proofs that will, I hope, establish this conclusion, I shall state the opposite opinions, which maj^ be thus summarised :
DIOCESE OF ARDAGH. 3
Some hold (and they are chiefly Anglo- Scottish writers) that St. Bridget of Kildare was veiled by St. Macchilla, Bishop of Sodor, in the Isle of Man, about the year 443. Few now sub- scribe to that opinion, which is erroneously founded on the affinity of the names Macchilla and Maccalle, who were distinct persons. The latter, as we shall hereafter see, had a hand in the religious profession of Bridget, whilst the former was not a bishop at all, nor even baptised, most probably, at the time she was clothed in the religious habit.
A second class of writers, and they are more numerous and important, contends that Bishop Maccalle, whose church was on or about Croghan Hill, King's Co., performed the religious profession, either there or on the hill of Usney between Castle- town and Ballymore, in the Co. Westmeath. This opinion is not so devoid of foundation as the former ; but it seems to me to be incorrect, and to have derived its probability from the fact that Maccaille assisted St. Mel, at Ardagh, in performing the reli- gious ceremony.
A third class of writers holds that St. Mel professed St. Bridget. Their arguments appear to me conclusive, although Dr. Lanigan considered this opinion too absurd to need refutation. Before formulating their views I shall give their names, viz : Ultan,* in his " Vita S. Brigidae," Ware, by Harris, vol iii., b. i., c. 3. p. 12. ; andColgan in his " Trias Thaum.," 3rd life, S. B., c. 18. In support of this opinion, I am happj^ to be able to cite Eugene O'Curry and Professor B. O'Looney, whose scholarship, on questions like the present, is beyond controversy. The follow- ing is an extract from Eugene O'Curry's translation of the life of St. Bridget, to be found in the Catholic University collection of his MSS., now preserved at Clonliffe College, '* Dubthach said to his daughter, ' My daughter,' said he, ' take a veil upon your head if you have dedicated your virginity to God, i shall not deprive him of it.' Bridget now being anxious to have the order of penance conferred upon her she went to Bri Ut'lef and seven veiled women with her, having heard that Bishop Moel was there. And when they had arrived there, the Bishop was not there, but had gone into the countr}" of the Hi IVeill. She went, therefore, on the next day, and Mac Caille leading the
* Ultan of Avd-Breccain collected the account of her virtues and miracles, and commanded his disciple, Brogan, to piit them in poetry.
t Bri-Eile, i.e , the Hill of Croghan, in O'Conor Faly's country. This hill is celebrated by Spenser in his "Fairy Queen." Colgan and Lanigan have asserted that Cruachau Bri-Eile, on which St. Mac Caille erected a church, in the sixth century, was on the confines of Leinster and Munster ; but O'Donovan has proved, in a letter written at Tullamore, January the ith, 183S, now pre- served at the Ordnance Survey Office, Phcenix Park, that it is the Hill of Croghan, which is on the confines of ancient Meath and Leinster, and on which a small portion of the ruins of Mac Caille's church is still visible.
4 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
way before her, over Moin Fathnigh..* Bridget caused tlie bog to ibecome a flowery plain to them. When they came near to the place in which Bishop Moel was, Bridget requested Mac Caille to put a veil upon her head, in order that she should not come without a veil into the presence of the clerics, and probably it is this veiling that is commemorated on this day. When she had come now a column of fire ascended from her head to the ridge of the church. When now Bishop Moel saw this, he asked who the veiled women were. Mac Caille said, ' This is the illustrious veiled woman of Leinster, viz. : Bridget. ' My Welcome unto her,' said Bishop Moel ; ' it was I that prophesied of her in her mother's womb, and it is I that shall confer orders upon her.' ' What have the veiled women come for ? ' said Bishop Moel. ' To have the order of penance con- ferred on Bridget,' said Mac Caille. Then orders were read over Bridget, and it was the orders of Bishop that Bishop Moel conferred upon her. And then Mac Caille put the veil upon Bridget's head. And from that time hither Bridget's successor is entitled to have Bishop's ordersf conferred upon her. And whilst he was reading the order upon her Bridget was holding the leg of the altar in her hand, and although four churches were burned, and that leg in them, yet it was not burned." See aCurn/s MSS. Life, Translation, j). 28, 29, 30, 31. Brussel's Collection.
In Professor O'Looney's Irish Manuscript Life, it is ex- pressly stated, that St. Bridget went to take the veil from Bishop Moel, pp. 17, 18. "Corae," said Moel, "until a veil is blessed upon thy head," &c., &c. The same learned professor translated for me the sentences in the Life of St. Bridget, to be found in the " Leabhar Brae," edited, collated, and annotated by himself ; bearing upon this point, and gave it as his opinion that thej decidedly prove the religious profession of St. Bridget was performed by St. Moel.J From the foregoing extracts, it ap- pears certain that the religious ceremony, on the occasion of St. Bridget's profession, was performed by St. Moel, who had con- firmed her. " It was he that conferred orders, i.e., sacramentalia, sacramentals, as distinguished from the sacraments, upon her." It is true that Mac Caille put a veil upon her head ininiediatehj before she came into the presence of the clerics ; but that veiling does
* Bougna Bog. There is now no bog bearing that name in the territory of OSa\y.—0' Donovan, F. M.
t A dignity attaching to her office, corresponding to the dignity belonging to the office of Bishop. Abbesses, even still, carry a baculus, somewhat like a Bishop's crozier.
X The learned Dr. Joyce examined the passages in the " Leabhar Brae " relating to this point, and gave it as his opinion to the compiler that Bishop Mel professed St. Brigid.
DIOCESE OF ARDAGH. O
not appear to have been a religious ceremony, and when Mac Caille put the veil upon Bridget's head the second time, he acted only the part of an assistant to St. Moel, who was engaged, as principal, in jDerforming the religious ceremony. In fact, the whole context clearly shows that St. Moel "professed" St. Bridget, and it was for this Mac Caille and she and the other virgins made so long a journey over the bog. Canon 0 Hanlon re- marks, in his " Life of St. Bridget," p. 61, that it is to be regretted we have not on record the exact name of the church in which St. Bridget made her religious profession ; for it is stated in the Trias, " while the saint made her vows to Heaven she touched a wooden support on which its altar rested." Cogitosus says " in his time this wood was still green as if it had not been cut down and barked, but had yet remained attached to its roots and growing." Now Lynch, in his MSS. " History of the Episcopal Succession," seems to convey that miracle took place in St. Moel's Church at Ardagh. The following are his words, f). 245 : — S. Melchuo, S. Meli frater, individuus itinerum comes Yirtutum ardens imitator et in Ardachadensi episcopatu Successor et a Diva Brigida sicut frater ejus cultus fuit nfpote quo virginitatis velum ei confe rente aridum arce supjjeda neuni ah eel tactum illico mruit et floruit, corticem etiam induens, ad omnis generis morbos pluribus excutiendus plurimum prof uit quod Laurentius Baronius Ordinis Minorum Theologus Sequent! versu expressit scilicet
" Annoso Saliunt sua germina trimco Et veiiit in tumidam verna Juventa tabem."
From this, it manifestly follows that St. Moel gave the veil to St. Bridget, and in his own church of Ardagh, where the miracle, already alluded to, appears to have taken place. Moreover, O'Curry in his MSS. Translation, already quoted, states that Mac Caille and Bridget followed St. Moel into the country of the O'Neill, which was called Teffia. Teffia was formerly a very extensive country in Meath, comprehending five baronies in Westmeath, and extending into Longford. " There was North and South Teffia in Longford, the former belonged to Carbry, the sou of King Neill and his posterity, and was called Carbria Guara ; the latter belonged to Mann and his posterity (Mann was son of King Neill), and was divided from Tefiia in Westmeath by the river Inny. St. Patrick regenerated this Mann in the laver of Baptism, and built a church in a place called Ardagh, and con- secrated his sister's son, Moel, bishop of it, with wh-om he left Melchuo Co-Bishop." — 0' Donovan, F. M. This extract strongly confirms the previous arguments ; for it is admitted that Mac Caille and Bridget followed St. Moel into the country of
6 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
the O'Neill. iSTow, St. Moel and liis clerics resided at Ardagh, in the territory of Mann, the son of King Niall of the Nine Hostages, and it may, therefore, be fairly deduced that St. Moel performed the religious profession of Bridget in his own church at Ardagh. I have reserved the strongest argument for last, namely, the Bollandists hold that St. Mel professed St. Bridget in his own church at Ardagh. The Eight Eev. Dr. Woodlock has written lessons, proj^ria nianu, for the I'east of St. Mel, which were approved at Rome, and this opinion is adopted in these lessons as the correct one.*
THE CATHEDRAL AND COLLEaE OF ARDAGH.
Longford being of late years the chief town in the Diocese of Ardagh, the magnificent new Cathedral of St. Mel was com- menced there by Bishop O'Higgins, more than forty years ago. It was completed, nearly as it now stands, by the late Bishop Kilduff. Previously to their episcopate, Athlone and Bally- mahon had been alternately the chief seat of the bishop of this diocese. Dr. Brady, for instance, resided chiefly in Athlone, whilst Doctors Magauran and O'Higgins resided at Bally- mahon, where both were interred. The remains of Dr. O'Higgins were afterwards removed to the vaults of the Cathedral at Longford, and fittingly so ; as it was he who had conceived its design and laid its foundation stone. He did not live to witness the erection of its walls, except in part; but having projected the great work and seen it partly built, he was called to his reward. To him a great successor arose, who fully realized the conception of his pre- decessor. Dr. Kilduff not only lived to witness its completion almost as it now is, but also laid the foundation stone of the College of St. Mel. Having concentrated his mind and heart from the beginning of his episcopal career upon these two great works, he took up his residence at Longford, soon after his consecration, where he uninterruptedly lived until his premature death. The beautiful high altar, now standing in this Cathedral, was erected as a memorial to commemorate his zeal and virtues. The late Bishop, Dr. Conroy, contributed somewhat to complete
* I took these Lessons from the Bollandists ; and before sending them to Rome had them revised by one of the present Bollandists, Fr. de Genet, S.J.
i5« B. WOODLOCK,
Bisho}-» of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise.
CATHEDRAL AND COLLEGE OF ARDAGH. /
the interior, and the present Bishop, Dr. AVoodlock, has made still larger improvements and contemplates the erection of a magnificent portico, which is a part of the original design. Canon O'Hanlon, on the occasion of a visit in June, 1876, to Longford, wrote the following description of St. Mel's : — " The fine cathedral, dedicated to St. Mel, at Longford, is one of the largest and handsomest ecclesiastical structures in Ireland. It is built of the finest grey marble limestone, which on the exterior is cut and carefully dressed, from the foundation to the project- ing course that crowns the walls. Ont stone mouldings enclose the windows exteriorly, and these are covered with moulded pediments. Six pillars are intended to support a grand pedi- ment in front, but this portion has yet to be erected. The style throughout is of the Italian composite order. The ground plan includes a nave, connecting two side aisles by a double range of eleven arches, divided on either hand, resting on twelve grey marble columns of great height, yet symmetrical and solid. The columns are capped by chiselled capitals, under the turning of the arches. A transept extends across the upper end of the nave and side aisles. A grand high altar, of exquisitely white^ polished Carrara marble — of elaborate and congruent design with the style of building— is in the centre, and opposite to the great entrance by the nave. At the end of the right side aisle there is a side altar of our Holy Eedeemer, and at the end of the left side aisle there is one dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Transverse columns and arches are in the transepts. Four circular-headed windows light either eide aisle, and they alternate with circular, canopied niches, all -^ith fine mouldings interiorly. Five such niches fill up the circular apse, behind the front altar. A circular-headed window between similarly designed niches, ornaments either end of the transept. Twenty eight angels, wrought in a highly artistic manner, rise im- mediately over the capitals of all the nave columns. The coved roof of the ceiling is wrought very tastefully in plaster, while a highly ornamental cornice runs over the whole circuit of nave and apse in the same elaborate style. High in the coved ceiling, over the three large entrance vestibules, is the fine-toned organ of the choir. Two fine columns, with three connecting arches, support the organ loft and choir. The vestibules, in. front, lead to the nave and aisles. A moulded cornice runs immediately under the window sills all through the cathedral. Twelve clerestory and circular-headed lights are over their respective colonade arches on either side of the nave. The bishop's throne is on the Gospel side, within the sanctuary ; while the pulpit rises against the third circular column on the epistle side of the nave. Basso-relievo flat columns are placed
DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
along the walls of the transepts, of the side aisles, and of the apse. The campanile, surmounted with a dome and terminated by an elaborate gilt cross, is an object of great architectural beauty. On an octagonal base, rising over the roof, are three projecting mouldings, each sustaining a highly ornate compart- ment of the campanile. Carved columns sustain the cornices."
The venerated Bishop of Ardagh, Dr. Woodlock, has done much to beautify the interior of St. Mel's Cathedral. I shall reserve his special works in this direction for the Chapter at the end of this book, in which his biographical sketch will be given.
The names of the presidents of St. Mel's College will also be given under the chapter relating to the founder — the Right Eev. Dr. KildufP.
BOUNDARIES OF ARDAGH DIOCESE.
The See of Ardagh originally comprised the country of the eastern Conmaicne. It consisted of the territory of the O'Ferrals and O'Quins, in the Co. Longford, commonly called Annally — the diocesan boundaries being originally co-terminus with the territories of the chieftains. It also included the territory of Muintir Eolais, i.e., of Mac Rannall (O'Reynolds), in the County of Leitrim. These two families were descended from Conmac,* son of Fergus Mac Roy, the dethroned King of Ulster, by Queen Meave or Maud of Connaught, in the first century. Ardagh is sometimes called by ancient writers Con- maicne. There are, however, several districts of this name in Connaught, the inhabitants of which were called Conmaicne, or the descendants of Conmac, one of the sons of Queen Maud. But Conmaicne, which is synonymous with Ardagh, is designated Conmaicne of Moyrein, in Brefney, O'Rourke's country, which, according to O'Flaherty, extended into the Co. Longford. Under the year a.d. 1475 F. M. it is stated, that Fenagh, in the barony of Leitrim and Co. Leitrim, lay in Moyrein, and by some autho- rities, Conmaicne of Moj^rein and Muintir Eoluis were considered identical. The MacRannalls (O'Reynolds) were the principal chiefs of Muintir Eoluis, which territory comprised the southern, part of the Co. Leitrim, and extended from Slieve-an-Iarain and Lough Allen to Slieve Carbry west of Balona in the County Longford, and contained the castles of Rinn, Lough Scur, and Leitrim, and the monasteries of Fenagh, Mohill and Cloon. Under the year 1562 F.M. it is stated, that the power of O'Rourke extended from Caladh, in the territory of Hy -Maine, in the
* All of this Conmac's posterity were styled kings until their submission to the Crown of England.
BOUNDARIES OF ARDAGH DIOCESE. 9
County Roscommon, to Drobhaois, or Droos, on the borders of Leitrim, Donegal, and Sligo, and from Granard, in Teffia, Co. Longford, to the Strand of Eohuile, in the Barony of Tireragh and County of Sligo, near Ballysodare. and it may, therefore, be inferred that Comaicne of Moyrein extended from Killanummery and Killerry, on the north-western side, to Granard, on the south- eastern. It is stated, however, under the year 1172, F. M., that Donal O'Ferrall, of the Annally family, was chief of Conmaicne, or that portion of Longford adjoining the County Leitrim. It does appear certain that the boundaries of Ardagh were fixed according to the limits of the territories subject to these two chieftains. At the Synod of Rath Breasail, held about the year 1118, and presided over by Gillebert, Bishop of Limerick, and then Apostolical Legate in Ireland, for the purpose of defining the limits of the various dioceses, it was declared, the Diocese of Ardagh extends from Ardcarna to Slieve-an-Ierin, and from Ceis-Coran to Urchoiltin. This is clearly the north-western boundary of Ardagh, for Urchoiltin borders on Dromohair, and Ceis-Coran is in the neighbourhood of Ballysodare, Co. Sligo.
As regards the parishes of Kilronan and Killanumery and Killerry different accounts, founded on tradition, are given, as to the manner in which they came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ardagh. It is, for instance, commonly enough asserted that the parish of Kilronan, in the Co. Roscommon, belonged to the Diocese of Elphin until Monsignor Mac Dermot Roe its Parish Priest was appointed Bishop of Ardagh. Such, however, was not the case. It was a part of Ardagh for centuries before, as the following extract from Lynch's MSS. History of the Ep. Succession," wiU clearly show : " Ardacha habet pareecias in aliis comitatibus praeter Longfordiam ut v. gr. in Roscoraanige Comi- tatu, parseciam amplam de Kilronan in regione de Tiretuahail, quam olim Muintireadam e Clanaruariiorum stirpe orti inhabi- tabant. In Sligoensi quoque Comitatu mediam parochiam de Killaraidh et mediam parochiam de Killanumuire habet quia Clanarurii erant olim eorum locorum Domini."
At the present time the Diocese of Ardagh includes nearly all Longford, the greater part of Leitrim, and portions of King's County, Westmeath, Roscommon, Cavan, and Sligo. About the year 1107 the Diocese of Feara-Midhe was divided into two equal parts between the Bishops of Clonmacnoise and Clonard. This partition was made at the Synod of TJisneach, when the country from Cloghan-an-imrim, westwards, was given to the Bishop of Clonmacnoise, and from the same Cloghan, eastwards, to the Bishop of Clonard by Murchad O'Melaghlin and Eochaidh Ua Ceallaigh, &c. See Cronicum Scotorum, a.d. 1107.
St. Melchuo succeeded St. Mel. Ware has written : "St.
10 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
Melchuo brother to St. Mel, by the same father and mother, was the next bishop of this See. He followed his uncle, St. Patrick, out of Britain into Ireland, before the year 454, and was an unwearied companion of his labours and zealous imitator of his virtues, as Colgan tells us ' Act. Sanct.' p. 263, No. 29. The same distinguished writer adds that St. Patrick placed him over the Church of Ardagh after the death of his brother, St. Mel. There are but very slender accounts remaining of his successors in this See until the arrival of the English under King Henry II." Lynch, in his MSS. " History of the Episcopal Succession in Ardagh," gives substantially the same account of St. Mel's immediate successor. He adds, however, that a holy and close intimacy existed between St. Bridgid of Kildare and St. Melchuo just as there did between her and his brother. The words of Lynch are : " Et a Diva Brigida sicut frater ejus cultus fuit utpote quo virginitatis velum ei conferente aridum arae, etc., as already given on page 5
Lynch, in his MSS. History, and "Ware by Harris, and Archdall, and indeed all other writers on the episcopal succes- sion in this See, observe that the record of St. Mel's successors has been, at different intervals, broken or lost. Thus the next successor given by our Annallists is Beochail, whose death is recorded in the year 741, F. M. After his death an interval or interruption again occurs in the record of succession in this diocese as Lynch and other writers already named observe.
St. Erard succeeded to the administration of this diocese about the year 754. He was postulated by the unanimous voice of the clergy and people on account of his varied and profound learning and remarkable virtues. The words of Lynch are, MSS. : " lit qui corporis integritatem fastus fluxa- rumque opum contemptum, morum innocentiam, et sacrarum litterarum studia, quoad, vixit nnice coluit, S. Erardus illi sedi administrandae clero et populo unanimiter urgente admotus est."
Regarding this great and hoi}'- bishop. Ware has written as follows : " St. Erard, a native of Ireland and Bishop of Ardagh, together with his brothers, St. Albert and St. Hidulph, and nineteen other associates, forsook his country about the middle of the eighth century and travelled into Germany, where he was indefatigable in the propagation of the Christian faith. He died at Ratisbon, on the eighth of January, and was buried there in a convent of nuns. But I find no account in what particular year this happened. Some centuries after, viz., in the year 1052, he was canonized by Pope Leo IX. This account is taken out of the Breviary of Ratisbon ; but I do not find any mention made of him in the Annals of Ireland."
Lynch in his MSS. History gives substanti.'dlj^ the same
BOUNDARIES OF ARDAGH DIOCESE. 11
narrative regarding St. Erard, with this important difference, viz., that he, after several years of most fruitful and edifying govei-nment in the Diocese of Ardagh, set out, accompanied by his two brothers and the nineteen other associates, already referred to, to visit the tombs of the Apostles.
Having arrived at Home, the Supreme Pontiff requested him to go to Germany and there preach the Gospel. This is a NOTABLE OMISSION in "Ware's biographical sketch of our Saint. Ware adds, " the first whom we find to have written the life of Erard was one Paul, a monk, in the eleventh century." The second who wrote it was Conrad, of Montpelier, in France about, the beginning of the fourteenth century. To these may be added the several accounts given of him in the ancient and modern Breviaries of Augsburg, Eatisbon, and Wurzburg, which chiefly follow one or other of these authors. But some learned German writers have put this matter in a plainer light ; and, although they have not cleared up all the difficulties, j'et have said enough to give us grounds for a probable opinion on the matters in dispute, which are chiefly these : 1st. The country of St. Erard. 2ndly. Of what See he was bishop. 3rdly. In what age he flourished. 1st. It is almost universalh' ad- mitted that he was a native of Ireland. Geneve Scofits, in Scotia natus, is the usual phrase among the leai-ned writers regarding the country of Erard. Scotia was then synonymous with Ireland. The Bollandists gather together the opinions of the several learned writers on this subject and give as the most pro- bable opinion *' that he was a Scot of Ireland." Aventin was the first who started a contrarj^ opinion ; but being a man of no fame for veracity, had but few followers. There is, however, a difficulty arising from the expres- sions of some of these writers. Paul, for example. Paul, above mentioned, observes " he was Narbonensis Gentili- tate, Nervius Civilitate, Genere Scoticus." From whence one may be induced to judge that he was born at jSTarbon, in Gaul, of Irish parents, and educated among the JN'ervii, a people of Belgic Gaul. His brother, Hydulph, is said by an ancient M^riter of his Life which the Bollandists have published, to be, !Niverniorum ortus genere, and in another life, ISTerviorum ortus genere. But, it must be observed, that when foreigners meet with our uncouth Irish names they are often under difficulties to express them in proper Latin words. On this account Aventin and his followers have been misled. We must not, therefore, seek after Narbon, in Gaul, as the place of our Bishop's birth. Some of the German Legends point out that place in our own country — Narbonoe in Scotia natus, two of them expressly say. Narbon, therefore, or rather, Harbone,
12 DlUCESE OF ARDAGH.
as it is most truly written, must be sought for in Ireland. There is in the county of Tyrone, on the west of Lough Neagh, a village called Hardboe, or as others, leaving out the aspirate, have written it, Ardboe, formerly famous for a monastery of St. Colman, surnamed Mucaidh, whose festival is celebrated there on the 21st February. It was destroyed by fire in 1166, since which time it has continued but a sorry village. Richardson mentions it (p. 66) in his account of pilgrimages I am fully convinced that this was the place of Erard's birth. Possibly he was educated among the Nervii, of Belgic Gaul, which would account for Paul's expression, viz. : — that he was Nervii Civilitate. A second difficulty remains, viz., his brother Hydulph is called Niverniorum ortus genere. But the Bollandists admit that IS'iverniorum is, most probably, an error crept into the manuscript for Hiverniorum, or Hibernorum ; and this opinion settles all.
2ndly. The next difficulty which occurs, is of what See he was Bishop. Some make him Bishop of Freising, some of Treves, and others of Patisbon, which is controverted by Hundius, Paderus, and other German writers. But the most probable and general opinion, is that he was Bishop of Ardagh, in Ireland, before he travelled into Germany. So says the Patisbon Breviary, and that he governed it in sanctity for many years; with which Hundius, Paderus, and Brunerus, above named, agree. Now, it is hard to conceive that so many German writers (whose diligence and industry in searching into the ancient monuments of their country is unquestionable), should conspire to reject this ornament of their country, if truth alone had not directed them to this conclusion. Yet, possibly, he might have governed the See of Patisbon, after his arrival in Germany.
Hrdly. As to the age in which he flourished. Here, also, there are two opinions supported by authorities so repugnant to each other, that it is hard to reconcile them. The first is, that he flourished about the middle, or before the end of the seventh century. The second, that he came into Germany in the time of King Pepin, or Charlemagne his son, and, consequently, after the middle of the eighth century. It would lead me too far to discuss the reasons given for both these opinions. John Colgan has treated this subject with great judgment and exactness ; and has proved by very cogent reasons and strong authorities drawn from the best of the German writers, that St. Erard flourished in Germany between the year 730 and 754. To the latter year Baronius inclines. Colgan has proved the eighth of January to be the day of his festival. I must refer the reader to him and hasten on to other matters.
BOUNDARIES OF ARDAGH DIOCESE. 13
Lynch, in his MSS- History, observes that St. Erard was Bishop of the City of Ratisbon, died in the year 754, and was buried in a convent of nuns. He adds that this saint performed several miracles, before and after his death, upon the blind, the deaf, the lame, and persons suffering from other bodily in- firmities, and that he was canonized by Pope Leo IX., and his festival placed on the eighth of January.
The words of Lynch MSS. are, " Tamen sub annum 754, Katisbonae cujus urbis episcopus erat, mortuus, in caenobio Monialium inhumatus est miraculis ab eo post et ante mortem, in caecitatis, surditatis, claudicationis et aliarum aegritudinum sanitate editis, tantam ei sancitatis opinionem conciliantibus, ut eum Leo IX. in sanctorum numerum retulerit et 8 Januarii diem ei colendo, assignaverit."
The chain of succession is again here broken. Our Annallists make no mention of a Bishop of Ardagh until 872, when they record the death of Faelghus Episcopus Ardaghedensis.
The thread of succession is again broken ; for the Annal- lists have no record of his successor until the year 1048, when the death of Ceili, Bishop of Ardagh, is mentioned.
Here again the chain of succession is broken, for there is no record of another Bishop of Ardagh until Macreit O'Moran flourished. He is said to have been Bishop of Kilmore as well as Ardagh. Bishop O'Moran lived to the advanced age of 83. He assisted at the Synod of Kells, held in the year 1152, and in the catalogue thereof is called Bishop of Conmacne, i. e., Ardagh. He died in 1168.
To him succeeded Christian O'Hetai O'Heroic, in 1172. Hovenden mentions this prelate under that year. The Annal- lists record his death at the year 1178.
O'Kirlenan or O'Tirlenan succeeded. He died in 1187.
O'Hislenan succeeded. He died in 1189. It is said he was slain. The Annallists do not mention the supposed cause nor the circumstances in which this event took place.
Adam O'Murredai succeeded. He is reckoned among the benefactors to the Abbey of Tristernagh.
For besides the confirmation of several churches in the Diocese of Ardagh, he granted to them the tithes of Tyrclogher and Clomellan, Rathowen and Ardglass, saving his episcopal customs. O'Muredy died in 1217.
To him succeed Robert, whom the Annallists call an English- man. He was a Cistercian monk, and the eleventh Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin. He granted and confirmed the tithes to the Abbey of Tristernagh, the Church of Leeue, saving his episcopal rights, as Richard de la Corne, Bishop of Meath, also did. The Annals of St. Mary's Abbey give him the title of
14 DIOCESE OF AKDAGH.
a man of holy conversation. He died in 1224, having reigned seven years.
Simon M'Grath succeeded in 1224. He is called in the Annals of Ulster, MacRaith MacSeerai, and was celebrated for the probity of his manners. The Annallists add, he was a man of as much virtue and devotion as any in Leth-Cuin. He died in 1230.
Joseph Magoday succeeded in the same year. Before his election he was Archdeacon of Ardagh, and immediately after it set out for Eome, where his election received the Pope's confirmation, and he was consecrated. On his home journey he died at Florence, in 1231.
Jocelain O'Tormaig succeeded in 1233. Some of our Annallists call him O'Tormay, Bishop of Conmacna, i.e., Ardagh. He died in 1237.
Brenden Magoday succeeded in 1238. He confirmed the tithes to the Abbey of Tristernagh, the Churches of Kynkill, Glyn, Rathascop, and Rathowen, which lay in his diocese, saving his episcopal rights of visitation, proxies, &c., and he discharged that abbey of the maintenance of a vicar at Rathaspoc, i.e., Rathaspic. He reigned for seventeen years, and died in 1255, and was buried in the Abbey of the Canons of St. Peter, at Derg. He granted at the Feast of Pentecost, 1251, thirty days' indulgence to the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, in the Temple, at London.
Milo, of Dunstable, succeeded in 1256. He was so called from a town of that name in Bedfordshire, where it seems he was born. Having been elected Bishop of Ardagh, he obtained the required confirmation on the 20th of May, 1256. He governed this See about thirty- three years. He died in 1289.
Matthew O'Heothy succeeded in 1290. Before his consecra- tion he was a Canon of Ardagh. He governed this See for thirty-two years, and died in 1322.
Alexander was elected his successor, but there is no record of the year in which he took possession, nor do the Annallists mention the year of his death.
John Mageoi succeeded in 1331, and died in 1343. This See was vacant for three years after his death.
Owen O'Ferral succeeded. Before his election he was Arch- deacon of Ardagh. About the close of the year 1343 he was canonically elected by the Dean and Chapter, but for some reasons not recorded, his consecration did not take place before the year 1347. The Annallists say this Prelate was much celebrated for the integrity of his life. He governed this See for twenty years, and died in 1367.
BOUNDARIES OF ARDAGH DIOCESE. 15
William M'Cawsee or MacCasac,* succeeded in 13G7. Before his election he was a secular priest. This prelate died of a, fall from his horse in 1373, but it is not stated that his death was immediate. In August, the same year, great discords arose conceraing the election of a successor. For Charles O'Farrel was elected by one part of the Chapter, while another part made choice of Richard O'Ferral, Dean of Ardagh ; and a third adhered to John Aubry, a Dominican Friar of Trim. The supporters, however, of Charles O'Ferral triumphed over their opponents ; for he was consecrated Bishop of Ardagh in 1373. The Annallists say he was a man remarkable for learning, piety and charity to the poor. He died in 1378.
Henry Nony. March 25. Henricus Honii, Ord. Praed., was promoted to Ardagh, " vac. per obitum bonse memoriae Caroli (O'Ferrall) extra Romanam Curiam def uncti." — Bullarium Ord. Prffid.
1396. Gilbert MacBrady succeeded. Ware.
1400. February 15. Adam Leyns, or Lyns, or Lexid, Ord. Praed. He was promoted to Ardagh, " vac. per obitum Grilberti, extra Romanam Curiam defuncti." — Bullarium Ord. Prsed. Leyns died in June, 1416.
1418. February 17. Cornelius O'Ferrall, Ord. Praed. "Die 13 Kal. Martii, 1818, provisum est ecclesiae Ardechaden. in Hibernia, vacanti per mortem, de persona Cornelii, Decani, electi, confirmati." Vatican. On the 9th of December, 1418, " B. P. D. Cornelius, electus Ardacadensis," by means of his proctor, Matthew de Caructiis, a Florentine merchant, paid at Mantua, "pro totali solutione sui com. servitii, 16 florenos auri de Camera, et 33 solidos, et 4 denarios. Item pro totali solu- tione unius min. servitii, 43 solidos et 10 denarios." Obli- gazioni. Cornelius O'Ferrall died in 1424, and was buried at Longford, in the convent of his Order.
1425. January 11. Richard O'Ferral. "Die 3"" Idus Januarii, 1425, provisum est ecc-a^ Ardakaden, in Provin. Armachana in Hibernia, vac. per mortem Cornelii, de persona Ricii als. Richardi, Abbatis Mon"- B. Mariae de Granardo, Ord. Cisterc, dioc. Ardechada, cum dispensatione opportuna et neces- saria." Vatican, "Richardus, electus Ardakaden, personaliter obligavit," for payment of tax on promotion, 33j florenos, on the 25th of May, 1425. Obligazioni. Richard O'Ferral died in 1443. Ware.
1445. Cormack. " Die Februarii, 1445. Ven. vir. D. Tkyus, decanus de druvmlean., Triburnen, dioc , et Henricus
William M'Cormac, according to some.
16 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
Kyng, Canoiiicus Corkagen, in Ybernia, ut principales et pri- yatae personse, ac vice et nomine E. P. D. Cormaci, electi Episcopi Ardakaden, in Ybernia, obtulerunt Cam. et Coll. etc. pro com. servitio, florenos aiiri de Camera 33 et unum tertium." Obligazioni. According to Ware, the name of the bishop wbo succeeded in 1445 was " Magsambradban." Perhaps Magsam- radham was the surname of Cormac, who seems to have been sitting in 1470. Magsamradhan was the surname. — Lynchy MSS. History.
To him succeeded Donald O'Ferrall. — Lynch, MSS. History.
14 — ? William OTerral succeeded. He appears in the provision of his successor. Ware says he was sitting, 1486.
It is beyond doubt that this prelate governed Ardagh in the beginning of the sixteenth century. He was not only Bishop, but also Dynast, of Annally, having retained the hereditary chieftancy of his family. His Brief of appointment is dated,, according to Theiner, 1479, and Ardagh is described as having become vacant through the death of John. He was Abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of St. Mary's, Lerha, now known by the more modern name of Granard, before he was called to rule over the See of St. Mel. He is said to have been remarkable for his learning, piety, and every virtue that should adorn the episcopal character. The succession in Ardagh during the six- teenth century is surrounded with much obscurity and confusion. Ware states that Dr. OTarrell resigned his See about the be- ginning of this century, and that Thomas O'Congalan and one Owen succeeded, and governed it between 1500 and 1510. Dr. OTarrell must have, therefore, resigned long before his death, which took place in 1516. Some writers aflB.rm that he governed Ardagh until his death, and Thomas O'Congal was Bishop of Achonry, and that the mistake arose from the Latin word Achadensis, which was erroneously taken to mean Ardagha- densis. But it is to be observed that not only Ware, but also Lynch, in his MSS. History, sets down Thomas O'Congalan as the immediate successor of Dr. William OTarrell. Nor does it seem improbable that the Bishop resigned his See before his- death, when we consider that he was for several years engaged in war and strife with his neighbours. He insisted upon his rights as Chief-Dynast of Annally, but some of his own clans- men refused to recognize them. He assembled his forces, assailed and reduced to absolute ruin his opponents, together with the remnant of the little city of Ardagh. The cathedral shared in the general destruction, so that only the walls re- mained and one altar, canopied by the azure vault of heaven. There were only four houses remaining in the city, all built of wood, and scarcely any inhabitants, owing to the long con-
BOUNDARIES OF ARBAGH DIOCESE. 17
tinuance of family feuds between the O'Farrell claas. There was neither sacristy, nor belfry, nor bell. The yestments and altar ornaments are described as hardly sufficient for Mass, which \\'as rarely offered ujd, there being only one priest in the entire district. Under such circumstances, it does not seem improbable that Dr. William O'Farrell resigned the See before his death.
Eoderick 0'3Ialone, a Canon of the Cathedral at Clonmac- noise, succeeded. He is described as " honestis parentibus natus setatis annorum fere XL., sanus mente et corpore, ac bonae con- yersationis et famae, in jure canonico bene instructus et litteratus, ac in sacerdotii ordine constitutus et ad ipsius Ecclesiee regimen et gubernationem aptus et idoneus." Theiner, p. 521. It appears that King Henry YIII. addressed a letter to Pope Leo X. recommending the appointment of Dr. O'Malone to the See of Ardagh; the letter is dated Greenwich, 26th July, 1517, and the following is an accurate copy :
" Sanctissimo Clementissiraoque Domino nostro Papae. Beatissime Pater, post humillimam commendationem et devotis- sima pedum beatorum oscula. Espositum nobis f uit Cathedralem Ecclesiam Ardakadensem perexigui census ac proventus in dominio nostro Hibernise per obitum Eeverendissimi in Christo patris, Domino Wilhelmi ejus novissimi Episcopi, imprsesentia vacare suoque pastore esse destitutam, et cogitantibus tum nobis ei providere propositus f nit venerabilis vir Magister Pogerius O'Moleyn, Cathedralis Ecclesise Cluanensis canonicus, vir modestus, circumspectione, probitate et doctrina non mediocriter probatus, quern et nos idoneum esistiraavimus cui dictse Ecclesiae Ardakadensis cura committatur eique praeficiatur. Quo circa Yestrae Sanctitati eum commendamus ut eundem Magistrum Pogerium praedictse Ecclesiae praeficere ac Episcopum et Pasto- rem constituere dignetur, quod et honori atque utilitati ejusdem Ecclesiae f uturum putamus et nobis erit admodum gratum : et felicissime Yaleat Yestra Beatitudo. Quam Deus Altissimus longEevam conservat," etc. This is a begging sort of letter, and, although the petitioner was the king, they took' a long time at Rome to grant the object of his request ; for more than a year elapsed before Dr. O'Malone was appointed Bishop, and the Pope's sanction was not given until the sworn evidence of three independent Irish witnesses regarding the fitness of Eoderick O'Malone was placed- before His Holiness. Moreover, Dr. O'Malone resided in Rome before his appointment to the See of Ardagh, and his merits were therefore known to the Car- dinal charged with the Consistorial inquiry. It can scarcely be inferred that the king's recommendation expedited his appointment. It seems rather to have delayed it. At length,
3
18 DIOCESE or ARDAGH.
however, the Holy See proclaimed him Bishop of Ardagh, in a Consistory, held on the 4th December, 1518. He was permitted to retain his former canonry and benefice at Clonmacnoise on account of the poverty of the Diocese of Ardagh. He died about the year 1540. Ware here sets down Richard Ferrall and Lisach Ferrall as his successors. But in that he erred ; for the former, although at one time Abbot of Granard, was only an usurper, and the latter was schismatical, having obtained his appointment from Elizabeth. However, being djniasts of Annally they caused much confusion, disorder, and loss of lay as well as ecclesiastical property in Ardagh.
The illustrious family of the O'Ferralls of Annally gave not only to the ecclesiastical but also to the military profession many distingushed and brave members.* They were the chief patrons of religion in the territory of their ancient sept, and during the troubled period of the Confederation some of them rendered noble services to the Catholic religion, both in the senate and in the camp. In the worst and most trying days of our sad history some of this noble house hesitated not to ascend the scaffold and give the strongest proof in a man's power to give of his attachment to the Faith of our Fathers
THE O'FAERELL MARTYRS.
The Rev. Fathers Laurence O'Farrell and Bernard O'Farrell, O.P.
These two appear to have been brothers, and were of the ancient family of O'Farrell. Of Father Laurence, Dominick de Rosario remarks, that he was educated at Lisbon, and was sub- sequently Prior of their college there. De Burgo says that Father Bernard was Predicator Generalis of the Order. De Burgo and Fontana give the following account of their martyrdom : —
" They were seized at early morn, whilst praying in the church of their native convent, Longford, which had been abandoned by the brethren on account of the violence of the persecution. Father Bernard was at once overwhelmed by the persecutors with more than four and twenty deadly woimds,
* In the memorable but disastrous battle given by Bishop MacMahon, in 1650, to Coote and Venables, not far from Letterkenny, Lieutenant-General OTerrall, as well as Henry O'Neill, fought with singular bravery, but were obliged to sound a retreat before sunset. Among the killed on the side of the Irish were eighteen Captains of the O'Ferrall family. Lieutenant-General O' Ferrall escaped.
THE o'fARRELL MARTYRS. 19
whereof he expired ; yet lingered long enough to receive the last Sacraments from another of our Fathers before he died ; and this he himself had foretold. Brother Laurence they dragged, wounded, before the Governor, and on discovering that for the faith, and in obedience to the authority of the Nuncio, he had joined the Catholic army, he was condemned to death. He was to have been executed on the following day, and joyfully awaited his fate, but by the intercession of some friends it was deferred for three days. This was most grievous to Laurence, who blamed his intercessors and spent the whole three days in prayers and tears, beseeching God not to suffer him to lose the palm of martyrdom. At length he obtained his desire, and from the top of the ladder he addressed an eloquent exhortation to the Catholics ; then placing the rosary round his neck, and holding a crucifix in his right hand, and bidding the people farewell, he blessed them, and meekly folding his hands under the Scapular submitted himself to the executioner. When the executioner, after placing the cord round his throat, pushed him off the ladder ; whilst hanging he drew both his hands from under his Scapular and raised the cross on high in both as the emblem of his triumph. The heretical governor was so much struck that he allowed his body to be given to the Catholics and solemnly interred by them, and gave a safe conduct for the clergy to attend, fearing lest otherwise there might be tumults."
Rev. Laurence OTarrell, O.P.
He was an alumnus of the Convent of Longford, and studied at Prague, in Bohemia, but read his philosophy in Rome with the Irish Dominicans, in the Convent of SS. Sixtus and Clement, and theology with the English Dominicans, in the House of SS. John and Paul. He thence proceeded to England, and, whilst discharging the duties of an apostolic missionary, was seized and confined in a most strict prison in London, where he suffered much, for more than a year. At length, by the favour of God, he was set free, and proceeded to Belgium, where he patiently bore a long illness. He returned to England, and was again imprisoned, but was sent as a German into Portugal with the Archduke Charles, afterwards Emperor of the Romans. From thence he took an opportunity of going to Spain, where he piously died, serving as a chaplain to Berwick's regiment, in 1708.
The following account of their death is given in the Rinuc- cini MS. :—
"They both belonged to the illustrious house of the O'Feralls,
20 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
and were alike eldest sons, born to hereditary estates and wealth. They were, moreover, alike in that they were masters in Sacred Theology and famed as preachers of the truths of religion. They had held honourable posts in the convents of the Order at Longford, Roscommon, Derry, and elsewhere, and throughout the whole period of the Confederate War had proved themselves staunch champions of the Faith. Alike revered by the clergy and people, their names had been presented as most worthy to be promoted to the episcopal rank, and, in common with their devoted sept, they resolved either to preserve intact and incor- rupt the Faith handed down to them for twelve hundred years, or to die gloriously in its defence. Animated with such senti- ments, when arrested in the habit of the Order, they could not be induced by threats or promises to embrace the tenets of heresy. Wherefore they were cruelly treated as defenders of Popery, spies of the Roman Pontiff, enemies of the Protestant Church, and the heretics shouted out, ' Away with these cham- pions and leaders of the Papists ; kill them, hang them.' Father Bernard, struck with swords and spears, was on the spot pierced with eighteen mortal wounds, and was left for dead, being almost suffocated by his own blood. Life remained, however, till the last Sacraments were administered to him, and then the crown of martyrdom was added to that of the doctorate, which, a little while before, had been deservedly awarded him by Father Marinus, the General of the Dominican Order. Father Laurence O'Ferall was made prisoner without receiving any wounds, and being thrown into prison, he was ordered to be hanged on the following Wednesday. Led to the scaffold, he displayed the greatest courage and joy ; but, at the request of some English noblemen and others, who came to the unwonted spectacle, a respite till the following Saturday was granted. When this announcement was made to him, nothing could exceed his grief, to the astonishment of all who were present ; and when they asked why he thus sorrowed, he replied, because I feel myself at present so well disposed to meet death for God and for ithe Catholic Faith, that I fear I never again may be equally prepared for so happy a death. In the meantime, several English Protestants petitioned and made great efforts to have his life spared. All was in vain. On the following Saturday he was led to the scaffold. From the steps he ad- dressed a most earnest exhortation to those present, so moving, that all shed tears, and some were converted to the Faith. His discourse being ended, he was hanged, and thus attained the martyr's crown."
THE "o'fKRUALl" SEPT, PRINCES OF ANNALY. 21
The Rev. Anthony O'Farkell, O.S.F.,
was taken, whilst preacliing, by the Cromwellians, at Tulsk, in Roscommon, in the castle of Sir Ulysses de Burgo, and imme- diately hung, a.d. 1652. Bruodin.
The Rev. Christopher OTarrell
died in prison, about 1664, for the defence of the authority of the Pope. Whilst in prison, he was obliged to lie on the bare earth, the luxury of a bed being denied him.
THE "O'FERRALL" SEPT, PRINCES OF ANNALY.
This illustrious family is of Milesian origin ; descended from Milesius, who was King of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia, Castile, and Portugal, and who is known as Milesius of Spain. The Milesians came into this country several centuries before the birth of Christ. The three sons of Milesius who left any issue were Heber, Ir, and Heremon. From Ir descended FergusMor, who (by Meave, or Mab, Queen of Connaught) was the father of three sons, named respectively Conmac, Ciar, and Core : from Ciar are descended the O'Connors of Kerry, who were kings, Ar/ri Kerriensis (the O'Connors of Connaught being descended from Heremon) ; from Core, the O'Connors of Corcomroe, and the O'Loughlins of Burren, both territories being situate in the County of Clare ; and from the eldest son, Conmac, the O'Farrells, Kings of Conmacne (this word signifying " the pos- terity of Conmac "), which contained all that territory which we now call the County of Longford, a large portion of the Counties of Leitrim, Sligo, and Galway, and that part of the County of Westmeath anciently called Ciiircneach, but more lately " Dillon's Country."
From Angall, a direct lineal descendant of Conmac, that part of Conmacne now known as the County of Longford, and Ctiircneac/i, in Westmeath, was called " Upper Annaly ; " and the adjacent part of the County of Leitrim was called " Lower Annaly ; " and his posterity, after they lost the title of Kings of Conmacne, which his ancestors enjoyed, were, upon their submission to the Crown of England, styled Princes or Lords of both Annalies until a recent period.
Third in descent from Angall was Feargal {a quo "O'Ferrall"], who was King of Conmacne, and was slain fighting on the side of Brian Boru, at the Battle of Clontarf, A.D. 1014.
About that time the O'Farrells conquered Cairbre the Incre- dulous (upon whom, for his incredulity, the malediction of St.
22 DIOCESE OF AKDAGH.
Patrick swiftly descended), and dispossessed the O'Kearys, whose tribe name was Hy- Cairhri ; and they changed the name " Hy-Cairbri " to " Annaly " — their own tribe name.
In 1183, Auliffe, or Awly O'Farrell assumed the lordship of Annaly ; the English and Aimadh O'Rourke having previously, in 1172, slain Donall O'Farrell, the chieftain of that territory.
Tradition says that O'Farrell had seven castles in Annaly, which bore the following names : 1. Mornin, in the parish of Taghsheenod ; 2. Ardandra, in Agharra ; 3. Cammagh ; 4. Castlereagh, in Moydoe ; 5. Moat Farrell, in Clonbroney (it is said that there is a hollow or cave in this moat into which, in time of danger, the O'Farrels used to escape from their enemies) ; 6. Bawn, in Killoe ; 7. Ballinclare, in Ballymac- cormick ; but it is highly probable that he had more than seven castles.
It is believed that the military barracks in the town of Longford occupy the site of the O'Farrell's ancient fortified residence, which in Irish was named Longport- Ui-Fhearghail, meaning the " Fortress of O'Farrell ; " and which gave its name to the town and county of Longford.
LIOS-AED-ABHLA.
This is a most important seat of the O'Farrells, lying about seven miles from the town of Longford and five from Granard. It is Anglicised Liss-ard-owler ; but in an inquisition taken in the reign of James I. it is anglicised Lyserdowley ; and in one taken in the reign of Charles I. it is more correctly made Liss- ard-owla — a name which perfectly agrees with the Lios-ard- abhla, or Fort of the height. The Annals F. M. state, A.D. 1377, " The castle of Lios-ard-abhla* was erected by John O'Farrell. Lord of Annaly."
1383. "John, the son of Donnell O'Farrell, Lord of Annaly, died at Liss-ard-abhla, and was interred in the monas- tery of Abbeylara." 1461. Mac Cabe Henry, the son of Gilchrist, went into Annaly with O'Farrell, where he died of a short fit of sickness at Lios-ard-awla. His body was con- veyed to Cavan (to be interred there) attended by two hundred and eighty Gallowglasses, armed with battleaxes." Mac Cabe, who was of Danish origin, was constable of the Gallowglasses of Briefny, where the family is still very numerous. There is nothing of the old remains now to be seen at Lissard but a moat and rampart. The people say that there was a castle there belonging to O'Farrell. At the present time, E. O'Farrell,
* The fort of the high apple-place or orchard. Abhla, in the Celtic lan- guage, signifies orchard.
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 23
Esq , J.P., D.L., resides there in a magnificent mansion. Hospitable, kind, courageous, princely and truly Catholic, he is a noble representative of the O'Ferrall chieftains.
1541. November 14, Patrick Mac Mahon succeeded. "Die 14° Nov., 1541, referente R. D. Card^^ Gambara, S.D.N, providit ecclesiae Ardachaden. in Hibernia, vacanti per obitum Ronci (sic) olim Episcopi Ardachaden., extra Romanam Curiam de- functi, de persona Patritii Machman (Mac Mahon) ordinis fratrum minorum professoris, in presbyteratus ordine constitute Absolvens, etc." — Barberini and Vatican.
Sir James "Ware placed the succession of Dr. Mac Mahon in 1553, when Richard Ferral died. This Richard Ferral had restitution of temporalities in July, 1541, but was not conse- crated until after the 22nd of April, 1542, on which day George Cromer, Archbishop of Armagh, issued a Commission to any three Catholic bishops of Ireland to consecrate him. This appointment of Ferral was ignored at Rome ; and on Queen Mary's accession Mac Mahon was restored to temporalities. There is extant, in the London State Paper Ofiice, a bull of Pope Pius V. for deprivation of Patrick Mac Mahon (Patritius Magmathgamma) for simony, non-residence, leaving his cathe- dral in ruins, &c. The bull is dated from St. Peter's, Rome, January 26, 1568. (State Papers, Elizabeth, p. 362). This bull, or rather brief, may have been a forgery, or obtained by fraud. In Strype's " Life of Parker," edition of 1711, appen- dix No. Ixxxviii., is printed a letter from " Malachias quondam Ardachaden, Episcopus Hibernus," to the Privy Council. In this letter, which is dated " Ex Marseolsey, 28 Februarii, 1572," the " quondam " bishop Malachy confesses to have been once in papistical superstition, but " ex ignorantia potius quam malitia." He promises loyalty and obedience, especially in matters of religion, to the Queen and her Deputy in Ireland. Malachy, however, has no place in either the Papal or the Protes- tant succession.
The death of Patrick Mac Mahon is placed in the year 1572, probably because Queen Elizabeth, writing from Windsor, on the 5th November, 1572, gave directions for the appointment of Garvey, the Dean of Christ Church, " to the bishopric of Ardagh, at present void." — King's Letters, Record Office, Dublin. But Garvey was not appointed. On the 13th of June, 1576, Sidney wrote from Dublin a letter to "Walsingham, recommend- ing John Pettit, clerk, for the See of Ardagh, vacant by the death of Patrick Mac Mahon, and asking for him also the par- sonage of Pierstown, in commendam. — (State Papers, Irish MSS., Rolls Office, London.) But this appointment, like that of Garvey, never was carried out. Ardagh was without a Protes-
24 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
tant bishop for twenty-five years from the date of Elizabeth's accession
It is likely from Sidney's letter in 1576, as well as from the following provision, that Mac Mahon died in 1575 : —
1576. January 23, Eichard Brady. "Die 23^ Januarii, 1576, referente Card. Alciato, S. D. IS", providit ecclesise Arda- caden, in regno Hibernise, vacanti per obitum Patritii de per- sona fratris Riehardi (Brady), ord. S. Franeisci. Ipsumque etc. Et cum decreto emittendi profess fidei antequam poss"^^"^ adipiscatur. Et cum solito decreto quod non possit exercere pont^* in aliis ecclesiis etiam de consensu Episcopormn alias etc, sit suspensus. Et fuit facta gratia." — Barberini and Vatican. See Appendix.
Brady is said by Ware to have come from Rome with Papal Bulls, instigating the Irish Catholics to rebel against the English Government, but this statement is incorrect, for Richard Brady never left Ireland. He was translated to Kilmore on the 9th of March, 1580.
1581. September 11, Edmund Mac Gauran. "Die 11^ Sept., 1581, referente Senonen. providit ecc. Ardachaden, in Hib. vac, per trans. R. P. D. Richardi ad ecc. Kilmoren., de persona Edmundi Macsaruraghan, ipsumque etc." — Barberini. He had been " praeconized " in the Consistory of September 2, 1581.
Dr. Mac Guaran was promoted to Armagh in 1587. He died a martyr.
From 1587 to 1647 this See was governed by Yicars or Administrators.
John Gaiiney, who was made Yicar-General of Ardagh, in 1597, was appointed Yicar- Apostolic, March 11th, 1621, but his Brief was not expedited until January 14th, 1622.
The following is a copy of the Brief of Pope Gregory XY. : —
Brief of Pope Gregory XY., appointing Rev. John Gaffxey, Yicar Apostolic of Ardagh, January 14, 1622.
(From the Secreten'a Brevium, Rome.)
[" Rev. John Gaffney was appointed Yicar-General of the Diocese of Ardagh, in the year 1597. Being specially com- mended to the Holy See, for his zeal and untiring devotedness in ministering to the spiritual wants of the faithful, he was appointed Yicar Apostolic, on the 11th March, 1621 ; but the Brief of his appointment was not expedited till the 14th of January, the following year. In 1634, he wrote to Rome,
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 25
petitioning to be relieved from tlie burden tlius imposed on him, stating, as his motive for this request, that he was now weighed down with years, and " had governed the Diocese for thirty-seven years, as Vicar-General and Apostolic."]
Dilecto Filio Joanni Gauneo, Presbytero Hiberno in Civitate et Disecesi Ardachaten. Yicario Apostolico.
Gregorius Papa XY.
Dilecte Fili, salutem Apostolicam Benedictionem. Ecclesia Pomana foecunda mater filiorum quae quos per Evangelium, genuit alit instituit et propriis admotis uberibus modo lac modo cibum subministrans omnes Deo lucrifacere intendit, in Civitate et Diaecesi Ardachatensi Pastoris solatio destitutis propius intuens eorundem populorum saluti non minus quam propria) invigilat : quapropter ne grex ille sine capite dispersus aberrans luporum f aucibus penitus exponatur de tua fide, prudentia atque experientia plurimum in Dno. confidentes, te in Civitate et Dise- cesi Ardachaten — in spiritualibus et generalibus Yicarium Gene- ralem et ofiicialem ac nostrum et Sedis Apostolicae Commissarium ad nostrum et dictae Sedis beneplacitum auctoritate Aposto- lica tenore pra^sentium facimus constituimus et deputamus, Dantes tibi plenam et liberam facultatem et potestatem quod ea quae sunt jurisdictionis non autem ordinis qua) Epus. Ardachatensis si adesset tarn ex consuetudine quam de jure communi ac etiam ex decretis Concilii Tridentini in utroque foro habere et exercere posset necnon cum speciali facultate omnes et quoscumque haereticos et schism aticos in Ecclesiae gremium revertentes absolvendi ac cum eis de f ructibus quovis modo per eos male perceptis locis et usibus pi is applicandis componendi, illosque si tibi videbitur in totum vel in partem condonandi, Ecclesias et qusecumque loca pia quam celerrime et debita cum diligentia juxta sacrorum Canonum et Concilii Tridentini dispositionem visitandi et reformandi, synodum celebrandi, curata et non curata beneficia servata forma juris ac dicti concilii conf erendi, ccemeteria, oratoria capellas et Ecclesias quascumque poUutas reconciliandi paramenta et ornamenta, omnia Ecclesiastica ad usum Ecclesiarum totius Dioecesis neces- saria, non tamen vasa ubi sacra unctio adhibetur, bendicendi et consecrandi, dimissorias et commendatitias litteras ad omnes etiam Sacros et Presbyteratus ordines concedendi, etc., etc., cum facultate et substituendi tibi in casu necessitatis alium Yicarium cum simili vel limitata potestate, quem Yicarium Nos cum eadem potestate ex nunc constituimus.
Datum Eomae apud S. Petrum, die 14 Jan. 1622.
26 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
On the 5tli Oct., 1637, the Emperor Ferdinand wrote from Ratisbon to the Pope, recommending for the vacant See of Ardagh, Francis Ferrall, a Franciscan of the stricter observ- ance, who had been a Professor in Prague. — Moran's Spicele- gium, page 227.
The following is a copy of the letter : —
Letter of the Emperor Ferdinand to the Pope, recommending Fr. Francis Ferral, for the See of Ardagh, 5th Oct., 1637.
Bme. in Xto Pater, etc.
Post officiosissimam, etc.
Hibernia Insula, quae in Oceano sic circumlatrantibus falso- rum dogmatum monstris hinc inde cincta, divini tamen luminis adspirante aura, verae atq. orthodoxae Religionis cultum utcumq. conservat, eo peritiores vigilantioresq. Sacrorum Antistites pos- tulat, quo propinquior tabes praesentius minatur intentatq. periculum. Cum itaq. nobis complurium, quos ob singularem fidem, atq. observantiam in nos suam, peculari gratise ac digna- tionis nrae.
Caesareae favore prosequimur, luculenta praedicatione laudatus sit Doctus, devotus, nobis dilectus, Fr. Franciscus Ferral, Hiber- nus fam. franciscanae strictioris obs. Peligiosus cum ab antiqui et praecipui in Hibernia generis claritudine, turn a castigatae vitae, morunq, probitate, tum ab exacta rerum divinarum, alia- rumq. liberalium disciplinarum cognitione, ac scientia : quippe quas non solum in diversis sui instituti Monasteriis, sed in nostra quoque Bohemias Metropoli Prague in Collegio Cardina- litio vulgari cum omnium doctorum applausu, et admiratione publico docuerit, et doceat, eaq. dederit ubique indegritatis, prudentiae, ac virtutis specimina, ut ad vacantem Eptum. Ardaghaden tertium jam communibus et cleri et populi votis postulatus sit. Idcirco Nos eo, quo rem catholicam auctam, et laboranti in Hibernia religioni catholicae consultum inprimis cupimus, studio eumdem, Sanctitati VraB. meliorem in modum commendatum lubentes suscepimus : ab eadem, pro solita nos- tra filiali observantia, ac fiducia reverenter, atq. obnixe petentes, uti memoratum Religiosum fr. Franciscum Ferral suprad™- Eptum.
Ardachadem. vel praeclararum ejus virtutum et ab ejus loci Clero et populo toties postulationis intuitu, vel nostras etiam commendationis hujus suffragio promovere benigne velit factura non solum rem Nobis gratam, sed rei quoq. Xnae. confidimus, utilem ac fructuosam. Caeterum summam preca-
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 27
mur divinitatem, ut Sanctitatem Vram. Ecclise. Suoe dutissime superstitet, sospitet, fortunet.
Datum Eatisbonae, 5 Oct. 1637.
It does not appear, however, that he was appointed to the vacant See ; or, that if he was, he ever took possession of it.
Cornelius GafPney was the next Vicar, as the following documents shall prove. During his time a Provincial Synod of Armagh was held, on the 8th October, 1660, in the Parish of Killoe, Clunilih, County Longford, at which he was Secre- tary.
7. Decrees of the Provincial Synod of Armagh, 8th October, 1660.
(From the Rinuccini MSS.)
Ad Dei Omnipotentis gloriam et Ecclesige Catholicae exaltationem.
Acta, Statuta et Decreta, facta et Ordinata in Concilio Pro- vinciali Ardraachano, habito et celebrato apud Clunilih in parochia de KiUeo Dioecesis Ardaghadensis praefatae Ardraa- chanae provincise, die 8° mensis Octobris, S. Brigittae yiduae sacro, praesidente Illustrissimo D. Edmundo Archiepiscopo Ai'dmachano et totius Hiberniae Primate; praesentibus etiam Heverendissimo Midensi ; procuratore Reverendissimi Kilmo- rensis ; Rev. admodum D. Philippo MacCrolly Clogherensis Dioecesis Vicario Apostolico Sac. Theologiae et Juris utriusque Doctore ; procuratore Yicarii Apostolici Clonmacnosiensis ; procuratore Yicarii Apostolici Derensis ; Yicario Generali Ardaghadensi ; Yicario Generali Dunensi et duobus Yicariis Generalibus Conerensibus ; Yicario Generali Rapotensi ; Yicario Generali Diocesis Dromorensis; Abbate Ardmachano Canoni- corum Regularium ; Abbate S. Maria) de Asseruaigh Ord. Cis- tertiensis ; Abbate Monasterii de Deserto Canonico Regulari ; Abbate S. Mariae de Kinlis ; Priore de Tristerna Canonicorum Regularium ; Priore S. Patricii Canonicorum Regularium ; Decano Ecclesiae Ardaghadensis ; Priore de Duvennis Oanoni- corumRegularium ; Procuratore Decani Derensis ; Procuratore Decani Kilmorensis ; Decano Rapotensi ; Procuratore Abbatis de Clunes Can. Regularium ; Archidiacono Kilmorensi ; Procu- ratore Archidiacono Kilmorensi ; Procuratore Archidiaconi
28 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
Cloglierensis ; Priore Colideorum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Ardama- clianae ; Procuratore Fratrum Minorum S. Francisci ; cum multis Theologis ssecularibus et Kegularibus ad id vocatis et aliquibus etiam aliis ea reliquis provinciis,
Primo post Litanias omnium Sanctorimi Sacrum Concio- nem, et invocationem Spiritus Sancti, lecto liymiio Yeni Creator fSpiritus, declarandura esse duximus sicut per praesentes declara mus, protestamur et notum facimus, nos niliil aliud in liac nostra couventione meditari, velle aut intendere, quam Dei Omnipotentis gloriam, Peligionis Catholicae exaltationem anima- rum salutem, Regis et Regni tranquillitatem securitatem et pacem, reddentes ea quae sunt Caesaris Caesari, et quae sunt Dei Deo.
1°. Statuimus ergo, sancimus et ordinamus, ut singuli Paro- clii catechizent, exhortentur aut concionentur ad populum singulis diebus Dominicis et festis solemnioribus sub poena quinque solidorum monetae Anglicanae in pios usus per Ordina- ries respective convertendorum, toties quoties in hoc pastores respective deliquerint ; quod si ad decern septimanas continuas in hoc quisquam negligens fuerit eo ipso beneficio privatus existat.
2". Statuimus et ordinamus ut omnes qui olent de Janse- nismo aut quomodolibet olere reperientur, aut de haeresi alia quacumque a sede Apostolica damnata eo ipso sint inhabiles et incapaces cujuscumque praelaturae, dignitatis et beneficii etiam minimi, in hac nostra provincia Ardmachana : proinde ne (quod Deus avertat et nos formidamus) in ovina pelle subintrent in Dominicum gregem multifaria haeresi jamdudum agitatam lupi rapaces, supplicamus humillime eaque qua decet submissione sedi Apostolicae, rogantes quatenus nullus in posterum promo- veatur ad dignitates aut beneficia quascumque in hac provincia sine commendatione Illustrissimi D. Primatis, et Ordinarii ejus jurisdictionisin qua talis promo tio expectabitur.
3°. Statuimus et ordinamus ad confusiones et superstitiones, quae forte subrepere possunt, praeveniendas et in postermn evi- tandas, ut nulli omnino liceat circumire cum crucibus, baculis, 23edis, campanulis, nolis, scuttellis, tintinnabulis, catenis, cin- gulis, lapijiulis, cum Baculo Sancti Patricii, velo S. Brigidae, Evangelus S. Columbae, aut similibus aut tales Reliquias vel quasi Reliquias populo exponere, sub poena excommunicationis, sine speciali licentia et approbatione Ordinariorum respective ; similiter sub iisdem poenis statuimus ut nulli utantur orationibus (vulgo Orrha), insulHationibus aut similibus quae superstitionem sapere possunt, sed iis tantum orationibus et caeremoniis quae sunt ab Ecclesia approbatae : item statuimus et ordinamus ut nullus omnino sacerdos sive saecularis sive res^ularis, utatur alia
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 29
forma, benedictione, caeremoniis aut verbis, quam ifsquse com- muniter habentur in fine Missalis Romani ad benedicendam- aqiiam, sub poena pr^efata.
4". Cum audiamus aliquos de utroque clero in provincia Dubliniensi diebus Dominicis et festivis ter eodem die celebrare, et subinde bis diebus ferialibus, ne mallum illud et inusitata praxis in nostram provinciam serpat, statuimus et ordinamus quod nullus in nostra jurisdictione audeat aut prsesumat cele- brare ultra secundum sacrum diebus Dominicis et festivis ; et hoc ipsum indulgemus tantum curam animarum habentibus, idqiie urgente necessitate ; in ferialibus autem nullus prtesumat secundem sacrum celebrare sub poena suspensionis.
5°. Statuimus et ordinamus quod qui prtBtextu Missionis inventi fuerint sine superiorum suorum licentia, admissione et approbatione Ordinariorum vagari, corrigantur juxta jus com- mune, sive ssecularis sive regularis sint ab Ordinariis locorum respective.
6°. Statuimus et ordinamus ut nullus audeat in imjDedi- mentis matrimonii dispensare virtute cujuscumque indulti aut privilegii sine eo quod prius approbetur ejus authoritas aut facultas ab Ordinario loci et in hoc statute includimus etiam Regulares, sub poena suspensionis ad libitum Ordinarii ; deinde prsecipimus ut nullus Parochus recipiat bujusmodi dispensa- tiones a Regularibus etiam societatis Jesu, sine Ordinarii licentia sub poena suspensionis.
7°. Ad abusus in posterum tollendos et compescendos, statui- mus et ordinamus et quicumque sive ssecularis sive regularis fuerit, qui pro beneficio aut officio obtinendo aut retinendo aut pro se vindicando de suo superiore aut competitiore recurrat ad brachium sasculare quodcumque sive Catholicum sive ha^reti- cum sit praeter notam infamiae eo ipso incurrendae sit ipso facto inbabilis et incapax ejus beneficii aut officii pro quo taliter recurrerit : laicus etiam se immiscens buic casui sit excommuni- catus.
8". Statuimus et ordinamus ut singuli Ordinarii in suis respective Dioecesibus eligant immediate post reditum ad pro- pria examinatores et raagistros caeremoniarum juxta mentem Concilii Tridentini. sine quorum magistrorum aut Ordinarii respective approbatione in scriptis obtenta nullus ex noviter ordinatis aut in posterum ordinandis accedere praesumant ad Missae celebrationem sub poena Interdicti ad sex menses.
9°. Statuimus et ordinamus ut furtum excedens valorem quinque solidorum monetae Anglicanao sit casus reservatus respective Ordinariis locorum ; cum f uribus numeramus f autores receptores, concilium dantes, et furtive ablata scienter ab eis ementes.
30 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
10^. Statiiimus et ordinamus quod onmes sacerdotes saeculares qui ex liac nostra provincia fugenint aut proscripti fuerunt, exceptis iis qui actualiter incumbunt studiis, redeat in patriam infra quinque menses ab barum notitia, aKoquin contra boc statutuni peceans sit incapax beneficii aut officii obtenti aut obtinendi intra nostram prorinciam.
11^. Statuimus et ordinamus ut sit uniformitas jejunii in tota provincia, quod liceat vesci lacticiniis omnibus feriis sextis totius anni, etiam Quadragesimae in una refectione, dicendo quinque Pater Xoster et Ave pro statu Ecclesiae toties quoties, vel solvendo imum solidum monetae Anglicanae semel in anno in usum Seminariorum : excipimus tamen ab boc priyilegio feriam sextam Parasceves, wcut et ferias quartas Cinerum et Mojoris Hebdomadae : inter laclicinia adnumeramus caseum. Declara- mus etiam quod ex -vigiliis Beatae Mariae Yirginis, sola ea obligat quae est Assumptionis, ad jejunium et abstinentiam.
12'. Statuimus et ordinamus ut si quis repertus fuerit aliquid moliri, macbinari, aut verbis aut factis attentare contra Sere- nissimum Eegem nostrum Carolimi, et de eo convictus fuerit, ab officio et beneficio suspendatur per Ordinarium ; necnon ipso facto excommunicatus et inbabilis ad quascumque functiones intra banc provinciam obeundas censeatur.
13~. Statuimus et ordinamus ut SS. Concilimn Tridentinura in Dioecesibus Midensi, Cluanmacnosiensi et in Comitatu Lovidiae, ea reverentia admittatur qua receptum est ante annos octoginta in reliquis Dioecesibus provinciae Ardmacbanae, sicut per praesentes illud SS. Concilium, quoad totum et ejus partes, admittimus, amplectimur, veneramur, et accipimus de assensu et consensu totius Concilii nostri et ipsius etiam Episcopi et cleri Midensis et Procuratoris Yicarii Apostolici Cluanmacno- siensis et ejusdem Decani.
14". Statuimus et ordinamus quod nullus parochus seu sacerdos saecularis sub poena excommunicationis exigat ullum quaestum nisi quater in anno in quibus de consuetudine solent fieri obla- tiones pecuniariae.
15"^. Statuimus et ordinamus quod non libatur aqua composita, seu Brande\'ine, sub dio in contractibus matrimonialibus sub poena Excommunicationis ; et sub ejusdem poena inbibemus ut in exequiis defimctorum non adducantur aut admittantur tibicines, non ducantur cboreae aut tripudia non fiant idlae compotationes nisi peracta sepultura, sub eadem poena. Roga- mus item et praecipimus quod omnes Ecclesiastici strenue laborent in impediendis clamoribus et ululatibus quae propbano modo adbuc in usu stmt in sepulturis.
16". Statuimus quod nullus Parocbus exigat aquam vitae aut alium liquorem in administratione sacramentorum.
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 31
17". Statuimus et ordinamus, strlcteque mandamus ut, juxta mentem Concilii Tridentinis fiant Bannae sive tres denunciationes antequam procedatur ad matrimonium contraliendum sub poena decem solidorum a parochis per modum mulctae solvendorum in manus Ordinarii in piosusus convertendorum, toties quoties in eo genere peccaverint : admittimus item et recipimus omnes regulas Cancellariae a Summis Pontificibus approbates et prae- sertim de annuali et triennali possessione.
18^. Ad Bursas fundandas pro juventute bujus Provinciae in virtutibus et litteris educanda in CoUegiis ultramarinis, statuimus et ordinamus ut singuli Parocbi contribuant ad ralorem at quotam quartae partis annualis proxis, seu subsidii cbaritativi Ordinario solvendi ; et casu quod dicti Parochi sint tardi aut refractarii in solutione dictae quotae sit penes Ordi- narios cogere ipsos ad solutionem dictae summae, etiam per censuras si opus sit. In ordine autem ad dictas Bursas promo- vendas promisit lUustrissimus Ardmacbanus quicquid acquiret excensu S. Patricii, communiter cios Padrig, et tres libras Anglicanas ultra dictum censum annuatim ; Midensis tres libras ; Kilmorensis tres ; Vicarius Apostolicus Clogberensis tres ; Vicarius Apostolicus Derensis tres ; Clonmacnosiensis duas ; Dunensis et Connorensis duas ; Dromorensis unam ; Ardagbadensisunam; D. Daly, Vicarius Generalis Ardmacbanus unam ; D. Desse, Vicarius Medensis unam ; Rapotensis unam.
19.° Statuimus denique, sancimus, et mandamus locorum Ordinariis respective sub poena suspensionis, et Parocbis etiam sub poena excommunicationis latae sententiae, quod infra unum mensem a receptione borum, acta bujus nostri Concilii publicent et publicari faciant in suis respective destrictibus : rogamus etiam Superiores Ordinum religiosorum ut idem faciant in suis oratoriis et congregationibus ; et sic ad majorem Dei gloriam, Beatissimae Virginis Mariae, et S. Patricii patroni nostri, et aliorum nostrorum patronorum, Synodum dimissam declaramus et popterea cuique eundum esse ad proprias Ecclesias.
Hortamur autem omnes vos, fratres carissimi, ut tales vos praebeatis in ministerio vestro quales maxime decet Sacerdotes ab omni rerum mundanarum cura segregates, illudque maxime, cum redieritis, praestandimi erit ut populus vos ab bac Synodo non mediocrera fructum reportasse intelligat ; id fiet si novo Spiritus Sancti illumine illustrati, quae magna Synodorum est vis et virtus, caeteris in omni opere vestro in posterum praelucere studueritis et in omni parte officii vestri omnem diligentiam adhibueritis.
Datum die 15 Octobris, 1660.
Cornelius Gaffnaeus,
Vicarius Gen. Ardagbadensis, Concilii Secretarius.
32 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
8. Letter of the Bisliop and Clergy of tlie Province of Armagh, to the Holy See, in Defence of the Primate, 13th December, 1660.
(From the Rinuccini MSS.)
[Before the close of the year 1660, several accusations were made by Peter Walsh, and other agents of the English Court, against the illustrious Primate, Edmund O'Eeilly. Among other statements thus made against him, he was represented as a sower of disaffection among his people, and as guilty of exciting them to disloyalty against the king. He was accord- ingly summoned to Pome to reply to these charges, but did not take his departure from Ireland till towards the close of 1661. The following letter, which was written before his departure for Pome, is invaluable, as preserving several precious details regarding the life of this great ornament of the Irish Church, which are not to be found recorded elsewhere.]
!N"os Episcopi, Vicarii Apostolici, Vicarii Generales, Dignitarii, et Pegularis cleri Praelati, provinciae Ardniachanae.
1°. Testamur coram Deo, Angelis Sanctis, et hominibus, quod lUustrissimus et Peverendissimus D. noster, Edmundus Archiep. Ardmachanus et totius Hiberniae Primas, sit vir bonae conversationis, exemplaris vitae. sobrius, pacificus, prudens, . pudicus, ornatus, irreprehensibilis, sine crimine, laboris et inediae patiens, intrepidus, et in periculis animosus.
2°. Testamur eundem ante annos circiter triginta duos, carceres et vincula Exoniae in Anglia passmn ad menses vigintitres integros propterea quod negaverit supremitatem Pegiam (ut vocant), et vincula similia ante annos sex passum Dublinii, false accusatum de multis homicidiis, ad menses viginti et unimi et tandem ab ipsis hostibus judicantibus eundem inno- centem judicatum.
3°. Testamur quod ab eo tempore quo venerit in hoc regno, mense nimirum Octobris, 1659, functus fuerit cum summo sui corporis valetudinis dispendio, libertatis et vitae periculo, omni- bus muniis et officiis boni pastoris et Praelati, nunc visitando, corrigendo, monendo, hortando, ordinando ordinavit enim vigin- tinovem sacerdotes, ministrando sacramentum Confirmationis, Oleum Sanctum consecrando feria 5^ in Coena Domini, convo- cando Concilium Provinciale eidemque praesidendo (quod ab annis duodecim intermissum fuit) sanciendo statuta salutaria et leges Catholicas condendo.
4°. Testamur quod toto hoc tempore delituit in sylvis, in montium cavernis et similibus latebris sine alio lecto quam
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 33
stramine aut gramme, et veste aliqua seu pallio desuper adjecto, sine ullis deliciis, contentus pro cibo pane obscuro, butyro aut carnibus, pro potu cervisia, lacte aut aqua, sine usu vini nisi in saero, sine igne interdiu.
5°. Testamur quod praemissis omnibus non obstantibus sit iniquissime oneratus et oppressus multorum calumniis et men- daciis, quae homines inique agentes fingunt contra conscientiam propriam, in suam ipsorum perniciem et coniusionem.
6°, Testamur quod causa et fomes istarum calumniarum sit hoc quod 111. et Reverendissimus noster Primas anno 1648 dum esset Vicarius Greneralis Dubliniensis cum summa submissione et obedientia secutus fuerit sententiam, censuram et partes Illlustrissimi et nunquam satis laudati Arcbiepiscopi et Principis Firmani apud nos tunc Nuncii Apostolici extraordinarii, et quod impedierit macbinationes intentas in internecionem Hibernorum. Haec omnia vera sunt : sic nos Deus adjuvet. Quibus positis, salvo semper meliori judicio et obedientia debita sacrae Sedi Apostolicae, dolemus quod talis et tantus Praelatus, nobis tam utilis et necessarius sit nobis ereptus et avocatus a Sua Sancti- tate propter calumnias, mendacia et iniquas macbinationes bominum haereticorum et scbismaticorum, quibus est solatio et gloria quod nos privemur praesentia et consolatione nostri patris et pastoris. Proinde hum il iter petimus et oramus ut remittatur ad nos quamprimimi, inflicta talionis poena calumnia- toribus praefatis, &c., in quorimi fidem his subscripsimus die ultimo Decembris, 1660, stylo veteri.
Eugenius, Kilmorensis Episcopus, senior suffraganeus, Prov. Ardmachanae.
Fr. Antonius, Episcopus Midensis,
Terentius Kelly, Yic. ApostoKcus Derensis et Protonotarius Apostolicus.
Philippus Croly, Sac. Theol. et Juris utriusque Doctor, Vicarius Clogherensis.
Guillelmus Shial, Vic. Apostolicus Clonmacnosiensis.
Cornelius Gafnaeus, Vic. Gren. Ardaghaden.
Thadaeus O'Clery, S.T.D., Vic. Gen. Kapotensis, Protono- tarius Apostolicus, et Prior pugatorii S. Patricii.
Hugo Rally, Vic. Gen. Dromorensis.
Fr. Bernardus Egan, O.S.F., in Hibernia minister pro- vincialis.
Fr. Franciscus O'Fearell, O.S.F., ex-provincialis et Guar- dianus de Longford.
Fr. Antonius Govan, O.S.F., Guardianus de Cavan.
Fr. Paulus Tearanan, O.S.F., Guardianus de Donaugall.
Fr. Bonaventura de Hislenan, O.S.F., Guardianus Villae S. Jacobi.
4
34 DIOCESE or ARDAGH.
Fr. Bonaventura Connaeus, O.S F., Ultoniae Coinmissarius.
Fr. Michael Gormlaeus, O.S.F., Guardianus Ardmacliaiius.
Patritius O'Mulderge, Yicarius Generalis Dmiensis, Abbas Monasterii de Deserto,
Hugo Lorinanus, Yic. Gen. Connerensis, Sac. Tbeologiae licentiatus.
Patritius Daly, Sac. Theol. et Juris utriusque Doctor, Abbas Ardmacbanus, Prior Colideorum et Yic. Gen. Ardmacbanus.
Thomas Brady, Abbas Monasterii B. M. de Kells, Canoni- corum Regularium et Archidiac. Kilmorensis.
Donatus Geargan, Decanus Kilmorensis.
Edmundus CFearell, Decanus Ardachadensis.
Joannes Douranius, Decanus Papotensis.
Fr. Hugo Magy, O.S.F., Guardianus Dunensis.
Fr. Thomas Quin, Monachus, Abbas de Samaria ord. Cister- tiensis.
Oliver Darcy succeeded in 1644, and died in 1647.
1647. March 11. Patrick Plunket, "Die 11° Martii, 1647, referento. Card. Spada, SS. providit ecclesiae Ardachaden, a pluribus annis vac, de person abbatis Patritii Plunket, ord. Cisterc. professi, ipsumque, etc. Corsini.
He was Abbot of St. Mary's, Dublin.
Bishop Plimket took a leading part in Church affairs, and was much in Dublin in 1666 and the following years. In a report laid before the Projjaganda, in July, 1669, it was stated that the " Bishop of Ardagh, after his return from exile, conse- crated two himdred priests for various dioceses in Ireland, as at that time was no other bishop resident in that kingdom, save the infirm Bishop of Kilmore." Dr. Plmiket was translated to Meath in 1669.
Letter of the Bishop of Ardagh, 16th March, 1669.
Erne. Dne. Patrone Colendissime.
A quator mensibus altum silentium tenui in non scribendo ad E™'^™- Y^™- Scrutans vias P. Jacobi Taafe et expectans semper quod Suae Sanctitati obediret in exuendo ex hoc Regno in quo scandalum commisit, tandem praetensa jurisdictione totaliter privatus et declaratus infamis falsator, cum non esset hie locus illi prae confusione in ullo diversorio post jacturam propriae famae, Angliam petiit, quaerens requiem, dubito an inveniet. Timeo posteriora facta ipsius futura pejora prioribus (quod Deus avertat) : an vero in Anglia mansurus aut ulterius transiturus nescitur, tempus docebit. Antiquus malorum dierum
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA. 35
fr. Petrus Valesius in insidiis ponendis perseverat prout latius scripsi D""- Baldeschi. Interim elevatis oculis et genibus flexis florentissimos et diutissimos annos exoptat,
Humus servus,
Patritius, Ep. Ardacliaden.
Dublinii, 16 Martii, 1668, stylo veteri (id est, 1669).
From 1669 to 1688 this see was under Vicars. Gerard Ferall was appointed Vicar Apostolic by the Propaganda, on the 9 th of July, 1669.
9. Letter of the Vicar- Apostolic of Ardagh, 20th Feb., 1677. (From the Archives of Propaganda.) Illustrissime Domine, jLjL«300rCO
JS^os Gerardus Ferail Dei et Apostolicae sedis gratia Vic. Alliens Diocesis Ardaghadensis in Hibernia percipientes ap- propinquare dies senectutis nostrae, et perspicientes labores, quos in stabiliendo pacem, et charitatem tarn cleri, quam populi nobis commissi quotidie sustinemus ; consultum duximus providere huic nostra dioecesi de viro bono, quem in antistitem presenta- remur. Quare cum quotidie videamus plures dissensiones oriri tam in clero, quam in populo ab introductionem extraneorum ad praelaturas in hoc regno, ut passim a viris Ecclesiastiois ad tribunal saecularium, et acatholicorum fiat recursus non sine magno ecclesiae detrimento, et contemptu, nee non adversariorum scandalo ; unde necessarium duximus, ex gremio nostrae dioecesis unum praesentare ad onus Episcopale hujus dioecesis qui incli- nationem populi, et vultum gregis facilius dignoscat. Invenimus igitur in ordine S. Dominici R. P. Christophorum O'Feraill originem duxisse ex illustri, antiqua, semperque Catholica Ferailorum familia hujus dioecesis quae semper floruit viris religiosis et Ecclesiasticis ex quibus fuit R. P. Frater Laurentius O'Ferail ejusdem ordinis et familiae, qui in ultimis bellis hujus regni, partes Ill™i Nuntii Apostolici fideliter agens, ab adver- sariis diu conquisitus, tandem apprehensus, et post triduum ad patibulum damnatus, a patibulo pendulus, utraque manu de subscapulari extractis, Crucifixum et Rosarium cum maxima populi admiratione in signum et tessaram fidei et passionis in sublime erexit. Nee hunc quem commendamus, ignarum caKcis Domini invenimus; dum enim e Belgio ad hoc regnum ob negotia sedis Apostolicae ab 111°^° D"° Rospigliosi tum Belgii Inter-
36 JJIOCESE or ARDAGH.
nuntio destinaretvir, apprehensus in carcerem conjicitur, qui saepius inde ad tribunal deductus, et in carcerem detrusus, toto trium annorum spatio in frigore et egestate multa patienter sustinuit. Cum tandem in eo nullam mortis causam invenissent propter debita tempore suae captivitatis contracta in carcere detinetur, donee industria et liberalitate 111. D. Eospiglisi praefati Internuntii solutis debitis, pristinae libertati restituitur. Quare cum sit nativus bujus dioecesis, religiosus professus familia, habitu, et propria constantia in negotiis Sedis Apostolicae com- mendabilis, ut notum omnibus, imo abunde beneaiiectis fidei catholicae in bac afflicta provincia quam firmiter La animo affectum, reverentiam et obedientiam babuit erga suam sanctita- tem, ac ne optari quidem posse documenta ampliora iis quae bactenus exbibuit, eum omnibiis extraneis praeferimus, dignum- que judicamus ut in j)raemium suae captivitatis ad onus Epis- copate promoveatur.
Quare eum in Episcopum bujus dioecesis promovendum praesentamus, et postulamus. Humiliter supplicantes 111™^® vestrae D^, ut praefatum Cbristopborum O'Feraill apud S. Sanctitatem, et S. Congnem de Prop. Fide ad dictum onus commendare et promovere dignetur.
D. D. Franciscus Ferall, Toparca de Mornin.
Rogerus Ferall, beres naturalis praefati Domini et territorii.
Sawby Ferall, beres naturalis territorii Brockinagb.
Marcus Ferall, beres naturalis de Cullinlasragb.
Fergusius Ferall, Dominus Temporalis de Ardannagb.
Franciscus Nugentius.
Joannes Far ell.
Carolus Roynalds.
Kedagb Roynalds.
TuUius Duigenan.
Joannes Duigenanus, medicus approbatus Ardagbadensis, Clerus Ardagbadensis.
R. R. D. D. Joannes Cabill, pastor de Killglasse.
Patritius Keranus de Balle M'Carmuck.
Bernardus Magerri, pastor de Killoe.
Jacobus Albidensis, pastor de Moydow.
Patritius Farell, pastor de Ardagb.
Arturus Muldoone, pastor de Racline.
Dionysius Ferall, pastor de Ratasbik.
Hugo Dunor, pastor de Stradia, Bernardus Reyley, pastor.
Terentius Syridan, pastor, Cornelius Reyly, pastor.
TuUius Duigenan, pastor de Killtagorke, rector de Killsgery.
Dionysius Cullroy, pastor de Annagbduffe.
Fergus Keen, pastor de Killtubrad.
Bernardus Duigenan, pastor de Cloone.
LIOS-ARD-ABHLA.
37
Nicolaus Curogliory, pastor de Killronan. Bernardus Eganus, pastor. Carolus Rodeghan, curatiis de Fenagli.
Hoc extractum cum suo, originali de verbo ad verbuin concordat, quod attestor.
Geraldus Ferall,
Vic. Aplicus, Ardaghaden.
In 1688 Gregory Fallon was appointed Bishop of Clonmac- noise, and Administrator of Ardagh. From 1696 to 1709 tbis See was again imder Vicars. Cbas. Tiernan was appointed Vic. Apostolic on tbe 4tb June, 1696.
Bernard Donogber was proposed, on tbe 4tb of May, 1699, as Vicar Apostolic, to succeed Tiernan, wbo bad died. Donogber was appointed on tbe 27tb of July, and bis Brief was dated August 20, 1699. He continued Vicar Apostolic until 1709.
1709. Ambrose O'Conor succeeded. He was recommended to tbe united Sees of Ardagb and Clonmacnoise by letter of James II., dated 16tb of June, 1709, from St. Germains. O'Connor was of noble birtb, about fifty-five years old, and of robust constitution for endurance of bardsbips. He was Master in Tbeology and Provincial of tbe Dominicans. He was in Paris, 1709 (Propaganda Arcbives). O'Conor died in London, Feb. 20, 1711, before consecration. (Hib. Dom.)
Dr. O'Conor was an alumnus of tbe Sligo Dominican College, and for tbirty years acted as Proctor at Madrid for tbe Irisb Dominicans. In 1700 be became Prior Provincial, and was continued in tbat office imtil 1708. 1711. Tbomas Moran, Guardian of S. Isodore's, Rome, was proposed for tbe See of Ardagb.
1718. Tbomas Flynn succeeded. He was appointed by Brief, dated May 18, 1718. In July, 1718, be received a Brief empowering bim to receive consecration from one bisbop, with two dignitaries assisting. Dr. Flynn appears as a bisbop in 1730.
In tbose penal times. Dr. O'Flynn was compelled to administer tbe Sacrament of Confirmation under very distressing circumstances, sometimes at nigbt. On one occasion be selected tbe townland of Drumgilra, in tbe parisb of Gortliteragb, because it was inaccessible to tbe Britisb troops, being surrounded by bogs and rivers. It is said bis remains were interred in Cloone, Co. Leitrim. During bis Episcopac}?^, Clonmacnoise was finally united to Ardagb, and bas been continuously beld witb it since. ■ As tbe succession in botb dioceses is, from 1729, to be found in tbe same person, it is fitting tbat I sbould now turn to tbe origin of tbe See of Clonmacnoise, and endeavour to trace tbe succession of its bisbops down to its union witb the more ancient
38 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
See of St. j\Iel. In doing so I shall commence by reproducing some papers relating to the See of St. Eieran, published a few years ago over my name in the Ecclesiastical Record, and which. I hope may be interesting to the reader.
CLONMACNOISE. OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
"Majorum gloria, posterum lumen est."
About midway between Atblone and Banagber, on an ele- vated spot gently sloping up from our noblest river the Shannon, as it flows noiselessly and solemnly on, may be seen the remains of an Abbey that once held high place amongst the most celebrated centres of sanctity, wisdom, and learning, in ancient Ireland. During the brightest epo'3h of our real glory, it ranked second to no rival. Bangor, Clonard, and Clonfert, alone amongst the multitude of ecclesiastical fortresses that kept and spread blessed and civilising influences in our land, were deemed worthy to be reckoned amongst its competitors. They did not, however, excel it substantially in aught. Remarkable alike for the splendour and magnificence of its buildings, the extent and value of its possessions, the sanctity of its inmates, the scholarly and brilliant attainments of its professors, together with hospitality to the stranger and the poor, it gradually became the lona of Ireland. Need I say more to indicate its name ? It is a hallowed name, and there is a great deal sometimes in a name, notwithstanding the insinuation from a high authority to the contrary.
Clonmacnoise, or the " Seven Churches," as it is popularly, but erroneously called, is the sacred ruin to which I refer. Alas, its greatness has departed. Ruthlessly and violently was it taken away, and so this venerable Abbey has fallen a victim to the rapacity of the invader. Sanctity, learning, and hospitality have fled. The halls and cloisters in which they so long flourished and held swaj' have long since disappeared, leaving nothing behind, save mouldering ruins and ivy-clad walls, sentinelled by two round towers of " other days," to speak the sad record of violated justice, profaned sanctuary, and fallen greatness. " We have nothing left but great recollections, unfortunately ; let us at least cherish them. These are in a nation like the titles of ancient nobility in a fallen family, they raise the mind, they fortify the soul in adversity, and nourishing hope in the bottom of the heart, they prepare the soul for what is to come." — Balmez.
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 39
Every stone, however, that remains in her crumbling walls, the dust and clay you press beneath your feet, and even the fresh and invigorating western breezes that fan this dismantled Abbey, whisper something of superhuman and heavenly grandeur. Here prelate and king, abbot and monk, learned professor and talented student, prince and peasant, sleep together in their quiet graves. And here the lines written by a great but unhappy poet regarding the greatest centre of all that is good and great, whether in ancient or modern times, may not inaptly be quoted, and, with some justification, fittingly applied :
" What are our woes and sufferance ? Come and see The cypress, hear the owl, and plod your way O'er steps of broken thrones and templep. Ye ! Whose agonies are evils of a day. A world is at your feet as fragile as our clay. Clonmacnoise of the Schools ! there she stands Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe ; An empty urn within her withered hands, Whose sacred dust was scattered long ago."
There is and must always be an attractive and sympathetic power about this venerable ruin, studded as it is with so many memorials of renowned men, and monuments of the praises of Grod, which once resounded through its lonely walls. And so I propose to give in this paper a brief sketch of the origin of Clonmacnoise, and afterwards to notice some of the leading men and events connected with the history of this sacred spot. In doing 80 I do not put forward any pretence to originality. I do not propose or pretend to produce nova, and anxious though I should be to bring forth the Vetera nove, I have not any well- founded hope of doing so.
This ground has been already gone over by many dis- tinguished and gifted writers, who, having made a judicious collection of historical facts, clothed them in a garb too attractive and fascinating for me to hope for a moment to successfully imitate. In one thing, however, I will not place myself second to any writer, be he never so gifted, and ihat is love and venera- tion for Clonmacnoise, and all the goodness this word embodies and recalls. Heverentially saluting thee, O Clonmacnoise, of so many saints and doctors, kings and nobles, I ask then what is the meaning of thy name and the origin of thy greatness.
It may be observed in the beginning that Clonmacnoise was known by several names. It was called Druim-Tipraid, "the hill in the centre," or the hill of Tipraid. The reason appears to be that in 779 the king of Connaught was called Tipraid. In 927 the ruling Abbot at Clonmacnoise was also called Tipraid. So far then for the application of this word to the sacred spot. It was also called Dunkeranensis, the enclosed place of Kieran
40 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
and Killoon, or the Churcli of the Graves. It was called Artibra too, that is of " the Wells." The holy wells are still to be seen, bearing the names of St. Kieran and St. Finnian. In the later annals, however, it is usually written Cluainmicnois. Now Cluainmicnois, according to Seward and others, signifies the " Retreat of the Sons of the Nobles." This name it received in their opinion either because the nobles retired to it in their old age, to spend the remainder of their days in peace and solitude ; or because it was a burying-place for most of the Irish kings and chieftains. Joyce, however, holds a different opinion. He maintains that it signifies the meadow of the Son of Nos. In the original name the last two syllables are in the genitive sin- gular and not in the genitive plural, and must therefore be taken to mean the name of a person. Joyce claims the Four Masters as supporters of this view. Under the year 1461 they call this place Cluain-muc-nois-mic-Fiadhaigh. From this it would ap- pear Nos was the son of Fiadhaigh, who was chief of a tribe in that part of King's Co., and that Clonmacnoise was within his territory. Joyce also quotes Colgan and a still higher and older authority than any yet cited, namely, the Cartsruhe MS. of Zeuss, to support this view of the origin and meaning of the name.
Whatever may be said for or against either of these opinions, there is no controversy about the name of the founder of this old Abbey of such amazing splendour, wealth, and learning. Ciaran was the name. He was called St. Ciaran the younger, to dis- tinguish him from another great and holy man bearing the same name — Ciaran of Saiger Ossory. Ciaran the younger was of northern extraction. His father, who was a carpenter by trade, but of nohle hirth, left Ulster and settled in Magh Ai, in the Cotmty Roscommon. Here Ciaran was born in the year 516. Brennan, in his Ecclesiastical History, states that Ciaran,* al-
* His, Ciaran's, life, is preserved in Irish, in the Book of Lismore ; and ia Latin, in the Codex Salmanticensis, at Brussels ; and in the so-called Liber Kilkenniensis, in Marsh's Library, Dublin. His father was Beoit, -who, though a carpenter by trade, was of noble birth, being son of Olchan, of J-athama, of IMaghmolt, of Uladh ; and the pious Darerca (daughter of Ercan, son of Buachill), was our saint's mother. She was one of the Glasraidhe family, of the Ciarraighe of Irluachair, and the poet Glas was her grandfather. She bore five sons to Beoit, who are named in the following order : — LucoU the eldest, Doinian, Ciaran, Odran, and Crouan. The last-named was a deacon, the others were all holy priests. She also bore him three daughters, of whom two were nuns, viz. : — Lugback and Eathboe ; and Pata, the third, served God in a marriage state, aud in pious widowhood. The ItisIl Life adds :^ — " The following are the cemeteries in which tlie relics of these saints are, viz. : — Lucholl and Odhram, in Isell-Ciaran ; Donnan ajid Ciaran, in Clon- macnoise ; Cronan and Beoit. and the three daughters in Tech-mic-Litsair."
Ainmire, son of Colgan, was king of the Ui-Neill territory, and oppressed the people with intolerable biu-dens. Beoit sought a refuge from his exactions at Eath-Crimthan. in Magh-Ai, in Connaught, then ruled by Crimthan, son of Lughaid Dall. There St. Ciaran was born, on the sixth of the Kalends of
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 41
though of Ulster extraction, was born in Westmeath, in the year 507. But Eugene O'Curry and Archdall, whose opinion I prefer, declare him to have been born in Roscommon, a.d. 516. He was the son of Boetius and Darercha. He was also called Macantsoir, or the son of the carpenter. He was educated at the great College of Clonard, which was presided over, at that time, by St. Finnian, who in his day shone as the sun of our educational horizon. Having finished his educational course there, he went to the monastery of St. Nennidius, in one of the islands of Lough Erne. He afterwards repaired to the island of Arran on the coast of Clare, where he placed himself under the guidance of St. Enda, whose rule was at that time considered the most rigorous in Ireland.
Here he perfected himself in the knowledge and spirit of monastic rule and discipline, together with their observance.
After some time he returned to Westmeath, the county of his collegiate education. Here he was presented by a friendly chieftain with a spot of ground to build a church upon. The place was, however, low, and hence the church was afterwards known by the name of "Ciaran's low place," or "Isael Chiarain." After some time he handed over the government of this church to one of his tried and trusted disciples, and he retired for pur- poses of greater solitude into the island of Inisaingin, in Lough Eee. Here he founded a monastery and built a church. The temporal as well as the spiritual wants of the poor were amongst the noble objects contemplated by this great man in its foimda-
March, and was baptized by the Deacon Jxistus, who was famed for sanctity. Our saint was subsequently entrusted to the care of this holy man, who was trained at the same time in the paths of piety, and in the rudiments of human science. It is mentioned as an instance of the special favours bestowed by Providence on Ciaran, that when guarding the herds of his tutor at Fidharta (i.e., Fuerty, Co. Roscommon), he heard all the instructions imparted by his holy tutor to his fellow-students at Magh-Ai. It is also mentioned that robbers came at one time from Ui-Failghe, to lay waste the Cenel-Fiachiadh. Finding St. Ciaran reading, they endeavoured to carry off the cattle Avhich he tended, "but they were stricken with blindness, and were unable to move hand or foot until they had done penance, and were released through the power of God and the prayers of Ciaran." After some time our saint was placed under the care of St. Finnian, of Clonard ; and so great was the fame of his sanctity, that he was soon reckoned one of the brightest ornaments of that school of saints. There was a stag at the monastery, and Ciaran, when meditating, uged to rest his book on the stag's horns. One day as he thus meditated, the bell summoned him to other duties, and as he at once arose to obey its summons, the stag started away carrying off the book on his antlers. Next morning when Ciaran arose he found the stag awaiting him, and though the preceding day and night were wet and the book was open, not a letter in it was found to be damaged, through the merits of the saint. When St. Ninnedh, from Loch Erne, went to the school of Finnian, this holy master told him to ask some of the students for a copy of the Gospels, that he might study them.
Ninnedh went around to several but could procure a book from none. "Did you go to the gentle youth, i.e., to Ciaran, who is in the northern
42 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
tion. Throug-li his indomitable energy and extraordinary in- fluence, and the benevolence of some of his devoted friends and followers, this monastery became in a few years fully adequate to meet all the purposes originally contemplated by its apostoKc founder. Nay, more, the fame of his sanctity, wisdom, and learning, attracted such a number of followers and disciples that the limits of the island were deemed insufficient for their accommodation, and therefore he resolved to resign the govern- ment of this monastery and go further south. Accordingly, he handed over this flourishing Abbey to his trusted and beloved disciple, St. Domnan, or Donan, and left the island. For six hundred years and more it flourished as a centre of sanctity, learning, and other civiKzing influences. It produced, amongst others, that great and learned man Augustin Macgraidin, author of a complete History of the Acts of Saints of Ireland and the Annals of this Monastery down to his own time.
But it is now a heap of ruins. It fell beneath those evil in- fluences that were so powerfully united by the stranger against morality, religion, and learning.
In the year 548 St. Ciaran left this island of "All Saints,'^ so beautifully and romantically situate in the midst of the waters of Lough Ree, and within the confines of the Diocese of Ardagh. It was the last year of the reign of Tuathal Mailgarbh, Monarch of Erinn. This king was the third in descent from Nial of the Nine Hostages.
Diarmid, a young and powerful prince of the same race and of equal claims to the succession of Tara, was also a pretender to the throne. The new king, fearing the presence of so power- part of the meadow?" asked Finniao. "I will go to him now," replied Nianedh ; " and when he applied to him, Ciaran had completed half of the ftospelof St. Matthew, and was engaged at the words, "omnia quaecumque vultis quod faciant vobis homines, facite illis similiter." Our saint said to him : " This is my book of study, but it is meet that I should do to others what I would wish to be done to myself ; take with thee this book." Next ilay, when it was told that Ciaran had completed only half of St. Matthew, one of the company said : " Half-Matthew shall be his name;" but Finnian chided him, and said, ' ' Not such shall be his name ; but half of Erin shall be snbject to his rule." Among the presents made to his master by St. Ciaran, was a gift of corn which, in after times, was known as Ana Findein, i.e , the riches of Finnian. " This corn satisfied all Finnian's congrega- tion for forty days ; and the third of it was stored up for invalids, and it healed every disease ; and when at length it crumbled into dust, this, too, healed every disease." St. Finnian pronounced the following blessing on Ciaran : —
" O Ciaran, 0 generous man, For thy holiness I love thee ; The reward of thy charity shall be given to thee — Much glory and much land.
" O illustrious, noble Ciaran,
To thee may each response be profitable ; May thy church be ever blessed With much nobility and
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 4'3
ful a rival, ordered him to leave the territory of Meath. Diarmid, accompanied by a devoted band of followers, repaired to the Uj)per Shannon and there lived on the hospitality of his friends on both sides of the river. Thus did he spend his life for nine years, the period of his opponent's reign. About this time Ciaran and his devoted disciples came up from Athlone, after quitting Lough E,ee in boats, and landed at Clonmacnoise. Diarmid happened to be in the neighbourhood on the river, went on shore, and followed the strangers. Having reached the " Hill of Wells" where St. Ciaran stopped, he approached and found the saint with a pole in his hand endeavouring to plant it as the first pole of a new church.
" What work is about being done here ?" said Diarmid. " The erecting of a small church," said the saint. " Well indeed may that be its name," said Diarmid, "Eglais Beg," or "Little Church."
" Plant the pole with me," said the saint, " and let my hand be above your hand on it, and your hand and your sovereign sway shall be over the men of Erinn before long." " How can that be," said Diarmid, " since Tuathal is Monarch of Erinn and I am exiled ? "
" God is powerful for that," said Ciaran. They then set up the pole, and Diarmid made an offering of the place to God and St. Ciaran.
Diarmid had a foster-brother amongst his followers. His name was Maelmora. When he heard the saint's prophetic words he resolved to verify them. With this purpose he set
St. Finnian cherished a special predilection for Ciaran, and when obliged to be absent for a time from his disciples, deputed " that youth," as he used to say, to preside in his stead. He saw one day in vision two moons of the colour of gold, one of which moved over the sea to the north, the other over the centre of Erin. This, he explained, as referring to SS. Columkille and Ciaran — the former, with the brightness of his nobility and princely descent ; the latter, with the mild radiance of his charity and meekness. Among his companions at the school of Finnian was St. Brendan of Birr, who was famed for his spirit of prophecy. He said one day to St. Ciaran, that the same difference would be between his own monastery and that of Ciaran, as between the rivers on which they would be placed, that is, the little Brosnagh and the Shannon.
Ciaran went, on one occasion, to Tuathal Maelgarbh, King of Erin (a.d. 533 to 544), to solicit the freedom of a bond slave. The favour was granted, and the rich gifts were made to him by the king, but all these he distributed among the poor. When Ciaran was about to take his leave from Clonard, St. Finnian offered his cathair or monastery to him ; but Ciaran wept at such honour being shown to him, and said : " Your monastery belongs to none but God, who has given you great love beyond us all."
They then entered into a spiritual covenant, and as Ciaran proceeded on his way, Columkille composed the quatrain :—
" Noble the youth who goes -westward from us Ciaran, the son of the carpenter ; Without envy, -without pride, -without contention, Without jealousy , without satire."
44 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
out on horseback to Grellacli Eillti, a place situate in tlie northern part of Westmeath, where he had heard the monarch was staying. By strategy he gained access to his presence and struck Tuathal in the breast with his spear and killed him. I^ eedless to add, Maelmora himself fell immediately on the same spot, a victim on the one hand to his own mistaken devotion and heroism in the cause of his chieftain, and on the other hand to the fidelity in discharge of duty of one of the monarch's body- guard. As soon, however, as Dairmid's friends heard of the king's death, they sought him and proclaimed him Monarch of Erinn. Here one may reflect upon what Seneca has written, Oct. 456 : " Ferrum tuetur principem. Sed. melius fides." Yes, the highest authority has said, " Fides tua te salvum fecit." It has been beautifully written also :
'• What sword or power equal to this ? And he that has that is clad in complete steel, And, like a quivered nymph with arrows keen. May trace huge forests and unharbored heaths. Infamous hills and sandy perilous wilds."
Eomantic and fanciful as this account of the origin of Clon- macnoise may at first sight appear, there are not wanting his- torical proofs amply sufficient to convince the most sceptical of its veracity.
I shall advance only two, as I consider them quite sufficient.
The fijst is to be found in a Tract on the foundation of Clon- macnoise in the Leabhar Buidhe Lecain, which contains the narrative already given. This manuscript may be seen in Trinity
Ciaran proceeded to Aran to receive lessons of heavenly wisdom from St- End a. He there saw in vision a large fruitful tree transplanted to the middle of Erin. It sheltered the whole island, and its fruit was borne beyond the sea which surrounded Erin, and it seemed as if all the birds of the world would come to taste of its fruit. St. Enda explaining this ■vision said to him, ' ' The great tree which thou hast seen is thyself, Erin shall be full of thy honour, and the shadow of thy grace shall protect the whole island, and multitudes shall be satiated with the fruits of thy fasting and prayers : go, then, in the name of God, to the banks of the Shannon, and foimcl thy church there." Before bidding farewell, these two great samts erected a cross on the coast of Aran as a pledge of their undying spiritual friendship.
After leaving Aran, Ciaran met with a poor man who solicited an alms. Having nothing else to bestow, he gave his casula to him. Proceeding thence to Inis-Cathaig, .St. Senan, admonished by God, went forth to meet him, and giving him a casula. said, "It is not meet that a priest should travel without his cowl." St. Ciaran afterwards, from Clonmacnoise, sent back the casula to Senan, and in after times it was preserved as a priceless relic in Inis-Cathaig.
The first chm-ch erected by Ciaran was at Isell-Ciaran, which place was presented to him by Cobhthach, son of Brecan. It Avas here that one day while sowing com in a field, Ciaran threw into the bosom of a poor man who asked an alms, a handful of com which was at once changed into gold. From Isell-Ciaran our saint proceeded to Inis-Ainghin, i.e., "Hare Island," in Lough Eee, and many disciples flocked thither to him. There was a religious man on that island, of the name of Daniel, and he was a Briton. He was tempted by
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 45
College, Dublin, and is classed H. 2, 16. It treats not onl}»^ of the fovmdation of Clonmacnoise, but also of the succession of Diarmid, the son of Feargbus Ceirrbbeoil, in tbe sixtb century, in whose reign Tara was deserted and ceased to be occupied by the Monarchs of Erinn.
The second proof I advance is to be found on the face of that magnificent stone cross still standing within the precincts of this venerable Abbey. On this beautiful work of art, and one admittedly equal to the highest efforts of genius and skill in this department, are sculptured many subjects of deep interest. Amongst them are to be found two figures representing two men holding an erect pole between them. Now, whatever date may be assigned to the erection of this noble cross (and I admit it to be a controverted point amongst the learned), there is no doubt that the figures referred to were intended to commemorate the manner of the foundation of the " Eglais Beg," the history of which then at least was implicitly believed. Indeed, these figures seemingly wish to say it was thus Clonmacnoise was founded.
I will now leave this splendid work of art, with the intention of returning to its figures and history before I have finished this book, and go back to St. Ciaran.
We left him with the Monarch Diarmid, holding his hand above the king's hand, in planting the first pole of the little church. Thus was commenced and raised by these two great men the first church of that group which afterwards became so celebrated.
Satan, and became jealous of Ciaran. Our saint, in token of forgiveness, be- stowed on him "a royal goblet, adorned with three golden gems," and the Briton, overcome by this generosity, did penance, and gave over his church to Ciaran.
One time as Ciaran was seated with the brethren at Inis-Ainghin, he told them to go down to the port, that there they would meet their future abbot. When they arrived there they found none but a tender youth from the neigh- bouring territory. They returned and told this to Ciaran. He said to them, " Return, nevertheless, and welcome him, for he shall be your abbot after me." He was then brought to Ciaran, and, being tonsured, became a loved disciple of our saint. The Life adds: "This was Enna Mac Ui Laighsi, a most holy illustrious man before the Lord, and it was he that was abbot after Ciaran.'
A man from Corco Baiscinn (ia the County Clare), came to visit Ciaran. His name was Donnan, and he and Senan had the same mother. " What do you desire, and whither do you go ? " asked Ciaran. "I seek a place where I may rest in the service of God," replied Donnan. Ciaran embraced him, and soon after bestowed the monastery on him, and taking his leave, gave to him the copy of the gospels and his bell, and left also with him his bell-ringer, i.e., Maelodhrain. Three years and three months Ciaran lived in Inis-Ainghm, and then he proceeded to Ard-Mantain, near the Shannon. Having rested there awhile, and contemplating the beauty of its scenery, he said, " If it is here we remain we shall have much indeed of the riches of this world, but the souls sent to heaven from it shall be few." Thence lie proceeded forward till he came to Clonmacnoise, then called Ard-Tiprait, "here will we stay," he said, " for numerous will be the souls that will ascend to heaven from this spot."
46 DIOCESE OF AUDAGH.
It is stated in ancient records that tlie king not only aided the saint with his own hands in the erection of the sacred edifice, but also in the construction of the humble cell adjoining, in which Ciaran lived and died.
The king was to the saint, in a temporal sense, friend, brother and father To Ciaran, Diarmid was a beloved name, " Carum et A^enerablile nomen." For there was another Diarmid, and he was his spiritual teacher, friend and father. St. Diarmid, of the Seven Church Island, Lough Ree, in the Shannon, was he. He was not only Ciaran's spiritual director and teacher for a time, but he also baptized him.*
Assuming this statement to be an historical fact (and it is supported by respectable authorities), it would favour the opinion asserting Mag Ai, County Roscommon, to be the birthplace of Ciaran. For St. Diarmid lived and died in Inis-clothran, or Inchclerdun, now commonly known as Seven Church, or Quaker's Island. The latter name it got, because a Quaker took up his residence on it some years ago. Bathed by the spreading and majestic waters of the Shannon in Lough Ree, this island ad- joins Roscommon, and would be within easy distance of Mag Ai, for the baptismal regeneration of Ciaran.
I cannot leave this truly romantic and charming spot, and St. Diarmid, without recording what Mr. O'Donovan tells us he heard on the occasion of his visit to these parts, when engaged on the Ordnance Survey. He states that the boatmen (three in
The Life adds : '• It was on the 10th of the Kalends of February that Ciaran took up his abode in Clonmicnoise, on the 10th of the moon, a Saturday. Eight persons formed the company, viz. : — Ciaran, Aenghus, Nac Nisse, Caelcholum, Mulioc, Lugna, Mac hui Mogalaim, and Colman mac Nuin. Wlien Ciaran planted the first post of the Cathair of Clonmicnoise, Diarmaid Mac Cerbhaill, who was present, joined him in his work. Ciaran blessmg him said, " Though few are your companions to-day, to-morrow thou shalt be the Kmg of Erin."' This was verified, for on that night, Tuathal ISIaelgarbh, King of Erm, was killed, and Maelmor, who slew Tuathal, was immediately slain, and Diarmaid was sunmioned to assume the sovereignty. This king proved himself grateful to St. Ciaran and his brethren, and bestowed on him rich gifts of land, and no fewer than one hundred churches. After commemoratiug some miracles of our saint, the Life thus continues : " Only four months did Ciaran dwell in the newly-erected monastery, when his soul went to heaven, on the ninth day in the middle month of the harvest. When his death approached, he prophesied with great sorrow, that wicked people would wage a loitter persecution against his monastery, towards the end of time, and he told his religious brethren not to fix their thoughts on dwelling there, but to turn their affections wholly to heaven, that thus all might be united there. And Ciaran was in the Eclais IBeg (i.e., the little church), when his death came upon him, in the 33rd year of his age, on the fifth of the ides of September, on a Saturday, the fifteenth of the moon's age. He said, ' Let me be taken a little distance out,' and when he saw the wide expanse of heaven over him, he said, ' Narrow is the May which leads to heaven.' But the brethren who were with him said, 'IS'ot to you, O
* Some say he was baptised by the Deacon Justus.
CLQNMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEX CHURCHES. 47
number) who rowed him to Seven Church Island, declared that they saw, three weeks previously, about noonday, a tall and stately figure walk with measured step along the waves from this island towards Athlone, They asserted they saw (each and all) at the same time the apparition, plainly and distinctly, as far as their vision could reach, in the direction of Hare Island, and that they believed it to be the form of St. Diarmid, or, at least, one of the saints belonging to the island.
Be that as it may, the inhabitants of the parish of Cashel have a profound veneration for the memory of St Diarmid. Tradition handed it down to them from sire to son, and to-day his memory is in benediction amongst them almost as freshly as it was ages ago. Under the devoted and enlightened pastor- ship of the distinguished P.P., the Rev. Michael Gilligan, who now guides the religious destiny of this people, we may truly say the saint's honour, veneration, and memory are in safe keeping. His feast falls on the 10th January.
Ciaran was the worthy son of such a spiritual father.
And here I may make a little digression.
His Eminence Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney, tells us, with all that grace and accuracy for which his historic pen is so re- markable, when writing on Irish Ecclesiastical affairs, that Ciaran and St. Colomba met in the halls of the great schools and were intimate friends. In his life of the future Apostle of lona, the Cardinal incidentally remarks that Colomba, like Ciaran IVCacant- sior, was placed from his earliest age under the guidance of a pious and holy priest. Whilst under his guardianship, Adamnan
Father, shall it be narrow.' 'I do not know,' replied Ciaran, ' that any part of the Gospel declares it easy to me, and David, son of Jesse, and the Apostle Paul feared this way ! ' Then the brethren removed the stone pillow that his head might have a little ease, but Ciaran had it at once replaced under his head, saying, ' that he who does not persevere shall not receive his crown.' Angels now filled the space between heaven and earth to accompany his soul. He was brought back into the Eclais Beg, and, raismg his hands, he blessed the brethren, and directed them to close the church upon him, whilst he would converse on heavenly things with St. Coemghen {i.e., Kevin\ of Glendaloch, and St. Coemghen blessed water and sprinkled the place all around, and then gave, for the last time, the holy communion to the dying saint. St. Ciaran gave his bell as a parting pledge of his affection to St. Coemghen, and (the writer of the Life adds) this is called the Boban Coemghen at the present day."
It is recorded that many of the holy people thi-oughout Ireland were dis- satisfied at the gift of one hundred churches made to St. Ciaran by King Diarmaid, and St. Columbkille pronounced his death a happy event, as it saved him from a gathering storm (Colgan, Trias, page 457b).
St. Columbkille held our samt in the highest veneration. A Latin hymn which he wrote after St. Ciaran's death is still extant, in which he commemo- rates his virtues, thankmg God for sending to the world so great an apostle and styling him the Lamp of this Island : —
" Quantum Christi, O Apostolum, Mundo misisti hominem ! Lucema hujus insuLae Lucens lucema mirabilis." (Trias, j . 172.)
48 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
informs us, tliat an angel appeared to Colomba and asked what special virtues he desired most. The saintly youth replied that he desired before all others " virginity and wisdom." Not long after, Colomba being engaged in prayer, three maidens arrayed in heavenly light, appeared before him. But the holy youth heeded them not. They asked, " dost thou not know us ?" He was silent. " We are the three sisters, Virginity, Wisdom, and Prophecy," and we are sent by God to be your inseparable com- panions during your earthly pilgrimage."
At another time, while Ciaran and Colomba were engaged in their studies under the same collegiate roof, two brilliant lights were observed in the heavens, having their rays concentrated on the monastery. One was silvery as the moon and the other golden as the sun. The holy Abbot and Bishop Finiiian, after- wards stated in his explanation of this vision that Colomba would be as the golden sun, whilst Ciaran Macantsoir would shine as a silvery light on account of his virtues and his deeds. The prophecy was literally verified. These two great and holy men shone in their daj^, and, I may add, to the present time, the one as the sun and the other as the moon, in our collegiate and monastic horizon.
And now my memory goes off to the Angelical Doctor and the vision he had in the church of St. Dominick, at Naples. St. Thomas was in the habit of praying in the church before the hour for matins, and the friars were aware, but more especially Father Reginald, that the angelical received extraordinary favours from our Lord on such occasions. Era Dominico being anxious
The same great saint when proceeding to lona wished to bring with him two handfuls of clay from the grave of St. Ciaran. On getting into the eddy of Corryvreckan, when there appeared to be no hope of safety, he threw this precious relic into the sea, and his boat passed unharmed through that danger (Trias, page 457b, and Reeve's Adamnan, pages 24 and 263). St. Columbkille was only in his 30th year at the time of our saint's death, but we learn from Adamnan that he in after life returned to visit the spot hallowed by his remains. The religious went forth to welcome the bosom friend of their holy patron. " The whole of them," says Adamnan, "singing hymns and praises, conducted him to the church, and to guard him as he walked from the pressure of the multitude, a barrier, formed of pieces of wood bound together, was carried by four men, who timed their steps with his."
Almost all the ancient authorities agree that St. Ciaran died at the early age of thirty-three years. The various annals, however, do not agree in assigning the year of the saint's death. The Chronicon Scotorum, however, which, being composed in Clonmacnoise, is justly esteemed the most accurate and trust- worthy of our records regarding this monastery, registers the birth of St. Ciaran in the year 512 : "Nativitas Sancti Ciarani filii artificis," and his death in the year 544. ' ' Ciaran the Great, son of the carpenter, quievit m the thirty- third year of his age, in the seventh month also after he began to build Cluain-mic-Nois." This opinion has also in its favour that it was in 544 Diarmaid assumed the sovereignty of Ireland (See Dr. Todd's list of the Mouarchs of Ireland, in Memoir of St. Patrick, page 256) ; whilst, from the life of our samt, it is manifest that the foundation of Clonmacnoise must be
CLOXMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 49
to witness St. Thomas in tlie enjoyment of these spiritual favours, concealed himself one night in the church. Thomas came in when all were at rest, and approached the crucifix of our Lord, in the chapel of St. Nicholas, and remained there a con- siderable time. He was afterwards lifted two cubits in the air in an ecstasy, and so remained for a long time. Whilst the saint was entranced, Fra Dominico heard Christ's voice distinctly saying from the image, " Thoma, bene scripsisti de me ; quam recipies a me pro tuo labore mercedem?" "Domine non nisi te," was the answer. I know there are some who read visions with sceptical and unbelieving eyes. I know they would as soon give credence to the dream of Socrates and the coming of the young swan from the groves of Academus and nestling in his bosom, and then soaring aloft, " how she sang sweetly over him." As well might it be expected that the un-Catholic mind would believe in the tale of the bees, said to have poured honey into the mouths of infants fast asleep in the bowers of myrtles on Mount Hymettus.
Such persons, however, do not know anything of God's ways and relations to his saints. They rejoice in their hard heads, and we do not envy their joy.
I have observed already that Diarmid of Church Island, in Lough E,ee, was the spiritual father, friend, and teacher of Ciaran's early life ; whilst Diarmid the monarch was his tem- poral friend and supporter. I will now add that another Diarmid was privileged to attend St. Columba in his last moments in lona, and to speak to him the last words before the altar in the
referred to the same period, and that a few months later our saint was sum- moned to receive his reward. (See Chronicon Scotorum, published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, and edited by W. H. Hennessy, Esq., in 1866.
The memory of St. Ciaran was, immediately after his death, held in the highest veneration throughout Ireland. St. Cummian, in his famous Paschal Epistle, reckons him among the "Patres Priores" of the Irish Church. Alcuin, too, names him as a bright ornament of the Irish nation, " Cheranus Scottorum gloria gentis." In all the ancient lists he is commemorated as one of the twelve great apostles to whom Ireland gave birth, and also as one of the eight founders of monastic rules in our island. His feast is marked on the 9th of September, in the Martyrology of Tallaght and all our other Martyrologies. St. Angus, in his Felire, thus celebrates him on that day : —
" A great solemnity that fills territories, That impels fast-going ships. The son of the carpenter, more noble than kings. The glorious festival of Ciaran of Cluain."
In the gloss it is added : — " Thirty-three years was his age when he died- The three worst counsels that were ever acted on in Erin, by advice of saints, were the shortening of Ciaran's life, the exile of Columbkille, and the expulsion of Mochuda from Rahin." The Martyrology of Donegal has the following particulars regarding him on his feast-day : — " Ciaran, son of the carpenter. Abbot of Cluaiu-mic-Nois ; Beoaidh was the name of the carpenter, his father;
5
50 DIOCESE or ARDAGH.
chapel at lona, on that memorable Sunday morning, the 9tli June, 597, when Columba's virginal soul went back to his Creator.
Another reference, during their earthly life, to Ciaran and Columba, and I have finished.
One day, in the course of conversation between these young Saints, the new church which the holy Abbot Mobhi had just erected was made mention of.
Ciaran said he wished " it were full of holy men who, by night and day, would sing the praises of God." St. Columba said " he would wish it were filled with silver and gold, to afford relief to Christ's poor and build churches and monasteries."
The venerable Abbot heard of what they said, and prophe- sied that those holy youths would receive favours from heaven in accordance with their pious wishes. The prophecy was lite- rally fulfilled in Ciaran' s case, not during his earthly life, it is true, but not long after his life in heaven began. Young and old, peasant and prince, the votary of learning and the aspirant to evangelical perfection, noble and king, crowded to Clonmac- noise in search of peace, wisdom, and virginity.
A celebrated pagan poet represents the human race in anxious pursuit of a place called Olympus, where, in rich poetic fancy, he dreamed there was an ever tranquil abode of the gods, never shaken by winds, nor wet by showers, nor covered by snow, where the hardened frost does not annoy, and the sky is ever pure and cloudless, and a bright glory overspreads.
" Apparet divum numen, sedesque quietae Quas neque concutiunt venti, nee nubila nimbeis Aspergunt, neque nix acri concreta pruina Cana cadens violat ; senipei' sine nubibus aether Integer et large diffuse lumine ridet."
Darerca, daughter of Ercan, son of Buachall, son of Glas, the poet of the
Ciarraighe, of Irluachair, was his motlier. He was of the race of Core, son of Fergus, son of Ross, son of Rudraighe, thirty-tliree years was his age when he yielded his spirit to heaven. Cuimin, of Condeire, states in the poem which begins ' Patrick of the Fort of Macha loves,' &c., that Ciaran never looked upon a woman from the time of his birth, and never told a lie. Thus he says : — " The holy Ciaran, of Cluain, loves
Humility, from which he did not rashly swerve ;
He never uttered a word that was false,
Nor looked upon woman from his birth."
" It was Ciaran that composed the celebrated poetical lay which begins, ' An rim a ri, an richid rain,' asking of God a prolongation of life that he might perform more labour and service to Him. Great are his signs and his miracles as is evident in his life. A very ancient vellum book states that Ciaran of Cluain, was, in his habits and life, like unto John the Apostle." — Martyrology of Donegal, page 241. The Irish Life in the Book of Lismore ends with the following beautiful eulogy of our saint : — " There is no one who could fully enumerate the virtues and miracles performed by St. Ciaran, for there was no one of greater charity and mercy, of greater labour, abstinence, and prayer, of greater humility and assiduity, of greater gentleness and mildness, of greater
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES,
51
Tennyson, in his " King Arthur," translates it briefly and beautifully : —
" Where falls not hail or rain or any snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly."
Such places the pagans, of course, never found, except in poetic dreams. It is, however, certain that St, Ciaran and men like him did establish, at Clonmacnoise and elsewhere, not such an elysium as refined Grecian and cultured Roman sighed for in vain, but an abode of sanctity and peace, prayer and labour, study and learning, sacrifice and song, in honour of the one true God and the ever Adorable Trinity, and for man's real happi- ness. In this old monastery of Clonmacnoise and elsewhere were fully realised, in the spiritual and mystic sense, what Virgil wrote : —
" Conspicit ecce alios dextra laevaque per herbam, Vescentes, laetumque choro paeana canentes, Inter adoratum lauri nemus ; unde superne Plurimus Eridani per sylvam volvitur amnis. Hio manus, ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi, Quique sacerdotes casti, dum. vita maiiebat, Quique pii vates, et Phoebo digna locuti."
Aen. vi. 656.
But let me return from this digression to the saint and the king. Soon after they had erected the little church and cell, Ciaran was called to the reward of his labours.
In the year immediately following the laying of the founda- tion, a terrible pestilence swept over the land, carrying with it many a young, as well as middle-aged, useful and vigorous life.
diligence towards the Church of God, of greater daily labour before the approach of night. He never indulged his body with leisure or idleness, he never drank milk or ale until it was one -third water, he never ate bread until a third of sand was mixed with it. He slept not except on the naked clay ; under his head there was nought but a stone for a pillow ; and he never used linen or woollen garments next his skin. He was a man of eminent choice merits before God, like Abel ; a man of earnest appreciation of the Lord, like Enoch ; a faithful pilot of the ark of the Church amidst the waves of the world, like Noah ; a true pilgrim with firmness of piety and faith, like Abraham ; a merciful man, forgiving from the heart, like Moses ; a devout, patient man amidst sorrows and tribulations, like the afflicted Job ; a melodious, delightful psalmist to God, like David ; a vessel of true wisdom and true knowledge, like Solomon ; an immovable rock on which the Church was founded, like Peter the Apostle ; prime universal preceptor, and select vessel for proclaiming truth, like the Apostle Paul ; a man full of the grace of the Holy Ghost, and of virginity, like John, the bosom foster-son. It is on account of these, and many other good deeds, that Ciaran's soul is with the citizens of heaven. His relics and remains are here attended with honour and reverence, with daily virtues and miracles, and though great is thus his honour, greater shall it be in the unison of the saints of heaven, when, in incorruptible body and soul, on the day of the great assembly of judgment, as the reward of his teaching, he shall sit in judgment with the Redeemer whom he served." — Book of Lismore, MS. in R. I. A., fol. 78, seq.
As regards the relics with which Clonmacnoise was enriched, must be
52 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
To this terrible plague Ciaran fell a victim. In tlie 33rd year of his age (a remarkable year), quievit in Domino, a.d. 549, and it is added, in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, that his body was buried in the "Little Church" at Clonmacnoise: "Beati mortui qui in Domino moriuntur." His feast is celebrated on the 9 th of September, each recurring year, and during the Octave, in this Diocese of Clonmacnoise, where it is a double of the first class. The present Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmac- noise, Right Rev. Dr. Woodlock, having compiled from the BoUandists proper Lessons for the Second Nocturn of the Office of our Saint, obtained for them the approbation of the Holy See, through the good offices of the Right Rev. Dr. Moran, Bishop of Ossory, now Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, who kindly revised the manuscript.
" Sancte Kierane, ora pro nobis."
I am aware that the year of the death of this great man, of whom St. Columba wrote in his poem of praise —
" Quantum Chi'isti, O Apostolum mundo misisti hominem Lucerna hiijus iusulae lucens lucerna mirabilis,"
has been variously stated. I am aware that the BoUandists have attempted to prove that he lived until a.d. 570, but the year already given seems to me supported by the ablest and most accurate writers. Archdall, Dssher, Ware, Lanigan, sup- port this date, and the Four Masters in some editions, whilst in others the date is fixed at 548. And now, standing on the hal-
reckoned the famous Imda Chiarain, or cow-hide couch, on which St. Ciaran expired. It was venerated as a most precious relic, being hallowed by the death of our saint, and it was regarded as a special privilege to permit those who were infirm to repose upon this couch. The Annals of Clonmacnoise state that the remains was interred within the " Eglais Beg," or Little Church, in which he died ; and hence in aftertimes it was known as "Teampul Chiarain." The Irish Life also says, that besides the relics of its founder, it was hallowed by the remains of many thousand " with the relics of Paul and Peter which Benen left, and which are there enshrined ; and the relics of MacDall, that is a disciple of the Prophet, and the shrine of the aiged, that is to say, the Prophet which a certain pious person saw transported by Angels to Ciaran's burial place. " It must be remarked that the contraction used in this last passage for the Avord Prophet is ambiguous, it probably, however, refers to Caencombrace, who was venerated as a Prophet in Clonmacnoise, as we see in the Martyrology of Donegal, page 199. In Miss Stokes's Christian Inscriptions, page 76, there is an ancient Irish poem on Clonmacnoise, which ends with the strophe : —
" There are a hundred Ciarans saints of high, heaven, With Peter and Paul, witnesses of truth, And the silver shrine of the chief Virgin, In the city of the prayerful one."
In the vellum MS. preserved in Trinity College Library, Dublin (H. 2, 7, col. 232), there is also an Irish poem entitled " The Prayer of Protection of Ciaran," which has the following strophes on the heavenly treasures of Clon- macnoise : —
" There are great virtues In the cemetery of noble Cluain ; It is the same to be in its clay As in tb0 burial-place of Kome,
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 53
lowed spot where this sad event took place, and looking around at all that remains of his shrine and those of the great saints and scholars who succeeded him, one is reminded of the words of a very distinguished poet —
" Even the faintest relics of a shrine Of such a worship wake some thoughts divine."
The memorials scattered over this plain, where the "Arts" of Ireland once found their centre, where the schools of Ireland collected promising youths, kept them for a time, and then, like the Trojan horse, sent them out, full of varied erudition, con- summate piety, practical sympathy, with Kieran's motto (" Do to others as you should like others to do unto you"), and there- fore ready for the proper discharge of every serious and import- ant duty, are fading away. Two beautiful specimens of ancient stone crosses, numerous antique gravestones, two majestic roimd towers, the ruins of more than eight churches, presenting inte- resting varieties of Christian architecture, together with a few old trees of apparently equal antiquity — the lone survivors of the vast woods of Clonmacnoise — casting their shadows over the lonely graves of the dead, remain to testify, even in their dila- pidated condition, the refinement of our fathers at the close of the ninth century. There also remains the ancient causeway on the right, leading along the river to the nunnery, once repaired by Devorgilla ; and on the left are the ruins of an old castle, once the palace of the bishops (some think),* now tumbled about
" The relics of Paul and of Peter, The seamless garment of our Lord, With the smooth hair of Mary, They are in its Urdam (i.e., Sanctuary).
" Interred within the Urdam
Are the founders of the Eath,
With one hundred and four
Who neglected not the hour of prayer. " With Domnan and Tocha,
And Silan, the learned leper,
With Moedog, of fair countenance,
With Fergus, -with Enna. " With Odhram and Caeman,
And Fursa, heavenly, venerable, austere
With Lugna and Gother,
With Sother and Bernard. " Close to the Urdam on the north,
In a very slender house (tech),
Are twelve men whose prayers
Would make even hell a heaven. " Close to the Urdam on the south,
There are four — it is right to mention them
They would light up earth as heaven
Did they come to visit it. " Nine thousand with nine score
And nine are the saints, as I recall,
Not feeble their daily invocation,
Who rest beyond under the Taraill
* Most probably it is De Lacy's Castle.
54 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
in sucli a fantastic fashion, as that it cannot be said to be either lying or standing, and yet presenting such a pile of huge masses of dangerously inclining stonework, as to remind one of the Leaning Tower at Pisa. It holds its threatening and unsteady position on a rath or mound, surroxmded by a fosse. However, if we closely examine and compare them with other similar ruins, or with existing monasteries in Europe, I think that, even in their decayed and crimibling condition, we shall find much to admire and console us for the loss they bespeak. Just as our grief is sometimes alleviated by looking on the portraits of departed friends and recalling their virtues, so, too, these imroofed edifices remind us of the saintly and fair forms, the kindly and edifying demeanour, ever- dauntless courage and self-sacrifice, of the good friends and fathers who lived and ruled here, and thus bring consolation to our hearts. But their home is now deserted and unroofed.* The noise of royal car- riages and the voices of royal visitors are no longer heard around the sacred spot. The procession of pale-faced, ascetic monks, clothed in the rough garments of the early ages, moving out slowly and solemnly to meet the dead bodies of kings, nobles, and chieftains, and convey them to their quiet graves, amidst the harmonious chanting of the psalms and prayers for the dead, is no more seen.
Cluain is entitled to reverence. For its tower and its Grianan ; Nor should be omitted in our poem The beautiful Beaman of Ciaran.
' The blessing of the Keeper of the Beaman, And the blessing of Ciaxan of Cluain, Both descend alike Upon every repentant head.
' His Bachall and his.Ceolan, And his Mata-malla, And his gospel of friendship, Are not without comfort to chiefs.
' The noble Omach Which accompanies the men of Edar, And the victorious Boban, It is a jewel of hostings.
' To partake of the rightful privileges Of all these relics, Hasten to the holy shrine. Ye Kings and royal Chiefs."
— Monasticcm Hibernicum,
Edited by Cardinal Moran.
* It is hoped one of these churches will soon be re-roofed for sepulchral purposes. It is a pity that the most celebrated Campo Santo in ancient Ireland (almost all the royal families had a burial-plot there) should be without a mortuary chapel wherein the ceremonial for interment might be performed accordmg to the full rite.
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 55
I.
" Life and Thought have gone away Side by side, Leaving door and windows wide ; Careless tenants they !
II.
' ' All within is dark as night, In the windows is no light, And no murmur at the door, So frequent on its hinge before.
III. " Come away ; for Life and Thought Here no longer dwell ;
But in a city glorious — A great and distant city — have bought
A mansion incorruptible. Would they could have stayed with us." — Tennyson.
And now I ask the following question : —
Was the Eglais Beg or Little Cliurcli erected at Clonmac- noise of wood or stone ? Before attempting an answer to this question, it may be well to observe, that a difference of opinion exists amongst the most learned investigators in the architec- tural department of Irish ecclesiastical remains regarding the period at which building ia stone and mortar was com- menced in Erinn. On one side we have Sir James Ware and his very able editor Harris, Sir William Petty, Dr. Thomas Molyneux, Dr. Ledwich, and the learned Dr. Lanigan as- serting, and supporting by grave argimients, that the Irish did not begin to build with stone and mortar until the twelfth cen- tury. On the other side we have Dr. Petrie and Dr. Matthew Kelly, of Maynooth, and others of acknowledged learning, maintaining that the churches of Armagh, in the early part of the ninth century, were certainly of stone, and that most probably these churches were the buildings erected by St. Patrick and his immediate successors.
These same learned writers furthermore maintain that the abbey and cathedral churches throughout Ireland, from the introduction of Christianity, were generally of stone. In sup- port of the former opinion, Harris, in his edition of Ware, writes as follows : — " Malachy O'Morgair, Archbishop of Armagh (who died in 1148), was the first Irishman, or at least one of the first, who began to build with stone and mortar, of which his contemporary, St. Bernard, gives this account : — 'Malachy thought it incumbent on him to build a~ -chapel of stone at Bangor, like those he had seen in other countries ; and when he began to lay the foundation of it, some of the natives were astonished at the novelty, because such buildings were never seen before in that country.' "
And a few words after, he introduces an ill-natured fellow.
56 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH,
and puts this speech, in his mouth: — "'What has come over you, good man, that you should undertake to introduce such a novelty in our coimtry ? We are Scots — i.e. Irishmen — not Gauls. What levity is this ? What need is there of such a proud and unnecessary work ? How will you, who are but a poor man, find means to finish it ? And who will Kve to see it brought to perfection ?"
We also find an accoimt, given by the same St. Bernard, that the same St. Malachy had, some years before, built a chapel in the same place, made, indeed, of planed timber, but well jointed and compactly put together, and, for a Scottish (that is, an Irish) work, elegant enough. And Sir William Petty has written, in his " Political Anatomy of Ireland," c. 5, p. 25 : — " There is at this day no monument or real argument that when the Irish were first invaded (by the Anglo-Normans) they had any stone housing at all, any monej^, any foreign trade, nor any learning, but the Legends of the Saints, Psalters, Missals, Rituals, &c. ; nor geometry, astronomy', anatomy, architecture, engineering, painting, carving, nor any kind of manufacture, nor the least use of navigation or the military art."
Dr. Molyneux and Dr. Ledwich follow up the same line of argument, and bring to their aid the Venerable Bede, who stated that Finian, who had been a monk at the monastery of lona, after he was made Bishop of Lindisfame, " built a church fit for his episcopal see, not of stone, but altogether of sawn wood, covered with reeds, after the Scotic, i.e., the Irish manner." Fecit ecclesiam episcopali sedi congruam, quam tamen more Scotonmi non de lapide sed de robore secto, totam composuit atque harundine texit. Besides, they cite a passage from the writings of Tirechen, on the Life of St. Patrick, preserved in the Book of Armagh, a MS. supposed to be of the seventh century, in which the following statement is found : — " When Patrick went up to the place which is called Poirgea of the Sons of Awley, to divide it among the sons of Awley, he built there a quadrangular church of moist earth, because wood was not near at hand." "Et ecce Patricius perrexit ad agrum qui dicitur Foirrgea, filiorum Amolingid et fecit ibi ecclesiam terrenam de nimio quadratam quia non prope erat silva." And in the life of St. Monena, compiled in the twelfth century by Conchubran, and quoted by Ussher, it is stated that she founded a monastery, which was made of smooth timber, according to the fashion of the Scotic nations, who were not accustomed to erect stone walls or get them erected. "E lapide enim sacras aedes efficere tam Scotis quam Britonibus morem fuisse insolitimi exBeda quoque, didicimus, indeque in S. Monnenae monasterio, ecclesiam con- structam fuisse, notat Conchubranus, tabidis de dolatis, juxta
CLOXMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 57
morem Scoticarum gentmm ; eo quod macerias Scoti iioii solent facere nee factas habere." Eveu the learned Dr. Lanigan, so anxious to uphold the fame of ancient Ireland, wrote the following words : — " Prior to those of the twelfth century, we find very few monuments of ecclesiastical architecture in Ire- land. This is not to be wondered at, because the general fashion of the country was to erect their buildings of wood, a fashion which in great part continues to this day in several parts of Europe, and, consequently, as their churches also were usually built of wood, it cannot be expected that there should be any remains of such churches at present." Such being the opinion of the learned and laborious Dr. Lanigan, it can scarcely be wondered at that the English and Scottish writers on architec- tural ecclesiastical antiquities should have laid it down as a fact that the Irish were unacquainted with the art of building with lime and stone previously to the Anglo-Norman invasion. They furthermore have asserted that the Irish monks who settled in iona, in the sixth century, were wholly unacquainted with buildings in stone and mortar. Thus Pinkerton, vol. ii., p. 141, writes: — "Ancient monuments of the British Scotch there are none, save cairns of stones used as sepulchres and as memorials. These were adapted to Celtic indolence, while the Gothic in- dustry raised vast stones instead of piling small ones ; nor are any cairns found in Gothic countries, so far as I can learn, except such as are very large. The Celtic churches, houses, &c., were all of wattles, as are the barns at this day in the Hebrides, so that no ruins can be found of them. The early cathedral of Iona must have been of this sort, and it was burned by the Danes in the ninth century. The present ruin is not older than the thirteenth century. In the twelfth century, St. Bernard represents a stone church as quite a novelty even in Ireland."
To this formidable phalanx of writers against stone churches in Ireland before the thirteenth century, Dr. Petrie opposes himself, supported, as many think, by most able and conclusive arguments. Before I attempt to produce any of them, it may be well to observe that he admits the Scotic mode of building with wood prevailed generally in Ireland up to the twelfth or thirteenth century in respect to a particular class of buildings, i.e., monastic houses and oratories.
In the next place, I have to observe that the learned Doctor joins issue with his opponents only on this one question, namely, the materials of which the Irish churches were composed up to the twelfth or thirteenth century. They say, of wood ; he says, no, but of stone, at least in the churches connected with bishop- rics and abbacies. I shall now put forth some of his proofs. In the Annals of Ulster and of the Four Masters, we find at the
58 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
year 1125 the following statement : — " Operimentmn factum et optimum tectum et istud tectum integre super ecclesiam cathe- dralem lapideam magnam Ardmachanam postea totum tegulis coopertum a Celso vicario Patricii, in trigessimo anno supra centessimimi, a quo non fuit tegulis contectimi totum." a.d. 1125, Four Masters : " Quinto Id. Januarii operimentum factum et tectum integrum factum supra ecclesiam cathedralem lapi- deam magnum Ardmachanam, postea totum tegulis coopertum a Celso Yicario Patritii, in trigessimo anno supra centessimum ex quo non fuit tegulis opertum totum usque ad id." And Colgan writes, a.d. 1125 : — " Quinto Idus Jan. tegulis integre con- tecta et restaurata est ecclesia Cathedralis Ardmacana per sanctum Celsum Archiepiscopum postquam per annos centum triginta non nisi ex parte fuisset contecta." Hence it follows that the great church of Armagh, burned in 995, was a stone building, and remained without a roof for one hundred and thirty years. It also follows that it was a church of considerable magnitude. This statement is confirmed by the Four Masters and Colgan, in his " Acta Sanctorum," cap. 14 ; also in the Annals of Armagh, where we are told that Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh, erected a lime-kiln of enormous size for the purpose of repairing, not building, the churches, a.d. 1145 : " A lime-kiln, which was sixty feet every way, was erected opposite Eamhain-macha by GillamacKag, successor of St. Patrick, and Patrick's clergy in general." In the Annals of Ulster it is written, a.d. 839 : • " Combustio Ardmachae cum Nosocomiis {i.e. oratoriis), et eccle- siis lapideis suis." The Annals of the Four Masters record the same sad event as committed by the Danes in the same year, and use the Irish word Damhliag. Now, the best Irish scholars admit this word to signify a stone structure, in fact, a stone church. The Annals of Clonmacnoise, at the year 837, tell us of the same burning, and use the same Irish word. Colgan, A.D. 839, writes : " Ardmacha cum sua Basilica aliisque sacris aedibus incenditur per Northmanos."
Now Irish writers on such subjects as that under considera- tion have used the Latin words ecclesia, templum. Basilica, to express what the word Damhliag does in the Irish language, but never to express a wooden building. The best Irish scholars have also used Cill, egleis or ecleis Tempull Regies, as synony- mous with Damhliag and ecclesia and Basilica. They used a different word, i.e., Duirteach, to express another class of build- ings, i.e., wooden, which is rendered into Latin by the word oratorium. Hence the conclusion follows that not only where the early Irish churches are referred to by our Annalists, over the words Damhliag, Cill, ecleis, tempull, we are to infer the structure was of stone.
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 59
Petrie proves these assertions, by copious references to the Four Masters of Ulster, and of Tigernach, at the years 839, 890, 907, 915, but principally at 1020, where reference is made to the great stone church of Armagh. It appears, therefore, beyond all reasonable doubt, that there was a stone church at Armagh, in the middle of the ninth century. Moore, who generally followed the opinion of Harris and his school, in his dissertation against those who attributed the erection of the churches of Glendalough to the Danes, maintains that from the year 788, at least, the Irish had stone churches. Petrie continues his argu- ment thus — " It has been already shown that, in the ninth cen tury, there was a great stone church at Armagh." Now, there are strong reasons for supposing it was the very church erected by St. Patrick. The most ancient annalists and biographers of St. Patrick admit that he built a cathedral of considerable dimensions at Armagh, in the year 444 or 445. Its extent is given in the Tripartite Life, ascribed even to the sixth century. " Istis nam que diebus sanctissimus Antistes metatus est locum et jecit fundamenta ecclesiae Ardmachanae juxta formam et modimi ab angelo praescriptum. Dum autem fieret haec funda- tio et metatio formae et quantitatis ecclesiae aedificandae, collecta synodus Antistitum Abbatum aliorumque universi regni Praelatorum et facta processione ad metas designandas proces- serunt, Patricio cum baculo Jesu in manu, totum clerum et angelo Dei tanquam ductore et directore Patricium praecedenti. Statuit autem Patricius juxta Angeli praescriptum quod mtirus ecclesiae in longitudine contineret centum quadriginta pedes (forte passus) aedificium sive aula major triginta, culina septem pedes. Et hae sacrae aedes omnes juxta has mensuras sunt postea erectae." The dimensions of the church built by St. Patrick, and that which is known to have been of stone in 838, being the same, may it not fairly be inferred that the church burned by the Danes, in the ninth century, was the original church built by our Apostle in the fifth century. This conclu- sion is strengthened by Plann, of the monastery, in his great poem on the members of St. Patrick's household. In this in- teresting account, still preserved in the Book of Lecan, the following allusion is made to the Saint's masons : —
" His three masons good was their intelligence, Coemau, Cruithneck, Luchraid, strong They made Damhliags first In Erinn, eminent their history."
There is another argimaent contained in the Ofl&ce of St. Cianan, as given by Colgan. It is found in the following words : — " St. Cianan built a church of stone in this place, i.e..
60 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
Duleek, county Meatli, and from thence it took the name of Damhliag (i.e., Duleek), for before this time the churches of Ireland were built of wattles and boards. This was certainly- one of the first churches built in Ireland of stone and cement. Xow Tighernach, an annalist of undoubted authority, of whom I intend to write something later on, because he belonged to Clonmacnoise and was one of its greatest scholars, tells us that Cianan was consecrated a bishop by St. Patrick, and that he died in the year 490, three years before the Apostle himself. He fiirthermore assures us that Cianan obtained high favour with the Apostle, from whom he received a copy of the Gospels, as a mark of especial esteem and friendship." Tirechan, in his Annals, has the following passage — " De ecclesiis quas fundavit in Campo Breg, primum in Ciilmine ; 2nd, ecclesiae Cerne in qua sepidtus est Hercus qui porta-sdt, mortaKtatem magnam ; 3rd, in cacumiuibus Aisse ; 4th, in Blaitiniu ; 5th, in Collumbos in qua ordinavit Eugenium sanctum episcopum ; 6th, aecclesia filio Laithphi ; 7th, in Bridam in qua fuit sanctus dulcis frater Carthaci ; 8th, super Argetbor in qua Kannanus episcopus quem ordinavit Patricius in primo Pascha." From this it appears certain that the church of Duleek was the eighth stone church erected under the superA'ision of St. Patrick, in the plain of Bregia. A few other stone churches were probably erected, about that period. But there does not appear to be sufficient e"sddence to warrant the opinion that the Eglais Beg was one of them.
Petrie and 0 'Donovan think there is no stone building at Clonmacnoise older than the tenth century. Moreover, Clon- macnoise abounded in woods, whilst there is no stone quarry Avithin three Irish miles. Besides the planting of the pole, by the king and saint, bespeaks a wooden edifice.
Mr. O'Donovan visited Clonmacnoise in 1838, and wrote in. that same year some very valuable letters regarding it from Banagher, where he stayed whilst engaged on the Ordnance survey of that part of the King's County. These letters are preserved in manuscript in the Poyal Irish Academy, where I have been permitted to see them. He states confidently that there are no remains of any building at Clonmacnoise as old as St. Ciaran ; that there is no church there as old as St. Fechin's of Fore, or St. Mel's of Ardagh, or any of the seven churches at Inis-clothran, in Loughrea; nor as old as the church at Banagher, Co. Derry. The following are the names of the chui'ches and towers at Clonmacnoise : —
1st. The Cathedral, or Coghlan's Church, as it is called, on account of its having been repaired in 1647 by the Yery Rev. Charles Coghlan at his own expense. A mural slab in the
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES, 61
north--western wall has inscribed upou it the following words : — "Carolus Coghlan Vicarius Generalis Clonmacnoise, propriis impendiis, banc dirutam ecclesiam restoravit, a.d. 1647."
Here it may be interesting to give the following particulars regarding the family of Charles Coghlan, or MacCoghlan, who was a distinguished member of it. for he was of the MacCoghlan sept, lords of Dealbhna Eathre or Delvin Ahra, in ancient Meath. The extent of their country was very considerable. It com- prised the greater portion of the present barony of Garrycastle. The name Dealbhna is derived, according to O'Donovan, from tribes of the Dalcassian race, who took the name from Cas, an- cestor of the O'Brien tribe of North Munster. The MacCoghlans were chiefs of great influence and importance in former times. The Annals of the Four Masters, a.d. 1548, place the castles of Ceann Coradh (Kincor) and Feadhan (Fadden) and the monas- tery of Gallen in their territory, and state that the English plundered that part of it extending from Bealach an fhothair to the Togher of Ceannmona. It appears, therefore, their ter- ritory comprised at least the tract from the townland of Bal- laghanoher, in the parish of Banagher, to the above-named Togher, in the parish of Lemonaghan. Connal McGreoghegan places Lumcloon Castle in the parish of Gallen, in this territory, and septs of the MacCoghlans at licackagh, in the parish of Lemanaghan, Clondowna, now Clonony and Boynean. In the inquisition taken at Castle Geashill, 23rd October, 1612, Esker Castle is placed in the territory of Delvin MacCoghlan. Inqui- sition taken at Kilcormack, 1617, found the townland of Clon- gowney, parish of Banagher, in the territory of Delvin MacCoghlan. Colgan, Acta SS., p. 382, places Kilcolgan in the parish of Ferbane, in the same territory. The same writer, in his Life of St. Canoe, patron of the parish of Cloghan, places the monastery of Gallen in the MacCoghlan territory. Tradi- tion in the country styles them MawCoghlans of the fair Castles of Garrycastle, and states that the following castles belonged to them: — The castles (1) of Clonlyon; (2) Clonmacnoise; (3) Lemanaghan ; (4) Clonony ; (5) Lackaghmore, in the parish of Lemanaghan ; (6) Kilcolgan, Ferbane ; (7) Lisclooney, in Ti- saran ; (8) Coole Castle, near Ferbane (Sir John Coghlan lived here in 1590); (9) Garrycastle, in Banagher Parish; (10) Streamstown, in the same parish; (11) Fadden Castle, in Lus- magh Parish. It is, therefore, evident that the country of " the Maw" was very extensive. He is thus alluded to by O'Dugan : —
" MacCoghlan is the valorous mainstay And prince of delightful Delvin Ahra."
In 1551 a great Court was held in Athlone, to which
62 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
MacCoghlan went, and there obtained his pardon and letters patent to his patrimonial estate or inheritance, and Delvin Eathra became tributary to the king.
The last descendant of this ancient sept who held any posi- tion similar to that of his great ancestors was Thomas Coghlan, commonly called "the Maw." He died without issue in the year 1790. He represented the King's County for several years in the Irish Parliament. Colonel de Montmorency thus de- scribes him . — " Thomas Colgan, Esq., ' the Maw,' that is, Mac, for he was not known in his own territory by any other appellation, was a remarkably handsome man, gallant, eccentric, proud, satirical, hospitable in the extreme, and of expensive habits. In disdain of modern times, he adhered to the national customs of Ireland and the modes of living practised by his ancestors. His house was ever open to strangers ; his tenants held their lands at will, and paid their rents according to the ancient fashion, partly in kind and the remainder in money. The Maw levied the fines of mortmain when a vassal died. He became heir to the defunct farmer, and no law was admissible or practised within the precincts of MacCoghlan's domain but such as savoured of the Brehon code. It must be observed, however, that most commonly the Maw's commands, enforced by the impressive application of his horsewhip, instantly decided a litigated point. With him perished the rude grandeur of his long-drawn line. His vast estates passed to the son of his sister, the late Right Hon. Bowes Daly, of Dalystown, Co. Galway, who likewise had no children, and who, shortly before his death in 1821, sold the MacCoghlan estate to divers persons.
Many of his days were passed in the pleasant towns of Banagher and Cloghan, in the neighbourhood of which so many of MacCoghlan's celebrated castles and strongholds are still to be seen.
The Last Will of John Coghlan.
" In the name of God, Amen. To all about to inspect the present writing, the Pastor, Curates of the Parish of Fuire (Wheery), greeting in the Lord. We make known that, in the presence of us and of the undersigned witnesses, for this purpose specially called and requested, and for this purpose personally appointed, an honest, honourable man, John Coghlan, Knight, my parishioner, lying in the bed of sickness, infirm of body, but sound of mind, weighing and considering that the life of man is short upon earth, that nothing is more certain than death, but nothing more uncertain than the hour, desiring to provide for the situation of his soul and to arrive at the joys of
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 63
eternal life, has made his icill and last testament, and arranged it in manner and form followang : —
" Imprimis, he commends his soul to the Most High God, his Creator, when it shall depart from his body, and his body to the worms of the earth, wishing it to be inhumed in the Church of the Blessed Virgin of Raonach (Ee}Tiagh). Next he has willed and arranged all his debts to be paid formally and dis- charged to the persons to whom they are due. Item, the said testator has bequeathed all the goods conferred on him by God to the Church of Cluainmicnois, for the health of his soid, a cow. Item, to John, the son of Hugh, the priest, a cow. Item, to the Churches of Gallin Fuire (Wheery), Techsarajoi (Tisaran), and Roanach (Reynagh) he has bequeathed two cows. Item, to the Church of Lea Manchan, a yoimg cow. Item, he has bequeathed to Margaret Donadi four large cows and four small ones. Item, he has ordered that Solomon MacEgan should not be disturbed as long as he lives in the half quarter of Cuil (Cool), thus left him by his father Arthur. Item, he leaves the Castle of Coole and the rest of the same village to the Lady Margaret his wife, as long as she lives unmarried ; but should she marry, let it be restored to John Coghlan, the son of Sabina, the daughter of Dalachan, as is just, according to the tenor of the intention of the feofment of all other feudal fiefs (tenures). Item, he has granted long since to the said John all his unbroken steeds, horses, plate, coats of mail, pots, and all his arms, flasks, and all his other utensils made of tin, and the great patena which he lately got by hereditary right from his mother, which donation he now confirms to him. Finally, he has ordered that these his horses be given to the Lady tfnina, Una, or "VYinny, to wit, Falfrida, Nigra, and Brunda, Item, he has ordered that what- ever other of movable goods, corn in the blade, cattle, and fur niture he may have, be divided into three equal parts, and given, one part to the lady his wife, the other to his daughters Rosina and Dorothea (Dolly), and the third part to John, son of the aforesaid, with six silver vases, which are called in English torma (ten dishes), and with two Cyj)hi (silver cups), purchased and made in his (testator's) own name, which eight vessels are not computed in the division. Item, he has ordered that the profits of four quarters' tythes, which he lately had in farm for five years, should be divided and given, the third part to the aforesaid lady (his wife), and the remainder to the said John and his mother, and this with the usual incumbrances. And for the performance (observance) of all and singular the pre- mises, the said testator has nominated as his executors Patrick Hogay, Archdeacon of Killaloe (Laonsnsem), John Coghlan, the son of Sabina Dalachan, and Hugh Daly. To which exe-
64 I^IOCESE 01- ARDAGii.
cutors, for fulfilling all and singular the premises, tlie said testator has made over all his goods whatsoever and whereso- ever, revoking every other icill, if any has been by him made, and wishing that this his uill should receive confirmation in the best way, mode, and form in which it could and ought to pre- vail. In testimony of which I, Cormac Dalachan, the aforesaid Curate, have affixed my sign manual to the present loill. It was made in the house of Solomon MacEgan,* in the village of Coole (Guile), in the year of our Lord 1590, 10th July.
Cormac Dalachan, witness, Curate.
" These underwritten were the witnesses at the time of making this will.
" John Douis, a priest. "Witness.
" I am NiAL O'Sheill. I am IIugh O'Sheii-l, a witness.
" It was proved by the oath of Hugh Dalachan."
The above is the translation of the will given by O'Donovan. The original is in Latin.
N.B. — The first mention of the O'Flahillys, afterwards MacCoghlans, in the Four Masters, is so late as the year 1136. How long before that year this Dalcassian tribe had obtained a settlement for themselves east of the Shannon, O'Donovan was unable to determine.
The church which the Very Eev. Charles Coghlan restored was anciently called
TEMPLE MacDERMOTT.
The " Annals of Clonmacnoise " state that, in the year 1100, " the shingles and lower end of the wall of the great church, called by some MacDermott's Church, which had been begun by Cormac MacConnamacboct, were this year repaired and com- pleted by Flathnertagh O'Loyngsy." Local tradition states that it was called MacDermott's Church because a family of that name purchased a burial-place in it. Mr. O'Donovan states explicitly that it seemed to him somewhat odd that the great cathedral of Clonmacnoise should be called after the MacDermotts of Moylurgf Mr. O'Donovan also thinks that this church is the most modern of them all, and in all its parts, with the exception of one narrow, roimd-headed window and a stone-roofed chamber, which it lights.
* Solomon MacEgan was the Brehon of the district.
t The Registry of Clonmacnoise states that Tomultach MacDermott, Chief of Moylurg, repaired or built the great Church of Clonmacnoise at his own coat. He died in 1336.
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 65
The second church is called
TEMPLE-RI, OR O'MELAGLIN'S CHURCH,
^nd it lies immediate^ to the south-east of the cathedral, and has the round tower called M'Carthy's Tower tying on its north ■Hide— i.e. between it and Athlone. This is the oldest church of the group, it having been unquestionably erected before the introduction of the pointed or Gothic style into this country. Archdall is of opinion that it was erected at the expense of Flann Sionna, King of Meath, and he places the date of its erection in 909, and thus it is called Temple-Ri.
"909. — In this year Flann Sionna, King of Meath, and Abbot Colman MacAillealla founded a church of stone here, which was called the Church of the Kings."
Mr. O'Donovan thinks, notwithstanding Petrie's opinion to the contrary, that this is O'Melaghlin's Church.
TEMPLE-KELLY
is the third church, and it lies east and by north of the cathedral, and is now level with the ground. This was the mausoleum of the O'Kellys of Hy-Many. According to Archdall, Connor O'Kelly and the Hy-Many sept erected a church here, in the stead of the Jlospital, in the year 1167,
TEMPLE-KIERAN
is the fourth church, and it lies immediately to the east of the site of Temple-Kelly. It is a very small church.
TEMPLE-DOWLING, OB HURPAN,
is the fifth church, and is the most modern of the group, and lies south of the cathedral. It was rebuilt in the seventeenth century, and in Archdall's time was used as the Protestant church of the parish.
TEMPLE-FINNIAN, OR FINNEEN,
is the sixth church. It lies to the north of the cathedral, and at the boundary wall which encloses the cemetery. The smaller round tower is attached to it, which some writers say was erected by Fingin MacCarthy, Prince of Desmond. The following passages, taken from the Four Masters, seem to negative this statement : — " Gorman, who had spent one year over Tobar-Fingin, died on his pilgrimage, at Clon- macnoise, a.d. 610." The well of Fingin is still in existence, •and near this tower. It is thought this well, church, and tower
G6 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
have been named from tlie same Fingin ; and if lie be Finneen MacCartliy, how could the well have been called Tobar-Fingin in the year 610. Moreover, Tigernagh flourished before MacCarthy Fingin was born. The "Chronicon Scotorum" has- the following passage : — " A great storm happened in this year (1015), the greatest that had occurred in those times, by which the great oak of Reglis Fingin, at Clonmacnoise, was pros- trated." I cannot find a record of Fingin MacCarthy in any of our Irish Annals. O'Donovan thinks this church, one beautiful arch of which still exists, was erected in the eleventh or begin- ning of the twelfth century, together with the round tower,, which is so well adapted to it. The learned Petrie thinks it is as old as the beginning of the tenth century. The other churches, are shown on the map. The remains of them are very scanty indeed.
O'ROEKE'S TOWER
is the larger tower of Clonmacnoise, and lies north-west of the cathedral.* This tower was erected at the expense of O'Eorke, Prince of Breffny. O'Donovan thinks it no older than the- twelfth century, when O'Malone Coarb, of St. Kieran, finished the erection of the Cloictheach. " The completion of the Cloic- theach {turns) by O'Malone Coarb, of St. Kieran, a.d. 1124." — Four Masters.
1135. — " The Cap (Benn-cover) of the Cloictheach of Clon- macnoise was knocked off by Kghtning."
Dr. O'Conor thinks that O'Malone only repaired the cap of the tower this year ; and O'Donovan confidently states that the Irish verb, used in the Four Masters, signifies not to repair, but to finish, complete. O'Donovan thinks it was often repaired since 1135, and that no conclusive argument can be brought forward to show that it is older than 1124.
There is extant a charming little poem, composed by Erard MacCoisi, in lamentation of the death of Fear gal O'Rorke, who was killed in the Battle of Clontarf, 1014. In it MacCoisi represents as prostrate on the royal tomb *'the flag of kings,"" on which gold was glittering. If there is any truth in this poem, the O'Rorkes must have had a tomb at Clonmacnoise long before the round tower was erected by O'Malone, Petrie, however, who is a higher authority, thinks the erection of this tower is as old as the year 908, and that tradition afterwards- connected the names of O'Rorke and O'Malone with it, on
* In May, 1865, by means of private subscriptions, the greater Round Tower and the ruined churches of Clonmacnoise were (somewhat) repaired, and places of safety provided for the detached sculptured stones and ancient monuments, under the supervision of the Rev. Charles Vignoles, Rector of the Parish, and the Rev. James Graves, Hon. Sec, Royal Arch. Soc, Kilkenny.
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 67
account of restorations made by them, which circumstances had rendered necessary or useful. See Petrie, pp. 392 and 393.
The Registry of Clonmacnoise ascribes its erection to Fergal O'E-orke, King of Connaught, about the middle of the tenth century.
This tower is constructed of a fine sandstone, and its masonry is laid in regular courses, except about twenty feet of the upper portion, which is of coarse masonry of undressed Kmestone, and which, Kke the upper part of the round tower of Tullaherin, in the County of Kilkenny, and some others, is evidently the work of a later period than the lower part. It rests, as usual, on a Ijrojecting circular plinth, and measures fifty- six feet in circimi- ference at its base. Its present height is but sixty-two feet, in addition to which we must allow about seventeen feet for the conical roof, which is now wanting ; but there is no reason to doubt that it was originally one of the highest of its kind in Ireland ; for, as I have already remarked, it was obviously not restored to its original altitude when the present upper portion was re- erected. The wall is three feet nine inches in thickness. The interior exhibits rests for four storej^s, including that on a level with the doorway, and beneath which there was a fifth storey, not lighted. The second and third storeys are each lighted by a single quadrangular aperture, and the upper storey, as in the Tower of Tullaherin, contains eight openings of the same form. The doorway is five feet three inches in height, two feet three inches in width immediately under the imposts, and two feet six inches at the sill. The keystone and those forming the imposts extend the entire thickness of the wall, as does the sill-stone also, which is five feet in length. Some say a church was attached to this tower. There are, however, no remains of it at present.
Here I may, perhaps, fittingly reproduce Petrie's conclusions regarding the origin and uses of the Irish Round Towers : —
I. That the towers are of Christian and ecclesiastical origin, and were erected at various periods between the fifth and thir- teenth centuries.
II. That they were designed to answer at least a twofold use, namely, to serve as belfries and as keeps or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics to whom they belonged could retire for security in cases of sudden predatory attack.
III. That they were probably also used, when occasion re- quired, as beacons and watch-towers.
Several eminent writers, such as Ledwich, Moljnieux, Pin- kerton, Montmorenci, and Sir Walter Scott, advocated these
G8 UIOCESE OF AIIDAGII.
conclusions, adopted by Petrie, and for whicli lie lias advanced the following arguments : —
1. The towers are never found unconnected with ancient ecclesiastical foundations.
2. Their architectural styles exhibit no features or peculiari- ties not equally found in the original churches with which they are locally connected, when such remain.
3. On several of them Christian emblems are observable, and others display in the details a style of architecture univer- sally acknowledged to be of Christian origin.
4. They possess invariably architectural features not found in any buildings in Ireland ascertained to be of pagan times.
For the second conclusion, namelj'-, that they were intended to serve the double purpose of belfries and keeps or castles, for the uses already specified : —
1. Their architectural construction, as will appear, eminently favours this conclusion.
2. A variety of passages, extracted from our annals and other authentic documents, will prove that they were constantly applied to both these purposes.
For the third conclusion, namely, that they may also have been occasionally used as beacons and watch-towers : —
1. There are some historical evidences which render such a hyjDothesis extremely probable.
2. The necessity which must have existed in early Christian times for such beacons and watch-towers, and the perfect fitness of the Round Towers to answer such purposes, will strongly support this conclusion.
TEMPLE-CONOR
is the eighth ruin, and it is attached to the modern Protestant Church, and does not seem very ancient. See Petrie and the Registry of Clonmacnoise for the further history of this eh urch. See also Appendix.
Ware shows ten churches in his map of the cemetery of Clonmacnoise, but eight only remain to this day, i.e., seven and ((VMaio'^ne^s) towcr, to wMch, probably, a church was anciently attached. The Eglais Beg to which the Four Masters refer at the years 947 and 977, cannot be identified just now. They also refer at 1050 to Crosna Scraptra, the Cross of the Scriptures, which some think was a church in the form of a cross. There is no local tradition of this supposed church. At the year 1026, reference is made to a^'causewat/ or ^javement extending from the garden of the Abbess to the Carn of the three crosses. This can still be traced ; the Carn has disappeared, but the crosses still remain, two in good preservation, and the third one mutilated.
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEX CHURCHES. 69
In 1087, ArcMall, citing MacGeogliegan, records, "that the Abbot Connor MacConnamaboght did purchase/or ever Iselcieran, or the hospital of St. Kieran, from Donnell MacFloynO'MelaghKn, King of Meath." But O'Donovan thinks that Isel-Chiaran was a tract of low-lying country which belonged to Clonmacnoise. It is difficult to understand what could have been the meaning of the abbot purchasing the hospital of Clonmacnoise from the king. According to Archdall, citing MacGeoghegan, O'Kelly's Church occupied the site of Isel-Chiaran; but O'Donovan thinks this is one of Archdall' s blunders, and that what MacGeoghegan meant was to convey that the lands of Isil-Chiaran — or the hospital lands — belonged to Clonmacnoise.
At the years 1135 and 1205, Four Masters, reference is made to the/or^ of the abbot. This is, probably, the fort within which the old castle of Clonmacnoise stands, and 7na2/ have been Be Lacy 8 Castle. On Easter Monday in this year, i.e. 1135, the town of Clonmacnoise, with the Church of Moriegh O'Duffie and the jjlace called Lisean Abbey, were both consumed by an accidental tire. — MacGeoghegan.
Archdall states, on the authority of the Annals of the Island of All Saints, that a castle was erected by the English at Clon- macnoise, in 1214. This castle is now to be seen in ruins within a kind of dun or rath. Reference is made by the Four Masters to a causeway from the garden of the Abbess, which was made by the Abbot Breasal Conailla, as far as the Carn of the three crosses, A.D. 1024. Devorgilla, the daughter of Moroght O'Melaghlin, King of Meath, and wife of Tiernan O'Rorke,* repaired the church of the nunnery of Clonmacnoise, a.d. 1170. — Mac- Geoghegan. And, in 1180, the same church of the nunnery was consumed by fire, accidentally. The houses adjoining were also destroyed by the same cause. The causeway can still be traced, and the nunnery itself has been dug out of the mound which covered and concealed it until Eev. Mr. Graves, in the summer of 1865, by aid of subscriptions, employed some workmen to make excavations, which resulted in the restoration of the fallen choir, arch, and door of this church ; re-erected in 1167, St. Griollan had founded this nunnery centuries before.
* Tiernan O'Rorke, Lord of Breffni and Conmacne, a man of great power for a lor.g time, was treacherously slain by Hugo de Lacy and Donnell, the son of Annadh O'Rorke. They beheaded him, and conveyed his head and body ignominiously to Dublin. The head was placed over the gate of the fortress which then was on the hill where Dublin Castle now stands. Devorgilla, his wife, was the immediate cause of the invasion of Ireland. She died in the Monastery of Drogheda, a.d. 1193, at the age of ninety-five. She was in her sixty-fourth year at her husband's death, and in her forty-fourth when she eloped with Dermot, King of Leinster, in 1152, who was then in his sixty-second ^ear.
70 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
TOBAR KIERAN, as well as TOBAR FINNEEN,
still remain. The former is in a field by the roadside to Shannon Bridge, and about an eighth of a mile from the Churches, and the latter lies on the brink of the Shannon, close to the cemetery, and opposite St. Finneen's Tower. The Annals of Clonmacnoise have the following entry, at the year 613 : — " This year came on a pilgrimage to Cluainmicnois one Gorman, and remained there a year, and fasted that space on bread and the water of Fingins Well. He is ancestor to MickConnnamaboght and Moynter Gorman, and died in Cluain aforesaid."
Visitors to Clonmacnoise will do well by asking for Mr. Kieran Molloy, who resides in a comfortable farmhouse close to the cemetery, and is familiar with the traditions regarding this place. His ancestors settled there centuries ago, and were highly respected in the neighbourhood, as he himself now is. The following particulars regarding his family may be interest- ing to some, coming, as they do, from persons well known to fame : —
Letter of Mr. Petrie to John O'Donovan, Esq.
l^th January, 1838. My dear John,
I rise up in a sick bed to endeavour to write you a few lines. I should have written you during the week, but I was totally xmable. If my worthy friend and entertainer, Pat. MoUoy, be still at the " Churches or Clonmacnoise," I woidd advise you to stop with him, and I am sure that he and his excellent kind- hearted wife will take every care of you, and he can give you much valuable information. Remember me most kindly to them. I hope to spend a week with them before I die. I wish I were along with you groping among the inscribed tombs of the kings and saints of Ireland, the most interesting spot in the British Empire ; it is so at least to me.
Most sincerely yours,
George Petrie.
That unhappy man, James Stephens, observes in his notes on a three thousand miles' walk through Ireland : —
I discovered myself in Clonmacnoise, where I "hired a bed" in the comfortable farmstead of Mr. Molloy, an
CLONMACNOISE, OR THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 71
•octogenarian of wonderful physique. In the course of a long •conversation with him, I found he knew nearly all the Irish celebrities of the century. He had, in fact, been the entertainer of them all. 'No one came to see Clonmacnoise without calling to see himself. And it was with much interest I watched the venerable old man, as, with the enthusiasm of second youth, he would point me out the table where rollicking Sam Lover took many keenly-relished repasts, and cracked many a characteristic joke. Here was the chair often occupied by no less a personage than our great antiquarian Petrie, of round-tower fame, who, after " doing " the vicinity, would invariably pay his devoirs to Mr. Molloy, and chat with him on the Firbolgs and the Tuatha De Danaans. There was the stool on which sat Sir Samuel Ferguson, the most Celtic poet modern Ireland has produced ; while scattered through kitchen and parlours, the eyes fell on articles of furniture, &c., associated with some such other men and their memories, the majority of Mr. Molloy' s guests having been poets, orators, statesmen, statisticians or titled folk ; the vulgus profanum having generally shared as little in his board as it did in his estimation. And yet no blue blood coursed through the veins of Mr. MoUoy himself. He was one of the masses, T3ut belonged to that portion of the masses which directly de- 3)ends for its subsistence on what are called the upper classes, and held opinions to suit his business. Withal nature's real old gentleman was Farmer Molloy. His life must have been a blameless and happy one ; for when I saw him, although he had then weathered the storms of eighty- three winters. Time appeared to have dealt lightly with him, and he bore his years with a Herculean strength. To h^'s hale and hearty constitution he added a sprightly Celtic character ; an4 his conversation had peculiar charms, from a sort of subdued humour, which gave zest without acidity to whatever he said. His wife, who was some twenty years younger than he, was a fitting helpmate to the worthy man, and her manners and information appeared to me to have been above the common level. Three branches had sprung from the parent stock, two damsels and a stalwart youth. One of the maidens was a type of Irish beauty, with her raven hair fringing an elaborate brow, her dark Byronic eyes flashing fire and humour, her rosebud lips, and that delicate flush purpling her smooth cheeks — the ensemble giving evidence not alone of -artistic perfection, but that coy archness for which, I believe, Irish peasant girls alone are matchless among their sex. Take the family all in all, I fear it will be long before I look upon their like again ; and Sir Samuel Ferguson, at present Deputy Keeper of the Rolls in Dublin, will bear me out when I say that its members are as good a specimen as possible of the race whose
72 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
county lie himself has so well described in tlie well-knowns lyric : —
" Oh ! a kindly place is Ireland for Hospitable cheer, Where the golden grain is bursting From the yellow barley ear."
They were most attentive and respectful to me during my stay among them, and, as I was leaving, the old man volunteered to accompany me " a piece of the way" along the high road. What his motive for doing so was, however, I had misinterpreted ; for I had imagined that he either intended to give me the benefit of his society for a few moments longer, or wish to point me out the charms of the neighbourhood. But no ! I had forgotten to- inscribe my name in the Visitor's Book ; and from my foreign appearance he had come to the conclusion, perhaps, that I was a famous Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, a preacher of the Koran, or an Egyptian guide whose head was full of the Nile and the forty- centuried Pyramids. I told him my name, and it pained me to think that so worthy a person should be disappointed at finding I was nohody. But such ever is the destiny of human ways. Everyone, even though Oriental be his costume, or Rabbinic his beard, cannot be immortal nowadays ; and it would have done the heart of a comedian good to see how the octogenarian's face grew dismal and lugubrious at his being thus disconcerted in his expectations, as he toddled back to his home amid the beeches. And he had good reason to be thus chopfaUen,, for he despised obscurities, and thought them unworthy his bed and board ; and I, an obscurity, penetrated into his sanctuary,, and enjoyed those nights and suppers of the gods under its- roof, disguised, as mysterious greatness often is, wrapped up in the mantle of its own almost impenetrable genius. I knew, too, that his Visitor's Book was as dear to him as the apple of his eye, and that nothing could give him more ineffable pleasure than to see its pages illumined by those names whose glories " echo through the corridors of time." Wherefore was it that he left, sad and sorrowful, on that genial morning, and supplied me on my way with a theme for ethical reflection, as I left Clonmacnoise for Athlone.
Perhaps James Stephens would have dealt more justly with Mr, MoUoy if he had attributed the change in his guide's manner to the fact that the old man was a devoted Catholic and a true lover of his dear native land, and, when told the name of his guest, recognised him at once as no friend either to Faith or Fatherland.
CLONMACNOISE AS A SCHOOL. 73
CLONMACXOISE AS A SCHOOL.
Within a century after the death of St. Patrick, writes Bishop Nicholson, the Irish seminaries had so increased, that most parts of Europe sent their children to be educated here, and drew thence their bishops and teachers. An unconquerable love of learning dominated the Hibernian intellect and heart, and led the rulers of our colleges in those remote ages to throw open their doors to men of all tongues and races, and give them not only education, but also books gratis. The result was an immigration of thousands of foreigners. The " Litany of Saints," composed in the eighth century by St. Aengus, includes the names not only of Britons, Picts, and Saxons, but also of Gavils, Germans, Romans, and Eg}^tians, all bm-ied in Ireland. The tomb of the " Seven Pomans" at Arran, and the Greek church at Meath, once served by Greek ecclesiastics, may still be seen. Amongst the most renowned seminaries of those distant ages was Clonmacnoise. The learning of its masters in philosophy and the sacred sciences passed into a proverb. Thousands of students thronged its halls, attracted by their fame. In the celebrated Paschal controvers}^, Clonmacnoise took a leading and creditable part. Its masters supported St. Cummian and the Roman system, and displayed the powers not only of keen logicians and subtle metaphysicians, but also astonished their adversaries by their arithmetical and linguistic erudition. It is also said to have been famous for the skill of its monks in sacred psalmody, and to have had some of the best choir-masters in Ireland, In other departments of learning it was still more famous. In the front of Irish annalists and high above them ail must be ranked Tigernach, Abbot of Clonmacnoise and Roscommon as well. Able and distinguished critics, such as Dr. O' Conor, assert that no country in Europe can boast of an historian of equal antiquity, learning, and judgment with Tigernach. " No chronicler," writes this learned author, " more ancient than Tigernach can be produced by the Northern nations. Neslor, the father of Russian history, died in 1113; Suorro, the father of Icelandic history, did not appear until a century after Neslor ; Kadlubeck, the first historian of Poland, died in 1223 ; and Stiermau could not discover a scrap of writing in all Sweden older than 1159." Tigernach was of the Murray race of Connaught, of which the O'Connors were the chief sept. He is styled by the "Annals of Innisf alien" a "saoi, or doctor, in wisdom, learning, and oratory," and the same authority, as . well as the " Chronicon Scotorum," records his death at the year
74 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
1088 and his burial in Clonmacnoise. He was, unquestionably, the most distinguished of the Clonmacnoise savans, whether we regard the variety or extent of his learning, that appeared up to his time. In his Annals he quotes Eusebius, Orosius, Afri- canus, Bede, Josephus, St. Jerome, and several other writers of great eminence. He collated the Hebrew text with the Sep- tuagint version of the Scriptures, and throughout showed him- self to be a masterful critic. He is said to have been the first compiler that computed from the Incarnation of our Lord. He was familiar with the modes of correcting the Calendar, and made mention of the Lunar Cycle, and used the Dominical letter with the Kalends of several years. He was the first to fix a starting-point for credible and authentic Irish chronology. Its date he reckoned was that of the founding of the Palace of Emania, in the North, an event which took place about three hundred years before the birth of Christ. His famous state- ment— viz., " Omnia monumenta Scotorum usque Cimboeth in- certa erant" — is now universally accepted as correct, and the starting-point of credible and authentic Irish history is de- iservedly admitted to begin with the glories of the TJltonian Dynasty of Emania. Tigernach's invaluable book, called his Annals, may be seen in Trinity College, the Royal Irish Aca- demy, the British Museum, or the Bodleian Library.
The second great book issued from Clonmacnoise was the " Chronicum Scotorum" — i.e., The Annals of the[Scotic Eace, There has been some controversy regarding the authorship of this great work, but recent discoveries have terminated disputes amongst learned men on this point. The erudite Professor Hennessy, M.R.I.A., has clearly shown, in his introduction to the " Chronicum," collated, translated, and edited by himself, that it was written at Clonmacnoise, some time in the twelfth century, by Gilla- Christ O'Malone, Abbot of Clonmacnoise. This most valuable collection of our history contains an account of Irish affairs from Adam to the Age of Christ 1150. A copy of this work may be seen in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy, classed 23, 0', 8. There is no higher or more accu- rate authority on Irish historical events than the "Chronicum" •of Clonmacnoise.
The next imperishable work compiled at Clonmacnoise is the book entitled the " Annals of Clonmacnoise." It does not appear certain that the original copy now exists, but there are some well-authenticated translations There is notably one in English, made from the Irish, in the year 1627, by Connla MacEgan, for his friend and kinsman, Torlogh MacCochlan, Lord of Delvin, whom he addressed in the following words : — "" To the worthy and of great expectation young gentleman, Mr.
CliONMACNOISE AS A SCHOOL. 75
Terence Coclilan, his brother Conell MacGeoghegan wisheth long health, -with good success in all his affairs." This great book may be seen in Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy, British Museum, and the Bodleian Library, Oxford, It is justly reckoned amongst the most precious collections.
There were, moreover, compiled at Clonmacnoise, before the year 1108, the ancient book called " Leabhar-nah-Uidhre," and those of Gillananoemh MacConn-na-m Bocht, Archpriest of Clonmacnoise. These books just named were the principal sources from which the Four Masters collected their Annals. That magnificent compilation of historical events relating to our country may be, with a considerable amoimt of truth, called an enlarged and improved edition of the " Chronicum" and "Annals of Clonmacnoise." It may, therefore, be safely af- firmed that the most certain and unimpeachable authority re- garding our early history is to be found in the books that were compiled at Clonmacnoise. In the diocese of Ardagh were com- piled the "Annals of Kilronan," sometimes erroneously called the " Annals of Lough Ce." This book is also called the " Book of the O'Deignans," one of whom took part in the compilation of the Four Masters. Ardagh can, moreover, claim the " Book of Lough Ribh Ree," in the Shannon, together with the old " Book of Fenagh," originally compiled by St. Caillin, Arch- bishop, Abbot, and founder of Fenagh, alias Dunbally of Moy- rein, in the time of St. Patrick. This remarkable book has been recently revised with great care, indexed, and copiously annotated by W. M. Hennessy, M.R.I.A., and translated by D. H. Kelly, M.R.I.A. A copy of it may he seen at the Royal Irish Academy and at the British Museum.
Ardagh may also raise some claim to an interesting and valuable shrine, at present in possession of the Very Rev. Denis Murphy, S. J., M.R.I.A., University College, Dublin, lent to him by the great Archbishop of the South of Ireland, the Most Rev. Dr. Croke, which was made by the order of O'Ruark and his wife Margaret, in the year 1536, and contained probably the original Book of Fenagh, or its best transcript.
The following interesting inscription, taken from the shrine, was given to the writer by the Very Rev. D. Murphy, S. J., who, on a recent occasion, read before the members of the Royal Irish Academy a paper, full of learning and research, on St. Caillin and his shrine : —
76 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
OR AID : DON : MFIR : DO CVMDAIGH : AN MINNS A : Pray for the man who covered the shrine of
CAILLIN : ADHON : BRIAN : MAC : EOGAIN RVAIRC : AGVS :-. Caillin that is Brian the son of Owen Ruarc and (of)
MARGREITE : INGHIN HBRIAN : AGVS : DOBI : AOIS AN Margaret daughter of Brian* and the year of the
TIGEARNA : ANTAN SOIN : SE : BLIADNA : DEC : AR : XX : Lord at that time six years ten to twenty
AR : M : AR CCCCC : AIBH : AMARIA to 1000 to 500 for their souls Ave Maria.
The Bell of St. Caillin is still preserved in the parish of Fenagh. This interesting relic is beautifully described and figured in " Transactions, Royal Irish Academy," vol. xiv ,. Jan. 7, 1822.
I will close this chapter by a brief sketch of him who was the "decus et tutamen" of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, from a literary point of view — viz., St. Colcu, or Colgan, surnamed the Wise. He was Eector of Clonmacnoise in the second half of the eighth century. He was also Supreme Moderator and Master of that celebrated school, and the author of the book entitled "Scuap Crabhaigh, or the Besom of Devotion." He obtained the name of Chief Scribe and Master of all the Scots in Ireland. The year at which he began to teach in Clonmac- noise is not registered. His eminence as a scholar, above all who lectured before him and after him in that school, is beyond all doubt. There is a curious legend, stating that St. Paul the Apostle came in person to converse with him, and assist him in a grave theological question, which was then controverted be- tween the doctors of Clonmacnoise and the theologians of another school. Colgan, Acta SS., 20th Feb, p. 378, has the following record touching this alleged event : — " Coluit mirum in modum S. Paulum Apostolum, ut suum in spiritu et littera magistrum, et patronem singularem ; cujus etsingulares favores, usque ad miracula legitur expertus. Cum enim ex scholis, dum reverterctur, et iter faciens per locum, qui mointireanair apel- latur, thecam, sive peram, in qua ejus libri jacebant, in himieris portaret ; ad ipsum ex itinere f atigatum legitur. S. Paulus in humana specie accessisse, eumque suo colloquio recreasse, sa- crisque monitis et instructionibus confortasse ; quin et tanta erga suum piimi et devotum clientem diguatioue ferri, quod peram illam ex ejus humeris sublatum, ipse reliquo itinere ad locum, quo erat venturus transtulerit. Alia etiam vice, cum.
* Lord Inchiquinn.
CLONMACNOISE AS A SCHOOL. 77
quaedam gravis quaestio inter doctores iu scliola de Cluain- inicnois ventilaretur, et alii loci Patres, et viri doctrina et auctoritate poUentes, adversam quaestionis partem, contra viruin. Dei acriter tuerentur, legitur etiam Divus Paulus ejus partes suscepisse, coram seuioribus perorasse, et controversiam ad ejus mentem decidisse." "VVTiatever may be tbougbt of this, it is certain that he was the most learned man of his day in the writings of St. Paul. His death is recorded at the 20th February, 792. This distinguished lecturer was, beyond all doubt, the blessed Master Colgan, or Colcu, with whom Alcuin carried on a correspondence ; and one of the principal distinctions of his life is to be found in the remarkable letter written to him by Alcuin, and published by Colgan (Acta S.S., page 379). The letter thus begins : —
" Epistola Albiui {i.e. Alcuin) Magistri Ad Colcmn Lectorem in Scotia Benedicto Magistro, et Pio Patri Colcuo Alcuine humilis Levita salutem." This is a very remarkable letter, but rather too long to be inserted here. It affords probable evidence that Alcuin was once a pupil of Oolgan's, for he styles him his master, his father, and calls himself his son or disciple — " Ego filius tuus et Joseph vernaculus tuus Deo miserante sani sumus et tui amici toti."
In this remarkable epistle, it is stated that he sent to his beloved Colcu some oil (probably olive), which was then very scarce in Britain, and requested him to have it divided among the bishops, in honour of Grod. He also sent, as a gift from King Charles, fifty sides, to be distributed as alms, and fiity sides of his own for the same purpose. This was an old Jewish coin, said to be worth, when in silver, each, two shillings and sixpence of our money ; when in gold, about fifteen shilKngs. A remarkable prayer of St. Colgan is to be found in the " Yellow Book of Lecain." It is entitled " Oratio Colgani Sancti." This prayer was translated into English, and pub- lished in the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," with apj)ropriate comments (Yol.^ I., No. 1, pp. 4, 12). The Invocation of Saints is clearly contained in it. The major and minor orders of the priesthood, the excellence of virginity, together with devotion to the Blessed Mother of God and other dogmatic truths, are also deducible from it. For this prayer see Appendix.
The connection of Alcuin with St. Colgan, imparts to his position, character, and monastery, an especial glory.
Who was Alcuin? — The most distinguished scholar in Europe, in the eighth century. He was Rector of the Palatine University, established by Charlemagne, for the revival of
78 DIOCESE OF ARDAGH.
letters. Under tlie Merovingian Dynasty, liberal studies had. almost entirely decayed, through the evil influences of the in- cessant wars in which they were engaged. Society became rudfr and difiicult, and studies were neglected. " The taste for truth and the appreciation of the beautiful are delicate plants, need- ing a pure sky and a kindly atmosphere — in the midst of storms, they droop their heads and perish." Charlemagne undertook to re-establish the liberal arts. He invited Alcuin to come to Pisa, and made him the head of the Palatine School, afterwards, so famous. Charlemagne, together with the three Princes, Pepin, Charles, and Louis ; his sister, Gisla, and his daughter, Richtrude ; his councillors and secretary were amongst the first pupils to attend. Many followed the example of those illustrious scholars, and after a short time Alcuin was called to- lecture daily to a crowd of bishops, nobles, and courtiers. The Court was transformed into a new Athens, as much superior to the more ancient one of Grreece, as the doctrine and philosophy of Christ are above Plato's. The corrections of the various transcripts of the Scriptures, in the different languages, the revision of the entire Bible, and the reform of the Church Chant, engaged his first attention, but not to the exclusion of the liberal arts, for they were all taught there. They learned in that famous. University, as a great writer expressed it, " to hold the harp with Orpheus, and the rule with Archimedes ; to perceive with Pytha- goras, to explain with Plato, to imply with Aristotle, to rage with Demosthenes, and to persuade with Cicero. But Rhetoric and Dialectics were studied there, chiefly to explain the Fathers, and refute errors contrary to Faith. In short, writes Crevier, " the thought both of the king, and of the scholar, Alcuin, who laboured with him, was to refer all things to religion, nothing being considered truly useful which does not bear some relation to that end." The intimate connexion of the Rector of Clonmac- noise, with the great Rector of Pisa, is a proud distinction in the Annals of the " Seven Churches."
CLONMACNOISE.
ITS CHAPTER.
The Chapter of Clonmacnoise anciently consisted of a Dean, Chanter, Chancellor, Treasurer, Archdeacon, and twelve Pre- bendaries, viz., Clonmore, Clonleyn, Clondelaragh, Clonmehan,
EPISCOPAL SUCCESSION IN CLONMACNOISE. 79
Clonfandlagh, Clonderigli, Clonaglier, Cumrod, Clogliran, Clon- cragh, Eagbran, and Clonefin, But most of the possessions belonging to them got, from time to time, into lay hands, and particularly into those of the Malones and Mac Coghlans. The Archdeaconry of Clonmacnoise subsisted in Bishop Montgom- mery's time, as appears by a Visitation Book, in Trinity College Library, in which its valuation was returned at £16 st. Malachy Dalaghan was presented to it, on the 13th January, in the tenth year of the reign of Elizabeth, and a mandate issued to give him a stall in the choir, and a voice in the Chapter. A house and garden near to Clonmacnoise Church were appurtenant to the Archdeaconry.
EPISCOPAL SUCCESSION" IN CLONMACNOISE.
Our Annalists do not agree regarding the year in which the Abbey of Clonmacnoise was converted into a Cathedral ; the Four Masters, the Chronicon Scoforum, and others, have given us an uninterrupted succession of its Abbots. But it is not so with its Bishops. Some high authorities, indeed, expressly say, that St. Ciaran was Bishop of Clonmacnoise. In the Eegistry of Clon- macnoise it is so asserted, and Lynch, in his MSS. History of the Episcopal Succession, mentions this /act. The following ex- tract has been copied from Mac Firbis's translation of the Re-^ gistry of Clonmacnoise, preserved in the British Museum : —
" The life of Kyran thus sett downe that the bestbloode have choosen their bodyes to be buried in Cluainemacnoise, for that Kyran had such power, being a holy Bishop, through the will of God, that what souls harboured in the bodies buried under that dust may never be adjudged to Damnation, wherefore tliose of the same blood have divided the churchyard amongst themselves, by the consent of Kyran and his holy clearks."
Assuming it to be a fact that St. Ciaran was a Bishop, there is no need of further inquiry into the original date of the Cathe- dral, nor will there be much difficulty in setting forth an unin- terrupted series of his successors, as far as the penal times. On the other hand, if we assume that there was no Bishop at Clon- macnoise until Baitan (O'Cormac), who died in 663, and that his immediate successor was Joseph, whose obit, is fixed at