CHAPTER XXIV--(_continued_).

OTHER DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS OF OUR GAEDHLIC SCHOOLS.

"I'd rather turn one simple verse True to the Gaelic ear, Than classic odes I might rehearse With Senates list'ning near." --_M'Gee._

I.--GAEDHLIC SCHOLARS OF THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH CENTURIES.

Besides Cennfaeladh and Cormac Mac Cullinan, there were from the sixth to the seventh century at least twelve or thirteen other Gaedhlic writers, whose names cannot be passed over without some notice in a work like this. Our account of these writers, however, must necessarily be very brief, for in many cases little or nothing is known of the history of their lives, and to a great extent their writings are still unpublished. O'Curry[453] and O'Reilly[454] are the two principal authorities in this part of our subject.

The first on O'Curry's list is Amergin Mac Awley (Amalgaidh), the author of the celebrated work known as the _Dinnsenchus_. This ancient and highly interesting topographical poem was, it is said, compiled at Tara, so early as the year A.D. 550, that is, during the reign of Diarmaid Mac Cearbhaill, but it has certainly received some additions from later hands.

Amergin himself is described as chief poet of that monarch; but according to O'Reilly, he must not be confounded with another Amergin Mac Awley, who flourished towards the end of the seventh century, and was the author of some law tracts, copies of which are still extant in the library of Trinity College. The _Dinnsenchus_ has been recently published in _fac simile_ by Professor Atkinson of Trinity College. The work is specially interesting and valuable on account of the incidental historical references, which it contains, and the topographical information which it supplies. The stories themselves, though in many instances far-fetched and improbable, are not without their value in illustrating the habits and thoughts of our Celtic ancestors. Copies of this ancient tract are found in the _Book of Leinster_, the _Book of Ballymote_, and there is also an imperfect copy in the _Book of Leacan_, which shows the value that was set upon it by our ancient scholars. The published _fac simile_ copy is taken from the _Book of Leinster_.

Of Dallan Forgaill, who flourished towards the end of the sixth century, we have already spoken in connection with the Columbian Schools. Besides the _Amhra Cholumchille_, which is still extant, Dallan also composed an _Amhra_, or Elegy, on the death of St. Senan, or Senanus, of Scattery Island, in the estuary of the Shannon. He was recognised during his life as chief poet of all Erin, and he appears to have been on terms of friendly intimacy with Columcille. His death is said to have taken place in A.D. 598, shortly after that of Columcille himself.

Senchan Torpeist, then a young poet of known talents, was called upon to pronounce the usual bardic elegy on the death of the Chief Poet of Erin, and acquitted himself so creditably that he was unanimously chosen to take the vacant chair of Dallan Forgaill.[455] He was not insensible to the responsibilities of his high office; and hence, according to the account in the _Book of Leinster_, shortly after his acceptance of the post of chief poet, he called a meeting of all the _Files_ of Erin in order that they might take measures to recover the lost work known as the _Cuilmenn_, and which, it appears, contained the only complete copy of the celebrated historical tale known as the _Tain bo Chuailgne_. How it was recovered is told in prose by O'Curry, and by Ferguson[456] in a poem of marvellous imaginative power, which might have been fitly pronounced, if written in Gaedhlic, by Senchan himself. Senchan flourished during the first half of the seventh century, and though his travelling school was a large one, he appears to have always found a welcome in the court of the King Guaire the Hospitable, who dwelt at Durlus, near Gort, in the county Galway. O'Reilly says that one of Senchan's poems, in which he celebrates the victories of Fergus Mac Roy, is still extant in the _Book of Leacan_.

II.--GAEDHLIC SCHOLARS OF THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES.

The ninth was more remarkable than the eighth century for Gaedhlic scholars of distinction. Of these one of the most celebrated was Maelmura of Fathan, called also Maelmura of Othan, for it is the same name when the letter _F_ is aspirated and omitted as silent in the pronunciation. Maelmura merely means servant of Mura, the patron saint of Fathan. The parish of Fahan, which takes its name from St. Mura's ancient monastery near the village, is situated on the eastern shore of Lough Swilly, under the shadow of Slieve Snaght, the loftiest mountain of Inishowen. The death of Maelmura is noticed by the Four Masters, A.D. 884, and he is described as "a truly intelligent poet, and erudite historian in the Scotic language." The Masters also quote a _rann_, which declares that--

"There trod not the charming earth, there never flourished at affluent Tara, The great and fertile Erin never produced a man like the mild fine Maelmura; There sipped not death without sorrow, there mixed not a nobler face with the dead; The habitable earth did not close over a historian more illustrious."

These testimonies are extracted from the _Leabhar Gabhala_ of the O'Clerys, and sufficiently show the estimation in which Maelmura was held by our ancient Celtic scholars.

There is a poem published in the Irish _Nennius_,[457] which is attributed to Maelmura, and which really appears to be a composition of very considerable merit. The language is very striking, and the Gaedhlic original has a stately rhythm, as well as much vigour both of thought and language. It contains 335 lines, and purports to give poetical account of the origin of the Gaedhil, "men of high renown in stiff battles, whom the mighty stream of Ocean wafted hither to Erin." These epithets are quite Homeric, and are not lavished with the prodigality too common to our Irish bards, but employed with discriminating intelligence to lend a poetic vigour to the historical narration. There is another poem of Maelmura quoted by O'Reilly in praise of Tuathal Techtmar, whom he describes with similar vigour as a flowing ocean, in strength a lion, a wily serpent, and a wounding warrior.

In another poem he gives a catalogue of all the monarchs, of Erin from this Tuathal to Flann Sionna, the reigning king in his own time. It is highly probable that Maelmura was educated at the monastic School of Fahan, which from its foundation by St. Mura seems to have been a very celebrated establishment. The founder's Book and Bell were long treasured as precious relics in Inishowen.

Flann Mac Lonan was another celebrated historical poet, who flourished during the latter half of the ninth century. He appears to have been a native of South Connaught, and held the high office of Chief Poet of Erin during the earlier years of the reign of Flann Sionna. He is described as Flann O'Guaire in the _Annals of Ulster_; and the Genealogies of the Hy-Fiachrach represent him as ninth in descent from Guaire Aidhne, the celebrated king of the Southern Hy-Fiachrach, who flourished during the first half of the seventh century. It was from the same stock that the O'Clerys derived their descent, so that a love of poetry and history seems to have been hereditary in that tribe. It is evident also from the writings of Flann that he was patronised by Lorcan, king of Thomond, the grandfather of Brian Boru, and also by his son, Cinnedigh, the father of the hero of Clontarf. This King-poet, as he is called, met with an untimely end. He was assassinated by the Ui Fothaith at Loch-Dachaech in Desmond. Loch-Dachaech, the Lake of the two Blind Men, appears to be a part of the estuary of Waterford Harbour;[458] but what motive can have instigated the sons of Corrbuidhe to murder the harmless poet does not appear. He is described by the Four Masters as the Virgil of the race of Scota--the Milesian Irish--Chief Poet of the Gaedhil, and the best poet that was in Ireland in his time. The _Annals of Ulster_ give the true date of his death at A.D. 895, where they record how "Flann, son of Lonan O'Guaire, was slain by the Desi of Munster."

Copies of three poems written by Flann still remain in manuscript. The first is a poem of eighty-eight verses, celebrating a great victory, which Lorcan of Kincora gained over Flann Sionna, the King of Erin. The second also, containing forty-eight verses, celebrates the warlike exploits of the same hero, and the third describes his royal residence of Kincora so rich in wealth, and harvest stores, and so beautifully situated on the Shannon just where Lough Derg contracts its waters to force a passage through the hills of Ara to the sea.

The two most distinguished poet-historians of the tenth century were Cinaeth O'Hartigan and Eochaidh O'Flinn. Cinaeth is described by Tighernach as the chief of the learned men of Leath Cuinn. He was also Chief Poet of Erin, and was the son of Cernach the Haughty,[459] who was grandson of Aedh Slaine, High King of Tara. Sprung from the royal race of the Southern Hy-Niall, it was only natural that Cinaeth should devote his talents to celebrate the ancient glories of the then deserted Tara, and of the heroes and heroines who once thronged its waste and silent halls. These poems are preserved in the _Dinnsenchus_, and are especially valuable for the information they contain with reference to Tara and the reign of Cormac Mac Art. He also gives an account of the origin of Aicill, and of the Book which takes its name from the hill, and has been published in the third volume of the Brehon Law series.[460]

Eochaid O'Flinn was a still more celebrated poet-historian, and it is quite evident from the care that was taken to preserve his numerous compositions that his works were very highly valued by all our ancient Celtic scholars. We find copies of his poems in the collections at all the great schools, and preserved by our greatest scholars. They are to be found in the _Dinnsenchus_, the _Book of Invasions_, the _Book of Leacan_, the _Book of Ballymote_, the _Book of Glendaloch_, as well as in several other compilations and manuscripts. One of the most important of these is a chronological poem contained both in the _Book of Leinster_ and the _Book of Leacan_, in which the writer gives a list of the Ulster Kings from Cimbaoth to Fergus Fogha. Tighernach recognises the historical authority of this poem, which he follows in his own great work, and which, so far as it goes, seems to have been his chief source of information both for his facts and his dates, at least as regards the kings of Emania.[461] In another poem he gives an interesting account of the invasion of Ireland by Partholanus, which has been copied into the _Book of Invasions_ by the O'Clerys.

Keating, too, borrows largely from the poems of O'Flinn, of which a very full list may be seen in O'Reilly's _Writers_,[462] but which it is unnecessary for us to reproduce here. We must not suppose that O'Flinn and his contemporaries drew largely on their imagination for the contents of those poems. They did nothing of the kind. They simply put in form the bardic traditions that were handed down in writing with the greatest care from time immemorial. If they had dared to invent anything new to their learned contemporaries, they would at once have been dismissed from the office of Chroniclers of Erin, and would besides have been severely punished. It is evident, too, that they had earlier documents which they made use of in the composition of their own poems, but which were all unfortunately lost during the Danish invasions. There was, however, always a regular succession of these poets whose duty it was to get by rote the historical traditions of their predecessors, which were thus preserved for posterity.

III.--GAEDHLIC SCHOLARS OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.

Mac Liag, Secretary of Brian Boru, held that office during the reign of Brian in the kingdom of Thomond, and his extant work--_The Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill_--shows how thoroughly and conscientiously he discharged his official duties. It was one of the very earliest compositions of this character written in prose; but when he wishes to be particularly eloquent and impressive, and rise to the dignity of some great theme, he has recourse to poetry. To record the events of his own time in Thomond was not, however, his only duty and his only task, although it was undoubtedly his primary work, for the vigorous and warlike Brian kept his hands as a contemporary chronicler pretty full of work. His 'Lament' for Brian after the battle of Clontarf is one of the most beautiful and pathetic poems to be found in any language. Even Clarence Mangan could not reproduce all the touching pathos of the original.

"Oh, where, Kincora! is Brian the Great? And where is the beauty that once was thine? Oh, where are the princes and nobles that sate At the feast in thy halls and drank the red wine?

"They are gone, those heroes of royal birth, Who plundered no churches, and broke no trust, 'Tis weary for me to be living on earth, When they, oh, Kincora, lie low in the dust.

"I am Mac Liag, and my home is on the Lake; Thither often to that palace whose beauty is fled, Came Brian to ask me, and I went for his sake, Oh, my grief that I should live and Brian be dead."

Neither Colgan, Keating, nor the Four Masters expressly name Mac Liag as the author of the _Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill_.[463] Dr. Todd, the editor of that work in the Rolls Series, declares that Dr. O'Connor had no sufficient authority to justify him in attributing the work to Mac Liag, and declines to do so himself, although he admits that the work was originally compiled by one, who was either an eye-witness of the battle of Clontarf, or who had certainly derived his information from those who were eye-witnesses. Our own opinion is that although there is no direct evidence to prove that the book was written by Mac Liag, the circumstantial evidence, to which we cannot now refer at length, is entirely in favour of that supposition.

This work is exceedingly valuable as the trustworthy record of a contemporary writer during one of the most important epochs of Irish history, and its careful perusal will be found to throw much light on the history of that period. The author is much too fond of indulging in high-flown descriptions, and of unduly multiplying bombastic compounds. But, on the other hand, notwithstanding this wordiness, he frequently writes in a spirit of genuine eloquence, as for instance when he describes the Danish oppression in Ireland, and "the excess of their thirst and hunger for the brave, fruitful, nobly-inhabited, cataractful rivers and bays, and for the pure, smooth-plained, sweet-grassy land of Erinn." He tells how, if there were but one milk-giving cow in the house, she durst not be milked for an infant of one night, nor for a sick person, but must be kept for the steward, or bailiff, or soldier of the foreigners. And however long he might be absent from the house, his share or his supply durst not be lessened; "although there was in the house but one cow, it must be killed for the meal of one night, if the means of a supply could not otherwise be procured."[464]

But the good sword of King Brian soon changed all that. "He conquered, exterminated, enslaved, and bondaged them, so that there was not a winnowing sheet from Benn Edair to Tech Duinn in Western Erin, that had not a foreigner in bondage on it, nor was there a quern without a foreign woman. So that no son of a soldier, or of an officer of the Gaedhil, deigned to put his hand to a flail, or any other labour on earth; nor did a woman deign to put her hands to the grinding of a quern, or to knead a cake, or to wash her clothes, but had a foreign man or a foreign woman to work for them."[465]

This is no doubt a highly-coloured description, but it is graphic in its details, and gives us valuable information as to the state of social life at that period.

Equally graphic and interesting is the sketch which Mac Liag gives of the great achievements of Brian Boru. He tells how after Brian's royal visitation throughout Erin, all his enemies were brought into subjection, and the country enjoyed a period of profound peace and much-needed repose. He enforced the law with a strong hand, and repressed trespass, robbery, and murder. 'He hanged, killed and destroyed' all thieves, robbers, and plunderers throughout Erin. He banished or enslaved the foreigners throughout the length and breadth of the land--their stewards and collectors, their swordsmen and their mercenaries, their tall and comely youths, and their fair and graceful maidens became the bond-servants of the victors. It was then that Erin enjoyed such peace and security that a lone woman journeyed from Tory Island in the north to Cliodhna's loud-voiced wave in the south of Erin, carrying a golden ring on the top of the wand; yet no man ventured to rob, or to insult her. This blessed period of justice and peace, so rare in Erin, has been celebrated both by ancient and by modern bards.[466]

Nor was Brian less enlightened and munificent in cultivating the arts of peace. He erected many noble churches and church towers in Erin, as at Killaloe, Iniscaltra, and Tuam Greine, where the remains of the buildings erected by Brian are still to be seen. He constructed several bridges, causeways, and high roads. He strengthened all the royal fortresses of Munster both in the islands and on the mainland. He sent professors and masters to teach wisdom and knowledge, also to buy books in foreign countries, and bring them home from beyond the great sea. This was all the more necessary as the writings and the books in every church and sanctuary of Erin where they were, were all burned or thrown into the lakes and rivers by the plundering Danes. It was Brian himself, who from his own resources gave the means of purchasing this new supply of books beyond the seas.

Such was Brian Boru, a hero in peace and in war, the sword and shield of his country, during whose glorious reign Ireland reached the zenith of her power and prosperity. Mac Liag died shortly after his royal master in A.D. 1016.

Cuan O'Lochain was another very celebrated scholar who flourished during the first quarter of the eleventh century. His writings, his talents as a statesman, and his tragic end have all contributed to his celebrity. The family which derived its descent from Cormac Gaileng, son of Tadhg, grandson of Ollioll Olum, was at first settled in the territory of Ely; but afterwards removed to Gailenga Mor, on the borders of Meath and Longford. This territory took its name from Cormac Gaileng, and retains it to the present day in the name of the barony of Morgallion, which is merely another form of Gailenga Mor. It appears that the O'Lochains were chiefs of this district, and that the poet's family was held in high esteem in Meath.

After the death of King Malachy II. (Maelseachlainn), in the year A.D. 1022, an interregnum of twenty years intervened, during which there was no recognised High King of Erin. A joint government was established during the interregnum; and it is said the regency was administered by Cuan O'Lochain, the Chief Poet of Erinn, and Corcran the Cleric; or, as it is quaintly put in Macgeoghegan's _Annals of Clonmacnoise_--"A.D. 1022--After the death of King Moylesleaghlyn, this kingdom was without a king for twenty years, during which time the realm was governed by two learned men, the one called Cwan O'Lochan, a well-learned temporall man, and chiefe poet of Ireland; the other, Corcran Cleireagh, a devout and holy man, that was chief anchorite of all Ireland, whose most abiding was at Lismore. The land was governed like a free state, and not like a monarchie by them." It is curious that we find no reference to this interregnum in any of our Annals, and hence the truth of Macgeoghegan's statement has been questioned by certain writers. But O'Curry shows[467] that the same statement is made in the _Book of Leinster_, an almost contemporaneous record, although it is there stated, probably by a mistake of the scribe, that this joint government continued for forty or fifty instead of for twenty years.

It was the form of government, however, not the two governors themselves, which continued for twenty years, for the poet-regent was soon slain by the men of Teffia on the borders of his native territory in the County Longford. The sword of justice, which the great Brian had wielded so well, was broken at Clontarf and buried in the hero's grave. Once more outrage and lawlessness with the evil spirit of discord spread throughout the land. We know not the motive or circumstances of this great crime perpetrated by the men of Teffia, but Providence itself avenged the poet's death. According to one authority[468] God manifestly wrought a poet's power upon the parties who killed him, for they were put to a cruel death, and their bodies putrified until the wolves and vultures devoured them--a fitting end for the wretches who violated the sacred person of the poet. Macgeoghegan says that he was killed by one of the land of Teffia, and he most probably had heard the living local tradition; "after committing which evil fact, there grew an evil scent and odour of the party that killed him, so that he was easily known amongst the rest of the land. His associate Corcran lived yett, and survived him for a long time after"--that is until A.D. 1040.[469]

O'Curry gives a very full account of six historical poems of which Cuan O'Lochain was the author. One of them to which we have already referred[470] gives an exceedingly interesting account of Cormac Mac Art, and of his great palace at Tara, which the poet describes with great fidelity and minuteness. It has been printed in Petrie's _Antiquities of Tara Hill_. Another highly interesting poem of O'Lochain gives an account of the 'prohibitions' and 'prerogatives' of the High King of Tara, and the provincial sub-kings. This poem may be seen in the _Book of Rights_, edited by O'Donovan. Some of the prohibitions certainly savour of a pagan and superstitious origin, as, for instance, when the High King is forbidden to alight on the plain of Bregia on a Wednesday, or to traverse Cuillenn after sunset, or to launch a ship on the Monday after May-day. But his privileges are innocent enough--to have the salmon of the Boyne, which was a royal river; to eat the fruit of Man, and the deer of Luibnech; to get the bilberries of Bri-Leith, and the cresses of the river Brosnach; to drink of the spring water of Tlachtga, and hunt the hares of Naas. Cuan's legendary poems on the Shannon are also highly interesting, but we cannot refer to them further at present.

Errard Mac Coisé was chief poet to King Malachy II., who died in A.D. 1022, and hence he was a contemporary both of Mac Liag and Cuan O'Lochain. Both Mac Liag and Mac Coisé were natives of Hy-Many, in the County Galway, and appear to have been rivals in genius, but intimate friends and associates in social intercourse. One of Mac Coisé's most interesting works is a poetic dialogue between the two poets, which reveals their friendship, their talents, and their common love for the history and antiquities of Erin. He appears to have died the year after his royal master in A.D. 1023.

Flann of the Monastery, is, perhaps, the most justly celebrated of all those poet-historians of ancient Erin. O'Reilly calls him "Abbot of the Monastery of Bute," and gives a list of fourteen considerable historical poems still extant in manuscript, of which he is the reputed author. It does not appear, however, that Flann was either an abbot or a monk in holy orders, although he certainly sojourned and taught at Monasterboice, in the County Louth, just as his contemporary, Conn-na-m-Bocht, did at Clonmacnoise. The death of Flann is marked in the _Chronicon Scotorum_ at A.D. 1054; and he is described as Ferlegind, or professor of the monastery, and "the last sage of the Gaedhil both in reading and history." In the _Annals of Ulster_ he is called Chief-lector of Monasterboice and historical sage--_sai senchusa_--of Erin, under date of A.D. 1056, which is the true date. The Four Masters also describe him as a lector of the monastery of Buite, and the 'paragon'--_sai egna_--of the Gaedhil in literature, in history, in poetry and in science. There is no doubt that here we have a complete list of the subjects taught in what may be called the schools of general literature in ancient Erin. In the _Book of Aicill_,[471] as we have already seen, it is expressly stated that Cennfaeladh attended three schools in Tuaim Drecain, a School of Literature (_leigind_), a School of Law (_feinechais_), and a School of Poetry (_filidechta_); these schools were held in different houses, and taught by three different professors. Cennfaeladh was a soldier, and, therefore, a layman, and hence there is no reference here to a School of Divinity, of the Canons, or of the Scriptures. In the subjects taught by Flann at Monasterboice we find no reference to the _feinechas_ or Brehon Laws, because there does not appear to have been a School of Law in the Monastery of Buite. But there was clearly a School of General Literature, and a School of Poetry, and although Flann is described as chief professor in the former school, he is also said to have been--and his writings prove that he was--an accomplished poet. As Ferlegind, it is clear that his duty was to teach classics, including in that term the vernacular Gaedhlic tongue; for it is described as one of the four principal languages of the world. These are Gaedhlic, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. We have already furnished abundant proofs of the cultivation both of Latin and Greek in our Irish schools; and they tried their hand at Hebrew also, but we cannot say much for their success in studying that difficult language, which was then almost entirely unknown in the Western Empire.

It is quite evident, too, that great attention was paid in these schools to the careful and systematic cultivation of the Gaedhlic tongue. This would be essential not only for the successful study of the classical languages, but also for success in the Schools of Poetry and of Law, on both of which so much attention was bestowed.

We have abundant evidence on this point. Besides those scholars already referred to as Ferlegind, in A.D. 937 is recorded by the Four Masters the death of "Finnachta, son of Ceallach, Comarb of Doire, bishop and doctor in the Bearla Feine." This is the second bishop of Derry referred to in our Annals, and it will be observed that he is not described as bishop of Derry, but as comarb of Derry, _i.e._, of Columcille, who happened, on account of his merit, to be raised to the episcopal rank, although his official title is abbot of Doire-Columcille. It is evident that he must have been a man of great learning, especially in native literature, as he is described as a _saoi_, or doctor, in the _bearla-feine_. O'Donovan thinks that by this is understood the ancient technical dialect of the Brehon Code, and Thady O'Roddy translates the expression as "the law or lawyers' dialect." Zeuss[472] with more probability regards it as the ancient written tongue of the Men of Erin, which, in process of time, became corrupted, and varied into different dialects. The ancient tongue of the Men of Erin was, as the evidence of the glosses in existing MSS. proves, a language which, in the words of Zeuss,[473] was a language regulated by fixed rules and determinate inflections. It was the language of the bards and scholars up to the ninth century, but the ravages of the Danes, and the breaking up of the ancient monarchy caused various dialects to spring up, and destroyed the fixity and purity of the ancient tongue of the Feine. There were, however, still many scholars who gloried in cultivating the pure and ancient language of Erin--the language of its Bards, its Brehons, and its Sages--and these men came to be regarded in course of time as recognised authorities on the ancient tongue, and hence were called saoi, or sages, in language. Such was Finnachta, abbot of Derry, and successor of Columcille; and such also was Flann, of whom we have just been speaking.

It is clear, however, that Flann cultivated the study both of our native and general history with marked success, so that he came to be recognised as one of our highest authorities both by his contemporaries and by his successors. O'Curry[474] gives a very full and interesting account of Flann's most important work--the historical _Synchronisms_. We need not discuss the subject here beyond observing that this treatise by itself furnishes a clear proof of the wide range of historical studies cultivated in the schools of ancient Erin. The work is, in fact, as O'Curry observes, an abridgment of universal history, and certainly goes to show that the author was not only an accomplished Gaedhlic scholar, but also that he must have been familiar with the principal Greek and Latin historians, both pagan and Christian.

Of Flann's personal history little is known. He was of Munster extraction, but seems to have been a native of Eastern Bregia, where his great ancestor Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Ollioll Olum, had established himself as early as the third century of the Christian era. We need not enter into any details regarding his historical poems.[475] Although highly interesting these subjects will never become popular, until the study of our ancient Gaedhlic tongue shall be more generally cultivated both in our schools and in our homes. Most of these poems are preserved in the _Book of Leinster_, and several of them are to be found in the other great Gaedhlic repositories of our ancient literature. It would be difficult, says O'Curry, to over-estimate the historical value of some of those poems. "They are precisely the documents that supply life and the reality of details to the blank dryness of our skeleton pedigrees. Many a name lying dead in our genealogical tracts, and which has found its way into our condensed chronicles and annals, will be found in these poems, connected with the death, or associated with the brilliant deeds, of some hero whose story we should not willingly lose; while, on the other hand, many an obscure historical allusion will be illustrated, and many an historical spot, as yet unknown to the topographer, will be identified, when a proper investigation of these and other great historical poems preserved in the _Book of Leinster_ shall be undertaken as a part of the serious study of the history and antiquities of our country."[476]

Flann's monastery and school were founded about the beginning of the sixth century by St. Buite or Boetius, who, like Flann himself was sprung from the race of Ollioll Olum, and is said to have died on the same day (December 7, A.D. 521) on which St. Columba was born. He travelled much in Italy, Germany, and Britain and then returned to found a monastery which was to be the place of his resurrection, in his native district. Though founded so early in the fertile plains of Louth, we do not find that St. Buite's monastery produced any distinguished scholars down to the period of Flann himself, whose learning has made it so celebrated. That it was, however, always a place of considerable wealth and influence is sufficiently proved by the highly interesting remains which still exist at Monasterboice. These include a portion of the walls of two very ancient oratories, a round tower, and two sculptured High Crosses, one of which, locally known as St. Boyne's Cross, is considered to be one of the very finest of its class in Ireland.

Of Gilla Coemhain, whose latest poem was written in A.D. 1072, it is unnecessary to speak at length. Like Flann and Mac Liag, he was a historical poet and a cultured Gaedhlic scholar. A Chronological Poem composed by Gilla Coemhain, in A.D. 1072, has recently been published with a translation by Dr. Whitley Stokes.[477] The reader will readily perceive that the author of this poem was a writer of considerable culture and of very general information.

IV.--DISCIPLINE OF THE LAY COLLEGES.

The discipline in our ancient schools was neither so elaborate nor so minute as in modern seminaries; still in many respects it was perhaps more satisfactory. In the monastic schools the great principle of obedience was the fundamental rule, the observance of which from a sense of religious duty rendered the observance of all other rules easy and even pleasant.

But in the lay professional schools, of which we have already spoken, the law took formal cognisance of the relations between the professor and his pupils. It established the general principles which were to guide these relations, and severely punished any grievous infraction of these principles.

In the _Senchus Mor_[478] we find the following important passage:--"The social connection that is considered between the foster-pupil, and the literary foster-father is, that the latter is to instruct him without reserve, and to prepare him for his degree, and to chastise him without severity; to feed and to clothe him whilst he is learning his lawful profession, unless he obtains it (food and clothing) from another person--and such has been the custom from the school of Fenius Forsaidh onwards. On the other hand, the foster-pupil is to assist his tutor in poverty, and to support him in his old age and (to give him) the honour price of the degree for which he is being prepared, and all the gains of his art whilst he is learning it, and the first earning of his art after leaving the house of his tutor; and moreover, the literary foster-father has power of judgment, and proof, and witness, upon his foster-pupil, as the father has upon his son, and the Church upon the tenant of the Church lands."

The principles enumerated in this passage are eminently just in themselves; they were well suited to the circumstances of the times, and admirably calculated to put down a mercenary spirit, and foster the growth of tender affection between the pupils and their master. As we have already shown, the professional schools were to a great extent peripatetic; and when actually on their rounds the pupils were to be fed, and lodged, and taught by the master. He was bound to communicate all his knowledge and all his art, both theoretical and practical, to his pupils without reserve; and thus prepare them for their professional degree or formal admission to the ranks of the Bards, Brehons, Chroniclers, or Readers, as the case might happen to be. He might chastise the pupil for misconduct, but in so doing the teacher was not to be unduly severe, so as to cause injury to the mind or body of his scholar. He was also to supply him with food, clothing, and lodging, except provision were otherwise made for these purposes. The law even prescribes the quality of the food to which the pupil is entitled as a matter of right. No professor in ancient Erin could keep a Do-the-Boys Hall with impunity. The teacher was a literary foster-father, and as such, he was bound by the laws of fosterage to supply wholesome food in abundance to his pupils according to the rank of their parents. "What are their victuals? Stirabout (_lithe_) is given to them all, but the flavouring was to be different." It was salt butter for the sons of inferior grades; fresh butter for the sons of chieftains; honey for the sons of kings. The stirabout of oat-meal might be made on water, or on butter-milk, or on new milk, and given to the different classes in like manner.

On the other hand the teacher, or professor, was amply provided for. That provision of the law which compelled the foster pupils to assist their tutors in poverty, and maintain them in old age, was an admirable institution, calculated to preserve the most kindly feelings between both all through their lives. Then the honour price of the degree, and the first fees earned after obtaining it, were no doubt considerable, in order to enable the professor to maintain his pupils at home, whenever they were not at free quarters during their learned excursions and other official visits.

Corporal punishment was certainly not unknown in the monastic schools, as well as in establishments of later date; it was sometimes found necessary to have recourse to corporal punishment even when dealing with young 'saints.' We are told in the _Life of St. Colman Ela_ of Lynally in the King's County, that he once punished St. Baithen, the nephew of St. Columcille and his successor in the abbacy of Hy, for neglecting his studies. The boy thereupon fled from the church, in which the school it seems, was taught, to the woods, no doubt, to hide, and avoid both his lessons and the chastisement of his master. There he saw a man building one of the circular wicker-work houses then very common, and observed that although he only worked one rod at a time, the wicker-wall rose up steadily to the roof. "Ah," he said, "if I only learned a little each day, I too should grow learned." Then he took shelter from a shower under the spreading branches of an oak tree. While standing beneath the boughs he observed a drop of water dripping from a leaf and falling on the ground. He made a hole with his heel on the spot where the drop was falling, and soon noticed that the hole was filled. Here he made a similar mental reflection, and, vowing that never again would he neglect his daily task, he returned to his master and grew up to be a very learned and a very holy man.[479]

We have not in the foregoing pages by any means exhausted the list of our ancient Schools and Scholars. But we have sought to notice all the more frequented schools, and the most celebrated scholars of ancient Erin, who flourished in their native land. It would require a separate volume to do justice to the history of the Irish monks, who bore the name and fame of Scotia to so many foreign countries, in which the memory of their virtues and their learning is still fondly cherished. In these pages, however, we have said enough to vindicate the right of ancient Erin to that glorious title, by which since the twelfth century she has been known to the scholars of all Europe--INSULA SANCTORUM ET DOCTORUM[480]--The Island of Saints and Scholars.

GENERAL INDEX.

Abban, St., comes to School of Beg-Erin, 157; visits Rome with his uncle, St. Ibar, 157.

Abban, priest, baptizes St. Finnian, 195.

Abbot, jurisdiction of, in an Irish monastery, 98, 99.

Achadh Duirbchon, church of, founded by St. Finbarr, 477.

Achaia, life of Sedulius (poet) at, 32-33.

Adamnan, ninth abbot of Iona, little known of his early youth, 336; descent of, 337; curious story told of, 337, 338; goes to Iona, 338; made abbot of Iona, 339; pays a visit to Ireland, 339, 340; a second visit, 341, 342; returns to Iona, and writes _Life of Columbkille_, 342; pays a third visit to Ireland and promulgates the "Lex Innocentiae," 342, 537; the works of, 343; death of, 345; his relics brought to Ireland, 345.

Aedh Guaire, murders high steward of King Diarmaid Mac Cerbhaill, 218; the king seeks revenge and is cursed, 218.

Aedh Finn, and his daughter Gelges, 227.

Aedh, son of Brendan, prince, grants a site for School of Durrow, 301.

Aedhan, bishop of Mayo, 539.

Ængus, king of Munster, grants Aran Islands to St. Enda, 169.

Ængus, the Culdee, descent and early life of, 405; lives a solitary and penitential life at Dysert-Enos, 406; goes to monastery of Tallagh, 407; his identity discovered, 408; writings of, 408-412; Dr. Stokes on his writings, 412; death of, 413.

Agha (Achad-Finglass), monastery of, St. Fintan of Clonenagh at, 403.

Aghold (Achadh Abhail), Saint Finnian builds a church at, 199.

Agilbert, bishop of Paris, a student in Ireland, 595.

Agilulph, king of Lombardy, St. Columbanus at the Court of, 377.

Aidan, Saint, bishop of Ferns, 427.

---- sent to preach in Northumbria, 527; appointed bishop of Lindisfarne, 527.

Ailbe of Emly, St., ordained by St. Patrick, 150; Life of, as given in the Salamanca MS., 151; preaches the Gospel in Connaught, 152; the _Life of St. Declan_ regarding, 153; evidence against the authenticity of Lives of St. Ailbe and St. Declan, 155.

Ailbhe, daughter of Cormac Mac Art, poem attributed to, 28.

Aileran (the Wise), St., writings attributed to, 206, 207.

Ailill, abbot of Mungret, death of, 510.

Ainmire, king, grants site for School of Derry, to St. Columba, 299.

Alcuin, distinguished scholar, a student at Clonmacnoise, 272, 273.

Aldfrid, king of Northumbria, releases the Irish captives at intercession of Adamnan, 340; spends his youth in Ireland, 468, 469.

Alexander III., Pope, convokes a general Council to Rome, 442; safeguards the independence of the Church in Ireland, 443; conceives a strong regard for St. Laurence O'Toole, 443.

Alexandria, Christian school at, 188.

Alithir, abbot of Clonmacnoise, 270.

Alphabet Ogham, history of, 13; invention of, 14; letters of, 15; inscribed on rods or tablets of wood, 15.

Alphabets, or catechisms of Christian doctrine, St. Patrick writes, 63, 64.

Amergin, poet judge, 6.

Annaghdown, monastery of, founded by St. Brendan, 219.

_Annals of Four Masters_, quoted, 18, 26, 58, _et seq._

---- _Ulster_, quoted, 148.

---- _Clonmacnoise_, quoted, 218.

---- _Innisfallen_, copies of, 503, 504.

Annegray, monastery of, St. Columbanus established at, 373.

Apostles, Twelve, of Erin, visit St. Finnian at Clonard, 201.

Aran, Isles of, geographical description of, 169-172; inhabitants of, 172; Pagan remains in, 172-177; the stronghold of a warrior race, 176, 177; St. Enda founds a monastery on, 177; visited by numbers of saints, 177, 178; ancient churches in, 181-187.

Art, Celtic, at Clonmacnoise, 550-565.

Art the Solitary, slain at battle of Magh Mucruimhe, 17.

Artificers of St. Patrick, 66.

Asicus, St., an artificer in metal work, 66, 161; placed over church of Elphin, 161; goes into Donegal, 161; death of, 162.

Asterius, Turcius Ruffus, Consul, 34.

Athens, School of, under a pagan professor, Saints at, 189.

Auxilius, bishop, accompanies St. Patrick to Ireland, 59, 80; founds a church, 60; present at first Irish Synod, 60.

Baithen, abbot of Iona, remarkable for his spirit of prayer, 331; sent to govern the monastery of Heth, 332; death of, 332; character of, 333.

Ballaghmoon, battle of, 611.

Bangor, description of, 367, 368.

Bards, application of the term, 6; functions of, 7; fined for extortion, 7; qualifications required to become chief-poet, 7, 8; chief duty of Historic Poet, 8, 601; course of studies required by law, to become Chief Poet, 8; some distinguished Poets, 8-10; St. Patrick's alliance with, 56, 57; St. Columba protects the, 320-323.

Barinthus, monk, tale told to St. Brendan by, 215.

Barry, Gerald, cited, 197.

Bede, _Chronicles of Picts and Scots_, quoted, 166, 167, 296, _et seq._

Beg-Erin, island, St. Ibar builds an oratory on, 156; no longer an island, 158, 159; the Danes plunder, 158.

Belisarius, scholastic or general? poem attributed to, 38.

Benignus, Saint, Member of Commission of Nine, 54; meeting with St. Patrick, 54; writings attributed to, 55, 116, 117; elected as choirmaster by St. Patrick, 58; death of, 59, 96, 116; brief story of his life, 114, 115; descent of, 159; monastery of Kilbannon established by, 159, 542.

Beoit, father of St. Ciaran, 259.

Berach, Saint, favourite disciple of St. Kevin, 421.

Bernard, Saint, _Vita Malachiae_, quoted, 393, 394, 395; at Clairvaux, St. Malachy meets, 396.

Bishops, pre-Patrician, in Ireland; the existence of discussed, 150-155.

Bishops and Abbots, lay, 395, 396.

Bite, bishop, placed over Church of Elphin, 161.

Blaithmac, Saint, dies a martyr, 347.

Bobbio, monks of, copy poems of Sedulius, 35; St. Columbanus founds monastery of, 378.

Bodkin, Christopher, archbishop of Tuam, 540.

Books, pre-Patrician, now lost, 29.

---- Caroline, published 386; refuted by Pope, 387.

_Book of Armagh_, quoted, 58, 59, 60, _et seq._; history and contents of, 122-124; now in Trinity College, 121.

---- _Aicill_, introduction to, quoted, 24; motive for which it was written, 25.

---- _Ballymote_, quoted, 22, 23.

---- _Durrow_, contents of, 304; now in Trinity College, Dublin, 305.

---- _Kells_, history of, 309, 310; now in Trinity College, Dublin, 310.

---- _Leinster_, quoted, 3, 21, 27, _et seq._; described, 140.

---- _Lismore_, history and description of, 473, 474.

---- _Rights_ (Leabhar Nag-Ceart), authorship of, attributed to St. Benignus, 97; quoted, 54, 259; history and contents of, 116, 117.

---- _Hymns_, reference to Saint Brigid in, 135.

Borumha, or cow tribute, remitted, 341, 428.

Bothchonais, church of, situation of, 353.

Brandon Hill, St. Brendan builds an oratory on, 214; description of, 214.

Brecan, Saint, tomb of, discovered in Aran, 183; descent of, 183; and St. Enda, 184; church of, 184.

Bregentz, St. Columbanus and his monks at, 376, 377.

Brehons, the, during pre-Christian period, 11; in the reign of Conor MacNessa, 11; Senchus Mor, compiled from legal maxims of, 12.

Brehon Laws, reformed by St. Patrick, 52-66; sources to which they owed their existence, 52; motives that prompted the revision of, 53.

Brendan, of Clonfert, Saint, birth and descent of, 210; baptized, 210; fosterage of, 211; progress in learning, 211; visits school of St. Jarlath, near Tuam, 212, 543, 544; an angel appears to, 213; performs a miracle, 213; receives the order of priesthood, 213; builds an oratory on Brandon Hill, 214; his wanderings through the Atlantic, 215; returns home, 216; founds a monastery on Inis-da-druim (Coney Island), 215; visits Wales and Iona, 217; other places visited then, 217, 218; and St. Ruadhan curse Tara, 218; founds a church in Leinster, 218; founds monasteries of Annaghdown and Inchiquin, 219; founds a monastery on Inishgloria, 219, 220; founds monastery of Clonfert, 220, 221; death of, 221; poems attributed to, 222; baptizes St. Fursey, 227; at school of Ross, 491.

Brendan, of Birr, Saint, founds his monastery at Riverstown (Biorra), 522.

Brian Boru, place of his burial, 113; and Maelsuthain O'Cearbhaill, 501; repairs church of Iniscaltra, 621; achievements of, 622.

Bricin, Saint, _Life of_, 602, 603.

Brigid, Saint, "the mother of all the Saints of Erin," 125; parentage of, 127-129; memorials of, at Faughart, 128, 129; birth of, 129; receives the religious veil, 129, 130; founds school of Kildare, 130, 131; character of, 131; tradition regarding, 132; death of, 132; first of six Lives of, 133-135; second Life of, 135-137; remaining four Lives of, 137.

Brogan Claen, Saint, _Life of St. Brigid_, attributed to, 137.

Bronach, mother of St. Mochae, 123.

Buildings, connected with an Irish monastery, 94-97.

Buite, monastery of, Flann of, 625, 627; founded, 628.

Buite, Saint, founds a monastery, 628.

Burke, MacWilliam, plunders monastery of Mayo, 540.

Caelestius, monk, not of Irish origin, 39; no evidence to show he was either a Briton or Scot, 41; his early life, 41.

Caemhin, of Annatrim, Saint, under care of St. Columba of Terryglass, 400.

Cæsar: _De Bello Gallico_, quoted, 2-4.

Caimin, Saint, descent of, 517; writings attributed to, 517, 518; his influence over public events, 518; characteristic story told of, 518.

Cairell, bishop, placed over convent of Tawnagh, 126.

Cairnech, Saint, member of Commission of Nine, 54; and monastery of Rosnat, 167.

Caius Julius Solinus, Polyhister, 253.

Calphurnius, father of St. Patrick, 44; descent of, 70.

Cannech, Saint, at Glasnevin, 297.

Canons, most celebrated of, attributed to Synod of Patrick, Auxilius and Iserninus, 60, 61.

Caplait, Druid, converted to the faith of Christ, 51.

_Carmen Paschale_, work, description of, 36.

Carthach the Elder, Saint, trains St. Carthach the Younger at his monastery of Slieve Mis, 448.

Carthach the Younger, Saint, birth and descent of, 447; receives his early training at monastery of Slieve Mis, 448; founds a monastery at Kiltulach, 448; visits monasteries of Bangor, Landelo (now Lynally), and Clonfert-Molua (now Kyle), 448; founds a monastery at Rahan, 449; expelled from Rahan, 450; his journey to the south, 451, 452; founds monastery of Lismore, 453; retires from community life before death, 454; one of his striking miracles, 454, 455; rule of, 455-457.

Cassian, John, monk, founds school of St. Victor, 190; sketch of his life and writings, 181; the most celebrated disciple of, 191.

Cassiodorus, senator, statesman, and monk, eulogises Sedulius (poet), 35.

Cathaldus of Tarentum, Saint, the _Life of_, 457; place of his birth, 458, 459; descent of, 459; difference of opinion about date of his birth, 459, 460; in school of Lismore, 460; made bishop, 461; his Irish See not determined, 462; goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 462; reforms the licentious people of Taranto, and becomes their bishop, 463, 464; death of, 464; relics of, 464; writings and prophecy attributed to, 465.

Cathedral of Armagh, 113.

Cathedral of Tuam, old, described, 557, 558.

Cathmael, Saint, early life of, 197.

Ceallachan, king of Cashel, plunders monastery of Clonfert, 243.

Ceddi, bishop of Iona, death of, 345.

Ceile De, or Culdee, the appellation, 405.

Celestine, Pope, commissions St. Patrick to undertake his mission to Ireland, 48.

Cellach, son of Cormac Mac Art, abducts the daughter of Sorar, 24.

Celsus, Saint, driven by usurpers from the See of Armagh, 395; death and burial at Lismore, 471.

_Celtic Scotland_, quoted, 163.

Cennfaeladh, at the battle of Magh Rath, 603; at school of Tuaim Drecain, 603; treatises composed by, 603, 604.

Chad, Saint, educated in Ireland, 593; appointed to the See of Lichfield, 594; death of, 594.

Chalice of Ardagh, description and history of, 562-564.

Charlemagne, king, Dungal's letter to on the two solar eclipses said to have taken place in A.D. 810, 382-384; convenes Synod of Frankfort, 336.

Charles the Bald, patronises John Scotus Erigena, 578, 579; the Pope's letter to regarding Scotus, 584.

Christianity, knowledge of, in Ireland, in third century, 26.

Chronicler (Historic poet), duty of, 8.

_Chronicon Scotorum_, work, history of, 278-280.

Church, Irish, St. Patrick's provisions for training a native ministry in, 58.

Church, Nuns', at Clonmacnoise, description of, 552, 553; founded by Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan O'Rorke, 553.

Churches, ancient, in Aran, 181-187; ruined, at Clonmacnoise, 266-269.

Cian, son of Oilioll Olum, branches of family of, 160.

Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, Saint, descent of, 259; is baptized and receives his early training at hands of deacon Justus at Fuerty, 259; at Clonard, 259; at Aran, 179; founds two churches, 261; founds school of Clonmacnoise, 262; death of, 263; his festival day still celebrated, 264; leads an extremely ascetic life, 265.

Cill Cluana, church of, founded by St. Finbarr, 477.

_Cin Droma Snechta_, book, 29.

Cir, poet, 9.

Claudius, bishop of Turin, an extreme Iconoclast, 389; his reply to the letter of the pious Abbot Theodemir, 390; Dungal's treatise against the doctrine of, 390, 391.

Clonard, relics at, 205.

Clonmacnoise, ruined churches at, 266-270; Celtic Art at, 550-565.

Cluaninis, monastery of, St. Columbanus at, 372.

Cluain Imaine (Clonamery), St. Brendan founds a church at, 218.

Cobthac, professor of Kildare, death of, 138.

Coelan (Chilien), monk, a Life of St. Brigid attributed to, 137.

Coemell, mother of St. Kevin, descent of, 414; family of, 415.

Coemhain, Gilla, poet, 628.

Coemlug, father of St. Kevin, descent of 414; family of, 415.

Cogitosus, monk and writer, cited, 127; his Life of St. Brigid, 135-137.

Coirpri Lifechair, assumes sovereignty of Erin, 24.

Colga, king of Munster, causes St. Cathaldus to be made Bishop, 461.

Colgan, professor of Clonmacnoise, 272; story which proves he was a diligent student of St. Paul's Epistles, 272; his position in Clonmacnoise, 273; writings of, 273, 274.

Colleges, discipline of lay, 628-631.

Colman of Cell Riada, Chamberlain of St. Patrick, 65.

Colman of Dromore, Saint, placed under training of St. Mochae, 143; goes to St. Ailbe of Emly, 143; again visits Noendrum, 144; the first teacher of St. Finnian of Moville, 246.

Colman, abbot of Moville, Saint, regarded as the author of a Latin hymn, 255; English translation of this hymn, by Denis Florence M'Carthy, 255, 256.

Colman, king of North Leinster, and St. Fintan of Clonenagh, 402, 403.

Colman of Mayo, Saint, receives his education in Iona, 526; appointed Bishop of Lindisfarne, 527; on the Easter Controversy, at Conference of Whitby, 527-529; defeated at Whitby, by Wilfrid, 529; leaves Northumbria and retires to island of Innisboffin, 529; founds monasteries of Innisboffin and Mayo, 530; interesting memorials of, in Innisboffin, 531, 532; death of, 533.

Columba of Terryglass, Saint, Fintan of Clonenagh placed under care of, 400; founds a temporary establishment at Clonenagh, 401; descent and early youth of, 513, 514; at Clonard, 514; visits to Home and England, 514; founds three churches, 514; established at Iniscaltra, 514, 515; again visits Clonard, 515; death of, 515; his body buried first at Iniscaltra afterwards transferred to Terryglass, 516.

Columba, Saint, a typical Celt, 291; birth and descent of, 292; his early life and training, 293; at Moville, 294; places himself under the instruction of a Bard, 291, 295; at Clonard, 295; at Glasnevin, 296; returns to his native territory, 297; founds school of Derry, 298, 299; personal description of, 300; founds school of Durrow, 301; interesting incidents connected with, 302; writes _Book of Durrow_, 304; School of Kells, founded by, 307; writing of _Book of Kells_ attributed to, 309; and battle of Cuil-Dreimhne, 310; ordered to leave Ireland for the sin of urging his kinsmen to fight this battle, 311; sets sail for Alba, 312; island of Iona (Hy) granted to, 316; protects the Bards, 320-323; subsequent history of, 323; death of, 324-326; writings of, 326-328; poems and prophecies attributed, to, 329; _Lives of_, 330, 331.

Columbanus, Saint, date of his birth, 371; early life of, 371, 372; leaves his home, and goes to Monastery of Cluaninis, 372; admitted to Bangor, 372; with some companions, go first to England, from thence to Gaul, 372; preaches the Gospel through the towns and villages of Gaul, 373; and his companions get established at Annegray, 373; founds a monastery at Luxeuil, 374; and his monks have to bear a sore trial, 374, 375; driven from Luxeuil, 376; and his monks establish themselves at Bregentz, 376; leaves Bregentz, crosses the Alps, and founds monastery of Bobbio, 377; death of, 378; writings of, 378-380.

Columbian schools, sacred learning in, 318, 319.

Comgall, Saint, at Glasnevin, 297; birth and parentage of, 365; his early youth, 365; becomes a disciple of St. Fintan, 366-402; pays a visit to Clonmacnoise and receives the priesthood there, 367; founds school of Bangor, 367; visited there by St. Columba and some of his followers, 368; performs a miracle, 368; pays a return visit to Columba, 369; death of, 310.

Commission of Nine, members of, 54; real authors of _Senchus Mor_, 55.

Conall Derg, king, family of, 164.

Conall, king, grants the inland of Iona to St. Columba, 316; descent of, 317.

Conall, Saint, bishop of Ross, 492.

Conchessa, mother of St. Patrick, 44.

Conchobhar (Connor), deprives poets of exclusive privileges, 7.

Conference, Paris, production of, 388.

Confession of St. Patrick, evidence in favour of its authenticity, 67, 68; the Saint's motive in writing, 69; reference to Saint's personal history and Apostolic labours in, 70-72; shows he was a native of Britain, 72.

Cong, members of O'Duffy family buried at, 539; remains of the abbey of, 558, 559; Rory O'Connor retires to monastery of, to die, 559, 560.

Conla Cainbrethach, distinguished judge, mentioned in introduction to _Senchus Mor_, 11.

Conlath, Saint, selected by St. Brigid to govern her churches and monasteries, 131; an artificer in metal work, 137.

Conmach, Primate of Armagh, gets the clergy exempted from military service, 410.

Conn the Hundred Fighter, descendants of, 16.

Conn-na-m-Bocht, holy man, descendants of, 280.

Convention of Drumceat, the three questions considered at, 321, 322.

Coolbanagher, church of, St. Ængus beholds a vision of angels at, 407.

Corban gives Aran up to St. Enda, 177.

Corc, king, member of Commission of Nine, 54.

Corca Laighde, territory of, 490; race of, 490.

Cormac, son of Diarmaid, king of Hy-Kinsellagh, and St. Fintan of Clonenagh, 402, 403.

Cormac, king of Hy-Bairrche, retires to Bangor before his death, 370.

Cormac, bishop and abbot of Glendalough, death of recorded, 425.

Coroticus king, difference of opinion regarding, 73; the _Book of Armagh_ regarding, 75.

Cosgrach, professor of Kildare, death of, 138.

Council of Nice, second, on image worship, 385; censured at Synod of Frankfort, 386; at Paris Conference, 388.

Crimthan, king, 82.

Cronan, of Roscrea, Saint, founds monastery of Roscrea, 523; a specimen of the miracles given in his _Life_, 523; the _Book of Dimma_, 523, 524.

Cross of Tuam, described, 554, 555, 556.

Cross of Cong, history and description of, 560, 561.

Crozier of Lismore, description of, 472, 473.

Cuanna, Saint, descent of, 466; goes to the school of Rahan, 466; founds monastery of Killcooney, 466; made abbot of Lismore, 466; death of, 467.

Cuil-Dreimhne, battle of, 250, 310, 311; story of, regarded by some as the invention of a later age, 311; site of, 312.

_Cuilmen_, book, 29.

Cuimine the Fair, abbot, _Life of Columba_ attributed to, 330; the Paschal Epistle attributed to, 334.

Cummian (the Tall), Saint, birth of, 229; in St. Finbarr's school, 230; his appointment to Clonfert, 230, 231; characteristic story told of, 231; his relations with King Domhnall, 232; the part he played in the Paschal Controversy, 233; and the Synod of Magh Lene, 236, 237; analysis of his Paschal Epistle, 237-240; probably the author of _Liber de Mensura Poenitentiarum_, 240, 241; death of, 241.

Cummian Finn, Saint, writings of, 241.

Daghda, king and poet, 8.

Dagobert, king of Austrasia, a pupil in college of Slane, 590.

Daire, king, member of the Commission of Nine, 54; remarks on, 55; grants a site for Cathedral of Armagh to St. Patrick, 111, 112.

Dairinis, Island of, St. Finnian visits, 195-198.

Dallan Forgaill, chief bard, reorganises and reforms the Bardic Order, 323; compositions of, 616.

Danes, the, plunder Armagh, 120; burn and pillage Louth, 149; plunder Beg-Erin, 158; plunder Clonard, 207; Clonmacnoise, 274, 275; Glendalough, 429; Ross, 493; Mungret, 510; Iniscaltra, 521.

Darerca, mother of St. Ciaran, 259.

Darinia, sister of St. Enda, 169.

Dathi, king, mentioned, 28.

David, Saint, birth and parentage of, 196; founds a great college, 196; appointed archbishop, 196, 197.

Dearbhforgaill, dies in pilgrimage at Glendalough, 430.

Death of St. Columba, 324-326.

Declan, Saint, Life of, 153; evidence against its authenticity, 155.

De Gray, John, bishop of Norwich, 269.

De Lacy, Walter, refounds monastery of Clonard, 208.

_De Mensura Orbis Terrarum_, treatise, account of its contents, 281, 282, 284-290.

Demetrias, Epistle of Pelagius to, 41.

De Rochford, Simon, transfers See of Meath to Trim, 208.

Derry, See of, established, 357.

Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan O'Rorke, builds a church at Clonmacnoise, 553.

Dialogue of the two Sages, circumstances which led to, 9.

Diarmaid, king of Meath, makes grants to Clonmacnoise, 271.

Diarmaid, bishop of Iniscaltra, 521.

Dicuil the Geographer, his treatise _De Mensura Orbis Terrarum_, 281; personal history of, 282; where and by whom he was educated, 282-284; sources from which he derived the information contained in his treatise, _De Mensura Orbis Terrarum_, 284; his reference to the Irish pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 285, 286; his reference to Iceland and the Faroë Islands, 286, 287; his reference to the poet, Sedulius, 289, 290.

Discipline, of an Irish monastery, 97-102; of lay colleges, 628-631.

Disert-Diarmada, monastery of, 605.

Doctor in Poetry, qualifications required in early times to become, 7.

Domhnall, king, St. Cummian's relations with, 232; death of, 233.

Donovan, chief of the Hy-Fidhgente, makes Mahoun a prisoner, 484.

Dorbene, abbot of Iona, 336.

Drogonus, archbishop, translates the relics of St. Cathaldus, 464.

Druids, learning of, 1; religions tenets of, 1, 2; the British, 2; places of worship, 3; Irish, 3; worship of, 3; functions of, 4; acquaintance with letters, 4; abodes of Irish, 5; idolatrous practice of sun-worship, 5.

Drumcullen, monastery of, Saint Carthach at, 451.

Duach Galach, descent of, 226.

Dubhthach, chief poet and Brehon, member of Commission of Nine, 54.

Dubricius, bishop of Landaff, consecration of, 196; his monastery at Llancarvan, 196.

Dunchadh, archdeacon of Mungret, death of, 511.

Dungal, theologian, astronomer, and poet, 381; an Irishman, 382; place or date of his birth not fixed, 382; his letter to Charlemagne on the solar eclipses, 382-384; opens a school at Pavia, 385; writes a book in which he defends the Catholic doctrine regarding Iconoclasm, against the trifling of Bishop Claudius, 390, 391; character of his writings, 391, 392; death of, 392.

Dunlaing, king, massacres attendants of Cormac Mac Art, 18.

Dysertenos, Saint Ængus leads a penitential life at, 406.

Eamhnat, mother of St. Moling, 426.

Ecgfrid, king, slain, and his army routed, 340.

Egbert, Saint, of Northumbria, comes to Ireland, 590; studies in Connaught, 591; a vision appears to, 592; sets sail for Iona, 592; death of, 593.

Eithne, mother of St. Columbkille, descent of, 292.

_Elegia_, poem by Sedulius, description of, 37.

Elitheria, monastery of, founded, 535, 536.

Elphin, monastery at, 160, 161.

Embroideresses, of St. Patrick's household, 66.

Enda of Aran, Saint, descent of, 164; conversion of, 165; gives proof of the sincerity of his conversion, 165, 166; founds a monastery at Killeany, 166; repairs to monastery of Rosnat, 165-168; visits Rome, 168; death of, 168; founds his monastery on Aran, 177; is visited by several of the contemporary saints, 177, 178; leads a simple and austere life, 180, 181.

Eochaid, Tirmcharna, descent of, 226.

Eoghan, king, 111.

Epistle, to Coroticus, of St. Patrick, 73-75; reference made by the Saint to his own personal history in, 74.

Erc, bishop, judge in St. Patrick's household, 65; baptizes St. Brendan of Clonfert, 210; takes Brendan under his own charge, 211; confers the order of priesthood on Brendan, 213; death of, 213.

Ercnat, daughter of King Daire, gets enamoured of St. Benignus, 115.

Erigena, John Scotus, of Irish birth and education, 576; the English and Scotch strive to make him their own, 577, 578; in the palace of Charles the Bald, 578, 579; witticisms of, 579; publishes his _Liber de Prædestinatione_, 581; alleged errors about the Real Presence, 583; translates the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, 584; the Pope complains of its publication without the Apostolic sanction, 585; composes his work, _De Divisione Naturae_, 586; this Book condemned, 587; death of, 588.

Esker Brenain, church of, 199.

Etan, princess and poetess, 9.

Eu or Augum, monastery of, St. Laurence O'Toole in, 444; his death in, 445.

Fachtna, Saint, birth and early training of, 490; goes to school of Cork, 491; founds monasteries of Molana and Ross, 491; becomes entirely blind, 492; death of, 492.

Family, monastic, members of, 152; virtues and penances practised by, 99-101; ordinary meal of, 101; ordinary dress of, 102.

Fanchea, nun, converts her brother (St. Enda), 164, 165.

Faolain, father of St. Moling, 426.

Faughart, memorials of St. Brigid at, 128, 129; Edward Bruce buried in churchyard of, 128.

Faustinus Arevalus, admits that the story of Sedulius (poet), he being a Spaniard, in fabulous, 31.

Feargus, prince, descendants of, 226.

Fedelmith, king, and St. Finan Cam, 498.

Feis of Tara, national parliament, in existence before time of Cormac Mac Art, 19; object of, 20; the meetings of, 20.

Felimy (Fedhlimidh), father of St. Columbkille, descent of, 292.

Felire of St. Aengus, described, 409, 410, 411; Dr. Stokes on its authorship, 412.

Ferceirtne, royal poet, 9.

Ferdomhach, professor of Kildare, death of, 138.

Ferdomnach, scribe, transcribed Book of Armagh, 103.

Fergus, poet, member of Commission of Nine, 54.

Fiacc of Sletty, Saint, descent of, 81; offers himself for the service of the Church, 83; founds two churches, 83; his life at Sletty, 84; death of, 85; writings of, 85, 86.

Finan Cam, Saint, birth and descent of, 497; founds monastery of Kinnity, 497; evidence which goes to show he was founder of Innisfallen, 497, 498; miracles attributed to, 498, 499.

Finan the Leper, Saint, commonly regarded as founder of Innisfallen, 496; evidence for and against this theory, 496, 497, 498; monasteries mentioned in connection with, 497.

Finan, bishop of Lindisfarne, 527.

Finbarr, Saint, history of his birth, 476; placed under care of a holy man, 477; founds several churches, 477; his retreat in Gougane Barra, 478, 479; founds school of Cork, 480; goes on a pilgrimage to Rome, 481; death of, 482; character of, 483; writing of, 484; tragical event which took place in connection with this writing, 484, 485.

Finchad, Saint, bishop of Ross, 492.

Findath, mother of St. Fintan of Clonenagh, 399.

Findlug, father of St. Brendan of Clonfert, 210.

Findmath, mother of St. Carthach, descent of, 447.

Finloch, father of St. Finnian, descent and family of, 194.

Finn Cummian, 241.

Finnachta, king of Ireland, and Adamnan, 337, 338; remits Borumean tribute, 341, 428; death of, 342.

Finnachta, abbot, 626, 627.

Finnian of Clonard, Saint, descent and birth of, 194; visits the saints of Wales, 195; their history, 196-198; miracles performed in Wales by, 198; returns to Ireland, 198; founds two churches, 199; founds school of Clonard, 199, 200; lives an austere life, 200; visited at Clonard by all the distinguished saints of Erin, 201; the routine of daily life in school of, 202; his power of expounding the Sacred Scriptures, 203; death of, 204.

Finnian of Moville, Saint, boyhood and education of, 246; goes to monastery of Rosnat (Candida Casa), 247; goes to Rome, 248; returns to Ireland, and brings with him copy of entire Bible, 249; founds school of Moville, 249; Psaltery, copy of, 250, 251; Rule composed by, for his monks, 253, 254; death of, 254; was, it seems, a bishop, 255.

Fintan Corach, Saint, the immediate successor of St. Brendan in Clonfert, 224; encourages the study and practice of sacred psalmody, 225; death of, 225.

Fintan, Munster prince, travels as a soldier of fortune into North Connaught, 226; secretly marries the daughter of king of Connaught, 227.

Fintan Maeldubh, raised to the abbacy of Clonenagh, 404.

Fintan of Clonenagh, Saint, St. Comgall becomes a disciple of, 366, 402; birth and descent of, 399, 400; placed under care of St. Columba of Terryglass, 400; with other saints found a temporary establishment at Clonenagh, 401; founds a permanent establishment there, 401; Rule of, 401; miracles of, 402, 403; death of, 404.

Firaull, father of St. Carthach, descent of, 447.

Fire, "perpetual," of Kildare, 100, 101.

Flaithbeartach, abbot of Inniscathy, and Cormac MacCullinan, 610, 611.

Flann, mother of St. Cummian, sketch of her history, 229; dies a holy nun, 229.

Flann, king, builds a church at Clonmacnoise, 266.

Flann of Monasterboice, prose chronicler, 276.

Flann Failbhe, kindly receives St. Carthach, 452; and St. Finan Cam, 499.

Flann Sionna, king of Ireland defeated at battle of Magh Lena, 609, 610.

Fortchern, Saint, descent and conversion of, 194; said to have founded a school, 195; St. Finnian placed under care of, 195.

Fortunatus, poet, cited, 35.

Fothadh, poet and adviser of King Aedh, decides that the clergy should be exempted from military service, 410.

Fursey, Saint, descent of, 226; history of his birth, 226, 227; baptized and trained by Saint Brendan of Clonfert, 227; founds a monastery, 227.

Gabhren, father of St. Fintan of Clonenagh, 399.

Gelasius, Pope, approves of writings of Sedulius, 34, 35.

---- Primate of Armagh, 121; what is known of his family or birthplace, 358, 359; becomes abbot of Derry, 359; raised to Primacy of Armagh, 359; his reign remarkable for two things, 359; visits Munster and Connaught, 360; convenes and presides over several Synods, 360-362; consecrates St. Laurence O'Toole to be archbishop of Dublin, 362, 436; presides over Synod of Clane, 362, 437; death of, 363.

Gemman, bard, instructs Saint Columbkille, 294; striking incident connected with, 295.

Gennadius, 31; cited, 41.

Gerald, of Mayo, Saint, placed under St. Colman's care, 534; and his brothers come to Ireland, 534, 535; founds a monastery, 535; attends a meeting at Tara, 536, 537; paid a visit by Saint Adamnan, 537; date of his death, 537.

Germanus, Saint, becomes bishop of Auxerre, 47; leads a life of austerity, 47; becomes the tutor of St. Patrick, 47; builds a monastery, 48; is accompanied to Britain by St. Patrick, 48; sends Saint Patrick to Rome, 49.

Gildas, Saint, teaches in School of Armagh, 118; his work, 119; his meeting with St. Finnian, 195.

Giraldus, archbishop, causes the relics of St. Cathaldus to be enclosed in a silver shrine, 464.

Glendalough, topography of, 417, 418; existing ruins at, 422-425; the Danes at, 430.

Gobban Saer, architect or Ollamh-builder, 551, 552.

Godfrey, king of Danes, plunders country round Kells, 348.

Gontran, king of Burgundy, receives St. Columbanus with a warm welcome, 373.

Gotteschalk, monk, his doctrine on Predestination condemned, 580, 581.

Gougane Barra, lake, described, 478, 479; ruins on island in, 479; Father Denis O'Mahony takes up his abode in this lonely retreat, 479.

Graine, wife of Finn Mac Cumhaill, Rath of, at Tara, 22.

Guaire, king of Connaught, 230; characteristic story told of, 231, 518; defeated in battle at Carn Fearadhaigh, 231; at Carn Conaile, 271; death of, 271.

Guigneus, Saint, spends some time in Aran, 179.

Hare Island (Inis Ainghin), Saint Ciaran founds an oratory on, 261.

Henry de Loundres, puts out the fire of St. Brigid at Kildare, 138.

Henry II., St. Laurence O'Toole submits to, 441, 442; Rory O'Connor formally and finally gives up all claim of Ireland to, 442; grants the dying request of St. Laurence O'Toole, 444.

Hincmar, bishop, convenes a Synod at Quiercy, where doctrine of Gotteschalk, regarding Predestination, is condemned, 580, 581; attacked by French theologians, 581; convenes another Synod, and formulates his own doctrine on Grace and Predestination, 582; this doctrine sanctioned, 583.

_History of Sligo_, quoted, 1.

Honoratus, Saint, retires to island of Lerins, and subsequently founds a school there; becomes third and last teacher of Saint Patrick, 50; made bishop of Arles, 50; the disciple of John Cassian, 191; death of, 191.

Honorius III., enrols St. Laurence O'Toole as canonized Saint, 446.

"Honours," St. Patrick entitled to four, in Irish Church, according to Book of Armagh, 77.

Household of St. Patrick, members of, 65.

Hy-Briuin, race, descent of, 226.

Hymn, St. Sechnall's, circumstances to which it owed its origin, 77-79.

Hymn, "_Sancti Venite_," 80, 81.

Ibar, Saint, a pre-Patrician bishop, 156; his early training, 156; builds his oratory on island of Beg-Erin, 156; is visited in his island retreat by crowds of disciples, 157; and his nephew, St. Abban, visit Rome, 157; death of, 157.

Ildelfonsus, cited, 35.

Illumination, art of, in monastic schools of Kildare, 139.

Imar, king of Danes of Limerick, defeated by Brian Boru, 494.

Inchiquin, island, monastery in, 219.

Inisboffin, monastery of, founded, 530; situation of, 531; memorials of St. Colman in, 531, 532; disagreement between the Irish and English monks of, 533.

Iniscaltra, island, situation of, 512, 513; ruined monuments still remaining at, 519, 520.

Inis-da-druim (Coney Island), St. Brendan founds a monastery on, 216.

Inisgloria (Inis-gluair), island, St. Brendan founds an oratory in, 219; at present, 220.

Innisfallen, island, description of, 505.

Instruction, course of, pursued by Druids, Bards and Brehons, 12.

Instruction, oral, communicated by St. Patrick to his disciples, 62, 63.

Iona (Hy), island, description of, 315, 316; no trace of the original buildings of Columba at present in, 317; churches of a later date in, 317, 318; becomes a celebrated place of pilgrimage, 346; pillaged and plundered, 346.

Iserninus, bishop, accompanies St. Patrick to Ireland, 59, 80; founds a church, 60; present at first Synod held in Ireland, 60.

Isidore of Seville, scholar, cited, 35.

Ita, Saint, the "Brigid of Munster," 127; founds her convent, 211; St. Brendan placed under fosterage of, 211.

Jarlath, Saint, founds college of Cluainfois, 160, 542; descent of, 541, 542; builds a church at Tuam da ghuallan, 544; date of his death 544; relics of, 545.

John of Tritenheim, Benedictine monk, cited, 30.

Judges, ecclesiastical, taught their duties by St. Patrick, 61.

Justus of Fuerty, deacon, St. Patrick gives his own book of ritual to, 63; baptizes St. Ciaran, 259.

Kathleen, genuine story of St. Kevin and, 416.

Keating, historian, cited, 20-24.

Keller, Dr., recovers most authentic copy of _Adamnan's Life of St. Columba_, 334, 335.

Kells, memorials of St. Columba at, 308, 309.

Kevin (Coemghen), Saint, descent of, 414; birth of, 415; placed under care of St. Petroc, 415; transferred to the guidance of his uncle, St. Eugenius, 416; flies to the recesses of Glendalough, 416; reasons which induced him to fly from his native district, 416; ordained priest, 417; his bed in Glendalough, 418; life at Glendalough, 418, 419; leaves his cave in Lugduff, 419; founds monastery of Glendalough, 420; meets Saints Columba, Comgall and Canice on hill of Usney in Westmeath, 421; death of, 421.

Kilbannon, monastery of, established by St. Benignus, 159, 542.

Kilcommin, old ruin at, 231.

Kilcooney, monastery of, founded, 466.

Kildare, church of, description of, 133; ancient buildings of, 138.

Killeany, monastery of, founded, 177; existing remains in townland of, 181, 182.

Killossy, church of, 60; etymology of the word, 60.

Kil-mac-nenain (Kilmacrenan), St. Columba spends the years of his youth at, 293.

Kilmore, church of, 146.

Kilnamanagh, monastery of St. Kevin in, 416.

Kings, taught their duties by St. Patrick, 61, 62.

Kinnity, monastery of, founded by St. Finan Cam, 498.

Labour, daily, in monastery, 102; religious exercises, 103; study, 103, 104; manual, 104.

Laeghaire, king, and his Druids overcome by St. Patrick, 50, 51; member of Commission of Nine, 54.

Laisren, abbot of Iona, 333.

Laurence, bishop of Canterbury, Millitus of London, and Justus of Rochester admonish the Irish on their errors in reference to Easter, 235.

_Leabhar Breac_, quoted, 135.

Leabhar-na-h-Uidhre, work, history and contents of, 280, 281.

Learning, in Ireland, in the time of St. Patrick, 42, 43.

Legislation, ecclesiastical, exercised by St. Patrick, 61, 62.

_Liber de Mensura Poenitentiarum_, work, 240; contents of, 241.

Liberius, poem attributed to, 38.

_Life Tripartite_, of St. Patrick, description of, 83, 89; date and probable author of, 89, 90.

_Life of St. Ailbe of Emly_, 151, 152; its authenticity refuted, 155.

_Life of St. Abban_, quoted, 157.

_Lives_, six, of St. Brigid, reference to, 133-137.

_Lives_ of St. Columba, 330, 331.

Llancarvan, school of, St. Finnian in, 196; Irishmen in, 197.

Lochru, chief Druid, miraculously destroyed at prayer of St. Patrick, 50, 51.

Loman, Saint, converts St. Fortchern, 184; descent of, 194.

Lomman, king, and St. Patrick, 506, 507.

Lonan Kerr, Saint, spends some time in Aran, 179.

_Lorica_, of St. Patrick, reason of its composition, 75, 76; the Book of Armagh on, 77.

Lothaire, crowned emperor by the Pope, 385; appoints a conference at Paris, 388; his letter to the Pope, 389.

Lua, founder of Clonfert-Mulloe, at Bangor, 369.

Luchat the Bald, miraculously destroyed, 50, 51.

Lupait, sister of St. Patrick, 66.

Luxeuil, monastery of, established, 374; St. Columbanus and his monks expelled from, 375, 376.

Macaille, bishop, gives the religious veil to St. Brigid, 129.

Mac Art, Cormac, character of, 16; early training of, 17; his narrow escape from Lughaidh MacCon, 17; avenges wanton massacre of his attendants by Dunlaing, 18; organizes a standing army, "Fenian Militia," 18; literary history of, 19-25; convenes regular meetings of national parliament--Feis of Tara, 20; erects a parliament house, 20, 21; literary works of, 23-25; death and burial of, 26, 27; seems to transmit his talents to his daughters, 27, 28.

Mac Awley, Amergin, poet, author of the _Dinnsenchus_, 615.

Mac Cairthinn, bishop, champion in Saint Patrick's household, 65; St. Patrick founds a church for, 130.

Mac Carthy, Cormac, refounds monastery of Cork, 486; becomes King of Cashel, 607; builds a chapel at Cashel, 608; made bishop, 608.

Mac Cerbhaill, Diarmaid, and his palace at Tara, cursed by Saints Ruadhan and Brendan, 218, 307; slain, 218, 307; and St. Ciaran's prophecy, 262; and copy of St. Finnian's Psaltery, 250; descent of, 306; grants Kells to Saint Columbkille, 307; and battle of Cuil-Dreimhne, 310, 311.

Mac Coise, Errard, chief poet, 624, 625.

Mac Con, Lughaidh, defeats King Art in battle, 17; attempts to seize Cormac Mac Art, 17; killed, 17.

Mac Concumba, learned scribe, 271.

Mac Cosse, lector of Ross, geographical poem of, 494, 495.

Mac Creiche, Saint, spends some time in Aran, 179.

Mac Crimthann, Felim, holds a conference with Niall at Clonfert, 242; plunders Clonmacnoise, 275; retires to a hermitage before his death, 275; death of, 276.

Mac Cullinan, Cormac, his bequest to Glendalough, 429; bequest to Mungret, 510; birth of, 604; called to the throne of Cashel, 605-608; acquires his learning at monastery of Disert-Diarmada, 605, 606; bishop of Cashel, 610; stirring events of his reign, 609, 610; greatest fault of, 610; slain at battle of Ballaghmoon, 611; writings of, 612-614.

Mac Cumhaill, Finn, poet and warrior, 10; is general of Fenian Militia, 19.

Mac Duagh, Colman, founds two churches, 185.

Mac Firbis, Duald, scribe, 278, 279.

Mac Gorman, Finn, copies _Book of Leinster_, 140.

Mac Lenin Colman, Saint, induced St. Brendan to give up his worldly life, 212.

Mac Liag, Brian Boru's secretary, work of, 620, 621.

Mac Lonan, Flann, historical poet, poems written by, 618.

Mac Murrough, Diarmaid, forcibly carries away the Abbess of Kildare, 138; plunders and burns Clonard, 207; death of, 208; his treatment of young St. Laurence O'Toole 433; attack on Dublin, 440.

Mac Nadfraich, Aenghus, king, baptized by St. Patrick, 54.

Mac Nessa, Conor, becomes a benefactor of the poets, 10.

Mac Nisse, abbot of Clonmacnoise, 270.

Mac O'Cluasaigh, Colman, Saint, the tutor of St. Cummian the Tall, 230; his elegy on death of St. Cummian, 241; death of, 242.

Mac Robartaigh (now M'Groarty), family of, appointed custodians of casket which holds copy of St. Finnian's Psaltery, 252; members of, who met their death in defence of this sacred charge, 252; Marianus Scotus, a member of, 349.

Mac Ua Lugair, Dubthach, exhibits judgments and laws of Erin to St. Patrick, 53; his alliance with Patrick, 56, 57; his conversion, 82; their meeting some years later, 82, 83.

Mac Ui Clusaigh, Colman, Saint, nothing known of his personal history, 487; a professor in Cork, 487; hymn composed by, 488, 489.

Maelbrighde, successor of St. Patrick, 120.

Maelcaisil, abbot of Mungret, death of, 511.

Maelgenn, chief of the Druids, shows his magical power, 26.

Maelmuire, Primate of Armagh, had Brian Boru and his son interred at Armagh, 113.

Maelmuire, scribe, work compiled by, 280.

Maelmura, of Fathan, poems attributed to, 617, 618.

Maelruan, Saint, abbot of Tallaght, discovers the identity of St. Ængus, 408; and St. Ængus jointly writes the Martyrology of Tallaght, 408, 409.

Maeve, rath of, at Tara, 22; credited with being the author of a poem, 27.

Magh Enna, plain, an angel appears to St. Brendan on, 213; performs a miracle there, 213.

Magh Mucruimhe (near Athenry), great battle fought at, 17.

Magh Slecht, St. Patrick overturns the idols of, 51.

Mahoun, brother of Brian Boru, assassinated, 484; Brian avenges the murder of, 485.

Malachy, Saint, birth and parentage of, 393; ordained a priest, 393; at the College of Lismore, 393; appointed to the abbacy of Bangor, 394; builds an oratory once again at Bangor, 394; made bishop of Connor, 394; founds a monastery at Cashel, 395; transferred to the Primatial See of Armagh, 395; expels the usurpers of the See of Armagh, 396; appointed Papal Legate for all Ireland, 396; death of, at Clairvaux, 397.

Manchan, Saint, shrine of, history and description of, 564, 565.

Mangan, Clarence, poet, cited, 28, 29.

Martin, Saint, supposed relationship with St. Patrick, 44; joins the imperial army, 45; life of at Marmoutier, 45, 46; is made bishop, 45; the father of monasticism in Gaul, 93.

Mathona, sister of St. Benignus, receives the veil from Saint Patrick, 126; founds a church and convent, 126.

Maur, Raban, bishop, 580.

Mayo, See of, annexed to Tuam, 540, 541.

Mercartor, Marius, cited, 40.

Michael the Stammerer, Greek Emperor, his letter to Lothaire, 388.

Missal, Bobbio, 380.

Mobhi Clarainech, Saint, of Glasnevin, 296.

Mochae, Saint, Patrick converts, baptizes and tonsures, 141; descent of, 142; founds monastery of Noendrum, 142; St. Colman placed under the training of, 143; strange story concerning, 144, 145; death of, 144.

Mochta, Saint, birth of, 146; founds church of Kill-mor (Cella-magna), 146; works a miracle, 147; founds school of Louth, 147; St. Patrick visits, 147; Rule of, 148; author of a work, 148, 149; death of, 148.

Mochoroy, Saint, favourite disciple of St. Kevin, 421.

Mocumin, Saint, under care of St. Columba of Terryglass, 400.

Moel, Druid, converted to the faith of Christ, 51.

Moinenn, Saint, the intimate friend and associate of St. Brendan, 222; appointed by St. Brendan to rule Clonfert, 222; things concerning him which are doubtful, 223, 224.

Molana, monastery of, founded by St. Fachtna, 491.

Moling, Saint, descent of, 426; spends some time in monastery of Glendalough, 426; founds a monastery, 426; had a love of useful labour, 427; his austerities and virtues attract a great number of disciples, 427; becomes bishop of Ferns, 427; procures the remission of the cow-tribute, 428; writings ascribed to, 428, 429; death of, 429.

Molloy, chief of Desmond, has Mahoun assassinated, 484, 485.

Monastery, Irish, general view of, 91-94; the buildings connected with, 94-97; discipline of, 97-102; spirit of hospitality in, 100, 101; daily labour of, 102-106.

Monk, the true, 91, 92; at first, 92.

_Morals of St. Gregory the Great_, a famous book in the schools of Ireland, 117.

Morann, learned judge, mentioned in _Senchus Mor_, 11.

Morini, Bartholomew and Bonaventure, wrote _Life of St. Cathaldus_, 457, 458; quoted, 459, 460.

Mor Rigan, queen and poetess, 8.

Moville, situation of, 245; in ancient times famous for its great religious establishments, 245.

Mucknoi, bishop, receives "seven Books of the Law" from St. Patrick, 63.

Muirgheas, abbot of Mungret, death of, 511.

Munchin, Saint, descent of, 509; builds himself a cell and oratory--Cill-Munchin, 509.

Murtough, father of St. Laurence O'Toole, 433.

Naomh Gilla-na, bishop of Glendalough, 431.

Nechan, Libeus, Saint, spends some time in Aran, 179.

Nectan, king, expels the Columbian monks from his dominions, 345.

Neidhe, poet, 9.

Nessan, abbot of Cork, 485.

Nessan of Mungret, ordained deacon by St. Patrick, 507; his visit to St. Ailbe of Emly, 507, 508; death of, 508.

Ninian, Saint, said to have visited St. Mochae at Noendrum, 143, 246; founds school of Candida Casa (Rosnat), 247; this school under, 166-168.

Noendrum (Mahee island), situation of, 141.

O'Bolcan, Nuada, abbot of Tuam, death of, 545.

O'Brien, Murtough, retires to monastery of Lismore, 470; plunders Mungret, 511; gives over Cashel for religious purposes, 608.

O'Brolchain Maelisa, Saint, retires to a monastic school, 353; a teacher and scholar, 353; said to have founded an oratory at Lismore, 354; death of, 354.

O'Brolchain, Aedh, professor, death of, 354.

O'Brolchain, Maelbrighde, bishop of Kildare, death of, 354.

O'Brolchain, Maelcolaim, bishop of Kildare, death of, 354.

O'Brolchain, Flaithbhertach, comarb of Columcille, procures money and renovates the monastery of Derry, 355, 356; elevated to the episcopal order--See of Derry established, 357; his death as recorded by the _Four Masters_, 357.

O'Brolchain, Domhnall, appointed to the abbacy of Iona, 358; erects a great church there, 358.

O'Brolchain, Flann, abbot of Iona, 358.

O'Cearbhail, Maelsuthain, chief, the intimate friend and counsellor of Brian Boru, 501; a renowned professor, 502; and the three students, 502, 503; regarded as the author or compiler of _Annals of Innisfallen_, 503.

O'Cleirigh, Eoghan, bishop of Connaught, death of, 545.

O'Connor, Rory, king, grants tithes to Armagh, 121; is stimulated to resist the attack of the Normans on Dublin, by St. Laurence O'Toole, 441; formally gives up his claims to the kingdom of Ireland, 442; St. Laurence O'Toole travels to England and France in the interest of, 443; retires to abbey of Cong to die, 559, 560.

O'Connor, Cathal, founds a chapel at Clonmacnoise, 268.

O'Connor, Turlough, fleet of, despoils Desmond, 495; Celtic Art during reign of, 547-565; buildings erected during reign of, 557-559; rebuilds Cathedral of Tuam, 557.

O'Curry, cited, 1, 3, 4, _et seq._

O'Donnell, Cathbarr, got casket made which holds copy of St. Finnian's Psaltery, 252; death of, 252.

O'Donnell, Manus, wrote a life of St. Columba, 330.

O'Drugan, professor in School of Armagh, death of, 121.

O'Duffys, the, 547, 550.

O'Duffy, Cele, Bishop of Mayo, 539.

O'Duffy, Flanagan Ruadh, professor, death of, 548.

O'Duffy, Domhnall, bishop of Elphin death of, 561.

O'Duffy, Muireadhach, high bishop of Connaught, death of, 560.

O'Duffy, Catholicus, high-bishop of Connaught, death of, 549, 555.

Oena, Saint, abbot of Clonmacnoise, 270.

Oengoba, father of St. Ængus, descent of, 405.

O'Flaherty, cited, 19, 22, 23, 305, _et seq._

O'Flinn, Eochaid, historic poet, poems of, 619.

Ogma, poet, invention of Ogham Alphabet attributed to, 13.

O'Gorman, Florence, professor in Armagh, death of, 121.

O'Hagan, Imar, archbishop, rebuilds church of Armagh, 121.

O'Hanlon, Canon:

---- _Lives of the Irish Saints_, quoted, 38.

---- _Life of St. Brigid_, quoted, 129.

O'Hartigan, Cinaeth, historic poet, 619.

O'Hessian, Hugh, high-bishop of Connaught, 549, 555.

O'Hoisin, Aedh, archbishop of Tuam, 545.

O'Huihair, Patrick, a poet of Innisfallen, 504.

Oisin (Ossian), Erin's greatest poet, 10; story of his relations with St. Patrick, 57.

O'Kelly, Diarmaid, plunders monastery of Clonfert, 243.

O'Kelly, Conor, founds a sepulchral chapel at Clonmacnoise, 268.

O'Leathain, Colman, Saint, a pupil, abbot, and bishop of Lismore, 467.

Ollamh Fodhla, king, reigns and dies at Tara, 19.

O'Lochain, Cuan, poet, quoted, 23; descent of, 623; slain, 624; poems written by, 624.

Olum Ollioll, learned poet, poems written by, 10.

O'Malone (O'Maeileoin), Gillachrist, work attributed to, 279.

O'Manchan, Brehon, death of, recorded, 430.

O'Melaghlin, Donogh, prince of Meath, sentence of excommunication pronounced upon, 361.

O'Moore Moran, lector of Armagh, death of, at Mungret, 511.

O'Mordha Peter, bishop of Clonfert, building of present church of Clonfert (now in Protestant hands), attributed to, 244.

O'Muidhin, Giolla Aedha, abbot and bishop of Cork, 486, 487.

Ona, harper, 9.

Organization, Church, established by St. Patrick, 55, 56.

O'Rorke, Tiernan, plunders Clonard, 207.

O'Rorke, Art, plunders monastery of Clonfert, 243.

O'Rorke, Aedh, plunders monastery of Clonfert, 243.

O'Rorke, Fergal, builds a tower at Clonmacnoise, 268, 269.

Oswald, king of Northumbria, convenes a Synod at Whitby to establish a uniform Easter usage, 527-529.

Ottilo, Duke of Bavaria, St. Virgilius at court of, 567.

O'Toole, Laurence (Lorcan), Saint, authentic life of, 432; descent of, 433; given as a hostage to Dermott M'Murrough, 433; released, 434; placed under the protection of bishop of Glendalough, 434; a diligent scholar, 435; made abbot of Glendalough, 436; discharges the duties with complete success, 436; consecrated archbishop of Dublin, 436; his election inaugurates a new era, 437; reforms the people and clergy of the city of Dublin, 437; lives a life of rigorous austerity, 438; spends Lent in the most secluded spots, 439; stimulates Rory O'Connor and other native princes to unite against the Normans, 441; his loyalty to Rory O'Connor, 442, 443, 444; attends a General Council in Rome, and secures many privileges for the Irish Church, 443; made Apostolic Legate, 443; in monastery of Eu, 444; death of, 445; his remains enclosed in a crystal case, 445; canonized, 446.

Paparo, Cardinal John, Papal Legate, constitutes four archbishops in Ireland for the first time, 361.

Papeus, Saint, spends some time in Aran, 179.

Paschal Controversy, diversity of practice existing, regarding the celebration of the Pasch, 233; the Alexandrian usage--the correct one, 234; the Irish usage, 234, 235; the Irish clergy are admonished by the Pope for adhering to their old usage, 235; the Synod of Magh Lene convened to discuss the subject, 236; the Epistle of St. Cummian the Tall, regarding the celebration of the Pasch, 237-240.

Paschal Epistle of St. Cummian the Tall to the abbot of Hy, analysis of, 237-240.

Patrick, Saint, education of, 43-50; early years of, 44; accompanies Germanus to Britain, 48; visits the island of Lerins, 49; sets out for the task of converting the Irish to Christianity, 50; lights the Paschal fire, 50; miraculous destruction of the chief Druids of Erin at the prayer of, 51; reforms the Brehon Laws, 52; convokes the men of Erin to a conference at Tara, 53; selects a Commission of Nine to purify the pagan code of laws, 55; establishes a Church organization, 55; establishes a friendly alliance with Arch-Poet of Erin, 56; commences to train up a native ministry, 58; accompanied by bishops and priests on his Irish mission, 59; ecclesiastical legislation of, 61, 62; organizes a peripatetic school, 62, 63; household of, 65; _Confession_ of, 67-73; motive of in writing this _Confession_, 69; descent of, 70; escapes from captivity, 71; epistle to Coroticus, 73-75; the _Lorica of_, 75-77; specimen of hymn, translated, 76; Sechnall's hymn of, 77-81; is granted a site, and founds school of Armagh, 111, 112; meeting with St. Benignus, 114; baptizes the two sisters of Fochlut wood, 126; kings' daughters come on a pilgrimage to, 126, 127.

Pelagius, of British birth, 40; gives expression to his heretical views, 40, 41; his meeting with Caelestius, 41.

Petroc, Saint, St. Kevin placed under care of, 415.

Pilgrimage, Irish, to Jerusalem, testimony of Dicuil the Geographer regarding, 285, 286.

Poet, historic, chief duty of, 8.

_Preface to St. Jerome's Commentaries on Jeremias_, passage in, misunderstood by some Irish scholars, 39.

Prosper of Aquitaine, cited, 40.

Prudentius, on the doctrine of Predestination, 581, 582.

_Psalter of Caiseal_, 612-614.

Psaltery, Gallic, brought from Rome by St. Finnian of Moville, 248, 249; copy of, furtively made by St. Columba, 250, 310; eventful history of this copy, 250-253; now in Royal Irish Academy, in Dublin, 253; inscription on casket which encloses it, 252, 349; workmanship of casket, 253; different custodians of, 252; the casket opened in 1814, 252, 253.

Raban Maur, bishop, and the monk Gotteschalk, 580.

Rachau, See of, as mentioned in _Life of St. Carthach_, not determined, 462.

Rahan, monastery of, founded by St. Carthach, 449; St. Carthach expelled from, 450.

Richards, Colonel Solomon, cited, 120.

Richenau, monastery of, 335.

"River of Trajan," testimony regarding existence of, 285.

Riverstown (Biorra), monastery of, founded by St. Brendan the Elder, 522.

Reeves, bishop, _Adamnan's Life of Columba_, quoted, 288, 291, 292.

Roscrea, monastery of, St. Carthach in, 451; founded by St. Cronan 523.

Rosnat (Candida Casa), monastery of, place and time of its foundation, 166-168, 246, 247; St. Enda goes to study at, 168; is visited by several other saints, 167; St. Finnian of Moville in, 247.

Rossa, member of Commission of Nine, 54.

Ruadhan of Lorrha, curses king of Tara and his palace, 218.

Rufinus of Aquileia (Grunnius), 39.

Rule of St. Carthach, 455-457.

Saigher, St. Carthach, at monastery of, 451.

Saints, first order of, 107; second order of, 107, 108; third order of, 108.

Saint Boniface, on baptism, 568; brings four charges against St. Virgilius, 569-571.

_Saltair of Tara_, work, attributed to Cormac Mac Art, 23; contents of, 23.

_Sancti Venite_, hymn, 80, 81.

Sayings of St. Patrick, 87; his saying, "Deo gratias," 112.

Schools, Christian, sketch of, 188-193; the first, 188; developed and enlarged in the fifth century, 190; in the West, 190, 191; St. Patrick did not himself establish, 192, 193.

Schools, Organization of the Gaedhlic Professional, the learned professions, 597-599; Degrees in Poetry, in Law, in History, 600, 601.

School of Aran, St. Enda founds, 177; saints who visited, 177-179.

School of Armagh, observations on, 110, 111; founded by St. Patrick, 112; other ecclesiastical buildings at Armagh, 113; a great theological seminary, 117; teachers of, 118-120; burned and plundered, 120, 121; rebuilt, 121; the _Book of Armagh_, 122-124.

School of Bangor, St. Comgall of, 364-370; founded, 367; Saint Columba and his followers visit, 368; the holiness and miracles of St. Comgall attract crowds to, 369; kings give up their crowns and come to, 369, 370; Saint Columbanus the great glory of, 370-381; Dungal, after Columbanus, the greatest glory of, 381-393; St. Malachy, abbot of, 393-397.

School of Clonard, founded by St. Finnian, 199, 200; visited by all the distinguished saints of Erin, 201; Oral Instruction in, 202; the study of Sacred Scripture in, 202, 203; relics of antiquity at Clonard, 205; plundered by the Irish and Danes, 207; refounded, 208; St. Columba at, 295.

School of Clonenagh, St. Comgall in, 366, 402; situation of, 398, 399; St. Fintan of, 399-404; founded by St. Fintan, 401; rigorous discipline and fasting in, 366, 401, 402; St. Ængus the most remarkable scholar of, 404-413.

School of Clonfert, founded by St. Brendan, 220, 221; St. Moinenn and, 222-224; St. Fintan and, 224, 225; St. Cummian and, 228-231; subsequent history of, 242 243; old cathedral of, 243, 244.

School of Clonmacnoise, situation of, 258; founded by St. Ciaran, 262; ruined churches of, 266-269; inscribed tombstones at, 269, 270; grants made to, 271; scholars of, 272-274; the Danes and Irish plunder, 274, 275; annalists of, 276-281; Dicuil the Geographer likely trained at, 281; Celtic Art at, 550-565.

School of Cork, situation of, 475, 476; St. Finbarr of, 476-484; founded by St. Finbarr, 480; scholars of, 480; exact site of, 480; crowds of holy men come to, 483; during the ninth century, 485, 486; refounded by Cormac Mac Carthy, 486; Giolla Aedh O'Muidhin, abbot and bishop of, 486, 487; St. Colman of, 487-489.

School of Derry, St. Columcille founds, 298; Columcille's original church, 298; Columcille and twelve monks set sail from, 312; famous scholars of, 352-364.

School of Durrow, situation of, 301; founded by St. Columcille, 301; interesting incidents having reference to, 302; Cormac Ua Leathain, in charge of, 303; copy of the Gospels (_Book of Durrow_), written at, 304, 305; no trace at present of any of the ancient buildings of, 305; desolated by Hugh de Lacy, 306.

School of Emly, founded, 131.

School of Glendalough, St. Kevin of, 414-422; founded by St. Kevin, 420; existing ruins in Glendalough, 422-425; St. Moling of, 425-431; the Danes ravage, 429; the native Irish ravage, 430; noble ladies go on a pilgrimage to, 430; St. Laurence O'Toole, 432-446.

School of Iniscaltra, situation of, 512, 513; St. Columba of Terryglass established at, 514; St. Caimin of, 517, 518; crowds of students come to, 518; the ruined monuments still remaining at Iniscaltra, 519, 520; sculptured stones at, 520, 521; the Danes ravage, 521.

School of Innisfallen, by whom founded, 496-499; Maelsuthain O'Cearbhail, a renowned professor of, 502; _Annals of_, 503, 504; poetry cultivated in, 504; description of island of Innisfallen, 505.

School of Iona, the _Port a Churraich_, 314; description of Iona, 315, 316; founded by St. Columcille, 316; no trace of the original buildings founded by Columcille at present, 317; churches of a later date in Iona, 317; scholars of, 331-334; Adamnan, ninth abbot of, 334-347; community of, get a free grant of Kells, 346; pillaged and plundered, 346.

School of Kells, foundation of, 306, 307; chief memorials of Columcille at Kells, 308, 309; the _Book of_ 309, 310; ravaged by the Danes, 348; head of the Columbian houses, 348, 349.

School of Kildare, St. Brigid and, 125-130; St. Brigid founds, 130, 131; Kildare becomes a great city and a great school, 132; description of church of, 133; preserves a double line of succession--abbot-bishops and abbesses, 137; ruins of, 138; the perpetual fire of, 139, 140; the art of illumination in, 140, 141.

School of Lismore, founded by St. Carthach, 453; St. Carthach of, 447-457; St. Cathaldus, the great glory of, 457-465; St. Cuanna, abbot of, 466, 467; St. Colman O'Leathain, abbot and bishop of, 467, 468; the Danes ravage, 469; princes retire to, 470; plundered and burned in the twelfth century, 471; situation of, 471; inscribed stones at, 472; the crozier of, 472, 473; the _Book of_, 473, 474.

School of Louth, founded by St. Mochta, 147; St. Patrick visits, 147; burned and pillaged by the Danes, 149.

School of Mayo, founded by St. Colman, 530-532; St. Colman of, 526-533; St. Gerald of, 534-537; St. Adamnan visits, 343, 537; subsequent history of, 538-541.

School of Moville, situation of, 245; founded by St. Finnian, 249; St. Columcille, the most famous pupil of, 249, 294; St. Columcille furtively copies the Psaltery of St. Finnian at, 250; St. Colman, abbot of, 255; produces a distinguished historian--Marianus Scotus, the Chronicler, 256, 257.

School of Mungret, founded by St. Patrick, 507; deacon Nessan of, 507, 508; St. Munchin of, 508, 509; no trace of the ancient buildings now, 509; ravaged by the Danes, 510; plundered by Murtough O'Brien, 511; "the learning of the Mungret women," 511, 512; situation of, 512.

School of Noendrum, St. Mochae founds, 142; St. Colman of Dromore at, 143, 144; friendly relations existing between Rosnat (Candida Casa) in Galloway, and, 144.

School of Ross, founded by St. Fachtna, 491; other abbots and bishops of, 492, 493; ravaged by the Danes, 493.

School of Tuaim Drecain, situation of, 602; St. Bricin, founder of, 602, 603; three schools at Tuaim Drecain, 603.

School of Tuam, founded, 541, 542; situation of, 543; attracts crowds of scholars, 543; St. Brendan visits, 543, 544; St. Jarlath of, 541-545.

Scotus Marianus, the Chronicler, date of his birth, 256; spends his youth in school of Moville, 256; ordained priest, 256; writings of, 257; death of, 257.

Scotus Marianus, Scribe and Commentator, birth and early youth of, 349; leaves Ireland, 349; and his two companions live as recluses in a cell, 350; remarkable for the holiness of his life, 351; his most famous work, 351, 352; death of, 352.

Seanach Garbh, abbot, mentioned in _Ulster Annals_, 225.

Seanross, church of, founded by St. Cronan, 523.

Sechnall (Secundinus), Saint, accompanies St. Patrick to Ireland, 59, 80; descent of, 77; composes a hymn in honour of St. Patrick, 77, 78; little is known of, 79.

Sedulius, poet, evidence that he was of Irish birth, 29-31; mention made of, in ancient MSS., 31, 32; travels of, 38; his dedication of, the _Carmen Paschale_, 32, 33; place and time of his death, 33; the Pope approves of his writings, 35; eulogism of, by critics, 35; author's remarks on writings of, 36-38; his claim to be venerated as a saint, 38; at Achaia, 33; reference in treatise of Dicuil the Geographer, which settles the question of his nationality, 289, 290.

Sedulius, bishop of Britain, subscribed the Acts of the Council of Rome, 30.

Sedulius, Commentator on Scripture, an Irishman, and a distinguished scholar, 574; other Irish scholars of name of, 574, 575; writings of, 574, 575.

Sen, ancient judge, passes first judgment respecting Distress, 11.

Sencha, learned judge, mentioned in _Senchus Mor_, 11.

_Senchus Mor_, quoted, 6, 7, 8, 11, 53, _et seq._

Siadhal (Sedulius), bishop of Dublin, death of, 30.

Sigebert of Gembloux, cited, 38.

Sinell of Cell Dareis, bell ringer of St. Patrick, 65.

Sisters, the two--Fedelm and Ethne--receive the religious veil from St. Patrick, 125.

Slainge, king of Firbolgs, the reputed founder of Tara, 19.

Slane, hill of, a historic site, 589; Dagobert, a pupil in college of, 590.

Slieve Bloom mountains, monasteries founded round base of, 398.

Stones, inscribed, discovered in Ireland, 13; in Great Britain, 13; summary of Mr. Brash's conclusions on, 13, 14; geographical distribution of, 14.

Strabo, Walafridus, abbot of Richenau, 335; composes a poem in celebration of martyrdom of St. Blaithmac, 347.

Suibine, anchorite and scribe, 269; learning and death of, 269, 274.

Suibhne, abbot of Iona, 334.

Synod, Nicene, intervenes regarding the celebration of the Pasch, 233.

Synod of Magh Lene, the Roman practice of celebrating the Pasch agreed to at, 236.

---- Whitby, the Easter usage discussed at, 527-529.

---- Bri Mac Taidgh, 356, 357, 361, 362.

---- Holmpatrick, object of, 360.

---- Kells--four archbishops legally constituted in Ireland for the first time, 361.

Synod of Mellifont, object of, 361.

Synod of Clane--professors required to graduate at school of Armagh, 362.

Synod of Athboy, main object for which convened, 362.

Tadhg, grandson of Ollioll Olum, rewarded for his military service by Cormac MacArt, 18.

Tallaght, monastery of St. Ængus, conceals his own identity and enters as a lay brother, 407, 408; the _Martyrology_ of, 408, 409.

Tara, ruins at, 22.

Taranto, ancient city of, 463.

Tawnagh, church and convent founded at, 107.

_Teach Miodhchuarta_--Parliament house--erected at Tara by Cormac MacArt, 20, 21; present state of, 21.

_Teach Moling_, monastery, situation of, 426; St. Moling's life in, 427.

_Teagusc na Riogh_, treatise ascribed to Cormac Mac Art, 23.

_Tempull-na-Skellig_, oratory of St. Kevin, 419.

Terryglass, body St. Columba Mac Crimthann transferred from Iniscaltra to, 516.

Thierry, king of Austrasia, admonished by St. Columbanus for his sins, 375, 376; expels Columbanus from his kingdom, 375, 376.

Theodoric, king, retires to monastery of Lismore, 407.

Tighernach, Boirceach, abbot of Moville, death of, 256.

Tighernach, annalist, personal history of _Annals of_, 277, 278.

Todd, writer, his _St. Patrick_ quoted, 73.

Tomrar, plunders monastery of Clonfert and kills some of the monks, 242, 243.

Torbach, primate of Armagh, got Book of Armagh transcribed, 103.

Torna Eigas, poet, poems attributed to, 28.

Torpeist, Senchan, chief bard, 616.

Tuam, cross of, description of, 554; remains of church at, 557.

Tuathal Teachtmar, king, makes a mensal demesne for High King of Tara, 19.

Tuathal Maelgarbh, king, slain by Maelmor, 262.

Turcius Ruffus Asterius, name of two consuls of fifth century, one of whom published _Carmen Paschale_, 34.

Turgesius, plunders and burns Clonfert, Clonmacnoise, &c., 242.

Ua Cobthaich, Muiredhach, bishop of Derry, death of recorded, 357.

Ua Liathain, Cormac, placed in charge of Durrow, 303; leaves Durrow without Columcille's permission, 303; founds a monastery in Tyrawley, 304.

Uisneach, (Usney), meeting of SS. Kevin, Comgall, and Canice, 421.

Ultan, Saint, collects materials for _Life of St. Brigid_, 134.

Virgilius, Saint, archbishop of Salzburg, born and educated in Ireland, 566, 567; travels to France, 567; goes to Bavaria, 567; on the re-baptism of a catechumen, 568; charges brought against by St. Boniface, 569-571; on the doctrine of the Antipodes, 570; becomes bishop of Salzburg, 572; the apostle of Carinthia, 572; rebuilds the monastery of St. Peter, 572; death of, 573; his tomb discovered, 573; epitaph on his tomb, 574.

Wilfrid, archbishop of York, defeats St. Colman of Mayo at the Synod of Whitby, on the Easter usage, 577-579.

DUBLIN: PRINTED BY SEALY, BRYERS & WALKER, MIDDLE ABBEY STREET.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "It would be futile," says O'Curry, "to attempt to give any close and detailed account of the state of education in this country before the Christian era."--_Lectures_, vol. ii., page 49.

[2] See Dr. O'Rorke's excellent _History of Sligo_, vol. ii., page 7.

[3] Cæsar, _De Bello Gallico_, Liber iv., c. 13 and 14.

[4] Illi rebus divinis intersunt, sacrificia publica et privata procurant, religiones interpretantur.

[5] Vol. ii., page 222.

[6] See O'Curry's _Lectures_, vol. ii., p. 203.

[7] Folio 213_b_.

[8] "Idola et immunda."

[9] "On Ireland's folk lay darkness, the tribes worshipped fairies (_side_)." Line 21.

[10] _Tripartite_, Stokes, p. 33.

[11] See O'Curry, vol. ii., p. 209.

[12] _Tripartite_, Stokes, p. 57.

[13] Cæsar, _De Bello Gallico_.

[14] _Tripartite_, p. 40.

[15] At Tulach-na-Druadh.

[16] See the account of the battle of Cuil-dreimhne.

[17] See Introduction to _Senchus Mor_, p. 18.

[18] _Senchus Mor_--Introduction. The ends of his fingers were probably employed to count the syllables and feet.

[19] See Introduction to the _Senchus Mor_.

[20] in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

[21] Notably Ferguson and De Vere, with Mangan and T. D. M'Gee.

[22] Introduction to the _Senchus Mor_.

[23] And also in the _Book of Leinster_.

[24] "Ogham Inscribed Monuments."

[25] Page 373.

[26] The Scottish Ogham stones, or at least some of them, certainly bear Christian symbols. See Anderson's _Lectures_, 2nd Series, Lecture V.

[27] Dr. Graves has proved that this score or key of the Ogham is correct by _a priori_ reasoning, showing what ought to be the value of the symbols from the frequency of the recurrence of the letters which they represent in old Irish.

[28] So vivid is the local tradition that a poor woman came and showed me the very spot on which the King was slain beside the well at which he stopped his horse to snatch a drink.

[29] It was A.D. 218 according to Tighernach.

[30] See O'Curry's Lectures, vol. ii., page 14, and Keating, _Reign of Tuathal Teachtmar_.

[31] See Petrie's _Antiquities of Tara Hill_, p. 129.

[32] _i.e._ _The Book of the Ua Chongabhail_. kept probably in ancient times at Kildare.

[33] _Lays of the Western Gael._

[34] Apud Ciceronem Pro Domo Suâ, c. 3, and elsewhere.

[35] Sedulius Episcopus Britanniæ (Strathclyde ?) de genere Scotorum, huic constituto vobis promulgato subscripsi. Apud Labbeum. Vol. iv.

[36] Dicuil, the Geographer, however, calls him 'noster Sedulius,' and he wrote in A.D. 825. See page 289.

[37] His statement is worth quoting. "Sedulius presbyter natione Scotus, Hildeborti Scotorum Archiepiscopi ab ineunte aetate discipulus, vir in divinis scripturis exercitatus, et in saecularibus litteris eruditissimus, carmine excellens et prosa, amore discendi Scotiam relinquens, venit in Franciam, deinde Italiam perlustravit, et Asiam, postremo Achaiae finibus excedens in urbe Roma mirabili doctrina clarus eluxit."

[38] See Migne's _Patrologia Lat._, vol. 19, page 440.

[39] Ad Scotos in Christo credentes. Prosper (p. 43).

[40] Sancto et Beatissimo patri Macedonio presbytero Sedulius in Christo salutem.

[41] Jejuniis castigata, orationibus refecta, puritate mundissima.

[42] In most of the MSS. copies of his works we find the following paragraph:--"Hoc opus Sedulius in certas chartulas dispersum reliquit, quod recollectum, adunatum, atque ad omnem elegantiam divulgatum est a Turcio Ruffo Asterio, viro claro, exconsule ordinario, atque patricio."

[43]

"Sume, sacer meritis, veracis dicta poetae, Quae sine figmenti condita sunt vitio. Quo caret alma fides, quo sancti gratia Christi Per quam justus ait talia Sedulius."

Some critics suggest the reading:--

"Summe sacer meritis, veri accipe dicta poetae,"

which would leave no doubt that the epigram was addressed to Gelasius.

[44] Liber xxvii. De Inst. Div. Lit.

[45] L. 8. Carmen 9.

[46]

"Ambo pares lingua, florentes versibus ambo, Fonte evangelico pocula larga ferunt, Desine gentilibus ergo inseruisse poetis, Dum bona tanta potes quid tibi Calliroem?"

[47] Guilielmus Eysengrein in Catalogo anno 412.

[48] Vol. xix.

[49] The construction is too artificial to please the critics of our time, or to leave freedom of thought and language to the poet.

_Primus ad ima ruit_ magna de luce superbus; Sic homo cum tumuit _primus ad ima ruit_.

[50] See Lib. ii., 1., 63 and 69. The whole passage, describing the Saviour's miraculous birth, is very beautiful.

[51]

Haec tua perpetuae qui scripsi dogmata vitae Corde, rogo, facias, Christe, manere meo; Ut tibi quae placeant, tete faciente, requirens Gaudia caelorum, te duce, Christe, metam.

[52] O'Hanlon, _Lives of the Irish Saints_, vol. ii., p. 487.

[53] Privata lectione evolvatur Sedulius antiquorum imitator, qui et verba Publii Maronis et contexendi suavitatem a seculari ad sacrum argumentum, tum scite tum pie accomodavit; indignum sane est christianos poetas adeo negligi ut ne nomen quidem juventuti scholasticae sit cognitum. Walch, _His. Crit._, cap. 10, n. 7.

[54] Ipse mutus latrat per Albinum (in some MSS. Alpinum) canem grandem et corpulentum, et qui calcibus magis saevire possit quam dentibus; habet enim progeniem Scotticae gentis de Brittanorum vicinia.--_Praef. in Lib._ iii., _Jeremiæ_.

[55] _Epist._ 185, No. 1.

[56] _Carmina._

[57] _Commonitorium._

[58] Propter acrimoniam et facundiam.

[59] "Omni Deum desideranti necessarias."

[60] Tacitus, _Agricola_, c. 24.

[61] It is clear from his own confession that _Britain_ (Brittaniae) was his native country (_patria_); but Britain then included Scotland.

[62] He became familiar with the Irish language, but it was, as he himself implies, at the expense of the vernacular, which in his case was the provincial Latin, a corrupt dialect.

[63] _Legends of St. Patrick_, by Aubrey de Vere.

[64] This is manifest from the _Confession_--Et iterum post paucos annos eram in Britannis cum parentibus meis.

[65] The _Tripartite_ says that "Caelestinus, Abbot of Rome, read Orders over Patrick," and the Scholiast on Fiacc's Hymn, says that Germanus said, "Go to Caelestinus that he may confer Orders upon thee, for he is proper to confer them."--_Stoles' Edition_, vol. ii., 419.

[66] _Tripartite._

[67] What is naturally just comes from the Holy Ghost, as the author of the Natural Law.

[68] Aubrey de Vere, _Legends of St. Patrick_.

[69] _The Legends of St. Patrick_, by Aubrey de Vere.

[70] Almost every member of a family could play on the harp. See Gerald Barry's _Descriptio Kambriæ_, p. 183.

[71] _Book of Armagh._

[72] Tirechan's Collections--"Et secum fuit multitudo episcoporum sanctorum, et presbiterorum, et diaconorum, ac exorcistarum, hostiarium, lectorumque, necnon filiorum quos ordinavit."--_Book of Armagh_, fol. 9.

[73] See _Wasserschleben's_ great collection, published at Leipzig, 1885.

[74] See Todd's _St. Patrick_, p. 457.

[75] See _Wasserschleben_, page 61, Lib. xx., c. 5; _Haddan and Stubbs_, vol. ii., Part ii., page 332.

[76] "Si vero in illa (Cathedra Patricii) cum suis sapientibus facile sanari non poterit causa praedictae negotionis, ad sedem Apostolicam decrevimus esse mittendam, id est, ad Petri Apostoli Cathedram, auctoritatem Romæ Urbis habentem." "Hi sunt qui hoc decreverunt id est, Auxilius, Patricius, Secundinus, Benignus."--See _Stokes_, p. 356, vol. ii.

[77] See Stokes' _Tripartite_, Vol. ii., page 507.

[78] _Tripartite_, page 97.

[79] _Tripartite_, page 75.

[80] Scholiast on _Fiacc's Hymn_.

[81] _Trip._ p. 105, vol. i.

[82] "Libros legis, evangelii libros, et reliquit eos in locis novis." _Book of Armagh_, f. 9.

[83] See "Tirechan's Collections," _Book of Armagh_, fol. 18, _a_2--"Ocus dubbert Patrice cumtach du Fiacc, idon, clocc, ocus menstir, ocus bachall, ocus poolire."

[84] _Trip._ vol. i., page 87.

[85] See Du Cange, _sub voce_.

[86] Benignus succeeded Sechnall as Coadjutor or Auxiliary Bishop.

[87] For instance the Cotton MS. Nero. E. 1, fol. 171; and two in the Bodleian Fell. I., ff. 7_a_-11_b_ and Fell. III., fol. 158-164.

[88] "Nam sermo et loquela mea translata est in linguam alienam, sicut facile potest probari ex saliva scripturae meae."--_Confession._

[89] Patrem habui Calpornum diaconum filium quendam Potiti filii Odissi presbyteri.

[90] Deum verum ignorabam.

[91] The strange phrase--"Repuli sugere mammellas corum"--seems to signify that he rejected the proferred intimate association with them. _Mammella_ was used metaphorically as a term endearment, in classical Latin.

[92] This is the opinion of Skene--_Celtic Scotland_, p 158. vol. i.

[93] See Todd's _St. Patrick_, p. 391.

[94] "Et devastaverunt servos et ancillas domûs patris mei."

[95] The Decurio was under the Empire an official somewhat like a Mayor or Resident Magistrate.

[96] Irish Preface to the Hymn.

[97] It was first published in 1647 by Colgan from the Isidore MS., and then by Ware in his _Opuscula S. Patritii_. It is also published in Stoke's _Tripartite_ in the series of the Master of the Rolls.

[98] For instance:--

"Maximus namque in regno cœlorum vocabitur, Qui quod verbis docet sacris factis adimplet bonis: Bono procedit exemplo formamque fidelium, Mundoque in corde habet ad Deum fiduciam."

[99] See _Krantz Danaiae_ Liber iv., c. 19.

[100] "Hymnus quando Communicarent Sacerdotes."

[101] _Tripartite Life._

[102] We know from St. Paul that no person who has been twice married can be lawfully ordained.--1 Tim. iii. 2.

[103] See _Liber Hymnorum_, vol. ii., page 287.

[104] _Scela_ and _lini_.

[105] The entire passage is as follows:--"Timorem Dei habui ducem itineris mei per Gallias atque Italiam, etiam in insulis quae sunt in mari Tyrrheno--De Saeculo recessistis ad paradisum--Deo Gratias--Æcclesia Scotorum, imo Romanorum, ut Christiani ita et Romani sitis--Ut decantetur vobiscum oportet omni hora orationis vox illa laudabilis, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison--Omnis æcclesia, quae sequitur me cantet, 'Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Deo gratias.'"

[106] In the early ages of the Church a bishop was placed over every town.

[107] "Acta S. Patricii partim Latino, partim Hibernico Sermone."

[108] He says that Colgan's argument furnishes a choice specimen of an undistributed middle term.

[109] Strictly speaking, that building was a collection of cells, each of which was tenanted by three monks.

[110] _Petrie_ p. 161.

[111] See _Life of St. Moling_, and of other saints.

[112] Additional Notes, page 336.

[113] _Vita Brendani_, cap. 14.

[114] Cap. II., De Silentio.

[115] "Cibus sit vilis et vespertinus."

[116] See _I. Eccles. Record_, Jan. 1865.

[117] Regula., cap. 3.

[118] "Votum Monasticum."--_Adamnan._

[119] St. Patrick had, we are told, three maidens who were constantly employed on embroidery work for sacred purposes--one was his own sister, Lupait, another is called Cruimtheris, and the third was King Daire's royal daughter.

"Beneath a pine three vestals sat close veiled: A song these childless sang of Bethlehem's child, Low-toned, and worked their altar cloth, a Lamb, All white, on golden blazon."

Columcille, too, had his own special embroideress for working his vestments and altar cloths. She was called Coca, and has given her name to the ancient church of Kilcock, in the County Kildare, which she founded.[A] In the _Book of Kells_, too, we find examples of vestments in the ornamentation portrayed in the richest and most vivid colouring.

[A] See O'Curry, _Manners and Customs_, vol. iii., p. 123.

[120] The Romans were those who enjoyed the rights of the Imperial citizenship, which at this time had come to be in reality a badge of slavery.

[121] See the _Salamanca MS._, p. 161.

[122] Benignus was, says the author of the _Tripartite Life_ of St. Patrick, an "adolescens facie decorus, vultu modestus, moribus integer, nomine uti et in re Benignus," and his voice "cunctos oblectans."

[123] The full title of the work is _De Excidio Britaniæ Liber Querulus_.

[124] "The penmanship is," says Bishop Reeves, "of extreme elegance, and is admirable throughout for its distinctness and uniformity."

[125] "Ferdomnach hunc librum, dictante Torbach, herede Patricii scripsit." The only word somewhat illegible is "Torbach."

[126] This is the only _complete_ copy of the Scriptures of the New Testament, which has come down to our times from the Celtic Church of Ireland. The rest were all destroyed by the Danes.

[127] The ornamentation is so minute and elaborate that Professor Westwood declares that he counted in the small space of three quarters of an inch long by less than half-an-inch in width, no fewer than 158 interlacements of a slender ribbon pattern!--_Archæol. Journal_, vol. x. p. 278.

[128] If the nuns at Clonbroney, Co. Longford, were not before them.

[129] _Tripartite_, page 37.--"Patrick went to Inver Boinde. He found a wizard in that place who mocked at Mary's virginity. Patrick sained the earth, and it swallowed up the wizard."

[130] Aubrey de Vere, _Legends of St. Patrick_.

[131] See O'Hanlon's _Life of St. Brigid_.

[132] She was in an especial manner the patroness of the 'Sons of Reading,' as students were then called; "and the Lord gives them, through Brigid's prayer, every perfect good that they ask."--_Irish Life._

[133] See _Round Towers_, page 203.

[134] _Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_--'Lamps.'

[135] Dr. Todd was of opinion that the manuscript described by Gerald Barry must have been the _Book of Kells_, which might have been removed at that time to Kildare for safe custody. But there is no historical foundation for this conjecture.

[136] _Tripartite_, p. 40.

[137] O'Clery's _Martyrology_.

[138] Du Cange. See Dr. M'Carthy's able Paper in the _Proceedings of the R.I.A._, May, 1889. In the _Tripartite_ (Stokes, p. 251), _menister_ seems to mean the paten, and _mias_ (quasi _mensa_) the altar-table.

[139] It has been said that Ninian died A.D. 432; but as Skene observes, without any authority. See _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii., p. 4.

[140] "Proselytus Brito, homo sanctus, S. Patricii discipulus." _Secunda Praefatio_, p. 6.

[141] _Four Masters_, A.D. 922.

[142] We believe this stream is a tributary of the Fane river, which in fact does come from the County Monaghan to Louth.

[143] Ad Scotos in Christum credentos ordinatus a Papa Caelestino Palladius primus episcopus mittitur.

[144] Hence the name Ailbe = _ail-beo_, "living under the rock."

[145] See Stokes' _Calendar of Ængus_.--April 23rd.

[146] In the _Tripartite_ he is represented as founding Pallas Green in the Barony of Coonagh, co. Limerick.

[147] See _Kilk. Arch. Soc._, vol. iv., New Series, page 90.

[148] His father was son of Laei, son of Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Oilioll Olum. See _Book of Rights_, page 50, and page 103.

[149] Others think Kilbanon was the church of 'Benen, brother of Cethech,' who is distinguished in the Tripartite from 'Benen, successor of Patrick.' This is highly probable.

[150] _Celtic Scotland_, Book II, p. 44.

[151] _Histor. Eccles._, Liber III., c. 4.

[152] "Vade ad Brittaniam ad Rosnatum monasterium, et esto humilis discipulus Manceni, Magistri illius monasterii." _Vita S. Endei._

[153] Lib. III. c. 4.

[154] _Primordia_, page 1058.

[155] _Chron. Picts and Scots_, page 56.

[156] _Trias Tham._, page iii. note 67.

[157] The word Rosnat simply means a sea-girt promontory, and would be equally applicable to Whithern and St. David's Head.

[158] Called also _Bealagh-na-haite_, from the overhanging cliffs.

[159] In Irish _Bealagh-na-fearback_.

[160] The lighthouse throws a red sector over the rock and shoal, which are also marked by a red buoy.

[161] Admirably edited by Miss Stokes, to whom Irish scholars owe so much.

[162] Aubrey de Vere's Translation--_Irish Odes and other Poems_.

[163] "In the Islands of the Tyrrhene Sea."--_Fiacc's Hymn._

[164] _Confession_, page 396, Vol. II., Rolls Series.

[165] Loman was a Briton, and Scotha, mother of Fortchern, was also a Briton, perhaps a connection.

[166] _Loca Patriciana_, page 152.

[167] The Life in the _Book of Lismore_ says that he was then thirty years of age, and that he had previously founded three churches in his native territory--Ross Cuire, Drumfiaid, and Magh Glass.

[168] Gerald Barry seems to think the name meant the Valley of Roses, of which he says there were none--it should rather be called the Marble Valley.

[169] See _Itinerarium Cambriae_, page 102.

[170] See _Tripartite_, vol. ii., page 632.

[171] See _Loca Patriciana_, page 204.

[172] "His daily meal was a bit of barley bread and a drink of water. On Sundays and holidays it was wheaten bread and a piece of broiled salmon."--_Irish Life._

[173] See the Irish Life in the _Book of Lismore_.

[174] See Colgan's _Life of St. Columba of Tir-da-glas_.

[175]

Regressus in Clonardiam Ad cathedram lecturae, Apponit diligentiam Ad studium Scripturae. --_Hymn from St. Finnian's Office._

[176]

Trium virorum millium Sorte fit doctor humilis; Verbi his fudit fluvium Ut fons emanans rivulis.

[177] The Irish Life also makes him son of Fintan.

[178] The modern diocese of Meath is an aggregate of seven or eight ancient dioceses; hence it has no cathedral church, but takes its name from the ancient principality (Midhe) with which it is almost conterminous.

[179] _Leabhar Breac._

[180] See Father D. O'Donoghue's interesting Paper in the _Journal_ of the R.S.A.I. for 1891, page 706.

[181] _Life of St. Ita._

[182] See _Latin Life of St. Brendan_, edited by Cardinal Moran.

[183] "Bute (Scotland) is said to derive its name from _bothe_, a cell, St. Branden having once made it the place of his retreat, and for the same reason, the natives of this isle, and also of Arran, have been sometimes styled Brandani."--Pennant's _Tour in Scotland_, vol. ii., 4th edition, Dublin, 1775, p. 164.

[This note was sent to us by the late lamented Mr. Hennessy.]

[184] _Annals of Clonmacnoise._

[185] From the late W. M. Hennessy we received shortly before his lamented death the following note:--

"In an Irish MS. in Trinity College, Dublin (Class H. 1, 7), in a tract beginning on fol. 84, two poems are copied, the composition of which is ascribed to St. Brendan (obviously of Clonfert). The first, No. 7, begins--

An da Aodh mo dha Charaid (The two Hughs, my two friends).

The second begins--

Beannacht an Choimhdhe chomachtaigh (The blessing of the Almighty Lord).

This," adds Mr. Hennessy, "is stated to be in praise of Aedh, King of Cashel; but there is no record of such a King of Cashel in the time of St. Brendan." It is much more likely it refers to Aedh, King of Connaught, who gave Inchiquin to Brendan.

[186] There are families near Clonfert, who bear this name at the present day.

[187] _Life of St. Tighernach._

[188] Whiterne in sound for Irish ears is nearly the same as Futerne, the Latin being Futerna.

[189] Some confound this St. Fursey with another Fursey, son of Lochan of the Dal-araidhe.

[190] Fursey must have been very young, certainly not more than ten years of age, when Brendan died in A.D. 577.

[191] We have made a minute examination of all this locality with the help of the Very Rev. J. Barrett, P.P., V.F.

[192] To whom we are indebted for much information about Cummian.

[193] Note to Archdall, _sub voce_, "Clonfert."

[194] There is a characteristic story of Cummian, Guaire, and Caimin, told by the scholiast on the Felire of Ængus. The three half brothers were at one time in Caimin's Church of Inis Cealtra in Lough Derg. "What would you wish to have this Church filled with?" said Caimin to Guaire. "With silver and gold," he replied, "that I might give it for my soul's sake to saints and to churches, and to the poor." "And you, Cummian, what would you have it filled with?" "I would have it full of books to instruct studious men, to enable them to preach the Gospel, and save souls," said Cummian. Then they said, "But thou, Caimin, what would you wish to have in it?" "I would wish to have the full of it of diseases and sicknesses to afflict my body," replied Caimin. And all three got their wish, "the earth to Guaire, wisdom to Cummian, and sickness and disease to Caimin;" and they all went to heaven in the way they wished.

[195] Primo loco de observatione Paschae Domini, et uno die et uno tempore per omnem orbem a nobis observetur et juxta consuetudinem litteras ad omnes tu dirigas.

[196] See Hefele. _Councils_, vol i., page 314. French Edition, 1869.

[197] Was this Breacan of Dairinis, near Waterford, half-brother to Cummian? He might have been then at Hy.

[198] Perhaps to Disert Chuimin, where he wrote: "Ut me ut nycticoracem in domicilio latitantem defenderem." Epistola.

[199] Skene says this "is the oldest authentic notice of St. Patrick."--_Celtic Scot._, vol. ii., p. 17.

[200] This is the synodical decree quoted in the _Book of Armagh_, and already referred to in this work at page 60. Its citation by Cummian so early as A.D. 640 is a clear proof that the Synod's decrees are authentic.

[201] Tome 87. _Patr. Latina_.

[202] In some ancient MSS. Fada is written Fota, but it is the same word, meaning 'Tall.'

[203] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland_, page 44.

[204] And sometimes Ninian, because he was confounded with the original founder.

[205] Book ii. c. i.

[206] _Le gach boin a boinin._

[207] Cardinal Moran's _Essays_, page 138.

[208] _Book of Rights_, page 100, note.

[209] See _Chronicon Scotorum_, compiled at Clonmacnoise.

[210] _Vita S. Ciarani._

[211] This date of the Latin Life is quite accurate. The Dominical letter for that year is C.B.; therefore the 1st of January was on Friday, and the 23rd was Saturday; and the 9th of Sept. was also on Saturday. We cannot, however, now ascertain the exact day of the moon, for the old cycle was then in use.

[212] _Chronicon Scotorum._ Anno 544.

[213] Colgan says that some of the Druids continued in Ireland down to the eighth century, and were held in high esteem in certain parts of the country as poets and sheanachies.--_Acta SS._, page 149, n. 15.

[214] See Dr. Monaghan's interesting _Records of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise_.

[215] One of the "Patres priores."

[216] "Cheranus Scottorum gloria gentis."

[217] This was the hide of the dun cow which Ciaran brought to Clonard where she gave milk to the Twelve Apostles of Erin.

[218] _Annals of Loch Cé._

[219] See Lord Dunraven's _Notes_.

[220] See Professor Stokes' _Lectures_.

[221] It has been translated for Miss Stokes by Mr. O'Looney.

[222] See _Christian Inscriptions_, page 79.

[223]

Epistola Albini Magistri ad Colcum Lectorem in Scotia-- Benedicto Magistro, et Pio Patri Colcuo Alcuine humilis levita salutem.

[224] _Acta Sanctorum_, page 379.

[225] _Wars of the G. G._ Introduction, xiv.

[226] _Four Masters_, A.D. 840.

[227] Professor Stokes repeats these mistakes in his _Lectures--Celtic Church_, page 200. Keating, however calls Cormac Archbishop of Cashel, which he certainly was not.

[228] At his conference with Niall at Clonfert, Felim sat in the seat of the abbots as a token of his superiority over Niall, not as a bishop.

[229] It is not unlikely that his family resided at Cluain Ui Braoin, now Cloonybrian, near Boyle.

[230] See _Lectures_, page 127.

[231] It was first published in 1807 by M. Walckenaer from two MSS. in the Imperial Library of Paris. In 1814, M. Letronne produced a still more learned and accurate edition, in which he shows the advantages that scholars may derive from a careful study of Dicuil's work. It is entitled: _Recherches Geographiques, et Critiques sur Le Livre "De Mensura Orbis Terrarum," composé en Irlande au Commencement du Neuvième siècle par Dicuil_.

[232] It might be rendered a trustworthy brother.

[233] See Smith's _Dictionary of Geography_.

[234] See Introd. to _Celtic Scotland_, page 3, vol. i.

[235] See Reeves' _Adamnan_, page 169, note.

[236] See Bishop Reeves' excellent edition of Adamnan's _Life of Columba_.

[237] See Reeves' _Adamnan_, page lxix.

[238] "By genealogy he had a natural right to the kingship of Ireland, and it would have been offered to him had he not put it from him for God's sake."--Life in the _Book of Lismore_.

[239] It is more likely that his ordination took place after he left Glasnevin on his homeward journey.

[240] This mistake led to important consequences. Columba not being himself a bishop found it necessary to have a bishop, subject to his jurisdiction, to perform episcopal functions in his monasteries. It was an unusual arrangement, as Bede declares, "Habere solet ipsa insula (Hy) rectorem semper abbatem presbyterum, cujus juri et omnis provincia, et etiam episcopi, _ordine inusitato_, debeant esse subjecti, juxta exemplum primi doctoris illius, qui non episcopus sed presbyter extitit et monachus."--Bede, H.E. III. 4.

[241] A.D. 545--"Daire Colum Cille fundata est" (_recte_, 546).

[242] See the _Felire of Ængus_.

[243] Notes to the _Felire_.

[244] Fecerat autem priusquam Brittaniam veniret monasterium nobile in Hibernia, quod a copia roborum _Dearmach_ linguâ Scottorum, _i.e._ Campus roborum cognominatur.--Book iii. 4.

[245] The 'Great House' was perhaps the abbot's residence. See Petrie's _Round Towers_, page 431.

[246] Ps. xc. verse 11.

[247] See Reeves' _Adamnan_, page 276.

[248] _Ibid_, page 269.

[249] Gilbert, _National MSS._, page 10.

[250] See Professor Stokes' very interesting Lecture.

[251] The Irish Life in the _Book of Lismore_ indirectly implies that Kells was founded by St. Columba, as well as many other churches in Bregia.

[252] _Round Towers_, page 437.

[253] _Four Masters._

[254] At the Dissolution in A.D. 1539 the Book came into the hands of Gerald Plunket of Dublin, but he appears to have restored it to the monks of Kells.

[255] Such is the opinion of the learned Cardinal Moran expressed to the writer in person.

[256] See Reeves' _Adamnan_, page 275.

[257] _Green Leaves_, by T. D. Sullivan.

[258] From an account written in A.D. 1761.

[259] This cross 'in margine viae' is the only cross now in the island which could answer Adamnan's description as that nigh to which Columba sat down to rest himself on his last journey from the monastic farm.--Page 231.

[260] _Irish Life._

[261] Codex A. of Adamnan's _Vita_.

[262] Greek characters are found in Adamnan's earliest MSS.

[263] In the Irish Rule attributed to Columcille we find:--"Three labours in the day, _i.e._, prayers, work, and reading," prescribed for all. But Adamnan's statement is even more authoritative and explicit:--

"Nullum etiam unius horae intervallum transire poterat (Columba), quo non aut orationi, aut lectioni, vel scriptioni, vel etiam alicui operationi incumberat."--_Adamnan's_ Praefatio II.

[264] In the Life in the _Book of Lismore_ it is said that "Columba had thrice fifty monks for contemplation, and sixty for the active life"--that is in their turn.

[265] See _Haddan and Stubbs_, Vol. II., part I., page 120.

[266] See the Irish Life in the _Book of Lismore_, which enumerates several of these churches.

[267] The first part of this Vita Secunda is not the work of Cuimine the Fair.

[268] _Matt._ x., 8.

[269] "Scitote quod nullus citra Alpes compar illi in cognitione divinarum scripturarum et in magnitudine scientae reperitur."--_Salamanca MS._

[270] See _School of Clonfert_.

[271] For instance, the details of the martyrdom of St. Blaithmac of Iona by the Danes in A.D. 824, which he describes in Latin verse, and may have learned from a fugitive who was, perhaps, the bearer of this very MS.

[272] "Erat enim vir bonus et sapiens, et scientia Scripturarum nobilissime instructus."

[273] "Edoctus est omnes liberales, sacras et asceticas disciplinas, linguas etiam Hebraicam et Graecam; et quicquid patria lingua (in qua tunc pleraeque scientiae et Dryadum quae non fuerant damnata dogmata) scriptum est vel artium vel legum vel historiarum."

[274] Book II., c. 45.

[275] See Petrie's _Tara_, page 147.

[276] "Dedit legem innocentum populis."

[277] The story of Adamnan's carrying his mother on his back originated in his well-known filial piety. Vol. III.

[278] Up to the tenth century Britannia included Scotland.

[279] See _Haddan and Stubbs_, vol. ii., part 1, p. 120.

[280] _Four Masters_, A.D. 1034.

[281] Decoro vultu, crine nitenti, ultra communem valentiam hominum, formâ erat speciosus, divinus ac humanis litteris et eloquentiâ erat praeditus.--_Vita._

[282] No. 1247 (Theol. 287).

[283] See _Transactions of the R.I.A._, Vol. vii., 295.

[284] The author has received from Most Rev. Dr. Donnelly, Bishop of Canea, a duly attested relic of the Blessed Marianus--Ex sepulchro S. Merchertachi Scoti.

[285] _Four Masters._

[286] According to O'Donovan's identification.

[287] See Reeves' _Adamnan_, page 405.

[288] _Annals of Ulster._

[289] _Four Masters._

[290] Skene thinks that this Cellach was the Benedictine abbot Celestinus to whom the Pope granted Hy in 1203, probably after this attempt to seize the place by the authority of Ronald, Lord of the Isles.--_Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii., p. 417.

[291] See _Four Masters_, A.D. 1152.

[292] See the poem from the _Saltair na Rann_ on the Patron Saints of Ireland, Cambr. Eversus, vol. ii., page 779.

[293] He was born in Mourne of Antrim, near Larne, not in Mourne of Down as stated here, and belonged to the Picts of Dalaradia.

[294] In the _Second Life_.

[295] Cardinal Moran thinks he was born as early as A.D. 530.

[296] Sinell himself studied at Clonard. His feast day is Nov. 12th.

[297] It is said that it was in Cluains Columbanus wrote his Commentary on the _Psalter_, lately published by the learned Ascoli. See Stokes' _Island Monasteries_. Journal of the R.S.A.I., page 663.

[298] It is said that Columban when working at the spade wore leather gloves through reverence for the Holy Sacrifice which he used to offer.

[299] It was a ship--"quae Scotorum commercia vexerat"--trading between Gaul and Ireland.--_Vita_, c. 22.

[300] According to others he was nearly ninety.

[301] Some writers assert that Bobbio had been founded many years previously, and that this was the second journey of Columban into Lombardy. We follow old Jonas.

[302] See Migne's _Patrologia_, vol. lxxx., page 210.

[303] "Ergo quotidie jejunandum est, sicut quotidie orandum est, quotidie laborandum, quotidie est legendum."

[304] It appears to us more likely that the Bangor Missal has the Patrician liturgy; and that the Mass in the Stowe Missal is of Welsh origin.--See _Irish Eccl. Record_, Jan., 1891.

[305] Inver Becne was the ancient name of Bangor Bay; the islands near the shore, in one of which is an ancient graveyard, are now called the Copeland Islands--the name of the foreigner who enjoyed the lands of Bangor Abbey. Dr. M'Cormick, the last Abbot of Bangor, died in Maynooth, and is buried in Larahbrine.--See Laverty's _Down and Connor_.

[306] Quantum igitur spatii lata dimensio (Zodiaci) porrectis sideritus occupat, duabus lineis limitatum est, et tertia ducta per medium ecliptica vocatur, quia cum cursum suum in eadem linea pariter sol et luna conficiunt, alterius eorum necesse est evenire defectum; solis si ei tunc luna succedat, lunae si tunc adversa sit soli. Ideo nec sol unquam deficit nisi cum tricesimus lunae dies est; et nisi quinto decimo cursus sui die, nescit luna defectum; sic enim evenit ut aut lunae contra solem positae, ad mutuandum ab eo solidum lumen, sub eadem lineae inventus terrae conus obsistat, aut soli ipsa succedens, objectu suo ab humano aspectu lumen ejus repellat. In defectu autem sol ipse nihil patitur ... luna vero circa proprium defectum laborat non accipiendo solis lumen cujus beneficio noctem colorat.--_Migne's Patrol._, No. 105, page 454.

[307] See Lothaire's Capitular, _De Doctrina_, published by Muratori. "Primum in Papia conveniunt ad Dungalum de Mediolano, de Brixia, etc., etc." So that Dungal may be justly regarded as the founder of the University of Pavia.

[308] The authenticity of these famous Caroline Books can no longer be questioned.

[309] The real number is unknown. See Hefélé, vol. v., p. 102.

[310] Hefélé clearly proves that the eighty-five Capitula sent to the Pope were not exactly the same as they are in the _Libri Carolini_ which we have. But there was no substantial difference between them.

[311] Sacris etiam literis ornatum, et simul in grammaticali foro ac Prisciani deliciis enutritum, ut facile legenti constabit.--See Lanigan, vol iii., ch. 20.

[312] Muratori adds, that in one of the MSS. are inscribed these words:--

"Sancte Columba tibi Scotto tuus incola Dungal Tradidit hunc librum, quo fratrum corda beentur. Qui leges ergo Deus pretium sit muneris, oro."

[313] Some critics have doubted if Dungal, the recluse of St. Denys, who wrote the letter on the double eclipse of the sun, were the same as Dungal of Pavia. But there is not a shadow of proof offered in support of their theory; hence, to refute it is to fight with a shadow. The unusual name, the similarity of style, the testimony of the learned, the phrase ex quo (tempore) in hanc terram (Italiam) advenerim, all point to the identity of Dungal in Paris and in Italy.

[314]

"Te precor Omnipotens quadrati conditor orbis, Dungalus ut vigeat miles ubique tuus, Sidereum ut valeat rite comprendere Olympum Sum sanctis vitamque participare queat."

[315] St. Bernard says it was "nobilior inter caeteras regni illius."

[316] See St. Bernard's graphic account.

[317] See Vita Malachiae, c. 10.

[318] "Notandum quod haec ecclesia, sicut et aliae per Hiberniam et Walliam plures, abbatem laicum habet." _Itin. Cambriae_, L. II., C. 4. A similar practice existed at the same time in the Celtic Church of Scotland.

[319] At a place now called Churchfield, where a disused churchyard is supposed to mark the site of a church built there in his honour.

[320] _Salamanca MS._

[321] "All transcripts," says Skene, "show the orthography and forms of their period" of transcription.--_Four Ancient Books of Wales_, p. 184.

[322] "Cujus (vallis) in occidentali parte versus meridiem extensum inter duos montes repperit stagnum."--_Salamanca MS._

[323] Others think it was the _Reefert_ Church, as it is now called.

[324] Petrie--_Round Towers_, p. 451.

[325] Petrie says there were no such early dedications to the B. V. Mary; but the Life of Carthach of Lismore shows that he built and dedicated a church in honour of the B. V. Mary.

[326] See page 342, where the equivocation is put in another way.

[327] See O'Hanlon, Volume vi., page 714.

[328] See Archdall.

[329] See Life in the _Salamanca MS._

[330] It is likely that his first name was Cuda, and that he got the name of Carthach Junior in honour of his master.--_Martyrology of Donegal._

[331] Constantine, a British king, was vice-abbot of Rahan, some time between 588 when he was converted, and 596, when he was martyred in Kintyre. See Forbes' _Calendars_, page 311.

[332] O'Hanlon's _Lives_, page 263, Vol. v.

[333] In the Office of St. Cathaldus it is stated that:--

Adolescens liberalibus disciplinis eruditus ad eam brevi doctrinæ excellentiam pervenit ut ad ipsum audiendum Galli, Angli, Scoti, Theutones aliique finitimarum aliarum regionum quam plurimi Lesmoriam convenirent.

Morini tells in elegant verse of the same influx of students to Lismore from most of the countries of Europe.

Celeres, vastissima Rheni Jam vada Teutonici, jam deseruere Sicambri; Mittit ab extremo gelidos Aquilone Boemos, Albis et Arverni coeunt, Batavique frequentes Et quique colunt alta sub rupe Gebennas ... Certatim hi properant diverso tramite ad urbem Lesmoriam, juvenis primos ubi transigit annos.

[334]

Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes Angulus ridet, ubi non Hymetto Mella decedunt, viridique certat Bacca Venafre.

Ver ubi longum, tepidasque praebet Jupiter brumas, et amicus Aulon Fertili Baccho minimum Falernis Invidet uvis.

[335] See _Salamanca MS._, page 931.

[336] Such is Colgan's opinion; but Skene's opinion is more probable, that Jarnlach was abbot of the Scottish Lismore. Colman was probably abbot for 40 years.

[337] See _Opera_ Ed., Giles, p. 94. He says that the English swarmed to the Irish Schools like bees, whilst the great School of Canterbury was by no means overcrowded.

[338] He is called Mailduf by Bede; but it is merely another way of rendering the Irish name--_Maeldubh_. Bede calls Malmesbury _Maildufi urbem_, that is, Mailduf's-bury, contracted afterwards into Malmesbury. William of Malmesbury describes it as founded by _Meildulf_. "Natione Scotus, eruditusque philosophus, professione monachus." See Lanigan, Vol. iii., p. 100.

[339] See _Christian Inscriptions_. Vol. ii., p. 31.

[340] _Christian Inscriptions._ Vol. ii., p. 118.

[341] See _Lectures on MS. Materials_.

[342] "The Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore" have been lately (1890) edited and translated into English by Dr. Whitley Stokes, and issued from the Clarendon Press at Oxford. The "Lives" are preceded by an elaborate critical Preface on the language and matter of the text. There is also a very complete Glossary of all the Irish words in the volume. The Dialogue has also been recently published in the _Silva Gadelica_ by Mr. S. H. O'Grady.

[343] Liber iii. c. 27. "Erant (in Hibernia) eo tempore multi nobilium simul et mediocrium de gente Angelorum ... quos omnes Scoti libentissime suscipientes victum eis quotidianum sine pretio, libros quoque ad legendum, et magisterium gratuitum praebere curabant."

[344] Mr. Caulfield seems to think that Loch Irce was the lake since called Gougane Barra: but such does not seem to have been Colgan's opinion. See _Life of St. Barre_, page iv.

[345] Father Lyons says the name is derived from its being a 'shaky' place in St. Finbarr's time.

[346] London, 1864. There is an _Irish Life_ in the Book of Lismore.

[347] See 25th Sept.

[348] See _Vita S. Davidis_, Lectio vi., p. 394. Rolls Series, Vol. iii.

[349] This clearly shows that Loch Eirce was at Cork, not in the mountains at Gougane Barra, _for they rest with Finbarr_.

[350] In the _Annals of Ulster_ the death of Diarmaid and Blathmac, sons of Aedh Slaine, is marked both at A.D. 664 and 667; the former is the true date.

[351] _Acta SS._, page 471.

[352] It is not easy to see how Fachtna could have visited the School of Cork, for he died young, and the school could scarcely be founded before the last quarter of the sixth century.

[353] _Acta SS._, page 471.

[354] See _Acta SS._, page 607, _Life of St. Talmach_.

[355] See the Paper by the Rev. Thomas Olden (in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Jan., 1884), who gives the text and a translation of this geographical poem of Mac Cosse.

[356] Book I., c. xv.

[357] _Martyr. Doneg._ April 13th.

[358] Others say he was Kennedy, son of Maenag. Becnait, daughter of Cian, was his mother.

[359] "Alio autem tempore ratis fabricatus est in insula apud S. Finanum, et missum est ab eo ad regem stagni Lein, scilicet Fedelmith, ut portaretur secum ratis." ... "Et portaverunt ratem secum (angeli) super stagnum Lugdech."

[360] _History of Kerry_, p. 100.

[361] It contains about two acres, and is called Church Island. The ruins of both church and cell are still to be seen on the island.

[362] The original entry may still be seen in the _Book of Armagh_, as follows: "Sanctus Patricius iens ad caelum mandavit totum fructum laboris sui tam baptismi tam causarum quam elemoisinarum deferendum esse apostolicae urbi quae Scotice nominatur Ardd-Macha. Sic reperi in Bibliothecis Scotorum. Ego scripsi, id est, Calvus Perennis in conspectu Briain imperatoris Scotorum et quod scripsi finivit pro omnibus regibus Maceriae."

[363] _Lectures_, MS. Materials, p. 77. Though Anmchara generally means confessor, it sometimes means counsellor. It is applied to the Angel Victor by the scholiast on Fiacc's Hymn.

[364] In a letter to Thomas Wright, 15th Jan., 1803.

[365] That is, 'Cloyne of the Caves.'

[366] Lough Lein is written Loch Leighinn in an old MS., and the natives of the district explain the word as the Lake of Learning.

[367] There is no foundation for O'Halloran's statement that Mungret was founded before the time of St. Patrick.

[368] Aubrey de Vere.

[369] _The Feast of Knock Cae._

[370] On this passage Dr. M'Carthy has kindly sent me the following note:--

That is: do not refuse what is offered, but dispense what you do not require for your own needs: ask not, but accept what is proffered, without being vainglorious thereat, or without concealing the benefaction (in order to hoard it without incurring the censure of being avaricious).

The metre is heptasyllabic, each line ending in a word of three syllables. Its name is _Casbairdne_.

The chief Old-Irish form is _ragabae_==_ro-a-gabae_: that is, the relative pronoun a (them) is placed (infixed) between the verbal particle ro and the verb--_them you shall accept_. A mediæval forger could not have coined an expression of the kind.

Plainly, the quatrain embodied a _rule_ of the monastery of Nessan; for most of their regulations were embodied in verse, being thus easier to be remembered.

[371] Nessan is expressly named amongst the saints of the Second Order; if, indeed, it be Nessan of Mungret who is referred to.

[372] The _Psaltair of Cashel_ is quoted for this statement, but that work no longer exists; Keating, however, saw it.

[373] The remains of a smaller, but later church, are still to be seen a little to the south of the older and larger building.

[374] Sneidhius of Disert Diarmada was Cormac's principal tutor.

[375] See the Rev. Denis Murphy in the _Journal of the R. H. A. A._, for July, 1889.

[376] See _Life of St. Fintan_ in this work, p. 399.

[377] The ruins of a mediæval monastery may still be seen at Terryglass; and a beautiful new church has been lately erected through the munificence of Colonel Hickie of Slevoir, at a cost to him of nearly £10,000.

[378] This anchorite, who died in A.D. 898, is called Cosgraich. He dwelt in the round tower, which on that account is sometimes call Cosgraich's tower.

[379] "_Wars of the Gael_," page 139.

[380] "Qui Propheta in scholis illiset etiam Sanctorum Hiberniae habebatur." _Vita._

[381] Ad gurgitem Ruyad, perhaps Ballyshannon.

[382] See Gilbert's _National Manuscripts_, Vol. i., page 21.

[383] See Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, Introduction, page 3.

[384] _Bede_, Liber iii., C. v.

[385] See _Irish Ecclesiastical Record_, for April, 1887.

[386] Bede, _Eccles. Hist._, Book iv., c. 4.

[387] A.D. 644, "Navigatio Colmain episcopi cum reliquis Scotorum ad insulam Vaccae Albae in quâ fundavit ecclesiam." _Ch. Scotorum._

[388] They say he came in the year in which Diarmait and Blathmac died; that is, in A.D. 664, according to the first entry.

[389] See the _Four Masters_, the second entry in the _Annals of Ulster_ A.D. 667, and _Tighernach_, who has it in A.D. 668.

[390] See also O'Hanlon's _Lives of the Saints_.

[391] Clare was a part of Connaught, at least at an earlier date.

[392] Bede, _Eccles. Hist._, Book.

[393] See Reeves' _Adamnan_, 378.

[394] See _Brady_, Vol. ii., p. 134.

[395] See Theiner, _Vet. Mon._, page 4.

[396] See Theiner. _Vet. Mon._, p. 2.

[397] See _Acta Sanctorum_, pp. 308-310.

[398] _Martyr. of Donegal_, page 349.

[399] _Annals of Ulster_, page 467.

[400] See _Loca Patriciana_, page 474.

[401] O'Donovan says it is another form of "Tuaim da Ghualann."

[402] In like manner Bishop O'Cattan is described in the previous year as High-bishop of Ferns, as there was as yet no Archbishop of Dublin.--See _Four Masters_, A.D. 1135.

[403] The ancient poem ascribed to Ængus Cele De, and quoted by Colgan from the _Saltair na Rann_, describes the Siol Briuin of Roscommon as under the patronage of Ciaran of Clonmacnoise.

[404] See _Cambrensis Eversus_, Vol. ii., p. 786.

[405] See O'Hart's _Pedigrees_, page 556.

[406] _Round Towers_, page 317.

[407] _Round Towers_, page 317.

[408] Wilde's _Lough Corrib_, pages 179, 180.

[409] _Early Christian Art_, by Miss Stokes, page 109.

[410] See _Christian Inscriptions_, Vol. ii., page 129.

[411] See _Christian Inscriptions_, Vol. ii., page 129.

[412] See _Pro. Roy. I. Ac._, vii., p. 514.

[413] See Dr. Monaghan's _Records_, p. 354.

[414] "Protulit in lucem quem mater Hibernia primum, instituit, docuit, nutrivit ... amavit."--_Poemata._

[415] "Hic pater et pastor, humilis doctusque sacerdos corpore Virgilius pausat, quem Hibernia tellus, Disponente Deo, partes direxit in istas," etc.

[416] Virgilius et Sidonius religiosi viri apud Bojoarium provinciam degentes, suis apud nos litteris usi sunt, per quas intimaverunt quod tua reverenda paternitas eis injungeret Christianos denuo baptizare. Sanctissme frater, si is qui baptizavit, non errorem introducens aut heresim sed pro sola ignorantia Romanae locutionis infringendo linguam baptizans dixisset ut supra fati sumus, non possumus consentire ut denuo baptizentur.

[417] There is very good reason to believe that Boniface though born in England, was himself of Irish origin. See _Irish Eccles. Record_ for 1884, pages 115, 190.

[418] "Malignatur adversum te pro eo quod confundebatur a te, erroneum se esse a Catholica doctrina."

[419] "Immissiones faciens Ottiloni duci Bojoariorum ut odium inter te et illum seminaret."

[420] "Quod a nobis esset absolutus."

[421] "Quod alius mundus et alii homines sub terra sint et sol et luna." See _Epistola_ xi. Zachariae ad Bonifacium, Migne's edition, page 943.

[422] "De perversa autem et iniqua doctrina ejus, qui contra Deum et animam suam locutus est; _si clarificatum fuerit_ ita eum confiteri quod alius mundus et alii homines sub terra sint, seu sol et luna, hunc, habito concilio, ab ecclesia pelle sacerdotii honore privatum."[A]

[A] See Zachary's letter to Boniface loco citato.

[423] It was while building this church that the saint so paid his men, that none of them could take out of the money-bag (pelle) more than his labours entitled him to. See the _Lessons_ on the saint's Feast.

[424] The epitaph on the saint's tomb in St. Peter's Abbey is worth transcribing:--

"Hic pater et pastor humilis doctusque sacerdos Corpore Virgilius pausat, quem _Hibernia tellus_ Disponente Deo partes direxit in istas, Quique regebat ovans praesentis culmina sedis Ferme quater denos, caris cum fratribus annos A quibus ille et amatus erat, pie quos et amavit. Interim et extruxit pulchro molimine multa Templa, loco quaedam nunc cernuntur in isto Insuper et miseris largus, simul omnibus aptus, Pro quo, quisquis legis versus orare memento."

[425] See _Haddan and Stubbs_, Vol. ii., part i., page 7.

[426] "Sedulius Episcopus Britanniæ de genere Scotorum, huic constituto a nobis promulgato subscripsi."--_Labb._ vi., 1458.

[427] _Four Masters._

[428] _Palaeographia Graeca_, iii.

[429] See Professor Stokes' _Celtic Church_, page 226.

[430] "Quid Hiberniam memorem, contempto pelagi discrimine, pene toto cum grege philosophorum ad littera nostra migrantem," "concrepantibus," says William of Malmesbury, "undique belli fragoribus."

[431] "Non ita sum territus auctoritate, aut minus capacium animorum expavesco impetum, ut ea quæ vera ratio clare colligit indubitanterque definit aperta fronte pronuntiare confundar, praesertim cum de talibus non nisi inter sapientes tractandum sit, quibus nil suavius est ad audiendum vera ratione, nil delectabilius ad investigandum, quando quæritur, nil pulchrius ad contemplandum quando invenitur."

[432] We can only quote the headings:--

1. Quod una tantum sit prædestinatio Dei. 2. Quod liberum hominis arbitrium per gratiam sanetur. 3. Quod Deus omnes homines velit salvos fieri. 4. Quod Christus pro omnibus hominibus passus sit.

The opponents of these propositions could not be orthodox.

[433] As, for instance, when he says--"Spiritualiter enim Christum immolamus, et intellectualiter eum mente, non dente, comedimus." Scotus meant spiritualiter et realiter in the same sense precisely as St. Augustin used similar words to the exclusion of the carnal revolting meaning of the Capharnaites.

[434] See Dean Cogan's _Diocese of Meath_, Vol. i., page 58.

[435] See _Dictionary of Christian Biography_, Arts. 'Sigebert' and 'Dagobert,' and the authorities there cited.

[436] Book iii., chapters iv. and xxvii.

[437] See _Bohn's_ Edition, page 163.

[438] Was this the "Colman of the Britons" mentioned in the _Additions to Tirechan_? See Stokes' _Tripartite_, Vol. ii., page 341.

[439] _Bede_, Book iii., c. 13.

[440] Agilbert may have been consecrated bishop in Ireland. The following are the words of Bede:--

"Venit in provinciam de Hibernia pontifex quidam nomine Agilberctus, natione quidem Gallus, sed tunc legendarum gratia Scripturarum in Hibernia non parvo tempore demoratus ... cujus eruditionem atque industriam videns rex rogavit eum, accepta ibi (in Wessex) sede episcopali, suae genti manere pontificem."--_Haddan and Stubbs_, Vol. iii., p. 91.

[441] By A. G. Richey in the _Introduction_, for which he declares himself alone responsible. Vol. iv., c. vii.

[442] Vol. iv., page 355.

[443] Vol. iv., page 361.

[444] See O'Curry. _Lectures_, page 240.

[445] See _Senchus Mor_, p. 231.

[446] See O'Curry, Lecture iii., Vol. ii., p. 53.

[447] _Annals of Innisfallen_, anno 1127.

[448] Keating.

[449] See _Lectures on MS. Materials_.

[450] _Acta SS._, page 5.

[451] See _Acta SS._, page 5, n. x.

[452] Fol. 58, b. a.

[453] _Manuscript Materials_, Lecture iii., page 53, and _Manners and Customs_, Vol. ii., pages 90-178.

[454] _Irish Writers_, page xlvii. to page lxxxv.

[455] See O'Curry, page 29.

[456] The "Tain-Quest" in the _Lays of the Western Gael_.

[457] Page 221.

[458] O'Donovan's _Four Masters_, A.D. 891--note.

[459] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 974 and 663.

[460] See page 24 of this present work.

[461] See O'Curry's _Lectures_, p. 521.

[462] See O'Reilly, page lxiv.

[463] Its Irish title is _Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh_.

[464] See page 51.

[465] See page 117.

[466] It was this narrative that inspired Moore's beautiful lyric--"Rich and Rare."

[467] _Manners and Customs_, Vol. ii., page 138.

[468] The _Annals of Lough Cé_, A.D. 1024.

[469] _Annals of Ulster_ and _Four Masters_.

[470] Chapter II., page 21.

[471] _Brehon Laws_, Vol. iii., p. 89.

[472] _Grammatica_, p. xxxiv.

[473] "Lingua formis suis, et regulis certis, circumscripta."

[474] See O'Curry's Lectures--_Manners and Customs_--Vol. ii., p. 154.

[475] _Lectures_, Vol. i., p. 53.

[476] Lectures--_Manners and Customs_--Vol. ii., page 157.

[477] _Tripartite_, Rolls Series, Vol. ii., page 530.

[478] Vol. ii., page 349.

[479] O'Curry, _M. & C._--Vol. ii., p. 33.

[480] The earliest authority we know for the first part of this title is the ancient author of St. Alban's Life:--"In hac insula tot viri eximiae sanctitatis fuerunt quod _Insula Sanctorum_ nomine appropriato dicebatur." The corresponding Irish form was _Inis na Naomh_. Marianus Scotus, in his Chronicle, also calls it by the same title--Insula Sanctorum--under date of the year 696, but which is really A.D. 589. See Reeves' notes in the _Ulster Journal of Archæology_, vol. vii., p. 228.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.

Footnote 250 appears on page 306 of the text, but there is no corresponding marker on the page.

The original text includes Gaelic characters that are represented as [Gaelic] in this text version.

End of Project Gutenberg's Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum, by John Healy