Saints Marinus and Anianus, August 16

At August 16 in Volume 8 of his Lives of the Irish Saints, Canon O'Hanlon mentions that the seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, had intended to publish an account of a saintly duo, Marinus and Anianus on this date. Sadly, he died before he could do so. Canon O'Hanlon did not know of this pair, which is surprising since his Anglican contemporary, the scholarly Bishop William Reeves, with whose work O'Hanlon was certainly acquainted, delivered a paper on them to the Royal Irish Academy in 1861. Their accepted feast day is November 15 so on what basis Colgan assigned them to August 16 is not clear. The pair were seventh-century missionaries to Bavaria, Marinus, a bishop and his companion Anianus of a lesser ecclesiastical rank. Both were martyred, there is some interesting speculation on the identity of their 'Vandal' attackers here. I will, however, hold over the Reeves paper until November 15, he too has some interesting speculations to offer on the original Irish names that might lie behind the Latinized forms in which they have come down to us. For now, Canon O'Hanlon has to admit defeat:

Saints Marinus and Anianus.

At the 16th of August, Colgan intended to have published the Lives of Saints Marinus and Anianus, as we learn from the posthumous list of his Manuscripts. Elsewhere, I have not been able to find any account, that might serve to explain their connection with Irish hagiology.



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A Festival of Holy Martyrs in the Félire Oengusso, February 15

I was interested to see this entry in Canon O'Hanlon's Lives of the Irish Saints for February 15:

Festival of Holy Martyrs. At the 15th of February, the following stanza, transcribed from the " Feilire" of St. Oengus, as found in the " Leabhar Breac," is thus translated by Professor O'Looney:—

Chant the Sunday's celebration
On the morrow at night
With the passion of a powerful host
The victory of the son of God they obtain."

This stanza seems to have reference, to various holy martyrs, venerated in the Church, at this date, as may be seen by consulting the " Acta Sanctorum" of the Bollandists. Regarding the "Sunday's celebration," and "the morrow at night," I feel unable further to present any illustration, other than what is contained in a comment to the Irish word, can:

"To this we find appended a note (a) Chant i.e., it is chanted because of the nobleness of the festival, even though it should fall on Sunday, or on the- Feast of Barrach the triumphant, i.e., Barrach, son of Nemnand, son of Nemangen, son of Fintan, son of Mai, son of Dublha, son of Oengus, son of Erc Uerg, son of Brian, son of Echu Muidhmeadon. And it is a fortnight [i.e., at the end of fourteen nights] in Spring his festival is, and, it is in the wilderness of Cinel Dobtha, in Connaught, he is, namely, in Cluain Cairpti, ut dixit angelus :—

"Berrach and Mochoem
Delightful was their custom
Whomsoever they prayed for at the gasp of death
Should not suffer death, i.e Hell."

The Berrach commemorated on this day is Saint Berrach of Kilbarry about whom a post can be found here. In the translation of the Martyrology of Oengus published by Whitley Stokes, the passage is translated:

Sing a Sunday's celebration on the feast of warlike Berach,
with the passion of a vigorous host the Son of
God's victory over His enemy.

and the notes add:

Sing a Sunday's celebration, i.e. not superfluous is the Sunday's celebration on this feast always, for there is always a Sunday's celebration on each chief festival in the year.

I next checked an online version of the Roman Martyrology and sure enough the entries for February 15 begin with a litany of martyrs:

At Brescia, in the time of Emperor Adrian, the birthday of the holy martyrs Faustinus and Jovita, who received the triumphant crown of martyrdom after many glorious combats for the faith of Christ.

At Rome, St. Craton, martyr. A short time after being baptized with his wife and all his household by the holy bishop Valentine, he was put to death with them.

At Teramo, the birthday of the holy martyrs Saturninus, Castulus, Magnus, and Lucius.

In the same place, St. Agape, virgin and martyr.

Reading this reminded me of a passage in Thomas O'Loughlin's book 'Journeys on the Edges' where he discusses the annual cycles of worship which shaped the lives of Christians in Ireland:

Then there was the annual round of saints' days. This brought into the life of each day Christians from every period and place - strange names of people and far away places such as we find in the calendar of feasts written in verse near Dublin in the early ninth century, the Félire Oengusso. Here is a sample for 27 July:

The day of the bed-death of Simeon the monk,
he was a great sun to the earth;
with the suffering of a loveable host in Antioch high and vast.

All they knew about this Simeon was his name, and that he was a monk. They also knew that 27 July was the anniversary of the martyrdom of a group of Christians at Antioch - which Antioch they did not know. But Simeon and those martyrs were brothers and sisters in the communion of saints and so their memory was recorded and their intercession requested.

I will close with another Irish appreciation of martyrs, this time from the eighth-century poems of Blathmac:

254. If I am to tell the true fundamental account that I had of the death of martyrs, all the servants of Christ who suffered martyrdom on their principal feasts,

255. it passes reckoning to count it. Since ancestral Adam held counsel there has been with perverse kings a multitude of the pure dear ones of Christ.

256. For what those men have suffered in the torturing of their bodies they shall have keenest vengeance; they are not clients of (a lord of) bad oaths.

257. For splendid Christ has risen; he is eternally safe in the eternal kingdom; the leader with great hosts, the triumphant one, victorious in battle, will avenge them.

References

Rev. John O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, Volume II (Dublin, 1875), 565.

Whitley Stokes, ed. and trans.,The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee: Félire Óengusso Céli dé (London, 1905), 60, 75.

Thomas O'Loughlin, Journeys on the Edges - The Celtic Tradition (DLT, 2000, 144-45.)

James Carney, ed. and trans., The Poems of Blathmac Son of Cú Brettan, together with the Irish Gospel of Thomas and a Poem on the Virgin Mary (London 1964), 87.

Companions of Saint Ursula, January 23

At January 23 Canon O'Hanlon has the first of a number of entries in his Lives of the Irish Saints relating to Saint Ursula and her companions. The story of the martyrdom of Saint Ursula was enormously popular during the later Middle Ages and it seems that Canon O'Hanlon believes there is an Irish connection, not to the saint herself, who is said to have been a British princess, but to the maidens who accompanied her and shared her fate. This particular date of commemoration is found at the city most closely associated with the martyrs, Cologne, itself the site of an Irish monastery. That said I would be far from convinced that there is any Irish link with Saint Ursula and her martyred maidens at all.  A vague claim of 'Scottish' origin does not seem a firm basis on which to proceed, given that the idea of having a link to Ireland and its saints carried a certain cachet in medieval continental Europe, where many were pleased to claim that their monastery or mission was originally founded by natives of this country. In the heat of their enthusiasm for reclaiming Ireland's glorious religious past, writers of Canon O'Hanlon's generation were also keen to press claims of Irish origins for the holy men and women associated with other countries on the basis of such 'tradition' that they were Irish or 'Scottish'. In the Middle Ages Ireland was often referred to as Scotia and its natives as Scotti, just to complicate matters even further.  O'Hanlon has noted at least eight separate commemorations associated with Saint Ursula in various volumes of his Lives of the Irish Saints so he certainly ran with this idea, but trying to disentangle what, if any, historical basis, lies behind the legend of Saint Ursula and her maidens is no easy task:

Reputed Festival of St. Ursula and of her Companions, Martyrs. [Fifth Century]

As many of these holy virgins are believed to have been Scottish or Irish, we should feel an interest in learning that their memory is said to have been celebrated at the Church of St. Cunibert, at Cologne, on this day. To their chief festival, however, we shall refer the reader for more detailed particulars regarding them.

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The Christmas Eve Massacre of 986

The good people at Medievalists.Net have made a summary of a paper by Scottish academic Thomas Owen Clancy on the Christmas Eve Massacre by the Vikings at Iona in 986 available at their site. In it the writer presents an analysis which takes these events beyond 'simple Viking vandalism' and places them in the wider context of the political and ecclesiastical rivalries of the region. Read it here.

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The Martyr of Roeux

October 31 is the feast of Saint Foillan, one of a trio of saintly brothers who went as missionaries to seventh-century Gaul.  It was in his new territory that Foillan met a martyr's death, a story recounted by Dame Augusta Drake in her collection of Catholic Legends:

XXVII. THE MARTYR OF ROEUX.

 "At the time when the children of Clovis reigned in Gaul,” says an old chronicle, “ there was in Ireland a king by name Finnloga, who had a brother, the pious Bishop Brendan. Adfin, one of the kings of Scotland, had a daughter named Gelgés, who had embraced the religion of Christ. King Finnloga’ s son was smitten with her beauty, and married her, but privately, because it was necessary to conceal it from King Adfin, who was an implacable enemy of the faith. He soon discovered it, however, and had his daughter seized and condemned to be burnt. In vain his relations and other persons of influence represented to him that man ought not to separate what God had joined; he ordered the stake to be prepared. But no sooner had Gelgés placed her foot upon the burning wood than it was extinguished. Her father was not convinced by this prodigy, but he consented to spare the life of his daughter, and he condemned her to perpetual exile. She retired with her husband to good Bishop Brendan, her uncle, and there gave birth to three sons — Fursy, Folllan, and Ultan. On the death of the grandfather, Finnloga, their father was raised to the throne; but instead of returning to the court, they resolved, by Brendan’s instructions, to devote themselves to the service of God, and they embarked as missionaries for Gaul.” So far the chronicler.

 Fursy, after many labours and hardships, attained the crown of martyrdom. Foillan, the second brother, was preparing on the 31st October, 655, the day on which our narrative commences, to leave Nivelles, where he had been resting for a short space. Gertrude was at this time the abbess of the convent of Nivelles, and had given to Foillan, in 633, the domain of Fosses, where he had built a church and monastery, the tower of which, in fact, exists to this day. His brother Ultan was now at the monastery of Fosses, and Foillan was about to join him; but before doing so he wished to celebrate the festival of All Saints with his friend the blessed Vincent Maldegher. He took his journey therefore through an opening in the forest by the route of Soignies, where he was to receive hospitality for the night in the monastery of Vincent.

 After traversing many intricate paths in solitude and silence, without meeting any living being; and having moreover, as he thought, lost his way, he began to look about for some human habitation where he might obtain shelter and direction. At last he perceived some rude straw-built huts, and thither he accordingly directed his steps. This was the hamlet of Soneffe.

Foillan seeing that it was now late, and that he had not completed half his journey, was glad to enter a hut and ask for a guide. The frightful appearance and fierce looks of the inmates of the cabin would have frightened any one but the holy missionary. But, like the glass which we read of in the Arabian tale, that did not reflect any deformed object, the heart of the saint suspected no evil, and he at once desired two of the men to accompany him as guides. Foillan conversed with the men from time to time as they proceeded along the rough and unequal path; but they said little in reply. Finding they were still pagans, he spoke to them of God, His goodness and mercy, of the redemption of man by the blood of the Crucified, and of the paradise prepared for those who believe and do His will. All his words, however, fell unheeded on their ears, and he could only be silent and pray for them. At last the saint arrived with his guides at a part of the forest where an idol was worshipped; and there, whether it was that these pagans wished to force him to sacrifice like them to their god, or whether they thought only of robbing him, the four men threw themselves upon him and dispatched him with their clubs, heedless alike of his entreaties, or of the prayers which with his last voice he offered up for his murderers.

Night now set in cold and dismal. A violent wind began to howl among the trees; and next morning a thick snow, which lay for several months, covered the face of the country. Meantime, the companions of Foillan became alarmed at his prolonged absence, and at not having seen him at the feast of Christmas, which he was accustomed to celebrate at Fosses. The most dreadful fears began to be entertained, which were confirmed by several visions. His brother Ultan, as he was at prayers, saw pass before his eyes a dove white as snow, but with wings reddened with blood; a similar prodigy was seen by the abbess Gertrude; and on the 5th January, 656, information was given her in her cell at Nivelles, that in a certain spot of the forest of Soignies the snow was red. Next day she repaired thither, guided by a bloody vapour which hovered in the sky, and discovered the dead body of Foillan. It was at first earned with pomp to Nivelles, but Ultan desired it might be buried at Fosses, as the martyr himself had requested. In order to arrive at this monastery it was necessary to cross the Sambre, then swollen by the melted snow and ice. Not knowing where to cross, it is related that Gertrude ordering them to leave the horses free, the latter passed, followed by the crowd, through the place which has ever since been called the "Ford of St. Gertrude.”

 The body of the martyr was afterwards enclosed in a beautiful chapel; and on the same spot, at a later period, was raised a magnificent church, to which was added, in 1123, an abbey of Premonstratensians. The colour of the snow, which had revealed the place of the crime, gave to this place the name of Rood (red), which was afterwards known by the name of Le Roeux, an important barony in the middle ages, and at this day a thriving little village. Soneffe, whence the murderers of the holy Foillan came, continued, and still continues, to hear the marks of the divine malediction ; for while all the other hamlets around became flourishing towns, this alone has remained as in the times of paganism, a collection of miserable huts.

Drake, Dame Augusta Theodosia, ed. and trans., Catholic Legends: A New Collection (London, 1855), 208-211.





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The Celtic Relations of Saint Oswald of Northumbria

August 5 is the feastday of Saint Oswald of Northumbria, a protege of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, and below is a 1909 paper on the Irish influences in the life of this royal martyr:

CELTIC RELATIONS OF ST. OSWALD OF NORTHUMBRIA.

J. M. Mackinlay

By relationships I do not mean ties of blood, but ties of circumstance. St. Oswald was Anglic by birth, and ruled over an Anglic people, but at various times during his romantic career he was brought into touch with Celtic influences. When his father, AEthelfrith, King of Northumbria, was killed in battle in the year 617, and was succeeded by Eadwine, brother-in-law of the dead king, Oswald, who was then about thirteen years of age, had to flee from his native land. He went to the north-west, and along with his elder brother Eanwith and a dozen followers, sought refuge in the monastery of Iona. St. Columba had been dead twenty years; but the tradition of his sanctity was still a living force in the island. Celtic monasteries were places of education as well as of devotion. When speaking of monastic institutions in Erin, Miss Eleanor Hull in her Early Christian Ireland remarks: 'Let us see what sort of life a boy lived in one of these great schools. It was a busy life, for they had not only to learn lessons and to attend the services of the church, but they had also to take their share in the general work of the place. The monks and students alike seem to have taken part in cultivating the ground, in grinding and baking bread, and in doing the duties both of farmers and cooks. Even the bishops and clergy seem at first to have worked with their hands, and to have laboured in the fields, but as the establishments grew larger the work must have been divided, and the lay brethren no doubt performed the ordinary duties, while the monks and clergy gave themselves to teaching and the services of the Church. But in St. Columcille's time all shared the work, and even men of noble birth ploughed and reaped and attended to the wants of the establishment.'

When Oswald and his brother, along with their companions, entered the monastery of Iona, they apparently did so merely because it supplied an asylum during a time of political unrest, for they were still Pagans. They allowed themselves, however, to be instructed in the doctrines of Christianity. Eventually they made profession of the new faith and received the seal of baptism. When Oswald came to Iona its Abbot was Fergna Brit, i.e. the Briton, otherwise called Virgnous, who was head of the monastery from 605 till 623. He had been one of its inmates when St. Columba was Abbot, and according to Adamnan was witness of a miraculous light which, on one occasion, enveloped the saint, and which he alone of all the brethren was permitted to see.

Meanwhile political changes were making themselves felt in Northumbria, rumours of which penetrated even into the recesses of the Icolmkill monastery. Though evidently content with his mode of life there, with its round of study, labour, and devotion, Oswald did not forget his home-land and his royal ancestry. At Iona he was still an exile. 'Unhappy it is for a man, however good his means and his lot, if he does not see his own country and his own home at the time of rising in the morning and at the time of lying at night.' This sentiment thus expressed in Dr. Alexander Carmichael's admirable version of Deirdire was found true in the experiences of the royal exile.

In 633, sixteen years after Oswald became a fugitive, Eadwine fell in battle at Heathfield (now Hatfield), in Yorkshire, crushed by the combined armies of Penda, ruler of Mercia, and his ally Csedwalla, a British prince. Eanwith thereupon ascended the Bernician throne, and Osric, a cousin of Eadwine, that of Deira ; but in the following year both these princes were slain, and the two thrones were vacant. This was a call to Oswald to enter public life, and he did not let the opportunity pass. With a small army recruited probably, as Dr. W. F. Skene suggests, from among the men of the Border north of the Tweed, he marched south and met, near the Roman Wall, between the Tyne and the Solway, a Pagan army much larger than his own, under the leadership of Catlon, who has been identified, though not conclusively, with Caedwalla.

On the day before the battle Oswald was sleeping in his tent, when, according to the narrative of Adamnan, a wonderful and cheering vision was vouchsafed to him. Adamnan says : 'He saw St. Columba in a vision, beaming with angelic brightness, and of figure so majestic that his head seemed to touch the clouds. The blessed man, having announced his name to the king, stood in the midst of the camp, and covered it all with his brilliant garment, except at one small distant point ; and at the same time he uttered those cheering words which the Lord spake to Jesua Ben Nun before the passage of the Jordan, after Moses' death, saying, " Be strong and of a good courage ; behold, I shall be with thee," etc. Then St. Columba, having said these words to the king in the vision, added, "March out this following night from your camp to battle, for on this occasion the Lord has granted to me that your foes shall be put to flight, that your enemy Catlon shall be delivered into your hands, and that after the battle you shall return in triumph, and have a happy reign." ; To give emphasis to the above story Adamnan adds: 'I, Adamnan, had this narrative from the lips of my predecessor, the Abbot Failbe, who solemnly declared that he had himself heard King Oswald relating this same vision to Segine the Abbot.' The incident, however we may interpret it, is of special interest as showing what a hold the monastery of Iona had taken on the mind of Oswald. What he had there heard of its great founder had so impressed him that now, at a critical juncture in his life, his imagination was stirred by memories of what he had been told.

In the battle that followed Oswald and his army obtained a decisive victory. The scene of the conflict was a place some seven or eight miles north of Hexham, styled in the English tongue Heavenfield or the Heavenly Field, which name, according to Bede, 'it formerly received as a presage of what was afterwards to happen, denoting that there the heavenly trophy would be erected, the heavenly victory begun, and heavenly miracles be wrought.' Bede's reference to the heavenly trophy and the heavenly miracles relates to a wooden cross erected by Oswald before the battle and to the cures believed to have been wrought by chips of its wood when placed in water. The conflict is styled by Nennius the battle of Catscaull, supposed to represent Cad-ys-gual, i.e. the battle at the wall. A church was afterwards built on the spot, and dedicated to St. Oswald.

Nothing now lay between Oswald and the throne of Northumbria, and in ascending it he re-united the kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. In addition he was overlord of practically all England except Kent, of the islands of Anglesea and Man, and even of the Cymric kingdom of Strathclyde, whose capital was Alcluith, now Dunbarton, i.e. the hill or fort of the Britons. During the time of Eadwine Christianity had been introduced into Deira by St. Paulinus ; but in Bernicia heathenism still prevailed. Accordingly when Oswald formed a plan for evangelising the northern portion of his realm, it was natural that his thoughts should turn to Iona for the help he needed. ' The same Oswald' says Bede, 'as soon as he ascended the throne, being desirous that all his nation should receive the Christian faith, whereof he had found happy experience in vanquishing the barbarians, sent to the elders of the Scots . . . desiring they would send him a bishop by whose instruction and ministry the English nation, which he governed, might be taught the advantages and receive the sacraments of the Christian faith.' In response to the king's request one of the brethren named Corman, was sent to Bernicia, but he was too austere and had little success in his preaching. On his return to Iona he was succeeded among the Angles by Aidan, whom Bede describes as ' a man of singular meekness, piety, and moderation.' The only blemish in his character hinted at by Bede was his habit of celebrating Easter at the Celtic and not the Roman time of year.

The king assigned to Aidan as his Episcopal seat, Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast, known later as Holy Island. It had a special attraction for the missionary bishop as it recalled his Scottish home. Aidan, as the Rev. Canon Raine points out, 'had been long accustomed to the sea-girt shore of Iona; and Lindisfarne would doubtless appear to him a second Iona embosomed in the waves'. The Bishop, unaccustomed to the Anglic speech, had difficulty in making himself understood in Northumbria ; but the king, who had become familiar with Gaelic during his residence in Iona, was in the habit of acting as interpreter to the chief men of the court. Bede tells us that many other Scottish missionaries settled in different parts of the Northumbrian realm, that churches were built, and that money and lands were given by the king to found monasteries. An anecdote told by Bede exemplifies King Oswald's kindness to the poor. One Easter the king was sitting at dinner with Bishop Aidan, and on the table was a silver dish full of dainties. When the king was informed that a number of starving people stood without seeking alms, he at once sent food to them, and ordered the silver dish to be broken up, and divided among them ; 'at which sight' says Bede, 'the bishop, much taken with such an act of piety, laid hold of his right hand and said, "May this hand never perish." Which fell out according to his prayer, for his arm and hand, being cut off from his body, when he was slain in battle, remain entire and uncorrupted to this day.

In 642, eight years after his accession to the Northumbrian throne, Oswald was slain in battle at a place called by Bede Maserfield, believed to be Oswestry in Shropshire. His conqueror was Penda of Mercia, who, flushed with triumph, caused the dead king's head, arms, and hands to be cut off and fixed on stakes. The story of Oswald's relics forms a picturesque chapter in the annals of hagiology; but the narration of their wanderings lies beyond the scope of the present article. The stake on which the king's head was fixed was believed to have acquired thereby miraculous powers. Bede tells us that when Acca, afterwards Bishop of Hexham, was in Ireland on pilgrimage he found that the fame of the king's sanctity was already spread far and near. A violent plague was raging at the time. Acca was asked by a certain scholar, who was dangerously ill, if he could supply any relics of St. Oswald, in the hope that they might bring restoration to health. Acca replied that he had with him a piece of the oaken stake on which the king's head had been fixed at Maserfield. He forthwith blessed some water and placed in it a chip of the wood as was done in the case of the cross at Heavenfield, already referred to. The sick man drank the water and recovered, and King Oswald got the credit of the cure.

The Celtic Review, VOLUME V JULY 1908 TO APRIL 1909, 304-9.

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The Death of Saint Killian and his Companions

DEATH OF ST KILIAN AND HIS COMPANIONS.

St. Kilian, accompanied by two companions, went from Ireland to the vicinity of Wurzburg to preach the Gospel. The fame of his deeds reached the ears of Duke Gosbert. The latter had Kilian summoned to his court, listened to him with attention, immediately renounced his idolatry, and with several of his courtiers received holy baptism. But St. Kilian's joy over his success was marred by the knowledge that Gosbert had married Gailana, the wife of his living brother. Gosbert promised the saint to dismiss his wife, and then proceeded on a campaign. Gailana, however, heard of what was in contemplation. She wickedly took the terrible resolve to have the holy bishop and his companions murdered. She gave for this purpose a large sum of money to two of her servants. These forced their way at early morning into the sleeping-chambers of the castle, and drawing their swords, slew the bishop and those who accompanied him.

Short Instructive Sketches from the Lives of the Saints for the use of Parochial and Sunday Schools, Academies &etc. (New York, 1888), 68-69.

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Saint Colman of Stockerau, October 13

October 13 is the feastday of an 11th-century Irish martyr, Colman (Coloman) of Metz. I have previously published a paper on his life here, but below is the entry for the saint from Father John Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland. Father Lanigan applies his customary sceptical approach to the sources and like many of the Irish writers on the saints doesn't disguise his irritation at the Scottish calendarist Thomas Dempster's clumsy attempt to claim this saint as a Scot, rather than an Irishman:

Various distinguished Irishmen still continued to visit foreign countries. Colman, or as usually called by continental writers, Coloman, who is styled patron of Austria, (1) left Ireland early in the eleventh century, (2) together with some other persons, for the purpose of a pious visit to Jerusalem. (3) He arrived A.D.1022 in the eastern part of Norica, now Lower Austria. Its inhabitants were then at variance with the neighbouring nations of Bohemians, Moravians, &etc. On Colman's stopping at the small town of Stockerau he was seized as a spy sent by the enemies of Austria, and thrown into prison. On the next day he was strictly examined, but although he told the plain truth, would not be believed. He was then most cruelly tortured, and at length, on his persisting in declaring his innocence, was hung from an old tree together with two robbers. While his body remained suspended from his gibbet, it continued sound and entire; and it is said that his hair and nails continued to grow. The hay or twig rope, by which his head was fastened, and even the old tree, are stated to have bloomed and revived. These extraordinary phenomena excited great attention, which was ranch enhanced by the circumstance of blood flowing from his body on occasion of a part of his flesh having been cut off for the purpose of being used in effecting a certain cure. It was now concluded, that Colman was a truly holy man, and that he had been unjustly put to death. Accordingly he was honored as a martyr, and his body was taken down and deposited with great pomp in the churchyard of Stockerau. Several miracles are said to have attested his sanctity, and Henry, marquis of Austria, was so moved by them, that he had the body removed to his residence Medlicum, alias Medlica, or Mellica, now Melck. (4) On its removal it was found entire, and was placed in St. Peter's church of that town on the 7th of October A. D, 1015, three years after Colman had been murdered. A Benedictine monastery was soon established there in honour of this saint, which has become very famous and still exists in great splendor. Erchinfrid, who has written the Acts of Colman, (5) was the third abbot of this monastery. He relates, in addition to what has been hitherto stated, several miracles wrought after his death, which it would be too tedious to repeat. He constantly calls him a Scotus, by which appellation, although he does not make mention of Ireland, or name the land of his birth, it may, considering that the Irish were then universally called Scoti, and that they were greatly in the habit of going abroad on pilgrimages, be fairly presumed that Colman was an Irishman. Erchinfrid has nothing about his having been of royal parentage, as some later writers have announced. (6) The name of this saint as a martyr is in the Roman martyrology at 13 October.

(1) Colgan (A.A. SS. p. 105.) calls him apostle of Austria; but there is no reason for giving this title; for, besides Austria having been a Christian country before the arrival of Colman it does not appear that he preached there, or that he had even time to do so. Nor do I find, that Colman was an ecclesiastic. The title given to him by German writers is that of patron of Austria. The most detailed account of him is that by the abbot Erchinfrid, who was contemporary with him, or very nearly so, and which has been published by Lambecius, Commentariorum de Bibliotheca Caesar. Vindohon. Lib, ii. cap. 8. Colman is treated of also by Ditmar and other chroniclers, by Baronius, Annal &c. at A, 1012, and other writers.

(2) According to Erchinfrid's account Colman's departure from his own country must have been only a short time before his death, which occured in 1012. Colgan says, (ib. p. 107.) that he had left Ireland before the close of the tenth century. I wish he had told us, where this information is to be found.

(3) Baronius was mistaken in saying that Colman had been often at Jerusalem. But he had not seen the narrative of Erchinfrid.

(4) Mabillon says (Annal, Ben. ad A, 1017.) that Colman’s body was buried at Melck, which he calls Mezelikim, by order of the then emperor. This is a mistake, grounded on authority inferior to that of Erchinfrid, who positively states, that Henry, marquis of Austria, was the prince, by whose order that was done. He was also wrong in assigning Colman's death to said year 1017.

(5) See above Not. I. The miraculous circumstances relative to Colman's remains are attested also by Ditmar, who was bishop of Mersburg and a contemporary of his, as he died in 1019.

(6) Surius has at 13 October an ode written in honour of St. Colman by John Stabius, historiographer of the emperor Maximilian I. It begins thus:

Austriae sanctus canitur patronus,
Fulgidum sidus radians ab Areto,
Scoticae gentis Colomannus acer
Regia proles.

Ille dum sanctam Solymorum urbem
Transiit dulcem patriam relinquens,
Regios fastus, trabeam, coronam,
Sceptraque tempsit.

Propter et Christum peregrinus exul
Factus in terris alienis ultro
Caelicam pura meditatus aulam
Mente fideque.

Then, comes an account of Colman's transactions much in the manner as related by Erchinfrid; for instance,

Austriae terras agitabat amens
Tunc furor: fortes Moravos, Bohemos,
Pannones bello simul implicabat
Inferus hostis.

Ergo dum sanctum hospitio recepit
Oppidum nostro Stockheran vocatum
Patrio ritu, &c.

It was, I dare say, on the authority of this ode that Baronius said that Colman was of a royal family. Dempster, wishing to make Colman, a Scotch prince, fabricated a story of his having been a son of Malcolm I. king of Scotland. To that shameless liar it is sufficient to oppose the silence of Buchanan, who, although he makes mention of more than one son of Malcolm, has nothing about this celebrated St. Colman. Harris, (Writers at Colman of Lindisfarne) remarking on Dempster's assumption, fell, as indeed some others had before him, into a strange mistake, confounding Colman of Austria with the one of Lindisfarne. He did not know that the former was killed in 1012, whereas the latter lived in the seventh century.

Rev. J. Lanigan, An ecclesiastical history of Ireland, from the first introduction of Christianity among the Irish, to the beginning of the thirteenth century, Volume III, (Dublin, 1829), 440-441.

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Saint Gunifort of Pavia, August 22

August 22 is the feast day of an Irish holy man who flourished in Italy, Saint Andrew of Fiesole. It is also, however, the feast of yet another saint reputedly from Ireland remembered in that country, Saint Gunifort. I have been reading Fra Anselmo Tommasini's account of Saint Gunifort in his Irish Saints in Italy, but below is that of Canon O'Hanlon, who has accessed the medieval Acts of the saint. Once again it seems that the claims of Irish nationality for this holy man rest only on a tradition that he was a 'Scot' and so once again I must remind my long-suffering readers that in the earlier middle ages this term was applied to the Irish. It's not a firm foundation on which to base claims of Irish nationality, but later Irish hagiologists like Fathers Colgan and White added him to the lists of native saints whose memories they commemorated. Certainly Canon O'Hanlon's willingness to place Saint Gunifort 'probably in the fourth or fifth century' raises a red flag for me as this would seem remarkably early for an Irishman to have enjoyed this type of missionary career, given that Christianity was only brought to Ireland in the fifth century. I would be far from convinced that Saint Gunifort was an Irishman but below is the evidence from Canon O'Hanlon's Lives of the Irish Saints:

ST. GUNIFORT, MARTYR, IN ITALY.
[PROBABLY IN THE FOURTH OR FIFTH CENTURY.]

The Acts of St. Guinefortus, Martyr, have been published almost from the very infancy of printing, and in the fifteenth century, by Boninus Mombritius, or Mombrizio, a distinguished poet and scholar of Milan. He collected this account from an ancient Passionarium, found in a vellum Manuscript, preserved among the Lateran archives, and which he printed during the Pontificate of Pope Sixtus IV. This holy martyr St. Gunifort is specially mentioned by Peter Paul Bosca in his Martyrology of the Church of Milan ; as likewise, by Joannes Baptista Carisius and by Aloysius Tattus, in his Martyrology of the Church of Como, in Italy. Also Ferrarius, Jacobus Gualla, and Petrus Galesinius have notices of him, at the present date, in their respective Martyrologies. In his "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," Thomas Dempster inserts an account of St. Gunifort. The Bollandists, likewise, present their Acts of St. Gunifort, at the 22nd of August. These Acts, in two Chapters, have a Prologue, and are comprised in seventeen paragraphs. Their author is unknown, nor can it be discovered when or where he lived. The editor, Father William Cuper, S.J., has given a previous critical commentary in fifteen paragraphs, and he has added notes. A brief account of St. Gunifortis is given by Rev. S. Baring-Gould. Among the list of lives unpublished by Colgan, as we find from Charles MacDonnell's paper, is the name of St. Gunifort, and entered for the 22nd of August.

With the history of the present holy man is associated that of a saintly brother, named Guiniboldus, and two sisters, whose names are unknown; but, all of these suffered death, for the sake of Christ. The period when these holy persons flourished has been contested by several writers.

According to Dempster, who has an account of him, the Martyr St. Gunifort and his two sisters were natives of Scotland. However, only in a general way do the most ancient accounts term them Scoti, or Scots; and, it is now universally conceded, by the modern historians of Ireland and of Scotland, that long after the introduction of Christianity to both countries, the terms Scotus and Scoti applied in use, only to a native or natives of Ireland.

However, those pious brothers and sisters were Scots by race, and of a noble family, as declared in their ancient panegyric. Whether their parents had been Christians is not distinctly stated. Still, it is related, that inspired with a desire to gain over souls to Christ in Pagan lands, and if necessary in this endeavour to encounter martyrdom; the two brothers and their two sisters resolved on leaving their parents, friends, and native country to make that heroic sacrifice. Their parents and friends remonstrated in vain, offering various inducements and persuasions, to divert their minds from such a purpose.

Having borne with this opposition for a long time, in the kingdom of Scotia; at length, they were resolved to seek escape from such importunities, and all four left their native country to journey afar in strange and distant lands. After enduring much fatigue in their travels and many hardships, through the Providence of God directing, they came to the territory of the Pagan Teutons. There the fury of persecution beset the most holy brothers, Guinefortus and Guiniboldus, with their two devoted sisters. These latter were remarkable, not alone for beautiful features, but for their purity of heart and strength of mind. By the ferocious Teutons, this noble band of brothers and sisters had been subjected to every species of insult and injury. At length, both of the holy sisters were martyred in the territory of the Teutons; yet, that particular kind of death they endured has not been recorded. However, they thus escaped all temporal torments, and passed to the embraces of their Divine spouse, Jesus Christ. Their sacred remains appear to have rested in the place of their martyrdom, although no knowledge of the exact spot has been preserved.

The two surviving brothers grieved that their beloved sisters had been thus deprived of life, or rather that these had preceded them, in obtaining the glorious crown of martyrdom. The brothers even reproached the cruel Teutons, according to the Legend, that they were not offered up as sacrifices at the same time for the cause of Christ. For using these words, although threats and angry manifestations were returned, yet the Pagans could not but admire their wonderful fortitude and courage. They deigned, even, to ask for an explanation of the Faith that was in them ; and, the holy brothers gratified them in that respect, but apparently without making much impression on their obdurate and stony hearts. Nevertheless, the Teutons persisted in requiring that they should offer sacrifice to idols. The holy brothers then declared their resolution to die, rather than do so. Whereupon, admiring their resolution, and knowing them to be good men, the Teutons would not put them to death.

After the death of their sisters, the two noble brothers, Guinifort and Guinibold, filled with the heroic desire to gain like them the crown of martyrdom, resolved on travelling to Italy, where persecution raged against the Christians at that period. This seems to have been during the time of the Pagan Emperors; and before the Arians had attempted to spread their errors there, notwithstanding a doubtful observation contained in the Acts of our saints, which might lead the reader to suppose that their persecutors were heretics.

Their journey was made accordingly to the city of Como, where the Roman authority then prevailed, and where the followers of Christ were daily subjected to torments and death. However, they were not afraid to appear in the public places of the pagans, at Como, and to announce themselves Christians, while reproaching the lictors for great cruelties towards their brethren in the Faith. To the authorities they were then denounced, and the Praetor ordered them to be arrested and brought before him. At that time, Guinifort and Guinibold were found preaching the doctrines of Christ to a great multitude of willing listeners in the public streets. However, the brothers did not obey that first summons, and [the Praetor's emissaries returned to him with a report, that they disregarded his threats, and that nearly all the inhabitants followed them.

Whereupon, the chief magistrate at Como ordered a great number of armed men to proceed thither, and making them prisoners, to bring them into his presence. Being asked whence they came, and why they attempted to seduce the people, the brothers courageously replied: "We are Scots by race, and Christians by profession; but, we seduce not your people, rather do we invite the sons of God to the country of eternal happiness." Then the Prefect asked whom did they regard as the sons of God, when they immediately replied, "Those whom He hath redeemed with His most precious blood." Filled with rage, on receiving such a reply, the tyrant commanded them to be led through the public streets of that city, and afterwards to be decapitated. Thinking that by ordering one to be sacrificed in presence of the other, the survivor might be moved through fear of death to apostatize; while the brothers were congratulating each other, that they were to suffer martyrdom together, Gunibold was beheaded, at the place of public execution, and Guinifort was released for that time. During the night, the Christians came stealthily and removed the remains of the martyr Gunibold for interment. From that to the present period, his sacred relics have remained at Como.

It does not seem likely, that Guinifort long survived. However, filled with zeal to preach the words of life, he went alone to Milan, where he converted many to the true Faith, for which he still desired to suffer, and to share the glorious crowns of his beloved sisters and brother. Nor were his hopes long deferred, for having been apprehended once more, Gunifort was again brought before the judges, and ordered by them to sacrifice before their idols. He replied: "I desire most earnestly to sacrifice myself to the living God." "Whom do you call the living God?" asked his persecutor. He then answered: "Jesus Christ is the living God and man, who created and redeemed me with His precious blood." Then, the pagan judge commanded him to be conducted without the city, and to be beheaded. Moreover, while he was led to that place destined for his execution, the lictors were ordered to inflict severe stripes upon him, and to discharge arrows against his body. That cruel sentence they strictly obeyed. They struck him repeatedly with stones and arrows, until he was all covered with wounds. Fainting through loss of blood, the glorious Martyr fell to the ground, before he arrived at the place destined for his execution. Then he exclaimed : "O Lord, King of eternal glory, O clement Father, receive my body and soul, which I offer to Thee as a sacrifice." He then lay prostrate on the earth, and apparently lifeless. Thinking he was dead, the persecutors left him there, and then departed.

After remaining for some time in that state of helplessness, it pleased the Almighty to give Guinefort strength to rise; yet, although thus severely injured and acutely suffering, with arrows fixed in his body and which he could not extract, he was enabled nevertheless to reach the noble city of Papia. In the Roman times, it was called Ticinum after the river Ticinus, now the Tesino, which flows by its walls ; but, between the sixth and eighth centuries, the ancient name disappeared, and it assumed the appellation of Papia, softened by Italian euphony into Pavia. There a pious Christian woman, who dwelt near the Church of St. Romanus, received him with great charity and veneration, while she tended him with great care for the three days he survived in her house. But then his time had arrived to receive the eternal crown, and departing this life, his soul ascended to join his sisters and brother in Paradise. At that moment, the wonders of the Almighty were manifested on behalf of his devoted servant ; for the Angels of Heaven stood around the sacred remains, filling the whole house with resplendent light, and with a most fragrant odour. At the same time were heard these joyous words of Divine praise: "Blessed be the Lord, who is always glorious in His saints."

In the Panegyric of St. Guinefort, we are told, that he was interred on the eleventh of the September Kalends (August 22nd), in the Church of St. Mary, near the Church of the great St. Romanus, where afterwards the Almighty was pleased to work many miracles, in honour of His holy Martyr. Many blind persons visiting his tomb were restored to sight. Numbers of lepers and other infirm persons, on going there, were also restored to health, through the prayers of St. Guinifort. These miracles shed no slight lustre and renown on Pavia, the city in which his relics had been preserved. Without the walls of Pavia is a church dedicated to St. Gunifort; but at Milan, where he suffered for the Faith, although the common people usually called him Bonifort, little was known regarding him, and such was likewise the case in respect to his brother the Martyr Guinibold at Como.

The present holy Martyr is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology, on the 22nd August. Besides, on this same day, various ecclesiastical writers have noted his feast, which appears to have been celebrated, not on the day of his death, but on that of his interment at Pavia. Among these writers are the author of his ancient Acts, Pietro Paulo Bosca, Joannes Baptista Carisius, Aloysius Tatti, Jacobus Gualla, Petrus Galesinus, and the Bollandists. Philip Ferarius, and Father Stephen White also commemorate him. Dempster—who claims him as a Scot, together with his brother St. Gunibald and his sisters—agrees as to the date for his feast. Gunifort, also called Gunifortis and Gunifortus in ancient writings, was regarded with special veneration in the city of Pavia.

Among the courageous and zealous Irish Martyrs who suffered for the Faith, the holy brothers Guinefort and Gunibold, with their two nameless sisters, deserve to be held in especial veneration. From the society of family and of friends, and from the attractions of home, they resolved to take up their cross and to follow Christ. Faithful to Him in their lives and deaths, their sacrifice was accepted, and their final reward had been secured, when their sufferings were over in this world, and crowned with the laurel of martyrdom.

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Vespers Antiphons from the Office of Saint Killian

Some selections from an Office of Saint Killian have been recorded by the medieval music ensemble Altramar. The trail of the Irish perigrini forms the theme of their collection Celtic Wanderers: The Pilgrim's Road. They have recorded selections from liturgical offices for Irish saints from a 12th-century Hiberno-Latin manuscript found at Vienna's Schottensift or 'Monastery of the Scots'. Below are the notes and texts from the booklet which accompanies the recording, you can find details of all the tracks plus hear samples of the music here.


I Vespers: Antiphons from the Office of St Killian

Text and music: Vienna, Schottenstift, Kilian Fragment (12C)

St Kilian (who became bishop of Würzburg) and his companions Colman and Totnan were Irish peregrini who traveled and proselytized in the areas of Franconia and East Thuringia, where they were martyred sometime around the year 689. The Vespers antiphons heard here are from an office for St Kilian found in one of the fragmentary manuscripts in the archive of the Schottensift in Vienna. These unusual and beautiful melodies did not survive intact: there are missing notes here and there, which required some educated guesswork and creative reconstruction. We chose to present some of these Vespers antiphons and the following Matins antiphons with voice and instrument, as medieval texts and illustrations indicate that stringed instruments may have been used to accompany Celtic liturgical music.


O Christi martir 

O Christi martir Sancte Kiliane, qui pro dei nomine
certando coronam aeterni decoris meruisti
omnes tua celebrantes sollempnnia tuo interventu gaudium
in celo exultent se habere perpetuum.

O martyr of Christ, saint Kilian, who by contending
for the name of God earned a crown of eternal honour,
may all who celebrate your rites rejoice
that by your intervention they have joy in heaven forever.

Chorus resonet

Chorus resonet iubilantium regi martyrum
qui beato Kyliano cum suis sociis
victoriam contulit passionis.

Let the chorus resound of those shouting for joy to the invincible king of martyrs,
the king who conferred on blessed Kilian along with his companions
the victory of martyrdom.

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Irish Monks and the Norsemen II

Concluding the paper by Henry Howorth on the Viking attacks on Ireland's monasteries. Whilst the author himself apologizes for the dry nature of the material, there are nevertheless some interesting snippets within it. He cites, for example, the prophecies about the attacks attributed to famous Irish saints. If nothing else, he certainly illustrates just how extensive these attacks were. Finally, I might add that most of the sources quoted by the author- Todd's Life of St Patrick, the Annals, the Chronicon Scottorum and the Tract on the War with the Foreigners are available through the Internet Archive.

In 833, according to the Chron. Scot., Nial, that is Nial Caille, the over-king of Ireland and Murchadh, defeated the foreigners in Daire Chalgaigh, i.e., Derry, or Londonderry ("Chron. Scot," 139 and 376). The Ulster Annals tell us, however, that the invaders succeeded in plundering Rath Luraigh, i. e., Lurach's fort, the ancient name of Maghera, in the county of Londonderry ("Annals of the Four Masters," 445)…

Besides ravaging this old foundation, we are told the pirates also plundered Connor, or Condere, in the county of Wicklow ("Annals of the Four Masters," 445). The Chron. Scot, also tells us that this year Clondolcan, near Dublin, was ravaged by them (op. cit., 139). This church was founded by Saint Mochua, who was its first abbot, and who flourished early in the seventh century. It subsequently rose to the rank of a bishop's see, and became a place of great celebrity. Of its original ecclesiastical edifices the tower alone remains (Petrie, op. cit., 393). This is, no doubt, of later date than the ninth century. A large granite cross, without ornament, which stands in the churchyard, was, however, probably there when the Norsemen made their attack. They also plundered Loch Bricren, i.e., the lake of Bricrum, so called from a chief of Ulster in heroic times. It is a small town, near a lake of the same name in the barony of Upper Inagh, in county Down. There Conghalach, son of Eachaidh, was taken prisoner and carried off by the foreigners to their ships, where he was killed ("Annals of the Four Masters,"447, 449, and note 2).

The next year, i. e., 834, we are told Dunachadh, son of Scanlan, king of the Ui Fidgheinte (who inhabited a district in Limerick round the town of Groom), defeated the invaders and killed many of them ("Chron. Scot," 141; "Annals of the Four Masters," 449).

The invasion of the great inlet of Limerick the outfall of the Shannon, which, dotted with its many islets, was a very paradise as a trysting-place for the fleets of the pirates, is told in greater detail in the Tract on the Danes in Ireland, where we read that they came into the harbour of Limerick, and that Corco Baiscinn (a district comprising the baronies of Moyarta, Clonderalaw, and Ibrickan, in the county of Clare), Tradraighe (a district in the same county, east of the river Fergus, whose name survives in the parish and rural deanery of Tradry), and the country of the Conaill Gabhra, or of the descendants of Conall Gabhra, who gave its name to the barony of Conelloe ("Wars of the Danes," xl., 9 and 31, note 7), which tribe, under their chief Donnchadh, or Donadhach, son of Scannlan (who was also head of the Ui Fidgheinte) together with Niall, the son of Cennfaeladh, the chieftain of Ui Cairbre, defeated them at a place called Senati, probably now represented by Shanagolden, in the barony of Lower Connello, in the county Limerick, where many of them were slain (" Chron. Scot.," 141; "Wars of the Danes/' xli., 9 and 224).

This battle is dated in the year 834 in the "Annals of Ulster," the " Chron. Scot.," and the "Four Masters." The "Chronicon Scotorum " tells us further that the same year Glen da Locha, or Glendalough, was plundered by the pirates… Having pillaged Glendalough, the Norsemen also ravaged Slane, in the county of Meath, where there was formerly a round tower; and Finnabhair, abha, i. e., Fennor, in the barony of Duleek, in Meath, the burial-place of St. Nechtan ("Annals of the Four Masters," 449; "Chron. Scot." 384 ; Petrie, 164).

The next year, i.e., in 835, we find them busy at their usual occupation of piracy at Fernamor (i.e., Ferns, in the county of Wexford), which was a foundation of St. Aidan, whose shrine was in the possession of Dr. Petrie (vide his volume, 201) Cluain mor Maedhoig (i. e., Clonmore, in the county of Carlow,) and other churches of Ir Mumban, i.e., Ormond (Chron. Scot.,141). The "Annals of the Four Masters" add the Church of Druimh Ing, a monastery of St. Fuintain, among the Ui Seaghain, a tribe and territory situated near Rath Ciule, in the barony of Ratoath and the county of Meath (op. cit.,45 1, and note d). The same year they made a descent upon Mungairid, now called Mungret, in far distant Limerick ("Chron. Scot.," 141; "Annals of the Four Masters," 45 1). A very ancient church, said to have been founded by St. Nessan, in St. Patrick's time, still survives there (Petrie, op. cit., 180). ”The wide range of these ravages," as Dr. Todd says, "proves they were committed by more than one body of invaders." The account for the most part is a mere dry list of names, as monotonous as the doings of the veritable Philistines which they record. In the Tract on the Wars of the Danes in Ireland, the attacks, as I have said, are not dated, but arranged in groups more or less geographical, but apparently very arbitrarily. Such a group includes the ravages just described, and adds some other names. Thus, after mentioning the expedition to Dunleer and Killessy (vide ante) we read that they returned again and plundered Swords of Columkille (i.e., Sord, near Dublin). It was a foundation of St. Columba's, and founded before the year 563 (Petrie, op. cit., 398). A famous round tower still remains there. This work also mentions Damliag of Cianan (vide ante), and Slane (id.), and Killossy or Kiluasile (id.), and Glendalough (id.), and Cluain Uamha i.e., Cloyne, in the county of Cork, but probably a mistake for the Clurain Mor already mentioned), and Mungairt, and the greater part of the churches of Erin.

…In 836 the Gentiles from Inbher Dea, i.e. the mouth of the river Vartry, in the county of Wicklow, where St. Patrick landed (Todd, "Life of St. Patrick," 338), and where the pirates doubtless had a trysting-place, attached Cildara, i. e. Kildare, and burnt half the church. From the following sentence in the Annals it is not improbable that the Norsemen were in alliance with Feidhlimdh, the King of Munster already named, for it is said he captured the oratory at Kildare against Foran, the abbot of Armagh, with the congregation of Patrick, and took them prisoners" with their submission?" Kildare, "the church of the oak," was so called from a famous oak which was much cherished by St. Brigid (Todd, op. cit. 21). St. Brigid was the founder of the monastery there, which became one of the most fertile mothers of monachism in Western Europe. Her establishment comprised both sexes. They were separated from each other in the cathedral by a partition, which explains the statement of the Annals that the Norsemen burnt half the church. While she and her successors presided over the abbey, a regularly constituted bishop had joint authority with her, and looked after matters episcopal. He had his episcopal throne, "cathedra episcopalis," she her virginal chair ("cathedra puellaris"). While the Bishop of Kildare was the senior bishop of Ireland, she was the senior abbess among the Scots. St. Brigid and the bishop she appointed were buried on the right and left of the high altar respectively; and their shrines, highly decorated with pendent crowns of gold, silver, and gems, were preserved there. He had been a patron of the arts; had imported vestments of variegated texture from the Continent, which were then deemed peculiarly magnificent, and we are told he was St. Brigid's chief artist; Dr. Todd adds that the ancient Irish ecclesiastics did not consider it beneath their dignity to work as artificers in the manufacture of shrines, reliquaries, bells, pastoral staves, crosiers, covers for sacred books, and other ornaments of the church and its ministers. "The ecclesiastics of that period seem to have been in fact the only artists, and several beautiful specimens of their work are still preserved, chiefly belonging to the century or two centuries before the English invasion of Ireland; for almost all the older monuments of this kind, especially if formed of the precious metals, appear to have been destroyed or melted by the Danes" (Todd, op. cit., II 26). From this account it will be seen that the Norsemen doubtless found a rich booty when they plundered Kildare in 836. They followed up their attack there by a second raid on Cluain mor Maedhoig, or Clonmore, in the county of Carlow, which they assailed on Christmas Eve, and whence they carried off a great number of prisoners, and then cruelly ravaged all Connaught ("Chron. Scot," 141). The oratory of Glen da Locha was also burnt by them.

The otherwise monotonous Annals have a curious notice this year, showing that nature was bountiful enough at these critical times; we read that there was abundance of nuts and acorns this year, and they were so plentiful that in some places where shallow brooks flowed under trees men might go dryshod, the waters were so full of them!

The sentence following is in grim contrast to this. "The Gentiles this year harried and spoiled all the province of Connaught"("Annals of the Four Masters," 453; "Chron. Scot," 141.) In the same year the Four Masters have an entry which would be very curious and interesting if well authenticated; we are there told that "Goffraith, son of Fergus, chief of Oirghialla, i.e., Oriel or Uriel, in Ulster, went to Alba, i.e., Scotland, to strengthen the Dal Riada, at the request of Cinaeth son of Ailpin," i.e., Kenneth McAlpin (op. cit., 453). This early use of the Norse name Gofifraith in Ireland is very interesting, but Mr. Skene, than whom it would not be easy to quote a better authority, considers it as of slight value, and that it has been taken from the unreliable genealogy of the McDonalds, Lords of the Isles, contained in the "Book of Ballymote”(letter to the author). I am not so sure, however, that he has not here been too sceptical, and the entry is deserving of more critical sifting. A second entry occurs in the " Annals of the Four Masters," which tells us Goffraith died in 851. He is then styled Chief of the Inis Gall, i.e., Lord of the Isles, and if genuine, is the first recorded of that long and picturesque line of chieftains.

The year 837 was also a terribly scarlet year in the Irish annals; we read how a formidable fleet of sixty ships appeared in the river Boyne, and a second fleet of sixty ships in the Liffey, and that these two fleets ravaged the districts of Magh Life (i. e. the plain of the Liffey in Kildare) and Magh Bregh the (plain of Bregia, between the Liffey and the Boyne, and extending from the sea into the county of Meath). The men of Bregh won a victory over them and killed six score of them ("Chron. Scot," 141).

This victory, if victory it was, was compensated by a terrible reverse elsewhere, for we are immediately afterwards told that a battle was gained by the foreigners at Inbhear-na-Barc, i. e., the river or estuary of the barks or ships, which the learned editor of the " Annals of the Four Masters" identifies with the mouth of the river of Rath Inbhir, near Bray (op. cit., 455, note ), over all the O'Neills (i.e., all the southern O'Neills who lived in the ancient Meath), from the Shannon to the sea, in which such slaughter was effected as had never before been seen, but the chief kings escaped ("Chron. Scot," 141; "Annals of the Four Masters," 455,456). This was evidently a crushing disaster for the Irish, and it was followed by blow on blow of the heaviest kind, which are described in grim, short phrases by the chroniclers. By these blows the most famous religious establishments in Ireland were devastated, and all, too, apparently in one year. The list begins with Cluain-mac-Nois, assuredly a most famous monastic foundation, the most famous seat of religion and school of art in Ireland. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Shannon, in the barony of Garrycastle, in King's County….

The name Cluain-mac-Nois means the meadow of the son of Nois. The monastery there was founded by Saint Ciaran in 544. We are told that the king, Diarmaid Mac Cerbhall assisted Ciaran with his own hands to raise the humble edifice and the still humbler cell which adjoined it, the monarch being at the time himself an outcast, on whose life a price was fixed, and who was seeking shelter from his persecutors in the wilderness to which the saint had come for solitude and repose. The monastery afterwards became the cemetery of King Diarmaid and his successors, and was richly endowed by them. It gradually became the chief school in Ireland. In the eighth century Colcu, one of its lectors, was known abroad as the chief scribe and master of the Scoti. He was a correspondent of Alcuin, who sent him a present of some holy oil for consecration, shekels as a present from his master Charlemagne, and similar gifts from himself for the brotherhood at Clonmacnois, and other presents to be distributed elsewhere. Colcu was the author of a famous work called "Scuaip Chrabhaidh," i.e., the "Besom of Devotion." He died in the year 789 (Dunraven, op. cit., 96, 97). We shall revert to Clon-mac-Nois again, for it long survived this first attack of the Danes, and increased in wealth and splendour; but there is small doubt that even now the pirates found a rich booty there.

Besides Clon-mac-Nois, we are told they in this year burnt the churches of Loch Erne, near Enniskillen, in the county of Fermanagh, such as Daimhinis, (i. e., ox island, now Devenish Island) in that lake. The monastery there was founded by Saint Molaise, otherwise called Laisren, who died there. A beautiful and perfect round tower still remains to mark the spot of the monastery, and the oratory of St. Molaise survived until a few years ago (" Annals of the Four Masters," 203, note t; Petrie, op. cit., 355, 432). They also plundered the church of Cluain Eos, or Clones, in the county of Monaghan, where there was another famous monastery, and burnt the churches of Laictene, Inis Cealtra, and Cill Finchi. Laictene was so called after Saint Lactin, who died in 622, and who had churches dedicated to him at Freshford, in the county of Kilkenny; Muscraighe, in the county of Cork ; and Ballylongford, in the north of the county of Kerry ("Annals of the Four Masters," 244, note g ; and 456, note e). Inis Cealtra was an island in Loch Dergdheirc ("Chron. Scot," 389); there was an ancient church there built, by Saint Caimin in the seventh century, and rebuilt in the tenth by the famous Brian Borumha, the object of so much affection on the part of Irish patriots (Petrie, op. cit., 272, &c.); while Cill Finnchi was a church described in a gloss to the Feilire Aenguis as near a great hill called Dom Buidhe in Magh Raighne in Ossory. This has not been identified, however (" Annals of the Four Masters," 456, note f). We next have a very remarkable reference, since it preserves for us the first name of a leader of the pirates recorded in the Irish Annals. The phrase in the " Chronicon Scoticon" is "the killing of Saxolbh, lord of the foreigners, by the Ciannachta," i.e., the men of Duleek in eastern Meath ("Chron. Scot," 143). The name Saxolbh is a curious one. It is clearly the Anglo-Saxon name Saxulf, and is not a Norse name at all. This proves that the Norse folk at this time were accompanied by some English chiefs, a fact which will be shown to have more than a passing interest presently. We then read of a slaughter of Gentiles at Carn Feradhaigh, which is a mountain in the territory of Clin-Mail in the south of the county of Limerick ("Annals of the Four Masters," 457, 245, note h; "Chron. Scot.” loc. cit). They, however, gained a victory at Ferta, i.e., the graves, probably Fearta fear Feig, on the Boyne near Slane, in Meath (" Annals of the Four Masters," 457, and note h;"Chron. Scot," loc. cit.). This was balanced by a defeat at Eas-ruaidh, now Assarae, at Ballyshannon, in the county of Donegal ("Annals of the Four Masters” 456, 457, note i; "Chron. Scot." loc. cit.). Lastly, we have the short and pregnant phrase, " The first taking of Athcliath by the foreigners." Athcliath is short for Dubhlinn of Athcliath, i. e., "the black pool of the ford of hurdles," and was the ancient name of Dublin (" Wars of the Danes," &c., xlix., note 5; "Annals of the Four Masters," and " Chron. Scot.," loc. cit.).

Such is the calendar of destruction and ravage committed in the fatal year 837. The size of the fleet which then arrived, 120 ships, is enormous for a Norse armament, as all will confess who have studied the doings of the corsairs, and the record of its handiwork shows that it was a very powerful body of invaders, and no doubt therefore led by a famous chieftain. On turning to the Tract on the Wars of the Danes we recover his name, which was Turges, or Turgesius, which it has been suggested is a form of the Norse name Thorgils. As usual, in this account the story is confusedly told, and, as Dr. Todd has suggested, we seem to have the same story repeated in it in a different way. Confused as it is, we will now abstract the notice, which is no doubt very valuable.

After mentioning the descent on Limerick (ante) this account goes on to say, "There came after that a great royal fleet into the north of Erin with Turges. This Turges assumed the sovereignty of the foreigners of Erin. The north of Erin was plundered by them, and they took possession of Leth Cuin (i.e. the northern half of the island, called Leth Cuin or Cons half; op. cit., 8, note 7). "A fleet of them took possession of Loch Eathach, i.e. Loch Neagh; another fleet took possession of Louth, another of Loch Ree" (op. cit., 9, 224, and xlii., note i). Here it will be seen three fleets are mentioned, and not two, as in the Annals. Then we have some paragraphs which are apparently inserted out of their order, and to which we shall revert presently, after which follows an account of the ravages as follows. "There came after that threescore and five ships (sixty is the number named in the Annals as forming each of the two fleets), to Dublin of Ath Cliath, and Laigin (i. e., Leinster) was plundered by them to the sea, and Magh Bregh" i.e., Bregia, already mentioned) (op. cit., 13, 226). This story is clearly a condensed account of what we have already recited from the Annals; but at this point we get a very interesting additional phrase, for we are told that this fleet, after the plundering of Laigin and Bregia, went northwards with its left hand towards Erin, and the Dalriadans gave them battle. They were led by their king Eoghanan, the son of Angus (who according to O'Flaherty was the 31st of the Dalriadan kings of Scotland), who was killed, (" Wars of the Danes," 13, 226). The Ulster Annals tell us expressly the battle was fought in Fortrenn or Pictland, and besides Eoghan he tells us that Bran the son of Angus and Aid the son of Boareta, and an almost innumerable body of people, perished there ("Skene's Celtic Scotland," 307-8, note 7). These Annals date the fatal battle in 838, which answers to 839 of our era (Todd, loc. cit").

The fight here described was one of the most important battles in history. In Mr. Skene's words, "The Picts received so crushing a blow from the Danish pirates, that it seems to have almost exterminated the family connected with Fortrenn, and paved the way for the successful attempt of the son of Alpin the Scot to place himself on the throne of the Picts"(id., 307).

It was doubtless a consequence of this victory that, as we read in the " Chronicle of the Picts and Scots," the Danes devastated Pictland as far as Cluny and Dunkeld (id., 310, note 66).

It seems clear, from the petty doings of the Norsemen in Ireland in 838, that a large part of the royal fleet, after gorging itself with booty from Ireland, had gone to Scotland, as I have mentioned. In 838 we have but one entry about "the Gentiles," where we are told they defeated the people of Connaught, and that Maelduin, son of Murighes, son of Tomaltash, and others were killed ("Chron. Scot.” 143;"Annals of the Four Masters," 459).

In 839 we read that a marine fleet of the foreigners arrived in Loch Eathach (i.e. Loch Neagh), and the territories and churches of the north of Ireland were spoiled by them. The Annals of Clonmacnois say they built a fortress there. This was no doubt the fleet of Turges which had returned from the Scotch expedition, and explains the mention of the third fleet on Loch Neagh in the confused narrative of the "Tract on the Danes in Ireland."

The same year Ferns, in Wexford, and Cork were again ravaged ("Chron Scot.” 143; "Annals of the Four Masters," 459). This was probably by another section of the invaders.

In 840 the party who had settled on Loch Neagh attacked Louth, and made prisoners of many bishops and other wise and learned men, and carried them to their fortress, after having slain many others (" Annals of Ulster," quoted in " Annals of the Four Masters," 460, 461, and note d). This event is confused, by the " Tract on the Wars of the Danes in Ireland," with the previous capture of Armagh, when it was taken three times in one month, and no doubt by quite a different section of the pirates. The mistake has led to a misplacement of the paragraphs in that narrative, and to a confusion of the chronology of Turges' expedition in Dr. Todd's narrative. The notice to which I refer runs as follows: "Moreover Armagh was plundered by them three times in the same month, and Turges himself took the abbacy of Armagh, and Forannan, abbot of Armagh, was driven away and went to Munster, and the shrine of Patrick with him, and he was four years in Munster, while Turges was at Armagh, and the power of the north of Erin was with him" (op. cit., 9, 224).

This proves that a confusion in the dates has arisen, for as Forannan returned in 845 and was absent four years, it seems to show that the capture of Armagh referred to was the later one, and not the earlier, which has been mixed up with it.

The capture of the famous old foundation of St. Patrick, and the eviction of his successor, are said to have been foretold by several of the old saints, and the Annals quotes from three of them prophecies which are very clearly ex post facto.

First that of St. Bercan:

" Gentiles shall come over the noble sea,
They shall spread over the land of Erin;
Of them shall be an abbot over every church,
Of them shall be power over Erin.
Seven years shall they be, not weak their power,
In the sovereignty of Erin,
In the abbacy of every church,
The Gentiles of the port of Dublin.
There shall be an abbot of them over this my church;
He shall not attend to matins;
Without pater, without creeds,
Without Latin, and only knowing a foreign language."

Then that of St. Columba:

" This fleet of Loch Ri
Has well exalted the foreign Gentiles.
Of them shall be an abbot of Ardmacha;
It shall be the rule of a usurper."

That of Bec ma De, a saint who is said to have lived in the sixth century:

"When the bell was rung in warm Tailtin,
The aged, wealthy Ciaran of Saighu
Promised to Erin three times,
Parties of Danes of the black ships."

This is explained in the context, as meaning that the Danish invasions were in punishment, first, of the banishment of St. Columba to Scotland ; secondly, the sacrilegious insult offered to Ciaran, of Clonmacnois, by King Diarmaid, in Tailtin, or Teltown, doubtless referring to the false oath sworn on the relics of his hand by Ambacuc in the year 544 (" Chron. Scot.," 49) ; and lastly, for the fasting of the saints of Erin against Diarmaid MacCerbhaill. This refers to the fact that Diarmaid was largely infected with Druidic notions, and was a patron of the Druids, and in consequence incurred the displeasure of St. Columba, who denounced him (see Todd's "Patrick," 118, &c.).

Let us now return once more to the Annals. Under the year 840 we are told that the foreigners who still remained at Loch Neagh built themselves a fortress at Linn Duachail, probably situated at the tidal opening of the Clyde and the Dee, in the county of Louth, where the village of Annagassan stands (" Wars of the Danes," Todd's note, Ixii., note i). Thence they plundered the churches and territories of Teabhtha, or Teffia, a territory comprising portions of the present counties of Longford and Westmeath. They also built a fortress at Dublin (doubtless where the castle still stands), whence they harried Leinster and the land of the southern O'Neills as far as Sliabh Bladhma (i.e., the Slieve Bloom Mountains in King's County, to which the land of the southern O'Neills extended) (" Annals of the Four Masters," 461, note g). They also plundered Cluain Edhnech, i.e., Clonenagh, the famous monastery of St. Fintan, in Queen's County (" Wars of the Danes," lxi., note g), and demolished Cluain Iraird, i.e., Clonard, in the county of Meath, the foundation of St. Finnian, called the foster-father of the saints of Ireland. His celebrated school at Clonard is said to have produced 3,000 disciples, and as Dr. Todd says, it became the alma mater of many eminent ecclesiastics. The famous saints known as the twelve apostles of Ireland were his disciples (Todd's "Life of St. Patrick," 98). St. Finnian died in 551.

Besides this seat of learning the invaders also laid low Cil Achaidh, or Cil Achaidh-Droma-forta (i.e., the church of the field of the long ridge), now Killeigh,in King's County, founded by Saint Sinchell, who died of the plague in 549. The next year was again a red year in the Annals. We are told the Gentiles were still at Dublin. Those at Linn Duachaill again plundered Clonmacnois and also Cennetigh, now called Kinithy, in King's County, where there was a monastery ("Chron. Scot," 145; "Annals of the Four Masters," 463, note j). Another fleet of them was stationed at Linn Ross, on the river Boyne. Linn Ross, or the pool of Ross, was that part of the river Boyne which was opposite Rosnarea, in the barony of Lower Duleek, in the county of Meath (" Annals of the Four Masters," 462, note q). Another fleet was at Linn Suileach, doubtless an ancient name of Loch Suilach, or Loch Swilly, in Donegal ("Annals of the Four Masters” 463, note 2). It was apparently from Dublin (" Annals of Ulster," quoted in "Annals of the Four Masters," 463, note s) that issued those who plundered Birra, a foundation of St. Brendan, who died in 565 or 571, now called Parsonstown and Saigher, i.e., Seir Keiran in Ballybritt, King's County, where was the principal church of St. Kiaran.

"Saigher," says Dr. Todd, "is said to have been the name of a well-venerated queen in pagan times, and a prophecy attributed to St. Patrick is cited as having directed Saint Kiaran to the place. He founded a church there, and began, we are told, by occupying a cell, where he lived as a hermit in the midst of a dense wood, and tamed some of the wild animals of the forest for his amusement; but his fame drew disciples, a monastery followed, and then a city, to which the name of Saigher, pronounced Seir, was given, from the name of the ancient well, and it was afterwards named Seir Keiran from the name of the saint." (Todd's St. Patrick, 201.)

Disert Diarmata (i.e., Saint Diarmaid's desert hermitage or wilderness) was also devastated, the body who plundered it coming from Kaeluisge (i. e., the narrow water, now Narrowwater), situated between Warren's Point and Newry in the barony of Upper Iseagh, in the county Down ("Annals of the Four Masters," 462, note p). "Disert Diarmata was the ancient Irish name of Castle Dermot, in the baronies of Kilkea and Moone, near the southern extremity of the county of Kildare, where Diarmaid, son of Aedh Roin, erected a monastery about A.D. 500. In the churchyard there are to be seen an ancient round tower and several curious crosses, which attest the antiquity and former importance of the place" (id., note o).

Three important victims of the pirates are mentioned by name this year; these were Caemhan, abbot of Linnduachaille, who we are told was mortally wounded and burnt by the Gentiles, the "Annals of Ulster" say by the Irish and Gentiles (" Annals of the Four Masters," 463, note s; "Chron. Scot.," 145). They also killed Moran mac Inreaghty, Bishop of Clogher (id.), and they captured Maldinn MacConal, king of Calatrom (i. e., Galtrim in Meath), who was killed three or four years later by the people of Leinster.

During the next two years the entries in the Annals about the Norsemen are very scanty, proving doubtless that a large part of their fleets were busy buccaneering elsewhere. This is a good halting-place. The pirates now began a series of much more important raids upon the fair lands of France, while their course in Ireland also took a new departure.

Much of this paper consists of arid detail, because the ground is largely new and untrodden, and we have to carve our way through a thicket which is dense and confused; but the very dryness of the details and their iteration proves the terrible way in which the culture and civilization of early Ireland was laid low at this time by the pirates.

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Volume VIII (1880), 281-330.

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Irish Monks and the Norsemen I

The Vikings are a favourite subject of historical revisionism these days, gone is the image of the fierce pagan marauders on which my generation was raised and instead we are encouraged to think of the Vikings primarily as traders, farmers and settlers. A Greek Orthodox friend of mine is perplexed by our rehabilitation of the Vikings and the sense of pride which the Irish take in promoting Viking festivals and the like. For him the Vikings are those who assaulted the Irish monasteries, martyred our monks and destroyed relics so what is there to celebrate? Maybe this question would have made sense to the gentleman antiquarian who authored the paper below, one of a series on Viking attacks on Ireland and Britain. Writing in 1880, Henry Howorth compiled a full dossier of information from the Annals on the assaults on Irish monasteries. I have omitted his lengthy introduction and various other sections to concentrate on the details of the Viking raids. The paper can be read in full online if you want the extra detail. In this first section we are going to look at the period from 795 until 832.

THE IRISH MONKS AND THE NORSEMEN.
By HENRY H. HOWORTH, ESQ., F.S.A.

....The attack on Ireland in 795 was, a very transient matter, and only affected one of the small islands on the coast. They did not appear there again for some years.

Their next attack was in 807, when we read in the Chronicon Scotorum, "Burning of Inis-Muiredhaigh by the Gentiles, and devastation of Roscam. The moon was turned into blood " (i.e., was eclipsed). This is the first record we have of any attack made by the Northmen on the mainland of Ireland. Its date is fixed by the eclipse just mentioned. In the Art de Verifier les Dates, i. 67, it is given under the year 807. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also names it, dating it, however, on the 1st of September, 806 ("Chron. Scot," 126, note i). Inis-Muiredhaigh, or Inis Murray, as it is more generally known, was a famous monastic site. The island is situated in the Bay of Donegal, about five miles from the coast of Sligo… The island was known by its present name as early as 747, and it probably took its name from Muiredach, a follower of St. Patrick, put by him over the church of Killala, and who also probably founded the monastery. A century later St. Molain, a contemporary of Saint Columba, was abbot of the place and founder of the old church bearing his name there, which therefore dates from the sixth century… Inis Murray was clearly a very important monastic foundation. It was also easily accessible from the Hebrides, where the rovers probably now had settled quarters. Having burnt the monastery on the island, they went over to the mainland, and penetrated into the very heart of Connaught, where they devastated Roscommon.

…We do not again read of the invaders till 811, when they made a descent upon Ulster, where, we are told, a slaughter was made of them.("Chron. Scot." 127). The next year we find them in Connaught. They were there beaten by the men of Umhall or Owle, a district comprising the modern baronies of Murresk and Burrishoole, in the county of Mayo. By this defeat we are probably to understand that, as usual with them, having made a descent and being resisted they retreated and went on, for we are told that they, the same year, slaughtered the men of Conmaicne, i. e., of Connemara, in Western Galway. They advanced yet further and made an attack on Munster. According to the Tract on the Wars of the Danes in Ireland, this fleet numbered 120 ships, a most important armament and doubtless a royal fleet… This fleet, according to the Tract just cited, went to Camas ó Fothaidh Tire (i.e., the fair island of Forthaidh), or, says Dr. Todd, perhaps of Ui Rathaigh (probably the island of Ui Rathaigh in Kerry being meant), and they plundered and devastated it and Inis Labhrain (probably some island on the river Cashen in Kerry), and also Dair Inis (i.e., the oak island). Thence the invaders seem to have advanced inland, where they were beaten by Cobthach, son of Mach Cobha, chief of the Eoghanacht of Loch Lein, a tribe which lived east of Killarney, in the barony of Magunihy and the county of Kerry. On this occasion 416 of them were killed ("Wars of the Danes in Ireland," 5 and 222; "Chron. Scot," 127; and "Annals of the Four Masters," 419). This means that the invaders were very severely beaten indeed, for 416 must have made a great gap in their not very large armament. We are not surprised therefore to find the defeat a subject of European notoriety. Eginhardt in his Annals tells us that in 812 a fleet of Northmen having attacked Ireland was defeated by the Scots. Many of the invaders were killed, and the rest returned home ignominiously (Pertz, I., 199, 200; Kruse, 66). The same event is mentioned in the annals of Fulda, where the invaders are called Danes, and in the Annales Ottenburani. It was doubtless on their return journey that, in the following year, i.e., in 813, the men of Umhall or Owle were slaughtered by them, and that Cosgrach, son of Flannabhrat and Dunchadh, king of Umhall, perished ("Chron. Scot," 129). The invaders seem altogether to have learnt a severe lesson on this visit, for we do not again hear of them for nine years.

When their attacks began again it was, as I believe, from an entirely different quarter; and I will now try and trace them out. We read in the Frankish annals, that in the year 820 a fleet of thirteen ships from Normania appeared on the coasts of Flanders, but were driven off by the coastguards there, after burning some small houses and carrying off some cattle. They then entered the estuary of the Seine, where they were also routed by the guards and lost five of their number. Then going on towards Aquitaine they destroyed a town there called Bundium by Eginhardt, and Buin in the Vita Ludovici, and whose site seems not to be known. Hence they carried off a vast booty and returned homewards ("Eginhardt Pertz," i. 207; " Vita Lud." id. ii. 625; Kruse, 79, 8o). Kruse has argued with some plausibility that this fleet was commanded by two chieftains, brothers of Eric, the Danish king, who had been expelled from their country the year before (pp. cit. 80). The question is whither did they go after leaving Aquitaine. It is curious that in the year 821 we again read of the Norsemen in Ireland, not in the north, where they would naturally have appeared if they had come from the Hebrides or Scotland, but on the south-east coast, facing the coast of Gaul. This makes it not improbable that the invaders were the same or a part of the same fleet which had been busy in Aquitaine….

As I have said, we read of a Danish invasion of the east coast of Ireland in the year 821 or 822. The "Annals of the Four Masters" tell us they attacked Edar, (which was the ancient name of the peninsula of Howth, near Dublin,) and carried off a great prey of women. They also plundered Beg Eire, i.e., Little Ireland, now Begery, a small island close to the land in Wexford harbour, on which was a church built by Saint Ibhar, who died in the year 500 ("Annals of the Four Masters," 431, notes y and z]. They also plundered Dairinis Caemhain, i. e., St. Camhain's oak island in Wexford harbour (id. and note a). St. Camhain was brother of St. Kevin of Glendalough, and was apparently also the founder of a church in one of the Arran islands (Lord Dunraven's "Irish Architecture," i. 86).

The next year we find them creeping along the coast further west, and attacking Cork and Inis Doimhli, probably not far from Cork ("Chron. Scot.," 131; "Annals of Four Masters," 433). According to the Tract on the Wars of the Danes, they also ravaged Cloyne and Rosniallain, or Roskellan; perhaps, says Dr. Todd, Rostellan, a parish in the barony of Imokilly, in the county of Cork. These places they plundered.

We also read that they made a descent on the barren rock of Scelig Michael, or St. Michael's rock, which was inhabited by an anchorite named Etgall, whom they carried off. He died shortly after, and his death is dated in the Ulster Annals in the year 823, answering to A.D. 824. The same account says he died of hunger and thirst ("Annals of the Four Masters” 435, note z)……

Hitherto the attacks of the Norsemen had fallen in Ireland chiefly upon monasteries of a secondary importance. Their next victim was to be a much more stately foundation, namely the monastery of Bangor, Bennchair Mor, or Great Bangor, as the "Chronicon Scotorum" calls it, which was founded in 558 by Saint Comgall, a companion of Saint Columba. It was situated on the south side of Belfast Loch, in the county Down. Three thousand monks at one time obeyed its rule, and it became the foster-mother of many missionaries (Skene, "Celtic Scotland," i. 55 57). It was now to go under. We are told the Gentiles plundered the monastery, killed its bishop, its doctors and clergy, and broke the shrine of Saint Comgall. The Ulster Annals state that the relics of Saint Comgall were shaken out of the shrine by the falling of the building (" Wars of the Danes," &c., xxxviii. and 7; " Chron. Scot," 133; "Annals of the Four Masters," 434, note p). This was in 824. The next year, i.e. in 825, the invaders, who had apparently wintered in Strangford or Belfast Lochs, which in later times became very favourite trysting places of theirs, made a descent on Magh bile, i.e. Movilla in the county of Down, several of whose bishops are mentioned in the Annals, and we are told they burnt it with its erdamhs, i.e., plundered the church with its attached chapels ("Chron. Scot.," 133; “Wars of the Danes," &c., xxxviii. and 223). They also attacked Dunleth glaise ("Chron. Scot," 133), i.e., Downpatrick, at the southern end of Strangford Loch, the burial place of Saint Patrick (Todd's "Life of St. Patrick," 493), and which was in those days the royal residence of the chieftains of Eastern Ulster ("Wars of the Danes," cxlviii. note 2). The invaders, however, had not it all their own way, for we are told that they were defeated by the Ulster men at Magh Inis (i. e., the island plain, so called from its being nearly surrounded by the sea. It is the modern barony of Lecale, in the county Down.) In this fight very many people fell ("Chron. Scot," 133; Todd's "Patrick," 408, note 3). The same year we find the invaders in the south of the island. They had perhaps coasted round its eastern shores after their exploits in Ulster, for we meet with them in Munster and Ossory. The Chronicon Scotorum merely says they defeated the people of Ossory, and again plundered Inis Doimhle. In the Tract on the Wars of the Danes we are told they came to the Ceinnselaigh (i.e., the district coinciding nearly with the present dioceses of Leighlin and Ferns in the counties of Wexford and Carlow id. xxxix. and 7), and plundered Tech Munnu (St. Munna's house) now Taghmon, in the county of Wexford; Tech Moling, St. Moling's house, a monastery founded in 632; the place is still called Saint Mullins, and is on the river Barrow, in the county of Carlow) and Inis Teoc, now Inistioge, a small town on the river Nore, in the county of Kilkenny. They then entered the district of Ossory, where they had a warm reception from the inhabitants, and 170 of them were killed (" Wars of the Danes," &c., xxxix.)

In the same year we are told in the Ulster Annals that the Gentiles spoilt Lusca, in the modern county of Dublin, and wasted Cianachta (i. e., a territory situated in the baronies of Upper and Lower Duleek in the county of Meath) as far as Ochtar Ungen (? Ocha in the county of Meath, near Tara), and afterwards they spoiled the Galls of the north-east, i. e., of Scotland (" Annals of the Four Masters," 1,440, note i). This is doubtless the same event mentioned in the Chron. Scot., where we read that Blathmac, son of Flann, was martyred by the Gentiles at Iona ("Chron. Scot.," 133). According to the metrical life of this saint, by his contemporary, Walafred Strabo, which is still extant, he was of royal descent and heir to a throne in Ireland, but devoted himself to a religious life, and became the head of a monastery. Coveting the crown of martyrdom we are told he sought the dangerous neighbourhood of Iona, then presided over by Diarmaid, who in 818 had taken the shrine of Saint Columba there from Ireland ("Chron. Scot," 131). This seems to show that the Scottish isles were, at that time, unmolested by the pirates. When he learnt of the approach of the invaders he addressed the brethren, and bidding those who could not face the danger depart, he and others determined to stay and oppose the intruders. The chief objects of Danish cupidity on these occasions were the gold and bejewelled shrines enclosing the precious bones of the saints. The shrine of Saint Columba was now taken from its place, buried and covered with sods. We are told that St. Blathmac was celebrating Mass when the invaders fell upon the island. They put many of the monks to the sword, and then turned upon the Saint and demanded the precious reliquary, all showing that the monastery had been in a measure rebuilt since its former destruction. He had purposely remained ignorant of its hiding place, and, we are told, spoke to the enemy in the barbarous tongue, i.e., in Norse, which was assuredly a most curious accomplishment for an Irish ecclesiastic at this time. He said, "I know not truly what gold ye seek, where it may be placed in the ground, and in what recesses it may be hid; but if it were permitted me to know, Christ permitting, never would these lips tell this to your ears. Savagely bring your swords, seize their hilts and kill. O God I commend my humble self to thy protection." Thereupon they cut him in pieces (Skene, 2, 302 and 303). Diarmaid, the abbot of Iona, apparently escaped, and four years later, i. e., in 829, we find him going to Scotland with the Meonna of St. Columba, which is explained by Dr. Reeves as the articles of veneration of the saint, such as his crozier and his books or vestments, as distinguished from his ashes, and which he had doubtless saved in his flight (id. 303)….

Let us now revert once more to Ireland. Still referring to the year 825, the annals report the destruction Dun Laighen at Druim, by the pagans, in which Conaing, son of Cuchongelt, lord of the Fortuatha was slain with many others ("Annals of the Four Masters," 441). Fortuatha Laighen was the district in which Saint Patrick first landed, and was situated in the county of Wicklow (Todd's "St. Patrick," 286 and notes).

In 826, according to the Four Masters, a year answering to 828 of the Chron. Scotorum, which was probably the true date, Temhnen the anchorite (not otherwise known to me) was martyred by the foreigners (op. cit. 441), and Leathlobhar mac Loingseach, king of Ulidia (i. e., the modern county Down) defeated them (id. 443). The Ulster Annals also mention a great slaughter of hogs by the Galls, i.e., the strangers in Ard Ceanachta, the modern barony of Ferrard, county of Louth ("Chron. Scot.," index); and we are told Cinaedh mac Cumascai, king of Cianacht (i. e. of Upper and Lower Duleek in county Meath), was wounded by the same foreigners, who also burnt Lain Lere (i. e., Dunleer, county Louth) and Cluonmor (? Cloyne in county Cork or Clonmore in county Carlow) (" Annals of the Four Masters," 442 note, p). The same year, according to several authorities, a battle was fought against the invaders by Cairpre, son of Cathal king of the Ui Cennsealaigh, i. e. of Wexford, and by the family of Teach Munna, who had already suffered from their attacks (vide supra), so that the monks were becoming martial men, and were now allied with the royal clan (from whom doubtless their comarbs were chosen) in repelling the intruders…

During the next two years we do not read of any attacks made upon Ireland by the pirates, and strangely enough it is during this interval we find them on the coasts of Gaul again. The coincidence is certainly strange, and one fact, probably, explains the other… It was in 832, however, that they made a much more important attack upon Ireland. The times were favourable to them. There was at this period a persistent feud among the Irish princes, which had lasted for more than a century, owing to the pretensions of the chief of Cashel in Munster to be acknowledged as overking of all Ireland. This claim was at this time hard pressed by Feidhlimidh son of Crimhthan the chieftain of Munster.

"Although," says Dr. Todd, "he was himself an ecclesiastic, abbot, and bishop, as well as king of Cashel, he did not hesitate in the prosecution of his political designs to plunder the most sacred places in the northern half of Ireland, and to put to the sword their monks and clergy. In 826, and again in 833, he had spoiled the Termon lands, or sanctuary of Clonmacnois, on which last occasion he slew many of the religious and burned the Termon up to the very doors of the principal church. He had treated in the same way the celebrated Columban monastery of Durrow. In 836 he took the oratory of Kildare by force of arms from Forannan of Armagh, who seems to have found refuge there with his clergy, and exacted from him a forced submission; and about the same time he obtained atemporary submission from Nial Caille, the head of the O'Neills who had been overkings of Ireland for so long, and was acknowledged as king of all Ireland" (Todd, op. cit., xliv. and xlv.)

There was a similar feud in ecclesiastical quarters, and the famous see of Armagh, St. Patrick's metropolitan throne, was the subject of a fierce strife, one candidate being the nominee of the O'Neills, and another of their rival the chief of Munster just named. It is not improbable that the Norsemen were the allies of the latter, and that they were actually called in to his aid. Whether this be so or not, we read that in 832 Ardmacha was plundered three times in one month by the Gentiles, this being the first time it had been attacked by them ("Chron.Scot.," 139)…

The way in which the capture of this northern ecclesiastical capital of Ireland is mentioned, when we are told that it was taken three times in one month, shows that there must have been some very hard fighting there. The Chron. Scot, after mentioning the plundering of Armagh, speaks of the devastation of Lughmhagh, that is of Louth, where there was a famous monastery founded by Saint Mochta, a disciple of St. Patrick, which was so rich that he was able to support there without requiring them to work for their livelihood, and while engaged altogether in the pursuit of learning, three hundred priests and one hundred bishops, with sixty or, according to another reading, eighty singers; and these numbers constituted the ordinary monastic family or household of the monastery (Todd, op. cit., 29).

Besides Louth, other neighbours of Armagh suffered on this occasion, as Mucsnamha, now Muchnoe, in the county of Monaghan, the district of the Ui Meith Macha in the same county, and Druim Mic Ua Blae, or Druim Hubhla, situate in the baronies of Upper and Lower Slane, in northern Meath, where a church dedicated to Saint Sedna was renovated in the ninth century, but which no longer exists ("Annals of the Four Masters," 445; "Chron. Scot.," 139). The same year they laid waste Daimhliag Cianain (the stone church of Saint Cianain), founded by a disciple of St. Patrick's named Cianan, and now called Duleek, in the county of Meath.

They also carried off Ochill the son of Colgan.

The Chron. Scot., besides the capture of Duleek itself, also mentions that the territory of Ciannachta (i.e. a tribe settled in the present baronies of Upper and Lower Duleek in the county of Meath), with its churches, was also spoiled. Tuathal, son of Feradach (about whom I can find nothing) was carried off by them, and the shrine of Saint Adamnan was taken away from Domhnach Maghen (i.e., Donaghmoyne, in the barony of Farney and the county of Monaghan Reeves,"Adamnan," 389).

It was the same invaders, doubtless, who ravaged Cill Uaisaille (the church of St. Auxilius), now Killashee, near Naas, in the county of Kildare, which adjoins Meath.

The Chron. Scot, also mentions a plundering of Lismore in southern Ireland in the same year (op. cit., 139 ; "Wars of the Danes," xl.). The church at Lismore was founded by the famous St. Carthach or Mochuda, who was its first bishop, and who having died in 637 was buried there (Petrie, op. cit., 240). Lis meant the wall of earth or stones which enclosed the cashel, and Lismore therefore meant merely the great wall or great rampart (id. 441).

This year is the probable date of the raid in the same district mentioned in the Tract already cited as grouping the invasions, and where we are told they demolished Dundermuighe, i.e., the fort of the oak plain, now Dunderrow, near Kinsale; Inis Eoghanain, now Inis Shannon, on the river Bandon ; Disert Tipraite, a place not now known; Lismore itself, and Cil Molaisi, now Kilmolash, five miles south-east of Lismore (" Wars of the Danes," &c, xxxix. and 7), all, so far as we can discover, close around the harbour of Kinsale in the county of Cork. The same work next mentions Cluain-ard Mobeoc (i.e., the high lawn of St. Mobeoc) as being attacked by the invaders…

The very ancient fragment of the work on the "Wars of the Danes," contained in the book of Leinster, says that after plundering the various places about Kinsale already named, the invaders went north to Snamh Aignech, i. e., Carlingford Loch, where they spoiled Lann Lere, i.e., Dunleer in the county Louth ("Wars of the Danes," &c.,xl. and 224), and Cill Shleibhe, now Killevy, near Newry, at the head of Carlingford Loch.

(To be continued)

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Volume VIII (1880), 281-330.

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