Saint Caillin of Fenagh, November 13

November 13 is the feast of Saint Caillin of Fenagh, a saint of whom many stories are told. The character of some of these tales gave the writer of the following account, the 19th-century Anglican cleric Thomas Olden, pause for thought, although in truth his reservations were often shared by Catholic writers of the period. The understanding of hagiography as a distinct genre of writing with its own logic and rules didn't exist at this time. I hope to explore some of the episodes referred to by Rev. Olden in future posts, there is a wonderful resource on the saint and his writings available online here. The translation of the Book of Fenagh mentioned in the article is also available through the Internet Archive. So, let us enjoy a lively presentation of the life of Saint Caillin, complete with a fascinating account of the relics preserved at his church from The Dictionary of National Biography:

CAILLIN (fl. 560), Irish saint, son of Niata, was descended from Rudraighe, whose grandson, Fergus Mac Roigh, flourished at the beginning of the Christian era. His mother was Deighe, granddaughter of Dubhthach, chief poet of King Laogaire in the time of St. Patrick. The authority for the history of St. Caillin is the ancient 'Book of Fenagh,' a series of poetical rhapsodies, written about 1400, a copy of which with a connecting narrative in prose was made in 1516. This was published in 1875 by Mr. D.H. Kelly, with the competent aid of Mr. W. M. Hennessy, and from an examination of it it appears that the transcriber of the sixteenth century added a good deal which he thought likely to increase the veneration for his saint. But fortunately many of these interpolations are of so extravagant a character that there is no difficulty in distinguishing them.

Disregarding the fables, which even in 1690 were complained of by readers, we may gather the following facts of St. Caillin's history from this curious repertory of ancient traditions: 'The descendants of Medbh and Fergus, viz. the children of Conmac, Ciar, and Core, grew and multiplied throughout Ireland. The children of Conmac especially were in Connaught.' Those were the Conmaicne of Dunmor, kinsmen of Caillin's. Resolved to remedy the congestion of the population by killing each other, the Conmaicne would no doubt have carried out their plan but for the interference of St. Caillin. By the advice of an angel they sent messengers to him at Rome, whither he had gone for his education. Caillin came first to the place where his own kinsmen, the Conmaicne, were, 'to prohibit their fratricide and enmity.' 'My advice to you,' said the saint, ‘is that you remain on the lands on which you at present are. I will go moreover to seek possessions and land for you as it may be pleasing to God.' St. Caillin then left Dunmor, where this conversation seems to have been held, and went to Cruachanaoi in the county of Roscommon, thence to Ardcarna, near Boyle, where his friend Bishop Beoaedh lived. Passing on to the east, he crossed the Shannon, and obtained land at Moynishe in the county of Leitrim, and finally reached Dunbaile in Magh Rein, afterwards and still known as Fidnacha or Fenagh, so called from the wooded character of the country. In all these places, which are included in the counties of Roscommon, Mayo, Leitrim, and Longford, the Conmaicne afterwards had settlements.

When he arrived at Dunbaile, then the residence of Fergna, king of Breifney, he endeavoured to persuade the king to become a Christian, but without success; the king ordered his son Aedhdubh to expel St. Caillin and his party. The prince accordingly proceeded to obey the order but when he 'found the saint and his psalmists engaged in prayer and prostrations,' he and his followers forthwith became believers. Aedhdubh was afterwards baptised, and then presented the fortress of Dunbaile to St. Caillin that he might erect his monastic buildings within it. The historical accuracy of this statement is rendered probable by the existing remains at Fenagh. The ruins of St. Caillin's Church are still to be seen, and traces of the stone fortress, which was of great extent, are still visible (PETRIE). The fortress was of great antiquity even in the sixth century, being also known as Dun Conaing, from Conaing the Fearless, a prehistoric king to whom its origin was ascribed.

Enraged at his son's conduct in not carrying out his orders, King Fergna directed his druids to banish the Christians. Aedhdubh, now a Christian, commanded his men to resist the attack, but here St. Caillin interposed, and the story went that he caused the druids to be turned into stones, which are still standing. On the death of Fergna, who continued obstinate in his paganism, St. Caillin inaugurated Aedhdubh as king; but though now king the prince was dissatisfied with his dark complexion, whence his name of dubh, and requested St. Caillin to transform him into the likeness of St. Riocc of Innis-bo-finne. The saint by means of prayer complied with his request. Similar stories are told in the lives of St. Moedoc of Ferns and St. Finnchu of Brigown, and it may perhaps be regarded as a fanciful way of describing the change for the better wrought in the demeanour of a pagan chieftain under the influence of Christian teaching and example. When recognised as the teacher of the Conmaicne, Caillin bestowed on them as a cathach, or battle standard, a 'hazel cross with the top through the middle.' St. Columba in like manner gave a cathach to the Cinel Eoghain. When Caillin's church of Fenagh was built, it was a matter of importance to attach the tribe as much as possible to it, and to make it their burial-place.

For this purpose the body of Conall Gulban, the famous ancestor of Aedhdubh, was disinterred, and buried again with great pomp at Fenagh. It is thus we may venture to interpret the story that St. Caillin raised him from the dead, and then buried him again. A remarkable cromlech still to be seen at Fenagh is supposed to mark the site of his grave. Aedhdubh (now become Aedh finn, or the fair, from the change already mentioned) was also buried there, and it is stated that nineteen kings lie in the burial-ground. The church of Fenagh also possessed relics reported to have come from Rome. These are stated to have been 'the relics of the eleven apostles and of Saints Martin Lawrence and Stephen the martyr,' and 'that in which they were preserved was the cloth that the Virgin Mary made, and which was around Jesus when a babe,' or, as afterwards explained, 'when he was being fed.' These objects were kept in a shrine, together with the crozier of the saint and his bell. The bell is still preserved at Foxford, and the shrine was in the possession of the late Dr. Petrie. The tribute to the church as ordained by King Aedh was as follows: The king's riding horse and his body raiment; the same from every chieftain; the same from the queen and each chieftain's wife; a cow from every biatach (farmer), and from every chief of a bally; a screpall (three pinginns or pennies) from every sheep owner: a fat cow out of every prey from every son of a king and chieftain; the same from every fosterson and every sister's son of the race of Aedh. This tribute was due every third year. All the veneration attracted to Fenagh tended to secure the payment of the rental due to the institution, and the chief object of the transcript of the 'Book of Fenagh' made in the sixteenth century was to substantiate the claim of the monastery to the tribute.

When St. Caillin's end approached he was in the church of St. Mochoemog, who was a kinsman, attended by St. Manchan. After giving directions to St. Manchan as to what part of the burial-ground he was to be interred in, and appointing him his successor, he desired that in twelve years' time, 'when his bones should be bare,' they should be removed to his church at Fenagh. Accordingly they were taken up and enclosed with the other relics in the shrine.

The dates of his birth and death are not found in the native records; but as we know those of his contemporaries, St. Columba, St. Ciaran, and the two St. Brendans, and as he was the grandson of Dubhthach, St. Patrick's contemporary, we cannot be far wrong in assuming that he flourished in the second half of the sixth century. His peace-loving disposition is the chief characteristic emphasized by Caillin's early panegyrists. His day in the calendar is 13 Nov.

[Life of St. Caillin, MS. 3, 54, p. 6, Royal Irish Academy; Book of Fenagh, Dublin, 1875; Martyrology of Donegal, p. 307; Book of Leinster (facsimile), p. 349 e; Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 464, and iii. 311; Petrie's Inquiry into the Origin and Use of the Round Towers of Ireland, pp. 444-5.] T.0.

L. Stephen, (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 8 (London, 1885), 211-212.

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Saint Curcach of Cloonlogher, August 8

One of our enigmatic female saints, Curcach of Cluain-Lothair, is commemorated on the earliest of the surviving Irish calendars, the Martyrology of Tallaght, on August 8. Canon O'Hanlon identifies the locality associated with her as being the modern Cloonlogher in County Leitrim:

St. Curcach, Virgin, of Cluain-lothair, now Cloonlogher, County of Leitrim.

At the 8th of August, the published Martyrology of Tallagh, records the simple entry, Curcach, Cluana Lothair.  This place must be Cloonlogher, in a parish of the same name, barony of  Dromahaire, and County of Leitrim.  It is a vicarage in the Diocese of Kilmore, consisting chiefly of mountain land.  Her name appears, also, in  the Martyrology of Donegal,  at this same date, as Curcach, of Cluainlothair, Virgin. There is a Curcach, daughter to Dael, son of Maisine, and belonging to the race of Colla Menn, adds the calendarist. There is a Cluain Lothaire in Breifne O'Ruairc, and Curcach is patron there, follows the foregoing announcement.

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Saint Colman of Drumlease, June 19

At June 19 we commemorate one of the many Irish saints who bear the name of Colman but about whom nothing is known. This one is associated with Drumlease, County Leitrim, as Canon O'Hanlon explains:

ST. COLMAN, OF DRUIM LIAS, NOW DRUMLEASE, COUNTY OF LEITRIM.

ON this day, veneration was given to Colman, of Dramlias, said to have been in Luighne, by Marianus O'Gorman. This we read, also, in the Martyrology of Donegal. In the Table appended, the Carthusian Martyrology is quoted, after the entry of this saint's name and place. The latter is now known as Drumlease, and there is an old church now in ruins, near the eastern extremity of the beautiful Lough Gill. It is situated in the barony of Dromahaire, and in the county of Leitrim. The monastery at this place was burned, in the year 1360. It lay in West Breifne. There is also a village of Drumlish, in the parish of Killoe, in the barony and county of Longford. A Manuscript Calendar, which belonged to Professor Eugene O'Curry, enters a festival for St. Colman of Druim Lias, at the 19th of June.

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Saint Tigernach of Doire-Mella, November 4

November 4 is the feastday of Saint Tigernach of Doire-Melle. The Martyrology of Donegal records:

4. G. PRIDIE NONAS NOVEMBRIS. 4.

TIGHERNACH, of Doire-Melle. Mella was the name of his mother, and she was the mother also of Cainnech the priest.

We met the mother of Saint Tigernach on the commemoration of her feastday when Canon O'Hanlon recorded:

Some account of this holy woman is given by Colgan and by the Bollandists. St. Mella flourished, about the middle of the eighth century, in the northern parts of the Connaught province. This, has been inferred, from the circumstance of her son St. Tighernach's death, having been recorded, at A.D. 805. The devout matron, by God's holy decree, was the happy mother of two sons, whose names are found on record, in the pages of our Irish Martyrologies. These are named respectively, St. Cannech, a Priest, and St. Tigernach, an Abbot. Having been deprived of her husband, by death, she afterwards formed the resolution of embracing a religious life. St. Tigernach erected a religious house, near Lough Melve,—now known as Lough Melvin,—in the county of Leitrim, and within the diocese of Killmore. He left this establishment, in favour of his mother; and, he then retired to another monastery, named Kill-Acaidh, or "the church of the field," the situation of which is unknown.

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Saint Sistan of Lough Melge, July 17

The memory of a saint associated with Lough Melvin and described as a priest is preserved in the Irish calendars on July 17. This is really the only detail we have and Canon O'Hanlon thus starts off his account of Saint Sistan or Siostan of Lough Melvin with some romantic musings on how the very soil of Ireland has been hallowed by the remains of these long-forgotten holy men:

St. Sistan or Siostan, Priest, of Loch Melge, now Lough Melvin, Counties, of Fermanagh and Leitrim.

The merits of several holy servants have ascended like incense before the throne of God, and have secured his rewards. However, hardly can the patient pilgrim even alight on the sod, where their bodies rest. Yet, their undiscovered remains have sanctified that earth, with which they have long since mingled. Record or vestige of many holy persons that once existed in our Island can hardly be found ; still a magical spell, like an indescribable charm, hallows the surrounding lovely scenes, blessed with their presence during life. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 17th day of July, is the following entry: Sistan sac. for Loch Melge. From the contraction sac. meaning sogarth we may probably conclude that he had been a priest. The Lough Melge, now Lough Melvin, with which he was connected, is a beautiful sheet of water, bordering on the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim ; but, it lies chiefly within the bounds of the latter county. From the shores of Lough Melvin, its former holy inhabitants have departed long ago from the scenes of this life. Their souls have been received into a brighter and happier world. The Martyrology of Donegal records a festival in honour of Siostan, Priest, of Loch Melghe, at the 17th of July. In a table appended to this record, this saint's name is Latinized Xistus.

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Saint Fraech of Cluain Collaing, December 20

December 20 is the feast of Saint Fraech (Froech, Froegius, Fraegius), known as Cruimhther or Presbyter Fraech of Cluain Collaing, now Cloone, County Leitrim. The entry in the Martyrology of Donegal records:

20. D. TERTIO DECIMO KAL. JANUARII. 20.

CRUIMHTHER FRAECH, of Cluain Collaing, in Muintir Eoluis. He was of the race of Conmac, son of Fergus, son of Ross, son of Rudhraighe.

The Martyrology of Gorman notes:

Presbyter Fraech the facile [easy], a constant champion.

Saint Fraech was obviously the founder of a monastery in this locality and although no Life of Cruimhther Fraech survives, he features in the various Lives of Saint Berach of Kilbarry, whose feast is commemorated on February 15. Charles Plummer's translation of one of these Lives of Saint Berach gives us the basic details:

16) Now St. Berach was born in the house of his mother's brother, Fraech the Presbyter, son of Carthach, in Gort na Luachra (the Close of the Rushes), near Cluain Conmaicne. And in that place there is (now) a mother-church and a cross, and the stone on which St. Berach was born. And Presbyter Fraech subsequently offered this estate to Berach. Presbyter Fraech too it was who baptized St, Berach, and fostered him till he was old enough to study.

C. Plummer, ed. and trans., Bethada Náem Nérenn - Lives of Irish Saints, Volume II (Oxford, 1927), 25

Canon O'Hanlon in his Lives of the Irish Saints expands upon the connection between Saint Fraech and his nephew in his account of Saint Berach on February 15 (Volume II, pp. 536-537):

According to the Irish Life of our saint, his father's name was Nemnald... Fionmaith, sister to Cruimhther Fraech, of Cluain Conmaicne, in Muinter-Eolais, was his mother...

Their holy relative, named Froegius, or Froech, lived in a certain district, and there he occupied a cell. After reciting matins and lauds, he went out, about the middle of the night, and looking in the direction of Connaught, he beheld a globular and bright luminous halo surrounding the house of Nemnald, and of his wife, Fionmaith. Wondering what such a spectacle portended, Froech said to one of his disciples, "Go to the house of my brother-in-law, Nemnald, and inform me, if my sister hath given birth to a boy: if so, bring him to me." Obeying this order, the messenger at once set out for the house, where, on his arrival, he found a very beautiful infant with Fionmaith. Having learned from the messenger those instructions, given by Froech, the child was accordingly sent to him. When the latter saw how highly gifted, by nature, his infant nephew was, he directed that baptism should be administered, in the church, so that the neophyte should be washed with the water of regeneration, and that thus he might be presented to Christ.

The first name given to the child was Fintan, until he had been brought to the font, by his uncle, St. Froech who baptized him. The parents had been required to know, what name ought to be imposed on their child, when they replied, it must be Berach. This being agreed to, Froech said afterwards, "Rightly has this name been given to him, for he shall be a saint, and his place shall be in Heaven." We are furnished with an interpretation, for the name of Berach; namely, that it has the signification of one, who takes a direct and an exact aim, at an object, or as reaching one, so to speak, with the point of a sword... When baptized, the mother naturally desired her infant to be sent home; yet, Froech said to her, "Know you, my dear sister, that no further care of this boy shall belong to you, for with me shall he remain, since God, who created him, is able to cause his growth, without being suckled by a mother." To this strange request Fionmaith assented, and in a truly miraculous manner, Froech became a foster-father to the child. The latter grew up by degrees, and the Almighty seemed to supply every want, incident to his condition. By Froech, also, was Berach taught the rudiments of learning, when a mere infant. As the child grew up, he evinced the most affectionate regard towards his uncle. His piety and his love for learning were very admirable, so that his time was wholly engaged with prayer and study. His intellectual and pious disposition, even at this early age, boded his future eminence and great sanctity. He laboured to imitate his holy relative, and in the course of time, no other child of earth seemed to equal him, in the practise of good works.

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Saint Sechnasach of Ceann-locha, July 30

At July 30 Canon O'Hanlon has a number of short entries for saints about whom not much is known, beginning with an abbot of Ceann-locha:

ST. SECHNASACH, ABBOT OF CEANN-LOCHA, OR KINLOUGH.

THIS saint belonged to the race of Laeghaire, son of Niall, according to the O'Clerys. According to Colgan, he was a priest at Durrow, in the King's County. We have already seen a place of this name, connected with a St. Siadhal Ua Commain, [feastday 8 March] conjectured to have been probably identical with Kinlough, at the north-western extremity of Lough Melvin, in the barony of Rosclogher, and County of Leitrim. Dr. O'Donovan states, there are several such denominations in Ireland. This day, the Martyrology of Donegal mentions, that a festival was celebrated in honour of St. Sechnasach, Abbot of Ceann-locha.

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Saint Mella of Doire-Melle, March 31

We close the month of March with the commemoration of Saint Mella, an abbess who embraced the religious life in later years, having borne two sons who themselves were saints. Canon O'Hanlon provides the details:

ST. MELLA, ABBESS OF DOIRE-MELLE, COUNTY OF LEITRIM.

[EIGHTH CENTURY]

Some account of this holy woman is given by Colgan and by the Bollandists. St. Mella flourished, about the middle of the eighth century, in the northern parts of the Connaught province. This, has been inferred, from the circumstance of her son St. Tighernach's death, having been recorded, at a.d. 805. The devout matron, by God's holy decree, was the happy mother of two sons, whose names are found on record, in the pages of our Irish Martyrologies. These are named respectively, St. Cannech, a Priest, and St. Tigernach, an Abbot. Having been deprived of her husband, by death, she afterwards formed the resolution of embracing a religious life. St. Tigernach erected a religious house, near Lough Melve, —now known as Lough Melvin,—in the county of Leitrim, and within the diocese of Killmore. He left this establishment, in favour of his mother; and, he then retired to another monastery, named Kill-Acaidh, or "the church of the field," the situation of which is unknown. St. Mella presided over a community of holy women, at the former place which, from her, took the name of Doire-Melle, which signifies, the "oak grove of Mella." We are told, it had been situated in Rossinver parish, county of Leitrim, although the name is not known, at present. It is said, she ruled over her nunnery for many years; but, little more has transpired respecting her. She is supposed to have died, before the year 787, as her name occurs, in the Martyrology of Tallagh. In it we find inserted, Mella, at the 9th, and Doire Mella, added, at the 31st of March, to the same etymon. In the Martyrologies of Marianus O'Gorman, and of Cathald Maguire, there is a Mella, belonging to the church of Cluainai, set-down, for the 19th of March. But, she may have been a distinct person. The Martyrology of Donegal gives her this title of Doire Mella, on the 31st of January, when alluding to her son Cainneach; but, at the present day, it has no record of her feast. By her influence and authority, St. Mella awakened in the souls of her religious, as of her own two sons, the love and fear of God. This she effected, likewise, in the spirit of gentleness, forbearance, and true charity.

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Saint Manchan of Mohill, February 14

Today some of the Irish calendars commemorate a Saint Manchan of Mohill, County Leitrim, but not much more is known of the saint. The Martyrology of Oengus does not mention him and the Martyrology of Donegal entry simply records his name and location:

14. C. SEXTO DECIMO KAL. MARTII. 14.

MAINCHEIN, of Moethail.

The translator adds a footnote that companions of the saint are also mentioned in some of the manuscripts of other Martyrologies:

Moethail. The more recent hand adds, “Cum sociis” Mart. Tumi. But the Brussels MS. of the Mart Taml. reads “Cum sociis suis.” (T.)

Due to the lack of further information and the existence of a number of saints with the name of Manchan, some confusion has arisen as to the exact identity of the saint associated with Mohill. The 16th-century Archbishop Ussher claimed to have a Life of this Saint Manchan written by Richard Fitz-Ralph, Archbishop of Armagh (1347-60). In it Saint Manchan was presented as having charge of seven churches and as having been the founder of the monastery of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine at Mohill. He was said to have converted many people in different localities to Christ. However, as the order of Canons Regular were a product of the 12th-century reform of the Irish Church, Fitz-Ralph is reflecting the realities of the later medieval period, rather than that of a supposedly 7th-century Saint Manchan. O'Hanlon records in a footnote that when John O'Donovan attempted to trace Ussher's copy of the Fitz-Ralph Life, it could not be found. Ussher himself seems to have concluded that Saint Manchan of Mohill was identical with Manchan of Menodroichit, whose feastday is commemorated on 2nd January and whose death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster at 652. Colgan, however, did not share this opinion, as he was unable to prove that Manchan of Mohill, County Leitrim had also been abbot of Menodroichit, County Laois. He remained convinced that Saint Manchan of Mohill was a separate individual and that the references to 'his companions' in the calendars were to the seven churches that he had responsibility for.

A reference in the Annals of the Four Masters led O'Hanlon to speculate that perhaps Saint Manchan of Mohill may be Saint Manchan of Lemanaghan whose feastday is celebrated on 24th January. The Annals record:

AD 1166: The shrine of Manchan, of Maethail, was covered by Ruaidhri Ua Conchobhair, and an embroidering of gold was carried over it by him, in as good a style as a relic was ever covered in Ireland.

O'Hanlon wondered if this was a reference to the famous shrine of Lemanaghan, although again he could not explain the link to two different localities and to two separate feastdays, if Manchan of Mohill is the same person as Manchan of Lemanaghan.

There is also a reference to Saint Manchan of Mohill in the Annals of Tigernach recording an even earlier date for the repose of our saint:

538AD: Manchan Maethla cecídit Manchan of Mohill dies.

and finally, O'Hanlon records that 'At Inisnag, diocese of Ossory, St. Manchan, whose feast occurs on the 14th of February, was venerated as a patron'.

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