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ST. CIAMN,
PATRON OF OSSORY:
A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE AND TIMES,

COMPRISING A PRELIMINARY ENQUIRY
RESPECTING THE PERIOD OE HIS BIRTH ;
AN HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE LEGEND OE HIS LIFE ;
SOME NOTES ON HIS DEATH, AND ON THE SURVIVING
MEMORIALS OE HIS MISSION,

BY
KILKENNY,

KILKENNY ;
PRINTED AT THE " JOURNAL" OEEICE, PARADE.
1876.

TO
"FIRST BORN OF THE SAINTS OF IRELAND,"
FOUNDER AND PATRON
OP THE
CHUECH OE OSSORY,
(©be m&t^t ^ifittx at the frt^ft (illutrrlj,)
THIS OF HIS
I.IEE AND MISSION
IS
REVERENTIALLY INSCRIBED
BY
THE AUTHOR.

PREEACE.

There are few propositions in Irish history which present so many
obstacles to a direct solution as the date of the birth of St. Ciaran,
Such is the complication in which that event is entangled that the
early writers, who lightly adopted the chronology of the " old Life"
of the saint, arrived at a period for the date of his birth so surrounded
by anachronisms, and so irreconcilable with the duly authenticated
facts of contemporary history, that modern students, with equal pre
cipitancy, have rejected both the Legend and its chronology, and with
them the honoured names of Ussher, Colgan, Ware, O'Flahertv,
O'Donoyan, &c,, together with the traditions, legends, and lore of
at least a thousand years in Irish literature.
It is to be regretted that the modern scholars just referred to,
and to whom we are wont to appeal for guidance through the obscure
paths of Irish history have, in the question now under discussion,
contented themselves with rejecting the decisions of their prede
cessors, without leaving us some clearly-defined conclusion, as a result
of their own researches, setting forth the criteria by which it was
arrived at, and the arguments by which it is sustained ; but instead
of this each writer arbitrarily assigns a date for the missionary career of
the saint which either suits some favourite foregone conclusion of his own,
or fits like a " dove-tailed" joint his present purpose for some object
in hands — and the result is that no two of our modern writers have
agreed respecting the period of St. Ciaran's birth, or have even ad
vanced any one date for the occurrence of that event.
In proof of what has been just stated, we give a few extracts from the
writers of the present century, which will show how vague and undefined
are their views respecting the date of St. Ciaran's birth, and that in re
jecting what Dr, Lanigan calls " the foolish stories about Ciaran's
antiquity" they themselves have not arrived at any definite conclusion,
nor have they left us anything better than theories and conjectures on
the point. We shall in the first place allow Dr, Lanigan to state his
own case respecting the period of Ciaran's mission,
" It may be allowed," he writbs, " that St, Ciaran became a bishop

VI.
about the time we are now treating of, viz , about a.d. 538, His having
been at Finnian's school of Clonard can be easily reconciled with his pro
motion at that period, as he was one of Finnian's first scholars, and
might have been twenty years old when he went to study under him."
Finnian's school, according to Ussher, was opened in 544, and as
Ciaran was one of his first scholars, and was twenty years of age
when he entered the school, he must have been but fourteen years old
in A,D, 538, when he was promoted to the episcopate. Dr, Lanigan
seems to have perceived that his calculations will not bear criticism,
for in a foot-note on the above he writes : — "In the list of illustrious
men mentioned in Finnian's Acts (cap. 19) as having studied under
him the two Kierans are placed first. " 1 allow," he adds, " that this
may not he considered as a conclusive argument, nor do I pretend to
state as certain that Ciaran was a bishop at the time above given
(a.d. 538), Yet it is more than probable that he was not prior to it.
But as he is not named in the second class of Irish saints who
flourished after the year 544 we may suppose that he had become dis
tinguished earlier," Ecclesiastical History, vol. 11, p, 7, note 22.
If Ciaran did not belong to the Irish saints who flourished after the
year 644 he must have been, as a matter of course, distinguished
before it. How then does our author say, " yet it is more than pro
bable that he was not a bishop prior to a,d, 538 ?" Our present busi
ness with our learned author goes no further than to show that his
system of calculation regarding the age of St. Ciaran gives us no
criterion by which we can arrive at the date of the saint's birth.
Dr. Todd is the next writer in the order of time who refused to
accept the ancient date assigned for the birth and mission of St,
Ciaran, and it will be found that though he writes rather dogmatically
against the faith in the antiquity of Ciaran's birth he signally fails in
giving us anything tangible as a substitute for what he calls the
apochryphal theories which he rejects.
The learned Doctor rapidly reviews the life of the saint as pub
lished by Colgan, exposes the contradictions in its chronology, the im
possibility of Ciaran being born in a,d. 352, and of his being a disciple
of St, Finnian's in 540, and then gives us the following conclusion
as the only result of his investigations into the subject : — " We
are," he says, " told indeed by the author of his Life that he was far
advanced in years, and a bishop when he became the disciple of St.

Vll.
Finnian, and other difficulties are obviated by the assumption that he
lived to be three hundred years old. No doubt we must have recourse
to- some such hypothesis if we believe him to have been a dis
ciple of St, Finnian's in a.d, 540, and a bishop in 402, But whether
this hypothesis removes all difficulty is another question. The whole
story of his studying at Rome, and his meeting of St. Patrick there,
is as apocryphal as the prophecy of the thirty years on which the
chronology of the Legend rests."
We shall show at p, 19 of the following essay that the direction
said to have been given by St. Patrick to St, Ciaran on the occasion of
their meeting in Italy, and generally known as the " Thirty Years'
Prophecy," have been most egregiously misread by Dr, Todd, With
that, however, we have nothing to do here. We are now following
him only as a guide to the date of Ciaran's birth. In the passage
quoted he throws no light on the point, but in a foot-note he thus
illustrates the case : — " It may as well be mentioned that the genealogy
of his [Ciaran's] father, Luaigre, is preserved in nine descents from
his ancestor, Aengus of Ossory, who was expelled from his lands by
the Desii in the reign of Cormac UTfada (a,d. 254-277), " If this be
so," he adds, " St. Ciaran's father could not be born much before the
year a.d, 500," " St. Patrick," p. 202, u, 6.
That " this was not so" we shall very clearly prove at p. 26 of the
following essay. But even " if this be so" it forms no criterion from.
which to determine, with any degree of precision, the date of St.
Ciaran's birth or the age of his mission.
The next writer with whom we have to deal in connection with the
age of Ciaran's mission or the date of his birth is a correspondent of
the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for 1866, and who, unlike those
already referred to, undertakes to prove by a tabulated pedigree that
St Ciaran was nephew to Feradach, who died King of Ossory in 582,
and first cousin and contemporary to Colman, his son, who died king
of the same territory in the year 601, and having, as, he asserts, es
tablished these points, he thus sums up the case : —
" I have thus proved at once that St. Ciaran and Fearadach were
relatives, the latter being the uncle of the former ; that they were con
temporaries, and that, in fine, which was my third and last inquiry,
" we may," in the words of Dr. Lanigan, " safely conclude that he —
St, Ciaran-- belonged to the sixth century, became distinguished

vm.
towards the middle of it, and died during its latter half." " Irish
Ecclesiastical Record," October, 1866, p, 33,
With the arguments advanced by the writer we deal below, p, 29
Here it is only necessary to observe that neither they nor the conclu
sion which he deduces from them, and on which he so confidently
relies, reflect more light on the subject than had been previously
effected by the researches of Dr, Lanigan, We have just stated the
case as made out by the learned Doctor himself, and as the writer in
the Record unreservedly adopts it, we have only to add here that his
enquiries do not help us more, than those which he adopts, to ascertain
the date of St, Ciaran's birth.
The next and last writer we shall refer to in illustration of the
diversity of opinion amongst modern scholars respecting the date of
St, Ciaran's birth, is the Right Rev Dr, Moran, Bishop of Ossory. In
the very beaatiful " Inaugural Address" delivered by his Lordship
before the members of the " Ossory Archaeological Society," on
7th January, 1874, with that clearness and precision which charac
terize all his Lordship's writings, he thus states his views as the
result of his researches on the subject now before us : —
"To me," his lordship says, "it seems sufficiently proved that it was
through the preaching of St, Palladius that our saint [Ciaran], when he
had attained the age of manhood, was awakened to the knowledge of Chris
tian truth, and it seems equally certain that it was in the year 432^
that he proceeded to Rome, and received there the saving waters of
Baptism, as we read in his ancient Life : " Kieran set out for Eome of
Letha, for it was made known to him by heaven that it was there he
would receive Divine instruction, because Rome was the fountain
of the faith. (MSS, British Museum, Egerton 91)." "Inaugural
Address," p, 3. Brown and Nolan, Nassau-street, Dublin, 1874.
There is in this view of the case no vague theorising. The year
432 is plainly set down as the date of St Ciaran's departure for Eome,
1 " In the year 432." By comparing this date, assigned by his Lordship for
the departure of our saint for the Continent with the date arrived at for the same
event in the followin(< "Memoir," we find an approximation in the result of the
comparison that might almost be termed a coincidence. According to Dr, Moran's
calculations St, Ciaran left Ireland in the year 432, the same in which St. Patrick
entered it as a missionary. According to the oouclusion arrived at below p, 70,
Ciaran left Ireland in the year 405, the same in which St, Patrick entered it as
a, captive. Between the two events a period of twenty-seven years intervenes,
which in matters of such remote dates would in other cases be esteemed as of no
importance.

IX.
at which date we are told he had attained the " age of manhood" —
that is, according to his old Irish Life, he had then attained the
thirtieth year of his age. The words of the " Old Life" are : " Thirty
years Ciaran spent in the enjoyment of bodily health — and on learning
of the spread of Christianity in Eome he proceeded thither and was
baptized." See p, 69 below. Hence, as Ciaran was thirty years old in
A,D, 432, he should be born in a,d. 402, or in the opening of the fifth
century, which would be one hundred years before the date assigned
for the birth of his father, Luaghre, by Dr. Todd, one hundred and
forty years before the date assigned for his Episcopacy by Dr. Lanigan,
and two hundred years before the death of Colman, King of Ossory,
who, we are told by the writer in the Irish Ecclesiastical Eecord, was
first cousin and contemporary of St, Ciaran ; and thus, notwithstand
ing the signal advantages which the present century has conferred on
the study of Irish history, the date of the birth and mission of St,
Ciaran remains as problematical at the present day as it had been be
fore the opening of the century.
Some few years since the writer of the following essay, dissatisfied
with the conflicting theories advanced respecting the date of the mission
of the patron saint of Ossory, entertained the idea of investigating the
subject to the extent of his opportunities, and on entering on the
enquiry he soon perceived it to be entangled in a web of con
tradictions, caused in part by the misreading of the Legend of
the saint's Life, in part by the anachronisms with which that Legend
abounds, but principally by the gross errors in the pedigree of the
Ossorian family, occurring between Euman Duach, the grandfather
of St. Ciaran, and Feradach, King of Ossory, in a,d. 582, which
errors have so deranged the Ossorian Genealogy that subsequent
writers, confounding Duach, the father of Feradach, with Euman
Duach, the grandfather of St. Ciaran, have so complicated the
case, that no two of our modern scholars are agreed respecting the
generation descents from Euman Duach downwards, and from this
has resulted the whole confusion in the chronology of St. Ciaran's
Life. Hence, to disentangle the chronology of our saint's life
from the compUcations in which it is involved the first step will
be to correct the Ossorian pedigree, to expose its defects, and to
restore the number of its missing generations.
The origin of these complications, with other important items

illustrating this remote period in Ossorian history, will be
found in the pages of an authority rarely, if ever, quoted in connec
tion with this subject, viz,, " The Three Fragments of Annals," trans
lated by O'Donovan for the " Archfflological and Celtic Society," 1860,
and for which see below p. 30, n. 2.
At his mother's side, St, Ciaran having been closely related by
blood with many distinguished chieftains of Munster, we are, in conse
quence, enabled through the medium of collateral genealogies to arrive
at him as the relative and contemporary of personages whose status in
history admits of no controversy. The maternal pedigree of St, Ciaran
is accurately preserved in the " Genealogy of the Corca Laighe," and
through it we trace the saint to Lughaidh Mac Conn, King of Ireland,
in the third century. We also find from the pedigree of King Aengus
of Munster that he also descended from the same commom progenitor.
In pp, 11-22 below, we place the pedigrees of the king and the saint in
parallel columns ; the result is conclusive respecting the date of Ciaran's
mission, " Part the First" of the following essay shows the process and
the results of the writer's enquiries under these several heads : —
In the second part of this " memoir" the writer has endeavoured, as
far as his materials enabled him, to interweave the biography of the
saint as found in the Legend of his life, with the history of the age in
which he lived, or in other words, to make St, Ciaran a character of
his own time. It is probable that in the effort to produce an unbroken
narrative of the saint's life, by connecting it with the public acts of
contemporary characters, the writer will be found occasionally to
encroach on the province of conjecture. This, however, will be found
only to occur by way of illustration in the treatment of the several
subjects, and as many of the views advanced are not only new, but in
direct antagonism with old and long cherished opinions, they will
naturally be received by many, especially by conservative thinkers,
with hesitation and doubt. But be this as it may, the writer holds the
following points satisfactorily established : —
1st. The paternal pedigree of St, Ciaran, his maternal genealogy,
and the chronology of the Legend of his Life, unite in conducting us
to the year 375 as the date of his birth,
2ndly, Having attained the thirtieth year of his age he left Ireland
for the Continent in a,d. 405.
3rdly, Having passed twenty years in Italy he was there intro-

XI,
duced to St. Patrick, and having attained the thirtieth year of his age
the two saints separated, and Ciaran returned to Ireland in the year 425,
4thly. In thirty years from that date, or in the year 455, St
Patrick visited him at his monastery at Saighir, he being then eighty
years of age.
Sthly, At this date Ciaran sent St, Cartach as a pilgrim to the
Continent, and on his return after seven years, in a,d, 462, he com
mitted to him the charge of his community, he himself being then
eighty-seven years old.
After this date we lose sight of our saint ; and the writer cannot
complain if what he advances subsequent to the return of Cartach
be accepted as conjectural, as it consists only of his own views, sustained
to the best of his ability, and entitled to such consideration as they
may be deemed intrinsically worth.
The writer regrets withunaffected sincerity that some Celtic scholar,
or one otherwise more properly qualified than himself, has not before this
undertaken the investigation of the present subject. He is also perfectly
conscious that the following Essay lacks both the erudition and style
that ought to characterize the elucidation of such a subject. Yet
he feels that this humble efliort of his is a step in the right direction,
that he utilises materials never before wrought into shape or form by
the hand of the antiquary or historian, and that he opens a vista
into a period in local history hitherto comparatively unsurveyed.
The writer desires to state here at the outset that, being a layman .
he does not consider himself qualified, nor feel disposed to discuss in
the following pages either dogmatic or moral polemics. The object of
the enquiry solely contemplates the illustration of the life and mission
of the first bishop of Ossory, and he hopes that the reverence en
tertained for the illustrious subject of the " Memoir" will induce
the reader to overlook the numerous shortcomings with which it has
been treated.

^COITTEnSTTS.

PART FIRST.
RESPECTING THE PERIOD OF ST, CIARAN'S BIRTH,
The Argument , , . . • , ,1
CHAPTER I,
Paternal Genealogy of St, Ciaran from Aengus, the first
King of Ossory - - - 3
CHAPTER II,
Maternal Genealogy of St, Ciaran from Lughaidh Mao
Conn - - - 13
CHAPTER in.
The Testimony of the "Barcon Ciaran'' — The Author and
THE date of the Legend OF St, Ciaran's Life — The Chron
ology of the Legend Illustrated , , , .15
CHAPTER IV.
St. Ciaran was Second Cousin to Aengus Mac Nadhfrach,
the first Christian King of Munster , , .22
CHAPTER V,
Objectors and Objections Answered— Dr, Lanigan, Dr. Todd,
AND A Correspondent of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record
— First Objection— The Date of the Reign of Aengus
Oshaighe , , . . . . ,24
CHAPTER VI.
Second Objection. — Pedigree of St, Ciaran's Father— En
quiry respecting the Seven Kings of Cohca Laighe in
Ossory . . . . . . . .29
CHAPTER VII,
Third Objection — St. Ciaran was a Student in the School
of Clonard, and one op the " Twelve Aposples of Ire
land" IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SiXTH CeNTUBY, AND THERE
fore could not h-4.ve been born in the middle of the
Fourth . . . . . . ,37

XIV.
CHAPTER VIII,
Other Objections against the Antiquity op St, Ciaran's
Birth and Mission — Irish Ecclesiastical Record — Dr.
Todd's "St. Patrick." . . . • -40

PART SECOND.
ORIGINAL INSTITUTION OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OP OSSORY
—ANCESTRY— LIFE AND TIMES OF ST, CIARAN,
CHAPTER I,
Geography and Subdivisions of the Territory insul.\.tbd
BETWEEN the RiVER BaRROW AND THE RlVER SuiR , 42
CHAPTER II,
The Eric of Feargus Scannal, — The First Annexation of
THE Territory between the Rivers to Munster . . 51
CHAPTER in.
Foundation of the Kingdom of Ossory.^— Ancestry op St,
Ciaran — Leoghaire Birn Buadhach — Amalghatdh —
Bochaidh Lamdoid , , , . . ,64
CHAPTER IV.
Origin op the Ancient Principality of Laoighis — Buain
Osraighe, Nia Core, Cairpe Caem, Conaill, Ruman Duach
¦ — Lughaidh and Liedania , . , , .57
CHAPTER V.
Opesing op the Legend of Ciaban's Life — His Birth — His
Youth, and first Miracle , . , , ,65
CHAPTER VI.
St. Ciaran's Journey to the Continent — Its Date — Its
Feasibility— The Arrival op St. Patrick as a Captive in
Ireland . . . . , . ,69
CHAPTER vn,
St, Ciaran is said to have Remained some time in Rome 
Was there Ordained Bishop — On his Journey Homewards
met St. Patrick in Italy, and Ordained him Priest . 74

XV.
CHAPTER VIII,
Patrick continues his Studies with Bishop Ciaran — Must
HAVE received MINOR OrDERS ANTERIOR TO HIS JOURNEY
TO Lbrins — Enquiry respecting the Locality op Mount
Hebemon — The Vision of Patrick intrinsically Authentic
— The Angelic Message not so — Patrick hesitates to
Accept the Irish Apostolate — He is importuned and
finally Accepts it — He Leaves Lerins for Auxerre —
His interview with Germanus — His Separation and Part
ing Words with Bishop Ciaran . . . .84
CHAPTER IX.
St, Ciaran's return prom the Continent — His First Mission
IN Ireland — The Well "Uaran" to be distinguished
FROM that of "Saighir" — Derivation and Modern Form
OF THE Word "Uaran" — Conversion of the Ossorians . 94
CHAPTER X,
The House of St, Ciaran — The Saints op his School — Their
Pedigrees — TnEifi. Festival Days — Their Churches —
Their Dispersion .,,.,. 101
CHAPTER XI.
Birth and Character op Eithne Vathach — Her Marriage
WITH Aengus, King of Munster — The Battle op Feimhin
— Its still existing Memorials — The Eric of Feargus
Scannal — The Cause of Ciaran's Retreat prom Ossory 115
CHAPTER Xn.
Original Institution of the Church op Saighir — First
Converts of St, Ciaran there — Their still existing
Memorials — Origln of the Flocks and Herds of Saighir 124
CHAPTER XIII.
Foundation op the Nunnery of Killyon — Conversion of
THE Chief of the Dal Fiachra — Endowment of the
Church op Saighir ...... 129

XVI.
CHAPTER XIV,
St. Patrick's Journey through Ossory — Meets St. Ciaran
there for the first time in Ireland — Traditions and
Memorials still existing op their Interview — St. Ciaran
not Present at the Council op Cashel . . . 133
CHAPTER XV.
St. Ciaran and King Aengus — The King Threatens to take
THE Lipe op the Saint — Is Struck Blind and again re
stored to Sight — Is Converted and Reconciled to St.
Ciaran . . . , , . . .139
CHAPTER XVI.
The Martyrdom op the Harpers — The Origin op the Church
OP Tullaghought — The Martyrdom op the King's Re
tainers ........ 144
CHAPTER XVII.
St. Ciaran and Eithne Vathach, Queen op Munster— The
Story op the Blackberries —The Banquet of the King
op Ossory — Thb Unlawful Advances and subsequent Peni
tence op the Queen — St. Ciaran's Forqjteness and Pre
diction respecting her Death .... 148
CHAPTER XVIII,
St. Patrick and King Aengus pat a Farewell Visit to St.
Ciaran at Saighir — They are Hospitably Received and
Entertained — The Completion op the Thirty Years'
Prophecy .,,.... 158
CHAPTER XIX.
Departure op St. Cartach for Rome— Sundry Miracles
01 St. Ciaran — He miraculously prevents a Battle — He
SENDS Oxen to Plough St. Coinche's Lands — He Converts
A Gang of Robbers into Monks — A Thiep is Punished
for Stealing his Cow — He restores a Lady to Life in
Three Days — He restores his Speech to the King of
Munster ...... 156

xvn.
CHAPTER XX,
The Vocation op Odhran and Meadhran — The Return op
Cartach to Saightr — The Age «f St. Ciaran and his
Eetirement from the Monastery . , . . 163
CHAPTER XXI,
Fabulous Age op St, Ciaran — The Story of thr Four Eed
Cows and St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise , . . 109
CHAPTER XXII,
The Paschal Fire is Extinguished and Miraculously Re
kindled — Antiquity op the Paschal Fire in Ireland , 170
CHAPTER XXin,
St. Ciaran's Thrbe Petitions — His Death — Its Locality —
— Its Date ....... 173

PART THIRD.
MEMORIALS OF ST. CIARAN,
CHAPTER I.
TULLAHERIN, THE TULACH OR TuMULUS OP ClARAN . . 181
CHAPTER II.
Seirkieban — Its Influence, Discipline, and Decadence . 186
CHAPTER III,
Kill Ciaran and Traigh Ciaran . , . . .191
CHAPTER IV,
Rath Ciaran and Durnaune , . . . . 194
CHAPTER V.
Fearta na-Oearach ....... 198
CHAPTER VI.
Bohbr Ciaran ...... .220

XVUl.
CHAPTER VII.
Sundry Memorials op St. Ciarai* in Ossory — Isbet Ciaran
also called Inchi-kieran — Bally-Oiaean, now called
Bally-Oaeean — Cill Ciaran of Inistioge — Cill Ciaran op
Owning — Oill Ciaran, in the Barony op Gowean — Tobee
Ciaran — St. Ciaran's Tree — Cill-Oiaban of Kells— Cill-
ClARAN OF Clashacrow ....,, 205
CHAPTER vm.
Memorials op St. Ciaran in the City op Kilkenny — St,
Ciaran's Chair — St, Ciaban's Statue — St, Ciaran's Well —
SS. Mary's and Ciaban's Cathedral — St. Ciaran's Bell — St,
Ciaban's Day . . . . . ,211
APPENDIX.
Text op the Legend op the Life of St, Ciaran , . , 219

COEEIGENDA.
Page. Line.
39, „ 114, for personae read persona.
46, „ 17, for nVrgatt-Ros read nArgait-Itos.
46, „ 30, for nDrgatt-jRoss read nArgatt-Hoss.
50, „ 1, for Droma read Drouadh,
87, „ 2 in note, for luise read luisc [lusk].
102, „ 7, for son of Aedh read son of Aedh-Coemghan.
103, „ 2 in 3rd col, for Aedh read Blank,
103, „ 3 in Srd col,/or Coemghan read Aedh-Coemghan.
110, „ 5, for Cennfaladh bishop read Cennfaladh.
110, „ 5, for Conaill read ConaiU bishop.
Ill, „ 5 in note,/or filii Aidi, fllii Coemghan read filii Aidi-
Coemghan.
140, „ 8, for Brenon law read Brehon law.
185, „ 5, for scoria read scores.
185, „ 1 in uote,/or scoria read scores.

ST. CIARAN OF OSSORY :
A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE AND TIMES.
No event in Irish History has heen so unanimously affirmed by
successive writers for the last thousand years as the remote antiquity
claimed for the birth and missionary career of St. Ciaran, of Saighir.
The ancient compiler of the " Tripartite ;" the biographers of Ciaran
and his cotemporary bishops, Giolla-Iosa-Mor Mac Fir bisigh and Solamh
O'Droma ; the compilers of the books of Lecan and BaUymote ; Arch
bishop Ussher and Father Colgan ; Sir James Ware and Roderic
O'Flaherty ; MacGeoghegan, O'Donovan, and the other great scholars of
our country — to whom we are indebted for collating and synchronis
ing the epochs and events in Irish chronology, have recorded their con
current testimony in favour of the pre- Patrician birth and mission of
St. Ciaran. Tet, it must be conceded that two eminent modern scho
lars have demurred to this decision of their predecessors — Dr. Lanigan,
the learned and judicious author of the " Ecclesiastical History of Ire
land," and Dr. Todd, the erudite and accomplished writer of the
" Memoir of St. Patrick," maintain that Ciaran had been living in the
middle and died towards the close of the sixth century. To these two
authorities, we have now to add a third, namely — a correspondent of
the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," who, in the issue of that periodical
for October, 1866, signing himself B,M,C,, undertakes to prove that
Ciaran was first cousia to Colman, King of Ossory, who died in the year
601 ; and, therefore, could not have preceded St. Patrick as a missionary
in Ireland. The illustration of this subject is invested with no ordinary de-
A

gree of interest for us who, here in the valley of the Nore, claim for
the venerable patron of this ancient principality the missionary pre
eminence of first announcing the faith within the precincts of this primitive
tribe land, which now, after fifteen centuries, still honors him as the
founder of its Church and the Patriarch of its civilization, whilst for
ourselves, we appreciate the favoured privilege of being enabled to
" adore in the place where his feet have stood." But we must not allow
our sentimentalism to beguile our judgment, nor are we to accept as
evidence in the case aught which cannot stand the test of critical a,nd
historical analysis. We shall, therefore, divide the inquiry into three
distinct parts. In the first we shall submit the proofs on which we
claim for Ciaran a pre-Patrician career ; and dispassionately examine
the arguments that have been advanced to disprove it. The second
part will consist of an historical commentary on the legend of the
Saiat's life, in which we shall arrange, into chronological order, its prin
cipal events, and illustrate from it much of the present ecclesiastical
topography of the county of Kilkenny. The third part will consist of
a list or catalogue of the still surviving memorials of his mission, vrith
some short illustration of each.

PART THE FIRST.
RESPECTING THE PERIOD OF ST. CIARAn's BIRTH.
The proofs to be submitted in support of the pre-Patrician birth
of St. Ciaran, wiU be discussed under the four foUowing heads, viz. : —
1st. The pedigree of his father from Aengus, the first King of
Ossory. 2nd. His maternal genealogy from Lughaidh MacConn.
3rd. The testimony of the " Barcon Chiaran," and the chronology
of the legend of his life.
4th. His relationship with Aengus MacNadhfrach.

CHAPTER I.
PATERNAL GENEALOGY OP ST. CIARAN,
In the legend of his Hfe,^ Ciaran is said to have been " of the
nobility of Ossory," In the Martyrology of Donegal,^ he is said to
be of " the race of Aengus Osraighe ;" and the Scholiast^ on the
Feliere of Aengus, at the 5th March, asserts — "Do dal Pirnd do
Osraigh do Chiaran," i.e., " Of the Dal Bim of Ossory, was Ciaran,"
which confines him to the Royal family of the Ossorian tribe — for the
Dal Birn was the tribe name of the MacGillaphadraig Clan, and
came originally from Leoghaire Birn, the second King of Ossory. In
the Sanctilogium Geneal,*f ound in the Book of Lecan and in the pedigree
of Ciaran, preserved in the Book of Leinster, we have the direct
descents from Aengus Ossory, through his successors, to Lughaidh
or Luaghe, the father of Ciaran, which determines, with certainty,
the tribe and the territory of Ciaran's ancestry. In each of the
authorities now quoted Lughaidh, the father of Ciaran, stands the
ninth in descent from Aengus Ossory, the head of the race. Genea
logists are agreed in aUowing thirty years as an average for each
generative descent. Hence nine descents, at thirty years to each,
will bring us from Aengus Ossory to Lughaidh, when the latter was 30
years old, at 270 years after the death of Aengus ; and here, in con
sequence, arises the necessity of ascertaining the age in which Aengus
lived, and thus, at the very openuig of our enquiry, we find ourselves
obUged to turn aside from the Ufe of the first Bishop to that of the
first King of Ossory.
Pedigree of Aengus Osraighe. — Aengus was the founder of the

1 " Legend of his Ufe." For an account of this manuscript see below
chapter iii,
2 " Martyrology of Donegal," At the Sth of March.
3 " Scholiast," i.e., Cathal Maguire, quoted from Hennessy's copy of the
Feliere Aengus.
4 " Sanctilogium Geneal," The Sanctilogium G-enealogicum here referred to
in Colgan is frequently quoted by writers on Irish hagiology under the title of
Seanchus na Naomh, and Naomh Seanchus, which are variously translated, " The
Genealogy of the Saints," " The Saint History," " Sacred Genealogies," &c.
There is a copy of the work preserved in the Book of Lecan, and is often quoted
by Michael O'Clery in the Martyrology of Donegal, See Dr, Todd's observa
tions on this ancient MS. in his annotations to O' Clerk's calendar.

ancient Kingdom of Ossory, the original establishment of which dates
from the " battle of Raighne," fought in the reign of Elim MacConry,
Monarch of Ireland, in the first century. In this battle the Prince of
Magh Feimhin was slain, his territory of Feimhin seized on and united
to Raighne, which two districts united to Magh-Airget-Ros, formed the
original Kingdom of Ossory .1 The battle of Raighne was fought between
the years 59 and 79 of the first century, and though it is but meagerly
recorded,^ and apparently involved in much obscurity, many autho
rities concur in conducting us to Aengus in the prime of his career at
the period of this battle. We shaU now submit the proofs by which
we have arrived at this conclusion.
Bresal Breac was the common ancestor of both the Lagenians
and Ossorians. According to Keating^ the two races branched off
from Bresal fourteen generations before Cathair Mor, and only eleven
before Aengus Ossory, whence it follows that Aengus must have been
Uving three generations before Cathair Mor. The following table
shows the relative descents of Cathair and Aengus from their common
ancestor Bresal Breac. The third column gives the matemal genealogy
of Aengus Ossory from Aengus Tuirmeac, for the illustration of which
see below p. 8. The Chronological column descends from the death of
Aengus Tuirmeac, who, according to the Ogygia, died in a.m. 3819,*
and descending thence at the rate of 30 years to a generation,^ we
1 For an account of the extent and boundaries of the original Ossory, see
below, part second, chapter 1,
2 "Eecorded" Ogygia, vol. 2, page 192. Healy's translation, Dublin,
1793. 3 Keatinge's History of Ireland, vol 1, page 82, Carson's Edition Dublin,
MDCCXXIII. 4 " Ogygia,'' vol, IL, p 140,
5 " Generation," In the ordinary course of nature, thirty years wUl be
found faithfully to represent the average of each generative descent. But this
rule cannot be tested by the statistics of civil succession, to which it cannot be
at all applied. A reverend friend of the writer has, with the most commen
dable industry, collected from various sources his own family pedigree, in an
unbroken succession for the past two hundred years. We have recently tested
its accuracy by applying to it the rule of thirty years to a generation with the fol
lowing results. The head of the pedigree, John, was born in 1694, and des
cending from him, when he was 30 years of age, in 1724, we have sis descents,
which at 30 years to each, make 180 years, which being added to 1724, bring us
to the sixth descent, when he would be thiry years old in 1904, John, the sixth
descent, was born in 1873, and will be thirty years of age in 1903, only one year
different in date from that which the average descents in the pedigree have
given us. Of course, conclusions arrived at from genealogical data can be ac
cepted only as approximations, and will be often found some years either ov er
or under the expected result. There are few of the pedigrees in Irish history
will stand the test of the thirty years' rule. Those that will are certainly
corrrect.

find ourselves, after eleven descents, at a,d. 145, which represents the
reign of Cathair Mor in the middle of his career, which, according to
all our authorities, is chronologicaUy correct : —
Bresal Breac,

1 Lughaidh Lothfin, Connla,
I I
2 Sedna. Nuadh,
I I
3 Nuadh Nect. Cartach,
I I
4 Fergus Fairge, Labraidh,
I I
5 Eossa Euadh, Lughaidh,
I I
6 Finn the Poet, Oiliol,
I I
J ConchobharAbhraruadh, Sedna,
I I
g Magh Corb, lar.

Aengus Tuirmeac a,m 3819

„ Cucorb, I
10 Nia Corb,

Crimthan Mor, ^

Eithne I
Fearmar I
OiUol I
Snin I
Degadh I
Daire
_.Cingit

11 Cormac Gealta Goith,
I
,2 Pelmidh Firnghlais,
I
,.. Cathair Mor,

Aengus Osraighe,
Leoghaire Birn,
Head of the " Dal Birn"
Of Ossory,

3849
3879 3909
3939 3969
3999 25
55 85
115145

According to this table, Aengus Ossory lived three generations
before Cathair Mor. Cathair was slain by Conn of the Hundred

1 "Bresal Breac," There is no direct reference to the age in which this
chieftain flourished. O'Flaherty, in the Osygia, says he was the grandson of
Crimthan-Cosgrach, who was slain a,m:, 3845, or 159 years before the Christian
era. His words are " King Crimthan had by his son, Bresal Brec, three grand
sons, viz,, Lugad Loitfionn, the grandfather of Nuad the White, King of Ire
land ; Feargus, the sailor, from whom the kings of Leinster are descended, and
Conla, the progenitor of the Ossorians, from whom the family of the Fitz-
patricks, barons of Upper Ossory, derive their genealogy," Ogygia, page 140.
But Keatinge's pedigree makes Bresal Breac not the sonof Crimthan Cosgrach,
but of Piachadh Faobhric, the eighth in descent from the same Crimthan, iu
which he is sustained by the high authority of the late eminent Irish scholar,
O'Donovan, The chronological column descends from a,m, 3819, the date of
Aengus Tuirmeac's death, to a d, 145, which represents Cathair Mor as being
then thirty years of age, which is also singularly correct. Our authorities do
not agree in their various chronological arrangement of the events of this re
mote period. It is no business of mine to attempt either to correct or reconcile
them. In the above and following tables, I have followed O'Plaherty's chrono
logy, and I do so because I find that a high authority in Irish history, Dr, Todd,
has set me the example. See Chronological table of the Kings^of Ireland, " St.
Patrick," page 256.

6
Battles in a,d. 177,^ three generations before which, at 30 years to each,
bring us up to Aengus at the year 87, or about the close of the first
century, when he would be far advanced in life. In the table, Aengus
stands opposite the year 55, of the first century, at which date the pedi
gree represents him as being then thirty years old, and if he Uved to be
fifty year^ more, would attain the eightieth year of his age in a.d. 105,
which we shaU here adopt as the date of his death ; and in support of
that conclusion, submit the foUowing evidence : —
The Will op Cathaie Mor, — Cathair Mor — one of the most
distinguished Chieftains of ancient Ireland, has left behind him a
deed purporting to be his " Will," and of which three different ver
sions are preserved, viz. — one embodied in the " Book of Rights ;" one
preserved in the Ogygia ; and a third found in the handwriting of
Michael O'Clery, and published with a translation by Dr. Todd, in his
" Appendix to the Introduction to the Martyrology of Donegal." A
word of illustration wiU be required for each.
The WiU of Cathair Mor, found in the "Book of Rights," Uke
every other tract in the same ancient compilation, is but a metrical
ampUfication of a more simple and primitive deed which, Uke the
writings of St. Benean, had been speciaUy modified by the Munster
bards to suit the poUtical designs of the Cashel statesmen during the
reign of Cormac MacCuilleanan, and consequently the date of this
version of the Will must be coeval vrith that of the compilation of the
" Book of Rights" in its present form.^
Respecting the copy of the " WUl" preserved by O'Flaherty, it
will sufiSce to notice it in the words of Dr, O'Donovan^ — " This WiU,"
he writes, " has been noticed by O'Flaherty in the Ogygia, where he
gives a short account of it, from which it appears that the document
he used was different from our text (i.e., from the Book of Rights),
But he does not inform us where it is preserved, or whether he beUeved
it was an authentic document. He merely remarks, " Thus I find the
will of Cathair has been committed to writing." O'Clery's version of
the " WUl" differs but sUghtly in substance from O'Flaherty's, and of
it Dr, Todd gives this, account :* "In the margin (of O'Clery's MS,) is
1 Ogygi^j vol ii,, page 207.
2 "Form," See O'Donovan's learned criticism on this subject. Introduc
tion to the " Book of Eights," page xxxiii, et seq.
3 Dr, O'Donovan, Book of Eights, page 192, u, a,
^ " This account, " Appendix to the introduction to the Martyrology of
Donegal, page xxxiv,, et seq.

the note " Testamentum Cathairi magni regis Hibernise." This is
evidently," continues Todd, " the Irish authority followed by O'Flaherty
which Dr, O'Donovan says he could not find." Thus, we have but two
versions or texts of Cathair's wiU, viz. : — one in the Book of Rights,
which O'Donovan shows to be but a compilation of the end of the
ninth century, and that in the handwriting of Michael O'Clery, which,
according to Dr. Todd, was the Irish authority foUowed by O'Flaherty,
and which, from its simple and primitive construction, as weU as from
its having come to us through the hands of two of the most trust
worthy witnesses in Irish history, goes far in favour of its being a
copy or transcript of the original deed, which " Sealbach, the sage," and
" Aengus, the wise," the two secretaries of Cormac MacCuUleanan, ampU-
fied for their master's use, whence it found its way iato the Book of
Rights^ Now from Dr. Todd's translation of O'Clery's copy of this
ancient bequest, we take the foUowing extract : —
" He (Cathair Mor), also gave to Nia Corb — son of Leoghaire — Bern
mBuadh, son of Aengus of Ossory, one hundred white-speckled cows with red ears,
and a heifer calf with every two cows, besides various gifts — with the right to
give advice to the power of the province of Laighin."
This last clause is thus translated iu the Ogygia, " With authority
to be prime minister to the King of Leinster,'' This passage is deci
sive^ respecting the age iu which Aengus Ossory Uved, and amply
1 " Book of Eights," O'Donovan observes that the will of Cathair Mor has
no apparent connection with the Book of Eights, save that as the principal
tribes of Leinster descended from the sons of Cathair, and that the rights aud
stipends of those descendants are there treated of. But the entire of that an
cient MS, consists of older MSS,, transcribed and modified to suit the ambitions
policy of the royal ecclesiastic who then ruled in Cashel,
2 " Decisive," It may be objected that, as the clause in favour of Nia
Corb is not found in the copy of Cathair's wiU preserved in the Book of Eights,
that it does not exist in the original, and that, therefore, O'Clery's version of
the wiU must be an interpolated copy. But the answer to this will be accepted
as conclusive by every student of Irish history, who has made himself acquain
ted TTith the rival claims,so constantly advanced by the Lagtnians andMum-
momians for the annexation of Ossory to their respective territories, Cathair
Mor, by this bequest in favor of Nia Corb, recognised Ossory as a dependent
province of Leinster, and its king as chief minister at his court, Cormac Mac
Cuilleanan, on the other hand insists on Ossory being subject to Munster, as is
thus declared by his bards :
" Subject to his (the king of Munster' s) rights, therefore.
Are the beauteous tribe of the Osraidhe," — Boole of Rights.
And hence his secretaries, in modifying the will of Cathair Mor, designedly ig
nored or expunged the bequest to Nia Corb, as on it might be established a
right on the part of the King of Leinster to authority over the territory of
Ossory. And thus, the very objection which may be raised against O'Clery's
copy of the will, is the strongest and most convincing proof in favour of its
authenticity.

8
sustains the genealogies quoted at page 5, above, in making Aengus
precede Cathair by three generations, which, at thirty years to each,
bring us back to the end of the first century, when we find Aengus
far advanced in his career ; and this we shall now demonstrate stiU
more clearly from his maternal genealogy.
Maternal Genealogy op Aengus Osraighe, — The pedigree ol
Cingit, or Kingit, the mother of Aengus is given above at page 5, and
as that has been its first appearance in a tabulated form, it wiU be ne
cessary to supplement it here by a short historical notice. Aengus
Tuirmeac was monarch of Ireland from a.m. 3787 to 3819, and
had, when overcome vrith wiae, by his own daughter, a son bom to him,
tie recoUection of which so overpowered him with shame, that he subse
quently received the surname of Tuirmeac, or bashful ; and, beUeving
the offspring of such unlawful intercourse unworthy of Ufe, ordered
the child, soon after its birth, to be taken from its mother, and to
gether with some trinkets of royalty, to be placed in a boat and
committed to the mercy of the waves. The boat having been dis
covered by some fishermen, who concluded, from the presence of the
jewellery, that the child had been of royal extraction, had it carefuUy
nurtured, tiU it finaUy grew up a character of some distinction, and is
known iu history as Fiachadh Fearmar, or the SaUor.i He had a son
named OiUiol Aron, who makes some figure in the war tales of his
time, and he again had a son named Suin, by other writers, Sen,^ He
was the father of Degadh, and both father and son were expeUed from
Ulster for intriguing agaiust the govemment of that kingdom, about a
century before the Christian era. They fled to Munster, and were
there protected by Duach, then King of that province, from which cir
cumstance this chieftain was subsequently sumamed Duach daltha
Deagha, viz. : — Duach, the fosterer or protector of Deagha. Duach
subsequently became monarch of Ireland, and Deagha succeeded him
as King of West Munster, and gave name to the celebrated Glan-
Deaghadh, a warUke tribe of that Kingdom, at the opening of the
Christian era. Deaghadh was succeeded by his son Daire, who from
his martial exploits, was surnamed the " plunderer," and from him
1 " The Sailor, " See Keating, vol, 1, p. 84, In the Ogygia, Fiachaidh Fearmar
is denommated Fiach the Sailor, Fearmar appears to be formed of fear, (vir
Latin), a man and mar, the sea, i.e., the man of the sea, or the seaman O^vma
vol, 2, page 142. ' sjs .
3 Ogygia, vol. 2, p, 142.

9
was born Cingit or Kingit, who, becoming the wife of Crimthan Mor,
of the race of Connla, gave birth to Aengus, the head of the Ossorian
family. Aengus Ossory stands the eight in descent from Aengus
Tuirmeac, and eight descents from a.m., 3819. The date of Aengus
Tuirmeac's death bring us to a.m, 4059, agreeing with the year 55 of
the first century, at which date, according to the rule of 30 years to a
generation, Aengus Ossory would be 30 years of age, and would, in
consequence, be born about the year 25 of the first century, and if he
lived to be eighty years of age, would die in a,d. 105, We have now
to see how far this conclusion can be sustained by more direct autho
rities. The foUovring bears directly on the point, and is taken from
Kennedy's "Dissertation^ of the Royal Family of the Stuarts,"
printed at Paris, a.d., 1703.
" Daire, above-mentioned, had, by his wife, Cal'd Maoin Mananagh,
a son, by name Cury, much celebrated in the Irish Books for his valour and
prodigious strength ; he was Prince or Chief over one of the three tribes of
famous Waniors then in Ireland, and was King of West Munster ; and
had [i.e. Daire had] a daughter called Kingit, the wife of .lEngus Ossory ;
from whose nickname the Patrimony this .<Engus acquii-ed for his posterity,
haa been ever since caUed Ossery, This Ciu-y was, by aU oiu- monuments
of antiquity, contemporary to Connor, King of Ulster."
According to the Ogygia,^ this King Connor
" Ruled the Sceptre of Ulster for sixty years, and died a natural
death in the forty-eighth year of Christ."
The argument of these passages amounts to this — Cingit, the
mother of Aengus Ossory, was daughter to Daire macDegadh, and
sister to Cury macDaire, and as " this Cury was by aU our monuments
of antiquity," contemporary with Connor, King of Ulster, who died
1 " Dissertation of the Eoyal Family of the Stewarts," p, 71, A rare and
valuable old book, beajing among other testimonials, the following :
" Dominioke, by the grace of God, and Holy See, Apostolic Archbishop of
Ardmagh, primate and metropolitan of Ireland. To all those whom it may con
cern, greeting, &c," " We certifie that we have seriously and attentively read
an English manuscript intitled a Chronological, Genealogical, and Historical
Dissertation of the Eoyal Family of the Stewarts, writ by Dr. Matthew Ken
nedy, wherein we find a rare collection of curious antiquity, out of choice Irish
monuments, which may prove very useful towards compiling the general His
tory of Ireland. We also find his arguments and remarks solidly grounded, all
tending to the clearing of tbe Eoyal f.amily's unparalleled antiquity, and, there
fore, very fit to be published. Dated at St. Germains, the flrst day of June,
1704, Signed f Dominicke, Archbishop of Ardmagh and Pricnate of all Ireland,"
2 Ogygia, vol, 2, page 163,
B

10
in the year 48 of the first century, Cingit, the mother of Aengus
Ossory, and the sister of Cury, must have been living within the first
half of the first century of our era ; and further evidence in favour of
this conclusionis afforded by a tract respecting famous women, preserved
in the Book of Lecan^ pp. 148-9, from which we take this short extract :
" Cingit ingin Daire mic Degaid Mathair ^ngusa Osraidt, mic Crimthain
Moir," i.e. " Cingit, daughter of Daire MacDegadh, mother of Aengus
Ossory, the son of Crimthan Mor."
And in foUo 98, c, 1 of the same venerable authority, the foUow
ing note occurs : —
Crimthan apud quem fuit Cingit ingen Daire Maic Degaid Mather
Aengusa Osraighe. i.e., " Itir Ossu allta dofrio a quo Osraidt," " Crim
than was found with Cingit, daughter of Daire, son of Degaidh, mother
of Aengus Osraighe, i.e., " Between wild deer he was found, from whom
the Osraighe." Degaid or Degadh, named in the both passages was, as abeady seen,
the ancestor of the Clan Degadh. Daire, his son, is equally famous,
being one of the most celebrated heroes of his age, he was father of
the renowned Cury or Curoi MacDaire, and of Cingit, who was mar
ried to Crimthan Mor, and by whom she became the mother of Aengus
Ossory. According to the Ogygia,^ Curoi or Cury fought in single
combat with Cuchuland, the celebrated leader of the " Red Branch
Knights" who, according to the same authority,^ was twenty -five years
old at the commencement of the Christian era, which thus fixes the age
of his competitor ; for we must allow the dueUists to have been of
nearly the same age. Hence, if Cury was twenty-five years old at the
oj)ening of the first century, his sister Cingit should be something
near the same age, probably much younger, for her son Aengus was
living till the close of the first century. He was most probably born
about the year a,d, 25, and if he lived to be eighty years old would die
about the year 105 of the Christian era. This conclusion is stUl further
sustained by the learned editor of the " Chronicum Scotorum," who
1 " Book of Lecan." For this and the following passage from the same ve
nerable MS,, I am indebted to the kindness of M, W, Hennessy Esq Public
Eecord Office, Dublin.
2 Ogygia, vol, 2, page 159, " Curroi MacDaire was killed by the celebrated
champion, Cuchuland, about the flrst year of the Christian era." Materials of
ancient Irish history, by Eugene Cm-ry, Esq., page 274.
3 "Authority." — Ogygia., vol, 2, pag6-161.

11
in a letter recently received from him on the point now under discus
sion says : — " In all the authorities that I know Aengus Ossory is rriade
the contemporary of characters, whose periods are referred to a,d, 70
— 150, so that he may be safely fixed about the year 110," which is only
five years later than the date to which the genealogy of his ancestors
has already conducted us. Adopting then a,d. 105 as the date of Aengus
Ossory's death, we shall now descend from hun, through his successors,
tiU we arrive at the period of Ciaran's birth, allowing, according to the
rule, 30 years as the average of each generative descent.
The foUowing table exhibits the paternal pedigree of Ciaran from
his ancestor, Aengus Ossory, also his maternal genealogy from Lug
haidh MacConn, and the collateral descents of Aengus Mac Nadhfrach,
from the same chieftain. Our present enquiry is confined to Ciaran's
paternal pedigree. For his maternal genealogy, see below, page 13,
and for that of King Aengus see Chap. 4.
Aengus Osraighe, a,d, 105

1 Leoghaire Birn,
I
2 Amalgaidh,
3 Eochaid Lamdoitt,
4 Buan Osraighe,
J Nia Corb, Lughaidh Mac Conn, E,H,
J CairbreCaem, Maicnaidh,

7

Conaill, Aengus Bolg,
I  L_ 

Euman Duach, Maine Cherr, Abinda,
I I I
Luighaidh  ^Liedania, Nadhfrach,
St, Ciaran, Aengus,
Bishop of Saighir, King of Munster,

135
165195
225
255285
315345375405

The first date in the chronological coliunn represents the death of
Aengus, a.d. 105, at which date his son, No, 1 in the pedigree, was 30
years old, and his grandson. No. 2, had been then just born. Hence
the date opposite each descent represents the individual as being then
thirty years of age, and also the date of the birth of the succeeding
generation, consequently Lughaidh, the ninth descent was 30 years a.d,
376, which same date is fixed by the chronology of this pedigree to be

12
that of the birth of his son Ciaran. It is freely granted that conclu
sions arrived at from genealogical data can be accepted but as so many
approximations. In the present case, however, it wiU be found that by a
singular concurrence, both the maternal genealogy of Ciaran, and the
chronology of the legend of his Ufe unite in conducting us to this same
year a.d. 375, as the date of his birth.

13
CHAPTER II.
MATERNAL GENEALOGY OP ST. CIARAN.
In the legend of Ciaran's life it is stated " The name of his mother
was Liadhan, and she was a native of Corca Laighe." There are few
events in Irish history the date of which can be approached with
greater precision than that of Ciaran's birth, through the medium
of his maternal pedigree. The Corca Laighe, to which she belonged,
was the parent trunk of many wide-spreading branches. Its great
progenitor was Lughaidh Mac Conn, a distinguished chieftain of the
third century. Two copies of the genealogy of the Corca Laighe are in
existence — one in the Book of Lecan, compiled from older MSS. by
GioUa-Iosa-Mor Mac Firbisigh, in the year 1418, The other preserved
in the " Book of BaUymote," compiled by Solamh O'Droma, from older
MSS, about the year 1390, The genealogy was transcribed by the late
Dr. O'Donovan for the Celtic Society, which, with a translation by the
same scholar, have been pubUshed in the MisceUany of that Society
for the year 1849. As the original text, with O'Donovan's translation
and notes, may be consulted by any student in Irish history, the fol
lowing extract wiU suffice for our purpose : —
" Lughaidh Laidhe, from whom the Corca Laidhe 
He had a son, another Lughaidh, i.e., Mac Conn 
Mac Conn had a celebrated son namely Maicniadh.
Maicniadh had good sons, namely Aenghus Gaifuileach— — — —
From whom [descends] Ua EidersceoU (O'DriscoU) 

[The writer here turns off from the direct descents in pursuit of the
Ua Cobtaigh (O'Coffey's) ; Ua Flora (OThnn's), &c., and again takes up
the old line in p. 19].
Aengus had four sons, Maine, Natha, Oilill, &c,
Maine, son of Aengus, had two sons, namely Eana and Cathra,
And one daughter i.e., Lighain, daughter of Maine, who was the
Mother of Ciaran, of Saighir, He was born at Pinntract-Clere.
And the angels of God attended upon her. The orders of Heaven
Baptised him. Here was (dweUing) the chieftain who first beUeved
In the Cross in Ireland ; for Ciaran had taken Saighir
Thirty years before Patrick arrived, as the poet said,
Saighir the cold.
Found a city on its brink.
At the end of thirty years
I shaU meet there and thou,"

14
Denuding the pedigree of its genealogical ramifications, the direct
descents from Mac Conn to Ciaran stand thus ; —

1 Lughaidh Mac Conn
2 Maicnaidh
3 Aengus Gaifuileach (alias Bolg)
4 Maine Cherr
5 Lighain
6 Ciaran

A,D. 255285315345376

The chronology of this pedigree gives us the following results :—
Lughaidh Mac Conn was monarch of Ireland from a,d. 260 to 263.1
Lighain, or Liedania, Ciaran's mother, is the fourth in descent from
Mac Conn. Four descents at 30 years to each, make 120 years, which,
added to a.d, 253, the date of Mac Conn's death, bring us to Lighain,
the mother of Ciaran, at a,d. 378, when she would be thirty years of
age, and when her son Ciaran would be just making his appearance
on the scene of life, and the sequence of the extract confirms the ac
curacy of this conclusion, " for (continues the writer) " Ciaran had
taken Saighir thirty years before Patrick arrived," that is, before he
arrived at Saighir, not before he arrived in Ireland ; and this is pre
cisely the import of the ran which the writer then quotes from an
older authority : — " At the end of thirty years,
I shall meet there and thou,"
We shall see below at Chap. III. that St. Patrick visited St. Ciaran
at Saighir in a.d, 455 ; and as at that period Ciaran was eighty years
of age he should, in consequence, have been born in the year a,d. 375,
the same date as we have arrived at through the medium of his father's
pedigree. 1 " 253," Ogygia, .vol, ii., p. 226.

15
CHAPTER III.
THE TESTIMONY OP THE " BARCON CIARAn'' — THE AUTHOR AND THE DATE
OF THE LEGEND OP ST. CIARAn's LIFE.  THE CHRONOLOGY OP THE
LEGEND ILLUSTRATED.
The " Old Life" of Ciaran, as it is sometimes termed, has been
accepted as a very ancient compilation, and was held in great esteem
by Ussher. Of this old MS, there appears to have been many copies
on transcripts extant, Colgan translated one into Latin ; it is pub
lished in the Acta SS, at the 5th March ; another copy of it fell into
the hands of an Irish scholar named John Murphy, of Carrignaver,
county Cork, by whom more than one transcript was made in a,d,, 1758,
One of Murphy's copies is now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy
(M, S. 23, M, 50) . There is a second in the possession of Mr, John O'Daly,
Anglesea-street, DubUn, who has made from it an English translation,
which I am enabled to make use of in the foUowing essay. Murphy's
transcript is not divided into chapters. It consists of fifty-eight para
graphs, which do not, however, represent so many different subjects
in the legend. But, as we have no other rule for reference, we shall
use these paragraphs as chapters in the sequel of this Memoir. As
the " Life" of Ciaran is the most decisive authority in favour of the
remote antiquity of his birth and mission, it will be necessary to in
troduce its testimony by a short enquiry respecting the period of its
compilation. In the third chapter or paragraph of the legend, we are intro
duced to St, Ciaran, who, on his return from Rome, met St, Patrick
in Italy. The latter presented Ciaran with a bell and the writer of the
Ufe gives the foUowing account of this bell iu his own times : —
" Barcon Ciaran is the name of the beU, and it is now deposited as a
sacred reUc in the parish and city of St, Ciaran, and taken around the
coimtry in order that contending kings and princes should be sworn by it,
to keep fealty towards each other. It is also sworn on when necessary by
the Coarbhs of St, Ciaran's monastery and by the pubUc in general. It was
made by Germanus, bishop at St, Patrick's monastery, and it was he {i.e.,
Germanus), that gave it to St, Patrick,"
The history of the " Barcon Ciaran," given in this passage, is im
portant as a testimony never before cited in support of the Roman
journey of St, Ciaran, or rather in support of the antiquity of the

16
beUef in that joumey to the Continent. We learn from the Irish An
nals that this beU was of great reputation in ancient Ireland. In the
Chronicum Scotorum we read —
" A.D. 972 — Donnchadh Finn, son of Aedh, son of Flann, was slain
by Aedh, against the protection of the Beaman Ciaran, through treachery,"
It will be observed that in the extract quoted from the Life of
Ciaran, the bell is denominated " Barcon Ciaran ;" and in the passage
from the Chronicum, it is caUed " Beaman Ciaran." The cause of
the change in the name of the beU will be enquired into lower down.
At the year 1041 we read again in the " Chronicum" —
" The community of Ciaran fasted at Tula Garbha against Aedh Ua
Confiacla dynast of Teabhtha, and the Beaman Ciarain was rung against
him there with the end of the Bachal-Isa ; and the place moreover where
he turned his back upon the Clergy. In that same place his head was cut
off before the end of a month by the men of Midhe" (Meath).
The Bachal Isa, or, as it is translated, the Staff of Jesus, had
been St. Patrick's Crozier, which, on this occasion, was brought from
Armagh to Meath, that, by tolling with it St, Ciaran's bell, the ex
communication then pronounced against Aedh or Hugh O'Confiacla,
might be more solemn and imposing. From all which we can leam,
the extent of the reUgious esteem with which this bell was regarded
by the Ecclesiastics and Chieftains of the nation. It was preserved
with sacred care in the city or cathair of St. Ciaran, from the time of
the saint himself down to the eleventh century, if not to a later date.
It was a sacred relic, highly venerated in the Church, and derived its
reputation from its connection with the school of St. Germanus, in
which St. Patrick had completed his studies, and, as such, is the
highest proof that can be required of the antiquity of the beUef of
the Roman joumey of St. Ciaran, and of his interview with St.
Patrick on the Continent. That belief must be as old as the existence
of the bell, and consequently as old as the tune of St. Ciaran him
self ; and, as such, this bell may be accepted as an iUustrious memo
rial of the general beUef of the ancient Irish Church in the pre-
Patrician birth and mission of St. Ciaran.
THE AUTHOR and THE DATE OP THE LIFE OP ST, CIABAN,
In both the Irish lives of St, Ciaran this bell is denominated
" Barcon Ciaran." In Colgan's Latin translation, it is named " Bardan

17
Ciaran," " Bardan" is a latin modification of the Irish " Barcon," Iu
the Chronicum Scotorum, and in the Annals of the Four Masters, it is
caUed " Bearnan Ciaran," Colgan explains Barcon or Bardan, " Forte
Bodhran, i.e. niutam, potius, legendem videtur, &c, ; for, according to the
legend (i.e. of Ciaran's life), the bell was to remain mute until Ciaran
arrived at Saighir, when it should ring with a clear melodious sound,
Barcon Ciaran then was the original name of the beU, Bearnan Ciaran;
so caUed by the AnnaUsts, impUes the gapped or broken bell of Ciaran.
Hence, it appears, that before the beU had been damaged, it was known
as Barcon Ciaran, but subsequent to that event it was recognised as
Bearnan Ciaran. Now it was whilst the beU had been known by its ori
ginal name, that this Ufe of Ciaran was written ; and if we can deter
mine the date of the event from which resulted the change in the
name of the bell, it will enable us to form a pretty accurate estimate
of the date to which we should assign the compilation of the Legend
of Ciaran's Ufe,
That the alteration in the name of the beU resulted from its
having been gapped or broken in one of these predatory raids or
internecine feuds in which the native Irish soon leamed to imitate, if
not to excel, the sacrilegious examples of their ruthless invaders, the
Danes, is all but certain. In the year 842 " Bir and Saighir were
plundered by the Gentiles," This was a raid by a detachment of
Danes from theu* fleet then mooring in the waters of Linn Ros, an arm
of the Shannon, We have not the details of this assault, nor of the
extent or nature of its violence ; but in a century later we read in the
same Annals, a,d. 952, " Saighir Chiaran was plundered by the men of
Munster," We can form an idea of the violence of this assault on
Saighir, from the circumstance that twenty years after its date the
place stiU remained desolate and dUapidated ; so much so that Sabdh
or Sabia, the daughter of Donnchadh, King of Ossory, and wife of
Donnchadh, Monarch of Ireland, expressed her grief on beholding
the cemetery of Saighir, in which reposed the ashes of many of her
ancestors, now an unprotected common, without even a waU or fosse
to save it from indiscriminate desecration.^ And in the year 973 she
1 Desecration, This important event is found recorded in an extract from
a latin translation of Dr, Keating's History of Ireland, preserved iu the Manu
script Library, Trinity College, Dublin, transcribed by the late Dr, O'Donovan,
published for the flrst time, by the Eev, James Graves, in the " History, Anti
quities, and Architecture of the Cathedral church of St, Canice, page 9, n.b. In
C

18
procured masons out of Meath to erect around the sacred precincts the
septum or wall,i part of which is stiU standing there. One year be
fore the erection of this wall, and twenty years after the demolition of
the town by the " Men of Munster," we find the Chronicum Scotorum
designating Ciaran's bell by the name of " Bearnan," that is gapped
or broken. Was it then in the year 952, when Saighir was sacked by
the Munster men, that, in demolishing the cathair and other buildings
of the town, they gapped this venerated reUc of the founder ? It is
certain that the bell was injured anterior to the year 952 ; and it is
also certain that the Life of Ciaran had been written before that
injury had occurred. But the bell might have been gapped in the raid
made by the Danes on Saighir in a,d. 842, and if so the Life of
Ciaran must have been written previous to that year ; for it expressly
states " Barcon Ciaran is the name of the bell, and it is now depo
sited as a sacred relic in the city of St. Ciaran, namely, Saighir,"
Hence it is clear that neither the bell had been gapped or the city of
Saighir demolished at the period of the writing of the legend. We
have therefore to inquire what personage flourished about that age, to
whom we can, with probability, assign the authorship of the Life.
At the period now under discussion, there governed the Church
of Saighir, for twenty-one years, a certain Bishop who, in the long
list of its ecclesiastics, is the only one distinguished by the Four
Masters with the title of " Scribe." " Cormac MacEladhach, Bishop
and Scribe of Saighir," succeeded Anluan as Abbot of Saighir, in a,d,
846, only four years after the first attack on that city by the Danes in
a,d. 842 ; and if it was in this assault of the Danes that the " Barcon
Ciaran" was gapped, from which resulted the alteration in its name,
Cormac must have written the Life of Ciaran before his i^romotion to
this extract from Keating, the building of the wall around the cemetery of
Saighir, i,5 recorded under the year 917 ; but this must be an incorrect date, as,
whilst the waU was in course of erection, Donnchadh, King of Ossory, the father
of Queen Sabdh, died, and was interred with great solemnity in the churchyard
of Saighir ; and his death is recorded by the Four Masters under the year 974,
This lady, who is denominated Sabdh by Keating, is desifrnated Mor by the Four
Masters, Both describe her as the daughter of Donnchadh, son of Ceallaeh Kinn-
of Ossory, and the wife of Donnchadh, King of Ireland, According to the Four
Masters, she died in the year 985, so that she could not have emer"ed from her
infantine years in 917, when, accordingto Keating's chronology, she being queen
of Ireland, procured workmen out of Meath to erect the wall around the graves
of her ancestors,
1 " Septunn, or wall " See a diagram of the remains of this ancient build
ing by Eev James Graves, " History, Antiquities, and Architecture of the Ca
thedral of St, Canice," page 13,

19
the Abbacy in a,d, 846, and even before the raid on the city in the
year 842, Cormac governed Saighir from a.d, 846 to 867. That he
was the author of the legend in question appears to be highly probable
and that it had been written anterior to his promotion to the Abbacy
is clearly established from the mternal evidence of the document
itself, which represents Saighir as being iu the undisturbed enjoyment
of its primitive institutions. Its affluence in flocks, herds, cattle, and
landed possessions is duly detailed, and in extenuation of its riches
in gold and silver, we are told that they were the special result of the
prayers of St, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, But no reference, whatever,
is made to any attack on either the church, city, or property of the
institution, from which it certainly follows that the Legend of Ciaran's
Life was written before the year 842, when the city was plundered by
the Danes in a raid from their ships in the Shannon ; and with this
critique on the age and writer of the Legend, we shall now quote its
testimony in illustration of the date of Ciaran's birth,
" Thii'ty years or thereabouts Ciaran spent in Ireland before he was
baptized. On learning of the spread of Christianity in Rome — he pro
ceeded thither — and remained there for the term of twenty years — [being
there] " ordained and sent back to Ireland to preach the Gospel, he met
St, Patrick in Italy, when Patrick said to Ciaran, ' Proceed before me to
Ireland, and you will meet a weU in a solitary spot — erect a Monastery for
yourself at that weU — and in thirty years 1 will follow you to that place,
and they blessed and greeted each other,' "
As this passage will require a more ample illustration in its proper
place, we shaU use it here only as a guide to the date of Ciaran's
birth. St Patrick arrived in Ireland in 432. Thirty years before that
date brings us to himself and Ciaran conversing in Italy at the year
402, Ciaran was thirty years old before he left Ireland, and as he
remained twenty years in Rome he must have been 60 when he met
St. Patrick in the year 402, Now take 60 from 402, and you arrive at
A,D, 352, as the date of St, Ciaran's birth. These are the statistics
upon which Dr, Lanigan and Dr, Todd rejected the entire chronology.
In the first place its whole testimony appears to rest on the " thirty
years'' prophecy, and if this be rejected as inadmissible from its
being either apocryphal or supernatural, the whole chronology must
fall to the ground. But if we analyse the passage, its context will
show that both those who have accepted and those who have rejected

20
its testimony, have deduced from it highly untenable conclusions.
The words addressed by St, Patrick to Ciaran are —
" Proceed before me to Ireland. — Tou will meet a well in a solitary
spot. Erect a Monastery for yourself at that well, and in thirty years I
ivill follow you to that place."
There is no authority in this passage for the statement so often
advanced that Ciaran preceded St. Patrick by thirty years as a mis
sionary in Ireland. The express words are : " In thirty years I wiU
follow you to that place," namely to the well in the soUtary spot.
Hence we must calculate the date of the birth of Ciaran not from the
date of the arrival of St, Patrick in Ireland, but from the date of his
arrival in Saighir.
The visit of the Irish Apostle to St, Ciaran is thus concisely re
corded in the life of the latter :
" St, Patrick and Aengus Mac Nadhfrach went with an immense
multitude to Saighir, where Ciaran dwelt, and besides the other food
prepared for dinner, eight bullocks were killed for the occasion, &c."
This is the only interview on record between the Irish Apostle and
St. Ciaran in Ireland; and it is the last of the many visits paid by
King Aengus Mac Nadhfrach to our Saint. It is recorded late in the
history of Ciaran's Life, and has all the appearance of having been a
farewell visit.
Now at what time did Patrick pay this visit to Ciaran at Saig
hir ? If we can determine its date it will enable us to arrive at the
precise period of his birth. The investigation of this subject more
properly belongs to the narrative of Ciaran's life, in which it forms an
important event. For our present purpose, it will suffice to state that
the visit of the Irish Apostle to St, Ciaran at Saighir, is to be deter.
mined by the date of St, Patrick's return from his mission in Munster,
On that occasion. King Aengus and a great multitude accompanied
him to the borders of Munster, to bid him a last farewell and to receive
his final benediction. The road by which the Apostle returned was
through the territory of EiUe, now partly represented by the baronies
of Eliogarty in Tipperaiy, and Ballybrit in the King's county, keeping
west of the Slievebloom Hills, and not far from the present town of
Birr — his next station after leaving Munster, being on the river Brosna,
in the immediate vicinity of the monastery of Saighir, then govemed
by St, Ciaran. The apostle, the king, and their retinue visited Ciaran,

21
and were hospitably entertained in the monastery. Let us now see the
date of this visit,
Patrick entered Munster in a.d. 448,^ and he remained evangelising
that kingdom, for seven years.^ Consequ.ently, his departure thence
should have taken place in the year a,d. 466, at which date Ciaran
had attained the eightieth year of his age ; for he was thirty years old
when he left Ireland for the continent. He was twenty years away, and
consequently fifty when St, Patrick prophesied that they should meet
again at the " well in the solitary spot, in thirty years hence," which
thirty years bring us to Ciaran in the eightieth year of his age, in the
year 456, when St. Patrick visited Saighir ; and if we take eighty
years from the year 455, we have precisely 376 for the date of Ciaran"
birth. And thus, his paternal pedigree, his matemal genealogy and the
chronology of his own life, concur in giving us the same year, namely
375, as the date of his birth, which date we shall adopt through the
sequel of this Memoir,
1 " a, D, 448," This is the date fixed on by Ware. Ussher has 449. And as
the Apostle preached through Leinster and Ossory in 448, it must have been
towards the close of that year that he entered Munster, which might justify
Ussher in dating the event for the following year,
2 " Seven years." " Deserente Mummoniam in qua septem annis continuis
juxta supra dictis laboravit, et veniente ad extremes ejus fines, monstravunt
totius provincise magnates et populi se tanto spirituales Patris et apostoli duci
desideris et affectu," &c, Trias Thuam, p, 159.

22
CHAPTER IV.
ST. CIARAN WAS SECOND COUSIN TO AENGUS MAC NADHFRACH,
KING OP MUNSTER.
The relationship between Ciaran and Aengus Mac Nadhfrach, the
first Christian King of Munster, forms the last proof to be submitted
in support of the pre-Patrician mission of our Saint.
The cousinship of Ciaran with King Aengus is exemplified in the
table of their coUateral descents from Lughaidh Mac Conn. (See above
page 13), Ciaran's descent from that chieftain has been abeady iUus
trated iu his maternal genealogy found in the Corca Laidhe," (See 2nd
chapter), and the pedigree of King Aengus, of Munster, from the same
common ancestor, and exhibited in the same table, is founded on the
following passage from the Ogygia, p, 308 :
" Core, returning home (from Scotland), succeeded his uncle, Achy, as
King of Munster. He had by Abinda, the daughter of Aengus Bolg, a
prince of Corcalaidia, Nathf raioh and Cas, Nathf raich, after his accession
to the crown of Munster, had .^ngus, the first Christian King of Munster,"
&c,, &c. Core, having succeeded his uncle in the Kingdom of Munster re
moved the seat of govemment from Knockgraff on to Sidh-dhruim, sub-
. sequently and since caUed Cashel, of which he was the first King, and
took for vrife Abinda, the daughter of Aengus Bolg, then a famous
chieftain of the tribe of Corca Laighe. This Aengus Bolg had,
amongst a numerous offspring, a son named Maine Cherr, and a
daughter as above-named Abinda, Maine Cherr had, by a lady whose
name is not recorded, a daughter named Liedania, and Abinda be
coming the wife of Core, was the first Qupen of Cashel, and had by
her husband a son named Nadhfrach, and consequently Nadhfrach,
the son of Abinda, and Liedania, the daughter of Maine Cherr, were
first cousins. Nadhfrach, becoming the second King of Cashel, had,
by a wife not named, Aengus, the first Christian King of Munster ;
and Liedania taking for husband Lughaidh, of the race of Connla,
and son to Ruman Duach, then King of Ossory, had by him a son,
namely, the illustrious Bishop Ciaran, whose Biography we are now
endeavouring to illustrate ; consequently St, Ciarau and Aengus Mac
Nadhfrach were second cousins, Aengus MacNadhfrach was KinCT of

23
Munster, and a married man, on the occasion of the battle of Feam-
hin, fought in a,d,, 445, and was baptized by St, Patrick about the
year 460, and, as a matter of course, both himseU and his cousin
Ciaran must have preceded St, Patrick in Ireland ; and now, with
these statistics before us, how are we to hold with Dr, Todd that
Ciaran's father could not have been bom much before the year a,d,
600 ? or with the writer in the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record" that
Ciaran himself was first cousin and contemporary of Colman, who died
King of Ossory ui the year 601 ? — nearly one hundred and fifty years
after King Aengus and his cousin Ciaran had gone to Heaven.

24
CHAPTER V.
OBJECTORS AND OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
The three most prominent amongst the writers who are opposed to
the pre- Patrician birth and mission of St. Ciaran are Dr, Lanigan, Dr,
Todd, and a correspondent of the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," who
writes over the initials of B,M,C. Respecting Dr. Lanigan, it is clear
from the arguments with which he undertakes to disprove the proposi
tion, that he studied the subject only so far as it rested on the "thirty
years" prophecy ; and as viewed from that standpoint, it appeared en
tirely based on either supernatural or apocryphal data ; and being
surrounded with chronological difficulties, and copiously draped in fable,
he rejected the Legend altogether. Regarding Dr. Todd, I write of him
with the greatest respect, and in the very words in which he himself
compliments Dr, Lanigan, only substituting one name for the other.
(i.e. Todd for Lanigan and Ciaran for Patrick), "No man could
be more thoroughly honest, or more perfectly ready to express
his honest convictions than Dr. Todd. But he was pledged by
his education and prejudices^ to deny the Roman journey and with it
1 " Prejudices." There are few, if any, free from the prejudices of flrst
impressions ; and Dr, Todd's writings show that, notwithstanding his anxiety to
rise above their influences, the bias of early training to a great extent mastered
his intellect. A singular instance of this occurs in his " Memoir " of St,
Patrick, where, commenting ou an anecdote related by the Irish Apostle in his
" Confession," and from which Dr, Lanigan concluded that the invocation of
saints was both believed in and practised by St. Patrick, and to disprove
which conclusion, Dr, Todd thus singularly argues, " In the same night" writes
Todd, " an event occurred which he [St, Patrick] says he could never forget.
He had a nightmare which he believed to be a temptation of Satan. He felt
as if a great stone had fallen upon him, he was unable to move a Umb, and he
says, " How it came into my mind to call out Helias I know not, but at that
moment I saw the sun rising in the heavens, and whilst I cried out ' Hehas !
Helias !' with all my might, lo ! the brightness of the sun fell upon me and
straightway removed the weight," " It is strange," continues Dr, Todd, " that
this anecdote should be taken as a proof that St, Patrick practised the invoca
tion of saints. If this was an invocation of a saint, and if it was the custom of
the time to invoke saints, and more particularly to invoke Helias as a saint,
why did St, Patrick say " I know not how it came iuto my head to call upon
Helias ?" Do not these words very clearly prove that to invoke saints, or, at
least, to invoke Helias, was a somewhat unusual thing in St, Patrick's time,
" The true reading of the passage," continues Dr, Todd, " is probably not Elias,
or HeKas, but Eli, 'my God/ which the copyists, not being able to understand,
made Helias, &c."
It is not my intention to use this anecdote either to prove or disprove any
one of the two conclusions deduced from it. But, if it was EU, " my God," and
not the prophet EUas, then the following is the gist of Dr, Todd's reasoning.
" If this was an invocation of God, or if it was the custom of the time to invoke

25
the Roman mission of St. Ciaran." The great end and aim of Dr,
Todd's " Memoir" is to disprove the Roman mission of St, Patrick,
and, therefore, he could not aUow such a qualification in one of St,
Patrick's successful predecessors. It is true Dr Todd allows Palladius
to have received a Roman mission to preach to the Scotts. But he can
afford to make this concession, as that mission was a failure, and as
such proves nothing in favor of Roman propagandism. But, if a pre
decessor of St, Patrick obtained his commission from the Roman Pon
tiff to preach the Gospel in Ireland, and if this commission resulted in
success, especially as Dr. Todd holds that scattered congregations of
Christians existed in Ireland before the arrival of St, Patrick, th?
circumstance would go far to establish the Roman Christianization of
Ireland. And as Dr, Todd laboured with a good wiU to disprove
this conclusion, it is but a matter of course that he should also deny or
try to refute the allegations by which it is sought to be established.
But the correspondent of the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record" adopts
the opposite extreme of Dr, Todd's views. He not only accepts the
Roman mission of St, Patrick as "the glory of our Church"^ but ap
pears to think that that glory would be very considerably diminished in
its brUUancy if the mission had been previously conferred on a less
distinguished predecessor ; and thus both writers labour to make the
same point serve very opposite ends, and by a singular species of con
tradiction combine to denude St, Ciaran of the diadem with which the
saints and the scholars of Ireland had crowned him, in order to prop
up their own conflicting theories. But the " glory of our Church" does
not require to be sustained at the expense of truth, nor are the facts
and dates of history to be warped into accommodation with any favorite
foregone conclusion. The pre-Patrician mission of St, Ciaran is to be
investigated as an abstract historical proposition, and whether its affir
mation renders the Roman mission of St, Patrick the more probable, or
God, and, more particularly, to invoke Him under the name of EU, "my God,"
why did St, Patrick say " I know not how it came into my mind to call upon
' Eli,' ' my God,' " Nearly every form of Christianity in Ireland has claimed St,
Patrick as a member of its own particular Church ; but Dr, Todd is the flrst who
attempted to make the Irish Apostle an infidel, for none but an Atheist could
say, " I know not how it came into my mind to caU upon God," in time of temp
tation. We are not to accuse Dr Todd of any such wilful design ; but when we
see him warping reason and fact to support a foregone conclusion, we must con
clude that his clear, logical mind, had been obscured by " the prejudices of his
education," I " Our Church.'' " Irish Ecclesiastical Eecord," October, 1866.
D

26
(as some would childishly imagine), obscures the brilliancy of that
mission by having it preceded by a similar commission having been
conferred on a native Irish ecclesiastic, are alike foreign to our purpose.
The time-honoured memory of our National Apostle blooms like our
native shamrock in perennial verdure, the freshness of which will not
be impaired by an additional exposure to sunlight.
There have been various objections advanced against the pre-
Patrician mission of St, Ciaran, some of them purely conjectural, and
as such not requiring to be noticed here. Others, however, have been
put forward as resting on historical data. Of these, the following
are the only ones the writer feels called on to refute :
First Objection. — The Date op the Reign of Aengus Osraighe,
— It may be as well to mention that the genealogy of his (Ciaran's)
father, Luaighre, is preserved in nine descents from his ancestor Aengusi
of Ossory, who was expelled from his lands by the Desii, in the reign
of Cormac Ulfadha (a,d. 254-277). If this be so, St, Ciaran's father
could not have been born much before a,d, 600." Dr. Todd's " Saint
Patrick," page 202, n, 6.
It is freely granted that " if this be so," the conclusion is proved ;
but, if it be not so, the contrary is established. Had this statement
been advanced by any other writer than Dr, Todd it wonld not require
to be confuted, as no authority is given in its support. But as Dr,
Todd is an authority in himself, he must be confronted with an authority
of at least his own grade. I, therefore, confidently refer the reader to the
four paragraphs in Keating's reign of Cormac Mac Art, alias IJUadha,
commencing with the words " The Deasies affected," and ending with
the words " violent expulsion." The copy from which I quote is Car
son's old folio edition, Dublin, a.d, 1723, pp. 129-133. I also refer to
the " Ogygia," vol, 2, page 243, Healy's translation ; and to O'Donovan's
" Tribes and Territories of Ancient Ossory"^ any one of which will sa
tisfy him that there was no expulsion of the Ossorians from their lands
in the reign of Cormac Ulfadha, nor for two hundred years after, till
the middle of the fifth century, when Aengus Mac Nadhfrach expelled
them from the plains of Magh-Feimhin, and conferred those lands on
the Desii, who, till then, and from the time of Cormac Ulfadha, had
been confined to the district south of the river Suir. This expulsion
1 " Ancient Ossory," See Supplement to the Transactions of the Kilkenny
ArchEeological Society, part 2, p, 14, 1850,

27
of the Ossorians from Magh-Feimhin is sometimes called the first
battle of Feimhin, and according to the Chronicum Scotorum, it was
fought in the year 445 ; and if Dr, Todd maintains that Aengus Ossory
was expelled from those lands on that occasion, then it will follow tbat
Aengus should be living in thedatter half of the fifth century, say a,d,
460, and nine descents from that date, at thirty years to each, bring
us to Lughaidh, St. Ciaran's father, about the year 730, at which date
Ciaran himself would be about thirty years of age, and if he lived to
be eighty, should die about the year 780. But, as the conclusion is ab
surd, so the premises from which it is deduced are equally false.
But the writer in " The Irish Ecclesiastical Record" undortaUos to
prove that Aengus Ossory was expelled from his lands by the Desii in
the reign of Cormac Ulfadha, and quotes to prove it the following pas
sage from O'Clery's transcript of Keating's History of Ireland, pre
served in St, Isidore's Rome : — ^
" Understand that it was Aengus of Ossory, with his foUowers obtained
power in Magh Feamhin, and it was the race of^ Fiach Suighde expelled
Aengus of Ossory, with his clans, from Magh-Feamhin, &c,"
Upon this passage the writer then argues thus : —
" The Desu were the descendants of Fiach Suighde, Upon the accession
of Cormac Ulfadha, they were expeUed from their estates in the now county
of Meath, They travelled southwards, and obtained lands in the now county
of Tipperary, to which they gave-the name of Desii, Thus (he continues),
there could have been no Desii descendants of Fiach Suighde to expel Aengus,
of Ossory, from Magh Feamhin, before the accession of Cormac Ulfadha in
A,D, 254 ; and, consequently, the date of Aengus' ruling in the valley of the
Nore is fixed at some period after that, probably a,d, 265,"
It is granted that there could not have -been descendants of Fiach
Suighde to expel the Ossorians from Magh Feimhin, anterior to the
1 "Eome," Irish Ecclesiastical Eecord, October, a,d, 1866'
2 "Eace of Fiach Suighde," In O'Connor's translation it is the "posterity
of Fiach Suighde," either of which shows that it was in the time of the pesterity
or descendants of that chieftain that the Ossorians were expeUed from Magh
Feamhin, and, therefore, not in the reign of Cormac Ulfadha, But, ou this
point, Keating is conclusive. He writes, " They (the Desii) bestowed her (viz.,
Eithne Vathach), upon Aengus, sou of Nathfrach, King of Munster, But this
Prince could not obtain her without a gratuity to the family that brought her
up, and, therefore, Aengus deUvered as a dowry, into the possession of the
Desies the lands of Magh Feamhin, But he was^first obliged to drive the people
of Ossory out of these estates, who at that time were the possessors of them,"
Keating's "Eeign of Cormac MacArt," Carson's edition, p, 130, This is the
event which the writer in the "Eecord" sa.ys was accomplished between A d,
254-259, Aengus MacNadhfrach was baptized by St, Patrick a,d, 450 !

28
reign of Cormac UUadha, a,d, 254, But the passage quoted does not
say they were expelled in his reign, and if the writer of it had only
consulted the three paragraphs in Keating, which precede the one
from which he quotes the passage, he would see that the expulsion of
the Ossorians from Magh Feimhin occurred on the occasion of the
marriage of Aengus MacNadhfrach, tn the middle of the fiith century.
But, how can the fact of the Desu having been banished from Meath,
in the reign of Cormac UUadha, prove that Aengus was ruUng in the
valley of the Nore in a,d, 265 ? What connection or dependence exists
between the two events ? But the writer not having studied the con
text of the three preceding paragraphs, is led to an erroneous conclusion
by the wording of this isolated passage.
The quotation from Keating evidently refers to two distinct events,
which are not distinguished but confounded by the writer in the
" Record," " Understand," says Keating, " that it was Aengus of Ossory,
with his followers, obtained in Magh Feamhin." This refers to the
conquest of that territory by Aengus in the first century, when he
united it to MaghReighna, and which two provinces, thus united to Magh
Airg-et-Ros formed the original kingdom of Ossory. Keating con
tinues, " And it was the race of Fiach Suighde expeUed Aengus, with
his clans, from Magh Feamhin." This refers to the expulsion of the
Ossorians from that part of the original Ossory by the Desu in the
time of Aengus MacNadfrach, and Keating here only names Aengus
of Ossory as the representative of his tribe, as in the "Chronicum
Scotorum," a.d. 1110, we read, "A great meeting of Leath Chuinn
(the North of Ireland), with Mumhain (Munster), viz,, Donnchadh,
son of Mac Lochlaine, and his sons, and Conall and Eoghan, and the
Airghialla, &c,'' ConaU and Eoghan, here named; were the sons of
NiaU of the Nine Hostages, and had been dead near seven hundred
years at the period of this event, and are here named as the represen
tatives of theu- respective races, the Cinel Conall, and the Cinel Eoghan ;
and, in the same way Keating, in the passage above quoted, personifies
the whole race of the Ossorians by the name of their ancestor, Aengus
of Ossory, who had been dead nearly three hundred and fifty years at
the period of the expulsion of his descendants from their estates in
Munster, which he had conqaered for them during the latter half of
the first century. So far, then, for the objection to the antiquity of
Ciaran's mission, founded on the age in which his ancestor, Aengus
Ossory flourished.

29
CHAPTER VI.
SECOND OBJECTION,  PEDIGREE OP ST CIARAn's FATHER.
The pedigree of Lughaidh, the father of St, Ciaran, from his
ancestor, Aengus Ossory, will be found above at page 13, and is the
first of my arguments in support of his pre-Patrician career. This
is ably contested by the writer in the "Record," iu a fair, and I
wiU add, the best argument that had been previously advanced to dis
prove the proposition. He accepts the pedigree quoted above, and on
it he builds the foUowing superstructure, viz,, Lughaidh, the father of
St, Ciaran, was the son of Ruman Duach, and, according to the Four
Masters, Feradach, who died king of Ossory, a,d, 582, was also son of
Duach, Hence, Colman, the son of Feradach, and Ciaran, the son of
Lughaidh, must have been first cousins and contemporaries, and as
Colman died in the year 601, Ciaran, his first cousin, could not have
been Uving two hundred years previously.
I have put this argument in its very best possible form, as I in
tend to show from it that it, Uke every other argument which proves
too much, proves nothing. But let us, first of all, test the accuracy of
the conclusion by the chronology of the pedigree. The enquiry may
appear foreign to the immediate object of this memoir, but it wiU open
to us a chapter in local history never before studied.
At the head of Ciaran's paternal pedigree stands Aengus Ossory,
whom we have demonstrated to be Uving till the end of the first cen
tury. At the foot of the same pedigree, according to the writer in the
" Record," stands Feradach, who died in 682 ; consequently, between
the two chieftains, there must have intervened a period of nearly five
hundred years ; and, to bridge over this period of time, from Aengus
to Feradach, we have but nine descents, which, at thirty years to each,
make only 270 years, leaving a genealogical blank of about two hundred
years, which we have not a single descendant of Aengus to fiU up.
Hence, as it would require at least fourteen generations to connect
Aengus with Feradach, and as we have but nine, it necessarUy foUows
that the pedigree between Aengus Ossory and Feradach wants pre
cisely five descents ; and, if we can prove that the five missing descents
occur in the pedigree between Feradach and Ruman Duach, we shall
have proved that Feredach was not the brother of Ciaran's father, and

30
that Ciaran himself was not either a relation or contemporary of Col
man, the son of Feredach, who died in the year 601.
In the Festilogium of Aengus, and in the Sanctilogium Geneal,
the grandfather of Ciaran is named Ruman Duach. In Keating' s^
pedigree of the Kings of Ossory he is simply called Ruman. In the
Book of Leinster, the list of the Kings of Ossory begms with " Fera
dach MacD  ," the sequel of the patronymic is obUterated, But
in the " Fragmenta AnnaUum," and in the Annals of the Four
Masters, Feradach is distinctly caUed " Son of Duach," In all the
authorities on the point, Ruman Duach holds the eighth degree in
descent from Aengus Ossory, which bemg equivalent to 240 years,
and which, being added to a,d, 105 the date of Aengus' death, bring
us to Ruman at a,d. 345 when he would be about thirty years old ;
and if he Uved to be eighty would be stUl alive till about the year 395,
or till the end of the fourth century. All the authorities that make
Feradach "the Son of Duach," record the obit of the former at a,d,
682, and according to the genealogical rule, his father Duach should
be living till about the year 552, whence it becomes certain that
Ruman Duach, the grandfather of St, Ciaran, and Duach the father
of Feradach, were not only distinct personages, but were Uving
near 150 years asunder. We have seen above that in the pedigree
between Aengus Ossory and Feradach there are five generations want
ing, which being equivalent to 180 years, precisely fill up the chasm
which separates Ruman Duach, the grandfather of St, Ciaran, from
Duach the father of Feradach. But we have additional and highly-
interesting evidence to submit in further illustration of this point.
The Seven Kings op Corca Laighe in Ossory, — In the " Frag
menta AnnaUum,"*' under the year 582 we find the following passage :
" Feradach was seized with great sickness [and] the race of Connla,
[i.e. Ossorians], came to take a house upon him, because Feradach son of
Duach was of the Corca Laighe, for seven kings of the Corca Laidhe
assumed the kingship of Ossory, and seven kings of the Osraighe took the
Kingship of Corca Laighe, The race of Connla aftei-wards came and
slew Feradach, and earned away his valuables, and Feradach went to
Heaven," 1 " Keating's pedigree," See O'Mahony's translation, p, 695.
2 " Fragmenta AnuaUum." " Three fragments of Annals copied from
ancient sources by Dubhaltach Mac Firbisigh," translated and edited by John
O Donovan, LL,D,, for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, MDCCCLX.,
p, 9, et seq.

31
Dr, O'Donovan reniarks in a note ou this passage, that he can
find no reference to this transaction in any other authority. We arc
not told the names of all those chieftains, nor the dates or causes of
their respective transfers, but as we have the names and obits of the
three last of the foreign chieftains who reigned in Ossory, we know
that the previous four, whose names we have not, are four of the
missing descents in the Ossorian pedigree, and as these descents wiU
be wanting between Feradach and Ruman Duach, it will demonstrate
the fallacy of making the former the son of the latter. We shall
now give a short account of the Corca Laighe dynasty in Ossory.
In the second part of this essay we shall show that, previous to
the introduction of those foreign chieftains into the Kingship of Ossory,
Aengus MacNadfrach, King of Munster, had banished the seven sons
of Ruman Duach, with the whole of the Ossorian tribesmen, from that
part of the present County of Kilkenny then, and subsequently, known
as Magh-Reighna, into the upper valley of the Nore, then called Magh
Airg-et-Ros, From this period, two distinct tribes peopled the territory
of Ossory, In the upper half, extending from the Drumdeilgy, or
Thornback HUls, three miles above Kilkenny, northward to the Slieve
Bloom Mountains, was ruled by the seven sons of Ruman Duach, and
their Ossorian clansmen, whence the territory assumed the name of
Ui Duach, now angUcised Odagh, a parish in the same district. The
southern part, or Magh Reighna, was ruled for the next 150 years, by
the seven kings of Corca Laighe, and, the chieftains of each tribe-land
taking the title of King of Ossory, we, in consequence, find two kings
of Ossory reigning simultaneously ; as, for instance, Scanlan Mor, the
friend of St, Columb CiU, had been King of Ossory, and was taken
prisoner as such by Aedh, King of Ireland, about the year 594, before
the Synod of Drumceat, though Colman, the friend of St. Cainnech, was
then, and for seven years later, reigning as king of the same territory.
From those circumstances arose the great confusion which we find in
the Ossorian pedigree from Ruman Duach downwards. The pedigree
from the foreign chieftains being distinct from that of the native race,
and, neither of them being perfect, genealogists frequently confound
them as one ; and, in consequence, no two authors agree in the genea
logical descents of this period.
From the passage above quoted, we learn that Feradach, though
King of Ossory, did not belong to that race, but to the Corca Laighe

32
or O'Driscols, in the south-west of the present county of Cork, the
native tribe and birth-place of Leidania, the mother of St, Ciaran, It
is here stated that Feradach was son of Duach, and, as Feradach was
of the Corca Laighe, so his father should have been of the same tribe,
Ruman Duach, the grandfather of Ciaran, was not of the Corca
Laighe — he was of the " race of Connla," and ancestor of the clan
" Ua Duach," whose name is still associated vrith an extensive tribe-
land of ancient Ossory, namely — Odagh, Hence it is clear that Ruman
Duach, the grandfather of St, Ciaran, could not have been the same
personage as Duach, the father of Feradach, as they both belonged to
two different races, and the error of making him so appears to have
arisen from the circumstance that the names of the foreign Chieftains
who succeeded Ruman Duach, and who preceded Feradach being un
known, or no record of them having been preserved, the genealogists,
in order to perfect their pedigrees, grafted on Duach, the father of
Feradach, to Ruman, the grandfather of St. Ciaran, and thus the per
sonages became confounded.
Feradach died in the year 582, and was succeeded by his son
Colman, who held the reins of .government for the next twenty years.
Colman was succeeded by Caenfaladh, in whom the " race of Connla"
was again restored to power, and from whom are descended the Mao
Gillaphadraig of Ossory. There were seven Kings of the Corca Laighe
dynasty, and as Colman was the last or seventh of these, his father,
Feredach, must have been the sixth, and consequently the five missing
descents in the Ossorian pedigree are represented by the five foreign
Kings, who immediately preceded Feradach, These five generations,
at thirty years to each, make one hundred and fifty years ; and if we
ascend from Feredach at a,d, 552, when he was about fifty years of
age, the five preceding generations being equivalent to one hundred
and fifty years, bring us to a,d. 402, as approximating the date of the
introduction of the foreign Kings into Ossory. According to the cal
culations made above, p, 30, Ruman Duach, at that date, would be
far advanced in Ufe, if not already gathered to his fathers. His son
Lughaidh was then retired from Ossory, and residing with his wife in
the country of Corca Laighe. St. Ciaran was then twenty-eight years
old, and as we shall see lower down, left Ireland in three years later for
the Continent ; from all which we may here conclude that whatever
may have originally caused the usurpation of the government of

33
Ossory by the Chieftains of Corca Laighe, it is perfectly certain that
the reign of five of them intervened between the death of Ruinau
Djiach towards the end of the fourth century and the accession of
Feradach towards the middle of the sixth, and that, therefore, Fera
dach could not have been the son of Ruman Duach, as the latter had
been Uving five generations before him.
We have now disposed of the case advanced by the writer in the
Irish Ecclesiastical Record against the antiquity of Ciaran's mission,
deduced from the chronology of bis father's pedigree, and two inter
esting anecdotes, in further illustration of the same point, may be
appropriately introduced here.
St. Cainnech, of Aghaboe, was born in the year 6 14, and died in
A,D, 598, so that his life embraced nearly the entire of the sixth cen
tury, and must have been the contemporary of Feradach's father,
Feradach died in the year 582, and we can safely assume that his
father was stUl aUve thirty years previously, or about a,d, 662, At
that date Cainnech was thirty-eight years of age, and must have known
Feradach's father. Now, the following anecdote from the life of St.
Cainnech bears directly on the point under discussion, and will show
that Duach was long dead before Cainnech' s time. On a certain day, St.
Cainnech came to the monastery of Cluain Sescnan, now Clonsast, in the
King's County. He found the inmates overwhelmed with sadness for
the death of a certain Uttle boy, who had been blind, deaf, and dumb,
and of whose birth and parentage nothing had been known. The nar
rative then proceeds : —
" ^ Then Kenny entered into that house, and, at his prayer, the boy at
once rose up; and, having received the cure of Ms eyes, and ears, and
tongue, he told them his f amUy and name, saying, " My family is of the
posterity of Duach, and my name is Emene ; for my parents were noble,
and my birth was a timely aid to him in whose house I was bom — there
fore did they oaU me Emene ; but afterwards, when they beheld me bUnd,
and deaf, and dumb, they despised me, and, coming hither by night, they
abandoned me,"
If Duach was Feradach's father, he must have been alive, or only
very shortly deceased at the period of this occurrence ; but, that Duach
had been then long dead, is demonstrated by the language of this boy,
who speaks of his own parents as being then dead. He says they
1 Vita Sancti Kannachi, cap, 37, Ormonde edition, Dublin, 1853,
E

34
were of noble extraction, being of the "posterity of Duach," which is
totaUy irreconcUable with the fact of Duach having been alive for
many past generations. The Life of Ciaran is still more decisive gn
this subject. The following passage is conclusive : —
" When St, Patrick came to Aengus MacNadfrach, King of Munster,
who believed of God, and in St, Patrick, there came a man of the race of
Duach, of the territory of Ossory, and maliciously killed St, Patrick's horse.
But he was taken prisoner by the King's followers. His relatives implored
St, Ciartm in his behalf, and he went to the King, and gave him immense
presents of gold and sUver for his ransom, and therefore he was released,
and aUowed to depart to his own country," &c,, &o.
Duach, named in this passage, was the ancestor of the Ui Duach,
of Ossory, and, as we have already seen, was the grandfather of St.
Ciaran ; and a man of his race or posterity is here reported to have kiUed
St. Patrick's horse, on the occasion of the Apostle's visit to Cashel,
about the year 450. How, then, could the same Duach be the father
of Feradach, who died 150 years later ? Hence, it is now finally estab
Ushed that Feradach could be neither the brother of St. Ciaran's
father, Lughaidh, nor the son of his grandfather, Ruman Duach ; and,
thus is conclusively refuted the most plausible case ever made out
against the pre-Patrician birth and mission of St, Ciaran. In concluding
this digression on the genealogy of the Ossorian family, the annexed
table will show the interruption in the " race of Connla," by the usm'pa-
tion of the government by the seven Kings of Corca Laighe. The spaces
marked " blank"i represent the names of the missing descents in the
pedigree : —
1 " Blank," Only three blanks appear below in the pedigree, though five
are stated in the text ; but neither Duach nor Concruidhe are found in any of
the Ossorian genealogies, so that their places should be blanks, if not filled up
from other authorities.

35

Genealogical Table of the Kings of Ossory from Aengus, the founder
Principality, who died in the beginning of the Second Century,
Scanlan Mor, who died in the year 640, at an average of
thirty years to each generative descent :
" Eace of Connla,"
1 Aengus Osraighe,
2 Leoghaire Birn,
I
3 Amalghaidhe,
4 EochaidheLeithe-Trein I
5 Buan of Osraighe,
I
6 Nia Corb, I
7 Cairbre Caem,
I
8 Conaill,

of that
to

9 Euman Duach,

"Eace of Corca
Laighe," ,
Lughaidh MacConn ,
I
Maicniadh, ,
I
Aengus Bolg, ,
I
Maine Cher, ,

'Eace of Cokca Laiohe,'

Blank, I
Blank, I
Blank,

10 Concruidhe,
111213
14 Dnach, I
15 Feredach, I
16 Colman, "Eace of Connla" restored,
17 Caennfaladh I
18 Scanlan Mor

10 Lughaidhe,  I
11 St, Ciarau,

I
Liedania,

..D, 105
„ 135
„ 165
„ 195
- 223255275315345
375
403 433465 195
325 555
585G15

In this table, the first date, a,d. 106, represents the death of Aengus
Ossory, at which time his son, Leoghaire Birn, was thirty years old, and
his grandson, No. 3, would be then just born ; a,d, 376 rei)resonts
Lughaidh and Liedania, the parents of Ciaran, at thirty years of age,
and also the birth of Ciaran himself ; a,d, 615 represents Scanlan Mor
as being then thirty years old. According to the Four Masters, he
died in a,d, 640, which corroborates the chronology of the pedigree.
The succession in the race of Connla was interrupted after the death of
Ruman Duach by the usuiqiation of seven kings of the race of Corca

36
Laighe, who held possession of the govemment for over one hundred
and sixty years. After the death of Colman, in 601, the race of Connla
was again restored in the person of Caennfaladh, from whom have des
cended the sept of the MacGiUaphadraig of Ossory,

37
CHAPTER VIII.
third objection — st, ciaran is said to have been a student in
the school of clonard, and one op the " twelve apostles of
Ireland" in the middle of the sixth centupy, and therefore
could not have been born in the middle of the fourth. *
The argument of this objection establishes nothing against the
antiquity of Ciaran's birth, as the statements in it can only be ad
vanced to support the stories of his extraordinary age. Those ancient
writers who make Ciaran the contemporary of Finian and Brendan,
and Cfiiran, of Clonmacnoise, believed that he had reached the great
patriarchal age of three hundred years. This ancient faith in the lon
gevity of Ciaran is thus expressed in the Martyrology of Donegal — ^
" Sixty years and three hundred was his age when he yielded his
spirit," If Ciaran had attained this great age, he certainly would
have been the contemporary of the saints of the sixth century. But
those who can find no authority on which to ground their faith in this
great longevity, cannot be required to accept of Ciaran as the contem
porary of men who, in the ordinary course of nature, must have been
alive long after his death. But whether he had been favoured with
that great length of days, or departed this world within the natural
period of human existence, proves nothing respecting the age in which
he was born, Dr, Lanigan, who first advanced this objection against.
the antiquity of Ciaran's birth, admits that " he (Ciaran) became a
Bishop about A,D, 638," though, in a foot note, he adds, " But as he
is not named in the second class of Irish Saints who flourished after
the year 644, we may suppose that he had become distinguished some
years earlier .2 But this is aU pure conjecture, having no other found
ation than the anachronisms with which the Lives of the Irish Saints
abound, and which cannot be accepted till first tested by genuine cri
ticism. If Ussher.be correct, Finian's school was not opened at
Clonard tiU a,d, 544, and if Ciaran had been consecrated Bishop in
A.D, 538, his school-boy days had ended before Finian's school had
opened. This is but one of the many contradictions in which the
opponents of St Ciaran's antiquity have involved themselves.
But it is further advanced against the antiquity of St, Ciaran's
1 " Martyrology of Donegal," 5th March,
2 " EarUer," Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol, 2, page 8, n, 22,

38
birth, that he is named amongst the " Twelve Apostles" of Ireland,
all of whom, we are told, belonged to the same school of Clonard.
But the fact of Ciaran being so named, does not necessarily imply that
he was the contemporary of the others. There is nothing more usual
in Irish History than that the head of a clan, or the founder of a
monastery, to be subsequently named as being still living in the per
sons of his successors. " It must be admitted," says Eugene
0' Curry, " that the mode of speaking in the present tense, used by
distinguished ecclesiastics of the fifth and sixth centuries, continued
to be used in the eighth and ninth, as may be seen in the Notes upon
the Festilogy of Aengus Ceili Di, though that work itself was iVritteii
but shortly before the year 798,"^ We have seen above, at p, 28, how
Conall, Eoghan, and Aengus Ossory are put forward as fighting men
many centuries after they had departed this life, and we shall now
see that the same rule was followed with the representatives of the
Saints, called the " Twelve Apostles'' of Ireland. We take the fol
lowing passage from Dr, Todd's " Memoir of St, Patrick," p, 148 :
" Domhnall, King of Ireland, in a,d, 636, is represented as sending for
the " Twelve Apostles" in order to bless and consecrate the banquet of
Dun-na-ngedh, and avert the curse pronounced upon it by Bishop Ere, of
Slaine, &c,, &c,"
In the year 636 many of the Saints called the " Twelve Apostles"
of Ireland, had been near a hundred years departed this world. St,
Mobbi, of Glasnevin, died in 544 ; St. Ciaran, of Cluain, and St,
Columba, of Terryglas, died in a,d, 548, and not one of the twelve
had been alive for near half a century anterior to the date of this
banquet. The learned author of the " Memoir" detects the anachro
nism of the King sending for the " Twelve Apostles" to bless this
banquet, not one of whom was then living ; but explams the difiicultv
by supposing that the invitation of the King referred to the successors
of the " Twelve Apostles" in their respective churches. Strange, in
deed, to find the same learned writer making in the same book one of
his strongest points against the antiquity of Ciaran's birth rest on the
fact of his being named one of the " Twelve Apostles" of Ireland, who,
he says, all belonged to the school of Clonard, But, adopting Dr.
Todd's own Une of argument, if these Saints be still recognized as act-
1 " In the year 798," Lectures on the Manuscript Material of Irish His
tory,

39
ing in the capacity of the " Twelve Apostles," many years after their
respective departures from this world ; and, if their successors be so
esteemed, as their representatives, why would not St, Ciaran be so
esteemed a century after his death ? And why would not one of his
successors be so regarded in the school of Clonard, and, in his person,
have the saint himself named as one of the " Twelve Apostles" of Ire
land? But the objection to the antiquity of Ciaran's birth, founded
on the circumstance of his being named among the Saints of the sixth
century, is fully answered by the first point established in this chapter,
namely : — If St. Ciaran Uved to the great age given him by his pane
gyrists, then, indeed, he might be named one of the " Twelve Apostles"
in propria persona. If he did not attam that great age, his successor
of Saighir might be so named as his representative ; but whether he
did, or otherwise, in no way affects the period of his birth.

40
CHAPTEE IX.
OTHER OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE ANTIQUITY OP ST. CIARAn's BIRTH
AND MISSION,
Two other arguments have been advanced agaiust the pre-Patrician
mission of St. Ciaran, which deserve to be here noticed — not, however,
on account of their intrinsic importance, but rather through deference
to the sources from which they have emanated. The first is from the
pen of B,M,C., in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record, and is founded upon
the pedigree of Ciaran's mother. We give the objection in the writer's
own words : —
" It now remains to enquire into the genealogy of his (Ciaran's) mother,
Liedania, Cathal Maguii-e, among many other particulars concerning her,
gives the following, which bears directly upon the present question: —
' Liedan, indeed, the daughter of Maine Cher, son of Aengus (Bolg), of the
race of Lughaidh, son of Ith, was the mother of Ciaran, of Saighir, and at
Finntract he was bom ; and it was the angels of God attended upon him
after his birth,' " &c,, &c.
" This pedigree," continues the virriter, " does not contain the des
cents [it should be the ascents] from Aengus to Lughaidh, son of
Ith." But the ascents from Aengus Bolg, the grandfather of Liedania,
to Lughaidh, son of Ith, could throw no light on the subject, as they
belong to a period long anterior to the birth of this lady, and would
carry us back to more than a thousand years before the Christian era.
But we have the descents from Lughaidh Mac Conn to Aengus Bolg,
the grandfather of Liedania, and as we have the date of Mac Conn's
reign, we can descend from it through four generations, which bring
us to Ciaran himself. The writer continues :
" This Lughaidh (i.e., Mao Conn, not Lughaidh, son of Ith), is a famous
character in Irish history, having defeated Art, monarch of Ireland, in
the celebrated battle of Magh Mucruimhe, and held, in consequence, the
crown during four years. The following authority will suffice for our pur-
purpose : ' Lughaidh Mac Conn, with a fleet of foreigners, arrived A.D. 250,
and became King of Ireland by kiUing of Art, monarch of Ireland, in
battle about Athenry, eight miles from Galway,' (O'Flaherty's lar Con
naught, p, 43), This proves (he continues), that Aengus, of Ossory, and
Mac Conn were contemporaries, and that, consequently, the pedigree of
Liedania wants about fom* descents,''
It is freely granted that Mac Conn became King of Ireland in

11
A.D, 260, But how does his arrival in Ireland in that year prove
that he and " Aengus of Ossory wore contemporaries ?" And how
can this untenable and erroneous conclusion prove that " the pedigree
of Ciaran's mother wants about four descents ?" This argument, if
such it can be called, furnishes its own refutation.
The last objection to the antiquity of Ciaran's birth, with which
we have to deal, is the following hypothesis of Dr, Todd's :
" It seems perfectly manifest, therefore, that the whole story of
Bishops sent from Rome to the south of Ireland, before St. Patrick,
was invented at the beginning of the eleventh (perhaps, I should say,
the tweUth) century, for the establishment of Archiepiscopal jurisdiction
in the south," St, Patrick, p, 220,
The Bishops here alluded to as having been sent from Rome to
Ireland before St, Patrick, are Ailbh, Decian, Ibar and Ciaran ; and
the " claim to Archiepiscopal jurisdiction in the south," refers to the
pretensions of Cashel to precedence over the church of Armagh,
which had been so boldly put forward by the Cashel statesmen during
the time of Cormac Mac Cuilleanan, But as no one of the four Bishops,
who are said to have preceded St, Patrick in Ireland, had been at any
time attached to the church of Cashel, and as St. Patrick himself is
asserted to have been the founder of that church, it does not appear
very obvious what could be gained in support of the ecclesiastical
supremacy claimed for Cashel by the invention of a story that four
Bishops were sent from Rome to Ireland before St, Patrick, Does not
Dr. Todd himself inform us that the country around Armagh had been
the hereditary tribeland of Bishop Ibar's family ; and surely the in
vention of a story that would make an ecclesiastic of that territory
and clan a predecessor of St Patrick in Ireland, would be but con-
fering a higher degree of antiquity on the title-deeds of the church of
Armagh to metropolitan jurisdiction in Ireland. Thus this objection,
like the one previously advanced, forms its own refutation, and is
entitled to notice only on account of its distinguished author.
We have now disposed of the several arguments that have been
advanced against the pre-Patrician mission of St. Ciaran. We now
proceed to the interesting Memoir of that mission, compiled fully a
thousand years since, and the details of which will be found singularly
to corroborate the conclusion which we have here established respecting
the date of his birth. But before entering on the narrative of St,
Ciaran's Life, it will be necessary to introduce it by a short historical
survey of the territory and chieftains of Ossory previous to his time.
E

ST. CIAMN OF OSSORY :
A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE AND TIMES.
PART SECOND.

CHAPTEE I.
GEOGRAPHY AND SUBDIVISIONS OF THE TERRITORY INSULATED BETWEEN
THE RIVER BARROW AND THE RIVER SUIR.
One of the most peculiarly circumscribed districts in Ireland, is
the tract of country enclosed between the river Barrow and the river
Suir. Those two rivers, with the Nore as a third sister, have their
respective sources in the eastem and southern slopes of the ancient
SUabh Bladhma, now the SUeve Bloom Mountains, whence O'Heerin^
describes SUeve Bloom as " the mountain of most beauteous rivers,''
In bardic lore those three streamlets are the daughters of the giantess
Bladhma, angUcised Bloom, who, after her espousals with a mountain
hero of the same title, and in honour of the birth of king " Conn of the
Hundred Battles,"" brought forth those three sisters, whose scenic
beauties, when more than a thousand years of age, are comme
morated in quaint but elegant metre by the author of the "Fairie
1 "O'Heerin.'' GiUa-na-naemh O'Huidhrin (i.e., GUlananeve O'Heerin)
died, according to the Four Masters, in the year 1420, See his " Topographical
Poem ou the Tribes and Territories of Ancient Ossory," translated by Dr.
O'Donovan and printed in supplement form to the " Transactions of the Kil
kenny Archseological Society for the year 1850, The words used by O'Heerin
are, "moui(tain of most beauteous inbher," the Irish for invers, i.e., "river
mouths. O'Donovan corrects him, and says, he should have said, " in which
the lovely sister rivers have their fountains,"
2 " Hundred Battles," The bursting forth of the " three great streams," is
enumerated amongst the many phenomena with which the birth day of this
distinguished chieftain was signaUzed. See Ogygia, vol, 2, page 207-8.

4<3
Queen." "The goodly Barrow," as Spenser terms it, has its source
in a remote valley called " Glen Barrow,'' in the ancient territory
of Eilie O'CarroU, now iu the north-western extremity of the Queen's
County, barony of Tinnahinch, parish of Rearymore, and thence
curving round the bases of numerous cliffs ; towards the town of
Portnahinch it forms the northern boundary of the Queen's County,
through PortarUngton to Monasterevan, from above which latter it
descends to the south by a right angle with its previous course, thus
forming the eastern boundary of the same county to near the town
of Carlow, thence separating the barony of " Idrone East" from
that of " Idrone West" to the town of New Ross, from which, to
its junction with the sea, it constitutes the eastern boundary of
the county of Kilkenny.
" The gentle Suir," as this sister of the Barrow is termed in the
"Fairie Queen," has its source in the valleys of the "DevU's Bit"
mountain, a southern arm of Slieve Bloom, parish of KiUea, in the
ancient country of " south Eilie," now in the north-east of the
county of Tipperary, from which, descending southwards to the town
of Thurles, and receiving there the waters of an important tributary,
it curves, with renovated vigour, towards the venerable ruins of
" Holy Cross," and thence through " Golden," " Ardfinan," and
" Cahir," after which it sweeps, by an abrupt curve, to the east, and
forming a right-angle with her downward course, "then maketh
way by sweet Clonmel, to adorn rich Waterford," in the harbour of
which it forms another right-angle with the river Barrow, whence
both flow together to the sea.
The country insulated by those two rivers, forms a kind of an
irregular quadrangle, having its northern and eastern sides formed by
the river Barrow, and its southem and westem by the river Suir, and
measuring, at a mean average, sixty statute miles from north to south,
by forty mUes from east to west. In the north-west angle of this in
sulated territory, where Slieve Bloom Ufts her head to " the height of
Ireland," the third of the sister rivers also has her birth —
" The stubborn Newre, whose waters grey.
By faire Kilkenny and Rosspont board,"
rises in the valleys of the " Devil's Bit" Mountain, near the source of
the Suir, in the north-eastern extreme of the county of Tipperary,
from which, wiMing through dells and ravines, it separates the parish

44
of Kyle, in the diocese of KiUaloe, from that of Aghaboe, in the
diocese of Ossory, Here it is a very feeble rivulet, but taking a
south-easterly course, it gathers the numerous streamlets from the
western slopes of the SliabhMargie hills, whence, increasing in
volume, it proudly meanders through the city of Kilkenny, from
which, curving still more towards the east, it flows through Thomas-
town and Inistioge, to unite with the Barrow, near the town of New
Ross, from which both flow together to join their sister Suir in
Waterford Harbour. Their sisterly embraces is thus chaunted by the
" Fairy Queen" :
" All which, long sundered, do at last accord
To join in one, ere to the sea they come ;
So flowing all from one, all one at last become,"
The territory thus insulated by the Barrow and the Suir, is in
tersected by numerous mountain ridges, which being here, as in other
parts of Ireland, the last denuded of their primeval vegetation, re
mained for centuries impervious fastnesses, and as such were originally
adopted by the primitive Chieftains as the common boundaries of their
respective possessions, whilst the land first cleared and converted into
fields, would naturally be the fertile plains protected by mountain
ridges, and irrigated by mountain streamlets ; and accordingly we find
the flat and sheltered districts in this territory between the rivers,
presenting to us some of the earliest scenes of historic life in Ireland ;
each of them preserving, as an historical memorial of its origin, the
name of the Patriarch who first cleared it of wood, rendered its soil
fit for tillage and pasture, and established amongst its colonists the
elementary forms of social and civil usages. Those flat districts may
be described as three great plains or extensive valleys, separated from
each other by mountain ridges, and with those ridges extending the
entire length of this territory, from the Barrow on the north, to the
Suir in the south, and were respectively known, in very remote times,
as " Magh Airget-Ros," "MaghReighna," and " Magh Feimhin," A
brief historical survey of each will introduce us to the subject of our
narrative. Magh Airget-Ros.^ — The word Magh pronounced " Moy," is a
, " Airget-Eos" is variously -vvritton, Arget Eos, Ai-gat Eos, &c. It is also ¦
said to come from Argeat, silver, aud Eos, a grove or wood — i."., the grove or
wood of silver, a rather incongruous descrip tive epitli. •{. It is. much more likely

45
very primitive Celtic word, and was originally applied to lands which
had been cleared of wood. It is now translated a plain, and is usually
found in connection with extensive flat districts. Magh Airget-Ros
\vas the most extensive and the most northerly of the three plains
in the territory between the rivers ; it extended from the stream of the
Barrow where it forms the northem boundary of the Queen's County
southwards to the DrumdeUgy or Thomback ridge, three miles above
the city of Kilkenny, and included the whole of the flat country
of the present Queen's County, anciently called Magh Laoighis or the
plain of Laoighis or Leix, comprising the present baronies of " East"
and "West Maryborough," "Stradbally," " CuUenagh," the old
barony of " Upper Ossory," now represented by the modern baronies
of " Upperwoods," " Clarmallach," and " Clandonagh," with those
parts of the baronies of " Galmoy," " Fassidinan," and " Cranagh," in
the County of KUkenny, whichborder on the river Nore. It did not
include the barony of Tinnahinch, it being north of the river Barrow,
and therefore outside of the " territory between the rivers." In this
territory silver shields were first made in Ireland. This event is
thus recorded by the Four Masters under a.m, 3817, which, according
to their chronology, is equivalent to 1377 years before the Christian
era. " It was by this Enna Airgtheach that silver shields were made at
Airget-Ros so that he gave them to the men of Ireland," In the
surname of this chieftain, we have the origin of the name by which this
plain had been subsequently known, for the "th" being aspirated
in Airgtheach will leave the pronunciation "Airgeach," to which
prefix Magh and add Ros, and you have Magh Airgeach Ros — the
plain of Airgheac's grove. It was probably in this grove that the
shields were forged for the men of Ireland, which, being so important
an event at that period, the entire plain was called from it. It was in
this plain also that Erean and Ere, the founders of the Milesian
monarchy, erected their earthen palace over the river Nore. And as
this river is not only the most prominent feature in the physical
geography of the plain of Magh Airget-Ross, but will also occupy
our attention in the opening of St. Ciaran's mission, a short enquiry
respecting the derivation of its name may be permitted here. In the
to have been derived from. Airgtheach, the name of the chieftain who first
manufact'ired the silver shields there.

46
Annals of the Four Masters, we find the following entry under the
year a.m, 3501 :
As i so bliadain in ro gabh Mreamon agus Mmear complaitius os
Erind agus ro randsatt Ere ar doftorra.
It wUl be observed that in the words Ereamon and Emear, the
" m" is punctuated, the efilect of which is that it has no sound in the
pronunciation. Hence, reading this passage phonetically, the follow
ing is the orthography of O'Donovan's translation :
" This was the year in which Erean and Ear assumed joint sove
reignty over Erind, and divided Ere into two parts between them."
Here we have the key to the derivation of the words Erin and
Ire, about which so much ink has been wasted. The two brothers
Erean and Ear conquered the island, and established the Milesian
monarchy, and from their names it has since been indiscriminately
named Erin, Erean, Eire, Ere, &c. The Annalists continue —
As innte bfos do ronad na gniomha so sios la hEireamon, agus la
hEmher co na ttaoisiochaib SatJi Bfothaig os Eoir i nDrgatt Ros.
" It was in it [that year] moreover that these acts following were
done by hEirean and hEire, with their Chieftains, Rathbeath, over the
Eoir, in Argat Ros."
The remains of this rath are still remarkable within one field of
tho ruined church of Rathbeath, on the west bank of the river Nore
seven Irish miles above Kilkenny. This rath, or earthen fort, was the
palace of Erean and Ere, and from them the river over which it was
erected, has been, like the country over which they ruled, called by
their name; for the Eoir is our Nore, and between the words Eoir,
Ere, and Eire, there is no material difference. At the year a.m. 3516,
we find the following reference to the rath and river of Eire :
" An cuiccead bliadain decc dEreamhon i righe, agus a ecc afoirceann
na ree sin i Raith Beothaig os Eoir i nDrgat Ross.
Accommodating the orthography of this passage to O'Donovan's
punctuation, his translation reads thus :
" The fifteenth year of the reign of Erean ; he died at the end of
this period at Rabeai over the Eire in Argat Ros,"
Here the name of the river and the name of Erean's brother are

47
identical. In the Martyrology of Donegal, wc read at the llth March,
that Aengus, the Culdee, was educated and buried
Ar bru na Heoire a Laoighis.
" On the brink of the Heoire in Laoighis,"
Here the river, like the Chieftains after whom it was called, takes
the "H" occasionally into its orthography. Au ancient ran, which
follows the last quotation in the Martyrology, opens with these two
lines — Aobhinn suidhe sunn imne
Le taobh Eoire gloine, Sfc.
" Delightful to sit here around him.
By the side of the cold, clear Eire."
According to Dr. Todd's punctuation of the passage, the " 0" in
the word Eoire, is mortified, leaving the pronunciation of the name of
the river Eire, as in the last passage quoted from the Four Masters,
Hence we may conclude that from Erean and Ear tho two brothers,
founders of the Milesian dynasty, came Hereon, Erean, and Ire, syno-
nomous terms for our word Ireland, and from the same source came
Heoir, Eoire, and Ire, the ancient forms of the name of the river
Nore, Magh Reighna.^ — Magh Airget-Ros descends down the vaUey of the
Nore to the Drumdeilgy hills, which run from Thornback to Kilcooly, and
which form the southern boundary of that plain. This ridge of hills
is broken by a very remarkable ravine or gap well known as Bearna
Glassanagh, or the Gap of the Green Bushes. Through this gap we
now descend from Magh Airget-Ros into the great central plain of
the country between the rivers, originally called Magh Reighna, This
plain, in which the city of Kilkenny now forms the most prominent
feature, extended from the hills last named, three miles above Kil
kenny, to the Dunnderg hills at Killamery, twelve miles below it ; and
from the river Barrow on the east to the " plain of Munster," alias
Machaire Caiseal, or the plains of Cashel on the west. Within this
plain was situated the chuich of Cillfinnch,^ which O'Donovan holds to
' " Eeighna," This word is variously written Eaighna, Eoighna, Eeighna.
This last I beUeve the more general form of the name, though the Four Masters
and other authorities, use the three indiscriminately,
2 " Killfinnch," Dr, O'Donovan considered Magh Eeighna to be but a simple
tribeland of the ancient Ossory, whereas it was a primitive province long be
fore the foundation of the Kingdom of that name, and was subsequently often

48
be nominally identical with the townland of Killinny, in the barony of
Kells, seven miles south of Kilkenny. The church of St, Brachan,!
now Kilbraghan, on the borders of Munster, eight miles west of Kil
kenny, in the barony of Shillelogher, and the church of St. Colman,
of Glenn-dealmhaic, which the present writer holds to be identical with
used as another name tor Ossory itself. In the annals of the Four Masters, at
the year 836, we read of Cill-finnche being burned by the Danes, and iu a foot
note the learned translator observes — " CiU Fiunche, — In the gloss on the
Feiliere Aengus, this church is described as being near a great hill, called Dorn-
Buidhe, in Magh Eaighne, in Osraighe, It has not been identified," But iu
his annotations to O'Heerin's Topographical Poem, "Transactions of the Kil
kenny Archaeological Society, 1850," he writes — " Magh Eeighna contains the
church of CiU Pinnche, now Killinny, a townland in the parish and barony
of Kells, county of Kilkenny;" and elsewhere, in the same note he says: —
" The plains of Magh Lacha and Magh Eoighna are comprised in the present
barony of Kells, county of Kilkenny," Now the fact of CiU-Finnche being ia
the.plain of Magh Eeighna, and also in the present barony of KeUs, proves
only that the barony of KeUs had formerly been situated within the territory
of Magh Eeighna ; but that the present townland of Killinny was not anciently
known by the name of Magh Eeighna, is directly to be inferred from O'Heerin's
Topographical Poem, in which he thus describes this very locality :
" O'Gloiarian, the fruitful branch, has got
A cantred of a sweet country.
The smooth land, along the beauteous CaUan,
A land without a particle of blemish,"
The name of this chieftain, O'Gloiarian, or O'Glovain, is still found asso
ciated with this district, in the title of the '' Glory Eiver." This stream empties
itself into the CaUan, or King's Eiver, just at Killinny ; and, if that townland
was then known by the distinguished name of Magh Eeighna, would O Heerin
have failed to so designate it as the " Cantred of O'Gloiarain, the fruitful branch."
If the ancient word " CiU Finnche" be preserved in the name of the modern
townland of Killinny, it must be either preserving the name of another locaUty,
or Killinny must have been formerly much more extensive than the present
townland of that name. The Church of CiU-Finnche is described as being
near " a great hill." Killinny is a perfect flat along the King's Eiver, and
no eminence that could be called a "Great Hill," within four miles of it.
In the charter of Henry IT, to the Priory of Kells, the " Church of KiUinthy,"
is enumerated amongbt other Churches affiUated to that house. Saint Bridget
was the patroness of the old church of KiUinny, Its site is well known there,
and her "patron" day is well remembered by old people to have been obser
ved on the 1st of February, " The great hill," which stood near the Church of
Cill Pinnche, is that now called Kuockadrinagh, more properly Cnoc-na- Reighna,
This hill of Eaighna is well known in the barony of Kells, and under its shadow
are the venerable ruins of Sheepstown Church, which, from enquiries made else
where, have satisfied authorities on the matter that this old edifice is the remains
of the ancient Cill Pinnche, or church of St Pinnche, This, no doubt, proves
that the barony of Kells, in which this church stands, is situated within the an
cient territory of Magh Eeighna ; but it does not prove that Eeighna was confined
to that barony, and the evidence to the contrary, quoted in the text, is as conclu
sive as can be required on the subject. See Kilkenny Archasological Journal,
vol, 5, p. 209.
1 " St, Brachan," His festival is thus noted in the M-irtyrology of Done
gal, at the 17th September " Brachan of Eos-tuirc in Magh Eeighna in Os
raighe," Eostuirc (the wood of the boar), is now Eossmore, or the great wood.
It is the next townland to KiUbraghan, The site of the ancient church and
cemetery of the place is still pointed out there by the inhabitants.

49
the church of St, Colman, of Claragh,i four miles east of Kilkenny, in
the barony of Gowran ; and, consequently, the plain of Magh Reighna
was co-extensive with the great central plain of the ancient Ossory,
Eugaine Mor, who died Monarch of Ireland in a,m. 4606, conferred
on his son Reighna, this plain as his dower. Reighna is said to have
been a distinguished poet and legislator in his time, and from him this
territory was first called Magh Reighna, or the plain of Reighna. This
plain is frequently referred to in the Irish Annals In the year 928 the
Danes of Limerick invaded Ossory, and encamped in Magh Reighna ;
and in the year following, 929, Godfrey, another Danish General,
" went into Osraighe to expel the grandson of Imar from Magh Reighna, ' '
In the life of St, Cainnech, we find mention of a Chieftain named
Donnaugh, of Magh Reighna, who, on the death of Feradagh, King
of Ossory, who was slain in 582, headed a band of insurgents to
depose his son Colman, They set his fortress on fire, and but for the
miraculous interference of St. Cainnech, he would have perished in the
flames, Magh Feimhin. — The southern boundary of Magh Reighna is
formed by a high ridge, running nearly east and west, from Ballyhale
to KUlamory, from which latter the hills are continued, under various
elevations, into SUevenaman. This ridge is broken by various ravines or
gaps, which afford communication between the plains at either side. The
most remarkable of those passes is that called Bearna-na-gaoith, vulgarly
' " Claragh" The territory anciently called Magh Eeighna was precisely
co-extensive with the three Deaneries of the diocese of Ossory, called " SiUer,"
(evidently a contraction of ShiUelogher), "Claragh" and "Kells," In the
" Spicilegium Ossoriense," by Most Eev, Dr, Moran, we have the patron Saints
for each of the Churches within those three Deaneries, and there are but two of
them dedicated to Saint Colman, namely, Claragh and TuUahanbrogue, or
Grove — either of them wiU answer my purpose, as both are situated within the
ancient Magh Eeighna, But Claragh appears to be the Church of St, Colman,
referred to in the Martyrology of Donegal, on the 5th November thus, " Colman
of Glenn-Dealmhaic in Magh Eeighna in Osraighe," There is no locaUty named
Glenn-Deal-mhaic, now known ; the prefix Olenn we find always applied to what
the word impUes, namely, a ravine or valley, or a sheltered district at the foot
of a mountain. The church of Tallahanb.'ogue, or Grove, may be said to stand
almost in the centre of a broad table-land, and cannot be described as a Glenn.
The Church of Claragh stands in a level, as the word Claragh signifies, at the
foot of the Johnswell mountains, immediately inside of the ancient " Bealach
Gabhran," designated by Cormacan Bageas, chief poet of Hy-Many, a thousand
years since, a " district of Glenns," from which we may conclude that the Church
of St, Colman of Glenn-Dealmhaic was identical with the old Church of Claragh.
The name of the Saint is well known in connection with that venerable ruin, and
his " holy well" is shown in the field opposite the Church at the other side of the
road, G

50
Barnagee, i.e. " The Gap of the Wind," now Windgap ; and, passing
out through this dingle, we have presented before us a splendid view
of the ancient Magh Feimhin. This plain is situated in the extreme
south and south-west of the " territory between the rivers," It con
sisted, according to Keating, " of the third part of Cluain MeU, and a
third part, centrically situated, and Machaire Caiseal, or the plains of
Cashel." From these criteria, it will follow that Magh Feimhin
comprised the entire country along the north bank of the river Suir,
from Clonmel to Fiddown, and thence northwards to the ridge of hills
which we have just described as terminating in SUevenaman ; and
was co-extensive with the present baronies of " Iffa and Offa East," of
" Middle Third," and the flat part of the barony of Sliabhardagh, lying
north of SUevenaman, and eastwards from Cashel by MuUinahone to
the borders of Ossory. The most remarkable historical memorial now
preserved in this territory is the ruins of the Royal City of Cashel,
in which the Kings of Munster held their court, from the time of Core,
who had it transferred thither from Knockgraffon, on the west side of
the river Suir, in the second century. In the physical geography of
Magh Feimhin, the most prominent feature is the celebrated eminence
of SUevenaman, in Irish, Sliabh-na-m-bhan-Fionn, which is translated
" the Mountain of the Women of Fionn — the word Fionn being the root
from which Feimhin is amplified. This Fionn was the celebrated Fenian
leader, generally known as Pinn-Mac-Cool; and the legend of the ex
ploits of the fair competitors for his hand on this mountain wUl be found
in the Kilkenny Archseological Journal, 1861, p, 336. Whatever may
be the original derivation of Sliabh-na-m-Bhan Fionn, does not imme
diately concern the object of our enquiries. We must, however, demur
to deriving the name of the plain from that of the Fenian Chieftain, as
"Femhin was slain" between 69 and 77 of the first century. This was
most probably the Chieftain from whom Magh Femhin was so caUed, and
he was alive more than a century before the Fenian leader!^'
We shall now submit the history of the original establishment of the
" territory between the rivers," into one distinct tribeland, of its first
subjugation and partial annexation to Munster, and finaUy its elevation
into the ancient kingdom of Ossory.

51
CHAPTEE II.
the eric op feargus scannall. — the pirst annexation op the
territory between the rivers to munster.
Having now briefly surveyed the topographical outlines of the
three great plains into which the territory insulated by the rivers
Barrow and Suir is physically divided, we have next to inquire respect
ing the origin of the tribe which, subject to various modifications, held
possession of this territory down to the Anglo-Norman invasion.
About one hundred and fifty years before the Christian era, there
lived in Ireland a chieftain named Bresal, sumamed Brec, or speckled.
This Bresal Brec left two sons, named respectively, Lughaidh Lothfinn
and Connla, The descendants of Lughaidh Lothfinn spread themselves
over the country eastwards, from the river Barrow to the Irish Sea,
and from them came the Lagenians or men of Leinster. The posterity
of Connla planted themselves in the country insulated between the river
Barrow and the river Suir, and from them came the Ossorians, or men
of Ossory.i One hundred years before the Christian era Eidersceal, or
as he is otherwise^ named, Feargus Scannel, was Ard-Righ, or high
king of Erin, He is said to have been a prince of munificence, valour,
and hospitaUty. He was treacherously slain by Nuadh Nect, or the
White, a Leinster prince, at a place called Allan, near old KilcuUen, in
the now county of Kildare. Nuadh became his successor, but enjoyed
the sovereignty only six months, when Coiiaire Mor, son to Eidersceal,
then King of Munster, in retaliation for his father's death, marched
his army into Leinster, and met Nuadh and his forces in a pitched
battle, at Cliach, in Idrone, in the now county of Carlow, In this en
gagement, the Leinster forces were completely routed, Nuadh Nect was
slain, and Conaire Mor, leading his Munster army victorious through
Leinster, levied a fine on the whole kingdom for the death of his
father, which was to be paid to the Kings of Munster for ever ; and
he also compelled the Leinstermen to consent that more than one-half
the territory insulated between the rivers Barrow and Suir, and then in
the possession of the race of Connla, should be taken from Leinster
and united to Munster for ever, as the eric or paymept for the murder
of Feargus, the King, the Lagenians binding themselves by the most
1 " Men of Ossory." Keating's History of Ireland, Carson's edition, page 81,
2 " Otherwise." Book of Eights, p, 89, n, a.

52
solemn treaty of surrendering " heaven and earth, sea and land, sui'
and moon."i This treaty is known in Irish history, as the " Eric o;
Feargus Scannal," and its enforcement by jMunster proved the fruitful
source of feuds and bloodshed between that kingdom and Leinster and
Ossory, down to the time of Brian Boroimhe, Towards the close of
the ninth century, when Cormac MacCuUleanan, in pursuance of his
aggressive policy, claimed the right of erecting mansion places, or forts,
within the territory then subject to the King of Ossory, his bards thus
appealed to the terms of this stipulation, in support of their master's
cla im : — 2 " Knowest thou what is called
The Eric of Feargus Scannal ?
I know it. I will give a knowledge of it
From the Eoire to Dumha Dresa."
That is to say, the Eric of Feargus Scannal consisted of the lands
which extend from the river Eoir, or Nore, to Dumha Dresa, a fort at
Knockgraffon, on the river Suir, three miles south-west of Cashel, and
the original residence of the Kings of Munster. The Bard continues :
" The Eric of Feargus, the King,
Both in jewels and territory.
They (the Munster men), obtained
In full satisfaction for his death,
Laighin deas Gabhair, even to the sea."
The reading of this ran is, that the part of the country insulated
between the river Barrow and the Suir, then called Laighean deaa
Gabhair,^ which lay south of a Une drawn from the river Nore at
Gabhran to Knockgraffon, on the river Suir, down to the sea at Water
ford Harbour, was obtained by Munster as the " eric" (or payment),
for the death of Feargus, the King."
The line here indicated as the northern boundary of the country
1 " Sun and Moon." Ogygia, par, 3, cap, xliv, Healy's translation. Book
of Eights, page 88, n, 1, Dissertation of the Eoyal Family of the Stuarts,
page 81,
2 " Master's claim." Book of Eights, p, 89, Transactions of Kilkenny and
South-east of Ireland Archfeological Society, vol, 4, page 251, new series,
3 "Laighin deas Gabhair," J,e,Laghain,southof Gabhair, or Gowran, Porai
enquiry into the origin and territorial extent of the country anciently termed
'¦ Laighin deas Gabhair," see Topographical and Historical Illustrations of the
County of KUkenny, Archseological Transactions, vol, iv., p. 254, et seq. New
Series, 1864,

53
ceded to Munstei-, exactly corresponds with the ridge of hiUs which
rise from the river Nore, three miles above Kilkenny, called Drum-
dielgy, or Thornback, and thence, running in a westerly direction to
" Grean HUl," at Kilcooly, unite there with the SUabhardagh moun
tains, and running thence to near the city of Cashel, and which, when
clothed in its original vegetation, formed a regular natural rampart
from the river Nore to the river Suir, All the country south of this
Une, and which included the two great plains of Magh Reighna and
Magh Feimhin, was seized on and annexed to Munster ; and the race
of Connla now expelled this territory, and, driven north of this
ridge of hUls, were confined within the plain of " Magh- Airget-Ross,"
extending from Bally ragget, northwards, to the source of the Barrow,
in the Sliabh-bloom mountains. Conaire Mor, having thus effected
the subjugation of Leinster, and the partition of the country between
the rivers, became monarch of Ireland, and, according to some autho
rities, enjoyed the sovereignty for the next sixty years, during which
period, according to the Psalter of Cashel,^ as well as that of the six
kings, who succeeded him, the " Eric of Feargus Scannal" remained
in force, and the country between the rivers remained subject to
Munster. In the time of Elim MacConry, the seventh in succession
from Conaire Mor, and whose reign extended from a.d. 59 to 77, a
distinguished chieftain named Aengus sprung up in the race of Connla,
who has left his name identified with his conquests to the present
day. 1 " Psalter of Cashel," as quoted by Kennedy in his " Learned Disserta-
tion," p, 81.

54
CHAPTEE III.
POUNDATION OP THE KINGDOM OP OSSORY.  ANCESTRY OF ST, CIARAN,
Aengus, sumamed Ossory, was son of Crimthan Mor, who was
the eighth in descent from Connla, son of Bresal Breac, His mother
was Cingit, or Kingit, daughter of the famous chieftain, " Daire, the
plunderer," and sister to Curoi MacDaire, who fought in single combat
with Cuchuland, the hero of the Red Branch Knights of Ulster, and
who was twenty-six years of age at the opemng of the Christian era.
Cingit, the mother of Aengus, was descended in the seventh degree
from Aengus Tuirmeach, who died monarch of Ireland, a,m, 3819, seven
descents from which, at thirty years to each, wUl bring us to her at the
year a d, 25, and consequently her son, Aengus, would be a young man in
the middle of the first century .^ Few chieftains stand out mor e prominently
in the romantic history of Ireland than " Daire the plunderer," and Curoi
his son. Aengus would appear to have inherited, through his
mother, no small degree of their intrepidity. He disputed the right of
Munster to either tribute or jurisdiction in any part of the country
east of the river Suir, He incited his tribesmen to resist the encroach
ments and throw off the yoke of the Munster men ; and to assert then-
own civil and political independence. He engaged the Munster army
in the battle of Magh Reighna, slew their leader, the prince^ of Feimhin,
and drove his followers over the river Suir, thus recovering the two
plains of Magh Reighna and Magh Feimhin, after which he formed
the entire country between the Barrow and the Suir into a distinct
principality, independent aUke of Munster and Leinster ; and, as this
country, as we have already described, was peculiarly circumscribed
by water, being bounded on the north and east by the river Barrow,
and on the west and south by the river Suir, with the Nore meandering
obUquely through its centre, it was appropriately termed Uiscreaghdha,
pronounced Osraighe, and anglicised Ossory, the name being formed of
1 " First century," See details and proofs of those statements above in
chap, 1 of Part First,
2 " Prince," This chief is designated Femhin in the Ogygia in which this
rather concise notice of this battle occurs, " In Munster fell Femhin, in the
battle of Eaighney," par, 3, cap, 4, This Femhin was apparently the chieftain
who gave his name to Magh Femhin, Our chronologists differ respecting the
date of Elim MacConry's reign. The Pour Masters agree with Keating in the
date given in the text. O'Flaherty is more than half a century behind them
in aU the events of this period.

55
the Irish words, uisc, water, and reaghdha, kingdom, namely, the
Kingdom of the Waters, or, more properly, the Kingdom between the
Rivers ; and thus originated the title by which this territory has been
recognized for near two thousand years.
From this brief survey of the establishment of the ancient kingdom
of Ossory, it is obvious that the original extent and boundaries of
that territory differed very materiaUy from those of its more modern
geography. The transition in, and the reduction of, its outUnes to
their present dimensions, will be fully illustrated, as we descend from
Aengus — through his successors — to the subject of our narrative,
Aengus was the founder of the Ossorian dynasty ; yet this dy
nasty is nowhere recognized as the dal-Osraighe, i.e. the race of
Ossory, or the Ui-Osraighe, the descendants or tribe of the Osraighe,
because this tribe did not take its name from its great ancestor or
patriarch, but from that of the territory which he conquered, and
first erected into a kingdom, and to which, from its pecuUar insulation,
he gave the name of Osraighe, or Ossory, from its having been com -
pletely enclosed between the river Barrow and the river Suir. From
enquiries aUeady made, and which need not be repeated here, the
reign of Aengus must have extended over the latter half of the first
century of the Christian era, and, from the chronology of his pedigree,
he would appear to be living tiU about the year 105, or, at least, his
son, and successor, should be about thirty years of age at that date.
The foUowing notice of the burial-place of Aengus occurs in the Book
of Leinster — "Lect (Engusa Osraigi issind ard os CiU Cui ind, i.e. "The
grave of Aengus Ossory is on the height over Cill Cullin," There could
be no locaUty named CiU CuUin (St, CuUin's Church), at the time of
the death of Aengus, and the word Cill CuUin here used must be a
transcriber's error for Cool CuUin, a wild and romantic region in the
midst of the Slieve Margie mountams, in the parish of Dysart, about
three mUes west of Old Leighlin, and about twelve mUes north of
Kilkenny, the undoubted resting-place of Aengus, the founder and
first King of this ancient principality. He was succeeded by his son.
Leoghaire Birn Buadhach. — His mother's name was Sidhe,
She was daughter of Dalway, a druid or philosopher of note. Leag-
haire was surnamed Buadhach, i.e. Victorious, pronounced Buao or
Buoo, the war-cry of the ancient Irish, and he is eulogised by
Keating as " one of the stoutest heroes of his day," He was the

56
head or ancestor of the celebrated dal Birn, or chief tribe of the
Ossorian family. His tumulus, or sepulchral pUe, a colossal heap of
earth and stones, is weU known in the vUlage of Johnswell, and from
it the surrounding locality has been caUed from time immemorial
TuUa-Birn,i i.e. the Tulach, or tumulus of Leoghaire Bim. Ac
cording to the chronology of the pedigree, which allows thirty years to
a generation, Leoghaire should be living till about the year 135, when
his son and successor should be about thirty years of age, and be
thinking of taking his place on the stage of Ufe.
Amalghaidh (or Amauley), the son of Leoghaire Bim, and
second in descent from Aengus Ossory. Of this chieftain, no memo
rial exists known to the writer except that of his name in the Ossorian
pedigree, according to the chronology of which he would be living in
the year 1 66, when, in the natural lineal descent, he would be suc
ceeded by his son, then thirty years old.
EocHAiDH Lamhdoid.— The third in descent from Aengus. The
period in which this chieftain flourished would extend from the year
A.D. 166 to 195, and would, in consequence, be coeval with the reign
of FeUmidh Rechtmar, monarch of Ireland, a,d. 164-174.
1 "TuUabirn," or TuUaghbrin, as the name is often incorrectly written, ig
the great pile of earth which rises so abruptly over the village of Johnswell,
four Irish miles from Kilkenny, This curious eminence is like most others of
its kind, locally called "the moat," Prom a recent inspection, aud whilst the
materials of which it is composed were being carted away, it would appear,
notwithstanding the peculiarity of its outUue, to be a natural structure of the
Esker kind. But, when you gain the summit, you have before you au undoubted
artificial mound, too small to be a rath, yet surrounded by a ditch or fosse, and
inside of this an entrenchment, from which gently rises the mound in the
centre. The fosse is now nearly demoUshed, and the entrenchment is, in many
places filled up ; however, enough remains to show that the mound in the
centre had been once protected, as a sacred enclosure, and, as the name of
the moat implies, was the final resting-place of " Leoghaire Birn, the
Victorious,"

57
CHAPTEE IV.
origin op THE ANCIENT PRINCIPALITY OP LAOIGHIS.
Foidhlinie Rechtmar, succeeded to the crown of Ireland in the
year 164, and governed the nation for the following ten years. It was
during this period that the Munster men made a desperate effort to
recover possession of the lands wrested from them by Aengus Ossory
near a century previous, and in violation of the treaty known as the
" Eric of Feargus Scannal," In the spirit of vindictive retahation,
the Munster men now aimed at the extinction of the Kingdom of
Ossory, and the amiexation of its territory to that of Munster,
thus extending their conquest to the river Barrow, which they deter
mined should form the common boundary of Munster and Leinster.
From the concise sketch of the occurrence given by Keating,^ the
Mummonians must have entered Ossory from the south, and apparently
crossed the river Suir into Magh Feimhin at Knockgraffon, where the
Kings of Munster then held their court. The Ossorians were but ill-
prepared to hold their own against the onslaught of the invaders, before
whom they retreated through Magh Reighna to the north of Magh
Airget-Ros. The Mummonians, pressing after them, are said to have
" conquered and taken possession of Ossory and Laoighis, as far as the
top of Maistean," which means that the Ossorians, in their retreat, fled
over the Barrow at Athy, into the present county of Kildare, where they
were followed by the Munster men as far as the hill of MuUaghmast,
on the east side of the river.
Cucurb was, at this time. King of Leinster, and, perceiving the
ambitious designs of Munster for territory, and, conscious of his own
incapacity to check their fierce advances, at once despatched a messen
ger to Lughaidh Laoighis, a distinguished general, son of Laoighise
Caen Mor, son of the famous hero, Connal Cearneach, for assistance to
repel the encroachments of the invaders. Lughaidh, arriving with
timely aid to the King of Leinster, their combined forces attacked the
1 "Keating." In all the editions of Keating's "History of Ireland," those
transactions are recorded under the reign of Cormac Ulfadha, a,d, 213, But
Eochaidh Fionn, the son of Peidhlime Eechtmar, being one of the principal
supporters of the King of Leinster in driving the Munster men out of Ossory,
the action must have taken place, if not during the reign, certainly soon after
the death of his father PeidhUme Eachtmar, See Keating's History of Ireland,
Carson's Edition, pp. 126-7, See also Ogygia, Vol, ii,, p, 179,
H

58
Munster army on the river Barrow near Athy, where a desperate en
gagement ensued in which the Munstermen were completely subdued
and routed across the Barrow, whence they were pursued over northern
Ossory to the pass of Bealach Mor, where the few survivors escaped
thence into Munster.
After the battle, Cucorb, King of Leinster, reinstated the King of
Ossory in the possession of his kingdom "between the rivers." But, in
gratitude for the services rendered on the occasion by Lughaidh
Laoighis, he conferred on him the seven Fothartuaths, from which
circumstance this district has been since called the " Seven Laoighises,"
and the descendants of Lughaidh assumed the title of Kings of
Laoighis, acknowledging the father of Lughaidh, i.e. Laoighise Ceaii
Mor, as the head of their clann ; and from him have been named the
famous Leinster tribe, the Ui Mordha, or O'Moores of Laoighis.
The ancient territory of Laoighis, or Leix, comprised the whole of
the present Queen's County, formerly called Magh Laoighis, or the
plain of Laoighis. It did not include the barony of Tinnahinch, be
cause it lay north of the river Barrow, and was, therefore, outside of
the country " between the rivers," nor did it include the old barony of
Upper Ossory, which, by the treaty of those transactions, was left
united to the kingdom of the same name. Hence, it will be seen that
the Kingdom of Laoighis occupied the entire of the north eastern
angle of the country enclosed by the river Barrow and the river Suir ;
and that its estabUshment into an independent principality was the
first encroachment on the quadrangular form of that territory,
and that, from this resulted the oblique irregularity of the eastern
outline of the ancient Ossory, and which the diocese of that name pre
serves to the present day.
What part Eochaidh, King of Ossory, played in the above trans
actions is not recorded, nor have we any means of connecting him with
them, except that, of his status in the pedigree, according to which he
would be living about the year 195, when his son would have attained
his thirtieth year.
Buan Osraighe, viz., Buan of Ossory, son of Eochaidh Lamdoitt,
and fourth in descent from Aengus, the head of the race, succeeded
his father in the genealogical line about the year 195, from which his
reign should extend till about a.d, 225. Respecting this chieftain,
nothing is known accessible to the writer, except that from him, by his

50
son Droma, are descended through six generations, two eminent Saints,
namely, Aengus Laimoidhan, and Aduanus, both of them bishops and
contemporaries of Saint Ciaran. They lived six generations after
their ancestor, Buan, of Ossory, which, at thirty years to each, make
120 years, adding which to a.d. 225, bring us to those holy men at the
year 405, at which date, as we shall see below, St. Ciaran had
attained the thirtieth year of his age, which confirms, in a general way,
the accuracy of the chronology on which we are acting, and according
to which Buan would be succeeded about the year 225 by his son —
Nia Corb, the fifth in descent from Aengus Ossory, There is a
bequest in favour of this chieftain made by Cathair Mor, in his cele
brated " Will," from which it would follow that the genealogists have
misplaced him in the pedigree, and that, instead of being the fifth, he
ought to hold the third place in the genealogical column. The foUow
ing is the bequest of Cathair Mor, extracted from Dr. Todd's transla
tion of Michael O'Clery's copy of that deed : —
" He (Cathair),' also gave to Nia Corb, son of Leaoghaire Birn-mBuad-
hach, son of Aengus of Ossory, one hundred white-speckled cows, with red
ears, and a heifer caU with every two cows, besides various gifts ; one hun
dred shields, with projecting rims; one hundred crimson-hafted spears,
&c,, &o,, with the right to give advice to the power of the province of
Gailian," i.e. Leinster. This last clause is thus rendered into English iu
Healy's translation of the " Ogygia," " with authority to be prime minister
to the King 6f Leinster,"
It is certain that Nia Corb must have been ruling in Ossory at
the date of the execution of this deed. Cathair Mor was slain in the
year 177 ; and, unless Nia Corb be misplaced in the pedigree, there is
no other way by which he could be the contemporary of Cathair. If
Nia Corb was the son of Laighaire Birn, and second in descent from
Aengus Ossory, he could not be living till the year 174, the date of
the accession of Cathair Mor to the monarchy. The explanation of
the matter is evidently this^ — the " Will of Cathair" was compiled by
his son Ross FaUghe, some years after his father's death, and Nia
Corb being then King of Ossory, to secure his friendship, and to
1 " Cathair,'' " Martyrology of Donegal," Introduction p, xxxvi.
2 " Evidently this." The transaction is thus stated by O'Flaherty, Ogygia,
Vol, II., p. 204 : — " Before King Cathair fell in the battle of Talten, he ordered
his son, Eoss Pailghe, to give the following Legacies to the rest of his sons, and
to the other nobles of Leinster," from which it is to be clearly inferred that it
was some years after the death of Cathair that the " Will" was drawn up.

60
strengthen the alliance between the houses of LeUister and Ossory,
Nia Corb is named by Ross Failghe as a legatee under his father's
will, and for brevity three intermediate degrees are omitted in his
pedigree, and thus he is made the " son of Leaoghaire Bim Buadhach,
the son of Aengus of Ossory. This bequest in favour of Nia Corb
was apparently made for a consideration; for it is worthy of note that
the country east of Laoighis, and thence down to the river Barrow,
and now known as the barony of " Slieve Margie," in the Queen's
County, was anciently denominated " TJi Bairrohe," (i.e. Hy or
O'Barrie), which means the country of Dairie Barry and his descend
ants. This Dairie was brother to Ross FaUghe. This is the second
partition of the Kingdom of Ossory, and was, no doubt, an equivalent
by Nia Corb for the privilege bequeathed to him in the " WiU" of being
" Prime Minister in the Court of Leinster." Nia Corb was contemporary
with Lughaidh Mac Conn, Monarch of Ireland, who was slain in a.d.
255. This Lughaidh was great- great- grandfather to Liedanie, the
mother of St Ciaran. Nia Corb would be living in the year 256, when
he would be succeeded by his son —
Cairpre Caem. — In the Book of Leinster he is named Coirpre
Niad. He was sixth in descent from Aengus Ossory, and was contem
porary with Maichnaidh or Meanny, the great-grandfather of St,
Ciaran's mother. He would be living in the year 285, and was appa
rently the King of Ossory slain in the " Battle of Gabhra,"i j^g^r
Dublin, A.D. 283. He was succeeded by his son —
Conaill, the seventh in descent from Aengus Ossory. He was
the contemporary of Aengus Bolg, a chieftain of Corca Laighe,. and
the ancestor of the O'DriscoUs. This latter chieftain was grandfather to
Liedania, mother of St, Ciaran, ConaiU should be alive in the year 315,
when, in the order of nature, his son would be about thirty years of
age. Ruman Duach was the son of Conaill. He was the eight in
descent from Aengus Ossory, and was the contemporary of Maine
Cherr, Prince of Corca Laighe, the father of Ciaran's mother, and of
Core, King of Munster, who removed the seat of Government in that
Kingdom from the west side of the river Suir at Knockgraffan to the
fort then called sidh-druim or Fairy Hill, and since and now called
1 " Battle of Gabhra," pubUshed by the Ossanic Society, pp, 90-91,

61
Cashel, in the plain of Magh Feimhin, As this is the first encroachment
on the southern part of the country " between the rivers," it will require
here some short illustration. There can be no doubt that the removal
of the seat of Government from Knockgraffon, on the west side of the
Suir, to the hill of Sidhe Dhruim, now Cashel, was an attempt on the
part of Core, to restore the " Erie of Feargus Scannal," by annexing the
southem half of Ossory to his own kingdom of Munster, We have no
account of this transaction, nor do we know whether the Ossorians sub
mitted to his occupation of this part of their territory, or intercepted
his further advances. But when Cormac MacCuiUcanan, in pursuance
of his ambitious policy, towards the end of the ninth century attempted
to elevate Cashel to the dignity of the Metropolis of Ireland, he based
his aggressive design on the following singular story, respecting the
original foundation of that royal city : —
"Caiseal [is derived] from cais-iP, i, e. a stone on which they used to lay
down pledges, or cis-ail, i, e, payment of tribute, from the tribute given to
it by the men of Eire. Sidh-dhruim^ was the name of the place at first,
" It happened in the time of Core, the son of Lughaidh, that two swine
herds frequented that hUl for the space of a quarter of a year to feed their
swine on acorns, for it was a woody hill. The names of those swine-herds
were Durdru, the swine-herd of the king of Ele^, and Cularan, the swine
herd of the king of Muscraidhe'' ; and there appeared unto them a figure,
brighter than the sun, with a voice sweeter than the angular harp, blessing

I " Cais-il," i.e. Tribute Eent, O'Donovan says this derivation of the word
is abo given in Cormac's Glossory, The term Caiseal, he adds, which is the
name of many places in Ireland, as well as the ancient metropolis of Munster,
denotes a circular stone fort. There can be no doubt that Core, King of
Munster, erected a fort of this description on the rock when he changed its
name from Sidh-Dhruim to Caiseal. Book of Eights, p, 28, 29, and 30,
2 " Sidh Dhruim," i.e. Paii-y Hill, It is highly probable from this having
been the original name of the rook, that it had been long previously the site of
Druidic worship,
3 " Ele," At that period the territory of Ele comprised the present baro
nies of Eliogarty and Ikerrin, in the county of Tipperary, and that of BaUybrit,
in the King's county,
4 " Muscraidhe," This was the ancient name of the district afterwards
and now called Upper and Lower Ormond,

62
the hiU and the place, [and] predicting [the arrival of St,j Patrick, and it
said : — " Good, good, good ,the man who shall rule Caiseal,
Walking righteously in the name of the Great Father,
And of the Son of the Virgin,
With the grace of the Holy Spirit ;
A comely, great, good Bishop,
Child of life unto judgment.
He shaU fill noble angelic Eire
With people of each order of various gi-ades.
To serve Christ the benign.
" The flgure which appeared there was Victor,' the angel of Patrick,
prophesying [the coming of] Patrick, and that the grandeur and supremacy
of Eire would be perpetuaUy in that place,
" Accordingly that town is a metropolis to Patrick, and a chief city of
the king of Eire. And the tribute and seryice of the men of Eire are always
due to the king of that place, i. e. the king of Caiseal, through the blessiag
of Patrick, the son of Alplainn,"
Whether we accept this anecdote in its entirety, or otherwise, it is
of importance, as it fixes the date of the foundation of the ancient city
of Cashel. Core, its founder, was the contemporary of Maine Cherr
(whose sister he married) the father of Liedania, Ciaran's mother, and
also of Ruman Duach, the grandfather of the saint himself.
Ruman Duach was the ancestor of the celebrated clann known as the
Ui Duach of Ossory, and from whom the ancient tribeland of Ui Duach,
modernized Odagh, took its name. Ruman had eight sons, namely —
Lughaidh, Cairbre, Ceallaeh, Ceanfaladh, Conaill, Muiredaeh, Reughadh,
and Ubneadh, Lughaidh, the first-named of those eight brothers, alone concerns
our present purpose. With the other seven we shall take our leave for
the present, merely remarking that, later in life, they were all con
verted to the Christian faith, two of them became bishops, and the
whole were venerated as saints in the ancient Irish Church,
Ruman Duach, the father of those eight brothers, was a prince of
1 " Victor." This was the name of St, Patrick's angel. He is mentioned
as such in the Tripartite Life of St, Patrick, and by Jooelin, Dr. Lanigan as
serts that "there is no foundation for what wo read iu some of Ms Lives con
cerning his being often favoured with the converse of an angel, Victor," See
" Ecclesiastical History," Vol. i,, p, 144

63
great distinction. His tumnlus, or sepulchral pUe, is still standing,
near the old church of Ui Daach, or Odagh, in " Three Castles De
mesne," four miles above Kilkenny, on the bank of the river Nore, and
from it the ancient church of the tribeland there was formerly known as
TuUach-de-Odagh, i.e. the Tulach or tumnlus of Ui Duach, Ruman
would be living tUl the year 346, when he would be succeeded by his
son, now thirty years of age.
Lughaidh, son of Ruman, and ninth in descent from Aengus
Ossory. He was the eldest son of his father, as will appear lower down.
He was contemporary with Nadhfrach, son of Core, the second King of
Cashel, and the first cousin to St, Ciaran's mother. He did not succeed
his father in the Kingdom of Ossory. Early in life he left his father's
Court ; he migrated from his native tribeland to the south of the pre
sent county of Cork, then called Corca Laighe, now west Carberry, He
there formed an alliance with a noble lady, the daughter of the local
chieftain. The chieftain's name was Maine Cherr ; his daughter's
name was Liedania, and from the union thus contracted between
Lughaidh, prince of Ossory, and Liedania, princess of Corca Laighe,
was bom the most blessed son Ciaran, the Ulustrious Bishop, whose
life and labours shall form the sequel of this Memoir.
Of the history of Lughaidh (Lewy), subsequent to his marriage,
little is known; but from what is known, he does not appear to have
returned to his native tribeland of Ossory, but seems to have settled
down in his wife's country. According to the chronology of the Ossorian
pedigree, Lughaidh would be thirty years of age in the year 375,
which same date is fixed by the same authority to be that of the birth
of his son Ciaran. This same date is arrived at for the same event
through the medium of his mother's pedigree, from Lughaidh Mac
Conn, and the chronology of the legend of his life singularly corro
borates the accuracy of both.
We have now brought our preliminary enquiries, both topographi
cal and historical, to a close. We have arrived at the opening of
Ciaran's mission. He no longer stands before us as an historical myth,
but as a distinguished personage connected by birth and blood with many
of the leading characters of his time. Core, the founder of the city of
Cashel, was his mother's uncle by marriage. Maine Cherr, prince of
Corca Laighe, was his maternal grandfather. Aengus MacNadhfrach,
first Christian King of Munster, was his second cousin. With some of

64
those we shall find him in active intercourse ; commanding with
authority ; admonishing with dignity ; reprehending vice, and resisting
intoUerance. We now proceed to the illustration of the beautiful Legend of our
Saint's Biography. It is freely granted that its author, like the other
writers of his time, indulge rather freely in the use of those bardic ex
cesses so well calculated, and no doubt studiously designed, to excite
the attention, and thus to live in the memories of an imaginative people,
who, having cherished them as pious mementoes of the past, reproduce
them in traditional recitations at many a fire-side scene : thus investing
them with a degree of domestic romance, whence, without the aid of
writing, much of our early history had been preserved, and has come
down to us as some of the most interesting reminiscences in Irish lore.
But those miraculous accompaniments with which the Life of St, Ciaran
abounds, more embellish than invalidate the facts of the narrative;
and these facts, when denuded of their supernatural clothing, present
to us the ordinary actions of an extraordinary man as richly elevated
and adomed by the cordial credulity of the scribe as the saint himself
was lifted in grace and intelligence above other men. But to reject
those monuments of early Irish Literature, because of the pious exagge
rations and bardic embellishments of the schanachies of those remote
ages, would be to deny the existence of St, Patrick, St. Columbkill,
St, Cainnech, and of most of our other Saints whose Lives are but so
many tissues of miraculous occurrences. The advice of Dr. Todd can
be here very advantageously introduced. " We ought," he says, " to
use great caution in dogmatically rejecting as fable all that we find
even in the midst of the most silly Legend. The facts are doubtless
overlaid with childish stories ; but let us beware lest, if we cast out the
rubbish without sifting, we should cast out also precious stones which
have long lain concealed in the mass,"
The following, from the pen of the Rev. James Graves, is equally
apropos on the same point : —
" The mii-aculous agency introduced on the most trivial occasions, all
through the Legends of the Irish Saints, is aUowed to be fictitious by Dr,
Lanigan, Alban Butler, and every Roman CathoUc writer who has touched
on the subject. But, granting aU this, no nation in Europe can produce
such a mass of curious matter containing so much historical and topogi-a-
phical information of extreme antiquity, interspersed, though it be, with

65
a aet of Legends of the wildest extravagance. Our Irish hagiology is the
work of men who loved home associations, and who borrowed little or
nothing from the cold matter-of-fact tone of the Continental school."
CHAPTEE Y.
OPENING OP THE LEGEND OP CIARAn's LIFE  HIS BIRTH — HIS YOUTH
AND PIRST MIRACLE.
" Beatissimus Episcopus Oiaranus sanctorum Hibernise Primogenitus,"
The most blessed Bishop Ciaran, the first born of the saints of Ireland, was a
native of the western part of Leinster, in the district caUed Osraighe, All
the Iiish were anti-Christians and Pagans at the time. His father's name
was Lughaidh, and was descended from the nobility of Osraighe. The
name of Ms mother was Liedania, and was a native of Corca Laighe, in the
western part of Munster. Before she conceived Ciaran she saw, in a vision,
as if a star had fallen into her mouth, and she revealed the same to the
Druids and leamed men of her time, who informed her that she would bring
forth a son who would be the greatest prodigy of his age, and whose fame
and virtues would be spoken of to the end of time,"
It is said that in both the physical and moral worlds " coming
events cast their shadows before them." So it would seem that the
mother of Ciaran had been favoured by Providence with an intima
tion of the future greatness of the child to whom she was to give
birth. Similar presages are recorded of other distinguished characters,
in various ages and countries, St, Patrick received an intimation of
his future Apostleship when he heard, in a dream, the unborn chil
dren of Ireland invoking him to come and walk amongst them. Before
St. Dominick had been born his mother dreamed that she had given
birth to a dog, with a flaming torch in its mouth ; and the learned
Order of Preachers do not reject the story as fabulous, but recognise
in it the prototype of their founder's mission. If a dog, with a torch,
could foreshadow the zeal and fidelity of Dominick, how much more
appropriate as a figure, and suitable in its aptitude as a comparison,
would a star disclose the future mission and office of Ciaran, who,
during the night of Pagan darkness enlightened, by his isolated
brUUancy, all who came within the circle of his radiance. Brightly
did he shine in the moral firmament, safely conducting all who looked
up to hkn as a guide, never paling his effulgence, but, like the morning
star, shone with renewed lustre, till he ushered in the dawn of that
auspicious day when the illustrious Apostle of our Isle chased away
I

66
the clouds of Pagan darkness by the grand blaze of Gospel Ught
which he shed on the land.
" After this the holy son, Ciaran, was bom and nurtured in the island
caUed Cleire, in Corca Laighe. And verily did God elect him in hia
mother's womb [and the angels of God attended upon her at his birth].
The orders of Heaven baptized him,' His preceptor, as well as all who saw
him, were astonished at his extraordinary size. His acts were virtuous ; he
was meek by nature, and his conversation pleasing. His works were pros
perous and his counsels edifying, and he also exceUed in everything per
taining to man."
It might be here enquired if Ciaran was a native of Osraighe,
how comes it that he was born in Cape Clere Island ? Two reasons
may be assigned. First — We can weU understand the soUcitude of
the youthful lady for the safety of her expected offspring. Nor are we
to be surprised if she entertained, from the prediction of the sages,
some vague idea that she was soon to give birth to the " first born of
the saints of Ireland," and if, in consequence, towards the period of
her delivery, she retired to the asylum of her mother's house, she only
followed the impulses that, under similar circumstances, are so fre
quently acted on at the present day. And thus Ciaran, though he
might be called a native of Ossory, would be born outside of that
territory. But the second cause, and I think the true one, why Ciaran
was born in Finntract Clere, was that his father Lughaidh who, being
married to the chieftain's daughter there, was the first chieftain of
Ossory who assumed the kingship of Corca-Laighe,^ and was per
manently residing with his wife in that country when Ciaran was
born ; and this conclusion will receive no small degree of confirmation
from the next anecdote in the Legend,
St. Ciaran's First Miracle, — " On a certain day that he was in the
aforesaid place [i.e. Cape Cleire], and it was there that he performed his first
miracle, whilst yet but an infant, A crow flew over him in the air, and
descended and took up a smaU bird in its talons from its nest in the presence
of Ciaran, and flew away and tore it open, Ciaran took compassion on the
little bird, and felt grieved at what occurred ; but the crow flew back again

1 " Baptized him," The words within [brackets] in this passage are taken
from the " Corca Laighe," See above, p, 13,
2 " Corca Laighe," See above, chap, vi,, p, 30, for an account of how seven
chieftains of Osraighe assumed the kingship of Corca Laighe, and seven kings
of the Corca Laighe took the kingship of Osraighe.

67
and dropped tho bird torn, and nearly dead, in his presence, Ciaran said
to the bUd, "Arise, and be whole," and the bird, by the grace of God, im
mediately arose and flew off to the nest again quite sound,"
Ciaran would be probably from six to eight years old at the period
of this occurrence. At an earlier age he could scarcely feel much
sympathy for the grievances of the feather tribe, and as he was still
in " the aforesaid place," i.e. in Corca Laighe, it proves that it was not
for temporary convenience his mother retired there before his birth,
but that this was then the permanent residence of his family.
The anecdote, Uke most of the others in the Legend, presents to
us a simple natural action, which required no miraculous agency for
its accomplishment. The greater bird may have dropped the small
one either from accident or from some effort on the part of the youth
ful Ciaran for its liberation. Under his care the tiny creature soon
recovered its former strength, and immediately took wing to its natural
sphere of existence. The anecdote beautifully illustrates the tender
ness of Ciaran's childish heart, his fondness for those little innocents
of nature, and his abhorrence of cruelty to animals.
The next point suggesting itself at this stage of our enquiry, is
the period of Ufe at which Ciaran returned from his mother's to his
father's country. From the first sentence of the last quotation, it would
appear that he returned from Cape Clere island early in life. The
words of that passage are — " On a certain day that he [Ciaran] was in
the aforesaid place [i. e. in Cleire Island], and it was there he per
formed his first miracle, whilst yet an infant ;'' from which I think we
may infer that when he ceased to be an infant, or early in his youth,
he removed from the " aforesaid place," or from Cape Clere island, to
the scene of his future life. But if Ciaran's father had been then per
manently settled in his mother's country, for what purpose would he
himseU retire from his native place, and from his father's house early
in youth, to another part of the country ? Nothing beyond conjecture
can be advanced on that point. It may be that Ciaran's father, who
was the eldest son of Ruman Duach, would most probably be Ms suc
cessor in Ossory, if he had not retired from it early in life, and settled
in another country. We have seen above (p, 30) that Ruman Duach
in all human probability would be living tUl the close of the fourth
century, at which period Ciaran would be approaching the thirtieth
year of his age ; and as his father had settled down, and become king

68
m his mother's country, he Mmself might be heir apparent to the throne
of Ossory, on the death of his grandfather, Ruman Duach, to whose
court he retired early in life, where, according to his biographer, he
lived in the fullest enjoyment of bodily health. The Holy Spirit
taking his abode in his soul, and in consequence of which he led a life
of holiness and perfection. I will not undertake to say whether this
be Theologically orthodox or the contrary. But the meaning of
the Legend is this —that early in life Ciaran separated himself from the
turbulence of the world— that he lived in pious seclusion, and delighted
in the practice of those moral virtues inculcated by natural religion,
sUently considering and revolving in his mind the great truths of
Providence, the evidences of which surrounded him ; and by the pure
light of reason he discovered that " the invisible things of Him from
the creation of the world, are being clearly understood by the things
that are made— His eternal power also and Divinity ."^ And Ms un
derstanding being thus enlightened, he now despised the empty dog
mas and silly rites of the Druidic religion, and yearning for a law more
in consonance with his intellectual and moral susceptibilities, he hears
with delight of the rapid spread of Christianity on the Continent, and
he being now in the thirtieth year of his age, the real history of his
life may be said to open.
' "Divinity," Eomans, cap, i v, 20,

69
CHAPTEE VI.
ST, ciaran's JOURNEY TO THE CONTINENT  ITS DATE — ITS PEABIBILITT
: — THE ARRIVAL OP ST. PATRICK AS A CAPTIVE IN IRELAND,
" Thirty years or thereabouts Ciaran spent in Ireland in the full enjoy
ment of bodily health before he was baptized ; for aU the Irish of that time
were Pagans, as I have already observed ; yet when the Holy Ghost took
his abode in his chosen servant, Ciaran, he led a Ufe of holiness and per
fection in aU his works during that time,
" But on leaming of the spread of Christianity in Rome, he [Ciaran]
left Ireland and proceeded thither, and was baptized there and instructed in
the Catholic faith.''
The Roman joumey of St, Ciaran is thus commemorated in the
" Festilogium of Aengus," compiled before the year 778. The inter
lining in ItaUcs is the gloss, or illustration of the text, by the scholiast,
Cathal Maguire : —
t ni tastach.
i.e. ni balbda t in hanerdaire.
Ro leblaing in balbda i.e. desaire roling a chlu.
A Chlu dar sal sairde i.e. do Roim resaid Ciaran he iar techmna t comdail.
Carthach rigda ruamach i.e. do dal Birnd do osraigib do Chiaran.
Ciaran Sluagach Saigre
Thus translated by Mr, Hennessy : —
or not silent.
i.e. not stuUeriny or not undistinguished.
" Bounded [leaped] the stutterer
i.e. from him eastwards his fame leaped.
His fame across the salt [Sea] eastwards. [with a woman.
i.e. to Rome Ciaran sent Cartach after coming into contact
The royal Cartach, the Romish.
i.e. of the Dal Birnd of Osraigh was Ciaran.
The multitudinous Ciaran of Saighir,"
Mr, Hennessy, who kindly transcribed this stanza from his copy of
the " Festilogium," thus illustrates the scolia : " Over the words in balbda

70
(the stutterer), occur the two glosses, ni balbda, not dumb or not stuttering
and "nitastach," not silent, which shows plainly that "in balbda" in the
original should be " ni balbda," not dumb, or not stuttering, or not silent.
By which the scholiast designed to imply the use of language in an
eminent degree, or that Ciaran was not undistinguished for eloquence.
Hence the stanza thus Ulustrated and denuded of its scolia, reads thus :
The eloquent man bounded [or leaped]
With his fame over the sea eastwards.
The royal Cartach, the Romish,
The multitudinous Ciaran of Saigher,
Ciaran and Cartach are here commemorated together, not that both
traveUed together to Rome, but that they are both honoured together
on the same day. Ciaran is said to have gone with his fame over the
sea, that is, he carried with him (or as the Glosiast has it) he sent the
renown of his youthful virtue before him across the sea, in contradis
tinction to Cartach, who travelled (as the Glosiast does not fail to teU)
as a penitential pilgrim'. The Roman journey of Ciaran is further sus
tained by the Tripartite Life of St, Patrick, said to have been written
by St. Evin, before the end of the sixth century, and by the Life of St.
Decian, apparently written towards the beginning of the tenth ; and we
have now to enquire respecting the date of his departure from Ire
land, The story of the Roman journey of St, Ciaran is held to be apoc
ryphal, and its performance is smUed at as impracticable ; yet it will
turn out to be one of the most probable, and the least difficult of accom
plishment, of any of the events narrated in his life. It is not necessary
to assume that Ciaran's voyage over the seas was either miraculous
or extraordinary. We are not asked to believe, as the legend of Brendon's
Life tells, that he traversed the ocean on a whale's back ; nor are we to
suppose that it was necessary for Ciaran to fit out a Curach of his own,
and with a pair of paddles, to plough the surf of an angry sea in search
of some continental harbour. That Ciaran had heard of the spread of
Christianity in Rome, is not improbable ; but whether he had or other
wise, we have in the history of the period assigned for his emigration,
strong national stimulants to prompt him on an expedition of enterprise
and venture. Ciaran was born in the year 375, and he attained the 30th
year of his age in a,d, 405, the precise year in which Niall Niaghallach,
or as he is better known in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, was

71
slain on the banks of the Loire, in France. Various authorities quoted
by Keating and O'Flaherty, record the great military ardour of the
Irish during the reign of this monarch, and how, incited by martial
enterprise, they fitted out numerous armadas to harass the coasts of
Gaul — one passage from Keating will suffice : —
" Niall, encouraged by the success of his arms [against the Britons],
resolved upon another expedition, and accordingly raised a gaUant army of
his subjects ; and having prepared a sufficient number of transports, and
a competency of provisions, weighed anchor with his victorious Irish, and
steering his course directly to France, had the advantage of a prosperous
gale, and, in a few days, landed upon the coasts. He immediately set him
self to spoil and ravage the country near the river Loire,"'
Niall, soon after his debarkation, was killed by an arrow aimed at
bim from the opposite side of the Loire, by a young Irish Prince, who
had foUowed for that purpose. All the chronologists place this event
under the year 405, at which date Ciaran had just attained his 30th
year ; when, we are told, he undertook his journey beyond the seas
and what surprise that a man of his mind, and in the maturity of his
youth, should feel the influence of the national enthusiasm, then raging
for maritime adventure, and ranging himseU under the standard of
his monarch, would seek with him in foreign climes, if not military
distinction (which he probably did not value) new and enlarged views
of human intercourse and social Ufe : as well as an acquaintance with
the political laws and civil institutions of other countries. O'Flaherty
says that Niall was killed on the Armoric shore of the Loire. Lanigan
contends thatNiall's fleet did not enter the Loire, but sailedintothe small
river below Boulogne. But this controversy does not concern our pur
pose. It is sufficient for us that the same year in which Ciaran emi
grated from Ireland, an armada was then fitting out to saU for the coast
of Gaul, and whether Ciaran's design in quitting his native shores was
to study the science of a soldier or a saint, it will not be questioned
that he took Ms departure with the monarch of his nation, and that
under his banner he landed on the continent of Europe.
Before we take our departure with Ciaran from the shores of Ire
land, the foUowing observations of Dr. Lanigan arrest our attention :—
" I find," says the Doctor, " in Keating but one expedition of Niall to
the coasts of Gaul ; nor has O'Flaherty but one expedition of his to that
J " Loire." History of Ireland, Vol, i,, p. 156. Carson's Edition.

72
country, so that how many soever might have been his or the expeditions of
the other Irish Chiefs against the maratime parts of Great Britain, this
against Gaul must have been the one in which St, Patrick was made cap
tive'. Agauist this statement of Lanigan's, starts up the almost unani
mously assigned date for Patrick's captivity, namely, the ninth year of
the reign of Niall of the Nine Hostages ; and, as he comm enced his reign
in A.D. 379, the year 388 has been adopted as the date of the captivity of
St Patrick. All the authorities concur in making King Niall and his
forces invade the country of Britain in the Mnth year of his reign, and
as St, Patrick was then beUeved to have been a native of that Island,
he was said to have been carried captive by the invaders on their retum
to Ireland. This is very decidedly advanced by Jocelin^ : — " Patrick,"
he writes, " was a native of Britain, Uving in the viUage of Taburnia,
(that is, the field of the tents, for that the Roman army had there
pitched their tents), near the town of Empthor, and Ms habitation was
nigh unto the Irish Sea. Having attained his sixteenth year, he was,
with many of Ms countrymen, seized by the pirates who were ravaging
those borders, and was made captive and carried into Ireland." Whence
we see that the ground upon which the ninth year of NiaU's reign had
been fixed on as the date of Patrick's captivity, was that he had been
believed to have been a native of Britain ; and as l^iall ravaged Britain
in that year, it must have been the same in which Patrick was made
captive. But St. Patrick was not a native of Britaui, but of Gaul ; and
as there is no authority to show that the Irish forces under King Niall
invaded Gaul earlier than the year 405^, there is no ground whatever
for assigning the captivity of the Irish Apostle to an earUer date ; and
consequently we have now before us the highly-important coincidence,
viz, : that the same year in which Ciaran left Ireland for Rome, one of
the vessels of NiaU's fleet, which after his death ravaged the western

1 " Made captive." Ecclesiastical History, Vol, 1, p. 137, et seq.
2 " JoceUn," Chap, i,
3 " Year 405," The error respecting the native country of St. Patrick has
been long since corrected ; yet, strange to say the chronology of his life which
had been based on this erroneous data still remains unaltered. Thus we are
told that he was 120 years old at his death, because he was 16 at the date of his '
captivity, which was said to have occurred in a,d, 388, and as he was beUeved
to have died in a,d, 492 he should have been 120 years at that time. But as
the captivity did not take place till a,d, 405, when he was 16 years old, even
if he lived till 492, he would then have only attained the hundred and third
year of his age.

73
coast of Gaul, carried, on its return to Ireland, its future Apostle as a
captive. And here we have the trae relationship in point of age between
the two saints, for Ciaran was 30 years old when he saUed from Ire
land, and Patrick was 16 years when he was taken captive ; hence Ciaran
was born fourteen years before Patrick, which fixes a.d. 389 for the
birth of the Irish Apostle.
We may fairly assume that on the death of King Niall, in Gaul,
the Irish armament broke up or became greatly disorganised ; and it
may be safely inferred that many of those who had followed its fortunes
to the Continent, never again returned to Ireland. That Ciaran accom
panied the Irish fleet to Gaul will hardly admit of a doubt, and if he
had heai-d of the spread of the Christian reUgion before he had left
Ireland, he had now presented to him the opportunity of studying it
both in theory and practice, for Gaul was then a Christian country.
Barbarian warriors have often been captivated and subdued by the
sublime teachings and consoling promises of the Gospel creed. What
marvel, then, that a youth of Ciaran's moral and intellectual capacities,
and who had been destined to live in the hagiology of his country as
the " first-born of her saints," should become enamoured with, capti
vated and subdued, on first beholding the majestic form of that grand
dispensation that was then shedding light and civiUzation on the
world ; and abandoning the companions and avocations of his' voyage,
he proceeded Ui quest of the source of the thought and life which at
that moment infused into his soul a new vitaUty. That he travelled on
that mission to the Contment we have proved by the highest authorities,
and that he possessed the amplest opportunities for accomplishing the
voyage, is now clearly estabUshed.

74
CHAPTEE VII.
ST. CIARAN IS SAID TO HAVE BEMAINBD SOME TIME IN EOME — WAS
THEEE ORDAINED BISHOP — ON HIS JOURNEY HOMEWARDS MET ST.
PATRICK IN ITALY, AND ORDAINED HIM PEIEST.
" But on learning of the spread of Christianity in Rome, he [Ciaran]
left Ireland and proceeded tMther, and was baptized there and instructed
in the Catholic faith ; and remained there for the term of twenty years,
reading and studying the holy Scriptures, coUecting books, and storing
his mind with the laws and rules of the CathoUc chm-ch."
" But when Ciaran's wisdom, chastity, devotion, and faith became mani
fest at Rome, he was accordingly ordained and sent back to L-eland to
preach the Gospel. On his way he met St, Patrick, Archbishop of Ireland,
and as the holy men met together, they rejoiced exceedingly. St. Patrick
was not bishop at that time, although he afterwards was, for it was Pope
Celestine ordained him Archbishop, and sent him to preach the Gospel to
the Irish. " Although there were other saints in Ireland before St. Patrick's ar
rival, yet God reseiwed for him the Archbishopric and conversion of the
natives ; and the kings and chieftains did not receive the Christain faith
from any any other till his arrival. St. Patrick said to Ciaran — " Proceed
before me to Ireland, and you wiU meet a weU in a solitary spot, in the
central part of the country, and erect a monastery for yom-self at that
weU. The name of the well is Uaran, and your name wiU be held in vene
ration there tiU the resurrection of the dead.
" Ciaran replied, and said—" TeU me where is that well situated ?" and
Patrick said to him—" The Lord Himself wiU guide thee ; and take this
very smaU bell with you, which will not ring until you reach the weU ; and
in tMrty years I wiU f oUow you to that place, and they blessed and greeted
each other ; and Ciaran proceeded on his journey to Ireland and St. Patrick
remained in Italy."
St. Ciaran left Ireland in the year 406, and as he remained twenty
years in Rome, his return thence is fixed at the year 425. It is usual
to find the writers of the Lives of the Irish Saints of that period con
founding every part of Italy with Rome, and thus our author asserts
that St, Patrick was ordained archbishop by Pope Celestine, and sent
to preach to the Irish, whereas it is certain that St. Patrick was not

75
ordained either in Eome or by Pope Celostine.^ In the same way ho
tells us that Ciaran remained twenty years in Eome ; was there ordained
bishop, and sent back to Ireland to preach the Gospel. That Ciaran
remained twenty years in Italy ; that he had visited Eome, and that it
was his presence there, and his departure thence, that first suggested
to the authorities of the Apostolic See the idea of effecting the conver
sion of Ireland, may be freely granted. But that he received there
episcopal ordination, and a commission to preach the Gospel in Ireland
is not only doubtful, but is directly contradicted by Prosper' s Chronicle,
which asserts that Palladius was the " first Bishop sent from Eome to
the Scots believing in Christ." Nor does Aengus in the stanza quoted
above, p^ 69, say that Ciaran went to Rome, but only that he " went
over the sea eastwards." That Ciaran remained twenty years iu
Eome, we shall immediately disprove, though the particular year in
which he left it, if he had been there, we cannot determine, further
than that it was before the year 418. On his journey homewards, he
visited one of the greatest schools of that age in Italy, and where we
shaU now leave him, " studying the scriptures, collecting books, and
storing his mind with the laws and rules of the CathoUc Church,"
whUst we retum to the history of St. Patrick, since we left him a cap
tive in Ireland.
We have seen that the same fleet in which Ciaran sailed from Ire
land to Gaul in the year 405, carried Patrick on its return a captive to
Ireland. He passed about six years here in servitude, and about the
year 411, regained his liberty, and effected his escape to his own country.
The interval between the return of Patrick from captivity and his pro
motion to the Irish mission, is said to be a period of great confusion in
the history of his life. Dr. Todd rejects all that is recorded of it as
contradictory and fabulous. Dr. Lanigan, with more judgment, analyses
its different versions, and reduces the whole to the following statistics :^
Soon after his return from captivity, the future Apostle of Ireland spent
1 " Celestine," See this point beautifully illustrated in a highly valuable
and interesting paper contributed by the Eev. (now the Most Eev,) Dr, P. P.
Moran, entitled "Notes on St. Patrick." See Irish Ecclesiastical Eecord'.
October, 1866.
2 " Statistics." See Dr, Lanigan's criticism on the different versions of St.
Patrick's life at that period by his several biographers. Ecclesiastical History
Vol. I, c, IV. '

76
some few years under the preceptorship of St, Martin,^ of Tours. He
next returned home, and spent some time with his family, during which
he was carried away captive a second time.^ His captivity on this oc
casion does not appear to have been of long duration, and after it he
put himself under the direction of St. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre,
acting under whose advice, he retired about the year 418, to an
island in the Mediterranean sea, not far from the westem coast of Italy,
then called Lerinensis or Lerins, now St. Honorat, where there was
then a distinguished school, from which came many of the eminent men
of that age. St, Patrick is said to have spent nine years in this island,
from which he returned to Auxerre about the year 427, where he con
tinued under St. Germanus till the time of his appointment to the
Irish mission. The date, a,d. 427, fixed on for the return of Patrick to
Auxerre rests on the following basis. Patrick retired to the school of
Lerins, under the advice of Germanus, but this advice could not be
given before the year 418, as down to that date Germanus had been an
officer in the Eoman army in Gaul, and was in that year consecrated
bishop of Auxerre ; and if this was the year in which he directed
Patrick to go to the school of Lerins, and if Patrick remained there
for nine years, he should retum from it to Auxerre in the year 427.
But it is singularly opportune for our purpose that the Tripartite' Life
of Patrick has but seven years in this island ; and Ussher* quotes a
passage from Tirechan in which Patrick is said to have spent seven
' " St, Martin." Patrick was taken captive in 405, aud as he remained six
years in Ireland he must have returned to the continent about the year 411, at
which date St, Martin of Tours had been fourteen years dead, so it is a gross
mistake to say that the Irish Apostle studied under him after his return from
captivity. But Patrick may have been an alumnus of the school of Tours after
its founder's death, and in that way may be said to have been a disciple of St.
Martin himself , (See Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints of Nov, 11,) St.
Martin's sister is said to have been St, Patrick's mother ; whether that be so or
not some such relationship must have existed between the two saints, and from
which sprung that high degree of reverence entertained at all times by the Irish
people for St. Martin of Tours,
2 "Second time," Dr, Todd^ rejects the story of the second captivity
of Patrick, He holds that the only foundation for it is that the mariners,
with whom Patrick crossed the sea and travelled for two months through
a desert, at the end of their journey detained him in custody for sixty days,
which some of his biographers have made a second captivity. See " St,
Patrick," p, 375,
3 " Tripartite," L, 1, c, 34.
4 " Ussher," " Septem annis ambulavit et navigavit in fluctibus et in
compestribus locis ct in convallibus montanis, per Gallias atque Italiam totam,
atque in iusulis qua; sunt in Mari Tyrrhene, ot ipse dixit in commomoratione
laborum," Pr, p, 835,

77
years partly in islands of the Tuscan Sea, and partly elsewhere. The
term nine years is supported by the " Third Life" and by Probus,i
But the Tripartite and Ussher, on such a point, are as likely to be
correct, and if they be it wiU f oUow that Patrick returned from Lerins
to Auxerre in the year 426 — the same year that Ciaran was leaving
Italy on his return to Ireland.^
If we denude the vocation of the Irish Apostle of its miraculous
amplifications and investigate it as a purely historical proposition, we
trace it to its source in the interview between himself and St. Ciaran
in Italy. This conclusion, or the data on which it will be found to
rest, in no way interferes with that event bemg a supernatural pheno
menon, by which Patrick received from God a special vocation for the
conversion of Ireland. I am now dealing with the direct or natural
cause of Patrick's joumey as a missioner to this country. In none of
St, Patrick's Lives is there any authority to show that he had made up
his mind to retum to Ireland anterior to the date of his interview
with St. Ciaran. In Ms " Confession," written towards the close
of Ms life, St, Patrick mentions his visions or dreams relative to
the Irish mission after his return from exile. No one will deny
that these had been the foreshadowing on his soul of the great aj)Ostle-
ship with which he was to be subsequently invested. But we shall
be able to show that the vision or dream, which finally induced him
to undertake the Irish mission, occurred after the date of the inter
view between himseU and St. Ciaran ; we now submit from original
authorities the Mstory of St. Patrick's acceptance of the Irish apostle
ship. We are informed by the scholiast on Fiach' s hymn' that
" Germanus was bishop of a city caUed Auxerre, and Patrick applied
himself to study under his guidance,"
Eric of Auxerre, in his life of St. Germanus, gives us, in a few
words, sure data from which to calculate the date at which Patrick
first placed himself under the guidance of Bishop Germanus, thus :
" Patrick, who was the chief apostle of Ireland, and spent fourteen years'*'
] " Probus." "Permansit cum insulanis iUis novem annis." L. 1 c. 1.
2 " Ireland." Ecclesiastical History, Vol, i, p, 170.
3 " Piach's Hymn." Trias Thaum, p. 5. Dr, Todd, in his Memoir of St.
Pati'ick, says the author of these scholia is one of the earliest of Patrick's
biographers. 4 "Fourteen years,'' Dr, (now the ^Most Eev, Dr,) Moran, from whose
work on the Early Irish Church I have made this extract from Eric of Auxerre

78
under the most holy tutorship of Germanus, and drank in no emaU share
of learning regarding the heavenly scriptures at the very source of their
rich fountain." As Patrick left Germanus for Ireland in a.d. 432, fourteen years
from that date bring usback to a.d. 418, the first year of the episcopacy
of Germanus, from which it follows that Patrick applied to that bishop
immediately after his elevation to the See of Auxerre.
In the second life, by Colgan, we find the following passage : —
" Crossing over the British Sea he' [Patrick] sought a certain holy
man, the head of the Chm-ch of Gaul, the bishop of Auxerre, by name
Germanus. It was in the island of Lerins^ that Patrick was instructed
by Germanus ; he was then thirty years of age."
It is granted that Patrick was forty-five' years old at Ms epis
copal ordination, which took place in the year 432 ; consequently
he should have attained the thirtieth year of his age in a.d. 417, one
year before the elevation of Germanus to the See of Auxerre. It is not
inconsistent therefore to say that he was thirty years in a,d. 418,
when he was sent by Germanus to the school of Lerins ; he may not
have attained his 31st year, and therefore might be correctly described
as being then but thirty years old.
We have now ascertained three important points in our enquiry,
viz. : First, — That Patrick first sought the guidance of Germanus in
the year 418 ; secondly, that the future apostle was at that date tMrty
years of age ; and thirdly, it was St. Germanus, who had directed Patrick
to go to the school of Lerins. We have now to submit the Mstory of
his joumey to that island, and of his vocation there for the Irish mission.
The passages to be now quoted are taken from the two most trustworthy
of Patrick's biographers, whose accounts of this period of his life, when
used in Ulustration of each other, clear up much if not all the difficul
ties with which that great occurrence was supposed to be surrounded.
The first passage is from the " Tripartite," as translated from the Irish
thus observes on it in a marginal note : " The numeral XVIIL, which is found
in the printed text, is a clerical error for XIV, " This error greatly puzzled
Dr. Lanigan, See his notes on it in Ecclesiastical History, Vol. i, p. 164, note 75.
1 Crossing over tho British Sea." This refers to Patrick's voyage on his
return from captivity in Ireland.
2 " Island of Lerins". From this passage it is clear that the education of
Patrick in the school of that island was carried on under the direction of Ger
manus, who, in consequence, must have been perfectly cognizant of the
tutor under whom Patrick was then studying,
3 Forty-five years." Seo this point discussed by Dr. Todd. " St, Patrick,"
p, 392, et seq.

79
text by Eugene O'Curry ;i and the events therein recorded are to be re
ferred to a date immediately following the elevation of Germanus to the
See of Auxerre, in a.d. 418, at which period Patrick had been about
seven years returned from his captivity in Ireland.
" Patrick took leave of Germain [his tutor] then, and he [Gei-main]
gave Mm his blessing, and there went with him a trusty senior from Ger
main to take care of him, and to testify to him— ¦,Segitius was his name and
a priest in orders ; and it was he that performed the ofiices of the chm-ch
under Germain. Patrick went then upon the soa, nine in his number. It
was then the tide cast him upon an island, where he saw a new house and a
young couple in it, &c., &c."
This is the account given by our author of the departure of Patrick
from St, Germanus, in Auxerre, for the island of Lerins where, with
nine other students, Gei-manus had directed him to pursue his studies
in the school of St. Honoratus. Germanus sent one of his most trusted
priests, named Segitius, to introduce him, and bear testimony to his
fitness, for what office we shall see lower down. It is to be noted here
that Probus makes Germanus send this priest, Segitius, to accompany
Patrick to Eome. But this is a mistake of that writer, resulting from
the fact that he did not know it was by the direction of Germanus that
Patrick had gone to Lerins. According to Probus it was an angel who
had commanded Patrick to go to the " Island between the Mountains
and the Sea," and that it was only after he had spent nine years in that
island that he first met Germanus. But this mistake we shall soon
make more apparent. The Tripartite Life then goes on to narrate a
beautiful anecdote in Ulustration of the Mstory and origin of the ancient
Irish ReUc known as the " Bachal Isa," or Staff of Jesus, wMch we shall
here rapidly summarise, as its details do not concern the subject of our
enquiry. Patrick entered the " New House," and was told by the
young man that himself and his young wife had been living there since
the time our Saviour was on earth, when he visited them there, feasted
with them, and prophesied the coming of Patrick to that island, and
informed them that he (Patrick) should go preach to the Irish, and the
young man then said —
" And he left a token with us, namely, a bent staff, to be given to thee.
' I shaU not receive it,' said Patrick, ' until he himself gives me his staff.'
Patrick stayed there three days and three nights with them ; and he went
then to Mount Heremon, in the neighbom-hood of the island, and the Lord
1 "O'Curry." See Lectwes on the Manuscript Materials of Irish History
p. 601.

80
appeared to him there, and said to him, to come preach to the Irish, and
that He would give him the Staff of Jesus ; and he said that it would be a
deliverer to him in every danger, &c., &o."
How much of this story may be fact, or how much pious fiction, we
will not stop here to enquire. But as the " Staff of Jesus" was St.
Patrick's crozier, it is here spoken of only as symbolical of the offer
then made to him for the first time of the Irish Apostolate.
Probus, who gives a more detailed account of what happened on
Mount Heremon, does not say that God there gave Patrick the Staff
of Jesus, but only invited him to go to Ireland, and that he should be
its chief bishop ; which proves that the offer of the " bent staff" was
nothing more than an invitation to him to go to Ireland and to become
its chief bishop. How long Patrick remained on this island is not
stated. The " three days and three nights" which he is said to have
passed in the " new house," may have been, and probably was, the
duration of his stay there. Then departing from the young couple
he went to Mount Heremon, in a neighbouring island : and here it is of
importance to note that the account which Probus gives of St. Patrick's
call to the Irish mission just commences where the Tripartite ends. It
is not stated above why Patrick left this island and went to Mount
Heremon. Probus, however, tells us that an angel had so commanded
him. And we shall now, without interruption, allow this ancient author
to tell in his own words, the result of Patrick's visit to Mount Heremon :
" The angel of the Lord again appeared to Patrick, saying, ' go to St.
Senior, the bishop who Uves on Mount Heremon, at the right hand of the
sea of the ocean, and Ms city is entrenched with seven waUs.' When he
[Patrick] came there, he remained some days with him. Then the same
bishop ordained him a priest, and read with him a considerable time. Whilst
he was tarrying there on a certain night, he heard in a vision the cries of
cMldren who were in Ireland, crying out from the breasts and wombs of
their mothers — ' Come, holy Patrick, save us from the wrath to come.' In
the same time, the angel said to him — ' Go to Ireland and thou shalt be the
Apostle of that Island,' Patrick answered — ' I cannot go, because the men
who dweU in it are perverse,' The angel then said ' go,' Patrick then re
plied — ' On the other hand, I cannot go unless I shall see the Lord.' Patrick
therefore went with nine men and he saw the Lord,"' 
Patrick then poured forth those prayeis to the Lord :
1 " Saw the Lord, " The continuation of this story by Probus, besides being
foreign to the object of my enquiry, is so grossly fabulous and historicaUy false

81
" O Lord Jesus Christ ! who has directed my footsteps through the
Gauls and Italy into these islands, lead me, I beseech thee, to the Holy See
ot tne Roman Church, that receiving there authority to preach with fruit
Thy word, that tM-ough me the people of Ireland may become Christian,"
Taking the subject matter of these extracts in its consecutive
order, and denuding it of its supematural embellishments, the naked
facts therein recorded are clearly these : — Germanus sent Patrick with
nine other students and his own priest, Sigitius, to the school of St,
Honoratus, in the island of Lerins, In the voyage they were ship
wrecked, or by some other accident, Patrick was washed on the shore
of a neighbouring island in the Tuscan sea, when he lost the companion
ship of his fellow traveUers. But after an interval of three days, when
the nine students and the priest Segitius had arrived at their desti
nation, and had reported the fate of their companion Patrick, a messen
ger, designated an angel by Probus, was despatched from the school of
St. Honoratus to this island, in quest of the lost student, and now,
for the first time, the " bent staff" or the Irish Episcopate is spoken
of. I'atrick proceeds with this messenger to Mount Heremon, where he
again meets his nine companions, and is introduced to Bishop Senior,
who after " some days" ordains him priest, and subsequently super-
that its insertion above would only interrupt the course of our narrative ; but
as its omission might leave us open to the charge of garbUng our extracts we
therefore supply the part omitted here.
Then the Lord said to Patrick, ' Come to my right hand,' and Patrick went
to the right hand of the Lord, The Lord then said to him, ' Go iuto Ireland
and preach there the word of Eternal Salvation,' Patrick repUed : ' Three
petitions I ask of Thee, 0 Lord, that the men of Ireland may be rich in gold and
sUver, and that I may be their patron, and that after this life I may sit at Thy
right hand in Heaven,' The Lord said to him, ' Patrick thou shalt have as thou
hast petitioned, and moreover, they who shall make a commemoration of thee,
either by day or by night, shall not perish for ever,' [Patrick, therefore, arising
came to Ireland, when the islanders though they could not resist the ordination
of God, despised him as he preached by day as weU as by night,] Patrick then
poured forth these prayers to the Lord," See the prayer in the text above.
Why this very prayer shows he was not in Ireland, Patrick then set out on a
journey from Ireland to Eome, and on his way spent some time with St.
Germanus, of Auxerre, who on Patrick's departure for the Holy See, sent with
him one Segitius, a presbyter.
The most credulous student in Irish hagiology wiU not receive the story
of Patrick being invited by the Lord to come and sit at His right hand, with
the rest of the colloquy between the Lord and himself, as more than the romance
or religious fiction with which the writer designed to embellish his narrative.
And as to St. Patrick setting out on a journey to Ireland, and being there de
spised by the people, and his return thence to Eome to seek for authority to
again return to Ireland and preach there the Gospel with greater fruitfulness,
the story is so grossly erroneous, that it is not necessary here to attempt to
disprove it. St, Patrick made but one journey as a missioner to Ireland, and in
that he was not despised by the people. Dr, Lanigan endeavours to screen his

82
intends Ms education for a considerable time, during which time
Patrick is invited in a vision and commanded by an angel to go to
Ireland, and here the questions at once suggest themselves who was
this Bishop Senior who ordained Patrick priest, and with whom the
future Apostle continued to study for a " considerable time ;" and why
was Patrick sent to this bishop by Germanus ? And why was it that
it was under Bishop Senior's tuition that Patrick was first importuned,
and finally consented to undertake the conversion of Ireland ?
Much has been written respecting the locality and the person of
this Bishop Senior .^ The BoUandists suppose him to have been bishop
favourite writer, Probus, from the responsibility of this groundless statement,
by supposing that the folios of his manuscript were misplaced or deranged. But
no derangement in the pages of a book could produce a certain affirmation or
proposition, if such proposition had not previously existed in the work, Dr, Todd,
however, accepts this story of St. Patrick proceeding to Ireland after his inter
view with the Lord, as a " ray of light shining in the midst of darkness," which
proves to him that Patrick undertook the conversion of Ireland without receiving
any commission from either Celestine of Eome, or Germanus of Auxerre, But
the learned Doctor would have been more fortunate in his speculations had he
used this anecdote of Probus to prove what he elsewhere labours, and I think
successfully, to establish, namely, that as Patrick and Paladius have each been
known by the name of Patricius, in the ignorance of the times, and through the
errors of transcribers, the two personage 3 have been frequently conf ounded, and
that in consequence many of the events ' attributed to St, Patrick belong to the
lost acts of Paladius ;' aud hence that portion of the extract from Probus, en
closed within [brackets] in the preceding passage, is to be understood of the un
successful mission of Paladius to Ireland, and here erroneously introduced into
the Life of St, Patrick.
That Patrick did not travel to Ireland ou this occasion ; that he was not
there rejected by the people, and that he did not then return to Eome, are aU
satisfactorily established by the expressions of the prayer which he addressed
to God, after he had consented to go to Ireland ; but which we are erroneously
told by Probus he used after he had been rejected by the Irish, This prayer
begins thus — ' 0 Lord ! who didst guide my path through the Oauls and Italy
into these islands, lead me, I beseech Thee, to the Holy See of the Eoman Church,'
&c. Words cannot be clearer to show that the speaker was stUl in one of those
" islands" in the Tuscan sea, in which he had been ordained priest, and where
he had just then consented to go to Ireland, The beautiful sentiments of this
prayer but ill accord with the childish stories by which it is surrounded,
1 " Bishop Senior." l)r. Todd's enquiries regarding the person and coun
try of this bishop have resulted rather unsuccessfully. He takes up a sugges
tion of Colgan's, that the name of this prelate may have been Senator, not
Senior, who is described as a "Presbyter" only, and who resided some
where in Italy not weU known, Dr, Todd suggests that though he is named a
presbyter he still may have been a bishop, and if he was he may have conferred"
priest's orders on Paladius, but not on Patrick, In another place the learned
author allows Patrick to have been ordained priest by Bishop Senior, in which
capacity he set out on his mission to Ireland ; but here he divests him of even
the sacerdotal function and confers it upon Paladius, and consequently accor
ding to our learned theorist the future apostle undertook the conversion of Ire
land without being ordained or commissioned by any one. See the theories
advanced by this erudite writer to meet the difficulties of the present case.
" St, Patrick," pp. 336-343.

83
of Pisa, for which they appear to have had no other ground than the
proximity of that city to the Tuscan sea, in which the island of Lerins
is situated, where Patrick had been residing. Dr. Lanigan,^ after much
enquiry, could find no bishop named Senior, in either Gaul or Italy ;
but suggests, with his usual penetration, that " perhaps the Senior of
Probus is not to be taken as a proper name, but as signifying aged or
old." Strange, indeed, that so clear an investigator should arrive thus
near to the object of his research, and then refuse to recognise its dis
covery. If senior means " aged or old," the learned Doctor could find
who that old bishop was by opening the " Tripartite" at page 133, where,
amongst the Irish Saints St, Patrick met on the continent, we have —
" Sextus antem Senex Kieranus de Sagir,
But the sixth was old St, Ciaran of Sagir."
Ciaran is here designated old, not that he had then attained advanced
age, for he was at the period but forty-three years of age ; but because
when the Tripartite was being written, the word " senior" was the
descriptive epithet by which " Ciaran of Saighir" was distinguished
from " Ciaran of Cluain ;" and this nominal characteristic of the elder
Ciaran is stiU more distinctly asserted in the " Genealogy of the Corca
Laighe,"^ in which the writer after recording the conversion of " The
Chieftain who first believed in the Cross in Ireland," adds —
Augus is e Ciaran sindsor naem Erend.
Thus translated by Dr, O'Donovan :
And Ciaran is the senior ofthe Saints of Eire.
Hence, when this memoir of St, Patrick was being compiled,
" S. Senior Ciaranus episcopus" was Ciaran's proper designation, and
Probus, or some transcriber after Mm, either by accident or design,
allowed the word " Ciaranus" to drop out of the passage, thus forcing
the qualifying adjective to form the proper name of the bishop.
What a flood of light this sheds on the subject of our enquiry ; and
how interesting the relationship thus early established between the two
patriarchs of the Irish Church.
1 "Lanigan,'' Vol, i. p. 166,
2 "Corca Laighe," p, 22-3.

84
CHAPTEE VIII.
PATRICK CONTINUES HIS STUDIES WITH BISHOP CIARAN  PROBABLY
HAD RECEIVED MINOR ORDERS ANTERIOR TO HIS JOURNEY TO
LERINS — ENQUIRY RESPECTING THE LOCALITY OP MOUNT HERE
MON  THE VISION OP PATRICK INTRINSICALLY AUTHENTIC — THE
ANGELIC MESSAGE NOT SO — PATRICK HESITATES TO ACCEPT THE
IRISH APOSTOLATE — HE TS IMPORTUNED AND FINALLY ACCEPTS IT
 HE LEAVES LERINS FOR AUXERRE —HIS INTERVIEW WITH GE^^'
MANUS — HIS SEPARATION AND PARTING WORDS WITH BISHOP CIARAN,
It is to be apprehended that the reverential feeUng entertained
for the name and memory of our national apostle may be somewhat
hurt by the result of our enquiries atj^^ close^'of the preceding chapter,
and some may even go soiar as fiBxe6gisi3'^r'-it-a^&J)aragement to have
Patrick ordained priest by, and to hfcsse ^im pursue Ms studies under,
the tutorshij) of Bishop Ciaran, But tHe>£],aims of St, Patrick to the
veneration of the Irish people do not rest bn his social status anterior
to the date of his apostleship ; but on the^f act that to him, under God,
is to be attributed the conversion of the kings, chieftains, and tribes-
men of our nation, and that whilst in many other lands which had been
copiously watered with martyr's blood, the faith for which they
shed it is now extinct ; in Ireland the faith that was planted by
Patrick without a martyr being crowned still blooms in youtMul
vigour and unfading verdure, and the circumstance of his having been
called and ordained priest for this apostleship by an Irish bishop
beautifuUy iUustrates the ways of Providence, and so far from detract
ing from, really enhances his claims to, the affectionate gratitude of
the Irish race, Tet it would seem from what we know of the subsequent
Mstory of the two saints, that during their stay in the school of Lerins,
that they should be looked on as fellow-students, one the senior of the
,other, mutually assisting, edifying, and instructing each other, and
both acting upder the mastership of Bishop Germanus, who, from his
church in Auxerre, was apparently the presiding genius of that in
stitution, Probus says that Patrick had been only some days with Ciaran
when he ordained him priest, but that after that event he continued
" to read under him for a considerable time," In connection with
this point Dr. Lanigan quotes authorities to show that according to the
ecclesiastical discipline of that age a postulant for Holy Orders could

85
not be ordained priest till he should have attained the thirtieth year
of his age.i We have just seen that Patrick was thirty years old in
A.D. 418, the same year in which St. Germanus sent him to the school
of Lerins, and he was accordingly there but a few days when he was
ordained priest by Bishop Ciaran, whence it would foUow that Patrick
had passed through his preparatory course of studies, and also that
he had received the minor orders before he had appUed to Bishop
Germanus, otherwise Bishop Ciaran could not have ordained him priest
Ul so short a time, as is expressed by the term of " some days." In
the year 418 Patrick' had been seven years returned from Ms captivity
in Ireland. Of these he probably gave three at home with his family.
He is said to have spent four years in St, Martin's monastery at Tours ,2
where we are also told he received Tonsure, and probably the other
inferior orders, and thus when he applied to Germanus at the end of
the four years' study the latter directed him to Lerins, where he was
at once raised to the priesthood. How long Ciaran had been in this
estabUshment before the arrival of Patrick we have no means of de
termining. If he had made his studies in Rome, and was there ordained
bishop, as his biographer asserts, he must have left it as early as the
year 417. On his way homewards, probably for the purpose of per
fecting his education, he visited the great school of St. Honoratus,
where, by a providential arrangement, he met St, Patrick in a.d. 418,
and ordained him priest. And here the most singular coincidence in
the respective chronologies of the two saints presents itself. Ciaran
was then thirteen years out of Ireland, and as he was to be about
twenty years absent he has to remain still seven years more, which
bring us to a.d, 426 as the date of Ms return. Patrick, according to
the Tripartite, has to remain seven years in tMs island, and as he
entered it in the year 418 he will leave it to return to Auxerre in a,d.
426, the same year in which Ciaran is to return to Ireland. Hence we
can conclude that the period which elapsed from the ordination of
Patrick to Ms return to Auxerre was " the considerable time" which
Probus says " he continued to read under" Bishop Ciaran, and that
was about seven years.
1 " Age,'' Lanigan, Vol, i,, p, 164,
2 " Tours," Dr, Todd admits Patrick may have been, as is recorded of him,
the nephew and disciple of St. Martin of Tours, See " St, Patrick," p, 787.
According to Probus, St, Patrick spent four years with St. Martin, who gave
him the Clerical Tonsure. Lib, i, c, 14,

86
It was during this period of seven years, and apparently soon after
Bishop Ciaran had advanced Patrick to the priesthood, and whilst the
two saints were mutually entertaining themselves in studying the scrip
tures, and in storing their minds with the rules and laws of the Catholic
Church that Patrick " on a certain night heard in a vision the cries of
children who were in Ireland crying out from the breasts and wombs
of their mothers, " Come, holy Patrick, and save us from the wrath to
come." This vision of our apostle is related with some slight modifi
cation by all his biographers, and he himself bears testimony to its
authenticity by recording it in his " confession," written towards the
close of his IUe. In this vision the saint beholds the unborn children
of Ireland imploring him to come and save them, by carrying to them
the truths of salvation, thus presenting to him that sublime motive to
undertake the Irish mission, which has inspired aU the evangeUzers of
our race to rise superior to all human considerations, to face dangers,
and sacrifice Ufe with alacrity, to carry the blessings of redemption to
those who stUl sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. Probus
continues, " And in the same time, «.e. of the vision, "the angel said
to him, " go to Ireland and thou shalt be the apostle of that island."
Patrick answered, " I cannot go, because the men who dwell there are
perverse." The angel said, " go," and Patrick replied, " On the other
hand I cannot go until I shall see the Lord," &c,, &c.
We are to draw a marked line of distinction in point of internal
authenticity between the vision of St, Patrick and this message alleged
to have been delivered to him by an angel. In the vision the salva
tion of future generations is proposed as the motive and object of his
mission to Ireland, In the message from the angel he is told that if
he would go to Ireland he would be made the chief bishop and apostle
of that nation, which rises no higher in its aim than would be sug
gested by human ambition or the attainment of ecclesiastical power
and authority, objects which it would be preposterous to suppose an
angelic messenger would hold out as inspiring motives for the conver
sion of a nation. But we should remember that Probus, who tells
this story of the angel's message to Patrick, has already told us that
it was this same angel that had directed him to go to the island of
Lerins, and we have seen above that both the Vita Secunda and the
Tripartite expressly affirm that it was Germanus, bishop of Auxerre,
who had so directed the future apostle. Now it was the same angel

87
who had directed him to the island of Lerins that now commanded him
to go to Ireland, and that he should be its chief bishop, but, as in the
former case, that angel was Bishop Germanus, so in this case the
office or promise of being the apostle or chief bishop of Ireland came
from Germanus also. Probus denominates Bishop Germanus an
angel, most probably after the example of St. John in the Apocalypse,
where each of the bishops of the seven churches of Asia-Minor is
designated " The angel of the church of Ephesus," &c. In the same
sense Germanus was angel of the church of Auxerre,
The next point of enquiry in our narrative respects the locaUty of
Mount Heremon. Dr. Lanigan,^ has expended much valuable research
in looking out for Mount Heremon on a rock in the Atlantic ocean.
But the Tripartite expressly states that Mount Heremon was in the
neighbourhood of the island on which Patrick had been washed
ashore ; and Probus as expressly asserts that it was on Mount Here
mon Patrick was ordained priest and where he continued to study for
a considerable time after, and the prayer which Patrick himself ad
dressed to God after he had consented to go to Ireland, conclusively
proves that he was still in the same island in the Tuscan Sea, The
words of the prayer are, " 0 Lord, who hast directed my footsteps
through the Gauls and Ltaly into these islands." Words cannot be
clearer to show that the speaker was still in one of the islands in the
Tuscan sea, and that he had travelled there from the north-west of
France " through the Gauls and Italy," and as we have indisputable
proof that it was in the school of St, Honoratus, in the island of Lerins,
that Patrick was educated. Mount Heremon, and all that is said
about its seven waUs by Probus, are a mixture of truth and fiction, in
tended by the vtriter to dignify the school in which our apostle was
educated, and the effect of which has been to puzzle posterity.
It is singular that it did not occur to Dr. Lanigan, nor to any one
of the other writers who have touched on the. subject, that Heremon is
an Irish word and the name of the founder of the Milesian Monarchy —
that it is variously written hEremon^ Earmon, Sfc. — that in writing it

1 " Lanigan," Ecclesiastical History, Vol, i. p. 166,
2 " Heremon," The derivation of the word Erean, or Ireland, from Heremon,
is most opportunely shown in an ancient ran preserved by the Pour Masters
under the year 940, thus : ' Luise Ereann Eremoin.' Thus translated by
O'Donovan : " The flarae of Eremhons Ireland," clearly proving that Eremon,
or Heremon, is the root of the word Erean or Erin.

88
the m is punctuated in sign of its muteness, and that in its pronunci
ation the sound is Hereon or Erean, whence comes our words Erean,
Erin, &c. Hence the directions of the angel to Patrick should read
thus. Go to Bishop Ciaran, who lives in Erean (or who is from Erean)
' at the right hand'i or western extremity ' of the sea of the ocean,' i.e.
the Irish Sea, wMch joins the Atlantic ocean at its northern and south
em extremities, ' and his city is entrenched vrithin seven waUs.' "
That is his castellum in Erean is so fortified, which may be understood of
the fortress or mansion-place of the Kings of Ossory, as it stood in the
tenth century when Probus was compiling this biography ,2 And as
Ciaran's name was to be omited from the memoir, and he himseff
transformed into St, Senior, bishop, so the word " mount" was invented
and prefixed to Erean, and both then Ufted to the dignity of a city,
fortified by seven walls, &c, Probus, who, it is to be regretted, en
cumbered his valuable narrative with such an exuberance of pious
fiction, tells us that it was by the direction of an angel that Patrick
went to St, Senior or Bishop Ciaran in Heremon, whence it will follow
that whoever the personage was who had directed Patrick to repair to
the school of Lerins must have been aware that Bishop Ciaran was
then studying in the same house, and that it was with the object of
being introduced to him that Patrick had been ordered there. Now,
we have it on the authority of the " Vita Secunda" and of the " Tri
partite" that it was by the special direction, and with the blessing'of
Germanus of Auxerre, that Patrick proceeded to the school of Lerins,
so that the words put into the mouth of an angel by Probus are those

1 " Eight Hand," i.e. the south side of the sea of the ocean. It is probable
that Probus, in making up this story, did not attend much to the points of the
compas, nor refer to the " Irish Sea" or any particular sea, his object being to
decorate to the extent of his fancy his memoir of the Irish Apostle. According
to Dr, Lanigan, Probus is the Latinised form of Coeneachair, the Abbot of
Slane, who was burned to death in the round tower of that church by the Danes
in a,d, 950. Ecclesiastical History, Vol, i, p, 83,
2 " This biography," That the account of the ordination of St, Patrick,
and all that is said respecting St, Senior and his city on Mount Heremon, by
Probus, is a garbled form of an older record, appears from its own internal tes
timony. For if " Senior" had been the name of a bishop then residing on
Mount Heremon, he could not be designated " St, Senior" during his own Ufe
time, We shall see, lower down, that when Germanus sent Patrick to Pope
Celestine he did not say " go to St, Celestine," but " go to Celestine, the suc
cessor of St, Peter," because Celestine was not then a canonized saint. But
Probus, when compiUng the biography of St, Patrick to suit his own purposes,
modified, with excessive license, the original narrative of the saint's vocation
for the Irish mission, aud Ciaran, senior, being then venerated as a saint in Ire
land, he makes him a saint also when he was a bishop in the school of Lerins,

89
that should be attributed to Germanus, as it was he and not an angel
that had so directed Patrick, whence it clearly appears that when the
future apostle first sought the guidance and obtained the patronage of
the Bishop of Auxerre, that prelate learned from him the history of
his captivity in Ireland, and knowing that an Irish prince was then
studying in the school of Lerins he directed Patrick to go there to
Bishop Ciaran, of Erean, and he sent with Mm nine other students
and Ms own confidential priest, Segitius, who was to bear testimony to
Ms fitness for the Irish mission. But aU this was much too plain and
matter-of-fact for the panegyrists of our apostle, whose fertile imagina
tion found no difficulty Ui converting Germanus into an angel, and
Bishop Ciaran, of Erean, into St, Semor, Bishop of Mount Heremon, a
city entrenched vritMn seven walls, &c,, &c.
It would be preposterous to suppose that the education of Patrick,
by Ciaran, had any other, object for either of the two saints than the
conversion of Ireland, So long as Ciaran remained in the school of
Lerins, Patrick studied under him with deUght in that asylum of leam
ing. Here they read together the Canons, studied the Scriptures,
coUected books, and imbibed wisdom under the guidance of the great
Bishop of Auxerre. But the time has come for Ciaran to return to
Ms own country, and this formed the crisis which produced Patrick's
hesitation, wMch resulted, no doubt, from Ms humiUty f orcmg on Mm
the conviction of his unfitness for so great an undertaking. And it
was now that Germanus, or a messenger from him, importunes Patrick
to go to Ireland, that God would bless Ms mission, and that he would
be the cMef bishop and apostle of that nation. Patrick's reply — " I
cannot go because the men are perverse who dwell there" — was no
doubt suggested by the recoUection of the harshness wMch he had ex
perienced when amongst them as a captive. But Germanus finaUy
gives to Patrick the emphatic command " go," and to the pressure of
this order his hesitation yields. He now only requires " to see the
Lord," and then himseK and the nine students who had traveUed with
him from Auxerre " went forth to see the Lord," wMch can imply no
more than that they performed some form of devotion for the purpose
of ascertaining from God if it was the wiU of Providence that Patrick
should accept the apostleship of Ireland, or what appears more pro
bable, that having now accepted that onerous mission they pray for
Ught and grace to guide him through its performance, for the very
L

90
beautiful prayer preserved by Probus, which Patrick addressed to God
on this occasion, clearly proves that he had then finaUy accepted the
Irish apostleship, for the petition of the prayer is not an invocation
for Ught to guide him in his decision, but he prays that God who had
guided Ms path through the Gauls and Italy would now lead him to
the Holy See of the Roman church, there to receive authority to preach
the Gospel in Ireland.
It is significant that all our authorities concur in making Patrick
visit Bishop Germanus in Auxerre anterior to his visit to Rome, The
scholiast on Fiach's Hymn says when he, Patrick, had received the
angelic vision calling on him to go to Ireland he applied to St. Ger
manus for advice. Consequently he must have proceeded to Auxerre,
not to Rome, after leaving the island of Lerins. It is certain from the
sentiments of his prayer, just illustrated, that Patrick's first impulse,
after he had consented to go to Ireland, was first to proceed to Eome
there to receive his commission from the Sovereign Pontiff. Why,
then, did he alter his design and repair to Auxerre not to Rome ? The
reason is manifest on the face of the narrative. St. Ciaian, who was
now returning home after his twenty years' absence, being anxious
that Patrick, whom he had educated and ordained priest for that pur
pose, should accompany him to Ireland, dissuaded Mm from going to
Rome, telling him that Germanus was the papal legate in Gaul, that
their road to Ireland would conduct them into the city of Auxerre, the
See of the episcopate of Germanus, and that a commission received
there from him to preach the gospel in Ireland would be as plenary in
its privileges as one received from the Sovereign Pontiff himseK. The
iUustrious reputation and well-known attachment of the great bishop
of Auxerre to the Roman See would fully justUy such a representation
on the part of Ciaran, who thus induced Patrick to accompany him
homewards. All the circumstances connected with the interview be
tween the two saints in Italy, with the education of Patrick under
Ciaran, and with Germanus' s encouragement of the Irish Mission in
Gaul, fully sustain this view of the case.
Then, as now, the great highway from Rome to Ireland lay through
Northern Italy, from Ravenna westwards through the late Sardinian
States to Eboria, now Ivrea, a small town at the foot of the Alps, and
thence through Gaul to the north-west of France, and this road con-

91
ducted both Patrick and Ciaran into the town of Auxerre,^ Ciaran
was an Irish prince, he was also a Catholic bishop, and are we to sup
pose that at a time when Palegenism was raging in Gaul and Britain,
and that Ciaran was traveling from Rome to Ireland, he would pass
by the Church of Auxerre without entering to greet and communicate
with the great Gallican bishop — then the illustrious defender of Catho
lic orthodoxy in Gaul, and subsequently the great promoter of Chris
tian missions to Ireland. This may be advanced as certain, that the
remarkable interest which Germanus subsequently manifested for the
christianization of Ireland, and which so intimately associates his
memory with its accomplishment, must be traced to the period of
Ciaran's journey homewards, and from what cause could it more pro
bably or naturally arise than from an interview with Ciaran as he
passed through the city of Auxerre, on his retum to Ireland ; when he
presented Patrick, whom he had ordained priest, to Germanus for
episcopal ordination, and plenary authority to preach the Gospel in
Ireland. And the very words which Fiach's scholiast records Germanus
to have used on the occasion pre- supposes some such application to
have been made to Mm in favour of Patrick. " Go," said Germanus
to Patrick, " Go to the successor of St, Peter, namely Celestine, that
he may ordain thee, for this office belongs to him," Do not the words
" this office belongs to him"^ clearly imply that Germanus had been
previously importuned to confer " this office" of the Irish apostleship
on Patrick ? And then the words which the biographer of Ciaran puts
into the mouth of Patrick on the occasion of their separation as clearly
' " Auxerre." See a highly interesting notice of the road by which St.
Patrick traveUed through Italy and Gaul, Irish Ecclesiastical Eecord, October,
1866. Notes ou St, Patrick, from the poUshed pen of the Most Eev, Dr,
Moran. 2 " This office belongs to him." It will be here fairly enquired if what has
been advanced above respecting the anxiety of Germanus that Patrick should
accept the Irish mission be founded on fact, how are we now to understand his
commands to the contrary ? That circumstance wUl admit of this explanation.
It must have been the intention of Bishop Germanus from the beginning that
Patrick should obtain his commission from the Holy See before undertaking
the conversion of Ireland. This was also Patrick's own intention as we leam
from the sentiments of the prayer which he addressed to God after he had
consented to go to Ireland (see above, p, 81) ; and it was for not acting accord
ingly that Germanus now commands him to go to Celestine and receive his
commission, for, he adds, " This office belongs to him," The question of the
Eoman mission of St, Patrick does not lie within the province of reUgious pole
mics ; it is only in modern times it has been so situated. Archbishop Ussher,
Sir James Ware, and other such eminent Protestant authorities all maintain
that our apostle received his commission to preach the Gospel in Ireland from
" the holy See of the Eoman Church."

92
imply that they had previously intended to accompany each other to
Ireland. " Proceed before me to Ireland," said Patrick to Ciaran, " and
you will meet a well in a soUtary spot : erect a monastery for yourself
at that well, and in thirty years I will follow you to that place ;" and
then, adds the biographer, " They blessed and greeted each other, and
Ciaran proceeded on his journey to Ireland and St". Patrick remained
in Italy," The progress of St, Patrick in Italy, subsequent to the departure
of Ciaran for Ireland, does not concern the subject of this enquiry ; we
shall, therefore, leave him about the year 425 to pursue his studies
under the direction of his great master, Germanus, and take our de
parture with Ciaran for the shores of Ireland, But before we start,
there is one point in the parting address of Patrick to Ciaran which
here requires a short illustration, viz.--:
The Thirty Tears' Prophecy. — St. Patrick, after telling Ciaran
to build his house on the brink of the weU, " Uaran," added, " and
in thirty years I wiU follow you to that place, i.e. to the locaUty of the
weU, In the Tripartite Life of St, Patrick the conversation between
himseK and Ciaran is thus related :¦ — " Old St. Kieran, of Saigher,
asked St. Patrick, on their meeting, where he should fix Ms abode
and build a monastery ; to whom the holy man replied that beside
the river [fluvium], called Huar, he should buUd a monastery, and
that there he would meet him after thirty years," The compiler of
the Book of Lecan, or of the Corca Laighe,^ preserved in that MS.,
asserts that " Ciaran had taken Saighir thirty years before Patrick
arrived," and he thus continues — " For the poet said :"
" Saighir the cold
Found a city on its brink,
And at the end of thirty pleasant years
I shall meet there and thou,"
But this ran no more than proves that Patrick promised to meet
Ciaran at the well within tMrty years from the date of their conversa
tion. But it does not follow thence, as the writer of the " Corca
Laighe'' would have us beUeve, that Saighir was to be founded thirty
years, or ten years, or any definite number of years previous to the
visit of Patrick there. The schoUast on Aengus at the 6th March,
also quotes this ran, though in a rather modified form. The ran
1 " Corca Laighe, See above, p, 13,

93
ifseK was originally most probably composed by Cormac MacEledach
" the scribe of Saighir," of whom see above p. 18. The schoUast says,
" Patrick prophesied concermng Ciaran of Saighir :
" Saighir the cold, Saighir the cold,
BuUd a city upon its brink.
After thirty full fair years
We shall meet there, I and thou, "
This " prophecy," as it has been caUed, has been so misinter
preted by Irish writers, as well those who have rejected it as fable
and those who have accepted it as fact, that Patrick is represented
therein as engaging to open his mission in Ireland in tMrty years after
the date of the deUvery of the prophecy, and as Patrick arrived in
Ireland in the year 432, Ciaran has been therefore said to have founded
Saighir in the year 402, or tMrty years before Patrick had arrived in
Ireland. But no one version of the "prophecy" gives any foundation
for such a conclusion. In each of the passages quoted Patrick pro
mises to meet Ciaran at the " soUtary spot," or at the " well," or at
the " river" in tMrty years. We shall see below that Patrick did visit
Ciaran at Saighir in the year 465. We have seen above, chap, VIII,
that the two saints separated in Italy in the year 426, And thirty
years from that separation in Gaul to their meeting in Saighir bring
us to A.D, 456. That Patrick did actuaUy deUver tMs "prophecy" I
do not undertake to prove. But if he did we can affirm that he
fulfilled it to the letter.

94
CHAPTEE IX.
ST, ciaran's return PROM THE CONTINENT  HIS FIRST MISSION IN
IRELAND  THE WELL " UARAN" TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM
THAT OP " saighir"  DERIVATION AND MODERN FORM OF THE WORD
"uaran"  CONVERSION OF THE OSSORIANS.
" Patrick said to Ciaran, ' Proceed before me to Ireland, and you will
meet a well in a solitary spot. Erect a monastery for yourself at that
well. The name of the well is Uaran, and your name will be held in
veneration there till the resurrection of the dead,' "
" Ciaran replied and said, ' Tell me where is that well situated P' and
Patrick said to him, 'The Lord himself will guide thee ; and take this ¦
very small bell with you, which will not ring until you reach the well, but
when you do it will ring with a charming and melodious sound.' This
well [continues the writer of the legend], about which we have just spoken,
is situated in a solitary district on the borders of Munster eastwards, and
northwards of Leinster. Tet it is in Munster that Eilie lies, and it is there
that Ciaran intended first residing as a hermit, for the locality was sur-
Burrounded by large woods at the time."
It must be admitted that with the exception of Ciaran's own biogra
pher not one authority accessible to the writer gives the least clue to the
medium or the date of his retum from the continent. According
to the legend of his Ufe he remained twenty years in Rome, and,
according to our enquiries in the preceding chapter those twenty
years expired at Auxerre Mad, 426, Travelling in that age must
necessarily have been both perilous and protracted, and if our saint
visited St. Germanus at Auxerre in company with the future
apostle of Ireland, the communings of the three holy men must have
considerably retarded his joumey homewards. At the period of which
we are now writing there existed a very considerable intercourse and
means of communication between the continent and the British
Islands. It was in this year 426 that the second devastation recorded
by Gildas happened, in which the Irish and Picts, after the Roman
legion had been recalled, broke down the earthen barriers erected
from Dunbarton to Edinburgh, and laid waste the lands of the
Britons, The latter soUcited the aid of Valentian the Third, who sent
over to their assistance a new auxiliary legion from Gaul,i
J " From Gaul," See Ogygia, Healy's translation, Vol, ii, p, 350-353,

95
The following year, 426, the stone waU was erected from Dun
barton to the Clyde, on the site of the earthen rampart just referred
to ; castles were built by the Romans at intervals, to command a
prospect of the sea, but in the next year 427 the Roman army was
recaUed from Britain, and accordingly we find King Dathie of Ire
land immediately after invading Gaul and leading Ms victorious army
to the foot of the Alps, Here he was kUled by a thunderbolt in the
year 428, after wMch Ms Irish legion returned home carrying his
body with them for interment in Ireland.^
I give these few statistics for the purpose of showing the compa
rative faciUty with which Ciaran might have returned from the con
tinent in any one of the three years wMch succeeded Ms interview
with St. Patrick in 425, and, indeed, if the meeting with Germanus in
Auxerre be granted, it might be safely inferred that his departure
from that great bishop would be neither abrupt nor hasty, and conse
quently the most probable date to assign for his return to Ireland
would be 428, when he accompanied the army of King Dathie, after
the death of their chieftain at the foot of the Alps in Gaul.
We now enter on the Ulustration of our saint's mission after his
retum to Ireland, as f urmshed by his ovm biographer.
The passages quoted from the Legend of Ciaran's Life, with
which this chapter opens must be severely taxed with designed par
tiality towards the interests of the ecclesiastical institutions of Saighir.
It may be granted, and for obvious reasons, that Patrick would have
suggested to Ciaran the necessity of erecting his monastery or church
in the vicimty of a sprmg or current of water ; but that he would
direct him to go in search of a well m the centre of the island, and
there, in the solitude of the woods, to open Ms mission is not only the
opposite of how Ciaran acted, but, besides its improbabiUty, such a
course of action would be the most effectual means of retarding the
conversion of his own relatives. Ciaran was himseK a prince of Ossory,
and he retumed home a missionary to his own people. Ireland was
then subject to a powerful pagan priesthood, and is it probable, under
such circumstances, that Ciaran, after twenty years absence from his
native land, would, on his return home, turn Ms back on his father's
house and on the scenes and companions of his youth, amidst whom,
1 "In Ireland," Id, p. 350, 351.

96
and protected by his own social influence, the germ of the faith could
be planted and guarded from pagan turbulence till it should have
attained such strength as to defy the malice of its enemies. The story
of Patrick directing Ciaran to go in search of a well in the centre o^
the island and of Ciaran proceeding tMther immediately after he had
landed in Ireland, and of the miraculous chiming of the bell when he
arrived at the well Uaran, are but so many interesting anecdotes of
imaginary events studiously arranged to Ulustrate the reputation of
the " Barcon Ciaran" and to establsh thence the right of the Church
of Saighir to precedence over that of any other church in Ossory.
According to the |legend, Ciaran, " on landing in Ireland, the Lor^
directed his footsteps straight towards the well, and on reaching it the
little bell rang quickly with a most melodious clear sound,"
But, besides its natural difficulties, this story is irreconcileable with
the sequel of the narrative, from which we shall see that Ciaran must
have been long in Ireland after his return from Rome, before he had
founded the church of Saigher ; this will be obvious from the following
passages taken from our authors account of Ciaran's first visit to
Saighir. " When Ciaran first arrived here [i.e. at Saighir] he sat beneath the
shade of a large tree. There was no one vrith Ciaran at the time, /or it was
wnhnown to his disciples that he came to this hermitage."
And again, lower down,
" After this [i.e. after the formation of the community] his own disciples
with a great many others, came to Ciaran, and he contemplated erecting a
magnificent monastery, and the aforesaid [i.e. his original disciples in
Saighir] remained with him and became his domestic servants."
And further on, we are told,
" A young lady came opportunely to Ciaran and he converted her, and
built her a neat little cell close to the monastery, and he invited other holy
virgins to visit her."
These quotations clearly disprove the story of Ciaran having pro
ceeded directly to SaigMr after he had landed in Ireland, as well as
the miraculous discovery of the place by the chiming of the bell. For
where, in ths midst of a pagan nation could Ciaran procure " other
holy virgins" to visit tMs lady, who is represented as his first female
convert. And if it be true that after debarking in Ireland he was
miraculously guided across the country till he arrived at SaigMr,

97
what are we to understand by his going there unhnoivn to his disciples,
and of those same disciples, and a great many others, gathering
around Mm as soon as they had discovered the place of his retreat ?
Whence, it is evident, that previous to the foundation of the Church of
Saighir, Ciaran had been governing elsewhere in Ireland an ecclesiastical
establishment, with a retinue of students, whom he had been training
for the missionary life. The next point in our enquiry concerns the
locality of Ciaran's first missionary college, also who were those
students that there lived under Ms guidance, and what caused the re
tirement of Ciaran from the first scene of his mission to live as a
hermit amidst the soUtude of the woods of Eilie, where his retreat
having been discovered, his scholars again flocked around him ; whence
followed the ancient monastic foundation of Saighir Ciaran, now Seir-
Kieran. But first we are called upon to make some enquiries respect
ing the name and locaUty of the well " Uaran,"
" Patrick said to Ciaran, ' Proceed before me to Ireland ; you will
meet a well in a solitai-y spot. The name of that well is Uaran,' ' This
well,' [says the writer of the Life] ' is situated in a solitary district on the
borders of Munster eastwards, and northwards of Leinster, and is univer
sally called Saighir Chiaran,' "
Besides other difficulties attending this anecdote, some rather
grave objections start up to impugn its veracity. St, Patrick, at the
time of this conversation, had been fourteen years out of Ireland, and
as he spent but six years in this country, and those in a menial capa
city in the north of the island, what knowledge could he have of a
well in a solitary spot, with the geographical details which he gives of
its situation, and how did he know that its name was " Uaran" f The
writer of the Life found aU such difficulties superable by the intro
duction of miraculous agencies. But even if we admit of such inter
ferences as admissible in the present case, we have still to confront this
great discrepancy between the directions said to have been given by
St. Patrick, and the Mstory of their fulfilment by St. Ciaran — viz.,
that the name of the well to which we are told Ciaran was miraculously
guided across the country after his arrival in Ireland was not " Uaran"
but " Saighir." It is true the author of the LKe says, " This
well is now universally called Saighir Ciaran." But if Ciaran went
direct to the well "Uaran" and there erected his church, why has not
the site of that church been called " Uaran Ciaran ?" Saighir must
M

98
have been the proper name of the well or locality before Ciaran had ar
rived there, as Achadh-bo had been the proper designation of that place,
before St. Cainnech had there erected his church. But since and from
him the site of that church has been called "Achadh-bo-Camnech." And
it was so at Saighir, from the buUding of his church there, this place
has been called Saighir Ciaran, But if the name of the well there
had been " Uaran" at the time of Ciaran's arrival, its subsequent title
would be Uaran Ciaran.
Is this story of the weU then a fabrication of the " scribe of
Saighir" ? It cannot have been, for it is found in a simpler form in
an older authority, and the author of Ciaran's Life only appropriated
it, having first fitted and embellished it to suit the exigencies of Saighir
in his day. In the Tripartite^ Life of St. Patrick, compiled within
the sixth century,^ the directions of Patrick to Ciaran are thus recorded :
" Old St, Kiaran of Saigher asked St, Patrick on their meeting where
he should fix his abode P To whom the holy man replied (quod juxta
fluvium Huar appellatum) that by the river called Huar he should build a
monastery." Thus in the oldest authority on the subject, Huar was not the
name of a well, but the proper name of a river. The name of this
river is variously written Huar, Uaran, Fueran, which are, apparently,
but modifications of Heoir, Eoir, and Feoir, three different forms of
the ancient name of the river Nore, This river must have been from
the remotest time a leading feature in the physical geography of the
kingdom of Ossory. In the " Book of Rights,"^ and m the Annals
of the Four Masters, the name of this river is variously written Eoire
and Eoir. In an ancient ran preserved in the " Martyrology of Done
gal"* it is named Heoir, and in O'Heerin's Topographical poem the
valley of this river is described as
" The fair wide plain of the Feoir."^
Thus the river Nore has been indiscriminately denominated from
1 " Tripartite," P, 130.
2 "6th Century," See O'Curry's dissertation on the age and writer of ths
Tripartite. Lectures on Manuscript Materials of Irish History, p, 166, et seq.
3 " Book of Eights," P, 89, See this point discussed above, chapter i, part ii.
4 "Martyrology of Donegal," at the llth March, In the Irish text the
form of the name is " Heoire a Laoighis," which is thus rendered iuto English
— The Eoir in Laoighis.
5 "Feoir," Transactions of Kilkenny Archeeologioal Society, 1850 — sup
plement, p. 7.

99
remote times the Heoir, the Eoir, and the Feoir, apparently the original
Irish forms of the Latin words Huar, Uaran, and Fueran, the names
of the river by the side of which Patrick had directed Ciaran to build
Ms church. But granting that Huar and Heoir are identical in origin, it will
be fairly asked what knowledge could Patrick have of a certain river
of that name in the south-east of Ireland, he having been then
fourteen years out of that country ? It is both rational and probable,
K not certain, that Patrick, who had spent so much of his youth in
this foreign island, would, on meeting with a native prince of that
country, ask him to what part of the island he belonged ; to which
Ciaran would reply that his tribe were seated in the valley of the
Heoir, and U Ciaran did converse with Patrick at the time of their
separation, respectmg the building of a church or the establishment
of a commumty, the future apostle would naturally counsel him to
open his mission amongst Ms own people, and to erect his church by
the side of the river, which he had mentioned to him as the Heoir, and
which was subsequently and designedly corrupted into Huar. " Go,"
said Patrick to Ciaran, " go to the river called Heoir, and there you
shall buUd a church, and there your name shall be held in veneration
till the resurrection of the dead." And to the valley of the Heoir
(i.e. the Nore) Ciaran did proceed, on his return to Ms native land,
where he appeared, in the midst of his own tribesmen, the harbinger of
a new civiUzation. Here, robed in the ecclesiastical costume of the
age, he planted the cross m view of the Ard-righ's mansion,^ and
with episcopal authority, eloquently invited the chieftains and tribes
men of his race to renounce the reUgion of the Druids, and to embrace
the creed of which that cross was the symbol. Endowed by nature,
with faculties of commanding influence over others, and gifted by
grace with a superior degree of light and inteUigence, the bright
example of Ms Ufe and the sublime teachings of his doctrme soon
confounded the philosophy of the Druids, and subdued the turbu
lence of his clan. Here, on the banks of the Nore, surrounded
by his disciples, he now chants his moming psalms, beneath the sylvan
shade of those sacred groves tiU then dedicated to pagan rites. He
i" Ard-righ's Mpnsion," i,e. the head chieftain's house. The writer holds
that the kings of Ossory, who are frequently styled High Ueighna and Uigh
Qabhran kept their principal fort or mansion on the site of the present
Castle of Kilkenny.

100
now stands on the brink of the holy wells of Druidic worship, and
converts them into fountains of Christian regeneration. He boldly
enters the mystic circles of heathen superstitions, and carves on then-
noble pUlar stones^ the sacred emblem of human redemption. This
was the opening scene of Ciaran's mission, and here was erected the
first Christian temple, that was raised in Ireland — the representative
of which was stiU standing dovm to the end of the last century, and
has been described as " the old chappell near Kieran's weU."^ Here
also he opened the first Christian seminary, that had been founded
in Ireland, into which soon flocked the youth and more matured of
his clan, who, submitting to his discipUne, and modelUng 'their
affections, by the principles of Ms teaching, soohbecame Ms colleagues
in the mission : and from the alumni of this primitive school, came
forth distinguished bishops and eloquent preachers, the first evange
Uzers of Ossory, and who, havUig been the first converts of Ciaran's
mission, are here entitled to a short historical commemoration,
1 " Pillar Stones," One of the stones Ciaran is believed to have so carved
still exists in his mother's country on Cape Clear Island, According to the
Corca Laighe, " Here was dwelling the chieftain who first believed in the Cross
in Ireland," See Smith's History of Cork, b, 11, c 4,
2" Chappell near Kieran's well," quoted from Bishop Otway's "Visitation
Book," by Eev, James Graves, " History, Antiquities, aud Architecture of the
Cathedral church of St, Canice," p, 3, n.b. The old chapel stood inside of the pre
sent public market as you enter it from King-street ; and St, Ciaran's well is
stiU flowing outside of the market wall in the adjoining yard, to the south, as
we shall prove in detail lower down. Do this chapel and well on the west bank
of the river Heoir preserve to us the site of the Church which Patrick direoteji
Ciaran to erect by the side of the river called Huar ?

101

CHAPTEE X.
THE HOUSE OF ST. CIARAN — THE SAINTS OF HIS SCHOOL— THEIR
PEDIGREES  THEIR FESTIVAL DAYS  THEIR CHURCHES — THEIR
DISPERSION. There is no event in Irish history more sentimental in its sur
roundings, or more interesting in its details, than the opening of St.
Ciaran's missionary school, in the midst of his own people. This
primitive coUege is denominated by Colgan, from the " Sanctilogium
Geneal," which he quotes, " the house of st. ciaran," and was most
certainly the religious establishment or monastery, which, on his
return from the Continent, he founded, as Patrick had directed him,
" by the side of the river called Heoir," Of this primitive house we
have preserved no other memorial than the names of some of the
saints, who had studied in its school ; nor do we know ought of its con
stitution or rules. But as Ciaran had been trained in the great school
of Lerins, we may be sure that when he retumed home, and opened a
school in his own country, he shaped it on the model of that in which he
had graduated. In the school of Lerins were associated many of the
eminent men of the age, such as " SS, Honoratus, Cassianus, Cesarius,
Eucharius ; and with them in that monastery were blessed Lupus, and
Germanus, " who in conformity with their rule, sang the same liturgy,"
&c ; and on the same, or a simUar plan, Ciaran appears to have estab
lished his monastery in Ireland. In this school, and on the same
principle as in that of Lerins, were associated with him "the saints of
his house," amongst whom were the bishops Aengus, Aduanus,
Sinel, Ere, &c., and with them the seven saints, the sons of Ruman
Duach, "who, in conformity with their rule, sang the same liturgy,"
&c. Living in community, those holy men moulded the capacity,
directed the instincts, and shaped the popular sentiments of their
time ; and the civilising influences of their teaching soon manifested
itself in the almost immediate conversion of the Ossorian tribe.
The foUowing extract from Colgan's Acta SS, may be advanta
geously introduced here : —
" The Sanctilogium Geneal, recounts the genealogies of fourteen saints,
who derive their origin from the House of St, Ciaran or the family of
Ossory, To these the Calendar of Cashel, at the 10th June, adds a brother

102
Benedict, Now the aforesaid Sanctilogium, cap. 12, thus deduces their
genealogies : —
" St, jEngus Laim-iodhan, son of Flann, son of Barindh, son of Finn-
chadh, son of Deghadh, son of Dronadh, son of Buan, son of Eochaid, Leth-
trein, son of Amalgadh, son of Laoghire, Bim-buadhach, son of jSJngus
Ossory, son of Crimthan Mor, son of Ere, &c.
" St, Aduanus, son of Eochadh, son of Aedh, son of Coemghan, son
of MaUadh, son of Dronadh, son of Buan, &c,, as above.
" St, Ciaran of Saighir, son of Luaghne, son of Ruman Duach, son of
Conaill, son of Corprea, son of Nia Corb, son of Buan, &c,, as above,
" SS. Corbrea, KeUach, Kennfaladh, Bishop Conaill, Muireadh, Rugh
aidh, and Ubneadh Bishop, seven sons of Ruman Duach, son of OonaUl,
&c,, as above.
" St, Ere, Bishop, son of Pergna, son of Feolchadha, son of Aldodha, son
of Bressal, son of Muredacha, son of Crimthan Mor, son of Ere, &c.
" St, Sinall, Bishop, son of Aedh, son of Scanlaiu, sonof Fincha, son of
Ruman, son of jEngus Ossory, &c,
" St, Finnchea v. daughter of Dagaes, son of Dunlangha, son of Feth-
ceUah, &c.
" To them the Calendar of Cashel, at the 10th June, adds St, Benedict
son of Luaghne, son of Leth-trione, son of Birn, of the dal Birn of Ossory.
Coarbh, or successor to End a of Aran, and brother to Ciaran of Saighir,
He is the papa whom they say is in the island of Aran, Here in the
genealogy of this Benedict the aforesaid Calendar omits certain descents,
which are recorded above in the genealogy of St, Kieran.
" But as regards the festival days of the aforesaid saints, we are to ob
serve from the Martyrology of Tallaght, the Calendar of Cashel,
Marianus, and the Martyrology of Donegal, that St. ,^ngus was venerated
on the 16th February, St, Ciaran on the 5th March, St, Ero on the 27th
October, St, Maelanfadh, Slst January, St, SineU, 12th January orthe llth
November, St. Finnchea, the 9th November."
We are to distmguish the saints of the house of St. Ciaran from
those of the family of the Ossorians ; by the former we are to under
stand the samts of his school, who were both his converts and relatives ;
by the latter such native saints of Ossory as had been venerated to the
knowledge of the writer of the Sanctilogium. With the saints of the
" house of St. Ciaran" we are alone concerned. Their pedigrees are very
imperfect. The following table, compiled from the above genealogies,
will show the relationship in which they stand to St, Ciaran, We give
the Latin of the passage from Colgan, as a foot-note below, at p. 110.

Genealogical Table, showing the relationship between St. Ciaran and the Saints ofhis "Souse."

COo

Crimthan Mor
1

Aengus Osraighe,
Muredacha. 1
Leoghaire Birn Buadhach
Eumani 1
Blank. I
Amalghadh ^
Tunia 1
Blank. 1
Eochaidh Leith-treine
1
Blank 1
Blank. 1
Buain Osraighe
Blank 1
Blank Blank 1
Fiuchadh Scandland 1
Aedh 1
Blank. 1
Nia Corb
Dronadh
Blank,
Cairbre Caem
1
Degadh
Maladh 1
Aedh 1
Coemghan Eochadh 1
BressaUy.
ConaiU
Euman Duach
1
1 1 1 1 1 1
Carbrie, KeUach, Kenf a-
ladh, ConaiU, Muredach,
Eughaidh, Ubneadh
Finchadh Barindhe 1
Aldodha. Teolchadha. 1
Lughaidh
' Flann 1
Fergnae.
Ciaran, Bishop Aengug Laimiodhan, Bishop
Aduanus, Bishop,
Sinai, Bishop,
1
Eare, Bishop, 1
the Sons of Eare.
i" Euman," In the above table Euman is representpd as " Son of Aengus Ossory." This cannot be the same personage as
Euman Duach, the giand-father of St. Ciaran, who could not be Uving for two hundred years later.
104
It will be observed at a first glance at the above table that the
pedigrees of the two bishops, Sinai and Ere, are imperfect, each wanting
four or five descents to connect them with their respective progenitors.
Little can now be gleaned to illustrate the history or memory of those
remote ecclesiastics. From their pedigrees we are able to ascertain that
they all were the contemporaries of St., Ciaran, and as such must have
been his scholars or disciples. In another respect those primitive men are
deserving of notice here, as the names of many of them are stUl as
sociated with either the sites of churches or some other such memorial,
in the diocese of Ossory. The first of them is
St. Aengus Laimiodhan, i.e. Aengus of the pure hands, or the
pure-handed. Like Ciaran, he was the tenth in descent from their
common ancestor, Aengus Ossory. Colgan says the feast of this
saint was formerly observed on the 16th February, and it is so set down
in the Martyrologies of Tallagh and Donegal. In the former he is
thus commemorated, " Oengws, Eps, Ratha nae, Espuo" that is Aengua,
Bishop of Rath-na-Espuc, or, as it is anglicised, Rathaspick. The
church of this saint gives name to the parish of Rathaspick, in the
Barony of Ballyadams, Queen's County, and very significantly there is
a part of this parish found in the present county of Kilkenny,
though isolated from its other part by the parish of KUlaban, in the
diocese of Leighlin. The part of Rathaspic in Ossory, consists of that
part of the modern parish of ClougM lying east of the " Clough River,"
in the Barony of Fassadinan, in the north of the ancient Ui Duach
or Odagh. As Bishop Aengus was an Ossory man, this was probably
Ms native place. The two Rathaspicks appear to have been
formerly united till the western end of KUlaban was inserted
between them. In the Protestant Church, till its disestablishment
in 1871, Rathaspick in Ossory belonged to the rector of Rathaspick,
in the diocese of Leighlin.
St. Aduanus, Bishop. — He was also the tenth in descent from
Aengus Ossory. His festival day isnot given by Colgan, nor does his
name appear, at least in the present form, in either the Martyrologies
of TaUacht or Donegal. TMs name, Aduanus, differs only in its Latin
1 " Clough." There was no parish named Clough among the ancient ec
clesiastical districts of Ossory, and the Eoman Catholic parish now known by
that name is formed out of a portion of the parish of Castlecomer and that part
of the parish of Eathaspick situated in the County of Kilkenny.

]05
termination from Aedh, a common Irish name now anglicised Hugh;
and we find in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 6th February, a
saint of that name thus commemorated : — " Aedh Glas, Bishop of Rath-
na-n-Epscop," i.e. Aedh or Hugh of the Stream, Bishop of Rathaspick,
The stream, from which this bishop was denominated Aedh Glas, now
forms the western boundary of the parish of KUlaban, and runs from
Rathaspick, in the diocese of Leighlin, to Rathaspick in Ossory, in which
latter place, it is now known as the " Clough River," It is an in
teresting coincidence to find the feast of this saint fixed on tho same
day as that of Bishop Aengus of the same church last noticed: whence
it appears that these two holy men resided together, and that from
their so dwelUng, the church which they there founded received
the name of Rathaspick, i.e. the Bishop's Rath. It is probable that
they departed this Ufe on the 16th February, as they were both
honoured on that day, in the church wMch they had there founded. In
the Life of Ciaran, the Bishop Aedh or Aduanus is named Aedus.
He was present when the chief of the dal Fiachre conferred upon
Ciaran the lands and emoluments of Saighir forever.
St. Erc, Bishop.— Colgan says the feast of St. Ere was observed
on the 27th October ; and in the Martyrology of Donegal at that day
his memory is thus commemorated : — " Erc, Bishop of Domhnach-
mor-Maigh-Luadhat, in the north of Ui Faelain. This may be Earch,
bishop, son of Fergna, son of Folachta, who is of the race of Bresal
Brec, from whom the Osraighe are descended." This pedigree fully
agrees with the genealogy of the same saint given by Colgan. In the
same Martyrology, at the 17th September, we find another festival of a
St. Eare thus entered — " Eare, Bishop of Domhnach-morMaighe-Dam-
hairne," which might be thus anglicised : — Earke, Bishop of Donough
more, in the plain of Da-Hamey, Is not this Da-Harney the root of
the name of an ancient church, which again gives its name to
our present parish of Aharney, in the north of Ui Duach, and is it not
from this Bishop Erc, or Eare, that the church and parish of Erke, in
the north-west of the same district, were originally so named ? In the
same Calendar, at the 19th April, we find the feast of " the sons of Erc
of Darmagh." And singular enough, like their father, we have a
second festival of these same saints set down at the 12th November, in
this concise entry, " The three sons of Erc, of Darmaigh." Darmagh
was an ancient church of note in the north of Ui-Duach, and is now
N

106
well known by the anglicised form of Durrow, twelve Irish mUes north
of Kilkenny. It is of importance to note here the relative positions of
the several localities with which the names of Bishop Erc and his sons
are associated, viz., Durrow, Aharney, and Erke — three primitive
churches situated contiguous to each other in the territory of the ancient
Ui Duach.
St. Sinal, Bishop. — Colgan appears to have known but little of
either the pedigree or the individuality of this saint. He says his
festival day was either the 12th January, or the llth November. In
the Martyrology of Donegal, at the latter day, we find the feast of " St,
Cronan, son of Sinell ;" but there is no other ground to conclude that
this father of Cronan was Bishop Sinal. At the 12th January we have
the festival of another Sinal thus entered -. — " Sineall, son of Tigher-
nach, of the race of Eoghan, son of NiaU." If this pedigree be correct
the Sineall named in it cannot be the Sinal of the " family of the Osso
rians," as he was not of the race of Niall, but of that of Bresal Brec.
The Sinal of the "house of St. Ciaran"^ was evidently the same personage
as St. Sillan, the patron and founder of the old church of Kill-Deilgie,
about two miles south-west of Aghaboe, in the territory of Ui-Duach,
and whose memory is thus commemorated in all the calendars on the
31st January, " Sillan of Cill-Deilge ;" Killdeilge, means the Church
of Thorns. The site of the old church of Cill-Dielgie is described as follows by
the Rev. J. O'Hanlon in his great work, " The Lives of the Irish
1 " House of St, Ciaran." The Sinal of the " House of St, Ciaran" has his
pedigree preserved in the Leabher Brec, which has been kindly transcribed for
me by the Eev. J. F, Shearman, and is as follows : —
Bishop Sinal, son of
I
Aedu I
Scandlan I
Thunea I
Euman i
Aengus Osraigh.
This pedigree is not perfect and wants at least four descents, but it suffi
ciently proves that the Sinal of Ossory was not the saint of the same name com
memorated in the calendars at the 12th January, In Eeeves' Life of St.
Adamnan the learned author writes, " Sillans was the Irish form of the name;
it was borne by three Abbots of Ulster in the seventh century. In the Anti-
phonary of Bangor it is caUed Sinlanus. Muratoi, tom. xi., part iii,, p. 251."
Life of St. Adaman, p. 77.

107
Saints," part 10, p. 595 : " There are the foundations of an old church
visible at Kildellig, a parish in the Barony of Clarmallagh, Queen's
County, They lie about one mile distant from the Ballybrophy station.
On the interior these ruins measure about thirty feet in length by
eighteen in width. The walls, of which only a few fragments remain,
are nearly levelled to the ground. They seem to have been nearly
four feet in thickness. They are mostly grass-covered, and the grave
yard had clearly defined oblong boundaries. The extent of surface
covered by graves was very considerable, and interments are not yet
wholly discontinued," The learned writer will not aUow this church
of " Cill-DeUgie" to claim St, Sillan, of Cill-Deilgie, as its patron or
founder. According to his view that privUege belongs to the church of
Kildalkey, in the County of Meath, Tet, notwithstanding the re
searches and erudition of our reverend friend, he is forced to admit
that " among aU the proper names in our annals, and connected with
this place (i e. Kildalkey), that of St, Sillan is missing," Tet, even
with this defect m the title deeds of the church of Kildalkey, our
learned author will not aUow the church of Cill-Deilgie m Ossory to
be the legal inheritor of the patronage of St, SiUan ; and to sap the
foundation of its right or title to any such inheritance, he writes.
" The patron saint of Kildelgy Church, in the Deanery of Aghaboe,
was St, Ernanus or Senanus, abbot, and whose festival is assigned to
the 1st January, for which he quotes the " Spicilegium.."^ What
ever weight may be in this argument, it teUs with double force against
the illegal claims advanced on the part of the church of Kildalkey, in
Meath, to the patronage of St, Sillan, Here is what our esteemed
1 " SpicUegium Ossoriense," by the Most Eev, Dr, Moran, bishop of Ossoj-y,
p, 7, It frequently occurs that more than one saint is found in connection with
the same church ; as for instance St, Lamraidhe founded the church of KUla
mory, though St, Gobban is generaUy set down as the patron of the same
church. It also frequently happens that the original founders or patrons of our
very primitive churches have been entirely forgotten and new patrons substi
tuted in their places. Thus the parish of TuUaroan is so named from St,
Odhran, whose tulach or tumulus stands near the old church there. Yet this
church is not dedicated to that saint, though its parish retains his name — the
parish festival being that of the " Assumption," the 15th August, The church
of Tullaroau is built in the "Early English" style of Gothic architecture pecu
liar to the thirteenth century, and was, uo doubt, erected by Eeymond le Gros,
the ancestor of the Grace family in Ireland, who, about that period, founded
his great fortress-at Courtstown in the same locality: since then the name of
St, Odhra,u is lost sight of, in the traditions and observances of that parish. It
will also be frequently found that the festival day of the original founder or
patron of a church occurs on the festival of some modern and better known
saint as at KiUamory, where the " patron" was held on the 6th December, the

108
author writes : — " The old church of Cill-Deilgie (i.e. Kildalkey) was
dedicated to Damhnat, or Dymphna, whose festival was there cele
brated on the I5th May. Near the church was a holy well caUed
Tobar Damhnata. It was nearly dried up when Dr. O' Donovan ex
amined this locality." The name of St. Ernanus, or Senanus, is not
now either popularly, traditionally, or otherwise known in connection
with the church of Cill-DeUgie, in Ossory -^ and if the circumstance of
its being so found in the " Spicilegium" invaUdates the title of that
church to the patronage of St, Sillan, what right or title can Kildalkey
have to the same estate, where the grass-covered stones of the church
and the dried-up well in the cemetery are engraved with the name of
St, Dymphna, as patroness of that primitive estabUshment ?
feast of St, Gobban ; but this same day being also the feast of St, Nicholas, and
he, being more popularly known, was substituted for Gobban as patron of that
church. The same observations apply tc the parish church of Kilmoganny,
about four miles south of Kells. Here the " patron" is always held on the
Sunday next following the feast of St, Bartholomew, the 24th August. Whence
it is popularly beUeved in the parish that he is its patron ; but we flnd in the
" Spicilegium" that the place actuaUy retains the name of the patron saint of
the church, viz : St, Moganus, by preflxing Cill to which, we have Kilmogan or
Kilmogany, The feast of this saint is set down for the 23rd August, the day
preceding that of St, Bartholomew, but the latter being the better known has
been recognised as the patron of the locality, Numerous cases of a similar
nature might be adduced, in further illustration of this matter ; but sufficient
has been advanced to prove that the circumstance of St, Ernanus being named
iu the Spicilegium as the patron of KiU Deilgie church does not prevent St,
Sillan or Sinal from having been its founder,
1 " In Ossory," There are two churches in Ossory bearing the addenda of
" Deilgie," namely, Kildeilgie, the parish church in the Deanery of Aghaboe no
ticed above, and Drumdeilgie, formerly a parish church, now included in the
parish of St, Canice, Deanery of SiUer, two Irish miles above KUkenny, The
church of Drumdeilgie, or Thornback, was a secular ecclesiastical estabUshment
down to the time of the Eeformation, as will be clearly demonstrated from the fol
lowing extracts from the taxations of this diocese : " In the Eed Book of Ossory,' '
A.D, 1296, "Ecclesia de Dromdelgy" is valued at 53s. 4d,, whilst in the
deanery of Aghaboe the "Eclesia de Delgy" is set down as of no value. Again,
iu the Procurations of 1351 " the Eectory of Dromdelegie in the deanery of
SiUer" paid 8s, 8d,, and the Eectory of Delgy of Aghaboe only 18d, In the
taxation of 1510 " Ecclesia de Drumdelgan" is valued at 10 marks. The above
quotations have been kindly furnished me by the Eev, James Graves, to whom
I applied for information respecting two references to those churches in Bishop
Moran's " Spicilegium," Those references are in the " Taxatio Ossoriensis, a,d,
1 587," p, 11, Here the " Eectoria de KUdellighly" is valued at £2, and in p, 12
of the same valuable authority, the " Eectoria de Delgye" is also valued at the
same sum, "I would, therefore, conclude," says Mr, Graves, "that the Eec
toria de Delgye" of the " Spicilegium," p, 12, is KUldelUg, in the Queen's
County, and as the other has always the Drum prefixed, unless the deanery is
named, we must understand by it the old church of Drumdelgie or Thornback,
These quotations amply prove that the old church of Drumdelgie or Thom
back had been a parochial establishment, before its amalgamation with St.
Canice's, and also that the amalgamation must have taken place since the
period of the Eeformation, Of the founder or patron of this church no legend or
tiadition exists. There is a very copious spring of water there caH&ATober-na-creeii.

109
Having thus disposed of the pretensions of the church of Kil
dalkey to the patronage of St. Sillan, it will be reasonably enquired
what connection can I establish between him and the church of Cill-
Deilgie in Ossory ? In answer to which I say : First — he was an Osso
rian, and his pedigree from Aengus Osraighe is preserved in the
Leabhar Brec. Secondly — he is named as one of the fourteen saints
of the " House of St. Ciaran." Thirdly — the site of his church is
within the territory of the ancient Ui Duach, into which those saints,
with the whole of the Ossorian tribesmen, were driven by King
Aengus, in his successful raid to restore the ancient treaty, known as
the " Eric of Fearghus Scannal."^
St. Finnchea, Virgin, Daughter'of Dagaeus, — This saint must
have been in much celebrity in ancient Ireland, Her name is found
in all the Martyrologies. Colgan does not give the whole of her pedi
gree, so that we cannot decide, with any degree of certainty, the period
in which she lived or the relationship in which she stood to St,
Ciaran. Colgan says her memory was honoured ou the 9th November,
and in the Martyrology of Donegal she is thus commemorated at that
day : " Finnseach, Virgin of Cruachan Maighe-abhna," This Saint
was the founder and patroness of the old church of Killfinnch,
in the south of Ossory, that was burned by the Danes of Water
ford in the year 836. From enquiries made elsewhere® in detail,
the church of CiU-Finnchi, in the south of Ossory, appears to have
been identical with the old ruin near Knocktopher, well known as
" Sheepstown church,"^ The western doorway is still perfect and exhibits
architectural features of great antiquity. Within a short distance of
this old church, and close to the village of Kilmoganny, there is a
well-known townland and hamlet called Crohane, in Irish Cruchan, the
native place of this holy virgin. The proposition that she lived as
early as the time of St, Ciaran cannot be advanced. She belonged to
the " family of the Ossorians'' but not to the "House of St, Ciaran."

1 " Fergus Scannal", See this matter discussed in chapter xi,
2 " Elsewhere," See Transactions of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ire
land " Archaeological Society," 1861, p, 381,
3 " Sheepstown," i.e. Bally-na-Caerach, In the year 1596 Tbomas, 'Earl
of Ormond and Ossory, surrendered to. the Crown, amongst other ecclesiastical
possessions, " the rectory of Balligeragh ;" from which it would appear that the
old church of Sheepstown had been a parochial estabUshment down to that
period. See Morrin's Eolls, Vol, ii, p. 358.

no
There is a saint of this church thus commemorated in the Martyr
ology of Donegal, at the Second February : " Findeach Duirnd, bishop of
CiU-Finnche, of Ath-Duirn in Osraighe. Duirn Buidhe is the name
of a MU in Magh Reighna ;" Knockdrina is now the name of that hill.
SS. CoRBRiE, Cellach, Cennfaladh Bishop, Conaill, Murre-
DAOH, RuDGUSSADH AND Ubnea Bishop.— Seven brothers, the sons of
Ruman Duach, of whom Colgan says, " The festivals of tha seven sons
of Ruman Duach I do not find observed, so as to enable me to dis
tinguish between them and many saints of the same names. Aengus
(author of the Feliere), however, makes mention of the sons of Ruman
amongst many saints born of the same parents" ("Liber Opuscul C")
Those seven saints, the brothers of Ciaran's father, must be received
as the founders of the ancient church of Ui Duach, i.e. the church of
the sons or descendents of Duach, The ruins and cemetery of this
ancient place are well known on the brow of the river Nore at " Three
Castles"! bridge, four miles above Kilkenny.
This church was one of distinction in ancient times, being the
head of the rural deanery of " Odogh." In old taxations, this church
is denominated " Oastleodogh ;" the castle from which it is so named is
still standing there. The place is now generally known as "Three Cas
tles." Contiguous to the cemetery and inside of " Three Castles Demesne''
stands a great pile or artificial heap of earth, which was most probably
the tulach^ or tumulus of Ruman Duach, He was, of course, a pagan,
but his seven sons have been venerated as saints, and their church here
exists as a memorial of their conversion to the Christian f aith,^
1 " Three Castles," This is but a very modern name for this locality ; it
must, however, be as old as the existence of those castles. One of those is stUl
standing close to the ruins of the old church, a, second of them was taken down
to its basement story, about sixty years since, and the present glebe house erected
on it : the bottom chambers of the house still show the groined arches of the old
castle. The third of those buildings stood in the court yard of " Three Castles
House ;" it, too, has been taken down to its basement story; its groined arches,
covered with basket work, is now used as one of the out-offices of the house,
2 " Tulach," The chapel of TuUa is the modern representative of the
ancient church of Ui Duach, and it must have been from the sej)ulchral pile
there that this chapel was so named. There is no townland named Tulach in
the district. The old chapel was the last thatched house of its kind in the
county of Kilkenny, It was taken down about thirty years since. Its site is
still shown by the side of the road. The new church is built iu the townland
of Leugh, yet it is popularly caUed the chapel of TuUa, *
3 '¦ Christian faith," The foUowing is the Latin of the passage quoted from
Colgan, above, p, 101 , " Quatu'irdecim SS, Genealogiam rcfcrt Sanciilogium Geneal,
ex dome S, Kierani, sive Ossorien familia, descendentium. Benedictum fratrem
hisadjuugit Calend, Cassel, ad 10 Junii: eorum autem genealogiam sic deducit
citatum Sanctilogium, cap, 12: —

Ill
Whether the seven sons of Ruman resided together in this church,
or dispersed themselves over the entire tribeland of Ui Duach, we can
not determine, but the latter appears the more probable. In the Martyr
ologies of Tallaght and Donegal, at the 24th September, occurs the feast
of" Ceallachan CJaain-tioprat," the original form of which may have been
Ceallach-an-Cluain-tioprat, i.e. KeUach of Clontubbrid, an ancient
church and holy welU near Freshford, in the territory of the ancient
Ui-Duach, There are numerous saints named Connall, but none of
them is named son of Ruman in any of the Martyrologies. It is
probable, however, that Conaill, the son of Ruman Duach, was the
founder and patron of the old church of Ros-Connell in the north of
Ui-Duach, which still exists as a memorial of him, Murredach is pro
nounced Murrea or Murry, and I see no reason to doubt that he was
the founder of the church of Kilmurry, near Thomastown. There are
two saints named Muiredaeh in the Irish calendars, one at the 15th '
" S, iEngussius Laim — iodhan, fllius Flannii, filii Barindi, fllU Finchadii
filii Degadii, fiUi Dronii, filii Buanii, filii Eochadii, Leth-trein, filii Amalgadii,
filu Leogarii, Birn-buadhach, filu ^ngussii Ossoriensis, filii Crimtanni Magni,
flUi Erci, &c,
" S, Aduanius filius EochadU, filii Aidi fiUi Coemghin, fiUi MaUi, filii
Dronii fiUi Buanii, &c,, ut supra,
" S, Kieranus Sagirensis fllius Luagnei, flUi Eumandu Duach, fiUi Con-
nalli, fllii Corprei, flilii Niercorbi, flUi Buani, ut supra,
" SS, Corbreus, Kellachus, Kennfaladius, Episcopus Conallus, Muredacius,
Eudgussius, et Ubneus Episcopus, septem filii Eumandi Duach, fiUi ConnalU,
&c, " S. Ercns Episcopus, filius Fergnae, filu Teolchadii, filii Aldodu, filii
BressaUi, filii MuredacU, filii Crimthani Magni, filii Erci, &c.
S, SineUus Episcopus, fiUus Aidi, fUii Scanlani, fiUi Pinchae, filii Eumani,
fiUi JEngussU Osserensis, etc,
" S, Finchea v. fiUa Dagaei, filii Dunlangii, fiUi Fethcellii, &c.
" S, Benedictum his addit Calend, Cassel, ad 10 Junii; S. Benedictus
filius Luagnei, filii Leth-trinu, filii Birn de Dal Birn Ossoriae, Coorbanus
sive successor Endei Aranensis, et frater Kierani Sagirensis ; ipse est papa quem
ferunt esse iu insula Araniensi, ubi in genealogia hujus Benedicti omittit
aliquos gradus recensitos supra in genealogia St, Kierani,
"Sed quoad natales predietorum, hoc ex Mart, Tamt, Calend, Cassel,
Marino, et Mart, Dougal lensi observandum est ; quod S, .SJngussius colatur, 16
Feb,; Kieranus 5 Martii; Ercus 27th Oct, ; Moelfaidius, 31 Januarii ; Sinellus,
12 Januarii, vel 11 Nov,, et Piuchea, 9 Nov.
" Natales autem septem filiorum Eumandi Duach non reperio observatos,
ita ut possim inter ipsos et plures sanctos eis cognomites discernere ; ab
,ffingussio tamen Ub, opuscul, o, inter plures sanctos eodem parente natos
nominantur filii Eumandi. Colg, V,S. Kierani, p, 472.
1 "Holy WeU," More properly a Druids "Well, as the Irish name impUes,
Tubber-na-Druid, a very curious and ancient stone-roofed house, iu which the
Druid or Saint appears to have Uved, It stands in the grave-yard of the chapel
of Clontubbrid, i.e. the Plain of the WeU, an ancient parish church near
Freshford.

112
May, another at the I2th August, but I have no material to connect
either with any church in Ossory.
St. Mallanfaidh, Abbot, — Colgan says the feast of this saint
used to be kept on the 31st January, on which day it occurs in the
Martyrologies of Tallaght and Donegal, In both he is described as
Abbot of Dairinis at Lismore Mochuda. Though this saint was an
Ossorian by family and birth, there is no ground to include him
amongst those of the " House of St. Ciaran," as he could not have been
living for more than a century after Ciaran's death. The pedigree of
St. Mallanfaidh is preserved in the Lebhar Brec. He is the nineteenth
in descent from Aengus Ossory, and was flourishing towards the end
of the seventh century. I know of no memorial preserved of him in
Ossory. St. Benedict, Abbot, — " The Calendar of Cashel," says Colgan,
" at the 10th June joins to these (i.e. the samts above enumerated)
St. Benedict, brother of St. Ciaran, of Saighir, who was Coarbh or
successor of St, Endie of Arann," This Benedict is clearly the same
personage, commemorated in the Martyroligies of Tallaght and
Donegal at the I4th June. In the latter, his feast is thus entered :—
" Nem Mac Ua Birn, abbot, successor of Enda of Aran ; he was the
brother of Ciaran of Saighir, a,d. 654." The reading of this passage
is that Nem Mac was of the Ua Bim, or dal Bim, of Ossory, and
the transcriber converted or Latinised Bim into Benedict. The
Martyrology of Tallaght has nothing about his being brother of Ciaran
of Saighir. The entry is simply this — " Naem Mac h. Bim," the h.
Bim being equivalent to Ui. Hy. or O'Birn — that is the dal Bim,
whence it would appear that the only ground for making tMs per
sonage a brother of Ciaran was the circumstance of his having be
longed to the same class or family of the Osraigh ; for Ciaran is also
said to have been of the " dal Bim of Osraigh." Nem Mac Ua Birn
may have been, and probably was, a " brother" in the monastery of
Saighir, and might, on that account, be denominated a brother of the
founder of that house. He also may have been promoted to the coarb-
sMp of the island of Aran. Had he been a uterine brother of St.
Ciaran, he would have been too important a personage to have been
ignored in all the authorities bearing on the existence and relatives of
the saint. The words which Colgan quotes from the Calendar of
Cashel — " He is 'nh.epapa, who is said to be in the island of Aran," being

113
written in the present tense excite suspicions that he did not live at an
earlier date than that of the compilation of that calendar in the be
ginning of the tenth century. O'Clearv gives a.d. 664 as the date of
his demise. St. Ciaran at that time had been nearly two hundred years
gone to heaven.
Dr. Lanigan fastens upon this passage of Colgan's as an authority
to refute what he caUs " the foolish stories about Ciaran's'' antiquity,
vol. II,, p. 69, et seq. But he should have remembered that in vol. i,,
pp. 397-400, he admits Enda of Arann to have been the brother-in-
lawi of King Aengus, and if so there could be nothing in point of time
to prevent Ciaran's younger brother succeeding Enda, as they would
in that case be aU contemporaries, Lanigan assigns the death of
Enda to the year 642. But if this be correct how could he be the
brother-in-law^ of King Aengus who was baptized by St. Patrick, in
the year 450. The application of the word " papa" to this so-caUed
brother of Ciaran's shows that he must have Uved at a much later
date than either Ciaran, Enda or Aengus.
We are now in a position to distingmsh between the samts of
the " House of St, Ciaran," and those of the " family of the Ossorians"
giving the tMee saints Mallanfaidh, Finnchea, and Benedict to the Os
sorian family. We have the saints of " Ciaran's house" as foUows,
viz. : — Ciaran, bishop ; Aengus Laimiodhan, bishop ; Aduanus, bishop ;

1 " Brother-in-law." The matrimonial relationship between King Aengus
and St. Enda is rather curious. The transaction is thus recorded in the
Martyrology of Donegal at the 31st July, on which day, and amongst the other
saints, " The sons of Nadhfrach," Colman is thus commemorated :
" Colman, Bishop, son of Dairine, i.e. the son of Aengus, son of Natfraech,
son of Core, son of Lughaidh, King of Munster, Sant was the name of his
mother The reason why he was called Colman, son of Dairine, is because
she (Dairine) was his mother Sanfs sister, and she was barren, for she bo re no
children, and she asked for Colman, when a child, from her sister, that he might
be named from her, aud Sant gave the boy to Dairine to be nursed ; and hence
he is called Colman, sou of Dairine,"
" Those two ladies, Sant and Dairine, besides being sisters of each other,
were also sisters of St, Enda of Arann, and of a third lady St, Faenchae, of
whom see Father O'Haulon's " Lives of the Irish Saints" at 1st January. The
marriage of the king with the sisters of the two saints must have occurred
before the baptism of King Aengus, 450, as we cannot believe that St.
Patrick would permit his royal neophyte such an iUicit privilege. King
Aengus had a third wife, namely, Eithne Vathach, of whom see next chapter,
" If Enda died as late as the year 542 he could not have been the brother-
in-law of King Aengus, But if he was the brother-in-law of that prince he
should have been the contemporary of St, Ciaran, and therefore the brother of
the latter might have succeeded him in the island of Arann."
O

114
Smal, bishop ; Earck, bishop ; Kenfalaidh, bishop ; Ubneach, bishop.
Also Corbrei, KeUach, ConaiU, Murreadh, and Rughaidh the sons of
Ruman Duach, vrith the " three sons of Eare," making, m all, m-
cluding himself, fifteen students ofthe " House of St. Ciaran," seven of
them being bishops, but aU of them being venerated as saints in the
ancient Irish church.
It will be noted here that the memorials (meagre though they be)
which exist of the saints of the house of St. Ciaran are all situated
within the tribeland of Ui Duach (Odach,) But if Ciaran opened his
mission on the site of his church and " holy well" on the western bank
of the river Nore, and within the precincts of the present city of Kil
kenny, as has been contended for in the preceding chapter, why ia
it that nearly every vestige of that mission and every local reminis
cence of the saints of his school are not to be found in the territory of
" Raighne," as this part of Ossory was then caUed, but in "Ui Duach"
f Odagh) then known as Magh Airget-Ros. The answer to that
question will form the subject of our next chapter.
Ciaran is now near twenty years preaching in Ossory ; Ms intellectual
superiority, as well as the clanish influence wMch he possessed with
his tribe, elevated him at once into a position of moral ascendancy
amongst them. He became the leader and pastor of Ms ovm people.
His seven uncles, the sons of Ruman Duach, are now the cMeftains of
Ossory. Two of these are bishops, but all of them saints. Hence we
can understand the social happiness and domestic peace which, with
the Christian reUgion, Ciaran planted in his native tribeland, but the
evil genius of a woman is now fomenting the fumes of discord. The
horrors of war will now burst over Ms head ; he will be banished from
the scene of his mission and from the centre of his affections, and sad
dened at the ways and doings of a world which he caimot control, he
will retire to the woods and fastnesses of EiUe, there to Uve in pious
seclusion from men — far removed from the turbulence of Pagan strife.

115
CHAPTEE XI.
BIRTH AND CHARACTER OF EITHNE VATHACH- - HER MARRIAGE WITH
AENGUS, KING OP MUNSTER — THE BATTLE OF FEIMHIN —ITS STILL
EXISTING MEMORIALS — THE ERIC OF FEARGHUS SCANNAL — THE
CAUSE OF ciaran's RETREAT FROM OSSORY.
When St. Ciaran returned from the Continent about the year 425
the kingdom of Ossory consisted of the province of Magh Feamhin,
which was co-extensive with the present baronies of Iffa and Offa East,
Middle Third, &c., in Tipperary ; and of Magh Reighna and Magh Air-
get Ros ; the latter comprised the upper valley of the Nore from
Slieve Bloom to Drumdeilgie, and the former that part of the present
county of Kilkenny reacMng from Drumdeilgy or Thornback
to the ridge of hills which runs east and west across the southem dis
trict of the county of Kilkenny, knovm as Drumderg, at the " Nine
MileHouse," and "Windgap." Butasthisterritoryis now to be modified
in its boundaries and reduced in its extent to the limits of the present
diocese of Ossory, and as the events from which resulted these
alterations are but meagrely recorded, it will be necessary, in order to
comprehend their bearing, that we go back to the reign of Cormac Ulf ada,
near two hundred years before the time of St. Ciaran's mission, at
which we have now arrived.
In the middle of the third century the foUowers of Fiach Suidhe,
brother to Conn of the Hundred Battles, were expelled from their
estates in Meath. They travelled southwards and were patronised by
Oliol Olum, then king of Munster, from whom they obtained lands in
the now county of Waterford, This event occurred between the years
253 and 277, from which period to the middle of the fifth century,
their possessions were confined to the district since known as " Desii
Tuisguirt,'' or South Desii, and were co-extensive with the present
diocese of Waterford, and that part of the diocese of Lismore, south
of the river Suir. In the early part of the fifth century the people of
the Desu were afflicted with famine, and so severely harassed by their
neighbours, the Ossorians, from the northern side of the river Suir,
that they contemplated retiring from that district, and searching for
possessions in other parts of the island. They applied to the Druids
for guidance in those diflB[culties, and by them were counseUed to hold

116
possession of their present estates, that years of prosperity were at
hand, and that a certain lady was then far advanced in pregnancy, whose
offspring would be the medium through which affluence and power
would be restored to their tribe. They were further advised to procure
the possession of the child soon after its birth, and to have it suitably
nurtured and educated, which instructions being complied with, this
child of destiny grew up to be no other than the celebrated lady
Eithne Vathach ; and as the predictions of the Druids were not to be
accomplished in favour of the Desii until the period of the marriage
of this lady, young and beautiful children were prepared and served
up as nutritious condiments to accelerate her womanhood, which, being
attained, she was given away by her guardians as wife to Aengus Mac
NadMrach, King of Munster.
Eithne Vathach was daughter to Crimthan, the regulus of Ui
Ceinnsealach, who was converted by St. Patrick when he visited that
territory in the year 448 ; her mother's name was MeU, daughter to
Erebran Regulas, of the Desii, in which circumstance originated the
romantic -historical connection of this lady with the people of that
country, which I have not seen referred to elsewhere than in Keating's
History, nor am I aware that the account which he gives of her youth
ful training is elsewhere supported, or rests on any other authority.
But all that is recorded of her represents her as an immoral, Ucentious
virago. Her espousal with King Aengus forms the materials of an
historical tale preserved in the Book of Leinster, and entitled " The
Courtship^ of Eithne, the hateful daughter of Crimthan." Else
where in these tales she is denominated "Eithne Vathach, the
detestable," and in the " Chronicum Sanctorum" her death-faU in the
battle of Kill-Osnagh, is chronicled as that of " Eithne Vathach, the
hateful daughter of Crimthan." Whether the lady, in her early life,
may have otherwise given pubUc disedification is not recorded ; but,
from whatever cause it arose, St. Ciaran does not appear ever to have
entertained towards her other feelings than those with which a
nature of high moral and religious susceptibilities would regard a
woman whose ruling passions were those of masculine ambition and
sensual excesses. That Ciaran was ruUng in Ossory durmg the edu
cation of this lady in the country of the Desii is certain. That he
lived on terms of familiarity with King Aengus and his father King
1 " The Courtship," See O'Curry's Lectures— Appendix, p. 586.

117
Nadhfrach is directly to be inferred from their family relationship-,
local proximity, and the clanish institutions of the time. That Aengus
espoused Eithne Vathach without the knowledge of his Cousili
and neighbour, St. Ciaran of Ossory, is altogether improbable, and
nothing is more probable than that he, a Christian bishop, would
lift his voice against the union of such a woman with one of Ms
own relatives. Early in life he predicted for tMs woman an evil
end. Subsequently, when Uke Magdalen, she prostrated herself
at his feet asking for pardon, he told her that her sins were forgiven
her, but that he could not avert the death wMch he had predicted
should befaU her ; and can we, therefore, be surprised if, on the
occasion of her marriage with his own cousin, Kmg Aengus, he
exerted his influence to prejudice her in Ms affections. If he did so
he did not succeed. The youthful charms of the future virago capti
vated the eyes of the king. Her voice gained his ear ; her counsels,
not Ciaran's, ruled in Cashel ; and as the mother of Herodias required
the head of the Baptist to satiate her rage for the reprehension of her
sinful career, so the spouse of King Aengus could no longer endure
the presence of either Ciaran or his people. Henceforward the Desu,
not the Ossorians, are the favourites of her lord, and one of the con
ditions of her marriage with Mm was, that before the accompUsh
ment of their union he should expel the people of Ossory out of the
plains of Magh FeimMn, and hand over the southem part of that
territory to the Desii as an eric for the soUcitude with which they
had nurtured her m her infancy, and handed her over to him in the
maturity of her youth ; and thus we are told was fulfilled the pre
diction of the Sages, namely, that power and affluence should come to
the Desii through the instrumentality of this offspring of fate.
Granting the romantic parts of this story to be deeply tinged with
fiction, no doubt can exist that the expulsion of the Ossorians from
Magh Feimhin was effected at this particular period. According to
O'Flaherty, the Ossorians were expelled out of FeimMn by King
Aengus because " they ruled that country in a hostile manner ;"i but
he does not tell us why the larger portion of that territory was handed
over to the people of Desu after the Ossorians had thus been ex
pelled. In the " Chronicum Scotorum" the expulsion of the Osso
rians is barely entered as the "Battle of Feimhin." The chronology,
1 " Hostile Manner," Ogygia, Healy's translation. Vol, ii,, p, 243,

118
however, is important, as it fixes the date of the event. The entry is
as foUows : —
" Kal. IIL [a,d. 445]. Battle of Feamhim, in which feU the son of
Cairthind, son of Colboth, son of NiaU ; some say he was of the Picts."
We are not informed on which side this chieftain fell, and the
obscurity of the passage is provokingly embarrassing. The battle,
however, must have been an important engagement, since the compUer
of those annals deemed it deserving of a place in Ms concise and
meagre records. It was fought in the year 445, which fuUy agrees in
point of time with the cause assigned for it by Keating, namely, the
marriage of Eithne Vathach with Aengus whilst he was stiU a pagan,
and during the pubUc mission of St. Ciaran in Ossory. At the date of
this battle Ciaran had been nearly twenty years retumed from the con
tment. His mission amongst his own people was one of Christian civi
lization ; and the very lessons of peace, self-demal. &c., which he con
stantly inculcated necessarily unfitted them to cope in turbulence and
bloodshed with the pagan tribesmen by whom they were surrounded ;
hence, though the Ossorians appear to have fought with desperate
bravery in defence of their possessions, they were completely subdued
and defeated by the Mummoman forces. From Keating's graphic
sketch of the engagement, we can form an idea of the strife and
carnage which characterised the retreat of the Ossorian army.
" Understand' that it was Aengus of Ossory, with Ms foUowers, ob
tained power in Magh Feimhin, which was called Northern Deise, and
that it was tMs race of Fiach Suighdhe expelled [the descendants of]
Aengus of Ossory with his clanns from Magh Feimhin, so that from the
defeat they inflicted on £the race of] Aengus, BaUe Orlaidhe, and MuUach
Indheona in Magh Feimhin are so called to this day. Baile Orlaidhe in
deed ! That is from the mangling of the heroes in the conflict ; and Mul-
laoh Indheona because of their forcibly expeUing the Ossorians thence into
Leinster." The memoiy of this battle is preserved in the topograpMcal
nomenclature of the district over which the Ossorian army retreated.
MuUach Indheona is now the well-known town of MuUinahone, about
1 " Understand," This passage is given from the translation which, accom
panied by the Irish text, appeared iu the " Irish Ecclesiastical," October 1866.
The same passage will be found in any one of the numerous editions of Keating,
under the reign of Cormac Mac Art; but wanting the beautiful sentiment of
this translation.

119
four Irish miles south-west of CaUan ; and Orlaidhe, Arleudhe or
UrUudhe, anglicised Arley, Urley, and Earley, became the name of
the tract of country lying along the banks of the Kmg's river, from
the umon of that stream with the Munster river, near Scottsborough,
on the borders of Ossory and Munster, This word Orlaidhe or Ur-
luidhe, in O'ReiUy's Irish Dictionary, is translated a skirmish or con
flict ; wMch etymology agrees with the history of its origin given by
Keating, and it appears highly probable that from the vaUey of the
King's river having been the scene of tMs conflict that stream was
originaUy caUed the CaUan or the Callanach river, which would be
equivalent to the river of clamour, of noise, or of shouting. Bealach
Urlumdhe, or the road of the conflict, was a pass along the valley of
this river from Ossory into Munster. After the English invasion an
Anglo-Norman adventurer, named St. Aubin, settled here and became
a powerful proprietor, and from him Bealach Urluidhe was anglicised
into Ballagh Tobin, now the name of a parish and church on the
south side of the King's river between CaUan and Kells. The beau
tiful and almost evergreen townland known as Harley park was down
to the end of the last century denominated Ros-na-Harley, i.e. the
Ross or grove of Ardlaidhe or Arley — the grove ofthe conflict. The
townland between Harleypark and the confluence of the two streams
called the Munster and King's rivers is now caUed Scottsborough,
from a famUy of the Scotts, who resided there during the last cen
tury, but previous to their occupation the place was called Urling,
from Urluidhe or Arlaidhe. When John Scott was raised to the
peerage in a.d. Ii774 he took the title of Viscount Earlsfort, i.e. the
fort of Urluidhe or Earley ; and Baile Orlaidhe, after the English in
vasion, was anglicised Newtown-de-Earley, Subsequently it was de
nominated Earleytovm. It is now Earlstown, the name of the church
and parish on the north bank of the King's river between Killenny and
CaUan, about seven miles below Kilkenny. This then is the history of
the battle of Feimhin, fought in the year 445, and which has so inde
Ubly left its impress on the face of the country to the present day.
Thus far we have been iUustrating the history of the " Battle of
Feimhin," as it is recorded in Keatmg. The romantic traimng of the
lady Eithne Vathach by her relatives, the people of DesU, and her
subsequent marriage with King Aengus of Munster, our author as
signs as the immediate cause of that engagement. But whatever these

120
may have had to do in accelerating the event its real cause and ob
ject existed in the determination of King Aengus to enforce the
observance of the treaty known as the " Eric of Fearghus Scannal,''
which guaranteed to Munster the possession of that part of the
ancient Ossory extending southwards from the ridge of hills wMch
we have already described as running westwards from the river Norei
three miles above Kilkenny, to the river Suir, three miles south-west
of Cashel. This was the treaty violated by Aengus Ossory, in the first
century, when he conquered the " territory between the rivers," and
estabUshed the Suir as the common boundary of Munster and Ossory.
It was tMs same compact that was again sought to be enforced by the
Munster men in the reign of FeUimidh Rechtmar, when they drove
the Ossorians before them to the north of Ossory, where they were
themselves completely overthrown by the combined armies of Ossory
and Leinster, under the generalsMp of Lughaidh LaoigMs. It was
this same treaty that Core, Kmg of Munster, made an effort to restore
about the year 380, when he removed the seat of his government from
Knockgraffan, on the west side of the river Suir, to the "fairy MU" of
Sidh-druim, in the plain of Magh Feimhin, thenceforward the royal
city of Cashel ; and now the grandson of Core Aengus Mac Nadhfrach,
insists on the restoration, in its entirety, of the terms of this ancient
stipulation. At the period of the " battle of FeimMn" the seven sons of
Ruman Duach, under the guidance of St. Ciaran, governed the terri
tory of Ossory. The battle would apparently commence by the army
of the Desii crossmg the river Suir and attacking the Ossorians near
the present town of Clonmel. There is there, still, in the parish of
Newchapel, the townland of MuUach Inaheone, and Keating tells us
that word originated in the " expulsion" with which the Osso
rians were driven out from Munster. They were pursued northwards
from the river Suir by the DesU tMough the passes in the Drumderg
ridge of hills. One detachment retreated Hhrovigh Bearna-na-gaoith
(Windgap), from which they would be led by the level of the country
down to the King's River, near KiUenny. Here an engagement took
place, and the locality has smce retained the name of Bally Urluidhe
i.e. the town of the conflict or slaughter. Other detachments were
driven through the pass near the " Nine Mile House," anciently called
Bearna-na-Coil Leith, i.e. the " gap of the gray wood." These were

121
pursued along the flat to the west of KUbride church below CaUan.
Here another battle was fought, and the place is since called Boher-a-
Voraga, i.e. Boher-na-Boragha, the road of the valiant men. Pol-
lowing the same line of country to about a mile west of CaUan, we
come to Farran-Arlaidhe, now Arleyland, near the Kmg's River. Here
another battle ensued. The name means the land of the conflict or
slaughter. Simultaneous with the retreat of the Ossorians before the Desii
from the plain of Feimhim, the clans who peopled Machaire Gaisail, i.e.
the plains of Cashel, were also retreating before the advances of Aengus
Mac NadMrach and his Munster forces. They were driven through
the country afterwards caUed Compsey. A battle was fought at the
town of MuUinahone,! from wMch the defeated army retreated through
Bealach Arlaidhe, a pass under the southern decUvity of the Sliabh
Ardagh hUls, towards the confluence of the two streams now called
the Munster and King's Rivers, Here an important engagement must
have occurred. The whole district was formerly caUed Urluidhe,
or Arlaidhe. Here was Fort-Arlaidhe anglicised Earlsfort,^ Ross-na-
1 " MuUinahone," It is an interesting and significant fact to flnd a locality
called by the name of Innehone, or Indheone, in each of the two territories from
which the Desu and the Munster men respectively expelled the Ossorians,
MuUach Innehone, in the parish of New Chapel, near the town of Clonmel, is
denominated in the Annals of the Four Masters (a,d, 852), Indeoin — na-uDeisi,
i.e. Indheoine of the Desu, from its having been situated iu that country, and in
contra distinction to " Innehone the hospitable," which Shane More O'Dngau
places on the borders of Munster, and uses it as a land-mark from which to Leith-
gUiun or Old Leighlin, to determine the width of the territory of Ossory, He
writes — " From MuUach Innehone the hospitable,
Is Ossory's part of the land Gailian [Leinster],
 Eastwards to Leith GhUnn,"
In plainer terms this passage reads : — From MuUach Innehone on the
west, to LeithghUnn or Old LeighUn ou the east, is the part of Leinster that
belongs to Ossory. Hence it wiU at once appear that the present town of Mul-
linahone as necessarily represents the ancient MuUach Inneona, as the town of
" Old Leighlin" does to that of LeithghUnn, For further iUustration of this sub
ject see " Transactions of the KUkenny and South-east of Ireland Archaeological
Society," 1864, Vol, v., new series. No, 46, p, 193. "Shane More O'Duggan, chief
bard and historographer of Hy Many, died after the victory of Extreme
Unction and Penance at Einn-Duin, among the monks of St. John the Baptist."
Pour Masters, 1372, See O'Duggan's Topographical Poem on the " Extent of
Ancient Ossory, pubUshed with translation and notes by Dr. O'Donovan in sup
plement form to the " Transactions of the KUkenny Archseological Society,"
Vol. I,, Part II,, p, 14.
2 " Earlsfort." In the year 1784 the Eev, J. P. MulcaUe, P.P., Ballyragget,
consulted the Eight Hon, Lord Earlsfort aud his brother Mr, Scott, respecting
a legacy left by a Mr. Bray to Mr. Eobert Butler, for Miss Mulaliys poor
school in BaUyragget. See copy of this transaction in the Library of St.
Kieran's College, Kilkenny, MS. coUection, page 1, &c.
P

122
Arlaidhe, or Harley Park, Farran Arlaidhe, now Aarley Land. Bally
Arlaidhe, called Newtown de Arlaidhe or Earley, now Earlstown.
Keating says^ that the word Arlaidhe or Urluidhe, in its application to
this place, comes from " the blows or irresistible strokes of valiant
men ;" and here we have preserved, in this very neighbourhood, the
townland and hamlet of Boher a Voragha,^ i.e. " the road of valiant men,"
which, no doubt, was the ancient highway by which the Mummonian
heroes returned from the conflict,
Keating says " Indheona^ is so called because of the Munster men
forcibly expelling the Ossorians thence into Leinster." Into Leinster
does not here mean that they were driven over the Barrow into the
present counties of Carlow or Wexford, but that they were ex
pelled and pursued from the valley of the King's River, in which
those conflicts had occurred, over the present Barony of ShiUe
logher, and through the gap in the Drumdeilgy hills, still called
Bearna Glassaghna, i.e. the gap of the Green Bushes, into Magh
"Airget Ros," then admitted by Munster to belong to Leinster;
and here the conflict would appear to have ceased, for the Ossorians
having been expelled from Magh Feimhim and Magh Reighna — which
Munster at that time claimed as part of its own territory — into Magh
Airget Ros, the "Eric of Fearghus Scannal" was restored,,, the conflict
ended, and Aengus Mac Nadhfrach now confers on the people of the
Desii — without whose aid he could not have gained this victory — the
1 " Keating says," See Carson's old foUo edition. Book 1st, p. 130; also
Duffy's edition, Book 1st, p. 286,
2 " Boher a Voraga," i.e. Boher-na-Boraga, from Boher road, na of, and
Horaga vaUant, A very primitive hamlet midway between MuUinahone aud
CaUan, For the translation of Boraga, see O'Eeilly's Irish Dictionary, p. 72,
where the orthography and translation are thus rendered — " Borraghaoh, adj.,
Warlike, V.aUant ; from borr aud ag.
3 " Indheona is so called," Id, It is held by the intelUgent people of
MuUinahone that the word means the Mill of St. John ; but there is not a
shadow of evidence in support of this derivation, Indheona, as Keating writes
it, is not the Irish for the proper name " John." Keating was a Tipperary
priest ; he must have known the town of MuUinahone, and he says the word
means " a violent expulsion," Besides this, no memorial— monumental or
historical — exists to show that MuUinahone had ever been the site of an eccle
siastical estabUshment of any order — secular or regular. It was not even the
head of a parish, for the present Eoman Catholic parish of that name is formed
out of a union of many ancient parishes, such as Kilvemnon, Modeshil, KiUahy,
&c. There is an ancient building still standing iu the town. It is a colossal
pile of masonry, locaUy called the " Old Stone," This, it is said, was the MUl
of St. John ; but it never could have been a water mil], and there is not about
it a single ecclesiastical feature. It resembles a Norman castle on a large scale.
In the Book of Eights it is stated that the King of Munster kept a fort or royal
mansion at " Indheone ;" and this singular old structure appears to be the re
mains of the fortress of one of the latest kings of that province.

123
lands of Magh Feimhin, from which they themselves had expelled the
Ossorians, and at the same time he seized on and annexed to Munster
the lands of the ancient Osraigh, extending from Drumdeilgy, three
miles above Kilkenny, down to the ridge of hills then caUed Drum
derg, and which we have already described as forming the common
boundary between Magh Feimhin and Magh Reighna.
In this expulsion of the Ossorians, was involved the ruin of St.
Ciaran's missionary establishment in Ossory, and the dispersion of
his community there. Those primitive ecclesiastics retreated with their
tribesmen, and the few memorials preserved of the " saints of the
house of St. Ciaran," represent them as having been promiscuously
scattered over the newly -founded colony of Ui Duach. The seven sons
of Ruman Duach we esteem as the founders and patrons of the
ancient church of Ui Duach, The two bishops Aengus Laimiodhan
and Aduanus settled down in the north-east of that territory, and
from their dwelling there the church which they founded has been
since known as Rathaspick or the Bishopsrath. Bishop Eare opened
his mission in Damhairne, now Aharney, and gave his name also to
the adjoining parish of Erke in the northern extreme of Ui Duach.
The sons of Eare, who are venerated as saints, were the first evan-
gelisers ol|Pearmagh, now Durrow, in the same country. Conaill, one
of the seven sons of Ruman Duach, built his church amidst primevial
woods on the bank of the stream now called the Avonheg, and from him
the church and parish there have been since named Ros-Connell, Bishop
Sinal was the founder of the old church of Kildeilgy, i.e. The Church
of Thorns, near Aghaboe, and St. Cellach, the brother of Conaill,
preached the gospel at Clontubbrid, an ancient church between BaUy
ragget and Freshford. As for St, Ciaran MmseU he appears to have
been overpowered by the storm of bloodshed ; he saw his school dis
persed and his community scattered amongst the heathen, and he
himself, like a shepherd without a flock, retires before the hurricane
into the forests of Eilie, " where he intended to lead the IUe of a
hermit, for the locaUty was full of woods," We shall now allow the
storm to subside in Ossory ; we shall leave the scholars of Ciaran in
sorrow, not knowing the place of their master's retreat; we shall
follow this venerable man in his solitude, and sit with him on the brink
of the boiling fountain, whilst his own Biographer shall narrate to us the
original foundation of the church and monastery of Saighir.

124
CHAPTEE XII.
ORIGINAL INSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH OP SAIGHIR — FIRST CON
VERTS OF ST. CIARAN THERE — THEIR STILL EXISTING MEMO
RIALS — ORIGIN OF THE FLOCKS AND HERDS OF SAIGHIR.
" This weU, about which we have just spoken, is situated in a solitary
district on the borders of Munster, eastwards and westwards of Leinster,
yet it is in Munster that Eilie lies, and it is there that Ciaran intended first
residing as a hermit, because the locality was surrounded by large woods
at the time, and he contemplated erecting a small ceU there, but afterwards
a monastery, and finaUy, by God's grace, a cathedral, which is universally
caUed Saighu- Ciaran.
" When Ciaran arrived here he sat beneath the shade of a huge
tree to shelter Mmself from the heat of the sim, and a ferocious
wild boar bounded from the other side of it, which, on seeing Ciaran, ran
off, but retm-ned again to Ciaran a meek and humble servant, being, by
God's gi-ace, brought to docUity ; and this wild boar was the first disciple,
and the first monk that Ciaran had.
" This boar went about regularly to the woods, and brought small
timber, which he pulled with Ms tusks, to assist in buUding the ceU.
There was no one with Ciaran at the time, for it was unknown to his dis-
ciples that he had come to this hermitage. Therefore, there canle ferocious
wild beasts from the desert to Ciaran, viz,, the fox, the badger, the wolf,
the doe, and they were all subservient to Ciaran, and received his teach
ings as humble and contrite monks should do, and they obeyed him in
everything. " One day that the wild fox, who was lustful, cunning, wicked, and
evUly-disposed by nature, met the saint's sandals and stole them, and im
mediately left the community and went towards his old den, where he
began to eat the sandals. But on this being made known to Ciaran he
sent another of his monks — the badger — to bring back the fox ; but on
arriving at the fox's den he found him in the very act of eating the san
dals, for he had the latchets and fongs already gnawed off. The
badger beseeched him to return to the monastery, and both came in the
afternoon to Ciaran with the sandals.
" Brother," said Ciaran, addressing the fox,' " Why didst thou commit
1 " Addressing the Fox," In the very beautiful " Inaugural Address" de
livered by the Eight Eev. Dr, Moran, bishop of Ossory, at the first meeting of
the Ossory Arch»ologioal Society, 7th January, 1874, I observe, at p. 4, the
following reference to the subject now under discussion : " We owe," says his
lordship, " to an antiquarian among our citizens the suggestion that these were

125
this shameful theft, which is not becoming a Christian monk to do, for we
have water here in abundance, and food also, and if your natural propensi
ties overcame you, God would make flesh meat for you of the very bark of
the trees which surround us."
" The fox then implored Ciaran to forgive Mm his sins, and begged to
have penance imposed upon him, which was accordingly done, and the fox
never tasted food tUl he got leave from Ciaran to do so, and he then became
pious like the rest of the animals ever after.
" After this his own disciples, with a great many others, came to Ciaran
and he contemplated erecting a magnificent monastery, and the afore
said animals remained in their natui-al shape ever after with Ciaran, and
became his domestic servants, and he took great deUght in them."
The entire drift of tMs anecdote is clearly a design on the part
of the writer to show, with the help of the usual bardic exaggerations,
the materials out of which Ciaran founded Ms community of monks
at SaigMr after Ms school had been dispersed in Ossory. The most
rapacious, unfaithful, cunnmg, cruel, morose and ungrateful animals
are here made to represent Ms first converts at Saighir — evidently
implying that they included outlaws, knaves, slovens, and untractable
characters ; that one of them assimilated to the fox, relapsing into Ms
old habits, actuaUy stole his master's shoes and quitted the monas
tery ; and the saint, solicitous only for his conversion, sent another
convert, m whom he appears to have reposed more confidence, and
Ukened to the badger, to seek out and mduce him to return to his
master. The address of Ciaran to the returned culprit is an affec
tionate and dignified expostulation with a penitent offender, and well
calculated to sustain that authority which is said to have been a
pecuUarity in Ms character. It is added that after Ciaran's own dis
ciples, who had been dispersed by the war-storm in Ossory, had dis
covered the place of his retreat they, with many others, again flocked
around him, and the other or later converts became his domestic ser
vants, from which we are to understand that after the regular com
munity had been established m the monastery these disciples or con-
merely the names borne by some of the reUgious brethren of our saint's monas
tery ; and this suggestion is confirmed by the fact that similar names were at
the same period familiar in the monasteries of Gaul and Italy. In the letters
of St. Paulinus of Nola, and other contemporary records, we meet, at every page,
with bishops and monks caUed Ursus, Aper, Lupus, and so-forth — such names
being chosen for humility sake by some of the brightest ornaments of the
continental monasteries."

126
verts continued to occupy the position of lay -brothers, filUng all the
menial offices of the house, and their master was much pleased with
their obedience and simplicity.
WUdly fabulous as tMs narrative appears in its naked originaUty,
yet the explanation now given of it is fuUy sustained by the still ex
isting memorials of those primitive monks in the County of Kilkenny.
We noted above that when the Pox had relapsed into his dishonest
habits, St. Ciaran commissioned the Badger to effect his conversion ; ,
whence, it would seem, that the saint reposed much confidence in the
zeal and fideUty of this convert, who subsequently appears to have
attained so high a degree of exceUence in the estimation of his master
that he entrusted to him the care of a missionary station, where he
afterwards died and was buried, and where, to the present day, the
name of that church perpetuates his memory. Five Irish miles
south of the City of Kilkenny, in the Barony of ShUlelogher, stand, in
the centre of the graveyard of Grove, the ruins of the ancient parish
church of TuUagh-na-brogue, i.e. Tulach-na-brnc, the tumulus^ or
sepulchral mound of the Badger. It cannot be doubted that this
Badger was St. Ciaran's disciple, otherwise a Christian church would
not assume, as its title, the name of such an animal. Still lower in
the county, in the Barony of Knocktopher, and contiguous to the old
church and cemetery of Derrynahinch, is the church of Kiltorcan,^
1 "Tumulus," The tulach or artificial mound from which this church and
parish derived the name of TuUaghanbrogue, stood in the angle of the field
which is formed by the junction of the narrow lane leading to the grave-yard
with the high road leading to Desart. The tulach is now nearly levelled to the
surface of the field ; the circular outlines of its basement are stiU visible. One
of the natives of the place told me that the mound was, within his memory,
much higher, and that it was reduced to its present level by the neighbouring
farmers carting away the materials for agricultural purposes.
3 " Church of Kiltorcan." Derrynahinch would appear to have been but
an ciUas for Kiltorcan, In the " Spicilegium Ossoriense," in the old order of
the episcopal visitation of the diocese of Ossory this church — ^in the deanery of
KeUs— is described as " Ecclesia de Kiltorcan et Derrinehensi," In the "No
mina Patronorum Ecclesiarum," &c , p, 9, this church is simply denominated
"Derrinehensi," but in the " Taxatio Ossoriensis," a,d, 1537, the "Vicariade
Kiltoyckyghan" is valued at ^63. There is no mention of Derrynahinch here.
But in a Patent EoU (1596) Thomas, Earl of Ormonde and Ossory surrendered
to the crown, amongst other ecclesiastical possessions, the " Eectories of Der-
hinhinchie, Kiltorkane," &c. See Morrin's EoUs, Vol, ii,, p, 358, From this it
would appear that they were distinct churches or rectories. In Tighe's Survey,
Kiltorcan and Derrynahinch or Derinhenly are made distinct parishes. Tet
I think the weight of evidence is the other way, Kiltorcan and Derrynahinch
are two townlands adjoining each other at the Ballyhale Eailway station. The
old church of Derrynahinch is, I think, within the townland of Kiltorcan, and
from what has been advanced above it would appear that this church was for
merly indiscriminately known as that of Kiltorcan or Derrynahinch.

127
i.e. the Church of the Boar. This was the rapacious animal that
bounded from beMnd the huge tree under which Ciaran had taken
shelter from the heat of the sun. This convert may have been ap
pomted to the government of this church towards the close of his
life, or tMs church may have been erected here as a memorial of his
conversion by some companion of his labours in the mission. Though
not mentioned in the legend, Ciaran appears to have had another con
vert in his community, who, from his simpUcity, or, perhaps, his
stupidity, or some such natural peculiarity, was named the sheep. In
the north-west of the County of Kilkenny, the site of a very
primitive ecclesiastical establishment is marked by one of our ancient
round towers, well known as the " Steeple qf Fearta." In most of our
authorities this church is denominated Fearta na yCeareacJi, i.e. the
grave of the sheep, St, Ciaran himself is received as the founder and
patron of tMs church, and there is nothing more probable than that he
would place over it one of his favourite disciples caUed the sheep,
who there having paid the common debt of nature was laid to repose
beneath its soil, and from whom tMs church was subsequently denomi
nated Ferta na gCeareach, or the grave of the sheep — a natural testi-
momal to the simple piety of this humble monk of Saighir.
The origin of the flocks and herds of the monastery is next re
corded : —
" On another occasion the servant which Ciaran had at the woods
came to him and said, " We want meat," Ciaran replied, " As the Lord
has given us everything else he will also give us pigs," and there came on
the foUowing day a very large sow along with twelve others to the
labourers employed there.
" On another occasion the same servant informed Ciaran that there
was no sheep, and Ciaran said, " He that gave us swine will also give us
sheep," and as the servant went outside of the vUlage he found twenty-
eight white sheep grazing on the plain, and he brought them home, and
many sheep were bred of them."
The object of these anecdotes appears to be to show the legal
right of the commumty of Saighir to the chattel property of the estab
lishment. It was no man's gift, but was sent by Providence for the
special use of St. Ciaran and his monks.
" There was a very powerful man, whose name was Finntuoin, resid
ing in that district [Saighir], and he brought his son, who was dead, to
Ciaran, in order to see if he would bring him to life. Laoghaire was the

128
son's name ; and as Ciaran prayed to the Lord for his recovery he arose
from the dead and lived for a long time after. And that man presented
Ciaran at his death the land caUed Rathfinntuoin at this day." '
This then is our author's account of the original foundation and
endowment of the monastic institution of Saighir, as well as the title
of the establishment to the landed and chattel property then in its
possession. The flocks and herds of the house were no man's gift, as
God sent sheep and swine, which soon amplifled for the use of the
monastery, and no man could lay claim to the lands of Rathfinntuoin,
as the chieftain of that district, had given them to St. Ciaran as
a thank-offering for the restoration of his son to life.
1 " Eathfinntuoin at this day.'' There is no place near Saighir now known
by this name ; but there is an ancient Church caUed " Eath," which gives
name to a parish within about three miles of Saighir. Is this church the re
presentative of that erected by the " powerful man," as a memorial of his son's
miraculous restoration to Ufe, and which, with the lands it was built on, he
presented to Ciaran at his death ?

129
CHAPTEE XIII.
FOUNDATION OF THE NUNNERY OF KILLTON — CONVERSION OP THE CHIEF
OP THE DAL FIACHRA — ENDOWMENT OP THE CHURCH OF SAIGHIR.
Immediately after the establishment of the monastery of Saighir
St. Ciaran founded a nunnery for reUgious females. The origin of
this institution is thus recorded in the legend : —
" A young lady came most opportunely to Ciaran and he converted her,
and built her a neat Uttle ceU close to the monastery, and he inrited other
holy virgins to visit her, and amongst them the ever-bashful rirgin Bruin-
neaoh, the daughter of a noble lord of Munster ; and Ciaran's mother had
been very much attached to her, being a foster-ohUd of her's," &o,, &o.
This religious . house is lower down m the legend denommated
CiU Liadain, anglicised Killyon, or Killean, i.e. St. Lean's church, and
many writers have asserted that it was built by St, Ciaran for his
mother, who was to govern there a female community. Bnt the
passage just quoted shows that he had intended it for a very different
person. That this nunnery was not erected by St. Ciaran to be
governed by his mother wUl appear evident on the following grounds :
St. Ciaran was fifty years of age when he retumed from Rome in the
year 425, and at the year 445, the date of the battle of Feimhin,
which bamshed him out of Ossory, he had attained Ms seventieth
year, and as his mother must have been at least twenty years in
advance she would be ninety years old at the period of the foundation
of the nunneiy of Killyon, when, if in the world at all, she would be
but ill-quaUfied to govem a congregation of ladies. The fact of
dedicating this church to her memory, impUes that she had departed
tMs life before its erection. The church of Killyon stood in the
Barony of Pircal, between Birr and SaigMr,^ in the King's County.
St. Ciaran's mother, Liedania or Lean, was honoured there on the llth
of August, and the remains of a church bearing her name was stand
ing there tiU the year 1846. Who the " young lady" was for whom
St, Ciaran built tMs church we are not told ; but the holy virgins
whom he uivited to visit her must have been those that had been scat-

1 " Birr and Saighir." For a notice of Killyon, and some curious discoveries
made there, see Transactions of Kilkenny AichEeological Society, vol. i., p,
215. Q

130
tered from their convent in Ossory by the same war-storm that had
dispersed his scholars and sent himself a fugitive from the same
country. The community of ladies having attracted the attention of a
neighbouring chieftain, who havmg heard of the youthful accompUsh
ments of Bruinneach, the favourite foster-chUd of Ciaran's mother,
came with a great force, carried her away, and retained her in his
castle. St. Ciaran came to this chieftain of the dal Fiachra, named
Dima, and after much difficulty succeeded in effecting the release of
this lady, and her restoration to the nunnery. But Dima, subse
quently regretting his silliness in restoring the lady to Ciaran, came
a second time with a great body of Kearnes to effect, by force, a second
abduction. But on his approach Bruinneach swooned away and died,
upon which Dima, thus disappointed, accused St. Ciaran of having
caused her death, and threatened to expel him from the place. But
Ciaran, who was a man of great decision and force of character, was
not to be thus easily deterred from his purpose. He told Dima that
" though God for a season might permit him to do evU, yet he would
not depart, but would remain in spite of him."
The following anecdote is our author's account of this singular
transaction, and is truly characteristic of the age in which he wrote : —
" A young lady came most opportunely to Ciaran, and he converted her,
and buUt her a neat Uttle ceU close to the monastery, and he invited other
holy rirgine to visit her, and amongst them the ever-bashful virgin Bruin
neach, the daughter of a noble lord of Munster, and Ciaran's mother had
been very much attached to her, being a foster-ohUd of her's, and was most
amiable and accompUshed in her manners. But as the chieftain of the dal
Fiachra heard of her extraordinary beauty, he came with a large body of
Keames and took her away by force of arms. His name was Dima, and
he kept her in Ms castle for a considerable time. . . . And Ciaran
came to Dima and asked him to aUow the lady to return home. But Dima
would not allow her to leave him, and said ' she should not go unless the
screeching of the Heron awoke him in his bed the next moming. It was
then winter, and the grotmd was thickly covered with snow, except the
spot on which Ciaran and Ms disciples resided.' "
" The following morning, although contrary to the bird's natm-e, a
Heron was perched on the top of every house in the Dun, and when Dima
heard it he became greatly alarmed, and came in aU haste to where Ciaran
was and knelt down before him, and suffered the lady to retum home.

131
 And Ciaran brought her to her cell, which is caUed Cill
Liadhain [Kill Lyon or Kill Lean], StUl Dima was very much attached
to her, and became sorry for parting with her so sUly, and he came a
second time to take her off by force ; but God did not permit him, as it
was the wish of Ciaran, his holy mother, and the lady herself ; for at the
moment that Dima reached the viUage Bruineach swooned away and died,
and Dima was sorry for that, and addressing Ciaran said to him, ' Why
hast thou kiUed my wedded wife,  and now you shaU not
dweU here.' "
" Ciaran then said to Dima that it was not in his power to do that of
himself, but that God may pennit him for a season to do evil, and therefore
he would not depart, but would remain in spite of him."
" Dima departed in great rage, and threatened to exterminate Ciaran,
but the vengeance of heaven overtook himself for his evU doings, for on
reaching his castle he found it on a blaze of fire, with all the out-offlces ;
and he had a son of whom he was very fond, and in the confusion caused
by the fire was forgotten asleep in Dima's bed ; but Ms mother seeing
that there was no chance of saving him, cried out in a loud voice and said,
' My loving child, 1 bequeath thee to Ciaran of Saighir, and I leave you
entirely in Ms hands ;' and when the house feU in and the fire quenched,
the infant was found unhurt and asleep ; and as Dima saw this he went
to where Ciaran and the Bishop Edus were, and he received absolution
from Ciaran ; and Dima presented him his two sons, riz,, Donough, the
infant whom Ciaran saved from the fire, and another son, and their pos
terity for ever after them ; as also the monastery, rents, and emoluments
arising from interments. And Dima returned to his own house in
great joy, and he received many blessings from Ciaran.''
" Ciaran, not wishing that Ms foster-sister should so soon depart this
world, and knowing that Dima would not annoy her any further, proceeded
to where her body had been interred and there prayed to the Lord for her
recovery ; and she immediately arose from death to life and Uved for a
long time after."
That an immoral chieftain would forcibly carry away a Chris
tian lady is an incident not peculiar to Ireland or to Pagan times ; and
that God would visibly interfere for the protection of innocence and the
promotion of faith at the intercession of his servant, is recorded to have
occurred on many occasions previous and subsequent to the date of the
events now under discussion. But whether we believe in the miraculous
preservation of the infant just narrated, or in the equally miraculous con-

132
version of the chieftain, there appears to be no doubt that this anecdote
is here specially recorded to show the ground upon which the ecclesias
tics of Saighir established their title deeds to the lands of the monastery,
the rents of its tenants, and the fees arising from interments in its ceme
tery, which most probably had been questioned or disputed by some
neighbouring chieftain of the dal Fiachra at the time in which the
writer of this Life of St. Ciaran was living.

133
CHAPTEE XIV.
ST, Patrick's journey through ossort — meets st. ciaran there
FOR THE first TIME IN IRELAND — TRADITIONS AND MEMORIALS
STILL EXISTING OP THEIR INTERVIEW— ST. CIARAN NOT PRESENT
AT THE COUNCIL OF CASHEL.
" The Christian faith then began to spread rapidly, and on St. Patrick's
arrival there were three holy bishops [besides Ciaran] in Ireland, riz,,
Ailbhe, of Emly lubhair, and Ibar, bishop, and Deglan, in his own land
and country, the Deciis of Munster ; and the holy Ciaran converted many
people of his own district or territory, and of the Ossorians in general, to
the Christian faith,
" After this came the glorious archbishop, St, Patrick, from Pope
Celestine to Ireland, and aU Ireland was fuU of the faith, and received
Christian baptism at his hands,"
The Irish apostle arrived in Ireland towards the close of the year
432, seven years subsequent to the return of St, Ciaran from Italy.
In the year 448 Patrick visited Munster, During the early part of that
year he had^travelled through Leinster, preaching, converting, and bap
tizing the inhabitants. The route which he took from Leinster to
Munster is thus indicated in one of his Lives published by Colgan : —
" Tunc venit Patricius per Bealach Gabhran, ad reges Mummiensium ;
et occurrit ei in Campo Femin (Engus fiUus Nathfrach, Rex Mummin-
ensium et ille garissus est in adventu Patrioii et adduxit eum secum ad
habitaculum suum qui dicitur Caissel," " Trias Thaum, p, 26, c, 60,"
Bealach Gabhran here named is the well-known opening under
the Sliabh Margie or Gabhan MUs, which run in a contmued ridge
from near Athy to Gowran, in the County of Kilkenny, and this
bealach or pass gave name to the district of central Ossory lying be
tween the present town of Gowran and the borders of Tipperary,
through which ^lay in ancient, as in modern times, the great highway
from south Leinster to south and southwest Munster, From the ex
tract just quoted it would appear that St, Patrick passed directly
westwards across Ossory from Leinster into Munster. But we know
that the apostle did not pass so rapidly through Ossory, but that he
descended to the south and made a visitation of nearly the entire
territory. It is significant that the biographers of Patrick and
Ciaran are totally silent respecting any interview between the two

134
saints in Ossory. It may have been that the biographers of the Irish
apostle having had nothing to report of his mission there, it being
then a Christian land, pass over it without delay to the more active
scenes of his mission, whilst the writer of the Life of Ciaran in his
efforts to confine the patronage of the saint to his own church of
Saighir, studiously omits from his biography every incident that could
directly connect Ciaran with the church of Ossory . We shall now see
from the Tripartite Life, from the Traditions of the County of Kil
kenny, and from the Life of St, Decian, first, that St. Patrick, in his
visit to Ossory, found it a Christian land ; secondly, that he met and
conversed with St. Ciaran there ; and thirdly, that he must have des
cended from Bealach Gabhran, in central Ossory, to the south of the
present County of Kilkenny, in order to meet St. Decian before he
approached the royal city of Cashel.
The Irish apostle havmg entered Ossory from Leinster through
Bealach Gabhran, found himself in the immediate vicinity of the King
of Ossory's mansion place. The date of this visit of St, Patrick to
Ossory in a d. 448, was but three years subsequent to the great battle
of Feimhin in a.d. 445, in which the Ossorians were completely sub
dued ; but if there had been a King in Ossory on the arrival of St.
Patrick in that territory, we would have some record of the reception
offered by him to the Irish apostle ; but there being no king at the time,
may account for the silence with which the apostle's biographers have
ignored his mission to Ossory. The following from the Vit. Trip, iii., 27,
is our only report of St. Patrick's visitation of Ossory, and it is almost
certain that if he had been received by the regulus of the territory it
would not be omitted -. —
" Totam postea terram et gentem Ossoriorum benedixit, prsedicens
quod ex ea tam in Christi, quam in seouli mUitia, multi clari proditmi
essent duces ; et quod exterorum jugo vel potentia non essent opprimendi,
quamdiu in suo, suorumque successomm obsequiis essent permansuii,"
This passage is a record of three distinct favours conferred by St.
Patrick on the people of Ossory. First — he blessed the whole land
and people of Ossory. Secondly — he predicted that frora this tribe
should come forth great men, both in the church and in the secular
life. Now this blessing, and this prediction of St, Patrick, directly
imply that he was then deaUng with Christians and members of the
same church to which he belonged himself, else why did he not first
convert and baptize them, ere he had predicted their future excellence

135
in grace aud virtue ? But the third of the apostle's favours to the
Ossorians, proves them not only to have been Christians at the time,
but, in a singular manner, estabUshes the truth of a highly Mteresting
tradition still vividly preserved in the diocese of Ossory. It has been
stated above that St. Patrick did not proceed directly westwards
through Bealach Gabhran to Cashel, but travelled thence southwards
to the lower part of the present county of Kilkenny ; and here, on the
banks of the river Suir, according to tradition, he met St, Ciaran for
the first time m Ireland. And in this same place to which tradition
has thus conducted us, we have the two primitive townlands of Rath-
patrick and Rathkieran as memorials of the mansion places of the two
saints during their stay in that neighbourhood. We are also told by
the tradition that on this occasion St, Ciaran and his people received the
Irish apostle with such an unwelcome cooMess that he reproached them
as " Dwrnauns" or churls, and to the present day we have there the
ancient baile or village of " Botirnane."^ As a testimonial m favour of
the truth of the tradition, we may smile at all this as fireside lore ; but
Usten to the terms upon which St, Patrick promises the accompUsh
ment of Ms third benediction. He predicts " that the country should
never be subjected to the yoke of strangers so long as the tribes of
Ossory continued in obedience to him and to his successors." Does
not this condition prove that the apostle had known that there then
existed scattered congregations of Christians through Ireland, and this
condition of Ms with the Ossorians is to be understood of his efforts
to uMte all those churches in obedience to one common national
metropoUtan. The tradition just now Ulustrated by historical corroboration
cannot be accepted as UteraUy true in all its details. That^the Irish
apostle was received in Ossory with some degree of coldness may be
safely asserted ; but that he actually met St, Ciaran there, and re
ceived from Mm an indifferent reception, there is no authority to
affirm. We can easily understand how a primitive people, governed
in ideas, habits, and mstitutions by clanish laws, would accord to
St. Patrick au unwelcome reception, if to them his mission appeared
to supersede that of their own domestic bishop, who first carried to
them the blessings of the faith, who was their own local chieftain, and
1 " Dournane, " This word is very incorrectly rendered into English at
present. Por its true etymology, see below, part iii., chapter iv.

136
who had been then labouring in their conversion for near twenty
years. But whatever may have been the jealousy with which the
tribesmen of Ossory regarded the mission of St. Patrick, we know that
the venerable Bishop Ciaran participated in no such sentiments. It was
then near thirty years since Ciaran had conferred the order of priest
hood on the youtMul Patrick, when a student in the school of Lerins,
when he importuned him to come to Ireland and accept the apostleship
of its conversion ; and we can easily conceive that on this, the first
meeting of those two venerable patriarchs in Ireland, their mutual
charity and zeal for religion suggested other sentiments than those of
rivalry towards each other; and that no such feelings had been
cherished in the breast of Ciaran is satisfactorily proved from the
Life of St. Decian, in which we are informed that the four bishops
who were in Ireland before St, Patrick, and who had received their
commission from Rome, as he also had,
" Were not of the same mind as St. Patrick, but differed with him.
But Kieran,^ indeed, yielded aU subjection, and concord, and supremacy
to Patrick, both when he was present and absent."
Whence we may conclude that St. Ciaran soon corrected the mis
taken affection of Ms people, and mstructed them to receive the Irish
apostle as the Ard Epscop or high bishop of Ireland, in consequence
of which St. Patrick pronounced his benediction on the land and
people of Ossory, predicting that the tribe would produce great men
in the church and in the state, and that so long as they remained in
subjection to Mm and Ms successors, their country should not be sub
jected to the yoke of strangers.
St. Patrick havmg now concluded his visitation of Ossory, parted
with St, Ciaran in the south of the present County of Kilkenny, and
apparently at Rathkieran, on the bank of the River Suir ; whence,
following the course of that river, he came to the place then caUed
Hynneone,^ now MuUach-Innehone, a townland in the parish of New
1 " Ciarau." " Omnem subjectionem et conoordiam, ac majesterium dedit."
Vita S, Declani, c, v,, n, 39-40,
2 " 1-Iynneone," The angel of the Lord came to Decian and said to him —
" Go, now, quickly to St, Patrick ; for he is this night in a place which is called
Hynneone, iu the midst of the plain of Femhin, Then Decian, with all haste,
in accordance with the bidding of the angel, went forth that very night^ to the
aforesaid place, Hynneone, through Mount Gaw, i.e. SUabh Gaw, across the
Suir, and in the morning reached St. Patrick," Hynneone, here named, is
now called MuUachinneone, a townland in the parish of New Chapel, near
Clonmel,

137
Chapel, near the town of Clonmel. Here the apostle was visited, or
waited upon, by St. Decian, who, having crossed the mountains of
" SUabh-Cua, from Ardmore, forded the river Suir, and tendered to
St, Patrick his submission, after which the apostle faced towards the
north through the plain of Magh Feimhin, When the inteUigence of
his approach having preceded him to the city of the king, Aengus,
with Ms court, came forth to meet him, and introduced him in state to
his " palace caUed Cashel."
The conversion and baptism of King Aengus followed the visit
of the Irish apostle to Cashel, and to some period, not long subse
quent, is assigned the "Synod of Cashel," which we shall here briefly
notice. " The four precursors' of St, Patrick, named Ailbhe, Decian, Kieran
and Ibar, having come to Cashel to see the saint (i.e. Patrick) and to con
gratulate the king on Ms conversion, assisted at the synod which the
apostle had convoked. These saints were confirmed at that synod in the
possession of the churches they had founded. That of Imleach, otherwise
Emly, founded by St. Ailbhe, was made the metropolis of the whole pro
vince. That of Ardmore, in the territory of Deisie, was adjudged to St.
Decian. St, Ciaran was confirmed in the see of Saighir. Lastly — Ibar
was appointed bishop of Beg-Erin, on the coast of Wexford,"
The account of this Synod is received as authentic by both Ussher
and Ware, wMch considerably irritates Dr. Lamgan, who holds the
story to be no better than pure fiction. Dr. Todd maintams that the
only foundation for the anecdote of this Synod is the foUowing pas
sage from the Life of St. Decian : —
" St. Patrick, St. Ailbhe, and St, Decian, with many of their holy dis
ciples, during their sojourn in the city of Cashel, with King Aengus, made
many regulations for ecclesiastical rule and Christian vigour, and for the
further propagation of the Christian faith. Then St, Patrick and King
Aengus, with all his people, ordained that the archbishopric of Munster'
1 " Pour Precursors." See Ware's Bishop's Life of St, Patrick.
2 " Archbishopric of Munster." Prom this and other passages in the Life of
Decian, it would appear to have been compiled for the purpose of exposing the
groundless assumption of Cormac MacCuiUeanan to the ecclesiastical presidency
of Munster, Cormac thus sets forth his claim to supremacy in the Book of
Eights." The Coarbh [i.e. the Kiug Bishop] of Caiseal is a general head over
aU, inasmuch as he is the coarbh of Patrick ;" and again " Victor, the angel of
Patrick, prophecied that the grandeur and supremacy of Erie [Ireland] should
be perpetually in that place," i.e. iu Cashel. Cormac was the first bishop of
Cashel, and those pretensions, now for the first time advanced, encroached on tho
R

138
should be in the city and see of St. Ailbhe, They appointed also to St,
Decian the territories wMch he had converted from paganism, namely the
DesU," There is not in this passage, nor in what follows, one word to
justify the statement that St. Ciaran was confirmed by tMs Synod in
the See of Saighir. At the period when tMs Synod should be held
(if it ever was held), could be no more than from six te seven years,
since King Aengus had expelled the people of St, Ciaran from their
estates, and barbarously spoiled and devastated Ossory, dispersed the
school of the saint, and sent hunself a fugitive to the wilds and fast
nesses of EiUe. Smce then no reconcUiation is recorded to have been
effected between the saint and the king ; and it is highly improbable
that St. Ciaran would repair to Cashel to congratulate Ms cousin on
Ms conversion tUl he had first made submission and acknowledgment
for his injustice and cruelty towards the saint's people. Hence,
whether the account of this Synod be authentic or otherwise, it is sig
nificant that it does not represent St. Ciaran as bemg a party to the
ecclesiastical laws there enacted. The legend of Ciaran's life is totaUy
silent on the point, and the next chapter in our narrative wiU show that
the first visit of St. Ciaran to Cashel, after the baptism of the king, was
not to congratulate Mm on his conversion, but to humble bim to the
dust for his irreverence and pride.
recognised privileges of the more ancient churches of Emly and Ardmore ; and
the writer of the Life of Decian, who was beyond doubt an ecclesiastic of the
latter, thus appeals to history to refute the pretensions of Cormac." Then St.
Patrick, with aU his people, ordained that the archbishopric of Munster should
be in the city aud see of St, AUbhe, who was then by them ordained archbishop
for ever. They appointed also to St. Decian the territory which he had con
verted from paganism to the faith, namely, the Desii. It was decreed that
Ailbh should be the second Patrick and patron of Munster, and Decian the
second Patrick and patron of the Desu, and that the Desii should be his diocese
to the end of the world'' vit, S. Decian, c. vi. From this passage it would
seem that the ecclesiastics of the territory of Desii, which was coextensive with
the present dioceses of Waterford and Lismore, decUned to acknowledge the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Cashel, and that the Life of Decian was speciaUy
compUed as a set off against the Book of Eights, and if this conclusion be ad
mitted it would foUow that the former should be as old as the early part of the
tenth century. See Book of Eights, pp. 31, 51, 55, and seq.

139
CHAPTEE XV.
ST. CIARAN AND KING AENGUS — THE KING THREATENS TO TAKE THE
LIFE OF THE SAINT  IS STRUCK BLIND AND AGAIN RESTORED
TO SIGHT  IS CONVERTED AND RECONCILED TO ST. CIARAN,
" When st, Patrick, the apostle of L-eland, came to the territory of
the men of Munster, ajid Aengus, the son of Nadhfrach, king of Munster,
beUeved of God and in St, Patrick, and was baptized m his royal city of
Cashel, there came a man, the son of Erc,' of the descendants of Duach,
of the territory of Ossory, and maUciously kiUed St, Patrick's horse ; but
he was taken prisoner by the soldiers of King Aengus, and they bound
Mm in chains preparatory to his being put to death. But his relative im
plored Ciaran on his behalf, and he went to the king and gave him immense
presents of gold and sUver for his ransom, so that he was released and
aUowed to depart to his own country again. But after his departure the
treasure which he had given the king melted away. Then the king being
very angry, and sending for Ciaran, again he asked Mm why he gave Mm
such worthless commodity for the release of the prisoner. Ciaran repUed,
amd said, " all the wealth of this world came from dust and into dust would
again retum." On hearing this the king became furious, and threatened
to take Ciaran's life. But the vengeance of God feU upon himself, as he
lost the use of his eyes and fell to the earth in the presence of Ciaran, who
was standing by at the time. But Cartach, the disciple of Ciaran and re
lative of the king, implored Ciaran to restore his sight, and through the
prayers of Ciaran, and of those who were with him, the king recovered his
sight, opened his eyes, and arose sound and whole ; and many persons that
supposed the king to be dead, and that Ciaran restored him to life, glo
rified God."
Prom the context of tMs beautiful anecdote much more appar
ently Ues concealed behind the narrative than is visible on its surface.
At the date of these occurrences no reconciliation had been effected
between St. Ciaran and Kmg Aengus. Since the " battle of Feimhin,"
when King Aengus had seized on the estates and crueUy ill-treated
St. Ciaran's people, this was their fijrst meeting, but in the interim,
1 "Sonof Erc." This personage is said to be of the "race of Duach;"
hence he cannot have been the son of Bishop Erc, whose pedigree, given at
p, 163 above, shows that he was not of the "race of Duach," but descended
through a coUateral branch of the Ossorian family. He was, however, from
the territory of Ui Duach (Odagh), was converted by St.' Patrick, and was
probably one of the "three sons of Erc," who evangeUsed Dearmagh, or
Durrow.

140
their relative positions had materially altered. Aengus was then a
pagan prince ; he is now a Christian king, and Ciaran, invested vrith
the authority of a Christian bishop, and attended by a numerous
retinue of ecclesiastics, boldly enters the royal mansion to save the
life of one of his own people. The Ossorian who kUled the horse was
of the " race of Duach,"i i.e. of the nobiUty of Ossory, and a near rela
tive of St, Ciaran. The money presented to the King for the release
of the prisoner was apparently the eric required by the Brenon law
for the loss of the horse. The cupidity of the kmg would seem to
have offended the disinterested piety of the saint, who, on this, the first
opportunity since the event, reproached him for his avaricious pro
pensities, wMch impeUed him in the unjust and wicked acquisition of
the property of the Ossorians, and illustrating Ms address by the
'beautiful moral so appropriate to the occasion, namely, that all the
wealth he could acquire came from dust, and like himself would again
return to the same worthless commodity, which so irritated the seU-
love and personal pride of this haughty prince, who, surrounded by
servile flatterers, was never before addressed but in language of
slavish adulation, " that, in his rage, he threatened to take the life of
the saint," That God visibly punished the impiety of Aengus I have
no reason to doubt. If it be granted that the Almighty has ordained
the use of miracles as an agent for the conversion of the heathen, I
know of no ground on which the exercise of that ordination can be
denied to St. Ciaran ; nor is there any event recorded in the life of
1 " Eace of Duach," The traditions of the territory of Ui Duach singularly
perpetuates the recoUection of the ill-wiU which would appear to have existed
between the Irish apostle and the inhabitants of that part of Ossory, If we
believe the fireside lore of Odagh, St, Patrick went into that country to found a
church, but the chief of the place insulted him, and forcibly drove him away,
which so irritated the saint that he was forced to give expression to his resent
ment thus : " Mallaigham, Malluigham Ui Duach, i.e. I curse, I curse Odagh,
But one of Patrick's disciples, who was related to the chieftain, succeeded in
averting the curse from the people and having it fall on the thatch of the corn
ricks, on the tops of the rushes, and on the river Dinan; aud to the present day,
in consequence of this curse, the thatch of the stacks and ricks of corn are
fiercely assaUed by the wind, the tops of the rushes in this district have been
proverbial for their premature decay, and the river Dinan is well known suddenly
to swell into such foam and violence as to overtake and surprise persons endea
vouring to ford its shallows, and to sweep away and destroy not only men,
cattle, and corn, but also the churchyards which are situated within reachof its
floods. Could it be as a retaliation for these maledictions ou his tribeland that
the man from Odagh travelled over to Cashel, and there mnUciously kiUed St,
Patrick's horse ? See " Traditions of the County of Kilkenny," by Dr.
O'Donovan, KUkenny ArchEeologioal Society, vol, i,, part in., p, 362, et seq.

141
that saint that would more reasonably call for the interposition of God,
than the impious rudeness of this insolent prince, who, in the plenitude
of his arrogance, would dare to lift his hand against the " first-born of
the saints of Ireland," Nor to our ideas of tMngs could a more op
portune time arise for the manifestation of Divine testimony in favour
of Ciaran's mission, than the restoration of the king to health on this
occasion, by God's power, and through the agency of Ms servant, St.
Ciaran. This story of the attack on St, Patrick's horse, is recorded in one
of Ms own Lives, not very different from that given above, and though
it does not contain any reference to St, Ciaran, it wiU materially aid us
in illustrating the part of his Mstory now under consideration.
" In these times four men from the northern stole the horses of St.
Patrick and Ms companions, whom, when the theft was discovered, the
holy man not oMy mercifuUy pardoned but admitted the delinquents mto
his f amUy and attendants. One of them, Ooen — Ohomrachus by name,
was a man of education and literary abUities, The second was a carpenter,
the third a steward, and the fourth, Aedus by name, undertook the care of
the horses with the man of God, and when the holy bishop was blessing his
hands for the employment, he foretold that for the futiu-e he should be
called Lamb Aedus, from the word Lamh meaning hand. The posterity of
this man is caUed Lamhraighe,''
These two accounts are apparently but different versions of the
same transaction, from wMch it would foUow that more than one de
linquent was concerned m the depredation. They are said to have
come from the North, as Ui Duach, the country of the son of Erc,
might be properly described as being north of Cashel. It would
appear that the theft had been perpetrated and discovered m the
absence of St, Patrick ; that aU were taken prisoners and put in chains
before being executed ; that the interference of St, Ciaran and the
payment of the eric procured the Uberation of the son of Erc from Ui
Duach, and that the Irish apostle having arrived iu time to save the
lives of the other prisoners, he not only pardoned them, but admitted
them into his family ; and from this timely interference of St, Patrick
would seem to have resulted the full and final reconciliation between
King Aengus and St. Ciaran. It is probable that St. Patrick now
learned, for the first time, from the remonstrances of Ciaran, the unjust
deeds of King Aengus and the cruelty and immorality of his wife, and
we can weU understand how the holy man would remonstrate with his

142
royal neophyte, explain to him the Divine precepts, and require him
not only to humble himself before St. Ciaran, and ask his pardon for
the injuries he had inflicted on his people, but also to raake restitution
to the utmost of his ability for his unjust acquisition of the estates of
the Ossorians. The outline or details of these occurrences are not re
corded ; but the following appears to have resulted from this inter
view of the two saints with King Aengus, viz,- — Magh Feamhin was to
remain annexed to Munster, and Magh Reighna was to be restored to
the Ossorians, and which, when united to Ui Duach, then in their pos
session, constituted the ancient kingdom of Ossory as it does the dio
cese of that name at the present day. King Aengus appears also to
have guaranteed, as we shall see immediately, the independence of the
kingdom of Ossory, only requirmg that its king should be tributary to
the king of Munster. St. Ciaran accepted these condidions, and from
this forward we flnd the king manifesting the greatest reverence for
the person of St, Ciaran, and the latter reciprocating by acts of kind.
ness towards the king and blessings on his people.
The four thieves implicated in the horse-Ufting^ appear to have
mended their ways after being admitted amongst St. Patrick's family.
Coen Chomrachus^ is probably the patron saint of the parish church of
Kill Coen,^ in the barony of Idagh, and Lamhruadh, who undertook
the care of St, Patrick's horses, has given name to the ancient parish
church of KUlamory, four miles south of CaUan. The feast of
Lamhruadh occurs m the Martyrologies of Tallaght and Donegal at
the 9th May. He appears to have been also known by his original
name Aedh or Hugh after Ms conversion. There is stUl existing in
the cemetery of the old church of Cill Lamhruadhe, i.e. KUlamory, an

1 " Horse-Ufting," It is probable that Aedh, or Lamhruadh, had been a
native of this place, from him called CiU Lamruadh, There are there stiU in that
parish, Carrig-na-Capple, the rook of the horse, and Poul-a-Capple, the pool or
pond of the horse. Could these places, so named, have anything to do with the
the profession of Aedh, or Lamhruadh, as a horse-lifter before his conversion,
2 " Chomrachus." This word, by aspirating the " ch," will be pro
nounced Commeris, or Comraus, the name of a well-known locality in the parish
of Oflerlane, now worthily presided over by the patriot priest. Father Tom,
O'Shea, P.P. These men are said to be of the northern, or to have come from
the north, Comeris is situated on the slopes of the SUeve Bloom hiUs, and
might be properly described as north of Cashel,
3 " Kill Coan," i.e., St. Coen's Church. There is no saint named Coen in
either the Martyrologies of Tallaght or Donegal, Hence, it is most probable
that Coen above in the text — " A man of education and Uterary abiUties" — is
the patron saint of this ancient church.

143
old, shapeless, weather-worn stone, inscribed in rude Irish characters
vrith the words "OR AEDHEEN," a prayer for Little Aedh." In
this petition this humble convert asks a prayer from future genera
tions for himself, under the humiUating form of Aedheen, or little
Hugh.

144
CHAPTEE XVI.
THE MARTYRDOM OP THE HARPERS-- THE ORIGIN OP THE CHURCH OF
TULLAGHHOUGHT  THE MARTYRDOM OP THE KING's RETAINERS.
" The king had some good harpers at the time, whose strains were
most enchantmg and melodious, particularly when playing natural airs.
And they were, on a certain day, traveUing through the district caUed
Musgraidhe Tu-e, in the province of Munster, and were murdered by an
enemy who lay in ambush for them, and who concealed the bodies of their
murdered rictims in a lake which lay near the plain wherein they were
murdered, and hung their harps on a tree, which grew on the edge of the
lake. This grieved Aengus, and made him frantic, because he did not
know who the murderers were. But remembering Ciaran to be a holy
man, he came to enquire of Mm who had kiUed the harpers, as he did not
wish to enquire of his own druid on account of Ms having become a
Christian, Ciaran said to him, " your harpers were treacherously mur
dered, and their bodies are hid in a lake close to the place where the
murder was committed, and their harps are hung upon a tree on the brow
of the lake." And the king implored Ciaran to accompany Mm there that
he might be able to get the bodies ; and they both proceeded to the lake,
and Ciaran prayed and fasted, that the bodies might be found, and as soon
as Ms fast was over the waters of the lake dried up so much that the
bodies were visible ; and they were taken up and brought into the presence
of Ciaran, who again prayed to the Lord, and they were restored to life in
the presence of the king, and they looked as if they were only asleep.
" They were eight in number, and were for a f uU month in the water,
and they took their harps from the tree and played melodious and soul-
stirring airs before the king and Ciaran, and aU those assembled on the
occasion, and the melody was so touching that many f eU asleep, and praise
and glorification were offered to God and Ciaran, and the lake is dried up
ever since ; but m commemoration of this miracle, it is called Loch-na-
Geantraidhe, or the Harpers' Lake to tMs day. And after blessing the
king and the harpers, Ciaran retumed to Ms own home."
At the last interview between King Aengus and St. Ciaran the
king, in his rage, threatened to take the life of the saint. But he now
remembers him to be a holy man ; he recogmses Ms priesthood, and
repairs to him for advice in his perplexity. " Por," says our author,
" he did not wish to enquire of his own druid on account of his having
become a Christian." These words are suggestive respecting the
cause of the death of the harpers. Human nature was the same in

145
Ireland as elsewhere, and it is wholly incredible that the powerful
pagan priesthood of that period, in this country, would witness the
downfall of their order, and the overthrow of their time-honoured in
stitutions, without one effort on their part to preserve, from destruc
tion, the charter of the immemorial privUeges of their sacred office ;
and the anecdote which we are now illustrating, as well as the one im
mediately to foUow, clearly show that paganism in Ireland assumed
as hostUe an attitude towards Christianity as the circumstances of the
time would permit. The text says the harpers " were murdered by an
enemy who lay in ambush for them," Who could the enemy be who
lay in ambush for those humble men, except the fanatical infidels, in
stigated by the pagan priests, now raging with envy at the conversion
of the king, and at being themselves superseded in his court, and their
office now being fiUed by a Christian priest ; and not daring to mani
fest their wrath in the face of the sovereign, they avenged their malice
on his unprotected retainers. These harpers were simple, unassuming
men, but they were Christians, and it is highly probable that they had
been engaged on their instruments in harping hymns of praise in
honour of the true God when they were surprised m the grove and
crueUy slain by the infidels, and consequently their death must have
been regarded both by the saint and the king as that of Christian
martyrs ; and hence the anxiety of the king that Ciaran should accom
pany him to the lake, and the alacrity with which the saint consented,
in order to recover the bodies of the martyred men.
" St. Ciaran said to the king, " Tour harpers were cruelly mur
dered, and their bodies are hid in a lake close to where the murder was
committed, and their harps are hung upon a tree on the brow of the
lake." Prom which, it would appear, that the discovery was natural,
not miraculous. The kmg, with his retinue, and the saint, with his at
tendant ministers, having proceeded to the lake, where they must
have been accompanied by a large concourse of people, as well as by
the relatives of the deceased musicians, and on arrivmg there St.
Ciaran had the bodies of the eight martyrs removed from the bed of
the lake and laid to repose in the presence of the king, and although
they had been a month in the water, they were still composed, and
" looked as if they were only asleep." St. Ciaran prayed for some time
by the side of the martyrs, and being aroused by the lamentations of
their disconsolate relatives, he appears to have availed himself of this
S

146
most opportune occasion to expatiate on the immortality of the soul,
and on the promises of the Redeemer, that those " who lose their
lives for His sake shall find it ;" that " He is the resurrection and the
life, and that he who believeth in Him, although he be dead, shall
Uve." Or he probably described the joys of the martyrs in the Ufe of
the world to come, m the words of St, John : " And I heard a voice
from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great
thunder, and the voice which I heard was the voice of harpers harping
on their harps." And so enraptured were the multitude by the eloquence
of the saint, and so consoled by the assurances of the Divine promises,
that it might be said that St, Ciaran had restored the harpers to life,
and that they took down their harps from the tree and played most
melodious and soul-stirrmg airs. The legend adds, " And they were
eight in number, and they had been for a fuU month in the water."
This entry is valuable, as it helps to associate the memory of those
martyrs with an ecclesiastical establishment of the present day. In
the south-west of the present County of Kilkenny, and on the borders
of Munster, stands the ancient church of TuUaghought, 'i.e. \CiU-
Tullach-Oct — the church of the tulach or sepulchre of the Eight.
Prom this it would appear that when St. Ciaran and Ms assistants
had performed the solemn obsequies of those primitive martyrs, that
he founded the church close to their tomb, to exist as a memorial of
their havmg laid down their lives for God, and so imposmg were all
those performances in the sight of King Aengus and his people, " that
praise and glorification were offered to God and to Ciaran," and the
saint, givmg his final benediction to the king and his people, returned
to Ms own home.
ST. CIARAN RESTORES TO LIFE THE KING's STEWARD AND TWENTY MEN.
" On another occasion the steward of Aengus was travelling through
the same territory (Musgraidhe Tire), and he met a herd of swine, and he
directed Ms companions to kill one of them, and they did so and brought
it to eat to an adjoining wood. But the enemy met them in the wood and
kUled the steward and twenty of his men on the banks of the river caUed
Broanach; and as soon as Ciaran heard of this he was implored by his foster-
brother, Cartach, who was either brother or grandson to King Aengus,
and also by others, that he should proceed to where the dead bodies lay,
and have them buried immediately, in order that the wUd beasts shoidd
not devour them. When they arrived at the place where the bodies lay

147
Ciaran saw that there was not enough of men to bring them to the church
yard, and he spoke in a loud voice and said, " In the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ arise ye poor people and come along with me." And they aU
arose at once, and a wild boar arose with them, and a holy man of the dis
trict, named Eochaid, retumed to Ms own master, and those who were
brought became holy monks and Uved with Ciaran ever after,"
This anecdote shows the rapid spread of the Christian reUgion
in Munster. In the last anecdote we saw the retainers of the King's
court, which included the harpers, become Christians. Here we have
the steward and labourers converted. The steward and his men were
traveUing through the same country as the harpers, namely Musg
raidhe Tire, and they were surprised m a wood where the steward and
twenty of his men were slam by " an enemy." Who can this enemy be
but the same who had slam the harpers. It may be that those who re
fused to embrace CMistianity were compelled to retire from the
neighbourhood of the king's cities and to take refuge in the woods,
and there surprised the king's feUow-beUevers. TMs, of course, cannot
be proved, but from these repeated massacres, and m such large num
bers, it is clear that a formidable conspiracy then existed agamst the
progress of the Christian religion. The soUcitude of Cartach and
others that St. Ciaran should proceed at once to where the bodies of
the murdered men lay in the wood, evinces their anxiety to have the
obsequies performed with Christian solemnity, and not by the pagan
priests, who are here probably Ukened to " wild beasts who would
devour them."

148
CHAPTEE XVII.
ST, CIARAN AND EITHNE VATHACH, QUEEN OF MUNSTER — THE STORY
OP THE BLACKBERRIES  THE BANQUET OP THE KING OP OSSORY —
THE UNLAWFUL ADVANCES AlTD SUBSEQUENT PENITENCE OP THE
QUEEN  ST. ciaran's FORGIVENESS AND PREDICTION RESPECT
ING HER DEATH.
" Ciaran was travelUng on another occasion and he happened to pass
through a plain where a large quantity of blackberries grew, and he said
that these very berries would be required hereafter, and he covered
them up in order that the coldness of the approaching winter woiUd not
injure them, as he knew that, had they remained there for twelve months
longer thus covered, they would rather improve than wither.
" On the occasion of a great banquet being given to Aengus, kmg of
Munster, by one of his subjects, a chieftain, whose name was Concruidhe,
king of Ossory, the king and queen and a numerous retinue came to par
take of the banquet, and this was at Easter, And the queen feU despe
rately in love with Concruidhe at the dinner — for he was a very handsome
and weU-featured man. But Concruidhe would not yield to her solicita
tions, and the queen then feigned sickness in order that she could remain
in the town [BaUi] with Concruidhe after the king had left. And she
said she would recover if she got blackberries to eat ; as she supposed they
could not be found at that season.
" Concruidhe then became greatly alai-med, through fear of the king,
on account of the queen remaining behind, and he immediately repaired
to his patron, St, Ciaran, and told him the whole affair. For every plain
in Ossory belonged to Ciaran's parish. And as Ciaran heard this story he
said that she should get blackberries to eat ; and he proceeded direct to
the place where 1 e had left them preserved the prerious autumn ; and he
brought a cask-fuU of them and sent them by Concruidhe to the queen,
and after she had eat of them she immediately recovered from her iUness,
for her temptation left her at once. The queen, and those who eat of
the berries, imagined them as sweet as honey, but the queen thought
that it was a miracle that Ciaran wrought upon her. She went to him
and tM-ew herself dovm upon her knees, and in his presence confessed
her sins and begged forgiveness for the same. And Ciaran prayed for
her, and blessed her, and said ' I cannot save you from the death you
were told would befall you, and the king himself wUl die on the same day
in battle,' " Eithne Vathach was the queen's name, and she was the daughter of

149
Crimthan MacEaniea, and St, Patrick foretold their death, which Ciaran
also predicted at this time ; and it so happened, as Aengus and the queen
fell in the battle of Cill Osna, and the day on wMch the battle was fought
was the Sth of the Ides of October, and St, Patrick died in the same year."
The faU and death of King Aengus and his queen is thus re
corded in the " CMonicum Scotorum" : —
" The battle of CUI Osnaigh in Magh Fea, in which feU Aengus Mac
Nadf rach, king of Munhan, and his wife, i.e. Eithne, the_hateful daughter
of Crimthan." From the history of this banquet, which marks the reconstruc
tion of civil society in Ossory, we may infer that one of the conditions
of the reconciliation of St, Ciarau with King Aengus was a pubUc
guarantee, on the part of the kmg, for the restoration of the indepen
dence of the kmgdom of Ossory ; and this great festive meeting was
apparently mtended to inaugurate the estabUshment of social and
civil government, and most probably the crowning of Concruidhe as
Regulus of that territory. The banquet was not held m Cashel but
in the baili or mansion place of the King of Ossory, and the
King and Queen of Munster attended there in. state, surrounded by a
numerous retinue, thus pubUcly to recognise the restored regality of
the Ossorian dynasty and the recovered independence of its people.
Who this king named Concruidhe was is not recorded. His name is
not to be found in any pedigree of the Ossorian family. Consequently
he must have been the first of the seven kings of Corca Laighe, who
held possession of the govemment here for the next hundred and fifty
years, and as such was a near relative of St, Ciaran at his mother's
side. The anecdote of this banquet fully illustrates the character of
Eithne Vathach, She -was the immediate cause of the slaughter of
the Ossorians, and now on the auspicious occasion of restored concord,
her evil genius again throws a gloomy shade over hospitality and re
newed friendsMp. Though St. Ciaran forgave her, and accepted her
penitence, he also told her he could not avert the death which she had
been told would befall her. Who predicted her this death ? Ap
parently St, Ciaran himself, on the occasion of her marriage, when she
instigated her husband against himself and his people. The writer of
the Life says St, Patrick also foretold their untimely end to both the
King and Queen, This prediction of the apostle was most probably
uttered when King Aengus was struck blind for his irreverence on the

150
occasion of St, Ciaran reproaching him for the massacre of the Osso
rians and the seizure of their lands — all the evUs of which had been
fomented by the machinations of this vicious woman. The story of
the preservation of the blackberries by the saint, and of their curative
properties on the moral and physical constitution of the Queen, though
simple and homely in its associations, is, nevertheless, superior to any
commentary of mine. I wiU, therefore, leave its explanation to the
criticism of the reader. Whether King Aengus was made aware of
the events first narrated does not appear from the legend. In the
next chapter we find him conferring on St. Ciaran the most signal
favour yet bestowed.

151
CHAPTEE XVIII.
ST. PATRICK AND KING AENGUS PAY A FAREWELL VISIT TO ST. CIARAN
AT SAIGHIR  THEY ARE HOSPITABLY RECEIVED AND ENTERTAINED
 THE COMPLETION OF THE THIRTY YEARS' PROPHECY,
" On another occasion St, Patrick and Aengus Mac Nadfrach went
with an immense miUtitude to Saighir, where Ciaran dwelt, and besides the
other food prepared for dinner, eight buUocks were kiUed for the occasion.
Some one said to Ciaran ' What signifies this quantity of meat for such an
immense number of guests ?' Ciaran replied ' He who fed thousands in
the wUderness on a few loaves of bread, and a few smaU fishes, wiU also
feed these men,' And he blessed his own well and turned it into wine,
and though immense the mtdtitude assembled, it so happened, tMough the
grace of God and Ciaran, that they had plenty of food and drink,"
TMs visit of St. Patrick to Saighir is the accompUshment of the
prediction usually termed the " TMrty Tears' Prophecy," That
Patrick did pronounce such a prediction I do not undertake to
affirm ; but that he did visit St, Ciaran at Saighir is here duly re
corded, and that the date of that visit was precisely thirty years from
the parting of the two saints on the Continent, we can very clearly
estabUsh. St, Patrick entered Munster, according to the calculations of Dr.
Lanigan, m the year a,d, 445 ; of Sir James Ware, in a.d. 448 ; and
of Archbishop Ussher, in ad, 449. I accept of the date fixed on by
Ware as the correct one, because it best synchronizes with the Chron
ology of St, Ciaran's Life. It was in the same year that St, Patrick
visited Munster that he had passed through Ossory, where, having
made some stay with St. Ciaran, and subsequently received St, Decian
at Hynneone, near Clonmel, it must, in consequence, have been late in
that year when he entered the City of Cashel ; nor is it probable that
the conversion and baptism of King Aengus could have been com
pleted before the year 450, from which, it is certain, that the visit to
SaigMr could not have occurred anterior to that date. Neither could
it have taken place before the reconciliation of King Aengus vrith St.
Ciaran, which does not appear to have been effected for one or two
years subsequent to the entry of St. Patrick into Cashel. After the
reconciliation between the saint and the Kmg the next event recorded
in the biography is the martyrdom of the eight harpers, in the details

152
of which St, Ciaran acted so important a part. Next the king's steward
and twenty of his workmen are slain in a wood, and St. Ciaran is again
importuned to proceed there to bestow on them the grace of Christian
burial. Then in an autumn subsequent to aU these transactions, the
saint covers up the blackberries which he apprehended would perish
during the ensumg winter, and at the Easter time or spring of the
following year, the great banquet took place in Ossory, when the kmg
and Ms queen attended there in state to maugurate the restoration of
the kingship of that territory, which events, judging from the meagre
outlines o£. Ciaran's biography, must have been spread over a period of
four or five years from the baptism of King Aengus, and therefore the
visit to SaigMr did not occur anterior to a,d. 454 or '65, which brings
us to the date of the departure of St. Patrick from the kingdom
of Munster ; and as he entered that province in the end of 448, or
begmnmg of 449, and remained there for seven years,i his departure
thence took place in the year 455, precisely thirty years since a,d, 425,
when the two saints separated on the Continent ; and thus the journey
of St. Patrick out of Munster gives us both the date and the object of
his visit in company with King Aengus to St. Ciaran at Saighir ; and
we have now to inquire by what road did Patrick retire from Munster.
The Irish apostle, after leaving Desmond, passed through Desii, then
forded the Suir and proceeded through Musgraidhe Tire or Ormonde,
to the north-east of the present County of Tipperary, whence he entered
the ancient territory of Eilie, now partly represented by the barony of
EUogarty, and keeping to the west of the Slieve-Bloom mountains
his road conducted him close to the present town of Birr, where he
found himseU in the immediate neighbourhood of St. Ciaran's monas
tery at Saighir. That this was St. Patrick's road out of Munster is
rendered stiU more certain from a passage in the Tripartite, which re
presents the apostle's next station, after leavmg Munster, to be on the
river Brosna,^ in the now King's County, which same river is mentioned
in an anecdote in the Life of St. Ciaran, to be yet quoted, as being
1 "Seven years." See the authority for this statement above, p. 21, n, '2.
2 " Brosna Eiver," On this point Lanigan writes, " Joceliu (cap, 77), and
the third Life (cap, 63) have the river Brosna. There is a river of that name
which, fiowing through the King's County, faUs into the Shannon near
Banagher. The Tripartite does not mention a river, but seems to allude to a
town or small district of that name. Whether it was the town or the river
that St, Patrick arrived at is of little consequence." Ecclesiastical History,
vol. 1„ p. 303, n, 110.

153
contiguous to "St Ciaran's Citadel." The joumey of the apostle
out of the Mngdom of Munster is described in nearly the same words
as Ciaran's biographer relates his visit in company with King Aengus
to Saighir. Dr. Lanigan^ paraphrasing the Tripartite, thus describes
the departure of the apostle out of that kingdom : —
" Having now spent seven years in Munster he set out on his retum to
Leinster, and was foUowed by the chief tains and multitudes of people from
aU parts of that prorince, who wished to take their leave of him and receive
Ms blessing, which from an eminence he cheerfully bestowed on them,"
TMs was the " immense multitude" which accompanied " St.
Patrick and Aengus MacNadMrach to Saighir, where Ciaran dwelt,"
It is probable that the apostle selected tMs road for his journey out
,of Munster, specially to pay a farewell visit to his old tutor in Italy,
his feUow-labourer in Ireland, and to whom, next to God, he was
indebted for the Irish apostleship — tMs bemg, in all human proba
bihty, the last opportunity they would have of meetmg in this world.
These two venerable men were then far advanced in years, St. Ciaran
being then eighty years old, and St, Patrick sixty- six. How inter
esting the communmg of those two patriarchs as they reriewed their
respective careers, and marveUed at the way in which Providence had
interwoven their mutual histories. It was then fifty years smce
Ciaran, migrating from his native shores, landed m Gaul, in search of,
to him then, an unknown truth, and by the same fleet, and most pro
bably in the same ship in wMch he saUed, Patrick was carried back a
captive to Ireland. Having spent some years in the school of St.
Honoratus, or elsewhere m Italy, and having been there consecrated
bishop, St. Ciaran determmed to return to his native land, but by a
providential arrangement he interrupted his journey to pay a visit to
the great school of St. Honoratus, and wMlst residmg in this institu
tion Patrick arrived from the Bishop of Auxerre with recommenda
tions to become an almnnus of that school. Here Ciaran made Ms ac
quaintance, and, learning Ms history, ordained Mm priest, and des
tmed him for the conversion of Ireland. It wUl not be too great an
encroachment on the province of conjecture on this, the last colloquy
of the two saints, for Patrick thus to address St. Ciaran : " In that
school I sat at your feet and learned wisdoni from your lips. Tou pre
sented me to Germanus for authority to undertake the Irish mission
1 "Dr. Lanigan," Ecclesiastical History, Vol. i., p. 289, note 89,
T

154
that we might accompany each other to this your native land. But
Providence had arranged it otherwise. On our separation in the
house of Bishop Germanus, I promised to follow you to Ireland, and to
meet you in your church, and though it is now thirty years since that
promise was given, it is only to-day that the latter part of it has been
fulfilled. And the scribe of the day, anxious to give every word and
act of the saint a miraculous significance, converts the context of the
apostle's words, from being simply the completion of a certain number
of years, into the accomplishment of a prediction, and thus originated
the story of the " Thirty Tears' Prophecy."
St. Ciaran having hospitably entertained the Irish apostle, the
King of Munster, and the " immense multitude" who accompanied
them, the two saints took a final farewell of each other, and of their
Ulustrious convert. King Aengus, after which St. Patrick ascended one
of the ridges of Sliabh Bladhma and pronounced his parting benedic
tion on the king, the people, and the land of Munster, and then re-
summg his joumey through the present King's County and West
meath he gained the province of Ulster, where we shall now leave
him to found the metropolitan church of Armagh, and return to the
narrative of the closing scenes of St. Ciaran's life.
It is significant that in the Legend of St. Ciaran's biography, the
visit of the Irish apostle to Saighir is the last event in the narrative,
but three, that can lay claim to any foundation in fact, and these three
are the departure of Cartach for Rome, the vocation of Odhran
and Meadhran, and the return of Cartach to Saighir, which three events
immediately preceded the retirement of St. Ciaran frota the govern
ment of that church. Down to the visit of St. Patrick to Saighir the
anecdotes in the life of the saint, though rather richly draped in pious
extravagance, have each a foundation in fact, and are, as we have seen,
susceptible of highly interesting, historical, and topographical illus
trations. But from the visit to Saighir, to the retum of Cartach from
Rome (with the exception of the three anecdotes noted above), the
stories are either so fabulous or so surrounded by anachronisms, as
to be either incompatible with history or to be out of place in the narra
tive. Whence it would appear that the farewell visit of the Irish
apostle to St. Ciaran formed the closing scene in the pubUc mission
of the latter, and that the the stories that follow are founded on events
that belong to the previous part of Ms life, or are so many imaginary

155
transactions so fitted together as to fill up the interval between the
visit of St. Patrick to Saighir and the retirement of St. Ciaran from
the priorship of that monastery.
It is also to be noted here that after the farewell visit of St.
Patrick and King Aengus to Saighir, their names and existence are
completely ignored in the Legend. In the most abrupt manner we
are introduced to another king as now reigning in Cashel ; and with
equal haste we find ourselves the contemporaries of saints and perso
nages who were Uving near a century later than the times of King
Aengus or the Irish Apostle, and, in consequence, the residue of
Ciaran's biography does not reflect much Ught on the closing scenes
of his earthly career. We shall, however, supply the anecdotes as
they are narrated in the Legend, arrangmg those referred to above,
and wMch purport to deal with historical matter, into chronological
order — claimmg no more in favour of their authenticity, nor for our
own commentary on them, than they both intrinsicaUy merit.

156
CHAPTEE XIX.
DEPARTURE OP ST. CARTACH POR ROME  SUNDRY MIRACLES OF
ST. CIARAN.
" Ciaran's foster-brother, of whom we have aU-eady spoken, riz, ;
Cartach and a young lady of Ciaran's community, whose name was Laiden,
feU deeply in love with each other, and eril thoughts poUuted their minds,
so much so that they made an appointment in order to meet each other,
and thereby to satisfy their lustful desires ; but on arriving at the appomted
place, a flash of Ughtning feU between them, and they narrowly escaped
being bumed, and they became so terrified that they could not utter a
smgle word, and they retumed home. The virgin became blind whUe she
lived, which was not too great a punishment for a woman that would pol
lute her own soul with sin to be deprived of the light of this world. Car
tach immediately got penitent and became a pilgrim ; Ciaran's sanctity
was manifested in this miracle, as God was not vriUing to aUow those two
youths who were under Ms [Ciaran's] care to commit sin, for Ciaran was
truly exemplary in watching over his flock,"
There are four references to Cartach in the Life of St. Ciaran.
When Aengus was struck with blindness for his irreverence to the
saint, it is said " a foster-brother of Ciaran's, and a relative of the
king, implored Ciaran to restore his sight." Subsequently, when the
steward and workpeople of King Aengus were murdered in the wood,
St Ciaran was implored by " his foster-brother, Cartach, who was
either brother or grand-son to King Aengus," to give them Christian
burial. In the anecdote just narrated Cartach is simply called " the
foster-brother of Ciaran ;" and in a passage to be yet quoted, he is
designated " the son of the King of Munster." Of those different
degrees of kindred, that of son of King Aengus agrees best vrith the
several circumstances connected with the two personages. King
Aengus's marriage with Eithne Vathach took place about six years
before his baptism, and about eight or nine years after that marriage
St. Ciaran visited him at Cashel, and at that time Cartach was one of
his disciples, and consequently could not have been the son of Aengus
by his present wife. But there are strong grounds for asserting
that King Aengus was far more advanced in years than Ms consort,
who, at the time of her marriage, was probably not twenty years

157
of age, whilst her lord was over flfty, which may account for the
power of her influence on him at the time of their marriage. But
King Aengus had not been leading a life of celibacy up to
that time, for we have seen above (p. 113, n. 1,) that he had
other wives before Ms union with Eithne Vathach, and there
cannot be a doubt that Cartach was a son of Ms by one
_of those ladies, Aengus, the Culdee, expressly styles him "The
Royal Cartach," He appears to have been placed, whilst a
youth, under the care of St. Ciaran, who entertained towards him the
Mndliest regards; he is denominated the "foster-brother" of the
saint, which comes from the Irish word daltha, a pet or favourite,
Colgan renders it alumnus, young student or schoolboy, which gives us
a good idea of the age of Cartach when he was first introduced to our
notice, which was, as already observed, on the occasion of St, Ciaran's
first visit to Cashel after the baptism of the king. The date of that visit
was about the year 461, at which time Cartach was most probably
fifteen years^ of age, and an important question here arises respecting
1 " Fifteen years." Dr, Lanigan thinks he was 17 or 18 years. If Cartach
was fifteen years old in a,d, 450 he could not have ordained Mochuda or Car
tach, junior, priest in a,d, 580, as Dr, Lanigan calculates. See Ecclesiastical
History, vol, 11, pp, 98, 99, 350, 351, The following anecdote is re
lated in the Life of Cartach, jun, : — " Mochuda, or Cartach of Lismore,
when a boy, was one day tending swine near the river Mang, in Kerry, and
Cartach, the elder, and his disciples passed through the meadow chanting then-
psalms, which so captivated the swine-herd, that he foUowed them to the mo
nastery, and on his return, being questioned by his master respecting his ab
sence, answered : ' I did not come back, my master, because I was charmed by
that divine song which I heard from the holy clerics, and I never heard anything
Uke that song ; and they sang aU the way long, and in the monastery until
bed-time ; and when aU had gone to bed, the bishop alone sang it until late in
the night. Master, I wish I was with them to learn that song,' On hearing
this, the Chieftain sent for Cartach, the elder, and delivered the young Mochuda
to him who, being instructed, was ultimately ordained priest by the hands of
St, Cartach, the elder, about the year 580, according to Dr, Lanigan's calcula
tion. If this story be true, Cartach, the elder, named in it, cannot be the same
person as Cartach the disciple of St, Ciaran, who was a boy in the middle of
the fifth century. The writers of the old lives of the Irish saints had but poor
opportunities of comparing dates or analysing historical matter, whUst, at the
same time, their proUfic imaginations generaUy suppUed materials for filUng
in the meagre outUnes of their biographical sketches ; and hence their compi
lations abound in anachronisms, and are to be more admired for their pious
sentimentalism than lightly accepted as facts, till first proved by genuine cri
ticism. It is positively asserted by ancient writers that St, Patrick was conse
crated bishop in the city of Eome, and by the hands of St, Celestine ; yet it has
been recently established by the researches of the [now Most] Eev. Dr. Moran,
that it was in the church of another city, and by the hands of a very different
bishop, that the future apostle received episcopal ordination. See " Notes ou
St. Patrick," Irish Ecclesiastical Eecord, October, 1866, The writer of the Life of

158
the date of Cartach's departure from Saighir. He certainly was at
home on the occasion of the murder of the king's steward, which, from
its place in the narrative, must have occurred about the year 464. But
whether he was at home at the time of St. Patrick's visit to Saighir is
not expressly recorded ; but if the narratives in the biography of St.
Cairan be consecutively arranged, as the historical ones appear to be,
Cartach did not leave Saighir tUl after the visit of the Irish
apostle and King Aengus to that church in a,d. 455. It appears pro
bable that it was Cartach who said to Ciaran on that occasion " What
signifies this quantity of meat for such an immense multitude of
guests." The answer of the saint, and his reference to the multipU
cation of the loaves and fishes, when twelve baskets of fragments were
left unconsumed, taken in connection with the blessing of the weU and
the changing of its waters into wine, which probably means that wine
was as plenty as water, all of which clearly imply a superabundance of
good things at the banquet, and where there is superabundance there
are generally excesses. There can be no doubt that during this great
festive gathering, and out of regard for their illustrious visitors, the
rigid discipline of the monastery was temporarily relaxed, which re
laxation, coupled with a superabundance of viands and wines, led to
excesses, and that to some such excess, on the part of the youthful
Cartach, must be attributed the act which incurred his master's dis
pleasure. Cartach at that period would be about twenty years of age,
and if this was the date of his departure from Saighir, he would have
commenced his journey to Rome in a.d. 445-6. He is said to have
spent seven years as a pilgrim, studying the scriptures and acquiring
a competent knowledge of ecclesiastical science, and until his retum
we shall entertain ourselves with the interesting anecdotes recorded
by our author, as so many events in the life of St. Ciaran during the
absence of Cartach on the Continent.

Ciaran makes him a school-boy of St. Finnan's, at Clonard, in a,d. 540, and a pre
decessor of St, Patrick in A,i>, 430. And in the same way the writer ofthe Life
of Mochuda, or Cartach, jun,, makes him be ordained priest by St, Cartach,
the elder, who could not be living later than about a,d. 520, though the same
Mochuda is reported to have departed this Ufe iu a,d, 637. By foUowing the
sweetly told anecdotes of the old writers, Dr, Lanigan involved himself in
labyrinths of difficulties from which he could only extricate himself by an edi
fice of conjectures. See Ecclesiastical History, Vol, ii,, pp, 98-100, et seq.,
and in numerous other places.

159
SUNDRY MIRACLES PERFORMED BY ST, CIARAN.
" On another occasion the king of Tara and a large number of follow
ers went to take hostages of spoUs from the Mummonians, but Oiliol, kmg
of Cashel, would not submit, but prepared for action aU his troops to meet
him M battle ; and both kings, with their armies, met near Ciaran's citadel.
and Ciaran endeavoured to reconcile them, but they would not be recon
ciled. But he [Ciaran] received from God what he could not obtain from
proud and haughty man, A lai-ge wood grew up in. front of the Mummo-
mans when gomg to fight, and the water of the Brosna river overflowed its
banks in front of the Meath men so that they dare not cross, and as soon
as both armies saw the miracles they became terribly afraid, and the king
of Meath turned Ms back to the stream and retumed home on seeing the
smaU rivulet that had been lordable a few moments previously, swoUen to
such an alarming extent,
" The Mummonians remained for the night in the ricinity of Ciaran's
citadel, and Ciaran prepared a pig and a cow for the king's dinner, and he
satisfied himself and his army in that meal and there was some left, and
they glorified God and Ciaran for his marveUous mu-acle,"
Aengus MacNadhfrach was Kmg of Cashel during the life of St.
Ciaran. OiUol Olum was King of Munster two hundred years before
Ciaran's time. Who this Oiliol, King of Cashel was, who is named
in the anecdote, cannot be discovered, as there was no such king of
Cashel withm a century either before or after the period of St.
Ciaran's IUe, The river Brosna, mentioned in the text, is tbe same
as that mentioned in the Tripartite, where St, Patrick was entertained
by a Bishop named Trian, on the journey of the Apostle through
the territory of EUie, after he had taken his farewell of St. Ciaran
and King Aengus at Saighir.
ST. CIARAN SENDS OXEN TO PLOUGH ST. COINCHe's LANDS.
" On another occasion, Ciaran sent a yoke of Oxen to St, Ooinche, to
plough her lands ; and she knew that it was Ciaran sent them ; and the
distance was very long between the city of St, Ciaran and the monastery
of St. Coinohe, which is situated at Ros-Beanchor, on the sea-coast, in the
south of Ireland. And the oxen ploughed of themselves ; and when spring
was over, they returned home to Ciaran without any one to lead them,"
St. Coinche was St, Ciaran's nurse, and if she was governing the
monastery of Ros-Beanchor at the period of his life now under con
sideration, she should be over one hundred years of age. The anec-

160
dote is interesting, as it shows how very ancient is the use of the
plough in Ireland.
ST. CIARAN VISITS HIS MOTHER'S MONASTERY EVERY CHRISTMAS.
" Ciaran was in the habit of administering the holy Communion on
every CMistmas-eve to Ms own community at Saighir, by his own hands ;
and also of risiting the monastery of Ms mother at Ros-Beanchor, in order
that, at Ms own hands, she should receive the body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ in the sacrament, and return to his own monastery on the
same evening. We are to infer from tMs that it was God who performed
the miracle, as he did with Habecock, when he brought him from India to
Ms own country and back again in a few moments."
It is highly probable that St. Ciaran would visit Ms mother at
her monastery in Ros-Beanchor every Christmas, and return before
the close of that season to his own church during her Ufe. But if
these anecdotes be cMonologically arranged in the legend, she should
have been over one hundred years of age at the period of St, Ciaran's
life at which we are now arrived. Those visits of Ciaran's to Ros-
Beanchor, must be understood of the period of Ms mission previous
to his departure from Ossory to Saighir, in the year 445. After that
date his mother and his nurse were gone to heaven.
" St, Coinohe was in the habit of praying to the Lord on her knees on
a huge rook near the sea- coast, a short distance from the monastery, and
the rock's name now is " Carrig Coinehe" [i.e. Conchy's rock], and the
tide occasionally surrounded it. But Ciaran went one day to the rock,
and it floated on the waters with him, and retumed to its own site again,
when it was Ciaran's wish that it should do so. We are not astomshed at
this when it is written — " Mn-abUis Deus in Sanctus suis." Psalm 135.
This same extraordinary phenomenon is thus commemorated in
the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 6th March : —
" It was he [Ciaran] that used to go to the sea-rock that was far dis
tant in the sea (where Ms nurse Coca was), without ship or boat, and used
to retm-n again, as appears from his own Life, chap. 19."
ST. CIARAN CONVERTS A GANG OP ROBBERS INTO MONKS.
" On another occasion, haughty Keames made inom-sions into Mun
ster, and commenced depredations by taking cattle, and murdering the
inhabitants. But a great man, a native of Munster, named Longan,
pursued the Kearnes, and overtook them, and put them to flight. But
seeing no hope of escaping, they implored Ciaran to save them from their

161
perilous position ; and when Longan and his followers thought it was time
to murder them, a flash of lightning feU between him and the spoilers,
which greatly terrified Longan and his foUowers, who gave up any further
pursuit, but retumed home to his own habitation ; and the robbers knew
that they had escaped through the miraculous intercession of Ciaran, and
they submitted to him, and related aU that had occurred, and resolved on
becoming monks, and serring God and Ciaran, and leadmg a holy IUe for
the rest of their days ; and they Uved with Ciaran performmg pious and
holy works ever after."
This anecdote may be accepted as true, without the aid of any
miraculous intervention, and proves the correctness of the views ad
vanced above in chap, xii,, p. 125, viz., that the first monks of St. Ciaran
at Saighir were composed of reformed robbers and outlaws,
A THIEF IS PUNISHED POR STEALING ST. CIARAN'S COW.
" On another occasion a thief from Leinster stole a very fine cow
wMch belonged to Ciaran's commumty or monks. His name was Cairbre ;
but on his way to Sliabh Bladhma, where he was taking the cow, he was
so enveloped in a cloud of mist and darkness that he coiUd not make his
way, but feU into the river and was drowned, and the cow came back again
to Ciaran and Ms monks."
The mountain here denommated Sliabh Bladhma is that now well
known by the name of Slieve Bloom. The anecdote can be accepted
as UteraUy true, and may have happened either before or after the
death of St. Ciaran.
ST. CIARAN RESTORES A LADY TO LIFE IN THREE DAYS.
" A lady named BitUe was travellmg on one occasion ; she fell and
broke her bones, and died of the hui-t. But Ciaran restored her to life in
tMee days, and she bestowed on Ciaran the lands on which she got the
faU, and the place is now caUed " Lein Eitile" [i.e. EitUe's Leap], and she
thanked God and Ciaran."
This land was apparently the property of the monastery at the
time when the Life of St, Ciaran was being written, and the object of
recording the anecdote was probably to show the title on which that
land was held as belonging to the estate of the church of Saighir.
TMs place is now called " The Leap,"i- a weU-knowu locality withui
two mUes of Seirkieran church.
J " The Leap." This locaUty was apparently well known by that name ever
since the restoration of this lady to life by St, Ciaran, In an Inquisition held
in "Leap Castle" in 1568, it is denominated " Lemgvanane," which the Pour
Masters, in 1516, render in Irish Laeim-i-Banain, i.e., O'Banan's Leap. O'Banan
was a local chieftain, from whom the castle there was so caUed.
U

162
ST. CIARAN RESTORES A MURDERED MAN TO LIFE IN SEVEN DAYS.
"A subject belonging to the King, whose name was Ceanfaladh,
murdered Oroman, a friend of Ciaran's, and Ciaran restored him to life in
seven days, m Christ's name, and on Ms being brought to life Ciaran said,
in the presence of the people, " He that murdered you iUegaUy, i.e.
Ceanfaladh, shall soon be mm-dered Mmself, and his body bumed in the
castle caUed Rathundy, in EUeach,"
ST. CIARAN RESTORES HIS SPEECH TO THE KING OP MUNSTER.
" On another occasion Oiliole, King of Munster, addressed Ciaran in
brutal language, and left him in great anger ; but not long after tiU the
king became dumb, being for eight days unable to utter a word. He came
to Ciaran, and, prostrating himself before him, repented and asked for
giveness. And when Ciaran saw that he was truly penitent he blessed
his tongue, and the kmg immediately spoke in a clear voice, and, on re
ceiving Ciaran's blessing, he went home sound, glorifying God and Ciaran."
It has been already stated that no king named Oiliole govemed
Munster during Ciaran's life. But it is probable that Aengus
MacNadhfrach is here, and in the previous story, named Oiliole, from
having been of the race of Oiliole Olum, Hence this last story (like
most of those which precede it in this chapter), if it has any founda
tion at all, belongs to the previous years of St. Ciaran's mission, and
appears to be but a repetition, with some modification, of the in
terview between King Aengus and St. Ciaran, when the former was
struck with^blindness for his irreverence.

163
CHAPTEE XX.
THE VOCATION OP ODHRAN AND MEADHRAN — THE RETURN OP CAR
TACH TO SAIGHIR — THE AGE OF ST. CIARAN AND HIS RETIRE
MENT FROM THE MONASTERY.
These anecdotes are here placed in one section, as they mutuaUy
Ulustrate each other, and assist us in determining the period of St.
Ciaran's Ufe at which we are now arrived.
" Two brothers, whose names were OdM'an and Meadhran, from the,
town [baUe) of LotMe, in Musgraidhe Tire, came to Ciaran to consult him
and ask Ms adrice as to whether they would become pilgrims, and travel
into foreign lands, ajid arriving at Saighu- one of them expressed a wish
for remaining with Ciaran MmseU. This man was MeadM-an ; and Odhran
said to Mm, " Brother, this was not what you promised me," and he im
plored Ciaran not to retam his brother. Ciaran said to him, " God wiU
decide between us who shaU have him ; let him take this torch in his hand)
and breathe upon it, and if it Ught he shaU remain with me, but if not he
may go with you. He then took the torch in his hand and breathed upon
it, and the torch Ut immediately, and he remained with Ciaran ever after,
led a holy life, and performed works of charity. Ciaran then spoke to
Odhran, and said, " I say unto you OdM-an that had you travelled the
world aU over it is m your own native town^ of LotMa you shall die, and,
therefore, retum home and Uve there, as it is after you the place vriU be
named for ever." OdM-an returned to Ms native place, built a magnificent
^ " Native town," Odhran, the elder of these two brothers, was the founder
of the great monastic institution near Nenagh, in the now County of Tipperary,
anciently called Lathrach- Odhran, or Larach-oran, where his festival day used
to be observed on the 2nd October, and is thus entered in the Martyrology of
Donegal : " Odhran, of Letir, [i.e. Lathrach], aud he is Odhran, the master and
the brother of Meadhran, It was Odhran, the master, and MacCuiUnn, of
Lusca [Lusk], who told to Ciaran, of Cluain, that his life was cut short," This
St, Odhran was apparently the founder and patron of the original church of
TuUaroan, seven miles north-west of the City of Kilkenny, the parish of which
stiU retains his name, viz,, Tulach-Odhran, i.e. the tulach or tumulus of Odhran,
or Oran, This great pile of earth is still standing within about one hundred
perches of the old church, and is locaUy known as the " moat." " We read iu
his Life," says the legend, " that he [Odhran] ascended into heaven," which
we may understand of his having retired late in life from the busy scenes of his
monastery to the solitude of this secluded valley, where, having closed his
earthly career, his disciples, who accompanied him into this solitude, having
laid him to repose according to the custom of the age, erected over his grave
tMs memorial-mound, which still perpetuates his name, and the histiographer
of his house, ignorant aUke of the place of his retreat, and of his departure
out of this world, with true bardic Ucense, concluded and recorded " that he
had ascended into heaven," This tulach of Odhran is noticed by Sheffield Grace
in his "Memou-s of the Grace Family," amongst the antiquities of the " Parish of

164
monastery, led a virtuous and holy life, and wrought many miracles. We
read m his Life that he ascended mto heaven, and Ciaran's words were
literally fulfiUed, and the place is ever since caUed LatMa-Odhran."
This is the first occasion on which any of the saints of the sixth
century have been introduced to our notice in the Legend of St. Ciaran's
IUe, and the position which the anecdote occupies in the Legend proves
that the writer paid attention to the chronological arrangement of the
several parts of his narrative. This anecdote ofthe vocation of Odhran
and Meadhran is placed just before the return of St, Cartach from the
Contment, which would be about the year 462 or 468, at which period
Odhran and Meadhran were two children, say from ten to fourteen
years of age. If Odhran was then fourteen years old, and if
he lived to be eighty years, he would die about the year
540. According to the Pour Masters he ¦ died in a.d. 648. But
he might live to be nmety years. Many in our own time have
attained, and even exceeded that age, and if Odhran Uved to be
ninenty years, and that he was fourteen when he was presented to St,
Ciaran, he would die, as the Four Masters record, in the year 548. So
that if we denude this very beautiful anecdote of its bardic embellish
ments it presents to us these two young boys seeking admission into
Ciaran's monastery at Saighir, in about the eighty-seventh year of his
age. THE RETURN OF CARTACH TO SAIGHIR.
" Ciaran and a hermit, whose name was Geaman, went one mght to
bathe in a stream of cold water, and when some time in the water Geaman
said to Ciaran, ' I cannot bear remaining any longer m this water,' but
devotion moved them Uke heat in a bath, and both began to praise God,
Ciaran said to Geaman, ' A beloved friend shaU risit us to-morrow, i.e.
Cartach, son of the Kmg of Munster, and my own favourite disciple,
whom I sent on a pilgrimage on account of a sin which he contemplated,
had not God and I prevented Mm, For I did not Uke to see Ms piety and
devotion destroyed. He is now reformed, he has received absolution for
TuUaroan," From the pecuUarities of its outUnes and configuration he sup
posed it to have been in pagan times the theatre of great popular assemblages.
Down to the year 1835 it was the scene of the popular sports, amusements, and
factions of sundry characters during the great " Patron" of TuUaroan, which
was held uninterrupted from the 15th August to the following Sunday, tiU
abolished, on account of its excesses, by Dr, KinseUa, the then bishop of the dio
cese, after which the moat was planted with pines by the late W, F, Finn, Esq,,
better known as CounseUor Finn, which, having since grown up iuto stately
proportions, have made this ancient pUe the most prominent feature in the
varied landscape of the picturesque valley of TuUaroan,

165
Ms sins, and is cleansed from Ms transgressions. Take you this fish
hovermg about here for the sake of my dearly -beloved son.' And Geaman
took the fish, as he was told by Ciaran, and on the next day Cartach came
as Ciaran promised."
St. Cartach was St. Ciaran's successor in the church of SaigMr,
and his journey to the Contment, irrespective of its more immediate
cause, was intended by St Ciaran to introduce him into those institu
tions where the science of Christianity had been then cultivated, and
where he would be so trained in ecclesiastical discipline as to be quaU
fied to assume the govemment of the church of Saighir, for which he
had long previously intended him. Cartach had been the favourite
disciple of St. Ciaran ; he received him when a child, and his boyish
simplicity appears to have excited in his favour the kindliest regards
of his master. On the discovery by St, Ciaran of his contemplated
transgression he became penitent on the instant, and flew to his master
for forgiveness. St, Ciaran, appreciating the soundness of his virtue
from the depth of his remorse, welcomed his return to the path of in
nocence from which he had nearly strayed, and apparently to remove him
from the occasion of offence, as weU as to afford him an opportunity
of perfecting himself in ecclesiastical studies, imposed it as a penance
on Mm that he should travel as a pilgrim into foreign countries, and
that he should not retum to Saighir for seven years.
Tet it is probable that the kindly regards and strong partiaUty
entertained by St. Ciaran in favour of Cartach had their foundation in
family ties. Aengus MacNadMrach and St. Ciaran were second
cousins, and as Cartach was the son of King Aengus, he and St. Ciaran
would be second and third cousins, which the clanish institutions of
the time recognised as members of the one family, and hence there can
be no doubt that St. Ciaran's prmcipal object in sending Cartach to
travel was to qualUy him to become his own successor in the church of
SaigMr. We have seen above that the date of Cartach's departure
from Saighir must have been about the same as that of the visit of the
Irish apostle and King Aengus to that church mthe year 466, at which
date St. Ciaran was 80 years of age ; and, as Cartach remained on the
Continent for seven years, the date of Ms return will brmg us to a,d. 462,
at which period St, Ciaran had attained his eighty-seventh year in this
world, which the " Martyrology of Donegal" thus commemorates : —
" Sixty years and three hundred was his age when he resigned his

166
spirit. Ciaran dedicated his congregation to God and to Cartach."
" A very old veUum book,' ia which are found the Martyrology of
Maelruam, of TamMacht, and many other matters which relate to the saints
and their mothers, states that Ciaran of SaigMr was, in his manner and
life, like unto Pope Clement."
It was not without reason that the compiler of the old vellum
book compared our saint unto Pope Clement. In a beautUul fresco
painting,! found some few years since in a subterranean chapel under
the church of the Dominicans in Rome, Pope Clement is there repre
sented m the performance of the nuptial ceremony, and is robed as a
tall, dignified personage. In the legend of St. Ciaran's Life, it is re
corded of him that in his youth all who beheld him were surprised at
his great stature, as also at the rapid maturity of mind and body
which he attained with his growth in years. The meagre outlines pre
served of his character, exhibit him in his acts and conversation as a
man of mild and reserved dignity, much given to silence, vigilance,
and study. " 'Till his death he never tasted strong drink, nor did he
wear warm or fine clothing, nor did he indulge in feasts or much
sleep," and in consequence preserved his vigour of mind and body to
a very advanced stage of life. But centuries before his day the King
Prophet of Israel had experienced the goal of life, when he sung —
" The days of our years are three score and ten, and if, by reason of
their strength, they be four score years, yet is their strength labour
and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away," Hence we can
understand that at the period of the retum of Cartach from Rome, St,
Ciaran had been far gone in the wane of IUe, and that the great tran
sition from time to eternity had already forecast its shadows on his
soul, and inspired him with the conviction that he had run his race,
and that he should now be soon gathered to his fathers. Hence the
emotions of delight with which he hails the return to Saighir of his
beloved cousin and dear disciple Cartach, into whose hands he now
resigns the charge of his church and community, after which he retires
in silence to spend his declining years in seclusion from the world.
1 " Old VeUum Book," See Martyrology of Donegal at 5th March.
1 " Fresco,'' This beautiful painting was photoj^raphed about ten years
since, many copies of which thus produced are now in circulation. One of them
is in the possession of Eev. E, Callanan, St. Mary's Presbytery, Kilkenny.

167
CHAPTEE XXI.
FABULOUS AGE OF ST. CIABAN— THE STORY OP THE POUR RED COWS AND
ST. CIARAN OP CLONMACNOISE.
Down to the period of Cartach's departure from Ireland, no re
ference is made in the Life of St. Ciaran to Finian, or Brendan, or
Ciaran of Cluain, or to any of the other illustrious men who orna
mented the Irish church during the sixth century. After the retum
of Cartach, when the earthly career of Ciaran was drawing to a close,
and when, like other saints of his time, he withdrew from the dis
tracting scenes of the missionary life, to seek repose in undisturbed
seclusion, and his disciples taking it for granted that he was still
living, the scribe of the time who magnified his ordmary actions mto
miraculous events, now, by a species of pious credulity, extended his
age to a degree of supernatural longevity which made him the con
temporary of men whp, in the ordinary course of nature, could not
have been born till long after his departure out of this world. Whe
ther the author of Ciaran's biography was conscious of Ms gross
anachronism in representing the saint as being stiU Uvmg in the latter
half of the sixth century — after having made him precede St. Patrick
in the fifth — I will not undertake to affirm or disprove. But as he
had represented the saint, in the early part of the legend, to have been
the contemporary and familiar friend of the Irish Apostle, and of the
King and Queen of Munster, it was now necessary, after their de
cease, to find materials for the Mstory of his LUe during the sixth
century, and the following interesting anecdotes are introduced by dur
author as the actions of the missionary life of St, Ciaran during that
period. But the intemal testimony of those events or actions attri
buted to this period of St. Ciaran's Ufe, proves that they had been
specially put together to suit the exigencies of the age in which the
writer Uved, when the churches of Ireland were bemg then desecrated
by the Danes — when the rights of the chureh of Saighir had been
probably encroached on, its exercises interrupted, or its institutions
fallen in popular respect ; and the biographer of Ciaran, who was both
bishop and abbot of that church, with the object of defending its
privileges and institutions, by exciting popular veneration in their
favour, compUed those beautiful stories or parables to stamp the
authority of Ciaran's name on the customs and immunities of his

168
house. These anecdotes are highly interesting as incidental portrai
tures of some of the ecclesiastical practices and social usages of the
age in wMch the Life of Ciaran was vnritten, and as such are entitled
to a place in tMs Memoir.
ST. CIABAN OF CLONMACNOISE AND THE FOUR BED COWS.
"St. Ciaran, of Clonmacnoise, held m Ms possession some riches
which the Kmg of Leinster had deposited for safety in his hands ; but
Ciaran being a good and holy man, and fuU of mercy, distributed a large
amount of the money among the poor. Thereupon the king had the saint
taken prisoner, and put M fetters ; but on a certain day the king came and
said to the samt, " If I get four red cows, and you put four wMte heads
upon them, I wUl set you free." Ciaran said, " God can perform this,
and aUow me to go and seek out the cattle, and if I don't find them I shaU
return to you again."
" Ciaian was aUowed to go, and he came to Saighir, where the other
Ciaran Uved, and he told Mm his story. And at that time the two Bren-
dans were on a visit with Ciaran, and they were glad of Ciaran of Cluam's
arrival. And Ciaran's [the elder] servant said to him that he had no food
to eat but meat, and Ciaran said, " Prepare whatever you have quickly ;"
and when the meat was boiled Ciaran blessed it, and it changed in their
presence into oil first, and porridge and other delicacies, accordmg as he
Uked it, and it happened by God's grace that aU the vessels in the house
were filled with higMy-flavoui-ed wines for the saints' dinner,"
There was a monk in the house who was not wUling to dme with the
saints, riz,, MacCongain, and he said that he would not partake of the
food which was made from the meat [it being a fast day'] ; and Ciaran said
to him, " Tou will eat meat in Lent, and your enemies will murder you on
the very day that you eat it, and they will take off yom- head, and you
shaU not inherit the kingdom of heaven, and your days shaU be spent in
misery, and you shall resign the order of the monastery." And Ciaran's
words turned out true, for he was murdered very near Saighir Ciaran."
It is easy to recognise in this last paragraph of the anecdote a
severe admoMtion, specially admUnstered to some self-sufficient monk
in the time of the writer, who, being deluded by his faith in Ms own
righteousness and love of singularity, forgot what he should have
known from the Scriptures, namely, that " obedience is better than
sacrifice." The legend proceeds : —
" It was at this time that these four holy men, riz., the two Ciarans
and the two Brendans, made a covenant among themselves and their Coarbs

169
after them. And on Ciaran [of Clonmacnoise] taking his leave, and re
ceiving the blessing of the other holy men, and not knowing where to
find the cows he had promised the king, Ciaran of Saighir accompanied
Mm part of the way to direct him, and on parting they blessed each other,
Ciaran of Cluam, said, ' Let the result of my blessmg be riches and much
treasure and wealth in your town for ever,' And Ciaran of Saighir
said, 'Let virtue, wisdom, and piety, through my blessing dwell
upon your habitation for ever,' And these words turned out true
to both parties. And on arriving at the ford caUed Ath-saUagh they
found on the banks of the river four bald, red, wMte-headed cows, Ciaran
of Cluain said, ' Do you see how God hath given us the four cows which
the king demanded,' And they then separated, after giving thanks and
praise to God, and blessing and kissing each other as a token of grace and
peace. And Ciaran came to Saighir, and the other Ciaran went to Clon
macnoise, and sent the cows to the king, who was astonished how such
cattle could be found ; and on Ciaran making good his promise the cows
disappeared, and no tidings of them could be obtained. And the king saw
that he had dealt unjustly with Ciaran,"
This anecdote appears to have been specially designed by the
writer to afford an opportumty for the meeting of the four saints at
Saighir when they estabUshed this " covenant among themselves and
their Coarbhs after them." The nature or object of this compact is
not recorded ; it was, no doubt, weU known in the time of the writer,
and was probably often violated or set aside in the feuds of the age.
The fact appears to,be that Ciaran of Cluain and the Brendans did
enter into some compact with the Coarbh of Saighir m their time ;
and our author, to mvest this compact with more authority and im
portance, introduces St, Ciaran himseU as a party to its estabUshment.
But he could not meet the other three saints earlier than about the
year 525, at which date he would be himseU 150 years of age, which
conclusively disproves his personal participation in the enactment of
tMs " covenant."

170
CHAPTEE XXII.
THE PASCHAL FIRE IS EXTINGUISHED AND MIRACULOUSLY REKINDLED 
ANTIQUITY OP THE PASCHAL PIRE IN IRELAND.
" There was in the monastery of Clonmacnoise a young boy whose
name was Outbid, -who was reluctant and lazy in performing good works,
and ready in doing eril works. And he came to Saighir- Ciaran, and re
mained there some time with Ciaran senior. And Ciaran commanded that
the holy fire which he had blessed the previous Easter should not be
quenched for a full year, but kept lit in the monastery. But the child of
whom we have spoken, instigated by the devil, came of Ms own accord and
put out the fire. And Ciaran said to the people, 'Are you aware that the
wicked chUd, whose name is Outbid of Cluain, extinguished the blessed
fire we had lit, and he wUl be avenged for it, for he shaU die to-morrow;'
and this turned out true, as he was torn by wolves on the following day on
the lands outside the place. And Ciaran said, ' There shaU be no fire in
this church tUl Easter unless God send it.' "
" Ciaran of Cluain-mac-Noise, heard of the child's death, and he came
in aU haste to Saighir, and he was received with great honour there. But
there was no fire in the monastery, and it was by this holy fire that the fire
of the monastery was every night lit. And Ciaran said that there should
be no fire [in the church] till Easter, if God did not send it from heaven.
And there came on that day to the town (baili) Ciaran of Cluain, and his
followers, and they were very cold, for it was snowy weather. And Ciaran
senior went out and lifted up Ms hands in prayer to the Almighty, and a
flash of lightnmg feU into his bosom, and the comer of his mantle became
ignited, and he brought it to the house where the guests were, and when
they got warm supper was prepared, and when they sat down to partake of
it Ciaran of Cluain said that he would not eat food untU the child would
be restored to IUe again, Ciaran senior then said, ' We know this to be
your wish, and God will restore him to life again for your sake,' And the
chUd did recover at the word of Ciaran ; and as they saw this they thanked
and praised God for his mercies and took their supper. And Ciaran of
Cluain took the child with him to Cluain-mac-Noise after he had been
blessed by Ciaran senior,"
There has been much speculation indulged in respecting the
origin and use of the ecclesiastical fire in ancient Ireland. The sacred
fire which was kept perpetually burning in the church of Kildare has
been dogmatically asserted to have been a remnant of Irish paganism ;
and the " blessed fire" preserved in the church of Saighir was, we are

171
told by another writer, kept burning according to the practice of the
Oriental or Greek church,^ But the same allegation would be equaUy
true of the Western or Latin Church all over Europe at the present
day, for the weU-knowu ceremomal of " The Blessing of the Fire" at
Easter is but the continuation of the ancient discipline. This cere
mony is now performed in the porch or entrance to the church on
Easter Eve, when tinder is ignited by fire struck from a flint. Prom
this charcoal is then kmdled, and from this the lamps of the church
are ultimately lighted, and are supposed to remain unextinguished
untu the " Maundy- Thursday" of the following Lent. The sacred
fires of the ancient Irish church were but the predecessors of the ec
clesiastical lamps of succeeding ages. The same sentiment which in
our time daily trims and feeds with oil the lamp of the sanctuary then
tended and fanned into flame the sacred embers as they smouldered
before the holy place in which reposed the reUcs of the samts or the
treasure of the Eucharist. The words attributed to St. Ciaran in the
legend, "We shaU have no fire m the chuxch till Easter unless God send
it," clearly imply that, Uke the present ecclesiastical practice, the
sacred fire was annually extinguished, to be newly enkindled at the
Easter solemnity. It is highly interestmg to find " The Blessing of
the Fire" formmg part of the Paschal ceremonies at that remote
period in Ireland.
The next anecdote in the legend furmshes another instance of the
singular reverence entertained in ancient Ireland for the Paschal Fire.
We shall here transcribe it without interruption :
" At another time a brother, or one of Ciaran's monks, whose name was
Baton, accidentaUy extinguished the fire ; but he did penance and received
absolution. And on that day St, Ruadhan of Lathrach came on a visit to
Ciai-an, and there was no fire before him in the monastery ; and Ciaran
went to a rock that was near at hand, and he blessed it, and the rock Ut
up at once ; and Ciaran took the rock in his hands and brought it in lit to
the house where the visitors were, and as Ruadhan saw this they glorified
and praised God and Ciaran."
Whether these two stories have any foundation in fact or other
wise, the moral of them is obviously to excite devout and reverential
awe for the Paschal fire, which had been then kept burmng in the
church of the monastery from one Easter to another. These miracles
1 " Greek Church," See " History, Antiquities, aud Architectiu-e of the
Cathedral Church of St. Canice," by Eev, James Graves," p, 6.

172
are thus beautUully commemorated in the Martyrology of Donegal at
the 5th of March.
" Countless were the signs and wonders which God performed on
earth tMough Mm [i.e. Ciaran]. It was he who used to order the stones to
kindle with a puff of his breath. It was he also that made fish, honey,
and oil out of the Uttle bit of meat in the time of the fast, when
Brenamn of Birr, and Ciaran of Cluain, came on a risit to him, together
with many other mu-acles. He used to be [immersed] in a vat of cold
water for the love of the Lord whom he loved. It was he that used to go
to the sea-rock that was far distant m the sea (where his nurse, i.e. Coca
was), -srithout ship or boat, and used to return agam, as appears from his
own IUe, chap, 19, Sixty years and three hundred was his age when he
resigned Ms spirit, Ciaran dedicated Ms congregation to God and to
Cartach," The following is the conclusion of the last anecdote : —
" The brother we have just mentioned, that is Batan, on another occa
sion spiUed a vessel of milk which he was bringing about ; but Ciaran
made the sign of the cross on the vessel and it became f uU again, and the
brother who spiUed it, i.e. Batan, and the rest of the bretM-en became
alarmed or got afraid of their master, Ciaran, and they became firm in the
faith, and performed good works ever after,"
It is not difficult to recognise in the respective subjects of the in
teresting narratives just now reviewed, an effort on the part of our
author to prolong the life of St, Ciaran, by introducing the saints of
the sixth century as his contemporaries and active collaborateurs in
the work of the mission. Those anecdotes are abruptly introduced
into the Life of our saint at a stage when his earthly career is fast
drawing to a close. They are inserted next after the return of Cartach
to Saighir, when Ciaran had attained his eighty- seventh year in this
world, and they immediately precede the solemn narrative of his death,
with neither of which events do they hold the remotest apparent connec
tion ; whence, as also from the intrinsic style and matter of those nar
ratives themselves, it would appear that they originally formed part of
some legend of St, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, which our author appro
priated and suited to his biography of the elder Ciaran, and are, in con
sequence, interpolated into his Life, and fumish no proof whatever that
he and anyone of the saints of the sixth century had been contem
poraries.

173
CHAPTEE XXIII.
ST, ciaran's three PETITIONS^HIS DEATH  ITS LOCALITY 
ITS DATE.
" Ciaran was on a certain day praying to the Lord, and an angel ap
peared unto Mm and said that the hour of his death was at hand, and he
asked tMee requests of God through the angel, and the angel granted him
what he wished. The first was that everyone who was buried m his
church and cathedi-al the gates of helP should be closed against him at the
day of judgment. The second request was, that whosoever should keep
holy Ms own [i.e. Ciaran's] day would not want the riches of this world,
nor the kingdom of heaven after death. The third request was, that the
tribe to which he belonged, i.e. tbe Ossorians, and to whom he was patron,
should never be vanquished in battle by a stronger tribe if they came un
justly to mvade their territory ; but that they [i.e. the Ossorians] were not
to make unjust mcursions amongst other tribes,"
The first of these three petitions is a request in favour of the
church of Saighir, the second is a prayer in favour of the saint him
seU, and the tMrd is a conditional request in favour of the people of
Ossory. The story of those three petitions, Uke the anecdotes which
immediately preceded it, " smell strongly of later times" than the date
of St. Ciaran's death, and were, no doubt, suggested by Bishop Cormac,
the " scribe of Saighir," first, to preserve the immumties of sepulture
with which the cemetery of SaigMr had been privilegd ; secondly, to
encourage a becoming reverence for the memory of St, Ciaran by a
religious observance of his festival day ; and thirdly, to remmd the
Ossorians, who were then probably troublesome neighbours, that they
were not to calculate on St, Ciaran's interposition in their favour if
they themselves make unjust inroads on their neighbour's estates.
Thus to the end of the Legend the " scribe of Saighir" attends to the
interests of his house.
" TMs holy man of whom we have spoken, viz,, Ciaran of Saighir,
1 " Gates of HeU." The llth Canon of the Synod held iu Christ's Church,
DubUn, in a d, 1186, prohibits, under pain of anathema, any person to bury in
a churchyard that had not been consecrated by a bishop ; upon which Canon
Dr. Lanigan thus comments : " The reason, or at least one of them, for passing
this decree, was probably to check the impertinence — for I cannot call it by a
better name — of certain monks who pretended that extraordinary, and, indeed,
monstrous privileges, were attached to burials in their cemeteries, or within
tbeir precincts, and that the persons there interred received wonderful advan
tages from that circumstance. Instances of such pretended and absurd pre
rogatives may be seen in the Life of St, Maedoc of Perns, and in the Life of
St, Ciaran of Saighir," Eoclestical History, vol, iv,, p, 273,

174
great was his humility in aU things, and he delighted in reading and hear
ing the holy scriptures read ; and he read and studied them to the hour of
Ms death. It is said of Mm that in Ms lifetime he and the other Irish
saints were educated by Finian' of Cluam-Iraird [Clonard], and that he
leamed wisdom and dirinity unsurpassable in that school, and that he was
named the daltha [the fosterer or favourite] of St, Finian, as were also
the other Irish samts caUed, and being then in his old age possessed of
great wisdom and learning, and as a revered bishop Ms anxiety was
chiefly to instruct others by teaching love, obedience, and wisdom,"
" Ciaran from Ms youth untU his death never tasted strong drmk, nor
did he wear warm or fine clothmg, nor did he indulge in feasts, or sleep
much.'' " He converted Ms own tribe, viz,, the Ossorians, to the OMistian faith,
and many more beside them ; and he was often risited by angels and a
large number of bishops and priests and the other orders of the chui-ch,
and an angel bmlt a holy well for him, in which many diseases and in
firmities are cured by its water, and its name is Ciaran's well."
" Thirty years Ciaran spent in the service of God before he was bap
tized, and on getting infirm by old age and sickness, he saw the hour of
death approaching, and he collected his flock and parishioners from all
quarters around him, and he blessed them and exhorted them to keep holy
the commandments of God ; and he then received the holy sacra
ment in presence of a choir of holy men, on the 3rd of the nones of
the month of March, in peace with God ; and he dismissed his people, and
there were thirty bishops, who were consecrated by Ms own hands, with
God's permission, accompanying him that very night to heaven."
TMs quotation comprises the four last paragraphs in the Legend
of St. Ciaran's biography. The two flrst are sketches of Ms manner
of Ufe, Ms piety, humility, abstemiousness, and mortified habits from
his youth to his death. The tMrd contains an indirect reference to
the place to which he retired before his death. Tet, without giring
its name, the last paragraph is a description of the manner of Ms
death and departure out of this world.
It must be granted that our author's sketch of the closing scene
in St. Ciaran's Ufe is but a meagre outUne of so important an event ;
1 " Educated by Finian," The school of St, Finian of Clonard, was not
opened tiU a,d, 544, St, Ciaran was eighty years old in a,d, 455, when St,
Patrick visited him at Saiphir ; hence, he should be one hundred and sixty-nine
years old at the opening of Finian's school. It is not then surprising that our
author should say of him that " he was theu in his old age, &c." See above
pp. 37, 152, et seq.

175
yet, it is sufficiently explicit to disprove the assertion, so often
advanced, that Ciaran in his old age retired to CornwaU,i where
he departed this life, and was made to repose beneath the
church of " Perranzabuloe." But are we to believe on no authority
that this venerable old man, who confined his mission during a life
long career to his own tribe and territory, would now, with aU his
domestic and missionary attachments, and in nearly the ninetieth year
of his age, forsake the scenes of his life and the fruits of his labours
for a foreign land, with which he had no connection, and there erect a
stone church at a period when neither the use of the arch or of lime
cement had been known in Ireland ?
The author of the legend appears through special design to have
left unnamed the locality of St, Ciaran's death. Had he departed this
IUe in Saighir, or had that church been enriched with the treasure of
his reUcs, so important an event would not fail to have been recorded
in its favour. That he did die there dare not be affirmed, as it would
be positively untrue. That the rival church of Ossory possessed that
privilege could not have been granted, as it would detract from the
prestige claimed by the author for Ms own church at Saighir ; and
thus both the name and locality of the church which was last hon
oured by the presence of St, Ciaran in this world, are designedly
ignored by his biographer. But in the paragraph already referred to,
the author implies that the death of the saint occurred elsewhere than
at SaigMr, and as this passage wiU help to guide us to the locaUty of
the final scene of his Ulustrious career, we shall, even at the risk of
being tedious, here agam transcribe it : —
" He [Ciaran] converted his own tribe, riz., the Ossorians, to the
Christian faith, and many more besides them ; and he was often visited
by angels, and by a large number of bishops and priests, and other orders
of the church. And an angel built a holy well for him, in which many dis
eases and infirmities are cured by its water, and its name is Ciaran's well."
This passage alleges first, that St, Ciaran converted his own
tribe, the Ossorians, and many others to the Christian faith. The
object of introducing this point at tMs stage of his IUe was appa
rently to show why he retired to his own tribe before his death ;
secondly, in the place to which he retired he was honoured by the
I " Cornwall," so stated, amongst others, by Alban Butler at the Sth of
March.

176
conversation of angels, and was visited by bishops, priests, &c., from
other churches ; and thirdly, in this place to which he retired an
angel bmlt a holy well for him, and the name of that well is " Ciaran's
well," and its waters are celebrated for their curative efficacy.
If St, Ciaran resided at Saighir till the period of his death an angel
would not be required to build a weU for his use, as he had there " his
own well," the fountain " Saighir," which he had blessed and changed
into wine only a few years previously. Hence it is clear that St, Ciaran
had retired from that well before Ms death, and in the place to which
he retired a new fountain gushes forth through the agency of an
angel ; and our author significantly adds, the name of that fountain is
" Ciaran's well," and apparently so named by him in contradistinction
to the more celebrated fountain of " Saighir." Where, then, did the
angel build this well ? If we can discover its locality we shall have
arrived at the place whence our saint had departed for heaven. The only
well bearing the name of St. Ciaran that we read of (except his well
at Saighir) was situated in the immediate vicmity of the King of
Ossory's mansion-place, where Ciaran had spent the morning of his
life, and where he would naturally seek for repose in his declining
years. It is recorded in the " White Book of Ossory"^ that Hugh
Rufus, the first English bishop of that see, granted by charter to the
Earl Mareschal, the land extending from " Cotteral's-bridge, over the
Bregach river, to St, Kenerock's (i.e. St. Ciaran's) well ;" and on the
land thus obtained the Earl erected the Franciscan Abbey, and en
dowed it with the ground received from the bishop. At the suppres
sion of the religious houses, in the reign of Henry VIII., St. Francis'
Abbey and its lands became vested in the Corporation of Kilkenny.
In a Corporate rental^ of a.d, 1688, William Jackson is entered as
tenant for " a waste m St, Kieran's well,'' and we find at the present
day that the boundary of the property which reverted to the Corpora
tion from the Franciscan Abbey, is formed by the stream of water
which runs to the river from the well in the yard of the aristocratic
and ancient mansion in King- street, now in the occupation of Mr. James
Gregory, which enables us to identify that very beautiful and copious
spring as the St. Kenerock's well of six hundred and fifty years ago,
1 " White Book of Ossory," as quoted by Eev. James Graves in History,
Antiquities, and Architecture, Cathedral Church of St. Canice, p, 31, n, 6,
2 " Eental," One of the Laffan papers published by Ledwich, " History
of Irishtown and Kilkenny," p. 439.

177
and, apparently, the well said to have been built by the angel
for St. Ciaran's use. There was also a church of St, Ciaran near this
well, for in Bishop Otway's " Visitation Book,"i compiled about the
middle of the seventeenth century, mention is made to, as being still
standmg, "the old chapel near Kyrock's well," This well was also
celebrated for its miraculous efficacy, Ledwich, who wrote towards
the end of the last century, thus observes, sarcasticaUy, respecting a
spring of water in this neighbourhood : — " It was famous heretofore
for its miraculous cures, and still preserves some degree of credit."^
This, then, was the well built by an angel, in which many diseases and
infirmities are cured, " and its name is Ciaran's well," To the neigh
bourhood of this well the saint retired, after having resigned the go
vernment of Ms church and community to Cartach, Here, on the
brink of tMs crystal fountam, and amidst the refreshing scenes of Ms
boyhood, this venerable bishop invested his own tribesmen in their
baptismal robes, so that from the abundance of the blessings im
parted tMough the medium of its waters future generations would
hold it in such reverence as to have it built by an angel, and its
waters to be imbued with heaUng virtues.
It has been already stated that the palace of the kings of
Ossory stood on the site of the present Castle of Kilkenny, and
in the immediate ricinity of the well which had been built by
the angel for St. Ciaran's use. The regulus who occupied that
mansion at the period of the samt's retirement from Saighir was Con
cruidhe, a matemal relative of Ciaran's, and the same faithful convert
who had recourse to Mm for counsel when solicited to commit sin
by Eithne Vathach at the banquet, and of whom see above p, 148 It
was to the hospitable home of tMs prmce that St, Ciaran retired m
1 "Visitation Book," quoted by the Eev, James Graves, "History, &c,.
Cathedral Church of St, Canice," p, 31.
2 "Credit," "Ledwich's Antiquities of Irishtown and Kilkenny," The
writer applies those observations to what he calls St, Francis' well, a fine
spring, or rather pond of water, near the Franciscan Abbey, which has been
generaUy used for bathing purposes during the summer season. I have been
informed by some of the oldest natives of Kilkenny that this spring or pond had
never been regarded as a " holy weU," nor is it referred to as such except by
Ledwich, But St, Ciaran's well, in the same piece of ground, and which was
to form its southern boundary, must have been held in veneration from the
time of the saint himself, especially as down to so late a date his " old chappie"
was standing on its brink; but this chapel having been demolished and the
well enclosed witMn private premises, the traditions of its ancient fame
were transferred to another well in the abbey grounds by Ledwich, who knew
almost nothing of either the topography or the ecclesiology of Kilkenny.
W

178
his old age, and here in the bosom of his own tribe he saw, with com
posure, the hour of his death approaching. Here he was visited by
angels, bishops, priests, and other ecclesiastics, and having coUected
his muntnir, i.e. Ms tribe or parishioners, around him, bestowed on
them Ms final benediction, and then, attended by thirty bishops, who
had received episcopal consecration at his hands, he calmly resigned
his spUit on the 6th day of the month of March.
When St. Ciaran resigned the government of his church at
Saighir, in the year 462, he had attained the eighty-seventh year of his
age. But few years, indeed, could have intervened between that event
and the date of his death ; yet, it appears that IUe was spared him for
some further period, as our author tells us that it was now the angel
built Mm the holy weU, at which he was frequently visited by bishops,
priests, and other ecclesiastics. If we aUow him a prolongation of his
IUe for three years from the date of his retirement he would attain
the ninetieth year of his age, and depart this life in a.d. 466. Ac
cordmg to the Ajinals of Innisfallen^ St. Patrick died on the 16th of
1 " Annals of Innisfallen," " The date of St, Patrick's death," writes
Lamgan, "is cli^arly laid down iu a copy of the Annals of Innisfallen, This
copy assigns the death of St, Patrick to the 432nd year after the passion of our
Lord — a date which exactly corresponds to a,d, 465, according to the system of
Bede and others, who have affixed the passion to the year 33 of the Cliristiau
era," He gives this extract in a foot note " Quies Patricii, 16 Kal ApriUs Anno
432nd a passions Domini." See Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, Vol, i,, p.
361 and seq.
In the Book of Armagh, as quoted both by Dr, Todd and the now
Most Eev, Dr, Moran : " Prom the passion of Christ to the death of Patrick are
in all ccccxxxvi years," According to this authority our Apostle would have
ended his earthly caret r in a,d, 469, four years after the date assigned for it in
the Annals of Innisfallen, Dr, Keating quotes a ran from au " ancient poet of
good authority" to show that " for one-and-sixty years" Patrick preached to the
Irish, The Most Eev. Dr, Moran quotes and illustrates the Chronicle of
Marianus Scotus to show against Dr, Lanigan's views that our Apostle preached
not forty but sixty year.s in Ireland, and quotes the following from the very high
•authority of Fiach's hymn : —
" He [Patrick] preached for three-score years
The crucifixion of Christ, to the tribes of the Fein."
(" Early Irish Church," p, 56, et seq), from all which it has been argued
that as the preaching of our Apostle commenced iu a,d, 432, and as it lasted ioi
sixty years, it must have terminated in 492-3, which year has been accordingly
fixed on for that of his death. But we are to understand this statement about the
" sixty years" in the same light as all our Hagiologists understand Eric of
Auxerre in his Life of St, Germanus, where he says — " Patrick was the Chief
Apostle of Ireland, and spent fouHeen years under the most holy tutorship of
Germanus," Our Apostle could not spend fourteen years under the tutorship
of the Bishop of Auxerre, as he had been seven out of the fourteen iu the island
of Lerins, But the writer intended .the fourteen years to count from a,d, 418,
when Patrick flrst placed himself under the guidance of that bishop to the year

179
the calends of April, in the year 432 from the passion of our Lord,
which is precisely equivalent to a,d, 466, the same year as we have
just arrived at as the date of St. Ciaran's death, which presents us
with the most interestmg coincidence yet noted m the missionary re
lationship between the two saints. As we advanced through the
several stages of tMs inquiry, we have been frequently excited to
admire the marvellous way in which Providence had so often inter
woven the salient epochs in the IUe of our saint with those in that of
the Irish apostle ; and here we find the same Providence which through
IUe rendered the prmcipal actions of each common to both, now pre
serving a jSunUar coincidence in their mutual departures from this
world in the same month of the one year. Ciaran yielded up his
spirit in Ms ninetieth year ou the Sth of March, and Patrick Ms
soul m his seventy-sixth year on the 17th day of the same month, Ac
cordmg to the " old LUe" of St. Ciaran " Kmg Aengus and his Queen
feU in the battle of CiU Osnaigh on the Sth of the Ides of October,
and St, Patrick died m the same year."i Thus the three great men,
Aengus, the first Christian King of Munster, Patrick, the Apostle of
432, when he departed from him on his mission to Ireland, and in the same way
our most ancient writers understood his having " preached sixty years to the
Irish," In it they include the period of his captivity, which commenced iu
A.D, 405, sixty years from which brings us to the year 465 as the date of his
death, precisely the same to which the Annals of Innisfallen assign for the de
parture of our iUustrious Apostle for Heaven, Dr. Todd accepts of 493 as the
date of our Apostle's death, and for the very clear reason, which he does not
attempt to conceal, that it enables him to disprove with more felicity, the arri
val of St. Patrick in Ireland so early as a,d, 432, But the almost concurrent
testimony of ancient and modern writers place the opening of St, I'atiick's
mission in A n, 432, with which it must be conceded it is not easy to reconcile
his depaiture out of this Ufe in 493, as he should in that case have attained 104
years at the time of his death. This, however, is possible but not probable.
The authorities now quoted, and the conclusion thence arrived at, are ad
vanced with due deference and respect for the high authorities who hold the
contrary views ; but as the subject is freely discussed from various standpoints,
and by writers of several shades of religious opinion, readers who desire to see
the various dates assign.ed by the many different writers for the death of the
Irish Apostle fuUy investigated, may consult Dr, Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
History, Vol, i,, chap, vii,; Dr, Todd's " St, Patrick," chap, in,, p, 494 et seq. j
and the Most Eev, Dr, Moran's " Early Irish Church," p, 99, et seq.
J "And St, Patrick died in the same year," The sixty years that our
Apostle is said to have " preached to the Irish" being erroneously made to com
mence in A.r>, 432, the date of the opening of his mission, instead of in 465, the
date of his first journey to Ireland, has deranged the entire chronology in both
the civil and ecclesiastical history of Ireland for the last half of the fifth cen
tury, as every event connected with or depending on the departure of our saint
has been thrown forward and forced to harmonize with it in time, thus making
the Apostle's death succeed matters which should necessarily succeed it. Dr.
Lanigan argues the case thus : " The Tripartite, after relating how Benignus,
when a boy, became a pupil of the saint, introduces the labter, saying, " He will
be the heir of my power ; that is, he will be after me the supreme moderator of

]80
Erin, and Ciaran, the " first-born of the saints of Ireland," took their
departure for heaven m this same year of our Lord, 465.
Of course the conclusion just arrived at is entirely dependent on the
case of Ciaran haring survived by tMee years the retum of Cartach to
Saighir. That he did survive that event for some time we have seen
good reason for concluding ; that he lived for a longer period than three
years is improbable, as he was then mnety years old ; but our samt may
have Uved but one or two years after the return of Cartach, in any one
of which cases we have traced his departure out of this world to within
one or two years — if not to the actual year — in which St. Patrick and
King Aengus closed respectively their earthly careers.
the Irish Church, " Then it adds, " And that prophesy was proved by the
event ; for he became afterwards so distinguished by his learning and miracles
that in the opinion of aU persons he was judged worthy of succeeding his master
(St, Patrick) in the Archbishopric of Armagh and Primacy of Ireland," " Here
we find," adds Lanigan, " Benignus called the heir of St, Patrick, and the saint
foretelUng his appointment, not appointing him, and the opinion or judgment of
others mentioned as the immediate cause of Ms promotion." Now, St, Benean,
or Benignus, died, according to the Four Masters, in a,d, 467 ; aud yet, iu the
same annals, we have the death of our Apostle recorded at a,d, 493 — twenty-
three years after the death of his sucressor in the same Church, In the same
way, and by the same rule as Aengus Mae Nadhfrach fell in the same year iu
which St, Patrick died, it was necessary to throw forward the battle of Kil-
losuadh, in which he was slain, to accommodate it in point of time with the date
of St, Patrick's death ; but if that event occurred in a.d 493, it is absolutely
impossible, in the ordinary course of nature, that Aengus MacNadhfrach could
be then alive. In his pedigree quoted above, paf;e 11, he dcceuds iu the fifth
degree from Lughaidh MacConn, Lughaidh was slain in the year 253, five
descents from which, at 30 years to each, make 150 years, which, being added to
253, bring us to Aengus MacNadfrach as a full-grown man in the year 400, with
which it is impossible to reconcile a.d, 493 as the date of his death in battle ;
aud a very important piece of evidence in support of this conclusion is suppUed
by the fact that the battle of KiUosnadh is recorded in one of the poems of
Dubhtach Mac Ui Lugair, This personage was Olmadli, or CMef Druid to King
Leoghaire Ma;NeiU, and was converted to the Christian faith by St, Patrick on
the occasion of Ms first visit to Tara in the year 433, Now, to be an OUnadh,
or doctor of laws to the chief monarch of the nation, would require a man to be
venerable in both years and aspect, and for these quaUfications fifty years of age
would be necessarily required ; and if Dubhtach (Duffy) had attained that age
in 433, the date of his conversion, he would be 110 years in 493, the date assigned
for the battle of KiUosnadh, at which period of life — even if he had attained it
— it is preposterous to suppose he would be capable of indicting Ms historical
rans. But as the battle of KiUosnadh was fought in the same year in which St.
Patrick died, and as, according to the authorities quoted in the preceding note
that event occurred in the year 465, Dubhtach, who records it, would be then
about eig:hty years old. Hence it could not have taken place so late as 493 —
twenty-eight years after, as he would be then about a hundred and ten years.
But as the "Old Life of St, Ciarau" tells us this battle was fought in the same
year in which St, Patrick died, we can safely conclude that this great engage
ment between the Mummonian and Lagenian forcts was fought at Kellistown,
in the now county of Carlow, iu the year 465, Por the poems of Dubhtach Mac
Ui Leugair we are indebted to the Eev, J, P, Shearman, who first gave them to
us, with translation aud notes, in the " Journal of the Eoyal Historical and
Archseological Society," Vol, in,, fourth series, pp, 24-183.

ST. CIAMN OF OSSOEY :
A MEMOIR or HIS LIFE AND TIMES.
PART THIRD.

MEMORIALS OF ST. CIARAN.

CHAPTER I.
TULLAHEEIN, THE TULACH OE TUMULUS OF CIABAN.
That the mounds of earth, named Tulach, so numerous over the
face of the country, were tumuli or sepulchral memorials, is very
clearly established by the following passage from the Book of
Rights, pp. 36-37 :—
The Kmg of Munster, on the occasion of his royal excursion through
the island, having passed tMough Connaught and Tir-ConaU, and paid Ms
respects to the kings of those territories, next entered the province of
Tir-Eoghan, and the bard thus records his munificence to its territorial
chief : — " Thirty drinkmg horns and thirty swords,
Thu-ty red steeds [fit] for the road.
To the man who has the green tumulus,
To the chief of the green Tulaeh-og."
Here tbe verdant mound of TuUaghoge, on which the O'Neills were
used to be crowned, is denominated " the green tumulus," which con
clusively proves that the compUer of the " Book of Rights" understood
the Irish word Tulach as substantially identical with the Latin word
tumulus. The reservation naturally peculiar to St, Ciaran's character.

182
which influenced him to avoid the display and pomp of public life,
and which confined Mm almost exclusively during his missionary
career within the Umits of his own territory and monastery, mduced
Mm, in his decUning years, to retire from Ms community in order to
end his earthly joumey in seclusion, and apparently unknown, to aU
save his own relatives and tribesmen, from which circumstance various
writers have arrived at very different conclusions respecting the place
and time of his demise. We have seen above, p, 163, n. 1, that St. Odhran
retired from the cares of his monastery to a secluded valley, where,
having closed Ms earthly journey unknown to his disciples, his bio
grapher assumed that he had ascended into heaven ; and in centuries
later we find his name associated with his tumulus under the title of
Tulach-Odhran, anglicised TuUaroan. In a simUar manner Ciaran
appears to have retired from public life on the return of Cartach from
his pilgrimage, when he committed the care of his community to his
favourite disciple, and, unknown to his disciples, took his departure
out of life, whence some held him to be still living three hundred
years after his death. Others said he retired to Wales, where he
founded the several churches that there still retain Ms name. Colgan
says that Saighir is nowhere mentioned as the place of his death •} and
the author ofthe Egerton MS,, quoted by Right Rev, Dr, Moran,^ says
that he directed his disciples before his death to bury him in a secret
place unknown to all but themselves,
Ciaran was most probably, if not most certainly, the first
bishop that had been buried in the territory of Ossory, That
many of his clansmen had been advanced to Holy Orders, and
some of them even to the episcopacy, is certain ; but those pri
mitive ecclesiastics being strongly wedded to ancient national cus
toms, and having no idea of the solemn ceremonial with which the
church on the Continent then honoured the mortal remains of
its bishops after death, and equally ignorant of the stately mau
soleums of (rreece and Rome, they paid to the remains of their first
bishop such respect as their national usages taught — they laid him
to repose according to the ritual of his fathers ; and raised over his
grave such memorial as had been erected to the memory of the most
1 " Place of his death," See the several views entertained on this point
by various writers in Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. ii.. p. 9, and
notes 29, 30.
J " Dr, Moran." See " Inaugural Address," p. 6.

183
distinguished personages amongst his ancestors. If they inscribed
an Ogham on his grave it has never since been deciphered, nor does
any scroU exist to record the place of his sepulchre. But monumental
history often supplies evidence where written testimony is silent.
The great ancestor of Ciaran, Leoghaire Birn, from whom his tribe re
ceived the name of " The Dal Birn of Ossory," had his memorial heap
erected, and under the name of Tulach -Birn, perpetuates his memory
to the present day, Ruman-Duach, the grandfather of Ciaran,- and
the most illustrious of his ancestors, had also built over his grave his
monumental pile, i.e. Tulach Odagh, the site of which is still asso
ciated with his name, St, Ciaran was a prince of the same blood,
and his burial was after the manner of his ancestors. Over his grave
his tribesmen piled up his memorial heap, which, slightly modified
in name, comes down to us under the anglicised form of TuUaherin.
In anglicising Irish compound words the initial letter of the second
member of the combination is often, if not generally, eclipsed or
crushed out of sound in the pronunciation, as in Eilie O'Fogarty,
which is anglicised Eliogarty, In Cill Dalua the D is aspirated, and
the word is pronounced Killaloe. In Cill Finnchi, or the church of
St, Finnchi (of whom see p, 109 above) the F in the saint's name retains
its full sound so long as it remains an independent word, but by some
law in the Irish language, when it becomes amalgamated with the
prefix Cill, thus " Cillfinnchi," the f becomes mute, the h modifies the
c at the end of the word, and both the orthograjjhy and pronunciation
then become Killiney, the name of the well-known to-wuland near Kells,
in this county. Lastly, in the word Tulach Odhran, the h moi tifies
the c in Tulach and the d in Odhran, and the initial o in the latter
word being rendered mute by the law already noticed, Tulach Odhran
becomes TuUaroan.^ In the word Ciaran the C is sounded sharp, like
the English K, but when the name becomes united to a prefix the 0 in
some cases becomes mute, as in the following passage from the Annals
of the Four Masters at a,d. 1163 :
" Maelchiarain, Chief Senior of the men of Meath — died,"
In this word Maelchiarain, the c is punctuated, and the h is
introduced into the translation, which mortifies the c, leaving the
J " TuUaroan." Ballyroan, a townland and parish in the Queen's County,
comes from Baile- Odhran, i.e. Odhranstown. This Odhran or Oran was a chief
tain of Luoighis or Leix, in the tenth century. See Annals of the Four Masters,
A.D, 931.

184
pronunciation Maelhiarin ; and we have it on the high authority of
Dr. O'Donovan^ that the Irish name " Maelchiaran" is now pro
nounced Mulherin, and in the same way and by a similar law Tulach-
cirain, bemg thus punctuated, the c in Tulach becomes mute by the
introduction of the h, and the c in Chiaran being crushed out of
sound by the h also, or rendered mute by its union with its prefix
Tulach, as found operating in the cases above, Tulach "Chiarain
becomes TuUaherin, the name of one of the most interesting ecclesias
tical foundations in the diocese of Ossory.
TuUaherin gives name to a parish and townland in the barony of
Gowran, seven Irish miles from Kilkenny, Of this ancient founda
tion no memorial exists, save what, in addition to the beautiful
cluster of its ruins, is implied in the etymology of its name, viz.,
the tulach or tumulus of Ciaran. The church and round tower
stand on a gentle eminence in a swampy field, and nearly cen
tral in the townland and parish of the same name. Like most
of our early ecclesiastical establishments nothing is known of the
history of this once important institution. There can, however, be
scarcely a doubt that from the day on which St, Ciaran was laid to
repose beneath this m.mnd his name and memory were venerated
here, and that from this sentiment his clients erected on this tulach,
consecrated by the presence of his relics, the beautiful group of ec
clesiastical buildings, the remains of which, now sobered down by
age, are so highly picturesque in aspect when observed from any
stand-point in the surrounding country. The " Patron" of St,
Ciaran had been annually observed here on the Sunday next following
the Sth of March from the suppression of the church to about thirty
years since.
The use of the tulach or sepulchral mound being of Pagan origin,
was generally discontinued after the establishment of Christian ceme
teries in Ireland, and hence the word, when found in combination with
the names of our saints, is found only so with the names of such as
died in the earliest days of Christianity in Ireland. St, Ciaran was
the mormng star that ushered in the dawn of that auspicious day, and
having taken his departure from the midst of his tribe ere its sun had
I "O'Donovan," See "Life aud Times of Cathal Crobhdherg," with trans
lation, by John O'Daly, and notes by John O'Donovan, " Transactions of the
Kilkenny and South-east of Ireland Archseological Society," 1858, p. 340, n. 5.

185
risen aboye the horizon, his kinsmen piled over his mortal remains the
tulach of ancient usage, which, becommg locally associated with his
name, has come down to us the uninscribed memorial of his last resting
place on earth. There, over it, still stands an Ogham stone^ of pre-historic
times. Could we decipher its scoria we would probably have the
record of Ciaran's repose. There, too, stands one of our mysterious
round towers, draped in the mystic associations of ancient Ireland.
There, too, stand the remams of an ancient Irish church, its walls now
fast crumbling to ruin, yet, in the subdued grandeur of decay, shed
ding an air of solemn romance on the scene. There, too, have come
from time immemorial, with the annual return of St, Ciaran's day, the
faithful Celtic pilgrim crowd to implore at his grave the prayers of the
" Brimogenitus sanctorum SibernicB."
1 " Ogham Stone." See an engraving of this Ogham, with detailed des
cription of its outUnes, situation, &c, by the late Mr. J, Gr. A. Prim, Also an
engraving of same monument, with an attempt to read and translate its inscrip
tion by Mr, W. WilUams, of Dungarvan, Transactions of Kilkenny and South-
East of Ireland Archseological Society, New Series, a,d. 1854, p, 86, id, 1856-7,
p. 330, As to Mr, WUliams's reading and translation of the Scoria I am not
qualified, and, therefore, will not presume to offer an opinion on the subject;
but the page referred to for Mr, WUliams's paper wiU go far to conrince an
enquirer that Mr. WUUams Hmself is not over sanguine onthe point.

186
CHAPTER II.
SEIRKIEEATf — ITS AFFLUENCE, DISCIPLINE, AND DECADENCE.
Saighir Ciaran, or, as it is now anglicised, Seirkieran, is situated
in the barony of Ballybrit, four Irish miles east of Birr, and not far
from the south-western extremity of the Slieve-Bloom mountains.
King's County. It gives name to a parish which, though insulated by
the diocese of Killaloe, is yet under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Ossory. The church of Saighir was the principal foundation, and has
been the most illustrious memorial of the life and mission of St.
Ciaran ; and was at one period not inferior in either the number of its
community or the extent of its possessions to most of the monastic
institutions of its age m Ireland. This church attained the culminat
ing point in its history towards the middle of the Mnth century, when
the biography of St. Ciaran was being compiled. So rich was
this house at that time in the good thmgs of tMs world that the
writer of the Life found it necessary, in extenuation of its mundane
aspect, to attribute its wealth to the blessing which St. Ciaran, of Clon
macnoise, pronounced upon Saighir when, on takmg his leave of St.
Ciaran Senior, he thus bade him fareweU : " Let the result of my
blessing be riches and much treasure and wealth m your tovm for
ever."i Rich, indeed, SaigMr then was in worldly affluence. The " Barcon
Ciaran" had then attamed the zenith of its reputation, being univer
sally honoured throughout Ireland, as it was borne in solemn pro
cession, to be sworn on by princes to keep fealty with each other, to
sound the excommunication of delinquents for perjury and treason, to
defend the poor from oppression, and to sanction the collection of the reve
nues due to the monastery,^ Exceptionally favoured was SaigMr also at
that time in the sepulchral immunities of its Cathedral, which, in conse
quence of the promise of the angel to have the gates of hell closed at
the judgment day against the admission of whomsoever should have
been interred within its precincts, became the burial place of the most
distinguished personages in the nation. In a.d, 974 Donnchadh, King
of Ossory, was there laid to repose with the most solemn pomp and
1 " For ever." See above p, 160.
J " Monastery," See above chapter in,, p. 15, et seq.

187
grandeur.^ Rich also was Saighir then in landed possessions, for,
besides the " monastery, rents, and the emoluments arising from mter-
ments" conferred on St. Ciaran by Dima, Chief of the Dal Fiachra,
the commumty were also in possession of the lands called Rath
finntuoin, and Leim-Eitile (see pp. 120-147), which appear to have
been farms contiguous to the monastery. Rich also was Saighir in
its flocks of sheep and herds of swine, in milch cows and draft oxen.
Fifty horses were daily employed in tillage, and a great booly'^ was
attached to the monastery for the rearing of calves, havmg ten in
temal compartments or stalls, and as many external approaches. The
daily employment of the monks is not specified, but after their reli
gious exercises it must have consisted prmcipally in agricultural and
other manual labours. These obscure men were the pioneers of a
future civiUzation. They cleared the plains of wood, and rendered
them fit for tillage and pasture ; they spanned the rivers with bridges,
and cut roads through mountams, forests, and other inaccessible re
gions. There is still existing in the County of Kilkenny the remams
of a great roadway which at one time connected the northern and
southern extremities of the ancient Ossory, and which is traditionally
said to have been originally constructed by St. Ciaran and his scholars
from Saighir. (For an account of this road see below chapter VI,)
Though the church of SaigMr enjoyed an abundance of the bless
ings of IUe, the commumty Uved in the practice of an austere discipline.
In the depth of winter, when the ground was covered with snow, there
was no fire in the monastery except the sacred embers of the Paschal
Fire, which was kept constantly buming in the church, and from which,
towards evening, a fire was kmdled in the community room before the
monks assembled for supper.^ The use of flesh meat was not inter
dicted except on fasting days. Those days are not named except as
" the time of the fast," which we may imderstand of Lent, during
which flesh was entirely forbidden. Tet it would appear that the
abbot enjoyed the privilege of dispensmg with the fast on certain
1 " Grandem-," Por an account of his interment, see History, Antiquities,
and ArcMtecture of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, p, 8, n,b,
2 " Great Booley," See the Scholiast on Aengus, i.e. Cathal Maguire at
the 5th March, Acta SS,, p, 471.
3 " Assembled for supper," This is clearly stated above in p, 170, where it
is said, " Aud it was by this holy flre that the fire of the monastery was every
night lit."

188
occasions.! On fasting days, fish, oil, and porridge (which are des
cribed as deUcacies) were used. Wine was also aUowed,^ even in
fasting times, but was apparently confined to occasions when visi
tors were residing in the monastery. This monastery was a house
of great hospitaUty, and how parsimoMous soever the inmates may
have fared themselves, their cellar was stored vrith wme, and their
ceUarer was an officer who occupied Mmself with the entertainment of
guests. Aengus, Kmg of Munster, and another king named OUiole,
of Cashel, with their armies, were sumptuously entertained at this
monastery,^ The church of Saighir was an asylum for learmng and for
learned men. The two bishops Cormac,* were abbots of this
church, and have been esteemed learned men and distinguished
scribes. Aedh Ui Raithnen was also abbot here. He died a,d. 920.
He is described as the " old sage of Ireland and vrise man of
Saighir,"^ and the abbot, Cormac Ua Cillane, is denominated " a ,
bishop and a man of great age, and was in universal estima
tion, as weU for his extensive knowledge as his tmly exemplaiy
piety."^ He died in a,d. 794. This was also a retreat of pious seclu
sion from the world, where chieftains and warriors sought repose from
the fatigues and turbulence of IUe. In a.d. 961 Fearghal, son of
CeaUach, died here after his pilgrimage." The decadence of Saighir
dates from the year 842, when it was first sacked and plundered by the
Danes. The commumty, however, soon recovered from the effects of tMs
raid, for we fibnd the succession of its abbots and learned men pre
served uninterrupted during the following century. In the year 962
Seirkieran was plundered, its walls levelled to the ground, and its
' "Certain occasions." This appears to be the meaning of St, Ciaran
commanding his servant to prepare the meat for dinner, as it was the only food
to be had in the monastery, I am sure that in many other places than Ireland
the heads of great monastic estabUshments enjoyed the privUege of dispensing
with the fast; especiaUy if there was no other food than flesh meat in the house,
and that strangers were to be entertained. See above p, 168,
2 "Wine was aUowed," This would appear to be the case from what we
are told above in p, 168, " That by God's grace all the vessels in the house
were fiUed with Hghly flavoured wines for the saints' dinner."
3 "At tMs monastery," See accounts given above in pages 151-159, See
also Eev, James Graves's " History, Antiquities, aud Architecture of St, Oanice's
Cathedral Church," Section First, on Seu-kieran.
4 " Cormac," One of those was author of the Legend of St. Ciaran's Life,
of whom see above p, 16,
5 " Wi^e man of Saighir." Prom Four Masters, a,d,, 920.
8 " Piety." Four Masters, a,d. 794.

3 89
monastery bumed to ashes by the men of Munster. From the effects
of this dilapidation Seirkieran never regained its former strength.
Twenty-one years after this assault the cemetery of Saighir was still
an open, unprotected common, which so grieved Sabdh, Queen of Donn
chadh, then monarch of Ireland, on finding the graves of her ancestors
without an enclosure to save them from desecration, that in a,d, 973
she procured workmen out of Meath to enclose the cemetery with a
wall, part of which is stiU in existence there,i But, notwithstanding
the royal patronage thus bestowed on Seirkieran, the monastery ap
pears from tMs downwards to have gradually fallen into decay, Tet
the succession in its abbots, though probably often interrupted,
stiU preserved tMough the various vicissitudes of foreign invasions
and of internecine strifes an almost unbroken chain of ecclesiastics
from its foundation dovm to the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.
In the course of this essay it became, in the interest of truth, an im
perative duty to denude this venerable locality of much of its fabled
prestige ; but now, by way of restitution, we have to record that from
this church of Saighir is derived one of the most esteemed prero
gatives enjoyed by the church of Ossory at the present day.
Notwithstanding all that has been written to the contrary, there
is not a shadow of evidence existing m history to show that the
ecclesiastics of Seirkieran at any time exercised or enjoyed jurisdiction
over any other church in Ossory, or that any translation of ecclesiastical
authority, episcopal or otherwise, from Seirkieran to Aghaboe, ever
took place. It is, indeed, true that amongst all the churches of
Ossory, in that of Seirkieran the ecclesiastical succession from St.
Ciaran was alone preserved. The " Coarbh of Ciaran," in the church
of Saighir, was the legal representative and heir-at-law to the tem
poral possessions, immunities, and privileges of the founder, Donald
O'Fogharty was the last "Coarbh of Ciaran"^ recorded in the Irish annals.
He assisted at the Council of Kells in a,d. 1162. He was there raised
to the episcopate of Ossory by the assembled prelates, and he being
the legal representative of St. Ciaran, and heir-at-law to the tem-
j " Existence there," See above p, 17.
2 "Coarbh of Ciaran," He was apparently one of the flve "bishops-elect"
who, with twenty-two bishops, assisted at that council, where he is designated
" Vicar-General, Bishop of Ossory," Keating's History of Ireland— Carson's
edition. Book ii,, p. 104, Ware's Bishops at "Ossory' denominates him
" Coarbh of Ciaran," and quotes an " ancient manuscript" as his authority.

190
poralities of his church, was by that act constituted the connecting
link which united together in an unbroken chain the future bishops
of Ossory with the ancient successors of St. Ciaran in the church of
Saighir, and through them with the saint himseU, the founder and
patriarch of this the most ancient church in Ireland.
The cemetery of Sierkieran consists of about an acre of ground.
Its boundary wall is for the most part extremely ancient, and is be
lieved to retain some portions of the septam erected in the tenth
century by Sabdh, the queen of King Donnchadh. A small stone-
roofed turret still stands in the cemetery which has been set down by a
writer in the "DubUn Penny Journal" to have been, in ancient times,
the depository of the sacred fire which constantly burned in the mo
nastery, and is still called by the local inhabitants, the " Fire Tower ;"
but Mr. Grraves tells us that this building is comparatively modern,
the existence of a tier of shot-holes proving it to have been erected
after the introduction of firearms. At a short distance south-east of the
church, St. Ciaran's weU is shown under an old ash tree. It is not, as
far as can be discovered, the source of any stream ; nor has it any
means of egress, but is apparently stagnant ; yet, strange to say, it
possesses the most deUcious freshness through all seasons of the year.
On BeU Hill, in the adjoiMng townland of the same name, is an old
white-thorn called Bell Bush, to wMch tradition points as occupymg
the spot where Ciaran's bell found its voice, as related in the Legend.
See above, p. 94.
It would be plagiarism on my part to attempt here any further illus
tration of the present ruin of Seirkieran. All that could be gleaned on
that mteresting subject by industry and learning has been already given
to the reading world by the Rev. James Graves, to whose valuable work
on the "History, Antiquities, and Architecture of St. Canice's Cathe
dral Church," I beg to refer for an account of the antiquities of tlie
ancient city of Seirkieran.

191
CHAPTER II [.
KILL CIAEAN AND TEAIGH CIAEAN.
Fiatract Clere, i.e., the white or fair strand of Cape Clear island,
in the south of the county of Cork, is now called Traigh Ciaran, and is
described as follows m Smith's " Natural and Civil History of Cork,"
b. 2, c. 4 : "A little to the east of the castle [of Dunamore, on the
N.W, pomt of Cape Clear island] is a cove called Traigh Ciaran, i.e.
St, Ciaran's Strand, on which is a piUar stone, with a cross rudely
carved towards the top, that they say was the workmanship of St.
Ciaran ; and near it stand the walls of a rumed church, dedicated to
the same saint. This stone they hold in great veneration, and as
semble round it every Sth of March, on which day they celebrate the
festival of their Patron."
Fintract Clere was the native tribeland of St. Ciaran's mother,
and tMs church and pillar-stone mark the place of his birth, and exist
as memorials of the conversion of the chieftam there "who first
beUeved m the Cross in Ireland." That this chieftain was St, Ciaran's
own father there are cogent grounds for advancmg. We have already
seen that Lughaidh, the father of Ciaran, who was son of Ruman
Duach, then King of Ossory, having espoused Liedania, the daughter
of Maine Cherr, then King of Corca-Laighe, continued to reside with
his wife in her own country, and that about the same period seven
priuces of that territory assumed the Mngship of Ossory, and seven
Ossory chieftains took the kmgship of Corca-Laighe ; whence it would
appear that Ciaran's father was the first of the seven Ossorian
chieftains who usurped the govemment or kingsMp in his mother's
country ; and that the chieftain converted there by St. Ciaran was not
a native prince of that country is directly to be mferred from the
account of the matter recorded m the " Genealogy ofthe Corca Laighe."
" Lighain [Liedania], daughter of Maine, who was the mother of Ciaran
of Saighir. He was bom at Fmtract Clere. Here was [dwellmg] the
chieftam who first beUeved in the Cross m Ireland, for Ciaran had taken
Saighir thirty years before Patrick arrived. It was he [Ciaran] that pre
dicted to the progeny of Eiderscel, reign and chieftainship over their
race for ever, and it was he who left to the King of Corca-Laighe the
eniclann of a kmg of a province, for their having first believed in the cross.
And Ciaran is the senior of the Samts of Eire, and it was he [Ciaran] that

192
granted it [i.e. eniclann] to them for having been the first to grant Mm
CiU-Ohiaram." It wiU be noted that the writer of this passage distinguishes the
Chieftain of the O'DriscoU's from the King of Corca Laighe ; to the
former St, Ciaran grants_ " reign and chieftainship for ever ;" to the
latter he left " the eniclann of the king of a province." The emclann
was the tribute due to a cMeftain for his protection, but the O'DriscoUs
had been the hereditary chiefs of Corca Laighe long anterior to Ciaran's
time, and, therefore, it could not be to him they owed their right or
title to tribute or protection in their native tribeland. But Ciaran's
father having no hereditary or other right to tribute or chieftainship
in that country, save what he obtained by his marriage with the CMef
tain' s daughter, and tMs lady having been Ciaran's mother, the saint
on his return from Rome, lUted his father to the dignity of a local
prince, obtaming from the O'DriscoUs for him the right to protection
and tribute due to a provmcial king, because he was the first chieftain
" who believed in the Cross in Ireland," and because he conferred on
the saint the lands still called KiU-Ciaran.
St. Liedania, or Liean, was most probably the first, and certainly
the most Ulustrious of the converts of St. Ciaran ; and yet it is sin
gular that neither her own, nor her husband's name, is to be found in
the list of the saints belonging to the " house of St. Ciaran," from
which it would appear that after their marriage they did not retum to
Ossory, and, therefore, could not have been said to be " of the family
of the Ossorians." "All the writers of the acts of Ciaran," says
Colgan, " give his mother's name as Liadhain. She was a woman of
the greatest holiness, and amongst the first, if not absolutely the first,
who, retiring into a convent, embraced an ascetic life, and propagated
it throughout Ireland, as appears from the Life of St. Ciaran. She is
venerated in the ohurch called after her name, Cill Liadhain (Killyon),
i.e. the cell of Liadhain (Lean or Lyan), near Saighir, on the llth of
August, according to Marianus O'Gor, Maguire, and the Martyrology
of Donegal." The feast of St, Ciaran's mother is thus entered in the
" Table" to the Martyrology of Donegal at the llth August : — " Liadain,
widow, mother of Ciaran, of Saighir, and the first abbess among the
virgin saints of Ireland,"
Here it would at first sight appear that Ciaran's father had died
before he himself had retumed from Rome, as otherwise his mother

193
could not be styled a " widow" and the first abbess in Ireland," It is
true she might have entered a convent during her husband's life
time; but this would pre-suppose that Ciaran's father had been a
Christian at the time — and there are good grounds for asserting that
he was one, if not the very first, of Ciaran's converts. It will be re
membered that Ciaran had attained the fiftieth year of his age at the
period of his return from Rome, when his parents must have been at
least twenty years in Ms advance, or about seventy at the time. We
may be satisfied that on landing m Ireland, after twenty years ab-
absence, Ciaran's first impulse turned towards home, where his father
and mother were then far advanced in the wane of Ufe. We can well
conceive the plenitude of joy with which the old couple recognised their
retumed son — not after wasting his youth and substance in foreign
indulgence, but in the maturity of his manhood, a dignified pontiff,
shming in the isolated brilliancy of the Christian priesthood, amidst
the pagan gloom that then overshadowed the land. In Mm
they now beheld the realization of the beautUul presage^ which
before his conception foreshadowed his future pre-eminence as
the " first-born of the samts of Ireland." Soon did his teaching
carry conviction to their understanding, whilst their pious hearts
yielded with equal facility to the gospel maxims of Christian
perfection. It was then this old regulus conferred on the saint
the lands of Kilkieran and Traighkieran, and for which he has been
eulogised as " the chieftain who first believed in the cross m Ireland,"
whilst his aged spouse, in the sentiments of her first fervour, retired
with other females to a life of seclusion, and, in this sense, might be
termed a " widow," and " the first abbess among the virgin saints ia
Ireland." We should have other memorials of St. Ciaran yet existing in his
mother' s country. I am not aware whether any trace is now extant
of her convent in Ross Beannchor, where Ciaran used to visit her every
Christmas, or of Carrig Conchie, on Traighkieran, which was ,wont to
float with Ciaran to dry land at his pleasure. See above p. 160-172.
' "Presage." See above p. 65,

194
CHAPTEH IV.
EATH CIARAN AND DUENATJNE,
Rathkieran is the name of a church which gives name to a parish
and townland in the barony of Iverk, and on the north bank of the
river Suir. The raths were the earthen fortresses or entrenched
mansion places of the Irish cMeftains, and were usuaUy named after
the personage for whose occupation they had been erected, "but the site
of the church and cemetery of Rath-Ciaran occupy the summit of an
eminence too extensive to have been originaUy an artificial mound, or a
rath, as the word is generally understood ; whence it would appear that
Ciaran had his monastery erected on this natural emmence, and may
have entrenched or fortified it against the turbulence of the time. Or
this elevation may have been a previously fortified enclosure, of which
Ciaran avaUed himself for the erection of his church. The tradition of
the place asserts that a fine sprmg of water, called " St. Ciaran's weU,"
formerly ran from the south side of this rath to the river Suir. There is
no trace of such a well there at present. According to the tradition of
the County of Kilkenny, which we have illustrated above at p. 133,
this church of Rathkieran was the scene of the first interview in Ire
land between the Irish apostle and St. Ciaran, and from the result of
this interview is said to have been derived the name of a very pri
mitive hamlet situated about one mile south-west of the church
called " Durnaune," which a high authority^ in Irish literature has
recently translated " stupid, obstinate, or sulky," and he gives the
following legend m illustration of its derivation, which I quote here
for the purpose of correcting and of settling the disputed meanmg of
the word Durnaune, and the origin of its application to this locality : —
" The peasantry of this and the surroundmg districts have a legend to
account for the name. They say when St. Patrick came to Iverk the
people received him very rudely, and when he came late one evenmg to the
monastery of St. Kieran the monks refused him admittance by shuttmg
the door in his face — and stiU worse, a woman who lived in the viUage of
BalUncrea, cooked up an old yeUow hound with poison, and sent it to Mm
on a dish for Ms dmner ; but the saint haring detected the plot, uttered a
bitter speech, m which he predicted that the inhabitants should be known
1 " High authority," i.e. Dr. Joyce. See " Origin and History of the Irish
names of Places," second series, p, 34.

195
to the end of the world by the name of Doomanes — that is, adds Dr,
Joyce, " a churlish, obstinate people."
The story of the poisoned hound is well known in the southern parts
of the county of Kilkenny. It was first reduced to writing, and pub
lished in the local Archeeological Journal bythe late Dr. O'Donovan, a
native of the place, and the highest authority that can be foUowed
on the pomt. His version of the legend^ is as follows : —
" On the townland in which I was born," situated in the parish of
Kilcolumb, Barony of Ida, and County of Kilkenny, there is an eleva
tion called ' Conbuidhe,' in connection with which, and to account for
its name, the foUowing legend is told : St. Patrick, traveUing through
the plams of Ossory, came to a hill then caUed Knoc-na-radharc, i.e.
the HUl of the Sights or Views (evidently the present Tory HiU), and,
bemg struck with the beauty of the situation, resolved to build a
church there, and, whUe the work was progressing, a woman, who
lived in the adjacent vUlage of BalUncrea, sent St, Patrick a present of
an animal cooked m a dish for his dinner. The saint did not like to
taste the flesh ofthe animal, as he found some of the inhabitants there
stUl stubborn pagans. So, laying the dish on a large stone, he prayed
God to restore to IUe the cooked animal. His prayer was heard, and
a yellow hound sprung from the dish and ran in the direction of the
' Three Waters,' [i.e. the confluence of the Suir, Nore, and Barrow] .
St. Patrick desired the workmen to pursue and kill the hound, other
wise it would blast the fruit of the earth, and injure all living thmgs
in its course. The people obeyed the saint, followed the hound, and
kiUed it exactly a mile to the east of the place whence it started.
They buried it on the road-side, and out of its grave sprung up a
white-thorn bush called sqeithin-na-con, i.e. the little skeough, or
bush of the hound, which, concludes O'Donovan, " remains to the
present day," The town of BalUncrea, the scene of this story, is stiU
to be seen at the foot of Tory Hill, in the parish of Kilcolumb, be
tween New Ross and Waterford. The town of Durnaune is in the
parish of Rathkieran, between Waterford and Carrick-on-Suir,thetwo
locaUties of BaUincrea and Durnaune bemg about ten miles
asunder, wMch conclusively proves that the legend of the poisoned
I " Legend." See " Transactions of KUkenny Archseological Society, 1851,
p, 362 et seq.

196
hound has no connection either directly or remotely with the name of
the village of Durnaune.
It is of importance to note here that the parish of Rathpatrick
extends from near BalUncrea to the " meeting of the waters." The
old church of Rathpatrick, now in ruins, is situated within half a mile of
the parish chapel of Slieverue, and if this was the church which Patrick
was engaged in erecting when the pagan woman intended to poison
him, he should have taken up his residence in some place in the neigh
bourhood, and from his dwellmg there the place would be called St.
Patrick's Rath, and ultimately Rathpatrick, wMch it still retains. If
the tradition respecting the poisoned hound has any foundation, as
most such traditions have, it will follow that St. Patrick made this part
of the country the Une of his joumey to the south of Ossory, and that
after leavmg Rathpatrick he followed the course of the river Suir,
which conducted him from the " meetmg of the waters" to the
monastery of Rathkieran, where we are told he met St. Ciaran for the
first time in Ireland.
O'Donovan's account of the interview between St. Patrick and
St. Ciaran has no reference whatever to the story of the poisoned
hound. We here give it in his own words : " It is said tradi
tionally that St, Patrick met St. Ciaran for the first time (in Ireland)
A.D. 439, at the Church of Rathkieran, in Iverk, that Kieran did not
wish to acknowledge Patrick's superiority, that he received him very
cooUy, and refused to be dictated to by Mm, and St, Patrick was so
displeased at this reception that he caUed the inhabitants of Iverk
Durnanes, and predicted that they would be so called to the end of
the world." That a degree of some such national jealousy did exist at that
time we have seen affirmed by a very high authority ; but that
no such feeUngs of rivalry had been entertained by St. Ciaran towards
the Irish apostle we have conclusively established above, p, 136, where
we have it recorded from the LUe of St. Decian that " Ciaran, mdeed,
yielded all subjection and concord, and supremacy to Patrick, both
when he was present and absent ;" and that the village of Durnaune
does not derive its name from any misunderstanding between St.
Ciaran and the Irish apostle we shall now very satisfactorily prove.
Doomane, or more correctly Durnaune, is composed of three Irish
words, namely, dur-na-abhan. Dur, according to Dr, Joyce and

197
O'ReUly's Irish Dictionary, means sulky or stubborn ; na is the
Irish form of the genitive case, and is equivalent to our EngUsh word
" of," and abhan, pronounced aun, is the well-known Irish form of
our EngUsh word river. Consequently, Durnaune means in EngUsh
the sulk or obstinacy of the river. I have it on the authority of the
Very Rev. E, Walsh, the highly respected P,P. of Mooncoin, that
on many occasions within his own memory, in cases of spring
tides meetmg high water coming down from the country, in the con
flict between the opposing forces of the down stream of the river con-
tendmg with the swelling of the tide, as it forces the river back in its
course from Waterford, that in the struggle of theU wrangling with each
other, the grounds along the river are torn up, the embankments,
plantations and field-fences are uprooted, and hence, the locality was
originaUy and appropriately caUed Lur-na-abhan, anglicised Durnaune,
i.e. the stubbornness or sulk of the river. This etymology, of course,
strips the locality of its legendary and traditionary romance, but it is both
a rational and a natural origin of the name of the place. In this etymo
logy of the word Durnaune I thmk we have the key to the meaning of the
word Thurles. The Four Masters write the word Durlas, which must be
a contraction of durghlas. The " gh" being eUpsed, you have Durlas,
the stubborn or sulky river. The grounds about Thurles bemg low
and flat there is no faU to the river there, and it travels along its bed
slowly and sulkUy, Uke a fellow m tbe street, who, havmg no object
or purpose before him, paces along m a sulky, monotonous mood.
The history of the church of Rathkieran is involved in complete
obscurity. In the year 1175 Donald O'Brian, of Limerick, having
burned down the then episcopal city of Kilkenny, Donald O'Fogharty,
the then bishop of this see, retired to the church of Rathkieran,
which, during the turbulence of the Anglo-Norman invasion, he ap
pears to have used as Ms cathedral. He died here on the Sth May,
] 178. He was the last " Coarbh of Ciaran" of Saighir, and must have
adopted tMs church for his cathedral from its havmg been a founda
tion of the same illustrious patron. See Ware's " Bishops" at Ossory.

198
CHAPTER V.
FEAETA-NA-CEAEACH.
The church of St. Ciaran of Fearta, as it is popularly called, is situated
in the north-western extreme of the County of Kilkenny, and is wellknown
to antiquarians for its venerable round tower, Pearta-na-gCearach
has been translated the graves of the sheep, and Dr, O'Donovan sup
poses the word to have been originally applied to this locality, or the
church to have been originally so denominated " from the carcasses of
a great number of sheep which died of a mortality having been buried
there." O'Donovan gives a local tradition as Ms authority for this
statement ; but after much inquiry in the neighbourhood, where I have
had frequent opportunities of conversing vrith the people of the place,
I could discover no trace of any such tradition having been ever
extant in that locality. But, even if it had, such a tradition could not
be received as an authority on this point, for the pious regards entertained
by our ancestors for the consecrated enclosures which contained the bones
of their kindred would not permit such a sacrilege as to mingle with the
ashes of their fathers the carcasses of plague-stricken brutes. The
word feart implies in Irish a human grave, and m Pagan, as in Chris
tian times, designated the] enclosure in which reposed the mortal re
mains of a human being. We have already seen that the original dis
ciples of St. Ciaran at Saighir were denominated the Boar, the Fox,
the Badger, the Doe, the Wolf, &c., and from the Boar and the Badger
the churches of Kiltorcan and TuUaghanbrogue are respectively named.
Why might he not also have a disciple called the sheep, who would be
so named from his simplicity or other sheep-like peculiarity ? It
is granted that St. Ciaran himself was the founder of this church
of Fearta, which, most probably, had been a place of pagan sepulture,
for this word fearta, being the plural of feart, signifies a place
of graves, or, as we would now call it, a " graveyard." The saint
should necessarUy place the mstitution under the care of one of his
disciples, and U this disciple was the sheep he would die and be
buried there, and from him the place would be subsequently termed
Fearta-na-g-Ceareach, i.e. the Fearta or the graveyard of the sheep.
This church of Fearta is frequently referred to in the Irish
annals, and must have been an extensive and opulent ecclesiastical
establishment in ancient times.

199
In the year 836 tho Danes of Waterford made a raid into Ossory.
They pillaged and burned all the churches that lay in their course.
CiU-Finnche, i.e. St. Finnche's Church, now Sheepstown ; Laichtene,
i.e. St, Lactan's Church, now Freshford, were consumed, and then is
recorded " The Victory of Fearta was gained by the foreigners," but,
in 861 Cearbhal Mac Dunghal, the then distinguished King of Ossory,
completely routed them out of that territory. This action is thus re
corded under the year 861 by the Four Masters : " The killing of the
foreigners at Peartagh-na-gCaireach by Cearbhal [i.e. O'CarroU], so
that forty heads were left to him, and that he banished them [i.e. the
Danes] from the territory," It may have been from the Danish occu
pation of tMs district that the place was first called Gall-Magh, angli
cised Galmoy, which means the plain of the foreigners. There is a
very primitive enclosure, with the remains of an old church, near the
steeple of Fearta, caUed Tempul-na-Gall,i wMch appears to have been
in former times the parish church of Galmoy.
In the year 1156, MuUcheartach O'Loughlainn, King of Meath,
led an army into Leinster, and reduced to subjection the notorious
Dermaid Mac Murragh, and after receiving hostages from him for the
performance of his fidelity, O'Loughlainn led his army into the ter
ritory then denominated " Liath Osraigh," i.e. HaU Ossory, subse
quently termed Upper Ossory ,2 where " he plundered both churches
and territories," He appears to have crossed the Barrow at Athy,
and thence proceeding through the kingdom of Laoighis or Leix till he
came to " Launnagh- Ua-n-Luach," i.e. to Dearmagh of Ui Duach, or
as it is now anglicised Durrow in Odagh, now Castledurrow, twelve
Irish miles from the city of Kilkenny. Here he burned the church
j"Tempul-na-GaU," This old ruin would appear to have been anciently
the Parish Church of Galmoy ; for in a patent EoU of the 35th year of the
reign of Elizabeth, 1594, " the rectories, parsonages, and tithes of Galmoye and
Glashare, in the County of Kilkenny, being parcel of the possessions of the
Monastery of St, John of Jemsalem," are granted to Piers Butler Fitz-Edmond
of Eoscrea. See Morrin's EoUs, p, 270,
2 " Upper Ossory," The territory of Ossory was first divided in the reign
of Diarmaid Mac Cearbhall, when, after Ms brother, Ceallaeh Mac CearbhaU,
had been slain in the battle of Bealach, Muighne Flann Sionna, monarch of Ire
land, marched into Ossory and restored Diarmaid to the throne from which he
had been deposed by Ceallaeh, But after the departure of the monarch,
Diarmaid' s claim to the kingship being disputed by his relatives, many fierce
battles were fought, and ultimately the territory was divided into Ossory proper
and " Liath Ossory," since caUed in EngUsh " Upper Ossory," For an account
of this transaction, see the " Three Fragments of Irish Annals," pubUshed by
the Irish Archseological Society, mdccclx,, p. 241.

200
and the town, and thence proceeded to " Aehadh-Mac-Airt," now
Aughmacart, near CuUahill, the church and hamlet of which he also
committed to the flames. Thence continuing his course southwards,
by the present Castle of Glashare, he arrived at the town of " Cool-
Caissin, now Coolcashin, which he also bumed, and then, looking west
wards, over the great plain of Magh-airbh, in the centre of which stood
the tovm and monastery of St. Ciaran, and his eye being caught by the
noble steeple of Fearta,^ as it towered above the adjacent hUls, he
directed his course thither by a road which must have been nearly
identical with that by which you travel from Coolcashin by
Eathlogan, through the primitive hamlet of " Beggery," to Fearta at
the present day. But the mtelligence of O'Loughlainn's cruelties having
preceded him to this pious community, they, vrith " Eochaidh-Ua-
Cuainn, the Chief Master," retired with the treasures of their church
into their Cloichteach, or pUlar tower, when the unsparing Celt, " more
Danish than the Danes themselves," mercilessly forced the door of the
tower, inserted ignitable materials within it, and, with savage cruelty,
bumed to death the human beings who had fled into it as a sanctuary.
The steeple of Fearta, from that to the present day, is split from top
to base from the effects of that conflagration, and exists as a monument
of the atrocious character of O'Loughlainn, King of Meath.
At present there is no part of the County of Kilkenny where
the name and memory of St. Ciaran are preserved with a higher
degree of veneration and interest than in the parish of this ancient
ruin. The round tower of Fearta presents a most imposing appear-
j " Fearta." The account of this raid of O'Lochlainn is found in the Annals
of the Four Masters, uuder the year 1156, scattered through other matters,
caused, apparently, by the annaUsts taking their materials from various sources
and not entering them in consecutive order, but as they came to .hand. Thus,
at the opening of the year 1156, we have a record of the burning of the " Chief
Master in the ' Cloieteach of Fearta,' " Next " Ceananuus was burned, both
houses and churches," and immediately foUows, " Daurmhagh [Durrow],
Achadh Mic Airt [AghamacartJ, Cool Cassin [Coolcashin], and Fearta Caerach"
were burned. It is quite clear that this burning of Fearta is one and the same
es the one recorded two Unes previously, and iu which the Chief Master
perished. Lower down towards the end of the year we find the following entry,
which throws light on the cause of those savage atrocities : " Another army
was led by Muircheartach [Ua Lochlainn], and the people of the north of
Ireland into Leinster, and they gave the Kingdom of Leinster to Diarmaid Mac
Murchadh for hostages, aud they [then] phmdered Osraighe both churches amd
territories." This event is evidently misplaced in the Annals as the churches
and towns of Ossory, named higher up, were those consumed in the flames of
this plundering raid. By arranging the entries consecutively you have the
narrative as given in the text.

201
ance from every stand-point for miles all round, the group of
buildings as you approach seeming as if hung round in the mystic
drapings of religious romance ; yet, as you near the sacred precinctsi
you wUl perceive much of the romance of antiquity to disappear as
you stand before a ruined church of the 16th century, and of the per
pendicular period in Gothic architecture. The round tower stands at
the south angle of the west gable. From the north wall abuts a mor
tuary chapel of the Fitzpatijick family, who were apparently the
founders of the present ruin.
After the EngUsh invasion, the community of Fearta adopted the
rule of the Order of Canons Regular of St, Augustine, Besides the
landed estates aUeady noticed as being in the possession of this mo
nastery, the church and lands of Donaghmore, near Johnstown, were
also in its holding. Robert Shortal was the last Prior of tMs House ;
on its suppression he was allowed five marks as an annual pension for
IUe, which was to be paid out of the possessions of the suppressed
Priory. 32nd year of the reign of Henry VIII., 1640. Morrin's
RoUs, p. 60.

202
CHAPTER VI.
BOHBK CIAEAN.
By the westem end of St, Ciaran's Church at Fearta, an obscure
and apparently long unused road leads in a southerly direction. At a
short distance from the churchyard this road is now turned from its
original course, and is conducted by a modem Une into Johnstown.
The ancient part of this road is but % segment of a great original
highway, which ran from Upper Ossory through the primitive hamlet
of Galmoy, from which it still runs in a modernised form by the old
church of Tempul-na-gall to the church of Fearta, where it is popularly
denominated Kieran's Boreen, i.e. St Ciaran's Uttle road. The Irish-
speaking natives term it Boher-Kieraun. Mr, James Cormac, who
resides on the spot, in Steepleview House, informs me that he remem
bers the old natives of the place to point out the original track of this
road over the Mils, that it was traced thence in a southward direction
towards CaUan, and that by it, in olden times, St. Ciaran used to
send Ms horse without a rider, carrying letters to his several churches
throughout Ossory. Following the Une thus indicated, we ascend
BaUyspellan hills, and passing out through a very remarkable declivity
in the top of that ridge due south of the Church of Fearta, we descend '
to the Clomanta side of the mountain, and here, surrounded by MUs,
we find " Part of the parish of Fearta" completely insulated between
the parishes of Balleen and Clomanta. Adjoining to tMs part of
Fearta is another smaU parish named Garry-na-managh, i.e. the garden
of the monks, and was so named from having been the tiUage lands
attached to the monastry of Fearta, in the days of its prosperity, and
the old road which has conducted us here must have been the ordinary
pathway by which, for centuries, the monks of the manastery daily
travelled over these hills to their mountain farms. In this " part of
Fearta" the remains of an ancient church still exists, and is named on
the Ordnance Survey Tempwl-Chash-Shibawn." There is there also
the track of an old by-road open for about a mUe or two through the
fields, and a castle standing on the brow of this old pathway, wMch
proves that this now obscure lane had been once a public highway, as
castles always stood on the public passes of the country. The old
road runs north-west from the castle towards the monastery of Fearta,
and is most certainly a fragment of Boher-Kieraun ; south from the

203
castle it is open to the boundary of the parish of Clomanto, from which
it formerly ran by the " Deerpark" wall at the westem end of the town-
land of KiUashulan ; it crossed the present Johnstown road at Clomanto
cross roads, from wMch it is stiU open, and runs thence down to ford
the stream from Clomanto Mills, after which it crept up the oppo
site accUvity on its way over the hills, in the direction of TuUaroan,
The pecuUar and quaint aspect of this old roadway, when observed
from Clomanto, at once convinces an observer of its extreme antiquity.
After passing Clomanto the old road is partially closed up and partially
modermsed, but it is stUl traceable in broken sections on its way over
the hills to the cross of Liss — one mile east of TuUaroan, where, though
now superseded by modem road Unes, it turns up agam in the
primitive townland of Brabstown, where, near " St, Margaret's well,"
a lane through the field is well ^known as " Boher-Kieraun ;" and
accordmg to the tradition of the locality, was origmaUy con
structed by St, Ciaran and his scholars from Saighir, and the tra
dition further avers St. Ciaran's horse was on one occasion stopped
here by an evil-minded chieftain, who also robbed him of the saint's
letters, from which he learned all the secrets between Ciaran and the
monks of his several churches, which so irritated the saint that he
predicted their harvests here should be the last to ripen in any part of
Ossory ; and it is remarked that the crops from this place through
Corstown are the last to ripen in the country. After leaving
Brabstown, and following still in a southerly direction, we cross
about eight mUes of the country and find neither trace nor
name of Ciaran's road till crossing a ford over the King's river
between CaUan and Kells, in the townland of Killinny ; the
people here again tell you that this is " St. Ciaran's road,"i
and that it was by it he used to travel to the monastery of Kells
in his missionary journey throughout the county. There was no
monastery at Kells in the time of St, Ciaran, but the tradition sin
gularly corroborates the popular belief at Fearta that this road ori
ginally ran southwards in the direction of CaUan,
From Killinny, where St, Ciaran's road crosses the Bang's river,
1 " St, Ciaran's road." For this item of information I am indebted to
the kindness of my late lamented friend, John G, A, Prim, Esq,, whose prema
ture departure has left a blank in the city that cannot be filled up during the
present generation, I think Mr, Prim quoted Mr, Hutchison as his authority
for the locaUty of Killinny being called " St. Ciaran's road."

204
there leads from the opposite side of the stream a very old by-road
runnmg up the valley of the " glory river." It now runs into the
modern road from Kells, but before this latter had been made the
old road ran through Chapelizod demesne to the old village of Tin-
vaun, and thence to the old church of Sheepstown, from which it con
tinued southwards through Mr. Cassin's farm-yard near Newmarket,
over the MUs of Carrickshock, and thence down to Rathkieran, on the
bank of the Suir ; but St. Ciaran's name is not here found in associa
tion with it. This was apparently the road by which the Danes of
Waterford travelled from the south to the north of Ossory, when
they bumed the churches of Sheepstown, Freshford, and Fearta, in
the year 836. An inquirer consulting the Ordnance one-inch map of
the county of Kilkenny, and taking the several localities just indicated
as guides or stations for his joumey, wiU find that a road from Upper
Ossory, connectmg those several points, would be the most direct line
of communication between the northern and southern extremes of the
ancient principality of Ossory, and the still existing association of this
old road with the name of St. Ciaran at the numerous stations along
its line, renders it an historical memorial of his missionary joumies,
when, surrounded by his scholars, he traversed the tribeland of hia
ancestors, teaching along this ancient highway faith, obedience, and
discipline to the turbulent tribesmen of his father's clan.

205
CHAPTER VII.
SUNDBT MEMORIALS OF ST. CIAEAN IN OSSORT.
ISEET CIAEAN ALSO CALLED INCHIKIEEAN.
Isertkieran js the name of a church which gives name to a parish
and townland in the barony of Slievardagh and county of Tipperary, ad
joining the primitive hamlet of MulUnahoue, five Irish miles south-west
of CaUan, and which was fixed on by Shane Mor O'Dugan as the
common boundary of Ossory and Munster.^ The site of this
church being on the brink of a small rivulet, is locally best
known as " Inchi-Kieran" (i.e. Ciaran's Inch, island or river
land). On the Ordnance Survey it is denominated " Isert-Kieran,"
i.e. the desert, or lonely place of Ciaran. It is both important
and interesting to note here that this church is the only one known to
the writer outside the diocese of Ossory^ dedicated to St, Ciaran of
Saighir (except that of Traigh Ciaran, in his mother's country), and also
that this church of "Isert Ciaran" stands on the site which retains the
name of the battle in which Aengus had slaughtered St, Ciaran's
people : " For (says Keating), from the defeat inflicted on the Ossorians,
MuUach Indheona is so called to this day ;" and here, adjoining this
primitive hamlet of MuUmahone, is the ancient parish and church of
" Isert Kieran," i.e. the desert or lonely place of Ciaran, From th.e
situation of this church — occupying the site of " the manglmg of the
heroes" of Ciaran's famUy — it would appear that Aengus, on his recon
ciliation vrith Ciaran, and as some atonement for his injustice, conferred
on the saint the lands on which this battle was fought, and on them
Ciaran erected this church in memory of his fallen people, and thus
consecrated to peace and piety the scene once desecrated by strife and
bloodshed. Nothing is known of the history of this primitive, though
now obscure, enclosure. If we believe the tradition stiU vividly pre
served in MulUnahoue, this was the third church erected in Ireland.
It is now almost exclusively used for the burial of strangers and un-
baptized children. For an account of the battle of Indheona, from
which MuUinahone takes its name, see above chapter XI,, p, 116.
J " Ossory and Munster," See above, p, 121, n, 1,
„ " Diocese of Ossory," There are churches dedicated to St, Ciaran in
Wales, not adverted to in this Essay,

206
BALLT CIAEAN, NOW CALLED BALLTOAEEAN.
The site of the ancient church of Ui Duach, we have already
illustrated so far as our meagre resources permitted,^ but there still
remains associated with its history an interesting local denomination
too important to be ignored in this Memoir,^ The old ruin at " Three
Castles Bridge," popularly known as the church of Odagh, was
originally so named from its having been the church of the seven sons of
Ruman Duach, of whom see above p. 110. This Ruman Duach was the
grandfather of St. Ciaran, and, as a matter of course, his seven sons
were the uncles of the saint. They must have been amongst the
earUest of Ms converts — they had been all venerated as saints in
the ancient Irish church, and this foundation at '" Three Castles"
is an existmg memorial of their conversion to the Christian faith.
There is a pecuUarity common both to the barony of Cranagh and to
the parish of Odagh, which, in connection with this ancient church,
has a rather significant aspect. The entire of both that barony and
parish are situated on the west side of the river Nore, with the excep
tion of two to-wnlands which lie on the east side of the river. Near
Three Castles Bridge the boundary line of both the barony and the
parish cross to the east side of the river, take in the two townlands
referred to, and then return, as they started, in a united line to the river
again. Those two townlands, which thus invited the boundary line to
cross the river, are respectively named " Ballycarran" and " BaUy-
carran Little." They are now separate townlands, but were for
merly one denommation. This we learn from an Inquisition taken
at Gowran, 14th April, 1631 (36 Car. 1), which also gives us the deri
vation of the name of the locality. " OUver Shortal was found seized
of BALLTKEEANas parcel of his manor of Castledowgh," and in an In
quisition taken at Thomastown, llth AprU, 1636 (76 Car. 1st), Edward
FitzWUliam Butler was m possession of the manor, castle, to-wn, and
land of Gastleduagh, with the rents, Ac, of the tovm and lands of
BallyJcirin, &o. In another part of this Inquisition Ballykiran reads
Ballykaran, which enables us to fix on both Ballykeran and Ballykirin
as locally identical with the two townlands of BaUycarran at " Three
Castles," Those lands may have been originally the bequest of some
, "Permitted," See above, p, 110, 123,
2 " This memoir,'' See Ordnance Townland Survey, Sheet 14,

207
pious chieftain in honour of St, Ciaran, and as an endowment in
favour of the church of Ui Duach, it having been the church of the
saints' uncles. From some such cause the place may have been
originaUy named Ballykieran, or St, Ciaran's town, which it stiU
retams in a slightly modified form, and those lands as such perpetuate
the name of the saint, and are an enduring memorial of Ms mission.
In an Inquisition taken at Thomastown, 14th September, 1627 (No, 9,
Car. II), "Thomas Forestal, an Irish Papist, was found seized of 115
acres, &c,, of land in the town of Ballykieran, in the barony of Galmoy,"
which, as being an Irish Papist, he is declared to have forfeited to
the King, The writer has not been able to identify any locaUty in the
barony of Galmoy caUed Ballykieran, It was probably some hamlet
in Fearta, of wMch it would be interestmg to know if the name be still
extant. CILL CIAEAN OE INISTIOGE.
Kilkieran is now the name of a townland in the parish of IMs-
tioge, but, from its local pecuUarity, was apparently at some former
time an independent parish. The few smaUer tovynlands contiguous
to that now called KiUderan, were apparently formerly united to it
under its own denomination, at which time the district so united was
bounded on the north by the parish of Columbkill, on the east by that
of Graiguenamanagh, on the west by the parish of Famma, and on the
south by that of Inistioge, to which it is now united. There is bere a
fine old ruin, richly clothed in ivy, called St. Ciaran's church, and an
old Norman fortress, called Kilkieran Castle, and a beautiful spring
of water known as St. Ciaran's weU. Mr. John Moore, of Columb-
kiU, an industrious and obliging antiquarian, tells me that a woman
of this locality, now seventy-two years in IUe, informed him that a
" patron" used to be held here in her grandfather's time, and that
vrithin her own lifetime the holy well here was desecrated by a person
who had irreverently washed in it part of a pig which had died of a
disease, upon which the well immediately ran dry, and so continued
till a female relative of the narrator's reported the matter to the P.P.
of Inistioge, who gave her a vessel of holy water, which, on she pouring
into the dry fountain in the name of St. Ciaran, instantaneously the
water flowed in copious supply, and has so since contmued. Nothing
is known of the history of this interesting old place.

208
CiLL CIAEAN, IN OWNINd.
Kilkieran is a townland in the parish of Owning, and barony of
Iverk, There are here the ruins of a primitive church, dedicated to
St. Ciaran, from which the place has been so named. Also there are
inthis old cemetery three ancient Irish stone crosses, uninscribed, and
beautifully carved. There is near Kilkieran a place of some former
importance, called " Skeough," i.e. the bush, vrhich must have been
planted here as a memorial of some event now no longer remembered.
A " patron" used to be formerly held at this bush.
CILL CIAEAN, IN THE BABONT OF GOWEAN.
Kilkieran, is the name of a townland and parish in the barony of
Gowran, and runs east of the parish of St. John from Sandford's
Court to Ballyfoyle'. The site of the ancient church of this parish is
marked on the Ordnance Survey, near the cross-roads of KUkieran,
about three Irish miles from Kilkenny. Nothing is known to the
writer respecting this old church and parish beyond the fact that in a
blake and lonely country the name and memory of the first bishop of
Ossory are locally associated with them.
TOBEE CIARAN.
Toberkieran is the name of a copious spring of water near the
old parish church of Stonecarty, seven miles from Kilkenny, in the
barony of Shillelogher. The name of this parish, i.e. Stonecarty, is an
anglicised corruption of the Irish form Stuain Cartach, which means
Cartach's district or land. It is thought by some that this church of
Stonecarty was originally founded by St. Cartach, the disciple aud
successor of St. Ciaran in the church of Saighir. If it was so the weU
there might have been blessed by St. Ciaran when giving Cartach the
char ge of the church. There is no other foundation in Ossory asso
ciated with the name of St. Cartach but this, and that this was dedi
cated to, or founded by him, rests on no authority. It would appear
more probable that the holy well here took its name from the patron
saint of the church, and if this was so St. Ciaran should have been the
patron of both the church and parish of Stonecarty .^
1 " Stonecarty." Since the above was written I have ascertained from
Bishop Moran's " Spicelegium" that St. Ciaran is the patron saint of the parish
and church of Stonecarty.

209

ST, CIAEAN S TREE,
St, Ciaran's tree is shown on the Ordnance Index Map of
the Queen's County, m the parish of Rathdowney, and Barony of
Clandonagh. This tree may have been originally planted as a memo
rial of the following event, narrated in the Life of St, Ciaran : —
" A subject belongmg to the kmg, whose name is Ceanfaladh, mur
dered Cronan, a friend of Ciaran's, and Ciaran restored Mm to life m seven
days m Christ's name ; and on his being brought to IUe Ciaran said in the
presence of the people, ' He that mm-dered you UlegaUy, i.e. Cean
faladh, shall soon be murdered himself and Ms body burned in the castle
caUed Rathundy, in EUeach,' "
If Rathundy be the original form of Rathdowney — as it appears to
be, for it is situated on the very borders of the ancient EUeach
O'CarroU — St, Ciaran's tree there would be a memorial of this miracle,
and would perpetuate its memory by successive plantations to the
present time,
St, Ciaran's tree is thus described to me by a trustworthy corre
spondent : — " There stUl exists near the village of Errill a tree caUed
' St. Ciaran's tree,' and a well caUed ' St. Ciaran's well,' both vene
rated by the peasantry ; also, up to vrithin fifty years ago, St, Ciaran's
' Patron' was held in a field adjoining both the tree and the well,"
KILL-CIAEAN OP KELLS.
In the Charter of Henry IV, to the priory of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, of KeUs,^ in the Co, of Kilkenny, the king grants infer alia to
that monastery, "the church of St, Ciaran, of Kells," which proves that
the ancient church there was dedicated to the first Bishop of Ossoiy.
It is more than probable that St, Ciaran himself was tbe founder of
the original church of KeUs, and it is significant that we have traced
Ms "road" from the north of Ossory to the neighbourhood of this
church. KILL-CIAEAN OE CLASHACEOW.
The site of this ancient parish church is now enclosed withm the
grounds of the Glebe House at Wellbrook, one mile from Freshford.
In Bishop Moran's " Spicilegium," St. Ciaran is set down as patron
1 " Kells," In Bishop Moran's " SpicUegium," the " Inventio S, Crucis,
3 maii," is set down as the patron feast of the parish and church of Kells, For
the authority of the charter of Henry IV., I am indebted to the late Mr, Prim,
whose transcript of that charter I copied myself.
27

210
of the " Church of Clashacrow, m the Deanery of Odagh," wMch is
my authority for givmg the church here the title of Kilkieran. Though
the church and cemetery are enclosed vrithin private premises, the
right of sepulture is still enjoyed and exercised by the people. The
old rums were preserved with the greatest anxiety by the late Incum
bent, Rev. R. Fowler. This venerable structure, with its consecrated
site, stand on the east bank of a stream from which it apparently
derives its name. This stream is formed out of numerous smaUer
streamlets which converge and unite in the valley of Ballinamara,
and flowing thence through a deep ravme under the townland of
Ballydowel to the treacherous ford at Wellbrook, gives name to the
old church about which we have been enquiring ; for the word
Clashacrow comes from Clash-na-cro, the stream of slaughter or
death — an appropriate descriptive epithet for a river which has its
source in Ballinamara, i.e. Baili-na-marbha — the town of slaughter or
death. Of this church I know of no other existing memorial connect
ing it with St. Ciaran.

211
CHAPTER VIII.
MEMORIALS OF ST. CIARAN IN THE CITY OE KILKENNY.
ST, ciaean's chaie.
In the north transept of St, Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, is
preserved an ancient ecclesiastical stall, well known as " St. Ciaran's
chair," and is thus described by the Rev, James Graves 0- " The two
sides or arms of a staU, carved m Kilkenny marble, and adorned with
early EngUsh foUage. The stone work forming the present seat is
modern ; the arms are undoubtedly of the thirteenth century, con
temporary with the cathedral itself, but not of an earUer date. It
probably was one of the stalls of canons or prebendaries," From the
fact of its being denominated St, Ciaran's chair, its arms most pro
bably formed part of the original episcopal throne of the cathedral.
The Bishop being the successor of St, Ciaran, his stall might be
properly termed the saint's chair, which could not be said with equal
propriety of the stalls of either the canons or prebendaries.
I see no reason to doubt that the two arms of this chair filled the
same office m tbe episcopal throne of the cathedral down to the period
when it finally passed out of the possession of the Catholics, From
a reference by Bishop Rothe to the episcopal throne, as it stood in Ms
time, it might be inferred that it was a stone structure. He says —
" On the left side of the choir, as you enter, the bishop occupied an
apse, near the altar, elevated on steps of hewn stone." We know that
the sedelia used by the officiating clergy, and placed immediately
opposite the throne of the bishop, was a stone erection, and had been
carried up in the masonry of the wall ; and there is nothing more
probable than that the episcopal throne was also constructed of the
same enduring material, and that the carved stone arms of St Ciaran's
chair formed the sides of the^throne which stood in the apse on the
elevated platform placed at the top of the " hewn stone steps."
In the year 1756, Bishop Pococke, a zealous and learned anti
quarian, fitted up the choir of the church with the galleries, pannell-
ing, &c., which were taken down in 1865, and in doing so the bishop
1 History, Antiquities, and Architecture of the Cathedral Church of St,
Canice, p. 75.

212
removed to the nave and aisles such objects of antiquarian interest as
would otherwise be concealed behind the sheeting. One of those was the
recumbent effigy of Bishop de Ledrede, which he had erected as an altar
tomb under the eastmost window of the north aisle, where it remained
till its original niche was discovered by the removal of the sheeting, in
the north waU of the choir, to which it was restored in 1867. By the
side of De Ledrede's monument, according to Bishop Rothe, stood
the episcopal throne, and we may confidently assert that on the same
occasion, and with the same object in view, Pococke took down this
structure also, which, bemg very ancient, the only portions of it worth
preserving, were its carved arms ; these he re-erected m the north
transept of the Cathedral, where they still remain under the name of
" St. Ciaran's Chair," The original throne of the cathedral may have
been known as St. Ciaran's Chair, but we have no authority so to
assert. ST. ciaean's stattte,
A figure of St. Ciaran stood as one of the four patron saints of
the City of KUkenny on the canopy of the ancient market cross,
which stood m the middle of High- street, and occupied the site of the
present Tholsel pump. The canopy of this building was supported by
five pUlars, and was formed of four pediments, and on the apex of
each stood respectively, as patrons of the town, SS. Patrick, Ciaran,
Kenny, and Bridget. TMs beautiful piece of ecclesiastical street-
ornamentation was erected in a,d, 1336, and was taken down by the
Cromwellian Corporation of the City in a,d,- 1771, What became of
the figures of the four patron saints is not known. For the history
of the ancient Market Cross of Kilkenny see a highly interesting paper
by the late J, G. A, Prim, Esq,, Kilkemiy Archseological Journal,
vol, 1, A,D, 1849, ST, ciaran's WELL,
This beautiful spring of water in the garden of the old house
in King-street^ is that already denominated " Kyrock's" and
1 " Old house in King-street.'' This aristocratic old mansion, adjoining the
public markets, was modernised towards the end of the last century. It stUl
preserves many traces of medieval pecuUarities, The bottom storey is in its
original state — groined arched ceiUngs, supported by massive piers — cu-cular
headed doorways, with dressed stone jambs — graceful stone frames aud mul-
liouB of one or two of the original windows, and the absence of au original
fire-place or chimney, indicate the house to be as old as the fourteenth or
beginning of the fifteenth century. In the grounds to the rere of the mansion,
St. Ciaran's Well is a most inviting and interesting object.

213
"Kenerock's WeU," and was in former times a fountain of much
celebrity. As the history of this weU has been illustrated already
in the pages of tMs Memoiri as far as our scant materials enabled
us, it wiU suffice here to add that this was apparently the well
stated in the Life of Ciaran to have been built for his use by an
angel, and to which he retired towards the close of his Ufe, that its waters
were efficacious for the cure of diseases, and that " its name is
Ciaran's WeU.''^^ There formerly stood by the side of this well a chapel,
which it may be safely asserted had been originally dedicated to St.
Ciaran, and must have been the English representative of an ancient
Irish church erected under his invocation in this city, U not the repre
sentative of the church by the river caUed Heoir,^ where Patrick had
directed Ciaran to fix his abode,* The old chapel at St, Ciaran's weU was
standing there till late in the latter haU of the last century. St.
Ciaran's well stUl preserves much of its original interesting freshness.
It flows in copious and perpetual supply, and retains its refreshing
cooMess through the heat of the warmest summer.
This well is covered by a small and rudely stone-roofed house, which
does not retain any trace of its havmg been an ancient construction. But
in the basin of the well is inserted a circular baptismal font of Kil
kenny marble, through the aperture in the bottom of which the water
of this beautiful fountain is constantly boiling up. It would be in
teresting if we could discover to what church in Kilkenny this font
belonged before it had been appropriated to its present office. It was
not removed here from either St, Canice's or St. Mary's churches, as
their original fonts still rema in on their respective premises . Neither could
it have been the font of St, Francis's Abbey, as it was not a baptismal
church, and it suggests itself to me as probable that it may have been
the font of St, Ciaran's old chapel, which, on being demolished here
towards the end of the last century,^ the font was preserved and applied
1 " This Memoir." See above p, 100, n, 2, 176-177, u, 2.
2 "Ciaran's WeU," See above p, 174, 175.
3 Eiver called Heoir, i.e. the Nore, See above p, 99.
4 " Fix his abode," See above p. 98,
5 " Last century," Iuthe year 1811, the Corporation of Kilkenny executed
a lease of " St, Ciaran' s WeU" to Nathaniel Alcock, then one of their own body, for
five shiUings a year, " St, Ciaran's WeU" was the name of an open space or
commons now forming part of the public market. Iu 1688 William Jackson
paid lOs, a. year "for a waste in St, Ciaran's well," One of the conditions ou
which the Corporation leased away the ground to Alcock was that he should
estabUsh a fish shambles there, which he accordingly did, and in doing so demo
Ushed the " old chapel near Kyrock's well,"

214
to its present use. It is deserving of note here also that withia about
six feet of this well there is a water-pump sunk in the public market, in
the well of which the water never rises higher than within seven feet
of the surface, wMle St. Ciaran's well, on the same level, is supplied
with a constant and copious overflow.
ST. ciaean's college.
During the latter half of the last century every memorial of St.
Ciaran may be said to have disappeared from the city. The old chapel
at Ms well was demoUshed. The well itseU, being enclosed m the
courtyard of a private mansion, became appropriated to social and
profane uses. The market cross having been taken down, the statue
of our samt, with those of the other patrons of the town, was lost
sight of by the people, so that at the openmg of the present century,
no public memorial existed to connect the present city of Kilkenny
with the name or memory of the first Bishop of Ossory. In the year
1811 the Rev. Kyran Marum was appointed parish priest of St, John's,
in this city. He soon after opened a CathoUc seminary^ in the house
in Maudlin- street now used as the Presbytery, and placed it under the
patronage of St. Ciaran. In 1815, being theuBishop of Ossory, Birchfield
CoUege was opened by him for ecclesiastical students, and it too was
sometimes, but not frequently, called St, Ciaran's College. In 1829 the
Most Rev, Dr, Kinsella was promoted to the See of Ossory. He was a
learned and enlightened prelate, and entertained a peculiar vene
ration towards the patron saint of the diocese, which suggested to
Mm the idea of signaUsing Ms episcopate by erecting, under the
patronage of his sainted patron, as well as to meet the growing neces
sity of the time, a great diocesan institution, which would again revive
and perpetuate to future ages the name and the memory of St. Ciaran.
The first stone of St, Ciaran's College was laid on the 6th of March,
1836— St, Ciaran's day— by the Rev. Nicholas Shearman,^ P,P., St.
Patrick's, in this city. The ceremomal was witnessed by a large
J " CathoUc Seminary," The subject of Catholic education iu KUkenny
during the end of the last and the beglnuiug of the present century has been
reoentiy and amply illustrated in a highly interesting pamphlet, entitled
" History of the Catholic Schools of KUkenny, from Father Peter White's
School, about 1558 to the present time," By an Ossory Priest, Kilkenny, 1875,
2 " Eev, Nicholas Shearman," In the unavoidable absence of Bishop Kin
sella, who was engaged on the occasion at a synod of the Bishops of Ireland in
Dublin,

215
assemblage of citizens and clergy of that day, most of whom have long
smce gone to a better world.
ss. maey's and ciaean's cathedeal.
The first stone of the new Cathedral of Ossory was laid by the
Most Rev, Dr, KmseUa, on the 20th of August,^ being the Sunday
within the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary ;
and this having been the ancient " patron" feast of St, Mary's parish,
in this city, he founded the church under the title of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, But at the solemn consecration of this
same church, by the Most Rev, Dr, Walsh, on Sunday, the 4th October,
1857, it was dedicated to God under the mvocation of SS, Mary and
Ciaran,^ smce which date St, Ciaran's day has been annually
solemmzed in the Cathedral as the feast of the titular of that church
and the patron of the diocese. And thus, after fourteen certuries, has
been fulfiUed the prediction of the Irish Apostle — namely, that by the
river called Heoir^ Ciaran should build a church, and that there his
name would be held in veneration tiU the resurrection of the dead.
ST. ciaean's bell.
This is the name of the present melodious-toned beU of the new
1 " 20th August," The date on the Mural Slab over the principal entrance
doorway is " xviii Augus b," which is not accurate. The intention of the bishop
had been to lay the "first stone" of the building on the 15th August, the fes
tival of the " Assumption," A great concourse assembled to witness the cere
monial, at two o'clock, but though the forenoon had been a delightful " Lady
Day in Harvest," at the hour named the clouds suddenly darkened, aud such a
downpour of rain followed as rendered the ceremonial an impossibility for that
day. The "flrst stone" of the Cathedral was laid on the foUowing Sunday
morning at nine o'clock, at which comparatively few of the citizens were present.
The 15th August that year fell upon Tuesday, and, as a matter of course, the
foUowing Sunday should be the 20th, not the xviii, of the month, THs entab
lature, with its incorrect inscription, was erected iu the month of September,
1857. See Kilkenny Journal, August 23, 1843,
2 " SS. Mary and Ciaran," As far as the writer is aware, there is no
memorial existing of the dedication of the Cathedral to St. Ciaran as joint
patron with the Blessed Virgin, aud he therefore feels it necessary to give
the authority on wMch he has advanced the assertion. That authority is a
verbal statement of the late Eight Eev, Dr, Walsh, who, in the month of October
1857, immediately after the consecration of the church, in answer to au inquiry
made by the writer, said—" The chapel in the north transept has not been
dedicated to St, Ciaran;" for, added the bishop, "the church itself having been
solemnly consecrated under the invocation of SS, Mary and Ciaran, the high
altar in the chancel was consecrated under their patronage also, and it is not
necessary or usual to have a second altar, or a chapel in any church dedicated to
a saint who is the special patron, or one of the special patrons of that church."
If no memorial was made of the dedication of the Cathedral to St, Ciarau as
joint patron with the Blessed Virgin, it is weU to place the circumstances on
a " Eiver called Heoir," i.e. the Nore. See above, p, 98, 99.

216
cathedral. It was erected originally in a timber campanile, in the
yard of the cathedral, on the 18th December, 1869, on which occasion
it was solemnly blessed and dedicated in honour of St, Ciaran by the
Most Rev. Dr. Walsh. In the year 1872, on Thursday, the 21st
November, St. Ciaran's bell was taken out of this temporary erection,
and elevated into its present position in the tower of the cathedral.
The following legend, in raised Roman letters, runs round the exterior
of the bell : — " This bell is dedicated to St. Ciaran, patron of Ossory,"
The bell was manufactured by Murphy, of Dublin, and weighs 32 cwt.
ST. ciaean's DAT,
The feast of St Ciaran is set down in all the martyrologies at the
Sth March, and must have been observed in Ireland since the death of
the saint himself. One of the three petitions which St. Ciaran addressed
to the angel immediately before his death, and which the angel assured
him had been granted, was " that whosoever should keep holy his (i.e.
Ciaran's) day should not want the riches of this world during life, nor
the kingdom of heaven after death."^ Though it looks rather doubtful
that St. Ciaran would canonize himself by appointing the anniversary
of his death to be kept holy as a memorial of his own sanctity, yet the
anecdote proves that St, Ciaran's day had been observed as a festival
in the early part of the nmth century, when the IUe of Ciaran was
being written. In the Martyrology of TaUagh, and in the Feiliere or
metrical Calendar, both compiled by Aengus the Culdee before the end
of the eighth century, the feast of St. Ciaran, with " his hosts of
Saighir," is duly entered. In the " Martyrology of Marianus
O'Gorman," compiled shortly before the EngUsh invasion, the feast
of St. Ciaran also holds its place. I do not find any memorial on
record of the status of St. Ciaran's day, or of how it ranked
amongst the festivals of the Irish Church from the English invasion
down to the Reformation. In a synod of the Irish (or, rather, of
the Anglo-Irish) Clergy, held m Dublin, under the episcopate of
Alexander de Bicknor,^ it is decreed that the festivals of SS.
Patrick, Maidoc, or Aiden of Fems, Kenny of Ossory, &c,, should be
celebrated with a "double rite," The festival of St. Ciaran is not
included ; yet in the Diocese of Ossory I thmk we have evidence to
J "After death," See above p, 173,
2 " Alexander de Bicknor," He was Archbishop of Dublin from 1313 to 1349.
See an account of this Synod in Wares " Bishops" at Dublin.

217
show that " St. Ciaran's day" must have been observed as a " first-class"
festival. His chair is one of the oldest memorials preserved in St.
Canice's Church ; his statue, on the ancient market cross of Kilkenny,
was erected by the English colonists so early as the year 1335 ; the re-'
putation of " St. Ciaran's WeU" and the " Old Chapel" standing on Us
brink down to the end of the last century ; his effigy, with that of St-
Canice was, by orders of David Rothe, carved on this bishop's own monu
ment in St. Canice's Church— aU of which render it probable that the
Anglo-Irish Catholics of Kilkenny honored the memory of St, Ciaran by a
solemn observance of Ms festival day ; and one of the earUest vistas we
obtain into the ecclesiastical state of Kilkenny, on the relaxation of the
"PenalLaws," conclusively proves that "St, Ciaran's day" had been down
to that time observed as a " hoUday of obligation"! in the diocese of
Ossory. In the year 1773, Bishop Thomas de Burgo addressed the
following pastoral " To the Rev. Pastors and other Clergymen of
the diocese of Ossory" :— " Our Most Holy Father Pope Clement XIV.,
on the 3Ist January last, granted an indult to this, our diocese of
Ossory, whereby his Holiness took away the obligation of hearing
Mass from all the retrenched holidays in Number Eighteen : To Wit
— [Here he names the now retrenched holidays, and contmues] : —
The same indult takes off the obUgation also of hearing Mass on Si.
1 "HoUday of obUgation," Saint Ciaran's day would appear to have for
merly ranked in the diocese of Ossory as high as St, Patrick's day, or as
one equally remarkable, Ou the 15th of March, 1760, Bishop Thomas de
Burgo, who had been promoted to the See of Ossory on the previous year,
sends the following letter "To the pastors and other clerfrymen" to
notify at their respective masses on the following Sunday : — " Thit the
Easter duty is to be performed from St, Patrick's day to Ascension day," In
the following year, 1761, he writes ou the 27th February " To the pastors and
other clerf.'ymen of Kilkenny," to publish at their respeutive masses on the fol
lowing Sund:iy : "That the Easter duty is to be performed from St. Ciaran's
day till Ascension day," Iu the year 1766 Bishop de Burgi, in publishing hia
" Eegulations for Lant," iu wliich he gives leave to eat flesh meat from the first
Sunday of Lent inclusive, to Palm Sunday exclusive, excepting Wednesdiys,
Fridays, aud Saturdays, " but only in case the meat be boiled and the broath
given to the poor ;" then adds, " The Easter duty is to begin ou St. Ciaran's
dag." And Dr, Troy, in his instructions for Lent (1778), tells the reverend pas
tors to inform their fiocks that the " Easter duty will be performed from St.
Ciaran's dag to Ascension day," Those several references to St. Ciaran's day
show that it was formerly much more popularly known than it his been during
the present century. If a promulgation of the same import were made within the
past thirty or forty years, the first inquiry wo aid be — " When will be St, Ciaran's
day ?" See MS. Book preserved in the Library of St, Ciar.in's CoUege, Kil
kenny, being transcriptions from documents carried to Dublin from Kilkenny
by Dr, Troy, and recovered by Dr. Moran, who restored them to their origiaal
arcMves in the Diocesan Library.
28

218
Ciaran's and St. Kenny's days, and on all the patrons of parishes.'
However, his Holiness enjoins me to prescribe some pious work to be
performed, by way of commutation, on each of the mentioned former
holidays instead of hearing Mass ; and the pious work I prescribe is to
say seven Paters and seven Aves." From this date " St. Ciaran's day"
was gradually being lost sight of in popular estimation. After the erec
tion of the new Cathedral, of which St, Ciaran is secondary patron, the
Right Rev, Dr, Walsh, in the year 1868, directed the feast of St, Ciaran
to be published in the Cathedral on the Sunday preceding the festival
as a day of special devotion and plenary indulgence, St. Ciaran being
the " patron of the diocese and the titular of this Church," and, at the
same date, established the custom, still existing, of solemnising the
feast by a solemn High Mass (Coram Episcopo), at which the president,
the professors, and students of St. Ciaran's College assist. In the
year 1 868 the Roman Congregation of Rites ordered tho feasts of the
diocesan patron saints of Ireland to be observed by the entire clergy of
the Irish Church : since when the feast of St. Ciaran stands in the
general " ordo" as a minor Double, but in the diocese of Ossory stUl
holds its ancient status as " a Double of the first class." In the year
1872 the feast of St, Ciaran was solemnised with unusual splendour in
the Metropolitan Church of Dublin, when, in the presence of many of
the bishops of Ireland and most of the parish priests of Ossory, the
distinguished scholar and exemplary prelate, Dr. Patrick Francis Moran,
was consecrated bishop of the ancient See of St. Ciaran, by Ms Eminence
the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin.

APPENDIX.
TEXT or THE LEGEND OF THE LIPE OP ST. CIAEAN.
(For History of this Legend see above, Part I., Chap. III.)
Beatissimus Episcopus Oiaranus Sanctorum Hibernise Primogenitus
— The most blessed Bishop Ciai-an, the first-born of the saints of Ireland,
was a native of the westem part of Lemster, in the district called Osraighe.
All the Irish were anti-CMistian and Pagan at the time. His father's
name was Lughaidh, and was descended from the nobUity of Osraighe.
The name of his mother was Liedania,and was a native of Oorca-Laighe,m the
westem part of Munster, Before she conceived Ciaran she saw m a vision,
as if a star had f aUan mto her mouth, and she revealed the same to the Druids
and leamed men of her time, who informed her that she would bring forth
a son who would be the greatest prodigy of his age, and whose fame and
virtues would be spoken of to the end of time, and after this the holy son
Ciaran was bom, and nurtured m the island called Cleu-e, m Corca Laighe ;
and verily did God elect him in his mother's womb. His preceptors, as
weU as all who saw him, were astonished at Ms extraordmary size. His
acts were rirtuous — he was meek by nature, and his conversation was pleas
ing ; — his works were prosperous and Ms counsels edUymg, and he also
excelled M everythmg pertaining to man.
On a certam day that he was in the aforesaid place, viz,, Cleire—
and it was there that he performed his first miracle whUe yet but an
infant — a crow flew over him m the air and descended and took up a
smaU bird m its talons from its nest, in the presence of Ciaran, and flew
away and tore it open. Ciaran took compasion on the little bird, and felt
grieved at what occurred ; but the crow flew back agam and di-opped the
bU-d, tom and nearly dead, in his presence, Ciaran said to the bird
" Arise, and be whole !" and the bird, by the grace of God, immediately
arose and flew off to the nest again, quite sound.
Thirty years, or thereabouts, Ciaran spent in Ireland in the full
enjoyment of bodUy health before he was baptized ; for aU the Irish at
this time were pagan, as I have ah-eady observed; yet, when the Holy

220
Ghost took Ms abode in Ms chosen servant Ciaran, he led a life of
hoUness and perfection in aU his works during that time. But on leaming
of the spread of ChristiaMty at Rome, he left Ireland, and proceeded
thither, and was baptized there and mstructed in the Catholic faith ; and
remained there for the term of twenty years, readmg and studying the Holy
Scriptures — collecting books, and storing his mind with the laws and rules
of the Catholic Church, But when Ciaran's wisdom, chastity, devotion, and
faith became manifest at Rome, he was accordingly ordained, and sent back
to Ireland to preach the Gospel, On his way he met St, Patrick, Arch
bishop of Ireland ; and as the holy men met together, they rejoiced exceed
ingly. St, Patrick was not bishop al this time, although he afterwards
was ; for it was Pope Celestine that ordamed him Archbishop, and sent
him to preach the Gospel to the Irish,
Although there were other samts in Ireland before St. Patrick's
arrival, God reserved for Mm the archbishopric and conversion of
the natives, as kings and cMeftains did not receive the Christian faith
from any other until his arrival. St, Patrick said to Ciaran : " Proceed
before me to Ireland, and you wiU meet a weU in a soUtary spot in the
central part of the country, and erect a monastery for yourseU at that
well. The name of that well is Uaran ; and your name wiU be held in
reverence there until the resurrection of the dead,
Ciaran replied, and said ; " Tell me where is that weU situated ;"
and St, Patrick said to him, " The Lord will guide thee '; and take a
very small beU with you, which wiU not ring untU you reach the weU,
but when you do it wUl ring with a most charming and melodious sound,
and thus shall you know this weU ; and in thirty years hence I will
follow you to that place" — and they blessed and greeted each other, and
Ciaran proceeded on his journey to Ireland, while St, Patrick remained in
Italy. Ciaran's bell never rang until he arrived at the well which St,
Patrick spoke of, viz,, Uaran, and on landing in Ireland, the Lord dh-ected
his footsteps straight towards the well, and on reaching it the Uttle
beU rang quickly, with a most melodious clear sound. Barcon Ciaran
was the name of the beU, and it is now deposited as a sacred reUc in
the parish and Cathedral of St, Ciaran, and taken round the country in
order that contending kmgs and priuces should be shown by it to keep
fealty towards each other. It is also swom -on, when necessary, by the
coarbhs of St, Ciaran's monastery before the public in general. It was
made by Germanus, bishop, at St, Patrick's monastery, and it was he that
gave it to St, Patrick.
This well, about which we have just spoken, is situated in a soUtary
district on the borders of Munster eastwards, and northwards of Leinster ;
yet it is in Munster that Eily lies, and it is there that Ciaran intended

221
first residing as a hermit, for the locality was surrounded by large woods
at the time, and he contemplated erecting a smaU ceU there, but after
wards a monastery, aoid finally, by God's grace, a cathedral, which is
imiversaUy caUed SaigMr Chiaran,
When Ciaran first arrived here he sat beneath the shade of a huge
tree to shelter hunself from the heat of the sun, and a ferocious wild boar
bounded from the other side (of the tree), which, on seemg Ciaran, ran
off, but returned agaM to Ciaran a meek and humble servant, bemg, by
God's grace, brought to dociUty; and this wUd boar was the first disciple
and first monk that Ciaran had.
This boar went regularly to the woods and brought smaU timber,
which he puUed with his tusks, to assist m bmlduig this ceU, There was
no one with Ciaran at the time, for it was unknown to his disciples that
he came to this hei-mitage. Therefore, there came ferocious wUd beasts
from aU parts of the desert to Ciaran, riz,, the fox, the badger, the woU,
and the doe, and they were aU subservient to Ciaran, and received his teach
ings as humble and contrite monks should do, and obeyed him in every way.
One day that the wUd fox, who was lustful, cunning, wicked, and evUly-
disposed by nature, met the samt's sandals and stole them, and imme
diately left the community and went towards Ms own den, where he began
to eat the sandals. But on this being made knovm to Ciaran, he sent
another of Ms monks — the badger, to bring back the fox ; but on arriring at
the fox's den he found him eating the sandals — for he had the latchets and
fongs already gnawed off. The badger beseeched him to return to the
monastery, and both came in the afternoon to St, Ciaran vrith the sandals,
" Brother," said Ciaran, addressing the fox, " Why didst thou commit
this shameful theft, which is not becoming a OMistion monk to do ; for
we have water here m abundance, and food also ; and if your natural
propensities overcame you, God would make flesh meat for you of the very
bark of those trees which surround us. The fox then implored Ciaran
to forgive him his sms, and begged to have penance imposed upon him,
which was accordingly done, and the fox never after tasted food tiU he
got leave from Ciaran to do so ; and he then became pious like the rest of
the animals ever after.
After this his own disciples, with a great many others, came to Ciaran,
and he contemplated erecting a magnificent monastery ; and the aforesaid
aMmals remamed in their natural shape ever after with Ciaran, and be
came Ms domestic servants, and he took great delight in them.
The OMistian faith then began to spread rapidly, and on St, Patrick's
arrival there were three holy bishops in Ireland, viz,, AUbhe of Emly
lubhair and Ibar, bishop, and Decian in his own land and country — the
Decies of Munster ; and the holy Ciaran converted many persons of his own

222
district or territory— and of the Ossorians in general to the Christian
faith. After this came the glorious archbishop — St. Patrick, from Pope
Celestine — to Ireland, and aU Ireland was full of the faith, and received
OMistian baptism at his hands.
A young lady came most opportune to Ciaran, and he converted her,
and built her a neat Uttle cell close to the monastery, and he inrited
other holy rirgms to risit her, and amongst them was the ever-basMul
rirgin, Bruinneach, the daughter of a noble lord of Munster, and Ciaran's
mother was very much attached to her — she being a foster child of hers,
and was most amiable and accomplished in her manners. But as the
Chieftam of the dal Fiachra heard of her extraordinary beauty, he came
with a large body of kearnes, and took her away by force of arms, Hia
name was Dima, and he kept her m his castle for a considerable time, and
 was very fond of her, Ciaran came to Dima and
asked Mm to aUow the lady to return home, but Dima would not allow
her to leave himseU, and said " that she should not go unless the screech
ing of the Heron awoke him in his bed the next mornmg," It was then
wmter, and the ground was thickly covered with snow, except the spot
on which Ciaran and his disciples resided.
On the foUowing morning, although contrary to the bird's nature, a
Heron screeched on the top of every house in the dun, and when Dima
heard it he became greatly alarmed, and came in aU haste to where Ciaran
was and knelt down before Mm, and suffered the lady to return home ;
 and he brought her to her own ceU, which is now
caUed CUI Laidhan (KUlyon), StUl Dima was very much attached to her,
and became sorry for partmg her so siUy, and he came a second time to
take her off by force ; but God did not permit him, as it was the wish of
Ciaran, Ms mother, and the lady herself ; for at the moment Dima reached
the viUage, Brmnneach swooned away and died, and Dima was sorry for
that ; and addressing Ciaran, said to him : " Why hast thou killed my
wedded wife,  and therefore you shaU not
dwell here, as I wiU expel you hence."
Ciaran told him that that was not in Ms power to do of himself, but
that God may permit him for a season to do evU, and therefore he would not
depart for him, but would remain m spite of Mm.
As Dima heard this he departed m great rage, and determined
to extermmate Ciaran; but the vengeance of heaven overtook himself
for his evil doings, for on reachmg his castle he found it on a blaze
of fire, with aU the out -houses ; and he had a son of whom he was very
fond, and in the confusion, caused by the fire, he was forgotten asleep
in Dima's own bed ; but Ms mother, seeing that there was no chance of

223
saring him, cried out m a loud voice, and said, " My beloved chUd, I
bequeath thee to Ciaran of Saighir, and I leave you entirely m his hand's ;
and when the house f eU m, and the fire quenched, the Mfant was found
unhurt and asleep. And as Dima saw this he went to where Ciaran and the
Bishop Edus were, and he received absolution from Ciaran, and Dima pre
sented Mm Ms two sons, riz,, Donough (the Mfant which Ciaran saved from
the &-e), and another son, ahd their posterity ever after them, as also the
monastery, rents, and emoluments arismg from Mterments ; and Dima re-
tui-ned to his own house in gi-eat joy, and he received many blessings from
Ciaran. Ciaran not wishing that his foster-sister should so soon depart the
world, and knowing that Dima woMdnot annoy him any further, proceeded
to where her body was interred, and there prayed to the Lord for her reco
very, and she immediately arose from death to IUe, and Uved for a long
time after. *
On another occasion the servant wMch Ciaran had employed at the
monastery came to him and said, " We want meat," Ciaran i-epUed, " As
the Lord has given us everything else he wUl also give us pigs," and there
came on the foUowmg day a very large sow along with twelve others to the
labourers employed there, and many pigs were bred of them.
On another occasion the same servant informed Ciaran that there
were no sheep, and Ciaran said, " He that gave us swMe wiU also give
us sheep," and as the servant went outside the viUage he found twenty-
eight wMte sheep grazmg on the plain, and he brought them home, and
many sheep were bred of them.
There was a very powerful man, whose name was Fmntuom, residmg
m the district, and he brought his son, who was dead, to Ciaran, in order
to see U he could bring Mm to Ufe. Laoghaire was the son's name, and as
Ciaran prayed to the Lord for his recovery he arose from the dead and lived
for a long time after ; and that man presented to Ciaran at Ms death the
land called Bath Fmntuom at tMs day.
When St, Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, came to Aengus Mac-Nadh-
frach, Kmg of Munster, who beUeved of God and m St, Patrick, by whom
he was baptized, there came a man, the son of Erc, of the race of Duach,
of the territory of Ossory, and maliciously kiUed St, Patrick's horse ; but
he was taken prisoner by the king's foUowers, and they bound Mm in
fetters preparatory to his being put to death. But Ms relative implored
Ciaran m Ms behaU, and he went to the kmg and gave him immense pre
sents of gold and sUver for Ms ransom, and therefore he was released and
aUpwed to depart to his own county again ; but after Ms departure the
treasure which he gave the king melted away, which made the king very
angry, and, calling Ciaran again, he asked him " why he gave him such

224
wortMess commodity for the release of the prisoner ?" Ciaran replied and
said " that aU the wealth of the world came from dust and would retum to
dust." On hearing this the King became furious and threatened Ciaran's
Ufe, but the vengeance of God fell upon himseU, as he immediately became
bUnd and feU upon the ground m the presence of Ciaran, who was standing
by at the time.
A foster-brother (or disciple) of Ciaran's, named Carthach, and a rela
tive of the king, implored Ciaran to restore his sight, and through the
prayers of Ciaran and of those who were with him, the kmg recovered his
sight, opened his eyes, and rose sound and whole, and many persons sup
posed the king to be dead, and that Ciaran restored Mm to life again ; and
they glorified God.
TMs king had some harpers at the time, whose strains were
most enchanting and melodious, particularly when playmg natural
airs. And they were on a certain day traveUmg tMough the district
caUed Musgraidhe Tire, in the prorince of Munster, and were murdered by
an enemy, who lay m ambush for them, and who concealed the bodies of
their murdered rictims m a lake which lay near the plain wherem they
were murdered, and hung their harps on a tree which grew on the edge of
the lake, TMs grieved Aengus and made him frantic, because he did not
know who the murderers were ; but remembermg Ciaran to be a holy man
he came to inquire of him who kiUed the harpers, as he did not wish to
inquire of his Druid on account of his becommg a Christian. Ciaran said
to him : " Tour harpers were treacherously murdered and their bodies are
Md m a lake close to the place where the murder was committed, and their
harps are hung upon a tree on the brow of the lake," And the king im
plored Ciaran to accompany him there, that he might be able to get the
bodies, and they both proceeded to the lake, and Ciaran prayed and fasted,
and as soon as Ms fast was over, the waters of the lake dried up so much
that the bodies were risible, and they were taken up and brought into the
presence of Ciaran, who agam prayed to the Lord, and they were restored
to life in the kmg's presence, and they looked as U they were only asleep.
They were eight in number, and were for a f uU month in the water ;
and they took their harps from the tree and played melodious and soul-
stirring au-s before the kmg and Ciaran, and aU those assembled on the
occasion ; and the melody was so touchmg that numbers fell asleep, and
praise and glorifications were offered to God and to Ciaran, and the lake
is dried up smce, but m commemoration of this miracle is caUed Loch-na-
Geantraidhe, or " The harper's lake," to this day. And after blessing the
king and the harpers Ciaran retumed to Ms own home.
On another occasion the steward of Aengus (the king) was travelUng
tMough the same territory (Musgraidhe Tire), .and he met a herd of pigs

225
andhe directed Ms companions to kiUoneof them, andtheydidso,andbrought
it to be eaten to an adjoining wood, but the enemy met them in the wood and
killed twenty of his men on the banks of the river caUed Broanach, and as soon
as Ciaran heard of this he was implored by his foster-brother Carthach, who
was either brother or grandson to King Aengus, and also by others, that they
should proceed to where the dead bodies lay and have them bm-ied imme
diately, m order that the wUd beasts woiUd not devour them, Ciaran
said when they arrived where the bodies lay that there was not enough of
men to bring them to the churchyard : and he spoke in a loud voice and
said, " In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, arise, ye poor people, and
come along with me," and they aU arose at once, and a wild boar arose with
them ; and a holy man of the district named Eochaidh returned to his own
master ; and those who were brought became holy monks and lived with
Ciaran ever after,
Ciaran was traveUing on another occasion, and he happened to pass
through a plain where a lai-ge quantity of blackberries grew, and he said
that these very berries would be required hereafter, and he covered
them up m order that the cooMess of the approaching wmter would not
mjure them, as he knew that had they remamed there for six months longer
thus covered they woMd rather improve than wither.
On the occasion of a great banquet bemg given to Aengus, King
of Munster, by one of his subjects, a chieftam whose name was Conch-
ruidhe, Kmg of Osraigh, the king and queen and a numerous retmue came
to partake of the banquet : and this was at Easter, and the queen feU des
perately m love with ConchrMdhe at the dinner table, for he was a very
handsome and weU-featured man. But ConchrMdhe would not yield to
her solicitations, and the queen then feigned sickness m order that she
could remam in the viUage with ConcMuidhe after the kmg had left, and she
said that she would recover if she got blackberries to eat, as she sup
posed they could not be found at that season,
ConcMuidhe then became greatly alarmed through fear of the kmg
on account of the queen remammg behmd, and he immediately repaired
to Ms patron St, Ciaran, and he told him the whole affau- — for
every plam in Osraigh belonged to Ciaran's parish — and as Ciaran heard this
story he said that she should get blackbeiTies to eat, and he proceeded
direct to the place where he left them preserved the prerious autumn, and
he brought a cask full of them back, and sent them by OoncM-uidhe to the
queen, and after she had eat of them she immediately recovered from
her UMess ; for her temptation left her at once. The queen and
those who eat of the berries imagmed them as sweet as honey ; but the
queen thought it was a miracle that Ciaran wrought upon her, and she
went to him and threw herself down upon her knees in his presence, con-
29

226
fessmg her sins and begging forgiveness for the same ; and Ciaran prayed
for her and blessed her and said, " I cannot save you from the death you
were told would befal you, for the king himself will die on the same day in
battle, Eithne Vathach was the queen's name, and she was the daughter of
Crimthan MacEaniea; and Saint Patrick foretold their death, which
Ciaran also predicted at the time. And it so happened, as Aengus
and the queen feU in the battle of Cill Osraigh m Magh Pea, by the hands
of Muu-cheartach, MacEanea, and loUan MacDubhlamg, King of Lein
ster, and by the men of Leath Chumn ; and the day on which that battle
was fought was the 8th of the Ides of October, and St, Patrick died in the
same year.
On another occasion St. Patrick and Aengus MacNadfraidh went
with an immense multitude to Saighir, where Ciaran dwelt, and, besides
the other food prepared for dinner, eight bullocks were killed for the occa
sion. Some one said to Ciaran, " What signifies this quantity of meat
for such an immense number of guests P" Ciaran repUed, " He who fed
thousands m the wilderness on a few loaves of bread, and a few small
fishes wiU also feed those men ;" and he blessed Ms own well and turned it
mto wine, and, though immense the multitude assembled, it happened hy
the grace of God and Ciaran that they had plenty of food and drink.
On another occasion the King of Tara and a large number of fol
lowers went to take hostages of spoils from the Mummonians; but-
OUiol, King of Cashel, would not submit, but prepared for action all Hs
troops to meet him in battle, and both kings, with their armies, met
near Ciaran's citadel ; and Ciaran endeavoured to eonciUate them, but
they would not be reconciled. But he received from God what he could
not obtain from proud and haughty man, A large wood immediately
grew up in front of the Mummonians when gomg to fight, and the water of
the river Brosna overflowed its banks in front of the Meath men, so that
they dared not cross, and as soon as both armies saw these miracles they
became terribly afraid, and the King of Meath turned Ms back to the
stream and returned home on seeing the small rivulet that was fordable a
few moments prerious swoUen to such an alarmmg extent.
The Mummomans remamed for the night m the vicinity of Ciaran's
residence ; and Ciaran prepared a pig and a cow for the kmg's dinner,
and he satisfied him and Ms army in that meal,' and there was some left,
and they glorified God and Ciaran for his marveUous miracle.
At another time haughty kearnes made mcursions into Munster,
and commenced depredations by takmg cattle and murdermg the inhabit
ants. But a great man, a native of Munster, whose name was Longan,
pursued the keames and overtook them, and put them to flight; but

227
seemg no hope of escaping they implored Ciaran to save them from
their perUous position ; and when Longan and his foUowers thought it was
time to mui-der them, a flash of lightning fell between him and the
spoUers, wMch greatly terrified Longan and his followers, who gave up any
further pursuit, but returned home to his own habitation ; and the robbers
knew that they escaped tM-ough the mu-aculous interposition of Ciaran,
and they submitted to him and related all that had occm-red, and resolved
on becommg monks and serving God and Ciaran, and leading a holy life
for the rest of their days. And they lived with Ciaran, performing pious
and holy works ever after.
On another occasion a thief from Lemster stole a very fine cow, which
belonged to Ciaran's community or monks. His name was Cau-bre ; but
on his way to Sliabh Bladhma, where he was taking the cow, he was so
enveloped in a cloud of mist and darkness, that he could not make his
way, but feU mto the river and was di-owned, and the cow came back agam ¦
to Ciaran and Ms monks.
On another occasion Ciaran sent a yoke of oxen to St, Coinche to
plough her lands, and she knew that it was Ciaran that sent them, and
the distance was very long between the Cathedral of St, Ciaran and the
Monastery of St, Comohe, which is situated at Ross Beanchor, on the sea
coast, M the south of Ireland ; and the oxen ploughed of themselves, and
when sprmg was over they retumed home to Ciaran without any one to
J.ead them on.
Ciaran was m the habit of admimstermg the Holy Communion on
every Christmas Eve to Ms own community at Saighir by Ms own hands,
and also of risitmg the monastery of his mother at Ross Beanchor, m
order that at his own hands she would receive the body and blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ m the sacrament, and return to his own monastery on
the same evenmg. We are to infer from this that it was God that per
formed tMs miracle, as he did with Habecock, when he brought him
from India to Ms ovm country and back agam in a few moments,
St, Comche was in the habit of praymg to the Lord on her knees,
on a huge rock near the sea-coast, a short distance from her monastery^
and the rock's name now is Carrig Conchie, and the tide occasionally
sui-rounded it ; but Ciaran went one day to the rock, and it floated on the
waters with him and retumed to its own site agam when it was Ciaran's
wish that it should do so. We are not astonished at this, when it is written
 " Mirdbilis Deus in Sanctus Sui." Psahn 135,
Ciaran's foster-brother, of whom we have already spoken, viz,,
Carthach, and a young lady of Ciaran's community, whose name was
Laidan, fell deeply M love with each other, and evil thoughts polluted their
minds : so much so that they made an appointment in order to embrace

228
each other, . , . but on arrivmg at the appointed hour and
place, . . a flash of lightning f eU between them, and they narrowly
escaped being bumed, and they became so terrified that they could not
utter a single word, and they retumed home. The rirgm became blind
while she Uved, which was not too severe a punishment for a woman that
would pollute her own soul with sm, to be deprived of the light of this
world, Carthach immediately got penitent, and became a pUgi-im, Ciaran's
sanctity was manUested in this miracle, as God was not willing to aUow
these two youths who were under his care to commit sm ; for Ciaran was
truly exemplary in watcMng over his flock.
Two brothers, whose names were OdMan and Meadhran, from the
town of Lathrach, in Musgraidhe Tire, came to Ciaran to consult
-'Mm and ask his adrice as to whether they would become pilgrims and
travel mto foreign lands, and on arrivmg at Saighir one of them expressed
a wish for remainmg with Ciaran himseU. TMs man was Meadhran, and
Odhran said to Mm, " Brother ! this was not what you promised me," and
he implored Ciaran not to retam his brother, Ciaran said, " God wiQ
decide between us as to who shall have him. Let him take this torch ia
Ms hand and breathe upon it, and if it lights he shaU remain with me, but
U not he may go with you," He then took the torch m his hand and
breathed upon it, and the torch lit immediately, and he remained with
Ciaran ever after, led a holy life, and performed works of charity, Ciaran
spoke to Odhran and said, "I say unto you, Odhran, that had you
travelled the world all over it is in your native vUlage you shall die,
and therefore return home and live there, as it is after you the place
will be named for ever," Odhran returned to his own place, built a
magnificent monastery, led a virtuous and holy Ufe, and wrought many
miracles. We read in his life that he ascended into heaven, and Ciaran's
words were literally fulfilled, as the place is ever since called " Lathrach
Odhran," A female named Eitile was travelling on one occasion and she fell
and broke her bones and died of the hurt, but Ciaran restored her to life
in three days, and she bestowed on Ciaran the lands on which she got the
fall, which are now called Leim, Eitile, and she thanked God and Ciaran.
A servant belonging to the kiug, whose name was Ceanfaladh, mur
dered Oroman in a field of Ciaran's, and Ciaran restored him to life in
seven days in Christ's name; and on his being brought to IUe, Ciaran
said, in the presence of the people : " He that murdered you UlegaUy, i.e.
Ceanfaladh shall soon be murdered himself, and his body burned in the
castle caUed Rathundy, in EUeach.
On another occasion OUiol, King of Munster, addressed Ciaran
in brutal language, and left him in great anger, bnt it was not long

229
after tiU the king became dumb, being for eight days unable to utter a
word. He came to Ciaran and prostrated himseU before him— repented
and asked forgiveness, and when Ciaran saw that he was truly penitent he
blessed his tongue, and the king spoke immediately in a clear voice on
receiving Ciaran's blessing; and he went home glorifying God and Ciaran.
Ciaran and a hermit, whose name was Geaman, went one night
to bathe in a stream of cold water, and when some time in the water
Geaman said to Ciaran, " I cannot bear remaining any longer in the
water," but devotion moved them like heat in a bath, and both began to
praise God. Ciaran said to Geaman : " A beloved friend shall visit us to
morrow, i.e. Carthach, son of the King of Munster, and my own foster-
brother, whom I sent on a pilgrimage on account of a sin which he contem
plated, had not God and I prevented him ; for I did not like to see his
piety and devotion destroyed. He is now reformed, has received absolution
for his sins, and is cleansed from his transgressions. Take you this fish
hovering about here for the sake of our dearly beloved son," And Geaman
took the fish as he was told by Ciaran, and on the next day Carthach came
as Ciaran promised.
At another time Ciaran of Clonmacnoise was taken prisoner by
the king, whose name was Farouidhe, and put into fetters, and the cause
of this was, that the riches of the king were deposited for safety with
Ciaran, who, being a good and holy man and full of mercy, distributed a
large portion of them among the poor.
On another oeoasion the king came to Ciaran and spoke to him
jestingly, and said — " If I get four red cows and that you put white
heads on them I wiU set you free," Ciaran said, " God can perform this,
and allow me to go and seek out the cattle, and if I don't find them I shall
return to you again,"
Ciaran was allowed to go, and he came to Saighir, where the other
Ciaran lived, and he told him his story ; and at that time the two Bren-
dains were on a visit with Ciaran, and they were glad of Ciaran of
Cluain's arrival, and Ciaran's servant said to him that he had no food to eat
but meat, and Ciaran said, " Prepare whatever you have quickly," and
when the meat was boiled Ciaran blessed it, and it changed in their pre
sence into oil, fish, and poridge, and other delicacies according as he
wished it, and it happened by God's grace that all the vessels in the house
were filled with highly-flavoured wines for the saints' dinner.
There was a monk in the house who was not willing to dine with the
saints, viz,, MacCongan, and he said that he would not partake of
the food which was made from the meat, and Ciaran said to him " Tou
will eat meat in Lent, and your enemies will murder you on the very
day you eat it, and they wUl take ofl your head, and you shall not inherit

230
the kmgdom of heaven, and your days shaU be spent m misery, and you
WlU resign the order of the monk; and Ciaran's words turned out true
for he was murdered very near Saighir Ciaran,
It was at this time that these four holy men, viz,, the two Ciarans
and the two Brendains, made a covenant amongst themselves and their
Coarbhs after them, and on Ciaran taking his leave and receiving the
blessing of the other holy men, yet, not knowing where to find the cows
he promised the king, and Ciaran of SaigMr accompanied him part of
the way to direct him, and on parting they blessed each other, Ciaran
of Cluain said, "Let the result of my blessing be riches and much treasures
and wealth in your village for ever;" and Ciaran of SaigMr said, "Let
virtue, wisdom, and piety through my blessing dwell upon your habitation
for ever," and those words turned out true to both parties, and on arriving
at the ford caUed " Ath Sallagh" they found on the banks of the river
four bald wMte- headed cows, Ciaran of Cluain said, " Do you see how God
hath given us the four cows which the king demanded," and they then
separated after giving thanks and praise to God, and blessing and kissing
one another as a token of grace and peace. And Ciaran came to Saighir
and the other Ciaran went to Clonmacnoise and sent the cows to the king,
who was astonished how such cattle could be found, and on Ciaran
making good his promise the cows disappeared, and no tidings of them
could be obtained, and the king saw that he dealt unjustly with Ciaran.
There was in the monastery of Clonmacnoise a child, whose name was
Outbid, who was reluctant and lazy iu performing good works, but ready
and willing in doing evil things, and he came to Saighir Ciaran, and re
mained there some time with the elder Ciaran, and Ciaran commanded that
the holy fire which he blessed the previous Easter should not be quenched
for a full year in the monastery, but kept lit, and the child of whom we
have already spoken, instigated by the devil, came of his own accord and
put out the fire ; and Ciaran said to the people, " Are you aware that this
wicked child, whose name is Cuthid of Cluain, extinguished the blessed fire
we had lit, and he will be avenged for it, for he shall die on to-morrow,"
and this turned out true, as he was torn by wolves on the following day
on the lands outside the place. Ciaran said, " There shall be no fire in this
church till Easter unless God send it."
Ciaran of Cluain Mac Nois heard of the child's death, and he came in
all haste to Saighir, and he was received with great honours there, but
there was no fire in the monastery, as it was by this holy fire that the fire
of the monastery was every night lit, and Ciaran said " that there should
be no fire in the monastery till Easter if God did not send it from heaven,
and there came on that day to the village Ciaran of Cluain and his fol
lowers, and they were very cold, for it was snowy weather, and Ciaran the

231
elder went out, and lifted his hands in prayer to the Almighty and a flash of
fire fell inta his bosom, and the corner of his mantle became ignited, and
he brought it to the house where the guests were, and when they got warm
supper was prepared, and when they sat down to partake of it Ciaran of
Cluain Mac Nois said that he would not eat tUl the child was returned to
life again. Ciaran the elder then said, " We know this to be your wish
and God will restore him to life again for your sake, and the child did re
cover at the words of Ciaran, and as they saw this they praised and
thanked God for his mercies and took their supper, and Ciaran of Clon
macnoise took the child with him to Cluain after being blessed by Ciaran
the elder. On another occasion a brother of one of Ciaran's monks, whose name
was " Baton," accidentally extinguished the fire, but he did penance and re
ceived absolution; and on that day St, Ruadhan of Lothra came on a visit
to Ciaran, and there was no fire before him in the monastery, and Ciaran
went to a rock that was at hand and blessed it, and the rock lit up at once,
and Ciaran took the rock in his hands and brought it lit to the house
where the visitors were, and as Buadhan saw it they glorified and praised
God and Ciaran. The brother we have just mentioned, viz,, " Baton," on
another occasion spilled a vessel of milk which he was bringing about;
but Ciaran made the sign of the cross on the vessel and it became full again ;
and the brother who spilled it and the rest of the brethren became alarmed
or got afraid of their master Ciaran, and they became firm in the faith and
performed good works ever after,
Ciaran was on a certain day praying to the Lord and an angel
appeared unto him, and said that the hour of his death was at hand, and
he asked three requests of God through the angel, and the angel
granted him what he wished. The first was that every one who was
buried in his church and cathedral the gates of hell should be closed
against him on the day of judgment. The second request was that who
ever would keep holy his own day would not want the riches of this world
nor the kingdom of heaven after death. The third request was that the
tribe which he belonged to — that is the Ossorians, and to whom he was
patron— should never be vanquished in battle by a strange tribe if they
came unjustly to invade their territory, but that they were not to make
unjust mcursions among other tribes.
TMs holy man of whom we have just spoken, riz,, Ciaran of Saighir,
great was his humUity in aU things, and he delighted in reading and
hearing the Holy Scriptures read, and he read and studied them till
the hour of Ms death. It is related of him that in his lifetime he and
the other Irish saints were educated by Finian of Cluain Iraird, and that
he learned wisdom and divinity unsurpassable in that school, and that he was

232
named the pet or foster-child of St, Finian, as were also 'the other Irish
saints called, and on being in his old age possessed of great wisdom and
learning, as we have already said, and as a revered bishop, his anxiety was
chiefly to instruct others by teaching love, obedience, and wisdom,
Ciaran, from his youth until Ms death, never tasted strong drink, nor
did he wear warm or fine clothing, nor did he indulge in feasts or sleep
much. He converted his own tribe, riz,, the Ossorians, to the Christian
faith, and many more besides them ; and he was after visited by angels
and a large number of bishops and priests and the other orders of the
church ; and an angel built a holy well for him, in which many diseases
and infirmities are cured by its waters, and its name is Ciaran's well.
Thirty years Ciaran spent in the service of God before he was baptized,
and on getting infirm by sickness and old age, he saw the hour of his
death approaching, and he collected his flock and parishioners from all
quarters around him, and he blessed them and exhorted them to keep holy
the Commandments of God ; and he then received the Holy Sacrament in
the presence of a choir of holy men on the 3rd of the nones of the month
of March, in peace with God, and he dismissed his people, and there were
thirty bishops who were consecrated by his own hands, with God's per
mission, accompanying him that very night to heaven.

iisriDiKix:.

ADHAJSrUS (St.), his pedigree, 59, 102, 103,
— his festival dav, 104, 105,
— Ms church, 105, 123,
— Irish form of his name, 104, 105,
Aedus (St,), also named Lamhruadh, or Lamhraigh, 141,
— His church, 142, n. 1.
— his stiU existmg memorial, 143,
— his festival day, 142.
Aengus Bolg, grandfather of Liedania, 11, 13, 11, 36,
— contemporary -with Conaill, eighth King of Ossory, 60,
Aengus GaUuUeach, See Aengus Bolg,
Aengus (St,) LaUnoidhan, his pedigree,
— his festival day, 102, 104.
— his church, 104, 123.
— one of the samts of the " house of St, Ciaran," 100, 104,
Aengus Mac Nadhfrach, his pedigree, from Lughaidh Mac Con, 11.
— second cousin to St, Ciaran, 11, 22,
— the third King of Cashel, 22,
— the first Christian King of Munster, 22,
— expelled the Ossorian out of Magh Feimhin, 26, 117.
— expeUed the seven sons of Ruman Duach, 31.
— Ms matrimonial relationsMp with St, Enda of Arann, 113, n. 1.
— espouses Eithne Vathach, 116
— enforces the treaty of the Eric of Feargus Scannal, 120, 122,
— expels the Ossorians from Machaire Caiseal, 121.
— expels them from Magh Reighna, 122, 1 23.
— annexes Magh Reighna to Munster, 123.
— introduces St. Patrick to Cashel, 137.
— his conversion and baptism, 23, 137, 138, 139.
— tMeatens to take the IUe of St, Ciaran, 138,
— struck blind for his irreverence, 138.
— restored to sight and reconcUed to St. Ciaran, 138, 142,
— his harpers are murdered, 144,
— is grieved for their death, 144.
— refuses to consult his Druid, 144,
— remembers Ciaran to be a holy man, 1 44,
— enqmres of Mm respecting the hai-pers' death, 144.
— his steward and workmen also murdered, 146, 147,
— is a guest at the King of Ossory's banquet, 148, 149,
— accompanies St, Patrick to the borders of Munster, 20. 152, 153.
 accompanies St. Patrick on a farewell visit to St, Ciaran at
Saighir, 19, 20, 161, ...
 liis name not mentioned in the LUe of Ciaran after this visit, 155.
30

234
Aengus Mac Nadhfrach slain in the battle of Cill-Osnaigh, 149, 179.
— his age at the date of this battle, 179, n. I.
— died m the same year with St, Patrick, 149, 179.
— probably in the same year with St, Ciaran, 179, 180.
Aengus Osraighe, founder of the ancient kingdom of Ossory, 3.
— his pedigree from Bresal Breac, 4, 6, 53.
— his maternal genealogy, 8, 54,
— Uved three generations before Cathair Mor, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
— date of his reign, 26, 64.
— was of the race of Conla, 53,
— incited his tribesmen to resist the demands of Mimster, 64,
— fought the battle of Reighna, 64.
— drove the Munster men over the Suir, 54, 67.
— recovered the two plains of Magh Reighna and Magh FeimMn, 64.
— establishes the kingdom of Ossory, 54.
— the site of his grave, 55.
— violated the eric of Fearghus Scannal, 120,
Aengus Tuirmeac, matemal ancestor of Aengus Ossory, 5, 8, 64.
— etymology of his surname Tuirmeac, 8,
— date of his death, 8.
Aharney, church and parish of, 106, 106.
— Irish form of this name, 105,
— first mission of Bishop Eare, 123.
Ailbhe (St,), one of the four bishops who preceded St. Patrick, 41.
— the second Patrick of Munster, 137.
— the Archbishop of Munster, 138, n.
Airget Ross, i.e. Magh Airget-Ros,
— the Ossorians driven into by King Aengus, 31, 122.
— variety in the orthography of the name, 44.
— one of the three sub-divisions of the territory between the rivers, 44.
— extent and boundaries of, 46, 115,
— silver shields first manufactured here in Ireland, 46.
— derivation of the name, 45, n. 1.
— the site of the palace of Erean and Ere, 46,
— remains of their palace still standing there, 46.
Amalghaidh, or Amauley, third King of Ossory, 56.
— no memorial preserved of his reign, 56,
Ardmore, church of, founded by St, Decian, 137.
Armagh, bishop of, 9.
— the country of St. Ibar's famUy, 41,
BA.CHAEL ISA, i.e. St, Patrick's Crozier, 79, 80,
— history of its origin, 79, 80.
Badger (the), one of Ciaran's first disciples at Saighir, 124.
— one of his most faithful monks there, 124, 125.
— church dedicated to his memory, 1 26.
— his tumulus, 126-
Baile Orlaidh, now Earlstown, 118, 119.
— its etymology, 119, 120.
— sUe of a battle, 120, 122,

235
BaUche (Ui), where situated, 60.
— origin of the name, 61.
BalUncrea, its locaUty, 195,
— attempt to poison St, Patrick there, 193.
BaUy Ciaran, now caUed BaUycarran, situation of, 206,
— local pecuUarity of, 206,
— former names of, 206,
— a bequest fo the church of Odagh, 207,
BaUykieran, m the barony of Galmoy, 207.
— its locaUty not identified, 207
Barcon Ciaran, why so caUed, 16, 17,
— its reputation in ancient Ireland, 16, 16.
— why caUed Bearnan Ciaran, 16.
— given by Germanus to St, Patrick, 16,
— and by St, Patrick to Ciaran, 15, 16, 74, 94,
Barrow, the river, its source, 42,
— one of the three sister rivers, 42,
— Its title in the Fairy Queen, 42,
— its course tMough the country, 43,
— its junction with the Nore and Suir, 43, 44.
Battle of Feimhin, date of the engagement, 118,
— Keating's description of, 1 18,
— surviving memorials of, 118, 119,
— where commenced, 120,
— where concluded, 122,
Bealach Urlaidhe (or Urluidhe), 1 19, 121,
— the site of an engagement, 121,
Beama-na-Coil Leith, the gap of the gray wood, 120.
— Ossorians retreated through, 120,
Bearna-na-gaoith, i.e. Wmdgap, 49, 50.
— Ossorians retreat through, 1 20.
— splendid view from, 50,
Bearna Glassaghna, its etymology, 47,
• — the Ossorians pursued through, 112, n. 1.
Benedict (St,), his pedigree, 102,
— said to be brother to St, Ciaran, 102,
— said to be coarbh or successor of Enda of Arann, 112,
— belonged to the dal Birn of Ossory, 112,
— not a uterine brother of Ciaran, 112,
— date of his death, 113.
Bishop's sent from Rome to Ireland before St, Patrick, 41.
— invention of the story according to Dr. Todd, 41.
 none of them ever attached to the church of Cashel, 41.
Boar (the), first disciple of Ciaran at Saighir, 124.
 pulled timber for Ciaran to buUd his cell, 124.
 church still retaining Ms name, 126.
Boher- na-Boriga (now Boher a Voriga), the site of a battle, 121.
— its etymology, 121, 122. ,,. , , ,o i
Brachan (St,), his festival, 48. Site of his church, 48, n. 1.
Bresal Breac, ancestor of the Lagenians and Ossorians, 4, 6,

236
Bresal Breac, uncertainty of the year in which he Uved, 6, n. 1.
— dispute respecting his ancestry, 6, n. 1,
Brosna river, on St. Patrick's road out of Munster, 162.
¦ — contiguous to St, Ciaran's monastery, 152, 153, 159.
Bruineach, first female convert of St, Ciaran at Saighir, 129.
— the foster-child of St, Ciaran's mother, 129, 130,
¦ — nunnery built for her use, 129, 130,
— her beauty and accomplishments, 189, 130,
¦ — her abduction by the chief of the dal Fiachra, 130.
— is restored to her nunnery
— her death, 130, 131.
— is restored to life by St, Ciaran, 130, 131.
Buain Osraighe, fifth King of Ossory, 11, 36, 58.
— ancestor of two eminent saints, 59.
CAINNEACH (St.), date of his birth, 33. Date of his death, 43.
— restores a dead boy to IUe, 33,
— saves the life of Colman, King of Ossory, 49.
Cairbre (St,), son of Ruman Duach, 62,
— his pedigree, from Aengus Ossory, 102, 103,
— one of the saints of the " house of St, Ciaran," 102, UO.
Cairpre Caem, seventh King of Ossory, 60.
— also called Cairpre Naid, 60
— slain in the battle of Gabhra, 60.
Culeran, swine-herd of the King of Muscraidhe, 61.
Callanan (Rev, E,), preserves a photograph of the fresco of St.
Clement, 166, «, 2,
CaUan, or CaUanach river, 119.
— why so named, 119,
Cartach, a disciple of St, Ciaran, 139.
— a relative of King Aengus, 131, 146, 156, 167, 164.
— a foster-brother of Ciaran, 166.
— implores Ciaran to restore the king to sight, 139,
¦ — implores him to give Christian burial to the king's steward and his
men, 146, 147.
— miraculously preserved from committing sm, 156, 164.
— became a penitential pilgrim, 70, 166, 105,
— date of his departure for the continent, 168.
— his age at the time of his departure, 168.
— remained seven years on the contment, 158
— ¦ his return to Saighir, 164, 165,
— date of his retum, 165.
— succeeds St, Ciaran in Saighir, 165.
— could not have ordained Cartach junior priest, 167, n. 1,
Cartach (junior), caUed also Mochuda, 167, n. 1,
— said to have been a nephew of Cartach, senior, 167, n. 1.
— said to have been ordained priest by him, 167, n. 1.
— the impossibility of each proved, 167, n. 1.
Cashel, original name of, 22.
— first king and queen of, 22,

237
- ttuitv^:ffn'^^ *° ^^ ''' fi-* ^-t°P' 41.
loyal city of, 50, Its founder, 50, Plains of 60
- original name of, 60, 61, '
— derivation of this name, 61, », I,
— site of the avehbishopric of Munster, 137, n 2
— Mstory of Its foundation, 61, G2
— the metropoUs of Ireland, 61, 6 J
— synod of, 137.
Cathair Mor,^Uved three generations after Aengus Ossory, 4, 5
— h^s will —enquiries respectMg its various versions, 6.
— Ms bequest to Nia Corb, 7, 59, 60.
Cealach (St,), son of Ruman Duach, (52.
— one of the saints of the " house of St, Ciaran," 102 111
" his pedigree from Aengus Ossory, 102, 103.
— Ms festival day. 111,
— his church, Ul.
Ceaimfaladh (St,), son of Ruman Duach, 62.
— Ms pedigree from Aengus Ossory, 10.1, 103,
— one of the samts of the "house of St, Ciaran," 102, UO.
Christian reUgion, rapid spread of, iu Munster, 147,
— conspiracy against its progress, 145, 147.
Ciaran (St.), remote antiquity claimed for his birth and mission, 1.
— proofs in support of his pre-patrician career, 2.
— - paternal genealogy from Aengus Ossory, 3, 11, 102, 103,
— maternal pedigree from Lughaidh Mac Con, 11, 13 14
— date of his birth, 3, 11, 13, 14, 21, 63.
— said to be second cousin to Colman, King of Ossory, 29, 30.
— said to be a student in St, Finian's school, 37.
— named as one of the " Twelve Apostles" of Ireland, 37, 38,
— anciently beUeved to have attained the age of three hundred and
sixty years, 37.
— second cousin to Aengus Mac NadMrach, 22,
— denominated the "first-bom of the saints of Ireland," 65, 73.
-— prophecy concerMng Ms future greatness, 65.
— his birth, 66, Its locaUty, 66.
— his extraordinary size, 6ti.
— Ms first miracle, 66.
¦ — why he retired from Corca Laighe to Ossory, 67.
— his youtMul virtue, 68,
— despises the Druidic religion, 68.
— hears of the spread of Christianity on the Continent, 68, 69, 74,
— attains the thirtieth year of his age, 68, 69.
— his journey to the Contment, 69.
— date of the voyage, 70, 7 k
— its feasibility, 70, 71,
— meets St, Patrick in Italy, 21, 74,
 enquires of Mm respecting the well Uaran, 74.
 was not twenty years in Rome, 7d.
. — was twenty years in Italy, 75,
 may have visited Rome, 75,

238
Ciaran (St.), no proof that he was there ordained bishop, 25.
— was not sent from Rome to preach to the Irish, 75,
— left Rome before a,d, 418, 76.
— the " St. Semor" of Probus, 83,
— his proper designation, 83,
— ordains Patrick priest, 85,
~ superintends his education for seven years, 85.
— designedly transformed into Senior, 88, w, 89.
— induces Patrick to visit Auxerre, not Rome, 90.
— risited Germanus in Auxerre, 91, 96.
— intended that Patrick would accompany him to Ireland, 91, 92.
— leaves St. Patrick in Italy and retums to Ireland, 92, 94,
— date of his return home, 74, 77, 94, 96.
— facility of Ms returning to Ireland, 96.
-— did not on Ms return go to a well in the centre of Ireland, 95, 96, 97 .
— did proceed to the river called Heoir, i.e. the Nore, 99.
— opening scenes of Ms mission, 99, 101,
— founds the first Christian Church in Ireland, 99,
— opens the first Christian seminary in do,, 99.
— the saints and scholars of his school, 100, 101.
— erects a pillar stone, 100.
— predicts an evil end for Eithne Vathach, 1 1 7.
— his school dispersed, 123,
— retires to the woods of Eilie, 123,
— Ms first arrival at Saighir, 124,
— came there unknown to his disciples in Ossory, 124.
— wild beasts become his disciples m Saighir, 124.
— his address to the fox, 124, 195.
— his disciples of Ossory discover his retreat, 125.
— Ms first disciples in Saighir, 126,
— Ms first female convert there, 829,
— he founds the nunnery of Killyon, 129
— obtains the release of his foster-sister from the Chief of the dal
Fiachra, 130.
— is threatened vrith expulsion from Saighir, 161.
— defies the chieftain to expel him, 13 1 ,
— saves the chieftain's child from destruction, 131,_
— grants absolution and many blessings on the chieftain, 131.
— restores his own foster-sister to Ufe, 131.
— meets St. Patrick in the south of Ossory, 134.
 is said to have received the apostle with coolness, 134, 135.
— yielded all submission to Patrick, 1 36
— not present at the synod of Cashel, 138.
 Ms first visit to Cashel after the baptism of the king, 139,
 liberates the Ossorian who kUled St, Patrick's horse, 34, 139.
— his gold turns into dust, 139, 140.
— his IUe is threatened by the king, 139,
— restores the king to heaith, 139, 141.
— is reconcUed with King Aengus, 142.
— discovers the bodies of the eight harpers, 144.

239
Ciaran (St,), restores them to life, 144,
— founds the church of TuUahought, 144,
— restores the king's steward and men to life, 146,
— preserves a quantity of blackberries, 148,
— sends them to the Queen of Munster, 147.
— prays for the queen and predicts her death, 148, 149.
— entertains St, Patrick and King Aengus, 151.
¦ — blesses his well and changes it into wine, 151.
— his age at the date of this visit, 152.
— his final farewell of St, Patrick and King Aengus, 153, 154.
— prevents his foster-brother and a nun from committing sin, 156, 164.
— miraculously prevents a battle, 159.
— sends oxen to plough St, Coinche's lands, 169,
— visits his mother's monastery every Christmas, 160.
— the sea-rock miraculously floats at his pleasure, 160, 172.
-- saves the lives of robbers, 160, 161.
— his cow is stolen and the thief drowned, 161.
— restores a lady to Ufe, 161,
— receives fi-om her a grant of land, 161,
— restores a man to Ufe, 162,
— restores his speech to a kmg, 162,
 is consulted by two brothers, Odhran and Meadhran, 163.
— his decision in the case, 163.
— his address to Odhran, 163.
— predicts the retum of Cartach to SaigMr, 164.
— his age at that date, 164, 166,
— commits the charge of his church to Cartach, 166.
— in manner and life Uke unto St. Clement, 166.
. — iu what he resembles him, 166,
— retires from Saighir to die in seclusion, 166.
— fabulous age of, 167,
— changes fleshmeat into fish, &c,, 168.
— reproves a monk for refusing to use the meat, 168.
— institutes a covenant -with the two Brendans, &c., 168, 169.
— blesses the habitation of St, Ciaran of Cluain, 169
— commands the Paschal Fire not to be extinguished for a year, 170.
- predicts the death of one who did extinguish it, 170.
— miraculously re-kindles the fire, 170, 171, 172.
— restores the culprit to life, 170.
— refiUs a vessel of milk by the sign of the cross, 172.
— was visited before his death by an angel, 17d.
— his three petUions are granted by t^e angel, 17d.
— his character and mortified habits, 172, 17d.
— his holy life, 172, 174.
_ his death as described by his biographer, 174.
_ its locality not recorded, 174, 175-
_ Ms relics not preserved at SaigMr, 176
_ an angel builds a holy well for Mm, 175 176.
_ retUes to this weU before his death 176.
_ is there visited by bishops, &c,, 176.

240
Ciaran (St,), locaUty of this well, 176,
— there resigns his spirit, 178.
— Ms age at that date, 1 78.
— singular coincidence in date with that of the death of St, Patrick, 179.
Do,, in do,~, with that of Aengus MacNadhfrach, 1 80.
— probably the first bishop that had been buried m Ossory, 182.
— was buried according to the ritual of his ancestors, 183.
— his tumulus called Tula-CMarin, 183, 186,
— the morning star of Christianity in Ireland, 184,
— departed before its sun had risen above the horizon, 186.
r — his coarbhs or successors in the church of SaigMr, 189.
— is the senior of the saints of Ireland, 191,
— his still existing memorials, 181.
— Ms " Holy WeU" at Saighir,
Do., Kilkenny,
Do., Kilkieran of Inistioge, 207.
Do., Stonecarthy, 208,
Do,, Errill, 209.
— his tree in ErriU, 209.
— his patron day in ErrUl, 209.
— his "Chair" in St, Canice's church, 211.
— his statue on the market cross of Kilkenny, 213.
— his college in Kilkenny, 216.
— his cathedral, do., 216.
— his bell, do., 216,
— his festival day, do,, 216.
Ciaran (St.), of Clonmacnoise, one of the twelve apostles of Ireland, 38.
^ date of his death, 38,
— not referred to in the Life of Ciaran of Saighir till after the retum
of Cartach, 167,
— disposes of the King of Leinster's money to the poor, 168.
— is imprisoned by the king, 168.
— is liberated on certain conditions, 168.
— goes to meet Ciaran (senior) and the two Brendans at Saighir, 168.
— is received with great honour at Saighir, 170.
— .estabUshed a covenant among themselves, 168,
— blesses St. Ciaran and his city of SaigMr, 169.
. — finds four red cows for the King of Leinster, 169.
CiU-Finnche, church of, burned by the Danes, 47, n. 1, 48, 199.
— said to be identical with Sheepstown church, 47, n. 1, 48.
— stood near a great hill, 47, n. 48.
— formerly a parish church,
CUl-Osnaidhe, battle of, 142, 179,_
Cingit, pedigree, from Aengus Tuirmeac, 5, 8, 64.
— wife of Crinthan Mor, 9, 10, 64.
— daughter of Daire Mac Deagha, 8, 9, 64.
— mother of Aengus Ossory, 6, 9, 54.
— sister to Curoi Mac Daire, 9, 10, 64,
Claragh, church of, 49, n. 1.
— patron saint of, deanery of, 49, n. 1.

241
Claragh, holy weU of, 49 n. 1.
— deanery of, 49 m, I.
Clashacrow, ancient church of, 209.
— patron saint of, 209.
— derivation of the name, 210.
Clement (Pope), St. Ciaran said to be like unto, 166,
— painting of, discovered, 166.
— how St, Ciaran resembled him, 166.
Clontubbrid, church of. 111.
— probable founder of, 111, 123.
— Druids' weU at, 11 1, n. 1.
Clough, parish of, 104.
— not an ancient parish, 104, n. 1.
— patron saint of, 1C4
Cluain MeU (now Clonmel), in Magh Feimhin, 60, 120,
Coen-Chomrachus, one of the party who stole St, Patrick's horses, 141.
— apparently the patron saint of KUcoan, 142,
— probably from Comeris, 142.
Coinche (St.), the nurse of St, Ciaran, 169.
— situation of her monastery, 1 69,
_ oxen sent from Saighir to plough her lands, 169.
— her rock called Carrig-conchie, 160.
Colman, King of Ossory, 1.
— said to have been first cousin to St, Ciaran, 1, 29.
— the assertion examined and disproved, 29, 30, 31, 32,
— belonged to the race of Corca Laighe, 32.
— was the last of the seven foreign chieftams in Ossory, 32, 36.
— his Ufe saved by St. Cainneach, 49.
Colman (bishop), son of Dairine, 113, n. 1.
— why caUed son of Dairine, 113, n. 1.
Comeris, a sub-denommation of the parish of Offerlane, 142, n. 2.
ConaUl, the eighth Kmg of Ossory, 60,
ConaiU (St,), son of Ruman Duach, 62.
— site of his church, 111, 123.
— one of the saints of the " house of St, Ciaran,"
Conaire Mor, King of Munster, 51.
— son to Eidersceal, 51,
Concruidhe, King of Ossory, 148.
— the first of the seven kmgs from Corca Laighe, 149.
— a relative of St. Ciaran's mother, 14 9.
— entertains the king and queen of Munster, 148
— rejects the unlavrful solicUations of the queen, 14«.
— repaired to St, Ciaran for advice, 148.
— brines a cask of blackberries from St. Ciaran to the Queen.
_ his palace on the sUe of the Castle of KUkenny, 177.
Connla, ancestor of the Ossorians, 6, 51.
_ succession in race of, interrupted, 35.
 -ace of, restored, 36.
_ race of, confined withm Magh Airget-Ros. 53.
Core, first King of Cashel, 22, 50.
31

242
Core, the husband of Abinda, 22, 60.
— attempts to restore the Eric of Feargus Scannal, 61, 120.
— removes the seat of government to Sidhe Dhruim, 61.
— founds the city of Cashel, 61, 62,
— contemporary of Ruman Duach, 62.
— uncle by piarriage to Liedania, 22, 63.
Corca Laighe, genealogy of, 13, 35.
— the tribeland and clann of Liedania, 13.
— ancestor of, 11, 13.
— seven kings of, in Ossory, 30, 85.
— first king of, in Ossory 66.
— the last king of, in Ossory, 35, 36,
Cormac Mac Cuilleanan, secretaries of, 6.
— insists on Ossory being subject to Munster, 7, n, 2.
— ambitious policy of, 7, 41, 62, 61.
— claims the right of erecting forts within Ossory, 52.
— attempts to make Cashel the ecclesiastical metropoUs of Ireland,
61, 62,
— pretensions to the ecclesiastical presidency of Munster, 137.
Cormac Mac Eladhach, bishop and scribe of Saighir, 18.
— author of the Life of St. Ciaran, 18.
— Ms promotion to the abbacy of Saighir, 18.
— ignores by design the locality of St. Ciaran's death, 175.
Cormac Ulfadhach, 26, 27, 28.
— transactions during Ms reign, 67, «. 1.
Corporation of Kilkenny, lands of the Franciscan Abbey vested in, 176.
Crimthan Mor, father of Aengus Ossory, 5, 10, 54.
Cuchuland, the hero of the " Red Branch Knights, 10, 54.
Cucurb, King of Leinster, 67.
— not able to meet the Munster army, 67.
— mvites the assistance of Lughaidh Laoighis, 67.
— defeats the Munster men, near Athy, 67.
— reinstates the King of Ossory in his terrUory, 57.
— establishes the kingdom of Laoighis or Leix, 57.
Curoi (o*- Cury), son of Daire, the " plunderer," 9, 10, 54.
— fought in smgle combat with Cuchulaina, 13, 64.
— was slain, 10, n. 2.
DAIRE, surnamed the " plunderer," 8, 54.
— father of CingU and of Curoi or Cury, 8, 9, 10, 54.
Dairie Bairche, brother to Ros Failghe, 60.
— tribeland of his descendants, 60.
Deagha, the son of Suin or Sen, 8.
— banished from Ulster before the Christian era, 8.
— ancestor of the Clann Deaghadh m Munster, 8.
Dearmagh (now Durrow), church of, 105, 106.
— samts of, 106, 106, 123.
Decian (St.), one of the four bishops m Ireland before St, Patrick,
41, 133, 137.
— the second Patrick of Desii, 137, n. 2,

243
SSrtb?'*''^ st, Patrick at Hynnehone, 136, n. 2.
tbn ^- °"Smal possessions south of the river Suir, 26, 116,
— the diocese of, 138, n. 2.
— afflicted by famMe and barrassed by the Ossorians, 115
— counselled by the Druids to hold possession of the lands, 1 13
— also to obtain possession of the chUd of King Crimthan 116
— educated and tramed her, 116, '
— gave her in marriage to King Aengus,
— receive Magh Feimhin as an eric for her, 117, 122.
— became the favourites of the king, 117.
— attack the Ossorians near Clonmel, 120
— pursue them through the gaps in the Drumderg hills, 120.
Dima, chief of the dal Fiachra, 129, 130, 131,
— his abduction of BruUieach, the foster-sister of Ciaran, 130.
— condition required for her release, 130.
— restores her to her nunnery, 131.
' — regrets her restoration, 131.
— attempts a second abduction, 131.
— accused Ciaran of having killed her and thre itens to expel Mm, 131.
— the divine vengeance overtakes him for his impiety, 131.
— his castle and out-offices take fire, 131,
— his son is miraculously saved from the flames, 131,
— he repents and is reconciled to St, Ciaran, 131,
— his grants of land, &c., to St. Ciaran, 131,
" Dissertation of the royal family of the Stewarts," quoted for the
date of Aengus Ossory's reign, 9,
— testimonials in favour of the book, 9, n. 1,
Doe (the), one of St. Ciaran's first disciple of Saighir, 124,
Donnchadh, King of Ossory, 17.
Druid, well of, 111.
— superseded mthe court of King Aengus, 144, 145.
— confounded by the teaching of St. Ciaran, 99,
Dramderg, i.e. the Red Ridge, 115, 120, 1-^3.
Drumdeilgie hills; now called Thornback, 31, 47, 116, 122, 123,
— the southern boundary of Magh Airgit Ross, 31, 47, 115.
— the northem boundary of Magh Reighna, 48.
— rise from the Nore at Thornback church, 63.
— run to Grean bill at KUcooly, 53,
— unite there with Sliabhardagh, 53.
— run thence to the river Suir, 53. „ ¦ -, at
— form a natural rampart between the rivers Suir and Nore, 53,
— old church of, 108, n. 1. ^no i
 formerly a parochial estabUshment, 108, n. 1.
— now included in the parish of St, Canice, 108, «. 1.
Duach, the father of Feradach, Kmg of Ossory, 82 .9, 30
-to be distmguished from Ruman Duach, grandfather of St, Ciaran,
29, 30, 33. a ¦ .9
Dumha Dresa, a fort on the river Suir, 52^
_ line drawn to it from the river Nore, 52, 5d.
Durdrue, swine-herd of the King of Ele, 61.

244
Dumaun, the viUage of, 136, 194.
— said to have been a term of reproach by St. Patrick, 136, 194.
— derivation of the name, 195, 196, 197.
EARLSFORT, i.e. Port Ariaidhe, 119, 121, n. 2.
Eidersceal, also called Feargus Scannal, 61,
— treacherously slain, 61,
— the eric or payment for his death, 62, 53.
Eithne Vathach, Queen of Munster, 115.
— her education, 116,
— her character, 116, 117, 148, 149,
— her espousals with King Aengus, 116.
— her sinful career, 117, 148, 149.
— her pedigree, 149.
— her unlawful soUcitation, 148.
— feigned sickness, 148.
— requires blackberries, 148.
— obtains them from St. Ciaran, 148,
— becomes penitent, 148.
— is forgiven and blessed by St, Ciaran, 117, 148.
— prediction concerning her death, 117, 148, 149.
— her death in battle, 149, 179.
Elim Mac Conry, monarch of Ireland, 4.
— battle of Reighna, fought in his reign, 4.
Enda of Arann, 102.
¦ — brother-in-law of King Aengus, 113, n. I.
— his three sisters, 113, n. I,
Eochaidh Leith-treine (called also Eochaidh Lamdoitt) fourth King
of Ossory, II, 35, 56,
Eochaidh restored to life by St. Ciaran, 147.
Eochaidh Ua Cuainn bumed in the steeple of Fearta, 200.
Erc (St.), his pedigree imperfect, 102, 103.
— one of the saints of the " house of St. Ciaran,"
— his festival days, 102, 105.
— his several churches, 105, 123.
Erc, sonof, killed St. Patrick's horse, 138, n. 1.
— ordered to be executed by King Aengus, 139.
— liberated by St. Ciaran, 139.
— three sons of, evangeUzed Dearmagh, 105, 123.
Erean and Ere, founders of the Milesian monarchy, 45.
— Irish forms of their names, 46.
— assumed joint sovereignty over Ireland, 46.
— divided Ireland between them, 46.
— build the palace of Rathbeath, or Rabey, 46.
— from their names have been derived Erean and Erin, 46, 47.
— from them have been derived the ancient name of the river Nore,
46, 47.
Eric of Feargus Scannal, 61, 57.
— history of its establishment, 51, 52.
— how long it continued to be observed, 63.

245
Eric, attempted enforcement of, 57, 61,
Erke church'oft rotl06,'Y2f "^"' ^" Nadhfrach, 120, 122.
Ernanus, or Senanus (St.), 107.
— patron saint of KUdeUgy church, 107.
Excommunication, how performed in ancient Ireland, 16.
FAENCHAE (St.), sister of Enda of Arann, 113, n. I.
Farran Arlaidhe, now Arley land, 121.
— the site of a battle, 121, 122.
— derivation of the name, 121.
Fearta-na-gCearach, the graves of the sheep, 127, 198.
— plundered and taken possession of by the Danes, 199.
— Danes subdued there and banished out of the territory, 199,
— the chief master and his monks burned in the round tower, 209,
— old church of, comparatively modern, 201.
— last prior of, 201.
Feargus Scannal, also known as Eidersceal, 51.
— slain by Nuad the White, 61.
— eric or payment for Ms death, 61, 62, 53, 57.
FeidhUme Rechtmar, monarch of Ireland, 56, 67.
Feradach, King of Ossory, 29, 30.
— said to be the brother of Ciaran's father, 1, 29, 30.
— the assertion exammed and confuted, 29, 30.
- - slain by the Ossorians, 30.
— not of the Ossorian famUy, 30, 31.
— belonged to the tribe of the Corca Laighe, 30, 31, 32,
Fiach Suidhe, brother to Conn of the Hundred Battles, 115.
— ancestor of the people of DesU, 116
— Ms descendants expelled the Ossorians from Feimhin,_118.
Fiachadh Fearmar, Ms birth and Ufe, 8,
— etymology of his name, 8, «, 1.
Findeach Duimd (St.) bishop of Cill Finnche, 110.
Pinnche (St,) her pedigree imperfect, 102, 1(J3, 109.
— her festival day, 102, 109.
— church dedicated to her, 109.
— her native place, 109.
— not a saint ofthe " house of St. Ciaran," 109,
Pinn-mac-Cumhal, the Fenian cMeftain, 60.
— said to have given Ms name to Magh Feimhin, 60.
— legend of the fair competitors for Ms hand, 50.
Fox (the), one of St, Ciaran's disciples at Saighir, 124.
— his character, 124,
— his theft, 124,
 his repentance, 124.
 received back bv his master, 124.
 Ms future fidelity, 125.
Francis (St.), his weU, 177, «, 2,
Franciscan Abbey, erected and endowed, 1/b.
Fueran, the Latin form of Feoire.

246
GABHRAN BEALACH, or pass of, 49,
— line drawn from at the river Nore, 52, 53.
— St. Patrick enters Ossory through, 133.
Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, 76, 77.
— date bf his elevation to the See of Auxerre, 76.
— had been previously an officer m the Roman army, 76,
— Patrick applied to study under Ms guidance, 77.
— directs Patrick to the school of Lerins, 76, 78, 86, 88.
— why send Patrick to that school, 82, 89.
— date of Ms so directing him, 85.
— designated an angel by Probus, 86, 87, 89.
— the true reading of his message to Patrick, 88.
— learned from Patrick the history of his captivity, 89.
— had known that Ciaran was then studying in Lerins, 78, n. 2, 89.
— directs Patrick to accept the Irish mission, 87, 89.
— directs him to go to Pope Celestine, 91.
Glenn Dealmhic, church of, 48, n. 1, 49, n. 1.
Graves (Rev. James), his "History, Antiquities, and Architecture of
the Cathedral Church of St. Canice," quoted, 21I.|
— his appreciation of the legends of the Irish saints, 64.
— his extracts from the taxations of Ossory, 108, n. 1.
— his quotations from BishopOtway's VisitationBook, 100 n. 2, 177, n. 1.
Do,, from the White Book of Ossory, 176, 177.
HARLEY PARK, anciently Ross-na-Arlaidhe, 119.
— its etymology, 119, 122,
Harpers (the eight), their martyrdom, 144.
— restored to IUe by St. Ciaran, 144
— their obsequies by St. Ciaran, 146,
— gave name to the church of TuUahought, 146.
Heremon (Mount), Patrick is directed to go there, 80, 82.
— is there ordained priest, 80, 82.
— is there importuned to go to Ireland, 80, 82.
— enquiry respecting its locaUty, 87.
— Dr. Lanigan's researches for, unsuccessful, 87.
— its description by Probus, 87.
"House of St. Ciaran," its situation, 100, 101.
— founded on the model of the school of Lerins, 101.
— its saints and scholars, 101.
— to be distmguished from those of the Ossorian family, 113.
— number of students in, 114,
— students of dispersed by the war-storm in Ossory, 123.
Huar, the name of a river, 92, 98.
— the Latin form of Heoir,
Hynneone, see Innehone nan Desii.
IBAR (St.), one of the four bishops sent before St. Patrick to Ire
land, 41, 133, 187.
— the tribeland of his family, 41,
Innehone (the hospitable), now MuUinahone, 118.

247
Innehone to be distinguished from Innehone nan DesU, 121, n. 1.
— derivation of its name, 121,
— asserted to mean the miU of St, John, 122, n. 3.
— no evidence to support such a derivation, 122, n. 3.
— not the site of any ecclesiastical establishment, 122, n. 3.
— never the head of a parish, 122, n. 3.
— site of the King of Munster's fortress, 122, n. 3.
— the ruins of this fort still standing, 122, n. 3.
Innehone nan Desii, i e. Innehone of the Deicii, 121, n. 1.
— to be distinguished from Innehone the Hospitable, 121, n. 1.
— St. Patrick meets St. Decian there, 136, n. 1.
KELLS, deanery of, 49, «. I.
— barony of, 47, n. 1, 48,
— not co-extensive -with the ancient Magh Reighna, 48.
— church of, 207, n. 1,
KiUaban, parish of, 104, 105.
KUlamory, church of, 107, n. 1., 142.
— patron saints of, 107, n. 1,
Kilbrahan, its situation, 48, n. 1.
— its ancient church and patron saint, 48.
KiU Ciaran of KeUs, said to be the church ofthe Holy Cross, 209, n. 1.
KiU Ciaran of Clashacrow, derivation of the latter, 209, 210.
KiU Ciaran of Imstioge, apparently a former parish, 207.
— tradition respecting its patron day and holy weU, 207.
KUl Ciaran of Owning, cemetery and church of, 208.
— monumental crosses at.
Kill Ciaran of Stonecarthy, 208.
— holy weU at, 208, n. 1.
KiU Ciaran of Traigh Ciaran, 191, 193.
Kill Ciaran, parish of, 205.
KiU-Coan, church of, 142.
— its probable patron saint, 142, n. 3.
KUdeilgy, church of, 106.
— founder and patron saints of, 106, 123. -^c -i(\>7
- situation of, as described by Rev. J. O'Hanlon, 106, 107.
— discussion respecting Us patron samt, 107,
KiUinny, said to be the anglicised form of CiU-FinncM 47 48, 183.
_ never known by the name of Magh Reighna, 47, n. 1, 48.
— its patron saint, 47, n. I, 48.
— its patron day, 47, n. 1, 48.
— the site of a battle, 120. . ,^0 „ i
KUmoganny, church and parish of, 10«. «• l" ,
_ mistake respecting its patron samt, 108, n. 1.
KUlmurry, church of, Ul.
 its probable founder, III.
KUtorcan, church of, 126, «• 2
_ why originally so caUed 126 127.
TT^llvon origin of its church, 129,
5- not huilt by St. Ciaran for Ms mother, 129.

248
Killyon nunnery of, 129.
— Irish form of the name, 129, 131.
Ktiockgraffan, on the river Suir, 50, 52.
— the original residence of the Kings of Munster, 60.
— royal residence removed from, 60.
LAMHRAIGHE (St,), first called Aedus, 141.
— cause of the change in his name, 141.
— appomted to the care of his horses by St. Patrick.
— founder of the church of KUlamory, 146.
— his profession before his conversion, 141, 142, n. 1.
— his stiU existmg memorial, 143.
— his festival day, 142.
Lanigan (Dr,), author of the Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, 1.
— rejects the legend of Ciaran's life, 1.
— misreads its chronology, 19.
— his objections answered, 37, 38, 113.
— his calculations for the date of St, Patrick's death, 178, n. 1 , 179, n. 1.
Laoighis, ancient principaUty of, 57.
— origm of the name, 58.
— extent and boundaries of, 68.
— cause of the first estabUshment of, 58.
— the Ui Mordha, or O'Moore's of, 51.
Lathrach Odhran, church of, 363, n. 1.
— founder and patron saint qf, 163, n. 1.
— parish festival of, 163, n. 1.
Leap (the), original Irish name of, 161, n. 1,
— bestowed on St, Ciaran by the lady Eitile, 161.
— a farm belongmg to the monastery of Saighir, 161, 187.
Leap Castle Inquisition, held m, 161.
Legend of Ciaran's IUe.
— several copies of m existence, 15.
— the author and the date of its compilation, 16, 17, 18, 19.
— rejected by Dr. Lanigan, I, 19, 24.
— rejected by Dr. Todd, 1, 19, 24, ^ , . ,. , „ ;, ,„,
— rejected by the correspondent of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 124.
— abounds in bardic excesses, 64.
— not to be rejected on that account, 64. , . ne
— to be taxed with partiaUty towards the interests of SaigMr, 95.
— its text in extenso, 219. o r t^
Leoghaire BUn (buadhach), ancestor of the dal Birn of Ossory, 3, S, 55.
— second Kmg of Ossory, 3, 5, 11, 35, 65.
¦ — derivation of his sumame, 65,
— Ms tulach or tumulus at John's-weU, 56, n. 1.
Lerins (island of), the site of a distmguished school, 76, 78.
 Patrick sent there by Germanus, 76, 78, 82, 87, 88.
— is said to remain there Mne years, 76.
— by others seven years, 76, 77.
— date of Patrick's joumey to, 76, 17.
— meets Bishop Senior there, 80, 82.

249
LerUis (island of), Patrick is ordained priest there, 80, 82,
— Ciaran meets Patrick there, 20, 85.
— Patrick is educated there, 78, 86, 89.
Liedama, her pedigree, from Lughaidh Mac Conn, 11, 13, 14.
— daughter of Maine Cherr, II, 13, 14, 22, 63.
— vrife of Lughaidh of Ossory, 11.
— mother of St, Ciaran, 11, iS, 14, 22, 65.
— first cousin to Nadhfrach, king of Munster, 22,
— objection to her pedigree answered, 40,
— vision of, before she conceived Ciaran, 65.
— church of, at Saighir, 129.
— her festival day there, 129, 192,
— her monastery at Ros Beanchor, 160, 193.
— visited there by St, Ciaran every Christmas, 160.
— the most Ulustrious of Ciaran's converts, 194.
— her age when Ciaran retm-ned from the Continent, 123.
— retires with other ladies to a Ufe of seclusion, 193,
— the " first abbess amongst the virgin samts of Ireland," 192 193,
Lughaidh, son of Ruman Duach, II, 62, 63.
— husband of Liedania, II, 63.
— father of St. Ciaran, 11, 29, 63,
— said to be first cousin of Colman, king of Ossory, 610, 29.
— the assertion mvestigated and disproved, 29, 30.
— the mnth m descent from Aengus Ossory, 11, 35.
— contemporary with NadMrach, king of Cashel, 63.
— emigrated to the country of Corca Laighe, 63.
— there married Liedama, 63.
— settled down in his -wife's country, 63, 66, Ul.
— did not return to Ms native tribeland, 63, 66.
— probably the cMeftain there who " first beUeved in the Cross in
Ireland," 191.
— apparently the chieftain who conferred Traighe Ciaran on St.
Ciaran, 193,
Lughaidh Laoighis, son of Laoighse Caen Mor, 67,
— message despatched to, by the king of Leinster, 57.
— arrives with aid to check the Munstermen, 57.
Lughaidh Mac Conn, monarch of Ireland, 11, 40.
— maternal ancestor of St. Ciaran, 11, 60.
— head of the race of the Corca Laighe, 13, 14.
— date of Ms death, 14,
MAGH FEIMHIN, boundaries and extent of, 50,
— one of the three sub-divisions of the "territory between the
rivers," 44,
— conferred by king Aengus on the people of Desii, 26, 27, 28.
— battle of, 4, 50, 54,
— mvaded by the Munster men, 67.
— Ossorians expelled from, 26, 27, 63, 118, 120.
 conferred by King Aengus on the Desu, 26, 27, 118, 120.
Machaire Cashel, i.e. the plains of Cashel, 50.
32

250
Machaire Cashel, within the territory of Feimhin, 60.
Maicnaidh, or Maeny, of the race of Corca Laighe, 11.
— father of Aengus Bolg, 13.
— great grandfather of Liedama, 11, 13.
— contemporary with CaUpre Caem, sixth king of Ossory, 60.
Maine Cherr, prince of Corca Laighe, 11, 60.
— father of Liedania, 11, 13, 14, 22, .35, 43, 60.
— son of Aengus Bolg, 11, 13, 14, 22, 36, 40.
— brother of Abinda, the wife of Core, 22.
— contemporary with Ruman Duach, the ninth king of Ossory, 60,
— contemporary with Core, first king of Cashel, 60.
— maternal grandfather of St. Ciaran, 63.
MaUanfaidh (St,), abbot of Dairmis, 112.
— did not belong to the " house of St, Ciaran," 112.
— his pedigree from Aengus Ossory, 112.
— probable date m which he flourished, 112
Martyrdom of the king's harpers, 144, 146, 146.
do. of the king's stewards and workmen, 146, 147.
MeadMan (St.), the brother of Odhran, 163, 164.
— a disciple of St. Ciaran, 163, 164,
Middle Third, barony of, 50.
— within the territory of Magh Feimhin, 60.
Muireadacha (St.), one of the sons of Ruman Duach, 102, 103, 110.
— one of the saints of the "house of St. Ciaran," 102, UO.
Moran, Right Rev. Patrick Francis, D.D,, Bishop of Ossory, 49, n.l.
— his " Spicilegium" quoted ; see " Spicilegium Ossoriense," 266-6,
— his " Essays on the early Irish church," 77, n. 1, 178, n 1, 179, n. 1.
— his " notes on St, Patrick," 75, n.l, 91, n.l.
— Ms " Inaugural address," 124, n.l.
— his consecration, 218.
MuUinahone, see Innehone the Hospitable.
NADHFRACH, second kmg of Cashel, 22.
— first cousin of Liedania, 22.
— father of Aengus, first Christian kmg of Cashel, 2^.
— son of Abinda and Core, 11, 22,
Nia Corb, the sixth king of Ossory, 11, 36, 59.
— bequest in favour of, 7, 59,
— contemporary wUh Ros FaUghe, 69, 60.
do,, with Lughaidh Mac Conn, 60.
— prime minister to the king of Leinster, 60.
Niall Niaghallach, or of the Nine Hostages, 70.
— date of his voyage to Gaul, 70, 71.
— slain on the banks of the Loire, 71. .
_ great mUUary ardour of the Irish durmg his reign, 70, 71.
_ Ciaran sails in his fleet to Gaul, 71.
_ the same fleet carries Patrick a captive to Ireland 73.
Nine-mile house, a pass in the Drumderg hiUs, 115, 120.
Nore, its source, 42, 43.
_ its course through Ossory, 43, 44.

251
Nore one of the three sister rivers 42
— succeeds him m the sovereignty, 51.
— IS slain in battle by Conaire Mor 51
— Site of the battle, 51. '
ODHRAE" (St.), anglicised form of the name, 163 n 1
~ parish of, 107, 163, n.l. , , ¦ ¦
— tulach or tumulus of, 107, 163.
— churches of, 107, 163, n. 1.
— vocation of, 163,
— is said to have ascended into heaven, 163, n. I,
— his age at the date of his vocation, 164,
— his age at the date of his death, 164,
— is also named Ruadhan, 17 1.
— mformed St, Ciaran of Cluain that his Ufe was cut short, 163, n. I.
Osraighe, ancient kingdom of, founded, 4, 54, 55.
— origm and extent of, 4, 54, 55, 1 15,
— derivation of the name, 61, 65.
— first king of, 3, 4, 6, 61, 55,
— first encroachment on its quadrangular form, 61.
Osraighe, tribe of, never called the dal Osraighe, 56.
— nor the Ui Osraighe, 55.
— conquered by the Munster men, 67.
— fought with bravery, 118.
— completely subdued, 118.
— expeUed from their ancient estates in Munster, 122, 123.
— are said to have received St, Patrick with coldness, 136.
O'Shea (Rev, Tom), the patriot priest of Ossory, 142, n. 2.
Otway's (Bishop), Visitation Book, quoted for St. Ciaran's well, 177.
do., do., for St, Ciaran's old chajsel, 177.
PATRICK (St.), risUs Ciaran at Saighir, 13, 19, 20.
— date of his captivity, 72,
— was not a native of Britain, 72.
— date of his birth, 73.
— his age when made captive, 73.
 said to have been ordained Archbishop by Pope Celestme, 74, 133.
— his mstructions to Ciaran, 74,
— Ms "thirt.y years" prophecy, 13, 19, 20, 74, 92, 93.
 not ordamed bishop by Pope Celestine, 75.
 not ordained in Rome, 75.
,  bis servitude in Ireland, 72, 73, 75,
 ^ate of bis return to his own country, 75.
 great confusion in the history of his IUe at this period, 75, 76.
 said to have spent some years under St, Martin of Tours, 76,
 made captive a second time, 76.

252
Patrick's (St.), second captivity as explained by Dr. Todd, 76, n. 2.
— places himself under the guidance of St. Germanus, 7(5, 77, 78
— sent by Germanus to the island of Lerins, 76, 79, 82.
•^ how long he remained in tMs island, 76.
— authorities on the point quoted, 76.
— date of his return to Auxerre, 77.
• — his tuition under Germanus, 77, n ,4,
— his visions relative to the Irish mission, 77.
— directed to go to St. Senior Bishop, 80.
— ordamed priest by Mm, SO, 85.
— his age when ordained, 85.
— continues to study under him for a considerable time, 80.
— his vision on Mount Heremon, 80, 86.
— commanded by an angel to go to Ireland, 80, 86,
— hesitates to accept the Irish mission, 80, 82, 86, 89,
— finally accepts it, 80, 81, 90,
— his prayer on that occasion, 81.
— said to have gone to Ireland, and was rejected by the people, 81.
— the story erroneous, 8 1 n.
— his claims to the veneration of the Irish people, 84,
— his ordination by an Irish bishop enhances those, 81,
— received minor orders before he went to Lerins, 85,
— passed four years in the monastery of Tours, 85, n. 2,
— coincidence in his chronology with that of Ciaran's, 85.
— his vision intrinsically authentic, 86.
— angelic message not so, 86,
— true reading of the angel's message, 88, 89.
— commanded by Germanus to accept the Irish mission, 89.
— his prayer illustrated, 81, 81 n. 1,, 87, 90,
— leaves Lerins for Auxerre, not for Rome, 90.
— his first design to go to Rome, 90.
— why alter that design, 90.
— his Roman mission not a question of religious polemics, 91, n. 2,
— his directions to Ciaran when separating in Italy, 94,
— probably adrised him to build his church near a spring or current
of water, 95.
— did not advise him to go dwell in the centre of the island, 96.
— the story surrounded by difficulties, 97.
— • contradicted by the sequel of the legend, 87.
— could know nothing of a well in the centre of Ireland, 97.
— could of the river called Huar or Heoir, 99.
— true reading of his directions to Ciaran, 99.
— date of his visit to Munster, 1 33.
— his visitation of Ossory, 133.
— not recorded by the biographer of Ciaran, 134.
— no king in the territory on his arrival, 134.
— finds Ossory a Christian land, 134.
— blesses the land and people, 134,
— said to have been coolly received by St, Ciaran, 135
— said to have reproached the people of Iverk as Dumauns, 155.

253
-*pl?di2s"'!;rltf ^'' ^^^ submission from St, Ciaran, 136.
- arri-ves at Innehone, near Clonmel, 136, 137
- receives here the submission of St, Decian, 1^7.
— aate ot his entry into Munster, 19, 161 152
— introduced by King Aengus to his court in Cashel 137
— baptizes King Aengus, 137,
— convokes the synod of Cashel, 137,
— his horses killed and stolen at Cashel by Ossorians 139 141
— pardoned and converted the thief s, 141, ' '
— predicted the death of the king and queen of Munster 149.
— date of his departure from Munster, 20, 152, '
— road by which he returned from Munster, 20, 152, 154.
— conducted him to Ciaran's monastery, 153,
— visits St, Ciaran, and is entertamed by him at Saighir, 161.
— date of this visit, 151, 162.
— his age at the date of this risit, 153,
— tMs visit the completion of the thirty years' prophecy, 1, 63.
— Ms supposed address to St, Ciaran, 1, 63.
— his final farewell with St, Ciaran, 164,
— his final benediction to the king and people of Munster, 154,
— date of his death from the Annals of Innisfallen, 178, n. 1.
do., from the Book of Armagh, 178, n. 1,
— preached sixty years to the Irish; 178, ra, 1.
— this period to commence from the date of Ms captivity, 178, n. 1.
— singular comcidents in his life with that of St, Ciaran, 179,
— the same occur in the date of their respective departuies, 179.
— dies in the same year with King Aengus aud his queen, 179.
Paschal Fire preserved in the church of Saighir, 170, l7l.
— blessed by Ciaran every Easter, 170, 171.
— is maliciously extmguished, 170,
— the culprit is torn to death by wolves, 170.
— is miraculously re-kindled, 170, 171, 172.
— no other fire in the monastery, 170, 171,
— erroneous notions respecting it, 170, 171.
— great reverence entertained for, l7i,
RATHASPICK, parish of, 104, 105,
— Irish form of the name, 104, 105.
— its etymology, 104, 106.
— part of in Leighlin and part in Ossory, 104, 105.
— its fij-st bishops, 1 23,
Rath Ciaran, i.e. the mansion or dwellmg place of Ciaran, 135, 194.
 not an artificial structure, 194.
 tlie scene of the first interview between SS, Patrick and Ciaran in
Ireland, 135, 124,
 ancient church of, its history involved in obscurity, 19(5.
 £qj. some time the cathedral of Bisbop O'Fogarty, 197.
Rathfinntuoi"' why so named, 128, n. 1.

254
Rathfinntuoin, its present probable representative, 128, n. 1.
— an out-farm belonging to the monastery of Saighir, 'l87. '
Rath- Patrick, an ancient hamlet, 135.
— a memorial of the mansion place of St. Patrick, 136, 196.
— ancient church of, 196.
Reighna, or Magh Reighna, its boundaries and extent, 47, 49, n. 1.
— one of the three sub-divisions of the territory between the rivers 44.
— variety in its orthography, 47, n. 1. ' '
— was ruled by the foreign kings in Ossory, 31.
— the Ossorians banished out of, 31, 52, 63.
— derivation of the name, 49.
— battle of, 4, 64,
Reughaidh (St,), son of Ruman Duach, 62.
— his pedigree from Aengus Ossory, 102, 103,
— one of the saints of the " house of St. Ciaran," 102, UO.
Ros Failghe, son of Cathair Slor, 69,
— compiled the "will" of Cathair, 69.
— made the King of Ossory a legatee, 69.
— object of doing so, 69, 60.
Rostuirc, its modern name and site, 48, n. 1.
Rosmore, its ancient name and site, 48, n. 1.
Rufus (Hugh), first English bishop of Ossory, 176.
— grant of land by, to WiUiam Earl Marshall, 176.
Ross Connall, church of, Ul.
— founder of, Ul, 123,
SABDH, or " Sabia," Queen of Ireland, 17.
— designated Mor by the Four Masters, 17, n. 1.
— daughter of Donnchadh, King of Ossory, 17.
— date of her death, 18, n. 1.
Saighir Ciaran, now Seirkieran, plundered by the Danes, 17.
— plundered by the Munster men, 17.-
— King Donnchadh of Ossory buried there, 17, 18.
— the scribe and bishop of, 18,
. — not founded thirty years before Patrick arrived in Ireland, 92,
— not tbe well at which Ciaran had been directed by Patrick to build
his church, 97, 98,
— foundation of the monastery of, 123, 124,
— first disciples of St Ciaran at, 126, 126, 127.
— origin of its flocks and herds, 127,
— its claim to the land called Rath-Finntuoin, 127, 128.
— its title-deeds to the lands of the monastery, 132.
— visited by St, Patrick and King Aengus, 20, 93, 151, 153, 164.
— the principal foundation of St, Ciaran, 186.
— its great affluence, 186, 187.
— its privileges of sepulture, 186,
— its most esteemed prerogative, 187
— its last coarbh raised to the episcopate of Ossory, 189.
 the connecting link between St. Ciaran and the future bishops of
that See, 189.

255
Saighir Ciaran, Us fire tower, 190.
Sant, wife of King Aengus, 113, n. 1.
— sister of St Enda of Arann, 113, n. 1.
Scanlan Mor, his position in the Ossorian pedigree, 34.
— date of Ms death, 34.
Scottsborough, why so named, 119.
— ancient name of, 119,
Seven sons of Ruman Duach, 62, 101,
— venerated as saints, 101,
— their festival days not known, 102.
- — govern Ossory under the guidance of St Ciaran, 120,
— founders and patrons of the ancient church of Ui Duach, 63, 823.
Sheep (the), apparently one of Ciaran's disciples, 126,
— founder of the church of Fearta-na-gCearach, 126, 198.
Sheepstown Church, its architectural features, 109,
— patron saint of, 109,
. — Irish name of, 109, «, 3,
— formerly a parochial church, 109, n. 3.
Senior (St,), bishop of Mount Heremon, 80.
— St Patrick is directed to go to him, 80.
. — ordains St, Patrick priest, 80, 82.
— Patrick reads under him for a considerable time, 80, 82.
— enquiry respecting who he was, 22,
— Dr, Todd's enquiries unsuccessful, 8'2, n. 1.
— the BoUandists opinion of him, 82, 83,
 Dr. Lanigan could find no bishop of that name, 83.
— the descriptive epithet of St, Ciaran, 84,
— could not have been designated a saint during Ms Ufe, 88 n.
Sidhe Dhmim, i.e. the fairy hUl, 22, 61, ». 2,
— the original name of the sUe of the city of Cashel, 22, 61.
SUler, deanery of, 49, m. 1.
SUevenaman, mountain of, 60.
— Irish form of the word, 60,
W (St)! hisTe'digrTe'fr'om Aengus 2!"^ ^^^mo^'io^' ^°^' ^^^'
— one of the saints of the " house of St, Ciaran, 103, 106.
— his festival days, 102, 106.
— his pedigree mistaken, 106^
_ founder of the church of ^iMeUgy, 106 123
Sister Rivers, their respective sources, 42 43, 44.
_ daugMers of the Giantess Bladhma 42.
iT -v, bnnour of King Conn's birthday, 42.
= Lmmemorri by theLthor of the Fairy Queen, 41, 43.
SUabh Bladhma, now SUeve Bloom, 42.
_ O'Heerin's desci-iption of, 4Z
_ St Patrick's journey by, 20, 16^.
- *h -?%fsSns:7 quoTed t church of Kildeilgy, 107, n. 1.
" Spicilegium Ossoriense, q^ ^^^^^^ ^^ KUmoganny, 108, n. 1.
^o.', for deanery of KeUs, 49, n. 1.

256
" Spicilegium Ossoriense," quoted for church of KeUs, 209.
do., for church of Claragh, 49, n. 1.
<io,, for deanery of Claragh, 49, n. 1.
do., for church of TuUaghanbrogue, 49, n. 1.
do,, for church of Stonecarthy, 208, n, 1.
do,, for deanery of Siller, 49, n. 1.
do,, for church of Clashacrow, 209,
do,, for church of Kiltorcan, 126, n. 2.
do., for church of Dramdeilgy, 108.
Stone Carthy, derivation of the word, 208.
— St, Ciaran's Church and holy well at, 2o8,
— said to be dedicated to St. Cartach, 208.
Suir (the river), its source, 41,
— one of tbe three sisters, 41,
— its course through the country, 43.
— unites with the Barrow, 43.
TERRITORY between the rivers, pecuUarly cUcumscribed, 42.
— forms an irregular quadrangle, 43.
— its extent and boundaries, 43, 44.
— its ancient sub-divisions, 44, 46, 46, 47, 48, 49.
— its elevation mto one distinct tribeland, 50.
— the tribe by whom first peopled, 51.
— divided and partiaUy united to Munster, 51, 52, 63.
— again restored to the race of Connla, 64, 55.
— erected into the kingdom of Ossory, 54, 55.
— why receive that title, 54, 56.
— first encroachment on, 58, 61.
— second partition of, 60.
— third encroachment on, 61.
"Three Castles," the modern name for Castle-Odagh, UO.
— sites of the tree castles, UO, n. 1.
Todd (Dr.), author of the memoU of "St. Patrick," 1.
— rejected the legend of St, Ciaran's Ufe, 1, 24,
— Ms objections mvestigated and confuted, 24, 27, 41.
— his character of Dr. Lanigan applied to himseU, 24.
— Ms prejudices, 24, 25, n. 1.
Tulach, the Irish form of the Latin word tumMus, 181.
Tulach Birn, the tumulus of Leoghaire Birn, 56, n.l.
Tulach, chapel of, why so called, UO.
TuUagh-an-brogue, church of, 126.
— origin of the name, 126.
— tumulus at, 126, n. 1.
TuUahought, church of, derivation of its name, 146.
— probable history of its origin, 146, 146.
TuUaroan, parish of, 107, n 1, 163, n. 1.
— original patron saint of, 107, n. 1, 163, n. 1.
- - tumulus at, 107, n. 1, 163, n. I.
— parish festival of. 107, n. 1.
— old church at, 107, n. 1.

257
TuUaroan, patron day of, why discontinued, 164 n 1
Twelve Apostles of Ireland, said to have been all scholars of St
Fmnian s school, 38,
— sent for after their deaths to bless the banquet of Dun-na-ngedh 38.
— said to be stUl Uving in the persons of their successors, 38*^ 39.'
UARAN, said to be the name of St, Ciaran's WeU, 74, 92, 94, 97.
— its situation, 97.
— not called Uaran Ciaran, 97, 98.
— the ancient name of the river Nore, 98.
Ubneadh (St,), son of Ruman Duach, 62, 102, 103.
— his pedigree from Aengus Ossory, 102, 103,
— one of the saints of the " house of St, Ciaran," 102, 103,
Ui Duach, or Odagh, ancient church of, 110.
— founders and patrons of, 110, 123.
— head of a rural deanery, 110.
— bequest in favour of, 207.
— local peculiarity in parish of, 207.
Urluidhe, or Arlaidhe, derivation of the name, 121, 122.
VICTOR, the angel of St, Patrick, 62, n. 1.
" Vita Sancti Kannachi," quoted for the age in which Ruman Duach
lived, 33, n. 1.
WILL of Cathair Mor, 6, 7, 59.
— its various versions, 6, 7.
Wolf (the), one of the first of St. Ciaran's disciples at Saighir, 124.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.

Bacon, Edward, Esq., Lower John-street, Kilkenny,
BallycaUan Parochial Library,
Bowe, Rev. John, CC, Urlingford,
Brenan, Very Rev, Daniel, P,P,, Kilmacow (2 Copies),
Brophy, Michael, Esq,, T,C., ParUament-street, Kilkenny.
Bryan, Daniel, Esq,, DunbeU.
CaUanan, Rev, Edward, CC, The Presbytery, Kilkenny,
CaUanan, Richard J,, Esq,, Victoria Hotel, Kilkenny.
Cane, James N, B,, Esq,, M,D,, MuUinavatt,
CarroU, Rev, John, CC, Coon, Castlecomer,
Catholic Toung Men's Society, Kilkenny, per P, M, Egan, Esq., President.
Chaplin, Thomas, Esq,, T,C, Patrick-street, Kilkenny,
Cody, Rev, Michael, CC, The Rower, Imstioge (2 Copies).
Cody, Patrick, Esq,, J,P,, CaUan,
CoUes, (the late) Alexander, Esq,, J,P,, Millmount, KUkenny,
Comerford, Rev, Peter, CC, CufE's Grange, Kilkenny,
Comerford, William, Esq,, P,L.G,, Lower John-street, Kilkenny,
Comerford, Richard, Esq,, Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny.
Comerford, Master P, J,, John street, Kilkenny,
Cormac, James, Esq,, Steeple View House, Fearta, Johnstown,
Cox, James, Esq,, High-street, Kilkenny,
Coyne, Rev, Edward, CC, Thomastown,
Dalton, Rev, Michael, CC, St, Canice's, Kilkenny.
Dalton, John, Esq,, Castleview House, KUkenny,
Deady, Michael, Esq,, Jerpoint, Thomastown,
Delahunty, Rev, Thomas, CC, Ballyfoyle, KUkenny,
Delahunty, Rev. Edward, P,P,, Thomastown,
Delahunty, Rev, John, P,P,, MuUinavatt.
Dempsey, Rev, Andrew, CC, BallinakiU,
DevereU, Rev, Richard, A,M,, Tascofiin, Kilkenny,
Dowling, Walter, Esq., King-street, Kilkenny (3 Copies),
Doyle, Rev, Peter, CC, The Presbytery, KUkenny,
Dunphy, Rev, John, P,P,, BallycaUan (2 Copies),
Dunphy, Rev, Joseph, Adm,, Slieverue, Waterford,
Dunphy (the late),Rev, Joseph, Professor St, Kieran'sCoUege, Kilkenny.
Egan, J, D,, Esq,, Mayor's Secretary, William- street, Kilkenny,
Egan, P, M,, Esq,, Head Master, St. Oanice's Schools, Kilkenny,
Fitzpatrick, Hon, Bemard Granstou, Manor, Abbeyleix (2 Copies),
Fitzpatrick, Rev, John, P,P,, Galmoy, Johnstown,
GafEney (the late), Rev, James, CC, St. Brendan's, Goolock, Oo, Dublin,
Gibboi-y, A,, Esq,, B,A,, Professor St, Kieran's CoUege, Kilkenny,
Gleeson, Martin, Esq,, Bose-Inn-street, Kilkenny,
Goss, Kieran, Esq,, Parliament- street, Kilkenny,
Gorman, Rev, WiUiam C, A,M„ The Rectory, Thomastown,
Graves, Rev, Jas,, B,A,. M,R,1,A„ theRectcry, Innisnagg, Stoneyford,
Greene, Godfrey J., Esq., Green Villa, CaUan,
Gregg, Right Rev, B. S., D.D,, Bishop of Ossory, Fearns, and Leighlin,
The Palace, Kilkenny,

259
H^^d!^ W^^^J- ^^^.¦^•' ^¦^¦' st- Patrick's, Kilkenny (2 Copies)
Havi R^- ll ^''^¦' ?-^- .P>^°ff «,°r. St, Kieran's OoUegl ^KiSny:
He^fv ?'v w-^^^""' S^Pe^r, Christian Brothers' Schools, KUkenny,
^eaiy, licv, William, CC, Urlingford,
Healy, Mr, John, Lower John-street, Kilkenny
KpI^^'v '^^*i?'^m:^" ^•^¦' ^'^^°^ °* Proridence, Rhode Island, U.S,
Hennessy, Very Rev, Thomas, P,P„ Inistioge,
Hennessy, Rev, Timothy, P,P„ TuUaroan,
Hickey, Rev. Thomas, P.P., MuUinahone,
Hogan, Rev, Richard, P,P„ Conahy, Jenkinstown (2 Copies),
Hogan, Mr, William, Rose-Inn-street, Kilkenny,
Holohan, Rev. James, CC, BaUycaUan (2 Copies),
Holohan, Rev, Nicholas, CC, Whitegate, PresMord,
Holohan, Rev, James, CC, KUmoganny,
Holohan, John, Esq,, Knocktopher,
Howley, Rev, Martin, CO,, St. Oanice's, Kilkenny.
Hoyne, Rev, Patrick, P,P,, Muckalee,
Hughes, Rev, James, Dean, St, Patrick's CoUege, Maynooth,
Hyland, John P,, Esq., Olonmoran, KUkenny,
Joyce, P, W,, Esq,, LL,D,, St, Edward's Terrace, Dublin,
Kealy, Alderman William, Irishtown, Kilkenny (2 Copies),
KeatMg, Rev,- Michael, CC, Wexford,.
Kelly, Rev, Thomas, Adm,, The Cathedral, Kilkenny,
Kenealy, William, Esq,, T,0,, Proprietor of Eilkenny Journal.
Kenealy, Master Cornelius, Patrick-street, Kilkenny,
Keoughan, Rev, Martin, Adm,, Danesfort.
Keoughan, Rev, Walter, Gazeboe, Castlecomer,
Kieran, James, Esq., Office of Inland Revenue, Kilkenny,
Killaloe Parochial Library,
Kilmanagh Parochial Library,
Knaresborough, Rev, John, P.P., TuUaherin, Thomastown,
Langrishe, Richard, Esq,, CE., Clerk of the Peace, Oo, Kilkenny,
Leech, Thomas, Esq,, Janesville, Wisconsin, America,
Loughnan, James M,, Esq., B.L., Orowhill Lodge, Freshford,
Lynagh, Rev, John, G,C, Inistioge,
Mackey, Rev, Patrick, CC, Aghaboe, Abbeyl ix (2 Copies),
Madden, Very Rev, W, D„ O.P., Prior, The Black Abbey, Kilkenny,
Magrath, Rev. John, CC, St, Patrick's, Kilkenny,
Marum, Mulhallen, Esq,, B,L., J.P., Aharney House, Ballyragget,
Martin, Rev, WUliam, P,P„ Freshford,
Martin, Patrick, Esq , M.P., County Kilkenny, 28, PitzwUliam Square,
Dublin (2 Copies),
Maylor, J, E„ Esq., Harristown, County Wexford,
M'Carthy, Alderman Daniel, New Orchard, Kilkenny,
M'Mahon, Arthur, Esq,, T.C, Danville House, Kilkenny,
M'Master, Robert, Esq., Blackrock, Dublin,
M'Creery, John, Esq., Larch HUl, Kilkenny, .
M'Dermott, Rt, Woi-shipf ul P„ Mayor, AsbfieldHouse, Kilkenny (2 Copies),
M'Donald, Very Rev. Edward, D.D., P.P,, V,G,, Dean of Ossory, St, Canice's,
M'Donald, Rev, T, E,, Superior, Christian Brothers' Convent, St, Ignatius,
Oallan
Meehan Rev, 0, P„ M,R.I.A„ SS, Michael and John's, Dublin (2 Copies),
Mitchel' Very Rev, Albert, O.S.F.O, Guardian, Walkin-st. Convent.. Kilkenny
Moore, Very Rev. Philip, P,P,, Johnstown,

260
Moran, Right Rev, Patrick Francis, D,D,, Bishop of Ossory, Kilkenny (10
Copies),
Murphy, Alderman Patrick, ex-Mayor, Thomas-street, Kilkenny (2 Copies).
Murphy, John, Esq,, Rose-Inn-street,. Kilkenny,
Murphy, Rev, N,, President, St, Kieran's College, Kilkenny (5 Copies),
Murphy, Rev, Michael, Professor St, Patrick's College, Carlow,
Murphy, Rev, Patrick, Dean, St, Kieran's OoUege, KUkenny (5 Copies).
Neary, Rev, Patrick, CO., BaUyouskiU, Attanagh, Abbeyleix (3 Copies),
O'Donnell, Alderman William, Barrack-street, Kilkenny.
O'Halloran, Rev, Daniel, CC, Conahy, Jenkinstown,
O'Hanlon, Rev, John, SS, Michael and John's, Dublin.
O'Hea, Right Rev, M,, D,D,, Bishop of Ross, Skibbereen.
O'Keeffe, Rev, Richard, BallycaUan,,
O'Keeffe, Rev, WUliam, TuUaherin, Bennettsbridge,
O'Shea, Ven, Robert, P,P,, Archdeacon of Ossory, Knockwilliam
House, Knocktopher,
O'Shea, Very Rev, Thomas, P,P,, Comeris, Cranagh Cottage, Castletown,
O'Rielly, Thomas, Esq,, Ormonde Road, Kilkenny.
Phayi-e, Alexander, Esq., M.D,, John-street, Kilkenny,
Phelan, Rev. Patricii, 0,C, Gowran,
Phelan, Rev, Richard, CC, Johnstown,
Porter, Rev, James P, M,, The Manse, Ormonde Road, Kilkenny,
Prendergast, J, P,, Esq,, A,M„ B.L,, 127, Strand Road, Sandymount, Dublin
Prim (the late), John G, A., Esq,, Proprietor Kilkenny Moderator.
Purcell, Rev, John, P,P,, Seirkieran, Parsonstown,
Purcell, Rev, James, CC, KUlamory, Oallan,
Raftice, Rev, James, CO,, Thomastown,
Rockett, Rev, James, CC, TuUaroan.
RusseU, Very Rev, 0, W., D.D,, M,R,1,A,, President St, Patrick's CoUege,
Maynooth,
Ryan, Rerv, Abbe, P,P,, CliEden Villa, Claragh, KUkenny.
Ryan, Laurence J,, Esq,, 7, Lower Gardiner-street, Dublin.
Scott, Rev, John Handcock, A,M,, Seirkieran Glebe, Parsonstown,
Shearman, Rev, John F,, CO,, Howth, Dublin (2 Copies),
Shirley, Thomas, Esq,, T,0,, High-street, KUkenny.
Shelly, John, Esq,, Oallan.
Shortal, Rev, James, CC, Slieverue, Waterford,
Shortal, Michael, Esq,, T,C, Solicitor, Parliament-street, KUkenny.
Skelly (the late), Rev, Peter V,, O.P,, St, Saviour's, Limerick,
St, George, Colonel Howard, K,P„ D,L", J,P,, KUrush House, Freshford,
Stone, PhUip, Esq,, Freshford,
Tommins, Very Rev, J. E,, 0,S,r,C,, Church-street Convent, Dublin,
Vignoles, Very Rev, Charles, D,D,, Dean of Ossory, The Deanery, Kilkenny
Vignoles, Rev, Charles, A,M,, Burnchurch, Kilkenny,
Wade, Mr, James, King- street, Kilkenny,
Walsh, Very Rev, Edward, P,P,, Mooncoin, Waterford.
Walsh, William, Esq., Bramblestown, Gowran,
Weir, James M, Esq,, A,M„ Ex-Sch, T,0,D„ The College, Kilkenny,
Weir, Mrs,, The CoUege, Kilkenny,
Williams, Bigoe, 27, Waterloo Orescent, Dover.
Wynne, Very Rev, Canon F, R., A,M., 21 Leeson Park, Dublin,
A Supplemental List of Subscribers will be added to later issues of the
Work,

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