ON THE HOLY SAINTS OF BOTH SCOTLANDS, VENERATED ON THE FIFTH DAY BEFORE THE IDES OF NOVEMBER,
CommentaryThe saints who are venerated in both Scotlands.
[1] Of the saints whom there record So many stars rise every day in the sky of the Celtic regions that it is much easier to number the constellations of the sky than to point out the single stars with the finger. Therefore, after we have treated by name of the brightest-shining stars, such as today is St. Benignus of Armagh, we shall speak briefly and jointly of the rest. And first indeed there come the heortologies and martyrologies to be examined; and we shall bring forward not only the stanzas which are read on this day in Oengus and Marianus, but also, as occasion arises, at least some of the little notes of the ancient hagiographers which were added in old codices for the sake of interpretation.
[2] Oengus, The most ancient Gaelic heortology, the Félire Óengusso Céli Dé (beginning of the ninth century), has this quatrain:
Dónait ocus Damián níptar écnaig anbli. For óenlith co suilgi féil Sínche co sadbri [The passage has been twice edited by Wh. Stokes; first On the Calendar of Oengus, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Irish Manuscripts Series, vol. I (1880), p. CLXII – CLXIII, with the gloss pp. CLXVI, CLXVIII; then Félire Óengusso Céli Dé. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee (London, 1905), p. 233, with the gloss p. 240 – 41 (= Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. XXIX). From this edition we have copied out the quatrain.].
In Latin: Donatus and Damian were not shameless revilers. On the same solemnity, with gladness, the festival of Síneach, opulently [We think that those Gaelic words will seem sufficiently clear to no one; although it hardly matters at all in poems of this kind which words were added to the names of the saints. In the interpretation we have followed Stokes in almost everything, who himself doubts whether the word ainbil really means "shameless" (he had rendered it in English shameless), second edition, p. 296; uncertain also whether co suilgi means "with gladness", same place, p. 366. Finally we depart from the opinion of those who render the word ecnaig "wise", following that learned man Holger Pedersen, Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, vol. I, p. 343. Stokes rendered the last line: the feast of wealthy Sinech; to us, however, it has seemed more cautious not to unravel the sense of the ambiguous words co sadbri; for it is doubtful what they mean, whether that the feast is to be celebrated splendidly, or that Sineach herself is said to have been rich. Moreover the old glossator too, in the ancient codex Leabhar Breac, of which below, no. 9, understands some words otherwise than they have been rendered into Latin by us; it is worth the labour to take up this gloss and turn it into Latin, since it has never been published except in Irish, and in Stokes's first edition only, p. CLXVI. That passage which is more obscure to Stokes in the second line the old glossator did not untangle either; for he proposes three different senses of the same words niptar ecnaig ainble: .i. nibtar ecundaig; no nidéntais écnach; no niptar ecnaide ainble, acht ecnaide fetta no forustai. In Latin: that is, they were not without reason; or, they did not speak calumny; or, they were not wicked wise men, but skilled or knowing wise men. In the third line co suilge, which we have rendered "with gladness", he explains co suailchib, that is in Latin: "with virtues". Finally, in the last line, to the words co saidbre, which we have rendered "opulently", he adds that is, in virtues, so that the sense is that Sineach was rich in virtues.].
[3] Marianus Gorman, Mael-Maire húa Gormáin, or in Latin Marianus, grandson of Gorman, in the heortology which he wrote about the year 1170, inserted this stanza on the fifth day before the Ides of November:
Urcicin toi; Teodoir; mo Conna ba ciuinboc; Benignus cain, caemslat; Sinech; Findsech; Fintan; for nem soerda Sarnat; Lasse aebda; Aednat [Ed. Wh. Stokes, Félire hûi Gormâin. The Martyrology of Gorman (London, 1895), p. 214 (= Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. IX).].
In Latin, and so as to present the Gaelic names in a fuller spelling: Ursicinus the silent; Theodore; my Conna, gentle and mild; Benignus the bright, a sweet shoot; Sineach; Finnseach; Fionntan; noble above heaven Sarnat; Laisse the lovely; Aedhnat.
[4] old calendars That the mutilated calendar or martyrology of Tallaght is lacking for this whole month of November is the more grievous to bear because in abundance and antiquity it surpasses almost all other monuments of this kind of the Celtic liturgy. The old calendar prefixed to the Drummond missal adds under the name of Theodore the martyr: and in Ireland of the holy virgin Sinche A. P. Forbes, Kalendars of Scottish Saints (Edinburgh, 1872), p. 28.. This is the genitive case of the name Sinech, or Sineach, in the Irish language; for the old writers are wont to inflect vernacular names according to the norm of the vernacular grammar, even in the middle of a Latin sentence. Exactly the same words are read after the names of foreign saints also in the martyrology of the church of the Trinity of Dublin, now called Christ Church, written about the year 1400 [The Books of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, Dublin. Edited by J. C. Crosthwaite, with an Introduction by J. H. Todd (Dublin, 1844), p. 176 (Irish Archaeological Society).]. And the calendar of Aberdeen, copied in the fifteenth century, reports this: In Scotland, of St. Moroc, bishop, whose church with his burial is at Lekraw near Striueling Forbes, work cited, p. 136; compare p. XXXIV..
[5] and more recent ones, Now we must come to the more recent writers of calendars. Thomas Dempster, the keenest champion of all things Scottish, inserted this into his little work in the year 1622: Of Kilreul, Merinatus, deacon, Culdee, brother of St. Damian (so he; read of the brother); he received with veneration the unique pledge of the kingdom, the relics of the most holy Andrew, and died in the same year. F. BT. B. In Scotland, of Turgot, bishop of St Andrews [Menologium Scotorum, collected by Thomas Dempster (Bologna, 1622), at the day; the work was reprinted by A. P. Forbes, work cited, p. 218.]. It is to be noted that by the letters F. BT. B. Dempster signifies that he calls to witness John Fordun in the Scotichronicon, Hector Boece and the Scottish Breviary (above all that of Aberdeen) [The Breviary of Aberdeen printed at Edinburgh by Walter Chepman, 1509 – 1510. The histories of the Scots, at the expense of Hector Boece of Dundee (Paris, 1527). Under the name of Fordun come innumerable editions of the Scotichronicon. These things are excerpted from what A. P. Forbes learnedly prefaced to those calendars of his, work cited, p. XXXVIII – XLI.]. Ferrari copies Dempster almost word for word [Catalogus generalis Sanctorum qui in Martyrologio Romano non sunt (Venice, 1625), p. 437.]. In the calendar of David Chambers published in the year 1631 is read: St. Gernadius, bishop of Moray D. Camerarii [Chambers Scoti de Scotorum Fortitudine, Doctrina et Pietate (Paris, 1631), in the calendar at the day; reprinted by A. P. Forbes, work cited, p. 242.]. Finally Challoner, after he had excerpted a few things about St. Benignus from Malmesbury and Tynemouth, reports that on this day there is also commemorated at Glastonbury St. Patrick the younger, nephew by a brother of the apostle of the Irish [A Memorial of Ancient British Piety or a British Martyrology (London, 1761), p. 156; Challoner published this work with his name suppressed.]; and in the Supplement he adds St. Moconna, confessor A Supplement … to the British Martyrology, p. 30., from Chastelain Martyrologe Universel (Paris, 1709), p. 570..
[6] both recensions of the martyrology of Donegal, Finally we must bring forward the names of the saints of Ireland which, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, those most diligent and most skilled investigators of the antiquities of their island — I mean the Friars Minor of Donegal, with Michael O'Clery as leader and chief — gathered into their martyrology. There survives a double transcript of the martyrology of Donegal, or more truly a double recension, each copied by Michael in his own hand; one at Douai in the year 1629, which codex is now kept in the Royal Library of Brussels, marked 4639 (= A); the other, which he finished in the convent of Donegal on the 19th day of April 1630, now codex 5095 – 5096 of the same library (= B). Only the latter has been published, through the labour and zeal of the learned men J. O'Donovan, J. H. Todd, W. Reeves [The Martyrology of Donegal. A Calendar of the Saints of Ireland (Dublin, 1864). (Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society.)]. J. H. Todd himself confesses that he bore it very ill that he lacked the leisure to support that edition of his with the first autograph A as well Work cited, p. XII.; certainly a work of such moment deserved to be printed so accurately, correctly and perfectly that nothing could surpass it. Add that in the printed edition it is not consistently indicated what had been copied by Michael O'Clery at the very beginning and what was added afterwards. These things may perhaps seem more minute than is right; yet if they had been done more diligently, already at one
glance, as it were, it could be seen what had been drawn from the ancient heortologies, calendars and martyrologies, and what had been drawn out and added from catalogues, genealogies and Lives of the saints. But as these things, and more, God favouring, will have to be attended to in their own time, so now, as we hasten, it will be enough to show what is read on this day in each codex.
[7] E. On the fifth day before the Ides of November A. fol. 103r-104r; B fol. 55v.. 9.
Benignus .i. Benen mac Seiscnein descipul Patraicc ocus a chomarba .i. priomhaid Arda Macha. Do shliocht Céin meic Oiliolla Ólúim dó. Sodhelbh inghen Cathaoir meic Feidhlimidh Firurghlais do Laighnibh a mháthair (do shliocht - a mháthair) omits A; adds, first hand, B.. Ba coindircil, ba craibhtheach antí naoim Benén. Bá hógh gan eilnedh a óghachta ríamh; ar an tan ba psailmcetlaidh eisiomh i nArd Macha i maille re a mhaighistir naomh Patraicc, ro charastair Earcnat inghen Daire Benén; ro gabh galar í gar iaromh co bfuair bás co hopann, ocus tucc Benén uiscce coiserctha chuice o Phatraicc ocus ro croith uirre; ocus ro eirigh osí beo shlán 7 do gradhaigh go spiratalta é iarsin (7 - iarsin) omits A; adds, first hand, B.. Ocus dochoidh si iaramh co Patraicc, ocus ro adaimh a huile peactha do; ocus ro edhbair a hóighe iarsin do Dia co ndeachaidh dochum nimhe. Ocus ro móradh ainm Dé, Patraicc ocus Beineoin tríd sin. Nota: Benen mac Sescnen meic Cein meic Oiliolla Óluim etc., 7 Soidhealbh inghen Chathaoir Móir a mhathair (do réir a bhethaidh féin cap. 2). Tadhg mac Cein rí fFer mBregh intansin is é do oil mac a derbbrathar .i. Benen mac Sescnén meic Cein (cap. 3), ocus as o Thadg rugadh Benén go Patraicc go hInis Patraicc (cap. 3) (Nota-cap. 3) omits A; adds, first hand, B..
Sinech o Clúain Lethtengadh, ogh. Gomadh do sliocht Maine meic Neill Naoighiallaigh di (Mainedi) in an erasure B., no do sliocht Cuirb Uluim meic Ferghusa meic Rosa (Gomadh-Rosa) aois Criost 596 A; adds, first hand, B..
Finnseach, ógh, ó Chrúachán Maighe Abhna.
Sarnat Sárnat A., ógh, inghen Aedha a Tír Maine.
Laisse, ogh, ó Cluain Lommain.
Aedhnat, ingen Loichéin.
Mochonna Becc.
Fionntan.
In Latin: Benignus, that is Benen, son of Seiscnean, disciple of Patrick and his successor, primate of Ard Macha. Sprung from the race of Cian, son of Oilill Ólom. Soidhealbh, daughter of Cathaoir Mór, son of Feidhlimidh Fiorurghlas, of the Leinstermen, was his mother (ortus - mater eius) omits A; adds, first hand, B.. Merciful and pious was the holy Benignus himself. A virgin also of inviolate chastity; for at the time when he was psalmist at Ard Macha with his master St. Patrick, Earcnat, daughter of Daire, fell in love with Benignus; she shortly afterwards fell into a sickness and met a sudden death, and Benignus brought consecrated water from Patrick and sprinkled her; and she rose up alive and well and thereafter loved him spiritually (et in posterum-spiritualiter) omits A; adds, first hand, B.. Then she went on to Patrick, to whom she confessed all her sins; after this she offered her virginity to God and flew away to heaven. Note: Benignus son of Seiscnean son of Cian son of Oilill Ólom etc., and Soidhealbh daughter of Cathaoir Mór his mother (according to his Life, chap. 2). Tadhg, son of Cian, who was at that time king of the men of Bregia, he reared his brother's son, that is Benignus son of Seiscnean son of Cian (chap. 3), and by Tadhg Benignus was brought to Patrick on Patrick's Island (chap. 3) (Nota-cap. 3) omits A; adds, first hand, B..
Sineach, of Cluain Leith-Teangadh, virgin. Sprung either from the race of Maine son of Niall Naoighiallach or from the race of Corb Ólom son of Fearghus son of Ross (orta-Rossi) omits A; adds, first hand, B..
Finnseach, virgin, of Cruachan Maighe Abhna.
Sarnat, virgin, daughter of Aedh, of Tír Maine.
Laisse, virgin, of Cluain Lommain.
Aedhnat, daughter of Loichen.
Mochonna Beag (that is, little or lesser).
Fionntan.
[8] few remain of whom let us speak briefly. Come, then, of all those whose names we have reviewed, SS. Theodore, Donatus, Damian, Ursi[ci]nus are foreign to both Scotlands; of SS. Gernadius and Moroc, and of Turgot the bishop, there has been brief treatment among the Passed-over; of St. Benignus we have disputed at length and have printed his Lives. There remain, therefore, of whom a few things are to be said one by one, the virgins Sineach, Finnseach, Sarnat, Laisse, Aedhnat, and the saints Patrick the Younger, Conna (otherwise Mo Chonna), Fionntan. To these must be added St. Martin, who is venerated today at Templemartin, not far from the city of Kilkenny.
[9] St. Sineach, virgin, About St. Sineach the virgin those who have illustrated the ancient heortologies with their notes do not agree. And first let the expounders of Oengus's work be heard. These things are read in the codex called in Irish Leabhar Breac (fourteenth century): .i. o Chluain Lethtengad .i. nomen ecleciae; in Latin: of Cluain Lethtengad, which is the name of the church (of that virgin) Stokes, On the Calendar of Oengus, p. CLXVIII.. The Bodleian codex Rawlinson B. 505 (beginning of the fifteenth century), however, would have this virgin Sineach take her origin o Chill Roiss hi termonn Chille Dara; in Latin, from Ceall Roiss in the precinct of Kildare Stokes, Félire Óengusso, p. 240.. Finally the annotator of the Bodleian codex Laud. Misc. 610, copied in the year 1453, after agreeing with the gloss of the Leabhar Breac, writing .i. Cluain Lethtengad nomen eclisiae (illius) virginis [The same, same place. Here there is inserted the clause .i. i nDal Araide, in Latin, that is, in Dalaradia, which I do not know whether it has crept in here wrongly; for it seems to belong to the place called Cul Raithin, mention of which occurs in the gloss on the 11th of November.], soon becoming a little more cautious, subjoins the names of three other places where virgins of the same name lived, and leaves it in doubt which is venerated today; these are his words: Nó Sinech i Cruachan Muige Abna i nEoganacht Caisil; nó i nArd Croine i Muscraidi Tire; nó i nEtargabail hi tuaiscert Ossraige; in Latin: Or Sinech of Cruachan Maighe Abhna in the territory of the descendants of Eoghan of Cashel; or of Ard Croine in Muscraighe Tire; or of Etargabail in the northern parts of Ossory The same, same place.. In the heortology of Marianus there is added: ógh, ó Chlúain Lethtengad Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 214.; in Latin: virgin, of Cluain Lethtengad. With this both recensions of the martyrology of Donegal agree See above, nos. 6 – 7.; in the later a few things have been added about the lineage of St. Sineach, drawn, unless we are mistaken, from the genealogical Sanctilogium which the Four Masters had collected from ancient monuments Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. Paul Walsh, pp. 57, 111..
[10] in an uncertain place The things read about this virgin are so intricate that we hardly, indeed hardly at all, dare to pronounce anything certain. For the Comainmnigud Noem hErend, or Catalogue of the Homonymous Saints of Ireland, presents no fewer than twelve virgins called Sineach Ed. Denis T. Brosnan, in Archivio Hibernico, vol. I (1912), p. 359 – 60.; and since the old annotators of the heortologies agree so little among themselves, nothing seems to have been handed down which could with sufficient certainty settle the dispute. Nor is it worth the labour to copy out here the catalogue of those virgins of the same name, to pursue the lineage of each, to search out the monasteries or solitudes of each where they were. It will be enough to have reported the opinion of the eminent hagiographer John Colgan, who judges that there is venerated today St. Sinech (otherwise Sinche, the genitive creeping in for the nominative case, as often happens), daughter of Dagh, sprung, as he himself writes, from the stock of the Ossorians [See what Colgan noted in his own hand in the transcript of the genealogical Sanctilogium recently edited by that learned man Paul Walsh, Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 94. Compare Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 472, col. 2, where by an error of the typesetters Finchea was written for Sinchea.].
[11] in Ossory, as it seems, And so in Ossory would have to be sought the place where that virgin Sineach lived. And indeed Edmund Hogan thinks Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 266, col. 1, under the word Cluain Lethtengad. that the place called Cluain Lethtengad was near the parish of Geashill, in the barony of Geashill, King's County, not far from the northern borders of Ossory. But it must be kept in memory that the place called Etargabail, concerning which we brought forward the testimony of the annotator in the Laudian codex Misc. 610, is also situated in the northern parts of Ossory. Nor have we seen any cause why either should seem to be preferred. As for the other place-names, mention of which occurs in the ancient glosses of the heortologies, let those who wish to unravel those riddles consult Edmund Hogan in the Onomasticon Goedelicum and the authors whom he cites.
[12] perhaps died in the year 596. But if anyone is pleased by the conjecture which, following the ancient hagiologists, we have made, that this virgin Sineach is the one who lived at Cluain Lethtengad, perhaps her age too will seem able to be defined. For the Annals of the Four Masters openly report that Sineach of Cluain Lethtengad died in the year 596 Ed. J. O'Donovan, vol. I, p. 222.. But when what is read in those more recent writers is compared with the ancient chronographers, whom they certainly had as their authorities for this matter [See the Annals which circulate under the name of Tigernach, ed. Wh. Stokes, in Revue Celtique, vol. XVII (1896), p. 163; Annals of Ulster, ed. W. M. Hennessy, vol. I, p. 78; Annals of Inisfallen, ed. O'Conor, Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres, vol. II, under the year 595.], I do not know whether a copyist's error crept in, which tore apart the name of the brook Suane Sinchi Cluana Lethtengadh so that it seemed to signify the death of the saint. And yet I do not know whether the Four Masters understood it more truly, perhaps supported also by the opinion of other writers [Hogan, however, cites several authors for the contrary opinion, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 127, under the word Brí Dam, and p. 266, col. 1, under the word Cluain Lethtengad.]; for you will hardly anywhere find a brook called by so long a name. Yet if this mark of time really pertains to this virgin Sineach, nothing prevents it from being believed that she was the same whose name is read written Segnith
or Segnick in both Latin Lives of St. Abban [BHL. 1, in the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae from the Salamanca codex, col. 528; BHL. 1 a, in Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 617, col. 2 (see however same place, note 33, p. 623, col. 2) and in Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. 23.], who seems to have lived in the sixth – seventh century Plummer, volume cited, p. XXXV.. However the matter stands, certainly from the Annals of the Four Masters flowed that "in the year of Christ 596" which is read in the earlier martyrology of Donegal See above, no. 7.. And so much indeed about these things.
[13] Of St. Finnseach, virgin, all is uncertain. St. Findsech or Finnseach is read ógh, ó Cruachan Maighe Abhna, that is in Latin, virgin, of Cruachán Maighe Abhna, in the gloss of the heortology of Marianus Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 214.; the same words, as you would expect, are reported by both recensions of the martyrology of Donegal See above, no. 7.. That Cruachán is now the parish of Crochane, in the barony of Slievardagh, county Tipperary [J. O'Donovan, in Edw. O'Reilly, An Irish-English Dictionary, New Edition, p. 610, col. 2, under the word Cruachan Muighe Abhna; O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. X, p. 55 – 56; Hogan, work cited, p. 311, col. 1, under the word Cruachan Maige Abnae.]. But I suspect that this gloss was wrongly added to the name of the virgin Finnseach; for it seems to have belonged to St. Sineach, where she lived the old annotators never seem to know for certain. This at least will seem to come nearer to the truth if you compare this passage with the glosses which concern another holy virgin Sineach, of the heortology of Oengus [Above, no. 9. Compare Stokes, On the Calendar of Oengus, p. CXLIX and gloss p. CLIV; the same, Félire Óengusso, p. 214 and gloss p. 220. You would not easily say whether Stokes conjectured the same, work cited, p. 445, under the word Sinech, Nov. 9, or whether by a slip of the pen he wrongly transposed the gloss of the heortology of Marianus from its place.] and of Marianus Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 190., and of the martyrology of Donegal The Martyrology of Donegal, p. 266. and of Tallaght [The Book of Leinster, p. 363, col. 5; M. Kelly, Calendar of Irish Saints. The Martyrology of Tallagh, p. XXXVI, col. 1.] on the 5th day of October, and in many other places [The Book of Ballymote, p. 126, col. 1; The Yellow Book of Lecan, p. 119; Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. cited, p. 118. Compare O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, place cited.]. Nor do we remember having read anywhere the lineage of this virgin Finnseach. She seems, therefore, to be of uncertain lineage, uncertain place, uncertain age, and not known to the hagiologists except to Marianus and his followers.
[14] St. Sarnait. That St. Sarnait was inghen Aodha i tTir Maine, that is, daughter of Aedh in Tír Maine, or the Land of Maine, in Connacht, is read in the gloss of the heortology of Marianus Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 214., which was taken up into the martyrology of Donegal, the word ógh, that is virgin, being prefixed Above, no. 7.. Her lineage has been preserved [Whatever we have about the lineage of St. Sarnait we owe entirely to the renowned Charles Plummer.] in the genealogical collections of the most diligent antiquary Dubhaltach Mac Fir Bhisigh, otherwise Duald Mac Firbis [Ed. J. O'Donovan, The Genealogies, Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach (Dublin, 1844), p. 54 (Irish Archaeological Society).], where he treats of the tribe called Cinéal Cinngamhna; from which is reported to have sprung Sarnait inghean Aodha Gabhal-Fhada mic Seanaigh mic Eoghain Aidhne mic Eachach Bric, that is in Latin, Sarnait daughter of Aedh Gabhal-Fhada, son of Seanach, son of Eoghan Aidhne, son of Eochaidh Breac. All the shorter genealogies, at least those we know, agree [The Oxford codex of the Bodleian library Laud. Misc. 610, fol. 39, col. e: Sarnait ingen Aeda Gabul-Fada ar slicht Dathi mic Fiachrach; the same, fol. 41, col. g: Sernait ingen Aeda Fota mic Senaig Cindgamna mic Eogain Adren mic Ethach mic Dathi mic Fiachrach; codex of the same library Rawlinson B. 486, fol. 41: Sarnat ingen Aedha Gabal 〈fh〉ota.]. Whence it can be gathered that St. Sarnait lived in the sixth century, whose great-great-grandfather Dathi ruled all Ireland at the beginning of the fifth century O'Donovan, work cited, Genealogical Table.. John O'Donovan supposes that the saint herself is the same whose name today is pronounced Sourney; he writes that several springs are named after her in her region of Aidhne; that a church was dedicated to her, whose ruined walls survive in the greater island of Aran, not far from the little village of Oghil, still called Templesoorney, near which there gushes the spring St. Soorney's Well [Ordnance Survey of Ireland (One Inch), fol. 113. Templesoorney is missing in the little index of the churches of Aran published in Colgan, of which above, p. 165, no. 71.]. So John O'Donovan Work cited, p. 54, note s.. But how it came about that a saint sprung from the descendants of Fiachra was connected with the island of Aran or the Land of Maine, no one so far seems to have found out.
[15] St. Laisse. That St. Lasse or Laisse was ógh, Clúana Lomáin, in Latin a virgin, of Clúain Lommáin, the annotator of Marianus writes Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 214., to whose opinion the Donegal friars acceded Above, no. 7.. This seems to be a pet form of the name Laisréan; but among so many holy women and men called Laisrean, Molaisse, Laisse, Lassair, Laisre, etc., it is hardly probable that we shall either at once recognize this virgin in so great a crowd or come near to defining her lineage; for since the place where she is said to have lived, Clúain Lommáin, is uncertain, we cannot even by conjecture reach from which royal stock of saints she took her origin.
[16] St. Aedhnat. St. Aedhnat is read to be inghen Loichein, in Latin daughter of Loichen, among the glosses of the heortology of Marianus Ed. cited, same place.; which was received into the martyrology of Donegal Above, no. 7.. Aedhnat is a pet form of the very common name Aedh, with the diminutive ending -at added, which is usually of the feminine gender Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. II, p. 345.. But neither is the father's name which is read here rare, and since we do not remember having read anywhere even the beginning of a lineage of either the daughter or the father, and it seems to have been handed down by no one from which stock of saints Aedhnat sprang, or where she lived, we must be content with the announcement of the martyrology of Donegal.
[17] Whether Patrick the Younger is venerated today at Glastonbury. We do not at all make out whence Richard Challoner took into the British martyrology that St. Patrick the Younger, disciple of the apostle of the Irish and his nephew by a brother, is commemorated today at Glastonbury together with Benignus, Patrick's successor. For the renowned Edmund Bishop, who recently examined the Glastonbury calendars with the highest learning, found that no Patrick was venerated there on the fifth day before the Ides of November [Gasquet and Bishop, The Bosworth Psalter (London, 1908), p. 185, col. 2, under the word Patrick.]. Perhaps Challoner gathered that the feasts of SS. Benignus and Patrick were kept together from the fact that he had read in the Nova Legenda Anglie that in one shrine on the south side of the high altar at Glastonbury the relics of St. Benignus and of a certain St. Patrick were kept [A clause inserted into the Nova Legenda at the beginning of the sixteenth century; see above, p. 170, note 2.], and confused this with the commentaries of our Stilting on Patrick the Elder, venerated at Glastonbury, who would be the same as Patrick the Younger Act. SS., Aug. vol. VI, p. 833 – 35.. But an Oedipus is needed as interpreter if all the sayings and writings of so varied and changeable a mind are to be traced back each to its origin. Let us, however, hasten to say farewell to those Patricks, who more than once have led even the weightiest and most famous writers to the greatest audacities in divining.
[18] St. Conna or Mo-Chonna. That St. Conna, whose pet form is Mo-Chonna, was surnamed Becc, that is little or lesser, the Donegal martyrologist borrowed from Marianus Ed. cited, same place. Above, no. 7.. About the saint himself, however, nothing at all seems to have been handed down, except that he is distinguished by the same surname in the Comainmnigud Noem hÉrend Ed. cited, p. 341 – 42. from twenty-eight namesakes [I omit six or seven Mochonoc, same place, p. 339, with each of whom each Conna and Mochonna can be confused.].
[19] Whether SS. Fionntan, Barrfhind, Moroc were one and the same. There remains one, St. Fionntán, about whom not even the Friars Minor of Donegal seem to have found anything. The word Fintán or Fionntán is used, among other things, as a pet form of the name Findbharr, which is very widespread [Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. II, p. 359, col. 1, under the word Findbarrus.]; fish out, then, this Fionntán, if you can see anything, from the hundred and two Barrfhind, Finnian, Findbharr, Fintan, Findchu, Findlug, Fínan who are listed in the Comainmnigud Noem hÉrend Ed. cited, p. 328 – 32.. Yet it is most worthy of note that another pet form of the name Findbharr too is read on this day in the calendar of the Breviary of Aberdeen, where St. Moroc is mentioned; which we touched on briefly among the Passed-over Above, p. 7.. But since the feast of St. Moroc too is for the most part announced on the third day before the Nones of November Act. SS., Nov. vol. III, p. 857., and on that very day Barrfhind, or Findbharr, son of Aedh, is venerated Same place, p. 834 – 35., I would more easily believe that St. Moroc was the same as Barrfhind son of Aedh; namely, unless those three are really one and the same man pulled apart in three ways.
[20] Of a certain Martin the Elder to be invented That St. Martin, for whose feast holidays are kept on the fifth day before the Nones of November in the place called Teampull Martain [This tract is about three miles from the city of Kilkenny to the east, and lies in the parishes of Blackrath, St. John's and St. Martin's, barony of Gowran, county Kilkenny.], is another than the most renowned bishop of Tours, John Francis Shearman contends with the greatest, but unhappy, learning Loca Patriciana, p. 390 – 93.. His arguments can be briefly drawn together thus: that a certain Martin the Elder was left by St. Patrick with some companions from Patrick's retinue in the place called Bealach Gabhráin [Gowran Pass in county Kilkenny. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 101, col. 1, under the word Belach Gabhráin.], is reported by the Homily
on St. Patrick in the Leabhar Breac [Edited twice by Wh. Stokes, Three Middle-Irish Homilies, p. 32; The Tripartite Life of Patrick, vol. II, p. 468.]; passages from the Lives of St. Ciaran of Saighir and St. Columba [I do not know whether the learned man has here confused St. Columba of Iona with St. Columba of Terryglass.] where the relics of St. Martin are treated; churches in the parts of Ossory dedicated to St. Martin, springs sacred to him, and other indications of this kind laboriously collected from every side.
[21] The carelessness of one copyist gave occasion. But that Martin the Elder, companion of Patrick, never existed except in that very transcript of the Homily which is cited, where it is written foraccaib Martin sruthi occu, in Latin, he left Martin the Elder with them, instead of foraccaib mártrai sruthi occú, in Latin, he left venerable relics with them. For martrai instead of Martin is read in the parallel passage of the Tripartite [Forácaib martrai sruithi occu, Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 194. The same certainly was read also in the Gaelic codices which Colgan used for making his translation; for he rendered, with no mention made of any Martin: "he left various relics of saints," Trias Thaumaturga, p. 155, col. 2, chap. 27.] and of the Life of St. Patrick from the Book of Lismore [Forfacoibh martra sruithe ocu, Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 13, line 445.]; with these agrees a passage of the ancient writer Tirechan, which reports that the church Marthorthige was then founded by St. Patrick in the same parts Liber Ardmachanus, fol. 15 b 1.; this is that Martartech, or house of relics, which both the Homily in the Leabhar Breac and the Lismore Life and the Tripartite mention In the places cited above, notes 1 and 2. immediately after the sentence we have copied out. Add that no one except a man ignorant of the art of the Irish copyists can wonder that the words Martin and martrai were mixed up with each other; for each is written marti, with a small stroke added above the letter i, nor is it easily distinguished whether ra is to be read before the letter i, or n after the letter i.
[22] His relics, chapels, springs. Since these things are so, it is easily seen that the passages where the relics of St. Martin are treated in the Lives of St. Ciaran of Saighir and St. Columba of Terryglass are to be understood not of the remains of that fictitious Martin the Elder, but of his namesake of Tours [To throw absolutely everything into confusion and mix it up, I. F. Shearman contended, work cited, p. 392, note 1, that the city of Tours (in Gaelic Torinis) had been confused with an island of the Ocean called in Gaelic Tor Inis; and the things which certainly pertain to St. Martin of Tours he bent to that Martin the Elder of his, whom he gratuitously imagined to have died on Tor Inis.]; which is the opinion of those most knowledgeable men in the hagiographical records of Ireland, Charles Plummer [Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. II, p. 364, col. 2, under the word Martinus; Bethada Náem nÉrenn, vol. II, p. 393, col. 1, under the word Martan.] and William Reeves The Life of St. Columba, p. 332, note x., to omit others. For it is established that even from the beginnings of the faith spread in those regions the memory of Martin of Tours was venerated quite singularly The same, same place; compare p. 488, col. 1, under the word Martin.. Say the same of the churches, chapels and springs dedicated to St. Martin, which are to be restored to the one of Tours, unless for a certain cause they seem rather to be ascribed to an Irish St. Martin who really lived, namely the son of Dunan of the stock of Cormac Cas [The lineage of this Martin is read in The Book of Leinster, p. 350, col. 1, and in the Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. Paul Walsh, p. 120.]; but he lived both long after St. Patrick As is plain from the lineage. and in a wholly different region, to the north of the parts about Kilkenny [Cúil Breccain i nUib Falge, The Book of Leinster, place cited. Now in King's County, Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 318, col. 1, under the word Cúl Bracain.].
[23] Why he is said to be venerated today. Finally we must ask for what reason festivities were customarily held on the 9th of November in the place called Teampull Martain. For this mark of time we have one authority, I. F. Shearman Work cited, p. 393.. It is well known, however, that parish festivities are not rarely held on the Sunday immediately preceding the very feast-day of the holy patron; and in the year 1879, in which this part of that learned man's lucubrations was published [First indeed in the Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, Vol. IV, Part III, 1878 (in fact 1879); soon after in the book entitled Loca Patriciana (1879).], the 9th day of November fell on a Sunday.