XXII. LATER SCHOOLS OF THE WEST…

XXII. LATER SCHOOLS OF THE WEST

"'Tis a rosary of islands in the Ocean's hollow palm-- Sites of faith unchanged by storms, all unchanging in the calm, There the world-betrayed may hide them, and the weary heart find balm." --M'Gee.

I.--ST. COLMAN'S SCHOOL OF MAYO.

The history of St. Colman, who founded the monastery of Innisboffin, and the Monastic School of Mayo, is full of interest. He may be called an island-saint, like Enda of Aran; but his was a far more strange and adventurous career. Trained in Iona, ruling in Lindisfarne, defeated but not subdued by Wilfrid at Whitby, and then coming home in his old age with the relics of his sainted predecessors to labour and to die in the misty islands of the West--there is no element of romantic interest wanting in Colman's extraordinary history.

We may, we think, fairly assume with Colgan that he was a native of some part of the West; for otherwise the very existence of Innisboffin would have been unknown to him. It is quite certain, however, that he received his education and religious training in Iona, and that he was for many years a member of that community. Bede describes him as an Irish Bishop (de Scottia Episcopus), and shows very clearly what he means thereby, when he adds, that on his departure from Lindisfarne he returned to Ireland (in Scottiam regressus est). Indeed, Bede has never, even once, applied the word 'Scottia' except to Ireland.[383]

Colman was a monk in Iona during the abbacy of Segienus, the third ruler of that monastery from A.D. 623 to 652. These were years of much missionary enterprise, especially after King Oswald mounted the throne of Northumbria in A.D. 634. At his request Segienus sent one of his monks, Corban by name, to preach to the Northumbrians. But Corban's mission was a failure; he expected too much from the semi-barbarous Angles of Northumbria; and he offered them the solid food before he gave them the milk of sound doctrine. After his return to Iona, Aidan, an Irishman, as Bede tells us, was consecrated bishop, and sent to preach in Northumbria. Bede gives a most interesting account of his life and character,[384] and adds, as might be expected, that his mission was entirely successful. He converted the Northumbrians, and founded the monastery and See of Lindisfarne about the year A.D. 635. When Bishop Aidan died in A.D. 651, another Irish prelate called Finan was sent to succeed him in the government of the Northumbrian Church. His first task was to build a church in Lindisfarne, of hewn oak, after the manner of the Irish, and he covered it with reeds. In this church he laid the body of his sainted predecessor on the right side of the high altar.

The Easter Controversy, of which we have already spoken, embittered the brief episcopacy of Finan. Like Aidan and all the monks of Iona, he still followed the old Irish custom of calculating the Easter Day, so that the southern Angles, who followed the Roman method, were much scandalized to see the King celebrating Easter Sunday, while the Queen, Eanfled, and her Roman chaplain were keeping the rigorous fast of Palm Sunday.

Bishop Finan died in A.D. 661, after ten years' episcopacy, during which nothing was done to bring about uniformity; and Colman, another Irish monk of Iona, was appointed to succeed him. But he, too, persisted in observing the old Irish Easter, and wearing the frontal tonsure, so that even King Oswy felt it was high time to try and establish one uniform usage in Northumbria.

For this purpose a Conference, or Synod, was appointed to meet in the monastery of Streaneshalch, since called Whitby. The abbess Hilda favoured Bishop Colman, and presided over the assembly as it was held in her monastery; and she was besides a royal lady. King Oswy also favoured the Scots, but Aldfrid, his son, the crown prince, was in favour of the Roman usage. The learned and eloquent Wilfrid, then an abbot, but afterwards Archbishop of York, was the great champion of orthodoxy, and was supported in his views by Agilbert, a Frenchman, who had studied the Scriptures in Ireland, and appears to have been acquainted with the Irish language and usages. On the other side was Colman, and he had an able episcopal supporter in Bishop Cedd, who, though a southern prelate, was inclined to favour the Irish usage, for he was trained and consecrated by the 'Scots,' that is the Irish party.

Colman was called upon by the king to open the discussion. He justified his own usage by three arguments--first, because he received the practice from the holy elders of the Irish Church, who had ordained him bishop and sent him to Northumbria; secondly, because it was the practice of the holy Apostle St. John; and thirdly, because this usage had been sanctioned by the holy and learned Anatolius, a man of great authority in the Church of God.

Then Wilfrid[385] rose to reply, as he was well acquainted with the Anglo-Saxon tongue. He was, besides, an able and learned man who had travelled much abroad. His first argument against Colman was of itself quite conclusive: "The Easter which we observe we saw celebrated everywhere in Africa, Asia, Egypt, and Greece--we saw it celebrated by all men at Rome, where the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, lived, taught, suffered, and were buried." Apostolic authority and universal usage were thus clearly against the few Picts and Britons--the Irish had nearly all given in by this time--who still adhered to the old Easter and the frontal tonsure. As to the authority of St. John, to which Colman appealed, it was not to the purpose. For according to Wilfrid, St. John kept Easter on the 14th day of the first moon in the evening, no matter what day of the week it happened to be--in this respect following the Jews, whilst it was yet lawful to Judaize. "But you, Colman, admit that Easter may not be celebrated on a week day, and hence you do not follow the practice of St. John, nor, as I have shown, of St. Peter either." This was a home thrust for poor Colman, and Wilfrid followed it up by disposing of Anatolius also. "He was, I admit, a holy, learned, and commendable man; but you do not observe his decrees; for he had a cycle of nineteen years of which you know nothing, or if you do, you despise it; although it is now followed by the entire Church."

As to Colman's appeal to the authority of his sainted predecessors, Wilfrid admitted that they were holy men, and perhaps even men of miracles; but they were excusable on account of ignorance of the truth: "you, however," he says, "have no such excuse because the more perfect rule adopted by the entire Church is now brought home to your minds."

Wilfrid concluded by appealing once more to the authority of the Apostolic See of Peter as conclusive, for it was to Peter our Lord said--"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

"Colman," said the king, "is it true that these words were spoken to Peter by our Lord?" "It is true, O king," said Colman. "Then," said the king, "as Peter is the door-keeper, I will not contradict him in anything lest there should be none to open to me if I made him my adversary." So the Conference ended, and Colman and his clerics felt that they were defeated. It was a severe blow to the old man; and he felt it keenly, not for his own sake, but for the sake of his sainted predecessors. "His doctrine," says Bede, "was rejected and his sect despised;" and that, too, by men whom he must have regarded as interlopers. Why should they put their sickles into his harvest? Why not leave him and his clergy and people in peace? When hard work was to be done, they were not to be found--it was the monks of Iona who converted the Northumbrians to the Church; but now these Southerns came to regulate the date of their Easter Day, and forbid them to wear the tonsure, which they had worn from their boyhood, and which was worn by Columcille himself, the great Apostle of the Picts and Scots. It was intolerable; and now as King Oswy and his son Aldfrid had turned from their spiritual fathers to Wilfrid and his associates, Colman resolved to leave Northumbria for ever.

But first the old man returned to Lindisfarne, and told his monks all that had happened. For his own part, he declared that he would not accept the new discipline, nor give up the traditions of his sainted predecessors, who proved their mission by countless miracles; and that, as the king was determined to follow the new discipline introduced by Wilfrid, he himself would return to his native country where he might follow the ancient discipline in peace. Those who listed might remain; but those who choose to come with him were welcome, and together they would seek an asylum in the far west of Ireland.

The sequel is told by Bede:--"Colman, the Irish Bishop, departed from Britain, and took with him all the Irish (Scoti) that he had assembled in the Island of Lindisfarne, and also about thirty of the English nation, who had been instructed in the monastic life, and leaving some brothers in his church of Lindisfarne, he repaired first to the Island of Hii, whence he had been first sent to preach the Word of God to the English nation. Afterwards he retired to a small island, which is to the west of Ireland, and at some distance from its coast, called, in the language of the Irish (Scoti), Inisbofinde, that is, the Island of the White Cow. Arriving there he built a monastery, and placed in it the monks he had brought with him of both nations; who, not agreeing among themselves, by reason that the Scots--that is the Irish--in the summer season, when the harvest was to be brought in, leaving the monastery, wandered about through places with which they were acquainted, yet wished to get a share of what the English monks had provided for their common table. Colman sought to put an end to these dissensions; and, travelling about, at length found a place in Ireland fit to build a monastery, which, in the language of the Scots, is called Mageo" (Mayo.)[386]

Such is the brief, but most interesting, account which the Father of English History gives of the founding of the two monasteries of Inisboffin and Mayo; and it is confirmed in all points by our native Annalists. But there are some few additional particulars to be noted.

When Colman and his monks were leaving Lindisfarne, their hearts were sore at the thought of leaving behind them the relics of their sainted father Aidan, who had founded that church and monastery. Yet they did not wish to carry away all the holy relics, and so they adopted a middle course. They opened the grave which was outside their wooden church, in the little green churchyard, where they had so often walked and prayed. With reverent hands and streaming eyes they took a part of the sacred relics to carry home with them to their native Ireland; the rest, for greater security, they re-interred in the sacristy for those who were to come after them.

Then the band of exiles set out on their journey home. But first, as in duty bound, Colman and his monks resolved to visit Iona, the parent house, which had sent them to preach the Gospel in Northumbria. Bede does not tell us how long they remained there; and it is not easy to fix the period from the dates given in our own Annals. Colman left Lindisfarne A.D. 664; and the Chronicon Scotorum,[387] and the first entry in the Annals of Ulster[388] tell us that in the same year he came to Inisbofinde. In that case the visit to Iona could only have been a passing one. But the weight of authority goes to show that this voyage of Colman did not take place until A.D. 667 or 668.[389] In the Ulster Annals, Hennessy renders the contraction--"cum reliquis scorum," as if it were--cum reliquiis sanctorum--"with the relics of saints," which they undoubtedly had with them; but in the Annals of the Four Masters it is rendered with "the other saints;" and in the Chronicon, "with the other Irish monks"--as if it were, cum reliquis scotorum. There is, however, no difference in meaning, because Colman brought both with him to Mayo--his Irish monks, and the relics of his sainted father Aidan, if not, also of Columba, and some other saints of Iona.

And there, says Bede, in Inisbofinde he founded his monastery; and, as the Irish Annals say, there he also built his church.

It is a bare and desolate island exposed to all the fury of the Atlantic storms; but the monks of old thought little of comfort so long as they could be alone with God--and who was to disturb them on the naked shores of this barren island? It is probable that at this time the island was uninhabited; and we know, from the Life of St. Flannan of Killaloe, that the people of these western coasts were still half pagan. The more need then of apostolic men to instruct them in Christian doctrine.

The island took its ancient name from a wild tale of a certain white heifer that dwelt in an enchanted lake in the island, whence it was seen to emerge from time to time to graze on its shores. The lake is there still, and, if one may credit the islanders, the White Cow is there too, in spite of St. Colman and all his monks. The island is about six miles due west of Renvyle Point, in the Joyce country, and contains 2,312 statute acres, most of which, however, is quite naked and barren. At one time the population amounted to fifteen hundred souls, who lived very much on the produce of their stormy seas; but at present, we believe, it has fallen to about two-thirds of that number.

Inisboffin still contains several interesting memorials of St. Colman. The ruins of his ancient church are yet to be seen in the townland of Knock. There is also a holy well to the south-west of St. Colman's oratory, which is called Tobar Flannain, and takes its name from the patron saint of Killaloe, who spent a considerable time on the island, and was much venerated there. In the townland of Middle Quarter dwelt another recluse, who appears to have been a disciple of St. Colman; the site of his 'House' is still pointed out, and called in Irish--Aittighe Guarim--the place of Guarim's House. The celebrated Grace O'Malley, better known as Grana Weale, had a castle on the island, which has almost quite disappeared--but the place is still called Dun-Graine. In Cromwell's time the island was fortified, and became a kind of penal colony, in which many horrible atrocities were committed on the helpless Irish. The remnant who survived were crowded into ships, like African slaves, and transported to Barbadoes. Those who did not perish during the voyage soon succumbed beneath the broiling sun of the West Indian plantations. The islanders still remember, with a shudder, those terrible times.

It seems, however, that the Celts and Saxons did not get on amicably together even in St. Colman's time. The saints themselves will sometimes disagree; and, according to Bede, the Irish monks were much in fault. During the summer months, when the grain was to be sown, and reaped, and harvested, they wandered about in the neighbourhood--"through places with which they were acquainted"--coshering, in fact, upon their friends, and very likely pocketing such alms as they could get. But when the winter came, they returned to the monastery to eat what they had not sown nor helped to reap. It was too bad; and if it be true, and not the recital of some Anglo-Saxon returned to Yarrow from Connemara, one cannot blame the Saxon monks for objecting to such a state of things.

So Colman resolved to put the Saxon monks in a monastery by themselves, and make the Irishmen work for their living. He travelled about far and near to find a suitable place on the mainland for a monastery. At length he succeeded. He bought a small parcel of land from the 'earl' to whom it belonged--this is Bede's way of saying it--and got more, it seems, on condition that the monks residing there should pray to the Lord for him who let them have the place. "Then Colman, building the monastery with the help of the earl and all his neighbours, placed the English there, leaving the Scots in the aforesaid island. That monastery is to this day (A.D. 730) possessed by English inhabitants; being the same, that growing up from a small beginning, to be very large, is generally called Mageo (Magh eo); and as all things have long since been brought under a better method, it contains an exemplary society of monks, who are gathered there from the province of the English, and live by the labour of their hands, after the example of the venerable fathers, under a rule and canonical abbot, in much continency and singleness of life." The English monks were anxious, in fact, to get Home Rule, even in Ireland; and were, it seems, much the better of getting it. We shall presently return to the history of this monastery of Mayo.

Of Colman's further history we know nothing except the date of his death. Doubtless with his Celtic sympathies he preferred to live in his island retreat; although of course he visited from time to time the English monks of Mayo. But they had now got a 'canonical abbot' of their own, one elected by themselves and were, it seems, an entirely independent community. Their subsequent history shows that the monastery of Mayo, as Bede says, became a large establishment, and ultimately an episcopal See.

Colman's death is noticed by the Four Masters in A.D. 674; the Annals of Ulster enter it under A.D. 675; but the true year appears to be A.D. 676--the ninth after his arrival in Inisboffin. All our martyrologies give his festival on the 8th of August. In the Felire of Ængus he is set down as the "praiseworthy Colman of Inis-bo-finde;" and the scholiast describes that island as situated in the western sea off Connemara in the west of Connaught. There, too, he was buried.

Bede, while strongly dissenting from Colman's views on the Easter Question, bears noble testimony to his many virtues. He was much beloved, he says, by King Oswy, on account of his singular discretion. Then he adds that the place (Lindisfarne) he governed shows how frugal he and his predecessors were; how they despised earthly goods; and kept no money which they did not give to the poor; how their whole care was to serve God, not the world--to feed the soul, and not the belly. Hence the religious habit was then held in great veneration; the monk was joyfully received everywhere, and people from all quarters ran to get his blessing. When these Irish monks went into a village, it was either to preach, baptize, visit the sick, or otherwise take care of souls. They refused to endow their monasteries with lands or other possessions, content to preach the Gospel and to live by the labour of their hands, and the small alms of the faithful. It is not wonderful that they converted Northumbria, and that even in these unbelieving days of ours the memory of the Irish monks of Lindisfarne is still revered by men of all classes and of all creeds.

II.--ST. GERALD OF MAYO.

St. Gerald was in all probability the first 'canonical abbot' whom the Saxons of Mayo elected with the assent of Colman to preside over that famous monastery. There is a Life of this saint given by Colgan at the 13th of March, his festival day.[390] It was evidently not written for a considerable period after the saint's death; and although containing much that Lanigan calls 'sorry stuff,' it still furnishes us with some valuable information. The composition of the Life has been attributed to Augustin Magraidin, the compiler of the celebrated manuscript belonging to the Monastery of All Saints in Lough Ree. The substance of Magraidan's strange biography is as follows:--

Whilst Colman was Archbishop of Northumbria, the king of that or some neighbouring territory, Cusperius by name, sent his four sons to be educated under Colman's care at Lindisfarne. Their names were Gerald, Balanus, Berikertus and Hubritanus or Hulbritanus. The queen, their mother, was called Benitia. And here, by way of parenthesis, we may observe that it is not a little remarkable to find the names of these holy brothers in our domestic martyrologies. Balloin of Tech-Saxon (in the co. Mayo) is given in the Martyrology of Donegal on the 3rd of September; Beretchert of Tolach-leis is given at the 6th of December; and Huildbriti at the 24th of April, is given both by Marianus O'Gorman and the Martyrology of Tallaght. The four brothers were instructed by Colman in the liberal arts, in theology, and in monastic discipline, and seem to have become greatly attached to their master.

It is said that Gerald became Abbot of Winton before Colman's departure from Lindisfarne. When these four brothers saw how the kings and clergy of Northumbria rejected the discipline and authority of Colman, they resolved to leave their native country and accompany their beloved master to Ireland. There was nothing to detain them in England. Their mother was dead, and their father, it seems, entered on a career of crime, which hastened their departure. And so, says the Life, embarking in their fleet of ships, or rather boats, and taking with them all necessaries, they set sail and landed at the 'mouth of the Shannon in Connaught.'[391] The subsequent narrative, however, shows that it is much more probable that they landed at the mouth of the river Moy near Killala, for it is in that district we find them shortly after their arrival.

It was nothing new or strange for English princes and nobles to go to Ireland to be educated at this period. It is fortunate that on this point we have the unexceptional testimony of Bede himself. "Many of the nobility, and of the lower ranks of the English nation were there (in Ireland) at that time (when the pestilence broke out), who, in the days of the Bishops Finan and Colman, forsaking their native island, retired thither either for the sake of divine studies, or of a more continent life; and some of them at once devoted themselves to a monastic life; others chose rather to apply themselves to study, going about from one master's cell to another. The Irish (Scoti) willingly received them all, and took care to supply them with food, and also to furnish them with books to read, and their teaching gratis."[392]

It seems that the west of Ireland was, especially after the return of Colman, a favourite place of refuge for these Saxon scholars. In fact we find in all our native annals that the sons of Gartnait, King of the Picts, with the people of Sketh (probably Skye), made a voyage to Ireland in the very same year, according to the Ulster Annals, that Colman sailed for Inisbofinde. Their return to Scotland two years later is also mentioned, which shows that they spent at least two years, most probably in the West of Ireland, with Colman.

Whether or not St. Gerald and his brothers accompanied St. Colman to Ireland is doubtful. The narrative in the Life would seem to imply that they came straight to Ireland after Colman's departure from Lindisfarne, and that during the time he remained in Iona Gerald and his companions had founded the monastery of Elitheria, or 'The Pilgrims Home,' as we might call it. At first, it seems, they met with some opposition from a certain wicked ruler in the district, called Ailill, who sent an armed force to oppose their landing. This was in all probability Ailill, or Oilioll, son of Dunchadh of Murrisk, prince of the Hy-Fiachrach, and ancestor of the O'Dowds. Dunchadh himself was slain in A.D. 681; but his son, Oilioll, might well be of age and a ruler of a separate territory in A.D. 664 or 665. He was prince of Tirawley; and hence it is highly probable that it was either at Killala or in the Bay of Westport that the Saxon pilgrims landed. By a wondrous miracle Gerald disarmed the hostility of Ailill, and even induced him to grant them the site of a monastery which, in the Life, is called Elitheria, or the Field of the Stag, from the Irish Elith, a stag. Colgan, however, thinks it more probable that the place received its name from elitheir, a pilgrim. This locality has not been identified. It is evident, however, that it was not far from the banks of the Moy, for prince Ailill, seeing the wonders wrought by St. Gerald, asked him to remove a rock from the bed of that river which was a great impediment to navigation, and tore the fishermen's nets when they were draughting the river for salmon. In this, also, Gerald gratified the prince, and caused the rock to be broken in fragments. No doubt this occurred somewhere between Killala and Ballina.

Here the writer of Gerald's Life is guilty of a great anachronism, for he says that Raghallach (Ragallus), the celebrated King of Connaught, hearing of the fame of St. Gerald, invited the latter to come to his court, and promised also to give him land for founding a monastery; adding that afterwards he fulfilled this promise, and gave him the ground on which the monastery of Mayo was built. Now Raghallach, or Reilly, King of Connaught, was slain in A.D. 645, as the Four Masters say, or in A.D. 648, according to the Annals of Ulster, that is, nearly twenty years before Gerald came to Ireland. The King of Connaught, when Mayo was founded, was Cennfaeladh, son of Colgu, whose death is notified by the Four Masters, A.D. 680. Besides, Bede expressly says that it was Colman himself who procured the site of the Mayo monastery, partly for money and partly for the prayers of the community.

We are then told that Gerald divided this community into three sections. One party he sent back to England in order to procure all things necessary for the new monastery. A second division was told off to build the dun or cashel--murus it is called in the Latin Life--around the monastery. The third division was, meantime, employed in the celebration of the Divine Offices for themselves and for the people around them.

We are then told that Gerald of Mayo, and all the other heads of religious houses in Ireland, went to Tara in obedience to an edict of the joint kings, Diarmaid and Blathmac, who reigned from A.D. 658 to 664 or 666. The purpose of the kings in summoning this meeting seems to have been to devise some means of staying the dreadful plague and its attendant famine which were then ravaging the country. St. Fechin and St. Gerald are represented as divided in opinion; the former said the plague was sent by God to prevent the people from starving, and that they must have perished either way, seeing that the country was over populated. But St. Gerald, like many other well-meaning people, put his trust in God, and said that all the clergy should pray to God to stop the plague, and also to supply food for the starving people. Divine Providence, he said, could do both one and the other; but it seems there was no human help to save them. The plague, however, soon solved the problem; it spared none--saints, kings, and people alike perished, so that half the population of the land disappeared in two years. St. Gerald himself escaped, and saved many others by his gift of healing; but his sister, Segresia, and one hundred of her nuns, who, it seems, had a convent close to Elitheria, with fifty of the monks of that establishment, all perished.

It is certain that St. Gerald was alive until A.D. 697, for we are told that about that time St. Adamnan, the celebrated Abbot of Iona, paid him a visit at the convent of Mayo. We know that Adamnan in that year went to Ireland, and promulged the celebrated 'Lex Innocentiae,' by which women were forbidden to share the dangers of the battlefield. We know, too, that he founded the Church of Skreen in Hy-Fiachrach, probably about the same time; and if he were in that neighbourhood nothing is more natural than that he should visit the foundation of Colman, whom he must have known in his youth, and try to ascertain how the Saxon monastery, which he had planted, was progressing in the land of the Scots. He seems to have remained, too, a considerable time in Ireland, or very soon returned thither, for in A.D. 703 he celebrated the Roman Easter (Canonicum Pascha) 'in Hibernia.'[393] It is even stated that he ruled the monastery of Mayo for seven years after the death of Gerald himself, and during that time was engaged in writing books, casting bells, and teaching the monks, until he returned to die in his own monastery of Iona. This is not 'manifestly a figment,' as has been said by some writers; there is nothing at all improbable in it, especially if St. Gerald did not live after A.D. 697, as Colgan thinks.

The chief difficulty arises from the fact that the death of St. Gerald seems to be recorded at a much later date. The Four Masters record it, A.D. 726, "Gerald of Magh Eo died on the 13th of March." The Annals of Ulster record the same event, A.D. 731. "The Pontiff of Magh Eo of the Saxons, Gerald, died." It is alleged, however, that the words 'Pontifex Magh Eo of the Saxons' should be connected with the previous entry, which would then read thus: "Bellum Connacht in quo cecidit Muredach Mac Indrechtaigh pontifex Maighe Eo Saxonum." The critics say, however, that the mistake was made by the Four Masters, who connect it in this way, and that Gerald, not Muredach Mac Indrechtaigh, was the Pontiff referred to. If Gerald really lived to this date, he must have been at least ninety years of age when he died in his monastery of Mayo. It is, at all events, certain that he died there, and his fame as a saint and scholar both during his life, and long afterwards, was the means of attracting crowds of students both from Erin and Saxonland, to the great monastic school, which he founded in the plains of Mayo.

There is a local tradition that King Alfred the Great visited Mayo, and that he sent his son to be trained up in that monastery, but that the young prince died there, and some of the natives even undertake to point out the place where he was buried. It is very likely this tradition had its origin in the undoubted visit to Ireland, and most probably to Mayo also, of King Aldfrid of Northumbria. He was an intimate friend of Adamnan, and probably accompanied that saint to Ireland. William of Malmesbury states expressly that he spent his youth in Ireland, and if so, it was most likely at Mayo.

III.--SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL OF MAYO.

Of the subsequent history of this great monastic school we know very little.

Aedhan, Bishop of Magh Eo, died A.D. 768 (F.M.); and the monastery was burned in A.D. 778 (recte 783) by lightning, "on Saturday night, precisely on the 4th of the Nones of August. That night was terrible with thunder and lightning, and wind-storms," which destroyed Armagh and Clonbroney, as well as the monastery of Mayo. Probably all these edifices were then built of wood. It is said that Turgesius, the Dane, attacked and plundered the monastery in A.D. 818; but of this pillage we can find no record, except in the Life of St. Gerald, which is no authority for dates. In A.D. 805 (but really in A.D. 808), the Four Masters say the oratory of Mayo was again burned.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries frequent mention is made of Mayo; and it seems that during this period a bishop usually dwelt in the monastery, who exercised jurisdiction over the surrounding parishes.

It appears to have been regarded as a holy place to be buried in, for we are told that Domhnall, son of Turlough O'Conor, Lord of North Connaught, "the glory, and the moderator, and the good adviser of the Irish people," died in A.D. 1176, and was interred at Mayo of the Saxons (F.M.).

In A.D. 1209 is recorded the death of "Cele O'Duffy, Bishop of Magh Eo of the Saxons," which shows that at this period it was recognised as a diocese long after the Synod of Kells, in A.D. 1152. O'Donovan, in a note to this entry, observes that although Colgan translates Magh Eo, the plain of the "Oaks," it more probably means the plain of the "Yews."

This O'Duffy was a member of the celebrated family of that name, which during the twelfth century produced the most distinguished ecclesiastics in the province of Connaught. They were not merely prelates and scholars, but liberal patrons of the fine arts as they were known at the time. To them we owe the beautiful processional cross of Cong, the gem of Irish metal-work. From a very early period they were connected with the School of Clonmacnoise, and afterwards with the School of Tuam; but the monastery of Cong seems to have been their favourite dwelling-place when living, and resting-place when dead. Cong was made a diocese at the Synod of Rathbreasil in A.D. 1110. The monastery was burned A.D. 1114; it was then probably that the beautiful building was erected, whose picturesque ruins have charmed every visitor to that remote district. In the base of the market cross of Cong we find an inscription, probably of the 13th century, asking a prayer for "Nichol and for Gilleberd O'Duffy, who was in the Abbacy of Cong," and who doubtless caused this cross, the "symbol of their faith and hope," to be erected in the square of their monastic city. In A.D. 1150 Muireadhach O'Duffy, Archbishop of Connaught, "the chief senior of all Ireland in wisdom, in chastity, and in the bestowal of jewels and food, died at Cong." In A.D. 1168, Flanagan O'Duffy, "Bishop and chief doctor of the Irish in literature, history, and poetry, and in every kind of science known to man in his time, died at Cong, in the bed of Muireadach O'Duffy." Catholicus O'Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam, was the most distinguished man of his time. He was present, at the Council of Lateran in A.D. 1179, and died in A.D. 1201.

In A.D. 1236 MacWilliam (Burke) went to Mayo of the Saxons, then, it seems, under the protection of 'King' Felim O'Conor, "and he left neither rick nor basket of corn in the large church-enclosure of Mayo, or in the yard of the church of St. Michael the Archangel, and he carried away eighty baskets out of the churches themselves." These yards adjoining the churches seem to have been used as haggards by the monks for storing their corn, and were completely pillaged by MacWilliam. Yet the monks still continued to live in the midst of the perpetual strife which desolated the Province of Connaught during the next century; for in A.D. 1478--a comparatively recent period--the death of Bishop Higgins of Mayo of the Saxons is recorded.

It is difficult to ascertain exactly when the See of Mayo was annexed to Tuam. Christopher Bodkin was Archbishop of Tuam, "although he took the oath of allegiance to the Queen,"[394] from A.D. 1555 to A.D. 1572. David Wolf, in a letter to the Holy See from Limerick, October 12th, 1561, says that Bodkin held besides Tuam the Sees of "Duacensis, Enachdunensis, et Mayonensis;" but he (Bodkin) says--"the two last were united to Tuam long ago." There is, however, every reason to believe that Bodkin was a time-server, and a see-grabber, for not content with the four sees mentioned, he also claimed the Diocese of Clonfert. Bodkin might, however, with some show of reason say that "Mayo was annexed to Tuam long ago." So early as the year A.D. 1217, there was a letter addressed on this subject by Pope Honorius III. delegating the Bishop of Clogher, the Abbot of Kells, and the Archdeacon of Ardagh, to report on this very question. The then Archbishop of Tuam, Felix O'Ruadan, asserted that Mayo was not a cathedral, but a parochial church. The Archdeacon of Mayo appealed against a decision to that effect given by Innocent III., on the ground that it was surreptitiously obtained, and the decision was withdrawn. Afterwards, it seems, the Archdeacon in a collusive suit allowed judgment to go against himself and his church. This being discovered at Rome, the Pope ordered the aforesaid judges to summon all the parties before them, and having heard all the witnesses, to send a full report of the entire case to the Apostolic See.[395] Unfortunately we do not know the issue; but it is evident that the Archbishops of Tuam during the troubles of subsequent centuries were able to assert their own jurisdiction; and so the Canons of Mayo lost their status as Canons of a Cathedral Church. About this period, too, many of the parishes belonging to the ancient See of Mayo around Clew Bay were claimed by the Archbishop of Armagh on the ground that they were founded by St. Patrick.[396] The claim was to some extent allowed by Innocent III.; but afterwards it fell into abeyance, and the jurisdiction of Tuam was recognised over all these Patrician churches of the ancient diocese of Mayo.

There are still considerable ruins of the ancient monastery at Mayo, but the buildings do not appear to have dated back to the original foundation by St. Colman, who, doubtless, built his monastery in the old Irish style.

IV.--THE SCHOOL OF TUAM.

The School of Tuam belongs to the earliest period of Irish ecclesiastical history; and the School of Tuam belongs also to the latest, and best period of Celtic art. We shall consider it in both respects--first as a school of Sacred Science under St. Jarlath, and then, along with Clonmacnoise, as a school of Sacred Art in the eleventh century, just before the advent of the Anglo-Normans to Ireland.

Of St. Jarlath himself unfortunately we know very little, for no Life of the saint has been discovered. His name is not mentioned in our Annals, and hence we are dependent for such information as we possess on isolated passages having reference to him in the Lives of other saints. Colgan has collected these meagre notices together; and was thus enabled to furnish us with a brief sketch of the life of this eminent saint.[397]

Jarlath belonged to the race known as the Conmaicne. They are so called because their common ancestor was Conmac, son of the celebrated Fergus Mac Roy, so famous during the heroic period of Irish history. The descendants of Conmac were lords of a considerable territory in the province of Connaught, and gave their name to several well-known districts. In North Connaught they were known as the Conmaicne of Moyrein in Leitrim and Cavan, with Fenagh as their ecclesiastical city, and St. Caillin as their patron saint. In West Connaught they were divided into three families or branches--the Conmaicne Mara, of the Sea, who have given their name to the modern Connemara; the Conmaicne Cuil-Tola, who occupied the present barony of Kilmaine in the County Mayo, and the Conmaicne Chineal-Dubhain, who dwelt around Dunmore in the County Galway. Tuam is in the barony of Dunmore, or at least on its borders, and so we may assume that Jarlath belonged to the Conmaicne of Dunmore, for the Irish saints generally founded their churches in their own tribe-land. His father's name was Loga (or Lugha), "of the race of Conmac, son of Fergus, son of Ross, son of Rudhraighe from whom the Clanna Rudhraighe are called, and Mongfinn, daughter of Ciardubhan, of the Cinel Cinnenn was his mother."[398]

St. Benen or Benignus, as we have already seen, was, before he became Coadjutor to St. Patrick in Armagh, assigned by that saint to be in an especial manner the apostle of Conmaicne. Hence he founded the Church of Kilbannon which still bears his name, a little to the north-west of Tuam, in the very heart of their territory. But he did more. He undertook himself to train up two young clerics to be future bishops of Conmaicne, when he should be called away by death or by other duties. These two young men were Jarlath of the Western Conmaicne, and Caillin of the Conmaicne of Moyrein. We are told in his Life that he not only educated these young men in all knowledge human and divine, but also promoted them to Holy Orders, and founded and consecrated churches for them, so that they might continue his work without interruption.

St. Benignus died in A.D. 468,[399] and hence we must assume that Jarlath was then at least twenty-five years of age, and was probably something more. The first church of St. Jarlath was founded at Cluainfois (Cloonfush), about two miles to the west of Tuam. There is still, as I myself can testify, a vivid tradition at Cluainfois of conferences held there between the three saints--Benen, Jarlath, and Caillin. The old round tower of Kilbannon can be distinctly seen from Cluainfois, a little to the north, and whether the conferences were held there or at Cluainfois, there could be no difficulty in the saints frequently meeting, and holding converse on those weighty questions in scripture and theology, which they loved to discuss together. The tradition is that they were generally held at Cluainfois, and the name itself implies as much--it is according to Colgan the 'Meadow of Retreat,' as we should say, or 'Locus commorationis,' as Colgan calls it. This is still more probable, if with some writers we place the death of Benen in A.D. 476, ten years later than the date assigned in the Annals of Ulster.[400]

The place still deserves its ancient name. It is indeed a Meadow of Retreat. The old churchyard which alone marks at present the site of the ancient College of Cluainfois, stands on the southern slope of a rich and wide grazing farm, now tenanted by sheep and heifers alone. The old causeway to the church can still be traced, though much overgrown with grass. A solitary ash-tree rises over the narrow homes of the dead; but there is no trace of the ancient church, except a portion of its foundations, now remaining. Like most of the sites of our ancient monasteries, the spot was admirably chosen on the southern slope of fertile swelling fields, overlooking a wide prospect to the south and west, with the Clare river quietly stealing through the low-lying meadows to the south, and showing here and there reaches of its waters gleaming in the sunlight. One thing at least our monks of old greatly loved, and that was water. They loved it in all its various forms--whether it was the great sea, or the quiet lake, or the murmuring stream--they never built a monastery except close to water in one way or another. This love for natural beauty seems to have disappeared in modern times. It must be said, however, that in old times the monks had sites of their own choice; but in our times we must be thankful if we can get any site at all to build upon. We venture to think, however, it would be almost better to wait, than to erect a noble building in some unsightly hole, or swampy flat, where noisome vapours too often infect the atmosphere, and the glorious vision of nature's beauties is as completely cut off as if the inmates dwelt in a jail.

Jarlath's College of Cluainfois soon became very celebrated, and attracted, especially towards the close of the fifth century, scholars from the most distant parts of Ireland. Two especially, as Colgan remarks, became even more eminent than their master. One was St. Brendan of Ardfert and Clonfert, the other was St. Colman of Cloyne.

We are told that Brendan, burning with a love of the Holy Scriptures, and ardently desiring to see with his own eyes the virtuous example of the sainted fathers of the young churches of Ireland, asked permission of his master St. Erc, and of his foster-mother St. Ita, to leave his native mountains in Kerry and travel through Ireland. First of all he came to St. Jarlath's School at Cluainfois, for he had heard much of the fame of that great and holy master. On his way it seems he met Colman, son of Senin, and induced him to give up his worldly life, and devote himself to the service of God. With this view the latter accompanied Brendan on his journey to Western Connaught. St. Jarlath received them kindly, and we are told that they remained with him a considerable time drinking in deep draughts at this fountain of sacred knowledge. But Brendan, though still very young, probably not more than twenty years of age, had already made great progress in virtue, and was highly favoured by God. In the spirit of prophecy which he possessed, he told St. Jarlath that Cluainfois was not destined by God to be the place of his resurrection. He was to move a little further eastward, and he was to remain at the place where the wheel of his car would break on the journey. "Remain there," said Brendan, "and build your oratory, for God wills that there shall be the place of your resurrection, and many shall arise in glory in the same place along with you." The holy old man obeyed this manifestation of the Divine will; the chariot wheel was broken at the place now called Tuam da guallan, and there the saint built his church on the site of the old Cathedral of Tuam, which has for so many centuries become the metropolitan Church of Connaught. At the same time St. Jarlath said to Brendan, "O holy youth, it is you should be master, and I the pupil--but go now with God's blessing elsewhere." And so Brendan with the blessing of God and St. Jarlath left Cluainfois, and shortly after, having returned to his native Kerry, was ordained a priest by his first master, the holy Bishop Erc, before he died. If this was St. Erc of Slaine, who died in A.D. 512, St. Brendan must have been at the School of Cluainfois some time between A.D. 504 and that date.

It is difficult to ascertain the exact date of St. Jarlath's death. As he was a disciple of St. Benignus he cannot have been born after A.D. 460. He seems to have been an aged man when Brendan was at Cluainfois--certainly not less than sixty years of age. He is ranked, however, amongst the saints of the Second Order; and hence it is assumed that he must have lived until A.D. 540, when he would be about ninety years of age. It is well known, however, that in those days these holy men, leading active and abstemious lives, frequently lived on in the enjoyment of all their faculties to a very great age--even beyond a hundred years. It is eating and drinking too much that shortens life, rather than eating and drinking too little. St. Jarlath especially was remarkable for the extreme asceticism of his life. Prayer and sacred study were his chief food; his diet was so meagre that he seemed to have no body. He was fond of meditation and watching and the scholiast in the Felire of Ængus tells us that he made three hundred genuflections by day and three hundred every night, so that his whole life was one continued prayer.

A Prophecy concerning his successors in the See of Tuam, written in Irish, has been attributed to St. Jarlath. Nothing is known of its existence at present; but it seems to have been extant when Colgan wrote. Its authenticity, however, is very doubtful; and it appears to belong to a class of documents composed many centuries later than the alleged time, but which, to lend them authority, are falsely attributed to the famous saints of the early Irish Church.

The relics of St. Jarlath were for a long time preserved in Tuam with great reverence. A special church, close to the Cathedral, was built for the scrinium, or shrine, containing the precious treasures, hence called Tempull na Scrin; but at present there is, we believe, no trace of the church, or of the shrine itself to be found anywhere. Both the Church of the Shrine and St. Jarlath's ancient Cathedral were built on the site of the present Protestant Cathedral of Tuam. The new and beautiful Catholic Cathedral occupies a fine site at some distance on the other side of the highway.

After the death of St. Jarlath we hear scarcely anything of Tuam for nearly five hundred years. For the first two hundred and fifty years no reference whatsoever is made to the City of St. Jarlath; but in A.D. 776 the Four Masters record the death of "Nuada O'Bolcan, abbot of Tuaim Daolann."[401] The true date is, however, A.D. 781; and it is strange that the Annals of Ulster record in the same year the death of Ferdomnach of Tuaim da Ghualann, without any epithet designating his office. No reference, however, is made to either as bishop.

In A.D. 969, Eoghan O'Cleirigh, 'Bishop of Connaught,' died. The reference here is probably to a prelate resident at Tuam, for in A.D. 1085 Aedh O'Hoisin, whose death is entered under that year, is described by the Four Masters as comarb of Jarlath, and High-bishop (ard-epscoip) of Tuam. This is the first distinct reference to a Bishop of Tuam since the decease of St. Jarlath.

From this period, however, the prelates of Tuam appear prominently in the history of the western province. Just at this time the O'Conor family reached a high degree of power, and retained it for three generations over the entire province. There was a long and bitter struggle between that family and the O'Brians of Kincora for the pre-eminence, which continued for nearly a hundred years. After the death of Turlough O'Brian, King of Ireland 'with opposition,' in A.D. 1085, the O'Conors gained the ascendency. Turlough Mor O'Conor was the most powerful prince in Ireland for fifty years, from A.D. 1106 to his death in A.D. 1156. He is described by the Four Masters as King of all Ireland, but 'with opposition.' They add that "Turlough Mor O'Conor was the flood of the glory and splendour of Ireland, the Augustus of the West of Europe, a man full of charity and mercy, hospitality and chivalry: and he died after the sixty-eighth year of his age, and was interred at Clonmacnoise, beside the altar of Ciaran, after having made his will, and distributed gold and silver, cows and horses, amongst the clergy and churches of Ireland in general." We shall see presently, when treating of Celtic art in Clonmacnoise and the West of Ireland, that if Turlough was not the Augustus of the West of Europe, he was certainly the Augustus of the West of Ireland. He was succeeded without opposition by his degenerate son, Rory O'Conor, the last monarch of Ireland.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

XXII. (continued)

CELTIC ART IN THE WESTERN MONASTERIES DURING THE REIGN OF TURLOUGH O'CONOR.

"He stepped a man out of the ways of men, And no one knew his sept, or rank, or name-- Like a strong stream issuing from a glen, From some source unexplored, the Master came." --M'Gee's 'Gobban Saer.'

We have said that Turlough Mor O'Conor was, if not the Augustus of Western Europe, certainly the Augustus of the West of Ireland. During his long reign of fifty years Celtic art reached its highest degree of perfection, at least in three great branches--architecture, sculpture, and metal work. He was inaugurated as king of the Siol Muireadhaigh in the year A.D. 1106; and he went to his rest, beside the altar of Ciaran in Clonmacnoise in A.D. 1156, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. With his own right hand he fought his way through more than fifty battles to the kingship of all Erin--an honour to which no prince of his line had ever before attained since the time of Niall the Great. He had a clear head, too, as well as a strong arm; and thoroughly appreciated the force of the royal maxim--divide et impera. Neither did he neglect, so far as he could, the arts of peace. He made many roads and causeways through woods and morasses that were hitherto impenetrable; he built bridges over the Shannon and Suck, and fortified them with strong castles. He caused money to be regularly coined at Clonmacnoise for the convenience of commercial transactions. He had a great fleet of boats on the Shannon for trading, as well as for warlike purposes. He founded a chair of divinity in the great School of Armagh, to which we have already referred. He erected a hospital at Tuam for the aged and infirm, and was most munificent in rebuilding and adorning the churches of his own hereditary dominions with all those beautiful monuments of Celtic art to which we now propose to direct special attention.

I.--THE O'DUFFYS.

Augustus always finds a Maecenas; and it was doubtless owing to the powerful patronage of Turlough that in all his cathedral cities members of a great and talented ecclesiastical family held the crozier, to whom quite as much as to himself we owe many of the most beautiful specimens of Celtic art still extant in Ireland. This was the family of the O'Duffys (Ua Dubhthaig), which flourished throughout the whole of the twelfth century, and gave bishops or abbots to Clonmacnoise, to Roscommon, to Tuam, to Clonfert, to Cong, to Mayo, and to Boyle. The O'Duffys originally belonged to the Province of Leinster, for they were sprung from the race of Cathair Mor, who divided that province amongst his twenty-four sons. But later on some members of the family settled both in Galway and Roscommon, and appear to have risen to a good position; although they are not mentioned by O'Dugan, who doubtless regarded them as more or less strangers in the West. They seem at this period to have been located in Roscommon, for the earliest reference we find to any member of the family is to Flanagan Ruadh O'Duffy, successor of St. Coman of Roscommon, and also it appears, a ferlegind, or professor, of the School of Tuam. His death is recorded in A.D. 1097. Domhnall O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1136, is called in the Annals of Loch Cé, Bishop of Elphin, and comarb or successor of Ciaran in Clonmacnoise. The Four Masters call him High-bishop of Connaught,[402] because he was doubtless the most distinguished prelate of his time, for as yet there was no metropolitan See of Tuam. Domhnall's death took place in the monastery of Clonfert 'after Mass and Celebration;' and he appears to have been much regretted, for he is described as the head of the wisdom and hospitality of the entire province. He was buried on St. Patrick's Day in Clonfert; the true year seems to be A.D. 1137 (Annals of Lough Cé).

Muireadhach O'Duffy, who, if not a brother of Domhnall, was doubtless a member of the same family, appears to have succeeded him as High-bishop of Connaught. Reference is made to this prelate by the Four Masters the very year of Domhnall's death, and he is distinguished from the comarb of Jarlath in Tuam. He is referred to again in A.D. 1143 as one of the sureties for Rory O'Conor; but in spite of his sureties that prince was seized and imprisoned by his own father Turlough. At his death in A.D. 1150 he is described by the Four Masters as "High-bishop of Connaught, and chief senior of all Ireland in wisdom, in chastity, in the bestowal of jewels and food." He died at Cong in the new abbey which he helped to found, on the sixteenth of May, that is the festival of Brendan, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. It will be observed that these two prelates flourished during the reign of Turlough O'Conor, and no doubt cordially co-operated with that prince in his projects for the diffusion of knowledge and the development of art.

Hugh O'Hessian (Aedh Ua h-Oissen) appears to have succeeded O'Duffy as High-bishop of Connaught in A.D. 1150. He seems to have lived at Tuam, and he is correctly described as Archbishop of Tuam; for in A.D. 1152 he was one of the prelates who received the Pall from Cardinal Paparo in the Synod of Kells. He died in A.D. 1161. Mention is made of a Bishop Flanagan O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1168; but no See is mentioned in connection with his name. He was, however, a most learned man, for he is described as "Bishop and chief Doctor of the Irish in literature, history, and poetry, and in every kind of science known to man in his time." He died 'in the bed of Bishop Muireadhach O'Duffy at Cong,' and was doubtless a near relative of that prelate. Catholicus O'Duffy is generally represented as succeeding to the See of Tuam after the death of O'Hessian in A.D. 1161. He ruled in Tuam for forty years; and was through good and ill the faithful friend and counsellor of the unhappy Rory O'Conor during all the years of his stormy and disastrous reign. He was present with five other Irish bishops at the General Council of Lateran in A.D. 1179. In A.D. 1198 he saw his discrowned monarch die in his old age amongst the canons of Cong 'after exemplary penance.' Doubtless he accompanied the king's body to Clonmacnoise, and saw it laid near the grave of his great father, Turlough, beside the altar of Ciaran. Then stricken by the weight of years and sorrows, the archbishop, too, retired to Cong, and three years later died amongst the same holy canons, victorious, like his unhappy master, 'over the world and the devil.'

The O'Duffys, therefore, were the real ministers and counsellors both of Turlough and Rory O'Conor throughout the twelfth century; and to them, as much as to those princes themselves, must be attributed the many works of art which were produced during that period. They had almost all the ecclesiastical power of the province in their own hands; for we find that besides those already mentioned, Maurice O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1174, was abbot of the great Cistercian monastery of Boyle, and another, Kele or Catholicus O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1209, was Bishop of Mayo of the Saxons. We find also that one of them held the See of Clonfert towards the close of the thirteenth century--William O'Duffy--whose death is marked under A.D. 1297. It will be seen, however, that this great family used their power for God's glory, and the good of the Church. Whatever they touched they adorned, as the existing monuments of their artistic taste and skill so conclusively prove.

II.--CELTIC ART AT CLONMACNOISE.

Clonmacnoise was founded by a saint, who was born and baptized at Fuerty, within three miles of the town of Roscommon. It is quite true, as we have already observed, that Clonmacnoise was more catholic in the selection of its abbots than any other great monastery in Ireland; and this was undoubtedly one of the causes which raised Clonmacnoise to its proud pre-eminence amongst the monastic schools of Erin. Still the City of Ciaran could not forget the rock from whence it was hewn; and, as our Annals tell, the men of Roscommon always occupied positions of commanding influence in Clonmacnoise. This connection will also help to explain why Domhnall O'Duffy, Bishop of Elphin, and Abbot of Roscommon, was also chosen to be comarb of Ciaran, at Clonmacnoise. This connection also gave countenance to the ambitious designs of Turlough O'Conor, who was resolved to annex the abbacy of Clonmacnoise, with all its rich termon lands, to his own hereditary dominions.[403] In the Synod of Rathbreasil, Cluain appears to be included in the diocese of Clonard,[404] and rightfully, as it was a portion of the ancient kingdom of Meath. But in the Synod of Kells (A.D. 1152), Cluain, or Clonmacnoise, is explicitly assigned as a suffragan See to Tuam. This was doubtless owing in great measure to the influence of Turlough O'Conor; and naturally enough the influence of the O'Duffys would favour the designs of the king. In A.D. 1152, however, it was O'Malone, and not an O'Duffy, who was Comarb of Ciaran; but the O'Malones themselves were a branch of the great O'Conor family, who had settled in Teffia[405] (County Longford).

Clonmacnoise, during the twelfth century especially, was the great school of Celtic Art. This statement will need no proof for anyone who even at this day wanders through the ruined City, and carefully observes its churches, its crosses, its round towers, and its sculptured tombstones. But we propose to put in more formal evidence, and to show that it was the artists of Clonmacnoise who executed many other of our choicest works, which at first sight appear to have no connection with the City of St. Ciaran.

ARCHITECTURE was certainly one of the fine arts taught in our monastic schools, and with very considerable success, as existing ruins, and especially our round towers, clearly prove. The architect, or ollamh-builder, was at the head of the profession, and had his remuneration fixed by law. Besides a kind of per-centage on the work which he superintended, he had a fixed annual salary rated at twenty-one cows, from the king-in-chief, in whose service he was engaged. But he was required to be a perfect master of his art in the widest sense of the word. He was not only required to build stone churches (damhliags) and oratories, whether of wood or stone, but also farm steadings, containing the usual five buildings, namely, dwelling-house, cow-house, calf-house, pig-sty, and sheep-fold. He was required to be a millwright, a boat-maker, a cooper, a cart-maker, and a road-maker. He should be skilful in yew carving and plough-making, and was even expected to weave wicker shields and build wicker houses. He was, in fact, a jack-of-all-trades, and must have well earned his salary of twenty-one cows in the year.

The most distinguished of this fraternity was the renowned Gobban Saer, or Gobban the builder, whose fame is still traditionally preserved in various parts of the country. He was, undoubtedly, a historical personage, and seems to have flourished during the first half of the sixth century. His father is said to have been Turvey (Tuirbhi), who gave his name to the strand of Turvey, on the northern coast of the County Dublin--Kilgobbin, in the same county, is said to derive its name from the renowned builder himself. At this early date the Gaels knew little of church building, and hence the services of the Gobban were in great request with the saints for building their churches and oratories. As he had no rivals he could make his own terms, and is said to have charged exorbitant prices, and, moreover, being feeble, took his own time at his work. He agreed to build a wooden oratory for St. Moling of Carlow, but he spent a whole year in idleness before he began, and when he had finished his task, at the instigation of his wife, he asked from the saint the full of the oratory of rye as his wages. The saint had agreed to give him his own demand, but not having nearly this quantity of rye, he was forced to appeal to his tribesmen to help him. "Bring me," he said, "whatever you have--corn, nuts, apples, even green rushes." They did so, and filled the oratory, which the Gobban turned upside down to receive the offerings without starting a plank. It was all changed into rye at the prayer of the saint, but next morning, when the Gobban came to take away the grain, he found that it had turned into maggots!

We also find this famous architect mentioned in the Life of St. Abban, for whom he built a church. It was, says this Life, his constant occupation to work for the saints wherever he was, but he charged them so dear that he lost his sight through the displeasure of the saints at the greatness of his charges. The Gobban was probably of foreign descent, and tried to make the Scots pay well for their buildings.

It is certain that Clonmacnoise reached a high degree of perfection in architecture, and the Nuns' Church, Relig na Cailleach, was certainly one of the most beautiful types of the Celtic Romanesque in Ireland. It was situated to the north-east of the monastic buildings, and was approached by a causeway that was built along the river, which frequently overflowed the surrounding meadows.

This church was erected at the expense of the celebrated Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan O'Rorke, King of North Connaught. It appears to have been completed in A.D. 1167, and probably occupied the site of an older church belonging to the nuns of Clonmacnoise, for, as we have seen, we find reference made to the garden of the abbess so early as A.D. 1026, when the causeway was constructed from her garden to the Three Crosses, near the great Church of Clonmacnoise. A.D. 1082, we are told that the "cemetery of the nuns of Clonmacnoise was burned with its stone church, and with the eastern third of the entire establishment." The cemetery here means the enclosure surrounded by the cashel, portions of which still remain; it contained not only the church, but also the cells in which the nuns dwelt, and the other buildings necessary for their accommodation. The causeway, too, can still be traced from the nunnery to the Carn of the Three Crosses, which was surmounted by a stone bearing the following Irish inscription:--

OROIT AR THURCAIN LASAN DERNAD IN CHROSSA.

(Pray for Turcan, by whom this Cross was made.)

The striking features of the Nuns' Church are the western door-way and the chancel arch. This door-way is the principal entrance to the nave, which is 36 ft. in length, and nearly 20 ft. in breadth; the walls are 3 ft. thick. The chancel, like that of Tuam, is nearly a square--14 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. in breadth; the walls are 3 ft. 3 in. thick, and built of hard limestone, hammer-dressed.

Lord Dunraven thus describes the door-way and chancel arch:--

"The door-way at the west end is 7 ft. in height, to the springing of the arch; 2 ft. 10 in. wide at the base, and 2 ft. 8-1/2 in. at the top of the jambs. It is deeply recessed, and of four orders; the two inner jambs are rectangular shafts, the outer are rounded into pillars, with shallow bases and imposts. The external shafts had a plain chamfered abacus, and the hood moulding, or outer arch, terminates with heads of the same character as those in the small church at Rahan. The jambs were richly ornamented with incised chevrons and other designs. The outer arch was enriched with pellets, the inner with chevron blocks, incised with bold lines; the third with heads with rolls in their mouths, or with beak-head, or cat's-head moulding, deeply undercut, and the front face enriched with incised traceries and chevrons, and pellets upon the soffit of the arch. The door-way had eel-heads terminating the zig-zags, but they are not so distinct as those on M'Carthy's Church close by, where they had been covered with accumulated earth until lately.

"The chancel arch, which was of sandstone, was 9 ft. 2 in. wide at the base, and 7 ft. 6 in. in height, to the top of the impost, making the arch about 12 ft. high. It was 15 ft. 6 in. wide from one outer pier to the other." The ornamentation, mainly consisting of zig-zag and chevron, with a pear-shaped ornament in the inner order, is very striking, and "the capitals and ornaments of the piers," says Lord Dunraven, "are totally unlike anything in England, and, if taken by themselves, would appear to be of much earlier character than the arch."

This church was built, as the Four Masters tell us, by Dervorgilla in A.D. 1167. The abduction or flight of that false fair lady took place in A.D. 1152, when MacMurrough caused her to be carried to his own castle of Ferns. But next year Turlough O'Connor led an army against MacMurrough, when Dervorgilla was given up, and restored by that prince to her own friends in Meath, and shortly afterwards was taken back again by her injured husband. It is highly probable that the erring dame built the Church of the Nuns at Clonmacnoise, the foundation of her own royal ancestors, as a penance for her sins; and it may be she found grace and pardon within that holy shrine. She survived her husband several years, and died at the advanced age of 85 in the monastery of Mellifont, to which she had presented many valuable offerings during her long and eventful career.

We have already referred to the sculptured crosses in the graveyard, which are some of the finest specimens of ancient art in this country. But besides these there were numerous other objects of the highest antiquarian interest, which were produced or preserved at Clonmacnoise, to which we shall presently refer.

Under the head of SCULPTURE we include sculptured gravestones, high crosses, and architectural ornamentation in relief. Clonmacnoise exhibits in its churchyard more sculptured stones, and in greater variety, than all the rest of Ireland together. The first volume of The Christian Inscriptions in the Irish Language, deals exclusively, and very fully, with those found at Clonmacnoise; but as we have already referred to this part of our subject, we shall pass on to give an account of the crosses and architectural ornaments in sculpture at Tuam and Cong, which belong to the artistic School of Clonmacnoise.

The first is the celebrated high Cross of Tuam, now standing in the market place. Of this Dr. Petrie remarks[406] that "it is of far greater magnificence and interest (than the Cross of Cashel); and may justly rank as the finest monument of its class and age remaining in Ireland." It is made of sandstone, and measures in its pedestal five feet three inches in breadth, and three feet eight inches in height; but including the shaft, which is ten feet long, the entire cross is thirteen feet eight inches high.

On the base, or pedestal, of this cross there are two highly interesting inscriptions in the Irish language, now partly defaced, but still decipherable. One is:--

OR DO U OSSIN; DON DABBAID LASAN DERNAD

"A prayer for O'Hossin (Hessian) for the abbot by whom it was made." On the opposite side is the following inscription:--

OR DO THOIRDELBUCH U CONCHUBUIR DON ... IARLATH LAS IN DERNAD INSAE....

That is--"A prayer for Torlough O'Conor; for the (comarb) of Jarlath by whom was made this...."

O'Hoisin, or O'Hessian, referred to in the first inscription, was, as we have said, the first regular Archbishop of Tuam. He succeeded Muireadhach O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1150, and received the pallium from Cardinal Paparo at the Synod of Kells in A.D. 1152. It is singular, however, that he is not described on the Cross as either bishop or archbishop, but simply as abbot in the one, and as comarb of Jarlath in the other. Hence Petrie conjectures that this Cross was sculptured before O'Hessian became archbishop, and whilst he was yet merely abbot of the monastery of Tuam. There is evidence that he was abbot so early as A.D. 1134, for, according to the Annals of Innisfallen, he was sent on an embassy in that year by King Turlough, to make peace between Connaught and Munster. Therefore Petrie thinks it probable that he became abbot in A.D. 1128, on the death of Muirges O'Nioc, who filled that office before him; and he held the abbacy during the entire period of O'Duffy's rule as High-bishop of Connaught. We have already seen that Muireadhach succeeded Domhnall O'Duffy in A.D. 1136 or 1137, and ruled over Elphin, Roscommon, Clonmacnoise, and probably Tuam also until A.D. 1150. It appears to be quite clear, therefore, that this beautiful Cross of Tuam was made whilst O'Duffy was High-bishop, and O'Hessian abbot of Tuam. The prayer for Turlough O'Conor seems to imply that the work was constructed at his expense. Petrie thinks that the Cross was erected to commemorate the re-building of the ancient cathedral of Tuam, which was also accomplished at the expense of King Turlough. A slab of sandstone was found within the present cathedral, near the Communion Table, which is supposed to have been designed to commemorate the re-building of the cathedral. It may, however, have been a portion of a second Cross, and, like the other, it contains two inscriptions--one asking a prayer for the Comarb of Jarlath, that is, "for Aed O'Hossin, by whom this Cross was made," and the other on the obverse of the slab asking a prayer for King Turlough O'Conor, and a prayer for Gillachrist O'Toole, by whom the work was wrought. There were no O'Tooles at this time in Connaught, although, later on, a branch of that tribe settled in Omey Island, on the coast of Connemara. Hence, we are inclined to think that this eminent artist came from Clonmacnoise, if he were not one of the itinerant craftsmen who at this period migrated from place to place, as they do still, for a job. One thing is clear--he was a native Celt, and a skilful workman in his craft, which was that of master sculptor or stone-cutter. The addition of his name shows that the memory of such an artist was deemed worthy of being preserved. And so, in truth, it was, if he executed both these crosses, and the beautiful chancel arch of the cathedral, which fortunately still survives the effect of time's effacing fingers. The Crucifixion is sculptured on one face of the shaft of the Tuam Cross. The figure of the Saviour is archaic, but very striking. The figure of a bishop is on the other, and what seems to be a funeral procession is on the reverse. There are two figures standing close together, above the inscription on the pedestal of this Cross. One holds in his left hand a pastoral staff--which, however, might designate that the holder was either a bishop or an abbot. Perhaps they are intended to represent Turlough O'Conor and the comarb of Jarlath, whose names were inscribed beneath.

There was a somewhat similar high Cross in the market place of Cong. The original pedestal is there still, with an inscription, recording the names of the artist and patron who caused the Cross to be sculptured. The ancient shaft has disappeared, but its place is supplied by a modern one inserted in the original plinth by a member of the Elwood family, in the year 1822. The inscription is in Irish, but the lettering is of a later type, rather resembling the black letter than that of the Cross of Tuam. It asks "a prayer for Nichol, and for Gilliberd O'Duffy, who was abbot of Cong." So far as we know there is no mention in our Annals either of Nichol, the artist, or of Gilliberd O'Duffy, the abbot, but it is highly probable that the latter was a member of the same illustrious family that produced so many distinguished ecclesiastics during the twelfth and the early part of the thirteenth century.

Of Cong itself we know nothing from the time of St. Fechin to the year A.D. 1114, when we are told that, like many other religious houses, it was burned in that year. It was then probably rebuilt, for mention is made of the death of Gillaciarain O'Roda, or O'Roddy, erenach of Cunga, in that year. It was he who erected with the help of Turlough O'Conor and the O'Duffys, that noble monastery of Cong, whose ruins, so picturesquely situated at the head of Lough Corrib, lend one of its many features of beauty to that enchanting scene.

There are still to be seen some very interesting architectural remains of the buildings erected during the reign of Turlough in the west of Connaught. Turlough's reign was red with the blood of many battles, and not altogether free from deeds of revolting cruelty, yet he seems to have been a prince of lofty aims and generous aspirations. He built a bridge over the Shannon at Athlone, apparently for the first time, and another over the same river at a place called Ath Crioch, near Shannon Harbour. He also built a bridge over the river Suck at Ballinasloe; it was then called the Bridge of Dunloe, and was opposite Dunloe Street, in the modern town of Ballinasloe.

But he also did much for ecclesiastical architecture. Cormac M'Carthy had just built a very beautiful church on the Rock of Cashel, which still bears his name; and it seems that Turlough even in this did not wish to be excelled by his rival and hereditary foe, the Prince of Munster. His first work was probably the re-building of the Cathedral of Tuam, where he had fixed his principal residence. Only a portion of the chancel and chancel arch of that beautiful church now remains; but it is quite enough to give us an idea of what the Irish Romanesque would ultimately become in capable hands. "This chancel," says Petrie,[407] "is sufficient to make us acquainted with its general style of architecture, and to show that it was not only a larger, but a more splendid structure than Cormac's Chapel at Cashel, and not unworthy of the powerful monarch to whom it chiefly owed its erection. The chancel is a square of twenty-six feet in external measurement, and the walls are four feet in thickness. Its east end is perforated by three circular headed windows, each five feet in height, and eighteen inches in width externally, but splaying on the inside to the width of five feet." These windows are richly ornamented with zig-zag and other mouldings, and are connected together by strong course-mouldings, of which the external one is quaintly enriched with pateral, or cup-shaped disks.

The most striking feature, however, of this chancel was the arch opening on the nave, "which is perhaps the most magnificent specimen of its kind remaining in Ireland." It is composed of no less than six semicircular, concentric, recessed arches of which the innermost is sixteen feet wide and fifteen feet high. The rectangular capitals are richly sculptured in a variety of interlaced traceries, and those surmounting the two jambs are adorned with curious grotesque heads with broad flat faces. The imposts too are richly sculptured in scrolls and other striking designs, and are carried along the face of the wall as tablets. The bases consist of a double plinth and torus moulding, but are otherwise unornamented as befits the solid and majestic character of the building. The arch mouldings display many varieties of ornament--the nebule, diamond, frette, and chevron--and show how the Celtic imagination loved to revel in a great variety of ornamental forms. All the ornamental parts of this peerless chancel arch are executed in red sandstone, which has withstood wonderfully well the wear and tear of time and moisture in that damp atmosphere.

Where did Turlough get the workmen whose teeming brains devised, and whose cunning hands executed this beautiful arch? It has been said that the workmen who built the grand Cistercian monasteries during the latter part of this twelfth century were imported from France and England. Well, be it so. But no one can deny that it was Celtic artists who built and adorned Cormac's Chapel and Tuam Cathedral; and there has been nothing finer executed in any Cistercian monastery in Ireland or England either. These great monasteries were larger and grander if you will, but certainly not more artistic nor more beautiful.

The ruins of the abbey of Cong are still to be seen and speak for themselves. The 'neck' of land on which it was built between the two lakes, Lough Mask and Lough Corrib, gave its name to the abbey. It was rebuilt by the Augustinians under the patronage of Turlough O'Conor, in all probability between the years A.D. 1120 and 1130. The Cistercians about the same period, A.D. 1128, were introduced into England, but had not yet come to Ireland; so that Cong is the connecting link between the indigenous monasteries of the past that grew up with the growth of the Irish Church, and the houses of the foreign orders introduced during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Imar of Armagh formally adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, about the year A.D. 1126, and hence these ancient Irish monasteries came to be called Augustinian houses; but as a matter of fact they were in all respects as purely Celtic and as racy of the soil as the Irish race and the Irish tongue. The Cistercians who came to Mellifont about the year A.D. 1142, were really the first 'foreign' order that came to Ireland, and were followed about a century later by the Dominicans and Franciscans. The abbey of Cong was not designed, or executed, or tenanted by any foreigners. It was a purely Celtic house. It was designed most probably by some member of that talented family--the O'Duffys--that afterwards ruled over it for many generations. It was built and adorned under their superintendence by native workmen; and Turlough O'Conor and his unhappy son Roderick, both of whom, especially the latter, loved Cong much, seem to have contributed the greater part of the expense necessary for its erection.

It was built on a scale of great magnificence. The abbey church was 140 feet in length. The east window consisted of three long narrow lights, not lancet-headed, but semicircular, for the Romanesque had no lancets, and where they appear in the Romanesque they are always later insertions.

It has been alleged that the pointed door-arches of Cong show a departure from the Irish Romanesque and indicate foreign origin and a later date than the first quarter of the twelfth century. Even supposing that these arches are coeval with the monastery, a glance at Sir W. Wilde's illustration will show that they are not lancet-headed like the pure Gothic, but rather indicate the first step of the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic, which was just beginning at this time to take place in Ireland. The most characteristic features of the existing group of ruins are to be found in the western façade, which appears to have opened on the cloister of the abbey. "It is 80 feet in length and contains a doorway, and two windows with circular arches; also two large and most elaborately ornamented lancet-headed doors, with undercut chevrons along the deep mouldings of the arches, that spring from clustered pillars, the floral capitals of which--all of different patterns--present us with one of the finest specimens of twelfth century stone-work in Ireland."[408]

With this beautiful abbey are associated many interesting historic memories. It was to this lonely but sweet retreat that Ireland's last High-king retired to die. He had drawn a sword that could not save his country and his race from the hated dominion of the stranger; he had seen his own children rise up in rebellion against him, and engage in the very face of their country's enemies in fratricidal strife; he had seen his best-beloved son, O'Conor of Moenmoy, whose bold heart and strong arm were his country's only hope, slain by "a party of his own people, and of his own tribe;" and now there was nothing left for him but to end an inglorious life by a pious and penitential death. He retired to Cong in A.D. 1183. After the death of his eldest and bravest son, he sought once more to regain his authority in Connaught. But he soon found that

"Authority forgets a dying king, Laid widow'd of the power in his eye That bow'd the will."

He returned once more to his monastic retreat, and there in the year A.D. 1198, "he died amongst the Canons of Cong, after exemplary penance, victorious over the world and the devil. His body was conveyed to Clonmacnoise, and interred at the north side of the altar of the great church."

In METAL-WORK the O'Duffys of Tuam and Cong have left us, at least, one memorial that will never perish. The Processional Cross of Cong, the Chalice of Ardagh, and the Tara Brooch, are regarded by all competent judges as the highest effort, each in its own way, of the Celtic art in metal-work. No one knows anything of the Tara Brooch except that it was found in the year 1850 on the sea shore near Drogheda. Neither does the Ardagh Chalice bear the name of the king or workman by whom it was made, nor ask a prayer for his soul's welfare. We can, however, with tolerable certainty, trace its history; and we shall find that it is a product of the same school of art which produced the remarkable Cross of Cong, to which we now invite the reader's attention.

It appears that this beautiful Cross of Cong was made originally for the Church of Tuam. It is very probable that some western prelate was present at the first General Council of Lateran, held in A.D. 1123, and that he brought home with him a relic of the true Cross, which, as we are informed in the Annals of Innisfallen, was enshrined in that year by Turlough O'Conor. "A portion of the true Cross came into Ireland and was enshrined at Roscommon by Turlough O'Conor." The following inscriptions are found on the Cross itself, and corroborate the statement in the Annals of Innisfallen:--

+ HAC CRUCE TEGITUR QUA PASUS CONDITOR ORBIS. OR DO MUREDUCH U DUBTHAIG DO SENIOR EREND. OR DO THERRDEL U CHONCHŌ DO RIG EREND LAS AN DERNAD IN GRESSA.

OR DO DOMNULL McFLANNACAN U DUBD EPSKUP CONNACHT DO CHOMARBA CHOMMAN ACUS CHIARAN ICAN ERRNAD IN GRESSA.

OR DO MAELISU McBRATDAN UECHAN DO RIGNI IN GRESSA.

We gather from these inscriptions that the Cross was made to enshrine a particle of the true Cross, on which the Creator of the world suffered. Muireadhach O'Duffy, to whom we have already referred, is here described as senior of Erin, and one of those who co-operated in this work. He has been described by the Four Masters as "chief senior of Ireland in wisdom and chastity, and the bestowal of jewels and food." He was afterwards promoted to the position of High-bishop of Connaught, but at this period we cannot say what office he held, if he were not abbot of the monastery and head of the School of Tuam. Of King Turlough, "for whom this shrine was made," we have already spoken. Domhnall MacFlanagan O'Duffy, "under whose superintendence this shrine was made" at Roscommon, is described as successor of Coman and Ciaran, and Bishop of Connaught. We know from the Annals of Lough Cé that he was then Bishop of Elphin. Perhaps he was afterwards translated to Tuam, and then took the title of Bishop of Connaught. It is highly probable, too, that he brought this shrine along with him from Elphin to Tuam. Of this translation, however, there is no record. Lastly, a prayer is asked for Maelisu Mac Bratdan O'Echan (or Egan), the artist who made this shrine. He was comarb of St. Finnen of Clooncraff, County Roscommon.

It will hardly be contended that O'Echan was anything but a pure Roscommon Celt. The Mac Egans were from time immemorial Brehons in various parts of Connaught, and afterwards in Ormond, in the County Tipperary. It is not unlikely that the artist who made the "Cross of Cong" was a member of this most distinguished literary family.

The shaft of the cross is 2 ft. 6 in. high; the breadth across the arms is 1 ft. 6-3/4 in. It was made of oak, covered with eight copper plates, and one plate of brass, all adorned with a richly interwoven tracery. "On the central plate on the face, at the junction of the arms, is a boss surmounted by a convex crystal. Thirteen jewels remain of the eighteen which were disposed at regular intervals along the edges, and on the face of the shaft and arms, the spaces are visible for nine others, which were placed at intervals down the centre. Two beads remain of four settings which surrounded the central boss. The shaft terminates below in the grotesque head of an animal, beneath which it is attached to a spherically ornamented ball, surmounting the socket, in which was inserted the pole or shaft for carrying the cross."[409]

Such is the description given by Miss Stokes of the Cross of Cong. But no description can convey an adequate idea of the rare beauty of this peerless cross. It must be seen to be appreciated. It has been conjectured that it was taken from Tuam to Cong either by Archbishop Muireadhach O'Duffy, who died in Cong A.D. 1150, as we have already seen, or, perhaps, by King Roderick O'Conor, who also ended his chequered life in the same holy retreat, nearly forty years later. It was found by Father Prendergast, P.P., the last Abbot of Cong, in an old oaken chest in Cong, and was purchased from his successor by Professor M'Cullagh, who presented it to the Royal Irish Academy in 1839.

The Chalice of Ardagh, which has been pronounced to be "the most beautiful example of Celtic art ever yet found," also appears to have been a product of the School of Clonmacnoise[410] during the abbacy of the O'Duffys.

It is a two-handed chalice, probably used for the Communion of the laity at a time when the Eucharist was still administered under both species of bread and wine. It is seven inches high, and nine one-half inches in diameter across the mouth; the bowl is four inches deep, and was capable of containing about three pints. The cup is composed of gold, silver, brass, bronze, copper, and lead. The upper rim is of brass, much decayed and split from some local action on that particular alloy; but the bowl itself is of silver, the standard value of which is four shillings per ounce. There is a beautiful band running round the bowl, which contains the names of the Twelve Apostles engraved in uncial letters of the eleventh century. No description can convey an adequate idea of the exquisite beauty of this chalice. It comprised no less than 354 different pieces, put together with the nicest ingenuity, and exhibiting almost every variety of Celtic ornamentation. Yet the leading impression produced by the view of this beautiful cup is chaste and classic elegance of design, combined with admirable beauty of form, and delicacy of execution.

The history of this wonderful chalice, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, is very curious, and points to Roscommon or Clonmacnoise as the place where it was wrought.

We are informed in the Chronicon Scotorum that "Turlough O'Conor presented three precious things to Ciaran at Cluain, viz., a drinking horn inlaid with gold, a silver cup with gold, and a patena of copper with gold and silver." This cup, with its mullocc or patena, was, of course, a chalice; and it was kept for use on the high altar of Clonmacnoise until A.D. 1125; "when the altar of the great stone church of Clonmacnoise was opened, and precious things were taken out of it, that is--the carrachan, or model of Solomon's Temple--it was probably a tabernacle--which was given by Maelsechlainn, son of Domhnall, and the cuidin of Donnchadh, son of Flann, and the three articles which Turlough O'Conor gave, that is--a silver goblet and a silver cup, with a golden cross over it, and a drinking horn with gold--and the drinking horn of Ua Riata, King of Aradh, and a silver chalice with a burnishing of gold, and an engraving and the silver cup of Ceallach, Comarb of Patrick."

But shortly after all these precious articles were 'revealed against the Foreigners of Luimnech,' after having been stolen by Gillacomghain; and he was hanged for stealing them, at Dun Cluana Ithair, having been given up for that purpose by Conor O'Brian, King of Munster. The thief thought to make his escape from Cork, Lismore, and Waterford; but Ciaran always stopped the vessel in which he embarked to cross the sea, so that she could get no wind to fill her sails; and the wretch made a dying declaration at the gallows that he had seen Ciaran with his crozier stopping every ship in which he attempted to escape.

Now it is a curious fact that the Chalice of Ardagh was dug up from the edge of a rath called Reerasta, close to the village of Ardagh, in the County Limerick, and other smaller golden cups, with five fibulae, were found on the same occasion. Were they secreted there by Gillacomghain, or some of his accomplices, the Danes of Limerick, for we are not told that the family of Clonmacnoise recovered all the plunder? There is a local tradition that Reerasta was occupied by the Danes of Luimnech; and also that in later times Mass was often celebrated there. It may be then, if not secreted by the Danes, that the chalice was given by the family of Cluain to some of the clergy in the neighbourhood when the thieves were discovered, and that they used it for celebrating Mass in this place during the times of persecution, and secreted the chalice on some occasion when forced to fly for their lives.

It is highly probable, therefore, that this beautiful cup was stolen from Clonmacnoise, was secreted at Reerasta, and was accidentally found, as already described, by a young man, who was digging a portion of the old fort which had been levelled for the purpose of tillage.[411] The artist who made the Cross of Cong for King Turlough, was equally well qualified to make the Ardagh chalice. He was, as we have seen, a native of the County Roscommon, he wrought the Cross for King Turlough O'Conor, under the superintendence of Domhnall Mac Flanagan O'Duffy, Bishop of Connaught or Elphin, and Abbot of Roscommon and Clonmacnoise. It is clear that the chalice was made before Mac Egan made the Cross of Cong, yet in all probability it would be difficult to find in all Ireland a second artist who would be capable of executing metal-work with such marvellous fertility of design and delicacy of execution. We think that, on the whole, the evidence justifies us in concluding that it was owing to the munificence of Turlough O'Conor, and the intelligent patronage of the O'Duffys, that this great Western School of Art was created and fostered, which has left so many memorials of its artistic genius at Clonmacnoise Tuam, Boyle, and Cong.

Another most interesting piece of metal-work is the shrine of St. Manchan of Lemanaghan, which seems to have been also a product of the Clonmacnoise School of Art. St. Manchan himself died of the plague in A.D. 664, most likely at his own cell in Lemanaghan which takes its name from the saint--"the grey land of Manchan." Not inappropriately either, for it was built on a gravelly ridge surrounded by a waste of brown bog, so that the contrast between the colouring of the ridge and the bog is very striking. It is situated about three miles north-east of Ferbane, in the King's County, on the right of the road to Clara. The remains of Manchan's cell are still to be seen, and three blessed wells are also close at hand.

In O'Reilly's Irish Writers, Manchan is set down as the author of a Latin Treatise, De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae, which has been printed amongst the works of St. Augustine. But Dr. Reeves has shown[412] that this treatise on the Wonders of Holy Scripture must rather be assigned to an Irish monk of the seventh century named Augustine, of whom hardly anything else is known.

St. Manchan is much better known to moderns on account of the famous shrine or reliquary, which appears to contain some fragments of the bones of the saint, and is, undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful productions of Celtic art, as it has always been considered--opus pulcherrimum quod fecit opifex in Hibernia.[413] The Four Masters bear emphatic testimony to the same effect. A.D. 1166.--"The shrine of Manchan of Maothail (Mohill) was covered by Rory O'Conor, and an embroidering of gold was carried over it by him, in as good a style as a relic was ever covered in Ireland." St. Manchan had another oratory at Mohill, County Leitrim.

This shrine is at present preserved in the Catholic Church of Boher, near the Prospect Railway Station, on the Athlone and Portarlington line; and a fac-simile may be seen in the Royal Irish Academy. We need not describe it at length here. It is in the usual form of such Celtic shrines, somewhat like the roof of a house--24 inches long, 15 broad, and 19 inches high. On each side there is a large and beautiful cross composed of five bosses, at the extremities elaborately ornamented, and united by the arms of the cross which were covered with plates of enamel, fixed in a yellow ground with red border lines. Above and below the crosses there must have been originally as many as fifty human figures, but at present only ten remain. The metal work throughout was richly gilt, and ornamented with the usual interlaced figures, characteristic of our Celtic ornamentation.

When the shrine was opened it was found to contain a few small fragments of bones, and some pieces of the original box of yew in which they were enclosed, with a few of the silver plates which adorned the original reliquary. As Lemanaghan was originally given to Clonmacnoise as an "Altar-sod," about the year A.D. 645, there can hardly be any doubt that St. Manchan was sent from Clonmacnoise to occupy it, and that it always continued to be a daughter of Clonmacnoise. Hence we are justified in concluding that Rory O'Conor had this beautiful work of art executed by some of the cerds of that famous monastery.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

XXIII. IRISH SCHOLARS ABROAD

"O, pilgrim, if you bring me from some far-off land a sign, Let it be some token still of the green Old Land once mine; A shell from the shores of Ireland would be dearer far to me, Than all the wines of the Rhine-land, or the art of Italie." --M'Gee.

We do not, by any means, propose at present to give an account of the Irish Saints and Scholars, who founded so many monasteries and schools in foreign countries, from the seventh to the eleventh century. The subject is too wide and too important to be discussed in this volume. It will be necessary, however, to give a brief account of a few of those celebrated men, in order to show the character of the scientific and theological training which they received in the Schools of their native land.

I.--ST. VIRGILIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF SALZBURG.

St. Virgilius, Archbishop of Salzburg, is one of the most celebrated of those learned men, whom our Irish schools sent forth in swarms during the eighth and ninth centuries. And he was not merely a learned prelate, and a successful champion of orthodox doctrine; he was also a great astronomer, far in advance of his own age, for he taught the sphericity of the earth, and the existence of antipodes, long before Copernicus or his system was known to the scholars of Europe.

The exact place and date of his birth cannot be ascertained, but that he was an Irishman may not for a moment be questioned. In the first place we have the express testimony of the celebrated Alcuin, an almost contemporary writer, who declares that Virgilius was born, reared, and educated in Ireland.[414] Then the author of the poetical epitaph over Virgilius, in his own church of Salzburg, bears the same testimony,[415] affirming that it was the 'Hibernian land' that sent him, under God's guidance, to Salzburg. His Life, too, written about the year A.D. 1190, by a disciple of Ebenhard, Archbishop of Salzburg, expressly affirms the Irish birth of Virgilius; and such, we may add, has been the unvarying tradition of the church and city of Salzburg.

In our domestic Annals we have first the testimony of the Four Masters, who, A.D. 784, record that "Ferghil, i.e., the Geometer, abbot of Achadh-bo, died in Germany in the thirteenth year of his bishopric;" and as we shall presently see, this was the date of the death of Virgil, the Archbishop of Salzburg, and thirteen years was the duration of his episcopacy. In the Annals of Ulster, under date of A.D. 788, we find that:--"Fergil, abbot of Achadh-bo, died"--the year corresponds to A.D. 784 of the Four Masters, and that appears to be the true date.

There can be no reasonable doubt, therefore, that Virgilius of the Latin is equivalent to Fergil of the Irish, as the root-words sufficiently imply; and that Ferghil the Geometer, who died in Germany as a bishop, having been previously abbot of Aghaboe, is the celebrated Virgilius, Archbishop of Salzburg, so widely known to fame as an astronomer and theologian.

Virgil, with a few companions from Ireland, one of whom was a priest--Sidonius or Sedna--arrived in France about the year A.D. 741--the year in which Charles Martel died, and was succeeded in his office of mayor of the palace by the famous Pepin le Bref, father of the still more renowned Charlemagne. Virgil spent some two or three years in the Court of Pepin, who sent him, about A.D. 743, with strong letters of recommendation to the Court of Ottilo, Duke of Bavaria. At this period Bavaria had been partially converted to the faith, by the zealous labours of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, afterwards Archbishop of Mentz and Legate of the Apostolic See. Much, however, still remained to be done; and it was the wish of Pepin that Duke Ottilo should avail himself of the services of the two Irish priests, of whose zeal and learning he had ample proofs in the conversion of his own half-Christian subjects. The duke received the friends of Pepin with much consideration; for he seems to have kept them near himself, and entrusted them with his confidence, as we may fairly infer from subsequent events.

The zeal of the Irishmen, however, soon got them into trouble; but what was a source of trouble to them has since proved a useful lesson to all theologians of the Church.

Many of the priests of the period in Germany were by no means learned; so it happened that one of them when baptizing a catechumen made use of this form:--"Ego te baptizo in nomine Patria et Filia et Spiritua Sancta"--which even a boy learning the Latin Grammar can perceive is very different from the orthodox form. The case was referred to Boniface, who declared that the baptism was invalid, and ordered those so baptized to be baptized again. Virgil and his friend, Sidonius, afterwards Archbishop of Bavaria, knew how jealous the Church has always been about re-baptizing those once validly baptized; and they declared that in their opinion the baptism in question was valid. Boniface, however, persisted in his opinion. He was, as he himself says, an Englishman from Saxonia transmarina--and though it is highly probable that he was of Irish origin, he did not wish to accept the teaching of the Irish theologians on this occasion. So the matter was referred to Rome; and it so happened that Pope Zachary, a Calabrian Greek, and a man, too, of great learning and holiness, then filled the Chair of St. Peter. His decision, sent by letter to Boniface, declares distinctly that if the minister of the sacrament, through ignorance of Latin, and not from any heretical purpose of introducing a new form, pronounced the words as given above, the baptism must be held to be valid.[416]

This clear and emphatic expression of Catholic doctrine, as every theological student knows, we owe to Virgil and Sidonius. They rightly deemed that this error in the form was not substantial but accidental; it was not introduced from malice, with a view to pervert the form of the sacrament, but from ignorance; the priest evidently had the intention of doing what the Church does; he corrupted the integrity of the form, but it remained perfectly intelligible to any bystander acquainted with the Latin language, and hence the baptism itself was valid.

Boniface yielded prompt obedience to the Apostolic See, but, although a saint and martyr, he felt sore at the victory gained over him by the Irish strangers,[417] who intruded into his spiritual domain, and seemed to supplant him in favour with the Duke Otillo. And, no doubt, there were not wanting interested parties who strove to foment dissensions between these two saints and servants of God. No one, indeed, who knows the history of Boniface, will endorse the spiteful remark of Basnage that he was--"Vir si quis unquam superbus sive zelotes." But he was human like others, and his own letters clearly showed that he felt keenly the victory of Virgil. He waited, however, for a while, and then sent a friend of his, Buchardus of Wirzburg, to Rome with letters for the Pope, in which he brought four serious charges against Virgil. He accused him, as we know from the Pope's answer, first, that this Virgil was making malicious accusations against him, Boniface, because he had been convicted by Boniface of teaching erroneous doctrine;[418] secondly, Boniface charged him with whispering false things to the Duke, with a view of sowing dissension between him, Boniface, and the Duke;[419] thirdly, he accused Virgil of giving out that he was dismissed by the Pope from Rome,[420] in order to get one of the four bishoprics of Bavaria just then vacant. Lastly, he brings against him the most formidable charge of all, that Virgil taught that there was another world, and other men under the earth, and another sun and moon.[421] And, in the same letter, Boniface complains that a certain Samson, an Irishman--"genere Scottus"--erred from the way of truth, teaching that a man could become a Christian merely by the imposition of hands, without baptism. Clearly Boniface was hard on the Irishmen then in Bavaria; and the whole tone of the letter shows that he had not forgotten his previous contest with Virgil and Sidonius.

The Pope in his answer deals with these charges with the greatest prudence. He had very great respect for Boniface, but it is clear he is not prepared to accept all his statements without proof. He makes no special remark on the two first charges, for they could be easily explained. But, as to the third, he declares that the alleged statement of Virgil is false, that he was not (absolutus) dismissed, or sent home by the Pope in order to get a bishopric in Bavaria. Indeed, as to this charge, there is no evidence that Virgil was ever in Rome at all; but it is highly probable that both Pepin and Ottilo were anxious for his advancement to a See in Bavaria, and that their zeal was attributed to the time-serving ambition of Virgil himself. The charge is entirely inconsistent with his character; and it is hardly necessary to observe that it is no proof of its truth that it was made in these letters sent to Rome by Boniface. Too many unfounded charges of the kind have been made in Rome both since and before.

As regards the fourth charge, that of teaching that there was another world, and other men, and another sun and moon, it deserves fuller notice at our hands.

It is clear that Virgil held the doctrine of the Antipodes, and that Boniface, not unwilling to find him erring in doctrine, formulated his teaching as above. The words of the Pope thereupon are noteworthy.[422] "Concerning this charge of false doctrine, if it shall be established," says the Pope, "that Virgil taught this perverse and wicked doctrine against God and his own soul, do you then convoke a council, degrade him from the priesthood, and drive him from the Church." But what is this doctrine as represented to the Pope? Certainly not that taught by Virgil, and which he learned in the schools of his native land. The doctrine censured by the Pope, was that there is another world, and another race of men quite different from us, not children of Adam, and hence not redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. This was the sense in which the Pope understood the doctrine of the Antipodes, this was the sense in which it was understood by St. Augustine, and for that reason reprobated by him as well as by the Pope. And the very words, in which the accusation against Virgilius is formulated, clearly point to this "perverse and wicked" teaching. The truth of the matter was, that neither Boniface nor the Pope knew astronomy as well as Virgil, and hence they imagined he taught doctrines which were quite different from his real opinions.

It is well to observe that great diversity of opinion prevailed concerning the existence of Antipodes, both amongst the ancient philosophers and the Fathers of the Church.

Plato is said to have been the first who held the existence of Antipodes, and used the word in its present signification. But there is no evidence that he himself believed in their actual existence, even though he invented the term which so accurately describes them.

Lactantius, however, in his treatise "De falsa Sapientia Philosophorum," ridicules the notion of Antipodes, and, as he clearly regards it as a philosophical error, we may fairly conclude that some of the ancient philosophers taught their existence.

It would be easy enough to show how unpalatable the doctrine of the Antipodes was to the ecclesiastical authorities of the eighth century; and in what sense the Pope must have understood the alleged teaching of St. Virgilius. What the Pope declared to be perverse and wicked doctrine--not heretical--was that there is another world, and another race of men--alii homines--and therefore not Sons of Adam, and another sun and moon to shine upon them. But this certainly was not the teaching of Virgilius, for according to him it was the same world, and the same sun and moon, and the same race of men who dwelt in the opposite regions of the world.

Virgil must have, in his own defence, explained the real meaning of his words to the satisfaction of the Pope, for we find no further mention of the controversy; and we know, too, that in a short time afterwards he was promoted to the See of Salzburg, which would certainly not be sanctioned in Rome if they had any suspicion of his doctrine.

Pagi, indeed, holds that there must have been two different Virgils, one who had the dispute with St. Boniface, and another who was Bishop of Salzburg; and yet he admits that both were in Bavaria in A.D. 746. This hypothesis is intrinsically improbable, and altogether unsupported by evidence. Indeed, the only reason given by Pagi is the silence of the writer of Virgil's Life, published by Canisius, regarding the disputes with Boniface. But the answer is quite simple: the writer of the Life gives very few facts, although he narrates many miracles; and hence from his silence we can infer nothing against the generally received opinion.

Pagi also alleges that Virgil was the fifth Bishop of Salzburg. Here, again, however, he is mistaken, at least if we are to credit the author of the second Life given by Canisius, who makes him the eighth bishop after St. Rudbert. Other writers, however, make him fifth after the founder of the See, following the anonymous author of an old poem on the Bishops of Salzburg, who describes them as:--

"Advena Virgilius statuens quam plurima quintus, Multo plura quaerens Arno super omnia sextus."

It is almost impossible to fix the exact year in which Virgilius became Bishop of Salzburg. The metrical epitaph on his tomb declares that for nearly forty years he ruled the church of Salzburg; and as the latest year assigned for his death is A.D. 785, this would bring the beginning of his episcopacy before A.D. 750. Another account represents him as consecrated by St. Stephen, successor of Zachary; and as the former did not begin his reign until A.D. 752, we must place the beginning of Virgil's episcopacy after that event. As he spent some years abbot of St. Peter's Monastery in Salzburg before he became bishop, the date given in his Life, written by the disciple of St. Ebenhard, towards the end of the twelfth century, is much more probable--that he was consecrated bishop in succession to John in A.D. 766 or 767. The same writer tells us that for two years after his nomination to the See, he continued to refuse the appointment; and that during this time the duties of the episcopal office were performed by a bishop called Dowd, Dobda, a countryman of the saint, who seems to have come with him from Ireland. At last he was prevailed upon to allow himself to be consecrated, but he yielded only to the earnest entreaties of all the neighbouring prelates.

His life was spent in unceasing labour, not only for his own flock, but for the conversion of the neighbouring provinces, especially Carinthia, which was still pagan. He not only sent missionaries to preach the Gospel amongst these half-civilized people, but towards the close of his life he himself paid frequent visits to the newly-established churches, and did much to confirm them in the faith. Hence Virgilius is venerated to this day as the Apostle of Carinthia.

He rebuilt the monastery of St. Peter in a style of great magnificence, for he always loved the good monks of St. Benedict, who had chosen the Irish stranger to be their abbot and father; and when he died, he left his bones amongst them. He also built a stately church in honour of St. Stephen, and a splendid basilica dedicated to St. Rudbert, which he made the cathedral of the diocese, and to which he translated the relics of that saint, the founder and first bishop of the church of Salzburg.[423] When he had these great works completed, he set out on a missionary journey amongst the neighbouring tribes; but finding his end approaching, "he quickly returned," says the writer of his life:--

"And when he came in view of his beloved Salzburg, and its encircling hills, he began to weep copious tears, and he cried out--Haec requies mea, hic habitabo quoniam elegi eam--and having celebrated the Holy Sacrifice, he died without pain--leni correptus morbo--on the fifth day before the Kalends of December, A.D. 784; or according to another, but less probable account, in A.D. 780. His body was buried in the southern wing of the monastery which he himself had spent twelve years in building. There he was honourably buried as became a great High Priest, and his soul went up to enjoy the fellowship of heavenly citizens for endless ages."

We hear no more of St. Virgil for four hundred years, until near the end of the twelfth century, when his Life was written by one who was himself a witness of many of the facts which he relates. "In the year of our Lord's Incarnation, A.D. 1171," he says in the opening paragraph:--

"On the fourteenth day before the Kalends of March, in the twenty-first year of the Pontificate of our Lord Pope Alexander III., the most Serene Prince Frederic being august Emperor of the Romans, and Otto of Witelenspach, most renowned Duke of Bavaria; when the edifice of the aforesaid monastery of St. Peter, which had some years before been destroyed by fire, was being rebuilt at the expense and by the command of the illustrious Pastor Chunrad, Archbishop of Salzburg, Legate of the Apostolic See in Germany, and Cardinal Priest of St. Marcellus, through the co-operating grace of the Holy Spirit, and the suffragant clemency of the Divine Majesty, it came to pass that the body of the blessed Virgilius, which had been hidden from all persons for many centuries, was wonderfully brought to light."

"It happened on a certain day that some stones having fallen from the wall, gave an opportunity to the passers-by to look into the opening, in which they noticed signs of a hollow space, and the outlines of an ancient picture were observed drawn in gold. Thereupon the canons of the church made an investigation; and upon further opening the wall, the tomb and image (depicta imago) of St. Virgilius, eighth Bishop of Salzburg after St. Rudbert, was discovered, with the following inscription:--'Virgilius templum construxit schemate pulchro.' And moreover the day of his death was marked, the fifth before the Kalends of December (27th Nov.) Anno 781."

Then the writer goes on to narrate how the archbishop and the clergy, and all citizens, crowded to the tomb to venerate the sacred relics; and he gives a long list of most extraordinary miracles which were daily performed at the tomb, but which we cannot stay to transcribe.

The name of St. Virgilius is not found in the Roman Martyrology, says Basnage, but he is always spoken of as a saint in the Annals of the Benedictines; and in the Canons of a Council of Salzburg, held in A.D. 1274, the assembled prelates declare that they recognise Rudbert, Virgil, and Augustine, as the patrons of that church, and command, under penalty of excommunication, their feast days to be kept as holidays. It is hardly necessary to add that the festival of Virgilius, Bishop and Confessor, is celebrated by the Irish Church on the 27th November.[424]

II.--SEDULIUS, COMMENTATOR ON SCRIPTURE.

Another eminent Irish scholar of the Dispersion was Sedulius, the Commentator on Scripture. Sedulius the Elder, of whom we have already spoken at length, is known as the Poet; the present Sedulius is, for the sake of distinction, commonly called Sedulius the Younger, or the Commentator.

Of his personal history unfortunately we know only two facts--first, that he was an Irishman; and secondly, that he was, as his writings abundantly prove, a most distinguished scholar. We cannot even identify him for certain amongst the many Irish scholars, who are known to have borne this name during the eighth and ninth centuries.

There was a Sedulius, who is supposed to have been Bishop of Strathclyde in Scotland, and who was certainly present at a Council held in Rome, A.D. 721.[425] He describes himself under his own hand as a British Bishop of Irish birth;[426] and he was accompanied by another prelate who calls himself Fergustus Episcopus Scotiae Pictus--that is a Pictish Bishop of Scotia, which at that time must mean a Bishop of the Irish Picts. Both happened to be in Rome together, and were invited to assist at this Council and subscribe their names. It is another of the many proofs that indicate the close union between Rome and the Celtic Churches at this period.

The Four Masters, A.D. 785 (recte 789), make mention of the death of Siadhal, or Sedulius, 'Abbot of Dublin.' The same entry (A.D. 789) is in the Annals of Ulster, but in the Martyrology of Donegal he is described as Bishop of Dublin, and in the Tallaght Martyrology on the same day (12th Feb.) he is simply called 'Siadal Bishop;' but nothing more is known about him. If there was a Bishop in Dublin, there certainly was no See of Dublin at this period; for the See was certainly of Danish origin.

There was also a Siadhail, abbot and Bishop of Roscommon, who died in A.D. 813.[427] Another Siadhail, or Sedulius, who died in A.D. 828, was abbot of Kildare; and according to Lanigan he was 'unquestionably' the author of the Commentaries, which are ascribed by all the learned to some Irishman of that name, who flourished about this period. Lanigan, however, has given no satisfactory evidence of this 'unquestionable' fact; and although it is quite possible that Sedulius of Kildare may have been the author of the Commentaries on St. Paul's Epistles, it is just quite as possible that he was Sedulius, the Bishop-abbot of Roscommon, or some Hibernian exile of the same period, who flourished in the Schools of France or Italy.

Whoever he was, he was certainly a learned man. Montfaucon has preserved a Greek psalter,[428] written by this Sedulius, which is of itself quite satisfactory evidence of his Greek scholarship. He was besides an accomplished Latin poet, and his patristic lore is simply marvellous. No doubt his work as a commentator consists, to a very large extent, of extracts from the Fathers of the Church, both Greek and Latin; but so does every commentary of the kind worth reading. Where commentators begin to be original, they generally cease to be orthodox. At best their learning can only succeed in putting the old truths in a new way. It has been insinuated[429] that Sedulius in his Commentaries on St. Paul adopted what are now called Calvinistic views about grace and predestination. There is not a shadow of foundation for the charge, except that Sedulius quotes and approves of the teaching of St. Augustine. But how far St. Augustine was from holding such views, it is quite unnecessary to show in this place. These Commentaries on St. Paul are really very valuable, and even at this day are worthy of careful study.

Besides the Commentaries on St. Paul, Sedulius also wrote a Commentary on St. Matthew, the proper title of which is--Collectaneum Sedulii in Mattheum ex diversis Patribus excerptum. He is also said to have written a grammatical commentary on Priscian, and on the Secunda Editio of Donatus, works which were both in common use in the ancient schools of Ireland. He was somewhat of a politician also, and wrote a treatise on Politics in Aristotle's sense, not referred to by Lanigan, for it was only discovered in comparatively recent times by Cardinal Mai in the Vatican, and has been published by him in the ninth tome of his Nova Collectio Scriptorum. Everything goes to show that he was a man of the very widest culture attainable in that age, and that he, like Virgilius and John Scotus Erigena, of whom we are now about to speak, acquired that culture in the schools of his native land.

III.--JOHN SCOTUS ERIGENA.

John Scotus Erigena, a man of Irish birth and education, was by far the most distinguished scholar of the ninth century in Western Europe. He was at once theologian, philosopher, and poet; he could write Greek verses and expound the Scriptures in the Hebrew and the Septuagint; he was familiar with Aristotle and Plato, as well as with St. Basil and St. Augustine, and was not only rector of the Royal School of Paris, but is also said to have been professor of dialectics and mathematics. He was known as the "Master" by excellence, and was spoken of as a "miracle of knowledge." Even in our own time critics of great name have ranked Scotus with Chrysostom, Dante, and Thomas of Aquin, partly from the beauty and sublimity of his thoughts, partly from the originality, depth, and subtlety of his philosophical speculations. No doubt he erred seriously, and was censured justly. He erred, however, not in the spirit of Luther and Calvin, but of Origen and St. Cyprian; for one who ought to know, and was no great friend to the Irish stranger, has attested that he was in all things a holy and humble man, filled with the Spirit of God. But he sailed through unknown seas where there was no chart to guide him. His daring spirit, soaring on strong pinions, essayed untravelled realms of thought, and in the quest of truth he often followed wandering fires; yet, as he himself tells us, in the light of God's revelation and the strength of His grace, the wearied spirit always found its homeward way again. He was in reality the first of the schoolmen, and his very errors, like the wanderings of every explorer of a new country, served to guide those who came after him. Moreover, he has been censured not only for his real errors, but for doctrines which he never held, although condemned under his name; and so it came to pass that he was unduly blamed by those who knew little of his history and less of his teaching, and unduly praised, we think, by those who are much more ready to eulogise him for his errors than for his virtues.

Like many other good things which Ireland has produced, both England and Scotland have striven to make Scotus their own. Thomas Dempster, the saint-stealer, in his Menologium Scotorum, published in A.D. 1621, and dedicated to Cardinal Barberini, has endeavoured to prove that Scotus Erigena was a native of North Britain; as, however, his arguments are founded on the similarity in sound between Ayr and Erigena and between Scotus and Scot, we need not now refute them at length. Thomas Gale, an Englishman, who was the first to publish at Oxford, in A.D. 1681, Scotus' treatise, De Divisione Naturae, maintains that he was of English birth, and was born at a place called Eringen or Ergerne, in Herefordshire, as that name is very like Erigena--for he gives no other shadow of positive proof! It is now superfluous to show at length, what all modern scholars admit, that "Scotus," in the ninth century, and even down to the eleventh century, was exactly equivalent to "Irishman" now, although of course even then they sometimes spoke of the "Scoti of Alba" as we speak of the "Irish of Glasgow" at present. But when used alone in those early centuries the terms "Scoti" and "Scotia" were applied exclusively to the primitive race and their dwelling-place--the Milesian Scots of Ireland, of whom the Albanian Scots were a colony. In A.D. 812, before the birth of Scotus, Eginhard, the secretary of Charlemagne, says that a fleet of Normans invaded Ireland, "the island of the Scots;" and, after the death of Scotus, Alfred the Great, in his translation of Orosius, speaks of Ireland as "Hibernia, which we call Scotland." So the very name John Scotus is the same as John the Irishman, and this name was given to him by all his contemporaries. Pope Nicholas I. calls him, in a letter to King Charles, "Joannes genere Scotus," and Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, who knew him intimately, calls him "Scotus" and "Scotigena," or Irish-born. But what settles the question is the way in which Prudentius, in his treatise on Predestination, speaks of Scotus, for Prudentius says he was himself the friend of Scotus--quasi frater--he lived some time with him in the palace of the king, and no one could know better whence Scotus came. "Te Solum," says Prudentius, "omnium acutissimum Galliae transmissit Hibernia." So it was Ireland, then, and not England or Scotland, sent him over to France. Later on in the eleventh century when, after the fusion of the Picts and Scots into one nation, Scotia came to signify Scotland, the cognomen Erigena was given to Scotus to signify that he was not an Albanian but an Irish Scot. We do not find, however, that any of his contemporaries gave him that name, and the form Erigena, from which Dempster infers his Caledonian origin, is not found in any existing MS. copy of his works. In most of them it is written Ierugena, which Dr. Floss, the learned editor of the works of Scotus, published in Migne's Patrology, thinks is derived from the Greek, and signifies "native of the sacred isle"--insula sanctorum. But although Scotus himself was certainly fond of Greek compounds, very few scholars of the tenth and eleventh centuries were able to make them. For our own part we should prefer to adopt the reading Eirugena, which is found in the Florentine and Darmstad manuscripts as being a far simpler and more natural form. Eriu is the older nominative, and its vowel termination would render it better adapted to form a compound than the genitive form Erin, and thus we get Eriugena, which no doubt would very soon be contracted into Erigena.

Unfortunately we know neither the exact date of Erigena's birth, nor where he was born and educated. We find him an inmate of the palace of Charles the Bald in A.D. 851, when he published his book on Predestination. He must have been at that time some time in France, for he was then well known as a distinguished scholar, so that if we assume that he was born about A.D. 820, and came to France about A.D. 850, we cannot be very far astray. We know from a letter of Eric of Auxerre to Charles the Bald, that a crowd of Hibernian philosophers came to France, attracted by the liberality of that prince, and driven out of their own country by the invasion of the Danes.[430] All the Irish annalists tell us that from A.D. 815 to 845 the Danes under Turgesius plundered, desolated, and burned the whole country, but especially the churches, monasteries, and schools. In A.D. 843 "Turgesius plundered Connaught, Meath, and Clonmacnoise with its oratories;" in the same year "Forannen, the Primate of Armagh, was taken prisoner, with his relics and people" (to the number of 3,000), "and they were carried by the Danes to their ships at Limerick." It is easy to see how young Scotus might be captured by the foreigners, and succeed in making his escape to France, or seek an asylum there, most probably either in this or the next year.

Charles the Bald, son of Louis le Debonaire, and grandson of Charlemagne, was at this time king of Northern France and Burgundy. He had few of the kingly virtues of his great grandsire, but he was a zealous patron of literature, very fond of theological discussions, was present at many French Councils, and on the whole, was far better fitted by nature to be a monk than a monarch. He received the young Irish scholar with great kindness, and treated him with marked distinction. Scotus had apartments in the palace, was made Capital, or head, of the Scholæ Palatinæ, and frequently admitted to the royal table. He was a great Greek scholar, and the king wanted him to translate into Latin the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, a task which none of his subjects was able to accomplish. Moreover, the Irishman was witty as well as wise, and the king loved a joke quite as much as he loved learning. William of Malmesbury has preserved two of the witticisms of Scotus. On one occasion, when the wine was going round the table, the Irishman by some word or act offended against the etiquette due to royalty. The king, who was sitting opposite to Scotus, good-humouredly rebuked him by asking--"Quid interest inter Scottum et Sottum?" "Tabula tantum," says the witty Hibernian, and the monarch greatly enjoyed this turning of the tables against himself. On another occasion, Scotus was dining at the table of the king with two other clerics. We cannot, indeed, ascertain for certain whether Scotus himself was a cleric or not; he certainly does not appear to have been a priest. These two clerics were very big men, and Scotus was, like some other great men, very small. Three fishes were brought in by an attendant--one small and two large ones. The king beckoned Scotus to divide the fish with his companions. Scotus did so, giving them the small one, and keeping for himself the two big ones. The king protested against the unfair division. "It is perfectly fair, my Lord the King," said Scotus, "for here," pointing to himself and his plate, "we have one small and two big, and there," pointing to his companions, "they have two big and one small." The king laughed, and probably a fairer division was afterwards made by Scotus.

He might have long enjoyed his honours and emoluments in the palace in peace if he were prudent. But just at this period two fierce theological disputes arose in France, and either his friends at court, or his Irish blood, prompted him to mingle in the mêlée.

Just about the time when Erigena arrived in France, began the first and the warmest controversy of the ninth century concerning the abstruse question of Predestination. Most of the French bishops and theologians took part in this discussion, which was hotly debated for twelve years. Its author was a Benedictine monk, of the famous abbey of Fulda, who was called Gotteschalk, or Servant of God. Raban Maur, one of the most learned men of his own time, and for many years head of the great School of Fulda, who was now Archbishop of Mayence, cited Gotteschalk to appear before a Synod and account for his doctrinal novelties. The Council was held on the 1st of October, A.D. 848. Gotteschalk did appear in person, and handed in a profession of faith, which, according to Hincmar, was undoubtedly erroneous.

He was accordingly condemned by the Council, and Raban wrote a letter to Hincmar to inform him that a vagabond monk (gyrovagus), of the diocese of Soissons, held heretical doctrine, and was condemned by the Synod with the approbation of King Louis. He also requests Hincmar to convene a Synod in his own diocese, and condemn his doctrines in like manner. Hincmar was not slow in following this advice. That great bishop, for more than thirty years the central figure of the French Church, was in every way qualified to fill the high place which he occupied as the first prelate and peer in France. He was learned, eloquent, and resolute, a lasting friend, and, to those whom he considered in the wrong, an unrelenting foe. In his youth he had been a monk of the great Abbey of St. Denis, so that between Raban Maur, a Benedictine monk of Fulda, and Hincmar, a Benedictine of St. Denis, the former now the most powerful prince-bishop in Germany, and the latter the first prelate in France, the unfortunate Gotteschalk, a runaway monk of their order, could hope for little mercy. A great Synod of his province was convoked by Hincmar in the palace of Quiercy. The king was there, and a great number of his bishops and abbots. Gotteschalk was introduced and interrogated, but persisted in his opinions, and, if we may credit Hincmar, was very insolent in his demeanour. So the bishops ordered him to be degraded, and the abbots ordered him to be flogged according to the rule of St. Benedict, and after that to be imprisoned in an ergastulum. A great fire was kindled, Gotteschalk was ordered to take his MS. on Predestination in his hand, and the lash was then applied until he should himself fling the book into the flames, which he was glad to do very soon. He was afterwards imprisoned in the Convent of Hautvilliers, where he remained contumacious for nine years, and died, it is said, in the same spirit.

But the severity of Hincmar defeated his purpose. He was so severely attacked by several French theologians that he found it necessary to ask his friend, Scotus, to come to his assistance, and the "Master" promptly responded to the call. In A.D. 851 he published his Liber de Prædestinatione, a short treatise in nineteen chapters, on a very burning question. This book at once raised a tremendous storm on all sides. He adopted a new system of discussion, arguing rather from reason than authority, and dealing his blows indiscriminately on friend and foe. He ranges through all metaphysics, discusses the nature of sin, the origin of evil, the eternal punishment of the wicked, and the qualities of the bodies that will be hereafter united to the glorified and condemned souls. He somewhat contemptuously speaks of his opponents, and acts on those independent principles which he elsewhere so eloquently proclaims in a sentence that has something of the sonorous ring of a Ciceronian period.[431] Wenilo, Archbishop of Sens, at once sent this treatise of Scotus to Prudentius, and he was not very long in pronouncing what he thought of it. The next year he published his great treatise De Prædestinatione contra Joannem Scotum, with an introduction addressed to Archbishop Wenilo. We have no hesitation in saying that this introduction is written in language rather vulgar, and by no means charitable. He heaps all manner of abusive epithets on the head of the redoubtable Scotus, and although he declares that he is animated only by zeal for the Catholic faith, and the affection of true charity, we think he would have given better proof of both by greater moderation in his language. He declares that he found in the book of Scotus the poison of Pelagianism, the madness of Origen, and the wild fury (furiositatem) of the Collyrian heretics. He speaks of the impudence of Scotus in barking at (oblatrantem) the orthodox faith and the Catholic Fathers, and he hints pretty clearly that it was the devil himself who vomited so many blasphemies by the mouth of John and Julian, and so on to the end of the chapter. In the same spirit, but in more moderate language, Florus attacked the book of Scotus, whom he calls a "vaniloquus et garrulus homo," and speaks of his writings as "plena mendacii et erroris." For the present we shall not discuss in what or how far Scotus erred in his book, but he was certainly on the right side in supporting Hincmar, and although neither Florus nor Prudentius held all the opinions of Gotteschalk, it would not be difficult to extract from their writings many propositions, which would need to be interpreted in a very charitable spirit, indeed, before they could be reconciled with the commonly received doctrines of our Catholic theologians.

But Hincmar was not the man to yield to the noisy declamation of the theologians of the South. In A.D. 853 he convened another Synod at Quiercy, in which he formulated with great accuracy his own doctrine on grace and predestination. They are well known as the Capitula Carisiaca.[432]

It is said that Prudentius signed them, but he certainly in a short time afterwards formulated four counter-propositions, which it is not easy to reconcile with Catholic doctrine, and in this proceeding he was countenanced by Remigius of Lyons. Later on, in the Council of Valence in A.D. 855, and in that of Langres in A.D. 859, the southern theologians and bishops attacked the capitula of Hincmar, at least by implication, and denounced the book written by Scotus as a devil's commentary rather than an argument of faith, and said it contained nothing but old women's stories, and Irish porridge nauseous to the purity of faith. They did not expressly mention his name, but there can be no doubt about the reference in the words--"Scotorumque pultes puritati fidei nauseam inferentes." But in the end Hincmar prevailed, and his doctrine was sanctioned in the Synod of Tousi, in the year A.D. 860, where a great many prelates of both parties were assembled from fourteen provinces, with twelve metropolitans, and the three kings at their head--Charles the Bald, Lothaire of Lorraine, and Charles of Provence. So the censures of Florus and Prudentius, and the condemnation of Valence and Langres cannot have much weight in blackening the theological character of Scotus Erigena.

The next discussion in which Scotus is said to have taken part occurred shortly afterwards. It has been stated by many writers that he was the first who denied the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Western Church. Certainly, Berengarius, in the eleventh century, claimed Scotus as his teacher on the new doctrine which he introduced; and the Sacramentarians regarded him as a great apostle of what they called the truth. A book on the Eucharist, attributed to Scotus by Berengarius, was condemned in three synods, and committed to the flames as impious and heretical.

But there is no contemporary evidence to show that Scotus wrote a treatise on the Eucharist, and, on the other hand, there is positive evidence which goes to show the identity of the work attributed to Scotus with the treatise that has certainly been written by Ratramnus. The very words, on account of which Berengarius says the book was ordered to be burnt at the Council of Rome in A.D. 1059, namely--"ea quae in altare consecrantur esse figuram, pignus, et signum Corporis et Sanguinis Christi," and which were used in a heretical sense by Berengarius but not by their author, are found in the Book of Ratramnus, the MS. of which still bears his name in uncial letters of the tenth century. Another expression attributed by Ascelinus to the unfortunate Irishman--"specie geruntur ista, non veritate"--are nowhere to be found in the existing writings of Scotus, but are found exactly in the same MS. of Ratramnus. There can be no doubt that Scotus, in his commentary on St. John, did use inaccurate language, but certainly not in a heretical sense.[433] Yet, his language displeased some of his best friends, so that Hincmar in his second book on Predestination seems to attribute to Scotus--for he does not mention his name--the error of teaching that the Sacrament of the Altar was not the real body and blood, but only a memorial of them, whereas Scotus taught in reality, or certainly meant to teach, that it was both--namely, a memorial, and at the same time a reality. Adrevaldus, too, wrote a treatise--"De Corpore et Sanguine Domini contra ineptias J. Scoti." This is the only contemporary evidence we have concerning the alleged errors of Scotus on the Eucharist. Just 200 years later, however, in consequence of the fame of Scotus, and the similarity of their style, the Book of Ratramnus was attributed to Scotus both by Berengarius and most of his contemporaries. So it shared the fate of Berengarius himself, it was condemned by the Council of Paris in A.D. 1050, and in the same year it was anathematised by the Councils of Rome and Vercelli. Nine years later Pope Nicholas II. made Berengarius himself throw the book into the fire in presence of an immense crowd of people at Rome. And so it came to pass that Scotus was censured for opinions which he never held, and for a book which he never wrote.

Almost from his first arrival in France, Scotus had been engaged in translating from the Greek into Latin the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius. In the year A.D. 828 the Greek Emperor, Michael Balbus--the stammerer--had sent, as a present to Louis le Debonaire, a copy in Greek of the writings attributed to Dionysius, the Areopagite. Dionysius, mentioned in the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, was said to have been at first bishop of Athens, and to have been afterwards sent into France by St. Clement, where he preached the Gospel for many years, and died a martyr's death. The works attributed to St. Dionysius, although really written by some forger of the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century, were at this time regarded as genuine. Hence, the Greek Emperor's gift was very highly prized in France, and preserved with the greatest care and veneration as the undoubted work of the apostle of the French people, and especially of Paris, where the great Abbey of St. Denis, for many ages the cemetery of the kings of France, was built in his honour. But these writings in Greek were a sealed fountain to most of the French scholars at the time. Hilduin, a monk of St. Denis, was charged with their custody, and commissioned to translate them, but failed in the attempt. When, however, the exiled Irish scholar came to Paris, the king, to his great joy, soon discovered that he was a perfect master of the Greek tongue, and asked him to undertake the translation of the writings of the Areopagite. Scotus gladly undertook the task imposed upon him by his royal patron, and executed it in such a way as to please the man of all others best qualified to pronounce a critical opinion--Anastasius, the Roman Librarian. In a letter written to the king, in A.D. 875, he declares it to be a wonderful thing that a man like Scotus, a barbarian, living at the end of the world--vir ille barbarus in finibus mundi positus--could understand and translate into another tongue the writings of the Areopagite. But the Holy Spirit, he says, was the chief agent who filled him at once with fire and eloquence--qui hunc ardentem et loquentem fecit--and charity was the mistress who taught him for the instruction and edification of many. He adds that his only fault was to translate too literally, and the cause of that was his great humility, which did not permit him to change the exact order and meaning of the words of so great a writer.

We cannot ascertain for certain the year of its appearance; it was probably about A.D. 855, but in this case, too, Scotus was unfortunate. Whether it was that the French theologians had given him a bad character in Rome on account of the book on Predestination, or, as others think, that the Greek scholar was considered to be a supporter of Greek influences in the Court of Charles during the Photian intrigues, it is certain that at this time he was no favourite at Rome. Accordingly, when his work appeared, Pope Nicholas wrote a letter to Charles the Bald, in which he complains of the publication of this translation without the usual apostolic sanction--quod juxta morem ecclesiae nobis mitti debet--especially as John the Scot, who translated it, although said to be a man of much learning, was by many persons regarded as not altogether sound in his doctrine--non sapere in quibusdam frequenti rumore dicitur. Therefore the Pope orders Charles either to send the aforesaid John to Rome to give an account of himself, or at least not to permit him to remain any longer at Paris as the head of the University--aut certo Parisiis in studio, cujus capital jam olim fuisse perhibetur, morari non sinatis. This letter was written in the third year of Nicholas's pontificate, either A.D. 861 or 862. We do not know what effect the letter produced, whether the king dismissed Scotus from his high position or not. It is very improbable that he did dismiss him, seeing the way in which Anastasius, himself a Roman, spoke of Scotus twelve years later as a holy, learned, and humble man. Most probably by that time they had got better information concerning Scotus in Rome, and found out that he was neither so unsound in doctrine, nor so Photian in his tendencies as his enemies made him out to be. At this time, however, when the Pope wrote to Charles, Scotus took very good care not to go to Rome, where he might have met the fate of Gotteschalk; nor does it appear that Charles dismissed his favourite from the palace, although requested to do so by the Pope himself.

Scotus not only translated and wrote extensive commentaries on the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius, but about the same period composed a profound, original, and eloquent work in five books, which he entitles Περὶ Φυσέως Μερισμοῦ, seu De Divisione Naturae. This work has been greatly praised, and greatly and justly censured. We shall, however, for the present reserve our judgment on its undoubted merits, as well as on its demerits, and confine ourselves to sketching its eventful history. It is a dialogue between a master and his pupil after the Platonic fashion, not indeed with Plato's unrivalled beauty of form, but with much of the eloquence and subtlety of the Greek mind. No other scholar of the Western Church in any age was so filled with the spirit of the philosophy and theology of the Greeks, and whose mind was so closely akin to the mind of Greece. The Irish, like the Greek mind, has a natural love for speculation, is quick, subtle, and far-seeing, has greater power of abstraction and generalisation--that is to say, greater metaphysical power than the phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon. Scotus was a typical Celt, strongly developing all the intellectual peculiarities of the race. Moreover, he was familiar with Plato, and Aristotle, and the Greek Fathers, far more than with the Latin Fathers. He had, by close study, imbibed the spirit of Neo-Platonic philosophy from the writings of Dionysius, whom he not unnaturally regarded with the reverence due to an apostle, and so his whole soul was made by nature, study, and duty, intensely Greek. No doubt this was in itself one great source of his errors, both real and imaginary, because his critics seeing how he erred in some things where they could fathom his philosophy, imagined he erred in many more where they could scarcely guess at the meaning of his words. Hence William of Malmesbury very justly says of this work of Scotus, "De Divisione Naturae," that it was very useful for the solution of some difficult questions, "Si tamen ignoscatur ei in quibusdum, quibus a Latinorum tramite deviavit dum in Græcos acriter oculos intendit." His eyes were on the Greeks, and his spirit was with the Greeks, and so his teaching and his language in many respects seemed strange and erroneous to the Latins. It has been said that this book of Scotus was corrupted by his enemies the more easily to refute him, and by heretics the more easily to defend their own errors. But the supposition is quite gratuitous, unsupported by evidence, and unnecessary as an explanation of facts. His doctrine in many points was attacked in his own time, his errors were palliated by friends and amplified by enemies. In later ages erratic sectaries, who vexed the Church of France in the beginning of the thirteenth century, appealed to the writings of Scotus in defence of their errors, and thus he was made a third time a scape-goat to carry the sins of others. We learn from the Chronicon of the monk Alberic, but from no other source, that in the year A.D. 1225, Honorius III. sent a Brief to the archbishops and bishops of France, in which he passed a severe judgment on the book of Scotus, entitled "Periphysis," for so the monk writes it. The Bishop of Paris had informed the Pope that this work was full of heretical depravity, and had been condemned by the Archbishop of Sens and his suffragans, that it was hid in many monasteries, where cloistered and scholastic men, thinking it a great thing to propound new opinions, spent much time in the study of the book. So the Pope ordered it to be carefully sought after, whenever it was found to be solemnly burned, and inflicted excommunication, ipso facto, on those who should knowingly presume to keep it in their possession. This severe prohibition was effective. The MS. copies were everywhere sought out, and nearly all destroyed, and no Catholic dared to publish it. But in the year A.D. 1681, Thomas Gale, of Oxford, printed it at that city. A few years later, in A.D. 1685, the old prohibition was renewed, and the work placed on the Index, where it still remains, although reprinted in Migne's Patrology.

Scotus also wrote several Greek and Latin poems on various subjects, thirteen of which, mostly Latin, are printed in Migne's edition of his works. Like most poems in foreign, and especially in dead languages, they are merely artificial flowers of poesy--stiff, scentless, and lifeless; but they serve to show the familiarity of the writer even in that rude age with the languages of Greece and Rome.

How Scotus ended his life we know not. William of Malmesbury, whom many other authorities blindly follow, states that it was a common report--ut fertur--that he was invited to England by King Alfred, that he lectured at Oxford, and afterwards retired to Malmesbury, where he was stabbed to death by his pupils with their pens, or perhaps penknives (graphiis). His body was at first secretly buried in the Church of St. Laurence, where the crime was committed, but a bright light shining nightly on the spot warned the monks to transfer the holy remains of the martyred scholar to the left corner of the high altar in the great Church of Malmesbury, where they reposed in peace and honour until another abbot, Warinus de Lira, exhumed the bodies of Scotus and other saints, and buried them without honour or ceremony in an obscure corner of the Church of St. Michael. But his memory was long venerated as a holy martyr, and his feast celebrated on the 10th of November, on which day his name was inserted in the Antwerp edition of the Roman Martyrology, until Cardinal Baronius had it expunged. The story of William of Malmesbury is altogether improbable, and we have no contemporary evidence in its support. It arose in the beginning from confounding Scotus Erigena, or, as he was sometimes called, Joannes, with another John, abbot of Etheling, who was invited to England by Alfred, about the year A.D. 880. In the letter written by Anastasius in A.D. 875, he not obscurely speaks of John Scotus as already dead, at least he uses the past tense throughout. It is not improbable, therefore, that shortly after the Pope's letter in A.D. 862, Scotus may have deemed it prudent to retire from Paris, and, with an Irishman's love of home, returned to his native country, where he is said to have died in peace and holiness in the year A.D. 874.

It has been said, too, that he travelled to Athens, and visited various parts of the East, and that he was skilled in most of the Oriental languages. But these statements appear unfounded; they are certainly destitute of any reliable authority. What we know for certain is that Scotus was an Irishman, that he was the first scholar of his time, that he acquired his knowledge even of the Greek language, in the schools of his native country. He was loved and honoured by friends who knew him, and misjudged both during his life and after his death by many who knew neither the man himself nor his writings. His career was short and brilliant; comet-like he blazed for a while in the sunshine of royal favour; he appeared and disappeared in a strangely eccentric orbit. For ages he was lost to view, but in our own time is seen again shining in the literary heavens with even more than his ancient splendour. We are not inclined to extol him unduly, neither does it become us to judge him harshly; but whatever may be said of his errors, all must admit that John Scotus Erigena was a man of saintly life, a prodigy of learning, and an honour to the country which gave him his name and his knowledge.

IV.--FOREIGN SCHOLARS IN IRELAND.

We have already spoken of several foreign scholars, who came to our Irish Schools; but there are a few others to whom it is necessary to make more explicit reference.

The hill of Slane, on the banks of the Boyne, near Drogheda, is one of the historic sites of Ireland. It commands a noble prospect of all the swelling plains of Meath and Louth, bounded on the north by the distant Mourne Mountains rising from the sea, and on the south beyond the smoky pall of Dublin, by the many topped summits of the Wicklow Hills. There, close at hand on this same left bank of the river towards Drogheda are Brugh and Dowth and New Grange, the cemeteries of pre-historic kings; while just in front beyond the river is Rosnaree, where the great King Cormac sleeps with his face to the rising sun, the daily herald of his immortal hopes. Further off in the distance to the south and west, may be seen Royal Tara, and Skreen of Columcille, and Kells of the Crosses, and the towers of Trim and all the other storied ruins that once guarded the passes of the Boyne from Newtown of the Normans, by Bective, Navan, and Donore, whence fled the chicken-hearted James, down to the obelisk by yonder bridge that marks the spot where the gallant Schomberg fell.

It was on this hill of Slane that St. Patrick lit his Paschal fire for the first time in Erin, within view of King Laeghaire and his Druids from Tara. And it was here too that Erc, "the sweet spoken judge of Patrick," built his oratory and little cell, which in after ages grew to be a great monastery and a great college. There is now no trace of the oratory of St. Erc at Slane. The ivy-clad ruins that still remain on the hill seem to be of Norman origin, dating probably from the twelfth century. The history of the ancient monastery has likewise disappeared, almost as completely as its buildings. One interesting fact, however, is still preserved by local tradition,[434] and that tradition has been amply confirmed by the researches of scholars in our times. It is said that a king of France was educated long ago at the great College of Slane, but his name and date are forgotten. We are, however, enabled to supply these particulars. St. Sigebert III. was king of the Austrasian Franks from A.D. 632 to 656. This pious king was more given to prayer than to warlike enterprise; and so Grimoald, Mayor of the Palace, became virtually ruler of Austrasia. When Sigebert died in A.D. 656, Grimoald, wishing to have the name as well as the power of a king, caused the late king's son, Dagobert, to be tonsured, and then sent Dido, Bishop of Poitiers, to carry off the boy secretly to Ireland, to be educated there as a monk in one of its famous monastic schools. Tradition tells us that the school was Slane, and that Dagobert spent eighteen or twenty years in its halls, and acquired during that long period all the learning of the Scots. Meanwhile Grimoald received the fitting reward of his treason. He was captured by Clovis of Neustria, and put to death with torture, not long after he had sent the young prince to Ireland. When Dagobert was grown to man's estate he returned home to Austrasia, and mounted his father's throne as Dagobert II., by which name the student of Slane College is known in French history.[435] It is obvious that Slane was selected, not because it was the most celebrated school at the time, but because it was in Meath, where the High-kings mostly dwelt; and it was only natural to bring the royal boy to some college near the royal court. It was through the agency of Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, that Dagobert was restored to his friends and his kingdom about the year A.D. 674, after the deposition and death of King Childeric II.

Another eminent saint and scholar of foreign origin, contemporary with Dagobert in Ireland, was Egbert of Northumbria. Bede gives a very interesting account of this eminent man.[436] He was sprung from the nobility of Northumbria, and appears to have been born in A.D. 639.

With another young noble named Ethelun, Egbert went over to Ireland, like the crowds of his countrymen, 'to pursue divine studies, and lead a continent life.' They sojourned in the monastery, called in Irish Rathmelsigi, which Bede's editor and translator[437] foolishly calls 'Melfont.' He meant Mellifont, near Drogheda; but there was no monastery at Mellifont for nearly five hundred years afterwards. As the same learned editor makes Columba's noble monastery of Dair-magh to be Derry, instead of Durrow, we need not attach much importance to his notes on Bede concerning Irish matters. Colgan says that this monastery of Rathmelsigi was in Connaught; but he does not specify, and probably did not know, the exact locality. In the Martyrology of Donegal, we find reference to "Colman[438] Rath-Maoilsidhe" (at Dec. 14th), which is in all probability the monastery referred to by Colgan. This Colman is different from Colman of Innisboffin, whose festival day is the 8th of August. It is not improbable that his monastery was situated at the place called Rath-maoil, or Rath-Maoilcath, both of which were situated near Ballina, on the right bank of the Moy. Everything points to the fact that most of the young Northumbrian nobles and ceorls, who came to the West of Ireland in crowds at this period, landed in the estuary of the Moy, and then going southward, took up their abode, or founded their religious houses wherever they could obtain suitable accommodation. St. Gerald's Abbey of Mayo was not then established (in A.D. 664); and so Egbert and his companions put themselves under the guidance of St. Colman, or some of his successors, in this monastery of Rath-Maoilsidhe.

Just then the terrible Yellow Plague made its appearance in Ireland, and carried off one-half of its population. All the companions of Egbert and Ethelun were cut off by the plague; and now they themselves were attacked, and became grievously ill. Then Egbert, whilst he had yet a little strength remaining, rose up in the morning, and going out of the chamber of the sick, he sat down alone, and began to think of his past sins; and he asked God's pardon for them with many tears. He prayed, too, earnestly that God would not yet take him out of the world, but would give him time to atone by his good works for the sins of his youth. And if God deigned to hear his prayer, he vowed never to return again to his native Britain, but to live as a pilgrim in some strange land; and, moreover, to recite the Psalter daily, and to fast continuously for twenty-four hours once a week. When he returned to the sick chamber, Ethelun, his companion, was asleep; but presently awaking, he told Egbert that his prayer was heard by God; then he gently rebuked him, for he had hoped that together they would go into life everlasting. Next day Ethelun died; but Egbert recovered from his sore sickness, and lived to be ninety years of age, when he departed from this life.

He was ordained a priest; "and his life," says Bede, "adorned the priesthood, for he lived in the practice of humility, meekness, continence, justice, and all other virtues." He loved the Irish greatly, and lived amongst them for fifty years (A.D. 664-715), preaching the Gospel, teaching in his monastery, reproving the bad, and encouraging the good by the bright example of his blameless life. He not only kept his vow, but he added to it, says Bede; for during the whole Lent he took but one meal in the day, and that was nothing but bread in limited quantity, and thin milk from which the cream had been skimmed off. Whatever he got from others--and he got much--he gave to the poor.

For many years he had been resolving in his mind to sail round Britain, and go to Germany to preach the Gospel to the pagan tribes who dwelt there, and who were kindred to his own nation of the Angles. But God had willed otherwise. There was in Egbert's monastery an old monk who had many years before been minister to Boisil, Abbot of Melrose, an Irish foundation in Scotland. Now one morning after matins, Boisil appeared to this aged monk, who at once recognised his old master, and commanded him to tell Egbert that it was God's will that he should give up his proposed journey to Germany, and go rather to instruct the Columbian monasteries in the right method of keeping Easter, and of tonsuring the head.

Egbert fearing that this vision might be a delusion, still continued his preparations for Germany, and did not obey the direction given by Boisil. Then that saint appeared a second time to his minister, and commanded him to make known to Egbert, in a more imperative way, what it was God willed him to do. "Let him go at once," he said, "to Columba's monastery of Hy, because their ploughs do not go straight, and he will bring them into the right way." Moreover, the ship in which he was preparing to set out for Germany was wrecked in a storm, and thrown upon the shore, leaving, however, his effects intact. Egbert, taking this as a further manifestation of the Divine will, gave up his project of going to Germany, and set sail for Iona. Wictbert, however, one of his associates in religion in Ireland, went in his stead, and for two years preached the Gospel in Friesland, but reaped no harvest of success amongst the pagans. So he returned once again to Ireland, and gave himself up to serve God during the rest of his life, as he was wont to do before his departure, in great purity and austerity; "so that if he could not be profitable to others by teaching them the faith, he took care to be useful to his own beloved (Irish) people by the example of his virtues."

Now when this holy father and priest, Egbert, beloved of God, and worthy to be named with all honour, came to the monastery of Iona, he was honourably and joyfully received by the community. He was also a diligent teacher, and carried out his precepts by his example, so that he was willingly listened to by all the members of the community. The effect of his frequent instructions and pious exhortations, was that at length the community of Hy consented to give up the inveterate tradition of their ancestors in religion, and adopt the new discipline, which by this time had been received everywhere else throughout the Irish Church. Now surely, this was, as Bede observes, a wonderful dispensation of Providence, that these very monks of Iona, who were the first to preach the Gospel in Northumbria, should afterwards be persuaded by this Northumbrian priest to accept the correct discipline and true rule of spiritual life. And stranger still, it was on Easter Day, the 24th of April, A.D. 729, that this man of God went to his eternal rest; whereas, but for his exertions, that Easter festival would not have been duly celebrated on that day, but, in accordance with the unreformed system, would have been celebrated in that year towards the end of March, whilst the rest of the Church was observing the fast of Lent.

With Egbert also dwelt in the same monastery the celebrated St. Chad, or Cedd, Bishop of Lichfield. Chad is justly regarded, on account of his learning and holiness, as one of the Fathers of the Anglo-Saxon Church. He was one of four brothers, like Egbert himself, of Northumbrian origin, two of whom became bishops, and two were holy priests. Chad was one of that crowd of Northumbrian nobles, who, in the days of Bishops Finan and Colman, flocked to Ireland for instruction in theology and religious discipline. Bede says expressly that he with the most reverend Father Egbert, when both were youths, led for a long time a monastic life together in Ireland--praying, observing continency, and meditating on the Holy Scriptures. Chad, however, returned after a time to his own country; but Egbert continued in Ireland until he set sail for Iona.

Chad was, as we have already seen, present at the Conference of Whitby in A.D. 664, and having been educated in Ireland, he naturally sympathised with Bishop Colman and the Irish party. He was subsequently appointed to the see of York, but still sympathising with the Irish party, he was deposed through the influence of Wilfrid. Yet he was sometime after appointed to the See of Lichfield. He was a man of great holiness of life; but his episcopacy at Lichfield only continued for two years and a half. He died probably in A.D. 671 or 672, and was buried in St. Mary's Church; but his bones were afterwards translated to the present Cathedral of Lichfield.

A little later in the same seventh century, the celebrated St. Willibrord, afterwards Archbishop of Utrecht, was a student in our Irish schools, and most probably, we should say, at Mayo of the Saxons. His father Wilgils, was also of the English nobility, but after the birth of his son he retired from the world, and built himself a cell at the mouth of the Humber, where he led a life of the most austere virtue. Willibrord in his youth was trained in the great school of St. Wilfrid at York; but about the age of twenty, in order to finish his education, like most of his countrymen at the time, he passed over to Ireland. This much we know from Bede, who also adds that whilst yet only a priest in Ireland, he led therein the life of a pilgrim--forsaking his earthly country through love of his heavenly country. Willibrord also testified to Bishop Acca and Bishop Wilfrid, that once on a time, when he was in Ireland, the plague overtook a certain student of the Scottish, that is the Irish, race. This young man, though well skilled in literature, had been rather heedless about the welfare of his soul. When he fell sick he at once sent for Willibrord, and telling him how much he feared to die on account of his sins, he besought him, if he had any relics of the good King Oswald, to apply them for his benefit.

Then Willibrord said that he had a portion of the stake on which the pagans fixed the head of the martyred king; and "blessing some water he put into it a chip of the aforesaid oaken stake, and gave it to the sick man to drink. He presently found ease, and recovering from his sickness he lived a long time after; and being entirely converted to God in heart and actions, wherever he came, he spoke of the goodness of his merciful Creator, and the honour of his faithful servant."[439]

It was the holy Egbert, who sent Willibrord with twelve companions to preach the gospel to the Frisians. And shortly after two other priests of the English nation, who had long lived as pilgrims in Ireland, following their example, went to preach in Saxony, where they gained the crown of martyrdom within a few years. This is not the place to narrate at length the apostolic labours of Willibrord and his associates--how he was consecrated by Pope Sergius in Rome, and was commissioned to preach to the Frisians; how completely he succeeded where others had failed; how he laboured there for fifty years in all--during thirty-six of which he was Archbishop of Utrecht. These things are told at length by Alcuin in his beautiful Life of St. Willibrord, which also describes the saintly end of the long and laborious career of this venerable servant of God.

It is surely a credit to our Irish schools to have trained up so many learned and apostolic men, like Egbert and Willibrord. It was in Ireland they were trained in divine studies, as Bede testifies; it was in Ireland they learned the continent and self-denying life of all true apostles; and it was from Ireland they went forth to preach the Gospel to the fierce pagan tribes of Germany, where so many of them were privileged to meet a martyr's death.

Another Irish student at this period was Agilbert, afterwards Bishop of Paris. He was, says Bede, a Frank by birth, who came from that country to Ireland, "and lived a long time there for the purpose of studying the Scriptures." Bede seems to imply that he was a bishop before he came to Ireland,[440] for he describes him as a 'Pontifex natione Gallus.' This shows in what high esteem our Irish schools must have been held at this period, when even bishops came from France to study divinity in their halls. Agilbert afterwards passed over to England, and for a time held the See of Dorchester or Winchester. He was present at the Conference of Whitby, and took the side of Wilfrid, but finally returning to his native country he was made Bishop of Paris. The year of his death is not known. It was probably about A.D. 680.

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XXIV. GAEDHLIC SCHOOLS AND SCHOLARS OF ANCIENT ERIN

"The Gaedhlic tongue! the Gaedhlic tongue! why should its voice be still, When all its magic tones with old and golden glories thrill-- When, like an aged bard, it sings departed warriors' might-- When it was heard in kingly halls, where thronged the brave and bright; When oft its glowing tales of war made dauntless hearts beat high-- When oft its tales of hapless love drew tears from beauty's eye?" --Anonymous.

Hitherto we have spoken chiefly of the monastic schools, and the clerical scholars of ancient Erin. We are not to assume, however, that the Gaedhlic tongue was not cultivated in those schools, and that the eminent saints of ancient Erin were not excellent Gaedhlic scholars. We know for certain that the contrary was the fact. Several of them, like Columcille, were eminent Gaedhlic poets; many of them, like St. Carthach of Lismore, even wrote their monastic Rules in Gaedhlic; and, of course, even scholars, like Adamnan, who wrote learned treatises in the Latin tongue, must have preached the Gospel, and taught the people in the vernacular language. St. Patrick himself, who was a Briton, found it necessary to do so, and, as far as we can judge, he must have been an accomplished speaker in the ancient Gaedhlic tongue.

Still the monastic schools were more given to the cultivation of the classical languages than to the study of the Gaedhlic; and when their great scholars wished to deal with theological or scientific subjects, they wrote in the Latin language. Even some of our Annalists, when they wished to give special prominence to their entries, wrote in the Latin rather than in the Gaedhlic.

At the same time, we are not to suppose that during this period there were no Gaedhlic schools in the sense in which we now speak of English as opposed to Classical schools--that is, academies in which the Gaedhlic language, and literature, and history were the subjects chiefly, if not exclusively, taught. On the contrary, we have abundant evidence that there were several schools of this character, in which the vernacular language was cultivated with great success, and not merely the language, but also the history, the antiquities, the laws, and the literature of the nation.

We are even inclined to think that in Celtic Ireland the vernacular language was more carefully cultivated during this period, and that laymen generally had better opportunities of obtaining what would now be called a university education, than they had in any other country of western Europe. This statement is, in our opinion, capable of clear proof from existing monuments; but for the present we need not go beyond the admitted facts that both clerics and laymen from the Continent came to the schools of Erin in large numbers, to acquire the culture of our Celtic schools; whilst on the other hand, when our Irish scholars went abroad during the ninth and tenth centuries, they were at once entrusted with the highest offices in the Continental schools, and proved themselves to be, not only amongst the ablest theologians of the time, but also the first men of that age in Greek and Latin Literature. The history of men like Virgilius, and Dungal, and John Scotus Erigena, proves the truth of this statement beyond denial or controversy.

The Lives of the Saints furnish materials for the history of our monastic schools; but our lay scholars, having no such records of their lives and learning, are forgotten, except in so far as some treatise, or fragment of a treatise, of their composition may have survived the wreck of time.

We find, however, from references in the Brehon Laws, that lay Schools and lay Professors occupied a recognised and honourable position in the social polity of the time.

I.--ORGANIZATION OF THE GAEDHLIC PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS.

In the Sequel, or Second Part, of the Crith Gabhlach the legal rights and social position of the Professors of the Liberal Arts are set down with a considerable degree of fulness and accuracy. We are aware that it has been said[441] that these, and some other portions of the Crith Gabhlach "are the fantastic production of an antiquarian lawyer of a strong ecclesiastical bias." It is hardly necessary to question the competency of this writer to pronounce such an opinion. He appears to have been wholly unacquainted with the Irish language, and obviously has only a lawyer's knowledge of our ancient Annals. For those very things, regarding the orders, rights, and privileges of the Church, which he so coolly describes as the fantastic production of a lawyer with an ecclesiastical bias, are shown in every page of our Annals to be amongst the recognised institutions of the Celtic tribes in Erin. It is, in fact, quite clear that he admits only as authentic laws those which seem to harmonise with his own pre-conceived notions of ecclesiastical polity; but those which do not fit in with these pre-conceived views, he rejects as fantastic! Such is the critical faculty of some of those to whom the publication of the Brehon Laws has been entrusted.

In this Sequel to the Crith Gabhlach,[442] 'profession' is set down as one of the things which give social status in Erin. And, as in the Church, and amongst the land-owning classes, there were several grades, so there were also amongst the professional classes. These grades are set down as seven; but it is not easy for us to realise the degrees of gradation between them, since that state of society has totally passed away; as surely it would be difficult in similar circumstances to discriminate between the various grades in the learned professions that exist amongst ourselves to-day. It would not be easy for us to explain for the Maoris how those entitled to write after their names A.B., or M.A., or LL.D. differ amongst themselves; or in what the Q.C. is superior to the Stuff Gown; and the same difficulty will be found to exist in all the degrees, whether academical or professional, on which men set so much value at present.

In like manner, in ancient Erin, the 'seven grades of wisdom' are carefully distinguished by law, although it is not easy for us in every case to perceive the point of the distinction.

There was a High-professor (rosai), and a simple Professor (sai); there was an anruth and a sruth, that is, a 'noble stream' and a 'stream,' which, in our opinion, have not been at all explained; there was an 'illustrator,' and an 'interrogator,' and a 'pupil'--or, as we should now call them, a grinder, and a tutor, and an undergraduate. The High-professor was also called an ollamh and a sai litre, that is in modern parlance a LL.D. (speaking of laymen), and a Doctor of Literature. The most important point is that the Ollave was entitled to sit at the king's table as an honoured guest. In point of knowledge he was qualified to answer all questions in the four great departments of learning--that is, in poetry, literature, history, and, like a LL.D., in canon and civil law.

He was entitled to bring four-and-twenty persons in his retinue, or peripatetic school; and neither he nor they could be denied food without incurring a severe penalty--one-seventh of his death-eric. One of his functions and rights was to be 'in the bosom of his disciples,' always imparting knowledge to them on all suitable occasions.

The anruth, or 'noble stream,' was only entitled to half this company, but in other respects he was supposed to be a junior Ollave or Fellow--in the number of his intellectual gifts, in the eloquence of his language, the greatness of his knowledge, and the nobility of his teaching--but he had not yet reached the 'pinnacle' of knowledge, like the full-blown Ollave.

We cannot now discuss at greater length the various other sub-divisions, both amongst masters and pupils, which were almost as numerous as in the Intermediate Schools and Royal University--all put together, including the Senators, Fellows, Teaching-Examiners, and Graduates.

The learned professions were, in like manner, carefully discriminated and sub-divided. Leaving out the Church, it seems that there were at this period three great lay professions--Poetry, Law, and History. Poetry (filidecht), generally gets precedence; and the Ollave-poet seems to have been at the very top of the learned professions. The 'bard' at this period is distinguished from the 'poet.' The former is described as a man "without lawful learning but his own intellect;"[443] that is a man who had from nature the gift of music and of song, but who was never regularly trained, and never graduated in the School of Poetry. Not so the file or poet. He was trained in all the mysteries of the various kinds of Gaedhlic verse; he could compose extempore or in writing; he knew the legal number of recognised poems and tales, and was pronounced qualified to recite them before kings and chieftains, whether in the banquet hall, or on the battle-march. He could eulogise, too, and satirise; and he and all his company were entitled both to fees and refection.

The course in poetry extended over 'twelve years of hard work;'[444] and besides the knowledge of the seven kinds of verse, in each of which the Ollave-poet was supposed to be able to compose extemporaneously, he was also required to know seven times fifty tales by heart for public recitation. These tales were of a wild and romantic character, but for that very reason were highly popular with all classes in ancient Erin. They included tales of Battles, Voyages, Cattle-spoils, Sieges, Sorrows, Slaughters, and so on, through the lost list of the legendary poems of Erin. Fortunately many of them still survive in manuscript, and a few have been published; which even in faulty translations are found to be exceedingly interesting and amusing. It was, doubtless, the popular and entertaining character of these romantic stories that placed the Ollave-poet at the head of the learned professions, even on an equality with kings and bishops in point of social dignity. There were seven grades or degrees in this great fraternity, from the fochloc, or scholar-poet, up to the great Ollave himself, who was the head of the school, or band of twenty-four that formed his train.

In like manner with the Brehons, there was an Ollave-Brehon who corresponded with a judge of the High Court in our own times; and then there were seven grades of inferior brehonship, descending from this high official to the raw law student, who was just beginning to take out his lectures and eat his dinners--for, in ancient, as in modern Erin, the lawyers made eating an essential part of their professional career. The fees of the Brehon were fixed by law, and to withhold them was a grave offence, for which a distress might be levied after an interval of three days.[445]

Whoever looks over, even in a cursory way, the four large volumes of the ancient Brehon code already published, will readily admit that to be an accomplished lawyer in ancient Erin required long and careful study under competent masters. At length the system grew so intricate and complicated that the Brehonship was confined to a few families, who transmitted from generation to generation the key to the interpretation both of the written and customary law. Every righ was entitled to have his own Brehon, who sat on stated days, generally in the open air, for the adjudication of all the causes arising in the tribe. The litigants might, of course, have their own advocates, but they were generally young Brehons of inferior degree belonging to the school of the chief Brehon. Amongst these legal families the MacEgans of Duniry in Galway, and Ormond in Tipperary, became the most celebrated, so that members of that family were employed as judges by most of the kinglets beyond the Shannon.

The Historical Poets or Chroniclers seem to have constituted a separate professional class in Ireland during this period. O'Donnell, in a passage from the Irish Life of St. Columba, clearly defines their duties, and he must have known them well, for the O'Clerys, his own hereditary Chroniclers, were the most illustrious members of that profession that ever appeared in Erin. It was their duty to record--(a) the achievements, wars, and triumphs of the kings, princes, and chiefs; (b) to preserve the genealogies and define the rights of noble families; (c) to ascertain and set forth the limits and extent of the sub-kingdoms and territories ruled over by the princes and chiefs. There is no statement in the Brehon Code as to the duties of the Chronicler so definite as this, because the code supposes that these things were perfectly well known to all the Feni, from their own daily experience.

In the earlier periods of our history these important duties were discharged by the Bards; but by degrees it was found more convenient to confine them to a separate class, which afterwards, like the Brehons, came to be hereditary. As the righ was entitled to have his Bard and Brehon, so also he was entitled to have his Chronicler to discharge those duties to which we have referred above. Up to the eleventh century the Chronicles were written in verse, but after that period they began to be written in prose; and in many cases they are written both in prose and verse--the verse being nearly always the older form of the Chronicle.

Many of these Rhyming Chroniclers record merely the local history of their own chieftains; but in other cases the poet-historian took a wider scope, and gave a narrative not only of Irish history, but of universal history, in a brief way, down to the time of St. Patrick. Most of these Chroniclers were laymen, although several of the most distinguished amongst them were monks or priests in some of the great monastic schools.

It is quite clear from various references both in our Annals, and in the Brehon Code, that these three professions were kept quite distinct from the sixth to the twelfth century, that they were taught by different professors, and in different schools--these professors being generally but not always laymen.

Perhaps the earliest school of this character to which we find any definite reference is the School of Tuaim Drecain. It is doubtless only one of many similar institutions that flourished in ancient Ireland, but as we have more accurate information, although incidental, concerning this establishment, we propose to give an account of this typical seminary in a separate section.

II.--THE SCHOOL OF TUAIM DRECAIN.

St. Bricin's School of Tuaim Drecain is one of those mentioned in O'Curry's catalogue of celebrated schools in ancient Ireland. Moreover, although its founder and rector was a saint, whose festival is found marked in our martyrologies, it seems to have been a lay school of general literature, or, as we should say, a school of arts rather than of scripture or theology. It has besides produced one very distinguished Irish poet, some scraps of whose writings have come down to us, and therefore deserves a special notice at our hands.

Its founder is described in the Martyrology of Donegal (5th Sept.) as "Bricin of Tuaim Drecain, in Breifne of Connaught; but it is in Breifne Ui Raghallaigh it is, and he was of the race of Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Ollioll Olum." We find off-shoots of that race of Tadhg, son of Cian, in Bregia, and in Leyney, county Sligo, and elsewhere also, but to which branch of the race he belonged we are not informed.

Tuaim Drecain is now called Tomregan, which very nearly represents the pronunciation of the Irish word. It is a parish situated partly in three baronies and in the two counties of Cavan and Fermanagh, where the Woodford river, after draining several of the Leitrim lakes, flows on to join the river Erne, near Belturbet. The name signifies the tomb or grave of Drecan, some ancient warrior of whom nothing is known. It would, however, be interesting to know if there is any tumulus, or stone circle, in the parish which might help to explain the origin of the name. We know from the Annals of the Four Masters that Eochaidh Faebhar-glas, King of Ireland, from A.M. 3707 to 3727, fought a battle at Tuaim Drecon; and it was probably from the tumulus raised over Drecon on this occasion that the place got its name.

St. Bricin flourished during the early years of the seventh century, and, besides his other scholarly acquirements, it seems he had also some knowledge of medicine. Amongst his pupils the most celebrated was Cennfaeladh the 'learned,' who in his youth had been a distinguished soldier, and took part in the great battle of Magh Rath (now Moira, co. Down), which was fought in the year A.D. 634. On that fatal field he received a very dangerous wound in the head, which was very near bringing his learned career to a premature close. He was, however, carried off from the battle field, and taken to Armagh, whence Senach the Primate, sent him to Tomregan, that he might have the benefit of the surgical skill of Bricin. The saint succeeded in healing the wound in the poet's head, although he had actually lost through the wound a small portion of the brain. This, however, in his case only added to his powers of memory and general intelligence, which goes to show that in some cases the skull is really too thick, and is the better of being trepanned.

At this time St. Bricin was the head of a great lay college at Tuaim Drecain, which consisted of three distinct schools carried on in different buildings, each having its own professor--one a School of the Brehon Law (Feinechas), another a School of Poetry and History, and the third a School of Classical Learning. These schools were, it appears for convenience sake, located at the junction of three streets, so that the pupils could, when necessary, easily pass from one to another.

Now, as soon as Cennfaeladh's wound began to heal, he employed his leisure in attending the lectures delivered in these various schools; and his head having been specially opened, he acquired, and what is more, he retained all the lectures delivered in the different schools, so that he afterwards opened a similar academy himself, and was able to instruct his pupils in all these various branches of knowledge. Poetry, it seems, he made the vehicle of communicating his information, which was quite the usual practice in those early days; and it had this one great advantage when books were so scarce--it greatly helped the memory, thus rendering it much easier for the master to teach, and for the pupil to learn.

Some of the treatises thus composed by Cennfaeladh for the use of his schools have fortunately survived the ravages of time. O'Curry thinks it probable that he was the author of an entire Grammatical Tract which has been preserved in the Book of Leacan and the Book of Ballymote.

This Tract, O'Curry tells us, is divided into four books. The authorship of the First Book is ascribed to Fenius Farsaidh, or Fenius the Antiquarian, an ancestor of Milesius, who may be regarded as a mythical personage, his name being introduced to lend an air of antiquity to the work. The Second Book is, for a similar reason, ascribed to Amergin, a son of Milesius. The Third Book is attributed to Ferceirtne the Poet, who flourished in the time of Conor Mac Nessa; but the Fourth Book is clearly the work of Cennfaeladh himself, who, if he did not compose, certainly revised the entire treatise. Cennfaeladh died about A.D. 678; and O'Curry thinks the work was retouched after his death by later scholars--most likely by Cormac Mac Cullinan, or some of his pupils, towards the close of the ninth century.

This most interesting work is unfortunately hitherto unpublished, for few scholars are qualified to undertake the task of its publication. It not only deals with the principles of the Irish grammatical construction, but compares the Gaedhlic forms with the Latin of Priscian, Donatus, and other authors then familiar to Irish scholars; and even to some extent it compares the Irish inflections with those of the Greek and Hebrew languages.

Cennfaeladh also compiled a Law Tract which has been published by the Brehon Law Commissioners; and moreover, he was the author of several historical poems, fragments of which are still extant. His poem on the Migrations of Milesius from Scythia to Spain is complete; but we possess only a fragment of another equally interesting one on the Death of the Ultonian Heroes of the Red Branch. To him also O'Reilly attributes the authorship of the poem on the Teach Midhchuarta, which describes all the furniture and arrangements of the great Mead-Circling House of Tara. So that it may be truly said that few schools in Ireland produced a more distinguished scholar than Bricin's Academy at Tomregan in Breifne.[446]

III.--CORMAC MAC CULLINAN.

This is, perhaps, the most fitting place to give an account of the life and writings of the celebrated Cormac Mac Cullinan, the Bishop-king of Cashel. It is as a Gaedhlic scholar he is best known to posterity, although his high position, his valour, his piety, as well as his tragical end, have all combined to render his career singularly interesting to his fellow countrymen.

Cormac was born so early as the year A.D. 835, at the very time when almost all Ireland was writhing under the oppression of the Danes. He was sprung from the chief royal family of Desmond, that is, the Eoghanachts of Cashel. It is well known that the entire province of Munster was divided between two sons of Ollioll Olum--Eoghan, the elder taking Desmond, and Cormac Cas the younger getting Thomond for his principality, with alternate right for both brothers to the sovereignty of the entire province. The Eugenian line, however, contrived to keep the sovereignty of the province for the most part in their family; and, as these kings lived generally at Cashel, the royal family of South Munster came to be called the Eoghanachts of Cashel.

No mention of Cormac is made in our Annals until he was called to the throne of Cashel by his fellow tribesmen, A.D. 900, when he had attained the mature age of sixty-five. The Four Masters, however, tell us that Sneidgius, the wise man of Disert-Diarmada, was his tutor; the latter died A.D. 885 (recte 888), as we find it in the more accurate Chronicon Scotorum. Disert-Diarmada, now called Castle-Dermott, is a place of ancient fame in the south of the County Kildare. It took its old name from a hermitage founded there by St. Diarmaid, otherwise called Ainle, because he was a 'fresh-complexioned youngling,' as the Gloss on Ængus tells us, when he retired to the hermitage that has borne his name ever since. The ancient round tower still standing, as well as the old stone cross, and the broken shaft of a second cross, show that the old abbey, on whose site the Protestant Church now stands, was a place of great ecclesiastical importance. The Crouched Friars were established there by Walter de Riddlesford, and Thomas, Lord of Offaley, founded a convent for Franciscans in the same place. It was called Castle-Dermott from the castle erected by de Riddlesford in the reign of King John. It was a place of much strength, surrounded by walls, and defended by this strong castle; and hence we find that two Parliaments of the Pale were held here--one in the reign of Edward IV., and the other in A.D. 1499. Its chief glory, however, will always be that it was there Cormac Mac Cullinan was educated, and there he was buried. It gave him knowledge, and when his brief and stormy reign was over, it gave him the rest of the grave.

It seems that during the ninth century at least, the abbots of Disert-Diarmada enjoyed quasi-episcopal jurisdiction. Some of them were certainly bishops; and, no doubt, had a territory which owned their spiritual sway. In A.D. 842, we are told that "Cumsudh, son of Derero and Maenach, son of Sadchadach, who were both bishops and anchorites, died in one night at Disert-Diarmada." A.D. 895 died Muirghaes, Bishop and Abbot of Disert-Diarmada; and again in A.D. 1038, we hear of the death of a 'distinguished bishop' of Disert-Diarmada.

The learning of Cormac Mac Cullinan was, no doubt, acquired within the walls of this ancient monastic school. Sneidgius, the sage (egnai) of Disert-Diarmada, was his tutor, and from the acquirements of the pupil, it is not difficult to infer the learning of the master. We have now no means, however, of knowing how long Cormac remained at Disert-Diarmada.

He was certainly a bishop before he became King of Cashel, but it is difficult to say what See he was placed over, or whether he ever had charge of any See at all. We do not read in any of our Annalists that he was Bishop of Cashel before he became King of Munster; indeed it is very doubtful if he were ever Bishop of Cashel at all. There is no reference made to a Bishop of Cashel before this period, so far as we know, in any of our ancient authorities. It was the seat of the temporal royalty, but it had not yet become the seat of spiritual authority. The Four Masters say that Cormac was King and Bishop, but they do not say he was Bishop of Cashel. The Annals of Ulster call him King of Cashel, but do not call him 'bishop' at all. The Chronicon Scotorum describes him as "King of Cashel, a most excellent scribe, a bishop, and an anchorite;" but makes no reference to his See. Keating is, so far as we know, the first who calls Cormac, not Bishop, but Archbishop of Cashel. In fact down to the year A.D. 1101, Cashel was simply a royal dun, which gave its name to the kingdom of South Munster. There was up to that time no church or monastery at Cashel, of which we have any information. But in that year a remarkable event took place, thus recorded by the Four Masters: "A meeting of Leath Mogha was held at Caiseal by Muircheartach O'Briain with the chiefs of the laity, and O'Dunan, noble bishop and chief senior with the chiefs of the clergy; and on this occasion Muircheartach O'Briain made a grant, such as no king had ever made before, namely, he granted Caiseal of the kings to the religious, without any claim of laymen or clergymen upon it, but the religious of Ireland in general." Here we find at the beginning of the twelfth century, that for the first time in its history, Cashel was given up for religious purposes, and ceased to be the royal residence of the southern kings. We find down to that time frequent mention in our Annals of the kings and royal heirs of Cashel, but of no Bishop of Cashel. Thenceforward, however, we hear of the Archbishops, but not of the kings or tanists of Cashel. The thing appears to have been brought about in the following way.

In consequence of the temporal sovereignty of Cashel, the prelates of Emly, in whose diocese it was situated, began to claim metropolitan jurisdiction over all Munster, especially when the O'Brian family began to claim the sovereignty of Ireland during the eleventh century. Hence we find that Domhnall Ua Heni is called in the Chronicon Scotorum 'Archbishop of the men of Munster' (Anno 1094). Celsus, the Primate, was anxious to oblige the King of Munster, and, moreover, O'Dunan, successor of O'Heni (from A.D. 1094-1118), was the personal friend and admirer of Celsus. Hence St. Bernard tells us that Celsus consented to establish de novo a second metropolitan See in Ireland, subject, however, to the primatial See of Armagh. O'Dunan was the first who de jure, if it can be so called, enjoyed the metropolitan dignity in the South of Ireland; and we know that St. Malachy was anxious to obtain the pall for the new See of Cashel, as well as for his own primatial See of Armagh. And it was doubtless to provide a sufficient endowment and a becoming See for the new metropolitan that the king made over his own royal fortress, and a part of his mensal estates for that purpose.

King Murtogh O'Brian was succeeded in the year A.D. 1119 by Cormac Mac Carthy, a pious and munificent prince. He did not reside at Cashel, for it was now church property; and it is highly probable the 'noble senior and chief bishop of Munster' had already established his episcopal palace on the famous Rock. He was not yet, however, formally recognised as archbishop, for he was present at the Synod of Fiadh Mic Ænghusa, which, according to the Four Masters, was held in A.D. 1111, and he is there simply described as 'noble senior of Erin,' and as Bishop of Munster, or as others have it, Bishop of Cashel. He was the first prelate who bore that title de jure, and he was a man who in every respect seems to have been worthy of the eminent dignity to which he was now elevated. He died at Clonard in the year A.D. 1117, according to the Four Masters, who describe him as "the head of the clergy in Ireland (in merit) and lord of the alms deeds of the West of Europe."

If, as the Four Masters say, his death took place in A.D. 1117, it was just two years before the death of his friend Murtogh O'Brian, "King of Munster and of Ireland," the munificent prince who gave over Cashel for religious purposes. Cormac, his successor, was not to be outdone in generosity, so we find that in A.D. 1127 he began to build the beautiful church on the Rock of Cashel, which has ever since been known as Cormac's Chapel. It is sometimes ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, but Petrie conclusively shows that it was begun about A.D. 1127 by Cormac Mac Carthy, and consecrated seven years later in A.D. 1134, as all our annalists declare.

It is a singular fact, too, that Cormac Mac Carthy, shortly after the chapel on the Rock was begun, was driven from his throne by Turlough O'Conor, and was compelled to take refuge at Lismore, and there also "took the staff-bachall"--or crozier[447]--and was honoured with the counsels and friendship of St. Malachy. Hence he is called a bishop-king by a contemporary writer, Maelbrighte, in his copy of the Gospel now preserved in the British Museum. The Four Masters also referring to his murder in A.D. 1138, describe him as Lord of Desmond, and Bishop-king of Ireland; and add, that he was treacherously slain by Turlough, son of Diarmaid O'Brian, a grandson of the previous king. Our own opinion therefore is, that O'Dunan, the noble senior, was the first Bishop of Cashel, that it was Murtough O'Brian gave him his See-lands, and that it was Cormac Mac Carthy, himself a King-bishop, who built the beautiful chapel on the Rock, rather, however, as an episcopal oratory, than as a cathedral properly so called.

Now to return to Cormac Mac Cullinan. He became King of Munster in the year A.D. 900, when, as the Annals of Ulster tell us, there was a 'change of kings' at Cashel, viz.: Cormac Mac Cullinan in the place of Cenngegain, that is Finnguine--the former term was, it seems, a nick-name of the previous king, who became unpopular and was deposed by the tribesmen. Next year he was murdered, but it was by his own kinsmen.

There is no doubt that Cormac was, as we have said, a bishop at this period. He was not Bishop of Emly, for the See was then filled. Neither was he Bishop of Lismore, as some writers have asserted, for his namesake, the Bishop of Lismore, lived until A.D. 1119. It is not necessary, indeed, to assume that he had any See. Hitherto he seems to have been a man of studious habits, as he certainly was a man of great learning. Being a member of the royal family of Munster, it would, so to speak, be the right thing to make him a bishop; but, in all probability, he spent most of his time in retirement at Disert-Diarmada, and was no doubt reluctantly called to the throne, as next in blood, by the revolution which deposed his predecessor.

All our annalists agree in representing Cormac as both a pious and learned prince; but we cannot call him either a great king or a great saint. That he was a just man according to the ordinary standard, he gave proof soon after his accession to the throne of Munster. The old rule of alternate succession between the Eugenian and Dalcassian lines had, as the learned Cormac was well aware, been scandalously violated. He resolved, so far as he could, that justice should be done when his reign would come to an end. Calling around him the chiefs both of Desmond and Thomond, he reminded them of the ancient rule of alternate succession, and confessing that the Eugenian line hitherto had enjoyed more than they were entitled to of the sovereign power, he besought the princes of his own house to consent to the succession of a Dalcassian prince to the throne of Munster. The princes of Desmond listened in respectful silence, and pretended to assent to the proposed arrangement, but afterwards declined to carry it out.

The seven years' reign of Cormac was full of stirring events. The first or second year of his reign was marked by "the expulsion of the Gentiles from Ireland, i.e., from the fortress of Ath-Cliath," as the Annals of Ulster express it. They had, for some years, been losing ground on the eastern coasts, but at this period met with such a crushing disaster from Cearbhall, King of Leinster, that all the foreigners fled from Dublin, half-dead with terror, having left most of their ships behind them. It was the beginning of the 'forty years' rest,' which poor Ireland then enjoyed from their perpetual incursions. No doubt colonies of Danes still remained in the great sea-port towns, which they had built; but they were too much broken down by defeat to risk any new enterprises, and gladly confined themselves within their walls, spending their time rather in trade and commerce than, as hitherto, in war and rapine.

No sooner, however, did the native princes once more breath freely, than they turned their arms against each other. Flann Sionna, son of Maelsechnaill, was then King of Ireland. He had already reigned more than twenty years as Ard-righ; and what is more wonderful still, he was destined to reign sixteen years more, and, strangest of all, to die in his bed. He was a restless and ambitious prince, and seems to have inherited all the ancestral jealousy of the South of Ireland. In A.D. 904 he made a wanton raid into Ossory. Next year he led a hosting against Munster, and in conjunction with Cearbhall, King of Leinster, he plundered all the Golden Vale, from Gowran to Limerick. The men of Munster were now fairly roused, and even the Bishop-king was put upon his mettle. He levied a great army, and marched northwards to meet the troops of Flann and his allies in a fair fight. The rival hosts met on the same field of Magh Lena, which had witnessed the great battle between Conn the Hundred Fighter, and Eoghan Mor. Once more it was North and South arrayed against each other in fratricidal strife, whilst Danish colonies still held all the ports of the kingdom. Of old the North was victorious at Magh Lena; but now fortune favoured the men of Munster. Flann and his allies were completely defeated, and driven off the field. Not content with this victory, the King-bishop crossed the Shannon, and marching into the very heart of Connaught defeated and plundered the Connacians, who were allies of Flann. The hostages of the western provinces were carried off in triumph, and the fleets of Munster sailing up from Killaloe plundered the islands of Lough Ree.

So far no blame can be thrown on the King-bishop. He had merely defended his own territories, and chastised the insolence of an aggressive foe. But the victors were now grown wanton from success, and resolved to carry their triumphant arms into Leinster, as they had already done into Connaught. The pretext for this wanton invasion was the recovery of the old Borrumean tribute, which, it was alleged, the Leinster men had not paid for 200 years, and which the chiefs of Munster were now determined to exact. Cormac was himself entirely opposed to this unjust war. He felt, no doubt, that this alleged non-payment of the tribute was merely a pretext for a war of conquest. But his subjects were full of confidence from previous success; and, moreover, he was urged on to battle by his evil genius, Flaithbeartach, abbot of Inniscathy, a member of the royal house of Munster, and subsequently King of Cashel.

This restless ecclesiastic was the real author of all the evils that followed. He seems to have been a headstrong and impetuous man, fond of strife and prodigal of blood.

Cormac's greatest fault was weakly yielding against his own better judgment to the counsels of this evil adviser, who urged him to prosecute a war which Cormac in his own conscience believed to be unjust. The Leinster King had sent an embassy to Cormac offering to submit the questions at issue to the decision of a friendly conference--meantime asking a cessation from arms, and offering to give as a hostage the abbot of Cormac's own monastery of Disert-Diarmada. Cormac was willing to accept these terms; but the abbot of Inniscathy spurned them and declared he would alone fight the Leinster men. "Then," said Cormac, "I will not desert you, but I feel the issue of this battle will be fatal to me and mine." Thereupon he made his will, leaving rich gifts in gold and vestments to many churches, and desiring that his body should be buried, if possible, at Cloyne; if not, in Disert-Diarmada, where he was educated, and had spent so many quiet and happy years before he was called to bear the burden of a crown.

The battle was fought at Ballaghmoon, close to the ancient Campus Albus, where the great Synod was held in A.D. 630 with reference to the Paschal question. On this historic field the old quarrel of North against South was once more to be fought out. Flann, the King of Erin, and Cathal, son of Conor, King of Connaught, came to aid the King of Leinster with all their forces. On the other side were, besides Cormac and his chiefs, Ceallach, King of Ossory who, like Cormac himself, had suffered much from Flann's previous incursions, and other subordinate kings. From the first the tide of battle turned against the South. The gallant chieftains of Leath-Mogha would not desert their king, but they had no stomach for the fight. Ceallach of Ossory fled ingloriously from the field, and it is said that one Munster prince, a friend of the king, turned his horse's head from the foe, crying out bitterly, "It is a battle brought on by clerics--let the clerics fight it out." Cormac's horse, it is said, slipped in the blood pools, and fell upon his rider, who was thereupon seized and beheaded by a soldier of the North, on a stone which is still shown at Ballaghmoon. The nobles of the South fell thick around him, and the White Field was made red with the blood of the men of Munster. Amongst the slain were several abbots and other ecclesiastics who had followed the King-bishop to the field, but Flaherty, abbot of Inniscathy, the author of all the mischief, succeeded in effecting his escape.

The head of Cormac, after the battle, was carried by some soldiers to King Flann, but he rebuked them for their brutality, and ordered the body of his fallen foe to be sought for on the field of battle, and buried with the head at Disert-Diarmada, which was not far from the fatal field.[448]

IV.--WRITINGS OF CORMAC MAC CULLINAN.

Cormac Mac Cullinan is described by the Four Masters "as a king, a bishop, an anchorite, a scribe, and profoundly learned in the Scotic tongue." The Martyrology of Donegal adds that although he had been married to the celebrated Gormlaith, daughter of Flann, his conqueror, he had always lived a perfect virgin, sleeping covered only with his thin tunic, and frequently immersed in cold water whilst chanting his psaltery. We, however, are more concerned with the king's writings than with his penances. Enough of his works still remain to prove the truth of the Masters' statement, that he was profoundly versed in the Scotic tongue, and we may add, not only in the language, but in the laws, the literature, the history, and the antiquities of his native country.

Cormac's Glossary is a work that is now well known to Irish scholars, thanks to the diligent labour of John O'Donovan and of Dr. Whitley Stokes, by whom it was translated and published in 1868. The book is now a rare and dear one, but invaluable for a student of the Celtic language and literature. It contains quotations from Latin authors, from Irish chronicles, and from the poems of our native bards and ollaves. There are also numerous references to the laws, romances, druidism, and mythology of ancient Erin. From another point of view the work is interesting, not so much for its philological learning, as because it shows the extent and variety of the scholarship, cultivated in our Irish Schools during the ninth century. As O'Curry says--"The author (of the Glossary) traces a great many of the words, either by derivation from, or comparison with, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin, the British, and (as he calls it) the Northmantic language, and it contains at least one Pictish word--Cartait--almost the only word of the Pictish language that we possess."[449] There is no work in any living European language that gives such evident proof of high culture in the ninth century as this most interesting monument of Celtic learning.

A second great work that has been usually attributed to Cormac is the Psalter of Caiseal. O'Donovan in his learned Introduction to the Book of Rights explains, we think, very satisfactorily the conflicting statements that have been made by Irish scholars with reference to this famous compilation. Colgan and Keating, two eminent authorities, both ascribe to Cormac Mac Cullinan the composition of that noble work, "which," says Colgan, "has always been held in the highest estimation." On the other hand, Connell Macgeoghegan, the translator of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, ascribes it to Brian Boru, and that, too, in the most formal language. Stranger still, Colgan himself, in another passage attributes the famous Chronicle called the Psalter of Caiseal to St. Benignus, the favourite disciple of St. Patrick; but he cautiously adds that Benignus began its composition--inchoavit et composuit--which can be well reconciled with what he says of Cormac Mac Cullinan's share in the work. In a word, Benignus began it, and made it suitable to his own time; Cormac enlarged and perfected it, making all the necessary changes in point of language and matter, which the lapse of 350 years imperatively demanded; and finally, in the time of King Brian Boru it may, as Macgeoghegan asserts, have been still further corrected and enlarged to suit the needs of the time, and then formally approved of by that monarch, as well as by his bishops and his nobles.

St. Benignus, though born in Meath, was of Munster origin. St. Patrick sent him to preach especially in those districts which he did not himself visit. Hence Benignus, we are told, went through Kerry and Corcomroe in his missionary labours; but particularly devoted himself to Southwestern Connaught, and built his chief church at Kilbannon, near Tuam. He also specially blessed that province, the natives of which still affectionately revere the memory of the gentle saint with the sweet voice and winning gracious ways.

Now, when the Munstermen heard of the preference and the blessings which Benignus gave to Galway, they were jealous, and complained that he slighted his own kindred. So to please them, Benignus went down to Caiseal, and remained there from Shrovetide to Easter, composing in his own sweet numbers a learned book, which would immortalise the province of his kinsmen, and be useful, moreover, both to her princes and to her people.

Such was the beginning of the Psalter of Caiseal, the great Domesday Book of the South, written in verse, and recording the sub-divisions of the kingdom, the rights and privileges of its various sub-kings, the gifts they were entitled to receive from the King of Caiseal, the boundaries of their territories, and so forth. A portion of this primitive Psalter of Caiseal appears to have been embodied in the existing work, the authorship of which, although not in its present form, has been rightly attributed to the same St. Benignus.

Cormac Mac Cullinan in his own day undertook to re-edit this Psalter of Caiseal, and no man was better qualified for the purpose, both by his office and by his learning. In the accomplishing of his task he was assisted by his secretary, Selbach, the Sage, a Munster poet, whom Colgan describes as a man of singular piety and learning,[450] and also by Ængus, another sage, of whom nothing else is known. Several poems have been likewise attributed to Cormac, but their authenticity is very doubtful.

Colgan, Keating, and Sir James Ware all speak of the Psalter of Caiseal as extant in their own time; but it has since unhappily disappeared, although a very considerable fragment is contained in a MS. now in the Bodleian Library of Oxford. That MS. was, O'Donovan tells us, transcribed in A.D. 1453 for Mac Richard Butler, by Shane O'Cleary, doubtless a member of the famous antiquarian family of that name. It contains several ancient poems and other treatises which undoubtedly formed part of the Psalter of Caiseal as compiled by King Cormac.

Besides his share in the composition of the Psalter of Caiseal, Selbach, Cormac's learned secretary, is also said to have been the author of a work well known to Irish scholars as the Naoimh-Senchus, or poetical history of the saints of Erin. It is one of the authorities which Michael O'Clery constantly quotes in the Martyrology of Donegal; and Colgan expressly attributes its authorship to Selbach the Sage, or, as he calls him in Latin, Selvacius, and he frequently cites that work under his name.[451] The Naoimh-Senchus has also, but with less probability, been attributed to Ængus Ceile De, of whom we have already spoken.

There is an excellent copy of this ancient poem in the Book of Leacan;[452] there was another copy in the Burgundian Library of Brussels, which is, we believe, now in the Franciscan Convent, Merchants' Quay, Dublin.

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