Irish Saints of May: Saorghas of Druim

The study of the lives of the early Irish saints is often complicated by the fact that there are so many who share the same name. One saint, however, who will not be filed under the 'homonymous saints' tag is Saorghas of Druim, commemorated on May 30, as he is the only saint of this name to be found in the Irish calendars. The name, however, is known from other sources, with the Annals of the Four Masters, for example, recording the death of a ninth-century abbot of Durrow of this name. Pádraig Ó Riain, whose spelling of the name Saorghas I am using here, suggests in his new Dictionary of Irish Saints that he may also be the Saorghas Doithneannach recorded in hagiography as giving a blessing to Bearach son of Meisceall. The locality with which our saint is associated is hard to pin down, although Canon O'Hanlon does his best below, he also brings us a variety of other renderings of the name:

St. Fergussius, of Druim-Bile, otherwise, St. Saergusa Bile, or Saerghos, of Druim.

Saergusa bile is the description we find entered for this saint, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 30th of May. However, the Bollandists, who cite the same authority place Faergussius de Druim-bile, at this date, and probably, it is the more correct rendering. There is a townland, called Drumbilla, in the parish of Roche, and barony of Upper Dundalk, in the county of Louth; while it seems to be the only nearly corresponding denomination, among the other townland names in Ireland. Yet, it is hardly probable, notwithstanding, that it was the place of Fergussius, Saergusa, or Saerghos. This holy man appears to have been identified, with Soergussius, or Saerghus, an abbot of Dearmhach or Durrow, and who died A.D. 835. The identification, however, cannot be relied upon, as being quite conclusive. The same day, veneration was given to Saerghos, of Druim, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. In the table appended, this name is written Saorghuss, and Latinized, Sergius. ....

Irish Saints of May: The Seven Bishops of Tigh na Comairce

May 28 brings the commemoration on the calendars of a group of saints, The Seven Bishops of Tigh na Comairce. This group is one of a number of such commemorations recorded on the Irish calendars, in an earlier post on the Seven Bishops of Aelmagh, Canon O'Hanlon suggested that such groupings probably reflect the use of sacred numbers in a Christian context. Neither are these septets exclusively male, a few days ago we looked at the Seven Daughters of Fergus and previously at the Seven Virgins of Armagh. It is possible in some of these cases to find names for the individuals who comprise the grouping recorded in the sources, but more usually, as in this case, further specific details are lacking. The 17th-century Donegal scholars who compiled the Martyrology of Donegal identified the locality of our episcopal saints as lying in their own county:

The Seven Bishops, of Tigh-na-Comairce.

At the 28th of May, the Martyrology of Tallagh registers Secht n. Esp. o Thigh na Comairce. The Bollandists have a notice - on the same authority - for the Seven Bishops of Teg-na-Comairre, at this date. As will be seen, there is probably a typographical error, in spelling the name of this locality. The place is said to have been within the present parish of Clonleigh, in the barony of Raphoe, and county of Donegal.  There is a Tigh-na-Comairce, in Tir Conaill, near to Loch Feabhail - now Lough Foyle - as we are told by the O'Clerys. The Martyrology of Donegal, on this day, records a festival, in honour of the Seven Bishops, of Tigh-na-Comairce. Under the head of Teach-na-Comairce, Duald Mac Firbis enters, the Seven Bishops from Teach-na-Comairce, at May 28th. We are informed, likewise, that Teach-na-Comairce is in the parish of Clonleigh, and in the county of Donegal.

Irish Saints of May: Ethern of Donoughmore

On May 27 the Irish calendars remember a a County Meath bishop, Saint Ethern of Donoughmore. Following the work of the nineteenth-century scholar John O'Donovan, Canon O'Hanlon places the saint's locality of Domhnach-mór-mic-Laithbhe 'the great church of the son of Laithbe' near Slane, a position which is still accepted by the recent authoritative work, A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Professor Ó Riain, however adds that Saint Ethern was himself the son of Laithbe, alluded to in the place name and that May 27 probably represents an octave day of the May 20 festival of Saint Mac Laithbhe. He also quotes from the Patrician texts in the Book of Armagh that among the churches founded by Saint Patrick in Meath was a great Domhnach 'for the son of Laithbe' which may have been Donoughmore. Thus this would place our Bishop Ethern among the earliest of the Irish saints. Canon O'Hanlon brings us the details from the calendars:

St. Ethian or Ethern, Bishop of Donoughmore Mic-Laithbhe, in Mughdorna.

In the Martyrology of Tallagh, this saint's name appears, at the 27th of May, as Ethirn, Bishop of Domhnach mor. On the same authority, the Bollandists enter Ethernus, Episcopus de Domnach-Mor. There was a Mughdhorna-Breagh in Ireland, but its position is not well known. From the church of this saint having been here placed within the territory of Mughdorna, Dr. O'Donovan thinks it highly probable, he must have been connected with Donoughmore, near Slane, and in the county of Meath. The Martyrology of Donegal enters a festival on this day, in honour of Ethern, Bishop, of Domhnach-mór-mic-Laithbhe, in Mughdorna. Under the head of Domhnach-mic-Laithbhe, likewise, Duald Mac Firbis enters Bishop Ethern, for May 27th.

Irish Saints of May: Colman Steallan of Terryglass

May 26 is the commemoration of Saint Colman Steallan, a saint of the monastery of Terryglass, County Tipperary. This foundation produced a number of notable holy men including Saint Columb, one of the '12 Apostles of Ireland' and Maeldithruib the anchorite. The manner in which the name of today's saint has been recorded in the calendars has given rise to some confusion, as Canon O'Hanlon explains in his account below. The latest authoritative guide to the saints of Ireland, Pádraig Ó Riain's 2011 A Dictionary of Irish Saints, accepts Colmán Stiallán as one individual, and suggests that the epithet Stiallán attached to the name of this particular Colman may perhaps be translated as 'the little strip'. Canon O'Hanlon records this of the little strip of Terryglass, in Volume V of his Lives of the Irish Saints:

St. Colman Steallan, of Terryglass, County of Tipperary [Sixth and Seventh Centuries.]

At the 26th of May, we find inserted, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, the name of Colman Stellain, Tirdoghlass, now Terryglass, as having been venerated. The Bollandists also follow this statement, and have some references to Colgan's work, where allusions are made to our saint. The present holy man is placed in order of succession, after the Abbot Natchoemius or Mochoeminus—said to have been brother to St. Coemgenus, and who died, a.d. 584. The festival in honour of Steallan—as simply entered—of Tir-dá,-glas, was celebrated on this day, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. In the table, postfixed to this work, we find his name Latinized Stellanus. It would seem, that this record, as published, distinguishes a St. Colman from the present St. Stellan, for there appears a separate entry of both these names. Marianus O'Gorman follows the Martyrology of Tallagh, in uniting both names, apparently for one person, who was venerated on this day, at Terryglass, on the eastern border of Lough Dearg, Other writers—such as Archbishop Ussher and our annalists—call him by the name of Colmanus Stellanus. However, there can hardly be any doubt, that this latter must be the proper entry, for in the "Annals of the Four Masters," we read, that St. Colman Stellan of Tir-da-ghlas, died on the 26th of May, A.D. 624. With this agrees, likewise, the entry of his departure, in the "Chronicum Scotorum." Other accounts place his death at 625; while Archbishop Ussher has it so late as 634. The festival of Stellan was observed on the 25th of May, as we find it in the "Feilire" of St. Aengus; and, appended to this notice is an Irish comment, in that copy, contained in the "Leabhar Breac," which is followed by a Latin one, giving the series of Abbots, for Tir-da-glas and Cluain eidnech. It seems doubtful, notwithstanding, whether Colman should be separated from Stellan; but, many writers regard them as one and the same person.

Irish Saints of May: Criumther Cael of Kilmore

Among the saints commemorated on the Irish calendars at May 25 is a Saint Criumther Cael, whose memory is preserved in the earliest of the surviving calendars, the Martyrology of Tallaght. There he is associated with a locality called Kilmore, literally 'large or great church' which Canon O'Hanlon seeks to place in County Cavan, although as he admits below, he has no firm evidence for doing so, given that Ireland is awash with places called Kilmore:

St. Criumther Cael, of Kilmore, Probably in the County of Cavan.

An entry appears, at the 25th of May, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, regarding this saint. There too, he is said to have been connected with Cill moir, which corresponds with the modern Kilmore. The Bollandists, on the same authority, record his name as Crumtherus Coel, sive Presbyter, at this same date. It is probable, that what follows is only a double entry of this feast, viz., Coelius de Killmor. This place was probably Kilmore, the seat of the bishop's See, in the present county of Cavan; although, this is by no means certain, for many other places in Ireland have received a like name, owing we suppose to the fact of a great church having been erected, in each place so denominated. On this day, likewise, the Martyrology of Donegal mentions the veneration of Cruimther Cael, of Cill-mor.

Irish Saints of May: The Seven Daughters of Fergus

Canon O'Hanlon has as his fifth article for May 24 an account of a group of Irish holy women denominated by their patronymic, The Seven Daughters of Fergus. In the Martyrology of Tallaght the daughters are associated with the locality of Inis Cealtra, an island monastery in the west of Ireland which produced a couple of better-known saints, its founder Saint Caimin and the scholarly Saint Coelan, a reputed biographer of Saint Brigid. It is interesting to note that the Daughters of Fergus may have enjoyed a cultus in Scotland as the Seven Maidens of Inverey. Canon O'Hanlon's source, the work on the Scottish calendars by Bishop Forbes, doesn't seem terribly conclusive and left me wondering if the Chapel of Inverey itself had an independent commemoration of the Seven Maidens at May 24, or if Forbes had simply tried to read across the feast from the Martyrology of Tallaght in an attempt to find an identification for these Scottish saints. His account says:

SEVEN MAIDENS.  May 24. - In Braemar is the chapel of the Seven Maidens, at Inverey, where the family of Farquharson bury their dead. - (V.D.A. p. 641.)
In the Martyrology of Tallaght, at this day, we have "Secht ningena Fergusa in Inis Cealtra." In that of Donegal, "The seven daughters of Fergus of Tigh-ingen-Ferghusa".

Alexander Penrose Forbes, D.C.L. Bishop of Brechin, Kalendars of Scottish Saints, (1872), 447. 

His source, V.D.A., View of the Diocese of Aberdeen , confirms only the dedication of the Braemar chapel to the Seven Maidens and its use as a family burying site by the Farquharson family.  The writer of a paper on the Traces of the Cultus of the Nine Maidens in Scotland, is not entirely convinced of the identification of the Inverey chapel with the Irish maidens commemorated on May 24, and states on page 260 that there is 'some doubt' surrounding this claim by Bishop Forbes.

Bishop Forbes was not the only commentator who attempted to identify these holy women, the 17th-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, sought to equate them with a group of seven nuns who assisted at the sixth-century Synod of Drum Ceatt. I'm not sure though that his evidence is any more substantial, but at least it is interesting to note that a group of female monastics were recorded as participants at this Synod.

So, we seem to be faced with a number of conflicting theories about the identity of the Seven Daughters of Fergus:

1. They are, as the Martyrology of Tallaght claims, associated with the locality of Inis Cealtra, the holy island of County Clare.  I was under the impression though that this was a male foundation.

2. They are, as Colgan claims, associated with a location called Teach na ninghean, literally 'the house of the daughters' and are perhaps to be identified with the seven nuns of Tir-na-Fiachra Aine who took part in the Synod of Drum Ceatt.

3. They are, as Bishop Forbes claims, the Seven Maidens to whom a chapel in Inverey, Scotland, is dedicated.  This theory would stand up better if the Scottish calendars recorded a feast day for these Seven Maidens on May 24th independently from the Irish. This does not, however, seem to be the case.

Canon O'Hanlon records:

The Seven Daughters of Ferghus, of Tigninghin Ferghusa, or of Inis-Cealtra, County of Galway.

The Martyrology of Tallagh records Secht ningena Fergusa in Inis Cealtra, at the 24th of May. This is now known as Inis-crealtra, an island and parish in the counties of Clare and Galway. The Bollandists also record their festival, for this day. But Colgan seems to connect them with Teach na ninghean, in Connaught. He says, they were perhaps those seven nuns of Tir-na-Fiachra Aine, who assisted at the great Synod in Dromcheat, in the year 580. The extent of Ui Fiachrach Aidhne is shown on the Irish Maps, prefixed to the "Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, commonly called O'Kelly's Country ". A festival in honour of the Seven Daughters of Fergus, of Tigh-inghen-Ferghusa, was celebrated on this day, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. Under the title of the Seven Maidens, they seem to have been venerated, likewise, in Scotland.

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Irish Saints of May: Comman

At May 23 we can add another name to the long list of obscure Irish saints, whose only memorial is their entry in the Irish calendars. A Saint Comman appears in the earliest of these, the Martyrology of Tallaght, and Canon O'Hanlon directs us to a County Wicklow location called Kilcommon, before conceding that it may not be connected to this saint or indeed to any of the other eleven saints Comman commemorated in the Irish calendars:

ST. COMMAN

An entry of St. Comman is registered, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 23rd of May. The Bollandists quote the same authority, for this insertion of his name,at this date. No place, genealogy or title is afforded to distinguish him, from others bearing a similar name. Quite convenient to the Dublin and Wicklow Railway, and about one mile from the town of Rathdrum, the old graveyard of Kilcommon rises on the side of a commanding hill. This place has been mush used for interments. Several old trees and bushed grow around it. On the north side, there are only a few interments. On the south side, the graveyard is separated by a deep trench from the fields adjoining. An old ruined church remains within the enclosure. The east end is partly standing and veiled over with thick ivy plants. There is a small ruinous window in it, with a chiselled jam remaining, in which square punched holes are to be seen, as if intended for crossing iron bars. A small square recess is in this same wall, and near the window. The window was about 3 feet, 4 inches in length and 1 foot, 6 inches in breadth. A mere fragment of the south walls continues to show the outline, and in it are the apparent traces of a window, not far from the earth. The remains of the walls, levelled with the ground, only reveal the former extent of this old church. Interiorly, it measures 40 feet in length by 21 feet in breadth, and its walls were over two feet in thickness. The walls were built of granite.  Of course, it cannot be asserted with any degree of certainty, this place had been connected with the present, or even with any of the other eleven Comans or Commans, noted in our calendars, at different days of the year. We find the name Comman, also, simply entered in the Martyrology of Donegal, as having been venerated on this day.

Brendan and Briga - The Benedict and Scholastica of Ireland

One of the best-known Irish saints whose feast day falls in the month of May must be Saint Brendan the Navigator. I have already made a number of posts on the sailor saint of Clonfert, including an exhaustive series of notes on his life from the Irish Ecclesiastical Record, which can be found in the May 2009 archive. The hagiographical tradition associates Saint Brendan with a sister called Briga. She is one of a number of saints who bear this name, most of whom are untraceable. The hagiographical tradition, however, associates Saint Briga with a foundation at Annaghdown, County Galway, established for her by her saintly brother. The Life of Saint Brendan records that when his end was approaching, Brendan retired to this monastery and died there in the year 577. The Life also records that as children, both Brendan and Briga were sent to be educated by Bishop Erc, where Brendan recognized the holiness of his sibling:

vi. (12) Brig, daughter of Findlug, his sister, was with him there, and great was his love for her, for he saw the attendance of angels above her. 

C. Plummer, ed. and trans., Life of Brendan of Clonfert, Bethada Náem nÉrenn – Lives of Irish Saints, Vol. II (Oxford, 1922), 46.

It was the hint of this warm relationship between the two which led one Irish commentator to to describe Brendan and Briga as 'the Benedict and Scholastica of Ireland'. In the following extract from a paper on the Diocese of Annaghdown, Father Jerome Fahey provides an introduction to the monastery of Annaghdown, which he charmingly suggests had 'the attractiveness of another Subiaco' at the time our saints were living there.  The paper begins with a reference to the 1872 work of Sir William Wilde, Lough Corrib: its shores and islands with notices of Lough Mask, from which the illustration of the ruined abbey has been taken. I have extracted only the first couple of pages from Father Fahey's paper as most of the article is taken up with an account of the later medieval history of the diocese and its eventual suppression:


Diocese of Annaghdown
by the Very Rev. J. Fahey, D.D., V.G., P.P.

Our antiquarians are no doubt familiar with the series of graphic sketches, in which the gifted Sir William Wilde has illustrated with pen and pencil the islands and shores of the Corrib. To say that these sketches are worthy of their distinguished author is no small measure of praise. I may perhaps add that his chapter on Annaghdown, is one of the most interesting and valuable of the series.     He tells us how the little headland which extends there into the waters of the Corrib derived its designation from its local characteristics, the "dun" or fort which existed there, and the Eanach or marsh with which it is surrounded. He tells us how St. Brendan and his Sister St. Briga, the Benedict and Scholastica of Ireland, came to reside there; and invested the place for a period at least, with the attractiveness of another Subiaco.  His pencil gives us with the strictest fidelity, the Cathedral, the Episcopal residence, and the old monasteries, all hoary ruins. And the massive Norman Keep, he has also sketched, which lifts its battlements high above the Wells of St. Brendan and St. Cormack, and speaks to us of a feudalism long past which has no where in Ireland a larger number of monuments than on the plains of Moy Soela.  But the subject of my paper does not permit me to do more than make a passing reference to many of those objects of historical interest, grouped together on the little promontory of Annaghdown.

My paper recalls the existence of a Diocese to which this headland has given its name; a Diocese which has ceased to exist for so long a period as to be now practically forgotten.  We shall see that the period of its independent existence was connected with a troubled time in the history of our country, and reflects for us in a peculiar light, many of the strange events of that period. And though its brief period of independence secured for it a remarkable prominence, and a notoriety not always enviable, it is a curious fact that the exact dates of its foundation and suppression, seem to remain to our time enveloped in obscurity.

There is no doubt that long before a Bishop had fixed his See at Annaghdown, the place itself was invested with a special religious and historical interest. It was one of those Sanctuaries which gemmed the islands and shores of the Corrib, in the sixth and seventh centuries, when the "holy foreigner" lived alone at Inchigall;  when St. Fechin and his monks laid the foundations of their historic monastery at Cong, when religion in its most austere form, attracted to Inchiquin, and Kilursa, many members of the royal houses both of Connaught and of Munster. It was then that St. Brendan one of the most remarkable of our early Saints, selected the little promontory of Enaghdun, to be for a brief period his chosen place of prayer and repose. His marvellous labours which won for him the well merited title of "Pater laboriosus, " were nearly accomplished. His memorable voyages supplied his contemporaries with themes more wonderful than were furnished by the energy of Columbus to the people of his age.  On the neighbouring island of Inchiquin, he had founded a monastery which he had placed under the wise guidance of St. Meldan, and there he had the happiness of blessing the marvellous child St. Fursey, whose future greatness he forecast with prophetic accuracy. His great Church and Monastery at Clonfert, he had completed and placed under the charge of his friend and companion St. Moennean. And here at Enaghdun he had built a monastery for his holy Sister Briga and her nuns, whose privilege it should be to witness his last moments, and close his eyes in the last blissful sleep. His death at Annaghdown, A.D., 577, at the venerable age of 94, was regarded by his contemporaries as an event of national importance. The funeral procession from Annaghdown to Clonfert was made up of a vast multitude from every part of Ireland, and was the most imposing demonstration of reverential regard for holiness of life which the century had witnessed.

It was but natural that the character of St. Briga should lend a still more impressive interest to that remote spot. When, therefore, an independent Diocese was established in that territory, we cannot be surprised that St. Brendan should be selected as it patron; that the place so associated with his life and death, should be selected as the fitting site for the Cathedral, and that its name should be chosen to designate the Diocese… 

Rev. J. Fahey, ‘Diocese of Annaghdown’  in Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, Volume III, (1903-4), No. II, 102-113.

Fugitive Saint: Dympna of Gheel

Saint Dympna - or Davnet of Ireland may belong to legend or mythology; Saint Dympna of Gheel to a holy tradition: 'Saint-Dympna-of-Today belongs to us all. She is part, as it were, of our national innocence...
...While the secret of Creation remains hidden from the wise and the prudent, it does seem to be revealed from time to time through this little saint whose century and nationality is quite obscure.
Rejected from the acta of saints, she is paradoxically become the lode-star of the lost ones and has quietly but firmly established herself as their advocate.
"Saint Dympna!" They cried long ago - AND THEY STILL DO -
"Saint Dympna - pray for us". 

Angela Verne, Fugitive Saint (Farnworth, 1961), 201-202.

Saint Comgall and the Mice

...There came a time of famine in Ireland, and there was not food enough to go around, as has often happened there from the earliest days until even now. Comgall and his household at Bangor were very hungry. But what made it hardest to bear was that they knew where there was plenty of food close by, if only they could get it. For Croadh was a great Prince who lived in the neighborhood, and Croadh had barns and storehouses full of grain which could be made into bread. But he was a selfish, stingy man and would not give away or even sell his stores, for he would rather see the people starve. Now Croadh had a wicked old mother living in his palace, who was even more cruel than himself. Her name was Luch, and Luch means in Irish "the Mouse." And it was her name which put an idea into Comgall's head.

After sending all sorts of messengers to beg Croadh to give them some of his grain; after trying all sorts of ways to make him sell it, Comgall went himself to the Prince's palace to see what he could do. He carried with him a beautiful silver goblet which had been given him by some one as a present, and it was worth many bushels of grain.

Comgall strode into the Prince's hall and stood before Croadh holding out the goblet in his hand. And he said, —

"Here, O Prince, is a valuable thing. We are starving in the monastery, and silver we cannot eat. Give me and my monks some of your golden grain and I will exchange for it the silver cup. Be merciful, Croadh, and hear me." But the Chief only laughed and said mockingly, "Not so. You keep your silver goblet and I will keep my golden grain. Your beggarly pupils shall not eat of my stores. I want all, every grain, for my old Mouse." And by that word he meant his mother, the black-eyed, wrinkled, gray old Luch, whose name meant "the Mouse." For she was the most miserly, wicked, old woman in the world, and she had made him promise not to give up any of the grain. Then Comgall was angry, because he saw that the Prince meant to see the people starve.

"Very well," he said, fixing his eyes sternly upon Croadh, "as you have said, so shall it be. The mouse shall have your grain." And drawing his robe about him he strode home with the useless silver goblet.

As I have said, the mice were Comgall's friends. He had only to call them and explain what the hard-hearted Prince had done; he had only to tell the mice what he wished them to do, and the matter was settled. The word spread through the kingdom of the mice, carried by the quickest messenger with the shortest tail. All the mice became enemies of Croadh. And there were many mice in Bangor in those days.

That very night when every one was asleep, out of every hole and corner came peeping little pointed noses and quivering whiskers. And a great procession of long-tailed tiny things formed into line and crept along, and along, up the hill, and up the walls, and into the barns of Croadh. A legion of mice, thousands upon thousands of them in a gray-uniformed army, pounced upon the Prince's precious grain and ate up every kernel.

So the next morning when Croadh went to his barns he found them empty. There was not so much as a single yellow dot of grain left anywhere. But out of every crack and crevice peeped a pair of twinkling black eyes which watched him saucily. Then Croadh began to bellow and roar with anger, and the wicked old woman Luch, his mother, came hobbling in to see what was the matter. But when the mice saw her they gave a chorus of fierce squeaks as if crying "Mouse! Mouse! Mouse!"

Then Croadh remembered what Comgall had said, that the mouse should have his grain after all. And he guessed what the Saint had meant, and knew that Comgall had taken this way to punish a selfish and cruel man.

Abbie Farwell Brown, The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts (NY 1900), 148-155