"I give thefe. Baoki
' for- the founding cf a. ColUge in/tMs- Colony!'

• iLniBisiBJsy •

1930

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IRISH SAINTS

IN GREAT BRITAIN

IEISH SAINTS

IN GEEAT BEITAIN.

EIGHT REV. PATRICK F. MORAN, D.D.,
liskra of i

DUBLIN:
M. H. GILL & SON, 50, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET ;
BROWNE & NOLAN, NASSAU-STREET.
1879.

PRINTED BY BROWNE AND NOLAN, NASSAU-STREET, DUBLIN.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons, ... 1
Irish Settlements on the British Coasts. — SS. Ursula and
Sedulius. — St. Brenach. — Conversion of Brecan of Breck
nockshire. — SS. Cynog and Keyna. — St. Germanus. —
St. Tathai. — St. Cadoc the Wise. — Irish Saints in Corn
wall. — St. Buriana. — St. Livin. — St. Breaca. — St. Fingu-
aire. — St. Hia. — Memorials of Irish Saints along the
Western Coast of Britain. — St. Serigi.
CHAPTER II.
Irish Saints in the Monasteries of Britain and
Armoriua, ... ... ... ... 22
Glastonbury of the Irish. — St. David's Monastery at
Menevia. — St. Kieran at St. Iltud's Monastery. — Padstow.
— Irish Chieftains on the British Coast. — SS. Samson
and Iltud. — St. Gildas. — Monastery of Llandeveneck. —
St. Joava. — SS. Magloire and Machut. — SS. Kybi and
Padam. — St. Constantine. — Cadwallon and Cadwaladar.
CHAPTER III.
Missionary Labours of St. Columba and his Com
panions in Scotland, ... ... ... 53
Fame of Ireland in the Sixth Century. — Early years of
St. Columba.— His Virtues.— Visit to St. Molaise.— The
Companions of his Pilgrimage. — Iona,, — St. Columba's
love of Discipline.— His Visits to Cohal, King of Dalriada,
and Brude, King of the Picts. — His Labours among the
Picts.— The Monastery of Tears.— -St. Moluog.—SS. Don
nan and his Companions Martyrs. — St. Molios. — SS. Fin
nan and Mochouna. — The Four Founders of Monasteries.
— Sea Voyages of St. Cormac. — Eilean-na-naoimh. —
St, Columba at Druimceatt. — His love of Ireland. — The
Monastery of Derry. — St. Columba punishes injustice
done to the Poor. — His Visit to St. Kentigern. — His
Pilgrimage to Kome. — Inchcolm. — Heavenly favours
granted to St. Columba. — His Death.

VI. CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.
The Successors of St. Columba in Iona, ... 103
St. Baethen. — SS. Laisren and Fergna. — St. Cummian's
Writings. — St. Adamnan's Visits to King Aldfrid. — The
"Lex Innocentium." — Adamnan's Works.— His fame for
Sanctity. — Relics which he collected. — The Rule of Life
observed in Iona. — The Mass. — Sign of the Cross. —
Prayers for the Dead. — The Religious Habit.— Presby
terian Fallacies regarding Iona. — Succession of Abbots.
CHAPTER V.
Irish Saints in the Kingdom of Strathclyde, ... 127
Early Irish Settlements in Strathclyde. — St. Patrick's
Birthplace. — St. Ninian studies in Rome. — The Monas
tery of Whitherne. — St. Ninian's Cave. — His connection
with Ireland. — Irish Saints at Whitherne. — St. Modenna.
Her Sanctuary at Maidenkirk. — St. Kentigern under the
care of St. Servan.— His Monastery at Glasgow. — Austeri
ties of St. Kentigern. — He visits Wales. — Founds a
Monastery at St. Asaph's. — Rederech, King of Strath
clyde. — Some Memorials of St. Kentigern.— The Queen's
Ring. — St. Servan.— St. Conval. — Revival of Devotion to
this Saint  St. Bea. — Synod of Rome in a.d. 721.
CHAPTER VI.
Other Irish Saints in Scotland, ... ... 163
Irish Kingdom of Dalriada  St. Kieran of Ossory. —
St. Buite. — St. Modan's Sanctuaries. — St. Bridget's
Monastery at Abernethy. — Irish origin of Scottish Sees. —
St. Finian of Moville. — St. Coemghen. — St. Moanus. —
St. Berchan. — St. Senanus. — St. Finbar. — St. Fechin. —
St. Ernan. — SS. Ethernan and Itharnasch.— St. Fintan
Munnu. — St. Beccan. — St. Flannan. — St. Dabius. —
St. Gervad. — SS. Momhaedog and Tallarican.
CHAPTER VII.
Close Union of the Churches of Scotland and
Ireland, ... ... ... ... Igg
St. Fiacre.— St. Maelrubha.— St. Fillan.— St. Eonan.— Irish
Saints in the Islands off the Scottish Coasts. — They
penetrate to Iceland, and probably also to America. 
Martyrdom of St. Blaithmac. — St. Cadroe.— St. Dub-
thach. — St. Malachy.— Legends regarding SS. Regulus
and Boniface. — St. Adrian and his Companions Martvrs
—The Culdees.

CONTENTS. Vll.
PAGE
CHAPTER VIII.
First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons, ... ... 205
St. Gregory the Great sends the First Missionaries to the
Anglo-Saxons. — The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.— Conver
sion of Ethelbert King of Kent, and his People. — The
Kingdom of Essex also converted. — Archbishop Lauren
tius and St. Dagan of Inverdaoile. — Four points of Dif
ference between the Irish and the Continental Churches,
— The British Clergy unable to evangelize the Saxons. —
Kent and Essex fall away from the Faith. — Conversion
and Apostacy of tbe Northumbrians. — King Oswald's Vic
tory at Heavenfield. — Religion restored in Northumbria.
CHAPTER IX.
St. Aidan, First Bishop of Lindisfarne, Apostle of
Northumbria. ... ... ... 222
Early Life of St. Aidan. — Lindisfarne. — Virtues of St. Aidan.
— His efforts to train up a Native Clergy.— His Apostolic
Labours. — King Oswald interprets his Sermons for the
People. — Aidan at the Royal Table. — His care for the
Poor. — He adheres to the Irish Customs. — Foundation
of Mailros. — Coldingham. — St. Aidan's Hermitage in
Fame Island. — Death of Oswald.— Character of this Pious
Prince. — The Fortress of Bamborough saved by the
prayers of Aidan. — Oswin, King of Deira. — Death of
St. Aidan.

CHAPTER X.
The Immediate Successors of St. Aidan, ... 246
St. Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne  Monasteries founded
by King Oswy. — Tbe Paschal controversy. — St. Colman,
Bishop of Lindisfarne. — Anglo-Saxons flock to the Irish
Schools. — SS. Wigbert and Willibrord. — The Conference
at Whitby in a.d. 664. — Decision of King Oswy.—
Character of the Irish Monks of Lindisfarne. —
St. Colman withdraws to Iona. — He founds Monasteries
at ' Mayo ofthe Saxons ' and Inisbofin.

Vill. CONTENTS. PAGE
CHAPTER XI.
St. Cuthbert, ... ... ... 268
SS. Tuda and Eata. — St. Cuthbert born in Ireland. — His
early years. — He tends flocks on the Lamrnermoor. — His
life in the monastery of Mailros. — His hermitage at Dull .
His austerities. — Succeeds Boisil as Prior. — His charity
to pilgrims. -Apostolic zeal. — St. Cuthbert in Lindis
farne. — He retires to Fame Island. — Is appointed Bishop.
Death of King Egfrid. — St. Cuthbert's virtues anct
miracles. — His friendship for Herbert of Derwentwater.
He protects the home of his foster-mother. — Visits the
monasteries of Coldingham, Whitby, and Tynemouth. —
St. Cuthbert's death. — Popular veneration for his memory.
— Character of King Aldfrid of Northumbria.
CHAPTER XII.
Irish Missions in the other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, 303
Influence of Northumbria on the other Anglo-Saxon King
doms. — Conversion of Mid-Angles. — SS. Diuma and
Cellach. — St. Chad.— Sigebert, King ofthe East Saxons,
embraces the Faith.— St. Cedd. — Bishop Jaruman. — The
East Angles.— Virtues of St. Fursey. — His Monastery at
Cnobbersburg. — The Visions of St. Fursey. — His labours
among the East Angles. — His life in France.— He visits
Rome.— His Death. — His Relics. — The Companions of
St. Fursey. — Irish Monks the Pioneers of the Faith in
Sussex — Conversion of the West Saxons.— Agilbert and
Mailduff. — St. Aldhelm. — The Irish Missions crowned
with success.

IRISH SAINTS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAPTER I.
FIRST FRUITS OF IRISH PIETY AMONG THE BRITONS.
Irish Settlements on the British Coasts : — SiS. Ursula and Sedulius : —
St. Brenach: — Conversion of Brecan of Brecknockshire: —
SS. Cynog and Keyna: — St. Germanus: — St. Tathai: —
St. Cadoc the Wise: — Irish Saints in Cornwall: — St. Buriana : —
St. Livin : — St. Breaca : — St. Finguaire : — St. Hia : — Memorials
of Irish Saints along the Western Coast of Britain: — St. Serigi.
Before the close of the fourth century armed bands of
our countrymen had begun to occupy the western coasts
of Great Britain. One colony, which settled immediately
north of the Clyde, formed, in a short time, an indepen
dent principality, and, in the course of centuries,
subjected the neighbouring territories to its sway, and
placed its chieftain on the throne of Scotland. Other
Irish colonists, with varying fortunes, seated themselves
in Galloway and Cumberland, and on the banks of the
Mersey. All along the Welsh coast, and down to the
English channel, they made the whole country, in great
part, their own ; and such was the terror which they
inspired, and so great the influence which they exercised,
that they seemed for a time to have within their grasp
the sovereignty of the whole island. Indeed, so helpless B

2 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
were the Britons after the withdrawal of the legions of
Imperial Borne, that the Irish troops marched in
triumph through the very heart of Britain, and it was
only in the vicinity of London that they were checked
in their victorious career.1 More than one of our Irish
monarchs even assumed the title of King of Alba ; and
of one of them (Muirchertach Mac Erca, who died in
a.d. 533,) it is recorded that, in addition to his Irish
titles, he styled himself " King of the Britons, Franks,
and Saxons."2 We learn also from a very ancient Irish
record that so extensive were the settlements of our
countrymen in Britain, that the Irish territory beyond
the channel was equal in extent to Ireland, so that our
chieftains " parcelled out the land of Britain, taking
each one his share, and they built up strong forts and
noble habitations there, and not less did the Gael dwell
on the east coasts ofthe sea than in Erin."3
It was among these colonists that the first-fruits of
Irish Faith were offered to God on the shores of the
sister isle. Some of our countrymen in the north of
Britain received the light of faith through the preaching
of St. Ninian and his successors, whilst others, towards
the south, became devoted children of the cross under
the benign influence of the clergy of Wales. When our
Apostle St. Patrick accompanied St. Germain of Auxerre
to Britain, in the year 428, he met with many of these
1 Ammianus Marcellinus, xxviii. 8.
2 Irish Nennius, Public, of I. A. S., p. 180, seqq.
6 Sanas Chormaic, i.e., " Cormac's Glossary," edited by Stokes
for I. A. S., in 1868, p. 110. The learned O'Donovan writes that
this record, though overlooked by most of our historians, is " one
of the most curious and important " preserved to us relating to
our early history. Battle of Magh-Rath, Public, of I. A. S., p. 339.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 3
Irish colonists in Wales, and being familiar with their
language, applied himself, with devoted earnestness, to
instruct them in the truths of Beligion ; and so en
amoured was he of the missionary field thus opened to
his zeal, that it was his desire to remain permanently
amongst them ; but, at the summons of St. Celestine,
he was compelled to forsake this chosen floek, and to
gird himself for the more arduous task of the Apostolate
of Ireland.
The children of these Irish colonists continued for a
long time to regard themselves as Lish ; and, though
born by accident on British soil, they centred their
affections on Ireland as their home and their mother
land. This has given rise to considerable confusion in
regard to some bright ornaments of our country at this
early period of our history. By Continental writers
they are often styled Britons, as born in Britain, and
perhaps proceeding to the Continent from the British
coast ; whilst by Irish writers they are justly claimed
as fellow-countrymen, on account of their parentage and
their cherished connexion with our island. Thus it is,
for instance, with St. Ursula and her heroic companions.
Many illustrious writers, even in modern times, have
called them Britons ; but the more ancient records ex
pressly describe them as Irish, and they are honoured
in our Calendars among the first flowers of the martyrs
of our Church. Thus, again, in the case of Siadhuil,
better known by his Latin name Sedulius, the prince of
Christian poets, who holds so prominent a place in the
Christian literature of the fifth century. More than one
nation has claimed him as its own ; but the oldest MSS.
styling him " Sedulius Scotigena," fix Ireland as his

4 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
country.1 It is probable, however, that he was trained
in the higher branches of Latin literature in the great
schools of Wales or of the Continent. A like question
has arisen regarding Celestius, although the testimony of
St. Jerome,2 his contemporary, should leave no doubt
as to his Irish birth. We have not, however, much
reason to be proud of his career, for, notwithstanding
his brilliant talents and deep research in sacred science,
he permitted himself to be led away into heresy by the
fanciful theories of Pelagius.
A great number of the devoted men, who associated
themselves with our Apostle St. Patrick when he
embarked on the holy enterprise of the conversion of
our nation, were Britons by birth, and were chosen from
the monasteries of Armorica and Wales.3 Before he
closed his earthly career, not only had he gathered our
people into the one true fold of Christ, but he had,
' It is to be regretted that Professor Stubbs, when treating of
Irish matters, has not given proof of that research which
characterizes his writings relating to English history. Of
Sedulius he writes : " that Sedulius, the Christian poet of the fifth
century, was a Scot, rests solely upon his name, and upon a con
fusion between him and two others of the same name who were
undoubtedly Scots, viz., the Bishop Sedulius of the Roman
Council of a.d. 721, and the author of the Commentary on
St. Paul's Epistles." (Councils, &c, vol. ii., p. 291.) Now
besides the old MSS. which style him Scotigena, which may be
seen in the Preface to Arevalus's edition of his works, Dicuil, an
Irish writer of the ninth century, in his treatise ' De Mensura
Orbis,' chap. 5, expressly calls the poet Sedulius—" Sedulius
noster." (Edit. Letronne, Paris, p. 19.)
2 " Habet enim progeniem Scoticae gentis de Britannorum
vicinia." — St. Jerome, Prolog, ad. lib. 3, Com. in Jeremiam. —
Lanigan, Eec. Hist., i. 16.
3 L*i the Catalogue of Irish Saints, published by Usher, it is
said of the first class of saints who adorned our country  " Hi
omnes Episcopi de Romanis et Francis et Scotis exorti sunt."—
See Irish Eccles. Record, vii. 213.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 5
moreover, the consolation to see his own true
missionary spirit deeply engrafted upon Ireland, whose
zealous children, spread over the shores of Britain and
Gaul, were soon to repay an hundred-fold the spiritual
blessings which she had received.
A holy hermit named Brenach, called by the Welsh
writers Brynach, is the first Irish saint1 whose name
has been handed down to us, who chose Wales as the
place of his retreat, and made it the theatre of his
missionary labours. Even the " Triads," those Welsh
records so jealous of the national glory, expressly
assign to him the epithet "Brynach Gwyddel," that
is, Brenach the Irishman. He flourished before the
middle of the fifth century. Though a chieftain by
birth, when once he had found the precious gem of
faith, he laid aside all worldly pursuits, and led a
hermit's life amidst his native hills. He was venerable
in mien, was clothed in rough skins, slept on the hard
ground, used for his food a little bread and roots, with
milk and water, and his whole time was spent in medi
tation and chanting the praises of God. Filled with
the desire of visiting the sanctuaries of Christian piety
in other lands, he travelled to Borne, and on his return
remained for some years in Brittany, where he soon
acquired great fame for sanctity and miracles. Thence
he sailed for the British coast, and erected a cell near
the confluence of the rivers Cleddau, not far from the
present port of Milford. Being disturbed there by pre
datory bands, he proceeded to the banks of the river
1 His life, from the Cott. Iibr. in Brit. Mus. Vespasian, A. xiv.,
has been published by Rees for the Welsh MSS. Society, in
" Lives of the Cambro-British Saints," Llandovery, 1853, p. 5, seqq.

6 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Gwain, close to where it now gives name to the town of
Abergwain, and having freed that place from unclean
spirits, "who hitherto, wandering about every night, and
filling the country with horrible cries, had rendered it
uninhabitable," he advanced along the valley of Nevern
in Pembrokeshire. Finding there the grove of an
ancient but long-abandoned church, he chose it for his
abode. His life adds, that " as that place appeared
well suited for those who desired to lead a life of piety,
he and his companions girded themselves for work, and
taking hatchets and other tools, for three whole days cut
down trees." On rising to their work on the fourth
morning, no trace could be found of their preceding
labour. This was taken by our saint as a heavenly sign
that they should not erect their habitations there ; so,
advancing farther into the interior, he chose a solitary-
spot on the banks of the Caman, encompassed by hills,
and erecting there a cell and church, served God faith
fully till summoned to his eternal reward. The ancient
record adds, that " so pleasing was his life to God, that
he merited frequently to enjoy the vision and discourse
of angels ; and the mountain on which they met, at the
foot of which a church was built, was called the Moun
tain of the Angels." ' This ancient name may still be
traced in the modern Carn-Engyli, a mountain which
overhangs the Nevern, and at its foot at the present
day, as centuries ago, stands the principal church of the
district.2 St. Brenach passed from this world on the
7th of April, and his relics were placed under the
eastern wall of his church.
1 Rees, " lives," p. 296. 2 Fenton, " Pembrokeshire," p. 543.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 7
It was, however, by the conversion of a Pagan Irish
chieftain, named Brecan, from whom Brecknockshire
takes its name,1 that this holy hermit merited, in a
special manner, the lasting gratitude of the British
Church. Aulach, the father of Brecan, was son of an
Irish king named Cormac, and was the leader of an
armed band that plundered the Welsh coast towards the
close of the fourth century. In one of his predatory
excursions, he carried off as a captive, and soon after
took to wife, Marchella, daughter of Tewdrig, who was
the chief ruler in South Wales. Brecan, the child of
this marriage, having come to man's estate, on the
death of Tewdrig, about the jear 420, claimed that
territory as his inheritance, and asserted his claim by
the sword. By his valour and prowess he soon became
one of the most prominent princes of Britain, and on
account of his firm rule and wise administration,
merited to be ranked by the Welsh writers, not among
the foreign princes, but among their own hereditary
chieftains. Through his holy countryman, St. Brenach,
he became captive to the mild yoke of the Gospel, and
with such true Celtic ardour did he devote himself to
every practice of heroic piety, and with such earnestness
did he train his numerous family in the paths of
Christian perfection, that the Triads reckon the family
of Brecan among the "three holy families of Wales ; "
and they add, that " such was the education of his
children and grandchildren, that they were able to
teach the Faith of Christ to the nation of the Cymry,
wherever it was as yet without the faith."2 Elsewhere
1 For the history of this chieftain and his family, see the valuable
" Essay on the Welsh Saints," by Professor Rice Rees. London,
1836, p. 136, seqq.
2 Triads, xviii. Williams, " Eccles. Antiquities of the Cymry,"p. 53.

8 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Brecan and his children are styled " one of the three
holy families ofthe isle of Britain;" and again, "the
three holy lineages of Britain are the lineage of Bran,
the son of Lyr ; the lineage of Cunedda ; the lineage
of Brecan."1 Rees also, in his learned " Essay on the
Welsh Saints," writes that " the family most distin
guished in the Church of Britain, in the middle of the
fifth century, was that of Brecan;" and then he enu
merates a long list of that chieftain's children and grand
children, all of whom were eminent for their sanctity
and learning, and were honoured in the British Church
as saints. Brecan founded a great number of oratories
or churches, of fifty-five of which the ruins or the tra
ditions still remain. Twenty-five of these were situate
in Brecknockshire ; the rest were scattered throughout
Caermarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Denbighshire, and
Anglesey, the districts mostly inhabited at that time by
the Gwyddyl-Ffichti, or colonists from Ireland.2
The eldest of Brecan's sons was St. Cynog, and he
merits to be specially named, being one of the few
saints whom our early Church has added to the bright
array of the martyrs of Christ. Cressy, in his "Church
History of Brittany," writes, that "the fame of his
sanctity was most eminent among the Silurians." His
name is entered in the English Martyrology on the 11th
of February, but in Wales his festival was kept on the
7th of October. One ancient authority records that he
was martyred by the Pagan Saxons on a mountain
called the Van, in Brecknockshire, and a church was
erected over his tomb, which, with the parish in which
'Triads, xiii., first series. " Myvyrian Archaeology," vol ii.,
Williams, p. 98.
2 Rees, "Essay," pp. 136 and 158.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 9
it stood, received, through reverence for our saint, the
name of Merthyr- Cynog.1
Cressy also tells us that St. Cynog's sister, St. Keyna,
called by the Welsh writers Ceyn and Ceneu, received,
like her brother, the martyr's crown. She consecrated
her virginity to God, and for that reason was styled by
the Britons " Ceyn-wyryf," or Keyna the Virgin. In
search of a solitary place for a hermitage, she crossed
the Severn, and finding a densely wooded glen in Somer
setshire, she asked a grant of it from the prince of
that territory. He replied that he would willingly grant
it to her, but that it was so infested with venemous rep
tiles that neither man nor beast could dwell there. ^>he
said she feared them not, for her trust was in the holy
name and aid of God. The site was accordingly granted
to her, and she erected there her cell, and served God
for many years. Through the many pilgrimages to her
shrine in after times, a town grew up which still remains,
and from her derives its name of Keynsham. St. Cadoc,
her nephew, as Cressy writes, "making a pilgrimage to
Mount St. Michael, met there the blessed Keyna, and
being filled with joy, was desirous of bringing her back
to her own country, but the inhabitants would not
consent to her departurefrom them. Some time after, the
holy maiden, being admonished by an angel, returned
secretly to the place of her nativity, where, on the
summit of a small hill, she erected her cell, and at her

1 The resting-place of four members of this family is thus
marked in the ancient Welsh tract, called " Bonned y Saint : '' the
sepulchre of Brecan is in the island which is called from him Inys-
Brychan, and is close to the Isle of Man : the sepulchre of Rhun,
son of Brecan, is in Llandevaliog : the sepulchre of the martyr
Cynog is in Brycheiniog : the sepulchre of Aulach is before the
door of the church of LJanspyddyd. Rees, " Lives," p. 605.

10 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
prayers a spring-fountain flowed from the earth, which
still remains, and through her merits affords healing to
divers infirmities." She was martyred by the Saxons
on the 8th of October, in the year 460, and her remains
were reverently interred by St. Cadoc in her own
oratory. The Mount St. Michael referred to in this
passage is situate near Abergavenny, and still retains
its traditional sacred character. At a short distance is
the parish of Llangeneu, i.e., " St. Keyna's Church,"
where the saint's well is pointed out, and close to it is
the site of her ancient oratory.
When St. Germain of Auxerre visited Britain a second
time, in the year 448, he met there an Irish chieftain,
whose son, having been instructed in the truths of Faith
and regenerated in the waters of Baptism, wished in
after life, through love of his Spiritual Master, to bear
the name of Garmon or Germanus. He was sub
sequently consecrated Bishop, and laboured for some
years in Ireland under the guidance of St. Patrick, and
his name is also met with in the Acts of St. Kieran of
Saigher and of other early Irish saints. It was probably
this St. Germanus who laboured with devoted zeal in
the Isle of Man, and was in after times honoured as its
Apostle : but he also evangelized many districts in
Wales, and it was at his hands that the great Father of
the Welsh Church, St. Dubricius, received the Epis
copal consecration. Impelled by the ardour of his zeal,
he passed into Gaul, and advancing across the Pyrenees,
laboured for some years in winning souls to Christ
throughout the Spanish peninsula. He, after some time,
returned to Gaul, and on the banks of the Bresle, which,
in olden times, was the boundary between Normandy
and Picardy, received the martyr's crown. A portion of

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 11
his relics is still preserved inthe Church of St. Germain,
at Amiens, which was erected under his invocation, and
several churches in Normandy and Picardy still honour
him as patron on the 2nd of May.1
St. Germanus has this special characteristic : he is the
only one of the missionaries that laboured in the early
Church of Spain, whom Ireland can with certainty claim
as her own. Towards the middle of the sixth century
we, indeed, meet with the See of Bretona, in Gallicia,
which derived its name from the many fugitives from
Wales who took refuge there ; and in the year 572 it
had a pilgrim Bishop named Mailoc, who was probably
of Irish birth, and brother of St. Gildas. It is recorded
of him that he upheld the Scotic Tonsure in Spain, but
every other tradition which could illustrate his history
was, together with his see, very soon absorbed in the
Gotho-Spanish Church, which, in its turn, after a lapse
of two centuries, was swept away by the Moorish
invasion.2 St. Tathai3 was another Irish saint,4 whose labours
1 Corbelet, " Hagiographie du Diocese d' Amiens." Paris, 1870,
torn, ii., p. 508.
2 See Haddan's " Remains," edited by Dr. Forbes, 1877, p. 263 ;
also, " Councils, &c, relating to Great Britain." Oxford, 1873,
vol. ii., p. 99.
3 He is also called Dathi and Tathan. His name is the Irish
equivalent for David, but the Welsh writers generally retain the
name Tathai to distinguish him from the great St. David, patron
of Menevia. It is probable that some of the dedications in Ireland
which bear St. David's name may originally have referred to
St. Tathai. His Life is printed by Rees in " Lives of Cambro-Brit.
Saints," p. 580.
4 Camden applies to St. Tathai the generic designation of a
" British Saint." This, however, is well refuted by Usher. The
Book of Llandaff calls St. Tathai an Irishman: the Life of the
Saint in the Cotton MSS., published by Rees, states that he was

12 Irish Saints in Great Britain,
before the close of the fifth century produced an abun
dant harvest in Wales. He was the son of a royal
chieftain named Tuathal, and, " like the true metal of
gold, was immaculate, pure, and free from the corruption
of the world." He applied himself diligently to sacred
study, till, "as fruit proceeding from the best blossoms,"
he was adorned with every virtue. His fame was wide
spread throughout Ireland, and many persons hastened
to receive from him lessons of heavenly wisdom. He
was, however, divinely admonished to depart from his
own country and to devote himself to labour for God in
Britain : " Go to-morrow," said the Angel to him, "and
proceed without delay to the sea-harbour, and pass over
to Britain, that thou mayest fulfil the designs of God,
as I shall direct thee." With joyful heart he set out
next day, accompanied by eight companions, for the
neighbouring coast; entering a little coracle, without
sail or oar, they were carried by prosperous winds to the
Severn, and landed in the territory of Gwent, in the
modern Glamorganshire. After some time St. Tathai's
fame for piety and miracles reached King Caradoc, "who
then ruled the two Gwents," and he sent a learned man,
accompanied by some soldiers, to invite our saint to
settle permanently in his kingdom. St. Tathai gladly
accepted the invitation, and founded a church, since
called Llandathan, that is, " St. Tathai's Church," in
born in Ireland; that his father was an Irish Prince; and gives full
details of his life in Ireland before he set out to evangelize
Britain. The Life, written by John of Teignmouth, agrees in all
these details. So also the Life of St. Cadoc expressly styles
St. Tathai an Irishman : Capgrave and all other ancient authorities
are agreed on this head. The comparatively modern Welsh
genealogies are of no weight in such a matter.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 13
Glamorganshire, "and scholars from all parts flocked to
him, to be instructed in all the branches of science."
Subsequently Ynyr, the son and successor of Caradoc,
having built the Monastery and College of Caerwent, in
Monmouthshire, our saint was appointed its first abbot
or superior, whilst at the same time he was the guide
of Ynyr in all his spiritual works. The most illustrious
among his convert's was St. Cadoc, who became his
disciple, and attained such eminence in sacred learning
as to merit the surname of " the Wise." In his old age
St. Tathai resigned his charge of the monastery and
retired to his former Church of Llandathan. His Life
relates, that not far from this place a holy Irish maiden,
named Machuta, tended a flock of sheep committed to
her care ; it happened that she was put to death by
Pagan marauders, and our saint hearing of it proceeded
with his clergy to the spot where she had been martyred ;
and "on that site he founded an oratory, built in
honour of the Virgin Machuta;" he would not, how
ever, allow the body of the virgin to. remain there, " but,
that it might be duly honoured, brought it to the city of
Gwent and buried it within the chief church of that
city." The Life of St. Tathai ends as follows: "Saint
Tathai lived a heaven-seeking virgin, following the Lord
to heavenly glory. After his decease he was buried in
the floor of the church, and his seven associated disciples
attended the burial of their master, whom God elected
and predestined to the realms of eternal glory."1 The
Church of Llandathan still retains his name, but it is
more generally called Llanvaches, i.e., the Church of
1 Rees, " Lives," 591.

14 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the Virgin St. Machuta ; and in mediasval records it is
presented to us as " Llandathan, alias Llanvaches."
St. Cadoc,1 of whom we have just spoken, having
spent twelve years under St. Tathai's care (per duodecim
annos), became one of the brightest ornaments of the
Church of Wales. He was the founder of Llancarvan ;
was the intimate friend of St. Dubricius ; and a large
number of his poems and sacred maxims have been
reverentially preserved by popular tradition to our own
times.2 Some of his beautiful aphorisms disclose to us
the noble sentiments which pervaded the Lish schools
in the golden ages of our country's faith. Thus, in one
of them we read — "Without light nothing is good;
without light there is no piety ; without light there is
no religion ; without light there is no faith : but with
out the presence of God there is no light." Again —
"No man loves knowledge without loving the light;
nor the light, without loving the truth ; nor the truth,
without loving justice ; nor justice, without loving God :
he who loves God has perfect happiness." Elsewhere
the Disciple asks what is divine love ? "Love is Heaven
(replies the Master) : and what is hate ? It is Hell :
and what is conscience ? It is the eye of God in the
soul of man." St. Cadoc was born of an Irish mother,
and, having devoted himself to military pursuits, was
celebrated before his conversion as one of the bravest of
the British knights, and he is styled in the Triads, " one
of the three knights of chief discretion in the royal
1 He is sometimes called St. Docus, but he is not to be con
founded with St. Docus whose obit is given in the Ulster Annals
in 473.
2 They are collected in " Myvyrian Archaeology," vol. iii., p. 28.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 15
court of King Arthur." After his conversion he became
equally distinguished by his sanctity, and the same
Triads again commemorate him as "one of the three
blessed youth-teachers ofthe Isle of Britain j"1 whilst
in the ancient catalogue of Irish Saints, attributed to
Tirechan, he is particularly honoured as having, with
SS. David and Gildas, introduced some wise reforms in
the Liturgy in Ireland.
His Life2 gives many details of his connexion with
Ireland. His first name was Cathmael, but in bap
tism he received from St. Tathai the name of Cadoc.
After building his own monastery, called Kastell- Cadoc —
whither the clergy from all parts of Britain came in
great numbers to receive his lessons of wisdom — he
resolved to proceed to Ireland for the sake of perfecting
himself3 in the spiritual life, under the guidance of its
great masters. The brethren, having approved of his
design, "he ordered a strong boat, besmeared with pitch,
to be prepared in the harbour of the sea, that he might
safely sail to Ireland." Many of his disciples wished to
accompany him thither, but this he permitted only
to a few, desiring the others "to keep faithfully his
monastery and town until his return." He remained
three years4 in Ireland, drinking in lessons of heavenly
and human science "at the city and monastery of St.
Mochuda." This was probably St. Mochuda, senior, who
1 Williams, p. 131.
- Rees, "Lives," p. 309, seqq.
3 Discendi gratia: i.e., "for the sake of learning." I may remark
that the Welsh edition, by a singular mistake, translates it, " for
the sake of teaching" p. 325. By an oversight, Rev. John
O'Hanlon, in " Lives of Irish Saints," vol. i., p. 418, has copied
this erroneous translation.
4 " Per Tres Annos," Rees1 " Lives," loc. cit.

16 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
at this time ruled the great Monastery of Saigher.1
After three years, Cadoc returned to Wales, and set
about erecting a church on the banks ofthe Neath. "It
happened that a certain Irishman, named Linguri, a
stranger, but a skilful architect, came at this time, with
his family, to the saint," seeking employment. St.
Cadoc at once employed him at the work ; twelve others
were associated with him, but he " excelled them all in
skill and ability." The others, envious of his merit,
conspired against him, and put him to death. St. Cadoc,
being informed of their wickedness, passed the night,
with all his clergy, in watching and prayer. The next
day he restored the murdered man to life, and asked
him to choose, " whether to live again in this mortal
state, or to return to eternal life to reign for ever with
God." Linguri, with true Irish faith, replied — "I desire
that my soul may return to eternal life," and he forth
with expired. The place was called, from his church,
Llanlinguri, which is probably the modern Glynleiros,
near Neath. St. Cadoc rested in peace about the middle
of the sixth century.
During the same period there were several Irish
Saints who devoted themselves to the preaching of the
Faith or to the practices of religious life in Cornwall.2
Blight, in his interesting work on the Cornish Churches,
thus writes : — " In the latter part of the fifth and
beginning of the sixth century, a numerous company of
1 The Vita, p. 326, refers it to Lismore, this being the monastery
most famous in connection with a St. Mochuda at the time when
the life was written. Lismore, however, was not founded till 636.
- Blight, " Churches in West Cornwall," Oxford, 1865. Corn
wall, as its name implies (i.e., Cornu-Walliae), was a part of Wales
and continued so till a comparatively late period.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 17
Irish saints, bishops, abbots, and sons and daughters
of kings and noblemen (in the words of Leland), 'came
into Cornwall, and landed at Pendinas, a peninsula and
stony rock, where now the town of St. les (St. Ives)
standeth.' Hence they diffused themselves over the
western part of the country, and at their several
stations erected chapels and hermitages. Their object
was to advance the Christian Faith. In this they were
successful, and so greatly were they reverenced, that
whilst the memory of their holy lives still lingered in
the minds of the people, churches were built on or near
the sites of their chapels and oratories, and dedicated
to Almighty God in their honour. Thus have their
names been handed down to us." Among these saints
was St. Buriana, known in the Irish Calendars as St.
Bruinseach. An ancient church erected over her shrine
still remains, about five miles from Lands-End, and
gives name to the town of St. Burian. When King Athel
stan was about to sail on his expedition against the
Scilly Isles, he entered her oratory, " and vowed, if God
blessed his expedition with success, to erect a college of
clergy where the oratory stood, and to endow it with a
large income." The historian adds, that having sub
dued the Scilly Isles, Athelstan on his return founded
and endowed the collegiate church as he had vowed, in
honour of St. Buriana, on the spot called after her
Eglos-Berrie. He also gave to the church the privileges
of a sanctuary, and the kings of England continued to
be its patrons till a very late period. About three miles
S.W. from St. Burian is the Church of St. Levan,1
1 In some records the name is corrupted to Silvanus. Locally
his parish is known as Slevan. Borlase, " The Age of the Saints,
&c." (1878), p. 45. C

18 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
which takes its name from St. Livin, an Lish Bishop,
who subsequently attained the crown of martyrdom in
Belgium. The present church was erected on the site
of the saint's cell. " It is situated," writes Blight, " in
a most romantic spot, in a deep hollow, scarcely a fur
long from the Cliffs. The celebrated Logan rock is in
the immediate neighbourhood, and the adjoining coast
is acknowledged to rank among the finest coast-scenery
in England. So abrupt is the hollow, or gulph, as a
Cornish historian expresses it, in which the church
stands, that the four pinnacles of the tower are all that
can be seen of the building for any considerable distance
when approaching it from the east or west." x The holy
well of St. Levan, and an ancient church dedicated to
him, stood on the edge of the cliff, a little below the
present church.2
St. Breaca, a lady of noble birth, and St. Germoe, a
royal prince, are also named as belonging to a large
company of Irish pilgrims and missionaries, who in the
fifth century landed at Riviere, at the mouth of the
Hayle. Several of this holy company were slain by a
local prince (Tyrannus) of Cornwall; but SS. Breaca
and Germoe crossed from Riviere3 to the Southern
coast, where they erected churches and cells. They were

1 Blight, p. 10.
2 Borlaie, p. 58, informs us that in the last century, over the well,
there was a large flat stone, on which a little chapel or cell stood.
This structure was only five feet square and seven feet high, with
a stone roof. He adds : " A more romantic spot it would be
hard to picture."
3 Leland, in his Itinerary (iii. 15), writes that " Ryvier Castle"
was situated " at the east part of the mouth of Hayle river " but
was now " drowned with sand."

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 19
there honoured in after times by the piety of the faithful,
and parishes still bear their names.
St. Fingar, or Finguaire {i.e., Guaire the Fair), was
another of these pilgrim saints. He was son of Olilt,
king of Connaught, and was among the first who
welcomed our Apostle St. Patrick on his visit to that
kingdom. Being subjected to many persecutions, in
consequence of embracing the Christian Faith, he pro
ceeded with some companions to Armorica, and having
obtained permission from a petty ruler on the sea-coast
to settle there, devoted his time to fishing and the
chase. Being one day separated from his companions
in a wood, he alighted from his horse, and, entering
into himself, began to meditate on the great gifts and
mercies which God had bestowed on him. He resolved
without delay that thenceforward he would devote him
self to God alone ; and, penetrating further into the
dense wood, chose a sheltered spot near a running
stream, and there spent his whole time in prayer.
After some days, he was discovered there by his com
panions, who brought him back to their former abode,
but he continued unchanged in his resolve to serve God
alone. After some time they returned to Ireland, where
he was received with joy ; for its hills and valleys were
now lit up with the light of God, and it was no longer a
matter of reproach to have embraced the Faith of
Christ. On the death of his father many wished to
choose him for their king, but he declared it to be his
only desire to fix his thoughts on heavenly things. To
shun the honours that were obtruded on him, he again
resolved to set out on pilgrimage, and, accompanied by
his sister Piala, who at the hands of St. Patrick had

20 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
received the virgin's veil, and followed by a large
number of his countrymen who wished to share his holy
life, he landed in Cornwall, at the mouth of the river
Hayle. The next day he, with his sister and many of
his companions, received the martyr's crown. This
occurred about the year 470. St. Fingar and his com
panion martyrs are named in the British Martyrology,
and he is also honoured at Vannes in Brittany.1
St. Iia, or Hia, preceded these martyrs in pilgrimage,
and she also landed in Cornwall. She erected her cell
near the mouth of the Hayle, and such was the fame of
her sanctity, that in the course of time the mariners
called the promontory of Pendinas and also the bay of
Hayle by her name, and thus to the present day we
have St. Ives' promontory, and town, and bay, marking
the district which was sanctified fourteen hundred years
ago by the vigils and austerities of an humble virgin of
Erin. St. Bumon, or Ruan, as Leland informs us, is also
styled in the ancient Legenda preserved at Tavistock " an
Irish Scot." He made for himself an oratory in a forest
in the district now called Meneage, and his relics were
enshrined at Tavistock. Three ancient churches bear
his name in Cornwall, and the 22nd of May seems to
have been kept as his festival.
Such memorials, however, of Irish saints are not
confined to Cornwall ; they are met with at every step
along the western coast of England. St. Warne's Bay
in Scilly records the name of St. Warna, an Irish saint,
about whom the tradition is handed down amongst the
St. Agnes islanders, that he came over from Ireland in
1 Colgan, " Acta," p. 387.

First Fruits of Irish Piety among the Britons. 21
a little wicker boat, which was covered on the outside
with raw hides, and that he landed at the bay just
mentioned.1 At Bardsey, a small island off the western
promontory of Carnarvon, which St. Dubricius chose
for his resting-place, and which is called in the book of
Llandaff " the Rome of Britain," and by the Welsh
Bards " the land of indulgences and pardon, the road
to Heaven, and the gate to Paradise,"2 many pilgrims
from Ireland rested in peace, contributing not a few to
" the twenty thousand saints who are buried in its
sacred ground." St. Dagan, or Degeman, honoured on
the 27th of August, passed the river Severn on a hurdle
of branches of trees, and withdrew into a mountainous
vast solitude covered with shrubs and briars, where he
spent his life absorbed in prayer and contemplation ;
St. Barach, "whose memory is celebrated in the ter
ritory of the Silurians and region of Glamorgan (on 29th
November), lies buried in the Isle of Barry, which took its
name from him;" and the Isle of Man, besides St. Ger
man, has Machaldus, Coeman, and Mochonna, all Irish
saints, as its chief patrons.3 One ofthe most singular,
however, of these dedications is that to St. Serigi.
When the descendants of the brave Cunedda finally
overthrew the Irish settlers, who sought to found in
Anglesey and North Wales a kingdom similar to that
of Dalriada on the Scotch coast, Serigi was the Irish
leader, and was slain fighting at the head of his country
men. He was, however, so famed for his virtues, that
the victors built a chapel over his grave, and honoured
1 Troutbeck, " Isles of Scilly," p. 149.
2 Williams, p. 223, and Lib. Landav, p, 142. Reeves, " The
Culdees," p. 61.
3 lr. Eec. Rec. v. 255.

22 Irish Saints in Go-eat Britain.
him as a saint. The church was called " Eglwys y Bedd"
and " Liang wyddyl," that is, "the Church of the
Grave" and " the Church of the Irishman." It was
situated near the present church of Holyhead ; and the
"History of Anglesey," published in London in 1775,
says that a few years before, "its ruins were removed,
in order to render the way to the church more com
modious. St. Serigi's shrine seems to have been held
in exceeding great repute for several very wonderful
qualities and cures; but, according to an old Irish
chronicle, it was carried off by some Irish rovers, and
deposited in the Cathedral of Christ Church in Dublin."1

CHAPTER II.

IRISH SAINTS IN THE MONASTERIES OF BRITAIN AND
ARMORICA.
Glastonbury of the Irish: — St. David's Monastery at Menevia: —
St. Kieran at St. land's Monastery : — Padstow : — Irish Chieftains
on the British Coast: — SS. Samson and Iltud: — St.Gildas: —
Monastery of Llandeveneck : — St. Joava : — SS. Magloire and
Machut: — SS. Kybi andPadarn: — St. Constantine : — Cadwalhn
and Cadwaladar.
Glastonbury was for centuries one of the most famous
monasteries in the Western Church ; it was the only
one2 which, after holding a prominent place in the early
'fees, "Essay," p. 166.
2 " The one famous holy place of the conquered Briton, which
had lived through the storm of English conquest." — Freeman,
" The Norman Conquest," i. 436.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 23
British times, continued to be ranked among the glories
of England in the Anglo-Saxon period.
" O three times famous Isle, where is that place that might
Be with thyself compared for glory and delight,
Whilst Glastonbury stood ? exalted to that pride,
Whose monastery seemed all other to deride." '
It was situated in Somersetshire, on an island, called
by the Romans Avalonia, i.e., the Isle of Apples, which
was once encircled by the waters of the river Brue or
Brent, but has long since been joined to the mainland.
From the clearness of the stream, it was known to the
Britons as Inyswytrin, or " the glassy island," and from
the Saxons it received the name Glaestingabyrig, which
is supposed by the best modern authorities to mean
" the burgh of the Glaestings." The island was covered
with fruit-trees and shrubs. Such was its smiling
fertility, that it was popularly known as the happy
island ; and the Laureate merely records the ancient
British tradition, when in poetic fancy he transports us
to— " The island valley of Avilion,
Where falls not hail, nor rain, nor any snow,
Nor ever wind blows loudly ; but it lies
Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard lawns,
And bowery hollows, crowned with summer sea."
It was the tradition of Glastonbury that our Apostle
St. Patrick, before coming to Ireland, enrolled himself
among the religious brethren of that monastery. It
also numbered among its abbots St. Sen-Patrick, who,
by St. iEngus, is called "the tutor of our apostle."
This holy abbot resigned his charge at Glastonbury,
1 Drayton, " Poly Olbion," song 3rd, vol. ii., p. 712.

24 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
and came to Ireland with his own great disciple, to
labour with him in the conversion of our nation. He
was famed for sanctity in our early Church, and is
honoured in our ancient Calendars on the 24th of
August. At the close of his life he returned to his
loved monastery at Glastonbury ; and some of his relics
were long preserved there, the remainder being
enshrined at Armagh. Thus Glastonbury had special
attractions for the Irish pilgrims, and in such numbers
did they flock thither, that it was commonly known as
"Glastonbury ofthe Irish."1 Its influence on the
'The "Leabhar Breac," the most valuable ecclesiastical re
pertory that has come down ,to us from the early ages of our
Irish Church, in its glosses on the Felire of St. iEngus, at 24th
of August, feast of St. Sen-Patrick, states that his festival was
kept " in Glastonbury of the Irish among the Saxons," and soon
after it adds : — " In Giastonbury of the Irish, in the south of
Saxon-land, Sen-Patrick is : for, the Irish at first dwelt there in
pilgrimage ; but his relics are in the shrine of Sen-Patrick in
Armagh." Colgan gives us a similar entry from the Martyrology
of Marianus O'Gorman : " S. Patricius Senex in Rosdela in
regione de Magh-lacha, et Glassiae Hibernorum, quae est urbs in
aquilonari regione Saxonum, in qua olim suscepta peregrinatione
solebant Hiberni habitare." The Calendar of Cashel has:
" Secundum aliquos, et verius, Glastoniae apud Wallo-Hibernos
quiescit senior Patricius. Haec enim est civitas in aquilonari
regione Saxonum, et Scoti inhabitant earn." Colgan himself
adds, that St. Patrick, senior, was buried at Glastonbury, " ubi
multi olim erant sancti Hiberni;" and among these saints he
mentions SS. Indracht and Benignus (Trias, p. 6, n. 22 ; and p. 10,
n. 48). To these proofs may be added the testimony of
"Cormac's Glossary," p. 110. St. Indracht was said to have been
martyred in the district. A little to the south of Glastonbury,
surrounded by a marsh, is a fair green island, still called Bekerey,
i.e., Little Ireland.
The English writers agree in this with the Irish tradition.
Usher cites the Life of St. Dunstan, as asserting that St. Patrick,
senior, died at Glastonbury. Camden, also, when treating of
Glastonbury, at the time of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons,
writes : " Primis his temporibus, viri sanctissimi hie Deo

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 25
Church of Britain was very great. The Welsh Triads
record that there were two thousand four hundred reli
gious within its enclosure, of whom " one hundred were
engaged alternately every hour, both day and night, in
celebrating the praise and service of God, without rest,
without intermission."1 The renowned King Arthur
enriched it with many gifts during life, and is supposed
to have chosen it as his resting-place in death. St.
David, patron of Wales, rebuilt its church, and conferred
so many favours on the monastery, that he was con
sidered its second founder. St. Paulinus, Archbishop
of York, is also said to have visited this sacred place,

invigilarunt et praecipue Iberni, qui adolescentes pietate arti-
busque ingenuis instruebant. SoKtariam enim vitam amplexi
sunt, ut majore cum tranquillitate sacris litteris vacarent et severo
vitae genere ad crucem perferendam se exercerent." (Descrip.
Brit., p. 158). In another place Camden says, that " for six
hundred years the religious of Glastonbury might be said to have
reigned over the surrounding territory, such was the influence
which they exercised amongst their neighbours" (quasi regnassent,
eorum enim nutum vicini omnes spectarunt). I refer to this text
for the purpose of calling the reader's attention to the mis
translation of it given by Rev. Mr. Gough, in his edition of
Camden (vol. i.,. p. 81) : "The religious," he thus translates it,
'* lived like kings, in the utmost affluence."
The monastery, which had well-nigh grown to the size of a
small city, was levelled with the ground in Henry VIII.'s reign ;
and its lands, which would be now valued at £70,000 per annum,
were granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Peter Carew. The last
of the abbots, Richard Whiting, proved himself worthy of the
long line of saints who had preceded him. Refusing to acknow
ledge the supremacy of Henry VIII., he was put to death, with
two of his monks, by the orders of John, Lord Russell, on the
hill called the Torr of St. Michael. The body of the martyred
abbot was drawn and quartered, and his head set on the great
portals of the confiscated and desecrated sanctuary. The tall
green peak of the Torr of St. Michael now looks down on the
stately ruins of the great abbey.
1 Williams, p. 212.

26 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
and to have covered its church of wreathed osiers with
wood and lead. More than once it was threatened with
destruction. In the year 577 the exterminating pagan
Cawlin approached almost to its very enclosure. At
the battle of Deorhamme he had slain three British
kings, and advancing northward burned Uriconium,
" the white town in the valley," and in the poetic
language of the narrative, " the hall of its chieftain was
made dark, without fire, without songs, to be tenanted
by the eagle who has swallowed fresh drink, the heart's
blood of Cynddelen, the beautiful." At this point, how
ever, he was driven back, and Glastonbury was saved.
It was not till the reign of Ida, King ofthe West Saxons,
a.d. 721, that the territory in which it stood was
wrested from the native Britons, but even then its in
fluence was not diminished. Of this one instance will
suffice. St. Dunstan is, perhaps, after Alfred the
Great, the most gifted statesman of English birth .with
whom we meet tbroughout the whole of the Anglo-
Saxon period. It was among the Irish monks of
Glastonbury that his genius was developed and his mind
perfected in all the learning of that age. His ancient
biographer writes, that ' ' numbers of illustrious Irishmen ,
eminently skilled in sacred and profane learning, came
into England, and chose Glastonbury for their place of
abode." (Osbern, in Vit. S. Dunst.) His latest his
torian1 is not less explicit, for he tells us that " Dunstan
was fortunate in finding the monastery of Glastonbury
a seat of learning. ... It was at this time occu
pied by scholars from Ireland, who were deeply read in
1 Hook, " Archbishops of Canterbury," vol. i., p. 382, seqq.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 27
profane as well as in sacred literature. They sought
to maintain themselves by opening a school to which
the young nobility who resided in the neighbourhood
repaired for education." The details which have been
handed down regarding his studies at Glastonbury give
us some idea of the literary course pursued in the Irish
monasteries at this period. He was first of all in
structed in the Scriptures and the sacred writings of the
Fathers of the Church. The ancient poets and his
torians then engaged his attention ; but he showed a
special taste for arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and
music. His manual skill was equal to his intellectual
power. Bells, which he himself had made for Abingdon,
were still preserved there in the thirteenth century. At
Glastonbury they showed crosses, censors, and ecclesias
tical vestments, the work of his hands. Above all, he
loved the Scriptorium, and spent much of his time in
writing and illuminating books. His skill in all
branches of human science was so great that the only
plea his enemies could advance against him was, that
" he had been trained to necromancy by his Irish
teachers in the island of Avalon."
What shall I say of the monastery of St. David, at
Menevia, which was built on the promontory, " thrus
out into the sea like an eagle's beak" from the south
eastern corner of Wales, and which was so frequented
by Irish pilgrims, that they made it in great part
their own ? That district of Wales was known in
early times as Glen-Rosyn, or "Vallis Rosina,"1 and
was also caUed by the Britons, Hodnant, or the
1 Ricemarch's " Vita S. Davidis," in Rees, " Lives," p. 124 and
406.

28 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
" beautiful valley." Jocelyn records the tradition of
Wales, that it was from the neighbouring coast St.
Patrick sailed for his Irish mission, and it was whilst
praying there he was favoured with a heavenly vision, in
which all Ireland, with its green hills and smiling
valleys, seemed to be stretched out before him, and the
angel of God pointing it out to him said, " that is the
land marked out as your inheritance for evermore."
St. David had at first purposed to found his monastery
at a short distance from this place, where a holy relative
named Gweslan lived ; but whilst making out its
enclosure, he was divinely assured that only a few of
his disciples would there merit the heavenly rewards :
" farther on (the angel added) is the spot chosen by
heaven, where few shall suffer the pains of hell provided
they do not fall from the faith." St. David, proceeding
thither, kindled a fire, the smoke of which seemed to
encircle a great part of the surrounding country, and to
extend far and wide towards the distant shores of
Ireland. The owner of the district was an Irishman
named Baya,1 a pagan and a druid. He was one of
those successful rovers who years before had carved out
territories for themselves on the Welsh coast, and con
tinued to hold them by the sword. He was filled with
terror when he saw the smoke that arose from St.
David's fire, and cried out; to those that were with him,
" The enemy that has lit that fire, shall possess this
territory as far as the smoke has spread." They
1 " Baja, vocatus Scotus," Ibid. By a curious mistake, Rees,
in "lives," p. 406, translates these words "Boya and Scots."
Indeed, the whole translation of St. David's Life, published by
Rees, is most singularly inaccurate.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 29
resolved to slay the intruders, but their attempt was
frustrated by a miracle. Seeing this, Baya made a
grant of the desired site and of the surrounding country
to St. David, whose monastery quickly arose, and its
fame spreading far and wide through Britain and Ireland
and Gaul, merited for its holy founder the title of " the
head of the whole British nation, and honour of his
fatherland."1 St. David was born of an Irish mother
(BoUand, vol. i., Mart., p. 39). It was at the hands of
an Irish Bishop, the great St. Ailbhe of Emly, that he
received the waters of Baptism ; and it was in the arms
of a loved Irish disciple that he breathed his soul to
heaven. Most of the great saints of Ireland, in the
sixth and seventh centuries, spent some time at his
monastery, renewing their own fervour within its
hallowed precincts, and maintaining its strict discipline
by the stern severity of their lives. To take a few
instances from the patron saints of the Diocese of
Ossory, we find that St. Senanus was famed there for
his devotedness to manual labour, for the monks were
obliged to work in the forests and to till the land, even
drawing the plough by their own strength.3 St.
Scothin, of Tescoffm, when crossing the channel to visit
it, was said, in the beautiful poetry of the sacred legend
to pluck wild flowers from the sea, and to entwine
precious wreaths, as though he journeyed through a
rich meadow. St. Brendan went there to rest for
1 " Omnis Britanniae gentis caput £t patriae honor." — Rees,
" Lives," p. 140. *
2 " They labour with feet and hands, and put the yoke to their
shoulders ; they fix stakes with unwearied arms in the earth ; and
in their holy hands carry hatchets and saws for cutting."
Rhyddmarch, Vita, in " Cambro Brit. SS." p. 117.

30 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
a while after his seven years' ocean pilgrimage in search
of a paradise. St. Modomnoch of Tibrauchny had the
care of the bees of the monastery entrusted to him.
When,. after a long period of labour and virtue, he had
taken his farewell of the abbot and the brethren to re
turn home, a swarm of bees came and settled on the
bow of the boat, to accompany him. Three times he
brought them back to the monastery, but each time
they returned in increasing numbers, so that at length,
with St. David's blessing, he brought them with him
to Ireland, and introduced the culture of bees into the
Irish monasteries. The ancient record adds that honey
was cultivated in these monasteries not only for the use
of the religious, but to procure a more delicate food than
their ordinary coarse fare for the poor. St. Aidan,
patron of Ferns, was one of those whom St. David chose
as his first companions in founding the monastery. He
lived there for many years, and governed it for some
time as abbot. So cherished was St. Aidan's memory
throughout Wales that the Triads adopt him as a native
saint, and assign to him a genealogy from one of the most
illustrious Welsh princes.1 We are even told by Giraldus
Cambrensis, that after the Anglo-Norman invasion of
this country, the religious of Menevia put forward the
singular claim of jurisdiction over the clergy of Ferns,
on the specious grounds that one of their first abbots
i Rees, " Essay," p. 227, &c. It is seldom that the Welsh writers
register the foreign parentage of their saints. There are, how
ever, some exceptions. Thus in the Genealogy of St. Collen, his
mother, Melangell, is called the daughter of Ethni the " Irish
woman." St. Melangell was the foundress of Pennant Melangell
in Montgomeryshire. Her cell is still pointed out there on a rock
near the church. Rees, " Lives," pp. 596 and 599.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 31
was the founder, first bishop, and chief patron of that
see. Towards the close of the ninth century, another
illustrious Irishman held a distinguished place at St.
David's. He was styled by his contemporaries
" Johannes Erigena ;" and having taught geometry
and astronomy, and other branches of science, at this
monastery, such was his fame, that he was chosen by
King Alfred the Great, not, indeed, as some have foolishly
advanced, to lay the foundation of Oxford1 — which was
not as yet dreamed of — but to teach the sons of the
Saxon nobility in the royal palace. Two centuries
later the fame of Ireland was still fresh at Menevia.
The famous Sulgen, who held the see about the year
1070, set out to satiate his thirst for knowledge in the
Irish schools. He was, however, driven in a storm on the
Scottish coast, and was detained there for a long time : —
" With ardent love for learning Sulgen sought
The school in which his fathers had been taught ;
To Ireland's sacred isle he bent his way,
Where science beamed with bright and glorious ray.
But sailing towards the country where abode
The people famous in the word of God,
His barque, by adverse winds and tempests tossed,
Was forced to anchor on another coast."
At length, however, he was enabled to continue his
journey to Ireland, and having spent ten years in her
monasteries and schools, returned to Menevia, to impart
to his countrymen his honied store of sacred knowledge :
" Then, having gained a literary fame,
In high repute for learning, home he came,
His gathered store and golden fruit to share."2
1 Williams, " Eccl Antiq.," p, 156 ; see Giles, " Life and Times
of Alfred the Great," p. 274.
2 The Latin text may be seen in Usher's " Sylloge," praef. p. 5.

32 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
In the most ancient extant list of the Abbots of St.
Iltud's Monastery, the second name is that of St. Kieran
of Saigher, patron of the Diocese of Ossory. The site
of the monastery is thus described by the ancient
author of St. Iltud's Life :— " Around it there were no
mountains or steep inequalities, but an open fertile,
plain ; there was a wood, very thick with various trees
growing in it, where many wild beasts inhabited ; a very
pleasing river flowed therein, and spring fountains
mingled with a rivulet in delightful courses."1 It was
probably about the year 500 that St. Kieran dwelt in
this hallowed retreat of piety. Thence he proceeded
to a small island situated in the Wye, where he erected
a small monastery, and many devout persons flocked
thither to receive his lessons of heavenly instruction.
St. Kieran, however, soon after proceeded towards the
north of Britain and thence returned to Saigher. He
had already laboured in the sacred ministry through
out Brittany, where he is still honoured in many places
as patron, under the name of St. Sezin. Thence he
came to Cornwall, which also retains many memorials
of his Apostolate ; several churches still bear his name ;
the most singular being that of Peranzabulo, or " St.
Kieran's in the Sands," which, after being embedded in
the strand for about 800 years, has been brought to
light again in our own days, almost perfect in its rude
but solid masonry, and with its sculptured corbels and
zig-zag ornaments so complete, that we might almost be
tempted to imagine that it was one of our old Irish ora
tories transplanted to the Cornish shore. St. Kieran is
, " Lives," p. 163.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 33
honoured as the special patron of those who are engaged
in the tin-mines, and they keep his festival, as in Ire
land, on the 5th of March. It is the constant tradition
of Cornwall that he was interred there. An arm of the
saint was enshrined in Exeter Cathedral, and as late as
the 15th century several other relics of this great Irish
Bishop were venerated in Cornwall. An inventory, made
in the year 1281, mentions a reliquary with St. Kieran's
head, a silver plate with his scutella, a silver cross con
taining some small relics of the saint, his pastoral staff
adorned with silver and gold and precious stones, a text
of the Gospels richly encased, and a small copper bell
also belonging to the saint.1
Petrocstow, or Padstow, was another monastery
closely connected with our Irish schools. Its name was
derived from its holy founder, St. Petroc. Before he
began his labours there he spent twenty years in the re
ligious houses of Ireland, perfecting his mind in sacred
science, and training himself to the practice of heroic
virtue. Returning to Britain, he brought with him
three Irish monks, remarkable alike for learning and
sanctity, St. Croidan, St. Medan, and St. Dagan,2 and
with their aid he laid the foundations of the great
monastery which for many years was one of the chief
centres of piety and science for all Southern Britain.
As regards Irish chieftains on the British coast, we
have seen how important a part in the history of the
1 See " The Age of the Saints : a Monograph of early Christianity
in Cornwall," by W. C. Borlase, 1878, p. 49.
2 Usher, p. 564, and Index Chron. ad an. 518 ; Colgan, " Acta,"
p. 385. See also the learned paper on " Loca Patriciana," by
Rev. J. F. Shearman, in Journal of R. Hist. Sf-c. Association of
Kilkenny, 1876, p. 414.

34 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Church of Wales belongs to Prince Brecan and his
family. We have also seen how another Irish chieftain,
though a pagan, bestowed on St. David the territory
around Menevia, on which his great monastery was
erected. It is, however, still more strange, perhaps, to
find an Irishman ruling a principality of Wales as late
as the year 1080. His name, as presented in the Welsh
annals, was Gruffyd ap Cynan, or Mac Keenan, and he
is there styled King of Gwynedd, in North Wales,
having obtained that kingdom, not by force of arms, but
by right of inheritance. It is probable we would have
been left in ignorance as to the land of his birth were it
not for the munificence of his gifts to religion, which
were duly recorded by Welsh writers. In the list of
pious donations by which he prepared to close his
earthly career, comes foremost " a gift of twenty shil
lings to Dublin, that city being his native place," and
this is followed by gifts of a like sum to each of the
other principal churches of Ireland.1
But we must pass lightly over these and many similar
memorials of Irish influence along the western coast of
Britain, to fix our attention more particularly on the lives
of a few Irish saints, whose virtues shone with special
lustre, and whose names stand prominently forth in the
Calendars of Wales and Armorica. English writers,
indeed, have, as a rule, been content to style them British
saints, butthe tradition, especially of Armorica, has inva
riably pointed to Ireland as their country, and modern
research has fully justified the accuracy of that venerable
tradition. 3 Williams, Eec. Antiq., p. 162.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 35
In the preceding pages we have already referred to St.
Samson. The Book of Llandaff and other early records of
Wales inform us that he was brother of St. Tathai.1 From
his tender years he manifested a longing desire for a reli
gious life, and although his father urged him to pursue a
worldly career, his mother, with loving earnestness, en
couraged him to follow God's holy will. He was in his
youth placed under the care of St. Iltud,2 and this vene
rable man from the first foretold his future eminence and
sanctity. We are also informed that Samson applied
himself particularly to the study of the Sacred Scripture,
and that his advance in piety and his austerities kept pace
with his literary progress. Among his companions were SS.
David and Gildas, afterwards so renowned in the Welsh
Church. One season, at harvest time, the birds began to
pluck the corn of the monastery and to leave the ears almost
empty. St. Iltud placed his holy pupils on guard to chase
them away. St. Samson, praying fervently to God, blessed
the cloud of birds that had settled on the field. They at
tempted to flyaway, but their efforts were in vain; and then,
obedient to his voice, they went before him to St. Iltud's
cell, and remained gathered around it, till the abbot, rising
fromprayer, set them at liberty, by his blessing, but with
the injunction that they should no longer ravage the fields
of the monastery.3 St. Samson was brought to the holy
Bishop Dubricius (grandson of the Irish chieftain Brecan,
to whom we have already referred) to be promoted to holy
1 Rees, " Lives," p. 591.
2 The Life of the Saint in Mabillon, " Acta SS. Ordinis S.
Bened.," vol. i., p. 154, chap, ix., states that he was brought to
St. Iltud's school " cum donariis secundum morem."
3 Rees, "Lives," p. 479 ; Mabillon, "Acta Sanctorum," &c, in
Life of St. Gildas, i., 130, chap. v.

36 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
orders; and when he was ordained deacon, "there appeared
to Dubricius and the Abbot Iltud a dove whiter than snow,
that rested on the head of the youthful Levite."1 The great
Monastery of St. Iltud, known as Bangor Etud, was
situated at the city of Caerworgan, called Bovium by
the Romans, and at the time of which we treat was the
residence of the Kings of Glamorgan.3 St. Samson,
desirous of greater solitude, with the permission of the
holy Abbot, retired to St. Kieran's Monastery, situated
in a small island not far distant. He was there wel
comed by St. Kieran as an angel from heaven, and
when St. Kieran soon after resolved to return to Saigher,
St. Samson was chosen his successor in the govern
ment of the monastery. The Life adds, that after some
time he was 'there visited by " some most skilful Irish
monks,"3 and these he accompanied to Ireland to perfect
himself still more in the paths of holiness. One of the
monasteries in which he rested for a time was situated
at Rath Airthir (in Arce Aetride),4 on the sea-coast;
and so enraptured were its religious with his zeal and
piety, that they solicited him to remain as abbot
amongst them. To this Samson would not consent, and
returning to Wales, he chose a solitary spot, where he
lived in retirement and prayer till the aged Dubricius
and the other Bishops of Wales, consulting for the
interests ofthe Faith, " pro Fidei firmitate," obliged him
to accept the Episcopal burden. Soon after, being ad
monished by God that his brethren in Armorica were
1 Rees, " Lives," p. 481 ; Mabillon, " Acta," i., 154, chap. xiii.
2 WiUiams, " Eec. Antiq." p. 213.
3 Mabillon, " Loc. Cit.," chap. 37.
4 Mabillon, " Loc. Cit.," chap. 38.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 37
assigned to him as his spiritual charge, he passed the
Severn, and taking with him some chosen religious with
his books, and the chariot " which he had brought with
him from Ireland," set out for the continent. There
he found the whole country a prey to every disorder, in
consequence of the invasion by Cbildebert,1 the murder
of their native Prince Jena, and the substitution of the
Frank Conumur in his stead. The labours of St.
Samson throughout Armorica were those of an Apostle.
More than once he visited the palace of Childebert to
remedy the wrongs of his people. The king treated him
with every kindness, and founded for him a monastery
at Pentale, on the banks of the Seine, in the territory of
Rheims. It was, however, at his monastery in the city
of Dole that St. Samson loved particularly to reside,
and after his death that city continued to be enriched
with his relics till the close of the ninth century, when
they were translated to Orleans. St. Samson was pre
sent at the second Council of Paris in the year 557, and
signed its Decrees thus : " I, Samson, a sinner, Bishop,
have approved and signed." His name does not appear
at the Council held in Tours in the year 565, which is a
proof that he had died before that year. He assisted at
the death of St. Dubricius, and entering the saint's
cell, as his Life tells us, " made the sign of Redemption,
as was his custom, on the forehead of the dying
Bishop."2 He also received the last breath of St. Tltud.
The death-bed scene of this saint is one of the most
' He reigned from 511 to 560. Gregory of Tours, who was a
contemporary, places the murder of Jena in 546. This fixes the
date of St. Samson's arrival in Gaul.
2 Ibid., lib. 2, chap. viii.

38 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
striking presented in the whole history of the British
Church : —
" St. Iltud's death being at hand, he summoned two
abbots to his bedside, named Isannus and Atoclius, and
when they had come he lovingly embraced them, and
giving them his last words of admonition said : The
time for my rest in Christ has come, but be comforted,
dear brothers, for the day of your own repose is not far
distant. It pleases God that this night the angels will
bear my soul to bliss, and you my brother Isannus will
see it as an eagle with golden plumage soaring swiftly
to heaven. In fifteen days brother Atoclius will depart
from the flesh, and again Isannus will see that soul as
an eagle directing its flight towards heaven ; its
plumage, however, shall be as lead, and difficult shall be
the eagle's flight; for thou, dear brother Atoclius,
though pure from thy childhood, hast been much en
gaged with the world, and hast cherished an avaricious
desire of it. And after forty days, brother Isannus will
himself depart this life, and his soul shall ascend with
the same difficulty to heaven. At midnight, whilst the
religious chanted hymns and anthems, and received
from their loved Father the kiss of peace, he breathed
his soul to God ; and, as he had foretold, Isannus saw
his soul, as an eagle with golden wings, soaring aloft to
heaven. The prophecy regarding Atoclius was also veri
fied ; and Isannus seeing the difficulty with which that
soul struggled towards heaven, on account of its leaden
burden of avarice, caused the prayers of the brethren to
be offered up, and many masses to be celebrated for his
repose, till he was favoured with another vision, when
he saw the soul of Atoclius freed from its leaden burden,

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 39
and joyously entering into heaven. And when the forty
days had passed, Isannus too rested in peace."
Among the chief memorials of St. Samson preserved
at Dole, was his Episcopal Cross, which in his journeys
he caused to be carried before him by one of his reli
gious brethren. It was in later times encased in silver
and gold, and adorned with precious gems, and was jea
lously guarded by the piety of the faithful.
St. Gildas was a companion of St. Samson at the
monastery of Iltud. He was born in the year 490 at
Alcluid, of Irish parents, and hence by many of his bio
graphers is justly called an Irishman. In his thirtieth
year, leaving St. Iltud's monastery, he proceeded to
Ireland, that he might there perfect himself in the
knowledge of Philosophy aud the Sacred Sciences, and
visiting many schools of learned men, he laid up a
honeyed store of spiritual treasure. We next find him
evangelizing North Britain, a great part of which was
still in the darkness of Paganism, while the rest, owing
to the distracted condition of the country, and to the
continual irruptions of the Pagan Saxons and Picts,
were lost to piety, and immersed in every vice. Having
laboured here for some time, he resolved to visit Rome,
" to implore the intercession of the holy Apostles SS.
Peter and Paul, that through their prayers he might
obtain pardon ofhis sins, constancy in the divine service,
and a portion with all the Saints in the heavenly inhe
ritance." At the shrine of the Apostles (in Aula B.
Petri) he used to pass the nights in prayers and vigils,
and by day he went round to the other sanctuaries of the
seven hills (caeterorum oratoria sanctorum Romuleae
urbis circumire et suffragia eorum petere), to enlist the

40 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
suffrages of the countless other saints and martyrs of
the eternal city. From Rome he proceeded to Ravenna,
to pay the tribute of his devotion at the shrine of St.
Apollinaris (gratia orationis B. Apollinaris). Many mira
cles were performed by him in this pilgrimage, and having
satisfied his piety, he turned his steps towards home.
He for a time settled in a little island opposite Ruye,
called Houath, situated on the French coast, purporting
to lead there an hermitical life. Many persons, how
ever, of the neighbouring territory hastened thither,
anxious to receive from him lessons of heavenly wisdom,
and to commit their children to his care. The better to
provide for those entrusted to him, he proceeded to tbe
mainland, and erected on the ruins of a castle on the
hill of Ruye, a monastery, which long continued a source
of the greatest blessings for all that country.
Not far from this monastery, he after a time chose
for his retreat a solitary spot on the banks of the river
Le Blavet. Finding there a cave in a high rock extend
ing from west to east, he at the entrance built a wall
facing towards the east, and placed in it a small window,
which he closed with glass, and this cave he dedicated
as an oratory, and made it his constant abode. At his
prayer, a spring fountain gushedfrom the rock. He erected
close by a small mill, where he ground the corn with his
own hands, and distributed it to the poor and the infirm.
Though all honoured him as their father and abbot, he
looked on himself as the last and the least of all. He
was at the same time the most meek of men, showing forth
his wisdom in action and in word, assiduous in prayer,
persevering in vigils, macerating his flesh by fasting,
bearing injuries in patience, affable in discourse, abound-

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 41
ing in almsgiving, conspicuous by good works of every
kind. He taught his disciples to shun heretics, to
repair their sins by alms, to love fasting, to be con
stant in watching and prayer. He was the father of the
poor and the orphans, the comforter of those who were
in sorrow, the peacemaker among such as were in strife.
He reproved sinners without respect of persons, but
sought at the same time to bring them to penance,
setting before them the promises of God, and the great
ness ofhis mercy towards those who repent. Such is the
picture of this saint, presented by his ancient biographer.
Having spent ten years in his missionary labours, St.
Gildas retired to the Monastery of Glastonbury, and it
was probably there that he composed his famous Epistle
on the British Church, which is one of the most remark
able records that have come down to us from this early
period. At the invitation of Ainmire, Monarch of Ire
land, Gildas quitted his tranquil repose, and hastened
once more to awaken the fervour of Christian piety on
the shores of Erin, which he had already so learned to
love. He seems, however, to have spent but a short
time among our people ; for it was only in the year 568
that Ainmire ascended the throne, and St. Gildas's
death is marked in the Annals of Wales in the year
570. Among the treasures of Kildare, in the ages of
Faith, was a small bell worked by St. Gildas, which, in
token of spiritual friendship, he had sent to the foun
dress of that convent, the great St. Bridget.
The Monastery of Llandeveneck was founded by St.
Winwaloe1 about the year 500. This great saint lived
1 St. Winwaloe was born in 455 and died in 529, " on Saturday,
the 3rd of March, in the first week of Lent." These data all agree

42 Irish Saints in Great B,ritain.
with his father near Guic-Sezne, when a fleet of pirates
was seen hovering about the harbour. St. Winwaloe
gave the alarm, crying out, " I see a thousand sails."
Their subsequent defeat was ascribed to his prayers, and
in after times a commemorative cross was erected there,
which was called " The cross of the thousand sails."
He first erected a cell in the island of Sein, off the
Point du Raz, but finding it too much exposed to the
full swell of the Atlantic, he proceeded to the opposite
side of the harbour of Brest, and there founded Llan-
devenec, which has been well styled the Glastonbury of
Brittany, " the final resting-place of the monastic
exiles, who grew old, but could not die in the wild
paradise of their first settlement, and which held fast
its Scoto-British customs until the ninth century."1
Fremenville, in his "Antiquites du Finistere," gives,
an interesting account of this Monastery of Llandeve-
nech, which he styles the most ancient monument in
Finistere, after those of the Druids. Its romantic
ruins occupy a little promontory between two rivers.
The pillars he especially notices as ornamented with
most complicated interlaced work and grotesque figures,
precisely after the manner of some of the other oldest
works of Irish hands. St. Winwaloe died standing at
the altar, after giving the kiss of peace to the religious
brethren, on the 3rd of March, 529.
St. Joava is honoured as one of the most distinguished
of the Irish monks who lived in this monastery of
with the year assigned to his death. The name of Winwaloe
means " He that is fair," and was given to him on account of his
great beauty.
1 Haddan, " Remains," p. 264.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 43
Llandevenec.1 After spending some time in Wales he
set out to visit his relative St. Paul, who was afterwards
Bishop of Leon, but who at this time governed an island
monastery in the Morbihan. A tempest drove our
saint on shore near Llandevenec. Being hospitably
received by St. Winwaloe, and struck by the fervent
piety of the religious, he became a monk there, and
subsequently was commissioned by the holy abbot to
preach the faith throughout Cornouaille. On one
occasion, as his Life records, Joava was engaged in
conference with Winwaloe and other holy abbots, and
the holy sacrifice was being celebrated by an Irish
religious named Taidoc, when they were attacked by an
armed party headed by a wicked local prince (Tyrannus)
who was enraged at the spread of Christian piety in the
district. The priest had just pronounced the words
" Nobis quoque peccatoribus," when they rushed in and
murdered him at the altar, whilst the other religious
sought safety in flight. Divine punishment immediately
fell on the wicked chieftain ; a noble monastery was
erected on the spot where St. Taidoc was martyred, and
Joava was chosen its first Abbot. It was known in after
times as St. Mary's Monastery of Doulas. St. Paul, or
Pol, being chosen Bishop of Leon, summoned Joava to
aid him in sanctifying his people, and when a little later,
weighed down with infirmities and age, he retired from
his see, our saint was appointed his successor. St.
Joava died after one year's episcopate in 555, and is still
honoured as special patron of two parishes in the ancient
see of Leon.
1 His life may be seen in Colgan, "Acta," p. 441. ¦ He is expressly
styled "natione Hybernus." His Irish name was probably
Finnian.

44 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
At the time of St. Joava's death another Irish saint
stood by his side. This was St. Cianan. Rescued from
death in his youth by St. Kieran of Saigher, and for
many years disciple of this saint, he resolved, in imitation
of his master, to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of
St. Martin. Having satisfied his devotion there, he
meditated another journey to Rome, and onwards to the
Holy Land. Arriving at the Alps, and enraptured with
their solitude, he remained there, in imitation of Moyses,
in the strictest fast, for forty days. Admonished by an
angel that God had accepted his pious will for the
remainder of his journey, he turned his steps towards
home. St. Joava detained him for a time at Leon, where he
exercised his zeal in leading unbelievers to truth and
sinners to repentance. After administering the last
sacraments to St. Joava, and assisting him in death, St.
Cianan returned to Ireland, and founded in his native
district a stone church, in Irish daimh-leach, a work of
architectural marvel in those days, which gave name to
his monastery, and the town that sprung up around the
monastery retains the name Duleek to the present day.
St. Magloire and St. Machut belonged to the same
holy family as SS. Tathai and Samson. The former
succeeded St. Samson as Bishop of Dole, but in a short
time resigned that charge, and founded on the shore of
the sea, in the island of Jersey, a monastery, in which
sixty-two monks lived with him in the practice of every
virtue. The nobleman who owned the island being
miraculously freed by the prayers of the saint from a
disease which had afflicted him for many years, bestowed
half of the island on St. Magloire. All the fertility of
the soil and the riches of the sea seemed, however, to

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 45
forsake the portion which he had reserved to himself,
and to be transferred to the portion of St. Magloire.
He therefore completed his gift, and made an offering
of the whole island to God and to our saint.
St. Maclovius, generally called by the Irish endearing
name of Machud or Machutus, was from the years of
boyhood trained to piety at the monastery1 of St.
Brendan. That holy abbot loved him . as a favourite
child, and he was among the religious chosen by St.
Brendan for his companions in his wonderful seven
years' pilgrimage on the ocean. One fact of his early
years is particularly commemorated by his ancient
biographer. The monastery of St. Brendan was situated
not far from the sea-shore. One day, as the young
religious took their recreation on the strand, St. Machut
seated himself on a rock, and was soon overcome by
sleep. Whilst he slept the returning tide encompassed
the rock, and when he awoke he found the waters rising
around him on every side. The abbot, hastening to the
shore in search of him, saw him standing on the rock,
which seemed to rise under his feet as the waves surged
around him. To the abbot, who was filled with alarm
on the sea-shore, he cried out, with hands uplifted to
heaven : "Mirabiles elationes maris, mirabilis in altis
Dominus " — wonderful are the ocean's waves, wonder
ful is the Lord on high ; and he added that his only
regret was, that he had not with him his Psalter, to
chant amidst the waves the praises of God.
1 The monastery is said to have been situated ' at Carvanna or
Carganna. This is supposed by some to be Lancarvan, in
Wales ; but probably it is an attempt to Latinize Ciarrigi, where
St. Brendan's famous monastery was situated. See the Saint's
Life in Mabillon's " Acta SS.," vol. i., p, 177.

46 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
In after times, when his native territory desired to
have him for bishop, he fled to Armorica, and joined the
monastery of St. Aaron, which was situated on a tract
of land opposite the town of Aleth, and was surrounded
by the sea, except at one side, where a mound of sand
united it with the mainland. There his only meal was
oaten bread with some dry herbs, and water was his only
drink. The few Christians who remained in Aleth soon
recognised the treasure they possessed in this pilgrim
religious, and building an oratory as best they could,
prayed him to come amongst them to preach the truths
of faith, and offer the holy sacrifice. Moved by their
desolate condition, St. Machut undertook their spiritual
charge. Many miracles accompanied his preaching, and
throughout all Brittany he was soon revered as an
apostle of Christ. After the death of St. Aaron, he took
charge of that saint's monastery, and around it a large
city grew up, which in after time was called St. Malo,
from our saint, whom it honoured as its patron.
Throughout all his onerous spiritual cares, St. Machut
did not omit manual labour. One day, whilst engaged
pruning the vines with the religious brethren, as his
" Life " relates, he laid aside his mantle, and after the
day's labour, when about returning to the monastery, he
found that a red-breast (bitriscus) had begun to form
her nest in his mantle. He would not allow the little
bird to be disturbed ; and though the mantle was thus
left exposed to the rain and wind till the red-breast
brought forth her young, yet it was found quite fresh
and uninjured, as though it had been the whole time
carefully preserved.
Towards the close of his life St. Machut was com-

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 47
pelled, by the disorders which prevailed, to abandon his
flock. Soon, however, the people felt that they had
lost their best friend and father, and they besought
him to return to them. Though weighed down by
years,1 the saint joyfully hastened back to comfort them,
and with his presence, smiling plenty and every other
comfort were restored to them. Knowing, however, that
only a little time remained to him of his earthly
pilgrimage, and being desirous to end his days in
solitude, he once more bade farewell to Brittany, and
proceeded southward to the diocese of Saintes, where
the holy bishop, St. Leontius, received him with the
greatest joy. There he chose the little town of
Archambiac for his retreat, and passed his whole time
in prayer and penance. Three days before his death a
fever set in ; he would not, however, allow any change
to be made in his bed of ashes, or in his clothing of
sackcloth, nor would he permit his weary frame to be
placed in a posture of repose, but with hands and eyes
upraised to heaven, and his heart fixed on God, he
calmly awaited the summons to his reward. His happy
death took place on the 15th of November- The year is
uncertain, but as St. Leontius held the see of Saintes
about the year 620, the death of St. Machut must be
referred to the same period.
Such were the men who, by the heroism of their
sanctity, won an undying fame for our country through
out the churches of Britain and North Gaul. In France,
at least, their memory is still held in benediction ; and
the faithful of Brittany and Normandy have never ceased
1 " Seniles artus ad laborem viae repaxat." (Vit. chap. 20).

48 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
to cherish a grateful affection for the Green Isle of the
West, to whose heroic piety they are indebted for so
many patron saints.
But besides the sons of Erin who made Britain and
Armorica their home, and scattered there the seeds of
Christian piety, it would not be difficult to compile a
long calendar of Britons who, though strangers to
Ireland by birth, were nevertheless attracted thither by
the widespread fame of her monasteries and schools, —
devoted men, who, having satiated themselves at her
pure fountains, returned to their own countries earnest
soldiers of the Cross, and heralds of the glad tidings of
Redemption. Such, for instance, was St. Kybi. A native of Corn
wall, he spent four years in the Arann islands, off the
coast of Galway, then famous for the virtues and
miracles of St. Enda and his disciples. He afterwards
preached throughout the greater part of Wales, and
churches are still dedicated to him at Caernarvon,
Caerleon, and Holyhead. This last town honoured
him as a chief patron, and was enriched with his relics.
It is strange to find it recorded that as late as the year
1405 some citizens of Dublin planned a raid on that
district of Wales, and carried off the treasure of St.
Kybi's relics, which they deposited in Christ Church, in
their own city.1
Such, too, was the great Armorican saint, Padernus
or Padarn. He was born in Brittany, but soon after his
birth his father, Pedredin, with the consent of his
wife, proceeded to Ireland and became a monk there.
1 See " Monasticon Hibernicum," new edition, vol. ii., p. 9.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 49
Though advanced in years this venerable man passed
his time "in fasting, prayer, watching, meditation, and
bestowing charity on those around him ;" he " slept on
a rough mat, and prayed to God both by day and
night."1 When the little Padarn asked his mother
whether his father was yet alive, she used to reply —
"Yes, my child; but he lives to God and not to the
world." St. Padarn, having attained the years of man
hood, said within himself, " How can a son live better
than by imitating a good father ?" and accompanied by
several others, set out for Ireland. On the way, how
ever, he was detained for a time in Wales, where he
erected, in Cardiganshire, the great monastery of
Llanbadarn-Fawr. After some time, leaving there his
Armorican companions, he continued his journey to
Ireland, and living for some years with his father,
emulated his piety and austerities, and performed many
miracles. He subsequently returned to Wales, and
built monasteries and churches throughout the whole
region of Ceretica. The Welsh Triads name him as one
of the "blessed visitors" of Britain, and they record
that he went about the country preaching the faith of
Christ, "without pay or reward," to all ranks of people,
and spending his life in prayer, fasting, and attendance
on the sick.
The President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall,
treating of the Cornish Saints of this period, writes,
that Ireland " bore fruit in a manner that was truly
marvellous  It became the centre of all the
rehgious and literary life of the north. Thither every
1 Rees, " Lives," p. 104.

50 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
peaceful scholar, every philosopher, as the monk of
those early days is characteristically called by Sozomen,
fled for refuge before the Pagan hordes which, on the
withdrawal of the Roman Legions, swooped down into
their place. Speaking generally of Cornish antiquities
once at Oxford, I have never forgotten the advice given
me by my kind friend, Professor Max Mulier : ' If you
really wish,' he said, ' to go deeply into the antiquities
- of your country, it is to Ireland you must go to learn
about them.' 'a
Among the Welsh Saints that made Ireland their
home I must not omit St. Constantine, that illustrious
British prince and saint, who was as reckless in his
career of crimes in his early years as he was famed for
his penitential austerities and his holiness of life in his
old age. He ruled over Damnonia, the territory com
prised in the modern Devonshire and Cornwall ; and
such were his evil deeds, that Gildas classes him among
the wicked princes whom he holds up to the execration
of posterity. It is in particular recorded of him that,
in defiance of his solemn oath, he had slain two royal
youths, the sons of Modred, king of the Britons, within
the very precincts of the altar. However, a few years
after St. Gildas's death, Constantine entered with
earnestness on the paths of penance, and proceeding to
Ireland, concealed his rank, and enrolled himself among
the servants of the monastery of St. Mochuda at Rahen.
He chose for himself the humblest offices and the
severest manual labour. For seven years he carried the
sacks of corn to the convent mill to be ground for the
' Borlase, " The Age of the Saints," &c, p. 34.

The Monasteries of Britain and Armorica. 51
community and the poor. At length his rank being
discovered by St. Mochuda, he made rich grants to the
monastery, and having attained great fame for virtue,
was raised to the dignity of Abbot.1 The Annalist,
Tighernac, marks under the year 588, "Conversio Con-
stantini ad Dominum." The Annals of Ulster have a
like entry in 587, and the " Annales Cambriae " in 589.
The year of his death is not recorded. He is said to
have proceeded from Rahen to Scotland, and to have
preached the faith in Centyre and other districts, where
he is still commemorated among the patron saints.
Perhaps I should also include in this list Cadwallon,
king of Britain, who, together with his family, lived for
seven years in Ireland. After his return to Wales, about
the year 630, his hfe was spent in warfare against the
ever-increasing tide of the Saxon invaders. He is famed
in Welsh history, not for his piety, but for his valour.
He is said to have fought no fewer than seventy-four
battles in defence of "the most fair Britain," and for
this his memory was long held dear by his countrymen —
" As the water flows from the fountain —
Sorrowful willjbe our lingering day for Cadwallon." 2
His son, Cadwaladar, supplied abundantly all that was
wanting in the father's piety. He was popularly styled
"the blessed," and he is commemorated in the Triads
as one of the " three kings who conferred blessings" on
Britain, and also as one ofthe "three canonized kings
1 See Petrie, " Round Towers," p. 356 ; and Forbes, " Kaiendars
of Scottish Saints," p. 312.
2 Elegy by the contemporary, Llywarch Hen, in Williams''
" Eccles Antiq.," p. 148. It is given in full by Skene, " Four
Ancient Books of Wales," Edinburgh, 1868, vol. i., p. 433.

52 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
of Britain." He was the last of the Cymry who assumed
the title of chief sovereign of Britain, and he is said by
some of the Welsh chroniclers to have died in Rome.1
These instances will suffice to show how fruitful was
the faith of Ireland in conferring blessings upon the
various British principalities of Wales and Armorica.
Holy men from our shores appear in every page bf Welsh
and Armoric Annals, from the fifth to the eighth century.
Their cells and churches and schools and monasteries
were spread like a network over the whole country, as
so many secure asylums of civilization, science, and
religion, and even when the individuals who erected
them had passed away, these institutions continued to
produce the happiest fruits of social peace and Christian
virtue. It is not saying too much to assert that a great
deal of the fame enjoyed by the British Church in
Armorica and Wales in those golden centuries of its
schools and monasteries, was merited for it by the
untiring zeal and earnest piety of its Irish saints.
1 Williams'1 " Eccles. Antiq.," p. 148-9.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 53

CHAPTER III.
MISSIONARY LABOURS OF ST. COLUMBA AND HIS
COMPANIONS IN SCOTLAND.
Fame of Ireland in the Sixth Century : — Early years of St. Columba :
— His Virtues: — Visit to St. Molaise: — The Companions of his
Pilgrimage : — Iona : — St. Columba's love of Discipline : — His
Visits to Conal, King of Dalriada, and Brude, King of the
Picts: — His Labours among the Picts: — The Monastery of
Tears: — St. Moluog ¦ — St. Donnan and his Companions Martyrs:
— St. Molios : — SS. Finnan and Mochonna : —The Four
Founders of Monasteries :—Sea Voyages of St. Cormac : —
Eilean-na-naoimJi : — St. Columba at Drumceatt : — His love of
Ireland: — -The Monastery of Derry: — St. Columba punishes
injustice done to the Poor: — His Visit to St. Kentigern .- — His
Pilgrimage to Rome: — Inchcolm:— Heavenly favours granted to
St. Columba : —His Death.
Our illustrious countryman, Marianus Scotus, in his
chronicle, under the year 589, compendiates in one
short sentence the history of Leland at the close of the
sixth century: "Ireland, the island of saints, is, to
a sublime degree, full of holy men and innumerable
wonders."1 The name of St. Columba is, perhaps, the brightest
that adorns this brilliant page of our country's history.
Venerated at home for his sanctity and wondrous
miracles, he has from time immemorial ranked with St.
Patrick and St. Bridget amongst the chief patrons of
1 Marianus—1-1 Hibernia, insula sanctorum, Sanctis et mirabilibus
perplurimis sublimiter plena habetur." Pertz, Monumenta Hist.
Germ, vii., 544.

54 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Erin, whilst abroad the grateful piety of those whom he
evangelized has awarded him the aureola of chief
Apostle of Caledonia. Many years* indeed, before the
mission of our saint others had preached the faith in
Dalriada and the southern districts of Alba, but in con
sequence of the continual wars and predatory incursions,
piety had again grown cold, and the light of truth was-
well nigh spent. Columba revived there the spirit of
piety, and renewed the fervour of Christian life. The
Northern Picts, however, had never yet received the
Gospel, but now that sanguinary and untameable race,
which Imperial Rome could not subdue, was conquered
by the Irish missionary. Before St. Columba had ended
his glorious career, the whole nation was gathered into
the one true fold ; their glens and forests, their almost
inaccessible mountains, and their distant islands were
studded with Christian churches and monasteries, and
resounded with the praises of the Most High.
St. Columba1 was born in Gartan, in the County
Donegal, on the 7th December, in the year 521, the
very day on which the great founder of Monasterboice
passed to his reward. An ancient oratory still marks
the place of his birth, and in the cemetery, close by, are
two old Celtic crosses, with St. Columba's well, whither
pilgrims still flock to pay the tributes of their devotion
on his festival. By paternal descent he was a scion of
1 Excellent popular lives of our saint have been published by
Montalambert, in his " Monks of the West," and Sister Mary-
Francis Clare, in Kenmare Series, London, 1877. We are par
ticularly indebted, however, to Dr. Reeves, in his edition of
Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, and Mr. Skene, in " Celtic
Scotland," vol. ii., Edinburgh, 1877, for the learning and erudition
With which they have illustrated the early monuments connected
-with the saint and his companions.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 55
the royal house of the northern Hy-Niall, and his father,
Fedhlimidh, belonged to the tribe of Cinell Conaill, who
were connected with the kings of Scottish Dalriada.
His mother, Eithne, was of a princely family of Leinster.
Before his birth she had a vision in which was fore
shadowed the splendour of his future career. An angel
appeared to her, bearing in his hand a veil of wonderful
beauty, richly variegated with all kinds of flowers.
Scarce, however, had she contemplated it for a little
time, when he spread it out and allowed it to float away
through the air. It gradually expanded as it became
more and more distant, till at length mountains, forests,
and plains were covered with its shadow. Then the
angel said to her — " Thou art about to become the
mother of a son who shall blossom for heaven: he shall
be reckoned among the prophets of God, and shall lead
numberless souls to the heavenly country."
This child of promise was from his infancy placed
under the care of a holy priest, as Adamnan informs
us. Whilst under his care, an angel came one day to
Columba, and asked what special virtues he desired
from God." The holy youth replied that he desired
above all others virginity and wisdom. The angel then
announced to him that God approved his choice, and in
token of approval would add the gift of prophecy to
these virtues. Soon after, whilst Columba was engaged
in prayer, three maidens arrayed in heavenly light stood
before him, but Columba heeded them not. "Dost thou
not know us?" they asked. "We are three sisters,
Virginity, Wisdom, and Prophecy, and we are sent by
God to be your inseparable companions during your
earthly pilgrimage."

56 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
As he grew in years we meet with him in the great
schools of Moville, Clonard, and Glasnevin.1 Whilst
he studied at Moville, situated at the head of Strangford
Lough, in the County Down, two brilliant lights were
seen to illumine the heavens over the monastery, one,
golden as the sun, the other silvery as the moon. The
holy abbot and bishop, Finnian, explaining this vision
to his religious, said that Ciaran mac-an-Tsaeor (i.e., the
son ofthe carpenter), who was one of their number, would
be as the silvery light by his virtues and good deeds ;
but Columba would be as the golden sun, and "the
fame of his exemplary piety and the brightness of his
angelic life, his purity,* his wisdom, his knowledge, his
word, and his preaching, would extend over all the west
of the world." 2
At Glasnevin, under the care of St. Mobhi, he had
again St. Ciaran mac-an-Tsaeor, the future founder of
Clonmacnoise, for his companion, and with them were
Saints Canice and Comgall. One day as these young
saints conversed together, their conversation turned on
the new church which the Abbot Mobhi had just com
pleted there. St. Ciaran said he wished that it were
full of holy men, who by night and day would sing the
praises of God. St. Canice expressed his wish that it
were full of sacred manuscripts which would lead many
to the knowledge and the service of God. St. Comgall
declared it would be his desire that all the pains and
afflictions of this world were gathered into it, that he
1 At an early period of his life, on account of his uninterrupted
devotion to study and prayer, he was called Columbkille, which
may be interpreted Columba of the Church or Columba of the
Cell, and in either meaning seems justly applicable to our Saint.
5 Martyrology of Donegal, p. 161.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 57
might suffer them all for the love of Christ. But
Columba said he would wish it were filled with silver
and gold, to relieve the poor and to found churches and
monasteries. When this was told to the venerable abbot,
he prophetically announced that the holy youths would
be blessed from heaven in accordance with the pious
wishes they had expressed.1
The fame of Columba for sanctity and miracles soon
became widespread throughout all Ireland.- Derry was
the first great monastery which he founded, but so
untiring were his labours, so ardent his zeal, so
generous the munificence of his princely friends, that
in a few years innumerable ofher monasteries and
churches sprung up in various parts of the kingdom,
all honouring him as their patron and head. But all
this did not suffice for Columba's zeal : he sighed for
new nations whom he might light up with the fire of
God's love, and gather into the fold of Christ ; and as he
saw a vast missionary field open before him on the
neighbouring shores of Alba, he resolved to make that
the theatre of his labour, and to devote the remainder
of his life to gather in there the harvest of God.
It has been sometimes stated, even by the most
conscientious writers, that Columba was in his youth of
an angry and vindictive spirit. So, too, it has been said
that he more than once stirred up the Irish chieftains
to civil strife, in order to avenge some supposed injuries
which he had received; and it has been repeatedly
asserted that it was in consequence of a penance of
perpetual exile imposed on him for the wars he had
1 Colgan, Trias, p. 161.

58 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
instigated, and for the blood which was shed, that be was
obliged to bid farewell to Ireland, and to seek a pilgrim's
home on the coast of Alba. For all this, however, there
is not a vestige of proof to be found in our earliest and
most authentic records. St. Adamnan attributes his
journey solely to his boundless love of Christ,1 and he
supposes everywhere throughout his narrative that the
saint had no other motive than a desire to carry the
Gospel to a Pagan nation, and to win souls to God. The
old Irish Life of St. Columba assigns the same reason
for his pilgrimage : " His native country was aban
doned by the illustrious saint and illustrious sage and
son chosen of God, for the love and favour of Christ;"
and again it adds that this was " the resolution which
he had determined on from the beginning of his life"
(Skene, ii. 83, 491) : and the Venerable Bede presents
the simple record — " there came from Ireland into
Britain a famous priest and abbot, a monk by habit and
life, whose name was Columba, to preach the Word of
God." — (Hist. Eec. iii., 4). We have further the clearest
evidence that the character of Columba was quite free
from the asperity and vindictiveness attributed to him;
His contemporary, Dalian Forghaill, speaks of him as "a
perfect sage, believing in Christ, learned, and chaste, and
charitable : he was noble, he was gentle, he was the
physician of the heart of every sage : he was a shelter
to the naked, a consolation to the poor : there went not
from the world one who was more constant in the
remembrance ofthe cross."2 The ancient gloss on St.
JEngus's Felire, or Metrical Calendar of Saints, also com-
1 Adamnan, "pro Christo peregrinari volens," Praef. 2.
2 Dalian Forghaill.—" Amra," edited by Mr. Crowe, 1871.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 59*
memorates him as " having given the most intense love
to Christ from his youth;" and, not to mention other
authorities, Adamnan thus sketches his true character :
"From his boyhood he had been brought up under
Christian training, in the study of wisdom, and, by the
grace of God, he so preserved the integrity of his body
and the purity of his soul, that, though dwelling on
earth, he appeared to live like the saints in heaven. He
was angelic in appearance, graceful in speech, holy in
work, with talents of the highest order, and consum
mate prudence. . . . He never could spend the space
even of one hour without study, or prayer, or writing, or
some other holy occupation. So incessantly was he
engaged night and day in the unwearied exercise of
fasting and watching, that the burden of each of these
austerities would seem beyond the power of all human
endurance. And still in all these he was beloved by all
— for a holy joyousness ever beaming on his countenance
revealed the joy and gladness with which the Holy
Spirit filled his inmost soul." — ( Adamnan, Praef. 2).
Being connected by birth, as we have seen, with the
royal houses of Ulster and Leinster, St. Columba's
words and actions may often indeed have been regarded
with jealousy by contending chieftains, and may at
times have given occasion to quarrels between them ;
but in such quarrels Columba had no part. Adamnan
relates that many venerable seniors, being on one occasion
assembled at Taillten, in Meath, they were induced by
some such accusations, which had been made against
Columba, to cut him off from their communion ; but he
adds that the accusations thus made were soon found to
be groundless and unjust- Whilst • the assembly was

60 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
still sitting, Columba presented himself before them.
St. Brendan, of Birr, at once arose from his seat, and,
with head bowed down, reverently gave him the kiss of
peace : and when called to an account for thus showing
respect to one whom they had a little before cut off from
their communion, St. Brendan replied: If you had seen
what the Lord has vouchsafed to manifest to me regard
ing him, you would never have passed such an unjust
sentence against one whom God has chosen to be the
leader of his people to life. He added : " I saw a most
brilliant pillar of light preceding this man of God as he
approached, and I saw that the holy angels accom
panied him whom you would treat with contempt." It
needed but few words from Columba to set matters in
their true light, and, as the result, the preceding unjust
censure was removed, and thenceforth all treated him
with the greatest respect and reverence.
Before embarking on his mission, Columba proceeded
to Inishmurray, off the coast of Sligo, to enjoy a short
interval of spiritual repose, and to take counsel with the
holy bishop, St. Molaise, who had chosen that island
for his retreat. Thirteen centuries have wrought but
little change on the rocky islands off our western coast.
The bee-hive cells and oratories and enclosures of Inish
murray, though they betray, indeed, the hoary mark
of centuries, yet are in a wonderful state of preservation,
and we may safely affirm that they are the very same
in which, during his sojourn there, St. Columba dwelt
and prayed. St. Molaise exhorted him earnestly to
persevere in his generous enterprise, and promised him
in God's name, that from the dreary shore of Alba he
would lead countless souls to heaven. It was in the

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 61
year 563 that Columba at length entered his little
coracle, or osier boat, and, accompanied by twelve com
panions,1 set out on his great missionary enterprise.
One of his companions, named Mochonna, was the son
of an Ulster chieftain, and Columba represented to him
the great good he could effect at home without aban
doning his parents and his native land ; but the young
religious replied : " It is thou who art my father, and
the Church is my mother, and my country is whereso
ever I can gather the largest harvest for Christ ;" and
lest further entreaties should be made to him, he added :
" I have vowed to follow thee whithersoever thou goest,
until thou hast led me to Christ, to whom thou hast
consecrated me." This instance shows the devoted
spirit which animated the companions of Columba, and
made them worthy to share in the glory and the fruits
of his Apostolate.
St Columba chose for his new monastic home a small
island, now generally called Iona, but which for
centuries was known by no other name than Hy-
Columbkille, i.e., " Columba's Isle." According to the
Irish Life of the Saint, it was on Whitsun eve, which
in that year fell on the 12th of May, that he arrived in
the island. It was admirably suited for his missionary
purposes. Situated midway between the conflicting
nations whom he had come to evangelize, his monastery
was sufficiently separated from the mainland, whilst at
1 The following are the names of the twelve companions of St.
Columba, as given in a MS. of the British Museum, compared
with our ancient Calendars :—" Baithene, who was also called
Conin ; Cobthach, brother of Baithene ; Ernah, Diarmaid, Ruisein
and Fiaehna, brothers ; Scannal, Lugaid, Eochaid, Mochonna,
Caornan, and Greallen."

62 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the same time it was easily accessible alike to his kins
men of Dalriada and to the Picts of North Caledonia.
Those who pay merely a hurried visit to Iona in an
excursion steamer with a crowd of tourists, can see
little more than a desolate-looking island with a few
grey ruins, forming a striking contrast with the fertile
soil and the basaltic rocks of the neighbouring islands.
And yet Iona has its hidden beauties, " its retired dells,
its long reaches of sand or shores, indented with quiet
bays, its little coves between bare and striking rocks,
and the bolder rock scenery of its north-western and
south-western shores, where it opposes wild barren
•cliffs and high rocky islets to the sweep of the Atlantic."1
It is about three miles and a half in length, and about
a mile and a half in 'breadth, and it is separated only
by a narrow channel from the large island of Mull,
whilst an archipelago of small islands is dotted at some
distance to the north and south. It has a stream of
pure water, and it has also some verdant fertile plains,2
particularly in the centre of the island, and thence
extending along the eastern shore, and sloping gently
towards the sea. To the north-west, there is a tract of
wilder ground, consisting of small grassy patches,
alternating with rocky elevations, which culminate in
the highest hill in the island. The north-east has a
beach of the purestwhite sand, and often must Columba
have gazed on it with sadness, did he foresee that its
i Skene, » Celtic Scotland," ii. 89.
2 Innes writing in the beginning of the last century, calls Iona
• " a pleasant and fertile little island " (page 151) ; and again he
describes it as " fertile of all things which that part of the climate
produces" (p. 162).— " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scot
land," printed by the Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1853.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 63
snowy whiteness would be empurpled one day with the
blood of the religious of Iona, cruelly slaughtered there
by the Danes. The ruins which still remain belong to a
comparatively modern age, but they probably mark the
original sites where stood the oratory, the monastic
enclosure, and the cell of Columba.
The holy pilgrims landed towards the south of the
island at a little bay still called Port-a-churich. An
ancient tradition says that they first sailed to the island
of Oransay, but as from its hills they could catch a
glimpse of the distant shores of Ireland, Columba told
them to proceed onward, for he feared too frequent dis
tractions from the lively emotions which the sight ofhis
native land would not fail to excite in his bosom.1 On
landing in Iona Columba proceeded to the top of its
highest hill, and as Ireland could no longer be seen, he
at once choose it for his monastery. On the summit of
that hill, where thus Columba sadly stood for a while
stretching his looks towards Ireland, the monks in after-
times erected a Cairn, and called it Cul-ni-Eri, i.e.,
' the farewell to Erin.'
On the eastern coast of this little island Columba
and his religious brethren proceeded to erect their
monastery and monastic cells, rude wooden structures,
formed for the most part of wattles or coarse planks,
and covered with reeds or branches of trees. In the
centre, on a slight elevation of the ground, 'was placed
1 The Duke of Argyll, in his "Iona," after remarking that St.
Columba sailed on till he had got out of sight of Ireland, says :
" He could not bear to see it and live out of it. The passionate
love of an Irish Celt for his native land seemed to have burned in
him with all the strength which is part of a powerful character"
(p. 78).

64 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the tuguriolwm, as Adamnan calls it, i.e., the little cell
of the abbot. Such were the humble beginnings of the
monastery destined to be for centuriesthe spiritual capital
of Caledonia, the fortress of the faith for the Picts and
Scots, and the great centre of Christian civilization for
all North Britain. Even religious bigotry and national
prejudice are constrained to remain silent in the presence
of Iona ; and although this far-famed monastery, thus
founded by an Irish saint, was in after years fed with a
never-failing stream of Irish disciples, and derived its
chief renown from Irish genius and Irish sanctity, thus
blending together national glory and the peaceful
triumphs of religion, yet Scottish writers, who have but
little sympathy with St. Columba's country or his creed,
have been at all times ready to offer it the due meed of
praise, and to acknowledge the manifold blessings which
it conferred on Scotland.
Who is there that does not know the beautiful words
which Johnson wrote when a century ago he visited its
historic ruins : "We are now treading that illustrious
island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian
regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians
derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of
religion  Far from me and from my
friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us
indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has
been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That
man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not
gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety
would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona."
Chambers, in his " Caledonia," writes: "St. Columba
came not to destroy, but to save ; not to conquer, but

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 65
to civilize. His name will always be remembered as the
disinterested benefactor of Scotland  Let
us not think lightly of the saints of Iona, who were the
instructors of our fathers while they were ignorant, and
the mollifiers of our progenitors while they were still
ferocious. The learning, I was going to say the charity,
of those ages centred all in Iona. It received the per
sons of living kings who retired from unstable thrones,
and it equally admitted dead kings from the bloody field.
From this seminary went out the teachers of the Cale
donian regions. To this school the princes of Northum
berland were sent, and acquired the light of the Gospel
from the luminaries of Iona."
So, too, the Duke of Argyll, in his work on Iona, pub
lished in 1870 : " Columba was an agent, and a
principal agent, in one of the greatest events the world
has ever seen, namely — the conversion of the northern
nations  Christianity was not pre
sented to the Picts of Caledonia in alliance with the
impressive aspects of Roman civilization. The tramp of
Roman legions had never been heard in the Highland
glens, nor had their clans ever seen with awe the
majesty and power of Roman government. In the
days of Columba, whatever tidings may have reached
the Picts of Argyll, or of Inverness, must have been
tidings pf Christian disaster and defeat. All the more
must we be ready to believe that the man who at such
a time planted Christianity successfully among them,
must have been a man of powerful character and of
splendid gifts. There is no arguing against that great
monument, to Columba, which consists in the place he
has secured in the memory of mankind." F

66 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
The same grateful sentiments have been gracefully
expressed in verse by Mr. Jesse :
" Ye who have sailed among the thousand isles,
Where proud Iona rears its giant piles,
Perchance have lingered at that sacred spot,
To muse on men and ages half forgot,
Though spoiled by time, their mould'ring walls avow
A calm that even the sceptic might allow.
Here where the waves these time-worn caverns beat,
The early Christian fixed his rude retreat ;
Here the first symbol of his creed unfurled,
And spread religion o'er a darkened world."
For two years Columba chiefly applied himself to
mould the religious spirit of his new community, and to
lay deep the foundations of the great spiritual edifice
which he desired to raise. He loved to teach his reli
gious by example as well as by precept. In prayer, and
penance, and labour, he was at all times foremost among
them. He slept on the hard floor of his little cell. His
prolonged prayers excited the admiration and almost
the alarm of his disciples. He took part in the out-door
work, even as the least of the community, and he added
to this the toil of transcription of the Sacred Scriptures.
To labour in transcribing the sacred text had been the
passion of his youth, and it continued to be his cherished
occupation to the last day of his old age. Among the
manuscripts which have come down to us from the
golden ages of our country's faith, none surpass the
Book of Kells, and the other monuments of his piety
and skill ; and a venerable tradition attests that he
transcribed no fewer than three hundred copies of the
Gospel. He was at the same time a model of humihty.
He knelt before the strangers who came to Iona, and

St Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 67
before the monks returning from their work, washed
their feet, and, after having washed them, respectfully
kissed them. His charity made him all to all. He was
indifferent to no spiritual or temporal want of those who
approached the monastery. Often he was seen to weep
over those who in their obduracy would not weep for
their own miseries. These tears were at times the most
eloquent part of his preaching, and when every other
argument had been fruitless, they seldom failed to soften
and subdue those savage but simple and earnest souls
whom God had entrusted to his care.
No wonder that the fame of such charity and piety
would soon attract to Iona not only crowds of Columba's
kinsmen from Dalriada, but also countless pilgrims from
other parts of Britain and from Ireland, desirous to save
their souls and gain heaven under the directions of the
man of God. Thus was the seed sown, which, in God's
own time, was destined to yield an abundant harvest.
It was one of St. Columba's first cares to visit his
cousin, Conal, king of Dalriada, who dwelt at the royal
fortress of Cindelgend, in the peninsula of Centyre. He
welcomed our saint with every mark of respect and joy,
and at his request made him a formal grant of the
island of Iona.1 A venerable Scottish tradition tells us
that the curious cave chapel at Cove, on Loch Coalisport,
which still bears the name of Columba, was founded by
the saint during this his first visit to the mainland : it
thus would rival Iona in antiquity, and should justly be
1 The oldest of our Irish chroniclers, Tighemac, in recording
the death of Conal in 574, says, that in the 13th year of his reign,
" he immolated the island of Hy to Columkille."— See Skene,
Chron. of Picts and Scots, p. 67, and Celtic Scotland, ii. 86.

68 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
styled the earliest church founded by St. Columba in
Scotland. It was not till the year 565, two years after his land
ing in Iona, that Columba ventured to present himself
before Brude, son of Maelochon, the monarch of the
Pictish nation. This valiant prince, who is styled by
Venerable Bede1 " a most powerful king," was now in
the eighth year of his reign. He had vanquished the
Scots or Dalriadians on many a hard-fought battle-field,
and triumphed over all his other enemies ; and his king
dom being now in peace, he fixed his royal residence at
his chief fortress near Inverness. Some writers, with
Dr. Reeves, place this fortress at the vitrified fort now
called Craig Patrick, which crowns the summit of a
rocky hill nearly 500 feet high, two miles west of the
river Ness. Others have pointed out the gravelly ridge
called Torvean, situated a mile south-west of Inverness,
part of which is encircled with ditches and ramparts, and
which must have been in early times -a fort of consider
able strength. With two companions Columba entered
his little ozier skiff, and traversing Loch Ness and the
river that issues from it, presented himself at the doors
of the royal mansion. The writers of St. Columba's
Acts do not record the names of the two companions
chosen by the saint to be with him on this important
occasion, so momentous in its results and so fruitful of
blessings to the Pictish nation. The Life of St. Comgall,
however, supplies this omission. It tells us that his
companions on that day were St. Comgall, the illustrious
founder of Bangor, and St. Canice, the great patron of
1 Bede, Eccles. Hist., iii., 4, " rege potentissimo."

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 69
Kilkenny. The king, unwilling to receive the Irish
missionaries, ordered the gates to be closed against
them ; but they had recourse to prayer, and Comgall,
having made the sign of the cross on the outer gates,
they immediately fell to the ground. Columba made
the sign of the cross on the inner door of the enclosure
with the same effect. When the strangers stood before
the king, he drew his sword, swearing by his false gods
that he would avenge the insult offered to him, but
St. Canice, making the sign of the cross towards him,
his hand was instantly withered, and it so remained till
he believed in God, and received baptism from
St. Columba.1
After such miracles, Columba obtained, without
difficulty, permission to preach the Faith throughout
the kingdom, and, moreover, the possession of Iona was
confirmed to him by the Pictish monarch,2 so that he
now held it under the double protection of the rival
kings who shared Caledonia between them. An ancient
Irish record registers another incident of this visit :
" Mailchu," it says, "the king's son, came with his
Druid to contend against Columba and to uphold
Paganism, but both perished at the prayer of
Columba."3

1 Vita Comgalli, cap. 44. See also Skene, ii. 107. Venerable
Bede dates the arrival of Columba in Scotland from this visit to
the king, which took place in 565.
2 The ' Liber Hymnorum,' in the preface to the hymn ' Altus
Prosator,' states that Brude " immolavit Columbae Hi " (page
204). The Venerable Bede writes that the island "donatione
Pictorum, quiillas Britanniae plagas incolunt, jamdudum monachis
Scotorum tradita." (Eccles. Hist., iii. 3).
3 Irish Life of St. Columba, in Advocates' Library. Skene,
ii. 108.

70 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
We have only a few details regarding our saint's
labours among the Picts, and yet it is beyond contro
versy that the thirty-two years which still remained of
Columba's life were chiefly devoted to missions through
out the deep glens and hilly straths north of the
Grampian range, and in the numerous islands scattered
along the Scottish coast which were subject to the
Pictish rule. All the arfcient writers attest with one
accord, that before he closed his missionary career he
had gathered all that nation into the fold of Christ. I
will briefly put together the few scattered fragments
relating to tbis Pictish mission, though they probably
belong to far separate periods of our saint's life.
Adamnan tells us that when " Columba had been
tarrying some days in the province of the Picts," he
converted a certain family, so that the husband and
wife, with their children and domestics, were all baptized.
A few days afterwards one of the sons was attacked by
a dangerous illness, and was brought to the point of
death. Then the Druids began to upbraid the parents,
and to extol their own gods as more powerful than the
God of the Christians. The sick child died ; but
Columba, burning with holy zeal to vindicate the glory
of God, came to the house of mourning, and, his face
bedewed with tears, prayed for a long time : then turn
ing to the deceased he said, " In the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ arise :" and taking the child by the hand
he raised him up and restored him to his parents. By
this miracle their sorrow was changed into joy, and
many in the neighbouring districts received the truths
of eternal life.
Again we are told that Columba, when staying among

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 71
the Picts, heard that there was a fountain among the
heathen people where the demon was worshipped as God,
and that all who drank of its water, or washed in it,
were struck by demoniacal art and suffered excruciating
torture. Columba proceeded to the fountain, and
having blessed its water, drank of it and washed with
it, to let the poor deluded people see that Satan was
powerless against God. From that day the waters of
the fountain became a source of blessing and wrought
innumerable cures.
Broichan, who was the foster-father and chief Druid
of King Brude, had used all his arts in vain to prevent
Columba from approaching the royal mansion. He
announced, however, that destruction awaited the
missionary, and that the elements would not allow him
to pursue in safety his homeward journey. Scarce had
Columba set sail on Loch Ness when the sky was dark
ened and a tempestuous contrary wind began to blow.
Columba armed himself with the sign of the cross, and
fearlessly entering his little barque, it sped its way as
safely and as swiftly as though it enjoyed a most
favourable breeze.
Our saint, in one of his excursions to the north of the
Grampian range, said to the disciples who accompanied
him: "Let us make haste and meet the angels who
have come down from heaven and await us, that they
may bring the soul of a dying man to heaven :" this
was an old Pictish chief who had led an exemplary life
even to extreme old age, and was now on the point
of death in the district of Glen-Urquhart. Columba
outstripped his companions in the eagerness of his haste ;
and the sick man heard from him with joy the Word of

72 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
God, and being baptized, rested in peace. His son,
with his whole house, received at the same time the
sacrament of baptism. Another time St. Columba was
staying in the island of Skye, when a boat came into the
harbour with a feeble old man seated on the prow. He
was the chief of one of the neighbouring Pictish tribes,
and it was his only desire that he mightbecome a Christian
before death : two young men, taking him from the
boat laid him at the feet of the saint. Columba briefly
instructed him in the truths of life, and having ad
ministered baptism to him, he died on the same spot
and was buried there, and his companions raised a cairn
of stones to mark his grave.
Through the powerful patronage of King Brude, St.
Columba secured the protection of the chieftains who
ruled over the neighbouring islands. On one occasion
we find him staying at the royal mansion, and in the
presence of the chieftain of the Orkney Islands thus
addressing the king : " Some of our brethren have set
sail, anxious to discover a desertum, i.e., a place of
spiritual retreat, in the pathless sea. Should they happen,
after many wanderings, to come to the Orkneys, be pleased
to carefully instruct this prince, whose hostages are in thy
hand, that no evil befall them within his territory."
Adamnan tells us that St. Columba thus spoke because he
prophetically foresaw that in a few weeks some of his
religious would visit those islands. The chieftain, on
his return, was not unmindful of the commission thus
given him, and when the religious visited the Orkneys,
he received them with great affection, and granted to
them every privilege that they desired.
In the famous poem composed by Dalian Forghaill,

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 73
the chief poet of Erin, in praise of St. Columba, special
mention is made of the voice of our saint as being
strong and sweet and sonorous to a most remarkable
degree. Adamnan, indeed, mentions it as a miraculous
gift, that whilst to those who recited the divine office
with him in the Church, his voice did not seem louder
than that of others ; yet at a distance of more than a
quarter of a mile, it could be distinctly heard by the
religious, so much so that they could mark each
syllable of the verses which he chanted. In one of his
missionary excursions St. Columba, whilst reposing
with his companions outside the fortifications of the
royal residence, not far from the borders of Lough Ness,
chanted the psalms and hymns of vespers. The Druids
coming near them did all they could to disturb them in
their devotions, and to prevent God's praises being sung
so close to the head quarters of their Pagan superstition.
Seeing their intent, the holy man began to sing the
44th Psalm, " Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum : dico
ego operamea regi," and so wonderfully loud, like pealing
thunder, did his voice become, that the Druids fled away,
and the king and his attendants were filled with terror.
Although King Brude had renounced the worship of
the false gods, nevertheless, the chief Druid, Broichan,
who was his foster-father, did not cease to exercise great
influence in the royal councils. St. Columba in one of
his visits to Lough Ness, found that a poor Irish girl, a
Christian, was among the slaves of Broichan. He
urgently requested that she might be set free, but his
request was rudely refused. St. Columba threatened
the Druid with the judgments of God, but in vain. The
saint accordingly took his departure, but had not pro-

74 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
ceeded far when Broichan became dangerously ill, being
struck by an angel of God. Two messengers from the
king hastened after our saint, informing him that the
Irish slave had been released, and praying him to return
and restore the Druid to health. Columba returned
thanks to God for freeing the poor Christian girl from
slavery, and taking up a pebble, blessed it, and gave it
to some of his companions, telling them to return with
the king's messenger, and to dip this pebble in a little
water which they would give to drink to Broichan. The
Druid drank of the water and was immediately healed.
Adamnan tells us that the pebble thusblessed by Columba
was afterwards preserved among the chief treasures of
the king.
In the year 584 King Brude died, and Gartnaidh, a
Christian chieftain of the Southern Picts, being sum
moned to succeed him, consolidated the work of St.
Columba, and secured the permanent triumph of the
Faith among the Picts. He fixed his royal seat at
Abernethy, on the southern bank of the Tay, near its
junction with the river Earn. Under the guidance of
Columba he there erected a noble church, and dedicated
it to God, under the invocation of St. Bridget.'
1 St. Bridget's Church at Abernethy has long since disappeared,
but a Round Tower, one of those venerable monuments so
characteristic of our early Irish ecclesiastical architecture, remains
still to mark the site. The tradition of Scotland is, that an earlier
foundation had been made here by a Pictish prince, who, when an
exile in Ireland in the beginning of the sixth century, had learned
to venerate St. Bridget. It is also the tradition that nine holy
virgins, nuns of St. Bridget's Community, died there within a few
years, and were interred in the northern part of the Church.
From the Registry of St. Andrew's it further appears that the
Priors of Abernethy continued for many years to be chosen
from the ranks of the Irish Clergy.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 75
So untiring was our saint in his missionary toil, that,
according to an ancient tradition, he founded no fewer
than three hundred churches throughout Caledonia and
the adjacent isles. At each of these he left one or more
of bis religious brethren, who carried out the instructions
of their master, and perfected the work which he had
begun. Modern research has discovered and registered
the traces of at least ninety of these venerable founda
tions, and many are the holy associates of St. Columba
who share with him the honours of the altar in the
Scottish Calendars.
Upon the eastern coasts of Scotland, in the district
now known as Beecham, various churches trace their
origin to an Irish disciple of Columba named Drostan.
When our saint, with some devoted disciples, was there
announcing the glad tidings of the Gospel, he asked
the Mormaer, or chief of the territory, to grant them a
site on which to erect an oratory. This he indignantly
refused, but his son fell dangerously ill, and he at once
hastened after the missionaries, offering them the land
which they required, and begging them to pray for the
dying boy. They prayed, and the child was restored to
health. The oratory was soon erected, and Columba,
having blessed it, and installed there St. Drostan, pro
ceeded onwards to evangelize other districts. When
Drostan saw himself thus about to be separated from
his loved master, he could not restrain his tears. But
Columba, caUing to mind the Gospel words, " He who
sows in tears shall reap in joy," said to his disciple :
" Let us call this place ' the Monastery of Tears,' " and
the great abbey which was erected there, and for a
thousand years was so replete with every blessing of

76 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
earth and of heaven, always retained that name. After the
death of St. Columba, the devoted Drostan betook him
self to an eremitical life, and built a church at Glenesk,
where he was famed for miracles and sanctity. The
ancient Breviary of Aberdeen marks his festival on the
15th of December, and adds, that "his relics are pre
served in a stone tomb at Aberdour, where many sick
persons find relief."
St. Moluog, whose name is sometimes latinized
Luanus, was one of the most .successful missionary
companions of St. Columba. He had been trained in
the religious life by St. Comgall at Bangor. St.
Bernard, recounting the glories of that great monastery,
tells that Comgall was the father of many thousand
monks : " Verily," he adds, " the place was holy and
fruitful in saints, plentifully rendering a harvest to God,
so that one ofthe sons of that sacred family, Luanus
by name, is said himself alone to be the founder of one
hundred monasteries. And this I state that from this
example the reader may conjecture how great was the
multitude of the rest. Finally, their schools so filled
both Ireland and Scotland, that these verses of David
seem to have predicted those very times: — Visitasti
terram, et inebriasti earn : multiplicasti locupletare earn
Rivos ejus inebria, multiplica genimina ejus :
in stilicidiis ejus laetabitur germinans." — Ps. lxiv. 10.
St. Moluog founded the great monastery of Lismore in
Scotland, and his church became, in after times, the
cathedral of the diocese of Argyll. His bell was held
in great veneration there till the time of the Reforma
tion, and his pastoral staff passed into the possession of
the Duke of Argyll, in whose collection it is still

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 77
preserved. St. iEngus in his Felire, or Metrical Catalogue
of Saints, styles him, " Luoc the pure and brilliant, the
sun of Lismore in Alba." Marianus O'Gorman also
commemorates him as, " Moluoc the hospitable and
decorous, from Lismore in Alba." — (Colgan, Trias,
pag. 481). The Martyrology of Aberdeen declares him
to have been "full of the spirit of prophecy," and the
ancient Breviary of Aberdeen relates that on the Scottish
coast " he preached and built many churches in honour
of God and His Mother Mary." He died before St.
Columba, on the 25th June, 592.
St. Donnan was already mature in sanctity when he
came from Ireland to Iona. After being some time there,
he prayed St. Columba to become his Anmchara, i.e., his
soul's friend or confessor. St. Columba replied that
he was not worthy to become the soul's-friend of one
who was chosen to receive the martyr's crown, thus
prophetically announcing that Donnan was predestined
to glorify God by martyrdom. He erected a monastery
in the Island of Eig, and such was its fame for piety
and discipline, that many religious came from Ireland
to enrol themselves among its members. On Sunday,
the 17th April, 617, a body of Picts, instigated by one of
the neighbouring chieftains, surrounded the oratory at
Eig, whilst St. Donnan, assisted by his fifty-two reli
gious brethren, was solemnly offering up the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass. Only one request was made by
the venerable abbot, viz., that, as they were offering
sacrifice to God, they would be permitted to finish the
sacred rite. This the Picts acceded to, and when the
Holy Sacrifice was ended at the altar, the religious
joyfully offered themselves a sacrifice to the Most High,

78 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
and all received the martyr's crown. In after times,
this monastery of Irish monks was renewed at Eig, and
at least four successors of St. Donnan are named in our
Irish Calendars. St. Donnan's Well is still pointed out
in the island : other memorials are preserved at Kil-
donan, on the banks of the Helmsdale river, in the
valley called Strath-hill, and his pastoral or abbatial
staff was held in great veneration at Husterless, an
island parish of Aberdeenshire, but was broken and
destroyed by the so-called Reformers.1
Popular tradition also reckons St. Moelisa, or Molios,
among the illustrious Irish companions of St. Columba.
He preached the fa'ith in various parts of Scotland, but
chose a cave in the west of Arran, off the Scottish
coast, as his chief place of retirement, and there he
spent whole days in prayer and penance. The Arran
islanders honour him as their patron : his hermitage
was for centuries a famous resort of pilgrims from the
mainland and the adjoining islands, and the names of
1 The Martyrology of Tallaght gives the names of the martyred
religious of Eig as follows, on the 17th April : Donnani Egha cum
sociis ejus LII : hi sunt Aedani : Tarloga bis : Mairie : Congaile :
Lonain : Mac Lasre : Johain bis : Ernain : Ernini : Baethini :
Rotain : Andrlog : Carillog : Rotain : Fergusain : Rectaire :
Connidi : Endae : Mac Loga : Guretii : Juneti : Corani : Baetani :
Colmain : Ternlugi : Lugedo : Luctai : Gracind : Cucalini : Cob-
rain : Conmind : Cummini : Baltiani : Senaig : Demmain : Cum-
meni : Tarlugi : Finani : Findchain : Findchon : Cronani : Mo-
domma : Cronain : Ciarian : Colmain : Naummi : Demmani :
Ernini : Ailchon : Domnani." (From the original vellum MS.
now preserved among the St. Isidore's MSS.) The original MS.
of the Tallaght Martyrology has further, on the 19th of April, the
following entry which is omitted in the printed text : " Communis
solemnitas omnium sanctorum et virginum Hiberniae et Brit-
taniae et totius Europae, et specialiter in honorem sancti Martini
Episcopi. Et familiae Ego elivatio." Again, on the 30th April,
it has :— " Familiae Ega, ut alii dicunt."

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 79
many of these pious votaries of our Saint remain rudely
scratched on the sandstone roof. The cave of St.
Molios looks out upon the sea, and is scooped in the
rock about twenty-five feet above the present sea level.
A few yards to the south, a square block of red sand
stone is called " his resting-place," whilst a shelf cut
in the hard rock in the side of the cave is still called
his bed. Near the cave is the saint's well, of purest
crystal water, to which the Arran people still have
recourse for its healing virtues.
Another disciple of St. Columba was the bishop and
confessor St. Finnan, who gives name to the romantic
glen of Glenfinnane. On a small green island in the
adjacent loch, are the venerable ruins of a monastery
founded by him, and its rude bell, said to have been
Used by the Saint to assemble the religious and faithful
to the service of God, is still preserved there. A
beautiful new church, under the invocation of our
Blessed Lady and St. Finnan, was solemnly dedicated
here to the service of God, in the month of August,
1873. To St. Mochonna, also called St. Machar, of whom
we have already spoken, is traced back the first founda
tion of the church of Aberdeen. He was sent with
twelve companions by St. Columba to preach the Gospel
on the eastern coast, and he was instructed to erect
his monastery and church on the banks of a river, which,
in its windings, would resemble the figure of a bishop's
crozier. Mochonna found the wished-for site near the
mouth of the river Don, and there erected his oratory
and cell, which, in after times, became the Cathedral of
Aberdeen, dedicated to God under the invocation of our

80 Irish Saints in Great Britaiii.
i
saint. And so the wildest districts of Scotland, and the
most remote of its islands, were visited and sanctified
by the preaching of the disciples of Columba. We meet
with their memorials in the steep and almost inacces
sible island of St. Kilda, and their traditions still linger
in the Hebrides and even in the far-distant Shetland
Islands. We have already seen how Columba chose SS. Comgall
and Canice for his companions when he paid his first
memorable visit to King Brude. These saints are said
by our ancient writers to have been connected by
parentage with the Irish Cruithneach or Picts,
and hence it may be supposed they were more familiar
than Columba with the dialect of the Caledonian Picts.
Adamnan, on another occasion, mentions that when
the holy mysteries were celebrated by Columba on the
Island of Hinba, there were present the same SS.
Comgall and Canice, as also St. Brendan and St.
Cormac. These four Irish saints are styled by Adamnan
" founders of monasteries," and all four are honoured
among the patrons of Scotland.
St. Comgall, who erected his famous -monastery at
Bangor, in the year 558, was visited there by St.
Columba when preparing for his mission to Scotland,
and some of the chief companions of our saint seem to
have been chosen from that great monastery. Bangor
was, indeed, a great seminary of missionary saints, and
we find St. Comgall eulogized in the Martyrology of
Donegal as one " who fostered and educated very many
other saints, and kindled and lighted up an unquenchable
love of God in the hearts and minds of men." His
chief Scottish foundation was in the Island of Tiree,

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 81
where he built an oratory in 568. One curious fact ih
connection with this Scottish settlement is recorded in
his Life. While he was working in the fields at Tiree,
he put his white hood over his garment. It happened
that some heathen plunderers from the Picts came on
that day to ravage the island. They seized on every
thing that was there, whether man or beast, but when
about to lay hands on St. Comgall, they feared that the
white hood might be his Deity, and, struck with fear,
they fled from him. They carried off, however,, all the
brethren of the monastery, and all their substance.
The plunderers, at the prayers of Comgall, were ship
wrecked on the coast, and they then humbly came back
to' the saint, restoring to him their plunder. Soon
after, holy men from Ireland . came and induced St.
Comgall to return to Bangor.
St. Canice's zeal and devoted toil were no less fruitful
in Caledonia than in Ossory. He erected an oratory in
Tiree island, and the ruins of an ancient church, still
called Kill-Chainnech, probably mark its site. He also
erected cells in the Island of Ibdon and Eninis (i.e.,
Island of Birds), and his memory was cherished there
in after times. He was honoured even in Iona, where
a burial ground still retains the name Kill-Chainnech.
On the mainland he built for himself a rude hermitage
at the foot of a mountain, in the Drumalban, or Gram
pian range, and we meet at the present day, fully cor
responding to this description, towards the east end of
Loch Laggan, the remains of an ancient church, called
Laggan-Kenney, i.e., St. Kenney's Church, at Laggan.
It is probably to this hermitage that the life of St.
Canice refers when it tells us that the saints of Erin,
a

82 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
being unwilling to be deprived of the prayers and counsel
of St. Canice, sent messengers to him to Alba, praying
him to return to his own country. They found him,
adda the life, "living as a hermit in Britain, and Canice
was then brought from his hermitage against his will."
(Vita, cap. 19). He founded also a monastery in the
east end of the province of Fife, not far from where the
River Eden pours its waters into the German Ocean.
This place was then called Rig-Monadh, or the Royal
Mound ; and when in after times the noble Cathedral of
St. Andrew's was erected on the site thus first hallowed
by the Irish saint, we find that it continued for centuries
to retain its Celtic name of Kilrimont, by which it is
designated in the early charters. The Felire of St.
JEngus contains in its notes on St. Canice's feast at
11th October, a reference to this foundation in Alba :
" Achadhbo is his principal church, and he has a Recles,
i.e., a monastery at Cill-Rigmonaig in Alba." In
many other places St. Canice seems to have erected cells
or oratories. Of Maiden castle, in Fife, Boece writes
that in his time the remains of the great enclosed
monastery, in which the religious brethren of St. Canice
had lived for centuries, could easily be traced. Indeed,
so many places retain his name and cherish his memory,
that Scottish writers have not hesitated to pronounce
him, after St. Brigid and St. Columba, "the favourite
Irish saint in Scotland " — Forbes' Calendars, pag. 297.
St. Brendan, so famed for his seven years' pilgrimage
by sea, also laboured for some time in Scotland. He
was specially honoured in "the royal Island of Bute" —
as the Martyrology of Aberdeen styles it. Eassie, in
Forfarshire, was dedicated to him, as was Kilbrandon in

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 83
the Island of Seil, and also Culbrandon, i.e., St. Brendan's
retreat, an island in the Garvelock group, and at least
a dozen other places in various districts in Scotland.
St. Cormac was one of those milites Christi, or
soldiers of Christ, for whom St. Columba secured a
friendly welcome at the Orkney Islands, through the
authority of King Brude. Three times, as Adamnan
relates, St. Cormac betook himself to a long voyage by
sea in search of some desert island on which to found
a hermitage, that by prayer and penitential exercises,
he might there find his paradise. In his third journey
he was exposed to special danger. Ih his frail coracle
he was driven northward in a storm, fourteen days' sail,
to regions hitherto unexplored, and what increased his
peril, the sea was full of a sort of jelly-fish, which he
had never before seen. Adamnan calls them "foul little
stinging creatures, of the size of frogs," and adds, that
they not only clung to the oar blades, but even beat
with violence against the sides of the boat in which
Cormac and his companions were, and which they ex
pected every moment to be stove in. No wonder that
the good monks were filled with alarm, and watered
their cheeks with floods of tears, but Columba, far away
in his island home at Iona, had a vision of all that they
suffered, and summoning together the whole community,
bade them pray for their struggling brethren at sea. In
response to their prayers a north wind sprung up, which
in a few days blew Cormac safe back to Iona, to tempt
the waves no more. St. Cormac is one ofthe chief patrons
of the Hebrides, and he is said to have died in Orkney.
A short distance from the shore of South Knapdale, in
Argyllshire,'_opposite to the old church of Kilmory, and

84 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
its wonderful sculptured monuments, is a small island
which is still called the " Island ofthe Great Cormac,"
and in one of the compartments of its ancient chapel is
preserved a recumbent statue of the saint. In our Irish
church he was known as " Cormac of the sea, of spotless
purity ; " he is commemorated on the 21st of June, and
is styled Abbot of Durrow, and Bishop and Anchorite.
He appears to have been specially beloved by his great
master Columba, and it was to him that Columba
addressed the remarkable words :
" Death is better in reproachless Erin
Than perpetual life in Alba."
The island of Hinba, where Columba and these four
saints met, has been of late identified with a small
island called Elachnave, a corrupt form of the name
" Eileann-na-naoimh," i.e., "the little island of the
saints," which is situated to the south of Iona, in the
broad channel which separates Mull from the coast of
Lome. No spot could have been better chosen by these
great men of God for spiritual conference. M'Culloch
has recorded his impressions on visiting it in 1824. On
traversing it, he says : " I was surprised at the irregu
larity and beauty of a spot which seemed at a distance
to be a bare hill, and of which, even from the creek
where our boat was drawn up, no conjecture could have
been formed. Surmounting one ridge after another, a
succession of secluded valleys appeared, which, although
without other wood than a few scattered bushes, were
beautifully dispersed, and were interesting no less by
their silence and seclusion than by the intermixture of
rock and green piasture. It was impossible to imagine

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 85
that we were here on a narrow spot surrounded by a
-wild sea, and far remote from the land : no sound of
winds or waves, nor sight of water, interfering with the
tranquillity and retirement of scenes which made us
forget that the boisterous ocean was breaking all round."
— (Highlands, &c, ii., 124). Several interesting ruins
are clustered together to the south-east of the island,
and its beehive cells, which bear a striking resemblance
to the primitive cells of the western coast of Ireland, and
its oratory constructed of rude masonry, without lime
or cement of any kind, betoken an age coeval with St.
Columba. At the head of the narrow creek where the
landing is usually made, is a little well which bears the
name of Columba, and which tradition says he
"fashioned and fructified in the living rock." In a
sheltered grassy hoUow, there is an ancient cemetery ;
its rude headstones give evidence of a great age, but
they have no inscriptions, and only one has a cross
incised. On the face of the south slope of this cemetery
large stones are piled together like a rude altar, and
close by is a square pillar stone, also bearing an incised
eross, and locally regarded as marking the tomb of
Eithne, mother of St. Columba. How solemn must
have been the scene when the great apostle of Caledonia,.
standing at that rude altar raised by his own hands on
the hill side, under the broad canopy of heaven, offered
to. God the Holy Sacrifice, assisted by such holy men
as Canice and Cormac, Brendan and Comgall.
,To his own countrymen in the Scottish Kingdom of
Dalriada, St. Columba was at the same time apostle,
father, and legislator. When Conall, king of Dalriada, .
died in 574, the succession, according to the law of

86 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Tanistry, would have devolved on Eogan, son of Gabhran.
But though he was loved by our saint with special
affection, Columba announced to the assembled chieftains
that an angel had commanded him in vision to select as
sovereign Aidan, a younger brother of Eogan. The
angel he said held in his hand " a book of crystal con
taining the appointment of kings on which the name of
Aidan was inscribed," and said : "Know for certain that
I am sent to thee by God, that in accordance with the
words written in this book thou mayest inaugurate Aidan
into the kingdom." Aidan was at once chosen king,
and when he hastened to Iona to receive the blessing of
the holy abbot, St. Columba, according to the rite shown
him by the angel, laid his hands upon his head and
consecrated and blessed him and ordained him king..
This is the first instance of kingly consecration recorded
in authentic history. Some modern writers, with Baring-
Gould, in his life of our saint, and Smith, in his
"Dictionary of Christian Antiquities," in the article on
" Coronation," inform us that Columba, on this occasion,
enthroned Aidan on the celebrated stone of destiny,
which was taken afterwards from Iona to Dunstaffnage
castle, upon the coast of Argyll, and thence to the abbey
of Scone, and was finally carried away by Edward the-
First to Westminster, where it still serves as a pedestal
for the throne of the kings of England on the day of
their coronation. All this, however, is mere fable,
which originated with Hector Boece, and has long since-
been exploded by the learned Scottish antiquaries.
To place on a permanent footing, and to secure the
independence of this Scottish Kingdom of Dalriada, St.
Columba soon after set out for Ireland, to assist at the-

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 87
great convention of the Irish clergy and princes which
was summoned by Aedh, son of Ainmire, monarch of
Leland, to meet at Drumceatt, in the year 575. This
great national convention was held in the county of
Londonderry, on the banks of the Roe, about two miles
from Newtownlimavady. The precise spot at which the
assembly met cannot be fixed for certainty, for whilst
some of our antiquaries place Drumceatt at Enagh, on
the north side of the river, others mark out its site at
Mullagh, in Roe Park on the southern side. It was at
all events not far distant from Columba's great monas
tery at Derry, and as several matters of the deepest
interest to our saint were to be deliberated on at the
assembly, he resolved to proceed thither with a most
imposing retinue. The contemporary chief-poet of Erin,
Dalian Forghaill, who himself was present at this
convention, tells us that Columba went thither accom
panied not only by Aidan, the newly consecrated king
of Dalriada, but also by " twenty noble worthy Bishops,
forty Priests, fifty Deacons, and thirty Students."
When Columba came to the assembly all rose Up before
him to reverence and welcome him. At his request, the
Irish monarch renounced all sovereignty over the King
dom of Dalriada in Alba, and whilst independence and
freedom from tribute were thus guaranteed to the Scoto-
Irish colonists, they on their part pledged themselves to
a perpetual alliance, maritime expeditions being alone
excepted, with their Irish countrymen.
There was another subject to be considered at this con
vention which also enlisted all the sympathies of Columba.
The bards had long been a privileged class in Erin. They
were at once the poets and genealogists, the musicians and

88 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
historians of the nation. They were invested with many
special privileges, whilst favours were heaped on th em alike
by princes and people. One of their privileges, however,
called conmed, which gave them a right to exact refection,
from the tribes for themselves and their retinue, gave
occasion to many complaints. Their great power, too, and
their excessive number, had produced great abuses, and so
many accusations had been made against them of insatia
ble greed and insolence, that the Irish monarch deemed
himself sufficiently strong to propose to the assembly at
Drumceatt, that the troublesome order should be at length
suppressed, and all the bards be banished from the king
dom. Columba, who was himself a poet, undertook
their defence, and pleaded their cause with eloquence and
success. The king and the whole assembly yielded to
his earnest pleadings, the bards were spared, but it was
decreed that their number should thenceforth be limi
ted, and that their privileges should be restricted by
certain rules, to be drawn up by Columba himself. The
bards on their part vowed an undying gratitude to their'
great patron, and the chief poet composed on this occasion
his celebrated Amhra, or Eulogy of St. Columbkille ; but
the saint saying that only the dead should receive praise, im
posed silence upon him, andforbade him to repeat this poem
so long ashe himself shouldremainintheland ofthe living.
There was a third matter in which Columba and his
friend St. Canice were deeply interested : this was the
release of Scannlan-More, king of Ossory, who seems to
have been put in bonds for refusing to pay the customary
tribute to the monarch. St. Columba failed to procure
the immediate liberation of this prince, but he consoled
him by the prophecy that he would soon be released, and

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 89
would then rule for thirty years over his people. As a
pledge that this prophecy would not be in vain, he gave to
the prisoner the pastoral staff which he had brought with
him from Iona , which in after times was preserved as a most
precious treasure in the saint's monastery at Durrow.1
This visit to Ireland and its assembled clergy and
princes, many of whom were so dear to him, awakened the
liveliest emotions in Columba's soul, for he had ever loved
Erin and its people with the deepest love, and this love
of country, instead of growing cold by his voluntary
exile in Iona, became rather intensified in a most ardent
affection. It was, perhaps, on his return to his island
home from Drumceatt- that he composed the beautiful
poem on Ireland, setting forth the romantic charms" of
its cliffs and scenery, and expressing the delight which
would overflow his soul were it once more given him to
visit its beloved shores : —
" What joy to fly upon the white-crested sea, and to watch the
waves that break upon the Irish shore ! What joy to row the
little barque and to land amid the whitening foam upon the Irish
•coast ! Ah ! how my boat would fly if its prow were turned to
my Irish oak-grove (i.e., to Derry). But the noble sea now
carries me only to Alba, the land of ravens. There is a grey eye
which ever turns to Erin. From the high prow I look over
the sea, and great tears are in my eyes when I turn to
Erin, — to Erin where the songs of the birds are so sweet,
and where the priests sing like the birds ; where the young
are so gentle and the old so wise. Noble youth, take my
prayer with thee and my blessing, one half for Ireland — seven
fold may she be blessed ; and the other half for Alba. Carry my
blessing across the sea, carry it to the west. My heart is broken
in my breast ; if death comes to me soon, it will be because of
the great love which I bear to the Gael."
1 Keating (O'Mahony's Translation), says that this Pastoral Staff
of St. Columba was preserved in the church of Durrow in Ossory.

90 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
In Columba's dealings with the penitents and pil
grims who flocked to Iona, as detailed by Adamnan, we
easily recognise the same passionate love for his native
land. The severest penance that he can devise for the
guiltiest sinners is — never again to set foot upon Irish
soil ; but when exhorting others to return home, as if
he feared his own emotions should he pronounce the
name of Erin, he tells them : you will return to the
country that you love. It was on the monastery of
Derry, however, that his affections were chiefly centred,
and it is probable that after the Convention of Drum
ceatt he remained there for some time with his loved
religious. He beautifully gives expression to his esteem
for this monastery in one of his poems : —
" Were the tribute of all Alba mine,
From its centre to its border,
I would prefer the site of one cell
In the middle of fair Derry.
The reason I love Derry is,
For its quietness, for its purity ;
And for its crowds of bright angels
From the one end to the other.
The reason why I love Derry is,
For its quietness, for its purity ;
Crowded full of heaven's angels
Is every leaf of the oaks of Derry.
My Derry, my little oak-grove
My abode and my little cell :
0 eternal God, in heaven above,
Woe be to him who violates it."
With such an unbounded affection for the land of his
birth, and with an unquenchable zeal for the spiritual

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 91
welfare of his countrymen, it cannot surprise us that
the Dalriadans were docile to his instructions, and
received his precepts with joy, and welcomed as angels
of heaven the religious whom he sent among them.
At the same time he was not blind to their faults, and
punished them with severity when he found them obdu
rate in their crimes. One instance will suffice. On the
wild and barren peninsula of Ardnamurchan, a rocky
mass which rises up out of the waves of the Atlantic,
and forms the most western point of the Scottish main
land, there was a poor man, to whom the blessing
of Columba had brought a manifold good fortune.
Through gratitude he had assumed the name of his
benefactor, and his neighbours called him Columbian,
" the friend of Columba." A Scottish petty chieftain
had twice plundered with impunity the home and the
lands of this friend of the Abbot of Iona. A third time
he set out on the same career of pillage, and landing
with his attendants, seized on everything that Colum
bian possessed. Whilst laden with booty they were
returning to their boat, St. Columba presented himself
before them, and having reproved them for their many
crimes, entreated them to restore their plunder. They
remained silent till they gained the beach and entered
the boat, but then they began to answer the abbot's
prayers by mockeries and insults. The saint, however,
did not cease his entreaties, and following them into the
sea, up to his knees, he warned them not to inflict this
injury on his poor friend ; and when the boat moved off
he remained there for a time motionless, bathed in tears,
and with hands uplifted to heaven. Returning to some
of his companions, who were seated on a neighbouring

92 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
mound, he said to them : " This miserable man shall
never more land upon the shore from which you have
seen him depart." Whilst he thus spoke a little cloud
appeared on the horizon, and gradually it grew into a
tempest, from which the spoilers sought in vain to
escape. The storm reached them between the islands
of Mull and Colonsay, and their boat perished, with all
its crew and all its spoils.
St. Columba frequently visited the King of Dalriada,
who was ever anxious to receive his counsel. One day
Aidan presented his eldest son to receive the abbot's
blessing. Columba, however, was not satisfied with
seeing only the eldest. " Have you none younger," he
asked, and then added, "Bring them all, that I may
fold them in my arms and on my heart." When the
younger children were brought, one fair-haired boy,
Eochaidb-Buidhe, came forward running, and threw
himself upon the knees of the holy abbot. Columba
held him long pressed to his heart, then kissed his fore
head, and blessed him, prophesying for him a long and
prosperous reign, and a happy posterity.
It was towards the close of his missionary career that
St. Columba paid a visit to the great apostle of the
Strathclyde kingdom, St. Kentigern. This venerable
man, famed for his sanctity of life, and for the many
trials he had undergone in the sacred cause of the
Christian Faith, had at this time erected his church on
the banks of the Molendinor Burn, where the cathedral
of Glasgow now stands. Thither Columba proceeded,
accompanied by several of his religious brethren, and
advancing along the banks of the stream they chanted
the 84th Psalm — " The saints shall advance from virtue

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 93
to virtue, until the God of Gods be seen in Sion." St.
Kentigern on his part summoned together the clergy and
people to welcome the holy visitors, and marshalling a
procession in which the children came first, and then
the more advanced in years, and last of all the holy
bishop himself with his senior clergy, all sang the 138th
Psalm — "In the ways of the Lord, how great is the
glory of the Lord," with the versicle of Isaiah, " The
way of the just is made straight, and the path of the
saints is prepared." — (xxvi. 7). Whilst they were yet at
a distance, Columba saw a golden crown of heavenly light,
set with sparkling gems, descending on the head of St.
Kentigern, and he said to those around him: "It is
given to me to know that, like Aaron, he is the elect of
God, for, clothed with hght as with a garment, and
bearing a golden crown, he appeareth to me with the
sign of sanctity." When they met, the holymen mutually
embraced and gave the kiss of peace, and remained for
a long time speaking of those things of heaven which
were nearest to their own hearts, and taking counsel
together regarding the interests of their people. On
parting they interchanged their pastoral staffs in pledge
and testimony of their mutual love in Christ ; and the
ancient record adds, that " the staff which St. Columba
gave to the holy Bishop Kentigern was preserved for a
long time in St. Wilfrid's church at Ripon, and held in
great reverence on account of the sanctity of him who
gave it and of him who received it."1
It was at this time, too, that, as an ancient and vener
able tradition attests, Columba made a pilgrimage to
1 See the Life of Saint Kentigern, in the ' Histories of Scotland,'
vol. v. p. 109 : Edinburgh, 1874.

94 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Rome to visit the illustrious Pontiff St. Gregory the
Great, who then sat in the chair of Saint Peter. This
tradition is referred to in the Irish life of St. Columba,
and is registered in the life of St. Mochonna, and other
ancient records : and when I resided some years ago in
the Holy City, I found to my surprise that the old
guides of the Vatican still preserved the same tradition,
and pointed out in the ancient Basilica of St. Peter's,
the spot on which the great Pontiff St. Gregory had
given the kiss of peace to the venerable Irish pilgrim.
Some time after his return from Rome, whilst our holy
abbot was alone with Baithene on the island of Iona,
seven religious arrived there from the holy city, dele
gated by St. Gregory to present a collection of Latin
Vesper Hymns and other precious gifts to Columba.1
Among these gifts there was one which in after times
was famous as " the great gem of Columbkille." It was
shaped in the form of a cross, and, after being held in
religious veneration for centuries by the community of
Iona, was transferred to the monastery of Tory Island,
off the coast of Donegal, where it was still preserved in
the sixteenth century.2 Columba, in return, bestowed
many gifts on the Roman visitors, and he prayed them to
present to the great Pontiff the hymn " Altus prosator,"
which he had composed some time before, and which,
the ancient record adds, was gratefully received and
highly praised by St. Gregory. Thus Columba's fame

1 This fact is recorded in the Preface to the hymn ' Altus,' com
posed by St. Columba, and preserved in the Leabhar Breac, and
in the two ancient MSS. of the ' Liber Hymnorum ' in the Library
of T.C.D., and in the Saint Isidore's Collection.
2 Colgan, Trias, p. 412 ; Reeves, Adamnan, p. 318.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 95
was spread to distant churches, and Adamnan reckons
it among the favours granted to our saint by God, that
"though he lived in a small and remote island of the
British sea, yet his name is honoured, not only through
out the whole of our own Ireland and in Britain, but
even in Spain and Gaul : and the renown of his sanctity
hath also penetrated beyond the Alpine range into Italy,
and into the city of Rome itself, which is the head of
all cities."1
It was probably towards the close of his apostolate that
St. Columba founded an oratory and monastery in the
island of Emona near the northern shores of the Firth
of Forth, and within sight of Edinburgh, known in later
times as Inchcolm, "St. Columba'sisland." This monas
tery was intended to serve as a centre for the various
missions extending along the eastern coast of Scotland,
and although it never attained the importance or the
fame of the parent house of Iona, yet for a thousand
years it continued to dispense the manifold blessings of
religion to all the surrounding territory. The island is
of very small extent, about half a mile in length and
400 feet in width at its broadest part. " The tide of
commerce and busy life which ebbs and flows around
has left the little Inch in a solitude as profound as if it
had gemmed the bosom of some Highland loch, a
solitude which impresses itself deeply on the stranger
who comes to gaze on its ruined, deserted, and forgotten
abbey. Few, even of those who visit the island from
the beautiful village of Aberdour, close to it, know any
thing of its history, and as few out of sight of the island
know of its existence at all. But although now little
known beyond the shores of the Forth, Inchcolm for-
1 " Quae caput est omnium civitatum." Adamnan, iii. 24.

96 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
merly held a high place in the veneration of the Scottish
people as the cradle of the religious life of the surround
ing districts, and was second only to Iona as a holy isle
in whose sacred soil it was the desire of many genera
tions to be buried. It numbered amongst its abbots'
men of high position and learning. Noble benefactors
enriched it with broad lands and rich gifts, and its
history and remains, like the strata of some old moun
tain, bear the marks of every great wave of life which
has passed over our country. Picts, Scots, Danes, and
English have all been associated with the chequered
history of the lonely island, where lie the bones of
saints and nobles, monks and soldiers, the patrons, the
brethren, and the spoilers of its ancient church, mingled
together in this Iona of the east. Apart from the
interest arising from such associations, this venerable
monastery, notwithstanding that tempest, wars, and
ruthless vandalism have laid much of it in ruins, still
preserves more of its original plan than any abbey in
Scotland, presenting many peculiarities of arrangement
to be found in no other building of the kind in Britain.
From the position of Inchcolm in the centre of the
mediaeval as of the modern life of Scotland, it main
tained its ancient importance long after many of the
famous houses of the primitive Scottish church had
fallen into decay, but for the same reason it suffered
much from the hostile fleets which made piratical expe
ditions to the Forth, or were employed in conjunction
with an invading force on shore."1 In the beginning of
1 Arnold, ' An Account of St. Columba's Abbey, Inchcolm,' in
Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol; v.,
1874, p. 45.

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 97
the twelfth century the abbey buildings were erected here
in princely style in fulfilment of a vow by King Alexander
the First. Fordun relates that the king when crossing
the Ferry "was overtaken by a fierce tempest, blowing
from the south, so that the sailors were compelled to
make for the island of Aemonia, where there lived a
solitary hermit, who devoted himself to the service or
rule of St. Columba, living in a cell, and supporting
himself on the milk of a cow, and the shell-fish which
he collected on the shore. On these things the king
and his companions subsisted for three days, during
which they were detained by the storm. But when in
the greatest peril of the sea and the raging tempest,
when fearing and despairing for their lives, the king
made a vow to the saint, that if he would bring them
safe to that island, he would there found a monastery to
his honour, which would become an asylum and refuge
for sailors and shipwrecked persons."1 Beside the ruins
of the noble abbey still stands the clochan, or stone-
roofed cell, erected by St. Columba. The holy well of
the saint, and a fragment of a stone cross with interT
laced Celtic ornaments, are the only other memorials of
the holy founder that now remain in the island.
So attractive, nay, so charming, is the life of this
great apostle of Caledonia, that we are tempted to
linger on its most minute details. We must, however,
hurry on, and I will merely add. a few instances of
the special virtues and heavenly favours which marked
the close of his blessed life.
Adamnan particularly records that St. Columba was.
1 Scotichronicon, lib. v. chap. 37.

98 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
favoured with angelic visions. One morning he said
to the brethren : " I would be alone to-day in the little
plain to the west of the island ; let no one follow me."
A brother, more curious than the rest, disobeyed, and
following him at a distance, saw him standing on a little
mound, erect and motionless, whilst a crowd of angels
came down to converse with him. This hillsck was
known in Adamnan's time as " The Angels' Hill," and
it retains the same name at the present day,
As he approached the end of his penitential life, he
seemed to redouble his vigils, fasts, and other austerities,
thus to make his soul more pure, and to lay up a better
store of merits for heaven. On one occasion he went
to a neighbouring island to seek greater retirement in
prayer. He met there a poor woman gathering wild
herbs and nettles, who told him that her poverty for
bade her any other food. The holy man at once re
proached himself that, though professing a life of
penance, he was surpassed in austerities by this poor
woman. Thenceforth he would use no other food but
wild and bitter herbs, and he severely reproved his
attendant Diarmaid, who, out of compassion for his
master's old age and infirmities, wished to mix a little
condiment with such penitential fare.
The celestial light which was soon to be the eternal
reward of his happy soul was granted to him by antici
pation during the closing years of his life, and at times
it invested him even as a golden and radiant garment,
especially when he was engaged in prayer. He had built
for himself a solitary cell in the Isle of Hinba, near
Iona, and the religious, who stealthily kept watch
around it, repeatedly observed that the cell was lighted

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 99
up with surpassing brilliancy, whilst the saint chanted
spiritual canticles or remained entranced by God. One
night a religious, who was destined to succeed our
saint as fourth abbot of Iona, remained in the church
of the monastery whilst the others slept, and there he
was privileged to see Columba enter the church, pre
ceded by a golden light, which filled the whole church,
even to the heights of the vaulted roof, and to the recesses
of the lateral oratory in which he himself lay concealed.
Those who passed near the church during the night, while
the holy abbot prayed, were dazzled by the brilliancy
of this sacred light : but the young religious kept his
secret till after the saint's decease.
More than once Columba sighed to be freed from the
bonds of the flesh, but it was hard for him to contend
against the love of his disciples and their fervent prayers.
Whilst two of the brethren assisted him one day, they
saw his countenance suddenly change. At first it was
filled with a beatific joy, and he raised to heaven a look
of the sweetest and tenderest gratitude ; but on a sudden
this ray of supernatural delight" was succeeded by an
expression of profound sadness. They prayed him with
tears not to conceal from them the revelation which he
had received. "Dear children," he at length replied,
"know that it is thirty years to-day since I began my
pilgrimage in Alba. I have long prayed to God to let
my pilgrimage end with this thirtieth year, and to re
call me to the heavenly country. When I was filled
with joy, it was because I saw the angels coming down
to receive my soul. But I was saddened when they
stopped in their course, for it pleased God to hear
rather the prayers of the brethren, and to direct that I
should still dwell in this body for four years."

100 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
These years, however, passed quickly on, and now the
time was come for our saint to receive his heavenly
reward. Towards the end of May, in 597, he wished to
visit the western part of the island to take leave of
the monks who were working there. Being unable
through age to proceed on foot, he was drawn thither
in a car by oxen. When the religious brethren had
gathered around him he said : " I greatly desired to-
depart to Christ a month ago on Easter-day, but I
feared lest that joyous festival might be changed into-
a day of mourning and of sadness for you. Now my
time is at hand." And when they all wept he addressed
words of consolation to them, and turning towards the
east he prayed a blessing on the whole island and on
those who dwelt in it. The following Sunday, the 2nd
of June, he offered up with solemnity the holy sacrifice
of the Mass, and as his eyes were raised to heaven, the
brethren observed a sudden expression of rapture on his
face. When interrogated by them, he told them that
he had seen an angel coming from heaven to bring
some soul to God, and the angel had looked down upon
the brethren as they were assembled around the altar
and blessed them. The following Saturday Columba
went, leaning on his faithful attendant Diarmaid, to
bless the granary of the monastery, and then uttered
the prophetic words : " This day is called in the Sacred
Scriptures the Sabbath or day of rest, and it shall truly
be my resting-day, for in it I shall repose after the
fatigue of my labours, and this very night I shall follow
in the way of my fathers. Thou weepest, Diarmaid,
but console thyself. It is my Lord Jesus Christ who
invites me to rejoin him : and He has revealed to me
that my summons shall come this night."

St. Columba and his Companions in Scotland. 101
As he returned homewards towards the monastery, he
seated' himself for a little time half-way, where a cross
was afterwards erected, which Adamnan writes was still
standing in his time at the road side, and, I may add,
the spot is still marked by one of the ancient Celtic
crosses of Iona. Whilst he sat there the old white
horse of the monastery came up, and placing his head
on the saint's bosom, by plaintive cries and tears ex
pressed its grief. Diarmaid wished to drive the animal
away, but Columba chiding him, said : "let it alone, it
is so fond of me it pours out its bitter grief, for it knows
that its master is going to leave it." He then ascended
the hillock which adjoined the monastery, and standing
there for a little time with hands uplifted to heaven,
he blessed the whole monastery, and uttered the
prophecy thus registered by Adamnan : " Small and
low though this place is, yet it shall be held in great
and unusual honour, not only by the Irish kings and
people, but also by foreign chiefs and barbarous nations ;
and even the saints of the other churches shall regard
it with no common reverence."
After this, descending from the hill, he entered his
cell and began to work for the last time. He was then
engaged in transcribing the Psalter, and having finished
a page with these words of the 33rd Psalm, " Inqui-
rentes autem Dominum non deficient omni bono," "they
who seek the Lord shall want nothing that is good," he
^paused and said : "I' must stop here : let Baithen write
what follows." Baithen was the saint's successor in
the abbacy, and the verse which followed was most
appropriate to the father of his spiritual children :
" Venite filii, audite me : timorem Domini docebo vos."

102 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
" Come, children, hearken to me : I will teach you the
fear ofthe Lord."
Having laid aside the parchment, he entered the
church of the monastery to recite the nocturnal vigils
of the Lord's day ; and when these prayers were said he
returned to his cell and lay down on his couch, not so
much for repose as to perform his usual penitential
exercises for the last time, for his bed was now a bare
flag, and a large stone served as his pillow ; and whilst
he reclined there he commended to his companion his
last words : " This, dear children, is my last counsel to-
you ! Let peace and unfeigned charity at all times re
main among you : if you thus follow the example of the
saints, the Lord, the comforter of the good, will be your
helper; and I, dwelling with Him, will intercede for you,
that He may bestow not only the temporal blessings-
which you may stand in need of, but still more, the
rewards of eternal life." Having said these words,
Columba remained in silence, but as soon as the bell
wasrungat midnight summoning the religioustoprayers,
he hastily arose, and running joyfully to the church-
entered it alone, and knelt down in prayer at the foot
of the altar. Diarmaid, who slowly followed, saw at
that moment the whole interior of the church filled
with heavenly light, which however quickly disappeared;
and when he entered the church he cried out in a
plaintive voice, "Where art thou, my father ? " and
feeling his way in the darkness, for the brethren had
not as yet entered with the lights, he found the saint
lying before the altar, and raising him up a little, and
sitting down beside him, he supported his holy head
upon his bosom. Meantime the choir of monks came

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 103
in, and beholding their father dying, whom they so loved,
they began to weep. But Columba, once more lifting
up his eyes with a wonderful expression of joy and glad
ness, welcomed the angels who came to receive his soul ;
and Diarmaid raising his hand, the venerable father
made for the last time the sign of the cross over the
assembled brethren, and having thus given them his
holy benediction, his hand dropped down in death, but
his countenance remained sweet and radiant, as if in
sleep he enjoyed a vision of heaven.
Thus St. Columba died, on Sunday morning, the
9th of June, 597, after labouring for thirty-four years
in his apostolate of North Britain.

CHAPTER IV.
THE SUCCESSORS OF ST. COLUMBA IN IONA.
¦Sif- Baethen : — SS. Laisren and Fergna : St. Cummian's Writings : —
St. Adamnan's Visits to King Aldfrid: — The "-Lex Innocentium:" —
Adamnan's Works: — His fame for Sanctity :— Relics which he
collected: — The Rule of Life observed in Iona : — The Mass: —
Sign of the Cross: — Prayers for the Dead: — 7'he Religious
Habit: — Presbyterian Fallacies regarding Iona: — Succession of
Abbots.
The monastery of Iona presents to us the singular
spectacle of an Irish missionary community which,
though situated at a distance from the mother-land, and
subject to a thousand hostile influences, yet, throughout
a long period of six hundred years, retained its dis
tinctive character, and preserved anunbroken succession

104 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
of Irish abbots, who, walking in the footsteps of their
founder, proved themselves filled with the spirit of God,
and earnestly devoted to the observances ofthe religious
life. The Venerable' Bede, speaking of St. Columba,
says : " This we know of him for certain, that he left
successors distinguished for their great charity, divine
love, and strict attention to the rules of discipline ; fol
lowing, indeed, uncertain cycles in their computation
of the great festival of Easter, because, far away as
they were out of the world, no one had supplied them
with the synodal decrees relating to the Paschal 'obser
vance ; yet, withal, diligently observing such works of
piety and charity as they could find in the Prophetic^
Evangelic, and Apostolic writings."1 The influence of
Iona on the Scottish church did not cease with the
death of St. Columba ; on the contrary, the missions
and monasteries which he had founded throughout
Scotland continued to look to his successor in Iona as
their head, and as Bede again records : " This monas
tery for a long time held the pre-eminence over most of
those of the northern Scots, and all those of the Picts,
and had the direction of their people."
St. Baethen, a near relative of St. Columba, was his
immediate successor in the abbacy of Iona. Born in the
year 536, he was one of the twelve companions chosen
by the saint when setting sail for Britain. A little later
he was appointed to preside over the monastery in the
island of Thee; and, at the close of St. Columba's life,
we find him receiving the last dictations of the saint.
From a narrative preserved in St. Columba's life, we
1 Bede, Hist. Eec. IIL, 4.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 105
learn the high esteem in which St. Baethen was held
by our early saints. We there read that the holy man
St. Fintan Munnu, founder of Taghmon, burning with
desire to visit Iona, went to an old friend, called in the
Seotic tongue Columb Crag, the most prudent and vene
rable cleric in his country, to get some sound advice.
He was counselled by him to cross the sea to St.
Columba, but before he could take his departure, two
monks of Iona arrived, who, when interrogated, "Is
your holy father Columba well ?" burst into tears, and
answered with sorrow: "Our patron is, indeed, well;
for a few days ago he departed to Christ." Hearing this,
Fintan and Columb, and all who were there present, fell
prostrate on the ground, and wept bitterly. Fintan then
asked, "Whom did he leave as his successor?"
" Baethen, his disciple," they replied ; whereupon all-
cried out, " It is meet : it is right." And when
Columb said to Fintan, " What wilt thou do now,
Fintan?" he replied, "With God's permission, I will
sail over to Baethan, that wise and holy man, and, if
he receive me, I will take him as my abbot."1 The
Martyrology of Donegal numbers Baethen among the
saints, and registers two anecdotes relating to him.
When he partook of food, before each morsel he was
wont to say, ' Deus in adjutorium meum intende.'
When he worked in the fields, gathering in the corn
along with the monks, he used to hold up one hand
towards heaven, beseeching God, while with the other
hand he gathered the corn.
St. Laisreh was the next abbot, being translated to
1 Adamnan, I. 2.

106 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Iona from the monastery of Durrow. He was followed
by Fergna, who, though descended from the royal
family of Conall Gulban, and closely allied to St. Co
lumba, was surnamed ' the Briton' on account of his
having sojourned from his early youth in the sister isle.
He was specially beloved by St. Columba, and he was
permitted to witness and participate in some of the
heavenly visions of his master. He is styled a bishop
in some of our ancient kaiendars, being probably pro
moted towards the close of his life to the Episcopal
dignity. The Festology of Aengus assigns the second
of March to " The festival of Fergna, the fair, of Iona."
It was during his abbacy that many of the young and
noble Angles of Bernicia, flying from the sword of
Aeduin, king of Deira, though yet pagans, took refuge
in Iona : they were there instructed in the doctrines of
the Faith, and regenerated by the grace of Baptism.1
Seghine and Suibhne were his successors, and then
we meet with St. Cummian, who was a man of great
learning, and is deservedly numbered among the most
illustrious saints of Iona. He wrote a life of St.
Columba, which has been published by Mabillon, but he
is still more renowned for his letter2 on the paschal con
troversy, addressed to the abbot Seghine, in which he
displays a thorough knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures
and the ecclesiastical writers, and an accurate study of
the various cycles for the computation of Easter. He
adds that he had consulted "the successors of our
ancient fathers" in the Irish Church that they might

1 Bede,B.ist. Eec, III.,1.
2 Published by Usher, in " Sylloge," xi.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 107
direct him as to the course he should pursue, and, they
having assembled together at Magh-Lena, near Tulla
more, " came to the resolution that they ought to adopt
without scruple the most worthy and approved practice
recommended to them by the successors of the Apostles
of the Lord." Not long after, however, dissensions
again arose: "wherefore," he writes, "it was determined
by our seniors to act in accordance with the Synodical
Decree, that if questions of a more weighty character
arise they are to be referred to the head of cities; and
they sent some whom they knew to be wise and humble
to Rome, as children to their mother ;" and, having had
a prosperous journey by the will of God, they returned
in the third year, attesting the discipline of the Holy
See, and bearing with them rich treasures of the relics
of the Apostles and the Martyrs of Christ. This letter
is justly regarded as one of the most authentic and im
portant documents that have been handed down to us
from the golden ages of our country's faith, and we could
desire no clearer record of the close bonds that united
our Fathers with the Mother Church of Rome. In
connection with the sacred treasures which the Irish
pilgrims bore with them from Rome, St. Cummian
writes that many miracle swere performed through them :
"with our own eyes," he says, "we have seen a girl
quite blind, opening her eyes at these relics, and a para
lytic walking, and many demons cast out." It is also
recorded in the Martyrology of Cathal Maguir that St.
Cummian founded a church at Disert-Chuimin, in the
neighbourhood of Roscrea, and enriched it with relics
of SS. Peter and Paul, which continued to be preserved
there till, during the Danish invasion, they were trans-

108 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
lated to Roscrea.1 The memory of St. Cummian- is
preserved in some of the old Scottish sanctuaries.
Thus, Fort Augustus is, by the Celtic-speaking popula
tion, still called Kilchuimin, and the church of Glenealy
is also known as St. Cummian's church.3
The next abbot of Iona was St. Failbhe, who is
honoured in our Martyrologies on the 22hd of March ;
and after him came St. Adamnan, whose name is per
haps the brightest that adorns the long roll of t]ie
successors of St. Columba. He was born in Ireland,
in the south-west of the county of Donegal, in the year
624. A legend connected with his early years represents
him as receiving favour and protection from Finnachta,
a chief of the southern Hy Niall, and subsequently
monarch of Ireland. When the valiant and hospitable
monarch ascended the throne, in the year 675, Adamnan,
who had acquired great fame for learning and sanctity,
was invited to his court to become his anmchara or con
fessor; and he remained there till summoned to the
abbacy of Iona, on the death of Failbhe, in the year
679. Whilst abbot he repaired the monastery, sending
twelve vessels to Lorn for oak trees to furnish the
necessary timber. In this work, as Boece relates, he
was aided by Maelduin, king of Dalriada, whose death
is recorded by Tighernac in the year 590. On two occa
sions Adamnan proceeded to the court of King Aldfrid
of Northumbria. This Prince had lived for many years
in exile in Ireland, and Adamnan had become acquainted
1 " Cumineus Abbas Hiensis : ipse est qui tulit reliquias sanc
torum Petri et Pauli ad Desertum Cumini in districtu Rds'creensi,"
iap. Colgan, Acta SS., pag. 411, n. 26.
2 Forbes, Kaiendars, pag. 317.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 109
with him at the court of the Irish monarch ; some Irish
records even add that he was for some time tutor of
Aldfrid, and the intimacy which he thus contracted with
him proved serviceable to Ireland in after times. One
of the Saxon generals, during Ecgfrid's reign, having
landed a body of troops on the Irish coast, had plundered
the fertile plain of Magh-Bregha as far as Bealach-duin,
and carried off a large number of men and women into
captivity. When, soon after, Ecgfrid set out on the
fatal expedition against the Picts, in the year 685, he is
said by our annalists to have met with his death and
overthrow in punishment of the cruelty he had shown
to the unoffending inhabitants of Erin. Now that
Aldfrid was recalled to the throne of Northumbria,
Adamnan, in 686, proceeded on his first mission to that
court, to solicit the release of the Irish captives. He
was welcomed by the Northumbrian prince, and found
a ready answer to his petition. "Adamnan's demand
was," thus runs the Irish record, "that a complete restor
ation of the captives should be made to him, and that
no Saxon should ever again go upon a predatory excur
sion to Erin : and Adamnan brought back all the
captives." From the details added in the same narra
tive we learn the road taken by Adamnan on this occasion .
He proceeded in his coracle to the Solway Firth, and
landed on the southern shore, "where the strand is long
and the flood rapid," and thence pursued his way on
foot to the royal residence. Two years later Adamnan
undertook a second journey to the court of Aldfrid.
The object of this visit is not recorded, but "it
probably was some matter of international policy which
Adamnan was chosen to negociate."1 ,. It was during
1 Skene, Historians of Scotland, vi., CL. II.

110 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
this second visit to Northumbria that Adamnan pre
sented to Aldfrid his invaluable work on the Holy Land,
entitled "De Locis Sanctis," a work which Bede can
scarcely find words to commend.1 Adamnan remained
for some time in England, and visiting many of its re
ligious homes, became fully acquainted with the correct
computation of Easter, of which he soon proved himself
a devoted champion. It was on this occasion, too, that
he visited the holy abbot Ceolfrid, who, in a letter which
is preserved in the Ecclesiastical History of Venerable
Bede, took occasion to attest the humility and piety of
St. Adamnan, and "the wonderful prudence which he
displayed in his actions and words."
Adamnan made frequent visits to his native country,
and took a prominent part in the synods and conventions
of the clergy and princes which were held at this period.
The annalists especially record his journey to Ireland in
the year 692. At this time the monarch, Finnachta,
had incurred the displeasure of the Hy-Niall race by
some concessions which he made to the rival clans of
Leinster. He had also incurred the displeasure of the
clergy, by refusing to the lands of St. Columbkille the
privileges which were granted to those of SS. Patrick
and Finnian, and Kieran of Clonmacnoise. Adamnan's
mission had for its object to restore peace and to heal
the dissensions which had arisen. Finnachta, however,
would not yield to his counsel and entreaties, wherefore
Adamnan prophesied his speedy overthrow and death,
which was verified in 695. In the year 697 he again
visited Ireland, and obtained the sanction of the Irish
princes that men alone should be subject to military
service, for hitherto, writes the annalist, the women and
1 Bede, Eec. Hist. v. 15.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. Ill
the men were alike subject to that law. It is generally
supposed that the " Lex Innocentium," with which St.
Adamnan's name is linked in all our ancient records,
refers to this exemption of women from military service.
It seems to me, however, that it further implied that
females were not to be subjected to captivity or any of
the penalties of warfare. " These are the four chief
laws of Erin," writes the Scholiast on St. Aengus in the
Laebhar Breac : " Patrick's Law, that the clerics should
not be killed ; Bridget's Law, that the cattle shall not be
killed ; Adamnan's Law, that women shall not be killed ;
and the Law ofthe Lord's-day, that it be not desecrated."
It was in the same year that a great Synod was con
vened at Tara, at which all the chief ecclesiastics of the
Irish Church, with many of the Irish chieftains, took
part. St. Adamnan was one of the guiding spirits of
this convention, and in connection with it tradition has
attached his name to many of the cherished sites which
are pointed out on the royal hill of Tara ; for instance,
'the Pavilion of Adamnan,' 'Adamnan's Chair,' 'Adam
nan's Mound,' and 'Adamnan's Cross.' At this synod,
Flann Febhla, archbishop of Armagh, presided, whilst
at the head of the laity was Loingsech, monarch of Ire
land, and with him were forty-seven chiefs of various
territories. The name of Bruide Mac Derili, king of
the Picts, is also marked down among the princes pre
sent, and it is probable that his friendship for Adamnan
led him to take part in this august convention. St.
Adamnan's Law was sanctioned on this occasion, and
other canons, half civil, half ecclesiastical, which have
come down to us bearing the name of St. Adamnan,
seem also to have been enacted at this great synod. It

112 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
was by the order of the clergy and princes thus as
sembled that the famous collection of canons was made,
Which is now known as the " Collectio Hibernensis
Canonum." The last seven years of St. Adamnan's
life were spent in Ireland, and it is affirmed by some
that he was at this time consecrated bishop. He died
on 23rd of September, 704, in the seventy-seventh year
of his age.
It was principally for his great austerities that Adam
nan was famed among his countrymen, and, indeed, his
penitential exercises, as set down in his Irish Life, can
be compared only with those of the great fathers and
hermits of the Egyptian deserts. For his literary merit
he also holds high place amongst the most illustrious
of our mediaeval writers. His work ' De Locis Sanctis,'
to which I have already referred, was the first after St.
Jerome's time which made known to the western world
the condition of the holy places, and the sacred tradi
tions of the East regarding them. St. Adamnan had
not himself visited Palestine, but a venerable French
bishop, named Arculfus, who had spent nine months
visiting the holy places, was driven by a storm on the
British coast, and being hospitably welcomed in the
monastery of Iona, Adamnan carefully noted down the
facts narrated by him, and arranging them in due order,
composed this most important treatise so valuable for all
who desire to become acquainted with the scenes of the
Gospel narrative, or who seek to explore the history of
the cradle lands of our holy Faith. Adamnan's Life of
St. Columba has already been frequently referred to in
the preceding pages. As regards the early history of
North Britain, it is scarcely second to the great work of

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 113
Venerable Bede. Dr. Forbes styles it " the solitary
record of a portion of the history ofthe Church of Scot
land" (Kaiendars, pag. 265) ; and Dean Reeves does not
hesitate to pronounce it " one of the most important
pieces of hagiology in existence."1 A spirit of piety and
filial love for his great patron, St. Columba, may be dis
cerned in every line, and he sketches in it, with the
enthusiasm of admiration and the love of a son, an
exalted model of spiritual perfection for himself and his
beloved brethren, the Irish monks. There is also a very
ancient tract in Irish called "The Vision of Adamnan,"
which under the form of a vision contains a religious
discourse on the joys and sufferings which await men
in the next world. He mentions as specially con
demned to torments those " Airchinnechs who, in the
presence of the relics of the saints, administer the gifts
and titles of God, but who turn the profits to their own
private ends from the strangers and the poor of the
Lord." He very explicitly lays down the Catholic doc
trine of Purgatory, for he sets before us three classes of
those who suffer for a time but " are destined for eternal
life, and even in their torments are free from the rule
of the demons, whilst those, who are condemned to
eternal torments, are subjected to the demons." Having
described the joys of Heaven, he adds that " his soul
desired to remain in that happy region, but heard from
behind him, through the veil, the voice of his guardian
angel commanding it to be replaced in the same body
from which it had passed, and instructing it to relate in
the assemblies and conventions of the laity and clergy-
1 Reeves, Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography, I. 43.
I

114 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the rewards of heaven and the pains of hell, such as the
conducting angel had made known to it."
St. Adamnan is named in the Festology of St. Aengus,
and in all our martyrologies, on the 23rd of September.
He, moreover, receives the highest eulogies in our ancient
records. The introduction to the ' Vision,' just referred
to, styles him the " high sage of the western world."
Venerable Bede says that he was " a goodanda wise man,
and remarkably learned in the knowledge of the Scrip
tures."1 The Abbot Ceolfrid calls him " the abbot
and renowned priest of the Columbian order."2 The
Martyrology of Donegal, having entered his feast on
the 23rd of September, adds that " He was a
vessel of wisdom, and a man full of the grace of
God and of the knowledge of the Holy Scrip
tures, and of every other wisdom ; a burning
lamp, which illuminated and enlightened the west of
Europe with the light of virtues and good morals, laws
and rules, wisdom and knowledge, humility and self-
abasement." Alcuin, too, in the verses with which
he decorated the church of Tours, mentions St. Adam
nan as one of " the renowned fathers and masters of
the spiritual life," whose protection he invokes for the
faithful. Fordun, in a later age, commemorates him as
"adorned with virtues and miracles,"3 whilst the Four
Masters sum up his character thus : "Adamnan was a
good man, according to the testimony of Bede ; for he
was tearful, penitent, given to prayer, diligent, ascetic,
temperate ; he never used to eat except on Sunday
» Bede, Eec. Hist. v. 15. 2 Ibid. v. 21.
3 Fordun, " virtutibus pollens et miraculis." 111. 43.

The Successors 'of St. Columba in Iona. 115
and Thursday ; he made a slave of himself to these
virtues; and, moreover, he was wise and learned in the
clear understanding of the Holy Scriptures of God."
St. Adamnan is honoured in Raphoe and many other
churches in Ireland. In Scotland he is patron of Furvie
on the east coast of Aberdeen, where a venerable ruin
still marks the site of his ancient church ; it stands in
the middle of a small plantation of stunted firs and alder,
on a little eminence gently rising from a swampy bottom,
with a rivulet half enclosing it on the south side. The
church of Forglen, where the sacred banner of St.
Columba, called the Breachbannach, was preserved, was
also dedicated to him. At Aboyn, on the north side of
the Dee, is a large old tree, called ' St. Eunan's Tree,'1
at the foot of which is ' St. Eunan's Well.' The islands of
Inchkeithand Sanda hadsanctuaries dedicated to him, and
his memory was also cherished in Tannadice, Killeunan,
Dalmeny, and Campsie. The ancient records particu
larly attest that St. Adamnan, emulating the piety of
St. Germain of Paris, made it his care to enrich the
monastery of Iona with many precious relics of the
saints : " Illustrious was this Adamnan ; it was by him
was gathered the great collection of the relics of the
saints into one shrine, and that was the shrine which
Cilline Droicthech, son of Dicolla, brought to Erin to
make peace and friendship between the Cinel-Conaill
and the Cinel-Eoghain."2 In Lynch's MS. History of

1 The Celtic name Adhamnan is pronounced Aunan or Eunan,
which has given rise to a manifold variety in the form in which the
Saint's name appears, as may be seen in the ' Historians of Scot
land.' vol. vi. Introduction, pag. clxx.
2 Ibid., pag. clxv.

116 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Irish Bishops, we are told that Adamnan composed a
poem in honour of these relics which he had gathered ;
and it is added that he caused two rich shrines to be
made for the relics, one of which, with its sacred trea
sure, was preserved at Ardnagelliganin O'Kane's country,
the other at Skreen, in the diocese of Killala. This
latter spot still retains many memorials of St. Adamnan.
The old church is named from him, and a little to the
east of it is his well, from which the townland derives
its name of Toberawnaun (Tober-Adhamhnain.) Colgan,
citing the Life of St. Forannan, tells us that the parish
derived its name of Skreen from this famous shrine of
Adamnan, " Scrinium Sancti Adamnani;" and that its
church was " noble and venerable for its relics of many
saints." The list of the relics preserved in this famous
shrine may be seen among the Brussels MSS., and in
Lynch's MS. History, already referred to. There were
in this sacred treasure particles from the bones of St.
Patrick and St. Declan ; portions of the cincture of St.
Paul the Hermit, of the mantle of St. Martin of Tours,
and of the habit of St. Bridget : there was also the head
of St. Carthage, and other precious relics of Saint
Mochemogue, St. Molua, St. Columba-mac-Crimthan,
St. Mathan, and other saints. In the same shrine
was deposited a MS. copy of the Gospels, as also
a collection of Latin and Irish Hymns, the same,
probably, as the two MSS. of the ' Liber Hymno-
rum,' which have fortunately been preserved to our own
times. It is not necessary to dwell on the lives of the later
abbots of Iona. They inherited the spirit and walked
in the footsteps of their first fathers. We will just

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 117
uow give a complete list of these devoted men who, in a
singularly unbroken succession, continued to rule this
monastery down to the thirteenth century, but it may not
be uninteresting to premit, in a few words, a sketch of the
disciplinary observances of this ancient Celtic commu
nity, as they are presented in the pages of SS. Cummian
and Adamnan.
Those who were enrolled in the monastery of Iona
were regarded as soldiers of Christ, whose purpose it
was to renounce the world and its cares, and to live and
labour for God alone. The monastery was ruled by an
abbot, whose ecclesiastical rank, indeed, was that of a
-priest, but whose jurisdiction nevertheless extended over
many bishops. The community lived together as a
Muinter or family: each one acted towards the rest,
and loved them as his brothers, and all obeyed the
abbot as their father. Kneeling before the altar, they
took the solemn monastic vow, and the tonsure was
given them after the Irish fashion, that is to say, the
fore part of the head was made bare from ear to ear.
Obedience, even unto death, was a fundamental principle
of their rule : hence we find them at the whisper of the
abbot setting forth, without a moment's delay, to labour
and to preach, or again starting on distant and perilous
journeys. In Iona, as in the other great Irish monas
teries at home and abroad, all things were held in
common, and no personal property was allowed. In
St. Columba's rule, as in that of St. Columbanus, the
monks were directed " to love poverty in imitation of
Christ, and in obedience to the Gospel precepts."
Humility, too, was commended as a distinctive virtue,
which all should cultivate, being the groundwork of all

118 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
other virtues. Hospitality was enjoined in the out
pouring of national generosity, as well as of Christian
charity. When a guest arrived, the brethren went
forth to meet him, and bid him welcome. He was at
once led to the church, and there thanks were returned
to God for his safe journey. Thence he was led to the
lodging or hospitium prepared for him, where water was
presented to wash his feet, and food was set before him.
Should he happen to arrive on a fast day, the fast was
relaxed in his favour.
The brethren were summoned to the church or oratory
by the sound of a bell, but except at midnight, and
morning and evening, those engaged on the farm in
manual work were not required to attend. The Lord's.
Day and the great feasts of the saints were solemnized
by rest from labour and by the celebration of the Holy
Sacrifice, and better food was used on these days. Mass
was said in some seasons at Prime, in others at Sext,
and the brethren received the Blessed Eucharist, which,
in their veneration for this great sacrament, was styled
"the Sacred Mysteries of the Eucharist," or "the
Mysteries ofthe Sacred Oblation," or "the Oblation of
the Body of Christ." Should a bishop be present, he
offered the Holy Sacrifice alone in token of his superior-
dignity ; if several priests were there, they united in
offering the sacred oblation. The chief festival was the
Paschal solemnity ; and the whole time from Easter to-
Whitsunday, called "the Paschal Days," was regarded
as a period of special joy and thankfulness.
The fasting discipline was regulated by special rule,
and in its observance the holy founder was a model for
all the brethren. Every Wednesday and Friday through-

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 119
out the year, except during " theiPaschal days," was a
fast day. Lent was strictly observed, and during this
season, except on Sunday, the fast was every day pro
longed till evening, when a meal of bread and honey,
or whitemeats and vegetables, was taken.
Celibacy was enjoined on all the clergy and brethren
of the monastery. " There can be no doubt," writes
Dr. Reeves, " that celibacy was strictly enjoined on the
community of Columba, and that the condition ' virgin
in body and virgin in mind,' was held up for imita
tion."1 When a fault was committed, the religious on his
knees made public acknowledgment of it before the
brethren, and received a proportionate penance from the
superior. For the sacrament of Penance each one chose
a brother priest, who was styled his anmchara, or soul's
friend, who was to be his chief guide in all matters
appertaining to the spiritual life. No matter what the
rank of the penitent might be, the public penance was
proportionate to his crimes ; sometimes it consisted
merely of some short prayers, whilst at others it
enjoined a special religious observance for seven years ;
or, again, the penitent was ordered to spend twelve years
in tears and lamentations among the Britons, or to live
in perpetual exile from his native land.
The sign of the cross as "a saving sign" was in
constant use. The religious armed themselves with it,
not only before and after meals, but at every other duty
of the day. Adamnan specially mentions that it was
1 Reeves' Adamnan, pag. 344.

120 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
customary to make the sign of the cross over the pail
before milking, and over the tools before using them.
This holy sign was considered efficacious in banishing
demons, in preserving from danger, and in obtaining
favours from heaven. A large cross was placed at the
entrance of the monastery, and it was customary to
erect the same sacred standard "vexillum crucia"
on the site of every remarkable occurrence. So fully,
indeed, was this pious custom carried out in the course
of centuries, that Iona became famous for its three
hundred and sixty crosses; Even at sea, the cruciform
arrangement of the masts with the yards was "regarded
as boding well for a favourable voyage.
The burial of the dead was regarded as a solemn
religious duty, of merit alike to the survivors and to
those who had gone to their rest. The lively faith in
the resurrection rendered it a consideration of import
ance to be buried among the honoured members of the
society, and, as the day of death was called the natalis,
or birth-day, so the object in the choice of a burial-
place was to prepare the place of resurrection. The
body of the deceased was laid out in the cell, wrapped
in linen cloths ; the exequiae were then celebrated for
his repose, and three days were spent in prayers and
chanting the praises of God. The printed rule of St.
Columba expressly enjoins that the "Hymns for souls"
were to be sung standing, and commands such " fervour
in singing the office for the dead as if every faithful
dead was a particular friend."1
1 Skene, " Celtic Scotland," 11, 508.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 121
The three great daily occupations of the community
were prayer, reading, and manual labour. " Three
labours in the day (thus runs St. Columba's rule) are
prayers, work, and reading. The work to be divided
into three parts, viz., thine own work and the work of
thy place, as regards its real wants ; secondly, thy share
of the brethren's work ; lastly, to help the neighbours
by instruction, or writing, or sewing garments, or what
ever labour they may be in want of, as the Lord says,
' Thou shalt not appear before Me with empty hands.' "
The chief study of the seniors was the Sacred Scrip
ture, and one of the duties specially enjoined was to
commit to memory the Book of Psalms. The copying
of the Inspired Text held a foremost place in manual
labour. For St. Columba himself this, as we have
already seen, was a labour of love, and his successors
seem to have emulated his skill as well as his zeal in
this important work. Of St. Baethen, the immediate
successor of the holy founder, it is recorded that he was
most exact in copying the sacred text, and in one
transcript of the Gospels which he had made, the mistake
of only one letter could be discovered.
The ordinary garments of the community were two :
viz., the cucula, or cowl, of coarse texture, made of wool,
retaining its natural colour, and the tunic, or under-
habit, which was also white. If the weather was par
ticularly severe, an amphibalus, or double mantle, was
permitted. When engaged at work on the farm, and
when travelling, the brethren wore sandals, which were
not used within the monastery. Each cell was pro
vided with a bed, which consisted of a straw-pallet, and
a pillow also of straw.

122 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
The following are among the maxims for the every
day guidance of the religious, as laid down in St.
Columba's rule : —
" Let thy mind be at all times prepared for red martyrdom.
" Let thy mind be fortified and steadfast for white martyrdom.
Forgiveness from the heart to everyone. Constant prayers for
those who trouble thee. Follow almsgiving before all things.
Take not of food till thou art hungry. The love of God with all
thy love and all thy strength. The love of thy neighbour as thy
self. Abide in the Testaments of God throughout all times.
Thy measure of prayer shall be until thy tears come. Or let thy
measure of labour be till thy tears come. Or let it be the mea
sure of thy work of labour, or of thy genuflections, that thy
perspiration should abundantly come, if thy tears are not free."
The question has been asked, how were holy orders
conferred in Iona, since the abbot was not himself a
bishop ? Some Presbyterian writers have fancied that
they have in this a proof that ordination was conferred
by presbyters. But surely it might be supposed that a
neighbouring bishop could, without great difficulty, be
called in, even from Ireland, on such an occasion, as
we will see was, indeed, done in the consecration of St.
Kentigern. At all events, there was no scarcity of
bishops within call of the Abbot of Iona. There were
bishops subject to his jurisdiction, as is clear from the
testimony of Venerable Bede: "That island," he
writes, " has always by usage for its ruler an abbot,
who is a priest, to whose direction all the province, and
even the bishops, contrary to the usual method, are
subject."1 It was, no doubt, a thing not in accordance
with the usual discipline of the Church in the sixth
1 Bede, Eec. Hist., Ill, 4.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 123
century that bishops should be subject to the jurisdiction
of those who were not bishops. It is likewise contrary
to our usual discipline at the present day ; nevertheless,
we know that this usage has been from time immemorial
permitted in the monastery of Monte Casino in Italy,
and in other great Benedictine monasteries. From the
narrative of Adamnan, in St. Columba's life, it is mani
fest that bishops were invited thither to confer holy
orders, and at times, too, were numbered among the
brethren of the monastery. Thus, in the case of Aedh
Dubh, we find that Findchau, the founder of the
monastery of Artchain, in the island of Tiree, called in
"a neighbouring bishop" to ordain him priest.1 On
another occasion, when a stranger from the province of
Munster, "who," says Adamnan, "through humility
did all he could to disguise himself, so that nobody
might know he was a bishop," was invited, on the next
Lord's Day, by Columba, to join with him in conse
crating the Body of Christ, that as two priests they
might break the Bread of the Lord together, Columba,
on going to the altar, discovered his rank, and thus
addressed him: "Christ bless thee, brother ; do thou
break the bread alone, according to the Episcopal ¦ rite,
for I know now thou art a bishop. Why hast thou dis
guised thyself so long, and prevented om- giving thee
the honour which is due to thee."2 This narrative con
tains not only a plain acknowledgment of the distinct
order of priest and bishop, but also the holy founder's
express declaration of the superior privilege, rank, and
honour due to the bishop. Instead of the episcopal
1 Adamnan, 1. 29. a Ibid., 1. 35.

124 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
ofiice being ignored, or its proper function being
usurped by presbyters in Iona, " a greater respect,"
remarks Innes, " was in some manner paid to bishops in
that monastery, and a greater distinction made betwixt
them and priests in the celebration of the sacred
mysteries, than in other churches of the West, even in
those ages of ours ; for, by this relation, it appears that
in Ycolmkill, a priest, even the abbot St. Columba him
self, looked upon a bishop as so far superior to him that
he would not presume, even though invited, to con-
celebrate or celebrate the holy mysteries jointly with
him."1 We must not omit to add that among the
invocations of the Litany of St. Aengus, we find two
groups of "the seven bishops of Iona;" and there are
grave reasons for supposing that more than one of St.
Columba's successors was consecrated bishop whilst
holding the office of abbot of the monastery.
We may compendiate the lessons of the disciplinary
observances of Iona in the words of Montalembert :
"An honest, careful examination," he writes, "of all
the monastic peculiarities to be found in the. Life of
Columba reveals nothing in the way either of ob
servances or of duties, which runs counter to the rules
adopted by all the religious communities of the sixth
century from the traditions of the Fathers of the desert.
But what we see clearly is : first, the necessity of the
vow or solemn profession to mark the definite admission
of the postulant into the society after a trial of what
ever duration ; and secondly, the absolute conformity
of the religious life followed by Columba and his monks
1 " Historians of Scotland," vi. 263.

The Successors of St. Columba in Iona. 125

with the precepts and rights of the Catholic Church in
all ages. Texts, indisputable and undisputed, prove the
existence of auricular confessions, of the invocation of
saints, the universal trust in their protection, and in
their action on temporal affairs, the celebration of the
Mass, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the celibacy
of the clergy, fasting and abstinence, prayers for the
dead, the sign of the Cross, and a most diligent and
profound study of the Scriptures. So fall the fancies
of writers who think that in the Celtic Church they
discern a primitive Christianity beyond the pale of
Catholicism. So once more is the lie given to the
absurd but inveterate prejudice which accuses our fathers
of having ignored or forbidden the study of the Bible."1
It only remains to add the succession of the Abbots
of Iona as accurately compiled by Dean Reeves in his
edition of Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, which we
have so freely used throughout this chapter.

Columba
BaethenLais ken
FergnaSeghine
Suibhne Cummian
FailbheAdamnanConamhail
DunchadhFaelchu ClLLENE FADA

A.D.

A.D.

. 568 .

.. 597

597 .

.. 600

. 600 .

.. 605

. 605 .

.. 623

623 .

. 652

. 652 .

.. 657

. 657 .

. 669

. 669 .

. 679

679 .

. 704

. 704 .

. 710

710 .

. 717

. 717 .

. 724

. 724 .

. 726

1 Montalembert, " Monks of the West," 111, 301.

126

Irish Saints in Great Britain.

a.d.

A.D.

Cilline Deoichteach .

. 726

... 752

Slebhine

. 752

... 767

Suibhne

. 767

... 772

Beeasal

. 772

... 801

Connachtach

. 801

... 802

Cellach

. 802

... 815

Diaemait

. 815

:irca 832

Innrechtach

circa 832

... 854

Cellach

. 854

... 865

Feeadhach

. 865

... 880

Flann

. 880

... 891

Maelbrighde

. 891

... 927

Dubhthach

. 927

... 938

Robhartach

. 938

... 954

DUBHDUIN

. 954

... 959

DUBHSCUILE

. 959

... 964

Mughron

. 964

... 980

Maelciarain

. 980

... 986

DUNNCHADH

. 986

... 989

Dubhdaleithe

. 989

... 998

MUIREDHACH

. 998

... 1007

Ferdomnach

. 1007

... 1008

Maelmuire

. 1008

... 1009

MAELEOrN

. 1009

... 1025

Maelmuire

. 1025

... 1040

KOBARTACH

. 1040

... 1057

Giollacrist

. 1057

... 1062

DOMHNALL

. 1062

... 1098

Ferdomhnach

. 1098

... 1114

Maelbrighde

. 1114

... 1117

CONANG

. 1117

... 1128

Giolla-Adhamnain

. 1128

... 1138

Muieedhach

. 1138

... 1150

Flaithbertach .

. 1150

... 1175

Giolla-mac-Liag

. 1175

... 1198

Giollacrist

. 1198

... 1202

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 127
CHAPTER V.
IRISH SAINTS IN THE KINGDOM OF STRATHCLYDE.
Early Irish Settlements in Strathclyde : — St. Patrick's Birthplace: —
St. Ninian studies in Rome : — The Monastery of Whitherne: —
St. Ninian's Cave: — His connection with Ireland: — Irish Saints
at Whitherne:— St. Modenna: — Her Sanctuary at Maidenkirk:
— St. Kentigern tender the care of St. Servan : — His Monastery at
Glasgow: — Austerities of St. Kentigern: — He visits Wales: —
Founds a Monastery at St. Asaph's: — Rederecli, King of Strath
clyde: — Some Memorials of St. Kentigern: — The Queen's Ring:
— St. Servan: — St. Conval : — Revival of devotion to this Saint: —
St. Bea : — Synod of Rome in a.d. 721.
The petty kingdom of Strathclyde is not without some
features of special interest for the student of the early
missions of the Irish Church. Within its territory we
must seek for the birthplace of our national Apostle
St. Patrick. There, too, very many of our countrymen
settled at an early period : several illustrious saints
of Irish birth or Irish parentage chose it as the theatre
of their missionary toil, and others hastened thither to
spend a little time at least in its great monastery of
Whitherne, desirous to perfect themselves in the paths
of virtue, or to acquire the sublimest knowledge of
divine truth.
Under the imperial rule of Rome, the Firths of Clyde
and Forth were the northern boundary of Britain. The
tides of the opposite seas, flowing far up these estuaries,
formed a natural barrier against a sudden irruption of
the barbarians of the north, and an earthen rampart,

128 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
extending from sea to sea, erected in the year a.d. 139,
served effectually to isolate the Picts in their wild
mountain fastnesses. " This great work," writes Mr.
Skene, the latest and most accurate explorer of Scottish
antiquities, " consisted of a large rampart of inter
mingled stone and earth, strengthened by sods of turf,
and must have originally measured twenty feet in
height, and twenty-four feet in breadth at the base. It
was surmounted by a parapet, having a level platform
behind it for the protection of its defenders. In front
there extended, along its whole course, an immense
fosse, averaging about forty feet wide fand twenty feet
deep. To the southward of the whole was a military
way, presenting the usual appearance of a Roman
causewayed road. This great barrier extended from
Bridgeness, near Carriden, on the Firth of Forth, to
Chapel-hill, near West or Old Kilpatrick, on the Clyde,
having, at intervals of about two miles, square forts or
stations, which, judging from those that remain,
amounted in all to nineteen in number, and between
them were smaller watch-towers."1 Additional military
stations were added by the emperor Severus, and several
watch-towers were also erected on the southern banks
of the Clyde to guard the province against the incursions
by sea of the Scottish rovers, who often infested the
coast, from the not far distant shores of Leland.2
The Clyde and this Roman rampart formed also the
northern boundary of the kingdom of Strathclyde,
which, having the strong city of Alclyde, the modern
Dumbarton, for its capital, stretched southwards along
1 Skene, " Celtic Scotland," i. 78.
2 Skene, " Chronicles of the Picts," pag. 224.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 129
the western coast, and gradually absorbed the minor
states which, after the abandonment of Britain, had
sprung up in the imperial province of Valentia. Its
southern boundaries varied with the vicissitudes of war,
being at one time limited to the Solway Firth, and at
others extending as far as the Derwent or the Mersey.
A line running through the centre of Great Britain will
serve pretty accurately to mark the extent of Strathclyde
towards the east in the days of its greatest prosperity.
The Roman writers of the fourth and fifth centuries
inform us that the Picts and Britons found prompt allies
in the Scots from Ireland, as well when resisting the
attack of the Roman armies as when pursuing the im
perial legions in their retreat from Britain. Ammianus
Marcellinus makes mention of these Scots for the first
time in the year a.d. 360, and he does not hesitate to
style them " dangerous enemies of the empire." He,
moreover, gives it plainly to be understood that they
were even then old offenders, and that in conjunction
with the Picts they had made repeated inroads on the
territory south of the Clyde, the Roman legions being
quite wearied in their pursuit.1 He also tells us that in
the year 364 the Picts and Scots again poured in upon
the Roman province, and they were joined by the Atta-
cotts, whom he describes as a warlike people, " bellicosa
hominum natio"; and that a third time, increasing in
numbers and boldness, they, in the year 368, renewed
their attack, and after inflicting more than one defeat
on the Roman troops advanced into the very heart of
Britain, the Roman General and the Count of the mari-
1 Ammianus, lib. xx., cap. 1., " praeteritarum cladium congerie

130 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
time coast in one of the battles being numbered among
the slain. The poet, Claudian, also mentions the Irish
Scots among the barbarian confederates who assailed
the empire in Britain towards the close of the fourth
century : " all Ireland was astir," he writes, "and the sea
was covered with her hostile oars":
"... totam cum Scotus Iernen
" Movit,- et infesto spumavit remige Tethys."
And when he subsequently commemorates the triumph
of the Emperor Theodosius over the barbarians, he tells
us that the distant Thule was soaked with Pictish blood,
whilst " wintry Ireland wept over her Scottish slain."
" Scotorum tumulos flevit glacialis Ierne.''
It was in the year 399 that the brave Stilicho van
quished the Picts and Scots for the last time. The
interval of peace, however, was but short, for, four years
later, their incursions were renewed, and the Roman
legions being recalled from the northern province, the
whole fah territory of Clydesdale became a scene of
ruin and desolation.
These incidental references by classic writers plainly
show how close was the union of the Irish Scots with
the Picts and Britons at this early period, and they pre
pare us to receive as strictly accurate the statements of
our Irish and Scottish historians, when they of one
accord attest that, commencing before the middle of the
fourth century, the Irish Scots flocked in great numbers
to the shores of Caledonia, many of them settling per
manently there, and when they describe this emigration
as made on so vast a scale in the district north of the
Solway Firth, that the territory became known as the

The Kingdom oj Strathclyde. 131
•
district of the Gallgaedhel, from whom was derived the
name of Galloway, which it retains to the present
day. For more than a thousand years it was the uninter
rupted tradition of Ireland and of Scotland that our
Apostle, St. Patrick, was born in the valley of the Clyde,
not far from the city of Alclyde. His father, Calphur-
nius, held the high Roman dignity of Decurio, and thus,
whilst enjoying senatorial rank, discharged the duties of
civil magistrate in this perilous outpost of the Empire.
The family, however, had come from Celtic Gaul, and
thither, too, St. Patrick was sent at au early age to be
trained to learning and virtue at the monastery of his
relative, St. Martin of Tours. Hence we may, without
hesitation, adopt the words of Mr. Cashel Hoey, though
entirely differing from him in his opinions regarding St,
Patrick's birth-place : " Roman by his education in a
province where Roman civilization had long prevailed,
where the Latin language was. spoken and the privileges
of the Empire fully possessed — Roman, too, by the pos
session of nobility, which he himself declares, and of
which his name was a curious commemoration — Roman,
in fine, in the connection of his family, which he
testifies, with the Roman government and with the
Church, St. Patrick was a Celt of Gaul by blood."1 In
his infancy he had been taught to regard as barbarian
enemies of the Empire those Irish Scots whose Apostle
he was one day to be ; but in the ways of Providence
this contact with them must have served to make him
familiar with their habits and language, a knowledge
1 Hoey, Essay on the birthplace of St. Patrick, in " Essays on
Religion and Literature," vol. I., pag. 111.

132 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
*
which was soon to be perfected amid the trials and
hardships of his slavery.
I have said that for a thousand years it was the con^
stant tradition of Ireland that we must look to the banks
of the Clyde for the birth-place of our Apostle. In the
beginning of this century the learned historian, Lanigan,
pushed rudely this tradition aside, and with great ability
and ingenuity endeavoured to prop up a theory which
had already found some favour with Continental writers,
that St. Patrick was born in Gaul, in the neighbour
hood of Boulogne-sur-mer, and in such esteem have the
labours of this ablest of our ecclesiastical historians
been held, that since his time most of our popular
writers have not hesitated to adopt his opinion. It
would be out of place to enter here into the difficulties
which this intricate question presents. Suffice it to say
that during the past half century many documents have
come to light which illustrate the life of our Apostle,
and serve to confirm more and more the ancient tradi
tion of our country. We, therefore, in this must part
company with Dr. Lanigan, and we gladly accept the
more venerable tradition, confirmed as it is by Colgan,
and John Lynch, and Usher, and Ware, as set forth
in the following words of the Ogygia : " A very great bay
of the Irish Western Ocean runs up the British country
at a great distance from the west, which formerly
divided the Britons from the Picts, and which was ap
pointed as the ulterior Roman limits by Agricola. The
celebrated fortress of Dunbriton stands on a very high
and craggy clift, and commands a prospect of this bay
between Cluide and Lennox. Cluide, called Glotta by
Tacitus, is the river that runs through the Archiepiscopal

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 133
See of Glasgow, and empties itself in the bay of Dun-
briton. From this river D.unbriton was formerly called
Arcluid, that is, above Cluide ; or Alcluid, that is, the
rock of Cluid : and from the fortress Alcluid, the country
or valley of Alcluida, now Cluidesdale, is called ; where
below Dunbriton is the plain of Taburn, on which the
town Nemther stood, which gave birth to the illustrious
missionary, St. Patrick ; and there he spent part of his
youth, as we are assured by the ancient writers of his
life."1 So, too, the learned Innes writes: "It was
about this time when the Romans, by the erection of the
new province of Valentia, were in possession of all
betwixt the walls, from Northumberland to the Firths,
that the holy bishop, St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,
was born upon the confines of the Roman province, at
Kilpatrick, near Alcluyd or Dunbriton, in the north of
Britain, as the learnedest among the Irish, as well as
other foreign writers, do now agree."2 The memory of
St. Patrick was long cherished throughout Scotland,
and, to speak only of the banks of Clyde, we find that
he was honoured as patron of the city of Dumbarton, and
of the two towns east and west Kilpatrick, of Chapel-hill,
and of the parish of Dalziel ; and in this last-named
parish, in Lanarkshire, the holy well of our Apostle was
long a favourite place of pilgrimage.
It was among the Gallgaedhels of Galloway that an
other great ornament of the British Church, St. Ninian,
was born about the year a.d. 360. Of his family3 only
1 O'Flaherty's Ogygia, Hely's translation, page 317.
2 Innes, Civil and Eccles. Hist, of Scotland (ed. of Spalding
Club), page 34.
3 However this may be, certain it is that, under the name of
Monennio, St. Ninian is honoured in our most ancient Martyr -
olo^-ies.

134 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
two traditions have come down to us : one is the tradi
tion of Scotland, that Ninian was nephew of St. Martin
of Tours ; the other is a tradition of the Irish Church,
preserved by Usher, that it was in compliance with a
request made to him by his mother, that in his old age
he set out to associate himself with St. Palladius in the
conversion of Ireland. We might, perhaps, from this
fact conjecture that she herself belonged to the Gaelic
race. Being arrived at the age of manhood, Ninian pro
ceeded to Rome. Alaric had not as yet knocked at the
gates of the devoted city. In the full majesty of im
perial sway, it was still at the golden height of its wealth
and material splendour ; and its palaces, and forums,
and public monuments displayed all the profusion of
magnificence with which the plunder of the world had
enriched the proud mistress of nations. Pope Damasus
then ruled the Church of God, and, with the blessings
of peace, religion smiled on the seven hills. Silver and
gold and precious marbles enriched the Basilicas de
voted to Christian worship ; the shrines of the martyrs
were adorned with the most costly gems ; the learning
of St. Jerome and St. Ambrose added lustre to its sacred
teaching, and Rome was even then not only the source
of spiritual authority, but also the great centre of re
ligious life, and of the love and affection of the Christian
world. For about twenty years St. Ninian lived in
Rome, visiting the sanctuaries, praying at the tombs of
the apostles,1 pursuing every exercise of heroic piety, and
1 St. Jerome, in his Commentary on Ezechiel, gives us the fol
lowing account of his student life in Rome : " Cum essem Romae
puer et liberalibus studiis erudirer, solebam cum caeteris ejusdem
aetatis et propositis diebus Dominicis sepulchra Apostolorum et
Martyrum circumire, crebroque cryptas ingredi, quae in terrarum
profundo defossae, ex utraque parte ingredientium, per parietes

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 135
drinking in, day by day, at its salutary fountains the
knowledge of divine truth. Being at length consecrated
bishop, he set out for his native district of Galloway, to
merit by his sanctity and missionary labours the title of
its chief apostle.
On his homeward journey he remained for some time
at Marmoutiers to enjoy the heavenly lessons of wisdom
of its great founder, St. Martin of Tours ; and Aelred,
in his life of our saint, particularly mentions that he
brought with him from that monastery some skilled
masons, by whose aid he desired to erect in his native
district a church on the model of those which he had
seen in Italy and France. He chose for its site a
sheltered spot on the southern promontory of Galloway,
enclosed on all sides, except to the north, by the sea,
and commanding a distant view of the heights of Cum
berland and of the Isle of Man. The church was built
of chiselled stone, a style of edifice, as Bede informs us,
till then unheard of in North Britain, from which cir
cumstance it became known as Candida Casa, and in
the British language it was called Whitherne (that is,
" the White House"), or Whithorn, which name the
district retains to the present day.1 We learn from
Venerable Bede that, whilst engaged in erecting this
church, Ninian received the inteUigence of St. Martin's

habent corpora sepultorum, et ita obscura sunt omnia, ut pro-
pemodum illud propheticum compleatur : Descendunt ad inf ernum
viventes." (Opp. torn. v. pag. 433).
1 In the Papal Bull restoring the Scottish Hierarchy, this
diocese is still called Candida Casa. To commemorate the
restoration of the ancient Episcopal See, the Most Noble the
Marquis of Bate has announced his intention of erecting a
beautiful new church at Whithorn in honour of St. Ninian.

136 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
death, and so convinced was he of the sanctity of that
holy man that he at once chose him for his patron in
his missionary labours, and dedicated the church to God
under his invocation. This fixes the date of the erection
of Whithorn in a.d. 402, which seems most probably to
have been the year of St. Martin's decease.
Interesting and ornamental remains of the mediaeval
cathedral of Galloway, supposed to have been erected on
the site ofthe original church, may still be seen at the
town of Whithorn. Some antiquarians, however, are
of opinion that the Isle of Whithorn, which in former
times was probably connected with the mainland, was
the site of the first building erected by St. Ninian. It
has still the ruins of a very old chapel, but not even a
moulding is left to indicate the date of its erection.
I need not dwell on the apostolic labours of St.
Ninian. He penetrated into the Pictish territory far
beyond the British frontier, and at his preaching, as Bede
attests, many of the southern Picts forsook idolatry and
became fervent children of God.1 He was remarkable,
like most of the early Celtic saints, for his austerities,
and in particular it is recorded of him that, throughout
the whole time of Lent, he was accustomed to partake
of nothing but the poorest fare, and from sunset on
Holy Thursday till after he had offered the Holy Sacrifice
on Easter-day, he wholly abstained from all corporal
refection. Like St. Martin, he loved to withdraw him
self from time to time from the busy world in which he
laboured, to renew his spirit by meditation on heavenly
things. The cave is still pointed out on the seashore of
1 Bede, Hist. Eccl. iii. 4.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 137
Wigtownshire, in Galloway, whither he was wont to
retire. It is placed high up in a white lofty precipitous
range of rocks, against which the impetuous waves of the
stormy Irish Sea unceasingly spend their fury. The cave
is open to the winds and spray, but runs inward about
twenty feet. At the mouth it is twelve feet high, and
about as many in width, and it is only accessible by
climbing from rock to rock.
St. Ninian's preaching was attended with many
miracles. Among others, a pagan chieftain of Galloway,
named Tuduvallus, which corresponds to the Celtic
name Tuathal,was struck with blindness for his resistance
to the faith, but upon his repentance was restored to his
sight by the prayers of the holy man. St. Ninian's death
is marked by Scottish writers in the year a.d. 432 ; his
remains were interred in St. Martin's Church, and so
many were the miracles performed there through the
intercession of our saint, so sweet was his memory
among his spiritual children, and so great their venera
tion for him as their own apostle, that throughout all
Scotland the church and monastery became known only
by St. Ninian's name.
The saint is honoured in our Irish Calendars on the
16th of September, under the name Monennio, and it
is a very ancient tradition, preserved in the Festology
of St. iEngus and other authentic records, that a few
years before his death he came to Leland to aid in the
missionary enterprise of Palladius, and erected at Cluain
Conaire, now Cloncurry, in the north of the present
County Kildare, an oratory and religious institution,
which reproduced in miniature the great church and
monastery of Whitherne. Bishop Forbes gives a list of

138 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
more than sixty churches dedicated to him throughout
Scotland ; and Chalmers, in his Caledonia, writes that
" the name of St. Ninian was venerated in every district
in Scotland, and in the Northern and Western Isles."
Such was the fame of Candida Casa for the piety and
learning of its holy inmates, that for centuries it was
popularly known in Ireland as " Magnum Monasterium,"
the great monastery. Innumerable pilgrims from our
shores visited it, and many of our early saints made it,
for a time at least, their home. Thus St. Finian, of
Moville, lived therefor some years, desirous of acquiring
an accurate knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures, and of
the rules of the monastic life.1 St. Enda, so famed for
his island sanctuary and school at Arann, by the advice
of his sister, St. Fanchea, became also an humble
religious within its walls. St. Tighernach, of Clones,
St. Eoghan, Bishop of Ardstraw, St. Rioch, who is
numbered among the relatives of St. Patrick, and St.
Talmach, all spent a portion of their lives in the fervent
practice of penance and piety within its hallowed
enclosure. St. Manchan, patron of Limerick, was at
first a student there, and subsequently became one of
its brightest ornaments and most learned teachers; and
there also St. Mugint composed his beautiful penitential
prayer, which was much used in the early Irish church,
and is preserved in the Book of Hymns.2
The memory of some of these saints was long
cherished in Galloway, and Dr. Forbes writes that " the
1 " In ejus sede quse Magnum vocabatur Monasterium regulas
et institutiones monastic* vitae aliquot annis probus monachus
didicit, atque in Sanctarum Scripturarum paginis non parum
proficiens insudavit," &c. Colgan, Acta SS. pag. 438.
2 Todd, Lib. Hym., part I., pag. 94.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 139
christianizing influence of Ireland was strongly felt
throughout the whole of that territory."1
St. Modenna, also called Moninna, was an Irish virgin
saint for whom the early Scottish Church cherished a
special devotion. She flourished towards the close of
the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth, for
her death is marked in the Annals of Ulster in the year
516, on the 6th of July, on which day her name is
entered in all our Martyrologies. St. iEngus thus
commemorates her in his Felire :
" Moninde of Slieve-Cuillin,
A beautiful pillar ;
A bright pure victory she gained,
The sister of Muire-Mary."
She was born in the district of Conaille, and had the
privilege of receiving the virgin-habit from St. Patrick.
She hved for some time near Carlingford, and then
proceeding to a solitary island off the western coast of
Ireland, placed herself under the spiritual guidance of
St. Ibar. With St. Bridget she was united in the
closest bonds of spiritual friendship, and she received
from her the gift of a silver shrine, which was long held
in great veneration. Returning to her native province,
she erected a cell at the hill of Faughart, and a little
later retired to a desert place at the foot of Slieve-
Cuillin (now Slieve-Gullion), where, at Killeevy, three
miles from Newry, the venerable ruins of her oratory
may still be seen.2 The cyclopean door-ways of massive
1 Forbes, Historians of Scotland, vol. v., page xlii.
2 The name of this place was originally Kill-Sleibhe-Cuillin,
from which in common use it became known as KiU-Sleibhe, pro
nounced Killeevy.

140 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
construction which still remain, and the round tower
which, till the last century, stood at the south side,
incorporated with the wall of the oratory, sufficiently
mark the early period to which these hallowed ruins
must be referred. Her life by Conchubran, to which
Usher attaches great weight, relates that she proceeded
to Scotland, and lived there for many years. The
greatest of her religious foundations in North Britain
was at Chilnecase, in Galloway, where for centuries a
flourishing community of nuns perpetuated her virtues
and lived faithfully in the service of God. Six other
Scottish churches are also known to have been founded
by her, three of which — viz., at Dundevenal, and Dum
barton, and Dunpeleder— were situate in the kingdom
of Strathclyde, the others being at the castle of Strivelin,
and in Edinburg, and at Longforgan, near Dundee,
where Scottish tradition supposes her to have rested in
peace. Capgrave writes that in North Britain, as in
Ireland, she led a most penitential life, and that,
clothed in rough garments, and with her feet bare, she
made a pilgrimage to the shrines of the Apostles in
Rome. The learned antiquarians of Scotland at the
present day have not failed to recognise the merits of
this great saint and to illustrate her history. Mr.
Skene has successfully identified her with St. Edana,
or Medana,1 who is named in the Breviary of Aber
deen, on the 19th of November, as a virgin saint and a
native of Ireland, and this identification has led him
to an important discovery. Edinburg is commonly
supposed to have been so called from a fort erected there
1 The name Medana is formed from Mo-Edana, by contraction,
of which we have many instances in the lives of our early saints.
Thus St. Ita's name becomes Mida, &c.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 141
by King Edwin, but long before that monarch's time St.
Edana's sanctuary there was a place of pilgrimage, and
it is, in truth, from this virgin saint of Ireland that the
modern names of Maiden Castle and Edinburgh are
derived. In the Aberdeen Breviary we read an interest
ing legend relating to our saint. One day, being pur
sued by a rude soldier, she climbed into a tree, and,
being told that it was her beauty which attracted him,
she plucked out her eyes and cast them to him. The
soldier was at once filled with remorse, and repented of
his wicked course, and the pious virgin, descending
from the tree, washed her wounds in a neighbouring
fountain, and her sight was miraculously restored.
One of the most interesting of the hallowed places
that now remain connected with this saint is her cave
chapel, situated close to the Mull of Galloway, the
most southern point of Scotland, in the parish which
from her derives its name, Kirkmarden or Maidenkirk,
which I find thus described by a Scottish writer: —
"Descending a high and steep rock of the shore, you
find the cave-chapel secludedly shelved in the face of the
rock, and looking down upon huge, jagged rocks, lying
huddled in heaps at the foot of the crag, and running
out in long pointed ridges a good bit into the bay. To
its situation its escape from total destruction must be
attributed. Nevertheless, it is now sadly dilapidated.
The roof, probably rudely arched, has long since
disappeared. The artificially-builded portions consist
only of the wall fronting the sea, and that which is laid
up behind against the face of the cliff, the side ones
being naturally supplied by great jutting slabs of whin,
or whatever it is. The area of the cell is nearly a

142 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
square of very small size, the builded portion of great
thickness, and rudely made up of uncemented stones of
all sizes and shapes. The wall facing the sea contains
traces of a door- way, and an inwardly-splayed window,
the clear of which is not more than nine inches wide.
In the other wall the door-way is happily entire, forty-
four inches in height, with slightly-sloping jambs, and
long narrow stones roughly set over its massive lintel,
in form of an arch. The cave to which this aperture
gave entrance is of very irregular form, small and low in
the roof. Of what height the roof of the cell or chapel
was it is impossible to say ; but, as in a building so
diminutive, it could not have been great ; it is puzzling
to find the inner, or cliff wall, reaching as much as
twenty feet up from the ground. If by this we are led
to believe that another apartment — an upper sanctuary,
or dormitory, or refugium, whilst the wild Picts were
down on the shore — rose above the cell, what would we
not now-a-days give to have it entire T'1
There is yet another saint of Strathclyde, to whom
we must devote more than a passing notice. St.
Kentigern — popularly known by the name of St. Mungo
— is justly reckoned among the chief patron saintB of
Scotland. He was born about the year 514. His
mother was Irish, and in the saint's life her name is
presented to us under the form of Thenew or Thenog.
As yet a pagan, she had, by intercourse with Christian
friends, become acquainted with the truths of faith, and
had learned to honour with special reverence, and to
invoke with earnest devotion, the holy Mother of God.
i Midr's " Lighthouse," pp. 65-68.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 143
Being accused of a grievous crime, she was sentenced to
be cast down from a high rock called Kep-duff in the
Lammermoor. In this terrible trial she had recourse to
the Blessed Virgin, and by her protecting aid was
miraculously saved from death. This, however, did not
secure her pardon. By order of the chieftain of the
district, she was placed in a little coracle1 at the mouth
of the river Aberlassig (now Aberlady), and being
conducted into the open sea, beyond the Isle of May,
was there abandoned to her fate. " If she be worthy of
life," he said, " the God whom she invokes will free her,
if He wills, from the perils of the sea." Here again the
powerful aid of the Blessed Virgin did not forsake her.
Without sail or oar the little boat drifted to a sandy beach
at Culenross (the modern Cuhoss) in Fifeshire, not far
from the hermitage where St. Servan, called by the
Scots St. Serf, led a life of prayer and penitential
exercises. She found shelter in a cave close to the
beach, and there she gave birth to Kentigern. The
shepherds from the adjoining hills ministered food and
clothing to the mother and child, and after a time
brought her to St. Servan's cell. On learning her
miraculous preservation, he took both mother and son
under his protection, and, administering Baptism to
them, declared that henceforth he would be a father to
them. To the child he gave the name of Kentigern
(i.e., Ceann, head or chief, and Tighearn, lord or
master), prophetically announcing that he would one
day be the great leader and spiritual guide of the people
1 "Parvissimo lembo de corio juxta morem Scottorum con-
fecto." Vita. cap. 3.

144 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
of all Strathclyde. As the child advanced in years such
was his amiability, and so endeared was he to everyone
by the sweetness of his virtues, that his holy master was
accustomed to call him by the name Munghu (which in
Celtic means an amiable and beloved one), and by this
endearing name he continued to be generally known in
after years.
As for Thenog, she made great proficiency in the
paths of heaven under the guidance of St. Servan, and
becoming famed for sanctity, merited in after times a
place in the Scottish kaiendars. A chapel was built
upon the spot where she had given birth to Kentigern,
and the ruins of a mediaeval church may still be traced
there. At an early period a church was also dedicated to
her in Glasgow, but it was demolished at the Reformation
period. St. Enoch's Square now marks its site, and
seldom do the thrifty Scotchmen of the present day
advert that it is from St. Thenog, our Irish saint, their
busy mart is named, and that thus in some little way at
least they unconsciously pay a tribute of honour to her
memory. St. Kentigern, as the writer of the life informs us,
made rapid strides in virtue and learning at St. Servan's
school, for "there were bestowed upon him by the
Father of Light, from whom is every good and perfect
gift, an apt intelligence and a docile heart." The
armorial bearings of the city of Glasgow perpetuate the
memory of one of the miracles performed at this time
by St. Kentigern. On a shield argent is a robin-red
breast. This little bird was wont to perch itself and
sing upon St. Servan's shoulder, but one of St. Kenti-
gern's ccmpanions pulled off its head, and, envying

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 145
the special affection shown to Kentigern by their
master, threw it into his lap. When St. Servan
approached, the holy youth made the sign of the cross
upon the bird and breathed a fervent prayer, and in
vindication of his sanctity the little red-breast gathered
together its limbs, flapped its wings, and resting on
St. Servan's shoulder, began to sing once more.
Having attained the years of manhood, the saint took
his departure from St. Servan, and crossing the estuary
of the Forth, pursued his way to " Cathures," which is
now caUed Glasgow. As he journeyed on, he found at
a place called Carnock, an old man, who, having led a
long life of holy conversation, had received the promise
from heaven that he would not die till he was visited by
a servant of God. As the saint now entered the dwell
ing, the old man intoned the Nunc Dimittis, and
" making his confession, and being anointed with the
oil of forgiveness, and strengthened by the vivifying
sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood,"1 he joyfully
closed his eyes in peace. At Cathures, Kentigern built
for himself a cell on the banks of the Mellendonor, close
by a cemetery which had been blessed by St. Ninian, and
there he lived in great holiness of life. It is specially
recorded that he planted the cemetery with trees, and
as late as the year 1500 we find " the trees of St.
Kentigern " used as a landmark in the deeds of the city
of Glasgow. Disciples soon gathered around him, and
he erected for them a rude monastery, with an earthen
rath and wattled church. This chosen spot, thus
blessed by SS. Ninian and Kentigern, and hallowed a
1 Vita, cap. ix.

146 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
few years later by the presence of St. Columbkille, was
marked out for special blessings from God, and we
cannot wonder that it should be styled in after times
" the bright and lovely spot," for such is the meaning
of the name — Glasgow. As the city and canton of St.
Gall's, in Switzerland, had their origin in the cell of
the Irish missionary, Saint Gall, and Armagh grew
up around the church blessed by St. Patrick, and
Wurzburg around St. Killian's tomb, so from the
humble beginnings of St. Kentigern's monastery has
sprung up the queenly city which adorns the banks of
the Clyde, and with its 600,000 inhabitants now ranks
as second city of the Empire.
Owing to the distracted state of Strathclyde, arising
in part from the invasion of the Saxons, and in part
from the perpetual intestine wars among the petty
princes of the British race, irreligion and iniquity had
undone in great measure the holy work of St. Ninian, and
paganism — once more in the ascendant — seemed to rule
supreme throughout a considerable part of the kingdom.
Now, however, the king and people were moved by the
example and the lessons of Kentigern, and with one accord
asked him to become the shepherd and pastor of their
souls. Kentigern for a while was unwilling to assume
this charge, and pleaded his inexperience, for he had
not as yet attained his thirtieth year. But they over
ruled all his difficulties, and, as the Life takes care to
add, " sending for a bishop to Ireland," Kentigern was
duly consecrated, and was solemnly enthroned as their
bishop. We are not told the name of the Irish bishop
thus chosen to impose hands on Kentigern, and to
cement thus early that spiritual union of Glasgow with

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 147
the Irish Church which has continued to the present
day ; for Glasgow is even now quickened by Celtic faith
in the renewed splendour of the hierarchy of the Scottish
Church. The city is still one of the greatest centres of
Irish piety, and the Archiepiscopal See numbers almost as
many Catholics as are found in all the rest of Scotland.
The consecration of St. Kentigern is generally assigned
to the year 540. There were many holy bishops at that
time in Ireland. The first order of the saints of our
country, who were for the most part bishops, did not
close till the year 544, and not to mention others of less
note, there were St. Ailbhe, of Emly ; St. Fedhlemidh,
of Kilmore; St. Lugadh, of Connor; and St. Nathy, of
Achonry, still living and watching over their spiritual
flocks, and it is not improbable that it was one of those
that consecrated St. Kentigern. For a while peace and
sunshine smiled on the labours of our saint, many of the
pagan inhabitants were brought to the paths of Christian
life, and many, too, who had been deceived by heretical
teaching1 were reconciled to the one true church. Some
of the details of St. Kentigern's life at this period, as
set forth by his biographer, are fuU of the deepest
interest. He made the visitations of his vast diocese
on foot, and from Loch Lomond and Stirling to
Windermere and beyond Appleby, he went about with
his disciples, everywhere preaching the faith of Christ.
From his episcopal consecration till his death, his food
was bread, milk, fruits, herbs, and water, breaking his fast
only once in three or four days, and abstaining from flesh-
meat and wine. For his dress he wore, besides a hair
shirt, a long garment of goat-skin, with a narrow hood
1 Vita, cap. xix.

148 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
like that of a fisherman, and over it an alb and stole. He
carried in one hand a pastoral staff of simple wood bent
backwards, and in the other his ritual or the scriptures,
ever ready to exercise his sacred ministry. His couch
was more like a sepulchre than a bed, and was of rock,
with a stone for his pillow. He rose in the night and
chanted psalms and hymns till the second cock-crowing.
He then plunged into a cold stream, and with his
thoughts fixed on heaven finished the recital of the
psalter. During Lent he retired to desert places, and
how he was fed there was a mystery to his disciples. In
one of his instructions, however, he instanced that a
certain person whom he knew had lived sometimes on
roots, and sometimes had been so sustained by the power
of God as to live without any food ; and the Life adds,
none doubted that he spoke of himself. He returned to
his episcopal duties on Holy Thursday, spent the two
following days in meditation on the Passion of our
Blessed Lord, and celebrated Easter Day with great
solemnity and joy. Leading sueh a life of self-denial and
holiness, we cannot be surprised that many miracles
accompanied his preaching. Thus, on one occasion,
when Morcant, the ruler of the district, had said to him
in mockery before his attendants : "If, trusting in
thy God, thou canst transfer to thy dwelling all the corn
that is in my barns and granaries, I will gladly be
obedient to thee, and will for the future grant all thy
requests." Soon after the waters ofthe Clyde overflowing
their banks, surrounded the barns of the king, and draw
ing them into its own channel, carried them along, and
deposited them upon the banks not far from the
Mellendonor, where our saint dwelt.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 149
St. Kentigern had much to suffer for a time from this
wicked prince, so much so that the death of Morcant
was attributed to Divine vengeance for the insults offered
to our saint. After the death of this chieftain, Satan
stirred up new commotions against our saint, and plots
were laid against his life, wherefore he deemed it
prudent to withdraw for a time from Strathclyde, and
to seek an asylum in the monasteries of Wales. As he
journeyed thither he turned aside at Carlisle, for he
heard that "there were many in that mountainous
district given to idolatry, or ignorant of the divine law."
Carlisle was, from the time of the Romans, an important
city. From them it received the name of Luguvallium
(contracted to Luel by the Angles, and subsequently,
when fortified, called Caer-Luel), and even in the time
of Bede retained the traces of its former splendour ; and
its walls and ornamental structures betokened the
munificence of its imperial masters. St. Kentigern
remained here till he brought the erring inhabitants to
the light of truth. Not far distant, at a place thickly
planted with trees, he erected a cross, whence it took
the name of Crossfield (now Crosthwaite), and in later
times a noble basilica was erected there "to the name
of blessed Kentigern." From thence he directed his
steps along the seashore, scattering everywhere the seeds
of the Faith, and gathering a rich harvest to God.
Eight churches in Cumberland still bear the saint's
name ; and at Bromfield, close by the church, there is a
spring of pure water called St. Mungo's Well.
St. David's was at this time at the head of all the
monasteries of Walesj and Kentigern was welcomed by
its holy founder, not as a disciple, but as a father and

150 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
master. Caswallawn, king of Wales, and his son,
Maelgwyn, soon offered to the pilgrim bishop a site
wheresoever he would choose for a new monastery. He
went around the land, says his biographer, and finally
selected a spot on the banks of a river, and there disciples
flocked around him. The work of erecting the new
monastery was distributed amongst them. Some levelled
the ground and cleared the forest, others dug the
foundations of the church and fitted the planks of the
trees together, for Kentigern directed them to erect the
church of wood " after the fashion of the Britons, seeing
they could not yet build of stone, nor were they so wont
to do."1 Thus was founded the great monastery of
Llanelwy, called in after times St. Asaph's. The stream
on whose banks it stood was called the Elwy, and the
valley was named the Valley of the Clyde, now Clewd,
probably from some fancied resemblance to the river and
valley where he had before fixed his original seat- The
piety of Kentigern was not less fruitful in Wales than
it had been in Strathclyde. " There flocked to his
monastery old and young, rich and poor, to take upon
themselves the easy yoke and light burden of the Lord*
Nobles and men of the middle class brought to the saint
their children to be trained and educated. He divided
his disciples into three classes of religious observances.
Three hundred, who were unlettered, he appointed to the .
duty of agriculture, the care of the cattle, and the other
necessary duties outside the monastery; to another
three hundred he assigned the duties of manual work
within the enclosure ; and the remaining monks who
1 Vita, cap. xxiv.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 151
were lettered, he appointed to the service of the altar by
day and by night, and seldom were they allowed to depart
from the sanctuary, abiding there as in the holy place of
God. But those who were more advanced in wisdom
and holiness, and who were fitted to teach others, he was
accustomed to take with him when he went forth to
perform the duties of his episcopal office."1 Such is
the picture of this Celtic monastery of St. Kentigern,
which his Life presents to us, and we cannot be surprised
that it was soon reckoned among the chief centres of
piety in North Wales. When the saint at length took
his departure from Wales, he chose a monk of the
monastery named Asaph to take his place, and the fame
of this pious man for learning and sanctity in after years
justified the choice. The Cathedral Church was dedicated
to God under the invocation of this saint, and many
places in the adjoining territory still bear his name, as
Lan-Asa (St. Asaph's Church), Ffynnon-Asa (St. Asaph's
Well), Pantasa (St. Asaph's Hollow), &c.2 His memory
is also cherished in the island of Skye, and among the
springs with which that island abounds there is one
considered superior to all the rest, and is called Tober-
Asheg, i.e., the miraculous well of St. Asaph.
In the meantime great changes had taken place in
Strathclyde. Providence had raised up an illustrious
prince — Rederech — to restore peace in that distracted
territory. He was surnamed Hael or Hial, i.e., ' The
Bountiful,'3 and it seems to be now unquestioned that
1 Vita, cap. xxv.
2 Thomas' ' History of the Diocese of St. Asaph.' page 55.
3 Geoffrey of Monmouth latinizes his name Rodarchus Largus;
and he is honoured in the Welsh Triads as one of the " three
liberal princes of Britain." Triad xxx., Myvyr. Archseol., ii., p. 63.

152 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
he was of Irish parentage, for his father's name was
Tuathal, and his mother Eithne, in the genealogies
of the saints, is expressly styled Gwyddles, i.e., ' The
Irishwoman.' Aided by Aedan, king of Scottish Dala-
radia, and by Maelgwyn of Wales, he defeated the pagan
king Gwendoleu at the great battle of Ardderyd, in the
year 573, and by his wisdom and valour soon moulded
all the contending tribes of Strathclyde into one powerful
kingdom. Rederech was a Christian. He had been instructed in
the divine truths by the disciples of St. Patrick in Ireland,
as St. Kentigern's Life expressly records, and being
baptized there had been solidly grounded in the Faith.1
It was one of his first cares to invite St. Kentigern to
return to his kingdom. The saint set out with joy, and
Rederech, hearing of his approach, went forth accom
panied by a numerous retinue to welcome him on his
return. They met at a place called Holdelm, now
Hoddan, in Dumfries-shire, and as an immense multi
tude soon assembled, St. Kentigern embraced the
opportunity to address them ; and from his discourse as
registered in his Life, we may gather what were the
main features of the paganism into which the inhabi
tants had fallen. Three things he specially dwelt on :
1st, they should not adore the elements, for these were
not self-originated, but owed their existence to the one
true God who made all material things for the use and
service of man. 2nd, the idols should not be wor
shipped ; they were the work of their own hands, fitter
far to be burned than to receive religious worship. 3rd,
1 Vita, " A discipulis Sancti Patricii in Hibernia baptisatus fide
Christianis'sima," cap. xxix.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 153
Woden, whose worship the Angles had introduced, was no
deity, but a mere mortal man, the father and leader of one
oftheir tribes, consigned to the grave like other men. We
are also told that the saint when beginning his discourse
pronounced the solemn words : "Let all who obstruct the
salvation of this people, depart hence," whereupon a num
ber of frightful spectres fled away in the sight of ali the
people, who were filled with astonishment and holy fear.
Holdelm, the place where Kentigern had thus met
his royal patron, was chosen by him as his residence for
a time, and thence he made missionary excursions
among the Picts, and in the eastern districts of Scot
land, north of the Firth of Forth, where he erected
many churches. After some time he returned to his
original seat at Glasgow, and continued there to guide
his spiritual children. Several ancient churches still
bear his name in various parts of Scotland. They are
particularly found in Aberdeenshire and Lothian, and
in the districts evangelized by his master, St. Servan.
St. Kentigern used to erect crosses wherever he preached.
Two of these were still extant in the twelfth century — one
in the cemetery of the Church of the Holy Trinity, the
other at Lotherwerd. Seven times he made the pil
grimage to Rome, and on the occasion of his last visit
enjoyed a long conference with the holy Pontiff, St.
Gregory the Great, who bestowed upon him copies of
the sacred scriptures and relics of the saints, and many
ornaments for the altar, and other rich gifts.
In extreme old age — knowing that his hour was at
hand — he summoned his disciples around him, and ex
horted them to the observance of their rule, mutual
charity, hospitality to the poor, and study ; and he left

154 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
to them, as his last bequest, that they should shun the
communion of heretics, and be ever united with the
Roman See. Then he blessed each one in turn, con
signing them to the tutelage of the Blessed Trinity, and
to the protection of the holy Mother of God. He then
gathered himself upon his stone couch, and arming him
self with the sign of the cross, soon after rested in peace
on Sunday, the 13th of January, in the year 603.1 The
well of our saint still exists in the Cathedral, and his
body is supposed to lie buried in the crypt. St.
Kentigern's bell, which is said to have been brought by
himself from Rome, was preserved till after the period
of the Reformation, but cannot now be traced.2 For
centuries it was tolled through the city at the close of
day, to warn the citizens to pray for the repose of the
faithful departed souls.
Several relics of the saint are mentioned in the
ancient Inventories of the Cathedral of Glasgow, but
they are supposed to have been destroyed by the vandal
ism of John Knox and his followers in the sixteenth
century. Among the legends connected with St. Kentigern, that
of the ring is one of the most beautiful. It has also been
perpetuated in popular tradition, and has left its record
on the Arms of the City of Glasgow. It is as follows : —
The Queen, in token of affection, bestowed on a young
courtier a valuable ring, which was a marriage gift of
1 This seems the most probable date of St. Kentigern's death.
Chalmers, in his " Caledonia," writes : "St. Kentigern died on the
13th January, 601, after performing for the improvement of the
people all that zeal could suggest, or perseverance could execute."
However, the 13th of January, in 601, did not fall on Sunday.
2 Reg. Ep. Glas., vol. ii., page 334.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. • 155
the king. This was pointed out to the king, and one
day as the courtier slept, fatigued by the chase, the
king drew the ring off his finger and threw it into the
Clyde. Returning home enraged, he demanded of the
queen where was the ring which he had given her in
token of conjugal affection. She replied that she would
search for it and bring it to him. She soon learned
from the courtier all that had occurred, and going to
Kentigern, made known her misery to him. Com
miserating her weakness, and full of compassion for ber
in her affliction, the saint desired her to send to the
Clyde, and to bring to him the first fish that would be
caught. When the fish was brought, the ring was found
in it, and to the great joy of all, the queen thenceforward
proved herself most faithful and affectionate to her royal
husband. The name of St. Servan has been repeatedly mentioned
in the preceding pages in connection with St. Kentigern.
He was a disciple of St. Patrick^ and sailed for Scot
land, where he erected a monastery on the winding
shores of the Forth, near the town of Culross, and
trained many fervent souls in the paths of perfection.
He cherished Kentigern, as we have seen, with special
affection, and when that saint departed from Culross, he
went after him, crying out : " Alas, my dearest son !
light of mine eyes ! staff of my old age ! wherefore dost
thou desert me ? Call to mind the days that are past,
and remember the years that are gone by ; how I took
thee up when thou earnest forth from thy mother's
womb, nourished thee, taught thee, trained thee, even
unto this hour. Do not despise me, nor neglect my
grey hairs, but return, that in no long time thou mayest

156 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
close mine eyes."1 And when St. Kentigern nevertheless
continued his course, Servan again cried aloud, asking
to be permitted to accompany him, and to be reckoned
among his disciples; but Kentigern replied: "I go
whither God calls me, but do thou return, I pray thee,
my father, to thine own disciples, that in thy holy
presence they may be trained in sacred doctrine, guided
by thy example, and restrained by thy discipline."2
Wherefore, Servan, returning to his monastery, awaited
the day of his repose, and soon after was gathered to
his fathers. He is honoured in the Scottish Calendars
on the 1st of July. By our Irish writers he is called
St. Serb, whilst in some parts of Scotland his name has
been corrupted to Sair and Sare.3 At Culross, till a
late period, an annual procession was held in his honour.
" Early on the morning of the feast (thus runs the
official account) all the inhabitants — men and women,
young and old — assembled and carried green branches
through the town, decking the public places with flowers,
and spent the rest of the day in festivity."4
One of the most illustrious of St. Kentigern's disciples
was St. Conval, who inherited in an eminent degree the
zeal and sanctity of his great master. He was the son
of an Irish chieftain,6 and forsaking his country and
friends, through the desire of winning souls to God,
sailed to the banks of the Clyde,6 and enrolling himself
1 Vita S. Kentig., cap. viii. 2 Vita, ibid.
3 See Forbes's Kaiendars, page 447.
4 Old Stat. Account, vol. xviii., page 649.
5 Forbes's Kaiendars, page 315.
6 " Ad clodum flumen, cujus ager propter omnia fructuum
genera, aliasque amoenitates, Scotise paradisus habetur." Bollan-
dists, Acta SS. Mali, torn, iv., page 182.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 157
among the clergy of St. Kentigern, soon proved himself
a devoted missioner, and became a bright ornament of the
Scottish Church. In many of the mediawal records he
is styled Archdeacon of Glasgow, and by his untiring
labours he merited to be honoured as a second apostle
of that great city. Each memorial of the saint was long
cherished by the faithful to whom he ministered. The
rock on which he landed on the sea-shore, and on which
in after years he was wont to pray, was held in the
greatest veneration, and several churches erected under
his invocation attested the reverence and fond affection
in which his hallowed memory was held.1 It is recorded
that he visited his countryman, King Aidan, of Dalriada,
and was welcomed by that prince with the highest
honours. The purport of St. Conval's visit was probably
to secure the aid of King Aidan for the religious works
in which he was engaged south of the Clyde ; and we
are further told that, at that pious monarch's request,
St. Conval passed into the Pictish territory, and there
gained many souls to God. He also visited St. Columba,
and seems for a time to have been associated with that
great saint in his missionary labours.
He is venerated as patron at Inchinnan, in Renfrew
shire, on the Clyde, about seven miles below Glasgow,
and Boece writes that the saint's relics were still pre
served there in his time.2 Near the ancient fort of
i The ancient Martyrology of Aberdeen gives us the following
eulogy of St. Conval : — " In Scocia apud Inchenan Sancti Con-
valli confessoris cujus praedicatio prasclaram sanctitatis suae
excellentiam signorum choruscatione posteris morum praebet
incrementum." 2 Boetius Hist. Scot. . " Convalli divi Kentigerni diseipuli Reli
quiae celebri monumento in Inchennan haud procul a Glascuensi

158 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Inchinnan there stood, till a comparatively late period,
an ancient Celtic cross, erected in honour of St. Conval.
Now its base alone remains.1 He was also venerated
at Cumnock and at Ochiltree. The parish of Pollok-
shaws had also our St. Conval for its patron, although
his feast was there kept in the month of May. " Its
ancient church," thus writes the learned Cosmo Innes,
" probably stood beside the castle upon the bank of the
Cart. It was dedicated to St. Convallus, the pupil of St.
Kentigern, whose feast was celebrated on the 18th of
May." A church bearing St. Conval's name existed at
Eastwood down to a comparatively late period. The
burial ground attached to it is still used, and a portion
of it near the still-flowing fountain that supplied the
monks with water is set apart for the exclusive inter
ment of Catholics, but no trace of the ancient church
or monastery now remains. Near the burial ground
there was a ruin known as the "Auld House," which,
with its enclosure, was called " St. Conval's Dowry."
His memory — after having been forgotten for three
hundred years — has been revived in our days by the
erection of a beautiful church at Pollokshaws, dedicated
to God under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin and
St. Conval. The site is a truly noble one ; and the
traditions of the district in which it stands point to
many events of Catholic interest. "The new church,"
•writes the present zealous pastor, "stands on the top of
a hill, within a gunshot of, and looking over upon the
fatal battlefield of Langside, where three hundred years
civitate, a Christiano populo hactenus in magna habentur vene-
ratione : " lib. ix.
J Stuart: Sculptured Stones, &c, ii., 38.

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 159
ago, the death-knell of Catholicity in this country was
said to have been sounded, on the occasion of the final
defeat of its Cathohc Queen, Mary. This defeat left
Calvinism in the ascendant, by whose infatuated followers
the old parish church was razed to the ground, and
almost every local vestige of the ancient worship
obliterated." The new church on the top of the hill is
a sufficient proof that Catholicity has arisen from the
tomb, and that the light of divine truth shines once
more upon the children of St. Conval.
Contemporary with St. Conval was the royal Irish
virgin, St. Bees. At an early age she sailed for the
Northumbrian coast, and having received the religious
veil at the hands of the illustrious Bishop, St. Aidan,
she chose a desert island for her retreat, where a
flourishing monasteiy soon grew up around her, which
was celebrated for its piety throughout the whole king
dom of Northumbria. After some time she prayed to
be relieved from the charge of this monastery, and to
have St. Hilda appointed abbess in her stead, and this
request being granted her, she proceeded to the kingdom
of Strathclyde, and on the east coast of Cumberland, in
the year 646, founded another monastery, which gave
name to the town and promontory of St. Bees, and for
nine hundred years preserved the fragrance of the piety
of its holy foundress. Bich grants were made to it in
the course of centuries, not the least remarkable being
" the grant of the island of Nendrum, with its appur
tenances," off the coast of Ulster, made by John de
Courcy, in the year 1178. l St. Bees died there in the
6 Reeves, Eccles. Antiq., page 163.

160 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
odour of sanctity about the year 650, and her feast was kept
throughout Britain and Scotland on the 31st of Octo
ber. Many miracles were performed at her shrine, and
around her monastery the pretty town of St. Bees sprung
up, but not a trace of the original foundation can now
be seen.
The legend of this saint, as given by Montalembert,
merits to be cited at full length. "In the county which
we now call Cumberland, upon a promontory bathed by
the waves of the Irish Sea, and from which in clear
weather the southern shore of Scotland and the distant
peaks of the Isle of Man may be seen, a religious edifice
still bears the name and preserves the recollection of St.
Bees. She was the daughter of an Irish king, the most
beautiful woman in the country, and already asked in
marriage by the son of the king of Norway. But she
had vowed herself, from her tenderest infancy, to the
Spouse of virgins, and had received from an angel, as
a seal of her celestial betrothal, a bracelet marked with
the sign of the cross. On the night before her wedding-
day, while the guards of the king, her father, instead of
keeping watch with sabres at their sides and axes on
their shoulders, were, like their guests, deep in the revel,
she escaped alone, with nothing but the bracelet which
the angel had given her, threw herself into a skiff, and
landed on the opposite shore, in Northumbria, where
she lived long in a cell in the midst of the wood, uniting
the care of the sick poor around with her prayers. Fear
of the pirates who infested these coasts led her, after a
while, farther inland. . . . She was celebrated during
her lifetime for her austerity, her fervour, and an anxiety
for the poor, which led her, during the building of her

The Kingdom of Strathclyde. 161
monastery, to prepare with her own hands the food of the
masons, and to wait upon them in their workshops,
hastening from place to place like a bee laden with
honey. She remained down to the middle ages the
patroness of the laborious and often oppressed popula
tion of the district, in which tradition presents her to
us as arriving alone and fearless on a foreign shore, flying
from her royal bridegroom. In the twelfth century
the famous bracelet which the angel had given her was
regarded with tender veneration : the pious confidence
of the faithful turned it into a relic, upon which usurpers,
prevaricators, and oppressors, against whom there existed
no defence, were made to swear, with the certainty that
a perjury committed on so dear and sacred a pledge
would not pass unpunished. It was also to St. Bees and
her bracelet that the cultivators of the soil had recourse
against the new and unjust taxes with which their lords
burdened them. In vaiu the Scottish rievers, or the
prepotents of the country, treading down under their
horses' feet the harvests of the Cumbrians, made light
of the complaints and threats of the votaries of the
saint. ' What is the good old woman to me, and what
harm can she do me?' said one. 'Let your saint
come,' said another ; ' let her come and do what she
likes ; she cannot make our horses cast their shoes.'
Sooner or later Divine vengeance struck these culprits ;
and the fame of the chastisements sent upon them con
firmed the faith of the people in the powerful interces
sion of her who, six hundred years after her death, still
gave a protection so effectual and energetic against
feudal rudeness, to the captive and to the oppressed, to
the chastity of women, and the rights of the lowly, upon

162 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the western shore of Northumbria, as did St. Cuthbert
throughout the rest of that privileged district." (Vol.
v., p. 249).
During the five following centuries the religious
history of Strathclyde is little more than a mere blank.
Throughout all this period one authentic entry alone is
found in the history of the councils, which modern
Scottish antiquaries assign to this church, and it pre
sents to us an Irish bishop holding the' crozier of St.
Kentigern, and ruling this British see. In the year 721
Pope Gregory the Second held a Synod in Rome, in
which the Iconoclast Emperor, Leo, was condemned,
and the people of Italy were declared free from all alle
giance to him. Among the signatures to its decrees we
find the following : —
" Sedulius, Brittaniee Episcopus, de genere Scotorum.
Fergustus, Episcopus Scotise, Pictus." '
The name Sedulius corresponds to the Irish Siadhuil,
or Shiel, and many bishops of that name appear in our
annals. No Anglo-Saxon bishop would at that period
have assumed the title of " Brittaniae Episcopus."
The see's of Wales were already closely defined, and in
Dalriada or Pictland far different would be the episcopal
designation. Wherefore, as Dr. Forbes justly concludes,
his see must have been among the Strathclyde Britons.
The other bishop was probably " St. Fergus, the Pict,"
whose name appears in our Martyrologies on the 8th
September, and who, as we read in the Lessons of the
Aberdeen Breviary, lived for many years in Ireland, and
was there raised to the episcopal rank, but towards the
1 Mansi, Concilia, viii., 109.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 163
close of his life returned to Scotland, and preached the
faith along the confines of Strogeth, and throughout
Caithness and Buchan. He was probably as yet bishop
in Ireland at the time of the Roman Council. A noble
basilica was erected over his tomb at Lungley, and his
head was enshrined in a silver case in the Abbey of
Scone.

CHAPTER VI.
OTHER IRISH SAINTS IN SCOTLAND.
Irish Kingdom of Dalriada : — St. Kieran of Ossory: — St. Buite: —
St. Modan's Sanctuaries : —St. Bridget's Monastery at Aber
nethy: — Irish origion of Scottish Sees: — St. Finian of Moville: —
St. Coemghen : — St. Moanus : — St. Berchan : — St. Senanus : —
St. Finbar: — St. Fechin: — St. Ernan: — SS. Ethernan and
Ilharnasch :¦ — St. Fintan Munnu: — St. Beccan:—St. Flannan:
— St. Dabius: — St. Gervad: — SS. Momhaedog and Tallarican.
The Irish annals assign to the close of the fifth century1
the first Christian settlement, which landed from Ire
land on the Scottish coast, immediately north of the
Firth of Clyde, and gave the name of Dalriada to that
portion of the Pictish territory. Many of our pagan
countrymen, indeed, had already preceded them, and by
their predatory incursions had made the name of the
1 The Irish chronicler, Flann, of Monasterboice, marks the date
of this colony as follows : — " Twenty years from the Battle of
Ocha to the arrival of the sons of Ere in Britain." The Battle
of Ocha is generally assigned to the year 478. The Annals of
Tighernac place the death of Fergus Mor in the year a.d. 501.

164 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Scots a byword of terror and reproach throughout all
Britain. Now, however, the three leaders of the colony
were brave and Christian men — Fergus Mor, and Lorn,
and Angus, the sons of Ere, chieftain of Dalriada — and
though the territory which they occupied was little more
than the present county of Argyll, yet such was their
bravery and prowess in arms, and such, too, the wisdom
of their rule, that the neighbouring districts very soon
acknowledged their superior sway, and for a period of
sixty years the rulers of Scottish Dalriada are honoured
by our annalists with the title of Kings of Alba. About
the year 560 they met with a momentary humiliation
at the hands of Brude, the Pictish monarch ; still they
did not cease to assert their independence, and for two
centuries their power and influence continued to be felt
throughout north Britain. Their chief fortress was
called Dunadd or Dunmonadh, from the River Add, on
the banks of which it stood, and from the bog or marshy
ground which stretched around it: "In the centre of
the possessions ofthe Cinel Gabhran (writes Mr. Skene),
at the head of the well-sheltered Loch of Crinan, lies the
great Moss of Crinan, with the river Add running
through it. In the centre of the Moss, and on the side
of the river, rises an isolated rocky hill, called Dunadd,
the top of which is strongly fortified. This was the
capital of Dalriada, and many a stone obelisk in the Moss
around it bears silent testimony to the contests of
which it was the centre."1
About the middle of the eighth century this Scottish
kingdom of Dalriada was well nigh destroyed by the
1 Skme, Chronicles of the Scots and Picts, page cxiii.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 165
Picts, but soon again its independence was restored, and
its heroic chieftain, Cenneth Mac Alpine, being rein
forced by fresh bands of his Irish fellow-countrymen,
completely vanquished the Picts, and uniting all north
Britain into one powerful kingdom, gave to it his royal
dynasty, together with the name of Scotia. From
Scottish writers he receives the title of " Primus Rex
Scotorum," first ldng of the Scots : whilst the Irish
chronicler briefly relates that " it was he who gave the
kingdom of Scone to the Gael;" and Giraldus Camhren-
sis, an English writer of the twelfth century, treating
of this period, adds his testimony that " the Scots hav
ing occupied the whole of north Britain, from sea to sea,
gave to it their name, and continue to rule over it to
the present day."1
It will not surprise us to find that Irish bishops and
Irish priests soon followed in the track of the brave
colonists of Dalriada. Their zeal, however, was not
confined within the limits of that territory. They
penetrated far beyond its frontiers, even to the wildest
and remotest parts of north Britain, and there are few
districts of modern Scotland in which these Irish mis
sionaries may not be traced by the popular veneration
in which their memory is held, or by the lonely and
melancholy ruins of the oratories which bear their
names, and of the cells and monasteries in which they
dwelt. " All over Scotland," writes Dr. Forbes, "we
note the close connection of this country with Ireland,
1 Giraldus Cambrensis, De Instruct. Princ. " totam a mari
usque ad mare terram illam, quam a suo nomine Scotiam dixe-
runt, usque in hodiernum obtinuerunt." See Skene, loc. cit., pag.
165.

166 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
although naturally it is in Argyllshire that we find the
strongest evidence of the connection of the Dalriada
Scots with their brethren of Erin; and through this pro
vince, above all, does our country claim a share in that
wonderful Christian civilization and culture which is
the glory of Ireland."1 At times, indeed, we are only
able to glean some vague and imperfect traditions
relating to these pilgrim saints, who in those early ages
shed such lustre upon our country ; even these traditions,
however, should be guarded with zealous care, for, like
the remnants of their monasteries, they serve to mark
the course of their missionary labours, and to remind us
of that beauty of Christian life which the ruthless
fanaticism of the sixteenth century sought for ever to
obliterate in the fairest districts of Scotland.
St. Kieran, patron saint of Ossory, was among the
first of the missionary bishops who hastened to minister
to the spiritual wants of his countrymen in Scottish
Dalriada. We have already seen how he laboured in
Wales and along the southern coast of Britain, and
with what reverence his memory is still cherished there.
He is not less honoured, however, to the present day at
Campbeltown, and all along the Mull of Cantyre, where
the Scottish mainland approaches nearest to Ireland.
The oldest church of Campbeltown still bears his name,
and other churches were dedicated to him in Carrick,
and Islay, and Lismore. His feast was kept through
out Argyll and Ayrshire, as it is in Ossory, on the 5th
of March. His hermitage, near Campbeltown, and his
cave, deep hidden in the rocks, whither he used to retire
1 Forbes, Kaiendars, pref. pag. xlviii.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 167
for prayer and solitude, and his holy well, are visited by
pilgrims ; and year by year on each recurring festival,
pious crowds may be seen wending their way for about
a quarter of a mile along the path of pilgrimage, from
the venerable oratory of the saint down to the seashore,
to St. Kieran's rock, which bears the impress of his
knees, for there he was wont to kneel, and oftentimes,
thence looking towards Erin, he prayed a blessing upon
his native land.1
St. Buite, founder of the great monastery of Monaster -
boice, was a contemporary of St. Kieran, and preached
in Scotland for a little while towards the close of the
fifth or the beginning of the sixth century. By our
early writers he was likened for his virtues and manner
of life to the Venerable Bede, and his death is marked
with great precision in our annals on the 7th of Decem
ber, in the year 521. The following particulars are
taken from the MS. Life of the Saint,2 which is pre-

1 The Island of Sanda, situated off the southern coast of Can-
tyre, has two Celtic crosses and the ruins of a chapel, called Kil-
mashenaghan, but no tradition is now preserved in the island in re
gard to the Saint Shenaghan, from whom it takes it name. However,
the island was visited two centuries ago by F. Edmund MacCana,
and, in a short record of his visit, which has fortunately been pre
served, he relates that there was a small chapel in the island dedi
cated to St. Ninian, and united to it the burial-place of the four
teen sons of the most holy Irishman, St. Senchan, all of whom
were famed for their sanctity, and are named in our calendars on
the 23rd of June. Their tombs were marked by seven large and
polished stones, and the enclosure was regarded as an inviolable
sanctuary. F. MacCana adds that the arm of St. Ultan, preserved
in a silver reliquary, was found in this island, and was then in the
possession of one of the noble clan of the MacDonells. See the
original Latin text of F. MacCana's interesting record in the
Proceedings of the R.I.A., vol. viii., pag. 134.
2 Bodleian MSS., Rawlinson, 505, fol. 154.

168 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
served in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. He was a
native of the county of Londonderry, and from his
infancy was endowed with the gift of miracles ; he was
even said to have been instructed by the angels in the
knowledge of the sacred Scriptures. To perfect himself
in divine truth, and in the practices of piety, he pro
ceeded to Italy, and, entering a monastery there, lived
for several years unknown to the world, but endeared to
the religious brethren by his meekness and other virtues.
Being divinely admonished, he resolved at length to
direct his steps towards home,1 and receiving many
precious gifts of copies of the sacred Scriptures, and
vestments for the altar, and relics of the saints, he set
out from Rome, accompanied by a venerable senior,
whose special duty it was to check his ardour while
assailing the enemies of truth. On their homeward
journey they were joined by a religious company from
Germany of sixty men and ten virgins, all of whom
desired to put themselves under the guidance of our
saint, and to become pilgrims with him for God.
' Sailing from Gaul, they landed in the Pictish territory
in north Britain, and found the people in the greatest
grief and commotion in consequence of the death oftheir
king, Nectan, who had just then departed this life. At
the prayers of our saint, the monarch was restored to
life, to the indescribable joy of his subjects, and to the
great glory of God. St. Buite was in consequence per
mitted to preach the faith, and received in token of
gratitude a gift of the royal fort in which the miracle
1 The MS. says that he left the monastery, " trigesimo pere-
grinationis suae anno." This may mean the thirtieth year of his
age, or the thirtieth year of his monastic life.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 169
took place. He tarried there for some time, and erected
an oratory, and many of the inhabitants were led to the
saving knowledge of divine truth. Leaving some of his
companions to continue the work of the mission which
he had so successfully begun, he proceeded to the sea
coast, and sailed for Ireland. Such is the concise
narrative of St. Buite's labours in Scotland, which his
life presents to us, and the ablest Scottish antiquaries
in our own day have not been able to question its
accuracy. The religious company from Germany, who
sought a secure asylum under the guidance of our saint,
were probably driven from their monasteries beyond the
Rhine by the sword of the victorious pagan Franks,
pretty much as the religious of our own times have been
obliged to fly from the same territories by the persecut
ing laws of triumphant infidelity. Scottish writers
point out at Dunnichen the site of the great fortress of
King Nectan, and not far from it are the ruins of an
ancient fort, still known by the name Carbuddo, which
is supposed to be a corruption of Caer-Buido, that is to
say, " St. Buite's Fort."
St. Modan, whose spiritual labours may be traced all
along the west coast of Scotland, was also an Irish
saint. In the Kalendar of Adam King his death is
marked in the year 507, but other Scottish writers
generally assign it to a.d. 522. He was the son of an
Irish chieftain, and devoted his life to minister to the
spiritual wants of his countrymen in Scottish Dalriada.
Several places still bear his name, though in too many
of them his teaching and his virtues are now forgotten.
The picturesque glen and ruins of Balmodhan, that is,
" St. Modan's Town," situate at a short distance from

170 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the site of the ancient priory of Ardchattan, on the
shores of Loch Etive, mark the spot on which he erected
his first oratory. A few paces from the ruins we meet
St. Modan's well, a clear, refreshing spring, at which
pilgrimages were made within the memory of persons
still living. An interesting sketch of Balmodhan, and
the other sanctuaries of St. Modan, has been lately pub
lished by Rev. Mr. Story, from which I take the follow
ing extracts : " The ruins of Balmodhan," he writes,
" crown a grassy knoll, which overhangs the glen, and
is divided from the upper slopes of the hill by a deep
green hollow. The masonry is strong and rough,
but little more than the gables and the outline of two
broken walls remain, overshadowed by the ash trees
that have planted themselves among the stones, the
existing trees growing out of the remains of roots, all
gnarled and weather-worn, of immensely greater age.
In every crevice thorn, rowan, ivy, and fern have
fastened themselves, softening and concealing the
sanctuary's decay. When you turn to the west you
realise the full nobleness of the site chosen for St.
Modan's chapel. Your eye passes quickly over the
waving woods that stretch along the nearer braes, and
over the narrow entrance to the loch, to rest on the
broader and more distant waters of the mighty Sound,
bounded on the right by the green meadows of Lismore ;
while, filling all the rest of the horizon, stretches the
grand and towering range of Mull, now shadowing with
mist, now purple in sunshine, always vast, lonely,
solemn. Descending from the ruin to the glen, a few
paces bring you to the Well of Modan, which sends a
tiny rivulet, pure and cold, to join its tinkle to the

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 171
murmur of the burn that hastens downwards betwixt
banks rich in fern and fox-glove. Above the well the
young branches of an aged yew-tree have been trained
with their dark arms to form a circling bower."1 Near
the shores of another loch, on the verge of the Western
Highlands, in Dumbartonshire, stands the church of
Rosneath, which also honours St. Modan as patron. It
was formerly known as Rossnevetlt, i.e., the Promontory
of the Sanctuary, and sometimes it was called simply
Neveth, the Sanctuary.2 The promontory is formed by
the Gairloch, and Loch Long, and here, too, a glen was
the saint's abode, not unlike that which surmounts the
priory of Ardchattan. It is called the" Clochan Glen,"
probably from the saint's cell or oratory, and tradition
says that a miraculous well was formerly here resorted
to by pious pilgrims. Now the ancient burial-ground
and adjacent kirk alone retain the name of St. Modan.
The site was admirably selected by the saint. " In the
morning he could watch the sun striking the grim sum
mit of Alcluyd, the stronghold ofthe Britons, and in the
evening see it tinge with gold and purple the rugged
screen of Highland hills, on which the race of Diarmaid
had not yet laid their tenacious grasp, and behind whose
wild barriers lay the broad waters of the west." (Story,
pag. 42). The Canons Regular came hither in later
times to carry on the work of religion and civilization
begun by St. Modan. Their cloister stood on the fertile
plain beneath the sanctuary, or " heavenly ground,"
hallowed by the saint ; now not a stone upon a stone
remains to mark its site. Under the wild ranges of
1,1 Saint Modan," by R. H. Story, D.D., 1878, pag. 13.
2 Origin., Paroch. L, 28.

172 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Ardgour stood another church, dedicated to St. Modan,
a few ruins of which may still be seen beside the
ancient churchyard. In the mediaeval charters,by a corrup
tion of the name, it is called Killevaodin and Kilbodane.
In at least one other place in Argyllshire, St. Modan's
name is still preserved, for we meet with the parish of
Kilmodan, above Loch Riddan, on the Kyles of Bute.
The modern kirk stands on the site of the ancient
church, close by the flat sandy shore of the loch, where
the Ruel, which gives its name to Glendaruel, discharges
its shallow waters. St. Modan's work of evangelization
extended as far east as Falkirk, for the old church of
that town, called Eglais Breac, was dedicated to him,
and the High Church of Stirling also honoured him as
patron. Till a few years ago a large flat stone was pre
served near Balmhaodan, known as Suide-Mhaodain, or
St. Modan's seat, but some ruthless Presbyterian split
it into lintels for doors and windows.- Some curious
traditions regarding the " Yellow Bell" ofthe saint, and
its wonderful cures, are also jealously preserved on the
shores of Loch Etive.
The Lessons in the ancient Breviary of Aberdeen for
the saint's festival, on the 4th of February, give some
details regarding his life. From his early years he lived
under the monastic rule, and as a faithful soldier and
servant of Christ continually warred against his spiri
tual enemies. His food was of the austerest kind, and
he never used wine or other delicacies. By his preach
ing "the whole Scotic race, which dwelt on the west
side of the Forth and at Falkirk," became instructed in
divine truths. Finding that his end approached, " he
retired to a lonely place near the ocean of Scotia, not

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 173
far from Dumbarton and Lochgarloch," where the church
of Rosneth now stands, and there rested in peace : " his
most sacred relics repose in a certain chapel of the ceme
tery of the same church, and are held in the highest
veneration." Devotion to St. Modan continued popular
till a late period: Sir Walter Scott introduces it into
the Sixth Canto of the Lay of the Last Minstrel : —
" Then each to each his troubled breast,
To some blest saint his prayers addressed —
Some to Saint Modan made their vows,
Some to Saint Mary of the Lowes."
In the north-east of Scotland, throughout Buchan, we
find another Irish Saint Modan honoured on the 14th of
November. The parish of Fintray was specially dedi
cated to him. The minister of St. Giles' Kirk there
has in his possession (writes Dr. Forbes in 1872) a
silver cup belonging to the parish, bearing the date of
1632, said by tradition to have been formed of the shrine
which encased the relics of Saint Modan, and which in
Cathohc times was wont to be carried in procession
through that parish, to awaken the piety of the people
and to obtain the mercy of God at times of calamity
and distress.
St. Bridget, chief patroness of Ireland, was also vene
rated in many churches of Scotland. The Scottish
antiquarians teach us that in the beginning of the sixth
century she proceeded thither, accompanied by nine
saintly virgins, and settled at Abernethy. There she
erected a church, under the invocation of the Blessed
Virgin, which in the course of time became enriched
with many royal gifts.1 St. Darlughdach was chosen
1 Skene, Chronicles of the Scots and Picts, pag. 6.

174 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
first abbess of the new community, and it is recorded in
the Pictish Chronicle that Nectan Mor, in the fourth year
of his reign " offered Abernethy to God and to Bridget,
in the presence of St. Darlughdach, who chanted
Alleluja over his pious gift."1 It is added that this gift
of Nectan extended from the termon of Apurfort to the
termon of Lethfoss, and thence northwards to Athan.
The same ancient record assigns the cause of Nectan's
munificence to St. Bridget. He had been forced into exile
in early life through the violence of his brother, Drust,
and had sought a place of refuge in Ireland. Hearing
of the sanctity and miracles of St. Bridget, he pro
ceeded to Kildare, and besought her to be mindful of
him in her prayers. St. Bridget comforted him by the
prophetic announcement that he would return to his
country, that God would have mercy on him, and that
at no distant day he would possess the kingdom of the
Picts in peace. The ancient Scottish dedications to St.
Bridget were very numerous, especially along the western
coast. Thus we find St. Bridget's convent in the parish
of Kilmore in Bute, and her churches at Kilbride, seven
miles from Glasgow, and at Rothesay, and Arran, and
Uist, and in several other places. Again, there is St.
Bridget's Well at Dunsyre, in Lanarkshire, and we meet
with her chapel and burn at Kilbarchan, in Renfrewshire,
and her chapel and holy well at Beath in Ayrshire. Her
dedications are also found in the Lewes at Borve, and
in Stronsay and Papa in the Orkneys. Her church, in
the province of Athol, was famous for miracles, and a
1 " Immolavit Nectonius Aburnethige Deo et Sanctae Brigida,
praesente Darlugdach quae cantavit Alleluja super istam hos-
tiam." Skene, ibid.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 175
portion of her relics was kept with great veneration in the
monastery of Regular Canons at Abernethy. St. Bridget
was the patroness of the great family of Douglas, and
the church of Douglas still bears her name.1
It was from a portion of the religious territory of
Abernethy that in later times was formed the Diocese of
Brechin. The town of Brechin, too, had St. Bridget for
its patron, and it is strange to find that the only two
Round Towers on the mainland of Scotland must be
sought for at the churches of Abernethy and Brechin.
Of Brechin Diocese, Skene writes that " it emanated
from the Irish Church, and was assimilated in its cha
racter to the Irish monasteries, and to this we may,
no doubt, attribute the well-known Round Tower of
Brechin."2 Another portion ofthe religious territory of
Abernethy was erected into the Bishopric of Dunblane.
The origin of this church is assigned to the seventh
century, when it was formed as an offshoot from Kin-
garth, and it had the Irishman, St. Blane, for its
founder. The old church of Dunblane was situate in
the vale of the river Allan, not far from its junction with
the Forth, but during the reign of Kenneth MacAlpine
it was burned by the neighbouring Britons of Strath
clyde. St. Blane succeeded his countryman, St. Cathan,
as bishop of Kingarth ; he is named in the Festology
of iEngus as " Blann, the mild, of Kingarth," and the
gloss adds : "he was bishop of Kingarth : Dunblann
is his principal city, and he is also of Kingarth among
the Gallgael."
1 Forbes, Kaiendars, pag. 290. Barbour's Bruce, lib. iv., pag. 118.
Spalding Club.
2 Skene, Celtic Scotland, II. , 400.

176 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Thus it was that new sees sprung up in the Scottish
Church through the fruitful labours of Irish saints.
Brechin and Dunblane, however, are not the only dio
ceses in Scotland that must look to holy Irishmen for
their origin. We have already seen how the first
foundations of the great city and see of Aberdeen were
traced by an illustrious disciple of St. Columba.1 So,
too, it was from the religious institutions built up by
Irish piety that the primatial see of St. Andrew's
sprung. Nor was this all. When Kenneth MacAlpine
assumed the sovereignty of Scotland, Dunkeld2 was for
a time declared the chief see of Scotland, and it, too,
had the Irishman Tuathal for its first bishop. After an
interval, under the rule of king Constantine, St.
Andrew's was once more restored to its place of privi
lege and honour, and again the name of the Irish
bishop Cellach appears first on its primatial roll.3 And
it is to this illustrious bishop that the Scottish nation
is indebted for the first great charter of its rights and
liberties ; for it was on the mount of faith at Scone,
the Runnymede of Scotland, that the pious prince
Constantine, and all the chieftains of the Scots assem-
bledaround Cellach, thebishop, and vowed "that the laws
and disciplines of faith, and the rites of the churches,
and of the Gospels likewise, should be observed."4
1 See pag. 79.
2 As late as the end of the 12th century, we find a bishop of
Dunkeld, named John the Scot, petitioning the Holy See to have
Argyll, which hitherto formed portion of his diocese, erected into
a separate see, assigning as his reason that " the people thereof
did only speak Irish," so that they could not understand him, nor
he them. See Spottiswood's History of the Church of Scotland,
ed. of 1847, vol. i., pag. 194.
3 Skene, Chronicles, &c, clxii. * Forbes, Kaiendars, xlvii.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 177
Before we part with St. Bridget, we must make mention
of St. Finian, the illustrious founder of Moville. He
was one of the greatest saints who adorned our country
in the sixth century : he is honoured in Italy as the
chief patron of the city of Lucca, and he is named with
eulogy by the holy Pontiff, St. Gregory the Great. It
is only, however, the Scottish traditions that record his
spiritual labours on the mission in Scotland. The
Breviary of Aberdeen relates that, whilst he preached
the faith in Alba, he made with his own hands a stone
cross of marvellous workmanship, and erected it in
honour of St. Bridget.1 St. Finian was long honoured at
Kilwinning, as also at Holywood in Dumfries-shire, and at
both places his holy well is still pointed out. He seems
also to have preached at Dairy, where there is an ancient
enclosure called Caer-Winning, or St. Finian's Fort.
And now a long list of Irish saints presents itself,
pious anchorites or zealous missionaries, who evangelized
Picts and Scots alike, that they might gain all to Christ,
and the names of many of them shine brightly on the
honour-roll as well of Ireland as of Scotland. I will do
little more than mention the names of a few of them.
St. Coemghen, the fair saint, who for his strict discipline
and manner of life, is compared by our ancient writers
with St. Paul, the first hermit, founded about the year
a.d. 550 the famous monastery of Glendaloch, in which
the angel's prediction was fully verified : "it shall be
holy and honoured, and the kings and great ones of
Ireland shall show it reverence for the sake of God and
St. Coemghen." A little later he proceeded to Scotland,
' Forbes, Kaiendars, pag. 290 and 463.

178 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
and seeking out some solitary glens, lived there for a
time, emulating the austerities of the fathers of the East,
and of the hermits of the Egyptian deserts. Down to
the Reformation period his memory was cherished at
Machririoch, in Argyllshire, and he was also venerated
at Kilchevin and Kilchowan.
St. Moanus seems also to have led a life of here-
mitical austerity in Fife. He was the patron of Portmoak,
and it is a tradition that it was at his invitation St.
Brendan visited the islands to the north of the Scottish
coast, and preached there the doctrines of heavenly life.
St. Berchan of Cluainsosta, in Offaly, spent half of
his missionary career in Alba and half in Erin. In our
Martyrologies he is styled " a Bishop and Apostle of
God," and together with St. Columbkill, St. Moling, the
perfect, and St. Brendan of Birr, he is numbered among
the great prophets of our early church. Scottish writers
tell us that he was bishop in the Orkney islands, and
that he was venerated for his sanctity in the province of
Stirling. He was also patron of Inchmahome, in the
lake of Menteith, and of Kilbarchan in Renfrew. From
Stuart's ' Sculptured Stones of Scotland ' we learn that
in the parish of Houston, in the barony of Barochan,
there is a fine ancient Celtic cross dedicated to this
saint. l
St. Senanus, patron of Iniscattery island, is honoured
in Scotland under the name of Kessog and Moshenoc.
At Eives, in Eskdalo,he is joint patron with St. Cuthbert,
and he was venerated at Achdashenaigh and Killenach
in Mull, and at Kilmahunah in Cantyre. Robert Bruce
1 Stuart, I., 35.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 179
in 1318 granted to the church of Luss a sanctuary-
territory of three miles. "Deo et sancto Kessogo," in a
charter which is preserved at Buchanan. The bell of
the saint " Sancta campana sancti Kessogii " was pre
served in the Lennox in the seventeenth century. He
was also patron of Callander, where his fair, called Fel
machessaig, was kept on the 21st of March ; there is
also a curious artificial mound, where the old church
stood, called by the people " Machessaig's mound."
St. Finbar, patron of Cork, was renowned for
sanctity throughout Leinster and Munster. The first
school which he established in the south was at an
island in Lough Eirce, now known as Gougane-Barra.
Colgan tells us that thither " as to the abode of wisdom,
and the sacred storehouse of all Christian virtues, so
many came through zeal of leading a holy life, that it
changed a desert into a great city, from the number of
its cells and of the holy men inhabiting them."1 A
later writer, speaking of this island, says that St. Finbar
" wishing to lead a hfe of pious retirement, found a
situation there, beyond all others, suitable to his desire ;
a retreat as impenetrable as the imagination could well
conceive, and seemingly designed by nature for the abode
of some sequestered anchorite, where, in undisturbed
solitude, he might pour out his soul in prayer."
Following the example of his fathers,, St. Finbar made
a pilgrimage to the shrines of the Apostles,3 and sub
sequently laboured for a long time in North Britain.
Dr. Forbes writes that " the cultus of this saint was
very prevalent in Scotland."3 It is strange to find that
1 Colgan, Acta SS. ad diem 14th, Martin.
2 Usher, Works, vol. vi., p. 521. 3 Forbes, Kaiendars, p. 275.

180 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
even as at home in Lough Eirce, so in Scotland it is in
solitary islands that we are to seek for his chief sanc
tuaries. Martin, in his Western Islands, writes that
Finbar is " the patron of Dornoch and of the island of
Barra, which takes its name from him " (page 92). In
the parish of Kilberran we find that the island now
called Davar was known in former times as St. Barre's
Island : 1 and again in the island of Barray, at Shilbar,
which is a manifest corruption of his name, a statue of
the saint was held in great veneration. In the ' Origines
Parochiales Scotiae,' we read that at Eddlestone his
yearly festival was kept on the 25th of September, and
it adds that "he obtained special reverence in Caithness''
(vol. i., page 211).
St. Fechin, too, receives a high place in the Scottish
Kaiendars. A native of Leyney, in Connaught, his
first spiritual work was at Easdara, now Ballysadare ;
and subsequently he founded a monastery at Fore, in
Westmeath, where his community consisted of 300
monks. He received from king Guaire a gift of Omey
island, off the coast of Connemara, the natives of which
had hitherto led a pagan life, but were now converted by
his preaching. He was also honoured at Inis-iarthair,
or Ardoilen, which is described in his life as an almost
inaccessible island. This saint would seem to have
combined a strong national spirit with his piety.
Before his death, in 664, he requested his disciples that
no one from Cambria should ever inherit his abbacy.
One characteristic miracle is also mentioned in his life.
After the Anglo-Norman invasion there was an English
friar in the monastery of Fore who hated the Irish, and
1 Origin. Paroch. IL, 12.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 181
made no secret ofthe contempt with which he regarded
their Lish patron, St. Fechin. One day, whilst he knelt
before the altar, the saint appeared to him, and struck
him with his pastoral staff; and, such was the violence
ofthe blow, that in three days the unhappy man expired.
In Scotland St. Fechin appears under the name Vigean
and Viganach. His name occurs in the Dunkeld
Litany. His chief sanctuary was at Grange, close to
the ancient abbey of Arbroath, where, till the last
century, a fair was held in his honour on the 20th of
January. He was also honoured as patron at Eccle-
fechan, which, in mediaeval charters, appears as
" Ecclesia Sancti Fechani."
St. Ernan, or Mernog, who, though a poor neglected
boy, when he touched the cowl of St. Columbkille at
Clonmacnoise, yet merited to hear from the lips of that
great saint the prophetic words that he would one day
be an ornament of God's Church, appears in Scotland
under the name Marnan and Marnock. The Breviary
of Aberdeen states that he died at Aberkerdoure,
"where to this day, through his intercession, the sick
are restored to health." In the ancient Registry of
of Aberbrothock mention is made of a portion of his
relics held in veneration there, and also of the bier on
which his rehcs used to be borne through the parish of
Marnock. He was patron of the Innes family. About
three miles south of Kilfinnan, and not far from the sea
shore, is to be seen the foundation and a small part of
the wall of a chapel, surrounded by a churchyard, on a
field called Ard-Marnoc ; and about three hundred yards
above this chapel, on an eminence, there is a cell in
which, according to the tradition of the country, the
saint lived in the exercises of prayer and of a penitential

182 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
life. There were other dedications to him at Inch-
marnock, an island off the coast of Bute, and in several
districts of the mainland.
There are two other saints who, on account of simi
larity of name, have sometimes been confounded by
Scottish writers with St. Ernan, but who, nevertheless,
have each a distinct place in the Irish Kaiendars.
These are St. Ethernan, who built a religious house in
the Isle of May, and whose death is marked in the
Annals of Ulster in the year 669 ; and St . Itharnasch,
"the silent," one ofthe chief patrons of Clane, in the
county Kildare, who was venerated at Lathrisk in Fife.
In the Breviary of Aberdeen the following special prayer
is assigned for his festival on the 22nd of December :
" 0 God, who didst will that the soul of blessed
Ithernasc, thy confessor, should penetrate to the stars
of heaven, vouchsafe that, as we celebrate his, venerable
feast, we may, in thy mercy, through his intercessions
and merits, be found worthy to ascend to the joys of his
blessed life, through our Lord," &c.
St. Fintan Munnu, whose festival was observed as
well in Ireland as in Scotland, on the 21st of October,
was, from his youth, remarkable for sanctity. He is
famed among the Irish saints for his austerities ; his
life was, indeed, a continuous martyrdom, and he looked
on it as the greatest privation to be healed of the in
firmities from which he suffered. The Felire of St.
iEngus commemorates him as
" The torch with the ascending flame,
Fintain, pure tested gold,
The powerful abstemious son of Tulchan,
A warrior religious and crucified."
His chief monastery in Ireland was Teach-Mun, now

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 183
Taghmon, and it is specially related that it was he that
administered the holy viaticum to St. Canice. In Argyll
he chose for his retreat an island in Loch Leven, which
in after years was called by his name, and is still known
as Eileanmunde. His chief Scottish foundation, how
ever, was at Kilmun, on the north side of the Firth of
Clyde, in Argyllshire, which to the present day honours
his memory, and a picturesque old burial ground still
marks the site of the ancient monastery. It is
beautifully situated in a cluster of trees in a recess
among the hills which branch off from the Firth
of Clyde. A high hill rises behind it, and glens of the
wildest kind abound on every side, and make it one of
the most picturesque spots in the Western Highlands.
In front of the burial place is a small sheet of water,
still ealled the Holy Loch. There is a curious tradition
relating to the origin of this name. A shipload of earth,
it says, was conveyed from the Holy Land to be placed
in the foundations of the old church of Glasgow, but
the ship being wrecked in this small loch, the blessed
clay was thrown overboard, and hence the whole sheet
of water was reputed holy. It seems more probable,
however, that the sanctity of the place was derived from
the monastery on its shore and from the virtues of the
holy men who dwelt there. There is still preserved a
charter of the fifteenth century by which the ancestor of
the Argyll family engages to found a collegiate church
at Kilmun " in honorem sancti Mundi abbatis " for the
repose of the souls of some deceased members of the
donor's family. This charter was confirmed at Perth
by James the Second of Scotland, on the 12th of May,
1450. The mediaeval records also make mention of the
saint's pastoral staff, which was held in the greatest

184 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
veneration throughout Argyllshire, but of which no trace
can now be found.
St. Beccan, from his love of serving God in solitude,
was surnamed ' The Solitary.' He was of the race of
the chieftains of Tyrconnel ; leaving Ireland, he spent
some time in a solitary cell at Iona, whilst his uncle
Seghine was abbot there. Seeking a more desert place,
he retired to the island of Rum, in the western isles,
and there, erecting his hermitage, led a long life of
prayer and penitence, resting in peace, as Tighernach
records, in the year 677. '
St. Flannan, patron of Killaloe, is named in the
Scottish Kaiendars on the 18th of December. To the
west of the island of Lewis, in the Atlantic, about
twenty miles from the shore, are the Eileanan Flannain,
or ' the little islands of St. Flannan,' and on the
largest of the group stands the Teampull Beannachadh,
that is, the blessed chapel of our saint. Martin, in his
' Western Isles,' page 17, states that such is the
traditional veneration with which the fowlers from the
Lewis regard these islands, that they never approach
them but with prayers and ceremonies.
Of St. Dabius, Alban Butler2 writes, that he was an
Irish priest who preached with great success in his own
country and in Alba. He is patron of Donach-Cloney,
in the county of Down, and of Kippen, in Scotland,
where a church is dedicated to him by the name of
Movean. In the parish of Weem his holy well is
pointed out ; and tradition relates that he had a chapel
on the shelf of the rock, still called Crag-na-t' Scheapail,
or the Chapel Rock. Here also was a burial ground
called Cill-Daidh. Other churches dedicated to him are
1 Skene, Celtic Scot., II., 249. 2 Butler, Lives, at 22 July.

Other Irish Saints in Scotland. 185
found in the north of the parish of Kilninian, in Mull,
and in the parish of Kilblane, in Bute.
In the Breviary of Aberdeen, at the 8th of November,
St. Gervad is thus commemorated : " Gervad, an Irish
man, left his home, and coming to Scotland, in the
province of Moray, associated with himself some fol
lowers of Christ at Kenedor, where he built a cell. In
that place he had a stone bed." The saint's cave, not far
from Elgin, was long a favourite resort of pilgrims. In
the Elgin charters it is denominated Holyman Head.
It was about twelve feet square, and commanded a long
but solitary prospect of the eastern coast. In later
times it was ornamented with a Gothic doorway and
window, but these were ruthlessly demolished some
years ago. A spring in the rock, above this cave or
hermitage, was called St. Gervad's Well.
The Felire of St. iEngus styles St. Momhaedog, who is
patron of Fiddown in Ireland, " the gem of Alba." The
Scottish Kaiendars, however, give us no particulars
regarding his missionary career. On the other hand
St. Tallarican, or Tarraglen, though omitted by the
Irish Martyrologies, is one of the few whom the
Breviary of Aberdeen expressly commemorates as an
Irish saint. " Tallarican," it says, " an Irishman, who
was raised to the episcopal dignity by Pope Gregory, is
noted as having daily offered the Holy Sacrifice. His
manner of life was conformable to this devotion ; and
he submitted himself to stern • self-discipline. He
laboured in the north of Scotland, and various churches
in his honour, in the dioceses of Aberdeen, Moray, and
Ross, witness to his labours."1
1 Brev. Aberdon. pars aest., fol. cxxxiv. b.

186 Irish Saints in Great Britain.

CHAPTER VII.
CLOSE UNION OF THE CHURCHES OF SCOTLAND AND
IRELAND.
St. Fiacre: — St. Maelrubha: — St. Fillan: — St. Ronan: — Irish
Saints in the Islands off the Scottish Coasts .- — They penetrate to
Iceland, and probably also to America :— Martyrdom of St.
Blaithmac .-—St Cadroe : — St. Dubthach : — St. Malachy : —
Legends regarding SS. Regulus and Boniface : — St. Adrian and
his Companions Martyrs: — The Culdees.
To the Irish missionary saints of the seventh century,
enumerated in our last chapter, we must add St. Fiacre.
Born in the west of Ireland about the year 590, he, at
an early age, devoted himself to the service of God.
His hermitage and his holy well, on the banks of the
Nore, a few miles south of Kilkenny, still retain his
name, and till the beginning of the present century were
a favourite resort of pious pilgrims. He closed his
days at Brie, in the neighbourhood of Meaux, in France,
where many miracles attested his sanctity, whilst his
shrine became one of the richest and most famous of all
that Catholic land. It was probably when pursuing his
pilgrimage to France that he dwelt for some time in
Scotland, and reaped there a rich spiritual harvest. In
the parish of Nigg, on the opposite side of the river
Dee from Aberdeen, he is honoured as patron, and the
church is still called ' St. Fiacre's church.' The old
burial-ground also retains his name. Close by is his
holy well, and the adjoining bav is corruptly called ' St.
Ficker's Bay.' His name appears in the ancient Dunkeld

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 187
Litany of the Saints, and several churches throughout
Scotland were placed under his special patronage.
We must not attempt, however, to name all the Irish
Saints, who, during the sixth and following centuries,
laboured to promote the practice of piety in the Scottish
Church. Interesting as such a task should be, it would
lead us far beyond the limits of this little book. We
must therefore rest content to mention only a few of
those saints whose piety was conspicuous in handing on
from age to age the sacred traditions of divine faith,
and whose zeal was instrumental in cementing those
spiritual bonds of union which so long and so happily
subsisted between the Celtic churches of Alba and Erin.
" Next to St. Columbkille, there is no ecclesiastic ofthe
ancient Scottish church whose commemorations are more
numerous in the west of Scotland, or whose history is
marked with greater exactness in the main particulars of
his hfe."1 He was an Irishman of princely birth, being of
the race of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and he was born
on the 3rd of January, 642, as is recorded in the annals
of Tighernach. On his mother's side he was akin to
St. Comgall, founder of Bangor, inthe county of Down,
and he embraced the religious life at an early age in that
famous monastery. In the year 671 he withdrew from
his native country to Ross-shire, on the north-west coast
of Scotland, and two years later founded there the
church and monastery of Aporcrossan — nowApplecross —
where he continued for fifty years to exercise the abbatial
office with such a reputation for sanctity and miracles
that, throughout all that territory, he was in after times
' Reeves, ' St. Maelrubha and his Churches,' pag. 3.

188 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
regarded as the patron saint. The Scottish legend
makes him a martyr; and it relates that, being
wounded by some pagan pirates from the Norwegian
coasts, and left for dead, he was for three days consoled
by the angels of God. A bright light made known to
a neighbouring priest the place where he lay, at whose
hands he received the body of the Immaculate Lamb,
and he then tranquftly yielded his soul to God. In the
Festology of St. iEngus he is commemorated on the
21st of April :
" In Alba, in purity,
After forsaking all comforts,
Hath gone from us, with his mother,
Our brother, Maelrubha.''
The Lessons in the Aberdeen Breviary narrate that
on the spot where he first expired a wooden chapel was
at first constructed, which was subsequently superseded
by the parish church of Urquhart. His body, however,
was removed to Applecross, where it was solemnly in
terred, and, in reverence to his sanctity, the lands of
Applecross, within a radius of six miles from the saint's
church, enjoyed the rights and privileges of sanctuary.
When the Danes were engaged in their work of plunder
along the Scottish coast, they invaded this district, pil
laged the monastery, despoiled the clergy, and carried
off the booty to their ships ; but the vengeance of God
overtook them, and they perished within sight of land
in the tranquil sea. Applecross still retains many
memorials of its great patron. The little stream which
there falls into the bay is called Amhain Marea, i.e.,
"Maelrubha's river." The cemetery also bears his name.
A little to the south is a mound, called Cloadh Maree,

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 189
which is supposed to mark the founder's grave. Then
there is the Suidhe Maree, or " Maelrubha's seat," and
again, Loch Maree, "Maelrubha's lake," on the shores of
which stand a rude monolith, eight feet in height, show
ing traces of a cross on the west face, and supposed to
have been erected by St. Maelrubha. He is honoured
also as patron of the parish of Loughcarron in Ross-
shire, which is sometimes designated Comaraigh Mulruy,
i.e., " Maelrutha's sanctuary," and which still retains
the Clochan Mulruy, or the " stone cell of Maelrubha."
In the parish of Gairloch, to the north of Applecross,
there is a long narrow lake called after our saint ; its
principal island is Inis Maree, or " Maelrubha's island,"
where may still be seen the ruins of the saint's oratory.
Pennant, in his ' Tour in Scotland,' calls this island
"the favoured isle of the saint, the patron of all the
coast from Applecross to Loch Broom. In the midst is
a circular dike of stones, with a regular narrow entrance ;
the inner part has been used for ages as a burial-place,
and is still in use. A stump of a tree is shown as an
altar, probably the memorial of one of stone ; but the
curiosity ofthe place is the well ofthe saint, of power un
speakable in cases of lunacy. . . . This is the most
beautiful of the isles."1 At Contin there is an old
cemetery called Pra es Marea, or "Maelrubha's bush,"
aud, indeed, all through Ross-shire we meet with
frequent memorials of our saint. The connection of
Applecross with Ireland did not cease with the death of
St. Maelrubha. The annals of Tighernach, at the year
737, as also the Annals of Ulster and the Four Masters,
record the death of Failbhe, son of Guaire, abbot of
1 Pennant, Tour, p. 330.

190 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Aporcrossan, " comharb of Maelrubha," who, with
twenty-two of his religious, perished at sea. Again, in
the year 801, the Annals of Ulster have the entry, " Mac
Oigi of Aporcrossan, abbot of Bangor, happily ended his
life in peace."
St. Faolan, called in Scotland St. Fillan, is named in
the Irish and Scottish Kaiendars on the 9th of January.
He was born in the county of Wexford in the beginning
of the eighth century, and was trained to piety in the
monasteries founded by St. Ibar and St. Fintan-Munnu.
At Taghmon, that he might more easily devote himself
to divine contemplation, he secretly constructed a cell,
not far from the cloister, where he spent his whole time
in prayer. Being chosen abbot, he, " by his virtues and
good example, ruled wisely, andinstructed and informed
his brethren in all holiness, chastity, and humility."
(Brev. Aberdeen). Following the summons of heaven,
he forsook his native country, and betook himself to
Lochalsh in Northern Argyll (the ancient name for
Ross-shire), whither his uncle, St. Congan, had preceded
him : at the present day two ancient churches, Kilkoan
and Killellan, preserve there the names of these two
holy Irishmen. At Pittenween, St. Fillan's cave is
shown, and the neighbouring parish of Forgan, in Fife,
was in ancient documents sometimes called St. Fillan's
parish. Strathfillan also takes its name from him, and
the ruins of his ancient church and his holy well still
frequented by pilgrims, and his bell, which was long
venerated there as a holy relic, but is now preserved in
the Museum of the Antiquarian Society in Edinburgh,1
1 These particulars have been taken from an interesting paper
on " The Ancient Bell of St. Fillan," by Dr. Forbes, in the 8th
- i..™„ nf proe. 0f Scot. Antiq. : Edinburgh, 1870.

Union ofthe Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 191
sufficiently attest the veneration in which he was held.
It was near Strathfillan that the famous battle of Ban
nockburn was fought. Robert de Bruce, as we are told
by Boece, passed the night before the battle in prayer
"to God and St. Fillan," and caused the arm of St.
Fillan, set in a silver case, to be brought to his camp.
This is said to have been effected by miracle ; whereupon
the next morning the abbot of Inch-affray (i.e., Insula
Missarum), having offered the holy sacrifice and minis
tered the Blessed Eucharist, the king addressed his
soldiers, and told them that " the miracle of St. Fillan
was a presage of certain victory." The Bachul, or pas
toral staff of St. Fillan still exists, and has been described
in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, vol. iii., pag. 233. We learn from Dr. Forbes
that this saint was also honoured as patron in the parish
of Killallan (a corruption of Kill-Fillan) in Renfrew ;
close to the church is " St. Fillan's seat," and at a short
distance from it " St. Fillan's well."1
The Ulster Annals, in the year 737, mark the demise
of Ronan, abbot of Cinngarad in Scotland. He is
commemorated by iEngus on the 9th of February, and is
styled " Ronan, the kingly." More than one of his
churches bears the name Kilmaronock. He is also
patron of a little island called Ronay, of Raasay, and of
another island called Rona, sixty miles to the north
east of the Lewes, where there is a very ancient
Irish oratory, and some venerable Celtic crosses. There
is also an islet on the west coast of the mainland, in
Zetland, called St. Ronan's Isle. " Very far south in
1 Forbes, Kaiendars, at pag. 468.

192 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the bay of Scalloway, lies the peninsulated eminence of
St. Ronan's, joined to the mainland by a low sandbank,
which in high tides or gales is occasionally overflowed :
the foundations appear of an old chapel."1
The fact of these desert islands being chosen by some
of the greatest saints of our early church, as silent
retreats for their exercises of prayer and penance, has
elicited the warm admiration of Scottish writers,
who, nevertheless, have but little in common with the
promptings of Irish piety: " The same aspect of religion"
(it is thus Dr. Forbes writes,) "which peopled the deserts
of Egypt with the followers of St. Anthony and St. Paul,
filled the storm-beaten islets of the Atlantic and German
oceans with solitaries who, amid the roaring of the waves,
and the screams of the sea-birds, sang praises to God,
and practised austerities which this age can hardly
realize. They were said, as it were technically, qucerere
eremum in oceano, to seek a desert spot iu the ocean.
From Eilan Rona, which stands sixty miles to the
north-west of the Butt of Lewes, past the Flannan
Islands and St. Kilda, down to Ailsa Crag and Sanda,
the traces of hermitages and oratories are found through
out the great insular range of the Hebrides; and,
although the east cost, by the comparative absence of
islands, did not afford the same facilities, yet wherever
they existed, they were used for this purpose."2 The
Irish anchorites, however, penetrated even far beyond
the Hebrides ; for we learn from one of our ancient
writers named Dicuil,3 who flourished in the ninth
1 Hibbert, ' Shetland,' pag. 456. 2 Forbes, Kaiendars, pag. 273.
3Dicuil's work is entitled " De Mensura Orbis terrae." There
are two MS. copies in the National Library, Paris, and one in the
British Museum. It was published by Walckenaer in 1807, but

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 193
century, and whose work, as appears from intrinsic data,
was written in a.d. 825, that the Feroe Islands, which
are situate about two hundred miles farther than the
Hebrides from the mainland, and which hitherto had
been uninhabited and even unknown to the civilized
world, were peopled for a time by holy men from Ireland.
Having treated of the Hebrides, and the other islands
off the British coast, Dicuil thus continues: "There
are many islands in the North ocean of Britain which
by sailing in a direct course, with full sails and
favourable winds, may be reached in two days and
nights from the islands off the north coast of Britain.
A certain rehgious, byname Probus, narrated to me, that
being on sea for two summer days and the intervening
night, in a little boat with two sets of oars, he reached
one of these islands. Some of these islands are but
small. Most of them are in a group, separated only by
narrow straits, and for almost a hundred years hermits
who sailed from our Erin inhabited them. But as from
the beginning ofthe world to that time they had been un
inhabited, so now, on account of the northern marauders,
the anchorites have abandoned them, but they are full
of innumerable sheep, and of very many different species
of sea-fowl. We have not in any author found mention
of these islands."1 It was in the year 725 that the
far more correctly by Letronne, in Paris, in 1814. Dicuil leaves
no doubt as to his country. In cap. 6, he speaks of his teacher,
Suibhne, and of the clerici et laid ex Hibernia who visited Jeru
salem. In cap. 7 he writes : " Circum nostram insulam Hiberniam,
sunt insulse, sed aliae parvae, atque alias minimae."
1 As this work of Dicuil is very rare, I here add the original
text of this important passage : " Sunt aliae insulae multae in sep-
tentrionali Britanniae oeeano, quae a septentrionalibus Britanniae
insulis duorum dierum ac noctium recta navigatione, plenis veiis,

194 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Scandinavians seized upon these islands ; and it
strangely corroborates Dicuil's statement that they gave
them the name of Foereyar, precisely on account of the
sea-fowl abounding there. It was probably from the Feroe
Islands that the Irish hermits pushed on to Iceland, for
we learn from the Scandinavian records that the first
northern rovers who proceeded to Iceland in the year 860
pursued the same course. Dicuil incidentally makes
mention of some religious who, in the year 795, remained
in Iceland from the 1st of February to the 1st of August,
and the famous Landnamabok, compiled from Icelandic
traditions in the twelfth century, expressly attests that :
" Before Iceland was inhabited by Nordmen, there were
men living there -who were called Papas, who professed
the Christian religion, and are supposed to have come
thither by sea westwards, because Irish books (Baekor
'Irskar), bells, and croziers and other things belonging
to them, which were found there, indicated that they
were Westm en. These things were found in Papeya, on
the east coast, and at Papyli in the interior."1
But to return to our Irish missionaries in Scotland,
we have seen in a former paper how Ireland added a
long list to the roll of the Martyr Saints who shed their
assiduo feliciter vento, adiri queunt. Aliquis Probus, religiosus,
mihi retulit, quod in duobus aestivis diebus et una intercedente
nocte navigans in duorum navicula transtrorum, in unam illarum
introivit. Illae insulae sunt aliae parvulae. Fere cunctae simul
angustis distantes fretis, in quibus, in centum fere annis, eremitae
ex nostra Scotia navigantes habitaverunt. Sed sicut a principio
mundi desertae semper fuerunt ; ita nunc, causa latronum Nort-
mannorum vacuae anachoretis, plenae innumerabilibus ovibus, ac
diversis generibus multis nimis marinarum avium. Nunquam eas
insulas in libris auctorum memoratas invenimus. " Edit. Letronne,
pag. 39.
1 Johnstone, Antiqmt. Celto-Scandinav., pag. 14.

Union ofthe Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 195
blood for the faith in North Britain.1 We are indebted
to Walafridus Strabo, an illustrious Benedictine abbot
of the monastery of Reichenau in the ninth century, for
an account of the martyrdom of another of our country
men, St. Blaithmac, who, on the shores of Iona, most
probably in the year 825,2 sealed with his blood his
reverence for the relics of St. Columba, and his devotion
to holy Faith. St. Blaithmac, whose name, derived
from Blaith, " a flower," has been latinized Florentius,
was of princely birth, but, renouncing in his youth the
attraction of the world, embraced a religious life. By
his fervour and his many virtues he was a model to all
the brethren, and, being chosen abbot, displayed a
heavenly wisdom in the government of the monastery.
From his early years, however, his soul had yearned
for the martyr's crown, and more than once he had so
licited permission to set out for distant lands to preach
to pagan nations, in the hope of winning that coveted
prize. It was in Iona, however, that he was to receive
the palm of martyrdom. Since the pagan Danes had
begun to ravage the British coast, the monastery of Iona
had become a perilous post, and it was only after re
peated requests that Blaithmac was permitted to leave
his own monastery, and to enrol himself there among
the religious of St. Columba. One day, during the
absence of the abbot, he announced to the community,
in a spirit of prophecy, that an irruption of pagan
marauders was at hand, and he exhorted them to make
1 See part IL, pag. 185.
2 The year 825 is that adopted by Dr. Reeves in his Adamnan,
pag. 389. O'Donovan places this martyrdom in the year 823.
Four Masters, i., 436. Mabillon and other Continental writers
assign it to a.d. 789. Annales ord. S. Benedicti, iii., lib. 26, 27.

196 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
their choice: "If you wish to endure martyrdom for
the sake of Christ, ' ' he said, " and fear it not, remain with
me, and arm yourselves with becoming courage ; but if
you wish to avoid impending danger seek at once for
safety in flight." The shrine of St. Columba's relics
was then carefully concealed, and some of the rehgious
took refuge on the mainland. The next morning, whilst
Blaithmac was as yet at the altar, after offering up
the Holy Sacrifice, and the other religious were kneel
ing around, a band of pagan Danes rushed in and put
the religious to the sword. They offered to spare
Blaithmac if he would make known to them where
the rich treasure of St. Columba's shrine was preserved ;
but when he refused to betray the secret, they hewed
him into pieces still standing at the altar of God.
When the marauders took their departure, the religious
returned to Iona, and interred the remains of St. Blaith
mac in that place, where his glorious crown of martyr
dom had been obtained, and his biographer adds that
many miracles were afterwards wrought in favour of
several persons through the merits and intercession of
this great soldier of Christ.1
Among the Irish missionaries of the tenth century I
may name St. Cadroe. Scottish writers at the present
day are generally, indeed, agreed in reckoning him
among their sainted countrymen. However, Colgan
seems to me to have satisfactorily defended the Irish
parentage of the saint. At all events, as well the Scot-
1 The Life of St. Blaithmac, by Strabo, in Latin hexameter verse,
is inserted by Messingham in his "Florilegium Insulae Sanc
torum," pag. 399, and has been often reprinted. See the Patrologia
of Migne, vol. cxiii., pag. 1043.

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 197
tish as the Irish writers attest that St. Cadroe pursued
his studies in Armagh, and led a religious life there
for many years. In his life the special branches of
study which he pursued beneath the shadow of St.
Patrick's primatial See are set forth in detail ; besides
Theology and the Sacred Scriptures, Philosophy is
mentioned, and Oratory, and Astronomy, and Natural
Science ; and in all of them he is said to have acquired
a profound knowledge. From Armagh he proceeded
to Scotland, and there for some years scattered with
abundant fruit those seeds of sacred and profound learn
ing which he had gleaned in the schools of Ireland;
but, subsequently, continuing his pilgrimage to the
Continent, he was chosen abbot of Walciodorum, now
Wassous, on the Meuse, between Dinant and Givet, and
died in the year 975, in the seventieth year of his age,
and the thirtieth of his Continental pilgrimage.1
In the eleventh century St. Dubthach renewed the
fame of Leland for sanctity in the extreme north of
Scotland. St. Dubthach, whose name has been cor
rupted Dutach, and Duac, is styled in the Annals of
Ulster, "prascipuus confessarius Hiberniae et Alban,"
and his death is marked on the 8th of March, 1068.
At Tayne, in the diocese of Ross, his body was found
incorrupt seven years after his death, and was trans
lated to a precious shrine. Loch Duich and Kilduich
derive their names from him. He was also honoured at
Arbroath, and at Kilduthie, near the Loch of Leys, and
at Ardutbie, close to Stonehaven.

1 The Life of St. Cadroe has been published by Colgan, Acta,
pag. 494 ; and by the Bollandists, Mart., torn. I., pag. 468.

198 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
I will close this series of Irish saints with the name
of Saint Malachy, for, as late as the twelfth century, the
friendly bonds of religion which united the churches of
Ireland and Scotland remained still unbroken. St.
Malachy O'Morgair. Archbishop of Armagh, twice visited
Scotland. During his first visit he proceeded to the
royal mansion of King David, where by his prayers he
restored that monarch's son to health. It was during
this visit that he constructed an oratory of wattles and
clay, on the sea-shore near Portpatrick, and blessed the
adjoining cemetery, which, after the manner of the Irish
raths, he inclosed within a deep fosse. St. Bernard,
in his life of Saint Malachy, writes that he not only
gave directions to those that were engaged in this work,
but that he laboured at it with his own hands. His
second visit was just before he left Ireland to die. He
had set his heart on building a monastery in Scotland,
at a place called Viride Stagnum, i.e., the Green Lake,
and he now conducted thither some of the religious
brethren from one of his own Irish communities, and
marked out the foundations ofthe new monastery, which
soon became famed for holiness, and was known in
after times as Saulseat (Sedes Animarum). It is only
from the records of the past that we learn the existence
of this foundation of St. Malachy. The Viride Stag
num, with its green waters, still abides, but not a trace
of the venerable monastery now remains. It was prob
ably at this monastery that St. Malachy placed as abbot
a holy man named Michael, who, when a monk at Ban
gor, in the county of Down, bad been freed by the prayers
of St. Malachy from a grievous infirmity, which affected
him both in body and mind, and of whom St. Bernard

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 199
says, "He now rules a monastery in Scotland, which
was the last one founded by the saint."1
I cannot conclude this portion of our subject without
some reference to the four fanciful legends on which
Scottish writers of the last three centuries have so loved
to dwell, and by which they have endeavoured to prop
up their cherished theories regarding the early origin
and the special tenets of their church. These theories,
however, will not detain us long. The learned arch ap
ologists of the present day have mercilessly torn from
them the mask of history under which they were dis
guised, and when the false features have been laid aside,
all that remains is found to be in perfect accord with
what we have stated in the preceding pages, and serves
to further illustrate in a remarkable way the close con
nection between the churches of Scotland and Ireland
of which we have been speaking.
(A.) The first legend regards St. Regulus, or St. Rule,
who is supposed to have flourished in Greece in the
fourth century, and to have been invested at Patras, in
Achaia, with the charge of the relics of the apostle St.
Andrew. Being divinely admonished, he carried away
a portion of these precious relics to Scotland, and de
posited them at Rigmond, which thenceforward bore St.
Andrew's name, and was honoured as the primatial see
of Scotland. Modern research, indeed, has proved that
it is most true that Rigmond, or Kil -Rigmond, was the
ancient name of St. Andrew's, but it has also proved that
it continued to bear that name and none other till the
eighth century. The first mention which we find of
1 St. Bernard, Vit. S. Malach., cap. xii.

200 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Kilrigmond points it out as a monastery of Irish reli
gious, and, among other saints, the patron of Kilkenny,
St. Canice, pursued there a life of holy seclusion for some
time. Even St. Regulus himself is found to have been
one of those Irish saints, and his name is none other
than the Irish Riaghail. He was a contemporary of St.
Canice, and famed in our early church as abbot of
Muicinish, in Lough Derg, on the Shannon, and, like
many of our saints, it is probable that he made North
Britain the theatre of his missionary zeal, and closed
his days at Kil-Rigmond. It was only in the year 736
that the Pictish monarch, in gratitude to God for a
great victory which he had achieved, erected there a
church in honour of his patron, St. Andrew, which he
enriched with vast possessions, and which in the course
of time became the royal and primatial church of the
whole kingdom. At the time that St. Andrew's was
thus founded, Kil-Rigmond had the Irishman, Tuathal,
for its abbot, whose demise is recorded in the Annals
of Tighernach under the year 747.1
(B.) The second legend is connected with St. Boniface,
whom it represents as born at Bethesda, and ordained
at Antioch, and promoted to the supreme dignity of the
Tiara of Rome. Quitting the holy city, he is supposed
to have proceeded to North Britain, and to have died at
Rosmarkey after converting its king, Nectan, and his
people, and ordaining no fewer than one thousand
bishops. The Scottish antiquaries, however, are now
agreed that St. Boniface was an Irish saint, who is
otherwise known by his Celtic name of Curitan. He
1 Skene, Chronicles, &c, pag. 76.

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 201
accompanied St. Adamnan to Ireland, and assisted at
the Convention of Tara in the year 697, and he is
honoured in the Irish Martyrologies on the 16th of
March as bishop and abbot of Rosmarkyn in Scotland.
Among those who accompanied St. Boniface to Scotland
was the virgin saint who is only known to us by the
latinized name Triduana. Her oratory and tomb, close
to the tomb of the Blessed Virgin at Lestalrig, in
Lothian, became one of the most famous pilgrimages
of Scotland. The destruction of this church and sanc
tuary was the first act of official iconoclasm which
marked the sad era of the triumph of Calvinism in Scot
land ; and on the 21st December, 1660, was published
the decree in Edinburgh that the church of Lestalrig
" be razed and utterly cast down and destroyed,"1
(C.) The next legend sets before us St. Adrian, who,
it asserts, was of royal birth and a native of Pannonia,
in Hungary, and about the middle of the ninth century
came with six thousand six hundred and six companions
to preach the faith in Alba, and after some years re
tired to the island of May, where he and his companions
received the crown of martyrdom at the hands of the
Danes in the year 875. Modern research has shown
that St. Adrian is a Latin form of the name of the Irish
saint, St. Odhran ; and it is probable that, with his
Celtic community, he received the martyr's crown from
the Danes in the year 875. The Pictish chronicle marks
an incursion of the Danes in that year, and adds that
they put many to death. The victims, however, are
described not as Hungari, but as Scoti, which name in
1 Book of the Univ. Kirk of Scotland, I., 5.

202 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the Pictish chronicle designates the natives of Ireland.1
The Breviary of Aberdeen attests that great honour
was shown to our martyred countrymen in the isle of
May in later times. A monastery " of fair coursed
masonry" was erected there, but was soon after destroyed
by the Saxons, "the Church, however," it adds "re
mains to this day, much visited for its miracles by the
people ; and there is a celebrated cemetery there where
the bodies of the martyrs repose." Boece writes that
the island of May was rendered illustrious by these
martyrs, " as well on account ofthe number of pilgrims
who resort thither, as of the miracles which the good
ness of God had superadded." One of St. Odhran's
companions was St. Monan. Before his martyrdom he
had laboured at Inverary in Fife. His relics were in
later times translated thither, and King David the
Second erected a noble church in his honour. Dr.
Forbes writes that at present he is chiefly honoured at
St. Monan's in the parish of Abercromby, in Fife,
where there is a fine church erected to him, pictur
esquely standing on the sea-shore.2
(D.) The last of the Scottish legends refers to the
Culdees, who, we are gravely told, formed a flourishing
church in Scotland in the second or third century of
the Christian era. Boece even adds the names of some
of these early Culdee saints : " Modocus, Calanus, Fer-
ranus, Ambianus, et Carnocus." Polemical writers
engrafted their own theological fancies on this historical
fiction, till at length throughout the Scottish Kirk it
1 " Scoti qui nunc corrupte vocantur Hibernienses." Pictish
Chronicle, ap. Skene, Chronicles, &c, page 1, and clxii.
2 Forbes, Kaiendars, pag. 412.

Union of the Churches of Scotland and Ireland. 203
was religiously received as an axiom that those ancient
Culdees were the pioneers and missionaries of the
Presbyterianism of our' own days. All this, however,
has melted away before the light of authentic history.
Of the Culdee saints, who are named by Boece, Dr.
Reeves writes : " Modocus is our Modoc of Ferns, who
died in 624. Calanus, Ferranus, and Ambianus were
no men if they were not Caelan, Forrannan, and Abban,
Irish saints of the sixth century; while Carnoc, the
South Briton, adopted Ireland as his home."1 Pinker
ton was one of the first who gave a serious blow to the
foolish Culdee theory of his countrymen. In his
" Inquiry into the History of Scotland," published in
1789, he did not hesitate to write that: " The Culdees
were surely only Lish clergy ; " and again, " The- Cul
dees united in themselves the distinctions of monks and
of secular clergy; being apparently, from Columba's
time to the eleventh century, the only monks and clergy
in Scotland, and all Irish, as formerly shown."2 It
was reserved, however, for Dr. Reeves to set at rest for
ever this Culdee controversy, by his learned " Essay on
the Culdees of the British Islands, as they appear in
History," read before the Royal Irish Academy in 1860,
and published in its Transactions, vol. xxiv. ; and further
light has since been added regarding some of the details
of the question by the Scottish historian, Skene, in the
second volume of his " Celtic Scotland," pubhshed in
Edinburgh in 1877. The following are the conclusions
which, through the labours of these learned writers,
have been placed in the clearest light. First, that the
1 Reeves, "The Culdees of the British Islands," pag. 67.
2 Pinkerton, vol. 2, pag. 272.

204 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
rehgious brethren known by the name of Culdees pro
ceeded from Ireland to Scotland, and thus serve as an
additional link uniting together the early churches of
these sister countries. Second, that it was not until the
eighth century, and after the time of St. Maelruan of
Tallaght, that the Culdees formed their first com
munities in North Britain. Third, that they followed
in Scotland the rules which they had brought with them
from their parent monasteries in Ireland ; that is to say,
the religious rules which were drawn up for the Celides
by St. Carthage and St. Maelruan, and as these rules
have happily been preserved to us, we are able to place
beyond the reach of doubt their perfect orthodoxy, for
they set before us, in the clearest light, the minutest
details as well of the faith which was professed as of the
religious observance and exact discipline, and fervour of
spirit, and love of holy church, which characterized the
missionaries and the saints of our country in the golden
ages of her history.1
1 For the text of the Rules of St. Carthage and St. Maelruan ,
see "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. i., and Reeves on "The
Culdees," pp. 82 and 84.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 205
CHAPTER VIII.
FIRST MISSIONS TO THE ANGLO-SAXONS. I
St. Gregory the Great sends the first Missionaries to the Anglo-
Saxons: — The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: — Conversion of Ethel-
bert, King of Kent, and his People .- — The Kingdom of Essex
aho converted: — Archbishop Laurentius and St. Dagan of
Inverdaoile: — Four points of difference between the Irish and ihe
Continental Churches : — The British Clergy unable to evangelize
the Saxons : — Kent and Essex fall away from the ¦ Faith : —
Conversion and Apostacy ofthe Northumbrians : — King Oswald's
victory at Heavenfield: — Religion restored in Northumbria.
It was in a.d. 597, the very year in which St. Columba
rested from his labours in peace, that the first mis
sionaries to the Anglo-Saxons, sent by the Holy Pontiff,
St. Gregory the Great, landed on the coast of Kent.
This great Pope had long sighed and prayed for the
conversion of England. A few years before his elevation
to the See of St. Peter, as he proceeded one day from
his monastery on the Coelian hill to the city, passing
through the Roman forum, he observed some fair-haired
youthful slaves standing in the market for sale. Struck
by their comeliness and graceful mien, he inquired
whence they had come. He was told they were Angles,
and that they were still in the darkness of Paganism.
"Not Angles but Angels," was Gregory's reply, "if
only they were Christians," and he sighed deeply as he
added: "Oh! grief of griefs, that the author of dark
ness holds their nation so enslaved, and whilst such
beauty shines forth in their countenances, their souls

206 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
are deprived of heavenly light." In reply tb further
inquiries, he was told that they were natives of Deira,
and that Aella was the king of their territory ; and with
playful reference to these names, he said : " They must
be rescued from the anger of God (de ira), and then
alleluja shall be hymned in their native land in praise
ofthe one Sovereign Lord of all." Through Gregory's
charity the young Angles were at once purchased by the
monastery, and instructed in the truths of religion, and
thus they were, at the same time, freed from the slavery
of Satan and from material bondage.
St. Gregory, as Sovereign Pontiff, set his heart on
perfecting the work thus happily begun, of bestowing on
the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms the blessings of the Faith
of Christ. He chose a numerous body of missionaries
from his own monastery of St. Andrew's, and placing
at their head the holy prior St. Augustine, who was
already famed for his many virtues, sent them forth
with his blessing on their errand of mercy. They set
out with great ardour, but as they tarried for a time at
Lerins and Marseilles, accounts reached them of the
savage ferocity of the Saxon barbarians, whom they
were sent to convert, sufficient to deter the stoutest
hearts. The Saxons were more ferocious than wild
beasts, it was said ; they preferred cruelty to feasting;
they thirsted for innocent blood ; they held in abhor
rence the Christian name; and torture and instant
death were sure to await the Christian missionaries.
Disheartened by such reports, they sent back Augustine
to St. Gregory to make known to him the true state of
things, and to ask what course, under the circumstances,
he wished them to pursue. The Pontiff rephed that

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 207
they were to continue their journey: the greater the toil,
the greater would be their eternal recompense. Gladly
would he himself share their perils, but he hoped at
least to partake in some measure of their reward.1 Thus
encouraged, they resumed their journey, and shortly
after Easter, in the year 597, landed in the Isle of
Thanet, at a sandy creek between the modern towns of
Sandwich and Ramsgate, a memorable spot which is
traditionally marked out as the landing place of Hengist,
with his Saxon bands, a century and a half before. For
a time heaven seemed to smile upon their missionary
labours. Every year the Jutes and Angles and Saxons
in thousands approached the baptismal font, and the
Christian name was honoured throughout the greater
part of England. In the mysterious ways of God, how
ever, the spiritual edifice, built up with so much toil, was
destined to be in a few days almost entirely overthrown.
St. Augustine and his brother missionaries had indeed
laid deep and solid the foundations ofthe future church ;
but it was reserved for vigorous Celtic hands to complete
the structure. The great work of the permanent con
version of the Anglo-Saxon people, on which St. Gregory
had set his heart, was to be one day happily achieved,
but it should reward the toil, not of the fervent religious
from the Coelian hill, but of the devoted missionaries
from Ireland.
Before we proceed further it may be well to state
in a few words the political condition of England at this
eventful period. Only a few years ago we were accus
tomed to speak of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy as com-
1 St, Gregory Epist. vi., 51. Bede, i., 25.

208 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
posed of seven clearly defined kingdoms, all united
under the supremacy of one Bretwalda or Chief-King.
Now, however, the ablest writers on the Anglo-Saxon
period teach us that this stereotyped notion must be
abandoned ; and it seems to be placed beyond the reach
of doubt that the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were
ever fluctuating as well in their number as in their
mutual relations to each other. The title of Bretwalda,
too, unlike the Celtic Ard-righ, or Chief-King, was not
a necessary element in their organization. It was only
granted when some one of their princes by his superior
power or military skill forced the rest to acknowledge
his rule, and it was even then only accorded so long,
and to such an extent, as he was able to enforce his
authority. Hence it is that the venerable Bede names
only seven kings, who, down to his time, had been
invested with this title of supreme sovereignty.1
The three kindred tribes of the Angles, Jutes, and
Saxons constituted the main strength of the armed
bands, who, in the fifth century, had invaded and sub
jugated Britain. They did not, however, blend together
to form one great nation. The Jutes settled in Kent,
and formed there a small but powerful independent
kingdom. The Saxons occupied almost the whole of
the rest of the territory south of the Thames, with a
few districts to the north of that river, and divided
themselves into three distinct kingdoms, viz. : Essex,
or the kingdom of the East Saxons, deriving its chief
importance from the city of London, which was situated
in its territory; Sussex for the South Saxons; and
1 Bede, Hist. Eccles. ii., 5.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 209
Wessex for the West Saxons, which gradually grew in
extent and influence till it absorbed the other kingdoms.
The Angles subjugated most of the northern territory
extending from the Thames to Edinburgh, and founded
there three kingdoms, viz. : East Anglia, south of the
Humber, and extending from the Midland Fens to the
German Ocean ; Mercia, or the Marches, that is, the
territories bordering on Wales ; and Northumbria, ex
tending from the Humber to the Firth of Forth. The
Princes of Northumbria soon wrested the supremacy
from Kent, and their kingdom continued for a long time
the most powerful of all the Anglo-Saxon nations. It
was more than once, however, divided into two distinct
principalities, that of Bernicia, which extended from the
Tyne to the Firth of Forth, and Deira stretching south
ward from the Tyne to the Humber. These chief
divisions will serve at least as so many rough landmarks
to guide us whilst following our Celtic fathers in their
wonderful missionary career among the Anglo-Saxons
At the time that St. Augustine and his companions
landed in the isle of Thanet, off the English coast,
Ethelbert, King of Kent, had won for himself the title
of Bretwalda, and thus enjoyed considerable influence
throughout all England. He had some years before
taken to wife Bertha, a Christian princess, daughter of
Charibert, King of Paris. As a condition of the marriage
it was stipulated that the queen should be allowed the
free exercise of her religion, and accordingly a French
bishop accompanied her to the Kentish court, and the
ruined church of St. Martin, a relic of Christianity from
early British times, was allotted to him for divine
worship. Ethelbert was in consequence favourably- p

210 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
disposed to welcome the missionaries from Rome, and
soon Augustine and his companions, with a silver cross
borne before them, and a banner on which was painted
the figure of the Crucified, were seen proceeding in
processional order, chanting the Litanies " for their own
salvation and the salvation of those to whom they came,"
and slowly wending their way to meet the monarch at the
appointed place of audience. He received them with
kindness ; nor was his conversion long deferred, for he
publicly received baptism at the hands of St. Augustine
on the Feast of Whitsunday, the 2nd of June, in the
year 597. In those days the conversion of a king was
the signal for the conversion of his kingdom ; and on
the Christmas Day following the baptism of Ethelbert,
ten thousand of his subjects1 imitated his example, and
renouncing idolatry sealed their acceptance of the
Christian Faith by being baptized in the waters of the
River Thames, at the mouth of the Medway, opposite
the Isle of Sheppy. All Kent soon espoused the faith,
and through the influence of Ethelbert an opening was
gained for the Christian missionaries in the neighbouring
kingdoms. The King of Essex was the first of the
other kings to ask for baptism, and in 604 St. Mellitus
was appointed Bishop of London. Some years later the
King of Northumbria and his people also embraced the
faith. St. Augustine died in the year 605, and was
succeeded by Laurentius, who had also come from St.
Gregory's monastery on the Coelian hiU, a man of great
learning and piety, and a truly devoted missionary. In
the fulness of zeal he wished, as Bede informs us, not
1 Epist. S. Gregorii Papae, lib. viii. ep. 30, edit. Jaffe.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 211
only to exercise his pastoral solicitude among the
Saxons, but also to extend his care " to the ancient
inhabitants of Britain, and to the Scots who inhabit the
island of Ireland, which is next to Britain."1 The Irish
and the Britons had heard with joy tbe tidings of the
conversion of the Saxons, and there can be no doubt
that they were ready to extend the hand of fellowship to
the missionaries, whose labours had been so far crowned
with success ; but when Laurentius attempted to inter
fere with their time-honoured traditional usages, handed
down to them by their fathers, they not only refused
to be guided by his words, but they further broke off all
communication with him, for thus they thought he
exceeded his authority, and was unnecessarily inter
meddling in their affairs. He was particularly mortified
by the course pursued by the Irish Bishop Dagan,
who seems to have proceeded to Canterbury about the
year 610, deputed by some of the great monasteries of
Ireland and Wales, to confer with Laurentius and
his brother bishops. St. Dagan is commemorated in
our calendars as Bishop of Inverdaoile, in Wexford, and
as being remarkable for his meekness.2 He had more
than once visited Rome. He had further been the bearer
to St. Gregory of the Monastic Rule of St. Molua, and
merited to receive for it from the lips of that great
Pontiff the most emphatic words of commendation and
approval. None could have been better chosen to
disabuse St. Laurentius of his erroneous notions regard-
1 Bede, ii., 4.
2 Marianus O'Gorman in his Martyrology styles him " Daganum
praeplaeidum de Inverdaoile." Inverdaoile is situated on the
coast of Wexford, at the mouth of the river Daoile. Colgan,
Acta, 586 ; Lanigan, ii. 365.

212 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
ing the ancieht usages of the Lish and British churches.
Of this conference, however, with the Archbishop of
Canterbury we know nothing except its result. The
Irish Bishop, finding that St. Laurentius persisted in
regarding the disciplinary practices of the Britons and
his own countrymen as erroneous, with genuine Celtic
frankness refused to hold further communication with
him, and shaking the dust from his sandals, Would not
even partake of food in the house in which the Archbishop
dwelt. It was in consequence of this that St. Laurentius,
with his suffragan bishops, Mellitus of London, and
Justus of Rochester, addressed to the Irish Church a
letter of remonstrance, of which the following fragment
is preserved by Bede :
" To our most dear Brothers, the Lords Bishops and Abbots
throughout all Ireland : Laurentius, Mellitus and Justus, servants
of the servants of God.
" When the Apostolic See, according to the universal custom
which it has followed elsewhere throughout the whole world, sent
us to these western parts to preach to pagan nations, we came to
this island, which is called Britain, without possessing any previous
knowledge of its inhabitants. We held the Britons and Irish in
great esteem for sanctity, believing that they followed the custom
of the universal church ; but after becoming acquainted with the
Britons we supposed that the Irish should be more observant. We
have been informed, however, by Bishop Dagan coming into this
aforesaid island, and by the Abbot Columbanus in Gaul, that the
Irish in no way differ from the Britons in their observance ; for
Bishop Dagan coming to us, not only refused to eat with us, but
even to take his repast in the same house Where we were enter
tained." 1
This is the only part of the letter given by Bede, but
he tells us that in the rest Laurentius exhorted them to
1 Bede, Hist. Eccl., ii., 4.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 213
conform in the matters of Catholic discipline with their
brethren throughout the world. Surely it is not thus
that he would have addressed them if, as some Protes
tants of the present day pretend, they had fallen away
from the true faith.
From the letters of SS. Augustine and Laurentius,
and the other documents connected with this period, we
learn that the difference between the Roman missionaries
and the Irish and British churches was confined to four
heads, all of them pertaining to discipline, and tolerated
elsewhere by the supreme authority of the Holy See.
I will make for the present only a few brief remarks on
each of these heads. The first point of difference was the
form of Tonsure used by the clergy ; but on this head it
will, perhaps, suffice to say that the Irish Catholic usage
of the present day differs more from the custom in Rome
than it did in the days of St. Laurentius. Owing to the
special circumstances of this country the Tonsure is not
at present used at all by our clergy, whilst its use is
imperative for the clergy of Rome. Yet no one will dare
to affirm that the Irish Catholic church of to-day is not
most closely united in the bonds of spiritual union with
Rome. The second difference regarded the time for
celebrating Easter. Here again the discrepancy arose,
not from a diversity of faith, but merely from the varying
cycles which were used in computing the time for the
Easter festival. The cycle of eighty-four years, which
was followed by the British and Irish churches, had
been for a long time adopted in Rome itself; and though
the Holy See had gradually perfected the Easter compu
tation, yet, even as at a later period in the introduction
¦of the Gregorian calendar, it did not seek to force an

214 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
abrupt change on other churches, but wished that the-
adoption of the more correct rule should proceed from
their own voluntary act. The third difference regarded
the manner of Baptism. We learn, however, from
St. Gregory's letters that such ritual variations in regard
to the Baptismal ceremonies — for instance, the triple
or single immersion, and so forth — existed in Spain and
elsewhere, and when the Pontiff was interrogated about
them he wisely ruled that each church might be per
mitted to follow its own disciplinary usage.1 The fourth
and last difference between the churches was the use of
several Collects in the Sacred Liturgy ; but even in this
the .wise Pontiff who had himself done so much to
perfect the Liturgy of the Church, advised a wise
moderation. So far was he indeed from condemning
the Gaulish or the Celtic Liturgy, that in a letter to
St. Augustine he counselled him to study carefully not
only the Roman but also the other various Liturgies,
and to select whatever he would find best in each of
them for his Saxon converts, as yet young in the faith ;
and he adds the golden maxim, "Where the Faith is
one, differences of custom do no harm to Holy Church." 2
But beside these trivial points of difference, which
only serve to place in bolder relief the perfect harmony
of the Churches in all matters appertaining to faith, we
find a complaint made by Laurentius, and which was
again and again repeated — viz., that the British and
Celtic clergy had neglected to evangelize the Saxon
pagans, and that even now, when the missionaries from
Rome had entered on that sacred work, they stood aloof
'St. Gregory, Epist. i., 43. 2St. Gregory, Epist. i., 43.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 215
and would not come to aid in gathering in the spiritual
harvest. Perhaps it would be difficult to find a stronger
argument to prove the union of our British and Celtic
Churches with the Mother Church of Rome than that
involved in such a complaint, for surely it is not the
agents of heresy or of schism that the representative of
the Holy See would invite to join him in preaching the
doctrines of Divine Faith. But Laurentius in making
such a complaint had not reflected on the embittered
feeling of national hatred with which theSaxons regarded
their British neighbours. They were not satisfied with
conquest unless it was accompanied by the extermination
of the natives. They trampled down and destroyed
every vestige of Roman and British civilization, and
they put to death or sold into slavery any of the inhabi
tants that fell into their hands. A contemporary Gaelic
Bishop, Sidonius Apollinaris, describes them as the
" most truculent of all enemies," who made it a point
not only of honour but of religion " to torture their
captives rather than to put them to ransom," whilst
they sacrificed the tenth part of them to their gods
(epist. viii. 6). Such, too, is the terrible picture of the
Saxon invasion presented by Gildas, which is probably
exact in all its details, when he tells us of ruined sanc
tuaries, and fallen towers, and shattered altars, and
priests and bishops with their people slain in the streets,
and their corpses clothed with blood, left without burial,
and the miserable remnant of the inhabitants being
slaughtered in the mountains, or selling themselves as
slaves to the invaders.1 When Anderida, now Pevensey,
1 Gildas' History, chap. 24.

216 • Irish Saints in Great Britain.
was taken, not a Briton was left alive ; and again, a
little later, when the Isle of Wight was surrendered to
the Saxons, every Briton found on the island was put
to death in cold blood. The British chieftains on their
part fought against the Saxons with almost the same
ferocity, and when victory for the last time seemed to
smile on their arms, their king, Cadwallon, avowed his
resolve to exterminate the whole Saxon race within the
bounds of Britain. With such national antipathies it
was vain to look to the British Church for the conver
sion of the Saxons.1 As preserved in the traditions of
Wales, the following was the Abbot of Bangor's reply
to St. Augustine : "No, we will not preach the Faith to
the cruel race of strangers who have treacherously
driven our ancestors from their country, and robbed
their posterity of their inheritance." For a time, too,
the Saxon princes seem to have regarded the Irish race
with the like hostihty, considering them at first as their
rivals in the plunder of Britain, and subsequently as the
allies of their hated foe. The Irish missionaries however
cherished no such national hatred against the Saxons.
At Iona St. Columba received with open arms some
Saxons who had proceeded thither, and having in
structed them in the truths of Faith enrolled them
among the brethren of the monastery. St. Fridolin's
mission in Helvetia, St. Columba's labours among
the Picts, St. Columbanus's wonderful toil in the
Vosges, are sufficient proof that there was no lack of
missionary zeal among the Lish Bishops and Priests.
In fact, they only awaited a favourable opportunity in
1 Myfyr, Archaeol. ii 365 ; Geoffrey of Monmouth, xi. 12.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons* 217
order to bring the blessings of civilization and religion
to the benighted Saxons. In the designs of Providence
the long wished for opportunity was soon to be pre
sented, and we will see with what zeal and with what
success they at once devoted themselves to labour in
this field of God.
In the meantime, however, by the death of Ethelbert,
in the year 616, the Christianity of the Saxons became
well nigh extinct : as an English historian has quaintly
expressed it, " it appeared as though much of the
Kentish Christianity was buried in the king's grave."
His worthless son, Eadbald, who succeeded him on the
throne of Kent, cast off the Christian name, and most
of his people, following his example, relapsed into
paganism. In the same year the Christian king of
Essex also died ; and his three sons, who were pagans,
set themselves to restore the worship of the false gods,
and compelled Bishop Mellitus and his companions to
depart from their kingdom. Venerable Bede adds :
" Being forced from thence, Mellitus came into Kent
to advise with his fellow-bishops, Laurentius and Justus,
what was to be done in that case ; and it was unani
mously agreed that it was better for them all to return
to their own country, where they might serve God with
a free mind, than to continue without any fruit among
those barbarians who had revolted from the faith."1
This sudden relapse of the Saxons to paganism, after
the example of their wicked princes, has only a parallel
in the falling away of the English nation into heresy,
nine hundred years later, after the evil example of Henry
i Bede, ii. 5.

218 * Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the Eighth. What is the more striking in this first
national apostacy, we do not read of a single one having
received the martyr's crown, or of any of the professing
Christians being even imprisoned for the faith. The
King of Kent, indeed, soon after repented, and gave full
authority again to Laurentius and Justus, but for a con
siderable time little fruit repaid their labour, and the
Venerable Bede adds, "the Londoners would not
receive Bishop Melitus, choosing rather to be under
their idolatrous high priests."1
The same fate attended the first preaching of Chris
tianity in Northumbria. In the year 617, Edwin
succeeded to the throne of Northumbria, and at once
grasped the supreme dignity of Bretwalda, which he
continued to hold with an iron hand till his death. This
powerful monarch received the grace of the true faith
through the preaching of St. Paulinus, who, on a plot
of ground now covered by the glorious Minster of York,
erected a wooden chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, and
there, on Easter Eve, in the year 627, administered
baptism to Edwin. The whole kingdom of Northumbria
joyfully followed the example of the king, and Paulinus
was gladdened by the abundant fruits which repaid his
toil. Nevertheless the storm was not to be long delayed.
The united forces of Cadwallon and Penda attacked and
overthrew Edwin at the battle of Hatfield, in South-east
Yorkshire, in the October of 633, the king himself
being slain, and his whole army destroyed or dispersed.2
Deira and Bernicia became separate kingdoms on hia
death, and their kings, the better to secure the favour
1 Bede, ii. 6. 2 Bede, ii. 20.

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons'. 219
of the pagan Penda, disowned their Christian belief, and
relapsed into paganism. The people followed their
example, and St. Paulinus, with his companions, was
obliged to seek safety in flight, a deacon, Justus, alone
remaining to keep alive the sacred spark till the day of
mercy would again arise on that unhappy nation.
The apostate kings of Deira and Bernicia both fell very
soon by the terrible sword of Cadwallon, and then the
eyes of all were turned, as their only hope, to the brave
Oswald, the son of Ethelfrid. Oswald was now in his
thirtieth year. From his childhood he had lived an
exile in Ireland, and had been regenerated there in the
waters of baptism. In after years he never forgot the
lessons of wisdom and piety which he had learned in
the Irish schools, and amidst all the dangers of the
Northumbrian court, he proved himself as religious as
he was brave, and it is no small glory for Ireland that
she prepared for the throne this valorous champion of
rehgion, the first of the long roll of Anglo-Saxon
princes who was found worthy of the honours of the
altar. Strength and sweetness were blended in his
character, and, during his short reign of eight years,
his hfe presents to us almost a perfect ideal of a Christian
monarch. Among the Saxons he enjoyed the title of
Bretwalda, and he also compelled the nations north of
the Firths of Clyde and Forth to acknowledge his
supremacy. On the other hand, he was so devout that
oftentimes he spent half the night in prayer, and, in the
words of Bede, " while guiding a temporal kingdom,.
was wont to labour rather for an eternal one."1 Amid
1 Bede, iii. 12.

220 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
all that could lift him up to arrogance, he was gentle
and humble, and he was generous and beneficent to the
poor and to strangers. In a word, he was " a prince of
men, one born to attract a general enthusiasm of admi
ration, reverence, and love."1
With a small army Oswald, in December, 634, took
up his position within a few miles of Hexham, near the
spot called Heavenfield, on a rising ground, where now
stands the humble chapel of St. Oswald's. In the
night preceding the battle, St. Columba, for whom he
cherished a tender devotion, appeared to him radiant
with heavenly light, and, promising him victory, desired
him to take the cross for his standard. At morning's
dawn the king caused a cross of wood to be made after
the manner of those which he had seen so often erected
on the green hills of the land of his exile, and with his
own hands he held it whilst his men fastened it in tho
ground. He then commanded his soldiers to kneel
with him, and to pray to the one true and living God,
who knew how just was their cause, and around whose
standard they were now gathered, to be with them
against their proud and cruel enemy. They rose full
of courage, and charging the superior forces of Cad
wallon, broke their ranks and gained a complete victory,
Cadwallon himself being numbered among the slain,
It was one of the first cares of Oswald to send
messengers to Iona to pray the abbot to provide a
bishop and devoted missionaries who would restore
the faith in his kingdom, and gather in the harvest now
1 Bright, ' Early English Church History' (Oxford, 1878), pag.
133,

First Missions to the Anglo-Saxons. 221
ripe for the sickle. The first person chosen was Bishop
Corman, a religious remarkable for his austerity and
exemplary life ; but after a few weeks' experience in
Northumbria he withdrew in despair from the rude and
indocile heathens, whom he was sent to ministerto, and
returned to Iona. The community being assembled, he
recounted the motives of his return, and assured them
that it was idle to think of converting such a savage
people. From among the seniors, a voice was raised
in gentle remonstrance: "Perhaps, brother, the fault
is not theirs, but yours. Did you deal mildly with
them, as the apostle exhorts, giving milk to the infants ?
Did you not rather show severity towards them, and
expect them to cultivate all at once those virtues which
could only be the crowning fruit of your missionary
labours." All eyes were at once turned to the speaker,
and the seniors, with one accord, cried out that to him
the arduous mission should be entrusted.
It was an Irish monk, Aidan by name, who thus
opposed the counsel of Bishop Corman, and who, suc
ceeding to his place, is now honoured in our Kaiendars
as the Apostle ofthe Kingdom of Northumbria.

522 Irish Saints in Great Britain.

CHAPTER IX.
ST. AIDAN, FIRST BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE, APOSTLE OF
NORTHUMBRIA.
Early Life of St. Aidan: — Lindisfarne: — Virtues of St. Aidan: —
His efforts to train up a Native Clergy: — His Apostolic
Labours: — King Oswald interprets his Sermons for the People : —
Aidan at the Royal Table: — His care for the Poor: — He
adheres to the Irish Customs : — Foundation of Mailros : —
Coldingham : — St. A idan's Hermitage in Fame Island : —
Death of Oswald : —Character of this pious Prince: — The
Fortress of Bamborough saved by theprayers of Aidan ; — Oswin,
King of Deira : — Death of St. Aidan.
Venerable Bede gives us no details regarding the
early years of St. Aidan's life, but we are able to
glean from the ancient Irish records that in his youth
he enrolled himself among the religious of the island-
monastery of St. Senanus, at Inniscattery, in the
Shannon, and that he lived there for many years in
the fervent practice of every virtue. We do not know
in what precise year he proceeded to Iona, but it is a
venerable tradition that before his departure from Ire
land he was raised to the Episcopate. In the old register
of the diocese of Clogher, he is named among the bishops
of that see, and Dr. John Lynch, in his MS. History
of the Irish Bishops, as also Ware and Cotton, and
others of our ablest historical writers, following the
testimony of this authentic record, have placed St. Aidan
fifth in succession from St. Molaisse, whose death is

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 223
recorded in the Annals of Ulster in the year 563. x
Perhaps we may find in this an explanation of the other
wise strange fact that, whilst the Abbot of Iona and the
other seniors received in silence the report of Bishop
Corman, St. Aidan, relying on his own episcopal expe
rience, should raise his voice to declare that it was only
by long endurance and mildness the pagan hearts of the
Saxons could be softened to receive the doctrines of faith.
It was in the summer of the year 635 that Aidan, at
the bidding of the abbot and community of Iona, set
out for the royal residence of Oswald. Welcomed with
open arms by that pious monarch he was free to choose
for his Episcopal See any spot he might select from the
Firth of Forth to the Humber. St. Aidan, however,
chose for his cathedral and for his monastic home the
small island of Lindisfarne, lying off the eastern coast of
Britain, a few miles above the strong castle of Bam-
borough, and known in later times as ' the Holy Island.'
This small island is twice every day united with the
mainland, and twice again is encircled by the sea,
according to the ebb and flow of the tide : — '
"Dry shod, o'er sands, twice every day
The pilgrims to the shrine find way ;
Twice every day the waves efface
Of staves and sandall'd feet the trace."
In this island-sanctuary St. Aidan was enabled, amid
1 The Reg. Clogherense adds : " Juxta verbum Domini exivit
de Hibernia in Britanniam quern honorifice recepit Usualdus
(Oswald) rex ; et tunc fuit Episcopus Linfarensis, cujus animam
vidit sanctus successor ejus postea, deferri per angelos ad regnum
coeleste." (MS. T.C.D., E. 3 13.) Some have identified him
with Aiden-mac-Aengusa, from whom Kilmore Aedhan, near
Monaghan, is supposed to take its name. This, however, has
been ably refuted in Shirley's ' History of Monaghan' (London,
1878), pag. 315.

224 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
his episcopal cares, to cultivate that retirement and soli
tude which had such an attraction for him, whilst at the
same time it reminded him of his first religious home at
Iniscattery, and ofthe glorious Iona, whose fruitfulness
and whose fame he was henceforth to emulate among
the Anglo-Saxon nations. There was, however, yet
another reason for his choice, one not to be overlooked
amid the ever-recurring conflicts between the rival king
doms of the Anglo-Saxons : his church and monastery
would there be specially secure under the shelter of the
royal castle of Bamborough. This fortress-rock, situated
high up on the coast of the present Northumberland,
would seem to be marked out by nature for the strong
hold and palace of some brave chieftain. It was called
Dingueirin by the Britons, and was fortified at first
with a fosse, and afterwards with a wall or rampart by
the valorous Ida, who was called the " flame bearer" on
account of his terrible ravages throughout all that ter
ritory, and it subsequently received from the Saxons the
name of Bebbasburgh, which was gradually corrupted
to Bamborough. Impregnable by position, and strength
ened by art, it continued for a long time to be the
favourite residence and the chief castle of the kings of
Northumbria. But to return to Lindisfarne : " No sacred spot in
Britain," writes the present professor of Ecclesiastical
History in Oxford, "is worthier of a reverential visit
than this Holy Island of Aidan and his successors :"1
and more than a thousand years ago the same senti
ment was uttered by Alcuin, when he styled this chosen
sanctuary, " locus cunctis in Britannia venerabilior."2
1 Bright,^. 137. Mfczmi,ep. 12. ap. Haddan and Stubbs,iii. 493.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 225
The eloquent Montalembert has given the following
glowing description of this Celtic monastery, which for
so long a time was destined to be the great centre of
piety for the Anglo-Saxon race : "Amid the waves of
the Northern Sea, opposite the green hills of Northum
berland, and the sandy beach which extends between
the border town of Berwick on the north, and the
imposing ruins of the feudal fortress of Bamborough on
the south, lies a low island, flat and sombre, girt with
¦ basaltic rocks, forming a kind of a square block, which
terminates to the north-west in a long point of land,
stretching towards the mouth of the Tweed and Scot
land. This island bears the impress of melancholy and
barrenness. It can never have produced anything but
the sorriest crops and some meagre pasturage. There is
not a tree, not an undulation, not one noticeable feature,
save a small conical hill to the south-west, now crowned
by a strong castle of picturesque form, but recent con
struction. In this poor islet was erected the first
Christian church of the whole district, now so populous,
rich, and industrious, which extends from Hull to Edin
burgh. This was Lindisfarne, that is to say, the
Mother Church, the religious capital of the North of
England and south of Scotland, the residence of the
first sixteen bishops of Northumbria, the sanctuary and
monastic citadel of the whole country round, — the Iona
of the Anglo-Saxons. The resemblance of Lindisfarne
to. Iona, of the colony to the metropolis, the daughter to
the mother, is striking. These two isles, once so cele
brated, so renowned, so influential over two great and
hostile races, have the same sombre and melancholy
aspect, full of a wild and savage sadness. Religion Q

226 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
alone could people, fertilise, and tranquillise these arid
and desolate shores."1
Such was the place chosen by St. Aidan to be the
Episcopal See and the monastic capital of his vast
diocese, extending from the Humber to Edinburgh.
In sketching the career of St. Aidan we need do little
more than compendiate the pages of Venerable Bede,
who pays a just tribute of admiration to the virtues of
this great Irish missioner ; and it has been remarked
that the chapters which he devotes to his life are unsur
passed for earnestness and eloquence by any other
passages of his history. And this should not surprise
us, for Bede was born less than a quarter of a century
after St. Aidan's death, and his monastic life was passed
in Northumbria, still fragrant with the virtues of its great
apostle. St. Aidan was remarkable for his humility, piety, and
meekness : he was a pontiff " inspired with a passionate
love of virtue, but at the same time full of a surpassing
mildness and gentleness."2 He despised vain pomp and
applause, trampled under foot avarice and anger, and
was earnest in promoting peace and charity. Constant
in study and persevering in prayer, he was a marvel of
self-denial and austerity, and amodel of entire unworldh-
ness ; he was always the first to practice what he taught,
and none could ever reproach him with having failed to ful
fil, to the best of his ability, all the evangelical precepts.
He was so indifferent to worldly possessions that he
expended in alms the gifts, no matter how precious,
which he daily received from the king and the wealthy
1 Montalembert, Monks of the West,' vol, 4, pag. 20.
5 Bede, iii. 3.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 227
noblemen of Northumbria. He showed true compassion
and tenderness to all who were in suffering, but
exercised stern justice towards the wicked, especially if
they were invested with | power and authority and
refused to repent.
In his daily life he performed diligently the works of
faith and charity which religion commands, and as far
as his Episcopal duties permitted, rigorously observed
all the rules and religious exercises of the monastic
community of Lindisfarne. After the manner of the
Irish monks his dress was white, and consisted of a
thick woollen cowl and a tunic ; when travelling he
wore sandals. His only drink was water or milk. It
was not till a hundred years later, when Ceolwulf, King
of Northumbria, laid aside his crown to enter the
monastery of Lindisfarne, that leave was, for the first
time, given to the monks of Lindisfarne to taste either
wine or ale.1 St. Aidan also established the custom of
fasting on all Wednesdays and Fridays until three
o'clock, p.m., Easter time alone being excepted from
this penitential exercise. He loved to meditate on the
Sacred Writings ; he was never wearied in breaking to
those around him the spiritual food of heavenly know
ledge, and it was his special delight to instruct children
in the truths of eternal life. That his mission might
be more fruitful, he summoned to his aid a number of
zealous priests from Ireland, who shared in all his
missionary enterprises. This is attested by Bede, but
1 Roger de Hovenden, Annales, page 403 ; Sim. Dunelmen., p. 139
— " Antea enim nonnisi lac vel aquam bibere solebant, secundum
antiquam traditionem Sancti Aidani primi ejusdem Ecclesiae
antistitis, et monachorum qui cum illo de Scotia veniebant."

228 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
unhappily the names of these his fellow- workers have
not been handed down to us. He founded in every
district churches or oratories, and he multiplied the
monasteries, which became at once so many centres of
piety, and schools where the Anglo-Saxon youth received
from the Irish monks an education as complete as any
that could be supplied in that age in the greatest
monasteries of Ireland or the Continent.1 Following
the example of St. Patrick in his apostolate of Ireland,
it was his first care to train up a native priesthood,
thus to perpetuate the blessings of Divine faith among
this newly converted people. For this purpose he
selected twelve Anglo-Saxon youths whom he wished to
be instructed and prepared for the sanctuary under his
own immediate guidance, and we will see in the following
chapters how they proved themselves worthy oftheir
great master, and emulated his zeal in preaching the
faith to their fellow-countrymen. He expended in the
redemption of slaves a great deal of what he received
from the munificence of his noble converts, and he was
particularly desirous, as Bede records, to free from
captivity those who had been " unjustly sold," that is,
who without any fault or crime had been condemned to
slavery. St. Aidan carried on his missionary work on foot,
penetrating into the wildest forests and marshes, visiting
his scattered flock in town and country, entering the
houses as well of the poor as of the rich, and instructing
aU alike in the truths of Divine faith; even those whom he
met as he journeyed along he was wont to exhort (writes
1Bede, iii. 3, "imbuebantut praeceptoribus Scotis parvuli
Anglorum."

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 229
Bede), " if not already Christians, to embrace the faith,
and if Christians, to show forth their faith by almsgiving
and good works."1 While he travelled he meditated on
some passages of the sacred Scripture, or with his com
panions recited the Psalms. In the first years of his
episcopate a great difficulty in the way ofthe conversion
ofthe Anglo-Saxons was their language, but in this
Aidan and his converts were happy in having an Oswald
for their king. This pious prince, during the years of
his exile in Ireland, had perfectly learned the Irish
language, and thus the sufferings and the troubles of
his early years were found in the ways of God to have
prepared a blessing for his subjects ; and well may Bede
style it "a sight truly beautiful," giving joy to the
a-ngels in heaven, when Aidan instructed the crowds of
Anglo-Saxons who were gathered around him on the
beach at Lindisfarne, whilst Oswald, humbly seated at
his side, interpreted to them the words which fell from
the holy bishop's lips. This religious devotedness of
Oswald reveals to us a depth of solid virtue, and whilst
it anticipated the piety of Alfred the Great and St.
Louis, had hitherto but few examples in history. " The
tender friendship and Apostolic brotherhood which thus
united the king and the bishop of the Northumbrians
has, perhaps, more than anything else, contributed to
exalt and hallow their memory in the annals of Catholic
England."2 With such devoted zeal of St. Aidan, and
such earnest solicitude on the part of King Oswald, it
is not to be wondered at that the preaching of the faith
produced an abundant fruit, and that the whole nation
of Northumbria was in a short time restored to the fold
of Christ. 1 Bede, iii. 5. 2 Montalembert, iv. 28.

230 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
The king at times invited Aidan to the royal table,
but, well knowing the self-denying habits of the holy
bishop, he did so much less frequently than he would
wish. Bede relates that when Aidan accepted such
invitations, he proceeded to the royal residence accom
panied by one or two clerics, and " when he had taken
a little refreshment, he would make haste to leave that
he might pursue his study with his companions or con
tinue his prayers," for through the munificence of
Oswald a church and a cell had been provided for him
near the royal city of Bamborough.1 On an Easter
Sunday we read of his sharing the king's forenoon meal,
but when a silver dish, full of royal dainties, had been
set before them, and Aidan had stretched forth his hands
to bless it, a thane entered, whose care it was to relieve
the poor, and informed Oswald that a great crowd of
poor people had assembled from all the country-side,
and were sitting in the street begging some alms from
the king. Oswald at once ordered the contents of the
dish to be carried to them, and the dish itself to be
broken and divided for their benefit. On this Aidan
seized the king's right hand, and with eyes raised to
heaven prayed " May this hand never decay." The
saint's prayer was heard, for in after times St. Oswald's
right hand was preserved in St. Peter's Church at Bam
borough in a silver shrine ; and Bede writes that in his
time it was still undecayed.
In his dealings with the rich St. Aidan showed him
self superior to fear or favour. Far from sparing any of
their excuses, he rebuked them with the greatest frank
ness. He made it a rule to present no gifts to the chiefs
1 .Bede, iii. 17.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 231
or thanes, that thus their friendship might rest solely
on religion. If a Saxon nobleman came to Lindisfarne
he was hospitably entertained, but the poorest of the
poor received the same welcome. If money or lands
were given to the monastery, all were promptly
distributed to the poor, for "like a true father of the
afflicted, and acherisher of the needy," Aidan was ever
intent on relieving their distress.1 For himself and the
community of Lindisfarne he retained nothing, being
content with the scanty crops of the island of Lindis
farne cultivated with their own hands. The only gift
which he elsewhere retained was when in the domains
of the king or noblemen, a site for a church or oratory,
and a small cell attached to it, was offered him, that there
he might find repose in his prolonged missionary
excursions. Whilst Bede can scarce find sufficient words of eulogy
to commend the piety and devoted zeal of St. Aidan, one
thing alone he regards as a fault, and this was the
unflinching firmness with which he adhered to the
special disciplinary usages of the Irish Church, parti
cularly inthe celebration of Easter. We will have to
return in the next chapter to this erroneous computation
of Easter time, which Rome itself for a long time shared
with our Celtic fathers, and in which the astronomical
science, and not the faith of Ireland, was at fault.
Suffice it at present to learn from Bede himself, that in
this old Irish usage no doctrinal error was involved,
contrary to what some pretentious Protestant writers of
the present day would wish their readers to believe.
1 Bede, iii. 14.

232 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Again and again Bede proclaims that St. Aidan was a
man of God, adorned with sanctity, and a true missioner
of the faith, " so that he was deservedly loved by those
who differed from him about the Pasch," and was
honoured by Archbishop Honorius and Bishop Felix,
and all those who were most observant of the Con
tinental rule. " His keeping the Pasch out of its time
I do not approve nor commend," writes Bede, " but this
I do approve of, that what he kept in thought, reverenced,
and preached in the celebration of his paschal festival,
was just what we ourselves do, that is, the redemption
of mankind through the passion, resurrection, and
ascension into heaven of Jesus Christ, the Mediator
between God and man."1
Before St. Aidan closed his apostolic career he had the
consolation to see the Christian Faith firmly planted
throughout the length and breadth of the Kingdom of
Northumbria. A devoted clergy were everywhere engaged
administering the blessings of heaven to his spiritual
children, and though many of his fellow-labourers in
the sacred ministry had come to him from Ireland, many
too there were chosen from his own flock, and trained
by his own care during his episcopate of sixteen years.
Though he followed the disciplinary rules of Iona, the
faith which he preached was the same as that which had
been announced by St. Paulinus at York, and by
St. Augustine at Canterbury. The churches which he
built were rude wooden structures, but the same divine
sacrifice was solemnly offered up in them as in the
nobler edifice of Whitherne ; and " the usual language
' Bede, iii. 17.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 233
about the mysteries of the Sacred Eucharist was as
familiar to a disciple of Hy or of Lindisfarne as to the
churchmen of Gaul or Italy,"1 Among the peculiarities
of his ritual maybe mentioned the manner of sanctifying,
by prayers and fastings, the places which were granted
him for a church or a monastery. One of his disciples
was requested by the son of Oswald to choose a site on
which to erect a monastery. Yielding to his desires he
searched out a solitary spot amid the wild and barren
hills, which seemed, says Bede " better suited as lurking
places for robbers, and retreats for wild beasts, than as
habitations for men," and he requested the royal per
mission to purify the place from the contagion of its
former crimes, by prayer and fasting, which was " the
custom of those from whom he had learned the rule of
regular discipline."2 He accordingly proceeded thither
to spend the whole time of Lent, fasting every day
except Sunday, with no other sustenance than a very
little bread, one egg, and a little milk mixed with water.
When there were ten days of Lent still remaining there
came a messenger to summon him to the king, and he,
that the religious rite might not be intermitted on
account of the king's affairs, requested another priest
to complete the fast which had been so piously begun ;
and, as Bede adds, the time of prayer and fasting being
ended, he built there a monastery, which is now called
Lastingham, and he estabhshed there the religious rule
according to the model of Lindisfarne.3
Among the monasteries founded by St. Aidan there
are two which deserve particular mention. The first
1 Bright, page 145. 2 Bede, iii. 23. 3 Bede, iii. 23.

234 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
of these is Mailros, or Melrose, which sometimes, to
distinguish it from the later Cistercian abbey of the
same name, has been called old Melrose. It was situated
on a gentle slope in the small and at that time barren1
projection of land, which is seen from the upper road
that leads from Dryburgh to Melrose, a little below the
point where the Leader pours its scanty waters into the
Tweed, and about two miles to the west of the modern
town of Melrose. The river here takes a bold semi
circular sweep, and encloses the old monastery on three
sides, the fourth being protected by a wall. The land is
now fertile and richly planted, and the opposite banks to
the north of the Tweed are high, rocky, and overhung
with the woods of Bemerside. Here Aidan erected a
monastery on the model of those wherein he had lived in
Ireland, and he placed there as abbot the Anglo-Saxon
Eata, one of his own first and most beloved disciples.
It continued to flourish for two hundred years, a great
centre of piety and of Christian life for all Lothian, till
an invasion of the Scots in the year 839, when it was
utterly destroyed. The other monastery was for a time
equally famous for its fervour and its religious spirit,
but becoming relaxed in its discipline after the death of
Aidan, was memorable for the chastisement which fell
upon it. It is called by Bede Urbs Coludi, that is,
Coldingham, and was built on a rock overhanging the
sea, a short way south of the promontory termed Saint
Abb's Head. The neck of land on which it was built
stretched out into the sea, and had at three sides perpen
dicular rocks of great elevation. The fourth side was
1 " The name Mailros is Celtic, formed from Moel and Ross, and
means " the bare promontory."

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 235
cut off from the mainland by a high wall and deep trench.
It was a double monastery, and contained two distinct
communities of men and of women. Its first abbess
was St. Aebba, and from her the promontory of Saint
Abb's Head takes it name. Among its inmates there
was an Irishman, by name Adamnan, who for a long
time had led a most penitential life, fasting on all but
two days of the week — Sunday and Thursday. One day
as he returned to Coldingham with a brother monk,
looking towards the monastery from afar, he predicted
that it would at no distant day be consumed by fire.
Being afterwards questioned by the abbess, he reluctantly
told her that he had learned this in a vision, but that
the doom would not be accomplished in her days. Soon
after St. Aebba's death, while the inmates flattered
themselves, says Bede, on the peace and safety which
they enjoyed, the whole monastery was burned to the
ground, " as all who knew the case could well perceive,
by a heavy vengeance from heaven."1
St. Aidan was accustomed to retire at times to a
hermitage which he erected for himself on the rocky
island of Fame, nearly opposite Bamborough, and there
to spend some days in perfect retirement, his thoughts
fixed on God alone: "thither," writes Bede, "he was
wont often to retire to pray in private, that he might ,be
undisturbed; indeed his solitary cell is to this day
shown in that island." This island is bordered around
with basaltic rocks, which rise abruptly from the ocean,
and at the south-west extremity attain the height of
eighty feet above the level of the sea. In the ' Hermit
Saints' this little island is described as " a circle of solid
1 Bede, iv. 25.

236 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
rocks, the top of which is thinly strewn over with a layer
of barren soil. On its south side it is separated by a
channel of about two miles in breadth from the shore ;
to the east and west a belt of rocks protect it from the
fury of the sea ; while on the north it lies open to the
whole force of the waves, in the midst of which it lies
like the broken and defenceless hull of a shipwrecked
vessel. Sometimes when the tide rises higher than
usual, and the wild storms of that rugged coast come
to its aid, the waves make an inroad on the land, and
the salt foam is blown over the whole island, wetting the
shivering inhabitant to the skin, and penetrating the
crevices ofhis habitation." Besides being most sterile,
this island had the bad repute of being the abode of evil
spirits, and hence was shunned by the inhabitants of
the mainland. Such was the place which Aidan chose
for his hermitage, and which by the practices of penance
and the sweet exercises of prayer became delightful to
him as the threshold of Paradise.
From the outset of his episcopate, St. Aidan was not
without anxieties and sorrows.1 Above all he was over
whelmed with affliction by the death of Oswald, on the
field of battle, in 642. This dire calamity fell upon the
Northumbrian church and kingdom at the hands of
Penda, the pagan king of Mercia. For two years war
had raged between Northumbria and Mercia, and Oswald
had been so far successful that he added the district of
Lindsey, with its chief town of Lincoln, to his dominions.
It was on the 5th of August, 642, that the decisive
battle was fought, at a place called Maserfield, near the
Shropshire town, which still commemorates Oswald in
1 Bede, iii. 9, 14, 16.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 237
the name of Oswestry.1 The brave prince fell fighting
for his religion and his country, as Bede takes occasion
to mention, and " seeing himself hemmed in by armed
assailants, he ended his life with words of prayer for his
own soldiers : whence arose the proverb, ' 0 God, have
mercy on their souls, as Oswald said when falling to the
ground.'"2 Another proverbial saying is recorded by
Henry of Huntingdon : " The plain of Mesafeld was
whitened with the bones of the saints." ' Thus perished,
at the age of thirty-eight, Oswald, marked by the Church
among her martyrs, and by the Anglo-Saxon people
among its saints and heroes of most enduring fame.'3
Ireland may well be proud of having trained to piety
this first royal saint and martyr whom the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms added to the Calendar of Holy Church. The
ferocious Penda caused the head and hands of Oswald
to be cut off, and exposed on wooden stakes, but after
some months they were rescued, and the hands were
placed in a silver box, at St. Peter's Church, on the
summit of the rock of Bamborough, whilst the head was
consigned to St. Aidan, and interred with due solemnity
in the monastic chapel at Lindisfarne. Of his other
relics, we learn from Bede, that thirty years after the
battle of Maserfeld the niece of Oswald brought them
with great state to the Lincolnshire monastery of
Bardney, which was in the Mercian kingdom, but the
monks received them with coldness, saying that he was
an enemy of Mercia, and left the wain, which had arrived
with them in the evening, to stand outside their doors
' Giraldus, "id est, Oswaldi arborem." Itin. Camb. 11, 12. In
Welsh the town is called Cross-Oswald.
2 Bede, iii. 12. 3 Montalembert, iv. 32.

238 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
with a pall thrown over them. All that night a pillar
of light, reaching from earth to heaven, shone over the
remains, and was seen throughout the whole surrounding
district of Lindsey. At the dawn of morning eagerly
were the doors thrown open, the remains were reverently
encased, and over them was suspended the gold and
purple royal banner which had been borne before
Oswald on the field of battle.
The spot on which King Oswald fell long continued
greener and fairer than the ground around, and pilgrims,
even from remote parts, flocked thither to pay the
tributes of their devotion to God. Both places were
indeed honoured, where he first planted the standard of
the Cross entering on his career of victory, and where
he ended his course, pouring out his life-blood for the
cause of God. The latter, however, seems to have
borne away the palm : — " The monks of the great and
magnificent Church of Hexham (writes Montalembert),
went in procession every year to celebrate the day con
secrated to Oswald at the site of the cross, which he
had planted on the eve of his first victory. But the love
and gratitude of the Christian people gave a still greater
glory to the place of his defeat and death. Pilgrims
came thither in crowds to seek relief from their
sufferings, and had each a miraculous cure to relate on
their return. The dust which his noble blood had
watered was collected with care and conveyed to great
distances as a remedy for disease, or a preservative
from the evils of life. By dint of carrying away this
dust a hollow was scooped out, of a man's size, which
seemed the ever-open tomb of this martyr of his country.
On seeing the turf around this hollow clothed with an

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 239
unwonted verdure, more delicate and beautiful than
elsewhere, travellers said that the man who had perished
there must needs have been more holy and more pleasing
in God's sight than all the other warriors who rested
beneath that sward. The veneration of which his
remains were the object spread not only among all the
Saxons and Britons of Great Britain, but even beyond
the seas in Ireland and among the Greeks and the
Germans. The very stake on which the head of the
royal martyr had been fixed was cut up into relics, the
fragments of which were regarded as of sovereign efficacy
in the healing both of body and of mind."1 One of the
miracles narrated by Bede is given on the authority of
St. Willibrord, Archbishop of the Frisians, and happened
when that apostolic man, " being as yet only a Priest,
led a pilgrim's life in Ireland, for love of the eternal
country." A certain Irish scholar, "a man indeed
learned in worldly literature, but in no way solicitous or
studious of his own eternal salvation," was reduced to
the last extremities, having caught the contagion which
then prevailed. Willibrord coming to him, and finding
that he cherished a great devotion to the holy Oswald,
said to him that he had " a portion of the stake on
which Oswald's head was set up by the pagans when he
was killed : and if you believe, with a sincere heart, the
Divine goodness may, through the merit of so great a
man, both grant you a longer term of life here, and
render you worthy of admittance into eternal life. He
answered immediately that he had entire faith therein.
Then I blessed some water (adds St. Willibrord) and
1 Montalembert, iv. 35.

24Q Irish Saints in Great Britain.
put into it a chip of the aforesaid oak, and gave it to the
sick man to drink. He presently found ease, and re
covering of his sickness, 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."
St. Willibrord added, that even in his distant mission
among the Frisians miracles were wrought through the
relics of Oswald.1
I have dwelt thus on the memory of this holy prince
on account of his being trained to piety in the Irish
schools, his zealous co-operation with St. Aidan in
sanctifying his people, and the devoted affection which
he ever displayed towards his Irish masters. He be
queathed a bright example of Christian heroism to the
royal families of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and many
were those who sought to emulate his perfect life. His
festival was kept throughout England " with joyous and
blessed gladness " 2 on the 5th of August, and his name
is entered in the Irish, Scottish, and Roman martyr-
ologies on the same day. A foreign historian of Eng
land has well appreciated his true chararcter when he
writes that " as his life was distinguished at once by
activity and by a spirit of fervid Christian beneficence,
so his Christian merits and his martyrdom rendered him,
a hero of the Christian world ; "3 and we may add with
Montalembert, that, " crowned by the love and devotion
of the people on whom he bestowed the blessings of
peace and of divine truth, spending his life for its sake ;
gentle and strong, serious and sincere, pious and intel-
' Bede, iii. 13. 2 Sarum Collect, 5th August.
3 Lappenberg, i. 161.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 241
ligent, humble and bold, active and gracious, a soldier
and a missionary, a king and a martyr, slain in the flower
of his age on the field of battle, fighting for his country
and praying for his subjects. Where shall we find in
all history a hero more nearly approaching the ideal,
more richly gifted, more worthy of eternal remembrance,
and, it must be added, more completely forgotten ?"2
On the death of Oswald the Kingdom of Northumbria
was divided ; Oswy, a younger brother of Oswald, was
proclaimed king in Bernicia, whilst Oswin of the race of
Ella was raised to the sovereignty of Deira. Aidan's
diocese now comprised two kingdoms. Both princes
were Christians, and both were desirous to co-operate
with the holy bishop in consolidating the conversion of
their subjects.
The victorious Penda, not content with the triumph
over Oswald, resolved to add Bernicia to his Mercian
Kingdom, and marched straight to the royal citadel at
Bamborough. Baffled in his attempt to storm the ram
parts of that impregnable position, he pulled down the
wooden huts of the neighbouring villages, and piling an
immense mass of dry timber and straw close to the gates,
set it on fire, whilst a favourable south-west wind
carried the smoke and flames into the city. All seemed
lost for Oswy, but he found safety in the prayers of
Aidan. The saint was at this time in his place of
solitary retreat on the small island of Fame, when
looking up he saw the flames of fire and smoke rising
high above the city which he so loved, and raising his
eyes and hands towards heaven he cried out with tears,
" See, 0 Lord, all the evil that Penda is doing." At the
} Montalemb., iv. 33. R

242 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
moment the wind changed, and the flames being driven
back on the assailants, destroying many of them, Penda
and his forces speedily retired, deeming it useless to
attack a city which they plainly saw to be divinely
protected.1 But though Aidan thus guarded Bamborough by his
prayers, his esteem and affection were specially fixed on
Oswin the King of Deira. This prince presented to his
subjects a royal example of singular loveliness. Bede
writes that he was remarkable for his stature and
graceful mien, being at the same time eminent for
piety and winning the love of all who approached him
" by the royal dignity of his mind, his countenance,
his conduct." His gentleness, his charity, his humility
were universally extolled, and the thanes of noblest
birth deemed it a privilege to serve his household. He
venerated Bishop Aidan as a father, and religion
flourished under his wise rule. One fact recorded by
Bede will serve to illustrate the charity of Aidan and
the character of this noble prince. Oswin had seen
with anxiety that the holy bishop made his missionary
circuits on foot, and knowing how severe such journeys
would be, especially amid the hilly districts and marshy
fens of Yorkshire, made him a present of one of his best
steeds -splendidly caparisoned. Aidan accepted the gift,
but very soon afterwards meeting with a poor man who
askied an alms, he dismounted and gave to the poor man
the horse with all its goodly trappings. Oswin was
told of this, and the next time that Aidan came to dine
with him said, "What do you mean, my lord, bishop,
by giving away the horse that was to be all your own ?
' Bede, iii. 16.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 243
Had I not many other horses of less value, or other
things that could have been given in alms?" But
Aidan replied, "What do you say, 0 king? Is that
son of a mare worth more in your eyes than the son of
God ?" Oswin was silent for a while, and stood at the
fire with his thanes whilst Aidan and his companion
cleric took their seats ; then laying aside his sword, he
cast himself at the feet of the saint, asking forgiveness,
and said : "Never again will I say a word about this,
nor shall I again complain as to what or how much you
bestow on the sons of God ;" and then reassured by the
kind words of the bishop, he joyously seated himself at
table. Aidan, however, was filled with sadness, and
turning to the Irish priest who sat by his side, said to
him in their native tongue, which Oswin did not under
stand : " I am now convinced that this king will not live
long. I never before knew a king so humble. I know
that he will soon be hurried out of life, for this people
does not deserve to have such a ruler."1 This little
tale, writes Ozanam, presents to us a perfect picture ;
it discloses in those barbarous times a sweetness of
sentiment, a delicacy of conscience, a refinement of
manners, which more than knowledge is the sign of
Christian civilization.
The prophecy of Aidan was too soon to be fulfilled.
Occasions of dissension soon arose between the kings
of Bernicia and Deira. Oswin, seeing himself unable
to meet Oswy in the field, disbanded his army, and
resolved to reserve himself for better times. He was
betrayed, however, into the hands of Oswy, and was
mercilessly put to death on the 20th of August, 651.
1 Bede, iii. 14.

244 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
This act of cruelty, for which the necessity of state
policy could alone be pleaded, is the one blot on the
career of Oswy, the one great crime which during the
remaining years of his reign he laboured unceasingly to
atone for.
It was within twelve days from the murder of Oswin
that St. Aidan went to his reward. He was at the time
in the royal residence, not far from Bamborough, " for
having a church and cell there, he was wont often to go
and stay there, and to make excursions thence to preach
in the country round about."1 Being taken suddenly
ill, his attendants set up a tent for him close to the
west end of the church and there, on the 31st of
August, leaning on the wooden buttress that propped
up the church-wall, he breathed his soul to God.2 " It
was a death which became a soldier of the faith on his
own fit field of battle."3 The little town of Bamborough
has much to attract tourists by the ruins of its noble
castle, and its associations with Northumbrian royalty,
but interesting above all else to the Christian traveller
will be the little church still bearing the name of St.
Aidan, and the spot on which that great saint died.
His remains were solemnly borne to Lindisfarne, and
interred in the cemetery of the brethren of the monastery,
but when a little later a noble church was erected on
that island, his relics were translated thither and
deposited at the right of the altar.
The wooden prop upon which Aidan had rested in
death was long held in veneration by the faithful. " It
1 Bede, iii. 17.
2 " Quies Edani episcopi Saxonum." Tighernach.
3 Montalembert. iv. 46.

St. Aidan, Apostle of Northumbria. 245
happened," writes Bede, " that Penda, king of the
Mercians, coming some years later into these parts with
a hostile army, destroyed all he could with fire and
sword, and burned down the village and church above
mentioned, where the bishop died ; but it fell out in a
wonderful manner that the post which he had leaned
upon when he died could not be consumed by the fire,
which consumed all about it. The church being rebuilt,
the same post was set up on the outside, as it had been
before, to strengthen the wall. It happened again, some
time after, that the same village and church were burned
down the second time, and even then the fire could not
touch that post; and when, in a most miraculous
manner, the fire broke through the very holes in it,
wherein it was fixed to the building, and destroyed the
church, yet it could do no injury to the said post. The
church being, therefore, built there the third time, they
did not, as before, place that post on the outside as a
support, but within, as a memorial of the miracle ; and
the people coming in were wont to kneel there, and
implore the Divine mercy. And it is well known that
since then many have been healed in that same place,
as also that chips being cut off from that post, and
put into water, have healed many from their
distempers."1 1 Bede, iii. 17.

246 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
CHAPTER X.
THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS OF ST. AIDAN.
St. Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne ;— Monasteries founded by King
Oswy : — The Paschal controversy :: — St. Colman, Bishop of
Lindisfarne : — Anglo-Saxons flock to the Irish Schools : —
SS. Wigbert and Willibrord: — The Conference at Whitby in
a.d. 664: — Decision of King Oswy: — Character ofthe Irish
Monks of Lindisfarne : — St. Colman withdraws to Iona : — He
founds Monasteries at ' Mayo of the Saxons ' and Inisbofin.
St. Finan, who is honoured in the Irish Kaiendars, on
the 9th of February, was chosen to succeed St. Aidan in
the See of Lindisfarne. He was an Irish monk of St.
Columba's monastery of Iona, and was selected by that
community1 on account of his piety and his zeal, that
he might consolidate and complete the great work of
the conversion of the Northumbrian Kingdom, so
auspiciously begun by St. Aidan. He made it one of
his first cares to erect in Lindisfarne a new cathedral,
in some way worthy of his see. There were as yet,
however, no skilled masons to rival the noble structure
of Whitherne, so he built it, as Bede records, " in the
Irish fashion, not of stone, but entirely of hewn oak,
with an outer covering of reeds."
Under the guidance of St. Finan, King Oswy resolved
to expiate the crime of Oswin's murder, and so sincere
was his repentance, and so many were the virtues and
heroic deeds which distinguished the latter portion of
1 Bede, " a Scottis ordinatus ac missus." Eec. Hist. iii. 25.

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 247
his reign, so ardent and consistent was his zeal for the
advancement of the Christian religion, that in after
times the Anglo-Saxon Church numbered him among
her saints. The remains of the murdered Oswin
were deposited in a chapel dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin, and situated on a granite headland, almost
entirely surrounded by the sea, at the mouth of the river
Tyne, which formed the boundary between Deira and
Bernicia. The Northumbrians now began to venerate
as a saint and martyr him whom hitherto they had
honoured as their prince, and around his remains soon
grew up a double monastery, which — amid all the
vicissitudes of centuries— continued till the Reformation
period one of the greatest sanctuaries of England. The
ruins of its conventual church, enclosed within the
fortress which defends the entrance of the Tyne, still
retain some traces of the beauty and magnificence which
once characterized that sacred structure : " the seven
great arcades, whose time-worn relics rise majestically
against the sky, from the height of their rock, produce
a vivid effect on the traveller who arrives by sea, and
nobly announce England's adoration of the ruins she
has made."1 Another great monastery was erected on
the spot where Oswin had perished. Eanfleda, the wife
of Oswy, was its founder, and its government was
entrusted to Trumhere, himself indeed a scion of the
royal family of Northumbria, but trained for the priest
hood, and ordained in the Irish Church.2 The purport
of this foundation was that prayers might be offered
1 Montalembert, iv. , 47.
2 Bede, " de natione quidem Anglorum, sed edoctus et ordinatus
a Scottis," ii. 24.

248 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
there for ever for the spiritual welfare of the repentant
king, and of his saintly victim.
The most remarkable foundation, however, which
marked the Episcopate of Finan was that at Streanes-
halch, better known by its Danish name of Whitby.
Oswy had secured the supreme dignity of Bretwalda,
and ensured the peace and freedom of his kingdom,
whilst at the same time he sealed the triumph of
Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons, when he achieved
the complete overthrow of the fierce pagan Penda, king
of Mercia. In token of gratitude to God, he made to
the abbess Hilda a gift of ten hides of land to establish
a monastery. She chose the precipitous headland of
Streaneshalch (that is, the bay of the lighthouse), and
erected there the greatest of England's convents, which,
whilst it guided the mariners on that stormy sea, served
also for a thousand years as a pharos of light and peace
for the whole of that territory. We will allow the
eloquent Montalembert to describe this noble monastery
of St. Hilda : " Of all the sites chosen by monastic
architects, after that of Monte Casino, I know none
grander and more picturesque than that of Whitby.
It is even, in certain aspects, still more imposing than
the Benedictine capital, as being near the sea. The
Esk, which flows through a hilly country, unlike the
ordinary levels of England, forms at its mouth a circular
bay, commanded on every side by lofty cliffs. On the
summit of one of these rocks, three hundred feet above
the sea, Hilda placed her monastery, on a platform
of green and short seaside turf, the sides of which
slope abruptly to the northern ocean. From this spot
the eye wanders now over the uplands, valleys, and vast

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 249
heaths of this part of Yorkshire, now along the rough
precipices which line the coast, now on the wide horizon
of the sea, whose foaming waves break against the
perpendicular sides of the great rocky wall which is
crowned by the monastery. The dull roar of the tide
accords with the sombre tints of the rocks, which are
rent and hollowed out by its force ; for it is not here,
as on the shores of the Channel, where the whiteness of
the cliffs has gained the name of Albion for the island
of Great Britain. The precipices of the Yorkshire coast
are, on the contrary, as dark in colour as they are abrupt
and rugged in outhne. Nothing now remains of the
Saxon monastery; but more than half of the abbey
church, restored by the Percies in the time of the
Normans, still stands, and enables the marvelling
spectator to form to himself an idea of the solemn
grandeur of the great edifice."1 This monastery was
long famed for the fervour of its inmates, and for its
strict religious observance ; and it became a proverb
among the Northumbrians that the image of the primi
tive church, wherein there was neither rich nor poor,
and where all things were common among the Christians,
was to be seen reahzed at Whitby.
It was mainly during the episcopate of St. Finan
that the hght of rehgion spread from Northumbria to
the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, but we will have more
to say on this subject in another chapter. The Paschal
question, too, began to be a-gitated with great ardour.
The practical inconvenience of having, in the same king
dom, two different systems for the calculation of Easter,
1 Montalembert, iv., 62.

250 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
became sorely felt, when, on one occasion, King Oswy
and his court were keeping the Easter feast with the
Irish bishop, whilst the queen and her attendants, who fol
lowed the Continental computation , were still observing the
strict fast of Lent, and celebrating "their day of Palms."1
There were not wanting among the Irish missionaries
some warm supporters of the correct Continental usage.
One Irish priest, in particular, named Ronan, whom
Bede designates as " a very ardent upholder ofthe true
Easter," entered into the controversy with the greatest
ardour. His reasoning, and the forcible language with
which he denounced the Celtic computation, led many
to renounce their traditional observance, but only served
to exasperate more and more the bishop and many of
the clergy whose desire it was to walk according to the
traditions of their fathers. This Ronan is supposed by
Mabillon to be the same who, a few years later, appears
as " a pilgrim of Irish birth,"2 in a charter of founda
tion of an ecclesiastical establishment at Mazerolles, on
the banks of the river Vienne, in Picardy, and of which
it is only recorded that he and his brother pilgrims from
Ireland were its first occupants.
The Paschal controversy was still raging when St.
Finan was summoned to his reward. He died in the
year 661, and his hallowed remains were laid beside those
of his predecessor, in the church of Lindisfarne. In
the Breviary of Aberdeen, he is styled " a man of vene
rable life, a bishop of great sanctity, an eloquent teacher
of unbelieving races, remarkable for his training in virtue
' Bede, iii. 25.
2 " Peregrinus ex genere Scottorum." Mabillon, Annal. ord.
S. Bened. i., 474. See ' Gallia Christ.' ii., 1222.

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 251
and his liberal education. While he surpassed all his
equals in every manner of knowledge, as well as in cir
cumspection and prudence, he chiefly devoted himself
to good works, and presented in his life a most apt
example of virtue."
He was succeeded in the See of Lindisfarne by St.
Colman, another Irishman, who had embraced the reli
gious hfe at Iona. His episcopate in England was short,
for we will just now see that, in the year 664, he chose
to return to his own country rather than relinquish the
Paschal computation which he had received from those
who had gone before him. Bede pays him a just tribute
of eulogy when he styles him a man of simple and austere
piety, and of an innate prudence, and greatly beloved by
Oswy. At this time several of the Anglo-Saxon nobility, and
many too of the middle class, struck by the wondrous
piety and learning of the Irish bishops and clergy, who
had come to preach to them the truths of eternal life,
" forsook their native island," and proceeded to Ireland,
the better to ensure their sanctification, and to perfect
themselves in the salutary knowledge of Divine faith.
Some of these entered the Irish monasteries, and in the
austerity of their lives emulated the heroism of their
masters. Others went about from school to school, and
from cell to cell, enriching themselves with a precious
store of truth, wherever they found teachers, famed for
their skill in science, human or divine.1 From the
vords of Venerable Bede it would appear that these
Anglo-Saxon youths went in crowds to Ireland thus to
satiate their thirst for sacred truth, and he adds : " The
1 Bede, Eec. Hist. iii. 27.

252 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Irish most willingly received them all, and took care to
supply them gratuitously with daily food, as also to fur
nish them with books to read, and with their teaching,
without making any charge." So many were these
foreign students at the school of Armagh, that one
district of the city was known as the " Saxon quarter :"
numerous bands of them were also found at Clonard,
Bangor, Glasnevin, Lismore, Mellifont, Clonmacnoise,
and the other great monasteries and schools, and many
of them, following the bright example of their Irish
companions and masters, embraced the missionary life,
and laboured in Friesland and other nations of the Con
tinent to win innumerable souls to Christ.
Two of these Anglo-Saxon missionary saints merit
particular mention. St. Wigbert, whilst as yet a youth,
left his Anglo-Saxon home to walk in the footsteps of
the saints in Erin. Bede tells us that he lived for many
years in Ireland, and he became famed in the Irish
schools for his piety and learning. Filled with the
desire of bringing the light of the Gospel to those
nations of Northern Europe, from whom the Saxons
themselves were sprung, he set out on his missionary
enterprise in the year 688, and landed in Friesland.
This territory, which is divided into two provinces by
the Issel and the Zuyder Zee, stretches along the
northern coast of Europe from the Rhine to the Ems,
and, at the period of which we speak, extended its fron
tiers to the Elbe, and probably to the Eyder. It was
inhabited by the Frisons, a barbarous people, " living
like fish in the water, and holding intercourse with other
nations only by sea."1 They were regarded by the
i Pertz, ' Monumenta Germ.' IL, pag. 341.

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 253
Romans as an indomitable race, and hitherto the Chris
tian missionaries had failed to lead them captive to the
truth. Their king, Rathbod, at one time avowed his
desire to become a convert, but when the baptismal
water was about being poured upon his head, he turned
to the priest and asked : ' Are the brave Frisons, that
are dead, in heaven or in hell V The priest replied that
none but those who were baptized could enter heaven :
' Well, then,' said the wild chieftain, ' I wish rather to
be with my brave Frisons than to be in heaven with
strangers,' and he at once stepped back from the font.
Among these people Wigbert laboured with untiring
zeal for two years, but his efforts were fruitless, and, des
pairing of success, he returned to Ireland, which he now
regarded as his home, and during his remaining years
devoted himself there "to edify his neighbours by his
example, since he had failed to win strangers to the
faith."1 About this time Pepin of Heristal, the mayor of the
palace, who had been filled with admiration at the
devotedness and zeal of the Irish bishop, St. Kilian,
during the trying period of Ebroin's tyranny, sent mes
sengers to Ireland2 to solicit missionaries for Neustria,
the modern Netherlands, and for that portion of Fries
land which he had lately conquered from Rathbod.
The eyes of all were turned to Willibrord as the man
best suited for this arduous mission. This greatest of
the Anglo-Saxon missionaries was born about the year
657, in the neighbourhood of Ripon, and soon after his
birth his father embraced a solitary life, and built for
i Bede, Eccl. Hist. v. 9.
2 Le Cointe, Ann. Eec. Fr. iv. 214, ad. an. 690.

254 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
himself a cell on the banks of the Humber, where he
served God in watching and prayer. In his twentieth
year Willibrord proceeded to Ireland, partly from desire
of leading a strict religious life, and partly in order to
profit by the sacred learning of its schools ; as Alcuin
expresses it, "like an active bee, he desired to suck
honey from its flowers." For thirteen years he made
Ireland his home, and now matured in sanctity, he was
chosen to carry out the pious wishes of Pepin. With
twelve companions, some Irish, some Saxons, whom he
selected from the Irish schools, he set sail on his sacred
mission before the close of the year 690, and landed at
Caturic, at the mouth of the Rhine. Willibrord found the
harvest, through the mercy of God, now ripe for the sickle,
and the people came to him in crowds to be instructed
in the faith. The saint, true to his Irish training,
resolved to ensure the blessing of heaven on his mis
sionary toil, and hastened to the feet of the' Vicar of
Christ to receive his sanction and authority for the
mission in which he was thus about to engage. " At
their first coming into Frisia" (primis quoque tempo
ribus) writes Bede, "he made haste to Rome, to
Pope Sergius, who then presided in the Apostolic See,
that he might undertake the much-desired work of
preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles with his license
and blessing ; and hoping to receive from him some
relics of the blessed apostles and martyrs of Christ."1
Strengthened by the Pope's benediction, and enriched
with sacred relics, Willibrord preached with the zeal of
an apostle, and heaven smiled upon his labours. In
696 it was deemed expedient that he should be raised to
1 Bede, Eec. Hist. v. 11.

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 255
the Episcopate, and again he made the journey to Rome,
where, on St. Cecilia's Feast, in the church of that great
virgin-martyr, he was consecrated by the Pope, and
Utrecht was assigned to him as his Episcopal See.
St. Willibrord is justly styled the apostle of Friesland
and of the Netherlands. He ceased not from his mis
sionary toil till his death, in his 82nd year, in a.d. 739 :
in the words of his venerable biographer, " so long as
he lived, he ceased not to labour in the love of Christ."
But to return to St. Colman, the chief event of his
episcopate was the famous conference, held at Whitby,
in the year 664, for the purpose of introducing unifor
mity in the Paschal celebration throughout the kingdom.
It was, indeed, a foregone conclusion, and it was well it
should be so. Already the Continental computation had
been enforced by the sub-king of Bernicia. The queen,
too, and her household, and several of the clergy, had
learned that such was the usage of Rome and of the
greater part of the Christian world. It was vain to
expect that they would lay aside this more perfect com
putation for the older but less correct cycle that from
time immemorial had been followed in the churches of
Ireland and Wales. It was at the request of Oswy, the
common benefactor of all, that the conference was held.
The place chosen was the Abbess Hilda's new monastery
of Whitby, "elevated on that proud seaward height
which is now crowned by the ruined church of a monas
tery, founded two centuries after her minster had been
laid desolate."1 Colman, with a few Irish priests, seems
to have stood alone in defending the claims of the Celtic
computation, but there were present Bishop Cedd, and
1 Bright, 194.

256 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the Abbot Eata and others, who had studied at Lindis
farne or Iona, and had hitherto joyfully followed the
tradition of Ireland. On the other side the leading dis
putant was St. Wilfrid, and with him were two venerable
bishops, Agilbert and Tuda. It is strange that all
three are representatives of Irish schools. Bishop Tuda
was himself an Irishman, and, as we learn from Bede,
had been consecrated bishop in the south of Ireland,
where the correct celebration of Easter was already
adopted, and having lately come into Northumbria
laboured assiduously there in preaching the faith, and
setting forth its divine teachings, " both by word and
work."1 Agilbert was consecrated in France, but
attracted to Ireland by the fame of its schools, " had
lived a long time there for the sake of studying the
Scriptures."2 He had subsequently laboured in the
kingdom of Wessex, and soon after the Whitby conference
returned to France where he was appointed to the See of
Paris. Wilfrid, too, had begun his religious life at Lin
disfarne. He entered that monastery in his fifteenth year,
and for three years was trained to piety and to sacred
learning by its Irish monks. - He learned there by heart
the Psalter in St. Jerome's correct recension, and he was
loved by the other students as a brother, by the seniors as a
son.3 With the approval of St. Finan and the monks of
Lindisfarne, he had quitted the monastery to visit Rome,
to gain the blessing of the successor of St. Peter, and
to glean whatever might be learned in the Continental
schools. He was now in his thirtieth year, and had only
a few weeks before the conference received the Holy
Order of Priesthood from Bishop Agilbert.
1 Bede, iii. 26. 2 Bede, iii. 7. 3 Bede, v_ 19_

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 257
King Oswy opened the proceedings by saying that as
they all served the same God, and hoped for the same
heavenly rewards, it was advisable that they should all
follow the same disciplinary rules, and the same obser
vance of the holy time of Easter : and then stated the
question for discussion : Of the two different traditions
regarding the celebration of Easter which was the more
correct ? He called on Bishop Colman first to explain
his ritual and to justify its origin.
It will be well to bear in mind that two distinct ques
tions were involved in this Paschal computation. First,
what cycle of years must pass before the Paschal full
moon will fall on the same day ? Second, on what day
of the Paschal month should the Easter festival be kept ;
that is to say, if the Sunday immediately following the
Paschal full moon happened to be "the fourteenth
moon " could the Easter feast be celebrated on that day ?
The Irish church had received from our apostle, St.
Patrick, the cycle of eighty-four years. It was the
cycle foUowed in Rome at the time that he was sent by
Pope Celestine to evangelize our people, but during the
two centuries that had intervened, Rome had gradually
perfected the Easter computation, whilst Leland con
tinued to observe the first cycle unchanged. The first
alteration in Rome was in the year 444. The cycle of
eighty -four years would place Easter, in that year, on
March 26th : whilst the Alexandrian computation,
which was considered the most accurate in the East,
marked Easter day on the 23rd of April. Pope Leo,
without fixing on any permanent change, wished the
Roman church for that year to follow the Alexandrian
rule. In the year 455, he again observed the Easter s

258 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
time in accordance with the Alexandrian computation.
His successor, Pope Hilary, adopted the cycle of
Victorius of Aquitaine, which continued in use till a
more perfect system was proposed, in the year 527, by
Dionysius Exiguus, which was completely in accordance
with the Alexandrian calculations, and was finally
accepted in Rome and throughout the Catholic world.
Nevertheless, the Victorian cycle held its ground for a
time, and continued to be followed in France, even as
late as the mission of St. Columbanus, towards the close
of the sixth century.1
The Celtic computation of Easter also included "the
fourteenth moon," when it fell on Sunday, within the
days on which Easter might be celebrated. The Quarto-
decimans had been condemned by the Church, for they
held that on whatever day of the week "the fourteenth
moon" might happen to fall it should be observed as
the Easter feast. But the Lish and British churches
were quite free from this error, for they never celebrated
Easter except on Sunday : and in their observance they
relied on the authority of the illustrious bishop, St.
Anatolius, who was equally revered in Rome and in
Alexandria, but whose Paschal canon had come to the
Irish and British churches — as, indeed, it had been
published all through the West — in a corrupt form.2
Having premised so much for the clearer under
standing of the controversy, we may now return to the

1 Columbanus, epist. opp. S. Gregorii, ix. 127.
2 See this Canon of Anatolius in Gallandi, Biblioth. iii. 545.
Bucherius says of it: "Paschae Dominicam luna xiv. nullo
scrupulo indicit"; and, as published in the West, it fully justified
the Irish usage.

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 259
disputants at Whitby. St. Colman stated his case with
calm and tranquil dignity, and scrupulously avoided
every shadow of exaggeration : " My usage is that
which was followed by my predecessors ; all our
fathers observed it ; they were men of God, and we read
that their usage was derived from the apostle St. John.
In reverence for these holy men, I dare not change it,
and I will not change it. We hold it as a venerable
tradition that the fourteenth moon, being Sunday, is to
be kept as Easter Day. Let the other side state the
reasons on which they ground their usage." Oswy
called on Bishop Agilbert to reply, but he requested that
Wilfrid, who could explain the matter better in the
English tongue, might be allowed to speak in his stead.
Then Wilfrid said : " We keep Easter as we have seen
it kept by all Christians at Rome, where the blessed
apostles, SS. Peter and Paul, lived, taught, suffered,
and are buried. We have seen the same rule observed
throughout Italy and Gaul : we know that it is so in
Africa, in Asia, in Greece, and throughout Christendom,
in spite of all difference of language and of country.
It is only these (i.e., Colman and his companions), and
their partners in obstinacy, the Picts and Britons, who,
inhaliting some parts only of the two most remote
islands of the world, are acting foolishly in seeking
to fight against the whole world."3
Colman replied : " It is strange that you speak of our
acting foolishly, when we follow the rule of the great
Apostle who reclined on the Lord's breast." Wilfrid,
1 " De duabus ultimis oceani insulis, et his non totis." Bede,
iii. 25. Cummian had said the same. " Britonum, Scotorumque
particula, qui sunt paene extremi." Usher, Sylloge, p. 21

260 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
in his answer, argued that St. John might have found
it necessary to adhere for a time to Jewish observances ;
but that the true Christian celebration of Easter, as
taught by the Sacred Scriptures, was that which St.
Peter preached in Rome, and which the churches of the
whole world now followed. The Irish, he added, did
not follow the old Asiatic custom, which celebrated
Easter on whatever day the fourteenth moon happened
to fall, and hence they agreed neither with Peter nor
John, neither with the Jewish Law nor with the Gospel.
In this Wilfrid was in manifest error, for he supposed
that the Easter rule then adopted by the successors of
St. Peter was the one which from the beginning had
been followed in Rome, whereas it had only been intro
duced there about one hundred years before.
Colman next appealed to the Paschal Canon of
Anatolius, according to which the Paschal limits
should be " the fourteenth and twentieth moons,"
and then he asked, "Are we to be told that our most
venerable father, Columba, and his successors, men
beloved of God, have acted contrary to what the Divine
Word teaches ? Many of these holy men have given
proof of their sanctity by miracles ; and as for me, who
believe in that sanctity, I choose to follow their teach
ing and their example." Wilfrid, in his reply, entered
into a long statement regarding the Anatolian Canon,
proving, as the learned Patavius remarks, that he was
quite ignorant of the true Canon of Anatolius, and
assigning to that holy bishop opinions which he had
never dreamt of.1 But then he very sensibly added :
1 Petavius, De Ratione Temp. " opinionem quam ne somniavit
quidem unquam."

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 261
" As to your father Columba, and his disciples, I do not
deny that they were servants of God and beloved by
Him ; no doubt they loved Him in their rustic sim^
plicity with the most pious intentions. I do not think
there was much harm in their observance of Easter,
because no one had told them of more perfect rules. If
a Catholic computation had been presented to them, I
believe they would have foUowed it, as they followed the
commandments of God which they knew. But as for
you, without doubt you are in fault, if, after having
heard the decrees of the Apostolic See, and of the
universal church, confirmed by the Holy Scripture,
you still despise them. Even admitting the sanctity of
your fathers, how can you prefer, to the Church, spread
over the whole earth, this handful of saints in one
corner of a remote island ? Your Cohimba, and I will
say also our Columba, so far as he was the servant of
Christ, however holy or powerful by his virtues he may
have been, is he to be placed before the chief of the
Apostles, to whom our Lord himself said : ' Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ; and I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' "
We must make allowance for the ardour and impetu
osity of the youthful WUfrid, while we recall the many
errors into which he fell in this argumentation. There
was no decree of the universal church, or of the
Apostolic See, condemning the Celtic usage, and there
was nothing in Sacred Scripture that he could legiti
mately claim as supporting one usage rather than
another. The Paschal system, then in use in Rome,
was a matter of disciplinary observance, in which the

262 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Roman church had herself abandoned her original tra
dition. The successors of St. Peter had gradually
perfected the manner of calculating the Paschal time,
but with wise and prudent moderation had allowed its
general acceptance to be the result of its own intrinsic
merits, without enforcing it by any special decree. The
last words of Wilfrid, however, were those which came
home to the heart of Oswy. They set before him the
majesty of the Apostolic See, and the reverence which
even in matters not essential should be shown by the
faithful to the key-bearer of heavenly authority. Ad
dressing himself to Colman: "Is it true" he said,
" that these words were addressed by our Lord to St.
Peter?" "It is true, 0 king," was the answer. "Do
you claim any similar authority for your father
Columba?" rejoined the king. " No," said the bishop.
"You are then botjh agreed in this that the keys of
heaven were given to St. Peter by our Lord," added
Oswy. " Yes, assuredly," they both replied. Then
with a smile the king pronounced his decision : "I say
to you both that this is the doorkeeper of heaven, whom
I do not choose to gainsay, and that I will not oppose
him, but as far as I know and am able, I desire in all
things to obey his rulings, lest when I reach the doors of
the celestial kingdom, there be no one to open them for
me, if I am the adversary of him who carries the keys.
In all my life I will neither do or approve anything or
any person that may be contrary to him."
The assembly applauded the king's decision, but
Colman, ever ready to obey the monarch in temporal
matters, refused to recognise his authority in things
spiritual. To remove, however, all danger of dissen-

Immediate Successors of St. A idan. 263
sion he resigned his See of Lindisfarne, and accompanied
by those who still adhered to the Celtic usage, withdrew
from Northumbria and repaired once more to his loved
parent monastery of Iona. Strange to say, some Pro
testant writers find in this conduct of St. Colman a
pretence for asserting that he rejected and disobeyed the
authority of the successors of St. Peter. But surely that
authority had not been exercised, how then could it be
rejected or disobeyed ? Wilfrid, or those who sided with
him, had not been invested with any power to speak in
the name of the Sovereign Pontiff, and Oswy in his
decision only proclaimed a secular enactment- Far
more just would it be for us to conclude that St. Colman
and his opponents were alike obedient to the successors
of St. Peter. Both recognised his supreme authority ;
both admitted that to him, and to him alone, were
addressed the words, " Thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my Church ; " and both declared that
to him alone the keys of Christ's Kingdom were con
signed, and that he was the divinely strengthened rock
on which the whole church should rest. But St.
Colman considered that till the successors of St. Peter
exercised in this matter their supreme authority, and
prohibited the usage which he defended, it was his
privilege, and it was a duty to which he would not prove
unfaithful, to follow the tradition of his fathers.
Most of the Irish monks departed from Lindisfarne
with Colman, and with them also went some thirty
Anglo-Saxons who had been instructed in that monas
tery, and were united in the closest bonds of affection
with their spiritual father. One parting request the
holy Bishop made to Oswy. He feared lest the brethren

264 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
who remained at Lindisfarne might be disturbed on
his account, and he asked that Eata, who had been one
of Aidan's first pupils, and was now abbot of Melrose,
would be set over that monastery. To this Oswy readily
assented, and before the close, of a.d. 664, Colman,
accompanied by the religious brethren, and bearing with
him a portion of the relics of St. Aidan, bade a last
farewell to Lindisfarne.
The Venerable Bede takes occasion from his departure
to review the career of Colman and his predecessors, and
his words present a golden eulogy of these illustrious
Irish Bishops : — "How great was Colman's austerity,"
he writes, " how great his continence, the place which
they governed shows for himself and his predecessors ;
for there were very few houses, besides the church,
found at their departure ; indeed no more than were
barely sufficient for their daily residence. They had
also no money, but some cattle, for if they received any
money from rich persons they immediately gave it to the
poor, there being no need to gather money or provide
houses for the entertainment of the great men of the
world, for such never resorted to the church except to
pray and hear the Word of God. The king himself,
when opportunity required, came only with five or six
servants, and having performed his devotions in the
church departed. But if they happened to take a repast
there they were satisfied with only the plain and daily
food of the brethren, and required no more— for the
whole care of those teachers was to serve God, not the
world, to feed the soul, not the flesh. For this reason
the religious habit was at that time held in great vene
ration, so that wheresoever any cleric or monk happened

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 265
to come he was joyfully received by all persons as God's
servant ; and if they chanced to meet him, as he was
upon the way, they ran to him, and bowing, were glad
to receive the sign of the cross from his hand, or words
of blessing from his lips. Great attention was also paid
to their exhortations, and on Sundays the people flocked
eagerly to the church or the monasteries, not to feed
their bodies, but to hear the Word of God ; and if any
priest happened to come into a village the inhabitants
flocked together forthwith to hear from him the Word
of Life. For the priests and clerics went into the
viUages on no other account than to preach, baptize,
visit the sick, and, in few words, to take care of souls ;
and they were so free from the curse of worldly avarice that
none of them received lands and possessions for building
monasteries unless they were compelled to do so by the
temporal authorities ; which custom was for some time
after observed in all the churches ofthe Northumbrians."1
We could not desire a more authentic testimony to the
disinterestedness and piety, as well as to the devoted
zeal with which the Irish bishops and priests had culti
vated the spiritual vineyard in the kingdom of North
umbria, buUding up, by their labours, churches of fairest
proportions and marvellous strength, and training a
native clergy to perpetuate among the Anglo-Saxon
nations the salutary teaching and the blessings of divine
faith. The Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Oxford
at the present day is not less eloquent than the first
father of Anglo-Saxon history in his praise of these
illustrious bishops. Their mission in Northumbria, he
writes, " brought religion straight home to men's hearts
1 Bede, iii. 26.

266 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
by sheer power of love and self-sacrifice : it held up
before them, in the unconscious goodness and nobleness
of its representatives, the moral evidence for Christianity.
It made them feel what it was to be taught and cared
for, in the life spiritual, by pastors who, before all
things, were the disciples and ministers of Christ —
whose chief and type was a St. Aidan." (Page 204).
St. Colman remained for some time in Iona, resting
there from his past labours and enjoying the sweets of
the observance of the religious life. He then proceeded
to the Island of Inisbofin, off the coast of Mayo, and
erected a monastery, in which he placed the former
community of Lindisfarne ; but after some time dis
sensions arising between the Celtic brethren and the
Saxons, he conducted the latter to Mayo, where he had
received a noble site for a monastery under the con
dition of prayers being offered in it for the repose of the
soul of the donor. Around this monastery a city
sprung up, which in the course of time became an im
portant Episcopal See; many religious from England
continued for about a hundred years to flock thither, and
from them it derived the name, by which it long con
tinued to be known in the Irish schools, of " Mayo of
the Saxons." Bede tells us that in his day it was still
possessed by the English brethren, whom he styles " a
distinguished congregation of monks, who live by their
own labour in great strictness and holiness under a
canonical rule and abbot. " 1
Our writers are not agreed as to the precise year of
the foundation of the monastery of Inisbofin. Usher and
others placed it in the year 664, and, indeed, it is diffi-
iv. 4.

Immediate Successors of St. Aidan. 267
cult to suppose that Colman would permit the island
community of Iona to be for any lengthened period
burdened with the support of the large body of monks
who had accompanied him. Others, however, adopt a
later date, relying on the authority of the Annals of
Ulster, which mark, under the year 667, ' the sailing of
Colman to Inisbofin, and his founding a church there ; '
and on the Annals of Tighernach, which in 668 have a
somewhat similar entry :— " a.d. 668, navigatio Col-
manni Episcopi cum reliquiis sanctorum ad insulam
vaccae Albae (Inisbofin) in qua fundavit ecclesiam."
Perhaps these jarring opinions may be reconciled by
supposing that the community proceeded at once to
enter on its labours in the island of Inisbofin, but that
it was only in the year 667 or 668 when the church
was built and the community consolidated, that St.
Colman translated thither the precious relies of St.
Aidan and the other sacred treasures which he had
brought with him from Lindisfarne.
At all events this holy bishop was not idle during his
sojourn at the parent monastery of Iona, and it was
during this interval that he founded the churches of
Feam in Angus, and of Tarbet in Easter-Ross, the
former of which was dedicated to St. Aidan, and probably
enriched by a portion of that saint's relics, whilst the
other in after times bore the name of its founder, St.
Colman. St. Cummian, who wrote the first life of St.
Columba, was at this time abbot of Iona, and it is not
improbable that he was moved to undertake this work
by the request of St. Colman, who must not have con
cealed from him what he had fully realized at the con
ference of Whitby, that very little was known, even by

268 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the clergy across the borders, of the name, and the
sanctity, and the miracles of their great founder.
St. Colman governed the two monasteries of Mayo
and Inisbofin till his death, which took place at the latter
monastery, in the year 676, on the 8th of August, on
which day his feast is marked in our ancient Martyr -
ologies.1 The ruins of his church may still be seen at
Knocktownland, in the island of Inisbofin.

CHAPTER XI.
ST. CUTHBERT.
SS. Tuda andEata : — St. Cuthbert born in Ireland : — His early years
— He tends flocks on the Lammermoor : — His life in the monastery
of Mailros : — His hermitage at Dull : — His austerities : — Succeeds
Boisil as Prior : — His charity to pilgrims : — Apostolic zeal : —
St. Cuthbert in Lindisfarne: — He retires to Fame Island: — Is
appointed Bishop: — Death of King Egfrid: — St. Cuthbert's
virtues and miracles : — His friendship for Herbert of Derwent-
water : — He protects the home of his foster-mother : — Visits the
monasteries of Coldingham, Whitby, and Tynemouth : — St. Cuth
bert's death : — Popular veneration for his memory : — Character
of King Aldfrid of Northumbria.
The influence of the Irish Church on the Kingdom of
Northumbria did not cease with the withdrawal of St.
Colman from the Episcopate of Lindisfarne. Another
Irish Bishop, whose name has already been before us,
was appointed to succeed him. This was Tuda. Trained
1 His life is given by the Bollandists in torn. iii. Februarii.
pag. 82.

St. Cuthbert. 269
in the southern monasteries of Ireland, he had adopted
the correct Easter computation, and it was hoped that
under his wise rule peace and concord would be soon
re-established, and religion would continue to prosper as
hitherto it had prospered under his Celtic predecessors.
His Episcopate, however, lasted only a few months, for
he was carried off by the plague before the close of the
year 664. Bede compendiates his history in a few words :
"he was a good and religious man, but governed the
church only a very short time." 1 The plague which
raged at this time was known as the Buidhe Connaill,
or the yellow pest, on account of the ghastly yellow hue
of those whom it attacked. It made its appearance in
the south of England in the beginning of May, 664, the
King of Kent and the Archbishop of Canterbury being
among its first victims. Before the close of Autumn it
spread to Ireland, and our annals give a long list of the
illustrious princes and holy men whom it carried off.2
It was whilst visiting the monastery of Paegnalech,
supposed to be Finchale, on the western bank of the
Wear, at Durham, that Tuda was hurried out of this
world, and his remains were interred in the church of
that monastery. A few years later the abbot, Eata, was
appointed bishop of this See. He was one of the first
Saxons whom St. Aidan had trained for the sanctuary
in Lindisfarne. He had subsequently been appointed
by the same holy bishop to govern the monastery of
Mailros, and after the conference of Whitby, at St.
Colman's request, he took charge of the parent house of
1 Bede, " permodico tempore ecclesiam regens." iii. 26.
2 The Ulster Annals have the entry " Innumerabiles mortui
sunt."

270 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Lindisfarne. He faithfully preserved, and handed on
the traditions of Celtic piety, and had for his successor
in this See St. Cuthbert, the most illustrious and the
most beloved of the many saints whom Ireland has given
to the English church.
Venerable Bede has given us two lives of St. Cuthbert.
He had gleaned the facts which he relates from those
whose privilege it was to be disciples and companions of
the saint, and he himself may be considered a contem
porary, for he was thirteen years old at the time of
St. Cuthbert's death. Nevertheless of the early life of
Cuthbert, Bede gives us no details.1 , He is silent as to his
country, his parents, his childhood, and he first introduces
us to St. Cuthbert when he was in his eighth year, and
living with a pious widow named Kenspid, whom he
regarded with such affection that he used to call her
' mother,' and under whose care he grew up to manhood,
tending the herds and flocks entrusted to him on the
banks of the Leader, or along the southern slopes of the
Lammermoor hills.
Other authorities, however, supply for this deficiency
of Bede, and it is an immemorial tradition, to which
no impartial inquirer can refuse to give his assent, that
1 Some recent writers have thought that they could find in Bede's
Metrical Life of St. Cuthbert a reference to his birthplace, when
he writes that Britain
" Temporibus genuit fulgur venerabile nostris,"
but the context clearly shows that these words refer not to
Cuthbert himself, but to the fame of his sanctity and his holy rule
of life. In the same way Rome is said in the preceding verses to
be rendered illustrious by the heroism of the Apostles SS. Peter
and Paul, and Constantinople by the eloquence of Chrysostom.
All the ablest editors of Bede and the other ecclesiastical historians
of England admit that Bede is silent as to St. Cuthbert's birthplace.

St. Cuthbert. 271
St. Cuthbert was a native of Ireland. This was the
tradition of the Cathedral of Durham, where for six
centuries his sacred shrine was the great centre of pil
grimage for the faithful from all parts of England.
Under the figure of St. Cuthbert on the altar screen was
preserved the inscription down to the Reformation
period, " St. Cuthbert, Patron of the Church, City, and
Liberty of Durham, an Irishman by birth, of royal parent
age, who was led by God's providence to England."1
The rich-stained glass windows which once adorned this
Cathedral recorded the whole series of the Saint's life.
They were demolished indeed in Edward the Sixth's
reign, the Protestant Dean " breaking them aU to pieces,
for he could never abide any ancient monuments, acts,
or deeds that gave any light of, or to, godly religion ; "
but the scenes which they represented have happily been
registered, and first amongst them was " the birth of the
Saint at Kells," with "the bright beams shining from
heaven upon the mother and child, where he did lie in the
cradle, so that to every man's thinking the Holy Ghost
had overshadowed him."2
Such, too, was the tradition of the Lish Church, and
this has been attested to us in a most authoritative
way. In the year 1838, the Surtees Society for illus
trating the history and antiquities of Durham, published
1 " Sanctus Cuthbertus, patronus ecclesiae, civitatis, et libertatis
Dunelmensis, natione Hibernicus, reghs parentibus ortus," &c.
The ancient Rites of Durham, pag. 112.
2 Ibid., pag. 65. The writer adds : " The Bishop baptized the
child, and did call him Mulloche in the Irish tongue, the whieh is
in English as much as to say Cuthbert . . . The name of the
city that the child St. Cuthbert was baptized in is called
Hardbrecins (Ardbraccan)."

272 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
for the first time from the MSS. of the Dean and
Chapter of York, a valuable Tract on the Life of
St. Cuthbert, which had been compiled about the year
1200, from earlier authentic sources.1 This Tract of
such venerable antiquity expressly attests that the Saint
was born in Ireland, and gives in detail the narrative of
his royal descent and Irish parentage. The writer,
moreover, assigns the sources whence he had derived the
facts which he narrates, and he appeals to Irish MSS.
which had been explained to him by most trustworthy
Irish Priests, disciples of St. Malachy, and to most
ancient Annals of Ireland, ' Hybemiensium annalibus
vetustissimis.' He further cites the oral testimony of
an Irish Bishop named Eugene, a man of high repute
and of holy life, with whom he had often conversed2 on
the matter, and who, being a native of Meath, assured
him that the tradition relative to St. Cuthbert's birth in
Kells was vividly cherished in that then flourishing city.
As if all this did not suffice, he had further received the
written attestation of four other Irish Bishops who, by
1 It is entitled : " Libellus de nativitate sancti Cuthberti, de
Historiis Hybernensium exceptus et translatus." Publications of
the Surtees Society, 1838, pag. 61.
2"Sanctae opinionis et conversationis virum," pag. 63. The
name of this bishop's see is at first very corruptly given
HarundinonensU : however at page 87 he is called Episcopus'
Hardmonensis, which points to Ardmore in the county Waterford
as his See. From Cotton's " Fasti," pag. 212, we learn that at the
close of the 12th century a Bishop Eugene held this See. The
Tract on the Life of St. Cuthbert adds that the holy patron of
this See was "novem mortuorum suscitator magnificus," and
famous for miracles : this belongs to the Life of St. Declan, the
patron of Ardmore. Bishop Eugene further described that part
of Ireland as " patriae provinciam regionibus caeteris Hyberniae
praeclariorem et praestantiorem omnibusque rebus fertuiorem,"
pag. 73

St. Cuthbert. 273
the seal of their authority, authenticated this tradition
of our country, and he gives the names of these four
Prelates — St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh; Gillebert,
Bishop of Limerick ; Albinus, Bishop of Ferns ; and
Matthew O'Heney, Archbishop of Cashel. Now these
are some of the brightest names that adorn the Irish
Church in the twelfth century ; ' and I will add that, in
regard to St. Cuthbert, the testimony of O'Heney,
Archbishop of Cashel, brings with it special weight. It
is not only that whUst he held the See of Cashel, he
was also the delegate or representative of the Holy See
for aU Ireland, and that in the Annals of St. Mary's
Abbey, he is styled, " the wisest and most rehgious man
of the Irish nation," but further it is known that he
applied himself in a particular manner to the study of
the History of the Irish Church, and, as Ware informs
us, he even composed a Life of St. Cuthbert, which
unfortunately is not now known to exist.
In addition to all this evidence, there is a fragment
of a Latin Metrical Life of St. Cuthbert in the British
Museum, beginning :
" Si cupis audire, Cuthberti miraque scire,"
which expressly refers to his Irish birth : —
" Regis erat natus, et Hybernicus est generatus."2
Fordun is further a witness that such, too, was the
tradition of Scotland ; and the testimonies of John of
Tinmouth and Capgrave and the English Martyrology
1 The writer of the Tract most justly adds : " quisquis ipsorum
sanctitatis vestigia noverat, de verbis illorum et veritatis protes-
tatione dubitare non poterat." Surtees. Public, pag. 78.
2 MSS. Brit. Mus. Titus, a. ii., % 3.

274 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
should suffice to prove that the general tradition of
England was favourable to the same opinion, for they
are all found to agree in this, that St. Cuthbert was
born in Ireland.1
We may now resume our narrative of the saint's life.
He was born at Kells, in the County of Meath, about
the year 625, and he was brought to Ardbraccan to be
regenerated in the waters of baptism. " There is a
very large city in Ireland (thus runs the narrative in the
Tract, written about the year 1200), which in the Irish
tongue is called Kenanas (Kells), and it is situate in the
province of Meath, which is most rich in game and corn,
in pasturage and woods, and is abundantly supplied with
streams and rivers : the river Boyne, which flows
through it, is full to overflowing with several varieties
of fish. This city, which is both rich and beautiful, is
stated to have been the birthplace of the holy youth,
and the inhabitants still point out the place where he
was born, and it would appear from the ruins, which
still remain, that a convent of nuns was in later times
erected there, and through the memory of the sanctity
of the child, the spot is exceedingly honoured by the
people ofthe whole province."2 In baptism St. Cuth
bert received the name of Mo-uallog, which may be in
terpreted " my privileged one," but in England this
name was exchanged for the Saxon Cudberct or Cuth
bert, which, as, indeed, one of the ancient records
1 In Butler's " Lives of the Saints" it is said " St. Cuthbert, ac
cording to his MS. Life in the Cottonian Library, was born at
Ceannanes, or Kells, in Meath. By his mother, Saba, a princess
who led a holy life, he was grandson of Murertach, King of Ire
land, a.d. 533," vol. xii., pag. 339, ed. Dublin, 1845.
2 Surtees, pag. 72.

St. Cuthbert. 275
expressly mentions, corresponds in meaning with the
Irish name.1 Soon after his birth, a brilliant light from
heaven encompassed the house in which he lay, and,
beaming brightly around his cradle, foreshadowed that
he would be a chosen instrument in the designs of
heaven. Sabina, his mother, was of noble birth, but in
one of those intestine wars, which so often rendered
desolate the most favoured portions of the kingdom,
most of her famUy had been slain, and she herself had
been overwhelmed in misfortune and ruin. The bishop
of KeUs, indeed, had undertaken the charge of in
structing Mo-uallog, and so bright was the intelligence
of the child that he soon was able to repeat the Creed
and the Psalms. But this good bishop was too soon
summoned to his reward, and Cuthbert's mother, know
ing the danger to which her son would be now exposed,
taking him with her, entered a little coracle, and sailed
for North Britain. They landed at Portpatrick, in the
1 Colgan, having before him only the corrupt text of Capgrave,
in which the saint is called Nulluhoc, gave a different interpretation
of the name. However, in Cormac's Glossary we find the word
Uall used for pride or excellence (Public, of I.A.S., 1868, pag.
165) : and Uallach, which is derived from it, is still used as a
female proper name, as we learn from O'Donovan in preface to
Irish Topographical Poems (Public, of I.A.S., 1862, pag. 62).
The endearing Celtic epithet Mo being prefixed, as is so common
in the old Irish names, we have Mo-uallog, or by contraction
Muallog, which would mean " My proud or privileged one," and
thus fully corresponds with the Anglo-Saxon name ; for, Cudberct,
or Cuthbert, in Saxon, means "one eminently skilful," or "illus
trious for skill." It has been suggested that, perhaps, St. Cuth
bert's name was confounded with that of Columba, " who was
born at Kells in Meath." (The History of St. Cuthbert, by Very
Rev. Monsignor Eyre, pag. 4). However St. Columba was not
born at Kells, but in the county of Donegal, and there does not
seem to be much similarity between the names Moualloc and
Columba.

276 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Rinns of Galloway, and, finding there a vessel about to
proceed towards the north, continued their journey, and
landed on the cost of Argyll. There they were beset
by robbers, who were attracted by the rich ornaments
which Sabina wore, but they were saved by the prayers
of Cuthbert. Having tarried here for a time, they
crossed the Scottish frontier into Lothian, where the
pious Oswald now held sway, and where St. Aidan was
so zealously tending the flock of Christ, The Tract
adds that in Lothian a church was in after times
" erected in St. Cuthbert's honour, which is to this day
called Childeschirche," in which we find a strong cor
roboration of the accuracy of its narrative, for such was
indeed " the old name ofthe parish, now called Channel-
kirk, in the upper part of the vale of the Leader,"1 the
precise district in which we meet with Cuthbert, when
Bede begins the narrative ofhis life. Sabina here con
signed the child to the care of a virtuous widow, who
lived at a village called Wrangholm, on the banks ofthe
Leader,2 in Berwickshire, and pursued her pilgrimage
to Rome, where she lived for some time, and was held
in great repute for sanctity,3 and dying there was
1 Skene, Celtic Scotland, vol. 2, pag. 205.
2 This stream pours its waters from the north into the Tweed,
two miles below Melrose,
3 We find frequent mention in our Annals of pilgrimages to the
Continent by Irish females of royal birth : for instance, St. Min-
garda, sister of St. Siadhuil, who is honoured in Lucca ; and St.
Syra, sister of St. Fiacre ; and St. Osanna, who entered the con
vent at Jouarre. Darras, in his " Histoire Generale de 1'Eglise,"
writes that in the crypt of Jouarre are preserved several monu
ments ofthe merovingian period, and among them a statue of
" Sainte Ozanne, une Irlandaise de royale origine," who had been
an inmate of the monastery under the holy abbess, St. Thelchide,
and who " a laissS dans la tradition du pays le souvenir toujours,
vivant de ses vertus," vol. 16, pag, 73.

St. Cuthbert. 277
honoured as a saint in some of the churches of the
Marches, her festival being kept on the 5th of November.1
Among the companions of his childhood, Cuthbert
was foremost in every boyish game, as weU as in their
various exercises of agility and strength. As he advanced
in years, however, he loved labour, and guarding the
flocks entrusted to his care, he grew to manhood on the
southern slopes of the Lammermoor. From the whole
narrative of Bede it would seem most probable that his
foster mother ranked among those rich vassals to whom
the higher Saxon lords gave the care of their flocks on
those extensive pasturages which, under the name of
folcland, were left to their use. A somewhat similar
custom, we are told, exists in Hungary at the present
day. Among our Celtic saints the shepherd's life was
often the prelude to sanctity. So it was with St.
Carthage, the younger, who, though of noble birth,
tended his father's flocks on the banks of the Mang, but
when one day the king of the territory offered him the
sword and other insignia of knighthood, he replied that
he desired rather the monk's cowl, and the insignia of
the servants of God. So, too, it was with Cuthbert,
who, leading a shepherd's life, began to cherish a love
of sohtude, wlulst the spirit of prayer grew every day
more perfect in his heart. One instance wUl suffice
to show with what fervour he prayed even at this early
period. Not far from the mouth of the river Tyne,
towards the south, there was a monastery, known in
after times as Tiningham. Some of the religious were
1 Fitzsimons, in Catal. SS. Hib. Fitzsimons, however, calls
St Sabina the avia, and not the mother, of St. Cuthbert, being
led astray in this by the statement of Capgrave.

278 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
engaged conveying upon the river a supply of wood for
the monastery, on rafts, but a sudden tempestuous wind,
arising from the west, drove the rafts far out to sea, and
the religious gave themselves up for lost. The monks-
launched some boats with the view of assisting them,
but such was the force of the current, and the power of
winds, that their efforts were unavailing. They had then
recourse to prayer, but nevertheless the storm continued
to rage, and now the rafts were so far out at sea that
they appeared like little birds upon the waves. Some
of the people, who were gathered on the opposite bank
ofthe river, began to ridicule the monks because their
prayers were fruitless, but Cuthbert, who was in the
midst of them, checked their reproaches, saying it was
more meet that they too should pray for those who were
in such peril, and then bowing down his head to the
ground in prayer, the wind at the moment changed,
and soon the rafts, and those that guided them, were
safely wafted to the beach.1
One night as Cuthbert was tending his flocks, he saw
a brilliant light streaming down to the earth, and choirs
of angels descending from heaven, and after a little
whUe again they ascended, bearing with them a soul of
exceeding brightness to the heavenly country.2 Next
day he learned that precisely at that moment Aidan of
Lindisfarne had passed to his reward. Cuthbert had
often had serious thoughts of embracing the religious
life : this vision decided his choice, for he yearned to
1 Bede, Vit. Cuthb., chap. 3.
2 For the details of St. Cuthbert's Life, we must ref er the reader
to " The History of St. Cuthbert," a most interesting work, pub
lished in 1849, by the present Archbishop of Glasgow.

St. Cuthbert. 279
secure for himself the blessedness of such happy souls.
Without delay he set out for the monastery of Mailros,
and there consigning his horse and spear to an
attendant, entered the church and gave himself to God.
This must have been soon after the death of St. Aidan
in the year 651, and since Cuthbert is presented to us by
Bede as full grown in years, and, acting as his own
master, we may suppose him to have attained his
twenty-fifth year.1 BoisU was at this time prior of the
monastery, and seeing Cuthbert approach said to those
around him: "Behold a true servant of the Lord":
a prediction which was soon verified by the earnestness
with which he apphed himself to aU the exercises of the
rehgious rule. For ten years he thus pursued the
peaceful paths of the monastic hfe, outstripping the
most fervent of his companions in austerities2 as weU as
in prayer, and study, and manual labour.
In the year 661, Eata, the holy abbot of Mailros,
received a gift of an estate of thirty or forty hides of
land at Ripon, and resolved at once to open a monastery
there. Cuthbert was one of those chosen for the new
foundation, and the special office of provost ofthe guest-
chamber was entrusted to him. In this office he gave
abundant proof of how fully the true charity of the
rehgious life had taken root in his soul. When

1 Bede nowhere assigns the precise age of St. Cuthbert. In his
Ecclesiastical History, however, he says that at the time of his
death he had attained " senilem aetatem" (iv. 27). This would
scarcely be true unless he were at least sixty years of age at the
time of his death, which took place in 687- He must, therefore,
have been in his 24th year at least when he entered Mailros.
2 It is particularly recorded of Cuthbert that he abstained from
wine and every other intoxicating drink.

280 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
travellers arrived fatigued from their journey, and
famished or fainting with cold, he himself washed their
feet, and warmed them in his bosom, and then hastened
to prepare the food which they might require. Eata,
however, and Cuthbert, and their brother religious, were
soon obliged to retire from Ripon, for, even before the
conference of Whitby, the sub-king of Deira, to whom
they were indebted for this foundation, insisted on their
laying aside the Celtic observances, to which they clung
with fond affection. With this royal injunction they
refused to comply, and hence all returned to Mailros.
And now began the missionary life of Cuthbert, which
was to produce such abundant fruit, whilst at the same
time he applied himself to the heroic practice of peni
tential austerities, which excited the admiration and
wonder of the holiest men of his age. " Not a viUage
was so distant, not a mountain side so steep, not a
cottage so poor that it escaped his zeal. He sometimes
passed weeks and even months out of his monastery,
preaching to and confessing the rustic population of
these mountains. The roads were very bad, or rather
there were no roads ; only now and then was it possible
to travel on horseback ; sometimes when his course lay
along the coast of the districts inhabited by the Picts, he
would take the help of a boat. But generally it was on
foot that he had to penetrate into the glens and distant
valleys, crossing the heaths and vast table-lands unculti
vated and uninhabited, where a few shepherds' huts,
like that in which he himself had passed his childhood,
and which were in winter abandoned even by the rude
inhabitants, were thinly scattered. But neither the
intemperance of the seasons, nor hunger, nor thirst,

St. Cuthbert. 281
arrested the young and valiant missionary in his apos
tolic travels to seek the scattered population, half Celts
and half Anglo-Saxons, who, though already Christian
in name and by baptism, yet retained an obstinate
attachment to many of their former superstitions."1
It was probably at this time that St. Cuthbert lived
for a while as a solitary near the village of Dull, in
Atholl. About a mile from the village there was in the
woods a steep mountain, now called the Rock of Weem,
on the summit of which he erected a little cell. Here
at his prayer a spring of pure water gushed forth from
the hard rock, and here, too, he erected a large stone
cross, and close to it an oratory of wood. The cliff of
Weem still rises to a height of about six hundred feet,
and in many places it is so steep as to be almost per
pendicular. At its foot is the Church of Weem, and
about the middle of the rock there is a spring of water
now called St. Dabi's Well,2 for St. Dabius, too, came
in after times to live here, and to him is dedicated a
little oratory which stands on a shelf of the rock, now
called Craig-na-Chapel. St. Adamnan founded a
monastery here soon after the death of St. Cuthbert,
and thus these three iUustrious Irish saints combined
to sanctify this chosen spot, and to prepare the way for
the first foundations of what in after times was to be
come the great University of St. Andrew's.3 In the
eleventh century the comharb, or lay abbot of this monas
tery, was the ancestor of the royal house of the Stuarts.
1 Montalembert, " Monks of the West," iv., 384.
2 See, for this Saint, page 184.
6 Montalembert calls it the " Cradle of the University of Saint
Andrew's," iv., page 385.

282 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Bede gives us many instances ofthe great austerities
of St. Cuthbert at this period of his life, and he more
than once refers to his habit, so peculiar to our early
Celtic saints, of plunging into the running stream or
into the waves, and remaining there whilst reciting the
Psalter. On one occasion he was so fatigued by this
penitential exercise that when he left the water he fell
exhausted and benumbed upon the sea- shore, and the
tradition still lingers among the peasants of Northumber
land, and of the Scottish borders, that two otters came
to lick his frozen feet, and to hug them until life and
warmth were restored.
About this time England, as well as Ireland, was visited
by that terrible scourge known as the Buidhe Conaill,
or the Yellow Pest, which carried off several of our
greatest saints. Boisil, the prior of Mailros, was one of
those attacked by it. Summoning Cuthbert to his bed
side he said, " I have but seven days to live," and then
he told him to take and read for their mutual instruction
a copy of the Gospel of St. John, which was in seven
quaternios, that thus reading and commenting on one
each day they would have it ended before his death.1
Six hundred years afterwards that copy of the sacred text
was still laid on the altar in Durham on our saint's
festival, and was kissed with devotion by pious pilgrims
through reverence for the holy prior and for St. Cuthbert.
Cuthbert was himself attacked by the plague, but the
monks prayed earnestly for his recovery. When it was
told him that the community had spent the night in
prayer for him, he cried out, " What am I doing in bed ?
1 Bede, Vit. Cuthb., 8.

St. Cuthbert. 283
It is impossible that God should shut his ears to such
prayers : give me my staff and sandals," and he at once
arose. Cuthbert was appointed prior in room of Boisil, and
during the several years that he held this office at
Melrose, or at Lindisfarne, " he performed its functions
with so much spiritual zeal, as became a saint, that he
gave to the whole community not only the counsels, but
also the example, of a monastic life."1 It is particularly
recorded how his charity to the poor and to the pilgrims
merited for him the privilege of ministering to an angel,
who presented himself under the disguise of a stranger,
and who, on taking his deparature, left for Cuthbert
three loaves of surpassing beauty, " such as this world
cannot produce," writes Bede, " excelling the lilies in
whiteness, the roses in perfume, and the honey in
sweetness." At the same time Cuthbert displayed the
zeal of an apostle in breaking the Bread of Life to the
faithful of the surrounding territory, and ministering to
their spiritual and temporal wants. The details which
have been preserved by Bede show that his labours
extended over all the hUly district between the two seas,
from the Solway to the Forth. Visiting these remote
districts " he often did not return to his monastery for
an entire week, sometimes for two or three, yea,
occasionaUy, for even an entire month, remaining all
the time in the mountains, and calling back to heavenly
concerns these rustic people by the word of his preaching
as well as by his example of virtue."2 How different is
1 Bede, Vita S. Cuth., 9.
2 Bede, Ibid. " In viculis qui in arduis asperisque montibus."
Hist. Eccl. iv. 27.

284 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
the aspect of that district now-a-days from what it
presented to St. Cuthbert : " To-day the land is a
land of poetry and romance. Cheviot and Lammermoor,
Ettrick and Teviotdale, Yarrow and Annan-water, are
musical with old ballads and border minstrelsy.
Agriculture has chosen its vaUeys for her favourite
seat, and drainage and steam-power have turned sedgy
marshes into farm and meadow. But to see the low
lands as they were in Cuthbert's day we must sweep
away meadows and farm again, and replace them by
vast solitudes, dotted here and there with clusters of
wooden hovels, and covered by boggy tracts, over which
travellers rode spear in hand and eye kept cautiously
about them."1 On one occasion Cuthbert, accompanied
by two of the brethren, proceeded by sea to visit the
Picts, who were called Niduari. Their boat reached the
shore in safety, but no sooner had they landed than a
tempest arose which detained them for several days
exposed to hunger and cold. They took refuge under a
cliff, where Cuthbert was wont to pass the night in
prayer, and there, at the prayers of the saint, food was
miraculously supplied to them, till the tempest ceased,
and they returned home with favourable wind and
tranquil sea.
When, in 664, after the conference at Whitby, St.
Colman and several of the brethren, unwiUing to lay
aside the usages of their fathers, were compelled to
depart from Lindisfarne to seek another home where
they might serve God in peace, that monastery, at St.
Colman's request, was given in charge to the community
1 Green, English People, i., 53.

St. Cuthbert. 285
of Melrose. Eata ruled both monasteries as abbot, and
Cuthbert was by him transferred to Lindisfarne, " there
to teach the rules of monastic perfection with the
authority of a superior."1 For twelve years St. Cuthbert
with untiring energy, devoted himself to this religious
work. He composed a rule for the brethren, which
centuries later still held its place, and was observed,
together with the rule of St. Benedict ; he was wont to
blend severity ' towards sin with infinite tenderness
towards the sinner ; and nothing could disturb his
meekness, which often triumphed when every argument
had proved of no avaU. One of his monastic regulations
is specially recorded. He imposed on the brethren of
Lindisfarne the obligation of wearing the habit in
undyed wool, as was usual in the Irish monasteries.
Crowds flocked to his island monastery to listen to his
counsels of heavenly wisdom, and to receive the sacra
ments at his hands. "So great was his skill in speaking,"
as Bede attests, " so intense his eagerness to make his
persuasions successful, such a glow lighted up his
angelic face,2 that no one of those present dared to hide
from Cuthbert the secrets of his heart ; all fully made
known iu confession what they had done, for in truth
they supposed that he was already aware of these very
deeds of theirs ; and after confession they, at his bidding,
repaired by worthy fruits of repentance the sins they
had committed. . . . He knew how to refresh the
mourner with pious exhortation, to remind those that
were in tribulation of the joys of heavenly life, and to
i Bede, Vita, 16.
2 Bede, " Tale vultus angelici lumSh." The anonymous life
repeats the same, " erat aspectu angelicus."

286 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
show that both the smUes and the frowns of this world
are equally transient."1 When he offered the Holy
Sacrifice "it was rather his heart than his voice " that
was uplifted at the Sursum Corda; and he could
never celebrate Mass without shedding abundant tears.
He sought in every way possible to shun the respect and
the applause of those who crowded to Lindisfarne, and
to the brethren he used to say, " were it possible that I
could hide myself in ever so narrow a cell, upon a cliff
where the waves of the swelling ocean should gird me
round on every side, and shut me out from the sight, as
weU as the knowledge of all men, not even there should
I think myself free from the snares of this deceitful
world."2 Cuthbert allowed nothing to disturb the serenity of
his confidence in God. One day he wandered far from
the monastery with a youthful companion. Night was
approaching, and they had nothing to eat. "Where
shall we lodge," asked his companion, "where shall we
find food ? " " Learn, my son," replied Cuthbert, " to
have faith and hope always in God. No one who serves
him faithfully shall ever perish for want of food." As
he spoke, an eagle which hovered overhead, laid a fish
at a short distance from them on the bank, which the
prior told his companion to cut in two. One half they
kept and made a meal of at a village which they soon
after reached ; the other half the saint bade his com
panion to put back upon the bank that the eagle might
have some return for its service to them. Another time
when he was with the brethren in an open boat, a
i Bede, Vita, 22. 2 Bede, Vita, 8.

St. Cuthbert. 287
blinding storm came on which drove them on the coast
of Fife. Some whispered in alarm, ' the road is closed
by the snow along the shore ; ' others said, ' our way by
sea is barred by the storm ; ' ' the way to heaven is not
closed,' was the calm reply of Cuthbert. He used to
say to the religious that with the assistance of God they
should despise their spiritual enemies, whose snares
were only as the threads of a spider's web ; and he would
add, " How often have they sent me headlong from the
lofty cliffs ? How often have they thrown stones at me,
as if to slay me ? How often have they raised up fan
tastic temptations of one land or another to frighten me
and attempted to drive me from this place of contest ?
Yet, nevertheless, they have never been able to inflict
any injury upon my body, nor to touch my mind with
fear." 1
The soul of Cuthbert, however, was not yet content ;
he yearned for still higher perfection, and he resolved to
enter on more rugged paths of penance and self-denial.
He first chose for himself a solitary cell on a detached
portion of the basaltic line of rock which runs in front
of the ruins of the monastery of Lindisfarne", and becomes
an islet at high-water, while at low-water it is accessible
by a ridge of stone covered with seaweed. It still bears
St. Cuthbert's name, and in olden times there was a
small chapel there, dedicated to him, which was called
'the chapel of St. Cuthbert on the sea.'3 He soon re
solved, however, to select a spot of greater solitude. A
few miles to the south of Lindisfarne, and about two
miles from the mainland, there is a group of seven small
' Bede, Vita, 22. 2 Raine, North Durham, p, 145.

288 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
and desert islands, called the Fame Islands. He pro
ceeded to the central island of this group, where none
before, save St. Aidan, had ever dwelt. It was supposed
to be the haunt of demons, but Cuthbert took possession
of it as a soldier of Christ, victorious over the evil one.
Here, with the deep sea rolling at his feet, he con
structed an anchorite enclosure, of which Bede gives a
minute description. It was nearly circular, and it
measured from wall to wall about four or five perches.
The wall itself externally was higher than the stature of a
man, but inwardly it was much higher, the living rock
being scooped out by the saint, so that he could see
nothing from his mansion but heaven, that thus the whole
bent of his mind might be turned to heavenly desires.
The wall was constructed, not of hewn stone, nor of
brick and mortar, but of turf and unwrought stones.
Within this wall there were only two compartments —
an oratory and a cell. At the landing-place of the island,
however, there was a large house for the convenience of
the brethren and strangers who might come to visit him,
and close to it there was a fountain of fresh water. Here
St. Cuthbert lived for eight years, subsisting on the wild
roots that grew upon the island, and 6n the produce of
a little field of barley, sown and cultivated by his own
hands, but so insufficient was this supply of food that the
tradition grew among the inhabitants of the coast that
he was fed by angels with heavenly bread. The life of
Cuthbert was not less productive of spiritual fruit in this
solitary island than when he had been engaged in mis
sionary toil. From all parts of England pilgrims came
to the servant of God to seek light in their doubts,
guidance in their difficulties, comfort in their1 sorrows.-

St. Cuthbert. 289
On the greater feasts the rehgious from Lindisfarne paid
him a short visit. Even then, however, he used to
interrupt the conversation from time to time to remind
them of the necessity of watchfulness and prayer : and,
as Bede relates, the monks used playfuUy to answer him :
' Nothing is more true ; but we have so many days of vigil,
and of fasts and prayers, let us at least to-day rejoice in
the Lord.' The legends of Northumbria linger lovingly
upon this period of the saint's life. From him they
name the httle sheUs, which are only found on their
coast, " St. Cuthbert's Beads," for with them, as the
tradition runs, he numbered his prayers. From him,
too, the sea fowl, which are found nowhere else in the
British isles, are known as " St. Cuthbert's Birds : "
they are most gentle, aUowing themselves to be stroked
and caressed, and it is the popular behef that they
derived their gentleness from being the companions of
St. Cuthbert in his solitude.
These years of the saint's penitential austerities, on
his solitary island, were to him the sweetest of his life,
and, whUst he emulated on earth the perfection and the
heroism of the heavenly citizens, he seemed to enjoy a
foretaste of the joys of Paradise. They were years, however,
of storm and strife throughout Northumbria. Wilfred had
been obhged to fly from his see, the faithful were torn by
dissensions, and factions were multiplied. Lindisfarne,
indeed, and its immediate district, continued to enjoy
comparative peace, for it had been now erected into a
separate see, and was governed by Eata as Bishop. At
length, in 683, a great synod was held at Twyford, on
the Alne, in the presence of King Egfrid, and presided
over by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. All were

290 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
unanimous in the resolution that Cuthbert should be
raised to the Episcopal dignity. From the synod, the
king, with several of his magnates, and accompanied by
some of the brethren from Lindisfarne, proceeded to the
saint's island-hermitage, and there on bended knees
prayed him not to refuse the proffered dignity. Cuthbert
yielded only after a long resistance, and weeping when
he did so. He wished, however, that his consecra
tion should be delayed six months, which time he passed
in his dear solitude, till the Easter of 684, when he was
consecrated in York by Archbishop Theodore and seven
bishops, in the presence of the king and all the
magnates of the kingdom. The see of Hexham had
been assigned to him, but this he at once exchanged
with Eata for Lindisfarne, and thus he returned once
more to administer as bishop that cherished territory of
St. Aidan, where he had already so long laboured in past
years. By the donation of the king, Cuthbert received
at his consecration, with other gifts, the district of
Cartmell, "with all the Britons who dwelt on it," and
it was decreed that his jurisdiction would extend to
Carlisle and all the surrounding monasteries. Two
months later the saint made a journey to Carlisle. On
Saturday, the 20th of May, the inhabitants of that old
Roman city, which was now an Anglo-Saxon stronghold,
went out in procession to welcome their saintly bishop.
They led him to their walls, shining bright on that
sunny day, and thence they conducted him to the city
fountain, " the wondrous work of Roman hands," when
on a sudden Cuthbert, leaning on his pastoral staff,
seemed to be overcome with the strongest emotion.
Then, after a while, lifting up his eyes towards heaven,

St. Cuthbert. 291
he exclaimed, " even now the contest is decided." In
terrogated by a priest, who stood beside him, he made
some evasive answer. Two days later the mystery was
explained to them, for there arrived a man who had
escaped from the Scottish borders, and brought tidings
which overwhelmed them with anguish. Egfrid and
his army, invading the territory of the Picts, had crossed
the Firth, and penetrated beyond the Tay, and destroyed
two forts, the native forces, by feigned retreats, luring
them into a defile at Dunnichen, near Forfar. There
the king had fallen, with nearly all his men, on the very
day and at the very hour when Cuthbert was standing
by the Carlisle fountain, like one who saw what he durst
not reveal.1 This defeat of Egfrid was most disastrous
to Northumbria : "the hope and force ofthe Anglian
Kingdom," thus Bede writes, " began to retreat like an
ebbing tide."2 St. Cuthbert had done everything in his
power to dissuade Egfrid from this fatal expedition, and
now he sought by his prudent counsel to repair as far as
possible the ruin that had fallen on the kingdom.
Aldfrid, who was in Ireland, and was famed for his wis
dom and valour, though by his birth not entitled to the
throne, was summoned home and invested with the
royal dignity. His rule proved a blessing to the whole
kingdom, and his grateful subjects decreed to him the
title of Aldfrid the Wise.
St Cuthbert as bishop pursued the same life which he
had led in the monastery of Lindisfarne and at Mailros,
displaying the same lowliness of heart, the same fervour
of piety, the same ardour of charity. Each time he
Bright, page 335- - Bede, iv., 26.

292 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
offered the holy sacrifice he melted into tears ; in the
words of Bede, " The grace of compunction kept his
mind fixed on things heavenly, and above all, there
glowed within him the fire of divine love."1 He was at
the same time most active in every work of charity,
giving food to the hungry, and clothes to those who
were exposed to the cold, ransoming captives, protecting
the widows and orphans, rescuing the poor from the
oppressor. In his sermons he had in this an advantage
over the other Celtic bishops of Lindisfarne, that having
grown up among the peasants on the banks of the
Leader, he could use their homely language and speak
as his own their native tongue. His infirmities did not
deter him from visiting the most distant parts of his
diocese, penetrating, as of old, into- the poorest hamlets
and the remotest villages. On one occasion he had
arranged to hold a confirmation in a remote district,
and in default of a church the people spread tents near
a woodland spot, and cut down boughs of trees to
afford some shelter. For two days he ministered with
out ceasing to the piety of these devoted people.
Before his departure a poor woman brought her son,
wasted with fever, and set him on a rude pallet at the
entrance of the wood, and asked the bishop to bestow
his blessing upon him. Cuthbert bade the boy be
.brought near, and having prayed over him, blessed him,
whereupon the boy rose up restored to health, and
being refreshed with food, gave thanks to God, and
returned in joy to his home. During the same episcopal
tour, having laboured for some time in a certain village,'
' Bede, Eec. Hist., iv. 28.

St. Cuthbert. 293
he inquired if there were other sick that required his
ministrations. One woman presented herself, who a
httle before had lost one son by the pestilence, and now
she held his sick brother in her arms, whUst the tears,
which furrowed her cheeks, gave proof of her affliction.
Cuthbert went up to her and kissed the child, and com
forted the mother saying : " Fear not, your child shaU
live, neither shall any other of your household die of
this pleague." And his words came true, and both
mother and son lived long afterwards to attest his words.
Several of his other miracles are recorded by Venerable
Bede. One of the ealdormen of King Egfrid came in
haste to Lindisfarne, overwhelmed with grief, his wife,
a woman most pious and charitable, being seized by a
demon. He feared to disclose the nature of the attack :
he merely said that she was approaching death, and he
begged that a priest might visit her, and that when she
died he might bury her in the holy isle. Cuthbert
heard his story, and said to him, " This is my business,
I myself wiU accompany you." As they went on their
way together, Cuthbert, seeing the cheeks of the rough
warrior wet with tears, comforted him with the assurance
that the trial from which the pious woman suffered was
permitted by God for her own greater merit ; and he
added, " when we arrive we will find her cured." And
so the event proved, for the demon did not dare to await
the coming of the man of God. On another occasion
Cuthbert was asked by a nobleman attached to the court
to visit his house, and to give his blessing to a poor
servant, who for a long time had been afflicted with a
painful malady. St. Cuthbert, not being able to go
thither, blessed some water, and giving it to a young

294 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
man named Baldhelm, said, " Go, let the poor patient
taste it." Baldhelm proceeded to the house, poured a
little of the blessed water three times on the lips of the
sick man, who was thereby restored to health. And
Venerable Bede adds : " Baldhelm is stUl living. He
is a priest in the Church of Lindisfarne, and adorns the
priestly office by his virtues. He takes delight in nar
rating the miraculous powers of St. Cuthbert, and told
me with his own lips this prodigy."1
St. Cuthbert cherished a special affection for a holy
priest named Herbert, " who lived as an anchorite in an
island of Lake Derwentwater, one of those fine lakes
which make the district of Cumberland and Westmore
land the most picturesque part of England. Every
year Herbert came from his peaceful lake to visit his
friend in the other island, beaten and undermined con
tinually by the great waves of the Northern Sea ; and
upon the wild rock, to the accompaniment of winds and
waves, they passed several days together in a tender soli
tude and intimacy, talking of the life to come."2 When
Cuthbert came for the last time to Carlisle to ordain
priests, and to give the veil to some nuns, and to estab
lish some schools,3 this friend came to visit him.
Before they parted Cuthbert said to him, "My brother,
you must now ask me all that you want to know from me,
for we shall not meet again here below." At these words
Herbert burst into tears — "I conjure you," he cried, "do
not leave me on this earth behind you ; remember my
i Bede, Vita, 25, " qui nunc usque superest."
2 Montalembert, iv. 417.
3 " In profectum divinae servitutis scholas instituit." Sim-
Dunelm, cap. 9.

St. Cuthbert. 295
faithful friendship, and pray God that as we have served
Him together in this world, so we may pass into His
glory together." Cuthbert threw himself on his knees,
and after praying for some minutes, said to him, "Weep
no more, my brother, God has granted to us that which
we have both asked from Him." And so it happened.
They never saw each other again here below, but they
died on the same day and at the same hour, the one in
his tranquil isle, bathed by the peaceable waters of the
lake ; the other upon his granite rock, fringed by the foam
of the Northern Ocean ; and then- souls reunited by a
blessed death, were carried by the angels into the eter
nal kingdom.1 Seven centuries later, in 1374, the bishop
of Carlisle appointed that a Mass should be said on the
anniversary ofthe two saints, in the island of the Der-
wentwater, where the Cumbrian anchorite had died, and
granted an indulgence of forty days to all who crossed
the water to pray there in honour of the two friends.
We have seen how Cuthbert used to salute as mother
the pious widow, who, on the southern slopes of the
Lammermoor hills watched over him in his younger
years. He continued ever grateful to her for her ma
ternal care, and whenever in his apostolic journeys, as
missionary or as bishop, he had occasion to visit that
district, he made sure to call on her in the village where
she hved. During one of his visits a fire broke out in
the vUlage in a neighbouring house, and the flames,
driven by the wind, threatened her with ruin. But
Cuthbert said to her, " Fear nothing, dear mother, this
fire shaU not harm you ;" then faUing prostrate on the
1 Bede, " unius ejusdemque momento temporis egredientes de
corpore' spiritus eorum," &c. Vita, 28.

296 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
ground before the door, he prayed silently, till suddenly
the wind changed, and by his prayers the humble roof
was saved, which sheltered the old age of her whom he
loved to call his mother.
There were at this time in Northumbria several
.monasteries of nuns, and Cuthbert laboured assiduously
•to encourage the pious inmates in their life of holocaust,
and to stimulate them to piety by his instructions. We
find him, for instance, remaining for some days at Cold
ingham to impart lessons of heavenly wisdom to its two
communities ; and the narrative adds, that he preached
both by word and example, and all were edified by the
wonderful harmony between his life and his doctrine.
The monastery of Whitby was governed by Elfleda, the
niece of the pious King Oswald. St. Cuthbert, who had
a special devotion for that holy founder of Lindisfarne,
repeatedly visited the monastery to comfort Elfleda in
her sorrows, and to cheer her on in the works of piety,
which were multiplied by her religious zeal. An inci
dent of one of his visits has been recorded. When
Cuthbert was about to celebrate Mass, the royal abbess
approached him, saying she had to ask for a special
favour. Word had just been brought that a Saxon
servant of the monastery, named Haduald, had been
killed the day before by falling from a tree, and the
favour which she desired was that the holy bishop would
make a memento for him in the Holy Sacrifice. Her
words are preserved by Bede: " Precor, domine mi
episcope, memineris, ad Missas, Hadualdi mei qui heri
cadendo de arbore defunctus est."1 The last visit which
he paid was to the Abbess Verca, whose monastery was
1 Bede, Vita, 34.

St. Cuthbert. 297
situated at the mouth of the Tyne, the river which formed
the southern boundary of Bernicia. Here he became
faint. They offered him wine and beer, but he would
taste nothing but water. The water which he had thus
tasted was preserved by the religious sisters of Tyne
mouth, and seemed to them as the most delicious wine.
St. Cuthbert made known to them that he would see
them no more, and he accepted from them, as the last
pledge, of spiritual friendship, a piece of fine linen to
serve as his shroud.
Cuthbert celebrated the feast of Christmas, a.d. 686,
with the monks of Lindisfarne, but, feeling the approach
of death, he immediately afterwards withdrew to his
former hermitage in the little island of Fame, exulting
that he had regained his loved solitude, and intent only
on preparing for the heavenly reward which awaited
him. The monks would fain have him to remain at the
monastery, but their prayers were in vain : and when
they asked "when may we hope for your return ?" they
received the reply, " when you shall bring back my body
to your monastery." In sadness they accompanied him
to the beach. " It must have been an affecting sight
to have seen the venerable bishop on the beach, sur
rounded by his children and fellow-monks, who, to the
respect due to a bishop, loved him with the affection
due to a father, and taking his leave of them. It must
have been as affecting a scene as when Jacob called his
sons together, and blessed them, before he was gathered
to his people."1 When the abbot ofthe monastery came
a little later to visit him in his hermitage, he expressed
a wish to be interred near the oratory which he had erected
1 Abp. Eyre, History, page 68.

298 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
there, and at " the foot of the holy cross," which he
had himself planted: "I would fain repose in this spot,"
he said, " where I have fought my little battle for the
Lord, whence I hope that my merciful Judge wUl call
me to the crown of righteousness :" and then he added :
" You will bury me, wrapt in the linen which I have
kept for my shroud, out of love for Verca, the friend of
God, who gave it to me." At the request, however, of
the brethren of the monastery, he gave permission that
he should be interred in their church of the blessed
apostle Peter, at the right side of the altar, where he
had so often offered the Holy Sacrifice and administered
the sacraments of life. Alittle time before his death, being
unable to walk, he asked to be carried to his little ora
tory, and there the abbot, as a last request, prayed him
to give a farewell message1 as a legacy to all the brethren.
The saint, in reply, faintly and at intervals pronounced his
last words, " Keep peace one with another, and preserve
heavenly charity : maintain mutual concord with other
servants of Christ : despise not those of the household
of the faith who come to you seeking hospitality ; receive
them with affection, entertain them, and send them
away with friendly kindness : be not puffed up, as if you
were better than others of the same faith and con
versation ; but have no communion with those who err
from the unity of Catholic peace." The evening of the
19th of March, 687, was passed in tranquil expectation
of future bliss, and the saint continued his prayers till
past midnight. At length, "when the usual time
for nocturn-prayer was come," he received from the
1 Bede, " quem haereditarium vale fratribus relinqueret."
Vita. 39,

St. Cuthbert. 299
abbot's hands "the communion of the Lord's Body
and Blood to strengthen him for his departure," and
then his eyes gazing towards heaven, and his hands
lifted high above his head in attitude of prayer, his soul
departed for the joys of heaven. Eleven years after
St. Cuthbert's death, his body, when translated to a
shrine in the church, was found uncorrupt, and. more
hke one that was asleep than one who was dead. Again,
it was found fresh as a living body when it became the
treasure of the church of Durham at the close of the
tenth century : and so, too, at the beginning of the
twelfth century it was still unchanged when placed in
the new cathedral of that city, which was destined to be
for three centuries its resting place : " From this time,"
writes Montalembert, " the name and memory of Cuth
bert hovered over the magnificent cathedral of Durham,
one of the most beautiful in the world. This magnificent
buUding, with its three stories of arched windows, its
two towers, its five naves and two transepts, forms, with
the ancient castle of the bishop, built by WiUiam the
Conqueror, a monument at once of religion and art, as
admirable as it is httle known. It can be compared only to
Pisa, to Toledo, to Nuremberg, or Marienburg. It has
even a great advantage over aU these celebrated places, in
thebeautyof the landscape which encloses it. Itis the sole
existing example of a splendid cathedral, situated in the
midst of an old wood, and on the height of a rock, the
abrupt descent of which is bathed by a narrow and rapid
river."1 The wicked agents of Henry the Eighth, in
1537, when desecrating the shrines of Durham, and
plundering their rich treasures, found to their dismay
1 Montalembert, iv. 422.

300 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
that St. Cuthbert's body was as entire, and the limbs
as flexible, as though it were still living. It is a well-
grounded tradition that his sacred remains were at that
time religiously interred by faithful hands, and it is said
the secret as to the spot where they lie has been jealously
handed down to the present day in the English branch
of the Benedictine Order.
Throughout the whole Saxon period St. Cuthbert con
tinued the most popular of the national saints. Kings
and people alike cherished his memory, and they vied
with each other in offering at his altar the tributes of
their piety. King Alfred the Great honoured him as his
special patron, and when hidden in the marsh of Glas
tonbury, preparing for his decisive struggle against the
Danes, he was favoured with a vision of St. Cuthbert,
who promised him victory and the deliverance of his
country. Canute, too, when master of England, went
barefooted to St. Cuthbert's tomb to invoke the pro
tection of the saint most venerated by the people he had
subdued. Even the Norman Conquest did not dimmish
the saint's popularity. William the Conqueror himself
made his offerings at the saint's tomb, and for centuries
during the border warfare it was around the ' standard
of St. Cuthbert' that the Anglo-Normans won their
proudest victories. The famous copy of the Gospels
known as St. Cuthbert's Gospels, is one of the priceless
gems of the British Museum. As we might expect, its
text and its ornamentation are all in the Irish style, and
it is justly reckoned among the most perfect monuments
of early Celtic literature that have been preserved to our
times. " The chief features of its ornaments and
letters are extreme delicacy and intricacy of pattern, the

St. Cuthbert. 301
most ingenious interlacing of birds, knots of various
geometrical forms, composed of bands crossing each
other in all directions, sometimes terminating in the
heads of serpents or birds. These intricate initial letters
are divided into compartments filled with rich interlacing
work, formed by coloured threads and slender attenuated
animals. The four pages opposite the commencement
of the four Gospels are almost inconceivably elaborate,
yet most pleasing in effect both from excessive beauty
and accuracy of execution, and from the judicious
arrangement of colours."1
St. Cuthbert was the last Irish Bishop of Lindisfarne,
yet the Irish Church did not cease for some time to
exercise a salutary influence in Northumbria. Aldfrid,
¦ surnamed the Wise, had been sent for safety to Ireland
in his youth, and had grown to manhood in the Irish
schools. It would appear from the narrative of Bede
that if he so desired he might have returned to England
before the death of Egfrid, but such was his ardour in
the pursuit of knowledge that he remained in Ireland
in voluntary exile, " ob studium literarum exulabat."2
Hence, on his accession to the throne he was not only
skilled in every martial exercise, but was also " most
learned in the Scriptures and in knowledge of all sort."3
And as Oswald by his Lish training became the first
saint of the Anglo-Saxon kings, so Aldfrid, as the fruit
ofhis long study in the Irish schools, became the great
promoter of literature throughout his kingdom, and the
first of the literary kings of England.4 Whilst in exile
1 Eyre, History of St. Cuthbert, page 306.
2 Bede, Vita, 24. 3 Bede, Eec. Hist. iv. 26. 4 Bright, p. 338.

302 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Aldfrid seems to have lived for some time at Lisgoole on
the west bank of Lough Erne, and to have also visited
Arranmore and Inniscattery, and the other great monas
teries of Erin. He also composed a poem in Irish, of
which a literal translation, made by the learned Celtic
scholar O'Donovan, may be seen in the notes to the new
edition of ArchdaU's Monasticon.1 The following are a
few of its strophes : —
" I found in Armagh the splendid,
Meekness, wisdom, circumspection,
Fasting in obedience to the Son of God,
Noble, prosperous sages.
" I found in each great church,
Whether inland, on shore, or island,
Learning, wisdom, devotion to God,
Holy welcome and protection.
"¦ I found in the country of Tirconnel
Brave, victorious heroes,
Fierce men, with fair complexion,
The high stars of Ireland."
The reign of Aldfrid was the golden period for the
schools of Jarrow, Ripon, Canterbury, Malmesbury, and
Lindisfarne. With his death on the 14th December,
705, their decay set in, and half a century later, through
the incursions of the Danes, their light became well
nigh extinguished. ' Archdall, edition of 1876, vol. n., page 164.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 303
CHAPTER XII.
IRISH MISSIONS IN THE OTHEE ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS.
Influence of Northumbria on the other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: —
Conversion ofthe Mid-Angles: — 55. Diuma and Cellach: —
St. Chad: — Sigebert, King of the East Saxons, embraces the
Faith: — St. Cedd: — Bishop Jaruman: — Ihe East Angles: —
Virtues of St. Fursey: — His Monastery at Cnobbersburg :-~The
Visions of St. Fursey : — His labours among the East Angles : —
His life in France: — He visits Rome: — His Death: — His
Relics: — The Companions of St. Fursey: — Irish Monks the
Pioneers ofthe Faith in Sussex : — Conversion ofthe West Saxons :
— Agilbert and Mailduff: — St. Aldhelm: — The Irish Missions
crowned with success.
We have hitherto said little of the religious influence
exercised by Northumbria and its Celtic missionaries on
the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. And yet that in
fluence was very great, for throughout this critical
period of England's history the power of Northumbria
was supreme,1 and its kings, Oswald and Oswy, succes
sively invested with the high dignity of Bretwalda, were
earnest in their desire to see the blessings of the true
faith extended to all their pagan countrymen. The
Irish missionaries on their part, as soon as an oppor
tunity presented itself, entered with apostolic zeal on
the mission beyond the Northumbrian borders, and an
abundant fruit rewarded their spiritual labours.
i Bright, " The History of the Church in Northumbria during
the larger part of the seventh century is conspicuously the back
bone of the history of the Church in England," pag. 154.

304 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
1. The Mid- Angles, who dwelt between the Trent and
the Bedford district, were at this time subject to Penda,
King of Mercia, who placed over them his son Peada,
" a youth of excellent disposition," as Bede writes,
"and most worthy of the title and dignity of king."
During an interval of peace he visited Northumbria,
and requested the daughter of Oswy in marriage. Oswy
replied : "I cannot give my child to a heathen. If you
would wed her, you must prepare for it by yourself and
your people accepting the faith of Christ and
baptism." Peada listened with docility to Christian
teaching : and when the truths of redemption, and the
mercy of God, and future immortality, and the heavenly
kingdom were unfolded to him, he cried out : " IwiU be
a Christian." Being fully instructed, he openly declared
that his final resolve was made, and. that even should
Oswy refuse him his royal daughter's hand, nothing
would turn him aside from the faith which he desired to
receive. At length with solemn pomp, baptism was
administered to him by the Bishop of Lindisfarne, St.
Finan, and at the same time his earls and knights and
other attendants were all regenerated in the laver of life.
The place chosen for this ceremony was the royal town
called " Admurum," situated on the banks of the Tyne,
where Newcastle now stands;. At the request of Peada,
four priests were commissioned to accompany him and
his bride to evangelize their people. The missionaries
chosen for this new field of labour were Diuma, an Irish
man, and Cedd, Adda, and Bettin, three of those Anglo-
Saxons whom Aidan had specially instructed and pre
pared to be the first fruits of the. native clergy of
England.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 305
Thus in the year 653 was formed the first mission to
the Midland-Saxons and the Mercians. The people
willingly listened to the words of life taught them by
the zealous missionaries, " for these were men of learn
ing and of holy life," and day by day many, as well of
the nobles as of the lowest people " renounced the filth
of idolatry, and were cleansed in the fountains of faith,"1
Diuma and his companions did not limit their labours
to the Midland- Saxons. They ventured further into
Mercia proper, and though the old pagan king, Penda,
would not renounce his false gods, yet he permitted the
faith to be freely preached to his subjects, declaring that
his hatred and contempt would be only directed against
"the mean wretches, who having put their faith in
Christ, will not trouble themselves to obey him."
Among the converts were the other five children of the
king, and it is recorded that all these and nearly all his
royal grandchildren died in the odour of sanctity.
It was in the autumn of the year 655 that Penda
invaded Northumbria for the last time. His army was
the most imposing that as yet had been marshalled on
the battle-fields of England. There were thirty chiefs
of princely rank serving under his banner, and he vowed
not to sheathe his sword till he had annihilated
Northumbria as a kingdom. Oswy's army was small,
but fuU of courage, relying on Christ for victory. The
hostile armies having met on the 15th of November, on
the banks of the Winwaed, the Mercians were completely
overthrown, and many more perished in the river,
swollen by the autumnal rains, than the sword had
' Bede, iii. 21.

306 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
destroyed while fighting. Among the rest, Penda was
slain, and with him fell the last pillar of paganism in
England. At the request of the young prince Peada,
the Lish Diuma was now consecrated by St. Finan
Bishop of all the Mercians, the paucity of the clergy, as
Bede remarks, rendering it necessary that one bishop
should rule over so vast a people. His episcopate lasted
little more than two years, but " in a short time he won
not a few to the Lord, and died among the Mid-Angles
in the country called Infeppingum,"1 a district which
has not been as yet identified. It was during his epis
copate that the first monastery was erected among the
Mercians, through the combined munificence of Oswy
and Peada. The spot chosen for it was known as
Medeshamstede, that is, " the dwelling-place in the
meadows," and it was dedicated to the glory of Christ,
under the invocation of St. Peter. A town gradually
formed around this monastery, which has been justly
styled the first resting-place of Christianity in central
England ; the town has now grown into a great city, but
it still retains its first name of Peterborough.
Diuma was succeeded by another Irish bishop, by
name CeUach, called by the Saxons Ceolla, who like his
predecessor was consecrated by St. Finan at Lindisfarne.
Towards the close of the year 658, the Mercian chiefs
threw off the yoke of Northumbria, expelled the ealdor-
men of Oswy, and bravely regained at once their
boundaries and their freedom. Unlike the earlier revo-
' Bede, loc. cit. Some have supposed that Reppington, in
Derbyshire, was the place of his death, but upon no satisfactory
authority. Wharton (Anglia Sacra, i., 424) places his death in
a.d. 658.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 307
lutions, this did not involve any relapse into paganism.
The Christian religion had already taken firm root
among the people, and the Mercians "being now free,"
as Bede relates, " with a king of their own, they rejoiced
to serve Christ, the true king."1 Cellach, however, did
not long remain in Mercia. Before the close of 659, he
resigned the see, and, having lived for a time in St.
Columba's monastery at Iona, returned home to Ireland,
and there rested in peace.2 His successor, Trumhere,
was a native of England, but had been trained to piety
by the Lish monks, and like his predecessors he, too,
proceeded to Lindisfarne to receive consecration at the
hands of St. Finan. The next bishop was Jaruman, an
Irishman, whose name was rendered illustrious by his
apostolic labours among the East Saxons, but of whose
Mercian episcopate Bede gives us no details. He held
the see till the year 669, when he was succeeded by the
illustrious St. Chad.
This holy man was brother of the missionary St.
Cedd, of whom we have just now spoken. Like his
brother, he was one of the first twelve Saxon youths
trained for the sanctuary by St. Aidan. He corresponded
to the care of his holy master, and grew in sanctity as
in years. After completing his studies at Lindisfarne,
his thirst for sacred knowledge led him to Ireland, where
' Bede, iii. 24.
2 Montalembert thus sketches the lives of these two Celtic
bishops : " The Pontificate of Diuma was short, but fruitful. At
his death he was succeeded by another Irishman, Ceolach, who
was reckoned among the disciples of Columba, the great Celtic
missionary, as coming from the monastery of Iona, to which he
returned after some years of a too laborious episcopate in Mercia
to seek the peace of cloistered life in that citadel of Celtic
monachism." iv. 121.

308 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
he lived for some years in the sublimest practice of every
virtue. When Wilfrid, after his appointment to the See of
York, remained absent for a considerable time in France,
St. Chad, at the request of King Oswy, was consecrated
for that see. As bishop, he followed in all things St.
Aidan as his model, travelling throughout the diocese
on foot, " preaching the Gospel in towns, in the open
country, in cottages, and villages,"1 the faithful every
where rejoicing on account of the sanctity of their
pastor. Eddi, the panegyrist of St. Wilfrid, does not
hesitate to style St. Chad " an admirable teacher, a
true servant of God, and a most meek man."2 The
consecration of Chad, however, had been irregular, and
no sooner did he receive an intimation to that effect, in
the year 669, from Theodore, the newly-appointed
Archbishop of Canterbury, than he at once joyfully retired
to the monastery of Lastingham, which some time
before he had governed as abbot. Before the close of
the year, however, the episcopate of the kingdom of
Mercia becoming vacant, by the demise of Bishop Jaru-
man, St. Chad was chosen by the Archbishop to fill that
See, for, as Bede records, Archbishop Theodore had
learned to admire his profound humility and sohd virtue
and was unwilling that the labour of so able and so
devoted a missionary should be lost to the Saxon
Church ; and when the archbishop learned that it was
the custom of our saint to go about his diocese on foot,
he desired him "to ride whenever he had a longer circuit
than usual before him." Chad, however, objected out
1 Bede, iii. 28. 2 Eddi, Vita, pag. 14.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 309
of "zealous love of pious labour ;" but Theodore was not
to be overcome : "You shaU ride," he said, and with
his own aged hands he lifted him on horseback ;
" because," adds Bede " he had ascertained that Chad
was a holy man."1
St. Chad fixed his see at Lichfield, where no Mercian
bishop had as yet sat, and close to the site now occupied
by the beautiful cathedral, erected a church under the
invocation of the Blessed Virgin. Near it, at a place
which from him took the name of Chadstowe, now Stowe,
he buUt a house, where he dwelt when not engaged in
the sacred ministry of the Word, and there seven or
eight of his religious brethren shared his studies and
devotions. It is recorded of St. Chad that he unceasingly
kept his mind fixed on preparing for his last end. If a
high wind swept across the moors at Lastingham, or
beat around his httle church at Lichfield, he gave up
his reading to implore the divine mercy. If it increased
stiU more, he would shut his book and prostrate him
self in prayer. If it rose to a storm, with rain or
thunder, he would repair to the church, and remain
there tiU it ceased, with his mind fixed in contemplation,
or engaged in the recitation of Psalms. When
questioned about this, he would say that the thunder
of the heavens reminded him of that tremendous day
when the heavens and earth would be consumed, and
the Lord would come in the clouds with great power and
majesty to judge the living and the dead. At the same
time Chad cherished in his heart a constant love and
desire of the heavenly rewards, and " it was no wonder,"
as Bede writes, " if he rejoiced to behold the day of death,
1 Bede, iv. 2.

310 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
or rather the day of the Lord, seeing he had so anxiously
prepared for it until it actually came."1
One day a brother of the monastery, named Owin,
who was remarkable for his great humility and holiness,
was at his work in the field adjoining the saint's house,
the others having gone to the church, when he heard a
sweet sound as of angelic melody coming down from
heaven towards the house where St. Chad was, and
after half-an-hour it rose again heavenward. Owin,
whilst marvelling what this could be, received a signal
from the bishop to summon the brethren around him,
and when they had come he gave them his last in
struction. He bade them to cherish love and peace, and
to adhere to all the rules of discipline which they had
learned from him, and which were taught by the fathers
who had gone before them : " My time is very near," he
added : " that lovable guest, whoused to visit our brethren,
has come to me to-day : go back to the church, and
commend to the Lord my departure, and yourselves
prepare for the last day, the hour of which you know
not." And when the others had returned to the church,
Owin, drawing near, besought the bishop to make known
to him what were those joyous strains which he had
heard floating downwards from heaven, and St. Chad
replied, that "the angels had come to summon him to
the heavenly rewards, which he had ever loved and longed
for, and that they would return in seven days and take
him thither with them." The saint that day fell ill, and
in seven days, as he had foretold, after receiving the holy
Viaticum, he calmly rested in peace, on the 2nd of March,
a.d. 672. He was buried in St. Mary's Church, but his
' Bede, iv. 3.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 311
relics were afterwards removed to the cathedral, which
was dedicated to St. Peter. The labours of St. Chad
throughout Northumbria and Mercia were those of a
true apostle ; his episcopate is justly styled by Bede a
most glorious one,1 and to his name has deservedly been
allotted a foremost place among the greatest of the
Anglo-Saxon saints.
2. It was from Northumbria that the light of faith pro
ceeded also to Essex, the kingdom of the East-Saxons.
Thirty-six years had now passed since St. Mellitus had
been compelled to fly from London, and a new generation
had grown up in the worship of idols and amid the
corruption of paganism, when in the year 653, the
same in which Peada had received baptism, Sigebert,
king ofthe East-Saxons, paid a visit to the Northumbrian
court. Bede relates that Oswy had frequent discourses
with Sigebert about the folly of the pagan worship,
" Surely," said the king, " that cannot be God which is
made by the hands of man ; and how can supreme
worship be given to material things, which may be
burned or broken, or trampled on, or converted to the
basest uses, whereas God is the Creator of heaven and
earth, infinite in His powers and perfections, the
Supreme Ruler and Judge of all men, and His eternal
abode is not in poor, perishable metal, but in heaven,
where eternal rewards await those who do their Maker's
will." These things frequently repeated, with the
earnestness of a friend and even of a brother, told upon
the. heart of Sigebert, and, before the end of the year,
he and all his companions entered the waters of the
i Bede, iv. 3.

312 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
Tyne, as fervent neophytes, and received baptism at
the hands of St. Finan.
Sigebert asked for some Christian teachers who might
instruct his people, and Cedd, being summoned from
his work among the Mid- Angles, was sent with another
priest to evangelize this new nation, now open to the
Gospel. After some months Cedd returned to Lindis
farne to give an account to St. Finan of the rapid
progress which religion had already made among the
people entrusted to his charge, whereupon the holy
bishop, calling in two other bishops, consecrated Cedd
bishop of all the territory of the East-Saxons. For ten
years he laboured with unremitting zeal, building
churches, instructing the faithful, and preparing a
native clergy to carry on the work of the Gospel. He
built two monasteries, as hives of Christian piety, one
at Ithancaestir, which is supposed to have been situated
at the mouth of the Blackwater, the other at Tilbury,
which in after times became familiarly associated with
the Spanish Armada, and in them he trained a number
of religious, after the manner of Lindisfarne, " in the
discipline of the regular life, as far as their untrained
minds were able to receive it ;"J and, as the fruit of his
toil, he had the consolation of witnessing that "the
teaching of the heavenly life received a daily increase,
to the joy of the king and amid the sympathies of his
subjects." The holy bishop had the affliction, however,
of seeing the good king, Sigebert, hurried away too soon
by the hands of assassins. The reason which the
1 Bede, " in quibus collecto examine famulorum Christi, dis-
ciplinam vitae regularis, in quantum rudes adhuc capere poterant,
custodire docuit." iii. 23.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 313
assassins assigned for their crime shows how rude was
as yet the barbarism of the Saxon nations ; their only
motive they declared was that ' he was too merciful to
his enemies.' At the conference of Whitby, in 664,
St. Cedd took his place with St. Colman, for he had
always observed the Irish usages, and, as he was skiUed
alike in both languages, he was chosen to act as inter
preter for the contending parties. At the close of that
conference he paid a visit to his loved monastery of
Lastingham, and there in a few days was hurried off by
the plague. It would be difficult to find a more touching
scene in the Ecclesiastical History of England than that
which the death of St. Cedd recalls. As soon as the
news of his demise reached Essex, thirty East-Saxons,
most of them priests whom he had ordained, started in all
haste for Northumbria. They sought the monastery
where lay the remains of the Father whom they loved,
with the intention of spending the rest of their lives at
his holy shrine, and of finding their last repose beside
him, if such were the will of God.1 Their desire was
quickly granted. At the end of a few days aU but one
youth perished from the plague, and they had the con
solation of resting in death beside him, whom they
revered and honoured as the father of their spiritual hfe.
Many of the East- Saxons fell away from the faith
after the death of St. Cedd. Terrified by the plague,
several in the vaUey of the Tweed had recourse to pagan
charms, whilst in other places the temples were restored,
and the people publicly worshipped their former idols.
i Bede, " cupientes ad corpus sui patris, aut vivere, si sic Deo
placeret, aut morientes ibi sepeliri." iii. 23.

314 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
The person chosen to stem this national apostacy was
Jaruman, the Irish Bishop of Mercia, and zealously and
successfully did he fulfil his mission. Bede gives the
account of this bishop's labours in Essex on the authority
of a priest, who had been one of his companions and
fellow-labourers in that arduous enterprise.1 Accom
panied by priests, he went about throughout the whole
kingdom recalling the wanderers to the right path,
" so that they abandoned or destroyed their fanes and
altars, re-opened the churches, and once more gladly
acknowledged the name of Christ, which they had dis
owned, desiring now rather to die with the sure hope of
rising again in Him than to live amid idols in the filth
of paganism." These words seem to imply that the
deadly plague still raged amongst the people, and that
Jaruman and his clergy had faced its perils while
indefatigably labouring to win back souls to Christ.
Jaruman, however, did not resign his See in Mercia,
and having, in the course of the year 665, been the
chosen instrument of God in the re-conversion of the
East-Saxons, he left some priests to perpetuate among
them the work of the sacred ministry, and returned to
his own flock.
3. From the East-Saxons we may pass to the East-
Angles, where we meet with another king Sigebert,
surnamed the learned, zealously co-operatingin spreading
the faith of Christ. He had in his youth been driven
by king Redwald, his stepfather, into Gaul, and there
under the guidance of St. Columbanus and his disciples
had become a Christian, and fuUy instructed in the
1 Bede, " juxta quod mihi presbyter, qui comes itineris illi et
cooperator verbi exstiterat referebat," iii. 30.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 315
ruths of faith. He was summoned home from exile to
ascend the throne of East- Anglia in the year 631, and
being, as Bede narrates, " thoroughly imbued with the
Christian faith, and very learned, and, moreover, a good
and rehgious man,"1 he made it the great object of his
hfe to communicate to his subjects the saving knowledge
of the divine truths. He brought with him from
Burgundy a holy bishop named Felix, who fixed his See
at Dunwich, which was then an important city on the
Suffolk coast, but has long since been swept away2 by
the encroachments of the ocean, and during his episcopate
of seventeen years had the consolation of seeing the
whole people freed from paganism, and producing an
abundant fruit of Christian virtue.
His chief co-operator in the conversion of East- Anglia
was the Irish Abbot St. Fursey, who came to England
in 633, accompanied by his brothers St. Foillan and St.
Ultan, and two other Irish priests named Gobban and
Dicuil, all of whom, through grateful remembrance of
his old Irish masters in the Burgundian monasteries,
were joyfully welcomed and honourably received by king
Sigebert.3 St. Fursey was remarkable, among the
many saints who then adorned Ireland, for his holiness
as well as for his missionary zeal, and Bede devotes
some pages to the wondrous visions of the other world,
with which he was favoured, which for centuries were
religiously repeated and carefully handed down in all the
monasteries of the West. Several ancient records con-
iBede, ii. 15; iii. 18.
2 Camden in his ' Britannia' (vol. i. page 448), writing in 1607,
describes it as lying " in solitude and desolation," and in great
part submerged.
3 Bede, iii. 19.

316 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
nected with this Saint's life have happily been preserved,
and we glean from them the following particulars.
St. Fursey was of royal birth, and born in the west of
Leland about the year 575. In his youth he embraced
the religious life in the monastery of St. Meldan, situated
in the island of Insequin in Lough Corrib.1 The scenery
as you sail along this inland sea is some of the finest to
be found in the Western province. Its innumerable little
islands, whose perennial verdure is reflected in the placid
waters of the lake, the undulating hills that mark the
horizon, the richly planted demesnes that slope down to the
water-edge, the picturesque ruins which are interspersed
along the banks, the varied charms with which nature
has enriched it on every side, mark it out as a place
that religion would wish to sanctify and to dedicate to the
service of God. The island of Insequin is the largest
of the islands in the lake, and is about half a mile off
the shore. " On that island,"' writes O'Flaherty, "St.
Brendan built a chapel and worked divers miracles.
There, too, St. Meldan, whose festival day is on the 7th
of February, was abbot of a famous abbey about the year
580. He was spiritual father to the great St. Fursey of
Peronne in France, who carried the relics of this saint
along with him, and enshrined them at Peronne."2 The
religious life of St. Fursey was characterized by the
greatest fervour. " From the period of his very youth,"
writes the Breviary of Aberdeen, " he gave no little
attention to sound learning and monastic discipline, and,
as eminently becomes the saints, he took care to perform
i Bede, iii. 19.
2 See Monasticon of Archdall, new edition (Dublin, 1876) vol. ii.
page 215.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 317
aU that he learned."1 The language of Bede is almost
the same : "He was of very noble Irish blood, but much
more noble in mind than in birth. Even from his boyish
years he had particularly applied himself to reading
sacred books, and following monastic discipline; and, as
is most becoming to holy men, he carefully practised all
that he learned ought to be done."2
As he advanced in years he betook himself for a time
to the monastery of Arann, that home of Saints off ' the
western coast, which had been founded by St Enda.
One of its oratories in after times was called Teampull
an cheathuir aluinn, that is " the chapel of the four
beautiful saints," for in its dedication were linked
together the names of St. Fursey, St. Brendan, St.
Conall, and St. Berchan. After some time returning to
the shores of Lough Corrib, he erected on the mainland,
nearly opposite the island of Insequin, an oratory and
cell, the ruins of which, of venerable antiquity, still
remain, and are still called Killursa fCill-FhursaJ, 'St.
Fursey's Church.' We will not dwell upon his missionary
labours throughout Ireland. His life records that he
visited every part of the country, reaping everywhere a
rich spiritual harvest. Bede in a few words thus com-
pendiates this period of our Saint's life : " After preach
ing the Word of God many years in Ireland he could no
longer bear easUy the crowds that resorted to him,
wherefore, leaving all that he seemed to possess, he
departed from his native island and came with a few
brethren through the Britons into the province of the

1 O'Flaherty, ' West Connaught,' Public, of I.A.S., page 22.
2 Brev. Aberdonen, fol. xxxii.

318 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
East Angles, and preaching the Word of God there, built
a noble monastery." And again : "While Sigebert stiU
governed the kingdom, there came out of Leland a holy
man called Fursey, renowned both for his words and
actions, and remarkable for singular virtues, being desi
rous to live a pilgrim's life for our Lord wherever an
opportunity should offer. On coming into the province of
the East Angles he was honourably received by the afore
said king, and pursuing his usual course of preaching
the Gospel, by the example of his virtue and the efficacy
of his discourse, he converted the unbelievers to Christ,
and confirmed in the faith and love of Christ those that
already believed." '
Receiving from Sigebert a gift of a tract of land at
Cnobbersburg, now Burghcastle, in Suffolk, not far from
the junction of the Yare and the Waveney, surrounded
with wood and commanding a view of the wide expanse
of ocean, St. Fursey erected what even Bede styles "a
noble monastery," which for twelve years was the centre
of his missionary operations throughout East-Anglia.
The pious monarch showed boundless affection to St.
Fursey, and after a little time resolving to occupy himself
no longer with the ambitions of this world, nor to fight
except for the Kingdom of Heaven, laid aside the cares
of royalty, and entered as an humble monk in the monas
tery of Cnobbersburg. This was the first example,
among the Anglo-Saxons, of a king abandoning secular
life and sovereignty to enter the cloister, an example
which was followed in after times by more than one of
their noblest monarchs. Cressy, in his Church History
1 Bede, iii. 19.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 319
of Brittany thus commemorates this heroic self-denial of
Sigebert : — " This year afforded an example of heroical
humility and contempt of the world, which had hitherto
never been practised in God's Church, but was afterwards
frequently imitated : which was that a king, not forced
thereto by any calamity, freely abandoned his throne to
enclose himself in a monastery, there to be subject to
the will of a poor stranger, deprived of all things that
might please the senses, mortified with continual absti
nence, frequent fasts, watching, cilicies, and scarce ever
interrupted devotion. All which he cheerfully under
went that he might more securely provide for another
kingdom after this life."1
The good king, however, was not permitted to die, as
he had hoped, in the cloister. Egric, who had succeeded
to the throne, had not reigned two years when, in 636,
he was menaced with war by Penda, the fierce pagan
king of Mercia. The East- Angles, knowing themselves
to be unequal to such a contest, and remembering the
former exploits of Sigebert in the battle field, besought
him to come forth from his cell and lead them again to
victory. Sigebert refused, but they compelled him to
show himself at least among the troops, thus to inspire
them with courage. He accordingly put himself at their
head, but not unmindful of his profession, he armed
himself only with a pastoral staff, and he prayed whilst
the soldiers fought. All that he could do, however, was
to lay down his life for his faith and his country. He and
Egric were both slain, and the East Anglians were
utterly routed by their pagan enemy.
1 Cressy, Book xv. chap. 7, page 356.

320 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
A period of comparative peace ensued, and Anna, the
new king, proved himself a zealous helper of St. Fursey
in the work of converting his kingdom. Baronius,
indeed, justly assigns the chief merit of the conversion
of the East-Angles to our saint and his companions.1
It is particularly recorded of him that he founded
throughout East- Anglia various double communities2
for monks and nuns, a usage which seems to have pre-
vaUed in some parts, particularly of the south and west
of Ireland. We must not, however, pass over that
feature in St. Fursey's life, which is so peculiarly his
own, and which served for centuries to bring home to
the minds of the faithful the great truths of the eternal
rewards and punishments. The late Protestant Bishop
of Brechin, Dr. Forbes, in his short notice of the saint,
says : " The reputation of St. Fursey extends far
beyond the limits of the Scoto-Irish Church. Not only
is he one of the most distinguished of those missionaries
who left Erin to spread the Gospel through the heathen
and semi-heathenised races of mediaeval Europe, bridging
the gap between the old and new civilizations, but his
position in view of dogma is a most important one."3
The visions of St. Fursey seem to have commenced
before he left Ireland, but those commemorated by Bede
are said to have been received by him in his monastery
at Cnobbersburgh. In the first vision he was ad
monished to proceed diligently in his ministry of
preaching, and to persevere in watching and prayer. In
another vision he was found worthy to behold the choir
^¦Baronius, Annales, viii. 313.
2 Mabillon, Acta SS., vol. 2, page 296.
3 Forbes, Kaiendars, page 352.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 321
of angels, and to hear their blessed canticles. He was
wont to declare that he distinctly heard the anthem,
" Ibunt de virtute in virtutem, videbitur Deus deorum in
Sion," "The just shaU advance from virtue to virtue,
the God of gods shall be seen in Sion," (Ps. lxxxiii. 7).
Again he saw the torments of the damned, and the
combats of the evil spirits who sought to obstruct his
journey to heaven, but through the protection of his
guardian angel aU their endeavours were in vain. In
another vision, being lifted up in spirit towards heaven,
he was told by the angels that conducted him to look
back upon the world, and casting his eyes downwards,
he saw, as it were, a very obscure valley, in which four
fires were raging not far distant from each other. Then
asking the angels what fires these were, he was told that
they were the fires which would burn and consume the
world. One of them was the fire of falsehood, the crime
of those who do not fulfil what they promised in baptism,
to renounce Satan and aU his works. The next was the
fire of avarice, of those who prefer the riches of this
world to the love of heavenly things. The third was the
fire of discord, for those who offend their neighbours
even in needless things. The fourth was the fire kindled
by the hard-heartedness of those who scruple not to
despoil and defraud the lowly and the feeble. These
fires, increasing by degrees, united together and became
an immense flame, and as they approached, he said to
his guardian angel, "Behold the fire draws near." The
angel answered, "That which you did not kindle shaU not
burn you ; for though great and terrible is this fire, yet
it only tries every man according to the demerits of his
works ; every man's concupiscence shall burn in this
T

322 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
fire, for as every one burns in the body through unlawful
pleasure, so when discharged from the body, shaU he
burn in the punishment which he has deserved." One
of his guardian angels then went before him, and divid
ing the flames, formed a safe passage through which he
advanced. Then the sufferings of the wicked in detail
were shown to him, and afterwards he was again lifted
up to heaven, and he saw the glorious hosts of the
blessed ones, and amongst them several priests, " holy
men ofhis own nation," who joyfully imparted to him
lessons of instruction and cheering hope. Venerable
Bede adds that after these visions St. Fursey took care,
as he had done before, to persuade aU men to the
practice of virtue, as well by his example as by
preaching ; but as for the matter ofhis visions he would
only relate them to those who, from the desire of
reformation, wished to hear them. And when he
repeated them, though it were in the sharpest wintry
weather, and in severe frost, and he only covered with a
thin garment, yet a stream of perspiration would flow
down from his face as if it had been in the greatest heat
of summer, either through the excess of his fear or the
greatness of his spiritual consolation.1
St. Fursey continued for twelve years to labour among
the East Angles, beloved by aU good men, bountiful to
the poor, feared by the wicked, whose gifts he per
sistently refused, and manifesting by miracles the
wondrous power of God. He observed the Lord's day
with special veneration. From the hour of noon on
Saturday tUl the morning of Monday, he rested from his
journey wherever he happened to be, spending the time
1 Bede, loc. cit.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 323
in meditation, offering up the Holy Sacrifice, and
imparting spiritual instruction. It is specially recorded
that he enriched his monastery at Cnobbersburgh with
a precious beU, probably the work of his own hands, and
he bestowed another bell on some of his Irish brethren,
which was long preserved with religious care in the
monastery of Lismore. During a period of famine some
of his brethren showed signs of fear lest they might be
left without sufficient food for their support. St. Fursey
reproached them for their want of confidence in the
Divine bounty, and he repeated the instruction which he
had often given them, that they who cherish poverty
through the love of God, shall never be without the aid
of heaven. Within a few days he confirmed his words
by a striking miracle. Going forth into a field of the
monastery, and attended by his holy companion St.
Lactam, who in after times became patron of Freshford
in this county, St. Fursey began to cultivate the ground
and to cast seed into the furrows. Many incredulously
shook their heads at his proceeding, but in three days
a smiling harvest repaid his toil, and the ripe corn was
ready for the sickle.
At length, in the year 645, the saint, desirous to lead
a more solitary life, resigned the care of his monastery
into the hands ofhis brother, St. Foillan, and went to
live with St. Ultan, who some time before had retired
to a hermitage in a wild desolate spot, and there these
devout brothers lived together for a whole year, sup
porting themselves by the labour of their hands, and
spending their time in vigils, fasting, and prayer.
Before the close of 646 the Mercian pagans began again
to threaten invasion, and the country becoming dis-

324 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
turbed, our saint resolved to set out on pilgrimage to
visit the sanctuaries of Rome, and to satiate his piety at
the shrines of the Apostles and holy martyrs of Christ.
He landed in France at the little port of Quentowic,
and soon after by his prayers restored to life the only son
of Haymon, Count of Ponthieu. The count, through
gratitude, would fain compel the saint to accept a gift of
his estate at Mazerolles, where this miracle took place,
but this the saint persistently refused, and, after resting
there for a short time, continued his journey. Other
miracles marked his course at Authville and Grandcourt,
and his fame reaching Erchinoald, mayor of the palace,
he was asked to baptize the son of that nobleman at his
castle of Peronne. Here, too, St. Fursey stopped for
some time, praying frequently at the little church of
Mont-des-Cygnes, dedicated to the holy Apostles, SS.
Peter and Paul, and receiving there many heavenly con
solations. In this little church he deposited the sacred
relics of St. Patrick and of SS. Meldan and Beoeadh,
which he had brought with him, and he prophetically
foretold that here, too, he himself would repose in death.1
Pursuing his pilgrimage across the Alps, he passed
with safety through many dangers, and at length arriving
at the walls of the eternal city, cast himself on his
knees, and pronounced the beautiful words which are
registered in his life : "0 Rome ! exalted above all
cities by the triumphs of the Apostles, decked with the
roses of martyrdom, adorned with the lilies of confessors,
crowned with the palms of virgins, strengthened by all
i " In hae ergo capella, S. Furseus multas noctes ducebat in-
somnes, et quia Dei colloquiis in ea solitudine dulcius fruebatur,"
&c. Vita ap. Colgan, Acta SS., pag. 270.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 325
their merits, enriched with the relics of so many illus
trious saints : we hail thee ! May thy sacred authority
never cease, which has been illustrated by the dignity
and wisdom of the Holy Fathers: that authority by
which the body of Christ, that is the Church, our
blessed mother, is preserved in undying consistency and
vigour."1 Having satisfied his piety in Rome, St. Fursey re
turned to Peronne, and Erchinoald, having offered him
for a monastery any site that he would select, he chose
a tract of land at Lagny en Brie (formerly in the
diocese of Paris, but now in that of Meaux), on the
banks of the Marne, then covered with wood, but now
famed for its fruitful vineyards, and here he erected a
church and monastery, which Clovis II. , and his holy
spouse, Bathilde, enriched with many royal gifts, and
soon became an important centre of piety and religious
observance for all that territory ; and such was the
esteem in which the saint was held, that Audobert,
bishop of Paris, and his successor, St. Landry, wished
him to establish missions and to act as their assistant
throughout this important diocese. It was in the
exercise of this authority that we find him erecting a
church at Compans, in the arrondissement of Meaux,
which when finished was consecrated by Bishop Audo
bert. Another monastery was built for the saint at
Mont-Saint-Quentine, in the immediate neighbourhood
of Peronne, by Erchinoald, and the same nobleman
also undertook to erect a church at Mont-des-Cygnes,
instead of the humble oratory which St. Fursey had
1 Bollandists Ianuar. ii., pag. 50, " qua corpus Christi, videlicet
beata mater Ecclesia, viget solidata."

326 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
enriched with the relics of our Irish saints. The
monastery at Peronne was solemnly dedicated by St.
Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, in the presence of an immense
concourse of the clergy and nobility of France, and St.
Ultan, who had come to visit his brother, was installed
there as first abbot.
Several religious from Ireland at this time made
pilgrimages to the Continent, and many of them,
attracted by the fame for piety and miracles of St.
Fursey, hastened to Lagny to receive his lessons of
heavenly wisdom. Among these was St. Aemilian,
who was destined to be the saint's successor as abbot of
Lagny. The Life of St. Fursey writes: "His own
native land was proud that she had produced so great a
saint ; and the blessed Aemilian, desiring to see with
his own eyes the great sanctity of the beloved Fursey,
came with some companions to see him, and after a
long journey that happy little band of Irish pilgrims,
arriving at Lagny, found the saint of God adorned with
more brilliant virtues than even they had heard."1
When St. Aemilian had tarried a little time at Lagny,
St. Fursey, anxious to re- visit his former community in
East-Anglia, obliged him to assume the charge of the
monastery. On his way towards the coast, Fursey
stopped at MazeroUes, where a few years before the
Count Haymon had shown him great kindness ; here
his last illness now came upon him, and in a few days
he breathed his soul to God. The precise year has not
been recorded, but it was probably in a.d. 653. The
count would have wished to retain his relics at Maze-
1 Colgan, Acta SS., pag. 574.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 327
rolles, but Erchinoald came in person, accompanied by
a royal guard, to conduct them to the new church,
which was now almost completed, at Peronne. We
may allow Venerable Bede to continue this narrative :
"Erchinoald," he writes, "took the body of the saint,
and deposited it in the porch of the church he was buUd
ing in his town, called Peronne, tiU the church itself
should be dedicated. This happened twenty-seven
years after, and the body being taken from the porch
to be re-interred near the altar, was found as entire as
if he had just then died. And again, four years later,
a more worthy shrine being built for the reception of
the same body, to the eastward of the altar, it was still
found free from the stain of corruption, and translated
thither with due honour ; where it is well known that
his merits, through the Divine operation, have been
declared by many miracles." " These things," adds
Bede, " concerning the incorruption of his body, we
have briefly taken notice of, that the sublime character
of this man may be the better known to the reader."1
Our limits will not allow us to dwell on the venera
tion which from age to age has been shown in France
to the hallowed remains of this great saint. The
shrine, which was specially prepared for his remains,
was worked by the hands of St. Eloy, who was famed
for his artistic skill ; it was placed with solemnity on
the high altar of the church, and among those who
assisted at the joyous ceremony were his brother, St.
FoUlan, and his cherished friend, St. Aemilian, now
abbot of Lagny. Six hundred years later, on the 17th
1 Bede, iii. 19.

328 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
September, 1256, St. Louis, King of France, solemnized
his return to France, after six years' absence, by the
gift to this church of another rich shrine for the relics
of St. Fursey. It was of gilt metal, enriched with pre
cious stones, and adorned with statues of the Twelve
Apostles, and the king himself, with several bishops,
assisted at the translation of the sacred relics. The
small portion of the relics saved from profanation amid
the demoniac scenes of 1793 was placed in the church
of St. John the Baptist, at Peronne, where they are
now preserved. On the 12th of January, 1853, the
bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Rheims, then
assembled in Provincial Synod at Amiens, proceeded to
Peronne, and once more enshrined in a rich case the
relics of its great Patron- Saint.
The influence of St. Fursey on the Anglo-Saxon
Church did not cease with his death. St. Bathilde, who
shared the throne of Clovis II. , and after his death^
governed the kingdom, as Regent, was herself an Anglo-
Saxon. She not only extended her royal patronage to
the holy missioner who had laboured so many years
among her countrymen, but she wished to show him
every honour after death. Not far from his monastery
at Lagny was the convent of Chelles, founded by St.
ClotUde, but which had been for a long time in ruins.
Here, through reverence for our saint, BathUde erected
anew a double monastery, after the Celtic manner, for
monks and for nuns, and for a long time both were
peopled with devout natives of England, and, as Sige
bert had laid aside the crown to serve God under St.
Fursey, at Cnobbersburgh, so Bathilde expressed her
resolve to end her days near the rehcs of our saint at

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 329
Chelles, but it was only after many years that she was
enabled to give effect to her pious resolution. One of the
daughters of Anna, King of East- Anglia, also followed
in the footsteps of St. Fursey, and, forsaking her
country, entered the convent of Faremoutier in Brie,
near Meaux, where she became abbess, and was famed
for her sanctity, and a grand-daughter of the same king
also merited the palm of heroic virtue in the same
convent. As for St. Foillan, who, as we have seen, assumed
the government of the monastery at Cnobbersburgh
after the departure of St. Fursey, he, too, after a few
years proceeded to the Continent, and lived for some
time in the monastery of Fosses, in the diocese of
Liege, which after his martyrdom was to be enriched
with his remains. Some of his relics are now preserved
in the church of Saint Sepulchre at Abbeville, and some
also are venerated at the Sacre-Coeur in Amiens.
The monastery of Fosses, situated between the
Sambre and the Meuse, was founded through the muni
ficence of St. Gertrude, the holy abbess of Nivelle in
Brabant, and at her request St. Ultan became its first
abbot, and soon St. Foillan and several other holy Irish
men enrolled themselves under his guidance. When in
the forest of Charbonniere, not far from Nivelle, St.
Foillan and three other Irish monks1 received the crown
of martyrdom, St. Ultan saw in vision a dove, whose
1 Colgan writes that these three martyred companions of St.
Foillan were SS. Boese, Columban, and Gobain, who all three
had been disciples of St. Fursey. There is a St. Gobain, an Irish
martyr, honoured at Mount L'Hermitage, where he is supposed
to have been martyred, and where the town which grew up around
his sanctuary was called by the saint's name.

330 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
snow-white wings were stained with blood, speeding its
flight to heaven, and he at once interpreted it as the
announcement of his brother's death. Two months
later their mangled bodies were discovered, and though
St. Gertrude would wish to enshrine them at NiveUe,
yet she yielded to the prayers of St. Ultan, and permitted
them to be translated to Fosses. A little later St.
Gertrude feeling that death approached, sent a mes
senger to St. Ultan to ask his pious prayers. St. Ultan
said to her messenger, " To-day we celebrate the 16th
of March ; to-morrow, whilst the Holy Sacrifice will be
solemnly offered up, this servant of God will appear
before her judge. Say to hereto be without fear, for the
blessed Bishop Patrick, accompanied by the choirs of
angels, will conduct her to her heavenly country."1
The following day, which was Sunday, the feast of our
holy apostle St. Patrick, in the year 659, St. Gertrude
received the Viaticum, and whilst Mass was being celer
brated rested in peace. The monastery of Fosses long
continued to be a favourite resort of Irish pUgrims,
and many, too, of the French clergy found a tranquil
home within its hallowed walls during the persecution
ofthe wicked Ebroin. St. Ultan's death is placed by
Dachery and Le Cointe in the year 686, and he was
interred in the church which he had himself erected
close to the monastery, and dedicated to St. Agatha. A
portion of his relics is still preserved at Peronne.
4. It was one of St. Fursey' s Irish companions named
Dicuil who first preached the faith among the South-
Saxons. They were the oldest of the Teutonic settle-
' Mabillon, Acta SS. iii. 785.

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 331
ments in England, yet they remained the most insigni
ficant of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. They had
little more than a strip of the southern coast for their
territory, being cut off from all intercourse with the
rest of England by the impenetrable Andredeswald,
that is, " the wood of the uninhabited district,"1 a vast
sheet of scrub, woodland, and waste, extending for more
than a hundred miles from the borders of Kent to the
Hampshire downs, and northwards almost to the
Thames, whilst on the east an immense tract of marsh
separated them from their Kentish neighbours. The
people too were the most barbarous of the whole island.
When they captured the fortress and town of Anderida,
now Pevensey, the last stronghold of the Britons, they
slew all that were therein, nor was there one Briton left
in their territory. Nevertheless, Dicuil and a com
munity of Irish monks penetrated thither about the
year 645, and erected a monastery at Bosham, three
miles to the west of Cischester, now Chichester, a
Saxon town which took its name from one of Ella's
sons. On the semi-barbarous country people they could
make little or no impression. "They had a very small
monastery," writes Bede, "encompassed with the sea
and woods, and in it five or six brethren, who served
our Lord in poverty and humility, but none of the
country people cared either to follow their course of life
or to listen to their preaching."2 Some of the nobles
of the kingdom, however, showed themselves more
1 Taylor, " Words and Places," page 244. Eddi, in his Life of
Wilfrid, writes of Sussex — " Quae prae rupium multitudine et sil-
varum densitate, aliis provinciis inexpugnabilis extitit," cap. 40.
2 Bede, iv. 13,

332 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
docUe to the teaching and religious example of these
holy men, and we find that one of the South-Saxons,
named Damian, became so remarkable for his virtue
that he was made Bishop of Rochester in 656. The
king, too, had become a Christian in 661, and though
his example was followed by some of his court, yet it
was not till the year 681 that the day of redemption
finally arose for that benighted kingdom. This was a
year of unparalleled scarcity, and St. Wilfrid coming
amongst them began to feed their bodies, and thus to
gain access to their hearts. The Irish monks, however,
were the pioneers of the Gospel, and it was from the
little Celtic monastery of Bosham that in after times
arose the See of Chichester.
5. We now come to Wessex, the kingdom of the
West-Saxons. Its first apostle is known to us only
under his Latinized name Birinus. He had presented
himself to Pope Honorius in Rome, and promised before
him " that be would scatter the seeds ofthe holy faith
in those furthest inland territories of the English, which
no teacher had as yet visited." By order ofthe Pontiff
he was consecrated bishop by the Archbishop of Milan,
who then resided at Genoa, and setting out for his mis
sion landed in Hampshire, where he found heathenism
so dark and intense that he resolved to proceed no fur
ther, but to labour to bring its people to the knowledge
of God. In the following year, aided by the influence
ofthe Northumbrian King Oswald, he had the con
solation of administering baptism to its King Kynegils.
It was at Dorchester that the imposing ceremony took
place in the presence of Oswald, and tradition marks
the site where the venerable abbey church of SS. Peter

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 333
and Paul now stands as the place "that witnessed
the Christianizing of the dynasty, which grew into the
royal line of England."1
In the year 650 AgUbert, a native of France, suc
ceeded Birinus in the See of Dorchester, and for at least
ten years2 laboured to consolidate religion throughout
the whole territory of the West-Saxons. When St.
Columbanus was proceeding to the court of King
Theodobert II. , he was welcomed at the house of
Autharis at Ussy-sur-Marne, and in return for the hos
pitality which was extended to him, imparted his bless
ing to that holy household. Agilbert was the son of
Autharis,3 and through desire to visit the country that
had given birth to St. Columbanus, he came to Ireland
and spent there several years applying himself to sacred
studies. " There came into Wessex out of Ireland,"
writes Bede, " a certain bishop called Agilbert, by birth
a Frenchman, but who had then lived a long time in
Ireland, for the purpose of reading the Scriptures."4
We know nothing further of Agilbert's visit to our
country. It is probable, however, that he chose the
monastery of Bangor for his abode, as it was famed for
its Biblical studies, and it was there that his great
spiritual father had prepared himself for the apostolate
of Gaul. Agilbert was one of the most prominent
champions of the Roman usages in the Conference of
Whitby, in the year 664. From Whitby he returned
1 Bright, 147.
2 The Saxon Chronicle places his departure from Wessex in the
year 660 ; others say that he was still bishop of this see at the
Conference of Whitby, at which he took part in 664.
3 Darras, " Histoire de l'Eglise," torn. xvi. 73.
4 Bede, iii. 7.

334 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
to France, and was appointed Bishop of Paris. He
had ordained Wilfrid priest in Northumbria, and now,
in the first year of his episcopate in Paris, Wilfrid comes
to receive episcopal consecration at his hands. The
ceremony was performed at Compiegne, in Neustria,
with unusual magnificence. Eleven bishops came to
assist Agilbert, and after the consecration, as was the
custom in Gaul, they lifted him up in a golden throne
and carried him in procession to the altar. How striking
it is to find a disciple of the Irish saints imparting the
dignity of the priesthood and the episcopal rank to one
who, during his eventful episcopate of forty-five years,
was destined to exercise a powerful influence in mould
ing the discipline of the whole Anglo-Saxon Church.
It was during Agilbert's episcopate in Wessex that
an Irish monk, named Moeldubh (called by the Saxons
Mailduff), came to visit him. He was in erudition a
philosopher, as Bede attests, and skUled in aU the
learning of his age. Attracted by the beauty of the
woods around Ingelborne, he obtained leave to erect a
cell beneath the walls of its old castle, and there leading
a religious life, imparted sacred and profane science to
the pupils that flocked to him from aU parts. WUliam
of Malmesbury relates that he was constant in study,
and incessant in prayer. When he read, it seemed to
him as if he heard the voice of God addressing him,
and that he spoke direct to God when he prayed. He
was so abstemious that he scarcely partook of any food.
He was never known to go elsewhere except upon
occasions of indispensable necessity. So little desirous
was he of money, that if any were given him, it im
mediately passed from his hands to the poor. A constant

Missions in other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. 335
habit with him was to remain, even during the icy cold
of winter, whilst reciting the Psalter, immersed to the
shoulders in a stream of water which ran close beside
his cell. "He had brought with him all the culture for
which Irish scholars were then famous,"1 and soon a
noble monastery grew up around him, which was known
as Mailduft's-burgh, and in latter times was called
Malmesbury. St. Aldhelm was the most illustrious of
Moeldubh's pupils, and, succeeding him as abbot in
the year 675, governed the monastery for thirty years,
till he was promoted to the see of Sherborne, in the
year 705. From Aldhelm's life we learn that he was
trained in the knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew
by his Irish masters. He was also skilled in the harp,
and an anecdote related by William of Malmesbury
shows how he was able to utilize this acquirement for
the benefit of his flock. The rude West-Saxons of the
district were wont to hasten away from church, as soon
as the Holy Sacrifice was offered up, without waiting
for the instruction which was given after it. Where
fore Aldhelm took his station on the bridge which led
from the little town into the country, and there by his
music attracted the passers-by around him, and from
the minstrelsy he glided gradually to words of sacred
instruction, and he dismissed them after imparting to
them some practical lessons of the Christian life. St.
Aldhelm, in his writings, more than once speaks with
enthusiasm of his Irish masters, and in a letter to
Willibrord he does not hesitate to say that countless
as are the stars that sparkle in the firmament, yet more
numerous were the saints and learned men who at that
time adorned the church of Erin.2
1 Bright, 259. 2 Aldhelm, epi.st. in Usher's Sylloge, No. 13.

336 Irish Saints in Great Britain.
We have thus briefly sketched the labours ofthe Irish
missionaries in spreading the faith throughout the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It was their only aim to diffuse
the sacred light of heavenly truth, and to build up the
Church of Christ, and if we may select one distinctive
feature of their missionary labours we cannot but be
struck by their earnest solicitude — a solicitude, too,
crowned with complete success — to train up a native
clergy for the sacred ministry. They had no thought of
perpetuating a succession of their own countrymen,
except so long as the interests of religion required it ;
but having handed on the traditions of faith to fervent
priests and religious of the Anglo-Saxon race, they
directed their steps to other lands, to bring to other
peoples the same glad tidings of redemption. Soon
after the close of this Celtic period, the monasteries and
schools of England began to decay. They were brought
almost to utter ruin by the terrible devastations of the
Danes ; the first sign of returning life and of the revival
of piety and learning among the people was when the
Celtic monks began once more to instruct the Saxon
youth in Glastonbury.

THE end.

BROWNE AND NOLAN, PRINTEKS, NASSAU-STREET, DUBLIN.

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