(ABOUT A.D. 546.)
[Irish Martyrologies. He died on March 1st, but was buried on the 8th,
on which day his festival is kept. His name occurs in the Festology of
S. Ængus. Authorities:--A life written by S. Colman, versified by a
later hand, and full of fables, also an Irish life written in the 12th
cent.]
Senan was a native of Corco-baskin, a district in the western part of
Thomond.[35] His parents were Christians and noble. Ercan, his father,
is said to have been of the royal blood of Conary I., king of Ireland.
Coemgalla, his mother, was likewise of an illustrious Munster family.
An odd legend of his childhood is told. His parents were moving house,
and Senan remained immersed in prayer, lending no hand to the work.
Then his mother, provoked, threw some water over him to wake him up,
and scolded him soundly. Senan resumed his devotions, and instantly the
pots and pans of the domestic establishment came flying through the air
from the kitchen of the old house into the kitchen of the new one.
[35] In the county Clare.
When arrived at a certain age, he was forced by the prince of
Corco-baskin to join in an expedition undertaken against the territory
of Corcomroe, for the purpose of carrying off plunder. This did not
suit the disposition of young Senan, and accordingly he contrived
to avoid taking any share in the devastation of the country. He was
rewarded for this, for, when the party to which he belonged was routed
with great loss, and he had fallen into the hands of their opponents,
he was allowed to depart without injury, and go whithersoever he
pleased. He therefore placed himself under the abbot Cassidan, and
having received from him the monastic habit, became a proficient in
piety and learning. Next he repaired to the monastery of S. Natalis,
or Naal, with whom he spent some years. Several legends are connected
with this period. He had to keep cows, and one day seeing the calves
sucking them, and dreading lest there should be a deficiency of milk
for the brethren, he put his stick between them, and neither could
approach the other. Another story is to the effect that he read at
night using the fingers of his left hand as candles,--a story told also
of S. Columba, S. Kentigern, and other Irish and Scottish saints. A
monk observed him; then Senan said, "For peeping and prying, a stork
shall peck out your eye." And as the monk left the place, a stork
rushed at him, and had one of his eye balls out in a trice. But when S.
Natalis heard of this, he ordered Senan to replace the eye, and cure
it instantly, and this he did. After Senan had left the monastery of
S. Naal, he is said to have gone into foreign parts, to have visited
Rome and Tours, and on his return to have tarried with S. David of
Menevia, with whom he continued very intimate until his death. Senan's
first establishment was at Inis-Carra, near the river Lee, about five
miles from Cork, in the barony of Barrets. While he was in that place,
a vessel arrived in Cork harbour, bringing fifty religious persons,
passengers from the continent, who came to Ireland for the purpose of
improving themselves in monastic studies. Senan retained ten of them
with himself, the others were distributed in various establishments.
He was not long at Inis-Carra, before Lugadh, prince of that country,
insisted on his submitting to certain exactions, which Senan refused
to comply with. The dispute was soon settled through the interference
of two young noblemen, who were then at the court of Lugadh. Not
long after, Senan, having left eight of his disciples at Inis-Carra,
went to Inis-luinge, an island in the Shannon, where, having erected
a church, he gave the veil to the daughter of Brendan, the prince of
that country. Thence, setting out by water to Inis-mor, he was driven
by adverse winds to an island called Inis-tuaiscert. Thinking that
it was a special providence which had brought him there, he erected
a church, and left it to the care of some of his disciples. He then
made his way to Inis-mor,[36] and there founded a monastery, which he
governed for some time. We afterwards find him settled in the island
of Inis-cathaig, now Iniscatthy, at the mouth of the Shannon, where
he erected a monastery in spite of the opposition of Mactael, the
prince of the country. One of his rules was that no females should be
admitted into the island. This regulation was observed even with regard
to the most saintly virgins. S. Kannera, a nun of Bantry, wished to
receive the Holy Viaticum from the hands of Senan, and to be buried at
Iniscatthy. Accordingly she set out for the island, but, just as she
drew near, Senan met her,[37] and obstinately refused to allow her to
land, and requested her to go to the house of his mother, who lived
not far distant, and was related to Kannera. The conversation given in
the metrical life between the abbot and the dying nun, is very quaint.
The abbot said, "What have monks in common with women? We will not let
you step on to our island." She said, "But if Christ will receive my
spirit, why should you reject my body?" "That," answered the venerable
Senan, "is true; but for all that I will not suffer you to come here,
go back, and do not be a plague to us. You may be pure enough in soul,
but you are a woman, nevertheless." "I will die, before I go back!"
said S. Kannera. Like many another woman, she gained her point, and,
dying on the shore, was there buried.
[36] Inchmore, or Deer Island, in the river Fergus, where this river
joins the Shannon.
[37] According to the legend, an angel brought her to Iniscatthy, and
S. Senan ran out over the water, stick in hand, to arrest her.
Senan was a bishop when he founded his monastery of Iniscatthy, but
when, or by whom he was consecrated, we are not informed. It is related
that, perceiving the time of his departure draw nigh, he determined
to go to the monastery of S. Cassidus, and to the nunnery of S.
Scotia, his paternal aunt, that he might apply himself more fervently
to prayer in these retreats, and prepare himself for his wished-for
departure. On his way thither he turned off a little towards the
church of Kill-eochaille, for the purpose of visiting certain holy
virgins, the daughters of one Naereus, who had received the veil from
him. Having performed his devotions in the church of S. Cassidus,
he was returning to Iniscatthy, when, in a field near the church of
Kill-eochaille, he heard a voice announcing to him that he was to be
removed to heaven without delay. Accordingly, he died on that very day,
and his body remained at Kill-eochaille until the next, when several of
the principal members of his monastery arrived, and had it brought to
Iniscatthy. Notice of his death was then sent to the prelates, clergy,
and principal persons of the neighbouring churches, and his obsequies
were celebrated on the octave. A foolish story, incorporated in some
of the martyrologies, relates that on the day of his burial, as he was
being carried to the grave, he sat up and informed the assistants that
his anniversary was to be celebrated on the 8th March, instead of the
1st. The year of his death is unknown; but there can be no doubt that
it was later than 544, the date assigned to it by some writers. The
reputation of S. Senan has not been confined to Ireland, and his Acts
have been published among those of the saints of Brittany, by Albert le
Grand, as one of the chief patrons of the diocese of S. Pol de Léon;
but the S. Sané there venerated seems not to be the same, but some
local saint of whom nothing is known.