It may be useful, however, at present to make reference to the chief

memorials of Columba, which point to his own intimate connection with that

establishment. St. Columba's 'House' is the most interesting of the

existing antiquities at Kells. We may safely accept the opinion of the

learned and accurate Petrie, that St. Columba's House at Kells and St.

Kevin's at Glendalough were erected by the persons whose names they bear,

and that they both served the double purpose of a habitation and an

oratory.[252] The building is a plain oblong, twenty-four feet long by

twenty-one broad, having a very high-pitched pyramidal stone roof, which

is now covered with a luxuriant growth of ivy. The original door was in

the west end, but for the purpose of greater security was placed about

eight feet from the ground, and must have been reached by a ladder which

could easily be drawn up by the inmates in case of alarm or danger. The

building contains two apartments; the lower, which was the oratory, is

covered with a semicircular stone arching, and was lighted by two small

windows--a slender semicircular one in the east gable, and a triangular

headed one in the south sidewall. The chamber or sleeping apartment of the

saint was in the croft between the convex arching and the roof. It is

about six feet high, and is lighted by a small window in the gable. It

appears originally to have contained three apartments, in one of which is

a large flat stone six feet in length, which is traditionally said to have

been Columba's bed. If we suppose a somewhat similar house to have been at

Durrow, it will help to explain Adamnan's reference to the Great House,

and the danger of falling from the ridge of the roof, for in Kells it is

thirty-eight feet from the ground.

There is a sculptured cross standing in the market-place of the same

character as that of Durrow; there is another fine ancient cross in the

churchyard having on the plinth in Irish characters the words--

"Patricii et Columbae (Crux)."

which show that it was erected to commemorate these two great saints, and

probably at the time when Kells was the recognised head of all the

Columbian foundations. There is a third cross, which Miss Stokes declares

to have been the finest of the three, now lying mutilated in the church.

These crosses show that ecclesiastical art was carefully and successfully

cultivated at Kells, and that the city well deserved the appellation of

"Kells of the Crosses."

The fine round tower of Kells, which is still ninety feet high, marks the

importance of the place during the Danish wars, and fixes also the site of

the great church, for the towers were almost always built within ten or

twelve paces of the great western door of the church towards the left or

southern side, looking from the doorway. No trace, however, of the great

church now remains at Kells, from the sacristy of which we are told the

Great Gospel of Columcille was stolen at night in the year A.D. 1006.[253]

This Great Gospel of Columcille was without any doubt the celebrated MS.,

known as the _Book of Kells_, which is now preserved in the Library of

Trinity College, Dublin. It is highly probable both from intrinsic and

extrinsic evidence, that like the _Book of Durrow_, this celebrated codex

was written by Columcille himself, although, doubtless the ornamentation

was, at least to some extent, wrought by other, if not by later hands. The

tradition of the church itself, as shown from the entry in the Annals

quoted above, shows that so early as the year A.D. 1006 it was regarded as

a copy of the Gospels, if not written, certainly used by the saint

himself. It is called the Great Gospel of Columcille, and truly well

deserves that name, for it has been pronounced by Professor J. O.

Westwood, of Oxford, to be "unquestionably the most elaborately executed

MS. of so early a date now in existence, far excelling in the gigantic

size of the letters at the beginning of each Gospel, the excessive

minuteness of the ornamental details crowded into whole pages, the number

of its very peculiar decorations, the fineness of the writing, and the

endless variety of its initial capitals, the famous Gospels of Lindisfarne

in the Cottonian Library." We may add that the Gospel of Lindisfarne was

also a work of Irish art, as Lindisfarne itself was originally a monastery

founded and peopled by Irish monks from Iona.

No description can give an adequate idea of the _Book of Kells_--it must

be seen and studied to be duly appreciated.

It has had, too, a strange history. It was stolen, as we have seen, by

some sacrilegious wretch in A.D. 1006; and at that time it was regarded as

the chief relic of the western world. Fortunately it was found after forty

days and two months, covered with sods in a bog, but its gold had been

stripped off. Some few leaves at the beginning have been lost, and certain

deeds and grants of land made to the churches of Kells are recorded in

Irish on some of the blank pages probably left there for that purpose. In

the time of Usher it was still preserved at Kells; but he secured it when

Bishop of Meath, as he himself tells us, to collate the readings with the

Vulgate; whether it was by purchase or otherwise we cannot say.[254] It

passed to Trinity College with Usher's collection, and, like many of the

other ancient treasures of Celtic Ireland, is preserved there at present.

We have already referred to another manuscript written by Columba, which

has had a far more momentous history than either the _Book of Durrow_ or

the _Book of Kells_, that is the MS. which caused the battle of

Cuil-Dreimhne, and which was indirectly, at least according to the common

account, the means of sending Columba to preach the Gospel in Alba. It was

brought about in this way according to Keating.

That Diarmait, of whom we have already spoken, made a great feast at Tara,

and many princes and nobles were present at the feast. There were also

games on the green of Tara, and during a game of hurling Curnan, son of

Hugh, son of Eochaidh Tirmcharna, struck the son of the king's steward

with his hurley and killed him with the blow. Brawling at the games of

Tara was strictly forbidden; so the young Prince of Connaught knowing the

consequences of his rash act, fled for refuge to Columcille, who was in

Tara at the time. But Diarmait seized the fugitive, tore him from the

embrace of the saint, and had him put to death on the spot.

But this was not all. It seems that on this occasion Columba came to Tara

to claim in the court of the king that copy of the Psalms which he had

stealthily made from the copy which St. Finnian had brought from Rome, and

which he very highly prized. Finnian waited until Columba, who was a

choice scribe, had completed the copy, and then claimed it as his own. We

have already spoken of Diarmait's decision, and Columba's appeal to his

kinsmen in the North.

They flew to arms, and called to their aid all those who had suffered

wrongs at the hands of King Diarmait. Very soon they assembled a great

army in the heart of the North. It was led by the two sons of

Muircheartach Mac Earca, Fergus and Domhnall, the rival claimants of the

crown, and by Ainmire, son of Sedna, first cousin of Columba, and by

Nainnidh, son of Duach, another first cousin, and by Aedh, the Prince of

Connaught, whose son had been put to death by the King at Tara. This was a

formidable alliance, but King Diarmait lost no time in raising troops to

meet his foes. The two armies came into collision on the ridge of

Cuil-Dreimhne, now Cooladrummon, between Benbulbin mountain and the sea,

in the county Sligo. It is said the rival saints supported the rival

armies--that Columcille prayed for the men of the North, and that St.

Finnian was behind the lines of King Diarmait. Be that as it may, the men

of the North were completely victorious; three thousand of their foes were

slain, while only one man fell on their side, who had transgressed the

precept of Columba forbidding them to go beyond a certain point on the

field, called the Druid's fence.

Then it seems his conscience sorely smote Columcille. Was he justified in

urging his kinsmen to fight this bloody battle which caused the loss of

three thousand lives? He went straight to his confessor, St. Molaise of

Innismurray Island, who at the time was in his own Church of Ahamlish, not

more than two miles from the scene of the battle. Molaise declared that

Columcille had sinned, and that he must do penance; and his penance must

be proportionate to his fault. He bade him leave Ireland, and go to preach

the Gospel, where he would gain as many souls for Christ as lives were

lost in the battle, and never look upon his native land again.

It has been said that this story is the invention of a later age;[255]

that it is in itself improbable; and above all, that Adamnan is silent in

reference to it. It is, however, the expression of a very ancient

tradition, and it is assumed as true by O'Donnell in his _Life of

Columba_, by Keating, and by the Four Masters. The silence of Adamnan,

too, is very significant. He refers in more than one place to the battle

of Cuil-Dreimhne, as if it were an era in the life-history of Columba. He

plainly does not want to say anything derogatory to the Saint of Iona; but

in our opinion he also plainly implies that he had some connection with

the battle of Cuil-Dreimhne; to which he either thinks it inexpedient or

unnecessary for him to make more explicit reference. We, therefore, cannot

reject the story as either improbable in itself, or unsupported by

authority. His connection with this battle may have been a fault, or even

a crime, on the part of Columba; but in itself it is so natural, and in

its consequences so edifying, and so encouraging to our frail human

nature, that we cannot help saying from our hearts--_O felix culpa_--O

blessed fault which produced so much good both for Erin and for Alba. The

poem[256] in which Columba declares that the voyage to Alba was enjoined

on him for his own share in this battle, if not his composition, is

certainly of very ancient origin, and furnishes a distinct proof of the

existence of the tradition at the time it was written.

The site of the battle is a remarkable spot. The townland of Cooladrummon

is situated on the very crest of the hill, in a line with the nose of

Benbulben mountain, about six miles north of Sligo. It commands a view of

unrivalled beauty both by land and sea. The tourist travelling from Sligo

to Bundoran will be on the very battle field of Cuil-Dreimhne as soon as

he reaches that point of the road on the very crest of the ridge, where

the Bay of Donegal at once bursts full upon his view. Let him pause and

admire it at his leisure, for rarely, if ever, will he see again such an

expanse of sea, backed by noble mountains, and waving woods, and fertile

fields, and, especially in Columba's own Drumcliff, many a neat but frugal

happy homestead.

The battle of Cuil-Dreimhne was fought A.D. 561; but Columba and his

associates did not set out for Alba until nearly two years later, in A.D.

563. The traditional accounts of his departure from Derry, and his arrival

in Iona, are exceedingly touching.

Having made up his mind to perform the bitter penance enjoined on him by

Molaise at the Cross of Ahamlish (Ath-Imlaisi), his first object would

naturally be to seek companions for his voyage. It was, no doubt, a

perilous and laborious enterprise; but he found no difficulty in procuring

associates in his task. As soon as he made known his resolution to the

monks of Derry, he had abundance of volunteers who feared no perils, and

were ready to accompany their beloved abbot to any spot on earth where he

chose to dwell. He selected twelve from amongst them--men of his own

blood, and monks of his own obedience. Amongst them were his uncle,

Ernaan, who afterwards became superior of the monastery in the Island of

Hinba, and his two first cousins, Baithen, who succeeded him in Iona, and

his brother, Cobthach, both sons of Brenden, son of Fergus, grandfather of

the saint.

It appears the exiles set sail from Derry for the north in one or two

currachs, in the year A.D. 563, when Columba was in the forty-second year

of his age. When they came to set sail, not only the monks of Derry, but

the bishops and clergy and people, from all the country round about,

crowded to the shore to bid farewell to their beloved saint. Then a great

wailing was borne on the breeze that filled the light sails of the

currachs; even the wild sea-birds hovered round their bark, as if loth to

leave the blessed Columba. His heart was full, and his eyes were dim with

tears, as he saw the oak-woods of Derry and the hills of Inishowen

fading, it might be for ever, from his view. In the old Irish poem already

referred to, there are some stanzas which are supposed to give expression

to the feelings of the saint, when, with bleeding heart, he vainly sought

another glimpse of Erin amid the waste of waters all around him. We

venture to render a few of these stanzas in verse:--

"Ah! my heart will never find rest,

There's a tear in my soft grey eye;

Give Eri once more to my breast,

And then I am ready to die.

I stand on the deck of my bark,

And gaze o'er the southern sea;

But alas! and alas! my Eri

For ever is hidden from me.

How bright are the eyes of my Eri,

Like the gleam of an angel's wing;

And sweet is the breath of my Eri--

Her voice is the music of Spring.

Oh! deep is my burden of sorrow;

I pine like the mateless dove--

Will this heart from the years never borrow

A balm for the loss of my love?"

Supposing that Columba and his twelve companions sailed straight for the

Western Isles of Scotland, one day's prosperous breeze would carry them

past the Rhynns of Islay, and bring them in sight of Colonsay. It is said

that Columba and his companions landed on the southern extremity of

Colonsay, now called Oronsay, and mounting the cliffs looked along the

verge of the southern horizon. Dimly in the distance like a cloud, he saw

the hills of Inishowen, and once more he bade his companions embark--for

he might not stay where he could see the distant hills of Erin. So they

re-embarked and sailed further north, until they landed on Iona, which is

about twenty miles north-and-by-west of Colonsay.

"To oars again; we may not stay,

For ah! on ocean's rim I see,

Where sunbeams pierce the cloudy day,

From these rude hills of Oronsay,

The isle so dear to me.

But when once more we set our feet

On wild sea-crag or islet fair,

There shall we make our calm retreat,

And spend our lives as it is meet,

In penance and in prayer."[257]

On the southern shore of Iona there is a small sandy cove, bounded on both

sides by steep and ragged cliffs rising from the waves. A patch of green

sward runs down to the sandy margin of this little bay, and outside it is

sheltered from the fury of the south and south-west winds by several rocky

islets, through which, however, a currach might easily glide even in

broken weather, and reach the little sandy beach in safety. This cove is

still called _Port a Churraich_, and it is the unfailing tradition of Iona

that it was in this cove Columba and his companions first landed, and that

the cove takes its name from his currach. "The length of the curachan or

ship is obvious to anyone who goes to the place, it being marked up at the

head of the harbour upon the grass between two little pillars of stone,

set up to show forth the same, between which pillars there is three score

of foots in length, which was the exact length of the curachan or

ship."[258] We must now devote a separate chapter to Iona and its

scholars, for, during six hundred years, it was an Irish island in

Scottish seas.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE COLUMBIAN SCHOOL IN ALBA.

"Saint of the seas----

Whose days were passed in teacher's toil--

Whose evening song still filled the aisle--

Whose poet's heart fed the wild bird's brood--

Whose fervent arm upbore the rood--

Still from thy roofless rock so gray,

Thou preachest to all, who pass that way."

--_M'Gee._

I.--IONA.

When Columba landed on Iona he ascended the steep cliff still called

_Cnoc-na-Faire_--the Hill of the Outlook--just above Port-a-Churraich, and

looking southward over the sea to the utmost verge of the horizon, he

sought in vain for one glimpse of the hills of holy Ireland. He could see,

as we saw from the same spot, the rugged peaks of Jura, and the brown

summits of Islay; and further still he might perceive the bare blue

mountains of Kintyre mingling with the sky; but no trace of the land of

his love to the south or south-west--nothing but the open shoreless sea.

Then Columba knew that this was the land which God gave him to be the

place of his exile, and there he resolved to make his monastic home.

Iona is little more than three miles long, and less than a mile in average

breadth; and its physical features are uninviting. It is separated from

the Ross of Mull--a bare and bleak mountain district--by a strait less

than a mile wide. The surface of the island is very bare and rugged,

especially towards the south and west. On the north-eastern border there

are a few patches of tillage, but no trace of a tree. The craggy rock

crops up everywhere, interspersed with moory or sandy flats; and in

sheltered corners there are fields of potatoes, oats, and barley, which,

especially on the north-eastern shore, grow very well. The cattle are a

small woolly haired breed, easily fed and very hardy. Craggy is the only

epithet that will correctly describe the general appearance of the place;

there are crags everywhere, interspersed with patches of pasture, which

furnish a scanty and precarious herbage to the sheep and black cattle.

Dunii is the highest hill on the island; it is situated towards the

northern extremity, not far from the monastery, and rises to the height of

more than 300 feet above the sea. Like the other hills, it is almost all

naked rock. The south and south-western portion of the island is entirely

uninhabited; and is still more wild and barren than the north. Across the

middle of the island from east to west, there stretches an extensive belt

of low and comparatively level land, called the _Machar_, or Plain. The

eastern portion of this plain, called _Sliganach_, from its shelly beach,

is fairly cultivated; the western part affords pasturage to a goodly

number of sheep and small hardy cattle.

Port Ronan, the usual landing place, is close to the village near the

centre of the eastern shore of the island. The village itself, in which

there were some hovels as poor as any in Connemara, contains about a dozen

of houses; the whole island has about 500 inhabitants, amongst whom, when

we visited it, there was not a single Roman Catholic. There is a fair

hotel; but as the Duke of Argyle allows no spirituous drinks to be sold on

the island, of which he is proprietor, travellers who wish to procure

refreshment of this kind had better take it with them. Porter was,

however, surreptitiously sold in more than one house in the village.

When Columba, with his twelve companions, came to Iona, it was a

wilderness, without inhabitants and without cultivation. Fishermen and

pilgrims sometimes landed there, but none appear to have settled

permanently in the island. Tighernach, the accurate annalist of

Clonmacnoise, states expressly that the island of Hy was granted to

Columcille by Conall, King of the Dalriada. On the other hand, Bede says

that it was the gift of Brude, King of the Picts; but as Columcille was

established at Iona before the conversion of Brude, we must understand

Bede to mean that the King of the Picts confirmed the grant, which the

sub-king Conall had already made to Columba. King Conall was the son of

Comgall, who was a grandson of Fergus Mor Mac Earc, one of the leaders of

the colony that came from Dalriada about the year A.D. 506 to establish

themselves in Alba. Kintyre and Knapdale was the cradle of this gallant

band, that founded the kingdom afterwards known as the Scottish Dalriada,

whose princes became the stem of the royal line of Scotland's kings. It

was from this prince Conall that Columba received permission to settle in

Iona in the first instance, but Brude later on, being a much more powerful

prince and ruler of the outer islands, confirmed the grant, most probably

at the earnest request of Columba himself.

There is at present no trace of any of the original buildings founded by

Columcille. They were probably, as at Durrow, constructed for the most

part of perishable materials; but if of stone, they were entirely

destroyed during the oft-renewed ravages of the Danes. We do not think it

necessary to make here special reference to the churches of a later date,

which have no particular connection with our subject. They are in two

groups--the Cathedral group about 200 yards from the shore, somewhat to

the north of Port Ronan; and a little to the south and nearer to the shore

the nunnery group with the ancient parish church of Kilronan, a portion of

whose walls are still standing. Near this group of ruins is an ancient

cross standing by the way-side, and now commonly called M'Lean's Cross. It

is a tall thin flag covered with interlacing ornaments of an Irish

character. It is fixed in a kind of millstone;[259] and is probably as old

as the time of Adamnan himself.

In the cathedral group may be noticed the _Reilig Odhrain_, or ancient

cemetery surrounding the Church of St. Odhran, which is a little to the

south of the cathedral. This Odhran was, according to the Irish Life, one

of the twelve who came with Columcille, although Adamnan seems to imply

that he was a Briton. He took sick and died in the island, and gladly met

his end, that the burial of his body might, as Columcille said, fix the

roots of the holy community in the island, and make it kindred earth. The

cemetery was called by his name, and is to this day the only cemetery in

the island; for Columcille saw Odhran's soul going to heaven, and he said

that no request would be granted to anyone at his own tomb except it were

first asked at the tomb of Odhran.

There is a large number of sculptured gravestones in this cemetery, and

many of them beautifully wrought; but none are of the most ancient time,

and very few of them bear inscriptions. Yet they are obviously the tombs

of distinguished persons during the middle ages--of kings and princes; of

bishops and abbots; of knights in armour with sword and shield--all

resting side by side in _Reilig Odhran_.

There is a low square tower in the very centre of the "Cathedral," between

the nave and chancel. It has also two transepts, and apparently two

lady-chapels--nearly opposite the sacristy; perhaps one was a mortuary

chapel. The cloister and other monastic buildings adjoined the church on

the north-west--so as to enable the monks to enter from the cloister by a

door beneath the tower. There are two crosses; one is still standing--St.

Martin's--just before the great western doorway; the second cross, now

broken, stood a little more to the north, and nearer to the wall of the

church. The sculptured figures are much effaced by the hand of time, the

severity of the climate, and partly, too, it is to be feared, by the zeal

of the 'reformers.' In the little church of St. Odhran there was a

beautifully sculptured crucifix just over the throne or abbot's seat; but

it has been wantonly broken and defaced.

These, however--except the _Reilig Odhran_--are all the remains of the

mediæval monastery and churches founded by the Scottish Kings long after

the ravages of the Danes. It is now difficult to fix the exact site of

Columba's monastery. It was in our opinion within the circular enclosure,

a little to the north, just outside the wall enclosing the present

cathedral ruins. The site of the mill, to which Adamnan refers, can easily

be traced; there is the lakelet that served as a mill-pond; the stream

that turned the mill still flows to the sea; and even the place of the

sluice can be observed near the cottage, that has been probably built on

the site of the mill. Just on the road side beyond the church-yard is the

craggy eminence, which Adamnan refers to as the monticulus monasterio

eminens; and Torr Abb--the Abbot's Rock--is still there within the present

enclosure and on the same side of the road. Nature's land-marks are all

there, and testify to the truth and accuracy of Adamnan's most minute

details; but the works of human hands are gone--by men they were raised,

and by men they were destroyed.

It is no part of our purpose to refer to Columba's missionary labours

amongst the Picts of the Highlands, whom he converted to the faith of

Christ. We can only make a brief reference to his influence both as a

saint and as a scholar on the learning of his own time, and of subsequent

ages.

In all the monasteries which he founded, we find that Columba made ample

provision for the pursuit of sacred learning, and the multiplication of

books, without which these studies could not be successfully carried on.

He was himself, as we have already seen, a celebrated scribe:--

"Three hundred gifted, lasting,

Illuminated, noble books he wrote."[260]

In Iona there was always one or more scribes constantly at work; and it

was considered a most honourable occupation. Baithen, who succeeded

Columba as Abbot, was frequently employed as scribe, and on one occasion

he wrote rather quickly--_percurrens scripsi_--a copy of the Psalter, yet

so accurately, that there was not a mistake of a single letter, except in

one word where the vowel _i_ was omitted. Sometimes the scribe became

abbot, but at other times he became the bishop, usually resident in the

community, to perform episcopal functions in Iona, and its dependant

houses. Dorbene, abbot in A.D. 713, was a "choice scribe." We have one of

his manuscripts still with his name in it;[261] and the celebrated

Adamnan, of whom we shall speak more fully hereafter, also wrote a

beautiful hand. There was, doubtless, a _scriptorium_ in Iona; and

reference is explicitly made to waxen tablets for writing--_tabulae_--and

also to the pens and styles--_graphia_ and _calami_--and to the ink

horn--_cornicula atramenti_.

The study of the Holy Scripture was their primary concern; the psaltery

was generally got by heart; the Lives of the Saints were read for the

community; and the works especially of the Latin Fathers, were frequently

studied. Classical learning was not neglected in Iona, and the writings of

Adamnan show that he was familiar with the best Latin authors, and had

some knowledge of Greek also.[262] Theological and moral conferences were

also held from time to time in presence of the principal members of the

community. It was a monastic principle at Iona as elsewhere "to let not a

single hour pass in which the monk should not be engaged either in prayer,

or reading, or writing, or some other useful work."[263] This was, Adamnan

tells us, the invariable practice of Columba himself; and he sought to

make it the rule of life in all the monasteries that he founded. A great

portion of the time was undoubtedly given to manual labour--but then

_laborare est orare_--whilst the hands laboured, the thoughts were with

God; and besides labour is in itself a prayer, when the toil is necessary

and the purpose holy.[264]

It was also prescribed in the Rule attributed to St. Columba that the monk

should help his brethren by giving them instruction, or by writing for

them; or if he were not qualified to discharge these important works of

charity, then he was to help them by sewing their garments, or by whatever

labour they might be most in want of--the principle being, never to be

idle, and to help others as far as possible.[265]

II.--COLUMBA PROTECTS THE BARDS.

Another way in which Columba exercised great influence on learning in

Ireland was by his successful efforts to preserve the Bards from the

destruction with which they were threatened.

All our history and all our literature, even to some extent our laws, down

to the time of Tighernach, were written in verse. Some people might think

it better if they were written in prose; but the probability is--if we did

not have them in verse, we should not have had them at all. "It was their

duty," says O'Donnell in his _Irish Life of St. Columba_, "to record the

achievements, wars, and triumphs of the kings, princes and chiefs; to

preserve their genealogies, and define the rights of noble families; to

ascertain and set forth the limits and extent of the sub-kingdoms and

territories ruled over by the princes and chiefs."

But the Bards did not confine themselves to their official duties. Being a

highly privileged class, they soon increased in numbers by the admission

of their sons and other relatives amongst their ranks. They became greedy

of gain, importunate in their demands, and oppressive in their exactions.

They lived at free quarters, extolling their benefactors with extravagant

praise, and satirizing the niggardly with unsparing invective. Even their

best friends at length became weary of their importunities. The king had

expelled them from his palace; but a party of them soon after reappeared,

and audaciously demanded as their fee the royal brooch--the Roth

Croi--which the king wore on his breast.

Tired of their eulogies and exactions, he and the whole nation rose up

against the avarice and venom of the Bards. Their old enemies grew strong

in numbers and courage, for now the king himself was on their side. A

great convention was to be held forthwith; and it was given out as the

fixed purpose of the king and his chiefs to procure the total abolition

of the Bardic Order; and thus get rid of them and their exactions for

ever.

The Bards were now thoroughly alarmed. The whole country was against them,

and they probably felt that they were guilty. In this great emergency

there was only one person powerful enough to help them; to him they

appealed to come to their relief, and save them from destruction; and

Columba listened to their prayer.

At this time his influence was all-powerful both in Erin and Alba. He was

a cousin of the High King of Erin; he had inaugurated at Iona the king of

the Scottish Dalriada, who was also his connection by blood. He had

founded many monasteries in both countries; and though he was a stern

ruler, he was beloved and venerated by his disciples. He was known to be a

man of miracles, filled with the spirit of prophecy, and powerful in word

and work. Every one in Ireland had heard how he converted Pictland; how

the barred doors of King Brude's fort flew open at his touch. Many feared

him; but more loved, and all reverenced him.

The great Convention of Drumceat, in which the fate of the Bards, as well

as some other important questions were to be decided, appears to have been

held in A.D. 575. "The precise spot," says Reeves, "where the assembly was

held is the long mound in Roe Park, near Newtownlimavaddy, called the

_Mullagh_, and sometimes Daisy Hill." Aedh Mac Ainmire was king of Ireland

at this period, and was a first cousin once removed of Columcille. The

saint was accompanied to the meeting by Aidan, king of the Scottish

Dalriada, who was resolved to assert the independence of his kingdom, and

have it formally recognised without bloodshed in this great assembly.

Through the aid of Columcille he was successful. The next request made by

the saint was the liberation of Scanlan Mor, son of the king of Ossory,

who was most unjustly kept in bonds by the High King. In this demand also

Columba, though not without difficulty, succeeded. The third great

question--the proposed abolition of the Bards--was then taken into

consideration.

King Aedh himself was their accuser. All the princes of the line of Conn

were ranged around him. The Bards were there, too, with the illustrious

chief Bard, Dallan Forgaill. The queen and her ladies were, it is said,

also present; and twenty bishops, forty priests, thirty deacons, and many

clergy of inferior grade were seated near Columcille in this great

parliament of the Irish nation.

The king brought all those charges against the Bards, to which we have

already referred--their avarice, their idleness, their exactions, their

insolence; and he called upon the assembly to dissolve the Order, and take

away all their privileges. Then Columcille arose; and all that vast

assembly did him reverence. With his clear and strong melodious voice,

which was borne to the utmost verge of the vast multitude, he defended the

ancient Order of the Bards of Erin. He did not deny the existence of grave

abuses--let them be corrected; and in future let the guilty be severely

punished. But why destroy the Order itself? Who would then preserve the

records of the nation--celebrate the great deeds of its kings and

warriors--or chant a dirge for the noble dead? His eloquence carried the

assembly with him. The Order was preserved from destruction; but it was to

be reformed, and restrained by salutary laws from such excesses in future.

It is said that on this occasion Columba made a formal visitation of all

the religious houses which he or his immediate disciples had founded in

Ireland. It was no easy task to accomplish, for Dr. Reeves in his notes

furnishes a list of no less than thirty-seven monasteries throughout the

northern half of Ireland, of which Columba is the reputed founder and

patron. Besides Durrow, Derry, and Kells, he was also the founder of

Swords, Drumcliff, Screen, Kilglass, Drumcolumb, and many other celebrated

houses, to which we cannot now refer in detail.[266]

There is a story told, but without good authority, that during these

visits to Ireland Columcille wore a cere-cloth over his eyes, and had clay

from Iona in his sandals; so that in accordance with the penance imposed

on him by St. Molaise, he neither trod the soil of Ireland, nor looked

upon his native land again. If such a penance were ever imposed, it was

too rigid to be always binding, and even if it were binding, such a public

cause as attendance at the assembly of Drumceat would render his presence

there necessary and lawful, without making any special effort to observe

his obligation to the letter.

Columba was at this period the most powerful man either in Ireland or

Scotland. Large grants of land were made to his monasteries, and thousands

of people begged to be enrolled amongst his disciples. St. Patrick himself

had not greater influence than Columba possessed at this period in the

North of Ireland.

In gratitude to Columba for preserving the Bardic Order in Erin, Dallan

Forgaill composed the celebrated poem in praise of Columcille, known as

the Amhra Choluimcille, to which we shall refer again. But Dallan did more

effective service to Irish literature in another way. By the advice and

under the direction of the saint, he reorganized and reformed the Bardic

Order, as decreed by the assembly of Drumceat, and moreover founded

regular schools for the instruction of the young aspirants of the Order.

This tended to check their vagabond disorderly habits, which led to so

many abuses in the past. These schools also fostered habits of systematic

study, encouraged the cultivation of the Celtic language, and developed a

taste for general literature even outside the monastic schools.

According to Keating, who had sources of information at hand that have

since been lost, Dallan appointed four Arch-poets--one for each

province--who were to preside over these Bardic schools, and carry out the

regulations enacted at Drumceat. There is no doubt that it is in a great

measure to these schools of the Bards, and the systematic training which

their pupils received, that we owe the preservation not only of the

ancient and authentic chronicles of Erin, but also of that immense mass of

romantic literature in the Gaedhlic tongue, which at length is beginning

to attract the attention not only of British, but also of foreign

scholars. It was the monastic schools, no doubt, that preserved and

transcribed the Lives of the Saints, which, in spite of many fables, have

added so much to our knowledge of ancient Erin in things profane, as well

as in things sacred. We know what the Four Masters have done for the

literature and history of ancient Erin. But they were in reality the last

and not unworthy representatives of the ancient Bards of Erin. Through

good and ill they laboured to preserve and perpetuate the knowledge of our

ancient books; and when the nation's day was darkest, and the future

without a single ray of hope to light up the deepening gloom, they sat

down in the ruined convent of Donegal, and at the peril of their lives,

arranged and transcribed for posterity those immortal Annals, which, like

the work of the Greek historian, will be our treasured possession for all

time.

We cannot narrate in detail the subsequent history of Columba's life. It

was such as we have already seen, a life of study, of labour, of prayer, a

life of missionary toil that carried the light of the Gospel over stormy

seas to the remotest islands on the west of Scotland, and over pathless

mountains to the Pictish tribes on its farthest eastern border.

We must hasten to the close of his glorious career, and see, as it were

with our own eyes, in the simple narrative of his biographer, how an Irish

saint could die.

III.--THE DEATH OF COLUMBA.

There is no more touching or edifying scene recorded in the life of any

saint, than that which exhibits in the simple language of his biographer

the beautiful death of Columba. We shall give it as far as possible, in

Adamnan's own words.

In the month of May before his death the saint paid a visit to his monks,

where they were working on the farm in the western part of the island, and

on that occasion he told them that God would, if he (Columba) wished it,

have called him away at Easter, but that he was unwilling then to leave

his beloved monks, and turn the joyous festival of Easter into one of

grief and sadness for them. Now, however, the day of his departure, he

said, was fast approaching, when he should have to leave them for ever.

Then they were all filled with grief at his words; he however, sought as

best he could to give them consolation, and turning towards the east in

the direction of the monastery, he blessed it, with the entire island, and

all its inhabitants. In consequence of this blessing no noxious thing has

ever since been seen in our island. Immediately afterwards the saint

returned to the monastery.

Some days later Columba whilst saying Mass in the church had a vision of

an angel, whom God sent to warn him that he should soon be called away.

Now on the last day of that same week, that is, on Saturday, the venerable

man went out with Diarmait, his attendant, to bless the barn; and after he

blessed it, he observed that he was glad to see from the great heaps of

corn that his dear monks would have enough of food for the year, even if

he himself were called away. Then Diarmait was sad, and said, "You grieve

us often of late, father, by referring to your approaching departure from

amongst us." "I will tell you a secret, Diarmait," replied the saint, "if

you promise faithfully never to reveal it to any one before my death."

Diarmait promised on his knees, and then Columba said, "This day

(Saturday) is called in Scripture the Sabbath: and it will also be the

Sabbath of my labours, for on this coming Sunday night I will, in the

words of Scripture, be gathered to my fathers. My Lord Jesus has deigned

just now to invite me; and at midnight I shall depart in obedience to his

summons." Diarmait hearing these words, began to weep, and the saint

strove as well as he could to console him.

On their way home from the barn to the monastery, the saint sat down to

rest himself on the roadside, at the spot where the cross now stands fixed

in the millstone. And as he sat resting his aged limbs, the old white

horse that used to carry the milk-pails from the byre to the monastery,

came up to the saint, and put his head in the saint's bosom, as if the

animal had the use of reason, and knew that his master was going to leave

him; and the horse seemed deeply grieved and appeared to shed tears like a

human being in his master's bosom. Then the saint was deeply moved, and

blessed the poor faithful horse, "for," he said, "it is God that has made

known to him through instinct that he will see me no more."

And going thence the saint ascended the hill that overlooks the monastery

(now called Cnoc-na-Carnan), and standing on its summit he raised his two

hands aloft and blessed his monastery, and foretold that the kings of the

Scots, and even the rulers of rude and foreign nations with their subjects

would yet pay much honour to his poor monastery, and that the saints of

other churches too would hold it in veneration.

Then he came down the hill and went straight to his cell, and sat there

copying the psaltery. But as soon as he came to that verse of the

thirty-third psalm where it is written--_Inquirentes autem Dominum non

deficient omni bono_--"Here I must stop," he said, "at the end of this

page--let Baithen write the rest." And it was an appropriate verse for him

to end with, as the next was an appropriate one for his successor to begin

with--_Venite filii, audite me, timoren Domini docebo vos_.

Having written his last verse the saint went to the church to join in the

first vespers of the Sunday, which are chanted on Saturday evening; and

when the office was over he returned to his little cell and sat down upon

his bed during the night--that bed was a naked rock with a stone for a

pillow--the stone that now stands beside his grave as the title of his

monument. Whilst sitting thus on the rocky bed he gave his last

instructions to his monks in the hearing of Diarmait alone. "My little

children," he said, "my last words to you are:--Cherish mutual and

unfeigned love for each other, and God will never let you want the

necessaries of life in this world, and you will have, moreover, eternal

glory in the world to come."

And now, as the happy hour of his departure was quickly approaching, he

became silent for a little. But as soon as the bell for matins struck at

the midnight hour, he rose up quickly, and going to the church before the

others he entered it alone and threw himself on his bended knees in prayer

near the altar. Diarmait, his attendant, followed a little more slowly to

the church, and at that moment as he approached the door, he saw the

church lit up with a bright angelic light as if shining over the saint.

Others saw it too at the same moment, but when they came nearer it

disappeared. Diarmait then entered the church, and groping through the

darkness--for the lights were not yet brought in--he found the saint

stretched before the altar, and raising him gently, he sat down beside him

and took his holy head and laid it in his bosom.

The crowd of monks now coming up with lights, and seeing their father

dying, broke out into lamentation. But the saint, as we heard from those

who were present, lifting his eyes towards heaven, looked around him on

both sides, and his face was full of a wondrous heavenly joy, as if he

were looking at angels. Then Diarmait raised the saint's right hand to

bless the circle of monks, and our holy father moved his hand as well as

he could, so that he might with the motion of his hand give them that

blessing which he could not utter with his voice. Having thus blessed

them, he immediately expired; yet his face remained still bright-coloured,

so that he did not look like one that was dead but only sleeping.

Meanwhile, the whole church was filled with wailing.

So passed away the blessed Columba, as he had foretold, on Sunday night a

little after 12 o'clock, the 9th of June, in the year of our Lord 597. It

was the seventy-seventh of his age, and the thirty-fourth of his

pilgrimage in Iona.

As soon as matins were finished, the blessed body of the saint was carried

back to the hospice, accompanied by all the brethren chanting psalms.

Thereafter for three days and three nights the obsequies of the saint were

celebrated with all due and fitting rites. After which the venerable body

of our holy patron was wrapped up in clean linen and buried in a coffin

with all reverence--but Adamnan does not mention the exact spot, where it

was laid.

IV.--THE WRITINGS OF COLUMBA.

Many writings have been circulated under the name of the great St.

Columba--some few of which are genuine, but most of them spurious. We

shall very briefly call attention to both. There are three Latin poems

published in the second volume of the _Liber Hymnorum_ by the late Dr.

Todd, which are generally regarded by critics as genuine. The first and

most celebrated is the _Altus Prosator_. It was first printed by Colgan

from the Book of Hymns preserved at St. Isidore's. A splendid edition has

also been lately printed by the Marquis of Bute, who has good reason to

regard Columba as the patron saint of his family, which is sprung from the

early Dalriadan Kings.

The _Altus Prosator_ is beyond any doubt a very ancient poem, written in

rather rude Latinity, but syntactically correct, that is, if we make

allowance for the errors and ignorance of the copyists. It consists of

twenty-two _capitula_ or stanzas, each stanza consisting of six lines,

except the first which being in honour of the Holy Trinity has seven, and

each line has sixteen syllables. The meter is a kind of trochaic

tetrameter, with a pause after the eighth syllable, and a rhyme or

assonance at the end of the lines. The first word of each of the

twenty-two stanzas begins with one of the letters of the alphabet in

regular order according to the Hebrew letters.

There is a preface, or introduction, to the whole poem, and a brief notice

of the title and subject matter at the head of each stanza. The preface

which is substantially the same both in the _Book of Hymns_ and in the

_Leabhar Breac_, sets forth as usual the time, place, motive, and author

of the poem, but gives two different accounts. The author was, according

to all accounts, Columcille, and he wrote the poem in the Black Church of

Derry after much careful preparation. His motive was to praise God and do

penance for the sins he had committed, especially in causing the bloody

battle of Cuil-Dreimhne. The time was during the reign of Aedh Mac Ainmire

in Erin, and of Aidan, son of Gabhran in Dalriada. The other account

represents the poem as written in Iona, while Columba was grinding a bag

of meal in the mill for the entertainment of some clerics who came from

Rome to present him, in the name of Pope Gregory, with a richly enshrined

relic of the true Cross, known afterwards as Morgemm, and long, it is

said, preserved at Iona. This is a much less plausible explanation than

the former, and probably invented by some foolish admirers of the saint,

who did not relish the idea of Columcille having to do penance for grave

faults of anger and indiscretion.

The poem is the production of a fervent and pious spirit that feels the

power and mercy of God's all-ruling Providence in the past, and in the

present. It describes the Trinity, the Angels, the creation of the world,

and the fall of man, also the deluge and other noteworthy events in

sacred history, ending with a vivid description of the terrors of the last

judgment. Many graces are promised to those who recite it worthily: Angels

will attend them while chanting it; the devil shall not know their way to

lie in wait for them, nor their enemies to destroy them; there shall be no

strife in the house where it is sung; it protects against sudden and

violent death; and there shall be no want where it is regularly recited.

Columba's second Latin Hymn, known, as the _In te Christe_, is merely the

complement of the _Altus Prosator_. Columba sent that latter Hymn to Pope

Gregory in Rome in return for the portion of the Cross which he had sent

to Columba. When it was recited before the Pope he was greatly pleased

with it, especially as he was privileged to see the Angels listening to it

at the same time. He observed that there was only one fault in it--that

the praise of the Trinity was too scanty, being confined to the first

stanza alone. Columcille hearing this resolved to supplement the _Altus_

by another poem in praise of the Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost. It contains fifteen rhyming couplets of the same character as those

in the _Altus_, but its authenticity is by no means so certain. The fact

that it is contained in the _Book of Hymns_ proves, however, that it is a

very ancient poem, although even there in the preface some doubt is thrown

on its authenticity.

The third Latin Hymn attributed to Columba is the _Noli Pater_ containing

seven rhyming couplets, with sixteen syllables in the line. It is found in

the _Book of Hymns_. The short preface says that it was composed by the

saint in Daire Calgaich at the time that he received the grant of that

place from Aedh Mac Ainmire; and the messengers came at the same time

announcing Mobhi's death, and bearing his girdle as the token of the

saint's permission for Columcille to found his church. But just then the

place took fire, and Columcille composed the hymn to stay the ravages of

the flames. And it has been sung from that time forward as a protection

against fire, and lightning, and the wrath of the elements.

The following is the first stanza of the _Altus_ which shows the metre.

"Altus prosător, vetustus dierum et ingenitus,

Erat absque origine primordii et crepidine,

Est et erit in saecula saeculorum infinitus,

Cui est unigenitus Christus et Spiritus Sanctus

Coaeternus in gloria Deitatis perpetuae;

Non tres Deos depromimus, sed unum Deum dicimus

Salva fide in personis tribus gloriosissimis."

The two principal Irish poems attributed to Columcille are the "Dialogue

of Columcille and Cormac in Hy"--and his pathetic "Lament for his Native

Land"--to both of which we have already referred. There is a third poem

known as his "Farewell to Aran," which has been rendered into English

verse by another true poet, Aubrey de Vere. T. D. Sullivan has given a

very beautiful rendering, if not of the words, at least of the spirit of

Columba's "Lament for his Native Land." "The 'Dialogue' and the 'Lament'

may not," says Reeves, "be genuine, but they are poems of very

considerable antiquity, and the first shows the early notions which

existed in Ireland about Cormac's adventures, and his relations to

Columba." Colgan is inclined to think them genuine, and has given them

amongst the reputed writings of the saint. They may have been retouched by

some bard later than Columba's time; but in our opinion they represent

substantially poems that were really written by the saint. They breathe

his pious spirit, his ardent love for nature, and his undying affection

for his native land. Although retouched perhaps by a later hand, they

savour so strongly of the true Columbian spirit that we are disposed to

reckon them amongst the genuine compositions of the saint.

That Columba was indeed a true prophet, to whom God made known to some

extent things future and things distant, is clearly shown by his

biographer Adamnan. It was probably his fame in this respect that gave

some countenance to the "forgeries" that were circulated under his name,

not one of which appears to have the smallest claim to be considered

genuine: although some of them are undoubtedly very ancient. O'Curry found

one of them in the _Book of Leinster_, purporting to be a prophecy of the

coming of the Danes on Lough Ree, and their occupation of the abbacy of

Armagh. Reference is also made to the death of Cormac MacCullinan, and the

destruction of Aileach by Mortogh O'Brien, and to similar historical

events that were manifestly foretold (and sometimes with mistakes) after

they had happened. But in the MS. Columcille is described as narrating

these things in cold Iona to Baithen, his friend and successor. Both

Reeves and O'Curry justly denounce the spirit of greed and impiety, that

would in recent times try to palm off on simple-minded people certain

impudent forgeries as the genuine oracles of the saints of God. Such

fraudulent practices are injurious to religion: they dishonour the saints,

and are unworthy of any publisher who calls himself a Catholic.

V.--LIVES OF COLUMCILLE.

Of these Colgan with his usual industry and erudition has published five.

The author of Colgan's _First Life_ is unknown, but Colgan believed that

it was written by some contemporary or disciple of the saint, and he

therefore placed it first in order. The _Second Life_ is attributed by

Colgan to Cuimine the Fair[267] (Cuimineus Albus), seventh abbot of Hy;

who, if he did not himself see the saint, was in daily intercourse with

those who did. Adamnan cites this author by name, and embodies the work in

his own splendid biography. The _Third Life_ is that published by

Capgrave, and taken by him from John of Teignmouth--a learned Benedictine

monk, who flourished about the year A.D. 1366. He was a mere compiler, not

an author. Colgan's _Fourth Life_ is the celebrated one by Adamnan, to

which we shall refer at length a little later on. The _Fifth Life_ is a

lengthy one written in Irish. Its author was Manus O'Donnell, chief of

Tir-Connell, as the writer distinctly sets forth in his Preface:--"Be it

known to the readers of this Life, that it was Manus, son of Hugh, son of

Hugh Roe, son of Niall Garve, son of Torlogh of the Wine O'Donnell, that

ordered the part of this Life, which was in Latin to be put into Gaelic,

and who ordered the part that was in difficult Gaelic to be modified so

that it might be clear and comprehensible to every one; and who gathered

and put together the parts of it that were scattered through the old books

of Erin; and who dictated it out of his own mouth, with great labour and a

great expenditure of time in studying how he should arrange all its parts

in their proper places, as they are left here in writing by us; and in

love and friendship for his illustrious Saint, Relative, and Patron, to

whom he was devoutly attached. It was in the castle of Port-na-tri-namad

(that is Lifford--the Port of the three enemies) that this Life was

indited when were fulfilled twelve and twenty and five hundred and one

thousand years of the age of the Lord (A.D. 1532)."

What may be called the autograph copy--it has never yet been

printed--exists, says Dr. Reeves, in all its original dimensions, beauty,

and material excellence written in large vellum folio in double columns,

and is preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Colgan's edition is

merely an abstract of the Irish life rendered into Latin. It may be

safely said that O'Donnell's Life comprises everything that has been

written, or handed down by tradition, concerning Columcille. Some of the

miraculous stories which he gives were deemed so extravagant even by

Colgan, that he omitted them in his own compilation. Still, this Life is

of great value, and we hope to see it soon fitly edited by some competent

Irish scholar.

VI.--OTHER SCHOLARS OF IONA.

Besides Columba himself there were several other distinguished scholars

connected with Iona. Of these the most distinguished was the celebrated

Adamnan, ninth abbot of Hy. Before, however, giving an account of Adamnan,

it will be useful to give a brief sketch of some of his predecessors in

the abbatial chair.

"Let Baithen write the rest," said Columba, when he was attacked with his

last illness, and dropped his pen at the end of the page in the middle of

the thirty-third psalm. The saying was taken as an indication of his wish

that Baithen should succeed him as head of the Columbian Houses. He was a

cousin of the founder, and had been for many years prior of Iona.

Moreover, he was in every way fitted for the high office by his virtues,

his learning, and his prudence. Kinship with the founder, too, was deemed

at the time an indispensable qualification for holding the abbacy. The

monastic family formed, as it were, a kind of spiritual clan or tribe, and

as connection by blood with the head of the tribe was deemed necessary for

the chieftaincy in the temporal order, so also was it deemed for many

generations to be essential in the spiritual order likewise.

Baithen from his boyhood was the pupil of Columba himself, and inherited

all his virtues. He was especially remarkable for his spirit of prayer.

When walking his hands were clasped in prayer beneath his habit: when

working at the harvest he prayed whilst he was carrying his handful of

oats to the sheaf; even at his meals he said, _Deus in adjutorum meum

intende_, between every two morsels of food. He was a monk in Derry, when

chosen by Columba to accompany him to Iona. There he was appointed a

general overseer of the work done by the monks in the field, but being an

accomplished scribe, he was often engaged in reading and writing. Like his

friend and master, whatever time he did not spend in relieving the wants

of others, he gave to reading, or prayer, or bodily labour; so his Life

expressly states.

His great virtues marked him as a fitting person to be sent to govern the

monastery, which Columba had founded at Magh-Lunga--the Plain of the

Ships--in the Island of Heth, called also Ethica, 'the low lying land of

the barley,' as it is called in an ancient Gaedhlic poem. It was situated

about twenty miles to the north-west of Iona, from which it is of course

distinctly visible. It is a low, sandy tract, about eleven miles long, and

varying in breadth from one to three. He, however, maintained a constant

connection with the parent house, which he frequently visited; for twenty

miles even of that wild sea were as nothing to the hardy sailor monks, who

knew that God watched over them on sea as well as on land. He wrought many

miracles, and possessed in a very striking manner that power, which our

Saviour gave His apostles, of casting out devils.[268] He is also

recognized either as the founder or patron saint of Taugh-boyne

(Teach-Baeithin), in the barony of Raphoe, county Donegal. It is not

unlikely that this was his native district, and was afterwards placed

under his special protection.

Baithen's rule as Abbot of Iona was very brief--from A.D. 597 to A.D.

600--three years exactly, if these dates are correct; for he died on the

same day of the month as his beloved master Columcille. He was seized near

the altar with a fainting fit on Tuesday, the 4th of June. The brethren

crowded round him in tears, for they thought he was going to die, and

Dermitius, Columba's old attendant, said to them, "You see, my brothers,

what a small interval will separate the feast-days of our two abbots."

Thereupon Baithen opened his eyes, and prayed earnestly to God not to take

him out of the world until the feast-day of his beloved master. His prayer

was heard; he died like Columba on the 9th of June, and, doubtless, was

buried beside him in that church, where they so often joined in prayer

before the same altar.

The very last sentence in the Life, as given in the Salamanca MS., states

that the intense pains, which he suffered, did not prevent the sick monk

from continuing his constant occupation of writing, praying, and teaching,

up to the very moment of his happy death.

Writing, praying, and teaching--truly fit occupations for the head of a

great monastic school. No wonder that Fintin, son of Lippan, when asked

about the learning of St. Baithen, replied--"Be assured that he had no

equal on this side of the Alps in his knowledge of sacred Scripture, and

in the profundity of his science."[269] There is an old Irish poem still

extant, purporting to be a dialogue between Columcille and Baithen, which

has been attributed to the latter; and some verses eulogistic of Columba

have also been circulated under his name. That he was a man of great

learning is undoubted; and that he left his spirit behind him in Iona will

be seen from what follows.

Columba used to say that Baithen was like St. John the Beloved in his

innocence and simplicity of heart, and that even in the rigorous

discipline of perfection they were not much unlike; but that it was very

different with their fosterers--he himself was very far indeed from being

like unto Christ.

Laisren, who had been Abbot of Durrow during Columba's lifetime, was now

called to succeed Baithen in Iona. We know little of his history, except

that he was uncle of Seghine, the fifth abbot, who ruled from A.D. 623 to

A.D. 652, during the stormy period of the Paschal Controversies. The

latter was an ardent defender of the ancient discipline both as to the

tonsure and paschal observance. He had been a pupil of Columba in Iona;

and was of his knowledge able to testify to many things concerning the

saint in presence of the Abbot Falveus, the immediate predecessor of

Adamnan.

In literary history Seghine is chiefly remarkable as the person to whom

Cummian addressed his celebrated Epistle on the Paschal Question in the

year A.D. 634, to which we have referred at length already.[270] The

superscription is "Segieno Abbati Columbae Sancti et Caeterorum Sanctorum

Successori"--a high testimony to the reputed sanctity of his predecessors.

Seghine was also one of those to whom the Roman clergy during the vacancy

of the See in A.D. 640, addressed an important letter on the same subject.

This shows that from his high official position, as head of the Columbian

monasteries, and, doubtless, also from his high personal character, it was

deemed of the greatest importance to secure the adhesion of Seghine to the

Roman discipline. In this, however, the authors of both the letters were

disappointed. Seghine, who was animated with the unyielding and somewhat,

haughty spirit of Conal Gulban's line, could not bring himself to believe

that his sainted predecessors, whose holiness was proved by so many

miracles, could by any possibility be wrong in the discipline which they

followed. The monks who were trained under him, like Aidan and Colman of

Lindisfarne, were animated with the same spirit; so that even after the

Conference of Whitby the aged Colman preferred to leave his beloved

retreat in Lindisfarne, and sail back again to his stormy home on the

coast of Mayo, rather than adopt the new discipline; and we know that the

Irish monks of Lindisfarne followed him to a man.

Seghine was succeeded by Suibhne, the first "outsider" whom the monks of

Iona elected as head of their Order. Colgan observes that his genealogy is

not recorded in our native annals; whence we may infer that he owed his

elevation to his merit rather than to the accident of his birth. He died

in A.D. 657. His successor, Cuimine, was of the Cenel-Conail line, for he

was nephew of Seghine, the fifth abbot. He wrote a tract, _De Virtutibus

S. Columbae_, which is cited by Adamnan. It really forms the groundwork of

Adamnan's _Third Book_, into which it has been bodily transferred. It has

been also published by Colgan, and the Bollandists, though from different

sources. It is also to be found in the recently published _Salamanca

Codex_. This life shows that Cuimine was an excellent Latin scholar, and

although scarcely possessing the wide culture of Adamnan, he is little

inferior to that celebrated writer, in the graphic account which he gives

of the miracles and virtues of St. Columba.

The Paschal Epistle already referred to has been attributed to this

Cuimineus Albus, as Adamnan calls him. We have shown elsewhere that the

real author was Cummian Fada, Bishop of Clonfert; and it is well known

that during the whole of the seventh century the entire community of Iona

was vehemently opposed to the adoption of that discipline, which the

author of the Paschal Epistle advocates and defends. This of itself proves

that the Abbot of Hy was not its author. We are now come to Adamnan, the

ninth abbot, whose history we must narrate at greater length.

VII.--ADAMNAN, NINTH ABBOT OF HY.

In the year 1845 Dr. Ferdinand Keller was poking with a German's

pertinacity through the shelves of the Town Library of Schaffhausen, in

Switzerland. In a corner of the room he found a high book chest filled

with all kinds of old MSS., without title or number of any kind, and at

the very bottom of the heap he came upon a dark brown parchment

manuscript, bound in moth-eaten beech wood, covered with calf skin,

carefully clasped in front, and very neatly and curiously sewed at the

back. It was a goodly quarto of 68 leaves, with double columns, written on

dark coloured goat skin parchment in large heavy drawn letters of the

character known as minuscular. Everything about the MS. showed great

antiquity--the cover, the parchment, the lettering, and the ornamentation.

Dr. Keller at first thought he had come upon a hitherto undiscovered

treasure; but in this he was mistaken. He only recovered a lost treasure,

and secured its preservation for the learned world. On examination, the

MS. turned out to be the oldest and most authentic copy of Adamnan's _Life

of St. Columba_, made in Iona either during the life time of Adamnan

himself, or certainly within a few years after his death.

The monastery of Richenau in the ninth century appears to have had many

Irish inmates; and this is not unnatural, for the great Irish monastery of

St. Gall was within a few miles of the shore of Lake Constance, and

considerable intercourse would naturally take place between the two

houses. Walafridus Strabo, Abbot of Reichenau, from A.D. 842 to A.D. 849,

had been previously Dean of St. Gall, and in his writings shows an

intimate knowledge of many things connected with Ireland, which he could

have learned only from Irishmen.[271] We know, too, from other sources,

that crowds of Irishmen came to France and Germany in the beginning of the

ninth century, and that many of them brought their books from their

schools at home along with them, as Dungal brought the books which he

bequeathed to the monastery of Bobbio. It is thus easy to understand how

some of the monks of Iona, driven from home by the Norsemen, who so often

plundered the Island about the beginning of the ninth century, would

migrate to some friendly monastery on the continent, carrying their

literary treasures with them.

There can, however, be no doubt that the Schaffhausen MS. of St. Columba's

Life was written in the Island of Hy by one of the Family, so early as the

beginning of the eighth century. The character is of that peculiar kind of

which we have almost contemporary specimens the _Book of Kells_, and the

_Book of Durrow_, and which is now universally acknowledged to be purely

Irish; the ornamentation of the chapters and of the capital letters is

Irish; the orthography is Irish, and what is stranger than all, the Lord's

Prayer is written in Greek on the last page of the MS., and in Greek, of

which we have other specimens remaining in old Irish MSS. with the same

peculiar spelling, in the same semi-uncial character, without accents, and

without breathings--a fact which of itself indisputably proves that the

Greek tongue was taught and written in the Irish School of Hy, 1170 years

ago.

The Colophon, or superscription, in rubric, at folio 136, at the end of

the life, records, according to the usual custom, the name of the

scribe:--"Whoever reads these books on the virtues of St. Columba, let him

pray to the Lord for me, Dorbbeneus, that after death I may possess

eternal life."

In A.D. 713, Tighernach records the death of Dorbene, Abbot of Hy, the

very year of his election to that high office. There can be no doubt that

this Dorbene was the writer of the Schaffhausen MS.; there is no mention

of any other of the same name in our annals except of one Dorbene, whose

son Failan is said to have died in A.D. 724. This Dorbene was as Dr.

Reeves thinks, a layman; and, if his son died in A.D. 724, he himself in

the course of nature must have lived and died before Adamnan. But the

Abbot who died in A.D. 713, would have outlived Adamnan only nine years,

and in all probability had been for many years scribe of the monastery,

and may have written the book at the dictation of Adamnan himself.

And now, who was Adamnan? Unfortunately we know very little of his early

youth. He gives us to understand, at least by implication, that he was

born at or near Drumhome, in the barony of Tirhugh, and co. Donegal. The

church of Drumhome was founded by St. Columba, but St. Adamnan is the

patron; and this fact, too, indicates his connection with the locality.

There, also, he seems to have spent his earlier years; for it was there he

says, "in my youth that a very old man called Ferreol, a servant of

Christ, who is buried in Drumhome, told me of a glorious vision which he

saw, when fishing in the valley of the Finn, on the night of Columba's

death." Scarcely any traces of the old church of Drumhome now remain; but

it was once nobly endowed by the O'Donnells. Even so late as A.D. 1609, an

Inquisition tells us that "there are in the said parish of Drumhome, four

quarters of church land, three quarters of Columbkille's land, each

quarter containing six townlands, then in the possession of Lewis

O'Cleary," the head of that family, which the Four Masters have made

illustrious for ever. The old church was finely situated near the shore of

the Bay of Donegal, not far from Ballintra, and in view of the bold range

of mountains, where the sons of Conal Gulban so long and so nobly defended

their ancient freedom.

Adamnan's father, Ronan, was sixth in descent from that same Conal Gulban,

and thus belonged to the royal blood of Tirconnell; his mother was Ronnat,

a daughter of Enna, who gave his name to Tirenna, the territory that in

ancient times extended from Lough Foyle to Lough Swilly. Thus Adamnan was

of the same family as St. Columba himself; for Columba was grandson of

Fergus, son of Conal Gulban, and Adamnan was sixth in descent from the

same Fergus. He was born in A.D. 624, according to the best authorities,

just twenty-seven years after Columba's death, and, as we may fairly

assume, was in his youth placed under the care of the monks of Drumhome,

in whose old churchyard he himself tells us many of the monks of Columba

await a happy resurrection.

How long the boy remained in his native Tirhugh, feeding his spirit on the

glorious vision of its waves and mountains, we cannot now ascertain. It

was at that time, as we have seen, the custom of scholars, even of the

noblest birth, to visit the great monastic schools of the country, and all

the more celebrated masters were surrounded by crowds of eager students,

who lived on their wits, and lodged as best they could, generally in

little huts of their own contrivance. A curious story is told of St.

Adamnan himself in his youth, which amusingly illustrates what may be

called the University life of the time.

Finnachta, afterwards Monarch of Ireland, from A.D. 675 to 695, and

Adamnan's greatest friend, although of the blood royal, was at first very

poor. He had a house and wife, but only one ox and one cow. Now the king

of Feara Ross (Carrickmacross) strayed to the neighbourhood of Finnachta's

hut; his wife, too, was with him and a crowd of retainers; but they could

not find their way home, for the night came on dark, cold, and stormy, so

they were forced to take refuge in the hut. Small as it was, the size of

the house was greater than its wealth. Finnachta, however, "struck the ox

on the head and the cow on the head," and feasted all the king's people

sumptuously, so that no one was hungry.

Then the King and Queen of Feara Ross gave large herds of cattle to the

generous Finnachta, and made him a great man. Shortly after this time

Finnachta, not yet king however, was one day coming with a large troop of

horse to his sister's house, and as they rode along they overtook Adamnan,

then a young school boy, travelling the same road with a vessel full of

milk on his back. Anxious to get out of the way, Adamnan stumbled and

fell, spilling all the milk and breaking the jar to pieces. The cavalcade

rather enjoyed the fun and rode away; but Adamnan pursued them closely,

and said: "O, good men, I have reason to be sad, for there are three good

school-boys in one house, and they have us as two messengers--for there is

always one going about seeking food for the five--and it came to my turn

to-day. The gathering I made is scattered, and what I grieve for far more,

the borrowed vessel has been broken and I have no means to pay for it."

Then Finnachta declared he would make it all right, and he kept his word.

He not only paid for the vessel but he brought the scholars--clerics they

are called--to his own house, and their teacher along with them; he fitted

up the ale-house for their reception, and gave them such abounding good

cheer that the professor, exhilarated by the ale, or filled with the

spirit of prophecy, as the annals say, declared that Finnachta would one

day become the King of all Ireland, "and Adamnan shall be the head of the

wisdom of Erin, and shall become 'soul's friend,' or confessor to the

king."

When Adamnan was duly trained in the wisdom of the Irish schools at home

his thoughts naturally turned to Iona. For that remote islet, surrounded

by the stormy waters and under the misty skies of the Hebrides, had long

been the religious home of his race and family. At this very time, when

Adamnan was about twenty-five years old, a cousin of his own, Seghine,

fifth Abbot of Hy, ruled the entire Order. So with the south wind blowing

fair, we may suppose the young scholar launched his currach on the Foyle,

and sweeping past the hills of Inishowen, he would in about twelve hours

see Columba's holy island slowly rising from the waves. As his bark

approached he would eagerly note all the features of the island--the

central rugged ridge, the low moory shores and narrow strait separating it

from the Ross of Mull on the mainland. With a heart swelling with emotion,

he must have stepped on the shore of Port Ronain, and then kneeling

prostrate before the Abbot in his wooden cell, begged to be admitted to

the habit of the Order. And we may be sure the venerable Seghine received

with open arms the strong-limbed, fair-haired boy, who was sprung of his

own ancient line and born in his own Tirhugh.

Adamnan began his novitiate about A.D. 650, and after thirty years'

service in the brotherhood was himself raised to the abbatial Chair in

A.D. 679. We know little of his life during this period, except that it

was eminent for virtue and learning. We have undoubted proofs of his

success in sacred studies, not only in the works that remain, but also

from the testimony of his contemporaries. He was, says Venerable Bede, a

virtuous and learned man pre-eminently skilled in Sacred Scripture.[272]

This is high testimony from a high authority. Father H. Ward felt himself

justified in saying that Adamnan was thoroughly educated in all the

knowledge of his time, liberal, sacred, and ascetical; that he was also

skilled in the Greek and Hebrew languages, as well as in the arts, laws,

and history written in his native tongue.[273]

Yet this learned monk was not above giving his assistance in the manual

labour of the monastery. He tells us in his life of St. Columba[274] how

on a certain occasion he and a number of other monks cut down as many oak

trees in one of the neighbouring islands, probably Arran, as loaded twelve

boats in order to procure material to repair the monastery; and how, when

detained by an adverse wind, St. Columba heard their prayer and procured

for them a favourable breeze to waft them home. This fact, incidentally

mentioned, proves that most of the monastic cells were made of oaken

boards, which were covered in with a roof of reeds. St. Columba's own hut

is represented as _tabulis suffultum_, and we know from other sources that

as a protection against the weather these cells were thatched with

reeds--_harundine tecta_. It is in this respect that the "Vita Columbae"

is so valuable because it gives us incidentally not only a graphic picture

of the simple and pious lives of the Family of Hy, but also of their food,

their clothing, their monastery, and their entire social arrangements.

Although St. Adamnan ruled the monastery of Hy from A.D. 679 to his death

in A.D. 704, he paid several visits to Ireland, and exercised a large

influence both on its ecclesiastical and civil polity. This was due partly

to his high character for learning and holiness, partly to his position

as supreme head of the Columbian Houses, and in great measure also to his

influence with Finnachta, the High King, from A.D. 675 to 695. It is not

easy to ascertain the exact date of these visits, nor the work done on

each occasion, but the substantial facts are certain.

In the year A.D. 684 one of the generals of the Northumbrian King,

Ecgfrid, made a descent on Magh-Bregh, that is the eastern plain of Meath

along the sea-shore. He pillaged and slaughtered in the usual fashion, and

furthermore carried off many captives, male and female. This attack was

wholly unprovoked, and, as Bede testifies, brought down upon the

Northumbrian prince the signal chastisement of heaven. In the following

year, rashly advancing against the Pictish King Brude, Ecgfrid was slain

and his army routed at a place called Dun Nechtain. Thereupon Aldfrid, his

brother, returned from Ireland, where he had been for many years an exile,

and succeeded to the throne. Aldfrid, during the years he spent in

Ireland, became intimate with Adamnan--our annalists call him the alumnus,

or foster son of Adamnan. Now that he was raised to the throne, the latter

took occasion to pay him a visit in order to obtain by his friendly

offices the release of the captives. Miraculously crossing the Solway

Frith, whose rushing tide "the best steed in Saxon land ridden by the best

rider could not hope to escape," he came to the Northumbrian Court at

Bamborough, and seems to have been received with open arms by his alumnus,

who at once consented to restore the captives, sixty in all, whom shortly

after Adamnan brought home to Ireland. But this visit to the English court

had other important consequences. "When he saw," says Bede, "during his

stay in our province (probably at Easter) the canonical rites of our

church, and was prudently admonished that they who were placed on a little

corner at the end of the world should not persevere in their peculiar

Paschal observance against the practice of the universal church, he

changed his mind and willingly adopted our custom." On the same occasion

he visited the monastery of Jarrow, where the monks greatly admired the

humility and modesty of his demeanour, but were somewhat scandalized at

his Irish frontal tonsure from ear to ear, then known as the tonsure of

Simon Magus.

On his return to Hy, Adamnan tried to induce his monks to adopt the Roman

Paschal observance; but they were so much attached to the practice

sanctioned by their great and holy founder that even Adamnan failed to

bring about a change. It was not until A.D. 716, twelve years after his

death, that they finally consented to adopt the Dionysian cycle of

nineteen years in fixing Easter Day.

He was more successful in Ireland. On his return thither with the captives

in A.D. 686, a Synod seems to have been held for the purpose of bringing

about this change, to which he himself alludes in his _Life of St.

Columba_. Neither the time nor place of the Synod can be exactly

ascertained; it is not unlikely, however, that it took place on the Hill

of Tara at the "Rath of the Synods," where tradition still marks out the

place of "Adamnan's Tent," and "Adamnan's Cross."[275] Others think it was

held at a much later date in A.D. 696 or 697, when "Adamnan's Canon" was

published, to which we shall refer later on. It is certain, however, that

Adamnan exerted his great influence thenceforward to introduce the new

Paschal observance into Ireland, although he did not perhaps finally

succeed until towards the end of his life.

On this occasion Adamnan's visit was not of long duration; but he paid a

second visit to Ireland in A.D. 692--fourteen years after the death of his

predecessor, Failbhe, as the Annals say. This time it was a political

question that attracted him from Hy. For forty reigns the men of Leinster

had been paying the cow-tax, known as the Borumean tribute, to the princes

of the Hy-Niall race, to which Adamnan himself belonged. Finnachta,

however, the reigning High King, the old friend of Adamnan, remitted this

tribute at the prayer of St. Moling, whom our Annalists represent as

having recourse to a curious equivocation to effect his purpose. The king,

at the prayer of the Saint Moling consented to remit payment of the tax

for "the day and night." "All time," said the saint, when the king had

pledged his royal word to this remission, "is day and night; thou canst

never re-impose this tax." In vain the monarch protested that he had no

such intention; the saint kept him to his word, promising him heaven if he

kept it, and the reverse if he did not. When Adamnan heard how weakly the

king had yielded the ancient rights of the great Hy-Niall race, he was

somewhat wrathful, and at once sought out the monarch, and asked to see

him. The king was playing chess, and told Adamnan's messenger, who asked

an interview for the saint, that he must wait till the game was finished;

then he played a second and was going to play a third, when the saint

threatened him with reading a psalm that would not only shorten his life,

but exclude him from heaven. Thereupon he came quick enough, and at once

Adamnan said, "Is this true that thou hast remitted the Borumha for day

and night?" "It is true," said the king. "Then it is the same as to remit

it for ever," said the saint; and he "scolded" him in somewhat vigorous

language, and made a song on him on the spot, calling him a foolish,

white-haired, toothless king, and using several other epithets the reverse

of complimentary.

Of course all this is the work of a northern bard, who puts into the mouth

of Adamnan language which he would use himself; nevertheless, there is a

substratum of truth in the story highly coloured as it is by poetic

fiction. In the end, however, the writer adds:--"Afterwards Finnachta

placed his head on the bosom of Adamnan, and Adamnan forgave him for the

remission of the Borumha." Shortly after, however, Adamnan was again angry

with the king, and foretold "that his life would be short and that he

would fall by fratricide." The Irish life gives the true cause of the

anger and the prediction; it was because Finnachta would not exempt from

taxes the lands of Columbkille, as he exempted the lands of Patrick,

Finnian, and Ciaran. This not unnaturally incensed the saint against the

ungrateful king, whose throne he had helped to maintain. The prediction

was soon verified; Finnachta fell by the hand of a cousin in A.D. 697.

It was on his return to Hy after this second visit that Adamnan seems to

have written the _Life of Columbkille_. Shortly after he paid a third

visit to Ireland in A.D. 697, and apparently spent the remaining seven

years of his life in this country. It was in that year, most probably, was

held the Synod of Tara in which the _Cain_, or Canon of Adamnan, was

promulgated. According to a story in the _Leabhar Breac_ there are four

great Laws, or "Canons" in Ireland. The Canon of Patrick, not to kill the

clergy; the Canon of the nun Dari, not to kill the cows; the Canon of

Adamnan, not to kill women; and the Sunday Canon, not to travel on that

day. The origin of the Canon of Adamnan was this:--He was once travelling

through Meath, carrying his mother on his back, when he saw two armies in

conflict, and a woman of one party dragging a woman of the other party

with an iron reaping hook fixed in her breast. At this cruel and revolting

sight, Adamnan's mother insisted that her son should promise her to make a

law for the people that women should in future be exempted from all

battles and hostings. Adamnan promised and kept his word[276]--in A.D.

696, according to the _Ulster Annals_. That is he procured the passing of

a law exempting women and children--innocentes--from any share in the

actual conflict or its usual consequences, captivity or death. This fact

is substantially true, though considerably embellished in the

details.[277] And Ireland owes the great Abbot a lasting debt of gratitude

for procuring the enactment of this law, which was afterwards re-enacted

in A.D. 727, when the relics of Adamnan were removed from Iona to Ireland

and the "law renewed." There were several other Canons probably enacted at

a Synod held at Armagh about the same time, but this is far the most

important of them all.

The _Life of St. Gerald_ of Mayo represents Adamnan as governing the

monastery of that place, originally founded by the Saxons, for seven

years. Tradition also connects the saint with the Church of Skreen in the

county Sligo, of which he is the patron, and was in all probability the

founder. As head of the Columbian Order it was his duty, from time to

time, to visit the Columbian Churches in Ireland, of which there were very

many, especially in Sligo and Donegal. He may thus have spent a

considerable time in Mayo of the Saxons, although the _Life of St. Gerald_

is very unsatisfactory evidence of the fact.

We cannot stay to notice the alleged "cursing" of Irgalach by Adamnan. The

story is intrinsically improbable and unsustained by respectable

authority. In the last year of his life, A.D. 704, he returned to Iona.

Although the monks would not consent to give up St. Columba's Easter, he

loved them dearly, and wished to bless them before he died. After his

noble life he might well rest in peace with the kindred dust of all the

saints of Conal Gulban's line that sleep in the holy island.

A century later, however, as we have seen, the sacred relics were

transferred to Ireland, but it is not known for certain where they were

laid.

Adamnan's two most important works are his _Vita Sancti Columbae_, and his

book, _De Locis Sanctis_.

The life of St. Columba has been pronounced by Pinkerton to be "the most

complete piece of such biography that all Europe can boast of, not only at

so early a period, but even through the whole middle ages." Adamnan

himself declares that he wrote the book at the earnest request of the

Brothers; and that he states nothing except what was already written in

the records of the monastery, or what he himself heard from the elder

monks, many of whom saw the blessed Columba, and were themselves witnesses

of his wonderful works. The entire narrative, which is written in fairly

good Latin, furnishes ample proof of the truth of this statement. Hence

the great value of this Life, not only as an authentic record of the

virtues and miracles of St. Columba, but also as a faithful picture of the

religious life of those early times by a contemporary writer, so well

qualified to sketch it, and who does so quite unconsciously. The

manuscript in the library of Schaffhausen is of equal authority with the

autograph of the saint, if, indeed, it were not actually written at his

dictation, so that the most sceptical cannot question the authenticity of

this venerable record. The Life was printed from this codex by Colgan in

1647, and by the Bollandists at a later date. But the edition published in

1837 by Dr. W. Reeves for the Irish Archæological and Celtic Society, is

by far the most valuable. The notes and appendices to this admirable

volume render it a perfect mine of wealth for the student of Irish

History.

Venerable Bede gives us a very full account of the treatise _De Locis

Sanctis_, in the 16th and 17th chapters of the fifth book of his

_Ecclesiastical History_. It is, he says, a book most useful to the reader

(in that age). The author, Adamnan, received his information about the

holy places from Arculfus, a bishop from Gaul, who had himself visited

Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria, and all the islands of the sea.

When returning home a tempest drove his vessel to the west parts of

Britain,[278] where he met Adamnan, probably in Hy, to whom he narrated

all the noteworthy scenes he had gone through. Adamnan at once reduced the

narrative to writing, for the information of his own countrymen. He

presented the work to his friend King Aldfrid, through whose liberality

copies were multiplied for the benefit of the young, if such be the

meaning of Bede's phrase:--"Per ejus largitionem etiam minoribus ad

legendum contraditus." Bede himself was greatly pleased with the book,

from which he inserts several extracts in his own history, concerning

Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Mount Olivet, and other places in Palestine. It was

published at Ingoldstadt in 1619.

A Life of St. Patrick and some poems have been attributed to Adamnan, but

there is no evidence to prove that they are genuine. The same may be said

of the "Vision of Adamnan," a kind of moral discourse in Irish, which

purports to relate a wonderful vision of the joys of heaven, and of the

torments of hell, as seen and narrated by the saint. The work is certainly

very ancient, but contains many things that go far to disprove its own

authenticity.

When we consider the life and writings of this great man, as well as the

large influence which he exercised on Irish affairs during the latter half

of the seventh century, few will be disposed to question his right to take

a high place amongst the saints and scholars of the west. He has been

justly described in the prologue to the _Vision_ as "the noble sage of the

Western World." We have already quoted Bede's high testimony to his virtue

and learning. The Four Masters emphatically endorse that testimony, and

add that "he was tearful, penitent, fond of prayer, diligent and ascetic;"

and that he was, moreover, "learned in the clear understanding of the Holy

Scriptures of God."

After the death of Adamnan, A.D. 704, the Annals of Hy become less

interesting. It still retained its headship of all the Columbian houses

both in Erin and Alba--its abbots holding what is called a _principatus_

over the rulers of the subject monasteries. Mention is also made of the

_cathedra_ of Columba and of Iona; but probably the same thing is

meant--not episcopal or territorial jurisdiction, but the supreme

authority over the Columbian houses and their wide domains. Reference,

however, is made, for instance, in A.D. 712, to the death of "Ceddi,

Bishop of Iona," but he doubtless derived his jurisdiction from the abbot.

In A.D. 717 we are told that the Pictish King, Nectan, expelled the

Columbian monks from his dominions, because they refused to conform to the

general discipline as to the paschal observance, and the coronal tonsure.

This seems to have brought the entire community to a sense of their duty,

for now at length, under the Abbot Faelcu, they began to wear the Roman

tonsure, as they had already adopted the Roman Easter. In A.D. 727 we are

told that the "Relics of Adamnan" were brought to Ireland, and his Law

renewed in that country. The object of bringing over these relics seems to

have been to heal a feud between the Cenel-Eoghain and Cenel-Conal, in

which the clergy appear to have been also mixed up, contrary to the Cain

or Law of Adamnan. The relics were brought back again by the abbot in A.D.

730.

In A.D. 739, we read of the _Dimersio familiae Iae_, as if the greater

part of the community were lost in some flood or shipwreck--most likely

the latter. In A.D. 753, and in subsequent years reference is made to

enforcing the Law of Columcille, which seems to have been a tribute

assessed by the parent house on the subject monasteries and their adjacent

lands. As the relics of Adamnan were carried to Erin, where his Cain was

enforced, so it is likely some relics, if not of Columba's body, yet in

some other way connected with him, were carried round on these occasions.

Iona had now become a celebrated place of pilgrimage. Even kings and

princes, as Columba had predicted, came to the island shrine, and were

deemed especially happy, when they died on their pilgrimage. Niall

Frassach gave up his crown to take the pilgrim's staff, and died in Iona

in A.D. 778; so did Artgal, son of Cathal, King of Connaught, in A.D. 791,

and many princes of the Picts and Saxons in like manner.

Thus for two hundred years since the death of their holy founder, the

community had been growing in celebrity and influence, but now a day of

trial and doom was at hand.

In A.D. 794 the 'Gentiles' made their first descent on the Hebrides; the

following year they attacked and pillaged the holy island itself. It was,

however, only the beginning of the evil time. It was burned in A.D. 802,

and the same year saw the death of Connachtach, 'a very choice scribe,'

whose end was doubtless hastened by the sight of his beloved monastery in

flames.

Fortunately, however, the community of Hy got two years later "a free

grant of Kells without a battle." They had, doubtless, been claiming it as

their own; for it was given to Columba by King Diarmait long ago; but the

place may have got into other hands in the interval. Now, however, that

they had recovered it in peace, they resolved to make it their

headquarters in future. In A.D. 807 they began to build a new religious

'city' in Kells; the great church was finished in A.D. 814, when the old

Abbot Cellach resigned the principatus of Iona, which thenceforward was

transferred to Kells, where the new abbot fixed his official abode. It

seems that the venerable Cellach would not leave his beloved island for

the new city in Ireland, and so he resigned his office, and next year went

to his rest in that old churchyard, where the bones of so many of his

sainted predecessors were already laid.

Many of the monks still clung with the same tenacious affection to the

old monastery in the sacred island of Columba, although they knew that

they lived there in daily peril of their lives. It was thus the martyrdom

of St. Blaithmac came to pass in A.D. 825. The Gentiles' fleets were once

more upon the seas. Word was brought that they were harrying the

neighbouring islands; and the monks of Iona betook themselves to flight.

It was not difficult to cross the narrow strait, and escape into the wild

hills of Mull. But Blaithmac would not stir; he was ardently longing for

the crown of martyrdom, and now the hour of his triumph was at hand. He

had hidden the shrine containing the relics of the holy founder, adorned

with gold and gems, deep in the earth, and covered over the spot with

fresh green sods, so as to leave no trace of the treasure beneath. This

was, however, what the spoilers wanted. They asked the old man where he

had hidden the shrine. He refused to tell; and then, enraged by baffled

greed, they slew him on the spot. It was fitting that Iona, the sacred

nursery of so many doctors and confessors, should also have its martyrs in

the ranks of the saints of God. It was fortunate, too, that the heroic

martyr should have found a poet to celebrate his triumph in verses not

unworthy of such a Christian hero.

Walafridus Strabo, a monk of the abbey called Augia Dives, now Reichenau

in Switzerland, heard of the heroism of the Ionian monk from his fellow

monks who had fled for refuge to their countrymen in this Irish House on

the Rhine. Of German birth himself, he was filled with admiration for such

lofty Christian courage; and composed a poem of 180 Latin hexameters, in

which he celebrates the fortitude of--

"Blaithmaic, genuit quem dives Hibernia mundo,

Martyriique sequens misit perfectio caelo."

The poem is too long to insert here, but it is a noble tribute from the

pen of a foreigner to the courageous virtue of the Columbian monk who gave

his life for Christ in Iona more than one thousand years ago.

The Rule of Columba[279] required that his monks should be ready for

martyrdom whenever God's honour required it. Their mind was to be always

fortified and steadfast for 'the white martyrdom' of patient endurance;

but they were also bound to have the mind if occasion arose prepared for

'red martyrdom.' Blaithmac found the opportunity and was unwilling to lose

his crown.

CHAPTER XV.

THE LATER COLUMBIAN SCHOOLS IN IRELAND.

"A voice from the ocean waves,

And a voice from the forest glooms,

And a voice from old temples and kingly graves,

And a voice from the catacombs."

--_Aubrey de Vere._

I.--KELLS HEAD OF THE COLUMBIAN HOUSES.

During the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries Kells became the Head of

the Columbian Monasteries, and produced several distinguished men. Its

professors are frequently referred to during this period in our Annals,

especially during the eleventh century. Two of them bore the name of Ua h

Uchtain, of whom one was unhappily "drowned coming from Alba, with the bed

of Columcille--it was a stone--and three of Patrick's relics, and thirty

persons along with him." In A.D. 1050 died Maelan of Ceanannus, a

distinguished sage; and eleven years later the death of Ciaran is noticed,

another distinguished sage of the same school.

Meanwhile Kells did not escape the ravages of the Danes. In A.D. 949,

_recte_ 951, it suffered greatly. Godfrey, King of the Danes of Dublin,

marched to Kells, and having plundered all the country round about,

returned home with "3,000 captives, besides gold, silver, raiment, and

various wealth and goods of every description."[280] Although Kells

suffered much in various attacks, both before and after this date, it is

doubtful if the good monks of Columcille were ever so completely cleaned

out as on that occasion. It is called an _expilatio_ by an old

chronicler--pillage that left nothing after it. Kells was five times

plundered during the tenth century; once also at the close of the ninth,

and once at the opening of the eleventh century; and it was burned during

the same period even oftener than it was plundered. Yet the school and

monastery lived on, and after the Danish wars seem to have become once

more quite flourishing.

The celebrated _Cathach_, to which we referred when speaking of the School

of Moville, was enshrined at Kells about the close of the eleventh

century. On the margin of the under silver plate of the casket, which

contains the MS., the following words in Gaelic are still quite legible.

"Pray for Cathbarr O'Donnell for whom this casket was made, and for

Sitric, son of Mac Aedha, who made it, and for Domnald Mac Robartaigh

Comarb of Kells, at whose house it was made." As this abbot of Kells died

in A.D. 1098 the _cumdach_, or casket, must have been fabricated by

MacHugh's son before that date, probably at the joint expense of O'Donnell

and the abbot.

The family of Mac Robartaigh seems to have produced several distinguished

scholars during this century, many of whom were connected with the

monastic school of Kells. The Mac Robartaigh clan appears to have belonged

to Donegal. The parish of Ballymacgroarty in Tirhugh was most likely their

family inheritance, as it takes its name from the clan. The celebrated

Marianus Scotus was a member of the same family; for in his own hand he

describes himself as Muredach Mac Robartaig, giving his original Irish

name, instead of the literary patronymic, which his learning and virtue

have immortalised.

II.--THIS MARIANUS SCOTUS,

Scribe and Commentator on Sacred Scripture, must be carefully

distinguished from his countryman and namesake Marianus Scotus the

Chronicler. We have fortunately an authentic Life of the former written by

another Irishman, who was an inmate of the same religious house as

Marianus, and who tells us that he derived his information from Father

Isaac, then living, the life-long associate of Marianus himself.

This Life sets forth that Marianus was a native of the North of Ireland,

but does not name the locality in which he was born. In his early youth he

was handed over by his parents to the care of certain religious men in

order to be trained up for the clerical state in all learning and pious

discipline. There is hardly a doubt that the reference here is to the

monks of Drumhome, in the barony of Tirhugh, county Donegal. The old

monastic church was situated near the sea shore, where the boy must have

often wandered in view of the noble mountains that rise up so grandly

beyond the bay, and in the sight and hearing of the wild Atlantic waves

that break upon its shore. Later on he was doubtless sent to Kells to

complete his studies, for several members of his family presided over that

abbey about this period.

We gather from statements made by Marianus himself, that he left Ireland

in A.D. 1067; and therefore just eleven years after the departure of his

namesake, Marianus the Chronicler. At this period old Father Isaac

described him to the writer of his life, as a handsome fair-haired youth,

strong-limbed and tall, moreover a man of goodly mien, and gracious

eloquence, well trained in all human and divine knowledge.[281] His

purpose was to go on pilgrimage to Rome; but calling to see Bishop Otho of

Bamberg, he was induced to remain with that prelate for a whole year.

Subsequently the bishop gave Marianus and his two companions a cell at the

foot of the mountain, in which they lived as recluses, the bishop

generously supplying their simple wants.

After the Bishop's death they journeyed on to Ratisbon, where they were

once more induced to stay at the earnest entreaty of the venerable abbess

Emma and her nuns. As before they lived as recluses in their own little

cells, Marianus devoting himself with great zeal to the composition and

transcription of religious books for the good abbess Emma and her nuns. He

also found leisure to write books for the monks around Ratisbon; "for his

pen was swift, his handwriting clear and beautiful, and his labour

incessant." He worked so diligently in his cell that his two companions,

John and Candidus--Irishmen also--found quite enough to do in preparing

the parchments which he filled up with the words of salvation. We are

expressly told that they all laboured without fee or reward--giving their

books gratuitously, contenting themselves with the poorest raiment and the

plainest and scantiest fare. "To tell the truth without a fog of words,"

says the writer of the _Life of Marianus_, "amongst all the things which

Divine Providence wrought by the hands of the said Marianus, nothing in my

opinion is so wonderful and praiseworthy as the zeal with which the holy

man, not once or twice, but frequently transcribed with his own hand the

entire Old and New Testament with commentaries and explanations; while at

the same time he wrote many smaller books, and psalters for poor widows,

and for the needy clerics in the same city (of Ratisbon), and that, too,

merely for his soul's sake, without any hope of earthly gain. Moreover,

many monastic congregations in faith and charity imitating the same

blessed Marianus, having come from that same Ireland (Hibernia), and now

dwelling throughout Bavaria and Franconia, are for the most part sustained

by the writings of that same holy man."

Such is the noble testimony borne to the learning, zeal, and charity of

this pure-souled Irish monk in the land of the stranger. And therefore it

was that, not without good reason, he and his countrymen were so warmly

welcomed and so generously treated in all the great cities of mediæval

Germany.

But Marianus was quite as remarkable for the holiness of his life as for

his learning and literary labours. "He was," says the writer of his Life,

"like Moses, the meekest of men; and God bestowed upon him in a wonderful

way the gift of healing many diseases, but especially fevers, and not only

during his life, as I have heard from trustworthy witnesses, but at his

tomb after his death, _as I have seen with my own eyes_."

We cannot now, however, give an account of the celebrated monastery of St.

James of Ratisbon, which was founded by Marianus for his countrymen, who

came to that city in great numbers towards the close of the eleventh

century, nor of the great scholars which it produced.

Marianus is described by Aventinus in the _Annals of Bavaria_ as a

distinguished poet and theologian--poeta et theologus insignis--second to

no man of his time. His poems are unfortunately lost, but his Commentaries

still remain to us at least in manuscript. His Commentary on the Psalms

was so highly valued, as Aventinus tells us, that it was not allowed

outside of the walls of the monastic library without a valuable deposit

being left to secure its safe return. There is in the Cotton collection a

codex not yet published entitled _Liber Mariani genere Scoti excerptus de

Evangelistarum voluminibus sive Doctoribus_.

His most famous work, however, is the codex containing the Epistles of St.

Paul, with a marginal and interlinear commentary. This precious MS. is now

in the Imperial Library at Vienna,[282] and is especially valuable because

it contains several entries in the old and pure Gaedhlic of the eleventh

century.[283] It is quite astonishing what a number of writers is quoted

by Marianus in the marginal gloss--Jerome, Augustine, Cassiodorus,

Arnobius, St. Gregory, Origen, St. Leo the Great, Alcuin, Cassian, Peter

the Deacon, Pelagius, and the Ambrosiaster are all laid under tribute. We

wonder how many Irish scholars of the present day are acquainted with

them.

This great work was completed on Friday, the 16th day before the kalends

of June, A.D. 1079--he marks the date himself, and asks the reader to say

'Amen' to the brief prayer for his soul's salvation. "Amen, God rest him"

(_Amen Got der Erleich_), wrote a pious old German of the fifteenth

century on the face of the page in response to this pious request. Amen

say we too--may God give him rest--that God whom he served so well during

all the years of his pilgrimage in the land of the stranger.

"And now, my brothers," says the eloquent old Irish monk, who wrote the

Life of Marianus, thinking no doubt of his own far-off home in Ireland by

the swelling Boyne or winding Erne; "and now my brothers, if you should

ask me what will be the reward of Marianus and pilgrims like him, who left

the sweet soil of their native land which is free from every noxious beast

and worm, with its mountains and hills, its valleys and its groves so well

suited for the chase, the picturesque expanses of its rivers, its green

fields and its streams welling up from purest fountains, and like the

children of Abraham the Patriarch, came without hesitation unto the land

which God had pointed out to them, this is my answer: They will dwell in

the house of the Lord with the Angels and Archangels of God for ever; they

will behold in Sion the God of Gods, to whom be honour and glory for

endless ages."

The exact date of the death of Marianus is not marked, but it seems to

have occurred in A.D. 1088, just six years after the death of his namesake

the Chronicler. After Adamnan he was the most distinguished writer

produced by the Columbian Schools.[284]

III.--THE LATER SCHOOL OF DERRY.

As the great Columbian order of monks and scholars began in the Black Cell

of Derry, so also from Derry flashed out the latest bright gleams of that

sacred lamp which Columba had kindled, and which at one time irradiated

both Scotland and Ireland. Kells held the principatus during the ninth,

tenth, and eleventh centuries, as we have already stated; but during the

twelfth century Derry came again to the front, and produced a large number

of very distinguished men, most of whom belonged to a famous literary

family named Ua Brolchain, or O'Brollaghan. This family derived its

descent from Suibhne Meann, who was King of Ireland from A.D. 615 to 628.

He was of the Cenel-Eoghain, but belonged to a sub-division known as the

Cenel-Feradhaich, whose tribe-land seems to have been in the barony of

Clogher, County Tyrone. The first of the Ua Brolchain family noticed in

our Annals is Maelbrighde, whose death is recorded in A.D. 1029. He is

described as chief builder of his time in Erin.[285]

The next of the name whom we meet with is St. Maelisa O'Brolchain, a very

celebrated man, who died A.D. 1086. He was probably an alumnus of the

monastery of Derry, but afterwards retired to Both-chonais, an ancient

monastic church in Inishowen, which is best known from its connection with

this holy and learned man. It was delightfully situated[286] on the margin

of a semicircular bay in the north-western extremity of Inishowen, where

the fierce Atlantic billows spend their force in broken wavelets on its

sandy shore. It is well sheltered on the east and south by a range of

steep and rugged hills. The entire parish of Clonmany, in which it was

situated, abounds in natural curiosities as well as in objects of

antiquarian interest, such as cromlechs, raths, and castles perched on

lofty crags.

No traces of the old monastery now remain, but its site is probably marked

by an old church-yard in the townland of Binnion, situated close to a

narrow inlet of the bay, and in a spot which a sea-king of old might fitly

choose as the site of his stronghold. The place got its name of

Both-chonais--the House of Conas--from its founder, who was the husband of

St. Patrick's sister, Darerca, and by her the father of two holy bishops,

Mael and Maelchu. It is referred to at intervals as a place of some

celebrity during the ninth and tenth centuries, and the death of its

Airchinneach is recorded in A.D. 1049.

Maelisa O'Brolchain shunned church dignities, if he were not indeed a lay

professor; but all the same he certainly acquired great fame even in this

remotest corner of Erin both as a teacher and a scholar. The Four Masters

describe him as "the learned senior (or sage) of Ireland, a paragon of

wisdom and piety, in poetry as well as in both languages--(Irish and

Latin)." The term 'chief senior' is never given except to the most eminent

men, who were recognised as such by their contemporary annalists. Colgan

speaks of him, too, in the highest terms as an humble man shunning all

worldly honours, and devoted to a pious and studious life. He was the

author of many books "replete with genius and intellect," which were

preserved in the neighbourhood of Both-chonais in Colgan's time, but have

since unfortunately perished. "I have in my own possession," adds Colgan,

"some few fragments which he wrote," and which also appear to have

completely disappeared since Colgan's time. Even the site of his monastery

is uncertain. O'Donovan seems to think it was in the townland of Binnion;

but Reeves places it in the townland of Carrowmore, parish of Culdaff, on

the left-hand side of the road from Moville to Carn, and about three miles

from the latter village.[287] It is said that he founded an oratory at

Lismore, which was burned in A.D. 1116, and is called the Oratory of

Maelisa. He may have spent some time either as a student or as a teacher

in that celebrated seminary. He died in A.D. 1086 at a very advanced age,

for he had no sickness, but simply gave back his soul to God. This holy

and eminent scholar seems to have belonged to that class of learned lay

professors, of whom Conn-na-m-Bocht at Clonmacnoise was the most

remarkable example. They were equally renowned for holiness and learning,

but abstained from taking Holy Orders either from humility, or in order to

have more leisure and more freedom in the pursuit of knowledge.

The death of Aedh, son of Maelisa O'Brolchain, who is described as "an

eminent professor" (_praecipuus lector_), is recorded in A.D. 1095. He

was, doubtless, the son of Maelisa of Both-chonais, and probably lectured

either there or in the monastery of Derry. Two years afterwards, in A.D.

1097, the Four Masters record the death of Maelbrighde Mac-an-tsaer

O'Brolchain, Bishop of Kildare, who is described as a 'learned doctor.'

There can hardly be a doubt that he was the son of that chief

builder--_prim saer_--whose fame as a mason or architect was known

throughout all Erin, and who died in A.D. 1029. Then we find two members

of the family raised to the primatial Chair; one was Maelcolaim--disciple

of Columba--O'Brolchain, who died in A.D. 1122; and another, named also

Maelbrighde O'Brolchain, who died in A.D. 1137. It is not unlikely he

belonged to the class of laymen who claimed jurisdiction over, and called

themselves "Bishops of Armagh" during a portion of the eleventh and

twelfth centuries; for "Flaithbhertach, 'son of Bishop O'Brolchain,'"[288]

was Comarb of Columcille in Derry from A.D. 1150 to 1175. The history of

this remarkable man is especially noteworthy.

When he was elected as Comarb of Columcille to the abbacy of Derry, in

A.D. 1150, that ancient monastic seat of learning was, it appears, very

much dilapidated. Like other places near the sea, it was greatly exposed

to the ravages of the Danes, and had been several times plundered and

burned. Most of the buildings were of wood, for the great stone

church--Temple-more--was not yet built. A new era of ecclesiastical

architecture was, however, inaugurated in Ireland towards the middle of

the twelfth century by the workmen whom the Cistercians brought over from

France and England to build their own magnificent churches and

monasteries. Nothing like them had yet been seen in the land. There were

Irish workmen, however, who, if opportunity offered, would be worthy

rivals of the masons that built the Norman abbeys in France and England;

and they gave proof of their capacity in the building of Cormac's Chapel

at Cashel, which is a gem in its own way that cannot be surpassed. The

Abbot of Derry came of a family that had won renown as builders, and he

was anxious to show his own taste and skill in the renovation of the

ancient monastery over which he had just been placed. Money, of course,

was wanting, but it could not be long wanting to the Comarb of Columcille,

if he were resolved to procure it. He made an official visitation of the

Cenel-Eoghain, to whose kith and kin he himself belonged, and 'received

his tribute,' in A.D. 1150--the year of his appointment to Derry. Next

year he made a visitation of the Siol-Cathusaigh in the County Antrim,

"and he obtained a horse from every chieftain, and a sheep from every

hearth, and his horse and battle dress, and a ring of gold, in which were

two ounces, from O'Lynn, their lord." In A.D. 1153 he made a visitation of

the Dal Cairbre, and the Ui Eathach Uladh, and got a horse from every

chieftain, and a sheep from every house, and a screaball, a horse, and

five cows from O'Donlevy himself, and an ounce of gold from his wife.

Coined money was scarce; but cattle and horses were plenty, and would do

as well. Later on he even visited Ossory, and raised his tribute, and

procured immunity for the Columbian churches in Meath from all assessments

except, we presume, his own. Being at this time Head of the Columbian

Order, he was, doubtless, present at the great Synod of Kells, which was

held in that city by Cardinal Paparo in A.D. 1152; and during that year we

find he made no official visitation elsewhere. No doubt he had enough on

his hands; and we may be sure he voted for that Canon of the Council which

ordered tithes to be regularly assessed for Church purposes on all the

lands of Erin. It was what he had himself twice done already, and what he

could now do, not only with custom, but with law also in his favour.

O'Brolchain made an excellent use of the funds which he thus procured. He

removed all the houses that surrounded and disfigured the church of Derry,

and then built on the site of the old church that new Temple Mor which

gives its name to the parish, and appears to have been a large and

imposing structure. The Four Masters say it was eighty feet long, and that

it was built by O'Brolchain and his clergy, with the help of the king of

Ireland, in forty days. If so, the materials must have been all prepared,

and a large number of tradesmen must have been employed, which is not

unlikely, seeing that he had already built a limekiln[289] measuring

seventy feet every way, which took him twenty days to construct. The

limekiln was built in A.D. 1163; but the church was not erected until A.D.

1165, and it is highly probable that the walls were being built in the

meantime, and that the Four Masters mean that the church was covered in

during the space of 60 days, which might easily be done. Doubtless,

O'Brolchain constructed many other buildings also at Derry, for otherwise

he would scarcely have occasion for building that enormous limekiln.

The merits of O'Brolchain were fully appreciated by the clergy and people

of the north, and led to his formal elevation to the episcopal order in

the year A.D. 1158. He had previously enjoyed large jurisdiction as Comarb

of Columcille not only in Derry, but over the Columbian Churches

generally. It was felt, however, especially after the Synod of Kells, that

this state of things was now becoming anomalous and unsatisfactory, and

might lead to a conflict of jurisdiction between the Comarb of Columcille

and the regular diocesan authority. Hence it was resolved at a meeting of

the Irish Clergy, held in Meath in that year, to raise O'Brolchain to the

episcopal dignity, and circumscribe his jurisdiction by assigning him a

definite territory. The Four Masters record it in this manner:--

A.D. 1158. "A Synod of the Clergy of Ireland was convened at Bri Mac

Taidgh in Laeghaire (near Trim), when there were present twenty-five

bishops, with the legate of the Successor of Peter to ordain rules and

good morals. It was on this occasion the clergy of Ireland, with the

successor of Patrick, ordered a Chair, like every other bishop, for the

successor of Columcille--Flaithbheartach Ua Brolchain--and the Arch-abbacy

of the churches of Ireland in general." Very little is known of the

history of this Synod; but we may note the following important

facts:--The legate of the Comarb of Peter was Christian, Bishop of

Lismore; his presence at the Synod was sufficient to authorize the bishops

to proceed to the erection of a new See. The 'Chair' spoken of means not

merely a chair in that assembly, but a new diocese, with all the rights

and privileges canonically appertaining thereto. The new bishop was,

however, still allowed to retain, and perhaps for the first time

canonically to acquire, the Headship of all the Columbian monasteries. It

may be that Kells was still a rival, and that its abbot also claimed to be

Comarb of Columba; if so, this decree settled the question; and the new

bishop of Derry was formally recognised as the Head of all the Columbian

houses in Erin--for at that time there could be no question of any other.

Thus it was that the See of Derry was established. Mention is made of a

Bishop of Derry previously, and of a Bishop-abbot of Derry; but it was, so

to speak, by accident that this took place. There was no See of Derry, and

no Diocese of Derry until A.D. 1158, when O'Brolchain was formally

elevated to that dignity. It is not unlikely that he too was in Episcopal

Orders previously--but now for the first time he got a chair or diocese.

This eminent ecclesiastic, the founder of the Diocese of Derry, died in

A.D. 1175, and the Four Masters record his death with the following

honourable testimony:--

"Flaithbhertach O'Brolchain, Comarb of Columcille, a tower of wisdom and

hospitality, a man on whom on account of his goodness and wisdom the

clergy of Ireland had bestowed a bishop's chair, to whom the abbacy of Hy

had been offered (in A.D. 1164), died in righteousness, after exemplary

sickness, in the Duibhregles of Columcille; and Gilla Mac Taidgh Ua

Brenain was appointed to his place in the abbacy." It is a curious fact

that in A.D. 1173, we find recorded the death of Muiredhach Ua Cobthaich,

Bishop of Derry and Raphoe; but it only implies that before the year A.D.

1158 he was the bishop territorially of Derry; for after that date he

could have no legal claim to the See.

During the half-century between A.D. 1100 and 1150, Iona was under the

influence of the Kings of Norway, especially of Magnus the Great, who

subjected the island to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Man; but in A.D.

1156 royal Somerlid recovered Hy and others of the 'Southern' islands.

Being himself a Celt of Irish blood, he was anxious to restore the Celtic

influence in the island; and hence we find that in A.D. 1164, at his

instance the abbacy of Hy was offered to O'Brolchain, Abbot and Bishop of

Derry. But O'Brolchain being now Bishop of Derry, and the recognised head

of the Columbian Order, declined to accept the abbacy of Hy, preferring to

remain in Derry. Domhnall O'Brolchain, however, was appointed to the

insular abbacy, and being, like all his family, a building man, he

determined to signalize his reign by the erection of a great church in Hy.

It was the cathedral whose ruins are still to be seen, and they furnish a

striking monument of the taste and munificence of the Irish Abbot. On the

capital of the tower column are inscribed the still legible

words--DONALDUS O'BROLCHAN FECIT HOC OPUS. We cannot have absolute

certainty; but there can be no reasonable doubt of the identity of this

name with the Domhnall O'Brolchain, the prior and exalted senior, whose

death the _Annals of Ulster_ record in A.D. 1203, and the Four Masters in

A.D. 1202. After his death a certain Cellach,[290] "without any legal

right, and in despite of the family of Hy, erected a monastery there in

the middle of Cro-Hy." But the clergy of the North of Erin, bishops and

abbots, passed over into Hy and pulled down this new monastery; and Awley

O'Ferrall was elected Abbot of Hy by the suffrages both of the Foreigners

and Gaedhil. This points to an attempt made by the foreign influence to

eject the Irish monks from Hy; but for once it signally failed. The last

entry in our Annals records the death of Flann O'Brolchain, the last Irish

Abbot of Hy, in the year A.D. 1219. Thenceforward it ceased to be Irish,

and became a purely Scottish monastery and remained so until the

Reformation.

IV.--GELASIUS.

We cannot pass away from the School of Derry without some reference to one

of the most distinguished men it ever produced--the celebrated Gelasius,

who succeeded St. Malachy in the See of Armagh. He was one of that noble

band of prelates who, with Celsus, and St. Malachy at their head, did so

much for the true reformation of the Irish Church in discipline and morals

during the half-century that immediately preceded the advent of the

Anglo-Normans to our shores.

Gelasius in his native tongue was called Gilla Mac Liag, and also Gilla

Mac Liag Mic Ruaidhre. The term _Mac Liag_ is commonly taken to mean the

'son of the scholar;' and Harris assures us that he was so called because

his father was esteemed a man of learning, and the most considerable poet

of his age. He is sometimes called Diarmaid, which explains why his son is

called Gilla Mac Liag Mic Ruaidhri, that is the youngster, the son of the

scholar, who was the son of Ruaidhri. We know nothing further of his

family or birth-place; but Colgan, who had excellent means of obtaining

information, states that he was born in A.D. 1088. It is obvious that he

was a native of some territory near Derry, and received his early

education in that monastic school, for we find him while still very young

holding the important position of airchinneach--or erenach, as it is

frequently spelled--of that monastery. It is not improbable that his

father, the poet, was connected with the same monastery, if he did not

hold the same office. It was one which at this period might be held by a

layman, or even by a woman, if we may credit the statement of the Four

Masters, that Bebhinn, who died in A.D. 1134, whilst Gelasius was Abbot of

Derry, was the female erenach of that monastery. Gelasius became Abbot of

Derry in A.D. 1120 or 1121; and held that important office for sixteen

years. He must have given general satisfaction in his government of Derry,

for he was called by the voice of the clergy and nobles, and with the

assent of St. Malachy himself, to succeed that great prelate, when he

resigned the primacy of Armagh in A.D. 1137. The reign of Gelasius is

remarkable for two things--first, the success with which he asserted his

jurisdiction as Primate during his visitations in all parts of Ireland,

and secondly for his zeal in holding Synods to correct abuses and reform

the morals both of the clergy and of the people.

During the centuries preceding the twelfth century, which was a period of

reform, the jurisdiction of the Primate was practically in abeyance. If it

was recognised at all in the South of Ireland, it was certainly merely

nominal. This arose from many causes--the troubles of the times, the

rivalry of the native princes, the ravages of the Danes, and the intrusion

of laymen into the See of Armagh, who claimed to inherit the jurisdiction

of St. Patrick to the great disgust of all well disposed persons, both

clergy and laity, throughout Ireland.

The great Brian Boru did much to cause the primatial authority to be

recognised and respected once more in the South as well as in the North of

Ireland. When the great 'Imperator of the Scots,' himself from the South

of Ireland, came and laid his gifts on the altar of Armagh, and afterwards

ordered his body to be buried there, it was a recognition of the

primatial rights of Patrick's See which none could affect to ignore or to

despise.