There is probably no foundation for the local tradition which ascribes the

building of this tower, as well as those of Inis Clorann and Scattery

Island, to St. Senanus. It is much more likely that it was built at the

close of the tenth, or the beginning of the eleventh century, by Brian

Boru, who also erected or repaired the great church, which had been more

than once partially destroyed by the Danes. The door-way of the tower is

circular-headed, and formed of very finely-chiselled blocks of stone. It

was anciently secured by an iron door--the bolt hole and traces of its

fastenings were visible in 1838, when O'Donovan visited the island, and

one of the floors existed, in the memory of an old man then living; no

traces, however, of the flooring now remain.

What is now called St. Caimin's Church, a little to the east-north-east of

the belfry or round tower, was probably a restoration by Brian Boru of the

great church built by St. Caimin himself. It consists of a nave and

chancel, the former 31 feet by 20; and the latter 15 by 12-1/2 feet. The

east wall of the chancel was quite gone, but has been partially restored.

The masonry of the chancel is finely jointed ashlar, much superior to the

coarser work of the nave. The chancel arch is the most striking and

characteristic feature in this old church. It is semi-circular, formed of

fine cut stone in three plain orders, rising from engaged jamb-shafts with

very peculiar capitals. The arch is 10 feet 2 inches wide at the bottom,

narrowing to 9 feet 11 inches at the top of the jambs. It is regarded by

the best judges as a work of the time of King Brian. The west door-way has

been lately restored. Its character is similar to that of the chancel--a

plain impost moulding, two orders rising from engaged pilasters, with

sculptured heads carved on the round at the top. There was a chevron

moulding round the face of the arch. The sill is of limestone, and the

entire door seems to have been an insertion in an older building. There

are two windows in the south wall of the nave--one square, the other

round-headed, but not specially striking; the round-headed window has a

deep and finely executed splay.

A stone font, one foot and a half deep, probably for holy water, was close

to the west door at Lord Dunraven's visit, and is there still. Traces of

the ancient cashel which surrounded the monastic church were also visible.

There are many interesting inscribed stones and crosses lying about. The

base of a cross lies sunk in the ground north-east of a piece of a wall

said to have been portion of a small chapel called 'Teampul na bh-fear

ngonta,' or the Church of the Slain Men. Here, it is said, the bodies of

those slain in battle were usually buried.

The fine Church of St. Mary--Tempull Maire--is about fifty paces from St.

Caimin's Church, and is much larger; but we cannot now describe it at

length. The view through the arch of the church over the lake towards the

wooded hills of Tipperary is of surpassing beauty, and once seen can never

be forgotten.

Several sculptured stones also have been found, and six of them still bear

the names of the deceased persons over whose graves they were placed. One

oblong slab with the words OR DO ARSSEI ... was partially broken, so that

the full name cannot be deciphered. Another flag has a beautiful cross

within a circle with the words, MOENGAL MAC LODGIN, over the arms of the

cross. Another is inscribed, HILAD I DECHENBOIR--the stone tomb of ten

persons. Another stone with Celtic cross of interlaced bands, asks a

prayer for "Conn;" whilst three simpler flag stones, with rather plain

crosses of similar formation, ask a prayer for Diarmait Macc Delbaid, for

Maelpatraic, and for Laithbertach.

We can identify with much probability Diarmaid, as "Diarmaid, son of

Caicher, Bishop of Inis-cealtra," who died A.D. 951 (F.M.) The last may

refer to "Laithbeartach son of Ængus, Bishop of Cluain-fearta Brenainn

(Clonfert)," who died A.D. 820, probably during a pilgrimage at the Holy

Island. Diarmait is the only bishop whose name is mentioned by the Four

Masters in connection with Iniscaltra. They also give the names of five

abbots, and one anchorite[378] of Iniscaltra. St. Caimin himself was

probably only a priest. He died in A.D. 652; but we could find no trace of

his tomb-stone, although he was certainly buried there. It may be that he

was the saint interred in the square building outside the present wall of

the churchyard and which is sometimes called the 'Confessional.' The

churchyard is still much used for interments, and is greatly overcrowded,

the coffins in some cases not being covered with more than six inches of

earth.

This holy and beautiful island suffered fearfully during the ravages of

the Danes. The Shannon was a highway for their 'ships' from Limerick to

Lanesborough, and hence we find that all the churches on its shores and

islands were frequently pillaged and burned by these marauders during the

two centuries of their domination. It was first plundered by Turgesius

about the year A.D. 836, who on the same occasion plundered all the

churches of Lough Derg and set up his wife Ota, as a kind of priestess to

deliver oracles on the high altar of Clonmacnoise. It was again plundered

in A.D. 922 by the Danes of Limerick, who brought a fleet on Lough Derg

"and plundered Inis-cealtra, and they drowned its shrines, and its relics,

and its books," and having harried both shores of the river as far as

Lough Ree, they returned safely to Limerick. Yet we find it had a bishop

in A.D. 951; and the comarb of Colum Mac Hy-Crimthainn in Terryglass,

Killaloe, and Inis-cealtra, died A.D. 1009 (_recte_ 1010). This is the

last abbot of whom we have any record. It is evident, however, that the

school and monastery still continued to flourish. Brian Boru repaired the

great church about that very time, A.D. 1005-1010, and no doubt also

restored the efficiency of the schools, for his biographer tells that "he

sent professors and masters to teach wisdom and knowledge, and to buy

books beyond the sea and the great ocean, because their own writings and

books, in every church and in every sanctuary where they were, were burned

and thrown into the water by the plunderers from first to last, and Brian

himself gave the price of learning and the price of books to every one

separately who went on this service."[379]

We may be sure that Brian did not neglect Iniscaltra; for it was the great

school of his own hereditary kingdom, and was within a few miles distance

of his own palace of Kincora.

III.--OTHER MONASTIC SCHOOLS OF THOMOND.

There were, at least, four other great monasteries in Thomond, and two of

them are mentioned as having monastic schools connected with them, that

is, Birr and Roscrea. But we do not find the names of any distinguished

scholars educated in these schools, and hence our account of these

monasteries must be very brief.

St. Brendan of Birr, is to be carefully distinguished from his more

celebrated namesake of Clonfert. He is sometimes called Brendan the

Elder--Brendanus Senior--and like Brendan of Clonfert, came of the race of

Fergus MacRoy, which produced more saints and heroes than, perhaps, any of

the other Celtic tribes. The two Brendans were together at Clonard under

St. Finnian, and both are ranked amongst the Twelve Apostles of Erin. St.

Brendan of Birr was especially remarkable for the fulness of the prophetic

spirit[380] which he possessed; and, according to one account, it was in

obedience to his counsel that St. Columba, after the battle of

Cuil-Dreimhne, resolved to leave Ireland, and preach the Gospel in Alba.

It is said that on the same occasion he befriended Columcille at a Synod

held near Teltown in Meath, where an attempt was made by some of the

'saints' to excommunicate Columba for his alleged share in bringing about

that bloody conflict.

It is certain that Brendan was highly esteemed by all his contemporaries,

and when he founded his monastery at _Biorra_, or Riverstown, as it would

be called in English, it soon grew to be a very celebrated institution.

The Four Masters, at A.D. 553, tell us that "Brendan of Birr was seen

ascending a chariot into the sky this year." This entry is not intended to

signify that he died, but rather that, like St. Paul, he was taken up to

heaven for a little, for his death is noticed by the same Four Masters

under date of the year A.D. 571, when they tell us that he died on the

29th of September. The real date appears to have been A.D. 573. From a

scholastic point of view, the subsequent history of this monastery

contains nothing especially interesting.

St. Cronan of Roscrea belonged to the territory and sept of Ely O'Carroll,

in which his monastery was situated. He spent much of his youth in

Connaught;[381] but afterwards returning home, he founded his first

monastic cell at a place called Seanross. This old church, though,

perhaps, subsequently modified and restored, is situated within a few

paces of Corville House, near Roscrea, the beautiful residence of Count

O'Byrne, who carefully preserves the building from injury or profanation.

At this period, however, all the low ground around Corville, towards the

railway, was the Locha Cre, or Stagnum Cre, so frequently mentioned in the

Lives of the Saints of this district. Seanross was a wooded promonotory

running into the lake, and it was then so inaccessible and secluded

(_desertus et avius_) that even Cronan resolved to leave it, and establish

his monastery for the convenience of his disciples at the Ross of Cre,

which was on the highway from Meath to Munster then, as it is now.

Here St. Cronan, who was himself an accomplished scholar, established what

was certainly a very famous school, although, unfortunately, we know very

little of its history. There is a Life of the saint in the _Salamanca

MS._, but although abounding in miracles, it is very scanty in facts. Here

is a specimen of the miracles. On one occasion Cronan requested a certain

skilful scribe, named Dimma, to write a copy of the Four Gospels for him.

Dimma said he could only afford to give one day's writing--doubtless he

was otherwise engaged. "Very well," said Cronan, "it will suffice; but

begin at once, and continue to write without stopping until sunset." So

Dimma set to work; but, wondrous to relate, the sun's light shone round

him for forty days and forty nights, until the entire manuscript of the

Gospels was completed.

We have, there is every reason to believe, still in existence, this

wonderful manuscript written by Dimma for St. Cronan; and it was so highly

prized in Roscrea that Tatheus O'Carroll, chieftain of Ely, had a

beautiful cover or shrine made to enclose the precious volume, about the

middle of the twelfth century. The manuscript itself contains an entry,

which tells who the writer was, not for the sake of vain glory, but to beg

a prayer from every reader for his soul's welfare, according to the good

old Celtic custom.

Finit. Oroit do Dimmu rod scrib pro Deo et benedictione--

That is--"A prayer for Dimma, who wrote it for God, and a blessing."

And at the end of the Gospel of St. John we read thus:

Finit. Amen ✠ Dimma Macc. Nathi ✠ This Book of Dimma contains "the Four

Gospels, with the Latin ritual and prayers for the visitation of the sick.

A coloured figure of each of the first three Evangelists precedes his

Gospel, and there is a special symbol prefixed to the opening of the

Gospel according to St. John. On the fractured final page of the volume,

at the termination of St. John's Gospel, after the words quoted

above--'Dimma Macc Nathi'--there are two imperfect and archaic Irish

lines, in which the writer prays that 'he may not be venomously

criticised,' and that he may attain 'a mansion in heaven,' as the reward

of his labours."[382]

This Book of Dimma is at present in the Library of Trinity College,

Dublin; but only a small portion of the ornamentation of the beautiful

_cumdach_, or shrine, is now to be had. The shrine and its contents were

taken away from Roscrea monastery at the suppression; but were, it is

said, found in the year A.D. 1789 by some boys who were hunting for

rabbits in the Devil's Bit Mountain, which is not far from Roscrea. The

silver plate of the shrine was, it is supposed, then torn off, and the

precious stones that adorned it were also abstracted; but the portion

representing the Passion of Christ was left untouched. It afterwards

passed from Dr. Harrison of Nenagh, through Dr. Todd, into the Library of

Trinity College.

Of Dimma, the scribe, nothing else is known for certain. There were many

saints and scholars of the name; but it is supposed that this scribe is

identical with Dimanus, whose name is mentioned in connection with that of

St. Cronan in the letter addressed to the Irish Prelates in A.D. 634, by

Pope John IV., concerning the alleged appearance of Pelagianism in

Ireland.

We know from various entries in our Annals that St. Cronan's School of

Roscrea continued to flourish for many centuries even during the worst

period of the Danish ravages. We find frequent reference to its abbots,

scribes, and professors down to the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion. A

portion of the old abbey still remains, and shows that it was one of the

most beautiful specimens of Romanesque architecture in Ireland.

St. Senan's monastery on Scattery Island was also a very famous

institution; but we do not find that it was celebrated as a school.

Neither was St. Flannan's monastery at Killaloe frequented by scholars,

who seem to have preferred the quiet beauty of Iniscaltra to the passes of

the Shannon, especially after the arrival of our unwelcome visitors from

Scandinavia.

CHAPTER XXII.

LATER SCHOOLS OF THE WEST.

"'Tis a rosary of islands in the Ocean's hollow palm--

Sites of faith unchanged by storms, all unchanging in the calm,

There the world-betrayed may hide them, and the weary heart find balm."

--_M'Gee._

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

The history of St. Colman, who founded the monastery of Innisboffin, and

the Monastic School of Mayo, is full of interest. He may be called an

island-saint, like Enda of Aran; but his was a far more strange and

adventurous career. Trained in Iona, ruling in Lindisfarne, defeated but

not subdued by Wilfrid at Whitby, and then coming home in his old age with

the relics of his sainted predecessors to labour and to die in the misty

islands of the West--there is no element of romantic interest wanting in

Colman's extraordinary history.

We may, we think, fairly assume with Colgan that he was a native of some

part of the West; for otherwise the very existence of Innisboffin would

have been unknown to him. It is quite certain, however, that he received

his education and religious training in Iona, and that he was for many

years a member of that community. Bede describes him as an Irish Bishop

(de Scottia Episcopus), and shows very clearly what he means thereby, when

he adds, that on his departure from Lindisfarne he returned to Ireland (in

Scottiam regressus est). Indeed, Bede has never, even once, applied the

word 'Scottia' except to Ireland.[383]

Colman was a monk in Iona during the abbacy of Segienus, the third ruler

of that monastery from A.D. 623 to 652. These were years of much

missionary enterprise, especially after King Oswald mounted the throne of

Northumbria in A.D. 634. At his request Segienus sent one of his monks,

Corban by name, to preach to the Northumbrians. But Corban's mission was a

failure; he expected too much from the semi-barbarous Angles of

Northumbria; and he offered them the solid food before he gave them the

milk of sound doctrine. After his return to Iona, Aidan, an Irishman, as

Bede tells us, was consecrated bishop, and sent to preach in Northumbria.

Bede gives a most interesting account of his life and character,[384] and

adds, as might be expected, that his mission was entirely successful. He

converted the Northumbrians, and founded the monastery and See of

Lindisfarne about the year A.D. 635. When Bishop Aidan died in A.D. 651,

another Irish prelate called Finan was sent to succeed him in the

government of the Northumbrian Church. His first task was to build a

church in Lindisfarne, of hewn oak, after the manner of the Irish, and he

covered it with reeds. In this church he laid the body of his sainted

predecessor on the right side of the high altar.

The Easter Controversy, of which we have already spoken, embittered the

brief episcopacy of Finan. Like Aidan and all the monks of Iona, he still

followed the old Irish custom of calculating the Easter Day, so that the

southern Angles, who followed the Roman method, were much scandalized to

see the King celebrating Easter Sunday, while the Queen, Eanfled, and her

Roman chaplain were keeping the rigorous fast of Palm Sunday.

Bishop Finan died in A.D. 661, after ten years' episcopacy, during which

nothing was done to bring about uniformity; and Colman, another Irish monk

of Iona, was appointed to succeed him. But he, too, persisted in observing

the old Irish Easter, and wearing the frontal tonsure, so that even King

Oswy felt it was high time to try and establish one uniform usage in

Northumbria.

For this purpose a Conference, or Synod, was appointed to meet in the

monastery of Streaneshalch, since called Whitby. The abbess Hilda favoured

Bishop Colman, and presided over the assembly as it was held in her

monastery; and she was besides a royal lady. King Oswy also favoured the

Scots, but Aldfrid, his son, the crown prince, was in favour of the Roman

usage. The learned and eloquent Wilfrid, then an abbot, but afterwards

Archbishop of York, was the great champion of orthodoxy, and was supported

in his views by Agilbert, a Frenchman, who had studied the Scriptures in

Ireland, and appears to have been acquainted with the Irish language and

usages. On the other side was Colman, and he had an able episcopal

supporter in Bishop Cedd, who, though a southern prelate, was inclined to

favour the Irish usage, for he was trained and consecrated by the

'Scots,' that is the Irish party.

Colman was called upon by the king to open the discussion. He justified

his own usage by three arguments--first, because he received the practice

from the holy elders of the Irish Church, who had ordained him bishop and

sent him to Northumbria; secondly, because it was the practice of the holy

Apostle St. John; and thirdly, because this usage had been sanctioned by

the holy and learned Anatolius, a man of great authority in the Church of

God.

Then Wilfrid[385] rose to reply, as he was well acquainted with the

Anglo-Saxon tongue. He was, besides, an able and learned man who had

travelled much abroad. His first argument against Colman was of itself

quite conclusive: "The Easter which we observe we saw celebrated

everywhere in Africa, Asia, Egypt, and Greece--we saw it celebrated by all

men at Rome, where the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, lived, taught,

suffered, and were buried." Apostolic authority and universal usage were

thus clearly against the few Picts and Britons--the Irish had nearly all

given in by this time--who still adhered to the old Easter and the frontal

tonsure. As to the authority of St. John, to which Colman appealed, it was

not to the purpose. For according to Wilfrid, St. John kept Easter on the

14th day of the first moon in the evening, no matter what day of the week

it happened to be--in this respect following the Jews, whilst it was yet

lawful to Judaize. "But you, Colman, admit that Easter may not be

celebrated on a week day, and hence you do not follow the practice of St.

John, nor, as I have shown, of St. Peter either." This was a home thrust

for poor Colman, and Wilfrid followed it up by disposing of Anatolius

also. "He was, I admit, a holy, learned, and commendable man; but you do

not observe his decrees; for he had a cycle of nineteen years of which you

know nothing, or if you do, you despise it; although it is now followed by

the entire Church."

As to Colman's appeal to the authority of his sainted predecessors,

Wilfrid admitted that they were holy men, and perhaps even men of

miracles; but they were excusable on account of ignorance of the truth:

"you, however," he says, "have no such excuse because the more perfect

rule adopted by the entire Church is now brought home to your minds."

Wilfrid concluded by appealing once more to the authority of the Apostolic

See of Peter as conclusive, for it was to Peter our Lord said--"Thou art

Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell

shall not prevail against it."

"Colman," said the king, "is it true that these words were spoken to Peter

by our Lord?" "It is true, O king," said Colman. "Then," said the king,

"as Peter is the door-keeper, I will not contradict him in anything lest

there should be none to open to me if I made him my adversary." So the

Conference ended, and Colman and his clerics felt that they were defeated.

It was a severe blow to the old man; and he felt it keenly, not for his

own sake, but for the sake of his sainted predecessors. "His doctrine,"

says Bede, "was rejected and his sect despised;" and that, too, by men

whom he must have regarded as interlopers. Why should they put their

sickles into his harvest? Why not leave him and his clergy and people in

peace? When hard work was to be done, they were not to be found--it was

the monks of Iona who converted the Northumbrians to the Church; but now

these Southerns came to regulate the date of their Easter Day, and forbid

them to wear the tonsure, which they had worn from their boyhood, and

which was worn by Columcille himself, the great Apostle of the Picts and

Scots. It was intolerable; and now as King Oswy and his son Aldfrid had

turned from their spiritual fathers to Wilfrid and his associates, Colman

resolved to leave Northumbria for ever.

But first the old man returned to Lindisfarne, and told his monks all that

had happened. For his own part, he declared that he would not accept the

new discipline, nor give up the traditions of his sainted predecessors,

who proved their mission by countless miracles; and that, as the king was

determined to follow the new discipline introduced by Wilfrid, he himself

would return to his native country where he might follow the ancient

discipline in peace. Those who listed might remain; but those who choose

to come with him were welcome, and together they would seek an asylum in

the far west of Ireland.

The sequel is told by Bede:--"Colman, the Irish Bishop, departed from

Britain, and took with him all the Irish (Scoti) that he had assembled in

the Island of Lindisfarne, and also about thirty of the English nation,

who had been instructed in the monastic life, and leaving some brothers in

his church of Lindisfarne, he repaired first to the Island of Hii, whence

he had been first sent to preach the Word of God to the English nation.

Afterwards he retired to a small island, which is to the west of Ireland,

and at some distance from its coast, called, in the language of the Irish

(Scoti), Inisbofinde, that is, the Island of the White Cow. Arriving there

he built a monastery, and placed in it the monks he had brought with him

of both nations; who, not agreeing among themselves, by reason that the

Scots--that is the Irish--in the summer season, when the harvest was to be

brought in, leaving the monastery, wandered about through places with

which they were acquainted, yet wished to get a share of what the English

monks had provided for their common table. Colman sought to put an end to

these dissensions; and, travelling about, at length found a place in

Ireland fit to build a monastery, which, in the language of the Scots, is

called Mageo" (Mayo.)[386]

Such is the brief, but most interesting, account which the Father of

English History gives of the founding of the two monasteries of Inisboffin

and Mayo; and it is confirmed in all points by our native Annalists. But

there are some few additional particulars to be noted.

When Colman and his monks were leaving Lindisfarne, their hearts were sore

at the thought of leaving behind them the relics of their sainted father

Aidan, who had founded that church and monastery. Yet they did not wish to

carry away all the holy relics, and so they adopted a middle course. They

opened the grave which was outside their wooden church, in the little

green churchyard, where they had so often walked and prayed. With reverent

hands and streaming eyes they took a part of the sacred relics to carry

home with them to their native Ireland; the rest, for greater security,

they re-interred in the sacristy for those who were to come after them.

Then the band of exiles set out on their journey home. But first, as in

duty bound, Colman and his monks resolved to visit Iona, the parent house,

which had sent them to preach the Gospel in Northumbria. Bede does not

tell us how long they remained there; and it is not easy to fix the period

from the dates given in our own Annals. Colman left Lindisfarne A.D. 664;

and the _Chronicon Scotorum_,[387] and the first entry in the _Annals of

Ulster_[388] tell us that in the same year he came to Inisbofinde. In that

case the visit to Iona could only have been a passing one. But the weight

of authority goes to show that this voyage of Colman did not take place

until A.D. 667 or 668.[389] In the _Ulster Annals_, Hennessy renders the

contraction--"cum reliquis scorum," as if it were--cum _reliquiis

sanctorum_--"with the relics of saints," which they undoubtedly had with

them; but in the _Annals of the Four Masters_ it is rendered with "the

other saints;" and in the _Chronicon_, "with the other Irish monks"--as if

it were, cum reliquis scotorum. There is, however, no difference in

meaning, because Colman brought both with him to Mayo--his Irish monks,

and the relics of his sainted father Aidan, if not, also of Columba, and

some other saints of Iona.

And there, says Bede, in Inisbofinde he founded his monastery; and, as the

_Irish Annals_ say, there he also built his church.

It is a bare and desolate island exposed to all the fury of the Atlantic

storms; but the monks of old thought little of comfort so long as they

could be alone with God--and who was to disturb them on the naked shores

of this barren island? It is probable that at this time the island was

uninhabited; and we know, from the Life of St. Flannan of Killaloe, that

the people of these western coasts were still half pagan. The more need

then of apostolic men to instruct them in Christian doctrine.

The island took its ancient name from a wild tale of a certain white

heifer that dwelt in an enchanted lake in the island, whence it was seen

to emerge from time to time to graze on its shores. The lake is there

still, and, if one may credit the islanders, the White Cow is there too,

in spite of St. Colman and all his monks. The island is about six miles

due west of Renvyle Point, in the Joyce country, and contains 2,312

statute acres, most of which, however, is quite naked and barren. At one

time the population amounted to fifteen hundred souls, who lived very much

on the produce of their stormy seas; but at present, we believe, it has

fallen to about two-thirds of that number.

Inisboffin still contains several interesting memorials of St. Colman. The

ruins of his ancient church are yet to be seen in the townland of Knock.

There is also a holy well to the south-west of St. Colman's oratory, which

is called _Tobar Flannain_, and takes its name from the patron saint of

Killaloe, who spent a considerable time on the island, and was much

venerated there. In the townland of Middle Quarter dwelt another recluse,

who appears to have been a disciple of St. Colman; the site of his 'House'

is still pointed out, and called in Irish--_Aittighe Guarim_--the place of

Guarim's House. The celebrated Grace O'Malley, better known as Grana

Weale, had a castle on the island, which has almost quite disappeared--but

the place is still called _Dun-Graine_. In Cromwell's time the island was

fortified, and became a kind of penal colony, in which many horrible

atrocities were committed on the helpless Irish. The remnant who survived

were crowded into ships, like African slaves, and transported to

Barbadoes. Those who did not perish during the voyage soon succumbed

beneath the broiling sun of the West Indian plantations. The islanders

still remember, with a shudder, those terrible times.

It seems, however, that the Celts and Saxons did not get on amicably

together even in St. Colman's time. The saints themselves will sometimes

disagree; and, according to Bede, the Irish monks were much in fault.

During the summer months, when the grain was to be sown, and reaped, and

harvested, they wandered about in the neighbourhood--"through places with

which they were acquainted"--coshering, in fact, upon their friends, and

very likely pocketing such alms as they could get. But when the winter

came, they returned to the monastery to eat what they had not sown nor

helped to reap. It was too bad; and if it be true, and not the recital of

some Anglo-Saxon returned to Yarrow from Connemara, one cannot blame the

Saxon monks for objecting to such a state of things.

So Colman resolved to put the Saxon monks in a monastery by themselves,

and make the Irishmen work for their living. He travelled about far and

near to find a suitable place on the mainland for a monastery. At length

he succeeded. He bought a small parcel of land from the 'earl' to whom it

belonged--this is Bede's way of saying it--and got more, it seems, on

condition that the monks residing there should pray to the Lord for him

who let them have the place. "Then Colman, building the monastery with the

help of the earl and all his neighbours, placed the English there, leaving

the Scots in the aforesaid island. That monastery is to this day (A.D.

730) possessed by English inhabitants; being the same, that growing up

from a small beginning, to be very large, is generally called Mageo (Magh

eo); and as all things have long since been brought under a better method,

it contains an exemplary society of monks, who are gathered there from the

province of the English, and live by the labour of their hands, after the

example of the venerable fathers, under a rule and canonical abbot, in

much continency and singleness of life." The English monks were anxious,

in fact, to get Home Rule, even in Ireland; and were, it seems, much the

better of getting it. We shall presently return to the history of this

monastery of Mayo.

Of Colman's further history we know nothing except the date of his death.

Doubtless with his Celtic sympathies he preferred to live in his island

retreat; although of course he visited from time to time the English monks

of Mayo. But they had now got a 'canonical abbot' of their own, one

elected by themselves and were, it seems, an entirely independent

community. Their subsequent history shows that the monastery of Mayo, as

Bede says, became a large establishment, and ultimately an episcopal See.

Colman's death is noticed by the Four Masters in A.D. 674; the _Annals of

Ulster_ enter it under A.D. 675; but the true year appears to be A.D.

676--the ninth after his arrival in Inisboffin. All our martyrologies give

his festival on the 8th of August. In the _Felire_ of Ængus he is set down

as the "praiseworthy Colman of Inis-bo-finde;" and the scholiast describes

that island as situated in the western sea off Connemara in the west of

Connaught. There, too, he was buried.

Bede, while strongly dissenting from Colman's views on the Easter

Question, bears noble testimony to his many virtues. He was much beloved,

he says, by King Oswy, on account of his singular discretion. Then he adds

that the place (Lindisfarne) he governed shows how frugal he and his

predecessors were; how they despised earthly goods; and kept no money

which they did not give to the poor; how their whole care was to serve

God, not the world--to feed the soul, and not the belly. Hence the

religious habit was then held in great veneration; the monk was joyfully

received everywhere, and people from all quarters ran to get his blessing.

When these Irish monks went into a village, it was either to preach,

baptize, visit the sick, or otherwise take care of souls. They refused to

endow their monasteries with lands or other possessions, content to preach

the Gospel and to live by the labour of their hands, and the small alms of

the faithful. It is not wonderful that they converted Northumbria, and

that even in these unbelieving days of ours the memory of the Irish monks

of Lindisfarne is still revered by men of all classes and of all creeds.

II.--ST. GERALD OF MAYO.

St. Gerald was in all probability the first 'canonical abbot' whom the

Saxons of Mayo elected with the assent of Colman to preside over that

famous monastery. There is a Life of this saint given by Colgan at the

13th of March, his festival day.[390] It was evidently not written for a

considerable period after the saint's death; and although containing much

that Lanigan calls 'sorry stuff,' it still furnishes us with some valuable

information. The composition of the Life has been attributed to Augustin

Magraidin, the compiler of the celebrated manuscript belonging to the

Monastery of All Saints in Lough Ree. The substance of Magraidan's strange

biography is as follows:--

Whilst Colman was Archbishop of Northumbria, the king of that or some

neighbouring territory, Cusperius by name, sent his four sons to be

educated under Colman's care at Lindisfarne. Their names were Gerald,

Balanus, Berikertus and Hubritanus or Hulbritanus. The queen, their

mother, was called Benitia. And here, by way of parenthesis, we may

observe that it is not a little remarkable to find the names of these holy

brothers in our domestic martyrologies. Balloin of Tech-Saxon (in the co.

Mayo) is given in the _Martyrology of Donegal_ on the 3rd of September;

Beretchert of Tolach-leis is given at the 6th of December; and Huildbriti

at the 24th of April, is given both by Marianus O'Gorman and the

_Martyrology of Tallaght_. The four brothers were instructed by Colman in

the liberal arts, in theology, and in monastic discipline, and seem to

have become greatly attached to their master.

It is said that Gerald became Abbot of Winton before Colman's departure

from Lindisfarne. When these four brothers saw how the kings and clergy of

Northumbria rejected the discipline and authority of Colman, they resolved

to leave their native country and accompany their beloved master to

Ireland. There was nothing to detain them in England. Their mother was

dead, and their father, it seems, entered on a career of crime, which

hastened their departure. And so, says the Life, embarking in their fleet

of ships, or rather boats, and taking with them all necessaries, they set

sail and landed at the 'mouth of the Shannon in Connaught.'[391] The

subsequent narrative, however, shows that it is much more probable that

they landed at the mouth of the river Moy near Killala, for it is in that

district we find them shortly after their arrival.

It was nothing new or strange for English princes and nobles to go to

Ireland to be educated at this period. It is fortunate that on this point

we have the unexceptional testimony of Bede himself. "Many of the

nobility, and of the lower ranks of the English nation were there (in

Ireland) at that time (when the pestilence broke out), who, in the days of

the Bishops Finan and Colman, forsaking their native island, retired

thither either for the sake of divine studies, or of a more continent

life; and some of them at once devoted themselves to a monastic life;

others chose rather to apply themselves to study, going about from one

master's cell to another. The Irish (Scoti) willingly received them all,

and took care to supply them with food, and also to furnish them with

books to read, and their teaching gratis."[392]

It seems that the west of Ireland was, especially after the return of

Colman, a favourite place of refuge for these Saxon scholars. In fact we

find in all our native annals that the sons of Gartnait, King of the

Picts, with the people of Sketh (probably Skye), made a voyage to Ireland

in the very same year, according to the _Ulster Annals_, that Colman

sailed for Inisbofinde. Their return to Scotland two years later is also

mentioned, which shows that they spent at least two years, most probably

in the West of Ireland, with Colman.

Whether or not St. Gerald and his brothers accompanied St. Colman to

Ireland is doubtful. The narrative in the Life would seem to imply that

they came straight to Ireland after Colman's departure from Lindisfarne,

and that during the time he remained in Iona Gerald and his companions had

founded the monastery of Elitheria, or 'The Pilgrims Home,' as we might

call it. At first, it seems, they met with some opposition from a certain

wicked ruler in the district, called Ailill, who sent an armed force to

oppose their landing. This was in all probability Ailill, or Oilioll, son

of Dunchadh of Murrisk, prince of the Hy-Fiachrach, and ancestor of the

O'Dowds. Dunchadh himself was slain in A.D. 681; but his son, Oilioll,

might well be of age and a ruler of a separate territory in A.D. 664 or

665. He was prince of Tirawley; and hence it is highly probable that it

was either at Killala or in the Bay of Westport that the Saxon pilgrims

landed. By a wondrous miracle Gerald disarmed the hostility of Ailill, and

even induced him to grant them the site of a monastery which, in the

Life, is called Elitheria, or the Field of the Stag, from the Irish

_Elith_, a stag. Colgan, however, thinks it more probable that the place

received its name from _elitheir_, a pilgrim. This locality has not been

identified. It is evident, however, that it was not far from the banks of

the Moy, for prince Ailill, seeing the wonders wrought by St. Gerald,

asked him to remove a rock from the bed of that river which was a great

impediment to navigation, and tore the fishermen's nets when they were

draughting the river for salmon. In this, also, Gerald gratified the

prince, and caused the rock to be broken in fragments. No doubt this

occurred somewhere between Killala and Ballina.

Here the writer of Gerald's Life is guilty of a great anachronism, for he

says that Raghallach (Ragallus), the celebrated King of Connaught, hearing

of the fame of St. Gerald, invited the latter to come to his court, and

promised also to give him land for founding a monastery; adding that

afterwards he fulfilled this promise, and gave him the ground on which the

monastery of Mayo was built. Now Raghallach, or Reilly, King of Connaught,

was slain in A.D. 645, as the Four Masters say, or in A.D. 648, according

to the _Annals of Ulster_, that is, nearly twenty years before Gerald came

to Ireland. The King of Connaught, when Mayo was founded, was Cennfaeladh,

son of Colgu, whose death is notified by the Four Masters, A.D. 680.

Besides, Bede expressly says that it was Colman himself who procured the

site of the Mayo monastery, partly for money and partly for the prayers of

the community.

We are then told that Gerald divided this community into three sections.

One party he sent back to England in order to procure all things necessary

for the new monastery. A second division was told off to build the dun or

cashel--murus it is called in the Latin Life--around the monastery. The

third division was, meantime, employed in the celebration of the Divine

Offices for themselves and for the people around them.

We are then told that Gerald of Mayo, and all the other heads of religious

houses in Ireland, went to Tara in obedience to an edict of the joint

kings, Diarmaid and Blathmac, who reigned from A.D. 658 to 664 or 666. The

purpose of the kings in summoning this meeting seems to have been to

devise some means of staying the dreadful plague and its attendant famine

which were then ravaging the country. St. Fechin and St. Gerald are

represented as divided in opinion; the former said the plague was sent by

God to prevent the people from starving, and that they must have perished

either way, seeing that the country was over populated. But St. Gerald,

like many other well-meaning people, put his trust in God, and said that

all the clergy should pray to God to stop the plague, and also to supply

food for the starving people. Divine Providence, he said, could do both

one and the other; but it seems there was no human help to save them. The

plague, however, soon solved the problem; it spared none--saints, kings,

and people alike perished, so that half the population of the land

disappeared in two years. St. Gerald himself escaped, and saved many

others by his gift of healing; but his sister, Segresia, and one hundred

of her nuns, who, it seems, had a convent close to Elitheria, with fifty

of the monks of that establishment, all perished.

It is certain that St. Gerald was alive until A.D. 697, for we are told

that about that time St. Adamnan, the celebrated Abbot of Iona, paid him a

visit at the convent of Mayo. We know that Adamnan in that year went to

Ireland, and promulged the celebrated 'Lex Innocentiae,' by which women

were forbidden to share the dangers of the battlefield. We know, too, that

he founded the Church of Skreen in Hy-Fiachrach, probably about the same

time; and if he were in that neighbourhood nothing is more natural than

that he should visit the foundation of Colman, whom he must have known in

his youth, and try to ascertain how the Saxon monastery, which he had

planted, was progressing in the land of the Scots. He seems to have

remained, too, a considerable time in Ireland, or very soon returned

thither, for in A.D. 703 he celebrated the Roman Easter (Canonicum Pascha)

'in Hibernia.'[393] It is even stated that he ruled the monastery of Mayo

for seven years after the death of Gerald himself, and during that time

was engaged in writing books, casting bells, and teaching the monks, until

he returned to die in his own monastery of Iona. This is not 'manifestly a

figment,' as has been said by some writers; there is nothing at all

improbable in it, especially if St. Gerald did not live after A.D. 697, as

Colgan thinks.

The chief difficulty arises from the fact that the death of St. Gerald

seems to be recorded at a much later date. The Four Masters record it,

A.D. 726, "Gerald of Magh Eo died on the 13th of March." The _Annals of

Ulster_ record the same event, A.D. 731. "The Pontiff of Magh Eo of the

Saxons, Gerald, died." It is alleged, however, that the words 'Pontifex

Magh Eo of the Saxons' should be connected with the previous entry, which

would then read thus: "Bellum Connacht in quo cecidit Muredach Mac

Indrechtaigh pontifex Maighe Eo Saxonum." The critics say, however, that

the mistake was made by the Four Masters, who connect it in this way, and

that Gerald, not Muredach Mac Indrechtaigh, was the Pontiff referred to.

If Gerald really lived to this date, he must have been at least ninety

years of age when he died in his monastery of Mayo. It is, at all events,

certain that he died there, and his fame as a saint and scholar both

during his life, and long afterwards, was the means of attracting crowds

of students both from Erin and Saxonland, to the great monastic school,

which he founded in the plains of Mayo.

There is a local tradition that King Alfred the Great visited Mayo, and

that he sent his son to be trained up in that monastery, but that the

young prince died there, and some of the natives even undertake to point

out the place where he was buried. It is very likely this tradition had

its origin in the undoubted visit to Ireland, and most probably to Mayo

also, of King Aldfrid of Northumbria. He was an intimate friend of

Adamnan, and probably accompanied that saint to Ireland. William of

Malmesbury states expressly that he spent his youth in Ireland, and if so,

it was most likely at Mayo.

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

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

little.

Aedhan, Bishop of Magh Eo, died A.D. 768 (F.M.); and the monastery was

burned in A.D. 778 (_recte_ 783) by lightning, "on Saturday night,

precisely on the 4th of the Nones of August. That night was terrible with

thunder and lightning, and wind-storms," which destroyed Armagh and

Clonbroney, as well as the monastery of Mayo. Probably all these edifices

were then built of wood. It is said that Turgesius, the Dane, attacked and

plundered the monastery in A.D. 818; but of this pillage we can find no

record, except in the _Life of St. Gerald_, which is no authority for

dates. In A.D. 805 (but really in A.D. 808), the Four Masters say the

oratory of Mayo was again burned.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries frequent mention is made of

Mayo; and it seems that during this period a bishop usually dwelt in the

monastery, who exercised jurisdiction over the surrounding parishes.

It appears to have been regarded as a holy place to be buried in, for we

are told that Domhnall, son of Turlough O'Conor, Lord of North Connaught,

"the glory, and the moderator, and the good adviser of the Irish people,"

died in A.D. 1176, and was interred at Mayo of the Saxons (F.M.).

In A.D. 1209 is recorded the death of "Cele O'Duffy, Bishop of Magh Eo of

the Saxons," which shows that at this period it was recognised as a

diocese long after the Synod of Kells, in A.D. 1152. O'Donovan, in a note

to this entry, observes that although Colgan translates Magh Eo, the plain

of the "Oaks," it more probably means the plain of the "Yews."

This O'Duffy was a member of the celebrated family of that name, which

during the twelfth century produced the most distinguished ecclesiastics

in the province of Connaught. They were not merely prelates and scholars,

but liberal patrons of the fine arts as they were known at the time. To

them we owe the beautiful processional cross of Cong, the gem of Irish

metal-work. From a very early period they were connected with the School

of Clonmacnoise, and afterwards with the School of Tuam; but the monastery

of Cong seems to have been their favourite dwelling-place when living, and

resting-place when dead. Cong was made a diocese at the Synod of

Rathbreasil in A.D. 1110. The monastery was burned A.D. 1114; it was then

probably that the beautiful building was erected, whose picturesque ruins

have charmed every visitor to that remote district. In the base of the

market cross of Cong we find an inscription, probably of the 13th century,

asking a prayer for "Nichol and for Gilleberd O'Duffy, who was in the

Abbacy of Cong," and who doubtless caused this cross, the "symbol of their

faith and hope," to be erected in the square of their monastic city. In

A.D. 1150 Muireadhach O'Duffy, Archbishop of Connaught, "the chief senior

of all Ireland in wisdom, in chastity, and in the bestowal of jewels and

food, died at Cong." In A.D. 1168, Flanagan O'Duffy, "Bishop and chief

doctor of the Irish in literature, history, and poetry, and in every kind

of science known to man in his time, died at Cong, in the bed of

Muireadach O'Duffy." Catholicus O'Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam, was the most

distinguished man of his time. He was present, at the Council of Lateran

in A.D. 1179, and died in A.D. 1201.

In A.D. 1236 MacWilliam (Burke) went to Mayo of the Saxons, then, it

seems, under the protection of 'King' Felim O'Conor, "and he left neither

rick nor basket of corn in the large church-enclosure of Mayo, or in the

yard of the church of St. Michael the Archangel, and he carried away

eighty baskets out of the churches themselves." These yards adjoining the

churches seem to have been used as haggards by the monks for storing their

corn, and were completely pillaged by MacWilliam. Yet the monks still

continued to live in the midst of the perpetual strife which desolated the

Province of Connaught during the next century; for in A.D. 1478--a

comparatively recent period--the death of Bishop Higgins of Mayo of the

Saxons is recorded.

It is difficult to ascertain exactly when the See of Mayo was annexed to

Tuam. Christopher Bodkin was Archbishop of Tuam, "although he took the

oath of allegiance to the Queen,"[394] from A.D. 1555 to A.D. 1572. David

Wolf, in a letter to the Holy See from Limerick, October 12th, 1561, says

that Bodkin held besides Tuam the Sees of "Duacensis, Enachdunensis, et

Mayonensis;" but he (Bodkin) says--"the two last were united to Tuam long

ago." There is, however, every reason to believe that Bodkin was a

time-server, and a see-grabber, for not content with the four sees

mentioned, he also claimed the Diocese of Clonfert. Bodkin might, however,

with some show of reason say that "Mayo was annexed to Tuam long ago." So

early as the year A.D. 1217, there was a letter addressed on this subject

by Pope Honorius III. delegating the Bishop of Clogher, the Abbot of

Kells, and the Archdeacon of Ardagh, to report on this very question. The

then Archbishop of Tuam, Felix O'Ruadan, asserted that Mayo was not a

cathedral, but a parochial church. The Archdeacon of Mayo appealed against

a decision to that effect given by Innocent III., on the ground that it

was surreptitiously obtained, and the decision was withdrawn. Afterwards,

it seems, the Archdeacon in a collusive suit allowed judgment to go

against himself and his church. This being discovered at Rome, the Pope

ordered the aforesaid judges to summon all the parties before them, and

having heard all the witnesses, to send a full report of the entire case

to the Apostolic See.[395] Unfortunately we do not know the issue; but it

is evident that the Archbishops of Tuam during the troubles of subsequent

centuries were able to assert their own jurisdiction; and so the Canons of

Mayo lost their status as Canons of a Cathedral Church. About this period,

too, many of the parishes belonging to the ancient See of Mayo around

Clew Bay were claimed by the Archbishop of Armagh on the ground that they

were founded by St. Patrick.[396] The claim was to some extent allowed by

Innocent III.; but afterwards it fell into abeyance, and the jurisdiction

of Tuam was recognised over all these Patrician churches of the ancient

diocese of Mayo.

There are still considerable ruins of the ancient monastery at Mayo, but

the buildings do not appear to have dated back to the original foundation

by St. Colman, who, doubtless, built his monastery in the old Irish style.

IV.--THE SCHOOL OF TUAM.

The School of Tuam belongs to the earliest period of Irish ecclesiastical

history; and the School of Tuam belongs also to the latest, and best

period of Celtic art. We shall consider it in both respects--first as a

school of Sacred Science under St. Jarlath, and then, along with

Clonmacnoise, as a school of Sacred Art in the eleventh century, just

before the advent of the Anglo-Normans to Ireland.

Of St. Jarlath himself unfortunately we know very little, for no Life of

the saint has been discovered. His name is not mentioned in our Annals,

and hence we are dependent for such information as we possess on isolated

passages having reference to him in the Lives of other saints. Colgan has

collected these meagre notices together; and was thus enabled to furnish

us with a brief sketch of the life of this eminent saint.[397]

Jarlath belonged to the race known as the Conmaicne. They are so called

because their common ancestor was Conmac, son of the celebrated Fergus Mac

Roy, so famous during the heroic period of Irish history. The descendants

of Conmac were lords of a considerable territory in the province of

Connaught, and gave their name to several well-known districts. In North

Connaught they were known as the Conmaicne of Moyrein in Leitrim and

Cavan, with Fenagh as their ecclesiastical city, and St. Caillin as their

patron saint. In West Connaught they were divided into three families or

branches--the Conmaicne Mara, of the Sea, who have given their name to the

modern Connemara; the Conmaicne Cuil-Tola, who occupied the present barony

of Kilmaine in the County Mayo, and the Conmaicne Chineal-Dubhain, who

dwelt around Dunmore in the County Galway. Tuam is in the barony of

Dunmore, or at least on its borders, and so we may assume that Jarlath

belonged to the Conmaicne of Dunmore, for the Irish saints generally

founded their churches in their own tribe-land. His father's name was Loga

(or Lugha), "of the race of Conmac, son of Fergus, son of Ross, son of

Rudhraighe from whom the Clanna Rudhraighe are called, and Mongfinn,

daughter of Ciardubhan, of the Cinel Cinnenn was his mother."[398]

St. Benen or Benignus, as we have already seen, was, before he became

Coadjutor to St. Patrick in Armagh, assigned by that saint to be in an

especial manner the apostle of Conmaicne. Hence he founded the Church of

Kilbannon which still bears his name, a little to the north-west of Tuam,

in the very heart of their territory. But he did more. He undertook

himself to train up two young clerics to be future bishops of Conmaicne,

when he should be called away by death or by other duties. These two young

men were Jarlath of the Western Conmaicne, and Caillin of the Conmaicne of

Moyrein. We are told in his Life that he not only educated these young men

in all knowledge human and divine, but also promoted them to Holy Orders,

and founded and consecrated churches for them, so that they might continue

his work without interruption.

St. Benignus died in A.D. 468,[399] and hence we must assume that Jarlath

was then at least twenty-five years of age, and was probably something

more. The first church of St. Jarlath was founded at Cluainfois

(Cloonfush), about two miles to the west of Tuam. There is still, as I

myself can testify, a vivid tradition at Cluainfois of conferences held

there between the three saints--Benen, Jarlath, and Caillin. The old round

tower of Kilbannon can be distinctly seen from Cluainfois, a little to the

north, and whether the conferences were held there or at Cluainfois, there

could be no difficulty in the saints frequently meeting, and holding

converse on those weighty questions in scripture and theology, which they

loved to discuss together. The tradition is that they were generally held

at Cluainfois, and the name itself implies as much--it is according to

Colgan the 'Meadow of Retreat,' as we should say, or 'Locus

commorationis,' as Colgan calls it. This is still more probable, if with

some writers we place the death of Benen in A.D. 476, ten years later

than the date assigned in the _Annals of Ulster_.[400]

The place still deserves its ancient name. It is indeed a Meadow of

Retreat. The old churchyard which alone marks at present the site of the

ancient College of Cluainfois, stands on the southern slope of a rich and

wide grazing farm, now tenanted by sheep and heifers alone. The old

causeway to the church can still be traced, though much overgrown with

grass. A solitary ash-tree rises over the narrow homes of the dead; but

there is no trace of the ancient church, except a portion of its

foundations, now remaining. Like most of the sites of our ancient

monasteries, the spot was admirably chosen on the southern slope of

fertile swelling fields, overlooking a wide prospect to the south and

west, with the Clare river quietly stealing through the low-lying meadows

to the south, and showing here and there reaches of its waters gleaming in

the sunlight. One thing at least our monks of old greatly loved, and that

was water. They loved it in all its various forms--whether it was the

great sea, or the quiet lake, or the murmuring stream--they never built a

monastery except close to water in one way or another. This love for

natural beauty seems to have disappeared in modern times. It must be said,

however, that in old times the monks had sites of their own choice; but in

our times we must be thankful if we can get any site at all to build upon.

We venture to think, however, it would be almost better to wait, than to

erect a noble building in some unsightly hole, or swampy flat, where

noisome vapours too often infect the atmosphere, and the glorious vision

of nature's beauties is as completely cut off as if the inmates dwelt in a

jail.

Jarlath's College of Cluainfois soon became very celebrated, and

attracted, especially towards the close of the fifth century, scholars

from the most distant parts of Ireland. Two especially, as Colgan remarks,

became even more eminent than their master. One was St. Brendan of Ardfert

and Clonfert, the other was St. Colman of Cloyne.

We are told that Brendan, burning with a love of the Holy Scriptures, and

ardently desiring to see with his own eyes the virtuous example of the

sainted fathers of the young churches of Ireland, asked permission of his

master St. Erc, and of his foster-mother St. Ita, to leave his native

mountains in Kerry and travel through Ireland. First of all he came to St.

Jarlath's School at Cluainfois, for he had heard much of the fame of that

great and holy master. On his way it seems he met Colman, son of Senin,

and induced him to give up his worldly life, and devote himself to the

service of God. With this view the latter accompanied Brendan on his

journey to Western Connaught. St. Jarlath received them kindly, and we are

told that they remained with him a considerable time drinking in deep

draughts at this fountain of sacred knowledge. But Brendan, though still

very young, probably not more than twenty years of age, had already made

great progress in virtue, and was highly favoured by God. In the spirit of

prophecy which he possessed, he told St. Jarlath that Cluainfois was not

destined by God to be the place of his resurrection. He was to move a

little further eastward, and he was to remain at the place where the wheel

of his car would break on the journey. "Remain there," said Brendan, "and

build your oratory, for God wills that there shall be the place of your

resurrection, and many shall arise in glory in the same place along with

you." The holy old man obeyed this manifestation of the Divine will; the

chariot wheel was broken at the place _now_ called Tuam da guallan, and

there the saint built his church on the site of the old Cathedral of Tuam,

which has for so many centuries become the metropolitan Church of

Connaught. At the same time St. Jarlath said to Brendan, "O holy youth, it

is you should be master, and I the pupil--but go now with God's blessing

elsewhere." And so Brendan with the blessing of God and St. Jarlath left

Cluainfois, and shortly after, having returned to his native Kerry, was

ordained a priest by his first master, the holy Bishop Erc, before he

died. If this was St. Erc of Slaine, who died in A.D. 512, St. Brendan

must have been at the School of Cluainfois some time between A.D. 504 and

that date.

It is difficult to ascertain the exact date of St. Jarlath's death. As he

was a disciple of St. Benignus he cannot have been born after A.D. 460. He

seems to have been an aged man when Brendan was at Cluainfois--certainly

not less than sixty years of age. He is ranked, however, amongst the

saints of the Second Order; and hence it is assumed that he must have

lived until A.D. 540, when he would be about ninety years of age. It is

well known, however, that in those days these holy men, leading active and

abstemious lives, frequently lived on in the enjoyment of all their

faculties to a very great age--even beyond a hundred years. It is eating

and drinking too much that shortens life, rather than eating and drinking

too little. St. Jarlath especially was remarkable for the extreme

asceticism of his life. Prayer and sacred study were his chief food; his

diet was so meagre that he seemed to have no body. He was fond of

meditation and watching and the scholiast in the _Felire_ of Ængus tells

us that he made three hundred genuflections by day and three hundred every

night, so that his whole life was one continued prayer.

A Prophecy concerning his successors in the See of Tuam, written in Irish,

has been attributed to St. Jarlath. Nothing is known of its existence at

present; but it seems to have been extant when Colgan wrote. Its

authenticity, however, is very doubtful; and it appears to belong to a

class of documents composed many centuries later than the alleged time,

but which, to lend them authority, are falsely attributed to the famous

saints of the early Irish Church.

The relics of St. Jarlath were for a long time preserved in Tuam with

great reverence. A special church, close to the Cathedral, was built for

the scrinium, or shrine, containing the precious treasures, hence called

_Tempull na Scrin_; but at present there is, we believe, no trace of the

church, or of the shrine itself to be found anywhere. Both the Church of

the Shrine and St. Jarlath's ancient Cathedral were built on the site of

the present Protestant Cathedral of Tuam. The new and beautiful Catholic

Cathedral occupies a fine site at some distance on the other side of the

highway.

After the death of St. Jarlath we hear scarcely anything of Tuam for

nearly five hundred years. For the first two hundred and fifty years no

reference whatsoever is made to the City of St. Jarlath; but in A.D. 776

the Four Masters record the death of "Nuada O'Bolcan, abbot of Tuaim

Daolann."[401] The true date is, however, A.D. 781; and it is strange that

the _Annals of Ulster_ record in the same year the death of Ferdomnach of

Tuaim da Ghualann, without any epithet designating his office. No

reference, however, is made to either as bishop.

In A.D. 969, Eoghan O'Cleirigh, 'Bishop of Connaught,' died. The reference

here is probably to a prelate resident at Tuam, for in A.D. 1085 Aedh

O'Hoisin, whose death is entered under that year, is described by the Four

Masters as comarb of Jarlath, and High-bishop (ard-epscoip) of Tuam. This

is the first distinct reference to a Bishop of Tuam since the decease of

St. Jarlath.

From this period, however, the prelates of Tuam appear prominently in the

history of the western province. Just at this time the O'Conor family

reached a high degree of power, and retained it for three generations

over the entire province. There was a long and bitter struggle between

that family and the O'Brians of Kincora for the pre-eminence, which

continued for nearly a hundred years. After the death of Turlough O'Brian,

King of Ireland 'with opposition,' in A.D. 1085, the O'Conors gained the

ascendency. Turlough Mor O'Conor was the most powerful prince in Ireland

for fifty years, from A.D. 1106 to his death in A.D. 1156. He is described

by the Four Masters as King of all Ireland, but 'with opposition.' They

add that "Turlough Mor O'Conor was the flood of the glory and splendour of

Ireland, the Augustus of the West of Europe, a man full of charity and

mercy, hospitality and chivalry: and he died after the sixty-eighth year

of his age, and was interred at Clonmacnoise, beside the altar of Ciaran,

after having made his will, and distributed gold and silver, cows and

horses, amongst the clergy and churches of Ireland in general." We shall

see presently, when treating of Celtic art in Clonmacnoise and the West of

Ireland, that if Turlough was not the Augustus of the West of Europe, he

was certainly the Augustus of the West of Ireland. He was succeeded

without opposition by his degenerate son, Rory O'Conor, the last monarch

of Ireland.

CHAPTER XXII--(_continued_).

CELTIC ART IN THE WESTERN MONASTERIES DURING THE REIGN OF TURLOUGH

O'CONOR.

"He stepped a man out of the ways of men,

And no one knew his sept, or rank, or name--

Like a strong stream issuing from a glen,

From some source unexplored, the Master came."

--_M'Gee's 'Gobban Saer.'_

We have said that Turlough Mor O'Conor was, if not the Augustus of Western

Europe, certainly the Augustus of the West of Ireland. During his long

reign of fifty years Celtic art reached its highest degree of perfection,

at least in three great branches--architecture, sculpture, and metal work.

He was inaugurated as king of the Siol Muireadhaigh in the year A.D. 1106;

and he went to his rest, beside the altar of Ciaran in Clonmacnoise in

A.D. 1156, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. With his own right hand he

fought his way through more than fifty battles to the kingship of all

Erin--an honour to which no prince of his line had ever before attained

since the time of Niall the Great. He had a clear head, too, as well as a

strong arm; and thoroughly appreciated the force of the royal

maxim--_divide et impera_. Neither did he neglect, so far as he could, the

arts of peace. He made many roads and causeways through woods and morasses

that were hitherto impenetrable; he built bridges over the Shannon and

Suck, and fortified them with strong castles. He caused money to be

regularly coined at Clonmacnoise for the convenience of commercial

transactions. He had a great fleet of boats on the Shannon for trading, as

well as for warlike purposes. He founded a chair of divinity in the great

School of Armagh, to which we have already referred. He erected a hospital

at Tuam for the aged and infirm, and was most munificent in rebuilding and

adorning the churches of his own hereditary dominions with all those

beautiful monuments of Celtic art to which we now propose to direct

special attention.

I.--THE O'DUFFYS.

Augustus always finds a Maecenas; and it was doubtless owing to the

powerful patronage of Turlough that in all his cathedral cities members of

a great and talented ecclesiastical family held the crozier, to whom

quite as much as to himself we owe many of the most beautiful specimens of

Celtic art still extant in Ireland. This was the family of the O'Duffys

(Ua Dubhthaig), which flourished throughout the whole of the twelfth

century, and gave bishops or abbots to Clonmacnoise, to Roscommon, to

Tuam, to Clonfert, to Cong, to Mayo, and to Boyle. The O'Duffys originally

belonged to the Province of Leinster, for they were sprung from the race

of Cathair Mor, who divided that province amongst his twenty-four sons.

But later on some members of the family settled both in Galway and

Roscommon, and appear to have risen to a good position; although they are

not mentioned by O'Dugan, who doubtless regarded them as more or less

strangers in the West. They seem at this period to have been located in

Roscommon, for the earliest reference we find to any member of the family

is to Flanagan Ruadh O'Duffy, successor of St. Coman of Roscommon, and

also it appears, a ferlegind, or professor, of the School of Tuam. His

death is recorded in A.D. 1097. Domhnall O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1136,

is called in the _Annals of Loch Cé_, Bishop of Elphin, and comarb or

successor of Ciaran in Clonmacnoise. The Four Masters call him High-bishop

of Connaught,[402] because he was doubtless the most distinguished prelate

of his time, for as yet there was no metropolitan See of Tuam. Domhnall's

death took place in the monastery of Clonfert 'after Mass and

Celebration;' and he appears to have been much regretted, for he is

described as the head of the wisdom and hospitality of the entire

province. He was buried on St. Patrick's Day in Clonfert; the true year

seems to be A.D. 1137 (_Annals of Lough Cé_).

Muireadhach O'Duffy, who, if not a brother of Domhnall, was doubtless a

member of the same family, appears to have succeeded him as High-bishop of

Connaught. Reference is made to this prelate by the Four Masters the very

year of Domhnall's death, and he is distinguished from the comarb of

Jarlath in Tuam. He is referred to again in A.D. 1143 as one of the

sureties for Rory O'Conor; but in spite of his sureties that prince was

seized and imprisoned by his own father Turlough. At his death in A.D.

1150 he is described by the Four Masters as "High-bishop of Connaught, and

chief senior of all Ireland in wisdom, in chastity, in the bestowal of

jewels and food." He died at Cong in the new abbey which he helped to

found, on the sixteenth of May, that is the festival of Brendan, in the

seventy-fifth year of his age. It will be observed that these two prelates

flourished during the reign of Turlough O'Conor, and no doubt cordially

co-operated with that prince in his projects for the diffusion of

knowledge and the development of art.

Hugh O'Hessian (Aedh Ua h-Oissen) appears to have succeeded O'Duffy as

High-bishop of Connaught in A.D. 1150. He seems to have lived at Tuam, and

he is correctly described as Archbishop of Tuam; for in A.D. 1152 he was

one of the prelates who received the Pall from Cardinal Paparo in the

Synod of Kells. He died in A.D. 1161. Mention is made of a Bishop Flanagan

O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1168; but no See is mentioned in connection with

his name. He was, however, a most learned man, for he is described as

"Bishop and chief Doctor of the Irish in literature, history, and poetry,

and in every kind of science known to man in his time." He died 'in the

bed of Bishop Muireadhach O'Duffy at Cong,' and was doubtless a near

relative of that prelate. Catholicus O'Duffy is generally represented as

succeeding to the See of Tuam after the death of O'Hessian in A.D. 1161.

He ruled in Tuam for forty years; and was through good and ill the

faithful friend and counsellor of the unhappy Rory O'Conor during all the

years of his stormy and disastrous reign. He was present with five other

Irish bishops at the General Council of Lateran in A.D. 1179. In A.D. 1198

he saw his discrowned monarch die in his old age amongst the canons of

Cong 'after exemplary penance.' Doubtless he accompanied the king's body

to Clonmacnoise, and saw it laid near the grave of his great father,

Turlough, beside the altar of Ciaran. Then stricken by the weight of years

and sorrows, the archbishop, too, retired to Cong, and three years later

died amongst the same holy canons, victorious, like his unhappy master,

'over the world and the devil.'

The O'Duffys, therefore, were the real ministers and counsellors both of

Turlough and Rory O'Conor throughout the twelfth century; and to them, as

much as to those princes themselves, must be attributed the many works of

art which were produced during that period. They had almost all the

ecclesiastical power of the province in their own hands; for we find that

besides those already mentioned, Maurice O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1174,

was abbot of the great Cistercian monastery of Boyle, and another, Kele or

Catholicus O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1209, was Bishop of Mayo of the

Saxons. We find also that one of them held the See of Clonfert towards

the close of the thirteenth century--William O'Duffy--whose death is

marked under A.D. 1297. It will be seen, however, that this great family

used their power for God's glory, and the good of the Church. Whatever

they touched they adorned, as the existing monuments of their artistic

taste and skill so conclusively prove.

II.--CELTIC ART AT CLONMACNOISE.

Clonmacnoise was founded by a saint, who was born and baptized at Fuerty,

within three miles of the town of Roscommon. It is quite true, as we have

already observed, that Clonmacnoise was more catholic in the selection of

its abbots than any other great monastery in Ireland; and this was

undoubtedly one of the causes which raised Clonmacnoise to its proud

pre-eminence amongst the monastic schools of Erin. Still the City of

Ciaran could not forget the rock from whence it was hewn; and, as our

Annals tell, the men of Roscommon always occupied positions of commanding

influence in Clonmacnoise. This connection will also help to explain why

Domhnall O'Duffy, Bishop of Elphin, and Abbot of Roscommon, was also

chosen to be comarb of Ciaran, at Clonmacnoise. This connection also gave

countenance to the ambitious designs of Turlough O'Conor, who was resolved

to annex the abbacy of Clonmacnoise, with all its rich termon lands, to

his own hereditary dominions.[403] In the Synod of Rathbreasil, Cluain

appears to be included in the diocese of Clonard,[404] and rightfully, as

it was a portion of the ancient kingdom of Meath. But in the Synod of

Kells (A.D. 1152), Cluain, or Clonmacnoise, is explicitly assigned as a

suffragan See to Tuam. This was doubtless owing in great measure to the

influence of Turlough O'Conor; and naturally enough the influence of the

O'Duffys would favour the designs of the king. In A.D. 1152, however, it

was O'Malone, and not an O'Duffy, who was Comarb of Ciaran; but the

O'Malones themselves were a branch of the great O'Conor family, who had

settled in Teffia[405] (County Longford).

Clonmacnoise, during the twelfth century especially, was the great school

of Celtic Art. This statement will need no proof for anyone who even at

this day wanders through the ruined City, and carefully observes its

churches, its crosses, its round towers, and its sculptured tombstones.

But we propose to put in more formal evidence, and to show that it was the

artists of Clonmacnoise who executed many other of our choicest works,

which at first sight appear to have no connection with the City of St.

Ciaran.

ARCHITECTURE was certainly one of the fine arts taught in our monastic

schools, and with very considerable success, as existing ruins, and

especially our round towers, clearly prove. The architect, or

ollamh-builder, was at the head of the profession, and had his

remuneration fixed by law. Besides a kind of per-centage on the work which

he superintended, he had a fixed annual salary rated at twenty-one cows,

from the king-in-chief, in whose service he was engaged. But he was

required to be a perfect master of his art in the widest sense of the

word. He was not only required to build stone churches (damhliags) and

oratories, whether of wood or stone, but also farm steadings, containing

the usual five buildings, namely, dwelling-house, cow-house, calf-house,

pig-sty, and sheep-fold. He was required to be a millwright, a boat-maker,

a cooper, a cart-maker, and a road-maker. He should be skilful in yew

carving and plough-making, and was even expected to weave wicker shields

and build wicker houses. He was, in fact, a jack-of-all-trades, and must

have well earned his salary of twenty-one cows in the year.

The most distinguished of this fraternity was the renowned Gobban Saer, or

Gobban the builder, whose fame is still traditionally preserved in various

parts of the country. He was, undoubtedly, a historical personage, and

seems to have flourished during the first half of the sixth century. His

father is said to have been Turvey (Tuirbhi), who gave his name to the

strand of Turvey, on the northern coast of the County Dublin--Kilgobbin,

in the same county, is said to derive its name from the renowned builder

himself. At this early date the Gaels knew little of church building, and

hence the services of the Gobban were in great request with the saints for

building their churches and oratories. As he had no rivals he could make

his own terms, and is said to have charged exorbitant prices, and,

moreover, being feeble, took his own time at his work. He agreed to build

a wooden oratory for St. Moling of Carlow, but he spent a whole year in

idleness before he began, and when he had finished his task, at the

instigation of his wife, he asked from the saint the full of the oratory

of rye as his wages. The saint had agreed to give him his own demand, but

not having nearly this quantity of rye, he was forced to appeal to his

tribesmen to help him. "Bring me," he said, "whatever you have--corn,

nuts, apples, even green rushes." They did so, and filled the oratory,

which the Gobban turned upside down to receive the offerings without

starting a plank. It was all changed into rye at the prayer of the saint,

but next morning, when the Gobban came to take away the grain, he found

that it had turned into maggots!

We also find this famous architect mentioned in the _Life of St. Abban_,

for whom he built a church. It was, says this Life, his constant

occupation to work for the saints wherever he was, but he charged them so

dear that he lost his sight through the displeasure of the saints at the

greatness of his charges. The Gobban was probably of foreign descent, and

tried to make the Scots pay well for their buildings.

It is certain that Clonmacnoise reached a high degree of perfection in

architecture, and the Nuns' Church, _Relig na Cailleach_, was certainly

one of the most beautiful types of the Celtic Romanesque in Ireland. It

was situated to the north-east of the monastic buildings, and was

approached by a causeway that was built along the river, which frequently

overflowed the surrounding meadows.

This church was erected at the expense of the celebrated Dervorgilla, wife

of Tiernan O'Rorke, King of North Connaught. It appears to have been

completed in A.D. 1167, and probably occupied the site of an older church

belonging to the nuns of Clonmacnoise, for, as we have seen, we find

reference made to the garden of the abbess so early as A.D. 1026, when the

causeway was constructed from her garden to the Three Crosses, near the

great Church of Clonmacnoise. A.D. 1082, we are told that the "cemetery of

the nuns of Clonmacnoise was burned with its stone church, and with the

eastern third of the entire establishment." The cemetery here means the

enclosure surrounded by the cashel, portions of which still remain; it

contained not only the church, but also the cells in which the nuns dwelt,

and the other buildings necessary for their accommodation. The causeway,

too, can still be traced from the nunnery to the Carn of the Three

Crosses, which was surmounted by a stone bearing the following Irish

inscription:--

OROIT AR THURCAIN LASAN DERNAD IN CHROSSA.

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

The striking features of the Nuns' Church are the western door-way and

the chancel arch. This door-way is the principal entrance to the nave,

which is 36 ft. in length, and nearly 20 ft. in breadth; the walls are 3

ft. thick. The chancel, like that of Tuam, is nearly a square--14 ft. 6

in. by 13 ft. in breadth; the walls are 3 ft. 3 in. thick, and built of

hard limestone, hammer-dressed.

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

"The door-way at the west end is 7 ft. in height, to the springing of the

arch; 2 ft. 10 in. wide at the base, and 2 ft. 8-1/2 in. at the top of the

jambs. It is deeply recessed, and of four orders; the two inner jambs are

rectangular shafts, the outer are rounded into pillars, with shallow bases

and imposts. The external shafts had a plain chamfered abacus, and the

hood moulding, or outer arch, terminates with heads of the same character

as those in the small church at Rahan. The jambs were richly ornamented

with incised chevrons and other designs. The outer arch was enriched with

pellets, the inner with chevron blocks, incised with bold lines; the third

with heads with rolls in their mouths, or with beak-head, or cat's-head

moulding, deeply undercut, and the front face enriched with incised

traceries and chevrons, and pellets upon the soffit of the arch. The

door-way had eel-heads terminating the zig-zags, but they are not so

distinct as those on M'Carthy's Church close by, where they had been

covered with accumulated earth until lately.

"The chancel arch, which was of sandstone, was 9 ft. 2 in. wide at the

base, and 7 ft. 6 in. in height, to the top of the impost, making the arch

about 12 ft. high. It was 15 ft. 6 in. wide from one outer pier to the

other." The ornamentation, mainly consisting of zig-zag and chevron, with

a pear-shaped ornament in the inner order, is very striking, and "the

capitals and ornaments of the piers," says Lord Dunraven, "are totally

unlike anything in England, and, if taken by themselves, would appear to

be of much earlier character than the arch."

This church was built, as the Four Masters tell us, by Dervorgilla in A.D.

1167. The abduction or flight of that false fair lady took place in A.D.

1152, when MacMurrough caused her to be carried to his own castle of

Ferns. But next year Turlough O'Connor led an army against MacMurrough,

when Dervorgilla was given up, and restored by that prince to her own

friends in Meath, and shortly afterwards was taken back again by her

injured husband. It is highly probable that the erring dame built the

Church of the Nuns at Clonmacnoise, the foundation of her own royal

ancestors, as a penance for her sins; and it may be she found grace and

pardon within that holy shrine. She survived her husband several years,

and died at the advanced age of 85 in the monastery of Mellifont, to which

she had presented many valuable offerings during her long and eventful

career.

We have already referred to the sculptured crosses in the graveyard, which

are some of the finest specimens of ancient art in this country. But

besides these there were numerous other objects of the highest antiquarian

interest, which were produced or preserved at Clonmacnoise, to which we

shall presently refer.

Under the head of SCULPTURE we include sculptured gravestones, high

crosses, and architectural ornamentation in relief. Clonmacnoise exhibits

in its churchyard more sculptured stones, and in greater variety, than all

the rest of Ireland together. The first volume of _The Christian

Inscriptions in the Irish Language_, deals exclusively, and very fully,

with those found at Clonmacnoise; but as we have already referred to this

part of our subject, we shall pass on to give an account of the crosses

and architectural ornaments in sculpture at Tuam and Cong, which belong to

the artistic School of Clonmacnoise.

The first is the celebrated high Cross of Tuam, now standing in the market

place. Of this Dr. Petrie remarks[406] that "it is of far greater

magnificence and interest (than the Cross of Cashel); and may justly rank

as the finest monument of its class and age remaining in Ireland." It is

made of sandstone, and measures in its pedestal five feet three inches in

breadth, and three feet eight inches in height; but including the shaft,

which is ten feet long, the entire cross is thirteen feet eight inches

high.

On the base, or pedestal, of this cross there are two highly interesting

inscriptions in the Irish language, now partly defaced, but still

decipherable. One is:--

OR DO U OSSIN; DON DABBAID LASAN DERNAD

"A prayer for O'Hossin (Hessian) for the abbot by whom it was made." On

the opposite side is the following inscription:--

OR DO THOIRDELBUCH U CONCHUBUIR DON ...

IARLATH LAS IN DERNAD INSAE....

That is--"A prayer for Torlough O'Conor; for the (comarb) of Jarlath by

whom was made this...."

O'Hoisin, or O'Hessian, referred to in the first inscription, was, as we

have said, the first regular Archbishop of Tuam. He succeeded Muireadhach

O'Duffy, who died in A.D. 1150, and received the pallium from Cardinal

Paparo at the Synod of Kells in A.D. 1152. It is singular, however, that

he is not described on the Cross as either bishop or archbishop, but

simply as abbot in the one, and as comarb of Jarlath in the other. Hence

Petrie conjectures that this Cross was sculptured before O'Hessian became

archbishop, and whilst he was yet merely abbot of the monastery of Tuam.

There is evidence that he was abbot so early as A.D. 1134, for, according

to the _Annals of Innisfallen_, he was sent on an embassy in that year by

King Turlough, to make peace between Connaught and Munster. Therefore

Petrie thinks it probable that he became abbot in A.D. 1128, on the death

of Muirges O'Nioc, who filled that office before him; and he held the

abbacy during the entire period of O'Duffy's rule as High-bishop of

Connaught. We have already seen that Muireadhach succeeded Domhnall

O'Duffy in A.D. 1136 or 1137, and ruled over Elphin, Roscommon,

Clonmacnoise, and probably Tuam also until A.D. 1150. It appears to be

quite clear, therefore, that this beautiful Cross of Tuam was made whilst

O'Duffy was High-bishop, and O'Hessian abbot of Tuam. The prayer for

Turlough O'Conor seems to imply that the work was constructed at his

expense. Petrie thinks that the Cross was erected to commemorate the

re-building of the ancient cathedral of Tuam, which was also accomplished

at the expense of King Turlough. A slab of sandstone was found within the

present cathedral, near the Communion Table, which is supposed to have

been designed to commemorate the re-building of the cathedral. It may,

however, have been a portion of a second Cross, and, like the other, it

contains two inscriptions--one asking a prayer for the Comarb of Jarlath,

that is, "for Aed O'Hossin, by whom this Cross was made," and the other on

the obverse of the slab asking a prayer for King Turlough O'Conor, and a

prayer for Gillachrist O'Toole, by whom the work was wrought. There were

no O'Tooles at this time in Connaught, although, later on, a branch of

that tribe settled in Omey Island, on the coast of Connemara. Hence, we

are inclined to think that this eminent artist came from Clonmacnoise, if

he were not one of the itinerant craftsmen who at this period migrated

from place to place, as they do still, for a job. One thing is clear--he

was a native Celt, and a skilful workman in his craft, which was that of

master sculptor or stone-cutter. The addition of his name shows that the

memory of such an artist was deemed worthy of being preserved. And so, in

truth, it was, if he executed both these crosses, and the beautiful

chancel arch of the cathedral, which fortunately still survives the effect

of time's effacing fingers. The Crucifixion is sculptured on one face of

the shaft of the Tuam Cross. The figure of the Saviour is archaic, but

very striking. The figure of a bishop is on the other, and what seems to

be a funeral procession is on the reverse. There are two figures standing

close together, above the inscription on the pedestal of this Cross. One

holds in his left hand a pastoral staff--which, however, might designate

that the holder was either a bishop or an abbot. Perhaps they are intended

to represent Turlough O'Conor and the comarb of Jarlath, whose names were

inscribed beneath.

There was a somewhat similar high Cross in the market place of Cong. The

original pedestal is there still, with an inscription, recording the names

of the artist and patron who caused the Cross to be sculptured. The

ancient shaft has disappeared, but its place is supplied by a modern one

inserted in the original plinth by a member of the Elwood family, in the

year 1822. The inscription is in Irish, but the lettering is of a later

type, rather resembling the black letter than that of the Cross of Tuam.

It asks "a prayer for Nichol, and for Gilliberd O'Duffy, who was abbot of

Cong." So far as we know there is no mention in our Annals either of

Nichol, the artist, or of Gilliberd O'Duffy, the abbot, but it is highly

probable that the latter was a member of the same illustrious family that

produced so many distinguished ecclesiastics during the twelfth and the

early part of the thirteenth century.

Of Cong itself we know nothing from the time of St. Fechin to the year

A.D. 1114, when we are told that, like many other religious houses, it was

burned in that year. It was then probably rebuilt, for mention is made of

the death of Gillaciarain O'Roda, or O'Roddy, erenach of Cunga, in that

year. It was he who erected with the help of Turlough O'Conor and the

O'Duffys, that noble monastery of Cong, whose ruins, so picturesquely

situated at the head of Lough Corrib, lend one of its many features of

beauty to that enchanting scene.

There are still to be seen some very interesting architectural remains of

the buildings erected during the reign of Turlough in the west of

Connaught. Turlough's reign was red with the blood of many battles, and

not altogether free from deeds of revolting cruelty, yet he seems to have

been a prince of lofty aims and generous aspirations. He built a bridge

over the Shannon at Athlone, apparently for the first time, and another

over the same river at a place called Ath Crioch, near Shannon Harbour. He

also built a bridge over the river Suck at Ballinasloe; it was then called

the Bridge of Dunloe, and was opposite Dunloe Street, in the modern town

of Ballinasloe.

But he also did much for ecclesiastical architecture. Cormac M'Carthy had

just built a very beautiful church on the Rock of Cashel, which still

bears his name; and it seems that Turlough even in this did not wish to be

excelled by his rival and hereditary foe, the Prince of Munster. His first

work was probably the re-building of the Cathedral of Tuam, where he had

fixed his principal residence. Only a portion of the chancel and chancel

arch of that beautiful church now remains; but it is quite enough to give

us an idea of what the Irish Romanesque would ultimately become in capable

hands. "This chancel," says Petrie,[407] "is sufficient to make us

acquainted with its general style of architecture, and to show that it was

not only a larger, but a more splendid structure than Cormac's Chapel at

Cashel, and not unworthy of the powerful monarch to whom it chiefly owed

its erection. The chancel is a square of twenty-six feet in external

measurement, and the walls are four feet in thickness. Its east end is

perforated by three circular headed windows, each five feet in height, and

eighteen inches in width externally, but splaying on the inside to the

width of five feet." These windows are richly ornamented with zig-zag and

other mouldings, and are connected together by strong course-mouldings, of

which the external one is quaintly enriched with pateral, or cup-shaped

disks.

The most striking feature, however, of this chancel was the arch opening

on the nave, "which is perhaps the most magnificent specimen of its kind

remaining in Ireland." It is composed of no less than six semicircular,

concentric, recessed arches of which the innermost is sixteen feet wide

and fifteen feet high. The rectangular capitals are richly sculptured in a

variety of interlaced traceries, and those surmounting the two jambs are

adorned with curious grotesque heads with broad flat faces. The imposts

too are richly sculptured in scrolls and other striking designs, and are

carried along the face of the wall as tablets. The bases consist of a

double plinth and torus moulding, but are otherwise unornamented as

befits the solid and majestic character of the building. The arch

mouldings display many varieties of ornament--the nebule, diamond, frette,

and chevron--and show how the Celtic imagination loved to revel in a great

variety of ornamental forms. All the ornamental parts of this peerless

chancel arch are executed in red sandstone, which has withstood

wonderfully well the wear and tear of time and moisture in that damp

atmosphere.

Where did Turlough get the workmen whose teeming brains devised, and whose

cunning hands executed this beautiful arch? It has been said that the

workmen who built the grand Cistercian monasteries during the latter part

of this twelfth century were imported from France and England. Well, be it

so. But no one can deny that it was Celtic artists who built and adorned

Cormac's Chapel and Tuam Cathedral; and there has been nothing finer

executed in any Cistercian monastery in Ireland or England either. These

great monasteries were larger and grander if you will, but certainly not

more artistic nor more beautiful.

The ruins of the abbey of Cong are still to be seen and speak for

themselves. The 'neck' of land on which it was built between the two

lakes, Lough Mask and Lough Corrib, gave its name to the abbey. It was

rebuilt by the Augustinians under the patronage of Turlough O'Conor, in

all probability between the years A.D. 1120 and 1130. The Cistercians

about the same period, A.D. 1128, were introduced into England, but had

not yet come to Ireland; so that Cong is the connecting link between the

indigenous monasteries of the past that grew up with the growth of the

Irish Church, and the houses of the foreign orders introduced during the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Imar of Armagh formally adopted the Rule

of St. Augustine, about the year A.D. 1126, and hence these ancient Irish

monasteries came to be called Augustinian houses; but as a matter of fact

they were in all respects as purely Celtic and as racy of the soil as the

Irish race and the Irish tongue. The Cistercians who came to Mellifont

about the year A.D. 1142, were really the first 'foreign' order that came

to Ireland, and were followed about a century later by the Dominicans and

Franciscans. The abbey of Cong was not designed, or executed, or tenanted

by any foreigners. It was a purely Celtic house. It was designed most

probably by some member of that talented family--the O'Duffys--that

afterwards ruled over it for many generations. It was built and adorned

under their superintendence by native workmen; and Turlough O'Conor and

his unhappy son Roderick, both of whom, especially the latter, loved Cong

much, seem to have contributed the greater part of the expense necessary

for its erection.

It was built on a scale of great magnificence. The abbey church was 140

feet in length. The east window consisted of three long narrow lights, not

lancet-headed, but semicircular, for the Romanesque had no lancets, and

where they appear in the Romanesque they are always later insertions.

It has been alleged that the pointed door-arches of Cong show a departure

from the Irish Romanesque and indicate foreign origin and a later date

than the first quarter of the twelfth century. Even supposing that these

arches are coeval with the monastery, a glance at Sir W. Wilde's

illustration will show that they are not lancet-headed like the pure

Gothic, but rather indicate the first step of the transition from the

Romanesque to the Gothic, which was just beginning at this time to take

place in Ireland. The most characteristic features of the existing group

of ruins are to be found in the western façade, which appears to have

opened on the cloister of the abbey. "It is 80 feet in length and contains

a doorway, and two windows with circular arches; also two large and most

elaborately ornamented lancet-headed doors, with undercut chevrons along

the deep mouldings of the arches, that spring from clustered pillars, the

floral capitals of which--all of different patterns--present us with one

of the finest specimens of twelfth century stone-work in Ireland."[408]

With this beautiful abbey are associated many interesting historic

memories. It was to this lonely but sweet retreat that Ireland's last

High-king retired to die. He had drawn a sword that could not save his

country and his race from the hated dominion of the stranger; he had seen

his own children rise up in rebellion against him, and engage in the very

face of their country's enemies in fratricidal strife; he had seen his

best-beloved son, O'Conor of Moenmoy, whose bold heart and strong arm were

his country's only hope, slain by "a party of his own people, and of his

own tribe;" and now there was nothing left for him but to end an

inglorious life by a pious and penitential death. He retired to Cong in

A.D. 1183. After the death of his eldest and bravest son, he sought once

more to regain his authority in Connaught. But he soon found that

"Authority forgets a dying king,

Laid widow'd of the power in his eye

That bow'd the will."

He returned once more to his monastic retreat, and there in the year A.D.

1198, "he died amongst the Canons of Cong, after exemplary penance,

victorious over the world and the devil. His body was conveyed to

Clonmacnoise, and interred at the north side of the altar of the great

church."

In METAL-WORK the O'Duffys of Tuam and Cong have left us, at least, one

memorial that will never perish. The Processional Cross of Cong, the

Chalice of Ardagh, and the Tara Brooch, are regarded by all competent

judges as the highest effort, each in its own way, of the Celtic art in

metal-work. No one knows anything of the Tara Brooch except that it was

found in the year 1850 on the sea shore near Drogheda. Neither does the

Ardagh Chalice bear the name of the king or workman by whom it was made,

nor ask a prayer for his soul's welfare. We can, however, with tolerable

certainty, trace its history; and we shall find that it is a product of

the same school of art which produced the remarkable Cross of Cong, to

which we now invite the reader's attention.

It appears that this beautiful Cross of Cong was made originally for the

Church of Tuam. It is very probable that some western prelate was present

at the first General Council of Lateran, held in A.D. 1123, and that he

brought home with him a relic of the true Cross, which, as we are informed

in the _Annals of Innisfallen_, was enshrined in that year by Turlough

O'Conor. "A portion of the true Cross came into Ireland and was enshrined

at Roscommon by Turlough O'Conor." The following inscriptions are found on

the Cross itself, and corroborate the statement in the _Annals of

Innisfallen_:--

+ HAC CRUCE TEGITUR QUA PASUS CONDITOR ORBIS. OR DO MUREDUCH U

DUBTHAIG DO SENIOR EREND. OR DO THERRDEL U CHONCHŌ DO RIG EREND LAS

AN DERNAD IN GRESSA.

OR DO DOMNULL McFLANNACAN U DUBD EPSKUP CONNACHT DO CHOMARBA CHOMMAN

ACUS CHIARAN ICAN ERRNAD IN GRESSA.

OR DO MAELISU McBRATDAN UECHAN DO RIGNI IN GRESSA.

We gather from these inscriptions that the Cross was made to enshrine a

particle of the true Cross, on which the Creator of the world suffered.

Muireadhach O'Duffy, to whom we have already referred, is here described

as senior of Erin, and one of those who co-operated in this work. He has

been described by the Four Masters as "chief senior of Ireland in wisdom

and chastity, and the bestowal of jewels and food." He was afterwards

promoted to the position of High-bishop of Connaught, but at this period

we cannot say what office he held, if he were not abbot of the monastery

and head of the School of Tuam. Of King Turlough, "for whom this shrine

was made," we have already spoken. Domhnall MacFlanagan O'Duffy, "under

whose superintendence this shrine was made" at Roscommon, is described as

successor of Coman and Ciaran, and Bishop of Connaught. We know from the

_Annals of Lough Cé_ that he was then Bishop of Elphin. Perhaps he was

afterwards translated to Tuam, and then took the title of Bishop of

Connaught. It is highly probable, too, that he brought this shrine along

with him from Elphin to Tuam. Of this translation, however, there is no

record. Lastly, a prayer is asked for Maelisu Mac Bratdan O'Echan (or

Egan), the artist who made this shrine. He was comarb of St. Finnen of

Clooncraff, County Roscommon.

It will hardly be contended that O'Echan was anything but a pure Roscommon

Celt. The Mac Egans were from time immemorial Brehons in various parts of

Connaught, and afterwards in Ormond, in the County Tipperary. It is not

unlikely that the artist who made the "Cross of Cong" was a member of this

most distinguished literary family.

The shaft of the cross is 2 ft. 6 in. high; the breadth across the arms is

1 ft. 6-3/4 in. It was made of oak, covered with eight copper plates, and

one plate of brass, all adorned with a richly interwoven tracery. "On the

central plate on the face, at the junction of the arms, is a boss

surmounted by a convex crystal. Thirteen jewels remain of the eighteen

which were disposed at regular intervals along the edges, and on the face

of the shaft and arms, the spaces are visible for nine others, which were

placed at intervals down the centre. Two beads remain of four settings

which surrounded the central boss. The shaft terminates below in the

grotesque head of an animal, beneath which it is attached to a spherically

ornamented ball, surmounting the socket, in which was inserted the pole or

shaft for carrying the cross."[409]

Such is the description given by Miss Stokes of the Cross of Cong. But no

description can convey an adequate idea of the rare beauty of this

peerless cross. It must be seen to be appreciated. It has been conjectured

that it was taken from Tuam to Cong either by Archbishop Muireadhach

O'Duffy, who died in Cong A.D. 1150, as we have already seen, or, perhaps,

by King Roderick O'Conor, who also ended his chequered life in the same

holy retreat, nearly forty years later. It was found by Father

Prendergast, P.P., the last Abbot of Cong, in an old oaken chest in Cong,

and was purchased from his successor by Professor M'Cullagh, who presented

it to the Royal Irish Academy in 1839.

The Chalice of Ardagh, which has been pronounced to be "the most beautiful

example of Celtic art ever yet found," also appears to have been a product

of the School of Clonmacnoise[410] during the abbacy of the O'Duffys.

It is a two-handed chalice, probably used for the Communion of the laity

at a time when the Eucharist was still administered under both species of

bread and wine. It is seven inches high, and nine one-half inches in

diameter across the mouth; the bowl is four inches deep, and was capable

of containing about three pints. The cup is composed of gold, silver,

brass, bronze, copper, and lead. The upper rim is of brass, much decayed

and split from some local action on that particular alloy; but the bowl

itself is of silver, the standard value of which is four shillings per

ounce. There is a beautiful band running round the bowl, which contains

the names of the Twelve Apostles engraved in uncial letters of the

eleventh century. No description can convey an adequate idea of the

exquisite beauty of this chalice. It comprised no less than 354 different

pieces, put together with the nicest ingenuity, and exhibiting almost

every variety of Celtic ornamentation. Yet the leading impression produced

by the view of this beautiful cup is chaste and classic elegance of

design, combined with admirable beauty of form, and delicacy of execution.

The history of this wonderful chalice, now preserved in the Royal Irish

Academy, is very curious, and points to Roscommon or Clonmacnoise as the

place where it was wrought.

We are informed in the _Chronicon Scotorum_ that "Turlough O'Conor

presented three precious things to Ciaran at Cluain, viz., a drinking horn

inlaid with gold, a silver cup with gold, and a patena of copper with gold

and silver." This cup, with its _mullocc_ or patena, was, of course, a

chalice; and it was kept for use on the high altar of Clonmacnoise until

A.D. 1125; "when the altar of the great stone church of Clonmacnoise was

opened, and precious things were taken out of it, that is--the carrachan,

or model of Solomon's Temple--it was probably a tabernacle--which was

given by Maelsechlainn, son of Domhnall, and the cuidin of Donnchadh, son

of Flann, and the three articles which Turlough O'Conor gave, that is--a

silver goblet and a silver cup, with a golden cross over it, and a

drinking horn with gold--and the drinking horn of Ua Riata, King of Aradh,

and a silver chalice with a burnishing of gold, and an engraving and the

silver cup of Ceallach, Comarb of Patrick."

But shortly after all these precious articles were 'revealed against the

Foreigners of Luimnech,' after having been stolen by Gillacomghain; and he

was hanged for stealing them, at Dun Cluana Ithair, having been given up

for that purpose by Conor O'Brian, King of Munster. The thief thought to

make his escape from Cork, Lismore, and Waterford; but Ciaran always

stopped the vessel in which he embarked to cross the sea, so that she

could get no wind to fill her sails; and the wretch made a dying

declaration at the gallows that he had seen Ciaran with his crozier

stopping every ship in which he attempted to escape.

Now it is a curious fact that the Chalice of Ardagh was dug up from the

edge of a rath called Reerasta, close to the village of Ardagh, in the

County Limerick, and other smaller golden cups, with five fibulae, were

found on the same occasion. Were they secreted there by Gillacomghain, or

some of his accomplices, the Danes of Limerick, for we are not told that

the family of Clonmacnoise recovered _all_ the plunder? There is a local

tradition that Reerasta was occupied by the Danes of Luimnech; and also

that in later times Mass was often celebrated there. It may be then, if

not secreted by the Danes, that the chalice was given by the family of

Cluain to some of the clergy in the neighbourhood when the thieves were

discovered, and that they used it for celebrating Mass in this place

during the times of persecution, and secreted the chalice on some occasion

when forced to fly for their lives.

It is highly probable, therefore, that this beautiful cup was stolen from

Clonmacnoise, was secreted at Reerasta, and was accidentally found, as

already described, by a young man, who was digging a portion of the old

fort which had been levelled for the purpose of tillage.[411] The artist

who made the Cross of Cong for King Turlough, was equally well qualified

to make the Ardagh chalice. He was, as we have seen, a native of the

County Roscommon, he wrought the Cross for King Turlough O'Conor, under

the superintendence of Domhnall Mac Flanagan O'Duffy, Bishop of Connaught

or Elphin, and Abbot of Roscommon and Clonmacnoise. It is clear that the

chalice was made before Mac Egan made the Cross of Cong, yet in all

probability it would be difficult to find in all Ireland a second artist

who would be capable of executing metal-work with such marvellous

fertility of design and delicacy of execution. We think that, on the

whole, the evidence justifies us in concluding that it was owing to the

munificence of Turlough O'Conor, and the intelligent patronage of the

O'Duffys, that this great Western School of Art was created and fostered,

which has left so many memorials of its artistic genius at Clonmacnoise

Tuam, Boyle, and Cong.

Another most interesting piece of metal-work is the shrine of St. Manchan

of Lemanaghan, which seems to have been also a product of the Clonmacnoise

School of Art. St. Manchan himself died of the plague in A.D. 664, most

likely at his own cell in Lemanaghan which takes its name from the

saint--"the grey land of Manchan." Not inappropriately either, for it was

built on a gravelly ridge surrounded by a waste of brown bog, so that the

contrast between the colouring of the ridge and the bog is very striking.

It is situated about three miles north-east of Ferbane, in the King's

County, on the right of the road to Clara. The remains of Manchan's cell

are still to be seen, and three blessed wells are also close at hand.

In O'Reilly's _Irish Writers_, Manchan is set down as the author of a

Latin Treatise, _De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae_, which has been printed

amongst the works of St. Augustine. But Dr. Reeves has shown[412] that

this treatise on the _Wonders of Holy Scripture_ must rather be assigned

to an Irish monk of the seventh century named Augustine, of whom hardly

anything else is known.

St. Manchan is much better known to moderns on account of the famous

shrine or reliquary, which appears to contain some fragments of the bones

of the saint, and is, undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful productions

of Celtic art, as it has always been considered--opus pulcherrimum quod

fecit opifex in Hibernia.[413] The Four Masters bear emphatic testimony to

the same effect. A.D. 1166.--"The shrine of Manchan of Maothail (Mohill)

was covered by Rory O'Conor, and an embroidering of gold was carried over

it by him, in as good a style as a relic was ever covered in Ireland." St.

Manchan had another oratory at Mohill, County Leitrim.

This shrine is at present preserved in the Catholic Church of Boher, near

the Prospect Railway Station, on the Athlone and Portarlington line; and a

_fac-simile_ may be seen in the Royal Irish Academy. We need not describe

it at length here. It is in the usual form of such Celtic shrines,

somewhat like the roof of a house--24 inches long, 15 broad, and 19 inches

high. On each side there is a large and beautiful cross composed of five

bosses, at the extremities elaborately ornamented, and united by the arms

of the cross which were covered with plates of enamel, fixed in a yellow

ground with red border lines. Above and below the crosses there must have

been originally as many as fifty human figures, but at present only ten

remain. The metal work throughout was richly gilt, and ornamented with the

usual interlaced figures, characteristic of our Celtic ornamentation.

When the shrine was opened it was found to contain a few small fragments

of bones, and some pieces of the original box of yew in which they were

enclosed, with a few of the silver plates which adorned the original

reliquary. As Lemanaghan was originally given to Clonmacnoise as an

"Altar-sod," about the year A.D. 645, there can hardly be any doubt that

St. Manchan was sent from Clonmacnoise to occupy it, and that it always

continued to be a daughter of Clonmacnoise. Hence we are justified in

concluding that Rory O'Conor had this beautiful work of art executed by

some of the _cerds_ of that famous monastery.

CHAPTER XXIII.

IRISH SCHOLARS ABROAD.

"O, pilgrim, if you bring me from some far-off land a sign,

Let it be some token still of the green Old Land once mine;

A shell from the shores of Ireland would be dearer far to me,

Than all the wines of the Rhine-land, or the art of Italie."

--_M'Gee._

We do not, by any means, propose at present to give an account of the

Irish Saints and Scholars, who founded so many monasteries and schools in

foreign countries, from the seventh to the eleventh century. The subject

is too wide and too important to be discussed in this volume. It will be

necessary, however, to give a brief account of a few of those celebrated

men, in order to show the character of the scientific and theological

training which they received in the Schools of their native land.

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

St. Virgilius, Archbishop of Salzburg, is one of the most celebrated of

those learned men, whom our Irish schools sent forth in swarms during the

eighth and ninth centuries. And he was not merely a learned prelate, and a

successful champion of orthodox doctrine; he was also a great astronomer,

far in advance of his own age, for he taught the sphericity of the earth,

and the existence of antipodes, long before Copernicus or his system was

known to the scholars of Europe.

The exact place and date of his birth cannot be ascertained, but that he

was an Irishman may not for a moment be questioned. In the first place we

have the express testimony of the celebrated Alcuin, an almost

contemporary writer, who declares that Virgilius was born, reared, and

educated in Ireland.[414] Then the author of the poetical epitaph over

Virgilius, in his own church of Salzburg, bears the same testimony,[415]

affirming that it was the 'Hibernian land' that sent him, under God's

guidance, to Salzburg. His Life, too, written about the year A.D. 1190, by

a disciple of Ebenhard, Archbishop of Salzburg, expressly affirms the

Irish birth of Virgilius; and such, we may add, has been the unvarying

tradition of the church and city of Salzburg.

In our domestic Annals we have first the testimony of the Four Masters,

who, A.D. 784, record that "Ferghil, _i.e._, the Geometer, abbot of

Achadh-bo, died in Germany in the thirteenth year of his bishopric;" and

as we shall presently see, this was the date of the death of Virgil, the

Archbishop of Salzburg, and thirteen years was the duration of his

episcopacy. In the _Annals of Ulster_, under date of A.D. 788, we find

that:--"Fergil, abbot of Achadh-bo, died"--the year corresponds to A.D.

784 of the Four Masters, and that appears to be the true date.

There can be no reasonable doubt, therefore, that Virgilius of the Latin

is equivalent to Fergil of the Irish, as the root-words sufficiently

imply; and that Ferghil the Geometer, who died in Germany as a bishop,

having been previously abbot of Aghaboe, is the celebrated Virgilius,

Archbishop of Salzburg, so widely known to fame as an astronomer and

theologian.

Virgil, with a few companions from Ireland, one of whom was a

priest--Sidonius or Sedna--arrived in France about the year A.D. 741--the

year in which Charles Martel died, and was succeeded in his office of

mayor of the palace by the famous Pepin le Bref, father of the still more

renowned Charlemagne. Virgil spent some two or three years in the Court of

Pepin, who sent him, about A.D. 743, with strong letters of recommendation

to the Court of Ottilo, Duke of Bavaria. At this period Bavaria had been

partially converted to the faith, by the zealous labours of St. Boniface,

the apostle of Germany, afterwards Archbishop of Mentz and Legate of the

Apostolic See. Much, however, still remained to be done; and it was the

wish of Pepin that Duke Ottilo should avail himself of the services of the

two Irish priests, of whose zeal and learning he had ample proofs in the

conversion of his own half-Christian subjects. The duke received the

friends of Pepin with much consideration; for he seems to have kept them

near himself, and entrusted them with his confidence, as we may fairly

infer from subsequent events.

The zeal of the Irishmen, however, soon got them into trouble; but what

was a source of trouble to them has since proved a useful lesson to all

theologians of the Church.

Many of the priests of the period in Germany were by no means learned; so

it happened that one of them when baptizing a catechumen made use of this

form:--"Ego te baptizo in nomine Patria et Filia et Spiritua

Sancta"--which even a boy learning the Latin Grammar can perceive is very

different from the orthodox form. The case was referred to Boniface, who

declared that the baptism was invalid, and ordered those so baptized to be

baptized again. Virgil and his friend, Sidonius, afterwards Archbishop of

Bavaria, knew how jealous the Church has always been about re-baptizing

those once validly baptized; and they declared that in their opinion the

baptism in question was valid. Boniface, however, persisted in his

opinion. He was, as he himself says, an Englishman from _Saxonia

transmarina_--and though it is highly probable that he was of Irish

origin, he did not wish to accept the teaching of the Irish theologians on

this occasion. So the matter was referred to Rome; and it so happened that

Pope Zachary, a Calabrian Greek, and a man, too, of great learning and

holiness, then filled the Chair of St. Peter. His decision, sent by letter

to Boniface, declares distinctly that if the minister of the sacrament,

through ignorance of Latin, and not from any heretical purpose of

introducing a new form, pronounced the words as given above, the baptism

must be held to be valid.[416]

This clear and emphatic expression of Catholic doctrine, as every

theological student knows, we owe to Virgil and Sidonius. They rightly

deemed that this error in the form was not _substantial_ but _accidental_;

it was not introduced from malice, with a view to pervert the form of the

sacrament, but from ignorance; the priest evidently had the intention of

doing what the Church does; he corrupted the integrity of the form, but it

remained perfectly intelligible to any bystander acquainted with the Latin

language, and hence the baptism itself was valid.

Boniface yielded prompt obedience to the Apostolic See, but, although a

saint and martyr, he felt sore at the victory gained over him by the Irish

strangers,[417] who intruded into his spiritual domain, and seemed to

supplant him in favour with the Duke Otillo. And, no doubt, there were not

wanting interested parties who strove to foment dissensions between these

two saints and servants of God. No one, indeed, who knows the history of

Boniface, will endorse the spiteful remark of Basnage that he was--"Vir si

quis unquam superbus sive zelotes." But he was human like others, and his

own letters clearly showed that he felt keenly the victory of Virgil. He

waited, however, for a while, and then sent a friend of his, Buchardus of

Wirzburg, to Rome with letters for the Pope, in which he brought four

serious charges against Virgil. He accused him, as we know from the Pope's

answer, first, that this Virgil was making malicious accusations against

him, Boniface, because he had been convicted by Boniface of teaching

erroneous doctrine;[418] secondly, Boniface charged him with whispering

false things to the Duke, with a view of sowing dissension between him,

Boniface, and the Duke;[419] thirdly, he accused Virgil of giving out that

he was dismissed by the Pope from Rome,[420] in order to get one of the

four bishoprics of Bavaria just then vacant. Lastly, he brings against him

the most formidable charge of all, that Virgil taught that there was

another world, and _other_ men under the earth, and another sun and

moon.[421] And, in the same letter, Boniface complains that a certain

Samson, an Irishman--"genere Scottus"--erred from the way of truth,

teaching that a man could become a Christian merely by the imposition of

hands, without baptism. Clearly Boniface was hard on the Irishmen then in

Bavaria; and the whole tone of the letter shows that he had not forgotten

his previous contest with Virgil and Sidonius.

The Pope in his answer deals with these charges with the greatest

prudence. He had very great respect for Boniface, but it is clear he is

not prepared to accept all his statements without proof. He makes no

special remark on the two first charges, for they could be easily

explained. But, as to the third, he declares that the alleged statement of

Virgil is false, that he was not (_absolutus_) dismissed, or sent home by

the Pope in order to get a bishopric in Bavaria. Indeed, as to this

charge, there is no evidence that Virgil was ever in Rome at all; but it

is highly probable that both Pepin and Ottilo were anxious for his

advancement to a See in Bavaria, and that their zeal was attributed to the

time-serving ambition of Virgil himself. The charge is entirely

inconsistent with his character; and it is hardly necessary to observe

that it is no proof of its truth that it was made in these letters sent to

Rome by Boniface. Too many unfounded charges of the kind have been made in

Rome both since and before.

As regards the fourth charge, that of teaching that there was another

world, and other men, and another sun and moon, it deserves fuller notice

at our hands.

It is clear that Virgil held the doctrine of the Antipodes, and that

Boniface, not unwilling to find him erring in doctrine, formulated his

teaching as above. The words of the Pope thereupon are noteworthy.[422]

"Concerning this charge of false doctrine, if it shall be established,"

says the Pope, "that Virgil taught this perverse and wicked doctrine

against God and his own soul, do you then convoke a council, degrade him

from the priesthood, and drive him from the Church." But what is this

doctrine as represented to the Pope? Certainly not that taught by Virgil,

and which he learned in the schools of his native land. The doctrine

censured by the Pope, was that there is another world, and another race of

men quite different from us, _not children of Adam_, and hence not

redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. This was the sense in which the

Pope understood the doctrine of the Antipodes, this was the sense in which

it was understood by St. Augustine, and for that reason reprobated by him

as well as by the Pope. And the very words, in which the accusation

against Virgilius is formulated, clearly point to this "perverse and

wicked" teaching. The truth of the matter was, that neither Boniface nor

the Pope knew astronomy as well as Virgil, and hence they imagined he

taught doctrines which were quite different from his real opinions.

It is well to observe that great diversity of opinion prevailed concerning

the existence of Antipodes, both amongst the ancient philosophers and the

Fathers of the Church.

Plato is said to have been the first who held the existence of Antipodes,

and used the word in its present signification. But there is no evidence

that he himself believed in their actual existence, even though he

invented the term which so accurately describes them.

Lactantius, however, in his treatise "De falsa Sapientia Philosophorum,"

ridicules the notion of Antipodes, and, as he clearly regards it as a

philosophical error, we may fairly conclude that some of the ancient

philosophers taught their existence.

It would be easy enough to show how unpalatable the doctrine of the

Antipodes was to the ecclesiastical authorities of the eighth century; and

in what sense the Pope must have understood the alleged teaching of St.

Virgilius. What the Pope declared to be perverse and wicked doctrine--not

heretical--was that there is another world, and another _race of

men_--alii homines--and therefore not Sons of Adam, and another sun and

moon to shine upon them. But this certainly was not the teaching of

Virgilius, for according to him it was the same world, and the same sun

and moon, and the same race of men who dwelt in the opposite regions of

the world.

Virgil must have, in his own defence, explained the real meaning of his

words to the satisfaction of the Pope, for we find no further mention of

the controversy; and we know, too, that in a short time afterwards he was

promoted to the See of Salzburg, which would certainly not be sanctioned

in Rome if they had any suspicion of his doctrine.

Pagi, indeed, holds that there must have been two different Virgils, one

who had the dispute with St. Boniface, and another who was Bishop of

Salzburg; and yet he admits that both were in Bavaria in A.D. 746. This

hypothesis is intrinsically improbable, and altogether unsupported by

evidence. Indeed, the only reason given by Pagi is the silence of the

writer of Virgil's Life, published by Canisius, regarding the disputes

with Boniface. But the answer is quite simple: the writer of the Life

gives very few facts, although he narrates many miracles; and hence from

his silence we can infer nothing against the generally received opinion.

Pagi also alleges that Virgil was the fifth Bishop of Salzburg. Here,

again, however, he is mistaken, at least if we are to credit the author of

the second Life given by Canisius, who makes him the eighth bishop after

St. Rudbert. Other writers, however, make him fifth after the founder of

the See, following the anonymous author of an old poem on the Bishops of

Salzburg, who describes them as:--

"Advena Virgilius statuens quam plurima _quintus_,

Multo plura quaerens Arno super omnia _sextus_."

It is almost impossible to fix the exact year in which Virgilius became

Bishop of Salzburg. The metrical epitaph on his tomb declares that for

nearly forty years he ruled the church of Salzburg; and as the latest year

assigned for his death is A.D. 785, this would bring the beginning of his

episcopacy before A.D. 750. Another account represents him as consecrated

by St. Stephen, successor of Zachary; and as the former did not begin his

reign until A.D. 752, we must place the beginning of Virgil's episcopacy

after that event. As he spent some years abbot of St. Peter's Monastery in

Salzburg before he became bishop, the date given in his Life, written by

the disciple of St. Ebenhard, towards the end of the twelfth century, is

much more probable--that he was consecrated bishop in succession to John

in A.D. 766 or 767. The same writer tells us that for two years after his

nomination to the See, he continued to refuse the appointment; and that

during this time the duties of the episcopal office were performed by a

bishop called Dowd, _Dobda_, a countryman of the saint, who seems to have

come with him from Ireland. At last he was prevailed upon to allow himself

to be consecrated, but he yielded only to the earnest entreaties of all

the neighbouring prelates.

His life was spent in unceasing labour, not only for his own flock, but

for the conversion of the neighbouring provinces, especially Carinthia,

which was still pagan. He not only sent missionaries to preach the Gospel

amongst these half-civilized people, but towards the close of his life he

himself paid frequent visits to the newly-established churches, and did

much to confirm them in the faith. Hence Virgilius is venerated to this

day as the Apostle of Carinthia.

He rebuilt the monastery of St. Peter in a style of great magnificence,

for he always loved the good monks of St. Benedict, who had chosen the

Irish stranger to be their abbot and father; and when he died, he left his

bones amongst them. He also built a stately church in honour of St.

Stephen, and a splendid basilica dedicated to St. Rudbert, which he made

the cathedral of the diocese, and to which he translated the relics of

that saint, the founder and first bishop of the church of Salzburg.[423]

When he had these great works completed, he set out on a missionary

journey amongst the neighbouring tribes; but finding his end approaching,

"he quickly returned," says the writer of his life:--