Introduction
The landscape of Ireland abounds with ancient Christian ruins. Various areas have placenames bearing the prefix ‘Kill’, meaning church. Many of Ireland’s religious sites and their associated saints feature in ancient manuscripts found in libraries in Ireland, Britain, and in continental Europe.
County Carlow likewise is rich in this Christian tradition, being one of the earliest parts of Ireland to be evangelised by St Patrick, with the baptism, at Rathvilly, of King Criomhthann c. 450 A.D. There was already a limited Christian presence in the area due to the work of Patrick’s predecessors, Palladius, Auxillius and Iserninus.[1] After initial opposition, the support of Carlow and Wicklow ruling dynasties proved of great assistance to the missionaries. Local chieftains provided land for monastic sites, and family members of noble birth became prominent in religious leadership.
St Fortchern was a convert in Trim, County Meath of St Loman, reputed nephew of St Patrick. A pupil of Patrick, Fortchern went on to found one of the earliest Irish monasteries at Tullow. He and his pupil, St Finnian had strong links with the Welsh monastic tradition, a legacy of Roman occupation of Britain. The monastic venture spread widely over Ireland from Finnian’s school in Clonard, County Meath. The East Carlow/ Wicklow monasteries continued to have links mainly with their counterparts in the northern part of Ireland and with those in Scotland. Myshall-born St Columbanus was influential in re-establishing an effective Christian presence in France, Austria, and in Northern Italy.
Less well-known are the local female saints, Lassara, Ríoghnach, Cuman, Cróine, Darchaorthainn, and Eithne. The reverence with which these women were held in medieval times, and their recording in ancient Irish manuscripts, is testament to their importance and to their influence.
Fortchern, Torannann, and Darchaorthainn are the three patron saints of Tullowphelim.
St Patrick. In his Confession, written at the end of his life, Patrick’s powerful personality can be observed. In the Confession Patrick outlines his capture in Britain, at the age of sixteen, by Irish slave traders, his time spent tending herds in Ireland, his religious conversion, his escape to the continent, and his return visit to his relatives in Britain. There he had a vision of a man called Victor appearing the come from Ireland with ‘an unlimited number of letters’ the opening words of which were ‘the voice of the Irish’. In his vision he heard their voices shouting in unison, ‘We ask you holy boy, come and walk once more among us.’[2] Patrick took this as a call from God to work for the Christianising of the Irish people. This Confession and Patrick’s Letter to Coroticus are primarily an account of Patrick’s religious experience and of his inner spiritual journey.
His biographer, Muirciú narrates the tradition that Patrick joined the famous monastery at Auxerre, in modern France, to prepare himself academically and spiritually for his mission.[3]
Patrick, in his Confession, is apologetic about his academic attainments. Patrick’s modest view of his own academic achievements is disputed in a yet unpublished book by Fr Aidan Larkin (d.2019), St Patrick and the Fathers of the Church. Continuing earlier studies by fellow Columban missionary priests, Fr Daniel Conneely (1911-86), Rev. Dr Patrick Bastable (1918-92), Rev. Dr Maurice Hogan, and by Professor Teresa Ingesias, Larkin points out that Patrick, in his writings, alludes to fifty-four books of the Bible, shows a wide knowledge of the early General Councils of the Church, and of the Latin Fathers, notably St Augustine. Patrick goes on to mention the many obstacles he faced in his Irish project, including opposition from church authorities. Nevertheless, he credits God with the outstanding success of his endeavours in Ireland:
‘I must fearlessly and confidently spread the name of God everywhere to leave a legacy after my death to my brothers and children, the thousands of them, whom I baptised in the Lord’.[4]
‘…God… gave me so much grace that through me many people should be born again in God and afterwards confirmed, and that clergy should be ordained for them everywhere’.[5]
‘How is it that the sons and daughters of Scoto-Irish chieftains are seen to be monks and virgins dedicated to Christ?’[6]
It has been long held that Patrick embarked on his mission to the Irish in or around 432 A.D. Later tradition claims that he and his followers made an unsuccessful attempt to begin their preaching after landing near Arklow. This setback was due the opposition of the local king, Éanna Cennselach. Patrick and his company were forced to re-embark, making several landings before arriving at Strangford Lough.
Fig. 1 Mosaic depicting St. Patrick landing at Trim, Church of St. Patrick, Trim (Author’s photo)
Muirciú and Tíreachán, in their ‘lives’ of St Patrick, recount traditions involving Patrick making his first converts in that area. Muirciú states that Patrick’s first Paschal fire was lit at Slane. Patrick, he says, had previously ordered his follower, Loman to anchor their boat at the mouth of the River Boyne for the forty days of Lent. He then instructed Loman to bring the vessel down the river to Trim, where Feidhlimid, son of King Laoghaire had his stronghold. Here Fortchern, Feidhlimid’s son and his extended family were converted.
Patrick’s missionary work in Ireland appears to have taken place mainly north of a line running from Galway to Wexford. Most churches later claiming Patrick as founder are in this part of the country, as are most of the clergy and local chieftains traditionally listed as being associated with his ministry.[7]
Patrick’s original attempt to evangelise the Leinster area met with failure due to the opposition of King Éanna Cennselach. Traditions state that Iserninus, a fellow missionary of Patrick from Auxerre, was exiled from Aghade, modern County Carlow, following difficulties with the king, Énna Cennselach. Circumstances changed when Criomhthann, Éanna’s son (who became king of Leinster in 443) was converted. He is said to have been baptised by Patrick in Rathvilly, County Carlow in 450.[8]Fig. 2 Patrick baptises Criomhthann, King of Leinster at Rathvilly in 450 AD. Also baptised were the king’s wife, Mell and son, Daithi. Mural in St Patrick’s Church, Rathvilly. (Photo courtesy Seamus Cunningham)Fig. 3 Image courtesy Anne Murphy, Eala Enamels, BagenalstownSt. Fortchern (Fortiarnán) – (d. 500 A.D.). Known as the Prince of Trim, Fortchern was of Irish and Welsh royal blood. He was the son of the local chieftain, Féidhlimid, son of the High King, Laoghaire, who was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. His mother was named Scothnach, daughter of the King of the Britons.[9] The Gaelic version of his name, Fortiarnán, means ‘overlord’.
He and his family were converted to Christianity by St Loman, follower, and reputed nephew of St. Patrick. Fortchern became a disciple of St Patrick, who built his first church, with the aid of Fortchern’s family, at Trim. Loman remained with Fortchern at the ford of Trim ‘until Patrick came unto them, and built a church with them, twenty-second year before Armagh was founded’.[10]
Fortchern was ordained priest and was, in time, nominated by Loman, who was then on his deathbed, to succeed him as Bishop. However, Fortchern remained bishop for only three days, withdrawing to the kingdom of Ui Drona in South Leinster to lead the life of a hermit. This hermitage site became known as Killoughternane (Ceall Uachtarnáin or Ceall Fhortiarnáin). A holy well and the ruins of a 10th or 11th century church mark the site, which is near Muinebeag (Bagenalstown), and is in the parish of Myshall.
Fig. 4 Ruins of church in Killoughternane, dedicated to St Fortchern (Author’s photo)
Fortchern then went on to establish a church in Tullow, and a school which specialised in metalwork. No traces of this monastic site remain, although a large granite cross-base and a baptismal font in the churchyard of St Columba’s Church may have been part of the complex.[11]Fig. 5 Baptismal font in St. Columba’s Churchyard, Tullow. (Author’s photo)Fig. 6 Base of cross, St. Columba’s Churchyard, Tullow. (Author’s photo)
Soon local chiefs and others began to send their children to be educated in the new religion by St Fortchern. The school became so famous that the area became known as Tulach Fhortiarnáin, i.e., Fortchern’s Hill.[12] The locality was also known as Tulach Ua bhFeidhlim, as it was situated in the ancient territory and kingdom of the Ui Felmetha, a powerful tribe descended from Feidlimid, son of Éanna Cennselach, and brother of Criomhthann, first Christian King of Leinster.[13]
Fortchern was famous for his skill in metalwork, which he used in the making of sacred vessels, statues, crosses, and bells. He was known as the ‘smith of Patrick’ and is referred to as such in the Annals of the Four Masters.[14] Fortchern is depicted as a craftsman on the stained-glass window over the altar in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Borris.
Fig. 7 St Fortchern, shown as craftsman, in the stained-glass window in the Church of The Sacred Heart, Borris, County Carlow (Author’s photo)
Fortchern has the honour of being the Patron Saint of Bell Founders[15], and is also venerated in the Orthodox and Coptic Churches. In the early Irish church monks carried a small handbell, which they used to announce their presence, in much the same way as today’s ice-cream van! It was Fortchern who fashioned the image of the Madonna which was enshrined in the monastic chapel of Trim, and which was famous for its miracles.[16] The Annals of the Four Masters record that this image was burned during the Reformation.[17]
When Fortchern resigned as Bishop of Trim, he said that he would never return there alive. After his death in 500 A.D. St. Fortchern’s body was returned to be buried among his own people in Trim.[18] The early religious house founded by St. Fortchern was by the eleventh century linked with the important monastery of Aghowle, County Wicklow.[19]
St. Fortchern’s feast day is 11 October.
St Iserninusis the Latin name of St Fith (sometimes called Fiodh or Ioth). Fith is associated with Aghade (Áth Fhith/Fhadhad/Fhiodhadh – áth, Irish: a ford – the ford of Fith) in the Barony of Forth and parish of Ballon.
Bishop Comerford quotes from The Book of Armagh,[20] fol.18, how ‘Patrick and Iserninus (that is, Bishop Fith) were with St Germanus in the city of Auxerre.’[21] St Iserninus was a co-pupil with St. Patrick in Auxerre, France.[22] This tradition is recorded in the Book of Armagh. Germanus is said to have ordained Patrick, Iserninus and some others for the mission to Ireland.[23]
Iserninus is said to have been reluctant to go to Ireland. He set off on another venture to evangelise a neighbouring country, only to find that his boat was blown off course resulting in the group ending up on the Wexford coast. Iserninus regarded this event as providential and began to evangelise the people living along the River Slaney valley until he came as far as Magh Fea in the Barony of Forth in modern County Carlow. There he and his followers got into difficulties with the local king, Éanna Ceinsealach, the one who had refused St Patrick permission to land at Arklow. King Éanna banished the missionary group into exile from the area, ‘because of their believing before everyone’.[24]Fig. 8 Kilcullen monastic site. (Author’s photo)
Iserninus was subsequently said to have been appointed Bishop of Kilcullen by Patrick. When Patrick converted Criomhthann, the son of Éanna Ceinsealach, and first Christian king of Leinster, he pleaded with the king that Iserninus and the others be allowed to return home from the exile which Criomhthann’s father, had imposed on the Aghade Christian community.[25] The exiles returned. ‘And they went to Patrick and Crimthan at Sci. Patric.’[26] Sci. Patric means Patrick’s bush. Comerford remarks that there is a place with that title within the parish of Ballon in the townland of Milltown. St Patrick is said to have founded Aghade church with Iserninus on lands bestowed on Patrick by Criomhthann.
Some scholars believe that St Fith and St Iserninus are different people.[27] A poem by St. Moling calls on St Ioth (Fith), among others, to come to the aid of the Leinstermen.[28] St Iserninus is reputed to be a nephew of St Patrick and is said to have been buried in Aghade.[29]
St Iserninus remained in Aghade until his death on 14 July, 469 A.D.; and his feast day is 14 July.
Fig. 9 All Saints Church Aghade on the site of St Iserninus’s monastery. (Author’s photo).
The saint’s church in Aghade later became the site of a cell of Augustinian nuns founded by Dermot MacMurrough in 1151. He appointed it to be a sub-abbey of St. Mary de Hoggis in Dublin.[30] The present Church of Ireland in Aghade probably occupies the site of the former convent.[31] Nearby Altamont Gardens has a pathway, still referred to as the ‘Nuns’ Walk’.
Fig. 10 Nun’s Walk, Altamont Gardens (photo courtesy Anne Murphy)St. Finnian is said to have been placed under the care of St. Fortchern, probably at Tullow, until he was aged thirty years. He then spent several years in St. David’s Monastery Wales, where he studied under St Cadoc and St Gildas.
Fig. 11 St Finnian (Image courtesy of Anne Murphy, Eala Enamels)
Subsequently Finnian is said to have spent sixteen years at his monastic foundation of Aghowle, County Wicklow, where, as an angel informed him, he would join his monks on the day of judgment.[32] He founded other monasteries Rosacurra, Drumfea, and Kilmaglush. The earthworks of these churches are still visible in Myshall parish, County Carlow.[33]Fig 12 Aghowle monastic church (Author’s photo)
Finnian’s most famous monastery was at Clonard, near present day Mullingar. It became a great centre of Bible Studies. Finnian was a renowned Biblical scholar. He is often called ‘the Teacher of the Irish Saints’, and the ‘spiritual father of three thousand monks’, which included the ‘twelve apostles of Ireland’.[34]
A legend attributed to Finnian concerns the ‘fugitive bell’.[35] This sweet-sounding bell was sited at Aghowle. St. Mogue could hear the bell miles away in his monastery at Clonmore. He begged Finnian to give it to him, but to no avail.
On moving to Clonard from Aghowle, Finnian brought his famous bell with him. When one of the monks arose the next morning to ring the bell, it was gone, having found its way back to Aghowle! Despite attempts by Finnian to keep it at Clonard, the bell on each occasion mysteriously returned to Aghowle. Local people say it can be heard ringing sweetly every seven years. The bell is reputed to be buried near the church ruins.
Fig. 13 St Finnian’s Cross, Aghowle, stands 2.8m in height, and is referred to by the antiquarian, John O’Donovan (1806-61) as ‘a very venerable monument to the Christian religion in Ireland’.[36] (Author’s photo)
St. Finnian’s feast day is 12 December.
St. Ríoghnach (Regnata). Ríoghnach was the sister of St. Finnian of Clonard.[37] She had two sisters, Cuman and Cróine who were based at Ardnahue (Ceall Inghean nAodha, Irish: The Church of the daughters of Hugh), parish of Killerig, County Carlow. They were attached through their father, Aodh, to a stretch of land comprising most of Longford and part of Westmeath,[38] St. Ríoghnach is said to have had several sons who attained sanctity, including Mocholmog, Finnian’s successor at Clonard and Garbhán of Kilmagarvoge (Kill, Tullow).[39] St Cróine (her name is a derivative of crón, ‘tawny/tan-coloured’) may possibly have been the daughter of Séadna of Carlow who is invoked as one of the protectors of Leinster in a poem attributed to Moling.[40]
A St Cróine is associated with a disused cemetery, called Kilcrone at Killalongford, near Clonmore. She was a sister of Ainmire, King of Ireland 569-98. She is reputed to have had a church in Carlow near the present Town Hall. Temple Croine is attached to Carlow town’s Haymarket. She is said to have advised St Columbanus to join St Comgall’s monastery at Bangor, County Down.[41]
St Ríoghnach’s feast day is 18 December.
St Cróine’s feast day is 27 January.
StGarbhán of Kilmagarvoge (Kill, Tullow). Kilmagarvoge means the cell or church of ‘my young Garbhán’, a term of affection. His mother was St. Ríoghnach, a sister of St. Finnian.[42]
St. Garbhán’s feast day is 26 March.
St Lassara was the niece of St Fortchern.[43] Her name means ‘flame’. She was said to have been educated in Clonard by St Finnian, and placed under the care of St Kieran, later of Clonmacnoise. St Lassara studied scripture and spent some time in the convent of Finnian’s sister, St Ríoghnach (Regnata) before founding her own convent.[44] Bishop Comerford quotes John Colgan O.F.M.,[45] stating that St Lassara is buried in Clonmore.
St Lassara’s feast day is 29March. (15 September in Comerford)
St Fiacc was a pupil, nephew, and foster son of Dubhtach, chief poet of Ireland, who was the only person to greet St. Patrick respectfully at Tara.[46] Fiacc’s name derives from fiach, the Irish word for raven.
Fiacc established his church at Min Becc (Domhnach Fiacc), afterwards known as Killabeg, or Littlewood.[47] This area lies halfway between Aghowle and Clonmore, on the Wicklow/Carlow border. Fiacc later moved to Sleaty, on the River Barrow, at the Carlow/Laois border, north of present-day Carlow town.
Fig. 14 St Fiacc’s well, Killabeg (Littlewood). (Photo courtesy Anne Murphy)Fig14A Littlewood Hall, Killabeg, County Wicklow, on or near St Fiacc’s monastery (Author’s photo)
Fiacc is said to have been ordained bishop there by St Patrick. Patrick had requested of Dubhthach that he recommend a person suited to become a bishop ‘of good kin, one wife and one child’. [48] Fiacc, who had just returned from Connacht, fulfilled these conditions. Some writers say that Fiacc was a widower.[49] His son was St Fiachra. Both father and son are buried in Sleaty.
The fame of Fiacc’s virtues and miracles brought crowds of pilgrims there, and Sleaty became for a time the ecclesiastical capital of South Leinster. Fiacc being an outstanding poet is credited with writing a life of St Patrick in verse.[50] St Fiacc died there in 510.
St Fiacc’s feast day is 12 October.
StDarchaorthainn of Tullowphelim (Tulach Ua BhFeilmeadha). Darchaorthainn and her sister Eithne were daughters of Cormac. They are believed to belong to the Ui Dhunlainge clan of north Leinster. The Book of Ballymote and the Book of Lecan state that these holy women lived as nuns in Tullow.[51] One text adds the information that their relics were preserved in Tullowphelim. St. Darchaorthainn’s name may derive from the Irish name for the rowan tree. This Patron of Tullowphelim is sometimes confused with another St Darchaorthainn, daughter of Éanna, whose feast day is 8 March.[52]St Aodh of Sleaty (Sléibhte – mountains) (d. 700) is thought to have been a patron saint of Killerig, County Carlow (Ceall Deirge Daimh, or Cill Erc – depending on the source reference[53]). He was influential in establishing the importance of Armagh in the Irish church.[54]
St Aodh’s feast day is 7 February.
St Mogue (Maedhoc) is otherwise known as Aidan. In the 6th century he was founder and first abbot of Clonmore, County Carlow (Cluain-Mór-Maedhoc, i.e., ‘the great meadow of Mogue’). His name was originally Aodh (Hugh), but an Irish custom sometimes adds ‘mo’ (my) and ‘óg’ (young) as a term of affection, hence, Mo-Aodh-Óg (Maodhog, Mogue), ‘my young Hugh’.
St Mogue was a close relative of the king of Leinster, and of the High King of Ireland. He features in the tales about the struggle of the Leinster men to avoid paying cattle tribute (tax) to the high kings of Ireland.[55] Some writers believe Mogue is in fact St Aidan of Ferns.[56]Fig. 15 Upper part of St Mogue’s Cross, Clonmore monastic site. (Author’s photo)
Fig. 16 Shaft of St Mogue’s Cross, Clonmore, at the base of which is believed to be the burial place of Saints Mogue, Fionnán, and Onchú, (Author’s photo)
Clonmore was an important place of pilgrimage from the seventh to the 11th Century, being famous for its relics. Saints said to be buried there are: St Mogue (feast, 11 April), St Fionnán Lobhair (leper, 16 March), St Onchú (8 February), St Strafán/Stephen (23 May), St Ternoc/Terga (2 June/July), St Lassa/Lassara – St Fortchern’s niece, (15 September), St Dinertach (9 October), and St Cumman/Cumín/Sennan, (18 December). The abbots who succeeded these earlier saints were Mac Coigeadh, Forgil, Seachnasach. Meraigag, Faithbheartach, Cairbe and Ailell, The Clonmore monastery is said to have been sacked in 1020. Its stones are believed to have been used to build the imposing Clonmore Castle.[57]
St Onchú, a native of Connacht and a poet, was an avid relic collector. He had asked St Mogue for a relic of himself. Mogue agreed to cut off his little finger (Irish: lúidín) on condition that St Onchú’s own collection of relics and Onchú’s own remains would rest in Clonmore![58]
St Mogue’s feast day is 11 April.
St Colum Cille (Columba) of Iona and Derry (d. 9 June 597) is one of the three patron saints of Ireland, the others being Patrick and Bridget. Like Fortchern, Colum was a descendant of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a family that provided high kings of Ireland for more than five centuries. He was born in Gartan, Donegal on 7 December 521, which means that this year (2021) is the 1500th anniversary of his birth. His parents were Feidhlimidh and Eithne. One tradition assigns Eithne to the Leighin (Leinstermen) and more specifically to the family known as Corbraighe which may have been connected to the Uí Bhairrche of Carlow and Wexford.[59] Colum’s original name is believed to be Criomhthann, meaning ‘fox’. His name in religion was the Latin, Columba, meaning ‘dove’. This translated into Irish as Colum Cille, ‘dove of the Church’. Colum Cille was educated in several monasteries including Movilla County Down under St Finnian of Movilla, and in Clonard, County Meath under the Carlow born St Finnian of Clonard.
Fig. 17 St Colum Cille. (Image: courtesy Anne Murphy, Eala Enamels)
Colum Cille had a commanding presence, great stature, a powerful build, and a loud melodious voice, and he was revered for his sanctity and learning. His life span was seventy-seven years, which tradition say was broken into forty-three years in Ireland and thirty-four years in Scotland.
John Colgan O.F.M. listed sixty churches in Ireland said to be founded by St Columba; Ó Riain says that many of these claims are baseless.[60] Included in the list of churches said to have been founded by Colum Cille in the years A.D. 546 to 563 are, Durrow (County Offaly), Raphoe (County Donegal), Drumcliffe (County Sligo), Swords (County Dublin), Lambay (County Dublin), Kells (County Meath), and Maein Cholum-cille, now Moone (County Kildare).
Fig. 18 Drawing from Lives of the Irish Saints Vol. VI (1875)
Colum Cille also had a reputation for book-learning and poetry. One manuscript, the Psalter Cholum Chille, contains 150 poems composed by him. The most famous surviving relic that is believed to have issued from his pen is a copy of the Psalter, called the Cathach, now in the Royal Irish Academy.[61] This is the oldest extant Irish book and the world’s second most ancient copy of the Psalms.[62] It is said that because of his copying this manuscript without permission King Diarmait Mac Cerbhaill gave the judgement, ‘To every cow belongs her calf, therefore to every book belongs its copy’. Refusal to accept this ruling led to the battle of Cúil Dreimhne, near Sligo in 561.
Tradition has it that because of his involvement in the battle of Cúil Dreimhne, Colum Cille went on self-imposed exile to Iona in Scotland in around 563. Iona was then part of the Irish colony of Dál Riada. This made Colum Cille Ireland’s first founder of a church outside the country. His mission to Scotland was extraordinarily successful, resulting in the conversion of the Picts of Scotland and a mission based in Iona which saw the conversion of the north of England.
Fig. 19 St Columba’s Church, Drumcliffe, County Sligo. (Photo: Wikipedia)
St Colum Cille’s friendship with St Torannan, (see below) and Torannan’s link with Drumcliffe, County Sligo may provide some evidence of Tullow’s parish church being a Columban foundation.
Fig. 20 St Columba’s Church, Tullow (Author’s photo))Fig. 21 St Columba’s School. Tullow (Author’s photo)
St Colum Cille’s feast day is 9 June and was noted at an early date in many external sources including the eight-century calendar of St Willibrod.[63]Fortchern and Finnian provide a direct pupil/teacher link beween Patrick and Colm Cille. It is of interest to note that Patrick taught Fortchern who taught Finnian who taught Colm Cille.
St Torannan(Mothoirean) [64]– (d. 634 A.D.) One of the seven ‘beautiful’ sons of Aonghas, who are said to have come to Ireland from Scotland – He is credited in the Martyrology of Donegal with being Abbot of Bangor, County Down, Tulach Foirtcheirn (Tullow), County Carlow, and of Drumcliffe, County Sligo. He is also associated with Kilternan, County Dublin. St Colum Cille is said to have written a poem about Torannan and his brothers. This link with St Colum Cille may account for Tullow’s medieval parish church being dedicated to St Columba.[65] The site of this is adjacent to the present-day St Columba’s Church of Ireland, Tullow.
Torannan also features in a poem written by St Moling. St Torannan is mentioned in such ancient books as the Martyrology of Donegal and the Leabhair Breach. In the Feilire of Aengus is written, ‘Torannan, lasting, deedful, over a wide shipful sea’.[66]
St Torannan’s Feast Day is 12 June.
St Columbanus (Latin for Irish: Columbán – White Dove) (d. 23 November 615)
Fig. 22 St Columbanus. Legend says that when the monastery needed help in the fields, he tamed a bear and yoked it to a plough (Image: courtesy Anne Murphy, Eala Enamels)
In July 1950, a conference was held to celebrate the 1400th anniversary of the birth of St Columbanus. It was organised by French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman in Luxeuil, eastern France, one of Columbanus’ monastic foundations. In 1949 and 1950 Schumann had made a series of speeches in Europe and North America about creating a supranational European Community. His priority was to make war between France and Germany impossible through the pooling of their coal and steel production. At the Luxeuil conference he invoked Columbanus as the project’s patron saint. Among the European delegates at the conference were Ireland’s Taoiseach, John A. Costello and External Affairs Minister, Sean McBride.
Fig. 23 St Columbanus stained-glass window, Bobbio Abbey crypt, Northern Italy. He is often represented as wearing the sun on his chest (Author’s photo)
Columbanus was born on the Carlow/Wexford border, in the parish of Myshall c.543 A.D. Well-born, handsome, and educated, Columbanus, acting on the advice of St Cróine (see above), decided to withdraw from the world. He may have belonged to the Uí Bairrche, whose power base was in Leinster and who had connections with Bangor, County Down, site of St Comgall’s monastery where Columbanus entered as a monk, having previously studied under Sinell of Clenish, a monastic island in Lough Erne, County Fermanagh.
Fig. 24 Bangor Abbey, County Down. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Alexander O’Hara and Ian Wood surmise that Columbanus remained in Bangor for twenty years before getting permission from Comgall to undertake ascetic exile, probably when Columbanus was in his forties. O’Hara and Wood state that Columbanus and his monks do not appear to have had any ultimate destination in mind when they set sail from Ireland in 590 or 591.[67]
Aidan Larkin summarises Columbanus’ life as follows:
‘The child would grow up to become first a monk, then a priest, a distinguished Scripture teacher, author of at least one commentary on Scripture, a master of Latin prose style, a competent versifier, an abbot, a founder of monasteries and monastic lawgiver in Burgundy, France, then in Bregenz, Austria and finally in Bobbio, northern Italy, where he would die in 615. The monasteries that he founded would multiply themselves. Figures vary, but around sixty is a reasonable claim for the number of monastic communities living under the Columban rule in the following generation, in France; and, out of roughly a hundred French diocesan sees at least twelve would be occupied by his disciples.’[68]Fig. 25 Saint Columbanus’ tomb, Bobbio Abbey crypt. (Author’s photo)Conclusion
Before the coming of the Cambro-Normans in 1169, new religious orders of continental origin were being established in Ireland following the reforms of St Malachy.[69] The coming of the Normans led to an increased presence of these centralised orders, not without Irish/English racial and linguistic tension in the new religious houses.
The traditional austere Irish monastic way of life, based on Egyptian ascetism, had lasted for more than 600 years. It was in many ways like the unspecialised monasticism of present-day Orthodox and Oriental Churches. Irish monastic life now followed a new pattern from continental Europe which had seen the development of Augustinian, Benedictine, Cistercian, Dominican, Franciscan and other religious ‘orders’, each with its own rule and its own objectives.
Local examples of the new monastic and parochial system are to be found in religious sites at Ardristan, Roscat (linked to the Hospitallers of St John the Baptist, Dublin), Ardoyne (Abbey of St Thomas, Dublin), Ballintemple (Knights Templar), Castlemore (Abbey of St Thomas, Dublin), Grangeford and Grange (Cistercian Abbey, Baltinglass), Killerig (Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem), and St Austin’s Abbey, Tullow (Augustinian).
After the remarkable achievements of the early local church these foundations were to herald a new phase in the Christian history of Tullow and surrounding parishes.
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Larkin, A.J., (2012) Saint Columbanus Pilgrim for Christ, Navan: Missionary Society of Saint Columban, and Armagh: Cumann Seanchais Árd Mhacha
McDonald, E. (1979 and 1980), The Riches of Clonmore, Parts 1 and 2, Carloviana, (Ed. Hugh Dolan), Carlow: Old Carlow Society
Murphy, M., (2008), Tullow – from Medieval Manor to Market Town in Carlow History and Society, (Ed. Thomas McGrath), Dublin: Geography Publications
Ó Fiaich, T., (1967), The Beginnings of Christianity, in The Course of Irish History, (Ed., Moody, T.W. and Martin, F.X.), Cork: Mercier Press
Ó Fiaich, T., (1974), Columbanus in His Own Words, Dublin: Veritas
Ó Flanagán, M. (1941) Ceatharlach. Baile Atha Claith: Oifig an tSolarthair
O’Hanlon, J. (1875) Lives of the Irish Saints. Vol. 3 and 6 Dublin: James Duffy and Sons
O’Hara, A. and Wood, I., (2017), Jonas of Bobbio Life of Columbanus, Life of John of Réomé, and Life of Vedast, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press
Ó Riain, P. (2011) A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin: Four Courts Press
O’Toole, J. (1987) Grange, The Path to the Present, Grange: Grange GAA Club
Pochin Mould, D., (1976) The Monasteries of Ireland, London: B.T. Batsford Limited
Ryan, J., (1931) Irish Monasticism, Origins and Early Development, Dublin and Cork: The Talbot Press Limited
Ryan, S. and Leahy, B., Editors (2012) Treasures of Irish Christianity, Dublin: Veritas Publications
Slavin, M., (2005) The Ancient Books of Ireland, Dublin: Wolfhound Press
Tommasini, A.M., (1937) Irish Saints in Italy, London: Sands and Company (Publishers) Ltd.
Walker, L. (1992) Land of Saints, Tullow: Privately published article.
Websiteswww.myshalldrumphea.com Website of Myshall Drumphea Parish
www.vsl.co.at Website of Vienna Symphonic Library
Acknowledgements
Caroline Cunningham
Seamus Cunningham
Dr Charles Doherty
Colm Larkin
Fr Aidan Larkin
Fr John McEvoy
Eddie McDonald
Mary McQuinn
Anne Murphy, (Eala Enamels)
Br Camillus Regan
Br Linus Walker
[1] Dr Charles Doherty, retired staff member of the UCD School of History, writes, ‘It is almost certain that the earliest churches associated with Palladius, Auxillius and Isserninus were in the Carlow area. The problem is that by the late seventh century as the church of Armagh rose to be head of the church in Ireland it was somewhat embarrassing for the clergy to accept that there had been missionaries before Patrick and as his cult was elaborated these clergymen were brought within his cult as helpers in some cases’. (Email to this writer, dated 12 November 2015).
[2] St Patrick, Confession, paragraphs 10,23. [Duffy, J. (2000), Patrick in his own words]. A collection of documents, called the Book of Armagh, kept in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, includes an incomplete manuscript of the Confession. It was penned by the learned scribe, Ferdomnach, along with two assistants, c.807 AD. Complete manuscripts of the Letter and the Confession are kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris, in the British Library in London, and in other libraries in Britain and France.
[3] Muirciú and Tireachán were two seventh century hagiographers of St Patrick. Both relied upon an earlier work, now lost, The Book of Ultán. Tíreachán followed Patrick’s alleged missionary journeys, stopping at churches to make enquiries about their past. Muirciú wrote his ‘Life’ after 688 at the request of Bishop Áodh of Sleaty.
[4] St Patrick, op. cit., paragraph 14
[5] Ibid, paragraph 38
[6] Ibid, paragraph 41
[8] Rathvilly (Rath-Bhile; the fort of the great tree)
[9] Annals of the Four Masters, entry 432.3
[10] Book of Armagh, fol.1
[11] Failte Ireland, Carlow – trails of the saints, p. 14
[12] Comerford, M., Collections, Vol. III, p. 387
[13] Murphy, Margaret, Tullow – from Medieval Manor to Market Town in Carlow History and Society, (Ed. Thomas McGrath)
[14] Annals of the Four Masters, entry 448
[15]www.vsl.co.at Website of Vienna Symphonic Library
[16] Cunningham, The Annals of the Four Masters, p.116states that accounts of miracles wrought by the image of the Virgin Mary in Trim are found in the Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Ulster, and the Annals of Connacht.
[17] Annals of the Four Masters, V, 1445-9, quoted Fra. A.M. Tommasini Irish Saints in Italy[18] See http://www.myshalldrumfea.com[19] Murphy, M., op. cit. p. 243; Comerford, M. op. cit. p. 387 quotes from the Annals of the Four Masters: A.D. 1050. Diarmaid Ua Cele, (now Kyley or Kealy) aircinneach of Tulach- Foirtcheirn and Achadh- abhall, (Aghold) died.” A.F.M; A.U. 1050.4
[20] The Book of Armagh is an illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin c. 807AD. It was penned by the learned scribe of Armagh, Ferdomnach and contains early texts relating to St Patrick, including two lives of the saint, one by Muirciu and one by Tireachan.
[22] Comerford, M., Collections, Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin, Vol III, p.115.
[23] See note 1 above.
[24] Quoted in Comerford, op. cit., p.116.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ibid.
[27] O Riain. P., A Dictionary of Irish Saints, p. 383 regards them as separate individuals.
[28] Ibid. St Moling (614-697) was the second Bishop of Ferns and has been said to be ‘one of the four great prophets of Erin’. He founded a monastery at St Mullins, County Carlow. A gospel book named after the saint, later kept by the Kavanaghs of Borris Idrone, of whom he was patron, is now in Trinity College, Dublin.
[29] Comerford, M., op. cit. p.116
[30] Ó Riain, op. cit. p. 383
[31] Comerford, M., op. cit. p.117
[32] Ó Riain, op. cit. p.363.
[33] Murphy, A., (2011), Finnian Before Clonard…And After, Address given at Clonard before Bishop Smith and assembled pilgrims to Ard Relig
[34] Healy, J., Ireland’s Ancient School and Scholars, p. 201. The names of these ‘apostles’ are Ciarán of Saigher, Ciarán of Clonmacnois, Colmcille of Iona and Derry, Brendán of Clonfert, Brendán of Birr, Colmán of Tír-dá-glas, Molaisse of Daiminis, Caineach of Achad Bó, Ruadán of Lothra, Mobí of Glas Noiden, Senell of Cluain Inis, and Nannid of Inis Maige Sam. Ryan, J., Irish Monasticism Origins and Early Development, p.118.
[35] Comerford, M., op. cit. p189
[36] Herity, M. (Ed.), (2013) Ordnance Survey Letters Wicklow and Carlow, Dublin: Fourmasters Press, p.55
[37] Dr Charles Doherty writes, ‘Also as cults developed early saints are given brothers, sisters, uncles and so on as a way of explaining why certain churches were grouped in federations and the kinship relationship is a way of expressing the pecking order with the group.’ (Email to this writer, dated 15 November 2015).
[38] Ó Riain, P., op. cit. p. 248.
[39] Ibid. p.537
[40] Ibid. p.232.
[41] McDonald., E. (1981), The Riches of Clonmore, Carloviana (Ed. Hugh Dolan), pp. 12,13.
[42] Ó Riain, op. cit. p. 363. See also note 36 above.
[43] See note 34 above.
[44] John O’Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, Vol. 3. p. 996
[46] O Riain, P, op. cit. p.315
[47] Comerford, op. cit. p252
[48] O Riain, P., op. cit. p.315
[49] Comerford, op. cit. p. 252
[50] Ó Riain, op. cit. p.315
[51] The Book of Ballymote, written in Irish, was compiled in Ballymote Castle, County Sligo from 1391- 1400, mainly by a young man named Maghnus Ó Duigenán. It is housed in the Royal Irish Academy. The Yellow Book of Lecan was written between 1397 and 1418 near modern Enniscrone, County Sligo by Ciothruadh Mac Taidgh Ruadidh [Mac Fir Bisiigh}. It has been housed in Trinity College Dublin since 1786.
[52] Ó Riain, op. cit, p. 257
[53] Ó Riain, op. cit. p. 69. Quoting from Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae, Ó Riain refers to Killerig as Ceall Deirge Daimh, the cell of the red stag or ox. Jimmy O’ Toole in Grange, the Path to the Present states that the origin of the name Killerig is given in the Ordnance Survey Field Book as Cill Erc, the Church of Erc. Ó Riain, p. 284 gives possible meanings for ‘Earc’, including ‘red eared cow’. The best-known bearer of the name was St. Earc, Bishop of Slane. Wikipedia also mentions a Cornish St. Earc.
[54] Ibid. p. 68, 69
[55] O’ Hanlon, J., op. cit. p. 110
[56] Ó Riain, op. cit. p. 431 and p. 433 disputes this.
[57] The author is grateful to Clonmore local historian and CHAS member, Eddie McDonald for this information.
[58] Comerford, M., op. cit. p. 180. See also pp. 178, 194.
[59] Ó Riain op. cit. p.211.
[60] Colgan, J. (1645) Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae (Louvain). Ó Riain, P., op. cit. p.213
[61] ‘Cathach’ means ‘Battler’. It came into the possession of the O’Donnell family in the Middle Ages. It was called ‘Cathach’ because of the O’Donnell practice of carrying it three times around the field of battle as a talisman.
[63] St Willibrod (d. 7 November 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary, known as the ‘Apostle to the Fresians’ in modern Netherlands. He was in Clonmelsh, County Carlow from age twenty to thirty-two, a monastery which was a centre of European learning. He became the first Bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg.
[64] Ó Riain, P., op. cit. p. 501 and Comerford, M., op. cit. p. 387
[65] Murphy,Margaret in Carlow History and Society (Ed. Thomas McGrath), p. 244
[66] Comerford, M., op. cit. p. 387
[68] Larkin, A.J., (2012), Saint Columbanus Pilgrim for Christ, Missionary Society of Saint Columban, Cumann Seanchais Árd Mhacha, p. 23
[69] St Malachy (Irish: Máel Máedoc Úa Mongair) (1094-1148) was Archbishop of Armagh and made many church reforms in Ireland including the introduction of the Cistercian order.
A version of this article appears in the 2022 edition of Carloviana, journal of the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society, and is reproduced here by kind permission of the editor.
This is a remarkable production showing local life as it was experienced eighty-six years ago.
The footage covers everyday street scenes, a road race, a fair day, Corpus Christi, a fancy-dress parade, a carnival (fun fair), etc. The carnival may have been held in the field behind the Captain Murphy Memorial Hall. It moved to Murphy’s field on the Dublin Road in the 1950s, a site now occupied by Flynn’s and by Aldi.
The filmmaker was Fr John Lalor, a Rathvilly native who was parish priest of Ballon-Rathoe from 1923 to his death on 17 June 1947. Fr Lalor used show his films to the boarders in St Mary’s College, Knockbeg.
It was there that Msgr Brendan Byrne discovered this film, and a number of others, during the recent renovation of the college. Msgr Byrne had the film restored by Super8 a French film restorer based in Galway and subsequently presented it to Tullow Museum.
Research by Tullow native, Msgr John Byrne established that the film was made around 1936, rather than 1945 as first thought. The cinema dates from 1940 and is not shown in the Square here.
Among the people identified in the film, are: Msgr John Byrne’s father, John (Byrne’s Garage), John Kelly (Crosskeys), Michael (Mickey) Murphy, Jack Flynn, Tom Bolger (Kill), Fr James Mahon (?), Guard Kelly (father of Marian Ryan, Abbey Street).
Note Tullow’s low carbon footprint!
Are there any other photographs of Tullow fair days in existence?
With thanks to Msgr Brendan Byrne, Msgr John Byrne, John Keogh (Tullow Museum), Msgr John McEvoy and Turtle Bunbury.
Tullow Historian 