DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Irish and its dating A study of the O'Donohue group of Irish ' lives

Szacillo, Judyta

Award date: 2013

Awarding institution: Queen's University Belfast

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IRISH HAGIOGRAPHY AND ITS DATING: A STUDY OF THE O’DONOHUE GROUP OF IRISH SAINTS’ LIVES

by

Judyta Aleksandra Szacillo MA Hons

This thesis is offered for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of History and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen’s University of Belfast.

September 2012

Acknowledgements

Several people have played a substantial role in helping me to complete my work. First of all, my deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Marie Therese Flanagan, who provided me with constant and tireless support, patience and assistance, whose contributions and detailed comments have been of the greatest value and who was always available and ready to help. My studies on Irish medieval hagiography would not have been possible without the financial support of the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University; I address special thanks to the Head of the School, David Hayton, and also to the School Managers, Frances Mercer and Catherine Boone, who have always supported me and my restless organisational ideas. I cannot leave without mentioning the Senior Librarians from the Special Collections, Queen’s University Library, Brenda Robinson and Diarmuid Kennedy, their eagerness to help, the excellent manner in which they provide the library service and their genuine interest in supporting me in my research. I am indebted for life to my Mother, who gave me more than I can ever describe. And, last but not least, I would like to thank my friend, Miguel Ortiz, for his devotion, support, encouragement and understanding that he has so generously been giving me for the last several years.

CONTENTS

Abbreviations 6

Chapter 1: Introduction 12

Chapter 2: Background information 18

2.1. and editions 18

2.2. O’Donohue group 24

2.3. The datable Lives 31

Chapter 3: Vita sancti Albei 40

3.1. Ailbe’s Lives 40

3.2. Pre-Patrician Ailbe 44

3.3. Ailbe’s childhood 49

3.4. Ailbe in Rome 53

3.5. The Law of Ailbe 60

3.6. Alternative datings 68

3.7. Summary 74

Chapter 4: Vita sancti Ruadani 77

4.1. Attributes 77

4.2. Ruadán, other saints and the Twelve 80 Apostles of 4.3. Ruadán’s Lives 86

4.4. Ruadán’s genealogy 89

4.5. Locations 93

3 4.6. Ruadán, the Eóganachta and the curse 104 of Tara 4.7. Two Guaires, two Diarmaits and many saints 109

4.8. Summary 113

Chapter 5: Vita sancti Aidi 115

5.1. VAidi – editors and commentators 115

5.2. Áed’s genealogy and ‘liminal’ birth 121

5.3. Attributes 126

5.4. Áed and the kings 129

5.5. Áed, Brigit and other women 132

5.6. Locations 137

5.7. VAidi – a source for the hagiographer of St 140 Cainnech? 5.8. Summary 142

Chapter 6: Vita sancti Fintani seu Munnu 145

6.1. VMunnu and the question of text 145 transmission 6.2. Many pedigrees of Munnu 148

6.3. Locations 149

6.4. Munnu, kings and the ‘prince’ 155

6.5. Munnu’s faults and other saints 161

6.6. Leprosy and the Easter question 168

6.7. Summary 172

Chapter 7: Vita sancti Colmani 174

7.1. Colmnán’s origins 174

7.2. The man of learning 177

4 7.3. Colmán the peace-maker 184

7.4. Two datable phrases 188

7.5. Lynally and Connor 192

7.6. The Colmáns 197

7.7. Summary 199

Chapter 8: Dating of the O’Donohue group: conclusion 201

Appendices 206

Bibliography 213

5 ABBREVIATIONS

The list of abbreviations below covers all the titles of the editions of the primary sources, periodicals and publication series. Where an individual article or a book is referred to more than once in the text, an abbreviated form is used after the first full reference. All the references follow the Irish Historical Studies Rules for Contributors, supplemented by the system of referencing in A new history of Ireland, i (Oxford, 2005), and by several independently created abbreviations according to the needs arising the text. When necessary, the access date to an online publication is shown in square brackets (with an exception of the annalistic sources online that have been used on a regular basis).

Acta SS Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur vel a catholicis scriptoribus celebrantur quae ex Latinis et Graecis aliarumque gentium antiquis monumentis collegit (...) Johannes Bollandus Societatis Jesu theologus (...) etc. (Antwerp, 1643-)

Adomnán, Life of Sharpe, R. (trans.), Life of St Columba (Harmondsworth, 1995)

Adomnán, Vita Anderson, A. O., Anderson, M. O. (ed.), Adomnan’s Columbae Life of Columba (Edinburgh, London, 1961)

Anal. Bolland. Analecta Bollandiana (Paris and Brussels, 1882-)

A.F.M. O’Donovan, J. (ed. and trans.), Annala rioghachta Eireann: Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the earliest period to the year 1616 (7 vols, , 1851; reprint New York, 1966; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, , 2002 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005A/index.html )

A.U.² Mac Airt, S., Mac Niocaill, G. (ed. and trans.), The Annals of to A.D. 1311 (Dublin, 1983; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, Cork,

6 2002 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A/index.html )

Ann. Clon. Murphy, D. (ed.), The Annals of , being annals of Ireland from the earliest period to A.D. 1408, translated into English, A.D. 1627, by Conell Mageoghagan (Dublin, 1896)

Ann. Conn. Freeman, M. A. (ed.), Annála (...) A.D. 1224- 1544) (Dublin, 1944; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, Cork, 2001 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100011/index.html)

Ann. Inisf. Mac Airt, S. (ed. and trans.), The (MS Rawlinson B503) (Dublin, 1951; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, Cork, 2002 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100004/index.html)

Ann. Loch Cé Hennessy, W. M. (ed. and trans.), The Annals of Loch Cé, 2 vols (London, 1871; reprint. Dublin, 1939); online: Corpus of Electronic texts, University College, Cork, 2008 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100010B/index.html)

Ann. Tig. Stokes, W. (ed.), ‘The ’ in Rev. Celt., 16-18 (1896-7; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, Cork, 1996 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/index.html)

Bethu Brigte Ó hAodha, D. (ed. and trans.), Bethu Brigte (Dublin, 1978; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, Cork, 2001 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G201002/index.html)

Bk Bergin, O. J., Best, R. I., O’Brien, M. A. (ed.), Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála, 6 vols (Dublin, 1954-83)

C.I.H. Binchy, D. A. (ed.), Corpus iuris Hibernici (6 vols, Dublin, 1978)

Camb. Med. Celt. Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies (Leamington Spa, Studies 1981-93, 25 issues; continued as Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 1993-)

Celtica Celtica (Dublin, 1946-)

7 Chron. Scot. Hennessy, W. M. (ed.), Chronicum Scotorum: a chronicle of Irish affairs (...) to 1135, and supplement (...) 1141-1150 (London, 1866; reprint Wiesbaden, 1964; online: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College, Cork, 2003 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100016/index.html)

Chronicle of Ireland Charles-Edwards, T. M. (ed. and trans.), The (2 vols, Liverpool, 2006)

Colgan, Acta SS Hib. Colgan. J., Acta sanctorum veteris et maioris Scotiae, seu Hiberniae sanctorum insulae (...) (2 vols, Louvain, 1645; reflex facsimile Dublin, 1948)

E.H.R. English Historical Review (London, 1886-)

Éigse Éigse: a journal of Irish studies (Dublin, 1939-)

Ériu Ériu: founded as the journal of the School of Irish Learning (Dublin, 1904-)

Études Celt. Études Celtiques (Paris, 1936-)

Fél. Oeng. Stokes, W. (ed. and trans.), Félire Oengusso Céli Dé: the martyrology of Oengus the Culdee (London, 1905)

Fragmentary Annals Radner, J. N. (ed.), Fragmentary Annals of Ireland (Dublin, 1978)

Heist, Vitae SS Hib. Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice olim Salmanticensi nunc Bruxellensi (Brussels, 1965)

Hermathena Hermathena: a series of papers (...) by members of Trinity College, Dublin (Dublin, 1874-)

I.E.R. Irish Ecclesiastical Record (171 vols, Dublin, 1864- 1968)

I.H.S. Irish Historical Studies: the joint journal of the Irish Historical Society and the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies (Dublin, 1938-)

Liber angeli Bieler, L. (ed. and trans.), The Patrician texts in the Book of , Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, 10 (Dublin, 1979), pp 185-91

8

M.G.H. Monumenta Germaniae Historica (1826-)

Mart. Tall. Best, R. I., Lawlor, H. J. (ed.), The Martyrology of Tallaght, Henry Bradshaw Society, 68 (London, 1931)

Muirchú, Vita Patricii Bieler, L. (ed. and trans.), The Patrician texts in the , Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, 10 (Dublin, 1979), pp 61-123 N.H.I. Moody, T. W., Williams, T. D., Beckett, J. C., Martin, F. X. (ed.), A new history of Ireland (9 vols, Oxford, 1976-2005)

O’Brien, Corpus O’Brien, M. A. (ed.), Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae geneal. Hib. (Dublin, 1962; reprint Dublin, 1976)

O.D.N.B. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (60 vols, Oxford, 2004; online http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/index.html?url=%2F index.jsp)

Old Kilkenny Rev. Old Kilkenny Review (Kilkenny, 1948-)

Peritia Peritia: journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland (Cork, 1982-)

P.L. Migne, J. P. (ed.), Patrologia Latina (221 vols, Paris, 1844-64)

Plummer, Bethada Plummer, C. (ed.), Bethada náem nÉrenn: Lives of Irish náem nÉrenn saints (2 vols, Oxford, 1922)

Plummer, Misc. Hag. Plummer, C. (ed.), Miscellanea Hagiographica Hib. Hibernica, Subsidia Hagiographica, 15 (Brussels, 1925)

Plummer, Vitae SS Plummer, C. (ed.), Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, partim Hib. hactenus ineditae (...) (2 vols, Oxford, 1910)

R.I.A. Proc. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1836- )

R.I.A. Trans. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1787-1907)

9 R.S.A.I. Jn. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (Dublin, 1892-)

Rev. Celt. Revue Celtique (41 vols, Paris and London, 1870-1924)

Ríocht na Midhe Ríocht na Midhe: records of the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society (Drogheda, 1955-)

Speculum Speculum: a journal of medieval studies (Cambridge, Mass. 1926-)

Stokes, Book of Stokes, W. (ed. and trans.), Lives of saints from the Lismore Book of Lismore (Oxford, 1890)

Studia Celt. Studia Celtica (Cardiff, 1966-)

Studia Hib. Studia Hibernica (Dublin, 1961-)

Tírechán, Collectanea Bieler, L. (ed. and trans.), The Patrician texts in the Book of Armagh, Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, 10 (Dublin, 1979), pp 123-83

Trip. Life Mulchrone, K. (ed.), Bethu Phátraic: the Tripartite Life of Patrick (Dublin, 1939)

VAidi Vita sancti Aidi episcopi Killariensis in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 167-81

VAlbei Vita sancti Albei episcopi in Imlech in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 118-31

Cogitosus, Vita Connolly, S., Picard, J.-M. (ed. and trans.), ‘: Brigitae Life of Brigit’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 117 (1987), pp 5-27

Vita I Brigitae Connolly, S. (ed.), ‘Vita prima sanctae Brigitae’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 119 (1989), pp 5-49.

VCainnechi Vita sancti Cainnechi abbatis de Achad Bó Chainnich in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 182-98

VColmani Vita sancti Colmani abbatis de Land Elo in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 209-24

VColumbae de Tír dá Vita sancti Columbae abbatis de Tír Dá Glas in Heist, Glas W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 225-33

10 VFinani Vita sancti Finani abbatis de Cenn Etigh in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 153-60

VFintani Vita sancti Fintani abbatis de Cuain Edhnech in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 145-53

VLugidi Vita prior sancti Lugidi seu Moluae abbatis de Cluain Ferta Molua in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 131-45

VMunnu Vita prior sancti Fntani seu Munnu abbatis de Tech Munnu in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 198-209

VRuadani Vita sancti Ruadani abbatis de Lothra in Heist, W. W. (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., pp 160-67

Z.C.P. Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie (Halle, 1896-1943, 23 vols; Tübingen, 1953-)

Symbols used in the text:

S – D – Codex Kilkenniensis, “Dublin Collection“ O – Codex Insulensis, “Oxford Collection“ Φ – archetype of all three collections

11 The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. Leslie Poles Hartley, The Go-Between.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Hagiographical sources constitute a difficult field of research. Their authors, focused on praising saintly heroes and their associates, were not faithful to the facts as we today understand them. They often did not see a need to provide their readers with the details like precise names or dates, having favoured instead the stories of miracle and heavenly power, of healing lepers, producing springs, replenishing food – all of the signs of sanctity of which the and other ecclesiastical sources had been their inspiration, not the reality of their lives and their time. Certainly, medieval hagiographers described the world as they knew it to some extent, but also as they were taught to believe how it should be. They were not confined by what really happened and free to give expression to what ought to have happened. Thus, the Lives of saints contain plenty of imagined stories which followed patterns of saintly acts and behaviours widespread in medieval religious literature; but they also contain details of everyday life and realities contemporary to a hagiographer. To distinguish the details that had been imagined (believed that they ought to have taken place) from the details that had been actually drawn from a hagiographer’s own experience is the very first task that a historian undertakes when commencing work on hagiographical sources. The modern reader may be shocked, surprised or amused by some stories that for people of the Middle Ages were solemn and serious matters. The modern reader would not probably consider leaving a loving family for the sake of becoming a monk virtuous,1 or forbidding a mother to come nearby – noble.2 Yet

1 VFintani, c. 21. 2 VMunnu, c. 11.

12

such behaviours were virtuous, noble and appropriate for those who had been considered saints in the minds of medieval people. Whilst working on medieval sources, one has to bear in mind those differences in the ways of thinking between modern ‘us’ and medieval ‘them’. Even if we do not understand or accept their ways, it is not our position to judge – only to reconstruct. Overloaded with fantastic stories, biblical patterns and contents controversial or difficult to understand for modern audiences, the hagiographical sources were for long underestimated as reliable historical sources. They were called ‘fantastic’, ‘artificial’ and repetitive by those who were working on collecting, editing and commenting on them, like Whitley Stokes, Charles Plummer or James F. Kenney.3 Their main value was seen mainly in their mythological and folklore dimension, and saints regarded merely as ‘more powerful ’.4 This attitude originated in the middle of the nineteenth century, reflected in James Anthony Froude’s opinion that the authors of the saints’ Lives entirely lacked the ability to distinguish between fact and fable and that the modern (i.e. nineteenth-century) historians’ tools failed when applied to the hagiographical sources; therefore – Froude claimed – those sources should be subjected to the methodology applied for myths, not history.5 The research on the hagiographical material must fail indeed if the questions are asked about verifiable historical information about the . We know very little about the early saints, and whilst reading through their Lives, or even the corresponding fragments of annals, chronicles and genealogical lists, we need to bear in mind that they do not yield undeniable facts about our saintly heroes. Quite the contrary, they do not even provide us with a proof that those saints were historical figures as we would think of them: the founders of churches, the bishops, the abbots. We are unable to state with certainty whether they really existed and exercised their ecclesiastical authorities, or they were just constructs of traditions, beliefs and imagination of those who wrote their Lives, documented their genealogies or entered the dates of their deaths. Thus, when a modern historian writes ‘St Ruadán died in 583’, what s/he actually means is ‘the

3 W. Stokes (ed. and trans.), Lives of saints from the Book of Lismore (Oxford, 1890); C. Plummer (ed.), Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, 2 vols (Oxford, 1910); idem (ed.), Bethada Náem nÉrenn, 2 vols (Oxford, 1922); J. F. Kenney, The sources for the early history of Ireland, i: ecclesiastical (New York, 1929). 4 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xciii. 5 J. A. Froude, Short studies on great subjects (London, 1906; reprint 1964), p. 122.

13

author/redactor of the annals believed/was informed/preferred/wished that St Ruadán had died in 583’. That we do not write such a phrase every time is just a matter of pure convenience. We can estimate the value of such information, confront it with other sources, but still, always, there is an element of uncertainty. We rely on what the authors of our sources wanted their readers to believe. Yet, despite it all, the modern historians find the hagiographical documents to be rich sources of historical information. It is now understood that those fantastic and artificial features can lead to certain answers that a historian may wish to seek, the answers to the questions not necessarily connected with Irish myth and folklore, but also the cultural, social, mental, ecclesiastical and political milieux of medieval Ireland. Since the middle of the twentieth century, Irish hagiographical sources have been receiving more and more interest, and our understanding is now more sophisticated. More types of questions have been introduced to the set of a historian’s tools; now we do not only ask ‘when’, ‘what happened’ and ‘who did it’, but also ‘why has it been done’, ‘what influenced that decision’, ‘why this motif has been chosen’, ‘why that information has been omitted’, etc. Armed with ‘whys’ in addition to ‘whats’ and ‘whens’, modern historians uncover more valuable information, not about the saints, but about those who wrote their Lives, about their daily doings, their beliefs, political associations, education and cultural background, sympathies and antipathies. The early twentieth-century editors and commentators on Irish hagiographical sources had already been aware to some extent of the advantages of asking a wider range of questions and focusing the research efforts on uncovering the past contemporary to the author, not the hero, of the hagiographical document.6 Yet it was well into the second half of the twentieth century when the new methodology started to be applied in practice. Daniel Binchy was one of the first to present this new approach towards the hagiographical sources in Irish historiography. In his now classic article, used nowadays so frequently in reading lists for undergraduate students of history,7 he first highlighted (in the case of St Patrick) the limitations of hagiographical texts

6 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xci-xcii; Kenney, Sources, p. 297. 7 D. Binchy, ‘St Patrick and his biographers: ancient and modern’ in Studia Hib., 2 (1962), pp 7- 173.

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as sources of information about the time they depict; then pointed out and demonstrated that those texts were valuable sources of knowledge about the realities, perception and existing beliefs at the time when the hagiographer himself was writing. The growing awareness of the limitations that needed to be observed while doing research on hagiographical materials had a somewhat paralysing impact on Irish historians. In the time between Plummer’s editions and Kenney’s commentaries and the abovementioned article by Binchy, there were very few attempts at analysing Irish medieval Lives of saints. Historians grew ‘shy’ of using them, as Richard Sharpe described it later.8 It was only after Binchy’s publication on St Patrick’s Lives, and especially during the last thirty years, that the whole new current of eager investigations of the hagiographical sources started.9 However, there were still very few attempts at dating Irish hagiography. Apart from the corpus of widely known, famous saints, SS Patrick, Brigit and Columba, whose earliest Lives belong to the seventh and eighth centuries, the majority of numerous medieval saints’ Lives that are extant remain undated. Until now, only about a dozen of Lives have been securely dated;10 a dozen out of approximately one hundred and fifty texts that are extant. In 1991 Richard Sharpe made a great contribution to the study of Irish medieval hagiography, providing a wide analysis of the process of compilation of the main collections of saints’ Lives. He also suggested some dates for a particular group of nine (or, perhaps, ten) Lives, which he named the

8 R. Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives: an introduction to Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae (Oxford, 1991), p. 8. 9 To name just a few crucial publications of more general character: P. Ó Riain, ‘Towards a methodology in early Irish hagiography’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), pp 146-59; K. McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’ lives’ in The Maynooth Review, 11 (1984), pp 26-59; R. Sharpe, ‘Armagh and Rome in the seventh century’ in P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (ed.), Ireland and Europe: the early (Stuttgart, 1984), pp 58-72; C. Doherty, ‘The Irish hagiographer: resources, aims, results’ in T. Dunne (ed.), The writer as witness: literature as historical evidence, Historical Studies, 16 (Cork, 1987), pp 10-22; D. N. Dumville (ed.), , A. D. 493 – 1993 (Woodbridge, 1993); M. Herbert, ‘Hagiography’ in K. McCone, K. Simms (ed.), Progress in medieval Irish studies (Maynooth, 1996), pp 79-90; J.-M. Picard, ‘Tailoring the sources: the Irish hagiographer at work’ in in P. Ní Chatháin, , M. Richter (ed.), Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: learning and literature (Stuttgart, 1996), pp 261-74; C. Etchingham, Church organisation in Ireland A. D. 650 to 1000 (Maynooth, 1999); T. M. Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland (Cambridge, 2000); J. Carey, M. Herbert, P. Ó Riain (ed.), Studies in Irish hagiography: saints and scholars (Dublin, 2001). 10 For the list of dated Lives see chapter 2.3.

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‘O’Donohue group’, having put the name of its provider, Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha, into an Anglicised version.11 The existence of this group was first hypothesised in 1960 by William Heist, the modern editor of the Codex Salmanticensis,12 which is one of the three extant major collections of Irish saints’ Lives. It has now been more fully elaborated by Sharpe that an archetype of this group within the Salmanticensis collection originated probably in the time frame of 750-850. In other words, those nine or ten Lives from the Codex Salmanticensis are supposed to have been gathered into one collection much earlier than the process of compiling the Codex Salmanticensis took place. Among so many undated Lives, the addition of nine or ten securely dated texts would be a great improvement and advance in historical knowledge. However, there is no agreement about the late eighth- early ninth-century date proposed by Sharpe. His hypothesis has caused considerable debate among historians and attracted both criticism and support; there have been attempts at confirming dates for a number of the individual Lives from the so called O’Donohue group, but objections have also been formulated.13 No scholarly consensus has been achieved to date. No detailed investigation of the O’Donohue group as a whole has been elaborated since Sharpe’s hypothesised date in 1991. The original research project that I had undertaken contained a plan to analyse all the Lives from the O’Donohue group. Yet, it soon became apparent that the plan was far too ambitious and too widely designed for the limits of a doctoral thesis. Gradually, I have been excluding consecutive chapters, and finally reached the number of existing eight, including five chapters devoted to separate Lives: one chapter per one vita. The first to go was the Life of Columba of Terryglass, as it is not certain whether this text belongs to the O’Donohue group or not, and I would not dare to make any definite statements regarding this matter without seeing the original , which I was unable to do during the last four years. The second text that has been excluded is the Life of Cainnech. It has already attracted attention of another historian, Máire Herbert, who presented a short article where she has

11 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 297-339. 12 W. W. Heist (ed.), Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae e Codice olim Salmanticensi nunc Bruxellensi. Subsidia Hagiographica, 25 (Brussels, 1965). 13 See chapter 2.2.

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suggested the dating of this Life.14 However, it still requires a much more substantial addition, a detailed discussion of the context and background of the Life in order to confirm (or, perhaps, reject) the proposed dating. Herbert’s argument shall be presented shortly in the following introductory section. The next three omitted vitae are the Life of Lugaid, otherwise Molua, the Life of Fintan of Clonenagh and the Life of Fínán of Kinnitty, all three being rich in information, not yet properly investigated and deserving thorough examination. They have been excluded for this simple reason that in the moment in which it became evident that the limits placed upon this thesis will not allow so much material to be discussed, the research that had been done on these texts was at the least developed stage. However, in the foreseeable future I hope to complete my work on preparing the translation of all the O’Donohue Lives and to submit it for consideration by other students and scholars. All passages from the O’Donohue Lives quoted in the text of this thesis are my own translations, if not specifically stated otherwise. Thus, the aim of this thesis has been narrowed to offer a discussion of five texts from the O’Donohue group: the Lives of SS Ailbe, Ruadán, Áed mac Bricc, Munnu and Colmán Elo. None of these have been properly investigated. I have attempted to verify their contents against the information preserved in other early medieval sources in support of their dating. I do not claim that what I have to propose is an absolute and definite dating. ‘History is not watchmaking,’ wrote Marc Bloch.15 I do not possess perfectly reliable tools, use of which may lead to undeniable results. This thesis is rather a list of all the features contained in the O’Donohue Lives that I could think of that may give some indication towards the date of their composition. In doing so, I hope to provoke and promote further discussion on the subject of dating the documents of medieval Irish hagiography that still remains in great part an unsurveyed, virginal area for historical research.

14 M. Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography: a study of Vita Cainnechi’ in J. Carey, M. Herbert, P. Ó Riain (ed.), Studies in Irish Hagiography: Saints and Scholars (Dublin, 2001), pp 31-40; see chapter 2.3. 15 M. Bloch, The historian’s craft, trans. P. Putman (Manchester, 2008), p. 11.

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CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2. 1. Manuscripts and editions

There are today about one hundred extant Lives written in and about fifty in Irish. The Lives written in the are known mainly from various late medieval manuscripts and seventeenth-century transcripts from originals that have now perished.1 Some of the Latin Lives survive only in continental manuscripts, but most of them are preserved in three thirteenth- and fourteenth-century compilations: Codex Kilkenniensis (less known by the name of Codex Ardmachanus),2 Codex Insulensis and Codex Salmanticensis. None of these collections directly depend on either of the others, but their contents are similar enough to conclude that their compilers drew on a number of common sources. Some versions of the Lives are almost identical as the further investigation will show. Charles Plummer was the first to offer a basic discussion of all the three codices together.3 The mutual relations between them and the common sources they had been based on were the central focus of the abovementioned ground-breaking 1991 study by Sharpe. Thanks to Plummer’s edition of the Latin Lives of Irish saints in 1910, the Kilkenniensis version for long years was the one widely used and referred to by historians. Plummer based his work mainly on this collection, referring occasionally to the other manuscripts in the footnotes; although nine out of thirty two Lives that he had published were drawn mainly from the Insulensis versions.4 There are two copies of the Kilkenniensis collection, both held in Dublin,5 which Plummer marked with symbols M and T. Both manuscripts are dated to the fifteenth century, and Plummer demonstrated that they were copied

1 C. Plummer, ‘A tentative catalogue of Irish hagiography’ in idem (ed.), Miscellanea Hagiographica Hibernica (Brussels, 1925), pp 171-285. 2 For the discussion about the name of the manuscript see Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 93-4, and especially fn. 3. 3 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, ix-xxiii. 4 These are the Lives of SS Berach, , Molaisse, Énda, Gerald, Fechin, Mochua, Tigernach and Samthann. 5 MS Z.3.1.5, Primate Marsh’s Library and MS 175, Trinity College, Dublin.

18 from the same original, and not one from the other.6 Sharpe proposed that that original on which the Kilkenniensis manuscripts are based, had been produced around 1200.7 The term Kilkenniensis was introduced by John Colgan, who was the first to publish its texts. He described the manuscript as belonging to the Friars Minor at Kilkenny, hence the name of the manuscript.8 It is now believed that it was the same manuscript as the one that we now possess in Marsh’s Library in Dublin. Sharpe proposed to use a simplified name for the manuscripts of the Kilkenniensis and referred to them as the ‘Dublin collection’, marked D, the use of which I am going to follow. Another symbol has been introduced by Sharpe in reference to the Codex Insulensis, also preserved in two copies, which are named by Sharpe as the ‘Oxford collection’, marked O. The Oxford collection is preserved in two manuscripts now held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.9 Plummer demonstrated that one of them is a direct copy of the other, although the order of the texts is not preserved.10 Sharpe suggested that the original which the first of the manuscripts copied should be dated to the second half of the thirteenth century.11 The name under which the collection is known, Codex Insulensis, derives again, as Plummer demonstrated, from the edition by Colgan, who referred to it with various names: Codex Insulae Sanctorum, Codex Lochriuensis, Codex Inisensis, Codex Insulae Omnium Sanctorum, but most frequently – Codex Insulensis.12 No definite answers have been given regarding the dating of the two copies of O, and their dating was the subject of long discussions amongst historians and codicologists; the majority of them agreed, however, that both copies originated at some point during the fourteenth century.13 The Salmanticensis (S) collection is most crucial to the discussion in this thesis, as it is the one that contains the so-called O’Donohue group. We can trace securely the past history of this manuscript from the seventeenth century

6 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xi-xv. 7 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 216-27, 311. 8 Colgan, Acta SS Hib., p. 215, fn. 1; p. 596, fn. 1. 9 MS Rawlinson B.485 and MS Rawlinson B.505. 10 C. Plummer, ‘On two collections of Latin Lives of Irish saints in the Bodleian Library, Rawl. B.485 and Rawl. B.505’ in Z.C.P., 5 (1904/5), pp 429-54. 11 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 247-73, 311. 12 Plummer, ‘On two collections of Latin Lives’, pp 448-54. 13 For the full description and references to the discussion on the matter of dating O see Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 250-6.

19 onwards, when it was found by one of the Bollandists, Daniel Papebroch, in the Irish College in Salamanca.14 It is now kept in Brussels.15 Heist and Sharpe provided a detailed description of the manuscript.16 The physical appearance of the manuscript shows evidence of a complex procedure of compiling the codex, and of further changes to which it was subjected. The manuscript was produced in the late thirteenth or in the course of the fourteenth century.17 There are now 175 folios out of about 230 that the manuscript originally contained; forty eight Lives are placed on its leaves. It was written by two or three scribes on several sets of membrane of various qualities. It was rebound (and misbound) and cropped in the seventeenth century; it has a few different sets of paginations and numerous lacunae. There are some gatherings that show different sizes of the same handwriting; some parts of the text are squeezed, the other large and with gaps following them. On the basis of that curious appearance of the codex, Sharpe concluded:

‘One may guess that S is not a copy of an existing manuscript of the same collection, but shows a collection being assembled for the first time. But one cannot tell whether the physical breaks represent progressive stages of the compilation or (...) that different copyists worked concurrently on the different parts. The handwriting shows no major variations, so it appears that the collection is the product of a single effort of finding and copying vitae, not the work of successive collectors over many years (...)’

14 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., pp xiii-xvi; Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 228-30. 15 Bibliothèque Royale MS 7672-7674. 16 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., pp xiii-xix; Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 231-6. 17 Heist did not offer a more specific dating of the manuscript than the fourteenth century. Sharpe was convinced that S had been produced in the late fourteenth century. However, late William O’Sullivan (‘A Waterford origin for the Codex Salmanticensis’ in Decies, 54 (1998), pp 17-19) claimed that the origins of the S manuscript belong rather to circa 1300. Also, Pádraig Ó Riain quoted the response of Ian Doyle whom he consulted regarding the dating of S and who said that the manuscript probably originated in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century (P. Ó Riain, ‘Codex Salmanticensis: a provenance inter Anglos or inter Hibernos ?’ in T. Barnard, D. Ó Cróinín, K. Simms (ed.), A miracle of learning. Studies in manuscripts and Irish learning. Essays in honour of W. O’Sullivan (Cambridge, 1998), pp 96-7).

20 The S codex was edited for the first time in 1887 by Charles De Smedt and Joseph De Backer.18 It has been done on the request and with the money of a certain Roman Catholic neophyte, an enormously rich noble, John Patrick Crichton Stuart, third Marquess of Bute. The editors, however, as much as they were learned and experienced in Latin, knew nothing of Irish, and their edition was subjected to harsh criticism by Zimmer and Plummer.19 In 1965 William Heist produced a new edition of S that has become a main source of reference for historians working on Irish hagiography. The matter of the provenance of S has been widely discussed, but no generally accepted conclusions have been made. Heist assumed that the manuscript had been produced in a religious community of English or Anglo- Norman monks, friars or canons. That assumption was based on Heist’s belief that the compilers of S knew little or nothing at all about the Irish language. ‘The impression one gains from the treatment of these (i.e. Irish) names is generally of simple copying, or conceivably of writing from dictation at times, in complete ignorance of Irish onomastics’ – wrote Heist.20 Furthermore, he defined the handwriting of the manuscript as typical for an English or Anglo-Norman school. Sharpe did not agree with him entirely; he demonstrated on a few examples that the main scribes of the codex in fact possessed some knowledge of Irish, although perhaps only passive. Thus, Sharpe argued, the compiler of S might have worked in a community inter Anglos, in which Irish was not entirely unknown, but not in a daily use.21 However, there is no scholarly consensus regarding this provenance of S, postulated by Heist and Sharpe to have been amongst Anglo-Normans. Pádraig Ó Riain challenged this view, offering an exactly opposite opinion that S had originated inter Hibernos.22 He dismissed Heist’s argument about the gothic handwriting (that is, the handwriting that had been commonly used by Anglo- Norman ecclesiastics) by pointing out that the other fourteenth-century manuscripts which we know that had originated in Irish communities, like the

18 J. De Backer, C. De Smedt, G. Van Hoof (ed.), Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae ex Codice Salmanticensi nunc primum integre edita (Edinburgh-London, Bruges-Lille, 1887-8). 19 H. Zimmer, Review of J. De Backer, C. De Smedt, G. Van Hoof (ed.), Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae in Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen (1891), pp 153-200; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, ix. 20 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., p. xxi. 21 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 238-9. 22 P. Ó Riain, ‘Codex Salmanticensis: a provenance inter Anglos or inter Hibernos ?’, pp 91-100.

21 two manuscripts of O,23 were also written in a gothic hand. In his support, Ó Riain recalled the opinion of William O’Sullivan, an established authority in matters of medieval Irish codicology, who noticed that from the thirteenth century onwards hardly a specimen of Irish script survives and even vernacular materials recorded in the and other Irish texts had been written in a gothic hand.24 The only obvious evidence of provenance of S, stated Ó Riain, is shown in the four colophons that the manuscript contains. The most important are the two added in at the end of the Life of St Cuanna of Kilcoona: - a request of a blessing on the soul of Frater Iohannes Mac Kern de Ergalia (i.e. Mac Tighearnáin of Oirghialla), who translated the Life of St Cuanna from Irish to Latin (written in a gothic hand, but mostly in Irish); - a request of a blessing on the soul of Frater Dermicius i Dhunchadha (i.e. Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha, written in Latin, in a different, but also gothic hand).

The two abovementioned men for whose souls the blessings were sought must have been Irish.25 The colophons are contemporary with the time of compiling the S manuscript. The first of them demonstrates that its author had a very good understanding of Irish. Brother Ó Dúnchadha from the second colophon is also mentioned in the two remaining colophons that appear earlier in the manuscript, and it is clear that he played an important role in assisting the compilers of the codex, having lent a considerable amount of materials to them (see below). Heist and Sharpe assumed that Ó Dúnchadha and the materials he shared belonged to a separate community, but Ó Riain pointed out that it did not need to have been so. The only evidence of a place that the colophons contain is the fact that the translator of the Life of St Cuanna was from ‘Oirghialla’ (i.e.

23 See P. Ó Riain (ed.), Beatha Barra: Saint Finbarr of Cork, the complete Life, Ir. Texts Soc., 57 (London, 1994), pp 104-13. It is the most recent discussion of the provenance of the Rawlinson manuscripts of the Oxford collection; however, Sharpe believed that MS Rawlinson B.505 was also written inter Anglos (Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 255). 24 W. O’Sullivan, ‘Insular calligraphy: current state and problems’ in Peritia, 4 (1985), pp 346- 59. 25 See W. W. Heist, ‘Dermot O’Donohue and the Codex Salmanticensis’ in Celtica, 5 (1960), p. 56.

22 Clogher). Having based on that statement, on the fact that the manuscript contains the Life of St Mac Cárthinn (Clogher’s diocesian patron), and on the information contained in the sixteenth-century Register of Clogher,26 Ó Riain claimed that not only Mac Tighearnáin, but also Ó Dúnchadha were associated with the diocese of Clogher that was purely an Irish community, and that the codex had been compiled there. Shortly after Ó Riain’s publication, William O’Sullivan offered another explanation of the S manuscript origins:

‘One of the more surprising features of the (...) Codex Salmanticensis,’ he wrote, ‘is that it includes the life of a single foreign saint, Katherine. The life, moreover, is one of the largest in the collection. This must surely indicate that it was produced in an Irish house dedicated to that saint.’27

The most reputable Irish monastery dedicated to St Katherine was near Waterford in the southern coast of Ireland. It was founded at the end of the twelfth century and soon afterwards transformed by Anglo-Normans into an Augustinian priory.28 Locating the origins of S in the monastery in Waterford offers, as O’Sullivan claimed, an explanation of the missing link between the origin of the manuscript and its appearance in the Irish College of Salamanca in the seventeenth century. After the Second Suppression Act by Henry VIII, the monastery of St Katherine in Waterford passed into the hands of the Sherlocks, a powerful local family. And in the late sixteenth or the early seventeenth century one of the sons of this family, Patrick Sherlock, entered the Irish College in Salamanca. As O’Sullivan assumed, this man had been the most probable carrier of the S codex from Waterford to Spain. There were no other attempts at finding the place of the origin of the S manuscript. Thomas Charles-Edwards presented an analysis of another possible group that might have been included in the process of the compilation of the

26 Preserved only in early seventeenth-century transcripts; see W. O’Sullivan, ‘Two Clogher Constitutions’ in T. Jones, E. B. Fryde (ed.), Essays and poems presented to Daniel Huws (Aberystwyth, 1994), pp 351-72. 27 O’Sullivan, ‘A Waterford origin for the Codex Salmanticensis’, p. 19. 28 Ibid., fn. 15.

23 codex, which he called the ‘Northern Lectionary’.29 Yet it is not important to this study to follow the history of other groups that possibly had been included in S. The group that we need to have a closer look at is the one that had been contributed by Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha: the O’Donohue group.

2. 2. O’Donohue group

Apart from the abovementioned colophon containing a request for a blessing on the soul of Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha, there are two other that refer to this person. The first is a memorandum placed on a margin of folio 58r: Isti quaterniones sunt fratris Derm[icii] i Dunch[adha] (‘These gatherings are of Brother Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha’s’). It appears just below Lawrence of Durham’s Life of St Brigit. Both Heist, and later Sharpe, were unsure to which section exactly that reference applies.30 The second colophon is to be found at the bottom of folio 96r, just under the first Life of St Lugaid, and it reads: Tertia, quarta: Isti fuere accomodati michi a fratre Dermicio O Dunchade (‘The third and fourth: These were lent to me by Brother Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha’). At least, that was the reading of Heist after deciphering the abbreviations.31 Sharpe presumed that it should more probably be read: Tres quaterniones isti fuere accommodati michi (“These three bindings were left to me” etc.).32 Thus, it was Heist who first noticed the section of S that had been lent by Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha, and first to attempt to define the extent of its material. He assumed that the Life of Lugaid, under which the colophon appears, was the first of the group that ended possibly with the first Life of Munnu, the Life of Colmán Elo, Columba of Terryglass or with the Life of Áedan.33 However, Sharpe noticed that the texts lent by Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha were written into a formerly blank gathering, left by a scribe to fill in later with the borrowed collection. Also, there must have been six leaves of the preceding gathering still

29 T. M. Charles-Edwards, ‘The Northern Lectionary: a source for the Codex Salmanticensis?’ in J. Cartwright (ed.), Celtic hagiography and saints’ cults (Cardiff, 2003), pp 148-161. 30 Heist, ‘Dermot O’Donohue and the Codex Salmanticensis’, pp 59-60; Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 237-8. 31 Heist, ‘Dermot O’Donohue and the Codex Salmanticensis’, p. 59. 32 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 238. 33 Heist, ‘Dermot O’Donohue and the Codex Salmanticensis’, p. 60.

24 available when the copyist started his work on this group; the memorandum for Ó Dúnchadha’s name appears at the front of the next gathering. Thus, as Sharpe stated, the copyist did not want to waste those leaves, but filled them with the first Life of the group that had been lent to him, that is the Life of Ailbe. At the end of the group, on folio 132, there is a half column left blank at the end of the Life of Columba of Terryglass, the gathering ends and on the following one a new handwriting appears. Therefore, the first impression that one gets is that the Life of Columba of Terryglass also belongs to the group. However, Sharpe was not certain about that, because this Life has its very close equivalent in O, and none in D (whilst all the other O’Donohue Lives have their D equivalents); thus he pondered the possibility that the Life of Columba of Terryglass had been derived into both S and O from a different source than the collection of Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha. Yet, he did not make any definite statements regarding that matter and remained open to the possibility that this Life may indeed be a part of the O’Donohue group. Hopefully, the study of the contents of this Life that I intend to pursue at a later point will offer some answers to that question. Therefore, until now it has been agreed that the group contains (according to the manuscript’s order) the Lives of Ailbe, Lugaid (otherwise Molua), Fintán of Clonenagh, Fínán of Kinnitty, Ruadán of Lorrha, Áed mac Bricc, Cainnech, Fintán (otherwise Munnu) of Taghmon and Colmán Elo. The Life of Columba of Terryglass awaits further discussion. And, as the further argument will demonstrate, the previously established association of the Life of Ailbe with the group is not so certain after all. In his 1991 study, Sharpe introduced the term ‘O’Donohue group’ for these Lives and defined its extent having based on the following arguments: - the physical appearance of the S manuscript (as described above); - the fact that the Lives of this group appear in all the codices (S, D and O, with the exception of the Life of Columba of Terryglass which is preserved only in S and O), in the same order and clearly derived from a common archetype; - the form of Irish names used in these Lives consistently adhere to orthography;

25 - the Latin vocabulary includes words which had become obsolete or changed their meaning by the time the later recensions that are preserved in D and O were made.34

As Sharpe believed that the S manuscript had been produced in the late fourteenth century, he found it impossible – in spite of the earlier hints and arguments by Plummer, Kenney and Ó Corráin35 – that the collectors of D and O could have used S as their source. Therefore, Sharpe deduced the existence of a common archetype for all three collections, which he marked with the symbol Φ. However, the more recent investigations of the S manuscript led to the conclusion that its origins actually belong to circa 1300.36 Yet, the alleged chronological priority of D and O was not the only argument in favour of the existence of Φ that Sharpe has demonstrated. He analysed the O’Donohue texts in all three collections on a textual level, showing that the errors and misreadings that their editors had made while revising or copying Φ were of independent character.37 No one has ever undermined this view of Sharpe that the archetype Φ existed and was used – directly or indirectly – by the compilers of S, D and O independently; it is now a generally accepted conclusion. The other conclusions, however, regarding Φ were not so unanimously received. The reason for Sharpe to use the S versions of the O’Donohue Lives in his investigation was that he found them to be the closest to their Φ original. This opinion did not raise any criticism either; quite the contrary, similar suggestions had been proposed many times before Sharpe’s study by Plummer and Kenney. Plummer wrote about the ‘common origin’ of the Lives that are today defined as the O’Donohue group numerous times in passing.38 Kenney also expressed the same opinion with regard to a few Lives of this group.39

34 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 297-339. 35 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xvii; idem, ‘A tentative catalogue of Irish hagiography’, p. 246; Kenney, Sources, p. 405; D. Ó Corráin, ‘Foreign connections and domestic politics: Killaloe and the Uí Briain in twelfth-century hagiography’ in D. Whitelock, R. McKitterick, D. N. Dumville (ed.), Ireland in early mediaeval Europe. Studies in memory of Kathleen Hughes (Cambridge, 1982), pp 224-5. 36 See above, fn. 17. 37 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 311-18. 38 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xxvii, xxix, xliii-xliv, lvii, lxviii, lxx, lxxxvi-lxxxvii. 39 Kenney, Sources, pp 393-4. It is our duty to refer to Kenney, whose enormous work provided us with the largest compilation of data of the medieval ecclesiastical sources originated in Ireland. Yet, we need to bear in mind that Kenney’s conclusions and opinions about the dating or

26 The O’Donohue Lives in S are not entirely exceptional in being the nearest to their originals that are shared by D and O. The whole S codex has been described as the most ‘primitive’ and ‘conservative’ of all the three collections.40 Plummer and Kenney expressed only general opinions that the S collection contained the oldest material, comparing it to that preserved in the other two codices. Heist claimed that the ‘conservatism’ of S shows mainly in the types of miracles that were left intact in the text; the miracles that had been considered unimportant, incomprehensible or simply scandalous: the ‘abortion miracle’ performed by St Áed,41 St Cainnech vomiting gold42 or St Lugaid picking the lice out of an old man’s hair.43 Sharpe’s opinion about the conservatism of the compilers of S was even stronger than Heist’s. Heist allowed the compilers a certain extent of ‘editorial selection’, whilst Sharpe stood in the position that the process of editing S was simply ‘indiscriminate copying’.44 He argued that the character of the S collection shows that its collectors/copyists treated their sources without any editorial interest, and that they were copying what came to hand as it came to hand, regardless of its form, contents or the fact that they were copying more than one Life of the same saint, even if it covered the same ground in essentials. ‘This suggests,’ wrote Sharpe, ‘a catholic taste, preserving whatever was to hand, rather than any editorial selection.’45 The matters of S’s conservatism and the extent of it are crucial to the further understanding of Sharpe’s hypothesis regarding the date of the composition of the O’Donohue group. Sharpe, having identified the contents of this group, proceeded to analyse its language. He found some examples of obsolete Latin vocabulary, like the use of cortex (‘bark’ in the sense of

other characteristics of the sources he had listed are not to be trusted. He formed them basing purely on his intuition which, as the research of later historiography showed, often failed him. 40 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, passim; Kenney, Sources, pp 304-5; Heist, Vitae SS Hib., pp xi-xiii; 41 VAidi, c. 15. 42 VCainnechi, c. 53. 43 VLugidi, c. 7. 44 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., p. xxxix. He quoted there a marginal note of one of the correctors, opposite the scribe’s reading of the name ‘Moban’: alius liber habet Mobhi, which means that the editors of S were in possession of more than one copy of some of the Lives. Sharpe, however (Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 242-3) pointed out that the existence of such a note did not provide any evidence that the scribes had had more than one copy of the text, that it may have become available after the text was written or the author of the note may have referred to another Life in a completely different source. 45 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 243.

27 ‘vessel’),46 or of the old name of Derrynavlan (‘Daire Ethnech’),47 or of laici in the sense of Irish díbergach.48 Furthermore, he demonstrated that there were many examples of the Old Irish orthography preserved in the S spelling of proper and place names: - preservation in spelling of original vowels in unaccented closed final syllables (e.g. Coilboth); - preservation of the spelling o and e for long vowels (o:, e:) which were later replaced by the digraphs ua and ia (e.g. Toim Domnich, later Tuaim Domnaig); - the archaic use of oo and ee, also to represent long vowels (e.g. Acheth Boo); - preservation of the distinction between –th and –d (θ, ð) that by circa 700 were confused and later levelled to –d (e.g. Fithgente, Lugith).49

Hence, Sharpe claimed that the linguistic features of the O’Donohue Lives allow the assumption that they were composed most probably by circa 800, with a safety margin 750-850. The spelling that gives evidence of that was preserved thanks to ‘indiscriminate copying’ of the original that the compilers had been provided with by Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha. Furthermore, Sharpe believed that the text that had been borrowed from Ó Dúnchadha was the Φ collection itself. The Φ group might have been collected during the course of the ninth century, or even around 900, but the Lives – obviously – must have been written earlier. How much earlier, said Sharpe, he was not able to define. The matter of their precise dating lay beyond the scope of his study, therefore he called for the historical discussion of the O’Donohue Lives’ contents that would allow establishing the individual dates of their composition.

46 See chapter 4.3. 47 See F. Byrne, ‘Derrynavlan: the historical context’, R.S.A.I. Jn., 10 (1980), pp 116-126; also see chapter 4.3. 48 See R. Sharpe, ‘Hiberno-Latin laicus, Irish láech, and the devil’s men’ in Ériu, 30 (1979), pp 75-92. 49 Examples are quoted after Sharpe, who has drawn them from VLugidi; see Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 325-6.

28 Sharpe’s hypothesis has caused considerable debate among historians and has attracted both criticism and support. Pamela Sheingorn’s and Erich Poppe’s reviews of Sharpe’s study were thoroughly enthusiastic.50 Giovanni Orlandi found Sharpe’s dating ‘in principle incontestable’,51 but it was demonstrated by others that there were, in fact, contestable elements in it. Sharpe’s reliance on orthography was one of those opinions expressed by him that have not been generally accepted. John Carey pointed out that Sharpe, having built his case on the comparison of the spelling of the O’Donohue group with a series of spellings characteristic to the seventh and the eighth centuries, failed to do the same with the orthographic features of later periods.52 This objection has been further elaborated by Caoimhín Breatnach,53 who stated that ‘if orthographical features are to have any diagnostic significance for a given period, it must first be shown that such features pertain to that period alone’. He gave numerous examples from the thirteenth-century entries drawn mainly from the Annals of Inisfallen, containing similarities with the orthography of the place names within the O’Donohue group. These examples are taken from the section of the Annals of Inisfallen manuscript written in a number of different hands which it is presumed that were of Anglo-Norman provenance. Thus, if one accepts the theory of the Anglo-Norman provenance of S (Breatnach did not express inclination to any of the theories that had been formulated in this matter), Breatnach’s argument, supported by many examples, seems to undermine everything that Sharpe had written regarding the spelling features in the O’Donohue group; and these were, alongside the examples of obsolete vocabulary and anachronistic place names, his main arguments in favour of an early date for the collection of the O’Donohue group. However, it must be remembered that Sharpe had already pointed out that it was not only the orthography of the place names that was significant, but also the preservation of correct Old Irish inflexions or nasalisation after Latin neuter nouns (as if they

50 P. Sheingorn, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives in American Historical Review, 97 (1992), pp 1198-9; E. Poppe, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 44 (1993), pp 111-14. 51 G. Orlandi, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives in Camb. Med. Celt. Studies, 25 (1993), p. 101. 52 J. Carey, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives in Speculum, 68 (1993), p. 261. 53 C. Breatnach, ‘The significance of the orthography of Irish proper names in the Codex Salmanticensis’ in Ériu, 55 (2005), pp 85-101.

29 were Old Irish neuters). And, as argued further by Sharpe, it would have been difficult for Anglo-Norman scribes to arrive at those forms wholly accidentally.54 Yet Breatnach did not contest the other arguments offered by Sharpe regarding the dating of the O’Donohue group. He explicitly expressed that it cannot be excluded that Sharpe’s dating may be correct. He recalled Máire Herbert’s study of the Life of Cainnech55 as an example and he claimed that the dates of the other Lives of the group cannot be defined unless a historical analysis of their contents is performed. The most challenging argument against Sharpe’s dating of the O’Donohue group has been demonstrated by John Carey.56 He recalled an anecdote from the Life of Áed mac Bricc that involved sea raiders called Galli. The word Galli (Irish Gaill) came to be used in Ireland as a name for ‘Scandinavian foreigners’, as the annalistic entries show,57 from the second quarter of the ninth century onwards. Carey admitted that the O’Donohue group seems older than the other material in S, and also in the other collections; he – similarly to Breatnach – did not undermine the possibility that the Lives themselves may have been written before the ninth century, but for the group as a whole in his opinion such an early date could not be assigned. Some scholars felt disappointed that the only evidence that Sharpe presented for the dates of the composition of the O’Donohue Lives was merely linguistic. Michael Richter found it insufficient that there were no arguments based on other aspects of the O’Donohue Lives.58 Alfred Smyth, the author of the harshest critic that Sharpe received, pointed out that Sharpe failed to notice that almost all the O’Donohue Lives belong to the same geographical area, i.e. the southern Irish Midlands.59 Giovanni Orlandi, who expressed the full support towards Sharpe’s dating of the group, did not agree with him, however, in the matter of its transmission.60 He did not find it certain, as Sharpe did, that the manuscript of Φ had been a direct source for the compilers of S. Neither I am

54 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 332. 55 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, pp 31-40. 56 Carey, Review of Richard Sharpe, p. 262. 57 T.-M. Charles-Edwards (ed.), The Chronicle of Ireland, 2 vols (Liverpool, 2006), ii, 4; see chapter 5.8. 58 M. Richter, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives in I.H.S., 29 (1995), p. 390. 59 A. Smyth, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives in English Historical Review, 107 (1992), p. 677. 60 Orlandi, Review of Richard Sharpe, p. 101.

30 able to do that; there is just not enough evidence to claim that Φ remained untouched and unspoiled from the ninth century (or circa 900) until the time of the compilation of S circa 1300. We cannot exclude that the original material of Φ was subjected to further copying, redactions, editions. We have no proof that the collection that Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha lent to the compilers of S was in fact the manuscript of Φ. Yet, despite my lack of belief in the uninterrupted transmission of the original text of Φ, I trust that I found enough evidence to demonstrate that, even if Φ was subjected to serial redactions between 900 and 1300, it preserved much of its original form and contents. However, before I proceed to discussing this evidence, I would like to present a certain amount of information introducing us to the world of Irish medieval hagiography.

2. 3. The datable Lives

Of approximately one hundred and fifty Lives that are extant, a little more than a dozen have been assigned secure or plausible dates. These are: - Life of Brigit by Cogitosus (c. 650-690),61 - two Lives of Patrick by Muirchú and Tírechán (c. 670-700),62 - Life of Columba written by Adomnán around 700,63 - Vita prima sanctae Brigitae (not later than around 800),64 - Irish Life of Brigit (ninth century),65 - Irish Life of Adomnán (circa 960),66 - Life of Monenna by Conchubranus (eleventh century),67

61 S. Connolly, J.-M. Picard (trans.), ‘Cogitosus: Life of Brigit’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 117 (1987), pp 5- 27; R. Sharpe, ‘Vitae s. Brigitae: the oldest texts’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), pp 81-106; see below. 62 L. Bieler (ed. and trans.), The Patrician texts in the Book of Armagh, Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, 10 (Dublin, 1979); Binchy, ‘Patrick and his biographers’, pp 7-173; see below. 63 A. O. Anderson, M. O. Anderson (ed.), Adomnan’s Life of Columba (Edinburgh, London, 1961); M. Herbert, , Kells and Derry: the history and hagiography of the monastic familia of Columba (Oxford, 1988); see below. 64 S. Connolly (ed.), ‘Vita prima sanctae Brigitae’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 119 (1989), pp 5-49; K. McCone, ‘Brigit in the seventh century: a saint with three lives?’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), pp 107-45; see below. 65 D. Ó hAodha (ed.), Bethu Brigte (Dublin, 1978); 66 M. Herbert, P. Ó Riain (ed.), Betha Adamnáin (London, 1988); Herbert, Iona, Kells and Derry, pp 151-179. 67 M. Esposito, ‘The sources of Conchubranus’s life of St Monenna’ in E.H.R., 35 (1920), pp 71- 78; Ulster Society for Medieval Latin (ed. and trans.), ‘The Life of St Monnena by Conchubranus’ in Seanchas Ardmacha, 9 (1978-9), pp 250-75; 10.1 (1980-2), pp 117-141; 10.2

31 - Life of Maedóc (late eleventh century),68 - Irish Life of Colum Cille (around the middle of the twelfth century),69 - Life of Mochuille (in the 1160s),70 - Life of Flannán (also in the 1160s);71 - it has been suggested that the Life of Ciarán of Saigir may have been composed in the eighth century;72 - it has also been suggested that the origins of the Life of Baithéne, abbot of Iona, belong to the eighth century.73

There were also a few attempts at confirming Sharpe’s dating of some of the O’Donohue Lives, i.e. of VAlbei, VFintani, VAidi, VCainnechi and VColmani. The date of the composition of VAlbei has been suggested, but not thoroughly discussed;74 in the case of VFintani and VColmani, the secure dating requires much more elaborated discussion;75 the analysis of VAidi by Tschen- Emmons does not offer any reliable arguments.76 Only the dating of VCainnechi

(1982), pp 426-54. Esposito claimed that some section of this Life are copies of a seventh-century exemplar, but his argument was found insufficiently secure by later historians (see C. Harrington, Women in a Celtic church: Ireland 450 – 1150 (Oxford, 2002), p. 53). 68 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Maedoc, 141-63; C. N. L. Brooke, ‘St Peter of Gloucester and St Cadog of Llancarfan’ in N. K. Chadwick (ed.), Celt and Saxon: Studies in the early British border (Cambridge, 1963), pp 294-7. 69 A. O’Kelleher, G. Schoepperle (ed.), Manus O’Donnell’s Betha Colaim Cille (Urbana, Illinois, 1918); Herbert, Iona, Kells and Derry, pp 180-199. 70 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Mochullei, pp 410-13; D. Ó Corráin, ‘Foreign connections and domestic politics: Killaloe and the Uí Briain in twelfth-century hagiography’ in D. Whitelock, R. McKitterick, D. N. Dumville (ed.), Ireland in early medieval Europe (Cambridge, 1982), pp 213- 31. 71 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Flannani, pp 280-301; Ó Corráin, ‘Foreign connections and domestic politics’, pp 213-31. 72 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Ciarani, pp 346-53; I. Sperber, ‘The Life of St Ciarán of Saigir’ in W. Nolan, T. O’Neill (ed.), Offaly: history and society (Dublin, 1998), pp 131-51. 73 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., VitaBaithini, pp 379-82; T. M. Charles-Edwards, ‘Iona, abbots of’ in O.D.N.B.[29/08/2009]. 74 F. J. Byrne, ‘Derrynavlan: the historical context’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 10 (1980), p. 119; idem, ‘Church and politics c. 750 – c. 1100’ in N.H.I., i, 658-9; B. Schaffer, ‘Statements of power in the language of genealogy: St Ailbe’s roots’ in Quaestio Insularis, 5 (2004), pp 23-33; see chapter 3. 75 I. Sperber, ‘Late, and not of special distinction?: The misunderstood Life of St Fintan of Clonenagh’ in Ossory, Laois and Leinster, 1 (2004), pp 28-49; idem, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography (unpublished PhD dissertation, Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala, 2004) part D, pp 1-13; see below. 76 J. Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity: St. Aed mac Bricc and Ireland in Late Antiquity (unpublished PhD dissertation, California, Santa Barbara, 2003), see chapter 5.

32 found some recognition,77 although it also deserves a wider discussion of its context and its relation to some of the other Lives of the group. As some of the Lives, especially those dated to the early medieval period, are frequently referred to in the following chapters, for the convenience of my readers I would like to offer a summary of the scholarly discussion regarding their dating. Also the O’Donohue Lives that are not discussed in detail here, but have received some attentions of historians, will be summarised.

The Patrician dossier:

1) Vita Patricii by Muirchú The Life of Patrick by Muirchú is dedicated to Bishop Áed of Sléibte, who is commonly identified with the anchorite of this name, who died in 699 (700), according to the entry in the .78 This entry, therefore, provides a secure terminus ante quem for the composition of the Life. Previously, it had been believed that Muirchú’s work was chronologically earlier than Tírechán’s,79 but Bieler expressed doubts regarding this theory.80 It is now widely accepted that Vita Patricii by Muirchú, if not contemporary with Tírechán’s work, at least belongs to the same period of the late seventh century, when St Patrick’s cult and his association with the episcopal see in Armagh were being promoted.81 2) Collectanea by Tírechán Tírechán’s text is not, technically speaking, a Life (a story of a life of a saint, starting with birth, listing miracles and concluded with death), but an itinerary, or a list of memoranda concerning Patrick’s missions in numerous locations in Ireland. Tírechán declared himself to be a student of Bishop Ultán of Ardbraccan, who died in 657.82 Furthermore, he referred to mortalites

77 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, pp 31-40; see Breatnach, ‘The significance of the orthography of Irish proper names’, p. 101. 78 A.U.2 699; Chronicle of Ireland 700.2. 79 E. MacNeill, St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland (London, 1934), p. 97. 80 Bieler. The Patrician texts, p. 42. 81 R. Sharpe, ‘St Patrick and the see of Armagh’ in Camb. Med. Celt. Studies, 4 (1982), pp 33-59. 82 A.U.2 657.1; Chronicle of Ireland 657.1.

33 novissimas, ‘the most recent plagues’ and it is likely that he was describing the outbreaks of diseases recorded in the annals in the 680s.83 3) Liber angeli84 It is a short document, a statement of the claims of Armagh to territorial and ecclesiastical supremacy over Ireland, described as a vision that St Patrick experienced and the instructions that he received from an angel. Several studies were devoted to the date of the composition of Liber angeli. Firstly, it was suggested that the document had been composed around 734, that is, around the year in which the relics of SS Peter, Paul and Patrick circulated Ireland on the occasion of promulgating the Law of Patrick.85 Ludwig Bieler was convinced that Liber angeli cannot be earlier than the beginning of the eighth century.86 However, Thomas O’Rahilly and James Carney have come to entirely different conclusions and suggested that Liber angeli must have been known to Tírechán, therefore it was written before 680s.87 Over twenty years later, Sharpe elaborated their arguments.88 4) The Tripartite Life of Patrick It is a long, three-book text, mostly in Irish, but with many Latin passages and interpolations. Its most modern editor, Kathleen Mulchrone, dated the origins of this text to circa 900,89 but later this date has been undermined by numerous scholars. Gearóid Mac Eoin, having based on the references to the history of Munster that he identified in the text, proposed the terminus post quem around 940.90 Frederick Mac Donncha has pushed the date of the Tripartite Life’s composition to an even later point and claimed that its extant shape

83 A.U.2 664.2, 680.9, 683.4; Chronicle of Ireland 664.2, 680.10, 683.4; see C. Doherty, ‘The cult of St Patrick and the politics of Armagh in the seventh century’ in J.-M. Picard (ed.), Ireland and northern France in the Middle Ages (Dublin, 1991), pp 69-70. 84 A full summary of the historiography relating to Liber angeli may be found in Dumville, St Patrick: A.D. 493 – 1993, pp 255-8. 85 H. Zimmer, ‘Keltische Beiträge III’ in Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, 35 (1891), pp 76-80 (quoted after R. Sharpe, ‘Armagh and Rome in the seventh century’ in P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (ed.), Ireland and Europe: the early church (Stuttgart, 1984), p. 60); see also chapter 3. 5. 86 L. Bieler, ‘The Celtic hagiographer’ in Studia Patristica, 5 (1959), pp 252-3; idem, The Patrician texts, p. 54. 87 T. F. O’Rahilly, Review of Ludwig Bieler, The life and legend of St Patrick in I.H.S., 8 (1952- 3), p. 273; J. Carney, The problem of St Patrick (Dublin, 1961), p. 46. 88 Sharpe, ‘Armagh and Rome in the seventh century’, pp 58-72. 89 Bethu Phátraic, pp 260-1. 90 G. Mac Eoin, ‘The dating of Middle Irish texts’ in Proceedings of the British Academy, 68 (1982), pp 115, 127-34.

34 originated circa 1100.91 In Kenneth Jackson’s discussion, based mainly on the linguistic evidence, it has been concluded that the Tripartite Life was most probably written in the second half of the tenth century.92 Byrne originally suggested the date circa 830, but he later revised his opinion assuming that the text was reworked in the tenth century.93 Therefore, there is no consensus regarding the date of this Life, although there were many attempts at establishing it.

The Brigitine texts:

1) Vita Brigitae by Cogitosus (Vita secunda) This Life of Brigit, although placed as the second in Colgan’s edition of St Brigit’s Lives (hence it is sometimes referred to as Vita secunda), might be the earliest extant text related to this saint. The author of the Life, Cogitosus, is mentioned by Muirchú in his Vita Patricii as his father (we understand it that he regarded Cogitosus as his spiritual father); therefore Vita Brigitae must be earlier than Vita Patricii. As it is equally possible that Cogitosus might have been an older cleric who had written the Life shortly before Muirchú wrote his text, or that Cogitosus was someone who has recently (from the perspective of Muirchú) deceased but had written his book considerably earlier, the possible dates of the composition of Vita Brigitae run from around 650 to 690.94 2) Vita I Brigitae The dating of this Life involved efforts of many researchers, and – although all agree that the text is early – there is no agreement regarding the precise dates of its origin. Mario Esposito was the first to claim that Vita I is earlier than the Life by Cogitosus. He based his belief on the information that is preserved in the so called ‘Rheims Prologue’ (dated to 816-35) that there had been three authors of St Brigit’s Lives: Ultán, Ailerán and Cogitosus. Esposito assumed that one of the forerunners of Cogistosus, Ultán or Ailerán, was the

91 F. Mac Donncha, ‘Dáta Vita Tripartita sancti Patricii’ in Éigse, 18 (1980-1), pp 125-42 ; 19 (1982-3), pp 354-72. 92 K. Jackson, ‘The date of the Tripartite Life of St Patrick’ in Z.C.P., 41 (1986), pp 5-45. 93 ‘Two lives of St Patrick: Vita secunda and Vita quarta’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 124 (1994), p. 7; idem, Irish kings and high-kings (rev. ed. 2001), p. xviii. 94 Sharpe, ‘Vitae s. Brigitae: the oldest texts’, pp 86-7; Connolly, ‘Cogitosus’s Life of St Brigit’, p. 5.

35 author of Vita I.95 Bieler was one of the followers of Esposito’s theory, although he claimed that the conclusion of the Life was a later addition.96 In 1982, Sharpe supported this claim that Cogitosus must have been familiar with the text of Vita I.97 However, other scholars formulated quite an opposite opinion that it was the author of Vita I that had been borrowing from Cogitosus, and not vice versa. Donncha Ó hAodha suggested that Vita I had been influenced by the legend of St Patrick, and more, it was an advanced form of this legend that had an impact on Vita I.98 Kim McCone agreed that Vita I was a later source than the text written by Cogitosus. Although his approach to the problem differed significantly from that of Ó hAodha, and was more similar to Sharpe’s, his conclusions were exactly opposite to those presented by Sharpe: through the analysis of the texts of Vita Brigitae by Cogitosus and Vita I he concluded that the former must have been known to the author of the latter text.99 Nevertheless, no one has dated Vita I to a later period than the second half of the eighth century. 3) Bethu Brigte The Irish Life of Brigit has been identified by its editor, Ó hAodha, as a ninth-century text,100 and this dating is widely accepted. Furthermore, the similarities between Bethu Brigte and Vita I led to a conclusion that both these texts must derive from a common source that is frequently referred to by historians as the ‘Primitive Life’. As described above, Esposito claimed that Vita I itself was the ‘Primitive Life’ from which the author of Bethu Brigte was borrowing, but McCone demonstrated that Vita I and Bethu Brigte derived from a common source independently rather than one from the other.101

95 M. Esposito, ‘On the early Latin lives of St ’ in Hermathena, 24 (1935), pp 125-30. 96 L. Bieler, ‘Recent research on Irish hagiography’ in Studies, 35 (1946), pp 536-8. 97 Sharpe, ‘Vitae s. Brigitae: the oldest texts’, 91-105; Davit Howlett (‘Vita I sanctae Brigitae’ in Chronicon: an electronic history journal, 1 (1997) http://www.ucc.ie/chronicon/contents.html [24/04/2009]), through a detailed analysis of several passages in the Life by Cogitosus and Vita I, came to the same conclusion as Sharpe’s; Charles Edwards (‘Brigit’ in O.D.N.B. [04/09/2009]) also seems to support Sharpe’s opinion. 98 D. Ó hAodha (ed.), Bethu Brigte (Dublin, 1978), pp xvii-xxv. 99 McCone, ‘Brigit in the seventh century’, pp 111-16. 100 Ó hAodha, Bethu Brigte, pp iii-xxv. 101 McCone, ‘Brigit in the seventh century’, p. 16.

36 Adomnán’s Life of St Columba

Fortunately, this Life can be dated very precisely. Adomnán was an abbot of Iona from 679 to 704.102 The scribe of the oldest copy of the text that we now possess died within the decade of the death of Columba’s hagiographer.103 Therefore, not only we are able to date the Life precisely within the time of Adomnán’s activity in Iona, but we are also in possession of one of the first copies of the text.104

Two O’Donohue Lives

There are two O’Donohue Lives that have been already discussed by scholars and that are not going to be presented in this thesis in detail: the Life of Fintan of Clonenagh and the Life of Cainnech of Aghaboe. 1) Vita Fintani Ingrid Sperber has described many features of this Life and proposed a tentative dating.105 Sperber’s article is written as a polemic against the note of James Kenney on Fintan’s Life. He described this text in a dismissively short assessment as ‘late and not of special distinction’.106 In her analysis, Sperber proposed the date 732. This dating has been based on an anecdote, in which Fintan performs a prophetic miracle of seeing contemporary occurrences from a great distance, i.e. ‘a battle fought in the southern part of Munster and hell being filled with souls of sinners’.107 Sperber’s claim is that that battle may be identified as one between Uí Cennselaig and Munster in 730s.108 However, I cannot find Sperber’s arguments convincing. The reflexes of political context in VFintani are so feeble and obscure that in my opinion it is not possible to make assumptions based on them without too much of guesswork.

102 A.U.2 679.1, 704.2; Chronicle of Ireland 679.1, 704.4. 103 Herbert, Iona, Kells and Derry, pp 12-13. 104 MS Generalia 1 (A), Stadtbibliothek Schaffhausen, Switzerland; see J.-M. Picard, ‚The Schaffhausen Adomnán: a unique witness to Hiberno-Latin’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), pp 216-49. 105 I. Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, PhD dissertation, Uppsala Universitet (Uppsala, 2004), part B, pp 1-22; the chapter on St Fintan was also printed as an article: I. Sperber, ‘Late, and not of special distinction?: The misunderstood Life of St Fintan of Clonenagh’ in Ossory, Laois and Leinster, 1 (2004), pp 28-49. 106 Kenney, Sources, p. 386. 107 VFintani, c. 8. 108 A.U. 2 732.12; Chronicle of Ireland 732.13.

37 The political context of the Life is just not the best trail to follow. However, VFintani brings forward much more information on other aspects: exchange and cooperation with other ecclesiastical sites of the region, o then moral and intellectual milieux contemporary to the time of composing the Life. Sperber did not discuss the intriguing triangular connection between the churches of Clonenagh, Kildare and Terryglass that emerges from the annalistic entries; neither did she exhaust the matter of the Céli Dé influences apparent in the text of VFintani. Thus, further investigation on this Life is required. 2) Vita Cainnechi Máire Herbert presented a study of this Life with the main focus on its textual relation to the Life of Columba by Adomnán. She recounted a number of shared motifs and noticed a clearly polemical character of VCainnechi against Columba (or, presumably, rather his eighth-century community and its secular protectors). This polemic has been linked by Herbert109 with the conflict between Domnall Mac Murchada’s sons (circa 765), Donnchad and Murchad who competed for control over the southern Uí Néill lands.110 Domnall Mac Murchada was the first king of Tara of the Clann Cholmáin Móir lineage after a long period of the Síl nÁedo Sláne dominance. He undoubtedly was a strong ally of the Iona successors of St Columba, as is reflected by his proclamation of a church-state legal measure called the Lex Columbae Cille in 753.111 Domnall was also allied with Follomon, a head of the Colmán Bec lineage.112 After the death of Domnall in 763,113 his sons fought amongst themselves. Follomon of the Caílle Follamain, i.e. the line of Colmán Bec, took the side of Donnchad, son of Domnall, and helped him to gain power over his brothers in 765. Yet he received no reward for his loyalty, and he was murdered the next year (the annalistic sources suggest that Donnchad himself was involved in that killing).114 But the alliance of Clann Cholmáin and the Columban community survived, and Donnchad enjoyed their great support in spite of his treacherous deeds. ‘This state of affairs, therefore, appears as a likely catalyst for the critical attitude of the Vita Cainnechi towards the Columban community’, states

109 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, p. 37. 110 A.U.2 765.5; Chronicle of Ireland 765.5. 111 A.U.2 753.4; Chronicle of Ireland 753.4. 112 A.U.2 733.7; Chronicle of Ireland, 733.9. 113 A.U.2 763.1; Chronicle of Ireland 763.1. 114 A.U.2 766.2; Chronicle of Ireland 766.2.

38 Herbert.115 Thus, the date of the composition of VCainnechi may be placed, according to Herbert’s argument, circa 763. Herbert is certainly correct in underlining the polemical character of VCainnechi as a possible dating factor. However, the discussion of the background details is cut to a minimum. Also, she only suggested and did not elaborate on another interesting issue that VCainnechi raises, i.e. the matter of its relation to the Life of Áed mac Bricc (VAidi). She pondered the possibility that the author of VCainnechi borrowed some material from VAidi, yet she did not offer arguments supporting this case. In the chapter devoted to the Life of Áed, I shall discuss this possibility.116

115 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, p. 38. 116 See chapter 5.7.

39 CHAPTER 3: VITA SANCTI ALBEI

3. 1. Ailbe’s Lives

Albeus sanctus episcopus, sanctorum virorum Munnensium preses sive pater beatissimus et Ybernie insule alter Patricius...1

VAlbei, the text that opens the series of the Lives identified as the O’Donohue group, is quite exceptional in comparison with the others of the group. Unlike any other, this Life seems to reflect its author’s involvement in events of contemporary political context in quite an evident way. The very first sentence, quoted above, indicates the hagiographer’s biased attitude which is developed further in the Life in more detail: Ybernie insule alter Patricius, ‘the other Patrick of Ireland’. St Ailbe is shown as Patrick’s contestant from the very first words of his Life. We shall see later how this concept is further revealed in VAlbei. VAlbei has been identified as a part of the O’Donohue group by Sharpe in 1991, and for the last twenty years no one has undermined this identification. But we need to remember that this Life was not included in the group as defined by Heist. Sharpe, however, claimed that VAlbei should also be included, as it appears on the leaves that had presumably remained empty and preceded the gathering that was intended to be filled with the Lives which were to be obtained from Diarmait Ó Dúnchadha. The colophon informing the reader that ‘these gatherings were lent by Brother Diarmait Ó Dúnchadha’ appears at the beginning of the new gathering, which starts with VLugidi. The description of the manuscript by Sharpe appears convincing. However, one of the outcomes of the research undertaken towards this thesis was that VAlbei is missing textual links with other Lives from the O’Donohue group, while the others have them in plenty. Before this crucial point – the question of the Life’s belonging to the O’Donohue group – is reconsidered, it is necessary

1 VAlbei, c. 1.

40 that we have an insight into the group as a whole. Therefore, this phenomenon shall be discussed in chapter 8, which summarises the results of all the investigated texts.

VAlbei has been published only in Heist’s edition of S; Plummer’s edition was based mainly on D and partly on O. However, Plummer argued that all three recensions of the Life of Ailbe (S, D and O) had a common original, and also that the version in S (named VAlbei in this chapter) seemed to preserve the earliest form .2 Plummer’s view on the existence of the common original for all three versions is fully justified. In fact, the text of Ailbe’s Life is mostly the same in all three codices. Versions from D and O omit a few details, such as names of persons and places, and several whole sections,3 but in general these manuscripts contain the same text as is in S. The Bollandists published a short study of this Life,4 but they did not edit any of the versions of Ailbe’s Life. Thus, the edition by Heist presents the earliest extant form of the text. There is also one Irish Life of Ailbe, preserved in two seventeenth- century manuscripts (RIA Stowe MS no. 9, pp 97 ff. and Brussels, MS 2324-40, f. 139 ff.), which are both transcriptions of the same lost source. The dates of the composition of this Life have not yet been investigated, although Plummer described the text as ‘late’ because of the use of early Modern Irish forms like siolla (in Old Irish – cell, a word appearing within translation of the twenty eighth chapter of VAlbei from the Latin word cella, ‘church’5). Plummer identified this text as an abbreviated Irish translation of the D version of the Life.6 According to Plummer, it differs from the Latin text only by some omissions and abbreviations,7 which indicates that the text had been treated in a faithful way during its (probably numerous) transmissions, yet it seems to be too late to be of any use in our investigations.

2 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib. i, xxix; see chapter 2.2. 3 Missing names: VAlbei S, cc 37, 46 versus D/O, cc 32, 38; omitted chapters: S, cc 23, 26, 27, 38, 41, 44; there is also a whole section of chapters in a different order: see S, cc 23-32 and D/O, cc 21-28. 4 Acta SS, September 4, 26 ff. 5 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib. i, xxix. 6 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib. i, xxx. 7 This Life has been published in The Irish Rosary, 16 (1912) (reference after Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 390).

41 Another early medieval text associated with Ailbe’s name is the Rule of St Ailbe.8 However, in spite of this association, it is hardly possible that it was really Ailbe who had written this rule. The language of the text is defined as belonging to the Old Irish period (700 – 950).9 Eoin de Bhaldraithe suggested the existence of two rules of Ailbe,10 one originating circa 850 and the other preserved in interpolations to the first text. Yet none of the extant versions of the Rule offer either a clear association with the church of or any precise dating criteria. None of the Lives of Ailbe indicate his association with the Rule either. It might be the case that the original Life (that is, hypothetically, S Life) which later became the basis for all the versions (i. e. D and O versions and – indirectly – the Irish text), had been written earlier than the Rule and, therefore, did not contain any information about it. It is also possible that the association of Ailbe with the Rule was made some time after both the Life and the Rule had been written. Thus, we cannot found the dating of VAlbei on the argument based on the absence of the Rule in Ailbe’s Lives. The vernacular ‘Litany of Pilgrim Saints’11 is yet another early medieval document containing two mentions of Ailbe, namely two invocations addressed to him as an overseas voyager. Kathleen Hughes suggested that the text may have been written circa 800,12 and Máire Herbert agreed with this dating.13 It is important to notice that VAlbei includes three chapters associating Ailbe with sea-voyaging;14 therefore, this might be one of the occurrences in VAlbei that is consistent with other texts originating around 800. However, the consensus regarding the dating of the Litany has not been achieved. Sarah Sanderlin identified several Middle Irish features in this text, which she defined as ‘early’

8 J. O’Neill (ed. and trans.), ‘The Rule of ’ in Ériu, 3 (1907), pp 92-115; U. Ó Maidín (trans.), ‘The Rule of Ailbe’ in idem (ed.), The Celtic monk: rules and writings of early Irish monks (Kalamazoo, 1996), pp 17-27. 9 O’Neill , ‘The Rule of Ailbe of Emly’, p. 93; Kenney, Sources, p. 315. 10 E. de Bhaldraithe, ‘A community rule for the monastery of Emly’ in Hallel, 15 (1987), pp 53- 61. 11 C. Plummer (ed.), Irish litanies, Henry Bradshaw Society, 62 (London, 1925; reprint Woodbridge, 1992), pp 60-7. 12 K. Hughes, ‘On an Irish Litany of Pilgrim Saints compiled c. 800’ in Anal. Bolland, 77 (1959), pp 305-31. 13 M. Herbert, ‘Literary sea-voyages and early Munster hagiography’ in R. Black, W. Gillies, R. Ó Maolalaigh (ed.), Celtic connections: proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Celtic Studies, i, Language, literature, history, culture (East Lothian, 1999), pp 182-9, on p. 183. 14 VAlbei, cc 4, 49, 54.

42 and belonging to circa 900.15 Sanderlin partially reconciled with Hughes’s dating by admitting that certain features of the Litany did indeed belong to an earlier period – like the use of the word gall in its meaning predating the arrival of the Vikings16 or the appearance of the three-fold martyrdom motif, otherwise known from the seventh-century .17 So it seems that the Litany can neither undermine nor confirm the early date for VAlbei.

The early date (circa 800) for VAlbei was first suggested by Kim McCone in 198418 and, subsequently, by Sharpe in 1991.19 McCone was the first to note a strong anti-Patrician character of the Life. Sharpe included VAlbei amongst the O’Donohue Lives, dated to circa 800 (what may not have been a correct assumption, as already indicated above). There were no earlier attempts at undermining Kenney’s view that this life was ‘late and artificial’: ‘It can hardly be assigned to a date earlier than the twelfth century. Nor is there anything to indicate that it represents a redaction of a much earlier text’, wrote Kenney.20 Kenney, however, made assumptions about the dates with no specific foundation, as already noticed by Sharpe,21 so his suggestions need to be disregarded. Naturally, modern scholars are generally inclined to follow Sharpe rather than Kenney in the matter of dating of VAlbei.22 However, there is no agreement regarding more precise dating. Four scholars attempted to suggest more specific dates for the composition of VAlbei, and almost all of them came to different conclusions: Máire Herbert and Kim McCone suggested that Ailbe’s life had probably been written during the reign of Cathal mac Findguine as king of Munster (721-42); McCone also mentioned the rule of Feidlimid mac Crimthainn (d. 847);23 Francis John Byrne hinted that the life in question may have been

15 S. Sanderlin, ‘The date and provenance of the Litany of Irish Saints-II’ in R.I.A. Proc. (C), 75 (1975), pp 251-3. 16 See pp 30, 142-4. 17 On the Cambrai Homily see C. Stancliffe, ‘Red, white and blue martyrdom’ in D. Whitelock, R. McKitterick, D. N. Dumville (ed.), Ireland in early mediaeval Europe. Studies in memory of Kathleen Hughes (Cambridge, 1982), pp 21-46. 18 McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’, pp 50-1. 19 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives, pp 297-339. 20 Kenney, Sources, pp 314-15. 21 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives, p. 82. 22 Herbert, ‘Literary sea-voyages’, pp 182-9; Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 97, 162 (in passing); Byrne, ‘Church and politics c. 750 – c. 1100’, pp 658-9 (see below). 23 Herbert, ‘Literary sea-voyages’, p. 182; McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’, pp 50- 1.

43 linked to the proclamation of the so-called Law of Ailbe in 784;24 Bridgitte Schaffer claimed that VAlbei had been written around 793 – the year of the renewed proclamation of the Law of Ailbe.25 (For the details of those discussions see below.)

3. 2. Pre-Patrician Ailbe

There is not much information about Ailbe, apart from his Lives. His name is mentioned in the Irish saints’ genealogies: in the list of the names of Irish bishops (Book of Leinster)26 and in the list of priests (sacerdotibus – also in the Book of Leinster).27 His genealogy occurs in four places,28 and it always mentions his father Olcnais (although his name is written in different spellings29). The name derives from ‘ol-chú’ (Old Irish ‘great hound’) and it was – alongside the story about Ailbe having been fostered by a she-wolf30 – a basis for McCone’s supposition that Ailbe was ‘a Christianised version of a pagan hound guardian of the Otherworld’.31 A name of Ailbe’s mother, Sant, appears twice in the genealogical lists of saints’ mothers,32 which are to be found in numerous manuscripts (Book of Leinster, Laud Miscellany 610, Book of Lecan and others33). Ailbe’s name is also to be found in a short poem on a margin of the in the Book of Leinster,34 where the regions of Ireland are ascribed to the protection of particular saints: the lands of the Uí Néill are, according to this poem, under the protection of St Columba, belongs to St Finnian, Connacht to St Ciarán. Dál Riata is attributed to St , Leinster to St Brigit, and finally Munster to Ailbe. The final verse acknowledges St Patrick’s supremacy over the whole of Ireland with all its regions. We need to keep the

24 Byrne, ‘Derrynavlan: the historical context’, p. 119; idem, ‘Church and politics c. 750 – c. 1100’, pp 658-9. 25 Schaffer, ‘Statements of power’, pp 23-33. 26 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib. 704.22. 27 Ibid., 705.73, 705.192. 28 Ibid., 135, 436, 486, 662.190. 29 Olcan, Olchan, Olchon, Colcan. 30 VAlbei, cc 1-2. 31 McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’ lives’, p. 50. 32 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib. 191.2, 722.59. 33 For the full list of the manuscripts, see Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., p. lxi. 34 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib.729.

44 existence of this poem in mind, as it fits well with the way the author of VAlbei describes Ailbe – as an independent head of the church of Emly, equal in his authority to St Patrick, at least in the territory of Munster. Félire Oengusso contains two entries on Ailbe, under the dates 12 September and 30 December,35 supplemented with the Middle Irish glosses. Ailbe’s name also appears in the genealogies of the Dál Cairpri Arad, allegedly of the Ulster origins,36 whose territory was located in Cliu (modern Counties Limerick and Tipperary),37 thus known as the Arada Cliach. Those genealogies are to be found in the manuscripts Rawlinson B 502 and the Book of Leinster.38 Ailbe is associated with the church of Emly (Irish Imlech) in almost all the entries in the corpus of genealogies, and there is no alternative church site to which he is attached. VAlbei also shows Ailbe’s association with Emly which is pointed out by an angel to Ailbe as the place of his resurrection.39 Therefore, Emly is the only church recorded as Ailbe’s foundation. It is located in modern county Tipperary (eastern Munster), i.e. in the same area where Ailbe reputedly was born. In the Annals of Ulster there are three entries about Ailbe, all reporting his death, under the years 527, 534 and 542.40 Whichever of these years may have credibility, it conflicts with the portrayal of Ailbe’s presence in Ireland before the time of St Patrick:

‘Palladius came to Ireland, many years before Patrick, to plant faith in God (...) When Palladius had come to the people of Munster, he found the boy Albeus praying in western Clíu. For the boy, burning with a natural goodness inside his heart, he came closer to heaven by asking to be shown the true faith and how heaven and earth were made, and who made the creatures. (...) So when the boy saint Ailbe prayed this prudent

35 Fél. Oeng., pp 194, 206-7, 255, 262-3. 36 Schaffer, ‘Statements of power’, p. 24. 37 E. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum Locorum et Tribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae (Dublin, London, 1910), p. 331. 38 O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib. 119 a 13, 316 a 7. 39 VAlbei, c. 34. 40 A.U.2 527.4, 534.2, 542.2; Chronicle of Ireland, 527.8, 534.2, 542.2.

45 prayer, Palladius (...) greeted him and, according to his heart’s desire, he taught him about all those things, and he baptised him.’41

This story does not depict Ailbe actually teaching and evangelising the people of Ireland before the arrival of St Patrick, but this phrase multis annis ante Patricium invites us to assume that the author of the Life intended to convey the fact of Ailbe being a missionary before St Patrick’s arrival. This underlining of Ailbe’s chronological priority is a very significant feature of his Life. The whole text seems to have been intended as an attempt at diminishing Patrick’s spiritual authority in Munster and so does the story of Ailbe being – presumably – chronologically first to evangelise Munster lands. The idea of Ailbe being a pre-Patrician missionary appears not only in Ailbe’s Life; there are also passages in other Lives, mentioning Ailbe, together with a number of other saints, teaching Irish people the faith before the time of St Patrick. One of these passages is late, preserved in Archbishop James Ussher’s seventeenth-century copy of a fourteenth-century manuscript, which is not extant. In quoting that passage, Archbishop Ussher initiated in Irish historiography the discussion about possible pre-Patrician saints. Ussher’s quotation derives from a chapter from the Life of St Déclán of Ardmore:

‘Before Patrick, there were four bishops with their students in Ireland, praising in it [and converting many] to Christ; they were Ailbe, Déclán, Ibar and Ciarán.’42

Another Life containing similar information is that of St Ciarán of Saigir (a date of late eighth century has been suggested for the composition of this text):43

41 VAlbei, c. 3, pp. 118-9: (…) venit Palladius ad Hyberniam insulam, multis annis ante Patricium, ut ibi fidem Dei seminaret. (…) Cum autem venisset Palladius ad Munnenses, invenit puerum Albeum in oratione in oriente Cliach. Puer enim, naturali bono instinctus in corde suo, sursum aspiciebat in celum et rogabat ut ostenderetur ei vera credulitas, quomodo factum est celum et terra, quis fecit creaturas.(…) Cum ergo hanc prudentem orationem sanctus puer Albeus orasset, Palladius (…) salutavit illum et, secundum sui cordis desiderium, docuit eum de hiis omnibus et baptizavit illum. 42 J. Ussher, Britannicarum ecclesiarum antiquitates (Dublin, 1639), p. 781.

46

‘Meanwhile, the Christian faith was thriving in Ireland, for three other holy bishops were preaching there before St Patrick’s arrival, namely bishop Ailbe (...), likewise the holy bishop Ibar and the most blessed bishop Déclán (...).44

Richard Sharpe’s article45 explored in detail the issue of pre-Patrician saints. Kim McCone devoted a few paragraphs to the subject.46 Also Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel investigated it,47 however focusing mainly on the Life of St Déclán of Ardmore and its possible connections with the Schottenklöster, the monasteries of Irish provenance in southern Germany, governed mainly by Munster abbots from the early twelfth century. It has been noted that the prologue to a fragmentary Life of Patrick, preserved in one of the Schottenklöster in Austria, also mentions pre-Patrician saints. Ó Riain-Raedel suggests that in the case of Déclán’s Life there is an analogy with Ailbe’s hagiographer claiming the superiority of Ailbe’s authority in Munster over that of St Patrick. She pointed out that the Life of Déclán, which seems to belong to a late twelfth-century context, might be regarded as a tool of propaganda in the context of the diocesan organisation taking place at that time. The church of Ardmore was probably trying to obtain its own diocese and the Life of Déclán, as well as the Austrian version of the Life of St Patrick (both containing information about the pre- Patrician saints) were means to claim this authority. Ó Riain-Raedel has not, however, assigned any dates to VAlbei, but merely noticed the pattern that those two Lives (i.e. VAlbei and the Life of Déclán) share: the use of propaganda in order to undermine Patrick’s authority for the sake of bringing out the prominence of another saint.

43 It has already been claimed by Kenney that the Life of Ciarán was of ‘considerable antiquity’ (Kenney, Sources, p. 316). More recently, Sperber suggested that the Life had been written in the late eighth century (Sperber, ‘The Life of St Ciarán of Saigir’, pp 131-51). 44 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib. i, Vita Ciarani de Saigir, c. 7: Interea fides Christiana crescebat in Hybernia, quia alii tres sancti episcopi ante aduentum Patricii predicabant in ea ; id est Ailbeus episcopus (…); similiter sanctus Ybarus episcopus, et beatissimus episcopus Declanus (…) (trans. Sperber, ‘The Life of St Ciarán of Saigir’, p. 138). 45 R. Sharpe, ‘Quatuor Sanctissimi Episcopi: Irish saints before St Patrick’ in L. Breatnach, K. McCone, D. Ó Corráin (ed.), Sages, saints and storytellers: Celtic studies in honour of Professor James Carney (Maynooth, 1989), pp 376-99. 46 McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’ Lives’, pp 52-5. 47 D. Ó Riain-Raedel, ‘The question of the ‘pre-Patrician’ saints of Munster’ in M. A. Monk, J. Sheehan (ed.), Early medieval Munster. Archaeology, history and society (Cork, 1998), pp 17-22.

47 Considering the matter of pre-Patrician saints, the widely accepted conclusions are that there are no reliable sources proving that those four saints had really been active before St Patrick’s time. The annalistic entries for Ailbe contradict this hypothesis and all the sources which present this problematic information (VAlbei – circa 800,48 the Life of Ciarán – suggested date of the late eighth century, the Life of St Déclán – probably the twelfth century) are too late to derive from them any results in this matter. This does not mean there was no evangelisation in Ireland before St Patrick. Quite the contrary, there is archaeological evidence of ogham stones as well as the evidence of place names, seeming to confirm the distribution of before the mission of St Patrick.49 Furthermore, there is the testimony of Prosper of Aquitaine in his Chronicle for the year 431 that ‘Palladius, having been ordained by Pope Celestine, is sent, as their first bishop, to the Irish, who believe in Christ’.50 Regardless of the whole discussion on Palladius’s mission in Ireland – his identity and his problematic priority to St Patrick’s activity – that information, given by Prosper of Aquitaine, quite securely confirms that there were Christians in Ireland before Palladius and/or St Patrick came there. However, it is not possible to assume that Ailbe and other abovementioned saints were acting at the time of the in the first half of the fifth century. It seems more possible, as both Richard Sharpe and Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel assume, that the claims found in the dossiers of SS Ailbe, Déclán, Ibar and Ciarán reflect the promotion of those saints’ priority over St Patrick, which is evidenced in the references to Patrician hagiography that those texts contain. The issue of Patrician reflexes in VAlbei will be explored in more detail below. Regarding the issue of Ailbe’s claimed chronological priority over Patrick it is important to note that the author of VAlbei ascribes some features and attributes to Ailbe that are characteristics of Moses. Ailbe was left in the

48 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives, pp 303-5. For further details see below. 49 L. Laing, ‘The Romanisation of Ireland in the fifth century’ in Peritia, 4 (1985), pp 257-60; D. McManus, A guide to ogam (Maynooth, 1991), pp 19-20; L. de Paor, Saint Patrick’s world: the Christian culture of Ireland’s apostolic age (Dublin, 1993), p. 35; C. Swift, Ogham stones and the earliest Irish Christians (Maynooth, 1997). 50 Prosper of Aquitaine, Chronicon, in T. Mommsen (ed.), M.G.H. Chronica Minora, i (Berlin, 1892; reprint 1962), pp 341-501. For the discussion of Palladius’s mission to Ireland and the question of ‘two Patricks’, see T. M. Charles-Edwards, ‘Palladius, Prosper and Leo the Great: mission and primatial authority’ in Dumville (ed.), Saint Patrick, A. D. 493 – 1993, pp 1-12; D. Ó Cróinín, ‘Who was Palladius, “first bishop of the Irish”?’ in Peritia, 14 (2000), pp 205-37.

48 wild as a small baby,51 he climbed the mountain in order to pray there and a cloud descended on that mountain from the sky,52 he opened the waters of the sea to let him and all his people cross it,53 fountains spouted on a touch of his staff,54 God answered his prayers for food with a shower of fruit ‘of the manna’s likeness’.55 In the Middle Ages, Moses was regarded as the precursor of , a type and an omen of Christ.56 It might have been that the hagiographer recalled those images of Moses’s life in VAlbei to underline again that as Moses had been a forerunner of Jesus, Ailbe was a forerunner of Patrick.

3. 3. Ailbe’s childhood

The account in VAlbei of the saint’s childhood contains a few unusual elements that exceed the typical portrayal of the early days of a saint in medieval hagiography. According to this text, Ailbe was born in the kingdom of Artraige (modern Co. Tipperary).57 His father, Olcú (S – Olcnais), slept with a cumal, a female slave called Sant, who belonged to Cronan, king of Artraige, following which she got pregnant. King Cronan was outraged over this insult; by sleeping with his cumal, Olcú violated the king’s property. According to Old Irish law58 Olcú should have been the one solely responsible for raising the child; there is no information about any additional charges or punishments for a wrongdoer. Yet,

51 Exodus 2:3-5; VAlbei, c. 1. 52 Exodus 24 :12-16; VAlbei, c. 8. 53 Exodus 14 :15-22; VAlbei, c. 22. 54 Exodus 17:5-7; VAlbei cc 18, 41. 55 Exodus 16:4-31; VAlbei, c. 12. 56 E. L. Allen, ‘Jesus and Moses in the New Testament’ in The Expository Times, 67/4 (1956), pp 104-6; R. F. O’Toole, ‘The parallels between Jesus and Moses’ in Biblical Theology Bulletin: a journal of Bible and Theology, 20/1 (1990), pp 22-9. 57 VAlbei, c. 1: in regione Artrigi. The second sentence of the chapter says that Ailbe ex orientali parte regionis Cliach oriundus fuit (‘was born/derived from the western land of Cliu’). This led to Herbert’s understanding (‘Literary sea-voyages’, p. 187) that Ailbe was a descendant of the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach. But the first two chapters make it clear that Ailbe was born in the kingdom of Artraige and only after he had been expelled by the king of Artraige and found by Lochan, was he taken in oriente Cliach (‘to the west of Cliu’), which in this case might indeed have been the land of the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach. For this reason I believe that the region where Ailbe oriundus fuit should be understood as a place of Ailbe’s upbringing (‘derived from’), not origin (‘was born’). Hogan locates the land of the Artraige somewhere in or close to the east of Cliu (Onomasticon, p. 50). Schaffer offers a reconstruction of Ailbe’s genealogical tree in which the saint descends from the Araid, a population group to which the Artraige belonged (‘Statements of power’, pp 24-5, 41). See also below, chapter 3.6. 58 ‘Pseudo-historical prologue to Senchas Már’ in C.I.H., 20.28.

49 in VAlbei the consequences appear to be more severe: Olcú had to run away for fear of being killed by the king in revenge. When Sant gave birth to Ailbe, King Cronan said to her: ‘This common boy, born from a servant and a slave, shall not live under my roof and among my sons he shall not be raised’.59 The story of Ailbe’s low-birth origins is not too common for the hagiographical genre in general. According to widespread medieval hagiographical convention, a saint should meet a set of special physical and social requirements, contributing to his sanctity: he or she should be beautiful, intact from diseases and disabilities and noble.

‘The traditions of hagiography and the practices of the cult of saints reaffirmed connections among holiness, charisma, and noble blood which were deeply rooted in both Roman and Germanic societies. The saints’ lives of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages assumed that spiritual virtue could not be easily developed by those who did not also possess an illustrious lineage.’

– wrote Thomas Head.60 Beauty, charisma and nobility, all of these were naturally attributed to a saint. It was not so obligatory in the first centuries of Christianity, but from the beginnings of the Frankish empire (eighth century) up to the thirteenth century, when the Lives of saints originating amongst peasant and city folk started to appear, the nobility of a saint became almost a compulsory motif in the continental hagiographical texts.61 Saints from the first centuries were given high nobility because of witnessing Christ.62 The later saints’ sacred authority had to be supported by earthly dignity. Nevertheless, the unusual feature of a slave being a parent of a saint is not so uncommon in the Irish cultural background. It occurs not only in VAlbei, but also in other Irish

59 VAlbei, c. 1: Iste puer ignobilis, ex servo et ancilla genitus, sub mee domus culmine necquaquam habitabit et inter meos filios non erit nutritus. 60 The development of hagiography and the cult of saints in western Christendom to the year 1000 (The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies, http://www.the- orb.net/encyclop/religion/hagiography/survey1.htm ) [15.07.2009]; See also: J. Le Goff, Medieval civilisation, trans. J. Barrow (Oxford, 1988), p. 215. 61 H. Delehaye, The legends of the saints, trans. D. Attwater, with an introduction by T. O’Loughlin (Dublin, 1998), p. 113. 62 Ibid., p. 130.

50 hagiographical texts, like Vita I sanctae Brigitae,63 where St Brigit is described as a daughter of a noble man Dubthach and his bondmaid, Broicsech. There is no consensus regarding the date of Vita I; some scholars place it around 800, others are inclined to believe that it precedes the Life of Brigit by Cogitosus, dated to 675-9064 (the Life written by Cogitosus describes Brigit’s parents as noble). Unfortunately, despite the uniqueness of this motif of a saint being born from a slave, it cannot be used as a reliable feature to date VAlbei. Even if it indeed had been influenced by the Life of Brigit, it is not possible to state when exactly such a borrowing was made. Besides, the origins of Ailbe are not entirely similar to those of Brigit – St Ailbe’s parents are both low-status people. Furthermore, the story in Brigit’s Life is not the only one apart from VAlbei, where a saint has non-noble origins. St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, whose Life is not precisely dated, was a son of a craftsman, according to his hagiographer,65 but also in the Annals of Tigernach under the year 514, which proves that Ciarán’s non-noble origins were known in the early Middle Ages.66 I have not found any other examples of saints of originally low social status in Irish medieval hagiography, yet those listed above are too few to constitute firm ground for the conclusion that the motif of low status was an entirely early medieval feature in Irish hagiography. However, alongside other arguments in favour of an early date for the composition of VAlbei, the occurrence of Ailbe’s low-born origins may be of certain support in defining the Life’s cultural context. Perhaps the nobility of a saint was not so important in Irish hagiography in general, as in the continental hagiographical sources, but most of Irish saints’ lives conform with the tradition and depict saints as descendants of great and noble families, and the only exceptions from this rule are confirmed to be early. Therefore, King Cronan, not wanting the boy Ailbe to be raised under his roof, ordered his servants to abandon the child at the base of a certain rock. There comes another story quite uncharacteristic for a hagiographical text: the child is rescued and fed by a wild she-wolf. Taming wild animals is a common motif in

63 Vita I Brigitae, c. i, 2. 64 See chapter 2.3, pp 35-6. 65 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Ciarani de Cluain mic Nois, c. 1. 66 Ann. Tig. 514.1; Chronicle of Ireland 513.3. The Annals of Tigernach’s earliest surviving manuscript was most probably written in the twelfth century, but it has been argued that the early sections derived from the Chronicle of Ireland before the year 913 (Hughes, Early Christian Ireland, pp 99-110.

51 hagiography, but not in such a context. This story is reminiscent of the ancient Roman legend about Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, also having been fed by a wolf. What the source of this story within VAlbei was, is not possible to say, and perhaps there is no need to do so. But this is not the only example of the existence of this motif in Irish medieval literature. , the legendary king of Tara, was also nurtured by a she-wolf.67 ‘It is nearly always a waste of time to try and find the historical fact which lies behind the introduction of this epic incident into a saint’s life,’ wrote Hippolyte Delehaye on the subject of the motif of fighting a dragon in the hagiographical texts, ‘one might just as well ask why a seed carried by the wind has fallen on this spot here rather than one there.’68 Some literary motives are just too widespread to enable us to find their direct source. Yet one cannot exclude that Ailbe’s hagiographer used this story purposefully. It could have been an attempt at depicting the saint as similar to the great founders of Rome, the city where Christianity came to power. Perhaps it was just another way of underlining Ailbe’s link to this centre of the Christian world, or a veiled analogy to Ailbe as a founder of not Rome as a city, but Rome as the source of Christian belief in Ireland?69 Nevertheless, the existence of this story within the Life makes it extraordinary in comparison to other Lives, not only Irish, but continental as well. After being rescued by the she-wolf, Ailbe the boy was found by a certain man, Lochan son of Lugir, taken by him ‘to the western part of Cliu’ and given to his British slaves to be raised and cared for. That was the occasion when the boy is depicted meeting Palladius, the story which caused the later representation of St Ailbe as a pre-Patrician saint. According to the author of the Life, Ailbe was educated in faith and baptised by Palladius himself ‘many years before Patrick’. While still an adolescent, Ailbe ran away from Lochan’s household together with the British slaves,70 by whom he was raised. That was the beginning of his long (taking fourteen chapters of the text) journey to Rome.

67 K. Meyer (ed.), Scéla Éogain agus Cormaic in Z.C.P, 8 (1912), p. 309; see also: T. Ó Cathasaigh, The heroic biography of Cormac mac Airt (Dublin, 1977), p. 34 ff. 68 Delehaye, The legends of the saints, p. 22. 69 See below the discussion of St Ailbe’s visit to Rome. 70 This may be yet another reflex of the Patrician hagiography, although the events described here are quite different from those in the first chapter of Patrick’s Life by Muirchú (Vita Patricii, cc i.1 (5) and i.2(1)). Patrick ran away from Ireland in the company of ‘strangers, aliens and pagans’, and sailed over the sea with them. Ailbe is said to have run away with Briton slaves, but

52

3. 4. Ailbe in Rome

Early medieval Irish hagiography does not offer many examples of saints travelling to Rome. Even in St Patrick’s early medieval dossier, his journey to Rome was not explicitly stressed. Muirchú pointed out St Patrick’s intention to go to Rome, but did not describe him as reaching it.71 Tírechán did not discuss Patrick’s journey to the continent at all; he just mentioned in passing that Patrick ordained one of his pupils, that is Sachellus, in Rome, where the relics of Peter and Paul, Stephen and Laurence were obtained for the church of Armagh.72 Within the O’Donohue Lives there are two examples of saints travelling to Rome: of St Cainnech73 and St Columba of Terryglass74 (although it has to be remembered that the Life of St Columba of Terryglass is not securely defined as a part of the group). The anonymous author of Vita I sanctae Brigitae described the saint sending envoys to Rome to bring back and introduce the Roman Mass ordo,75 but Brigit is nowhere to be seen travelling there herself. Cogitosus in his Life of Brigit mentioned certain ‘foreign vestments from overseas’ which belonged to Bishop Conláed of Kildare,76 and it may have been believed that they also had been brought from Rome. Lisa Bitel suggested that the word ‘vestments’ might have even meant a pallium, a ceremonial vestment bestowed by popes on archbishops and primates as a symbol of delegated authority.77 The famous description of the renovation of the church of Kildare in the final part of Cogitosus’s text also received scholarly attention as a proof of Roman influences in action. It was Carol de Vegvar who suggested that the description in question may reflect an attempt at reinforcing Kildare’s position in the time of the Easter

he was not allowed to sail with them and performed a miracle of sailing alone over the sea on his coat. (VAlbei, c. 4). 71 Muirchú, Vita Patricii, c. i, 6. 72 Tírechán, Collectanea, cc ii 3, 5. 73 VCainnechi, cc 7-9. 74 VColumbae de Tír dá Glas, c. 7. 75 Vita I Brigitae, c. 90.5. 76 Vita Brigitae, c. 28; also see Vita I Brigitae, c. 111. 77 L. M. Bitel, ‘Ekphrasis at Kildare: the imaginative architecture of a seventh-century hagiographer’ in Speculum, 79 (2004), p. 625, fn. 66.

53 controversy.78 The fragment of Vita I about the envoys having been sent to bring the ordo of the Roman Mass may also reflect those circumstances.79 The information about sending envoys to Rome to bring the Roman ordo to the church of Emly appears also in VAlbei.80 Was it a reflex of Vita I, was the hagiographer of Ailbe inspired by a certain version of Brigit’s Life (Vita Primitiva, Vita I, or yet another unknown and lost version)? – it is hard to say. Still, by comparison, one cannot help noticing a certain pattern: the noticeable rivalry of the church (of Kildare, of Emly) with Armagh is accompanied by the act of sending envoys in order to bring and apply the Roman liturgy. The lack of consensus amongst historians about the dating of Vita I makes it difficult to claim any certainty that the information about sending the envoys to Rome is indeed a reflex of the time of Kildare-Armagh rivalry (which is confirmed to have ended in the Liber angeli, c. 3281) – but it might have been. Furthermore, in the case of VAlbei, it is not possible to assume – as in the case of Cogitosus’s Life of Brigit and (perhaps) Vita I – that the introduction of the Roman ordo was in opposition to custom in Armagh; it is widely accepted that the church of Armagh identified itself with Rome by the end of the seventh century at the latest, and most probably even earlier, as it is again confirmed in the Liber angeli.82 Yet it remains possible that the mention that appears in VAlbei about the envoys and the Roman ordo brought directly from Rome (and not from Armagh) was also an element of the careful depiction of the church of Emly as an

78 C. N. de Vegvar, ‘Romanitas and Realpolitik in Cogitosus’ description of the church of St Brigit, Kildare’ in M. Carver (ed.), The cross goes north: processes of conversion in Northern Europe, AD 300-1300 (Woodbridge, 2003), pp 153-68. 79 This possibility relies on the dating of Vita I, about which there is no consensus amongst historians; see chapter 2.3, pp 35-6. 80 VAlbei, c. 45. 81 McCone, ‘Brigit in the seventh century’, pp 117-18, 122. 82 One of the last paragraphs of the Liber angeli is considered to be a proof of the church of Armagh having identified itself with the authority of Rome (Liber angeli, c. 27). Bieler (‘Recent research on Irish hagiography’ in Studies, 35 (1946), pp 536-8) dated Liber angeli to circa 700, but more recently scholars concluded that it belongs to an earlier period: cf. R. Sharpe, ‘Armagh and Rome in the seventh century’ in P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (ed.), Ireland and Europe: the early church (Stuttgart, 1984), pp 58-72; C. Swift, ‘Tírechán’s motives in compiling the Collectanea: an alternative interpretation’ in Ériu, 45 (1994), p. 61 (dating for the mid-seventh century); Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 27, 438-9 (dating for the years 678-687). McCone offers a different view and argues that Liber angeli is rather later, because the agreement (addendum) between Kildare and Armagh, which is expressed in the text, took place at some point in the eighth century, probably the latter half (McCone, ‘Brigit in the seventh century’, pp 117-18, 143-5). See chapter 2.3.

54 independent ecclesiastical centre, and, therefore, another proof of the rivalry between Emly and Armagh. A long and detailed description of Ailbe’s journey to the apostolic city – so long and detailed that it cannot be found in any of the early medieval hagiographical texts, and especially not in the Patrician dossier – may be considered as again another effort to stress the saint’s authority in comparison with that of St Patrick. The first five chapters of this description are devoted to Ailbe studying under the guidance of a certain Bishop Hilary.83 It is said to have been taking place in Rome: ‘After that, saint Ailbe went to Rome, and there he studied the Holy Scripture under Bishop Hilary.’84 It is difficult to guess which Hilary the hagiographer of Ailbe had in mind, although I would not go so far as to assume that he did not think of any particular Hilary, only dropped the name randomly. Ailbe’s teacher is described as staying in Rome; and there is a record of a certain Hilary of Rome, an archdeacon and then the pope (461-68). Yet, I find it hardly possible that the hagiographer meant that pope Hilary of Rome, who was not a popular personage in early medieval Ireland, and the only mention of a Hilary that may be identified with certainty as Pope Hilary of Rome appears in the Martyrology of Tallaght under the date 10 September.85 However, there are many other entries devoted to holy persons of that name, both in the Martyrology of Tallaght and in Félire Oengusso.86 Moreover, of all identifiable persons bearing the name of Hilary, mentioned in the martyrologies, the most popular Hilary seems to have been Hilary of Poitiers, a fourth-century Doctor of the Church and bishop of Poitiers in Gaul. His name is mentioned three times in the martyrologies, in the main, early ninth-century body of their texts.87 Furthermore, the Rule of Ailbe, an Old Irish document described at the beginning of this chapter, contains a mention of the Hymnum Dicat,88 a hymn ascribed to St Hilary of Poitiers which can be found in the , a late seventh-

83 VAlbei, cc 9-13. 84 VAlbei, c. 9. 85 ‘Hilarii papae’ (Mart. Tall., p. 70). 86 Mart. Tall. January 3, 13, 27, March 12, 16, 17, April 9, 10, 11, 19, May 5; Fél. Oeng. January 13, May 5, November 1, 3. 87 Mart. Tall. January 13, Fél. Oeng. January 13, November 1. 88 ‘The hymn of St Hilary in praise of Christ’ in R. Atkinson, J. H. Bernard (ed.), The Irish Liber Hymnorum, Henry Bradshaw Society, 13-14 (London, 1898), i, 101.

55 century codex originating in the north of Ireland.89 The existence of this hymn in this early medieval Irish codex confirms that Hilary of Poitiers was a widely known person at that time. The occurrence of the Hymnum Dicat in the Rule of Ailbe allows an assumption that he may have also been known in the church of Emly, even though – as mentioned already – there are no direct textual links between VAlbei and the Rule. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the hagiographer located the presence of Ailbe studying under the guidance of Hilary in Rome, there are some indicators suggesting that he had actually been thinking about Hilary of Poitiers. There are other examples of the hagiographer’s lack of respect towards such trivialities as the exact chronology (see below about Pope Clement); thus, the use of the name of Hilary of Poitiers in connection with Rome might be an example of equal disrespect towards geographical accuracy.90 Neither the authors, nor the readers of medieval hagiographical texts were very attentive to such details. The matter of substantial importance in this case is not the location, but the name – Hilary. One may ask a question, why would it mean anything for Ailbe’s hagiographer and his intended readers to encounter the name of Hilary in Ailbe’s Life? To answer this question, let us sum up the events of VAlbei listed above. Ailbe was raised amongst British slaves, ran away with them and intended to cross the sea with them. Then he set out on a journey to Rome, and he reached Hilary and studied with him. The description of St Patrick’s early life is very similar in these points: he was captured as a youth and kept amongst slaves, he ran away with people – described by Muirchú as ‘aliens and pagans, who worshipped many false gods’ – and he crossed the sea with them. Then he also set out to proceed to Rome, although he never reached it. But he is described having spent thirty or forty years in Gaul, studying under St Germanus,91 who was the bishop of Auxerre in the first half of the fifth century. Germanus also must have been widely known to the early medieval Irish ecclesiastics, as his name appears several times in the

89 F. E. Warren (ed.), The Antiphonary of Bangor, 2 vols (London, 1893 [facsimile], 1895 [text]). 90 Kuno Meyer (Learning in Ireland in the fifth century and the transmission of letters (Dublin, 1912), p. 25) quoted Heinrich Zimmer’s unpublished materials in which the latter assumed that Hilary mentioned in VAlbei was Hilary of Poitiers. 91 Muirchú, Vita Patricii, i, cc 1.1-1.7.

56 main, early parts of the martyrologies.92 His name gained fame most probably thanks to the widely accessible text of Prosper of Aquitaine’s Chronicle. It is impossible to guess which one of them – Hilary or Germanus – enjoyed the higher esteem in the early Irish Church, but we may expect that it was known which one of them had been chronologically earlier, and it was Hilary of Poitiers (315-67). Thus, it seems that Hilary may have appeared in VAlbei for the same reason as Palladius had: to underline the chronological priority of St Ailbe, and to enhance his spiritual authority against that of Patrick. So also does the story of St Ailbe’s episcopal consecration, which took place in Rome, as VAlbei states. According to it, Pope Clement refused to give holy orders to Ailbe, saying:

‘I shall not consecrate you, for my hand cannot interfere between you and heaven (…) You shall receive your episcopal grade from the hand of the angel.’93

Unusual in this passage is the name of the pope. There was no possibility for Ailbe to meet any pope bearing the name Clement. The first pope of this name was the so called Clemens Romanus, whose pontificate covered the years 88 – 98. The second Clement’s pontificate began in 1046 and did not last even for one year. Up to the fourteenth century, that is, the time of compiling S, there were three other popes known by this name. But it does not seem realistic that either the author of the Life or the compiler of S would have had any reasons to put one of those later medieval popes’ names into the Life. It is more probable that the author of the Life just did not have enough historical knowledge (or simply did not care enough94) to give a name of one of the popes contemporary to the time of Ailbe, and therefore he put the name of the first pope he thought of from early times, again to establish ‘evidence’ for the chronological priority of Ailbe in Ireland.

92 Mart. Tall. April 24, 27, 29, May 1, 2, October 1, 30, 31; Fél. Oeng. May 28, October 1. 93 VAlbei, c. 16: ‘Non te consecrabo, quia manus mea inter te et celum introire non potest (…) De manu angelorum episcopalem gradum accipies.’ 94 The author of VAilbe proved to be unconcerned with chronological reliability also when he recalled how Palladius ‘preached the passion of Christ’ to Conchobar mac Nessa (VAlbei, c. 3).

57 However, the choice of the name may have some significance for analysing the intellectual background of the author of VAlbei. Pope Clement I was widely known in early medieval Europe because of the so called Clementine writings, an early Christian narrative95 which contains purported discourses involving St Peter himself, giving (rather dubious) evidence of Clement being Peter’s travelling companion. The choice of Clement’s name by Ailbe’s hagiographer may mean that Clement was known in early medieval Irish ecclesiastical circles. It is further confirmed by the martyrologies: the Martyrology of Tallaght records Clement’s name under three dates (20 January, 30 April and 21 September).96 Félire Oengusso commemorates Clement at the dates of 23 January and 23 November. These entries in the martyrologies, which are assigned a date circa 800 or the first half of the ninth century (828-833),97 confirm that Irish ecclesiastics were familiar with the person of Clement the pope. So, perhaps, the pseudo-Clementine literature had been transmitted and known to some clerics in the church in Ireland, although certainly not in much detail to the author of VAlbei, as in that case he would have been aware of the fact that it could not have been chronologically possible for Ailbe to meet the alleged companion of St Peter. However, it may have been the case that the author of VAlbei did know a little more about the legend of Clement than just his name, associated with the old times. The familiarity of Irish ecclesiastics with at least one element of Pope Clement’s dossier is confirmed again in Félire: in the main, early-ninth-century body of the text, the commemoration of Clement under the date of 23 November reads: ‘The fair suffering of Clement among the sea’s waves: his city is adored under the waves of the wide main.’ The note relates to St Clement’s ’s death of being cast into the sea with an anchor fastened to his neck.98 A later, Middle Irish marginal gloss to this fragment of Félire

95 J. K. Elliot, ‘The Pseudo-Clementine literature’ in idem (ed.), The apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1993), pp 431-9. 96 Mart. Tall., pp 10, 38, 73. 97 A date circa 800 has been suggested first by the editor of Félire Oengusso, Whitley Stokes (Fél, Oeng., p. xxxviii), later supported byJohn Hennig (‘Studies in the Latin text of the Martyrology of Tallaght, of Félire Oengusso and Félire Huí Gormáin’ in R.I.A. Proc., (C), 69 (1970), pp 45-112). More recently Pádraig Ó Riain in his article ‘The Tallaght martyrologies, redated’ in Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, 20 (1990), pp 21-38 proposed the dates 828-833, but Liam Breatnach (‘Poets and poetry’ in K. McCone, K. Simms (ed.), Progress in medieval Irish studies (Maynooth, 1996), pp 74-5) supports the previous dating to circa 800. 98 H. Quentin, Les martyrologies historique du Moyen Age (Paris, 1908, reprint 1969), p. 69 (quoted after M. Herbert, ‘The legend of St Scothíne’ in Studia Hib., 31 (2000-01), p. 31).

58 supplies readers with further information that there was a convent of Clement in Rome that remained underwater throughout a whole year, but on the pope’s feast day it always revealed itself from the waters, and when on a certain feast day a child was left in the convent, it survived harmlessly until the next year’s revelation.99 Likewise, the author of VAlbei recalled a certain church of Ailbe located on the sea shore, which was miraculously protected from the inflow of the sea, standing alone above surrounding waves.100 The motif of godly protection from the overwhelming sea is not unique to VAilbe in medieval Irish hagiography;101 yet it is worth mentioning, as it occurs in VAilbe alongside Pope Clement’s name. Thus, it might have been that the hagiographer was inspired by Clement’s legend – the legend that was known in Ireland by the time of composing Félire Oengusso in the early ninth century. The most important element in the passage describing Ailbe’s consecration, however, is the way of stressing his authority and position. He was not consecrated by the pope – but by the angel, who undoubtedly had a higher rank, being closer to God. Furthermore, the angel’s name was Victor – the very same as the name of the angel, by whom St Patrick had been visited on a regular basis, according to his Life by Muirchú.102 The use of this particular name is very unlikely to have been accidental; therefore, it was most probably used to underline the same – or even higher – status of Ailbe over Patrick. The similar circumstance of receiving consecration from the hand of an angel takes place in Bethu Brigte, the Irish Life of St Brigit, translated from the Latin exemplar probably in the mid-ninth century.103 ‘The hour of consecration having arrived, the veil was raised by angels from the hand of Mac Caille, the minister, and is placed on the head of saint Brigit.’104 Yet, if one accepts the arguments regarding dating presented below as convincing, there is no possibility of Ailbe’s hagiographer having drawn on this passage of Bethu Brigte, for – according to the historical context of VAlbei proposed below – this text preceded the Irish Life

99 Fél. Oeng., p. 244-5. 100 VAlbei, c. 53. Máire Herbert identified this shore as belonging to the lands of the Corco Mruad (see fn. below). 101 For the information about the motifs of miraculous salvation of people from the depth/inflow of the sea, see Herbert, ‘Literary Sea-Voyagers’, pp 182-9; idem, ‘The legend of St Scothíne’, pp 27-35. 102 Muirchú, Vita Patricii, i, c. 1.4. 103 See chapter 2.3, p. 36. 104 Bethu Brigte, c. 18.

59 of Brigit. However, it still might be possible for the author of VAlbei to have been familiar with the no longer extant Latin text of the Life of Brigit, on which the Irish version was based (Vita Primitiva). The text is not extant, but its former existence is widely recognised, and its influence on Bethu Brigte is beyond doubt.105 We cannot be sure whether Vita Primitiva contained the story of Brigit’s consecration from the hands of angels or not – it does not appear in other texts influenced by it – but if it had, the story might have been a reflex of Kildare-Armagh struggle for power and ecclesiastical authority over Ireland in the seventh century, which had been resolved by the time Liber angeli was written and the agreement stated.106 Brigit’s consecration from the hands of angels might have had a similar purpose to the one we find in VAlbei. Yet, this is only a speculation – the story appears neither in the text of Cogitosus nor in Vita I, which are otherwise more reflective of the competition between Kildare and Armagh. We cannot therefore assume that the author of VAlbei borrowed the motif of this heavenly consecration from Vita Primitiva. Yet, for this investigation the most important issue offered by the appearance of this motif in VAlbei is how strongly his spiritual significance was underlined and that that underlining is a clear reflex of and opposition to the Patrician hagiography. Thus, let us conclude that VAlbei reflects the hagiographer’s claims for Ailbe’s priority over St Patrick. It is clearly demonstrated by the story from the third chapter of VAlbei, about Palladius meeting the boy Ailbe, teaching and baptising him. It is also important to notice how St Ailbe’s consecration is depicted. What could be the reason for the author of the Life to put so much stress on the matter of Ailbe’s superiority?

3. 5. The Law of Ailbe

An answer to this question would afford extremely helpful information for the dating of the text of VAlbei. A suggestion of the probable answer was

105 Esposito, ‘On the early Latin lives of St Brigid of Kildare’, pp 125-30; Sharpe, ‘Vitae s. Brigitae: the oldest texts’, pp 95-100; McCone, ‘Brigit in the seventh century’, pp 112, 116-18; see chapter 2.3, pp 35-6. 106 For the dating of Liber angeli see fn. 82 in this chapter; chapter 2.3, p. 34.

60 made, but not exhaustively discussed by Francis John Byrne.107 He pondered the possibility of a connection between the proclamation of the Law of St Ailbe, first recorded in the Annals of Inisfallen under the year 784, and the date of the composition of VAlbei. As Byrne did not elaborate any additional argument supporting this idea, it is appripriate to provide further discussion of its context. The movement of proclaiming the cánai, most of them ascribed to different names of saints, began with Cáin Fhuithirbe in around 680,108 followed shortly afterwards by Cáin Adomnáin, the Law of Adomnán, in 697 (renewed 727).109 It was a phenomenon very similar to the later (from the tenth to thirteenth centuries) continental movements of Pax Dei and Treuga Dei, the Peace and the Truce of God, agreed and proclaimed at local synods to restrain feudal lords from constant fighting and to protect people (mainly ecclesiastics) from violence. The reasons for these movements are also considered to be the same: famine, plagues or wars causing social disorder and the weakness of secular rulers. The leges/cánai were meant to enforce protection of ecclesiastics and other non-combatants where the customary law was deficient of doing so.110 The laws were proclaimed by both secular rulers and clergy, with ceremonial celebrations, involving relics’ demonstrations and complex liturgies which were intended to harness spiritual sanctions.111 The first cánai were soon followed by the Law of St Patrick (734) and others, which promulgations are recorded in the annals. According to that annalistic evidence, there were two sorts of promulgations: general for the whole of Ireland and regional laws for single provinces. Thomas Charles-Edwards noticed the striking distribution pattern of those provincial law enforcements: the annals provide evidence of cánai for Uí Néill territories, for Connacht and Munster, but none for Leinster or Ulaid. It cannot be explained by annalists’ confusion or lack of knowledge, as they generally included more information on Leinster or Ulaid than on Munster. Charles-Edwards explains this phenomenon as indicative that in the eighth century the Uí Néill had achieved domination over

107 Byrne, ‘Church and politics c. 750 – c. 1100’, pp 658-9. 108 L. Breatnach, ‘The ecclesiastical element in the Old-Irish legal tract Cáin Fhuithirbe’ in Peritia, 5 (1986), pp 36-52. 109 A.U.2 697.3, 727.5; Chronicle of Ireland, 697.3, 727.6. 110 D. Ó Corráin, ‘Ireland c. 800: aspects of society’ in N.H.I., i, 583. 111 Charles-Edwards, ‘’ in N.H.I., i, 334.

61 both Leinster and Ulaid, but not over the or the Eóganachta in Munster. 112 The Law of Adomnán and the Law of Patrick should be considered as of island-wide importance. In 737, three years after the first promulgation of the Law of Patrick, the Annals of Ulster provide evidence for the probable extension of this Law into Munster. Comotatio113 martirum Petair & Poil & Padraic ad legem perficiendam – is recorded under the year 734.114 The relics of SS Paul and Peter, and also of SS Stephen and Lawrence, were in the possession of the church of Armagh, as it is mentioned in the Liber angeli and also in Tírechán’s Collectanea115 The relics were most probably taken to be displayed during the celebrations of proclaiming the Law of Patrick around Ireland, which was finally completed in the year 737.116 Hence Charles-Edwards concluded that the Law, initially proclaimed in 734, finally reached Munster and thus was binding throughout Ireland.117 During that time Munster was, if not the ally, then at least in peaceful cooperation with Uí Néill kings of Tara (of the alternating lineages of the Cenél nEógain and the Clann Cholmáin118). Since Cathal mac Findguine’s failed raid into Uí Néill lands in 733119 and subsequent truce that resulted in the submission of the Munster church to the authority of Armagh (for which the proclamation of the Law of Patrick in Munster may stand as the evidence),120 the conflicts between the kings of Munster and the kings of the Uí Néill ceased until the reign of Máel Dúin mac Áedo of the Eóganachta Locha Léin. But in the middle of the eighth century, when Máel Dúin broke the regnal rotation of the kingship of

112 Ibid., p. 336; idem, Early Christian Ireland, pp 566, 584. 113 Comotatio is a corrupted form of the Latin noun commotio, which in this case means ‘moving around, on circuit’ (the corrupted form derives probably from the participle form of the verb commotare (to move around, to move together)– commotatum). 114 A.U.2 734.3; Chronicle of Ireland 734.3. 115 Liber angeli, c. 19; Tírechán, Collectanea, ii, 3, 5. 116 Lex Patrici tenuit Hiberniam.(A.U.2 737.10; Chronicle of Ireland 737.10). 117 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 564. 118 Cf. G. F. Dalton, ‘Alternating dynasties, 734-1022’ in Studia Hib., 16 (1976), pp 46-7; I. Warntjes, ‘The alternation of the 734-944’ in Peritia, 17-18 (2003-4), pp 394- 432. 119 A.U.2 733.7; Chronicle of Ireland 733.9. 120 The 737 entry Lex Patricii tenuit Hyberniam stands beside another entry giving the evidence of Cathal’s meeting with the overking of the Uí Néill, Áed Alddán, in Terryglass. Charles- Edwards argued that these two occurrences were closely linked and the promulgation of the law of Patrick in Munster was an immediate result of the meeting in Terryglass. See T. M. Charles- Edwards, The early medieval Gaelic Lawyer, Quiggin Pamphlets on the Sources of Mediaeval Gaelic History, 4 (Cambridge, 1999), pp 50-1.

62 Munster between three branches of the Eóganachta dynasty (Caisel, Glendamnach and Áine) and took the overkingship of Munster, he started to build a rival power to that of the Uí Néill.121 According to the annalistic evidence, Máel Dúin ruled in Munster from 742122 to 786.123 It seems that the proclamation of the Law of Ailbe (Cáin Ailbi) in 784124 was an element of this rival policy of Máel Dúin against the Uí Néill dynasty. Máel Dúin’s lineage, the Eóganachta Locha Léin, had its power base in the western region of Munster. Byrne claimed that no convincing evidence for a widespread cult of St Patrick in West Munster has been discovered;125 however Breatnach notices that the text of Cáin Fhuithirbe, containing the legend of Patrick’s conversion of Lóegaire son of Niall as related by Muirchú, is evidence for the spread of the Patrician cult in seventh-century Munster.126 These mixed messages from the sources as well as from historians make it difficult to assess what Máel Dúin’s personal feeling about the cult of St Patrick may have been. Still it is possible that, in his support for the Law of Ailbe, Máel Dúin might have been not only inspired by the rivalry with the Uí Néill, but also by his personal inclination towards a Munster saint. But why would Máel Dúin, a West Munster king, feel personally inclined to support an East Munster saint? Máel Dúin, having recently established his authority over the whole province, might have wanted to strengthen his links with the East. Adopting a role of protector of the major ecclesiastical centre could certainly prove beneficial in this case. And there was no better candidate in Munster to compete with St Patrick’s authority than the church of Emly, traditionally depicted as the foundation of St Ailbe. There is substantial evidence for Emly having been a very important ecclesiastical centre by the eighth century. The successor of St Ailbe of Emly is

121 The annalistic records regarding Máel Dúin’s position in Munster are inconsistent. Apart from Ann. Tig. 757.6, where he is named the king of Munster, Máel Dúin appears only as the king of Iarmumu (West Munster). Yet, after the death of Cathal mac Findguine, Cathussach mac Eterscélai obtained the Eóganachta Áine kingship, but he is nowhere mentioned as a ‘king of Munster’ – neither in the annals, nor in the king-lists. Therefore, Cathussach’s authority over Munster is dubious, and the information provided in Ann. Tig. seems to prove that there was another man holding the authority over Munster, that is Máel Dúin. See Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400- 800’, p. 225. 122 A.U.2 742.3; Chronicle of Ireland 742.3 – entry of the death of Cathal son of Findguine, king of Cashel. Cathal mac Findguine was of the Eóganacht Glendamnach; after his death Máel Dúin took power over the region of the Glendamnach lineage. 123 A.U.2 786.1; Chronicle of Ireland 786.1. 124 Ann. Inisf. 784; Chronicle of Ireland 784.10. 125 Byrne, ‘Church and politics c. 750-c. 110’, pp 658-9. 126 Breatnach, ‘The ecclesiastical element in the Old-Irish legal tract Cáin Fhuithirbe’, p. 51.

63 mentioned for the first time among the heads of churches at the synod of Mag Léne (circa 630), where the Easter question had been discussed.127 The full list of abbots of Emly is ascertainable from the year 661,128 and that is the case only with the most important ecclesiastical sites. Emly was known as the seat of historical learning according to the Triads of Ireland (probably a ninth-century source, containing Senchas hÉrenn Imblech Ibair, ‘the lore of Ireland in Emly’).129 The extant recension of the Annals of Inisfallen originated in the monastery of Emly.130 From the end of the eighth century members of the Eóganachta royal dynasty appeared as abbots. Rechtabra mac Mugthigirn of the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach (787-819) was the first of them; in the ninth century some abbots of Emly held the kingship of Munster: Ólchobar mac Cináeda131 (847-51), Cenn Fáelad ua Mugthigirn (859-72) and Eógan mac Cinn Fáelad, son of the king-abbot Cenn Fáelad (circa 890). Thus, there is firm evidence for strong links between the church of Emly and the Eóganachta dynasty that, as the annalistic entries show, originated in the last quarter of the eighth and lasted until the end of the ninth century. It is, therefore, apparent that the church of Emly was already important by the eighth century. If one was looking for an ecclesiastical centre influential and powerful enough to be a rival ecclesiastical authority to that of St Patrick, spreading over the country together with Cáin Phátraic – Emly would be the best

127 Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400-800’, p. 223; M. Walsh, D. Ó Cróinín (ed. and trans.), Cummian’s letter ‘De conrouersia paschali’ (Toronto, 1988), pp 90-1. 128 A.U.2 661.1; Chronicle of Ireland 661.3 – Conann, descendant of Dant, abbot of Imlech nIbair, rested. For the full list see N.H.I., ix, 252-3. 129 K. Meyer (ed.), Trecheng Breth Féne (Dublin, 1906). Since Meyer’s edition, there has been no attempt at dating the Triads, but Liam Breatnach (‘The Caldron of Poesy’ in Ériu, 32 (1981), p. 52) announced that he was going to prepare a new edition of this source (which, unfortunately, has never appeared) and that he agreed with Meyer’s dating. Fergus Kelly published an extensive analysis of the text itself, yet with little regard to dating (‘Thinking in threes: the triad in ’ in Proceedings of the British Academy 125 (2004), pp 1-18). 130 Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400-800’, p. 223. Kathleen Hughes in her Early Christian Ireland, pp 113-14 noticed that the Ann. Inisf. entries show a developing interest in Emly, but does not form any conclusions. The manuscript of these annals (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B 503) dates to the late eleventh/early twelfth century. From the beginning of the text to the 1092 entry, the manuscript is the work of a single hand, perhaps Diarmait Ua Flainn Chua, bishop and lector of Emly and abbot (1092-1114) or Mael Ísu Ua hArrachtáin, abbot of Emly (died 1092). Cf. introduction to the electronic edition of the annals in CELT: The corpus of electronic texts (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100004/index.html). 131 Byrne described Ólchobar as a great-grandson of Máel Dúin of the Eóganachta Locha Léin (Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 214, 295). However, several years later Ó Corráin (Review of F.J. Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings in Celtica 13 (1980), p. 164) retraced Ólchobar’s origins and demonstrated that – according to the genealogical sources – Ólchobar was a more distant descendant of a different Máel Dúin, i.e. Máel Dúin mac Áeda Bennáin (died 661). In the second edition of Irish kings and high-kings (2001) Byrne agreed with Ó Corráin’s conclusions.

64 candidate. It may have been Máel Dúin among Eóganacht kings who first decided to patronise Emly. VAlbei, as it appears, claims chronological priority of Ailbe over Patrick – and in the context of promulgation of the Law of St Ailbe by Máel Dúin, in opposition to the Law of St Patrick, which was spreading all over Ireland, the significance and meaning of such a claim cannot pass unnoticed. Therefore, the contents of VAlbei fit quite well in the historical context of the time of Máel Dúin of the Eóganachta Locha Léin, the years 742-786, as suggested by Byrne. The proclamation of the Law of St Ailbe in 784132 was apparently an assertion of independence from any laws, including the Law of Patrick, having been promoted by the Uí Néill dynasty – and VAlbei, with its evidently and consistently drawn opposition to St Patrick, may have been the outcome of the Eóganachta Locha Léin bid for independent power. However, there is a certain passage in VAlbei which does not entirely agree with the portrayal of Ailbe’s presence as chronologically earlier than that of Patrick. The twenty-ninth chapter of the Life describes Ailbe coming to Cashel and meeting Patrick there, together with King Óengus (Óengus mac Nad Froích, d. 490/2) of Eóganachta, the very same, whose sons were described in Tírechán’s Collectanea as having been baptised by St Patrick on Patrick’s Rock at Cashel, a symbolic place of the Christianisation of Munster in Patrician hagiography.133 ‘Patrick offered all the men of Munster,’ wrote Ailbe’s hagiographer, ‘and king Oengus into the hand of Ailbe, so that he would be their father.’134 Here it becomes clear that the hagiographer did not claim explicitly that Ailbe had the higher authority and rank than St Patrick, in spite of earlier implied chronological priority. It is Patrick who transfers the spiritual authority over Munster. St Patrick, having the men of Munster and their king under his authority, and offering them to Ailbe’s protection, does not seem to be inferior to Ailbe. The hagiographer underlined that Ailbe maintained some advantages over Patrick, such as being the first Irish saint in Munster, “many years before Patrick” (and, by inference, together undermining the story of Patrick baptising the sons of the king of Munster) or visiting Rome and receiving his consecration

132 Ann. Inisf. 784.1; Chronicle of Ireland 784.10. 133 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. ii, 51.4; Trip. Life, c, p. 33. 134 VAlbei, c. 29: Tunc Patricius obtulit Albeo omnes viros Munnensium, ut esset eorum pater, et regem Engussum in manum Albei.

65 from the hand of the angel. But then the author of the Life turned to a tactful solution of having this highest spiritual authority in Ireland, as Patrick was, involved in the legitimisation of Ailbe’s position as the first and most important saint of Munster. In this episode, Ailbe is described as having been supported and promoted by Patrick. Thus, it seems that the hagiographer did not see any point (or any chances to win) in an open conflict; he had chosen the way of conciliation. It is perhaps worth mentioning that the D version of this story praises Patrick as the first who converted the whole of Ireland to Christianity and specifies (most certainly after Tírechán) that it was Patrick who baptised the abovementioned King Oengus mac Nad Froích.135 Evidently, the editor of this later version of the Life did not have any reasons to diminish Patrick’s authority; even more evidently, the author of the earlier S version had plenty of them, yet chose not to reveal them openly. This episode introduces an element of inconsistency in VAlbei. It stands alone in the text of an otherwise clearly confrontational attitude towards the legend of Patrick, as if it seemed to the hagiographer that it would be unwise to undermine the authority and importance of Patrick thoroughly. McCone suggested – although only in passing – that it might have been a new direction in Munster church politics, a line that ‘took shape in response to the interest in Armagh and Cáin Phátraic apparently displayed by those ambitious and effective kings of Cashel, Cathal mac Findguine (d. 742) and Feidlimid mac Crimthainn (d. 847) in the eighth and ninth centuries’.136 McCone drew a parallel between the case of Emly and that of Kildare and their mutual relationships with the church of Armagh. The story of Patrick’s blessing placed on Ailbe would be, in McCone’s view, similar to the “agreement clause” in Liber angeli. But would the kings – who actively promoted Cáin Phátraic and good relationships with the church of Armagh – commission the writing of a text so strongly undermining the authority of St Patrick? We shall focus on this question later. Be that as it may, the short episode of inconsistency in VAlbei is immediately followed by another reassurance of the highest status of Ailbe. The very next chapter recalls the story of St Patrick looking for Ailbe’s help.

135 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Albei, c. 22. 136 McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’, pp 51-2.

66 ‘There! One of the bondmaids who follow me’ – said Patrick to Ailbe – ‘sinned and gave birth to a son, and we do not know who of my people slept with her; and the angel told me that this problem shall be solved through you.’137

And Ailbe miraculously revealed the identity of the child’s father. The author of the Vita I Brigitae included a similar story.138 When Brigit met Patrick at the assembly of bishops in Tailtiu, she performed the very same miracle as is described in VAlbei, that is, she blessed the infant’s tongue and the infant revealed who his father was. It is possible that the author of VAlbei was inspired by this passage; and almost certainly he was familiar with the text of Vita I or its exemplar. The difference between these two stories is that Brigit was given by Patrick an honour to perform the miracle in his presence; she was allowed to do it by Patrick’s generosity, not because he did not know how to solve the problem by himself. Ailbe, however, revealed the father of the baby after having been asked by Patrick, who seemed not to be able to manage with such a situation alone. It is striking that this story, the story which apparently shows the equality of Ailbe’s heavenly powers to those of St Patrick, appears immediately after the episode of Patrick and Ailbe’s meeting in Cashel. This cannot have been done by accident. Thus this must have been a carefully composed structure of the contents, a structure with a clearly defined purpose – to win a competition with the authority of St Patrick’s church and with the influence of the Uí Néill dynasty, spreading towards Munster. The description of Ailbe’s visit to Rome, longer than anything that can be found in the Patrician dossier, Ailbe’s consecration at the hand of the angel, Ailbe’s claimed activity in Munster ‘many years before Patrick’, the story of St Patrick looking for Ailbe’s help in performing an ‘identification’ miracle, and finally Ailbe receiving the highest spiritual authority in Munster from Patrick himself – all of these give a picture of a very careful and precise construction of Ailbe’s authority. The hagiographer’s

137 VAlbei, c. 30: (…) dixit Patricius ad Albeum: ‘Ecce una de ancillis que secuntur me peccavit et peperit filium, et nescimus quis de meo populo dormivit cum ea; angelusque michi dixit quod per te enodabitur ista questio.’ 138 Vita I Brigitae, c. 39; the motif of ‘finding the bastard’s father’ in Irish literature is discussed by Joseph Falaky Nagy (J. F. Nagy, Conversing with angels & ancients: literary myths in medieval Ireland (Dublin, 1997), pp 228-32).

67 task was really difficult; he acknowledged Ailbe and Emly as the competing church with that of Patrick and Armagh. VAlbei in such a context seems to be a masterpiece of negotiation, by which two aims were achieved: the independence of the church of Emly had been underlined by the importance of St Patrick himself, as well as by the proof of St Ailbe’s great authority. But did that all really happen on the occasion of the proclamation of the Law of Ailbe in 784? Or perhaps it is McCone, and not Byrne, who is right, suggesting that VAlbei is a product of the reign of Cathal mac Findguine or of Feidlimid mac Crimthainn?

3. 6. Alternative datings

Apart from Byrne’s and McCone’s suggestions two other attempts at dating VAlbei have been made. Máire Herbert tentatively proposed that VAlbei might have been written in the time of Cathal mac Findguine, king of Munster of the Eóganachta Glendamnach, ruling between 721 and 742.139 Herbert’s argument is based on the episodes of sea-voyaging in VAlbei.140 She suggested that the composition of those episodes may reflect a need to underline the importance of Ailbe’s cult on the sea coasts of Munster, while his role in the centre of the country was being promoted. The location of Ailbe’s coastal cult is confirmed not only in VAlbei, but also in the vernacular Life of Mac Creiche (Betha Meic Creiche); it was the territory of the Corco Mruad.141 Herbert did not offer any further discussion of the connection between these two Lives – VAlbei and the Irish Life of Mac Creiche – although it is undeniable. Both these saints are mentioned mutually in each other’s Lives142: Ailbe’s hagiographer describes Mac Creiche as a former pupil of Ailbe, and Mac Creiche’s Life contains a long description of favours that had been obtained by Mac Creiche’s community thanks to Ailbe’s heavenly interventions. Moreover, one of the poems contained in Betha Meic Creiche shows the saint saying: ‘I am

139 See above, fn. 111, 112. 140 Herbert, ‘Literary sea-voyagers’, pp 182-9. 141 VAlbei, c. 54; Plummer, Misc. Hag. Hib., Betha Meic Creiche, cc vi, 10-11; viii, 16-18. 142 VAlbei, c. 37; Plummer, Misc. Hag. Hib., Betha Meic Creiche, cc viii, 16, 18; xii, 34; xiii, 46- 8.

68 Ailbe’s bosom child (…) He was my father, the war-dog of Slíab Crot’.143 According to McCone, this information does not necessarily mean that this phrase originally referred to St Ailbe, but only to his name as a symbol.144 For St Ailbe shared his name with a mythical hound appearing in a famous saga, Scéla Muicce Meic Dá Thó, and that – alongside the story of the saint’s babyhood under protection of a she-wolf and the etymology of his father’s name – proves that the association of the name ‘Ailbe’ with the mythical motif of ‘a pagan hound guardian of the Otherworld’ (to use McCone’s expression) was indeed very strong. The poet naming a certain Ailbe as Mac Creiche’s ‘bosom father’ and ‘a war-dog’ in one breath might have meant something different than a simple allusion to the saint from Emly. Mythical hounds, says McCone, were symbols of the martial virtues of a warrior caste, the fíanna. Both characters – Ailbe, the foster-father of Mac Creiche, and Ailbe the saint – although perhaps originally unrelated and merged only at a later stage of the text’s transmission, may have been deeply rooted in the myth of a hound-warrior. The Irish Life of Mac Creiche has been defined as based on ninth-century materials. De Paor was the first to devote more attention to this saint; he acknowledged that the text of Betha Meic Creiche shows a consistent grasp of the seventh- to early ninth-century realities, but he also made it clear that the text has suffered from deficiencies in the process of transmission.145 Ó Coileáin noticed several similarities between Betha Meic Creiche and the document known as West Munster synod, composed circa 800. This observation led him to a conclusion that – although the Life of Mac Creiche as it stands has been subjected to some redactions – it is based on early ninth-century materials.146 The connection of VAlbei with this text, as well as the clear presence of the legendary motifs which these two Lives share, cannot really support the dating of Ailbe’s Life in any way. But they do not undermine the arguments in favour of an early date either. The mutual connection between the legends of these two saints is a fact, and we at least know that it may have been present in the written tradition as early as around 800.

143 Plummer, Misc. Hag. Hib., Betha Meic Creiche, c. xiii, 46; see also c. xii, 34. 144 McCone, ‘An introduction to early Irish saints’, p. 50. 145 L. de Paor, ‘Saint Mac Creiche of Liscannor’ in Ériu, 30 (1979), pp 93-121. 146 S. Ó Coileáin, ‘The Saint and the King’ in P. de Brún, S. Ó Coileáin, P. Ó Riain (ed.), Folia Gadelica (Cork, 1983), pp 36-46.

69 Coming back to Herbert’s discussion, her claim was that the sea-going episodes in VAlbei reflect an early eighth-century allegiance of the Corco Mruad’s ruling dynasty, Eóganachta Ninussa, to the eastern Eóganachta branch, Airthir Cliach; and that the promotion of the cult of the saint from the eastern lands of Munster in coastal areas of the province would be a proof of that. The evidence of the eighth-century relationship between the Eóganachta Ninussa and the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach had been earlier demonstrated by Byrne.147 Herbert further claimed that the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach were those from which Ailbe descended, according to VAlbei and the genealogical sources.148 Therefore, VAlbei is, following Herbert’s opinion, a document of this link between the Eóganachta Ninussa and the Airthir Cliach. Furthermore, Herbert underlined that VAlbei ‘avoids all mention of the West Munster kingdom and of its saints’,149 which circumstance is supposed to provide further evidence of the rivalry between the Eóganachta Ninussa and the kingdom of Iarmumu (West Munster), ruled by the Eóganachta Locha Léin, the branch of the dynasty which produced Máel Dúin as a king of Munster (described above). Máel Dúin, as we need to remember, most probably obtained the authority over Munster in the mid-eighth century. Thus, argued Herbert, VAlbei may have been written in the time of Cathal mac Findguine (721-741), who was of eastern Eóganachta descent, and not in the time of Máel Dúin, because VAlbei reflects and underlines the link between East Munster and the Eóganachta Ninussa, who were still at that time independent from the rule of the Eóganachta Locha Léin. Yet, the argument is based on wrong presumptions. As Bridgitte Schaffer demonstrated,150 the evidence of the genealogies shows Ailbe as a descendant of the Arada Cliach, who were not related to the Eóganachta and they are consistently depicted as having been of external, non-Munster origin.151 VAlbei in fact does not present any personal link of Ailbe to the Eóganachta whatsoever; even the later version preserved in D does not do so. Furthermore, an argument based on merely two episodes containing the motif of sea-voyaging – especially

147 F. J. Byrne, ‘The Eóganacht Ninussa’ in Éigse, 9 (1958), pp 18-29. 148 Herbert, ‘Literary sea-voyages’, p. 187; see above fn. 57. 149 Ibid. 150 Schaffer, ‘Statements of power’, pp 24-5. See also above, chapter 3.3, fn. 57 151 O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 161b27, 326g55; Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 662.190. See also W. Mahon, ‘Glasraige, Tóecraige and Araid: evidence from Ogam’ in Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, 8 (1988), pp 11-30.

70 alongside the rest of the Life being so strongly and evidently inspired by, concerned with and focused on the Patrician dossier – simply overlooks what is the main and most important concern in VAlbei. It was not the rivalry between the two branches of the Eóganachta in West Munster; the main concern of the Life was the rivalry between the church of Emly and the church of Armagh. The second recent study investigating the date of VAlbei has been that of Bridgitte Schaffer.152 Schaffer’s conclusion was partly similar to Byrne’s, although she chose a different approach and the date she suggested is slightly later. She agreed that VAlbei was in some way connected with promulgations of cánai in Munster in the eighth century. She did not discuss fully the Patrician reflexes in VAlbei, but mentioned the issues of Ailbe’s connection with Palladius and the meeting of Ailbe and Patrick in Cashel as significant factors indicating a date of the late eighth century for the composition of the Life.153 Schaffer also argued – although without open undermining of Herbert’s hypothesis – that it was highly improbable for VAlbei to have been written in the time of Cathal mac Findguine. She acknowledged the fact that Cathal must have had dealings with Emly, and as the evidence of that, she quoted a poem contained in the Annals of Inisfallen entry on the death of this king, in which it is stated that Cathal mac Findguine had been buried in Ailbe’s church in Emly.154 This powerful evidence of the link between Cathal and the church of Emly was not noticed by Herbert, although it may have supported her theory. Yet, Schaffer finds it hardly possible that VAlbei may have been written in the time of Cathal, who most probably was the one accepting the authority of the church of Armagh over Munster in 737.155 The discussion offered earlier in this chapter adds a significant amount of evidence that VAlbei was indeed anti-Patrician in its thrust. It is then quite difficult to imagine that the Life could have been written during Cathal’s lifetime and his conciliation with the church of Armagh. Schaffer made the same assumption as Byrne that VAlbei had been connected with the promulgation of the Law of Ailbe. Yet, having followed the annalistic entries, which were the main focus of her study, she decided that the most probable date circa quem that we can assume that VAlbei had been written

152 Schaffer, Statements of power’, pp 23-41. 153 Ibid., 37-8. 154 Ann. Inisf. 742; Schaffer, ‘Statements of power’, p. 33. 155 See above, fn. 111, 112.

71 was the year 793, not 784. The year 793 was very rich with significant events: the Law of Ailbe had been reintroduced and Artrí mac Cathail of the Eóganachta Glendamnach had been ordained overking of Munster.156 Schaffer stressed the fact that these two events are to be found together in the same entry of the Annals of Ulster – as if they were connected. The connection between these two events was found obvious even before Schaffer’s article by Charles-Edwards.157 What Schaffer sees through this annalistic entry is a great ceremony of the powerful Eóganachta, manifesting their independence by celebrating the ordination of the Eóganachta overking of Munster, most probably performed by the Eóganachta abbot of Emly (i.e. Rechtabra mac Mugthigirn, see above) and demonstrating the Life of a Munster saint, which underlined the highest authority and independence of the Munster church of Emly. Schaffer did not underline the fact that the abbot of Emly at the time derived from the Airthir Cliach branch of the dynasty, which may be of some significance. It has already been mentioned that the origins of Ailbe are described in the Life in a somewhat confusing way158: first it is said that the saint ex orientali parte regionis Cliach oriundus fuit (‘was born/derived from the western land of Cliu’). Herbert took this information for granted and assigned Ailbe’s origins to the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach, who dominated over the western parts of Cliu. But all the other historians who devoted their attention to VAlbei noticed that the first two chapters made it clear that Ailbe was born in the kingdom of Artraige, amongst the people of Arada Cliach, and only after he had been expelled by the king of Artraige he was taken in oriente Cliach (‘to the west of Cliu’), where he is described as having spent most of his career. There are no other references to any of the branches of the Eóganachta in VAlbei, but the sheer fact that Ailbe’s life and activity are located mainly in the area of the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach is quite significant in itself, and especially significant if one wants to argue that the Life has been written in 793, on the occasion of the promulgation of the Law of Ailbe and during the abbacy of Rechtabra of the Airthir Cliach. The ambiguous meaning of the phrase oriundus fuit might have been, but did not have to be, just a lapse of style. It might have been that

156 A.U.2 793.3; Chronicle of Ireland 793.3. 157 Chronicle of Ireland, p. 256, fn. 3. 158 See above, chapter 3.3., fn. 57.

72 someone wanted this phrase to be exactly as it is – promoting a stronger link between the saint and the land. Thus, we have four suggestions for the date of composition of VAlbei: Herbert’s – the time of Cathal mac Findguine (721-42), McCone’s – the time of Cathal mac Findhuine or Feidlimid mac Crimthainn (d. 847), and Byrne’s and Schaffer’s – the time of the promulgation of the Law of Ailbe (784 or 793). However, before proceeding to the final evaluation of all the arguments, we need to consider yet another dating factor which has not been discussed by any of these historians. One of the final chapters of VAlbei contains a poem, written in Irish, which goes as follows:

Danae Dee nis frithchoirthi, Selba forru niscorthi; Attoberthar na gabae, Sech ni muide nu chele.

(‘The gifts of God, do not reject them; possession of them, do not refuse it. What is offered to thee, thou mayest receive; only thou are not therefore greater than thy fellow.’)159

These were the words which, according to Ailbe’s hagiographer, the saint used to answer the question asked by a certain deacon, named Nessan, who wanted to know, which offerings should be accepted and which should be rejected. The appearance of the verse is in itself extraordinary: no other Life from the O’Donohue group contains anything like it, and Irish verses are seldom to be found in Hiberno-Latin hagiography. There were practically no attempts at analysing this verse: Heinrich Zimmer assumed that the language of the verse is Old Irish and Sharpe repeated this claim,160 but none of them explained exactly why they had thought so. I have consulted with the members of the Old Irish Archives discussion list,161 who identified a few features that do not follow the

159 VAlbei, c. 50, trans. by Plummer in Vitae SS Hib. i, 62, fn. 1. 160 H. Zimmer, Review of J. De Backer, C. De Smedt, G. Van Hoof (ed.), Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae ex Codice Salmanticensi in Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen (1891), pp 168-171; Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 332-3. 161 Links to the parts of the discussion: https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0906&L=old- irish-l&D=1&P=19533; https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0906&L=old-irish- l&D=1&P=21485 (last referred to on 15/04/2011). I am indebted especially to Dennis King for his assistance.

73 Old Irish paradigms (marked lenition in the words frithchoirthi and chele), but forms which do follow them quite exactly have also been identified (infixes in the verbs). The conclusion has been formed that the verse was written in the late Old Irish or early Middle Irish period. Be that as it may, in the time of the redactor(s) of the D version of Ailbe’s Life the verse was already beyond comprehension: although the redactor knew Irish and was familiar with many other Irish-language sources, he could not cope with this poem.162 Instead, the D Life contains a version of the poem that is extremely corrupt and hardly understandable, ‘reduced to gibberish’, as Sharpe said. ‘How much less could Anglo-French scribes (of S) have preserved it intelligibly unless they were copying faithfully from an Old Irish exemplar’, he added. Therefore, the current agreement is that the poem belongs to the relatively early period in Irish medieval history – the eighth or the ninth century.

3. 7. Summary

There is not much evidence to support the claim that VAlbei was written – as McCone and Herbert suggested – in the time of Cathal mac Findguine. The argument presented by Herbert is focused on such marginal issues that it hardly can stand alone. McCone’s reasoning is based on more convincing ground: he understood the chapter describing the meeting of Ailbe with Patrick as another ‘agreement clause’, like the one we can find in Liber angeli, solving the conflict of authorities of Patrick and Brigit. However, McCone did not claim with certainty that this ‘agreement clause’ belonged to the times of Cathal mac Findguine or of Feidlimid mac Crimthainn – the two kings who accepted the authority of the Law of St Patrick in Munster – he merely suggested that this could be a possibility. But he did not fully explore VAlbei either, and – although he had noticed the influence of the Patrician dossier on VAlbei – he did not appreciate its full meaning. The Albean ‘agreement clause’ appears as a solitary incident in the Life which is otherwise consistently and strongly anti-Patrician; furthermore, the clause is immediately followed by another episode strongly

162 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 332-3.

74 underlining the superiority of Ailbe’s spiritual power. It is simply hard to believe that such a text might have played any part in promoting the Law of Patrick in Munster. Cathal mac Findguine did indeed engage in conflicts with the Uí Néill – the battle of 733 in Tailtiu being his last struggle163 – but eventually he failed and acquiesced to have the Law of Patrick promoted in Munster in 737, and there is no evidence of his earlier involvement in the promotion of the cult of Ailbe. He was, however, buried in Emly, so he must have had dealings with this ecclesiastical centre. We cannot, therefore, entirely exclude the possibility of VAlbei being a product of Cathal’s time of struggling for power against the Uí Néill, although other suggestions seem far more plausible. The same applies to the theory of VAlbei having been written in the time of Feidlimid mac Crimthainn. It is true that the links between the Eóganachta dynasty and Emly remained strong throughout the ninth century, but Feidlimid’s policy towards the church of Armagh was too supportive to imagine that he or someone from his circle could have commissioned a text so strongly anti- Patrician. Feidlimid’s interest in Armagh was clearly an immanent part of his political thought – he encouraged and/or assisted in the promulgation of the Law of Patrick not once, but twice, in 823 and 842.164 Writing such a text as VAlbei is at that time would be contrary to those actions. In the light of the analysis of VAlbei presented in this chapter, the suggestions of Byrne and Schaffer seem far more convincing. Máel Dúin’s rule opened a period during which the Eóganachta of Munster were determined enough to fight off not only the political, but also ecclesiastical influences of the Uí Néill dynasty. The year 793 seems to have been a culmination of that period. The contents of VAlbei, mirroring the Life of Patrick and altogether undermining Patrick’s authority, may fit as well at the beginning of that time of the policy of independence exercised by the Eóganachta, as in its height. The carefully composed conciliation between Ailbe and Patrick in the chapter describing their meeting in Cashel might be an argument in favour of the earlier date (784). If it was still Máel Dúin’s time, the situation may have demanded a more cautious attitude towards the authority of Patrick. But, on the other side, the indirect

163 A.U.2 733.7; Chronicle of Ireland 733.9; see Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 477-9. 164 A.U.2 823.5, 846.9; Chronicle of Ireland 823.7, 842.18

75 association of Ailbe with the Eóganachta Airthir Cliach might have resulted from the influence of Rechtabra, the royal abbot of Emly at the time of the second promulgation of the Law of Ailbe (793). The facts, though, are that VAlbei has many corresponding sources in the eighth and early ninth century: Félire Oengusso, the Litany of Pilgrims, the Irish Life of Mac Creiche, the Rule of St Ailbe. It contains a verse that has been identified as Old Irish with a few slightly later features. Another fact is that the Life is mirroring Vita Patricii – with the episodes of slavery and swine herding, escape via the sea, journeying to the Continent, being educated by an ecclesiastical authority there. Furthermore, the statements about Ailbe’s chronological priority – meeting with Palladius, education under Hilary (chronologically earlier than Patrick’s teacher, Germanus), consecration in the time of a pope of ancient times, the Moses-like portrayal of Ailbe’s character – are numerous and eagerly stressed in VAlbei. So are the claims for Ailbe’s spiritual advantage: consecration from the hand of the angel Victor, the identification miracle, which could not have been performed by Patrick. Was then VAlbei written around 784 or 793? It is impossible to say; but it seems plausible that it was written in the time of the Eóganachta growing power against that of the Uí Néill, and their increasing interest in the church of Emly, that is, from the beginning of the rule of Máel Dúin to the height of the ceremonies of repromulgating the Law of Ailbe in Munster in the year 793.

76 CHAPTER 4: VITA SANCTI RUADANI

4. 1. Attributes

‘And the height of St Ruadán was twelve feet, as the learned relate. He had indeed the external shape of a king, for he was a king internally; beautiful externally, but internally more beautiful; noble according to people, but he was more noble according to God. He was great of body and great of grace; great in the face of God and in the face of people; great in the present; great in the future; great in charity, great in humbleness, great in patience, in mercifulness and in other advantages.’1

This is a description of Ruadán from the closing chapter of his Life – a common and often used feature in hagiographical texts, listing the qualities of the saint, although with one extraordinary element of the measure of the saint’s height. Intriguing as it is, both because of its uniqueness and impossibility (Ruadán, according to this text, would have measured as much as an average African elephant), the whole passage, excluding the information about the extraordinary height, is also a good example of a common motif in medieval hagiography. Jacques Le Goff claimed beauty to be an obligatory attribute of sanctity.2 It is, of course, a generalisation justified in a popularising book. There are many medieval hagiographical texts that pay no attention to the external looks of their heroes. In Irish hagiography, there is a text, in which a saint is described as a leper (Munnu of Taghmon, whose Life is also one of the O’Donohue group),3 and leprosy is hardly consonant with the attribute of extreme beauty. Yet, saintly beauty was a frequently used motif in medieval hagiography, and VRuadani is one of them.

1VRuadani, c. 25: Longitudo autem sancti Ruodani, ut periti tradunt, .xii. pedum erat. Ipse enim deforis formam regis habuit, quia rex erat intus; pulcer deforis, sed intus pulcrior; nobilis secundum homines, sed secundum Deum fuit nobilior. Magnus fuit corpore et magnus gratia; magnus coram Deo et coram hominibus; magnus in presenti, magnus in futuro; magnus in caritate, magnus in humilitate, magnus in patientia, in misericordia et in ceteris bonis. 2 Le Goff, Medieval Civilization 400 – 1500, p. 339. 3 VMunnu, c. 28.

77 Not only in his Life was the saint given that attribute. In Félire Oengusso he is called ‘Ruadán with beauty’ (Ruadan col-li).4 All existing versions of Ruadán’s Lives also contain the final section depicting his exceptional good looks. It seems that the attribute of pulchritude must have been inseparably connected with Ruadán already by circa 800, on the evidence of Félire. There are some other distinct characteristics of Ruadán underlined in VRuadani apart from his physical appearance. In general, Ruadán’s hagiographer described the saint’s miraculous attributes in quite a conventional way: raising the dead,5 fighting demons,6 moving things over obstacles.7 Miracles such as these were quite commonly found in medieval hagiographical texts, and included also within the O’Donohue group.8 Yet even the use of these typical hagiographical motifs may contribute to understanding the intellectual background of the author of VRuadani. Amongst those miracles common to Irish medieval hagiography that Ruadán is described to have performed, some appear also in VAidi. This would be unremarkable if there were just a couple of random coincidences, but in this case it does not seem like just a coincidence. There are two very similar stories in these two Lives: one about the saints giving away their horses to lepers and being rewarded with the gift of a couple of excellent horses/tamed does from heaven;9 another about changing meat into bread and an insubordinate monk who would not eat his portion of bread only to discover that it changed back into a piece of raw, bloody meat.10

4 Fél. Oeng., 15 July, pp 168-9. 5 VRuadani, cc 5, 10, 20-22. 6 VRuadani, cc 8, 23. 7 VRuadani, c. 14. 8 Clare Stancliffe in her article ‘The miracle stories in seventh-century Irish saints’ lives’ in J. Fontaine, J. N. Hillgarth (ed.), Le septième siècle: changements et continuités (London, 1992), pp 87-115, pp 94-5, 102-3 argues that the motifs of demons, devils and exorcisms are relatively rare in Irish medieval hagiography, compared with continental sources. Although it is certainly true that the continental lives contain considerably more episodes of saints struggling with demons, it cannot be said that this motif is rare in Irish hagiography. In the O’Donohue group alone there are numerous occurrences of saints confronting demons (VRuadani, cc 8, 23; VMunnu, c. 35; VColmani, cc 27, 43; VLugidi, c. 49; VCainnechi, cc 13, 27, 48, 57). It is true, however, that the majority of demons-related miracles are not purely ‘vertical’ (i.e. illustrating a saint’s relationship with the divine sphere), like in the case of continental hagiographical sources, but often set strongly in contexts typical for ‘horizontal’ or ‘practical’ miracles (for the full theory of the division of miracles into ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ categories, see Stancliffe, ‘The miracle stories’, pp 94-5, and fn. 41). 9 VRuadani, c. 13; VAidi, c. 14. 10 VRuadani, c. 15; VAidi, c. 45.

78 Those two occurrences alone still might seem coincidental if it was not for the further contents in VRuadani and its relation to VAidi. Áed is depicted in his Life as a saint with a distinct quality in healing;11 Ruadán’s healing powers are not so strongly underlined, but there is a long chapter describing the saint as he transmitted his healing powers to a young man who wanted to be a medicus and the latter, thanks to Ruadán’s assistance, cured a queen using a potion made from the saint’s saliva.12 Furthermore, Áed is mentioned in VRuadani as seeking Ruadán’s help in fighting demons.13 It does not seem that the author of VRuadani was directly copying material from the Life of Áed, as the choice of vocabulary and stylistic features are not very similar. Yet, undoubtedly, the hagiographer was trying to associate Ruadán with Áed; he most probably knew Áed’s Vita and perhaps was at least partially inspired by it. It is more probable that it was Ruadán’s hagiographer, who was inspired by VAedi, rather than Áed’s hagiographer who drew from the S Life of Ruadán, because the latter did not make any attempt to associate his saint with Ruadán. If we bear in mind that one of Áed’s main foundations (or at least shown as such by his hagiographer) was Enach Midbren,14 the church founded in Áed’s maternal lands in Múscraige; and if we also remember that Ruadán is described as founding a church in Múscraige, and the history of his main foundation, the church of Lorrha, is in some points connected with the history of the kingdom of Múscraige (see below) – we could postulate that the link between Ruadán and Áed was made in Múscraige and that, perhaps, the author of VRuadani, who made such a link, might have been associated with the church of St Ruadán in Múscraige. That could be one of the very few indications of Ruadán’s hagiographer’s association with a particular ecclesiastical site. Associating the author of VRuadani with a specific location remains nevertheless problematic, and shall be discussed in further detail below.

11 See chapter 5.3. 12 VRuadani, c. 9. 13 VRuadani, c. 23. 14 VAidi, cc 7, 42, 43; see chapter 5.6.

79 4. 2. Ruadán, other saints and the Twelve Apostles of Ireland

Several other saints are mentioned in VRuadani. Ruadán is depicted as a pupil of St Finnian of Clonard,15 at whose monastery he received his clerical grade. In chapter 3, Ruadán’s foundation (in the D version named as Lorrha) is shown as neighbouring one of St Brendan; the two churches, Ruadan’s foundation and Tulach Brendin,16 were so close to each other that it was possible to hear the church-bells from the one in the other. Hence, St Brendan decided to leave that place and went to found Clonfert. Aubrey Gwynn and Richard Hadcock described Lorrha as a foundation of St Brendan, which, once deserted by him, was taken over by Ruadán – it may be supposed that they derived this information from VRuadani, because no other source corroborates it.17 In chapters 23 and 24 Ruadán fought for a certain sinner’s soul together with Áed mac Bricc and St Columba. Neither of those saints’ Lives contains a mention of Ruadán. In the Latin Life of Finnian, however, Ruadán is mentioned as Finnian’s pupil.18 That Life also has a very similar story to that in chapter 11 of VRuadani: all the people in Ruadán’s monastery were well cared for without any need to worry about food, because they were provided with excellently nutritious nectar from a miraculous tree. Hence, monks from other monasteries were running away to live at Ruadán’s trouble-free place. That is why the saints of Ireland came to St Finnian to complain about it, and all of them, led by Finnian, requested Ruadán to put an end to this provision. After a contest of miracles between Finnian and Ruadán, the latter agreed to ‘make other monks equal to his’, and Finnian blessed Ruadán’s church and went away. The story is described in a similar way in two Lives of St Finnian: the Latin Life from S and the Irish version in the Book of Lismore.19 Kenney claimed that the story had been confused with some folk motif of a feeding tree, but did not point to any

15 VRuadani, cc 1-2. 16 VRuadani, c. 3: Eodem tempore, sanctus Brandanus Maccu Alti locum sibi haut procul a Rodano constituit in illo oppido quod dicitur Tulach Brendin (...). Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 4: Sanctus abbas Brendanus cellam haut procul a monasterio sancti Ruadhani edificauit, in loco qui dicitur scotice Tulach Brenaynd, id est collis Brendani. See Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 655. 17 A. Gwynn, R. N. Hadcock (ed), Medieval religious houses: Ireland (London, 1970), p. 185. 18 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Finniani, cc 24-6. 19 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Finniani, cc 24-5; Stokes, Book of Lismore, Betha Fhindein, 2670, p. 227

80 source;20 neither am I able to do so and, in any case, I would not form such a conclusion too readily. There are, after all, also biblical and hagiographical motifs by which the author of VRuadani might have been inspired: God feeding the people of Israel with manna from heaven,21 Jesus multiplying bread and fish to provide for five thousand,22 or the raven bringing bread to SS Paul and Anthony in the desert (a motif illustrated on the Irish high-crosses’ reliefs).23 The provision of food is not to be understood merely on a physical level: these are stories of providing the faithful with spiritual food, provision for their souls. Kenney also expressed the supposition that the story of this conflict may ‘preserve the memory of a struggle over questions of church discipline’, but he gave no supporting details. The conflict between Ruadán and Finnian and other ‘saints of Ireland’ is described as having been resolved peacefully; furthermore, there are no other direct reflexes of clashes of interests with other saints or monasteries in VRuadani. On the contrary, Ruadán is depicted as being co- operative with other saints (Columba, Áed mac Bricc, Ciarán and, eventually, Finnian) rather than involved in struggles. The only other hagiographical source, in which mention of Ruadán is found, is the undated Life of St Ciarán of Saigir:24 Ruadán is depicted visiting Ciarán, at the time when in the guests’ lodging of Saigir monastery there was no fire to warm the building. Then Ciarán blessed a stone, which immediately ignited with fire, and brought it in his bare hands to the building where Ruadán was staying. The miracle of carrying hot stone, coal or iron, reflecting, as some scholars claim, the cult of fire,25 or, as explained by others, the biblical motifs of fiery phenomena,26 is very common in the Irish hagiography.27 The Life of

20 Kenney, Sources, p. 376. I do not know any example of a food-giving tree in Irish medieval literature of secular provenance, but I did come across such a motif in another saint’s Life, that is, in the Life of Columba of Terryglass. It is told there that God prepared a feast for his faithful saint, Columba of Terryglass, in a shape of a lime-tree of which the resin had a taste, strength and a colour of wine, and was also nutritious (VColumbae de Tír dá Glas, c. 16). 21 Exodus 16:4-18. 22 Matt 14 :13-21, John 6 :1-14 23 See C. Hourihane, From Ireland coming: Irish art from the early Christian to the late Gothic period and its European context (Princeton, 2001), pp 91-3. 24 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Ciarani de Saigir, c. 33. Ingrid Sperber proposed an eighth- century date for this Life in her short study ‘The Life of St Ciarán of Saigir’ (see chapter 2.3), where she presented some interesting arguments, but these were based on one episode only and neither followed by a further study nor reviewed by other historians. 25 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, cxxxvi. 26 D. A. Bray, ‘Saint Brigit and the fire from heaven’ in Études Celt., 29 (1992), pp 105-13.

81 Ruadán contains a similar story,28 although Ciarán is mentioned neither in this passage, nor in others of VRuadani.

The depiction of Ruadán in his Life is therefore of a man of outstanding beauty provided with powers connected with healing,29 resurrecting30 and fire.31 One distinct feature of his saintly attributes is that he is described as a provider – and not only a provider of earthly goods, because the story of the food-giving tree may be understood as a manifestation of heavenly grace on earth. Another characteristic feature of Ruadán’s Vita is the number twelve that appears here and there: Ruadán’s height was twelve feet,32 he caused the death of twelve sons of twelve kings of Ireland,33 he healed twelve lepers from their disease.34 Of course, the number twelve is a motif common enough in ecclesiastical literature: Twelve Tribes of Israel, Twelve Apostles, twelve stars in a crown on a woman symbolising the Church in the Book of Revelation.35 Yet, it does not appear with such frequency in any other O’Donohue Life, nor in any of the securely dated early medieval Irish Lives. Ruadán has further associations with the number twelve in other sources, although none of them may be securely dated before the ninth century. Ruadán is mentioned as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland in the eleventh- or twelfth- century glosses of Félire Oengusso.36 The Twelve Apostles of Ireland were believed to have been students of St Finnian of Clonard, and, in fact, Ruadán is described in his Vita as a of Finnian.37 The Lives of Finnian, as mentioned above, consistently present Ruadán as Finnian’s pupil. The author of VRuadani made it clear that Ruadán was tutored by Finnian in his school, where

27 E.g. VLugidi, cc 1, 3, 17, 25; VFintani, c. 6; VColmani, c. 37; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita sancti Brendani, c. 31; Vita sancti Ciarani de Saigir, c. 33; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Mochue, c. 4 and many others; see D. A. Bray, A list of motifs in the lives of the early Irish saints (Helsinki, 1992), passim. 28 VRuadani, c. 17. 29 VRuadani, cc 9, 16. 30 VRuadani, cc 5, 10, 20-22. 31 VRuadani, c. 17. 32 VRuadani, c. 25. 33 VRuadani, c. 12. 34 VRuadani, c. 16. 35 Revelation 12:1. See B. Cooke, G. Macy, Christian symbol and ritual: an introduction (Oxford, 2005), pp 122-4. 36 Fél. Oeng., pp 168, 202. 37 VRuadani, c. 2.

82 he became ‘learned in all the divine Scriptures and excellent in all disciplines’;38 yet, Ruadán is not explicitly called one of the Twelve Apostles anywhere in his Vita. The number twelve appears there four times with regard to two miracles and the description of his appearance, but in no way is it explicitly associated with the fact that Ruadán was a student of Finnian. Therefore, although the number twelve appears to be significant in VRuadani, there is no evidence in this text that Ruadán was known as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland at the time of composition of this Life. The tradition of Twelve Apostles is not easy to date, and as far as I know, no detailed discussion on this subject has taken place. The (probably) earliest list of Finnian’s disciples appears in a short treatise De tribus ordinis, describing three epochs of saints in Ireland, a text which, as Kenney suggested, was written in the first half of the eighth century.39 The list of Finnian’s disciples, preserved also in S,40 is in a form of an additional (concluding) note to the main text and specifies the names of fourteen saints, including Ruadán.41 However, the saints are not called apostles there, nor do their numbers match. Furthermore, Kenney’s dating, supported with no argument, cannot be trusted. Paul Grosjean, the most modern editor of all the versions of De tribus ordinis, openly admitted that there were no features in this text that would allow fully secure dating. He was inclined to believe the text as later than Kenney suggested – perhaps the ninth or the tenth century42 – on the basis of a fundamental misunderstanding of the Easter issues that appears in the text and which could not have been made by an Irishman in the early eighth century. This misunderstanding suggests that the author of De tribus ordinis was much further removed from the controversy. Kathleen Hughes admitted that she found this argument the most compelling of

38 VRuadani, c. 2: Cumque in divinis scripturis esset eruditus et in omnibus disciplinis esset perfectus (…). 39 Kenney, Sources, pp 478-9. 40 De tribus ordinis is preserved in six manuscripts. For the full list see P. Grosjean, (ed.), ‘Edition et commentaire du Catalogus Sanctorum Hiberniae secundum Diversa Tempora ou De Tribus ordinibus Sanctorum Hiberniae’ in Anal. Bolland., 73 (1955), pp 197-213. 41 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., De tribus ordinis, pp 81-3. 42 Grosjean, ‘Edition et commentaire du Catalogus Sanctorum Hiberniae’, p. 213.

83 all against the eighth-century date.43 Richard Sharpe dismissed De tribus ordinis as a ‘worthless text’.44 There is other evidence for the association of Ruadán with the number twelve and the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. The Life of Columba of Terryglass contains information about Finnian’s students that it was a custom amongst them that ‘each of twelve of them in their [appropriate] days provided refreshments for all the brethren’.45 The Life of Columba of Terryglass is supposedly one of the O’Donohue group, yet Sharpe was not entirely sure about that and the word limits of this thesis do not enable me to investigate this issue further. Nevertheless, if the association of this Life with the group is correct, the text was most probably composed within the same time frame as the rest of the O’Donohue Lives. We cannot use the motifs common to VColumbae de Tír Da Glass and VRuadani as dating factors, as it would constitute a circular argument within the same group of texts, but we certainly may demonstrate that there are common motifs in these two Lives and that those shared contents may indicate that the composition of VRuadani and VColumbae de Tír Da Glas belonged to the same time frame, whatever it might have been.46 In this case, VColumbae de Tír Da Glas confirms the existence of tradition of the twelve disciples of Finnian that had not yet evolved into the tradition of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland; and VRuadani confirms that Ruadán was considered as Finnian’s disciple in his Life though not yet named as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Thus, it is hardly possible that those two texts could have been composed at the time in which the motif of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland was fully developed in Irish ecclesiastical literature. It is in later texts that the motif of the Twelve Apostles, students of Finnian, evolves more clearly. The Irish Life of Finnian from the Book of Lismore, which Kathleen Hughes believed to be based on ninth- or tenth-century materials,47 makes Finnian’s pupils ‘twelve bishops of Ireland’.48

43 K. Hughes, Review of P. Grosjean, ‘Edition et commentaire du Catalogus Sanctorum Hiberniae’ in I.H.S., 11/42 (1958), pp 170-2. 44 R. Sharpe, ‘Some problems concerning the organization of the Church in early medieval Ireland’ in Peritia, 3 (1984), p. 247. 45 VColumbae de Tír Da Glas, c. 5: In illa autem scola mos erat ut unusquisque de illis .xii. in die suo cotidianam refectionem omnibus fratribus procuraret (…). 46 See chapter 8. 47 Hughes, ‘The historical value of the Lives of St Finnian of Clonard’. Hughes’s dating is based on linguistic arguments (pp 357-8, fn. 10) and historical context (pp 359-62). The linguistic

84 In the abovementioned eleventh- or twelfth-century glosses of Félire Oengusso, the full list of ‘Ireland’s Twelve Apostles’ is provided (although there are minor differences in the names listed). The so-called Second Life of Brendan of Clonfert, or Da apstol decc na hErenn, contains a description of Brendan’s second voyage, starting with the words: ‘The Twelve Apostles of Ireland were in Clonard studying with Finnian’49 (yet Ruadán is not mentioned there, although he appears in most of the other sources relating to the twelve students of Finnian or the Twelve Apostles). Da apstol decc na hErenn is the latest text of all mentioned above, which cannot be traced earlier than the early fifteenth century.50 Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that the tradition of the twelve disciples of Finnian was not later than the tenth century, as reflected in the Irish Life of Finnian (presumably based on ninth- or tenth-century material), in De tribus ordinis (perhaps ninth or early tenth century) and in VColumbae de Tír Da Glas (we cannot define the precise date, but we may posit that it was written more or less within the same time frame as VRuadani). Furthermore, it is worth noticing that nowhere in those testimonies – including VRuadani – does the word ‘apostles’ appear. The motif of the Twelve Apostles, earliest preserved in the eleventh- or twelfth-century glosses to Félire Oengusso, had not yet marked its presence in the ninth- or tenth-century sources. In Ruadán’s Life the number twelve is not even directly related to the fact that the saint was a student of Finnian. Therefore we may assume that Ruadán’s Life had been written before the tradition of the ‘twelve bishops’ (Irish Life of Finnian) or the Twelve Apostles of Ireland (De tribus ordinis) was developed, although we may observe its beginnings in VRuadani (a student of Finnian, who is associated with the number twelve) and VColumbae de Tír Da Glas (a motif of the twelve disciples of Finnian).

analysis suggests a very early form of Middle Irish (the occasional use of forms that were falling out of use in the tenth century), and the analysis of the contents may indicate the use of even earlier material (see above, pp 29-30). 48 Stokes, Book of Lismore, Betha Fhindein, pp 79, 226; see also ibid., Betha Ciarain, pp 122, 268. 49 Plummer, Bethada naem nErenn, i, Da apstol decc na hErenn, c. 1. 50 Plummer edited this text based on a seventeenth-century O’Clery MS, which was a copy of the Red Book of Munster (now lost), written probably at the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century. See Plummer, Bethada naem nErenn, i, xxiv-xxvi; W. Follett, Céli Dé in Ireland (Woodbridge, 2006), p. 163.

85

4. 3. Ruadán’s Lives

The Life of St Ruadán is preserved in three versions, two in Latin and one in Irish. The Latin recensions appear in the Codex Salmanticensis (S), Codex Kilkenniensis and Rawlinson MS B485, Bodleian Library (the latter two are copies of the same text, D). The S version (VRuadani) has been published by Heist in his Vita Sanctorum Hiberniae. The D text was edited and published by Plummer.51 The Irish Life is preserved in two copies, first in the Stowe IX manuscript of the RIA Library, and the second in Brussels 2324-40, and was also published by Plummer.52 Both Kenney and Plummer agreed that all versions appear to go back to a common original,53 although Kenney claimed that that original must have been quite late and Plummer did not offer any opinion in the matter of dating. Kenney argued that the original form of the Life must have been written within the community of St Ruadán, because the Latin version, preserved in D, describes Ruadán as noster senex.54 Furthermore, he concluded that the Life of Ruadán in its present form ‘certainly implies that the monastery of Lorrha was a thing of the past’. The problem is that the noster senex phrase appears only once and in only one version of the text (i.e. D); moreover, in my opinion there are no distinct signs within the Life that the monastery of Lorrha ‘was a thing of the past’, and especially not in the D version, in which Ruadán is described as having founded a monastery ‘which is called (present tense!) Lorrha’, and that he had been buried there.55 However, the S version contains only one reference to Lorrha in chapter 9, where it is said that the gift of an altar cloth received by Ruadán remained in the church of Lorrha for a very long time.56 The descriptions of places in both recensions are very similar, but the mention of Lorrha, frequent as

51 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, 240-52. 52 Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Ruadain, 317-29. 53 Kenney, Sources, p. 392; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, lxxxvi. 54 Kenney, Sources, p. 392; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 30. 55 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, cc 2-3: (…) ‘set resurges ad Christi aduentum in loco qui dicitur Lothra (…) Illis sanctus pater Ruadhanus fundauit monasterium magnum, vbi ipse sepultus est, quod uocatur Lothra. 56 VRuadani, c. 9: Iuvenis autem, secundum verbum Ruodani, munera non accepit nisi tantummodo lineam regis Kulann, que super altare Lothri multo fuit tempore.

86 it is in one, seems to be of less importance in the other. Those factors make the issue of dating much more complicated than it seemed to Kenney. Regarding the topographical details in VRuadani, there is a distinct difference between S and D. For such a short Vita, there is a considerable number of place-names mentioned in S; yet one of the redactors of D seems to have been exceptionally interested in localised geography, providing even more detailed information about some places (in chapters 1, 10, 12, 19; some of these occurrences are discussed below). It is evident that both S and D (and also the Irish Life of Ruadán) derive from a common origin: the contents are the same, and the sequences of events are identical. The main differences between Ruadán’s Latin Lives appear in stylistics (the D version is more elaborated) and in the abovementioned topographical details. There is yet another difference which may contribute to understanding of the history of all the versions. The S Life is very short – there are only three sentences regarding Ruadán’s childhood and education,57 and none regarding his death; and these two themes – childhood and death – were quite often subjected to a certain scrutiny by medieval Irish hagiographers (usually resulting with not very long, but significant outcomes). VRuadani is the only text in the O’Donohue group in which there is nothing said about the saint’s death – no miracles attached, no date, no circumstances mentioned. In fact, Ruadán’s death simply does not take place in this Life. The lack of descriptions of Ruadán’s childhood and death, the lack of topographical precision and consistent omissions of the name of Ruadán’s main church, Lorrha, may mean that the S Life, as we have it, was somehow abbreviated or corrupted. The D text is more exact in giving topographical details, the chapter on the saint’s childhood is much longer and the moment of his death is recorded and described in a conventional hagiographical fashion.58 The Irish Life cannot be directly compared with S and D in the matter of stylistics because we are dealing with two different languages, but it is still possible to argue on the basis of the contents and expressions that the Irish Life derives from the Latin one. It is even more elaborated in descriptions and dialogues than the D text, yet it keeps the order of the events and the

57 VRuadani, c. 1. 58 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 30.

87 characteristic metaphors. Two fragments, the dialogue between St Ruadán and King Diarmait,59 and the description of Ruadán’s qualities,60 are almost exactly the same in all three Lives. The S Life may have been corrupted, but also may have been written in a way close to that preserved in Codex Salmanticensis. It is noticeably the shortest version of all, but it contains all the main points and significant information – D and the Irish Life only offer a more elaborated way of describing incidents plus a few additional topographical remarks.61 Thus, it seems clear that the S Life, as the most ‘primitive’ one, is also the earliest. It has been so assessed not only by Sharpe,62 but also – and much earlier – by Byrne:

The Salmanticensis Life, he wrote, has the unusual word cortex “bark, rind, shell” instead of the commonplace uas of Plummer’s text (D), which suggests that it, like so many of the Lives in this codex, is more primitive, perhaps as early as the eighth century.63

Sharpe also noticed that cortex may have become an obsolete word by the time of composing/editing the D Life of Ruadán. Sharpe also pointed to another uncommon word, boccetum (bocetum/bucetum: ‘cattle pasture’), which occurs also in the Life of Columba by Adomnán and two other Lives from the O’Donohue group: VLugidi and VFinani.64 The word boccetum appears also in the S Life of St Daig mac Cairill and in a Latin passage of Bethu Brigte.65 Thus, apart from the Life of Daig, the date of which is unknown,66 the rest of the

59 VRuadani, c. 12 (quoted below); Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, cc 15-18; Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Ruadhain, cc xi-xiii. 60 VRuadani, c. 25 (quoted above); Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 30; Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Ruadhain, c. xxii (59-60). 61 There is, however, one exceptional addition in chapter 25 of the D Life: the chapter contains a description of a miraculous transporting of a vessel filled with butter over a bog. The redactor of D supplemented the text with the name of the bog and the story associated with it, although it had no links with saint Ruadán whatsoever. This occurrence may be interpreted as just one of the signs of the redactor’s abovementioned interest in geography. (The same observation was already made by Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 306.) 62 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 311-39, especially pp 305 and 331. 63 Byrne, ‘Derrynavlan: the historical context’ in R.S.A.I.Jn., 110 (1980), p. 118. 64 VRuadani, c. 8; Adomnán, Vita Columbae, iii, c. 23; VLugidi, c. 21; VFinani, c. 32; see Adomnán, Life of Columba, p. 373, fn. 407. 65 A. Harvey, J. Power (ed.), The non-Classical lexicon of Celtic Latinity (Turnhout, 2005), i, 89; Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Dagaei mic Cairill, c. 20; Bethu Brigte, c. 39. 66 Kenney described this Life as a ‘late abridgment’ (Kenney, Sources, p. 384).

88 sources in which the word boccetum can be found, are attributable to no later than the ninth century (Vita Columbae – written by 704, two O’Donohue Lives: VLugidi and VFinani – the most recent analyses suggesting a date of around 800, and Bethu Brigte – translated from a Latin exemplar in the ninth century). Thus, it seems probable that the use of boccetum may have become extinct after the ninth century. Furthermore, both Byrne and Sharpe underlined that the spellings of vernacular place names in S indicate an early date for the composition of the Life, e.g. i Pull Ruodan (dative inflection of poll, whilst in D juxta Pollum Ruodani).67 However, John Carey stressed that this feature ‘suggests the ninth century more readily than the eighth, while other features (e.g., consistent notation of phonetic h in Cluana hIraird) can scarcely antedate 900’.68 Byrne and Sharpe also noticed the use of the old place name, Daire Ethnech, which – by the time the D redaction was made – had been replaced with ‘Daire na Fland’.69 Thus, the ‘primitiveness’ of the S Life shows itself in orthography, in examples of obsolete vocabulary, in the usage of older place names, and in the simple and often brief narrative form, which was elaborated by the redactor(s) of D and the translator(s) of the Vita into Irish. However, it still does not give us any firm date.

4. 4. Ruadán’s genealogy

According to the S Life, Ruadán was of the Uí Duach. The Uí Duach occupied lands in and they may have been a branch of the Eóganachta dynasty, although in VRuadani such an association is not made. The author of the S Life mentions the name of the saint’s father, Birr,70 but in the genealogies

67 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 331. VRuadani, c. 12, also contains the phrase iuxta Pollum Ruodani, but in three other occurrences of this place name (in the same chapter) the Irish form is preserved. VRuadani, c. 16, contains a reference to Piscina Ruodani that may be a Latinised name of the same location. 68 Carey, Review of Sharpe,, Medieval Irish Saints’ Lives, p. 262. 69 VRuadani, c. 19: in loco illo qui dicitur Dare Ethnech; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 25: in monasterio quod olim dicebatur Dayre Ethnech (modo autem Daire na Fland dicitur; see Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 305-6; Byrne, ‘Derrynavlan: the historical context’, p. 117. 70 VRuadani, c. 1.

89 (Book of Leinster) Ruadán is called the son of Fergus Birn.71 In the D recension Ruadán is described as belonging to the Eóganachta, ‘and his father was called Byrra and he was of the seed of Duach’.72 The author of the Irish Life offers a detailed pedigree for Ruadán, from his father Fergus Bern of the Uí Duach to Eógan Mór and Ailill Ólomm,73 deriving Ruadán’s origins directly from the founders of the Eóganachta dynasty. The S Life of Ruadán remains the only hagiographical text on Ruadán in which mention of the Eóganachta dynasty does not appear at all. An association of Ruadán with the Eóganachta does not appear in the two notes devoted to him in the main corpus of the text of the early ninth-century Félire Oengusso either.74 Thus, that association may have been of no particular importance in the eighth and ninth centuries, and may have started to be underlined in a later period. There are some other arguments supporting such a possibility, discussed below. The Uí Duach, as mentioned above, may have been a branch of the Eóganachta, judging by twelfth-century sources, but it is not certain whether they are reliable at this point.75 The Uí Duach are associated with the Eóganachta in the glosses to Félire Oengusso,76 and in the genealogies in Rawlinson 502 B manuscript and the Book of Leinster.77 The eleventh-century Fragmentary Annals link the Uí Duach with the Corcu Loígde of West Cork,78 but again the reliability of this information is not certain, because we know that this set of annals (or rather saga narrative) was created as a work of Osraige propaganda.79 This association is repeated in the list of the kings of Osraige, found in the

71 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., p. 208. 72 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 1: Beatissimus abbas Ruadhanus de nobilissimo genere Hybernie, id est de gente Eoghonacht, natus est. Cuius pater Byrra uocabatur, qui ortus de semine Duach (...). 73 Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Ruadain, c. 1. 74 Fél. Oeng., April 15, p. 106. 75 In the twelfth-century genealogies of the Uí Duach, Duí Iarlaithe of the Cairpri Luachra (later Eóganachta Locha Léin), the descendant of Corc mac Luigthig (a mythical hero of the proto- Eóganachta), seems to have been replaced with Duí Cliach, the eponymous founder of the Uí Duach family; see O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib. 151a1180, 1199. 76 Fél. Oeng., pp 224-5. However, the association is not explicit. It is a gloss in which at the first instance Fintan Maeldub is described to be of the Uí Duach, and afterwards as one of the Eóganachta Caisil. 77 O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 148a50, 151a27, 1199; Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 668. 78 Fragmentary Annals 583. 79 J.N. Radner, ‘Writing history: early Irish historiography and the significance of form’ in Celtica 23 (1999), pp 321-5.

90 twelfth-century Book of Leinster.80 Meanwhile, the record preserved in the Great Book of Lecan (compiled 1397-1418)81 gives us that the Uí Duach from Osraige were believed to be kin to the Uí Maine from Connacht and to the Dál Fiatach of the Ulaid (the Corcu Loígde were believed to be related to the latter as well).82 Therefore, we have three independent genealogical associations for the Uí Duach: with the Corcu Loígde in the eleventh and twelfth, the Eóganachta in the twelfth, and the Uí Maine and Dál Fiatach in the early fifteenth centuries. None of their associations appear reliable enough to let us entirely exclude the other, and all of them might have been outcomes of different propaganda goals. The only certainty which can be reconstructed in the matter of the Uí Duach genealogical association is that in no later than the twelfth century they were believed to be or promoted as connected to the Eóganachta. This promotion proved to be the most successful, as the majority of our sources mentioning the Uí Duach genealogical associations thereafter show them as related to the Eóganachta: the D Life of Ruadán, the glosses in Félire, and the genealogies from Rawlinson 502 B manuscript and the Book of Leinster.

Félire Oengusso and the D Life give 15 April as the feast day of Ruadán.83 There is only one annalistic entry on Ruadán in the Annals of Tigernach,84 but the reputed time of his activity can also be estimated by the personages mentioned in his Life: it makes him contemporary with St Finnian of Clonard (d. 549),85 (reigned 544-565 or 549-572),86 Brendan of Clonfert (died 577 or 583),87 Áed mac Bricc (died 589),88 Colum Cille (died 597),89 Baithéne (died 598 or 600)90 and Colmán Elo (died 611).91

80 Bk Leinster, i, 187-9; see also L. Ó Buachalla, ‘Contributions towards the political history of Munster, 450-800’ in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 57 (1952), p. 70, fn. 17; 59 (1954), pp 118-20. There are other premises suggesting that Osraige and the Corcu Loígde were allied in the sixth century (see Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 489), but this alliance is not reflected in the genealogies. 81 O. Macswiney, the Marquis of Mashanaglass, ‘Notes on the history of the Book of Lecan’ in R.I.A. Proc., 38 C (1928), pp 31-50; P. Walsh, ‘The great Book of Lecan’ in C. Ó Lochlainn (ed.), Irish men of learning: studies by Father Paul Walsh (Dublin, 1947), pp 102-88. 82 J. Hardiman, Ancient Irish deeds and writings (Dublin, 1826), p. 17; J. O’Donovan, Tribes and customs of Hy Maine (Dublin, 1844), p. 28 (quoted after Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 668). 83 Fél. Oeng. 15 April, p. 106; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 30. 84 Ann. Tig. 583.3: Ruadhan Lothra quieuit secundum alios. 85 A.U.2 549.3; Chronicle of Ireland, 549.3. 86 A.U.2 544.1, 565.1, 572.4; Chronicle of Ireland, 544.1, 565.5; see Byrne, Irish kings and high- kings, p. 281. 87 A.U.2 577.3, 583.5; Chronicle of Ireland 577.6.

91 While adolescent, Ruadán studied under Finnian, ‘bishop of Clonard’, and then he went to Múscraige to found his own monastery, but was told by an angel that in hoc loco tua non erit resurrectio (‘your resurrection will not be in this place’). So he went ad eum locum ubi nunc est civitas eius (...) et illic suam fundavit civitatem (‘to that place where now his church is (...) and there he founded his church’).92 Curiously, the hagiographer seems almost to have been avoiding naming the place. The D version contains the name of Lorrha at this point:93 Lorrha, having been identified by the angel as the place of Ruadán’s resurrection, by divine appointment was to preserve Ruadán’s relics and so to become the centre of Ruadán’s cult. Yet the author of VRuadani omits a mention of its name. However, it is difficult to claim that the author of the S version of the Life was unaware of the fact that Lorrha was the main centre of Ruadán’s cult. It is worth remembering that he did mention Lorrha once,94 although he did not put any stress on its importance. He rather seems to have assumed that the name of Lorrha as Ruadán’s main ecclesiastical site was known to everybody who would read the Vita. It is striking that there is no attempt at advertising the position of the church of Lorrha, and there are two ways of explaining this: either the author was not at all concerned about Lorrha, or the Life was written entirely for the internal use of the church of Lorrha, therefore mentioning its name was pointless. I have mentioned above that there is a slight possibility that the author of the S Life may have been associated with Ruadán’s church in Múscraige, and such an association might explain the lack of author’s interest in the church of Lorrha. But it is difficult to assume so in the light of the fact that the author of the S Life specifically stated that the church in Múscraige was not to be the place of Ruadán’s resurrection. However, as already mentioned, the apparent disinterest in Lorrha in the S text may also be explained in an entirely different way: that the author wrote the Life for the internal needs of the church of Lorrha (like daily

88 A.U.2 589.1; Chronicle of Ireland 589.2. 89 A.U.2 595.1; Chronicle of Ireland 595.1. 90 A.U.2 598.1; Chronicle of Ireland, 598.1. 91 A.U.2 611.3; Chronicle of Ireland 611.3. 92 VRuadani, c. 2. 93 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 2. 94 VRuadani, c. 9; see above, pp 86-7.

92 reading in a refectory), so there was no point in mentioning the name of the church repeatedly. How did it happen that the church of Lorrha, the position of which the author of the Life did not bother to advertise more strongly around 800, had come to be noticed by and associated with the Eóganachta dynasty in the twelfth century? The Eóganachta already had a chosen saint circa 800, promoted in their political struggle against the influence of the church of Armagh and of the Uí Néill – St Ailbe and his church of Emly.95 The church of Emly was very important at that time, enjoying the full support of the kings of Munster, and the church of Lorrha must have been overshadowed by it. However, the authority of the Eóganachta over Munster subsequently lessened and the link with the church of Emly weakened. By the mid-tenth century the Eóganachta lost the overkingship of Munster96 and a strong connection with Emly disappeared from the sources.97 When in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries the Eóganachta, more precisely Eóganachta Caisil, once again contended for the seat of Cashel and overkingship of Munster with the rival dynasty of Dál Cais,98 the political need of ecclesiastical and spiritual support for the Eóganachta reappeared. The association of Ruadán and his church with the Eóganachta may be a reflex of those circumstances. We shall further explore this issue below.

4. 5. Locations

Although the role of Lorrha in VRuadani was not underlined by the hagiographer, it is still important to assess the position of this church. There are a significant number of annalistic entries recording deaths of Lorrha’s principals. The first entry is that on Ruadán’s death in 583 in the Annals of Tigernach – the only entry relating to this saint. The following entries occur: Cellcéne of Lorrha,99 Colmán son of Sechnusach, abbot of Lorrha,100 Dúngal, abbot of

95 See chapter 3.5, pp 64-5. 96 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 176. 97 See chapter 3.5, p. 64. 98 M.T. Flanagan, ‘High-kings with opposition, 1072 – 1166’ in N.H.I., i, 899 ff. 99 A.U.2 657.4, Ann. Tig. 655.4, Ann. Inisf. 655.1 (here called Ciarán instead of Cellcéne). 100 A.U.2 710.7, Ann Tig. 710.4, Ann. Inisf. 707.2.

93 Lorrha,101 Do-Cheta of Lorrha,102 Ailill, abbot of Lorrha,103 Colum son of Faelgus, bishop of Lorrha,104 Coibdenach the Learned, abbot of Lorrha,105 Bricéne, abbot of Lorrha,106 Dineartach, bishop and abbot of Lorrha,107 Mael Corgais, princeps of Lorrha,108 Corc mac Coinliogáin, abbot of Lorrha,109 Maenach, airchinnech of Lorrha,110 Muirchertach ua Lorcáin, airchinnech of Lorrha,111 Mael Dúin ua hÉicertaig, airchinnech of Lorrha,112 Aicher Ua Domnalláin, bishop of Lorrha113 and Maelmuire Ua Scolaighe, comarba of Ruadán of Lorrha.114 These names appear in the annals at regular intervals between the years 655 and 1106. There are seven abbots, three bishops (one of them being described also as an abbot), two airchinnig and one princeps (the Latin term for airchinnech, a head or an administrator of a monastic community) and one comarba (‘heir’ of a saintly patron of a church). One of the abbots, Colmán son of Sechnusach, appears also in the guarantor-list of Adomnán’s Law of the Innocents (promulgated in 697).115 Such rich evidence for the heads of the church of Lorrha clearly indicates that Lorrha was an important ecclesiastical centre already in the seventh century, and its importance did not decrease until the eleventh century at the earliest. The church of Lorrha appears to have suffered a disruption during the twelfth century – there are no more death notices, only three consecutive mentions of Lorrha having been burnt (1154, 1157 and 1179, all from the Annals of Four Masters). At some point in the twelfth century the Augustinian rule was introduced to Lorrha.116 It is quite possible that that occurrence was connected with Ruadán’s twelfth-century association with the Eóganachta. In 1118 Tadg Mac Carthaig of the Eóganachta

101 Ann. Inisf. 747a.1. 102 A.U.2 763.7. 103 Ann. Inisf. 780.1. 104 A.U.2 788.6. 105 Ann. Inisf. 809.1. 106 A.U.2 844.3. 107 A.F.M. 864.1, Fragmentary annals 866. 108 A.U.2 892.3. 109 A.F.M. 946.6. 110 A.F.M. 957.6. 111 A.U.2 1015.6. 112 A.U.2 1050.3. 113 Ann. Inisf. 1075.5. 114 A.F.M. 1106.5. 115 M. Ní Dhonnchadha, ‘The guarantor-list of Cáin Adomnáin, 697’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), pp 178- 215, at p. 187. 116 A. Gwynn, D. F. Gleeson, A history of the diocese of Killaloe (Dublin, 1962), pp 211-12; Gwynn, Hadcock, Medieval religious houses, p. 185.

94 Caisil asserted lordship over the southern half of Munster, reviving partially the importance of his dynasty in the region. His brother Cormac pursued the struggle for this revival, fighting off repeated invasions from Connacht and even achieving a temporary alliance with the Eóganachta rival dynasty, the Dál Cais. Cormac Mac Carthaig also enjoyed undeterred support of the famous reformist ecclesiastic, St Malachy. Malachy became bishop of Armagh with the assistance of the Munster kings in 1132, and thereafter he made a circuit of Munster twice, in 1134 and 1136.117 The later conversion of the church of Lorrha to the Augustinian observance118 and the Eóganachta association attributed to St Ruadán in the genealogies of the twelfth century may be a reflex of the Eóganachta influence and political interests at the time. The source material as we have it does not allow a conclusion that Lorrha became a main centre of ecclesiastical support for the Eóganachta, but we may assume that the attempts at linking Ruadán with this dynasty might have been aimed at gaining local support in the area where the authority of the Eóganachta Caisil – more precisely the Meic Carthaig kings – was a matter of recent expansion of their influence. There is not enough information in the Lives of Ruadán to track any particular political connections of the church of Lorrha around 800. We may only assume that Lorrha and its vicinity did not belong to the lands of Múscraige Tíre – at least not at the time when Ruadán’s hagiographer was writing his work, because it is said explicitly in the Life that Ruadán founded a church there and then left, having been advised to do so by an angel.119 Yet the number of recorded deaths of heads of the church and the appearance of one of them in the guarantors’ list of Adomnán’s Law of the Innocents, a law of island-wide importance, afford evidence that the church of Lorrha was a significant ecclesiastical centre. It is also possible that Lorrha had a long-standing relationship with the rulers of Múscraige Tíre. Suggestive evidence is to be found in the and its shrine, and the information they provide.

117 A.F.M. 1134.17, 1136.21; for the discussion of the period see Flanagan, ‘High-kings with opposition, 1072 – 1166’, pp 917-21. 118 The first confirmed introduction of the Augustinian rule by Malachy in Ireland took place at the beginning of the 1140s (the church of St Mochta in Louth; see Flanagan, ‘High-kings with opposition, 1072 – 1166’, p. 923). The conversion of the church of Lorrha might have been a part of Malachy’s activity at that time. 119 VRuadani, c. 2.

95 The Stowe Missal is the oldest extant Irish liturgical manuscript.120 It contains the ordinary and the canon of the mass, the orders of sacraments, a series of antiphons and two litanies, in one of which the name of St Ruadán is mentioned. Thomas Francis O’Rahilly dated it to around 800 and suggested eleventh-century (1045-52) Tallaght as the place of origin of the shrine which enclosed the manuscript. From the analysis of the inscriptions on the shrine casket, O’Rahilly found evidence that the manuscript was kept in the monastery of Lorrha between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries.121 He argued that the manuscript was taken originally from Tallaght to Terryglass,122 and from there to Lorrha. Aubrey Gwynn claimed that he had not noticed any convincing evidence for the Stowe Missal to have been written in Tallaght, and that it most probably originated in Lorrha and was kept there from the ninth to fourteenth centuries at least, and perhaps even until the end of the sixteenth century.123 Pádraig Ó Riain undermined O’Rahilly’s dating of the shrine of the Missal124 on the basis of inscriptions on the cross relief of the shrine, which were disregarded in earlier investigations because of their corrupted form. One of the inscriptions reconstructed by Ó Riain reads: A prayer for Mathgamain grandson

120 The Stowe Missal has been edited and commented on by G. F. Warner, within the Henry Bradshaw Society series in two volumes (xxxi, 1906 and xxxii, 1915). The first detailed analysis of the Stowe Missal can be found in T. F. O’Rahilly, ‘The history of the Stowe Missal’ in Ériu, 10 (1926-8), pp 95-109. Thomas O’Loughlin in his Celtic theology (Edinburgh, 2000), pp 128- 46, provides a discussion of the contents of the manuscript from the point of view of the history of liturgy. P. Ó Riain redated the Stowe Missal more precisely in the article ‘The shrine of the Stowe Missal, redated’ in R.I.A.Proc., 91C (1991), pp 285-95. Sven Meeder analysed the possible uses of the Stowe Missal in ‘The early Irish Stowe Missal’s destination and function’ in Early Medieval Europe, 13(2) (2005), pp 179-94. 121 O’Rahilly, ‘The history of the Stowe Missal’, pp 95-109. One of two older inscriptions is a request for a prayer for Donnchad, son of Brian Boruma, rí Hérend, the king of Ireland; the second - for a prayer for Mac Raith Ua Donnchada, king of Cashel. Mac Raith became king of Cashel in 1045 and died in 1052. Thus, the writing of those two inscriptions on the casket must have taken place between the years 1045 and 1052. The later inscription shows that the decoration of the casket was ordered by Pilib Ua Cinnédig, king of Ormond (died 1381), and the coarb Gilla Ruadán Ua Macán; thus, it must have been made at some point in the fourteenth century, before the year 1381. The coarb, as O’Rahilly argued, must have been a coarb of Lorrha, since Lorrha was the only one monastery in Ormond which could claim a continuous existence from pre-Norman times and therefore could use the term of coarb. Further according to O’Rahilly, as the inscription with the name of Donnchad son of Brian Bóruma calls him a king of Ireland, it indicates that the eleventh-century inscriptions were most probably made also in Ormond, because Donnchad was not recognised as king of Ireland anywhere else apart from north Munster. 122 See also Follett, Céli Dé in Ireland, pp 132-6. 123 Gwynn, Gleeson, A history of the diocese of Killaloe, p. 51. 124 Instead of 1045-52 proposed by O’Rahilly, Ó Riain suggests 1026-33.

96 of Cathal at whose behest [the shrine] was made.125 Ó Riain argued that Mathgamain must have been an abbot of Lorrha, as there were no names of other ecclesiastics mentioned in the inscriptions on the shrine, and considering that the shrine had been made for the missal, one would expect at least one of the names given on the shrine to be that of an ecclesiastic. Furthermore, Ó Riain traced a reference to Mathgamain grandson of Cathal in the Annals of Inisfallen in a 1037 entry:

‘Cú Chaille son of Cennétig, king of Múscraige, with his son, was slain in front of the stone church of Lorrha after he had been forcibly taken from the altar; and Mathgamain Ua Cathail was slain on that same night.’126

It is then certain – as Ó Riain argues – that the violence described in the 1037 entry of the Annals of Inisfallen was committed on the commissioner of the shrine (which, by the way, most probably contained the Stowe Missal at that very moment). The other victim of that violent act on the church of Lorrha, Cú Chaille, was the king of Múscraige. It could not be a coincidence that the second inscription on the shrine reconstructed by Ó Riain asks for a prayer for Find Ua Dúngalaig, who also was a king of Múscraige.127 It is evident that at least in the eleventh century there was a strong connection between the monastery of Lorrha and the kings of Múscraige. If we recall that the author of Ruadán’s Life might have been inspired by the Life of Áed, who was associated with the lands of Múscraige, we may ponder the possibility that the Lorrha-Múscraige link existed even earlier, in the eighth century. This possibility is additionally reaffirmed by the fact that the monastery of Lorrha was the place where the Múscraige genealogies were kept, and these – as Donnchadh Ó Corráin states – quoted explicitly from Lebor Sochair Lothra, a work dated to 750-800.128

125 Ó Riain, ‘The shrine of the Stowe Missal, redated’, p. 289. A similar restoration of the name of Mathgamain had been suggested earlier by J. H. Todd, ‘On the ancient Irish missal, and its silver box, described by Dr. O’Conor in his Catalogue of the Stowe MSS, and now the property of the Earl of Ashburnham’ in R.I.A. Trans., 23 (1856), pp 10-11 (quoted after Ó Riain). 126 Ann. Inisf. 1037.3. 127 Ó Riain, ‘The shrine of the Stowe Missal, redated’, p. 292. 128 Ó Corráin, ‘Ireland c. 800: aspects of society’, p. 589.

97 Thomas O’Loughlin and Westley Follett, who have discussed the history of the Stowe Missal recently,129 follow O’Rahilly in placing the origins of the manuscript in Tallaght and argue that it was afterwards taken to Terryglass, and finally to Lorrha. Whatever the origins of the Stowe Missal, it has been confirmed that at some point the history of the manuscript and the history of the monastery of Lorrha crossed paths. Therefore, even if the missal was not a work of a ninth-century scribe at Lorrha, it could still afford evidence of the church of Lorrha having been linked with other important ecclesiastical sites like Tallaght and Terryglass, the centres of ninth-century céli Dé cultural activity. The appearance of Ruadán in one of the Stowe Missal litanies130 may additionally suggest that the manuscript was produced in Lorrha, or that another possible location of the manuscript’s origin, the church of Tallaght, had a connection with Lorrha at the time in which the Stowe Missal was created (i.e. around 800).

The author of VRuadani, although he only mentioned the name of the church of Lorrha once, did give locations of several other foundations of the saint: an unnamed church in the lands of Múscraige,131 Snám Luthir in the lands of Cairbre Mór,132 Senchua in the lands of the Uí Ailella (northern Connacht),133 Ros Enni in Crích Airther (possibly Ulster, Airthir of Armagh),134 a place in Dáire Eidnech in the lands of the Eóganachta Caisil,135 Tulach Ruodan in Éile,136 and also a great paruchia ‘in the northern part of Ireland’ (in aquilonalem partem

129 O’Loughlin, Celtic theology, pp 128-146; Follett, Céli Dé in Ireland, pp 132-6. 130 Stowe Missal, R.I.A. MS D ii 3, f. 30v. 131 VRuadani, c. 2. 132 VRuadani, c. 5. Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 142 suggested modern co. Sligo as the location of this place probably after Colgan (Acta SS Hib., p. 383a). However, another identification of this place was made by Reeves (The Life of St Columba, founder of Hy, written by Adamnan (Dublin, Edinburgh, 1857), pp 172-4), who located Snám Luthir near Kilmore (Co. Cavan). Sharpe (Adomnán, Life of Columba, pp 275, 344) follows Reeves’s argument. For further discussion of Snám Luthir see below. 133 VRuadani, c. 7. 134 VRuadani, c. 6: Roys Enni, hi crich Arther; Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 586: Ros enni; hi Crích Airther (...) more north than Uí Ailello; p. 302: Crích airthir; in the north (...). Hogan’s assumption that Crích Airther was located in the north of Connacht derives most probably from the next chapter of VRuadani, where it is said that ‘afterwards Ruadán went from the north to his sister Daroi in the lands of the Uí Ailello’ (Post hec venit Rodanus ab aquilone ad sororem suam Daroi in finibus Nepotum Ailella). However, it is more likely that ‘the north’ in the hagiographer’s understanding was meant to mean In Tuaiscert, ‘the North’, i.e. the lands of the Northern Uí Néill (see below, p. 101). 135 VRuadani, c. 19. 136 VRuadani, c. 22.

98 Hybernie).137 Thus, according to this text, Ruadán had foundations in Connacht, Ulster, Leinster and Munster. Ruadán is also described as travelling through the lands of the Uí Néill,138 although without any topographical details, apart from the story of the cursing of Tara.139 There is no special interest in any of those places reflected in the Life. The geographical range of the great paruchia140 of Ruadán ‘in the northern part of Ireland’, as the hagiographer gives it, is not easy to identify. One of the foundations mentioned in VRuadani, namely Senchua, may be located in the far north of Connacht. However, the information on the church of Senchua given by Ruadán’s hagiographer is inconsistent with entries in the Annals of Tigernach and , which mention the death of Ailbe of Senchua,141 who was apparently understood to have been the and the founder of the church of Senchua – so that Ruadán, according to this information, would not have been the founder of this church. This is further confirmed in the Tripartite Life, where it is stated that Patrick ‘ordained Ailbe an archpresbyter, and he is in Sen-chua with the descendants of Ailill’.142 Tírechán also mentions this Ailbe, ordained in the lands of the Uí Ailella, to whom Patrick showed a certain marvellous stone ‘on the mountain of the Uí Ailella’.143 But the name of Senchua does not appear in this passage. However, just a few paragraphs later, Tírechán writes about a certain Rodanus of the church of Dumech in Uí Ailella lands:

‘Patrick went from the well of Ail Find to the Mound of the Uí Ailella and in that place founded a church which is called Senchell Dumiche to

137 VRuadani, c. 4. 138 VRuadani, c. 23 139 VRuadani, c. 12. 140 Since the mid-nineteenth century, scholars have described paruchia as a federation of geographically dispersed monasteries that reputedly had been founded by the same saint (or his disciples). However, at the end of the twentieth century the understanding of the meaning of paruchia has been reconsidered. Colmán Etchingham (‘The implications of paruchia’ in Ériu, 44 (1993), pp 139-62) discussed many dimensions of the uses of the word paruchia in various early medieval sources. As this thesis is focused on the hagiographical sources, I have chosen to use the wider meaning of the term paruchia that has been identified by Etchingham as the most commonly used in saints’ Lives (Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 126-30), i.e. a jurisdictional territory of a church or a network of churches assigned to a given saint. 141 Ann. Tig. 541.1: Ailbe Senchua Ua n-Ailello obit; Chron. Scot. 541: Ailbe Senchua hua nAililla quieuit. See also Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 253, fn. 72. 142 Stokes, Trip. Life, i, 57, 94-5. 143 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. 19 (5).

99 this day; in that place he left the holy men Macet and Cetgen and the priest Rodanus.’ 144

Tírechán then describes Mathona, the sister of Patrick’s successor Benignus, who received her veil from the hands of Patrick and the priest Rodanus at Dumech. Afterwards Mathona ‘established a church at Tamnach (…) and entered into a solemn compact with the successors of holy Rodanus’,145 who presumably remained in the church of Dumech (Senchell Dumiche), ‘on the Mound of the Uí Ailella’. Therefore, we have Ruadán’s hagiographer claiming that the saint founded a church in Senchua, the author of the Tripartite Life stating that Senchua was Patrick’s foundation given to Ailbe the presbyter (confirmed in the Annals of Tigernach and Chronicon Scottorum), and finally Tírechán mentioning a certain Rodanus, who was appointed as the head of the church of Senchell Dumiche by St Patrick. Tírechán also mentions Ailbe, but the name of Senchua is not associated with him. However, in Tírechán’s statement both Senchell Dumiche and the church of Ailbe were located on or beside the mountain of the Uí Ailella. These occurrences are puzzling. Tírechán was well acquainted with the geography of Connacht,146 so we cannot assume lightly that he had made a mistake. He clearly speaks about two different churches, different characters and occasions, which happened to be located nearby. The author of VRuadani claims, against all the other records we have, that the church of Senchua was founded by Ruadán – the church that was located very close to that of Tírechán’s Rodanus,

144 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. 23: Patricius uero uenit de fonte Alo Find ad Dumecham nepotum Ailello et fundauit in illo loco aeclessiam quae sic uocatur Senella Cella Dumiche usque hunc diem, in quo reliquit uiros sanctos Macet et Cetgen et Rodanum praespiterum. 145 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. 24: Et uenit apud se filia felix in perigrinationem nomine Mathona soror Benigni successoris Patrici, quae tenuit pallium apud Patricium et Rodanum; monacha fuit illis et exiit per montem filiorum Ailello et plantauit aeclessiam liberam hi Tamnuch et honorata fuerat a Deo et hominibus et ipsa amicitiam ad reliquias sanctu Rodani et successores illius epulabantur ad inuicem.. Bieler translated this fragment as if it had been Rodanus (or Patrick) who founded the church of Tamnach, but the Latin original suggests that it was rather Mathona who did so. The Tripartite Life, however, gives Patrick as the founder of Tamnach (Trip. Life, p. 60). On the basis of the information in the Tripartite Life John Bagnell Bury claimed that ‘the idea forces itself upon us that the subject of exiit and plantauit in the inserted clause must be Patricius, not Mathona’ (J.B. Bury, ‘The itinerary of Patrick in Connaught, according to Tírechán’ in R.I.A. Proc. 24 c (1902-1904), p. 164). Charles-Edwards did not find this idea particularly forceful and described the church of Tamnach as having been founded by both Patrick and Mathona (Early Christian Ireland, pp 43, 253). 146 Bury, ‘The itinerary of Patrick’, p. 158; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 36-54.

100 its Irish name Senchell. Was that a simple mistake of Ruadán’s hagiographer then? Was the hagiographer’s Senchua just a case of erroneous spelling of Senchell? Christina Harrington seemed to assume so, when she equated Tírechán’s Rodanus with Ruadán of Lorrha.147 Theoretically, Ruadán of Lorrha, the sixth-century saint, could not have been the same person as Rodanus, the companion of St Patrick, but hagiographical sources are generally full of chronological mistakes and inconsistencies, so we cannot exclude that Tírechán provided us with information about Ruadán of Lorrha which is – in this one aspect, at least – more accurate than that passed on to us by his own hagiographer. Curiously enough, the hagiographer makes no mention of the name of St Patrick not only while referring to the story of the church of Senchua (or Senchell Dumiche, if one prefers), but throughout the whole Life. Of course, mentioning St Patrick was in no way obligatory, and there were many who did not include Patrick in their writings. Ruadán’s hagiographer claimed that the saint had acquired ‘a great paruchia in the northern part of Ireland’.148 What else, according to the hagiographer, might Ruadán have acquired in the north? It could not have been just the church of Senchua, because the remark about gaining ‘the great paruchia in the north’ appears as a separate action, not connected with the founding of the church in the north of Connacht. This separation may have little significance, as the information on the locations in the Life is presented in a non- structured way, without any topographical consistency. Yet one cannot help thinking that the hagiographer meant something more than just one church in northern Connacht. It is possible that, when mentioning the paruchia ‘in the northern part’, Ruadán’s hagiographer meant the region of In Tuaiscert, ‘The North’ (Lat. Aquilonis) – a name that appears in the sources to describe the lands of the Northern Uí Néill.149 Acquiring vast lands in the territory of the Northern Uí Néill could have worked to the detriment of the churches of Patrick (or Columba of Iona, or Comgall of Bangor), but no such harm is claimed in other sources. We know from Tírechán that the church of Armagh struggled with other

147 Harrington, Women in a Celtic church, pp 56, 110-11. 148 VRuadani, c. 4: Cum autem sanctus Rodanus in aquilonalem partem Hybernie exisset, multas ibi virtutes fecit et magnam parochiam ibi adquessivit. 149 J. Hogan, ‘The Irish law of kingship, with special reference to Ailech and Cenel Eoghain’ in R.I.A. Proc., 40 (1932), pp 201-2; B. Lacey, ‘The Grianán of Aileach: A note on its identification’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., 131 (2001), p. 146.

101 rival claims in the north, Clonmacnoise being one of the most competitive rivals. It was the church of Clonmacnoise that claimed some sort of authority over Senchell Dumiche in the lands of the Uí Ailello,150 the very same church which had seen Rodanus placed there by the authority of Patrick. Establishing a link between Lorrha and Clonmacnoise, or Ruadán and Ciarán is not possible. The two churches were patronised by different dynasties, which did not interact, and the saints do not appear in each other’s Lives. Ruadán and Ciarán appear alongside each other only when listed as the pupils of Finnian of Clonard,151 and in the Irish Life of Brendan of Clonfert, where they fast together against king Diarmait.152 If Lorrha’s claim over the northern churches was ever coupled with that of Clonmacnoise, there is no convincing evidence to support it. And perhaps there is no need to look for it, because if Lorrha’s claim was not associated with the actions of Clonmacnoise, we could simply trust the testimony of Tírechán and assume that it might have been Armagh, and not Clonmacnoise, which co-operated with the church of Lorrha and acquiesced with its position in the north. The mention of Snám Luthir in chapter 5 does not help much in clarifying the matter of the date of VRuadani. As already mentioned,153 there have been attempts at identifying its location. It was first placed in Co. Sligo (Colgan, Hogan), then in Co. Cavan (Reeves, Sharpe). The phrase Snam Luthir, in regione generis Karbri Moir,154 appeared to be problematic and misleading. Colgan believed that the hagiographer had meant the Cenél Cairpri Mór, otherwise known as Cairpri Droma Sliab. This dynasty’s eponym was Coirpre, one of the sons of Niall Noígíallach.155 The lands of the kingdom of Cairpri Mór could indeed be a first guess when trying to locate Snám Luthir. There is nothing in VRuadani that would suggest otherwise. Yet more evidence exists for Snám Luthir: in the Latin Life of St Fechín of Fore (which is a late medieval abbreviation of a somewhat earlier

150 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. 25. 151 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., De tribus ordinis, c. 5; Fél. Oeng. p. 168. 152 Plummer, Bethada naem nErenn, i, Betha Brenainn Clúana Ferta, c. 185. 153 See above, p. 98, fn. 132. 154 VRuadani, c. 5. 155 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 84, 87, 91.

102 but no longer extant text)156 we read: Perrexit quodam die S. Fechinus ad locum, qui Snam-luthir dicitur, in regione de Carbre gabhra (‘On a certain day, St Fechin went to a place which is called Snám Luthir, in the region of the Cairpri Gabra’).157 Cenél Cairpri Gabra was one of three dynasties which reputedly descended from Coirpre son of Niall, alongside the abovementioned Cenél Cairpri Mór (Dromma Sliab) and Cenél Cairpri Laigen.158 The kingdom of Cairpri Gabra was located in the area of modern Longford, on the borders with eastern Connacht.159 The information from the Life of Fechin, however late, sheds some light on the matter of the location of Snám Luthir. Reeves and, subsequently, Sharpe followed that trail and argued against Colgan that Snám Luthir had been a church of the lands of the Cairpri Gabra rather than of the Cairpri Mór. Moreover, Reeves identified the place as a small village Slanore, belonging, as he stated, to the parish of Kilmore.160 It is therefore most probably the location of the church of Snám Luthir (Slanore), of which only the name survived. Yet in VRuadani it seems apparent that the church in question was – at the time of the hagiographer writing – an ecclesiastical site of some importance. Slanore is called a civitas, and civitates were usually large church settlements, frequently of episcopal rank.161 Furthermore, Slanore is mentioned in the Life of Columba by Adomnán: St Columba is described riding in a chariot with Colmán mac Echdach, ‘a saintly man who had founded the monastery of Slanore (Snam- luthir)’.162 The mention of Slanore in the Life of Columba indicates that this church was known in the wider ecclesiastical circles at the beginning of the eighth century. Colmán mac Echdach appears as a founder of the monastery of Slanore not only in the Life of Columba, but also in the saints’ genealogies.163 However, the author of VRuadani does not claim that Ruadán was the founder of the church

156 Colgan, Acta SS Hib., pp 130-44; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, lxiv-lxvii, ii, 76-86; Kenney, Sources, pp 458-9. 157 Colgan, Acta SS Hib., p. 136b. Plummer did not include this fragment, as he edited the Life of Fechin from the O manuscript, and Colgan had used a source which was no longer available to Plummer. 158 Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400-800’, pp 205-6. 159 Ibid., pp 206, 208. 160 Reeves, The Life of St Columba, p. 174; Adomnán, Life of Columba, p. 199, fn. 328. 161 Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 138, 154-5, 167-8. 162 Adomnán, Vita Columbae ii, c. 43 (trans. Sharpe in Adomnán, Life of Columba, p. 199). 163 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 690.3.

103 of Slanore, only that this civitas was given to him as a reward for the miraculous help he provided to the king of the Cairpri Mór. But the only other possible link between the church of Lorrha and the lands of the Cairpri Mór (Cairpri Gabra) is very late, later than the manuscript of S itself, and it does not refer to the church of Slanore explicitly. The Annals of Connacht (compiled at the turn of the sixteenth century) and the late sixteenth-century Annals of Loch Cé164 record that a certain Gilla-na-naemh, ‘the chief historian of Feara-Manach’, died in 1405 in the lands of the Cairpri Gabra and was subsequently interred in the monastery of Lethratha, which Hogan identifies as Lorrha.165 All this evidence put together, scarce as it is, gives a slightly confusing picture: VRuadani reflects the high status of the church of Slanore, which is confirmed in the Life of Columba to be an early feature, but it also creates a link between the church of Lorrha and the lands of the Cairpri Mór which appears only in the sources later than the manuscript of VRuadani itself. However, the evidence relevant to this fragment of VRuadani does not undermine the possibility that the Life at least contains an early nucleus. Furthermore, chapter 5 of VRuadani does not bear any traces of having been included in the text at a later stage of transmission. Both the D version and the Irish Life also contain the mention of Slanore;166 therefore we may be practically certain that the earliest version of Ruadán’s Life contained it, too, and that it had not been inserted when VRuadani was subjected to further redactions. The late appearance of the link between Lorrha and Slanore in other sources does not indicate that such redactions had taken place, but there are other features in VRuadani which indeed do so.

4. 6. Ruadán and the curse of Tara

Thus, Ruadán’s Life leaves us with a perspective of quite a wide geographical range for his foundations. It is evident that the author of the S Life

164 B.W. O’Dwyer, ‘The Annals of Connacht and Loch Cé and the monasteries of Boyle and Holy Trinity’ in R.I.A. Proc., 72C (1972), pp 83-101. 165 Ann. Conn. 1405.13; Ann. Loch Cé 1405.12; Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 485. 166 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ruadani, c. 7; idem, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Ruadain, c. iv (8).

104 was not focused on any particular place of Ruadán’s activity. As already discussed above, the Eóganachta association may have been a later development, reflected in the later Lives (the D version of the Latin Life and the Irish Life) by much stronger indications of Lorrha as the centre of St Ruadán’s activity and by depicting Ruadán as mainly a Munster saint. In twelfth-century sources, such as the abovementioned Book of Leinster, glosses in Félire Oengusso, Visio Tnugdali,167 and also the Book of Rights,168 Ruadán is clearly localised to Munster. The twelfth-century underlined association of Ruadán and his people, the Uí Duach, with the Eóganachta may have been a result of the saint’s newly recognised suitability to represent the interests and aspirations of the Eóganachta dynasty, expanding its influences into the north of Munster. One of our twelfth- century sources indicates that the Uí Duach were kin precisely to the Eóganachta Caisil169 – the branch of the dynasty that produced the Meic Carthaig kings. The church of Lorrha, as we remember, is considered to have had the Augustinian rule introduced in the twelfth century. It may have happened shortly after the time of St Malachy’s circuits in Munster – Malachy who befriended the Meic Carthaig kings and introduced the Augustinian (more precisely, Arrouisian) observance in Ireland. But why is all this important to VRuadani which does not mention Ruadán’s genealogical connection with the Eóganachta? There is reason to believe that VRuadani had not remained untouched by later redactions as Richard Sharpe proposed.170 This reason is to be found in chapter 12 of VRuadani which contains the story of the cursing of Tara. This chapter might have been a later addition, and it would be interesting to see if or how this change of the text might have correlated with the sudden interest of the Eóganachta genealogists in Ruadán. The story describes Diarmait mac Cerbaill, the Uí Néill king of Tara as the king of all Ireland, who introduced peace to all its lands. But his herald, Bac Lomm, inspired by the devil, violated the forts of Ireland until he was killed by

167 J.-M. Picard (trans.), The Vision of Tnugdal (Dublin, 1989), pp 82-3, 154. 168 M. Dillon (ed. and trans.), Lebor na cert: the Book of Rights, Ir. Texts Soc., 46 (Dublin, 1962), p. 19; see M. Dillon, ‘On the date and authorship of the Book of Rights’ in Celtica, 4 (1958), pp 239–49. 169 Fél. Oeng., pp 224-5; but see p. 90 fn. presently 76. 170 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives, pp 331-2.

105 Áed Guaire of the Uí Maine.171 Áed, fearing for his life, sought refuge with Ruadán, but Diarmait found him there and took him to Tara to punish him with death. Ruadán went after them and demanded that Áed should be set free, but Diarmait did not wish to listen to the saint. Ruadán then took out his bells and sang psalms, and the sons of twelve kings of Tara died that night, so the kings forced Diarmait to negotiate with the saint. Having duelled with the weapons of malediction, the saint and the king set an arrangement for releasing the prisoner and paying the due fee. The story of the cursing of Tara is preserved also as an Irish text.172 Richard Sharpe expressed his belief that the original Irish version of this story had been transmitted into Latin at a ‘relatively late date’ and inserted into the S Life of Ruadán as a separate leaf. 173 His reason is that in the chapter of VRuadani containing this story, the late form of the name ‘Áed’ – ‘Odo’ – is consistently used. But this is not entirely accurate: the first occurrence of this name in chapter 12 (which is also the first occurrence of this name in VRuadani) appears with a different spelling (‘Ed’). Only after this first usage the copyist used the form ‘Odo’ consistently, and it appears not only in chapter 12, but also in chapter 23, twice, relating to the two newly introduced characters in the Life: a certain Odo Egmech and Áed (‘Odo’) mac Bricc. In this light, Sharpe’s argument becomes invalid; ‘Odo’ does not appear in chapter 12 exclusively. The copyist, having used an obsolete spelling of the name once (‘Ed’ at the beginning of chapter 12), might have decided to standarise the succeeding occurrences (‘Odo’), including those in chapter 23, almost at the very end of the Life. The usage of the form ‘Odo’ is not exclusive to chapter 12, therefore its occurrences do not provide evidence that chapter 12 was indeed presented to the scribe of S as a separate leaf. However, there should be no doubts that the story of the cursing of Tara was indeed introduced to VRuadani at a later stage of its transmission. It is distinctively different from the rest of the Life: longer, packed with significantly more details, of a more florid style and introducing a form of dialogue (a feature

171 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 95; L. Bitel, Isle of the saints: monastic settlement and Christian community in early Ireland (Ithaca, 1990), pp 111-12, 154-5. 172 O’Grady, Silva Gadelica (London, 1892), i, 72-82; ii, 76-88; Plummer, Bethada naem nErenn, i, 88-90; ii, 85-7; see also Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 96-7. 173 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives, pp 331-2.

106 unique to chapter 12 in the text of VRuadani). We cannot entirely exclude that the story appeared in VRuadani when it was originally composed, but it is hard to believe that it did so in the format now extant. All the evidence we have for the existence of this story in Irish medieval literature is relatively late.174 Chapter 12 of VRuadani is strikingly similar to the relevant fragment of the Irish Life, therefore we may quite safely assume that Sharpe was right at least on this point: the insertion had most probably derived from the Irish version. Thus, the recasting of VRuadani must have taken place after the Irish Life was composed – unless the story of the cursing of Tara developed independently and was simply one of the sources that the author of the Irish Life used. The story did indeed survive as an independent version, but its earliest appearance in the manuscripts is dated to the end of the fourteenth century and it differs from the version in VRuadani and in the Irish Life in its form and several details.175 Therefore, it is much safer to assume that chapter 12 of VRuadani was based on the version found in the Irish Life. But the relationship between VRuadani and the Irish Life is even deeper than this. As already stated above, these two Lives must have had a common (Latin) origin – the contents, the order of events, even the use of some similar phrases indicate that. We cannot exclude that the Irish Life was actually based on VRuadani, as it is generally agreed that VRuadani is the earliest version of all Ruadán’s Lives.176 Then, at some point after both VRuadani and the Irish Life had been composed, VRuadani was subjected to some changes, one of which we can quite certainly identify as a direct influence of the Irish Life. The manner in which VRuadani has been edited is very intriguing. The only unmistakable insertion that we can identify is the episode in chapter 12, and it was added to the Life as an almost word-by-word translation of the Irish version. The other change that we may suspect has taken place is the changing of the spelling of one name only, i.e. ‘Odo’. Yet, the information on Ruadán’s pedigree has not been updated to the version known from the twelfth-century sources (i.e. no Eóganachta descent is mentioned) and the missing ending has not

174 See below, pp 112-13 175 Ibid. 176 See above, p. 86.

107 been supplemented. But why is there no mention of the twelfth-century link between Ruadán and the Eóganachta? There are two possible approaches to this question: either the edition of the Life had been made before the promotion of Ruadán’s Eóganachta association, or this association was of no concern to the editor. The first answer could influence our understanding in the matter of dating the Irish Life of Ruadán. If VRuadani received its insertion in chapter 12 before or at the beginning of the twelfth century (i.e. probably before the resurgence of the Meic Carthaig and their ecclesiastical ally, St Malachy), it would mean that the Irish Life had been composed no later than in the eleventh century. We cannot exclude that this was indeed the case. The language of the Irish Life is unmistakably Middle Irish, but linguistic features are not very precise dating tools, and it would require the most thorough and skilful linguistic analysis to determine a more precise date. The second answer – the lack of concern about the Eóganachta link on the part of the editor – does not contribute much more in the matter of dating either. As already stated, there are no other traceable features of introduced changes other than the insertion of the contents of chapter 12. The change of the spelling of the name ‘Áed’ (‘Ed’) into ‘Odo’ takes place in this chapter, and the repetition of this form in chapter 23 seems to be only a result of the consistency that the editor wished to apply to the name that had been earlier introduced in the Life. If the ending of the Life had been already missing, it was not replaced, although that the editor may have had the source which offered such a replacement, i.e. the Irish Life. Thus, it seems that the main purpose of the editor was to copy the Latin Life (such as he had it) faithfully, and to add the story of the cursing of Tara. Certainly, his purposes did not include the promotion of the link between Ruadán and the Eóganachta. Therefore, it is hardly possible that the process of copying and editing VRuadani had anything to do with the resurgence of power of the Eóganachta Caisil in the first half of the twelfth century. The most tempting solution to this problem would be to assume that these few changes applied to VRuadani had been introduced by the copyist who worked on the S manuscript. However, such an assumption is hardly plausible. In the very next Life of the O’Donohue group, VAidi (the Life of Áed mac Bricc), the name of the saint is consistently spelled as ‘Aidus’. The same spelling of the

108 name of this saint appears in the next Life, VCainnechi.177 In the following text, VMunnu, the form ‘Odo’ is used again beside yet another spelling (‘Aied’),178 which is repeated in VColmani.179 There is no consistency here. Therefore, we must conclude that VRuadani was subjected to some changes before it reached the editor(s) of S. When exactly these changes took place, it is simply impossible to tell (although we may assume that they did not occur in the time of the Meic Carthaig kings, but either earlier or later than that). And this realisation brings forward a conclusion which totally undermines Sharpe’s argument that the O’Donohue group reached the editor of S as a uniform body of several texts, which survived as one collection, untouched since the ninth century.

4.7. Two Guaires, two Diarmaits and many saints

One of the main characters of the episode of the cursing of Tara, Áed Guaire of the Uí Maine is a mysterious personage. No annals nor genealogies contain records of him. In the Irish Life of Ruadán he is styled king of the Uí Maine,180 but the Latin Lives mention no such title; Áed Guaire is a man holding a fort181 in the region of the Uí Maine (in fines Connacht, in regionem generis Mani). No other sources name such a person in Connacht in the time of Diarmait mac Cerbaill (565 or 572). Áed Guaire’s existence is confined entirely to the legend of the cursing of Tara. But sometime after Diarmait’s death the annals note that a certain Guaire Aidni fought the battle of Carn Feradaig (627),182 in which he was apparently allied with the king of the Uí Maine. Guaire Aidni himself was not of the Uí Maine, but of the Uí Fiachrach Aidne, a dynasty ruling in southern Connacht. These two ruling kindreds, Uí Maine and Uí Fiachrach Aidne, were close neighbours and allies since the year 538, in which Goibnenn mac Conaill, the

177 VAidi, c. 32. 178 VMunnu, c. 25. 179 VColmani, c. 14. 180 Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Ruadain, 322. 181 Castellum, another example of vocabulary contemporary with the S manuscript. It appears in chapter 12 of VRuadani exclusively not only to VRuadani, but also to all the texts in O’Donohue group. 182 A.U.2 627.2; Chronicle of Ireland 627.3; see J.V. Kelleher, ‘Uí Maine in the annals and genealogies to 1225’ in Celtica, 9 (1971), p. 66.

109 king of the Uí Fiachrach Aidne, had gained the Uí Maine allegiance at the cost of the Southern Ui Néill.183 Although we cannot know for certain whether this allegiance was a constant thereafter, it would appear to have been still a reality in the time of Guaire Aidni. The annalistic entries about Guaire Aidni need to be approached with caution, for there are reasons to believe that at least some fragments of the saga material have been incorporated into the annals.184 Yet we do have some reasonably trustworthy information: - Guaire Aidni was a king of the Uí Fiachrach Aidni, allied in his time with the Uí Maine (Áed Guaire from VRuadani was of the Uí Maine); - Guaire Aidni antagonised Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine,185 grandson of Diarmait mac Cerbaill (Áed Guaire from VRuadani was in conflict with Diarmait mac Cerbaill); - the story of the conflict between Guaire Aidni and Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine was developed in the corpus of Irish medieval tales186 (as was the case with the story of Áed Guaire and Diarmait mac Cerbaill187); - in both stories the two kings (Guaire Aidni and Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine), or the noble and the king (Áed Guaire and Diarmait mac Cerbaill) come to terms of agreement; - there are several references to Guaire Aidni in the annals and genealogies188 (none for Áed Guaire).

The plots of the two tales differ considerably. The conflict between Guaire Aidni and Diarmait mac Áeda Sláine, as told in Cath Cairn Chonaill, was initiated by Guaire who carried off a kinsman of Sinech Cró, Diarmait’s foster- mother. Diarmait, instigated by Sinech, set off to meet Guaire in battle, and on

183 A.U.2 538.2; Ann. Tig. 537.1; Chronicle of Ireland 538.2; see Byrne, Irish kings and high- kings, p. 239. 184 Kelleher, ‘Uí Maine in the annals’, p. 66. 185 In 649 Guaire Aidni fought with Diarmait mac Áeda Sláine in the battle of Carn Conaill. Diarmait won and Guaire fled the battle field (A.U.2 649.2; Chronicle of Ireland 649.2). The later addition states that Diarmait was granted the spiritual support of St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise. 186 W. Stokes (ed. and trans.), ‘The Battle of Carnn Chonaill’ in Z.C.P., 3 (1901), pp 203-19. 187 O’Grady, Silva Gadelica, i, 72-82; ii, 76-88; Plummer, Bethada naem nErenn, i, 88-90; ii, 85- 7. 188 Chronicle of Ireland 627.3, 649.2, 663.2; O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 145 g 15, 338 g 40.

110 his way he visited St Ciarán’s church in Clonmacnoise, where he managed to secure for himself a blessing from the abbot, Áed-lug. In the meantime, Guaire not only did not manage to gain any spiritual support, but was also subjected to anger of heavenly powers: he outraged St Caimín of Inis Celtra,189 who fasted against him for three days and eventually placed a curse upon him ‘so that he should not withstand warriors’.190 Thus, naturally, Diarmait won the battle and Guaire was forced to flee. However, that was not the end of the story, for Guaire understood that he had erred, so he reconciled with Cámmine and went to kneel before Diarmait as well. But at the ceremony of subjection he showed such wisdom, humility and piety that he proved to be the moral winner of the conflict, and Diarmait knelt before him and they both made peace. The motif of ties of blood and fostering appears also in VRuadani and the Irish Life of Ruadán. The reason why Ruadán became so involved in defending Áed Guaire was that they were connected by such ties. The first place of refuge that Áed had chosen was the church of Bishop Senach, ‘for the mother of Áed Guaire and the mother of Bishop Senach were sisters’.191 Bishop Senach is described as having been fostered by Ruadán’s sisters; therefore, when he asked Ruadán to give shelter to Áed, the saint was obliged to fulfil this request. And when Diarmait mac Cerbaill took Áed a prisoner, Ruadán had no other choice but to go after them, fast against Diarmait, place a curse upon his house and argue with him. But in this case also the final outcome of all these proceedings was reconciliation – although not as spectacular and thorough as in the case of Guaire Aidni and Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine. So the two tales do contain many similar motifs: the duties resulting from the ties of fosterage, the imprisoning of kin, the intervention of the saints, fasting, curses and final reconciliation. There are also a series of broadly similar names (Áed Guaire – Guaire Aidni, Diarmait mac Cerbaill – Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine, Bishop Senach – Sinech Cró) and a certain amount of similar dynastic associations (Uí Maine against the Southern Uí Néill, Uí Fiachrach Aidne – the allies of the Uí Maine – against the Southern Uí Néill). Yet, these motifs are

189 According to the Annals of the Four Masters (A.F.M. 662.6), Caimín was a uterine brother of Guaire, but this information is believed to be a result of a scribal error; see S. Ó Coileáin, ‘The structure of a literary cycle’ in Ériu 25 (1974), p. 91. 190 Stokes, ‘The Battle of Carnn Chonaill’, p. 209. 191 VRuadani, c. 12.

111 quite common in Irish medieval literature; moreover, they are arranged in two entirely different plots. Could they be derived from a common origin? Could the story of Áed Guaire be just an anachronistic, legendary alteration of events that took place in the seventh century, and not the sixth? The number of similarities may be alerting, but it is not sufficient to enable any definite conclusions. There is another trace of information that perhaps might be telling us something more, i.e. the details of the spiritual sides involved in the conflicts. In the tale of the cursing of Tara Áed Guaire is supported by Ruadán of Lorrha. In the story of the conflict between Guaire Aidni and Diarmait mac Áeda Sláine, the latter is favoured by the patron saint of the church of Clonmacnoise. Here we may recall the seventh-century testimony of Tírechán regarding the church of Senchell Dumiche (Senchua in VRuadani), co-founded by Rodanus and Patrick, and later claimed by the church of Clonmacnoise.192 However, it is not possible to assume that the two tales – of Aéd Guaire, Diarmait mac Cerbaill and Lorrha, and of Guaire Aidni, Diarmait mac Áeda Sláine and Clonmacnoise – contain the traces of ecclesiastical rivalry overlain or accompanied with the political one. If we decided to trust Tírechán’s testimony, we could deduce that Lorrha and Clonmacnoise might have been in conflict in the late seventh century. But the information is too scant for making such claims, and definitely not sufficient to link the two tales with a hypothesised Lorrha-Clonmacnoise conflict. And even if it was the case, even if all those testimonies – in VRuadani, the Irish Life of Ruadán, Aided Diarmata, Tírechán’s statements, the annalistic entry under the year 649 and Cath Cairn Chonaill – stem from the same set of events and relationships, they are too distant, or too fragmented, to allow us build a reliable picture. For both tales are relatively late. The struggle between Áed Guaire and Diarmait mac Cerbaill appears in the obviously later insertion in VRuadani; the Irish Life of Ruadán belongs to the Middle Irish period; Aided Diarmata, which retells the story of the cursing of Tara, appears in manuscripts from the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries.193 The earliest appearance of the story of Guaire Aidni and Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine dates back to the end

192 See above, pp 99-101. 193 Lebor Ui Maine (Book of the Uí Máine) and Lebor buidhe Lecain (). The text of Aided Diarmata has been published by S. H. O’Grady in Silva Gadelica, i, 72-82.

112 of the eleventh century: the first version of Cath Cairn Chonaill derives from a late eleventh-century manuscript194 and the addition in the annals was most probably inserted in the middle of the twelfth century.195 We have no means of tracking down how these two stories developed over the centuries from their putative beginnings in the sixth and/or seventh centuries, so they give us nothing in terms of reconstructing the events and relationships of such a distant past. And, obviously, they cannot contribute to our knowledge regarding the dating of VRuadani. Yet, the sheer number of similarities between the tales deserves some attention, even though we must be also aware that they might have occurred incidentally.

4. 8. Summary

VRuadani, although probably corrupted and containing a later insertion, still bears the marks of an early date of composition. Its ‘primitive’ form gives a strong impression that it is the earliest version of all the extant Lives of Ruadán. The use of distinctively early vocabulary (cortex, boccetum) again strengthens this impression. The occurrence of the place name of Daire Ethnech that was no longer in use by the time of the redaction of the D version of Ruadán’s Life is another ‘primitive’ feature of VRuadani. Another important factor regarding place names is the appearance of Snám Luthir (Slanore). The fact that information about this church reached Adomnán confirms that the church of Slanore was known around 700; it was also important in the eyes of Ruadán’s hagiographer, but after his time the sources cease to provide details about this place. It appears again, many centuries later, once in the saints’ genealogies and twice in the sixteenth-century annals, but its significance as the episcopal centre, the civitas, seems to have been forgotten. It is remembered only in all of Ruadán’s Lives, therefore we may assume that the earliest version mentioned the church of Slanore and its significant position, too. Another early feature in VRuadani is that it seems apparent that the motif of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland was not yet developed at the time of its

194 Stokes, ‘The Battle of Carnn Chonaill’, p. 203. 195 Kelleher, ‘Uí Maine in the annals’, pp 66, 97.

113 composition: it is likely to have been earlier than the Irish Life of Finnian and De tribus ordinis (perhaps the ninth or the tenth century). The motif of Ruadán’s beauty, so picturesquely described in VRuadani, is also paralleled in an early source, i.e. Félire Oengusso. The fact that St Ruadán is not depicted as a specifically Munster saint, associated with the Eóganachta dynasty, indicates that the Life had probably been composed before the tradition of Ruadán’s strong association with the Eóganachta was actively promoted. Although we must accept that VRuadani – contrary to Sharpe’s claims – has been edited before it reached those who worked on the S manuscript, it is safe to assume that no significant changes were introduced: Ruadán’s pedigree was not updated, there is no trace of the developed motif of the Twelve Apostles, and the missing ending of the Life (if it was missing before the S redaction) was not supplemented. Therefore, VRuadani in its present form must be very close to the text that originated early – most probably in the ninth, or the early tenth century at latest. We cannot claim anything more specific than this. But the analysis of this Life supplies us also with other information. We may assume, for example, that the church of Lorrha most probably had a long-lasting relationship with the kings of Múscraige Tíre. We may hypothesise that it co-operated with the church of Armagh in the seventh century. It is possible that it was drawn into the political struggles of the first half of the twelfth century. In fact, the two occurrences of the fires that consumed Lorrha’s buildings in the 1150s could have been related to another outburst of fighting between the Meic Carthaig, trying to keep the recently gained control over the north of the province of Munster, and the Uí Briain, trying to reclaim it.196 The analysis of VRuadani and the related sources may not offer much in the matter of precise dating, but it offers an abundance of information regarding the history of the church of Lorrha and the role of its patron saint in later political struggles.

196 See Flanagan, ‘High-kings with opposition, 1072 – 1166’, p. 922.

114 CHAPTER 5: VITA SANCTI AIDI

5. 1. VAidi – editors and commentators

The S Life of St Áed (VAidi) is notably longer (fifty two not especially laconic chapters) than others in the O’Donohue group. It is the only Life in the O’Donohue group which has subtitles of chapters added in the margins with a hand of a corrector contemporary with the production of the S manuscript. It also differs from the other Lives in the accuracy of its grammar; it seems that the author of VAidi had mastered a reasonably high level of knowledge in Latin grammar and syntax. The sentences are quite long and the syntax is quite sophisticated, lacking the clumsiness that is often to be seen in some of the other O’Donohue Lives. Moreover, the author was casually using conjunctives in a perfectly correct way, making proper differences in grammatical forms between past and present, and using respectively the verbal forms of coniunctivus plusquamperfecti and coniunctivus imperfecti,1 which generally is a rare feature in Irish medieval hagiography, and not used in any other Life of the O’Donohue group. However, the place names and proper names are less frequent in this Life than in the others in the group; there are more occurrences of ‘certain’ (quidam) places and ‘certain’ kings than of the places and kings that are actually named. There are three versions of a Latin Life (no Irish Life of Áed has survived). The three versions are preserved in codices S, O and D. The D version has been published three times by Colgan, Grosjean and Plummer;2 the O version only once by Grosjean, and the characteristics of this text and its differences from the other two versions have been discussed by Plummer.3 The text of VAidi from S was edited first by Grosjean, and, subsequently, by Heist. VAidi is not only the longest, but also the most detailed of all extant Lives of Áed. The O recension is quite close to S (or rather to its common source); however, it omits some proper and place names, the entire chapter 18 and some

1 VAidi, c. 32: nam in hac hora hic mortuus esset, nisi tu impatiens sermonem hunc dixisses; c. 40: Nisi cito veneris de loco illo sanguinis effusi, illos novem viros deglutisset terra (...). 2 Colgan, Acta SS Hib., pp 418-23; P. Grosjean (ed.), ‘De Sancto Aido, Episcopo Killariensi in Hibernia’ in Acta SS, 4 November, pp 495-531; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, 34-45. 3 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xxvi-xxviii.

115 minor details from other chapters.4 The redactor of D went much further and shortened the Life from fifty two to thirty six chapters by both mergers and omissions.5 Also the form of Áed’s name is different: in the S Life the form Aidus is consistently used, in the D version Aidus becomes Ed. The editor of D also added the description of Áed’s consecration as a bishop,6 but apart from that he seems to have done his editorial work mainly by omissions. The D Life lacks details, which apparently have been decided to be unnecessary or unsuitable for the ears of the audience: the saint performing an abortion miracle,7 the queen giving a three-fold birth,8 the long story of a man who dug moats (in D version he is just an unknown man who asked Áed for help and he has no story of his own).9 All three versions of the Life of Áed have been described by both Kenney and Plummer as coming from a common original; both of them also claimed that the S version is the oldest and closest to that hypothetical original.10 Kenney wrote of the Lives of Áed:

‘The Life on which our texts depend was compiled at a late date, probably the twelfth century, and not in Aed’s own community. It is a composite production, drawn in part from genuine legends – in some cases several versions of the same story were incorporated – but consisting largely of matter taken over quite freely from secular sources or from the common stock of hagiographical material.’11

On what premises Kenney based his assumption that VAidi was not written in one of Áed’s communities, I do not know. The late date of the composition of the Life of Áed, which Kenney proposed, also seems to be – as in many other instances – mainly guesswork based on assumption that the majority of the medieval hagiographical texts in their extant forms resulted from the

4 Ibid., p. xxvii. 5 Chapters merged: S, cc 4-7 versus D, c. 4 and S, cc 8-9 versus D, c. 5; S chapters omitted in D: 19, 21, 22, 33, 36, 39, 42-4, 49, 51. 6 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Aedi, c. 6. 7 VAidi, c. 15; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Aedi, c. 11. 8 VAidi, c. 18; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Aedi, c. 14. 9 VAidi, c. 13; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Aedi, c. 9. 10 See chapter 2.2. 11 Kenney, Sources, p. 393.

116 interest of the continental religious orders introduced into Ireland in the twelfth century.12 Since Sharpe’s identification of the O’Donohue group, there has been only one study of VAidi, a PhD dissertation by James Tschen-Emmons.13 His work, however, is not concerned mainly with dating VAidi, but chiefly with the broader cultural context of this Life. The main interest of Tschen-Emmons lies ‘not in the historicity of the saint Áed, but in the saint as a literary, larger-than- life figure’.14 VAidi is treated by Tschen-Emmons as evidence for Irish participation in ‘Late Antiquity’ and its author as a man of paideia,15 the antique education and literary knowledge. Tschen-Emmons defined the term ‘Late Antiquity’ as cultural rather than political, regardless of collapses of the Roman administration, and focused on antique values, ethics and aesthetics. Although Tschen-Emmons did not claim so, he seems to draw inspiration from Fernand Braudel and his idea of longue durée.16 Tschen-Emmons is also a former student of Joseph Falaky Nagy,17 whose work of anthropological rather than historical character might have been a direct inspiration for Tschen-Emmons’s application of longue durée attitude towards history.18 To support his case that the Life of Áed was a product of late antique culture, Tschen-Emmons suggests examples of borrowings from and similarities to the Old and New Testaments (resurrection of the dead,19 flying in a chariot as Elijah did when he ascended into heaven20) and Sulpicius Severus’s Life of Martin (raising the dead,21 seeing events in spirit,22 chapters containing lists of virtues,23 the fact that both St Martin and St Áed were groomed for the military rather than ecclesiastical life24, immobilising enemies25). Borrowings from the Bible, however, were (and still are) extremely frequent and widespread in

12 Ibid., pp 294-5. 13 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity. 14Ibid., p. 2. 15 Ibid., pp 24-5, 42-4. 16 F. Braudel, On history, trans. Sarah Matthews (Chicago, 1980). 17 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity, p. iv (acknowledgements). 18 See Nagy, Conversing with angels & ancients, pp vii-x. 19 John 11:1-44; Luke 7:11-17; VAidi, cc 11, 16, 24. Tschen-Emmons recalls only chapter 11. 20 2 Kings 2:11; VAidi 11, 19, 36, 42. 21 VAidi, c. 11 and Vita Martini, c. 7 (quoted after Tschen-Emmons). 22 VAidi, c. 11, 14, 16, 49 and Vita Martini, c. 21 (quoted after Tschen-Emmons). 23 VAidi, c. 51 and Vita Martini, c. 26 (quoted after Tschen-Emmons). 24 VAidi, c. 3 and Vita Martini, cc 2-4 (quoted after Tschen-Emmons). 25 VAidi, c. 42 and Vita Martini, c. 12 (quoted after Tschen-Emmons). The chapter on correlations between these two Lives is the core of the dissertation (Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity, pp 50-71).

117 ecclesiastical (not only hagiographical) literature. To prove that Áed’s hagiographer was a man of Christian culture is to apply extreme force to an open door. Regarding the correlations of the Life of Áed with the Life of Martin, the examples which have been proposed by Tschen-Emmons are also widespread and popular hagiographical motifs that could have been borrowed by Áed’s hagiographer from anywhere else, or even from nowhere in particular; he had to be familiar with them as elements of common knowledge of what was and what was not suitable for a saintly person. Alongside his dissertation, Tschen-Emmons also provides a translation of VAidi. Unfortunately, it is of a very poor quality. Tschen-Emmons confused tenses26 and moods,27 incorrectly identified basic forms of verbs,28 mistranslated even easy words,29 mixed up subjects of a sentence30 and misunderstood whole passages.31 His translation is, basically speaking, useless. Although, as directly stated, not focused on dating the Life, he claims to have identified a few characteristics of VAidi that support Sharpe’s dating. Firstly, he finds some similarities between VAidi and some other early Lives, such as Cogitosus’s Life of Brigit. The main similarity is that both of these lives are, and I quote, ‘just lists of miracles’.32 However, this pattern is far too common in medieval hagiography to constitute a convincing argument. The second feature pointed out by Tschen-Emmons is that there are no traces within VAidi of the Céli Dé reform movement, which he assumed had brought more rigorous standards to the early Irish church and additionally emphasised anchoritism.33 Therefore, Tschen-Emmons argued, VAidi might have been a pre- Céli Dé document. Yet, the matter of precise dating of the Céli Dé symptoms is not definite and scholars differ in their opinions. Etchingham has argued that it is

26 VAidi, c. 3: qui dabit tibi translated into ‘who gave you’ whilst dabit is the future form. 27 VAidi, c. 8: ut illius anni pacem rogaret translated into ‘who had asked’ whilst ut rogaret is a subjunctive phrase meaning ‘so as to ask’. 28 VAidi, c. 13: nemine cogentem translated into ‘with no one knowing’; it has been mistakenly assumed that cogente comes from cognosco (‘learn’, recognise’, ‘find to be’) and not, as it is in fact, from cogo (‘collect’, ‘gather’). 29 The most evident example of Tschen-Emmon’s incapability in translating from Latin is perhaps a mistake in the translation of VAidi, c. 20, where he interpreted ovem (‘sheep’) as ‘egg’ (which should be ovum in such case). 30 VAidi, c. 52: ipso autem nolente translated into ‘though Áed did not wish it’, although the structure and context of the sentence indicate that it was Áed’s monk, not Áed himself, who had been unwilling. 31 E.g. in his translation of VAidi, cc 9, 46. 32 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity, p. 5. 33 Ibid., p. 6.

118 not possible to distinguish the exact dates of this movement in ecclesiastical sources, for some traits of the so called Céli Dé reform were prevalent as early as the seventh century34 and were not characteristic merely of the generally accepted Céli Dé period (starting at circa 800). Follett proposed a more precise date for appearance of the Céli Dé – circa 774.35 Haggart, who wrote two years before Follett, argued that to consider the Céli Dé as a reform movement at all is incorrect.36 Even if we accept Follett’s view that the Céli Dé features are possible to date, it cannot be claimed that it was obligatory for hagiographers of the eighth and ninth centuries to express the Céli Dé influence in their writings; argumentum ex silentio is not a sufficiently rigorous tool in this particular case. The supposed absence of the Céli Dé symptoms is simply useless as a dating tool when standing alone; only alongside other, more reliable arguments it may be used to support or dismiss the case. Tschen-Emmons also highlighted the existence of a miracle of abortion37 in the S version of VAidi as a pre Céli Dé feature, arguing that it is not a motif which could have survived in a Céli Dé reformist context. The abortion miracle is in itself very early indeed – it appears first in Cogitosus’s Life of Brigit38 or in Vita I Brigitae,39 depending on which dating we accept as correct.40 It evidently is an early feature and shall be discussed further below. Thus, Tschen-Emmons was correct in bringing this occurrence to attention, although he did it for wrong reasons. We can safely assume that the motif of abortion miracle is early because it appears in early sources, not because its nature would not have allowed it to be passed on in the time of the predominance of the Céli Dé influences. It has been long believed that the Céli Dé were the people with a mission to reform Irish monastic discipline who introduced new and much more austere and rigid rules in order to restore ascetic purity, which had been lax and

34 Etchingham, Church organisation in Ireland, p. 354 35 Follet, Céli Dé in Ireland, pp 27, 173-80. Follett associated the beginning of the Céli Dé movement with the date of the foundation of the monastery of Tallaght (A.F.M. 769.13). It was the main purpose of his study to demonstrate, against former opinion expressed by Haggart, that the Céli Dé features are indeed recognisable and datable. 36 C. Haggart, The Céli Dé and eclesiastical government in Ireland (PhD dissertation, University of Glasgow, 2004), parts of the thesis have been published in idem, ‘The Céli Dé and the early medieval Irish church: a reassessment’ in Studia Hib., 34 (2006-07), pp 17-62. 37 VAidi, c. 15; see below, pp 135, 142. 38 Cogitosus, Vita Brigidae, c. 9. 39 Vita I Brigitae, c. 103. 40 See chapter 2.3, pp 35-6.

119 forgotten. This belief became popular since William Reeves’ writings on the subject.41 However, the more recent research questions these views: Colmán Etchingham,42 David Dumville,43 Craig Haggart44 and Westley Follet45 have all expressed doubts with regard to such interpretation of the Céli Dé movement. Their objections shared the same concern that the ascetic tendencies demonstrated in the later eighth and ninth centuries were not truly reformist, but merely the continuation of former ascetic currents which continually (although unsteadily) balanced with those of greater laxity. Even in the sources that are strongly associated with the Céli Dé movement it is possible to find the rigours somehow relaxed. In the Old Irish Penitential a monk or a nun who has had a sexual relationship is not excommunicated or expelled, but only subjected to .46 Another Céli Dé source, the Monastery of Tallaght, as a punishment for prostitution of a boy or a woman also mentions only penance.47 The shifting influences of laxity and austerity were present at all times, so we cannot date a source only on the basis of it being too lax or too austere. Another attempt by Tschen-Emmons at dating VAidi is based on chapter 8 of VAidi, in which a conflict between the men of Munster and the southern Uí Néill is recalled. As the Laigin were in retreat from the midlands in the fifth and early sixth centuries,48 it would have been possible for the peoples of Munster and the southern Uí Néill to be in conflict on their shifting common border. Tschen-Emmons proposes that chapter 8 of VAidi is a reflection of the political situation of the sixth century and that it is yet another argument in support of an early date for the composition of VAidi.49 Of course, one cannot exclude entirely

41 W. Reeves, The Culdees of the British Islands (Dublin, 1864). 42 Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 347-9, 361-2. 43 D. Dumville, ‘St Cathroe of Metz and the hagiography of exoticism’ in J. Carey, M. Herbert, P. O’Riain (ed.), Studies in Irish hagiography: saints and scholars (Dublin, 2001), p. 185. 44 Haggart, The Céli Dé, pp 140-1. 45 Follet, Céli Dé in Ireland, pp 2-8. 46 E. J. Gwynn (ed. and trans.), ‘An Irish Penitential’ in Ériu 7 (1914), p. 141, cc 2-3. pp. 121- 195. 47 And the money received in transaction had to be given to the poor: E. J. Gwynn, W. J. Purton (ed.), ‘The Monastery of Tallaght’ in R.I.A. Proc. 29 C (1911-12), pp 115-80, c. 41. 48 The annalistic entries for the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth centuries show a series of battles in which the Uí Néill had entered Mide and drove away the Laigin (A.U.2 475.1, 483.1, 494.1, 495.1, 497.4, 498.2, 499.3, 501.3, 503.1, 516.1). However, the use of the annals with regard to such an early period must be cautious, as they do not provide evidence contemporary to the described events; see A. P. Smyth, ‘The earliest Irish annals: their first contemporary entries, and the earliest centres of recording’ in R.I.A. Proc., 72 C (1972), pp 12- 16; Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 133-4. 49 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity, p. 145

120 the possibility that the author had access to knowledge of the sixth-century realities, but then a question is raised: why would he have included sixth-century events for the consideration of the reader of the Vita? Does Tschen-Emmons suggest that the author of VAidi lived in the sixth century? He did not state that specifically and generally he seems to follow Sharpe’s dating of VAidi together with the rest of the Lives in the O’Donohue group. Was there any reason for a hypothetically circa 800 hagiographer to recall conflicts from the sixth century? Tschen-Emmons did not give the answer to this question either. He did not mention either that the kings of Munster and the southern Uí Néill clashed in a conflict again in the eighth century, at least twice.50 Tschen-Emmons’s thesis remains the only study that has been made specifically on VAidi. Máire Herbert declared that she had done research on VAidi and that she intended to publish its results, but since that declaration made in 200151 no such publication has appeared. There has been one further suggestion in relation to the date of composition of VAidi: Charles-Edwards made a short, footnote remark on the possible dating of the Life,52 and this shall be discussed below.

5. 2. Áed’s genealogy and ‘liminal’ birth

According to VAidi, Áed’s father, Brec, was of the Uí Néill, and his mother of the Múscraige Tíre in northern Munster.53 In the genealogies the information about Áed’s origins is yet more precise: he was described there as the descendant of the Cenél Fiachach,54 the branch of the southern Uí Néill which ruled over territory stretching between Uisnech in the north and Birr in the south probably up to the sixth century, but gradually were excluded from the kingship in the region of Mide in favour of the other southern Uí Néill branches

50 Two of the eighth-century Munster kings – Cathal mac Findguine and Donnchad mac Domnaill were engaged in conflicts with the southern Uí Néill. For more details see chapter 3.5, p. 63, fn. 121. 51 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, p. 36. 52 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 445, fn. 12. 53 VAidi, c. 1. 54 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS. Hib., 9.

121 (Síl nÁedo Sláine and Clán Cholmáin).55 By the ninth century the south of the Cenél Fiachach kingdom became known as Tír Cell or Fir Chell, the Land (or Men) of Churches. Within this area lay the lands of the churches of Durrow, Kinnitty, Lynally, Rahan and, of course, the lands of Áed’s churches: Killare and Rahugh. Durrow was founded by St Columba, a descendant of the northern Uí Néill lineage of Cenél Conaill.56 Kinnitty was a foundation of St Fínán, a saint from western Munster.57 Rahan was the church of St Carthach (Mochuda), also from the west of Munster.58 Lynally’s patron and founder was Colmán Elo, who was claimed to be of Uí Néill origin.59 No specific relation is recorded for any of these churches to the Cenél Fiachach. Even Áed, who, according to his genealogical record had been born to this family, seems to have become a ‘general Uí Néill saint’, as Charles-Edwards phrased it.60 This is reflected already in VAidi, where he is mentioned only as of the Uí Néill and the more specific lineage of the Cenél Fiachach has been glossed over. Charles-Edwards noticed this occurrence claiming that it is a reflex of the growing powers of the northern branches of the Uí Néill and their strengthening influence on the churches of Tír Cell from the seventh century onwards.61 The fact that Áed’s hagiographer did not mention the saint’s Cenél Fiachach origins additionally undermines Tschen-Emmons abovementioned, unspecified claim that VAidi reflects the realities of the sixth century; had it been the case, it would have been hardly possible for the hagiographer not to underline Áed’s Cenél Fiachach descent. The name of Áed’s mother does not appear in VAidi, but it is mentioned in the genealogical lists of Irish saints: Eithne from Múscraige Tíre.62 VAidi reflects a notable interest on the part of the author in those lands of north Munster: Áed’s childhood and adolescence are depicted in Munster;63 Áed is also described as a mediator between the king of Munster and the king of the Uí

55 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 93; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 555. 56 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, i, c. 3; see Herbert, Iona, Kells and Derry, p. 32. 57 VFinani, cc 1, 9. 58 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Carthagi, cc 1, 3. 59 Although in fact he probably originated from the Dál Sailni in Ulaid (see chapter 7.1). 60 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 555. 61 Ibid. Charles-Edwards notices that the majority of the churches in the region of Tír Cell were most probably founded and/or supported by the leading southern Uí Néill branches, therefore their allegiance belonged to them and not to the Cenél Fiachach. 62 Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 722.46. 63 VAidi, cc 1-7.

122 Néill;64 in chapter 7 he founds a church in Enach Midbren,65 which is mentioned later in chapters 42 and 44 and to which Áed is described as devoting great attention. The episodes which (wholly or partially) take place in Munster are covered by fifteen chapters66 out of thirty which can be geographically identified, and fifty two altogether. Although VAidi depicts the saint as more supportive towards the Uí Néill dynasty and not in very good relations with the kings of Munster, he is nonetheless closely connected with his maternal lands. This close relation of the saint to his maternal origins is an important feature that shall be discussed further below. Félire Oengusso commemorates Áed on 10 November. A marginal gloss in Félire is the only non-genealogical source in which it is stated that Áed came from the Cenél Fiachach.67 However, the main, early ninth-century text of Félire describes Áed as ‘of kings’ (don rigraid) and ‘of the race of hundred-battled Conn’.68 Also the D version of the Life states: Beatissimus Edus episcopus filius Bricht de nobiliori Hybernie genere, id est de semine Cuind Cetchathaidh (...) oriundus fuit.69 Conn Cétchathach (‘Conn of the Hundred Battles’) mentioned there was considered to be the common ancestor of the Connachta and the Uí Néill, so there is no contradiction with other sources about the origins of Áed, but this slight change of taking further back Áed’s pedigree has a certain significance; it underlines the antiquity of the saint’s ancestry. The main text of Félire and all the versions of Áed’s Life confirm that Áed’s genealogical association with the Cenél Fiachach was of no importance and that by the beginning of the ninth century he had already become a general Uí Néill saint. Annalistic entries show that Áed was believed to have lived in the sixth century; the date of his death appears under the years 587, 589 and 595.70 In VAidi he is described as contemporary with St (died 565 or

64 VAidi, cc 8-9. 65 Hogan, Onomansticon, p. 397. 66 Chapters 1 to 7 contain the description of Áed’s childhood and adolescence in his maternal lands. Chapters 9, 11, 12, 37, 42-4 and 50 clearly indicate that the described events took place in Munster. Furthermore, the action of chapters 15 and 16 takes place in Druim Ard, which also may be located in Munster. 67 Fél. Oeng., November 10, p. 240: Aed mac Bricc .i. ó Chill áir i Mide agus o Sleib liac, agus do chenel Fiachach maic Neill do. 68 Fél. Oeng., November 10, p. 233: Aed macc Bricc dend rígraid, becc ná bu mó écaib, is ard isin mórflaith in sab síl Chuinn chétaig. 69 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Aedi, c. 1. 70 A.U.2 589.1, 595.3; Ann. Tig. 587.2; Ann. Inisf. 589.3; Chron. Scot. 589; Chronicle of Ireland 589.1.

123 573),71 St Cainnech (died 599 or 600),72 St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (died 548 or 549),73 St Molaisse (died 564),74 St Colum Cille (died 597),75 Diarmait mac Cerbaill (died 565),76 Becc mac Dé (died 553),77 and also St Brigit (died 526),78 which fact may be chronologically inconsistent, but one has to bear in mind that chronological accuracy was not one of the attributes of medieval hagiographers. St Brigit plays an important role in VAidi, and one of her Lives must have influenced Áed’s hagiographer. The evidence for that will be gradually demonstrated further, for the motifs shared by VAidi and the Brigitine materials cover many dimensions. One of the possible traces of an influence upon Áed’s hagiographer may be found in the story of the saint’s birth:

‘When she [Áed’s mother] was pregnant and near delivery, a certain prophet came nearby her house, who said to his companions: ‘There is a woman delivering in this house. If the child that she is delivering is born tomorrow in the morning hour, he will be great before God and people in the whole island of Ireland.’ Then a certain girl, hearing, repeated all of these to the delivering woman. And, responding, she [Áed’s mother] said: ‘If he does not come out of my side, he will not leave my womb until tomorrow.’ Therefore getting up, she went outside and sat on a rock. And the Lord accomplished this miracle. For the head of the child rested on the rock and made a cavity in it, similar to a child’s head, and this remains until today, and water which lies in this cavity heals all feebleness for all believers.’79

The birth-miracle of St Áed is unusual, but not entirely unique. I am aware of four other saints’ Lives containing similar stories: of St Déclán,80 of St

71 A.U.2 565.2; Chronicle of Ireland 565.7, 573.2. 72 A.U.2 599.2, 600.1; Chronicle of Ireland, 599.2, 600.1, pp 120-1. 73 A.U.2 549.1, Ann. Inisf. 548.1; Chronicle of ireland 548.4, p. 98. 74 A.U.2 564.2; Chronicle of ireland 564.3. 75 A.U.2 595.1; Chronicle of Ireland 595.1. 76 A.U.2 565.1; Chronicle of Ireland 565.5. 77 A.U.2 553.1; Chronicle of Ireland 553.1. 78 A.U.2 526.1, Chronicle of Ireland 526.1. 79 VAidi, c. 1. 80 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Declani, c. 3; the Life has not been dated or discussed (Kenney, Sources, p. 313: ‘It is a composite production: the final redaction cannot be much older

124 Molaisse,81 St Munnu82 and Vita IV of St Brigit.83 The differences are that Déclán’s mother did not try to delay the delivery, but it just happened that little Déclán’s head hit a rock and left a cavity there in a shape of his head, and water from this cavity had great healing powers; whereas Molaisse’s mother wished to delay the delivery of her child, but there is no mention of the healing powers of the stone. The author of the Life of Munnu only recalled a stone on which the saint had been born that was venerated; the same recollection may be found in Vita IV Brigitae. Máirín O Daly claimed that the birth-story of Molaisse (the similar birth- miracle of Áed is not mentioned in her work) had been borrowed from the early ninth-century text of Cath Maige Mucrama (‘The battle of Mag Mucrama’).84 It contains an episode describing the birth of Fiacha Mullethan (‘the Flat-Head’), whose head was flattened by a stone when he was born, because his mother, Moncha, also heard the prophecy of the eventual greatness of her son and succeeded in delaying the delivery, but she paid for it with her life. O Daly dated the core of Cath Maige Mucrama to the first half of the ninth century,85 basing her argument on a detailed linguistic analysis. Therefore, if O Daly’s dating is correct, it confirms that the motif of delaying the birth of a child with a stone was a motif already known by the ninth century; therefore, the appearance of this motif in VAidi does not undermine an early date for this text. None of the early Lives of Brigit contains the story of the birth on a stone. However, the story from VAidi about the prophesised greatness of the one born in the morning hour strongly resembles the description of Brigit’s birth in Vita I:

‘One day the invited his king and queen to supper but the queen was near childbirth. Then the king’s friends and servants began to ask a

than the twelfth century, but there seem to be various strata of older material of which it is a loose amalgamation.’). 81 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Lasriani, c. 4; this Life has not been investigated in the matter of its dating either (Kenney, Sources, p. 387: ‘It is late in date, but appears to be an abbreviation of a longer treatise.’). 82 VMunnu, c.1; see chapter 6. 83 Vita IV Brigitae, c. 6; its most recent edition has been published by Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ lives, pp 140-208. Sharpe suggested that this Life, preserved only in two seventeenth- century manuscripts, used to be part of the D collection; he also demonstrated that its author had been strongly influenced by Vita I; however, no attempt at dating Vita IV is provided. 84 M. O Daly (ed.), Cath Maige Mucrama, (Dublin, 1975), p. 16. 85 Ibid., pp 18-36.

125 certain prophet at what hour the queen was due to give birth to the baby. The druid said: ‘were it born tomorrow at daybreak, it would have no equal on earth’. But the queen gave birth to a son ahead of time. When the morning came and the sun had risen, the druid’s bondmaid came to the house carrying a vessel full of milk (...) and when she had put one foot across the threshold of the house and the other foot outside, she fell astride the threshold and gave birth to a daughter.’86

The similarity between these two stories has already been observed by McCone,87 who described the motif of liminality, liminal birth and the powers it provided to those born on the thresholds of night and day, one side of the door and the other, in Irish secular and ecclesiastical literature. For our purposes, however, it is enough to note the first of several motifs shared by VAidi and the early Lives of Brigit.

5. 3. Attributes

Joseph Falaky Nagy devoted several pages to the characterisation of Áed’s attributes.88 He recounted Aed’s secular upbringing, his healing powers and the motif of chariot-flying. This section elaborates on the subject of Áed’s attributes, providing more detailed discussion and more references to the sources. Thus, Áed had been depicted not as a man of learning, but a man of action:

‘This boy Áed has been taught by no master; neither in books he was learned nor in ecclesiastical rules educated until the time of his adolescence, but amongst common people living in a rustic way was he fostered at the house of his mother.’89

86 Vita I Brigitae, c. 6. 87 K. McCone, Pagan past and Christian present in early Irish literature (Maynooth, 1990), pp 189-90. 88 Nagy, Conversing with angels and ancients, pp 236-46. 89 VAidi, c. 3.

126 (...) sed inter plebiles homines rustico more viventes nutritus est – Áed had been raised to be a warrior, not a priest or monk. Only in his adolescence he was caught in the act of violence, and brought to repent and enter the path of sainthood by Bishop Illan.90 Even then, though, Áed was not a man of books: ‘While he may have been the master of many, he himself, as the wise say, was taught neither by books nor by a teacher, but by the Spirit of God.’91 Áed’s doings are of a more active character than studying books, chariot-flying to the rescue amongst them. Chariot-flying is a distinct feature of Áed – this motif appears in his Life four times.92 The frequency of that miracle made Kenney and Plummer claim that VAidi in its extant form was a compilation from various sources, of which the compiler(s) indiscriminately copied the same miracle numerous times.93 The motif of flying on a chariot is quite unique; I am aware of only one other saint whose Live contains this type of miracle, i.e. St Carthach (Mochuda).94 Yet, Carthach’s chariot is described as a marvellous fiery creation of an angel, not the saint’s own vehicle, as it is in the case of Áed. Thus, Cartach’s hagiographer seems to have been inspired by the biblical motif of Elijah ascending heaven on a fiery chariot,95 rather than by chariot-flying characteristic to Áed, which is connected with passing over the obstacles in emergency situations and not with ascending heaven. Another chariot-related miracle of Áed is described in chapter 49, when the saint travels across Ireland without a wheel in his chariot. The similar miracles appears in Vita I Brigitae,96 and in Adomnán’s Life of Columba,97 although in those cases only the linchpins of a wheel were missing, not the wheel itself. Nevertheless, the character of all the three miracles – performed by Áed, Brigit and Columba – is unmistakably similar, so the motif is evidently early.

90 Bishop Illand is mentioned in the lists of bishops of Ireland (Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 704.30, 704.249); furthermore, the Annals of Tigernach entry for the year 625 commemorates certain Illand, although no title or association is given. 91 VAidi, c. 19. 92 VAidi, cc 11, 19, 36, 42. 93 Kenney, Sources, p. 393; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xxvii. 94 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Carthagi, c. 28. 95 2Kings 2:28. 96 Vita I Brigitae, c. 49. 97 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, ii, c. 43.

127 The most distinctive feature of Áed as a miracle-worker was his power to cure headaches. In chapter 17 Áed is shown healing a certain man from a terrible, insufferable headache by taking the pain upon himself. Also in this chapter the saint rescued St Brigit from the same affliction. This story is retold in Bethu Brigte, the ninth-century Irish Life of Brigit:

‘During the time between the two Easters Brigit suffered greatly from a headache. “That does not matter”, said Mel. “When we go to visit our first settlement in Tethbae, Brigit and her maidens will go with us. There is a wonderful physician in Mide, namely Áed mac Bricc. He will heal you.’98

Bethu Brigte contains another headache story: Brigit fell from the chariot and hurt her head on a stone. The stone later appeared to have healing powers against headaches; after this accident Brigit came across Áed and he examined her wound and said: ‘The vein of your head, o virgin, has been touched by a physician who is much better than I am.’99 – i.e. it has been touched (and already healed) by God. The latter episode appears also in Vita I, although Áed’s name is not mentioned there; the man who noticed that Brigit had been already cured by the power of God is simply called a ‘doctor’ (medicus). Nonetheless, it is a confirmed fact that the fame of Áed as a healer of headaches was already well- known by the end of the eighth century, if not much earlier.100 Another source exists that reasserts the early date of the motif of Áed’s headache healing powers. It is a prayer against headache in a form of a poem, in which Áed is invoked; the prayer is preserved in a manuscript, known as the Reichenau Primer, which had been produced in Reichenau or Sankt Gallen Abbey at the beginning of the ninth century.101

98 Bethu Brigte, c. 26. 99 Bethu Brigte, c. 29. 100 Again, it depends on which date of the composition of Vita I we acknowledge as the correct one; see chapter 2.3. 101 Karlsruhe Landesbibliotek, MS Reichenau Primer; the prayer has been published by Stokes (Book of Lismore, p. 324).

128 5. 4. Áed and the kings

Áed is also described as frequently involved in setting slaves free,102 often against the will of their masters. Liberating slaves and prisoners is a widespread motif in Irish medieval hagiography, but the additional details described alongside these popular stories provide important information. In chapter 31 Áed is described rescuing a young man from being punished with death for killing his brother. Curiously, the man is said to be from Connacht, and the king who judges him is the king of the Uí Néill (presumably also the king of Tara, as the event described in chapter 31 takes places in Meath103). The similar occurrence appears in Tírechán’s Collectanea,104 where the six sons of Amolngid, the lord of the lands in western Connacht,105 came to Lóegaire, the high-king in Tara, for judgement on the matter of their heritage. It has been argued that in St Patrick’s time the king of Tara was also automatically king of Connacht.106 Furthermore, as Byrne argued, it is safe to claim that Tírechán’s writings indicate the conditions of Connacht contemporary to his time, i.e. seventh century. When exactly an over-kingship separate for Connacht appeared, it is difficult to say, as the early section of the Connacht regnal lists are recognised to have been forged by the genealogists related to the Uí Briúin, the dynasty which gained the dominance over Connacht during eighth century.107 Catherine Swift, however, argues that the occurrence of the abovementioned episode in Tírechán’s Collectanea is rather a testimony to the Uí Néill political claims against the growing power of the Uí Briúin and the other Connacht dynasty, Uí Fiachrach.108 She claims that there is little evidence for the Uí Néill having power over Connacht in the late seventh century, i.e. the time of

102 VAidi, cc 31, 34, 37, 38. 103 VAidi, c. 31: Rex enim erat in insula stagni Lemdin (...); Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, VAidi, c. 23: (...) insulam stagni Lebayn; Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 466: ‘Inis Locha Lebhionn (Loch Levin), Meath.’ The matter of Tara kingship and Uí Néill overkingship is complex. Since the seventh century, Tara in the region of Brega was recognised as the highest seat of kingship, but sometimes the supreme kings of the Uí Néill were from outside Brega and, although they might have had a royal seat in Brega, at the same time the local Uí Néill ruler could retain his royal seat there (see Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 17). 104 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. 15. 105 Amolngid became an eponymous to the Uí Amolngid in Connacht; see Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 31. 106 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 232. 107 Ibid.; see also Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 36-54. 108 C. Swift, ‘Tírechán’s motives in compiling the Collectanea: an alternative interpretation’ in Ériu, 45 (1994), pp 53-82.

129 Tírechán. Yet, the fact that the brother-murderer from Connacht is described in VAidi as being judged by the king of the Uí Néill may reflect these political conditions, having been actual or just claimed. However, it might also be just a borrowing made by Áed’s hagiographer from Tírechán’s work, although if it were so, this episode would be the only one borrowed from Collectanea which otherwise do not seem to have had any impact on VAidi. Áed’s hagiographer in general does not seem to have supported claims of any dynasties whatsoever, and it is uncertain whether he did so or not in this case; yet, the slight possibility remains that the episode in which the Connachta man is being sentenced by the Uí Néill king may be a reflex of that old connection. In the next episode of setting a slave free, king Baiethene (without further information about his descent or location) is mentioned.109 Tschen-Emmons in the footnote to his translation suggests that it is possible to identify Baiethene as Báetan mac Cairill.110 This Báetán appears as the rí Érenn only in the early eleventh-century genealogical note,111 and in the annals under his death notice he is described only as king of the Ulstermen.112 However, his name is associated with the title of rí Temro in Bechbretha, an eighth-century tract on bees and bee- keeping.113 Charles-Edwards suggests that the name of Báetán as a king of Ireland may have been erased from the annalistic records under the influence of the Uí Néill kings, who monopolised the title of a high-king between the middle of the seventh and the turn of the eleventh centuries.114 Yet, he also makes the reservation that it is difficult to tell whether the claims made on behalf of Báetan had a basis in fact. He did not, however, make any attempt to identify the Baiethene mentioned in VAidi. Edel Bhreathnach did so, and her suggestion differs from the one made by Tschen-Emmons. Instead of Báetán mac Cairill, she considered Báetán mac Ninnedo of the Cenél Conaill.115 Byrne, however, argued that the kingship of Tara in the sixth century was not yet monopolised by

109 VAidi, c. 34. 110 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity, p. 163. 111 O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 137a10. 112 A.U.2 581.2, Chron.Scot. 581, Ann. Tig. 579.3; Chronicle of Ireland 581.3, p. 113. The Annals of Ulster do not provide the information that Báetán was a ‘king of Ulstermen’; this entry was probably later amplified from a regnal list of Ulaid (see Chronicle of Ireland, p. 113, fn. 4). 113 F. Kelly, T. M. Charles-Edwards (ed.), Bechbretha (Dublin, 1983), pp 123-31. 114 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 483. 115 A.U.2 586.1; Chronicle of Ireland 586.1: ‘The killing of Báetán son of Ninnid (...) king of Tara’; see E. Bhreathnach, The kingship and landscape of Tara (Dublin, 2005), p. 220.

130 the Uí Néill, that Báetan the king of Ulstermen would have been powerful enough at that time to gain the title of king of Tara, and, finally, that the later, Uí Néill-related historians and genealogists could have picked on a prince of the Uí Néill named Báetán (that is, Báetán mac Ninnedo) to fill the gap after removing the actual king of Tara – Báetan mac Cairill.116 Yet, as king Baiethene that appears in VAidi is not given any titles or descendants, we cannot make even a guess which Báetán Áed’s hagiographer had in mind. We cannot even be sure that the name Baiethene was intended as the equivalent of the name ‘Báetán’; it may as well have been ‘Baíthéne’. No records of a king of such a name is preserved, but the name itself is known; the most famous bearer of this name was the second abbot of Iona, foster-son and cousin of St Columba.117 The kings in chapters 37 and 38 are not named. However, in the latter chapter a curious sentence appears: Reges enim erant semper immites ei, sed divina virtute ei obedire cogebantur (‘For kings were always cruel to him, but by divine power they were forced to obey him’). Indeed, Áed is not depicted as especially bound to any particular lay ruler, and appears mainly to be in conflict with kings, punishing or reproaching them. The exceptions to this rule are chapters 8 and 9, and, partially, chapter 18. In the first of those two episodes, Áed is shown to take the part of an unnamed king of the Uí Néill in his conflict with an unnamed king of Munster; the saint acts only as a mediator there, taking advantage of his mixed, Uí Néill and Munster origins. The second episode (chapter 18) shows Áed miraculously helping the wife of Diarmait mac Cerbaill to conceive a son, Áed Sláine:

‘She then bore a lamb, as if to consecrate her sterile womb; and again a fish of silver, which she gave to the churches and the poor; and again she bore a son, who was named Áed Sláine and who was given by God through the prayers of St Áed.’118

116 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 112-4. 117 For the information about Baíthéne mac Brénainn see Charles-Edwards, ‘Iona, abbots of’ in O.D.N.B. [28/10/2011]. 118 VAidi, c. 18.

131 A very similar story of Áed Sláine’s birth is preserved in Lebor na hUidre (‘The Book of the Dun Cow’)119 and Plummer suggested that the version which appears in VAidi has been borrowed wholesale from this secular source120 – but there is no plausible reason for such a conclusion. Furthermore, this chapter is the one which, according to Charles-Edwards’s claim, contained a historical dating feature, ‘namely its implication that Síl nÁeda Sláne was the leading royal lineage among the southern Uí Néill,’ and, moreover, ‘this hardly would be possible after the battle of Seredmag in 743.’121 (The Síl nÁeda Sláne lost the supremacy among the Southern Uí Néill after that battle permanently.) Such an implication might be certainly assumed if it was not for the fact that it has not been articulated in VAidi that the Síl nÁeda Sláne were still dominant. Perhaps such a supposition might be derived from the mere occurrence of this episode, but it is far from constituting a strong argument. The tales relating to Diarmait mac Cerbaill were a widespread literary theme, well-known to the Irish men of letters throughout the Middle Ages, so relying merely on their occurrence in the sources does not provide much help in dating them.

5. 5. Áed, Brigit and other women

Áed’s hagiographer pictured him as a patron and protector of women, especially holy virgins. Although as a youth, when he was still a lay man, he captured a certain girl in revenge of being deprived of his inheritance,122 later in his Life he became the protector and defender of women. He is frequently described visiting ‘some holy virgins’ (quaedam uirgines sanctae) and helping them: changing water into wine,123 resurrecting an eaten lamb,124 providing a miraculous roof made of snow on a roofless house.125 These three episodes most

119 O. J. Bergin, R. I. Best (ed.), Lebor na hUidre: Book of the Dun Cow (Dublin, 1929), 52b 10 ff. Genemain Áeda Sláine, the story of birth of Áed Sláine, gives also the name of Diarmait mac Cerbaill’s wife – Mugain, but the saint who performs a miracle on her is not Áed mac Bricc, but Finnian of Mag Bile, see also Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 98 ff. 120 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xxvii. 121 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 445, fn. 12. 122 VAidi, c. 3. 123 VAidi, c. 12. 124 VAidi, c. 20. 125 VAidi, c. 22.

132 probably take place in Munster.126 This might be an indication that in northern Munster there were some female communities, probably of monastic character, belonging to, or under the influence of the paruchia127 of one of Áed’s churches in Westmeath (Killare or Rahugh). It is possible that the patronage over those communities still existed in the time of writing VAidi, or just remained a claim of the church of Áed, based on historical memory of having those monasteries within its jurisdiction. The hagiographer provided a name for one of the female communities visited by the saint – Druim Árd,128 which is probably modern Dromard in co. Tipperary.129 Unfortunately, information about this community does not appear, as far as I am aware, in any other sources. The information contained in VAidi does not allow any claims to be made on the form and status of those communities either. The communities are consistently described as sanctae virgines and there are no words indicating that they lived in a monastery, under a certain rule or institutionally subjected to a certain church. These symptoms are considered to belong to the early period of the Irish church, the seventh and the beginning of the eighth centuries. Christina Harrington demonstrated on the examples drawn from Tírechán’s Collectanea130 and Vita I Brigitae131 that loose groups of women who lived quite independently and sometimes without permanent presence of any priest or bishop (who were only sent for when the need arose or visiting occasionally) were common in the seventh and eighth centuries.132 They were not free from protectorate or supervision, but for most time they might have been left alone to care about its daily matters. It certainly seems to be the case in VAidi, where the female communities are described as living without any other guardianship apart from occasional visits of Áed and other male saints.133 Thus, although it cannot be entirely excluded that the ‘holy virgins’ visited by Áed were congregated in a

126 VAidi, c. 12: (...) episcopus Aidus pervenit ad quasdam virguines sanctas in illa regione materna (...); c. 15: (...) Aidus venit ad aliarum sanctarum virginum locum, qui dicitur Druimm Ard (...); c. 16: (...) tres puelle a supradictis virginibus (...). 127 See chapter 4.5, fn. 128. 128 VAidi, cc 15-16. 129 Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 357. Hogan counted that there are twenty three Drumards and four Dromards in Ireland, but the one in Tipperary is the most probable location, as it is within the area of Áed’s activity known from his Lives. 130 Tírechán, Collectanea, cc 24, 27, 30, 31, 35, 37, 43, 47. 131 E.g. Vita I Brigitae, cc 28, 31 63, 82 and passim. 132 Harrington, Women in a Celtic Church, pp 57-9. 133 In VAidi, c. 20 the women prepare themselves for the visit of St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise.

133 sensu stricto monastery, they could also have been an ephemeral community at a certain church, living under no strict monastic rule and with no everyday male supervision, which is a distinctively early feature. There are other indications of Áed’s protective role towards women: three episodes of maid servants being released thanks to Áed’s endeavours;134 the story of Diarmait mac Cerbaill’s wife and her conception;135 the story of a girl captured by a ‘wretched man’ who wanted to force her into marriage, and of Áed’s help in rescuing the girl and the penance of the man;136 an episode in which three girls having been attacked and decapitated, were resurrected healthy and whole by the miraculous power of Áed.137 It is perhaps worth noticing that in the D version there are men, not women, subjected to beheading and then healed by Áed.138 The motif of ‘recapitation’139 appears also in other hagiographical texts: the Life of St Coemgen,140 the Life of St Íta,141 the Life of St Mochoemóg,142 the Irish Life of St Berach,143 and in the S version of the Life of St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise.144 Recapitation miracle seems to be a uniquely insular motif,145 although there are some hagiographical texts from continental Europe, containing motifs of re-joining bodily parts.146

134 VAidi, cc 34, 37, 38. 135 VAidi, c. 18. 136 VAidi, c. 24. 137 VAidi, c. 16. 138 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, VAedi, c. 12. 139 The motif of decapitation and recapitation in early Irish society and its reflex in Irish hagiography has been discussed by Máire Johnson (‘Preserving the body Christian: the motif of “recapitation” in Ireland’s medieval hagiography’ in Heroic Age. Journal of early medieval north-western Europe, 10 (2007), http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/johnson.html [08/11/2007]). 140 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Coemgeni, c. 11; Kenney suggested tenth or eleventh century as the time of composition of this Life (Kenney, Sources, pp 403-4). 141 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Ite, c. 18; the existence of a very early original suggested by Kenney, perhaps the seventh century (Kenney, Sources, p. 390). 142 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Mochoemog, c. 27; no suggestions made about the date. 143 Plummer, Lives of Irish Saints, Betha Beraigh, c. 29; Kenney described the Life as ‘late’ (Kenney, Sources, p. 402-3). 144 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Ciarani, c. 14; Kenney: ‘not later than the ninth century’ (Kenney, Sources, pp 378-80). 145 The miracle of recapitation appears also in the Life of St Edmund (D. Whitelock, ‘Fact and fiction in the legend of St Edmund’ in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, 31 (1969), pp 227-8; quoted after I. Fornasini, ‘St Edmund of East Anglia and his miracles through the centuries: variations in literature and art’ in J. Szacillo, J. Eaton, S. McDaid (ed.), Et credidit populus: the role and function of beliefs in early societies, Quest: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences e-journal at Queen’s University, 8 (2009), pp 34-44). 146 E.g. the story of a Polish bishop, Stanislaus, whose body was quartered and its parts were miraculously rejoined (W. Kętrzyński (ed.), Vita minor beati Stanislai, Monumenta Poloniae Historica, 4 (Lviv, 1884), pp 238-85).

134 There are some notable female-related episodes in VAidi, which deserve to be distinguished as a separate group – I call it the ‘Brigitine’ group of VAidi: these are the chapters containing events involving Brigit herself, or motifs which appear in similar forms in her Lives.147 The ‘Brigitine’ group comprises four chapters: 15, 17, 21 and 33. Chapter 17 has been already discussed, in which Áed cured headaches of a certain man and of Brigit. In chapter 21 Brigit also appears in person: Áed comes to her and asks her for the Gospels, but she does not have any, so she prays with Áed’s support, and they receive the Gospels miraculously from heaven, and Áed keeps the Book. In chapters 15 and 33 Áed is depicted performing the same miracles as Brigit did in her Lives. In chapter 15, as already mentioned, Áed performs an abortion miracle on a certain nun, who secretly sinned, but then confessed and made penance.148 This story is preserved only in the S version of VAidi, and missing in D and O. Apart from the Life of Brigit by Cogitosus, Vita I Brigitae and VAidi, the abortion miracle appears in the S Life of St Cainnech, another text of the O’Donohue group.149 Apart from these texts, I could not find any other examples of abortion performed by saints; thus, as already stated above, it certainly seems to be an early feature, supporting an early dating of VAidi. The other ‘Brigitine’ miracle performed by Áed is described in chapter 33:150 a certain holy woman was entrusted with a precious brooch by a king. A wretched man stole it and threw it into the sea, but it was miraculously found and recovered by the power of Áed’s prayer. Another miracle of Áed, of dry harvesting on a rainy day,151 is also to be found in the Life by Cogitosus,152 but it is such a common motif in Irish hagiography that we cannot say whether Áed’s hagiographer was in this case inspired by Vita Brigitae or not.

147 Some of the similarities between the Lives of Áed and Brigit have already been listed by Nagy (Conversing with angels and ancients, pp 236-46). 148 See Cogitosus, Vita Brigitae, c. 9; Vita I Brigitae, c. 103. 149 VCainnechi, c. 56. There is a slight difference in the descriptions of miracles performed by Áed and Cainnech, because the latter appears not to be aware that a woman to whom he gave his blessing was pregnant. 150 See Cogitosus, Vita Brigitae, c. 25. The story in the Life of Brigit is much longer and contains a more elaborated plot: A wicked man entrusted a brooch to a certain woman and then took it back without letting her know, because he hoped to turn her into his slave and to ‘use her sexually’. 151 VAidi, c. 10. 152 Cogitosus, Vita Brigitae, c. 4.

135 The correlation between VAidi and Vita I seems to be much stronger than the one between VAidi and the Life by Cogitosus. There are plenty of similarities between these two Lives and some of them quite unique. There are, of course, also many episodes which happen to be similar because the authors of these two texts used common hagiographical topoi: a big tree, rock or log removed from its place,153 causing immobility of enemies,154 presenting two cows or two horses to lepers,155 miraculous protection during harvesting on a rainy day,156 filling a kitchen with plenty of food.157 All of these are motifs commonly used in Irish medieval hagiographical texts, but the number of similar episodes allows us assume that the hagiographer of Áed knew and was strongly inspired by Vita I. Furthermore, there are more similar and more distinctive miracle-stories in these two Lives: the ‘liminal’ birth (at the dawn, between night and day),158 demons feasting on food discovered by the saints159 and the abortion miracle.160 Vita I also contains a story about Brigit’s headache, searching for a doctor and miraculous healing by hitting the head on the stone, exactly as it is described in Bethu Brigte (see above) but the name of Áed is not mentioned here; instead, there is an anonymous doctor telling Brigit that her head was cured by a ‘far better physician’.161 In chapter 120 of Vita I Brigit is described giving a promise that she would come to a death-bed of a certain druid, who gave her his inheritance. Chapter 11 of VAidi contains a very similar story, only instead of druid there is ‘a certain wealthy man, who was a friend of the saint of God and very beloved one, who presented many gifts and a lot of land to him.’ In chapter 49 of Vita I Brigit blesses the chariot of Bishop Cellán and he travels a long distance on it, although one of the wheels is missing a linchpin.162 Also in chapter 49 of VAidi, Áed travels a long distance on a chariot which is missing

153 VAidi, cc 25, 47; Vita I Brigitae, cc. 24, 122. 154 VAidi, c. 42; Vita I Brigitae, cc 34, 87. If we were to accept that the motif of immobilising enemies was borrowed by Áed’s hagiographer directly from a particular source (and not based on general knowledge of his), in my opinion the source would have rather been Vita I, not the Life of St Martin, as Tschen-Emmons suggests. 155 VAidi, c. 14; Vita I Brigitae, cc 78-9. 156 VAidi, c. 10; Vita I Brigitae, c. 98. 157 VAidi, c. 46; Vita I Brigitae, c. 82. 158 VAidi, c. 1; Vita I Brigitae, c. 6. About the liminal births see McCone, Pagan past and Christian present, pp 186-90. 159 VAidi, c. 35; Vita I Brigitae, c. 31. 160 VAidi, c. 15; Vita I Brigitae, c. 103. 161 Vita I Brigitae, c. 29. 162 A motif shared with Adomnán’s Vita Columbae, see above.

136 one of its wheels. The number of similarities between these two Lives gives the impression that the author of VAidi wrote his work having a copy of Vita I at his side. It is obvious that he knew Vita I (or its prototype, so called Vita Primitiva),163 and probably also the Life of Brigit by Cogitosus. Áed’s hagiographer seems to have wanted to underline the connection of Áed with Brigit. The question now arises: why would he want that? I will try to give an answer to it in the following section.

5. 6. Locations

Áed was associated with several locations: Killare (Cell Áir), Rahugh (Ráth Áedo), Slieve League (Sliab Liac), Enach Midbren and Druim Árd. Killare has remained as a parish church until today. Áed’s association with Killare appears to be late: the marginal note (i.e. considerably later than the main text) of Félire Oengusso describes him as ‘from Cell áir in Meath, and of Slíab liac’, while in the main text (dated to no later than 833164) no location is assigned to him.165 In a text contemporary with Félire, the Martyrology of Tallaght (where Áed’s feast day is assigned to three different days and none of them correct166), one of the entries associates Áed with Slíab Liac167 and the rest do not contain any information about the location of Áed’s church. Moreover, there are no early entries on Killare in any of the sets of annals.168 The S manuscript provides titles to the chapters of VAidi, which associate the saint with Killare, but they are placed on lower margins and not as a part of the main text of the Vita.169 In the other Lives from the O’Donohue group (of Cainnech, of Ruadán),170 Áed is described as a bishop, but again no specific location is mentioned. The same

163 See chapter 2.3. 164 Ó Riain, ‘The Tallaght martyrologies, redated’, pp 21-38 165 Fél.Oeng., November 10, pp 232, 240. 166 Mart. Tall., February 28, May 4, July 30, pp 19, 39, 59. 167 Mart. Tall., July 30, p. 59. 168 I am aware of only one annalistic entry on Killare from the Annals of our Masters under the year 1184 recalling that the English built a castle there. 169 Thirty three chapters of the Vita are provided with the marginal titles: VAidi, cc 9-12, 14-17, 20-2, 24-8, 30-2, 34-6, 39, 41-4, 46-9, 51-2. 170 VCainnechi, c. 32; VRuadani, cc 54-5.

137 occurs in Bethu Brigte (Áed is merely described as ‘physician in Mide’).171 Áed’s hagiographer also consistently called him a bishop, but did not associate his episcopal grade with any particular church. Furthermore, Áed is not shown having a pastoral sphere over a certain territory, consecrating, even baptising. He is shown miracle-working and taking care of lay people and some monastic communities, often female, none of them located in Killare. The association of Áed’s episcopal authority with Killare could have been a feature no earlier than at least the late ninth century (as in Bethu Brigte Áed still remains unassociated) and no later than the end of the twelfth century (as the marginal notes on the text of Félire Oengusso have been dated to circa 1170).172 Rahugh’s association with Áed seems to have been much earlier. This location is not mentioned in VAidi either, but it appears in the annals as the church of Áed. There are three early entries on Rahugh: under the year 776 (‘The death of Forbasach, abbot of Ráth Áedo’),173 788 (‘Bishop Dub dá Thuath, abbot of Ráith Áedo, rested’)174 and 859, where the royal conference held in Rahugh is described.175 After 859 Rahugh also disappears from the annalistic records. From the 788 entry it seems that the episcopal authority was not associated with Rahugh either: Dub dá Thuath is called a bishop, but not the bishop of Rahugh, of which he was an abbot (although it cannot be totally excluded that his episcopal authority was, in fact, connected with Rahugh). Yet, Rahugh most probably had considerable importance as a church at least until the second half of the ninth century, as it hosted the meeting in 859, at which the authority of the church of Armagh seems to have been established in Osraige:176

‘A royal meeting of the nobles of Ireland was held at the Ráith of Áed son of Brecc, including Máel Sechnaill, king of Tara, and Féthgna, comarbae of Patrick, and Suairlech, comarbae of Finnio, in order to establish peace and harmony among the men of Ireland, and, as a result of that meeting, Cerball, king of Osraige, granted full authority to Patrick's

171 Bethu Brigte, c. 26: Ata lieig amrai la firu Midi, .i. Æd mac Bric; do-gena do frepaid-siu. (‘There is a wonderful physician in Mide, namely Áed mac Bricc. He will heal you.’) 172 Ó Riain, ‘The Martyrology of Óengus’, pp 235-6. 173 A.U.2 776.3; Chronicle of Ireland 776.3. 174 A.U.2 788.8; Chronicle of Ireland 788.8. 175 A.U.2 859.3; Chronicle of Ireland 859.3. 176 Chronicle of Ireland, p. 313, fn. 3.

138 samad and to his comarbae, and it was then that Osraige was alienated to Leth Cuinn, and Máel Guala, king of Munster, appointed sureties for its alienation.’

Slieve League (modern co. Donegal), another place associated with Áed, is not mentioned anywhere in his Lives, unless Plummer’s suggestion that the events described in chapter 12 of the D version may be located there.177 However, the correlating chapter of the S text, chapter 16, provides information that the event took place in Druim Ard, which is probably north-east Munster, modern co. Tipperary.178 It is only in the Martyrology of Tallaght and the marginal note of Félire Oengusso where the link of Áed with Slieve League appears. The locations mentioned in VAidi are Enach Midbren179 and Druim Ard,180 but these appear neither in the annals nor in the martyrologies. Both places seem to have been located in Munster: Enach Midbren is described as a cella in the maternal lands of Áed (i.e. Munster, Múscraige Tíre) and, although there are many Druim Ards (Dromards) across Ireland, that located by Hogan in Munster is the only one which lies within the known territory of Áed’s activity.181 The ecclesiastical character of Druim Ard, as already discussed, is difficult to define; the only known fact is that it was a certain female religious community over which one of Áed’s main churches, perhaps Rahugh or Enach Midbren, held pastoral responsibility. Enach Midbren is depicted in more detail by Áed’s hagiographer. It is described as the saint’s first foundation182 and people residing there are called monks (monachi or clerici),183 which allows the assumption that in the time of Áed’s hagiographer Enach Midbren was a male monastery not without certain significance, as it is mentioned three times in VAidi which overall does not contain too many names of Áed’s ecclesiastical locations.

177 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, xxvii, fn. 2. 178 Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 357. 179 VAidi, cc 7, 42, 44. 180 VAidi, cc 15, 16. 181 Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 397. 182 VAidi, c. 7. 183 VAidi, cc 42, 44.

139 However, this ‘certain’ significance of Enach Midbren seems to be a relative matter. As already mentioned, the name of Enach Midbren does not appear in any other sources apart from VAidi; yet, in VAidi it is important. Thus, we must assume that there was a reason for the hagiographer to draw his readers’ attention to that place. My theory is that it was indeed Enach Midbren that had direct authority over the female community of Druim Ard and that VAidi was originally written in Enach Midbren, or by an author connected with Enach Midbren, especially for the needs of the community of Druim Ard. The numerous female-related miracles, the strong association of Áed with Brigit and plenty of motifs directly copied from Vita I that most probably was known to and appreciated by female members of ecclesiastical communities of the eighth century seem to confirm it. The small but significant change that the redactor of the D Life introduced in chapter 16 (equivalent of S chapter 12) – replacing decapitated young girls with men subjected to the same misery – shows that in the course of later redactions of Áed’s Life its original purpose became out of date. The information provided by the hagiographer in the conclusion of the recapitation episode about Áed producing a spring ‘which, remaining there up to the present day, is called the Spring of the Girls’ (Fons Puellarum) has been omitted by the redactor of D. It is possible that Áed’s hagiographer included the information about the Spring of Girls again to satisfy his intended readers’ needs and enhance their veneration towards the saint whose church – Enach Midbren? – exercised authority over their community.

5. 7. VAidi – a source for the hagiographer of St Cainnech?

There is another hagiographical text which bears some distinctive similarities to VAidi – the Life of Cainnech (VCainnechi), which also belongs to the O’Donohue group and directly follows VAidi in the S manuscript. Cainnech appears in VAidi only once in chapter 2, where he is described travelling with St Brendan of Birr and meeting the boy Áed in the woods.184 Brendan arose at

184 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, iii, c. 17 contains a similar story of a group of saints travelling together, in this case SS Columba, Cainnech and Brendan of Clonfert. Sharpe (Adomnán, Life of

140 Áed’s appearance and Cainnech reproached him for doing that. Brendan, however, explained to his companion that he arose because he had seen angels surrounding the saintly boy. Therefore, the only occurrence of Cainnech’s name in VAidi is not especially flattering to this saint and Áed’s hagiographer did not devote any further attention to him. Áed’s appearance in VCainnechi is of entirely different character. His name occurs in a story very similar to the one contained in the abovementioned chapter 31 of VAidi, in which Áed asks the king of the Uí Néill to release a man who had killed his brother. The king, who was staying on the island, forbade St Áed to land on it; Áed though reached the king by walking on the water of the lake with his feet remaining dry, demanded the release of the prisoner and got what he had asked for. Chapter 32 of VCainnechi corresponds with that of VAidi, although there are some details that differ. Áed acts there in defence not of a male brother-killer, but his own sister. The name of the location of the event is different (insula stagni Lemdin, Loch Levin, in VAidi;185 stagno Rosso, Loch Ross, in VCainnechi186) and the name of the king, which in VAidi remains unknown, is given: Colmanus Modicus, Colmán Bec son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill.187 In this chapter, Cainnech brings help to Áed and it is Cainnech who finally crosses the waters of the lake, reaches the king and forces him – by killing and subsequently resurrecting the king – to accede to his demands, and later even receives a royal donation. In VAidi, Áed acted alone; in VCainnechi he is provided with the support of Cainnech, who ultimately replaces Áed in achieving the goal. It is quite clear that the connection between Áed and Cainnech was of no importance for the author of VAidi. He mentioned Cainnech only once and not in a very appreciative manner. In VCainnechi, however, this connection seems to be purposefully underlined. Although Áed also appears only once in VCainnechi, his role there is more than episodic: the two saints are depicted as being supportive towards each other and cooperating. Furthermore, there are some other passages in VCainnechi that show the correlation between this Life and

Columba, p.368, fn. 386) noticed the frequency of the motif of a group of saints ‘assembled together corroborating one another’s holiness’. 185 Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 466 (see above, fn. 94). 186 Ibid., p. 583. 187 Death recorded under 587 or 593: A.U.2 , 587.1, 593.3; Chronicle of Ireland, 587.1.

141 VAidi. VCainnechi contains a story of a miraculous abortion: a young woman, having got pregnant, came to Cainnech to ask for a blessing and when she received it, her womb was cleared of the foetus;188 the difference here is that Cainnech performed this miracle unconsciously whilst Áed’s abortion miracle had been done on purpose. There are a few more episodes that VAidi and VCainnechi share: causing immobility of enemies,189 presenting two horses to lepers,190 revealing a false magician,191 and reintegrating and restoring to life an eaten lamb.192 These are miracles that may be found in many other hagiographical sources, but it is the number of them that indicates that VAidi and VCainnechi must be somehow related. And, considering the attitude of Áed’s hagiographer towards Cainnech one can hardly assume that it was he who borrowed the material from VCainnechi. Therefore, if the borrowing took place, it was most probably Cainnech’s hagiographer who had done it;193 furthermore, if it took place, it means that VAidi must have been written earlier than VCainnechi.194

5. 8. Summary

Tschen-Emmons described VAidi as ‘pregnant with meaningfulness’195 and it certainly is, but still it leaves plenty of unanswered questions: what was the character of episcopal authority of Áed? What happened to his primary foundations? How did it happen that he became so strongly associated with Killare? Some of the questions will probably remain unanswerable, others await further investigation. Nevertheless, as demonstrated above, VAidi contains numerous features that indicate an early date, or at least early roots, perhaps even the first half of the eighth century. However, an argument challenging this view has been expressed by John Carey, who in his review of Sharpe’s study claimed

188 VCainnechi, c. 56. 189 VCainnechi, c. 7; VAidi, c. 42. 190 VCainnechi, c. 11; VAidi, c. 14. 191 VCainnechi, c. 14; VAidi, c. 39. 192 VCainnechi, c. 58; VAidi, c. 20. 193 This relationship has been also observed by Herbert (‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, p. 36; see chapter 2. 3), but she did offer any discussion on this subject. 194 Which Herbert proposed to date to circa 763; see chapter 2. 3. 195 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity, p.

142 that VAidi cannot be earlier than the ninth century, as it ‘appears to reflect a ninth-century semantic shift whereby the Irish word Gall “Gaul, foreigner” came to mean “Viking, invader”’.196 It is indeed the case that the word Gaill is used in the annals most frequently in reference to the Scandinavian invaders.197 Yet, there are reasons to believe that this word in VAidi might have not been used in its ninth-century, annalistic meaning. Firstly, the hagiographical texts about the early saints do not contain mentions of the Vikings. It could simply be that the hagiographers generally had no need or wish to commit a chronological fallacy. In Vita Findani – a late ninth- century continental text describing a ninth-century Irish saint – the Vikings feature prominently.198 Furthermore, Charles-Edwards pondered the possibility that the word might have originally meant ‘Gauls’.199 Máire Ní Mhaonaigh pointed out that there are sources in which Gaill appear in a different meaning:200 in the Tripartite Life of Patrick Gaill are equated with the Franks;201 similarly, in Cormac’s Glossary (circa 900)202 the definition for Gaill reads: ‘a name for particular peoples or for noble peoples of the Franks, i.e. the tribes of Gaul’ (ainm do sainchlandaib nó do særchlandaib Franc .i. tribus Gallie). Therefore it is at least possible that Áed’s hagiographer had in mind not the Vikings, but the Franks. Ní Mhaonaigh did not bring to attention the fact that the O version of Áed’s Life in the corresponding fragment refers not to Galli but to pirate de terra Francorum.203 Thus, it seems that in the case of VAidi we might have a possible example of an early meaning of the word Gaill that has been later recorded in the Tripartite Life and in Cormac’s Glossary (and that Charles-Edwards was guessing), rather than a ninth-century feature.

196 Carey, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 262. 197 Charles-Edwards, Chronicle of Ireland, ii, 4. 198 O. Holder-Egger (ed.), Vita Findani in M.G.H. Scriptores (Hanover, 1887, reprint. 1992), xv, 502-506; cf. D. Ó Corráin, ‘The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the ninth century’ in Peritia, 12 (1998), pp 296–339. 199 Charles-Edwards, Chronicle of Ireland, ii, 4. 200 M. Ní Mhaonaigh, ‘Friend and foe: Vikings in ninth- and tenth-century Irish literature’ in H. B. Clarke, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, R. Ó Floinn (ed.), Ireland and Scandinavia in the early Viking age (Dublin, 1998), p. 386, fn. 25. 201 Trip. Life, p. 9 (for the discussion of the date of its composition see chapter 2.3). 202 K. Meyer (ed. and trans.), ‘Sanas Cormaic’ in O. J. Bergin et al. (ed.), Anecdota from Irish manuscripts (5 vols, Halle, 1907-13), v, 55-6; for the studies of the text see P. Russell, ‘The sound of a silence: the growth of Cormac’s Glossary’ in Camb. Med. Celt. Studies, 25 (1988), pp 1-30. 203 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Aedi, c. 34, fn. 17.

143 However, even if we assume that the use of the word Galli was indeed anachronistic, we cannot automatically take it for granted that the text could not have been written in the ninth century. VAidi shares numerous motifs with other texts that have been dated to the seventh or the eighth century, that is true, but it is not a fully datable feature. The material shared with Vita I Brigitae most probably appeared there for the benefit of a particular target group – a female community. VCainnechi, whose author was quite probably inspired by the Life of Áed, offers at least some information about the chronological order of these two texts. The attribute of headache healing power that is confirmed to be known and widespread also in the seventh and/or the eighth centuries, might have been an attribute long-lasting in human memory. Charles-Edwards’ argument that the story of Áed Sláne’s conception reflected the Síl nÁeda Sláne as still in power when the hagiographer was writing VAidi is based on an appearance of a widespread literary motif, and those have no real time limits. But the silence of the sources can sometimes speak for itself. No association with the church of Killare that appears in the sources only in the twelfth century suggests that writing VAidi had taken place before Killare came to claim annalistic recognition. Also, an early form of organisation of female religious communities also seems to be confirmed in VAidi. The only church of Áed that appears in the annals, Rahugh, seems to have been of considerable importance by and in the middle of the ninth century (859, when it hosted the royal conference), but after that it disappears from the sources; ergo, it is quite possible that VAidi was written before his main ecclesiastical site’s importance declined in significance. It seems safer to assume that such a long, sophisticated hagiographical text was not written in a small church of little significance. All the collected evidence seems to allude to a reasonably early time frame, and one in agreement with Sharpe’s dating of the O’Donohue group, but there is no way of telling a precise date. The suggestions of Herbert and Charles- Edwards are too tentative to be relied on. The Life was most probably written during the eighth or the ninth century. More answers can come only when VCainnechi is examined in more detail.

144 CHAPTER 6: VITA SANCTI FINTANI SEU MUNNU

6. 1. VMunnu and the question of text transmission

According to the annalistic entries, St Munnu, alias Fintan mac Tulchain lived at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century.1 His main foundation, the church of Taghmon, was near the south-eastern Irish coast, in modern county Wexford. Munnu’s church, as one of the two of all the main foundations mentioned in the O’Donohue group, did not belong to the central area of Ireland (mostly in or around the Slieve Bloom region).2 There are four extant Lives of Munnu, all in Latin, two of them in S (S¹ – Vita prior, within the O’Donohue group, in this chapter also referred to as VMunnu; S² – Vita altera), one in D and one in the O collection. The latter has not yet been published, but Plummer stated that it is virtually the same as the second Life of Munnu in S.3 There are no substantive differences between them. D is quite often elaborated with longer sentences, breaking the S phrases into whole passages and introducing dialogue.4 Yet the elaborations are mainly stylistic and they do not introduce any new information; quite the contrary, some place-names and minor details are missing.5 The last chapter of D is a shortened version of some corresponding chapters in S¹. There is only one section of D which supplements the S¹ text with additional detail, but it is only because the scribe of S¹ committed a mistake in copying, by which some of the meaning was lost that may be reconstructed with the information given in S² and D:6

(S¹) Scio quod faciam [gap marked by Heist] ‘In exilium non ibis; sed in nocte quinte ferie †appropinquet† nuncius a Deo [meaning lost, probably omission, not marked by Heist] ut non maius gaudium in celo in adventu Lugidi quam in adventu tua fiat (...) (‘ “I know what I shall do”

1 A.U.2 635.5, Ann. Inis. 637.3; Chronicle of Ireland 635.6. 2 The other is the church of Ailbe in Emly; see chapter 3.2. 3 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, lxxxv. 4 S¹ cc 2, 3, 8, 11; S² cc 2, 3, 8, 11. 5 S² cc 3, 5, 12, 22, 31. 6 VMunnu, c. 28; Plummer, ii, VMunnu, c. 25.

145 [...lacuna...] “You shall not go in exile; but in the night of Thursday an envoy from God †shall approach you† [... possible lacuna...], for no greater joy in heaven shall be of the arrival of Lugaid than of your arrival in the day of your death.’)

(S²) Igitur peregre ibo et zelum ad emendandum monachos ultra non habebo.’ Cui angelus: ‘Non ita fiet. Sed feria secunda corpus tuum tangetur, et pacienter tolerabis (...) (‘“Therefore I shall go abroad and the zeal for amending monks I shall have no more.” To whom the angel [responded]: “It is not to be so. But on Monday your body shall be touched [with disease], and you shall bear it with patience.”’)

(D) Scio ego quid faciam. Solus in peregrinacionem ibo, et zelum ad emendandos et congregandos monachos ultra non agam.’ Cui angelus dixit: ‘Non ita fiet; sed in secunda feria corpus tuum tangetur, et pacienter pacieris (...) (‘“I know what I shall do. Alone I shall go in peregrinacionem, and the zeal for amending monks I shall exercise no more.” To whom the angel said: “It is not to be so; but on Monday your body shall be touched [with disease] and you shall suffer it with patience.”’)

The story of a punishment that Munnu had suffered because of his excessive desire to punish the others for their sins is crucial to understanding VMunnu in many dimensions, and it will be discussed below. At this point it is perhaps worth remembering that Sharpe assumed that Φ had been the original source for all the redactions of the Lives of Munnu (i.e. S, D and O) and that it had been probably subjected to some serial redactions in the case of D and O, but none in the case of S, of which collectors were provided with the original manuscript of Φ by Diarmait Ó Dúnchadha.7 I believe that the examples quoted above may undermine Sharpe’s view on this matter. It is obvious, in my opinion, that the versions S² and D preserved the original form of the episode, whilst S¹ (that is the version that belongs to the O’Donohue group) is corrupted. If the

7 See chapter 2.2.

146 collectors of S were in possession of the original version of Φ, they would also have the original and full version of the story of Munnu’s punishment. Therefore, we must acknowledge the fact that the O’Donohue Lives might also have been subjected to the processes of serial redactions, although probably to a smaller extent that it had been in the case of the Lives preserved in D and O. There is, however, another possible explanation for this occurrence. The collectors of S might have been indeed in the possession of Φ that had suffered, by the time they obtained it, some mechanical damages that made this part of VMunnu unreadable. In this case, the other claim that Sharpe has made, i.e. that the copyists working on S were extremely faithful to the original versions with which they had been provided; seems to be fully justified. For if the copyists had allowed themselves to interfere with the originals, why would they have not copied the full story that they had in hand in the S² version? Thus, we have two possible answers to the problem of the text transmission in S: either the collectors of S had access to the original Φ and copied it faithfully, word by word, as they were able to read it, or they did not have that access and were basing their text on a later redaction of Φ that at some point earlier had been corrupted. I am not able to define which of the possible answers to this problem is correct. Notwithstanding the elaborations in D, the S¹ Life still remains the longest and richest in detail. The spelling is also the most conservative, bearing the marks of Old Irish in writing down the grammatical forms, as demonstrated by Sharpe.8 It is interesting to see how those texts, deriving obviously from a common source, reflect different histories of redactions. Plummer suggested that D could be interpreted as a link between S¹ on one hand, and S² and O on the other.9 Yet Sharpe disagreed with such a conclusion and argued, on the basis of the history of textual changes, that there is no direct link on the line S¹-S²/O and that these two versions are independent branches of redactions, having originated in the version Φ, containing the Lives written circa 800.10

8 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 320-1, 325-33; see chapter 2.2, pp 27-30. 9 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, lxxxv. 10 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, pp 334-7.

147

6. 2. Many pedigrees of Munnu

There have been no attempts at analysing any of the versions of the VMunnu. However, there is an article by Edward Culleton,11 which is a gathering of basic (and occasionally inaccurate) information derived from the most obvious sources: annals, genealogies, martyrologies and the Life itself – but without analytical approach or evaluation of Munnu’s dossier. The annals record Munnu’s death in the year 635.12 The genealogies of saints contain Munnu’s pedigree as the son of Tulchán and Fedelm and tracing back his ancestors to Fiachu Roíde, 13 the eponym of the Corco Roíde, a lineage of obscure origins that had been settled in Mide.14 According to VMunnu, Munu’s father, Tulchán, was of the Cenél Conaill lineage of the northern Uí Néill; Fedelm was a daughter of the Uí Maine of the southern Uí Néill.15 The D and S² Lives describe Munnu just as of ‘illustrious lineage of Ireland, i.e. of the Uí Néill’, de claro genere Hybernie, i.e. de Nepotibus Neill, which is a good example of the omissions mentioned above. Yet another pedigree of Munnu appears in Adomnán’s Vita Columbae, in which he is called ‘Fintan mac Tulcháin of the line of Moccu Moie’.16 The name of this lineage occurs only in Vita Columbae twice: while referring to Munnu and to a certain monk of Iona, Laisrén.17

11 ‘St Munna of Taghmon’ in Journal of the Taghmon Historical Society, 2 (1997), pp 116-27; reprinted with some additions and the English translation of the D version by J. Hunt, under the title ‘St Munnu or Fintan of Taghmon’ in E. Culleton, Celtic and Early Christian Wexford: AD 400 to 1166 (Dublin, 1999), pp 108-25. In further references the second edition will be used. 12 A.U.2 635.5, Ann. Inis. 637.3; Chronicle of Ireland 635.6. 13 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 155, 546, 660, 722.37. 14 O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 95b739; the Corco Roíde are described there as descendants of Conn Cétchathach, alongside the Fotharta (Conn Cétchathach a quo (...) Fothairt de quibus Brigit (...) Fiachu Roída a quo Corco Roíde. 15 VMunnu, c. 1. Culleton (‘St Munnu or Fintan of Taghmon’, p. 108) states that Fedelm was of the northern Uí Néill as well, but he is mistaken. The genealogies recount two lineages of the Uí Maine: the Uí Maine of Tethbhae (descendants of Máine son of Niall Noígíallach) and the Uí Maine of Connacht (descendants of Máine Mór, one of the Three Collas). There is no genealogical evidence for a close kinship between these two branches, although it does not necessarily mean there was not any kind of kinship (it might have disappeared from the genealogies because of some political issues). There is also no evidence for the Uí Maine of Tethbae to have belonged to any other lineage but the southern Uí Néill. Culleton, who consulted mainly the D text of VMunnu and only supportively the S, may have been mistaken by a phrase in D Fedhelyn, que de eadem (the same as Tulchán) gente nata est. 16 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, i, c. 2. 17 Adomnán, Vitae Columbae, i, c. 18.

148 There is no information about the place of Munnu’s birth, but in a subsequent chapter, where Munnu’s childhood is depicted, Achud Broan18 is mentioned. Furthermore, in chapter 4, which seems to be a continued description of Munnu’s childhood happening more or less in the same area, the saint appears to be in the kingdom of Uisnech Midi. Therefore it may be assumed that Munnu’s hagiographer intended to indicate this region as the birth-place of the saint. Tulchán’s status is not mentioned in VMunnu, yet according to the later (probably eleventh- or twelfth-century) glosses in Félire Oengusso he was a druid,19 and an ‘evildoer at first’.20 And the sixteenth-century Life of Columba by Manus O’Donnell claims that Munnu himself was at first a druid.21 Thus, the sources that contain information about Tulchán’s occupation are late: eleventh to sixteenth centuries. None of the Lives of Munnu gives such details. None of the other early Lives in which Tulchán is mentioned (i.e. the Life of Columba by Adomnán22 and the S Life of Cainnech23) provide such information either. Therefore, it is possible that the tradition of Munnu having had a druid for a father (or having been a druid himself) was considerably late – later than VMunnu.

6. 3. Locations

There are several locations with which Munnu is connected in VMunnu. His childhood takes place probably in the Uisnech Midi area, as argued above. Then he was taken by St Mochóemóc, who had arrived from Connacht, to St Comgall of Bangor, where he stayed for some time as Comgall’s pupil.24 He was also a student in St Columba’s school, Cell Mór Díthraib. Cell Mór Díthraib is mentioned by Adomnán, who described Columba visiting this church and

18 VMunnu, c. 3; Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 7. 19 Munna mac Telchain druad (Fél. Oeng., October 21, p. 227). 20 Taulchain: .i. drúth artus he (W. Stokes, On the Calendar of Oengus, October 21, p. 35). 21 A. O’Kelleher, G. Schoepperle (ed.), Manus O’Donnell’s Betha Colaim Cille (Urbana, Illinois, 1918), p. 161. 22 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, i, c. 2. 23 VCainnechi, c. 26. 24 VMunnu, c. 4.

149 collecting many offerings there.25 Furthermore, it is recorded twice in the annals under the years 735 and 757: first on a death of Flann mac Conaing,26 the abbot, and second on the burning of the church by the Clann Cremthainn from Connacht.27 It seems more probable that it was the Clann Cremthainn from Connacht rather than the Uí Cremthainn kingdom in Airgialla, and Cell Mór Díthraib was probably where Kilmore in Co. Roscommon is today.28 Furthermore, Cell Mór Díthraib is mentioned as the school of Columba in his sixteenth-century Irish Life by O’Donnell.29 Therefore it appears that the hagiographer located the early stage of Munnu’s education almost entirely in Connacht. Afterwards, Munnu went to the ‘most wise man of all Ireland and Britain, who was a strong abbot of Daiminis of (lit. ‘on’) Loch Éirne’ (ad virum sapientissimum totius Hybernie et Britannie, qui erat abbas strenuus hi Domhinnis for Lochaib h-Erni).30 It is worth noticing that the name of the place is phrased in Irish, with appropriate declension suffixes applied. This occurrence supports Sharpe’s hypothesis that the spelling and grammatical forms preserved in the S Lives of the O’Donohue group indicate that they preserve original Old Irish forms. As Sharpe already noticed, it would have been impossible for the scribes not familiar with Old Irish to accidentally come to the right flexion forms.31 Daiminis (Devenish) of Loch Éirne was a major church founded by St Molaisse,32 a sixth-century saint who might be expected to have been in charge of students at the time of Munnu’s arrival to that place. However, Molaisse’s name does not appear in this section of VMunnu, although he is described as the remarkable and widely recognised person in chapters 29 and 30. There is some other information in the S² and D versions of the Life: both of them mention the

25 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, i, c. 50; Sharpe (Adomnán, Life of Columba, p. 317, fn. 209) discussed the occurrence of the name of Cell Mór Díthraib in Vita Columbae and VMunnu, but did not refer to the annalistic entries or to the Irish Life of Columba. 26 Ann. Tig. 735.5; Chronicle of Ireland 735.5. 27 A.U.2 757.3, Ann. Tig. 757.3; Chronicle of Ireland 757.3. 28 Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 203. There is one Cell Mór in Ulster, but it is recorded in the annals as ‘Cell Mór Aedáin mic Oengussa’ (A.U.2 749.4, Chronicle of Ireland 749.5) and it is rather not the same as Cell Mór Díthraib. 29 O’Kelleher, G. Schoepperle, Betha Colaim Cille, c. 24b. 30 VMunnu, c. 6. 31 Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 332; see chapter 2.2. 32 A.U.2 564.2; Chronicle of Ireland 564.3.

150 name of Sillán mac Mianaig (although in both manuscripts the forms of the name are spelled differently), and in the S² text it is claimed that his church site was called Cluain Inis – not Daiminis.33 Thus, the same person in corresponding sections of the three Lives of Munnu has multiple personalities: ‘the strong abbot of Daiminis’ in S¹, a saintly man named Filell Miannaich in S² and ‘the most wise man’ named Silel filius Miannaidh in D. All the redactions locate the church on Loch Éirne. Who then was the teacher of Munnu and where was he from? Or rather from where did the hagiographer of the original version of VMunnu believe him to be? Daiminis (Devenish) was an important monastic centre. The death entry of its bishop, Sillán, occurs under the year 659.34 From the middle of the eighth century the annalistic records devoted to Devenish appear more frequently.35 In the twelfth century it was turned into an Augustinian priory.36 Cluain Inis (Cleenish) is still a parish church in Co. Fermanagh, but its early history is unclear. The first annalistic entry in which Cluain Inis is mentioned is quite late (1100) and it is stated there that the church of St Sinell of Cleenish had been founded.37 Therefore, it certainly seems more probable that the manuscripts of S¹ and D retained the original information about Bishop Sillán (in D) of Daiminis (in S¹ and D), whilst one of the redactors of S² might have mistaken the seventh- century bishop of Daiminis for a saint under whose name a relatively recent (from the redactors’ point of view) foundation had been established. However, the issue of text transmission arises again. The versions D and S² preserved the name that no longer appears in S¹. The possible answers are the same as in the case of the lacunae in chapter 28 of VMunnu: either the collectors of S had a copy of VMunnu that had been subjected to earlier revisions, or the Φ manuscript that they might have had was damaged. Nevertheless, the case of the occurrence of Munnu’s teacher from Daiminis/Cluain Inis in S¹ and S² proves almost beyond doubt that the copyists that were compiling S had been indeed

33 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita altera Fintani seu Munnu, c. 6; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Munnu, c. 6. 34 Ann. Tig. 658.1; Chronicle of Ireland 659.1. 35 A.U.2 751.5; Chronicle of Ireland 751.8: ‘Death of Céile Do Laissi from Daiminis’; the entries appear in regular intervals well into the twelfth century. 36 Gwynn, Hadcock, Medieval religious houses: Ireland, p. 33. 37 A.U.2 1100.9.

151 indiscriminately faithful to their sources: having had two almost identical Lives of the same saint in hand, they did not unify the information about Munnu’s teacher, but copied exactly the mutually exclusive details that they had been provided with from two similar sources. Having received his education at (presumably Sillán’s) school, Munnu travelled to Iona to become a monk in St Columba’s monastery, but he was rejected, as discussed in more detail below. Subsequently,38 Munnu arrived at the island of Cuinrigi, and he founded a church there, called Áth Cáin.39 Reeves suggested that Áth Cáin might be the same as Bél Átha Cáin (Ballaghkeen) in the territory of the Uí Cennselaig in the south of Leinster.40 It is, however, more possible that the hagiographer was thinking of Inis Cuilenrige in the far north of Co. Donegal. Munnu did not remain there for long; one day he heard ‘the scream of the men of hell’ on the day of the battle of Slemain, and he did not wish to stay at a place where he heard the voices from hell. The battle of Slemain took place in 601 or 602 between Colmán Rimid, king of the Cenél nÉogain, and Conall Cú, son of Áed mac Ainmerech, king of the Cenél Conaill.41 Colmán Rimid won the battle, and Áed fled. It is worth remembering that Munnu himself was reputed to be of the Cenél Conaill. However, the manner of description does not give any impression of particular hostility on the part of the hagiographer towards any parties of the conflict; therefore the mentioning of that battle may be treated as a distant reflex of Munnu and his community’s hostile attitude towards the Cenél Conaill opponent, Colmán Rimid and the Cenél nÉogain. Perhaps in the story of Munnu running away from the voices ‘of the men of hell’ in its original form, ‘the men of hell’ were the Cenél nÉogain, but VMunnu, as now extant, does not contain any evaluation or detail about from whose voices actually Munnu ran away.

38 Culleton (‘St Munnu or Fintan of Taghmon’, p. 109) writes that at this point, according to the Life of Munnu, the saint founded two churches in Scotland, both of which cannot be traced. I cannot see a place which could be identified as Munnu’s church in Scotland in any of the versions of VMunnu; however, there are a few church sites called after Munnu in Scotland, recounted by Culleton after Reeves (The life of St Columba written by Adomnán (Dublin, 1857), p. 22) and W. Watson (The history of Celtic place-names of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1926), p. 307). 39 VMunnu, c. 8. The S² and D have the Latin translations for Áth Cáin: Vadum Lene (the ‘Gentle Stream’ or the ‘Shallow Ford’). 40 Reeves, The life of St Columba written by Adomnán, p. 21; see Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 54. 41 A.U.2 601.3, 602.2; Chronicle of Ireland 601.5, 602.2.

152 In chapters 11 to 13, Munnu is temporarily settled in the north Munster region of Éile, where he founded a church of Tech Taille.42 It is there Munnu’s community was asked to leave the place by a woman called Cíar and her five holy virgins, and where he refused to give his blessing to them, as shall be described below. After leaving Tech Taille, Munnu finally arrived in south- eastern Leinster, where his main foundation was to be, and where he remained until the day of his death. Before founding his own church, Munnu spent twelve years in Áird Crema,43 which in VMunnu is described as a place in Uí Bairrche Tíre territory, and as a foundation of Bangor and St Comgall’s community.44 This relationship of Áird Crema with Bangor is an important feature that may widen our understanding of possible connection between VMunnu and the Life of Lugaid (see below). The Uí Bairrche Tíre were situated in south Leinster. The annalistic records for this lineage are scarce before the eleventh century, and most of them preserved in the Annals of Four Masters that are the least reliable of all. Byrne noticed that it is possible that the early history of the influential Uí Bairrche from the sixth and seventh centuries may have been erased from the annalistic records when the Uí Cennselaig dynasty came to power in south Leinster.45 Munnu stayed in that area as a replacement for Áed Gopan, who left the church in his charge and went on . Having left Áird Crema, Munnu, directed by an angel, moved further to the lands of the Fotharta.46 The Fotharta were supposedly gens from around Kildare, St Brigit’s monastery, yet they could be found spread throughout Leinster;47 therefore it is not possible to define precisely the range of their settlement and authority. However, apparently at the time of Munnu and/or at the time of composing VMunnu, the south-eastern Leinster settlement of the Fotharta reached as far as Taghmon – for that is where Munnu was given lands to found his main church by Dímma mac Áeda Cróin, the Fotharta princeps (‘leader’,

42 Hogan, Onomasticon, p. 626. 43 Ibid., p. 49. 44 VMunnu, c. 15. The existence of St Comgall’s familia in Leinster, in the lands of the Uí Bairrche, is also confirmed by the Life of Comgall (Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Comgalli, c. 42) and, indirectly, by the Life of St Fintan of Clonenagh (VFintani, c. 20); see below about possible reflexes in VLugidi. 45 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 131, 288. 46 VMunnu, c. 18. 47 D. Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400-800’ in N.H.I., i, p. 197; Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 131.

153 ‘ruler’). The name of the new church of Munnu was Achad Liacc Echdromma,48 and once it is described as Domus Mundu49 (i.e., Domus Munnu, Old Irish Tech Munnu, ‘the House of Munnu’ – Taghmon). I have not found any other occurrences of the name of Achad Liacc Echdromma apart from the Lives of Munnu; the place is usually referred to as Tech Munnu in various forms in the annals, genealogies and martyrologies. From chapter 18 to the end of the Life, Munnu is depicted as staying there permanently, apart from a few episodes in which the saint was travelling. The author of VMunnu was clearly focused mainly on the church of Taghmon; therefore it is safe to assume that its author was strongly linked to this place. It is also indicated in VMunnu that at the time of its composition the remains of Munnu rested in the church of Taghmon.50 The records on the church of Taghmon are few in the Annals of Ulster, but plenty in the Annals of the Four Masters. The Annals of Ulster contain the date of Munnu’s death51 and the notices of two battles fought by the community of Taghmon with their neighbours, the community of Ferns and with raids of the Vikings in the first half of the ninth century.52 The battle recorded under the year 817 was – as suggested by Charles-Edwards – not a conflict between religious communities, but a struggle between different branches of the Uí Cennselaig.53 The battle of 828 is one of the earliest recorded armed conflicts with Vikings in south Leinster. The earliest Viking raid in that area is recorded under the year 82154 and attacks were frequent.55 The earliest Viking settlements in or around the lands of the Uí Bairrche and the Fotharta are recorded under the year 862 in Portláirge (Waterford) and under 892 in Loch Garman (Wexford).56 Yet in VMunnu there is no reflex of external danger from the part of strangers or

48 VMunnu, cc 9, 18, 20; however it seems that Aicheth Liacc mentioned in c. 9 is simply a mistake. It is a short chapter in which Munnu obtains the lands from a certain wealthy man, Enan mac Nisse, and founds a chapel there, called Achad Liacc. Chapter 18 contains the full name of Achad Liacc Echdromma, which is given to Munnu by Dímma mac Áeda Cróin in chapter 20. 49 VMunnu, c. 24. 50 VMunnu, c. 14: Ipse autem Dimma est qui postea Fintano obtulit locum in quo nunc est. 51 A.U.2 635.5; Chronicle of Ireland 635.6. 52A.U.2 817.5, 828.6 Chronicle of Ireland 817.6, 828.6 53 Charles-Edwards, Chronicle of Ireland, i, p. 276, fn. 2. 54 Ann. Ros., Ann. Clon., A.F.M. 821; Chronicle of Ireland 821.6 (see fn. 2). 55 A.U.2 835.5, 839.10; A.F.M. 826.9, 834.8, 838.11, 866.12, 888.6, 910.2, 917.9, 919.18, 924.7. 56 A.F.M. 858.6, 888.6. P. F Wallace in ‘The archaeology of Ireland’s viking-age towns’ in N.H.I., i, pp 817-18 suggests that the settlements were founded rather at the beginning of the tenth century. Both places were excavated in late twentieth century and the remnants of the Viking buildings were discovered.

154 newcomers; the only conflicts which are reflected in the VMunnu are local and between purely Irish participants. Whether the hagiographer had to suffer in those troubled times (Etchingham suggests that the picture of this period presented in the annals might be seriously unrepresentative)57, it is not possible to say. There is no ‘sense of external threat’, which, according to Herbert,58 should be expected to prevail had a text been written in direct and constant proximity of the Viking rage. But a question comes to mind: why would the hagiographer decide to write about his troublesome neighbours in an opus dedicated to the saint who lived a few centuries earlier? The Annals of Four Masters provide an incomplete list of abbots of the monastery of Taghmon: starting with Osseni (d. 685), then Ciarán (777), Crundmáel (817), Láisren (854), Fiachra (859), Dúngal (885), Diarmaid (886), Cochlán (889), Soíchlechán (925) and the last, Dúnlang (953).59 The lacuna of almost one hundred years between the first and the second recorded abbot of Taghmon may have been caused by a temporary decline in the importance of Munnu’s monastery in the eighth century, but it may also have been omitted by any reason at some point of redaction. Nevertheless, it is apparent that the church of Taghmon endured and preserved some (at least local) importance during the seventh to the early tenth centuries. After 953 there are no references to the monastery of Taghmon until the second half of the eleventh century, when, according to the Annals of Inisfallen, Domnall, king of Dési died in Taghmon.60

6. 4. Munnu, kings and the ‘prince’

Dímma mac Áeda Cróin plays an important role in VMunnu. The saint met him immediately after having arrived in Leinster, even before settling in Áird Crema.61 The land in and around Achad Liacc Echdromma (Taghmon) was both indicated by angels and lawfully granted to Munnu’s community by

57 C. Etchingham, Viking raids in Irish church settlements in the ninth century (Maynooth, 1996), p. 21. 58 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, p. 33. 59 A.F.M. 685.4, 777.7, 817.5, 854.6, 859.2, 885.12, 886.7, 889.2, 925.4, 953.3. 60 Ann. Inisf. 1060.5. 61 VMunnu, c. 14.

155 Dímma.62 Munnu, in return, gave Dímma a promise of long life on earth, burial amongst Munnu’s monks and a guarantee of salvation. The saint also later became a teacher of one of Dímma’s sons, Cillíne. Another of Dímma’s sons, Cellach, is described in VMunnu as being educated in another south-Leinster monastery of St Cúan.63 All three of them, Dímma mac Áeda Cróin and his two sons, are widely mentioned in VMunnu. There is, however, some confusion in VMunnu (S¹). There are two Dímmas: the princeps of the Fotharta, Dímma mac Áeda Cróin, who granted land to Munnu, and Dímma Camchoss, the rex of Fotharta, whose son Munnu was fostering and teaching. The S² and D Lives consistently depict only one Dímma, and correctly, because Dímma mac Áeda Cróin and Dímma Camchoss were - according to the genealogies – the same king of Fotharta.64 This time it seems evident that the S¹ Life must have been altered at some point before it was passed to the redactors of S, because the confusion as such, that is creating two separate characters out of the original one, hardly can be explained by the existence of corruptions in Φ. Perhaps, at some stage of redaction, the text was altered by a copyist who did not know that Dímma mac Áeda Cróin and Dímma Camchoss were one and the same person, and decided to ‘correct’ this section of VMunnu. Nevertheless, the S² and D versions, consistent about Dímma’s identification, again show probably the more original information than that extant in the S¹ Life. VMunnu contains a long and picturesque description of two sons of Dímma being educated; Cillíne in Munnu’s monastery in Taghmon, and Cellach in Cúan’s monastery in Airbre.65 When Dímma and his nobles went to both monasteries to check the doings of the king’s sons, they found Cellach well taken care of, in rich robes and armour.66 Cillíne, however was dressed in poor, shabby

62 VMunnu, cc 18-20. 63 VMunnu, c. 24; St Cúan is commemorated in Félire Oengusso in the main, early ninth-century text under 10 July, and a later marginal gloss provides information: ‘Cúan, i.e. of Maethail Broccáin in Dési of Munster’ (the Déisi Muman were the western neighbours of the Uí Bairrche Tíre; see Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, pp 181-3; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 532). 64 O’Brien, Corpus Geneal. Hib., 126a3. See Charles-Edwards, Early Christian ireland, pp 116- 18 (he does not discuss the confusion in the S Life, but acknowledges that two Dímmas were the same person). 65 VMunnu, c. 24. 66 (...) et ibi viderunt Chellachum, filium Dimma, in cuculo iacintino, cum sagittis porporeis, habens in humeris suis ceraculum cum capitibus ereis, et in pedibus suis habebat ficones ornatos

156 clothes; he wore no armour and he sang psalms whilst attached to a yoke of a cart. The nobles were displeased and complained that the manner of fostering the royal sons reveals the extent of love and loyalty given to the king; but the king knew better and warned the nobles to choose their words carefully, because Munnu was capable of hearing things from the distance (which was apparently one of his well-known attributes67). The saint indeed heard the words of the nobles and sent an envoy to let them know the prophecy that

‘(...) “the dear son, who is in Airbre, shall not possess earth or heaven, and all the people of Leinster shall slaughter him. But the son, who is being raised here, will be the lord of the church and the wise scribe, and the bishop, and the anchorite, and he shall possess the kingdom of God.” And this was fulfilled.’

The fulfilment of this prophecy is then described: Cellach, son of Dímma, killed Áed Sláne,68 son of Crundmáel, king of Leinster.69 Crundmáel attacked the Fotharta in revenge, besieged Dímma Camchoss, killed his son Cellach (here the prophecy is fulfilled) and enslaved Dímma mac Áeda Cróin – which is obviously a misunderstanding, as argued above. In the S² and D Lives Dímma mac Áeda Cróin (Camchoss), having freed himself, attacked Crundmáel again and got enslaved. Perhaps here lies the reason for the mutilation of the S¹ text: Dímma is depicted in one chapter as rescued twice from the same king and each time with miraculous help obtained from Munnu. Perhaps, at some stage, a scribe or redactor assumed that one and the same person could not be described as having been caught twice in a row, in the same chapter. Yet, the testimony of the genealogies and the other versions of the Life makes it clear that there was only one Dímma in the original version.

de partico et ere. (Charles Edwards in Early Christian Ireland, p. 116, provides a translation of this fragment). 67 Munnu is described as hearing from the distance in VMunnu, cc 8, 24, 25, 29, 33. 68 Not the Áed Sláne son of Diarmait, the ancestor of the Síl nÁeda Sláne branch of the Uí Néill (for him see A.U.2 598.5, 604.2). 69 Crundmáel mac Áeda, by the later pro-Uí Dúnlainge redactors of the annals named Bolg Luatha (‘the Sack of Ashes’), besieged and dethroned in 628. See A.U.2 628.1; Chronicle of Ireland 628.1 (see fn. 2).

157 On the first instance Dímma got himself out of the besieged place wearing a shirt, which had been given to him by Munnu that made him invisible. For the second time Munnu had to go to king Crundmáel and negotiate the release of the prisoner. Crundmáel, amazed by the power of the saint, who managed to immobilise the servants sent to kill Dímma, agreed to offer the prisoner, ‘with his entire heritage and all his people in eternity’, to Munnu. It is apparent that one of the aims of Munnu’s hagiographer was to underline the association of the church of Taghmon with the Fotharta kings. The church of Taghmon is at the centre of the author’s interests: the saint is depicted to have stayed there for about a half of the length of the Life. The hagiographer most probably wrote the Life in the monastery of Taghmon. Hence, it is probable that at the time of VMunnu’s composition the church and the lands of Taghmon were still under the authority and the protection of the kings of Fotharta. While Munnu was still in charge of Áird Crema, Guaire mac Éogain attacked people in the neighbourhood of the church of Munnu and carried off their cattle.70 Munnu intervened and sent envoys to Guaire. The saint ordered the envoys to speak to the king gently and to promise him that he and his descendants would hold authority over Leinster until the Day of Doom. Yet the saint foresaw immediately that Guaire would be hard-hearted and would not agree to let the cattle be returned to their previous owners. Therefore, Munnu put a curse on the king that he would be slaughtered soon, and everything happened as Munnu predicted: Guaire’s head was cut off five days later. It is difficult to define whether the hagiographer believed Guaire to have been king of the Uí Cennselaig, or just aspiring to that office. Guaire mac Eógain does not appear in any of the regnal lists or genealogies; in VMunnu, however, he is described as ‘wishing to claim the kingship of Leinster’ and Munnu offered him the opportunity that his gens ‘would hold the kingdom of the Uí Cennselaig until the Day of the Doom’, but the hagiographer did not assign Guaire directly to any of the dynasties. It is not entirely clear whether or not the author meant to differentiate the kingship of Leinster and the kingship of the Uí Cennselaig. Nevertheless, it is apparent that Guaire was not meant to be described as the king. In the S² and D Lives Guaire is ‘seeking the kingship of the Uí Cennselaig’;

70 VMunnu, c. 16.

158 thus it seems most probable that he was believed to be of the Uí Cennselaig dynasty of which kingship he was trying to claim – but he did not succeed, as Munnu’s hagiographer described, for he died five days after rejecting the offer of the saint.71 Before Munnu moved permanently to his foundation in Taghmon, the first Leinster-based section of VMunnu depicts the saint amongst the Uí Bairrche. He served there as a replacement for Áed Gopan, princeps of Áird Crema,72 accepting the ecclesiastical community settled there under his authority. The role in which Munnu is depicted when staying in Áird Crema does not shed any light on the role which Áed Gopan had held as princeps. In VMunnu it is only said that the saint provided the place with flourishing harvests and protected its people from neighbouring raids – but nothing about spiritual guidance or other, more precisely described abbatial duties. It is not possible to define whether the range of authority and duties of Munnu was similar to that held by Áed Gopan or not. Munnu’s hagiographer did not indicate whether Áed Gopan was a secular person or an ecclesiastic, although he described him as a student of St Comgall.

‘(...) and he was there close to the sea in a place which is called Áird Crema, in the [land of] Uí Bairrche. And in this place there was a familia of St Comgall, abbot of Bangor, and Comgall’s student of a name Áed Gopan, was the princeps of that place.’73

Based on this chapter alone, it is not possible to identify who exactly Áed Gopan was, what was his relation to the Uí Bairrche, where he was originally from and what was the character of his authority over the place – secular or ecclesiastical. Therefore, we need to consult other sources in a search for other occurrences of the word princeps which describes Áed’s function in VMunnu. Picard states that the word princeps had mainly a secular connotation in the

71 Lisa Bitel listed this chapter of VMunnu amongst the examples that she provided of angry saints and the power of their curses (‘Saints and angry neighbours’, pp 129-30); she also provided the translation of the chapter. 72 VMunnu, c. 15. 73 This crucial information about the extension of the paruchia of Bangor in Leinster is discussed below in the chapter.

159 annalistic entries, in which it appears frequently between 800 and 940.74 However, there are at least several occurrences referring the meaning of the word to ecclesiastical authorities.75 The use of the term princeps and principatus in the terms of ecclesiastical authority is confirmed as early as the end of the seventh and in the eighth centuries, attested in Muirchú’s Vita Patricii,76 Tírechán’s Collectanea,77 Vita I Brigitae,78 VCainnechi79 and frequently used in the early eighth-century Collectio Canonum Hiberniensis.80 It is possible that Munnu’s hagiographer was familiar with the use of the word princeps in its meaning of ‘a head of a church’, and most probable that he knew at least one of the abovementioned sources, as VMunnu contains Patrician motifs: an angel visiting Munnu on a regular basis,81 and in the story of the conflict between St Molaisse and Munnu, in which the latter proposed the very same trials as were described in Muirchú’s Vita Patricii, when St Patrick contested with the druid, Lucet Máel.82 Thus, the occurrence of the word princeps in VMunnu that is well attested in the early medieval ecclesiastical writings and from the beginning of the tenth century is replaced by a native word airchinnech,83 seems to be an early feature, belonging to the eighth or the ninth century at latest.

74 The first occurrence is in 682 (A.U.2 682.3; Chronicle of Ireland 682.3), but the frequent use of the word is a ninth-century feature; for the detailed discussion of the use of this term in many sources see J.-M. Picard, ‘Princeps and principatus in the early Irish church: a reassessment’ in A. P. Smyth (ed.), Seanchas: studies in early and medieval Irish archaeology, history and literature in honour of Francis J. Byrne (Dublin, 2000), pp 146-60. 75 E.g. A.U.2 826.11, 872.1, 879.3; Chronicle of Ireland 826.11, 872.1, 879.2; for more detail see Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 50-9, 85-6, 92-4. 76 Muirchú, Vita Patricii, i, c. 6(1). 77 Tírechán, Collectanea, c. 29.1. 78 Vita I Brigitae, c. 118. 79 VCainnechi, c. 47. 80 H. Wasserschleben (ed.), Die irische Kannonensammlung (Leipzig, 1885), cc 37.18-20, 41.3, 41.5 and many others (Picard lists 101 occurrences of princeps or principatus); for the discussion of its dating see Kenney, Sources, pp 247-50; D. Ó Cróinín, ‘Hiberno-Latin literature to 1169’ in N.H.I., i, 391-3. 81 Vita Patricii, ii, c.15. 82 VMunnu, c. 30; Muirchú, Vita Patricii, i, c. 20(19). 83 Picard, ‘Princeps and principatus, p. 156.

160 6. 5. Munnu’s faults and other saints

The fact that Munnu’s hagiographer associated him with the Uí Bairrche and the Fotharta84 may shed some light on the issue of a correlation between Munnu (otherwise Fintan) and St Fintan of Clonenagh, another saint for whom a Life is contained in the O’Donohue group. It is some time since Ó Riain wrote his first article on the possibility of cults of different saints having had common origins.85 Ó Riain’s goal was to demonstrate that the names of Irish saints shared their origins; yet in the case of the Lives of St Fintan of Clonenagh and St Munnu of Taghmon no special effort is required; those two saints shared the same name. What else might they have shared? In S¹ Munnu appears only under the name of Fintan, and the redactors of D and S² consistently use the name of Munnu, a hypocoristic form of the name ‘Fintan’. St Fintan of Clonenagh remains Fintan in all sources. Their Lives do not a lot in common, nor do the saints appear in each other’s Lives. Nonetheless, there are some resemblances which should not be overlooked. The pedigrees given in the Lives of two Fintans are entirely different and there is no justification for speculation about common origins: Munnu’s hagiographer described his origins as of the Cenél Conaill; Fintan of Clonenagh, according to his Life, was the descendant of the Fotharta.86 The main foundations, Taghmon and Clonenagh, although both located in Leinster, are quite distant. St Comgall, who in his own Life is described as a pupil of Fintan of Clonenagh,87 in VMunnu is shown as Munnu’s teacher. But in both Lives the two Fintans are depicted as ascetically strict and rigorous. St Fintan’s rule over his monastery was so harsh that his monks were not allowed to drink milk at all;88 the monks of St Munnu drank water with a little milk added.89 Fintan was visited by St Cainnech, who asked him to ease the extreme severity in his monastery.90

84 VMunnu, cc 14, 15, 20; see above. 85 P. Ó Riain, ‘Towards a methodology in Early Irish hagiography’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), pp 46-59. 86 VFintani, c. 1; the saint is described there as the descendant of the Dál nEchdach, gens of the Fotharta; see Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 131. 87 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib. ii, Vita Comgalli, cc 3-4, 9-11. 88 VFintani, c. 4. 89 VMunnu, c. 22. 90 VFintani, c. 5.

161 Munnu was reproached by an angel for his harshness towards his monks.91 However, the most interesting similarity is in two stories about releasing captives, each of them with similar geopolitical realities. Munnu, as mentioned above, miraculously freed Dímma, son of Áed Crón of the Fotharta, from the hands of Crundmáel, king of the Uí Cennselaig. Fintan in his Life is described releasing ‘a certain noble man called Cormac son of Diarmait’ of the Uí Bairrche, from the hands of the cruel king, Colum mac Cormaic of the Uí Cennselaig.92 Therefore, we have two saints of the same name, each of them performing a miracle of release, each of them against the king of the Uí Cennselaig, and trying to rescue a man of (VFintani) the Uí Bairrche or a man of (VMunnu) the Fotharta (and whichever branch of the Leinster Fotharta we would consider, it is usually going to be in proximity to the Uí Bairrche93). In these two Lives, which are generally so different, there are three striking similarities: the names of the saints, the stress on the severity of the rule in their monasteries, and the geopolitical circumstances of the release miracle (which by itself is quite popular in Irish hagiography in general and its occurrence in any given Life would not be surprising). If there were indeed – as Ó Riain insists – some cults which split in many directions, creating new saintly personages in human imagination, that would be most likely the case of St Fintan/Munnu. Having said that, I must stress that I do not mean that Fintan and Munnu must necessarily have been one person originally. There may have been two (or more) persons, whose lives became the bases of the legend developed later. Their followers, monks, successors and hagiographers might have confused, blend or altered the stories, which at the end would be additionally re- edited and re-interpreted by their copyists. It is clearly visible that those two Lives bear the marks of one legend; but the persons described in them are depicted in different ways; and one of those differences hides behind one of the similarities: Fintan of Clonenagh, with all his severity and strictness, remains still the image of a perfect saint, a human being living a perfect life of a saint according to the will of God. Munnu, however, is imperfect.

91 VMunnu, c. 28; see below. 92 VFintani, c. 20. 93 Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 131.

162 VMunnu has a feature that is not very common in the hagiographical genre: the author’s criticism towards the saint. Plummer wrote:

‘(...) we get an impression of Munnu as a real man, and not merely a peg to hang miracles on; a man of somewhat harsh and hasty temper, but placable and conciliatory when the momentary irritation was over.’94

This criticism is not particularly strong, it is not at all hostile, yet Munnu is not such an irreproachable and immaculate character as saints in their Lives are usually described. Munnu is said to have been violent, described as vengeful and harsh, unpleasant to his guests and pitiless towards the poor.95 VMunnu is in some part a story of hubris and divine punishment for such behaviour. It is not that VMunnu was written entirely against the rules of the hagiographical genre. Munnu is depicted as a real saint: he raises the dead96 and talks with angels,97 he sees through hearts and minds of people98 and fights demons.99 Yet the author of the Life, alongside praising the saint’s greatness and divine power, also recalls the faults and sins of Munnu, and the punishment inflicted by God upon him. He recalls them with no overt criticism, but also without restraint. The first sign of Munnu’s violent character is to be seen in chapter 7, where his meeting with Baithéne takes place in Iona. Munnu travelled there to ask for permission to become a monk under the authority of St Columba. Columba, as the author of VMunnu described, had died shortly before Munnu’s arrival, but prophesised it before his death, saying:

‘After my death a certain man, white and of curly hair and of rosy cheeks, will come from Ireland, Fintan, son of Tulchan, whom I more often saw in heaven than on the earth. He shall come here to become a monk, but

94 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, lxxxv-vi. 95 VMunnu, cc 7, 13, 17, 24, 28, 34 (see below). 96 VMunnu, cc 11, 12. 97 VMunnu, cc 19, 28. 98 VMunnu, cc 24, 33. 99 VMunnu, c. 35.

163 you shall not receive him. And it will be no good to him, for the nature of that man is violent (natura aspera).’100

The word aspera may mean ‘violent’, ‘harsh’, ‘cruel’, ‘rude’ or ‘bitter’. Whichever translation is used, it does not show Munnu in a good light. The same story appears in the Life of Columba by Adomnán,101 but in that instance no word of criticism is used to describe Munnu’s behaviour. In Vita Columbae Munnu is humble and grateful for the prophecy given. The same word (asperus) is used for the second time in chapter 34 of VMunnu. The hagiographer praises Munnu’s habit of repenting for his bad manners towards guests: ‘when he [Munnu] welcomed a certain guest with a word harsh (verbo aspero) and hasty, he never ate a meal before that guest had been gently calmed.’ Munnu’s bad temper is not here purposely criticised, but it is only a background for highlighting his saintly humble ways of dealing with his dark, human side: ‘In the last hour I was corporally the son of Tulchan, but now I am spiritually the son of God’, said Munnu himself about his behaviour.102 Munnu appears also as a vengeful character. Twice he is described as being expelled from church sites; first from an unnamed church in the region of Éile by six of God’s maid servants (ancillae Dei),103 then from Áird Crema, where Munnu temporarily was a replacement for Áed Gopan, the princeps of the church in Uí Bairrche territory. On the first occurrence he refuses to give a blessing to a female community replacing his own; on the second, he actually puts a curse on the place. In chapter 27 another controversial deed of Munnu is described: he was asked by his magister hospitum104 to heal a woman of the disease. ‘Do you want to make me an exorcist of the women of Leinster?’ answered Munnu and he did not want to give his blessing to the sick woman. It is not entirely clear what was his objection to providing his saintly services to the people (women) of Leinster. The D version of the text gives more details; according to this text, Munnu refused to cure the woman’s disease, because he was afraid of ‘being stained by common people’ (timens se inquinari vulgo

100 VMunnu, c. 7. 101 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, i, c. 2. 102 VMunnu, c. 34. 103 VMunnu, c. 13. 104 An officer who in a monastery had charge of the hospice or guest-house; see Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, cxviii.

164 plebis).105 Was this phrase added at a later stage of redaction of D? Or was it in the original text and omitted at some point of redaction of S? It is impossible to say. Nevertheless, such a refusal without giving any reason does not seem to have been a common saintly behaviour. The hagiographer was not especially focused on presenting Munnu’s faults; however, he did present a story of Munnu’s punishment as one of the core episodes of the Life. Munnu is depicted to have been visited by an angel every Sunday and Thursday. Once it occurred, however, that the angel did not appear on a certain Thursday. Munnu asked for an explanation for this absence during the next visit, and the angel answered him, that it was caused by the death of St Lugaid and the celebrations on the occasion of his coming to heaven. Munnu, understanding that St Lugaid and his achievements had been acknowledged as more significant than his own, demanded that the angel provide a reason for such an evaluation; and the angel responded:

Quia facies alicuius hominis ante Lugidum non erubuit, et non pauciores erunt monachi ipsius in celo quam tui monachi. Tu vero monachos tuos cum rubore corripis. (‘It is because no man’s face has blushed in the presence of Lugaid, yet his monks shall not be lesser in heaven than yours. But you reproach your monks in a foul manner.’)106

VLugidi, one of the texts from the O’Donohue group, contains the very same story in its final chapter; furthermore, this particular fragment is almost identical with the one quoted above:

Quia facies hominis ante Lugidum non erubuit, et cum lenitate monachos suos corripuit; tu vero cum asperitate corripis monachos tuos. (‘It is because no man’s face has blushed in the presence of Lugidus, and with gentleness did he reproach his monks; but you reproach your monks with severity.’)107

105 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Munnu, c. 24. 106 VMunnu, c. 28. 107 VLugidi, c. 69.

165 From these two fragments it appears clear that a direct borrowing most probably took place. The correlation of these two Lives will be discussed below. For now it is important to note that the same contents in the two Lives have got different significance. The occurrence of such a passage in VLugidi is anything but surprising; but in VMunnu it is at least quite unusual. Saints are not very often rebuked by angels in their Lives. It occurs here and there,108 but Munnu’s punishment – leprosy - is the most severe of all. Munnu is the only Irish saint who was depicted as suffering from leprosy. It was the illness of the poor and rejected, and its occurrence in the medieval world of heavenly or earthly powers was rare.109 In all versions of his Life, St Munnu is presented as a leper. The abovementioned chapter of VLugidi is another source containing the information that Munnu was struck down with leprosy and suffered it until the end of his days. The third (and last) hagiographical source in which Munnu’s illness is mentioned is the Latin Life of Mochua of Timahoe (Tech Mochua). There have been no attempts to date this text. It comprises the story of the dialogue with the angel, Munnu’s punishment, and furthermore, the story of Mochúa miraculously healing him from leprosy after seven years.110 Thus, the same story was retold in a similar way in three Lives: VLugidi, VMunnu, and the Latin Life of Mochúa. VLugidi and VMunnu are both contained in the O’Donohue group. The story of Munnu’s punishment in the Life of Mochúa is so different in its style, vocabulary and provided details that one may assume that there was a considerable amount of editorial changes made in this text on its way from one text to another. However, the more important issue at this point is the relation of VMunnu to VLugidi. It seems more probable that the story of Munnu’s leprosy originated in VMunnu. In VLugidi, this story is given at the very end of the text, in the final chapter describing Lugaid’s death. It appears to be merely an addition to the list of the saint’s qualities. In VMunnu, however, the episode is placed in a more centred position (chapter 28 out of 35) and is definitely part of a wider

108 E.g. Adomnán, Vita Columbae, iii, c. 6; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Maedoc, c. 20; VCainnechi, c. 9. 109 S. N. Brody, The disease of the soul: leprosy in medieval literature (Ithaca, 1974), pp 15-17. 110 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Mochua, cc 5, 6. The information about St Mochúa healing Munnu’s leprosy is also given in Félire Oengusso, in the (probably) eleventh-century gloss under October 21, Munnu’s feast day.

166 representation of Munnu’s character, as depicted throughout his Life: a character hasty and harsh, too proud and humbly repenting for that pride. It seems obvious that it was the hagiographer of Lugaid, who borrowed this fragment; and quite probably he did that directly, as evidenced in the samples of both texts above, which contain a very close phrasing and vocabulary. Having acknowledged the fact that Lugaid’s hagiographer made a borrowing from VMunnu, one could logically suggest that VMunnu had been written earlier than VLugidi. The latter is not discussed in this thesis and the merely introductory research that I have undertaken on this text does not allow me to build a detailed argument regarding the date of its composition. However, it is still worth mentioning that it seems probable to me that VLugidi provides evidence for the process of establishing Bangor’s filiations in Leinster, confirmed in the annals at the beginning of the ninth century.111 St Comgall plays a crucial role in VLugidi: he appears in twenty five chapters out of sixty nine; the description of Lugaid’s childhood and adolescence under the protection of Comgall takes one third of the text of VLugidi, which is an unusual feature in Irish hagiography and may indicate that Lugaid’s youth had been described in such detail purposefully to underline the importance of St Comgall. Furthermore, one of the main foundations of Lugaid, the church of Drumsnat (modern Co. Monaghan), had been founded ‘with the blessing of St Comgall’.112 Comgall in his Life is associated with the Uí Dúnlainge from Leinster,113 who possibly were the patrons of Lugaid’s foundation in Clonfertmulloe.114 Therefore, there is considerable amount of evidence for VLugidi to have been written in the context of propagation of Comgall’s cult in Leinster at the end of the eighth or the beginning of the ninth century. However, the speculated date of VLugidi cannot be the basis for speculating about the date of VMunnu, as it creates a circular argument within the

111 Ann. Inisf. 811.2: ‘The foundation of Dísert Diarmata; [Diarmait], son of Aed Rón, king of Corcu Bascinn Diarmait’; see Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400 – 800’, p. 194. 112 VLugidi, c. 25 113 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Comgalli, c. 54. 114 VLugidi, cc 43, 51 show Lugaid’s hagiographer’s hostility towards Brandub mac Echach, a sixth-century king of Leinster of the Uí Cennselaig lineage that was rival to the Uí Dúnlainge; Clonfertmulloe was located in the territory of the Loígis, likely to have been under the Uí Dúnlainge influence between the seventh and the ninth century (see Byrne, Irish kings and high- kings, pp 131, 136-9).

167 O’Donohue group. Therefore, further research is required for VLugidi; if it proves to be plausibly datable, the ante quem date for VMunnu may be obtained.

6. 6. Leprosy and the Easter question

As mentioned above, the motif of Munnu’s leprosy is unique in Irish hagiography. How did it happen that Munnu became generally known as a leper? How did it happen that the author of his own Life showed the saint as a man of many faults? Why did the negative attribute grow so strong that in the Life of Mochua he is described being rebuked by an angel with the harsh words: tu quoque superbus es, et Dominus tuus vult ut humilieris?115 The answers to these questions may be hidden in the chapters presenting the story of the conflict over the Paschal controversy, between Munnu and St Molaisse, otherwise known as Laisrén:

‘Once upon a time, there was a great council of the peoples of Ireland in Mag Ailbe, amongst whom there was a great controversy during the whole year, between the new Easter and the old Easter. For Laisrén of Leighlin with his [people] were defending the new Easter and the new order, but the rest of the elders of Ireland praised the old Easter and the old order. Munnu did not arrive at this council immediately, and all the people were expecting him. For he was the head and the chief of those who defended the old Easter. Then Suibne, son of Donall, the king of the Uí Bairrche: “Why are you waiting for so long for this leprous clerk? Even if he comes, the Easter of Laisrén shall hold supremacy.” Laisrén said to him: “Be silent, for what you are saying, Munnu hears in the place he is, and you will receive a punishment from him.” ’ 116

Here is not the place to describe the history of the Paschal controversy in Ireland. It is enough to say that at the beginning of the seventh century the ecclesiastics of Ireland were divided between an older manner of counting the

115 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Mochua, c. 5. 116 VMunnu, c. 29.

168 date of Easter (counted in the 84-year Easter cycle), and a new computus. The new computus was perceived as recommended by papal authority; Cummian, author of the letter De controuersia paschali, speaks of an Irish mission that had been sent to Rome to enquire about the proper counting of the Easter dates, about the books that the delegates brought to Ireland and the miracles that had been wrought through them.117 Cummian was a strong advocate of the new computus; his elaborated letter, containing numerous references to the Old Testament, New Testament, decretals of Church councils, patristic writings and the Irish canons, was written circa 632 in response to the events of the synod in Mag Léne (circa 630), which is also referred to in the letter.118 In VMunnu the main spokesman for the new computus is St Molaisse. Molaisse, according to his Life, had travelled to Rome, although the description of the purpose of his journey, his doings in Rome and the holy items he brought back to Ireland does not contain allusions to the matter of the Easter question.119 The gathering of Munnu, Molaisse and the other ‘elders of Ireland’, described in VMunnu is known in Irish historiography as the synod of Mag Ailbe (in campis Ailbe, as the Life states), VMunnu is the only extant evidence for this event and it has been suggested that it took place approximately at the same time as the synod of Mag Léne.120 Each of these synods resulted in impasse; Cummian wrote that during the synod of Mag Léne the introduction of the Roman computus had been agreed, but later the agreement was broken. The synod of Mag Ailbe is described in VMunnu as equally ineffective:

‘And the next day Munnu said to Laisrén in front of all people: “Now it is time to let this gathering be finished, and let everybody go to their places. For that reason I am briefly telling Laisrén three things. Namely, let us put two of our books into the fire, the book of the old order, and the book of the new order, to let us see, which book will escape the fire. Or else: let two of our monks be locked in the house, and let the house be set on

117 M. Walsh, D. Ó Cróinín (ed. and trans.), Cummian’s letter ‘De controuersia paschali’ (Toronto, 1988), pp 111-211. 118 See M. Walsh, ‘Some remarks on Cummian’s Paschal letter and the Commentary on Mark ascribed to Cummian’ P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (ed.), Ireland and Christendom: the Bible and the missions (Stuttgart, 1987), pp 216-57. 119 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita Lasriani, c. 22. 120 K. Hughes, ‘The church in Irish society, 400 – 800’ in N.H.I., i, 325-6.

169 fire to let us see, who of those two shall be saved from the fire. Or let us together, Laisrén and I, go to the grave of a certain just monk for some time dead, and let us make him announce to us which Easter is celebrated in heaven this year.” Laisrén says to him: “I will not go to the trial against the creature of God,121 because for the greatness of your work/burden, if you told the mountains of Marge to change places with the plain of Ailbe, this [thing] God would cause for you.” Then Munnu says: “So everyone shall do what they believe and trust that it is just.” ’

In De controuersia paschali, Cummian mentioned a certain man, who singlehandedly destroyed the chance of accepting the new computus at the synod of Mag Léne. There is no way to prove that Munnu was present at that synod; however, such a suggestion has been made by the modern editors of De controuersia paschali.122 That is what Cummian wrote about his opponent:

‘Having gathered in Mag Léne, some in person others through representatives sent in their place, they enacted and said: “Our predecessors enjoined, through capable witnesses (...), that we should adopt humbly without doubt better and more valid proofs proffered by the font of our baptism and our wisdom and by the successors of the Lord’s Apostles.” Then they arose in unison and after this, as is our custom, they performed a prayer, that they would celebrate Easter with the Universal Church the next year. But a short time afterwards a certain whited-wall arose, pretending to preserve the tradition of our elders, who did not unite either part but divided them and partly made void what was promised. I hope the Lord shall strike him down in whatever way he wills. Then it seemed proper to our elders, according to the command, that if

121 Contra brutum Dei is a curious phrase of which intended meaning I am not certain; if we assume that brutum is a noun (brutus, -i), the phrase means ‘against the beast/animal/creature of God’. However, if brutum is an adjective (brutus, -a, -um), the possible translation would be ‘against the unwieldy/irrational/brutish [saint] of God’. I have not come across such a phrase in any other sources. 122 Walsh, Ó Cróinín, Cummian’s letter, pp 90-4; it is suggested there that paries dealtabus, ‘the whited-wall’ that disturbed the agreement of the synod is a reference to St Munnu. Fourty years earlier Nora Chadwick (‘Early culture and learning in North ’ in N. K. Chadwick (ed.), Studies in the early British Church (Hamden, 1958), p. 52) also expressed a supposition that paries dealtabus might be a reference to Munnu; she pondered the possibility that paries may mean ‘a barrier’ that had been raised at the synod of Mag Ailbe (hence dealbatus, ‘from Ailbe’).

170 disagreement arises between one side and another, and judgement vary between leper and non-leper, they should go to the place which the Lord has chosen; and that “if the matters are major”, according to the synodical decree, “they should be referred to the chief of cities”.’

Cummian described the clearly unwanted result of the synod of Mag Léne: that the new computus remained optional. He used quite harsh words to describe the anonymous disturber of the Easter synodical agreement. The underlined quotation Cummian borrowed from the Bible, specifically from Deuteronomy 17:8, where God instructs the Jews that in the cases when they have difficult conflicts and complex matters to solve, they should go to the temple to submit themselves to the judgement of the Levites, the priests of Yahweh. The English Standard Version translates the original text as:

‘If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns which is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God will choose (...)’

Vulgate apparently misreads the original text:

Si difficile et ambiguum apud te iudicium esse perspexeris inter sanguinem et sanguinem causam et causam lepram et non lepram et iudicum intra portas tuas videris verba variari surge et ascende ad locum quem elegerit Dominus Deus tuus (...)

As we can see, the reading of Vulgate is misleading. The original text says nothing about decisions being made between lepers and non-lepers. I do not have sufficient knowledge to analyse the path of semantic changes between various translations and editions of the biblical texts. I assume that at some point the original meaning (‘assault’) was lost and replaced by that of Vulgate (‘desease’). Yet, churchmen in the early Middle Ages were not aware of numerous variant readings in Vulgate.

171 Thus, the sources preserve information about two synods about which it has been suggested that they took place more or less at the same time. At one of the synods (Mag Ailbe) the advocate of the 84-year Easter cycle is Munnu the leper; at the other (Mag Léne) – a certain man, paries dealbatus (‘whited-wall’), against whom Cummian casts a curse and, subsequently, quotes the passage from the Bible about conflicts between lepers and non-lepers. Can these occurrences be more than just a coincidence? Assuming that Munnu was a known advocate of the old Easter cycle (as evidenced in all his Lives); assuming that the letter of Cummian reached some wider audience amongst clergy in the south of Ireland, one can venture a guess that originally Munnu might not have been (was not believed to be) a leper, but it became his attribute because of the circulation of the letter of Cummian, as well as Munnu’s reputation as a defender of the old Easter, and both these faults were introduced to the written tradition of the cult of Munnu. Thus, there is a possibility that the leprosy and bad manners of Munnu described in his Lives originated in his fame as a hardened Easter conservative.

6. 7. Summary

There are premises justifying the claim that VMunnu might have been subjected to a certain amount of redactions; although in all the cases we cannot see any trace of interpolations, only omissions, therefore it may also be assumed that the omissions that we can see in the text of VMunnu might have been a result of some physical damages inflicted on the original manuscript from which the collectors of S copied VMunnu. However, Munnu’s cult is attested in the early medieval sources: Vita Columbae and Félire Oengusso; Munnu’s Life, however, provides us with all but precise indications as to its dating. The curious profession of Munnu’s father, who in later sources is described as a druid (the gloss in Félire and the Irish Life of Columba where the profession is assigned to Munnu himself), does not feature in VMunnu, but its absence may provide a tentative terminus ante quem dated only to the eleventh century. Munnu’s hagiographer mentioned a number of place names that are evidently early: Cell Mór Díthraib and Daiminis, and the saint’s main foundation, Taghmon, all featuring quite abundantly and almost exclusively in the seventh-and eighth-

172 century sources. This factor may act in favour of the early date hypothesis, but not while standing alone. The main possible dating feature must remain unresolved for the time being. An evident borrowing from VMunnu that the hagiographer of St Lugaid introduced to his work suggests that VMunnu must have been written earlier than VLugidi. A detailed analysis of the latter may still provide more answers.

173 CHAPTER 7: VITA SANCTI COLMANI

7. 1. Colmán’s origins

The name Colmán is undoubtedly one of the most frequent in many kinds of medieval sources. Corpus genealogiarum sanctorum Hiberniae contains a list of over two hundred Colmáns,1 while Félire Oengusso contains twenty eight entries on Colmáns (although they refer to a smaller number of persons, probably 23 to 26).2 This multiplicity of SS Colmáns made Ó Riain assume that many of those never existed as individuals, and that the frequency of this name’s appearances actually reflects a diffusion of one or a few cults across medieval Ireland.3 It is, of course, possible, although Ó Riain did not acknowledge it, that sometimes the process may have been the reverse. It has been suggested by Ingrid Sperber that the S Life of St Colmán of Elo might be evidence of two cults having merged into one.4 Although I partially agree that that may have been the case, she has not exhausted the subject and her arguments will be evaluated further. Sperber’s article is not an in-depth study of Colmán’s Life, but only a discussion of a possible merging of the cults of two Colmáns.5 Thus, it is important that we first explore the dossier of St Colmán Elo. There are three Lives of Colmán Elo: two in Latin and one in Irish. The Irish Life is a collection of miracles, of which only two can be found in the Latin Lives.6 Colmán is ‘of the race of Eremon’,7 and there are only two named individuals that are also mentioned in Colmán’s Latin Lives, in episodes which are only remotely related to those in the Latin versions.8 Substantial fragments

1 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 707.94-321. 2 Fél. Oeng., pp 409-10. 3 P. Ó Riain, ‘Cainnech alias Colum Cille, patron of Ossory’ in P. de Brún, S. Ó Coileáin, P. Ó Riain (ed.), Folia Gadelica (Cork, 1983), pp 77-92. 4 Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, pp 1-13. 5 There is short, popularising article introducing the history of the monastery of Lynally (see R. Masterton, ‘St Colmán and the early medieval monastery of Lynally (c. 600-1100)’ in Offaly Heritage 1, 2003, pp 38-50). 6 VColmani, cc 36, 40. 7 ‘Eremon son of Míl of Spain’ – one of the race of Milesians, who, according to the texts of the mythological cycle, were the last people to invade Ireland. Eremon, as it is described in the eleventh-century Lebor Gabála Erenn, was the first king of the Milesians to rule over all Ireland from Tara. 8 Mochuda cc 36-39, Columba cc 19-23

174 of this Life are metrical. Neither its contents nor its form reflect any interdependence of the Irish text with the Latin Lives, and, therefore, it shall not be taken into further consideration here. The Latin Lives, by contrast, are closely related. There is one in S (named VColmani in this chapter) and the other in D. The latter is a later text, as scholars agree,9 and it seems to be an abbreviation: out of 52 chapters in S, D preserves only 37.10 The order of the material is rearranged in D, but the contents remain almost exactly the same and the vocabulary is similar, although the redactor of D managed to eliminate stylistic clumsiness, which appears here and there in S.11 Thus, D seems to be a later and quite faithful redaction of S. According to the annalistic entries, Colmán died in 611.12 The date of his death does not appear in the S Life, but is mentioned in D: vi Kal. Octobris (26 September).13 This date is one out of three in Félire Oengusso; the other two are 22 January and 3 October.14 The 22 January entry raises certain doubts, as Colmán is called there maccu Beógna (‘descendant of Beógain’), not mac Beógna (‘son of Beógain’), and the later (eleventh-century?) gloss adds that that was Colmán of Lismore. It is not possible to claim with certainty which Colmán was originally meant.15 It may be presumed that the redactor/scribe of the early ninth-century text of Félire was thinking of Colmán Elo mac Beógnai, although the existence of the later gloss proves that at the time of adding it into the main text, 22 January was already associated with Colmán of Lismore (for the links between Colmán Elo and the church of Lismore, and the possible confusion, see below).

9 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, p lvii; Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints Lives, p. 301. 10 Fourteen chapters are excluded (S cc 10, 12-14, 18, 24-5, 28, 35, 37-40, 42) and two (S cc 51- 2) are joined in one (D 37). 11 E.g. c. 13: Hoc autem consilio accepto revertique disponens, Columba Kylle ampullam sibi oleo implevit (...) – it is St Colmán who accepts the advice and decides to return to Ireland, but here the grammatical forms would suggest that it was St Columba who does it. The improper use of participles is not an uncommon mistake in Latin hagiographical texts written in Ireland. The other relatively frequent stylistic misuses are omissions of personal pronouns, which often spoil meaning of sentences, also to be found in the VColmani, e.g. c. 39: Et iterum misit (Áedán) ut veniret (Colmán). 12 A.U.2 611.3, Ann. Tig. 609.3, Chron. Scot. 611; Chronicle of Ireland 611.3. 13 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Colmani, c. 37. 14 Fél. Oeng., 26 September, pp 196, 212-13; 3 October, pp 214, 220-1; 22 January, pp 36-7, 51. 15 Sperber (Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, p. 9) thinks that there is no doubt that it was meant to be Colmán mac Beógnai in the 22 January note of Félire. I would prefer to be more careful while making statements about any of the Colmáns, as there was obviously a lot of confusion about many of them and it is difficult to say which one of them and at which point were distinguished and how (see below).

175 Apart from double feasts, Colmán has also double origins. In both Latin Lives, Colmán is called ‘son of Beógain’.16 In VColmani the name of Colmán’s father is preserved in a form which Pádraig Ó Néill defined as even earlier than the early eighth century – ‘Beugne’.17 The genealogical entries preserved in the Book of Leinster and the Great Book of Lecan (twelfth and fourteenth/fifteenth centuries) give the same name for Colmán’s father, although in its later spelling.18 Adomnán’s Vita Columbae contains two chapters mentioning Colmán mac Beognai,19 but the heading of one of the chapters calls this saint ‘Colmán moccu Sailni’ (‘descendant of Sailne’). Also in the entry on Colmán’s death in the Annals of Tigernach, the saint is called ‘Colmán moccu Seilli.20 There are further complications. Colmán son of Beógain in his Latin Lives is associated with the Uí Néill,21 while the name ‘moccu Sailni’ may be a reflection of Colmán’s association with the Dál Sailni, a gens of no apparent importance, situated within the lands of modern Co. Antrim and having been a part of the Dál nAraide.22 Colmán’s association with Dál nAraide is further reflected in Rawlinson B 512, a fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century manuscript containing the ‘Alphabet of Piety’, a wisdom text ascribed to Colmán (see below). The text preserved in this manuscript starts with the words: incipiunt uerba Coeman filii Beognse Airidi (‘the words of Coeman (Colmán) son of Beógain of Araidi begin’).23 Therefore, there are traces of two different pedigrees of Colmán: one of the Uí Néill and the other of the Dál Sailni. This duality of Colmán Elo’s origins was one of the arguments used by Sperber in order to posit that a merging of two cults took place.

16 VColmani, c. 1; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, c. 1. 17 P. Ó Néill, ‘The date and authorship of Apgitir Chrábaid: some internal evidence’ in P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (eds), Ireland and Christendom: the Bible and the missions (Stuttgart, 1987), p. 215. No other forms of the name Beugne appear in the S Life. 18 Ó Riain, Corpus geneal. SS Hib., 311, 454, 662.184. 19 Adomnán, Vita Columbae, I, c. 15; II, c. 15. 20 Ann. Tig. 609.3; Chronicle of Ireland 611.3. 21 VColmani, c. 1; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, c. 1. 22 C. Doherty, ‘The cult of St Patrick and the politics of Armagh in the seventh century’, pp 89- 90; T. M. Charles-Edwards, ‘Érlam: the patron-saint of an Irish church’ in Local saints and local churches in the early medieval West, ed. A. Thacker, R. Sharpe (Oxford, 2002), pp 282-3. 23 Rawl. B 512, fol. 37a. Vernam Hull, one of the modern editors of the ‘Alphabet of Piety’, claims that Airidi should be read viri Dei, but I cannot see the reason for that (see V. Hull, Apgitir Chrábaid: the Alphabet of Piety’ in Celtica 8 (1968), p. 45.

176 Before proceeding to an exploration of Sperber’s ideas, and of multiplicities, confusions and correlations of many (in my opinion, more than two) Colmáns, let us see how Colmán Elo was described in VColmani.

7. 2. The man of learning

In VColmani, St Colmán is described as the son of Beógain of the Uí Néill, born in Glenn Oichle, which is probably modern Glenelly in Co. Tyrone.24 In the description of the saint’s birth there is an interesting detail of a way to bring relief to a woman giving birth: a dry piece of wood was fixed by a certain man into the ground and Colmán’s mother held it while struggling with pain. That piece of wood then blossomed and grew anew in spite of having been put into the ground upside down, with its roots on the top. Although the story of the dry pale blossoming is just a typical hagiographical ornament,25 purpose of which was to demonstrate that a saint had been elected by God while still in a mother’s womb, it is nevertheless interesting to find out how women may have given birth in medieval Ireland (sicut feminis mos est in tempore parturiendi) – that they could be out of doors and that men were not excluded from their company. Colmán as a boy was sent to a holy man, Cainnech Coemán, under whom he studied. Cainnech Coemán has been identified by Sperber as St Mac Nisse of Connor on the basis of the fact that this saint was also known as Coemán Brecc.26 Mac Nisse’s Life contains two episodes which may be related to the Lives of

24 VColmani, c. 1; Hogan, Onomasticon, pp 439, 444. Hogan mentioned two places, Glenn Oichle and Glenn Aichle, the first of them, found in VColmani, he assumed to have been near Lynally (which is most probably a mistake), and the latter, found in the Book of Leinster and the Great Book of Lecan, he identified correctly as Glenelly. Glenn Oichle from VColmani could not have been near Lynally, as the whole first part of the Life is clearly located in Ulster (see below). 25 Dorothy Ann Bray (A list of motifs, p. 101) lists two other miracles of a similar character: in the second Irish Life of Máedóc of Ferns and in the Irish Life of Senán (none of them dated, although both belong to the Middle Irish period); Plummer, Bethada náem nÉrenn, i, Betha Máedóc Ferna II, c. 4; Stokes, Book of Lismore, Betha Senáin, c. 1884. 26 Fél. Oeng., 3 September, pp 198-9; see Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, pp 3, 11. It would have been impossible for Mac Nisse to be the teacher of Colmán Elo chronologically, as Mac Nisse’s death is recorded under the years 507 and 514 (A.U.2 507.2, 514.2; Chronicle of Ireland 507.4, 508.3).

177 Colmán.27 Those episodes are important for understanding the relation between the churches of Lynally and Connor (see further below). In the two chapters describing Colmán’s education (cc 2 and 3) it is strongly underlined that the saint mastered thoroughly doctrina sacra et mores sanctos, scripturae sanctae ac (...) mores et excempla sanctorum (‘the holy doctrine and saintly habits, the Holy Scriptures and habits and examples of saints’). Furthermore, Colmán’s competency in Church teachings is mentioned in chapter 20 of VColmani: a certain student of asked an Irishman, Colmán Dub Cuilinn, who was in Rome at that time, where he should go and to whom he should bring a message about the death of Pope Gregory. Colmán Dub Cuilinn answered:

‘Go to Colmán Elo, to whom I would go if I had not taken an oath of pilgrimage. I say a testimony about him, that if there were at the same time the school of John the Evangelist and Apostle,28 and the school of St Colmán Elo, I would neither leave John for Colmán nor I would leave Colmán for John, for they would be equal to me.’

Allusions to Pope Gregory appear also in other early sources. Cummian in his letter De controuersia paschali, written circa 632, mentioned this pope with great respect, referring to him as ‘golden-mouthed’.29 The Book of Armagh, an early ninth-century manuscript, contains the Hanc igitur prayer that was ascribed to Pope Gregory.30 VLugidi, another Life in the O’Donohue group, contains the motif of Pope Gregory’s recusatio: Lugaid is described experiencing a vision of Gregory trying to refuse ascending to the papal throne.31 The same information about Gregory’s recusatio appears in the Martyrology of Tallaght. 32 Also in VLugidi Gregory is depicted blessing the rule that had been written by Lugaid and hearing a choir of angels praising Lugaid on the day of his death.33

27 Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Macnissei, cc 2 and 14. 28 See below, p. 180, fn. 46. 29 Walsh, Ó Cróinín, Cummian’s letter, pp 82-3. 30 Bieler. The Patrician texts, pp 51, 183, 238. 31 VLugidi, c. 47; an account of Gregory’s recusatio appears for the first time in the so called Whitby Life of Gregory (B. Colgrave (trans.), The earliest Life of Gregory the Great by an anonymous monk of Whitby (Cambridge, 1968)) written circa 713. 32 Mart. Tall. March 12: Grigorii papae Romae. Ostensio Petri Grigorio recusati principatum. 33 VLugidi, cc 64, 69.

178 Thus, the information contained in securely (Cummian’s letter, notulae in the Book of Armagh, Martyrology of Tallaght) and tentatively (VLugidi) dated early medieval sources provides evidence that Pope Gregory was a respected and known authority in the seventh- and eighth-century Ireland.34 In VColmani, Gregory’s authority is brought to confirm the greatness of Colmán’s learning. The laudatory statements about Colmán’s school additionally emphasise it. However, neither Lynally nor any other ecclesiastical sites associated with Colmán appear as famous educational centres. The Latin Lives do not reflect specifically educational functions of the monasteries associated with Colmán (there is just one episode describing St Colmán working as a scribe35). In both Colmán’s locations, an unidentified monasteriolum (‘little monastery’36), presumably in the north,37 and Lynally in the centre of Ireland, monks are occupied with regular daily activities like brewing beer,38 hewing trees39 and doing other types of physical work,40 collecting and giving away alms,41 singing psalms,42 but studying is not specifically underlined (there is one mention in passing of Colmán’s monks occupying themselves with reading,43 while the descriptions of hard physical work seem to have been considered more appropriate by the hagiographer44). The hagiographer was not focused on describing Colmán’s monasteries as important centres of studies, but Colmán himself as a well-known and competent teacher, and the ‘school’ mentioned in the quotation above may be rather understood as one of ‘teaching’. Colmán, therefore, was believed to be a man of learning.

34 For the discussion of the transmission of the texts related to Gregory see A. Thacker, ‘Memorializing Gregory the Great: the origin and transmission of a papal cult in the seventh an the early eighth centuries’ in Early Medieval Europe, 7/1 (1998), pp 59-84; for the knowledge of Gregory’s writing in early medieval Ireland see L. M. Davies, ‘The “mouth of gold”: Gregorian texts in the Collectio Canonum Hibernensis’ in P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (ed.), Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: texts and transmissions (Dublin, 2002), pp 249-67. 35 VColmani, c. 42. 36 Or, in fact, any other kind of small ecclesiastical settlement; see Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 95-9. 37 VColmani, c. 3. 38 VColmani, c. 18. 39 VColmani, c. 11. 40 VColmani, c. 21. 41 VColmani, cc 16, 22. 42 VColmani, cc 33, 47. 43 VColmani, c. 14. 44 VColmani, c. 21.

179 There is other evidence for this attribute of the saint. In Félire Oengusso, in its original, early ninth-century text, Colmán is depicted:

Colmán ó Laind Elo la hógi alt légend conid hé, án núallan, Iohain már macc nÉrenn. ‘Colmán from Land Elo, with perfection of high studies, so that he is – splendid cry – the great John of Erin’s sons.’45)

Here we have another parallel between Colmán and John; and although the author of Félire did not specify which John he meant, as it is in VColmani (‘John the Evangelist and Apostle’46), it may be assumed per analogiam that John from Félire was indeed meant as John the Evangelist and Apostle, because of the adjective ‘great’ (már), for there was no greater John in the Church than the Apostle,. Significantly, he was also known as John the Theologian,47 and this agnomen shows that he was also considered to have been a man of advanced learning. In St John’s Gospel its author called himself ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’, ‘the beloved disciple’,48 which gives another layer of understanding to the parallel between John and Colmán: that by the authors of VColmani and of Félire, Colmán also was considered to have been the favourite, beloved disciple of Christ. The appearance of the same analogy of John and Colmán in VColmani and in Félire Oengusso is also extremely important in the matter of dating VColmani, as it shows a similar perception of Colmán which does not appear in later texts (apart from the D Life of Colmán, which is strongly based on the S version).

45 Fél. Oeng. 26 Sept., pp 196-7. 46 In the middle ages it was believed – although not unanimously – that John the Evangelist and John the Apostle were the same person. Furthermore, John the author of the Book of Revelation and John the author of at least one of the Epistles of John in the New Testament were considered to have been that very same person, too. It is now quite widely debated that John the Evangelist and John the Apostle were two different characters, and the authorship of the Book of Revelation and the Epistles is still under discussion. See W. G. Kümmel, Introduction to the New Testament (London, 1966), pp 139-42. 47 Kümmel, Introduction to the New Testament, p. 140. 48 E.g. John 13:23, 19:26, 21:7, 21:20.

180 There is literary evidence of the fame of Colmán’s learning. Two compositions are ascribed to Colmán: Apgitir Chrábaid (‘Alphabet of Piety’) and the hymn, Audite omnes amantes (‘Hear ye all, lovers of God’). The ‘Alphabet of Piety’ is a text of Christian wisdom, an introduction to the Christian values and principles. It is ascribed to Colmán in all but one of the manuscripts, in which it is wholly or fragmentarily preserved.49 The text has been dated to the first half of the eighth century with a nucleus originating in the early seventh century,50which makes the authorship assigned to Colmán credible. Pádraig Ó Néill has widened arguments supporting it.51 He found Colmán’s wisdom and learning correspondent with the skills of the author of Apgitir Chrábaid. Furthermore, the ‘pacifism’ of Colmán underlined in VColmani (recruiting a man away from military to monastic life,52 preventing armed conflicts,53 confronting brigands54), Ó Néill described as an echo of the condemnation of fianna,55 bands of professional warriors, which condemnation is also to be found in Apgitir Chrábaid.56 However, the discussion of the date and authorship of Apgitir Chrábaid is not unanimous. In 1996 McCone has argued against such early date on the basis of the absence of certain early phonetic features.57 The earliest version of Audite omnes amantes is attested in the Antiphonary of Bangor that has been dated to 680-691.58 In the case of the authorship of the hymn (otherwise known as Hymnus Patricii and probably

49 Apgitir Chrábaid is preserved in a number of 15th- and 16th-century manuscripts. For the full list see the digital edition of the text on CELT: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G206003.html [05/01/2009]. This edition is based on Kuno Meyer’s in Z.C.P. 3 (1901), pp 447-55. There is also another edition together with the translation by Vernam Hull (‘Apgitir Chrábaid: The Alphabet of Piety’ in Celtica 8 (1968), pp 44-89). 50 V. Hull, ‘The date of Aipgitir Crábaid’ in Z.C.P. 25 (1956), pp 88-90; idem, ‘Abgitir chrábaidh: the Alphabet of Piety’ in Celtica 8 (1968), pp 44-89; see also J. Carey, King of mysteries: early Irish religious writings (Dublin, 2000), pp 231 ff., where the possible sixth- century symptoms of Apgitir Chrábaid are discussed. 51 P. Ó Néill, ‘The date and authorship of Apgitir Chrábaid: some internal evidence’ in P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (eds), Ireland and Christendom: the Bible and the missions (Stuttgart, 1987), pp 203-15. 52 VColmani, c. 5. 53 VColmani, c. 8. 54 VColmani, cc 17, 36. 55 See K. Meyer, Fianaigecht (Dublin, 1910), p. ix (quoted after Ó Néill, ‘The date and authorship of Apgitir Chrábaid, p. 215). 56 V. Hull (ed.), Apgitir Chrábaid in Celtica 8 (1968), c. 25, p. 73. 57 K. McCone, Towards a relative chronology of ancient and medieval Celtic sound change (Maynooth, 1996), pp 72-90. 58 F. E. Warren, The Antiphonary of Bangor, Henry Bradshaw Society, 10, 2 vols (London, 1893- 95), ii, 14-16; for the dating see M. Lapidge, ‘ and the Antiphonary of Bangor’ in Peritia, 4 (1985), pp 104-16.

181 mentioned as such in VColmani)59 there is much more doubt. It is a hymn of twenty four stanzas, each stanza beginning with a consecutive letter of the alphabet.60 Ludwig Bieler described it:

‘Each stanza consists of four lines in the most popular Roman metre, the versus quadratus (a line of fifteen syllables, with a pause after the eighth); the treatment of the verse – rythmical, with echoes of ancient prosody, especially at the end of the lines – is exactly what might be expected in non-classical poetry of St Patrick’s time.’61

From the early ninth century, Hymnus Patricii was attributed not to Colmán, but to St Secundinus (St Sechnaill), a saint reputedly more or less contemporary with St Patrick,62 and this attribution was accepted by historians up to the early 1960s. Bieler believed that the hymn had been written by an eye- witness of St Patrick’s activity. He claimed that ‘there is no valid reason for doubting the authorship of Secundinus’ and that St Patrick in this hymn had been ‘portrayed by someone who knew him well’.63 That view was criticised by James Carney,64 who pointed out that the hymn is closely related to the text of Patrick’s Confessio, so the author did not necessarily know Patrick himself, but he knew his writings. The fact that Patrick is spoken of as still alive does not prove anything regarding the date of composition of the hymn, and that it is very dubious that such a laudatory hymn could have been written in the time of the subject’s life. Carney claimed that the attribution of the hymn to St Secundinus was rather a later, eighth-century fabrication in favour of the church of Armagh and its primacy. Secundinus’s activity, states Carney, may have been chronologically earlier than that of St Patrick,65 and the attribution of the

59 VColmani, c. 33. 60 For abecedarian hymns see A. Orchard, ‘Audite omnes amantes: a hymn in Patrick’s praise’ in D. Dumville, Saint Patrick, A. D. 493 – 1993, pp 153-73. 61 L. Bieler, Life and legend of St Patrick (Dublin, 1949), p. 38. 62 Attribution of Hymnus Patricii to St Secundinus appears in Félire Oengusso under 27 November. 63 Bieler, Life and legend of St Patrick, p. 39. 64 J. Carney, The problem of St Patrick (Dublin, 1961), pp 40-4. 65 St Secundinus is described as one of the bishops sent to Ireland to help St Patrick (A.U.2 438.2, 439.1; Chronicle of Ireland 438.2, 439.2), and in the seventh-century Liber Angeli he is mentioned as one of the bishops confirming with their authority the ecclesiastical primacy of St Patrick over Ireland. Yet according to Carney’s argument, Secundinus was probably

182 Hymnus’s authorship had the purpose to deprecate Secundinus in favour of Patrick.66 Michael Curran supported Carney’s argument saying that the hymn is rooted in the native Irish tradition of eulogy and ‘its author is more likely to have been an Irishman than a foreign missionary’.67 Charles-Edwards argued that Hymnus Patricii, even if not to be attributed to Colmán, cannot be much later than his time, because it was most probably used as a model reference by the author of the Hymn of St Camelacus of Rahan (also to be found in the Antiphonary of Bangor).68 Colmán is also associated with the Hymnus Patricii, but the character of this association is not very clear. In the Book of Armagh (early ninth century) there is a marginal note, which identifies the hymn as Ymnus Colman Alo69 – and the most logical explanation is that the scribe who wrote this information attributed authorship of the Hymnus to Colmán. VColmani contains an episode in which Colmán and his monks sang Hymnus Patricii thrice and St Patrick himself appeared to Colmán in a vision.70 The same story is repeated in Vita Tripartita sancti Patricii.71 Carney’s and – subsequently – Curran’s arguments were that originally the hymn was attributed to Colmán, but when the need appeared to associate it with Secundinus, Colmán’s association with the Hymnus was reinterpreted as a special fondness for it, rather than as authorship. Yet, it is not the authorship of Hymnus Patricii which is crucial here. The key issue is that Colmán’s depiction as a man of great learning has reflexes in various early sources: Book of Armagh, Félire Oengusso, perhaps even Apgitir Chrábaid. The depiction of Colmán’s learning in VColmani corresponds well with how he was perceived in other pre-ninth century sources.

chronologically earlier than St Patrick and he was the first bishop of Armagh, while Patrick originally was not associated with this church (see Carney, The problem of St Patrick, pp 34-7). 66 For the overview of the whole discussion in favour or against the authorship of Secundinus see M. Curran, The Antiphonary of Bangor and the early Irish monastic liturgy (Dublin, 1984), pp 36-8. 67 Ibid., p. 37. 68 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 237. 69 Tírechán, Collectanea, 57 (1). 70 VColmani, c. 33. 71 Trip. Life, p. 333; for the discussion about the dating of Vita tripartita see chapter 2.3.

183

7. 3. Colmán the peace-maker

Another distinctive feature of Colmán as described in VColmani is his ‘pacifism’ (as it has been termed by Pádraig Ó Néill72). Colmán is described as a peace-maker and fervent adversary of armed conflicts. Miracles of immobilising attackers73 or confronting brigands74 are quite common in Irish hagiography. Yet in VColmani it is one of Colmán’s distinctive attributes: he turns a man away from the life of a soldier to the life of a monk;75 he prevents two local (unidentifiable) plebes from getting into armed conflict;76 he also rescues a thief from a capital punishment.77 The topos of a saint as a peace-maker is typical for many hagiographical texts – in VColmani it is just underlined a little more than usual by the frequency with which anti-violence miracles appear. One of those episodes contains a puzzling phrase, which needs to be briefly discussed. In chapter 30 Colmán is described as saving a life of a thief, who stole a flask used for sacred oils from Colmán’s church. The thief had been caught and forced to face a ‘synod of monasteries’ (synodus monasteriorum), where it was decided to put the wrong-doer to death. Colmán enquired what should be done to save the wretched man’s life, and was told that if the flask was returned, the thief would go free. Therefore, the saint threw himself on the ground and started to pray fervently, and before he finished his prayer, the flask appeared miraculously, having been brought from ‘distant lands in Munster’ from a certain cleric who had bought the flask from the thief. The phrase synodus monasteriorum, mentioned in passing, is actually one of the most interesting in this episode. What might that ‘synod of monasteries’ have been? There are relatively few references to synods in the sources, as noticed by David Dumville and Colmán Etchingham.78 Dumville is inclined to believe that a

72 Ó Néill, ‘The date and authorship of Apgitir Chrábaid, p. 213. 73 VColmani, c. 17; other examples of immobilising enemies: Bethu Brigte, c. 34, VAedi, c.42; VCainnechi, c. 7; VMunnu, c. 25. 74 VColmani, cc 17, 36; other examples of confronting brigands: VAedi, c. 26; VCainnechi, c. 33; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., ii, Vita sancti Comgalli, c. 53 and many others. 75 VColmani, c. 5. 76 VColmani, c. 8. 77 VColmani, c. 30. 78 Councils and synods of the Gaelic early and central Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1997), pp 28-9; Etchingham, Church Organisation, p. 206.

184 ‘synod’ dealt with ‘wholly ecclesiastical affairs’,79 especially in the seventh century, as opposed to a ‘council’, which was a different category of assembly, in which both ecclesiastical and secular legal traditions were applied. However, Dumville acknowledged that this distinction may not be useful. Responding to Dumville’s analysis, Etchingham found some evidence that contradicted his colleague’s views. He recalled references to synods in the vernacular laws, in some of which ‘implicit is the king’s duty to protect, facilitate and, perhaps, participate in synods’.80 He also recalled the procedures for proclaiming cánai, promulgatory ecclesiastical legislation, as examples of doubtless participation and support of secular authorities at ecclesiastical gatherings.81 Donnchadh Ó Corráin proposed a new understanding of the word synodus (OI senod),82 based on annalistic entries for the years 780 and 804,83 in which it is said that a congressio senodorum (‘gathering of the synods’) was held by the Uí Néill and people of Leinster, with a company of many ‘anchorites and scribes’ (780), or by the Uí Néill (804). In both cases, the heads of the gatherings seem to have been ecclesiastics, but – as Ó Corráin argues – it is hardly possible that the word senodorum refers to actual synods, as it would have been a highly unusual occurrence for many synods to gather. Instead, he suggests that senodorum (Nom. sing. senodus) should be understood not as a re-latinisation of Irish senod (originally Latin synodus), but as a Hiberno-Latin spelling of Latin senatores in the sense of ‘nobles, optimates’ .Etchingham specifies the meaning of the word as ‘those who make decrees at synod’, i.e. synodal legislators, but he also acknowledges the possibility that lay magnates might have had their part in those tasks, too.84 Charles-Edwards, however, suggested that the mixed gatherings were the case only when the cánai were being proclaimed, and separate (although concurrent) otherwise.85 Whether the synodus monasteriorum in VColmani was a mixed gathering, is difficult to say. Yet the information about Irish synods in general allows us to

79 Dumville, Councils and synods, p. 29. 80 C.I.H., 219.16-17 (in Etchingham, Church organisation in Ireland, pp 207-9.) 81 Etchingham, Church organisation, p.208; see also Charles-Edwards, ‘Early Irish law’ in N.H.I., i, 334; see above, chapter 3.5. 82 D. Ó Corráin, ‘Congressio senadorum’ in Peritia 10 (1996), p. 252. 83 A.U.2 780.12, 804.7; Chronicle of Ireland 780.12, 804.7. 84 Etchingham, Church organisation, p. 210. 85 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 280-1.

185 believe that this synodus monasteriorum was nothing but a gathering of elders of the local churches/monasteries, perhaps with the participation of the local secular authorities. Curiously, the D version of this episode does not contain any information about the synod; it only mentioned that the ‘warriors of those people amongst which Colmán lived’ (a militibus commitis illius plebis...)86 caught the wrong-doer and wished to punish him. Etchingham noticed that allusions to this type of gathering disappear from the sources at some time in the second half of the ninth century.87 Nevertheless, regardless of the presence (or lack of it) of secular nobles, such a legal body as this was entitled to impose punishments on offenders.88 The punishment which the members of the synod intended to impose on the thief of the flask was death. VColmani contains only the information that the thief was to be put to death. However, in the corresponding chapter in the D version we find that the thief was to be ‘crucified’ (ut crucifigeretur).89 As Kelly argued, the word crucifigere in an Irish context refers to hanging rather than nailing to a cross.90 Hanging seems to have been an exceptionally heavy punishment for stealing. Punishment was usually a two- to seven-fold indemnity for stolen goods.91 However, there are a few passages in sources, describing a punishment for this particular type of theft – the stealing of consecrated objects; the penalty for which was much heavier than just compensation. The first is in the Penitential of Cummean (written probably in the second half of the seventh century):92 ‘He who steals consecrated things shall do the penance as we have said above (i.e. restoring fourfold), but in confinement.’ Even more severe punishment is to be found in the ‘Three Irish Canons’ a short ecclesiastical law- text preserved in a tenth-century manuscript (the date of the text itself has not yet been investigated):93

86 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Colmani, c. 22. 87 Etchnigham, Church organisation, p. 210. He also states that it ‘would seem inherently unlikely that leading ecclesiastics ceased to confer in the tenth century’. 88 About the punishment in both secular and canon laws see Kelly, Early Irish law, pp 214-24. 89 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita Colmani, c. 22. 90 Kelly, Early Irish law, p. 217, fn. 18. For the example quoted by Kelly see Irish Canon IV, c. 1 in Bieler, (ed.), The Irish penitentials, Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, 5 (Dublin, 1963), pp 170-1. 91 Kelly, Early Irish law, pp 147-8. 92 Bieler, Irish penitentials, p. 6. 93 Ibid., pp 182-3; for the details of the MS see ibid., p. 15.

186

‘If anyone in any way breaks into the place of keeping of the chrismal of any saint, or a place of keeping for staves or cymbals, or takes away anything by robbery (...) he shall make seven-fold restitution and remain through five years in hard penance in exile abroad. (...) If anyone breaks into the place of keeping of a Gospel book or removes anything by robbery, he shall make sevenfold restitution (...), but he shall also remain through seven years in hard penance in exile.’

A third source, in which a similar crime is recorded, is the eighth-century Old Irish Penitential, where the same punishment (7 years of penance) is named for a crime of plundering an altar or a shrine, or stealing a Gospel-book.94 None of these sources, however, mention the capital punishment for the crime of theft. There is, however, mention of a similar crime for which the death penalty had been applied: in the 746 entry in the Annals of Ulster it is recalled that a violation of a sanctuary at Domnach Patraic had been committed and six cimbidi (‘persons in bonds’)95 were hanged (cruciati). Unfortunately, the details from chapter 30 of VColmani, however interesting, provide hardly any information regarding the date of composition of this Life. The description of the synod as the legal body entitled to impose the punishment on the caught wrong-doer does fit with the general picture of synodal functions and competencies as they are described in other sources up to the end of the ninth century, but it is not possible to claim with certainty that such a situation could not have happened in the later period. The similarity between the type of punishment that was about to be inflicted on the thief in VColmani and the punishment inflicted upon the violators of a sanctuary in 746 could be a better argument, if it was not for the fact that the type of punishment (i.e. hanging) is mentioned only in the clearly later version of the Life, D, and not in S. We cannot exclude that that information had been contained in S but was omitted at some point of the text transmission – as well as it is possible that it has

94 The Old-Irish Penitential, c. 7 in Bieler, Ir. penitentials, p. 267. For further discussion of the punishment of theft-crimes against the Church see M. Gerriets, ‘Theft, penitentials and early Irish law’ in Celtica, 22 (1991), pp 18-32. 95 Charles-Edwards explains the term cimbid as ‘a bound captive who had been sentenced to death’ (Chronicle of Ireland, ii, 2).

187 been added at the later stage of redaction of D. Therefore, the information that we can derive from chapter 30 of VColmani cannot stand as a datable factor alone.

7. 4. Two datable phrases

There is another episode in Colmán’s Life which contains an intriguing phrase:

‘On another time, St Colmán, looking upon his brother, who was the son of Beugne, saw that the lids of his eyes had been secretly painted with the hyacinth colour, as it was in the custom; and it was a great offence at St Colmán’s. He said to his brother: ‘May your eyes not see the light in your life (any more). And from that hour he was blind, seeing nothing until (his) death.’96

It is possible that this chapter provides datable evidence for VColmani. The hagiographer appears to have described a tattooing or body painting custom, mentioned in a few other sources belonging to no later than the ninth century.97 The first and closest similar mention is a gloss to a law-text, Uraicecht Becc:98 on the list of professions of which people were without their own franchise, the creccoire (or creccaire) are mentioned, and the gloss explains that those were the people occupying themselves with making ‘grey-blue sore (tattooing) on the eyes’ (crechad glass ar na roscaib). However, Fergus Kelly offered an

96 VColmani, c. 24. 97 There are two academic texts discussing traces of a tattooing tradition in early medieval Irish sources: a short note by Kuno Meyer (‘Tätowierung bei den Iren’ in Z.C.P., 10 (1915), pp 400-1) and a long article by Charles W. Macquarrie, presenting an overview of all the sources, from Caesar’s Gallic War to Lebor Gabála Érenn (‘Insular Celtic tattooing: history, myth and metaphor’ in Études Celtiques, 33 (1997), pp 159-89. I cannot agree with the latter in many points, as he seems to notice mentions about tattooing in many more places than they actually are, yet he does not list the Life of Colmán. 98 The only existing edition of Uraicecht Becc is its incomplete version in C.I.H. 2274.11- 2275.15; I am following Eoin MacNeill’s translation (‘Ancient Irish law: ancient law of status or franchise’ in R.I.A.Proc., 36 (1923), p. 280). In 1992 Thomas Charles-Edwards mentioned the forthcoming edition of this text (Early Irish and Welsh kinship (Oxford, 1993), p. 348, fn. 56), but it has not yet appeared. The Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences is funding post-doctoral research by Gerald Manning towards the preparation of the critical edition of Uraicecht Becc (http://www.irchss.ie/awards/previous/2007_2.html [09/01/2009]).

188 alternative explanation of the word creccaire through analogy with Scottish Gaelic word kreahkir (‘chatterer’, someone who entertains the public with chattering).99 Kelly described the gloss explanation of the word creccaire as ‘making little sense’. Yet Kelly was apparently unaware of the passage from VColmani quoted above about blue-painted eyelids, which – cross-referenced with the gloss describing the creccaire – provides consistent information that eyelid-tattoos (or eye-lid painting) were actually used. Uraicecht Becc has been dated to the second half of the seventh century by Binchy in 1958, and the glosses he claimed to have been added no later than the eighth century.100 However, his argument has not survived the trial of time. Liam Breatnach, the editor of Binchy’s opus magnum, stated that there is no evidence compelling us to assign such an early date to Uraicecht Becc and that it may as well have been written in the ninth or early tenth century, judging by the use of language.101 Other occurrences of allusions to the custom of tattooing may be found in the Cauldron of Poesy, an eighth-century poem,102 and in Cormac’s Glossary (c. 900).103 The matter of tattooing amongst insular Celts has received some attention. Heinrich Zimmer, and later Nora Chadwick, insisted that classical Roman testimonies of the Celts using tattoos were merely the outcome of Roman

99 F. Kelly ‘Old Irish creccaire, Scottish Gaelic kreahkir’ in Ériu, 37 (1986), pp 185-6. 100 D. A. Binchy, ‘The date and provenance of Uraicecht Becc’ in Ériu, 18 (1958), pp 44-54. 101 L. Breatnach, A companion to the Corpus Iuris Hibernici (Dublin, 2005), p. 316. 102 L. Breatnach, ‘The Caldron of Poesy’ in Ériu, 32 (1981), p. 61; see K. Meyer. ‘Tätowierung bei den Iren’, p. 401 and C. W. Macquarrie, ‘Insular Celtic tattooing: history, myth and metaphor’, pp 177-8. 103 O. J. Bergin et al. (eds), Anecdota from Irish manuscripts, iv (Dublin, 1912), p. 49; see Meyer and Macquarrie as above. Charles Macquarrie argues that the Life of Brigit also contains information about tattoos, and quotes Vita IV (cc 37, 38, 40), where it is said that certain men who asked St Brigit for a blessing had stigmata diabolica / signa diabolica on their heads. Macquarrie assumes those were tattoos and proposes a different translation of this phrase from the one by Connolly of the Vita I (‘tattoos’ instead of ‘amulets’); yet his translation is incorrect. The sentence non possumus dimittere stigmata nostra nisi aliquis sufferat ea, ne cadant in terram cannot be translated to ‘we can’t be rid of our (tattoo) marks; unless someone else should remove them they shall not fall to the earth’, because the form of the verb cadere (3rd conjugation) is in present subjunctive and cannot be interpreted as an indicative form of the future. Connolly’s translation reflects the grammar of the Latin sentence much better: ‘We can’t leave aside our amulets without someone to hold them up in case they fall to the ground.’ Furthermore, in the very similar passages in the Vita I (cc 67, 69), it is even clearer that the stigmata were something that could have been put aside at any moment, not permanently attached to a human body.

189 prejudices and beliefs regarding ‘barbarians’.104 On the other hand, other researchers seem sometimes over-enthusiastic about the idea of tattooed Celts.105 Yet on the basis of both classical and medieval sources it is evident that the practice of tattooing was not widespread, but common to at least some population groups. Chapter 24 of VColmani with its description of the custom of painted (tattooed) eyelids so similar to what we find in Uraicecht Becc, seems to be additional evidence. Furthermore, this occurrence may stand as another auxiliary argument for dating of composition of this Life – because it seems apparent that the practice of tattooing/body painting was rather rare and unknown in the later Middle Ages, as it is attested mainly in the pre-tenth-century sources. The D version of the VColmani does not contain this passage at all.

The second occurrence of an equally curious phrase may also provide a dating indication. In chapter 28 we read:

‘On a certain day St Mochutu came to St Colmán, and after they had greeted each other, Colmán said: ‘At this hour may one of the boys, who are with you, rush to his brothers who are milking cows, for a crow excommunicated milk, not to let any of the brothers to be polluted with it.’ After Mochutu sent the boy, (the latter) found the crow, distinctive because of its white head.’

The description of a crow ‘excommunicating’ milk (corvus excomminicat lac) seems very strange indeed; so strange that the editor of the text, William Heist, suggested that the copyist must have misread his exemplar and that the original version might have contained some form derived from the verb coinquinare (‘to contaminate’, ‘to pollute’).106 Nonetheless, Anthony Harvey has provided an explanation of the occurrence of the word excommunicare in

104 H. Zimmer, ‘Matriarchy amongst the ’ in Leabhar Nan Gleann: the Book of the Glens, ed. G. Henderson (Edinburgh, 1898), pp 1-42; N. K. Chadwick, ‘The name Pict’ in Scottish Gaelic Studies, 8/2 (1958), pp 146-76. 105 E. Adamson-Hoebel, ‘Clothing and ornament’ in Dress, adornment and the social order, ed. M. E. Roach, J. B. Eicher (New York, 1965), pp 15-27 (quoted after Macquarrie ‘Insular Celtic tattooing: history, myth and metaphor’, pp 162-3). 106 See VColmani, c. 28, fn. 3.

190 VColmani.107 In the Canones Adomnani, a late-seventh-century collection of monastic regulations concerning ritually clean and unclean food, we find:

‘That which is contaminated by a cow is to be taken with a clear conscience. For why should we excommunicate the contamination of a cow if we do not reject the milk tasted by a sucking calf?’108

Harvey observed a semantic change of the word excommunicare; he wrote that this example is ‘a missing link between the straightforward examples of excommunicare and the one in the case of the crow’.109 One who tastes contaminated food, becomes excommunicated – that would be the Classical understanding. The understanding is extended in the Canones Adomnani also to food which is unclean. The definition of excommunicare extends even more in VColmani to the actual causing of the uncleanness. Therefore, there is no need to suspect the copyist of having committed a mistake – the word excommunicare is used in its widened meaning. Why was the drinking of milk contaminated by a crow so dangerous that it required the use of the saint’s heavenly powers to prevent it? Another collection of early monastic rules contains an explanation: ‘The penance for the drinking of (what has been contaminated by) an eagle or a crow or a daw or a cock or a hen, fifty days on bread and water’ (late seventh- or early eighth- century Canones Hibernenses, II, c. 17).110 Canones Adomnani and Canones Hibernenses, with their attention to clean and unclean food, were clearly inspired by the Old Testament.111 Attention to the considerable interest of the early Irish Church in the Old Testament has been already drawn by many scholars.112 Thus,

107 A. Harvey, ‘The non-Classical vocabulary of Celtic-Latin literature: an overview’ in M. Garrison et al. (ed.), Spoken and written language: relations between Latin and the vernaculars in the earlier Middle Ages (Turnhout, 2008), pp 24; available also at http://journals.eecs.qub.ac.uk/dmlcs/overview.pdf [15/10/2008). 108 Bieler, Irish penitentials, pp 178-9. 109 Harvey, ‘The non-Classical vocabulary’, p. 8. 110 Bieler, Ir. penitentials, pp 8-9, 162-3. 111 Leviticus 11 112 R. Kottje, ‘Studien zum Einfluss des alten Testamentes auf recht und Liturgie des frühen Mittelalters’ in Bonner Historische Forschungen, 23 (1964), pp 11-43; P. Fournier, ‘Le Liber ex lege Moysi et les tendances bibliques du droit canonique irlandais’ in Revue Celtique, 30 (1909), pp 221-34 (quoted after: D. Ó Corráin, L. Breatnach, A. Breen, ‘The laws of Irish’ in Peritia, 3 (1984), p. 394); D. Ó Córrain, ‘Irish vernacular law and the Old Testament’ in Ireland and Christendom, ed. P. Ní Chatháin, M. Richter (Stuttgart, 1987), pp 284-307.

191 the food regulations, although unusual in continental medieval Europe,113 are not surprising in early Irish sources – alongside many other laws, gnomic texts, annals and genealogies influenced strongly by Old Testament patterns.114 It is, however, significant, that the very same regulation appears in the late seventh- or early eighth-century source, i.e. the second canon of the Canones Hibernenses, and in VColmani. As in the case of the passage about the blue-painted eyelids, we again come across a phrase which is confirmed – this time exclusively – in other early, seventh- or eighth-century sources.

7. 5. Lynally and Connor

Colman’s main known foundation was the church of Lynally, and it is the only church of Colmán mentioned in VColmani by name.115 The foundation of the church in Lynally seems to have been of considerable importance to the hagiographer, and he described it as the result of a gathering and decision of the greatest authorities, saints and kings:

‘Also, there was afterwards a certain gathering in the lands of the Uí Néill. There were the kings Áed Sláne and Áed mac Ainmirech there, and the other kings, and St Columba Cille, and St Cainnech and Colmán Elo. Then Columba Cille said to the kings: ‘Give a land of your territories to this St Colman to let him build a monastery for God there.’ And they answered: ‘Wherever he wishes, let him choose.’ Then Áed Sláne says: ‘There is a certain forest in our eastern parts. Let him see if he likes it.’ And the saint said to him: ‘What is its name?’ Áed Sláne said: ‘Fith Alo’. And he (Colmán) answered: ‘There shall be my monastery and my resurrection.’ Then St Colmán and Laisrén, the servant of St Columba Cille (...) went with him and, having walked around that forest, he (Colmán) chose that place, in which Lann Elo was built, and he was there

113 R. Meens, ‘Pollution in the early Middle Ages: the case of the food regulations in penitentials’ in Early Medieval Europe, 4/1 (1995), pp 3-19. 114 B. Jaski, ‘Early Irish kingship and the Old Testament’ in Early Medieval Europe, 7/3 (1998), p. 329. 115 VColmani, c. 14.

192 with many monks, devoting themselves to prayers, fasting and reading.’116

St Colmán is described here as receiving the land for his main foundation by the decision of the gathering of the highest secular and ecclesiastical authorities: king Áed Sláne, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, king Áed mac Ainmirech of the Cenél Conaill, St Columba and St Cainnech. The author of VColmani found it necessary to underline the presence of the Uí Néill kings of both northern and southern branches. The names of St Cainnech and St Columba appear clearly to underline also corresponding ecclesiastical support for St Colmán’s foundation (St Cainnech was associated with the southern Uí Néill,117 and St Columba was the most famous saint of the northern Uí Néill). The stress on the legitimisation of all of the Uí Néill – southern and northern branches, secular and ecclesiastical authorities – is very clear. This may be seen as yet another hint of the pre-ninth-century political realities, although there are no prospects of more precise dating here. In spite of the regionalisation and the division of the Uí Néill dynasty in the sixth and the seventh centuries, there was still ‘some unity of purpose between the northern and southern branches, and a genuine feeling of ancestral solidarity’,118 but during the eighth century it started to change. During the first three decades there was intense internal rivalry amongst the Uí Néill which was more contained in 734, when the regular alternation of the title of king of Tara started between the southern and northern dynasties.119 As Ó Cróinín described, the ‘unity of purpose’ and ‘genuine solidarity’ have ceased in the course of the eighth century. There is a possibility that the hagiographer of Colmán recorded the last moments of their existence. Yet, Ó Cróinín’s claims seem unsubstantial; furthermore, the ‘unity’ and ‘solidarity’ are too fluctuant features to be used as independent dating factors. Therefore, Colmán was considered as a general Uí Néill saint.120 The church of Lynally was founded on lands of the Cenél Fiachach, a branch of the

116 Ibid. 117 Not of the dynasty of the Uí Néill, but associated with them politically; see Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography: a study of Vita Cainnechi’, pp 36-7. 118 Ó Cróinín, ‘Ireland, 400 – 800’ in N.H.I., i, 211. 119 Ibid.; Dalton, ‘The alternating dynasties’, pp 46-53; Warntjes, ‘The alternation of the kingship of Tara’, pp 394-432. 120 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 555.

193 southern Uí Néill which ruled the territory between Uisnech and Birr. By the ninth century those lands had become known as Tír Cell, the Land of Churches, for the Cenél Fiachach had been overpowered by the leading southern Uí Néill branches (Síl nÁedo Sláine and Clán Cholmáin) in the eighth century.121 The active support for numerous ecclesiastical foundations on those lands (Durrow, Birr, Kinnitty, Rahan, Lynally) could have been a way to win authority over the region.122 The church of Lynally was one of the most important ecclesiastical centres in Tír Cell, as confirmed by frequent notices in the annals. The Annals of Ulster death-notices of abbots or superiors of the church of Lynally appear regularly between 740 and 901:123 ‘holy Bran of Lann Ela’ d. 740, Ainfchellach abbot of Connor and Lynally d. 778, scribe Cú Chruithne princeps124 of Lynally d. 817.2, Oegedchar abbot of Connor and Lynally d. 867 and Tipraite son of Nuadu airchinnech of Connor and Lynally d. 901. In the Annals of Four Masters there are two additional entries: for the year 709, noting the death of Tethghal, bishop of Lynally, and for 917, recording the death of Maelene son of Maelbrigte, abbot of Lynally and Connor.125 This is quite a significant number of records and confirms that the church of Lynally was of considerable importance in the region during the eighth and the ninth centuries. Another annalistic record exists that was – until recently – considered to reflect the important role of Lynally within this time frame: under the year 827 it is recorded that the óenach of Colmán was disrupted by an attack of the southern Leinstermen.126 Óenaige were assemblies which, according to some, combined promulgations and enforcement of the law, trade and entertainment;127 others argued that óenach was mainly an occasion for ceremonial entertainment, its roots deriving from burial rituals.128 They were not frequently mentioned in the annals, apart from the óenach of Tailtiu, which seems to have been of the greatest importance in early

121 Ibid.; Byrne, Irish kings and high-kings, p. 93. 122 See above, chapter 5.2, p. 122. 123 A.U.2 740.8, 778.6, 817.2, 867.2, 901.2; Chronicle of Ireland 740.10, 778.6, 817.3, 867.2, 901.2. 124 For the discussion of the history of the meaning of the word princeps see Picard, ‘Princeps and principatus in the early Irish church’, pp 146-60; see chapter 6.4. 125 A.F.M. 709.4. 126 A.U.2 827.6; Chronicle of Ireland 827.7. 127 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 556-9. 128 C. Etchingham, The Irish monastic town: is this a valid concept? (Kathleen Hughes Memorial Lecture, Cambridge, 2010).

194 medieval Ireland.129 The appearance of the óenach of Colmán could therefore be a sign of its renown at the time. Also in the Triads of Ireland, a collection put together in the ninth century,130 the óenach of Colmán was recognised as the one of the three most famous óenaige in Ireland. However, the recent research proved it likely that the óenach of Colmán had not been taking place in Lynally and might have been associated with a different saint of the same name.131 Nevertheless, judging by the claim of the hagiographer that the church of Lynally was founded with approval and support from the highest authorities of all the Uí Néill, he was most likely writing in time of Lynally’s prosperity and wide acknowledgment. The time frame of the eighth or ninth century, as confirmed by the annalistic entries and the ninth-century Triads, certainly fits that picture. The annalistic records contain clear information that there was a connection between the churches of Lynally and Connor. The church of Connor (in modern Co. Antrim) was most probably founded in the first years of the sixth century by St Mac Nisse,132 and Colmán became the second patron of it (although we cannot say for certain which Colmán it was and when – see below). Later annalistic entries show the endurance of this association, even if the church of Lynally was in decline: tenth- and eleventh-century annalistic entries mention the heads of the church of Connor as the ‘successors of Mac Nisse and Colmán Elo’.133 Furthermore, in the Life of Mac Nisse preserved in S, there is a passage reflecting the relationship between those two saints. Mac Nisse, travelling with St Patrick within the Land of Elo, refuses the latter’s suggestion to found a church there:

129 Chronicle of Ireland 717.6, 774.7, 777.6, 789.18, 827.6, 831.5. See C. Swift, ‘The local context of the Óenach Tailten’ in Ríocht na Mhide, 11 (2000), pp 24-50. 130 K. Meyer (ed.), Trecheng Breth Féne (Dublin, 1906), c. 35. 131 Chronicle of Ireland, p. 285, fn. 4; Etchingham, The Irish monastic town, pp 1-32. 132 A.U.2 507.2, 514.2; Chronicle of Ireland 507.4, 508.3: ‘The repose of bishop Mac Nisse of Condairi.’ 133 A.F.M. 952.5, 954.5, 963.4, 1038.2.

195 ‘Holy father, if you are content, it shall not be so. For a boy who, sixty years from now, will be born from my kindred, called Colmán Elo, will found a famous monastery in this place.’134

The connection between the churches of Lynally and Connor has been noticed on a number of occasions.135 Sperber based her dating of VColmani on this observation.136 Having noted the ambiguity of Colmán’s origins and the internal division of VColmani into two parts (one describing the events in Ulster, the other in Míde), Sperber claimed that the Latin Life of Colmán is the outcome of conflation of two saints into one personage, and the composition based on two formerly existing hagiographical texts. Some of her arguments are strong: there are indeed two pedigrees of Colmán Elo, one of the Uí Néill and the other of the Dál Sailni (see above). VColmani in its first part (chapters 1-13) describes most probably events only in Ulster, and in the following part (chapters 14-52) – events in Lynally and its surroundings. Yet the division is only geographical and I cannot agree with Sperber that there are other considerable differences between those two parts. For example, Sperber claims that in the first, Ulster part of VColmani there is an extreme scarcity of names, and the Mide part of the Life ‘is overflowing with names’.137 Perhaps that may be a first impression, but if we look at the text more carefully, we may notice that place names are evenly scarce in both parts, and one reason why the list of place names in the first part is so short is that it covers only thirteen chapters out of fifty two. There are twelve proper and place names in chapters 1-13 and thirty two names in chapters 14-52. Therefore, the density of names in VColmani is distributed in a quite opposite way to what Sperber claims – it is the first part which contains a higher density of names, not the second, although the difference is not really considerable. Nevertheless, the problem of the duality of Colmán remains: he was of Dál Sailne and of the Uí Néill, of Connor and of Lynally, his Life shows him in

134 Heist (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., Vita Macnissei, c. 14; the translation of this fragment is offered in Charles-Edwards’s article, ‘Érlam: the patron-saint of an Irish church’ in A. Thacker, R. Sharpe (ed.), Local saints and local churches in the early medieval West (Oxford, 2002), p. 283. 135 Doherty, ‘The cult of St Patrick and the politics of Armagh in the seventh century’, pp 89-90; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 61-5; idem, ‘Érlam: the patron-saint of an Irish church’, pp 282-3; 136 Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, pp 1-13. 137 Ibid., p. 5.

196 Ulster, then in Mide. Were there two Colmáns whose cults blended into the veneration of one Colmán Elo, or was there one Colmán venerated in two distant places?

7. 6. The Colmáns

Sperber devoted a short chapter of her Ph.D. thesis to the matter of the duality in VColmani and Colmán’s origins.138 She suggested that this duality of origins and of the places of his activity described in VColmani prove that there were originally two Colmáns (Colmán mac Beogna from Ulster, who was also associated with the church of Connor, and Colmán Elo of Lynally in Mide) and the two Vitae, redacted into one around the time when the connection between the churches of Connor and Lynally was initiated. The first bishop of both Lynally and Connor died in 778,139 and there is no earlier evidence for the existence of a link between Lynally and Connor; therefore, Sperber assumes, the Life of Colmán was written no later than 778.140 The idea seems tempting but doubtful. To accept the date of the death of Ainfchellach, abbot of Connor and Lynally, as a dating feature for the Life of Colmán, one would also need to accept that VColmani is a component of two previously existing texts. Yet, apart from the geographical division (first part – Ulster, second part – Mide), there are no distinct features of such combination. VColmani is stylistically consistent, as is the depiction of the saint: his superior education,141 his reverence for St Patrick142 and his ‘pacifism’143 are equally represented in both parts. Contrary to Sperber’s claim, in fact there is no considerable difference in the density of the names included in the ‘Ulster’ part or in the ‘Mide’ part. It does not mean that I disagree with the idea of VColmani having been composed for the purpose of strengthening newly created links between the churches of Lann Elo and Connor. The idea of two Colmáns having been

138 Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, pp 1-13. 139 A.U.2 778.6; Chronicle of Ireland 778.6. 140 Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, p. 13. 141 VColmani, cc 2, 3 and 20. 142 VColmani, cc 12 and 33. 143 VColmani, cc 5, 8 and 17, 36.

197 conflated into one also seems acceptable. Yet, confusions of different Colmáns were so numerous that it is difficult to claim with certainty which one was influenced by which – who was the first, did they split, did they merge? Sperber assumed that the cult of Colmán Elo of Lynally of the Uí Néill absorbed the cult of Colmán mac Beogna of Connor from Ulster. Yet there is some evidence that Colmán Elo was also mixed with Colmán of Dromore and Colmán of Lismore. Colmán of Dromore,144 as shown in his Life preserved in S, was a student of Mac Nisse and founded his church following the advice of his master.145 If Sperber is right in the identification of Coemán the teacher of Colmán Elo as St Mac Nisse,146 Colmán mac Beogna and Colmán of Dromore would have had a similar education. Furthermore, there is a miracle shared by those two Lives: Colmán mac Beogna (alias Elo) resurrected Brandub, king of Leinster, in order to help him to get into heaven; the Life of Colmán of Dromore contains the very same miracle.147 Colmán son of Findbarr, abbot of Lismore, is remembered in the Annals of Ulster under the year 703.148 Colmán son of Findbarr appears also as one of the guarantors of the Cáin Adomnáin in 697.149 He is not commemorated, however, in any of the martyrologies. Yet under one of the feast days of Colmán Elo, January 22 (Colmán moccu Beogna), in all the martyrologies the glosses were added, specifying that the Colmán in question was that of Lismore.150 There is also a visible link between Colmán Elo and the founder of the church of Lismore, St Mochuda. St Mochuda (otherwise known as St Carthach) is the most often mentioned individual in VColmani;151 an episode in which Colmán Elo prophesies the foundation of the church of Rahan by St Mochuda, is repeated faithfully in the Life of Mochuda.152 Mochuda was also the founder of the church

144 Fél. Oeng. 7 June, pp 138-9, 144-5. 145 Heist (ed.), Vitae SS Hib., Vita Colmani Dromorensis, c. 6. 146 VColmani, cc 2-3; Fél. Oeng., 3 Sept., pp 198-9; see Sperber, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, pp 5, 11. 147 VColmani, c. 40; Heist, Vitae SS Hib., Vita Colmani Dromorensis, c. 10. 148 A.U.2 703.3; Chronicle of Ireland 703.3. 149 M. Ní Dhonnchadha (ed. and trans.), ‘The Guarantor-List of Cáin Adomnáin, 697’ in Peritia, 1 (1982), p. 193. 150 Fél. Oeng. 22 January, pp 50-51; see P. Ó Riain, ‘The composition of the Irish section of the ’ in Dinnseanchas, 6 (1975), p. 88. 151 VColmani, cc 25, 27, 28, 50. 152 VColmani, c. 25; Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita sancti Carthagi, c. 19.

198 of Lismore,153 thus a conclusion may be drawn that there was a certain connection between Colmán Elo and the church of Lismore. In one shape or another, a saint named Colmán, identified by the martyrologies as Colmán Elo, was apparently venerated in the church of Lismore at least by the ninth century (that is before the composition of the Félire Oengusso and other martyrologies). It is impossible to define with certainty which one of those personages inspired the original cult in Lismore: Colmán Elo or Colmán son of Findbarr. Some historians have assumed that Colmán Elo was indeed associated with Lismore from the beginning,154 and not only by the later, early ninth-century editors of the martyrologies, as was eventually suggested by Ó Riain.155

7. 7. Summary

The association of Colmán Elo with Colmán of Dromore and Colmán of Lismore seems to be a result of the spreading and multiplying of the cult of Colmán Elo: Colmán of Dromore seems to have been influenced by the dossier of Colmán Elo, and Colmán of Lismore was likely overshadowed or replaced by his famous namesake. Whether the dossier of Colmán Elo, as extant in VColmani, was an outcome of another fusion, as Sperber suggests; or whether Colmán Elo had in fact originated in Ulster and founded the church in Mide, as other historians believe156 - I cannot determine. It was quite common in early medieval Ireland that the ecclesiastical foundations were founded by the saints from distant lands,157 and VColmani does not provide in my opinion any strong evidence, that in this case it must have been otherwise (i.e. that VColmani is a result of the combining of two different texts). It may have been, of course, as Sperber assumed, that there had been two Colmáns – Colmán Elo and Colmán mac Beogna from Ulster – whose cults were conflated into one, but VColmani does not bear significant traces of combining two pre-existing texts.

153 Plummer, Vitae SS Hib., i, Vita sancti Carthagi, c. 65. 154 Stokes, Lives of saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 359; V. Hull, ‘The Alphabet of Piety’ in Celtica 8 (1968), p. 49-50. 155 Ó Riain, ‘The composition of the Irish section of the Calendar of Saints’, p. 88. 156 Ibid., p. 88; Charles-Edwards, ‘Érlam: the patron-saint of an Irish church’, p. 282. 157 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp

199

Nevertheless, there is some evidence suggesting that this text may be reflecting the realities of the eighth or ninth century. The fame of Colmán’s wisdom, confirmed in Félire Oengusso, and the two distinct phrases (the painted eyelids, the crow ‘excommunicating’ milk) with their correspondents in other, almost exclusively seventh- and eighth-century sources, constitute fairly plausible arguments, but the time limits obtained on their basis cannot be precise. The appearance of the synodus monasteriorum with the power of inflicting death penalties and the reflection of the unanimity of the Uí Néill offer interesting issues to ponder, but their reliability as dating factors is small. However, the fact that Colmán appears in Adomnán’s Vita Columbae strengthens evidence for Colmán’s early cult. The importance of the church of Lynally, visible from the annalistic records from the beginning of the eighth century, might have been an impulse for redacting VColmani, and it might also be the case, as Sperber claims, that another impulse was for the purpose of strengthening links between the churches of Lynally and Connor. Therefore, although the precise 778 date for composition of VColmani seems insufficiently evidenced, the association of VColmani with promotion of the link between Lynnally and Connor is justified. This link is consistently confirmed in the annals between 778 and 901.158 Perhaps it is reasonable to expect that such promotion would have been taking place at the beginning, not at the end of the co-operation period, but – again – no certain conclusions can be drawn.

158 See above, p. 194.

200 CHAPTER 8: DATING OF THE O’DONOHUE GROUP: CONCLUSION

Although Sharpe’s dating of the O’Donohue Lives originally met considerable criticism, during those eighteen years that have passed since his publication of Medieval Irish saints’ Lives one may observe that the scholarly consensus is growing. Historians started referring to the O’Donohue Lives as early sources; some did that with certain reservations, like Colmán Etchingham;1 others used a safe word ‘probably’, like Thomas Charles-Edwards;2 there are also some researchers who simply accepted Sharpe’s dating as correct (Lisa Bitel, Westley Follett).3 Also, a few attempts at confirming Sharpe’s theory of an early date of the composition of the O’Donohue Lives have been made. Máire Herbert offered a brief analysis of VCainnechi.4 Ingrid Sperber’s studies of VFintani and VColmani, although quite detailed, require further elaboration.5 Bridgitte Schaffer’s discussion of VAlbei has plausible conclusions, but lacks in-depth analysis.6 James Tschen-Emmons in his thesis devoted to VAidi failed to build a convincing argument.7 The two brief suggestions that have been made by Francis John Byrne and Thomas Charles-Edwards regarding VAlbei and VAidi8 have not been supported with detailed argument. For some, the date of circa 800 appears too early. John Carey and Colmán Etchingham were the most cautious; Carey allowing the earliest date in the course of the ninth century,9 Etchingham conceding that the Lives’ origins belonged to the first millenium.10 The contribution of scholars – supporters and

1 Etchingham, Church organisation, pp 9, 92-6, 336. 2 Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp 116, 150, 445. 3 Bitel, ‘Saints and angry neighbours’, p. 129; Follett, Céli Dé, p. 93. 4 Herbert, ‘The Vita Columbae and Irish hagiography’, pp 31-40. 5 Sperber, ‘Late, and not of special distinction?: The misunderstood Life of St Fintan of Clonenagh’, pp 28-49; idem, Studies in Hiberno-Latin hagiography, part D, pp 1-13. 6 Schaffer, ‘Statements of power’, pp 23-41. 7 Tschen-Emmons, The limits of Late Antiquity. 8 Byrne, ‘Derrynavlan: the historical context’, p. 119; idem, ‘Church and politics’, pp 658-9; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, p. 445, fn. 12. 9 Carey, Review of Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 262. 10 Etchingham, Church organisation, p. 9.

201 critics likewise – that has been provided on the subject of the O’Donohue group since Sharpe’s publication in 1991 is valuable and leads closer to understanding the history of these texts. The Lives from the O’Donohue group conform to common medieval patterns. They start with introductions containing information about the origins of a saint’s family, place of birth and miracles by which that birth was accompanied. Those chapters are followed by passages about adolescence, education, names of teachers and masters, circumstances of reaching independent status and establishing foundations, and lists of miracles, of which the majority are common hagiographical motifs. The first reading of these texts may indeed give an impression that they are similar, artificial and repetitive (as James Kenney frequently wrote). Yet, the second (third, fourth etc.) reading enables us to see that the O’Donohue Lives are in fact very much differentiated, demonstrating various attitudes, skills and aims of their authors. VAlbei is a carefully structured propagandising text set in the political reality of eighth- century Munster. VRuadani contains picturesque and slightly chaotic material that bears marks of having been revived in the twelfth century for the political needs of the Meic Carthaig. VAidi is a story of a warrior-saint, the defender of female kind; VMunnu consitutes a unique example in Irish hagiography of a saint marked with leprosy and harsh character; VColmani is a Life of a saint with double origins and a special inclination for studying. Despite the fact that the O’Donohue Lives follow common patterns of medieval hagiography, their heroes are individualised; the choices of words, phrases, examples of miracles, and other doings that the hagiographers had made, personalised each saint and gave them distinct features. Also the intended aims and readers seem to have been different in each case. We can observe that those aims and readers to be addressed were modified during the course of centuries. For example, the possible later insertion in VRuadani may suggest that the Life was used again in the twelfth century and adapted to entirely different needs; also, the changes introduced in the later redactions of VAidi show that the Life, originally addressed to female readers, ceased to serve this purpose. Yet, there are also a number of similarities that should not be overlooked. First of all, it is important to note that all the O’Donohue Lives, with exceptions of VAlbei and VMunnu, describe the main foundations of the saints as located in

202 the Midlands area. This factor may certainly contribute to the understanding of the mutual influences that might have taken place. In fact, there is plenty of evidence for their existence: there are examples of evident (Lugaid, Munnu)11 or possible (Áed, Cainnech)12 borrowings between the O’Donohue Lives. The similar obsolete vocabulary (boccetum)13 and place names (Sinoir)14 may be found in many of them. On numerous occasions the saints are described as visiting (Fintan, Cainnech),15 helping each other (Cainnech-Áed,16 Colmán- Cainnech),17 sharing the same goods (Ruadán-Colmán)18 or simply working together (Fintan-Columba).19 There are many examples of the O’Donohue Lives sharing similar characteristic motifs and episodes (Fintan-Munnu,20 Ruadán- Columba,21 Áed-Munnu,22 Lugaid-Columba23); some Lives share a significant number of similar miracles (Ruadán-Áed,24 Munnu-Fintan25). The noticeable differences between the O’Donohue Lives exclude the possibility that there had been successful attempts at unifying their contents. Thus, one must assume that the frequent common motifs and episodes, phrases and vocabulary, that may be found in these Lives confirm that they had been written approximately at the same period, in the same cultural environment, in which fruitful cultural exchange occurred. We cannot assign secure dates based only on the premises of mutual influences between the O’Donohue Lives, but we certainly may assume that they belonged to more or less the same time and cultural environment. The geographical proximity of the churches of the O’Donohue saints must certainly have been advantageous for cultural exchange.

11 VLugidi, c. 69; VMunnu, c. 28; see chapter 6.5. 12 VAidi, c. 31; VCainnechi, c. 32; see chapter 5.7. 13 VLugidi, c.21; VFinani, c. 32; VRuadani, c. 8 ; see chapter 4.3. 14 VLugidi, cc 31, 34; VFintani, c. 3; VFinani, c. 9; VCainnechi, c. 52; VColumbae de Tir dá Glas, c. 14; see Sharpe (Medieval Irish saints’ Lives, p. 320, fn. 30) who demonstrates that the name Sinoir was replaced in D with the name Bladma. 15 VFintani, c. 5. 16 VCainnechi, c. 32. 17 VColmani, c. 14. 18 VRuadani, c. 18. 19 VFintani, c. 3; VColumbae de Tir dá Glas, cc 13-14. 20 VFintani, cc 4, 5, 20; VMunnu, cc 22, 28, 25; see chapter 6.5. 21 VRuadani, c. 11; VColumbae de Tir dá Glas, c. 16; see chapter 4.2. 22 VAidi, c. 1; VMunnu, c. 1; see chapter 5.2. 23 VLugidi, c. 29; VColumbae de Tir dá Glas, c. 5. 24 See chapter 4.1. 25 See chapter 6.5.

203 VMunnu, a text written probably in the church of Taghmon, provides evidence that Munnu’s hagiographer was influenced by the cultural exchange of the Midlands; yet we need to remember that the pedigree of Munnu was of the Corco Roíde in western Mide and that there is a possibility that the cults of Munnu and of Fintan of Clonenagh might have had a common origin.26 Curiously, VAlbei does not bear marks of having been written in the cultural environment of the Midlands. None of the other O’Donohue saints appears in VAlbei, neither does Ailbe appear in their Lives; VAlbei does not share any characteristic motifs with the other Lives; it does not contain a significant number of miracles similar to those in other Lives of the group. There are no examples of old vocabulary or forgotten place names that appear in the rest of the O’Donohue group. All these factors led me to a conclusion challenging Sharpe’s definition of the extent of the O’Donohue group. It seems most likely that it is not VColumbae de Tir dá Glas which might not belong to the O’Donohue group (or rather to the Φ collection), but VAlbei. VAlbei was not included in the O’Donohue group as originally defined by Heist. Sharpe proposed that it should be included, on the basis of the distribution of lacunae in the manuscript of S.27 This distribution Sharpe found so convincing that he disregarded the colophon recalling Diarmait Ó Dúnchadha and his gift, which appears at the beginning of the new gathering and is immediately followed by the text of VLugidi. He assumed that the note had been misplaced for the sake of convenience. However, the verification of the contents of VAlbei against the other O’Donohue Lives seems to suggest otherwise. VAlbei is most probably an early, eighth-century Life, but it lacks links to the other Lives of the group that are so clearly noticeable in each of them, including VColumbae de Tir dá Glas. The issue of the extent of the O’Donohue group certainly demands more detailed research, but a tentative assumption can be drawn that VAlbei was not a part of the original manuscript Φ, although it cannot be excluded that it also was lent to the compilers of S by Diarmait Ó Dúnchadha. There is no reason to doubt Diarmait’s generosity, but if VAlbei had indeed been passed on by him, it most

26 Ó Riain, ‘Towards a methodology in Early Irish hagiography’, pp 46-59; see chapter 6.5. 27

204 probably was a gift additional to the collection of the Lives of saints from Midlands. The remaining four Lives analysed in this thesis, however interesting and rich in information, do not offer evidence for precise dating. Further research on other texts in the group may cast more light on some issues. However, the Lives do contain some datable premises: - the cults of the O’Donohue saints are attested early in the martyrologies and other hagiographical sources that are securely dated; - the ecclesiastical foundations of which the O’Donohue saints were patrons are confirmed to be active (sometimes exclusively) from the eighth to tenth century; - the influences of the other early, securely dated Lives are noticeable; - there are examples of the vocabulary and place names that became obsolete or forgotten after the ninth century; - the authors of the O’Donohue Lives clearly belonged to the same cultural environment (excluding the author of VAlbei).

All these features are perfectly valid dating factors, but they are extremely imprecise. The time margins which can be assigned to those Lives stretch from the end of the eighth to the first half of the tenth century. Furthermore, there are strong reasons to believe that – contrary to Sharpe’s hypothesis - the manuscript Φ was not the direct source for the compilers of S. The Lives contain some marks of alteration (VRuadani) or omissions (VMunnu). The textual analysis of the O’Donohue group and of S reasserts that the redactors or copyists of S were scrupulously faithful to their sources, but in the face of clear evidence of changes in two of the Lives it is not possible to accept Sharpe’s argument in this matter any longer

205 APPENDIX 1

MUTUAL INFLUENCES IN THE O’DONOHUE LIVES

Diagram 1

LUGAID:

Lugaid-Cainnech (cc 31, 34 – c. 52) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Lugaid-Cainnech (c. 31 – c. 45) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Lugaid-Ruadán (c. 21 – c. 8) – obsolete vocabulary (boccetum)

Lugaid-Munnu (c. 69 – c.28; see pp 166-8) – evident borrowing

Lugaid-Columba (cc 31, 34 – c. 14) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Lugaid – Fintan (cc 31, 34 – c. 3) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

206

Lugaid – Fínán (cc 31, 34 – c. 9) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Lugaid – Fínán (c. 31 – c. 12) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Lugaid-Colmán (c. 31 – c. 45) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

FINTAN

Fintan-Lugaid (c. 3 – cc 31, 34) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Fintan-Cainnech (c. 5 – x) – Cainnech visiting Fintan

Fintan-Munnu (cc 4, 5, 20 – 22, 28, 25; see pp 161-2) – a considerable number of similar motifs and episodes

Fintan-Columba (c. 3 – c. 14) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

FÍNÁN

Fínán-Lugaid (cc 31, 34 – c. 9) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Fínán-Lugaid (c. 31 – c. 12) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Fínán-Cainnech (c. 9 – c. 52) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Fínán-Cainnech (c. 12 – c. 45) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Fínán-Colmán (c. 12 – c. 5) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

ÁED

Áed-Cainnech (c. 31 – c. 32; see pp 141-2) – possible borrowing, saints helping each other

Áed-Ruadán (cc 13, 15 – cc 14, 45; see pp 78-9) – similar episodes, one quite characteristic (changing bread into raw meat)

Áed-Ruadán (c.17 – c. 9; see pp 79, 128) – underlined healing powers

207

Áed-Ruadán (x – c. 23) – saints helping each other

Áed-Munnu (c. 1 – c. 1; see pp 124-6) – a similar episode (birth on a stone)

CAINNECH

Cainnech-Lugaid (c. 52 – cc 31, 34) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Cainnech-Lugaid (c. 45 – c. 31) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Cainnech-Fintan (x – c. 5) – Cainnech visiting Fintan

Cainnech-Fínán (c. 52 – c. 9) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Cainnech-Fínán (c. 45 – c. 12) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Cainech-Áed (c. 32 – c. 31; see pp 141-2) – possible borrowing, saints helping each other

Cainnech-Colmán (x – c. 14; see pp 192-3) – saints helping each other

Cainnech-Colmán (c. 5 – c. 45) - obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

RUADÁN

Ruadán-Lugaid (c. 8 – c. 21) – obsolete vocabulary (boccetum)

Ruadán-Colmán (c. 18 – x) – saints sharing the same goods (milking a doe)

Ruadán-Columba (c. 11 – c. 16; see pp 80-1) – a similar episode (feeding tree)

Ruadán-Áed (cc 13, 15 – cc 14, 45; see pp 78-9) – similar episodes, one quite characteristic (changing bread into raw meat)

Ruadán-Áed (c.17 – c. 9; see pp 79, 128) – underlined healing powers

Ruadán-Áed (c. 23 – x) – saints helping each other

208

MUNNU

Munnu-Lugaid (c. 28 – c.69; see pp 166-8) – evident borrowing

Munnu-Fintan (cc 22, 28, 25 – cc 4, 5, 20; see pp 161-2) – similar motifs and episodes in a considerable number

Munnu-Áed (c. 1 – c. 1; see pp 124-6) – a similar episode (birth on a stone)

COLMÁN

Colmán-Lugaid (c. 45 – c. 31) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Colmán-Fínán (c. 5 – c. 12) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Colmán-Cainnech (c. 14 – x; see pp 192-3) – saints helping each other

Colmán-Cainnech (c. 45 – c. 5) – obsolete vocabulary (laici/díbergach?)

Colmán-Ruadán (x – c. 18) – saints sharing the same goods (milking a doe)

COLUMBA OF TERRYGLASS

Columba-Lugaid (c. 14 – cc 31, 34) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Columba-Fintan (c. 14 – c. 3) – obsolete place name (Sinoir)

Columba-Ruadán (c. 16 – c. 11; see pp 80-1) – a similar episode (feeding tree)

209

Diagram 2

VAlbei and VFintani share one exceptionally similar paragraph where the saints’ qualities are recounted. This, however, does not change the standing of VAlbei in the matter of its alleged belonging to the O’Donohue group, because the paragraphs are clearly representing a standarised text, possibly inserted to both Lives by the editors of S.

VAlbei, c. 55:

‘Nullus autem narrare poterit sancti Albei humilitatem et mansuetudinem, et caritatem et misericordiam, et patientiam et lenitatem, et ieiunium et abstinentiam, orationem assiduam et vigilias nocturnas, et cetera similia. Omnia enim mandata Christi implevit. Pro hiis ergo bonis actibus sanctus Albeus inter angelorum choros suavia carmina canentium migravit ad Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, cui honor est et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen.’

210

(‘No one will ever be able to describe St Ailbe’s humbleness and gentleness, and charity and compassion, and patience and lenience, and fasting and abstinence, incessant prayer and nightly vigils, and similar others. For all the commands of Christ he fulfilled. And because of these good deeds St Ailbe moved amongst the choirs of angels singing sweet songs to our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen.’)

VFintani, c. 23 :

‘Nullus autem narrare poterit sancti Fintani caritatem, mansuetudinem, humilitatem, patientiam, ieiunium et abstinentiam et vigilias nocturnas, et cetera bona. Cum autem dies exitus sancti Fintani advenisset, vocavit ad se populum suum (...). Elevansque manum, benedixit populum et, accipiens sacrificium, dormivit in pace Christi atque, inter choros angelorum suavia carmina canentium, ad eterna migravit gaudia, regnante Domino nostro Iesu Christo simul cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in secula seculorum. Amen.’

(‘No one will ever be able to describe St Fintan’s charity, gentelness, humbleness, patience, fasting and abstinence and nightly vigils, and similar good (things). And when the day of St Fintan’s death arrived, he called his people around him (...). And, raising his hand, he blessed the people and, having accepted the Holy Communion, he fell asleep in Christ’s peace and moved to eternal joy amongst the choirs of angels singing sweet songs, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ together with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.’)

211

APPENDIX 2

LOCATIONS OF PRIMARY ECCLESIASTICAL SITES

212

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES:

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