It is solely historical
aspect and worth of the two tracts herewith presented that appealed to their
editor and first suggested to him their preparation for publication. Head
preparation in question depended for its motive merely on consdierations of the
texts’ philologic interest or value it would, to speal frankly, never have been
undertaken. The editor, who disclaims qualification as a phililogist, regards
these Lives as very valuable historical material, publication of which may
serve to light up some dark corners of our celtic ecclesiastical past. He is
egotist enough to hope that the present "blazing of the track,"
inadequate and feeble though it be, may induce other and better equipped
explorers to follow.
The present editor was
studying the Life of Declan for quite another purpose when, some years since,
the zealous Hon. Secretary of the Irish Texts Society suggested to him publicaiton
of the tract in its present form, and addition of the Life of Carthach.
Whatever credit therefore is due to originating this work is Miss Hull’s, and
her’s alone.
The editor’s best
thanks are due, and are hereby most gratefully tendered, to Rev. M. Sheehan,
D.D.d D.Ph., Rev. Paul Walsh, REv. J. MacErlhean, S.J., M.A., as well as to Mr.
R. O’Foley, who at much expense of time and labour, have carefully read the
[roofs, and, with unselfish prodigality of their scholarly resources, have made
many valuable suggestions and corrections.
P.P.
Preface... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....V
Introduction... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...Vii.
Life of Declan... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1, 2
Life of Mochuda... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 74, 75
Notes to Life of
Declan... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 150
Notes to Life of
Mochuda... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...178
Index... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..196
Page 3, line 21; insert
"six" after "twenty"
Page 7, line 8; for
"victorious" read "poisonous."
Page 20, line 26;
insert " after ""
Page 21, line 24; for
"for something...keep them," read "when their followers
threatened to separate them by force if they did not go."
Page 24, line 21; for
"" read "
Page 29, line 23; for
"may" read "will."
Page 35, line 2; for
"round about" read "under tribute to him."
Page 53, line 15 for
"thence" read "from him."
Page 59, line 27 after
"and" insert "she" and for "its" read
"her."
Page 64, line 18; for
" read "
Page 75, line 7; for
"to a woman" read "as a woman’s bride-price."
Page 77, line 8; for
"touched her" read "did injury to anyone."
Page 82, line 15; for
" read "
Page 84, line 13; for
read
Page 101, line 9; for
"the renowned abbess" read "in honoured."
Page 111, line 10; for
"stout" read "generous."
Page 141, line 23; for
"the passage of the" read "foot-passengers or."
There are perhaps
half-a-dozen additional very obvious printer’s errors which the ordinary reader
can correct himself.
A most distinctive
class of ancient Irish literature, and probably the class that is least
popularly familiar, is the hagiographical. It is, the present writer ventures
to submit, as valuable as it is distinctive and as well worthy of study as it
is neglected. While annals, tales and poetry have found editors the Lives of
Irish Saints have remained largely a mine unworked. Into the causes of this
strange neglect it is not the purpose of the present introdution to enter.
Suffice to glance in passing at one of th ereasons which has been alleged in
explanation, scil. :--that the "Lives" are uncritical and romantic,
that they abound in wild legends, chronological impossibilities and all sorts
of incredible stories, and, finally, that miracles are multiplied till the
miraculous becomes the ordinary, and that marvels are magnified till the
narrative borders on the ludicrous. The Saint as he is sketched is sometimes a
positively repulsive being--arrogant, venomous, and cruel; he demands two eyes
or more for one, and pucklike, fairly revels in mischief! As painted he is in
fact more a pagan deity than a Christian man.
The forgoing charges
may, or must, be admitted partially or in full, but such admission implies no
denial of the historical value of their Lives. All archaic literature, be it
remembered, is in a greater or less degree uncritical, and it must be read, is
in a greater or less degree uncritical, and it must be read in the light of the
writer’s times and surroundings. That imagination should sometimes run riot and
th epen be carried beyond the boundary line of the strictly literal is perhaps
nothing much to be marvelled at in th ecase of the supernatural minded Celt
with religion for his theme. Did the scribe believe what he worte when he
recounted the multiplied marvels of his holy patron’s life? doubtless he did--
and why not! To the unsophisticated monastic and mediaeval mind, as to the mind
of primitive man, the marvellous and supernatural is almost as real and near as
the commonplace and natural. If anyone doubts this let him study the mind of
the modern Irish peasant; let him get beneath its surface and inside its
guardian ring of shrinking reserve; there he will find the same material
exactly as composed the mind of the tenth century biographers of Declan and
Mochuda. Dreamers and visionaries were of as frequent occurrence in Erin of
ages ago as they are to-day. Then as now the supernatural and marvellous had a
wondrous fascination for the Celtic mind. Sometimes the attraction becomes so
strong as seemingly to overbalance the faculty of distinguishing fact from
fancy. Of St. Bridget we are gravely told that to dry her wet cloak she hung it
out on a sunbeam! Another Saint sailed away to a foreign land on a sod from his
native hillside More than once we find a flagstone turned into a raft to bear a
missionary band beyond the seas! St. Fursey exchanged diseases with his friend
Magnentius, and, stranger still, the exchange was arranged and effected by
correspondence! To the saints moreover are ascribed lives of incredible
duration-to Mochta, ’bar, Seachnal, and Brendan, for instance, three hundred
years each; St. Mochaemog is credited with a life of four hundred and thirteen
years, and so on!
Clan, or tribe, rivalry
was doubtless one of the things which made for the invention and multiplication
of miracles. If the patron of the Decies is credited with a miracle, the
tribesmen of Ossorv must go one better and attribute to their tribal saint a
marvel more striking still. The hagiographers of Decies retort for their patron
by a claim of yet another miracle and so on. It is to be feared too that
occasionally a less worthy motive than tribal honour prompted the imagination
of our Irish hagiographers-- the desire to exploit the saint and his honour for
worldly gain.
The "Lives"
of the Irish Saints contain an immense quantity of material of first rate
importance for the historian of the Celtic church. Underneath the later
concoction of fable is a solid substratum of fact which no serious student can
ignore. Even where the narrative is otherwise plainly myth or fiction it sheds
many a useful sidelight on ancient manners, customs and laws as well as on the
curious and often intricate operations of the Celtic mind.
By "Lives"
are here meant the old MS. biographies which have come down to us from ages
before the invention of printing. Sometimes these "Lives" are styled
"Acts." Generally we have only one standard "Life:" of a
saint and of this there are usually several copies, scattered in various
libraries and collections. Occasionally a second Life is found differing
essentially from the first, but, as a rule, the different copies are only
recensions of a single original. Some of the MSS. are parchment but the
majority are in paper; some Lives again are merely fragments and no doubt
scores if not hundreds of others have been entirely lost. Of many hundreds of
our Irish saints we have only the meagre details supplied by the martyrologies,
with perhaps occasional references to them in the Lives of other saints. Again,
finally, the memory of hundreds and hundreds of saints additional survives only
in place names or is entirely lost.
There still survive
probably over a hundred "Lives’ ’-- possibly one hundred and fifty; this,
however, does not imply that therefore we have Lives of one hundred or one
hundred and fifty saints, for many of the saints whose Acts survive have really
two sets of the latter-- one in Latin and the other in Irish; moreover, of a
few of the Latin Lives and of a larger number of the Irish Lives we have two or
more recensions. There are, for instance, three independent Lives of St.
Mochuda and one of these is in two recensions.
The surviving Lives
naturally divide themselves into two great classes-the Latin Lives and the
Irish,-written in Latin and Irish respectively. We have a Latin Life only of
some saints, an Irish Life only of others, and of others again we have a Latin
Life and an Irish. It may be necessary to add that Acts which have been
translated into Latin by Colgan or the Bollandists do not of course rank as
Latin Lives. Whether the Latin Lives proper are free translations of the Irish
Lives or the Irish Lives translations of Latin originals remains still, to a
large extent, an open question. Plummer ("Vitae SS n. Hib.," Introd.)
seems to favour the Latin Lives as the originals. His reasoning here however
leaves one rather unconvinced. This is not the place to go into the matter at
length, but a new bit of evidence which makes against the theory of Latin
originals may be quoted; it is furnished by the well known collection of Latin
Lives known as the Codex Salmanticensis, to which are appended brief marginal
notes in mixed middle Irish and Latin. One such note to the Life of St. Cuangus
of Lismore (recte Liathmore) requests a prayer for him who has translated the
Life out of Irish into Latin. If one of the Lives, and this a typical or
characteristic Life, be a translation, we may perhaps assume that the others,
or most of them, are translations also. In any case we may assume as certain
that there were original Irish materials or data from which the formal Lives
(Irish or Latin) were compiled.
The Latin Lives are
contained mainly in four great collections. The first and probably the most
important of these is in the Royal Library at Brussels, included chiefly in a
large MS. known as Codex Salmanticensis from the fact that it belonged in the
seventeenth century to the Irish College of Salamanca. The second collection is
in Marsh’s Library, Dublin, and the third in Trinity College Library. The two latter
may for practical purposes be regarded as one, for they are sister MSS.--
copied from the same original. The Marsh’s Library Collection is almost
certainly, teste Plummer, the document referred to by Colgan as Codex
Kilkenniensis and it is quite certainly the Codex Ardmachanus of Fleming. The
fourth collection (or the third, if we take as one the two last mentioned,) is
in the Bodleian at Oxford amongst what are known as the Rawlinson MSS. Of minor
importance, for one reason or another, are the collections in the Franciscan
Library, Merchants’ Quay, Dublin, and in Maynooth College respectively. The
first of the enumerated collections was published in extenso, about twenty-five
years since, by the Marquis of Buce, while recently the gist of all the Latin
collections has been edited with rare scholarship by Rev. Charles Plummer of
Oxford. Incidentally may be noted the one defect in Mr. Plummer’s great work--
its author’s almost irritating insistence on pagan origins, nature myths, and
heathen survivals. Besides the Marquis of Buce and Plummer, Colgan and the
Bollandists have published some Latin Lives, and a few isolated
"Lives" have been published from time to time by other more or less
competent editors.
The Irish Lives, though
more numerous than the Latin, are less accessible. The chief repertorium of the
former is the Burgundian or Royal Library, Brussels. The MS. collection at
Brussels appears to have originally belonged to the Irish Franciscans of
Louvain and much of it is in the well-known handwriting of Michael O’C1ery.
There are also several collections of Irish Lives in Ireland-in the Royal Irish
Academy, for instance, and Trinity College Libraries. Finally, there are a few
Irish Lives at Oxford and Cambridge, in the British Museum, Marsh’s Library,
&c., and in addition there are many Lives in private hands. In this
connection it can be no harm, and may do some good, to note that an apparently
brisk, if unpatriotic, trade in Irish MSS. (including of course
"Lives" of Saints) is carried on with the United States. Wealthy, but
often ignorant, Irish-Americans, who are unable to read them, are making
collections of Irish MSS. and rare Irish books, to Ireland’s loss. Some Irish
MSS. too, including Lives of Saints, have been carried away as mementoes of the
old land by departing emigrants.
The date or period at
which the Lives (Latin and Irish) were written is manifestly, for half a dozen
good reasons, a. question of the utmost importance to the student of the
subject. Alas, that the question has to some extent successfully defied quite
satisfactory solution. We can, so far, only conjecturethough the probabilities
seem strong and the. grounds solid. The probabilities are that the Latin Lives
date as a rule from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when they were put
into something like their present form for reading (perhaps in the refectory)
in the great religious houses. They were copied and re-copied during the
succeeding centuries and the scribes according to their knowledge, devotion or
caprice made various additions, subtractions and occasional multiplications.
The Irish Lives are almost certainly of a somewhat earlier date than the Latin
and are based partly (i.e. as regards the bulk of the miracles) on local
tradition, and partly (i.e. as regards the purely historical element) on the
authority of written materials. They too were, no doubt, copied and
interpolated much as were the Latin Lives. The present copies of Irish Lives
date as a rule from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries only, and the fact
that the Latin and the Irish Life (where there is this double biogrpahy)
sometimes agree very perfectly may indicate that the Latin translation or Life
is very late.
The chief published
collections of Irish Saints’ Lives may be set down as seven, scil.:--five in
Latin and one each in Irish and English. The Latin collections are the
Bollandists’, Colgan’s, Messingham’s, Fleming’s, and Plummer’s ; the Irish
collection is Stokes’ ("Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore")
and the English is of course O’Hanlon’s.
Most striking,
probably, of the characteristics of the "Lives" is their very evident
effort to exalt and glorify the saint at any cost. With this end of
glorification in view the hagiographer is prepared to swallow everything and
record anything. He has, in fact, no critical sense and possibly he would
regard possession of such a sense as rather an evil thing and use of it as
irreverent. He does not, as a consequence, succeed in presenting us with a very
life-like or convincing portrait of either the man or the saint. Indeed the
saint, as drawn in the Lives, is, as already hinted, a very unsaintlike
individual-almost as ready to curse as to pray and certainly very much more
likely to smite the aggressor than to present to him the other cheek. In the
text we shall see St. Mochuda, whose Life is a specially sane piece of work,
cursing on the same occasion, first, King Blathmac and the Prince of Cluain,
then, the rich man Cronan who sympathised with the eviction, next an individual
named Dubhsulach who winked insolently at him, and finally the people of St.
Columba’s holy city of Durrow who had stirred up hostile feeling against him.
Even gentle female saints can hurl an imprecation too. St. Laisrech, for
instance, condemned the lands of those who refused her tribute, to-nettles,
elder shrub, and corncrakes! It is pretty plain that the compilers of the lives
had some prerogatives, claims or rights to uphold-hence this frequent
insistence on the evil of resisting the Saint and presumably his successors.
One characteristic of
the Irish ascetics appears very clear through all the exaggeration and all the
biographical absurdity; it is their spirit of intense mortification. To
understand this we have only to study one of the ancient Irish: Monastic Rules
or one of the Irish Penitentials as edited by D’Achery
("Spicilegium") or Wasserschleben ("Irische
Kanonensammerlung"). Severest fasting, unquestioning obedience and
perpetual self renunciation were inculcated by the Rules and we have ample
evidence that they were observed with extraordinary fidelity. The Rule of
Maelruin absolutely forbade the use of meat or of beer. Such a prohibition a
thousand years ago was an immensely more grevious thing than it would sound
to-day. Wheaten bread might partially supply the place of meat to-day, but meat
was easier to procure than bread in the eighth century. Again, a thousand years
ago, tea or coffee there was none and even milk was often difficult or
impossible to procure in winter. So severe in fact was the fast that religious
sometimes died of it. Bread and water being found insufficient to sustain life
and health, gruel was substituted in some monasteries and of this monastic
gruel there were three varieties:--(a)"gruel upon water" in which the
liquid was so thick that the meal reached the surface, (b) "gruel between
two waters" in which the meal, while it did not rise to the surface, did
not quite fall to the bottom, and (c)"gruel under water" which was so
weak and so badly boiled that the meal easily fell to the bottom. In the case
of penitenls the first brand of gruel was prescribed for light offences, the
second kind for sins of ordinary gravity, and the "gruel under water"
for extraordinary crimes (vid. Messrs. Gwynne and Purton on the Rule of Maelruin,
&c.) The most implicit, exact and prompt obedience was prescribed and
observed. An overseer of Mochuda’s monastery at Rahen had occasion to order by
name a young monk called Colman to do something which involved his wading into
a river. Instantly a dozen Colman plunged into the water. Instances of
extraordinary penance abound, beside which the austerities of Simon Stylites
almost pale. The Irish saints’ love of solitude was also a very marked
characteristic. Desert places and solitary islands of the ocean possessed an
apparently wonderful fascination for them. The more inaccessible or forbidding
the island the more it was in request as a penitential retreat. There is hardly
one of the hundred islands around the Irish coast which, one time or another,
did not harbour some saint or solitary upon its rocky bosom.
The testimony of the
"Lives" to the saints’ love and practice of prayer is borne out by
the evidence of more trustworthy documents. Besides private prayers, the whole
psalter seems to have been recited each day, in three parts of fifty psalms
each. In addition, an immense number of Pater Nosters was prescribed. The
office and prayers were generally pretty liberally interspersed with
genuflexion or prostration, of which a certain anchorite performed as many as seven
hundred daily. Another penitential action which accompanied prayer was the
cros-figul. This was an extension of the arms in the shape of a cross ; if
anyone wants to know how difficult a practice this is let him try it for, say,
fifteen minutes. Regarding recitation of the Divine Office it was of counsel,
and probably of precept, that it should not be from memory merely, but that the
psalms should all be read. For this a good reason was given by Maelruin, i.e.
that the recitation might engage the eye as well as the tongue and thought. An
Irish homily refers to the mortification of the saints and religious of the
time as martyrdom, of which it distinguishes three kinds-red, white, and blue.
Red martyrdom was death for the faith ; white martyrdom was the discipline of
fasting, labour and bodily austerities, while blue martyrdom was abnegation of
the will and heartfelt sorrow for sin.
One of the puzzles of
Irish hagiology is the great age attributed to certain saints-periods of two
hundred, three hundred, and even four hundred years. Did the original compilers
of the Life intend this ? Whatever the full explanation be the writers of the
Lives were clearly animated by a desire to make their saint contemporary and,
if possible, a disciple, of one or other of the great monastic founders, or at
any rate to prove him a pupil of one of the great schools of Erin. There was
special anxiety to connect the saint with Bangor or Clonard. To effect the
connection in question it was sometimes necessary to carry the life backwards,
at other times to carry it forwards, and occasionally to lengthen it both
backwards and forwards. Dr. Chas. O’Connor gives a not very convincing
explanation of the three-hundred-year "Lives," scil.:--that the saint
lived in three centuries-during the whole of one century and in the end and
beginning respectively of the preceding and succeeding centuries. This
explanation, even if satisfactory for the three hundred-year Lives, would not
help at all towards the Lives of four hundred years. A common explanation is
that the scribe mistook numerals in the MS. before him and wrote the wrong
figures. There is no doubt that copying is a fruitful source of error as
regards numerals. It is much more easy to make a mistake in a numeral than in a
letter ; the context will enable one to correct ‘the letter, while it will give
him no clue as regards a numeral. On the subject of the alleged longevity of
Irish Saints Anscombe bas recently been elaborating in Eriu a new and very
ingenious theory. Somewhat unfortunately the author happens to be a rather
frequent propounder of ingenious theories. His explanation is briefly-the use
and confusion of different systems of chronology. He alleges that the original
writers used what is called the Diocletian Era or the "Era of the
Martyrs" as the terminus a quo of their chronological system and, in
support of his position, he adduces the fact that this, which was the most
ancient of all ecclesiastical eras, was the era used by the schismatics in
Britain and that it was introduced by St. Patrick.
As against the
contradictions, anachronisms and extravagances of the Lives we have to put the
fact that generally speaking the latter corroborate one another, and that they
receive extern corroboration from the annals. Such disagreements as occur are
only what one would expect to find in documents dealing with times so remote.
To the credit side too must go the fact that references to Celtic geography and
to local history are all as a rule accurate. Of continental geography and history
however the writers’ of the Lives show much ignorance, but scarcely quite as
much as the corresponding ignorance shown by Continental writers about Ireland.
The missionary methods
of the early Irish Church and its monastic or semi-monastic system are frequently
referred to as peculiar, if not unique. A missionary system more or less
similar must however have prevailed generally in that age. What other system
could have been nearly as successful amongst a pagan people circumstanced as
the Irish were? The community system alone afforded the necessary mutual
encouragement and protection to the missionaries. Each monastic station became
a base of operations. The numerous diminutive dioceses, quasi-dioceses, or
tribal churches, were little more than extensive parishes and the missionary
bishops were little more in jurisdiction than glorified parsih priests. The
bishop’s muintir, that is the members of his household, were his assistant
clergy. Having converted the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary bad
but to instruct and baptise tribesman and to erect churches for them. Land and
materials for the church were provided by the Clan or the Clan’s head, and
lands for support of the missioner or of the missionary community were allotted
just as they had been previously allotted to the pagan priesthood; in fact
there can be but little doubt that the lands of the pagan priests became in
many cases, the endowment of the Christain establishment. It is not necessary,
by the way, to assume that the Church in Ireland as Patrick left it, was
formally monastic. The clery lived in community, it is true, but it was under a
somewhat elastic rule, which was really rather a series of Christain and
Religious counsels. A more formal monasticism, nearly two centuries previously,
had been influenced by Pachomius and St. Basil, through Lerins. The real
peculiarity in Ireland was that when the community-missionary-system was no
longer necessary it was not abandoned as in other lands but wsa rather
developed and emphasized.
"If thou hast the right, O Erin, to a champion of battle to aid
thee thou hast the head of a hundred thousand, Declan of Ardmore"
(Martyrology of Oengus). Five
miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the southern Irish coast, a
short, rocky and rather elevated promontory juts, with a south-easterly trend,
into the ocean [about 51 deg. 57 min. N / 7 deg. 43 min. W]. Maps and admiralty
charts call it Ram Head, but the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is
often styled Ardmore Head. The material of this inhospitable coast is a hard
metamorphic schist which bids defiance to time and weather. Landwards the shore
curves in clay cliffs to the north-east, leaving, between it and the iron
headland beyond, a shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud ship has met her
doom. Nestling at the north side of the headland and sheltered by the latter
from Atlantic storms stands one of the most remarkable groups of ancient
ecclesiastical remains in Ireland-- all that has survived of St. Declan’s holy
city of Ardmore. This embraces a beautiful and perfect round tower, a
singularly interesting ruined church commonly called the cathedral, the ruins
of a second church beside a holy well, a primitive oratory, a couple of ogham
inscribed pillar stones, &c., &c.
No Irish saint perhaps
has so strong a local hold as Declan or has left so abiding a popular memory.
Nevertheless his period is one of the great disputed questions of early Irish
history. According to the express testimony of his Life, corroborated by
testimony of the Lives of SS. Ailbhe and Ciaran, he preceded St. Patrick in the
Irish mission and was a co-temporary of the national apostle. Objection,
exception or opposition to the theory of Declan’s early period is based less on
any inherent improbability in the theory itself than on contradictions and
inconsistencies in the Life. Beyond any doubt the Life does actually contradict
itself; it makes Declan a cotemporary of Patrick in the fifth century and a
cotemporary likewise of St. David a century later. In any attempted solution of
the difficulty involved it may be helpful to remember a special motive likely
to animate a tribal histrographer, scil.:--the family relationship, if we may
so call it, of the two saints; David was bishop of the Deisi colony in Wales as
Declan was bishop of their kinsmen of southern Ireland. It was very probably
part of the writer’s purpose to call attention to the links of kindred which
bound the separated Deisi; witness his allusion later to the alleged visit of
Declan to his kinsmen of Bregia. Possibly there were several Declans, as there
were scores of Colmans, Finians, &c., and hence perhaps the confusion and
some of the apparent inconsistencies. There was certainly a second Declan, a
disciple of St. Virgilius, to whom the latter committed care of a church in
Austria where he died towards close of eighth century. Again we find mention of
a St. Declan who was a foster son of Mogue of Ferns, and so on. It is too much,
as Delehaye ("Legendes Hagiographiques") remarks, to expect the
populace to distinguish between namesakes. Great men are so rare! Is it likely
there should have lived two saints of the same name in the same country!
The latest commentators
on the question of St. Declan’s period--and they happen to be amongst the most
weighty--argue strongly in favour of the pre-Patrician mission (Cfr. Prof. Kuno
Meyer, "Learning Ireland in the Fifth Century"). Discussing the way
in which letters first reached our distant island of the west and the causes
which led to the proficiency of sixth-century Ireland in classical learning
Zimmer and Meyer contend that the seeds of that literary culture, which
flourished in Ireland of the sixth century, had been sown therein in the first
and second decades of the preceding century by Gaulish scholars who had fled
from their own country owing to invasion of the latter by Goths and other
barbarians. The fact that these scholars, who were mostly Christians, sought
asylum in Ireland indicates that Christianity had already penetrated thither, or
at any rate that it was known and tolerated there. Dr. Meyer answers the
objection that if so large and so important an invasion of scholars took place
we ought have some reference to the fact in the Irish annals. The annals, he
replies, are of local origin and they rarely refer in their oldest parts to
national events: moreover they are very meagre in their information about the
fifth century. One Irish reference to the Gaulish scholars is, however, adduced
in corroboration; it occurs in that well known passage in St. Patrick’s
"Confessio" where the saint cries out against certain
"rhetoricians" in Ireland who were hostile to him and
pagan,--"You rhetoricians who do not know the Lord, hear and search Who it
was that called me up, fool though I be, from the midst of those who think
themselves wise and skilled in the law and mighty orators and powerful in
everything." Who were these "rhetorici" that have made this
passage so difficult for commentators and have caused so various constructions to
be put upon it? It is clear, the professor maintains, that the reference is to
pagan rhetors from Gaul whose arrogant presumption, founded on their learning,
made them regard with disdain the comparatively illiterate apostle of the
Scots. Everyone is familiar with the classic passage of Tacitus wherein he
alludes to the harbours of Ireland as being more familiar to continental
mariners than those of Britain. We have references moreover to refugee
Christians who fled to Ireland from the persecutions of Diocletian more than a
century before St. Patrick’s day; in addition it is abundantly evident that
many Irishmen--Christians like Celestius the lieutenant of Pelagius, and
possibly Pelagius himself, amongst them--had risen to distinction or notoriety
abroad before middle of the fifth century.
Possibly the best way
to present the question of Declan’s age is to put in tabulated form the
arguments of the pre-Patrician advocates against the counter contentions of
those who claim that Declan’s period is later than Patrick’s:--
For the Pre-Patrician Mission.Against Theory of Early Fifth Century
period.I.--Positive statement of Life, corroborated by Lives of SS. Ciaran and
Ailbhe.I.--Contradictions, anachronisms &c., of Life.II.--Patrick’s
apparent avoidance of the Principality of Decies.II.--Lack of allusion to
Declan in the Lives of St. Patrick.III.--The peculiar Declan cult and the
strong local hold which Declan has maintained.III.--Prosper’s testimony to the
mission of Palladius as first bishop to the believing Scots.IV.--Alleged
motives for later invention of Pre-Patrician story. In this matter and at this hour it is hardly worth appealing
to the authority of Lanigan and the scholars of the past. Much evidence not
available in Lanigan’s day is now at the service of scholars. We are to look
rather at the reasoning of Colgan, Ussher, and Lanigan than to the mere weight
of their names.
Referring in order to
our tabulated grounds of argument, pro and con, and taking the pro arguments
first, we may (I.) discard as evidence for our purpose the Life of St. Ibar
which is very fragmentary and otherwise a rather unsatisfactory document. The
Lives of Ailbhe, Ciaran, and Declan are however mutually corroborative and
consistent. The Roman visit and the alleged tutelage under Hilarius are probably
embellishments; they look like inventions to explain something and they may
contain more than a kernel of truth. At any rate they are matters requiring
further investigation and elucidation. In this connection it may be useful to
recall that the Life (Latin) of St. Ciaran has been attributed by Colgan to
Evinus the disciple and panegyrist of St. Patrick.
Patrick’s apparent
neglect of the Decies (II.) may have no special significance. At best it is but
negative evidence: taken, however, in connection with (I.) and its consectaria
it is suggestive. We can hardly help speculating why the apostle--passing as it
were by its front door--should have given the go-bye to a region so important
as the Munster Decies. Perhaps he sent preachers into it; perhaps there was no
special necessity for a formal mission, as the faith had already found
entrance. It is a little noteworthy too that we do not find St. Patrick’s name
surviving in any ecclesiastical connection with the Decies, if we except
Patrick’s Well, near Clonmel, and this Well is within a mile or so of the
territorial frontier. Moreover the southern portion of the present Tipperary
County had been ceded by Aengus to the Deisi, only just previous to Patrick’s
advent, and had hardly yet had sufficient time to become absorbed. The whole
story of Declan’s alleged relations with Patrick undoubtedly suggests some
irregularity in Declan’s mission--an irregularity which was capable of
rectification through Patrick and which de facto was finally so rectified.
(III.) No one in
Eastern Munster requires to be told how strong is the cult of St. Declan
throughout Decies and the adjacent territory. It is hardly too much to say that
the Declan tradition in Waterford and Cork is a spiritual actuality,
extraordinary and unique, even in a land which till recently paid special
popular honour to its local saints. In traditional popular regard Declan in the
Decies has ever stood first, foremost, and pioneer. Carthage, founder of the
tribal see, has held and holds in the imagination of the people only a
secondary place. Declan, whencesoever or whenever he came, is regarded as the
spiritual father to whom the Deisi owe the gift of faith. How far this
tradition and the implied belief in Declan’s priority and independent mission are
derived from circulation of the "Life" throughout Munster in the last
few centuries it is difficult to gauge, but the tradition seems to have
flourished as vigorously in the days of Colgan as it does to-day. Declan’s
"pattern" at Ardmore continues to be still the most noted celebration
of its kind in Ireland. A few years ago it was participated in by as many as
fourteen thousand people from all parts of Waterford, Cork, and Tipperary. The
scenes and ceremonies have been so frequently described that it is not
necessary to recount them here--suffice it to say that the devotional practices
and, in fact, the whole celebration is of a purely popular character receiving
no approbation, and but bare toleration, from church or clergy. Even to the
present day Declan’s name is borne as their praenomen by hundreds of Waterford
men, and, before introduction of the modern practice of christening with
foolish foreign names, its use was far more common, as the ancient baptismal
registers of Ardmore, Old Parish, and Clashmore attest. On the other hand
Declan’s name is associated with comparatively few places in the Decies. Of
these the best known is Relig Deaglain, a disused graveyard and early church
site on the townland of Drumroe, near Cappoquin. There was also an ancient
church called Killdeglain, near Stradbally.
Against the theory of
the pre-Patrician or citra-Patrician mission we have first the objection, which
really has no weight, and which we shall not stop to discuss, that it is
impossible for Christianity at that early date to have found its way to this distant
island, beyond the boundary of the world. An argument on a different plane is
(I.), the undoubtedly contradictory and inconsistent character of the Life. It
is easy however to exaggerate the importance of this point. Modern critical
methods were undreamed of in the days of our hagiographer, who wrote, moreover,
for edification only in a credulous age. Most of the historical documents of
the period are in a greater or less degree uncritical but that does not
discredit their testimony however much it may confuse their editors. It can be
urged moreover that two mutually incompatible genealogies of the saint are
given. The genealogy given by MacFirbisigh seems in fact to disagree in almost
every possible detail with the genealogy in 23 M. 50 R.I.A. That however is
like an argument that Declan never existed. It really suggests and almost
postulates the existence of a second Declan whose Acts and those of our Declan
have become mutually confused.
(II.) Absence of Declan’s
name from the Acts of Patrick is a negative argument. It is explicable perhaps
by the supposed irregularity of Declan’s preaching. Declan was certainly
earlier than Mochuda and yet there is no reference to him in the Life of the
latter saint. Ailbhe however is referred to in the Tripartite Life of Patrick
and the cases of Ailbhe and Declan are "a pari"; the two saints stand
or fall together.
(IV.) Motives for
invention of the pre-Patrician myth are alleged, scil.:--to rebut certain
claims to jurisdiction, tribute or visitation advanced by Armagh in after ages.
It is hard to see however how resistance to the claims in question could be
better justified on the theory of a pre-Patrician Declan, who admittedly
acknowledged Patrick’s supremacy, than on the admission of a post-Patrician
mission.
That in Declan we have
to deal with a very early Christian teacher of the Decies there can be no
doubt. If not anterior to Patrick he must have been the latter’s cotemporary.
Declan however had failed to convert the chieftain of his race and for
this--reading between the lines of the "Life"--we seem to hear
Patrick blaming him.
The monuments proper of
Declan remaining at Ardmore are (a) his ORATORY near the Cathedral and Round
Tower in the graveyard, (b) his STONE on the beach, (c) his WELL on the cliff, and
(d) ANOTHER STONE said to have been found in his tomb and preserved at Ardmore
for long ages with great reveration. The "Life" refers moreover to
the saint’s pastoral staff and his bell but these have disappeared for
centuries.
The "Oratory"
is simply a primitive church of the usual sixth century type: it stands 13’
4" x 8’ 9" in the clear, and has, or had, the usual high-pitched
gables and square-headed west doorway with inclining jambs. Another
characteristic feature of the early oratory is seen in the curious antae or
prolongation of the side walls. Locally the little building is known as the
"beannacan," in allusion, most likely, to its high gables or the
finials which once, no doubt, in Irish fashion, adorned its roof. Though
somewhat later than Declan’s time this primitive building is very intimately
connected with the Saint. Popularly it is supposed to be his grave and within
it is a hollow space scooped out, wherein it is said his ashes once reposed. It
is highly probable that tradition is quite correct as to the saint’s grave,
over which the little church was erected in the century following Declan’s
death. The oratory was furnished with a roof of slate by Bishop Mills in 1716.
"St. Declan’s
Stone" is a glacial boulder of very hard conglomerate which lies on a
rocky ledge of beach beneath the village of Ardmore. It measures some 8’
6" x 4’ 6" x 4’ 0" and reposes upon two slightly jutting points
of the underlying metamorphic rock. Wonderful virtues are attributed to St.
Declan’s Stone, which, on the occasion of the patronal feast, is visited by
hundreds of devotees who, to participate in its healing efficacy and
beneficence, crawl laboriously on face and hands through the narrow space
between the boulder and the underlying rock. Near by, at foot of a new
storm-wall, are two similar but somewhat smaller boulders which, like their
venerated and more famous neighbour, were all wrenched originally by a glacier
from their home in the Comeragh Mountains twenty miles away.
"St. Declan’s
Well," beside some remains of a rather large and apparently twelfth
century church on the cliff, in the townland of Dysert is diverted into a
shallow basin in which pilgrims bathe feet and hands. Set in some comparatively
modern masonry over the well are a carved crucifixion and other figures of
apparently late mediaeval character. Some malicious interference with this well
led, nearly a hundred years since, to much popular indignation and excitement.
The second "St.
Declan’s Stone" was a small, cross-inscribed jet-black piece of slate or
marble, approximately--2" or 3" x 1 1/2". Formerly it seems to
have had a small silver cross inset and was in great demand locally as an
amulet for cattle curing. It disappeared however, some fifty years or so since,
but very probably it could still be recovered in Dungarvan.
Far the most striking
of all the monuments at Ardmore is, of course, the Round Tower which, in an
excellent state of preservation, stands with its conical cap of stone nearly a
hundred feet high. Two remarkable, if not unique, features of the tower are the
series of sculptured corbels which project between the floors on the inside,
and the four projecting belts or zones of masonry which divide the tower into
storeys externally. The tower’s architectural anomalies are paralleled by its
history which is correspondingly unique: it stood a regular siege in 1642, when
ordnance was brought to bear on it and it was defended by forty confederates
against the English under Lords Dungarvan and Broghil.
A few yards to north of
the Round Tower stands "The Cathedral" illustrating almost every
phase of ecclesiastical architecture which flourished in Ireland from St.
Patrick to the Reformation--Cyclopean, Celtic-Romanesque, Transitional and
Pointed. The chancel arch is possibly the most remarkable and beautiful
illustration of the Transitional that we have. An extraordinary feature of the
church is the wonderful series of Celtic arcades and panels filled with archaic
sculptures in relief which occupy the whole external face of the west gable.
St. Declan’s foundation
at Ardmore seems (teste Moran’s Archdall) to have been one of the Irish
religious houses which accepted the reform of Pope Innocent at the Lateran
Council and to have transformed itself into a Regular Canonry. It would however
be possible to hold, on the evidence, that it degenerated into a mere parochial
church. We hear indeed of two or three episcopal successors of the saint,
scil.:--Ultan who immediately followed him, Eugene who witnessed a charter to
the abbey of Cork in 1174, and Moelettrim O Duibhe-rathre who died in 1303
after he had, according to the annals of Inisfallen, "erected and finished
the Church" of Ardmore. The "Wars of the Gaedhil and Gall" have
reference, circa 824 or 825, to plunder by the Northmen of Disert Tipraite
which is almost certainly the church of Dysert by the Holy Well at Ardmore. The
same fleet, on the same expedition, plundered Dunderrow (near Kinsale),
Inisshannon (Bandon River), Lismore, and Kilmolash.
Regarding the age of
our "Life" it is difficult with the data at hand to say anything very
definite. While dogmatism however is dangerous indefiniteness is unsatisfying.
True, we cannot trace the genealogy of the present version beyond middle of the
sixteenth century, but its references to ancient monuments existing at date of
its compilation show it to be many centuries older. Its language proves little
or nothing, for, being a popular work, it would be modernised to date by each
successive scribe. Colgan was of opinion it was a composition of the eighth
century. Ussher and Ware, who had the Life in very ancient codices, also
thought it of great antiquity. Papebrach, the Bollandist, on the other hand,
considered the Life could not be older than the twelfth century, but this
opinion of his seems to have been based on a misapprehension. In the absence of
all diocesan colour or allusion one feels constrained to assign the production
to some period previous to Rathbreasail. We should not perhaps be far wrong in
assigning the first collection of materials to somewhere in the eighth century
or in the century succeeding. The very vigorous ecclesiastical revival of the
eleventh century, at conclusion of the Danish wars, must have led to some
revision of the country’s religious literature. The introduction, a century
and-a-half later, of the great religious orders most probably led to
translation of the Life into Latin and its casting into shape for reading in
refectory or choir.
Only three surviving
copies of the Irish Life are known to the writer: one in the Royal Library at
Brussels, the second in the Royal Irish Academy Collection (M. 23, 50, pp.
109-120), and the third in possession of Professor Hyde. As the second and
third enumerated are copies of one imperfect exemplar it has not been thought
necessary to collate both with the Brussels MS. which has furnished the text
here printed. M. 23, 50 (R.I.A.) has however been so collated and the marginal
references initialled B are to that imperfect copy. The latter, by the way, is
in the handwriting of John Murphy "na Raheenach," and is dated 1740.
It has not been thought necessary to give more than the important variants.
The present text is a
reproduction of the Brussels MS. plus lengthening of contractions. As regards
lengthening in question it is to be noted that the well known contraction for
"ea" or "e" has been uniformly transliterated
"e." Otherwise orthography of the MS. has been scrupulously
followed--even where inconsistent or incorrect. For the division into
paragraphs the editor is not responsible; he has merely followed the division
originated, or adopted, by the scribe. The Life herewith presented was copied
in 1629 by Brother Michael O’Clery of the Four Masters’ staff from an older MS.
of Eochy O’Heffernan’s dated 1582. The MS. of O’Heffernan is referred to by our
scribe as "seinleabar," but his reference is rather to the contents
than to the copy. Apparently O’Clery did more than transcribe; he re-edited, as
was his wont, into the literary Irish of his day. A page of the Brussels MS.,
reproduced in facsimile as a frontispiece to the present volume, will give the
student a good idea of O’Clery’s script and style.
Occasional notes on
Declan in the martyrologies and elsewhere give some further information about
our saint. Unfortunately however the alleged facts are not always capable of
reconciliation with statements of our "Life," and again the existence
of a second, otherwise unknown, Declan is suggested. The introduction of rye is
attributed to him in the Calendar of Oengus, as introduction of wheat is
credited to St. Finan Camm, and introduction of bees to St. Modomnoc,--"It
was the full of his shoe that Declan brought, the full of his shoe likewise
Finan, but the full of his bell Modomnoc" (Cal. Oeng., April 7th). More puzzling
is the note in the same Calendar which makes Declan a foster son of Mogue of
Ferns! This entry illustrates the way in which errors originate. A former
scribe inadvertently copied in, after Declan’s name, portion of the entry
immediately following which relates to Colman Hua Liathain. Successive scribes
re-copied the error without discovering it and so it became stereotyped.
1. The most blessed
Bishop Declan of the most noble race of the kings of Ireland, i.e., the holy
bishop who is called Declan was of the most noble royal family of Ireland--a
family which held the sceptre and exacted tribute from all Ireland at Tara for
ages. Declan was by birth of noble blood as will appear from his origin and
genealogy, for it was from Eochaidh Feidhleach, the powerful Ardrigh of Ireland
for twelve years, that he sprang. Eochaidh aforesaid, had three sons,
scil.:--Breas, Nar, and Lothola, who are called the three Finneavna; there
reigned one hundred and seven kings of their race and kindred before and after
them, i.e. of the race of Eremon, king of Ireland,--before the introduction of
Christianity and since. These three youths lay one day with their own sister
Clothra, daughter of the same father, and she conceived of them. The son she
brought forth as a consequence of that intercourse was marked by three red wavy
lines which indicated his descent from the three youths aforesaid. He was named
Lugaidh Sriabhdearg from the three lines [sriabaib] in question, and he was
beautiful to behold and of greater bodily strength in infancy than is usual
with children of his age. He commenced his reign as king of Ireland the year in
which Caius Caesar [Caligula] died and he reigned for twenty-six years. His son
was named Criomthan Nianair who reigned but sixteen years. Criomthan’s son was
named Fearadach Finnfechtnach whose son was Fiacha Finnolaidh whose son again
was Tuathal Teachtmhar. This Tuathal had a son Felimidh Reachtmhar who had in
turn three sons--Conn Ceadcathach, Eochaidh Finn, and Fiacha Suighde. Conn was
king of Ireland for twenty years and the productiveness of crops and soil and
of dairies in the time of Conn are worthy of commemoration and of fame to the
end of time. Conn was killed in Magh Cobha by the Ulstermen, scil.:--by Tiopruid
Tireach and it is principally his seed which has held the kingship of Ireland
ever since. Eochaidh Finn was second son to Felimidh Reachtmhar and he migrated
to the latter’s province of Leinster, and it is in that province his race and
progeny have remained since then. They are called Leinstermen, and there are
many chieftains and powerful persons of them in Leinster. Fiacha Suighde
moreover, although he died before he succeeded to the chief sovereignty,
possessed land around Tara. He left three sons--Ross, Oengus, and Eoghan who
were renowned for martial deeds--valiant and heroic in battle and in conflict.
Of the three, Oengus excelled in all gallant deeds so that he came to be styled
Oengus of the poisonous javelin. Cormac Mac Art Mac Conn it was who reigned in
Ireland at this time. Cormac had a son named Ceallach who took by force the
daughter of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde to dwell with him, i.e. Credhe the
daughter of Eoghan. When Oengus Gaebuaibhtheach ("of the poisonous
javelin") heard this, viz., that the daughter of his brother had been
abducted by Ceallach he was roused to fury and he followed Ceallach to Tara
taking with him his foster child, scil.:--Corc Duibhne, the son of Cairbre, son
of Conaire, son of Mogha Lamha whom Cormac held as a hostage from the
Munstermen, and whom he had given for safe custody to Oengus. When Oengus
reached Tara he beheld Ceallach sitting behind Cormac. He thrust his spear at
Ceallach and pierced him through from front to back. However as he was
withdrawing the spear the handle struck Cormac’s eye and knocked it out and
then, striking the steward, killed him. He himself (Oengus) with his foster
child escaped safely. After a time Cormac, grieving for the loss of his son,
his eye and his steward at the hands of Oengus of the poisonous javelin and of
his kinsmen, ordered their expulsion from their tribal territory, i.e. from the
Decies of Tara, and not alone from these, but from whole northern half of
Ireland. However, seven battles were fought in which tremendous loss was inflicted
on Cormac and his followers before Oengus and his people, i.e. the three sons
of Fiacha Suighde, namely, Ross and Oengus and Eoghan, as we have already said,
were eventually defeated, and obliged to fly the country and to suffer exile.
Consequent on their banishment as above by the king of Ireland they sought
hospitality from the king of Munster, Oilill Olum, because Sadhbh, daughter of
Conn Ceadcathach was his wife. They got land from him, scil.: the Decies of
Munster, and it is to that race, i.e. the race of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde
that the kings and country of the Decies belong ever since.
2. Of this same race of
Eoghan was the holy bishop Declan of whom I shall speak later scil.: Declan son
of Eirc, son of Trein, son of Lughaidh, son of Miaich, son of Brian, son of
Eoghan, son of Art Corp, son of Moscorb, son of Mesgeadra, son of Measfore, son
of Cuana Cainbhreathaigh, son of Conaire Cathbuadhaigh, son of Cairbre, son of
Eoghan, son of Fiacha Suighde, son of Felimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal
Teachtmhar. The father of Declan was therefore Erc Mac Trein. He and his wife
Deithin went on a visit to the house of his kinsman Dobhran about the time that
Declan’s birth was due. The child she bore was Declan, whom she brought forth
without sickness, pain or difficulty but in being lifted up afterwards he
struck his head against a great stone. Let it be mentioned that Declan showed
proofs of sanctification and power of miracle-working in his mother’s womb, as
the prophet writes:--"De vulva sanctificavi te et prophetam in gentibus
dedi te" [Jeremias 1:5] (Before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee and made thee a prophet unto the nations). Thus it is that
Declan was sanctified in his mother’s womb and was given by God as a prophet to
the pagans for the conversion of multitudes of them from heathenism and the
misery of unbelief to the worship of Christ and to the Catholic faith, as we
shall see later on. The very soft apex of his head struck against a hard stone,
as we have said, and where the head came in contact with the stone it made
therein a hollow and cavity of its own form and shape, without injury of any
kind to him. Great wonder thereupon seized all who witnessed this, for Ireland
was at this time without the true faith and it was rarely that any one
(therein) had shown heavenly Christian signs. "Declan’s Rock" is the
name of the stone with which the Saint’s head came into contact. The water or
rain which falls into the before-mentioned cavity (the place of Declan’s head)
dispels sickness and infirmity, by the grace of God, as proof of Declan’s
sanctity.
3. On the night of
Declan’s birth a wondrous sign was revealed to all, that is to the people who
were in the neighbourhood of the birthplace; this was a ball of fire which was
seen blazing on summit of the house in which the child lay, until it reached up
to heaven and down again, and it was surrounded by a multitude of angels. It
assumed the shape of a ladder such as the Patriarch, Jacob saw [Genesis 28:12].
The persons who saw and heard these things wondered at them. They did not know
(for the true faith had not yet been preached to them or in this region) that
it was God who (thus) manifested His wondrous power (works) in the infant, His
chosen child. Upon the foregoing manifestation a certain true Christian,
scil.:--Colman, at that time a priest and afterwards a holy bishop, came,
rejoicing greatly and filled with the spirit of prophecy, to the place where
Declan was; he preached the faith of Christ to the parents and made known to them
that the child was full of the grace of God. He moreover revealed to them the
height of glory and honour to which the infant should attain before God and
men, and it was revealed to him that he (Declan) should spend his life in
sanctity and devotion. Through the grace of God, these, i.e. Erc and Deithin,
believed in God and Colman, and they delivered the child for baptism to Colman
who baptised him thereupon, giving him the name of Declan. When, in the
presence of all, he had administered Baptism, Colman spoke this prophecy
concerning the infant "Truly, beloved child and lord you will be in heaven
and on earth most high and holy, and your good deeds, fame, and sanctity will
fill all (the four quarters of) Ireland and you will convert your own nation
and the Decies from paganism to Christianity. On that account I bind myself to
you by the tie of brotherhood and I commend myself to your sanctity."
4. Colman thereupon
returned to his own abode; he commanded that Declan should be brought up with
due care, that he should be well trained, and be set to study at the age of
seven years if there could be found in his neighbourhood a competent Christian
scholar to undertake his tuition. Even at the period of his baptism grace and
surpassing charity manifested themselves in the countenance of Declan so that
it was understood of all that great should be the goodness and the spiritual
charm of his mature age. When Dobhran had heard and seen these things
concerning his kinsman Erc he requested the latter and Deithin to give him the
child to foster, and with this request Erc complied. The name of the locality
was "Dobhran’s Place" at that time, but since then it has been
"Declan’s Place." Dobhran presented the homestead to Declan and
removed his own dwelling thence to another place. In after years, when Declan
had become a bishop, he erected there a celebrated cell in honour of God, and
this is the situation of the cell in question:--In the southern part of the
Decies, on the east side of Magh Sgiath and not far from the city of Mochuda
i.e. Lismore. For the space of seven years Declan was fostered with great care
by Dobhran (his father’s brother) and was much loved by him. God wrought many
striking miracles through Declan’s instrumentality during those years. By aid
of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him he (Declan)--discreet Christian man that he
was--avoided every fault and every unlawful desire during that time.
5. On the completion of
seven years Declan was taken from his parents and friends and fosterers to be
sent to study as Colman had ordained. It was to Dioma they sent him, a certain
devout man perfect in the faith, who had come at that time by God’s design into
Ireland having spent a long period abroad in acquiring learning. He (Dioma)
built in that place a small cell wherein he might instruct Declan and dwell
himself. There was given him also, to instruct, together with Declan, another
child, scil., Cairbre Mac Colmain, who became afterwards a holy learned bishop.
Both these were for a considerable period pursuing their studies together.
6. There were seven men
dwelling in Magh Sgiath, who frequently saw the fiery globe which it has been
already told they first beheld at the time of Declan’s birth. It happened by
the Grace of God that they were the first persons to reveal and describe that
lightning. These seven came to the place where Declan abode and took him for
their director and master. They made known publicly in the presence of all
that, later on, he should be a bishop and they spoke prophetically:--"The
day, O beloved child and servant of God, will come when we shall commit
ourselves and our lands to thee." And it fell out thus (as they foretold),
for, upon believing, they were baptised and became wise, devout (and) attentive
and erected seven churches in honour of God around Magh Sgiath.
7. Declan remained a
long time with Dioma, the holy man we have named, and acquired science and
sanctity and diversity of learning and doctrine, and he was prudent, mild, and
capable so that many who knew his nobility of blood came when they had heard of
the fullness of his sanctity and grace. Moreover they submitted themselves to
him and accepted his religious rule. Declan judged it proper that he should
visit Rome to study discipline and ecclesiastical system, to secure for himself
esteem and approbation thence, and obtain authority to preach to the (Irish)
people and to bring back with him the rules of Rome as these obtained in Rome
itself. He set out with his followers and he tarried not till he arrived in
Rome where they remained some time.
8. At the same period
there was a holy bishop, i.e. Ailbe, who had been in Rome for a number of years
before this and was in the household of Pope Hilary by whom he had been made a
bishop. When Declan with his disciples arrived in Rome Ailbe received him with
great affection and gladness and he bore testimony before the Roman people to
his (Declan’s) sanctity of life and nobility of blood. He (Declan) therefore
received marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of
Rome when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was comely, of good
appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent in counsel, frank in
conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in gifts, holy in life and resplendent
in miracles.
9. When Declan had
spent a considerable time in Rome he was ordained a bishop by the Pope, who
gave him church-books and rules and orders and sent him to Ireland that he
might preach there. Having bidden farewell to the Pope and received the latter’s
blessing Declan commenced his journey to Ireland. Many Romans followed him to
Ireland to perform their pilgrimage and to spend their lives there under the
yoke and rule of Bishop Declan, and amongst those who accompanied him was
Runan, son of the king of Rome; he was dear to Declan.
10. On the road through
Italy Bishop Declan and Patrick met. Patrick was not a bishop at that time,
though he was (made a bishop) subsequently by Pope Celestinus, who sent him to
preach to the Irish. Patrick was truly chief bishop of the Irish island. They
bade farewell to one another and they made a league and bond of mutual
fraternity and kissed in token of peace. They departed thereupon each on his
own journey, scil.:--Declan to Ireland and Patrick to Rome.
11. Declan was beginning
mass one day in a church which lay in his road, when there was sent him from
heaven a little black bell, (which came) in through the window of the church
and remained on the altar before Declan. Declan greatly rejoiced thereat and
gave thanks and glory to Christ on account of it, and it filled him with much
courage to combat the error and false teaching of heathendom. He gave the bell
for safe keeping and carriage, to Runan aforesaid, i.e. son of the king of
Rome, and this is its name in Ireland--"The Duibhin Declain," and it
is from its colour it derives its name, for its colour is black [dub]. There
were manifested, by grace of God and Declan’s merits, many miracles through its
agency and it is still preserved in Declan’s church.
12. When Declan and his
holy companions arrived at the Sea of Icht [English Channel] he failed, owing
to lack of money, to find a ship, for he did not have the amount demanded, and
every ship was refused him on that account. He therefore struck his bell and
prayed to God for help in this extremity. In a short time after this they saw
coming towards them on the crest of the waves an empty, sailless ship and no
man therein. Thereupon Declan said:--"Let us enter the ship in the name of
Christ, and He who has sent it to us will direct it skilfully to what harbour
soever He wishes we should go." At the word of Declan they entered in, and
the ship floated tranquilly and safely until it reached harbour in England.
Upon its abandonment by Declan and his disciples the ship turned back and went
again to the place from which it had come and the people who saw the miracles
and heard of them magnified the name of the Lord and Declan, and the words of
the prophet David were verified:--"Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis Suis [Psalm
67(68):36] (God is wonderful in His Saints)."
13. After this Declan
came to Ireland. Declan was wise like a serpent and gentle like a dove and
industrious like the bee, for as the bee gathers honey and avoids the poisonous
herbs so did Declan, for he gathered the sweet sap of grace and Holy Scripture
till he was filled therewith. There were in Ireland before Patrick came thither
four holy bishops with their followers who evangelized and sowed the word of
God there; these are the four:--Ailbe, Bishop Ibar, Declan, and Ciaran. They
drew multitudes from error to the faith of Christ, although it was Patrick who
sowed the faith throughout Ireland and it is he who turned chiefs and kings of
Ireland to the way of baptism, faith and sacrifice and everlasting judgment.
14. These three,
scil.:--Declan, Ailbe and Bishop Ibar made a bond of friendship and a league
amongst themselves and their spiritual posterity in heaven and on earth for
ever and they loved one another. SS. Ailbe and Declan, especially, loved one
another as if they were brothers so that, on account of their mutual affection
they did not like to be separated from one another--except when their followers
threatened to separate them by force if they did not go apart for a very short
time. After this Declan returned to his own country--to the Decies of
Munster--where he preached, and baptized, in the name of Christ, many whom he
turned to the Catholic faith from the power of the devil. He built numerous
churches in which he placed many of his own followers to serve and worship God
and to draw people to God from the wiles of Satan.
15. Once on a time
Declan came on a visit to the place of his birth, where he remained forty days
there and established a religious house in which devout men have dwelt ever
since. Then came the seven men we have already mentioned as having made their
abode around Magh Sgiath and as having prophesied concerning Declan. They now
dedicated themselves and their establishment to him as they had promised and
these are their names:--Mocellac and Riadan, Colman, Lactain, Finnlaoc, Kevin,
&c. [Mobi]. These therefore were under the rule and spiritual sway of
bishop Declan thenceforward, and they spent their lives devoutly there and
wrought many wonders afterwards.
16. After some time
Declan set out to visit Aongus MacNatfrich, king of Cashel, to preach to him
and to convert him to the faith of Christ. Declan however had two uterine
brothers, sons of Aongus, scil.: Colman and Eoghan. The grace of the Holy Ghost
inspiring him Colman went to Ailbe of Emly and received baptism and the
religious habit at the latter’s hands, and he remained for a space sedulously
studying science until he became a saintly and perfect man. Eochaid however
remained as he was (at home)--expecting the kingdom of Munster on his father’s
death, and he besought his father to show due honour to his brother Declan. The
king did so and put no obstacle in the way of Declan’s preaching but was
pleased with Declan’s religion and doctrine, although he neither believed nor
accepted baptism himself. It is said that refusal (of baptism) was based on
this ground: Declan was of the Decies and of Conn’s Half, while Aongus himself
was of the Eoghanacht of Cashel of Munster--always hostile to the Desii. It was
not therefore through ill will to the faith that he believed not, as is proved
from this that, when the king heard of the coming to him of Patrick, the
archbishop of Ireland, a man who was of British race against which the Irish
cherished no hate, not only did he believe but he went from his own city of
Cashel to meet him, professed Christianity and was immediately baptised.
17. After this Declan,
having sown the word of God and preached to the king (although the latter did
not assent to his doctrines), proceeded to his own country and they (the Desii)
believed and received baptism except the king alone and the people of his
household who were every day promising to believe and be baptised. It however
came about through the Devil’s agency that they hesitated continually and
procrastinated.
18. Other authorities
declare that Declan went many times to Rome, but we have no written testimony
from the ancient biographers that he went there more than three times. On one
of these occasions Declan paid a visit to the holy bishop of the Britons whose
name was David at the church which is called Killmuine [Menevia] where the
bishop dwelt beside the shore of the sea which divides Ireland from Britain.
The bishop received Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in
affection and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a bond of
charity which continued between themselves and their successors for ever
afterwards. On the expiration of the forty days Declan took leave of David
giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out himself and his followers to
the shore of the sea to take ship for Ireland.
19. Now the bell which
we have alluded to as sent from heaven to Declan, was, at that time, in the
custody of Runan to carry as we have said, for Declan did not wish, on any
account, to part with it. On this particular day as they were proceeding
towards the ship Runan entrusted it to another member of the company. On
reaching the shore however the latter laid the bell on a rock by the shore and
forgot it till they were half way across the sea. Then they remembered it and
on remembrance they were much distressed. Declan was very sorrowful that the
gift sent him by the Lord from heaven should have been forgotten in a place
where he never expected to find it again. Thereupon raising his eyes heavenward
he prayed to God within his heart and he said to his followers:--"Lay
aside your sorrow for it is possible with God who sent that bell in the
beginning to send it now again by some marvellous ship." Very fully and
wonderfully and beautifully the creature without reason or understanding obeyed
its creator, for the very heavy unwieldy rock floated buoyantly and without
deviation, so that in a short time they beheld it in their rear with the bell
upon it. And when his people saw this wondrous thing it filled them with love
for God and reverence for their master. Declan thereupon addressed them
prophetically:--"Permit the bell to precede you and follow it exactly and
whatsoever haven it will enter into it is there my city and my bishopric will
be whence I shall go to paradise and there my resurrection will be."
Meantime the bell preceded the ship, and it eased down its great speed
remaining slightly in advance of the ship, so that it could be seen from and
not overtaken by the latter. The bell directed its course to Ireland until it
reached a harbour on the south coast, scil.:--in the Decies of Munster, at an
island called, at that time, High Sheep Island [Aird na gCcaorac] and the ship
made the same port, as Declan declared. The holy man went ashore and gave
thanks and praise to God that he had reached the place of his resurrection.
Now, in that island depastured the sheep belonging to the wife of the chieftain
of Decies and it is thence that it derives its Irish name--Ard-na-Ccaorac,
scil.:--there was in it a high hill and it was a promontory beautiful to
behold. One of the party, ascending the summit of the hill, said to
Declan:--"How can this little height support your people?" Declan
replied:--"Do not call it little hill, beloved son, but ’great height’ [ard
mor]," and that name has adhered to the city ever since,
scil.:--Ardmore-Declain. After this Declan went to the king of the Desii and
asked of him the aforesaid island. Whereupon the king gave it to him.
20. Declan next
returned to Ait-mBreasail where, in a haven at the north side, were the
shipping and boats of the island, plying thither and backwards. The people of
the island hid all their boats not willing that Declan should settle there;
they dreaded greatly that if Declan came to dwell there they themselves should
be expelled. Whereupon his disciples addressed Declan:--"Father,"
said they, "Many things are required (scil.: from the mainland) and we
must often go by boat to this island and there will be (crossing) more
frequently when you have gone to heaven and we pray thee to abandon the place
or else to obtain from God that the sea recede from the land so that it can be
entered dry shod, for Christ has said:--’Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father
in my name He will give it to you’ [John 15:16]; the place cannot be easily
inhabited unless the sea recede from it and on that account you cannot
establish your city in it." Declan answered them and said:--"How can
I abandon the place ordained by God and in which He has promised that my burial
and resurrection shall be? As to the alleged inconvenience of dwelling therein,
do you wish me to pray to God (for things) contrary to His will--to deprive the
sea of its natural domain? Nevertheless in compliance with your request I shall
pray to God and whatever thing be God’s will, let it be done." Declan’s
community thereupon rose up and said:--"Father, take your crosier as Moses
took the rod [Exodus 14:16] and strike the sea therewith and God will thus show
His will to you." His disciples prayed therefore to him because they were
tried and holy men. They put Declan’s crosier in his hand and he struck the
water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and made
the sign of the cross over the water and immediately, by command and permission
of God, the sea commenced to move out from its accustomed place--so swiftly too
that the monsters of the sea were swimming and running and that it was with
difficulty they escaped with the sea. However, many fishes were left behind on
the dry strand owing to the suddenness of the ebb. Declan, his crosier in his
hand, pursued the receding tide and his disciples followed after him. Moreover
the sea and the departing monsters made much din and commotion and when Declan
arrived at the place where is now the margin of the sea a stripling whose name
was Mainchin, frightened at the thunder of the waves and the cry of the unknown
monsters with gaping mouths following the (receding) water,
exclaimed:--"Father, you have driven out the sea far enough; for I am afraid
of those horrid monsters." When Declan heard this and (saw) the sea
standing still at the word of the youth it displeased him and turning round he
struck him a slight blow on the nose. Three drops of blood flowed from the
wound on to the ground in three separate places at the feet of Declan.
Thereupon Declan blessed the nose and the blood ceased immediately (to flow).
Then Declan declared:--"It was not I who drove out the sea but God in His
own great power who expelled it and He would have done still more had you not
spoken the words you have said." Three little wells of clear sweet water
burst forth in the place where fell the three drops of blood at the feet of
Declan, and these wells are there still and the colour of blood is seen in them
occasionally as a memorial of this miracle. The shore, rescued from the sea, is
a mile in width and is of great length around (the island) and it is good and
fertile land for tillage and pasture--lying beneath the monastery of Declan. As
to the crosier which was in Declan’s hand while he wrought this miracle, this
is its name--the Feartach Declain, from the miracles and marvels [fertaib]
wrought through it. I shall in another, subsequent, place relate some of these
miracles (narrated).
21. After the expulsion
of the sea by this famous Saint, scil.: Declan, whose name and renown spread
throughout Erin because of his great and diverse miracles, he commenced to
build a great monastery by the south side of the stream which flows through the
island into the sea. This monastery is illustrious and beautiful and its name
is Ardmor Declain, as we have said. After this came many persons to Declan,
drawn from the uttermost parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living; they
devoted themselves, soul and body to God and Declan, binding themselves beneath
his yoke and his rule. Moreover he built himself in every place throughout the
territory of the Decies, churches and monasteries and not alone in his own
territory (did he build) but in other regions of Ireland under tribute to him.
Great too were the multitudes (thousands) of men and women who were under his
spiritual sway and rule, in the places we have referred to, throughout Ireland,
where happily they passed their lives. He ordained some of his disciples
bishops and appointed them in these places to sow the seed of faith and
religion therein. Gentleness and charity manifested themselves in Declan to
such an extent that his disciples preferred to live under his immediate control
and under his direction as subjects than to be in authority in another
monastery.
22. After this the holy
renowned bishop, head of justice and faith in the Gaelic island came into
Ireland, i.e. Patrick sent by Celestinus, the Pope. Aongus Mac Nathfrich went
to meet him soon as he heard the account of his coming. He conducted him
(Patrick) with reverence and great honour to his own royal city--to Cashel.
Then Patrick baptised him and blessed himself and his people and his city.
Patrick heard that the prince of the Decies had not been baptised and did not
believe, that there was a disagreement between the prince and Declan and that
the former refused to receive instruction from the latter. Patrick thereupon
set out to preach to the prince aforesaid. Next, as to the four bishops we have
named who had been in Rome: Except Declan alone they were not in perfect
agreement with Patrick. It is true that subsequently to this they did enter
into a league of peace and harmonious actions with Patrick and paid him fealty.
Ciaran, however, paid him all respect and reverence and was of one mind with
him present or absent. Ailbe then, when he saw the kings and rulers of Ireland
paying homage to Patrick and going out to meet him, came himself to Cashel, to
wait on him and he also paid homage to him (Patrick) and submitted to his
jurisdiction, in presence of the king and all others. Bear in mind it was Ailbe
whom the other holy bishops had elected their superior. He therefore came first
to Patrick, lest the others, on his account, should offer opposition to
Patrick, and also that by his example the others might be more easily drawn to
his jurisdiction and rule. Bishop Ibar however would on no account consent to
be subject to Patrick, for it was displeasing to him that a foreigner should be
patron of Ireland. It happened that Patrick in his origin was of the Britons
and he was nurtured in Ireland having been sold to bondage in his boyhood.
There arose misunderstanding and dissension between Patrick and Bishop Ibar at
first, although (eventually), by intervention of the angel of peace, they
formed a mutual fellowship and brotherly compact and they remained in agreement
for ever after. But Declan did not wish to disagree at all with Patrick for
they had formed a mutual bond of friendship on the Italian highway and it is
thus the angel commanded him to go to Patrick and obey him:--
23. The angel of God
came to Declan and said to him "Go quickly to Patrick and prevent him
cursing your kindred and country, for to-night, in the plain which is called
Inneoin, he is fasting against the king, and if he curses your people they
shall be accursed for ever." Thereupon Declan set out in haste by
direction of the angel to Inneoin, i.e. the place which is in the centre of the
plain of Femhin in the northern part of the Decies. He crossed Slieve Gua [Knockmaeldown]
and over the Suir and arrived on the following morning at the place where
Patrick was. When Patrick and his disciples heard that Declan was there they
welcomed him warmly for they had been told he would not come. Moreover Patrick
and his people received him with great honour. But Declan made obeisance to
Patrick and besought him earnestly that he should not execrate his people and
that he should not curse them nor the land in which they dwelt, and he promised
to allow Patrick do as he pleased. And Patrick replied:--"On account of
your prayer not only shall I not curse them but I shall give them a
blessing." Declan went thereupon to the place where was the king of Decies
who was a neighbour of his. But he contemned Patrick and he would not believe
him even at the request of Declan. Moreover Declan promised rewards to him if
he would go to Patrick to receive baptism at his hands and assent to the faith.
But he would not assent on any account. When Declan saw this, scil.:--that the
king of the Decies, who was named Ledban, was obstinate in his infidelity and
in his devilry--through fear lest Patrick should curse his race and country--he
(Declan) turned to the assembly and addressed them:--"Separate yourselves
from this accursed man lest you become yourselves accursed on his account, for
I have myself baptised and blessed you, but come you," said he, "with
us, to Patrick, whom God has sent to bless you, for he has been chosen
Archbishop and chief Patron of all Erin; moreover, I have a right to my own
patrimony and to be king over you as that man (Ledban) has been." At this
speech they all arose and followed Declan who brought them into the presence of
Patrick and said to the latter:--See how the whole people of the Deisi have
come with me as their Lord to thee and they have left the accursed prince whose
subjects they have been, and behold they are ready to reverence you and to obey
you for it is from me they have received baptism." At this Patrick rose up
with his followers and he blessed the people of the Deisi and not them alone,
but their woods and water and land. Whereupon the chiefs and nobles of the
Deisi said:--"Who will be King or Lord over us now?" And Declan
replied:--"I am your lord and whomsoever I shall appoint offer you as
lord, Patrick and all of us will bless, and he shall be king over you
all." And he whom Declan appointed was Feargal MacCormac a certain young
man of the nation of the Deisi who was a kinsman of Declan himself. He (Declan)
set him in the midst of the assembly in the king’s place and he was pleasing to
all. Whereupon Patrick and Declan blessed him and each of them apart proclaimed
him chieftain. Patrick moreover promised the young man that he should be brave
and strong in battle, that the land should be fruitful during his reign. Thus
have the kings of the Deisi always been.
24. After these things
Declan and Feargal Mac Cormac (king of the Deisi) and his people gave a large
area of land to Patrick in the neighbourhood of Magh Feimhin and this belongs
to his successors ever since and great lordship there. And the place which was
given over to him is not far from the Suir. There is a great very clear
fountain there which is called "Patrick’s Well" and this was dear to
Patrick. After this, with blessing, they took leave of one another and Patrick
returned to Cashel to Aongus Mac Natfrich and Declan went with him.
25. A miracle was
wrought at that time on Declan through the intercession and prayers of Patrick
for as Declan was walking carelessly along he trod upon a piece of sharp iron
which cut his foot so that blood flowed freely and Declan began to limp. Ailbe
of Emly was present at this miracle and Sechnall a bishop of Patrick’s and a
holy and wise man, and he is said to be the first bishop buried in Ireland. The
wound which Declan had received grieved them very much. Patrick was informed of
the accident and was grieved thereat. He said:--"Heal, O Master (i.e.
God), the foot of your own servant who bears much toil and hardship on your
account." Patrick laid his hand on the wounded foot and made over it the
sign of the cross when immediately the flow of blood ceased, the lips of the
wound united, a cicatrix formed upon it and a cure was effected. Then Declan
rose up with his foot healed and joined in praising God. The soldiers and
fighting men who were present cried out loudly, blessing God and the saints.
26. As Patrick and the
saints were in Cashel, i.e. Ailbe and Declan with their disciples, in the
territory of Aongus Mac Nathfrich, they made much progress against paganism and
errors in faith and they converted them (the pagans) to Christianity. It was
ordained by Patrick and Aongus Mac Natfrich in presence of the assembly, that
the Archbishopric of Munster should belong to Ailbe, and to Declan, in like
manner, was ordained (committed) his own race, i.e. the Deisi, whom he had
converted to be his parish and his episcopate. As the Irish should serve
Patrick, so should the Deisi serve Declan as their patron, and Patrick made the
"rann":--
"Humble Ailbe the
Patrick of Munster, greater than any saying, Declan, Patrick of the Deisi--the
Decies to Declan for ever." This is equivalent to saying that Ailbe was a
second Patrick and that Declan was a second Patrick of the Decies. After that,
when the king had bidden them farewell and they had all taken leave of one
another, the saints returned to their respective territories to sow therein the
seed of faith.
27. Declan and Ferghal
Mac Cormac, king of the Deisi, with his army and followers, met one another at
Indeoin and they made still more strong on the people the bond of Christian
obligation. The king we have already mentioned, scil.:--Ledban, the recusant to
the Christian name, was rejected of all and he came to nothing, leaving no
knowledge (memory) of his history, as is written of the enemies of the
faith:--"Their memory perisheth like a sound" [Psalm 9:7]. Moreover
Declan and Fergal and the chief men of the Deisi decreed this as the place
where the king of the Deisi should be inaugurated for ever thenceforward, because
it was there Patrick and Declan blessed the king, Fergal; moreover tradition
states that it was there the kings were crowned and ruled over the Deisi in
pagan times.
28. At that time there
broke out a dreadful plague in Munster and it was more deadly in Cashel than
elsewhere. Thus it affected those whom it attacked: it first changed their
colour to yellow and then killed them. Now Aongus had, in a stone fort called
"Rath na nIrlann," on the western side of Cashel, seven noble
hostages. It happened that in one and the same night they all died of the
plague. The king was much affected thereat and he gave orders to have the fact
concealed lest it should bring disgrace or even war upon him, for the hostages
were scions of the strongest and most powerful families in Munster. On the
morrow however Declan came to Cashel and talked with Aonghus. The king welcomed
him heartily and addressing him said to him in presence of persons of his
court, "I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in the name of Christ you
would raise to life for me the seven hostages whom I held in bondage from the
chieftains of Munster. They have died from the plague of which you hear, and I
fear their fathers will raise war and rebellion against me, for they are men of
strength and power, and indeed we are ashamed of their death, for they will say
that it is we ourselves who killed them." Declan answered the king, saying
to him:--"Such a matter as this--to raise one to life from death--belongs
to Omnipotence alone--but I shall do whatever is in my power. I go where the
bodies lie and pray to God for them and let Him do in their regard what seems
best to Him." Next, Declan, with a multitude and his disciples together
with the king’s councillors, went to the place where the corpses of the young
men lay. The king followed after them until he came in sight of the bodies.
Declan, full of divine faith, entered the house wherein they lay and he
sprinkled holy water over them and prayed for them in the presence of all,
saying:--"O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the living God, for thine own
name’s sake wake the dead that they may be strengthened in the Catholic faith
through our instrumentality." Thereupon, at Declan’s prayer, the group (of
corpses) revived and they moved their eyelids and Declan said to them "In
the name of Christ, our Saviour, stand up and bless and glorify God." And
at his words they rose up immediately and spoke to all. Declan then announced
to the king that they were alive and well. When people saw this remarkable
miracle they all gave glory and praise to God. The fame of Declan thereupon
spread throughout Erin and the king rejoiced for restoration of his hostages.
29. After this the
people of Cashel besought Bishop Declan to bless their city and banish the
plague from them and to intercede with God for those stricken with sickness who
could not escape from its toils. Declan seeing the people’s faith prayed to God
and signed with the sign of Redemption the four points of the compass. As he
concluded, there was verified the saying of Christ to His disciples when
leaving them and going to heaven:--"Super aegros imponent manus et bene
habebunt" [Mark 16:18] ("I shall place my hands on the sick and they
shall be healed"). Soon as Declan had made the sign of the cross each one
who was ill became well and not alone were these restored to health but (all
the sick) of the whole region round about in whatsoever place there were
persons ailing. Moreover the plague was banished from every place and all
rejoiced greatly thereat as well as on account of the resurrection of the dead
men we have narrated. The king thereupon ordered tribute and honour to Declan
and his successors from himself and from every king who should hold Cashel ever
after. Upon this the glorious bishop Declan blessed Aongus together with his
city and people and returned back to his own place.
30. One night Declan
was a guest at the house of a wealthy man who dwelt in the southern part of
Magh Femhin; this is the kind of person his host was, scil.:--a pagan who
rejected the true faith, and his name was Dercan. He resolved to amuse himself
at the Christians’ expense; accordingly he ordered his servants to kill a dog
secretly, to cut off its head and feet and to bury them in the earth and then
to cook the flesh properly and to set it before Declan and his company as their
meal. Moreover he directed that the dog should be so fat that his flesh might
pass as mutton. When, in due course, it was cooked, the flesh, together with
bread and other food, was laid before Declan and his following. At that moment
Declan had fallen asleep but he was aroused by his disciples that he might
bless their meal. He observed to them:--"Indeed I see, connected with this
meat, the ministry of the devil." Whereupon he questioned the waiters as
to the meat--what kind it was and whence procured. They replied: "Our
master ordered us to kill a fat ram for you and we have done as he
commanded." Declan said, "Our Master is Jesus Christ and may He show
us what it is that connects the ministry of Satan with this meat and preserve
thy servants from eating forbidden food." As he spoke thus Declan saw in
the meat the claw of a dog, for, without intending it, they had boiled one
quarter of the dog with its paw adhering; they thought they had buried it (the
incriminating limb) with the other paws. Declan exclaimed, "This is not a
sheep’s but a dog’s foot." When the attendants heard this they went at
once to their master and related the matter to him. Then Dercan came to Declan,
accepted his faith and received Baptism at his hands, giving himself and his
posterity to Declan for ever. Moreover he gave his homestead to Declan and his
people were baptised. After this Dercan requested that Declan should bless
something in his homestead which might remain as a memorial of him (Dercan) for
ever. Then Declan blessed a bell which he perceived there and its name is
Clog-Dhercain ("Dercan’s Bell"); moreover, he declared: "I endow
it with this virtue (power) that if the king of Decies march around it when
going to battle, against his enemies, or to punish violation of his rights, he
shall return safely and with victory." This promise has been frequently
fulfilled, but proud (men) undertaking battle or conflict unjustly even if they
march around it do not obtain victory but success remains with the enemy. The
name of that homestead was Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain’s House") and its
name now is Coningean, from the claw [con] of the hound or dog aforesaid. To
this place came the saintly concourse, scil:--Coman and Ultan, MacErc and
Mocoba and Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and
placed themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan.
31. Thereupon Declan
established a monastery in that place, scil.--in Coningin--and he placed there
this holy community with a further band of disciples. Ultan however he took
away with him to the place whither he went.
32. On another
(subsequent) occasion Declan visited Bregia, i.e. the original territory which
belonged to his race previous to the expulsion of his ancestors. There he was
treated with particular honour by the king of Tara and by the chieftains of
Meath by whom he was beloved, since it was from themselves (their tribe and
territory) that his forbears had gone out, for that region was the patrimony of
his race and within it lies Tara. Declan instituted therein a monastery of
Canons, on land which he received from the king, and it is from him the place
is named. Moreover he left therein a relic or illuminated book and a famous
gospel which he was accustomed to carry always with him. The gospel is still
preserved with much honour in the place and miracles are wrought through it.
After this again he turned towards Munster.
33. Declan was once
travelling through Ossory when he wished to remain for the night in a certain
village. But the villagers not only did not receive him but actually drove him
forth by force of arms. The saint however prayed to God that it might happen to
them what the Sacred Scripture says, "Vengeance is mine I will repay"
[Deuteronomy 32:35]. The dwellers in the village, who numbered sixty, died that
same night with the exception of two men and ten women to whom the conduct of
the others towards the saint had been displeasing. On the morrow these men and
women came humbly to the place where Declan was and they told him--what he
himself foreknew--how miserably the others had died. They themselves did
penance and they bestowed on Declan a suitable site whereon he built a
monastery and he got another piece of land and had the dead buried where he
built the monastery. The name of that monastery is Cill-Colm-Dearg. This
Colm-Dearg was a kind, holy man and a disciple of Declan. He was of East
Leinster, i.e. of the Dal Meiscorb, and it is from him that the monastery is
named. When he (Declan) had completed that place he came to his own territory
again, i.e. to the Decies.
34. On a certain day
Declan came to a place called Ait-Breasail and the dwellers therein would not
allow him to enter their village; moreover they hid all their boats so that he
could not go into his own island, for they hated him very much. In
consideration however of the sanctity of his servant, who prayed in patience,
God the All-Powerful turned the sea into dry land as you have already heard.
Declan passed the night in an empty stable out in the plain and the people of
the village did not give him even a fire. Whereupon, appropriately the anger of
God fell on them, who had not compassion enough to supply the disciple of God
with a fire. There came fire from heaven on them to consume them all [together
with their] homestead and village, so that the place has been ever since a
wilderness accursed, as the prophet writes: "civitates eorum
destruxisti" [Psalm 9:7], i.e. the dwellings of the unmerciful are laid
waste.
35. On yet another
occasion Declan was in his own region--travelling over Slieve Gua in the
Decies, when his horse from some cause got lame so that he could proceed no
further. Declan however, seeing a herd of deer roaming the mountain close to
him, said to one of his vpeople: "Go, and bring me for my chariot one of
these deer to replace my horse and take with you this halter for him."
Without any misgiving the disciple went on till he reached the deer which
waited quietly for him. He chose the animal which was largest and therefore
strongest, and, bringing him back, yoked him to the chariot. The deer thereupon
obediently and without effort carried Bishop Declan till he came to Magh
Femhin, where, when he reached a house of entertainment, the saint unloosed the
stag and bade him to go free as was his nature. Accordingly, at the command of
the saintly man and in the presence of all, the stag returned on the same road
back (to the mountain). Dormanach is the name of the man aforesaid who brought
the stag to Declan and him Declan blessed and gave him a piece of land on the
north of Decies close by the Eoghanacht and his posterity live till now in that
place.
36. On another
occasion, Declan, accompanied, as usual, by a large following, was travelling,
when one member of the party fell on the road and broke his shin bone in twain.
Declan saw the accident and, pitying the injured man, he directed an individual
of the company to bandage the broken limb so that the sufferer might not die
through excess of pain and loss of blood. All replied that they could not
endure to dress the wound owing to their horror thereof. But there was one of
the company, Daluadh by name, who faced the wound boldly and confidently and
said: "In the name of Christ and of Declan our patron I shall be surgeon
to this foot"; and he said that jestingly. Nevertheless he bandaged the
foot carefully and blessed it aright in the name of God and Declan, and in a
little while the wound healed and they all gave praise to God. Then Declan said
to Daluadh: "You promised to be surgeon to that foot in Christ’s name and
in mine and God has vouchsafed to heal it at these words: on this account you
will be a true physician for ever and your children and your seed after you for
ever shall also possess the healing art, and whomsoever they shall practise
healing upon in God’s name and mine, provided there be no hatred [in their
hearts] nor too great covetousness of a physician’s fee to him, God and myself
shall send relief." This promise of Declan has been fulfilled in the case
of that family.
37. On another
occasion, as Declan was travelling in the northern part of Magh Femhin beside
the Suir, he met there a man who was carrying a little infant to get it
baptised. Declan said to the people [his "muinntear," or following]:
"Wait here till I baptise yonder child," for it was revealed by the
Holy Ghost to him that he [the babe] should serve God. The attendant replied to
him that they had neither a vessel nor salt for the baptism. Declan said:
"We have a wide vessel, the Suir, and God will send us salt, for this
child is destined to become holy and wonderful [in his works]." Thereupon
Declan took up a fistful of earth and, making prayer in his heart to God, he
signed the clay with the sign of the cross of redemption. It (the handful of
earth) became white, dry salt, and all, on seeing it, gave thanks and honour to
God and Declan. The infant was baptised there and the name of Ciaran given him.
Declan said: "Bring up my spiritual son carefully and send him, at a
fitting age, for education to a holy man who is well instructed in the faith
for he will become a shining bright pillar in the Church." And it was this
child, Ciaran Mac Eochaidh, who founded in after years a famous monastery (from
which he migrated to heaven) and another place (monastery) besides. He worked
many miracles and holy signs and this is the name of his monastery Tiprut
[Tubrid] and this is where it is:--in the western part of the Decies in Ui
Faithe between Slieve Grot [Galtee] and Sieve Cua and it is within the
bishopric of Declan.
38. On another day
there came a woman to Declan’s monastery not far from the city where she dwelt.
She committed a theft that day in Declan’s monastery as she had often done
previously, and this is the thing she stole--a "habellum" [possibly
an item of tribute]; she departed homewards taking it with her and there met
her a group of people on the highway, and the earth, in their presence,
swallowed her up, and she cast out the tabellum from her bosom and it was
quickly turned into a stone which the wayfarers took and brought with them to
Declan. Declan himself had in supernatural vision seen all that happened to the
woman in punishment of her theft, and the name of Declan was magnified owing to
those marvels so that fear took possession of all-those present and those
absent. The stone in question remains still in Declan’s graveyard in his own
town of Ardmore-Declain, where it stands on an elevated place in memory of this
miracle.
39. A rich man named
Fintan was childless, for his wife was barren for many years. He himself, with
his wife, visited Declan and promised large alms and performance of good works
provided he (Declan) would pray that they might have children: they held it as
certain that if Declan but prayed for them God would grant them children. Declan
therefore, praying to God and blessing the pair, said: "Proceed to your
home and through God’s bounty you shall have offspring." The couple
returned home, with great joy for the blessing and for the promise of the
offspring. The following night, Fintan lay with his wife and she conceived and
brought forth twin sons, scil.: Fiacha and Aodh, who, together with their
children and descendants were under tribute and service to God and Declan.
40. When it was made
known to a certain holy man, scil.:--Ailbe of Emly Iubar, chief bishop of
Munster, that his last days had come, he said to his disciples: "Beloved
brethren, I wish, before I die, to visit my very dear fellow worker,
scil.:--Declan." After this Ailbe set out on the journey and an angel of
God came to Declan notifying him that Ailbe was on his way to visit him. On the
angel’s notification Declan ordered his disciples to prepare the house for
Ailbe’s coming. He himself went to meet Ailbe as far as the place which is
called Druim Luctraidh [Luchluachra]. Thence they came home together and Ailbe,
treated with great honour by Declan and his people, stayed fourteen pleasant
days. After that the aged saint returned home again to his own city, scil.:--to
Emly Iubar. Declan came and many of his people, escorting Ailbe, to Druim
Luchtradh, and Ailbe bade him return to his own city. The two knew they should
not see one another in this world ever again. In taking leave of one another,
therefore, they shed plentiful tears of sorrow and they instituted an everlasting
compact and league between their successors in that place. Ailbe moreover
blessed the city of Declan, his clergy and people and Declan did the same for
Ailbe and they kissed one another in token of love and peace and each returned
to his own city.
41. On a certain day
the Castle of Cinaedh, King of the Deisi, took fire and it burned violently. It
happened however that Declan was proceeding towards the castle on some business
and he was grieved to see it burning; he flung towards it the staff to which we
have referred in connection with the drying up of the sea, and it (the staff)
flew hovering in the air with heavenly wings till it reached the midst of the
flame and the fire was immediately extinguished of its own accord through the
grace of God and virtue of the staff and of Declan to whom it belonged. The
place from which Declan cast the staff was a long mile distant from the castle
and when the king, i.e. Cinaedh, and all the others witnessed this miracle they
were filled with amazement and gave thanks to God and to Declan when they came
to know that it was he who wrought it. Now the place where the castle stands is
not far from the Suir, i.e. on the south side of it and the place from which
Declan cast the staff is beside a ford which is in the Suir or a stream which
flows beside the monastery called Mag Laca [Molough] which the holy virgins,
daughters of the king of Decies, have built in honour of God. There is a pile
of stones and a cross in the place to commemorate this miracle.
42. On another occasion
there approached a foreign fleet towards Declan’s city and this was their
design--to destroy and to plunder it of persons and of cattle, because they
(the foreigners) were people hostile to the faith. Many members of the
community ran with great haste to tell Declan of the fleet which threatened the
town and to request him to beg the assistance of God against the invaders.
Declan knew the man amongst his own disciples who was holiest and most
abounding in grace, scil., Ultan, already mentioned, and him he ordered to pray
to God against the fleet. Ultan had pity on the Christian people and he went
instantly, at the command of Declan, in front of the fleet and he held his left
hand against it, and, on the spot, the sea swallowed them like sacks full of lead,
and the drowned sailors were changed into large rocks which stand not far from
the mouth of the haven where they are visible (standing) high out of the sea
from that time till now. All Christians who witnessed this rejoiced and were
glad and they gave great praise and glory to God and to Declan their own patron
who caused the working of this miracle and of many other miracles besides. Next
there arose a contention between Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for
Ultan attributed it to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has
become a proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or
jeopardy:--"The left hand of Ultan against you (the danger)." Ultan
became, after the death of Declan, a miracle-working abbot of many other holy
monks.
43. The holy and
glorious archbishop, i.e. Patrick, sent one of his own followers to Declan with
power and authority (delegation) from the archbishop. And proceeding through
the southern part of Decies he was drowned in a river [the Lickey] there, two
miles from the city of Declan. When Declan heard this he was grieved and he
said: "Indeed it grieves me that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent
him to visit me, having travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned in a
river of my own territory. Get my chariot for me that I may go in haste to see
his corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the worry and the grief I have
undergone because of his disciple’s death." The body had been recovered
before the arrival of Declan by others who were close at hand and it had been
placed on a bier to be carried to Ciaran for interment. Declan however met them
on the way, when he ordered the body to be laid down on the ground. They
supposed he was about to recite the Office for the Dead. He (Declan) advanced
to the place where the bier was and lifted the sheet covering the face. It (the
face) looked dark and deformed as is usual in the case of the drowned. He
prayed to God and shed tears, but no one heard aught of what he said. After
this he commanded:--"In the name of the Trinity, in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I bear myself, arise
to us for God has given your life to me." He (the dead man) rose up
immediately at the command and he greeted Declan and all the others. Whereupon
Declan and his disciples received him with honour. At first he was not
completely cured but (was) like one convalescent until (complete) health
returned to him by degrees again. He however accompanied Declan and remained
some time with him and there was much rejoicing in Declan’s city on account of
the miracle and his (Declan’s) name and fame extended over the country
generally. This disciple of Patrick was named Ballin; he returned with great
joy and he told him (Patrick) that Declan had raised him from the dead. To many
others likewise he related what had happened to him. Patrick, in presence of
many persons, hearing of the miracle gave glory and thanks to God and the name
of Declan was magnified.
44. With this
extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan we wish to conclude our discourse. The
number of miracles he wrought, but which are not written here, you are to judge
and gather from what we have written. And we wish moreover that you would
understand that he healed the infirm, that he gave sight to the eyes of the
blind, cleansed lepers, and gave "their walk" to cripples; that he
obtained hearing for the deaf, and that he healed many and various diseases in
many different places throughout Ireland--(things) which are not written here
because of their length and because they are so numerous to record, for fear it
should tire readers to hear so much said of one particular person. On that
account we shall pass them by.
45. When Declan
realised that his last days were at hand and that the time remaining to him was
very short he summoned to him his own spiritual son, scil., MacLiag (residing)
in the monastery which is on the eastern side of the Decies close to the
Leinstermen in order that, at the hour of death, he might receive the Body and
Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from his hands. Thereupon he
foretold to his disciples the day of his death and he commanded them to bring
him to his own city, for it was not there he dwelt at the time but in a small
venerable cell which he had ordered to be built for him between the hill called
Ardmore Declain and the ocean--in a narrow place at the brink of the sea by
which there flows down from the hill above a small shining stream about which
are trees and bushes all around, and it is called Disert Declain. Thence to the
city it is a short mile and the reason why Declan used go there was to avoid
turmoil and noise so that he might be able to read and pray and fast there.
Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there because of the multitude of
disciples and paupers and pilgrims and beggars who followed him thither. Declan
was however generous and very sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by
tradition that a great following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him
and that moreover the little cell was very dear to him for the reason we have
given, and many devout people have made it their practice to dwell therein.
46. When Declan fell
ill and became weak in body, but still strong in hope and faith and love of
God, he returned to his own city--his people and disciples and clergy
surrounding him. He discoursed to them on the commands of God and he enjoined
on them to live holily after his death, to be submissive to authority and to
follow as closely as possible the way he had marked out and to preserve his
city in a state of piety and under religious rule. And when they had all heard
the discourse it grieved them greatly to perceive, from what he had said, he
realised that in a short time he would go away to heaven from them. But they
were consoled by his gentle words and then there came to him the holy man, to
wit, MacLiag, at his own request, already referred to. He [Declan] received the
Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from his [MacLiag’s]
hand--surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and he blessed his people and
his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them in token of love and peace.
Thus, having banished images and the sacrifices to idols, having converted
multitudes to the true faith, having established monasteries and ecclesiastical
orders in various places, having spent his whole life profitably and holily,
this glorious bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of the
Kalends of August and his body was blessed and honoured with Masses and
chanting by holy men and by the people of the Decies and by his own monks and
disciples collected from every quarter at the time of his death. He was buried
with honour in his own city--in Declan’s High-Place--in the tomb which by
direction of an angel he had himself indicated--which moreover has wrought
wonders and holy signs from that time to now. He departed to the Unity of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost in Saecula Saeculorum;Amen. FINIS.
The poor brother,
Michael O’Clery originally copied this life of Declan in Cashel, from the book
of Eochy O’Heffernan. The date, A.D., at which that ancient book of Eochy was
written is 1582. And the same life has now been re-written in the Convent of
the Friars at Druiske, the date, A.D., 27th February, 1629.
And this Life of St.
Declan was transcribed electronically for the public domain by Dennis McCarthy,
a layman, in the city of Atlanta in Georgia of the United States of America. He
copied this life from the 1914 translation from the Irish to the English tongue
by Rev. P. Power of University College, Cork. Dennis has completed this work on
February 27 in the year of Our Lord 1997, and prayerfully dedicated it to the
memory of his deceased siblings.