Saint Mainchein of Louth, December 2
December 2 is the feast of a County Louth saint described in the Martyrology of Donegal as:2. G. QUARTO NONAS DECEMBRIS. 2.MAINCHEIN, i.e., Mochta’s cook.This would seem to associate him with the early...
View ArticlePrimitive Irish Monasteries I
Below is the first in a trilogy of papers on early Irish monasteries published in 1883 by Father Jerome Fahy (1843-1919). Father Fahy is perhaps best known for his work on the diocese of Kilmacduagh,...
View ArticlePrimitive Irish Monasteries II
We continue the series on early Irish monasticism by Father Jerome Fahy with a paper looking at the contribution made by monastic schools to learning, art and literature. His pride in these...
View ArticlePrimitive Irish Monasteries III
We conclude the trilogy of papers on early Irish monasticism by Father Jerome Fahy with his examination of its liturgical, musical and canonical traditions. He again takes the view that Saint Patrick...
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Saint Berechert of Tullylease, December 6
December 6 is the feast of Saint Berechert of Tullylease. Last year I discussed some of the difficulties surrounding the identity of this saint, who may be one of the Saxons who came to Ireland after...
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Feast of the Birth of Saint Colum Cille, December 7
St. Columba then was born of noble parents; his father was Fedilmith, son of Fergus, and his mother was Aethne,whose father can be called in Latin Filius Navis, but in the Scotic tongue Mac...
View ArticleSaint Finnian of Clonard, December 12
December 12 is the feast day of Saint Finnian of Clonard. Last year I posted a paper on his life from the Irish Ecclesiastical Record which can be read here. Below is another and very different account...
View ArticleThe Monastic School of Clonard
I now post part two of Archbishop Healy's account of Saint Finnian and his monastery of Clonard. The writer is in fine form as he introduces us to the 'Twelve Apostles of Erin' including the beautiful...
View ArticleSaint Iotharnaisc of Clane, December 22
December 22 is the feast of Saint Iotharnaisc of Clane, County Kildare, whom we met last year in a post on Saint Ultan Tua. It seems that Saint Iotharnaisc also had a Scottish link, where he appears...
View ArticleSaint Mochua of Timahoe, December 24
The Irish Calendars commemorate Saint Mochua of Timahoe on the eve of Christmas, although for some reason the Bollandists commemorated him on January 1. Below is a brief account of his life which...
View ArticleSaint Maolán of Tullaghmelan, December 25
Among the Irish saints who celebrate their feast days on the Feast of Christ's Nativity is Saint Maolán of Tullaghmelan. Not much is actually known of him save that he is remembered as the founder of...
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'The High-King of Heaven was born in kindly Bethlehem at Christmas' - a...
Mary, the smooth white ewe, bore an illustrious Lamb in the stall of an ass; she merited not a mean cold lodging when the illustrious Lamb was with His mother. The High-King of Heaven was born in...
View ArticleSaint Tiopraite of Magh-ratha, December 27
We have another of the many obscure Irish saints commemorated on December 27. In the case of Tiopraite of Magh-ratha, the locality associated with him brings its own problems of identification. The...
View ArticleSaint Aileran the Wise of Clonard, December 29
December 29 sees the commemoration of one of the great scholars of the monastic school of Clonard - Aileran (also known as Aireran ) the Wise. The Martyrology of Oengus records:29. Swift will be their...
View ArticleSaints Lochan and Enda of Kilmanagh, December 31
The Irish Calendars for December 31 agree in commemorating two saints, Lochan and Enda, along with Pope Sylvester. The Martyrology of Oengus reads:31. Lochan and Endae.Silvester, noble desire!from...
View ArticleSaint Colman Muilinn of Derrykeighan, January 1
January 1 is the commemoration of a County Antrim saint with Patrician associations, Colman Muilinn of Derrykeighan. Irish genealogical sources link the mother of our saint to Milchú, the man who first...
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A Legend of Saint Scothine
January 2 is the feast of Saint Scothin, an account of whose life can be found here. Below is a retelling of the most famous of the legends associated with him, by the Irish Anglican writer Maud...
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Saint Cillene of Fahan, January 3
Bell of Saint Mura (UJA, 1853)January 3 is the commemoration of a seventh/eighth-century Abbot of Fahan in County Donegal, Cillene Ua Colla. The monastery of Fahan was founded by Saint Mura and various...
View ArticleSaint Fiadhnat, January 4
Another of the many obscure Irish female saints is commemorated on January 4. All we know of Saint Fiadhnat is the recording of her name in the Irish calendars, and in the absence of anything else to...
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An Irish Poem on the Wise Men
J. R. Allen, Early Christian Symbolism in Gt Britain and Ireland (1887)January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany, which in the western church is associated with the bringing of gifts to the infant Christ...
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