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The Incredulity of Thomas
John, son of Zebedee, the beloved disciple of Jesus, the heir of the Virgin, the twelfth apostle in the order of the apostolate, the fourth Evangelist who wrote the Lord's Gospel, recounts the great...
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A Ninth-Century Antiphon and its Composer
Although he is not actually an Irish saint, I cannot resist marking the feastday of the blessed Notker Balbulus of the Irish abbey of Saint Gall, which falls on April 6. Below is an extract from an...
View ArticleThe Rule of Saint Comgall
Saint Comgall, founder of the monastery of Bangor, had a reputation for upholding a strict monastic rule. In 1904 scholar John Strachan published the text of an Old Irish Metrical Rule associated with...
View ArticleSaint Dubhlitir of Finglas, May 15
May 15 is the commemoration of an eighth-century County Dublin saint, Dubhlitir of Finglas. In common with other monastics from this foundation his passing was recorded in the Irish Annals, as Canon...
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Teach me, O Trinity
E. Hull Poem, Book of the Gael (1913)To mark Trinity Sunday, below is a poem taken from a 1913 collection of texts and translations by the Anglican writer Eleanor Hull (1860-1935). She is perhaps best...
View ArticleSaint Columba and the Woman Escorted by the Angels to Paradise
June 9 is the feastday of Saint Colum Cille [Columba] of Iona. As I have previously noted on the blog, Iona's founder shares his feastday with his immediate successor and kinsman, Baithin. Canon...
View ArticleSaint Cassán of Cluain-Ratha, June 20
There seems to be some confusion over the date of the feast of Saint Cassán of Cluain-Ratha with a disagreement between earlier and later calendars. The earlier Martyrology of Tallaght records his...
View ArticleSaint Sillen, June 21
Canon O'Hanlon brings details of a reputed feast of Saint Sillen (Senilis, Siollán) at June 21. The original source is the Scottish hagiologist, Thomas Dempster (1579-1625). He was something of a hate...
View ArticleThe Children of Senchán, June 23
I have always been interested in the collective commemorations of groups of saints found in the Irish calendars. There are two such groups remembered at June 23, the Daughters of Moinan, a post on whom...
View ArticleA New Hiberno-Latin Hymn on Saint Martin of Tours
Professor Michael Lapidge has published the text of a hymn to Saint Martin, which although it has been preserved in a collection of materials called the pseudo-Bede Collectaneum published in Basle in...
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The Death of Saint Killian and his Companions
DEATH OF ST KILIAN AND HIS COMPANIONS.St. Kilian, accompanied by two companions, went from Ireland to the vicinity of Wurzburg to preach the Gospel. The fame of his deeds reached the ears of Duke...
View ArticleDeacon Aedh of Cuil-Maine, July 10
On July 10 Canon O'Hanlon brings details of a Saint Aedh, described in the Martyrologies as a 'Deacon'. He identifies the locality associated with this holy man as Clonmany, County Donegal. Pádraig Ó...
View ArticleSaint Lonan of Ard Cruinn, July 11
Another name to add to the ever-growing list of obscure Irish holy men - Saint Lonan of Ard Cruinn, commemorated on July 11. Canon O'Hanlon seeks to identify the locality of Ard Cruinn with Ardcroney...
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Saint Menou of Quimper-Corentin, July 12
July 12 is the feast of Saint Menou, said to have been an Irishman. Modern scholarship is a great deal more sceptical of taking traditions of Irish origins for continental saints at face value. Gwenaël...
View ArticleSaint Cruimther Fionntain of Cill-Airthir, July 13
Canon O'Hanlon brings details of an interesting saint at July 13: Cruimther Fionntain of Cill-airthir. The epithet Cruimther or cruimhthear indicates that our saint was a priest. In his account below,...
View ArticleSaint Colman, Son of Aingen, July 14
Another name to add to our list of Irish saints called Colman - Colman, Son of Aingen, commemorated on July 14. Canon O'Hanlon seems to have been aware only of the evidence from the Irish calendars,...
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The Feast of the Dispersion of the Apostles, July 15
On July 15 Canon O'Hanlon notes the recording, in the Martyrology of Aengus, of The Feast of the Dispersion of the Apostles. This feast marks the dispersal of the Holy Apostles to their various...
View ArticleSaint Gobbán Beg, July 16
There are a number of saints called Gobbán to be found on the Irish calendars. Occasionally their names are accompanied by a patronymic or an epithet. There is, for example a Gobán Corr 'the stooped'...
View ArticleThe Testament of Saint Arbogast
July 21 is the feast of Saint Arbogast, an Irish saint who laboured in Strassburg. Below is a poem in his honour composed by the Irish born poet, Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868). It deals with the...
View ArticleThe Monastic Teaching of Saint Molua
Canon O'Hanlon's account of Saint Molua (Lugid) in his Lives of the Irish Saints paints a picture of the type of teaching the saint imparted to those pursuing the monastic life under his care. He was...
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