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Saint Ciarán of Saighir, March 5
March 5 is the feastday of Saint Ciarán of Saighir, one of the 'twelve apostles of Ireland', a so-called 'pre-Patrician saint' and patron of the diocese of Ossory. Below is an extract from an address...
View ArticleSt. Indreachtach O'Finachtain, March 12
On March 12 Canon O'Hanlon brings the details of a ninth-century abbot of Iona who may also have been a martyr. The final reference to William of Malmesbury would seem to make our saint the same Saint...
View ArticleSaint Brigid, March 14
March 14 is the feast of a Saint Brigid, around whose precise identity much confusion reigns. Canon O'Hanlon's source is Bishop Forbes' Scottish Kalendars and so we can turn directly to this...
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This illustrious saint was a man of work, prayer and penance...
This illustrious Saint was a man of work, and prayer, and penance. To his last breath he ceased not to teach his people. His daily devotions were countless. It is related that he made the sign of the...
View ArticleSaint Mochelloc of Kilmalloch, March 26
Saint Mochelloc of Kilmalloch is commemorated on March 26. As Canon O'Hanlon's account brings out, this saint's festival is very well-attested on the Irish and other calendars, albeit at the cost of...
View ArticleSaint Fulartach of Clonard, March 29
On March 29 we commemorate Fulartach, an eighth century saint of Clonard, County Meath. As Canon O'Hanlon explains, there are two saints of this name, one with a feast on March 29 and the other on...
View ArticleSaint Fergus of Downpatrick, March 30
On March 30 we commemorate a bishop of Downpatrick, Saint Fergus. In his account of the saint below Canon O'Hanlon refers to the work of the scholarly hagiologists of earlier centuries and their...
View ArticleThe Sons of Gerán, April 1
We can begin the month of April with the commemoration of an obscure grouping of saints, known as The Sons of Gerán. How many individuals comprised the group is not recorded, indeed the only...
View ArticleSaint Gallus of Loch Techet, April 4
At April 4, Canon O'Hanlon brings details of a lake-dwelling saint, Gallus of Loch Techet:St. Gallus, of Loch Techet, now Lough Gara, Counties of Roscommon and Sligo. A distinguished statesman has...
View ArticleThe Feast of Saint Patrick's First Baptism in Ireland, April 5
Although March 17 has been and gone it is interesting to note that the festival of Saint Patrick is not the only date associated with our national patron to appear on the Irish calendars. Below Canon...
View ArticleFeast of the Ordination of Saint Patrick, April 6
Following on from the commemoration of the feast of Saint Patrick's first baptism in Ireland, we now mark the ordination of our national apostle, as Canon O'Hanlon explains:The Ordination of St....
View ArticleSaint Ros of Downpatrick, April 7
On April 7 we commemorate Saint Ros of Downpatrick. This holy man is linked by kinship in the hagiographical sources to the chieftain Dichu, who gifts a barn to Saint Patrick and becomes one of his...
View ArticleSaint Aedhan Mac Ua Duibhne, April 8
On April 8 Canon O'Hanlon brings us an account of a Saint Aedhan, distinguished from others of the same name by the patronymic Mac Ua Duibhne. The seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father Colgan,...
View ArticleA Hymn for Sunday Matins from the Bangor Antiphonary
Ymnum ad Matutinam in Dominica - Spiritus Diuinae Lucis Gloriae or Respice in me, DomineSpirit of the light of divine glory,look round on me, Lord.God of truth,Lord God of hosts,God of Israel,look...
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Irish Monks and the Norsemen I
The Vikings are a favourite subject of historical revisionism these days, gone is the image of the fierce pagan marauders on which my generation was raised and instead we are encouraged to think of the...
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Irish Monks and the Norsemen II
Concluding the paper by Henry Howorth on the Viking attacks on Ireland's monasteries. Whilst the author himself apologizes for the dry nature of the material, there are nevertheless some interesting...
View ArticleThe Structure of the Early Irish Church
Recently while reading a paper on the early church in County Tyrone, I came across the following model of church structure proposed by scholar Richard Sharpe. The examples given here obviously relate...
View ArticleMonasticism and the Early Irish Church
In a most useful and stimulating paper, Prof. Liam Tracey, OSM, offers a critique of the 'Celtic Church' as it is popularly understood by modern enthusiasts for 'Celtic Christianity'. In passing, he...
View ArticleSaint Meithcearn, April 23
On the Irish calendars April 23 is primarily the feast of Saint Ibar, but he shares the day with a much more obscure saint, Meithcearn, of whom all we know is the recording of his name in the...
View ArticleMiracles and the Monastic Life of Saint Comgall
May 10 is the feast of Saint Comgall, founder of the monastery of Bangor. Canon O'Hanlon has helpfully recounted many of the miracles attributed to him recorded by the Bollandists. Some give an...
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