A Homily of Saint Columbanus on the Holy Trinity
Below is a sermon of Saint Columbanus in which this great Irish Church Father teaches on God as Trinity. The text is taken from the electronic version of the works of Saint Columbanus edited by G....
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Brendan and Briga - The Benedict and Scholastica of Ireland
One of the best-known Irish saints whose feast day falls in the month of May must be Saint Brendan the Navigator. I have already posted an exhaustive series of notes on his life from the Irish...
View ArticleInniskeel, Saint Conall and Saint Dallan Forgaill
May 20 is the commemoration of a County Donegal saint, Conall (Connell, Conald) of Iniscaoil. I introduced this saint here at which time I mentioned that a second saint with a similar name is...
View ArticleSaint Nechtlic the Bishop, May 23
On May 23 the Irish calendars record the commemoration of a saintly bishop, but Saint Nechtlic is one of the many Irish saints for whom we have no other details. Canon O'Hanlon shares what the...
View ArticleSaint Ultan, Son of Aedhghen, May 24
On May 24 we remember a Saint Ultan, distinguished only by his patronymic. Canon O'Hanlon can say only this of him:St. Ultan, Son of Aedhghen.The Martyrology of Donegal, mentions a festival, on this...
View ArticleSaint Mocholla, Daughter of Diomma, May 25
May 25 sees the commemoration of a female saint, Mocholla, daughter of Diomma. As with so many Irish saints, we have no other details apart from the recording of her name and feast day date, as Canon...
View ArticleSaint Commaigh of Snamha Luthair, May 27
May 27 is the commemoration of a female saint, Commaigh of Snamha Luthair. It seems that she is a member of an aristocratic family which produced a number of saints. Earlier scholars argued that the...
View ArticleSaint Eoghan the Sage, May 28
Among the saints whose names are recorded in the earliest surviving Irish calendar at May 28 is a Saint Eoghan, whose name has the epithet 'the wise' attached. More details about the life of this holy...
View ArticleSaint Gobban of Airdne Dairinse, May 30
May 30 is the commemoration of Saint Gobban of Airdne Dairinse. Canon O'Hanlon's account of this saint is mostly taken up with an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to identify the location where he...
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Collect for Sunday from the Bangor Antiphoner
Exulting in joy for the light given to us this day, we offer praise and thanks to God, begging his mercy that, to us who solemnly celebrate the day of the Lord's Resurrection, He may deign to grant...
View ArticleIrish Saints in June
Below is a paper by Magdalene Rock, a regular contributor to Irish Catholic periodicals in the early twentieth century, on some of the Irish saints commemorated in the month of June. She brings...
View ArticleThe Monastic Life of Saint Kevin
June 3 is the feast of Saint Kevin of Glendalough. As I mentioned in last year's post, Canon O'Hanlon has an exhaustive account of the saint in Volume VI of his Lives of the Irish Saints, including...
View ArticleSaint Faithlenn, June 4
On June 4 we have the commemoration of one of many Irish saints whose only surviving record is the mention of their names in the calendars. Saint Faithlenn seems to boast an impressive genealogical...
View ArticleSaints Fionnlugh and Brogan of Cluain-mic-feig, June 5
Canon O'Hanlon points out some scribal confusion in his entry for Saints Fionnlugh and Brogan on June 5. The Martyrology of Tallaght appends the name not only of Brogan but also of a Saint Leain to...
View ArticleSaint Lonan, June 6
Another name to add to the long list of obscure Irish saints- Saint Lonan, commemorated on June 6. Canon O'Hanlon can bring us only the recording of his name on the calendars:St. Lonan. The name Lonan...
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Saint Colman Speaks With His Mother
June 7 is the commemoration of Saint Colman of Dromore. Various of this saintly bishop's miracles have been recorded, one of which, the story of Saint Colman and the Water Monster, Canon O'Hanlon...
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Saint Airmedach of Cong, June 8
June 8 is the commemoration of a saint of the west of Ireland, Airmedach of Cong. Cong Abbey is today associated with the twelfth-century processional cross pictured left. As our saint is featured in...
View ArticleThe Monastic Life and Miracles of Saint Baithen
On June 9 both the monastic founder of Iona, Saint Colum Cille and his immediate successor and kinsman Saint Baithen are commemorated. Canon O'Hanlon has provided details of the miracles of Saint...
View ArticleSaint Ainmire of Aileach, June 10
We commemorate a saint of County Donegal on June 10, Ainmire of Aileach. Canon O'Hanlon has a brief account of this holy man of the Inishowen peninsula:St. Ainmire, or Ainmirech, of Aileach, County of...
View ArticleSaint Tocomracht of Conmaicne, June 11
At June 11, Canon O'Hanlon has a notice of a female saint, Tocomracht, immediately followed by that of a saint Tochumra. He suspects that they may be one and the same person. Butler's Lives of the...
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