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St. Lawrence O’Toole; the man with a difficult mission – 14th November

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Image source Lawrence O’Toole | Rhode Island Catholic

Material source taken from Catholicireland.net

St. Lawrence was Archbishop of Dublin during the incursion of Ireland by King Henry II. The Irish saint is highly honoured in Normandy, France, where he died in exile…

Laurence O’Toole was born in 1128 at Castle-Dermot, Co. Kildare. His father Maurice O’Toole, was King of Hy Murray. He lent his ten-year-old son and princes, as a token of security to the King of Leinster, Dermot McMurrough. This Leinster king treated poor Lawrence badly. He put the young prince in chains in a place of isolation, with cold comforts. Prince Lawrence found himself an oppressed pauper which lasted two years. The young hostage prince was eventually released after two years by the cruel Leinster King. Soon enough though, the same cruel Dermot McMurrough, gave King Henry II a foothold on Ireland.

For now, Lawrence found himself safe in waiting at St. Kevin’s monastery of Glendalough, with a view to be collected by his father and King Maurice. While still waiting at Glendalough, the young prince soon fell in love with the monastic life and developed a life of prayer. His two-year previous experience as a hostage, helped him to see that wealth and power were not the end all and be all. Lawrence felt a closeness to the benevolent God at Glendalough. So, he requested his father’s permission to remain there, to become a monk, and King Maurice O’Toole consented. Lawrence progressed well in religious life and by the age of twenty-five, he became the Abbot of Glendalough. As superior, he encouraged the monks in deeper learning. Charity for the poor was to be their breastplate. During a local famine for example, Laurence sold some treasures to provide relief for the hungry.

Appointment as Archbishop of Dublin.

Soon after the synod of Kells of 1152, Laurence was appointed in 1162 as the Archbishop of Dublin. One of his first task was to encourage the laity in the practice of the faith, and to become true disciples of Jesus. He brought in monks to Dublin from France, and they lived in the Holy Trinity Church, which was later renamed Christchurch Cathedral after it fell into protestant hands. This missionary effort by the most rev. Lawrence, helped many people to come back to the Sacraments. He continued in his care for the poor, as well as homeless children. He took them into his house, and they shared meals at his table. The most rev. Lawrence was a man of prayer, and when he got an opportunity, he loved to go to Glendalough and retreat at a lakeside hermitage which could be reached only by boat.

The Archbishop of Dublin, participated at the Third Lateran Council in Rome in 1179, with some other Irish bishops. The Pope, Alexander III, was aware that Ireland had been undergoing political upheaval with destabilizing effects. He was aware that the quality of the practice of the Catholic faith had deteriorated. The pope therefore gave Laurence the task of reforming and improving the Church in Ireland.

Suing for peace

The Normans landed in Ireland in 1169, thanks in no small part to the cruel King Dermot McMurrough. By 1170, King Henry II’s under lord, Strongbow besieged Dublin. Laurence became a peace envy, and he met Strongbow looking to establish a settlement. During the peace talks however, the Normans continued their besiege of the city. There was looting and killing of citizens. Thanks to Laurence’s efforts the lives of many were saved.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was already murdered under the reign of Henry II in 1170. As archbishop, St. Lawrence would visit England in his endeavour to promote peace. In 1175 he became one of the signatories of the Treaty of Windsor, between England’s King Henry II and Ireland’s High King, Roderic O’Connor. But a few years after Windsor, another dispute erupted between the Henry II and the Irish Kings. In the spring of 1180, Laurence took the mantle of peace envoy again, returning to England. King, Henry II, had by now little time for bishops. Henry II wanted rid of the Irish archbishop and ordered him in exile to Britany, France.

Death in exile of an Irish archbishop

In the same year, Laurence became gravely ill and on 14th November 1180, at the age of 52, he died at Eu in Normandy at a monastery there. Laurence was later formerly canonized a saint in 1225. He is remembered in the liturgical calendar in Ireland on the 14th November.

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St. Asicus, Bishop of the Bright Rock diocese, Elphin – April 27th

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St. Asicus, also called Ascicus as well as Tassach, is the patron saint of the Diocese of Elphin. He is also the patron saint of coppersmiths. Asicus was one of the earliest of St. Patrick’s disciples. St. Patrick came to Elphin in 435 where he founded the monastery on lands given by the noble druid Ona (or Ono) in County Roscommon. Later, on Patrick’s missionary tour of Connacht, circa. 450 AD, he appointed Asicus as the first bishop of a newly created Elphin diocese.

In the “Tripartite Life of St Patrick” (ed. Whitley Stokes) we read:

“Bishop St. Assicus was Patrick's coppersmith, and made altars and square bookcases. Besides, he made our saint's patens in honour of Bishop Patrick…”

St. Asicus is described in the Book of Armagh as a wright which signifies a maker or builder. Other than altars, patens, and metal book-covers, he also made chalices for the newly founded churches. St. Asicus is always portrayed as both a craftsman and a bishop. He preached the word of God through his craft.

He was later made Abbot of Ireland. St. Asicus was a humble man and often troubled by thoughts unworthy of his office. He left Roscommon and travelled to Rathlin O’Birne Island in Donegal Bay where he resigned his office and became a hermit, living for a while at the top of Sliabh Liag along the area called The Pilgrim’s Way. 

He remained there for seven years until he was found by the monks of Elphin who persuaded him to return to the diocese with them.  However, he was not in good health and died on the journey back to Elphin (circa. 490 AD).  He is buried where he died – near the village of Ballintra between Ballyshannon and Donegal Town.

Nb*

Elphin itself is an anglicisation of two Irish words “Aill Fion” meaning “Bright Rock”.

In 1111 AD the synod of Rath Breasail re-established the structures of the Irish Church to conform with the diocesan structure of the Church in Europe. Elphin was re-designated diocesan status lost after the viking and Danish invasions. The first Cathedral of Elphin was dedicated to Beatae Mariae Virgini (Blessed Mary the Virgin), hinting at a heritage of Marian devotion dating back from the time of St. Patrick.

The presence diocese’s cathedral, dedicated to the ”Immaculate Conception” is based in Sligo town. St. Asicus’ feast is celebrated 27th April, and is recorded in the “Martyrology of Tallaght” under that date.

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St. Laserian, The pyre of the Leighlin diocese (Kildare and Carlow) April 18th

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St. Laserian was said to have been of noble birth. St. Laserian was the son of Cairel de Blitha, a ”Ulidian” noble celt, and Gemma, daughter of a Scottish king. He was born around the year 566. He is commonly known as Molaise. The names Laisren or Molaise are to be found in ancient manuscripts and occur for instance in The Book of Leinster and in The Calendar of Oengus. The name Laisren comes from the Gaelic name for flame, usually “lasair”. The ”Molaise” form of the name derives from placing the personal Gaelic pronoun “Mo” ahead of the name Laisren and thus meaning “My Light” the light being from a pyre (flame).

Laserian was sent to Scotland to get his education from monks, beginning from a young age. He was educated by a monk called Munus. On his return home, he refused his right to the kingship of his clan, preferring a life of solitude as a hermit. He lived his youthful life as a hermit in the cell of a cave on Holy Island off the coast of the Isle of Arran in the west of Scotland. This island became known as Molaise’s island. He worked many miracles there; enabling water to flow when it was needed for milling for example. At a later stage in his life he restored a beheaded boy back to life. After his time in soliitude, he set out for Rome, where he studied for fourteen years and was ordained a priest by Gregory the Great. Reverend Laserian then journeyed back to Ireland to preach the faith.

As a priest he established a monastic community at Old Leighlin in present day Carlow in the late sixth century. His choice of location was said to have been inspired by Divine Guidance. He went first to Lorum Hill, south east of Muinebheag, in Carlow. From here he was directed by an angel to go to where he would see the sun first shining and set up his religious foundation there. The place thus chosen was Old Leighlin Hill.

Now Laserian crossed the River Barrow and came to Old Leighlin. But a holy abbot named Gobanus and his followers were already settled there. Gobanus and his community moved on and allowed Rev. Laserian to establish his monastery at Old Leighlin. The monastic community grew, and the establishment became famous, containing as many as 1500 monks.

St. Laserian was a very faithful priest and took the leading part in settling the Irish Easter calender controversy. In the Synod of Magh-lene he successfully defended the Roman Easter calendar computation, and was sent by the council as delegate to Rome. There, in 633, he was consecrated first Bishop of Leighlin by Honorius I. On his return from the eternal city, bishop Laserian pleaded the cause of the Roman Easter calendar so powerfully at another synod in Leighlin that the controversy was practically ended for the greater part of the country. Of course the Celtic Easter calendar would rear it’s head again over the following centuries. But St. Laserian was among the first pioneers to change this and bring the Roman Easter Calendar into regular usage in Ireland.

The original wooden church dedicated to the bishop of Leighlin was plundered several times both by the Danes and by the native Gaels. In later times, a cathedral stood in its place, but in the reign of Henry VIII it was seized by the Reformers, was made a Protestant church, and has continued as such ever since.

The Catholic Church in Ireland celebrates St. Laserian on the 18th April

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St. Kelly of Armagh, ‘’Naomh Ceallach’’, (St Celsus): the wrestling administrator – 1st April

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Kelly was born in 1080. His name in Irish is Ceallach Mac Aedha. He was heir, to a lay administration, known as ‘’coarb’’ of St. Patrick. This role was the family heirloom of Clann Sínaigh, who took control of the administration of the abbacy of Armagh, to keep the monastic settlement from the foreign Viking hands. This was after the historic period of great instability in the Gaelic kingdom. In that epoch, there were seismic ethnic incursions in Ireland, that we find narrated in the ‘’Book of Invasions’’. This book encapsulates a difficult situation for the Gaels, wrought by the Vikings, who as the book recounts, arrived in Ireland ‘’wave after wave after wave’’. The Norse Vikings took hold of Dublin and Waterford, and later the Danes arrived and despoiled the established Catholic sees in Ireland. The nation’s formerly established diocese became depleted of bishops and priests.

The Clann Sínaigh had took control of the Abbey of Armagh for security, and did financially well from this arrangement. Then in 1091, Kelly became the family lay administrator of Armagh. But he took the unusual step to priestly ordination and chose the celibate life, with a view to reigning in the reform, introduced by Pope Gregory VIII across Europe. To explain; lay administrative control of abbeys were a feature in Europe, after the fall of the roman empire. But Pope Gregory VII (1073-85) wished to replace the lay administration with the administrative role of a diocesan bishop.

Around that same era, in England, strong Norman archbishops like Lanfranc and St Anselm were appointed to the see of Canterbury. They had support from the growing Norse community in Dublin and Waterford. Anselm consecrated Samuel Ó h-Ainglí as bishop for Dublin and consecrated Malchus as the first bishop of Waterford.

After Pope Gregory, a momentum built up in Ireland regarding reform. The 1st Synod of Cashel (1101) was presided over by King Muircheartach Ó Briain in Ireland at the request of Lanfranc and Anselm. The reform momentum was led by bishop of Meath, Maol Muire Ó Dunáin, who was appointed papal legate to Ireland by Pope Paschal II (1099-1117). This 1st synod of Cashel enacted decrees against lay investiture, and against the idea of a lay administrator.

Then in 1106 bishop Maol Muire Ó Dunáin ordained Kelly as a bishop. He was present at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, which also promoted the reforms of synod of Cashel on a nationwide level. The momentum was gaining ground. Cashel and Armagh were to be the two recognised archdioceses in Ireland pending approval from Rome. The synod of Rathbreasail begin the re-establishment of the diocese structure in Ireland.

All of this momentum was the backdrop in whom Kelly found himself as administrating bishop of Armagh, and set him on a collision course of family rivalry upon the now defunct hereditary practices. Kelly had also to simultaneously wrestle the diocese of Dublin from the Norse influence, and their loyalty to Canterbury. It was around this time, that bishop Kelly appointed a young monk named Malachy, ‘’Maolmhaodhóg Ua Morgair’’ to act as his vicar in Armagh. When bishop Kelly returned to Armagh in 1122, he felt that Malachy would make a suitable bishop. Malachy was sent to Lismore, an influential monastic centre with Benedictine influences from England and the continent.

In a shrewd move, bishop Kelly later appointed Malachy as successor to Armagh. In this way, the hereditary succession of the coarbs of Armagh from his Clan was broken, with a successor outside the family hegemony. In 1129 Kelly died at Ardpatrick and was buried in Lismore. Malachy was left with the difficulties of wrestling control as bishop from Kelly’s next of kin, Muircheartach. He only took control of Armagh after Muircheartach’s died in 1134, thanks to the support from Cinél Eoghain. This support secured the see of Armagh, from the next of kin, Niall of the Clann Sínaigh, the would-be successor to Muircheartach. With the see of Armagh now assured, Bishop Malachy appointed as his own successor, Gilla Mac Líag, abbot of Derry. And the rest is history…

St. Kelly of Armagh is celebrated on the 1st of April in the church calendar.

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The Early Irish Church foundations

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St. Patrick received his mandate from the Pope Celestine to evangelise Ireland. But after St. Patrick died, the ecclesial set up in Ireland took a more monastic direction, as the diocesan model established by Patrick faded into the background. There was rapid growth of monastic centres that became beacons of light for the Irish faithful. The consecrated bishops played only a subsidiary role to the more powerful abbots at the major monastic centres around the country. The diocesan system was slow to be re-established, particularly as Ireland was never conquered by the Roman empire, which suited the diocesan format being based somewhat on the roman rule template.

The seeds of reformation

There was a big change in the middle ages. For example, the King of Munster and Leinster, Muirchertach Mor O’Briain was present at the Synod of Rath Breasail in 1111 which formally re-inaugurated the diocese system into Ireland, as the church finally moved away from a monastic hierarchy. With King Muirchertach’s presence, the diocese of Killaloe within his territory got an advantageous representation. Then King Muirchertach died in 1119 and the O’Brien dynasty declined. With the synod of Kells in 1152, the size of the diocese of Killaloe was much reduced – Taken from Clare Library.

Nb*: These Synods both laid the foundations and largely formalised the current diocesan model present in Ireland today.

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St. Flannan the ruddy cheeked baker saint and patron of Killaloe – 18th December

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Image source Free Pik

Material distilled from library Ireland and Catholic Ireland and Clare Library

St Flannan is patron of Killaloe (Cill Dalua) diocese which extends over a great distance between Co. Clare and Co. Tipperary, as well as areas of Co. Offaly, Co. Laois, and Co. Limerick. The name Flannan is a diminutive of flann which means ruddy.

The Killaloe monastic connection

The Killaloe monastic diocesan centre was the enterprise of St Lua (554-609) who is considered the founding abbot and bishop. St. Lua was from Ardagh, in Limerick. He studied in Clonard and later in Bangor for the religious life before he was ordained a priest. Lua became more affectionately known as Molua. He later returned home where he founded a some monasteries, as well as his most prominent at Killaloe, a name which means the church of Lua.

St Flannan succeeds St Molua at Killaloe monastery

St Flannan was the son of Turlough, King of Thomond, and also St. Molua’s nephew. Throughout Ireland’s royal history, kings and queens would keep a biographer and an account of family and political life. There is an account given that Flannan studied to “till, sow, harvest, grind, winnow, and bake for the monks.” In his youth Flannan learned theology under scripture scholar Saint Blathmet, before going under the tutelage of his uncle Molua in Killaloe.

Tradition says, that one day at Killaloe, while baking continuously for an period of 36 hours, Flannan’s left hand became transfigured. There was enough light to enable him to continue baking right through the night. The reigning abbot Molua learnt of this incident, and felt it was his opportune time to consider retiring, with the view that Flannan could be the new abbot. The noble people of Thomond were in accord that Flannan should be consecrated. In Rome, he received consecration from Pope John IV (640-2). St. Molua would retire to the monastic centre of Lismore in Waterford and King Turlough who began his reign in 625, would also retired in his old age to Lismore to become a monk.

Flannan as Abbot of Killaloe, enjoyed a golden era when “the fields waved with the richest crops, the sea poured almost on the shore an abundance of large whales and every kind of smaller fish, and the apple trees drooped under the weight of the fruit, woods abounded in acorns and hazel-nuts”. It was a ruddy chef’s dream.

Later in life, Flannan felt his time approaching… So he assembled his closest together, telling them of the importance of observing natural and human justice. Flannan encouraged peace among the people of the provinces. He blessed his relatives and then he passed away.

We celebrate the noble St. Flannan, abbot and chef on the 18th December

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Saint Finnian of Clonard, the maestro of Irish disciples and the ascetic father – 12th December

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Image source from Fine Art America

Information distilled from material sources such as Catholic Ireland and Omnium Sanctorum Hibernium as well as a prophetic story taken from Orthodox Christians…

St. Finnian (‘Fionáin’ in Irish), was an early monastic saint. He lived from about 470 to 549.

St. Finnian of Clonard is considered the maestro of the Irish saints; notable students include Colmcille of Iona, Ciarán of Clonmacnois and St, Canice (Kenneth). His monastic foundation at Clonard (Cluain Eraird in Irish) was very influential as a centre of theological learning, and from here sprang the twelve Irish disciples; after St. Patrick, they were recognised as the Fathers and Founders of the Irish Church.

Finnian was born at Myshal in Carlow at the foot of Mount Leinster and about 14 minutes drive from Bunclody, in Wexford. Finnian’s father was Finloch of the Rory clann, and his mother was called Telach. While she was pregnant, she had a vivid dream of a bright flying flame that drew very near to her, entering one moment in her mouth, before flying away gloriously, to all the corners of Ireland Ireland, attracting a huge flock of birds that followed. Telach told her husband of the vivid dream, and he predicted that Finnian would become an influential professor and mentor. Finnian grew up to become one of the greatest fathers of the Irish monasticism.

The young Finnian was educated first by Bishop Fortchernn of Trim, a disciple of St. Patrick. From there, the boy proceeded to Wales to grow in virtue and study spirituality under the great saints of Wales; his teachers included great fathers such as St. David, St. Gildas the Wise, and, especially, St. Cadoc. These Welsh saints influenced the Celtic Church in Ireland in that they are said to have given a monastic flavour to the Second Order of the Irish Saints, disciples of Finnian. This form of monasticism resembled some of the traditions of the holy fathers of the Eastern church. Finnian spent thirty years in Wales according to the Salamanca MS. He also studied for awhile in the French monastic centre of St. Martin in Tours in Gaul. Here in France Finnian learned the life of ascetic austerity for spiritual gain.

Then Finnian returned to Ireland, to Aghowle near Shillelagh in County Wicklow, where King Oengus of Leinster gave him a site to build a church. In Irish this place name is Achadh Abhla ; i.e., “Field of the Apple-Tree,”. From there Finnian traversed Ireland, preaching, teaching, and founding churches, as far south as Skellig Michael islands, eight miles off the coast of Co. Kerry. He went north eastwards to Dunmanogue on the river Barrow, in Co. Kildare. He stopped by the town of Kildare, visiting at St Brigid’s monastery. Finnian was esteemed by St. Brigid, who gifted him with a gold ring on his departure.

By the year 520 Finnian arrived at Clonard, (Erard’s Meadow in English). This place was to be his most prominent religious site. He was led to thereby an angel. Clonard is situated on the River Boyne in present day Co. Meath, Ireland’s former royal province. Here Finnian received a large tract of land and built his monastic site, where he entered into a life devoted to study, mortification, and prayer.

Finnian had a strong theological reputation and the Clonard monastery became a centre of Biblical studies, becoming the largest and the most important in Ireland. He became the first abbot and organized life according to the Welsh monastic model. ”The Penitential” compiled by St. Finnian, roots out sin and bad habits while cultivating virtue. Under the influence of Welsh saints and, originally, St. John Cassian in France, Finnian compiled the first known Irish Penitentiary, which later influenced St. Columbanus in his written works. St. Finnian himself slept on the bare earthen floor in his cell without anything for a pillow, to prop his head. One of his disciples recounts that the venerable abbot became emaciated from a prolonged and extreme ascetic life. So much so, his ribs could easily be seen protruding the lining of his tunic. St. Finnian is said to have died in the great plague of 549-550.

The site of the former monastic centre of St. Finnian is located in the grounds of the Church of Ireland at Clonard. He is celebrated on 12th December in the Catholic liturgy.

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St. Eunan (Adomnán) an Abbot for Synods and change – 23rd September

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St. Eunan: image source

Nb* Much of the information here is gleaned from Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae

Eunan was born at Drumhome near Ballintra in south-west Donegal into the Uí Chonaill family around 624. His Uí Néill lineage aligns with Loingsech, king of Tara. Eunan was educated by Columban Monks and he later joined the Iona community as a a novice in 650 before becoming the ninth abbot of Iona in 679. Eunan also became president-general of all the Columban houses in Ireland. During his term of office, he paid three lengthy visits to Ireland which brought about change.

Notable writings.

Eunan wrote “Vita Columbae” on the life of Columba, highlighting the saint’s virtues. It is full of memorable details of monks and lay people who came into contact with St. Columba. This biographical work is considered a most complete biography in all of Europe from early Christianity through to the late Middle Ages.

Eunan also wrote a book “De Locis Sanctis” on the holy places, such as Jerusalem, Damascus, Constantinople and Alexandria based on descriptions received by a French bishop Arculfus, who had been shipwrecked in western Britain and took refuge in Iona.

The English influence

On two occasions Eunan visited the court of King Aldfrid of Northumbria. Alfrid as a prince, once upon a time lived many years in exile in Ireland, and Eunan became acquainted with him. Prince Aldfrid was then recalled to the throne of Northumbria. In 686, Eunan went to visit King Alfrid to seek the release of Irish captives at that time. The English king gave a ready and favourable response to this demand; “that a complete restoration of the captives should be made [to Eunan], and that no Saxon should ever again go upon a predatory excursion to Ireland’’. Such a favourable response, no doubt cemented good relations that would foster good tidings for Ireland and England as well as the Church universal as we shall consider below…

On Eunan’s first English visit in 686, he became aware of unresolved conflicts lingering after the Synod of Whitby (664) regarding Celtic observances of the Easter calendar and the Roman observances in England. Eunan understood that the Celtic observance was was similar to St John which was the custom in the Eastern Church. Two years later Eunan visited the court of Aldfrid again, and presented the king with his invaluable work, “De Locis Sanctis,”. Eunan stayed at various religious homes in the north of England, and he became fully acquainted with the correct computation of the Easter calendar according to the Roman observance. In visiting the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, St. Eunan had lengthy discourses with the Abbot Ceolfrith.

Intervention between Celtic and Roman observance in the Irish Church

From his experience in England, Eunan would make an important contribution to the church universal regarding an reforming the Celtic practices of the their Easter calendar in Britain and Ireland. St. Eunan felt it would be better for the universality of the Church for the Celtic monastries to make use of the Roman observance. For eighteen years St. Eunan made it his business to convince Ionian monks in Scotland as well as and the Irish Columban monasteries to switch to the roman observance during his office as president. Thus Eunan became a devoted champion of the Whitby Synod. This reform of the Celtic church was a slow progress across Ireland, which was later accelerated by St. Malachy some centuries later.

The law of innocents – a type of old Irish ‘Geneva Convention’

In 697 Eunan visited Ireland a third time, and obtained a decree from the Irish princes that men alone should be subject to military service. This seems to be linked in some way to another notable influence of Eunan; The law of innocents – a type of Irish ‘Geneva Convention’ which was decreed at the Synod of Birr. There he convinced the participants that, women, children and clerics should be exempt from war and not be taken prisoners or slaughtered. This came to be known as Eunan’s law.

In the Laebhar Breac it reads of four chief Irish laws: “Patrick’s Law, that the clerics should not be killed; Bridget’s Law, that the cattle of thy shall not be killed; Eunan’s Law, that women shall not be killed; and the Law of the Lord’s-day, that it be not desecrated.”

Eunan was a man of great austerities and his ascetic life is compared with the great fathers and hermits of the Egyptian deserts. St. Bede refers to Eunan as “a good and a wise man, and remarkably learned in the knowledge of the Scriptures.”

He died at the Abbey in Iona in 704. He is the Patron of Raphoe Diocese. He is celebrated on the 23rd of September.

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St. Ailbe, the orphaned man cub – 12th September

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She Wolf with St. Ailbe

St. Ailbe heralds from Munster. He is a patron saint of the diocese of Cashel and Emily and is the also patron of wolves. Ailbe is called Albeus in Latin and Elvis in English.

Ailbe’s story somewhat parallels a Disney film called Jungle book, with it’s two main opposing characters of 1) Mowgli, the good ”man cub” reared by a wolf; 2) Shere Khan, a fearsome bad tiger who went on the hunt for Mowgli.

Now Ailbe was born to a maidservant in the house of Cronan, Lord of Eliach, in County Tipperary. Cronan, disapproved of Ailbe’s birth and directed that the new born be abandoned and exposed to ‘dogs and wild beasts, that the child might be devoured’. But, instead, the baby was found hidden under a rock (Ail) and alive (beo), by a she-wolf who then took him and reared him among her own cubs. Ailbe (which means live rock) would later repay the kindness toward the end of his life when a she-wolf chased by hunters took refuge with him.

Now Ailbe as a young man, met and befriended St. Declan, and the two would become disciples of Palladius, who came to try to evangelise Ireland, before St. Patrick succeeded. “The Life of Declan” says that himself and Ailbe were great friends. They later went to Rome for priestly formation. While returning to Ireland from Rome, Declan met Patrick in the north of the eternal city, in a providential encounter, which would have a later bearing on Ailbe. “The Acts of St. Ailbe” represent Ailbe as preaching in Ireland before St. Patrick. Ailbe was a missionary in Ireland under King Aengus of Cashel. Ailbe was noted for his charity and kindness, as well as his eloquent sermons. He was Abbot and preacher and became a disciple of St. Patrick, according to St. Patrick‘s biographer, Tirechan. He became the first bishop of Emily in Munster and is considered the St. Patrick of Munster.

St. Ailbe’s monastery of Emily, known as Imleach Iubhair (the lakeside at a yew tree) went on to become one of the most important ecclesiastical sites in Munster and in later centuries Emily was re-established a Diocesan centre, after the synods of Rath Breasail and the Synod of Kells.

The ecclesiastical monastic site was located at the modern Catholic church and graveyard at Emily. The repose of Ailbe of Imlech Ibuir is recorded as 528 by the Annals of Ulster (within the old monastic grounds). St Ailbe’s holy well can be found in the north-eastern corner of the graveyard. In 1898 the well supplied the surrounding village. Local memory and historical sources say that in the past the pilgrimage rituals were focused on the holy well and an early medieval cross, known as St Ailbe’s Cross. The cross is located a short distance from the well. The cross was also said to cure back pain. When a person has a pain in his back he would get it cured by putting his back against the stone while praying to St Ailbe.

St. Ailbe feast day is celebrated in the Irish liturgical calendar on September 12th.

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The synod of Rath Breasail and the re-establishment of former Irish diocese.

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The historical context of ancient Ireland.

Ireland was always outside the Roman Empire, due in part to a successful strategy, whereby the Gaelic kings would take hostage, of sons and daughters of nobility, of an invading menace. “Niall and the Nine Hostages” for example gives an insight into this tried and tested method of national defence. St. Patrick and his two sisters where taken hostage by King Niall along with thousands of other victims.

St. Patrick’s apostolic mission to Ireland.

When St. Patrick returned to Ireland on his apostolic mission much later in life, he established dioceses as one would expect. But some centuries after this, a lay administration, known as the ‘’coarb’’ of St. Patrick developed. This admin role was a family heirloom, as a family member took control of the administration of their abbacy, to keep the monastic settlement from the foreign Viking hands. This followed as a result of the historic period of great instability in the Gaelic kingdom. In that epoch, there were seismic ethnic incursions in Ireland, that we find narrated in the ‘’Book of Invasions’’. This book encapsulates a difficult situation for the Gaels, wrought by the Vikings, who as the book recounts, arrived in Ireland ‘’wave after wave after wave’’. The Norse Vikings took hold of Dublin and Waterford, and later the Danes arrived and despoiled the established Catholic sees in Ireland. It was St. Kelly of Armagh who first challenged the family heirloom ”Coarb” model in favour of Rome Rule.

The various synods that changed the ecclesial norms in Ireland

The nation’s formerly established diocese became depleted of bishops and priests. A monastic model eclipsed the diocesan model, and this lasted until the time of the Synod of Rath Breasail of 1111. The Gael’s even had a Celtic observance that declined in favour of the Roman observance after the Synod of Whitby in 664 called by the King of Oswiu in Northumbria. St. Laserian took the leading part in settling the Irish Easter calendar controversy. In the Synod of Magh-lene, he successfully defended the Roman Easter calendar computation. The final break from the Celtic observance to the Roman observance however came slowly, with further persuasive efforts of St. Eunan.

The history and changes brought by the Synod of Rath Breasail

The year 1631 saw the completion of Fr. Geoffrey Keating’s series of moral reflections on death and the conduct of human life, Trí bior-ghaoithe an bháis, and his treatise on the Mass, Eochair-sgiath an Aifrinn. A man called John MacErlean draws attention to the inclusion of significant early ecclesiastical records which would otherwise have been lost. Keating’s history is the only source for the Synod of Rath Breasail at the beginning of the twelfth century when Ireland was first divided into its modern dioceses format we have today.

The Synod of Rath Breasail re-established diocese under the seat of the bigger and more notable monasteries existing in Ireland at the time. The lesser monasteries became subsumed by the more important monastic centres within the confines of the newly established diocesan lines. For example we had the Lismore monastery which was an important centre of learning for the Gaels. The lesser known monasteries became more like parochial centres. Shortly after the death of diocesan promoter St. Malachy, the Synod of Kells followed in 1152 to iron out anomalies still extant, and the four archdiocese in Ireland came into effect. The Waterford diocese was a small diocese of mainly Danish folk and some members of the Déise folk. Lismore and Waterford were then separate diocese as the peoples where still so culturally diverse. It was only much later did the two diocese amalgamate, and Lismore being the bigger diocese was given the lead name of the Lismore and Waterford diocese. After the reformation period the names were switched to the Waterford and Lismore diocese, which still stand today.

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