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.
The Martyrology of Donegal, refers to Bishop Colman Mac Duagh of the diocese of Cill Mic Duach in Connaught. Colman was of the Fiachra race, and the son of Eochaid Muidhmheadoin. Our Fiachra saint was a man of immense virtues and miracles.
His story is like a drama which unfolds, beholds, and must be told.
In the 6th century, a woman called Rhinagh was at an advanced stage of pregnancy. A king of Connaught developed a jealous hatred of Rhinagh after hearing a prophecy of authority, about her soon to be born son, the St. Colman to be. According to a prophecy, Rhinagh’s son was destined to surpass in greatness, all within the Fiachra clan dynasty. This king also called Colman, was father of prince Guaire, and relative of the child to be born. The King wished the child to be done away with… Now fearing the hostile jealous king, Rhinagh fled in a panic in an attempt save her unborn child. The jealous king pursued her, and his minions took her, and put a heavy stone tied around her neck. They then cast her into the deep depths of the river Kiltartan… However, the mother to be, was preserved from drowning, by some miracle.
Rhinagh gave birth to her son in secret at a place called Corker near Gort, in County Galway. Her boy was born with a thousand blessings which time has brought to ripeness. The concerned mother placed her baby under a shelter of an ash tree, and waited irritably for someone who might baptise her new born child. It happened that two aged pilgrim religious men past by, seeing the anxious mother. One was blind, the other was lame. They both could not procure any water to administer baptism, so they called out for Divine assistance. Suddenly a fountain spring gushed forth from beneath the shelter of the ash tree. The two religious were able to baptise the child and name him Colman at Corker, at the Holy Well which now bears his name. Then having washed themselves in the well spring waters of the two religious men were cured of blindness and infirmity. These indebted monks, recognising the greatness of the child, intreated the mother to commend Colman to their care, for his protection and education. Under the distressing circumstances of being a fugitive, Rhinagh was only too happy to entrust her son into their care. She recognised that Colman would be kept from harm from a hostile and jealous king. The child lived a life largely unknown for many years from this point. We can see that it somewhat reflects that of the child Jesus who fled to Egypt, and later lived in Nazareth a private life until his public ministry began.
Colman reappears later in the maturity of life on ”Inis Mór”, also known as the island of the Saints – “Ara-na-Naomh.” St. Enda was the abbot there and his foundation had a reputation for piety that rivalled St. Colmcille’s foundation at Iona. Two churches on the island are ascribed to St. Colman, both by “history and tradition according to Dr. Kelly. The austere and solitude life on Aranmore, practiced by the holy disciples of St Enda, was not sufficient for the generous soul of Colman. So by the end of the sixth century, he left the island, to spearhead a new religious foundation of greater solitude and austerity.
We must appreciate that Ireland was very much a forested country in this era, and St. Colman Mac Duagh pursued isolation to be found in the Burren forests. The global weather was much more Mediterranean like in what can only be described as another world. At the Burren forests, Colman found the perfect seclusion to be alone with God. Here he lived the desert life like that of John the Baptist. He was resolved to practice penance and contemplation in complete solitude and retirement of his hermitage.
A historian Colgan narrates that St Colman retired to Burren forests, accompanied by a religious attendant, while king Colman was still at large. It was therefore a grave matter to conceal the place of his hermitage. Colman constructed a small oratory at the foot of the cliff of Ceanaille. Tradition tells of a cave used for his hermitage with a fountain of water that provided him with drink. Colman ate wild herbs of the forest, and he wore skins of the wild deer as raiment. His fasts, prayers and vigils, were frequent.
In the solitude, Colman was often absorbed in ecstasy of the most abundant spiritual consolations. He also suffered moments of aridity though, when God seemed to have forsaken him. The historian Keating narrated that Colman settled into the desert wilderness for the sake of increased devotion. His only creature comforts were the religious company of his attendant, a rooster, a mouse, and a fly. The Rooster gave him notice of the time of night prayer by his crowing. The mouse, kept him from sleeping above five hours a day; for any relaxing or dosing off on his ascetic life, that mouse would come along and scratch Colman’s ear until he was perfectly re-awakened. The fly was like his reading attendant, having the sense to crawl along the lines of his spiritual readings; and if the Saint had tired eyes, the fly would stop awhile, marking the first letter of the following sentence, directing Colman back to where he finished reading.
Colman lived in his Burren hermitage for seven years in complete isolation and unknown… The time came however when he would leave the solitude, as he was made a bishop of his people. Prince Guaire succeeded the throne of Connaught, as King Colman and Guaire’s older brother passed away. Guaire of the Hy Fiachra clan proved to be a good Godly King, and a great friend to Colman; for they were kinsmen. There family friendship proved to be a powerful combination.
King Guaire, with patient effort and divine help, discovered the Burren hermitage. The sanctity of the place, made a big impression on him. It was King Guaire would soon urge Colman to accept the episcopal charge of the territory of Aidhne. Colgan, narrates this episode, taking details from the Menology of Aengus, thus paraphrased:
It happened that St. Colman, on Easter morning, recited his prayers and celebrated the Holy Mass. Expecting a feast, he asked his attendant if there was anything special to eat for the great feast of the Risen Lord. The attendant had only been able to procure some small wild fowl and some herbs. Colman saw his attend pining for something worthy of a feast. So the saint left this famished attendant in the hands of God. Colman prayed that if it be the divine will, God would send heaven’s servants to supply a feast and strengthen his attendant’s faith.
King Guaire meanwhile was hosting a royal banquet at his palace some great distance away at Durlus. When all the notable people present were ready to partake, something mysterious happened. Before sitting down to the feast, King Guaire gave an impressive speech. “Oh, would it pleased Heaven that this banquet were set before some true servants of God who require it; as for us, we might easily be provided with another.” Well no sooner had he uttered such words, the dishes were raised from the tables and removed, as if by invisible hands. The banquet guests and attendants were dumb struck. The king marvelled, ordering his guards, to follow the dishes, to determine if possible their new destination. All the King’s men followed the dishes in hot pursuit. They were then followed by a crowd of passing witnesses. The dishes finally arrived at Colman’s Burren hermitage, and were arranged in the open space in the woodland. Colman and his attendant exclaimed, ” O father, behold the reward of thy patience! Let us thankfully partake of the food sent us by our good God.” Colman, first investigated where such dishes had come from, and an angel recounted that the feast was sent in answer to his prayers, and through the generosity of the king. Suddenly His Majesty, King Guaire with his subjects and the gathered crowd of witnesses arrived on the scene.
All were in astonishment at discovering the secluded hermitage and the banquet laid before Colman and his attendant, who were on the point of feasting on the bountiful providence of the Lord. Before the crowds could join them, Colman desired that his starving attendant could enjoy the delights set before him there and then without any further waiting. The king’s men and the crowd were momentarily unable to advance to their place at the banquet. The limestone ledges bear, to this day, the footprints of the crowds whose feet sank and anchored into the stone ground. Colgan, narrates this phenomenon in folklore which happened at a place called ” Bohir na Maes,” which is Irish for the road of the Dishes.
The holy character of the Burren hermitage won for Colman, much public acclaim among his clansmen. His fame for austerity and miracles became well known among the Fiachra race. What is more Colman was one of their own, from the noblest of the tribes of Hy Fiachrach. King Guaire, urgently requested St. Colman to found a monastery, and be accept an episcopal charge of the territory of his kinsman. With the monastery built, the abbot was elected by an apostolic mandate to the dignity of bishop. Colman exercised episcopal jurisdiction, coextensive with the territory of his race. It extended over the territory of Aidhne, the patrimony of the southern Hy Fiachrach, becoming the boundaries of the diocese of Kilmacduagh. The site of Colman’s monastery and cathedral was miraculously pointed out to him.
Colgan narrates; “his cincture fell on a certain place, not far from his former cell, and there he built his monastery, which, from his name, is commonly called Kilmacduagh.” The location had the qualities of solitude and was dangerous for the public to reach. It became a refuge to many desperately fleeing from one problem or other. The date of the foundations of this monastery at Kilmacduagh is given as A.D. 610.
Bishop Colman would often reminisce over the solitude he once enjoyed, and wished to have it all back to be able to enjoy the divine communion which he often had with God. He found himself as bishop, despising the praises and admiration of all. Bishop Colman lived out the remainder of his days in the secluded little valley of Oughtmama in the Burren. The rugged mountains rise steeply round this valley, completely hiding it from the public access.
Colman gave up his soul to his Maker on the 29th of October A.D. 632, in the pontificate of Honorius I. The festival of St. Colman Mac Duagh has been observed in the diocese of Kilmacduagh from time immemorial on the 29th of October.
St. Éoghan of Ardstraw, is commonly known as Eugene in English, Eugenius in Latin, or sometimes referred to as Tir Eoghain which is the Irish for Tyrone, a county in Ulster. Éoghan was an important figure in Irish Christianity from the 6th century. His life was marked by a series of remarkable events that shaped his future as a monk, as abbot and bishop.
Hagiologist Colgan, wrote the unpublished Acts of St. Eugene. His work called the ‘’Acts of St. Eugenius of Ardsrata’’, are currently found in the Burgundian Library at Bruxelles. Historians have since edited and published from the original draft, such as Carolus de Smedt and Joseph de Backer.
Éoghan is a descendent of Laeghaire Lore, son to Ugaine Mór, whom the Leinster people are also descended. Éoghan’s father was Cainnech of Leinster and his mother was Muindecha, descendent of the region of Mugdarnia, Co. Down. Éoghan was uncle to St. Kevin of Glendalough. As a youth, Éoghan received his education with Tighernach, in a school at Clones.
Éoghan, Tighernach and another school friend Corpre, were taken hostage to Britain by pirates. By the grace of God, a man called Neunyo, (Mancenus), from the Rosnat monastery (or Candida Casa, in Scotland) procured their liberation from the King of Britain. The three lads received their tutelage under St. Ninian. But later again Éoghan, with companions, found themselves taken hostage and this time they were brought to British Amorica in Brittany. They became slaves under a Gallic King, as mill workers.
They loved reading and would skive from their work duties to read more. One day, the king’s steward caught them on the hop studying, as the milling wheel suspended operations without reason. The steward lorded it over them to resume work at the mill. Finding themselves alone again the three students begged Almighty God, for some respite so they could study. In response, the Angels of God appeared, and these angels worked the mill-wheel, so it revolved, giving the captive slaves time to study. When the miracle was made known to the king, the noble man sent the three captives back to the Rosnat monastery as free men. Restored to his tutor and master, Éoghan studied some more years in the monastery.
After a long period, St. Ninnian felt drawn to sail for Ireland, with Tighernach and Éoghan. There Éoghan went on to establish the monastery of Kilnamanagh (church of the monks) in Co. Wicklow. Éoghan gave his life to sanctity, mortification and prayer. For fifteen years He was Abbot of excellent repute. At Kilnamangh, he influenced the mind of his nephew, Coemghen or Kevin of Glendalough. Éoghan set out on an evangelical mission to the north of Ireland. His monks at Kilnamanagh were encouraged to excel into their diverse capacities as Abbots, priors, and ministers. Éoghan, later established a monastery at Ardstraw, along the shores of Lough Derg. He built this monastery close to the junction of confluent streams in the Mourne region, near Lifford on the river Foyle… The ancient name Ard-straha means the height by the bank of the river…
In Ardstraw monastery, Éoghan led a saintly life, distinguished by his miracles and a spirit of prophecy. Towards the end of Éoghan’s life, a grave infirmity grew on him day by day. Recognising his time was near, he called his monks around, and he received the last rites, with pious resignation. His monks present, then separated into two choirs, and standing, with alternate chanting of the psalms. During the celebration of the Divine Office, Angels received the soul of Éoghan, who went home to his eternal reward.
The memory St. Éoghan is celebrated by the church in Ireland on the 23rd August.
We have taken material taken from the eighteenth-century writer Mervyn Archdall’s classic text Monasticon Hibernicum which has been updated edition by the Catholic Bishop of Ossory, the Rt. Rev. P.F. Moran c/o the website: Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae.
The genealogy of St. Fachtna according to the ”Sanctilogium Genealogicum” is given thus… Fachtna, the son of Maonaigh, the son of Cairill, the son of Fiachna, descendents from Lughad, son of Ith,”. In the Irish documents, Fachtna receives the title of Mac Mongach, i.e., “the hairy child,” for at birth his head was covered with hair.
St. Fachtna or Lachtna (Fachnan in English), lived in the sixth century. He received lessons from St. Ita and he became a disciple of St. Finbarr at the school of Loch-Eirche. He became an abbot of the Molana monastery, outside Youghal. As bishop, Fachtna founded his monastery at Ross, believed to be established in the late 500s. In Latin documents Fachtna receives the epithet “Fachtna facundus” (St. Fachtna the eloquent). His school became famous attracting a large body of students and religious. St. Brendan, paid a visit to Ross and gave some lessons to the students. So so many people came to the monastery, it became known as Ross-ailithir (Ross of the pilgrims).
St. Fachtna, lost his sight due to an accident as he was advancing in years. The Life of St. Mochaemog narrates the advice of St. Ita, to St. Fachtna. She told him to go to the parents of Mochaemog, through whose merits his sight will be returned. He received his sight again thanks to St. Mochoemog, who was still in his mother’s womb, and then Fachtna prophesised on the future unborn saint to be.
St. Fachtna habitually retired for silent recollection and private prayer to a secluded place, not far from his monastery. One day, he forgot his scroll of prayers at this secluded place. The rains came throughout the night. Thanks to divine intervention, the angels made a small chapel over the scroll, so the prayers remained dry and intact. This ancient oratory has its remnant traced on the spot today.
After St. Fachnan twenty-seven successive bishops from his people ruled the See of Ross, as narrated in the Book of Lecan :
” Seven and twenty bishops nobly
Occupied Ross of the truly fertile lands
From Fachtna the melodious, the renowned,
To the well-ordered Episcopate of Dongalach.”
The death of St. Fachtna is considered around 590. His memory is celebrated on the 13th of August.
St. Nathy enjoys the highest reputation for virtue and sanctity, of all the notable Irish saints. He is given the greatest accolades, as most holy (sanctissimus) as of exquisite sanctity, (sanctimonice spectatissimce) as of consummate perfection. He is patron of the diocese of Achonry along with St. Attracta.
Nathy lived in the sixth century, and “His master,” says historian Colgan, “was St. Finian of Clonard.” (Vita S. Fechini). The principle event in the life of Nathy, is the establishment of a monastery on the fields of Achonry. It was a joint initiative between St. Nathy and Saint Finian. Towards the end of Finian’s life, this missionary paid a visit to Connaught, to evangelise the inhabitants there. When Finian reached Leyney, he met Nathy, a priest of great virtue and perfection; a priest capable to govern an ecclesiastical community. So Finian resolved to make good use of his super virtuous new friend Nathy.
Finian then went looking for a suitable site for to establish a monastery for Nathy. He desired a pleasant picturesque place. Finian found such place at the fertiles fields of Achonry, along the foot of Mucklety, near the beautiful lake of Templehouse. His next task was to procure the land, which was easier said than done. The owner of the land was called Caenfahola, (Caput lupi, or Wolfhead). We have an account of the transaction history, taken from the written works of the old life of Finian;
“After this Finian proceeded to a place where a holy priest named Nathy lived, and here an angel appeared to him and said: ‘You shall found a church on whatever spot the man of God shall select as a convenient and pleasant site. And when they had reached the chosen spot, the prince of the territory, that is, of Leyney, whose name was Caenfahola, approached them in a rage, for the purpose of driving them from the place; but the man of God, seeking to convert this hardened sinner to the faith by a striking miracle, made the sign of the cross on a great rock that lay hard by, and broke it into three parts. This spectacle astonished and softened the savage prince; and being now changed from a wolf into a lamb, he humbly made over to Finian the scene of the miracle, which is called in the Irish language, Achadchonaire, and in which the man of God established the aforesaid priest of the name of Nathy.”
With that pleasant land now procured, the monastery was established and it became an esteemed school of piety and learning. St. Nathy taught several eminent persons; for example, Saint Kenan and Saint Fechin. The later followed his relative, Nathy, into the monastery, at the dawn of it’s foundation. The two relative saints were close friends. Fechin eventually left Achonry, to found the great monastery of Fore.
It is believed that Nathy lived to a very advanced age. We take this on the basis of circumstantial evidence. For example, he may have been around thirty years old in 552, at the year Saint Finian of Clonard’s is believed to have died. Nathy was still alive when Saint Fechin founded the abbey of Fore. Nathy, we consider to have reached the age of around ninety years when he passed away. These considerations are taken from Terence O’ Rorke, History, antiquities, and present state of the parishes of Ballysadare and Kilvarnet, in the county of Sligo (Dublin, 1878), 411-24. St. Nathy was buried within the monastery, before his body was translocated to the cathedral of Achonry, which was dedicated to him.
We have a latin account of Declan’s life called ”Vita Declani” in which we can learn about this distinguished Irish saint. Declan is the patron of the Waterford & Lismore diocese, of the ancient territory of the Déise. Declan was born around 373A.D at Dromroe between Lismore and Cappoquin, to his father Erc Mac Trein and mother Déithin. His parents were of noble blood and his father’s line extended back to King Tuathal Teachtmhar in the 1st century. Around the 1st century, a dispute happened at the Royal Seat of Tara, where the Désii tribe were expelled from the Royal Province. This tribe moved south to Tipperary & Waterford, and its from this tribe that Declan comes from. Another section of the tribe was exiled to the South West Wales, settling in Meniva.
Coming back to the birth of St. Declan, a holy priest called Colman, baptised Declan and explained to his parents that the child was blessed by God. Declan was fostered, trained and educated by his Uncle Dobhrán, for seven7 years. As Declan grew older, he was sent to a holy man named Dioma to further his studies. Whilst with Dioma, his reputation grew and many follower came to Declan.
Around the year 395, he later travelled to Rome via Gaul, now France, to study. At Rome, he met and became friends with Ailbe, the future bishop of Emly. Humble Ailbe is considered the Patrick of Munster. During Declan’s stay in Rome, he was ordained priest and bishop by the pope of the time. While still in Rome, as he began his pilgrim journey back to Ireland, he met Patrick, Ireland’s future patron. They became providentially acquainted during this encounter. Today, St. Declan is considered “the Patrick of the Déise.
St. Declan was to establish a monastery Ardmore (meaning great height), which grew into a large town. He is one of the pre-eminent figures in the early Irish Church. Declan was one of four pre-patrician saints (along with Ailbe of Emly, Ciarán of Saigir, and Abbán of Moyarney) who preached the Gospel along Ireland’s south coastal regions, before Patrick arrived in Ireland.
Anecdotes of St. Declan.
Declan’s monastery at Ardmore has long been a place of pilgrim significance, with large crowds that gather every year for his feast day on July 24. The story behind this pilgrim, has it routes in a religious and political meeting that took place. Declan and Patrick met at Cashel, and this ancient meeting is commemorated today in a long-distance trail known as St Declan’s Way. In the 5th Century, St Declan walked 110 km from his monastery in Ardmore, Co. Waterford to visit St Patrick in Cashel where he was resident. Patrick had been appointed a bishop by pope Celestinus and at that time, and was preaching and converting the King of Cashel Aongus MacNatfrich to Christianity. At the same time, a man named Ledban, the King of Déise, was antagonistic to Christianity. There was a persecution brewing, and so an Angel of the Lord appeared to Declan to tell him that he must make a journey to Cashel before matters escalated. Declan made his way over the Knockmealdown mountains, passing through Mount Melleray, Lismore, Ardfinnan, Cahir and met Patrick at Mullach Inneonach which is just off the R687 road spur from the N24 not far from Clonmel. Here, Declan was greeted with hospitably by his old acquaintance, Patrick. They held a meeting and came to an arrangement and encouraged the deise people to denounce Ledban and follow Patrick instead. A new King of the Deise was selected by Declan and Patrick, named Fergal Mac Cormac; a Déise relative of Declan, he led his people in the grace of God and Ledban was banished and never heard of again.
Another anecdote
An imminent naval attack threatening Ardmore was averted when Declan asked St. Ultan to intervene. Ultan then raised his left hand against the attackers and the sea engulfed them. Declan and Ultan disputed the originator of the miracle, but the saying holds sway today in Ardmore “The left hand of Ultan be against you’’.
Nb* Much of the information here is taken from the book ‘’’Declan’’ by Liam Suipéil, published in 2020
[When Declan realised that his last days were at hand, his disciples brought him back to his citadel Monastery, for Declan dwelt in a small venerable cell, built in a quiet place near the sea called Diseart Decláin (Declan’sHermitage). Before he died, He received the body and blood of Christ and he blessed his people, his dependents and his poor and he kissed them in a token of love and peace.]
Taken from Canon Donal O’Connor’s book -‘The Pilgrim’s Round of Ardmore’ Co. Waterford 2000.
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
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.
St. Malachy was of noble birth whose family surname was Ua Morgair. He was born in Armagh in 1094. His Irish baptism name was Máel-M’áedóc. His father, Mugrón, was ard-fher légind (chief lector or chief scholar) of Armagh. His family was of an ecclesiastical line of Cenél Conaill, a dynasty of Uí Néill. His mother, was most solicitous to train him up in the fear of God.
He received his formation in Armagh from Ímar Ua hÁedacáin, a reform-minded monk. Malachy was very studious, and he far outstripped his fellow-students in learning. He also developed a strong spiritual life and became an ascetic. Malachy was ordained deacon by Ímar c.1118, some years after the reform synod of Rath Breasail in 1111. He was then ordained a priest by the comarba Pátraic (Successor of St. Patrick), by Cellach (Celsus) in 1119. Rev. Cellach was a strong advocate for reform. Under his influence, Malachy advanced his studies in sacred liturgy and theology, down south in Lismore; a predominantly Gaelic diocese, and a pro-reform foundation. He studied for two years under St. Malchus. There also, Malachy came into contact with Máel-Ísu Ua hAinmire, bishop of the small diocese of Waterford, which was a predominantly viking diocese. Máel-Ísu Ua hAimnire was also a strong advocate of reform. He was a Benedictine monk who had studied at Winchester and was well informed on Roman canonical and liturgical practice.
Malachy was thus, destined to reform the Irish ecclesial church. He later became the Abbot of Bangor, in 1123, and became bishop of Down & Connor at age thirty, and then reluctantly became Archbishop of Armagh, in 1132, succeeding Cellach. During his term in possession at Armagh, St. Malachy reformed church discipline, and promoted the Roman Liturgy, in favour of the Celtic traditions. Malachy re-established Christian morals, to the point that he felt able to resign in 1138, with the view to return to the diocese of Down & Connor. He divided two sees of Connor and Down and consecrated another bishop for Connor, reserving for himself the small diocese of Down.
He travelled to Rome in 1139 via York in Great Britain, and Clairvaux in France, visiting St. Bernard. The Clairvaux saint wrote a hagiographical tribute on The Life and Death of Saint Malachy. At Yvree in Piedmont, Malachy restored to health the child of the host with whom he lodged, who was at the point of death. At Rome, the Irish saint sought from Pope Innocent, palliums for the Sees of Armagh and Cashel. He did not succeed in this request, but got a promise of such, and Malachy returned home as legate for Ireland. His role was to oversee church reform. On his return trip, at Clairvaux he was given five monks for the Mellifount abbey to be (1142). St. Malachy travelled back to Ireland through Scotland, and restored king David’s dangerously ill son Henry to perfect health. During Malahy’s period back in Ireland, he travelled across the country in the role of papal legate, promoting church reform and establishing of Augustinian chapters at some of the Irish cathedrals.
Malachy convened in 1148 a synod at Inis Pátraic in Dublin. There a decision was made in principle to seek four pallia – for Armagh, Cashel, Dublin, and Tuam. Malachy undertook a journey to meet Pope Eugenius in France. But he fell ill in Clairvaux dying in the care of St. Bernard, on 2 November of his age fifty-four. Though he passed away, his desire for the pallia and the diocesan organisation he had worked hard to promote, was to be realised at the synod of Kells–Mellifont in 1152.
Malachy was the very first formally canonized Irish Saint. He was canonised by Pope Clement (III), on 6 July, 1199. His feast is celebrated on 3 November.
Thaddeus McCarthy was a bishop twice over, yet he never got the opportunity to properly govern his entrusted flock. Thaddeus was born into Irish nobility at Innishannon, Cork in 1455. He studied in France, and later served in a tribunal in Rome. He was appointed a bishop at only 27, an age that required a special dispensation from the pope. Unfortunately, this appointment proved a big blunder, as the diocese still had its former bishop, whom was presumed dead. Bishop McCarthy travelled back to Ireland with his official papal appointment papers, only to find bishop O’Driscoll still alive and governing the diocese. This did not go down well for either men. There was already bad blood between the McCarthy and the O’Driscoll families, and the existing bishop O’Driscoll took great offence to McCarthy’s claim as bishop. It was a big disappointment for Thaddeus McCarthy, and an embarrassment for Rome. O’Driscoll accused McCarthy of being an imposter, and Rome recognised a mistake had been made. McCarthy’s appointment was rescinded.
After eight years in limbo, and personal suffering which included later excommunication, Pope Innocent VIII finally brought McCarthy back to the fold. He gave McCarthy a second appointment as Bishop, this time of the diocese of Cloyne, in Cork. Justice having been finally secured, McCarthy travelled back to his new diocese, only to discover that a real imposter by the name of Fitzgerald had usurped his office. McCarthy tried to take possession of his cathedral, but was impeded by armed men who barred the entrance. McCarthy had to walk from town to town in his diocese, with proof of papal papers declaring him the real bishop. His own family wanted to help with arms, but Thaddeus refused their offer, as it seemed absurd to take up his seat through the use of violence. This caused a rift between him and the his own family.
McCarthy went back to Rome. This time he secured authorization for military support, as he sought to take possession of his diocese. However, on his homecoming to Ireland, he travelled as a pilgrim disguised as a pauper. The Bishop McCarthy was now 37 years old, and worn out from years of fighting to do what God had called him to do, and serve the diocese. Thaddeus died a pilgrim near Turin and was to be buried in a pauper’s grave, save for a supernatural act. A light emanated from his dead body… The local bishop was called, and he testified that he had dreamed of a bishop ascending into heaven. On examination of the body, they discovered his bishop’s ring. The result was that they buried him in the cathedral of Ivrea, near Turin. Many miracles have been associated with him ever since.
Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy never governed his diocese, nor ordained any priest. However, he did give his life for God, and is today known as the “White Martyr of Munster”, as he ultimately won him a pauper’s death crowned with glory. He is the model for those who may be discouraged by lack of success. It’s better to be faithful than to be successful. He has a recognised status of being Blessed by way of Cultus Confirmation; 26 August 1895 by Pope Leo XIII.
Bishop Thaddeus McCarthy died on 25th October in 1492.
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