he settled bishops in various parts of Leinster, and in the year 448, proceeded to Munster, and there converted and baptized Engus, the son of Naitfrach,* the king of that province.+ The monarch himself conducted him to Cashel, where he treated him in the most respectful and dignified manner. Ailbe, Declan, Kieran and Ibar, who had preceded SAINT PATRICK in his mission, felt some reluctance in submitting to his authority. The three first, however, did not long persist in their opposition, and Ibar, after a more protracted contest, yielded, at last, to the venerable man.§ Ailbe was then settled at Emly, Declan at Ardmore, Kieran at Sageir, and Ibar at Beg-Eri. They had previously held a synod together, and made various ecclesiastical constitutions. In 454, SAINT PATRICK, having built the church of Ardagh, in the county of Longford, of which he consecrated his nephew, Saint Mol, bishop and abbot, proceeded from that place through Leinster, and forward to the inhabitants of the more northern parts of Ulster, whom he completely Christianized, in the six succeeding years.¶ In 455, he resigned the bishoprick of Armagh, to Saint Binen, probably perceiving that the general state of the Irish church, and the formation of new establishments, required his whole attention.** In 461, he visited Rome, where he was honourably received by Pope Hilarius, as the successful Apostle of the Irish nation. On his return to Ireland, in 463, he was accompanied by a number of bishops and other holy men, who came to witness the happy fruits of his mission and to aid his future efforts for the permanent establishment of the Hibernian church.tt Usser Ind. Chron. p. 519. Usser. $ Primord. 801, Vita Declan, apud Usser Prim. p. 86. Ware's Bishops. p. 21, + Joc. c. 74. The remainder of SAINT PATRICK's life was spent partly in devising and establishing rules in synodicalcouncils for the regulation of the church, and partly in retirement and contemplation. After having established three hundred and sixty-five churches,+ ordained a like number of bishops, and three thousand presbyters, he died in the abbey of Saul, or, Sabhal, on the seventeenth of March 493, at the patriarchal age of one hundred and twenty years. He was buried at Downpatrick, and, here, his remains were found, with those of Saints Bridget and Columba, by De Courcey, conqueror of Ulidia, in the year 1186, and translated to the cathedral in that town, which now bears his name. We learn from Cambrensis, that the monument of these pious missionaries was adorned with the following inscription, in monkish verse :— si Hitres in Duno, tumulo tumulantur in uno, Various works attributed to SAINT PATRICK, and generally received as his composition, are yet extant. He wrote "Confessionem suam," by some styled "Itinerarium Confessionis," "Epistolam commonitoriam ad Coroticum," alias "Cereticum," published by Ware, "Regulam Monasticam :" "Proverbiorum, Lib. 1." in Irish: "De suis propriis gestis et vita:" "The canons of a synod convened by him, and of another convened by him, Auxilius and Isserninus," are in Spelman's British councils: "Abjectoria numero 366," called, by Nennius, "Abjetoria 365, and more," with some other works of which the reader may find a catalogue, in Ware's writers, apud Harris, p. 307, 308, 309. Brit. Ece. Ant, p, 454. Ind. Chron, Usser. bist, Brit, cap. 59. 427, 456, 460. Martyr. ad XVI. XVI, Cal. April, p. 522. + Nennius Usser Ind. Chron. p. 524. It is stated by the four masters and by other Ifish writers, that, about the year 438, SAINT PATRICK had assisted in the great national Senate called the Fes of Teamor, or, Tara. On this occasion, he was nominated a member of a committee of nine studious persons, appointed to revise the ancient civil history of Ireland. This literary work, which has been entitled "SeanachasMore," The Great Antiquity, is said to have been executed with ability and zeal. Few, if any fragments of it have, I believe, escaped the ravages of the Norman war, and descended to the present age.* SAINT PATRICK had, in the course of his missionary labours, determined to adopt the most effectual means for transmitting to posterity the doctrines which he had so sedulously taught. Under this impression, he founded at Armagh, a school, or college which, in process of time became famous through all Europe.+ About the same period, he built an abbey in that city, which he dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Here, during many centuries, a convent of regular canons of the order of Saint Augustin, continued to flourish. The abbots of this convent, many of whom were famous for their sanctity and knowledge, presided over the academy, with great reputation to themselves, and advantage to Christianity and the republic of letters. In the year 1126 it was repaired, and the church annexed to it, rebuilt by Imar O Hædhagain the learned preceptor of primate Malachy Morgair. It maintained its high character till the very commencement of the reformation. SAINT PATRICK also founded the "Temple Na Fearta," or, Church of the Miracles, and Temple Brigid.¶ • Annals of the four masters ad annum, 458. Ware's Ant. 241, Vita Trip. Tria Thaum. p. 291. Usser Brit, Eccl. Ant. p. 447. Jus Prim. Armac. No. 2, 13, 131, 179, 578, 380, See Appendix No. V. Appendix No. VI ¶ See The district, Na Fearta, sometimes called "Suidhe Padruic," Sessio Patricii, or Patrick's Seat, is said, by Ussher, and by the ancient author of "The Tripartite Life of SAINT PATRICK," (c. 84,) to have been situated to the eastward of the city. This place had been granted by King Daire, to our Irish Apostle before the building of Armagh. In the year 443, Lupita, the sister of SAINT PATRICK, was buried there, and a nunnery was afterwards erected on the spot, in honour of her memory.* This pious woman was, probably, the first person inhumed at the ancient abbey of Na Fearta. It is said that the body of a female was dug up nearly two centuries ago, in the ruins of Lupita's nunnery, The corse was in an erect position, with two crosses placed before and behind. It was generally believed to have been Lupita, but it is difficult to assign any rational grounds for so improbable an assumption+ We are, however, informed by Colgan, that about the year 1633, the corse of Lupita was found in the cemetery, where it had been inhumed in the neighbourhood of Armagh. The body was "entire, but" as he gravely adds, "crumbled into dust, when touched by prophane hands." This story, he informs us, was communicated to him by many persons who had heard it narrated by those who had raised Lupita from the grave.‡ Various other religious houses were, afterwards annexed, or affiliated to those established in Armagh, by our indefatigable missionary and his successors. Amongst these may be classed the priory on the island of St. Dubiac, or Avoc, in Loch Derg. This, in the Usser Ind. Chron. ad an. 443. Primord. p. 814, 858. Brit. Eccl. Ant. p. 429, 446. Vit. Trip. S. P. Vard. p. 184. Tria Thaum, p. 11, 16, 21, 126. ↑ Arch. Monast. Hib. p. 32. See Appendix VII. + Quint. Appen. Tria Thaum. p. 226. See also for more information about Lupita. Vit. Trip. pars 1, c. 16, pars 2. c. 29, and p. 3, passim. Sec. Vita S. P. apud Tria Thaum, c. 1, et sequent. Tertia Vit. c. 1. register of Dr. John Bole, one of the Primates of Armagh, is called "the filial place of the monasteries of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Armagh." Of this description, also, was another religious esta. blishment, named the Black Cell, in the Daire Colgac, Londonderry. Thus a Christian unity and intimate brotherhood of love was preserved amongst the newly established churches of the kingdom. An ancient writer, quoted by Ussher,+ says that the first order of Catholic saints was established in the time of SAINT PATRICK. The members of this order were, he asserts, “all bishops, illustrious, pure, filled with the Holy Spirit, in number, 350, and the founders of many churches. They had one head CHRIST, one leader, PATRICK, one mass, one form of celebration, one tonsure, from ear to ear. They celebrated one Pasch, the fourteenth of the moon, after the vernal equinox, and whatever was excommunicated or anathematized by one church, all the others also excommunicated. They did not reject the aid and company of women, because, being founded on the rock of Christ, they feared not the wind of temptation. This order flourished during four reigns, viz. those of Leogaire, Ail Muilt, Lugad, the son of Leogaire, and Tuathil. All these bishops were sprung from Romans, Francs, Britons and Scots," i. e. Hibernians. They were succeeded by a "second order of Catholic Presbyters. In this were few bishops, but many presbyters, in number, 300. They had one head, the LORD. They celebrated various masses, and adopted various rules. They kept one Pasch, the fourteenth day of the moon after the equinox, had one tonsure from ear to ear, refused the assistance of women, and separated them from the monasteries. This order continued during four reigns, viz. from the end of the reign of Tuathil, through the Ware's Ant. p. 97, Edit. 1705, Dublin, Brit, Eccl. Ant. p. 473. |