proverbial; the noble example of benevolence bequeathed by St. Brigid, having been handed down with scrupulous care from one generation of religious to another. Hence the monastery of Kildare was, in those happy days, designated the "stranger's home," where attention and comfort were afforded indiscriminately, to all who had found it necessary to visit its sacred and hospitable gates. At length, after a lapse of a thousand years, and during the reign of Henry VIII, it seems that both the Christian religion and Irish customs wanted to be reformed; the former was considered too ancient to be good, and the latter too contemptible to be endured any longer. Accordingly, the old work of spoliation commenced, which in those days went by the name of reformation. The sacred name of religion was industriously employed, and under the pretence of remodelling the Church, that property, which for eleven centuries went to relieve the destitute, was at that period torn from them, and sacrificed to the confiscating spirit of the day. Ever since-for the last three hundred years, an unemployed and impoverished population have been left to starve upon a wild and bleak commons, without any other comfort save that patience and fortitude, which by habit has become natural to the heart of an Irishman, or perhaps, occasionally, the casual pittance of some more fortunate and tender-hearted fellow-creature. Elizabeth made a grant of this abbey and its tenements to Anthony Deeringe and Redmond Oge Fitzgerald. Thus was religion reformed, and the poor of Ireland brought to a sense of moral order, social happiness, and consequent civilization!

THE MONASTERY OF LOUGH DERG, in the county of Donegal. The lake in which this monastery stood, is situated in the barony of Tirhugh, and contains several islands, the largest of which is called that of St. Dabeoc, and by some, the Island of All Saints. In this island was a religious establishment, founded, according to some writers, by St. Patrick, but most probably by St. Dabeoc,* in whose honour three festivals are observed yearly-on the 1st of January, on the 24th of July, and on the 16th of December. St. Patrick's purgatory, so called, appears to have taken its rise from a holy man, named Patrick, who governed the monastery, and lived about the year 850. It was a place of great sanctity, and much frequented by penitents and holy persons; but being situated too near the shore, the station was closed up, and another opened in a lesser island, and at a more retired distance. Lough Derg, as a place of penance, was for many centuries in great

repute, not only in Ireland, but even in distant countries. The kings of England granted several safe-conducts to foreigners who were desirous to visit it; and particularly in 1538 to Nicholas de Beccario, a nobleman of Ferraria; and in 1397 to Raymond Viscount de Perilleux, a knight of Rhodes, who repaired thither with a train of twenty men and thirty horses.* However, through the licentiousness of after times, great abuses had been committed; and accordingly we find, that in 1497 this frequented station was, upon the authority of Alexander VI, totally demolished by the father-guardian of the Franciscans of Donegal, and some other persons from the deanery of Lough Ern, who were deputed for that purpose. After a lapse of time, the devotions practised in Lough Derg had been revived, and new regulations were made to prevent the recurrence of any impropriety. The venerable priory of Dabeoc has suffered a similar fate with that of the other religious establishments of the kingdom. In the sixteenth century it fell amidst the general wreck, and became a prey to the unsparing rapacity of the times.

The number of religious establishments belonging to this century is so great, that the limits of this analysis oblige us to compress our narrative within a certain compass. In their respective constitutions, and on points of particular discipline, they might vary, but as to learning and hospitality, the rules and customs of all were perfectly similar. The following are a few of the principal monasteries founded by St. Patrick:INISBEG, in Hy-Kenselach, county of Wexford; DRUIMLIAS, in the county of Sligo; RATH-MUIGHE, in Dalrieda, county of Antrim; COLERAINE, county of Derry; DRUIM-INIS, GLUIN, county of Armagh; INISFEAL, county of Wexford; MOVILL, county of Donegal; FINGLAS, county of Dublin; MUNGRET, in the county of Limerick, over which St. Nessan was placed. The Psalter of Cashel states, that this establishment had, at one period, six churches within its walls, and contained, exclusively of scholars, 1500 religious, 500 of whom were learned preachers, 500 psalmists, and the remaining 500 applied themselves to contemplation, works of charity and other spiritual exercises.

* Rhymers, fœdera, t. 6.

As the Hymn of St. Fiech, who died A.D. 530, has been referred to in the foregoing chapters, we take this opportunity of stating, that the best and most faithful interpretation of that valuable metrical narrative will be found in the "Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland," edited for the Irish Archæological Society, by the Rev. Dr. Todd, T.C.D. The Hymn of St. Sechnall, or Secundinus, which appears to have been composed during the lifetime of St. Patrick, is also a metrical narrative of our apostle's inner and outward life, and concludes with a prediction that he is to reign with the apostles "a saint over Israel for ever."

"Cujus ingentis laboris percepturus præmium

Cum Apostolis regnabit sanctus super Israel."

To St. Sechnall is also attributed the exquisite hymn sung at the Post-Communion by the priests, and a venerable legend tells us that it was chaunted by angels in St. Sechnall's church. This beautiful composition is found in the Antiphonarium Benchorense, as well as in the "Book of Hymns;" and we need hardly observe, that it is a most patent evidence of the faith of our forefathers in the dogma of transubstantiation, as well as an attestation of the profound reverence with which they approached the body and blood of our Lord in the most holy Eucharist.

CHAPTER III.

Religious and Literary Characters of the Fifth Century-
General Observations.

THE saints who flourished in Ireland during the fifth and sixth centuries, are divided by our ancient hagiologists into three classes; and in making this classification, Ussher rests upon the authority of some very old and authentic manuscripts. The first class was composed of one hundred and fifty bishops, who were all filled with the spirit of God, and were the founders of churches. The second class consisted of priests, to the number of three hundred, besides many bishops. And the third class, to the number of one hundred, was composed of priests and some bishops. "These (he says) inhabited woods and desert places, living upon herbs which they cultivated themselves, and drinking nothing but water." The austerity of their lives, and the sublime virtues which they practised, would appear to men of the present age almost incredible; but these were some of the means by which the great saints of Ireland purchased glory for themselves, and eternal honour for the Church of which they were members. We are not to expect that the holy men of the fifth century, who were active and laborious missionaries, and who had an unbounded harvest before them, could find much time for the production of any deep, elaborate, scientific works. Many of them were well versed in science and polite learning; some of them were gifted with mental powers of the first order, and all of them were enriched with that knowledge which is above and far surpasses all human knowledge-the knowledge of themselves and of God, and the method by which they could draw their fellow-creatures to happiness here, and to never-ending happiness hereafter.

ST. IBAR, bishop, abbot and founder of the celebrated monastery of Beg-erin, on the coast of the county of Wexford, holds a high rank among the saints of the fifth century. This saint was a native of Ulster, and became a convert to the Christian faith while St. Patrick had been employed on his mission in that province. Though descended of an illustrious family, with all the allurements of honor and opulence before him, his resolution in obeying the call of Heaven

*Primord. Eccl. Brit. c. 17.

remained unshaken, and in all the subsequent labours of our apostle through the several districts of Leinster and of Munster, Ibar was his constant companion, and ranked in the number of his most favourite disciples. So high was the opinion which St. Patrick had entertained of the zeal and virtues of Ibar, that after some time he commissioned him to preach the Gospel through Ireland; and by his instrumentality were numbers converted to the faith.* On his return from this mission, and on his arriving at the eastern boundaries of Leinster, he settled at Beg-erin, and here he founded his great monastery, in which human science and the secrets of heavenly wisdom were taught. This religious and literary retreat was opened gratuitously for all: the stranger from the distant shore was received and welcomed at its gates, and these foreigners, with crowds of native alumni, served in process of time to establish the high reputation of the farfamed school of Ibar. The date of his promotion to the episcopacy has not been accurately ascertained; but it must be, in all probability, about the year 460. However, we are not left in the same uncertainty with respect to the year of his death, which, according to the Annals of Ulster and Innisfallen, took place A.D. 500. This circumstance alone is sufficient to overthrow the opinion of those who have endeavoured to maintain that Ibar was a bishop, and officiating as such in this country, previously to the arrival of St. Patrick. Should the veracity of this statement be admitted, it must follow from the above annals and other authorities,† that the Saint had been nearly eighty years an acting bishop in Ireland! Those who defend the above opinion rely principally on the authority of some unauthenticated fragments of the Acta Sancti Abbani; but from these very documents it would appear, that both St. Abban and St. Ibar had flourished in Ireland during the pontificate of Pope Gregory I, and consequently at the close of the sixth century, which involves a still greater absurdity. The date specified in the Annals of Innisfallen and of Ulster, is that which is now generally admitted; while the natalis of the saint. is marked by all at the 23rd of April.

ST. DECLAN, bishop and founder of the see of Ardmore, in the county of Waterford, flourished in the fifth, and became

"Ibarus missus est ad evangelium prædicandum per Hiberniam, in qua innumeros ad fidem Christi convertit-ad fines Lageniensium venit et australem ejus partem, ubi est litoralis parva insula, Beg-erin, ubi celebre condidit coenobium, et Sacras ibidem literas aliasque artes optimas docuit."-Vita Ibari, Ussher, p. 1061.

+ Ware, Annot. ad op. etc.

See Bollandists at 23rd of April.