are placed within the ancient graveyard, and this crowns a beautiful eminence, from which fine views of the adjacent country can be obtained. Coiningean must have flourished, at an early period; since, we are told, she was a pupil or daltha to Mac Tail, of Cill Cuillinn. It was on her account, the clergy of Leinster denounced Mac Tail. This appears, from the gloss of Enghus ;21 and both the original Irish and its English translation have been given, by Dr. Whitley Stokes, in his version of the calendar of Oengus. 22 However, it may well be supposed, that the charges preferred against Mactail were unfounded; and, inoreover, when his pupil had been instructed in the duties of a religious life, she ruled over a pious community of women. Her church, called Cill Finn Miughi, is said to have been in the vicinity of Killeen Cormac ; but, while it is not easy to identify it, among many of the church sites about Narraghmore,23 the Rev. John Francis Shearman 24 thinks it may be the cemetery, now called Kyle, near Blackrath, midway between Killeen Cormac and Narraghmore. According to the Feilire of Angus,25 this virgin was buried in the Dionnlatha of Cinel Lugair; by a learned investigator 26 of Irish antiquities, it is identified with Killeen Cormac, an old graveyard, in the county of Kildare. 27 We are told, that some churches in Leinster formerly bore the name of this saint, and that Kilcoagh, a townland on the side of a hill over Donard. got its name from an old church, now nearly defaced, and dedicated to her. 28 It was formerly called "Cell Chuachi.29 She is said,3° also, to have been the patroness of Kilcock, in the present county of Kildare, and to have been not distinguishable from Cuach, the virgin of Cill Cuaich, in Cairbre ua Ciardha.32 According to the Martyrology of Donegal,33 veneration was given, on this day, to Coiningean. Her festival was also celebrated, in Scotland; for, in the Kalendar of Drummond, at the 29th of April,34 her Natalis is noted. We regret that other renseignements are wanting, to give a more reliable account of this pious maiden.

ARTICLE III.-ST. FIACHAN, OR FIACHNA. We have no means left to ascerthin the identity of the present holy man, whose name seems to be resolvable into Fiachan, Fiechnan, Fechno, or Fiachna. There appear to be only two saints bearing this name, in the Irish calendar, viz., the present holy man, and one as we have already noticed, as having been venerated, at the 30th of

the foreground. Subsequently it was trans ferred to the wood, by William F. Wakeman, and it was engraved by Mrs. Millard.

21 This reference to the gloss or scholia on Engus is in the original hand, according to the Rev. Dr. Todd's note 6.

22 See "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i., p. lxxvii.

23 This parish is partly in the Baronies of Narragh and Reban West, and shown, on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Kildare," sheet 31; and partly in the Baronies of Narragh and Reban East, shown on sheets 31, 32, 35, 36, ibid.

24 See "Loca Patriciana," No. iv., p. 48. 25 In the Leabhar Breac, R.I.A.

26 Rev. John Francis Shearman, who was formerly C.C. of Howth, and who is now P. P. of Moone.

27 See an article intituled "Loca Patri

ciana,” No. i., pp. 349, 350, and notes ibid. "Journal of the Royal Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland," Fourth Series, vol. ii., No. 14, April, 1873.

28 See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patriciana," No. iv., p. 47.

29 This is mentioned in a Concessio made to the Abbey of Glendalough, in 1173, the twentieth year of Henry II.'s reign.

30 By Rev. John Francis Shearman. 31 Her feast is already set down, at the 8th of January.

32 See Loca Patriciana," No. iv., pp. 47, 48, and No. viii., n. 2, p. 150.

33 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 112, 113.

34 Thus iii. Kl. "Apud Hiberniam natale Sanctorum Confessorum Coningin et Fiachna."-Bishop Forbes' "Kalendar of Scottish Saints," p. 12.

March.1 In the Martyrology of Tallagh, the name Fiachnae occurs, at the 29th of April, and it is the only entry concerning him.3 It would seem, that

6

in referring to the same calendar, the Bollandists have entered his name as Fiarchua, at this date. The Rev. Alban Butler 5 refers to Colgan's Manuscript, at the 29th of April, for some notices of this saint, of whom we are yet in ignorance. The glossographer to the Feilire of St. Angus 7 states, that this Fiachna had been a monk with Mochuda. This, however, is a mere guess. That St. Fiachna is said to have been of the Desies, in Munster. By the most perfect spirit of obedience, Fiachma laid the foundation for the most sublime gifts of prayer and of all other virtues. There was a monk, belonging to the monastery of the Long Plain, in the Island of Ethica, in Scotland. He came as a penitent from Ireland to St. Columba,9 as we find specifically set forth, in the Life of the latter holy Abbot. 10 That Fechno had the denomination Sapiens or Wise bestowed upon him, and he seems to have died in the Island of Ethica, soon after he had been placed under the charge of the Abbot Baithen. A conjecture has been offered," that Fiachan may not have differed from a certain St. Fachnanus Sapiens, of Ross, or Ros-Alithre, 12 who was blind, in the days of St. Mochoemoc or Pulcherius. '3 A St. Fiachna had been venerated, at a small church, on the road side, and not far from Bantry, in the county of Cork. Here, tradition states, that he led a very holy life. Some curious legends, connected with this saint, and with his church, are related. Very curious objects of antiquity, and referred by the people of that neighbourhood, to the time of St. Fiachna,14 are there to be seen. The Martyrologies of Marianus O'Gorman and of Cathal Maguire have a St. Fiechna, at April 29th.15 On this day, the Martyrology of Donegal 16 mentions, that Fiachan, a monk of Mochuda, had veneration paid him. For this statement, Engus 7 is cited. Both Butler's "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints,"18 and the "Circle of the Seasons,"19 register St. Fiachna, confessor, at the 29th of April.

ARTICLE IV.-ST. RUSSEN, ALSO CALLED RUS, RUSSUS, RUSSENUS, SON OF RODAN. [Sixth Century.] The present holy man is generally supposed to have been a disciple to the illustrious Abbot and founder of Iona. St. Russen, otherwise named Rus, Russeus, Ruthius, and Russenus, is called the

ARTICLE III. See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbæ, cap. x., p. 490.

2 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxii.

3 The Franciscan copy, at this date, enters Fiachne.

4 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii., Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 611.

5 See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iv., April xxix.

He quotes, likewise, Engus in Chron. 7 The Leabhar Breac copy. See "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. Calendar of Oengus, edited by Whitley Stokes, LL.D., p. lxxvii.

See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iv., April xxix.

9 See his Life, at the 9th of June.

10 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Adamnan's or Quarta Vita S. Columbæ, lib. i., cap. xxx., p. 345. Also, O'Donnell's or Quinta Vita S. Columbæ, lib. ii., cap. xliii., p. 417.

"By Colgan. See ibid., n. 75, p. 378. 12 He was patron of this place, and he flourished, in the sixth century.

13 See his Life, at the 13th of March, in vol. iii.

14 See Mr. and Mrs. Hall's "Ireland, its Scenery, Character," &c., vol. i., pp. 121. 15 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Vita S. Columbæ, lib. i., cap. xxx., n. 75, p. 378.

16 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 114, 115.

17 A note by Dr. Todd says, at this word Angus, "The words Manać do Močuda are quoted, from the Scholia, on the Feilire of Angus.'

18 See vol. iv., April xxix.

son of Rodan. His festival is set down at the 9th day of April, by Colgan,"
who quotes various Irish Martyrologies for his statement, but, as we have
seen, at the 7th of this month, Colgan intended to note the 29th. Hector
Boetius,3 Lesley and Dempster 5 mention a St. Ruthius. According to the
latter writer, much against his father's consent, who lived in Hibernia, he went to
Scotland, and in some part of it, as bishop, Rus had charge of souls. The same
unreliable author informs us, that Ruthius wrote Sermones de Sanctis, lib.
i., and De Vita Monastica, lib. i. He is said, also, to have attached himself
as a disciple to St. Columkille, and that he was a person, more distinguished
for his great piety, than for his nobility of extraction.? We find, that a St.
Rus left Ireland, as one of twelve companions, with St. Columba, about the
year 563, when the great Coenobiarch was about to take up his permanent
habitation on earth, in the neighbouring country of Scotland. Among the
fellow-voyagers of St. Columba are distinguished Rus and Fethno, two sons
of Rodan.9 The Martyrologium Anglicanum refers his feast, to the 14th
of December, and, it states, that he died about A.D. 588. According to
Dempster, however, he flourished in the year 606, and he was venerated on
the 27th day of December. The feast of our saint was held, it is said, on
the 9th of April, according to the Martyrologies of Tamlacht, of Donegal, of
Marian O'Gorman and of Maguire; by these writers he is styled,
"Rassen
of the Islands of the Picts." According to Colgan, the year for his death is
uncertain. In the edition of the Tallagh Martyrology, published by the Rev.
Dr. Kelly, we cannot discover any mention of this saint's name, at the v. of
the Ides, or 9th of April; whereas, at the vii. of the Ides, and 7th day of the
month, there is a festival entry of "Ruissen Innse Pich." In this same
work, the 14th of December is missing; consequently, there are no means for
determining, whether a festival had been appointed for our saint, at that day.
Nor do we discover, that this deficiency has been supplied in the supplemen
tary catalogue, compiled from the Martyrology of Donegal. Wherefore, at the
vi. of the Kalends of January-December 27th-there is no entry of a me-
morial feast for this saint, in the published Tallagh Martyrology.13

10

ARTICLE V.-ST. LUICRIDH, ABBOT OF CLONMACNOISE, KING'S COUNTY. [Eighth Century.] We find no mention of a festival for this saint, in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the iii. of the May Kalends, corresponding with the 29th of April; although the Bollandists quote that calendar, for

2

19 See p. 120.

ARTICLE. IV.1 According to the Cottonian Codex of Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, as quoted by Ussher.

2 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta St. Columbæ, cap. ix., p. 487, and cap. x., p. 492.

3 See "Scotia Historia," lib. ix., fol. 166.

* See "Historia Scotia," lib. iv., p. clii. 5 See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii., lib. xvi., num. 1036, p.

the feast of St. Lucridius of Kill-Lucridhe, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, at this day. He was born, most probably towards the close of the seventh century. This saint, it is said, was appointed Abbot over Clonmacnoise, the ruins of which yet exist, on the River Shannon's left bank, within the King's County. This great monastery was then in a very flourishing condition. Through reverence for the founder, even the cemetery at this place had always been a favourite place of burial, from St. Kieran's time.3 There are several ancient inscriptions to be seen, in the cemetery of Clonmacnoise, and many of which date back to an exceedingly remote period. As we learn, that Comman of Ross died in the year 742, as Abbot of Clonmacnoise,5 it seems probable, that he was immediately succeeded by St. Luicridh. This latter is said to have died, A.D. 748, according to the O'Clerys. Over this date, a more recent hand has inserted 752.7 Thus, St. Luicridh died, on the 29th of April, A.D. 748, according to the Annals of the Four Masters ; but, according to the Ulster Annals, A.D. 752.9 However, as the Ulster Annals relate at this year an eclipse of the sun, which really took place on the 9th of January, at 11 o'clock, a.m., in the year 753; this also may have been the date for our saint's death, if we are to follow the authority of these Annals. We find set down, in the Martyrology of Donegal," that veneration was paid on this day, to Luichridh, of Cill Luichridh, Abbot of Cluain-mic-Nois.12 In a copy of the Irish calendar, once belonging to the Irish Ordnance Survey Office, Phoenix Park, it is stated, that this saint was from Kill Luicrid. A marginal note in pencil, affixed to the latter word, and in the handwriting of Mr. O'Donovan, puts the query, if this place be identical with Killury, a village of Clanmaurice barony, in the county of Kerry. There is a Killurane, a parish in the barony of Tulla, and county of Clare-Killure, a parish in the barony of Gaultier, and county of Waterford-Killurin, a parish in the barony of Shelmalier, and county of Wexford there is also a Killury, a parish in the barony of Clanmaurice and county of Kerry ;'4 yet, it is not ascertained, if any of these places derived its denomination, from the saint venerated on this day.

ΤΟ

ARTICLE VI.-ST. BRECAN, BISHOP OF MOVILLE, COUNTY OF Down. The name of Brecan appears, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at this day; and, to it, the Bollandists give reference, at the 29th of April. A festival in honour of Brecan, Bishop of Magh-bile, or Moville,3 was held, on this day, as is recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal. We know not the years, during which he continued to exercise episcopal rule ; nor can we discover the year for his departure from this life. There are notices of a St. Braccan, or Brecan, at the 16th of July. He is called bishop of Ardbraccan, in the county of Meath; but, also, he is called Abbot of Magh-Bile. The circumstances related of his race and family point him out, as distinct from St. Breacan, or Brecan, the son of Eochaidh Balldearg, prince of Thomond, and

Four Masters," vol. i., pp. 342, 343.

This is the date, in "Annals of the Four Masters," which do not mention Luicridh, as being distinguished "of Cill Luchridh." 7 See a note by Dr. Todd, p. 112. This date accords with the Annals of Ulster.

8 See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i., pp. 350, 351, and n. (0).

9 See Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv., p. 95.

M I

from whom Ardbraccan,8 in Meath, is said to have taken denomination. His period is referred to the sixth, or very early in the seventh, century.9

ARTICLE VII.—ST. DOMAINGEN, BISHOP OF TUAIM MUSCRAIGHE. In the published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 29th of April, is found the simple entry, Domangin of Thuaim Muscraidhe. In the Bollandists' collection,3 referring to the same calendar, they have Domongenus, Episcopus de TuaimMuscraig. This place is stated to be identical with Tomes,5 Barony of West Muskerry, in the present county of Cork. The O'Clerys inform us, that he was son of Fionnlugh, brother to Brenainn, son of Fionnlugh, who descended from the race of Ciar, son to Fergus, son of Ros, son to Rudhraighe. The celebrated Navigator, St. Brendan, is said to have been the son of Finlogue, or Finnlog, derived from the same stock. We are told, that he had a brother, a bishopnamed Domanigen, whose feast was assigned to 29th of April; and, he had a sister, called Briga, or Brigh. This is stated, in St. Brendan's Irish Life, and it is also said, she was of Enach-duin, according to the O'Clerys.9 Under the head of Tuaim-Muscraighe, Duald Mac Firbis enters, Domhainghin, or Damhainghin, bishop of Tuaim Muscraighe. He is called, also, the brother of Brenainn, and at April 29th his festival is placed. 10 On this day, the Martyr ology of Donegal likewise registers a festival, in honour of Domaingen, Bishop, of Tuaim Muscraighe.

ARTICLE VIII.-ST. SENAN, CONFESSOR, IN NORTH WALES. [Seventh Ceutury.] The Bollandists have short notices of a St. Senan, confessor, at

10 The "Art de Verifier les Dates," tom. i., p. 66, is referred to, for proof of the sun's eclipse, at this year.

Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 112, 113.

12 At the iii. of the Calends of May-29th of April-in the Irish Calendar we read: “Luièrid ó ċill Luiċrid abb Cluana me 11011 ano dom 752."-" Common Place Book F," p. 42.

13 See Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. ii., p. 157.

1 See ibid., p. 158.

ARTICLE VI. Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxii. In the Franciscan copy, we find breccani ab Maigibili.

2 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii., Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 611.

3 See in reference to this saint, Duald Mac Firbis' remarks, and William M. Hennessy's note 10 in "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. 1., part i., pp. 86, 87.

Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 112, 113.

5 See Rev. William Reeves' "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore, Appendix A, p. 152, and Appendix LL, p. 377.

See Rev. Drs. Todd's and Reeves' "Martyrology of Donegal," at pp. 194, 195,

where there is a notice of St. Brecan, Bishop of Ardbrecain, and Abbot of Magbile.

7 Owing to the record of his assumed descent from the race of Eoghan, the son of Niall, he does not seem to have been different from a St. Brecan, venerated at the 6th of December. See ibid., pp. 326, 327. Anglicized "Braccan's Height."

8

See Rev. Anthony Cogan's "Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i., chap. vii., p. 48.

ARTICLE VII. Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxii.

Also, in the Franciscan copy, we find Domungin o Thuaim Muscrige.

3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii., Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 611.

4 By William M. Hennessy.

5 This denomination does not appear, on the Irish Ordnance Survey Maps. There is a Tomies East, a Tomies West, and a Tomies Wood, in the parish of Aghadoe, in the Barony of Dunkerron North, and described, on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Kerry," sheets 65, 66.

See his Life, at the 16th of May. ? In chap. vi.

In chap. lxix.

9 See the "Martyrology of Donegal," edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 8, 9.