Saint Patrick's Church, Trim

As the noticeboard of the Church tells us, this is the second such building erected on the site.  Bishop Thomas Nulty laid its foundation stone on 11th October, 1891.  Designed in the neo-Gothic style by the architect William Hague, Fr. Hugh Behan was parish priest when construction began.  The project quickly ran into difficulty due to the Parnellite controversy and work had to be suspended for four years.  Fr. Philip Callery recommenced the work in 1895.  When the architect William Hague died in 1899, the then parish priest, Fr. Michael Woods engaged the Dublin firm of William H. Byrne and Sons to complete the interior.  The estimated cost of the project was £16,000.  The new St. Patrick's Church was opened and solemnly dedicated by Bishop Matthew Gaffney on 12th October, 1902, in the presence of Michael, Cardinal Logue.

The Church is one hundred and fifty four feet long.  Its spire, including the cross, is two hundred and eight feet high.  The Dublin firm of James Pearse and Sons designed the High Altar and Reredos.  Oppenheimer Ltd. of Old Trafford, Manchester, executed the mosaics in the sanctuary.  The  stained glass windows depecting St. Patrick and Our Lady of Trim were designed by Franz Meyer and Co. of Munich.

Forgotten Saints

The Feast of the All the Saints of Ireland is celebrated on 6th November. Very many of the Saints of Ireland are still remembered by the people today but very many more are forgotten. This may be for two reasons, first, because of their multitude in number, since the celebration of the feast of each Saint of Ireland would surely deprive us of the opportunity to celebrate so many Saints on the Universal Calendar of the Church, and, secondly, because the brilliance of many outshines the luminous sanctity of so many more.

“Archbishop Usher, on the authority of some very old and authentic manuscript, which throws much light on our ancient ecclesiastical history, divides the saints who flourished in Ireland during the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries into three classes.

Dr. Lanigan is of opinion that this catalogue was written before the year 715, the period at which the disputes about the tonsure and the Paschal cycle had concluded.

The first class consisted of one hundred and fifty bishops, who were all founders of churches and eminent for sanctity. Those bishops were Romans, Britons, Franks, and Scots (Irish)… This class was called most holy.

The second class commenced from the year 542, the latter end of the reign of Tuathal, and continued to AD 598 or 599. This class consisted of three hundred saints, few of whom were bishops, the greater part having been priests… This order was called very holy.

The third order of saints consisted or holy priests and a few bishops, in all one hundred in number, who dwelt in deserts, and lived on herbs, water, and alms… The first order (or class) most holy; the second very holy; the third holy. The first burns brightly like the sun, the second like the moon, and the third like the stars.”

From: The Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern, by Rev. A. Cogan, C.C., Published in Dublin, 1862.

However, these holy men and women should not be forgotten.

“…we are greatly helped not only by theological investigation but also by that great heritage which is the “lived theology” of the saints. The saints offer us precious insights which enable us to understand more easily the intuition of faith, thanks to the special enlightenment which some of them have received from the Holy Spirit…” John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, 27

“The saints are like beacons; they show men and women the possibilities open to human beings. They are therefore also culturally interesting, independently of the cultural, religious or investigatory approach to them.” Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, C.M.F., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints

We hope to restore to memory some of the Saints associated with the Diocese of Meath.

St. Erk of Slane

St. Erk of Slane, Bishop
Friend of St. Brigid of Kildare, co-consecrator of St. Conleth, first Bishop of Kildare.

“St. Erk, ‘the sweet spoken judge’, was, in all probability, a native of Munster; and is said to have been page to King Laoghaire at the time he showed this respect to St. Patrick. [Lanigan, vol. 1, p. 346] He was consecrated some time before the year 465, and was the first bishop of the ancient diocese of Slane, and abbot of the monastery which was erected there by St. Patrick. He is said to have been the preceptor of St. Brendan, and was an intimate friend of St. Brigid. At the synod of Magh-Femyn, in Tipperary, it is related that Erk spoke highly of the great abbess of Kildare, and of the miraculous favours with which she was endowed by the Almighty. He assisted at the consecration of Conlaeth, first bishop of Kildare, and took an active part in all the ecclesiastical movements of the age… Colgan says that, in the old calendars, Ercus is treated of on 2nd of October and 2nd of November Probus, writing of him in the tenth century, says: “Hercus, filius Dego, cujus reliquae nunc venerantur in civitate, quae vocatur Slane.”

From: The Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern, by Rev. A. Cogan, C.C., Published in Dublin, 1862.

St. Erk of Slane, pray for us!

First Pilgrimage to Tullamore

It was a joyful privilege for members and friends of the Catholic Heritage Association to be joined by so many people from Tullamore and the surrounding Parishes for our first pilgrimage to the Church of the Assumption, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, last Saturday.

The Parish website gives an excellent history of the Catholic Heritage of Tullamore, on the occasion of the recent centenary of the Church, here, with a survey of the Church building here.  Buildings of Ireland, as ever, has a thorough appraisal of the Church itself here.  Archiseek has another excellent piece here.

Our good friends at Tullamore Parish have posted some photos of the Mass on their excellent Parish website here. Mary with her loving Son, bless us each and every one!

Traditional Easter Ceremonies

The Easter Ceremonies in the Gregorian Rite:

Holy Thursday

4 p.m. - Holy Mass: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
6 p.m. - Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
6 p.m. - Holy Mass: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
7 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath

Good Friday

12 noon - Stations of the Cross: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
3 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
3 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
5 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
6 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
7 p.m. - Stations of the Cross: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath

Holy Saturday

12.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
8 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
8.30 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.

Easter Sunday

9 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Mary's Church, Ballyhea, Co. Cork
9 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Mary's Church, Chapel Street, Newry, Co. Down
10 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Patrick's Church, Drumkeen, Co. Donegal
10 a.m. - Holy Mass: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
12 noon - Holy Mass: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
1.30 p.m. - Holy Mass: Holy Cross Church (O.P.), Tralee, Co. Kerry
2 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Columba's Church, Longtower, Derry City
4 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Therese's Church, Somerton Road, Belfast City
5 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Patrick's Church, College Road, Kilkenny City
5.30 p.m. - Holy Mass: Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Our Lady's Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo

Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh go léir!
A happy and holy Easter to one and all!

Bective Abbey

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Bective in the barony of Navan and on the river Boyne. Murchard O'Melaghlin, king of Meath, founded the Cistercian abbey of Bective in the year 1146, under the invocation of the Virgin Mary.

The reader cannot but observe that a large number, if not the greater part, of the Irish monasteries was dedicated to the Mother of God. Always devotion to the Virgin Mary has been practised in Ireland. The poor reaper of Ireland on his autumnal pilgrimage to England to earn a few pounds wherewith to pay the Irish landlord a portion of his rack rent implored Mary, the star of the sea, to protect her dear Irish boy wherever he roamed, confident of her protection the Irish emigrant betakes himself to the waters of the mighty Atlantic and when the winds of heaven agitate the vast deep threatening with destruction the bark, to whose temporary keeping English rule and landlord oppression, worse than Egyptian bondage, have consigned him, the Irish Catholic, no other hope being left, entreats Mary to supplicate her Son, whom the seas and winds obey, in his behalf.

The abbey of Bective was called de Beatitudine

AD 1340 John was abbot.
AD 1488 the abbot, James of Castlemartin, received the king's pardon for the part he had taken in the affair of Lambert Simnell.

July the 31st and thirty fourth of Henry VII, the abbot surrendered, according to the acceptation of the word (in the English use it means forced to surrender), the possessions of this abbey, amounting to twenty messuages and one thousand two hundred acres of arable and pasture land in the county of Meath, became involved in the general confiscation and yet, as the royal plunderer progressed in his sacrilegious career, new wants arose, seemingly as cruel and as tyrannic as his thirst for the blood of his faithless wives.

The abbot of Bective sat as a baron in parliament, Large ruins of Bective abbey still remain. The cloisters and tower are almost entire.

Diocese of Clonard (Part 1)

The Catholic Heritage Association had a great privilege to make a first pilgrimage to St. Finian's Church, Clonard.

The history of the See of Clonard, subsumed into the Diocese of Meath, is extensively set out in Fr. Anthony Cogan's The Diocese of Meath Ancient & Modern (Published: Dublin, 1862 by John F. Fowler):

"There were anciently eight episcopal sees in the present diocese of Meath viz Clonard, Duleek, Kells, Trim, Ardbraccan, Dunshaughlin, Slane and Fore. All these dioceses except Duleek and Kells were consolidated and their common see fixed at Clonard before 1152.

DIOCESE OF CLONARD

There are few places in Ireland with which so many remembrances are connected or which were so closely identified with the literary and religious glories of our native country as the ancient and far famed Monastery of Clonard. Slane was a great religious establishment in its day, so too were Duleek, Ardbraccan, Kells, Trim, Dunshaughlin and Fore. They were the centres of the various dioceses into which the ancient kingdom of Meath was subdivided. Eahan, Durrow, Fennor, Kilskyre, Trevet, Skryne, Dulane, Castlekieran, Donaghpatrick, Donaghmore, Lann Leire, not to mention other places were pillars of light in the war of religion with the powers of darkness. And in subsequent years the great abbeys of Bective, Athboy, Ballybogan, Beaubec, Drogheda, Meath side Kilmainhambeg, Lismullen, Navan, Newtown, Odder, Ballinamore, Kilbeggan, Mullingar, Multifernham and Tristernagh perpetuated the literary and religious renown of Meath, shed lustre on the Pale, and handed down through generations the sacred deposit of Faith. Yet over all these homes of sanctity above all these halls of science and learning towered like a colossal mountain the genius and piety of Clonard. Its schools rivalled for centuries those of Armagh, Bangor, Clonmacnoise and Lismore. It trained up some of the ablest scholars sent forth from its peaceful shades the greatest ornaments and lights and as an indication of the esteem in which it was held as a proof of its recognized career of usefulness few abbeys were more frequently plundered bore more vivid traces of the cupidity and Vandalism of the ruthless Scandinavian or were more generously rebuilt and reendowed by the faithful and grateful Irish than the great Abbey of Clonard.

Clonard indeed is gone. Lismore is gone. Armagh, Clonmacnoise, Bangor, Glendalough, Kildare, Devenish - all these ancient landmarks have been swept away. The hand of the spoiler has torn up these sanctuaries of the faith and charity of our fathers. Their halls are no longer filled, the door of hospitality is no longer open to the poor man the traveller or the wayfarer. Silence, the silence of the grave, reigns around these holy places where the cheerful laugh of youth the pious chant of the monks the sacred song and the holy sacrifice amidst incense and ceremony once resounded. All that the powers of this world could effect has been done. The monastery the gorgeous temple the abbey church have disappeared The abbey lands have been seized the patrimony of the poor was confiscated. As if to show the strength of God's word, the interposition of His providence and His merciful designs for the Irish nation all the external aids which the charity and philanthropy of past ages have conferred on religion were permitted by Him to be torn away."

Becmore

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Becmore in the barony of Duleek and about two miles south of Drogheda. Here are some remains of an ancient building which tradition informs us was a preceptory belonging to Kilmainham. Beaubec in the same direction as Beamore from Drogheda. In the reign of King John, Walter do Lacie, lord of Meath, did grant to the church of St. Mary and St. Lawrence of Beaubec all his land situate in Killokeran together with the liberty of keeping a boat free of toll.

A.D. 1332 King Edward I granted a license to the abbot of Beaubec in Normandy to assign to the abbot of Furnes the manor of Beaubec near Drogheda together with three messuages, sixty acres and a half of land and fifty seven shillings and nine pence annual rent arising from Marinston Renneles and the town of Drogheda on both sides of the river, also a fishery in the Boyne saving however to the lords of the fee their proper services.
A.D. 1348 King Edward in a charter dated May 4th recites and repeats the grant of Walter de Lacie and farther says that King Henry III had confirmed the same and that the abbot of Beaubec of the Cistercian order had afterwards with the king's license granted the aforesaid manor of Beaubec to the abbot of Furnes.

Ballyboggan Abbey

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Holy Trinity Abbey, Ballyboggan

Ballybogan De laude Dei in the barony of Moysinrath and on the river Boyne. Jordan Comin founded this priory for Augustinians in the twelfth century under the invocation of the Holy Trinity.

A.D. 1446 The priory was consumed by fire.
A.D. 1447 the prior of this house died of the plague.
A.D. 1537 Thomas Bermingham was the last prior. A considerable number of the ancient monasteries of the kingdom about the period of the foundation of Ballybogan adopted the rule of the canons regular of St. Augustine and were much diffused over Ireland before the beginning of the thirteenth century.

This establishment was surrendered in the nineteenth of Henry VIII when its possessions were found to consist of five thousand, two hundred acres of arable land in various places. This priory with various parcels of its property was granted to Sir William Bermingham at an annual rent of £4 3s 4d. This was an excellent mode of making good sound Protestants stern and uncompromising defenders of British rule and Protestant ascendancy in unfortunate Ireland. However this be, the savage tyranny of the English government in subjugating the oppressed Catholics of Ireland has cost that proud nation millions of treasure and Elizabeth, with all her resources, could not subdue two provinces, Ulster and Connaught, until the government of her deputy Mountjoy perceived as well as carried out a short method of doing so by burning and destroying the crops of the Irish.

A.D. 1538 this year a crucifix which was held in great veneration was publicly burned.

The Medieval Bishops of Meath

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Eugene, bishop of Meath, succeeded and sat about twenty years. Before his death he assumed the style which his successors have since used. His predecessor Idunan adopted the same title. He succeeded in 1174 and died 1194.
Simon Rochfort was the first Englishman who governed this see and was consecrated about the year 1194. He died in the year 1224. having conducted himself in the government of his see with fidelity wisdom and integrity. Was of such an humble and meek behavior that he acquired the reputation of being a most excellent prelate.
Deodatus was elected bishop in 1224 and obtained the royal assent on the 29th August following. Some say he died before consecration and therefore do not reckon him among the bishops of this see. He died in the year 1226.
Ralph le Petit succeeded in 1227. He was archdeacon of Meath, a man of great gravity and wisdom. He died advanced in years about the fourth year of his consecration in 1230.
Richard de la Corner, canon of St. Patrick's, Dublin, succeeded in 1230, was confirmed by King Henry III and consecrated at Drogheda in St. Peter's church in 1232. He died in the year 1250.
Hugh de Taghmon succeeded in 1250. He is styled a man of piety and of venerable life. To this prelate Maurice Fitz Maurice, Lord Justice of Ireland, and John de Sanford, Escheator of Ireland, Edward I issued a commission to administer the oath of allegiance to the nobility and to the commonalty of Ireland. Having governed the See about thirty one years, he died in January 1281 and was buried at Mullingar.
Thomas St. Leger succeeded in 1287, was born of an illustrious family and was adorned by his manners. He was Archdeacon of Kells. Not having the assent of his metropolitan, he appealed to Rome. Another being preferred by the Primate, both parties resigned their claims into the hands of the Pope who, in the plenitude of apostolic power, chose Thomas St. Leger. He was not consecrated till the 3d of November, 1281. He was careful of his temporal privileges and equally so of his spiritual concerns. He enjoyed bad health before his death in December 1320. He ruled over his diocese thirty eight years.
John O'Carroll succeeded in 1321, was Dean and Bishop of Cork and was translated by the Pope to the See of Meath in the year 1321. He died in London about the beginning of August, 1329, on his return from Avignon.
William de Paul, a Carmelite Friar and sometime Provincial of his Order in England and Scotland, in token of his singular piety great learning wisdom and dexterity in managing affairs, succeeded as Bishop of Meath, 1327 by provision of the Pope, was consecrated at Avignon. He died in July, 1349, having sat twenty two years.
William St. Leger succeeded in 1350, was Archdeacon of Meath, was elected by the clergy and ratified by Bull of Pope Clement VI, was consecrated in England on the 2d of May, 1350, and died AD 1352.
Nicholas Allen succeeded in 1353, was Abbot of the Monastery of St. Thomas near Dublin, was consecrated in the beginning of this year. He was Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and took oath of office on the 10th of March, 1357. He died on the 5th of January, 1366.
Stephen de Valle or Wall succeeded in 1369, was Dean of Limerick and promoted by the Pope, consecrated in 1360. He sat in the See nine years and became Lord High Chancellor of Ireland. He died intestate at Oxford on the 10th of November, 1379.
William Andrew succeeded in 1380, was an English Dominican and Doctor of Divinity, was consecrated Bishop of Achrony in the year 1374, and was by Pope Urban VI translated to this see. He was distinguished for wisdom and learning. He died five years after his translation AD 1385.
Alexander de Balscot was successor in 1386. A canon of St Canice's Church, he was promoted to the See of Ossory and translated to Meath on the 14th of December, 1386. He was Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, executed the duties of his office with fidelity, had the reputation of a good bishop, died at Ardbraccan on the 10th of November, 1400, and was buried at Trim in St. Mary's Abbey.
Robert Montain, Rector of the Church of Kildalky, succeeded by the provision of the Pope in 1402. He sat ten years and died on the 24th May, AD 1412.
Edward Danteey, Archdeacon of Cornwall, was promoted to the See by Pope John XXII in the year 1413. He presided over sixteen years and was during that period Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Deputy Viceroy of the Kingdom. He was falsely accused of theft and arraigned before the Parliament. His innocence was afterwards established by the voluntary and public confession of an accomplice in the robbery. Having solicited the Bishop's pardon, who forgave him, he was referred to the Primate for absolution. He died on the 4th of January, AD 1429.
William Hadsor was promoted in 1430 by the Pope and consecrated. He died on Ascension Day 1434. The same month that Bishop Dantsey died.
Thomas Scurlock, Prior of the Abbey of St. Peter, Newtown, near Trim, was elected by the clergy. He hastened to Rome to obtain the Pope's confirmation, if consecrated he survived but a short time.
William Silk, Doctor of Canon Law, Official of the Ecclesiastical Court of Meath and Rector of Killeen, succeeded in 1434. Application was made to the Pope to exonerate him from his pastoral charge on account of old age. He died at Ardbraccan on the 9th of May, 1450, and was buried in the church of St. Mary at Killeen.
Edmund Ouldhall, a Carmelite of Norwich, succeeded to the See in 1450. He died at Ardbraccan on the 9th or 29th of August, 1459, and was buried in the church of that place.
William Sherwood succeeded by provision of Pope Pius II and was consecrated in 1460. He was some time Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and afterwards Lord Chancellor. He died in Dublin on the 3d of December, 1482, and was buried in the Abbey Church of SS, Peter and Paul at Newtown near Trim. He presided over the See twenty two years.
John Payne, a Dominican and Doctor of Divinity, was promoted to the See by Pope Scxtus IV on the 17th of March, 1483, and installed on the 4th of August following. He presided over twenty three years, was some time Master of the Rolls. He was a prelate in great esteem for his alms deeds and hospitality. He died on the 6th of March, 1506, and was buried at Dublin in a monastery of his own order.
William Rokeby, an Englishman, Doctor of the Canon Law, was advanced to this See by Pope Julius II in 1507, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1498 and, on his promotion to the See of Meath, was called into the Privy Council, was translated to Dublin by the same Pope, where he died on the 20th of November, 1521. He resigned in 1511.
Hugh Inge, an Englishman, Doctor of Divinity, was promoted by the Pope in 1512, was translated to Dublin, where his name will occur to notice.
Richard Wilson, an Englishman succeeded by provision of the Pope in 1523 and sat about six years.  He died in 1529.
Edward Staples, a native of Lincolnshire, succeeded by provision of Pope Clement VII in the year 1530. He was deprived by Queen Mary on the 9th of June 1554 for having joined in the changes of religion, &c.
William Walsh, Doctor of Divinity and a native of Waterford, was on the 18th of October, 1554, appointed to the See. In maintaining the purity of faith, William stood forth conspicuous.  He was deprived by Queen Elizabeth/ He died at Complute in Spain and was there interred in a monastery of his own order, the Cistercian. His epitaph briefly describes his merits. 'Here lieth William Walsh a Cistercian Monk and Bishop of Meath who having suffered imprisonment and many other hardships for thirteen years at last died in banishment.'

Thomas Dease, the ablest canonist of the Irish Church, died AD 1649.
Anthony Geoghegan died AD 1660.
Patrick Plunkett died AD 1671.
Patrick Cusack died AD 1690.
Luke Fagan translated to Dublin.
Stephen MacEogan, translated from Clonmacnois in 1729, he died on the 30th of May. AD 1756. Bishop Geoghegan died while coadjutor.
Patrick Joseph Plunkett was consecrated in 1779, died AD 1829.
Robert Logan, coadjutor in 1824, died AD 1830.
John Cantwell consecrated in 1830 still happily presides Bishop of Meath.

The Origins of the See of Meath

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

St. Finian, the son of Fintan, an eminent philosopher and divine, was the first bishop of Clonard. He was descended of a noble family and was still more ennobled by his piety. He was baptized by St. Abban and placed in his youth under the care of St. Fortkern, bishop of Trim, with whom he remained until thirty years of age, went to Britain and founded many churches. Having returned to Ireland and been consecrated bishop, he fixed his see at Clonard and there also opened his school about the year 530, which produced many men of eminent sanctity and learning, among whom are the two Kierans, two Brendans, the two Columbs, Laserian, Cainech, Moveus, and Ruadan.

His usual food was bread and herbs, his drink water, on festival days he used a little fish and a cup of beer or whey. He slept on the bare ground a stone serving him as a pillow. He was in his last illness attended by St. Columb of Tirdaglass and died in the year 552.

A doubt exists whether St. Finian or Senachus was the first bishop of Clonard. The memorials relating to the successors of the see of Clonard are but slender until the arrival of the English.

St. Senachus, bishop of Clonard and disciple of St. Finian, died on the 21st August 587.
St. Fiacre is recorded among the successors of St, Finian of whom mention will be made in its proper place when treating of the Irish saints.
Colman, son of Telduibh, bishop of Clonard died on the 8th February 652.
Ossenius the Long survived his predecessor about three months and died on the 1st of May 652.
Ultan O'Cunga died of the plague which afflicted England and Ireland on the 1st July 665.
St. Becan, bishop of Clonard, died on the 16th April 687. We are told that he used to sing the whole psalter every day, wet and dry, by the side of a stone cross in the open air outside the monastery. He has been remarkable for the austerity of his life and the miracles he wrought.
Colman O'Heir, bishop of Clonard, died on the 9th February 700.
Dubdan O Foelan, bishop and abbot of Clonard, died AD 716.
Aelchire, bishop of Clonard, died AD 726.
Fienmael Mac Girthid, called a chosen soldier of Christ, bishop of Clonard died on the 30th March AD 731.
St. Tola Mac Dunchad, bishop of Clonard and Kildare, died on the 30th of March AD 733.
Beglatneu, bishop of Clonard, died in 755.
Fulertach, bishop of Clonard, was the son of Brec whose family in Ulster was ancient. He retired to Offaly in Leinster and there lived a hermit until promoted to the see of Clonard. He died on the 29th March, 774.
Algnied died 8th March 778.
Cormac Mac Suibne, bishop and abbot of Clonard, died in the year 828.
Cormac, called by the four masters bishop of Duleek and abbot of Clonard, died in 882.
Rumold Mac Cathasach, bishop of Clonard, called the repository of excellent wisdom, died AD 919.
Colman Mac Ailild, abbot of Clonard and Clonmacnois, a most wise bishop and doctor, died on the 7th February, 924.
Ferdomnach Mac Flanagan died AD 930.
Moctean or Maelmochte, called the fountain of religion and wisdom among the Irish, died on the 9th of September, 940.
Maelfechin, bishop of Clonard, died in 942.
Becan Mac Lactnan, called comorban or successor of St. Finian, died in 971.
Faithman, comorban of St. Finian, died in 1010. Tuathal O Dunluing bishop of Clonard died in 1027
Cellach O Clerchen comorban of St Finian died in 1043.
Tuathal O Follanmuin, successor of St. Finian, died in 1055.
Tigernach Boircech, called in the annals of the four masters the head of the synod, principal confessor, anchorite and successor of Finian, died in 1061.
Murchertach Mac Longsech, successor of St. Finian, died in 1092.
Idunan, called bishop of Meath, flourished in 1096.
Concovar, bishop of Clonard, died in 1117.
Fiacra, called the most holy elder of Clonard and Meath, died in 1135.
Giollachreist O'Hagan, successor of Finian, died in 1136.
Eochaid O Kelly, archbishop of the men of Meath, is said to have died in the year 1140.
O'Tolloman, successor of St. Finian of Clonard, died at Kells in 1150.
Eleutherius O'Miadachin sat in the see of Clonard and died in 1174.

Kells

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Kells on the river Blackwater gives its name to the barony. Is attributed to St. Columbkille about the year 550 by others to Kellach abbot of Hy who took refuge there from the ravages and attacks of the Danes and who is said to have founded the abbey. However this may be mention is made of abbots of Kells long prior to his flight from Hy.

A.D. 692 Muredach O Cricain was abbot.
A.D. 713 in the seventy fourth year of his age the abbot Foylcow died.
A.D. 802 the abbey of Kells was destroyed by fire.
A.D. 804 it was rebuilt in honor of St Columba.
A.D. 806 the Danes having killed many of the monks of Hy the abbot Kellach sought safety in Ireland.
A.D. 899 the abbey was sacked and pillaged.
A.D. 919 the Danes plundered Kells and laid the church which was of stone level with the ground.
A.D. 1061 died the blessed St. Ciaran famed for his great erudition wisdom and exemplary piety.

This abbey is remarkable for many memorable events. The Danes having made a furious attack in the year 967 on this monastery were routed with great slaughter by Ó Neil, the Great king of Ireland. In 1152 the famous synod of Kells was held under cardinal Paparo at which three thousand ecclesiastics attended besides the bishops. The abbey was destroyed six times by fire but was afterwards rebuilt in a style of greater magnificence partly by the bounty of the princes of Ireland but chiefly by the revenues which were attached to it. It possessed the most splendid library of any monastery in the kingdom having been celebrated for its manuscripts among which was St. Columbkille's book of the four Gospels adorned with gold and precious stones. Richard Plunket was the last abbot when in 1537 Henry VIII took into his own hands the extensive possessions of this abbey.

The grants of De Lacie in 1173 consisted of 36 townlands. In Kells it possessed 90 acres, in Grangestown 86, in Corbally 82, in Malerdone 16 messuages and 300 acres, in Kilbride 220 acres in Kiltome 350 acres together with 19 rectories. These several possessions were granted to Sir Gerald Plunkett.

At Kells is still to be seen St. Columba's house situated outside the boundary wall of the cemetery on the north side in its ground plan it presents a simple oblong form measuring externally twenty three feet nine inches in length and twenty one in breadth the walls being three feet ten inches in thickness. It is roofed with stone and measures in height from its base to the vertex of the gable thirty eight feet. The lower part of the building is arched semicircularly with stone and has at the east end a small semicircular headed window about fifteen feet from the ground. At the south side is a second window with a triangular head about the same height from the ground and measuring one foot nine inches in height. Those windows have a considerable splay on the inside. The apartment placed between the arched floor and the slanting roof is six feet in height and appears to have been originally divided into three apartments of unequal size of which the largest is lighted by a small aperture at the east end. In this chamber there is a flat stone six feet long and one thick called St. Columba's penitential bed.

The Religious Houses of Trim

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Ruins of the Abbey at Trim

Trim in the barony of Navan and situated on the Boyne. St. Loman the founder of the see of Trim in the 7th century.

A.D. 741 on the 17th of February died the bishop, St. Cormac, the son of Colman. This saint has been confounded with Cormac, archbishop of Armagh. Cormac of Trim is said to have been of the royal house of the Nialls. Three brothers of his are mentioned in the Irish annals: Rumond a very wise man deeply skilled in history and antiquities and who died A.D. 743. In the annals of Tighernach his death is thus recorded: "Ruman MacColman poeta optimus quievit." Ruman is styled by Irish annalists 'the Virgil of Ireland.' St. Baitellach, abbot of Trim, whose death is marked at the 5th of October 752, and Ossan, a priest whose death is not dated and who is not to be confounded with his namesake of Rath Ossan
A.D. 1110 died Flann O Kionedha dean and abbot of Trim and a poet in high esteem.
A.D. 1444 great miracles were wrought before the image of the blessed Virgin which was preserved in this abbey Sight was restored to the blind speech to the dumb and the use of their limbs to the weak and decrepit This is not to be wondered at in other countries similar miracles are recorded. On the 23d of July, 1418, a Swiss soldier struck with his dagger a stone image of the blessed Virgin placed at the corner of the rue aux Ours and the rue de Salle au Compte in Paris and the blow made the blood spout forth in abundance from the stone statue. Similar occurrences have taken place in Italy and a few years ago the conversion of a Jew Monsieur Ratisbon, now a priest, suddenly took place in Rome having been viewing a painting of the blessed Virgin who appeared to him while his friend was praying at the great altar of the church of St. Andrew delle Fratte.
A.D. 1454 Robert Acton senior a canon of this house was elected abbot.
A.D. 1464 numerous miracles were wrought in presence of this image.
A.D. 1484 a parliament was held in Trim.
A.D. 1538 the famous image of the Virgin Mary was publicly burned. The four Masters record the proceedings of this memorable year in the following words: "A heresy and a new error sprang up in England through pride vain glory avarice and lust and through many strange sciences so that the men of England went into opposition to the Pope and to Rome. They at the same time adopted various opinions and among others the old law of Moses in imitation of the Jewish people and they styled the king the chief head of the Church of God in his own kingdom. New laws and statutes were enacted by the king and parliament according to their own will. They destroyed the orders to whom worldly possessions were allowed namely the monks, canons, nuns, brethren of the Cross and the four poor orders: the minors; preachers; Carmelites and Augustinians, and the lordships and livings of all these were taken up for the king. They broke down the monasteries and sold their roofs and bells so that from Arran of the saints to the Iccian sea between France and England there was not one monastery that was not broken and shattered with the exception of a few in Ireland of which the English took no notice or heed. They afterwards burned the images shrines and relics of the saints of Ireland and England. They likewise burned the celebrated image of the blessed Virgin Mary at Trim which used to perform wonders and miracles which used to heal the blind the deaf and the crippled and persons affected with all kinds of diseases and they also burned the staff of Jesus which was in Dublin performing miracles from St Patrick's time to the present and had been in the hands of Christ while he was among men said to have been given to St Patrick in the island of Lerins. They also appointed archbishops and sub-bishops for themselves and though great was the persecution of the Roman emperors against the church scarcely had there ever come so great a persecution as this from Rome when Pagan. So that it is impossible to narrate or tell its description unless it should be narrated by those who saw it."

Anthony St. Leger, knight, and Richard Hayne obtained the possessions of this monastery from Elizabeth. The steeple usually called the yellow steeple was a lofty and handsome square tower one half of which was demolished by Oliver Cromwell against whom it held out a considerable time as a garrison.

Gray friary which was dedicated to St. Bonaventure was originally founded by King John for the order of strict observants. Others say it was founded by the Plunketts. The Observantines reformed this house before the year 1325.
A.D. 1330 the Boyne overflowing its banks the building was undermined and a great part of it fell. Maurice was the last prior who was found seized of the church and steeple, a dormitory, hall, three chambers and sundry other offices within the precincts and of no value. Its possessions in land about one hundred acres &c with appurtenances were granted to Lodwyche O'Tudyr, parson of Roslaye, John Morye, parson of Walterstown and John Wakely at the annual rent of 2s 10d Irish money. This friary has been totally demolished. In the church of this friary assizes were held before the erection of a session house on its site. Father Richard Plunkett who wrote an Irish Dictionary now in the public library of Dublin resided in this convent.

Dominican friary situated near the gate leading to Athboy was founded in honor of the Virgin Mary, A.D. 1263 by Geoffrey de Geneville, lord of Meath.

A.D. 1285 a general chapter of the order was held here.
A.D. 1291 on the Sunday next after the feast of St. Matthew a general meeting was held in this abbey, the four archbishops bishops deans &c attending and enacting measures for the good of the Irish church.
A.D. 1308 the founder of this abbey assumed the habit of the order. In 1273 he had been viceroy of Ireland.
A.D. 1314 died the pious founder and was interred here.
A.D. 1315 a general chapter of the order was held here.
A.D. 1368 the church was consumed by fire.
A.D. 1418 Mathew Hussey, baron of Galtrim and a great benefactor of this convent, was interred here.
A.D. 1446 in a parliament held here it was enjoined that the Irish should not wear shirts stained with saffron.
A.D. 1484, 1487 and 1491 parliaments were held here
A.D. 1756 Sir Arthur Cole created Baron Ranelagh by George II occupied the possessions of this abbey. There were at this time seven friars in the vicinity of their convent Patrick Lynham, prior, Michael Wynn, Thomas Hussey, pastor of the parish of Donore, Thomas Curtis, Philip O Reilly, William Cruice and Vincent Coffey.

Crutched Friary, Trim

Brethren of the cross bearers. This priory was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. A bishop of Meath is said to have been the founder and his successors in the see were great benefactors to it. The last prior, Hussey, with his brethren, abandoned their monastery on the 4th of February and in the twenty seventh of Henry VIII. Its possessions were a church and belfry, chapter house, dormitory, hall, three chambers, a store, kitchen, stable and cemetery, three gardens with an orchard within the precincts. These and other appurtenances were granted for ever to Sir Thomas Cusack, knight, at the annual rent of 8s 5d Irish. This priory was a truly magnificent building.

Nunnery founded in Trim but no account of its history remains.

Greek church. An ancient church existed here of old. A fact which shows that Ireland was the mart of literature and that students from all quarters of Europe flocked to her celebrated schools.

Chantry. A perpetual chantry was founded in the parish church of St. Patrick. Contrary to the statute, they, the priests, acquired a castle and ten messuages in Trim with eight tenements and ten acres of land in Donderry and Irishtown in the county of Meath. In return for the intention of the founder some meek minister of the reformed creed must be incited by the private spirit to curse pope and popery as well as execrate that faith which prompted the pious bequest which gives him aliment while he may be celebrating the victories of the glorious and immortal memory in a bumper of genuine Boyne water.

The Conversion of Tara

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

In this territory were many episcopal sees Clonard, Duleek, Kells, Trim, Ardbraccan, Donshaghlin, Slane and Foure. Except Duleek and Kells, they were united before the year 1152 and the common see fixed at Clonard, the sees of Duleek and Kells were also incorporated. In the fifth century the present county of Meath and the greater part of Westmeath were the residences of kings princes and warriors.

In the year 79 of the Christian era the reigning monarch of Ireland, Tuathal, having gained successive victories over the Albanians and his domestic foes summoned a general convocation of his princes and nobles to Tara, the monarch during the session of this national assembly obtained a tract of land from each of the four provinces in each of which he erected a palace and these tracts now form the territory of Meath and Westmeath. The site of the royal residence erected on the Munster tract was called Flactga, that of the Connaught tract was called Visneach, and the third royal seat belonging to Ulster was Tailtean. The palace of Tara was reserved for the monarch himself and here the estates of the kingdom assembled at stated times in order to institute such laws as the well being of the country demanded.

The festival of Easter was approaching and St. Patrick resolved to celebrate this holy festival in the vicinity of Tara where the monarch and his princes were in convocation assembled. The apostle of Ireland determined to proclaim the mysteries of redemption at the seat of government and before the princes of the nation guided by the example of St. Peter who planted the cross in the imperial city of Rome then mistress of the nations and the patroness of error and superstition as she is now the spiritual mistress of Christ's kingdom on earth and the seat of truth and faith refreshing the people of the universe with the waters of her apostolic fountain. St. Patrick and his companions having reached the plain in which the palace of Tara was situated lodged in the house of a respectable man named Sesgnen by whom they were hospitably received. In reward of his kind treatment he obtained the grace of conversion with his family and his son Benignus who accompanied the Saint to Tara, became the companion disciple and successor of the apostle in the see of Armagh.

In compliance with an usage which was sanctioned by venerable antiquity St. Patrick ordered the paschal fire to be enkindled and thus at once attack in its stronghold the national superstition. This primitive custom of lighting the paschal fire was observed in memory of the resurrection of Christ. The ancient Irish worshiped the sun and this luminary was considered by them as the principal and supreme Deity, hence it is that fire worship was the leading dogma of Irish superstition. In compliance with an annual rite the king and princes of the country were celebrating a festival and in conformity with the Druidical worship the eve of that festival was observed with peculiar religious solemnity. By a standing law all the fires of the country were on this eve to be extinguished and no one was permitted under pain of death to kindle a fire until the sacred one should be first lighted on the hill of Tara, as a signal for the rest of Ireland. In violation of this law, the paschal fire was enkindled on the hill of Slane and, when seen from the heights of Tara, the king and his princes became alarmed and enraged at this opposition, as they supposed to the laws and religion of their country.

"This fire which we see, unless extinguished this very night," said the magi to the monarch, "will burn for ever and moreover will excel all the fires of our rite and he who kindles this fire will scatter your kingdom." Leogaire the monarch then enquired who these were who dared to infringe the law and incur the penalty which the national code enjoined. The king in company with two of the magi and attended with a numerous retinue proceeded to the place where St. Patrick had erected a temporary habitation and, having ordered the Saint to be brought before him, St. Patrick obeyed without delay, and before his arrival in the presence of the monarch, it was arranged that no mark of kindness or attention should be paid him, however, when the Saint was ushered into the royal presence. Here the son of Dego, in disregard of this uncourteous ordinance, arose and accosted him with a kindly salutation. The holy man in return imparted his benediction to the noble and generous youth who greeted his approach, nor was it bestowed in vain, as through the Divine goodness the grace of his immediate conversion to the faith was annexed.

Though the national code enjoined the penalty of death on those who violated the law relative to the observance of the national ceremony it does not appear that the monarch or the magi desired its enforcement. On the contrary, the interview with St. Patrick seemed to allay the fears of the king and conciliate his benevolence towards those strangers. On the morning which calls to our minds the glorious event of Christ's resurrection, St. Patrick for the first time proclaimed the Gospel and the mysteries of redemption to the monarch and nobles of the land assembled in the halls of Tara. On this occasion the most eminent of the bardic institute, Dubtach, arose and saluting the Saint became a Christian. In the national assembly, the bards of Ireland were particularly revered. Theirs were the duties of recording in harmonious strains the achievements of their countrymen, the wisdom of the senator, the bravery of the chieftain, the exploits of the patriot. The care of preserving an exact registry of the genealogies of families and the prerogatives of the nobles and of the boundaries which marked out the possessions of the chieftains was confided to the members of this order and it was wisely ordained that at stated times their writings should be submitted to a tribunal over which the monarch himself and a certain number of nobles presided. Before this tribunal the works of the bards were examined and from the entire collection extracts duly authenticated were deposited in the royal archives of Tara. The acquisition of Dubtach to the cause of truth was a just tribute to the force and power of the Saint's address and which was as irresistible as that of St Paul to the Areopagus at Athens. By it was torn up the bias of education and the prejudice of habit and others followed the powerful example which the conversion of the chief bard afforded in his own person. Yet the monarch hearkened not to the voice of truth but remained obstinate in his superstition although he granted permission to St. Patrick to preach the Gospel on condition that the peace of the kingdom should not be disturbed. St. Patrick, on the following day, repaired to Tailtean, where public amusements were celebrated and which were attended by the court of Tara. There also he multiplied the number of his converts and among them was Conall, brother to the king, who believed and was baptized. Visiting other parts of Meath his preaching was everywhere attended with success. Having erected a church at Drumconrath in the barony of Slane and one at Dromshallon near Drogheda, he directed his course to Delvin and thence to the hill of Usneagh, reducing the whole mass of the people to the sweet yoke of the Gospel.

The Scholarship of St. Finian

From Patrick Joseph Carew's An ecclesiastical history of Ireland:

Of the seminaries founded in the sixth century those of Clonard and Bangor are entitled to particular notice. The establishment at Clonard owes its origin to St. Finnian. In his youth, St. Finnian had been placed under the care of a Bishop by name Fortkern. Having attained to man's estate he left his native country and passing over into Britain became acquainted with David, Gildas and Cathmael, each of whom had then attained a high reputation for sanctity and learning. After the lapse of some time Finnian returned to Ireland. For seven years after his return he employed himself in the study of the sacred Scriptures and in instructing others in the knowledge of them. It was after he had thus attained a high reputation for learning that he formed the monastery of Clonard. His lectures in this new institution were attended by a numerous concourse of students and by many other distinguished persons also who wished to profit by his spiritual advice. In the number of his pupils Finnian reckoned St. Columbkill. (1) In the history of this illustrious Saint we have seen that while his exertions were primarily directed to advance the cause of the Gospel he was not unmindful of the interests of learning. By his influence the Bardic order was rescued from destruction and under his direction the important and useful occupation of transcribing for posterity the learned works of preceding ages was scrupulously attended to by the Monks of Hy. To the Monks of Hy the people of Northumbria owed their conversion to Christianity and also the literary advantages which the institution erected by Aidan at Lindisfarne conferred upon them. Even at the early period we now treat of students began to resort from Britain to Ireland for the benefit of education. Of these Gildas and Petrocus are particularly mentioned by our ancient writers Gildas before he came to Ireland had devoted himself for some years to the cultivation of letters. Wishing however to improve himself still more in philosophy and theology he repaired to Ireland. There his proficiency attracted the attention of his Superiors and he was honoured with an appointment to a professorship in the celebrated school of Armagh. (2) Of Petrocus, from whom Padstow derives its name, we are told that he devoted twenty years in Ireland to the study of general literature and of the sacred Scriptures that he assiduously attended the lectures of masters who were eminent for learning and that he then returned home to distribute to his countrymen the intellectual treasures which he had there acquired.


Footnotes
(1) Besides St. Columbkill two distinguished Ecclesiasticks named Kieran and Columb of Tridaglass studied under St. Finnian. Clonard was devastated by the Danes in 888. It became one of the fixed Sees of Meath in 1118. Duleck became another at the same time. Eugene, Bishop of Clonard, who died in 1194, assumed the title of Bishop of Meath, which has been since retained. In 1206 the See was removed to Newtown. The possessions of the Nunnery of Clonard were confirmed by the Pope in 1195. Another Bishop of the name of Finnian lived in the same century who studied first under Nennio in Britain and afterwards at Rome. This Prelate also founded a religious and literary institution at Moville about the year 540. I may here add that Kieran and Brendan, two pupils of St. Finnian of Clonard, founded two establishments of considerable note the former at Clonmacnois the latter at Birr.
(2) Gildas Britonum historigraphus tunc remanens in Hiberuia sludium regeni et prcedicans in civitate Ardmaca. Caradoc. Vit. Gild.

The Feast of St. Finian of Clonard

Today being the feast of St. Finian of Clonard and the anniversary of his birth to heaven, I give you an extract from the hymn to St. Finian given in Sir James Ware's The Antiquities and History of Ireland:

Exultemus Finiano
Jubilimus diluculo
Cujus dogma fuit favo
Praedulcius in populo

Regressus in Clonardiam
Ad Cathedram lecturae
Apponit diligentiam
Ad studium Scripturae.

Marcella, as ever, outdoes us in her tributes to our heavenly patron.

St. Finian of Clonard, pray for us!

The See of Clonard (Walsh)

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

 

See of Clonard
County of Meath

St. Finnian the founder of the monastery and its celebrated school. His successor St. Sennach became its first bishop and presided thirty six years. Sennach died on the 21st of August AD 588.

Clonard had united to it before the synod of Kells in 1152 Slane, Dunshaughlin, Trim, Skrine, Ardbraccan and Fore.

In the thirteenth century Duleek and Kells were united to Clonard.

In 1206 the see was translated from Clonard to Newtown near Trim under the incumbency of Simon Rochefort and a cathedral church erected and since that time its prelates have uniformly assumed the title of bishops of Meath. The founder of the see of Kells is unknown. Dunshaghlin had for its founder St. Sechnal alias Secundinus.

Saint Finian of Clonard (Todd)

From James Henthorn Todd's Memoir of St. Patrick:

The two saints Finnen or Finnian viz., Finnian of Cluain Eraird now Clonard County of Meath and Finnian or Finnbarr of Magh Bile now Moville on the banks of Lough Foyle County of Donegal are given in the catalogue as the first in the list of saints of the second order. The former St Finnian of Clonard was the master of a celebrated school which is said to have produced three thousand disciples. Thus the hymn ad laudes in the Office of St Finnian printed at Paris 1620 and reprinted by Colgan(1) says,-

Trium virorum millium
Sorte fit Doctor humilis
Verbi his fudit fluvium
Ut fons emanans rivulis

And although we may reasonably doubt the authenticity of so large a number it is certain that the school of Clonard was the alma mater of many eminent ecclesiastics. In the Martyrology of Donegal(2) and by the Four Masters(3) this St Finnian is called Tutor (oidhe or foster father) of the saints of Ireland. The Latin author of his life tells us particularly that the celebrated saints who were called the twelve apostles of Ireland together with many others(4) were of his disciples.

We read also(5) that after having been initiated in ecclesiastical learning by St. Fortchern of Trim if this be not an anachronism and afterwards by St. Caiman of Dair inis, an island in the bay of Wexford, Finnian passed over to Kill muine or Menevia(6) afterwards called St. David's and became the associate or disciple the three eminent saints David Cathmael and Gildas.

Cathmael was the original baptismal name the Welsh Saint Cadoc(7) or Cattwg as we learn from his life there cannot therefore be a doubt that the three Welsh preceptors of St. Finnian were the same as the three David Gildas and Docus(8) or Cadocus from whom the Irish saints of the second order are said in the catalogue to have received their masses or liturgies.(9) When about to leave his Welsh associates St. Finnian we are told resolved upon a pilgrimage to Rome but was warned by an angel to proceed rather to his own country where God would receive his intention as equivalent to the pilgrimage he had meditated and grant him the same merits as if he had visited Rome. And accordingly he set out for Ireland to gather together there as his Latin biographer(10) tells us a people acceptable to the Lord In another Life extant in manuscript in the Irish language the same story is told more briefly but with a particular circumstance of some interest which is omitted in the Latin After relating the miraculous defeat of an invading party of Saxons(11) St Finnian with a stroke of his baculus or pastoral staff having caused a mountain to fall upon them the Irish author(12) proceeds After this a desire seized Finnian to go to Rome when he had completed his education But an angel of God came to him and said unto him What would be given to thee at Rome says he shall be given to thee here Arise and renew sound doctrine and faith in Ireland after Patrick This must mean the doctrine and faith which had become corrupted since St Patrick's time It is so understood in the office of St Finnian reprinted(13) by Colgan where we read that when he was meditating a pilgrimage to Rome he was persuaded by an angel to return to Ireland to restore the faith which had fallen into neglect after the death of St Patrick We shall see reason presently to accept this as the real meaning of our author.

Notes.
(1) Colgan Actt SS Hib p. 401
(2) Donegal At Dec 12
(3) Four Masters At AD 548 (=549 at which year they tell us that he died)
(4) Others Colgan has enumerated 32 eminent saints who were educated in his school Actt SS p 405 App c 3 See also Reeves Adamnan p. 195 note b. The twelve apostles of Ireland were the following 1 Ciaran or Kieran bishop and abbat of Saighir now Seir Kieran King's Co., 2 Ciaran or Kieran abbat of Clomnacnois, 3 Columcille of Hy, 4 Brendan bishop and abbat of Clonfert, 5 Brendan bishop and abbat of Birr now Parsonstown King's Co., 6 Columba abbat of Tirdaglas, 7 Molaise or Laisre abbot of Dam hinis now Devenish island in Loch Erne, 8 Cainnech abbat of Achadh bo, Queen's Co., 9 Ruadan or Rodan abbat of Lorrha Co Tipperary, 10 Mobi Clairenech or the flat faced abbat of Glasnaoidhen now Glasnevin near Dublin, 11 Senell abbat of Cluain inis in Loch Erne, and 12 Nannath or Nennith abbat and bishop of Inis muige samh now Inis mac Saint in Loch Erne.
(5) Also Vit S Finniani c 4 Colgan Actt SS p 393
(6) Menevia In Welsh Hen meneu translated Vetus rubus Muine in Irish and meneu in Welsh signify a bramble bush
(7) St Cadoc Vita S Cadoci ed WJ Rees Lives of Cambro British Saints pp 25-27. This legend represents the name as given by Divine command. A voice came at night to the saint's father predicting that a holy hermit would arrive on the following day to baptize the child nomenque ejus Cat mail vocabitur. A fountain springs up miraculously and in its water the child is baptized by the hermit who is said to have been an Irishman by name Meuthi Postquam autem beatus Meuthi cum solum saltantem conspexit alacriori gau dens animo maturius eundem in ipso sacro fonte baptizavit atque pro precepto angelico nomen ei Cath mail imposuit. The Irish hermit here called Meuthi is evidently the same who in other authorities is termed Tathai and Thaddeus. Colgan Actt SS p 158 c 2 The Life of S Tatheus published by WJ Rees Lives of Cambro British Saints p. 255 expressly identifies him with the tutor of Cadoc Ussher places the school of Tathai at the year 469 Ind. Chr. and Works vol v, p. 116 quoting the authority of John of Timnuth.
(8) Docus The Annals of Ulster at the year 473 mention the death of Doccus a British bishop and ab bat Quies Docci episcopi sancti Britonum abbatis. But this can scarcely be the Docus from whom the second order of saints derived their Mass for the second order are expressly said to have flourished from the close of the reign of Tuathal Maelgarbh ob. 544 to that of Aodh son of Ainmire ob. 599. 
(9) Liturgies. It is remarkable that St Cannech or Canice of Kilkenny is said to have been educated by St. Doc or Docus in Wales: "Perrexit trans mare in Britanniam ad virum sapientem et religiosissimum Doc a Docum legitque apud illum sedule et bonos mores didicit et erat valde humilis et obediens" Vit. S. Cannachi p. 3 Dubl. 1853. This Life was privately printed 100 copies only by the Marquis of Ormonde from a MS preserved in the Burgundian Library Brussels collated with another in Abp. Marsh's Library Dublin.
(10) Biographer. "Ut ibi populum Deo acceptabilem acquireret" Vit. S. Finniani c xi-xi Colgan Actt. SS. p. 394 The Latin Life published by Colgan consists of two parts The first is evidently older than the other and ends with the words Haec de primo libro vitae ejus ex cerpta sunt shewing that it is only an extract from a larger work The second part consists entirely of legends of miracles and was wr1tten after the Catalogue of the Three Orders of Saints which it quotes It begins Igitur Finnianus opti mus sanctorum secundi ordinis abbas volens multiplicare cultum Dei altissimi &c
(11) Saxons. The story is told in the Latin Life c. 8 Colgan loc. cit.
(12) Irish Author. There is a good copy of the Irish Life in the Book Lismore a MS in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire. The Latin author as printed by Colgan although he evidently made use of the Irish of which he frequently adopts the order and often the very expressions omits all allusion to the coruption of the faith in Ireland since St. Patrick's times.
(13) Reprinted Colgan Actt. SS. p. 401. This Office with the Offices of Patrick Columcille Brigid &c was originaly printed at Paris in 1620 under the editorship of Thomas Messingham. The following are the passages above alluded to in 2do Nocturno Lect. vi "Tandem Romam meditanti in Hibemiam reditum Angelus Domini suasit, ad fidem post B. Patricii obitum neglectam restaurandam &c." Finnian is also evidently alluded to as a reformer in the "Hymnus in utrisque ves peris Refulsit sol justidae Quae Pius fuit sub nubilo Cleri contubernia Reformantur divinitus &c." Colg. ib. p. 400.

Navan Abbey

From Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy:

Navan at the conflux of the Blackwater and the Boyne. It gives name to the barony. The monastery of Navan for canons regular of St. Augustine was either founded or rebuilt by Joceline Nangle about the end of the twelfth century under the invocation of the Virgin Mary. If it had existed previously cannot be determined. Navan was formerly a town of high repute and had been walled by Hugh de Lacie. Christian Ó Loddan was abbot in the reign of King John.

A.D. 1284 Richard was abbot.
A.D. 1346 Thomas was abbot.
A.D. 1391 John de Warren was elected abbot.
A.D. 1450 John Bole was abbot who procured a bull from Pope Nicholas V granting certain indulgences to all persons undertaking pilgrimages to this abbey or contributing to adorn or repair it.
A.D. 1509 Peter Manne was abbot.
A.D. 1512 Patrick Cantwell was abbot.
A.D. 1539 an annual pension of fifteen pounds was granted to Thomas Wafer, the last abbot. On the site of this abbey a horse barrack has been erected for troopers to do duty there instead of the meek servants of the gospel. This priory with three hundred and sixty acres of land were granted at an annual rent to Robert Dillon.

St. Mary's Church, Navan

The Navan Historical Society tells us:

On 30th July 1796 Bishop Plunkett signed a lease from Peter Earl Ludlow for the site of the chapel for a period of 61 years and a new church was built.

By 1830 the newly appointed parish priest, Father Eugene O'Reilly, decided that a larger church was needed. He had been to Paris and was very impressed by the interior of the Metropolitan Opera House.

His church was modelled on it. "I will build a church that will hold 3000, where everyone can see and hear the priest," he is reported to have said. So a gallery was built all  around the church  (in 1847) to bring the congregation closer to the altar so that everyone could see and hear the priest.

The present St. Mary's Catholic Church is marked as R.C. Chapel. Although the 1837 O.S. map illustrated here predates the Church by 2 years we can assume the basic shape of thechurch had taken form, and was recorded by the map makers.

A local farmer from Clowanstown near Skryne, Thomas Maher offered Fr O'Reilly £50 if he started a new church but not a ha'penny if he didn't.  Subscriptions came on from Protestants and Catholics alike, and within months £600 had been raised. 48 stonemasons offered a fortnight's free labour, farmers gave the use of their horses and carts to haul gravel from Athlumney; the curate Fr McAlroy collected £470 from exiles in England, and so the new church began with Mr Bulger as architect and Mr Madden as foreman.

By the time of its opening in 1839 £4000 had been spent on the building, and a further £2000 would be needed to complete the interior.

Fr O'Reilly did not forget the past. The Edward Smyth Crucifix of the old church became the Crucifix of the new one.  Above all, the patron of the new church was that of the old Abbey - St. Mary or Our Lady under her title of the Assumption. He was laying continuity between his new church and the old Abbey church founded 700 years before. Edward Smyth, a Meathman, and possiblly a Navan man was one of Gandon's sculptors who worked with him on the riverine sculptures on the Custom House Dublin. His  Crucifix is carved from lime wood - his only known work in wood. There is an inscription on the back "EDW SMYTH - DUBLIN - sculpt - 1792." The galleries were installed in 1847 and the bell in 1858.  The high altar was added as a memorial to Dean Anthony Cogan (1826-1872) the Historian of the Diocese, and author of the seminal "History of the Diocese of Meath Ancient and Modern" in 3 vols. Above the altar are the images of the Four Evangelists by Richard King which are rich in colour.

Other Features of St. Mary's:
St. Joseph's Altar on the Trimgate Street side: erected by John O'Neill of Navan and his neice  under  the auspices of Bishop Nulty.
Main Altar in memory of Rev. Anthony Cogan, Historian of the Diocese of  Meath 1823 - 1878. Side Altar, Trimgate Street side. Most Rev. Patrick Plunkett, Bishop of Meath. 1778 - 1827.
Over the High Altar. The painting of the Holy Land landscape is by Navan artist Patrick Reel.