Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise

“ Moreover, there were fifty tame horses with Ciaran for tilling and ploughing the ground.' The unworldly character of Clonmacnoise, as compared with Saigir, was calculated to attract popular sympathy and regard, and hence it is that the former occupies so prominent a place in the religious history of Ireland, while Saigir is little noticed, notwithstanding its greatness and wealth. ”

“ The stones being taken out of the door, Saint Coemgen entered, to whom Saint Ciaran appeared: and [they] remained conversing together for twenty-four hours, as is very confidently laid down in the Life of Saint Ciaran; and afterwards Saint Coemgen departed to the place of his own abiding, [and] left Saint Ciaran buried in the said Little Church of Clonmacnois. But king Diarmait most of all men grieved for his death, insomuch that he grew deaf, and could not hear the causes of his subjects, by reason of the heaviness and troublesomeness of his brains. ”

“ C. The third phase may be called the Wanderings of Ciaran. From Clonard he made his way to the monastery of Ninnedh on the island in Loch Erne now called Inismacsaint (it is to be noted that VG knows nothing [page 13] of this visit) . From Loch Erne he went to Aran, thence (after a visit to Saint Senan on Scattery Island) to his brother's monastery at Isel, a place not certainly identified. After this he removes to Inis Aingin, now Hare Island in Loch Ree, which is his last halting-place before reaching his goal at Clonmacnois. There are twelve incidents. ”

“ This story tells how Findian ranked Ciaran above all the notable saints and scholars of his time, and how they had to acknowledge his pre-eminence by their very jealousy. Colum Cille is the only saint whom the homilist will allow to approach his hero.
(b) This is a thrust at the monastery of Birr. It says, in effect, "Clonmacnois is situated on the great river Shannon, Birr on the insignificant Brosna; and the relative importance of the two establishments is to be estimated by the size of their respective rivers—even Brenainn, the founder of Birr, said this himself!" ”

“ When the lads went out they saw no one save Beoit and Darerca in the carriage. When the lads mocked the wizard, thus spake he : "The child who is in the womb of the woman," said he, "shall be a great king: as the sun shineth among the stars of heaven, so shall he shine, in signs and wonders that cannot be related, upon the earth."
Thereafter was Saint Ciaran born, in Mag Ai at Raith Cremthainn. He was baptized by deacon Iustus, for it was fitting that the true one should be baptized by a True One. ”

“ X-XIII, variants on the theme of XIV, are probably interpolations in LA, and VIII, a valuable fragment of folk-lore, is an interpolation in VG. VI and VII are conflations of two varieties of one incident, as is pointed out in the Annotations. These observations will show how complex is the criticism of the Ciaran tradition.
B. The second phase of the life is the Schooling of Ciaran at Clonard; perhaps about 530-535, still using round numbers. This part of the life is most fully told in VG; it is very fragmentary in all the Latin Lives. ”

“ We read of a saint "fasting upon God" that a king might lose a battle; and in Revue celtique, vol. xiv, p. 28, there is printed a story of a childless couple who fasted with success upon the Devil, that he might send them offspring. Two of the saints—Odran of Letrecha Odrain and Mac Cuillind of Lusk—went and told Ciaran for what they were fasting: Ciaran simply replied, "Bless ye the air before me"—the air through which I must travel in passing heavenwards—"and what ye desire shall be given you." ”

“ So for these good things, and for many others, is his soul among the folk of heaven. His remains and relics are here with honour and renown, with daily wonders and miracles. And though great is his honour just now in this manner, greater shall be his honour in the holy incorruptible union of his body and his soul in the great assembly of Judgment, when Saint Ciaran shall be judge of the fruit of his labour along with Christ Whom he served. ”

“ Then certain of them asked which of the saints should have the greatest reward in heaven. "Mercy on us," said Ciaran, "that will be made known in our [page 84] habitations on earth." Then Brenainn of Birra made a prophecy of him: "We shall take two habitations," said Brenainn, "on two streams between chief cities, and the difference that shall be between the two streams shall be the difference between the size of the cities."
(c) When it was time for Ciaran to depart from Cluain Iraird, after learning letters and wisdom, he left the Dun Cow with Saint Ninned ”

“ Parallels.—Maignenn never would look on a woman, "lest he should see her guardian devil" (Silua Gadelica, i, 37) . The story has some affinity with the curious Märchen of the Mill and the Bailiff's Daughter (incident XXIV) . Cuimmin of Connor, in his poem on the characters of the different Irish saints, spoke thus of Ciaran, doubtless in reference to this incident: "Holy Ciaran of Clonmacnois loved humility that he did not abandon rashly; he never spoke a word that was untrue, he never looked at a woman from the time when he was born."
The Stanza in VG.—Metre ae freslige. ”

“ It would perhaps be too far-fetched to see a hint at a mythological element in the traditions of Ciaran in the signification of his parents' names. Indeed, considering the Tendenz of the Ciaran Lives, it is remarkable that there is no supernormal element in the account of the birth of this particular saint; supernatural [page 108] births are almost a commonplace in Irish saints' lives as a rule.
The saint's own name is regularly spelt with an initial K or Q in the Latin texts, doubtless because Latin c was pronounced as s before e and i in mediaeval Ireland. ”

“ And he [Tuathal] assumed the sovereignty afterwards, and banished Diarmaid MacCerbhaill, so that he was on Loch-Ri, and on Derg-Derc, and on Luimnech.
One day as Diarmaid went in his boat past the shore of Cluainmic-Nois, Ciaran heard the noise and motion of the craft, and called him ashore, and Ciaran said, "Come to me, for thou art a king's son, and mark out the Redes [a church] and the Eclais-bec [a little church] , and grant the place to me." He said, "I am not a king." To whom Ciaran said, "You will be a king to-morrow." ”

“ It happened after this that he gave a cauldron belonging to the king, as he had nothing else to give to poor folk asking of him an alms. When the king heard what had been done, he was greatly enraged, and commanded his people to bring Saint Keranus to him in bonds. When he was led to the king, he gave sentence that he should be reduced to servitude, and be set apart for grinding at the quern. But God, having regard to the humiliation of His servant, caused the mill to be moved of itself without human hand, and left Ciaran free to chant his Psalms. ”

“ But there are certain other incidents of a more individual type, and it is these which make the Lives of Ciaran especially remarkable. They may well be genuine reminiscences of the real life, or at least of the real character of the man himself. Thus, there are a number of coincidences, clearly undesigned (noted below, p. 104) consistently pointing to a pre-Celtic parentage for the saint. Again, the saint's mother is represented as a strong personality, with a decided strain of "thrawnness" in her composition ”

“ About the middle of the sixth century a great monastic movement took rise from the monastery established at Clonard by Finnian c. 525 A.D. [93] Under him were trained for missionary work many of the most illustrious fathers of the Irish church including the “Twelve Apostles of Erin,” [94] viz. Ciaran of Seir, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, Columba (Colum Cille) , Brendan of Clonfert, Brendan of Birr, Columba or Colman of Terryglass, Molaise of Devenish, Canice of Aghaboe, Ruadan of Lorrha, Mobi of Glasnevin, Sinnel of Cleenish, and Ninnidh or Nennius of Inishmacsaint. ”

“ Another Life of the saint seems to be referred to in the Martyrology of Donegal; under the 10th May that compilation quotes a certain "Life of Ciaran of Cluain" (i.e. Clonmacnois) as the authority for a statement to the effect that "the order of Comgall [of Bangor, Co. Down] was one of the eight orders that were in Ireland." It would be irrelevant to discuss here the meaning of this statement; its importance for us lies in the fact that the sentence is not found in any of the extant Lives, so that some other text, now unknown, must be in question. ”

“ The text of the Third Latin Life (LC) is contained in the well-known Brussels MS., called Codex Salmaticensis from its former sojourn at Salamanca. It is of the fourteenth century. This was the only continuous authority at the disposal of the compiler of the Bollandist life of our saint; he speaks of it in the most contemptuous terms. The life of Ciaran in this manuscript is a mere fragment, evidently copied from an imperfect exemplar; there seems to have been a chasm in the middle, and there is a lacuna at the end, which the scribe has endeavoured to conceal by adding the words "Finit, Amen." ”

“ It is from this time forward that Clonmacnoise begins to rank as the first of our Irish Schools. It was already largely endowed by the kings of Meath and Hy-Many, to both of whom, so to speak, it belonged, for the river was the only boundary. These possessions were constantly growing larger. In A.D. 648 or 649, Diarmaid, King of Meath, crossed the Shannon to fight Guaire, King of Connaught, and his Munster allies. Diarmaid on his way to battle stopped at Clonmacnoise, and begged the congregation of Ciaran to pray to God that he would return safe home “through the merits of their guarantee.” ”

“ His soul is an angel.
He was the seventh son of the sons of Beogan of Burren, [25] and those men were the seven psalmists of Ciaran, so that from them are the "Youth's Cross" on the Shannon, and the [other] "Youth's Cross" on the high road to Clonmacnoise [named] .
Howsoever the clerics fared forth alongside the Shannon, until they reached Cluain Doimh. There they cut the full of their little curragh of white-bottomed [Pg 44] green-topped rushes. ”

“ And when Saint Kiaranus would place with his own hands a corner-post in the first building of that settlement, a certain wizard said to him: "This hour is not good for beginning; for the sign of this hour is contrary to beginnings of building." Then Saint Kiaranus himself set the post in the corner of the house, saying, "Thou wizard, against thy sign I fix this post in the ground; for I care naught for the art of wizards, but in the name of my Lord, Jesus Christ, do I all my works." For this the wizard and his followers uttered commendation, marvelling at the faith of Saint Ciaran in his God. ”

“ Then Saint Columba, giving thanks to God, said to his followers, "Ye see, brethren, how much favour hath the earth of most blessed Kiaranus brought us."
LIII. A PANEGYRIC OF CIARAN
38. Most blessed Kiaranus living among men passed a life as of an angel, for the grace of the Holy Spirit burned in his face before the eyes of men. Who could expound his earthly converse? For he was young in age and in body, yet a most holy senior in mind and in manners, in humility, in gentleness, in charity, in daily labours, in nightly vigils, and in other divine works. ”

“ From the version there contained, we learn that Ciaran gave his cloak to lepers. There is another version of the visit of Ciaran to Senan in the metrical Life of the latter saint (CS, 750) . According to this story, Ciaran was not travelling alone, but with his disciples; and they had no means of transport to the island except an oarless boat woven of osiers. Trusting themselves to this doubtful craft (as Cybi voyaged in a skinless coracle, Cambro-British Saints, pp. 186, 499) , they were ferried over in safety, no water finding its way into the boat. ”

“ What Tren had done to deserve this punishment is unknown, nor is the site of [page 153] Cluain Iochtar identified. Possibly he had endeavoured to prevent Ciaran from founding his church; compare the story of Findian and Baeth (LL, 2624) . Patrick had a dispute with a certain Trian, but the details of the story are different (TT, p. 45, ch. lxxx, etc.) . It is difficult for us to put ourselves into the position of people who thought to honour their saint by telling a story about him which we should consider not only silly but immoral. ”

“ Quiaranus, is the traditional founder of the see of Clonmacnoise, and is still a popular saint in Ireland, whose ruined church, nearly in the centre of the island, is a place of pilgrimage. It stands in a lonely plain, close to the left bank of the broad, slow flowing Shannon, and in the midst of a group of ecclesiastical ruins; several other churches two round towers, two beautiful crosses, and many ancient ornamental tombstones. A single low ridge, extending out of sight across the plain, seems to suggest rather than form a way to the outer wond. ”

“ XXVII. HOW CIARAN FREED ANOTHER WOMAN FROM SERVITUDE
21. On another occasion Saint Kyaranus entered the region of a certain lord of the Connachta, that in like manner he should demand from him a certain woman who was in unjust servitude to him. As holy Ciaran was sitting there, lo, three men came with three gifts as an alms to him; namely, one gifted to him a cow, another a robe, and a third a frying-pan; and these three gifts did Ciaran straightway give to the poor who were begging of him in the presence of the lord. ”