leave, led to the battle of Cuild reimhne, fought A. D. 561; at which time, therefore, both before and after that event, St. Finnian must have been in Ireland. The Lives also tell us that he visited Rome during the Pontificate of Pelagius I. (A. D. 555-560). But the Irish Annals record his death in the year 579'. We cannot therefore fix his school days at a period earlier than 500, or 520.

A similar result is obtained by an examination of the facts recorded in the English or British Life of "S. Finanus episcopus et confessor," published by Capgrave, in the Legenda Angliæ. This St. Finanus, whom the Welsh called Winnin (“qui et Wallico nomine Winninus appellatur"), is identified, as we have seen, with St. Finnian of Maghbile, by his genealogy'. It is stated that he was first placed under the instruction of Colman, a Bishop, and afterwards sent to Coelanus abbot of Noendrum", who, however, foreseing his future eminence, refused to undertake his further education, and at Finnian's own suggestion, sent him away with a British Bishop named Nennio, who had just touched at the island of Nendrum, and was about to return to his See, called Magnum Monasterium. This story is thus told by the biographer:

"Adveniente post hæc Colmanno antistite ad erudiendum docilis puer traditur, cum quo in omni obedientia et humilitate aliquot annis instructus est. Factum est aliquando dum beatus antistes manum suam ad sanctum puerum jam legentem" quadam de causa percutiendum cum flagello sursum extenderet, angelus Domini ipsam in aere suspensam retinuit. Quo facto Finanus in terra prostratus ait, Pater mi cur me non cedis? Et ille, Fili hoc volo facere, sed tamen divinitus impeditus sum. magistrum ire te oportet; ego enim ab hac hora nunquam te corripiam.

Ergo si vis flagellari ad alium

Et misit eum ad venerabilem

In the year 579.—The Annals of Tighernach, and Chron. Scotorum, have "Quies Finiani episcopi nepotis Fiatach," at A. D. 579. And the Dublin MS. of the Ann. of Ulster, at 578, has "Quies Uinniani [which O'Conor prints erroneously Umaniain] episcopi, mic nepotis Fiatach." The Annals of Inisfallen give the "Quies Finniæ Moigebile," under 572. But 579 is evidently the true date. Colgan, who had no access to the Annals of Ulster or Tighernach, assigns his death to A. D. 595.—Acta SS. p. 650. But Ughelli (Italia Sucra, tom. i. p. 794) says that St. Fridian died 13th March, 578, and that his body was found in the Church of St. Vincent, Lucca, and translated to a more honourable tomb on the 18th Nov. 782, on which day his festival has since been kept there. Ussher, identifying Finnian of Maghbile with St. Winnyn, places his return to Ireland from Rome at the year 540.Index Chron. (Works, vol. vi. p. 590).

* Legenda Angliæ.-I quote from a copy entitled "Nova Legenda Angliæ. Impressa Londonias: in domo Winandi de Worde: commorantis ad signum solis in vico nuncupato (the flete strete) Anno dni M.CCCCC.XVI. xxvij die Februarij." The Life of St. Finnian occurs fol. cxlvii. b.

1 Genealogy. See above, p. 99, note d.

:

m Noendrum, or Nendrum.-Now Mahee Island, in Strangford Lough, so called from St. Mochaoi, its patron saint. Dr. O'Conor, in various passages of the Annals, translates the name of this place Antrim and the same error has been committed by Dr. Lanigan and others. Dr. Reeves was the first to ascertain, and fix beyond all question, the true situation of this once celebrated place.—See his Eccl. Antiquities of Down and Connor, pp. 11, and 187 sq.

" Legentem.-The text has legente, but legentcm seems necessary for the sense.

senem Coelanum Noendrumensem abbatem, et ut corporis illius ac anima curam haberet diligenter com-
mendavit. At ille faciem juvenis intuens statim dixit, Iste meus nunquam erit discipulus, vere enim in
celo et in terris honore et merito longe me precellit. Nam episcopus erit sapientiâ clarus, et religione ac
sanctitate conspicuus. Hoc audito Finanus prophetico spiritu tactus ait, Nec mora videbitis huc venire
quem sequar, et sub quo erudiar, qui mihi in omnibus necessitatibus succurrat. Et ecce naves quibus
sanctissimus pontifex nomine Nennio cum suis inerat de Britannia venientes portum insulæ coram mo-
nasterio tenuerunt. Quibus cum gaudio et honore susceptis, prefati patres juvenem Finanum venerabili
episcopo cum omni diligentia commendarunt. Cum eodem repatriante navigavit, et in ejus sede quæ
Magnum vocabatur Monasterium regulas et institutiones monasticæ vitæ aliquot annis, probus Monachus
didicit, atque in sanctarum Scripturarum paginis non parum proficiens insudavit, et per invocationem nomi-
nis Christi multa miracula fecit."

It can scarcely be doubted that the Colman here spoken of as the first tutor or
instructor of St. Finnian, was Colman, the founder and first Bishop of the See of
Dromore, although Ussher (who is followed by Ware and Harris) assigns to that pre-
late a date that would be inconsistent with this supposition, and consequently distin-
guishes between Colman the tutor of St. Finnian, whose "floruit" he places at A. D.
500, and Colman of Dromore, whose birth he assigns to the year 516. This mistake
arose from confounding this Colman with St. Colman-ela, as Dr. Lanigan' has clearly
But the means of correcting it are at hand. Two facts recorded in the Life
of St. Colinan of Dromore are sufficient for this purpose. The first is, that prior to
the foundation of his church of Dromore, he consulted St. Mac Nissi as to the exact
site for the foundation, who pointed out to him the district of Magh Cobha'. Now
Mac Nissi died in 514, and therefore St. Colman must have flourished before that

shown.

• Insula.-i. e. of the island of Nendrum.
Prefati patres.-viz. Colman and Coelan.

a Repatriante.-The text has repatriantem, which
seems to be a mistake.

Dr. Lanigan.-Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 431 sq.
Ussher derives the date of 516 from the statement
of the biographers of St Patrick, that St. Colman-
ela was predicted by the Apostle of Ireland sixty
years before his birth. This prophecy having been
said to be delivered during St. Patrick's visit to
Dalaradia in 456 (see Index Chron. in that year),
gives 516 for the birth of St. Colman. But sixty
years (as Dr. Reeves has remarked, Eccles. Ant.
p. 304, n.) was a favourite term for prophecies of
this nature; and no chronological inference can be
derived from such figures.

• Magh Cobha.-See the Life of St. Colman
printed by the Bollandists, 7th June, from a Sala-

manca MS. now at Brussels. The passage referred to
is this: "Deinde sæpe venerabilem Macnyseum Con-
derensem episcopum petiit [Colmanus], qui hospitum
præsciens adventum, eis necessaria jussit præparari.
Ille itaque illuc perveniens, in omni hilaritate sus-
ceptus est, ibique paucis diebus mansit. Dehinc
inito consilio venerabilem senem, ubi locum ser-
viendi Deo fundare deberet, consulit. Qui respon-
dit: Voluntas Dei est, ut in finibus Campi Coba
tibi construas monasterium."-Cap. i. sect. 3 (Acta
SS. tom. ii. Junii, p. 26). The biographer then
states that St. Colman, in accordance with this ora-
cle, immediately repaired to the valley pointed out,
and there built his church (sedem sibi constituit),
on the banks of the river Locha [now the Lagan].

In 514-See what has been said on this date,
in the Introd. to the Book of Obits of Christ Church,
P. 73.

year. Ussher is therefore correct in fixing the foundation of the See of Dromore at the year 500.

But secondly, we read also that Colman, when a boy, was sent by his parents, for education", to St. Caylan, Abbot of Nendrum, the very same to whom he afterwards transferred his own pupil, St. Finnian, under the circumstances narrated in the Life of the latter. But, as we shall see presently, Caylan, or Coelan, died in 497, according to Tighernach, so that Colman must have been under his instruction some years before that date, seeing that, in the meantime, he had lived to become a teacher of youth himself, and to consult his own venerable master in his difficulties respecting his pupil Finnian. We must therefore fix Colman's birth' at 455, or thereabouts, a century before that of St. Colman-ela.

66

Coelanus, or Caylanus, the Abbot of Noendrum, was in advanced years, venerabilis senex," when Colman sent St. Finnian to him for further instruction. He is better known by the name of Mochaoi, under which form he still lives in the modern name of his island Noendrum, now inis Mochao1, or Mahee's Island. Ussher' states, on the authority of the writer of his Acts, that Caolan was afterwards promoted from the Abbey of Nendrum to the See of Down,-" ex abbate Dunensem postea in Ultonia factum fuisse episcopum significat;" and hence Ware has made him the first Bishop of that See. We have no access now to the Acts or Life to which Ussher refers, and therefore are unable to determine whether this was stated by the author as a fact, and not rather as a probable conjecture, which Ussher's use of the word significat would seem to imply. However, be this as it may, the statement appears to be incorrect, and is not confirmed by other authorities'.

The Annals of Ulster have recorded the death of Mochaoi at the year 496 (in which they are followed by the Four Masters), but they also give 498 from another authority. The true date is 497, as in the Annals of Tighernach. It appears that Coelan or Mochai was originally a swineherd, and was met by St. Patrick in one of his apostolical journeys, by whom he was converted to Christianity and baptized";

u For education." Posthæc ad St. Caylanum Nendrumensem abbatem, ut apud eum literis addisceret, a parentibus traditus est, qui eum diligenter instruxit, et bonis moribus informavit."-Vit. S. Colmani, c. i. sect. 3.

▾ Colman's birth.-Colman of Dromore is generally called by the Irish authorities Mocholmog, i. e. Mo Colm-og [or Colman-og], i. e. my-little-Colman, for so the ancient Irish expressed their devotion to the saints, prefixing the pronoun mo, my, and adding og, little. See above, p. 86, note ".

* Mochaoi.-See also Reeves' Eccl. Hist. of Down and Connor, p. 143-4. The Scholiast on Marianus Gorman, at June 23, tells us that St. Mochaoi of Nendrum had been originally called Caolan, Caolan a ainm fén. See also the gloss on the Felire of Aengus, and Martyr. Dungal., eod. die.

Ussher.-Brit. Eccl. Antiq. c. 17 (Works, vol. vi. 529).

Authorities.-See Lanigan, Eccl. Hist. i. p. 422, and Reeves, loc. cit.

and as this first interview was before St. Patrick's appearance at Tara, we cannot assign to it a later date than 433. Coelan was then "adolescens," that is, we may assume, about fourteen or fifteen years of age; he must, therefore, have been born about 420, and consequently was 76 or 78 when he died.

These dates are quite consistent with the mention which occurs of him in the Lives of SS. Colman and Finnian, and are in all probability very close to the truth.

From this it appears that the year 497 or 498 is, probably, the latest date that can be assigned to St. Finnian's going into Britain to complete his ecclesiastical or monastic education under Bishop Nennio of the Great Monastery.

This Nennio is identified by Colgan (1 Mart. p. 437), with St. Moinennus or Monnennius (Moeinnend, Maoinenn, or Moenu, in the Irish Annals), Bishop of Clonfert, who, he tells us, "claruit in Hibernia circa annum 560," and died 570. But if this date be correct, it is not possible, or at least it is highly improbable, that this can be the same Nennio, who became the tutor of St. Finnian in or before 498. For he was then a Bishop, and assuming that he was not less than thirty years of age in 498, he must have been upwards of a century old when he died in 570.

Colgan has also identified him with the Nennio, Monennus, or Mancennus (Mo-Ninnidh), who is said to have been tutor to St. Tighernach of Clones, Bishop of Clogher, as also to St. Eoghan or Eugenius, Bishop of Ardstraw, and to St. Enna or Endæus of the Aran Islands. But here there is evidently a mistake; for Tighernach was Bishop of Cluaineoais, and is commonly supposed to have succeeded St. Mac Carthen in the See of Clogher in 506. He died in 544, according to the Ann. Tighern., not 550, as Ussher has it. Assuming, therefore, that he was thirty years of age when he became a Bishop, he must have been born before 476, and, supposing the tutor Nennio or Monennus to have been twenty years older than his pupil, he must have been (if identical with the Monennus of March 1st) at least 114 years old when he died in 570. This is unlikely.

Again, St. Enna is said to have received the gift of the Aran Isles from Ængus, King of Munster, who died 489; before that time he had been some years at Rome, as his biographer relates, and had founded a monasteryd in Italy. The exact year of his death is not recorded by our annalists, but he was alive in 529, when St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois visited him in the Aran Isles; and he lived to 540, or later, as Colgan shows, Append. ad Vit. S. Endei, c. 5 (p. 714). If so, he must have lived to the age of 90

Than 433.-See Reeves, ibid. p. 188.

e Succeeded.-See Ussher, Index Chron. (Works, vol. vi. p. 582). We are not to suppose, however, that there was then any regular diocesan succession of bishops in Ireland.

A Monastery.-"Monasterium quod Latinum nominatur erexit."— Vit. S. Endei, c. 6; ap. Colgan.

Act. SS. p. 705, who suggests that we ought to read Lætivum, not Latinum, in consequence of what the auther adds: "Et quidem congrue Latinum monasterium illud vocatur, ubi mandatum charitatis in Deum et in proximum illibate observatur." See Colgan. not. 17 in Vit. S. Fancheæ, 1 Jan. Act. SS. p. 4.

or 100; and consequently his master Nennio (if he was identical with the Nennio who died in 570) must have been of the improbable age of 120 or 130 when he died.

Eoghan or Eugenius of Ardstraw was of a somewhat later date; Ussher gives the year 570o, as the period when he "florished in Ireland; and if this be correct, he can scarcely have had the same tutor as Tighernach and Enna.

From these considerations it follows that we must distinguish between the Moenu or Maoinenn, Bishop of Clonfert, the disciple of St. Brendan' (who died, according to the Four Masters, 1 March, 570), and the Nennio, Mo-Ninnidh, or Mancennus, who was the tutor of St. Tigernach and St. Enna. It is, however, very possible that this Nennio may have been the same who is mentioned in the Life of St. Finnian, and with whom Finnian went to Britain to complete his ecclesiastical education; although it is to be observed that the tutor of St. Tigernach is described as having been Abbot · of Rosnat in Britain (which place is said to have been also called Alba3), whilst the tutor of Finnian is styled a Bishop, whose See had the name of Magnum Monasterium.

Colgan, in his Notes to the Life of St. Fanchea (Jan. 1), suggests that Rosnat was probably the Vallis Rosina", in Wales. But in his notes on St. Moinennus (March 1) he identifies it with the Magnum Monasterium mentioned in the Life of St. Finnian, and makes both to be the Abbey of Bangor in N. Wales; without any reason, except that Rosnat is said to have been also called Alba, which agrees with the supposed (but erroneous) signification of Ban-chor, albus chorus (the true meaning being altus chorus); and because the British writers tell us that Nennius of Bangor was the tutor of St. Finnian.

But this last statement is a manifest mistake, confounding the Nennio mentioned in the Life of St. Finnian with Nennius the compiler of the Historia Britonum, who is commonly, although erroneously', said to have been a monk or Abbot of Bangor, but who at all events lived in the middle of the ninth century.

• The year 570.—Colgan (Index Chron. p. 831), gives the year 540 as the "floruit" of Eugenius. But he builds this date on the assumed identity of Monennius of Rosnat, with the Moinennus of 1 March, who died in 570.

Disciple of St. Brendan.-There is a reason to suspect some confusion between the Maineann, Moenean, or Moenne of the Irish Calendars, whose memory was celebrated on the Kalends of March, and Moenna or Moena, Latinized by Colgan Moenus or Mainus, whose festival was the 26th of February. Both are said to have been disciples of St. Brendan at Clonfert, and both were Bishops. The latter is supposed by Colgan, Actt. SS. p. 413, 414, to be

the same as the S. Mainus who ultimately settled in Britany, at or near Dola, and died there about 590, although in the English Calendar his day was 15th June.

· Alba.—" Deinde B. puer [S. Tighernachus] libertati restitutus, S. Monenni disciplinis et monitis in Rosnatensi monasterio, quod alio nomíne Alba vocatur, diligenter instructus, &c."- Vit. S. Tighernachi, c. 3 (cited by Colgan, Acta SS. p. 438).

h Vallis Rosina.-This was the valley in which Menevia or St. David's was erected. See Colgan's note on Life of St. David.-Acta SS. p. 430.

Erroneously. See Mr. Herbert's Introd. to the Irish version of Nennius, p. 9.