Dúnán
Dúnán, Donatus or Donat | |
---|---|
Died | 1074 |
Nationality | Irish |
Dúnán (died 6 May 1074) was the first
It has been traditionally said that Dúnán was consecrated by
Biography
Dunan was an Easterling or
The Four Masters term him "ardeasbog", which Dr. John O'Donovan translated archbishop, but James Henthorn Todd pointed out that the correct rendering of the word is "chief or eminent bishop", and that it includes no idea of jurisdiction. His diocese was comprised within the walls of the city, beyond which the Danish power did not extend.[6]
The chief event of his life appears to have been the foundation of the
Sitric, according to the annalist
The site is described in the Black Book of Christ Church as "the voltæ i.e. arches founded by the Danes before the arrival of
When the church was built, and the secular canons by whom it was to be served were installed, Dunan furnished it with a liberal supply of relics, of which a list is given in the Book of Obits of Christ Church, published by Dr. Todd. Other buildings erected by him were the church of St. Michael (now the Synod House), hard by the cathedral, and a palace for himself and his successors. He entered into a correspondence with Lanfranc on some ecclesiastical questions about which he desired information. Lanfranc's answer is preserved, and was published by Archbishop James Ussher. It is highly probable that this deference to the Archbishop of Canterbury may have had something to do with the claim put forward by the latter in a synod held in 1072, two years before Dunan's death, in which, on the supposed authority of Bede, he asserted his supremacy over the church of Ireland – a claim which Dunan's successor admitted in the most explicit manner at his consecration in Canterbury Cathedral.[6]
Dunan died on 12 February 1074, and was buried in Christ Church, at the right-hand side of the altar. There was another who also bore the alternative name of Donat (1085), but he is more generally known as Dungus.[6]
Notes
- ^ Annals of Ulster AD 431–1201, CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, 2003, retrieved 19 March 2010: AU 1074.1
- ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- ISBN 0-19-821745-5
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Dublin
- ^ M. Philpott, Some Interactions between the English and Irish Churches, in Christopher Harper-Bill (editor), Proceedings of the Battle Conference in Dublin, 1997, p. 192, Anglo-Norman Studies XX (1998).
- ^ a b c d e f g Olden 1888, p. 149.
References
- Concise Dictionary of National Biography, under Dunan
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Olden, Thomas (1888). "Dunan". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 16. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 149. Endnotes:
- Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, page 289
- Annals of Four Masters, AD 785, 1074
- Lanigan's Eccl. Hist. iii. 200, 228, 433–5
- Todd's St. Patrick, pages 14, 16, 466
- Ussher's Works, iv. 488, 567, vi. 424
- Book of Rights, page xii
- Martyrology of Donegal
Further reading
Hudson, Benjamin T. (2004). "Dúnán [Donatus] (d. 1074)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. . (subscription required)