Declán of Ardmore
Saint Declán of Ardmore | |
---|---|
Roman Catholicism Anglican Communion | |
Major shrine | Ardmore |
Feast | 24 July |
Patronage | Déisi, Ardmore (principal foundation), Cill Décláin |
Declán of Ardmore (
Sources
The main source for Declán's life and cult is a Latin
Declán's Latin Life was later translated into Irish. This vernacular version, sometimes referred to as Betha Decclain, is preserved in two classes of copies. The earliest of these is a copy made, with some revision, by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh in 1629 and catalogued as Brussels, Royal Library, MS 4190–4200. Ó Cléirigh reports that his ultimate source was an "old book" (seinleabhar), but his direct exemplar was a manuscript dated 1582, in the possession of Eochaidh Ui Ifernain (Eochy O'Heffernan).[5][6] The two remaining copies are Dublin, Royal Irish Academy MS 23 M 50, pp. 109–120, in the hand of one John Murphy "na Raheenach" and dated 1740, and a further manuscript once in private possession. The exemplar which underlies either of these is itself an imperfectly transmitted text.[6]
Genealogies relevant to the saint are included in the
Family background and career
Mad toich duit, a Hére, | "If thou hast a right, O Erin, |
dot chobair cing báge, | to a champion of battle to aid thee, |
thahut cenn céit míle, | thou hast the head of a hundred thousands, |
Declan Arde máre | Declan of Ardmore." |
(Félire Óengusso, 24 July)[8] |
It was through his father that Declán belonged to the royal dynasty of the
In the Latin Life, Declán first embarks on a journey to Rome, where he studied and was ordained bishop by the Pope.
The span of Declán's lifetime and career is extended in another chapter (§ 15), which makes him a contemporary of Saint David of Wales in the 6th century. Likewise, the even later saint Ultan of Ardbraccan (d. 655 x 657) is presented as Declán's pupil.[10]
The Lives also relates that the saint later paid a visit to the Déisi of Mide/Meath, where the King of Tara welcomed him and granted him land for the purpose of founding a "monastery of canons". The monastery founded there became known as Cill Décláin (Killegland, Ashbourne, County Meath).[10]
The pre-Patrician saints of Munster
Declan is one of four Munster saints who had Lives written for them claiming that they founded monasteries and preached the Gospel in Munster before their younger contemporary Saint Patrick ever set foot in Ireland. These bishop saints, known since the 17th century as quattuor sanctissimi episcopi, also included
Their testimony, late though it seems, has often been treated in relation to the historical question of pre-Patrician Christianity in the south of Ireland. It has been argued that before the coming of Patrick, the south coast of Munster would have provided the most likely point of entry for the introduction of Christianity via Britain or via Gaul. The settlements of the Déisi and the Uí Liatháin in southwest Wales, as evidenced by the distribution of ogam stones, provided an important connection between Britain and Ireland.[14] A key aspect of this overseas link, the import of slaves, usually British Christians, by Irish raiders would have directly exposed Munster to the influence of Christianity.[15] Further, Munster, lying opposite to Gaul, would have represented a first destination for Irish trading connections with the Continent. In the context of the wine trade, this is in some way corroborated by the archaeological record for pottery in Munster settlements.[15]
The credit traditionally given to Saint Patrick for bringing Christianity to the island appears to owe much to the propaganda of one particular foundation. As early as the 7th century, Armagh was busy bolstering its claim to the status of the principal house founded by St Patrick. By promoting the cult of the saint, which entailed that Patrick was propagated as the apostle and first bishop of the Irish, it sought to establish and control a network of religious houses throughout the country.[16] The fact that a missionary sent by Rome, Palladius, had been active before St Patrick, in 431, possibly in Leinster, did not sit well with its agenda. In the writings of Armagh scholars, notably Tírechán and Muirchú, Palladius' activities were therefore belittled as a failure, ignored or, as T.F. O'Rahilly famously argues in his hypothesis of the 'Two Patricks', silently conflated with those of Patrick. In Armagh historiography, the conversion of Munster became embodied in the story of the conversion of Óengus mac Nad Froích by St Patrick at Cashel, first told by Tírechán and subsequently elaborated many times over.[17]
The Lives of Ailbe, Declán, Ciarán and Abbán in the Dublin Collection appear to reflect the need of the Munster houses to offer some counterweight against the Patrician dossier promoted by Armagh, even though they do not deny the national importance of Saint Patrick. Historian
The Dublin Collection, however, goes further when it attributes to the saints an important pre-Patrician career. Pre-eminence is given to Ailbe, whose Dublin Life asserts that Munster was entrusted to him by St Patrick, while to similar effect, Ailbe is called a "second Patrick and patron of Munster" (secundus Patricius et patronus Mumenie) in Declán's Life.[12]
Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel has argued that this way of promoting Munster saints was anticipated in texts emanating from the
The most substantial achievement is the hagiographic compilation known as Magnum Legendarium Austriacum (The Great Austrian Legendary), begun sometime in the 1160s or 1170s. The prologue to a recension of St Patrick's Life preserved incomplete at
Commemoration
According to his Life, Declán is reposed in the Lord at his monastery in Ardmore and was subsequently buried there. His feast day in the martyrologies is 24 July.[1][10] A Middle Irish note added to the Félire Óengusso, which is of no historical value, tells that Declán was responsible for introducing rye (Irish secal, from Latin secale) into Ireland.[19][20]
Declán has enjoyed a steady cult in Waterford, where many church dedications still name him.
A round tower still stands at the site of the saint's monastery at Ardmore[1] as well as earlier ecclesiastical ruins, such as a stone oratory and a small stone church.[10] The diocese of Ardmore and its episcopal church lasted until the 13th century.[10]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Johnston, "Munster, saints of (act. c.450–c.700)."
- ^ Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints' lives, pp. 34, 349.
- ^ Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints' lives, p. 93 ff.
- ^ Plummer, VSH vol. 1, p. lxii.
- ^ Plummer, VSH vol. 1, p. lxi.
- ^ a b Power, Life of St. Declan of Ardmore, pp. xxv–xxvi
- ^ Félire Óengusso, ed. Stokes: 170.
- ^ Félire Oengusso, ed. and tr. Stokes, p. 164
- ^ Plummer, VSH, vol. 1, p. lx, note 2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Breen, "Declan (Déclán)."
- ^ Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints' lives, p. 115.
- ^ a b c Ó Riain-Raedel, "The question of the 'Pre-Patrician' saints of Munster", p. 19.
- ^ Sharpe, Medieval Irish saints' lives, pp. 115-116.
- ^ Ó Cathasaigh, "Déisi and Dyfed", p. 28.
- ^ a b Ó Riain-Raedel, "The question of the 'Pre-Patrician' saints of Munster", p. 18.
- ^ Ó Riain-Raedel, "The question of the 'Pre-Patrician' saints of Munster", p. 17.
- ^ Ó Riain-Raedel, "The question of the 'Pre-Patrician' saints of Munster", pp. 17–18.
- ^ a b c Ó Riain-Raedel, "The question of the 'Pre-Patrician' saints of Munster", pp. 20–21.
- ^ Félire Óengusso, ed. Stokes, p. 112 (7 April). St Finán is said to have introduced wheat into Ireland.
- ^ Kelly, Early Irish farming, p. 222.
- ^ "Welcome To High Sheep Island | St Declan's Stone, Ardmore, Waterford".
- ^ For Declán's veneration in modern times, see Stiofán Ó Cadhla, The Holy Well Tradition: The Pattern of St Declan, Ardmore, County Waterford, 1800–2000 (Dublin, 2002).
- ^ The Irish camino: walking in the footsteps of the saints, Irish Times, 20 July 2013
Primary sources
- Latin Life of St Declán, ed. Charles Plummer, Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae. Vol. 2. Oxford, 1910. pp. 32–59. Available from the Internet Archive.
- Irish Life of St Declán, ed. and tr. Rev. Patrick C. Power, Life of St. Declan of Ardmore, with an Introduction, Translation and Notes. Irish Texts Society 16. London, 1914. Based on the Brussels MS, with variants from RIA MS 23 M 50. Edition and translation transcribed at CELT. Another transcription can be found at Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.
- Stokes, Whitley (ed.). The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. Henry Bradshaw Society. Vol. 29. London. p. 415. 24 July
Secondary sources
- Breen, Aidan. "St Declan (Déclán)." Dictionary of Irish Biography. Accessed: 28 Jan 2010.
- Kelly, Fergus (2000). Early Irish Farming. Early Irish Law Series IV. Dublin: DIAS.
- Sharpe, Richard (1991). Medieval Irish Saints' Lives: An Introduction to 'Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae'. Oxford.
- Johnston, Elva (2004). "Munster, saints of (act. c.450–c.700)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Sept 2004. Accessed: 14 Dec 2008.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Tomás (1984). "The Déisi and Dyfed." Éigse 20. pp. 1–33.
- Ó Riain-Raedel, Dagmar (1998). "The Question of the 'Pre-Patrician' Saints of Munster." In Early Medieval Munster. Archaeology, History and Society, ed. M.A. Monk and J. Sheehan. Cork. 17–22.
Further reading
- Byrne, Francis John (1973). Irish kings and high-kings. London.
- Byrne, Francis John (1994–95). "Dercu: the feminine of Mocu." Éigse 28. pp. 42–70.
- De Paor, Liam (2003). Saint Patrick's World: The Christian Culture of Ireland's Apostolic Age. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
- O'Brien, Michael A., ed. (1962). Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae. Vol. 1. Kelleher, John V. (intro. in the reprints of 1976 and 2005). Dublin: OCLC 56540733.
- Ó Cadhla, Stiofán (2002). The Holy Well Tradition: The Pattern of St Declan, Ardmore, County Waterford, 1800–2000. Maynooth Studies in Local History 45. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
- Ó Conchúir, Dónal (2001). Ardmore and Lismore: the Christian Antiquities of Ardmore and the Legacy of the Lismore Monastery. Waterford.
- Ó Riain, Pádraig (2002). "Irish Saints' Cults and Ecclesiastical Families." In: Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West, ed. Alan Thacker and Richard Sharpe. Oxford. pp. 291–302.