Óengus of Tallaght
Saint Óengus of Tallaght | |
---|---|
Born | unknown Clonenagh, Spahill, County Laois, Ireland |
Died | possibly | 11 March 824
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church |
Feast | 11 March |
Óengus mac Óengobann, better known as Saint Óengus of Tallaght or Óengus the
Little of Óengus's life and career is reliably attested. The most important sources include internal evidence from the Félire, a later Middle Irish preface to that work, a biographic poem beginning Aíbind suide sund amne ("Delightful to sit here thus") and the entry for his feast-day inserted into the Martyrology of Tallaght.
Background
Óengus was known as a son of Óengoba and grandson of Oíblén,
Óengus describes himself as a
Writings
Félire Óengusso
The literary effort most commonly attributed to Óengus is the
The martyrology proper consists of 365 quatrains, one for each day of the year, and is framed between a lengthy prologue and epilogue. Later scribes added a prose preface, including material on Óengus, and accompanied the text with abundant glosses and scholia. Óengus's principal source was the
Dating the calendar
The precise date of the original composition has proved difficult to ascertain. The usual method of determining a
The one thing that is usually accepted is that it was written no earlier than 797, when one of the rulers described in the prologue as having deceased,
Ó Riain, however, has rejected the traditional date (797 x 808) in favour of a later range, between 828 and 833, while more recently, Dumville has cast doubt on Ó Riain's conclusions and dating methods. First, Ó Riain argues that such sympathies as Thurneysen refers to are pertinent only to the next kings in the royal line,
Centres of worldly and spiritual power
Something of Óengus' view on secular politics appears to come through in his prologue to the Félire. In several stanzas, the deserted sites of
Martyrology of Tallaght
It has been suggested that Óengus was actively involved in the compilation if not the composition of the augmented Martyrology of Tallaght. This was a work of Northumbrian provenance, probably from Lindisfarne, which first passed through Iona and Bangor, where Irish scribes began to make some additions. The manuscript (now lost) finally arrived in Tallaght, where it received the majority of its Irish additions.[3] It was written by someone of Óengus's learning and literary skill at Tallaght and there are strong indications that this was Óengus himself: first of all, the sources named by Óengus in the epilogue to the Félire (see above) would make more sense if these were the materials used for the Martyrology of Tallaght; second, a number of saints whom the same epilogue claims to have included are found in the Martyrology of Tallaght, but not in the actual Félire.[3]
Death
According to the Martyrology of Tallaght, Óengus's feast day, and hence the date of his death, is 11 March. The poem beginning Aíbind suide sund amne claims that he died on a Friday in Dísert Bethech ("The Birchen Hermitage").[17] Together, these have produced a range of possible dates such as 819, 824 and 830, but pending the dates of the martyrologies, no conclusive answer can be offered.[18] His metrical Life tells that he was buried in his birthplace Clonenagh.[19]
Reputation
Becoming a
His earliest biographer in the ninth century, concealing his identity, but Máel Ruain soon discovered him and collaborated with him on the Martyrology of Tallaght.
Notes
- ^ This nickname was first assigned to him, on no apparent authority, by John Colgan in the 17th century.
- ^ Martyrology of Tallaght, p. 22. (Oengusa episcopi huí Oíbleáin); however, Aíbind suide sund amne, stanza 2, has mac Oíblén.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40885. Retrieved 27 January 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Félire Óengusso, lines 137–41. Ó Riain, "Óengus of Tallaght." ODNB.
- ^ Dumville, "Félire Óengusso." 26, 36.
- ^ Dumville, "Félire Óengusso." 28.
- ^ Donnchad dric ruad rogdae "Donnchad the wrathful, ruddy, chosen", Félire Óengusso 221; Dumville, "Félire Óengusso." p. 25.
- ^ Thurneysen, "Die Abfassung des Félire von Oengus."
- ^ Ó Riain, "The Tallaght martyrologies redated." pp. 37–8.
- ^ Dumville, "Félire Óengusso." 28-9.
- ^ Dumville, "Félire Óengusso." pp. 26, 29–30.
- ^ Ó Riain, "The Tallaght martyrologies redated." 26 ff.
- ^ Dumville, "Félire Óengusso." 37-8, 46.
- ^ Breatnach, "Poets and Poetry" in McCone and Simms (eds), Progress in medieval Irish studies (Maynooth, 1996, pp. 65-77.
- ^ a b Félire Óengusso, ed. Stokes, p. 24.
- ^ Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland. 469-70.
- ^ Aíbind suide sund amne, stanza 3.
- ^ Dumville, "Félire Óengusso", p. 27.
- ^ Aíbind suide sund amne, stanza 4.
- ^ a b "St. Aengus (the Culdee)". Catholic Encyclopedia.
References
Primary sources
- Óengus of Tallaght (1905). Stokes, Whitley (ed.). The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. Henry Bradshaw Society. Vol. 29. London. Stokes' edition includes the late prefaces in the:
- Martyrology of Tallaght, ed. Richard Irvine Best and Hugh Jackson Lawlor, The Martyrology of Tallaght. From the Book of Leinster and MS. 5100–4 in the Royal Library. Brussels, 1931.
- Aíbind suide sund amne ("Delightful to sit here thus"), biographic poem by another Óengus, preserved in Leabhar Breacp. 106b (following the Félire Óengusso).
- ed. Rudolf Thurneysen (1913). "Zu irischen Handschriften und Litteraturdenkmälern 2". KGL. Gesellsch. Der Wissensch. Zu Göttingen. Abhandl. 14 (3): 20.
- ed. and tr. Stokes, The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. xxiv–vi.
- Translation of four stanzas in Selections from ancient Irish poetry, ed. Kuno Meyer. Dublin, 1911. p. 86.
- Poem in the Book of Leinster (12th century), p. 354, which lists 24 saints buried at Clonenagh, ed. Pádraig Ó Riain, Corpus genealogiarum sanctorum Hiberniae. Dublin, 1988. 92–3.
- Kenney, James F. Sources for the Early History of Ireland. Vol 1 (Ecclesiastical). p. 471 no. 263. Columbia NY, 1929 (reprinted and with a new preface and foreword: Dublin, 1993).
Secondary sources
- Carney, James. "Language and Literature to 1169." In A New History of Ireland. Prehistoric and early Ireland, ed. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín. Oxford, 2005. 451–510.
- Charles-Edwards, T.M. Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge, 2000.
- Dumville, David N. "Félire Óengusso. Problems of dating a monument of Old Irish." Éigse 33 (2002): 19–34.
- Ó Riain, Pádraig. "Óengus of Tallaght (fl. c.830)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 27 Jan 2009.
- Ó Riain, Pádraig. "The Tallaght martyrologies redated." Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies20 (1990): 21–38.
- Thurneysen, Rudolf. "Die Abfassung des Félire von Oengus." ZCP6 (1908): 6–8.
Further reading
- Colgan, John. Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae. pp. 579–583, Leuven (1645).
- Hennig, John. "The Félire Oengusso and the Martyrologium Wandalberti", Medieval Studies 17 (1955): pp. 227–233.
- Hennig, John. "The notes on non-Irish saints in the manuscripts of Félire Óengusso", Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy C 75 (1975): pp. 119–159.
- Hennig, John. "Studies in the Latin texts of the Martyrology of Tallaght, of Félire Oengusso and of Félire húi Gormain." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy C 69 (July 1970): pp. 45–112.
- Ó Riain, Pádraig. Feastdays of the Saints: A History of Irish Martyrologies. Subsidia Hagiographica 86. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 2006.
- Ó Riain, Pádraig. "The martyrology of Óengus: the transmission of the text." Studia Hibernica 31 (2000–2001): pp. 221–242.
- Ó Riain, Pádraig. Anglo-Saxon Ireland: the evidence of the martyrology of Tallaght. H.M. Chadwick Memorial Lecture. Cambridge, 1993.
- Schneiders, Marc. "'Pagan past and Christian present' in Félire óengusso", Cultural identity and cultural integration: Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages, ed. Doris R. Edel. Blackrock (County Dublin): Four Courts, 1995. pp. 157–169.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Aengus (the Culdee)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.