Tigernach | |
|---|---|
 Clones Abbey | |
| Coarb of Clones Abbey | |
| Died | 549 Clones, County Monaghan |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | 4 April |
Tigernach mac Coirpri (d. 549) was an early Irish saint, patron saint of Clones (County Monaghan) in the province of Ulster.
Tigernach or Tiarnach of Clones (anglicised Tierney) was one of the pre-eminent saints of the territory ruled by the Uí Chremthainn dynasty, together with Mac Caírthinn of Clogher and Mo Laisse of Devenish. His principal foundation is Clones, which lay in the western part of Fernmag, a kingdom ruled by the Uí Chremthainn branch Uí Nad Sluaig. The first foundation by Tigernach, in about the same area, is Gabáil-liúin, now Galloon Island, Upper Lough Erne (County Fermanagh), on the border of that kingdom. [1]
Tigernach's Life depicts an early stage when the Uí Chremthainn had not yet branched off but had a single royal seat near Clogher. Tigernach was born out of an illicit union between a king's daughter and an alien warrior: his mother, Der Fraích, was a daughter of Eochaid, king of the Uí Chremthainn, while his father, Coirpre, was a Leinsterman in Eochaid's service, the Irish genealogies specifying that Coirpre belonged to the Uí Briúin branch of the Uí Bairrche. Soon after his birth, he was brought to Leinster. Brigit of Kildare named the child Tigernach, meaning "princely". According to Butler, Tigernach was baptized by Conleth, bishop of Kildare with Brigid as godmother. [2] Tigernach's maternal uncle was Cairpre Daim Argat, King of Airgíalla who died in 514. His maternal aunt was Cinnia of Druim Dubhain (Feast Day 1 February). His maternal 1st cousin once removed was Damhnat of Slieve Betha (Feast Day 13 June). His maternal second cousin was Enda of Aran (Feast Day 21 March). His fourth cousins were Saints Dallán Forgaill and Mogue. [1]
The Life goes on to describe a number of experiences in preparation for his career in Ulster: he was educated in Rosnat in Britain. Lanigan identifies Rosnat with Candida Casa, established by Ninian sometime before. [3] However, David Dumville does not find that credible and notes that St. Davids's in Dyfed has also been proposed. [4] Having heard his teacher prophesy the foundation of a prominent church, Tigernach went to Rome to obtain relics and returned to Brigit in Leinster, who urged him to become a bishop. [5]
Tigernach then travelled to his birth land, but is not shown founding any church before relations with the ruling dynasty and the churches of the area are put in order. Eochaid welcomed Tigernach as a dear kinsman and offered to install him as bishop in Clogher. Since, however, this involved ejecting the bishop then in office, Tigernach refused and retreated to a minor church on a mountain slope. However, he earned a good reputation for his ascetic lifestyle and for a miracle by which he raised Doach, the archbishop of Armagh, from the dead. An angel appeared to him and following his directions, Tigernach sought out the boundary of the kingdom to make his first foundation, namely Galloon. Inspired by God, he offered it to Comgall of Bangor and moved a little further east to found Clones. There he is said to have lived like a hermit and died of plague. [5]
His festival is 4 April. [1]
Clones Abbey, the abbey founded by Tigernach in the 6th century, was dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. It was still active before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, but it had experienced a number of misfortunes. The abbey was destroyed by fire in 836, 1095, and in 1184. In 1207, Hugh de Lacy destroyed the abbey and town; but five years after they were rebuilt by the English, who also erected a castle here. The ruins of a 12th-century abbey building can still be found in the town, along with a sarcophagus reputed to have been built to house Tigernach's remains, and a 9th-century round tower and high cross.
Ulaid or Ulaidh was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and in Cóiced, Irish for "the Fifth". The king of Ulaid was called the rí Ulad or rí in Chóicid.
Conall Cremthainne, also called Conall Err Breg, was an Irish king. He was a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and one of the progenitors of the Southern Uí Néill dynasties.
Secundinus, or Sechnall as he was known in Irish, was founder and patron saint of Domhnach Sechnaill, County Meath, who went down in medieval tradition as a disciple of St Patrick and one of the first bishops of Armagh. Historians have suggested, however, that the connection with St Patrick was a later tradition invented by Armagh historians in favour of their patron saint and that Secundinus is more likely to have been a separate missionary, possibly a companion of Palladius.
Airgíalla was a medieval Irish over-kingdom and the collective name for the confederation of tribes that formed it. The confederation consisted of nine minor kingdoms, all independent of each other but paying nominal suzerainty to an overking, usually from the most powerful dynasty. Airgíalla at its peak roughly matched the modern dioceses of Armagh and Clogher, spanning parts of counties Armagh, Monaghan, Louth, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry. Its main towns were Armagh and Clogher. The name's usage survives as a cultural area of folk tradition in South East Ulster and adjoining areas of County Louth.
Máel Coba was a High King of Ireland.
Crimthann mac Énnai was a King of Leinster from the Uí Cheinnselaig sept of the Laigin. He was the son of Énnae Cennsalach, the ancestor of this dynasty.
Events from the 6th century in Ireland.
Saint Laisrén mac Nad Froích, or Laisrén of Devenish and Lasserian, known as Mo Laisse, was the patron saint of Devenish Island in Lough Erne, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland, in the present diocese of Clogher. Laisrén is the subject of both a Latin and an Irish Life, which offer loose narratives in which a number of miscellaneous anecdotes and miracles have been grouped together.
Donnchad Ua Cerbaill or Donnchadh Ó Cearbhaill, king of Airgíalla, fl. c. 1130–1168.
Abbán moccu Corbmaic, also Eibbán or Moabba, is a saint in Irish tradition. He was associated, first and foremost, with Mag Arnaide and with Cell Abbáin. His order was, however, also connected to other churches elsewhere in Ireland, notably that of his alleged sister Gobnait.
Samthann, modernised spelling Samhthann or Samthana, is an Irish folk saint, purportedly a Christian nun and abbess in Early Christian Ireland. She is one of only four female Irish saints for whom Latin Lives exist. She died on 19 December 739.
Clones Abbey is a ruined monastery that later became an Augustinian abbey in the twelfth century, and its main sights are ecclesiastical. The Abbey was formerly known as St. Tighernach Abbey, and was referred to locally as the "wee abbey". Parochial and monastic settlements were separated, and it seems likely that the building became the Abbey of St. Peter and Paul. In the Book of Armagh and Annals of Ulster the word Clones is referenced as "Clauin Auis" and "Cluain Auiss," respectively. As there is no word in standard dictionaries of Old Irish that give the form "auis" or "eois", Seosamh Ó Dufaigh has speculated that the word is a cognate of the Welsh word for point or a tip: "awch". Although, Bearnard O'Dubhthaigh disputes this theory on the grounds that the earlier form of "awch" is "afwch". Folklore suggests that the monastic town was originally called "Cluin Innish" on account of it being surrounded by water.
Saint Carláen was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 578 to 588.
Saint Dubthach the Second was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 536 to 548.
Saint Ailill the Second was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 526 to 536.
Saint Ailill the First was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 513 to 13 January 526.
Dubthach the First was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 497 to 513.
Saint Fland Feblae mac Scandláin was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 688 to 715.
Eilne, also spelt as Eilni, alias Mag nEilne, was a medieval Irish Cruthin petty-kingdom in the over-kingdom of Ulaid. It lay between the River Bann and River Bush, and was centered on Magh nEilne, the "plain of Eilne", spanning north-east County Londonderry and north-west County Antrim, in present-day Northern Ireland. Eilne may represent the name of an original population grouping, though even in the Old Irish period who they were was forgotten.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link); ed. Charles Plummer (1910). Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae. Vol. 2. Oxford. pp. 262–69.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| International | |
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