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St. Finbar
St. Finbar was the son of an artisan
named Amergin and a lady of the Irish royal court. He was educated at
Kilmacahil monastery, Kilkenny, Ireland.
St. Finbar had very light hair, which led to the
nickname Fionnbharr, “white hair”. He made multiple pilgrimages to Rome,
visiting Saint David of Wales on one trip. He preached throughout southern
Ireland, and possibly in Scotland. He was a hermit on a small island at Lough
Eiroe and at Gougane Barra. Founded a school at Eirce.
St. Finbar founded a monastery on the river Lee
which eventually developed into the city of Cork, Ireland of which he is the
patron Saint & first bishop. Extravagant miracles were attributed to
him. Legend says that the sun did not set for two weeks after his death.
St. Finbarr
(Lochan, Barr).
Bishop and patron of Cork,
born near Bandon, about 550, died at Cloyne, 25 September, 623, was son of
Amergin. He evangelized Gowran, Coolcashin, and Aghaboe, and founded a school at Eirce. For some years he dwelt
in a hermitage at Gougane Barra, where a beautiful replica of Cormac's chapel has recently been erected in his honour. Finbarr was buried in the cathedral he built where Cork
city now stands. He was specially honoured also at Dornoch and Barra, in Scotland. There are five Irish
saints of this name.
MacErlean, Andrew. "St. Finbarr." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 Sept. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06076a.htm>.
MacErlean, Andrew. "St. Finbarr." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 Sept. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06076a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New
Advent by Brian Hancock.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Saint Finnbarr,
Founder of the Diocese of Cork, by Father P Cahalane, PP
Feast-day,
September 25th
Saint Finnbarr has for
centuries been accepted as the founder of our Diocese.1
He is believed to have been born at Lisnacaheragh in the tuath centre of
Raithleann, situated in the townland of Garranes and civil parish of
Templemartin. There his father Ainairgen was a professional artisan in the
employment of Tigernach, a local chief, and he also was the owner of a townland
in the district, perhaps Kilbarry in Kilmurry parish. The child’s mother, whose
name has not been preserved, was probably the daughter of a local landowner. In
origin then he was the child of the Diocese of Cork. Amairgen indeed was of
Connaught descent, one of whose ancestors having migrated, settled in east Cork
(now the Barony of Barrymore) and later in Muskerry. Just as the descendants of
an emigrant from Ireland to America, who, on tracing their descent from a
family in Cork or Galway, might boast of Irish origin, so, too, Amairgen was
proud of his ultimate Connaught ancestry. Soon after the birth of the boy, the
family moved to the home in Kilbarry, where he was reared and baptised. At his
baptism he was named Loan McAmairgen, and it is clear that his parents were
already Christians or favourably disposed to Christianity.
The baptismal name of Loan
was changed to Finnbarr in unusual circumstances. Some time after the baptism
of the child, a number of clerics, who were on a pilgrimage from Ossory to
South Munster, called to the home of Amairgen and were much impressed by the
youth. With the permission of his parents they took him on the return journey
to Ossory for his education. On the way the youth was tonsured at a place
called Tlos Coill, believed to be situated in the region of the Nagle
mountains, which now marks the northern boundary of our Diocese. The tonsure
was the introduction to his education in the ecclesiastical sense. In the
course of the ceremony the cleric who tonsured him remarked: “Fair is the crest
(barr) on Loan.” The elder cleric added: “This shall be his name henceforth –
Findbarr.”2
There were other saints named Finnbarr and Barrfind also, and one may suspect
that all did not get their name under like circumstances. It is probable that
these adopted the name of the Cork saint.
After the completion of his
education, Finnbarr returned to his native place, where he built a cill,
probably a family altar. Adjoining this a larger church was later built named
Acadh Durbcon, which became the parish church of the district now known as Kilbarry.
Before 1437 this was absorbed in the parish of Kilmurry. From Kilbarry the
saint proceeded to Cork, but he probably took a circuitous route and visited
Gougane Barra on the way. It is interesting to note in connection with this
tour that, according to tradition, the old road from Kilbarry graveyard through
Kilmichael and Iveleary was the ancient road to Gougane, which can still be
traced with reasonable accuracy. It was a testing journey even for the youthful
Finnbarr, but he was well repaid by the bleak grandeur of his discovery. There
he founded his hermitage, following the example of many other saints, who
established such places of retreat to which they were accustomed to retire for
prayer and meditation.3
From Gougane the saint
probably followed the course of the Lee on the north side to the river Dripsey
through the district of his friend, Saint Eolang of Aghabullog. At a point near
Inishluinge (soon to be submerged for ever by the waters of the Lee), where
there had been an earlier monastery, Finnbarr crossed the Lee ‘southwards’ and
still within sight of Inishluinge, he built a church named Cell na Cluaine,
identified with the teampul at Cellnaclona, a place now absorbed in the present
townland of Ballineadig. From this his course lay across the valley of the
river Bride through Desertmore and Kilnaglory to Cork. Before his arrival there
he is said to have built twelve churches. Most of these cannot now be
identified and the question often arises: what was the purpose of so many
foundations? It is suggested that ‘the multiplicity of churches points to the
intensified ardour of Ireland’s Christian infancy’ (Canon Power: Irish Eccl.
Record, March, 1950). This does not imply that the fewer but larger churches
which later arose at the time of the organisation of parishes in Ireland cooled
the ardour of the people. Before establishing his great monastery in Cork,
Finnbarr was probably accepted as ‘persona grata’ by the ruling sept of the
locality – the Ui Mic Ciair, a kindred sept of the Ui Eachach, later known as
the O’Mahonys. Through their good offices he was recommended to the Holy See
and sent into the territory of the sept, who had granted him the site of his
monastery in Cork. It is related in the ‘Life’ of the saint that he actually
went to Rome for his consecration, but it appears more probable that he was
consecrated in Cork by his teacher and life-long friend, Bishop Mac Cuirp.
The Cork monastery
consisted of a school and monastic church. This church was in fact his ‘sedes’
from which he organised and ruled the infant church as abbot-bishop. A monastic
church in these early times did not mean the same as a monastic church at the
present day, such as the convents or abbeys of the Franciscans, Dominicans,
etc. In early times the monastery of monks was a secular or missionary
establishment, where the monks or priests lived and worked as a community. The
monks taught and prayed as a body in true monastic spirit, but as individuals
they ministered also in outlying districts as secular priests. We can form some
idea of this ancient combination of the secular and monastic life from the
custom in some dioceses in Ireland at present, whereby all the priests of a
parish reside together in a presbytery in a kind of community life, each
priest, however, having the individual care of a district and school or schools
in the parish. In this connection it is interesting to note that the term
‘abbey’ has survived in tradition and was applied to the churches of secular
priests in the diocese, such as to an old cill in the ancient parish of
Macloneigh (Kilmichael Parish), though it is quite certain that there was no
abbey there in the modern sense.
The site of Finnbarr’s
church and school was on the limestone cliff on the south bank of the Lee, now
known as Gill Abbey.4
Originally known as Rathin Mac nAedha, this was the land granted to the saint
by the ruling sept. The site was well chosen: it was a centre of population and
the terrain was suitable for buildings of an enduring nature. The school became
known as the School of Cork, but this is a modest description as in fact it was
a noted school of learning and piety, catering for secular students as well as
aspirants to the priesthood. It attracted youths from places far beyond the
immediate locality. The course of training consisted in the harmonious
development of the secular and the religious needs of man – preparation of the
soul as well as technical training of mind and hand. We have little information
as to the nature of the courses pursued by those young men who aspired to the
priesthood, but the battle for the souls of many still surrounded with centres
and objects savouring of paganism could not be won as if by magic. Saint
Finnbarr, the son of a noted craftsman, inherited the family genius for
building and allied crafts and was therefore specially qualified for the
teaching of such subjects as well as the art of practising the christian way of
life. In the erection of the monastic buildings in Cork and the construction of
churches as the infant diocese expanded, he must have spared himself no effort.
It is our misfortune that owing to the destruction wrought by the Norsemen in
later times, we are deprived of all but the most meagre fragments of these
early buildings.
For a period of about
seventeen years Saint Finnbarr worked not only as the master of a great school,
but also as a missionary in the extension and organisation of the infant
diocese. He continued the pioneer work of Saint Patrick, extending the Faith
and ensuring its full practice in many districts where as yet only pockets of
Catholics and isolated churches existed. While still on active service he died
about the year 620, aged about 70 years. The circumstances of his passing are
indeed touching.
Our first bishop made one
of his accustomed visits to Gougane Rarra for light and strength in lone
commune with God for yet another period of work for his beloved diocese. It
was, however, his last visit. On the return journey he made a surprise call at
Cell na Cluaine. The hermit of Desertmore, who had been a special friend of
his, was invited to greet him there,5
and when it became evident that the saint was unable to resume his journey to
Cork, the hermit administered the last Sacraments to his Bishop and patron, who
soon died ‘by the cross in the middle of Cell na Cluaine.’ We can well imagine
the scenes of sorrow as the funeral cortege wended its way through the valley
of the Lee to the site of his fruitful labours, where clergy from South Munster
‘were busied about the body of their master with hymns and psalms and Masses
and recitation of Hours.’6
According to tradition he
was buried in an angle of the cemetery attached to his monastery, a spot that
now lies to the south-east of the present day Protestant cathedral (the
cemetery at Gill Abbey is believed to be of a later date). Because of
continuing raids of the Norsemen, his enshrined body was removed in the ninth
century to a safer resting place, but in vain. The relies of the saint have
been lost and this loss must also be accredited to the Norsemen. Through the
centuries many legends have grown in relation to the life and work of Saint
Finnbarr. We admire the laurel wreaths that have been woven in his praise, but
we need not substitute them for historical facts. There is ample testimony to
his holiness as a pioneer of the Faith and to his greatness as a man of our own
soil. Lists of his miracles and surpassing achievements too are to be found in
most of the ‘Lives’ of Saint Finnbarr, but (and the possibility of miracles is
not denied) these are regarded as common form, while the epitaph of Gorman in
his martyrology is indeed uncommon: ‘May chaste Bairre from Corcach be before
me in Heaven. For he was kind and gentle to the poor.’
- Father P
Cahalane, PP, The Fold, July
and August 1953
- The term ‘founder’ is now a term of historical interest rather than of actual use. Instead we have the term ‘patron,’ which is, too, an ancient term, as the word ‘pattern’ shows. Patron was the term applied to a district or diocese rather than to the churches in the locality. The term now in use in regard to individual churches is ‘titular,’ which means the saint or mystery of religion from which the church is named. Both patron and titular may, however, be applied to the district or ecclesiastical entity and to the churches situated in that region, as Saint Finbarr is the patron of the Diocese of Cork and is the titular of a number of churches and institutions in the Diocese also.
- The rendering Findbarr with double ‘n’ as given
in the tablet of Saint Finnbarr’s College, Saint Patrick’s Place (now the
Christian College), is probably a later spelling.
- Devoted clients of Saint Finnbarr still follow a
grand tradition when they go on retreat or attend their parish mission.
- The name Gill Abbey is derived from Gilla Aedha
O’Muidhin, a noted bishop of Cork in the twelfth century.
- The absence of Saint Eolang, his confessor, on
this occasion is difficult to explain. Was the illness of Saint Finnbarr
of a sudden nature or was Saint Eolang then dead?
- Lives of the Irish Saints, Volume II, page 2.
Plummer
SOURCE : http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-finnbarr-founder-of-the-diocese-of-cork-by-father-p-cahalane-pp/
September 25
St. Barr, or Finbarr, First Bishop of Cork,
Confessor
HE is called by some St. Barrus, or Barrocus.
He lived in the sixth age; was a native of Connaught, and instituted a
monastery or school at Lough Eirc, 1 to which, as to the habitation of wisdom, and the
sanctuary of all virtues, such numbers of disciples flocked, as changed, as it
were, a desert into a large city. This was the origin of the city of Cork,
which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the
river Lee. St. Finbarr’s disciple, St. Colman, son of Lenin, founded the famous
episcopal see of Cloyne, of which he was the first bishop: he died on the 4th
of November, in 604. St. Nessan, who succeeded St. Finbarr in his school, and
built the town of Cork, was another eminent disciple, trained up under his
discipline, and is honoured at Cork, on the 17th of March and 1st of December.
Sir James Ware and Tanner take notice, that some, with a MS. copy in the king’s
library at London, ascribe to St. Finbarr a letter on the ceremonies of
baptism, printed among the works of Alcuin. The right name of our saint, under
which he was baptized, was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was
afterwards given him. He was bishop of Cork seventeen years, and died in the
midst of his friends at Cloyne, fifteen miles from Cork. His body was buried in
his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a
silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day.
St. Finbarr’s cave or hermitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have
been begun by our saint, and stood to the west of Cork. It was afterwards given
to the canons regular of St. Austin, and was called Gill Abbey, from Gill Æda ô
Mugin, a famous bishop of Cork, in 1170, who so much increased this house as to
be regarded as its principal founder. On St. Finbarr see his MS. life in
Trinity College, Dublin, MS. 31. Giraldus Cambren. De Mirabilibus Hibern. l. 2,
c. 49. Mr. Ch. Smith, Ancient and Present State of Cork, t. 1, &c., t.
Colganin MSS. ad 25th Sept.
Note 1. This lake, called Lough-Eirc, Harris takes to
be the hollow or basin, in which a great part of the city of Cork now stands,
drained and built on by the industry of the inhabitants. To the reputation of
St. Barr, the first bishop and abbot here, is the city of Cork indebted for its
original. It takes its name from Corcach, which, in the Irish language,
signifies a low marshy ground. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
IX: September. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
