READINGS IN IRISH HISTORY

New Zealand Tablet, 22 February 1917, Page 15

READINGS IN IRISH HISTORY

By ‘ Shanachik.’

: v?v; ■-■-■::■;■, ■■/:■. ■ •., -—— - ' 'i"-~-- ■ I ST; FINBARR AND HIS SCHOOL AT CORK. The name of the t" City of St. Finbarr is-derived from an Irish word Corcagh, : ; meaning a marshy place. ,'; At the time St. Finbarr founded his church there, and for centuries afterwards, it certainly well deserved L the' : name. ,4 Especially when the mountain , floods came. down the valley of the river Lee, the whole, right bank of the stream was converted into a vast lake Loch ; -tree. ; This valley extends from west to east, and is enclosed on either side by bold and fertile hills, now . / crowned with houses and villas, which render Cork one of the most picturesque cities of the Empire.' ':. St. Finbarr's baptismal name was Lochan; but as the boy grew up with beautiful fair hair he was called Find-barr, 'the fair-haired one.' Finbarr had for his teacher a monk named Curporius, who is said to have spent some time at Rome, and to have been whilst there a disciple of St. Gregory the Great. B\. Gregory was Pope from A.D. 590 to 604, but for some years previous to A.D. 590 he had held various offices in the Church; and it was probably between A.D. 575 and ■ 590 that the Irish monk had an opportunity of becoming his disciple in the great monastery of St. Andrew, which was once the private mansion- of St. Gregory. From a master so trained for some time in Rome itself young Finbarr had an opportunity of acquiring a fuller knowledge of ecclesiastical discipline, as well as sounder and wider theological views than the. ordinary Irish schools could at the time afford. How long Finbarr remained under the care of this holy, ;; man is unknown. From the active life which Finbarr . led, we may infer that he began to preach and found churches whilst still a young man. It is probable that Gougane Barra, so celebrated for its wild romantic beauty, was the earliest foundation of St. Finbarr, and that it was there during the years of his retirement that he prepared himself for the great spiritual work which he afterwards accomplished. Gougane Barra, the name given to a lake situated in the wild and barren mountains which separate Cork from Kerry, is simply a kind of natural reservoir that collects the streams flowing down the mountain sides. The name means ' Barra's (Finbarr's) lone retreat,' for the saint dwelt for a time on an island in the lake. ' This lovely lake,' writes Dr. Healy, ' is situated among the mountains on the western border of Cork, and in that very territory of Muskerry, where St. Barry (Finbarr) is said to have been born, so that he was probably familiar with it from his childhood. The savage grandeur of this mountain valley has been celebrated both in poetry and in prose by many writers. The lake is surrounded on all sides by an amphitheatre of lofty and rugged mountains, rising up in naked grandeur from its lonely shores.' This lake forms the source of the river Lee, and the islet that formed the retreat of St. Finbarr is 'The green island in lone Gougane Barra,' of Callanan's well-known .song. The lake, Dr. Healy tells us, is deep, and beautifully green, where the broken walls do not cover the turf. Its shores are fringed with hoary ash trees', and a few willows that stoop to kiss the wavelets. ' ; - : ■ There grows the wild ash, and the time stricken willow Looks chidkigly down on the mirth of the billow; As like some gay child that sad monitor scorning, It lightly laughs back to the laugh of the morning.' The natural aspect of the place is still the same, changeless and grand, as in the days of Finbarr, the Fairhaired but the works of man are in ruins: The ancient church, with its solitary cells and courtyard, are all in ruinsruins, too, even in this wild retreat, that have apparently been wrought by ■" the. hand"* of man.' 'lt was probably after spending some time in j his hermitage at Gougane Barra that St. Finbarr came to the lake which, is called Loch Irce. , Close to the s»»'#-tW» Me he built WWMWfcjy, to which, as

to the home of wisdom; and : to the nursery of all fh: Christian virtues, crowds of zealous disciples flocked together from all quarters in such numbers and inspired , with w. such . zeal v.: for holiness, ? that the ?'■ solitude around ? became • filled' cells :of monks, and thus grew into '-■. r a great city. f. ~. .. The site of Finbarr's primitive church and .^monastery was that how occupied by the Protestant Cathedral of: St.: Finbarr, on the south-west ( of the city,/ but,all traces of.the primitive buildings have entirely disappeared. (Dr. Healy.) _ 1 - : £ 'T>. St. . Finbarr ■ ruled the monastery /' and church .of :! Cork for a period ,: of seventeen years before he died. Hence the monastic school had time to grow up" under • his own holy and prudent management, and thus Cork from a solitude became a city. - That is to say, in thetime of St. Finbarr arose -■-. those monastic buildings. which formed: the nucleus /the present beautiful city 'by the pleasant waters of the River Lee.' St. Finbarr - - died, not in his own monastery of Loch Irce, but at > Cloyne, some fifteen miles distant on the other side of * the bay. It seems he went there on - a pilgrimage, - doubtless preparing for the end, which he felt was close - at hand, for we are told that he died at the Cross of * Cloyne, which was in they, church of that monastery. His' loving disciples would not let his remains repose at Cloyne. ' According to the most probable account ■ they took the body of the ; saint to Cork, and . buried it""-; in his own Cathedral church, beneath a monumental " cross, which marked the spot. Afterwards; the tomb was opened and the sacred relics enclosed in a silver shrine, which was preserved with great veneration near : • the high altar.- We are informed in the Annals of Innis fallen that A.D. 1089,,.a;, fleet, with Dermot ■■ O'Brien, devastated Cork, and carried away the relics of St. Finbarr. ..; H \.;'' - '° 'S[ , , •„ - ~, . The character of this great.saint is thus given in v - an ancient Irish life published in 1864: His humility, • his piety, his charity, his abstinence, his prayers by day and night, won for him many great privileges;.for : he was God-like, and pure of heart and mind like Abraham mild and well-doing like Moses a psalmist like David wise like Solomon firm in the faith like Peter devoted to the truth like Paul the Apostle; full of the ■"-.■ Holy Spirit like John the Baptist. He was ;a, lion in strength, and an orchard full of apples in sweetness.'