St. Cormac of Cashel, King & Bishop
14 September
Died 908. Saint Cormac, king of Munster, Ireland, was the son of
Cuillenan and descended from King Aengus who Saint Patrick baptized.
Cormac was probably the first bishop of Cashel and the compiler of the
still extant Psalter of Cashel, an Irish history. Irish writers have
celebrated him for his learning, piety, charity, and valour. He was
killed in a battle against King Flan of Meath
(Benedictines,
Delaney,
Husenbeth).
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Another Life:
Saint Cormac MacCuilenan
(836-908).
An Irish bishop and King of Cashel, Cormac MacCquilenan was of the race
of Eoghanact, of Southern Ireland, and in his early years received a
good education in one of the Irish schools. He was ordained priest, and
afterwards appointed Bishop of Cashel. In the year 900 he became, on
account of his descent, King of Cashel, and thus were combined in his
person the two offices of spiritual and temporal ruler of Leth Moga, as
the southern portion of Ireland was called.
The ardri (ard-ri, high king), Flann, assisted by the King of Leinster,
led his forces into the Southern Province (906), and was met by the
Munstermen under Cormac at Moylena (Tullamore). The ardri suffered a
signal defeat. Later on, however (908) Flann, assisted by Ceorbhall,
King of Leinster, and Cathal, King of Connaught, returned to the attack,
apparently because Cormac, instigated by Flaherty, Abbot of Inniscathay,
had claimed tribute from Leinster, and had even signified his intention
of assuming the position of ardri. The battle was fought at the present
Ballymoon; the Munstermen suffered a complete defeat and Cormac was
killed in the battle.
An Irish Glossary called "Sanas Chormaic", containing etymologies and
explanations of over 1400 Irish words has come down to us. Though,
etymologically, the work is of little value, yet on account of the light
it throws upon many ancient Irish customs and institutions it is of
great importance to the historian. The "Glossary of Cormac" is said to
be only a part of the "Saltair Chaisil", also attributed to Cormac. This
work, if it ever existed, has disappeared, or, as W. Stokes thinks, it
is more likely that at best the "Saltair Chaisil" was only a collection
of transcripts of manuscripts from the hands of different writers. The
above-mentioned "Sanas Chormaic", or "Cormac's Glossary", was translated
and annotated by John O'Donovan and edited by W. Stokes (Calcutta,
1868). See Stokes, "Three Irish Glossaries" (London, 1862).
~*~*~*~*~*
Cashel
A town in the County Tipperary, Ireland. The Rock of Cashel, to which
the town below owes its origin, is an isolated elevation of stratified
limestone, rising abruptly from a broad and fertile plain, called the
Golden Vein. The top of this eminence is crowned by a group of
remarkable ruins. This ancient metropolis has lost its importance and
most of its inhabitants. The population is less than 3000.
Originally known as Fairy Hill, or Sid-Druim, the "Rock" was, in pagan
times, the dun or castle of the ancient Eoghnacht Chiefs of Munster. In
Gaelic Caiseal denotes a circular stone fort and is the name of other
places in Ireland. The "Book of Rights" suggests that the name is
derived from Cais-il, i. e. "tribute stone", because the Munster tribes
paid tribute on the Rock. Here, Corc, the grandfather of Aengus Mac
Natfraich, erected a fort, and Cashel subsequently became the capital of
Munster. Like Tara and Armagh it was a celebrated court, and at the time
of St. Patrick claimed supremacy over all the royal duns of the
province, when Aengus ruled as King of Cashel.
About 450, Patrick preached at the royal dun and converted Aengus. The
"Tripartite Life" of the saint relates that while "he was baptising
Aengus the spike of the crozier went through the foot of the King" who
bore with the painful wound in the belief "that it was a rite of the
Faith". And, according to the same authority, twenty-seven kings of the
race of Aengus and his brother Aillil ruled in Cashel until 897, when
Cerm-gecan was slain in battle. There is no evidence that St. Patrick
founded a church at Cashel, or appointed a Bishop of Cashel. St. Ailbe,
it is supposed, had already fixed his see at Emly, not far off, and
within the king's dominions. Cashel continued to be the chief residence
of the Kings of Munster until 1100. Hence its title, "City of the
Kings".
Before that date there is no mention in the native annals of any Bishop,
or Archbishop of Cashel. Cormac MacCullinan is referred to, but not
correctly, as Archbishop of Cashel, by later writers. He was a bishop,
but not of Cashel, where he was king. The most famous man in Ireland of
his time, but more of a scholar and warrior than an ecclesiastic, Cormac
has left us a glossary of Irish names, which displays his knowledge of
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and the "Psalter of Cashel", a work treating
of the history and antiquities of Ireland. He was slain in 903, in a
great battle near Carlow.
Brian Boru fortified Cashel in 990. Murtagh O'Brien, King of Cashel, in
presence of the chiefs and clergy, made a grant in 1101 of the "Rock"
with the territory around it to O'Dunan, "noble bishop and chief senior
of Munster", and dedicated it to God and St. Patrick. Then Cashel became
an archiepiscopal see, and O'Dunan its first prelate as far as the
primate, St. Celsus, could appoint him. At the synod of Kells, 1152,
Cardinal Paparo gave a pallium to Donat O'Lonergan of Cashel, and since
then his successors have ruled the ecclesiastical province of Munster.
In 1127 Cormac MacCarthy, King of Desmond, erected close to his palace
on the "Rock" a church, now known as Cormac's Chapel, which was
consecrated in 1134, when a synod was held within its walls.
Cormac's Chapel on the Rock of Cashel is the most exquisite extant
specimen of Irish Architecture. The chapel was thought to have been
built in 1127 and it was consecrated with great ceremony in 1134. The
twin square towers of the chapel were unknown in Ireland at the time
which suggests a foreign influence in the building. (The closest
examples are found in western
England and in Germany.)
Photographs of Cashel
http://www.bamjam.net/Ireland/Cashel.html
Lives kindly supplied by:
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content © 2008, Ambrose Mooney
layout © 2008, Kathleen Hanrahan and Mo! Langdon
Page last updated: 16 November 2008
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