Saint Patrick

fl. 5th century
feast-day: 17 March
authors, saints of Ireland

See also: Broccaid of EmlaghBroccaid of Emlagh
(supp. fl. 5th century)
Irish saint, patron of Imlech Ech/Broccada (modern Emlagh, Co. Roscommon). In the Additamenta in the Book of Armagh, he is given as one of the sons of Patrick's sister, along with Lommán of Trim and a number of others.
See more Broccán [scribe]Broccán ... scribe
(suppl fl. 5th century)
Broccán scríbnid
Irish saint noted for having been a scribe (scríbnid) of Saint Patrick’s household. There are other saints of the same name or name-group (Broc, Broccaid, Broccán) who were said to be related to St Patrick, such as Broccaid of Emlagh (Co. Roscommon) and Broccán of Breachmagh/Breaghey (Co. Armagh), both of whom are given as a son of Patrick’s sister Darerca. Ó Riain has suggested that they may have all originated as a single individual.
See more CamulacusCamulacus (Cáemlach?)
(s. v)
A now obscure saint, abbot of Rathan (Rahan, Co. Offaly) and contemporary of St Patrick. He appears as Camulacus Commiensium (‘of the Commienses’) in Tírechan’s Collectanea and as Camelacus in an early hymn. His background is unknown and modern scholars have variously argued for Gaulish, British and Irish origins.
See more Fíacc of SlettyFíacc of Sletty
(supp. fl. 5th century)
reputed disciple of Saint Patrick, abbot and patron saint of Sléibte (Sletty, Co. Laois).
See more Lóegaire mac NéillLóegaire mac Néill
(fl. 5th century)
(time-frame ass. with Lóegaire mac Néill)
according to medieval Irish tradition, high-king of Ireland, son of Níall , and a contemporary of St Patrick
See more Lommán of TrimLommán of Trim
(fl. 5th–early 6th century)
Lommán mac Dalláin
Lommán (mac Dalláin), patron saint of Áth Truimm (Trim, Co. Meath)
See more Mac Cécht [smith of Patrick]Mac Cécht ... smith of Patrick
Mac Cécht of Domnach Arnoin, said to be one of Patrick’s smiths.
See more Olcán of ArmoyOlcán of Armoy
(supp. fl. 5th century)
Olcán
patron saint of Airther Maige (Armoy, Co. Antrim), who appears (in a negative light) in the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick.
See more

See also references for related subjects.

Bleier, Roman [proj. dir.], St Patrick's epistles: transcriptions of the seven medieval manuscript witnesses, Online: Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ?–present. URL: <https://gams.uni-graz.at/context:epistles>.

Dawson, Elizabeth, Lives and afterlives the Hiberno-Latin Patrician tradition, 650–1100, Turnhout: Brepols, 2023.

Contents: Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Beginnings -- Chapter 2. Tírechán -- Chapter 3. Muirchú -- Chapter 4. Beyond the seventh century -- Chapter 5. Expanding the tradition: Vita secunda, Vita tertia & Vita quarta -- Epilogue -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Index.

abstract:

Saint Patrick is a central figure in the medieval Irish Church. As the converter saint he was a central anchor through which Irish people came to understand their complicated religious past as well as their new place in the wider Christian world. This study considers some of the earliest and most influential writings focused on Saint Patrick, and asks how successive generations forged, sustained and redirected aspects of the saint’s persona in order to suit their specific religious and political needs. In this book Elizabeth Dawson, for the first time, treats the Hiberno-Latin vitae of Patrick as a body of connected texts. Seminal questions about the corpus are addressed, such as who wrote the Lives and why? What do the works tell us about the communities that venerated and celebrated the saint? And what impact did these Lives have on the success and endurance of the saint’s cult? Challenging the perception that Patrick’s legend was created and sustained almost exclusively by the monastic community at Armagh, she demonstrates that the Patrick who emerges from the Lives is a varied and malleable saint with whom multiple communities engaged.

Charles-Edwards, Thomas, “Early Irish law, St Patrick, and the date of the Senchas Már”, Ériu 71 (2021): 19–59.

abstract:

Liam Breatnach’s Quiggin Lecture, The Early Irish law text Senchas Már and the question of its date, proposed that the Senchas Már was written in a single effort mounted by the church of Armagh within the date range c. 660 × c. 680. This revised and expanded version of a lecture given in 2017 accepts that there was a link between Armagh and the Senchas Már, sets the latter in the context of the written laws of Western Europe, 400–800, and investigates how the Senchas Már might have fitted into the sequence of seventh-century texts pertaining to Patrick. It also tackles two related issues: the relationship between evolving ideas of Irish nationality, the Patrician legend and the Senchas Már, and how one might bridge the gap between the Patrick of the saint’s own writings and conceptions of Patrick current in the seventh century.

Gray, Elizabeth A., “God and gods in the seventh century: Tírechán on St Patrick and King Lóegaire’s daughters”, in: Emily Lyle (ed.), Celtic myth in the 21st century: the gods and their stories in a global perspective, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2018. 11–22.

Mc Carthy, Daniel, “The paschal cycle of St Patrick”, in: Immo Warntjes, and Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (eds), Late antique calendrical thought and its reception in the early Middle Ages: proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on the Science of Computus in Ireland and Europe, Galway, 16-18 July, 2010, 26, Turnhout: Brepols, 2017. 94–137.

abstract:

Notwithstanding the substantial corpus of early medieval references to St Patrick and his works, the only account we have of a paschal cycle associated with him is that provided by Cummian in his letter addressed to Ségéne of Iona and Béccán the hermit composed in c.AD 633. In this letter, Cummian identified himself and his community with Patrick, but he furnished only limited technical details for both Patrick’s cycle and the cycle he indicated that he and his community had recently adopted. However, critical examination of Cummian’s account shows that Patrick had adapted the 532-year paschal cycle compiled by Victorius of Aquitaine in AD 457, and that this was the cycle that Cummian’s community and other influential southern Irish churches resolved to adopt at the synod of Mag Léne in c.AD 630. Consequently, Cummian’s account of Patrick’s cycle, the earliest attested reference to him, holds significant implications for both the chronology of Patrick’s mission to Ireland, and for the expansion of his cult in the seventh century.

Lewis, Barry J., “St. Mechyll of Anglesey, St. Maughold of Man and St. Malo of Brittany”, Studia Celtica Fennica 11 (2014): 24–38.

abstract:

A late-medieval Welsh poem in honour of the Anglesey saint Mechyll contains features drawn from two other cults, those of the Breton St Malo and the Manx St Maughold. This article surveys the evidence for the interpenetration of these three cults in medieval Man and Anglesey. It describes first the contents of the Welsh poem and the other evidence for the cult of Mechyll. It demonstrates that Mechyll was identified with Malo under his Latin name, Machutus, though the identification itself is unhistorical. The question of the name of Malo-Machutus, the spread of his cult and the hagiography associated with him are then surveyed. It is shown that St Maughold of Man was likewise associated with Machutus, and that much the same thing happened at the Scottish church of Lesmahagow, originally dedicated to St Féchín. The place of Maughold in the Lives of St Patrick is then discussed, confirming that Maughold of Man was the saint associated by Muirchú (c.700) with Patrick’s adversary Mac Cuill. The final question raised is the name of Maughold himself. Though it is unlikely that Maughold and Mechyll were really the same historical individual, the possibility is acknowledged.

Studia Celtica Fennica: <link>

Herren, Michael W., “Patrick, Gaul, and Gildas: a new lens on the apostle of Ireland’s career”, in: Sarah Sheehan, Joanne Findon, and Westley Follett (eds), Gablánach in scélaigecht: Celtic studies in honour of Ann Dooley, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2013. 9–25.

Boyle, Elizabeth, “The authorship and transmission of De tribus habitaculis animae”, The Journal of Medieval Latin 22 (2012): 49–65.

abstract:

This paper argues that Aubrey Gwynn’s attribution of the Latin treatise De tribus habitaculis animae to Patrick, bishop of Dublin (d. 1084), is based on flawed argumentation. The manuscript evidence and the early transmission of the text suggest that it should be regarded as the work of an unknown pseudo-Patrick. Stylistic features are highlighted which argue against the author of De tribus habitaculis animae being identified with the author of the corpus of poetry also attributed to Patrick of Dublin. The English transmission of the text, and its ascription to a sanctus Patricius episcopus, is discussed in relation to English interest in the cult of St. Patrick in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.

(source: Brepols)

Woods, David, “Tírechán on St Patrick's writing tablets”, Studia Celtica 45 (2011): 197–203.

Charles-Edwards, T. M., “Early Irish saints’ cults and their constituencies”, Ériu 54 (2004): 79–102.

abstract:

This article explores the differences between early Irish saints' cults, concentrating mainly but not exclusively on those associated with the Fothairt. It begins with a simple and local cult, that of Damnat of Tedavnet, and a complex and widespread cult, that of Brigit. It is argued that Brigit's cult had at least four constituencies: the Fothairt, Kildare, Leinster, and the weak throughout Ireland and even in Britain. Brigit's cult among the Fothairt is then contrasted with that of another Fothairt saint, Fintan of Clonenagh; and Fintan's cult, in turn, is contrasted with that of Rígnach. The Uí Ercáin, a branch of the Fothairt, illustrate how the political status of a cult's constituency may determine its character. Finally, the shift from an alliance between cults to competition is studied in the example of Cainnech and Columba.

Winterbottom, Michael, and R. M. Thomson, William of Malmesbury. Saints’ lives: lives of SS. Wulfstan, Dunstan, Patrick, Benignus and Indract, Oxford Medieval Texts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002.

[1] Vita Wulfstani: The Life of Wulfstan (ed. and tr. on pp. 7–156); [2] Vita Dunstani: The Life of Dunstan (165–304); [3] The fragmentary Lives: Vita Patricii: The Life of Patrick (315–343); Vita Benignii: The Life of Benignus (344–367); Vita Indracti; The Life of Indract (368–383).

Ó Riain, Pádraig, “When and why Cothraige was first equated with Patricius?”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 49–50 (1997): 698–711.

OʼLeary, Aideen M., “An Irish apocryphal apostle: Muirchú’s portrayal of St Patrick”, Harvard Theological Review 89:3 (1996): 287–301.

Maund, K. L., “The second obit of St Patrick in the ‘Annals of Boyle’”, in: David N. Dumville, and Lesley Abrams (eds), Saint Patrick, AD 493–1993, 13, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993. 35–37.

Correa, Alice L. H., “A mass for St Patrick in an Anglo-Saxon sacramentary”, in: David N. Dumville, and Lesley Abrams (eds), Saint Patrick, AD 493–1993, 13, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993. 245–252.

Dumville, David N., “William of Malmesbury’s Vita S. Patricii and his source: two lost lives of St Patrick?”, in: David N. Dumville, and Lesley Abrams (eds), Saint Patrick, AD 493–1993, 13, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993. 265–271.

Dumville, David N., “St Patrick, the Annales Cambriae, and St David”, in: David N. Dumville, and Lesley Abrams (eds), Saint Patrick, AD 493–1993, 13, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993. 279–288.

Orchard, Andy [ed.], “‘Audite omnes amantes’: a hymn in Patrick's praise”, in: David N. Dumville, and Lesley Abrams (eds), Saint Patrick, AD 493–1993, 13, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993. 153–173.

Sharpe, Richard, Medieval Irish saints’ lives: an introduction to Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.

[II. The textual evidence] “6. Applying the paradigm: St Patrick and St Maedóc”

Bray, Dorothy Ann, “The making of a hero: the legend of St Patrick and the claims of Armagh”, Monastic Studies 14 (1983): 145–160.

Bieler, Ludwig, “Interpretationes Patricianae”, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series, 107 (1967): 1–13.

Binchy, D. A., “Patrick and his biographers: ancient and modern”, Studia Hibernica 2 (1962): 7–173.

Ó Raifeartaigh, T., “Leasú eagarthóra sa Litir faoi Choroticus”, Studia Hibernica 2 (1962): 174–181.

Mohrmann, Christine, The Latin of Saint Patrick: four lectures, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1961. 54 pp.

Four lectures: (1) The general structure of the language of Saint Patrick; (2) Syntax and vocabulary; (3) The bible in the language of Saint Patrick; (4) General conclusions.

Bieler, Ludwig, “‘Patrick and the kings.’ A propos a new chronology of St. Patrick”, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series, 85 (1956): 171–189.

Reviews “Patrick and the kings”, chapter 9 of Carney’s Studies in Irish literature and history (1955).

Bieler, Ludwig, “St. Severin and St. Patrick: a parallel”, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series, 83 (1955): 161–166.

Bieler, Ludwig [ed. and tr.], The works of St. Patrick. St. Secundinus: Hymn on St. Patrick, Ancient Christian Writers, 17, Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1953.

comments: includes the Lorica

Bieler, Ludwig, “Vindiciae Patricianae: remarks on the present state of Patrician studies”, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series, 79 (1953): 161–185.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 21: Les leçons du bréviaire des Chanoines Réguliers de Sion sur S. Patrice”, Analecta Bollandiana 70 (1952): 315–316.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 20: Les Vies latines de S. Cáemgen et de S. Patrice du manuscrit 121 des Bollandistes”, Analecta Bollandiana 70 (1952): 313–315.

Bieler, Ludwig, “The place of St Patrick in Latin language and literature”, Vigiliae Christianae 6 (1952): 65–98.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 22: Paladius episcopus...qui Patricius”, Analecta Bollandiana 70 (1952): 317–326.

Grosjean, Paul, “S. Patrice d’Irlande et quelques homonymes dans les anciens martyrologes”, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 1:2 (1950): 151–171.

Bieler, Ludwig, “The life and legend of St. Patrick”, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series, 70 (1948): 1087–1091.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 9: S. Patrice et S. Victrice”, Analecta Bollandiana 63 (1945): 94–99.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 11: La ‘source britannique’ des Vies de S. Patrice”, Analecta Bollandiana 63 (1945): 112–119.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 10: Quant fut composée la Confession de S. Patrice?”, Analecta Bollandiana 63 (1945): 100–111.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 6: La patrie de S. Patrice”, Analecta Bollandiana 63 (1945): 65–72.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 7: Notes chronologiques sur le séjour de S. Patrice en Gaule”, Analecta Bollandiana 63 (1945): 73–93.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes d’hagiographie celtique, no. 8: Les périodes de 30 ans dans la chronologie de S. Patrice”, Analecta Bollandiana 63 (1945): 93–94.

Grosjean, Paul, “Notes sur les documents anciens concernant St Patrice”, Analecta Bollandiana 62 (1944): 42–73.

Bieler, Ludwig, “Anecdotum Patricianum: fragments of a Life of St. Patrick from MSS. Cotton Vitellius E. vii and Rawlinson B 479”, in: Sylvester OʼBrien [ed.], Measgra i gcuimhne Mhichíl Uí Chléirigh .i. Miscellany of historical and linguistic studies in honour of Brother Michael Ó Cléirigh, O.F.M., Chief of the Four Masters, 1643-1943, Dublin, 1944. 220–237.

Meyer, Kuno [ed.], “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften: Patricius an seinen ausgefallenen Zahn”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 10 (1915): 41.

Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>

Meyer, Kuno, “Verses from a chapel dedicated to St Patrick at Péronne”, Ériu 5 (1911): 110–111.

Berger, Samuel, “Confession des péchés attribuée à saint Patrice”, Revue Celtique 15 (1894): 155–159.

Internet Archive: <link>, <link>