Ailbhe (other)
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Saint Ailbe ( ; ), usually known in English as St Elvis (
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
/
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...
), Eilfyw or Eilfw, was regarded as the chief 'pre-Patrician' saint of
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
(although his death was recorded in the early 6th-century). He was a
bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
and later
saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
. Little that can be regarded as reliable is known about Ailbe: in Irish sources from the 8th century he is regarded as the first bishop, and later patron saint of Emly in Munster. Later Welsh sources (from the 11th c.) associate him with
Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...
whom he was credited with baptizing and very late sources (16th c.) even give him a local Welsh genealogy making him an '' Ancient Briton''. Saint Ailbe is venerated as one of the four great patrons of Ireland. His
feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
is 12 September. He is the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly."History", Emly Parish


Sources

The
life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
of Ailbe is included in the ''Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae'' (VSH), a Latin collection of medieval Irish saints' lives compiled in the 14th century. There are three major manuscript versions of the VSH: the Dublin, Oxford, and
Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
. Charles Plummer compiled an edition of the VSH based on the two surviving Dublin manuscripts in 1910. Professor William W. Heist of the University of Michigan compiled an edition of the single Salamanca manuscript in 1965 Oxford professor Richard Sharpe suggests that the Salamanca manuscript is the closest to the original text from which all three versions derive. Sharpe's analysis of the Irish name-forms in the ''Codex Salamanticensis'' showed similarities between it and the ''Life of Saint Brigid'', a verifiably 7th-century text, leading him to posit that nine (and possibly ten) of the lives were written much earlier, –850. He further proposed that this earlier Life of Ailbe in the Codex Salmanticensis was originally composed to further the cause of the Eóganacht Church of
Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical Barony (Ireland), barony of Clanwilliam (County Tipperary), Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman ...
. ''The Law of Ailbe'' (784) was issued, possibly in response to the Law of Patrick. The later lives of the Dublin collection go further and make Ailbe the principal 'pre-Patrican' Saint of Ireland (the others are
Ciarán of Saighir Ciarán ( Irish spelling) or Ciaran (Scottish Gaelic spelling) is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ''ciar'' ("black", "dark") ...
, Declan of Ardmore,
Abbán Abbán of Corbmaic (, ; d. 520?), also Eibbán or Moabba, was a saint and abbot. He is associated, first and foremost, with the Mag Arnaide (Moyarney or Adamstown, County Wexford, near New Ross).Ó Riain, "Abbán" His order was, however, also c ...
of Moyarney and
Ibar of Beggerin Ibar may refer to: People * Ibar of Beggerin (died 500), Irish saint * Íbar of Killibar Beg, Irish saint * Hilmi Ibar (born 1947), Kosovar academic * José Ibar (born 1969), Cuban baseball player Places * Ibar District, a division of the Serbia ...
or Beggery Island) The Dublin Life of Ailbe asserts that Munster was entrusted to him by Saint Patrick, while to similar effect, Ailbe is called a "second Patrick and patron of Munster" (''secundus Patricius et patronus Mumenie'') in the Life of Saint
Declán of Ardmore Declán of Ardmore (; ; ; died 5th century AD), also called Déclán, was an early Irish people, Irish saint of the Déisi Muman, who was remembered for having converted the Déisi in the late 5th century and for having founded the monastery of ...
. Further material is provided by the lives of related saints such as
Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...
. All include numerous miraculous events and obvious inconsistencies and anachronisms.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. I, pp. 128 ff.
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1911.
In fact the earliest mention of the name ''Ailbeus'' would seem to be in Tirechan's late 7th century Life of
Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...
although this seems to be about a different 'Ailbe', a priest associated with the ''Ui Aillello'', in Connaught, latterly known as 'Saint Ailbe of Sencua (Shancoe in County Sligo)'. Other early mentions of Ailbe are in the 8th century ''Navigatio Brendani'' ("Voyage of Saint Brendan") and in the
Martyrology of Tallaght The ''Martyrology of Tallaght'', which is closely related to the ''Félire Óengusso'' or ''Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee'', is an eighth- or ninth-century Irish-language martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Mael ...
and
Martyrology of Oengus A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...
from the early years of the 9th century.


Legendary life

In a legend that goes back to the ''Vita'', or 'Saint's Life', Ailbe's father fled King Cronan before the child's birth and his mother's servants—ordered by the king to put the baby to death—instead placed him on a rock in the wilderness where he was found and nursed by a she-wolf. Long afterwards, when Ailbe was bishop, an old she-wolf being pursued by a hunting party ran to the bishop and laid her head upon his breast. Ailbe protected the wolf and thereafter fed her and her cubs every day from his hall. Ailbe was discovered in the forest by visiting Britons: these British foster parents were said to have planned to leave him in Ireland when they returned home but were constantly and miraculously unable to make the passage until they consented to take him with them. They then took Ailbe with them when they returned to Wales (''Vita Albei'' 2). A tradition also going back to the earliest ''Vita'' (''Vita Albei'' 9) held that he went to Rome and was ordained as a bishop by Saint Hilary who was then
pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
. Upon being ordained in Rome, he was said to have fed the people of the city for three days before returning home. At the end of his life, a supernatural ship came and he boarded to learn the secret of his death. Returning from the faerie world, he went back to Emly to die and be buried.Answers.com.
Ailbhe
.
The earliest ''Vita'' states that Saint Ailbe was baptised by Palladius (''Vita Albei'' 2), something that might be compatible with the tradition that made him a 'pre-Patrician' evangelizer of Ireland (since Palladius was recorded as having been sent to Ireland in 431, most likely before Patrick's time). The year of his death – 528 - that is recorded in the 'Annals of Innisfallen' (compiled at Emly probably in 1092), is not, however, compatible with a 'pre-Patrician' career. It may well be, though, a reflection of the fact that many such ''obits'' (records of the date of death) of Irish saints were retrospectively added to the annals. Ailbe was said to have founded the
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
and
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
of
Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical Barony (Ireland), barony of Clanwilliam (County Tipperary), Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman ...
(), which became very important in
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
. He was said to have been responsible for King
Aengus In Irish mythology, Aengus or Óengus is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably originally a god associated with youth, love,Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice-Hall Press, ...
's donation of island lands for Saint Enda's monastery.Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly
/ref> He is also associated with the 6th-century foundation of
Clane Friary Clane Friary, also called Clane Abbey, is a former friary of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual located in Clane, Ireland. Location Clane Friary is located immediately southeast of Clane village, to the north of King Mesgegra's Mound and th ...
, in modern County Kildare.


Connections with Wales

The Life of Saint David, written by Rhigyfarch in the late 11th century, states that Ailbe baptized
Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...
, the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. In Welsh traditions, he then fostered the boy while serving as
bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia was the ordinary of the Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff in the Catholic Church in Wales. The Diocese of Menevia covered an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, ...
(present-day
St David's St Davids or St David's (, ,  "Saint David, David's Welsh toponymy, house”) is a St David's Cathedral, cathedral City status in the United Kingdom, city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun, Pembrokeshire, River Alun and is ...
) before leaving on a
mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...
to convert southern Ireland. He was also regarded as the founder of ''Llanailfyw'' or St Elvis in
Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
, Late Welsh sources give him a British ancestry. Thus the 16th c. ''Achau’r Saint'' records "''Eilvyw a Dirdan Saint Breudan''" (variant : "''Breudain''") while a 16thc. Manuscript of ''Bonedd y Saint'' records "''Ailvyw vab Dirdan''". This would make him a descendant of Guorthemir (Modern Welsh: ''Gwerthefyr''; English: Vortimer the Blessed), and a cousin of
saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...
David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
,
Cybi Saint Cybi ( Welsh), or Cuby ( Cornish), was a 6th-century Cornish bishop, saint, and, briefly, king, who worked largely in Cornwall and North Wales: his biography is recorded in two slightly variant medieval 'lives'. Life in Cornwall The ''vi ...
, and Sadyrnin."Saint Elvis"
in
Terry Breverton Terry Breverton FRHistS FRSA FIC FCIM is a former businessman and academic who worked across Europe and in the Middle East. He has presented papers upon transnational tax avoidance effects in Paris, Seattle, Charleston and Thessaloniki. In 2000 ...
's ''Wales: A Historical Companion'', pp. 164 f. Amberley Publishing (Stroud), 2009.


Possible pre-Christian origins

Professor
Pádraig Ó Riain Pádraig Ó Riain is an Irish Celticist and prominent hagiologist focusing on Irish hagiography, martyrdom, mythology, onomastics and codicology. Ó Riain has spent much of his academic life at the University College Cork, where he became a lec ...
suggests the cult of Saint Ailbe may have pre-Christian origins. The name ''Ailbe'' figures quite extensively in a context of Irish folk tale, with its likely origins mainly in pre-Christian pagan mythology. For instance ''Ailbe'' was the name of the 'divine hound' in "
The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig ''The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig'' (Old Irish: ''Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó'') is a legendary tale in the Ulster Cycle. The story tells of a dispute between the Connachta, led by Ailill and Medb, and the Ulaid, led by Conchobar mac Nessa, ove ...
" associated with the ''Mag Ailbe'' or 'plain of Ailbe', where stood a ''Lia Ailbe'', or 'stone of Ailbe'. The 'divine hound' ''Ailbe'' defended
Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...
, the chief centre of which was ''Aillen'', whose female eponym, ''
Aillen Aillen or Áillen is an incendiary being in Irish mythology. He played the harp or timpán and would lull his victims into a deep sleep with his music. Character Called "the burner", According to the most frequently repeated story, Aillén har ...
'', owned a marvellous lap dog ''Ailbe'', according to the 'Metrical
Dindsenchas ''Dindsenchas'' or ''Dindshenchas'' (modern spellings: ''Dinnseanchas'' or ''Dinnsheanchas'' or ''Dınnṡeanċas''), meaning "lore of places" (the modern Irish word ''dinnseanchas'' means "topography"), is a class of onomastic text in early Irish ...
'.To these 'canine' associations, one might compare the tradition which identified Ailbe's father as ‘''Ol-chu''’ (‘''Olcnais''’ in ''Vita Albei'' 1), 'great-hound', as well as the (likely related) story of the infant Ailbe being cared for by a she-wolf. An ‘''Ailbe Grúadbrecc''’, meanwhile, was the daughter of ''
Cormac mac Airt Cormac mac Airt, also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings ...
'' (premier mythical Irish king) and a wife (as her sister ''
Gráinne Gráinne (), sometimes anglicised Grania, is the daughter of king Cormac mac Airt in the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology. She is one of the central figures in the Middle Irish text '' Finn and Gráinne'', as well as the 17th-century tale ''The ...
'') of ''Finn'' (= literally, 'white') or
Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill, often anglicised Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is the leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer a ...
in the ''Tochmarc Ailbe'', ''Echtrae Cormaic maic Airt'' and "The Burning of Finn's House". Ailbe was also the name of several of Finn's ''
fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young men, often from the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, "who had left fosterage ...
'' (comrades in his band), and their women in ''
Acallam na Senórach ''Acallam na Senórach'' (, whose title in English has been given variously as ''Colloquy of the Ancients'', ''Tales of the Elders of Ireland'', ''The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland'', etc.), is an important prosimetric Middle Irish narrat ...
'' and ''Duanaire Finn''. An ''Ailbe'' was also daughter of '' Mider'', son of the ''
Dagda The Dagda ( , ) is considered the great god of Irish mythology. He is the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, with the Dagda portrayed as a father-figure, king, and druid.Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO ...
.''


The name "Ailbe"

The name ''Ailbe'' was explained in the ''Vita Albei'' as a derivative of ''ail'' 'a rock' and ''beo'', 'living'. In the words of Baring Gould and Fisher this is "a very doubtful etymology". It is clearly related to the story of his being exposed behind a rock after his birth, before being cared for by a wolf (''Vita Albei'' 2) and looks very much like
folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...
. Nevertheless, we can note a sporadic association of Ailbe (as a saint or mythological figure) with ' rocks' (Irish ''ail''). The ''Lia Ailbe'' (stone of Ailbe) on the ''Magh Ailbe'' (plain of Ailbe) may be in origin tautological, while a ''Sliabh Ailbe'' was associated with a legendary figure ''Ailbe'' in ''Duanaire Finn''. The ''Inbher Ailbhine'' mentioned in Tirechan's ''Vita Patricii'' (''Tirechan'' 5.2) may contain ''ail'', 'a rock', according to Watson. It is at a "marvellous stone altar ( = prominent rock with religious associations ) on the mountain of the ''Ui Ailello''" where Patrick was said to have installed the second St Ailbe (of ''Sencua'') - probably at the old site of the church of Shancoe, County Sligo, where a large rock overlooks a well:. This might all be best explained by a typical process of sound assimilation of ''ail'' 'a rock' to the name ''ail-be''. The root ''albho-'' 'white, bright' as in Latin ''albus'', 'white' appears to figure in the names of various deities or semi-deities, or names with likely mythological associations, hence the ''Mons Albanus''. ''Albula'' as an old name for the Tiber and the legendary ''Alba Longa'' in Latium; the Germanic deities ''Albiahenae'' the semi-divine prophetess, ''Albruna'' mentioned by Tacitus (Vulgar Latin ''Aurinia'': ''Germania'' 8) or the spiritual or demonic beings from the Germanic world, which are represented in modern English by the word, 'elf'; the ''Alphito'' which was recorded as the name of an 'ogress' or 'nursery bugbear' and might well have been appropriate to an earlier strata of Greek gods; and possibly the ‘''R̥bhus''’ of Indian mythology and the Rhig Veda. This root may also be found in the names of Celtic deities such as ''Albarinus'', ''Albocelo'' (if they do not contain Latin ''Albus'') and possibly the deity ''Albius'' recorded in a single inscription from Aignay-le Duc,. However the root ''albho-'' 'white, bright' does not figure in Irish or in fact in any of the extant Celtic languages. It may figure in the Celtic language of ancient Gaul (as in the names above) but there it may, in fact, have been borrowed from the ancient Ligurian language (the root is very common in place names from ancient Liguria). There does, however, appear the root ''albi(i̭)o-'', 'world' in the Brittonic Celtic languages: as seen for instance in Wesh ''elfydd'', 'world, land'. In fact, this root has convincingly been argued to be related to the root ''albho-'' 'white, bright' and it certainly appears in the Gaulish divine name ''albio-rix'' ("king of the world", parallel to ''Dumno-rix'' and ''Bitu-rix'' of similar meaning) . However it does not appear in Irish, with one sole exception: the Irish name for 'Britain', that is the Irish version of the name ''Albion'' found in ancient sources as the oldest recorded name for Britain. This appears in Irish as ''Albe-'', ''Alpe-'' and ''Albu'', ''Alpu''. There is, however, no obvious explanation for this name to appear in the form ''ailbe'' and the root ''albi(i̭)o-'' would not take that form in Irish, according to the way that language normally developed. The ''i'', in the ''ai'' of ''Ailbe'', is not a full vowel but represents an audible 'glide' before a palatalised ''l''. This palatalised ''l'', with ''i''-glide is not found in Irish ''Albu'', 'Britain'. All of this renders the precise form of the name ''Ailbe'', in Irish, arguably, somewhat mysterious.


Legacy

In
Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical Barony (Ireland), barony of Clanwilliam (County Tipperary), Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman ...
, there is a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
church dedicated to St Ailbe which dates to the late nineteenth century. An ancient and weathered
Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...
in its churchyard is known as "St Ailbe's Cross". The early nineteenth-century church of St Ailbe is now used as the village hall. A ninth-century monastic rule, written in
Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
, bears his name.Duffy, Patrick. "St. Ailbe of Emly", CatholicIreland.net
/ref> Although St Elvis in Wales is now in ruins, there is still a shrine to the parish's namesake at , which bears an inscription concerning his name and connection to St David.


See also

* Saint Ailbe of Emly, patron saint archive


References


Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ailbe People from County Tipperary 528 deaths 6th-century Irish bishops 6th-century Christian saints Medieval Irish saints Medieval saints of Munster Year of birth unknown