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{{Short description|6th-century Roman Catholic missionary}} |
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{{Use British English|date=August 2013}} |
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date= |
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} |
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{{Infobox saint |
{{Infobox saint |
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|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]] |
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|name= |
|name = Moluag |
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|birth_date=c. |
|birth_date = c. 500–520 |
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|death_date=592 |
|death_date = 592 |
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|image=Kilmoluag-SaintsWindow.jpg |
|image = Kilmoluag-SaintsWindow.jpg |
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|image size=350px |
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|image_size = |
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|caption = The Saints Window in Kilmoluag, Lismore depicting St Moluag and St Columba |
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|feast_day=25 June |
|feast_day = 25 June |
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|venerated_in= |
|venerated_in = {{ubl | Roman [[Catholic Church]] | [[Anglican Communion|Anglican Church]] | [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] }} |
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|birth_place= [[Ireland]] |
|birth_place = [[Ireland]] |
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|death_place=[[Rosemarkie]] |
|death_place = [[Rosemarkie]] |
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|attributes= |
|attributes = |
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|patronage=Argyll; on Lewis invoked against madness<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> |
|patronage = Argyll; on Lewis invoked against madness<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343">''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints'', p.343</ref> |
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|titles=Bishop of Lismore, Apostle of the Picts, Patron Saint of Argyll |
|titles = Bishop of Lismore, Apostle of the Picts, Patron Saint of Argyll |
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|major_shrine=Isle of Lismore |
|major_shrine = [[Isle of Lismore]] |
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}} |
}} |
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'''Saint Moluag''' (c. |
'''Saint Moluag''' (c. 510 – 592; also known as ''Lua'', ''Luan'', ''Luanus'', ''Lugaidh'', ''Moloag'', ''Molluog'', ''Molua'', ''Murlach'', ''Malew''<ref name="saintpatrickdc">[http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0625.shtml Saint of the Day, 25 June: ''Moloc of Mortlach''] ''SaintPatrickDC.org''. Retrieved on 6 March 2012</ref><ref name="IrishSaintsinGreatBritain">''Irish Saints in Great Britain'', pp. 76–77</ref>) was a Scottish missionary, and a contemporary of [[Saint Columba]], who evangelized the [[Picts]] of [[Scotland]] in the sixth century.<ref name="catholic">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5153|title=St. Moloc – Saints & Angels – Catholic Online|first=Catholic|last=Online|work=catholic.org|accessdate=6 January 2017}}</ref> Saint Moluag was the [[patron saint]] of [[Argyll]] as evidenced by a charter in 1544, from the [[Duke of Argyll|Earl of Argyll]], which states "in honour of God Omnipotent, the blessed Virgin, and Saint Moloc, our patron".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clanmclea.co.uk/Bachuil_Charter.htm|title=Clan Livingstone – Charter of 1544|work=clanmclea.co.uk|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref> The House of Lorne became the kings of Dalriada and eventually united with the Picts to become the kings of Scots. |
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==Name== |
==Name== |
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Saint Lughaidh, better known by his pet name of Moluag, was an Irish noble of the [[Dál nAraide]]<ref name=":0">''Lismore in Alba'', |
Saint Lughaidh, better known by his pet name of Moluag, was an Irish noble of the [[Dál nAraide]]<ref name=":0">''Lismore in Alba'', pg. 39ff</ref> (one of the main tribes of the ''Ulaid'' in what is now called Ulster). There are various Irish forms of the name, such as ''Lughaidh'' (or ''Lugaid''), ''Luoc'' and ''Lua''. Latinized they become ''Lugidus'', ''Lugidius,'' ''Lugadius, Lugacius'' and ''Luanus''. |
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The name, as it has come down the centuries, Moluag or Moluoc, is made up of the honorific ''mo'', plus the original name ''Lughaidh'', pronounced Lua, plus the endearing suffix ''–oc''. |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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MacDonald suggests that there must have been a '' |
MacDonald suggests that there must have been a [[hagiography|''vita'']] of Moluag that is lost because of his prominent appearance in [[Bernard of Clairvaux|Bernard]]'s ''Life of Malachy''. He writes ''"Further support for this occurs in the Life of Patrick by the Cistercian monk Jocelin of Furness written in circa 1185, where Mo-Luóc ("Lugacius") is described as one of the six Irish priests whom Patrick prophesied would become bishops"''. |
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In a footnote he adds that the five other priests were Columbanus (Cólman), Meldanus (Mellán), Lugadius (Mo Lua), Cassanus (Cassán) and Creanus (Ciarán).<ref name="ClericsandClansmen">{{cite book|last1=MacDonald|first1=Iain G|title=Clerics and Clansmen, The Diocese of Argyll between the Twelfth and Sixteenth Centuries|date=2013|publisher=Brill|page=35}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Moluag was a bishop active during the period of the First Order of Celtic Saints and known as |
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| ⚫ | Moluag was a bishop active during the period of the First Order of Celtic Saints and known as 'The Clear and Brilliant, The Sun of Lismore in Alba'.<ref name="TheMartyrologyofÓengus">{{cite book|last1=Óriain|first1=Pádraig|title=The Martyrology of Óengus|publisher=Studia Hibernica|jstor=20495126|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20495126}}</ref> |
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==Life== |
==Life== |
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Moluag was born between 500 and 520. He may have been the Lugaid mentioned in The Life of St [[Comgall]] who ordained him<ref name="Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae">{{cite book |last1=Plummer |first1=Carolus |title=Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae |date=1910 |publisher=Henry Frowde, MA |location=London |page=6}}</ref> and to whom he may have had links of kinship.<ref name="Aberdeen Breviary">{{cite book |editor1-last=Macquarrie |editor1-first=Alan |title=Legends of Scottish Saints: Readings, Hymns and Prayers for the Commemorations of Scottish Saints in the Aberdeen Breviary |date=2012 |publisher=Four Courts Press |location=Dublin |pages=150–151}}</ref> |
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St. Moluag was born between 500 and 520. As bishop, in about 552 he ordained St. [[Comgall|Comgal]], his close kinsman, initially as a deacon then as a priest.<ref name="StMoluagWebPre562">{{cite web|title=Saint Moluag|url=http://saintmoluag.org.uk/SaintMoluag-Pre562.htm|website=St Moluag|accessdate=24 March 2016}}</ref> Moluag persuaded St. Comgal to found Bangor Abbey, at [[Bangor Abbey|Bangor]], [[Ireland]]<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343">''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints'', p.343 </ref> in modern-day Ulster. |
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He left with twelve followers to lead the life of a missionary. Tradition states that the rock on which Moluag stood detached itself from the Irish coast and he drifted across to the island of the Lyn of Lorn in Argyll now called the Isle of [[Lismore, Scotland|Lismore]], in [[Loch Linnhe]],<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints">Barrett, M, ''A Calendar of Scottish Saints'', pp. 97–99</ref> where, in 562, he founded his community. (''Lios mor'' is ancient Gaelic for 'great courtyard' in reference to the monastery). This had been the sacred island of the Western Picts whose capital was at Beregonium, across the water at [[Benderloch]].<ref name="SkeneCelticScotland">{{cite book|last1=Skene|first1=William|title=Celtic Scotland|url=https://archive.org/details/celticscotland00unkngoog|date=1876|page=[https://archive.org/details/celticscotland00unkngoog/page/n98 76]}}</ref> |
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Lismore was the most important religious spot to the pagan kings of the area. Their kings were cremated on the ancient man-made "burial mound" of ''Cnoc Aingeil'' (Gaelic for 'Hill of Fire') at Bachuil, about three miles from the north of the island, near the site that Moluag chose for his first centre. It was therefore the most desirable site for a missionary. Irish missionaries had learnt to focus heavily on the similarity and continuity between early Christianity and Paganism rather than the differences between them. The conversion process was, therefore, one of gradual education rather than outright confrontation. |
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MacDonald describes Lismore as being "hugely important, being closely tied with one of the earliest and most important Christian Saints in Northern Britain: Mo Luóc, or Moluag".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Clerics and Clansmen, The Diocese of Argyll between the Twelfth and Sixteenth Centuries|last=MacDonald|first=Iain G|publisher=Brill.|year=2013|pages=21}}</ref> |
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MacDonald describes Lismore as being ‘hugely important, being closely tied with one of the earliest and most important Christian Saints in Northern Britain: Mo Luóc, or Moluag.’<ref>{{Cite book|title=Clerics and Clansmen, The Diocese of Argyll between the Twelfth and Sixteenth Centuries|last=MacDonald|first=Iain G|publisher=Brill.|year=2013|isbn=|location=|pages=21}}</ref> Bishop Moluag, travelled with St. Comgall, Abbot of Bangor, to obtain sanction for his missions in the land of the Northern Picts from King Brude at Inverness, and Columba, an exiled penitent, was in this party. Dr Reeves, writes that ‘The Life of St. Comgall represents St. Columba as only one of the agents on this occasion’, contradicting Adamnan’s claim that Columba was the leader of the mission.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Pictish Nation: Its People and its Church|last=Scott|first=Archibald B|publisher=Foulis|year=1918|isbn=|location=|pages=235}}</ref> Ian Bradley writes ‘It certainly seems on the best available evidence we now have that Columba does not deserve the accolade of apostle to the Picts. His forays into Pictish territory seem to have been few and far between and it is highly doubtful that he felt any evangelistic impulse to convert particular people to Christianity.’<ref>{{Cite book|title=Columba: Pilgrim and Penitent|last=Bradley|first=Ian|publisher=Wild Goose Publications|year=1996|isbn=|location=|pages=42}}</ref> This supports Smyth’s view that Columba was a saint of the ''Cenél Loairn'' and that he rarely ventured out of their territory.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Warlords and Holy Men|last=Smyth|first=Alfred P|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=1984|isbn=|location=|pages=103}}</ref> St. Moluag was the patron saint of the ''Cenél Loairn''. |
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After founding a monastery on the Isle of Lismore,<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> Moluag went on to found two other great centres in the land of the Picts at [[Rosemarkie]] and [[Dufftown|Mortlach]]. These were his three centres of teaching, and all three were to become the seats of the Roman Catholic [[Episcopal see|see]]s of the [[Diocese of the Isles|Isles]], [[Diocese of Ross (Scotland)|Ross]] and [[Diocese of Aberdeen|Aberdeen]]. W. Douglas Simpson noted that Moluag laboured in Argyll, [[Ross-shire|Ross]], and [[Banff, Aberdeenshire|Banff]]. He remains best-remembered for his work in [[Aberdeenshire]], where he established three churches in the valley of the [[River Dee, Aberdeenshire|River Dee]]—[[Tarland]], Migvie, and [[Kirkton of Durris|Durris]]. However, Simpson regarded the most important of Moluag's establishments to be the Clova Monastery in [[Kildrummy]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=W. Douglas |title=A Forgotten Aberdeenshire Monastery |date=1922 |publisher=Aberdeen UP |location=Aberdeen |page=[https://archive.org/details/forgottenaberdee00simp/page/2 2] |url=https://archive.org/details/forgottenaberdee00simp |accessdate=14 January 2019}}</ref> |
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It is speculated that King Brude preferred Moluag to Columba because of Columba's close relation to the Gaelic leadership of [[Dál Riata]]. Columba could not speak the language of the Picts whereas Moluag was fluent, which could explain why Moluag evangelized largely Pictish areas and Columba stayed within the sphere of Dál Riata influence. |
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In his life of the Irish [[Saint Malachy]], [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] wrote of Moluag, "One of the sons of that sacred family (Bangor) Lua by name, is said himself alone to have been the founder of a hundred monasteries", Michael Barrett clarifying this as a reference to monastic houses in Ireland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrett |first1=Michael |title=Irish Saints Honored in Scotland |journal=The American Catholic Quarterly |date=1919 |volume=44 |issue=174 |page=337 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJgNAQAAIAAJ&q=One+of+the+sons+of+that+sacred+family+%28Bangor%29%2C+Lua+by+name%2C+is+said+himself+alone+to+have+been+the+founder+of+a+hundred+monasteries&pg=PA337 |accessdate=14 January 2019}}</ref> |
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After founding an island [[monastery]] on the Isle of Lismore,<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> Moluag went on to found two other great centres in the land of the Picts at [[Rosemarkie]] and [[Dufftown|Mortlach]]. These were his three centres of teaching, and all three were to become the seats of the Roman Catholic Sees of the Isles, Ross and Aberdeen. It is claimed in the biography of [[Saint Malachy]] that Moluag was the founder of 100 monasteries in [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]] Scotland. |
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Moluag lived to extreme old age and died in [[Rosemarkie]], Scotland |
Moluag lived to extreme old age and died on 25 June 592 in [[Garioch|the Garioch]] and was buried at his monastery in [[Rosemarkie]], Ross-shire, Scotland.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simpson |title=Forgotten Monastery |page=2}}</ref> The [[Annals of Ulster]] record the death of ''Lugaid of Les Mór'' in 592:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T100001A/|title=The Annals of Ulster|work=ucc.ie|accessdate=6 January 2017}}</ref> ''Obitus Lugide Lis Moer''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A/index.html|title=The Annals of Ulster|work=ucc.ie|accessdate=6 January 2017}}</ref> |
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==Veneration== |
==Veneration== |
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Moluag is said to have been buried at Rosemarkie on the [[Moray Firth]], though his remains were later transported to Lismore, and honoured in the cathedral which bore his name.<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
Moluag is said to have been buried at Rosemarkie on the [[Moray Firth]], though his remains were later transported to Lismore, and honoured in the cathedral which bore his name.<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
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The feast day of Saint Moluag (25 June<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> |
The feast day of Saint Moluag (25 June)<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> was restored in 1898 by [[Pope Leo XIII]].<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> He is one of the 48 saints referred to in the Lorrha ("Stowe") Missal used by churches of Ireland, Scotland, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy: "Saint Lua of Lismore, Pray for us".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholicforum.com/saints/litany17.htm |title="Litany of the Saints" www.catholicforum.com |access-date=14 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021023/http://www.catholicforum.com/saints/litany17.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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The [[Coarb]], or successor, of Saint Moluag, is the Livingstone chief of the [[Clan MacLea]].<ref>[[Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk|Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Sir Ian]]. ''The Highland Clans''. [[New York City]]: Clarkson N. Potter, 1982, pp. 117-119 {{ISBN|0-517-54659-0}}</ref> This Livingstone family of Lismore had long been the hereditary abbots of Lismore and, hence, possessors of the [[crozier]] of the saint.<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
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The bell of Saint Moluag was in existence until the sixteenth century when it disappeared during the [[Scottish Reformation|Reformation]].<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> An ancient bell found at Kilmichael Glassary, Argyll was thought to have been the lost bell.<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
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==Legacy and dedications== |
==Legacy and dedications== |
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Several churches were dedicated to Saint Moluag, including: |
Several churches were dedicated to Saint Moluag, including: |
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* [[St |
* [[St Moluag's Cathedral, Lismore|St Moluag's Cathedral]] (Kilmoluag), Lismore;<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
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* [[Teampull Mholuaidh]], [[Lewis]];<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
* [[Teampull Mholuaidh]], [[Isle of Lewis|Lewis]];<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
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* Kirk [[Malew]], the [[Isle of Man]]. |
* Kirk [[Malew]], the [[Isle of Man]]. |
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Other sites include churches at [[Clatt]] and [[Tarland]], in [[Aberdeenshire]]; and also churches on [[Skye]], [[Isle of Mull|Mull]], [[Raasay]], [[Tiree]], and [[Pabay]].<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> At [[Alyth]] in [[Perth and Kinross]] |
Other sites include churches at [[Clatt]] and [[Tarland]], in [[Aberdeenshire]]; and also churches on [[Skye]], [[Isle of Mull|Mull]], [[Raasay]], [[Tiree]], and [[Pabay]].<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> At [[Alyth]] in [[Perth and Kinross]] there remain the ruins, known as "The Alyth Arches",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotland247.co.uk/alyth2.htm |title=Alyth | Perthshire |website=scotland247.co.uk |access-date=12 June 2007}}</ref> of a church which was built on the site of an older sixth-century church dedicated to the saint.<ref name="alythvoice">{{Cite news|last=Dalziel|first=Nigel|url=http://www.alythvoice.co.uk/07february.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070727103637/http://www.alythvoice.co.uk/07february.pdf|archive-date=2007-07-27|title=A HISTORY OF ALYTH|date=February 2007|work=Alyth Voice|url-status=dead}}</ref> It has been suggested that the concentration of dedications to Moluag in North-East Scotland, and particularly in the vicinity of [[Rhynie, Aberdeenshire|Rhynie]], may be a legacy of a saint cult promoted during the reign of [[Nechtan mac Der-Ilei]] and contemporaneous with the ascendancy of the [[Cenél Loairn]], with whom his Pictish kingdom appears to have enjoyed good relations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grigg |first=Julianna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AlYBrgEACAAJ |title=The Philosopher King and the Pictish Nation |date=2015 |publisher=Four Courts Press |isbn=978-1-84682-563-7 |language=en}}</ref> |
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At Mortlach in [[Banffshire]], where some of his [[relics]] were preserved, an abbey was founded in 1010 by [[Máel Coluim II of Scotland]], in thanks for a victory in which the |
At Mortlach in [[Banffshire]], where some of his [[relics]] were preserved, an abbey was founded in 1010 by [[Máel Coluim II of Scotland]], in thanks for a victory in which the Scots had invoked the aid of Saint Moluag.<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> |
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On Lewis Saint Moluag was invoked for cures from madness.<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> |
On Lewis, Saint Moluag was invoked for cures from madness.<ref name="OxfordDictionaryofSaints343"/> |
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At Clatt there was held annually "St |
At Clatt there was held annually "St Mallock's Fair", which lasted eight days.<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> At Tarland there was a "Luoch Fair" which is thought to have been in honour of Saint Molaug,<ref name="ACalendarofScottishSaints"/> and at Alyth "Simmalogue Fair" was celebrated.<ref name="alythvoice"/> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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[[Category:6th-century Christian saints]] |
[[Category:6th-century Christian saints]] |
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[[Category:Lismore, Scotland]] |
[[Category:Lismore, Scotland]] |
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[[Category:Medieval Irish saints]] |
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[[Category:Medieval Scottish saints]] |
[[Category:Medieval Scottish saints]] |
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[[Category:Medieval saints of Ulster]] |
[[Category:Medieval saints of Ulster]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Colombanian saints]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:6th-century Irish Christian clergy]] |
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[[Category:Christian clergy from County Down]] |
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[[Category:592 deaths]] |
[[Category:592 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Year of birth unknown]] |
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]] |
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Latest revision as of 01:02, 29 July 2024
Moluag | |
|---|---|
 The Saints Window in Kilmoluag, Lismore depicting St Moluag and St Columba | |
| Bishop of Lismore, Apostle of the Picts, Patron Saint of Argyll | |
| Born | c. 500–520 Ireland |
| Died | 592 Rosemarkie |
| Venerated in | |
| Major shrine | Isle of Lismore |
| Feast | 25 June |
| Patronage | Argyll; on Lewis invoked against madness[1] |
Saint Moluag (c. 510 – 592; also known as Lua, Luan, Luanus, Lugaidh, Moloag, Molluog, Molua, Murlach, Malew[2][3]) was a Scottish missionary, and a contemporary of Saint Columba, who evangelized the Picts of Scotland in the sixth century.[4] Saint Moluag was the patron saint of Argyll as evidenced by a charter in 1544, from the Earl of Argyll, which states "in honour of God Omnipotent, the blessed Virgin, and Saint Moloc, our patron".[5] The House of Lorne became the kings of Dalriada and eventually united with the Picts to become the kings of Scots.
Name
[edit]Saint Lughaidh, better known by his pet name of Moluag, was an Irish noble of the Dál nAraide[6] (one of the main tribes of the Ulaid in what is now called Ulster). There are various Irish forms of the name, such as Lughaidh (or Lugaid), Luoc and Lua. Latinized they become Lugidus, Lugidius, Lugadius, Lugacius and Luanus.
The name, as it has come down the centuries, Moluag or Moluoc, is made up of the honorific mo, plus the original name Lughaidh, pronounced Lua, plus the endearing suffix –oc.
Sources
[edit]MacDonald suggests that there must have been a vita of Moluag that is lost because of his prominent appearance in Bernard's Life of Malachy. He writes "Further support for this occurs in the Life of Patrick by the Cistercian monk Jocelin of Furness written in circa 1185, where Mo-Luóc ("Lugacius") is described as one of the six Irish priests whom Patrick prophesied would become bishops".
In a footnote he adds that the five other priests were Columbanus (Cólman), Meldanus (Mellán), Lugadius (Mo Lua), Cassanus (Cassán) and Creanus (Ciarán).[7]
Moluag was a bishop active during the period of the First Order of Celtic Saints and known as 'The Clear and Brilliant, The Sun of Lismore in Alba'.[8]
Life
[edit]Moluag was born between 500 and 520. He may have been the Lugaid mentioned in The Life of St Comgall who ordained him[9] and to whom he may have had links of kinship.[10]
He left with twelve followers to lead the life of a missionary. Tradition states that the rock on which Moluag stood detached itself from the Irish coast and he drifted across to the island of the Lyn of Lorn in Argyll now called the Isle of Lismore, in Loch Linnhe,[11] where, in 562, he founded his community. (Lios mor is ancient Gaelic for 'great courtyard' in reference to the monastery). This had been the sacred island of the Western Picts whose capital was at Beregonium, across the water at Benderloch.[12]
Lismore was the most important religious spot to the pagan kings of the area. Their kings were cremated on the ancient man-made "burial mound" of Cnoc Aingeil (Gaelic for 'Hill of Fire') at Bachuil, about three miles from the north of the island, near the site that Moluag chose for his first centre. It was therefore the most desirable site for a missionary. Irish missionaries had learnt to focus heavily on the similarity and continuity between early Christianity and Paganism rather than the differences between them. The conversion process was, therefore, one of gradual education rather than outright confrontation.
MacDonald describes Lismore as being "hugely important, being closely tied with one of the earliest and most important Christian Saints in Northern Britain: Mo Luóc, or Moluag".[13]
After founding a monastery on the Isle of Lismore,[1] Moluag went on to found two other great centres in the land of the Picts at Rosemarkie and Mortlach. These were his three centres of teaching, and all three were to become the seats of the Roman Catholic sees of the Isles, Ross and Aberdeen. W. Douglas Simpson noted that Moluag laboured in Argyll, Ross, and Banff. He remains best-remembered for his work in Aberdeenshire, where he established three churches in the valley of the River Dee—Tarland, Migvie, and Durris. However, Simpson regarded the most important of Moluag's establishments to be the Clova Monastery in Kildrummy.[14]
In his life of the Irish Saint Malachy, Bernard of Clairvaux wrote of Moluag, "One of the sons of that sacred family (Bangor) Lua by name, is said himself alone to have been the founder of a hundred monasteries", Michael Barrett clarifying this as a reference to monastic houses in Ireland.[15]
Moluag lived to extreme old age and died on 25 June 592 in the Garioch and was buried at his monastery in Rosemarkie, Ross-shire, Scotland.[16] The Annals of Ulster record the death of Lugaid of Les Mór in 592:[17] Obitus Lugide Lis Moer.[18]
Veneration
[edit]Moluag is said to have been buried at Rosemarkie on the Moray Firth, though his remains were later transported to Lismore, and honoured in the cathedral which bore his name.[11]
The feast day of Saint Moluag (25 June)[1] was restored in 1898 by Pope Leo XIII.[11] He is one of the 48 saints referred to in the Lorrha ("Stowe") Missal used by churches of Ireland, Scotland, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy: "Saint Lua of Lismore, Pray for us".[19]
The Coarb, or successor, of Saint Moluag, is the Livingstone chief of the Clan MacLea.[20] This Livingstone family of Lismore had long been the hereditary abbots of Lismore and, hence, possessors of the crozier of the saint.[11]
The bell of Saint Moluag was in existence until the sixteenth century when it disappeared during the Reformation.[11] An ancient bell found at Kilmichael Glassary, Argyll was thought to have been the lost bell.[11]
Legacy and dedications
[edit]Several churches were dedicated to Saint Moluag, including:
- St Moluag's Cathedral (Kilmoluag), Lismore;[11]
- Teampull Mholuaidh, Lewis;[11]
- Kirk Malew, the Isle of Man.
Other sites include churches at Clatt and Tarland, in Aberdeenshire; and also churches on Skye, Mull, Raasay, Tiree, and Pabay.[11] At Alyth in Perth and Kinross there remain the ruins, known as "The Alyth Arches",[21] of a church which was built on the site of an older sixth-century church dedicated to the saint.[22] It has been suggested that the concentration of dedications to Moluag in North-East Scotland, and particularly in the vicinity of Rhynie, may be a legacy of a saint cult promoted during the reign of Nechtan mac Der-Ilei and contemporaneous with the ascendancy of the Cenél Loairn, with whom his Pictish kingdom appears to have enjoyed good relations.[23]
At Mortlach in Banffshire, where some of his relics were preserved, an abbey was founded in 1010 by Máel Coluim II of Scotland, in thanks for a victory in which the Scots had invoked the aid of Saint Moluag.[11]
On Lewis, Saint Moluag was invoked for cures from madness.[1]
At Clatt there was held annually "St Mallock's Fair", which lasted eight days.[11] At Tarland there was a "Luoch Fair" which is thought to have been in honour of Saint Molaug,[11] and at Alyth "Simmalogue Fair" was celebrated.[22]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p.343
- ^ Saint of the Day, 25 June: Moloc of Mortlach SaintPatrickDC.org. Retrieved on 6 March 2012
- ^ Irish Saints in Great Britain, pp. 76–77
- ^ Online, Catholic. "St. Moloc – Saints & Angels – Catholic Online". catholic.org. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Clan Livingstone – Charter of 1544". clanmclea.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ Lismore in Alba, pg. 39ff
- ^ MacDonald, Iain G (2013). Clerics and Clansmen, The Diocese of Argyll between the Twelfth and Sixteenth Centuries. Brill. p. 35.
- ^ Óriain, Pádraig. The Martyrology of Óengus. Studia Hibernica. JSTOR 20495126.
- ^ Plummer, Carolus (1910). Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae. London: Henry Frowde, MA. p. 6.
- ^ Macquarrie, Alan, ed. (2012). Legends of Scottish Saints: Readings, Hymns and Prayers for the Commemorations of Scottish Saints in the Aberdeen Breviary. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 150–151.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barrett, M, A Calendar of Scottish Saints, pp. 97–99
- ^ Skene, William (1876). Celtic Scotland. p. 76.
- ^ MacDonald, Iain G (2013). Clerics and Clansmen, The Diocese of Argyll between the Twelfth and Sixteenth Centuries. Brill. p. 21.
- ^ Simpson, W. Douglas (1922). A Forgotten Aberdeenshire Monastery. Aberdeen: Aberdeen UP. p. 2. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ Barrett, Michael (1919). "Irish Saints Honored in Scotland". The American Catholic Quarterly. 44 (174): 337. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ Simpson. Forgotten Monastery. p. 2.
- ^ "The Annals of Ulster". ucc.ie. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "The Annals of Ulster". ucc.ie. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ ""Litany of the Saints" www.catholicforum.com". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
- ^ Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Sir Ian. The Highland Clans. New York City: Clarkson N. Potter, 1982, pp. 117-119 ISBN 0-517-54659-0
- ^ "Alyth | Perthshire". scotland247.co.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
- ^ a b Dalziel, Nigel (February 2007). "A HISTORY OF ALYTH" (PDF). Alyth Voice. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2007.
- ^ Grigg, Julianna (2015). The Philosopher King and the Pictish Nation. Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-563-7.
References
[edit]- Barrett, Michael. A Calendar of Scottish Saints. Fort Augustus: The Abbey Press, 1919.
- Carmichael, Ian. Lismore in Alba.
- Farmer, David Hugh. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-283069-4
- Moran, Rev. Patrick. Irish Saints in Great Britain. Dublin: M H Gill & Son, 1879.