DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47496#0120
zoo EARL Y CHRISTIAN ART IN IRELAND.
some small churches are still to be seen there ; and there was a
round tower standing within the memory of some of the inhabi-
tants, in the year 1837. This crosier is a staff of yew wood,
covered with brass; there is very little sign of decoration, and
the crest of the handle is missing; it measures twenty-one inches
in length.
The history of St. Grellan’s crosier, of Ahascra, in the county
of Galway, is another instance proving that in Ireland, as well
as Scotland, these objects were regarded as sacred vexilla, or
battle-ensigns. As the Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant
into battle in the belief that victory would be secured to them
by its presence, so the Christians of the early Celtic Church used
to carry before them in their conssicts certain relics of their
saints, which, on that account, received the suggestive title of
cathachs, or battlers. Thus, the shrine of St. Columba’s psalter
was carried before the O’Donnells so lately as 1497. Hanging
on the breast of its hereditary keeper, it was sent thrice rightwise
round the army of Columba’s clan of the Cinel Conall. The
crosier of St. Fillan is said to have been borne before the Scots
on the field of Bannockburn; and the sacred cross of St.
Margaret was borne with the Scottish army, when King David II.
invaded England in 1346.
When St. Grellan, a contemporary of Patrick, established
Maine Mor, the ancestor of the Hy Maine and his people in
the territory of the Firbolg race, the old life of the saint relates
how he said that, on condition that they would protect and
frequent his sacred church, his blessing would rest on their
“ agile race, the sons of Maine of the chessboards,” adding:
“ That race shall not be subdued, so as they carry my crosier.
“Let the battle-standard of the race be my crosier of true
value.
“ And battles will not overwhelm them; their successes shall
be very great.”
In the “ Customs os Hy Many,” from the “ Book of Lecan,”
compiled for MacFirbis (circa 1468), we read: “ The race of
some small churches are still to be seen there ; and there was a
round tower standing within the memory of some of the inhabi-
tants, in the year 1837. This crosier is a staff of yew wood,
covered with brass; there is very little sign of decoration, and
the crest of the handle is missing; it measures twenty-one inches
in length.
The history of St. Grellan’s crosier, of Ahascra, in the county
of Galway, is another instance proving that in Ireland, as well
as Scotland, these objects were regarded as sacred vexilla, or
battle-ensigns. As the Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant
into battle in the belief that victory would be secured to them
by its presence, so the Christians of the early Celtic Church used
to carry before them in their conssicts certain relics of their
saints, which, on that account, received the suggestive title of
cathachs, or battlers. Thus, the shrine of St. Columba’s psalter
was carried before the O’Donnells so lately as 1497. Hanging
on the breast of its hereditary keeper, it was sent thrice rightwise
round the army of Columba’s clan of the Cinel Conall. The
crosier of St. Fillan is said to have been borne before the Scots
on the field of Bannockburn; and the sacred cross of St.
Margaret was borne with the Scottish army, when King David II.
invaded England in 1346.
When St. Grellan, a contemporary of Patrick, established
Maine Mor, the ancestor of the Hy Maine and his people in
the territory of the Firbolg race, the old life of the saint relates
how he said that, on condition that they would protect and
frequent his sacred church, his blessing would rest on their
“ agile race, the sons of Maine of the chessboards,” adding:
“ That race shall not be subdued, so as they carry my crosier.
“Let the battle-standard of the race be my crosier of true
value.
“ And battles will not overwhelm them; their successes shall
be very great.”
In the “ Customs os Hy Many,” from the “ Book of Lecan,”
compiled for MacFirbis (circa 1468), we read: “ The race of