Twelve Apostles of Ireland
As the Twelve Apostles of Ireland , a group of twelve monks from the time of the Irish Scottish Church in the sixth century is referred to in hagiographic representations . They are venerated as saints in Ireland . One thing they have in common is that they are regarded as students of St. Finnian in the Clonard monastery, which he founded . It was a center of spiritual learning on the island at the time.
Lists of the twelve
The Catholic Encyclopedia names these twelve saints:
- Ciarán of Saigir , died around 530
- Ciarán of Clonmacnoise , died around 545
- Brendan von Birr , died 573
- Brendan von Clonfert , died 577
- Columban of Iona , died 597
- Columba of Terryglass , died 552
- Mobhí von Glasnevin , died 544
- Ruadhán of Lorrha , died 584
- Senán of Iniscathay , died 560
- Ninnidh from Lough Erne
- Lasserian mac Nadfraech , died 564
- Canice von Aghaboe , died 598
The martyrology of Óengus of Tallaght from the ninth century offers a slightly different list :
- two Finnians
- two Columbans
- Ciarán
- Cainnech
- Comgall
- two Brendans
- Ruadan
- Ninnidh
- Mobhi
- Molaise, son of Natfrech (= Lasserian)
Instead of the missing Senán and one of the two Ciarans, Finnian by Moville and Comgall by Bangor are listed. The fact that thirteen are listed is explained by the fact that the teacher Finnian himself is also included. In addition to these two, there are other variants with different compositions.
The twelve as a group
It is not known whether these twelve were actually students of Finnian and whether they were at the same time or at different times. In Christianity, the number twelve is considered the holy number of God's encounter with the world , a reference to the twelve apostles of the Bible is obvious. The cleric John Lynch pointed out in the 17th century that the wandering monks of the Iroschottische Mission usually went on their journey with twelve companions each.
As a group, they appear in various narratives, particularly in connection with the Twelve Messengers . She connects the Bethada Náem Nérenn (The Life of the Irish Saints) by Charles Plummer with the voyage of St. Brendan . The twelve were together when a miraculous flower from the Promised Land appeared to them. Everyone wanted to go there. Since only one of the group could go, lots were drawn. Brendan von Birr, who had initially won, was considered too old, and instead Brendan von Clonfert had set out with 168 companions on the journey.
Web links
- The Twelve Apostles of Erin . Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia (English)
- The Twelve Apostles of Ireland on a blog about Saints in Ireland
Individual evidence
- ^ Whitley Stokes : The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, London 1905, pp. 168f. Available online at Archive.org, directly to the side (English, Latin.)
- ↑ Charles Plummer: Bethada NaEM Nérenn - Lives of Irish Saints. Oxford 1922, page XIX. Available online at Archive.org, directly to the page (English)