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In Fermoy, Ireland |
St. Colman of Cloyne -530-601St. Colman who built the first church at Cloyne in Co. Cork was ordained late in life at the age of 50 by Saint Brendan the Navigator. He had become involved with St. Brendan and Christianity while helping recover the stolen shrine of Saint Ailbhe from a lake. St Brendan helped him as he searched for his vocation. Brendan called him a column or a pillar (columna) of the church and also a dove (columba). In the mid-7th century, there were two types of Christianity in Britain: The British, the Scots and the Irish practiced 'Celtic Christianity'. Irish monks had also made this popular in Saxon Northumbria (England). Most of the Saxons practiced 'Roman Christianity' as used in Europe and ordained by the Pope in Rome. History of Magh Eó (Mayo Abbey) The explanation for the foundation of a monastery in the centre of the Plains of Mayo in 668 AD. by St. Colman is not to be found locally, but in the ancient English Kingdom of Northumbria. Ancient Northumbria ("North of the river Humber") stretched from southern Scotland to the northern borders of Yorkshire. In the sixth century it was over-run and settled by pagan tribes of Saxons and Angles originating in present-day Saxony in north Germany. In 660 AD, St. Colman was appointed Bishop - Abbot of Lindisfarne, following the death of Finian, Aidan's successor. Colman was a native of the west of Ireland and had recieved his education on Iona. While the Iona "Celtic Church" evangelised Scotland and Northumbria, St. Augustine had established Roman practices in southern England. Both groups were very successful, so much so that the whole of Northumbria became known as the "Cradle of Christianity" throughout Britain. The Synod of Whitby There were differences in practices between the two traditions, which caused many disputes and these came to a head at the Synod of Whitby, in 664 AD. A decision on the supremacy of Rome as opposed to the Celtic monastic traditions and the method of calculating the date of Easter were taken in favour of the English/Roman church.  Whitby Abbey In the Synod of Whitby, Bishop Colman spoke for the Scots (i.e. Irish) and said: The Easter which I keep I received from my elders, who sent me hither as bishop; all our forefathers, men beloved of God, are known to have kept it after the same manner; and that this may not seem to any contemptible or worthy to be rejected, it is the same which St. John the Evangelist, the disciple beloved of our Lord, with all the churches he presided, is recorded to have observed." . . . St. Colman, who had pleaded the Celtic cause, resigned as Bishop of Lindisfarne, and he and thirty Saxon monks and the large body of Irish monks living on Lindisfarne retreated to Iona. They spent two years on the island of Iona in prayer and contemplation following which they set sail for Ireland. They founded a monastery on the island of Inishbofin, off the coast of County Galway. However, disputes arose between the Saxon and Irish monks after a short time. So St Colman brought his Saxon followers onto the mainland and founded a monastery for them at ""Magh Eó" - the Plain of Yew Trees. They were joined here by Gerald and a large community of monks who were living at nearby Rosslee. Gerald was the son of a Saxon prince and a follower of St. Colman. He, his three brothers and a large group of Picts had left Northumbria following the Synod at Whitby and eventually came to Rosslee, which is in the west of the modern parish of Mayo Abbey, where they founded a monastery. The community was ravaged by plague and many died. They moved to Magh Eó and Gerald was appointed as first abbot of the newly founded monastery. St. Colman returned to Inishbofin where he died some years later. His feast day is November 24. .  Whitby Abbey
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