Colmán of Lindisfarne
| Colmán of Lindisfarne | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Lindisfarne | |
| Appointed | 661 |
| Term ended | resigned 664 |
| Predecessor | Finan of Lindisfarne |
| Successor | Tuda of Lindisfarne |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
c. 605 Ireland |
| Died |
18 February 675 Ireland |
| Denomination | Christian |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 18 February |
| Venerated in |
Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church |
Colmán of Lindisfarne (c. 605 – 18 February 675 AD) also known as Saint Colmán was Bishop of Lindisfarne from 661 until 664.[1]
Life
Colman was a native of the west of Ireland and had received his education on Iona.[2] He was probably a nobleman of Canmaicne.[3] Colman succeeded Aidan and Finan as bishop of Lindisfarne.[4] Colman resigned the Bishopric of Lindisfarne after the Synod of Whitby called by King Oswiu of Northumbria decided to calculate Easter using the method of the First Ecumenical Council instead of his preferred Celtic method.
Later tradition states that between the years 665 and 667 St. Colman founded several churches in Scotland before returning to Iona, but there are no seventh-century records of such activity by him. From Iona he sailed for Ireland, settling at Inishbofin, in 668[5] where he founded a monastery.[6] When Colman came to Mayo he brought with him half the relics of Lindisfarne, including bones of St. Aidan, and a part of the true cross which was reputed to be in Mayo Abbey till the Reformation in 1537, when it vanished.[3]
Colman was stepping into a landscape that had been decimated by the plague of 664-665, and may have been reviving an earlier church on the island, or indeed one in the area in central Connacht where Mag Éo was founded later. On Inishbofin a rift occurred between the Irish and the English, ‘because in summer the Irish went off to wander on their own around places they knew instead of assisting at harvest, and then, as winter approached, came back and wanted to share whatever the English monks had gathered.’[7]
What was the reason for their intermittent absence? Earlier commentators suspected that the two nations came from different agricultural backgrounds, and that the Irish simply removed themselves from theisland with the monastery’s livestock for purposes of ‘booleying’ (i.e.transhumance). It is also possible that the Irish visited their kinsfolk on the mainland. Returning to the island in Winter, they helped to consume the fruits of the Saxons' labours. This situation inevitably led to tensions within the community. Disputes arose between the Saxon and Irish monks after a short time. Colman brought his Saxon followers onto the mainland and founded a monastery for them at "Magh Eó" - the Plain of Yew Trees,[2] subsequently known as "Mayo of the Saxons".[5]
Colman's last days were spent on the island of Inishbofin, where he died in 674.[8] His feast is celebrated on 8 August.[5]
Citations
- ↑ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 237
- 1 2 "History of Mayo Abbey", Mayo, Ireland
- 1 2 "A History of Mayo Abbey", Museums of Mayo
- ↑ Wallace, Martin. A Little book of Celtic Saints Belfast: Appletree Press, 1995, ISBN 0-86281-456-1, p.59
- 1 2 3 Grattan-Flood, William. "St. Colman." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 12 May 2013
- ↑ Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 127
- ↑ Nolan, Gerard (2014). Mayo: History and Society. Dublin: Geography Publications. p. 79. ISBN 978 0 906602 683.
- ↑ Brett, Joe. "The Monastic Settlement of 'Mayo of the Saxons'", Mayo Abbey Parish Magazine, 1994
References
- Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
- Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oats 2007 ISBN 0-86012-438-X
External links
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Finan |
Bishop of Lindisfarne 661–664 |
Succeeded by Tuda |
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