The Irish standard., 1886-09-25
NUMBER ii.

established in the eastern, While st.
Brecan held spiritual sway over the
western portion of the island. A dis
pute arose among their disciples, who
| were numerous, regarding the bound
ary line of the two divisions. The
Saints agreed to settle the matter ami
cab]y. AT day-break next day the two
bodies were started from their respec-
tive monasteries and travelled leisurely
towards each other until they met.
The place OF meeting was to
be the boundary. When the day
daWned, the disciples Of St.
Brecan saw to their astonishment
that the followers of St. EndA, who
had commenced to travel before day.
light: were already far advanced on
their journey. They went to their
master and complained OF this breach
of faith. The latter had recourse to
prayer. when 10! the advancing party
were rooted to the rocks and remained
in that position until St. Brecan ar
rived to release them. A similar le-
gend is related Of ST. Colnaan Mac
daugh and curiously enough Colgan in
his Acts Sanctorum' speaks Of it with
all the seriousness due to an authentic
miracle. Without attributing any such
Importance to the legend Of st. Brecan
the writer could not but feel as he
heard it related by poor but very i1l-
teligent Arran man in the nelodious
accents Of the dear old Gaelic that it
was redolent Of the place and it's ;asso-
Citations. Local traditions have handed
down the name OF st. Brecan as the
founder Of numerous churches and
lnonasteries. Among other Ardbrac~
con in Meath, Kilbreccan in the parish
Of Kilcummin, County Galway; Kill
breccan Of ThoB1ond, i'll the parish Of
Doora, Glare; Ki}breccan i'll Kilkenny,
and two others the same name in Car
low claim him as their patron. The
Seven Churches of Arran were the
most important Of his foundations, AS
their name indicates they consisted Or
iginally of a group of seven. The ruins
Of only two now remain. The other
five have fallen prey to all-t1evouring
time, which~-Diruit, edificat, mutual
quadrnta rotundis. Besides the debris
OF churches. the sites Of various other
buildings can be distinctly traced
These consists of helulits' cells, aher-
LEANS, cashe]s, the remains of a monas~
terry, and the numerous ediices which
went to make up an ecclesiastical town
or Laura Of the Early Irish Church
Two beautifully-carved crosses were
discovered and restored by DR.. Wilde
in the year 184S. One Of these is still
preserved, although in fragments, near
the aherleah or sacred enclosure. Of
the churches still remaining, Tempujl
Brecain is in q good state Of preserva-,
tion. It is considered by Archmolo-
gistsa beautiful specimen OF early Irish
architecture. The roof has totally dis
appeared, but the walls and gables,
which do not appear to have been built
at the same period, are still standing.
The inferior of the edifce consists OF a.
chancel and nave. A semi-circular
arch Of exquisite proportions separates
the two divisions. Immediately over
the altar is beautifully cut Intel win
dow that would do credit to any modern
workman. Near the church are q
blessed well and an enclosure
which from time immemorial each sue
ceeding generation of the Islanders has
venerated as the burial place of St.
Brecan. This tradition was confirmed
in a most convincing manner by dis
covery which took place about ninety
years ago. A learned and pious priest
Of the County Galway made a dying re-
quest to be buried in the grave of St.
Brecan, for whom he had special de-
yotion. His wish was complied with.
About six feet from the surface the
graye-diggers came upon a flat stone
in the form Of an Irregular square, and
measuring four feet two inches diagon-
ally. Within the sepulchre itself was
found a smaller slab, circular in form,
dUOOG GulcS lilCucS Ill uldiIcCGI, bOGll
the stones were marked with crosses.
and bore Inscriptions. They lay ne
elected, and probably undeciphered, un-
til DR.. Petrie and DIR. O'Donoyan yisi-
ted the Islands about forty years after
wards. These distinguished scholars
recognized in them valuable accessions
to the treasury Of antiquarian relics.
The inscription OH the larger stone
when written in full is as follows:
sCapiti Brecani.' The letters are in
the Roman character of the early ages,
and are exactly similar in forrn-to those
found OIL the tomb of the Seven Rom
ans On the smaller stone, now in
possession of the Royal Irish Academy,
is the following simple prayer in Irish,
'Or az Bran Nailither,' which when
translated, and written without the
contractions, would obviously be.
;Oroit ar Brecan Nailither.' "A
Prayer for Brecan the Pilgrim These