The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-11-07
THE BOOK OF ARMAGH

name, but of repute in Kerry, as W,
find from the Annals of Innisfallen
The man of this name who made tn,
above entry in the Book of Armagh
was the confessor of King Brian: tn,
confessor in Irish is called the "soul
friend" "anam-cara," which indicate.
high appreciation of the meaning anC
dignity of the confessor's office. Mael
suthain died in the year 1890, accord
ing to the Four Masters. "Maceria'
in the passage is Latin equivalent
for Cashel, which means a stone fort
ress. 1t is probable that King Brian's
sanction of the privileges of Armagh
recorded in the ancient book of that
See, greatly enhanced the popular rev.
erence for the Book.
Reverence for the Book.
An incident related by st. Bernard
in his life of st. Malachy shows us
how highly the Book was revered one
hundred years after the visit of King
Brian to Armagh. In the year 1874, a
certain Mall, son of Aedh, Comharb
or successor of st. Patrick, was COM
PEELED by st. Malachy to retire from
Armagh. He brought with him the
insignia, the official tokens, as it were,
Gospels and the beautifully ornament
ed Staff of Jesus which was thought
to have been made by our Divine Saw
iour Himself in the carpenters shop
of st. Joseph at Nazareth. The simple
Irish folk thought that the man who
held the Book and the Staff became
Archbishop of Armagh by that very
fact. And st. Bernard pities their ig.
norance.
On very solemn occasions it was
customary to administer oaths upon
the book and violations of such oaths
were supposed to imply a peculiar
Nervousness and malice. Moreover, it
was usual for the Kings to have it car
ried at the head of their armies when
they went forth to war. Just as the
shoulders of the priests when the Is
raelites started on their march inspir-
ed by the words: Let God arise and
let His enemies be scattered"
In 1177 John De Courcy, Earl of Ul-
ster, one of the Norman freebooters
who invaded ireland, had the book for
a short time, but restored it to it's
rightful holder. The holder or keeper
of the book was called in Irish
"maor," word which means steward,
and which in Scotland gave name to
the royal family of Stuart" The
keepers of the Book of Armagh ac-
quired the family name of Mac Maoir,
which was Anglicanized to Mac Moyre,
Moyre, and Wyre. This family was
held in high esteem on account of it's
office and had allotted to it a consid-
cradle patrimony of land in the Coun-
ty of Armagh. But they did not live
up to their high traditions. In the
year 1881, the last of the family helped
to swear away the life of the vener-
able Oliver Plunkett who was mar
tyred at Tyburn, London, on the first
of July of that year. The perjured
traitor expected to recover by his
treason the land of which the family
had been robbed in the interests of
English culture" and civilization"
But he was disappointed. For once,
England thought her degraded tools
too base to be paid. He had to pawn
the Book of Armagh to pay his way
to London and he died in infamy and
utter poverty in the year 1913. The
family has disappeared leaving no.
trace, and the Irish have thought that
Providence requited them according
to their merits.
The next time we hear of the Book
Of Armagh in the year 1907 is when it
was seen by M. Edward Llwydd men
toned above.