Áengus — Mac Nisse — Caemán Brecc: The Saint of the "Ordo Sanctissumus" in Hagiography from the Seventh to the Twelfth Century
https://doi.org/10.15829/2686-973X-2025-192
EDN: AOYAGX
Abstract
This article explores the figure of Saint Mac Nisse, a legendary companion of Saint Patrick, within the context of early medieval hagiographical tradition. Particular focus is given to his genealogical origins and his depiction in the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, where he emerges as a paradigmatic saint of elevated sanctity. The study includes an annotated translation of a late Latin vita of Mac Nisse, which, to date, has not been rendered into any modern language. The translation and commentary offer new insights into the construction of sanctity, ecclesiastical memory, and textual transmission in early Irish Christianity.
About the Author
N. Yu. ZhivlovaRussian Federation
Nina Yu. Zhivlova, Senior Lecturer
Faculty of History; Department of Ancient Languages
Moscow
References
1. AFM — Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Ed. with transl. and notes by J. O’Donovan. Vol. 1-7. Dublin: Hodges, Smith and Co., Grafton- Street, Booksellers to the University, 1856.
2. CGSH — Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae. Ed. P. Ó Riain. Dublin: School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985, 347 p.
3. CI — Charles- Edwards T. M. The chronicle of Ireland. Vol. 1-2. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2006 (Translated texts for historians, 44), 349+186 p.
4. HE — Venerabilis Baedae Opera Historica. Ed. C. Plummer. Vol. 1-2. Oxonii: E typographeo Clarendoniano, 1896, 458+545 p.
5. VT — Stokes Wh. The tripartite Life of Patrick: with other documents relating to that saint, Vol. 1-2, Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores, 89, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1887, 272+676 p.
6. VSH — Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I-II. Ed. C. Plummer. Oxonii: E typographeo Clarendoniano, 1910, 273+391 p.
7. Zhivlova, N. Y. (2019). The world of St. Columba: Early Medieval Ireland and Britain through the eyes of monks from the island of Iona. Moscow: YASK, 430 p. (In Russ.) ISBN: 978-5-907117-27-3.
8. Africa 1990 — Africa, D. C. (1990). The Politics of Kin: Women and Preeminence in a Medieval Irish Hagiographical List. Ph. D. Diss. University of Toronto, 258 p.
9. Bieler 1979 — The Patrician texts in the book of Armagh (1979). Ed. L. Bieler and F. Kelly. Dublin, 1979, 285 p.
10. Breatnach 1983 — Breatnach, P. A. (1983). The Chief’s Poet. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, 83C, 37-79.
11. Charles- Edwards 2000 — Charles- Edwards, T. M. (2000). Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 707 p. ISBN: 9780511495588.
12. Colgan 1647 — Triadis Thaumaturgæ seu divorum Patricii, Columbæ et Brigidæ, trium veteris et maioris Scotiæ, seu Hiberniæ sanctorum insulae communium patronorum acta. (1647). Ed. Colgan J. Louvain: apud Cornelium Coenestenium, 742 p.
13. de Vries 2012 — Vries, R. de. (2012). Two texts on Loch nEchach: De causis torchi Corc’ Óche and Aided Echach maic Maireda. Irish Texts Society, 65, London: Irish Texts Society, 328 p. ISBN: 978-1-870166-65-2.
14. Doherty 1991 — Doherty, Ch. (1991). The cult of St Patrick and the politics of Armagh in the seventh century, in: Ireland and northern France, AD 600–850. Ed. Picard J.-M. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 53-94.
15. Flanagan 2010 — Flanagan, M. T. (2010). The transformation of the Irish church in the twelfth century. Studies in Celtic History, 29, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 312 p. ISBN: 978-1-84383-597-4.
16. Grosjean 1955 — Grosjean, P. (1955). Édition et commentaire du Catalogus Sanctorum Hiberniae secundum diversa tempora ou De tribus Ordinibus Sanctorum Hiberniae. Analecta Bollandiana, 73, 197-213, 289-322.
17. Heist 1965 — Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice olim Salmanticensi nunc Bruxellensi (1965). Ed. W. W. Heist. Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 436 p.
18. Hogan 1910 — Hogan, E. (1910). Onomasticon Goedelicum Locorum et tribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae: An Index, with Identifications, to the Gaelic Names of Places and Tribes. Dublin. London: Hodges, Figgis & Co., 696 p.
19. Lacey 2023 — Lacey, B. (2023). ‘I part not from effeminacy’: Queer Behaviour in Gaelic Ireland. In: Sex and Sexualities in Ireland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 11-27.
20. Laverty 1895 — Laverty, J. (1895). The bishops of Down & Connor, being the Fifth Volume of an historical account of Down and Connor, ancient and modern. Dublin: James Duffy & Co., Ltd., 636 p.
21. McKibben 2013 — McKibben, S. (2013). Queering early modern Ireland. Irish University Review, 43.1, 169-183. doi: 10.3366/IUR.2013.0063.
22. Millett 1986 — Millett, B. (1986). Dioceses in Ireland up to the 15<sup>th</sup> Century. Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society, 12(1), 1-42. doi: 10.2307/29745223.
23. Ó Raithbhearthaigh 1932 — Genealogical Tracts I (1932). Ed. Ó Raithbhearthaigh T. Dublin: Stationery Office, 245 p.
24. Ó Riain 2011 — Ó Riain, P. (2011). A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 690 p. ISBN: 978-1-80151-162-9.
25. Sharpe 1991 — Sharpe, R. (1991). Medieval Irish Saints’ Lives. An Introduction to Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 427 p. ISBN: 0-19-821582-7.
26. Stokes 1880 — Stokes, Wh. (1880). On the calendar of Oengus. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Irish Manuscript Series, 1.1. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 352 p.
27. Stokes 1905 — Félire Óengusso Céli Dé. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee (1905). Ed. by Wh. Stokes. London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 474 p.
Review
For citations:
Zhivlova N.Yu. Áengus — Mac Nisse — Caemán Brecc: The Saint of the "Ordo Sanctissumus" in Hagiography from the Seventh to the Twelfth Century. Russian Journal of Church History. 2025;6(2):5-18. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15829/2686-973X-2025-192. EDN: AOYAGX