Saint Munchin of Limerick (Lanigan)

An account of St. Munchin of Limerick from Fr. John Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, Vol III (1822), Chapt. xvii, p. 29 ff.

St. Manchan abbot of Meno-drochit (79) died in 652. (80) He was surnamed the wise and enjoyed a great reputation. (81) Some writers make him the same as Manchan abbot of Mohill in the now county of Leitrim (82) but there is reason to think that they were different persons. (83) Manchan the wise was I believe the same as the Manchan or as vulgarly called Munchin who is supposed to have been the first bishop of Limerick. For this supposition there is no sufficient authority (84) and as far as I can discover it rests on no other foundation than that Manchan the wise founded perhaps a monastery where Limerick now stands or that the first church in that place was dedicated in his name. Of the identity of Munchin of Limerick with Manchan the wise a stronger proof need not be required than that his festival is kept on the 2nd of January, the day assigned to the memory of Manchan the wise in all the Irish calendars. (85) There is not the least hint in any old document relative to our Church history of this Manchan having been raised to the episcopal rank but the veneration in which he was held at Limerick and the circumstance of its oldest church bearing his name gave rise at a late period to the opinion of his having been a bishop. Mistakes of this kind have occurred not only in Ireland but likewise in other countries.


(79) It is how called Mundrehid and is in the barony of Upper Ossory Queen's county The tract in which it lies was formerly called Disert chuillin. There was an abbot Lasren in this place who died AD 600. Tr. Th. p 376.
(80) Annals of Ulster and Usher p. 970 and Ind. Chron.
(81) The author of the work De Mirabilibus S. Scriputrae, of which hereafter, takes particular notice L. 2 c. 4 of the death of Manchan or as the present text has Manichaeus as one of the wise men of Ireland. He places it in the last year of the eleventh reckoning from the beginning of the world cycle of 532 years which according to his chronological principles was the same as AD 652 (See Usher p. 970). From the name Manichaeus Usher ib. seems to have concluded that Manachan's real name was the Hebrew Mendham which has been changed into Manichaeus. But Colgan maintains AA. SS. p. 332 that Manchan is a diminutive of the Irish Manach, a monk, and means a little monk. He observes that there were many persons in Ireland called Manchan, Manchen or Manchin and all names of the same import. Manichaeus is, as he justly remarks, probably a corruption of Manchanus and it will be seen that other Irish names have been corrupted in the text of that work. St. Manchan was in all probability the same as the holy and wise man named Manchen who is mentioned in the Life of St Mulua of Clonfert-molua as a survivor of his. See Usher p, 969.
(82) Usher seems to have been of this opinion. He had, see p. 969, a Life of St Manchan of Mohill said to have been written by Richard Fitz-Ralph, archbishop of Armagh, in which Manchan was called a Canon Regular of St Augustin and stated to have flourished in the year 608. But there were no such Canons regular in those times. He is there called also patron of seven churches. It is said that ever since said year glebes, lands, fiefs, tythes, &c. were granted to the estabtishmerit of Mohill. This account smells of a period much later than 608 for neither fiefs nor tythes were then known in Ireland. (Ware Antiq. cap. 26 at Leitrim makes him the same as Manchan of Mene-drochit and so does Archdall at Mohill as appears from his assigning his death to 652.
(83) In the Irish Calendars quoted by Colgan at 14 Febr. where he treats of Manchan of Mohill they are spoken of as destinct persons. Manchan the wise is mentioned at 2 January while the one of Mohill appears at 14 February. This is a strong proof that they were different although I will allow the only one for very little is known concerning these Manchans notwithstanding the great esteem in which the one surnamed Wise was held Colgan says that in want of authentic documents to prove the contrary he must consider them as different persons
(84) Ware Bishops at Limerick says that St Munchin son of Sedna was the first bishop of that city He does not refer to any authority nor had he any except a passage of a genealogical hagiology ap AA. SS. p 332 in which among five Manchans is reckoned Manchinus Lumnichensis fdius Sednae But this Manchin or Manchan is not called a bishop although a Manchan mentioned just before him is marked by that title I do not find either in the Irish calendars or annals any Manchan bishop of Limerick nor even one called of Limerick It is very probable that Manchan the wise was son of Sedna who is said to have been a descendant of Cormac Cas king of Munster and the founder of the Dalcassian line of princes As Thomond in which was comprized the country about Limerick was the patrimony of this race it is natural to suppose that Munchin son of Sedna was greatly revered in that territory of which he was probably a native And thus it can be easily accounted for why there was a church in Limerick called by his name without recurring to the unauthorized hypothesis of his having been bishop there Ware acknowledges that he was not able to find any account of Mun chin's successors at Limerick until about the beginning of the twelfth century and elsewhere Antiquities cap 29 at Limerick says that it is a very difficult point to ascertain who Munchin of Limerick was He mentions the opinion of those who make him the same as the Mancenus who according to Jocelin was left in Tirawley by St Patrick We have already seen Chap v 12 and ib Not 118 that this pretended Mancenus of St Patrick's times was no other than Manchan of Meno drochit But even if he were different and if there was a Manchan in Tyrawley at that early period how has it come to pass that neither in Joce line nor in the Tripartite is a word to be found about said Manchan having become bishop of Limerick although the latter work is particularly minute as to St Patrick's proceedings in the now county of Limerick The fact is that in St Patrick's days there was neither a town nor I dare say a village nor monastery in the place where Limerick is situated Ware touches also on the opinion that Munchin was the same as Munchan of Mene drochit which strange to think he supposed to be less probable than the other But he assigns no reason for his having thought so O Halloran pretends History fyc B vm ch 7 not only that Manchan was bishop of Limerick soon after the arrival of St Patrick in Ireland and that he had been employed in Connaught but likewise that before he became bishop he was abbot and the first of Muingharid Mungret near Limerick O Halloran confounded Mungret with Mene drochit notwithstanding their being most clearly distinguished by Colgan Harris &c &c The first abbot of Mungret at least on record was Nessan who died in 552 See Chap xi 6
(85) See A A SS p 333 In Ware's Antiquities cap 29 the first of January is mentioned by mistake for the festival of St Munchin instead of the second This mistake has not been corrected by Harris.

Saint Munchin of Limerick (Dublin University Magazine)

An account of St. Munchin of Limerick from the Dublin University Magazine, Vol. 28, (1846), p. 27:

Little is known of Limerick previous to the arrival of the Northmen except its being the site of a cathedral in the seventh century and it is to Ivan not Sitric we owe the first foundation of the city. St Munchin of the Dalcassian tribe was the first bishop but the old cathedral bearing his name is now no more a parish church of no very particular beauty supplying its place with associations of the archaism of its builder not the most impressive. The original edifice was beautifully situated overhanging the Shannon and the churchyard in which still repose the crumbling memorials of a little world once as busy as our own was bounded by the city wall John's castle and the chief of the seventeen gates of the town immediately adjoining. An old legend connected with the erection of this remnant of antiquity has survived the destructive hand of the modern architect known as Saint Munchin's prayer and as shadowing a truth of no little significance perhaps our friends of this part of the Shannon will thank us for its preservation.

In those very primitive times we are informed and how refreshing the intelligence it was no uncommon thing for the predecessors of our mitred lords to lay aside occasionally the crozier and crook for those humbler but not less useful implements the hammer and trowel St Munchin laying the foundation of his church in propria persona happened to require the assistance of one of our predatory friends already spoken of to raise a large stone but was refused. A stranger happening to pass proffered his aid when the saint exceeding wroth knelt down and abjured after no measured terms the conduct of the former praying that the efforts of a stranger in the city should ever prosper rather than those of one born within its walls.

Without alluding to the consanguinity of the wish of the saint and the thought according to the familiar formula of Wordsworth or whether the curse still continues in all its stringency perhaps there may be some other more philosophic mode of accounting for the matter. Bubbling up with kindliness and good nature we shall not entertain the problem. There are those in the world it cannot be denied who are ever anxious to build the sepulchres of the ancient prophets while the great minds of the present hour delving and digging in the common places of the world around are neglected and forgotten. Whether the legend has any covert allusion to such we shall not wait to examine.

[St. Munchin is among the Saints of Limerick on the excellent 'Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae' blog.]