Áed of Sletty was a

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...

, fl. late 7th century.

Biography

Áed was a member of the

Uí Bairrche Uí Bairrche (Modern Irish: ''Uí Bhairrche'', IPA: �iːˈwaːɾʲɾʲçə was an Irish kin-based group that originally held lands in the south of the ancient province of Leinster (or ''Cóiced Laigen'' "the Fifth of the Laigin"). Another south L ...

. He was bishop of

Sletty Sletty, Sleaty, or Slatey (''Sléibhte'', 'mountains', in Irish), is a civil parish in County Laois, Ireland. It is situated some 2 km north-north-west of the town of Carlow. It was once the see of a bishopric, founded by Saint Fiacc in ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

, and patron of Muirchu Maccu Machteni, who at Áed's request wrote a life of

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, which is contained in the

Book of Armagh The ''Book of Armagh'' or Codex Ardmachanus (ar or 61) ( ga, Leabhar Ard Mhacha), also known as the ''Canon of Patrick'' and the ''Liber Ar(d)machanus'', is a 9th-century Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the L ...

. Áed is also responsible for making a grant of his ''familia'' of churches to

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

, his bishopric consisting of central and southern

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. The reasons for his doing so are unclear. He is believed to have sought protection from the encroaching claims of

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

. He had made the grant before 688 to

Ségéne Saint Ségéne (also called Segein, Segeni, Segeno, Seghene, Segin, Segine, Ségíne, Segineus, Segini, Seighin; c. 610 – 24 May 688), was the Archbishop of Armagh, Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 661 to 24 May 688. Genealogy and birth St. Ség ...

of Armagh. Charles-Thomas (p. 262) writes: "Sleaty ... was in the

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

kingdom of

Tíre, and the likelihood is that the

Uí Dúnlainge The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons (or descendants) of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ancest ...

, who had recently made themselves masters and patrons of

, seemed to Áed to be in a position to threaten the independence of Sletty. He therefore subjected his church to the distant Armagh in the hope that Armagh's

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

would be much less burdensome than Kildare's might have been. In this case, therefore, the subjection was defensive not offensive, and was effected by a legal instrument rather than by violence."

References

* ''The Church in Early Irish Society'', pp. 115–6,

Kathleen Hughes (historian) Kathleen Winifred Hughes (8 September 1926 in Middlesbrough – 20 April 1977) was an English historian, her specialisation was Irish ecclesiastical history, particularly the early Christian Church in Ireland. Hughes remains a highly regarded ...

, London, 1966. * ''A Note on Trim and Sletty'',

Francis John Byrne Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian. Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. Af ...

, pp. 316–19, ''

Peritia ''Peritia'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering Celtic and Insular medieval studies in the context of the European Middle Ages and European medieval studies in general. It is published by the Medieval Academy of Ireland. History ...

'' 3, 1984. * ''Early Christian Ireland'', pp. 261–2, 428-9,

Thomas Charles-Edwards Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards (born 11 November 1943) is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. He formerly held the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College. Biography He was educated at ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, 2000.

External links

* http://www.catholicity.com/encyclopedia/a/armagh,book_of.html * http://www.focalfactory.eu/solasanlae/history/chap2.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Aed of Sletty 7th-century Irish bishops Irish hermits People from County Laois