Manchán of Min Droichit ( Manchéne, ''Manchianus'' died c. 652) was an Irish scholar and

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Biography

Manchán la, Maencha was an Irish scholar and abbot of ga, Min Droichit, Meanadroichit, now Mondrehid, in the barony of

Upper Ossory Upper Ossory () was an administrative barony in the south and west of Queen's County (now County Laois) in Ireland. In late Gaelic Ireland it was the túath of the Mac Giolla Phádraig ( Fitzpatrick) family and a surviving remnant of the once ...

, County Offaly. His name is also attached to Dissert Gallen, Co. Laois.Breen, "Manchán, Manchianus, Manchíne" Manchán twice makes his appearance in Latin sources as a scholar whose authority still mattered after his death. First, he is probably the Manchianus, called ''pater'' and ''sapiens'', who is named by an anonymous Irishman in his preface to the '' De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae'' ('On the miraculous things in sacred scripture'), written in 655 and so shortly after Manchán's death.Ó Cróinín, ''Early medieval Ireland'', pp. 187–8. The author, who uses the ''nom de plume'' Augustine and is for this reason known today as the Irish Pseudo-Augustine, appears to have been a pupil of Manchán as well as of one

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

. Second, Manchán may be the 'M., doctor noster' who is cited in a Hiberno-Latin commentary on the

Catholic Epistles The catholic epistles (also called the general epistlesEncarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "katholieke brieven". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.) are seven epistles of the New Testament. Listed in order of their appearance in ...

for his exegetical views on the

Epistle of James The Epistle of James). is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles ( didactic letters) in the New Testament. James 1:1 identifies the author as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" who is writing to "the twelve tribes ...

. This anonymous work is uniquely preserved in a manuscript now held at

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

(Germany), but once in the possession of

Reichenau Abbey Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine Order, Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives). It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage ...

. The glosses also cite a number of 7th-century Irish scholars, including

Laidcenn mac Buith Bannaig Laidcenn mac Buith Bannaig or Laidcend mac Baíth Bandaig (died 661) was a monastic scholar at Cluain Ferta Mo-Lua (Clonfert-Mulloe, Co. Laois) in northern Osraige. The name is also sometimes spelled "Lathcen." He is the ascribed author of the ea ...

, Breccanus, Banbán and Bercanus mac Áed, who are known to have been associated with

Cumméne Fota Cumméne Fota or Fada, anglicised Cummian (''fl''. ''c''. 591 – 12 November 661 or 662), was an Irish bishop and ''fer léignid'' (lector) of ''Cluain Ferta Brénainn'' (Clonfert). He was an important theological writer in the early to mid 7t ...

(Cummianus). He is probably the Manchan referenced as "''Patronus de Coolcasheen, S. Manihinns, Conf.. 2 Jau."'' in the diocese of Ossory, now St. Munchin's Church, who is claimed to be ''son of Moenacli'', according to the 'Book of Lenister'. The Manchín

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

commemorated on 2 January in probably identifies him, with this

shared by the likely identical ''Manchan of Coolcashin'', and the contemporary Mainchín of Luimnech, whose festival is otherwise recorded on 29 December.

Death

The death of Manchán falls between 648–652 according to the

Irish Annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...

- *

Annals of Clonmacnoise The ''Annals of Clonmacnoise'' ( ga, Annála Chluain Mhic Nóis) are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from prehistory to 1408. The work is sometimes known as ''Mag ...

"''A.D. 648, Maincheni, Abbot of Meanadrochit, died''". *

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

"''A.D. 649, Manchinus abbot of Menadrochatt, died''". *

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

la, "A.D. 651, Dormitatio Maencha in Abbatis Menodrochit. Imarie Cuile coire, in qua cecidit Culene ac Forindain, Maeldeich et Onchu victores erant. *

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' ( abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-cent ...

"''A.D. 652, The falling asleep of Manchéne, abbot of Monadrehid''".

Notes

Primary sources

* Retrieved 6 February 2010. * * *

Secondary sources

* * * *

Biography

Death

See also

Notes

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Further reading