Saint Moluag (c. 510 – 592; also known as ''Lua'', ''Luan'', ''Luanus'', ''Lugaidh'', ''Moloag'', ''Molluog'', ''Molua'', ''Murlach'', ''Malew''
[Saint of the Day, 25 June: ''Moloc of Mortlach''](_blank)
''SaintPatrickDC.org''. Retrieved on 6 March 2012[''Irish Saints in Great Britain'', pp. 76–77]) was a Scottish missionary, and a contemporary of
Saint Columba
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
, who evangelized the
Picts
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in the sixth century.
Saint Moluag was the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
Argyll
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
as evidenced by a charter in 1544, from the
Earl of Argyll
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...
, which states "in honour of God Omnipotent, the blessed Virgin, and Saint Moloc, our patron". The House of Lorne became the kings of Dalriada and eventually united with the Picts to become the kings of Scots.
Name
Saint Lughaidh, better known by his pet name of Moluag, was an Irish noble of the
Dál nAraide[''Lismore in Alba'', pg. 39ff] (one of the main tribes of the ''Ulaid'' in what is now called Ulster). There are various Irish forms of the name, such as ''Lughaidh'' (or ''Lugaid''), ''Luoc'' and ''Lua''. Latinized they become ''Lugidus'', ''Lugidius,'' ''Lugadius, Lugacius'' and ''Luanus''.
The name, as it has come down the centuries, Moluag or Moluoc, is made up of the honorific ''mo'', plus the original name ''Lughaidh'', pronounced Lua, plus the endearing suffix ''–oc''. Other variants include ''Lugdach, Malew, Molonachus, Moloc and Molucus''.
Sources
MacDonald suggests that there must have been a
''vita'' of Moluag that is lost because of his prominent appearance in
Bernard
Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
's ''Life of Malachy''. He writes ''"Further support for this occurs in the Life of Patrick by the Cistercian monk Jocelin of Furness written in circa 1185, where Mo-Luóc (“Lugacius”) is described as one of the six Irish priests whom Patrick prophesied would become bishops"''.
In a footnote he adds that the five other priests were Columbanus (Cólman), Meldanus (Mellán), Lugadius (Mo Lua), Cassanus (Cassán) and Creanus (Ciarán).
Moluag was a bishop active during the period of the First Order of Celtic Saints and known as ‘The Clear and Brilliant, The Sun of Lismore in Alba’.
Life
Moluag was born between 500 and 520. He may have been the Lugaid mentioned in The Life of St
Comgall
Saint Comgall (c. 510–520 – 597/602), an early Irish saint, was the founder and abbot of the great Irish monastery at Bangor in Ireland.
MacCaffrey,James (1908). " St. Comgall". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Co ...
who ordained him
and to whom he may have had links of kinship.
He left with twelve followers to lead the life of a missionary. Tradition states that the rock on which Moluag stood detached itself from the Irish coast and he drifted across to the island of the Lyn of Lorn in Argyll now called the Isle of
Lismore, in
Loch Linnhe
Loch Linnhe () is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe'' is derived from the Gaelic w ...
,
[Barrett, M, ''A Calendar of Scottish Saints'', pp. 97–99] where, in 562, he founded his community. (''Lios mor'' is ancient Gaelic for ‘great courtyard’ in reference to the monastery). This had been the sacred island of the Western Picts whose capital was at Beregonium, across the water at
Benderloch.
Lismore was the most important religious spot to the pagan kings of the area. Their kings were cremated on the ancient man-made "burial mound" of ''Cnoc Aingeil'' (Gaelic for ‘Hill of Fire’) at Bachuil, about three miles from the north of the island, near to the site that Moluag chose for his first centre. It was therefore the most desirable site for a missionary. Irish missionaries had learnt to focus heavily on the similarity and continuity between early Christianity and Paganism rather than the differences between them. The conversion process was, therefore, one of gradual education rather than outright confrontation and there were few martyrs in the area.
MacDonald describes Lismore as being "hugely important, being closely tied with one of the earliest and most important Christian Saints in Northern Britain: Mo Luóc, or Moluag."
After founding a monastery on the Isle of Lismore,
Moluag went on to found two other great centres in the land of the Picts at
Rosemarkie
Rosemarkie ( sco, Rossmartnie, from gd, Ros Mhaircnidh meaning "promontory of the horse stream") is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in Ross-shire (Ross and Cromarty), northern Scotland.
Geography
Rosemarkie lies a quart ...
and
Mortlach. These were his three centres of teaching, and all three were to become the seats of the Roman Catholic
see
See or SEE may refer to:
* Sight - seeing
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Music:
** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals
*** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See''
** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho
* Television
* ...
s of the
Isles,
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
and
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
. W. Douglas Simpson noted that Moluag laboured in Argyll,
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
, and
Banff. He remains best-remembered for his work in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
, where he established three churches in the valley of the
River Dee—
Tarland
Tarland (Gaelic: ''Turlann'') is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and is located northwest of Aboyne, and west of Aberdeen. Population 720 (2016).
Tarland is home to the Culsh Earth House, an Iron Age below-ground dwelling that otherwise ...
, Migvie, and
Durris. However, Simpson regarded the most important of Moluag's establishments to be the Clova Monastery in
Kildrummy
Kildrummy ( gd, Cionn Droma) is a hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland near the River Don, west of Alford. The hamlet's primary school closed in 2003.
Its church was built in 1805. Nearby Kildrummy Castle has a long history dating back to at lea ...
.
In his life of the Irish
Saint Malachy
Malachy (}; Modern ga, Maelmhaedhoc Ó Morgair; ) ( 1094 – 2 November 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocryphal ...
,
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...
wrote of Moluag, “One of the sons of that sacred family (Bangor) Lua by name, is said himself alone to have been the founder of a hundred monasteries,” Michael Barrett clarifying this as a reference to monastic houses in Ireland.
Moluag lived to extreme old age and died on 25 June 592 in
the Garioch and was buried at his monastery in
Rosemarkie
Rosemarkie ( sco, Rossmartnie, from gd, Ros Mhaircnidh meaning "promontory of the horse stream") is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in Ross-shire (Ross and Cromarty), northern Scotland.
Geography
Rosemarkie lies a quart ...
, Ross-shire, Scotland. The
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, ...
record the death of ''Lugaid of Les Mór'' in 592: ''Obitus Lugide Lis Moer''.
Veneration
Moluag is said to have been buried at Rosemarkie on the
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...
, though his remains were later transported to Lismore, and honoured in the cathedral which bore his name.
The feast day of Saint Moluag (25 June
) was restored in 1898 by
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
.
He is one of the 48 saints referred to in the Lorrha ("Stowe") Missal used by churches of Ireland, Scotland, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy: "Saint Lua of Lismore, Pray for us".
The
Coarb
A coarb, from the Old Irish ''comarbae'' (Modern Irish ''comharba'', Latin: ''hērēs''), meaning "heir" or "successor", was a distinctive office of the medieval church among the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland. In this period coarb appears intercha ...
, or successor, of Saint Moluag, is the Livingstone chief of the
Clan MacLea. This Livingstone family of Lismore had long been the hereditary abbots of Lismore and, hence, possessors of the
crozier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...
of the saint.
The bell of Saint Moluag was in existence until the sixteenth century when it disappeared during the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
An ancient bell found at Kilmichael Glassary, Argyll was thought to have been the lost bell.
Legacy and dedications
Several churches were dedicated to Saint Moluag, including:
*
St Moluag's Cathedral (Kilmoluag), Lismore;
*
Teampull Mholuaidh
St Moluag's church ( gd, Teampall Mholuaidh) is a church in the village of Eoropie in Ness in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. It is one of the busiest visitor attractions in Ness, due to historical importance and because it is easily accessible f ...
,
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
;
* Kirk
Malew
Malew ( ; gv, Malew) is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man.
It is located in the south of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of Rushen.
Administratively, part of the historic parish of ...
, the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
.
Other sites include churches at
Clatt
Clatt (Gaelic cleithe, 'concealed'), is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The remains of a morthouse are located in the cemetery of the old church.
Its schools are Clatt Primary School and The Gordon Schools, Huntly.
Clatt Primary School ...
and
Tarland
Tarland (Gaelic: ''Turlann'') is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and is located northwest of Aboyne, and west of Aberdeen. Population 720 (2016).
Tarland is home to the Culsh Earth House, an Iron Age below-ground dwelling that otherwise ...
, in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
; and also churches on
Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...
,
Mull
Mull may refer to:
Places
*Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides
** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland
* Mount Mull, Antarctica
*Mull Hill, Isle of Man
* Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highway ...
,
Raasay
Raasay (; gd, Ratharsair) or the Isle of Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is famous for being the birt ...
,
Tiree
Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650.
The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and ...
, and
Pabay
Pabay is a Scottish island just off the coast of Skye. The name Pabay is derived from an old Norse word meaning "priest's isle" and there are the remains of a 13th-century chapel.
Geography
Pabay is an island in the Inner Sound of Skye, lying ...
.
At
Alyth
Alyth () ( gd, Ailt) is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, northeast of Blairgowrie and about northwest of Dundee. In 2016 the town had an estimated population of 2,400.
First mentioned by name in a 12th-century royal charter of Willia ...
in
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...
there remain the ruins, known as "The Alyth Arches", of a church which was built on the site of an older sixth-century church dedicated to the saint.
It has been suggested that the concentration of dedications to Moluag in North-East Scotland, and particularly in the vicinity of
Rhynie, may be a legacy of a saint cult promoted during the reign of
Nechtan mac Der-Ilei
Nechtan mac Der-Ilei or Nechtan mac Dargarto (Old Irish ''Nechtan mac Der-Ilei'' or ''Nechtan mac Dargarto'') (before 686–732) was king of the Picts 706–724 and 728–729. He succeeded his brother Bridei in 706. He is associated with significa ...
and contemporaneous with the ascendancy of the
Cenél Loairn
The Cenél Loairn, the descendants of Loarn mac Eirc, controlled parts of northern Argyll around the Firth of Lorne, most probably centred in Lorne but perhaps including the islands of Mull and Colonsay, Morvern and Ardnamurchan. The boundary to t ...
, with whom his Pictish kingdom appears to have enjoyed good relations.
[Grigg, Juliana (2015), ''The Philosopher King and the Pictish Nation'', Four Courts Press, Dublin]
At Mortlach in
Banffshire
Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...
, where some of his
relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
were preserved, an abbey was founded in 1010 by
Máel Coluim II of Scotland, in thanks for a victory in which the Scots had invoked the aid of Saint Moluag.
On Lewis, Saint Moluag was invoked for cures from madness.
At Clatt there was held annually "St Mallock's Fair", which lasted eight days.
At Tarland there was a "Luoch Fair" which is thought to have been in honour of Saint Molaug,
and at Alyth "Simmalogue Fair" was celebrated.
Notes
References
* Barrett, Michael. ''A Calendar of Scottish Saints''.
Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
History
The Gaeli ...
: The Abbey Press, 1919.
* Carmichael, Ian. ''Lismore in Alba''.
* Farmer, David Hugh. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints''.
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
:
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1992.
*
Moran, Rev. Patrick. ''Irish Saints in Great Britain''.
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
: M H Gill & Son, 1879.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moluag
6th-century Christian saints
Lismore, Scotland
Medieval Scottish saints
Medieval saints of Ulster
Colombanian saints
6th-century Irish priests
Christian clergy from County Down
592 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain