Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae is the abbreviated title of a celebrated work on the Irish saints by the Franciscan, John Colgan (Leuven, 1645).[1]
Aided by Hugh Ward, Stephen White,[2] Míchél Ó Cléirigh, and Henry Fitzsimon,[2] White, Fitzsimon, and Thomas Messingham were "forerunners in searching for manuscripts containing Lives of Irish saints."[3]
Colgan sedulously collected enormous material for the Lives of the Irish Saints, and at length, after thirty years of sifting and digesting his materials, put to press his Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, a portion of the expense of which was defrayed by Hugh O'Reilly.[4]
The first volume, covering 270 lives of Irish saints (except Brigid and Patrick) for the months of January, February, and March,[5] was intended to be the third volume of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Ireland, but only one volume was printed at Leuven in 1645.
A replica was produced in Dublin in 1948.[6]
References
edit- ^ The full title runs as follows: Acta Sanctorum veteris et majoris Scotiae, seu Hiberniae, Sanctorum Insulae, partim ex variis per Europam MSS. codd. exscripta, partim ex antiquis monumentis et probatis authoribus eruta et congesta; omnia notis et appendicibus illustrata, per R.P.F. Joannem Colganum, in conventu F.F. Minor. Hibern. Scrictioris Observ., Lovanii, S. Theologiae Lectorem Jubilatum. Nunc primum de eisdem actis juxta ordinem mensium et dierum prodit tomus primus, qui de sacris Hiberniae antiquitatibus est tertius, Januarium, Februarium, et Martium complectens.
- ^ a b Briain, Felim Ó (September 1941). "Édition du Catalogus Praecipuorum Sanctorum Hiberniae de Henri Fitzsimon. By Rev. Paul Grosjean S.J. In Féil-sgríbhinn Eóin Mhic Néill, PP. 335-93". Irish Historical Studies. 2 (8): 454–455. doi:10.1017/S0021121400112751. ISSN 0021-1214. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ Sharpe, Richard, 'The Background to Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae', Medieval Irish Saints' Lives: An Introduction to Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae (Oxford, 1991; online edn, Oxford Academic, 3 Oct. 2011)
- ^ Grattan-Flood, William. "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Riain, Pádraig Ó (2012). "Northern Influences on "A Dictionary of Irish Saints"". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 24 (1): 1–9. ISSN 0488-0196. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ John Colgan, The 'Acta sanctorum Hiberniae' of John Colgan, reproduced at the Ordnance Survey, Dublin. Reflex facsimiles, Irish Manuscript Commission 5. Dublin: Ordnance Survey, 1948. 906 pp. Facsimile edition of the book (Leuven: De Witte, 1645), with an introduction by Brendan Jennings.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.