Dabheog
Saint Dabheog | |
|---|---|
 Saint Dabheog depicted in a stained glass window ofMonaghan Cathedral,created byFranz Mayer & Co.[1] | |
| Abbot of Lough Derg | |
| Born | 5th century? Wales |
| Patronage | Patron saint of Lough Derg |
Saint Dabheogis thepatron saintand a founder of a monastery on an island inLough Derg,a lake inCounty Donegal,Ireland,near the town ofPettigoand shouldering the border of countiesDonegalandFermanagh.His feast day is 16 December.[2]
Biography
[edit]Little is known about his biography but local records mention his existence as an abbot ofLough Dergin the 5th century. Healy states that Dabheog was born in Wales. He was the son of King Breca (orBrychan), the great father of a host of Welsh saints.[3]
Dabheog is considered to be a disciple ofSaint Patrickwho became responsible for caring for the site known asSt. Patrick's Purgatory,which was on one of the islands in the lake known as Lough Derg. He took charge of the church and hermitage inTirhugh.[4]
There is a firmly established tradition regarding St. Dabheog, who presided over, and possibly established, the monastery on the site during the lifetime of Patrick.[5]His name has been associated from early centuries with several places in the area: St. Dabheoc's Chair on the south bank of Lough Derg, the townland of Seedavoc (St. Dabheoc's Seat), and a mountain in that townland, Seavadog Mountain. One of the islands in Lough Derg was also named after him: St. Dabheoc's Island, which may have been Saints Island.[6]
Many of the modernCatholic pilgrimagerituals at Lough Derg are focused on devotion to St. Dabheog: including the short hike to a pre-ChristianBronze Ageburial site (known as Dabheog's Chair or Seat) on a hill overlooking Lough Derg, and the meditation upon one of the beehive cells onStation Islandwhich is dedicated to the saint.[7]
One of the boats which transports pilgrims to Station Island is named after Dabheog, as well as the valley overlookingLough Erne.The Clan McGrath, who were the Coarbs (hereditary overseers) of Lough Derg from the 13th-17th century, consider Dabheog as their patron saint. Dabheog is also known by the following aliases: Dabeoc, Davog, Davoc, Daboc, Beoc, Mobeoc, Mobheog, Daveoc, Daveog. This variation is due to the lack of standardization in theIrish languageand the ambiguity of the saint's historical origins.
The plant nameDaboeciahas been given to St. Dabheog's heath.
References
[edit]- ^see p. 78 inDuffy, Joseph (1998). "The Stained Glass". In Griffin, Eltin (ed.).A Cathedral Renewed: St Macartan's, Monaghan.Blackrock: The Columba Press. pp. 75–84.ISBN1856072517.
- ^Saint Dabheog of Lough Derg
- ^Healy, John.The Life and Writings of St. Patrick,M. H Gill & Son Ltd., 1905
- ^Saint Patrick; Aeterna Press (10 August 2016).Saint Patrick Collection [2 Books].Aeterna Press. p. 363. GGKEY:GZW8BL31F9D.
- ^Harbison, Peter.Pilgrimage in Ireland: The Monuments and the People.Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995.
- ^Archdall, Mervyn.Monasticon Hibernicum,W. B. Kelly, 1873, p. 206
- ^McGuinne, Joseph: "St. Patrick's Purgatory: Lough Derg", page 18. Columba Press, 2003
