Saint Ailbe ( ; ), usually known in English as St Elvis (British/Welsh), Eilfyw or Eilfw, was regarded as the chief 'pre-Patrician' saint of Ireland (although his death was recorded in the early 6th-century). He was a bishop and later saint.
Little that can be regarded as reliable is known about Ailbe: in Irish sources from the 8th century he is regarded as the first bishop, and later patron saint of Emly in Munster. Later Welsh sources (from the 11th c.) associate him with Saint David whom he was credited with baptizing and very late sources (16th c.) even give him a local Welsh genealogy making him an Ancient Briton.
Saint Ailbe is venerated as one of the four great patrons of Ireland. His feast day is 12 September. He is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly."History", Emly Parish.
Sources The life of Ailbe is included in the Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae (VSH), a Latin collection of medieval Irish saints' lives compiled in the 14th century. There are three major manuscript versions of the VSH: the Dublin, Oxford, and Salamanca. Charles Plummer compiled an edition of the VSH based on the two surviving Dublin manuscripts in 1910.
Professor William W. Heist of the University of Michigan compiled an edition of the single Salamanca manuscript in 1965; trans. in De Paor, Liam (1993) "Saint Patrick's World", Dublin: Four Courts Press Oxford professor Richard Sharpe suggests that the Salamanca manuscript is the closest to the original text from which all three versions derive. Sharpe's analysis of the Irish name-forms in the Codex Salamanticensis showed similarities between it and the Life of Saint Brigid, a verifiably 7th-century text, leading him to posit that nine (and possibly ten) of the lives were written much earlier, –850.
He further proposed that this earlier Life of Ailbe in the Codex Salmanticensis was originally composed to further the cause of the Eóganacht Church of Emly. The Law of Ailbe (784) was issued, possibly in response to the Law of Patrick.p.19 in Ó Riain-Raedel, Dagmar (1998). "The Question of the 'Pre-Patrician' Saints of Munster" in "Early Medieval Munster. Archaeology, History and Society", ed. M.A. Monk and J. Sheehan. Cork. pp. 17–22.
The later lives of the Dublin collection go further and make Ailbe the principal 'pre-Patrican' Saint of Ireland (the others are Ciarán of Saighir, Declan of Ardmore, Abbán of Moyarney and Ibar of Beggerin or Beggery Island)Sharpe op.cit., pp. 115-116. The Dublin Life of Ailbe asserts that Munster was entrusted to him by Saint Patrick, while to similar effect, Ailbe is called a "second Patrick and patron of Munster" (secundus Patricius et patronus Mumenie) in the Life of Saint Declán of Ardmore.Ó Riain-Raedel, op.cit. p. 19.
Further material is provided by the lives of related saints such as Patrick. All include numerous miraculous events and obvious inconsistencies and anachronisms.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al. The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain, Vol. I, pp. 128 ff. Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1911. In fact the earliest mention of the name Ailbeus would seem to be in Tirechan's late 7th century Life of Saint Patrickch. 6.4 and ch. 18 in Bieler, Ludwig (1979) "Patrician Texts from the Book of Armagh", Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. although this seems to be about a different 'Ailbe', a priest associated with the Ui Aillello, in Connaught, latterly known as 'Saint Ailbe of Sencua (Shancoe in County Sligo)'. Other early mentions of Ailbe are in the 8th century Navigatio Brendani ("Voyage of Saint Brendan")ch.12 in Selmer, Carl (1959) Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis, ed., Notre Dame, Indiana; http://markjberry.blogs.com/StBrendan.pdf trans Denis O'Donohughe 1893. and in the Martyrology of Tallaght and Martyrology of Oengus from the early years of the 9th century.Stokes, Whitley (1905). Félire Oengusso Céli Dé: The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, Henry Bradshaw Society Publications, vol. 29. London; Henry Bradshaw Society ; "The Martyrology of Tallaght from the Book of Leinster and MS. 5100–4 in the Royal Library", ed. Richard Irvine Best and Hugh Jackson Lawlor, Brussels 1931; trans Matthew Kelly, Dublin 1857
Legendary life In a legend that goes back to the Vita, or 'Saint's Life', Ailbe's father fled King Cronan before the child's birth and his mother's servants—ordered by the king to put the baby to death—instead placed him on a rock in the wilderness where he was found and nursed by a she-wolf.Ballingarry. "Slieveardagh Parish History" Long afterwards, when Ailbe was bishop, an old she-wolf being pursued by a hunting party ran to the bishop and laid her head upon his breast. Ailbe protected the wolf and thereafter fed her and her cubs every day from his hall. Ailbe was discovered in the forest by visiting Britons: these British foster parents were said to have planned to leave him in Ireland when they returned home but were constantly and miraculously unable to make the passage until they consented to take him with them. They then took Ailbe with them when they returned to Wales (Vita Albei 2).
A tradition also going back to the earliest Vita (Vita Albei 9) held that he went to Rome and was ordained as a bishop by Saint Hilary who was then pope. Upon being ordained in Rome, he was said to have fed the people of the city for three days before returning home. At the end of his life, a supernatural ship came and he boarded to learn the secret of his death. Returning from the faerie world, he went back to Emly to die and be buried.Answers.com. "Ailbhe".
The earliest Vita states that Saint Ailbe was baptised by Palladius (Vita Albei 2), something that might be compatible with the tradition that made him a 'pre-Patrician' evangelizer of Ireland (since Palladius was recorded as having been sent to Ireland in 431, most likely before Patrick's time). The year of his death – 528 - that is recorded in the 'Annals of Innisfallen' (compiled at Emly probably in 1092),Seán Mac Airt, ed. & trans, "The Annals of Inisfallen", Dublin 1944 ('The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies' 1951, reprinted 1988) is not, however, compatible with a 'pre-Patrician' career. It may well be, though, a reflection of the fact that many such obits (records of the date of death) of Irish saints were retrospectively added to the annals.
Ailbe was said to have founded the monastery and diocese of Emly (), which became very important in Munster. He was said to have been responsible for King Aengus's donation of island lands for Saint Enda's monastery.Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly He is also associated with the 6th-century foundation of Clane Friary, in modern County Kildare.
Connections with Wales The Life of Saint David, written by Rhigyfarch in the late 11th century,Wade-Evans, A.W. (1913) Rhigyfarch's Life of Saint David, ed. and trans., University of Wales Press, and (1944) Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae, ed. and trans, Cardiff, UWP. (pp. 150-172, 364-387 in new edition, ed. Scott Lloyd, Welsh Academic Press Cardiff, 2013); Sharpe, Richard and Davies, John Reuben, ed. (2007) "Vita S. David" in Evans, J Wyn and Wooding, Jonathan M, ed. "St David of Wales, Cult, Church and Nation", Boydell Press, Woodbridge states that Ailbe baptized Saint David,BBC. " Saint David". the patron saint of Wales. In Welsh traditions, he then fostered the boy while serving as bishop of Menevia (present-day St David's) before leaving on a mission to convert southern Ireland. He was also regarded as the founder of Llanailfyw or St Elvis in Pembrokeshire,
Late Welsh sourcesp.67 (no.92), p.70 (no. 35) in Bartrum, P.C.(1966): Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts, Cardiff: UWP. give him a British ancestry. Thus the 16th c. Achau’r Saint records "Eilvyw a Dirdan Saint Breudan" (variant : "Breudain") while a 16thc. Manuscript of Bonedd y Saint records "Ailvyw vab Dirdan". This would make him a descendant of Guorthemir (Modern Welsh: Gwerthefyr; English: Vortimer the Blessed), and a cousin of saints David, Cybi, and Sadyrnin."Saint Elvis" in Terry Breverton's Wales: A Historical Companion, pp. 164 f. Amberley Publishing (Stroud), 2009.
Possible pre-Christian origins Professor Pádraig Ó Riain suggests the cult of Saint Ailbe may have pre-Christian origins.Padraig O'Riain, s.v. Ailbe in "Dictionary of Irish Biography", Royal Irish Academy, Cambridge University Press The name Ailbe figures quite extensively in a context of Irish folk tale, with its likely origins mainly in pre-Christian pagan mythology. For instance Ailbe was the name of the 'divine hound' in "The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig"trans. in Cross, T.P. and Slover, C.H. (1936) "Ancient Irish Tales", New York; pp. 68-76 in Koch, John T and Carey, John ed. 2003 "The Celtic Heroic Age", Celtic Studies Publications: Aberystwyth associated with the Mag Ailbe or 'plain of Ailbe',note 84 in Kenney J.F. (1929) "Sources for the Early History of Ireland: Vol 1, Ecclesiastical", Columbia (reprinted New York 1966) where stood a Lia Ailbe, or 'stone of Ailbe'. The 'divine hound' Ailbe defended Leinster, the chief centre of which was Aillen, whose female eponym, Aillen, owned a marvellous lap dog Ailbe, according to the 'Metrical Dindsenchas'.To these 'canine' associations, one might compare the tradition which identified Ailbe's father as ‘Ol-chu’ (‘Olcnais’ in Vita Albei 1), 'great-hound', as well as the (likely related) story of the infant Ailbe being cared for by a she-wolf.
An ‘Ailbe Grúadbrecc’, meanwhile, was the daughter of Cormac mac Airt (premier mythical Irish king) and a wife (as her sister Gráinne) of Finn (= literally, 'white') or Fionn mac Cumhaill in the Tochmarc Ailbe,p. 276 in O’Rahilly, T.F. (1946) "Early Irish History and Mythology", Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies; p. 151 in J.F.Campbell, Leabhair na Feinne (German trans. in 'Zeitschrift Celtische Philologie' 13) Echtrae Cormaic maic Airtin Cross, op.cit. pp. 503-7 and "The Burning of Finn's House".in 'Eriu', 1904 Ailbe was also the name of several of Finn's fianna (comrades in his band), and their women in Acallam na Senórachin Dooley, Anne and Roe, Harry (1999) "Tales of the Elders of Ireland", Oxford University Press and Duanaire Finn. An Ailbe was also daughter of Mider, son of the Dagda.Dooley, op.cit. p.15
The name "Ailbe"
The name Ailbe was explained in the Vita Albei as a derivative of ail 'a rock' and beo, 'living'. In the words of Baring Gould and FisherBaring-Gould and Fisher (1907), "The Lives of the British Saints" Vol I, p. 130 this is "a very doubtful etymology". It is clearly related to the story of his being exposed behind a rock after his birth, before being cared for by a wolf (Vita Albei 2)Heist op.cit. 167-81; trans. De Paor op.cit pp. 227-43 and looks very much like folk etymology. Nevertheless, we can note a sporadic association of Ailbe (as a saint or mythological figure) with ' rocks' (Irish ail). The Lia Ailbe (stone of Ailbe) on the Magh Ailbe (plain of Ailbe) may be in origin tautological, while a Sliabh Ailbe was associated with a legendary figure Ailbe in Duanaire Finn.II, 95, xlii in MacNeill, Eoin and Murphy, Gerard (1908-54) Duanaire Finn, 3 vols, Irish Texts Society 7, 28, 43. The Inbher Ailbhine mentioned in Tirechan's Vita Patricii (Tirechan 5.2)Bieler op.cit p. 127 may contain ail, 'a rock', according to Watson.p. 469, note 1 in Watson, W.J. (1926) "The Celtic Place Names of Scotland", Edinburgh/London. It is at a "marvellous stone altar ( = prominent rock with religious associations ) on the mountain of the Ui Ailello" where Patrick was said to have installed the second St Ailbe (of Sencua) - probably at the old site of the church of Shancoe, County Sligo, where a large rock overlooks a well:.p. 608 in MacNeill, Maire (1962) "The Festival of Lughnasa", Oxford University Press. This might all be best explained by a typical process of sound assimilation of ail 'a rock' to the name ail-be.