may be assigned to this period : 'Another day St. Columba while in his mother church called out, smiling a little, "Columbanus (Colman), son of Beogna, who has commenced his voyage to us to-day, is at present in great danger in the tempestuous waves of the Charybdis of Brecan." ' The Coire Brecain, as it was termed by the ancient Irish, or the Whirlpool of Brecan, was the channel between Ballycastle, in the county of Antrim, and the island of Rathlin. It was the terror of mariners, 'being at certain times so disturbed by the action of the tides that even in the absence of wind no small craft could live in it.' Having escaped these perils he arrived at Hy, and appears to have remained there until he was ordained a presbyter, when he was sent forthwith some disciples to found an establishment for himself. First proceeding to that part of Ulster where lay the holy Bishop Macnisse of Condere, now Connor, he founded the abbey of Muckamore in the barony of Lower Massarene ; here ' he stayed many days, and blessed the people of that city' (civitas, i.e. monastery). He has since been accounted joint patron with Bishop Macnisse of Connor. Returning to his own province of Meath, he presented himself before an assem- bly in which were Aedh mac Ainmire, king of Ireland, Aedh Slane, lord of the Hy Neill, St. Columba, St. Cainnech, and many others. He was honourably received by them, and appears to have made a request that land should be granted to him, on which St. Columba said, 'Give a portion of good land to our brother Colman that he may found a monastery.' They replied, 'Let him choose wherever he likes in the territory of the Hy Neill.' Aedh Slane, who was the next heir to the throne, and subsequently king of Ireland, offered a great wood in the south quarter of Fercall, in the King's County, called Fidh Elo, the wood of Ela. 'Thence shall I be named,' said Colman, i.e. Colman Ela. Then bestowing his blessing and receiving the freedom of that place from the authorities before many witnesses, he built a monastery in the middle of the wood, in a place where there was an abundance of water and pleasant fields. This was Land-Elo, the church of Ela, now Lynally, in the King's County, about a mile to the south-west of Tullamore, where he lies ; Ela according to some having been the name of a stream, or, according to the 'Lebar Brecc,' of a woman. This transaction occurred about A.D. 580, when Colman was twenty-seven years of age.
The monks appear to have been much distressed for food at times. On one occasion, at Epiphany, St. Colman told the steward to furnish supplies for the festival. He answered that he had an abundance of spring water, but nothing else. Just at that moment, however, a crowd of people appeared bringing provisions. The difficulty of transporting food was equally great ; a farmer having loaded his wagon with supplies was only enabled to convey it through the wood by a miracle ; a monk visiting his relatives at a distance, and telling how St. Colman and his community were perishing of hunger, obtained large supplies of butter and other viands, but his friends were unable to take them to the monastery because a hostile tribe lay between. When four of his disciples were sent to dwell in a certain place, three of them died of hunger, and the fourth, refusing all nourishment, shared their fate 'that he might go to Christ.' On another occasion, travelling through Dalaraidhe in the present county of Antrim, and arriving at the river Min, he found people assembled for the purpose of battle. He and his party went to the deepest part of the river. Here some of the people asked him in the name of Christ to make peace. Others, who belonged to the strongest side, seized the boats that the saint might not go across to make peace, but according to the story he walked across for the purpose. From this he and his party went to the house of Edan, son of Oengus, where they passed 'the holy Lord's day.' St. Colman seeing a man splitting wood on the pavement commanded him to rest from such work, for it was the Lord's day. Another day, finding them about to drown an illegitimate child, he rescued him and baptised him by the name of Chellan and had him taught the scriptures. He was about forty years of age when he paid his second visit to Hy, and it was on his parting from St. Columba that the latter said to those around, 'The holy man Columbanus (Colman), to whom we gave our blessing when leaving, shall never see my face again in this world,' which was fulfilled, for St. Columba died the same year (595).
Towards the close of his life St. Colman visited Clonard and Clonmacnois, and expressed an anxious wish to be buried at the former place. His death took place on 26 Sept. 610, about the fifty-sixth year of his age ; in after years his remains were taken up and enclosed in a shrine of such marvellous workmanship that it was regarded as miraculous. In the ' Lebar Brecc ' he is famed as one of the three great Colmans of Meath, the others being Colman of the Coffer, and Colman son of Luachan ; in the ' Calendar of Oengus ' he is
Colman of Lann Ela,
With perfection of high readings,
So that he is splendid and praiseworthy,
The great John of Ireland's sons ;
