Feast day 27 November Died 27 November 457 AD | Venerated in Roman Catholic Church | |
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Church Domnach Sechnaill, now Dunshaughlin (Co. Meath) | ||
Hymn of secundinus in praise of st patrick in latin
Saint Secundinus (fl. 5th century), or Sechnall (Modern Irish: Seachnall) as he was known in Irish, was founder and patron saint of Domnach Sechnaill, now Dunshaughlin (Co. Meath), who went down in medieval tradition as a disciple of St Patrick and one of the first bishops of Armagh. Historians have suggested, however, that the connection with St Patrick was a later tradition invented by Armagh historians in favour of their patron saint and that Secundinus is more likely to have been a separate missionary, possibly a companion of Palladius.
Contents
Life
The Irish annals report that in 439, bishops Secundinus, Auxilius and Iserninus arrived in Ireland to the aid of St Patrick. Muirchú also tells of the involvement of Auxilius and Iserninus, both possibly from Auxerre, but does not name Secundinus.
Later tradition, which is of uncertain provenance, appears to suggest that Secundinus and Auxilius were of Italian origin. Details to this effect are first given in the Irish preface to the Hymn of Secundinus as found in some manuscript versions of the Liber Hymnorum. It states that Secundinus was a son of Restitutus and St Patrick's sister Dar Ercae; in the Chronicon Scotorum the latter is named Culmana. The preface cites a stanza by Armagh scholar Eochaid ua Flannacain (d. 1005) to assert that Restitutus belonged to the Lombards of Letha, a place-name which referred to Gaul but was sometimes confused with Latium. In the stanza, Sechnall receives the paternal family name moccu Baird. Although the presence of Lombards in Italy would be an anachronism, Thomas F. O'Rahilly considers it possible that Secundinus — and perhaps Auxilius, too — came from northern Italy. Like the saint's own name, Restitutus was a popular Late Latin name in Christian Europe, but in this case there is no way of telling whether Patrician historians were using genuine information or filling in gaps in the saint's genealogical dossier.
Some scholars have suggested that Secundinus preceded Saint Patrick in Ireland. In his lecture The Two Patricks, O'Rahilly argues that Secundinus, possibly a native of northern Italy (see above), was one of three bishops who arrived in Ireland in 439 to assist Palladius, whose mission had begun in 431 and who was known in Ireland as Patricius (leading to confusion with the later Saint Patrick). In 441 Palladius was recalled to Rome to be examined by the newly elected Pope Leo I, leaving Secundinus in charge of the Church in Ireland. He became known as the first Christian bishop to die on Irish soil.
Dumville allows for the possibility that Secundinus participated in the Palladian mission, but is more hesitant.
The development of Patrician legend also saw Secundinus becoming gradually more involved in the process whereby the see of Armagh received the relics of Saints Peter and Paul. St Patrick, according to his Tripartite Life, entrusted his see to Secundinus when he went to Rome to obtain the relics, while the preface to the Hymn tells that Patrick had sent him off to obtain them in person.
Secundinus is said to have died in 447 or 448, aged 75.
Commemoration
The saint's name was familiar enough in Mide to give rise to a number of derivative personal names, notably Máel Sechnaill (attested since the 9th century) and later also Gilla Sechnaill.
Despite the evidence for a medieval Life, there is little in the sources to suggest that Sechnall was the subject of a flourishing cult during much of the Middle Ages. His feast-day is 27 November.