Pádraig Ó Riain

 

152 pp.
1997 Subsidiary series 5
ISBN 1 870 16684 1

 

SS5. This volume was published as a companion volume of Beatha Bharra (Main Series 57), which was edited for the Society by Professor Ó Riain of University College Cork. Beginning with an account of the spread of the cult of St Finbarr countrywide from its probable place of origin in the North of Ireland, the author traces the history of the church and diocese of Cork down to about 1200, when the local bishop commissioned the earliest known Life of the saint. The historical circumstances that gave rise to the production of this Life, and of those that followed it, are then discussed in detail. Although spurious in almost every respect, the veracity of the biography composed for the saint remained in the main unchallenged until Professor Ó Riain reexamined it.