Everything about Seachnaill totally explained
Saint Seachnaill (Sechnall, Secundinus) (ca.
372 -
November 27,
457) is an
Irish saint. He is considered the founder of
Dunshaughlin (Domnach Seachnaill) and was a contemporary of
Saint Patrick.
According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia, he was the son of Restitutus, a
Lombard, and Liamain, sister of St. Patrick. He was one of nine brothers, eight of whom became bishops in Ireland. His early life and training are obscure, but he appears to have studied in
Gaul, and to have accompanied St. Patrick to Ireland in
432.
The first documentary evidence we've is an entry in the
Irish Annals recording the arrival of St. Sechnall and his brother St.
Auxilius "to help St. Patrick".
In
433 he was appointed by St. Patrick as first Bishop of
Dunshaughlin, and served as assistant to the Bishop of
Armagh from 434 until his death. At the commencement of his episcopal rule, the local fair (
aonach) was accustomed to be held in the church enclosure, and as the people ignored the saint's denunciation as to holding a fair on hallowed ground, we read that "the earth opened and swallowed up thirteen horses, chariots and drivers,
while the remainder fled". He died after an episcopate of fourteen years.
More recent scholarship has suggested that Secundinus preceded Saint Patrick in Ireland. According to
Thomas F. O'Rahilly's lecture
The Two Patricks, Secundinus was probably a native of northern Italy. He 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). Secundinus's two associates were
Auxilius and
Iserninus. 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. Secundinus died in
447 or
448; he was the first Christian bishop to die on Irish soil. Domnach Seachnaill, or
Dunshaughlin in
County Meath, is named for him.
Further Information
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