"On the Trail of the Seven Monks of Egypt"
-------------------------------------------Metropolitan Seraphim of the British Orthodox Church,
the British Diocese of the Coptic Patriarchate
The Coptic Orthodox Church has long known of the historic links between
the British Isles and Christian Egypt, but documentation and solid
evidence is thin on the ground for these early centuries of church
history. There are learned articles by Monique Blanc-Ortolan of the
Musee des Arts dE9coratifs, Paris, and Pierre du Bourguet of the Louvre
on 'Coptic and Irish Art' and by Joseph F.T. Kelly of John Carroll
University, Cleveland, Ohio, on 'Coptic Influences in the British Isles'
in the Coptic Encyclopedia which are worth consulting. Other works, like
Shirley Toulson's The Celtic Year, which asserts that "rather than
adhere to the ruling of the Council [of Chalcedon], some of the most
dedicated adherents of Monophysitism fled from Egypt, and some of them
most surely travelled west and north to Ireland", in their enthusiasm to
establish a link, make up what is lacking in hard evidence with sheer
conjecture and fantasy.
The late Archdale King noted the links between Celtic Ireland and Coptic
Egypt. He suggests that much of the contact took place before the Muslim
Conquest of 640. There exists evidence of a Mediterranean trade in a
single passage in the life of St. John the Almsgiver (Ioannes III
Eleemon), Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between 610-621, in which
reference is made to a vessel sailing to Alexandria from Britain with a
cargo of tin, doubtless come from Cornwall or Somerset.
King observes that the kind of asceticism associated with the Desert
Fathers was especially congenial to the Irish but refers to Dom Henri
Leclercq's suggestion that Celtic monasticism was directly derived from
Egypt, as an "unsubstantiated hypothesis". No serious historian,
however, would deny that first-hand knowledge of the Desert Fathers was
brought directly to the South of Gaul by St. John Cassian and that the
links between the British and Gallican churches were especially strong
at this period. King nevertheless admits that the grouping together of
several small churches within a cashel or fortified enclosure seems to
support Leclercq's view.
King mentions an Ogham inscription on a stone near St. Olan's Well in
the parish of Aghabulloge, County Cork, which scholars interpret as
reading: 'Pray for Olan the Egyptian.' Professor Stokes tells us5 about
the Irish monk Dicuil, who around 825 wrote his Liber de Mensure orbis
terre describing the pyramids as well as an ancient precursor of the
Suez Canal. It would seem that Egypt was often visited by pilgrims to
the Holy Land. Stokes instances the Saltair Na Rann, an anthology of
biblical poems attributed to Oengus the Culdee, but containing the sixth
or seventh century Book of Adam and Eve, composed in Egypt and known in
no other European country except Ireland.
King also notes that one of the commonest names for townlands or
parishes is Disert or 'Desert': a solitary place in which anchorites
were established. Presumably the same etymology gives us the Scottish
Dysart, just north of Kirkcaldy, and the Welsh Dyserth, to the south of
Prestatyn ? This would then present a consistent picture common to
Celtic Christianity. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, an early
ninth century monastic bishop of Clonenagh (Co. Offaly) and later of
Tallaght, has a litany invoking 'Seven monks of Egypt in Disert Uilaig,
I invoke unto my aid, through Jesus Christ.' [Morfesseor do manchaib
Egipr(e) in disiurt Uilaig]. The Antiphonary of Bangor (dating from
between 680-691) also contains the text:
" ... Domus deliciis plena Super petram constructa Necnon vinea vera Ex
Aegypto transducta ..."
which is translated as:
" ... House full of delight Built on the rock And indeed true vine
Translanted from Egypt ..."
Providence undoubtedly put me in touch with Fr. Feargal Patrick McGrady,
priest of Ballymena, County Antrim in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Down
and Connor. As well as being a native of Downpatrick (the burial place
of St. Patrick), Father Feargal is enthusiastic about the Eastern
churches and holds His Holiness Pope Shenouda in high esteem. He was
delighted to assist with my enquiries and very soon made contacts with
local historians, who are the real source of the information we need.
Dr. Cahal Dallat, Genealogist and Historical Consultant, of Ballycastle,
County Antrim, identified Disert Ilidh or Uilaigh with Dundesert, near
Crumlin, county Antrim, which is to the north-west of Belfast, the
capital of Northern Ireland, between Belfast International Airport and
Templepatrick.
Mr. Bobbie Burns, a local historian living in Crumlin, was another link
in the chain. He produced a report in the Belfast Telegraph of 13th July
1936 under the headline "Unique Once Famous Ulster Church: Neglected
Crumlin Ruins", which showed the ruins of the medieval church built on
the site of an earlier shrine. The local historical group is taking a
renewed interest in the site and the local Protestant landowner has
given permission for them to come and go freely to the site. It is hoped
that they might obtain a grant to restore the dilapidated ruins but they
are excited by its more ancient and possible Coptic connections. The
site is approached by a path along the side of a grazing field 200-300
metres from Poplar Road. It is on the steep bank of the Crumlin River,
which is a large free-flowing river, but is more than 100 metres from
the water. Access is easy in dry weather, but not pleasant after heavy
rain. The terrain inside the enclosure is very rough. The ground is
strewn with boulders which have either fallen or been removed from the
medieval walls. Parts of the medieval walls, in places three feet thick
and covered in ivy, survive on the east (or gable) and south sides. The
east wall contains two arched recesses or sedilia, now only about four
feet in height but probably much higher if their foundations were
cleared of the extensive in-fill of stones and earth. The gable rises to
around thirty feet in height but a number of stones have already been
removed and were any more to go it would be undermined and likely to
collapse. What remains of the wall at the other end is much lower. It is
likely that the whole structure would have been removed long ago but for
the difficulties of dislodging stone from the walls and the problem of
transportation to the road.
We are grateful for the efforts of these local enthusiasts for having
preserved these ancient ruins and look forward to making further
discoveries about the last resting place of the seven monks of Egypt.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-archive/message/1681
