Olden — The Oratory of Gallerus. 567 



Carmarthenshire was afterwards founded, and many others. It is 

 evident that the term ' white,' thus applied, had a moral significance 

 and in fact it is commonly employed in Wales in the sense of ' holy ' 

 at the present day. 



It bore the same meaning in Ireland, though this has not been 

 always recognized. In the Brehon Laws the Scriptures are termed 

 "the white language of beatitude." But the most remarkable 

 examples of the usage are those in which it is given as a designation 

 to eminent ecclesiastics. Fifty-six names in the " Marty rology of 

 Donegal " contain some form of the word finn, white. Of these 

 there are fourteen Finn Barrs, or as the name is sometimes inverted 

 Barr-[f]inns, from which comes the Latin form Barrindus or Barrin- 

 thus. jN'ow Finn Barr is not properly a name, but rather a designa- 

 tion, as all those so called have their own names also. The case of 

 St. Finn Barr of Cork illustrates this. According to his life : " When 

 he was tonsured an elder said, fair is the hair of that servant of God." 

 Another elder replied : " Thou hast well said, for his name is changed, 

 and he shall be termed Finn Barr, but he shall not be so spoken of 

 but as Barra." This distinction is observed at the present day, and 

 the Cork people always speak of him as Barra or Barre, while in 

 ecclesiastical language he is Finn Barr. The legendaiy explanation 

 of the name given in the life is an instance of the habit of taking- 

 figurative language literally, so frequent in the ecclesiastical literature 

 of the Middle Ages. The real meaning of Finn Barr is ' holy chief,' 

 or in Latin ' sanctus prsesul.' It would be a singular fact if all the 

 saints into whose name the word Jinn enters had white hair ! 



Such being the early usage as to the word ' white,' what could be 

 more natural than that Melkedar should call his oratory, after the 

 place of his education, ' The White House.' 



It may be objected to the derivation I propose that the primitive 

 word arus is not usually applied to Christian buildings, the term most 

 generally used being tech, a loan word from the Latin. Ariis is, 

 however, occasionally employed in connexion with Christian ideas, as, 

 for instance, by Keating, in his "Three Shafts of Death," several times; 

 but it may have been superseded as a name for a church in conse- 

 quence of its pagan associations. Melkedar' s use of it may be traced 

 to his early recollection of Aras-Celtchair, the ancestral residence of his 

 family. His history is little known, because the scene of his labours 

 was remote, but his memory is perpetuated by these buildings, and 

 especially by the Oratory of Gallerus which has weathered the Atlan- 

 tic gales for 1300 years, and is still as perfect as when it was built. 



