204 Proceedings of th.e Royal TrisJi Academy. 



confidence of tlie faitLiul tumecl it into a relic, upon ^hieh nsnrpers, 

 prBTaxicators, and oppressors, against whom there existed no other 

 defence, \rere made to swear, witli the certainty that a perjury 

 committed on so dear and sacred a pledge "vrould not pass unpunished. 

 It "vras also to Bega and the "bracelet that the cultivators of the soil 

 had recourse against new and unjust taxes with which their Lords 

 burdened them." 



In the "Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography" (1865) 

 there is a notice of her by .John F. "Waller, ll.t)., ii.E.r.A., Hon. Sec, 

 R. D. S., as follows: ^^ Bega, Saint, a native of Ireland, according 

 to Butler ; but Dempter asserts that she was bom in Scotland, misled 

 probably by the earlier writers on hagiology, who are accustomed to 

 call Ireland ' Scotia.' Be this as it may, she was a virgin of great 

 sanctity, and spent her life in retirement and devotion in Carlisle, 

 where she died in the latter half of the seventh century. A religious 

 house was established in her honour, and the 7th of September is 

 observed in memory of her. — J. P. W." 



Prom the whole of these citations it may be concluded that, so far 

 as ascertainable, there is a tradition that the two churches were 

 dedicated to a St. Bega, or St. Begnet, " a virgin but not a martyr," 

 whose festival is stated to have been celebrated on the 12tTi November. 

 It is equally clear that more than one saint and virgin bearing the 

 name of Begh.a^ ^^9^^ or ^^93^ is mentioned in the ancient records 

 bearing on the subject, and that up to the present it has not been 

 possible to determine the particular St. Bega to whom the churches 

 were said to be dedicated, otherwise than by the date of the festival. 

 ]!^ow there is no saint of this name having a festival in the month of 

 November mentioned in any of the works cited. If, however, it were 

 allowable by way of argument to assume that there is a possible 

 confusion between the names "Begnet" and " Benen," we have a 

 possible clue in the accotint given of St. Benignus or Benen, who 

 died the 9th November, 468, of whom it is said in Dr. Healy's 

 "Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum," p. 95: "Benignus, son of 

 Sescnin, Bishop of Armagh, died 9tli November., 468," p. 95. The 

 death of Benignus is thus noticed in the " llartyrology of Donegal": 

 ^'November 8th. Benignus, i.e. Benen, son of Siscnen, disciple of 

 St. Patrick, and his successor that of Primate of Armagh. He was 

 a virgin without ever defiling his virginity." 



This would furnish a date for the festival very close to that 

 mentioned, viz., the 12th. But confining the question to the determi- 

 nation of the particular St. Bega or Begnet, to whom the church 



