The Delvin Historical Society first met with Dr. Manfred Peter on the 10th June 2009 when he arrived from Trier in Germany to Delvin. The introduction was made through Fr. Seamus Heaney. P.P. who had welcomed Dr. Peter and his group to Delvin parish on the 25th July 2006 who were following the trail of St. Wendelin’s roots.
The Society’s meeting was in connection with the origins of St. Wendelin. Dr. Peter informed the Society of his theory which has a strong following through the ages. It proposes that the Saint was of Irish origin. The fact that missionary monks during the presumed lifetime of St. Wendelin were Irish lends weights to the theory; it is also most convincing with regard to the historically accepted facts as well to information present in the legend.
The Irish theory gained support from a statement given by the late Cardinal O’Fiach, renowned theologian, historian and linguist in 1989. The Cardinal sees a connection between our Saint’s name and an aristocratic race native to central Ireland/Westmeath. The Cardinal writes in 1989 that he would link the name Wendelincis or Wandalinus to the name Fionnalan or in the old pronunciation Findalan. We know that the name existed because it gave rise to the name O’Fionnalan – the Delvany Chieftains who ruled the County of Westmeath before they were driven out by the Norman DeLacy. To-day the name has become Fenelon – a name which can still be found in Delvin to-day.
On the 25th July 2006 a group of pilgrims from Saarland in Germany travelled to Ireland on the trail of St. Wendelin where they visited Delvin and were met by Fr. Heaney and a welcoming committee.
Dr. Peter informed the group that Delvin lay on the Kings Road from Tara to Connaught and that the King’s Road seems to have played it’s part in spreading the Gospel, as St. Patrick’s is said to have preached to the people of Delvin and visited the ancient monastery at Clonarney which was very close by. Clonarney boasts the extremely well preserved ruins of a church and a cemetery which is still in use today.
This monastery may have been where St. Wendelin was originally supposed to be made Abbot, which would have necessitated his pilgrimage to Rome to obtain the Pope’s blessing. In these days in Ireland, Abbot’s would have been nominated by the Kings and Clan Chieftains and the position of Abbott would be held by one of their own.
One can therefore imagine that as is suggested with legend, his decision not to return to Ireland did not meet with his family’s approval.
St. Wendelin is presumed to have lived in the second half of the 6th centry and to have died around 614 – 617 in Germany. The era of the Saints, the founders of the most significant monasteries were alive during this century. As the Saint lived in an undocumented period for which records, if any existed, have been destroyed.
The question of the Saint’s origin is significant in proving his historical existence which brings us back to the Delvin Historical Society meeting on the 10th June 2009 when we informed Dr. Peter that we, the Society, would help in his quest for the origin of St. Wendelin to be investigated through a “Geophysical Survey” at Clonarney Church Delvin in conjunction with Dr. Roseanne Schot and Dr. Ger Dowling, Dept. of Archaeology from National University of Ireland, Galway. After considerable administration a grant from “The Heritage Council of Ireland” and “the kind permission form the landowners – the Cunning Family”, the geophysical survey commenced late February 2010 with Dr. Schot and Dr. Dowling and with Delvin native historian Michael Murphy as our Project Manager, to identify any potential archaeological features associated with a reputed early monastery on the site.
An area of approximately 1.1 hectare lying directly to the West and South of the graveyard was investigated. A number of features of potential archaeological significance were highlighted. The most intriguing feature is one which may form part of the boundary or termon of an early Christian monastery.
The Delvin Historical Society invited Dr. Schot and Dr. Dowling to give a public lecture on their findings on the 15th July 2010 when we had Dr. Manfred Peter present, to discuss our further research into “St. Wendelin and the Clonarney Connection”.
