St Moling No 28
Did you know there are 300 or more Irish saints because we said so, it was only when Rome got involved that rules and verifiable miracles became a must. Every town and parish has a saint sure supporting the next parishes Saint is like a Cork man supporting the Dublin football team,its just not on.
St Moling was eighty-two when he died AD 696 according to the “Annals of the four Masters “and was buried in his own monastery in St Mullins, Teach Moling “The House of Moling”. We have this pal from Cavan and the cheek of her trying to claim that St Moling is buried up in Cavan, what some people will do to claim a Saint. Sure, we all know he is buried up above in our grave yard by his own monastery with the Men of 1798, Chieftains, Generals and the Mad Sweeney. The width and the breath of the country they have wells called after the man sure he must have been a great fellow to travel. Where he got the time, I don’t know and he building a mill race all by himself with a shovel, no tractors or JCB’S in them times. For seven long years he toiled all the way from Glynn, he refused to wash or drink until it was finished, some man some whiff! Moling had to be making up for some very Big Black sin and all the local lads dying to give him a hand. He is credited with introducing rye into Ireland and was way ahead of the Normans who were the real milling experts.
St Moling descended from the race of Cathair Mor of the Leinster men and the High Kings of Ireland nothing less. He was born in Hy-Kinsellagh which is County Carlow and Wexford today and an Angel came down from Heaven when he was just a babby and blessed him so he would become a Christian monk. St Moling is linked with the character Suibhne Geilt also known as the mad Sweeney who was speared by Mongan the pig herder to the Abbeys of St Moling and he was buried up beside the great man himself. Another crowd of Kerry men are claiming he was born in Sliabh Luachra it’s like the Irish claiming that every American presidents Great grandad came from their village, Lordi Lord.
He set up a monastery in Ross Broc (Badger Wood) in the 7t century which is now called St Mullins just above the River Barrow in South County Carlow in a place called Aghacainidh (Kennedys Field) During Molings time the people of Kilkenny and South Carlow owed allegiance to the King of Leinster. The locals got tired of the king and his taxes so they rebelled which wasn’t a good idea because he came down with his army and devastated the area taking all their herds of cattle and livestock. The king imposed huge taxes taking hundreds of cattle each year and impoverished the poor auld peasants so they could barely live. St Moling went to see the King and made a deal with him, well not really a deal he pulled the wool over the kings’ eyes but the king was powerless as Moling had supernatural powers. All the goods were returned to the locals of St Mullins and Kilkenny (Ossory) who built a church in St Mullins to commemorate this event and it was called Thomple na-bo (The Church of the Cows). In the bad times of the Catholic Church children who were not baptised were buried in the grounds of this church as the church would not let them into the proper grave yard,can you believe that for Christianity
Moling was also the Bishop of Glendalough and Ferns, he was associated with myths fables, curses and cures and people came in their thousands to ask for his help in keeping the plague of 14th century away from their villages.
Author Martin O’Brien
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