Williams, Bernadette, “The Latin Franciscan Anglo-Irish
Annals of Medieval Ireland.” Ph.D. dissertation, University
of Dublin, Trinity College, 1991.
———.“The Annals of Friar John Clyn—Provenance and
Bias.” Archivum Hibernicum47 (1993): 65–77.
See alsoAnglo-Irish Annals; Black Death;
Kilkenny; Leinster
COARBS
SeeChurch Reform, Twelfth Century;
Ecclesiastical Organization
COGITOSUS (f l. c.650)
Cogitosus (Ua hAédo) was an Irish monk and author.
It is likely that the unusual nom-de-plume Cogitosus is
a translation of the rare Irish name Toimtenach. He may
be the same Toimtenach of Mainister Emín (Monasterevin)
mentioned in the genealogies. He was author of a
Latin Life of St. Brigit of Kildare (d. 525) written not
much later than 650, and therefore the earliest extant
piece of hagiography in Hiberno-Latin. It is written
in an unpretentious Latin style, his aim throughout
being to emphasize the presence of God’s power in
Brigit, manifested through her miracles, her great faith
in God, and her charity toward the poor.
In the epilogue he addresses himself as “the blame-
worthy descendant of Aed.” The Áed to whom he
claims relationship is probably Áed Dub, bishop
andabbot of Kildare (d. 639), a member of the Uí
Dúnlainge dynasty of the northern Laigin. He states
that he was “compelled in the name of obedience” by
the community of Kildare to write a Life of their
foundress. We know from other sources that Brigit’s
church was at Kildare, though Cogitosus nowhere
mentions it in the text, nor does he tell us that he was
a member of it. Muirchú moccu Machthéni claimed
Cogitosus as his spiritual father and the first hagiog-
rapher among the Irish in the prologue to his Life of
Patrick.
It is probable, judging from similarities between the
material in Cogitosus and the later lives of Brigit,
especially Vita I, that Cogitosus drew from existing
written material that had preserved some traditions of
her life and miracles. He states that Kildare claimed
to be “the head of almost all the Irish churches with
supremacy over all the monasteries of the Irish and its
paruchiaextends over the whole land of Ireland, reach-
ing from sea to sea” (Prol. 4). It was a double foun-
dation, with one monastery for monks, including some
priests, with a prior over them, and another for nuns,
ruled by an abbess. Its first bishop was Conláed, asked
by Brigit to become bishop so “that he might govern
the church with her in the office of bishop and that her
churches might not lack in priestly orders” (Prol. 5).
Kildare’s importance through her contacts abroad is
shown by Conláed having obtained his episcopal vest-
ments from overseas. Cogitosus’ description of the
basilica at Kildare is a unique seventh-century eyewit-
ness account of the structure and furniture of an Irish
church. It had three chapels—containing painted pic-
tures, an ornate altar, and the sarcophagi of Brigit and
Conláed, “adorned with a refined profusion of gold,
silver, gems and precious stones with gold and silver
chandeliers hanging from above” (§ 32), all under one
roof—that served as a place of worship for both com-
munities and for laity and pilgrims together. We are
told that Kildare was one of the greatest centers of
pilgrimage in Ireland, “a vast metropolitan city and the
safest city of refuge in the whole land of the Irish for
all fugitives, and the treasures of kings are kept there”
(32.9).
AIDAN BREENReferences and Further Reading
Connolly, S., and J.-M. Picard. “Cogitosus’ Life of Brigit.”
(Trans.) Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ire-
land117 (1987): 5–27.
Esposito, M. “On the Earliest Latin Life of St. Brigit of Kildare.”
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy30 C (1912):
307–326.
———.“Notes on Latin Learning and Literature in Medieval
Ireland 1.6: Cogitosus. (c.620–680).” Hermathena20, no.
45 (1926–1930): 225–260, at 251–257.
Mc Cone, K. “Brigit in the Seventh Century: A Saint with Three
Lives.” Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland
1 (1982): 107–145.
Ó Briain, F. “Brigitana.” Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 36
(1976): 112–137.
Sharpe, R. “Vitae S Brigitae: The Oldest Texts.” Peritia: Journal
of the Medieval Academy of Ireland1 (1982): 811–106.
See alsoBrigit; Ecclesiastical Organization;
Ecclesiastical Settlements; Hagiography and
Martyrologies; Hiberno-Latin; Patrick;
Uí DúnlaingeCOINAGEThe Earlier Middle Ages
It is an academic cliché that Ireland was a coinless
society throughout the first millennium A.D. Small num-
bers of coins from the Roman world circulated in Ireland
in the early centuries A.D., but were not used as currency
and were probably kept as curiosities or for their bullion
value. The cliché still holds good for most of the first
millennium, but its applicability in the ninth and tenth
centuries is increasingly questioned. Proper coin usageCLYN, FRIAR JOHN (d. 1349?)