Oengus

NINTH CENTURY. Irish monk. Member of the monastic community at Tallaght, near Dublin, he is frequently referred to as Oengus the Culdee, a term that indicates his simple faith and earnest devotion to Christ. He is best known as the author of a litany which throws light on the influence of the Eastern Syrian Church on the monastic life of the Celtic Church.* It commemorates the fact that large numbers of scholars from the Middle East sought refuge in Ireland in the eighth and ninth centuries. They built round towers for their protection and introduced a study of Hebrew and Greek in the monastic settlement. Oengus gives lists of bishops and pilgrims who lived in groups of seven. The oldest copy of his work, about 1200, is in the Franciscan Convent on Merchant's Quay, Dublin. In addition he wrote The Martyrology of Tallaght and Saltair na Rann, a poem on OT history.