See of Ardmore

Walsh Appendix II p. 840

See of Ardmore county of Watcrford St Declan was bishop and founder of this see Declan was descended of Ercus prince of the Desii and by his exalted virtues obtained universal respect and veneration Declan flourished in the fifth century and became eminently distinguished during a considerable portion of the sixth The precise period in which he founded the see of Ardmore is not exactly known but it must have been some years after the death of St Patrick This saint is mentioned as one of the four prelates who were officiating in Ireland prior to the arrival of St Patrick the year of his death AD 527 which took place shortly after that of St Ailbe of Emly is quite sufficient to refute such an assertion Of his missionary labors in the territory over which he presided and of his exalted virtues and sanctity there is abun dant evidence in the martyrologies of Dungall and Aengus

The ruins of the once celebrated cathedral of Ardmore with its round tower hanging on an eminence over the ocean still exist as a monument of the piety and religion of former times and still remind the traveller of those days of her splendor and independence in which Ireland adorned her domestic altars and erected others in the lands of the stranger