St Maelruan's Zen

As a modern satellite of Dublin, Tallaght might not want to be remembered for its original name of ‘Taimhleacht Muintire Parthalóin’  meaning ‘The plague-burial place of the Parthalóns’.  9,000 of those early invaders are said to be buried there.  

It became known as Tamhleacht Maelruan’ (Tallaght of Maelruan), when a reforming monk of that name arrived in 769. The monastery he founded soon became known as one of the ‘Two Eyes of Ireland’ (the other being Finglas, on the opposite side of Dublin). I went to Tallaght recently to see what that might mean.   

As it turned out the only physical trace of Maelruan I came across was his ‘Losset’, a magnificent font that unfortunately dates from a different era. There are no statues of him or tourist boards to remind people of his achievements. However when walking past the nearby Dominican Retreat Centre a thought occurred to me.

Some years ago I was part of a challenging three-day Zen retreat there. Led by an American lady dressed in the robes of a Japanese Zen Master, it introduced us to strict Japanese Buddhist practices -- long meditations sitting on the floor, reciting scripture, silence, simple food and early rising.  It was a comforting but not comfortable experience.

Although those activities had an exotic edge at that time, on my recent return to Tallaght I realised that they were not unlike what Maelruan was trying to restore at Tallaght over a thousand years earlier.

The Christianity that first came to Ireland had roots in the demanding spiritual discipline of the ‘Desert Fathers’ as described by John Cassian and others. Physical and mental restraint were taught through the same physical and mental practices found in Zen: long spells of communal and personal prayer, silence, fasting and a simple lifestyle. The example set by those monasteries inspired ordinary Irish people until Norman times and beyond.

Inevitably the more testing practices were relaxed and abuses began to creep in so a movement known as the ‘Celi De’ (People of God) emerged to restore the original spirit. Maelruan was one of its leaders and much of what we know about the group comes from documents such as his ‘The Rule of Tallaght’ that have survived in libraries and museums.

Finglas was the second ‘Eye of Ireland’ but there were other centres I had visited without realising their role -- Terryglass, Derrynaflann, Lorrha, Clones and Castledermot (Díseart Diarmada). Numerous ‘Diseart’ hermitages for ascetics sprung up around the country at that time.

Many questions remain about Celi De – who started it and how wide was its influence? Clues can be found in the Tallaght documents but also in an artistic expressions (as Zen had) that, for Ireland, were expressed in Round Towers, High Crosses and illuminated manuscripts.

Today little physical trace of Maelruan can be seen in Tallaght but his spirit lives on in the poems of his manuscripts:

‘Melodious music the birds performTo the king of the heaven of clouds,Praising the radiant king,Hark from afar to the choir of the birds.’