Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 19.djvu/44

Finnchu his crozier in battle.' Ciar Cuircech, nephew of the king of Kerry, having been sent adrift on account of suspected treason, had been taken by pirates, and was retained by them as guide, and for three autumns they harried Kerry, and carried off the corn. The king sent for his relative, Finnchu (the Ciarraige and Finnchu's mother being both of the seed of Ebir). The saint came to the rescue, and 'his wrath arose against the maurauders, and the howling and rending of a hound possessed him on that day, wherefore the name of Finnchu [fair hound] clave to him.' Ciar was spared by Finnchu, who took him away, and placed him in the territory since called from him Kerrycurrihy, in the county of Cork. The last warlike adventure in which Finnchu was engaged was the repelling an invasion of the Clanna Neill. The people of Munster, who were then without an overking, elected Cairbre Cromm, a man of royal descent, who was at this time 'in waste places hunting wild swine and deer.' He consented to lead them on condition that Finnchu accompanied him. On coming in sight of the enemies' camp the Munster men 'flinch from the fight in horror of the Clanna Neill,' but stirred by the warning of Finnchu that not a homestead would be left to them if they did not fight, they gained the victory. Cairbre Cromm was then made king of Munster, but being dissatisfied with his appearance, as 'his skin was scabrous,' he besought Finnchu to bestow a goodly form on him, and the saint 'obtained from God his choice of form for him.' His shape and colour were then changed, so that he was afterwards Cairbre the Fair. After this he made a vow that he would not henceforth be the cause of any battles. He gave his blessing to the rulers of Munster, and they promised to pay the firstlings of cows, sheep, and swine to him and his successors, together with an alms 'from every nose in Fermoy.' Then he went to his own place, and thence it is said to Rome, for he was penitent for the battles and deeds he had done for love of brotherhood. He is associated in Oengus with two foreign saints, Mammes and Cassian. Little of a religious character appears in the present life, but in Oengus he is said to have been 'a flame against guilty men,' and that 'he proclaimed Jesus.' His religion appears to have chiefly consisted in ascetic practices of an extreme character. He was supposed to lie the first night in the same grave with every corpse buried in his church. In an Irish stanza current in the north of the county of Cork he is associated with Molagga, Colman of Cloyne, and Declan, all very early saints, and he is termed 'Finnchu the ascetic.' The anachronisms in this life are more formidable than usual, but may possibly be explained by the habit of using the name of a well-known king for the reigning sovereign, as in the case of Pharaoh and Caesar. The year of his death is not on record, but it must have been a long time after he left Bangor, which was in 608. His day is 25 Nov. [The Irish life in the Book of Lismore, translated by Whitley Stokes, D.C.L. ; Martyrology of Donegal, p. 317; Reeves's Eccles. Antiq. of Down, &c., p. 381 ; Calendar of Oengus, cxix, clxxii.]  FINNERTY, PETER (1766?–1822), journalist, born in or about 1766, was the son of a trader at Loughrea in Galway. He was brought up as a printer in Dublin, and became the publisher of 'The Press,' a nationalist newspaper started by Arthur O'Connor in September 1797. The violence of that journal caused it to be prosecuted by the government. On 22 Dec. 1797 Finnerty was tried before the Hon. William Downes, one of the justices of the court of king's bench in Ireland, upon an indictment for a seditious libel. The prosecution was instituted in consequence of the publication of a letter signed 'Marcus,' on the subject of the conviction and execution of William Orr, a presbyterian farmer, on a charge of administering the United Irish oath to a private in the Fifeshire Fencibles. Finnerty refused to divulge the writer's name, and, although John Philpot Curran made a most eloquent speech in his defence, he was found guilty. The sentence was that he should stand in and upon the pillory for the space of one hour ; that he should be imprisoned for two years from 31 Oct. 1797 (the day he was arrested) ; that he should pay a fine of 20l. to the king ; and that he should give security for his future good behaviour for seven years from the end of his imprisonment, himself in 500l., and two sureties in 250l. each. The whole of this sentence was eventually carried into effect. Finnerty, on 30 Dec., stood for one hour in the pillory opposite the sessions house in Green Street, in the presence of an immense concourse of sympathising spectators. He was accompanied by some of the leading men in the country. On being released from the pillory he said to the people : 'My friends, you see how cheerfully I can suffer I can suffer anything, provided it promotes the liberty of my country.' The crowd cheered this brief address enthusiastically, but they were quickly dispersed by the military (, State Trials, xxvi. 902-1018;, Speeches, 2nd edit, by Davis, p. 276). On regaining his liberty Finnerty came to 