The Irish acre, like our own, contains 160 square poles, but exceeds it in the proportion of 21 squared to 16½ squared, or as 14 squared to 11 squared, as 196 to 121, as 13 to 8 very nearly.
The patron saint selected for this parish by Mr. Hals, is stated to be a Persian of that name, who was seized at Babylon, and delivered to the fury of wild beasts at Rome, which, as in the case of Daniel, became mild and abstained from hurting him; but here the parallel ends, for Valerianus, instead of acknowledging the God of one so miraculously preserved, ordered gladiators immediately to kill the saint, and they obeyed. Reference is made to the Agonal of Baronius; but this saint is little known in England or by English writers.
A much more likely patron may therefore be discovered with Mr. Tonkin, in another St. Senan, of whom Dr. Butler gives the following account:
“St. Senan, Bishop and Confessor, was born in the county of Hy-Conalls in Ireland, about the latter part of the fifth century, and was a disciple of the Abbots Cassiolus and Natal or Naal. He then travelled for spiritual improvement to Rome, and thence into Britain. In this kingdom he contracted a close friendship with St. David. After his return to Ireland he founded many churches; and a great monastery in Inis Cathaig, an island lying at the mouth of the river Shannon, which he governed, and in which he continued to reside after he was advanced to the episcopal dignity. The abbots his successors, for several centuries, were all bishops till this great diocese was divided into three, namely, Limerick, Killaloe, and Ardfert.
“St. Senan died on the same day and year with St. David; but he was honoured in the Irish church on the 8th of March. A town in Cornwall bears the name of St. Senan. See his Acts in Colgan, p. 602.”
The Persian saint is said to be honoured on the 30th of July in the Greek church, so that the parish feast, which is
kept on the nearest Sunday to St. Andrew’s day, has not any reference to either of the supposed patrons.
Sennen measures 2223 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 2148 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 161 | 2 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 431 | in 1811, 495 | in 1821, 637 | in 1831, 689 |