Nath Í (Nathí)

Nath Í (Nathí) (6th cent.?), founder and first bishop of Cúil Foithirbe, and saint in the Irish tradition, is assigned by the genealogists to the Leinster lineage of Dál Messin Corb. His father is named as Senach son of Fergus Láebderc; his mother is not identified. He is three generations earlier than his alleged kinsman Cóemgen (qv) of Glendalough. It seems reasonable to assign his floruit to the first half of the sixth century; on chronological grounds, therefore, he cannot have been (as has been claimed) a student of Máel-ruain (qv) of Tallaght.

Nath Í took episcopal orders, and is included in the list of bishops in the Book of Leinster. He is apparently to be distinguished from a bishop of the same name, brother of one Domoingen, both of whom are listed among the founders of Sruthair Guaire (Shrule, Co. Carlow). The principal church of Nath Í son of Senach is generally identified as Cúil Foithirbe – unlocated, but probably in Dál nAraide (Co. Down). The Martyrology of Tallaght (erroneously it seems) gives his foundation as Cúil Sachaille; efforts have been made to identify this site with Tech Nath Í (Taney, a parish in south Co. Dublin). This argument aside, Nath Í may well have been associated with Taney, which certainly featured among the properties of Glendalough in the medieval period. The first element of the placename, an equivalent to the Latin domus (house), perhaps indicates that some relics of Nath Í were kept there. The year of his death is not recorded. Presumably he died on 1 August, the date on which he is commemorated in the martyrologies.