Saints

Caillín (fl. late 6th/early 7th cent.), patron saint of Fenagh (Fidnacha Maige Réin), Co. Leitrim, has no published Life and the extant accounts of him, all late, are almost entirely imaginary. Yet the archaeological evidence for his foundation at Fenagh and his…

Caimín (d. 654), founder of the monastery of Inis Celtra on the island of Lough Derg, near Scariff, Co. Clare, is said to have been a half-brother to Guaire Aidni (qv) (d. 663), king of Connacht. Although his pedigree, which makes him…

Caínchomrac (d. 791), bishop of the church of St Cainnech (qv) (d. 600/03) at Finnglas (Finglas, Co. Dublin) and confessor to Dublittir (qv), one of the founders of the Céli Dé movement, is…

Cainnech (d. 600/03), son of Luigthech, founder and first abbot of Achad Bó in Osraige (Aghaboe, Co. Laois) and saint in the Irish tradition, probably belonged to the lineage of Corco Dalláin. There are marked difficulties, however, in relation to his ancestry, his early…

Cainner (Cannera) (6th cent.?), foundress of Cluain Cláraid and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged to the old north Munster population group of Corcu Óchae. Despite a degree of genealogical confusion, it seems reasonable to identify her with Cainner daughter of Fintan. According…

Caintigern (Kentigerna) (d. 734), anchoress of Loch Lomond and saint in the Irish tradition, was daughter of Cellach Cualann (qv), Uí Máil overking of Leinster, but it is not clear which of his successive wives was her mother. She…

Cairnech (fl. 5th/6th cent.), a saint reputedly of Welsh or Cornish origin and known outside Ireland as Carannog, was probably born in the region of Cardigan (Dyfed) in south-west Wales, but his travels brought him into contact with places in Ireland, Cornwall, and…

Camelacus (Cáemlach?, Camulacus) ( fl. 5th cent.), an almost unknown saint in the Irish tradition, is mentioned in the late seventh-century ‘Collectanea’ of Tírechán (qv) in the Book of Armagh (f. 11r a): ‘And crossing the River…

Carthach (Mochuta) (d. 637), monastic founder, was a son of Fínall and member of the Ciarraige Luachra group (Co. Kerry). He became abbot of the monastery of Rahan in Uí Néill territory (Co. Offaly), whence he was expelled in 636 (AU; Ann. Inisf. 638) and went south to Déisi…

Cathaldus (7th cent.), bishop of Taranto, was originally perhaps from Lismore (Co. Waterford). According to one late tradition, he was born in Ireland in the seventh century and educated in the monastery of Lismore. Later he became a bishop and ministered in Munster for some years…

Cellach (d. mid 6th cent.), monastic founder and supposed bishop of Killala (Cell Alaid), appears among the saints of the Uí Fhiachrach of Connacht in ‘Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae’, where Walsh suggests that this may be ‘Cellán Ua Fiachrach’, who appears in…

Cianán (d. 489) of Damliac (Duleek, Co. Meath) was one of the bishops who succeeded St Patrick (qv). The saint's genealogies give his descent through Sétnae, son of Tadc, son of Cian, son of…

Ciar (d. 681), foundress and first abbess of Cell Chéire, and saint in the Irish tradition, was closely associated with north Munster, especially the territories of Múscraige Tíre (on the shores of Lough Derg) and Arada Tíre (barony of Owney and Arra, Co. Tipperary). Ciar's father…

Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (c.512–545) was the founder of the greatest monastic establishment of early Christian Ireland after Armagh. The Latin and Irish Lives of Ciarán have been taken to derive from a ninth-century recension kept at Clonmacnoise, their historical value…

Ciarán of Saigir (5th cent.) was a monastic founder who became patron saint of the diocese of Ossory. According to the various recensions of his Life, he was born on Clear Island off the south-west coast of Cork, a member of the Osraige on the side of his father Lugna, and of the…

Cóelfhind (mod. Ir. Caelainn, Caoilinn) (6th cent.), foundress of Termonmore and saint in the Irish tradition, was (according to the genealogies) daughter of Cóel son of Finchad of the Ciarraige Aí of Connacht, and Medb daughter of Garbán, who belonged to the Uí Saithgil line of…

Cóemgen (Kevin) (d. 618/22), founder and first abbot of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, and saint in the Irish tradition, is linked genealogically with the proto-historic Laigin dynasty of Dál Messin Corb. Although there is nothing inherently improbable about this link (the tradition that…

Cogitosus (fl. c.650), grandson of Aéd, was author of a Latin Life of St Brigit (qv) of Kildare written not much later than 650, possibly the earliest extant specimen of Irish hagiography. In the epilogue…

Colgu (d. 796) grandson of Duinechaid, lector of Clonmacnoise and, according to some sources, author of a devotional litany known as ‘Scuap Chrábaid’, may be the same Colcu with whom the English scholar Alcuin corresponded concerning the victories of Charlemagne, addressing him as…

Colmán (d. 604?) son of Léiníne, saint and poet, is patron of the church of Cloyne, east Co. Cork, which first attained more than local importance at the synod of Kells–Mellifont (1152), when it became the seat of a bishopric. Prior to this it is scarcely noticed in the annals,…

Colmán (d. 654) of the moccu Thellduib, bishop and abbot of Clonard and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged (as his kin-group designation indicates) to the minor dynasty of Uí Lóscáin of Leinster. He would therefore have been a member of the lineage attributed to St…

Colmán (d. 676) of Lindisfarne, abbot, bishop, and successor to Fínán (qv) (d. 661) and Áedán (qv) (d. 651), was born around the beginning of the seventh century. He is chiefly known for his advocacy…

Colmán Elo (c.560–611) of the moccu Béognae was monastic founder of the church of Lann Elo (Lynally, near Durrow, Co. Offaly), whence he derives his epithet, which has caused some confusion in bringing about the creation of a separate Colmán Elo (or Ela). Some sources…

Colmán (Mo-Cholm-Óc) (fl. 6th cent.), bishop and patron of Dromore diocese, was born into the Dál nAraide (in modern Co. Antrim), according to one of his Latin Lives. He is named in the genealogies of the saints as ‘Mocholmóc m. Conrathain m. Corcrain’. The sources…

Coloman (Colmán) (d. 1012), an Irish pilgrim to the Holy Land, was mistaken for a spy because of his strange appearance, and was taken captive, tortured, and hanged at Stockerau, near Vienna, Austria, on 16 July 1012. Later tradition has it that he was the son of…