Fiacc
Fiacc (d. late 5th cent.), bishop of Sléibte (Sletty, Co. Carlow), was a younger contemporary of St Patrick (qv). The only sources for the life of this obscure bishop are the materials on the life of Patrick, the…...
Fiacre (Fiachra)
Fiacre (Fiachra) (d. c.670) was anchorite bishop of Brie in the district of Meaux in northern France. Biographical information is very sparse; the chief source, the ‘Vita Faronis’ (the Life of Bishop Faro (d. 672) of Meaux), states that Fiacre went to France as a man of…...
Fínán
Fínán (d. 661), monk of Iona and bishop of Lindisfarne, was Irish-born, apparently the son of one Rímid, and was probably of Ulster origin, although his genealogy is not preserved. A priest of the Columban community, he travelled to Northumbria in 652 to take up episcopal office as…...
Fínán Camm
Fínán Camm (6th–7th cent.), founder and first abbot of Cenn Éitig, and saint in the Irish tradition, is traced by the genealogists to the Munster population group of Corco Duibne. His parents are named as Móenach son of Arddae, of the Corco Duibne, and Becnat daughter of Cian of…...
Findbarr (Finbarr)
Findbarr (Finbarr) of Cork. There is scarcely a saint to rival Finbarr of Cork for the number of manuscript copies made of his Life, some thirty in total, not counting twenty-one copies of the same manuscript version made in the 1890s by Patrick Stanton of Cork. Ever since the…...
Findchú
Findchú (6th cent.), founder and first abbot of Brí Gobann and a saint in the Irish tradition, is traced – according to the strongest genealogical tradition – to Clann Branáin of Uí Briúin Bréifne. His father is named as Sétna son of Abra, while a later tradition gives his…...
Finnian (Vinnianus, Findbarr)
Finnian (Vinnianus, Findbarr) , abbot, bishop, reputed founder of the monastery of Cluain Iraird (Clonard, near Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath), and saint in the Irish tradition, was most likely a localisation of the Ulster saint, …...
Finnian (Vinnianus, Findbarr)
Finnian (Vinnianus, Findbarr) (d. 579), abbot and bishop of the monastery of Mag Bile (Movilla, near Newtownards, Co. Down) was a saint in the Irish tradition who seems to have later acquired a number of separate identities, his most notable localisations being as…...
Fintan
Fintan (d. 878), Irish peregrinus and hermit in Rheinau, was (according to his Life) born as a ciues provintiae Laginensis (a freeman of the province of Leinster) and was the son of a soldier in the army of a Leinster king. He was captured and enslaved by the…...
Fintan
Fintan (d. 603) of the moccu Echach, one of the founders of Irish monasticism and abbot-founder of the monastery of Clonenagh (near Mountrath, Co. Laois), is said to have belonged to the Fothairt of Leinster, a branch of the Laigin. Some sources name his father and his mother…...
Fintan
Fintan (d. late 5th cent.), founder and patron of the church of Druim Ing (Dromin, Ardee, Co. Louth), was (according to the later medieval genealogies) son of Éogan son of Cathán of the Cianachta Breg; his mother was Ném of the Luigni. Despite the occurrence of his name in many…...
Fintan (Munnu)
Fintan (Munnu) of the moccu Moíe (d. 637), abbot of Tech Munnu (Taghmon, Co. Wexford) and defender of the Celtic Easter, was son of Tailchán or Tulchán, a member of the Cenél Conaill branch of the Northern Uí Néill. His father was a descendant of Fiachra Róede, whose descendants the…...
Flannán
Flannán (8th cent.), anchorite, founder of Killaloe, and saint in the Irish tradition, is traced to the north Munster dynasty of Dál Cais. His father, Tairdelbach son of Caidléne, himself accorded a reputation for sanctity, was an early ruler of In Déis Becc (in south-east Limerick…...
Foillan (Fáelán)
Foillan (Fáelán) (d. 655), Irish missionary and martyr associated with East Anglia and Fosses (southern Belgium), was a brother of Fursa (qv) (d. 649/50) and Ultan (Ir. Ultán). The earliest sources indicate that his Irish name was…...
Fredianus
Fredianus (d. c.588) of Lucca, Irish peregrinus and bishop, was (according to some sources) son of a king of the Ulaid – though it has been suggested that he may have been a local Tuscan saint whose cult was adopted by later Irish pilgrims to Italy. The tradition…...
Fursa (Fursu, Furseus)
Fursa (Fursu, Furseus) (d. 649/50), Irish missionary abbot and visionary associated with East Anglia and Péronne (in Picardy in northern France), was a brother of Foillan (qv) and Ultan (Ir. Ultán). The brothers are supposed to have been…...
Gallus (Gall)
Gallus (Gall) (c.550–c.645), kinsman and follower of St Columbanus (qv), accompanied the latter on his mission to the Continent sometime before 590. His genealogy gives the Irish form of his name as Gallech and…...
Gerald (Garald)
Gerald (Garald) (d. 726/32) of Mayo, romanising reformer and abbot-bishop of Mag Éo na Saxan, was – according to his fabulous late medieval Life – born in England, son of a certain Cusperius and an unnamed queen. He received his monastic training and education with his three…...
Gobbán (Mo-Gobbóc)
Gobbán (Mo-Gobbóc) (7th cent.) of the moccu Láime, alleged founder of Leighlin and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged (as his tribal designation indicates) to a minor population group, the Lámraige. His tribe was probably of Munster origin, but was also found as an …...
Gobna(i)t
Gobna(i)t , saint, although best known for her connection with the church of Ballyvourney (Bairnech/ Búirnech), west Co. Cork, was patron of many other churches. These included Kilgobnet (Cill Ghobnait/ Ghobnatan) in the parishes of Clondrohid, Kilshannig, and Magourney in Co. Cork…...
Hanger, George
Hanger, George (1751–1824), army officer, author, and eccentric, was born 13 October 1751 in Co. Londonderry, third son of Gabriel Hanger, 1st Lord Coleraine, MP and merchant, and Elizabeth Hanger (née Bond) of Cowbury, Hereford, England. Educated at Reading School and Eton, he…...
Henderson, John
Henderson, John (1757–88), eccentric scholar, was born 27 March 1757 in Co. Limerick (sources say at Ballygarran or Ballegarance, which may be the townland of Ballycarrane), the only son of Richard Henderson, Wesleyan lay preacher, and his first or second wife, whose name may have been…...
Hodnett, George Desmond ('Hoddy')
Hodnett, George Desmond ('Hoddy') (1918–90), musician, journalist and bohemian, was born 25 February 1918 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, son of George Pope Hodnett (1890–1982), soldier, and Lauré Hodnett (née Faschnacht), a native of Switzerland; he had at least one sibling, a brother…...
Iarlaithe (Jarlath)
Iarlaithe (Jarlath) (fl. c.550), founder and first bishop of Tuam, and a saint in the Irish tradition, is traced to the Conmaicne of Connacht. According to the genealogies, his father was Lug son of Dana, who belonged to the Conmaicne, and his mother was Mongfinn…...
Ibar (Ibhar, Iberius, Ivory)
Ibar (Ibhar, Iberius, Ivory) (d. 500?), bishop and founder of Becc-Ériu and a saint in the Irish tradition, was probably of Ulster origin. The genealogies give his father as Lugna son of Corc, who, according to the strongest tradition, was a dynast of the East Ulster Uí Echach. Ibar's…...