A saintly bishop, Banbán of Leighlin, is commemorated on the Irish calendars on November 26. The earliest, the Martyrology of Oengus, records him as:

‘Banbán a sparkling mass of gold’ 

and the scholiast notes add:

‘Banbán, i.e. bishop of Lethglenn’.

The 12th-century Martyrology of Gorman records him as:

‘vigorous Banbán’ 

and it too has a gloss:

‘bishop of Lethglenn: of the Corco-Duibni was he’.

The 17th-century Martyrology of Donegal combines the information in its entry:

26. A. SEXTO KAL. DECEMBRIS. 26.

BANBHAN, Bishop, of Lethghlinn. He was of the Corca Duibhne.

I was hoping that I might be able to find some further information in the diocesan history of Kildare and Leighlin by the Rev. Michael Comerford, but he makes no mention of our bishop in the list of those who occupied this see. A note by the translator of the Annals of Ulster says that:

The Felire of Oengus at 26 November mentions a Banbán, Bishop of Leighlin, of the Corco-Duibhne, who is not noticed in Ware’s list of the bishops of that diocese.

and warns that our saint of 26 November should not be confounded with another saint of the same name who is known as ‘Banbán the Wise’ and whose feastday is given in the Martyrology of Donegal on May 9. He died, according to the Annals, in the year 720.

W. M. Hennessy, ed. and trans., The Annals of Ulster – A Chronicle of Irish Affairs from A.D. 431 to A.D. 1540, Volume 1 (Dublin, 1887), 176-177.

It would thus seem that although the feast of our Saint Banbán is well-attested in the Calendars, the Annalists and the later compilers of the lists of episcopal succession of Leighlin have not noticed him. Eoin Neeson comments:

BANBHAN or Banvan, bishop of Leighlin about whom nothing else is known. His name is interesting as it might be an indication that he was the first native Irish bishop in that area, Banba being a name for Ireland.

E. Neeson, The Book of Irish Saints (Cork, 1967), 206-207.

I’m not sure what to make of that curious suggestion. I agree that the name is interesting, but the existence of Banbán the Wise shows that it is not unique, unless of course, we are dealing with another feast of the same individual. The founding Bishop of the see of Leighlin is held to be the 6th/7th-century Saint Laserian or Molaise, whose feastday is commemorated on April 18. He, however, found a monastery already established at the site by Saint Gobban, who relinquished the abbacy to Laserian in fulfilment of a heavenly vision of a coming saintly stranger who would gather together in that place as many servants of God as there were angels in the heavenly host. Dr Comerford’s history reconstructs the list of successors to Saint Laserian only from the year 725 and does not mention our saint Banbán among them. Perhaps it is possible that he was one of the earlier abbot/bishops and flourished sometime in the period between the death of Saint Laserian in 639 and the death of Saint Manchen of Leighlin in 725, the first of the founder’s successors recorded by the Irish Annals.

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September 26 is the commemoration of Saint Colman of Lann Elo, author of that wonderful collection of Irish monastic wisdom, The Alphabet of Devotion. This famous saint Colman shares his feast with another lesser-known saint of the same name, Colman of Ros Branduibh, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

St. Colman, of Ros Branduibh.

We read in the published Martyrology of Tallagh that veneration was given, at the 26th of September, to Colman, of Ruis Branduib… A similar entry is found, at this date, in the Book of Leinster copy. Where Ruis or Ros Branduib was located we cannot ascertain. At the 26th of September, Marianus O’Gorman notices the festival of a second Colman of Ross. In a Manuscript Calendar of Professor Eugene O’Curry, Colman is named, likewise, for this day. There is a Rosbran, in the parish of St. John’s, partly in the baronies of Narragh and Reban West, County of Kildare, and partly in the barony of Ballyadams, Queen’s County. This is probably the nearest Irish denomination, approaching to Ros Branduibh, which can now be found; but, it is possible, some better identification may be imagined. At this same date, the Martyrology of Donegal records the name Colman, of Ros-Branduibh.

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September 6 is the feast day, or perhaps more accurately, one of the feast days of Saint Giallán. Canon O’Hanlon brings only a very brief entry:

St. Giallan. 

 In the Martyrology of Tallagh, we read, that veneration was given to Giallan, at the 6th of September. In that copy contained in the Book of Leinster, his name is to be found at the same date. Nothing more seems to be known regarding him.