OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Leitrim

  • Saint Tocomracht of Conmaicne, June 11

    At June 11, Canon O’Hanlon has a notice of a female saint, Tocomracht, immediately followed by that of a saint Tochumra. He suspects that they may be one and the same person, which does indeed appear to be the case. Although Canon O’Hanlon was unable to associate this holy lady with a locality, in his 2011 Dictionary of \Irish Saints Pádraig Ó Riain was able to place her in Kiltoghert (Ceall Tochomhracht), County Leitrim. He confirms her status as an intercessor for women in labour, mediated via her bejewelled bell, noted in a seventeenth-century list. He also notes that as her name and association with the people of the Conmhaicne suggest, she also had a cultus in Connacht. Below are Canon O’Hanlon’s individual entries for the saint, taken from Volume VI of his Lives of the Irish Saints:

    Tocomracht, Virgin.

    The Martyrologies of Tallagh, and of Donegal, mention that Tocomracht, Virgin, of Conmaicne, had veneration paid her, at the 11th of June. The latter Calendar only gives the territory, with which she had been connected; but, as this territorial designation is applied in composition with different localities, it is not so easy to determine where the present saint lived. At this date, also, in the Rev. Alban Butler’s work, and in the Circle of the Seasons, St. Tochumra, Virgin, is found entered.

    St. Tochumra. Virgin.

    There is apparently another St. Tochumra, Virgin, whose feast occurs at 11th of June, in Butler’s Lives of the Saints, where we are told, she belonged to the diocese of Kilmore, and that she was much honoured in Ireland, being invoked by women in labour. Colgan could discover no Acts of her. Likewise, in the Circle of the Seasons, we have the name of this St. Tochumra entered. It is likely, she is not a different person from the preceding Tocomracht.

    Note: The introduction to this post was updated in 2025.

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  • Saint Tigernach of Doire-Mella, November 4

    November 4 is the feastday of Saint Tigernach of Doire-Melle. The Martyrology of Donegal records:

    4. G. PRIDIE NONAS NOVEMBRIS. 4.

    TIGHERNACH, of Doire-Melle. Mella was the name of his mother, and she was the mother also of Cainnech the priest.

    We met the mother of Saint Tigernach on the commemoration of her feast day when Canon O’Hanlon recorded:

    Some account of this holy woman is given by Colgan and by the Bollandists. St. Mella flourished, about the middle of the eighth century, in the northern parts of the Connaught province. This, has been inferred, from the circumstance of her son St. Tighernach’s death, having been recorded, at A.D. 805. The devout matron, by God’s holy decree, was the happy mother of two sons, whose names are found on record, in the pages of our Irish Martyrologies. These are named respectively, St. Cannech, a Priest, and St. Tigernach, an Abbot. Having been deprived of her husband, by death, she afterwards formed the resolution of embracing a religious life. St. Tigernach erected a religious house, near Lough Melve,—now known as Lough Melvin,—in the county of Leitrim, and within the diocese of Killmore. He left this establishment, in favour of his mother; and, he then retired to another monastery, named Kill-Acaidh, or “the church of the field,” the situation of which is unknown.

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  • Saint Sistan of Lough Melge, July 17

    The memory of a saint associated with Lough Melvin and described as a priest is preserved in the Irish calendars on July 17. This is really the only detail we have and Canon O’Hanlon thus starts off his account of Saint Sistan or Siostan of Lough Melvin with some romantic musings on how the very soil of Ireland has been hallowed by the remains of its long-forgotten holy men:

    St. Sistan or Siostan, Priest, of Loch Melge, now Lough Melvin, Counties, of Fermanagh and Leitrim.

    The merits of several holy servants have ascended like incense before the throne of God, and have secured his rewards. However, hardly can the patient pilgrim even alight on the sod, where their bodies rest. Yet, their undiscovered remains have sanctified that earth, with which they have long since mingled. Record or vestige of many holy persons that once existed in our Island can hardly be found ; still a magical spell, like an indescribable charm, hallows the surrounding lovely scenes, blessed with their presence during life. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 17th day of July, is the following entry: Sistan sac. for Loch Melge. From the contraction sac. meaning sogarth we may probably conclude that he had been a priest. The Lough Melge, now Lough Melvin, with which he was connected, is a beautiful sheet of water, bordering on the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim ; but, it lies chiefly within the bounds of the latter county. From the shores of Lough Melvin, its former holy inhabitants have departed long ago from the scenes of this life. Their souls have been received into a brighter and happier world. The Martyrology of Donegal records a festival in honour of Siostan, Priest, of Loch Melghe, at the 17th of July. In a table appended to this record, this saint’s name is Latinized Xistus.
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