OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Irish Saints

  • Saint Croine of Tallaght, February 25

    On February 25 we commemorate a County Dublin holy woman, Croine of Tallaght. Sadly, apart from her commemoration on the calendars, there is nothing else known of her, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    St. Croine, Virgin, of Tallagh, County of Dublin.

    Croine, Virgin, of Tamhlacht, is mentioned in the Martyrologies of Tallagh and of Donegal, on this day. A community of holy women seems to have been established at her place, in the county of Dublin. This virgin’s name is not found, elsewhere, in history.

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  • Saint Fechin the Priest, February 22

    All of the Irish calendars, from the earliest through to the latest, record the name of a priest named Fechin at February 22. Alas, this is the extent of the information we have on this holy man. Canon O’Hanlon can make only this brief entry:

    St. Fechin, a Priest.

    A Feicin, or Fechin, a Priest, we find mentioned in the Martyrologies of Tallagh, of Marianus O’Gorman, and of Donegal, as having a festival on this day. A notice occurs, likewise, in the Bollandists’ work.

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  • Saint Cronan of Cill Beg, February 21

    Among the Irish saints commemorated on 21 February is one simply recorded on the calendars as Cronan of Cill Beg or Kilbeg, a place name which translates to ‘small church’.  Canon O’Hanlon’s account demonstrates how important local traditions of popular devotion can be in helping to identify the location where a saint flourished:
    St. Cronan, of Cill Beg, or Kilbeg.

    We find Cronan Cille Bicci, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 21st of February. Where “the little church,” to which he had been attached, was situated, can hardly be determined with accuracy… [The author proceeds to give dozens of examples of the placename Kilbeg from every corner of Ireland]… The foregoing denominations must probably include the changed form of the present saint’s former place; but, without some local tradition of a pattern or saint’s day corresponding, it would not be possible to decide on any one spot. In conclusion, we find Cronan, of Cill Beg, is set down in the Martyrology of Donegal, as being venerated on this day.

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