Irish Saints
Saint Brigid
         

Patron of babies, blacksmiths, cows and dairy workers, Ireland, midwives, poets, sailors, scholars, and travelers

  
Feast Day 1 Feb
          According to legend, Brigid was born into slavery, the natural daughter of a Christian slave and the pagan chieftain who was her master. Renowned for her generosity, Brigid eventually won her freedom after her father grew tired of her giving away his belongings to beggars and lepers. In another story, it is told how Brigid prayed that her beauty might be taken from her, in order to deter any suitors seeking her hand in marriage. Her prayer was answered, but her beauty was restored after she took her nun's vows.

Many other unverifiable anecdotes about Brigid also tell of her charity and happy temperament. What is known for certain, however, is that she founded the first religious community for Irish women, at Kildare, and seems to have occupied a privileged place in the Irish church even in her own time. After her death at Kildare, her remains were supposedly moved to Downpatrick, where she was reburied with St. Patrick and St. Columba. With them, she is considered a patron saint of Ireland.		  
             
               
Saint Brendan
Patron of boatmen, sailors, travelers, and whales
Feast Day 16 May
    St Brendan the Navigator was born in County Kerry and according to legend sailed to the Americas sometime in the 5th Century.

One of Ireland’s early saints, St Brendan was born near Tralee in County Kerry, and was ordained by St Erc around 512. St Brendan established monastic settlements at the foot of Mount Brandon on the Dingle peninsula and in later years established his great monastery at Clonfert County Galway, where he is interred.

Amazing stories surround St Brendan most famously of his legendary voyage across the Atlantic in a leather coracle, along with 14 other monks in search of the Garden of Eden. It is believed by many that St Brendan’s voyage brought him to North America, a belief supported by theories that Christopher Columbus relied on the legends of St Brendan for his voyage and even visited, Brendan’s monastery at Clonfert before heading across the Atlantic.		  
             
               
Saint Kevin
Patron of blackbirds, the archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland, and Glendalough, Ireland
Feast Day 3 June
      Like St. Columba, Kevin was born of noble parents and studied for the priesthood from an early age. Unlike his saintly colleague, however, Kevin took to the hills after his ordination rather than the road, becoming a hermit in a cave at Glendalough, or "valley of the two lakes," in County Wicklow. There he wore skins, ate nettles and berries, and prayed. As word of his holiness spread, others came to join him, and Kevin eventually founded a monastery at Glendalough, where he served as abbot until his death at the age of 120.

Not surprising for a hermit, St. Kevin had a special love for animals, which is illustrated in numerous stories about the saint. For example, once, when Kevin had stretched out his arm in prayer, a blackbird laid an egg in his hand. He remained in that position until the baby bird hatched. Another story relates how a cow, given to licking Kevin's clothes while he was praying, gave as much milk as 50 other cows.		  
             
               
Saint Patrick
Patron of Ireland
Feast Day 17 March
        St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints. Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461. Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish. There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story. Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies. As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him. During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain." Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family. He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more." He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.

Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick. Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message. Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well). Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461. He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.

Why a shamrock? Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time. In His Footsteps: Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.