Coman of Kinvara was an early

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Irish

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

. Coman is the patron saint of St. Coman's Church,

Kinvara Kinvara or Kinvarra () is a sea port village in the southwest of County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kinvarradoorus in the north of the Barony (Ireland), barony of Kiltartan. Kinvarra is also ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The church is situated on a hillock within the town but has been abandoned since the late 19th century and is severely neglected. Little is known of Coman. He appears to belong to the early historic era of Ireland; the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

'' noted the death of

Ailbhe of Ceann Mhara Ailbhe of Ceann Mhara (died 814) was an Irish cleric. Biography The Annals of the Four Masters list Ailbhe among a series of notable deaths in Ireland during the year 814. ''Indrechtach, epscop Cille Mic Duach; Fergus Rátha Lúiricch, abb F ...

in the year 814, so the presumption is that a church was already built, and dedicated, by the early 9th century.

The Voyage of the Uí Chorra ''The Voyage of the Uí Chorra'' (Irish: ''Immram curaig húa Corra'', literally, "the voyage of the coracle of the sons of O'Corra") is one of the three surviving Immrama, or ancient Irish voyage tales. The Immram curaig húa Corra is found in th ...

, dated to about the 11th century, describes the destruction of the church of the holy old man Coman of Kinvara. It has been suggested that Coman should be identified with

Colman MacDuagh Saint Colman mac Duagh (c. 560 – 29 October 632) was born at Corker, Kiltartan, County Galway, Ireland, the son of the Irish chieftain Duac (and thus, in Irish, ''mac Duach''). He initially lived as a recluse, living in prayer and prolonged fa ...

or Caimin of

Inis Cealtra Inis Cealtra, also known in English as Inishcaltra or Holy Island, is an island off the western shore of Lough Derg in Ireland. Now uninhabited, it was once a monastic settlement. It has an Irish round tower, and the ruins of several small chur ...

. Both were related to

Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin (died 663) was a king of Connacht. A member of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne and son of king Colmán mac Cobthaig (died 622). Guaire ruled at the height of Ui Fiachrach Aidne power in south Connacht. Early reign Guaire app ...

whose fort of

Dunguaire Castle Dunguaire Castle ( ga, Dún Guaire) is a 16th-century tower house on the southeastern shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland, near Kinvara (also spelled Kinvarra). The name derives from the Dun (fort) of King Guaire, the legendary king ...

is located some hundreds of yards away. Other proposed identifications are that of Coman mac Faolchu (founder of

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

) or a Coman mac Domangin/Domaighin listed in the

Martyrology of Tallaght The ''Martyrology of Tallaght'', which is closely related to the '' Félire Óengusso'' or ''Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee'', is an eighth- or ninth-century martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Máel Ruain and/o ...

and the

Martyrology of Donegal A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...

. The present church dates to ca. 1200, and was extensively rebuilt at one point during the late 15th-early 16th centuries. Burials in the graveyard continued into the early 20th century, and there are dozens of gravestones within and without the church. It was the subject of a four-season

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

work from 2004 to 2007.

References

*''St. Coman's Church, Kinvara'', Ann Carey, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, pp. 22–31, volume 60, 2008. People from County Galway Medieval Gaels from Ireland {{Ireland-saint-stub