Saint Gobnait (?), also known as Gobnat or Mo Gobnat or Abigail or Deborah, is the name of a medieval, female Irish saint whose church was Móin Mór, later Bairnech, in the village of
Ballyvourney
Ballyvourney ( ga, Baile Bhuirne , meaning 'Town of the Beloved', also spelled ) is a Gaeltacht village in southwest County Cork, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the barony of Muskerry West, and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Ca ...
( ga, Baile Bhuirne),
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
in Ireland.
[Johnston, "Munster, saints of (act. ''c''.450–''c''.700)."] She was associated with the
Múscraige
The Múscraighe (older spelling: Músgraige) were an important Érainn people of Munster, descending from Cairpre Músc, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, both of Munster, and ...
and her church and convent lay on the borders between the Múscraige Mittine and
Eóganacht Locha Léin
__NOTOC__
Eóganacht Locha Léin or Uí Cairpre Luachra were a branch of the ruling Eóganachta of Munster. Their territory was in Iarmuman or West Munster. Luachair (Lúachra) is the old name of a large district on the borders of Co Cork, Kerry a ...
.
Her feast day is
February 11.
Sources
No
hagiographical
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies mig ...
''Life'' is known to have described her life and miracles, but she appears in the ''Life'' of her senior companion St
Abbán moccu Corbmaic,
written in the early thirteenth century but known only through later recensions.
Saint Finbarr
Saint Finbar, Finbarr, Finnbar, or Finnbarr, in Irish Fionnbharra, very often abbreviated to Barra, (c. 550– 25 September 623) was Bishop of Cork and abbot of a monastery in what is now the city of Cork, Ireland. He is patron saint of th ...
's ''Life'' implies that Gobnait's church belonged to Finbarr's foundation at Cork by alleging that it was not founded by her, but by one of his disciples.
In spite of this, Gobnait's cult continued to thrive here and the ruins of a medieval church dedicated to her are still visible today.
The ''
Félire Óengusso'' 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 n ...
'' give her feast-day on 11 February.
Life
Gobnait was born in County Clare in the fifth or sixth Century, and is said to have been the sister of Saint
Abban. She fled a family feud, taking refuge in
Inisheer
Inisheer ( ga, Inis Oírr , or ) is the smallest and most easterly of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Ireland. With 281 residents as of the 2016 census, it is second-most populous of the Arans. Caomhán of Inis Oírr is the island's ...
in the Aran Islands.
["A Gathering of Irish Saints", AOH division 61, Philadelphia]
/ref> Here an angel appeared and told her that this was "not the place of her resurrection" and that she should look for a place where she would find nine white deer grazing. She found the deer at the place now known as St. Gobnet's Wood. Saint Abban is said to have worked with her on the foundation of the convent and to have placed Saint Gobnait over it as abbess.
Celtic lore held bees in high esteem, believing the soul left the body as a bee or a butterfly. Gobnait is said to have added beekeeping to her life's work, developing a lifelong affinity with them. She started a religious order and dedicated her days to helping the sick. It has been speculated that she used honey as a healing aid. She is credited with saving the people at Ballyvourney from the plague.[
]
Legends
One story tells of how she drove off a brigand by sending a swarm of bees after him and making him restore the cattle he had stolen.[
Some traditions associate her with the legendary saint Latiaran, the patroness of a sacred well in Cullen, making them two of three sisters.]
Well
St Gobnait's well (also known as St Debora's, Deriola's or Abigail's well) is situated to the North of Ballyagran in a high field to the left of the road to Castletown. Rounds were made and a pattern was held on 11 February until around 1870. The well has now dried up but the site is still known. It is said that a white stag could sometimes be seen at the well. There is also a well in Dún Chaoin County Kerry and is visited on 11 February every year by locals.
Veneration
In 1601 Pope Clement VIII granted a special indulgence to those who, on Gobnait's day, visited the parish church, went to Confession and Communion and who prayed for peace among 'Christian princes', expulsion of heresy and the exaltation of the church.
Gobnait was originally a patron of ironworkers. Excavation at the church in Ballyvourney yielded considerable evidence of ironworking on the site.[Duffy, Patrick. "St. Gobnait", CatholicIreland.net]
/ref>
The saint is still locally venerated today, and is among a group of Irish saints whose feast day has been given national rather than just local recognition. The main centres of devotion to Gobnait are Inis Oírr
Inisheer ( ga, Inis Oírr , or ) is the smallest and most easterly of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Ireland. With 281 residents as of the 2016 census, it is second-most populous of the Arans. Caomhán of Inis Oírr is the island's ...
(Aran Islands), Dún Chaoin in West Kerry and Balleyvourney near the Cork / Kerry border.[ She is depicted on a stained glass window at ]Honan Chapel
The Honan Chapel (, formally Saint Finbarr's Collegiate Chapel and The Honan Hostel Chapel) is a small Catholic church built in the Hiberno-Romanesque revival style on the grounds of University College Cork, Ireland. Designed in 1914, the buil ...
in Cork, which was made by artist Harry Clarke
Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement.
His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau an ...
in 1916.
Former churches dedicated to Gobnait are commemorated in townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
s and other places named Kilgobnet ( ga, Cill Ghobnait "church of Gobnait"): in counties Kerry (near Milltown[ and ]Dunquin
Dunquin ( ) is a Gaeltacht village in west County Kerry, Ireland. Dunquin lies at the most westerly tip of the Dingle Peninsula, overlooking the Blasket Islands. At 10°27'16"W, it is the most westerly settlement of Ireland and of Eurasia, exclu ...
), Waterford (near Dungarvan), Limerick (in Ballyagran
Ballyagran () is a village and townland in County Limerick, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 179 people. Ballyagran is also the name of a half-parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick.
History
Evidence of ...
), and Cork (near Glantane
Glantane () is a village located south west of the town of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland on the L1212 local road. Glantane is within the Cork North-West (Dáil constituency).
Transportation
Road
Glantane is situated approximately 10 km f ...
, Dripsey
Dripsey () is a village in County Cork on the R618 regional road around west of Cork City. It is situated on a tributary of the River Lee, the Dripsey River. It is in the Catholic parish of Inniscarra. The Dripsey area hosts a water treatment ...
, and Clondrohid
Clondrohid () is a village and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland, four miles (6 km) north of Macroom. As of the 2016 census, the population of the village was recorded as 179, down from 188 people as of the 2011 census.
Geography
Parish ...
).
Notes
References
*
*
*
* Johnston, Elva.
Munster, saints of (act. ''c''.450–''c''.700)
" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press, Sept 2004, online edition May 200. Accessed: 14 December 2008.
Further reading
*
*
External links
Ward, Lauren, "Ireland’s Saintly Women and Their Healing 'Holy Wells'”, National Geographic, 10 February 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gobnait
People from County Cork
6th-century Irish people
Medieval saints of Munster
Angelic visionaries
Female saints of medieval Ireland
Late Ancient Christian female saints
6th-century Christian saints
6th-century Irish women
Medieval Irish saints