Saint Ronan (''fl''. c. sixth century?) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
pilgrim saint and hermit in western
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
. He was a son of
Saint Berach
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
and the eponymous founder of
Locronan
Locronan (; br, Lokorn) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France, with a population of 800.
Locronan is a member of the ''Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'' ("The most beautiful villages of France") associa ...
and co-patron of
Quimper
Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Administration
Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department.
Geography
Th ...
(France), together with its founder, Saint
Corentin.
From Locronan to Quimper
The village of Locronan (lit. "the place of Ronan"), which is located about 17 km northwest of Quimper, owes its name to its reputed founder, the Irish pilgrim Ronan. To judge by his entry in the cartulary of the abbey of Quimper, he is known to have been venerated at Locronan since at least the 1030s.
[Smith (1990), "Oral and written", pp. 329–30.]
At some later stage, his remains were translated to the nearby abbey of Quimper, whose patron saint was St Corentin. This must have occurred by 1274 at the latest, when the abbey produced an inventory mentioning the saint's body and head among its cherished relics.
Sometime in the same century, a Latin
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
of the saint, the ''Vita S. Ronani'', was written at Quimper to familiarise the local community with the origins of the saint and his posthumous importance for the town through the miracles wrought by his relics.
Synopsis of Ronan’s earliest ''Life''
Life
The text begins by telling that Ronan was a well-educated native of Ireland whose good works as a bishop had brought him great renown in his home country (§ 1). However, he longed to have a closer communion with God and so, at the height of his career in Ireland, he chose voluntary exile, per
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
12:1–3, by severing all ties with kin and country and embarking on a voyage to Brittany. Having landed "in the
region of Léon", he continued his journey southwards to the kingdom of
Cornouaille
Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...
(Latin ''Cornubia'') and set up a hermitage at what would become known as Locronan, near the woods of
Névez
Névez (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
''Nevez'' means "new" in Breton. The name is thought to have arisen when Trégunc was split in two, creating a new parish.
Population
Inhabitants of Né ...
. Here he devoted himself to prayer and an ascetic way of life, through which he soon attracted a multitude of admirers from the region (§ 2). In this way, his presence also came to the attention of
Gradlon
Gradlon the Great (''Gradlon Meur'') was a semi-legendary 5th century "king" of Cornouaille who became the hero of many Breton folk stories. The most famous of these legends is the story of the sunken city of Ys. He is supposed to have been the s ...
, king of Cornouaille and a prominent figure in Breton legend (§ 3).
A local peasant much admired the saint, offering hospitality and paying frequent visits to his cell, but Keban, the peasant's wife, grew jealous and devised a scheme to bring the holy man into disrepute (§ 4). Before Gradlon at his court in Quimper, she openly accused the saint, saying that he was a sorcerer who could transform himself into a wild animal and that,
in the shape of a wolf, he had devoured numerous sheep and her only daughter (§ 5). Ronan was put to the test to prove his sanctity. First, the king's two ferocious dogs were unleashed on him, but by the token of Christ, Ronan managed to pacify them (§ 6). Second, he was given the opportunity to account for the disappearance of the peasant's daughter. He revealed that Keban had locked up her own daughter in a place so small that she had stifled to death, and named the exact location (§ 7). When the girl was found dead just as the saint had told, local citizens insisted on Keban's execution. Ronan, however, prevented this, preferring to practise Christian benevolence, and brought the dead girl back to life (§ 8). In spite of this, the saint continued to be harassed by Keban's malice and therefore left for the petty kingdom of
Domnonia in northwest Brittany, where he settled near Hillion (§ 9). He died in his cell (§ 10).
Miracles and cult
![St Ronan Relics](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/St_Ronan_Relics.JPG)
The second part of the text focuses on events after Ronan's death, his miracles, the growth of his cult and the fate of his relics. Since he died outside of Cornouaille, a quarrel arose over where to bury his body. The issue was decided by placing the body on a cart, dragged by wild oxen, and leaving it for them to drag wherever they would. The king of Cornouaille proved to be the only person able to lift the body and place it on a bier, which healed his arm of an old wound. The wild oxen driving the cart walked straight to the saint's cell in the forest of Névez. There the body was interred and the little settlement of Locronan grew up around the burial place (§ 11).
The text subsequently makes a few leaps through time. It is said, for instance, that following a wave of Viking incursions, a new chapel was built at the site (§ 12). Without giving any explicit explanation, the final chapters relate that the saint's relics were at some date translated, with appropriate pomp, to Quimper (Latin ''Confluentia''). The presence of his relics in the town and the control over them by the clergy led to a series of miracles. One man is said to have been cured of dumbness after praying at the altar on which the saint's relics were placed; another was freed from demonic possession after spending a night under the saint's shrine; and the town was spared destruction by fire when the clergy used the relics to ward off the flames (§ 12–15).
Although at Quimper, Ronan was only an 'imported' saint next to the native saint Corentin, so the manifestation of his presence through such tangible means as his relics gave him one advantage in his favour.
Possession of Ronan's relics and the written word gave the clergy distinct instruments by which to defend and promote the saint's cult.
By contrast, Corentin enjoyed a strong local cult, which was little disturbed by the loss of relics and did not depend for its survival on the production of a written ''Life'' (though one was produced).
Early Modern period
, in his ''Lives of the Saints of Brittany'' (1636), and the
Bollandist
The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...
s produced biographies of the saint.
Festival
![St Ronan Banner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/St_Ronan_Banner.JPG)
Ronan's feast day is celebrated on 1 June.
''La grande Troménie''
The Grande Tromenie happens every six years, with Petite Tromenies every year. The tromenies are the Locronan equivalent of the "
pardons
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...
" which take place throughout Brittany. The Grande Tromenie goes around the hill tracing the boundary of the 12th-century Benedictine
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
. The priory was a place of retreat, thus the name of the "pardon" is ''Tro Minihi'' or "Tour of the Retreat", Gallicized as ''Tromenie''.
[David Kidd from the Michelin Tourist Guide
]
See also
*
Locranon Parish close
Notes
References
;Primary sources
*
*''Vita S. Ronani'' (BHL 7336), ed. "Vita S. Ronani," ''Catalogus codicum hagiographicorum Latinorum in Bibliotheca Nationali Parisiensi''. 4 vols: vol. 1. Brussels, 1889–93. pp. 438–58.
*
;Secondary sources
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Route of the Troménie* ''
The Life of Saint Ronan by Albert Le Grand, 1636'' – In French, this gives a general sketch of the saint's life and covers the charge of
lycanthropy.
* ''
The Legend of Saint Ronan by Hersart La Villemarqué, 1839'' – In the local Breton dialect of French, this later tract adds details like those relating to Ronan's wife.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronan of Locronan
6th-century Irish bishops
Medieval Irish saints
Medieval Breton saints
Irish expatriates in France