Saint Dotto (died 502) was said to have founded a monastery on one of the
Orkney Islands
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, which bore his name. However, there is no island by that name, and no evidence that he existed. His feast day is 9 April.
Dubious existence
The tale of Saint Dotto, after whom one of the Orkney Islands was named, with his feast date of 9 April, appears to be based only on David Camerarius's ''Scottish Menology''.
Camerarius says he lived after churches and monasteries in Orkney had been dedicated to Saint Brendan (), but that he died in 502 AD.
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 are therefore skeptical about his existence.
John O'Hanlon notes that Camerarius gives no sources for his information and that there is no island by that name.
Monks of Ramsgate account
The
Monks of Ramsgate wrote in their ''
Book of Saints'' (1921),
Butler's account
The hagiographer
Alban Butler
Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer.
Biography
Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died when ...
(1710–1773) wrote in his ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints'' under April 9,
O'Hanlon's account
John O'Hanlon (1821–1905) in his ''Lives of the Irish saints'' wrote,
Notes
Sources
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Medieval Scottish saints
502 deaths