Saint Molua (d. c 609),''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints'', p.343 (also known as ''Lua'', ''Da Lua''), 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 ...

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 ...

, who was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. Saint Molua's feast day is on 4 August. He is venerated in the

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and

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Life

St Molua was an Irish priest of the 6th century who like Columba and Gall trained in the monastery at Bangor, County Down (about twelve miles from Belfast). The saint's real name was originally Lughaidh (pronounced Lua). His father is believed to have been Coche or Carthach of the Corca Oiche, a sept associated with the Ui Fidgenti from the Limerick area. His mother, Sochla was from

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of ...

."who was St. Molua/", St. Molua's Church, Stormont
/ref> Local Historians note of stories that tarnished the Saint's reputation in his time, those being that he had fathered many children to the daughter of a local

Eóganachta The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta () were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, an ...

Chieftain in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

. These children were named locally as Ó Maoldomhnaigh which in turn birthed the family name of Moloney. Little is known on Molua other than he was a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, a builder and possibly a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

. Molua was the founder of Killaloe ( ga, Cill-da-Lua), which bears his name ''Lua''. Molua had his oratory on Friar's Island, later replaced by a stone church near the present village of Killaloe. Like most Irish saints he appears to have been very hospitable, believing that in entertaining others he was entertaining Christ. He was kind to animals as well as humans and it was said that when he died all living creatures bewailed him.

Legacy

Molua's principal disciple was

Saint Flannan 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 ...

, who succeeded Molua. His monastery in Clonfert-Mulloe in Osraige produced the scholar

Laidcenn mac Buith Bannaig Laidcenn mac Buith Bannaig or Laidcend mac Baíth Bandaig (died 661) was a monastic scholar at Cluain Ferta Mo-Lua (Clonfert-Mulloe, Co. Laois) in northern Osraige. The name is also sometimes spelled "Lathcen." He is the ascribed author of the ea ...

References

Sources

*Farmer, David Hugh. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints''.

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, 1992. * 7th-century deaths 7th-century Christian saints Dál gCais Medieval saints of Munster 6th-century Irish abbots 7th-century Irish abbots Year of birth unknown {{Ireland-saint-stub