Saint Maighneann 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 7th century who lived in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

in an area now known as

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In th ...

. Some of his teachings were recorded in a 15th-century manuscript titled ''A Life of St Maighneann, an Irish saint of the seventh century''.

History

Maighnean is thought to have lived during the first half of the 7th century CE. He set up his church on a ridge between two rivers, the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...

and the

River Camac The River Camac (sometimes spelled ''Cammock'', or, historically, ''Cammoge'' or ''Cammoke''; Irish: or ) is one of the larger rivers in Dublin and was one of four tributaries of the Liffey critical to the early development of the city. Cour ...

and presided there as

, though in some instances he is referred to with the title ''

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

''. Maighneann was followed by twenty-seven monks who travelled with him during pilgrimages around the country. He visited several other Irish saints including Saint Maelruain of Tallaght, Saint Dublitir of Fingal and Saint Finnin of Strangford. While at Tallaght he made his confession to

Saint Maelruain 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 ...

. Maelruain considered Maighneann lazy because he shied away from manual labour. Nonetheless, Maelruain praised Maighneann for keeping his ritual fire, which he kept constantly alight for over thirty years. Such was Maighneann's fame that the historic area of Kilmainham was named after his church "Cill Mhaighneann." Subsequently two famous buildings Kilmainham Priory, established by Strongbow after his invasion in 1169, and survived until it was suppressed by Henry VIII, and The Royal Hospital Kilmainham which was built by the Duke of Ormonde in 1680 occupied the same site. Maighnean was also the subject of a 15th-century manuscript titled, ''A Life of St Maighneann, an Irish saint of the seventh century'' written by Ulliam Mac an Lega. In it, the manuscript contains a collection of his precepts on topics such as

discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

and

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...

, and even a discussion on the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

. Many of these discussions were derived from Maighnean's interactions with other saints that he visited during his lifetime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maighneann Irish saints 7th-century Christian saints Kilmainham