Ségéne mac Fiachnaí (or Ségéne of Iona) (died 12 August 652) was the fifth

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 ...

of the

Iona Abbey Iona Abbey is an abbey located on the island of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland. It is one of the oldest Christian religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianit ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

(623–652). Ségéne was of the

Cenél Conaill Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history *Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...

, the same kindred as

Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...

, and he was the nephew of a previous abbot, Lasrén. It was during Ségéne's long abbacy that the famous controversy regarding the dating of

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

first made itself properly felt. Ségéne was the recipient of a letter on the dating Easter which has been dated to ''c''. 632/3.Ó Cróinín and Walsh, 1988, pp. 3-7. Ségéne is known to have vigorously defended the Gaelic dating, and put his name to a letter written by the Gaelic clergy to

Pope Severinus Pope Severinus (died 2 August 640) was the bishop of Rome elected in October 638. He was caught up in a power struggle with Emperor Heraclius, who pressured him to accept Monothelitism. Severinus refused, which for over eighteen months hindered ...

in 638. Ségéne also established the first Gaelic missionaries amongst the English, sending Corman and then Áedan, the latter of whom, with the help of King

Oswald of Northumbria Oswald (; c 604 – 5 August 641/642Bede gives the year of Oswald's death as 642, however there is some question as to whether what Bede considered 642 is the same as what would now be considered 642. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology an ...

(who himself had spent time in exile at Iona), established a daughter house and

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

. It is not known if Ségéne ever met Columba, but he was a vital collector/transmitter of stories about the saint. He died on 12 August 652.

References

Bibliography

*Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí and Maura Walsh, ''Cummian's Letter De Controversia Paschali'' (Toronto, 1988). * Sharpe, Richard, ''Adomnán of Iona: Life of St. Columba'', (London, 1995). 652 deaths Abbots of Iona 7th-century Irish abbots Irish expatriates in Scotland Year of birth unknown {{Ireland-reli-bio-stub