Saint Tola is the name of a seventh-century

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and

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, also referred to as "a good soldier of Christ".

Life

Tola, the reputed son of Donchad,Lanigan, ''Ecc. Hist.'', Vol. III, p.171
/ref> is also referred to as Thola or Tolanus. He was born, after the middle of the seventh century.
/ref> He lived for many years the life of a hermit at Disert Tola, and founded a monastery there at the latter 7th or early 8th century.Woods, James. ''Annals of Westmeath, Ancient and Modern'', Sealy, Bryers & Walker, 1907, p. 327
/ref> He was the bishop of Clonard in Meath,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and a

crozier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

ascribed to him now resides in the

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, in Dublin. About the year 700, he established a monastic community in northwestern

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 118,817 ...

, between the

River Fergus The River Fergus ( ga, An Forghas) is a river within the Shannon River Basin which flows in County Clare, Ireland. The river begins at Lough Fergus in north Clare and flows into the Shannon Estuary. The source is at Lough Fergus in the townland ...

and

the Burren The Burren (; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland.
Burren ...

. He sent missionaries to Europe and also helped the expansion of various scholarly studies. Later, Bishop Tola was called to preside over Clonard, County Meath until his death sometime between 734 and 737.Westropp, Thomas Johnson. "Churches with Round Towers in Northern Clare", Clare County Library
/ref> Portions of his original church, a very early church, or at least portions of its foundations, were incorporated into the 11th-century Romanesque Church that lies in ruins near Corofin, County Clare, Corofin. The

high cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...

Dysert O'Dea Monastery Dysert O'Dea Church (Irish: ''Díseart Uí Dheá'' - "the hermitage of Deá") near Corofin in County Clare, Ireland stands on the site of an early Christian monastery which was reportedly founded by St. Tola in the 8th century. Most of the pr ...

is referred to as Tola's Cross, Crusha Baunala or "the cross of blessing". It is from the 11th or 12th century, however, and there is no direct connect between the saint and this particular, late, high cross although one of the figures on the cross appears to be that of a bishop, perhaps St. Tola.

Veneration

His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is celebrated on 30 March. St. Tola was the patron saint of "toothaches", The cross had a portion that could be taken out and was placed near the tooth in order to assist in healing. In the year 1034, Coirten Ua Maebuain, Lord of Dealbhna, was killed by some of his clansmen, on the threshold of Disert Tola church. In punishment for this sacrilegious and unnatural murder, the perpetrator of the crime was killed the very same hour he perpetrated the treacherous act.

References

8th-century Irish bishops People from County Meath People from County Clare 8th-century Christian saints Medieval Irish saints Medieval saints of Meath Medieval saints of Munster {{Ireland-saint-stub