Fintan of Clonenagh on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Saint Fintan of Clonenagh (c. 526 – 603) was an Irish
/ref> Fintan gave his monks very strict rules not to consume any animal products. The community did not have even one cow and so they had neither milk nor butter. The monks complained they couldn’t do hard work on so meagre a diet. A deputation of local clergy headed by Canice of Aghaboe came to urge him to improve it. He agreed for his monks, but he elected to keep to the strict diet himself. Fintan was reported to have lived on only "bread of woody barley and clayey water of clay". His disciples included St Colmán of Oughaval, and St. Comgall of Bangor."History of Bangor Abbey", Parish of Bangor Abbey
He has been compared by the Irish annalists to St. Benedict, and is styled "Father of the Irish Monks". Fintan of Clonenagh is regarded as one of three patron saints of county Laois which include Colman Mac ua Laoise and Mochua of Timahoe.Murray, Sean. "St. Fintan of Clonenagh", Laois Archaeology
/ref> He died in 603. His feast day is 17 February. Though he is sometimes confused with Saint Fintán or Munnu, abbot of Taghmon, they are distinct.
This tree, an '' acer pseudoplatanus'', was planted in the late 18th or early 19th century at the site of the Early Christian monastic site of Clonenagh. The tree is dedicated to St. Fintan and it became custom to insert coins into the tree from which the tree suffered and was believed to be dead until the tree started to recover with some new shoots." (''Heritage Tree Database'', Tree Council of Ireland)
RHS record
* Sperber, Ingrid. "'Late and not of special distinction'? The misunderstood Life of St Fintan of Clonenagh". In ''Ossory, Laois and Leinster'' 1 (2004): pp. 28–49.
RHS record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fintan 603 deaths 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Irish abbots Irish hermits Medieval saints of Leinster People from County Tipperary Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain
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 ...
and 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 ...
. He was an Abbot and disciple of Columba of Terryglass.
Life
Fintan was born in about 526, the son of Christians Gabhren and Findlath. The monastery at Clonenagh was founded in the 6th century by Fintan of Clonenagh who entrusted it to his disciple Columba when Colum moved on toTerryglass
Terryglass () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. The small town is located on the R493 regional road on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a civil parish in the historical barony o ...
around 548. Fintan received his religious formation under the Abbot Colum, and was deeply influenced by his penitential practices and the severity of his Rule. Under his direction Fintan developed a reputation for austerity."St. Fintan of Clonenagh", Catholic Ireland/ref> Fintan gave his monks very strict rules not to consume any animal products. The community did not have even one cow and so they had neither milk nor butter. The monks complained they couldn’t do hard work on so meagre a diet. A deputation of local clergy headed by Canice of Aghaboe came to urge him to improve it. He agreed for his monks, but he elected to keep to the strict diet himself. Fintan was reported to have lived on only "bread of woody barley and clayey water of clay". His disciples included St Colmán of Oughaval, and St. Comgall of Bangor."History of Bangor Abbey", Parish of Bangor Abbey
He has been compared by the Irish annalists to St. Benedict, and is styled "Father of the Irish Monks". Fintan of Clonenagh is regarded as one of three patron saints of county Laois which include Colman Mac ua Laoise and Mochua of Timahoe.
/ref> He died in 603. His feast day is 17 February. Though he is sometimes confused with Saint Fintán or Munnu, abbot of Taghmon, they are distinct.
St. Fintan's Tree, Clonenagh
This tree, an '' acer pseudoplatanus'', was planted in the late 18th or early 19th century at the site of the Early Christian monastic site of Clonenagh. The tree is dedicated to St. Fintan and it became custom to insert coins into the tree from which the tree suffered and was believed to be dead until the tree started to recover with some new shoots." (''Heritage Tree Database'', Tree Council of Ireland)
References
Further reading
* Millar, Seamus. "St Fintan of Clonenagh." ''Carloviana: Journal of the Old Carlow Society'' 1:22 (1973): 10-12RHS record
* Sperber, Ingrid. "'Late and not of special distinction'? The misunderstood Life of St Fintan of Clonenagh". In ''Ossory, Laois and Leinster'' 1 (2004): pp. 28–49.
RHS record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fintan 603 deaths 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Irish abbots Irish hermits Medieval saints of Leinster People from County Tipperary Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain