Saint Brónach (sometimes
anglicised
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
to Bronagh) was a 6th-century holy woman from Ireland, the reputed founder and patron saint of ''Cell Brónche'' ("church of Brónach"), now Kilbroney, in
County Down,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
.
[Charles-Edwards, "Ulster, saints of (''act. c''.400–''c''.650)"]
Life
A disciple of
Saint Patrick, she built a refuge for sailors who were shipwrecked in Carlingford Lough. The ringing of Bronach’s bell warned of a rising storm on the dangerous waters of the Lough. About 150 years ago a storm brought down a large old oak tree in the Kilbroney churchyard, and in its branches was found a 10th-century bell. The bell is now in the local church in Rostrevor.
Lying in Glenn Sechis, a mountain valley in County Down (near
Rostrevor), Cell Brónche lay at some distance from the major political centres of the region.
It may have been a
nunnery in origin, but later came to serve as a pastoral church manned by nuns as well as one or several priests.
It was chosen as the parish church of Glenn Sechis.
A
high cross which survives among the ruins of Cell Brónche attests to the importance of her church.
It is made of
Mourne granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
and stands over the traditional site of her grave in the old cemetery. It is part of the "Saint Patrick’s Trail".
[ The building suffered damage during the 1641 Rebellion, as well as in Cromwellian times.
There is a stained glass window depicting Bronach in All Saints Church, Ballymena.
According to the genealogies of the saints, she is the mother of Saint Mo Chóe of Nendrum and herself a daughter of Míliucc maccu Buain.]Martyrology of Tallaght
The ''Martyrology of Tallaght'', which is closely related to the ''Félire Óengusso'' or ''Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee'', is an eighth- or ninth-century Irish-language martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Mael ...
'', note added to '' Félire Óengusso''), her feast day is 2 April.["Brónach ''virgo'', from Glenn Sechis". Note to ''Félire Óengusso'', 2 April.]
References
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Primary sources
*
Further reading
*
External links
Kilbroney High-cross
''Megalithic Ireland''
"The Irish Way: St Bronach's Land", clip from BBC History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronach
5th-century Christian mystics
5th-century Irish nuns
5th-century Christian nuns
6th-century Christian mystics
6th-century Irish nuns
6th-century Christian nuns
Medieval saints of Ulster
People from County Down
Roman Catholic mystics
Year of birth unknown