Saint Maonacan, otherwise Manchan (, ,

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

A.D. 500) of

Athleague Athleague () is a village and a parish in the Diocese of Elphin on the River Suck in the west of Ireland in County Roscommon, near the town of Roscommon. The village is in a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. ...

(, "the stony-ford of St. Manchan" or "ford of flagstones", ), was an early Irish Christian saint. He founded a church in

, in county Roscommon. Saint Manchan's

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 does n ...

is celebrated on February 18 (February 7 in the

Old Calendar Calendar reform or calendrical reform is any significant revision of a calendar system. The term sometimes is used instead for a proposal to switch to a different calendar design. Principles The prime objective of a calendar is to unambiguo ...

), by

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and

Anglicans Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

. The life of Manchan of

is obscured because many persons named Manchan are to be found among the monastically inclined medieval Irish Christians.

Life

Nothing is known about the life of ''Manchán of

''. The period of this saint is unknown. He founded an early Christian monastery of

, in county Roscommon. Moran provides the following local perspective:- * "''Another saint, Fionn Monganan is recorded as the true patron saint of

and the village was known as Athliag Monganan in the earliest annals. His powers of keeping pestilence and disease at bay is also remembered and the site of his hallowed cell is near the present Angling Centre beside the former ford.''" The sanctity of ''Manchán of Athleague'' is first recorded in the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

'' which records "A.D. 1493, .. ()", which confirms he was patron saint of

, in County Roscommon. The "Martyrology of Donegal" records the Saint as "'', Maonacan, of Ath-liacc''", while "The martyrology of Gorman" notes "''Moenucan, of Ath liacc, Feb. 7. ''". The multiplicity of Saints called ''Maenucan'', ''Maonacan'', ''Moenagain'' is because the name is a diminutive of , a monk, so the real names of each recorded ''Saint Manchan'' are unknown. Saint Manchan of Athleague was contemporary with the

Twelve Apostles of Ireland The Twelve Apostles of Ireland (also known as Twelve Apostles of Erin, ) were twelve early Irish monastic saints of the sixth century who studied under St Finnian (d. 549) at his famous monastic school Clonard Abbey at Cluain-Eraird (Erard's ...

, and Manchan of Mohill, as the establishment of the early Christian site of Athleague is given as . The

calls Athleague the medieval names of- ", and ".

Church

The

Irish Annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over ti ...

has the following entries for the ''

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

of Atha Liacc''- * "''1235.29 The church of an Druimne at Athleague was burnt, & the charters(?) & all books of the Canons''", . * "''M1266.2 and Maelisa O'Hanainn, Prior of Roscommon and Athleague, died''", "agus Maoil Isu Ua h-Anainn prioir Rosa Commain, & Atha Liacc, do écc''". * "''1266.9 Mael Isa O hAnainn, Prior of Roscommon and Athleague, rested in Christ''", and .

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Primary sources

Secondary sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maonacan of Athleague Medieval Irish saints 6th-century Christian saints