Saint Maighneann was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

in the 7th century who lived in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in an area now known as Kilmainham. Some of his teachings were recorded in a 15th-century manuscript titled ''A Life of St Maighneann, an Irish saint of the seventh century''.

History

Maighnean is thought to have lived during the first half of the 7th century CE. He set up his church on a ridge between two rivers, the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

and the

River Camac The River Camac (sometimes spelled ''Cammock'', or, historically, ''Cammoge'' or ''Cammoke''; Irish: or ) is one of the larger rivers in Dublin and was one of four tributaries of the Liffey critical to the early development of the city. Cou ...

and presided there as

, though in some instances he is referred to with the title ''

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

''. Maighneann was followed by twenty-seven monks who travelled with him during pilgrimages around the country. He visited several other Irish saints including Saint Maelruain of Tallaght, Saint Dublitir of Fingal and Saint Finnin of Strangford. While at Tallaght he made his confession to Saint Maelruain. Maelruain considered Maighneann lazy because he shied away from manual labour. Nonetheless, Maelruain praised Maighneann for keeping his ritual fire, which he kept constantly alight for over thirty years. Such was Maighneann's fame that the historic area of Kilmainham was named after his church "Cill Mhaighneann." Subsequently two famous buildings Kilmainham Priory, established by Strongbow after his invasion in 1169, and survived until it was suppressed by Henry VIII, and The Royal Hospital Kilmainham which was built by the Duke of Ormonde in 1680 occupied the same site. Maighnean was also the subject of a 15th-century manuscript titled, ''A Life of St Maighneann, an Irish saint of the seventh century'' written by Ulliam Mac an Lega. In it, the manuscript contains a collection of his precepts on topics such as

discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...

and

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...

, and even a discussion on the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

. Many of these discussions were derived from Maighnean's interactions with other saints that he visited during his lifetime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maighneann, Saint Medieval Irish saints 7th-century Christian saints Kilmainham