Saint PatrickChristian missionary, bishop, and saintSaint Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba. He is also the patron saint of Nigeria.
ColumbaColumba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irishabbot and missionary credited with spreading Christianity at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission in what became Scotland. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry and one of the patron saints of Ireland along with Patrick and Brigid.
Kildare AbbeyKildare Abbey is a former monastery in County Kildare, Ireland, founded by St Brigid in the 5th century, and destroyed in the 12th century. Originally known as Druim Criaidh, or the Ridge of Clay, Kildare came to be known as Cill-Dara, or the Church of the Oak, from the stately oak-tree loved by St. Brigid. She founded a small oratory which soon expanded into a large double monastery, one portion being for women, the other for men.
AbbessAn abbess (Latin: abbatissa) is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. DescriptionIn the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mode of election, position, rights, and authority of an abbess correspond generally with those of an abbot. She must be at least 40 years old and have been a nun for 10 years.
Patron saintA patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person. The term may be applied to individuals to whom similar roles are ascribed in other religions. In ChristianitySaints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active.
Irish languageCeltic language indigenous to the island of IrelandThe first chapter of Mo Sgéal Féin, read by native Irish speaker Mairéad Uí Lionáird in the Muskerry Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht Mhúscraí)Problems playing this file?
DruidTwo Druids, a 19th-century engraving after a 1719 illustration by Bernard de Montfaucon, who claimed to reproduce a bas-relief from Autun.
Chief of the NameThe Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan (Irish and Scottish Gaelic: fine) in Ireland and Scotland. IrelandThere are instances where Norman lords of the time like FitzGerald and Burke took to using the Gaelic style of "The" or "Mór" (great) to indicate that the individual was the primary person of his family in Ireland.
HagiographyA hagiography (; from Ancient Greek ἅγιος (hágios) 'holy' and -γραφία (-graphía) 'writing') is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealised biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions.
Ancient Celtic religionReligion practised by ancient Celtic peopleAncient Celtic religion, also known as Celtic polytheism and Celtic paganism, was the religion of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe. Because there are no extant native records of their beliefs, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts (some of them hostile and probably not well-informed), and literature from the early Christian period.
ConventA convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Those residing in a convent are conventuals. A convent is also the building used by the community, especially in Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions. Etymology and usageThe term convent derives via Old French from Latin conventus, perfect participle of the verb convenio, meaning "to convene, to come together".
FosterageFosterage, the practice of a family bringing up a child not their own, differs from adoption in that the child's parents, not the foster-parents, remain the acknowledged parents. In many modern western societies foster care can be organised by the state to care for children with troubled family backgrounds, usually on a temporary basis.
Early Modern IrishEarly Modern Irish (Irish: Gaeilge Chlasaiceach, lit.'Classical Irish') was a transitional language between Middle Irish and Modern Irish. Its literary form, Classical Gaelic, was used in Ireland and Scotland from the 13th to the 18th century. Classical GaelicClassical Gaelic or Classical Irish (Gaoidhealg) was a shared literary form of Gaelic that was in use by poets in Scotland and Ireland from the 13th century to the 18th century.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.