Feast Day: 1 February
Briged, also called Brigid, Bridget, Brighid, her name meaning "firey arrow", was probably born at Faughart near Dundalk, Louth, Ireland. Her parents were baptized by St. Patrick, with whom she developed a close friendship. According to legend, her father was Dubhthach, an Irish chieftain of Lienster, and her mother, Brocca, was a slave at his court. Even as a young girl she evinced an interest for a religious life and took the veil in her youth from St. Macaille at Croghan and probably was professed by St. Mel of Armagh, who is believed to have conferred abbatial authority on her.

Feast Day 16 May

St. Brendan was born in what is now County Kerry, Ireland, about 486 A.D.,approximately 25 years after the death of St. Patrick. He was taken from his family at a very young age and raised by St. Aida of Killeedy under the patronage of Bishop Erc of Kerry. He became a monk, then a priest and finally an abbot. He had a very strong influence on the early Celtic church, which at the time was poorly organized, and he is regarded as one of Ireland's most important saints. He was responsible for founding a number of abbies and monastaries, including the one at Clonfert in Galway, where he died about 578 A.D.

Feastday: 12 August

Bishop of Killala, Ireland, appointed by St. Patrick. Also
called Muredach was a member of the royal family of King Laoghaire. Murtagh reportedly met with St. Columba at Ballsodare, near Sligo, in 575. He died as a hermit on Inismurray Island

Feastday: 11 August

The diocese of Limerick today keeps the feast of St. Lelia, who as well as a commemoration in all other Irish dioceses. Canon O'Hanlon, in his lives of the Irish saints, says of this maiden that "her era and her locality have not been distinctly revealed to us; but there is good reason for supposing that she lived at a remote period, and most probably she let a life of strict observance, if she did not preside over some religious institution in the province of Munster".

Lelia is now generally identified with the Dalcassian saint Liadhain,great-grand-daughter of the prince Cairthenn whom St.

Feast Day - 3 June
Known in Ireland as Coemgen as well as Kevin, according to tradition he was born at the Fort of the White Fountain in Leinster, Ireland, of royal descent. He was baptized by St. Cronan and educated by St. Petroc. He was ordained, and became a hermit at the Valley of the Two Lakes in Glendalough.

After seven years there, he was persuaded to give up his solitary life. He went to Disert-Coemgen, where he founded a monastery for the disciples he attracted, and later moved to Glendalough. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, bringing back many relics for his permanent foundation at Glendalough.

Feast Day: 6 Feb
He is said to have been the son of Conis and Darerca, the sister of St. Patrick, whom he accompanied to Ireland and helped to evangelize in that country. According to the Life of St. Brigid, he is said to have had no fixed See, which might fit in his being a missionary. St. Patrick himself built the church at Ardagh and to this he appointed his nephew, Mel. Acting upon the apostolic precept, he supported himself by working with his hands, and what he gained beyond bare necessities, he gave to the poor.

For sometime, he lived with his aunt Lupait, but slanderous tongues spread serious accusations against them, and St.

Feast Day - 8 March
Senan was born of Christian parents at Munster, Ireland. He was a soldier for a time and then became a monk under Abbot Cassidus, who sent him to Abbot St. Natalis at Kilmanagh in Ossory. Senan became known for his holiness and miracles and attracted great crowds to his sermons. He made a journey to Rome, meeting St. David on the way back. He built several churches and monasteries, and then settled on Scattery Island, where he built a monastery that soon became famous. He died at Killeochailli on the way back from a visit to St. Cassidus monastery.

Feast Day - 9 June

Saint Colum Cille, also known from the latin form of his name as Columba, was probably born in the year 521 and died on 9 June 597. His memory has been kept alive for 1400 years through folklore and literature, music and song, poetry and sculpture, manuscript-making and metalwork, history and archaeology.

Feastday - 17 February

Abbot and disciple of St. Columba. Fintan was a hermit in Clonenagh, Leix, Ireland. When disciples gathered around his hermitage he became their abbot. A wonder worker, Fintan was known for clairvoyance, prophecies, and miracles. He also performed very austere penances.

Feastday: 14 August

This saint's feast is observed liturgically throughout all Ireland and he is patron of the diocese of Ross, where he was probably the first bishop. He was born at Tulachteann, was one of the pupils of St. Ita, and founded the monastery of Molana on an island in the Blackwater, near Youghal.

His great achievement was the establishment of the monastic school of Ross, at what is now Rosscarbery, in county Cork, one of the most famous schools of Ireland, which flourished for three hundred years and survived in some form until the coming of the Normans.

Fachanan (Fachtna) suffered for a time from blindness, from which he recovered at the intercession of St.