Blessed Mercherdach

Mercherdach (also Muiredach, Murchertachus, and others) was an Irish pilgrim monk who lived as a recluse at the Obermünster church in Regensburg during the 11th century. He is venerated as a blessed. According to unconfirmed sources, Mercherdach was already in Regensburg in 1054, where his countryman Marianus Scottus met him in the 1070s. As the Vita of Marianus reports, he and Marianus became close friends, and Marianus sought his counsel on several occasions. Mercherdach lived as a recluse, enclosed in a small cell attached to the church. He received food through a small window, which, as was customary for recluses, likely consisted mostly of bread and water. He died after 1074/1075. A gravestone of Mercherdach—albeit from a later period—has been preserved, as has a building known as the Mercherdach Chapel near the Obermünster, which was erected on the site of his cell.