Saint Senán mac Geirrcinn

Senán mac Geircinn (fl. 6th century) was an Irish Christian minister. He was a resident of Munster and is important in Irish tradition, as founder of Inis Cathaigh (Scattery Island, Iniscathy) and patron of the Corco Baiscinn and the Uí Fhidgeinte. He is listed among the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He was born in 488 in a place once known as Moylougha, about four miles east of present-day Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland. According to the prose life, his mother entered labour while walking through the woods; when she grasped a tree branch for support, it is said to have blossomed to foretell the virtues of the saint. The translation of "Senan" from old Gaelic means "little old wise man." It is thought that Senan may have got his name from an earlier river god whose name gave rise to the river Shannon. He was a stepbrother of St. Cainnear and St Conainne. While still only a child, Senan began to practice and preach self-denial, once even reproving his mother for gathering blackberries. God, he reminded her, made time for abstinence as well as for eating. The boy promised his life to God after the miracle at the estuary, where a path opened for him and the cattle he was driving at high tide. He studied under a monk, named Cassidus from whom he received the habit and tonsure of a monk. From him, he learned sacred scriptures and the practices of the religious life. Cassidus sent him on to St Natalis at Kilnamanagh, whereupon completion of his studies he was ordained a priest. He commenced his missionary career by founding a church near Enniscorthy, in 510 (or 512), and the parish is still known as Templeshannon (Teampul Senain). Senan was well-read and an exceptional traveller in such times, travelling to Britain (see the village of Senan in Cornwall), France (Plouzane in Brittany being translated as the town or church of Senan) and Rome. He returned to Ireland about 520.