Ireland, which was once known as the land of saints and scholars, has bred numerous saints, many of whom left their native country to Christianize the rest of Europe in the same fashion as St. Patrick.
Here are but a few:
- St. Aidan
Feast day: Aug. 31
The founder of a great center of Celtic Christianity. - St. Brendan
Feast day: May 16
Patron of boatmen, sailors, travelers, and whales. - St. Brigid
Feast day: Feb. 1
Patron of babies, blacksmiths, cows and dairy workers, Ireland, midwives, poets, sailors, scholars, and travelers. - St. Columba
Feast day: June 9
Patron of bookbinders, Ireland, poets, and Scotland - St. Columban
Feast day: Nov. 23
It is no wonder that this saint’s emblem is the bear, as he seems to have had a knack for causing trouble. - St. Ita
Feast day: Jan. 15
The revered teacher of St. Brendan. - St. Kevin
Feast day: June 3
Patron of blackbirds, the archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland, and Glendalough, Ireland. - St. Kieran
Feast day: Sept. 9
A visionary who founded a great Irish monastery. - St. Malachy
Feast day: Nov. 3
The first Irish saint to be canonized by a pope, in 1199. - St. Oliver Plunket
Feast day: July 11
The last Catholic martyr to die at Tyburn, he was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
