BORN: circa 512 at Corca-Laighde (modern Cape
Clear), Ireland
DIED: circa 545 of natural causes
FEAST DAY: September 9 th
Saint Kieran of Clonmacnoise was born around 512
AD in Connacht, Ireland, a town located in the northern part of County Roscommon. No one can say for certain the year of his birth, but in all probability, it was close to the end of the 4 th century and the beginning of the 5 th century.
What is known with certainty is that the saint was the son of Beoit, a carpenter and chariot builder. Kieran inherited a love of learning from his mother’s side of the family. His maternal grandfather had been a bard, an ancient order of Celtic poets, a poet and an historian. Saint
Kieran was baptized by deacon Justus (“the righteous one “) who also served as the boy’s first tutor. When Saint Kieran was a young boy he worked as a cattle herder. Even this early in his life, stories testifying to
Saint Kieran’s holiness are told. Some even believed that his work as a herdsman foreshadowed the care he would offer the many people who sought his wisdom.
Saint Kieran continued his education at the monastery of Clonard, which was led by Saint Finnian. Saint Finnian was one of the early
Irish Monastic Saints. He founded Clonard Abbey and after many, many years of studies he was finally led to Cluain Eraird where he built a little hut and a church of clay. The fame of Saint Finnian’s wisdom and sanctity came to be known and people and students alike flocked to learn from him.

In the Office of Saint Finnian it is stated that there were no fewer than
3000 pupils getting instruction at one time in the school in the green fields of Clonard under the broad canopy of heaven. The master, St.
Finnian, excelled in exposition of the Sacred Scriptures. He is called the
“Teacher of the Irish Saints”.
Under the tutelage of St. Finnian, Saint Kieran quickly gained the reputation of being the most learned monk at Clonard and was asked to serve as tutor to the daughter of the King of Cuala while he continued his own studies. Besides being known for his brilliance, Saint Kieran also had a great capacity for friendship with other leaders of the early
Irish church almost all of whom were also declared saints.
Some accounts of the life of Saint Kieran have him going to Rome and spending over twenty years there and apparently being ordained a
Bishop. On his homeward journey, it is recorded, that he met Saint
Patrick who instructed Saint Kieran to travel until he came to a well where he should found a monastery.
Saint Kieran spent some time in the monastery of Inishmore in the Aran
Isles, under the direction of Saint Enda. Legend says that Saint Enda was an Irishman noted for his military feats who was convinced by his sister, Saint Fanchea, to renounce his warring activities and marry.
When he found his fiancée dead, he decided to become a monk and went on pilgrimage to Rome where he was ordained. He returned to Ireland and obtained from his brother-in-law, King Oengus of Munster, the island of Aran where he built a monastery. With Saint Finnian he is considered the founder of monasticism in Ireland.
While a member of the monastic community of Inishmore, Kieran was blessed with the vision of a great tree, which anticipated his own foundation of a renowned monastery. From Inishmore, Kieran went to visit his religious brothers at Isel in central Ireland. His stay there was brief, as the other monks envied his fame as a scholar and resented what they considered his excessive charity to the poor. Asked to leave, Saint
Kieran was led by a stag to Inis Aingin, or Hare Island. He stayed there for about three years and brothers all over Ireland came to study.
Many miracles attested to his holiness.

Saint Kieran left Hare Island with eight monastic brothers. They eventually settled at a location, in the center of Ireland, on the east bank of the River Shannon. Here, in the year 544, he founded the great monastery of Clonmacnoise. This monastery became the most famous in all of Ireland. It survived 1,000 years of raids and invasions, until it was destroyed by the English in 1552. Among the ruins include a cathedral, several churches, two round towers, three sculpted crosses, over 200 inscribed stones and a castle. The ruins now comprise a national monument.
A mere seven months after establishing the monastery of Clonmacnoise,
Saint Kieran died, perhaps of the plague. It is not known for sure.
What is known is that Saint Kieran is recognized as one of the “Twelve
Apostles of Ireland” because of his prominence in the early Irish
Church.
Stories and Legends of St. Kieran
One day as St. Kieran was watching the cattle some distance from the home of deacon Justus he realized he was able to hear his tutor’s instruction as closely as if he were in Justus’ house.
Kieran helps in Time of Famine
During a time of famine, when it was St. Kieran’s turn to carry a sack of oats to the mill in order to provide a little food for the monks, he prayed that the oats would become fine wheat. While Kieran was singing the Psalms with pure heart and mind, the single sack of oats was miraculously transformed into four sacks of the best wheat. Kieran returned home and baked bread with this wheat, which the older monks said was the very best they had ever tasted. These loaves not only satisfied their hunger, they were said to heal every sick person in the monastery who ate them.

A Cow Comes to Kieran’s Aid
A careless monk dropped Saint Kieran’s test of the Gospels into the lake surrounding Hare Island, where it remained underwater for a long time. On a summer day when the cattle went into the lake, the strap of
Saint Kieran’s book stuck to the foot of one of the cows. When the book was retrieved, it was dry with not a letter blurred or a page destroyed.
The Vision of the Great Tree
While in the Aran Islands with St. Enda, both monks saw the same vision of a great and fruitful tree growing on the banks of a stream in central Ireland. This tree sheltered the entire island, its fruit crossed the sea surrounding Ireland, and the birds came to carry of some of that fruit to the rest of the world. St. Enda interpreted this vision for his friend by saying, “The great tree is you Kieran, for you are great in the eyes of God and all people. All of Ireland will be sheltered by the grace in you, and many will be nourished by your fasting and prayers. Go to the center of Ireland and found your church on the banks of a stream.
And so, the great monastery of Clonmacnoise came to be.
The saints, surrounded by other holy people, encouraged each other to be faithful to God. The same role, duty and privilege are also ours.
RESOURCES http://www.stkieranchurch.org/Biography_of_St_Kieran.html
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnian_of_Clonard http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/kieran.html
http://www.catholic.org
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/irishsaints9.html
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0812606.html
http://saints.sqpn.com/saintk05.htm
http://ireland.iol.ie/~carigeen/ciaran.htm