Brendan of Birr
{{Short description|Irish monastic saint}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use Irish English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix = Saint
| name = Brendan of Birr
| birth_date =
| feast_day = 29 November
| venerated_in = Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Communion
| image = Birr St. Brendan's Church St. Brendan Window 2010 09 10.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Stained glass window depicting St. Brendan in St. Brendan's Church, Birr.
| birth_place=
| death_place = Birr, Kingdom of Munster
| titles = Abbot, Prophet of Ireland
| canonized_date = Pre-Congregation
| canonized_place =
| canonized_by =
| attributes =
| patronage =
| major_shrine=
| suppressed_date=
| issues=
}}
Brendan of Birr (died c. 572) was one of the early Irish monastic saints. He was a monk and later an abbot, of the 6th century. He is known as "Saint Brendan the Elder" to distinguish him from his contemporary and friend Brendan the Navigator of Clonfert.{{Cite web |url=http://birrhistsoc.com/Hist.htm#brendan |title="St. Brendan the Elder of Birr", Birr Historical Society |access-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406023345/http://www.birrhistsoc.com/Hist.htm#brendan |archive-date=6 April 2018 }} He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, a friend and disciple of Columba.{{cite book|last=Farmer|first=David Hugh|title=The Oxford dictionary of saints|year=1997|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=0-19-280058-2|edition=4th|page=72}}
Background
In early Christian Ireland the druid tradition collapsed under the pressure of the new faith. Study of Latin learning and Christian theology in monasteries flourished. Brendan became a pupil at the monastic school at Clonard Abbey. During the sixth century, some of the most significant names in the history of Irish Christianity studied at the Clonard monastery. It is said that the average number of scholars under instruction at Clonard was 3,000.
{{Cite encyclopedia
| last = Gratton-Flood
| first = W.H.
| entry= The Twelve Apostles of Erin
| encyclopedia= The Catholic Encyclopedia
| volume = I
| location = New York
| publisher = Robert Appleton Company
| date = 1 March 1907
|entry-url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01632a.htm
| access-date = 2008-02-09
|via=New Advent
}}
Twelve students who studied under Finian became known as the Twelve Apostles of Ireland; Brendan of Birr was one of these.
Life
Brendan of Birr is said to have been of a noble Munster family.{{cite book|author=John Lanigan|title=An ecclesiastical history of Ireland, from the first introduction of Christianity to the beginning of the thirteenth century|url=https://archive.org/details/anecclesiastica03lanigoog|year=1829|publisher=Printed for J. Cumming|page=[https://archive.org/details/anecclesiastica03lanigoog/page/n100 91]|chapter=Chap. X}} It was at Clonard that Brendan became a friend and companion of Ciarán of Saigir and Brendan of Clonfert.
He founded the monastery at Birr[http://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-brendan-of-birr-d-573-abbot/ Duffy, Patrick. "Brendan of Birr, Abbot", Caitlicigh Ar An nGreasan] in central Ireland in about 540, serving as its abbot. He emerges from early Irish writings as a man of generous hospitality with a reputation for sanctity and spirituality who was an intuitive judge of character. He was considered one of the chief prophets of Ireland. This is evidenced both in his title ('Prophet of Ireland'), and by his attendance at the synod of Meltown, in which Columba was brought to trial over his role in the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in 561. Brendan spoke on Columba's behalf, prompting the assembled clerics to sentence Columba with exile rather than excommunication. His friendship and support for Columba resulted in important connections between Birr and the Columban foundations. An adviser of Columba said that Columba saw a vision of Brendan's soul being carried away by angels after his death. He thereupon ordered for a mass to be said in his honour.{{cite book|author=Adomnan of Iona|title=Life of St Columba|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7yFjie05bcC&pg=PA214|year=1995|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-0-14-190741-3|page=214}}
The feast day of Brendan of Birr is 29 November.
Brendan's monastery at Birr was later to produce the MacRegol Gospels, which are now housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Note that while this Saint Brendan is traditionally considered a saint, he is not listed in the latest official, complete martyrology of the Catholic Church, the 2004 Martyrologium Romanum in Latin.{{Cite book |last=Catholic Church |url=http://archive.org/details/MartRom2004 |title=Martyrologium Romanum (2004) |date=2004}}
See also
References
{{Twelve Apostles of Ireland}}
{{Saints of Ireland}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Christianity |portal4= Ireland}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brendan of Birr}}
Category:Irish Christian monks
Category:6th-century Christian saints
Category:Medieval Irish saints
Category:Medieval saints of Meath
Category:People from Birr, County Offaly
Category:6th-century Irish abbots
Category:Religion in Birr, County Offaly