Eithne and Sodelb

{{Short description|Irish saints from Leinster}}

{{Infobox saint

| name = Saint Eithne and Sodelb

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| caption = Sisters and Virgins

| birth_date = unknown

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| residence = near Swords, in County Dublin

| death_date = mid-6th century (or later)

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| venerated_in = Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church

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| feast_day = 29 March

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| patronage = Swords, County Dublin}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

Eithne and her sister SodelbOther forms of their names include Ethne, Eithene and Eithnea (Latinised) and Sodbhealbh, Soidhelbh and Sodelbia (Latinised). are two relatively obscure Irish saints from Leinster who are supposed to have flourished in the 5th century. They are commemorated together in the Irish martyrologies on 29 March,Martyrology of Tallaght, 29 March; Félire Óengusso, 29 March; Martyrology of Gorman, 29 March; Martyrology of Donegal, 29 March ("Eithne and Sodhealbh, two daughters of Bait, by the side of Sord Coluim Cille"); Martyrology of Drummond, 29 March ("Apud Hiberniam sanctae virgines filiae Baite ad Christum perrexerunt"). though 2 and 15 January were also marked out as feast-days.O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish saints, p. 994, citing the Bollandists. The 17th-century scholar John Colgan believed that a Life written for them had been witnessed in c. 1490 by Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa (d. 1498), whom he regarded as the author of additions to the Félire Óengusso (see below).Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae; O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish saints, 995. Although nothing of the kind has come to light, they do make cameo appearances in the Lives of two better-known 6/7th-century saints, Áedan and Moling, both bishops of Ferns.

Ever since their first appearances in the two earliest Irish martyrologies, the Martyrology of Tallaght and Félire Óengusso (early 8th century), the sisters are typically referred to as the daughters of Baite or Baithe.Martyrology of Tallaght, 29 March (ingena Baite). They appear anonymously by that description in the Félire Óengusso, while a late commentator to the text, often identified as Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa, names them Eithne and Sodelb.Félire Óengusso, pp. 102–3.

As Colgan already noted, the Genealogies of the Saints of Ireland describe them as daughters of Cairbre, king of Leinster, son of Cormac, son of Ailill, son of Dunlong (etc.), and sisters to one Cumania.Colgan, Acta Sanctorum, 785; O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish saints, 995. For a modern critical edition, see Pádraig Ó Riain (ed), Corpus genealogiarum sanctorum Hiberniae. Dublin, 1985. The Life of St Áedan of Ferns, on the other hand, makes them daughters of Cairbre's son and successor Áed.O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish saints, 995. Based on the entry for Cairbre's death in 546 in the Annals of the Four Masters,Annals of the Four Masters M546.4 ("Cairbre, son of Cormac, King of Leinster, died."). Colgan dates their floruit to the mid-6th century or later.Colgan, Acta Sanctorum, 785.

Colgan proposes that the name Baite must either refer to their (grand)father Cairbre son of Cormac or represent the Irish noun baide denoting divine affection or charity rather than any personal name or epithet.Dictionary of Christian Biography{{CathEncy|wstitle=St. Eithene}} This designation he explains refers to the miraculous act of piety for which they were chiefly remembered, namely their nurturing of the infant Christ.Martyrology of Tallaght, 29 March. The commentary to the Félire states that they had a vision in which they "used to nurture Christ [...] and Christ used to come in the shape of a babe", so that he was lovingly cradled in their bosom and kissed (in sinu earum et osculabantur eum, et ille babtizauit eas et si apostoli praedicauerint illis tamen plus ab ipso acceperunt fidem quam ab illis).

The church or hermitage of the two sisters is identified by the commentator of the Félire as Tech ingen mBóiti "House of the Baite's daughters" near Swords, i.e. in the barony of Nethercross (County Dublin), which the Martyrology of Cashel locates in Fingal, on the plain of Brega.O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish saints, 996 and 996 n. 20. According to the Genealogies, Eithne and Sodelb were (also) venerated at Killnais, the former name of a townland in the same locality.

In one of the legends contained in the Acts of St Moling, Bishop of Ferns, it is told that this venerable saint visited Eithne and her sister.Cullen, "Eithne" Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)

Saint Eithne is reportedly buried at St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}