Saint Conval

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2019}}

{{Redirect|Conwall|the similar spelling|Conwal (disambiguation){{!}}Conwal}}

{{Infobox saint

|name=Saint Conval

|birth_date=c. 570

|death_date=c. 630 (aged 60)

|feast_day=28 September

|venerated_in=Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

|image=

|imagesize=

|caption=

|birth_place= Ireland

|death_place= Scotland

|titles=

|canonized_date= Pre-Congregation

|attributes=

|patronage=

|major_shrine=

|suppressed_date=

|issues=

|prayer=

|prayer_attrib=

}}

Saint Conval (Conwall) (died c.630) was an Irish-born missionary who, according to legend recorded in the Aberdeen Breviary,{{cite book |title=The Legends and Commemorative Celebrations of St. Kentigern, His Friends and Disciples. Translated from the Aberdeen Breviary and the Arbuthnot Missal. |translator=W. Stevenson |page=28 |publisher=Thomas George Stevenson |year=1874 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oEAPD1LZEgC&dq=%22Lection+II%22&pg=PA26-IA7}} as he was praying on the sea shore "to be borne, by whatsoever means, to the regions beyond the sea", was miraculously carried by the stone he stood on across the Irish Sea to Inchinnan in Scotland. He was active in the Kingdom of Strathclyde in the area of East Renfrewshire, where there were “Conval wells” in Barrhead and Thornliebank.[http://catholicsaints.info/saint-conval-of-strathclyde/ Saint Conval of Strathclyde] on CatholicSaints.Info He is believed to have founded churches at Inchinnan, Pollokshaws and Fereneze (near Barrhead). His bones were preserved in an impressive sarcophagus at the Inchinnan church.{{cite web | title=Inchinnan Historical Interest Group | website=Inchinnan Historical Interest Group | url=https://myinchinnan.org.uk/about-inchinnan/ | access-date=26 February 2018}}

File:St Conval's Chariot and the Argyll Stone cross base, Inchinnan.JPG.]]

The Aberdeen Breviary records traditions that he was a disciple of Kentigern in Glasgow, but this may have originated from 12th century bishops seeking to bring the Inchinnan church under their jurisdiction. Traditionally, Conval was buried at Inchinnan.Tim Clarkson: [https://books.google.com/books?id=pJq8BQAAQBAJ&dq=inchinnan+conval&pg=PT72 The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland] In the 12th century David I of Scotland gave the Knights Templar a church in Inchinnan dedicated to Saint Conval, it was replaced by 'Hallows Church' in 1900, then demolished in 1965 for the extensions of Abbotsinch airfield into Glasgow Airport.{{cite web|url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/43063/details/inchinnan+old+parish+church+and+graveyard/&biblio=more#books |title=Site Record for Inchinnan, Old Parish Church And Graveyard All Hallows Church; St Conval's Details|publisher=Canmore.rcahms.gov.uk |date= |accessdate=2014-07-10}}

A stone, thought to be the base of an early Christian cross, is protected by cast iron enclosure near the bridge at Inchinnan, and is known as "St Conval's Chariot" which supposedly brought Saint Conval from Ireland to Inchinnan.{{cite web | title=A Wildlife Walk Along The Erskine Shore | website=Clydeside Images.co.uk | date=2018 | url=http://www.clydesideimages.co.uk/a-wildlife-walk-along-the-erskine-shore.html | access-date=26 February 2018}} There is a legend that pilgrims drank water gathered in a hollow in the stone for its healing properties, and that the adjacent stone was the pediment of the cross.[http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/media/2706/Argyll-Stones/pdf/ArygllStones.pdf Argyll Stones], Renfrewshire Council, Retrieved 28 February 2018.

He is a Catholic and Orthodox saint, feast day 28 September.