Bienheureux Finbarr
Évêque de Cork en Irlande
et abbé (+ 610)
Il fut le premier évêque de Cork dont il est le saint patron. Il mourut à Cloyne.
A lire (en anglais) St Finbarr (560-610) patron of the diocese of Cork, Catholic Ireland.net.
À Cork en Irlande, vers 610, saint Finbarr, évêque et abbé, fondateur du
monastère d'Etargehael près de Cork, célèbre par son enseignement et sa
sainteté.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/10457/Bienheureux-Finbarr.html
Saint Finbarr
Précieuse fécondité
Le nom de cet évêque
irlandais, Finbarr, évoque une « belle chevelure », allusion à la
magnifique toison qu’il sacrifia en recevant la tonsure monastique. Natif du
sud de l’Irlande, il vit un temps en ermite. Les disciples affluant, il établit
un monastère sur les hauteurs de la future ville de Cork (province du Munster),
au bord de la rivière Lee. Il fonde également une école monastique,
prestigieuse par son enseignement et qui, dit-on, forma dix-sept saints
évêques. La devise de la University College Cork le rappelle : « Là
où Finbarr enseigna, que le Munster apprenne. » Devenu le premier évêque
de Cork, Finbarr serait mort vers 610, à Cloyne. S’il n’a pas pérégriné comme
saint Brendan ou saint Colomban, dont il est le contemporain, la fécondité de
son épiscopat – soixante-dix ans, dit-on – est incontestable.
« Allez dans le
monde entier, dit le Seigneur, proclamez l’Évangile à toute la création »,
et Finbarr a passé sa vie à étudier la foi et à l’enseigner au plus grand
nombre.
Temps de silence
À l’exemple de saint
Finbarr, laissons croître en nous un grand désir de nous former pour que nous
sachions mieux rendre compte de notre foi et de notre espérance.
Ce mois-ci, à l’écoute de
Silouane l’Athonite
Sois avec tes pensées en
Dieu et espère en lui. Bien que les mains travaillent, l’âme ne peut oublier
Dieu, parce que l’âme l’a pris en affection et l’Esprit de Dieu réjouit l’âme.
SOURCE : https://francais.magnificat.net/magnificat_content/saint-finbarr/
Also known as
Bairre
Barr
Barrocus
Finbarr
Findbar
Finnbarr
Finbarro
Fionnbharr
Lochan
Profile
Son of an artisan named Amergin and a lady of
the Irish royal court. Educated at
Kilmacahil monastery,
Kilkenny, Ireland.
He had very light hair, which led to the nickname Fionnbharr, “white
hair”. Made multiple pilgrimages to Rome, Italy,
visiting Saint David of
Wales on one trip. Preached throughout
southern Ireland,
and possibly in Scotland. Hermit on
a small island at Lough Eiroe and at Gougane Barra. Founded a school at
Eirce, Ireland.
Founded a monastery on
the river Lee; it developed into the city of Cork, Ireland.
First bishop of Cork.
Extravagant miracles were
attributed to him. Legend says that the sun did not set for two weeks after
his death.
Born
c.550 at
Connaught, Ireland as Lochan
25 September 623 at Cloyne, Ireland of
natural causes
interred in the cathedral at Cork, Ireland
Cork
and Ross, Ireland, diocese of
Additional Information
Book of
Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia, by A A Macerlean
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saint
Finnbarr, Founder of the Diocese of Cork, by Father P
Cahalane, PP, from The Fold
books
Battersby’s Registry for the Whole World
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other sites in english
video
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti in italiano
MLA Citation
‘Saint Finbar‘. CatholicSaints.Info. 13 November
2023. Web. 9 February 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-finbar/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-finbar/
Article
BARR (Saint) Bishop
(September 25) (6th century) Saint Barr (Finbar, Barrocus) was a native of
Connaught. He founded a monastic school at Lough Eire, thus originating the
city of Cork, of which he became the first Bishop. He died at Cloyne after
sixteen years of Episcopate, but the exact date is not certain.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Barr”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 18 August 2012.
Web. 10 February 2026. <http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-barr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-barr/
New Catholic
Dictionary – Saint Finbarr
(or Lochan) Bishop of
Cork, born near Bandon, Ireland,
c.550; died Cloyne, Ireland, 623.
He evangelized Gowran, Coolcashin, Aghahoe, and founded the school at Eirce. He
visited Rome, Scotland, and Wales. Feast, 25
September.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Finbarr”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info.
30 January 2013. Web. 10 February 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-finbarr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-finbarr/
St. Finbar
Feastday: September 25
Patron: of Cork, Diocese of Cork
Birth: 550
Death: 620
He was the son of an
artisan and a lady of the Irish royal court. Born in Connaught, Ireland, and
baptized Lochan, he was educated at Kilmacahil, Kilkenny, where the monks named
him Fionnbharr (white head) because of his light hair; he is also known as
Bairre and Barr. He went on pilgrimage to Rome with
some of the monks, visiting St. David in Wales on
the way back. Supposedly, on another visit to Rome the
Pope wanted to consecrate him a bishop but
was deterred by a vision, notifying the pope that God had
reserved that honor to Himself, and Finbar was consecrated from heaven and
then returned to Ireland. At any rate, he may have preached in Scotland,
definitely did in southern Ireland, lived as a hermit on a small island at
Lough Eiroe, and then, on the river Lee, founded a monastery that developed
into the city of Cork, of which he was the first bishop. His monastery became
famous in southern Ireland and
attracted numerous disciples. Many extravagant miracles are attributed to him,
and supposedly, the sun did not set for two weeks after he died at Cloyne about
the year 633. His feast
day is September 25th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=224
St. Finbarr (or Finbar)
The patron saint of Cork, was born in Achaid Duborcon near Crookstown, Co.
Cork, the son of a Connacht father, a metalworker, who moved to Munster to find
work and married a slave girl.
Finbarr left home with
three unidentified ascetics and spent much time in Scotland before establishing
various hermitages in his native area, notably at Kilclooney and on an island
in Gougane Barra, which bears his name.
Among many wondrous tales
associated with him is, one in which he is led by an angel from the source of
the river Lee at Gougane Barra to its marshy mouth, where he founded his most
important monastery, out of which grew the see and the city of Cork. Another of
Finbarr's great legends was the chase and expulsion of the great lake serpent
from the lake in Gougane, which created the channel that is now the river Lee.
Finbarr died at Cloyne in
633 ad and his remains were taken to Cork to be enclosed in a silver shrine. A
pattern is made to Gougane Barra on the Sunday nearest to the feast of St
Finbarr which falls on the 25th of September.
Patronage: city of
Cork, Ireland; diocese of Cork, Ireland; Barra, Scotland
Highlights and Things to
Do:
Read more about St.
Finbarr:
Celebrating St. Finbarr's Day and the lone Gougane Barra
See St. Finbarr's
Oratory & Island, Gougane Barra, a place of prayer, pilgrimage and
peace. Part of Uibh Laoire Parish and the catholic diocese of Cork & Ross.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-09-25
St. Finbar
St. Finbar was the son of
an artisan named Amergin and a lady of the Irish royal court. He was educated
at Kilmacahil monastery, Kilkenny, Ireland.
St. Finbar had very light
hair, which led to the nickname Fionnbharr, “white hair”. He made multiple
pilgrimages to Rome, visiting Saint David of Wales on one trip. He preached
throughout southern Ireland, and possibly in Scotland. He was a hermit on a
small island at Lough Eiroe and at Gougane Barra. Founded a school at Eirce.
St. Finbar founded a
monastery on the river Lee which eventually developed into the city of Cork,
Ireland of which he is the patron Saint & first
bishop. Extravagant miracles were attributed to him. Legend says that
the sun did not set for two weeks after his death.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-finbar/
St. Finbarr
(Lochan, Barr).
Bishop and patron of Cork,
born near Bandon, about 550, died at Cloyne, 25 September,
623, was son of Amergin. He evangelized Gowran, Coolcashin, and Aghaboe, and
founded a school at
Eirce. For some years he dwelt in a hermitage at Gougane Barra, where a
beautiful replica of Cormac's chapel has recently
been erected in his honour.
Finbarr was buried in the cathedral he built
where Cork city now stands. He was specially honoured also at
Dornoch and Barra, in Scotland.
There are five Irish saints of
this name.
Sources
Life by Walsh (New York,
1864); Banba (Dublin), 207.
MacErlean,
Andrew. "St. Finbarr." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
6. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06076a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Brian Hancock.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06076a.htm
September 25
St. Barr, or Finbarr, First Bishop of Cork, Confessor
HE is called by some St. Barrus, or Barrocus. He lived in the sixth age; was a native of Connaught, and instituted a monastery or school at Lough Eirc, 1 to which, as to the habitation of wisdom, and the sanctuary of all virtues, such numbers of disciples flocked, as changed, as it were, a desert into a large city. This was the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the river Lee. St. Finbarr’s disciple, St. Colman, son of Lenin, founded the famous episcopal see of Cloyne, of which he was the first bishop: he died on the 4th of November, in 604. St. Nessan, who succeeded St. Finbarr in his school, and built the town of Cork, was another eminent disciple, trained up under his discipline, and is honoured at Cork, on the 17th of March and 1st of December. Sir James Ware and Tanner take notice, that some, with a MS. copy in the king’s library at London, ascribe to St. Finbarr a letter on the ceremonies of baptism, printed among the works of Alcuin. The right name of our saint, under which he was baptized, was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was afterwards given him. He was bishop of Cork seventeen years, and died in the midst of his friends at Cloyne, fifteen miles from Cork. His body was buried in his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day. St. Finbarr’s cave or hermitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have been begun by our saint, and stood to the west of Cork. It was afterwards given to the canons regular of St. Austin, and was called Gill Abbey, from Gill Æda ô Mugin, a famous bishop of Cork, in 1170, who so much increased this house as to be regarded as its principal founder. On St. Finbarr see his MS. life in Trinity College, Dublin, MS. 31. Giraldus Cambren. De Mirabilibus Hibern. l. 2, c. 49. Mr. Ch. Smith, Ancient and Present State of Cork, t. 1, &c., t. Colganin MSS. ad 25th Sept.
Note 1. This lake,
called Lough-Eirc, Harris takes to be the hollow or basin, in which a great
part of the city of Cork now stands, drained and built on by the industry of
the inhabitants. To the reputation of St. Barr, the first bishop and abbot here,
is the city of Cork indebted for its original. It takes its name from Corcach,
which, in the Irish language, signifies a low marshy ground. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IX: September. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/252.html
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Finbarr, Bishop
Saint
Finbarr, who lived in the sixth century, was a native of Connaught, and
instituted a monastery or school at Lough Eire, to which such numbers of
disciples flocked, as changed, as it were, a desert into a large city. This was
the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy
little islands formed by the river Lea. The right name of our Saint, under
which he was baptized, was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was
afterward given him. He was Bishop of Cork seventeen years, and died in the
midst of his friends at Cloyne, fifteen miles from Cork. His body was buried in
his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a
silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day.
Saint Finbarr’s cave or hermitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have
been begun by our Saint, and stood to the west of Cork.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-finbarr-bishop/
Calendar
of Scottish Saints – Saint Barr or Finbar, Bishop
6th century. He was born
in Connaught and was the founder of a celebrated monastery and school on an
island in Lough Eirce (now known as Gougane-Barra), in County Cork, and to this
house, says Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum, so many came through zeal for a holy life
that it changed a desert into a great city.
Saint Finbar became the
first Bishop of Cork, where he founded a monastery almost as famous as the
former. Saint Finbar, like so many Irish saints, made a pilgrimage to Rome.
Missionary zeal led him later on to Scotland, and for some time he laboured in
Kintyre.
Devotion to Saint Barr
was very great in Catholic Scotland, as numerous dedications attest. His
churches are chiefly to be found on solitary islands, which seem to have had a
special attraction for him. Thus in the parish of Kilkerran, Kintyre, is an
island now known as Davar; it was formerly called Saint Barre’s Island. The
island of Barra takes its name from him; traces of his cultus lingered on there
long after the Reformation. At Kilbar (sometimes called Shilbar), for example,
an image of the saint, which was long preserved, used to be clothed with a
linen robe on his feast-day in comparatively recent times. Other curious
customs also prevailed in the island in connection with him; his holy well is there.
Saint Barr was the patron saint of the churches of Dornoch, and of Eddleston
(Peebles-shire); at both places a fair was annually held on his feast-day. In
Ayrshire is the parish of Barr, and in Forfarshire that of Inch bare. At Midd
Genie, in Tarbat, is Chapel Barre.
MLA
Citation
Father Michael
Barrett, OSB.
“Saint Barr or Finbar, Bishop”. The Calendar of
Scottish Saints, 1919. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 December 2019. Web. 10 February 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-barr-or-finbar-bishop/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-barr-or-finbar-bishop/
Saint
Finnbarr, Founder of the Diocese of Cork, by Father P Cahalane, PP
Feast-day, September
25th
Saint Finnbarr has for
centuries been accepted as the founder of our Diocese.1 He
is believed to have been born at Lisnacaheragh in the tuath centre of
Raithleann, situated in the townland of Garranes and civil parish of
Templemartin. There his father Ainairgen was a professional artisan in the
employment of Tigernach, a local chief, and he also was the owner of a townland
in the district, perhaps Kilbarry in Kilmurry parish. The child’s mother, whose
name has not been preserved, was probably the daughter of a local landowner. In
origin then he was the child of the Diocese of Cork. Amairgen indeed was of
Connaught descent, one of whose ancestors having migrated, settled in east Cork
(now the Barony of Barrymore) and later in Muskerry. Just as the descendants of
an emigrant from Ireland to America, who, on tracing their descent from a
family in Cork or Galway, might boast of Irish origin, so, too, Amairgen was
proud of his ultimate Connaught ancestry. Soon after the birth of the boy, the
family moved to the home in Kilbarry, where he was reared and baptised. At his
baptism he was named Loan McAmairgen, and it is clear that his parents were
already Christians or favourably disposed to Christianity.
The baptismal name of
Loan was changed to Finnbarr in unusual circumstances. Some time after the
baptism of the child, a number of clerics, who were on a pilgrimage from Ossory
to South Munster, called to the home of Amairgen and were much impressed by the
youth. With the permission of his parents they took him on the return journey
to Ossory for his education. On the way the youth was tonsured at a place
called Tlos Coill, believed to be situated in the region of the Nagle
mountains, which now marks the northern boundary of our Diocese. The tonsure
was the introduction to his education in the ecclesiastical sense. In the
course of the ceremony the cleric who tonsured him remarked: “Fair is the crest
(barr) on Loan.” The elder cleric added: “This shall be his name henceforth –
Findbarr.”2 There
were other saints named Finnbarr and Barrfind also, and one may suspect that
all did not get their name under like circumstances. It is probable that these
adopted the name of the Cork saint.
After the completion of
his education, Finnbarr returned to his native place, where he built a cill,
probably a family altar. Adjoining this a larger church was later built named
Acadh Durbcon, which became the parish church of the district now known as
Kilbarry. Before 1437 this was absorbed in the parish of Kilmurry. From
Kilbarry the saint proceeded to Cork, but he probably took a circuitous route
and visited Gougane Barra on the way. It is interesting to note in connection
with this tour that, according to tradition, the old road from Kilbarry
graveyard through Kilmichael and Iveleary was the ancient road to Gougane,
which can still be traced with reasonable accuracy. It was a testing journey
even for the youthful Finnbarr, but he was well repaid by the bleak grandeur of
his discovery. There he founded his hermitage, following the example of many
other saints, who established such places of retreat to which they were
accustomed to retire for prayer and meditation.3
From Gougane the saint
probably followed the course of the Lee on the north side to the river Dripsey
through the district of his friend, Saint Eolang of Aghabullog. At a point near
Inishluinge (soon to be submerged for ever by the waters of the Lee), where
there had been an earlier monastery, Finnbarr crossed the Lee ‘southwards’ and
still within sight of Inishluinge, he built a church named Cell na Cluaine,
identified with the teampul at Cellnaclona, a place now absorbed in the present
townland of Ballineadig. From this his course lay across the valley of the
river Bride through Desertmore and Kilnaglory to Cork. Before his arrival there
he is said to have built twelve churches. Most of these cannot now be
identified and the question often arises: what was the purpose of so many
foundations? It is suggested that ‘the multiplicity of churches points to the
intensified ardour of Ireland’s Christian infancy’ (Canon Power: Irish Eccl.
Record, March, 1950). This does not imply that the fewer but larger churches
which later arose at the time of the organisation of parishes in Ireland cooled
the ardour of the people. Before establishing his great monastery in Cork,
Finnbarr was probably accepted as ‘persona grata’ by the ruling sept of the
locality – the Ui Mic Ciair, a kindred sept of the Ui Eachach, later known as
the O’Mahonys. Through their good offices he was recommended to the Holy See and
sent into the territory of the sept, who had granted him the site of his
monastery in Cork. It is related in the ‘Life’ of the saint that he actually
went to Rome for his consecration, but it appears more probable that he was
consecrated in Cork by his teacher and life-long friend, Bishop Mac Cuirp.
The Cork monastery
consisted of a school and monastic church. This church was in fact his ‘sedes’
from which he organised and ruled the infant church as abbot-bishop. A monastic
church in these early times did not mean the same as a monastic church at the
present day, such as the convents or abbeys of the Franciscans, Dominicans,
etc. In early times the monastery of monks was a secular or missionary
establishment, where the monks or priests lived and worked as a community. The
monks taught and prayed as a body in true monastic spirit, but as individuals
they ministered also in outlying districts as secular priests. We can form some
idea of this ancient combination of the secular and monastic life from the custom
in some dioceses in Ireland at present, whereby all the priests of a parish
reside together in a presbytery in a kind of community life, each priest,
however, having the individual care of a district and school or schools in the
parish. In this connection it is interesting to note that the term ‘abbey’ has
survived in tradition and was applied to the churches of secular priests in the
diocese, such as to an old cill in the ancient parish of Macloneigh (Kilmichael
Parish), though it is quite certain that there was no abbey there in the modern
sense.
The site of Finnbarr’s
church and school was on the limestone cliff on the south bank of the Lee, now
known as Gill Abbey.4 Originally
known as Rathin Mac nAedha, this was the land granted to the saint by the
ruling sept. The site was well chosen: it was a centre of population and the
terrain was suitable for buildings of an enduring nature. The school became
known as the School of Cork, but this is a modest description as in fact it was
a noted school of learning and piety, catering for secular students as well as
aspirants to the priesthood. It attracted youths from places far beyond the
immediate locality. The course of training consisted in the harmonious
development of the secular and the religious needs of man – preparation of the
soul as well as technical training of mind and hand. We have little information
as to the nature of the courses pursued by those young men who aspired to the
priesthood, but the battle for the souls of many still surrounded with centres
and objects savouring of paganism could not be won as if by magic. Saint
Finnbarr, the son of a noted craftsman, inherited the family genius for building
and allied crafts and was therefore specially qualified for the teaching of
such subjects as well as the art of practising the christian way of life. In
the erection of the monastic buildings in Cork and the construction of churches
as the infant diocese expanded, he must have spared himself no effort. It is
our misfortune that owing to the destruction wrought by the Norsemen in later
times, we are deprived of all but the most meagre fragments of these early
buildings.
For a period of about
seventeen years Saint Finnbarr worked not only as the master of a great school,
but also as a missionary in the extension and organisation of the infant
diocese. He continued the pioneer work of Saint Patrick, extending the Faith
and ensuring its full practice in many districts where as yet only pockets of
Catholics and isolated churches existed. While still on active service he died
about the year 620, aged about 70 years. The circumstances of his passing are
indeed touching.
Our first bishop made one
of his accustomed visits to Gougane Rarra for light and strength in lone
commune with God for yet another period of work for his beloved diocese. It
was, however, his last visit. On the return journey he made a surprise call at Cell
na Cluaine. The hermit of Desertmore, who had been a special friend of his, was
invited to greet him there,5 and
when it became evident that the saint was unable to resume his journey to Cork,
the hermit administered the last Sacraments to his Bishop and patron, who soon
died ‘by the cross in the middle of Cell na Cluaine.’ We can well imagine the
scenes of sorrow as the funeral cortege wended its way through the valley of
the Lee to the site of his fruitful labours, where clergy from South Munster
‘were busied about the body of their master with hymns and psalms and Masses
and recitation of Hours.’6
According to tradition he
was buried in an angle of the cemetery attached to his monastery, a spot that
now lies to the south-east of the present day Protestant cathedral (the
cemetery at Gill Abbey is believed to be of a later date). Because of
continuing raids of the Norsemen, his enshrined body was removed in the ninth
century to a safer resting place, but in vain. The relies of the saint have
been lost and this loss must also be accredited to the Norsemen. Through the centuries
many legends have grown in relation to the life and work of Saint Finnbarr. We
admire the laurel wreaths that have been woven in his praise, but we need not
substitute them for historical facts. There is ample testimony to his holiness
as a pioneer of the Faith and to his greatness as a man of our own soil. Lists
of his miracles and surpassing achievements too are to be found in most of the
‘Lives’ of Saint Finnbarr, but (and the possibility of miracles is not denied)
these are regarded as common form, while the epitaph of Gorman in his
martyrology is indeed uncommon: ‘May chaste Bairre from Corcach be before me in
Heaven. For he was kind and gentle to the poor.’
- Father P Cahalane,
PP, The
Fold, July and August 1953
The term ‘founder’ is now
a term of historical interest rather than of actual use. Instead we have the
term ‘patron,’ which is, too, an ancient term, as the word ‘pattern’ shows.
Patron was the term applied to a district or diocese rather than to the churches
in the locality. The term now in use in regard to individual churches is
‘titular,’ which means the saint or mystery of religion from which the church
is named. Both patron and titular may, however, be applied to the district or
ecclesiastical entity and to the churches situated in that region, as Saint
Finbarr is the patron of the Diocese of Cork and is the titular of a number of
churches and institutions in the Diocese also.
The rendering Findbarr
with double ‘n’ as given in the tablet of Saint Finnbarr’s College, Saint
Patrick’s Place (now the Christian College), is probably a later spelling.
Devoted clients of Saint
Finnbarr still follow a grand tradition when they go on retreat or attend their
parish mission.
The name Gill Abbey is
derived from Gilla Aedha O’Muidhin, a noted bishop of Cork in the twelfth
century.
The absence of Saint
Eolang, his confessor, on this occasion is difficult to explain. Was the
illness of Saint Finnbarr of a sudden nature or was Saint Eolang then dead?
Lives of the Irish Saints,
Volume II, page 2. Plummer
SOURCE : http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-finnbarr-founder-of-the-diocese-of-cork-by-father-p-cahalane-pp/
San Findbar di Cork Vescovo
Festa: 25 settembre
† 623 ca.
Martirologio
Romano: A Cork nel Munster in Irlanda, san Finbar, vescovo.
Nato nel Connaught, visse probabilmente nel secolo VI o nel VII. Non si sa nulla di certo sulla sua vita. Fondò nel Sud dell'Irlanda un monastero, che diede origine alla città di Cork e al suo vescovado, di cui egli fu, si dice, il primo titolare.
Secondo la sua leggenda irlandese, Findbar che aveva una sorella, santa Lassar, fu educato da un discepolo di san Gregorio Magno. Pellegrinò a Roma e nel ritorno visitò san David di Menevia che gli avrebbe donato un cavallo sui quale egli tornò in Irlanda fendendo i flutti del mare. Eresse a Cork una scuola monastica, centro di formazione di diciassette santi vescovi, e fondò Killbarar, dove si incontrò con san Patrizio. Conobbe san Brendano il Navigatore e santa Columba di Iona. Vescovo per settant’anni, mori a Cloyne e fu sepolto a Cork.
La leggenda scozzese lo fa nascere nell'isola di Cathania (Caithness). L. Gougaud identifica Findbar con un san Barnic, venerato a Forwey, che però, molto probabilmente, è san Berwyn.
Findbar morì nel 623 circa ed è ricordato il 25 settembre.
Il suo culto è stato approvato il 17 giugno 1903.
Autore: Rombaut Van Doren
