Séamus Murphy, Statue of St Gobnait, 1951, Ballyvourney County Cork Ireland
Sainte Gobnait
Abbesse en
Irlande (VIe siècle)
Gobnait ou Gobnata est
une des saintes les plus vénérées du diocèse de Kerry en Irlande. Elle fait
partie d'un groupe de saints irlandais reconnus localement et dont la date de
fête est nationale ce qui a été confirmé par la Congrégation pour le culte des
saints à Rome en 1998.
Elle est entourée d'une grande dévotion dans les îles d'Aran, dans l'ouest du comté de Kerry et près de la frontière avec le comté de Cork. Ces sites ont un lien avec le voyage qu'elle entreprit dans sa recherche du 'lieu de sa résurrection'. Seules restent quelques légendes sur sa vie.
(diocèse
de Kerry en Irlande - site en anglais)
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/12413/Sainte-Gobnait.html
St. Gobnet's Church, Inisheer; although the church is 11th century, it claims to derive from a foundation by Gobnait and to contain the remains of her beehive hut.
St. Gobnet's Church, Inisheer; although the
church is 11th century, it claims to derive from a foundation by Gobnait and to
contain the remains of her beehive hut.
Also
known as
Abigail
Albina
Deborah
Gobnat
Gobnet
Gobnait
Profile
Sixth century abbess of
a convent at
in Ballyvourney, Ireland.
A holy well there that is named for her still exists. Legend says that she
found the site of the convent by
chasing a white deer;
an angel told
her to follow it until she found a herd of nine white deer and found
her house there.
Additional
Information
Book of
Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
video
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Gobnata“. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 February 2023. Web. 3 September 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gobnata/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gobnata/
Gobnata of Ballyvourney V
(AC)
(also known as Gobnet,
Gobnait)
Born in County Clare,
Ireland; died 5th or 6th century (?). In order to escape a family feud, Saint
Gobnata fled to the Aran Islands. There she built a church, which is still
named after her, but angels told her that she would find the place of her resurrection
where nine white deer grazed. So she went to southern Ireland and founded the
church of Kilgobnet (near Dungarvan), where she saw the nine deer.
Saint Abban of Kilabban,
County Meath, Ireland, is said to have founded a convent in Ballyvourney, County
Cork, on land donated by the O'Herlihy family, and to have placed Saint Gobnata
over it as abbess. This is Ballyvourney, the place of which the angels spoke. A
13th-century wooden statue of Gobnata, in the hereditary keepership of the
O'Herlihy family, was venerated there until 1843. A well still exists at
Ballyvourney that is named after her. As with many Irish saints, there are
stories of wondrous interactions with nature. Gobnata (meaning Honey Bee, which
is the equivalent of the Hebrew "Deborah") used her bees to keep out
unwelcome visitors.
Her grave in the
churchyard at Ballyvourney is decorated with crutches and other evidence of
cures obtained through Gobnata's intercession. Among the miracles attributed to
her intercession were the staying of a pestilence by marking off the parish as
sacred ground. Another tradition relates that she routed an enemy by loosing
her bees upon them. Her beehive has remained a precious relic of the
O'Herlihys.
The round stone
associated with her is still preserved. Several leading families of Munster
have a traditional devotion to this best-known and revered local saint. The
devotion of the O'Sullivan Beare family may have been the reason that Pope
Clement VIII honored Gobnata in 1601 by indulgencing a pilgrimage to her shrine
and, in 1602, by authorizing a Proper Mass on her feast. About that time the
chieftains of Ireland were making a final struggle for independence and the
entire clan migrated to the North having dedicated their fortunes to Gobnata in
a mass pilgrimage that included O'Sullivan Beare, his fighting men, and their
women, children, and servants (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Farmer, Montague, Neeson,
O'Hanlon, Sullivan).
In art, Saint Gobnata is
represented as a beekeeper (Farmer).
MLA
Citation
Katherine I
Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info.
18 May 2020. Web. 25 November 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-gobnata-of-ballyvourney/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-gobnata-of-ballyvourney/
St. Gobnata of
Ballyvourney, Virgin
(Gobnet, Gobnait)
11 February
6th century One of the
most popular of the saints of Munster, she was born in County Clare but had to
flee from enemies and took refuge in the Isle of Aran, where there is a church
at Inisheer, Kilgobnet, Gobnat's church. After a time an angel appeared and
told her that this was not to be the place of her resurrection but
she must make a journey until she came upon nine white deer and this would be
the sign for her to settle and build a monastery.
So she set out to search for the spot that God had chosen for her and she founded
churches on the way, among them Dunguin in County Kerry and Dungarven in County
Waterford. It was in County Cork that she saw three white deer near Cloudrohid;
then at Ballymakeera she saw six and going further she arrived at Ballyvourney
and found nine grazing near a wood. There she founded her monastery.
Saint Abban of Kilabban, County Meath, Ireland, is said to have worked with her
on the foundation of the convent in Ballyvourney, County Cork, on land donated
by the O'Herlihy family, and to have placed Saint Gobnat over it as abbess.
St Gobnat had a particular calling to care for the sick and she is credited
with saving the people at Ballyvourney from the plague. She is also regarded as
the Patroness of bees. Gobnata (meaning "Honey Bee", which is the
equivalent of the Hebrew "Deborah") Of course honey is a useful
ingredient in many medicines but she is said to have driven off a brigand by
sending a swarm of bees after him and making him restore the cattle he had
stolen. In fact she seems to have been very able in dealing with brigands. Set
in the wall of the ruined church at Ballyvourney there is a round stone, which
she is said to have used as a sort of boomerang to prevent the building of a
castle by another brigand on the other side of the valley from her monastery.
Every time he began building she sent the stone across and knocked down the
walls, as fast as he could build, until he gave up in despair.
There is a field near to the village called the Plague Field commemorating the
area she marked out as consecrated ground, across which the plague could not
pass. The "Tomhas Ghobnata", which is the Gaelic for Gobnat's
measure, a length of wool measured against her statue, is still in demand for
healing, and in the church a much worn wooden statue of the thirteenth century
is preserved and shown on her festival. At Killeen there is Gobnat's Stone, an
early cross pillar that has a small figure bearing a crozier on one side.
A well still exists at Ballyvourney that is named after her. As with many Irish
saints, there are stories of wondrous interactions with nature.
Her grave in the churchyard at Ballyvourney is decorated with crutches and
other evidence of cures obtained through Gobnata's intercession. Among the
miracles attributed to her intercession were the staying of a pestilence by
marking off the parish as sacred ground. Another tradition relates that she
routed an enemy by loosing her bees upon them. Her beehive has remained a
precious relic of the O'Herlihys.
The round stone associated with her is still preserved. In art, Saint Gobnata
is represented as a beekeeper.
Troparion of St Gobnet
Tone 3
As a spiritual child of the God inspired Abban
thou didst worthily guide many into monastic virtue, most holy Gobnet.
Wherefore we entreat thee to intercede for us
that we may be guided aright
and be found worthy of the great mercy of Christ our God.
Kontakion of St Gobnet
Tone 5
Praise and honour are thy due
O physician of bodies and souls,
most pious Gobnet.
As thou, being blessed with the gift of healing,
didst bring to many the wholeness and peace of Christ,
pray now for us that our tormented souls
may come to know the joy of godly healing.
SOURCE : https://celticsaints.org/2014/0211b.html
St. Gobnata at
Ballyvourney
Commemorated on February
11
St. Gobnata was born in
County Clare, Ireland at the end of the fifth, or beginning of the sixth,
century. An angel appeared to her one day and told her to leave and to keep
walking until she found nine white deer. Eventually, she saw three white deer
at Clondrohid, County Cork, and decided to follow them. Then, at Ballymakeera,
she saw six white deer. Finally, at Ballyvourney, she came upon nine white deer
grazing in a wood. There, she was given land for a women’s monastery by her
spiritual Father, St. Abban of Kilabban, and he installed her as abbess.
Excavations in 1951 proved that indeed there had been an early Christian
settlement on the site.
St. Gobnata was renowned
for her gift of healing, and there is a story of how she kept the plague from
Ballyvourney. She is also famous for her skill as a bee-keeper.
One day, St. Gobnata was
watching from a hill overlooking a valley as an invading chieftain and his army
came through, destroying crops and driving off cattle. She sent the bees to
attack them, and the army was thrown into such confusion that they left without
their plunder.
The holy virgin St
Gobnata fell asleep in the Lord on February 11. The exact year of her death is
not known, but it probably occurred in the sixth century. Although she is
regarded as the patron saint of Ballyvourney, she is venerated throughout
southern Ireland. There are churches dedicated to her in Waterford and Kerry,
and she is also revered in Scotland.
Troparion (Tone 3) –
As a spiritual child of
the God inspired Abban
Thou didst worthily guide
many into monastic virtue, most holy Gobnata
Wherefore we entreat thee
to intercede for us
that we may be guided
aright
and be found worthy of
the great mercy of Christ our God.
Kontakion (Tone 5) –
Praise and honor are thy
due
O physician of bodies and
souls,
Most Pious Gobnata.
As thou, being blessed
with the gift of healing,
Didst bring to many the
wholeness and peace of Christ,
Pray now for us that our
tormented souls
May come to know the joy
of godly healing.
By permission of the
Orthodox Church in America (www.oca.org)
SOURCE : http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/17505
Santa Gobnat Vergine
Festa: 11 febbraio
VI sec.
E' una figura
storicamente accertata, il cui culto si è localizzato a Ballyvourney, nella
baronia di Muskerry, contea di Cork, dai tempi più remoti fino ai nostri giorni.
I resti archeologici testimoniano qui dell'antichità del suo culto, ma non è
facile assegnarle un floruit, anche approssimativo. La sua connessione con san
Abbano, così come è detto nella Vita, è accettabile, ma è probabile che gli
Acta dell'Abbano associato a Gobnat siano stati confusi con quelli del più
famoso santo omonimo del Leinster.
Santa Gobnat (Gobnait), commemorata nei Martirologi irlandesi all'11 febbraio, è una figura complessa e controversa. Il suo culto si è localizzato a Ballyvourney, nella baronia di Muskerry, contea di Cork, dai tempi più remoti fino ai nostri giorni, ma la sua identità e la sua collocazione temporale sono ancora oggetto di dibattito.
Il Martirologio di Tallaght la chiama Gobnat di Ernaidhe nel Muskerry, mentre le notulae ad Oengus parlano di Gobnat di "Bairnech in Moin Mor nel Sud dell'Irlanda". Un tale sdoppiamento permane anche nei martirologi posteriori.
Tuttavia, è un fatto storicamente accertato che il culto di Gobnat si sia localizzato a Ballyvourney, dove sono stati rinvenuti resti archeologici che testimoniano dell'antichità del suo culto.
La Vita di Santa Gobnat, scritta nel XVII secolo, la descrive come una donna che visse nel VI secolo e che fu discepola di San Patrizio. La Vita narra che Gobnat fu martirizzata da un gruppo di pagani, ma fu poi resuscitata da San Patrizio.
Questa Vita è stata oggetto di critiche da parte di alcuni studiosi, che ritengono che sia un'opera di fantasia. In particolare, si è ipotizzato che gli Acta dell'Abbano associato a Gobnat siano stati confusi con quelli del più famoso santo omonimo del Leinster.
In conclusione, Santa Gobnat è una figura affascinante e misteriosa, la cui identità e la cui collocazione temporale sono ancora oggetto di dibattito.
Autore: Franco Dieghi
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/96045
Feb 11 – St Gobnait (6th century) : https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-gobnait-6th-century/
