Saint Ciaran (Kieran) of Clonmacnoise

Our father Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, also known as St. Kieran the Younger, was born around 512 AD in Connacht, Ireland, a town located in the northern part of County Roscommon. The son of Beoit, a carpenter and chariot-builder, Ciaran inherited a love of learning from his mother’s side of the family, as his maternal grandfather had been a bard, poet, and historian. Baptized by deacon Justus (“the righteous one”), who also served as his first tutor, the boy Ciaran worked as a cattle herder. Even this early in his life, stories testifying to Ciaran’s holiness are told.

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Ciaran continued his education at the monastery of Clonard, which was led by St. Finnian. Ciaran quickly gained a reputation for learning, and was asked to serve as tutor to the daughter of the King of Cuala, even as he continued his own studies. His friend and fellow student, Columcille of Iona, testified to Ciaran’s brilliance by saying, “He was a lamp, blazing with the light of wisdom.”

When Finnian had to absent himself from the monastery, it was to the youthful Ciaran that he deputed his authority to teach and “give out the prayers”, and when Ciaran announced his intended departure, Finnian wanted to resign and make Ciaran abbot in his place. But Ciaran felt himself unripe for such responsibility, and he knew he had work to do elsewhere.

Ciaran had a great capacity for friendship with other leaders of the early Irish church. In addition to Justus, Columcille, and Finnian, Ciaran counted Enda of the Aran Islands as his mentor, and both Senan of Scattery Island and Kevin of Glendalough as friends and colleagues. Ciaran’s years of residence at Clonard were also marked by miraculous events that benefited the entire monastery.

After completing his studies under Finnian, Ciaran left Clonard and moved to the monastery of Inishmore in the Aran Isles, which was directed by St. Enda. Both Ciaran and Enda saw the same vision of a great and fruitful tree growing on the banks of a stream in central Ireland. This tree sheltered the entire island, its fruit crossed the sea surrounding Ireland, and birds came to carry off some of that fruit to the rest of the world. Enda interpreted this vision for his friend by saying, “The great tree is you, Ciaran, for you are great in the eyes of God and all people. All of Ireland will be sheltered by the grace in you, and many will be nourished by your fasting and prayers. Go to the center of Ireland, and found your church on the banks of a stream.”

Ciaran obeyed. On reaching the mainland he first paid a visit to St. Senan of Scattery and then proceeded towards the “middle of Ireland”, founding the monastery of Inis Ainghin (“Hare Island.”) While he lived here for over three years, brothers from all over Ireland came to study under Ciaran, and more miracles attested to his holiness.

Ciaran departed Hare Island with eight monastic brothers, and eventually settled at a location in the center of Ireland, on the east bank of the River Shannon at a place called Clonmacnoise (“The Meadow of the Sons of Nos.”) He said to his companions: “Here then we will stay, for many souls will go to heaven from here, and there will be a visit from God and from men forever in this place.” On January 23, 544, Ciaran laid the foundation of his monastic school of Clonmacnoise, and on the following May 9 he witnessed its completion. Diarmait, son of Cerball, afterwards High King of Ireland, aided and encouraged the saint in every way, endowing the monatery with great grants of land.

Students by the thousands came to study at Clonmacnoise, not only from Ireland, but also from England and France. Clonmacnoise became Ireland’s center of study, art, and literature. To this day, tourists and pilgrims visit the site of Ciaran’s monastery to see some of the finest monastic ruins and high crosses in all of Ireland.

Only 7 months after establishing Clonmacnoise, on September 9, 544, Ciaran died of the plague. It is remarkable that a young saint dying before he was thirty-three, should be the founder of a school whose fame was to endure for centuries. But Ciaran was a man of prayer and fasting and labor, trained in all the science and discipline of the saints, humble and full of faith. Alcuin, the most illustrious alumnus of Clonmacnoise, calls him the Gloria Gentis Scotorum (“Glory of the Irish people”). Because of his prominence in the early Irish church, St. Ciaran is known as one of the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland.” The Feast of St. Ciaran is celebrated on September 9th.

Ciaran gave Clonmacnoise the character of a seminary for a whole nation, and not for a particular tribe or district, and in this is to be found the secret of its success. The masters were chosen for their learning and zeal; the abbots were elected almost in rotation from the different provinces; and the pupils came from all parts of Ireland, as well as from the remote quarters of France and England. From the beginning it enjoyed the confidence of the Irish bishops and the favour of kings and princes who were happy to be buried in its shadow.

Cross of the Scriptures and west front of Cathedral, both c.900 AD.

But Clonmacnoise was not without its troubles. Towards the close of the seventh century a plague carried off a large number of its students and professors; and in the eighth century the monastery was burned three times, probably by accident, for the buildings were mainly of wood. During the ninth and tenth centuries it was harassed not only by the Danes, but also by some of the Irish chieftains. One of these, Felim MacCriffon, sacked the monastery three times, on the last occasion slaughtering the monks like sheep.

But all the while, Clonmacnoise continued to produce saints and men of learning. In the twelfth century Clonmacnoise was a great school of Celtic art, architecture, sculpture, and metal work. To this period and to this school we owe many of Ireland's great stone crosses, and likely the Tara Brooch and the Chalice of Ardagh. The ruined towers and crosses and temples of Clonmacnoise are still to be seen.

Stories and Legends of St. Ciaran

Ciaran and the Fox

One day as Ciaran was watching the cattle some distance from the home of deacon Justus, Ciaran realized he was able to hear his tutor’s instruction as closely as if he were in Justus’ house. On another occasion, while Ciaran was out in the cattle pasture, a fox emerged from the forest and approached him. He treated the animal gently, so that it returned quite often. Ciaran asked the fox to do him the favor of carrying his text of the Psalms back and forth between him and Justus. One day, however, the fox was overcome by hunger, and began to eat the leather straps that covered the book. While the fox was eating, a hunting party with a pack of hounds attacked him. The dogs were relentless in their pursuit, and the fox could not find shelter in any place except the cowl of Ciaran’s robe. God was thus glorified twice — by the book being saved from the fox, and by the fox being saved from the hounds.

The Dun Cow of Ciaran

When it was time for Ciaran to leave home for the monastery of Clonard, he asked his parents for a cow to take with him as a contribution to the community. His mother refused this request, so Ciaran blessed a cow of the herd, and the cow followed him to Clonard, accompanied by her calf. Not wishing to take both the cow and the calf, Ciaran used his staff to draw a line on the ground between the animals. After that, neither the cow nor the calf would cross this line, and the calf returned home. The milk provided by Ciaran’s cow was reputed to amply supply all in the monastery, as well as their guests.

Ciaran Helps in a Time of Famine

During a time of famine, when it was Ciaran’s turn to carry a sack of oats to the mill in order to provide a little food for the monks, he prayed that the oats would become fine wheat. While Ciaran was singing the Psalms with pure heart and mind, the single sack of oats was miraculously transformed into four sacks of the best wheat. Ciaran returned home and baked bread with this wheat, which the older monks said was the best they had ever tasted. These loaves not only satisfied their hunger, they were said to heal every sick person in the monastery who ate them.

A Cow Comes to Ciaran’s Aid

A careless monk dropped Ciaran’s text of the Gospels into the lake surrounding Hare Island, where it remained underwater for a long time. On a summer day when the cattle went into the lake, the strap of Ciaran’s book stuck to the foot of one of the cows. When the book was retrieved, it was dry, with not a letter blurred or a page destroyed.