St. Colman of Kilmacduagh

St. Colman

Bishop and patron of Kilmacduagh, born at Kiltartan c. 560; died 29 October, 632. He lived for many years as a hermit in Arranmore, where he built two churches, both forming the present group of ruins at Kilmurvy. Thence he sought greater seclusion in the woods of Burren, in 592, and at length, in 610, founded a monastery, which became the centre of the tribal Diocese of Aidhne, practically coextensive with the present See of Kilmacduagh. Although the "Martyrology of Donegal" assigns his feast to 2 February, yet the weight of evidence and the tradition of the diocese point to 29 October, on which day his festival has been kept from time immemorial, and which was fixed by a rescript of Pope Benedict XIV, in 1747, as a major double.

Martyrology of Donegal, ed. TODD AND REEVES (Dublin, 1864); Customs of Hy-Fiachrach, ed. O'DONOVAN; LANIGAN, Ecclesiastical History of Ireland (Dublin, 1829); II; COLGAN, Acta Sanct. Hib. (Louvain, 1645); PETRIE, Round Towers (Dublin, 1845); FAHEY, Hist. and Ant. of Kilmacduagh (1893).

W. H. GRATTAN-FLOOD.