Finan Cam (or Fionan, Finian), Abbot of Kinnity was an early Irish saint associated with County Kerry, Ireland, who lived in the 6th century AD, and possibly the 7th century.[lower-alpha 1] To distinguish him from other saints of the same name the appellation of Cam or "crooked" has been given to him, either because he was stooped or because he had a squint.[4] His feast day is 7 April.[1]
According to O'Hanlon (1875), Finan was descended from the family of Conaire Cóem, King of Ireland; and his father was Kennedy, son to Maenag, son of Ardeus, son to Fidai, son of Corcain, son to Nicadin, son of Irchuinnius, son to Cormac Finn, son of Corcodubnius, son to Cairbre Musc, son of King Conaire. Thus, he descended from the Corcu Duibne, i.e. of the race of Cairbre Musc, son to Conaire, who belonged to the posterity of Érimón. The O'Clerys state that Becnat, daughter of Cian, was his mother.[5] The Life of St. Brendan describes Finan's father, Mac Airde, as a man of considerable wealth who gave thirty cows to Saint Brendan shortly after the saint was born. It is likely that Brendan and Finan were blood relatives.[6]
Life
Innisfallen church and abbey wall.JPG
Finan was a native of Corcodhuibhne, most probably the barony of Corkaguiny in County Kerry, the O'Falvy's ancient territory.[7] This is a wild promontory stretching into the Atlantic.[6] As a child he was said to be able to cure his playmates of illness, and had the gift of prophesy.[7] Brendan was Finan's first tutor, and Finan spent seven years with Brendan, who taught him to read and to understand monastic discipline. This probably took place early in the 6th century while Brendan was still living in his native Kerry.[6][lower-alpha 2]
Brendan decided it was wasteful for both himself and Finan to stay in the same place, and Finan agreed to move to a place name Kenetich, later called Kinnitty, in County Offaly, Leinster, where he founded his monastery, perhaps as early as 557, or perhaps much later.[7][lower-alpha 3] The monastery was on the confines of Éile and of Fearaceall. The parish church of Kinnitty is thought to occupy the site of Finan's old monastery.[4]
Finan seems to have only stayed at Kinnity for a short time before returning to Kerry, where almost all the events recorded in his life took place.[6] For some time Finan lived at or near the Lakes of Killarney. One biography has him living at Lough Leane, near Aghadoe.[8] The ruins of Agahdoe church were old even at the time when the Annals of Inisfallen were written.[9] Many miracles are attributed to the saint.[10] Finan was a contemporary of Saint Mochelloc, who died about 655, when both men were old. Finan therefore probably died in the first half of the 7th century.[11]
John Healy (1890) disputed the common belief that the church and abbey on Innisfallen island in Lough Leane was founded by Finian Lobhar (Finan the Leper), which he considered improbable.[12] It seemed to him much more likely that the Inisfaithlen mentioned in the biographies of Finan the Leper was the island off the coast of County Dublin that is now called by the Danish name of Ireland's Eye.[6] Finan Cam, on the other hand, was born in Kerry of an old family of Kerry, and spent most of his life in the west of Kerry, where many places bear his name.[6]
Around 1750 the remains of Finan's church and cell could be seen on the largest of three small islands in Lough Currane. The local people celebrated the saint's festival on 16 March, the date generally assigned to Finan the Leper, but this is probably due to a confusion of names, because there is no record of Finan the Leper ever going as far to the southwest as Lough Currane.[13] To the south of Lough Currane, Derrynane is derived from Diare Fionain, meaning the oak grove of Finan. However, the old abbey on the sea shore is of medieval origin.[13]
St. Finian's Bay, an exposed stretch of the Atlantic shore north of Bolus Head, is also named after the saint. Finan may well have been the first founder of the oratory on Skellig Michael, directly opposite St. Finian's Bay. In the Viking Age, when the Danes were raiding Ireland the monastery was moved to the mainland, and as of 1890 its dilapidated walls could still be seen in the sheltered corner at the head of St. Finian's Bay.[13]
Notes
↑ The hagiographer Alban Butler cites Colgan in his brief statement, "He [Finan of Keann-Ethich] was a native of Munster, and a disciple of St. Brendan, with whose blessing he founded the monastery of Cean-e-thich, on the confines of Munster and Meath, and afterwards some others."[1]John O'Hanlon in his biography of Finan in his Lives of the Irish Saints says that Colgan's manuscript, preserved among the Franciscan Convent Records, Dublin, was a "very confused narrative". He draws on the Royal Irish Academy's Manuscript Life of St. Fionan, of Kinnety, and Irish Life of St. Fionan, of Lough Laidhach, among other sources.[2]John Healy in his Insula Sanctorum Et Doctorum disagrees with O'Hanlon in several points, including Finan's approximate date of birth.[3]
↑ Healy places Finan's tutelage under Brendan early in the 6th century.[6] O'Hanlon states that Finan was probably born around or after the middle of the sixth century.[7] The earlier date, before Brendan's voyages and settlement in Annaghdown, seems more plausible.
↑ O'Hanlon thought that Finan probably settled at Kinnitty at the close of the sixth century, and considered the earlier date on 557 implausible.[4]
Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castle, Muckross House and Abbey, the Lakes of Killarney, MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Purple Mountain, Mangerton Mountain, Paps Mountain, the Gap of Dunloe and Torc Waterfall. Its natural heritage, history and location on the Ring of Kerry make Killarney a popular tourist destination.
Brendan of Clonfert, is one of the early Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He is also referred to as Brendan the Navigator, Brendan the Voyager, Brendan the Anchorite, Brendan the Bold. The Irish translation of his name is Naomh Bréanainn or Naomh Breandán. He is mainly known for his legendary voyage to find the “Isle of the Blessed” which is sometimes referred to as “Saint Brendan’s Island”. The written narrative of his journey comes from the immram The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis,.
Innisfallen or Inishfallen is an island in Lough Leane; one of the three Lakes of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. Innisfallen is home to the ruins of Innisfallen Abbey.
Derrynane, officially Darrynane, is a small village in the civil parish of Kilcrohane in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the Iveragh peninsula, just off the N70 national primary road near Caherdaniel on the shores of Derrynane Bay.
Lough Leane is the largest of the three lakes of Killarney, in County Kerry. The River Laune flows from the lake into the Dingle Bay to the northwest.
Saint Mo Ling (614–697), also named Moling Luachra, was the second Bishop of Ferns in Ireland and has been said to be "one of the four great prophets of Erin". He founded a monastery at St Mullin's, County Carlow. His feast day is 17 June.
Finan of Lindisfarne, also known as Saint Finan, was an Irish monk, trained at Iona Abbey in Scotland, who became the second bishop of Lindisfarne from 651 until 661.
Finnian of Clonard – also Finian, Fionán or Fionnán in Irish; or Finianus and Finanus in its Latinised form (470–549) – was one of the early Irish monastic saints, who founded Clonard Abbey in modern-day County Meath. The Twelve Apostles of Ireland studied under him. Finnian of Clonard is considered one of the fathers of Irish monasticism.
Kinnitty is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is located 13 km east of Birr on the R440 and R421 regional roads.
The Twelve Apostles of Ireland were twelve early Irish monastic saints of the sixth century who studied under St Finnian at his famous monastic school Clonard Abbey at Cluain-Eraird, now Clonard in County Meath.
Columba of Terryglass (Colum) was the son of Ninnidh, a descendant of Crinthainn, King of Leinster. Columba was a disciple of St. Finnian of Clonard. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Annaghdown is a civil parish in County Galway, Ireland. It takes its name from Eanach Dhúin, Irish for "the marsh of the fort". It lies around Annaghdown Bay, an inlet of Lough Corrib. Villages in the civil parish include Corrandulla and Currandrum. Annaghdown is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam and the Church of Ireland Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry.
Saint Ciera of Ireland was an abbess in the 7th century who died in 679. Her history is probably commingled with another Cera who lived in the 6th century. However, some authors maintain that monastic mistakes account for references to Cera in the 6th century or that a single Cera had an exceptionally long life span.
Lough Currane, also called Lough Leeagh, is a lake in County Kerry, Ireland. Waterville lies on its western bank, close to the Atlantic Ocean, it empties into Ballinskelligs Bay. Raheen lies on its southern bank. It covers an area of 2,500 acres (10 km2) and is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long and 2 miles (3.2 km) at the widest point. The lake is notable for the Early Medieval monastery on Church Island. It is associated with had the St. Finan Cam, who inhabited the island c. 7th century. To the south of the lake is Inis Uasal, an island dedicated to St. Finan. The Annals of Inisfallen mention that Amchad, the "anchorite of God" was buried on the island in 1058.
Anmchad was an 11th-century Irish monk. Little is known about him, except that the Annals of Inisfallen mention that he was known as the "anchorite of God" and was buried on the island of Inis Uasal on Lough Currane in 1058. He was from Longford, and served as a monk in the Iniskeltra monastery, located in Lough Ree. In 1043 AD, after being ordered to undergo a pilgrimage for a small disobedience, he became a monk at an Irish monastery in Fulda, Germany.
Saint Finian the Leper was an early Irish saint credited by some sources with founding a church and monastery at Innisfallen in Killarney.
Church Island is a medieval Christian monastery and National Monument located in Lough Currane, Ireland.
St. Finian's Bay is an exposed bay on the Atlantic coast of County Kerry, Ireland.
Killemlagh Church is a ruined 12th-century church in County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland.
The River Laune Crozier is a late 11th-century Insular crozier, now at the Archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland. The object would have been commissioned as a staff of office for a senior clergyman, most likely a bishop. It consists of a wooden core decorated with fitted bronze and silver metal plates. Although the metalwork is somewhat corroded in parts, it is fully intact and considered one of the finest surviving Irish examples, alongside those found at Clonmacnoise and Lismore.
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