Finian the Leper | |
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Saint | |
Born | Bregia, Leinster, Ireland |
Died | 560 AD |
Honored in |
Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church |
Feast | 16 March |
Saint Finian the Leper (Irish: Saint Finian Lobhar) was an early Irish saint credited with founding a church and monastery at Innisfallen in Killarney.
Saint Finian was a disciple of St. Columba. He was a strict Irish abbot, whose monks followed a vegetarian diet. For a period of time, he stayed in Clonmore, later becoming the abbot of Swords Abbey near Dublin. He may have returned to Clonmore in his later years, and was called Lobhar, "The Leper". Following the custom, he acquired the name when he contracted leprosy from a young boy, who he had cured of the disease. A conflicting source, however, says that he only cured the boy and did not contract leprosy himself. His feast day is on March 16.