Olcán

Olcán (fl. 5th century) is the name of an early Irish saint of the Dál Riata, disciple of St Patrick and founder of the monastery in Armoy in northeast County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The hill at Drumbolcan, Rasharkin, is said to be the site where St Olcan was discovered as a newborn baby. However it has also been said that St Olcan was discovered as a baby in the area of what is now Armoy, where he would eventually found his church. Olcan’s birth had occurred after his mother, who had come from over the sea, had died and he lay with her body for seven days before he was discovered by St Patrick. In a 16th-century manuscript titled Martyrology of Salisbury, the claim is made that Olcan’s mother was St. Patrick’s sister. St Olcan was sent to France and returned to Ireland to become the first Christian bishop in Ireland. He was ordained at Dunseverick Castle on the North Coast by St. Patrick, who then sent Olcán to study in Gaul.

Olcán's church in Armoy lay in territory controlled by the Dál Riata, while neighbouring territories were controlled by other ruling dynasties: the southern and western parts of what is now County Antrim and west County Down by the Cruithni, and west County Down by the Dál Fiatach.

In the 7th century, Tírechán relates that Patrick had granted a share of the prized relics of St Peter and Paul (and further saints) to Olcán, indicating how much Patrick and his community expected of Olcán and their alliance with the Dál Riata. However, the fortunes of the Dál Riata in Ireland were adversely affected, while their future rather lay in Scotland, notably in Argyll. As a consequence of losing such political support, Olcán's church were prone to dispossession. The Tripartite Life tells that the lands attached to Armoy were seized and regranted to the saints Mac Nisse of Connor and Senán "of Inis Cathaig" (probably for Senán of Láthrach Briúin).

He is strongly historically and devotionally linked to County Antrim. There are the remains of a round tower on the edge of the Armoy village.

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