Saint Brecan
| Saint Brecan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Breasel son of Eochaidh Bailldearg 5th century AD |
| Died | 6th century AD |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Missionary |
Saint Brecan was an Irish saint active in the 5th century AD. There are legends concerning Brecan from Clare and Aran, and wells and churches are dedicated to him in various places in Ireland. His main monument is the Tempull Breccain complex on Inishmore in the Aran Islands.
Brecan is the oldest of all the local saints of County Clare, and lived around 480 AD. He was grandchild of Carthan Fionn, one of the Dalcassian kings who reigned in Munster around 439 AD. His grandfather was baptized by Saint Patrick at what is now Singland, near Limerick. His father, son of the king, was Eochu Balldearg, or Eochu of the Red Spot. It was recorded that Eochu was hopelessly disfigured and diseased when he was born, but was cured through a miracle by Saint Patrick. Brecan was one of two sons of Eochaidh Bailldearg, the other being Conall Caemh, and was originally named Breasel. A poem from the 14th or 15th century says he was a soldier before becoming a missionary. On his first mission to Aran he destroyed a reigning idol named Brecán, and took that name for himself. He converted the idol's sanctuary into a hermitage.
According to the antiquarian Thomas Johnson Westropp,
The Clare stories, though vague, represent him consistently as a bright, joyful, affectionate man, hardly troubled by the more mundane temptations. He won crowds of converts by a tact, patience, and sweetness, and is said even to have tried to convert the devils who led forlorn hopes against his temper and patience. He won over the impatient, jealous St. Enda by becoming one of his disciples and causing his own more numerous converts to pay reverence to that saint. He converted a chief (‘King’) whom Enda threatened with lightning, by thanking God for sparing the pagan, and then teaching the convert to do the same. ... In Aran the most definite tale is that Brecan and Enda agreed to set out from their churches at opposite ends of the island and to fix the boundary of their districts at the point at which they met. Brecan celebrated a mass early and set out, with the untiring energy ascribed to him in the Clare tales; but Enda prayed, and the feet of Brecan’s horse stuck fast in the rock near Kilmurvey, in the valley across the island below the great fort Dun Aengusa, until Enda came.
A different version of the dispute between Saints Enda and Brecan is recorded by Roderic O'Flaherty:
A dispute arose among their disciples, who were numerous, regarding the boundary line of the two divisions. The Saints agreed to settle the matter amicably. At day-break next day the two bodies were to start from their respective monasteries and travel leisurely towards each other until they met. The place of meeting was to be the boundary. When the day dawned, the disciples of St. Brecan saw to their astonishment that the followers of St. Enda, who had commenced to travel before daylight, were already far advanced on their journey. They went to their master and complained of this breach of faith. The latter had recourse to prayer, when lo! the advancing party were rooted to the rocks, and remained in that position until St. Brecan arrived to release them.
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