Ciaran

Encyclopedia : C : CI : CIA : Ciaran

Saint Ciarán (or Saint Kieran) is the name of many Irish saints. St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise is founder of Seir-Kieran, Kings County (about A.D. 450), and also of the See of Ossory. His history is obscure, but he flourished during the greater part of the fifth century, and is venerated in England, Brittany, Wales, and Scotland, on 5 March.

An early Irish bishop is also called Ciarán Saighir (the Elder) to distinguish him from Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise.

Clear Island is regarded as Ciarán's birthplace. The saint is generally believed to be one of four bishops to have preceded Saint Patrick. (See also Saints Ailbhe, Declan, and Ibar.) His feast day is March 5.

St. Kieran of Disert-Kieran, Co. Meath, called by the Irish annalists "Kieran the Devout", wrote a "Life of St. Patrick." He died in 775 on 14 June, on which day his feast is celebrated. St. Kieran, patron of Clonsost, is commemorated on 30 April, and St. Kieran, son of Colga, on 19 May.

Etymology

The name Ciarán comes from the Gaelic meaning "Little Dark One" or "Dark Prince".

Namesakes

Ciarán Brennan, member of Irish group Clannad
Cian Ciaran, (b. 1976) keyboard player
Ciarán Cuffe, (b. 1963) Irish politician
Ciaran Bourke, (1936–1988) Irish musician
Ciaran Davies, (b. 1980) top bloke
Ciarán Doherty, (1955–1981) PIRA member
Ciaran Donnelly, documentary film director
Ciaran Fitzgerald, (b. 1952) rugby player
Ciaran Hinds, actor
Ciarán McMenamin, actor
Ciarán O' Keeffe, United Kingdom parapsychologist
Ciarán Toland, (b. 1978) publisher
Ciaran Sainty, (b. 1986) bassist with This Tragedy

Sources

(incomplete)

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.