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Saint Brónach (sometimes
anglicised
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
to Bronagh) was a 6th-century holy woman from Ireland, the reputed founder and patron saint of ''Cell Brónche'' ("church of Brónach"), now Kilbroney, in
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
.
[Charles-Edwards, "Ulster, saints of (''act. c''.400–''c''.650)"]
Life
A disciple of
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints b ...
, she built a refuge for sailors who were shipwrecked in Carlingford Lough. The ringing of Bronach’s bell warned of a rising storm on the dangerous waters of the Lough. About 150 years ago a storm brought down a large old oak tree in the Kilbroney churchyard, and in its branches was found a 10th-century bell. The bell is now in the local church in Rostrevor.
Lying in Glenn Sechis, a mountain valley in County Down (near
Rostrevor
Rostrevor () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough, near Warrenpoint. The Kilbroney River flows through the village and Rostrevor Forest is nea ...
), Cell Brónche lay at some distance from the major political centres of the region.
It may have been a
nunnery
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
in origin, but later came to serve as a pastoral church manned by nuns as well as one or several priests.
It was chosen as the parish church of Glenn Sechis.
A
high cross
A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradit ...
which survives among the ruins of Cell Brónche attests to the importance of her church.
It is made of
Mourne granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
and stands over the traditional site of her grave in the old cemetery. It is part of the "Saint Patrick’s Trail".
[ The building suffered damage during the 1641 Rebellion, as well as in Cromwellian times.
There is a stained glass window depicting Bronach in All Saints Church, Ballymena.
According to the genealogies of the saints, she is the mother of Saint Mo Chóe of Nendrum and herself a daughter of Míliucc maccu Buain.]Martyrology of Tallaght
The ''Martyrology of Tallaght'', which is closely related to the '' Félire Óengusso'' or ''Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee'', is an eighth- or ninth-century martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Máel Ruain and/or ...
'', note added to '' Félire Óengusso''), her feast day is 2 April.["Brónach ''virgo'', from Glenn Sechis". Note to ''Félire Óengusso'', 2 April.]
References
*
Primary sources
*
Further reading
*
External links
Kilbroney High-cross
''Megalithic Ireland''
"The Irish Way: St Bronach's Land", clip from BBC History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronach
512 deaths
5th-century Christian mystics
5th-century Irish nuns
6th-century Christian mystics
6th-century Irish nuns
Medieval saints of Ulster
People from County Down
Roman Catholic mystics
Year of birth unknown