Cormac Ua Liatháin was a 6th-century Irish saint who is only known from Adomnan of Iona's ''

Vita Columbae The ''Life of Columba'' () is a hagiography recounting the life of Columba, the founder of Iona Abbey, written a century after Columba's death by Adomnán, one of his successors as Abbot of Iona. Adomnán (also known as Eunan), served as the nint ...

''. In Adomnan's narrative, Cormac is mentioned three times. He is described as an

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress); () is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, Asceticism , ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. Anchorit ...

who searches for islands on which to live as a hermit in prayer. It is also said that he is a founder of monasteries. On the first occasion, Columba prophesied that Cormac had just set sail from the district of

Erris Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name E ...

beyond the river Moy that day to find a place of retreat but found none. Columba said that God would not allow him to find one because he was travelling with a monk who was away without his abbot's permission. On the second occasion, Cormac made a second attempt to find a place of refuge by sailing off into the sea. Columba prophetically knew all about this, and, being in

Pictland The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pictish stones. The name appears in ...

with King

Bridei I Bridei son of Maelchon (died 586) was King of the Picts from 554 to 584. Sources are vague or contradictory regarding him, but it is believed that his court was near Loch Ness and that he may have been a Christian. Several contemporaries als ...

at the time and knowing that Cormac would find his way to the

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

islands, which at the time were a sub-kingdom under the Picts, requested that the King should make sure that if any of his brethren came to the Orkney islands, they would be treated well. Bridei obeyed the request and when Cormac actually arrived there, he was protected from harm. According to the narrative, a few months later the monks at

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

were talking about Cormac and whether his voyage had succeeded, and Columba told them that Cormac would arrive at Iona that day, and he then did arrive just as the saint foretold. It is not clear from the narrative whether this meant he only spent a few months in Orkney in total, or if he later went back to Orkney after visiting Iona. According to the narrative, however, Cormac also made a third journey into the ocean to find a place of refuge. His ship was driven by a steady southerly wind for fourteen days which pushed him very far to the north. Then his boat was attacked by a large swarm of frog-sized flightless insects. Cormac feared they might puncture the skin covering of the boat and prayed to God. Columba, who was present in spirit, was aware of what was happening and he called his monks to come and pray together for Cormac. In answer to these prayers, God then reversed the wind and made it send them back to the south. Cormac then came to see Columba again. On the third occasion, Cormac along with three other Irish saints ( St Cainnech, St Comgall and St Brendan the Navigator) came to visit Columba and found him on the island of

Hinba Hinba is an island in Scotland of uncertain location that was the site of a small monastery associated with the Columban church on Iona. Although a number of details are known about the monastery and its early superiors, and various anecdotes d ...

. They chose St Columba to be the celebrant at mass and during mass, Brendan saw a ball of radiant fire over Columba's head.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cormac Ua Liathain Medieval Irish saints 6th-century Irish Christian clergy