St. Etchen (Etchenius, Ecian or Echen; 490 – 11 February 577) was an
Irish Abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
who founded a monastery in
Clonfad,
County Westmeath
County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
.
Traditional narrative
Legend states that Etchen ordained
Columba
Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...
into the priesthood, and that he had to stop in the middle of
ploughing
A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, ...
a field to perform the act.
Death
Etchen died on 11 February 577AD of natural causes. He was buried at his monastery in Clonfad. His date is celebrated as the Feast of Saint Etchen in Ireland.
Veneration
A number of local schools and churches are named after St. Etchen, including:
* Church of St. Etchen,
Killucan
* St. Etchen National School,
Kinnegad
Kinnegad () is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is on the border with County Meath, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west roads. It is roughly 60 km from the capital, Dublin.
From 1 ...
See also
*
Clonfad
References
{{reflist
Medieval Gaels from Ireland
People from County Westmeath
6th-century Irish abbots
Medieval Irish saints
490 births
577 deaths
Irish Christian missionaries