Piran or Pyran (; ), died c. 480,
Patrons - The Orthodox Church of Archangel Michael and Holy Piran
'' Oecumenical Patriarchate, Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. Laity Moor, Nr Ponsanooth, Cornwall. TR3 7HR. Retrieved: 16 February 2016.William Haslam (Rev).
Perran-Zabuloe: With an Account of the Past and Present State of the Oratory of St. Piran in the Sands
'' London: John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row, 1844. p. 56. was a 5th-century Cornish

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 ...

and saint, possibly of Irish origin. He is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

, and is also generally regarded as the patron saint of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, although

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and Petroc also have some claim to this title. The consensus of scholarship has identified the "Life" of Piran as a copy of that of the Irish saint

Ciarán of Saigir Ciarán of Saigir (; 5th century – ), also known as Ciarán mac Luaigne or Saint Kieran (), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and is considered the first saint to have been born in Ireland,''Catholic Online''St. Kieran/ref> a ...

with the names changed.Rev.

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiography, hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College, in Douai, Douay, France where he later taught philosophy and theology. He s ...

(1711–73).
March 5 - St. Kiaran, or Kenerin, Bishop and Confessor
'' The Lives of the Saints - Volume III: March (Bartleby.com). 1866. Retrieved: 15 September 2015.
.'' New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge''; Vol. III: Chamier - Draendorf. p. 117.William Haslam (Rev).
Perran-Zabuloe: With an Account of the Past and Present State of the Oratory of St. Piran in the Sands
'' London: John Van Voorst, Paternoster, 1844. pp.53-56. While Piran's origins are not certain, it is generally accepted that he was Irish, that he spent time in Wales and later was expelled from Ireland because of his powerful preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.''.'' Oecumenical Patriarchate, Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. Laity Moor, Nr Ponsanooth, Cornwall. TR3 7HR. Wayback Machine: 31 March, 2016. Retrieved: 10 February 2023. Having been thrown into the sea tied to a mill stone, he miraculously arrived on the shores of Cornwall where he built his tiny oratory and continued his work of evangelism, founding communities. Saint Piran's Flag, a white cross on a black background, is the county flag of Cornwall. Saint Piran's Day falls on 5 March.

Life

Piran is the most famous of all the

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s said to have come to Cornwall from Ireland. G. H. Doble thought that Piran was a Welshman from

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, citing the lost chapel once dedicated to him in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. From medieval times, since

Brittonic languages The Brittonic languages (also Brythonic or British Celtic; ; ; and ) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages; the other is Goidelic. It comprises the extant languages Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. The name ''Brythonic'' ...

and

Goidelic languages The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...

regularly alternate p and k sounds, he had become erroneously identified with the Irish saint

who founded the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

at Seir-Kieran in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

. Joseph Loth has argued, on detailed

philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

grounds, that the names Piran and Ciarán could not possibly refer to the same person. The fourteenth-century ''Life of Saint Piran'', probably written at

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...

, is a complete copy of an earlier

Middle Irish Middle Irish, also called Middle Gaelic (, , ), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of Late Old English and Early Middle English. The modern Goideli ...

life of Ciarán of Saighir, with different parentage and a different ending that takes into account Piran's works in Cornwall, and especially details of his death and the movements of his Cornish

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

; thus "excising the passages which speak of his burial at Saighir" ( Doble). Professor Nicholas Orme writes in his ''Churches of Medieval Exeter'', that "it may well be that Piran was the inspiration for the Kerrian dedication (in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

), albeit believed (as Piran usually was) to be identical with

Ciarán Ciarán (Irish language, Irish spelling) or Ciaran (Scottish Gaelic spelling) is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ''ciar'' (" ...

."Orme, Nicholas. "St Kerrian. ''The Churches of Medieval Exeter''. Impress Books, 2014. . Also, the saint of the church in Exeter was ''Keranus'' or ''Kyeranus'' ueranusin Latin documents, with ''Kerrian'' being the local vernacular pronunciation. The St Piran Trust has undertaken research which suggests that Piran was either Ciarán of Saighir or a disciple, as indicated by James Brennan of Kilkenny and T. F. G. Dexter, whose thesis is held in the

Royal Cornwall Museum The Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery, formerly known as the Royal Cornwall Museum, is a museum in Truro, England, which holds an extensive mineral collection rooted in Cornwall's mining and engineering heritage (including much of the mineral coll ...

. The Celtic scholar Charles Plummer suggested that Piran might, instead, be identified with

Ciarán of Clonmacnoise Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (c. 516 – c. 549), supposedly born Ciarán mac an tSaeir ("son of the carpenter"), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and the first abbot of Clonmacnoise. He is sometimes called Ciarán the Youn ...

, who founded the monastery of

Clonmacnoise Clonmacnoise or Clonmacnois (Irish language, Irish: ''Cluain Mhic Nóis'') is a ruined monastery in County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone, founded in 544 by Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, Ciarán, ...

also in

, but this is doubtful since this saint is believed to have died of yellow fever at the age of thirty-two and was buried at Clonmacnoise. His father is, however, sometimes said to have been a Cornishman. David Nash Ford accepts the Ciarán of Clonmacnoise identification, whilst further suggesting that Piran's father in the Exeter life, Domuel, be identified with Dywel fab Erbin, a fifth-century prince of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

(

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and Cornwall). 5 March is the traditional feast day of both Saint Ciarán of Saighir and Saint Piran. However the

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

of Launceston Church records an alternative date of 18 November for the latter.F. Wormald. "THE CALENDAR OF THE AUGUSTINIAN PRIORY OF LAUNCESTON IN CORNWALL." ''The Journal of Theological Studies,'' Vol. 39, No. 153 (JANUARY 1938), p. 4. In Perranzabuloe parish Perran Feast is traditionally celebrated on the last Monday in October. On the previous Sunday there are services at the site of St Piran's Oratory and in the parish church of St Piran.

Legends

* The Irish tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and the saint floated safely over the water to land upon the sandy beach of Perranzabuloe in Cornwall. His first disciples are said to have been a badger, a fox, and a bear * He landed in Cornwall, and there established himself as a hermit. His sanctity and his austerity won for him the veneration of all around, and the gift of miracles, with which he was favoured, brought many to seek his charitable aid. * He was joined at Perranzabuloe by many of his Christian converts and together they founded the Abbey of Lanpiran, with Piran as abbot. * Piran 'rediscovered' tin-smelting (tin had been smelted in Cornwall since before the Romans' arrival, but the methods had since been lost) when the tin in his black hearthstone, which was evidently a slab of tin-bearing ore, was smelted out of it and rose to the top in the form of a white cross (thus the image on the flag).

Death and veneration

Piran was reportedly executed by Theodoric or Tador, King of Cornwall in 480, about the time of

Vortigern Vortigern (; , ; ; ; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; ; , , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Sub-Roman Britain, Britain, known perhaps as a king of the Britons or at least ...

(Usher's Prim. 869). It is also said that at his death, the remains of the Blessed Martin the Abbot which he had brought from Ireland were buried with him at Perranzabuloe. His own remains were subsequently exhumed and redistributed to be venerated in various

reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physic ...

was reputed to be the possessor of one of his arms, while according to an inventory, St Piran's Old Church, Perranzabuloe, had a reliquary containing his head and also a hearse in which his body was placed for processionals. In 1443, Cornish nobleman, Sir John Arundell bequeathed money in his will for the preservation of the head of St Piran in the chapel at Perranzabuloe. The churches at Perranuthnoe and Perranarworthal were dedicated to Piran and holy wells at Perranwell and

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

, Cornwall are named after him. In

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

St. Peran, Loperan and Saint-Perran are also named after him. The former Methodist chapel at Laity Moor has served as the Orthodox Church of

Archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

and Holy Piran since 1996. The earliest documented link to the design of the St Piran's Flag with Piran is on the coat of arms of the ''de Saint-Péran'' or ''Saint-Pezran'' (pronounced ''Péran'') family from

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; , ) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princes from Cornwall ...

in Brittany. The earliest evidence known comes from the 15th century, with the arms being ''De sable à la croix pattée d'argent.'' (a black shield with a white

cross pattée A cross pattée or cross patty (, ), also known as a cross formée or cross formy, or even a Templar cross, is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre and often flared in a curve or straight line shape to be broader at th ...

). Mount St. Piran is a mountain in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

near Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, named after the saint. St Piran's crab, '' Clibanarius erythropus'', was also named in his honour, in 2016.

St Piran's Day

St Piran's Day on 5 March is popular in Cornwall and the term 'Perrantide' has been coined to describe the week prior to this day. Many Cornish-themed events occur in the county and also in areas in which there is a large community descended from Cornish emigrants. The village of Perranporth ('Porthpyran' in Cornish) hosts the annual inter-Celtic festival of , which is also named in honour of him. One St Piran's Day event is the march across the dunes to St Piran's cross which hundreds of people attend, generally dressed in black, white and gold, and carrying the Cornish Flag. A play of the Life of St Piran, in Cornish, has been enacted since 2000 at the event. Daffodils are also carried and placed at the cross. Daffodils also feature in celebrations in

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, most likely due to their 'gold' colour. Black, white and gold are colours associated with Cornwall due to St Piran's Flag (black and white), and the

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

Shield (gold coins on black). In 2006 Cornish MP

Dan Rogerson Daniel John Rogerson (born 23 July 1975 in St Austell) is a Cornish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cornwall from the 2005 general election until his defeat at the 2015 general election. In October ...

asked the government to make 5 March a public holiday in Cornwall to recognise celebrations for St Piran's Day.
St Piran's holiday
'' BBC News. 2 March 2006, 12:19 GMT. Retrieved: 15 September 2015. In 2010, a short movie about St. Piran was made and premiered at the Heartland Film Festival.

Notes

References

Sources

* Carter, Eileen (2001). ''In the Shadow of St Piran'' * Doble, G. H. (1965). ''The Saints of Cornwall''. Dean & Chapter of Truro. * * * Plummer, Charles (1922). ''Betha Naem nErenn'' * Tomlin, E. W. F. (1982). ''In Search of St Piran: an account of his monastic foundation at Perranzabuloe, Cornwall'' * Rev. Charles William Boase, M.A. (Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College, Oxford).
PIRANUS, ST
'' In: William Smith and Henry Wace. ''A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines During the First Eight Centuries''. Volume IV: N-Z. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1887. pp. 404–405.

External links

St Piran's holiday
BBC News. 2 March 2006, 12:19 GMT. * . An Daras: The Cornish Folk Arts Project.
St. Piran's celebrations
BBC Home.
St. Piran's Day in Truro
BBC Home.
St. Piran's Oratory – Morley B Collins, 1910

The Orthodox Church of Archangel Michael and Holy Piran
Laity Moor, Nr Ponsanooth, Cornwall. TR3 7HR.
The medieval life of St Piran
- Latin text and English translation. {{DEFAULTSORT:Piran 6th-century Irish abbots 6th-century Christian saints Burials in Cornwall Culture of Cornwall Cornish nationalism Irish expatriates in England Medieval Irish saints of Cornwall Medieval Cornish saints Tin mining Miracle workers