Saint Sillan (or Sillian) (; ) (died 608 or 610) was early Irish

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 ...

and

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 ...

Bangor Abbey Bangor Abbey was established by Saint Comgall in 558 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland and was famous for its learning and austere rule. It is not to be confused with the slightly older abbey in Wales on the site of Bangor Cathedral. Hi ...

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

. He was recorded as being a disciple and second or third successor of Saint Comgall, who was the founder and first abbot of the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery at Bangor. The village of

Kilsheelan Kilsheelan () is a village and civil parish within the barony of Iffa and Offa East in County Tipperary, Ireland. A part of the civil parish is in neighbouring County Waterford. It is also one half of the Roman Catholic parish of Kilsheelan & K ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

is named after him. His Irish name is ''Sioláin'' which can translate to either "seed-basket" or "cullender/sieve". He is recorded in both the

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (Abbreviation, abbr. AT, ) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin language, Latin and Old Irish, Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come f ...

and

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luin� ...

as abbot Bennchor (Bangor), in the former as Sillán moccu Cumaine, dying in 608 and the latter as Sillán moccu Minn, dying in 610. Moccu being the equivalent of the Latin

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

, indicating an uncertain ancestry. Variations of his name include Siollan, Silvan, Sylvan, Sillian and Sillán, amongst others.

References

{{authority control 610 deaths Medieval Irish saints 6th-century Irish abbots 7th-century Irish abbots Christian clergy from County Down Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain People from Bangor, County Down