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A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

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October 16 · Bishop

St. Colman of Killruadh

St. Colman of Killruadh

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Traditional feast

October 16
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Bishop

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 0 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Learn from the kind of life it was. A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Keep their day. Remember them on October 16 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 0 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Irish Martyrologies. In Dempster's Scottish Menology on Oct. 15. But in the Aberdeen Martyrology on Oct 16. Authority: — Mention in the life of S. Ailbhe.] As there are ninety-six S. Colmans recorded in the martyrology of Donegal, it is difficult to distinguish them. This S. Colman was a disciple of S. Ailbhe, of Emly, and made a visit with his master to Rome. On his way back, S. Ailbhe blessed the Irish channel, and the sea divided, so that he and his disciples were able to cross from Britain to Ireland dry shod through the depths. They came to Ireland in Carrickfergus Bay, and at Ailbhe’s command, Colman founded a church at Cill-ruaidh, now Killroot And whereas the spot was unprovided with fresh water, S. Ailbhe blessed a stone, and forthwith there gushed out a stream of water. Then said S. Colman to S. Ailbhe, “The water is scanty;” to whom Ailbhe replied, “ Though the water is scanty, it is unfailing; it will be a running stream as long as the world lasts.” Therefore the name of the stream is called Buanan S. Gall • Cylle Ruayd, i.e.f “ the unfailing stream of Kill-ruaidh.” The Breviary of Aberdeen supplies no information with regard to this saint, save that the collect alludes to his bringing those who sat in darkness of error to the light of Christianity, and a rubric states that he is patron of Balhelvy. There is a S. Colman’s well at Kiltiera.

Feast days

Feast: October 16

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Colman of Killruadh's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on October 16
T

St. Thecla

October 16 · Virgin, Abbess
T

St. Theresa

October 16 · Virgin
B

St. Bolonia

October 16 · Virgin, Martyr
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.