Finnian of Movilla Abbey

Movilla Abbey

Movilla Abbey in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, is believed to be one of Ulster's most important monasteries and was founded by St. Finian in 540 AD. There was a school on the site in 543 which was attended by St. Columba. The Abbey was plundered by Vikings in 824 AD and refounded in...

, Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

, 495–589.

Origins and life

Finnian was a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 who became a legendary figure in medieval Ireland. He should not to be confused with his namesake Finnian of Clonard

Finnian of Clonard

Saint Finnian of Clonard , or Finian, 'Fionán' or 'Fionnán' in Irish, was one of the early Irish monastic saints, who founded Clonard Abbey in modern-day County Meath. The Twelve Apostles of Ireland studied under him...

. Nor should Movilla (Maigh Bhile) in County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

 be mistaken for Moville in County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

.

Traditional scholarship has it that he was a descendant of Fiatach the Fair and born in Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

, however this has been questioned lately by the American Celticist Thomas Owen Clancy

Thomas Owen Clancy

Professor Thomas Owen Clancy is an American academic and historian who specializes in the literature of the Celtic Dark Ages, especially that of Scotland. He did his undergraduate work at New York University, and his Ph.D at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently at the University of Glasgow,...

. He apparently studied under Colman of Dromore

Colman of Dromore

Saint Colmán of Dromore, also known by the pet form Mocholmóc, was a 6th-century Irish saint.He seems to have spent most of his life in that area of County Down. Possibly he studied under Caetan of Nendrom, Co. Down, and was persuaded by Saint Mac Nissi to settle at Dromore c. 514, where he became...

 and Mochae of Noendrum, and subsequently at Candida Casa

Candida Casa

Candida Casa was the name given to the church established by St Ninian in Whithorn, Galloway, southern Scotland, in the mid fifth century AD. The name derives from and / , referring possibly to the stone used to construct it, or the whitewash used to paint it.The church site quickly grew to...

 (Whithorn

Whithorn

Whithorn is a former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about ten miles south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christian church in Scotland, Candida Casa : the 'White [or 'Shining'] House', built by Saint Ninian about 397.-Eighth and twelfth centuries:A...

), whence he proceeded to Rome, returning to Ireland in 540 with an integral copy of St. Jerome's Vulgate

Vulgate

The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...

.

Teacher

He was the founder of a famous school of Druim Fionn at about this time. Legend has it that he tried to convert Tuan mac Cairill

Tuan mac Cairill

In Irish mythology Tuan mac Cairill was a follower of Partholon who alone survived the plague that killed the rest of his people. Through a series of animal transformations he survived into Christian times, and told the story of his people to St. Finnian....

, a mythical figure who was the last survivor of the Partholon

Partholón

Partholón, in medieval Irish historical tradition, was the leader of the second group of people to settle in Ireland, supposedly first to arrive after the biblical Flood. They arrived in 2680 BC according to the chronology of the Annals of the Four Masters, 2061 BC according to Geoffrey Keating's...

ian race, and that while doing so had the famous Scéal Tuáin maic Cairell recounted to him. This is a text about takings of Ireland, a source for the famous Lebor Gabála Érenn

Lebor Gabála Érenn

Lebor Gabála Érenn is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages...

.

Columba

Finnian's most distinguished pupil at Movilla was Columba

Columba

Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...

. Tradition has it that Columba's surreptitious copying of a psalter

Psalter

A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...

 led eventually to his exile on Iona

Iona

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...

. What remains of the copy, together with the casket that contains it, is now in the National Museum of Ireland

National Museum of Ireland

The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...

. It is known as the Cathach of St. Columba

Cathach of St. Columba

The Cathach of St. Columba is an late 6th century Irish Psalter.It is traditionally associated with St. Columba , and was identified as the copy made by him of a book loaned to him by St. Finnian, and which led to the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in 561...

,Cathach or Battler, and was wont to be carried by the O'Donnells in battle. The inner case was made by Cathbar O'Donnell in 1084, but the outer is fourteenth century work.

Rule and code

Finnian wrote a rule for his monks, also a penitential code, the canons of which were published by Wasserschleben in 1851.

External links

• St. Finnian of Moville Catholic Encyclopedia