Finnian of Moville, Saint

Finnian of Moville, Saint. [Ir. mag bile, plain of the large, venerated tree]. Sixth-century (d. c.579) bishop and founder of the abbey of Moville or Movilla, east of Newtownwards, Co. Down; sometimes called Finnian the Younger or Finnbarr (see FINNBARR). According to legends accruing to St Finnian, he entered the fortress of the pagan king Tuan mac Cairill, hoping to convert him to Christianity. To do this Finnian listened to Tuan's stories, which included the invasions of Ireland (see LEBOR GABÁLA, The Book of Invasions) along with much of the rest of the pre-Christian history of the country. In other legends associated with Finnian of Moville, some of which confuse him with personages of similar name, he was (a) thought to have the power to change the course of rivers, and (b) embarrassed by a Pictish princess whose advances he rejected. His feast-day is 10 September. Once thought distinct from Finnán of Moville, feast-day 11 February; the two are now thought to be identical.

Bibliography

See John Ryan , Irish Monasticism (Dublin, 1931);
Pádraig Ó Riain , ‘Finnian or Winnian?’, in P. Ní Chatháin and M. Richter (eds.), Irland und Europa (Stuttgart, 1984);
‘Finnio and Winnian: A Question of Priority’, in R. Bielmeier and R. Stempel (eds.), Indogermanica et Caucasica (Berlin and New York, 1994), 407–16