Born in Munster, Ireland; died c. 626. Cronan was a monk and a maker of
monks. He is patron of Roscrea, County Tipperary, one of the several
monasteries that he founded, and highly venerated in the region.
Another Life:
Saint Cronan was born in Munster and grew up in Clare. When he was old
enough, he went with his two brothers Mochoinne and Mobi, to study at
various religious houses; Scattery Island and Clonmacnois were among
those they visited. When Cronan returned to his native county, he
founded a monastery at a very remote spot, Seanruis, where there are
still ruins of his settlement to be seen, near Lough Cree, which has
since dried up. There is a story that the saint lost a precious copy of
the Gospels in the lake, and although it was in the water for forty days
and nights before it was recovered, he was delighted to find not a
single letter had been destroyed. Here he was visited by Sr. Molua and
to whom he gave the Sacrament before his death, receiving in return the
charge of his monastery Clonfert-Molua.
St. Cronan was particularly noted for his generosity and hospitality,
and these particular characteristics caused him to move his monastery.
Some travellers came to pay him a visit, but so remote was the place
that they could not discover it and had to spend the night in the open
amid the bogs that surrounded the lake. Cronan was so distressed by this
that he built a new abbey at Rosecrea, where people on their journeys or
those in distress could more easily find refreshment, and this was the
beginning of the township on the road between Port Laoise and Nenagh.
There are still remains of a round tower, a Romanesque doorway, a High
Cross and a much weathered figure of St. Cronan to mark this second
foundation. The Book of Dimma in the library of Trinity College Dublin
belonged to the monastery.
Cronan was much revered by his contemporaries, and King Fingen had a
great regard for him. There is a record of his visiting Cashel, when he
was very old, just before his death, on April 28th about 620
(
Baring-Gould1882,
Benedictines,
Encyclopaedia,
Flanagan,
Gill,
Husenbeth,
Montague,
Neeson).
Medieval Irish Book Shrines and Book Satchels
http://www.eskimo.com/~hmiller/cumdachs.html
Troparion of St Cronan
Tone 1
O holy Cronan, in the monasteries that thou didst found
thou wast known for thy hospitality to the poor and to travellers.
Pray for us that we may follow thine example
and welcome all in Christ's Name, to His glory.