hermit and builder. As
Bernard of Clairvaux assures us, Molua founded over 100 monasteries in
Ireland, including that of Killaloe (County Clare) and Cluain-Fearta
Molua, on the borders of Ossory and Queen's County in Leinster. Saint
Molua prescribes a most austere monastic rule that was long observed in
Ireland. It enjoined the strictest silence and recollection, and forbade
women from approaching the church of the monks. Despite his strict
observance of the monastic discipline, he was a man of great tenderness
to both man and beast. His principal disciple was Saint Flannan, who
succeeded him in the governance of Killaloe. Molua's oratory on Friars'
Island, a few hundred yards from the cathedral, was re-erected before
the area was submerged by the Shannon hydro-electric works in 1929
(Benedictines,
Encyclopaedia,
Farmer,
Husenbeth).
Troparion of St Lugid Tone 4
Renowned for thy virtuous life/ and thy zeal as a founder of
monasteries,/ pray O Father Lugid, that God will raise up monastics in
our day/ to instruct and guide the faithful in their struggles/ that
many souls may be saved.