Born in Scotland; died at Rossmarkie, c. 572. Saint Moluag was educated
in the monastery school of Bangor in Ireland and then returned to his
native land as a missionary. (Some say that he was actually from Ulster
and may have been an O'Neill.) The Cistercian Bernard of Clairvaux in
his biography of his close friend Malachy of Ireland tells us that the
monk Moluag of Bangor was the founder of 100 monasteries in Scotland. In
fact, Moluag ranked alongside Saint Columba as a missionary: While
Columba was the apostle to the Gaels; Moluag evangelized the Picts. His
main work as a bishop was the evangelization of the Hebrides.
Inevitably, legends have grown around his name according to which there
was a rivalry between Moluag and Columba, but it appears that they
worked among to distinct national groups.
Moluag actually arrived about a year before Columba in Scotland. He was
accompanied by Saint Comgall, an Irish Pict, who presented him to King
Brude to obtain his authority for the mission. Columba, incidentally,
had Comgall perform the same service for him. It is possible that King
Brude preferred Moluag to Columba, and that is what led Moluag to
concentrate more on the Picts. It would be quite natural that the
Pictish king might have some reservations about the Ulster prince
Columba, who was a natural leader of the Gaelic people in Scotland.
Whatever happened, the two missionaries gradually brought an end to the
armed conflict between the two nations.
The blackthorn crosier (Bachuill Mor) of Saint Moluag is in the
possession of the Campbells, dukes of Argyle, who traditionally carried
it with them into battle. His shrine was at Mortlach. On the island of
Lewis, the custom persisted, despite the Scottish reformers' attempts to
stop it, until the 19th century of conducting a ritual service of
intercession to Moluag at his titular church Teampall Mo Luigh. Although
the cultus of Moluag decreased together with the power of the Pictish
people he evangelized, there are many memorials to Moluag in the form of
ancient churches and placenames. Kilmoluag is a common example. The name
"Luke," which is very common among men in Scotland, is reliably stated
to be derived from Moluag.
Saint Moluag is invoked against insanity and his intercession sought to
heal wounds
(
Benedictines,
Montague).
Another Life
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/CelticEra/Saints/saints_moluag.htm
The Islanders talk about Moluag as if they had just recently met him out
shopping on the mainland - and they are mostly presbyterian!
His Abbatal Bell is in Edinburgh and his Stone Chair is nestled in the
rocks at Lismore (Lios-mor - Big Garden) and a flower is named for him.
There are not many dedications of churches in his name: There is one
of them at Kentallen-by-Duror - and there is another in the Outer Isles.
Holy Father Moluag - Pray for us.
A Modern Pilgrim's Pilgrimage to Lismore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CeltList/message/32513