Died March 24, 717. Dunchadh was born into the line of Conall Gulban.
He became a monk at Killochuir in southeast Ulster and, from 710 until
his death, ruled the abbey of Iona, Scotland. During Dunchadh's abbacy,
Saint Egbert (f.d. April 24)
finally convinced the Celtic monks of Iona
to adopt the Roman customs-- tonsure, date of Easter, Benedictine Rule.
For
Saint Bede (f.d. tomorrow),
this was the final sign of unity from
diversity, which was the main theme of his
Ecclesiastical History.
Dunchadh is the titular saint of Killclocair, in the diocese of Armagh.
His feast is still celebrated in Donegal on May 25; elsewhere it is
March 24. He is the patron of sailors in Ireland
(
Benedictines,
Farmer,
Gill,
Husenbeth).