Died c. 708-710. An old legend makes Indract an Irish chieftain, who
became the 21st abbot of Iona. About 854, Indract and his sister
Dominica (Drusa) set out from Cornwall or Somerset on a pilgrimage to
Rome. On their return from Rome, they were killed by heathen Saxons
together with nine of their Irish comrades near Glastonbury. A strong
cultus arose immediately. Their relics were enshrined at Glastonbury
Abbey, which legend connects to Saints Patrick, Brigid, and
Benignus (f.d. November 9)
because it was first dedicated to Blessed Mary and
Saint Patrick and was served by Irish monks as late as the 10th century.
A still later legend has made Indract and Dominica contemporaries of
Saint Patrick
(
Benedictines,
D'Arcy,
Encyclopaedia,
Fitzpatrick,
Kenney,
Montague,
Moran,
O'Kelly).
Another Life:
The Irish Saints at Glastonbury c.700
On this day in the Old English Calendar commemorated SS Indractus,
Dominica and their Companions. We have to rely on William of Malmsbury
for information about these Martyrs, who were venerated at Glastonbury
Abbey. Indractus was an Irish chieftain, who had been to Rome on
pilgrimage with his wife, Dominica, and nine others, and on their return
journey they decided to visit the "Second Rome", as Glastonbury was
called, because of its holy associations.
There is a tradition that both S. Patrick and S. Bridget spent some time
at Glastonbury, and there is a district called Beckery, where Bridget is
supposed to have founded a Convent at the foot of Weary-all Hill. It was
at Mass in the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene there, according to the
History of John of Glastonbury, that King Arthur had the vision of the
Cross and Our Lady with the Holy Child, which is commemorated in the
Arms of the Abbey. Another Irish Saint claimed as a visitor to
Glastonbury is Benignus, locally known as S. Bennings, who was servant
and successor to S. Patrick. He settled at Meare three miles to the west,
where he died, and his body was translated to the Abbey in 901, some
four hundred years later.
These Irish connections may well have been an added attraction to
Indractus and his fellow pilgrims, who settled in the district of
Shapwick. The local people were heathen and thought the party were
wealthy merchants, whereas their scrips only contained parsley and other
seeds to be taken back to Ireland, and their pilgrim staves were tipped
with brass and not gold. When they had killed them, the natives threw
their bodies into a deep pit, but a column of light appeared by night
revealing the grave of the Christian martyrs. Their bodies were taken up
and buried in the Abbey in the eighth century during the restoration
under King Ina.