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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.



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