Biography
Fachtna of Ross
About Fachtna of Ross
Fachtna founded the monastery of Ros Ailithir, now associated with Rosscarbery in County Cork. The Dictionary of Irish Biography places his life approximately between 554 and 600 and identifies his birthplace as Tulach Tenn in the territory of the Corco Loígde.
Later traditions connect his education with Íte and Findbarr. The same scholarly account rejects a later identification of him as abbot of a different foundation on the Blackwater.
Breen distinguishes these later traditions from a secure contemporary life. The reported cure of blindness and the claimed age of forty-six at death are not independent confirmation of his chronology.
The community at Ros Ailithir developed into a monastic school. Fachtna’s memory remains connected with Ross, whose patron he is.
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