Biography
Flannan of Killaloe
About Flannan of Killaloe
Flannán is remembered at Killaloe, but the chronology of his life is uncertain. Modern scholarship places him in an eighth-century setting and connects his family tradition with the ancestors of the Dál Cais dynasty.
The surviving Life was composed at Killaloe in the twelfth century and contains many fabulous episodes. Its portrayal of personal contact with Molua is chronologically difficult, since Molua belongs to an earlier period.
An identification with a cleric who died in 778 has been proposed, but it is not secure. Flannán’s veneration spread alongside the influence of the dynasty that promoted his memory.
Flannán’s place in worship is clearer than the dates of his life. The Irish National Proper commemorates him as a bishop on December 18, and the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference names him as patron of the Diocese of Killaloe.
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