Adomnán
hagiographer, statesman, clerical lawyer
Feast: 23 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Adomnán (Eunan) was born about 624 at Drumhome, Co. Donegal, educated by the Columban monks and became a novice at Iona in 650. In 679 he became abbot of Iona and head of all the Columban houses in Ireland.
He introduced the Roman date of Easter, and at the Synod of Tara in 697 secured the adoption of the Law of Adomnán, which protected women and children from being killed or taken captive in war. He is patron of Raphoe, and the author of the Life of St Columba. He died at Iona in 704.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
An abbot who won from the kings of Ireland a law to protect women and children in war.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Adamnan
- Wikidata Q120132 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Adomnán (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.