Mo Chutu of Lismore
Irish saint, abbot of Rahan
Feast: 14 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Carthage, born in Kerry about 555, was a swineherd who became a monk and priest. After living as a hermit, he founded the monastery of Rahan about 590, where he had hundreds of disciples, and wrote a rule in Irish verse for them.
Expelled with his community in 635, he travelled south and founded the monastery of Lismore on the Blackwater. He died there on 14 May 637, first bishop and patron of Lismore.
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
A swineherd who became a founder of great monasteries.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Carthage
- Wikidata Q6886198 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Mo Chutu of Lismore (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.