#killeedy

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate our Venerable Mother Ita the Hermitess of Killeedy. Saint Ita was of illustrious descent and was born into Irish nobility. As a child, all marvelled at her purity and virtue, especially her generosity and gentleness in both word and deed. She excelled in the “six gifts” of Irish womanhood – wisdom, purity, beauty, music, sweet speech, and embroidery. Refusing to marry and spurning the worldly life of riches and comfort, she left the world and with her great inheritance, founded a school and convent at Killeedy, a county which still bears her name to this day. At her convent, she accepted children whom she raised into piety, many of them becoming great beacons of Christianity in Ireland, and thus, Saint Ita became known as the “Foster Mother of the Irish Saints”. One of the saints whom she raised from only a year old was Saint Brendan the Navigator, whom she instilled great Christian piety upon. She often counselled him about the three things most displeasing to God: a face that hates mankind, a will that clings to the love of evil, and placing one’s entire trust in riches. She also taught him the three things which are most pleasing to God: the firm belief of a pure heart in God, the simple religious life, and liberality with charity. Many, including Saint Brendan, would often come to her for spiritual counsel throughout their lives, and many received healing from her as she knew much about both physical and spiritual medicine. The Hermitess Ita reposed peacefully in the Lord at an old age. Her feast day remains a local holiday in her district and many Irish girls are named after the the Saint, being second in line to Saint Brigid of Kildare. May she intercede for us always + #saint #ita #ireland #hermit #hermitess #convent #monastery #nun #virtue #killeedy #irish #christian #spiritual #holy #mother #abbess #brendan #stbrendan #brigid #bridget #stbrigid #stbridget #kildare #fostermother #foster #irish #orthodox #saintoftheday (at Killeedy, Clare, Ireland) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnaQu37Bb3s/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[apenitentialprayer]

My first thought is Saint Ita, the foster mother of like a bazilion Irish saints.

Do you guys have an idea of who might be a good patron saint for child care workers?

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 15 January:

In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast of St Ita (Íte of Killeedy). Ita, called the ‘Brigid of Munster’, born in present-day Co Waterford. She became a nun, settling down at Cluain Credhail, a place-name that has ever since been known as Killeedy–that is, ‘Church of St. Ita’, in Co Limerick. There, she was the head of a community of women. She was known as the ‘foster mother of the saints…

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Monday, May 26, 2023

may 26_may 

ST. BRENDAN THE VOYAGER, ABBOT OF CLONFERT (577)

St. Brendan (Brandan, Brandon), called the “Navigator” or also the “Voyager”, is one of the greatest ascetics who lived in Ireland. Unfortunately, his earliest and most reliable hagiographies are lost, and what remains are later twelfth-century Latin and Irish manuscripts, annals, genealogies, traditions, and legends; he is also mentioned in the Lives of some other Irish saints. But, most importantly, he has been loved and venerated by the Irish as one of the nation’s most important Church figures throughout the centuries. According to various traditions, he was born in 484 or 486 and reposed in 575, 577, or 583 at nearly 100. The names of his parents were Finnlug and Cara. The future saint’s birthplace was most probably tiny Fenit Island, situated northwest of the fishing village of Fenit in County Kerry, six miles from the town of Tralee, in the very southwest of Ireland. In the 2000s, a massive statue of St. Brendan was erected on neighboring Great Samphire Island at the entrance to Fenit Harbor to commemorate him.

Fenit, St. Brendan's birthplace, with the harbor and island (taken from Wikipedia)    

St. Brendan was baptized as an infant by the holy Bishop Erc of Slane; the night Brendan was born, Bishop Erc saw a great light and a multitude of angels in glowing robes descending from heaven over his parents’ home. Tobar na Molt holy well not far from Tralee and Ardfert, where St. Erc baptized St. Brendan, still exists and is visited by pilgrims seeking physical and mental healing and consolation. There is a chapel near this well with an altar and the figures of three saints (Sts. Brendan, Erc, and Ita). St. Erc may later have ordained St. Brendan as a priest.

Tobar na Molt holy well, in which St. Brendan was baptized, Kerry (photo by Bernard, Geograph.ie)  

According to tradition, at the age of two, little Brendan was given by St. Erc to the care of the illustrious holy Abbess Ita († c. 570; feast: January 15) of Killeedy in Limerick, known as “the Foster-mother of the Irish Saints.” Under St. Ita Brendan studied the rudiments of Christianity for five years, and he retained the love and respect for the abbess who nurtured and taught him always. After Killeedy, St. Brendan is believed to have gone to Tuam in Galway, to the famous monastery and school founded by St. Jarlath († c. 540; feast: June 6). Besides, St. Brendan was a disciple of St. Enda of Inishmore (+ c. 530; feast: March 21), one of the earliest monastic founders in Ireland.

Our saint also went to the famous Clonard Monastery in County Meath with the great St. Finnian († 549; feast: December 12), “the Teacher of the Irish Saints”, or one of his successors. Notably, St. Brendan the Navigator (like his saintly namesake, St. Brendan of Birr in Offaly, who reposed in c. 573 and is feasted on November 29) is ranked among “the Twelve Apostles of Ireland,” all of whom were in Clonard. Lastly, tradition says that the young saint traveled to Wales, where he spent some time with St. Gildas (or St. Cadoc) at Llancarfan in Glamorgan, in the monastery famous for its learning. Irish and Welsh monasticism of the age were closely interconnected.

Having been instructed by such celebrated monastic saints, St. Brendan has tonsured a monk, ordained, and then journeyed to the west of his native Ireland to found churches, do extensive missionary work, and shepherd his fellow countrymen. All his biographers wrote that St. Brendan led an austere ascetic life and gained fame as a wonderworker. He excelled in extraordinary zeal for prayer, extreme abstinence, profound humility, and great mercy and love for everyone. In Ireland and Scotland (which he visited many times) St. Brendan established many monasteries. The most famous of them, founded in about 559, was Clonfert, on the west bank of the River Shannon in County Galway. Clonfert, set up by St. Brendan, was renowned all over Ireland. At one time, it is said that it had some 3,000 monks, and future missionaries who later traveled all over Europe to preach the Gospel. One of the most illustrious disciples of Clonfert, who in his youth may have been instructed by St. Brendan, was St. Fursey († c. 648; feast: January 16), who later founded monasteries in Eastern England and France.

Another significant establishment of St. Brendan was the monastery and diocese of Ardfert, which became a large ecclesiastical and monastic center of Kerry close to the saint’s birthplace. Then he established a community at Inis-da-druim, now Coney Island (Innisdadrom) in County Clare. After that he built a monastery at Annaghdown in Galway, by the Bay of Annaghdown near Lough Corrib.

Numerous traditions tell that St. Brendan was also active in the historic Irish province of Leinster, where a host of places are associated with him. Let us mention the parish of Disart in County Kilkenny, Killeney (which still has a church in honor of St. Brendan) and Brandon Hill in Kilkenny. About 1700 feet tall, Brandon Hill, named for St. Brendan, is the highest mountain in County Kilkenny; St. Brendan built a monastic community or church beside it.

   Later establishments of St. Brendan worth mentioning are a monastery on the island of Inchiquin, also called Innisquin, in the parish of Killursa in Galway, along with a monastic community on Inishglora off the Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo. For the past 100 years, this island has been uninhabited. Inishglora is noted for its ancient relics related to our saint. Two monastic communities—one for monks and one for nuns—may have existed here simultaneously. Today you can find the ruins of the early St. Brendan’s Church, a “church for men”, and a “church for women” there and drink water from St. Brendan’s holy well, used by local monks in the first millennium! Very ancient cross shafts and other artifacts are situated near the remains of three early beehive cells, one of which belonged to St. Brendan.

Legends associated with Inishglora abound. The historian Gerald of Wales in the late twelfth century testified that as long as monks inhabited this island, human corpses were neither buried nor decayed on it—many bodies were deposited in the open so that people could see their ancestors absolutely uncorrupt for generations (this phenomenon must have ceased when the monks left). The same historian also wrote that vermin, such as mice and rats, never inhabited Inishglora as long as prayer was performed. Though thousands swarmed on other Irish islands, none was found there. Whenever someone brought a rodent to Inishglora, it would instantly run away and leap into the sea or die if it was stopped. Formerly all ships sailing past Inishglora would lower their topsails to pay homage to St. Brendan, whose wonderworking wooden statue stood inside St. Brendan’s Church. Garlic that grows on Inishglora to this day is said to have been planted by monks 1500 years ago!

The more significant part of St. Brendan’s life was spent in travels and voyages (typical for Irish monks and ascetics), which is why he was later nicknamed the “Navigator”. In the eighth and ninth centuries, the famous saga, Navigatio Sancti Brendani (The Voyage of St. Brendan), was composed by an Irish monk, and later other authors wrote more elaborate versions of it. Though famous throughout the Middle Ages, this saga transformed the authentic seafaring ascetic and abbot into a semi-mythical adventurer with supernatural abilities who accomplished unbelievable exploits. According to it, when Brendan was abbot of Clonfert, a monk Barrindus1 once visited him. The monk told him that he had traveled through a thick fog and reached the “heavenly Jerusalem”, full of precious stones, in which the sun never set; there were many mountains, birds sang sweetly, a river flowed from the east to the west, and all the plants were always in bloom. Barrindus had spent a year there...Continue reading orthodoxchristian

ACTS 21:8-14

8 On the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. 10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' " 12 When we heard these things, we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."

JOHN 14:27-15:7

27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is more significant than I. 29 And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me bears much fruit, and I in him; without Me, you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; they gather them, throw them into the fire, and are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

[sporadiceagleheart]

Heaven tribute edit for all old angels Mei Shan “Linda” Leung, Barbara Yung Mei-ling, Dayle Yoshie Okazaki, Elyas Yakub Abowath, William Makoto “Bill” Doi, Yuriko Lillie Kita Doi, Patty Elaine Higgins, Thomas E. Higgins, Lela Ellen Reed Kneiding, Bert Clyde Reed, Abana Bethalda Booth Reed, Maxson Carl “Max” Kneiding, Joyce Lucille Brown Nelson, Eris I Brown, Alma Winfred Coombe Owsley, Eugene Theodore Nelson, Margaret Ada Brown Yarnell, Tsai Lian “Veronica” Yu, Maxine Levenia Tedder Zazzara, Vincent Charles Zazzara, Betty Grace Peterson Zazzara, Edward Peterson, Violet Louise Dunlop Peterson, Katie Lee Smith Maggiore, Brian Keith Maggiore, Manuela Eleanore Rohrbeck Witthuhn, Dr Debra Alexandria Manning, Cheryl Grace “Cheri” Smith Domingo, Wayland Clifton Smith Jr., Janelle Lisa Cruz, Lyman Robert Smith, Charlene Herzenberg Smith, April 21, 1951: Lois Janes, 7, disappears from Harrisburg, Little Miss Nobody/Sharon Lee Gallegos, Louis XVII, Mary Crocker, Mary Kornman, Judy Garland, Rosina Lawrence, Joan of Arc, Jean d'Arc, Ilse Weber, Eazy-E, Ella Harper, Annie Oakley, Anne Frank, Margot Frank, Hana Brady, Pauline Adelaar, Annie Kerr Aiken, Gracie Perry Watson, Inez Clarke Briggs, Saint Paul the Apostle, Saint Valentine, Saint Patrick, Mona Lisa, Saint Mark, Saint Peter, Saint Rosalia, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Constantina of Rome, Saint Helena of Constantinople, Saint John the Baptist, King David, Matilda of Denmark, Anna D Crnkovic, Irmgard Christine Winter, Saint Clare of Assisi, Saint Ita of Killeedy, Saint Agnes of Rome, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Rita of Cascia, Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, Sainte Bernadette Soubirous, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Teresa de Jesus, Saint James the Less, Catherine of Aragon, Olivia Twenty Dahl, Anne de Beauchamp, Isabel Despenser, Countess of Warwick, Isabella I, Isabella of Portugal, Isabel of Barcelos, Beatriz Pereira de Alvim, Mary I, Lucy M Haynes, Isabelle Romée, Anne Boleyn, Cleopatra, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Jacques d'Arc, Mary, Queen of Scots, Marie Curie, Pierre Cauchon, Catherine II of Russia, Anna Petrovna, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia,

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS JANUARY 15

St. Francisco Fernandez de Capillas, Roman Catholic Martyr Spanish missionary who became the first Catholic martyr in China after he was beheaded in Fu'an, Fujian in China. Feastday Jan 15

St. Blaithmaic, 823 A.D. Irish abbot who sought martyrdom among the Danes, he went to England and encountered the Danes and was murdered on the altar steps of the abbey church at lona.

St. Ita. was reputedly of royal lineage. She was born at Decies, Waterford, Ireland, refused to be married, and secured her father's permission to live a virginal life. She moved to Killeedy, Limerick, and founded a community of women dedicated to God. She also founded a school for boys, and one of her pupils was St. Brendan. Many extravagant miracles were attributed to her (in one of them she is reputed to have reunited the head and body of a man who had been beheaded; in another she lived entirely on food from heaven), and she is widely venerated in Ireland. She is also known as Deirdre and Mida.

St. Teath. Possibly a daughter of Brychan of Brecknock in Wales. A Cornwall church bears her name. She may also be St. Ita.

St. Sawl, 6th century. Welsh chieftain and the father of St. Asaph, the great Welsh saint

St. Ceolwulf, 764 A.D. King of Northumbria, England, and patron of St. Bede. He resigned in 738 and became a monk at Lindisfame. St. Bede dedicated his Ecclesiastical History to “the most gracious King Ceolwulf.”

St. Liewellyn & Gwrnerth, 6th century. Welsh monks of Welshpool and Bardsey, Wales.

St. Lleudadd, 6th century. Welsh abbot, companion of St. Cadfan to Brittany, France, also listed as Laudatus. He was formerly the abbot of Bardsey, in Gwynedd, Wales.

St. Nina, Roman Catholic laywoman. Scholars believe she was a slave to whom the name Nino (the Georgian form of Nina) was given; she has also been identified as Christiana. The quiet piety of her life and her preaching converted many people, and when she cured Queen Nana of a seemingly incurable disease, Nina converted the queen. When King Mirian also became a Christian, he sent to Constantinople for bishops and priests. Nina continued to preach throughout Georgia until her death at Bodke. A church dedicated to the memory of St. George was built on the site of her grave. Feastday Jan 15

ST PAUL, THE FIRST HERMIT. Very little is known about St Paul, who is recognized as the first Christian hermit. A nobleman from Egypt, he fled to the desert during the persecution of Decius. According to tradition, his cell is found on Mt Sinai. He died at a very old age, after more than 90 years of solitary life. Jan 15

ST. MAURO, ABBOT

ST. JOHN CALIBITA, MONK Jan 15

[oldirishmonasticsuggestions]

Foster children.

[apenitentialprayer]

Saint Ita was an early Celtic nun, known as “Foster Mother of the Irish Saints.” Having established a covent at a young age with the blessing of Declan of Ardmore, Ita would become renowned as a prophetess and a spiritual director. Among the saints taken under Ita’s wings include saints Brendan of Clonfert, Mochoemoc, Ciumin of County Down, and Fachanan. Saint Thaney was the mother of the founder of Glasgow; a rape victim, she found herself to be pregnant, and when asked she refused to reveal the identity of the father. Her father, in turn, threw her off a hill in his rage. Thaney and the baby miraculously survived the fall; the heavily pregnant woman took her chances with an oarless boat in order to escape further endangerment. She eventually settled in a religious community established by Saint Serban, where she raised her son, Saint Mungo, and grew a reputation of her own for holiness.

[orthodoxiaonline]

Γιορτή σήμερα 15 - 1 : Η άγνωστη αγία Íte of Killeedy

Γιορτή σήμερα 15 – 1 : Η άγνωστη αγία Íte of Killeedy

Η άγνωστη Ιρλανδή αγία ηγουμένη Íte of Killeedy και ο άγγελος Continue reading

[hieromonkcharbel]

“Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You to be stronger than each storm within me. I will trust in the darkness and know that my times, even now, are in Your hand. Tune my spirit to the music of heaven, and somehow, make my obedience count for You.”

St. Brendan the Navigator

Feast May 16th

Son of Findloga; brother of Saint Briga. Monk. Educated by Saint Ita of Killeedy and Saint Erc of Kerry. Friend of Saint Columba and Saint Brendan of Birr, Saint Brigid, and Saint Enda of Arran. Ordained in 512. Built monastic cells at Ardfert, Shankeel, Aleth, Plouaret, Inchquin Island, and Annaghdown. Founded Clonfert monastery and monastic school c.559. Legend says that this community had at least three thousand monks, and that their Rule was dictated to Brendan by an angel.

[catholicpriestmedia]

"Saint Íte of Killeedy, Pray for Us!" #SaintoftheDay #OraProNobis

📷 Íte of Killeedy in the Church of Our Lady and Saint Kieran, Ballylooby, County Tipperary, Ireland / Andreas F. Borchert / #Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). #Catholic_Priest #CatholicPriestMedia

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate our Venerable Mother Ita the Hermitess of Killeedy. Saint Ita was of illustrious descent and was born into Irish nobility. As a child, all marvelled at her purity and virtue, especially her generosity and gentleness in both word and deed. She excelled in the “six gifts” of Irish womanhood – wisdom, purity, beauty, music, sweet speech, and embroidery. Refusing to marry and spurning the worldly life of riches and comfort, she left the world and with her great inheritance, founded a school and convent at Killeedy, a county which still bears her name to this day. At her convent, she accepted children whom she raised into piety, many of them becoming great beacons of Christianity in Ireland, and thus, Saint Ita became known as the “Foster Mother of the Irish Saints”. One of the saints whom she raised from only a year old was Saint Brendan the Navigator, whom she instilled great Christian piety upon. She often counselled him about the three things most displeasing to God: a face that hates mankind, a will that clings to the love of evil, and placing one’s entire trust in riches. She also taught him the three things which are most pleasing to God: the firm belief of a pure heart in God, the simple religious life, and liberality with charity. Many, including Saint Brendan, would often come to her for spiritual counsel throughout their lives, and many received healing from her as she knew much about both physical and spiritual medicine. The Hermitess Ita reposed peacefully in the Lord at an old age. Her feast day remains a local holiday in her district and many Irish girls are named after the the Saint, being second in line to Saint Brigid of Kildare. May she intercede for us always + #saint #ita #ireland #hermit #hermitess #convent #monastery #nun #virtue #killeedy #irish #christian #spiritual #holy #mother #abbess #brendan #stbrendan #brigid #bridget #stbrigid #stbridget #kildare #fostermother #foster #irish #orthodox #saintoftheday (at Killeedy, Clare, Ireland) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYuQI6WPfdC/?utm_medium=tumblr

[apenitentialprayer]

Could you please pray for my baby’s health? The doctors saw a symptom on the ultrasound that could mean many different things. I am trying not to be too worried but it is hard. Thank you

Hey! I will definitely pray for your baby, and for you and the rest of your family, too. I always recommend the Serenity prayer ("Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that which I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdm to know the difference") in situations that cause worry.

I'll ask the Holy Innocents, John of Bridlington, Ita of Killeedy, and everyone who reads this to pray along as well.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 15 January:

#OTD in Irish History | 15 January:

In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast of St Ita (Íte of Killeedy). Ita, called the ‘Brigid of Munster’, born in present-day Co Waterford. She became a nun, settling down at Cluain Credhail, a place-name that has ever since been known as Killeedy–that is, ‘Church of St. Ita’, in Co Limerick. There, she was the head of a community of women. She was known as the ‘foster mother of the saints…

[theirishaesthete]

Standing Proud

Killeedy, County Limerick was originally called Cluain Chreadháil, meaning ‘the meadow with a good depth of soil.’ However, its name changed after this part of the country became associated with Saint Íte (otherwise Ita), said to have embodied the six virtues of Irish womanhood: wisdom, purity, beauty, musical ability, gentle speech and needle skills. Interesting to see the last of these judged a…

[tinyshe]

Saint for January 15

Ita was reputedly of royal lineage. She was born at Decies, Waterford, Ireland, refused to be married, and secured her father's permission to live a virginal life. She moved to Killeedy, Limerick, and founded a community of women dedicated to God. She also founded a school for boys, and one of her pupils was St. Brendan. Many extravagant miracles were attributed to her (in one of them she is reputed to have reunited the head and body of a man who had been beheaded; in another she lived entirely on food from heaven), and she is widely venerated in Ireland. She is also known as Deirdre and Mida.

Íte ingen Chinn Fhalad (d. 570/577),[1] also known as Ita, Ida or Ides, was an early Irish nun and patron saint of Killeedy (Cluain Credhail). She was known as the "foster mother of the saints of Erin". The name "Ita" ("thirst for holiness") was conferred on her because of her saintly qualities. Her feast day is 15 January.

Ita, called the "Brigid of Munster", was born in 480[2] in the present County Waterford.[3]  Her father was Cennfoelad or Confhaola and her mother was Necta. Cennfoelad was descended from Felim the lawgiver, King of Tara.[4]  An account of her life in the Codex Kilkenniensis, follows the example of Brigit in describing the opposition Íte meets in pursuit of her vocation. Genealogies of the saints go so far as to make Íte's mother, Necht, a daughter of Dallbrónach, and therefore a sister of Brigit's mother.[5]

She was baptised as Deirdre and grew up in Drum,[clarification needed] County Waterford.[6] Ita was said to embody the six virtues of Irish womanhood – wisdom, purity, beauty, musical ability, gentle speech and needle skills.[2][7] She is also reported to have rejected a prestigious marriage for a life as a consecrated woman religious. At the age of sixteen she moved to Cluain Credhail, a place-name that has ever since been known as Killeedy – meaning "Church of St. Ita" – in County Limerick, where she founded a small community of nuns and resided for the remainder of her life, in community with other consecrated women. Bishop Declan of Ardmore conferred the veil on her. Legend has it that Ita was led to Killeedy by three heavenly lights. The first was at the top of the Galtee mountains, the second on the Mullaghareirk mountains and the third at Cluain Creadhail, which is nowadays Killeedy. Her sister Fiona also went to Killeedy with her and became a member of the community.[4]

A strongly individualistic character is glimpsed in the stories that surround her life. When she decided to settle in Killeedy, a chieftain offered her a large grant of land to support the convent. But Ita would accept only four acres, which she cultivated intensively.[8] The community group seems to have had a school for little boys where they were taught "Faith in God with purity of heart; simplicity of life with religion; generosity with love".[9] Her pupils are said to have included Saint Brendan, whom Bishop Erc gave to Ita in fosterage when he was a year old. St. Ita kept him until he was six.[8]

The great Navigator visited her between his voyages and always deferred to her counsel. Brendan is believed to have asked her what three things God loved best. "True faith in God and a pure heart, a simple life with a religious spirit and open-handedness inspired by charity," she answered.[2] The three things God most detested were a scowling face, obstinacy in wrongdoing, and too great a confidence in the power of money.[10]

She dedicated herself to prayer, fasting, simplicity and cultivating a gift for spiritual discernment. She was also endowed with the gift of prophecy and was held in great veneration by a large number of contemporary saints, men as well as women. Ita was said to have a gift for guiding people in holiness. She was much sought after as a spiritual director. During this period of Christianity, the Celtic Church was more advanced than other churches at the time in recognising qualities of spiritual leadership in women and in encouraging women in this role. It is thought that Ita may have been abbess of a double monastery of men and women.

Her legend places a great deal of emphasis on her austerity, as told by St. Cuimin of County Down, and numerous miracles are recorded of her. She is also said to be the originator of an Irish lullaby for the infant Jesus, an English version of which was set for voice and piano by the American composer Samuel Barber. She probably died of cancer, though contemporary chroniclers describe how her side was consumed by a beetle that eventually grew to the size of a pig – understandable given the early medieval conflation of sanctity and suffering. When she felt her end approaching she sent for her community of nuns, and invoked the blessing of heaven on the clergy and laity of the district around Kileedy. Ita died sometime around 570.

Veneration

Her grave, frequently decorated with flowers, is in the ruins of Cill Ide, a Romanesque church at Killeedy where her monastery once stood. It was destroyed by Viking invaders in the ninth century. A Romanesque church was later built over its ruins, but that too failed to survive. The site, however, remains a place of pilgrimage today.[10]

A holy well nearby, almost invisible now, was known for centuries for curing smallpox in children and other diseases as well. This well has two names – It is called St. Bernard's Well on the OS map, but the local name has always been Tobar Bhaile Ui MhÈidÌn, My Little Ita's Well, coming from the place name, Cill Barra MhÈidÌn. "Church of my little Ita's Height."[8]

Not only was St. Ita a saint, but she was the foster-mother of many saints, including St. Brendan the Navigator, St. Pulcherius (Mochoemog) and Cuimin. At the request of Bishop Butler of Limerick, Pope Pius IX granted a special Office and Mass for the feast of St. Ita, which is kept on 15 January. Although not on the Roman calendar of saints, her feast is celebrated as an optional memorial in Ireland.[10]

Patronage

Conradh na Gaeilge hall in Limerick bearing St. Íde's name.

St Ita is the patron saint of Killeedy, Ireland,[4] and along with St. Munchin is co-patron of the Diocese of Limerick. She is reportedly a good intercessor in terms of pregnancy and eye illnesses.[6]

St. Ita's AFC is the name of the association football club which is based in Killeedy. The saint appears on the club's crest.

Another village in County Limerick, Kilmeedy (In Irish – Cill m'Ide, or church of my Ita) has links with the saint as well – having first set up a church in Kilmeedy before the one in Killeedy.

source