St. Finbarr of Cork, First Bishop and Patron of Cork

Who was St. Finbarr of Cork?

St. Finbarr of Cork (also spelled Fin Barre, Finbar or simply Barr) was a sixth-century Irish monk and bishop, the founder and patron of the city of Cork. He lived first as a hermit on a lake island in the mountains of west Cork, then founded a monastery and school where the River Lee meets the sea. So many students came that, in Butler's words, they "changed, as it were, a desert into a large city." We keep his feast on September 25.

Butler says his baptismal name was Lochan, and that Finbarr, "Barr the White," was given him later for his fair hair.

The life of St. Finbarr of Cork

Birth and boyhood

His medieval Lives, in Latin and Irish, were written centuries after him and mix history with legend. They say his father, Amergin, came from Connaught and settled in Munster. Popular tradition in Cork places Finbarr's birth near Bandon. As a boy, the Lives say, he was given to three holy men from Leinster to be taught, and he grew up studying under monks in Leinster and Munster.

The hermit of Gougane Barra

Finbarr's first home as a monk was Gougane Barra, a dark lake ringed by mountains where the River Lee rises. The name is usually rendered "Finbarr's rock-cleft." He lived in a cell on a little island in the lake. O'Hanlon describes the ruins of a chapel and eight arched cells still traceable there in the nineteenth century, and a holy well near the causeway.

Disciples gathered even there. The Lives list among them Eolang, his tutor, and Nessan, who later built up his school at Cork.

The founding of Cork

The Irish Life says an angel led Finbarr down the Lee to a marshy place near its mouth and told him it would be "the place of his resurrection," the place where he would rest until the last day. A man named Aed, out looking for a stray cow, found the saints there and gave them the land. Butler says the monastery and school stood at Lough Eirc, a hollow later drained and built over. The city takes its name from Corcach, "marsh."

Finbarr was the first bishop of Cork. Butler gives him seventeen years in the office. His disciple St. Colman founded the see of Cloyne, and Nessan carried on the school.

His death

Finbarr died at Cloyne, about fifteen miles from Cork, while visiting friends. The Irish Life says he received the Body and Blood of Christ and "gave up his most happy spirit to God." His body was brought home and buried in his own church at Cork. The year is not known; O'Hanlon gives about 623.

Miracles and legends of St. Finbarr

O'Hanlon warns that many stories in the Lives "seem to rest only on popular tradition." All of these are traditional:

• As an infant he spoke to a chief to save his parents from punishment.
• At his burial, the Life says, the sun did not set for fifteen days.
• St. Fursey, visiting Cork, saw a golden ladder at Finbarr's tomb reaching to heaven, "for taking up souls."

The Life adds that his relics were later raised and placed in a silver shrine, and that miracles were wrought at the time.

Why St. Finbarr is the patron of Cork

His monastery was the seed of the city, and he was its first bishop. The Irish bishops list St. Finbarr, September 25, as patron of Cork in the Diocese of Cork and Ross. The Catholic church of St. Finbarr South and the Church of Ireland's St. Fin Barre's Cathedral both carry his name, the cathedral on the traditional site of his monastery.

Symbols of St. Finbarr in art

There is no portrait from his time. Irish artists show him with:

• A miter and crozier, as the first bishop of Cork.
• A book, for his famous school.
• A lake and island cell, for Gougane Barra.

Harry Clarke's window in the Honan Chapel at University College Cork, made in 1916–1917, is the finest image of him, a bishop in deep red against a field of blue.

Feast day and pilgrimage

On September 25 Cork honors its patron. O'Hanlon records that pilgrims long came to Gougane Barra on the eve and day of the feast, and that Mass was celebrated on the island on the Sunday within the octave. See our feast days calendar and our page on Irish saints.

Prayer to St. Finbarr

We know of no ancient prayer to St. Finbarr in wide use. We may ask him to pray for the people of Cork, for students and teachers, and for all who seek God in quiet places. St. Finbarr, pray for us.