Saint Pyr

Pyr (Pŷr; sometimes known as Piro in English) was a Welsh abbot of the 6th century who may later have been revered as a saint.

He has been described as being "an unsuitable abbot and...one of those Celtic 'saints' who would never have been canonized by any formal process" (Farmer, 409). Little is known about him apart from the fact that he was titular of Caldey Island (Welsh "Ynys Byr" "Pŷr's Island"). Pyr is said to have become so drunk one night that on the way back to his cell he fell into a well. He died soon after being pulled out. He was replaced as abbot by Samson, who resigned in disgust when he found that the young monks had become ungovernable due to the laxity of Pyr's rule.

References

*Farmer, David Hugh. (1978). "The Oxford Dictionary of Saints". Oxford: Oxford University Press.