- Seachnaill
Infobox Saint
name= Saint Seachnaill
birth_date=~372
death_date=November 27, 457
feast_day=
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize= 250px
caption=
birth_place= Italy?
death_place= Ireland
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issues=Saint Seachnaill (Sechnall, Secundinus) (ca.
372 -November 27 ,457 ) is an Irishsaint . He is considered the founder ofDunshaughlin (Domnach Seachnaill) and was a contemporary ofSaint Patrick .According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia , he was the son of Restitutus, a Lombard, and Liamain, sister of St. Patrick. He was one of nine brothers, eight of whom became bishops in Ireland. His early life and training are obscure, but he appears to have studied inGaul , and to have accompanied St. Patrick to Ireland in432 .The first documentary evidence we have is an entry in the "Irish Annals" recording the arrival of St. Sechnall and his brother St. Auxilius "to help St. Patrick".
In
433 he was appointed by St. Patrick as first Bishop ofDunshaughlin , and served as assistant to the Bishop ofArmagh from 434 until his death. At the commencement of his episcopal rule, the local fair ("aonach") was accustomed to be held in the church enclosure, and as the people ignored the saint's denunciation as to holding a fair on hallowed ground, we read that "the earth opened and swallowed up thirteen horses, chariots and drivers, while the remainder fled". He died after an episcopate of fourteen years.More recent scholarship has suggested that Secundinus preceded Saint Patrick in Ireland. According to Thomas F. O'Rahilly's lecture "The Two Patricks", Secundinus was probably a native of northern Italy. He was one of three bishops who arrived in Ireland in
439 to assistPalladius , whose mission had begun in431 and who was known in Ireland as "Patricius" (leading to confusion with the laterSaint Patrick ). Secundinus's two associates wereAuxilius andIserninus . In441 Palladius was recalled to Rome to be examined by the newly electedPope Leo I , leaving Secundinus in charge of the Church in Ireland. Secundinus died in447 or448 ; he was the first Christian bishop to die on Irish soil. Domnach Seachnaill, orDunshaughlin inCounty Meath , is named for him.External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13671b.htm Sechnall] at the Catholic Encyclopedia
References
* cite book
last = O'Rahilly
first = Thomas F.
authorlink = T. F. O'Rahilly
coauthors =
title = The Two Patricks: A Lecture on the History of Christianity in Fifth-Century Ireland
publisher = Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
date = 1942
location = Dublin
pages =
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doi =
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