- Declan
Infobox Saint
name=Saint Declan
birth_date=5th century
death_date=5th century
feast_day=July 24
venerated_in=Roman Catholicism
imagesize=220px
caption=Carvings at Saint Declan's Church, Ardmore
birth_place=Ireland
death_place=
titles=
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=
patronage=
major_shrine=Ardmore
suppressed_date=
issues=Saint Declan was an early Irish
bishop andabbot . He is sometimes said to be one of four bishops to have precededSaint Patrick in Ireland in the early 5th century (See also SaintsAilbhe ,Ciaran , and Ibar), although he is also made a contemporary ofSaint David in the mid-6th century. His feast day isJuly 24 .Life
He converted the people of the
Decies , an ancientprincipality of southern Ireland, toChristianity . There he founded the monastic settlement of Ardmore. Although Ardmore is no longer the seat of adiocese , the local Catholic parish bears Declan's name. His Life is preserved in both aLatin and Irish version; the latter was translated into English by Rev. P. Power in 1914.There was much controversy involving which Saint was to become the Patron Saint of Ireland. Since St. Patrick was not of Irish heritage many of the Irish people believed that St. Declan should instead become the country's Patron Saint.fact|date=March 2008
Pattern
Every year on his feast day, locals and people from the region celebrate his "pattern". The pattern includes various devotional acts at sites associated with his life.
Namesakes
Due to popular devotion to the saint, the name Declan has been relatively common in
County Waterford for centuries. Its use has since spread beyond Munster, and even outside of Ireland.*
Declan Bree , Irish politician & social campaigner
*Declan Costello ,Attorney-General of Ireland
*Declan Curry , Irish journalist who works for BBC News andBBC Breakfast in theUnited Kingdom
*Declan de Barra , Irish musician, vocalist andbodhrán player of the former bandClann Zú
* Declan Davis, British mathematician
*Declan Donnellan , British theatre director
*Declan Donnelly , one half of British television duoAnt and Dec
* Declan Finney, son of, actor,Albert Finney
*Declan Galbraith , English singer
* Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus (better known asElvis Costello ), British musician
*Declan McCullagh , journalist
*Declan McGonagle , Irish art curator
*Declan Nerney , Irish country music personality
*Declan Ryan , Irish sportsman
*Declan Sinnott , Irish musician
* Declan Holliday, Internet blogger and general all rounderIn popular culture
St. Declan's cross is clearly visible in the wedding scene in the movie "
Braveheart ".fact|date=July 2008External links
*
* [http://www.ccel.org/d/declan/life/declan.html Rev. Power's translation is available online from Christian Classics Ethereal Library]
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