For other persons called Nath Í, see Nath Í

Nath Í

Nath Í, an early Irish personal name for males, may refer to:*Nath Í mac Fiachrach, 5th-century legendary king of Connacht*Nath Í of Cúl Fothirbe, saint of the Dál Messin Corb of Leinster...

Saint Nath Í or Nathí (fl. 6th century?), also anglicised to Nathy, was an early Irish saint of the Dál Messin Corb, who was credited with the foundation of Cúl Fothirbe in Dál nAraide territory and with becoming its first bishop. He is not be confused with Nath Í, bishop and founder of Sruthair Guaire (Shrule

Shrule

Shrule is a village in County Mayo, Ireland. The boundary between Mayo and County Galway lies on the edge of the village. The Black River divides Shrule between Galway and Mayo....

, Co. Carlow) and brother to co-founder Domoingen.

No separate hagiographical Life survives for the saint, but he appears in a number of medieval Irish sources, including the Martyrology of Tallaght

Martyrology of Tallaght

The Martyrology of Tallaght, which is closely related to the Félire Oengusso or Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee, is an eighth- or ninth-century martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Máel Ruain and/or Óengus the Culdee at Tallaght Monastery, near Dublin...

, medieval Irish genealogies, and a list of bishops in the Book of Leinster

Book of Leinster

The Book of Leinster , is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18...

.

Background

In the Irish genealogies, Nath Í is called a son of Senach son of Fergus Láebderc (in the Laud genealogies, a mac Fergusa) and made a member of the Dál Messin Corb of Leinster, the dynasty which also produced St Cóemgen of Glendalough

Kevin of Glendalough

Saint Cóemgen , popularly anglicized to Kevin is an Irish saint who was known as the founder and first abbot of Glendalough in County Wicklow, Ireland.-Life:...

. According to Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin, Nath Í may well have flourished in the first half of the 6th century, which would rule out the claim that he was a pupil of Máel Ruain at Tallaght.

Bishop and founder

In medieval Irish sources, Nath Í is usually identified as the saint who founded Cúl Fothirbe (Cúil Foithirbe), a place whose exact location has not been identified but which seems to have been in Dál nAraide territory (Co. Down). His entry in the Martyrology of Tallaght associates him with Cúil Sachaille and the saint mentioned below him with Fothirb, but this may be an error. Several sources attribute to him the office of bishop (epscop), notably a list of bishops preserved in the Book of Leinster.

Nath Í also appears to be associated with Tech Nath Í (lit. "The House of Nath Í"), which belonged to Glendalough and gave its name to the parish of Taney

Taney Parish

Taney is a populous parish in the Church of Ireland, located in the Dundrum area of Dublin.-Early history:Taney's origins go back to the early Irish saint Nathi, who in the 6th century established a centre for monastic life. This centre may have been on what is now the site of St. Nahi's Church in...

 in the Dundrum

Dundrum, Dublin

Dundrum , originally a town in its own right, is now a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland.The area is located in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16.-History:...

 area of south Co. Dublin. It has been argued that this was the site of Cúl Fothirbe, while the term tech may also be taken to indicate that relics of the saint were kept there.

The Martyrology of Tallaght and its later counterparts give his feast-day as 1 August, presumably the day that he died.

Primary sources

• Martyrology of Tallaght
  Martyrology of Tallaght
  The Martyrology of Tallaght, which is closely related to the Félire Oengusso or Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee, is an eighth- or ninth-century martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Máel Ruain and/or Óengus the Culdee at Tallaght Monastery, near Dublin...
  
  
• Genealogies:

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• • Genealogies in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud 610, ed. K. Meyer, "The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories." Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 8 (1912). pp. 291–338.
  • Saints' genealogies, ed. P. Ó Riain, Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae. Dublin, 1985. pp. 30 and 134.
• Book of Leinster list of the bishops of Ireland, ed. R.I. Best et al., The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála. 6 vols: vol. 6. Dublin: DIAS, 1983. (1338, 1554, 1566 and 1650)

Further reading