Máel Ruba

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Máel Ruba, Maol Rubha or Malruibhe ( b. 642 - d. 722 ), sometimes Latinised as Rufus, was a monk, originally from Bangor, Ireland, and founder of the monastic community of Applecross in Ross. The Gaelic name of Applecross, "A' Chomraich", comes from a sanctuary which surrounded his church. Maol Rubha's monastery was a major Christian centre and instrumental in the spread of both Christianity and Gaelic culture amongst the Picts of northern Scotland. There are several locations named after Maol Rubha such as Loch Maree. In the 17th century the Presbytery of Dingwall was disturbed by the existence of several rituals, such as the sacrificing of bulls, revolving around a debased memory of Máel Ruba. Máel Ruba was descended from Niall, King of Ireland, on the side of his father Elganach. His rnother, Subtan, was a niece of Saint Comgall of Bangor. Máel Ruba was born in the area of Derry and was educated at Bangor. When he was thirty, he sailed from Ireland to Scotland with a group of monks.

For two years he travelled around the area, chiefly in Argyll, and founded about half a dozen churches before settling at Abercrossan (Applecross) in the west of Ross. Here he built his chief church and monastery in the midst of the Picts, and thence he set out on missionary journeys: westward to the islands Skye and Lewis, eastward to Forres and Keith, and northward to Loch Shinn, Durness, and Farr. It was on this last journey that he was killed by Danish vikings, probably at Teampull, around nine miles up the Strathnaver from Farr, where he had built a cell. Maelrubha was buried near the River Naver, not far from his cell, and his grave is still marked by "a rough cross-marked stone". The tradition, in the Aberdeen Breviary, that he was killed at Urquhart and buried at Abercrossan is probably a mistake arising from a confusion of Gaelic placenames.

This error had been copied by several later hagiologists, as has also the same writers' confusion of St. Máel Ruba with St. Rufus of Capua. Máel Ruba was, after St. Columba, perhaps the most popular saint of the northwest of Scotland. At least twenty-one churches are dedicated to him, and Dean Reeves enumerates about forty forms of his name. His death occurred on 21 April, and his feast has always been kept in Ireland on this day; however, in Scotland (probably owing to the confusion with St. Rufus) it has always been kept on August 27. On July 5, 1898, Pope Leo XIII restored his feast for the Church in Scotland, to be kept on August 27. Máel Ruba's name has given rise to numerous corruptions... for example in Keith, he was referred to as "St Rufus", and in other parts of Scotland, his name was variously rendered as "Maree" (as in the Loch), "Summereve" (i.e., St Maol Rubha) etc. Because his feast day was on August 25 [1], folk etymology led some people to confuse "Summereve's Fair" with a secular fair celebrating the season.

[edit] Areas where he was celebrated

Applecross and the Loch Broom area.
Keith, Moray, sometimes referred to anciently as "Kethmalruff"
Loch Maree, which has Isle Maree/Eilean Maree in it. The island has a well dedicated to the saint.
Dingwall and Tain, in Easter Ross both of which held fairs celebrating the saint.
Amulree ("Ath Maol Rubha" = St Maol Rubha's Ford), Perthshire