Diarmaid the Just

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Diarmaid the Just was a Catholic monk and famous Irish confessor of the mid-sixth century.

He was of princely origin and a native of Connacht. About the year 530, he founded the great monastery of Inchcleraun on Lough Ree, in the Diocese of Ardagh. Wishing to found an oratory far from the day-to-day distractions of civilization, he selected the isolated island associated with the memory of Queen Meav, Inchcleraun.

Here his fame soon attracted disciples, including Ciaran of Clonmacnoise. He was a good teacher, and also a distinguished writer and poet. On the island seven churches are traditionally said to have been erected, and the traces of six are still in evidence, including Teampul Diarmada, or the church of St. Diarmiad. This oratory, eight feet by seven feet, is said to have been Diarmaid's own church. The monastic school he founded kept up its reputation for fully six centuries after his death, and the island itself was famous for pilgrimages in pre-Reformation days. His feast is celebrated January 10.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.