St. Enda of Aran

St. Enda of Aran was an Irish saint of the late fifth and early sixth centuries who is honored as one of the fathers of Irish monasticism. Born in what is now Ulster, he is said to have first followed the life of a warrior before his sister, St. Fanchea, a nun, persuaded him to lay down his arms and give himself to God; after a time of study and formation, he obtained from the king a grant of the bleak and rocky Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland.

There, on Inishmore, he founded a great monastery and school of severe austerity, dividing the island among his monks, and from this famous nursery of saints there went forth many of the leaders of the golden age of the Irish Church, so that Aran came to be called "Aran of the Saints." Among those said to have been formed or influenced by him were St. Brendan the Navigator, St. Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, and St. Columba. He died around the year 530, and his memory is kept on 21 March.