St. Kevin

St. Kevin (Coemgen) was an Irish abbot of the sixth and early seventh centuries, traditionally said to have lived to a great age and to have died around 618. Drawn from his youth to a life of solitude and prayer, he withdrew into the remote valley of Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains, living for a time as a hermit in extreme austerity amid its lakes and cliffs before disciples gathered around his reputation for holiness.

There he founded the monastery of Glendalough, which grew after his death into one of Ireland's greatest monastic cities and centers of pilgrimage. Many beloved legends surround him, expressing his gentleness toward creation — most famously the tale that a blackbird once laid an egg in his outstretched hand as he prayed, and that he held it still until the young bird had hatched and flown. He is venerated as a saint and is honored as a patron of the city of Dublin, his feast kept on 3 June.