Saint Fintan was born in Leinster about 524. He received his religious formation in Terryglass, Co. Tipperary under the abbot Colum mac Crimthainn, and was deeply influenced by his penitential practices and the severity of the Rule. He was an Abbot and disciple of St. Columba. Fintan was a hermit in Clonenagh, Leix, Ireland. When disciples gathered around his hermitage he became their abbot. A wonder worker, Fintan was known for clairvoyance, prophecies, and miracles.
Fintan spent his early years in Carlow before making his own foundation in Clonenagh, Co. Laois. His disciples included St Colmán of Oughaval, St. Comgall of Bangor, and St. Aengus the Culdee. He has been compared by the Irish annalists to St. Benedict, and is styled "Father of the Irish Monks".
Fintan spent his early years in Carlow before making his own foundation in Clonenagh, Co. Laois. His disciples included St Colmán of Oughaval, St. Comgall of Bangor, and St. Aengus the Culdee. He has been compared by the Irish annalists to St. Benedict, and is styled "Father of the Irish Monks".
This tree, an acer pseudoplatanus, was planted in the late 18th or early 19th century at the site of the Early Christian monastic site of Clonenagh. The monastery was founded in the 6th century by Columba of Terryglass and then left to his disciple St. Fintan when St. Colum moved on to Terryglass. The tree is dedicated to St. Fintan and it became custom to insert coins into the tree from which the tree suffered and was believed to be dead until the tree started to recover with some new shoots.
A Graveyard and this old church is all that remains of the old monastery
