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{{Short description|Irish saint and missionary}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Modomnóc of Ossory
|birth_date=500s
|death_date=c. 550
|image= File:TimoleagueFriary 2004.jpg
|caption= Timoleague Friary
|death_place=
|feast_day=13 February
|venerated_in=
|major_shrine=
|attributes=[[bee]]s
}}

'''St. Modomnóc of Ossory''' (also ''Domnóc'' and ''Dominic'') (died c. 550) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] [[saint]] and [[missionary]] in [[Kingdom of Ossory|Osraige]] who was a disciple of [[Saint David|St. David of Wales]] and a member of the [[Uí Néill]] royal family.<ref>C. Plummer, Miscellanea Hagiographica Hibernensis, p. 217; B.T.A., i. 322</ref> His feast day is February 13.

==Life==
Modomnoc's name is likely to have been Dominic<ref>{{Cite book|last=Colganum|first=Ioannem|author-link=John Colgan|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jarTiRlbr0IC&pg=PA831|volume=Tomus Primus|title=Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae|chapter=Qui est Chronologicus|date=1645|publisher=Everardum de Witte|page=831|language=la|location=Leuven}}</ref> or Donogh, as the words "my", ("''mo''") "little" and "dear" were added to Irish saint's names; hence Domnóc's name is often rendered ''mo Domnóc'' or ''Modomnóc''. He left Ireland to practice priesthood and crossed the sea to Wales to study under St. David at Menevia.<ref name=haggerty>[http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ASaints/Modomnoc.html Haggerty, Bridget, "The Bees Who would not be Left Behind", Irish Culture and Customs]</ref>

==Beekeeper==
One of the best known stories regarding Saint Modomnoc concerns his work as a beekeeper in [[Monastery of Saint David, Wales|Saint David's monastery]] . Bees were kept both for their honey and the production of wax.<ref name=haggerty/> He was never stung.<ref>[https://orthochristian.com/77526.html Holy Father Modomnoc of Ossory, Patron Saint of Bees, Dmitry Lapa, Orthodox Christianity]</ref> When the time came for him to return to Ireland, three times the bees followed in great swarm and settled on the mast.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.balbrigganhistory.net/historicalarticles-saint%20molaga.html |title=Walsh, Jim, "Saint Molaga of Bremore", Balbriggan & District Historical Society |access-date=2013-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716005730/http://www.balbrigganhistory.net/historicalarticles-saint%20molaga.html |archive-date=2012-07-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> With Saint David's consent he let the bees sail with him and introduced the [[Beekeeping in Ireland|honeybee to Ireland]] on his return from Wales.<ref>[https://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/discover/history/St-David Who is St David, stdavidscathedral.org.uk]</ref>

{{cquote|''In a little boat, from the east, over the pure-colored sea, my Domnoc brought the gifted race of Ireland's bees.'' '''~ Félire Óengusso'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/martyrologyoeng01stokgoog#page/n118/mode/2up|title=The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee: Félire Óengusso Céli dé| year=1905 |publisher=Harrison and Sons}}</ref>}}

Modomnoc's talking to his bees is in keeping with an Irish folklore custom of ‘Telling the Bees’ which ensures that the bees not feel any offence due to exclusion from family affairs and so will remain with the hive. It was believed that if one didn't tell the bees of a wedding, a birth, or a death they would take offence and leave.<ref name=bee>[http://www.ucd.ie/pages/99/articles/chaomh.pdf Chaomhánach, Eimear, "The Bee, its Keeper and Produce, in Irish and other Folk Traditions", University College Dublin]</ref> This same custom forms the basis of [[John Greenleaf Whittier|John Greenleaf Whittier's]] poem, "Telling the Bees".<ref>[http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/telling-the-bees/ Whittier, John Greenleaf, "Telling the Bees"]</ref>

==Bishop==
Upon returning home he continued his religious services at [[Tybroughney]]. He is said to have been honoured with the episcopal dignity, about the middle of the 6th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southwestcorkbees.com/2012/01/bees-in-medieval-ireland.html|title=Bees in Medieval Ireland|website=South West Cork Bee-Keepers' Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717201714/http://www.southwestcorkbees.com/2012/01/bees-in-medieval-ireland.html|archive-date=17 July 2018|access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref><ref name=butler>[http://www.bartleby.com/210/2/136.html Butler, Alban. "St. Modomnoc, or Dominick, of Ossory, Bishop and Confessor", ''The Lives of the Saints'', Volume II, 1866] {{PD-notice}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/77526.htm HOLY FATHER MODOMNOC OF OSSORY, PATRON SAINT OF BEES Commemorated: February 13/26]
*[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5148 St. Modomnoc - Catholic Online]
*[http://www.ucd.ie/pages/99/articles/chaomh.pdf Chaomhánach, Eimear, "The Bee, its Keeper and Produce, in Irish and other Folk Traditions", University College Dublin]
*[https://www.amazon.com/The-Saint-Bees-Dessi-Jackson/dp/1623954878 "''A Saint and His Bees''" by Dessi Jackson]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.irishtourist.com/details/timoleague-abbey.shtml |title=Timoleague Abbey |website=www.irishtourist.com |accessdate=20 September 2016}}

{{Pre-Reformation Bishops of Ossory}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modomnoc}}
[[Category:6th-century Irish Christian clergy]]
[[Category:Irish beekeepers]]
[[Category:6th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Medieval Irish saints]]
[[Category:Bees in religion]]

Modomnoc - Revision history

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