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St. Begnet (7th century?),[1] also Begneta, Begnete, Begnait or Becnait is a patron saint of Dalkey, Ireland.[2] She is noted as a "virgin, not a martyr."[3] Her feast day is November 12.[4] Two ruined churches in Dalkey are named for Begnet, one on Dalkey Island, and the other near the 14th-century stone townhouse now serving as Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre, in the area known as Kilbegnet. A holy well located near the martello tower on the island is also associated with her;[5] as the Irish playwright Hugh Leonard observed:
A few yards away are the ruins of a church supposedly built by the town's patron saint, St. Begnet. Like St. Patrick himself, St. Begnet may never have existed: There is even uncertainty as to whether he or she was male or female.[6] No one bothers to argue about this: In Dalkey, when it is a question of sainthood, sex is hardly likely to have much relevance.[7]
The name has been incorrectly understood as a corruption of St. Benedict.[4] The stories associated with her suggest that she has also been identified with Saint Bega or other virgin saints named as Begha or Becga in Irish calendars.[8]
- ^ The Dún Laoghaire Way: Dalkey.Archived 2007-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre, St Begnet's Church and Graveyard. Archived 2009-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Latin virgo non martyr: John Clarke Crosthwaite, The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society, 1844), p. lxv online.
- ^ a b Crosthwaite, p. lxv.
- ^ John D'Alton, The History of the County of Dublin (Dublin, 1838), p. 887 online.
- ^ More commonly female; but see Ask About Ireland, Dalkey Island: "Saint Begnet or Benedict lived in the sixth [sic] century but little else is known about him." The male gendering seems to result from the mistaken cross-identification of Begnet with Benedict.
- ^ Hugh Leonard, "Hugh Leonard's Dalkey," New York Times 20 December 1981, Travel section.
- ^ Patrick J. O'Reilly, "The Christian Sepulchral Leacs and Free-Standing Crosses of the Dublin Half-Barony of Rathdown," Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 31 (1901), p. 159.