Saint Gwinear | |
|---|---|
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| Martyr | |
| Born | Ireland |
| Died | 6th century Hayle,Cornwall |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Feast | 23 March |
Gwinear,Guigner, was aCelticmartyr, one of only two earlyCornish saints whosebiographies survived theReformation. TheLife of Gwinear was written in the early 14th century by a priest named Anselm, and has sometimes been printed among the works ofAnselm of Canterbury.[Notes 1] His feast day is March 23.
Born in Ireland with the Irish name of Fingar, he was converted to Christianity bySaint Patrick and after spending time in Brittany went with 7 (or 777) companions to Cornwall, landing at Hayle, where he was martyred byKing Teudar.[Notes 2][1][2] Gwinear was said to have died with his followers by being thrown into a pit of reptiles. An alternative version sets the story inBrittany with Guigner being martyred at the hands of Prince Tewdwr.[3]
The Victorian clergyman, hagiographer and antiquarySabine Baring-Gould believed that an Irish group, driven from their homeland inOssory in the fifth century, invadedPenwith (="pen-gwaeth", the "bloody headland"), and that the legend of Gwinear was a distorted recollection of these events.[4]
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