Crónán of Roscrea
Saint Crónán (died 640) was the abbot-bishop and patron of the diocese of Roscrea (a see later incorporated into the diocese of Killaloe), Ireland. He is not to be confused with his contemporary Saint Crónán Mochua (died 637).
Life
Crónán was born in the territory of Ely O'Carroll, Ireland. His father’s name was Odhran, while his mother came from west Clare. After spending his youth in Connacht, he returned to his native district about the year 610 and founded Roscrea Abbey, where he established a school. Previously he settled at a place known as Sean Ros or Loch Cre, which was a wooded morass far from the haunts of men; in fact, it was utterly wild, so much so, that pilgrims would get lost, so St. Crónán abandoned it and moved to the wood of Cre, that is Ros Cre, County Tipperary.
William Reeves notes that the Annals of Tigernach and the Annals of Ulster both describe Crónán as "bishop of Nendrum".
Hagiography
The old See of Roscrea grew around a monastery founded there by St. Cronan about the middle of the sixth century. This monastery became a famous school, and it was within its walls that the scribe Dimma wrote for St. Cronan the copy of the Four Gospels now in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, for which Tatheus O'Carroll, chieftain of Ely, made a costly shrine in the twelfth century.
