| St Ita
© Statue of St Ita erected by
Mr & Mrs Cremin in the 1950s
St Ita, the patron saint of Killeedy, was born before 484AD in County
Waterford, in the Tramore area. Her father was Cennfoelad or Confhaola
and her mother was Necta. Cennfoelad was descended from Felim the lawgiver.
Ita's name was originally Dorothea or Deirdre. She was a member of the
Déisí tribe. Ita refused her father's wish that she should
marry a local chieftain, as she believed that she had a calling from God
and wanted to become a nun.
Ita's name was originally Dorothea or Deirdre. She was a member of the
Déisí tribe. Ita refused her father's wish that she should
marry a local chieftain, as she believed that she had a calling from God
and wanted to become a nun.
To convince her father to change his mind, she fasted for three days
and three nights. On the third night, God gave out to her father in his
sleep. The next morning, Cennfoelad agreed that Ita could do as she wished.
At the age of sixteen, Ita set off on her journey.
Bishop (St.) Declan of Ardmore conferred the veil on her. Legend has
it that Ita was lead to Killeedy by three heavenly lights. The first was
at the top of the Galtee mountains, the second on the Mullaghareirk mountains
and the third at Cluain Creadhail, which is nowadays Killeedy. Her sister
Fiona also went to Killeedy with her and became a member of the community.
Ita was welcomed to Killeedy by the local chieftain of the Ui Conaill
Gabhra tribe. The chieftain wanted to give Ita a large trait of land but
she only wanted a few acres as a garden for her community.
St. Ita
Ita and her community spent their time praying, teaching the young and
caring for the sick, the poor and the elderly. The community also had
a dairy farm at Boolaveeda near Mountcollins, which was run by St Ita.
The many stories about St Ita show her great kindness. One of the stories
told claims that St Ita allowed an insect to suck her blood, as people
believed that the insect was feeding on human flesh in the graveyard.
The insect grew to the size of a suckling pig. It is claimed that Ita
brought her brother in law back to life after he was killed in battle.
It is also written that St Ita cured a blind man.
St Ita is sometimes called "the white sun of the women of Munster"
or the "Brigid of Munster". She was also known as the "Foster
Mother of the Saints of Ireland". Ita was a mother figure to some
of Ireland's early saints. St Brendan was in Killeedy for five years under
the care of St Ita in the monastery at Killeedy from the time when he
was a year old. Only two of names of the abbots of the monastery are recorded.
They were Cathasach, who died around 810 or 815, and Finnachta, who died
in 833.
There is a shrine within the ruins of the church, which is believed to
mark the site Ita's grave. The tradition is that visitors to Ita's grave
cover it with flowers. St Carthage's Church in Lismore in her native county
pays tribute to Ita in the form of a stained glass window. Colgan recorded
her life. She died in 569 (Begley states it is 570) on January 15th which
is her feast day. On this date, her life and work is remembered in Killeedy.
Devotion to St Ita has continued to the present day and the saint has
made Killeedy a place of worship down through the years.
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