Saint Fiachra (died c.670)
Clontubrid was once a parish. The original parish church of Clontubrid has long since disappeared. The holy well from which Clontubrid is named is just behind the sacristy of Clontubrid chapel.
A small and very ancient house was built over the well. All the walls were faced on the outside with chiselled or smooth-surfaced stones but most of these were removed over the years. There was a flag stone floor over the well and a sandstone cross with a very old pattern on the roof.
The well was once known as Thubberaroo – "The Well of the Hermit". The hermit who lived here was St. Fiachra, who blessed the well. People built the little house years later. Records show that St. Fiachra, patron of Clontubrid, was the same person as the St. Fiachra, of Meaux (near Paris), in France. There are several saints named Fiachra but only one was known as the Hermit. This was Fiachra of Meaux.
St Fiachra was from Connaught. When he came to Clontubrid there would have been very few people living in this area. What he found here was a grassy area with a well. All around him were wooded areas. When he looked up towards Knockmannon he could see the forests where the deer and the raven lived. When he looked south he could see the dark oak forests. When he looked east he could see the silver woods of birch trees along the valley of the River Nore. Here in the middle of all these forests he had found a quiet grassy place with the fresh water of the well. This is where he decided to build his cell and to spend many years in prayer and fasting.
St. Fiachra also led the life of a hermit, for some time, in Kilfera, near Kilkenny, where he built a cell or church. His feast was celebrated on the 8th. February. From Ireland he moved to France and died there, about the year 670. It is through his work in France that St. Fiachra became famous.
He arrived at the Diocese of Meaux, (east of Paris), about 626 and was given a hermitage by the local bishop. Fiachra became famous throughout France for his work with the poor and the sick, for his holiness, and for his remarkable cures.
Two later French saints, St. John of Matha and St. Vincent de Paul regarded Fiachra as their inspiration and patron. So too did a famous French churchman, Cardinal Richelieu. Cardinal Richelieu had great influence with the French Royal Family and pilgrimages were often made by the Kings of France to the shrine of St. Fiachra. Louis XI renovated the shrine, placing the Royal Coat of Arms of France on it.
Louis XIII and his Queen, Anne prayed to Fiachra for an heir. When their son was born, they regarded him as the answer to their prayers. This son was to become King Louis XIV. Tradition says that Louis XIII died holding a St. Fiachra medallion in his hand.
St. Fiachra is also the patron saint of gardeners. His statue usually shows him with a spade in his hand.