Finnian of Moville

c.495-579. Irish monk. Probably trained at the monastery founded by Ninian in Galloway, he supposedly went to Rome where he was ordained priest. Returning to his native Ulster, he formed a religious community at Moville, about 540. From Italy he brought back to Ireland a copy of the Vulgate NT and Pentateuch. He is sometimes identified with St. Frigidian (or Frediana) who is venerated at Lucca in Italy, and sometimes confused with Finnian of Clonard (d.549), the traditional initiator of true monasticism in Ireland. Many legends surround him.