c. 445 – c. 540
Founder and first bishop of Tuam and master of a renowned monastic school; a teacher of Sts. Brendan of Clonfert and Colman of Cloyne.
Our Father among the Saints Jarlath, First Bishop of Tuam
Jarlath of Tuam (Irish: Iarlaithe mac Loga), born around 445 in Connacht, was the founder and first bishop of Tuam and the master of one of early-medieval Ireland's most renowned monastic schools. He is remembered as a teacher whose pupils included Saints Brendan of Clonfert (Brendan the Navigator) and Colman of Cloyne.
Belonging to the Conmhaicne people of Connacht and, by tradition, born into Irish nobility, Jarlath received his early formation under Saint Benignus at Kilbennen before studying under Saint Enda of Aran. He founded a monastery and college at Cluain Fois (Cloonfush), near Tuam, which drew scholars from across Ireland.
He died peacefully around 540, and is venerated as the patron saint of Tuam. His feast is kept on June 6, commemorating the translation of his relics to a church built in his honor beside the cathedral of Tuam.
Jarlath studied first under Saint Benignus at Kilbennen, and was a spiritual disciple of Saint Enda of Aran, with whom he received further formation around 495. He became a renowned scholar and was ordained a priest.
Sources record him as coming from a prosperous background; his name has been read as containing the element fhlaith, meaning 'lord.' Alternate forms of his name include Iarlaith, Iarlath, and Jarleth.
Around 495 Jarlath founded his first monastery, with an attached college, at Cluain Fois (Cloonfush) near Tuam. In the 520s he settled at Tuam, where he is considered the founder of the diocese, serving as an abbot-bishop; accounts place his abbacy roughly from 520 to 540.
His school became renowned across Ireland and attracted scholars from throughout the country. Among its distinguished disciples were Saint Brendan of Ardfert (Brendan the Navigator) and Saint Colman of Cloyne.
According to an account attributed to Brendan, the site of Jarlath's foundation at Tuam was marked when a wheel of his chariot broke, indicating where he should establish his monastic house. The broken wheel remains a symbol of the town of Tuam and appears on its coat of arms.
Jarlath's remains were later encased in a silver shrine, housed in a 13th-century church known as Teampul na scrín ('the church of the shrine') beside Tuam Cathedral. His feast on June 6 commemorates the translation of his relics to a church built in his honor adjoining the cathedral; earlier tradition observed his commemoration on December 25 or 26. Some accounts locate relics at Kilmainemore, Ireland.
A poem ascribed to Cuimmín credits Jarlath with an ascetic discipline of 'three hundred genuflections every night, and three hundred genuflections every day.' He was also remembered as a prophet. These details are transmitted as traditional accounts rather than documented history.
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6th c. Irish saint; patron of Tuam.