Alan of Quimper

Saint Alan of Quimper, hierarch (in Breton Alan), was bishop of Cornouaille and, according to tradition, the fourth bishop of Quimper, in the 6th or 7th century. He is believed to have been born in the British Isles. His historical existence is uncertain: he does not appear in the 14th-⁠century cartulary of Quimper, nor in that of Quimperlé, which give the list of the first bishops of Quimper. He is, however, mentioned in the Breton and Latin Hours of 1486 under the name Alaini episcopi, and the account of his life seems copied from the life of Saint Amand of Maastricht.

He belongs to the list of the more or less mythical Breton saints of Armorica not officially recognized by the Catholic Church. Whether or not he lived, he is venerated locally in Brittany, without synodal canonization. He is remembered on 27 December and was once patron of the parish of Corlay.