Bekan

Bekan (Bekan of Kilbeggan, Began, Beggan) was an Irish abbot of the 6th century. The information about him is contradictory. According to some, he tried to raise by prayer at the cross the son of a ruler, Mac Corbaill, killed by his father; others see in him one of the twelve apostles of Ireland; others attribute to him the founding of the monastery of Kilbeggan (Cill Bheagáin, "church of Bekan"), in County Westmeath, taken over some centuries later by the Cistercians. He is said to have been a disciple of Saint Finian and a relative of Saint Columba. His commemoration is on 5 April, in the Western calendar (new style), formerly on 26 May. An Irish saint venerated locally, from the time of the undivided Church.