Fechin

Saint Fechin, also called Féchín of Fore or Mo-⁠Ecca, was an Irish abbot of the seventh century, chiefly remembered as the founder of the monastery of Fore in County Westmeath. He reposed in 665, during the plague that struck Ireland.

He is said to have been born at Bile in County Sligo, and his mother was named Lassair. He received his monastic training from Saint Nath Í of Achonry and then moved on to Clonmacnoise. His name, probably meaning little raven, is explained in a note to the calendar of Oengus by a story: his mother, seeing him gnawing a bone, exclaimed my little raven. The other name, Mo-⁠Ecca, is explained as backslider, because, grieved at the reward he received for herding the oxen of Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, he left eastward and, when called back, walked backwards.

His first foundations were the monasteries on the islands of Omey and Ardoilen, off Galway, which came under the protection of King Guaire. His principal foundation was Fobar (Fore), where by the time of his death he had gathered three hundred monks. It is also told that the mill at Fore, which he made in the rock, was held in as much reverence by the people as the churches dedicated to him. Ecclefechan and St Vigean's near Arbroath in Scotland are called after him. His life has come down in two medieval texts, a Latin one of about 1400 and an Irish one of 1328.

He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 20 January (new style); the Annals of the Four Masters record his death on 14 February.