Mac Nisse of Connor

Saint Mac Nisse (Óengus Mac Nisse, died in 514 according to one source, about 509 according to another) was an early Irish saint, the founder and first bishop-⁠abbot of Connor (in Irish Condere), in present-⁠day County Antrim. His commemoration is on 3 September, and some sources also give 4 September.

The name Mac Nisse comes from the name of his mother, who was called Cness or Ness. According to tradition he was baptized by Saint Patrick, who taught him the psalms, and he then also took the name Óengus. The sources say that he was the son of Fáebrach, son of Erc, who probably belonged to the Dál Fiatach. He was fostered by Saint Olcán, a disciple of Patrick and bishop of Armoy. It seems that for a time he was a hermit near Kells, in the Connor district, where he later founded a monastery. Saint Patrick is believed to have made him abbot of this monastery. Soon he was elected bishop of his kin. The prophecy of the birth of Saint Comgall is attributed to him. The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick says that the lands attached to Armoy were seized and regranted to Mac Nisse and Senán.

In the lives of Patrick a legend is mentioned according to which Mac Nisse eloped with a relative of Patrick, and Patrick prayed that his hand be cut off, which happened at once; the place was named Carn Lamma, the Cairn of the Hand. His story is largely legendary. A short Life has been preserved, in the so-⁠called Codex Salmanticensis: it is a compilation, based on mentions of Mac Nisse in the lives of other saints, among which is a short, late homily for the saint's festival, on 3 September, at Connor.