Mirin of Paisley

Saint Mirin of Paisley (Merinus, Merryn) was an Irish monk, a disciple of Saint Comgall at Bangor, and the founder of the community from which Paisley Abbey in Scotland grew. He was born around 565 and reposed around 620.

Of noble family, he was taken as a child by his mother to the monastery of Bangor in County Down, where he later became prior. Tradition says that he went to the camp of the High King of Ireland to preach the Gospel and, being refused entry, he prayed; the king suffered the pangs of his wife's labour for three days, then yielded and allowed him to preach. Mirin then prayed for the king's healing. Much of what is known of him is mixed with legend.

Around 580 he was sent to the west of Scotland and came to the place where the town of Paisley now stands. A local chieftain took a liking to him and gave him a field by the river, later called Saint Mirin's Croft. There he raised the first church of Paisley. After his repose his shrine became a place of pilgrimage, and his image, in a bishop's vestments, was engraved on the seal of the abbey. A chapel in the old abbey at Paisley bears his name.

He is commemorated on 15 September, as a saint of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.