Ninnoc

Saint Ninnoc was a virgin from Britain who became an abbess in Brittany and reposed around the year 467. Her story is preserved in the Life of Saint Ninnoc, written about 1130 and kept in the cartulary of the abbey of Sainte-⁠Croix at Quimperlé. Because there is doubt about this Life, the dates are uncertain.

According to the Life she was born in Wales, the daughter of King Brychan and Meneduc, who had fourteen sons that left as missionaries. Her parents promised the Church a tenth of their possessions if they were given a child to inherit, and that child was Ninnoc. At fifteen a Scottish prince asked for her hand, but she had heard the preaching of Saint Germanus of Auxerre and wished to give herself to God. After Germanus interceded with her father, he granted her wish and sent her to Brittany with a ship, money and attendants.

In Brittany she was welcomed by King Gueric and given a place on the southern coast. There she founded a double monastery of men and women, whose settlement was named Lannennoc after her (near Ploemeur). She taught the local people new methods of farming and urged them to plant trees, and abused women found shelter with her. She lived in the monastery for about thirty-⁠eight years and reposed after a short illness. The monastery is thought to have been destroyed by the Vikings in the ninth or tenth century.

In Brittany she is commemorated on 4 June as virgin and abbess; the Orthodox calendar lists her on the same date, by the New Calendar. In icons she is often shown with a stag at her feet. She is also known by the name Gwengustle.