Saint Caritan of Druim-Lara, March 7

Another name to add to the list of obscure Irish saints - Caritan of Druim-Lara. Neither the man nor the place can be definitively identified. There have, however, been some suggestions made. Canon O'Hanlon, in Volume III of his Lives of the Irish Saints, cites the speculation of the seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, that our saint may be Cronaghan, a priestly mentor of Saint Colum Cille, but this is unproven. Pádraig Ó Riain, in his Dictionary of Irish Saints suggests that he may be perhaps synonymous with the patron of a County Clare church and holy well at Kilcredaun. Sadly when the nineteenth-century scholar, John O'Donovan, was writing about this location he found that all knowledge of the patron saint, Críodán, had been lost. Canon O'Hanlon does not mention the Clare saint in his entry below but does cite the evidence for the feast of Caritan of Druim-Lara, whoever he was, from the Irish calendars:

St. Caritan or Cariotan, of Druim-lara. 

At the 7th of March, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, we find a St. Caritan, of Dromalara, entered. In like manner, Marianus O'Gorman, has noticed Caritan of Druim-lara. But, the exact identity of this saint, and of his place, appears to be unknown. It is conjectured, by Colgan—who has Acts based on the supposition at this date—that owing to some mistake of copyists, the present holy man may be the same as a distinguished priest, called Cruthnechan, who baptized St. Columba, who had charge of his infantile years, and who was remarkable for his piety. Without attaching weight to it, the Bollandists merely allude to his statement. We cannot see, how it can be well established. Again, Cariotan, of Druim-lara, is registered in the Martyrology of Donegal, as having been venerated on this day.

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