The entries for two separate Saints Colmán at February 2 in the Irish calendars present us with a perfect illustration of some of the difficulties faced by hagiologists. First, the name at its root, Colum, is capable of changing into a bewildering variety of forms using diminutives which can then be further complicated by employing prefixes or suffixes. I readily confess that without the scholarly expertise of Professor Ó Riain’s Dictionary of Irish Saints I would not have recognized that names such as Camma, Mochuille or Dochonna are variants of Colum/Colmán. Secondly, because the most famous of the Irish saints to bear the name Colum, Colum Cille (Columba) of Iona had such a widespread cult in Ireland, it can be difficult to distinguish between what was a local commemoration of the great man of Iona in a particular area and a separate individual who happened to share the same name. Thus when we find the name Colmán recorded twice at February 2 on the Martyrology of Tallaght without any further distinguishing information, it is almost impossible to know the reality that lies behind these entries. They do not appear on the twelfth-century Martyrology of Gorman but are recorded on the seventeenth-century Martyrology of Donegal. Canon O’Hanlon speculates that since the Martyrology of Donegal also records a feast for Saint Colmán of Kilmacduagh at February 3, it could be that today’s entry references the vigil of this feast. The second Colman, he suggests may be Saint Columbanus of Ghent, also commemorated on this date.  Ó Riain writes that one of the genealogical sources mentions a feast for a Colmán son of Lughna at 2 February, but there is no support for this elsewhere. Colmán son of Lughna is a northern saint whose ancestry goes back to Buan, father of Míleac, the man who was Saint Patrick’s master when he was enslaved.

Below are the entries from pages 261 and 262 of Volume II of Canon O’Hanlon’s Lives of the Irish Saints:

Article V. — St. Colman.

St. Colman is entered, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, under the designation of Colman — then following — Illadhon on Disert, at the 2nd of February. However, the Donegal Martyrology distinguishes Illadhon or Jollathan, from Colman. It is possible enough, this festival may have reference to the vigil of St. Colman of Kilmacduagh, who is venerated on the succeeding day. According to the latter authority, a Colman was reverenced on this particular day. His place is not mentioned.

Article VIII.— St. Colman.

This St. Colman may possibly be intended for the St. Columban, of whom there is a short notice, at this day, in the “Natales Sanctorum Belgii.” At the 2nd of February, the name Colman is merely entered, in the Martyrology of Tallagh. In addition to one, there is another St. Colman, separately mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegal, as having a festival, at this date. But, we are not informed, regarding that locality, in which he had been venerated.

Note: This post was updated in 2025 to include the entries from The Lives of the Irish Saints.

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