Saint Piran
For the coastal town and a municipality in southwestern Slovenia please see Piran (Italian Pirano
)Saint Piran or
Perran (traditionally in
Cornwall,
saints are simply named, without this title) is an early
6th century Cornish abbot and saint, supposedly of
Irish origin.
He is the
patron saint of
tin-
miners, and is also generally regarded as the patron saint of
Cornwall, although
Saint Michael and Saint
Petroc also have some claim to this title.
Saint Piran's Flag is a white cross on a black background. St Piran's Day is
March 5th.
Piran is the most famous of all the
Irish saints who came to Cornwall, although he may have been actually born in Cornwall. He certainly spent much of his life in the Emerald Isle. His name is probably a
P-Celtic form of the
Irish name
Ciaran and he may thus be identified with Saint
Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, the son of a Cornishman who founded the monastery of
Clonmacnoise (Clumaineteno) in
County Offaly.
* The heathen
Irish tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and the saint floated safely over the water to land upon the sandy beach of
Perranzabuloe in Cornwall, where his first converts to Christianity were said to be animals.
*He was joined at Perranzabulo by many of his (human) Christian converts and together they founded the Abbey of Lanpiran, with Piran as abbot.
* St Piran 'rediscovered' tin-smelting (tin had been smelted in Cornwall since before the
Romans' arrival, but the methods had since been lost) when his black hearthstone, which was evidently a slab of tin-bearing ore, had the tin smelt out of it and rise to the top in the form of a white cross (thus the image on the flag).
*The St Piran story is therefore interesting as it shows how legends can be used to retell the way things were. Therefore, in spite of being the main source of Celtic Christianity, the Irish are heathens. In addition, somehow the Cornish lost the ability to smelt tin in spite of no evidence this happened and needed divine intervention to remember.
It is said that at his death the remains of the Blessed Martin the Abbot which he had brought from Ireland were buried with him at
Perranzabuloe. His own remains were subsequently exhumed and redistributed to be venerated in various
reliquaries.
Exeter Cathedral was reputed to be the possessor of one of his arms, while according to an inventory, St Piran's Church, Perranzabuloe, had a reliquary containing his head and also a hearse in which his body was placed for processionals.
St Piran's Day is very popular in Cornwall and the term 'Piranstide' (or alternate spellings) has been coined to describe the week prior to this day. Many Cornish-themed events occur in the Duchy and also in areas in which there is a large community descended from Cornish emigrants. The town of
Perranporth ('Piran's Port' in
Cornish) hosts the annual
inter-Celtic festival of
'Lowender Peran', which is also named in honour of him.
The largest St Piran's Day event is the March across the dunes to St Piran's cross which thousands of people attend, generally dressed in black, white and gold, and carrying the
Cornish Flag. A play of the Life of St Piran, in Cornish, has been enacted in recent years at the event. Daffodils are also carried and placed at the cross. Daffodils also feature in celebrations in
Truro, most likely due to their 'gold' colour. Black, white and gold are colours associated with Cornwall due to St Piran's Flag (black and white), and the Duchy Shield (gold coins on black).
*
Early British Kingdoms: St. Piran*
St. Piran — Keeping the Faith*
St Piran's holiday*
St. Piran's events*
St. Piran's celebrations*
St. Piran's Day in Truro*
The Cornish Gorseth*
St. Piran's Oratory - Morley B Collins, 1910
