Sunday 30 November 2014

Saint Toman, November 30


We close the month of November with the commemoration on the Irish calendars of a saint named Toman or Tommán. The Martyrology of Donegal lists 'Toman, priest' at November 30 but somewhat confusingly, the Martyrology of Gorman refers to 'womanly Tommán', Toman bithea.  The translator had similarly rendered a reference to an Ultan bithí on May 24 as 'womanly Ultan'. I am left wondering what is implied by this epithet, perhaps the saint is of a slender build or something like that. I could find no mention of him on the earlier Martyrology of Oengus. The name Toman/Tommán is shared by two other saints on the Irish calendars, a bishop commemorated on March 18 and Saint Toman//Tommán of Mungret on July 26.

Note: This post, first published in 2015 was revised in 2022.

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2 comments:

Jonathan NEILAN said...

Hi. I have a son called Toman and would be interested to find out more about Saint Toman if any more is known? Thanks

Marcella said...

I'm sorry but like so many other of the saints I write about here, all I know of this man is the listing of his name on the calendars. There is no associated locality recorded or anything else to give me any further leads to pursue. If I do by any chance come across any other info in the future i will update this brief entry at the blog. Sorry I can't be of more help.