GALL, SAINT

born c. 550, , Ireland died c. 645, , Switzerland; feast day October 16 Irish monk who helped spread Irish influence while introducing Christianity to western Europe. Educated at the monastery of Bangor (in present-day North Down district, N.Ire.), Gall became a disciple of St. Columban and joined him on a mission to France. When Columban proceeded to Italy, Gall remained with the semipagan Alemanni, a Germanic people living in Gaul and northern Switzerland. In 612 he founded a hermitage on the site of modern Sankt Gallen, Switz. The Abbey of St. Gall was founded about 720 on the site of Gall's hermitage. The earliest biographical account of Gall, of which only a fragment survives, dates from the 8th century.