KEVIN, SAINT

born , near Dublin died June 3, 618, Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ire.; feast day June 3 Gaelic Caemgen, Latin Coemgenus one of the patron saints of Dublin, founder of the monastery of Glendalough. The earliest life (10th/11th century?) states that Kevin was born into the royal line of the ancient Irish kingdom of Leinster and chose as a young man to become a hermit in Glendalough, where he later founded the monastery. With Kevin as abbot, it became one of Ireland's leading monastic centres. The several lives of Kevin are largely legendary; they often represent him as a protector of animals.