Saint Sithney (or Setna) was one of a group of Irish monks who travelled to western Cornwall, and from there he moved to Guic-Sezni in Brittany, where he founded a monastery. He was a native of Munster, the son of Erc and Magna – a sister of St. David. Sithney had two brothers, Saint Govan and Multos. He may be the Setna, a deaf and mute boy who kept cows on Slieve-Bloom. Saint Columba of Terryglass pitied the child and blessed him. He not only recovered hearing and speech, but also acquired the gift of prophecy.
When God chose Sithney to be the patron of girls seeking husbands; the saint recoiled, saying he would never get to rest in that case, and that he would rather take care of mad dogs than women. Ever since, sick or mad dogs have been given water from Sithney’s well as a tonic.
He died in 529, of natural causes. William Worcester recorded in 1478 that the body of the saint lay within the church of Saint Sithney.
Patronages: Against hydrophobia, against rabies, against mad dogs, Sithney, Cornwall, England
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