Legends suggest this son of an Irish chieftain in Meath may have attended St. Patrick’s first Easter Mass in Ireland about 433. There are several stories about his first meeting with Patrick: In one, he was so taken with Patrick’s words that he scattered flowers over the future saint while he slept; in others, he asked to travel with Patrick and it was Patrick who chose the baptismal name Benen, from the Latin benignus, meaning “kind.” Benen became a close disciple of Patrick and as one of his successors was the first to evangelize Clare and Kerry in the west of Ireland.
Legends suggest this son of an Irish chieftain in Meath may have attended St. Patrick’s first Easter Mass in Ireland about 433. There are several stories about his first meeting with Patrick: In one, he was so taken with Patrick’s words that he scattered flowers over the future saint while he slept; in others, he asked to travel with Patrick and it was Patrick who chose the baptismal name Benen, from the Latin benignus, meaning “kind.” Benen became a close disciple of Patrick and as one of his successors was the first to evangelize Clare and Kerry in the west of Ireland.
