Adrian, St.

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ADRIAN, ST.

Ninth-century bishop and martyr; b., according to legend, in Hungary, of royal stock. Adrian (Hadrian, Odhran) is supposed to have been consecrated bishop there. No reliable information on him is extant. Apparently he went to the British Isles and as a missionary bishop had no settled see, but preached especially to the Picts of Fifeshire. Legend has it that he was archbishop of St. Andrews in Scotland. However, it may well be that this is the Irish St. Odhran who reputedly arrived in Scotland with 6,606 companions of various nationalities, possibly driven out of Ireland by the invading Danes. Adrian established a monastery on the Isle of May (Firth of Forth). In 875 the Danes and the Scots fought at the Firth of Forth, and most of the Scots were killed. The Aberdeen Breviary (1509) commemorated the martyrs who had died in the monastery on the Isle of May on Holy Thursday.

Feast: March 4.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum March 1:324326. l. macfarlane, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 195765) 4:131011. w. f. skene, Celtic Scotland, 3 v. (2d ed. Edinburgh 188690) 2:311316.

[r. t. meyer]

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