Born: Unknown, Ireland (assumed)
Died: Unknown
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Dympna, Damnat, Davnet, Damhnait
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Damnait (Dympna) (6th cent.), foundress of Tech Damnatan at Sliab Betha and a saint in the Irish tradition, is associated with the minor lineage of Uí Laga, located among the Conaille, on the border of Co. Louth and Co. Monaghan. It is unclear whether she should be identified with Damnait Scéne (of the flight), whose father is given as Daimíne, son of Cairpre Dam Argait, an early figure of the Airgialla. Damnait’s mother is named as Brónach daughter of Milchú; she is therefore rather improbably represented as a sister of five other early ecclesiastics including Fursa of Péronne and Mochóe of Nendrum. A later tradition makes Damnait a sister of a holy woman named Lasair, and claims that the two were educated at Clones by the saintly abbot and bishop Tigernach (d. c.549).
It is believed that Damnait commenced her career as an anchoress at Tech Damnatan (Tedavnet, on the slopes of Slieve Beagh, Co. Monaghan). This foundation became a community of women, which survived into the medieval period. She is said to have founded a school at Tedavnet and another church at Áth Cumairc, on the opposite side of Slieve Beagh. Her cult spread to adjacent sites which now lie within the counties Louth, Cavan, and Tyrone. A relic known as ‘the crosier of St Damnait’ is preserved at the National Museum of Ireland; apparently a pilgrim’s staff, it was credited with miraculous powers and long remained in the possession of the airchinnech (lay-abbot) family of Ó Luain. A well dedicated to Damnait was believed to cure rheumatism and arthritis.
The year of Damnait’s death is unknown, but a date in the sixth century seems reasonable. She is commemorated in the martyrologies at 13 June, a separate entry being accorded to the persona of Damnait Scéne at 15 May. This is also the anniversary of Dympna, the martyr of Gheel (Belgium), who according to the hagiographers was slain along with the priest Gerebert by her father, a pagan king. By the later medieval period, the cults of Damnait and Dympna had become intertwined, leading to much confusion. There seems little reason, however, for positing a martyr’s end for the anchoress of Tedavnet.