Foillan
Irish saint
Feast: 31 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Foillan was born in Ireland early in the seventh century, a brother of Sts. Fursey and Ultan. He went with Fursey to England, where Fursey founded a monastery at Burgh Castle in Suffolk and later left Foillan in charge of it. When war between Penda of Mercia and the East Anglian king left the monastery pillaged, Foillan ransomed his captive monks, saved the relics and books, and took ship for the land of the Franks.
He was welcomed at Nivelles by St. Ita and St. Gertrude, helped order its worship, and with Ita's help founded a monastery at Fosses, near Namur. About 655, travelling after saying Mass at Nivelles, he and his companions were killed by bandits in the forest of Senege; St. Gertrude recovered his body, which was buried at Fosses.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
An Irish monk-bishop who helped bring the faith to Belgium and was killed by bandits.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Foillan
- Roman Martyrology, 31 October (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q1374816 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Foillan (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.