St MacNissi (died c. 514) monk and bishop
Along
with St Patrick, St MacNissi is the co-patron of the diocese of Down
and Connor.
Associated with Kells and Connor in Dal Riada
Aengus
MacNissi is reputed to have been baptised by St Patrick. He is
associated with Kells and later with the district of Connor in Dal
Riada. He seems to have become the leader of the Church there, possibly a
bishop.
Friend of Colman of Dromore
He was a friend of St
Colman, whom he advised to set up a monastery in Dromore. There is a
legend that he had such a veneration for Scripture that he would not
carry his Gospel book in a leather satchel, but carried it on his
shoulders.
Patron of Down and Connor
Along with St
Malachy, St MacNissi is patron of the Catholic diocese of Down and
Connor. St MacNissi's College was opened as a residential college at
Garron Tower (see image) on the north-east Antrim coast in the 1950s
and remained a prominent second level college in the diocese until 2010,
when it amalgamated with two other Antrim schools to become St
Killian's College.