St Kevin of Glendalough

Kevin — Coemgen in Irish, 'fair-begotten' — is said to have been of royal blood, educated by monks, and then overcome by a revulsion for human company so complete that he retreated to the two lakes and wooded valley of Glendalough in County Wicklow, where he lived for years as a solitary in a hollow tree, wearing animal skins, eating nettles and herbs.

He was discovered, the tradition says, when a local cow began to give miraculous quantities of milk — traced back to the fact that she had been feeding the hermit, licking the salt from his skin. His retreat became a monastery despite himself, and Glendalough grew into one of Ireland's great monastic cities, its round tower and cluster of stone churches still standing in the valley.

The blackbird story is the most famous image attached to him: Kevin was praying with his hand extended from his cell window when a blackbird alighted and began to build a nest in it. He remained motionless — held by the principle that nothing seeking refuge should be disturbed — until the eggs were laid, hatched, and the chicks fledged. Seamus Heaney made the legend the subject of one of his most celebrated poems.