{{Short description|Scottish monk, bishop and saint}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox saint |name=Saint Marnock of Kilmarnock |birth_date= |death_date=625<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1>{{cite web|url=https://catholicsaints.info/saint-marnock/ |title=Blog Archive » Saint Marnock |publisher=CatholicSaints.Info |date=2010-02-26 |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref> |feast_day=25 October<ref name=saintsplacenamesscotland>{{cite web|url=https://saintsplaces.gla.ac.uk/saint.php?id=136 |title=Saints in Scottish Place-Names - Marnock of Kilmarnock |publisher=Saintsplaces.gla.ac.uk |date= |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref> |venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/><br>Eastern Orthodox Church |image= |imagesize= |caption= |birth_place= Ireland<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/> |death_place= Annandale, Strathclyde<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/> |titles= |canonized_date= Pre-Congregation<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/> |attributes= |patronage= Kilmarnock, Scotland |major_shrine= |suppressed_date= |issues= |prayer= |prayer_attrib= }}
'''Marnock''' or '''Marnock of Kilmarnock''' (died {{circa|625 AD}}), also known as '''Marnocus''', '''Marnan of Narnach''', '''Marnanus''', '''Marnocalso'''<ref name="cathsaintsinfo1">{{cite web|url=https://catholicsaints.info/saint-marnock/ |title=Blog Archive » Saint Marnock |publisher=CatholicSaints.Info |date=2010-02-26 |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref> or originally '''Ernin''' ({{etymology|ga|Mo-Ernin-og}})<ref name=cathsaintsinfo2>{{cite web|url=https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-marnock-or-marnan-bishop-a-d-625// |title=Blog Archive » Calendar of Scottish Saints – Saint Marnock or Marnan, Bishop, A.D. 625 |publisher=CatholicSaints.Info |date=2014-02-02 |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref> was a Scottish monk, bishop and saint.<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/>
==Biography== Details on the life of Marnock that have survived to the present day are limited,<ref name=celtsaints>{{cite web|url=http://celticsaints.org/2018/0301b.html |title=Celtic and Old English Saints - 1 March |publisher=Celticsaints.org |date=2018-01-20 |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref> though some facts are known. Marnock was born in Ireland, most likely in the late 6th century.<ref name=cathsaintsinfo2/> He became a monk on the abbey at Iona where he became a student and disciple of Saint Columba.<ref name=celtsaints/> He later left the monastery to become a missionary bishop on the Scottish mainland.<ref name=celtsaints/>
It is widely accepted that Marnock died at Annandale in 625,<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/> however at least one account gives his place of death and burial site as ''Inchmarnoch'' near Aboyne in Aberdeenshire.<ref name=canmore>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/33985/inchmarnoch-chapel-of-inchmarnock |title=Inchmarnoch, Chapel Of Inchmarnock |publisher=Canmore |date= |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref>
==Veneration and legacy== [[File:St. Marnock's Parish Church, Kilmarnock - geograph.org.uk - 1610388.jpg|thumb|upright|St Marnock's Church, Kilmarnock]] A strong cult of veneration developed for Marnock after his death, particularly in the region of the Scottish Borders.<ref name=cathsaintsinfo1/> Marnock's head was kept as a relic at Kilmarnock, where a tradition emerged where it was washed each Sunday, with the resulting wash water given to the sick to effect miraculous cures.<ref>Cooper, J., 1996, ''Dictionary of Christianity'', Rutledge Books</ref>
The strength of Marnock's cult in the centuries that followed his death is demonstrated in the great number of locations, in Scotland as well as in Ireland, named in his honour, including:
* Ardmonoch, a locality within Kilfinan in Argyll and Bute<ref name="ardmonoch">{{cite web|url=https://saintsplaces.gla.ac.uk/place.php?id=1331805380|title=Ardmarnock, settlement Kilfinan |publisher=Saints in Scottish Place-names}}</ref> * Dalmarnock a district within Glasgow<ref name=cathsaintsinfo2/> * Dalmarnock, a farmsteading near Dunkeld, and the adjacent ''Dalmarnock Beat'', a salmon fishery on the River Tay<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dalmarnockfishings.co.uk/ |title=Dalmarnock Fishings – Prime Middle Tay Salmon Fishing |access-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118204148/http://www.dalmarnockfishings.co.uk/ |archive-date=18 January 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Inchmarnoch, an island on the River Dee in Aberdeenshire where Marnock established a chapel and, by some accounts, died and was buried<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/9668/name/Inchmarnoch+Chapel%2C+Glenmuick+Glenmuick%2C+Tullich+and+Glengairn+Grampian |title=Inchmarnoch Chapel, Glenmuick - Glenmuick, Tullich and Glengairn, Grampian - Places of Worship in Scotland | SCHR |publisher=Scottishchurches.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2020-02-29}}</ref><ref name=canmore/> * Inchmarnock, an isle at the northern end of the Sound of Bute<ref name=cathsaintsinfo2/> * Kilmarnock, a town in Ayrshire<ref name=cathsaintsinfo2/> * Portmarnock, a coastal hamlet in Fingal, Ireland<ref name="portmarnock.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.portmarnock.org/about-portmarnock.php|title=Portmarnock Community Association|publisher=}}</ref> A local school also bears his name.<ref>{{cite news |title=St Marnock's hopes to retain Catholic ethos |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/fingalindependent/news/st-marnocks-hopes-to-retain-catholic-ethos-37993601.html |publisher=Fingal Independent}}</ref> * Naomh Mearnóg CLG, a GAA club in Portmarnock * Marnoch, a parish in Aberdeenshire * Marnock Oil Field, at the centre of the Eastern Trough Area Project, 150 miles east of Aberdeen under the North Sea.<ref name="A Barrell Full">{{cite web|url=http://www.abarrelfull.wikidot.com/marnock-oil-field|title=Marnock Oil Field|publisher=A Barrell Full}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Scottish Roman Catholic saints Category:Medieval Irish saints Category:Medieval Scottish saints Category:Irish Roman Catholic saints Category:6th-century Christian saints Category:7th-century Christian saints Category:625 deaths Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Christian_missionaries_in_Scotland
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