July 7th, Saint Maelruain of Tallaght.

St. Maelruain of Tallaght, Abbot( died 792). 'Labour in piety is the most excellent work of all. The kingdom of heaven is granted to him who directs study, him who studies, and him who supports the student.' Saint Maelruain was the founder and abbot of the monastery of Tallaght in County Dublin on land donated by King Cellach mac Donchada of Leinster in 774. Tallaght Abbey became the mother house of the Culdee movement, which Maelruain co-founded with Saint Oengus. The name Tallaght (Irish Tamlacht), derived from tam, plague, and lecht, stone monument, records the burial place of some of the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, the Parthalonians, who were swept off by a plague about 2600 BC. Tallaght is situated in the barony of Uppercross. The monastery site was donated in honour of God and St. Michael the Archangel by Cellach (d. 18 July, 771) of the Ui Donnchada, grandson of a Leinster king, Donogh (d. 726). The Culdee movement, intended to regularise the rules of Irish monasticism according to traditional ascetical practices, was codified in several of the saint's writings: The teaching of Mael-ruain, Rule of the Celi-De.The monastery of Tallaght promoted both the ascetic, intellectual and community life.