Shipwrecked Saint, The / Liam Roche

From Cathal of Shanrahan to St. Cataldo of Taranto

Cathal, that has come down to us as the surname Cahill, having made the perilous journey 1,400 years ago from Ireland  to the Holy Land, was shipwrecked on his way home. 

He washed up in the city of Taranto in the instep of Italy's boot thousands of kilmetres away from home, but his charisma was such that he was made bishop of the diocese.

Four hundred years later, his memory was resurrected when his intact body was discovered in the ruins of the old Cathedral.

His fame quickly spread with people and places all over Italy called after the Irish man, using his Italian name of Cataldo.

But this is not just the story of this fearles man. It is a snapshot of what happened after Patrick converted the Irish, the battles of the Celtic Catholic church and the role it played in bringing light to the rest of Europe, deep in its Dark Age.

His story unites the proud peoples of Ireland and Italy and shows what was possible in the globlised world of its day.

Retold here by Liam Roche who has spent many years gathering the facts and legends about this remarkable person and he has placed him in the context of his time, and ours.