Saint Fergus

Saint Fergus (also Fergustian) (died c. 730 AD) was a bishop who worked in Scotland as a missionary. Life Ten saints of this name are mentioned in the martyrology of Donegal. No one knows for certain when Fergus was born or where. He was a contemporary of St. Drostan and St. Donevaldus. The name is of Pictish origin and he is recorded as Fergus, a Pictish bishop, so it is generally considered he was from the north east of what is now called Scotland. In the Aberdeen Breviary he is called Fergustian and "he occupied himself in converting the barbarous people." He is thought to have trained in Ireland or the south of Scotland, possibly both. Known in the Irish martyrologies as St. Fergus Cruithneach, or the Pict, the Breviary of Aberdeen states that he had been a bishop for many years in Ireland when he went on a mission to Alba with some chosen priests and other clerics. He settled first near Strageath, in Upper Strathearn, in Upper Perth, and erected three churches in that district. The churches of Strageath, Blackford, and Dolpatrick are found there dedicated to St. Patrick. He next evangelized Caithness and established there the churches of Wick and Halkirk.