Catald
Irish monk
title: "Catald" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["medieval-italian-saints", "italian-roman-catholic-saints", "7th-century-christian-saints", "medieval-irish-saints", "colombanian-saints", "7th-century-archbishops", "7th-century-irish-bishops", "irish-expatriates-in-italy", "people-from-county-waterford", "685-deaths"] description: "Irish monk" topic_path: "geography/italy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catald" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Irish monk ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox saint"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific_prefix | Saint |
| name | Catald |
| birth_date | 7th century |
| death_date | 685 |
| feast_day | 10 May |
| venerated_in | Taranto, Ireland |
| image | Desciption- Statue of St. Cataldo bishop (Taranto) (Taranto).jpg |
| caption | Statue of Saint Catald at Taranto |
| birth_place | Ireland |
| death_place | Taranto |
| canonized_date | About 685 (Pre-congregation) |
| patronage | Invoked for protection from plagues, droughts and storms |
| major_shrine | Lismore, County Waterford, Taranto |
| :: |
|honorific_prefix = Saint |name = Catald |birth_date = 7th century |death_date = 685 |feast_day = 10 May |venerated_in = Taranto, Ireland |image = Desciption- Statue of St. Cataldo bishop (Taranto) (Taranto).jpg |caption = Statue of Saint Catald at Taranto |birth_place = Ireland |death_place = Taranto |titles= |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date = About 685 (Pre-congregation) |canonized_place= |canonized_by= |attributes= |patronage = Invoked for protection from plagues, droughts and storms |major_shrine = Lismore, County Waterford, Taranto |suppressed_date= |issues= |prayer= |prayer_attrib= Catald of Taranto (also Cataldus, Cathaluds, Cathaldus, Cat(t)aldo, Cathal; fl. 7th century) was an Irish monk.
Biography
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Stained_glass_window_of_St_Cathal.jpg" caption="Stained glass of Cathal, Ireland"] ::
Cataldus was born in Munster and became the disciple and successor of Carthage in the famous School of Lismore, County Waterford. He is believed to have been consecrated a bishop in Ireland. His apparent desire for a life of solitude saw him venture off to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Chapel_San_Cataldo.jpg" caption="San Cataldo, Taranto"] ::
On his return home his ship was wrecked off the Italian coast, near the city of Taranto. The people here appear to have encouraged the monk to accept the government of their church. Some of the miracles claimed through Catald's intercession include protecting the city against the plague and floods that, apparently, had occurred in neighbouring areas.
When his coffin was opened in the eleventh century, it contained a gold cross left at the time of his burial. The relics of the saint were then encased and preserved in the high altar of the cathedral.
Legacy
His feast day is 10 May.
Saint Cathal was the patron of the Sicilian Normans.
San Cataldo is the patron saint of Corato, located in the Metropolitan City of Bari and the region of Apulia.
The Cattedrale di San Cataldo is the archiepiscopal see of the Archdiocese of Taranto. Sicily is home to two churches named Chiesa di San Cataldo: the Church of San Cataldo in Palermo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Church of San Cataldo in Erice, which functions as a parish church. The parish church in Montenero Sabino, province of Rieti, in the region of the Lazio, is dedicated to San Cataldo.
The Italian towns of San Cataldo (there is such a town in Sicily, and a modern sea resort in the Apulian Province of Lecce) are named in his honour.
References
References
- Jerome Murphy-O'Connor. (2008). ["The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700"]({{Google books). Oxford University Press.
- ''Erice la Montagna del Signore'', “La Chiesa di San Cataldo”, accessed 21 August 2025, [https://www.ericelamontagnadelsignore.it/san-cataldo/ San Cataldo – Church of San Cataldo]
- [http://www.montenerosabino.com/index.php/cultura/antiche-strutture Antiche Strutture], entry in website of Comune of Montenero Sabino.
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