INDRECHTACH, ST.

Martyr; d. 854. According to the Irish annals, he was an abbot of iona who was martyred by Saxons while on his way to Rome. In the 12th century william of malmesbury wrote the life of a certain St. Indract (d. c. 710), the son of an Irish king, who was murdered along with some companions near Glastonbury while returning from Rome. J. F. Kenney is of the opinion that these two are to be identified. C. H. Slover, on the other hand, has rejected this opinion on the grounds that Indract was a secular prince whose relics were translated during the reign of ine, that he is not mentioned in the Irish mar tyrologies, and that there is no Irish vita. Kenney was obviously aware of all these difficulties and rightly considered that they were not convincing, but even so his identification is a mere possibility, and the question still remains open. A marginal note in the Martyrology of Tallaght places the feast of Indract of Glastonbury on May 8.

Feast: Feb. 5.

Bibliography: Sources. For william of malmesbury's vita (which has never been published) and the abridgement in the Sanctilogium of john of tynemouth, see j. f. kenney, The Sources for the Early History of Ireland: 446. For trs. of the vita, see g. h. doble, Saint Indract and Saint Dominic (Cornish Saints Ser. 48; Long Compton 1944). c. platts, "Martyrdom of St. Indract" in Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset 17 (1921–23) 17–23. Literature. j. f. kenney, The Sources for the Early History of Ireland: v.1, Ecclesiastical (New York 1929). c. h. slover, "Glastonbury Abbey and the Fusing of English Literary Culture," Speculum 10 (1935) 147–160, esp. 152–153.

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