Saint Lí Ban Muirgen

The mermaid saint?!?!

You can bet that had I known there was a mermaid saint when I was preparing to get confirmed I would have wanted to choose her. That being said, I probably would have been too wracked with Catholic guilt to choose a mermaid for a saint name and would have stuck with St. Joan of Arc anyways (I still love you Joan!). But a mermaid saint is too interesting to ignore, so let’s talk about her here.

Who was Saint Lí Ban Muirgen?

Lí Ban (lee-bahn, meaning beauty or paragon of women) is an old saint, one who’s story begins in 558. She was the eldest daughter of Eochaidh (yo-HAY), the King of Ulster and a Tuatha de Danaan (TOO-ah day DAN-an), a race of people who were believed to have supernatural powers who inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians. When Eochaidh palace flooded killing all the inhabitants and forming the Lough Neagh Lake, Lí Ban and her dog were the only ones to survive.

Lí Ban and her dog found sanctuary in a cave under the new formed lake and lived there for a year. Growing tired, Lí Ban prayed to the goddess Danu and asked to be turned into a salmon so that she could swim with the fish for company. The goddess answered half of her prayer, turning her dog into an otter and Lí Ban into a mermaid.

Lí Ban swam out of the lake and into the sea where she lived for 300 years until she was captured in the nets of Beoan, a monk sent by St. Comhall with a message for Pope Gregory in Rome. Lí Ban explained that if the monks released her she would return to them on the shore in a year. Lí Ban kept her promise and St. Comhall baptized her with the name Muirgen (muh-ren, meaning sea-born). She died shortly after her baptism.

Who should pray to Saint Lí Ban Muirgen?

The Irish? Anyone who likes mermaids? I had trouble finding out who Saint Lí Ban Muirgen is the patron of, the only thing I could find was one article saying she was the “patron saint of mermaids” which checks out. Her existence is doubtful though there are records of her story in the Annals of the Four Masters as well as through generations of scéalaíocht (storytelling).

Is Saint Lí Ban Muirgen still a saint?

As far as my research told me Saint Lí Ban Muirgen is still a canonized saint which I think is very cool! Her feast day is January 27th, so if you need some extra mermaid luck on your side you can always consider sending her a prayer on that day (or do something mermaid adjacent, get trapped in a monks fishing net, pray to a goddess to turn your dog into an otter. The world is your oyster!).

Sources:

“27th January Is Feast Day of St Muirgen, Patron Saint of Mermaids.” The Portugal News, Anglopress Lda and The News Group of Newspapers, 18 Feb. 2024, www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-02-18/27th-january-is-feast-day-of-st-muirgen-patron-saint-of-mermaids/86070.

Ardincaple, E. “The Tale of Lí Ban, the Mermaid Saint of Ireland.” Medium, Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends, 8 Feb. 2024, medium.com/fairy-tales-myths-legends/the-irish-princess-who-became-a-mermaid-l%C3%AD-ban-of-lough-neagh-9a87ce45090b.

Everwhite, Meredith. “Li Ban, the Maiden.” The Oracle of Water, Wordpress, 27 May 2024, oracleofwater.com/li-ban-the-maiden/.

Hopkinson, Elizabeth. “A Mermaid Saint.” A Mermaid Saint, Blogger, 27 Jan. 2022, hiddengroveextra.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-mermaid-saint.html.

“Lí Ban (Mermaid).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Feb. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%AD_Ban_(mermaid).

“Lí Ban.” Oxford Reference, Oxford University Press, www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100103734. Accessed 16 June 2024.

McShane, Marianne. “Ireland’s Little Known Mermaid Saint.” IrishCentral.Com, 27 Jan. 2022, www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/irelands-little-known-mermaid-saint.

Meram, Christine. “Feast of Li Ban Muirgen, the Irish Mermaid Saint.” History of Mermaids, Wordpress, 18 Dec. 2020, historyofmermaids.com/feast-of-li-ban-muirgen-the-irish-mermaid-saint/.

“Tuatha DÉ Danann.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Tuatha-De-Danann. Accessed 16 June 2024.

Valters Paintner, Christine. “Ireland’s Mermaid Saint ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess.” Abbey of the Arts, 21 Jan. 2024, abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2024/01/21/irelands-mermaid-saint-a-love-note-from-your-online-abbess/.

What Else I’ve Been Doing:

Reading: Finished Grey Dog by Elliot Gish. Currently reading All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley.

Listening To: Chappell Roan and this playlist Spotify made for me called Granola Vibes Writing Night.

Watching: Season Two of Six Feet Under, Season Two of What We Do In the Shadows, One Pace (Little Garden).