ST Carantoc
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ST Carantoc |
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Homepage - People - Crantock church
The story of Carantoc himself is as with most of the Cornish Saints is a mixture of truth and legend, and it is not velar where the boundary between them lies. Here we will relate some of the story.
Carantoc was the eldest son of a minor Welsh chieftain. He gave up his right of succession in order to go to Ireland to learn the Religious Life under St Patrick, who became his friend and tutor. Like many of the Celtic saints he can be traced right across the Celtic fringes of Western Europe. There are churched dedicated to him (in several variants of his name) in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.
He is said to have started out for Cornwall in a coracle, having cast his small alter-stone into the sea to guide him , and accompanied by his pet dove. Coming ashore in the bank of the River Gannel, he intended settling at the waters edge, but the shavings he produced for lighting a fire were carried as soon as they were made to the site of the church at Crantock by the dove. Carantoc saw this as the guiding of the Holy Spirit ( who is commonly depicted as a dove) and consequently settled here.
His feast day is 16th may.