Gobnait (Gobnet, Gobhnet, Gobnaid, Gobnata, or Gobnatae), was born in County Clare, Ireland, sometime in the 5th or 6th century. Gobnait is Irish for Abigail (“Brings Joy”). As the patron saint of beekeepers, her name also has been anglicized as Deborah, meaning “Honey Bee.”
Her Feast Day is February 11.
Gobnait’s Blog is located here:
Visit St. Gobnait’s Hive
Click to visit.
This is confusing. It makes it sound like Abigail was her real name instead of a Hebrew name given to gobnait because the church hates Irish I.e. pagan names. I understand the Deborah bee connection to gobnait’s life, but what on earth is the connection between Abigail and gobnait?
Hello, The simplest explanations can be found by googling “Gobnait Irish for Abigail”...sorry for the confusion! Celtic, pagan, Roman, Christian, Hebrew seem to get a bit blurry around the 5th Century.
Thank you for this