Wooden statue of St Sithney (St Sezni) by Breton woodcarver Rene Ragout in Sithney Church, Cornwall, England, UK: a missionary from Ireland c AD500.
Wooden statue of St Sithney by Breton woodcarver Rene Ragout in Sithney Church, Cornwall, England, UK. Celtic saint Sithney came to Cornwall from Ireland, probably in the late C5th or early C6th with St Breage (Breaca) & her missionary companions. The site of his shrine is believed to have been in the shallow N transept 'neath the blood red stone' arch as William Worcester described it in 1478. Worcester also recorded several miracles worked by Sithney in his church. Under the name St Sezni, Sithney is especially revered in Brittany, particularly at Guissény on the NW coast. A stone carving of Sithney on the SE pinnacle of his Cornish church tower looks towards Guissény where, above the church door, there is a wooden statue of the saint looking back across the Channel to Sithney. The above copy of this statue was brought from Guissény to Sithney as a fraternal gift by seven Breton priests in Easter Week 1986. Church records describe the custom of Crowning or Garlanding Sithney's statue in the tower with flowers & greenery on his Feast Day (19 September). An C18th entry records a cost of "for white ribbons of silke and flowers for the Garland". Sithney is credited with being the patron of mad dogs who he chose over girls who would "plague him for husbands and fine clothes and never leave him a moment's peace." This photograph was taken 11 October 1990 before alterations were made to/in the church.
Size: 2652px × 3780px
Location: St Sithney's Church, Sithney, Helston, Cornwall, England, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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