Saint Ninian

The story of Whithorn Priory is inextricably linked with Saint Ninian. Ninian has been described in many ways: missionary, saint, mystical healer, bishop, scholar, teacher.



Ninian was said to come from the Solway region in the south west of Scotland.

He trained in Rome and returned to Galloway as bishop and missionary in the early 400s.


In the 700s, a Northumbrian monk and scholar named Bede wrote that Ninian built a white painted stone church at Whithorn which became known as Candida Casa, 'the white house', in Latin.

In the eighth century, a monk at Whithorn wrote a poem titled 'The Miracles of Bishop Nynia'. The poem describes wonders performed by Ninian during his life including healing the sick and growing food and staying dry in the rain while reading his prayer book.

The poem was written as part of a campaign to embrace and promote the cult of Saint Ninian. It was translated into Anglo-Saxon in the 800s and was widely circulated. Only one copy, discovered in Germany, has survived.

The miracles in the poem are also echoed in a twelfth century biography of the saint.