saints of the diocese of Dublin. He belonged to the second order of Irish saints. Eventually, Glendalough, with its seven churches, became one of the chief pilgrimage destinations in Ireland. Legacy and veneration Kevin of Glendalough was canonized by Pope Pius X on 9 December 1903 (cultus confirmation). One of the most widely known poems of the Nobel prizewinner Seamus Heaney, 'St Kevin and the Blackbird', relates the story of Kevin holding out his hand with trance-like stillness while a blackbird builds a nest in it, lays eggs, the eggs hatch and the chicks fledge. A series of paintings by the Welsh artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins around 2009 depicted the story of Kevin and the blackbird, by way of Heaney's poem. Kevin is remembered in popular culture as an ascetic. This is commemorated in a folk song about him which describes a legend claiming that he drowned a woman who attempted to seduce him. This was recorded and made popular by The Dubliners. The opening verse is as follows: "In Glendalough, there lived an auld saint, renowned for his learning and piety, his manners were curious and quaint, and he looked upon girls with disparity." The independent film-maker Kevin Smith refers irreverently to his namesake "Saint Kevin" and the key events of his life in the introduction to Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith, his 2008 live Q & A show. Kevin is referenced several times in Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. The longest episode is found in Pt IV, pgs 604–607 (Faber & Faber, Viking editions). It was one of the earliest-drafted "vignettes" and much revised before final publication. References Primary sources Latin vita of St Kevin, ed. Charles Plummer, "Vita Sancti Coemgeni (Life of St. Kevin)." In Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. 234–57. Irish vita of St Kevin, ed. Charles Plummer, "Betha Caimgin (Life of St. Kevin)." In Bethada Nóem nÉrenn (Live of Irish Saints). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922. Vol. 1: 125–67 and vol. 2: 121–61. Edition available from CELT. Gerald of Wales, Topographia Hibernica. Secondary sources Barrow, Lennox. Glendalough and Saint Kevin. Dundalk: Dundalgan Press, 1972. MacShamhrain, A.S. "The 'unity' of Cóemgen and Ciarán. A convent between Glendalough and Clonmacnoise in the tenth to eleventh centuries." In Wicklow: history and society: interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish county, ed. by Ken Hannigan and William Nolan. Dublin: Geography Publications, 1994. 139-50. External