Scottish Blog

Saint Mungo was the founder of Glasgow and a Scottish saint.

Saint Mungo was the grandson of Lleuddun, King of Goddodin. His mother fell pregnant with him before marriage. At this, her father was so enraged that he threw her of a cliff. Having survived the ordeal, she thought refuge with Saint Serf. Upon his birth, Saint Mungo was raised by Saint Serf as his own son. Upon leaving the care of Saint Serf, Saint Mungo began his first missionary tasks. At first he set up on the River Clyde, the encampment from which he preached grew into a community. Later in his life he returned to the area and dubbed it “Clas-gu”, meaning “dear family”, this eventually grew into Glasgow.

It must be said that at this point in time Saint Mungo was not yet a saint, nor called by the name Mungo. His real name was Kentigern, with Mungo being a pet name given to him by Saint Serf (derived from “mo-chohe”, Gaelic for “dear one”).

The life of Saint Mungo was fully chronicled and archived almost six hundred years after his death by Jocelin of Furness. It is claimed that the account is based of Gaelic documents that she discovered and a number of legends that were passed down to her. Because of the nature of her evidence it is hard to believe all elements of her book as legends often tend to grow upon telling over a number of centuries. Also the document does not provide any exact dates to the birth of Saint Mungo. Although the date of his death is clearer, it is believed that he died on January 13th in either 612 or 603.

Saint Mungo is a name that is less recognized amongst the general population than other Scottish religious figures like Saint Ninian, Saint Columba or Saint Andrew. Yet for many, the achievements of Saint Mungo would be more easily recognized and appreciated then that of other saints. Saint Mungo was the founder of what has grown to be modern day Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland.