So much of Dympna's story has the ring of a folk-tale that it is impossible to separate fact and fiction. This seventh century saint was supposedly the daughter of a pagan Celtic chieftain, probably Irish, and a Christian mother. After his wife's death the grieving chieftain conceived a passion for his daughter because she resembled her mother, and he sought to marry her. Horrified, Dympna fled with her chaplain, Saint Gerebernus. They settled at Gheel, near the Belgian city of Antwerp, where Dympna devoted herself to helping the poor and the sick. They were discovered by her father, who had traced them through coins spent on their journey. When Dympna continued to reject the unnatural marriage, her father slew Gerebernus and severed her head.

According to legend, many miracles occurred where the martyrs' blood was shed. Local people also discovered two marble tombs which they believed angels had brought in honour of the saints. Many cures for madness and epilepsy were attributed to Dympna's intercession and in the thirteenth century the bishop of Cambrai commissioned a life of Dympna which drew on oral tradition. Today she is Belgium's patron saint of the insane, and for centuries Gheel has been noted for the care and treatment of the mentally ill.

From the Appletree Press title: A Little Book of Celtic Saints.