Background
Saint Dallan"s given name was Eochaidh (Old Irish: Eochaid). His father was Colla, a descendant of the legendary High King Colla Uais, and his mother was Forgall (Old Irish: Forchella).
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Dallan Forgaill
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His nickname, Dallán ("little blind one"), was earned after he lost his sight, reputedly as a result of studying intensively. He was born in Maigen (now Ballyconnell), at the eastern edge of the territory of the Masraige of Magh Slécht in modern County Cavan. (The barony of Lurg in County Fermanagh was named after them) His was a first cousin of Saint Mogue and was a fourth cousin of Saint Tigernach of Clones.
He died in 598 when pirates broke into the island monastery of Inniskeel, County Donegal, where he is buried.
He was reportedly beheaded, and it is also said that God reattached his head to his body after he was martyred. He was acclaimed a saint in the early 11th century, during the reign of the High King Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill.
A medieval poem entitled "On the breaking up of a School" composed by Tadhg Og O Huiginn, c.1400, refers to the death of Dallán which caused his school to break up and the students to disperse as they would accept no other master. In a list of ancient Irish authors contained in the Book of Ballymote, Dallán is called “grandson of testimony”.
Membership
He was not a member of the Masraige but belonged to a branch of the Airgíalla called the Fir Lurg, who were in the process of spreading southwards into Fermanagh and Cavan.
