Much of St Mungo's early life is more legend than fact but he is said to have been the son of a pagan king of Gododdin, a part of Scotland now known as Lothian. His mother was cast adrift on a coracle in the Firth of Forth which was washed ashore in Culross in Fife where she gave birth to a son.
Looked after by St Serf in a nearby monastery, he was named Kentigern but his nickname St Mungo ("dear friend") is used more frequently.
As a missionary, he was building on the early Christian church left by the Romans. In Strathclyde he built a church beside the Molendinar Burn in what was to become Glasgow (and is the patron saint of that city) and in 543 he became bishop of Cumbria which at that time straddled what has become the border of Scotland and England.
He spent several years in Wales and is said to have met St David, the patron saint of Wales. He returned to Scotland and is reported to have met St Columba.
His many miracles (including that of the ring which was found in a fish, thus saving a queen's life - later recalled as part of the Glasgow coat of arms) cannot be authenticated. St Mungo is buried in Glasgow Cathedral (pictured above).
