Birinus (also Berin, Birin; c. 600 – 3 December 649 or 650) was the first Bishop of Dorchester[1] and was known as the "Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity.

After Augustine of Canterbury performed the initial conversions in England, Birinus, a Frank, came to the kingdom of Wessex in 634,[2] landing at the port of Hamwic, now in the St Mary's area of Southampton.

[3] A Benedictine monk, Birinus had been made bishop by Asterius in Genoa,[4] and Pope Honorius I created the commission to convert the West Saxons.

At the final talks between kings, the sticking point was that Oswald, a Christian, would not ally himself with a pagan.

The Catholic church in Dorchester, one of the first built after the restoration of the hierarchy[22] by Pope Pius IX, is also dedicated to Birinus.