His origins within Ireland are unknown, but he may have spent his student years at the School of Bangor.
[2] This letter demonstrates "a knowledge of astronomy far beyond the current ideas of his time".
In 825 he was by imperial decree appointed Master of the School at Pavia which was located in the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro.
In 827 or 828, he defended the veneration of images against Claudius, Bishop of Turin and wrote to refute some of his religious teachings at the request of the emperor Louis the Pious.
He bequeathed to Bobbio Abbey his valuable library, consisting of some 27 volumes,[4] among which may have been the Antiphonary of Bangor.