Íte ingen Chinn Fhalad (d. 570/577),[3] also known as Íde, Ita, Ida or Ides, was an early Irish nun and patron saint of Killeedy (Cluain Creadhail).
[8] Ita was said to embody the six virtues of Irish womanhood – wisdom, purity, beauty, musical ability, gentle speech and needle skills.
[10] The community group seems to have had a school for little boys where they were taught "Faith in God with purity of heart; simplicity of life with religion; generosity with love".
"True faith in God and a pure heart, a simple life with a religious spirit and open-handedness inspired by charity," she answered.
She was also endowed with the gift of prophecy and was held in great veneration by a large number of contemporary saints, men as well as women.
She is also said to be the originator of an Irish lullaby for the infant Jesus, an English version of which was set for voice and piano by the American composer Samuel Barber.
She probably died of cancer, though contemporary chroniclers describe how her side was consumed by a beetle that eventually grew to the size of a pig.
When she felt her end approaching she sent for her community of nuns, and invoked the blessing of heaven on the clergy and laity of the district around Kileedy.
Her grave, frequently decorated with flowers, is in the ruins of Cill Ide, a Romanesque church at Killeedy where her monastery once stood.
At the request of Bishop Butler of Limerick, Pope Pius IX granted a special Office and Mass for the feast of St. Ita, which is kept on 15 January.