Gobnait is the Irish form of Latin *Abigail*. **Saint Gobnait of Ballyvourney (5th-6th c.)** was the **Irish beekeeper-saint of County Cork** — patroness of beekeepers, ironworkers, and County Cork. **According to legend, she stopped a marauding chieftain by hurling her beehive at his army, the bees driving them away.** **An angel had told her: "Settle where you see nine white deer grazing"** — she found them at Ballyvourney, where the medieval church of Cill Ghobnait still stands.
**Her well at Ballyvourney remains a pattern day pilgrimage site each February 11.**
Gobnait reduces to five — the number of Irish beekeeper saint.