The son of an Irish chieftain, Modan was a contemporary of St. Columba. he came to Scotland and built a chapel at Dryburgh in the Scottish Borders in 522, which grew to become Dryburgh Abbey. He promoted the Celtic church along the Firth of Forth to Falkirk and Stirling, where there are still churches dedicated to him. A modest man, he later reluctantly agreed to become the Abbot of Dryburgh. He is also said to have founded a priory at Ardchattan, on the shores of Loch Etive, and there is still a church named after him in nearby Benderloch. He spent his final years as a hermit in the hills near Dumbarton, where he died. His relics were enshrined at St. Modan's Church in Rosneath (Argyll and Bute). St. Modan's High School in Stirling and Masonic Lodges in Rosneath and Taynuilt are also named for him.
His feast day is the 4th February.
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