St Sampson’s travels
Guernsey’s patron saint, St Sampson (or Samson), was a Welsh-born monk who, despite being grandson of the King of Glamorgan, spent time as a hermit off the Welsh coast, notably on Caldey Island, close to Tenby.
He later traveled around Ireland where he either founded or revived a monastery – the details are unclear.
He was ordained a bishop at the age of 35, and then had a vision telling him to travel. His subsequent journeys brought him, via Cornwall and the Scilly Isles, to Guernsey, where he established a wooden chapel said to be close to where St Sampson’s parish church stands now.
He later founded the monastery of Dol, in Brittany, in whose cathedral he is buried. He is Guernsey’s patron saint, and his feast day is 28 July.
The name Sampson is important to both Remus and Oliver Carey in The Sarnian series, as it is the name of the cat that lives aboard the Huffin’ Puffin.