Hagiography of Stephan Irwin

Hagiography of Stephan of Irwin: the Beastorian and Zookeeper.

His Birth

On a bright sunny day in the county of Irwin in the North of Ireland on the 23 June 958; the animals of the forests were seen gathering in a large clearing among the oak and birch trees.  In the middle of the clearing was a young women and her partner.  The man was a well known carny specialising in the keeping of animals, and the women was the daughter of a local farmer.  They had stopped their carriage as it was time to give birth to a child.

The animals were many and varied and they seemed not to mind one anothers's presence.  The Deer stood beside the Wolf, The Badger beside the Mole, The Fox beside the Fowl.  The young parents to be were a bit scared to see so many animals around them, and so the young carny kept a close eye on them.  But the animals seemed peaceful, and the carny laid down his weapons and tendered his young lady.

For a while it was quiet in the clearing, the animals were silent, all that could be heard were the natural sounds of a mother preparing to birth.  Then suddenly, with a rush and a loud cry the child was born.  At the cry of the newe born all the animals rose as one and started to sing.  They sung to the young boy, and as the father held him for the first time, the sun piercing through the clearing formed a crown of sunshine around him and thus he was named Stephan.

The animals continued to sing – the baby relaxed and started to smile.  As one, the animals marched by in procession leaving gifts a fruit, fur and bone for the child.

The Carny and the farmer's daughter were happy to receive such gifts, and the Carny was later heard to say that all that he could think of at the time was the [url=http://rome.lesroyaumes.com/posting.php?mode=quote&p=148378] BOV Chapter vi where the animals all gather and wait God's judgment.  Was God casting judgment on his son?

His Youth

As a young boy, Stephan was always seen playing with the animals his father tendered.  He was reckless and daring, sticking his hand in the mouths of the dangerous animals and even hugging bears.   It was said that he could speak the languages of the animals better than he could speak that of the humans.  In fact for a while the only word he would say was "crikey".  This was a reference to his favourite animal the crocodile.  He loved it and called it crikey.  The crocodile would often follow the young boy around.  At first his parents were alarmed, but one day they witnessed the crocodile knocking over another child named Ray who was trying to steal Stephan’s lunch.  The young thief, got the message and left Stephan alone.  The Parents were amazed the crocodile did not use his teeth, so they saw the crocodile as a protector.
Stephan would often walk around and call out crikey to the crocodile.  And it would appear.  The other carnies were amazed at this, and soon began to use the term "crikey" for anytime something amazing happened.

Stephan also liked to draw pictures of animals and write about them.  He would draw in the dirt, on the trees and rocks -whatever he could get his hands on. What was amazing about this is that the animal would often sit peacefully beside Stephan as he was drawing, allowing Stephan to have a close look.

As the circus travelled around, Stephan would find time to reach out to the other children and tell them about the animals. He would even teach those children who could not afford to go to the circus by organising talks with them after the show.

Stephan's father once said that he wished he could show all the animals listed in the BOV.

Stephan wanted to do one better, he wanted to discover those that were not listed- at an early age Stephan had realised the BOV was not a complete list of animals.

The Young Thief Ray, became obsessed with finding the animal with no name.

His first dream

One day when Stephan was about 13 he fell asleep as he was painting the wagons.  he liked to cover the wagons with pictures of the animals he knew and that were contained in the wagons.  When he woke he saw that he had continue to draw pictures of animals.  But these were animals he had never seen before!  He asked his father about them and his father said that some of the animals he had not seen, but he did recognise some of the animals as coming from the lands south of where the crocodile came from.





Stephan promised himself he would find these animals, so that more could be learnt.  His father reminded him what became of the animals in the Book of virtues  chapter iii;

Stephan decided it was time to research more before leaving to find these animals.

He headed to the Monastery in Inisfallen.

Ray was also impressed bu the drawings, and wondered if perhaps they represented the creature with no name.  But he had no more time for books and learning - he wanted to discover it before Stephan, so he headed out himself into the world.

His life in the monastery


At the monastery he spent 5 years studying the books there. The monastery had a large collection of books about animals, as the local rector always enjoyed reading the book of virtues, especially the Book of Creation, (the first 8 chapters).

Despite this he could not find information on some of the animals.  He wrote to other monsateries all around the world, but the replies he got seemed to be suggest that such animals did not exist.

Just when he was starting to think he would not find more knowledge and would have to go out on his own, he received news from his old carny RAY who was in a coastal city far to the south.  Ray said that he knew of animals and could take Stephan to see them.

He learnt  


The formation of his Library and Zoo

It was as he was riding through a large forest one day he noticed that on one side of him there were animals of all kinds, while on the other there was none.  Passing a nearby farmer he asked why there seemed to be more animals on one side than the other.  The farmer said he did not know, he thought it had to do with hunters.

Stephan stopped to investigate.  After a few days he observed animals turning back at an invisible line in the forest.  He approached it and could see nothing.  He walked all over the area, back and forth but could find nothing. Pausing to rest, he sat down with his arms supporting him and it was then that he felt a prick on his hands.  He noticed a small plant that was covered in pricks.



used the bindi, an annoying plant with a little prick to fence in his animals.


HIs educational work and shows







The quest for the Kangaroo






The sting of Ray

studying a pagan group, the leader was Ray and he turned around and stabbed.
Fight or flight.
Should have known better.







relics











Feast Day