Lived in Templemartin, near Bandon, and originally named Lóchán (modern form, Loan), he was the son of Amergin of Maigh Seóla, a skilled craftsman originally from Galway. He studied in Ossory, corresponding approximately to the present County Kilkenny. He was renamed ""Fionnbharra"" ("Fairhead" in Irish), reportedly when, on being tonsured, the presiding cleric remarked: ""Is fionn barr" ("find barr", in the Irish of the time) "Lócháin"", meaning, "Fair is the crest of Loan"), and he then became known as "Findbarr" ("Fionnbarra" in modern Irish). He went on pilgrimage to Rome with some of the monks, visiting St David in Wales on the way back.