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At the age of seven, his parents sent him the the monastery run by St. [[Petroc]] in Cornwall. While there, Kevin was knelling in with kneeling, his arms outstreched in prayer , on the first day of Lent in a small hut in the wilderness, when a blackbird landed in his palm and proceeded to construct a nest. Kevin remained perfectly still, so as not to disturb the bird, for the whole of Lent. Kevin was fed by the blackbird with berries and nutnuts. By the end of Lent, the last blackbird hatchlings had flown from the nest, which now lay empty in his hand, and Kevin returned to the monastery for the Paschal celebration.

However, Kevin could not establish a monastery, since King O'Tool of Glendalough, a pagan, would not allow it. It happened that the king had a much beloved pet goose, which was now old and grey. As time passed, the goose also became so aged and weak, that it was soon unable to fly. As a result, the king was very upset, for he loved the goose very much. Hearing of Kevin's sanctity and power, the pagan king sent for him, and asked that he make the beloved goose young. Kevin asked for a payment of whatever land the goose would fly over. As the goose could no longer take flight, O'Toole agreed. When Kevin touched the bird, it grew young, and flew over the entire valley of Glendalough, and on that site the monastery was established.

Rocks were plentiful. The farmers pitched in and built Kevin a monastery in the solitude of Glendalough. The workers agreed to work from when the larks woke till the lambs slept. This grueling work schedule began to affect the quality of construction, and Kevin decided to investigate. It turned out that the larks were apt to rise unfashionably early, and so Kevin told thm them not to. From that day forth, no skylark has ever been heard in Glendalough. The construction continued, and the monastery was complete.

Soon, other monks came to help teach the all who would come to learn, old and young, rich and poor alike. More buildings were added to the little settlement. Among them was the famous tower, which still stands today, along with the large hut used by St. Kevin. Many people from far afield came to Kevin for advice, which he gave freely, and the monastery grew to such fame and renown that it was considered equal to a pilgrimage to Rome for a penitent to travel seven times to Glendalough monastery.

Kevin went once at , upon the founding of the his monastery , to Rome, where he received relics for the monastery. Many years later, his hair and beard white but his eyes sparkling and his step quick and firm, he felt the desire to go once again to Rome. However, he also knew he was bound to the duties of the abbot of the monastery. He went for advice to his old friend, Bishop Kiernan of Clonmacnoise. Kiernan understood Kevin's longing but he knew that it is better for one missionary to train many others than to leave the others half-trained in order to go to the missions himself. "Birds do not hatch their eggs while they are flying," Kiernan said.

It is said that a hunting party was chasing a boar with their hounds. The boar came upon Saint Kevin in prayer beneath a tree, and laid down at his feet. The hounds, when they saw the boar at Kevin's feet, also laid lay down near the saint, not daring to approach the boar while it was under Kevin's protection. The men decided to ignore these signs, and to go ahead and slay the boar. However, a flock of birds landed in the tree, and the hunters took this as a sign and left the boar with Kevin.