St. Laurence O'Toole : A Medieval Irish Saint in the North of France - Jesse Harrington

St. Laurent was one of the outstanding churchmen and statesmen of twelfth-century Ireland: a peacemaker and powerbroker of the English invasion of Ireland in 1169, a reformer of the medieval Irish church, and only the second Irishman to be officially canonised as a saint. His death and burial in the town of Eu in Normandy in 1180 provided an enduring connection between France and Ireland that has been honoured for more than eight centuries.

From 2025-2030, an upcoming series of commemorations will be held in both countries for the anniversaries of St. Laurent's canonisation (1225-2025), birth (1128-2028), and death (1180-2030), beginning with the celebrations in Normandy in May 2025. This talk will explore the life and afterlife of this important Irish figure in Normandy, Picardy, Brittany, and Paris. It will tell the never before told story of the political events that led to his canonisation - involving kings, bishops, knights, and monks from England, France and Ireland - and of the surviving relics that exert a powerful hold in France and Ireland.

Dr. Jesse Patrick Harrington is a Research Fellow of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and advisor to the national and international commemorations of St. Laurent for 2025-2030. He has held a France Excellence research bursary from the French Embassy in Dublin and was resident at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in 2023.