Saint Laurence O'Toole
| Lorcán Ua Tuathail St. Laurence O'Toole |
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| Born | 1128 Castledermot, Ireland |
| Died |
14 November 1180 Eu, Normandy, Angevin Empire |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | 11 December 1225 by Pope Honorius III |
| Major shrine | St. Lawrence's church in Chorley, England |
| Feast | 14 November |
| Patronage | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin |
Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as Saint Laurence O'Toole (1128 – 14 November 1180) was Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. He played a prominent role in the Irish Church Reform Movement of the 12th century and mediated between the parties during and after the invasion. He was canonised in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.
He was born at Castledermot, Ireland, the youngest of four sons of an O'Byrne princess and Muirchertach Ua Tuathail. The family were of the Uí Muiredaig branch of the Uí Dúnlainge kindred and took their name from Tuathal mac Augaire, King of Leinster, who died in 958. They resided at Maistiu (Mullaghmast) in what is now County Kildare.
However, by the time of his son's birth Muirchertach was subordinate to the new kings of Leinster, the Uí Ceinnselaig. The king from 1126 was Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough). At the age of 10 he was sent to Diarmait as a hostage for his father. However at one point Muirchertach's loyalty to Diarmait must have become suspect as Lorcán was imprisoned for some two years in extreme austerity and barely given enough to live on. Due to the intercession of the abbot of Glendalough – members of Lorcán's family had been buried at one of its churches for generations – relations were amicably restored between Diarmait and Muirchertach.
One result of his confinement was the strengthening of Lorcan's wish to enter the religious life. The story goes that when Muirchertach arrived at Glendalough for Lorcán, he stated that he would draw lots to have one of his sons made a priest, at which Lorcán laughed as he had long thought of doing so. No lots were drawn, and Lorcán stayed at Glendalough.
In time he rose to become Abbot of Glendalough at the age of 26 in 1154. Lorcán was a religious reformer. He wished that the Irish Church would reflect the universal Church and strengthen the bonds between the Irish Church and Rome. Through his own example Lorcán brought his spiritual renewal to the church in Ireland and married the best in the Gaelic monastic movement with the best in the Frankish-European liturgical monastic movement. Abbot Lorcán began a spiritual renewal programme amongst the monks of the Abbey bringing the Gaelic Abbey of Glendalough in line with the Frankish Abbeys of Continental Europe. He invited the Canons of St. Augustine to come and assist in the reform of the Abbey and he became a member of the Augustinian Order himself.
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