St Laurence OToole 1128 1180 His Feastday is

St Laurence O’Toole 1128 -1180

His Feastday is November 14 th He was born in Castledermot, Co Kildare He was the youngest of four sons

At the age of 26 he was Abbot of Glendalough in 1154 An abbot is a man who is the head of a monastery. The word Abbot means, Father. So he was in charge of a monastery In Glendalough.

He was archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion in Ireland. His role was to be guardian of the faith in the Church of Dublin and to care for the people. Dublin was a walled city during this time and the people were terrified by the Normans invading.

Laurence was a man of prayer. He rose in the early hours to sing the office with the other monks in the cathedral and often stayed on afterwards, deep in prayer. Then he would walk for a time in the graveyard, watching and praying over the city as it woke to another day. When his duties allowed him, he liked nothing better than to escape to Glendalough and spend a few days in solitude in a lakeside hermitage which could be reached only by boat.

As Archbishop he laid the foundation stone for what is now called, Christ Church.

As Archbishop he also looked out for the poor and neglected.

His death Laurence left Dublin for the last time in the spring of 1180. His mission was to settle a dispute that had arisen between the English and Irish Kings. Henry II was mean to him and did not allow him to return to Ireland. Henry II went to Normandy to visit other places he had charge of. Laurence followed him, sick and exhausted though he was. Laurence became so ill that he died in the monastery at Eu, without having met the King. His tomb in Eu rapidly became a place of pilgrimage and many miracles were attributed to his intercession. He was canonised in 1225.

He died in Normandy in 1180 on the 14 th of November.