28.10.2025
Christ Church Lectures Mark 800 Years of Laurence O’Toole as Patron Saint of Dublin
To mark the 800th anniversary of the canonization of St Laurence O’Toole (Lorcán Ua Tuathail) in 1225, Dublin’s Christ Church cathedral will host a series of free lunchtime lectures on the Tuesdays in November 2025 at 1.10pm entitled ‘St Laurence O’Toole and the medieval Gaelic world’ which will examine the early years of St Laurence’s life. All four lectures will be delivered by Dr Jesse Harrington of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, an expert on the saint who is working towards two new publications on St Laurence, the patron saint of Dublin who, until relatively recently, despite being one of the most fully documented Irishmen of his century, has been rather overlooked in the scholarly world.
The first lecture (Tuesday 4 November) will introduce the world of St Laurence in the twelfth–century, setting him in the context of Ireland and Europe in the medieval period, while the second (Tuesday 11 November) will examine the Christening of Laurence, the importance of baptism as a Christian sacrament, godparents and Gaelic and Latin naming customs. The third (Tuesday 18 November) raises biblical themes of captivity through the story of Laurence being held hostage by his future brother–in–law, the famous king of Leinster, Dermot McMurrough (Diarmait MacMurchada). The final lecture (Tuesday 25 November) views Laurence as abbot of Glendalough and his leadership role in the important twelfth–century reform of the Irish church.
The series is the beginning of a longer arc of lectures which Dr Harrington will give entitled ‘St Laurence O’Toole and the medieval Christian world’, which leads to 2028 in which year will also be marked, not only the 900th anniversary of the birth of St Laurence, but the 1000th anniversary of the establishment of the diocese of Dublin and its first cathedral of Christ Church. Future lectures series planned by Dr Harrington in this overarching series will be based on St Laurence and the Anglo–Norman conquest, his relationship to medieval Europe, and the saint’s long afterlife.
Dr Jesse Patrick Harrington is currently a Research Ireland Pathway Fellow at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies’ School of Celtic Studies (2025–9), where he is preparing a new critical biography and edition of the medieval and early modern manuscript sources concerning St Laurence O’Toole. He holds his Ph.D. in History from the University of Cambridge and has worked as a postdoctoral and visiting researcher in Cork, Dublin, Paris, Poitiers, and Rome. He is advisor to the international St Laurence anniversary commemorations for 2025–30.
The lectures take place in the chapter house building upstairs in the music or Henry Roe room, and is at present only accessible by stairs. Thanks are particularly due to the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin for their generous support of the lecture series; to the dean, CEO and director of music for allowing the use of the space, and to the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and Research Ireland (Taighde Éireann). The lectures follow in a long line of lunchtime series running since 1997, as well as a memorial series to former dean’s verger, Joe Coady (1987–2003), and a much older annual St Stephen’s day lectures begun by cathedral architect, Sir Thomas Drew, which ran from 1891 until at least the 1960s. For further information on this series, email the cathedral research advisor, Dr Stuart Kinsella at archives@christchurch.ie.
You can download a PDF of the lecture poster here.