On Sunday 11th May 2025, Knights and a Dame of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem – Lieutenancy of Ireland, together with His Excellency Niall Burgess, the Ambassador of Ireland to France and Monaco; His Grace Dermot Farrell, KCHS Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland; His Grace Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough in the Church of Ireland; clergy and parishioners of the Archdiocese of Dublin and the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough participated in the international public commemoration of the 800th Canonisation of Irish Saint Laurence O’Toole, which took place in the town of Eu Seine-Maritime Normandy, France.

St. Lawrence was one of the most remarkable churchmen and statesmen of the 12th century: a peacemaker and intermediary during the English invasion of Ireland in 1169, a church reformer, and one of only two Irishmen to be officially canonized. His death and funeral at Eu in Normandy in 1180 established a lasting bond between France and Ireland, which has been honored for more than eight centuries. As Archbishop, as peacemaker, and as Patron Saint of Dublin, St. Laurence O’Toole (d. 1180) is important to the mission of the Equestrian Order and to the life of the Irish Lieutenancy. During his life, he was a promoter of peace in Ireland and a protector of pilgrims to the Holy Land. The cause of his canonisation was promoted by Walter de Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen, while travelling to Jerusalem on the Third Crusade. St. Laurence is the second of five Irishmen to have been officially canonised. The others in order are St. Malachy, St. Virgilius of Salzburg, St. Oliver Plunkett, and St. Charles of Mount Argus.

Following his canonisation by Pope Honorius III in 1225, St. Laurence’s shrine at Eu was paid for by the Lusignan dynasty, who then ruled as Kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus and Comtes of Eu. St. Laurence’s burial in the crypt of the Collegiate Church at Eu, close to the Church’s Chapelle du Saint-Sépulcre (Holy Sepulchre Chapel), resulted in him being is one of the very few medieval Trish Saints whose relics survived the Reformation. Holy Mass was celebrated in the ancient Collégiale Notre-Dame-et-Saint­ Laurent-d’Eu, by His Grace Dermot Farrell, KCHS, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, alongside H. G. Dominique Lebrun, Archbishop of Rouen, and H. E. Gerard Le Stang, Bishop of Amiens.

The Irish Knights of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem were entrusted with the carrying of the Saint’s sacred relics in a solemn procession prior to entry into the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St Laurence of Eu.

The Homily of Archbishop Dermot Farrell is available here.

History Ireland article by Dr Jesse Harrington, KHS, research fellow at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and adviser to the national and international commemorations of St Laurence O’Toole for 2025–30.

Photos credited to: Michael Couvreur and Vincent Dennetiere.