Lasrén (''also'' Laisrén, Laisrán) mac Feradaig or Lasrén of Iona (''d''. 605) was an Irish monk and the third abbot of Iona (''c''.600-605), in succession to Baíthéne. Lasrén worked during the abbacy of St

Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

and administered the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

of Durrow for the saint in the years before attaining Iona. Like Baíthéne before him, he was a kinsman of Columba from the royal dynasty of the

Cenél Conaill Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history *Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...

.Charles-Edwards, “Iona, abbots of (''act''. 563-927).” His father, Feradach meaning 'woodsman', was a cousin of the saint.''Biographical Dictionary of Dark-Age Britain, ''p. 169. Lasrén (meaning flame) first appears in

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of ...

's ''Life'' of St Columba'' ''as one of Columba's close companions as he travelled through

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, gd, Àird nam Murchan: headland of the great seas) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main acces ...

in Argyll, perhaps in 572.Adomnán, ''Vita S. Columbae'' i.12; Sharpe, ''Adomnán of Iona. ''p. 274. Later, when he had been appointed prior of Columba's monastery at Durrow (Co. Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland), which was probably founded in the 580s or 590s, he is said to have overseen the building works there. Columba, himself at Iona, started to weep, having learned through his visionary power that Lasrén was wearing out the monks as they erected a large building. Suddenly “as if kindled with an inward fire”, Lasrén suspended all labour for the rest of the day, gave the monks a meal and would do the same on similar occasions in the future. For that reason, Columba ceased to weep and blessed Laisrén as “the consoler of the monks” (''monachorum consulator'').Adomnán, ''Vita S. Columbae'' i.29. Lasrén appears to have been remembered as a benevolent man, but the story is also likely to have been designed to show that Lasrén was destined for the abbacy of Iona. The ''Annals of Ulster'' record his death in 605.''Annals of Ulster'' s.a. 605.4
cf

According to the ''

Martyrology of Tallaght The ''Martyrology of Tallaght'', which is closely related to the '' Félire Óengusso'' or ''Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee'', is an eighth- or ninth-century martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Máel Ruain and/o ...

'', his feast-day was observed on 16 September. The fifth abbot of Iona, Ségéne, was a nephew of Lasrén and the seventh abbot, Cumméne, was a great-nephew.Sharpe, ''Adomnán of Iona. ''pp. 35 and 41.

Notes

References

*Charles-Edwards, T.M. “Iona, abbots of (''act. ''563–927).” ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 9 Feb 2009
*Adomnán, ''Vita Columbae'', ed. and tr. Alan Orr Anderson and Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, ''Adomnán’s Life of Columba''. Edinburgh and London, 1961. *Sharpe, Richard. ''Adomnán of Iona: Life of St. Columba''. London, 1995. *Williams, A., A.P. Smyth and D.P. Kirby. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Dark-Age Britain: England, Scotland and Wales c. 500-c. 1050''. London: Seaby, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lasren Mac Feradaig 605 deaths Abbots of Iona 7th-century Irish abbots 6th-century Irish priests Irish expatriates in Scotland Year of birth unknown