Background
He was born about 1128 in the present county of Kildare, Ireland. He was the youngest of four sons of an O'Byrne princess and Muirchertach Ua Tuathail.
He was born about 1128 in the present county of Kildare, Ireland. He was the youngest of four sons of an O'Byrne princess and Muirchertach Ua Tuathail.
He was a hostage at the age of ten, abbot of Glendalough at 25, and second archbishop of Dublin at 30. He labored for the welfare of his people by strengthening his clergy and by mediating between the native princes and Henry II after the Anglo-Norman conquest of Dublin in 1170. Archbishop Lorcán left Ireland in 1179 to attend the Third Council of the Lateran in Rome, accompanied by five other bishops. From Pope Alexander III he received a papal bull, confirming the rights and privileges of the See of Dublin. Alexander also named him as papal legate. On his return to Ireland he kept up the pace of reform to such an extent that as many as 150 clerics were withdrawn from their offices for various abuses and sent to Rome.
He died at Eu, Normandy, and his feast is November 14, the day of his death. He was canonized in 1225.
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.