Laisrén mac Nad Froích

Saint Laisrén mac Nad Froích (died 564), or Laisrén of Devenish and Lasserian, also known by his petname Mo Laisse, was the patron saint of Devenish Island in Lough Erne (Co. Fermanagh), near Enniskillen, in the present diocese of Clogher. Laisrén is the subject of both a Latin and an Irish Life, which offer loose narratives in which a number of miscellaneous anecdotes and miracles have been grouped together.

Background on Laisrén and Devenish

Laisrén is chiefly known as the founder of a monastery at Devenish, Irish Daim-inis (lit. 'Ox-island'), which was also home to his cult soon after his death. The Lives make clear that the area of Devenish was ruled by the Síl nDaiméni branch of the Uí Chremthainn. To the Irish life is appended a tale of the exile of the Dartraige or Dartrige, presumably because in the 9th century, political control over Devenish and the rest of the region known as Fernmag had changed hands from the Uí Nad Sluaig (a branch of the Uí Chremthann) to the Dartraige. According to the Irish genealogies of saints, Laisrén belonged to the Uí Chóelbad, who were based in Mag Line (Co Antrim) and formed the leading branch of the Cruithni. The Irish Life makes him a member of the Éoganachta of Munster and likewise, borrows a birth-tale from an Éoganacht origin legend, but this appears to be an innovation intended to link the saint with the new rulers based on the idea that the Dartraige were a people exiled from Munster.