Saint Irmina of Oeren | |
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| Residence | Oeren,Trier, Germany |
| Died | 720 Wissembourg |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Feast | 3 January |
| Attributes | Religious habit andcrosier of anabbess; church model in her hand, two angels above her head |
Irmina of Oeren (also calledErmina andHirmina; died 720) was asaint, founder andabbess of aconvent in Oeren, near Trier (Trèves), and co-founder of a convent inEchternach (noweastern Luxembourg).[1][2]Hagiographer Basil Watkins states that Irmina's 12th century biography is "unreliable"[3] and it is likely that "legends about her family tree spiralled out of control",[4] but she came from one of the most powerful families in theMerovingian kingdom.[2] She might have been Saint Primina, the daughter ofDagobert I and sister ofSaint Modesta. She might have been the daughter ofDagobert II and sister ofSaint Adela of Pfalze.[3][5][6] Historian Ian Wood stated that Irmina is "traditionally, and probably correctly, identified asPlectrude's mother".[7]
According to many versions of Irmina's biography, when she was fifteen years old,[3] she was engaged to marry a man named Count Hermann, but just before they were to marry, he was killed in amurder-suicide by one of his servants, who "admired Irmina and could not bear that his master should have her".[5]
Irmina then marriedHugobert, a magnate from the middle Moselle region, who served as seneschal and was a count of the palace at the Merovingian court during the reigns of Theuderic III andChildebert III. They had several daughters, including:
After the death of Hugobert, around 697, she built her a monastery at Oeren in Trier, which was eventually named after her, and where she succeeded as abbess her sister,Saint Modesta. Irmina donated lands to help co-found, withSaint Willibrord of Northumberland, the convent in Echternacht in 697 or 698.[3][4][5][7] Historian Jamie Kreiner called the founding of the Echternacht convent "a cooperative venture"[2] between Willibrord and Irmina's family, who later promised to protect the convent and its holdings after Willibrord promisedfidelity to them in 706.[2] Watkins reported that Irmina was "generous to bothCeltic andSaxonmissionary monks".[3] Irmina died in 720 at the monastery atWeissenburg, which was also founded by her father.[5][3]
Irmina's feast day is December 24.[3] She is the patroness saint of Trevos and is represented with a church in her hand, signifying her status as a church founder, and with two angels above her head, carrying her soul to heaven.[5]
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