Beyond Mission: Willibrord as a Political Actor between Early Medieval Ireland, Britain and Merovingian Francia. Michel Summer just completed his PhD studying the life of Anglo-Saxon missionary Willibrord, who lived from AD 658 to 739. In 690, the missionary came from Ireland to the continent, where he founded the monastery at Echternach in modern-day Luxembourg, now known as the Abbey of Echternach. Luxembourg’s annual UNESCO-listed ‘dance procession’ serves to honour him.