''Umina (Our Mother in Arabic) Irini''; 9 February 1936 Girga – 31 October 2006 Cairo) was the Coptic Abbess of the St. Philopateer Mercurius’ (Abu Sefein, "of the two swords") Convent in Old Cairo, Egypt and an influential figure in the Coptic Christian community of Egypt.
[citation needed] Tamav was born on 9 February 1936 in Girga, a small town in Upper Egypt in Sohag Governorate.
[1] After becoming the abbess of the Convent of Abu Seifein, Tamav stated that she had received a vision of Christ and of St Pachomius the Great (292-348 AD), one of founders of the communal life of monks and nuns (Cenobitic Monasticism).
St Pachom allegedly told Tamav to follow the rules of the Pachomian Koinonia (fellowship) in the convent.
Before Tamav became abbess, the nuns attended mass and communion in an adjacent church, dedicated to St. Saint Mercurius.
On Abi Seifein's feasts—celebrating his martyrdom, the coming of his relics to Egypt, and the consecration of the first Coptic church in his name—she would speak to the thousands who gathered about the miracles performed through the intercession of the saint.
[1] Under Tamav's guidance, Abu-Sefain published a book highlighting the contribution of women to monastic and ascetic life.
The Angelic Life: The Virgin Mary and Other Virgins in Different Ages (Cairo: Harmony Printing House, 2002), can be regarded as a new historicist reading of the monastic movement, from which perspective it sets the record straight regarding the role played by women in this movement.
In their memorial the nuns at Abu-Sefain described Tamav as their "enlightened mother, mentor, teacher, guide and the lamp whose light would remain for ever".
They also expressed their gratitude "for being the daughters of the mother of monasticism in this generation, for having been watered by the fountain of her sacred life and enlightened by the torch of her monastic and spiritual teachings which will remain to guide us until we meet her in heaven".
During a time when Mother Irini was abbess of the monastery, the Egyptian military was building roads nearby.