Name

The male form of her family name has been suggested being either "Syrikainos" or "Syrikos". The name may be related to the island Syros

Syros

Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...

 or to the terms "Syrios", "Syrikos", "Syriakos", all Greek language

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 for Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n. The geographic term Syria also applied to Coele-Syria

Coele-Syria

Coele-Syria , or Cœle-Syria or Celesyria, traditionally given the meaning 'hollow' Syria, was the region of southern Syria disputed between the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty. Rather than limiting the Greek term to the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, it is often used to cover the entire area...

 and Transjordan

Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

.

Empress

Irene is briefly mentioned in the chronicle of Michael Panaretos

Michael Panaretos

Michael Panaretos wrote a chronicle of the Trapezuntine empire of Alexios I Komnenos and his successors from 1204 to 1426. Panaretos was a protosebastos and protonotarios in the service of Alexios III Komnenos...

. "And the son of lord Manuel by the lady Irene Syrikaina, the lord George Komnenos, succeeded to the throne and reigned for fourteen years" Which indicates she was the mother of George, Emperor of Trebizond

George, Emperor of Trebizond

George Megas Komnenos , , Emperor of Trebizond from 1266 to 1280. He was the elder son of Emperor Manuel I and his third wife, Irene Syrikaina, a Trapezuntine noblewoman....

 and John II of Trebizond

John II of Trebizond

John II Megas Komnenos was Emperor of Trebizond from 1280 to 1297. He was the youngest son of Emperor Manuel I and his third wife, Irene Syrikaina, a Trapezuntine noblewoman...

, presumed to have been the youngest sons of Manuel. The marriage of Irene and Manuel likely occurred in the 1250s or early 1260s.

Manuel had at least two daughters whose mother is not mentioned. They could be children by Irene or another of his wives. One of the daughters married Demetre II of Georgia

Demetre II of Georgia

Saint King Demetrius II the Self-sacrificer , from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia in 1270–1289.-Life:...

, the other married one of his Didebul. Though mentioned in modern genealogies as a name, "Didebul" was actually a title. According to "The Bagrationi (Bagration) Dynasty" by Christopher Buyers, the Didebul were "non-hereditary noblemen of high rank, senior to aznaur, usually enjoyed by one in state service".

Panaretos records that Manuel died in March, 1263. He was succeeded by Andronikos II of Trebizond

Andronikos II of Trebizond

Andronikos II Megas Komnenos or Andronicus II , . Emperor of Trebizond from 1263 to 1266. He was the eldest son of Manuel I of Trebizond by his first wife, Anna Xylaloe, a Trapezuntine noblewoman....

, only known son by Anna Xylaloe

Anna Xylaloe

-Name:"Xylaloe" is a Greek language term for agarwood, the resinous heartwood from Aquilaria trees, large evergreens native to Southeast Asia. Pedanius Dioscorides mentioned it as an Aloe from the Indian subcontinent, probably a confusion resulting from the similarity in name of the two products....

, his first wife.