"All church lands and property on them shall be entirely free from the exactions of laymen.

"In the case of homicide committed by the laity, when they compound with their enemies for the offence, the clergy, who are their relatives, shall pay no part of the fine.

"Every head of a family among the faithful, when visited with sickness, shall make a will in the presence of his confessor and neighbours, with becoming solemnity, and divide his movable property into three parts, after deducting debt and servants' wages beforehand :-one part to be for the children; another for the lawful wife; the third to pay the funeral expenses.

"Those who die with a good confession shall be buried with suitable obsequies, and the accompaniment of wakes and masses.

"All offices of divine service shall for the future, in all parts of Ireland, be regulated after the model of the holy Church, according to the observances of the Church of England."1

Two other canons relate to marriage and baptism;2 but, from the enactments quoted, we may form a pretty fair idea of the general tenor of the proceedings of the Synod of Cashel. The importance attached to it may be inferred from the number of bishops who attended3 in a tempestuous season;

1 An exact copy of these canons may be found in Giraldus Cambrensis, Hib. Expug, c. 35. See also Lanigan, iv. 208-9, and Wilkins's Concilia, i. 473.

2 Brompton, the abbot of an English Cistercian monastery, a writer who flourished in the fourteenth century, tells us that at this time some of the wealthy Irish were wont to baptize their children in milk. Lanigan very indignantly rejects this statement; but, withal, it has about it some strong marks of verisimilitude. It is attested, not only by Brompton, but by a still higher authority— Benedict of Peterborough, a contemporary, who says :-" Mos enim prius erat per diversa loca Hiberniae quod statim cum puer nasceretur. . . . si divitis fuerit filius, ter mergeretur in lacte."—Gest. Hen. ii. p. 28. Lanigan was ignorant of this testimony.

3 It appears that the Archbishops of Cashel, Dublin, and Tuam with all their suffragans were present. Lanigan, after asserting, without any evidence, that Gelasius of Armagh was unwilling to attend, adds that "no suffragan bishop of Ulster was present ;" and yet, immediately afterwards, he is constrained to acknowledge that the bishop of Clogher might have been there. Hoveden, a contemporary, intimates that the bishops of Ulster were present. See his Chronica,

and its decrees were obviously calculated to increase the wealth and influence of the clergy. The payment of tithes had been enjoined by the Synod of Kells: but the order seems to have been neglected; and accordingly it is here repeated by an assembly convoked under the authority of the British monarch. By the Synod of Cashel the property of the clergy is exempted from tributes or assessments to which the possessions of the laity are liable; and the parish priests are provided with a revenue from masses, wakes, and funerals. The sanction of the Sovereign gave effect to these regulations. The worship of the Church of Ireland is henceforth to be conformed to that of the Church of England; and from this period till the Reformation popery maintained an almost undisputed ascendency in the Western Isle.

What a change passed over the Church and State of Ireland between the days of Patrick, Columbkille, and Columbanus, and the time of the Synod of Cashel! Then, the saints of the country practised only "such works of piety and chastity as they could learn from the prophetical, evangelical, and apostolical writings;" now, these prophetical, evangelical, and apostolical writings were seldom mentioned. Then, it was believed that the soul, after death, entered at once into a state of permanent happiness or misery; now, the doctrine of purgatory was acknowledged, and the priests derived no inconsiderable portion of their income from masses for the dead. Then, the presbyter Columbkille ordained a king, as well as bishops; now no presbyter was permitted to ordain even a deacon. Then, Mary was never named as an intercessor in heaven; now, she was invoked by many perhaps more frequently than the Lord of Glory. Then, the Irish were unwilling to eat at the same table with Romanists, and spurned all badges of papal subserviency; now, a well-meaning but deluded Irish

vol. ii., p. 31. London, 1869. Benedict of Peterborough, another contemporary, bears the same testimony. Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, p. 29. London, 1867. We may fairly draw the same conclusion from the language of Giraldus Cambrensis : "Rex. . . . totius cleri Hiberniae, concilium apud Cassiliam convocavit."-Expug. Hiber. lib. i., cap. 34.

1 Bede, iii. 4.

man had recently travelled all the way to Rome, that he might there obtain symbols of slavery for the Church of his fathers. Then, Ireland was free, and honoured as the land of saints and of scholars; now, she was under the yoke of the stranger, and represented as a land of darkness and of the shadow of death!

CHAPTER II.

FROM THE SYNOD OF CASHEL TO THE DEATH OF KING JOHN. A.D. 1172 TO A.D. 1216.1

2

THOUGH the Bull of Adrian, conveying a new kingdom to Henry II., was obtained in the beginning of his reign, several modern writers have asserted that, for twenty years afterwards, neither the clergy nor people of Ireland were aware of its existence. This statement is as unsupported by evidence as it is destitute of probability. A bull is an official deed, attested with all due formality; and no proof whatever can be given that any special secresy was observed in reference to this memorial. It was well known to the English nobility; for, when it was procured, Henry, in a meeting held at Winchester, discussed with them the expediency of an immediate invasion; but, after mature deliberation, they arrived at the conclusion that, in the present state of his affairs, he was not in a position to attempt the undertaking. A papal legate was now constantly resident in the island; he kept up a correspondence with Rome; and it is not to be supposed that a project, which his Italian master had determined to promote, was kept concealed from such a functionary. The Popes at this period had reached the very meridian of their power: they claimed temporal as well as spiritual dominion

1 Henry II. A.D. 1172 to A. D. 1189; Richard I. A. D. 1189 to A.D. 1199; John, A. D. 1199 to A.D. 1216..

2 See, for example, Lanigan iv. 164, 222; and Haverty's History of Ireland, p. 205. See Ussher's Sylloge. Epist. xlvi. Recensio, Works, iv. p. 548. The ring of investiture, as lord of Ireland, which Henry received from the Pope, was publicly exhibited-" Idemque adhuc annulus in curiali archio publico custodiri jussus est."-Ibid.

over countries such as Ireland; and, on the principles promulgated by Hildebrand, and avowed by his successors, Adrian would have defended his donation to King Henry, as a perfectly legitimate exercise of his pontifical prerogative. It has been asserted, and not without evidence, that the Irish prelates at the time were informed of the transaction; and that it met with their approval. There are good grounds for believing that even the Irish princes soon heard of the papal document. Dermod McMurrough-the deposed King of Leinster, who has ever since been consigned to infamous notoriety as the betrayer of the national independence—was apparently apprized of the contents of the Bull when he entered on his inglorious This worthless prince was a great favourite with the clergy, for he had loaded them with benefactions; and, when he sought to recover his throne, he pursued a course which no Irish monarch in like circumstances had ever before ventured to adopt, but which a knowledge of the Roman diploma would have obviously suggested. He sought out the King of England; threw himself at his feet; implored his protection; and, in the event of his successful interference, promised, on behalf of himself and his heirs, to acknowledge Henry as his liege lord, and to hold his territories as the vassal of the British sovereign.2

career.

The conduct of the Irish prelates, when Henry made his appearance on their shores, is well fitted to sustain the charge that they were privy to the invasion. Instead of standing aloof, and waiting until compelled by necessity to acknowledge the usurper, they came to him from all parts of the country, and bound themselves to him by an oath of allegiance. Nor did they stop here. According to the testimony

1 See Keating, book ii. 212-3. Dr. O'Conor endorses the statement of Keating with a slight modification. See his Historical Address, part i. 67-8. See also Leland, i. 10. Henry was well aware of the power of the clergy; and we may presume that so politic a prince, with the Pope on his side, would at once quietly endeavour to secure their support.

2 Leland's History of Ireland, i. 17-18.

3 Hoveden Annal. A.D. 1171. See before, p. 216, note (2). Brompton has the same statement, but he is a somewhat later authority. Hoveden belonged to the household of Henry II., and was subsequently a theological professor at Oxford. We could scarcely desire a better witness.