was strictly controlled by statute, Gaelic Ireland was
under no such strictures and the papal records abound
in references to disputes relating to appointments to
benefices, elections to bishoprics, matrimonial cases
and dispensations from illegitimacy, and other canon-
ical impediments to ordination. While papal interven-
tion in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was generally
on the side of church reform these later involvements
were less edifying and more mercenary as an impov-
erished papal curia exploited every avenue of financial
opportunity. This was particularly pronounced during
the Great Schism (1378–1418). Like England, the Irish
church sided with Urban VI and his successors in
the Roman obedience, though there is some evidence
for support for Clement VII and the Avignon line in
Connacht and amongst the friars in the early stages of
the controversy.
Ireland remained largely untouched by the con-
ciliar movement and any impetus towards reform
came through the Observant movement among the
mendicant friars, which emerged at the end of the
fourteenth century. The Observance brought the friars
into close contact with the papacy and they emerged
as its chief champions when the challenge to papal
authority arose after 1536 when the Irish parliament
recognized Henry VIII as the supreme head of the
Church in Ireland.
COLMÁNN. Ó CLABAIGH, OSB
References and Further Reading
Bracken, Damian. “Authority and Duty: Columbanus and the
Primacy of Rome.” Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Acad-
emy of Ireland16 (2002): 168–213.
Flanagan, Marie Therese. “Hiberno-papal Relations in the Late
Twelfth Century.” Archivium Hibernicum34 (1976–1977):
55–70.
Gwynn, Aubrey. The Irish Church in the 11th and 12th Centuries.
Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1992.
Walsh, Katherine. “Ireland, the Papal Curia and the Schism: a
Border Case.” Genèse et Débuts du Grand Schisme d’Occi-
dent. Colloques Internationaux du Centre Nationale de la
Recherché Scientifique586 (1980) 561–74.
Watt, John. The Church in Medieval Ireland. 2d ed. Dublin:
University College Dublin Press, 1998.
———. “The Papacy and Ireland in the Fifteenth Century.” In
The Church, Politics and Patronage in the Fifteenth Century,
edited by R. B. Dobson, 133–45. Gloucester: 1984.
See alsoAnglo-Norman Invasion; Black Death;
Bruce, Edward; Cashel, Synod of I (1101); Cashel,
Synod of II (1172); Christ Church Cathedral;
Church Reform, Twelfth Century; Ecclesiastical
Organization; Ecclesiastical Settlements;
Fitzralph, Richard; Gaelic Revival; Henry II;
Kells, Synod of; Malachy (Máel M’áedoic);
Paschal Controversy; Racial and Cultural
Conflict; Scotti/Scots
PARISH CHURCHES, CATHEDRALSParish Churches
Parish churches and cathedrals are a product of the
church reforms of the twelfth century in Ireland. While
the country was dotted with churches and ecclesiastical
sites in the early medieval period, there was a lack of
overall organization and the degree of pastoral care
available is a matter of debate and certainly varied
greatly from place to place. There has also been debate
about the extent to which parishes were well estab-
lished and tithes levied before the Anglo-Normans
arrived. Certainly in the areas settled by the Anglo-
Normans parishes became well established and were
often coextensive with the local manor. Parish churches
and manorial centers are commonly situated in close
proximity in these areas. On the other hand many of
these churches were older ecclesiastical sites and some
of the manors were older political units or centers.
However, in areas not settled by the Anglo-Normans,
parishes appear to have been established more gradu-
ally and haphazardly.
The parish system was based on tithes, a tax
amounting to one tenth (a tithe) of farm produce pay-
able to the parochial clergy for their maintenance. In
many cases the lord granted the tithes to a monastic
establishment, who would supply a priest from the
community to serve the parish or more usually pay a
priest to do so. A small amount of land known as the
glebe, usually situated close to the parish church, was
set aside for the priest’s residence and for grazing and
tillage on a small scale.
Medieval parish churches are normally divided into
a nave, the main body of the church where the con-
gregation worshipped, and the smaller chancel, whereKildare Cathedral. © Department of the Environment, Heritage
and Local Government, Dublin.PAPACY