KELLS, SYNOD OF
little is known about his activities before the convening
of the synod in the following March; approximately
four months of his time is, therefore, unaccounted for.
It is probable that he visited church leaders and lay
magnates in preparation for the synod; perhaps he
needed to check that the general agreement claimed
for the new diocesan arrangement existed.
The Synod Meets
The synod met in March of 1152. There has been some
confusion about its actual location. The annals say
Drogheda, but Geoffrey Keating, quoting an old book
that is no longer extant, gives Kells as the location.
Putting both sources together, it is believed that there
were two separate sessions of the synod. The first was
held at Kells and concluded by March 6; it reconvened
at Mellifont, near Drogheda, around Sunday, March 9,
and concluded on Palm Sunday (March 23). It is not
known how the business of the synod was divided
between the two sessions, but it is likely that episcopal
consecrations took place at Mellifont and that the four
palliawere distributed to the archbishops there at the
last sitting on Palm Sunday. Although the abbey church
there was not consecrated until 1157, the building must
have been sufficiently advanced in 1152 to allow these
ceremonies to proceed.
According to the Annals of the Four Mastersthe
synod was convened by the bishops of Ireland, along
with the coarb of Patrick (i.e., the bishop of Armagh)
and Cardinal Paparo, and was attended by 3000 eccle-
siastics, both monks and canons. It does not tell us
who the bishops were; fortunately Keating transcribed
their names. Although he says there were twenty-two
bishops and five bishops-elect present, he names only
twenty bishops and two bishop’s vicars: Gilla Críst Ua
Connairche, bishop of Lismore and legate of the pope
in Ireland; Gilla Mac Liac, coarb of Patrick and pri-
mate of Ireland (archbishop of Armagh); Domnall Ua
Lonngargáin, archbishop of Munster (Cashel); Gréine,
bishop of Áth Cliath (archbishop of Dublin); Gilla na
Náem Laignech, bishop of Glendalough; Dúngal Ua
Cáellaide, bishop of Leighlin; Tostius, bishop of Port
Láirge (Waterford); Domnall Ua Fogartaig, vicar-general
to the bishop of Osraige (Kilkenny); Fionn mac (Máel
Muire Mac) Cianáin, bishop of Kildare; Gilla in
Choimded Ua hArdmaíl, vicar to the bishop of Emly;
Gilla Áeda Ua Maigin, bishop of Cork; Mac Ronain
(Máel Brénainn Ua (Mac) Rónáin), bishop of Ciarraige
(Ardfert); Torgestius, bishop of Limerick; Muirchert-
ach Ua Máel Uidir, bishop of Clonmacnoise; Máel Ísu
Ua Connachtáin, bishop of East Connacht (Elphin);
(Máel Ruanaid) Ua Ruadáin, bishop of Luigne
(Achonry); Mac Raith Ua Móráin, bishop of Conmai-
cne (Ardagh); Étrú Ua Miadacháin, bishop of Clonard
(Meath); Tuathal Ua Connachtaig, bishop of Uí Briúin
(Kilmore); Muiredach Ua Cobthaig, bishop of Cenél
nEógain (Derry); Máel Pátraic Ua Bánáin, bishop of
Dál nAraidne (Connor); and Máel Ísu mac in Chléirig
Chuirr, bishop of Ulaid (Down). The two bishop’s
vicars are described as bishops in another source. They
may, of course, have been consecrated as bishops at
the synod, in which case the list of names given by
Keating would tally with the number of bishops he
said were present.
A notable absentee from this list is the archbishop of
Tuam; the see had been vacant since the death of Muire-
dach Ua Dubthaig in 1150. But we are told the arch-
bishop was given the palliumby Paparo at the synod; it
is possible, therefore, that Áed Ua hOissín was one of
the unnamed bishops-elect present and that he was con-
secrated before receiving it. Alternatively, the omission
from the list may be an error, as his name is included in
a list found in another source. The bishops of a number
of other dioceses are also missing from the list: Raphoe,
Louth, Duleek, Clonfert, Killala, Mayo, Kilmacduagh,
Ferns, Killaloe, Scattery, Kilfenora, Roscrea, Cloyne,
and Ross. Apart from conveying papal approval for the
four archbishoprics, Paparo also had the task of setting
out the dioceses. They were: Connor, Down, Louth
(Clogher), Clonard, Kells, Ardagh, Raphoe, Derry, and
Duleek (Armagh province); Killaloe, Limerick, Scattery,
Kilfenora, Emly, Roscrea, Waterford, Lismore, Cloyne,
Cork, Ross, and Ardfert, together with Ardmore and
Mungret who claimed episcopal status (Cashel prov-
ince); Glendalough, Ferns, Kilkenny (Ossory), Leighlin,
and Kildare (Dublin province); Mayo, Killala, Roscom-
mon, Clonfert, Achonry, and Kilmacduagh (Tuam prov-
ince). It was later claimed that a decision was made by
Cardinal Paparo that some small dioceses should be
allowed to continue to exist until the incumbent died, at
which time they would become rural deaneries.
The synod also passed decrees that, according to a
contemporary chronicler, were preserved in Ireland
and in papal archives. They are, however, no longer
extant. We have, therefore, to depend upon the scant
evidence in the annals and in what Keating transcribed
for knowledge of their contents. The Annals of the Four
Mastersreport that those present “established some
rules thereat i.e. to put away concubines and mistresses
from men; not to demand payment for anointing or
baptizing (though it is not good not to give such, if it
were in a person’s power); not to take [simoniacal]
payment for church property; and to receive tithes
punctually.” According to Keating’s transcription the
synod “entirely rooted out and condemned simony and
usury, and commanded by Apostolic authority the pay-
ment of tithes.” He wrote elsewhere that it also “(put)
down robbery and rape and bad morals and evils of
every kind besides.”