Canterbury

Canterbury, the primatial see of the English church, played an important though at times contested role in Irish ecclesiastical affairs in the 11th and 12th centuries. Although it is possible that Dúnán (Donatus), the first recorded bishop of Dublin, was consecrated at Canterbury c.1028, the first certain evidence of an Irish bishop being consecrated there relates to Gilla Pátraic (Patricius), bishop‐elect of Dublin in 1074. His two successors, Donngus (Donatus) in 1085 and Samuel in 1096, were also consecrated at Canterbury, as also, in 1096, was the first known bishop of Waterford, Máel Isú ( Malchus). The Synod of Ráith Bressail (1111), which outlined a nationwide diocesan structure for the Irish church, envisaged that the pre‐existing sees of Dublin and Waterford would, on the death of their incumbents, be incorporated into the new hierarchical constitution. However, a disputed episcopal election in the city of Dublin in 1121 ensured that recourse was once again made to Canterbury for the consecration of Gréne (Gregorius). In 1140, Patrick, a bishop‐elect of Limerick, sought consecration at Canterbury, also probably in the context of a disputed election. At the Synod of Kells (1152) presided over by the papal legate, Cardinal John Paparo, the diocesan constitution of the Irish church received papal endorsement, without acknowledgement of the fact that Canterbury had consecrated bishops for Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick. It was almost certainly Canterbury's response to this diminution of its perceived rights that occasioned the procural of the papal grant Laudabiliter. While Canterbury's interest in the Irish church has been interpreted as expansionist and imperialist in intention, it is more likely that it was always secondary to its precedent primatial claims over the see of York; professions of obedience from Irish bishops afforded useful supporting evidence for Canterbury's primacy within a British Isles context.

Marie Therese Flanagan