History of Roman Catholicism in Ireland - Anglo-Normans

Anglo-Normans

In December, 1154 Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, by the Treaty of Wallingford and a large fleet, became in addition Henry II, King of England. In that same month an Englishman, Nicholas Breakspeare, was elected Pope Adrian IV. Henry intended, as shown by his later Constitutions of Clarendon, to establish the supremacy of the civil law and courts above the ecclesiastical law and courts. In the first full year of Henry's reign (1155) he procured the Papal Bull Laudabiliter from the Hertfordshire born Pope Adrian IV authorizing Henry to proceed to conquer Ireland "to check the torrent of wickedness to reform evil manners, to sow the seeds of virtue". The quid pro quo was the condition that a penny should be yearly paid from each house to the See of Rome (the still extant Peter's Pence). Henry and the Pope also had other reasons (see Henry II, section “Lordship over Ireland”). The invasion was put aside while Henry attended to other matters. Henry continued to battle the supreme power of the Church, and Thomas à Beckett in England. In 1166, Henry took the opportunity to accede to the request by displaced Irish Rí of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada for assistance in regaining his Irish territory. A first contingent of the Norman Invasion of Ireland came to Ireland in 1169 under Maurice Fitzgerald, followed by a stronger force under Strongbow (Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke) in 1170, the year Thomas à Beckett was murdered. In 1171 Henry himself landed at Waterford and proceeded to Dublin, where he spent the winter, and received the submission of most the Irish chiefs. This submission was outlined in the Treaty of Windsor 1175.

Given the significant degree of independence in the Celtic Church, some Irish clergy quarrelled. Disputes arose over appointments. There were some religious houses which were corrupt, their Chieftains, priors and abbots often controlling great and wealthy landholdings. Some were too involved in secular concerns. The great monastic schools had declined. Clonmacnoise, for example, was in ruins. Gradually preaching would be revived by the influx of the new mendicant orders. Henry's title as the Lord of Ireland (Dominus Hiberniae) was confirmed by the papacy. The bishops took the oath of fidelity to him and his successors at the Synod of Cashel. The Celtic Church's alignment with the Church of Rome was copperfastened. The native liturgies were gradually streamlined and adapted and many aspects of the liturgy of the Western European Roman Christian Church were adopted.

From then on, a papal legate was resident in Ireland. Pope Alexander III was extremely gratified with this extension of his dominion. In September, 1172, in a tone of sanctimonious arrogance, he issued a brief confirming the Bull of Adrian IV, and expressing a hope that “the barbarous nation” which it undoubtedly would have been, would attain under the government of Henry “to some decency of manners”. He also wrote three epistles — one to Henry II, one to the Righ and nobles of Ireland, and one to its reorganised and renewed hierarchy — enjoining the people of Ireland to the personal sovereignty of the King of England, and of both nations to the Roman see of St. Peter.

In some ways the change effectively streamlined the church hierarchy. Under the ancient system, the native Chieftains were absolute over their followers in religious matters. This included the clergy. According to the new order introduced by Henry II, the Chieftains no longer had authority over the clergy. To maintain sovereignty over the general Irish clergy, the major Sees were filled by Normans. The native Irish clergy often appealed to Rome to confirm the more controversial nominations. Instances of predictable jealousy, hostility and dispute characterized the relations between the Norman and the Irish ecclesiastics. Animosity in the struggle for supremacy ebbed and flowed. It lasted for centuries, and would impact the Reformation.