St Ceallach (Celsus) first archbishop of Armagh (1080-1129)
A hereditary lay abbacy controlling the Church in Armagh
Ceallach (Celsus) was born in 1080. He belonged to a powerful local family, the Clann Sínaigh, which controlled what was then the hereditary lay abbacy of Armagh.
In this system the lay coarb (that is, "successor" of some saint, in this case of St Patrick), was also erenagh (or, administrator,
in this case of Armagh).
Such was the prevailing ecclesiastical
structure in Ireland at that time.
In general bishops and priests seemed
to have had little influence and were probably under the control
of these lay abbots.
In 1091 Ceallach inherited the title of coarb and was then the effective erenagh of Armagh.
Lay control in Europe being overturned
Lay
control of bishoprics had also been operative in Europe, but with the
reform of Pope Gregory VII (1073-85) was gradually being replaced by a
diocesan structure with bishops more or less effectively in charge.
This
reform spread to England, especially when strong Norman archbishops
like Lanfranc and St Anselm came to the see of Canterbury.
In response
to requests from the Norse community in Dublin, Lanfranc had consecrated
Donngus and Anselm had consecrated Samuel Ó h-Ainglí as bishops for
Dublin and Anselm had consecrated Malchus as the first bishop of
Waterford in 1096.
Reform beginning in Munster
Both Lanfranc and
Anselm had written to the O'Brien kings of Munster, Turlough and
Muircheartach, urging a change to the lay dominance of the coarb and erenagh
system.
The First Synod of Cashel (1101) presided over by King
Muircheartach Ó Briain introduced this reform to Ireland.
From the
clergy side the reform was led by Maol Muire Ó Dunáin, bishop of Meath,
who may have visited Rome and was appointed papal legate to Ireland
by Pope Paschal II (1099-1117).
This synod enacted decrees against lay
investiture and against simony: it also laid down that no layman could
be an erenagh and that no erenagh could have a wife.
Ceallach's decision
In line with this
reform Ceallach of Armagh, a man of learning and piety, not yet married,
made the courageous decision to become a priest.
In 1106 Maol Muire Ó
Dunáin ordained him bishop, probably somewhere in Munster.
At the Synod
of Rathbreasail in 1111, at which Ceallach was present, the reforms of
Cashel were made nationwide and the whole country was divided into
formal dioceses with Cashel and Armagh as the two archbishoprics.
Archbishop of Armagh
In the face of stern
opposition, probably most of all from within his own family, Ceallach
administered Armagh, whose diocesan boundaries were laid down at this
time.
As a metropolitan province, Armagh was given twelve suffragan
dioceses. Dublin at this stage had a strong Norse population and was
more linked with Canterbury.
But in 1121, after Bishop Samuel Ó
h-Ainglí died, Ceallach went to Dublin as the new bishop Gréne, or
Gregory, was being installed.
Appoints Malachy as vicar in his absence and sends him for training
In
his absence Ceallach appointed the young monk Malachy, who later
succeeded him, to act as his vicar in Armagh.
Possibly his lengthy
absence in Dublin was connected to a dispute there between the Norse
and Irish factions or to his desire to assert Irish influence in that
city.
Ceallach, when he returned to Armagh in 1122, saw that Malachy had
sterling qualities suitable in a bishop.
He sent him first to Lismore
where he could have contact with Benedictine influences from England and
the continent.
Ceallach continued to administer Armagh.
When Malachy
returned, Ceallach gave him the task of restoring Bangor as a monastic
community and in 1124 he consecrated him as bishop of Connor.
His death and influence
Knowing that his own
family would try to regain control of Armagh when he died, Ceallach
named Malachy as his successor as bishop there, sending him his crozier (bacall)
in token.
In 1129 while visiting Munster, Ceallach died at Ardpatrick
and was buried in Lismore at his own request.
Malachy did indeed have
difficulties establishing control as bishop.
But he was able to have
Giolla Mac Liag, abbot of Derry, installed and accepted as effective
bishop and administrator of Armagh, while he himself returned to the
monastery of Bangor.
Malachy then consecrated a bishop for Connor
diocese, keeping Down for himself.
Ceallach effected a crucial change
Ceallach's
personal decision to become a priest and a bishop effected a crucial
change in the organisation and reform of the Church in Ireland in the
12th century.
He deserves to be better known and acknowledged.