It must be borne in mind, however, that in the Irish church bishops were almost as numerous as in the primitive church of Africa—“singulæ pene ecclesiæ singulos haberent episcopos.”—Bernard. Vit. S. Malachiæ cap. X.
[735] Cap. 13 Extra Lib. I. Tit. xvii.
[736] Benedicti Abbatis Gesta Henrici II. ann. 1171.
[737] Girald. Cambrens. op. cit. Lib. II. c. 13.
[738] Girald. Cambrens. loc. cit.
[739] Innocent PP. III. Regest. v. 158.
[740] Concil. Dublinens. ann. 1217 (Wilkins, I. 548).
[741] Quia putridum libidinosæ spurcitiæ contagium adeo apud clericos et presbyteros invaluit his diebus, quod nec auctoritas evangelica, nec canonica severitas illud hactenus extirpare potuit, quia in suæ perpetuæ damnationis periculum, et ordinis ecclesiasticæ ignominiam, populique perniciosum exemplum manifestum, adhuc suas publice detinent concubinas, etc.—Constit. Synod. Ossoriens. (Wilkins, II. 502).
[742] Bradshaw’s Enniskillen (London Athenæum, Sept. 7th, 1878, p. 305).
[743] Haddan and Stubbs, II. 175-80.