ill retained many of their heathen customs. The canons of St. Patrick,
which were always respected by the native Irish, forbid such practices;
and the synod, therefore, had only to call on the people to observe the
laws of the Church more strictly.

Two other subjects, (3) one regarding the consecration of bishops, the
other (4) referring to the ceremonies of baptism, were merely questions
of ecclesiastical discipline, and as such were easily arranged by
competent authority. In St. Anselm's correspondence with the prelates of
the south of Ireland, he passes a high eulogium on their zeal and piety,
while he deplores certain relaxations of discipline, which they were as
anxious to reform as he could desire.

We have already mentioned that St. Celsus appointed St. Malachy his
successor in the Archiepiscopal See of Armagh. Malachy had been educated
by the Abbot Imar O'Hagan, who presided over the great schools of that
city; and the account given of his early training, sufficiently
manifests the ability of his gifted instructor, and the high state of
intellectual culture which existed in Ireland. While still young, St.
Malachy undertook the restoration of the famous Abbey of Bangor. Here he
erected a small oratory of wood, and joined himself to a few devoted men
ardent for the perfection of a religious life. He was soon after elected
Bishop of Connor. With the assistance of some of his faithful monks, he
restored what war and rapine had destroyed; and was proceeding
peacefully and successfully in his noble work, when he was driven from
his diocese by a hostile prince. He now fled to Cormac Mac Carthy, King
of Desmond;[240] but he was not permitted to remain here long. The See
of Armagh was vacated by the death of St. Celsus, and Malachy was
obliged to commence another arduous mission. It is said that it almost
required threats of excommunication to induce him to undertake the
charge. Bishop Gilbert of Limerick, the Apostolic-Delegate, and Bishop
Malchus of Lismore, with other bishops and several chieftains, visited
him in the monastery which he had erected at Ibrach,[241] and at last
obtained compliance by promising him permission to retire when he had
restored order in his new diocese.

[Illustration: BANGOR CASTLE.]

St. Malachy found his mission as painful as he had anticipated. The lay
intruders were making a last attempt to keep up their evil custom; and,
after the death of the usurper who made this false claim, anot