d on Bede's
_History_, in which there is not a single word which supports it. But
the arrival two years later of Patrick, elect of Dublin, seeking
consecration at his hands, gave him his opportunity to enforce it. When
Patrick returned to take possession of his see he carried with him two
letters from Lanfranc. One was addressed to Gothric, the Manx prince who
for the moment was king of Dublin. Lanfranc, with tactful exaggeration,
dubs him "glorious king of Ireland," and tells him that in consecrating
Patrick he had followed the custom of his predecessors in the chair of
St. Augustine. The other letter was more important. It was directed to
Turlough O'Brien, grandson of Brian Boroimhe, who is also styled,
inconsistently, and not altogether truly, "magnificent king of Ireland":
he was doubtless king of Ireland in hope, but in fact he never extended
his sway beyond the southern half of the island. Turlough's attention is
called to the irregularities of the Irish Church. He is urged to call a
council of bishops and religious men for the extirpation of those evil
customs, and to be present at it in person. This letter evidently
produced an impression, and not only on Turlough O'Brien. For a few
years later Lanfranc wrote another letter, this time to a bishop named
Donnell and others, who had sought his advice on a difficult question
concerning the sacrament of baptism.[26]

Anselm followed in the footsteps of Lanfranc. Not long after his
consecration (1093) he wrote to Donnell, Donough O'Hanley and the rest
of the bishops of Ireland, begging the aid of their prayers, and urging
them to consult him in all cases of difficulty. Almost immediately
afterwards came the election of Malchus, bishop of Waterford, in 1096.
Among those who signed the petition for his consecration were Bishop
Donnell, Samuel O'Hanley, whom Anselm had consecrated for Dublin earlier
in the same year, and O'Dunan, bishop of Meath (_Idunan episcopus
Midiae_), whose name we shall do well to remember. But most notable of
all were Murtough O'Brien, son of Turlough, then the strongest of Irish
kings, soon to be _ardri_, and his brother Dermot O'Brien.[27] It is
clear that Lanfranc had won the O'Briens to the Romanizing side; and
Anselm was determined to hold them fast. Within the next few years there
was a fairly regular correspondence between him and Murtough, of which
some letters have been preserved.[28] The relation between the two men
was evidently most f