in his own deanery. These, with
Clonard, which had long been the see of Rochfort's diocese, are six of
the twelve rural deaneries into which the present diocese of Meath is
divided.[31] I conclude that they, and probably the remaining six,
coincided more or less closely with dioceses ruled by bishops in the
first half of the twelfth century.[32]

Let us now call to our aid a much earlier witness. The annalists inform
us that in the year 1111 there was an assembly at Usnagh in Meath. It
decreed that "the parishes[33] of Meath" should be equally divided
between the bishops of Clonmacnoise and Clonard. We may infer that
Clonmacnoise and Clonard, two of the present rural deaneries, were then
dioceses. It is not likely that the dioceses of Meath would have been
formed into two groups, each to constitute the diocese of a bishop who
had already no diocese of his own. But however that may be, we have here
proof that before 1111 Meath had been parted into a number of small
dioceses ruled by bishops.

If the question be asked, By whose authority or influence this division
of Meath into dioceses was made? I can suggest no one more likely than
Mael Muire Ua Dunain, the "bishop of Meath" to whom reference has
already been made.[34] He was a Meath man, and probably bishop of
Clonard: he was an ecclesiastic of great repute, especially in the
north; and he was a devoted adherent of the Reform movement. His action,
if indeed it was his, was premature and ill-advised. As we shall see,
his work had to be slowly undone. But it is remarkable, as the first
attempt known to us to establish diocesan episcopacy among the Irish. I
shall have more to say about it hereafter; but now I must follow the
main stream of events.

Gilbert,[35] the first bishop of Limerick, as has already been noted,
was an Irishman. Indeed, we may venture to describe him as one of the
most remarkable Irishmen of his time, in spite of the fact that the
Annals pass him by in almost complete silence. He was at any rate a
staunch supporter, or, as we should rather say, the leader of the
Reformation movement in its earliest course. In a letter written in 1107
Anselm exhorted him, in virtue of their mutual friendship, to make good
use of his episcopal office by correcting that which was amiss, and
planting and sowing good customs, calling to aid him in the work his
king (Murtough O'Brien), the other Irish bishops, and all whom he could
persuade.[36] That, assuredly, Gilbert