it was
described as the parish of Lismore or Waterford. Now Lismore was the
most sacred spot in the enlarged diocese. It was the site of a monastery
founded by St. Mochuta. It was an ideal place for a bishop's see. But it
was doubtless ruled at the moment by an abbot, the coarb of Mochuta.
Unless he was prevailed on to accept episcopal orders, or was deprived
of his authority, a diocesan bishop could not be established there. On
the other hand, Waterford had no sacred traditions; but it was already
the see of a diocese. In default of Lismore it would be a convenient
place for the see. Between Lismore and Waterford the circumstances of
the future must decide. Ultimately, it appears, Malchus retired from the
archbishopric of Cashel, and became bishop of his older diocese, now so
much greater than it had been. He placed his stool, however, not at
Waterford but at Lismore.[62] A similar, but not always identical
course was followed in other such cases.

What the Synod of Rathbreasail actually accomplished was this. It gave
to Ireland a paper constitution of the approved Roman and Catholic type.
But by doing this it had not achieved the purpose of its existence. In
the years that followed, its enactments had to be carried into effect.
And here was the real crux. Before the Church came to be ruled by
diocesan bishops, the existing rulers--the coarbs of church
founders--must be dispossessed of their authority; the numerous bishops
of the old Irish type must be got rid of; the jurisdiction of the new
bishops must be fixed by common consent, or enforced without it; and
revenues must be provided for them. A mere synodal decree could not
accomplish all this. The diocesan system could become a fact throughout
the whole Church, and the last vestiges of the ancient constitution be
made to disappear, only after determined effort, and probably bitter
contention. And when all was done it would certainly be found that the
scheme of dioceses arranged at Rathbreasail had been largely departed
from.

I can best illustrate the nature of the difficulties which had to be
encountered, and the length of time which might be required to overcome
them, by giving a short outline of the history of the forming of the
dioceses of the kingdom of Meath.

In Meath, as we have seen, there were dioceses ruled by bishops before
Rathbreasail. But these dioceses were of small size. It may be doubted
whether most of them fulfilled the condition laid down by