opposite
Skerries, Co. Dublin. This synod demanded the palls in due form, and
sent Malachy to obtain them. But he got no further on his journey than
Clairvaux. There, after celebrating Mass on St. Luke's Day, he was taken
ill of a fever; and there a fortnight later he died in the arms of St.
Bernard, on All Souls' Day, 2nd November, 1148.[90]

Nevertheless the palls came. They were brought to Ireland by a legate
specially commissioned by Pope Eugenius III., John Paparo, cardinal
priest of St. Laurence. A synod was held at Kells to receive them in
March 1152,[91] of which the joint presidents were Paparo, as _legatus a
latere_, and Christian, first abbot of Mellifont, and now bishop of
Lismore, who had lately succeeded Malachy as _legatus natus_.

Of this synod Keating gives a short account, abridged from the _Annals
of Clonenagh_,[92] from which he had also derived his knowledge of the
proceedings at Rathbreasail. He preserves a list of the bishops who
attended. It includes twenty-two names, if we count two vicars who
represented absent bishops. There were besides, as Keating informs us,
five bishops-elect. And there was certainly one bishop of a diocese who
was neither present nor represented, Edan O'Kelly, bishop of Oriel. So
it appears that in 1152 there were at least twenty-eight dioceses in
Ireland--a number considerably larger than was contemplated at
Rathbreasail. The increase in number is partly accounted for by the
presence of the bishop of the recently formed diocese of Kilmore, the
division of the diocese of Connor into Connor and Down, and, a most
striking addition, the inclusion of Gregory, bishop of Dublin, among the
assembled prelates. It is remarkable that the bishop of Kells is not
mentioned, though the synod was held in his own city. How was the bishop
of Dublin induced to throw in his lot with the Irish Church? We shall
see in a moment.

Much business was transacted at this Synod. But that which concerns us
most nearly is the giving of the palls. Cardinal Paparo brought the
Irish bishops more than they had asked for; more indeed than they
desired. He presented, not two palls but four, Dublin and Tuam, as well
as Armagh and Cashel, being recognized as archiepiscopal sees. This
excessive generosity caused much displeasure among the Irish bishops.
"For Ireland," says Keating, apparently paraphrasing the _Annals of
Clonenagh_, "thought it enough to have a pall in the church of Armagh
and a pall in Cas