Note 325 — Chapter III

Tricesimo ferme aetatis suae anno. A.F.M. record under the year 1124 that "Mael Maedoc Ua Morgair sat in the bishopric of Connor." This agrees with the date of his consecration as given here. See p. 128, note 1. He was consecrated bishop by Cellach (§ 19).

We have seen (p. 20, note 3) that Malachy probably went to Lismore late in 1121. He spent several years there, and, according to St. Bernard, another long period at Armagh and Bangor before his consecration in 1124. This must be pronounced impossible. The most probable solution of the chronological difficulty is that through ignorance of Irish ecclesiastical affairs St. Bernard misunderstood the information supplied to him, and thus separated Malachy's tenure of the abbacy of Bangor from his episcopate, though the two were in reality conterminous. For the significance of Malachy's recall to the North, see Introduction, p. liii. f.; and for a fuller discussion, R.I.A., xxxv. 250-254.