his rights against the monarch of Ireland. The king had removed the shrine of Saint Patrick from Ardee to Assey on the river Boyne. For this not very heinous offence he was obliged to pay a heavy fine to Dubhdalethe, giving tribute from every portion of his kingdom. Some of the bishop's historical poetry remains; he was therefore a bard as well as an ecclesiastic, and in that age this would have added greatly to his reputation.
In 988 he 'assumed the coarbship of Columkill by the advice of the men of Ireland and Alba.'[1] Ten years he continued in his new office, and in the meantime Muireagan of Bordoney took his place as Abbot of Armagh and Coarb of Saint Patrick. That a man such as Dubhdalethe appears to have been, would have relinquished a greater for a lesser position, is not to be believed. We are therefore led to conclude that as late as the end of the tenth century the Coarb of Columkill took rank above the Coarb of Patrick. We have no other example that we can place beside this, and the incident is therefore to be regarded as the last token of that ascendency which Iona had once enjoyed.
One hundred years later, the see of Armagh had advanced immensely. There could no longer be any question as to its supremacy. The abbot had become a veritable prince of the Church, imposing and receiving tribute from all parts of the country. But in other respects he had few of the prerogatives of an archbishop. It was by no means considered necessary that his advice should be asked or sanction obtained before other bishops were consecrated. They owed him no canonical obedience. They did not repair to him for ordination.
- ↑ Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 988.
