THE president's ADDRESS. 1^ 



times to account for a woman having exercised jurisdiction over 

 a Bishop, that it -was fabled that Bishop Mel who veiled her had 

 by mistake read over her the office of the consecration of a 

 Bishop. 



We know that St. Columba at lona, though only in priest's 

 orders, yet retained Bishop Etchen subject to his command to 

 ordain clergy for his missions. 



There were no territorial sees. There could not be where 

 the Celtic tribal organization existed. 



It has puzzled writers to determine whether the original 

 Cornish see was at Bodmin, St. Germans, or at Dingerein. But 

 there was no cathedral city anywhere in the peninsula. There 

 were Bishops. We hear of them now and again, but they were 

 attached to the great monastic centres, the position of which, 

 with the exception of Buckfast, Hartland, Bodmin, St. Germans, 

 Petherwin, Perranzabuloe, Meneage, it is not easy to determine. 



Among the Hy Many of Connaught, St. Bridget was the 

 patroness, the ecclesiastical head, and to her and her comarbs 

 or successors went a penny for every one of the tribe who 

 was baptized (O'Donovan, — " Tribes and Customs of the Hy 

 Many," Dubl., 1843, p. 79.) 



This leads us to the reciprocal duties that bound together 

 the tribe of the land and the tribe of the saint. 



The tribe of the land, as already said, was bound to give 

 the firstborn of every family, human or bestial, to the saint. It 

 also paid certain dues for sacraments, and it protected the rights 

 of the saint to his land, and defended his liberties. 



On the other hand, the saint was required to provide for the 

 instruction of the children of the tribe ; so that his monastery 

 was a great school. He was further bound to minister the 

 sacraments, and to sing a requiem over the dead of the tribe. 

 Furthermore, he was expected in time of war to precede the 

 forces of the clan and to curse its enemies. If the saint himself 

 was dead, then his comarb took his place bearing the cathair or 

 war palladium of the saint — a book of the psalms he had 

 written, a bell that he had cast, or his pastoral staff. 



The Hy Many in the fifth century were becoming too popu- 

 lous for their district. Now, at that time the Firbolgs occupied 



