OORNISH DBDI0ATI0N8. 496 



It is certain that at one time S. Patrick did meet with some 

 opposition to his claims, on the part of a certain number of the 

 missioners in Ireland, and his notable Confession — one of the 

 most touching and beautiful memoirs ever penned — was written 

 as his defence against those who carped at his authority. 



Possibly Carantoc may have been at the head of this 

 dissident faction. 



That Patrick took a very high hand, and sometimes acted 

 with, unwarrantable violence, cannot be questioned, — if the 

 stories in the Tripartite Life are to be believed ; and this roused 

 opposition even among the missioners. 



The ' Confession ' is a very interesting document. It did 

 not occur for a moment to S. Patrick to crush opposition by 

 saying, "1 was commissioned from Eome by Pope Celestine," 

 for one of two reasons, either because he never had been so 

 commissioned, or because he did not think that such a 

 commission would carry any weight. 



The notable exception, referred to, is the case of the drawing 

 up of the Seanchus Mor. When the bulk of the population of 

 Ireland had accepted Christianity, it became advisable that the 

 laws should be readjusted to meet the new condition of affairs. 

 King Laoghaire saw this, and although not himself a Christian, 

 he appointed a joint commission for the revision and codification 

 of the laws. The commission consisted of three Kings, three 

 Brehons or Druids, and three Christian Bishops. Patrick, 

 Benignus, and Carantoc sat as representatives of the Church. 

 This code remained in force among the Irish throughout the 

 Middle Ages, and in Clare even down to 1600. 



The Latin Life says not a word about this, which occupied 

 Carantoc and the other Commissioners three years, and was 

 completed in 438, and which was the most important and far- 

 reaching act of his life. 



Carantoc retired from the mission in Ireland, whether 

 because he could not work with Patrick, or for some other 

 reason, we do not know. He retired into a cave in Cardigan, 

 and founded the church of Llan-granog. The Welsh call him 

 Carannog. 



