340 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



We may suppose, again, that there were really two successions — a successiou 

 of bishops, and a succession of abbots — which have been fused into one in our 

 List. On this hypothesis we should have a succession of abbots, beginning 

 at 578, as follows: Eochaid t59S, Senach 1 610, MacLaisre t623, Flann 

 Febla t715, Cele Petair t75S, Fer da Chrich t768. For the same period 

 the succession of bishops would be: Cairellan f 588, Toniine t661, Segine 

 ■f-688, Suibne t 730, Cougus 1750. Tims the average period of an abbot 

 would be 32 years, and of a bishop 40 years. These figures reduce the 

 hypothesis to an absurdity. Finally, we may assume that the bishops were 

 abbots, but that the abbots were not bishops. In favour of this, we have the 

 fact that Cormac (no. 7), who according to the annalists was a bishop, is 

 called in L and elsewhere an abbot. Many other instances of like kind 

 might be cited.' Abbots who were not bishops would, according to an 

 Irish custom which certainly goes back to tlie sixth century,^ employ bishops 

 to perform episcopal functions on their behalf. It is not surprising that such 

 subordinate officials are seldom mentioned in tlie Annals. That there were 

 audi bishops at Armagh in the eigiuh century is revealed by the incidental 

 notice of the death of one of tliem, Aftiatli, in 794 (no. 28). The record of 

 his obit is obviously due to the fact tliat he died on the same night as his 

 ablwl. Thus it seems that the third explanation is much more probable than 

 eillier of the others. If we accept it, we may absolve the compiler of our 

 List from the charge of combining two aitalogues of quite difTerent officials 

 into one. 



It will 1)0 evident, at any rat«, that Professor IJury's opinion that 

 St. Patrick set up in Ireland a system of diocesan episcopacy, which in the 

 course of time broke down,' is supported by our List. We may venture to 

 BQggeet that the time at which the organization of the church at Armagh 

 became purely monastic was about the middle of the sixth centuiy. 



During the period covered by the first section of the List, it appears 

 that the succession was unbroken and undisputed. Each coarb held office 

 till his death. None resigned or was deposed. There is no suggestion, either 

 in the Annals or in the List, that there were at any time rival claimants for 

 the chair of Patrick. 



We now turn to the third section of the List, postponing for the moment 

 our consideration of the second. It begins with the coarbship of Cathassach I 



' See, e.g., noa. 8, 10. AFM often turn the abbot< of .\U into bishops. But in other 

 documents I have noticed only one instance of this. Flann Febla is a ' siii epscop ' in the 

 Giin Adamuiin (ed. K. Meyer in Antcdota Oxotiitiaia, 1905, p. 16). But Flnnn Febla is 

 also a bishop in MS. A of AU. 



' Adamnan, V. S. Columbae, i, 36. ' Life of St. Patrick, pp. 180 ff, 375 ff. 



