TheSynod of Ráth Breasail (orRathbreasail;Irish:Sionad Ráth Bhreasail) was asynod of theCatholic Church in Ireland that took place in Ireland in 1111.[1] It marked the transition of the Irish church from amonastic to adiocesan andparish-based church. Many present-day Irish dioceses trace their boundaries to decisions made at the synod.
Viking raids on Ireland began around the start of the 9th century, and had a devastating effect on the Irish church. These disruptions, along with secular impositions by the invaders, produced a decline in Christian religious observance and the moral standards established bySaint Patrick and other early missionaries. Apathy towards these Christian teachings increased, causing many parts of Ireland to return topaganism by the 11th century, weakening Christianity's grasp on the populace.[citation needed]
Gradually, as the onslaughts of the Danes became less frequent, there was a revival of religious education, which prepared the way for the religious reforms of the 12th century.[2]
It was the second of four great reforming Irishsynods; the other three were atCashel (1101 and 1172), andKells-Mellifont (1152). Rathbreasail is nearMountrath,County Laois, a suitably central place for such an important meeting, however, the location of the synod is not certain, and sites in counties Armagh, Laois, Tipperary and Cork have been suggested as possible locations. Ó Murchada (1999) argues in favour of a location near the townland of Clonbrassil about 4 miles southwest of Templemore, Co. Tipperary in the present-day parish of Drom & Inch.[3]
It was convened by thepapal legate,Gille,Bishop of Limerick.[4] Gille is not mentioned in the Irish Annals, possibly because Limerick was then aHiberno-Norse city. Its purpose was the Romanising of the Irish Church, and, in particular, the establishment of diocesan episcopacy.[2]
The synod was attended by no fewer than fifty bishops, three hundred priests and three thousand laymen, including KingMurtough O'Brien. There were no representatives of the provinces of Connaught and Leinster, in which the Reform movement had not yet established itself.[2] The synod's deliberations were prompted by theGregorian Reform and guided by the relatively new powers of the Papacy as defined inDictatus papae (1075–87) andLibertas ecclesiae (1079).
The Council established two provinces: Armagh and Cashel. Each province consisted of twelve territorial dioceses. The boundaries of the dioceses were only vaguely defined, however. The synod also made theSee of Waterford asuffragan of theArchbishop of Cashel having previously been a Danish city subject toCanterbury.
The following 24 dioceses were established by the synod:
TheDiocese of Dublin acknowledged the jurisdiction of Canterbury until 1096, but was not included in the list of dioceses at the synod. It was not incorporated into the system of Irish dioceses until theSynod of Kells in 1152.