Malachy (Maol Maedoc) (1094–1148), archbishop of Armagh. This most famous pioneer of the Gregorian Reform in Ireland was the son of Mughron Ua Morgain, a teacher, and called ‘Irish of the Irish’. He was educated at Armagh and became a monk there under abbot Imar when he was about twenty. In 1119 he was ordained priest. Soon after, while Cellach of Armagh occupied Dublin, Malachy ruled Armagh diocese as his vicar. His policy, based on the synod of Rath Bresaill (1111), was to insist on canon law as the norm of government, to restore marriage as a stable, legal contract, to renew the practice of confession and confirmation, and to introduce Roman chants and ceremonies in the liturgy. All of these had previously been neglected owing to insular traditions and repeated Viking invasions. In 1121 Malachy studied the Gregorian Reform programme more completely and monasticism as an integral part of it under Malchus, archbishop of Cashel and formerly a monk of Winchester.
In 1123 his uncle gave him the famous, but deserted, abbey of Bangor (Co. Down). Malachy accepted it, but refused most of its lands and revenues. He restored it with the help of ten monks from Armagh and built a wooden church. In 1124 he was consecrated bishop of Connor (and Down), but he still lived at Bangor. His principal problems were a severe shortage of priests, neglect of the sacraments, rejection of canon law in favour of Irish customs, and the non‐payment of tithes. For three years Malachy worked at transforming his diocese until he was driven out by a local chieftain. He retired to found the monastery called Ibracense perhaps Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry), which became the centre of one of his most important achievements, the propagation of the Order of Austin Canons in many parts of Ireland. Their blend of pastoral and educational work in community provided a much‐needed regular way of life. Eventually they had houses in many cathedral towns.
In 1129 Cellach, archbishop of Armagh, died. He left the succession to his see not to a blood relation but to Malachy, who was, however, supplanted by a rival candidate, Muirchertach, who was supported by both the local chieftain and Cellach's clan. For three years Malachy, to avoid bloodshed, made no attempt to occupy his see until Gilbert of Limerick, papal legate, overcame his reluctance. For a time Malachy exercised jurisdiction in part of his diocese, but not the town or cathedral of Armagh. An armed peace followed until Muirchertach's death in 1134. But his successor Niall, although he left Armagh to Malachy, retained the crozier called the Staff of Jesus and the Book of Armagh. These assured him some recognition in the north, but the south was solidly for Malachy. This long dispute, a test‐case for the old custom of hereditary succession, only ended with Malachy's resignation in 1137 and the consecration of Gilla, abbot of Derry, whom all parties agreed to accept.
Malachy then returned to his own diocese, reserving Down for himself and consecrating another bishop for Connor. Soon after he went to Rome (via Scotland, York, and Clairvaux) to secure confirmation of the changes made by the reformers, and pallia for the archbishops of Armagh and Cashel. One result of this journey was the meeting with Bernard, which led to the foundation of Mellifont in 1142. This Cistercian abbey became the ‘parent’ of many others, including several of the ancient but disorganized Irish ones. At the synod of Innishpatrick (1148) formal application for the pallia was made by the Church in Ireland: once again Malachy was sent to obtain them; eventually four metropolitan sees were set up instead of two. Malachy, however, did not live to see this, as he died in the arms of St. Bernard at Clairvaux on his way to Rome.
His cult sprang up at Clairvaux, fostered by Bernard. In 1170 his name appears in the Irish Martyrology of Gorman. In 1190 Clement III approved the cult among the Cistercians, thus equivalently canonizing him. The feast was moved from 2 November to 3 November to avoid All Souls' Day; there is also some early evidence for 5 November.
The so‐called Prophecies of St. Malachy, a series of symbolical titles of the popes from 1143 until the supposed end of the world, are not by Malachy but are a late 16th‐century compilation published by Dom Arnold de Wyon in 1595. The choice of Malachy as their supposed author is evidence for his fame in Renaissance Rome.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- Contemporary Life by St. Bernard, also letters concerning Malachy (nos. 341, 356–7, 374) and sermons in AA.SS. Nov. II, i (1894), 135–66 and P.L., clxxxii. 1073–118
- clxxxiii. 481–90. All these documents translated with introduction by H. J. Lawlor, St. Malachy of Armagh (1920), and p.‐Y. Emery (S.C., 367, 1990). More recent studies include A. Gwynn, ‘St. Malachy of Armagh’, I.E.R., lxx (1948), 961–87
- lxxi (1949), 134–48 and 317–31
- J. Leclercq, ‘Documents on the Cult of St. Malachy’, Seanchas Ardmacha, iii (1959), 318–32
- P. J. Dunning, ‘The Arroasian Order in Medieval Ireland’, I.H.S. (1945), 297–315
- A. B. Scott, Malachy (1976). For the Prophecies of Malachy see H. Thurston, The War and the Prophets (1915), pp. 120–61
- also P. Grosjean, ‘La prophétie de S. Malachie sur l'Irlande’, Anal. Boll., li (1933), 318–24
