Cáenchomrac including Baigill

Cáenchomrac Ua Baigill († 1106 in Armagh ) was Bishop of Armagh from 1099 until his death . Although he was of noble descent, he did not belong to the Sínaich clan , which, in accordance with Irish law, exercised control of the Church of Armagh and passed it on within the family. Correspondingly, Cáenchomrac was not at the same time abbot of the monastery at the bishopric and in particular he did not have the important title of successor to St. Patrick .

His predecessor was Mael Pátraic Mac Ermedach , who died in 1096. Cáenchomrac himself was not ordained bishop until May 29, 1099. Why the bishopric remained vacant for three years remains as unknown as the origin of Cáenchomrac. It can only be assumed that he came from among the abbey's clerics. Domnall Mac Amalgada , who at that time had been abbot and successor to Patrick since 1091, could not take over the episcopate himself because of the lack of ordination . Domnall died in 1105, whereupon his nephew Cellach Mac Aodh took over the successor, who, unlike Domnall, sought priestly ordination and received 1105. Cáenchomrac's death the following year allowed Cellach to reunite both offices in one person.

swell

• Annals of Ulster with entries U1099.5 and U1106.7.
• Annals of the four masters with the entries M1099.5 and M1106.18.
• Annalen von Tigernach with the entry T1102.3.
• Annals of Inisfallen with the entry AI1106.8.

Secondary literature

• Marie Therese Flanagan: High-kings with opposition from the volume Prehistoric and Early Ireland from the series A New History of Ireland , ISBN 0-19-821737-4 . (On page 914, the separation of offices is briefly discussed and the name of the predecessor of Cellach is mentioned. The spelling was adopted from here.)
• Gerhard B. Winkler goes into a footnote (number 70 on page 601) in an annotated edition on the work Vita Sancti Malachiae episcopi by Bernhard von Clairvaux (1990, ISBN 3-7022-1732-0 ): It was not called felt necessary that the coarb abbot should also become bishop, as long as a member of the convent had the episcopal dignity to be able to undertake the ordination.

predecessor	Office	successor
Mael Pátraic Mac Ermedach	Bishop of Armagh 1099–1106	Cellach Mac Aodh