[1197] Ps. xlvi. 4.

[1198] Ecclus. l. 6.

[1199] 1 John i. 7, combined with 1 Thess. v. 5.

[1200] Isa. xviii. 4 (vg.).

ADDITIONAL NOTES

A.--St. Bernard's Description of the State of the Irish Church.

_Life_, Secs. 7, 16, 17.

In two passages of the _Life_ serious charges are made against the Irish
Church of the early years of the twelfth century. These charges refer
primarily to the dioceses of Armagh and Connor; but it is probable that
those dioceses were typical of many other districts throughout the
country. If St. Bernard's statements are true of them, they may be
applied with little reserve to the greater part of Ireland. Indeed he
himself gives us more than a hint that the abuses which he condemns were
by no means confined to eastern Ulster (Sec. 19). It may be well,
therefore, to bring them together and to discuss them.

1. There was no such thing as chanting at the canonical hours. In the
whole bishopric of Armagh "there was none who could or would sing" (Sec.
7). "In the churches [of Connor] there was not heard the voice either of
preacher or singer" (Sec. 16). We may suspect that there is some
exaggeration here; for if church song was absolutely unknown, how could
Malachy have "learnt singing in his youth" (Sec. 7)? But that St.
Bernard's remarks are substantially correct need not be questioned. He
is not speaking of the Irish Church as it was in its earlier period,
but of its state at the time when it had probably fallen to its lowest
depth. His assertion, therefore, is not disposed of by references to
the chanting at the funerals of Brian Boroimhe in 1014 and Maelsechlainn
in 1022 (O'Hanlon, p. 34). Indeed in the notices of those events in
_A.F.M._ there is no express mention of ecclesiastical song.

2. At Armagh Confession was not practised (Sec. 7); in the diocese of
Connor "nowhere could be found any who would either seek penance or
impose it" (Sec. 16). It may be true that Confession had been much
neglected among some classes of the people: Malachy on one occasion met
a woman who had never confessed (Sec. 54), and the very fact that he put
the question to her "whether she had ever confessed her sins" suggests
that she was not singular in this respect. But it is remarkable that the
_anmchara_ (soul-friend), or Confessor, is frequently mentioned in Irish
literature. The obits of several persons to whom that title is given are
recorded in the Annals in the twelfth century. And pen