Albin O'Molloy ( ga, Ailbe Ua Maíl Mhuaidh) (died 1223) was the Irish

bishop of Ferns The Bishop of Ferns () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Ferns in County Wexford, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishop ...

Background

O'Molloy was native of what is now north

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named afte ...

. He became a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

monk at

Baltinglass Baltinglass, historically known as Baltinglas (), is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road. Etymology The town's Irish name, ''B ...

, and eventually rose to be

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

of that house. His family, the O'Molloy, claimed descent from the branch of the

Connachta The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles). The modern western province of Connacht ( Irish ''Cúige Chonnacht'', province, literall ...

later to be known as the southern

Uí Néill The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into t ...

. Albin's ancestor,

Fiachu mac Néill Fiachu mac Néill (flourished 507–514) was a king of Uisnech in Mide of the Ui Neill dynasty. He was the son of the high king Niall Noígíallach. According to the king list in the ''Book of Leinster'', he succeeded his brother Conall Cremtha ...

(flourished 507–514), was one of the

Kings of Uisnech The Kings of Uisnech were of the Uí Néill and one of its major southern branches, the Clann Cholmáin. The Hill of Uisnech is located in what is now County Westmeath, and was in early historic Ireland considered as the area where all five provi ...

; his descendants, the Cenél Fiachach, held lands from Birr to

Uisnech , alternate_name = Ushnagh (anglicisation) , image = Hill of Uisneach.jpg , alt = , caption = Information sign , map = , map_caption = , map_type = island of Ireland , map_alt = A map of Ireland , map_size = , location = ...

in southern

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

and part of

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland ...

. Their southern territory became known as

Fir Cell Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...

(land of the churches) covering a large part of what is now

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hon ...

, where the surname O'Molloy is still very common.

Sermon in Dublin

In Lent 1186, when

John Comyn John Comyn III of Badenoch, nicknamed the Red (c. 1274 – 10 February 1306), was a leading Scottish baron and magnate who played an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. He served as Guardian of Scotland after the forced ...

, archbishop of Dublin, held a synod at

Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...

, O'Molloy preached a long sermon on clerical continency, in which he laid all the blame for existing evils on the Welsh and English clergy who had come over to Ireland.

Bishop of Ferns

O'Molloy was shortly afterwards made bishop of Ferns, the see having been previously declined by

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

. He was present at the coronation of

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ove ...

on 3 September 1189. On 5 November, he was appointed by

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

, with the

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ga, Ard-Easpag Thuama) is an archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Catholic Church. Histo ...

and

Bishop of Kilmacduagh The Bishop of Kilmacduagh was an episcopal title which took its name after the village of Kilmacduagh in County Galway, Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, the title is now united with other bishoprics. History ...

, to excommunicate the

Bishop of Waterford The Bishop of Waterford was a medieval prelate, governing the Diocese of Waterford from its creation in the 11th century until it was absorbed into the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore in the 14th century. After the creation o ...

, who had robbed the Bishop of Lismore. In 1205, O'Molloy received 10 shillings from the royal gift, and on 3 April 1206 was recommended by the king to the chapter of Cashel for archbishop. In November 1207, Innocent addressed a letter to O'Molloy with reference to persons who had been improperly ordained. On 17 June 1208, O'Molloy was sent by the king on a mission to the

King of Connaught The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being nam ...

. On 15 September 1215, he had protection while attending the council at Rome; and on 5 September 1216 received custody of the bishopric of Killaloe.

Excommunication of Earl of Pembroke

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...

, while in Ireland between 1207 and 1213, seized two manors belonging to the Bishop of Ferns. For this O'Molloy excommunicated him; but the earl pleaded that it was done in time of war, and retained the manors all his life. After Marshal's death, O'Molloy came to the king at London and petitioned for the restoration of his lands. King Henry III begged the bishop to absolve the dead, but O'Molloy refused to do so unless restoration were made. To this the younger William Marshal and his brothers refused their consent, and O'Molloy then cursed them, and foretold the end of their race. The quarrel appears to have been at a crisis in 1218. On 18 April of that year, O'Molloy was prohibited from prosecuting his plea against William, earl Marshal, and on 25 June Pope Honorius III directed the Archbishop of Dublin and the legate to effect a reconciliation between the bishop and the earl. Nevertheless, the male line of the Marshall family ended with the death of

Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke (2nd Creation) Ansel (or Anselm) Marshal (died 23 December 1245) was the youngest and last of the five legitimate sons of William Marshal. His name is the Franco-Germanic Hansel or Anseau, and is usually 'Ansel' in documents, though the rarity of the name in En ...

in 1245. Like all his brothers, he had no children, and the estate was divided up among female heirs.

Life of Abban

About 1218, O'Molloy wrote a life of

Abbán Abbán moccu Corbmaic ( la, Abbanus; d. 520? AD), also Eibbán or Moabba, is a saint in Irish tradition. He was associated, first and foremost, with Mag Arnaide (Moyarney or Adamstown, County Wexford, near New Ross) and with Cell Abbáin (Kil ...

of Mag Arnaide (

Adamstown Adamstown may refer to: Locations Australia * Adamstown, New South Wales, a suburb in New South Wales Ireland * Adamstown, Castletownkindalen, a townland in Castletownkindalen civil parish, barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath * Adamstown, Conr ...

), who died about 520. His interest in the saint partly stemmed from the fact that Mag Arnaide lay within the diocese of Ferns, but also denoted his personal attachment to the saint's cult in an episode where Abbán converts a man of royal rank from the area and baptises his son: "I who gathered together and wrote the Life am a descendant

epos The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

of that son". However, the immediate circumstances which prompted the composition of the Life are likely to have been political, a direct consequence of his quarrel with the Marshall family.

Death

O'Molloy died on 1 January 1223.Annals of Loch Cé, i. 267

Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...

speaks of him as conspicuous for his sanctity. O'Molloy consecrated the infirmary chapel at the Cistercian abbey of Waverley on 6 November 1201, and dedicated five altars there on 10 July 1214. The monks of St. Swithin's, Winchester, made him a member of their fraternity. He appears as a witness to several charters in the

Chartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin St. Mary's Abbey () was a former Cistercian abbey located near the junction of Abbey Street and Capel Street in Dublin, Ireland. Its territory stretched from the district known as Oxmanstown down along the River Liffey until it met the sea. It ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OMolloy, Albin Bishops of Ferns 1223 deaths Cistercians Medieval Gaels from Ireland 12th-century Irish writers 13th-century Irish writers People from County Waterford People from County Tipperary 13th-century Latin writers Year of birth unknown 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 13th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland