The tradition which connects St. Patrick with Limerick is of the vaguest kind: practically, the first recorded bishop is Gillebert. He was an Irishman. Cellach of Armagh acted with the Bishop of Limerick on this occasion; but while both were anxious to parcel out Ireland into dioceses, neither ventured to interfere with Dublin, which was under the powerful patronage of Canterbury. Gillebert resigned both the legatine authority and his own bishopric before his death, which took place in or about 1145. His successor Patrick, having been elected by the Ostmen, was consecrated in England by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom he promised canonical obedience. The three following bishops, Harold, Turgeis, and Brictius, who may be Elbric or Eric, were doubtless all Ostmen. Very little is known of them, except that the last named attended the Lateran Council in 1179 and 1180. [Sidenote: See of Cork.] Cork was often plundered by the Northmen, and they settled there permanently early in the eleventh century. But they found themselves confronted by a strong monastic organisation, under the successor of St. Finbar, whereas at Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick the field had been clear. Around the abbey a native town had sprung up, which was strong enough to maintain itself by the side of the Scandinavian garrison. Once, with the help of a force from Carbery, they defeated a confederacy of Danes belonging to Cork, Waterford, and Wexford. The Ostmen were in quiet possession of Cork for a period long preceding the Anglo-Norman invasion, but they were probably content to take their Christianity from their neighbours, for we do not find that any bishop of this see sought consecration at Canterbury.[28] FOOTNOTES: [16] The account which Giraldus gives of Turgesius is funny, but worthless. [17] Reeves's Adamnan, p. 332 n. [18] _Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill_, chap. xxxvi. [19] _Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill_, chap. xl. [20] The quotations are from _Burnt Njal_, chap. cliii. [21] _Burnt Njal_, chap. cliv. [22] _Ibid._, chap. clvi. _Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill_, chaps. xcviii. and xcix. _Annals of Lough Cé_, pp. 7-13. [23] _Burnt Njal_, chap. clvi. [24] Many details about the Hiberno-Norse coins are to be found in Worsaae. [25] _Book of Rights_, pp. 225 _sqq._, and O'Donovan's preface. [26] See Hook's _Lives of Lanfranc, Anselm, and Ralph d'Eures_. Translations of the letters mentioned in the text may be found in King's Primer of the Irish Church; most of the originals are printed in Ussher's _Sylloge_. [27] The Irish always called Dublin Ath-cliath, or the Ford of Hurdles.