On the 31st of January, 1462-3, Gerald Fitzgerald was appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff bishop of the united sees, vacant by the resignation of the aged Bishop Jordan. Many efforts were subsequently made to set aside this appointment; however, it was irrevocably recognized by Rome. The chief difficulty arose from the former coadjutor, Dr. Roche, who, finding the see now vacant by the resignation of Bishop Jordan, claimed it as belonging to him by that "right of succession" which had originally been accorded to him. It was only in December, 1471, that this controversy was finally closed, when a letter was addressed by Pope Paul II. to the Archbishop of Cashel, commanding him to put Gerald Fitzgerald in full possession of all the temporalities of the united sees. Peace being thus restored, Dr. Fitzgerald remained in undisturbed possession till his death in 1479. William Roche, by his submission to the former decisions of the Holy See, merited to be appointed his successor; thus all rival claims were happily adjusted, and Dr. Roche for eleven years continued to administer this see. When at length he resigned the arduous charge, Thady Mechar or Maher was appointed the next bishop in 1490. Most of the temporalities of the see, however, were seized on by the Fitzmaurices and other southern chieftains; so much so that Pope Innocent VIII. was obliged to issue a brief on the 18th of July, 1492, commanding these parties under the usual penalties to desist from their iniquitous usurpation. The Pontiff's letter thus begins:-- "Dudum Corkagensi et Clonensi Ecclesiis invicem canonice unitis, tunc certis modis vacantibus, nos illis de persona Ven. fratris nostri Thadei Episcopi Corkagensis et Clonensis, nobis et fratribus nostris, ob suorum exigentiam meritorum, acceptâ, de fratrum eorumdem consilio apostolica duximus auctoritate providendum.... Cum autem, sicut non absque gravi animi displicentia accepimus, nonnulli iniquitatis filii videlicet Mauritius comes de Simonie, ac Willelmus Barri, ac Edmundus Mauritii de Gerardinis et communitas civitatis Corkagiae necnon universitas civitatis Yoghilliae Clonensis Dioecesis ipsorumque comitis et Willelmi ac Edmundi fratres eorumque ac civitatis et universitatis praedictorum subditi, necnon Philippus O'Ronayn, clericus Corkagensis Dioecesis, nescitur quo spiritu ducti, ipsum Thadeum Episcopum, quominus possessionem regiminis et administrationis ac bonorum dictarum Ecclesiarum assequi potuerit atque possit, multipliciter molestare et perturbare, Dei timore postposito non cessaverint", etc. (_Mon. Vatic._, pag. 506).