Above:  Map of Kilkenny

The provisions of this malicious statute extended even into the Church. It has been observed that from the time of the invasion there were in the same Church two sets of clergy—Irish in the unconquered lands, Norman in the settlements.

The ” Statute of Kilkenny ” enforced, by legislative sanction, this unedifying condition of affairs. No benefice, it enacted, was to be conferred upon anyone who did not speak English ; no ” mere Irishman ” was to be received into any cathedral chapter; nor could one be allowed to enter any abbey, monastery, or religious order in the ” English land.” Strange to say, there were amongst the members of the ” Parliament ” responsible for this un-Christian legislation eight bishops.

Most of these, however, were foreigners, and all—or nearly all—were the nominees of the English King. The struggle over the appointment of bishops  was now acute.

The Popes were at this time exiles in Avignon in the territories of the Kings of France, and concessions were often won from them by sovereigns according to changing political conditions. On the whole, however, the Irish bishops continued to be mostly nominees of the Crown in the ” English land,” and the chosen representatives of the native clergy in the rest of the island.