Henry II formally named Lord of Ireland

1172

At the Synod of Cashel, Irish bishops acknowledged Henry II as Lord of Ireland and swore reformed obedience to the church hierarchy in Canterbury. The ceremony legitimized the Norman conquest that was already well underway in Leinster and eastern Munster. The synod imposed continental church practices on the Irish clergy, including mandatory tithes and standardized marriage law, aligning the Irish church with Roman norms for the first time.