Gillebert (); –1145) was an Irish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

who served as the

Bishop of Limerick The Bishop of Limerick is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Limerick in the Province of Munster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church it still continues as a sepa ...

from 1106 to 1140.

Biography

Very little is known of Gillebert's early life but it is known that he travelled throughout the Continent and was acquainted with Anselm at Rouen where the future Archbishop of Canterbury was a monk so it is very possible that Gillebert was himself a Benedictine. Gillebert was made bishop of Limerick sometime around the year 1106 but unlike bishops from other Norse settlements like Dublin and Waterford he was not consecrated in Canterbury because Anselm was in exile at that period. After consecration Gillebert and Anselm corresponded and exchanged gifts, a copy of the correspondence can be found in Rev Begley's history of the Diocese of Limerick. Gillebert congratulated Anselm for his success in the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest (, , ) was a conflict between church and state in medieval Europe, the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture), abbots of monasteri ...

. Gillebert played an important part in reforming the Irish Church of the day and bring it in line with Roman practice. In his first years as bishop he was especially zealous in trying to bring about uniformity of liturgy especially in the

canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

. It was these reforms that brought him to the attention of Rome and he was appointed

Papal Legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

. When

Muirchertach Ua Briain Muirchertach Ua Briain (anglicised as Murtaugh O'Brien; c. 1050 – c. 10 March 1119), son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain and great-grandson of Brian Boru, was King of Munster and later self-declared High King of Ireland. Background and early career ...

under the influence of Anselm called the

Synod of Ráth Breasail The Synod of Ráth Breasail (or Rathbreasail; ) was a synod of the Catholic Church in Ireland that took place in Ireland in 1111. It marked the transition of the Irish church from a monastic to a diocesan and parish-based church. Many present-day ...

Gilbert presided as legate. This synod began to bring Ireland more into line with the diocesan system that existed in the rest of Christendom. On account of his old age Gillebert resigned as Papal Legate in 1139, and he died in 1145.

References

External links

* https://archive.org/stream/irishecclesiast04unkngoog#page/n360/mode/2up * https://web.archive.org/web/20120203225516/http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Irish_Colleges_on_the_Continent * https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011445/http://www.okeefeclan.org/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=586%3Aokeeffe-chalices&catid=29%3Aancient&Itemid=59 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillebert 1070s births 1145 deaths 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Roman Catholic bishops of Limerick