decree on simony, on prohibition for laymen to become airchinnig (heads of ecclesiastical establishments) and finally a decree that defines what relationships are considered to be incestuous. None of these decrees are radical, but they are generally interpreted to be in line with the Gregorian reform. The second synod was the Synod of Rathbreasail. This synod, presided by Gilla Espaic as papal legate and attended by fifty bishops, three hundred priests and over three thousand laymen, marked the transition of the Irish church from a monastic to a diocesan and parish-based church. It established two provinces, with archbishoprics at Armagh and Cashel, and prominence given to Armagh, making Cellach the primate of the church in Ireland. Each province consisted of twelve territorial dioceses. The see of Dublin was not included, as this was under primacy from Canterbury, but a place was left open for it, in the sense that only eleven dioceses were declared under Cashel. Gilla, Cellach and Cellach's successor Máel Máedóc Ua Morgair, better known as St. Malachy, drove the reform process onwards. Malachy, in close cooperation with (Duncan) Donnchad Ua Cerbaill, king of Fernmag/Airgialla, established the first Irish Cistercian house at Mellifont in 1142, and also facilitated the first Augustinian community of the Arrouaisian observance. Malachy used these as agencies of monastic reform within the Irish church. Malachy resigned as archbishop of Armagh in 1136, but was appointed native papal legate to Ireland by Innocent II in 1139. No formal attempts on getting papal approval for the structure chosen at Rathbreasail are known before Malachy sought pallia for the two incumbent archbishops at Cashel and Armagh during his trip to the Continent in 1139/40. This first bid was unsuccessful, but Malachy was told to reapply after he had gained the agreement of all Ireland. Before undertaking his second trip to the Continent in 1148, Malachy convened a synod at St Patrick's Island. The main challenge must have been to reach an accommodation with Dublin, and Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, presently the most powerful king in Ireland, was eager to increase Connacht influence on the church. The solution reached was to extend the number of metropolitan sees from two to four, with Tuam and Dublin included alongside Cashel and Armagh. Malachy died on his way to meet the pope, but the message was transmitted by other means and papal approval was granted. Pope Eugene III appointed cardinal John Paparo