The general chapter of 1230 approved plans for the establishment of an Irish province. The decision to move into Scotland and create a province may have been taken in 1230 or 1232. Just as the Dominicans had twelve priors provincial throughout the world after the number of the apostles, Elias wanted seventy-two ministers after the example of the same number of disciples. Apart from announcing the birth of the two new jurisdictions, Eccleston does little more than mention that Richard of Ingworth became the minister provincial of Ireland (1230–39). More attention was accorded to John de Kethene, who was the guardian of London and then successively minister provincial in Scotland (c.1233–39) and then Ireland (1239–54). Given that John and Eccleston overlapped at the London Greyfriars, it is surprising that there is not more information on Scotland and Ireland. Eccleston has disappointingly little to say about either of these provinces and does not mention a single friary in those countries. Supplementary information on the Irish mission comes from additional sources, including the Liber exemplorum ad usum praedicantium saeculo XIII compositus a quodam fratre Minore Anglico de provincia Hiberniae, which illuminates the friars’ ministry and adds some detail not found in Eccleston.

The beginnings of the Irish and Scottish provinces

The origins of the Irish province are unclear. Fr. Francis J. Cotter, OFM, shows some uncertainty about when the friars reached the country, affirming in one place that they arrived in 12302 and in another that this was after 1224. According to Eccleston, in 1230 John Parenti sent Richard of Ingworth to Ireland, where he became the minister provincial at an unknown date (missus est minister provincialis in Hiberniam), but he neglects to offer any further information about the mission, other than the fact that in 1239 he stepped down from the office of minister provincial to go to Syria, where he died. During the summer of 1230 Richard was still acting as vicar provincial for Agnellus of Pisa, who went to Assisi for the translation of St Francis and the ensuing general chapter. The chronicler does not indicate whether or not there were friars already in Ireland or whether Richard, like Agnellus, led a pioneering company across the Irish Sea. It is plausible that there were already some friars in Ireland before 1230.