Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rochfort, Simon
ROCHFORT, SIMON (d. 1224), bishop of Meath, was the first Englishman who held that see, to which he was consecrated in 1194 (Cotton, Fasti Eccles. Hibern. iii. 111). He was one of the judges appointed by Innocent III in the famous suit for possession of the body of Hugh de Lacy, fifth baron Lacy and first lord of Meath [q. v.], between the monks of Bective in Meath and the canons of St. Thomas's, Dublin. He gave sentence in favour of the latter in 1205 (Reg. St. Thomas, Dublin, pp. 348–50, Rolls Ser.) Bishop Simon founded a house of regular canons at Newtown, near Trim, in 1206, and ultimately erected the church into the cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, forsaking the old cathedral of Clonard (Annals of Clonard ap. Cogan, Diocese of Meath, i. 20, 71). At Newtown he held a synod in 1216, of which an account is extant (Wilkins, Concilia Magnæ Brit. i. 547, ed. 1737). He alloted vicar's portions to the churches in his diocese, in which his work was valuable (Ware, Works on Ireland, i. 141, ed. 1739). He died in 1224 (Chartularies, &c., of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, ii. 288, Rolls Ser.), and was buried in the church at Newtown.
[Authorities cited in the text.]