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The 'Brehon Laws' were the statutes that governed everyday life and politics in Ireland during the Gaelic period. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwent a resurgence in the 13th century, and survived in parallel to English law over the majority of the island until the 17th century.[1] The word "Brehon" is an Anglicisation of ''breitheamh'' (earlier ''brithem''), the Irish word for a judge. The laws were written in the Old Irish period (ca. 600–900 AD) and are assumed to reflect the traditional laws of pre-Christian Ireland. These secular laws existed in parallel, and occasionally in conflict, with Canon law throughout the early Christian period.
The laws were a civil rather than a criminal code, concerned with the payment of compensation for harm done and the regulation of property, inheritance and contracts: the concept of state-administered punishment for crime was foreign to Ireland's early lawmakers. They show Ireland in the early medieval period to have been a hierarchical society, taking great care to define social status, and the rights and duties that went with it, according to property, and the relationships between lords and their clients and serfs.
Prior to the Brehon Laws and the ''Cáin Adomnáin'', women were essentially subordinate to their husbands and fathers. After the adoption of the Brehon Laws, Irish society continued to be male-dominated, but women had greater freedom, independence and rights to property than in other European societies of the time. Divorce was provided for on a number of grounds (eg. impotence or homosexuality on the husband's part), after which property was divided according to what contribution each spouse had made to the household. A husband was legally permitted to hit his wife to "correct" her, but if the blow left a mark she was entitled to the equivalent of her bride-price in compensation and could, if she wished, divorce him. Property of a household could not be disposed of without the consent of both spouses. However, women were still largely subject to their fathers or husbands and were not normally permitted to act as witnesses, their testimony being considered "biased and dishonest".
The basic unit of political organisation provided for was the ''tuath'' (tribal or petty kingdom), headed by a ''rí'' (king). Kingship of a ''tuath'' was not inherited by primogeniture: a new king would be elected by the aristocracy of the tribe (the ''derb-fine'' or close kinship group up to and including second cousins) from a number of eligible candidates. Any adult male who was the son, grandson or great-grandson of a previous king, in direct male line, was eligible, although a man with a physical "blemish" (e.g. a missing limb) was not eligible. This led to many contenders intentionally blinding their rivals for the succession. Often, a king would choose a ''tánaiste'' (heir apparent, literally "second") who would be best placed to succeed at his death. Kings were themselves subject to the law and had little power to create laws or issue edicts except in emergencies.
These ''tuatha'' were, by convention, grouped into four over-kingdoms or provinces: ''Laighin'' (present day Leinster), ''Ulaidh'' (Ulster), ''Mumha'' (Munster), and ''Connachta'' (Connacht). Each province had a king, normally chosen from among the kings of the ''tuatha'', who exercised some power over the other kings in the province. The provincial kings were supposedly subject to a High King, who ruled from Tara in the "fifth royal province" of ''Mide'' (present day Meath).
A member of the property-owning classes could advance himself by becoming a "free client" of a more powerful lord. The lord would make his client a grant of property (sometimes land, but more usually livestock) for a fixed period of time. The client would owe service to his lord, and at the end of the grant period would return the grant with interest. Any increase beyond the agreed interest was his to keep. This allowed for a certain degree of social mobility as an astute free client could increase his wealth until he could afford to have clients of his own, thus becoming a lord in his own right.
A poorer man could become a "base client" by selling a share in his honour-price, making his lord entitled to part of any compensation due him. The lord would make him a smaller grant of land or livestock, for which the client would pay rent in produce and manual labour. A man could be a base client to several lords simultaneously.
Main articles: Gavelkind in Ireland
Gavelkind was a species of tribal succession, by which the land was divided at the death of the holder amongst his sons. Illegitimate sons, but not daughters, were included in the division. The Normans gave this Irish inheritance law the name ''Gavelkind'' due to its apparent similarity to Saxon inheritance in Kent.
Often the father prescribed the division before his death. A variant occurred whereby the youngest son divided the land into equal parts. The eldest chose first, followed by the second and so on until the youngest received the remaining land.
Following the Norman invasion, areas under Anglo-Norman control were subject to English law. However, in the centuries that followed, a "Gaelic re-conquest" eventually came to cover the larger portion of the island. The majority of Norman barons eventually adopted Irish culture and language, married in with the native Irish, and adopted Irish legal custom. By the 15th century, in the areas outside of the England-controlled Pale) around Dublin and some notable areas of joint tradition in northern and eastern Munster, Brehon law became the de facto legal writ.
However, the Brehon Laws would never be readopted on an official basis by the English-controlled government of the Lordship of Ireland, although some modernized concepts survive in the laws of the Republic of Ireland. The imposition of the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1367 effectively outlawed the Brehon Law. In one exceptional case, vestigial rights have been recognised in recent Irish case law in reference to the survival of Brehon law-governed fishery rights in Tyrconnell, once the last bastion of Gaelic sovereignty until 1601. The rights survived the end of Tyrconnell's independence, and also survived the Elizabethan conquest.
The Tudor re-conquest of Ireland in the mid-16th century and the Flight of the Earls in 1607, brought the end to the rule of Brehon law and the extension of English law across the entire island.
The Brehon Laws and associated themes from Celtic Ireland have been fictionalised in the Sister Fidelma novels by Peter Tremayne.
1. Andrew Lyall, ''Land Law in Ireland'' ISBN 1 85800 199 4
★ Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (1995), ''Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200'', Longman
★ Fergus Kelly (1988), ''A Guide to early Irish Law'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, ISBN 0-901282-95-2.
★ Professor J.C.W. Wylie, Irish Land Law, Butterworths.
★ Patrick C.Power (1976), "Sex and Marriage in Ancient Ireland", Mercier
★ The Brehon Law
★ The Law of the Couple: translation of an Irish legal text on marriage
★ Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies - School of Celtic Studies Catalogue of relevant publications
★ Solarguard Brehon Precis of Fergus Kelly's A Guide to Early Irish Law
★ The Brehon Laws - Catholic Encyclopedia article
The laws were a civil rather than a criminal code, concerned with the payment of compensation for harm done and the regulation of property, inheritance and contracts: the concept of state-administered punishment for crime was foreign to Ireland's early lawmakers. They show Ireland in the early medieval period to have been a hierarchical society, taking great care to define social status, and the rights and duties that went with it, according to property, and the relationships between lords and their clients and serfs.
| Contents |
| Aspects |
| Women and marriage |
| Kingship |
| Clientship |
| Gavelkind |
| Decline of the Brehon Laws |
| Trivia |
| Notes |
| References |
| External links |
Aspects
Women and marriage
Prior to the Brehon Laws and the ''Cáin Adomnáin'', women were essentially subordinate to their husbands and fathers. After the adoption of the Brehon Laws, Irish society continued to be male-dominated, but women had greater freedom, independence and rights to property than in other European societies of the time. Divorce was provided for on a number of grounds (eg. impotence or homosexuality on the husband's part), after which property was divided according to what contribution each spouse had made to the household. A husband was legally permitted to hit his wife to "correct" her, but if the blow left a mark she was entitled to the equivalent of her bride-price in compensation and could, if she wished, divorce him. Property of a household could not be disposed of without the consent of both spouses. However, women were still largely subject to their fathers or husbands and were not normally permitted to act as witnesses, their testimony being considered "biased and dishonest".
Kingship
The basic unit of political organisation provided for was the ''tuath'' (tribal or petty kingdom), headed by a ''rí'' (king). Kingship of a ''tuath'' was not inherited by primogeniture: a new king would be elected by the aristocracy of the tribe (the ''derb-fine'' or close kinship group up to and including second cousins) from a number of eligible candidates. Any adult male who was the son, grandson or great-grandson of a previous king, in direct male line, was eligible, although a man with a physical "blemish" (e.g. a missing limb) was not eligible. This led to many contenders intentionally blinding their rivals for the succession. Often, a king would choose a ''tánaiste'' (heir apparent, literally "second") who would be best placed to succeed at his death. Kings were themselves subject to the law and had little power to create laws or issue edicts except in emergencies.
These ''tuatha'' were, by convention, grouped into four over-kingdoms or provinces: ''Laighin'' (present day Leinster), ''Ulaidh'' (Ulster), ''Mumha'' (Munster), and ''Connachta'' (Connacht). Each province had a king, normally chosen from among the kings of the ''tuatha'', who exercised some power over the other kings in the province. The provincial kings were supposedly subject to a High King, who ruled from Tara in the "fifth royal province" of ''Mide'' (present day Meath).
Clientship
A member of the property-owning classes could advance himself by becoming a "free client" of a more powerful lord. The lord would make his client a grant of property (sometimes land, but more usually livestock) for a fixed period of time. The client would owe service to his lord, and at the end of the grant period would return the grant with interest. Any increase beyond the agreed interest was his to keep. This allowed for a certain degree of social mobility as an astute free client could increase his wealth until he could afford to have clients of his own, thus becoming a lord in his own right.
A poorer man could become a "base client" by selling a share in his honour-price, making his lord entitled to part of any compensation due him. The lord would make him a smaller grant of land or livestock, for which the client would pay rent in produce and manual labour. A man could be a base client to several lords simultaneously.
Gavelkind
Main articles: Gavelkind in Ireland
Gavelkind was a species of tribal succession, by which the land was divided at the death of the holder amongst his sons. Illegitimate sons, but not daughters, were included in the division. The Normans gave this Irish inheritance law the name ''Gavelkind'' due to its apparent similarity to Saxon inheritance in Kent.
Often the father prescribed the division before his death. A variant occurred whereby the youngest son divided the land into equal parts. The eldest chose first, followed by the second and so on until the youngest received the remaining land.
Decline of the Brehon Laws
Following the Norman invasion, areas under Anglo-Norman control were subject to English law. However, in the centuries that followed, a "Gaelic re-conquest" eventually came to cover the larger portion of the island. The majority of Norman barons eventually adopted Irish culture and language, married in with the native Irish, and adopted Irish legal custom. By the 15th century, in the areas outside of the England-controlled Pale) around Dublin and some notable areas of joint tradition in northern and eastern Munster, Brehon law became the de facto legal writ.
However, the Brehon Laws would never be readopted on an official basis by the English-controlled government of the Lordship of Ireland, although some modernized concepts survive in the laws of the Republic of Ireland. The imposition of the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1367 effectively outlawed the Brehon Law. In one exceptional case, vestigial rights have been recognised in recent Irish case law in reference to the survival of Brehon law-governed fishery rights in Tyrconnell, once the last bastion of Gaelic sovereignty until 1601. The rights survived the end of Tyrconnell's independence, and also survived the Elizabethan conquest.
The Tudor re-conquest of Ireland in the mid-16th century and the Flight of the Earls in 1607, brought the end to the rule of Brehon law and the extension of English law across the entire island.
Trivia
The Brehon Laws and associated themes from Celtic Ireland have been fictionalised in the Sister Fidelma novels by Peter Tremayne.
Notes
1. Andrew Lyall, ''Land Law in Ireland'' ISBN 1 85800 199 4
References
★ Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (1995), ''Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200'', Longman
★ Fergus Kelly (1988), ''A Guide to early Irish Law'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, ISBN 0-901282-95-2.
★ Professor J.C.W. Wylie, Irish Land Law, Butterworths.
★ Patrick C.Power (1976), "Sex and Marriage in Ancient Ireland", Mercier
External links
★ The Brehon Law
★ The Law of the Couple: translation of an Irish legal text on marriage
★ Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies - School of Celtic Studies Catalogue of relevant publications
★ Solarguard Brehon Precis of Fergus Kelly's A Guide to Early Irish Law
★ The Brehon Laws - Catholic Encyclopedia article
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