Section One - Part One: Introduction To Brehon Law

by Iain Mac an tSaoir

I. Introduction.

There is an amazing volume of ancient law that is part of the corpus of Irish literature. These are commonly called Brehon Laws. The word "brehon" is an anglizised word whose proper cultural nomenclature is the Irish breitheamh (DIL, Focloir Scoile). The word breitheamh is related to the word breith which means "judgement" (DIL, Focloir Scoile).

When most people think of the Brehon Law, they think of the Senchus Mor. The Senchus Mor is a body of law that is sometimes called 'Patricks Law'. All and all, the Senchus Morr is but one body of laws, and as a body mainly deals with 'contract law'. Other tracts of law cover a wide range of things, including laws regarding persons, doctoring, bee-keeping and many other things.

Brehon Law is actually a common term for the law tracts which are called Fenechas. This literally means the Law of the Freemen. Traditionally, the Brehon Law was held to have been codified in 438CE by order of Laighaire, High King of Ireland. This work was done by three kings, three Brehons and three Christian missionaries. The earliest written law tracts date only from late 6th through the 8th century AD. The majority of the texts that are still available however, date from the 14th to the 16th century. That does not mean that the written laws do not reflect more ancient ideas, for they do. Linguistic evidence indicates that much of the law has its foundation as far back as the time of the proto-Celts (c. 1000 BCE).

By and large, the written laws are very similar to what existed before the coming of Christianity. It can also be argued that the judicial procedures did not change at all.

The various bodies of law, commonly known as the Brehon Law are probably, the oldest known European laws. These laws were originally composed in poetic verse and memorized by the recitors of those laws, who were called Brithem (brih-them/v).

Suggested reading:

Early Irish and Welsh Kinship, Charles-Edwards
Guide To Early Irish Law, Kelly
Cattlelords and Clansmen, Nerys Patterson
Lawyers and Laymen : Studies in the History of Law, Charles-Edwards
Brehons, Serjeants and Attorneys, Hogan

Sources:

Guide To Early Irish Law, Fergus Kelly
Early Irish and Welsh Kinship, Charles-Edwards
Cattlelords and Clansmen, Nerys Patterson
Lawyers and Laymen : Studies in the History of Law, Charles-Edwards
Brehons, Serjeants and Attorneys, Hogan.
Clannada na Gadelica, 'Introduction To Brehon Law', Ailig Mac an tSaoir

prepared by Iain Mac an tSaoir

©1998, 1999 Clannada na Gadelica, all rights reserved.

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