The Brehon Laws

Who were this mysterious class of 'eminent jurists', the keepers of the laws? Let's find out in the first video of this section.

Like with all the professions, there were several grades, or classes, of Brehons which was determined by a number of interesting factors. Ready to learn all about it? Let's go...

As we have lawyers, barristers, and other legal officers today, the Brehons also had law agents known as elbe and aigne. We'll learn about their different roles and grades in this video.

The spoken words of a Brehon's judgment was held to a degree of reverence among the people, so it should not be surprising to find a curious set of myths describing the supernatural penalties attached to a judge who gave a false judgment.

Mentioned in the previous lectures, here you'll have a chance to get to know Cormac Mac Airt, 'Ireland's Greatest King', a bit better.

Here you will learn about some of the key manuscripts containing tracts from the Brehon Law.

As a bonus, you'll also learn how to read the complicated sentence structure in which some of the manuscripts were written.

Through the course of time, the profession of brehons became increasingly hereditary as certain families came to be heavily associated to the law. Eventually, certain families founded law schools which produced many of the legal manuscripts we discussed previously.

To give you an idea of the education procedure for brehons, here is an video showing the 7 Grades of Wisdom, the educational grades of the poets.

The brehons were preservers of the law, but also of an ancient language which came to be the 'legal language' of the brehons. It was an archaic language by the 5th C., literally translated as 'the language of the feini', or 'the language of the freemen'.

A mythological tale which highlights the use of the archaic Irish language among the professional grades.

One of the first fundamental principles of the Brehon Law.

A short account from the Irish myths describing the judgment of king Cormac and how 'good judgment' was a desirable and honoured trait. Listen to the story to hear an example of how restitution may have worked in principle.

Another fantastic story about restitution from Irish mythology. This time, starring the boy-hero Cuchulain.

A third example of restitution from Irish mythology. Here, an account from the alleged 'first people in Ireland', showing the antiquity of the concept of restitution in Irish society. What's more interesting about this story is the subject matter and the judgment. It's an example of the high-regard generally held for women in early Irish society.

Honour price was a fundamental aspect of the Brehon laws. The texts are replete with references to this. It regulated relationships, legal rights and duties, and the level of compensation one could expect for injury.

How did the brehons view crime and what sort of punishments were meted out?

Eric is a specific fine used only in cases involving death.

If there was no state apparatus as we are familiar with, what gave the brehons their power and how were their judgements enforced?

Another fundamental principle from the Brehon Law. Athgabail was a commonly used legal process for securing a remedy for debts owed.

An extract from a manuscript taken from the Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland. In the form of a dialogue, it lists out several way to lay a claim of distress agains the 'Men of Art' (Aes Dana).

Fasting has historically been used in Ireland, and elsewhere, as a tool to compel a stronger party to justice.

Here, we'll learn about troscud; an ancient custom of fasting which eventually became a necessary step in legal procedure whenever a weaker party wanted to compel a stronger party to justice.

Agreement makes the law - but in the absence of enforcement mechanisms what compelled people to honour their agreements?

An insightful bonus resource that describes the laws of Bee Keeping in more detail.

Listen to a radio interview where I discuss the ecological aspects of the brehon laws in relation to bee keeping and trees.

Hostages were used to secure compliance in public affairs.

Pledges were used to secure compliance in contracts.

It is not a coincidence that these two words are so similar.

The material below regarding hostages is taken from the lecture “Hostages in Medieval Ireland” given by PHD candidate Philip Healy on the 27th Feb 2020 at University College Cork.

When looking at the manuscripts, we have numerous mentions of hostages throughout the heroic literature, the law tracts and the annals, especially covering the periods between the 7th century to the 12th century. These hostages were given for a variety of different reasons including:

• Suriety for legal cases

• Submission to subordinate kings

• To secure political agreement

The major differences we see between slaves and hostages was that they were not mistreated and there is evidence to suggest that they retained their status, enjoyed the hospitality of the king and had freedom of movement withing the tuatha (people would not typically have any legal rights outside their own kingdom). The legal text Críth Gabhlach tells us how forfeited hostages may be fettered but more often than not they enjoyed meals at the high table between the king and filidh or brithim . The Senchas Már tells us that hostage giving in legal disputes was commonplace among the upper classes (the high cost of default is another piece of evidence in regard to this).

Between the years 600-1000 we see no evidence of any hostages being harmed, however between 1000-1200 we see that five hostages were killed. The reason for this likely being due to a general increase in violence and social upheaval. During this period we see an increase in mutilations, castrations and blindings.

The terms used when referring to hostages depends on the period we are looking at:

• Gíall (continuous use)

• Aitre (11th century onwards)

• Brága (12th century onwards)

A story from the Irish manuscripts about the semi-legendary king, Niall of the Nine Hostages.

From this story, you will get a better insight into how hostages were used to secure power in early Ireland.

Status was fundamental and formed the framework of all social interactions.

Here we take a cursory look at the role of women in early Ireland by taking account of their presence in mythology, law, and history.

The laws and customs concerning marriage and the varying degrees of union.

In pre-Christian times, divorce was not forbidden. Here we look at the grounds that men could divorce their wives and vice versa.

The legal rules of inheritance.

Land usage and ownership within the túath.

A brief overview of society under the brehon laws.

Though they were aware of coinage, the early Irish never minted coins and the kings did not issue currency. What did they use instead?

Ireland is called the land of a thousand welcomes and her hospitality is renowned. Imagine, it was once illegal to be inhospitable to travellers or guests!

The earliest 'copyright' case in the world took place in early Ireland. Listen to the story and learn about the profound judgement that was issued.

If you caused injury to another it was your bounden responsibility to 'maintain' them and nurse them back to good health.

I am joined here by Andrew St. Ledger of the Woodland League to discuss the significance of trees in early Irish culture and society.

If these laws were so great, so just, then why were the eventually replaced with the English Common Law?

In this lecture we will explore the historical factors that led to the ultimate demise of the Brehon Laws of Ireland. We'll learn how, against the force of two empires - the British and the Roman - the Gaelic laws, customs, and way of life was no match.

In 1367, a statute was enacted by a parliament stationed in Kilkenny, Ireland, in the name of the English king Edward III.

It targeted settlers of Anglo-Norman descent and addressed a growing concern among the English elite and loyal landed gentry that too many settlers were turning away from their own Anglo-Norman customs and way of life in favour of the Gaelic order.

In this lecture, we'll learn all about these Statutes of Kilkenny which give a rare glimpse into society at the time.

It also demonstrates how the landed Anglo-Norman settlers became 'Ní Gaelaí ná na Gael féin' or 'More Irish than the Irish themselves'.

A fascinating insight into early Irish society, the clash of kingdoms, and how attitudes to kingship radically differed between Ireland and England.