Guest Contribution: The Lost Laws of Ireland by Catherine Duggan
The Brehon Law Academy is very pleased to host our first guest contribution! Catherine Duggan has written 'The Lost Laws of Ireland' and shares her views on the Brehon Law…
Fasting for Justice: Hunger Strike in Ancient Ireland
When we think about 'fasting for justice' today many Irish minds of a certain age would likely drift towards thoughts of Bobby Sands and the H-Block Hunger Strikers of 1981. While an important chapter of modern Irish history the principle of fasting for justice or hunger-striking is not a new one; it was practiced by the early Irish in the times of Brehon laws as a means of compelling a stronger party to justice.
Three Things A False Judge Deserves
Every false judge deserves a short life, removal from office, and death without an heir. In this triad the brehon (or judge) is reminded of the consequences should they err…
Maxim: He Condones Who Does Not Denounce
This Maxim reflects a common theme found throughout the BrehonLaws of Early Ireland; personal social responsibility. Social responsibility was both morally expected and in many ways legally ordained. While this Maxim,…
The Beginning of the End? The Papal Bull of Pope Adrian IV
A defining moment in the erosion of the old Irish ways came from the Vatican in 1155 when the Catholic Pope Adrian IV (1100-59); the Vatican’s first and only English Pope,…
Irish Manuscripts: The Book of Aicill
The Book of Aicill relates to the criminal law and is often discussed as being on par in significance with the Senchus Mór; although, the latter deals with civil law.…
How Cú Chulain Got His Name – Restitution In Irish Mythology
Under the Ancient Irish Brehon Laws restitution was the favoured method for dealing with wrongdoings. Compensations owed by offenders are given great attention in the legal manuscripts, but it is…
3 Things One Should Keep Always Before Them
1. their worldly duties, 2. their conscience, 3. and the Laws of Nature. One of a large collection of 'Triads' - words of wisdom, advice, and guidance always given in…
On the Qualifications of a Poet
Here are the Destructions: The Three Circuits of the House of Lir1 The Posession of Burach's House* The Destruction2 of the House of Dumha The Difference of Cathbhad's House* The…
Irish Manuscripts: The Senchus Mór
The Senchus Mór (pronounced: shen-kus moor) is one of the most important legal texts from early Ireland and it means the ‘Great Ancient Tradition’. However, the most all-encompassing word for this body…