Brehon Law is the body of ancient native Irish law which was generally operational in Gaelic areas until the completion of the English conquest of Ireland in the early 17th century. They were first set down on parchment in the 7th century and were named after wanderings lawyers, the Brehons.
By the time of Elizabeth I, the Brehon laws were considered to be old, lewd, and unreasonable. They were banned and English common law was introduced. However, thankfully, some of the Brehons thought to hide the precious manuscripts and a good number of them survived.
In 1852, two Irish scholars, Eugene O'Curry and John O'Donovan, took to translating the laws. In the words of another Irish scholar, D. A. Binchy, what they found were "secrets" about Ireland's past.
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My favorite:
ReplyDelete"If a woman makes an assignation with a man to come to her in a bed or behind a bush, the man is not considered guilty even if she screams. If she has not agreed to a meeting, however, he is guilty as soon as she screams."
The Irish language has at least two words that mean scream. One is screaming as we know it (béic), while the other (scread), can mean a loud exclamation.
I'm only guessing that béic means "no!" in this case.
My favorite:
ReplyDeleteA layman may drink six pints of ale with his dinner