THE BREHON LAW

New Zealand Tablet, 3 February 1916, Page 26

THE BREHON LAW

In ancient Ireland (says Notes and Queries) judges were called Brehons; and the law they administered is now commonly known as the Brehon Law. The Brehons had collections -of laws in volumes or tracts, all in the Irish language, by which they regulated their judgments. Many of these have been preserved, and of late years some of the principal ones have been published with translations. The most important are the ' Senchus Mor,' chiefly on Irish civil law (published in 3 vols, by the Brehon Law Commissioners, Dublin, 1865-73), and the Book of Acaill, on the criminal law and the law relating to personal injuries.

The Brehon code forms a great body of old Irish civil, military, and criminal law it regulated 'the various ranks of society from the monarch down to the slave, and defined their several rights. Minute rules are given for the management of property for the several industries building, brewing,. mills, watercourses, fishing weirs, bees, and honey; for seizure of goods for tithes trespass and evidence; the relations of landlord and tenant; the fees of professional mendoctors, judges, teachers, builders, artificers; the mutual duties of father and , son, of foster parents and. foster children, of and servant; and the law of contracts. In law the various offences • are set outmurder, manslaughter, wounding, theft, and every variety of wilful damage; and accidental injuries from flails, sledgehammers, and all sorts of weapons. Injuries between man and man were atoned for by a compensation payment ; homicide, whether by intent or by misadventure, was atoned for by a money fine, or ' eric,' adjudged by .

a Brehon. The principles of the seawards are laid down in the Book of Acaill. The language of the Brehon Law is archaic, indicating a remote antiquity the early books have been long lost, but successive copies were made from time to time, with commentaries and explanations appended. Among the distinctive features of the Brehon Law three deserve special notice: (1) Eric, the price of a life, by which a murderer was bound to pay compensation to the family and sept of his victim. Like the AngloSaxon were-gild, the eric varied in amount according to the rank of the slain. (2) Tanistry, by which the successor of a chief was not necessarily his eldest son, but was elected during his lifetime from among his near relatives, the ablest man being chosen at tanist. (3) Gavelkind, by which a man's landed estate was divided equally among all his sons. The cursory notes above, leaving many features untouched, may induce students of old legal codes to include in their ambit the ancient law of Erin.