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This course considers in detail the nature and content of the Old Irish legal texts, mostly of eighth-century date, and the light they shed both on legal institutions and on social realities. Topics covered include the legal and social function of kindred, crime and punishment, the ownership and transmission of land and property, contract, suretyship, distraint and the conduct of the court. Early Irish law sheds light on the learned and professional classes. The impact of the church in moulding the general ideology and specific categorisation of these elements is explored. Especial attention is devoted to the status, qualifications, obligations and functions of the fili.
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