Courses / Module

This module focuses on the large surviving body of early Irish law, often popularly known as ‘Brehon law’, which was unique in medieval Europe for the volume and sophistication of the texts produced. The range and types of legal texts which survive from medieval Ireland will be explored, and a series of early Irish law tracts will be read (in English translations). These laws cover the regulation of violence; marriage, divorce, paternity, and sexual offences; social status and hierarchies; church-state relations; and much more besides. We will analyse how the law functioned and operated, and examine the status of the legal specialists who administered justice. The relationship between legal theory and historical reality will be considered and we will explore how legal texts can be used as a source of evidence for the workings of medieval Irish society.