Carrickmines Castle to be discussed at Brehon Law Symposium (more info)

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday January 23, 2003 14:23 by BREHON LAW PROJECT

come to listen and ask questions

Press release BREHON LAW PROJECT
23rd January 2003

Major legal history Conference, relating to
Carrickmines, this weekend.

The Third Annual Brehon Law Symposium will begin at
The Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street on Friday 24th
January at 5.00 PM. Mr. Damien Shiels, of the
National Museum of Ireland, will open with an academic
slide show of recent excavations and finds at
Carrickmines Castle.

Brehon Law is the literary legal system that existed
in Ireland for roughly 1000 years before the sixteenth
century, when it was abolished, a few years before
Carrickmines Castle was blown up in 1642. Only half
of the surviving manuscripts, written in Old Irish,
have been translated. As Donnchadh Ó Corráin, the
doyen of Irish history says:

“Irish law is the oldest, most original, and most
extensive of mediaeval European legal systems. It is a
unique legal inheritance, an independent indigenous
system of advanced jurisprudence that was fully
evolved by the eighth century. It is also far less
well known than it deserves.”

Friday will also feature a viewing of some old legal
manuscripts housed in the Academy, such as the Catach,
which is reputed to have been the item in dispute,
which led to the birth of copyright law. St.
Colmcille copied the manuscript, which led to war, and
the judgement by the Brehon: "To every cow belongs
her calf, therefore to every book belongs its copy".

The theme of the symposium is ‘Law on the Frontier’,
and Carrickmines stood on the frontier between the
native Irish (Brehon) law and the colonising English
law for almost 500 years. The papers, to be offered
by experts in law, history and archaeology, will
explore the relationship between these two different
types of law, as well as other forms of law, such as
March Law and Canon Law which existed on the medieval
frontier between the Pale and the Wicklow Irish.

The Hon. Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman will be the
keynote speaker at Trinity College Dublin, on Saturday
25th January, at 10.00 AM. He will help to explain
why we have the legal system we use today, and why he
believes it is better! Various historians will give
papers in chronological order throughout the day.
Sunday morning, 26th January, a bus will take
attendees on a historical tour of the Dublin/Wicklow
frontier.

The Symposium is offered by Fénechas – The Brehon Law
Project, an academic legal history association, which
was founded by Vincent Salafia, in Florida, 1999.
Previous speakers have included The Hon. Mr. Justice
Ronan Keane, Chief Justice, and The Hon. Mrs. Susan
Denham, Supreme Court of Ireland.

The public are welcome, and papers are designed to be
accessible, yet scholarly. Tickets cost 40 euros for
the weekend. The conference is sponsored, in part, by
the Law Department and the Department of Medieval
History of Trinity College Dublin.

VINCENT SALAFIA, Director of Fénechas – The Brehon Law
Project
087-132-3365
[email protected]

-30-

___________________________________________

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Fénechas III

THE THIRD ANNUAL BREHON LAW SYMPOSIUM

“Law on the Frontier”

_________________

THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY
&
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
_________________

January 24th – 26th 2003

DESCRIPTION:

Fénechas III

"…we both know that the conflict isn’t between
caricatured national types but between two deeply
opposed civilizations, isn’t it? We’re really talking
about a life-and-death conflict aren’t we? Only one
will survive."

- Hugh O’Neill to his wife Mabel, in 'Making History'
by Brian Friel

Fénechas III, the third annual Brehon Law Symposium
will be held in in Dublin at Trinity College and the
Royal Irish Academy, January 24th – 26th, 2003. The
theme will be ‘Law on the Frontier’. This is partly
inspired by the recent discoveries made during recent
excavations at Carrickmines Castle, in South Dublin,
which bordered the frontier between the palatine
jurisdiction of Dublin (the Pale) and the native
Leinster septs of the Wicklow hills. Some of the
images of recent finds will be featured.

Brehon Law (early Irish law) is the indigenous Irish
legal system, which began in the pre-Christian oral
tradition, and blossomed into a manuscript tradition
in the sixth century. From the arrival of the
Norman’s in 1169, until the ‘Flight of the Earls’ in
1607, when England had military control of only parts
of Ireland, Brehon Law and the English Common Law
existed side by side. Just as Carrickmines Castle
shows evidence of interaction, despite obvious
conflict, between the two cultures, history now shows
that there was a degree of interaction between these
two systems. In the end, legal conquest followed
military conquest, and Brehon Law was completely
abolished, surviving now only in roughly one hundred
vellum manuscripts. Today, barely half have even been
translated.

Fénechas III is a week-end long event, beginning at
the Royal Irish Academy on Friday January 24th,
lasting until Sunday January 26th, 2003. Leading
figures from Ireland’s leading profession, such as The
Hon. Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman, Supreme Court of
Ireland, join with an array of historians,
archaeologists and linguists, such as Donnchadh Ó
Corráin, University College Cork. The Brehon Law
Symposia are organised by Fénechas, the Brehon Law
Project, an academic legal history association. This
year’s event is sponsored, in part, by Law and
Medieval History departments at Trinity College.

Participants will be given a tour of the libraries
housing surviving manuscripts at The Royal Irish
Academy. In addition, there will be a bus tour of the
Wicklow Hills, via Carrickmines.
________________

PROGRAMME

FRIDAY 24th January Burke Theatre
ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY
______________________________

Tour
5.00 PM – 6.00 PM

Early Irish Legal Manuscript tour (see below)
Siobhán O’Rafferty
Librarian
Royal Irish Academy

lectures:
6.00 PM – 7.45 PM
Chair:

Prof. Dáibhí Ó Croinín
Department of History
University College Galway
Papers:

“Law on the Frontier”
Mr. Vincent Salafia
Fénechas – Brehon Law Project

“The Leinster Frontier”
Dr. Emmet O’Byrne
Dictionary of Irish Biography

“Excavations on the Frontier”
Mr. Damien Shiels
National Museum of Ireland

SATURDAY 25th January Ussher Theatre
10.00 AM Trinity College Dublin
__________________________

Welcome:

Prof. Gerry Whyte Dept. of Law
Trinity College Dublin
Chair:

Dr. Seán Duffy, Dept. Medieval History
Trinity College Dublin

Keynote Speaker:

“A Frontier too Far”
The Hon. Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman
Supreme Court of Ireland

Papers:

“Early Irish Canon Law”
Prof. Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Department of History
University College Cork

“Medieval Ireland: a land of multiple frontiers”
Dr. Howard Clarke
Department of History
University College Dublin

Title to be announced
Mr. Kenneth Nicholls
Department of History
University College Cork

Title to be announced
Dr. David Edwards
Department of History
University College Cork

Lunch
12.30 PM – 2.00 PM
_____________________________

______________________________

Papers
2.00 PM – 4.00 PM

“Legal Maxims in Bardic Poetry.”
Dr. Katharine Simms
Dept. of Medieval History
Trinity College Dublin

“Limiting impacts: 2500 years of left-side driving.”
Mr. Raimund Karl
Department of History
University of Wales Bangor

"The Common Law Vis-a-Vis Brehon Law."
Mrs. Mary Maxwell
Author

“Little Better than Cannibals: Sir John Davies and
Edmund Burke on Property and Progress.”
Dr. Seán Patrick Donlan,
Department of Law
University of Limerick

_____________________

SUNDAY 26th January Wicklow Bus Tour
11.00 AM Departs Nassau Street Gate, ,TCD
_________________________________________________

Early Irish Legal Manuscript tour

ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY

Friday 24th January – 2003

5.00 PM – 6.00 PM

The Academy library has the largest corpus of Irish
language manuscripts in a single repository. The
collection is important not only because of its size
but also due to the fact that it spans twelve
centuries – the 8th to the 20th centuries AD. The
Irish language manuscripts cover a wide range of
subjects, from early liturgy to genealogy, law,
medicine, literature and topographical poems, and
include annals, chronologies and lives of the saints.
The collection includes the Stowe Missal (late 8th
century), a Mass-book of the early Irish church which
is in Latin but contains an Irish tract on the Mass
and some spells in Irish against loss of eyesight
etc.; Lebor na hUidre/The Book of the Dun Cow (early
12th century), the earliest surviving manuscript with
literature in Irish, this manuscript contains the
oldest version of the Táin Bó Cuailgne; Annála
Ríoghachta Éireann/The Annals of the four masters
(compiled 1632-36); Leabhar Mór Leacain/The Book of
Lecan (early 15th century), which includes a
Dindshenchas, Bansenchas, versions of Lebor Gabála,
Leabhar na gCeart and other important genealogical,
historical, biblical, hagiographical and literary
material.

http://www.isos.dcu.ie/ria/english/ria_desc.html

The Brehon Law Symposium will feature a special
display of the following manuscripts:

Cathach
Stowe Missal
Book of Ballymote
Book of the O'Clerys

Cathach

The Cathach is the oldest extant Irish manuscript of
the Psalter and the earliest example of Irish writing.
Myth holds that it is the origin of the law of
copyright. It contains a Vulgate version of Psalms
XXX (10) to CV (13) with an interpretative rubric or
heading before each psalm. It is traditionally
ascribed to St. Columba as the copy, made at night in
haste by a miraculous light, of a Psalter lent to
Columba by St. Finnian. A dispute arose about the
ownership of the copy and King Diarmait Mac Cerbhaill
gave the judgement "To every cow belongs her calf,
therefore to every book belongs its copy".

http://www.ria.ie/library/cathach.html

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/overbey/monasteries/WebPage-Info.00007.html

Stowe Missal

The Stowe Missal is the first complete manuscript of a
liturgy used in Ireland. It seems to have originated
in Tallaght, a monastery of the Céli Dé reform founded
by St. Máel-Rúain who died in 792. The Missal was
written between 792 and 812.(PM56) It drew on
Gallican, Mozarabic and oriental sources and combined
them with its own native piety and inspiration. It has
its own Celtic peculiarities. It is marked by a long
series of communion antiphons and a long fraction
which precedes the Lord's Prayer. Although written in
Latin it contains a tract in Irish explaining how the
service tells the story of mans salvation.(PM56) St.
Máel-Rúain's Gospel ('Stowe' Missal): folio 11 v.,
drawing representing St. John from about 800AD. The
original is delicately painted in yellow and red.
These pages contain part of the baptismal service. The
priest reads the phrases of the creed as a series of
questions and the candidate replies 'Credo', I
believe. This is one example of a delightfully
decorated capital letter, and its position on the
original page. The first page of St. John's Gospel in
the 'Stowe' Missal. The illuminated letters spell 'In
p' and the ordinary letters continue 'rincipio erat
verbum', 'In the beginning was the Word'.

http://www.isos.dcu.ie/ria/ria_MS_D_ii_3/home2.html

Book of Ballymote (this contains Leabhar na gCeart)

This book was compiled towards the end of the 14th
century at the castle of Ballymote for Tonnaltagh
McDonagh, who was then in occupation of the castle.
The chief compiler was Manus O'Duignan, one of a
family who were ollavs and scribes to the McDonagh and
the McDermots. Other scribes of the book were Solomon
O'Droma, a member of a famous Co. Fermanagh family,
and a Robert McSheedy. The book is a compilation of
older works, mostly loose manuscripts and valuable
documents handed down from antiquity that came into
possession of McDonagh. The first page of the work
contains a drawing of Noah's Ark as conceived by the
scribe. The first written page is missing and the
second opens with a description of the ages of the
world.

The fourteenth century 'Book of Ballymote' lists
twelve kinds of ordeals used to determine whether an
accused person is innocent or guilty. 'Morann's
collar' that was mentioned earlier was placed on the
neck of the witness, and would tighten if he told a
lie. The 'Three Dark Stones' was carried out thus: A
bucket was filled with charcoal and three stones were
buried in it - one black, one white, and one speckled.
If the person pulled out the white stone they were
innocent, if they pulled out the black one they were
guilty, and curiously enough, if they pulled out the
speckled one they were considered 'half guilty'.

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~jhiggins/book.html

http://staffweb.itsligo.ie/staff/jforan/Irish_project/Alt14/alt14a.htm

Book of the O'Clerys 24.P.25

This book contains the judgement of Dermot O
Cearbhaill against Colmchille, with regards to the
Cathach. There is also an O'Curry Brehon Law
transcript.

Guests will also be given special visitor’s packs by
the Royal Irish Academy, and accompanied on a tour of
manuscripts by Siobhan O’Rafferty, RIA Librarian.

ABSTRACTS

Dr. Howard Clarke. Department of History,
University College Dublin

“Medieval Ireland: a land of multiple frontiers”

According to often repeated statements by professional
historians, something between two-thirds and
three-quarters of the island of Ireland was colonized
by the Anglo-French (Anglo-Normans, English) in the
Middle Ages. This viewpoint, reinforced by ascendancy
attitudes dating back to the early twentieth century,
has led to serious misunderstanding of the true
situation. The distribution of cities, towns and
market settlements (rural boroughs) suggests that only
about one-fifth of the island was effectively
colonized even at the height of the colony's existence
in the late thirteenth century. Most of the colonial
territory was vulnerable to military attack, as well
as being exposed to the attractiveness of various
aspects of Gaelic culture (including brehon law).

As a consequence, most of colonial Ireland was at
least partially gaelicized at a relatively early date,
since most of the colonists lived in a frontier
environment in practice. One facet of this hybrid
culture was marcher law, a mixture of brehon law and
English common law. The geographical spread of this
set of legal customs cannot be measured with
precision, but its effects must have penetrated many
parts of the colony, including the borderlands of the
Pale itself.

Mr. Raimund Karl, Department of History
University of Wales, Bangor

“Limiting impacts: 2500 years of left-side driving.”

There is a frontier that is so common to our everyday
lives that we hardly ever become aware of it. That is,
of course, unless opposing traffic crosses it, and we,
while bracing for impact, wonder why that big truck is
on "our" side of the road. In early medieval Ireland,
no one had to fear a head-on collision with oncoming
trucks. But, with daring young men in their chariots,
who would break for nobody - not only in the
entertaining stories told at night, but in real life
as well - traffic might still have impacted heavily on
countryside and population. With cross-country driving
inhibited by fields, fences and bogs, road
construction and repair were topics important to the
early Medieval Irish upper class, and thus are treated
in the Brehon laws.

Equally, the requirements of travellers were treated,
as said young men wouldn’t be satisfied showing their
driving skills to just those ladies at home, who all
too well remembered the boyhood deeds of their local
heroes. Driving at breakneck speed to impress the
ladies, however, was not an early Medieval Irish
invention, but rather a time-honoured tradition that
had started, in central and western Europe, some one
and a half millennia earlier. The Karbanto, the Celtic
equivalent to the Irish carpat, developed in the late
stages of the early Iron Age in north central Europe
and spread from there with breathtaking pace, most
probably beneath young men as daring as their later
Irish counterparts, and with quite similar
motivations.

The ancient Gauls, using such chariots in their
journeyings and when they went to battle, as Diodorus
Siculus reports, required - and actually had – roads
and roadside inns, just like those described in the
Brehon laws. And, as their later Irish counterparts,
they were also driving on the left side of the road.

TICKETS
40 EUROS (Students/OAP 20 euros)
Tickets can be purchased at the door of TCD or RIA.
Public Welcome

CONTACT
Vincent Salafia
(087) 132-3365
[email protected]

For more information on The Brehon Law Project and
previous events see:

2001 Symposium – BLACKHALL PLACE
http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/events/brehonlaw_jan12142001.html

2002 Symposium – KING’S INNS
http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/events/brehon_jan2002.html

DISCUSSION GROUP:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fenechas/

DEDICATION

Dedicated to Lorcán Ó Tuathail
(Saint Laurence O'Toole. 1128-1180)
http://ua_tuathal.tripod.com/dedication.html