Brehon Law One of the best known systems of law originated in Ireland, it is usually refered to as either brehon law or early Irish law. The term brehon comes from the Irish word brithem, meaning jurist. These men and women were more like arbitrators than judges, since both parties are required to abide by the judgements in advance and there was no official enforcement of decisions. It is believed that the brehons were the legal and correct descendants of the fili, who were the poets or historians of the druids. Much of the brehons power stemmed from their descent from druidic traditions and their reliance on ancient laws that had been passed down for centuries. Of the great body of ancient Irish law literature in existance, there are 5 large volumes, the principal part of these being the Senchus Mor ... supposed to be the labour of St Patrick, also referred to as the Statute Law of Patrick. When considering that these five volumes are but a portion of what came down to the 20th century, and that what came down to the 20th century was but a meager fraction of the ancient Irish Cana or ordinances, we get an idea of the vastness of the laws that governed the celtic world. Consider in turn that the Senchus Mor citations are made from no less then 14 different books of civil law ... a staggering collection of laws. Although the Senchus Mor is considered the most monumental and remarkable record of ancient Irish law. It is believed to have been one of Patricks great works gifted to the land. He called together all the professors of legal law, and had them translated to him. Then he had a board of 3 kings, 3 bishops and 3 scholars (a philosopher, a historian, and a poet) sit upon them for 3 years, codifying and correcting them, taking out of them the pagan eye-for-an-eye doctrine, toning down their pagan severity and weeding out from them whatsoever was inconsistant with the new law of Christ, which he had brought to them. Laws that covered almost every relationship, and every nuances of relationships, social and moral between all citizens. Under those laws Ireland had the most sophisticated and democratic legal system of the Dark Ages; the rights of women were protected, the Brehon Laws outlined the duty of parents towards adopted children, and created a frame work for the operation of government. Thus the brehon laws were so throughly ingrained and applicable to daily life that it remained the law of 75% of Ireland for several centuries even after the coming of theEnglish, and was in fact adopted by a large population of the English settlers, to the exclusion of the anglo-norman code which in turn lasted until the 16th century. In 1541 the King of England was proclaimed by himself as the "King of Ireland" and the English began a campaign to complete their conquest. After English rule became final in 1603, the English enforced their draconian fuedal laws on Ireland. In the new independent country comprised of the 26 counties of the south, first called the Irish Free State (1921-1948), later the Republic of Ireland (since 1948) a new legal system based off of some aspects of British and French common law but also comprising modernized concepts of the old Brehon Laws has been adopted. Recommended links of study : http://www.draeconin.com/database/brehon2.htm http://ua_tuathal.tripod.com/brehonlinks.html http://www.danann.org/library/law/breh.html http://www.brehonlaw.org/faq.htm   art by Stephanie Pui Mun Law