Brehon laws
Ancient Irish statutes
Brehon laws were the native legal system of Ireland from ancient times until English conquest gradually displaced them in the 17th century.
The laws governed property, contracts, family relations, and injuries through an elaborate system of compensation rather than punishment.
Brehons were the judges who interpreted and applied these laws: Under Brehon law, a murderer's family owed payment to the victim's kin.
- DruidsCeltic priestly caste
- fosterageRearing another's child
- Irish mythologyTraditional tales of Ireland
- finesMonetary sanctions or particles
- compensationPayment for services rendered
filí · custom · kinship · restitution · oral · poets · clan · medieval · ancient · Celtic · chieftain · Irish · landholding · cattle · monks · judgments · succession · tribe
- Irish cultureshamrock, shamrocks, leprechaun, leprechauns, Celtic cross
- Ancient IrelandCelts, Gaels, druids, Tara, high kings
- ancient lawsCode of Hammurabi, Hammurabi, Twelve Tables, Ten Commandments, Justinian Code
- Gaelic HistoryGaels, Celtic tribes, clans, chieftains, annals
- Irish HeritageTara, Book of Kells, Celtic cross, round tower, dolmen
- Celtic lawlegal texts, dire, lawgivers
legal system origin/type
Brehon lawsEnglish common law
Precedent-based legal system
common law · colonial law · Roman law · canon law · statute law