Druid Brehon Law: Deeper Study

When It Began

We know that Druid Brehon Law dates from at least 2,300 BC. The first mention of law in ancient texts are casual comments that some light. For example, there is the brief mention of the Firbolg and Tuatha de Danann negotiating “…under the Laws of Battle,” during the prelude to the First Battle of Moyturra. There is also brief mention that Amergin, chief poet (Fíli) of the Milesians, was skilled in “Law Craft.” Such references are hardly definitive.

We have a basic date for the birth of the Law, there are clues that indicate development during the bronze age (2,300 to 0900 BC). For example, the lack of capital punishment and fines for major offenses was quite common throughout Europe during the bronze age and very reminiscent of the Irish Law. The Warrior classes that developed during the iron age took a much harsher approach to punishment including death by various means. For this reason and others, it appears that Brehon Law pre-dated the iron age.

We also do not know which of the early Irish cultures planted and nurtured the Brehon seed. However, since the late bronze-age Milesians were of a warrior class aristocracy, the absence of capital punishment suggests another and earlier culture. It therefor seems logical to credit the middle bronze age Tuatha de Danann with major contribution to formation of the Brehon Law, if not outright development. Whatever the case, major development of at least a rudimentary form of the law apparently began between the 18th and 13th centuries BC. A Matter of HonorBrehon Law continued to remain the law of the Irish until finally extinguished during the Cromwellian onslaught of the 17th century. The durability of the Law for nearly 3-millenium is astounding. The reason for its unparalleled strength and longevity was the sense of honor held by the people whom it governed. The laws were laws of users. That is, they attained their authority from public opinion. They were an expression of the moral power of the people. That moral power was the code of honor reflected throughout both ancient law and wisdom texts. An individuals word was his or her bond.

As laws of users, no law could be changed without approval of the people. Thus any enactment of a new law or a modification to an existing law could only be accomplished in open forum of the assembled people. Thus though Rí and Noble might campaign for a specific law, it took a majority vote of all tribal free citizens to effect enactment. The Brehon Law truly was a Law of the people, by the people and for the people.
The Law-givers

What is today known as the “Brehon Law” is more properly known as Fénechas, the law of the Féine, the free land tillers. The name Brehon is an Anglicization for the name Breitheamh, the scholars of law. It was these scholars that studied and maintained the large body of legal material from the earliest of times down into the near modern era in a unique role that is generally misunderstood today.

The Brehons are frequently described as Judges, but this is in error. Their role was one of arbitrator and legal advisor to the ruler. In pre-Norman times, it was the Ri (King or Queen) that passed judgement, when necessary, following recitation of applicable law and advice from the Brehon. In the case of Monastery Law it was the Bishop who passed judgement. It was not until late 12th century that legal experts began being appointed to serve as Judges. Even then, such appointment was generally limited to Norman dominated areas. The resident Irish clung tenaciously to their old customs. Not until the 17th century was the old Brehon law at last broken. As the legal repositories and interpreters of the law, Brehons held great influence within the community. Traditionally, they were subsidized by a particular Ri and had free lands on which to graze herds and grow crops for their maintenance. Those not so attached lived on a combination of their fees and farming activities. The legal rules were frequently very complicated and many considerations had to be made. Thus outsiders could not hope to master the intricacies. However, though the field of law was limited, the Brehon had to be extremely careful, for he or she was liable for damages if a false legal opinion was made and besides forfeiting the fee, the inaccurate Brehon was also liable for damages.

To become a Brehon, the potential legal expert had to go through a rigorous, well-defined disciplined course of study. Following completion of the course, the potential Brehon then was required to submit to an examination of already practicing Brehons. Then, only if the candidate was found worthy was he or she permitted to enter the profession. In ancient times, the Brehon was seen as a mysterious individual of inspiration over whom deity kept watch. It was believed that if a Brehon deviated from the truth, great blotches would appear on his or her cheeks. The traditional badge of office was a torque, which was believed, would tighten when false statement was made, and loosen when truth was given. The well known Brehon, Moraann, son of Carbery Cinncat (a Munster King in the first century) wore a sin or chain of gold which functioned in such fashion.

Why It Worked

The durability of the Law is astounding. Existing in Ireland long before the common era, it remained the favored system by Irish and Norman alike until the 17the century and the reign of Queen Elizabeth. This in spite of the fact that English writers were always strong in their condemnation of the Brehon law and a number of acts of parliament were taken against it. Parliament even went so far as to declare it an act of treason for English settlers to use it. In defiance of such bans, English settlers who lived outside the pale adopted Irish custom, manner of dress and even the law, all of which they became as attached to as the Irish themselves.

The reason for the durability of the Brehon law was the people themselves. The entire existing body of literature of Ireland shows the great respect the Irish people held for justice and law, and an abhorrence for unjust decisions. As late as the beginning of the 17th century, Sir John Davies, the Attorney General for James I stated “…there is no nation of people under the sunne that doth love equall and indifferent justice better than the Irish…” The penal system that the English throne and parliament would forcibly impose thereafter, would soon bring unfortunate change.

http://www.danann.org/library/law/breh.html

Druid Religious Books
Bile Tortan

The Metrical Dindsenchas

Ultan. Fallen is the Tree of Tortu, whose skirts conquered many a storm: . . . even so would they disperse.

Mochuma. The Tree of Tortu looks down on strife: name ye among the wise him who writes of it! here it stands from the time that it was green till the season of its decay.

Mochua. Sad are all the men of Tortu, mourning for that single tree; dearer to them is the thing they see than all things that are gone from us.

Coin Galma. When the men of Tortu used to meet together round the huge conspicuous tree, the pelting of the storms did not reach them, until the day when it was decayed.

Colum Cille. Though it is withered now, it had not an early end: long has it been on earth: the King who created its form has brought it low again.

Ultan of Tech Tua. Fifty cubits is the thickness of the tree that overpowered the array of the forest: three hundred cubits, famous count, was the full height of its timber.

Mochuma. Three landmarks of Erin, thou seest, are shorn of their strength, the Tree of Ross, the mighty Tree of Mugna, and the red-sided Tree of Tortu.

Mochua. Deep was the sound of the Tree of Tortu in the storm’s fierce torment: the moaning of the wind on winter nights has torn from it here many a swarm of leaves.

Utan. It found an abode over strong Tortu from the time of the sons of mighty Mil, until its colour faded and it fell, in the time of the sons of Aed Slane.

Croin Galma. A wind laid the Tree low–none that is not hard of heart can bear the loss–and it crushed thrice fifty victims of the Conaille, at their fair.

Sinche. Beldame, though thou breakest faggots from its bole on thy hearth, there was many a fair youth that has slept under its bright branches.

Ultan of Tech Tua. The woman who loosed their fair locks, many a trim sandal hath she loosed: gleefully she laughed at the felling of Tortu’s Tree.

Croin Galma. All that meet the eye must fall: they joined in stubborn conflict: the wind withdrew not its hand until it brought down the Tree’s pride.

Mochua. To all things comes decay: all men in the world go toward death: they are but red earth and lifeless clay, all folk that gathered round the Tree.

Ultan. The plain of Tortu is a plain without a ruler since it lost its noble tree: two parts of its prosperity are gone since the Tree fell.

Torannan. Adam’s transgression of old hath undone the children of the free people: such is the lot in store for us since their mighty Tree withered.

Colum Cille. Deserted is Ochann, and noble Tlachtga, since Ailill, son of Nathi, is gone, the chief of strong troops, that rode through Meath: a death not like that of any other Tree.

Mochua. I am Mochua: I bid Croin not to grieve excessively: from the roots of the illustrious Tree many a tree might spring.

Colum Cille. On a certain summer’s day I was in the wood of tufted leafage, having an errand to perform: the crown of Tortu’s Tree gave me shelter.

Mochuma. No comfort have I, though the winds stir the treetops of the wood to laughter: to-day a solitary housewife breaks faggots from the Tree of Tortu.

Ultan. Though the wind made rough sport with it, it could not break the Tree while it was young; but it brings to the ground all that is old: this I know by the Tree of Tortu.

http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/d02.html

Druid Celtic Books written 600 B.C.

The most ancient remnants of a celtic dialect in written form have been found in northern Italy (Sesto Calende, ~600 b.C., Castelletto Ticino, ~575-550 b.C.). It is a relatively recent acquisition that these (Lepontic) inscription are actually written in a celtic dialect (Lejeune, “Lepontica”, 1971).

http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=xlp

Druid Calendar

The oldest calendar in the world was recently discovered in Scotland. It is a series of stones aligned that mark the months. Here we will discuss the Celtic Druid calendars, beginning with the most well known, the Coligny Calendar.

The Coligney Calendar:

The Celts reckoned the months from Dark Moon to Dark Moon (The month having a Light and Dark half…. the Light half being the waxing Moon and the Dark half being the waning Moon). This treatment of months is no different than how they viewed the days and the years as well (Day began at sundown, dawn marking the second half of the day. The year began and ended at Samhain with Bealtaine marking the midpoint of the year.)

How the cycles of the moon were reconciled with the seasons of the year and the 3 major pathways of the Sun (Mid-Winter, Mid-Summer, Equinoxes), is a much more difficult question to answer. Most of the calendars that I’ve seen only give hints at what the names of the Months (Moons) were. Some ideas can be found within an ancient Gaulish calendar called the Coligny Calendar. The names in this calendar were:

* Samonios – Summers end (Oct/Nov)

* Dumannios – Dark time (Nov/Dec)

* Riuros – Frost time (Dec/Jan)

* Anagantios – Indoor time (Jan/Feb)

* Ogronios – Time of Ice (Feb/Mar)

* Cutios – Time of Winds (Mar/Apr)

* Giamonios – Winters end (Apr/May)

* Simiuisonos – Time of Brightness (May/June)

* Equos – Horse time (June/July)

* Elembiuios – Claim time (July/Aug)

* Edrinios – Arbitration time (Aug/Sept)

* Cantlos – Song time (Sept/Oct)

This calendar covered a period of 5 years and included 2 extra months to go with the (5 x 12) or 60 that I’ve named. The intercalary month was named Mid-Samonios or Mid-Giamonios depending on where it fell within the five year cycle (at the beginning or after two and a half years). These extra months basically caught the calendar up to the year in terms of solar days. The Coligny calendar looks promising but it is only the effort of the Gaulish Druids to produce a calendar that conformed more closely with that of their Roman conquerors IMHO. I mention it here to get and idea of what the names for the moons may well be.

(Moons are not indicated, the months are 30 and 29 days long, and modern correspondences are only roughly indicated)

The modern Scottish Gaelic calendar:

I looked for the root meanings of these names. These are as close as I could come. This calendar is a bit more “Pagan”, has these names for the months:

* an t-Samhain – (samh, “sleep or ghost”) – November

* an Dubhlachd – (dubh, “black or dark”) – December

* an Faoilleach – (faol, “wolf”) – January

* an Gearran – (gearr, “rabbit”) – February

* am Mart – (mart, “cow”) – March

* na Giblean – (gibleid, “scraps, bits”) – April

* an Ceitean – (ceatha, “showers”) – May

* an t-Ogmhios – (Ogma = og, “young”, mios, “month”) – June

* an t-Iuchar – (Jupiter = iuchair = eochair, “keys”) – July

* an Lugnasdai – (Lugh = lug, “lynx”) – August

* an t-Sultain – (suil, “eye”) – September

* an Damhair – ( damh, “stag”) – October

* Allen, Richard Hinckley, Star Names, Their Lore and Meanings, Dover Publications, New York, 1963, ISBN 0-486-21079-0.

* Brennan, Martin, The Stones of Time, Calendars, Sundials, and Stone Chambers of Ancient Ireland, Inner Traditions International, Rochester, Vermont, 1994.

* Burnham, Robert .Burnham’s Celestial Handbook.

* Ellis, Peter Berresford, Celtic Inheritance, Dorset Press, New York, 1992.

* ____ A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992.

* ____ A Dictionary of Irish Mythology, Oxford University Press, New York, 1987.

* Focloir Scoile, English – Irish, Irish – English Dictionary, Criterian Press Tta, Dublin, 1986.

* Graves, Robert, The White Goddess, The Noonday Press, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1993.

* Gray, E. A., Cath Maige Tuired, The Second Battle of Maige Tuired, Irish Texts Society, Kildare, Erin, 1982.

* Hawkins, Gerald S., Stonehenge Decoded, An Astronomer Examines One of the Great Puzzles of the Ancient World, Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1986, ISBN 0-88029-147-8.

* Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone, A Celtic Miscellany, Penguin Books,New York, 1971, ISBN 0-14-044247-2.

* King, John, The Celtic Druids’ Year, Seasonal Cycles of the Ancient Celts, Blandford, London, 1994.

* Krupp, Dr. E. C., Beyond the Blue Horizon, HarperCollins Publishing.

* Matthews, John, A Celtic Reader, Selections from Celtic Scholarship and Story, Aquarian, Press, Hammersmit, London, 1992.

* ____ The Celtic Shaman, A Handbook, Element Books, Rockport, MA, 1991.

* ____ Taliesin, Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland, Aquarian Press, London, 1991, ISBN 1-85538-109-5.

* Matthews, John and Cailtin, Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom, A Celtic Shaman’s Sourcebook, Element Books, Rockport, MA, 1994.

* Murray, Liz and Colin, The Celtic Tree Oracle, A System of Divination, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1992.

* North, John, Astronomy and Cosmology, W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 1995, ISBN 0-393-31193-7.

* O’Donaill, Niall, Editor, Focloir Gaeilge-Bearla, Oifig Dhiolta Foilseachan Rialtas, Baile Atha Cliath 2, 1992, ISBN 1-85791-038-9.

* Quin, E.G., Dictonary of the Irish Language, Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 1990.

* Rees, Alwyn and Brinley, Celtic Heritage, Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales, Thames & Hudson, New York, 1994.

* Renton, R.W. and MacDonald, J.A., Scottish Gaelic – English, English – Scottish Gaelic Dictionary, Hippocrene Books, New York, 1994.

* Rey, H.A., The Stars, A New Way to See Them, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 988, ISBN 0-395-24830-2.

* Rolleston, T. W., Celtic Myths and Legends, Dover Publications Co., New York, 1990.

* Sakoian, Frances and Acker, Louis S., The Astrologers Handbook, Aquarian Books, New York, 1987, ISBN 0-06-272004-X.

Druid Pyramids: 2,700 B.C. Britain

Stukeley has drawn a feature at this point on this plate (TAB VIII) from “Abury – A Temple of the British Druids”

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/silbaby.html

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/silbury_hill/IMAG007.JPG

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/silbury_hill/IMAG003.JPG

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/chalk_effect/IMAG006.JPG — Chalk excavation

This experimental barrow was dug on Overton Down in 1960…..It is a perfect illustration of how the monuments must have once appeared.

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/chalk_effect/IMAG002.JPG

When looking at them all to-day it is easy to forget or not even to consider their once dramatic appearance which would have made them visible from a considerable distance.

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/chalk_effect.html

The appearance of Avebury and the surrounding monuments to-day is still spectacular but it blends into the pastures and fields of the modern landscape with everything mostly covered in grass and the underlying chalk being barely in evidence…….. How different Avebury’s monuments must have looked when they were first completed. Silbury Hill must have appeared like a snow covered mountain, the ditch and bank of the Avebury circle also starkly white against the surrounding landscape. Likewise would have been the mounds of the long-barrows and tumuli that were commonplace in the area.

Druid Art: 10,000 B.C.

Celtic Druid cave art, termed the “Sistine Ceiling of the Ice Age” has been discovered in Britain, proving that the Ice Age did not drive the Druids out of Britain, but that the cold forced them to become creative, living, creating and working indoors.

http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/CHT/News_and_views/rock_art_july2004.html

http://www.uned.es/dpto-pha/creswell/fotos.htm

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

BAHN P., PETTITT P. & RIPOLL S., 2003. – ‘Discovery of Palaeolithic cave art in Britain.’

Antiquity, 77, N° 296, June, P.227-23

The oldest graves in Ireland yet found are dated to 7,000 BC, about 9,000 years ago, depending on what branch of Druidism you follow, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, OBD, Druid Network, ADF, AODA, or AOD, we all have slightly different year dates of creation and different Gods, Goddesses and Forces, some such as the Reform Druids put the creation of the Druidism as late as 4,000 BC, which would be year 3000 DY (Druid Year). While the Orthodox Druids put it farther back at 9000 BC, and the Conservative Druids at approximately 8000 BC. It is believed they had a relgion known as Druidism.

Druid Church of America tends to use DY (Druid Year) to take a non-sectarian approach to the other dating related to Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, OBD, Druid Network, ADF, AODA, or AOD, Godesses and Gods, some of which adhere to Fionn, Morrigan, Dis, Brigid, Rhiannon and many others which have different creation dates. We are not dogmatic, we welcome all Celtic Druids here at DCA.

 

Druid History: Mummification in Scotland 1,500 BC

Scottish island of South Uist)(indications of ancestor worship). Brehon Law. Hence, the old ways transferred over sanctified and intact, partly why ancestor worship was such an important. Druids have ancestor worship this is shown in the Brehon laws protecting inheritance and mummification dating back to at least 1,500 BC. Ancestor worship is believed to have its origins in the Paleolithic period … Age; as is evidenced in Brehon Law children were not considered members of … This was a customary law, based on tradition. The Druids guarded the kinship group, and not the individual, was the most important under Brehon law. Speaking about the Gauls and their druids, [and noting … This match with Brehon Law and other historical events therefore suggests strongly that. The Brehon law-tracts prove, however, that it can only be received with …. the modern Family or group of descendants from a living ancestor.

Ancestor worship is also evident among ancient Celts and can be seen manifest in the long traditions of genealogies being maintained. It is also seen when we note that some families and peoples believed themselves to be direct descendants of mythic beings who are at one time considered both progenitor and deity to be worshipped. To what extent ancestor worship would have been overtly conducted in any given liturgical rite by any given Celtic tribe, we cannot say, but we can say that ancestor honoring and worship were conceptually present and so most likely would have been seen in some way in the liturgical cycle designed to connect the historic time/world to the mythic time/world.

Mummification was practiced at 6500 YB (Year of Brigid) (1500 BC) by us Druids as a form of Ancestor worship, pre-dating Egypt. We basically brought mummification from Scotland to the Egyptian civilization.

http://www.comhaltacht-draiocht.org/id32.html

Brehon law
Prior to English rule, Ireland had its own indigenous system of law dating from Celtic times, which survived until the 17th century when it was finally supplanted by the English common law. This native system of law, known as the Brehon law, developed from customs which had been passed on orally from one generation to the next. In the 7th century AD the laws were written down for the first time. Brehon law was administered by Brehons (or brithem). They were the successors to Celtic druids and while similar to judges; their role was closer to that of an arbitrator. Their task was to preserve and interpret the law rather than to expand it.
In many respects Brehon law was quite progressive. It recognised divorce and equal rights between the genders and also showed concern for the environment. In criminal law, offences and penalties were defined in great detail. Restitution rather than punishment was prescribed for wrongdoing. Cases of homicide or bodily injury were punishable by means of the eric fine, the exact amount determined by a scale. Capital punishment was not among the range of penalties available to the Brehons. The absence of either a court system or a police force suggests that people had strong respect for the law.
The first encroachment on Brehon law came in 1155

http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/3CBAE4FE856E917B80256DF800494ED9

BELTANE – Celtic Druid May Day celebrated in Los Angeles, California, under the old Oaks.

Come worship with us under to Oak trees of the Sacred Grove. Increase your power and get the energy of your people, your ancestors in your spirit.