Early Irish Law and Society

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Through readings of translated Old Irish text, this course will give an overview of the early Irish legal system ('Brehon law'). It will characterize the structure of early Irish society and its institutions. Specifically, it will look at the early Irish system of law enforcement in the absence of a centralized state and associated police force, the status of women in early Irish society, look at early Irish family structures, give an overview of farming and food in early Ireland, and characterize the nature and background of Irish 'sacral' kingship and the concept of 'truth.'