Introduction: In the seventh and eighth centuries Ireland was in a period of flux as Christianity started to become more part of the native culture, growing in numbers and influence. It brought with it many Roman ideas which had previously seemed to have little influence in Ireland, including some of the bases of Roman law. Irish law, in contrast with other contemporary law systems, focused more on compensation than capital punishment. That does not mean that capital punishment was never used. Which poses the question for which crimes would a person be sentenced to death in Early Irish society in comparison to the usual forms of compensation? It also seems that some forms of punishment may have been introduced later with the rise of power of the Christian church, specifically hanging. Is it possible to tell from the information we have if hanging entered the laws due to the influence of the Church and biblical law, or if it existed as a punishment before the rise of the Church’s influence?
However, before one can begin to answer these questions, it is important to have a basic knowledge of the build up of Irish society and where they set the most importance. So in the first section we will tough briefly on these items before we move on to look at the possible places of evidence of influence of the Church on secular Irish law, and vice versa. Finally we will study the Annals of Ulster and some literature texts for a survey of hanging in Irish sources and literature, and whether hanging meant to hang from the gallows as we understand it today or to be crucified, if that can be determined with the evidence at hand.
By Patricia Riley
Bachelor thesis, University of Utrecht, 2012
Introduction: In the seventh and eighth centuries Ireland was in a period of flux as Christianity started to become more part of the native culture, growing in numbers and influence. It brought with it many Roman ideas which had previously seemed to have little influence in Ireland, including some of the bases of Roman law. Irish law, in contrast with other contemporary law systems, focused more on compensation than capital punishment. That does not mean that capital punishment was never used. Which poses the question for which crimes would a person be sentenced to death in Early Irish society in comparison to the usual forms of compensation? It also seems that some forms of punishment may have been introduced later with the rise of power of the Christian church, specifically hanging. Is it possible to tell from the information we have if hanging entered the laws due to the influence of the Church and biblical law, or if it existed as a punishment before the rise of the Church’s influence?
However, before one can begin to answer these questions, it is important to have a basic knowledge of the build up of Irish society and where they set the most importance. So in the first section we will tough briefly on these items before we move on to look at the possible places of evidence of influence of the Church on secular Irish law, and vice versa. Finally we will study the Annals of Ulster and some literature texts for a survey of hanging in Irish sources and literature, and whether hanging meant to hang from the gallows as we understand it today or to be crucified, if that can be determined with the evidence at hand.
Click here to read this thesis from the University of Utrecht
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