Early Irish Law

"The Old Irish legal tract Uraicecht Becc ‘Little Primer’ belongs to a group of tracts known collectively as the Bretha Nemed which deal with specific social ranks named nemed, their legal privileges and their responsibilities towards judgement. According to Uraicecht Becc this judgement was threefold, reliant on fír ‘truth’, dliged ‘entitlement’ and aicned ‘nature’ (CIH 1590.1) for which the nemed held full responsibility. What makes this assignment of judgement and other privileges unusual is that the nemed were composed of two distinct ranks, the sóer-nemed ‘free or noble nemed’ and the dóer-nemed ‘unfree or subject nemed’. The sóernemed included kings and rulers, clerics and filid ‘poets’ (CIH 1593.5–6) while members of the dóer-nemed ranged from artisans, physicians and jurists to leather-workers and fishermen (CIH 1612.4–9, CIH 1616.22–7). Where other status tracts define status along strict hierarchical lines, there appears to be limited congruence between the two nemed social ranks, and few modern studies discuss why the social category was defined as it was. Uraicecht Becc indicates that it is the professional capacities of the nemed, underpinned by their legal privileges, that provide the underlying principle for the category. Moreover, the text outlines the roles of both ‘free’ and ‘subject’ nemed as socially and culturally valuable. This paper, therefore, seeks to explore the professional persona of the nemed, to argue that this persona is reflected in their public function in governance."

Адаптация гэльских порядков, предпринятая в «Законах…», позволяла в тяжбах с носителями саксонской культуры более-менее верно соотнести личный статус сторон с различным личным законом. Однако, внутриклановые и межклановые отношения свод не рассматривал, поскольку они (как и предмет канонического права) по умолчанию лежали за пределами его компетенции. Успешно выполнив свою задачу по интеграции древних правопорядков королевства, «Законы между бриттами и скоттами» не претендовали на роль всеобъемлющего свода унифицированных материально-правовых норм.
Горная Шотландия продолжала существовать как обособленный анклав кельтской Ойкумены, однако и там подход к правовому регулированию статуса личности продолжал откочевывать все дальше и дальше от древних ирландских традиций.
Ключевым понятием для определения статуса личности (и вообще для всего общественного устройства) здесь продолжал оставаться клан — однако шотландский клан начиная с эпохи Высокого Средневековья уже нимало не тождествен ирландскому. За исключением таких частных специфических отличий, как порядок наследия власти (выборным вождём в Шотландии, в отличие от Ирландии, могла стать и женщина) и порядок владения клановым имуществом (о чем мы еще скажем несколько слов), шотландский клан был значительно более иерархичен, нежели ирландский, и, вкупе с этой иерархией, играл чрезвычайно важную прикладную роль в жизни шотландского гэльского общества.

Winner of the 2015 Irish Historical Research Prize.

Much of our knowledge of early medieval Ireland comes from a rich literature written in a variety of genres and in two languages, Irish and Latin. Who wrote this literature and what role did they play within society? What did the introduction and expansion of literacy mean in a culture where the vast majority of the population continued to be non-literate? How did literacy operate in and intersect with the oral world? Was literacy a key element in the formation and articulation of communal and elite senses of identity?

This book addresses these issues in the first full, inter-disciplinary examination of the Irish literate elite and their social contexts between ca. 400-1000 AD. It considers the role played by Hiberno-Latin authors, the expansion of vernacular literacy and the key place of monasteries within the literate landscape. Also examined are the crucial intersections between literacy and orality, which underpin the importance played by the literate elite in giving voice to aristocratic and communal identities. This study places these developments within a broader European context, underlining the significance of the Irish experience of learning and literacy.

This paper examines the elements of Ulster Cycle in the law tracts as published in Corpus Iuris Hibernici. It compares the legal narratives with non-legal Ulster Cycle stories, and discusses the roles of kings and filid in the legal narratives, as well as the meaning of the term Féni. (This version represents the last proof before publication and contains minor typesetting errors)

The Prologue Senchas Már is an eighth-century narrative which appears in the glosses of the seventh-century law-text that it introduces.  This paper discusses The Prologue in the context of Early Irish speculation on Natural Law and the secular (i.e. non-ecclesiastical) form of inspiration through which it was taken to be accessible.  These speculations are, in turn, considered in light of the patristic ideas on which they draw, with a view to the subsequent developments in Carolingian and scholastic theology which they anticipate.  However, The Prologue's significance is not simply in anticipating later developments.  For the way which it conceives of the mode of knowledge which belongs to the Church alone, in relation to the mode of knowledge that is possible without recourse to the Church, seems to be without any uncomplicated parallels in medieval theology outside of Ireland.

Cáin Adomnáin was promulgated at the Synod of Birr, Ireland, in 697 CE. This law was a clever fusion of secular compensatory legislation and ecclesiastical canon and penitential law. As a secular law enforced by ecclesiastics, it may have been the first of its kind in Britain and Ireland. It has many interesting features; not least of which is the list of 91 signatories which reads as a ‘who’s who’ of the period. The aim of this paper is to look at the possible impact of Cáin Adomnáin: What were the advantages and disadvantages accruing from its promulgation and why was it created? This will require a review of the period in which it was created, in particular the position of the Columban familia in the enactment of the law.

Qiu, Fangzhe. “Law, Law-Books and Tradition in Early Medieval Ireland.” In Law | Book | Culture in the Middle Ages, edited by Thom Gobbitt, 126–46. Explorations in Medieval Culture 14. Leiden: Brill, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004448650_007.

This chapter is Open Access.

Nondum matrimonia contrahunt; non incestus uitant; non ecclesiam Dei cum debita reuerentia frequentant: con queste parole Giraldo di Cambria, confermando l’opinione di Strabone, Gaio Giulio Solino e altri, accusa gli Irlandesi di essere un popolo barbaro, pagano e dedito all’incesto. Sorvolando sulle parole degli autori classici, che si limitano a riproporre un tema antico, nella Topographia Hiberniae l’autore cambro-normanno sembra invece scrivere con cognizione di causa. In primo luogo, infatti, Giraldo visitò effettivamente l’isola tra il 1183 e il 1186, al contrario dei geografi-compilatori del mondo antico. In secondo luogo, il problema era già stato sollevato secoli prima, quando in Irlanda stava rapidamente crescendo una Chiesa sulle orme di Patrizio, Columba e Brigida: il cristianesimo rifiutava gli aspetti endogamici di quella che è stata definita una società a conical clans, perciò l’agiografia, la vera mitologia del sincretismo celto-cristiano, riporta diversi esempi, palesi o meno, di tale condanna.
Ad ogni modo, le accuse degli autori cristiani sollevano diversi dubbi: i miti irlandesi, come nell’altra grande mitologia celtica – quella gallese-arturiana – presentano vari casi di eroi e guerrieri nati da incesto, e anche alcuni santi, tra cui Cumméne Fota, hanno una tale origine. È poi senz’altro innegabile che nell’élite celtica era frequente il matrimonio all’interno del proprio gruppo sociale. D’altro canto, l’incesto primario viene generalmente aborrito nei testi legali: il frutto di una relazione incestuosa, detto macc scríne, “figlio di uno scrigno”, veniva abbandonato alle correnti dell’Oceano e, se tornava alla spiaggia sano e salvo, veniva allevato come un servo. Molti casi di incesto mitologico, probabilmente perché filtrati da copisti cristiani, vengono inoltre generalmente epurati in altre varianti dei miti.
Basandosi principalmente sulle fonti cristiane e giuridiche a partire dal VII secolo, l’intervento mira a fornire una panoramica su una questione spinosa, che nei testi viene generalmente aggirata con eufemismi o edulcorazioni, cercando di determinare se e quanto la cristianità abbia influito ad arginare un fenomeno diffuso o se le accuse degli ecclesiastici e degli stranieri siano un tentativo di bollare gli Irlandesi come un popolo barbaro per ragioni politiche ed ideologiche.

Comparison between the early medieval Irish marriage laws and customs (mainly from Cáin Lánamna) and continental practises (chuch law, Roman and Germanic law), with regard to e.g. types of marriage, brideprice and dowry (coibche, tinchor, tinól; coemptio, dos, donatio), preconditions, divorce, polygamy and concubinage.

Les règles de droit dans la prose du dindsenchas de Rennes

Résumé : Les poètes irlandais du Moyen Age devaient connaître « l’histoire des localités », « l’histoire des lieux éminents » (dindsenchas). Plusieurs sources des XIe-XIIIe siècles rassemblent de courts passages en prose ou en vers, qui racontent la « tradition » des lieux. Chaque toponyme s’explique ainsi par une histoire particulière, qui est souvent éloignée de la réalité historique, mais qui révèle les exploits d’un héros, d’un roi ou d’un dieu. Parmi ces légendes, on trouve parfois ici ou là, une allusion à quelques règles juridiques. Nous prendrons l’exemple de la recension C du dindsenchas, contenue dans un manuscrit conservé à la bibliothèque municipale de Rennes. On y trouve des allusions aux contrats, aux sûretés, à l’ordalie ou au jugement, ce qui montre que les règles de droit ne sont pas cantonnées aux traités juridiques, mais se trouvent incorporées dans diverses formes littéraires, notamment dans les légendes des lieux célèbres. La légende vient alors bien souvent confirmer les règles de droit enseignées dans les écoles spécialisées, elle est l’esprit de la coutume.

Mots-clés : toponymie, droit, légende, Irlande médiévale, dindshenchas, sûretés, jeûne coercitif, ordalie, jugement.

Law in the prose of the Rennes Dindshenchas

Abstract: Medieval Irish poets must have been familiar with the lore of prominent places (dindsenchas). Several sources from the 11th to the 13th centuries include short passages, in both prose and poetry, which tell of the “tradition” of places. Each toponym is thus explained through a particular story, which is often far from historical reality, but which recounts the exploits of a hero, a king or a god. Among these legends, there are, here and there, allusions to the law. This study looks at recension C of the dindsenchas, which is in a manuscript at the library of Rennes. It contains references to contracts, sureties, ordeals and judgments, which show that the law was not confined to legal treatises, but was often incorporated into various literary forms, particularly the legends of prominent places. The legends therefore often confirmed the rule of law taught in law schools, they were the spirit of the custom.

Keywords: toponymy, law, legend, medieval Ireland, dindshenchas, surety, coercive fasting, ordeal, judgment.

Methods for resolving cross-border legal claims between two or more kingdoms appear in various early Irish legal texts. The basic models of cairde, rechtge, and other types of inter-territorial law will be illustrated using a variety of legal texts, including Bretha Cairdi, Slán nAitire Cairde, Críth Gablach, and the tract on the distribution of cró and díbad. By examining the general models of these kinds of inter-territorial dispute settlement, we can begin to understand these methods as cohesive legal institutions and therein provide a premise for further research into inter-territorial affairs in early medieval Ireland.

La vérité du feu. Ordalies et jugement dans l’Irlande médiévale
Résumé : Le texte médiéval de L’aventure de Cormac dans la terre de la promesse contient la liste des « douze vérités du royaume ». Ce sont douze ordalies pour lesquelles l’auteur fait un rapide commentaire. L’association de certaines d’entre elles à des personnages mythiques marque la volonté d’enraciner leurs pratiques dans le passé. Malgré tout, l’influence chrétienne est perceptible, lorsqu’elle n’est pas évidente. Nous proposons de prendre l’exemple des ordalies faisant intervenir le feu : « le chaudron de vérité », le fer rouge et « le troisième collier de Morann », pour montrer que coexistent d’anciennes pratiques issues de l’époque païenne (christianisées ensuite) et d’autres beaucoup moins anciennes, qui se fondent sur les textes ecclésiastiques.
Mots-clés : ordalie, vérité, feu, jugement, chaudron, fer rouge, Morann, littérature irlandaise médiévale, ancien droit irlandais, Collection canonique irlandaise.

The truth of fire. Ordeals and judgement in medieval Ireland
Abstract : The medieval text The Cormac’s adventure in the Land of Promise contains the « The twelve Truths of kingdom » list. These are twelve ordeals which the author briefly comments. The linking of some of them to mythical characters underlines the will to root their
use in the past. Despite this, the Christian influence can be felt, and is sometime obvious. We’re taking the example of ordeals involving the fire: « The cauldron of truth », the red-hot iron and « Morann’s third collar », to show that old usages from the pagan era (and later christianised) and more recent ones (based on ecclesial texts) do co-exist.
Keywords: ordeal, truth, fire, judgement, cauldron, red-hot iron, Morann, medieval Irish literature, early Irish law, Irish Collection of Canons.

The Old Irish word muirchrech (also murchrech and muirchreth) is found in law texts where it refers to the distance out to sea at which certain offenders are to be placed in a boat and left to the dictates of wind and tide. Uses of the word in literary texts either reflect this legal scenario or imply a convention of diplomatic protection within a muirchrech of a ruler's territorial lands. Although this general use of the term is clear, there has not yet been any agreement as to the literal meaning of muirchrech, or the actual distance referred to. This article sets out to explore possible literal meanings of muirchrech.

Résumé : Le poète de la société préchrétienne irlandaise n’a pas disparu avec le développement du christianisme. Depuis le Ve siècle il a en effet su s’adapter aux changements de la société et les traités de droit des VIIe-VIIIe siècles le situent dans les rangs de l’élite irlandaise. Il a ainsi dû renoncer aux éléments païens de son art et incarne désormais le mélange de la tradition vernaculaire et de la modernité chrétienne. Grand connaisseur de la grammaire latine et de nombreuses œuvres venues notamment d’Espagne (Isidore de Séville), il est aussi juriste (Ecole du Bretha Nemed). Un juriste qui va participer à la mise par écrit et à l’enseignement du droit.

Mots-clés : Irlande médiévale ; droit et littérature ; poètes, juges ; enseignement du droit.

Abstract : The poet of pre-Christian Irish society has not disappeared with the development of Christianity. Since the 5th century, he has indeed managed to adapt to the changes of society and the law treaties of the 7th-8th centuries locate him in the ranks of Irish élite. For instance, he has had to renounce the pagan elements of his art and, from then on, he embodies the mixture of vernacular tradition and Christian modernity. A great expert of Latin grammar and numerous works coming from Spain, notably (Isidore of Seville), he is also a jurist (School of Bretha Nemed), a jurist who is going to participate in setting down in writing and legal education.

Keywords: medieval Ireland; law and literature; poets, judges; legal education.

La résolution des conflits de normes enseignée dans les écoles de l’Irlande médiévale

Résumé : Lorsqu’au VIIIe siècle les juristes irlandais élaborent leur grande compilation (Senchas Már), ils prennent un soin particulier à expliquer à leurs élèves comment le conflit entre le droit coutumier et le droit de l’Eglise a été résolu à l’arrivée du christianisme (Ve siècle). Ils refont donc l’histoire en situant les faits à l’époque de saint Patrice. En réalité, l’Eglise a progressivement développé son propre droit, qui ne va pas manquer d’entrer en conflit avec les règles coutumières vernaculaires. Car la nouvelle religion se diffuse dans une société qui ne tourne pas pour autant le dos à sa tradition juridique, véhiculée par les poètes-juges. Se pose alors la question de la place tenue par chacun des deux droits.

Mots-clés : Droit coutumier, droit ecclésiastique, écoles de droit, enseignement du droit, juges, poètes, mariage, divorce, polygamie, conflits de normes, hiérarchie des normes.


The resolution of norm conflicts taught in medieval Irish schools

Abstract : In the 8th century, when Irish jurists draw up their great compilation (Senchas Már), they take particular care to explain to their scholars how the conflict between customary law and Church law was solved with the advent of Christianity (5th century). Thus, they reinvent history, placing the facts in Saint Patrick’s days. Actually, the Church has gradually developed its own law, which is bound to come into conflict with vernacular customary rules. For the new religion spreads itself in a society which does not turn its back on its judicial tradition conveyed by poets-judges. Then, the question of the part played by each of the two laws arises.

Keywords : Customary Law, Ecclesiastical Legislation, Schools of Law, Legal Education, Judges, Poets, Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy, Conflicts of Norms, Hierarchy of Norms.

Early medieval Ireland (A.D. 400-1100) was an intensely organic world, with pottery less visible in the archaeological record than during other periods, making wood the main material used for vessel manufacture. The significance of wooden vessels is exemplified in the Early Irish Laws, which suggested woodworking and woodworkers had distinct categories with variations of social status based on specialisation; from the lowly bowl turner to the high status yew-worker. Modern archaeological investigations have provided a large corpus of effectively recorded and classified material to examine. However, when evidence for woodworking has been recovered, it has lacked further analysis and interpretation. Rather, wooden artefacts are often limited to finds lists, hidden in grey literature or larger appendices. Therefore, this has left archaeological data and discussion on wooden material spread across many sources.

This project collates the data and discussion on evidence for woodworking and wooden artefacts using both existing and new assemblages. Part of this project explores how people made, used, and deposited wooden objects, in particular, exploring how the processes of repairing and recycling communicate a unique treatment of objects less frequently discussed. This project, also investigates woodworkers’ impact on the rural economy and explores the possibility of an Irish woodcraft ‘tradition’. In addition, this project investigates the concept of craft through the use of contemporary early medieval contexts, historical literature, and modern sources (experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology) and its relation to wood and woodcraft, and their role within societies and cultures.

La présente étude s’intéresse au scénario narratif de la transformation du territoire irlandais. Ce thème se retrouve particulièrement dans le Lebor Gabála Érenn et le Dindshenchas, mais aussi dans la version 1 du Tochmarc Étaíne, qui a l’avantage de présenter un processus complet en matière d’aménagement du territoire.
Nous allons ainsi analyser en détail le passage où le Dagda transforme le territoire d’Ulster à la demande du roi Ailill. Toutes ces modifications expriment très clairement une volonté d’appropriation de l’espace par la société, afin de disposer des besoins nécessaires à sa subsistance et à son développement.

Zusammenfassung: In der späten Urgeschichte der britischen Inseln lässt sich eine Verlagerung der monumentalen Ausgestaltung von Bauten in den Bereich es des Wohn-bzw. Siedlungsraumes beobachten. Waren bis zur Mittelbronzezeit insbesondere " rituelle " Anlagen wie Stein-bzw. Holzkreise und " kommunale " Grabanlagen monumental ausgestaltet, während Siedlungsanlagen und-bauten wenig elaboriert erscheinen, werden ab der Spätbronzezeit zunehmend Siedlungen – oft auch Einzelhöfe – mehr oder minder monumental eingefriedet und Siedlungsbauten weit massiver und wohl auch eindrucksvoller ausgestaltet. Die " enclosed homesteads " der späten Urgeschichte der britischen Inseln erleben eine letzte " Hochblüte " im irischen Frühmittelalter in Form der sogenannten " ringforts ". Aus der Zeit dieser letztgenannten, bis ins Frühmittelalter besiedelten, Anlagen wiederum liegt uns eine indigene Texttradition vor, die nicht nur diese Anlagen und ihre Ausgestaltung beschreibt, sondern insbesondere auch zeigt, dass die Ausgestaltung dieser Siedlungen stark statusspezifisch war.

Summary: In the later prehistoric British Isles, the construction of monumental architecture shifts significantly, to the ‚domestic' sphere of dwellings and settlements. Until the Middle Bronze Age, it was mainly 'ritual' sites, like stone and timber circles, and 'communal' burial sites, that were monumentalised, while settlements and domestic buildings seem to have hardly been elaborated: From the late Bronze Age onwards, settlements – including homesteads – are the focus of monumental enclosure and houses become much more substantial, and probably also much more elaborate. The 'enclosed homesteads' of later insular prehistory have a last heyday in the so-called 'ringforts' of Early Medieval Ireland. It is from that time and place that we have a rich indigenous tradition, which not only describes these sites and how they were outfitted, but also demonstrates that their architecture and appearance was closely linked to the social status of its inhabitants.

The Gallic magistrate named uergobretus is described by Caesar as a 'summus magistratus' with a 'regia potestas'. The theory here proposed is that this magistracy is not an outcome of the Roman influence on Gallic institutions, but rather descends from a 'supreme king' of Celtic and Indo-European origin, and that the etymology of the title should be reconstructed as *(s)uper-ḱom-reǵ-to-s.

L’enseignement du droit dans l’Irlande médiévale

Résumé : Dès les VIIe-VIIIe siècles, l’enseignement du droit en Irlande porte la marque d’une acculturation certaine. La tradition juridique vernaculaire n’est en effet pas restée vierge de toute influence après l’arrivée du christianisme. On constate que si la coutume est toujours transmise oralement selon des formes anciennes, elle a été aussi mise par écrit et remodelée pour être diffusée dans les écoles de droit. Il en résulte qu’un impressionnant corpus de traités est très tôt mis à la disposition d’élèves qui tenteront, en maîtrisant les sources du droit, de gravir les échelons de la hiérarchie judiciaire.
A partir du XIIe siècle l’île est partagée en deux. Dans la zone contrôlée par le roi anglais, la jeune Common Law est rapidement implantée. Conséquence d’une véritable volonté politique de Jean sans Terre et ses successeurs, des institutions voient le jour sur le modèle anglais. C’est dans ce contexte que les juges et serjeants seront formés, lorsqu’ils ne viennent pas de l’île voisine. Les Irlandais, de leur côté, prennent grand soin de perpétuer leur droit vénérable tout en l’adaptant à l’évolution de la société. Si l’écrit a désormais pris une large place dans l’apprentissage, il n’a toutefois pas occulté l’oral qui demeure vivace jusqu’au début du XVIIe siècle, date à laquelle le droit irlandais ne sera plus enseigné.

Mots-clés : Irlande médiévale, enseignement du droit, christianisme, juge, poète, tradition, coutume, oralité, écriture, traités, Common Law, writs, procédure, acculturation.

Legal Education in Medieval Ireland

Abstract: From the 7th and 8th centuries onwards, legal education in Ireland was a sign of a certain acculturation. Indeed, the vernacular legal tradition did not remain untouched by other influences after the arrival of Christianity. It would seem that although the custom was still passed on orally according to the ancient forms, it was also written down and restructured to be taught in law schools. Consequently, an impressive corpus of treaties was made available to students at a very early stage, who then attempted to move up the judicial hierarchy by mastering the sources of law.
From the 12th century, Ireland was divided into two areas. In the area controlled by the English king, the fledgling Common Law was quickly established. Because of a genuine political will on the part of John Lackland and his successors, institutions emerged that were based on the English model. It was in this context that judges and serjeants were trained, at least those who were not from the neighbouring island. However, the Irish took great care to perpetuate their venerable law while adapting to changes in society. Although the written word had an important place in learning, it did not obscure the spoken word which endured until the early 17th century, when Irish law was no longer taught.

Keywords: medieval Ireland, legal education, Christianity, judge, poet, tradition, custom, oral, writing, tracts, Common Law, writs, process, acculturation.

Alcohol fermentation has been utilised by societies across the globe over several millennia, despite differences in societal structures, cultures, economies and broader foodways. In early medieval Ireland (AD 400-1100), alcohol, particularly ale, was central to social gatherings and ceremonies, from the inaugurations of kings to the payment of labourers. This begs the questions, how was alcohol made, presented and shared in Ireland’s past?
The production and storage of ale requires a suite of suitable objects and containers – the brewing kit. Whilst alcoholic fermentation is frequently discussed in terms of consumption and ritual, there is far less consideration of the container itself, and relationships between the contents and the vessels used in fermentation and storage. Vessels have an observable effect on beverages and the fermentation process –today these effects are mostly associated with ageing alcohols to add flavour complexity
The selection of materials is influenced by the interplay between brewing, the brewer and cultural choices. In contemporary society, the emergence of the craft-beer movement demonstrates a new appreciation of the brewer and their creative outlet. This project will investigate choices made by early medieval brewers, in particular vessel material selection, and the wider concept of the craftsperson.

Abstract: This paper traces the relationship of the Roman Empire with Ireland and Wales from roughly the fifth to the seventh centuries and probes the role that Roman and Canon law played there following the events of 410, based on evidence from authors, such as Prosper of Aquitaine, Venantius Fortunatus, Zosimus and Gildas, as well as the vernacular legal traditions. This approach allows us to investigate perceptions of legal identity in Post-Roman Britain and the echoes of Latin learning embraced in Ireland.
Résumé : Cet article suit la relation de l’Empire romain avec l’Irlande et le Pays de Galles du Ve au VIIe siècle environ, et recherche le rôle qu’y jouait le droit romain et canonique après les évènements de l’année 410, fondé sur des témoignages d’auteurs comme Prosper d’Aquitaine, Venantius Fortunatus, Zosimus et Gildas ainsi que des traditions légales vernaculaires. Cette approche nous permet d'étudier les perceptions de l’identité légale dans la période post-romaine des Îles Britanniques ainsi que les échos de l’éducation latine adoptée en Irlande.

This interpretation offers an analysis based on the Small Primer (Uraicecht Becc), a text which may come from the same school as Cóic Conara Fugill. A passage from that tract about social ranks notably presents a hierarchy of three judges, who seem to correspond to the first three procedures of the Five Paths of Judgement. The choice of the right procedure would then actually be the choice of the right judge. A first block of three paths would then be distinguished, to which a second block of two paths would then be added.