Bretha Comaithcheso – An Old Irish Law Tract on Neighbouring Farms

Description

ed. Thomas Charles-Edwards
Published: 2022
Pages: xiv + 496 pp. (vol. IX)
Reference: F.4.9
ISBN: 978 1 85500 249 4

Bretha Comaithcheso, “Judgements on Neighbourhood”, is a tract forming part of the great law-book, Senchas Már, dating from c. 700. It expounds the law governing relations between neighbouring farmers, especially those who formed by contract a co-operative group. Already in the pre-Viking period it was attracting layers of comment, both glosses and a dossier of more extended texts that amplify or update or even contradict the main text. The result is a collection of material outstandingly rich among European texts on farming of a similar date.