Research: Celtic sense o’ justice advanced
America’s love affair with all things Irish is so deep, we invented a holiday in their honor.
Once nearly unheard of, lavish St. Paddy’s Day parades and pub crawls have become as plentiful each March 17 on the Emerald Isle as here (if not this year).
When Americans think of the Irish we imagine a stereotypical sense of fun. Shamrocks, jigs and green Guinness. Corned beef and shepherd’s pie.
But the Irish deserve admiration for something much more serious — a lesser-known fact of their pre-Christian, pre-English, Gaelic culture: Their highly advanced system of justice and gender equality.
From ancient Irish times, when their people practiced a different spirituality and societal philosophy than mainland Europe, Celtic women had power. Real power. Some were even clan chieftains. One was a high queen.
This, while across the water women were little more than servants.
For centuries after the Druids and until the English again conquered Ireland in the 17th century, Irish women could aspire to almost any profession. They were lawyers, doctors, poets, church leaders, and judges while in the rest of the world most women were powerless.
While society was still ultimately male-dominated, ancient Celtic women did share real authority with men. But the reason went beyond relative gender parity. First codified in 438 C.E., the “Brehon laws” — incorporating all matters of law as well as commerce and health care — were centered on a more democratic sense of equality.
An ancient legal text written by lady lawyer Dar-i describes the Brehon system resembling an unusually modern sense of justice by the year 700 C.E. Both prosecutors and accused were entitled to legal representation and had rights to question witnesses. There were fairer rules of evidence for the times, and judges seemed to at least attempt to decide guilt based on the weight of that evidence. Instead of the corporal punishment typical of other countries, it used a complex system of fines.
That was a very different picture than in the rest of Europe. But that didn’t stop Europeans from thinking themselves more “advanced,” looking down on Ireland for centuries to come.
Equality and justice: The best reasons to love the Irish on St. Paddy’s Day.
Side note: While the ancient Irish are often called Celts, that’s a misnomer. The term Celtic was first used in the English language around 1700 and wasn’t coined until the nineteenth century. “Celtic” comes from the Greek “Keltoi,” describing people who lived to the north of Greece, and Latin “Celtai” which actually referred to different peoples across Europe. Later Julius Caesar used “Celtae” to describe the combined languages of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
As so often happens, history is written — and tends to be confused — by the victor.
“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” — Edmund Burke
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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network with a quintessentially American wee drop o’Irish blood. Erin go bragh at Sholeh@cdapress.com.