Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of the ancient hereditary judges of Ireland, similar to those of Scotland during its Celtic period.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An ancient Irish or Scotch judge.
- noun the ancient Irish laws, -- unwritten, like the common law of England. They were abolished by statute of Edward III.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Ireland, historical A judge or lawgiver in ancient
Celtic Ireland.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word brehon.
Examples
-
Sechnall, his bishop; Mochta, his priest; Bishop Ere, his brehon; Bishop
-
There was the druid who explained religion, the brehon who dispensed justice, the brughaid or public hospitaller, the bard who sang the praises of his chief or urged his kinsman to battle; and each was an official and had his appointed allotment of land.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 8: Infamy-Lapparent 1840-1916 1913
-
His mother was sister of Dubhtach, the chief bard and brehon of Erin, the first of Patrick's converts at
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913
-
We have 3,000-4,000 years of culture in this country (Newgrange is older than the great pyramid of giza) - we have a constitutional sytem based on the the liberating brehon laws and common law.
Irish Blogs 2009
-
Greg and Ginsey at it like bonobo pygmy chimps with a couple of dwarfs purchased in Walmart - discount for poets - no, no make that a brehon to go, de-capped lower case no need for titular bullshit.
Irish Blogs IRISH POETRY 2008
-
"In the same manner (says Blackstone,) by the Irish brehon law, in case of murder, the brehon or judge, compounded between the murderer and the friends of the deceased, who prosecuted him, by causing the malefactor to give unto them, or to the child or wife of him that was slain, a recompense, which they called _eriach_.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 20, No. 560, August 4, 1832 Various
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.