grandson, Domhnall, now aged eight and due to start at the law school next September, would he keep faith with Brehon law, or would he bow the knee to the English king just as O’Donnell of Donegal did?
And what about her warlike little Cormac O’Brien? How would he grow up?
Three
MacSlechta
(son sections)
There are nine categories of sons who cannot inherit. These are known as ‘sons of darkness’.
The son who is conceived ‘in the bushes’ because there will always be doubt as to his paternity.
The son of a prostitute.
‘The son of the road’, an abandoned child who was found on the roadside and cared for.
The son of a woman who was having sexual relationships with many men at the time of his conception.
A late-discovered son who does not have the family voice, appearance and in behaviour and is not accepted as a son by the putative father.
The son of a ‘girl in plaits’, because the union was unlawful and without the permission of her family.
A son who has been outlawed from the kingdom and from his clan has no inheritance rights.
A son who neglects his ill or aged father and causes his death by lack of care.
A son who becomes a cleric after the Roman rule and will not have sons of his own.
‘“T hat all things may be fair and just in the inheritance of land, the division is the work of the youngest inheritor and then the shares are picked in order of age with the oldest choosing first and the youngest last.” This ensures that the property has been divided into sections of equal worth.’ Hugh recited the words in fluent English and Mara gave him a nod and a smile. He had grown in confidence since their stay in the city of Galway, she thought. She eyed Stephen Gardiner and saw his black eyebrows shoot up before he made a quick note on the page before him. The Scottish woman Rhona and her son Peadar had returned to Carron after spending the night at the law school’s guest house, but Stephen Gardiner had requested to be allowed to remain for a while in the morning and watch a Brehon law school in progress so that he could write about it for his master in London, Cardinal Wolsey.
‘Good,’ she said aloud. ‘Now, Shane, how does Hugh know this law?’
‘Because he’s learned off by heart “
Macslecta
”,’
said Shane with a grin. ‘That means “son sections”,’ he added to Stephen.
‘Who is counted as a son for the purpose of inheritance, Aidan?’ asked Mara.
‘For the purposes of inheritance all sons are equal,’ replied Aidan, rising to his feet politely. ‘A son born of a wife of the second degree is of equal status to the son born of the chief wife and so is the son of a betrothed concubine.’ His eyes slid over to meet Moylan’s and then he hastily added, ‘All sons who are publically recognised by their father are deemed to be entitled to their share in his wealth.’
‘Goodness! Even when born out of wedlock; is that right?’ muttered Stephen scribbling furiously. He had already filled pages, describing the Cahermacnaghten law school and how it was housed within an ancient circle of ten-foot thick walls enclosing a scholars’ house, a girl scholar house, a kitchen house, the farm manager’s house, a schoolhouse and a guesthouse; of how the scholars often began there at the age of five and studied for up to fifteen years, learning languages and poetry as well as the law; of their studies of the Latin and Greek languages, as well as English and some Spanish and French. Mara eyed him maliciously. She was not impressed by his air of piety. Why was it so outrageous to allow a son born out of wedlock, as he put it, to inherit when innocent small children could be hanged for stealing a loaf of bread or a pie? A nation that could justify to itself such laws, had, she reckoned, no grounds to turn up their noses at the laws of other countries.
‘But there are nine categories of sons who cannot inherit,’ Fiona informed him kindly. ‘Shall I recite them for you? “The son
And what about her warlike little Cormac O’Brien? How would he grow up?
Three
MacSlechta
(son sections)
There are nine categories of sons who cannot inherit. These are known as ‘sons of darkness’.
The son who is conceived ‘in the bushes’ because there will always be doubt as to his paternity.
The son of a prostitute.
‘The son of the road’, an abandoned child who was found on the roadside and cared for.
The son of a woman who was having sexual relationships with many men at the time of his conception.
A late-discovered son who does not have the family voice, appearance and in behaviour and is not accepted as a son by the putative father.
The son of a ‘girl in plaits’, because the union was unlawful and without the permission of her family.
A son who has been outlawed from the kingdom and from his clan has no inheritance rights.
A son who neglects his ill or aged father and causes his death by lack of care.
A son who becomes a cleric after the Roman rule and will not have sons of his own.
‘“T hat all things may be fair and just in the inheritance of land, the division is the work of the youngest inheritor and then the shares are picked in order of age with the oldest choosing first and the youngest last.” This ensures that the property has been divided into sections of equal worth.’ Hugh recited the words in fluent English and Mara gave him a nod and a smile. He had grown in confidence since their stay in the city of Galway, she thought. She eyed Stephen Gardiner and saw his black eyebrows shoot up before he made a quick note on the page before him. The Scottish woman Rhona and her son Peadar had returned to Carron after spending the night at the law school’s guest house, but Stephen Gardiner had requested to be allowed to remain for a while in the morning and watch a Brehon law school in progress so that he could write about it for his master in London, Cardinal Wolsey.
‘Good,’ she said aloud. ‘Now, Shane, how does Hugh know this law?’
‘Because he’s learned off by heart “
Macslecta
”,’
said Shane with a grin. ‘That means “son sections”,’ he added to Stephen.
‘Who is counted as a son for the purpose of inheritance, Aidan?’ asked Mara.
‘For the purposes of inheritance all sons are equal,’ replied Aidan, rising to his feet politely. ‘A son born of a wife of the second degree is of equal status to the son born of the chief wife and so is the son of a betrothed concubine.’ His eyes slid over to meet Moylan’s and then he hastily added, ‘All sons who are publically recognised by their father are deemed to be entitled to their share in his wealth.’
‘Goodness! Even when born out of wedlock; is that right?’ muttered Stephen scribbling furiously. He had already filled pages, describing the Cahermacnaghten law school and how it was housed within an ancient circle of ten-foot thick walls enclosing a scholars’ house, a girl scholar house, a kitchen house, the farm manager’s house, a schoolhouse and a guesthouse; of how the scholars often began there at the age of five and studied for up to fifteen years, learning languages and poetry as well as the law; of their studies of the Latin and Greek languages, as well as English and some Spanish and French. Mara eyed him maliciously. She was not impressed by his air of piety. Why was it so outrageous to allow a son born out of wedlock, as he put it, to inherit when innocent small children could be hanged for stealing a loaf of bread or a pie? A nation that could justify to itself such laws, had, she reckoned, no grounds to turn up their noses at the laws of other countries.
‘But there are nine categories of sons who cannot inherit,’ Fiona informed him kindly. ‘Shall I recite them for you? “The son
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