The court · Kelly’s account of honour-price and legal capacity, citing Críth Gablach and Triad 235, law-texts of the 7th and 8th centuries
The scene Our telling
Domnach wanted a bull for his herd, and the seller wanted a surety. The bull was a fine one, and the price the seller named made the yard go quiet. Domnach’s wife’s brother, Aed, was standing by the gate with his cap in his hands.
“I’ll stand for it,” Aed said, before he had worked out the sum. The seller looked at him a moment longer than was comfortable. Domnach said nothing, and his wife, behind him, did not look at her brother.
The law
From the lawA person’s capacity to perform most legal acts was linked to his honour-price. He could not make a contract for an amount greater than his honour-price, and he could not go surety beyond that amount.
GlossThe law tied what a person could pledge to what his face was worth.
From the lawHis compurgatory oath, the oath sworn with helpers that backed up a claim, and his evidence were given weight in proportion to his honour-price.
GlossThe same measure weighed his oath and his evidence.
From the lawAccording to Críth Gablach, the honour-price of a freeman ranged from fourteen cumals for a provincial king down to a yearling heifer for a youth living on his father’s land.
GlossKelly takes the figures from Críth Gablach and says its rank-lists can only have borne a limited likeness to real life.
Weigh it
The bull costs more than Aed’s honour-price. What of his pledge?
The commentary
Scholars sayKelly notes that Triad 235 advises against going surety for a king or other privileged person, on the grounds that his honour is too great for the surety to sue in the event of default. He adds that other law-texts say a contract with a privileged person is unenforceable.
Where we are not sure
Scholars sayKelly says the classifications of rank in the law-texts can only have borne a limited resemblance to reality. How closely a real surety’s limit followed his written honour-price, we cannot tell.
Where this comes from
- Fergus Kelly, A Guide to Early Irish Law (1988), on honour-price and legal capacity, citing Críth Gablach and Triad 235.
- We have read Kelly’s account, not the Old Irish text.
Last checked against these books: 2026-10-05. How we read our sources · Corrections