Aireachta or Courts of Law

Above: Another Picture of St Columcille

It is really a matter for wonder that fasting or such remedies should have been resorted to at all in face of the powerful corrective influence o0f tradition and public opinion and the various Courts and Assemblies held regularly. At least five Courts are mentioned : the aireacht foleith, aireacht urnuidhe, aireacht fodeisin, taobhaireacht and culaireacht.

• The Aireacht Foleith seems to have been the Court of the Council of Five, i.e. Cuigear na Fine. The king and leading aires of each tuath were privileged to hold this special court. At it appeared nascairidhe, or persons who arranged contracts, jurors and witnesses. It was usually held in the open around a dos aireachta or post stuck in the ground. The caretaker was called a dosaire.
• The Aireacht Urnuidhe was presided over by a judge, and attorneys pleaded there. It is believed to have come down from the time of Neimheadh. The statutes, acts and judgments of this court were known as the judgments of Neimheadh.
• The Aireacht Fodeisin was the High Court of the king and was presided over by a professor of law. Sixteen grades of officers are mentioned as attending this court. They are supposed to have consisted of the twelve grades of attendants mentioned in the Breitheamhnas Tuatha in addition to the king, the tanist, the aire forghaill and, from the coming of the faith, the bishop.
• The Taobhaireacht was a court that heard both sides of questions which arose between districts in a morthuaith. In it were decided most questions bearing on dire or damages, credit, loans, boundaries, genealogies, and the like. The professors explained the history of each case, and quoted precedents ; and kings attended the hearing. Flatha and aires were also present to act as sureties. They were known as the Sic Og.
• The Culaireacht was the highest of the Courts, seemingly an Appeal Court. Bishops, kings and poets directed this court, the poets to explain accurately every judgment. No lawyer save the ollamh aighne was permitted to plead there. Inter-provincial cases in which the litigants lived under different subordinate kings came within the jurisdiction of the Ardri.