Texts
Bretha nemed toísech
Incoming data
Old Irish legal tract on the law of privileged persons (nemed), with particular attention being paid towards churchmen, poets and judges.
Manuscript witnesses
MS
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1336/4
rubric: Corus Bretha Nemhidh Fragment, with a gloss. Ed. CIH 2100.11ff.
col. 654
MS
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1336/4
rubric: De brethaibh filed incipit: Raid uile Amirgein, abair fir filed. Amergein respondet. i.e. p. 656. Glossed fragments.
col. 656(a)
Text
London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A vii/ff. 132-157
Only complete copy, beginning Corus breatha neimead.(2)n. 2 Liam Breatnach, ‘The first third of Bretha nemed toísech’, Ériu 40 (1989): 3.
ff. 132b–157a
Sources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] Binchy, D. A. [ed.], Corpus iuris Hibernici: ad fidem codicum manuscriptorum, 7 vols, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1978.
The standard diplomatic edition of early Irish law texts, undertaken by D. A. Binchy and published in 7 volumes.
Diplomatic edition
[dipl. ed.] Binchy, D. A. [ed.], Corpus iuris Hibernici, 7 vols, vol. 3, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1978.
comments: numbered pp. 745–1138; diplomatic edition of legal material from Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337 (continued, pp. 745–1109); Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1317 (pp. 1111–1138)
1133.1–1138.37 TCD 1317
Edition wanted
A critical edition of the complete text, with translation and discussion, by Liam Breatnach is forthcoming.
[ed.] Breatnach, Liam [ed. and tr], “The first third of Bretha nemed toísech”, Ériu 40 (1989): 1–40.
Edition of the first third of the Nero A 7 text, "normalized to an eighth-century OIr. standard", with variant readings.
Edition of the first third of the Nero A 7 text, "normalized to an eighth-century OIr. standard", with variant readings.
[ed.] [tr.] Breatnach, Liam [ed. and tr.], Uraicecht na ríar: the poetic grades in early Irish law, Early Irish Law Series, 2, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1987.
20–28 (I); 28–33 (II); 33–36 (III); 36–39 (IV); 39–41 (V); 41–42 (VI); 43–44 (VII); 44–45 (VIII); 45–46 (IX); 46–48 (X); 48–49 (XI); 49–50 (XII); 50–51 (XIII); 52–54 (XIV); 54–57 (XV); 57 (XVI).
Edition and translation of the parts of Bretha nemed corresponding to CIH 2213.34-2215.14 (I); CIH 2215.15-35 (II); CIH 2219.4-14 (III); CIH 2219.16-31 (IV); CIH 2220.17-25 (V); CIH 2220.26-29 (VI); CIH 1117.29-35 (VII); CIH 1119.35-39 (VIII); CIH 1124.20-24 (IX); CIH 1124.30-37 (X); CIH 1125.2-6 (XI); CIH 1125.8-14 (XII); CIH 1131.14-27 (XIII); CIH 1131.27-39 (XIV); Ériu 13: 43.6-21 (XV); ... (XVI).
Secondary sources (select)
See Breatnach above
Breatnach, Liam, A companion to the Corpus iuris Hibernici, Early Irish Law Series, 5, Dublin: DIAS, 2005.
A companion to D. A. Binchy, CIH (1978). Review article: Neil McLeod, ‘Review,A true companion to the Corpus iuris Hibernici’, Peritia 19 (2005).
188–191.
Etchingham, Colmán, and Catherine Swift, “English and Pictish terms for brooch in an 8th-century Irish law-text”, Medieval Archaeology 48 (2004): 31–49.
Ads.ahds.ac.uk – eprint (PDF): <link>
