The Legal System in Ireland and the Irish Language 1700-c.1843

From the seventeenth century, the English common law system and its associated terminology had become an intrinsic part of life in Ireland as is evident from the range of terms associated with the legal process, such as writ, assize, commission, replevin, nisi prius and capias, which had begun to appear in poetry in the vernacular by the 1650s.¹⁴ Seán Ó Conaill’s ‘Tuireamh na hÉireann’, probably composed sometime between 1655 and 1658, contains the following terms: court sessions, wardship, livery, Court of Exchequer, greenwax, capias, writ, replevin, warrants, fines, provost, soffré, portré, mayor, sheriff, seneschal and marshal.¹⁵ As English was the official language of the state and only documents in that language had a legal status, it is no surprise that from the late sixteenth century onwards loan words in English had begun to appear in legal documents in the Irish language and this development continued until eventually Irish was completely displaced by English. This process can be traced in a number of documents produced in County Clare during the period 1576-1621.¹⁶ The latest lease in Irish preserved in the Inchiquin Papers is dated 1618 and what appears to be the last instance of a will in the Irish language - detailing the division of lands and heritage between the descendants of Giolla na Naomhóg O’Davoren of the Burren - also originated in County Clare in 1675.¹⁷ Knowledge of the English language was imperative, therefore, for anyone who wished to advance in the world, particularly for those dealing with the domains of commerce and law. It is important to remember, however, that even those who professed to be bilingual may not have had a high standard of English and would only have learned enough of the basics to conduct business. Those who were illiterate or had a poor command of the language relied on scribes and schoolmasters to transcribe drafts of legal documents in English. An ever increasing number of official documents such as affidavits, agreements, parish summons to repair roads and promissory notes is evident in manuscripts, which otherwise contain Irish-language material, dating from the late-eighteenth century onwards.¹⁸ The importance of being in a position to demonstrate non-liability for the payment of hearth tax, for example, is demonstrated by a certificate headed ‘County of Monaghan. At the General Quarter Sessions of the peace held att [sic] Monaghan the 11th of January last’, in the hand of the prominent County Monaghan scribe Muiris Ó Gormáin. The document, dated 17 March 1759, was in respect of a Catherine Murphy of Farnam (County Monaghan?), and stated: ‘because she is a poor widow and that the house wherein she now dwelleth doth not pay eight shillings yearly rent neither doth she or any other person in her name occupy any Lands or Tenements and is not worth forty shillings of any worldly substance’.¹⁹.