At the second Burren Law School in Ballyvaughan, County Clare (31 March-2 April 1995), on the theme Crime and punishment, Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin gave background information on the judicial system in the Brehon law period from the eighth to the twelfth centuries where the offences common today also existed. She claimed the system was more victim-orientated as monetary compensation was possible for any crime, including murder and rape. All ‘free’ men had an honour-price which was lost if they refused to pay the set compensation. The family was liable if the offender absconded and the criminal could be killed with impunity by the victim’s family. As women were the possessions of men and had no independent honour-price of their own, compensation for crimes committed against them were paid to their nearest living male relative. However, certain women could not claim compensation for rape—a married woman alone in an ale- house, for example, or a prostitute.
