Gaelic Law. The Berla Laws or The Ancient Irish Common Law. Dublin: Hodges Figgis, 1923. First Eidion. Publisher’s green cloth boards, title embossed in black to upper cover. A fine bright copy.

A notable early 20th-century work that seeks to present and interpret the ancient indigenous legal system of Ireland, often known as the Brehon laws.

M.J. Macauliffe’s book is described as an attempt to reconstruct a coherent legal system from fragmented sources, including oral tradition and medieval manuscripts. The text is rooted in the Book of Aicill, a foundational text of Irish law which, according to tradition, was compiled at Aicill by the 3rd-century King Cormac mac Art, with a 7th-century treatise later added by Cennfaeladh.