Saint associated with Birr the subject of Offaly History lecture

A LECTURE entitled “Adomnán’s Law of the Innocents - Birr 697 AD” will be given by Dr Jim Houlihan in Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore and by Zoom on Monday next, September 25 at 8pm.

For Zoom link email   info@offalyhistory.com

Dr Houlihan’s talk will tell the story of the law of Adomnán. He will describe the gathering of kings and eminent clergy who assembled in Birr in 697 to agree a law that would protect women, children, clerics and other unarmed people in time of conflict.

Jim will introduce Adomnán, abbot of Iona, otherwise known as St Eunan, the instigator of the law, a man driven by a passionate concern for the innocent, the vulnerable, the weakest in society, a concern that was unique for its time in western Europe and, indeed for many centuries thereafter. The provisions of the law will be briefly considered and the surviving manuscripts containing its terms.

The Law of the Innocents, otherwise known as  Lex Innocentium  or  Cáin Adomnáin  has been described by scholars as an early Geneva Convention. The horrors of Putin’s war in Ukraine has given it a new perspective, a chilling relevance.

Jim Houlihan is a native of Birr and a retired solicitor having practiced in the midlands for 45 years, including over 30 years as State Solicitor for County Offaly.

On retirement he completed a MA and a PhD in UCD. His doctoral thesis formed the basis of his book,  Adomnán’s Lex Innocentium and the Laws of war  (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2020).