Ireland Abolishes Thousands of Bizarre Colonial Laws

By Linda Orlando

The Irish Republic is going to be cleaning house, according to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. Mr. Ahern has announced a two-month public consultation period on a plan to dump thousands of pre-independence statutes that have been on the books in Ireland since the Anglo-Norman invasion 800 years ago. Most people did not even know the laws existed, so the government is fairly certain that no one will object to the overhaul.

As part of the ongoing program of examining and revising Irish law, about 2,300 pieces of legislation will be repealed. Only about 200 laws will be retained from the period between 1100 and 1800, when the Act of Union did away with the Irish parliament in Dublin following a rebellion against the British in 1798. Mr. Ahern described the changes as the "single largest body of legislation to be repealed in this way in the history of the Irish state." If there is a need to retain any statute imposed before Ireland gained its independence from Britain in 1922, the law will be rewritten to apply to modern society.

"Governments tend to add to the statute book, not take away from it," Mr. Ahern said. "There is a large volume of legislation that predates the foundation of the Irish state, much of which is now redundant and isn't really of any practical use. The ability…of the public and our legislators, solicitors, and barristers to keep abreast of these laws becomes more and more difficult each year, particularly as they are not easily accessible in paper format." Tom Garvin, of University College in Dublin, described the overhaul as a subtle way for Ireland to underscore its sovereignty. "There is a touch of shrugging off the last vestiges of the colonial ruler going on here. The English tried to make the Irish conform to their way of life."

Staffers in the office of Ireland’s chief law officer, Attorney General Rory Brady, have been sifting through dusty old volumes of statutes deciding which ones should be tossed. Some of the old laws make for some pretty strange reading today. For example, the Tippling Act of 1735 prohibits a publican from pursuing a customer for money owed for any drink given on credit. Another law, the Adulteration of Coffee Act of 1718, made it illegal to debase coffee for profit. Among the substances commonly used by unscrupulous traders to pad sacks of coffee was ground-up sheep dung. When coffee later fell out of fashion to be replaced by tea, a similar law was then introduced—the Adulteration of Tea Act of 1776.

Many laws reveal intriguing evidence of old prejudices and conflicts. The Statute of Winchester of 1285, known as the First Police Act, set up a Corps of Watchmen to patrol and arrest anyone who looked suspicious. The 1181 Assizes of Arms forbade Jewish people from owning armor, and a law from 1310 stated that "only those of the English nation (are) to be received into religious orders." The Assizes of Clarendon allowed suspected thieves and murderers to be subjected to the "ordeal of water," where they would be thrown into deep water with a millstone or other heavy weight tied to their ankles. Those who sank were deemed guilty.

An 11th century ordinance provided for "Frenchmen to pay ‘scot and lot’," which was a discriminatory tax imposed solely upon the French. An act of 1344 says that no one may "supply the Irish at war against the (English) King," and various "Acts of Attainder" declared certain people to be enemies of the king. If such a person was deemed a "traitor," then they would be killed and their lands confiscated by the British Crown. One such traitor was Lord Edward Fitzgerald, one of the leaders of the 1798 uprising, who is now a revered national icon in Ireland.

Although some nostalgic history buffs may mourn the abolishment of charming laws denying people the right to spike coffee with sheep dung, burn witches at the stake, and entertain crowds with tiger fights, at least one of the laws to be scrapped will probably not be missed. An act of 1360 made provisions "against people associating with the Irish, using their language, or sending children to be nursed among them."