Adomnán at Birr, AD 697

Essays in commemoration of the Law of the Innocents

Thomas O'Loughlin, editor

In 697 Adomnán, the Abbot of Iona, promulgated a 'law' at the synod held in Birr. This Law, known as the Cáin Adomnán or Lex Innocentium, was to protect women, children and non-combatants in warfare, and it was remembered for generations as a significant moment in Irish legal history. Yet today the law, and its author, is barely known.

This book consists of three essays on Adomnán by the three foremost authorities on him and his monastery at that time, together with a translation of the law itself.

Thomas O'Loughlin lectures in theology at the University of Wales, Lampeter.