Concerning the settling of the Common Law of England in Ireland and Wales: And some Observations touching the Isles of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey, etc.
The Kingdom of Ireland being conquered by Hen. 2. about the Year 1171. He in his Great Council at Oxon, constituted his younger Son, John, King thereof, who prosecuted that Conquest so fully, that he introduced the English Laws into that Kingdom, and swore all the great Men there to the Observation of the same, which Laws were, after the Decease of King John, again reinforc'd by the Writ of King Hen. 3. reciting that of King John, Rot.
Claus. 10 H. 3. Memb. 8. & 10. Vide infra, & Pryn. 252, 253, &c.
And because the Laws of England were not so suddenly known there, Writs from Time to Time issued from hence, containing divers Capitula Legum Angliae. and commanding their Observation in Ireland, as Rot. Parl. 11 H. 3. the Law concerning Tenancy by Curtesy, Rot. Claus. 20 H. 3. Memb. 3. Dorso. The Law concerning the Preference of the Son born after Marriage, to the Son born of the same Woman before Marriage, or Bastard eigne & Mulier puisne, Rot. Clauf. 20 H. 3. Memb. 4. in Dorso: So the Law concerning all the Parceners inheriting without doing Homage, and several Transmissions of the like Nature.
For tho' King Hen. 2. had done as much to introduce the English Laws there, as the Nature of the Inhabitants or the Circunmstances of the Times would permit; yet partly for want of Sheriffs, that Kingdom being then not divided into Counties, and partly by reason of the Instability of the Irisb, he could not fully effect his Design: And therefore, King John, to supply those Defects as far as he was able, divided Leinster and Munster into the several Counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Uriel, Catherlogh, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Tiperary, and Kerry; and appointed Sheriffs and other Officers to govern 'em after the Manner of England; and likewise caused an Abstract of the English Laws under his Great Seal to be transmitted thither, and deposited in the Exchequer at Dublin:
And soon after, in an Irish Parliament, by a general Consent, and at the Instance of the Irish, he ordain'd, That the English Laws and Customs should thenceforth be observ'd in Ireland; and in order to it, he sent his Judges thither, and erected Courts of Judicature at Dublin.
But notwithstanding these Precautions of King John, yet for that the Brehon Law, and other Irish Customs, gave more of Power to the great Men, and yet did not restrain the Common People to so strict and regular a Discipline as the Laws of England did.
Therefore the very English themselves became corrupted by them, and the English Laws soon became of little Use or Esteem, and were look'd upon by the Irish and the degenerate English as a Yoke of Bondage; so that King Hen. 3. was oftentimes necessitated to revive. em, and by several successive W rits to join the Observation of them. And in the Eleventh Year of his Reign, he sent the following Writ, viz.
Henrici Rex, &c. Baronibus Militibus & aliis liberi Tenentibus Lageniae, salutem, &c. Satis ut credimus vestra audivit discretio, quod cum bonae memoriae Johannes, quondam Rex Angliae Pater noster venit in Hiberniam, ipse duxit secum viros discretos & Legis peritos, quorum Communi Consilio, & ad instantiam Hiberniensium Statuit & praecepit Leges Anglicanas teneri in Hibernia, ita quod Leges easdem in scriptis readactas reliquit sub sigillo suo ad Scaccar. Dublin. Cum igitur Consuetudo & Lex Angliae fuerit, quod si aliquis desponsaverit aliquam Mulierem, sive Viduam sive aliam haereditatem habentem, &ipse postmodum ex ea prolem suscitaverit cujus clamor auditus fuerit infra quatuor parietes idem Vir si supervixerit ipsam uxorem suam, habebit tota vita sua Custodiam Haereditatis uxoris suae, licet ea forte habuerit Haeredem de primo viro suo qui fuerit Plenae aetatis vobis Mandamus injungentes quatenus in loquela quae est in Curia Willi. Com. Maresc. inter Mauritium Fitz Gerald Petent. & Galfridum de Marisco Justiciarium nostrum Hiberniae tenentem, vel in Alia Loquela quae fuerit in Casu praedicto nullo modo Justitiam in contrar' facere praesumatis.
Teste Rege apud Westm.
10 Decemb. Anno 110 Regni Nostri.
And Note, In the same Year another Writ was sent to the Lord Justice, commanding him to aid the Episcopal Excommunications in Ireland with the Secular Arm, as in England was used.
And about this Time, Hubert de Burgo, the Chief Justice of England, and Earl of Kent, was made Earl of Connaught, and Lord Justice of Ireland during Life; and because he could not personally attend, he on March the 10th, 1227, appointed Richard de Burgo, to be his Deputy, or Lord Justice, to whom the King sent the following Writ:
Rex dilecto & fideli suo Richardo de Burgo Justiciario suo Hiberniae salutem. Mandamus vobis firmiter praecipientes, quatenus certo die & loco faciatis venire coram vobis, Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, Abbates, Priores, Comites & Barones, Milites & libere Tenentes & Ballivos singulorum Comitatuum, &coram eis publice legi faciatis Chartam Domini Johannis Regis Patris nostri, cui sigillum suum appensum est, quam fieri fecit, & jurari a Magnatibus Hiberniae de Legibus & consuetudinibus Anglorum observandis in Hibernia, & Praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra, quod Leges illas & consuetudines in Charta praedicta contentas de cetero firmiter teneant & observent. Et hoc idem per singulos Comitatus Hiberniae clamari faciatis, & teneri prohibentes firmiter ex parte nostra & forisiacturam nostram, ne quis contra hoc Mandatum nostrum, venire praesumat. Eo excepto quod nec de morte nec de catallis Hibernensium occisorum nihil statuatur ex parte nostra citra quindecim dies a Sancti Michaelis, Anno Regni Nostri 12? Super quo respectum dedimus Magnat. nostri de Hib. usque ad Terminum praedict' Teste Meipso apud Westm. 8?die Maii, Anno Regni Nostri 12?
