OF THE FIRST ESTABLISHMENT OF ENGLISH LAWS AND PARLIAMENTS, &c. &c. As soon as the realm of Ireland was come into the hands of the kings of England, their first care was to provide, that the church and commonwealth, in both nations, should be governed by the same laws. And therefore king Henry II. being here in person in the year 1172. among other orders taken for the settlement of this state, caused two councils to be assembled; the one at Cashel, the other at Lismore. In the former it was agreed by a synodical constitution, that "Omnia divina ad instar sacrosanctæ ecclesiæ, juxta quod Anglicana observat ecclesia, in omnibus partibus Hiberniæ, amodo tractentur: dignum etenim, et justissimum est, ut sicut dominum et regem ex Anglia sortita est divinitus Hibernia, sic etiam exinde vivendi formam accipiant meliorem;" so recordeth Giraldus Cambrensis in the first book of his history of the conquest of Ireland". In the * Cap. 34. VOL. XI. LL other, " Leges Angliæ ab omnibus sunt gratanter receptæ, et juratoria cautione præstita confirmatæ ;" as witnesseth Matthew Paris in his great history. The like course was taken by his son king John, at his being here in the year 1210; as appeareth partly by the report of the same Matthew Paris, but especially by letters patent of Henry III. dated at Woodstock the ninth of September, in the thirtieth year of his reign, remaining among the records of the tower of London. The words of the historian be these, speaking of king John's doings in Ireland: "Fecit rex ibidem construere leges, et consuetudines Anglicanas, ponens vice-comites, aliosque ministros, qui populum regni illius juxta leges Anglicanas judicarent." The tenor of the record is this: "Quia pro communi utilitate terræ Hiberniæ, et unitate terrarum de communi concilio provisum est, quod omnes leges et consuetudines, quæ in regno nostro Angliæ tenentur, in Hibernia teneantur, et eadem terra iisdem legibus subjaceat, et per easdem regatur; sicut Johannes rex, cum illic esset, statuit, et firmiter mandavit: Quia rex Henricus vult, quod omnia brevia de communi jure, quæ currunt in Anglia, similiter currant in Hibernia; sub novo sigillo regis mandatum est, archiepiscopis," &c. In like sort Henry III. son to King John, in the twelfth year of his reign: "Mandavit justiciario suo Hiberniæ, ut convocatis archiepiscopis, episcopis, comitibus, baronibus, militibus ibidem, coram eis legi faciat chartam regis Johannis, quam legi fecit, et jurari a magnatibus Hiberniæ, de legibus, et consuetudinibus Angliæ observandis, et quod leges illas teneant, et observent;" as is related out of the same records by that worthy antiquary Mr. William Camden Clarentius". Hereupon, in doubtful matters of law, recourse was had from thence into England; as in the days of the said king Henry upon a question of inheritance devolved unto sisters, four knights were sent unto the king's court in England, by Gerald Fitzmaurice, then lord chief jus Camden Hibern. pag. 734. |