Cain Adamnain – Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents)
An Old-Irish Treatise on the Law of Adamnan
Promulgation at the Synod of Birr: Cáin Adomnáin (Old Irish pronunciation: KAWN AH-thuv-nawn, “Law of Adomnán”), also known as the Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents), was promulgated amongst a gathering of Gaelic and Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr in 697. It is named after its initiator Adomnán of Iona, ninth Abbot of Iona after St.Columba.
Historical Significance and Origin: It is called the “Geneva Accords” of the ancient Irish and Europe’s first human rights treaty, for its protection of women and non-combatants, extending the Law of Patrick, which protected monks, to civilians. The legal symposium at the Synod of Birr was prompted when Adomnáin had an aisling dream vision wherein his mother excoriated him for not protecting the women and children of Ireland.
Historical Context of the Celtic Church
Early Irish Civilization: The story of Adamnan focuses upon the values for the history of the early Irish civilization of the Celtic Church, before the transition to the Rome.
Sources and Records: Historical sources are captured from Celtic Abbots, Bishops and Kings. The promulgation of the ‘Law of Innocents’ are given by the Annals of Ulster in 696, 697 A.D.
Condition of Enslaved Women: Cumalach was the name given to a woman in slavery and bondage, who lived in an earth-pit servicing the needs of the House master, often forced and flogged into war.
Condition of Enslaved Women: Cumalach was the name given to a woman in slavery and bondage, who lived in an earth-pit servicing the needs of the House master, often forced and flogged into war.
Freedom in Heaven and Earth: For the contract and safe-guard to be free in Heaven and Earth for women, is of Adamnan’s law.
The Vision and Journey of Adamnan
The Encounter at the Ford: The story unfolds; Adamnan and his mother Ronnat were wending their way by Ath Drochait – The Ford of the Bridge – in Uaithe. Adamnan was carrying his mother on his back as a dutiful son. It was Ronnat’s request to her son, that he free the cumalach women. They both chanced upon a battlefield of slave women with streams of blood upon each other.
The Resurrection of Smirgot: Acting upon Ronnat’s word, Adamnan made a sign of the cross with his staff across the breast of a slain cumalach, and the woman rose up. Her name was Smirgot, daughter of Aed Finn, King of the Brefni of Connaught. Smirgot exclaimed “Well now Adamnan, to thee hence forward it is given to free women of the western world”.
The Covenant of Ronnat: Ronnat turned aside to Brugach son of Deda and brought a chain from him to put around her sons neck with a covenant being made, that whoever breaks the covenant should be buried alive in the earth, but who would fulfil it is to dwell with Adamnan in Heaven.
The Stone Chest Torture: Then Ronnat puts a stone into Adamnan cheek as he enters a stone chest to change his burdensome torture. He endures four years until the Angels came upon him to converse, to raise him to free woman with the prayer “Omnia quae a Domino rogabis propter laboram tuum habes”. (All that you ask of the Lord, you shall have done well in your labour).
The Bell of Judgement: On his rise, Adamnan approaches the Kings of the Western world with a Bell of Judgement from his altar table. To strike against the Kings with a series of poems, that the ‘Law of Adamnan” is the first law for women in Heaven and Earth.
Guarantors of the Perpetual Law: Adamnan did not rest until the Securities and Bonds were given to him for the emancipation of women, and with blessing returned upon every woman who would do something for the community of Adamnan. Men who accepted the enactment of the perpetual law by their “Order” were of the Nobles, Clerks and Laymen, Chiefs, Ollaves, Bishops, Sages and Confessors, became as guarantors to the fulfilment of the law until doom, on Oath under the Holy Churches of Ireland and Britain.
Enactments and Protections of the Law
Prohibition of Violence Against Women: Under the curate of the Celtic Holy Churches to be exalted by the Orders of Heaven and by the Saints on Earth, woman must be not, in any manner be killed by men, not by slaughter, by poison, in water, in fire, or by beast.
Customary Rights: That they shall die by their lawful bed, being established for the sake of the mother, with full due to every Church of this behaviour. That a pledge be redeemed by the ad judication of the customary rights and territories of the community she resides within.
The Chalice and the Lot: The pledged names to be written upon leaves, arranged around a “Lot”, and the “Lots” to be put into a chalice upon the altar.
Acceptance, Customary Guarantors and Redistribution: The “Allotted” altars accepted of the ‘Law of Adamnan’ shall exchange with the stewards of the Adamnan, where five local customary men are acknowledged as guarantors. Their vocation to be of the “Accord” to redistribute the appropriated “Satisfaction” of wealth returned to everyone, as Chief, Church and People.
Hereditary Lists: History accounts of the past Celtic Kings who are a hereditary list of the Guarantors.
Proposed Memorandum of Understanding
Reviving the Law: Proposed Memorandum of Understanding; and of devise to present to the Celtic / Traditional Artisan for want of reviving the Law of Adamnan through a new equitable Treaty:
Testimony and Treasure: Woman’s testimony to be heard, be it bound in righteous deeds; to free women of the Western world. The mother is considered as a venerable treasure and of saints. The increase for the Kingdom of Heaven, propagation on Earth.
Angelic Prayer and the Bell: The Angels came in prayer of “Omnia quae a Domino rogabis propter laboram tuum habes” (All that you ask of the Lord, you shall have done well in your labour). A Bell of Judgement becomes through a series of poems, to propagate a new novice of the ‘Law of Adamnan’.
Stewardship and Perpetual Enactment: Stewardship to manage Securities and Bonds for the emancipation of women. Enacted through the ‘Perpetual Law’ under an Oath of the Holy Churches of Ireland and Britain. Full due to every Church of this behaviour.
Pledges and Leaves: Pledges to be redeemed by the ad judication. Revoked pledged names to be written upon “Leaves”, arranged around a “Lot”; Into a chalice upon the altar. Customary men acknowledged as guarantors.
Notes
Imprimatur: Imprimatur. Lat. Let it be printed. A licence or allowance, granted by the constituted authorities, giving permission to print and publish a book. This allowance was formerly necessary, in England, before any book could lawfully be printed, and in some other countries is still required.
Summary and Contextual Understanding
The Cáin Adomnáin (Law of Adomnán), or Lex Innocentium, stands as one of the most remarkable legalese of a ‘freewill’ milestones of early medieval Europe. Promulgated at the Synod of Birr in 697 AD, this Old-Irish legal text is historically celebrated as Europe’s earliest of man’s rights treaty. It explicitly sought to carve out protected lawful status and immunity from violence for non-combatants – specifically women and children – building upon and extending the earlier Law of Patrick, which had already established protections for clerics and monks, to civilians during an era marked by intense and brutal inter-tribal warfare among the Gaelic and Pictish populations.
Beyond its historical reality as a monastic-backed legal agreement guaranteed by secular kings and church leaders, the text weaves a rich tapestry of hagiography, folklore, and divine mandate. The narrative of the Treaty positions Adomnán – the ninth Abbot of Iona—as a reluctant prophet galvanised into action by a maternal imperative. His mother, Ronnat, functions in the legend not merely as a biological parent, but as a moral catalyst who confronts him with the horrors of enslaved women (cumalaich) caught on the battlefields, famously compelling him to seek a divine charter for their liberation.
The allegorical elements of the text – such as Adomnán’s penance in a stone chest, the intervention of angels offering divine sanction (Omnia quae a Domino rogabis propter laboram tuum habes), and the symbolic use of the Bell of Judgement—lend sacred authority to what was fundamentally a sociopolitical reform at that time. By binding the secular nobility, the monastic orders, and local chiefs as perpetual guarantors under oath, the law bridged the gap between tribal custom and Christian ethics, attempting to replace cyclical blood-feuds with a formalised composition of restitution, sanctuary, and customary usages.
Framed as a contemporary Memorandum of Understanding, the text adapts these ancient ecclesiastical and tribal vocations into a potential blueprint for modern or traditional revival. It repurposes medieval concepts—such as drawing lots from a chalice, local customary guarantors, and the redistribution of wealth (Satisfaction) – to suggest a renewed, equitable ‘Treaty’ centred on the protection of freewill testimony, the sanctity of motherhood, and the ministering of safeguarding peace. In doing so, it offers a perpetual and timeless emphasis on the absolute protection of innocents, presenting a perspective where preserving our inherent innocence may serve as a steady anchor amidst the complexities of modern bureaucracy and governmental over-reach of today.
Within this Treaty, a woman’s testimony—when heard and bound in righteous deeds—can be understood to serve as a foundational mandate to free women of the Western world. Under the doctrine of specific performance, this mandate might operate as a strict, enforceable administration requiring the exact execution of these foundational protections rather than the substitution of monetary damages.
The Celtic Theatre Group—whose allegiance rests with the Celtic Church – here, “Proclaims” as the designated Agency tasked with facilitating this administration, holding the fiduciary stewardship required to manage securities and bonds dedicated to the emancipation of women. Enacted through the Perpetual Edict under a solemn oath to the Holy Churches of Ireland and Britain – with full due diligence rendered to every participating church—this vocation aims to bind spiritual and temporal authorities to uphold these ancient guarantees, pointing toward a standard where justice, testimony, and freedom of will, may be rigorously and faithfully delivered according to custom of usages and trust in Christ.
