Early Irish law
（重定向自Brehon Laws）
![Redwood Castle, County Tipperary, although built by the Normans, was later occupied by the MacEgan juristic family and served as a school of Irish law under them](/Images/godic/202501/01/Redwood_Castle3242.jpg")
![Ruins of the O'Davoren law school at Cahermacnaghten, County Clare, which was occupied in the later Middle Ages](/Images/godic/202501/01/O_Davoren_Law_School_Burren_Cty_Clare_1997_09_023242.jpg")
Early Irish law, also called Brehon law, comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwent a resurgence from the 13th until the 17th centuries, over the majority of the island, survived into Early Modern Ireland in parallel with English law. Early Irish law was often, although not universally, referred to within the law texts as Fenechas, the law of the Feni or free men of Gaelic Ireland mixed with Christian influence and juristic innovation. These secular laws existed in parallel, and occasionally in conflict, with canon law throughout the early Christian period.