The Collectio canonum Hibernensis (Irish Collection of Canon law) (or CCH) is a systematic Latin collection of canon law, scriptural and patristic excerpts, and Irish synodal and penitential decrees. The CCH is thought to have been compiled by two Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 scholars working in the 8th century, Cú Chuimne

Cú Chuimne

Cú Chuimne was a monk of Iona. Cú Chuimne, along with Ruben of Dairinis, was responsible for the great compendium known as Collectio canonum Hibernensis .Little is known of Cú Chuimne...

 of Iona

Iona

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...

 (died 747

747

Year 747 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 747 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Abu Muslim unites the Abbasid Empire against...

) and Ruben of Dairinis

Ruben of Dairinis

Rubin of Dairinis was an Irish scholar. He was, along with Cú Chuimne of Iona, responsible for the great compendium known as Collectio canonum Hibernensis .-Sources:...

 (died 725).

Subjects

The CCH was the first canon law collection in Europe which organized its material by subject. It was not until the 12th century that Gratian

Gratian

Gratian was Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers...

 created another such collection. Of course, the CCH is primarily dedicated to Canons important in Ireland and gives an important place to synods which took place in Ireland.

The CCH includes not only Canon Law regarding the church, but there are also a number of provision about secular legal matters such as contracts, oaths, and sureties, as well as general information about the shape of the law.

The CCH was not the only form of law available in medieval Ireland. A secular law, more commonly known as the Brehon Laws

Brehon Laws

Early Irish law refers to the statutes that governed everyday life and politics in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwent a resurgence in the 13th century, and survived into Early Modern Ireland in parallel with English law over the...

, existed and is often at variance with the CCH, although perhaps more surprising is their tendency to overlap.

Sources for the Collection Canonum Hibernensis

The CCH was an attempt to make available diverse authorities for use by Canon Jurists. Among the sources included are:

• ecclesiastical histories
• a definition by Virgil Maro Grammaticus
• a compusticial tract by Pseudo-Theophilus
• spurious 'Acts' of the council of Caesarea
• several quotes from all but one of the works of Isidore of Seville
  Isidore of Seville
  Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
  
  
• so-called dicta of Saint Patrick
  Saint Patrick
  Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
  
  .

Sources

• "Hiberno-Latin Literature to 1169", Dáibhí Ó Crónín, "A New History of Ireland", volume one, 2005.
• Die irische Kanonensammlung, ed. Hermann Wasserschleben, Leipzig, 1885.
• Some seventh-century Hiberno-Latin texts and their relationships, Aidan Breen, Peritia, iii, pp. 204-14, 1984.
• R. Flechner, "Libelli et commentarii aliorum: The Hibernensis and the Breton Bishops", in K. Ritari and A. Bergholm, eds., Approaches to Religion and Mythology in Celtic Studies, Cambridge 2008, pp. 100–119 (רואי פלכנר).