rights to women than most any other law written in that time age. During a time of suppression to women, Ireland gave women rights to do things unimaginable for other countries. Richard OConnors book, The Irish, defines the rights of women as such: Foreign invaders may have slaughtered the menfolk and placed the survivors in captivity, but they also ended what must have been one of the historic heydays of feminine independence. Under the Brehon laws of the eighth and ninth centuries, the Irish female possessed rightswhich even a modern feminist might hesitate to demand. The Brehon laws provided that a woman could get a divorce if she considered herhusband sexually unsatisfactory, if he did not promptly make herpregnant, if he embarrassed her in front of visitors, if he struck or abusedher physically or verbally, or if he was unfaithful.All of which could hardly be demanded in England. In fact, in England it was not even socially acceptable to get a divorce and definitely not tolerated for the woman to demand the divorce. Women were looked on upon as chattel to the English. They were the fathers property while young and the husbands property as an adult. She was expected to provide an heir for the husband and to raise the children but otherwise have nothing to do with her husbands affairs at all. The loss of Brehon laws was a terrible thing in certain ways such as providing womens rights. I think that with that as an example, there may have been headway in the womens rights. However, the class distinctions are discarded with them and that is a good change. The loss of the Feudal society and laws is also a good thing in my opinion, since it was also based on class distinction. The similarities between the two sets of laws are almost hard to find since England was changing hands so often in the beginning but once you start to dig then you do find some similarities. I found many more difference however, and obviously that is...
