My Lady Judge

This story was a very compelling read for me. The historical setting in 16th-century Ireland was fascinating. It was especially enlightening to learn about the Brehon laws that governed this region before English-style law took over. The characterisations fully draw in the reader, leading to an absorbing tale of ancient beliefs, medieval customs, and a complicated murder mystery.

The main character, Mara, endears one to her strong feminist personality. Yet Mara is a balanced woman of her day, with an adroit ability to reconcile her place in judging crimes based on the constraints of men as head of the family and the grip of priests on the population. Lost 1 star due to the author writing in a departure from Mara's usual commonsense show more which put her in grave danger. This twist was quite out of character and unnecessary to ramp up the tension. show less

Set in the Burren (a very specific area in County Clare, Ireland) in the 1500's, Mara O'Davoren is the local judge, the Brehon and also runs a small law school. English law has not yet penetrated this region. Yes, there were a few women judges, as there were sometimes poets and musicians in Gaelic Ireland. Brehon law was based in small communities where everyone knew everyone else and the idea was to accept that people do things they shouldn't, but to remove them from the community or cut off ears or put them to death or whatever solves nothing. Best for the person to publicly confess, then to be assigned (by the Brehon) a fine appropriate to his or her status in the community and clan. A recent graduate of her school is murdered on show more Bealtaine night, but it turns out there are maybe too many possible suspects. The novel is carefully researched, the characters are solid and some are delightful, the writing is excellent, the love of the landscape shines through. I've been and the Burren is a special place. I've even been to the ruins of a church that is mentioned there and Galway City etcetera. I loved it and learned a lot! Happily it is the first in a series, so lots to look forward to.**** show less

On April 21, 1509, Henry VIII became king of England and Lord of Ireland. His ascension to these titles mattered little to the Irish living in Western Ireland in the kingdom of Thomond ruled by King Turlough Donn O'Brien, descendant of the famous warrior King Brian Boru. Although the English had made inroads into Ireland under the Norman kings, and Dublin was ruled by English lords, Thomond was well beyond the Pale of significant English influence. And in the Burren, the northernmost part of King Turlough's kingdom, the person who was responsible for administering justice was the king's Brehon—investigator, judge, scholar and professor of the ancient Irish laws, Mara O'Davoren.

In Mara O'Davoren, Cora Harrison has created a thoughtful show more and intuitive sleuth who operates in a most intriguing milieu. The daughter of a Brehon, Mara is steeped in the traditions and rituals of ancient Irish law. She not only administers the justice in the Burren, but also educates the young students at the law school at Cahermacnaghten, who will follow in her footsteps. Thoroughly independent, she has long ago divorced her husband (scrupulously following Brehon law) and raised her daughter, now married to a wine merchant in Galway, but Mara is courted by the widowed King Turlough who would make her his queen.

Mara loves her home and school in the Burren. It is a wild land — covered with limestone rocks, etched with grykes full of wild flowers and forage for cattle, hollowed by caves and dotted with ancient megaliths. The residents follow the ancient rhythms of ancient Celtic ritual interspersed with Christian tradition. Each of the novels occurs during the celebration of a communal holiday during the year 1509. In My Lady Judge (2007), Mara's assistant master, Colman Lynch, is found with a knife in his throat after the bonfire celebrations of Beltane (May 1). At the September Michaelmas Fair, the greedy steward of the MacNamara clan is beaten to death in the churchyard—a deadly Michaelmas Tribute(2008: published in the USA as A Secret and Unlawful Killing ). And on Samhain (October 31), the wealthy silversmith, Sorley Skerrett, is stung to death by a swarm of bees as he attends the funeral service of the local priest. Mara must pursue The Sting of Justice (2009).

Aided by her students, Mara carefully uncovers the truth behind each death and renders justice so the peace of the community may prevail. As described in The Sting of Justice, the ancient Irish Brehon law is civil, not criminal: "There were no prisons, no savage punishments. The Brehon delivered judgement; the fine was paid. The clan tradition of responsibility for the family ensured this obedience from its members."

In Cora Harrison's Mysteries of the Burren series, the reader is invited to explore 16th century Irish life, law and history with an engaging set of recurring characters.

First published in Belletrista 3: http://www.belletrista.com/2010/issue3/reviews_10.php show less

I happened across this book just by chance in the library. When I read the description on the back cover I knew I had to take it out. Mara, Brehon (Judge) of the Burren district of Ireland, runs a school for lawyers. She has an assistant, Colman, who recently graduated from the school. Colman is from Galway, the son of a rich merchant, and he is not well liked by the farmers and fishers of Burren. However, when he is killed and his body left in a cave, Mara must investigate.

Each chapter of this book is headed by texts of old Irish law. These texts, plus the details in the story show how different Gaelic law was from English law. In England, during the reign of Henry VIII, anyone convicted of stealing could be put to death. In Ireland show more the culprit confessed and paid a fine. Women also had much greater freedom in Ireland. Mara divorced her husband and was able to raise their daughter, become Brehon and a landholder.

I'll be looking for more of this series. show less

First Line: It was then, as it is now, a land of grey stone.

Thirty-six-year-old Mara is the Brehon (judge) of the kingdom of the Burren in western Ireland, and also in charge of the law school. When everyone in the area troops up Mullaghmore Mountain to celebrate a feast day, Mara's assistant, Colman, does not return. Two days later his body is found up on the mountain in close proximity to where the celebration occurred. Although Colman has never been popular, Mara has to wonder how he could die so close to revelry... and no one sees a thing. As judge, it is her business to bring the murderer to justice.

Each chapter of My Lady Judge begins with a bit of medieval Irish law, which I found to be very interesting. Sometimes I even found show more those ancient laws to be better than current ones, such as this judgment concerning someone we would call developmentally disabled today:

"The Court finds that Feirdin MacNamera is to be classified as fer lethcuinn, a half-sane man. This means that he has the protection of the court and the community. Anyone who incites him to commit a crime must himself pay the penalty, anyone who mocks him will be fined five sets, two and a half ounces of silver, or three milch cows. This is the law of the king."

Once Mara discovers the main reason why Colman was so unpopular, she has more suspects than she knows what to do with, so she proceeds to investigate as quickly as she can. Most of Mara's investigative skills could be chalked up to plain old common sense, and although I enjoyed the mystery and the glimpse into another time and place, I didn't appreciate the solution to the murder being told to me at the end of the book. Take me along during the entire process. Don't lock me up in my room until it's over, then sit me down in front of the fire to tell me a story.

Occasionally the bits of Irish law, customs, clothing and language got to be a bit too much, momentarily dragging me out of the story, but I jumped back in with little trouble because I enjoyed the setting and the character of Mara so much. I look forward to reading other books in this series. show less

I quite enjoyed this story of murder and the brehon legal system set in the time of Henry VIII. Mara, Brehon of the Burren, runs a legal school on the Burren and makes judgement on lawbreakers, advising the local leader on what's correct.

It's May Eve, Bealtine, people climb Mullaghmore Mountain to celebrate the festival, and return home afterwards. However one of Mara's students doesn't, and when Mara starts investigating she finds a lot of possible reasons for his death.

It's a little too light in places but it's interesting, the Brehon Law quotations at the beginning of chapters is interesting and reminded me of doing it in college (and made me want to break out the course book!).

It's Peter Tremayne light but it's not a bad first, show more really, adult novel by this author. show less

On the eve of the first of May in the year 1509, people from all over the Burren, young and old, climbed the mountain. The young men carried bundles of hazel rods for the bonfire and heavy bags filled with strong Spanish wine. The girls wore flowers in their hair and carried baskets of food. Many carried fiddler, horns or pipes and all sang on the slow climb. When the moon rose to its midnight height they lit a great bonfire and danced and sang until the dawn. Then young and old went back down the mountain. One man did not come back down. His body lay exposed for one whole day and two nights and no one spoke of him or told what they had seen.