Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to throw some light upon the manner in which Brehon law (I.e. native Irish law) calculated compensation payments for personal injury. The subject is too vast to be dealt with III full here (even had I sufficient grasp of all its details to do so) But I hope to Illustrate the principal mechanisms involved by focusing on some apparent anomalies in one of the central texts on this topic. That text is Bretha Déin Chécht (hereafter BDC), 'The Judgements of Dian Cécht.'