Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Great Charter of Ireland

Act of the Parliament of Ireland

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Magna Carta Hiberniae 1216 (or the Great Charter of Ireland) (1 Hen. 3 [P.R.O. Vol. 1]) is an issue of the English Magna Carta (or Great Charter of Liberties) in Ireland. King Henry III of England's charter of 1216 was issued for Ireland on 12 November 1216 but not transmitted to Ireland until February 1217; it secured rights for the Anglo-Norman magnates in Ireland. The charter was reissued in 1217 as in England. It was in effect the application of Magna Carta to Ireland, with appropriate substitutions (such as "Dublin" for "London", and "Irish Church" for "Church of England").

The only known copy of the charter was once to be found in the Red Book of the Dublin Court of Exchequer, a manuscript volume compiled in the fourteenth century. Scholars disagree over which of the textual differences between the English charter and the Irish version date from its original 1217 issue and which were inserted by later copyists. The Red Book was destroyed in the explosion at the Four Courts in Dublin, in 1922, but the text had been recorded by H. F. Berry in Early Statutes of Ireland (1907). Magna Carta Hiberniae 1216 (1 Hen. 3) is now a retained statute in the Republic of Ireland under the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, s.2(2)(a), Schedule 1.

Coronation of Henry III, who issued the Magna Carta Hiberniae.
Coronation of Henry III, who issued the Magna Carta Hiberniae.
Watch videos about Great Charter of IrelandExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Great Charter of Ireland, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.