# Sechtae

The Sechtae (Old Irish for "Heptads"$^{:xviii}$) is a collection of sixty-five heptads (mnemonic lists of seven) on various subjects in early Irish law. It is among the longest and most wide-ranging sources for early Irish law.
The Sechtae is the ninth text in the Senchas Már.

## Manuscripts

The Sechtae is only preserved in a complete form in one manuscript (Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 487),$^{:34}$ though Rudolf Thurneysen refers to the quality of this manuscript as "very poor".$^{:58}$ Portions of the Sechtae or quotes from it are preserved in several other manuscripts.$^{:291}$
In early Irish legal commentaries, the Sechtae is referred to as na sechta ("the sevens").$^{:291}$

## Contents

The Sechtae is among the longest surviving texts of early Irish law.$^{:2}$ It is the ninth text of the collection of legal texts called the Senchas Már, placed at the beginning of the middle third of that collection.$^{:243}$ The compilation of the Senchas Már is generally dated between the late 7th and early 8th century CE.$^{:33}$ It is not clear whether law texts like the Sechtae were written by lay or clerical authors. D. A. Binchy argued the permissive divorce law described in Heptad III was suggestive of a lay author.$^{:233}$
The Sechtae comprises sixty-five heptads. These heptads are mnemonic lists of seven corresponding to a legal subject matter (for example, a list of seven places where battles could not be fought), occasionally expanded to eight. The unusual breadth of the subject matter covered in the Sechtae has been commented on.$^{:34}$$^{:233}$ Rudolf Thurneysen deemed them "especially valuable [for the study of Irish law] because they touch on much which is not dealt with in other law texts".$^{:57}$
Groups of three (triads) and of seven (heptads) are common in Irish legal texts.$^{:233}$ Seventeen additional heptads are known from works other than the Sechtae. These heptads are printed as a sequence in Ancient Laws of Ireland, under the name "Additional Heptads", though they never appear in such a sequence in manuscripts.$^{:291–292}$ Kelly proposes a Christian origin for the heptad, given the signifance attached to the number by Jewish and Greek traditions.$^{:33}$
Scholars have discussed various heptads individually in order to clarify features of early Irish law.$^{:292}$ Eoin MacNeill (1923) translated Heptads XII through XV in a discussion of the law of status;$^{:292}$ Rudolf Thurneysen (1925) discussed XXV in the context of the legal text Cóic Conara Fugill$^{:47}$ and (1928) discussed XXX and LXV in the context of the law of surety;$^{:47–54}$ Binchy (1938) discussed XXV in the context of sick-maintenace law;$^{:86–87}$ Liam Breatnach (1989) discussed I and II in the context of legal disqualification;$^{:31}$ and Charlene Eska (2022) discussed LXIV in the context of the law of lost property.$^{:33}$

## Excerpt

The following is a translation of Heptad XV, dealing with the honour-price of women:
   There are seven women in Irish law who are not entitled to payment or honour-price from a person: a woman who steals, a woman who satirizes every class of person, a chantress of tales whose kin pays for her lying stories, a prostitute of the bushes, a woman who wounds, a woman who betrays, a woman who refuses hospitality to every law-abiding person. These are women who are not entitled to honour-price.$^{:349}$