The Irish Manuscripts Commission are delighted to announce the forthcoming title The Statue of Kilkenny preceded by the Ordinances of 1351, edited and translated by Keith Busby.
The Statute is one of the most important documents of Irish history. It consists of thirty-five provisions enacted at a parliament in Kilkenny on 18 February 1366, presided over by Lionel of Antwerp, duke of Clarence, second surviving son of Edward III of England. Best known perhaps for a small number of notorious provisions seeking to legislate relations between the native Irish and the colonists, it also reflects more widely the political, economic, and cultural instability of Ireland at the time, proposing various means of restoring peace and prosperity to the island.
The Statute is written in medieval French, the principal language of English law at the time. This new edition and translation — the first since 1907 — are accompanied by an introduction, textual notes, a description of Law French and an extensive glossary. The Statute is preceded by a new translation of The Ordinances of 1351, highlighting that a number of ordinances have direct correspondence with provisions in the Statute of Kilkenny.
This volume aims to make the Statute accessible to the wider public beyond academe and clarify its importance in the Middle Ages, while also shedding light on the role it has played and continues to play in the Irish historical imagination.
Available to order online or through any good bookshop from early November 2025.