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Ten surprising facts about the pious nation of Ireland and sex

From the swinging Pre-Christian times to the more modern era

IrishCentral Staff Writers,

Published Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 8:31 AM

Updated Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 12:26 PM

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The Irish health service is funding threesome sex advice for young teenagers.

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What is it about the Irish and sex? Pre-Christian Irish attitudes to sex were decidedly more liberal than in recent times, where Cupid was saddled with a chastity belt by an outwardly pious nation. But have times changed? You be the judge. Here are 10 surprising facts about the Irish and sex:

1. Sexual Equality

Ancient Irish laws, called the Brehon Laws, provided women full equality with men. That’s right, they could inherit property or bequeath their own; they could marry or divorce the man of their choosing; even the right of a woman to experience satisfaction in marriage was enshrined in its legal framework. In Europe, where burning uppity women at the stake became a national pastime, the Irish attitude to sexual equality between the sexes was nothing short of revolutionary. Stamping out of the Brehon Laws, and with them the rights of women, was finally accomplished under Queen Elizabeth of England.

2. The land of sex and sinners

When it came to matters of love Edmund Spenser, the Elizabethan poet, was appalled by Irish men, who were in the main, he wrote, a bunch of lascivious bisexuals who offered themselves freely to both women and men before his shocked gaze. Spencer enthusiastically recommended the extermination of the Irish race but was himself burned out of his famous castle in County Cork.

3. Bad Romance

The Irish much prefer a dramatic finish to a promising start. Think of Diarmuid and Grainne, think of Charles Stewart Parnell and Kitty O’Shea. Most of all think of poor Oscar Wilde. Wilde’s affair to remember will still be passionately discussed by people not yet born. Having married a beautiful but unsuspecting woman before his latent homosexuality became blatant, the real love of his life turned out to be Lord Alfred Douglas, a whey-faced flaxen -haired youth who ruined his life and reputation. In response Wilde did what generations of Irishmen have, he wrote a ballad that has outlived them all.

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4. Do You Take This Man?

According to Yale historian John Boswell, the early Christian church in Ireland included widely performed sacraments and marriage rites for men, which means that the first instances of same sex marriages were held in Ireland. Tell that to your bishop the next time he fulminates against the gays.

5. Yes, I said, I will, yes

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Seanmor | Jun 04, 2013, 11:06 PM EDT

To the best of my knowledge, no one glorified Oscar Wilde's homosexual affair with Alfred Douglas, but Wilde was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for this unnatural activity.

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Maureen Hawkins | Jun 04, 2013, 09:34 PM EDT

The Brehon laws went even further. Polygany and polyandry were both permitted as long as the multiple spouses each had his or her own home & the joint spouse resided separately from either. Men and women could marry their aunts or uncles or first cousins, but not the parents, aunts, uncles, or first cousins of the family that fostered them. Until the 17th century, the Irish aristocracy generally refused to marry in the Church because then they would be constrained by the Church's marriage laws, so they married under Brehon law. It was almost impossible to be illegitimate; the Brehon laws provided for 8 - 10 kinds of marriage down to and including a woman one had slept with only once. For inheritance purposes, even the child of rape was legitimate and had the right to inherit from both parents. Only the child of a prostitute was considered illegitimate. There was one man (I don't remember his name) who was born of a woman married to a blacksmith. When her son grew up, he claimed his real father was the local king who had just died & who had slept with his mother once. The king's derbfine accepted his claim, and he was elected the next king. Some years later, the High King died, and he claimed it was actually the High King who had been his father. The High King's derbfine accepted his claim, & he was elected High King.

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SingleDonald | Jun 04, 2013, 01:52 PM EDT

Good article, by the Irish Central Staff Writers! I almost forgot that I posted my comment of 8/31/11, which was, incidentally, my birthday! Yes, I still bristle at the traditional Church teachings, regarding human sexuality. I always mention the shorter confessional lines, which indicates that few, if any people believe in "bad thoughts", looking at Playboy/Playgirl, or actual pre marital sex to be "mortal sins" anymore. A healthy attitude towards sex, and a respect of the female gender, for us guys, is what is important, as I have previously said. The rest is taboo!

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antoman | Jun 04, 2013, 12:50 PM EDT

You'd be sat there listening to the Priest lambast you from the pulpit for your lack of chastity and lascivious immorality. Shur what would you do only stiffen with pride.

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STEVENSTAR | Apr 15, 2013, 09:48 AM EDT

WHAT ARE AMERICANS ATTITUDE TO SEX AS OVER THERE WE HEAR THE DIVORCE RATES ARE 10 TIMES HIGHER SO THIS ARTICLE APPLIES TO AMERICANS ALSO...IF NOT MORE SO TO AMERICANS haha!!

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larsporsenna | Apr 10, 2013, 10:50 AM EDT

When it comes to matters sexual remember the wise words of Lord Chesterfield to his son, "The pleasure is fleeting, the posture ridiculous and the expense damnable."

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Maureen Hawkins | Mar 12, 2013, 02:57 PM EDT

The Brehon laws also allowed polygamy and polyandry. A man or a woman could have more than one spouse as long as each had his or her own house at a distance from one another and the person who had two spouses did not actually live with either (no favouritism allowed). It allowed divorce; each party was allowed to take out of the marriage what he or she had brought plus its "natural increase" (e.g., if one brought 20 cows, one could take them & their offspring). Either party could instigate the divorce. Forsterage was common practice by which a child would be raised in another family to cement ties between them. One could marry a second-degree relation (e.g., a cousin, aunt, or uncle) but not a foster-brother or sister or parent. It was a common practice into the 17th century that members of the nobility would marry under the Brehon laws rather than in the Church so they would have the freedoms allowed by the Brehon laws. It was Rome & England that forced women into subjugation, crippled men's & women's sexuality, and blessed droit du seigneur (the right of a lord or landlord to sleep with a tenant women on the night of her wedding). If the Catholic Church really believes that sex is only for procreation, why don't they force couples to divorce if the man becomes impotent or the woman passes menopause? Why do they permit marriage if one partner is sterile? I suppose they can always bring up the case of Abraham and Sarah to show that God can work a miracle & allow a post-menopausal woman to conceive, but, if God can work miracles, surely He can allow a gay couple to conceive.

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CitizenWhy | Feb 04, 2013, 10:59 AM EST

When it comes to sex, Sean O'Casey gave away how to have as much as you want without its being sinful, simply make sure there is a "bit of holy hesitation between the thought and the act."

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irishfrank | Aug 31, 2011, 05:00 PM EDT

not a lot

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SingleDonald | Aug 31, 2011, 12:26 PM EDT

Sadly, the "Right of First Night" practice also existed in some old cultures, in Italy. It was for that reason that the Mafia instituted the rule, which forbids any man in the "honored society" from seducing another man's wife. This way, even a boss could be executed, if he engaged in the "Right of First Night". Concerning the rights of women, the early Irish were sure enlightened! Despite me being opposed to radical feminism, I feel that all guys should respect women. Chivalry is not a patronizing practice, as some feminists believe, but a deferential attitude. This attitude should be extended to the bedroom, where a woman's more complex needs can be adressed, and fulfilled. All legitimate advances by women, over the last few decades, should be respected.

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IAPRINCESS | Aug 31, 2011, 10:32 AM EDT

The topic of Sex and Ireland was never so funny as the time I gave an "Irish Sex Manual" written by monks and found recently. The fly cover explained how the monks diligently scribed all the findings in this wonderful book. When you went to read the book, the PAGES WERE BLANK!!!!

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cillowen | Aug 31, 2011, 10:06 AM EDT

When the lands of ould Erin were totally under Sasanach's control. The practice of having the landed gentry sleeping with the bride on the first night instead of husband screwed up the dna tracking for the first born. While on internet check in on RTE.ie offerings and you'll hear the foulist female and male mouthings on every aspect of sex Give it a look. In US this NI fellow Feherty has a program on the Golf channel in which he appears to be hung up with continual anal references. Who knew St Patrick's efforts would come to naught and for the black irish as well.

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