David Mac Cerbaill

David Mac Cerbaill (also called MacCarwill or MacCarwell), O.Cist (died 1289), was Archbishop of Cashel from 1254 until his death. He was by all accounts a quarrelsome, arrogant and assertive man, who clashed with most of the leading Irish political figures of his time. He is best remembered for his unsuccessful efforts to replace the native Irish system of Brehon law with the English common law, by means of the purchase by the Irish authorities, for a considerable sum of money, of the common law system from the English Crown. It has been argued that this attempt shows him, despite his faults, to have been a sincere legal reformer. rdf:langString