Lex Innocentium, 21st century will be launched on International
Peace Day, the 21st of September 2024.
Following a morning of music and discussion at the County Arms Hotel in Birr (the home-town of the original Lex Innocentium), the law will be formally launched in the afternoon at Redwood Castle in Lorrha, Co. Tipperary (a twenty-minute drive from Birr).
See below for launch details.
Formal launch at Redwood Castle, Lorrha, Co. Tipperary
At the Launch, attendees will be invited to sign the new Lex Innocentium as official signatories. Their signing will be witnessed by Ms. Coleesa Egan, the current owner of Redwood Castle.
A copy of the new law, with a list of its signatories, will be kept in a time capsule, with a letter to future generations.
We will also plant an Oak Tree at the Castle in commemoration of the launch.
As it is International Peace Day, we will ring the bell at the Castle at 5.00 p.m., the time on International Peace Day when Peace Bells are rung out all across the world.
Book tickets online for free via Tickettailor. Tickets cover the events at both the County Arms Hotel, Birr, Co. Offaly, and Redwood Castle, Lorrha, Co. Tipperary.
Following the launch, people all around the world will be invited to subscribe and commit to the law on this website, where we will keep a roll of subscribers.
Programme
Saturday, the 21st of September 2024
Garden Room, County Arms Hotel, Birr, Co. Offaly
Redwood Castle, Lorrha, North Tipperary
COUNTY ARMS HOTEL, BIRR
10.00 am
Registration and Tea/Coffee
10.30 am
Opening
- Welcome; Introduction
- Candle-lighting ceremony and introduction to the Peace Bell
- Minute’s Silence for the victims of war – past and present
Marian Naughton, Seán English, Liz Cullen
10.45 am
SESSION ONE – HISTORY
The History of Adomnán – James Houlihan
Audio Greeting from Pax Christi, Argyll – Marian Pallister
Irish Peace History Before and After Adomnán – Rob Fairmichael
Music (Audio-Video) I am not at war with anyone – Luka Bloom
11.30 am
SESSION TWO HUMAN COSTS OF WAR
Military Industrial Complex: Power & Profit – Eamon Rafter
Audio/Video Greeting – Mairéad Maguire
Human Costs of War, Emphasis on Children – Ed Horgan
Music – Isabelle Ní Mhórdha
12.20 pm
SESSION THREE COSTS TO ENVIRONMENT
Costs to Environment and Future – Sylvia Thompson
Music – Isabelle Ní Mhórdha
12.50 pm
Wind up and Reminders for rest of day – Marian Naughton
Lunch
Attendees can have lunch at County Arms Hotel or at other venues around Birr.
Drive to Redwood (a twenty-minute drive from Birr). Because of very limited parking at Redwood Castle, drivers and passengers will take shuttle bus from Redwood Church/School to Redwood Castle.
REDWOOD CASTLE, LORRHA
2.30 pm
First Shuttle from Redwood Church/School Parking area departs
3.00 pm
Assembly at Redwood Castle
3.30 pm
Reading of the law, Lex Innocentium, 21st Century – John Maguire
4.00 pm
Signing the Law Witnessed by Ms. Coleesa Egan
5.00 pm
Ringing the Peace Bell – Signatories
5.15 pm
Tree Planting – Miriam Ryan & Eamon Rafter
5.30 pm
Music from members of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann
SPEAKERS
James Houlihan
James is a retired Solicitor from Birr. He practised from his office in Birr for forty-five years, including thirty years as State Solicitor for County Offaly. On retirement, he returned to UCD where he completed an MA and PhD. Adomnán was the subject of his PhD thesis, and, in particular, his Law, focusing on establishing the place of that law in the history of the laws of war. James subsequently adapted his thesis for publication, the outcome being his book, Adomnán’s Lex Innocentium and the Laws of War, which was published in 2020. He later wrote and published The Great Law of Birr which is more accessible to the general public. James has written articles for a number of journals, including the International Review of the Red Cross, and he has given talks on the law to various societies and organizations.
Rob Fairmichael
Rob is coordinator of INNATE, a nonviolence network in Ireland, and a long-time peace activist. He now lives in Belfast – but Birr was his childhood home and he actually went to school for a few years just around the corner – now – from where the Synod took place in 697 AD.
Eamon Rafter
Eamon is an activist and educator for peace and justice. He works with World Beyond War, Swords to Ploughshares and the Global Campaign for Peace Education focusing on arms trade, militarism and nonviolent alternatives. He has also worked extensively on reconciliation projects with schools, universities and communities affected by conflict. Eamon has participated in IIPE (International Institute on Peace Education) on a number of occasions, most recently, this year, in Nepal.
Edward Horgan
Edward Horgan, is a former United Nations Peacekeeper, a member of the Board of Directors of World Beyond War. He is also a member of Shannonwatch, Veterans for Peace, and Irish Peace and Neutrality Alliance.
Sylvia Thompson
Sylvia lives in Kerry. She is active with a number of environmental groups, secular and faith-based, a Laudato Si´ Animator, Member of the Diocesan Justice and Peace Committee and Pax Christi.
John Maguire
Dr. John Maguire is Professor of Sociology Emeritus, UCC and a Board Member of AfrI. A writer, songwriter and antiwar activist, he is the author of Defending Peace; Ireland’s Role in a Changing Europe (Cork UP 2002) and, with Joe Noonan, Maastricht and Neutrality (People First/Meitheal 1992). John will read Lex Innocentium, 21st Century to us at Redwood Castle.
Marian Pallister
Marian sends us an audio message from Argyll on behalf of Pax Christi, Scotland. It is very special for us to have a connection with Argyll, as the King of Argyll was one of the signatories to the original Lex Innocentium (697 AD) and because Iona is now in the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles. Marian has arranged for a signing of the law to take place in Argyll to coincide with our signing. (Thomas Daffern, a team member of Lex Innocentium, 21st Century, who cannot be with us at our launch, has also arranged a co-signing in Dorset, England).
Mairéad Maguire
We really do not need to introduce Mairéad Maguire! She is a Nobel Peace Laureate (1977) and tireless campaigner for peace and justice in Ireland and around the world. Mairéad sends us an audio/video greeting.
Musicians
At Birr
Isabelle Ní Mhórdha; Isabelle comes from an accomplished musical family in Kildare, who play both traditional and classical music. Isabelle, now fourteen years old, is learning the harp with the Music Generation Programme in Portlaoise. She is a treasured student of Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara and an all-round rising star.
Luka Bloom; Luka Bloom needs no introduction. Unfortunately, he is not in Ireland this weekend. However, he was kind enough to make a recording of his wonderful song I am Not at War with Anyone especially for Lex Innocentium, 21st Century. He sends us his best wishes.
At Redwood
Cillian Moran is a Classical and Traditional Irish Harpist. He has been playing the harp since he was six years old. Cillian has been successful at various competitions including, Feis Ceoil, Fleadh Cheoil and a number of classical competitions. Most of his musical education has been with Ms. Denise Kelly at TUD.
Group from Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
William Holmes, Pipes and Fiddle (Roscrea Branch)
Tom Holmes, Fiddle (Roscrea Branch)
Noel Stapleton, Accordion (Craobh Seán Ryan Branch)
Ciarán Campbell, Guitar (Craobh Seán Ryan Branch)