Mellbretha

A fragment of Mellbretha was discovered in 1968 by Anne and William O'Sullivan in a piece of scrap vellum used for the binding of Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1363.

[2]: 230–231  D. A. Binchy edited and translated this fragment, connecting it with some unattributed quotes in a legal commentary on liability for injuries caused by games, preserved in British Library, MS Egerton 88.

[1]: 144 [3]: 60, 263 Mellbretha begins with an accessus ad auctores schema, giving a pseudo-historical account of the place, time, author, and cause of the text.

[4][1]: 145  Binchy's translation of this foreword is as follows: The place of this book was Tara, its time that of Conn Cétchathach, its author Bodainn, and the reason for composing it the confrontation or encounter of the two teams of boys on the plain of Bregia on November-day; and Patrick [subsequently] blessed (i.e. approved of it) and supplied what was lacking in it.

[a] In Irish law, an injured party could demand payment of medical expenses, food, and rent (called "sick-maintenance") under certain circumstances.