Women waging law: The Chancery Pleadings revisited

By Dr. Daniel Patterson

On Monday 17th November, VOICES Research Fellow Dr Daniel Patterson delivered a
paper at the Trinity Centre for Early Modern History Research Seminar, entitled
Women waging law: The Chancery Pleadings revisited.

Daniel presented an overview of VOICES’ work to date on the Irish Court of Chancery,
which we have written about in earlier blog posts and news items. The paper focused on the
project’s progress in digitising and analysing the surviving Chancery Pleadings, and the
insights these documents offer into women’s engagement with the law in early modern
Ireland. Drawing on quantitative findings and a series of case studies, Daniel discussed how
women navigated Chancery to pursue property claims, protect family interests, and in some
cases negotiate the competing demands of Irish legal custom and English common law.

The seminar drew a strong audience, including Professor Mary O’Dowd, whose pioneering
work on women and the law has informed the project’s approach. The paper was followed by
several thoughtful questions and a lively discussion on several topics, including the
jurisdictional limits of Chancery, the possible presence of Irish material in the English
Chancery archive, and the surprising boldness of the women who litigated in the court.
We are grateful to Dr Susan Flavin, Dr Graeme Murdock, and the Trinity Centre for Early
Modern History for the invitation, and we look forward to sharing further updates as the
VOICES team continues to deepen our understanding of the Irish Chancery Pleadings.