The Cáin Adomnáin (Old Irish pronunciation: [ˈkaːnʲ ˈaðəβ̃ˌnaːnʲ], KAWN AH-thuv-nawn, "Law of Adomnán"), also known as the Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents), was promulgated amongst a gathering of Gaelic and Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr in 697. It is named after its initiator Adomnán of Iona, ninth Abbot of Iona after St. Columba. It is called the "Geneva Accords" of the ancient Irish and Europe's first human rights treaty, for its protection of women and non-combatants, extending the Law of Patrick, which protected monks, to civilians. The legal symposium at the Synod of Birr was prompted when Adomnáin had an Aisling dream vision wherein his mother excoriated him for not protecting the women and children of Ireland.
