To let you into a secret, there might not have been a Fidelma. The fifteen stories in this volume comprise the complete set of those published at the time of this writing. The gratifying response to those stories precipitated Fidelma into the series of novels but also created a demand for even more short stories. Four different stories featuring Fidelma appeared in separate publications in October 1993. Those who have followed Sister Fidelma’s adventures in the series of novels might be unaware that she made her debut in short story form. There is even a record that a female judge, Brig, corrected, on appeal, a judgment given by a male judge, Sencha, on women’s rights. In those days, in Ireland, a woman could be coequal with men in the professions and many women were lawyers and judges. Fidelma is also a qualified dá-laigh, or advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system. Apart from differences in rituals, the dating of Easter and the wearing of a dissimilar tonsure, celibacy was not widely practiced and many religious houses contained both sexes who raised their children to the continued service of God. Sister Fidelma is not simply a religieuse, a member of what we now call the Celtic Church whose conflict with Rome on matters of theology and social governance are well known. The Sister Fidelma mysteries are set during the mid-seventh century A.D.
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