ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Auraicept na n-Éces

Okay kiddo, let's talk about auraicept na n-éces.

Back in the old days, when people didn't have computers, they had to write things down by hand. And they didn't have pens or pencils either, they wrote with special tools called quills made out of bird feathers.

Now, imagine if you wanted to write something really important, like a story or a letter to your friend. You wouldn't want to make any mistakes, right? So, what people used to do is they had special people called "na n-éces" who were really good at writing things down and making sure everything was perfect.

But, they didn't just write things down normally like we do. They used a special kind of writing called "auraicept" which means "beginning knowledge" in a really old language called Old Irish. This writing was used to record important information like laws, historical events or genealogies.

To make sure everything was precise and accurate, na n-éces would memorize everything they were going to write down before they actually wrote it. That way they wouldn't have to make any mistakes while writing with their quills.

So that's auraicept na n-éces in a nutshell! It was a special way of writing used by really skilled people called na n-éces who were experts at memorizing important information and making sure everything was perfect. Cool, huh?