An order prohibiting the sale of horses "out of the Pale upon pain of death" dating from 1590 is one of a raft of laws to be revoked by the Government.

It is part of the largest repealing measure ever announced by any country.

It is one of 5,782 obsolete pre-independence government regulations and orders to be repealed.

Among the instruments to be revoked is a proclamation of 1542 declaring that the English crown shall be "King of Ireland".

A proclamation in 1561 declaring Shane O'Neill to be a traitor has also been removed. O'Neill was an Irish king of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster.

The Earl of Sussex, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, had him proclaimed a traitor and also attempted to assassinate him by poisoning his wine.

The obsolete orders listed for removal include an order of 1227 to proclaim in Ireland the laws and customs of England and a proclamation of 1346 declaring English money to be the currency of Ireland.

An order of 1 January 1801 summoning the Parliament of the United Kingdom to meet for the first time has also been revoked.

Catholic landowners will also no longer face removal to the western province of Connacht, as ordered in 1654.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said: "Statute law revision is the process by which spent or obsolete legislation is removed from the statute book."

"The removal leads to a more accessible statute book and will pave the way for further simplification and modernisation measures."