As these ranks of the Grad Flaith possessed an increasing amount of stock beyond what their own land could maintain, one great characteristic of the order was their possessing tenants or Ceile, that is, persons of the inferior order to whom they gave their surplus stock in return for a food-rent, services, and homage; the gift being termed Taurcreic and the food-rent Besa. And as the territorial lords appropriated more and more land of the tribe as individual property, it is obvious that the land remaining for division among the freemen of the tribe must have been proportionately diminished, while the natural increase of the population must have increased the evil. An ancient tract tells us that ‘numerous were the human beings in Ireland at that time (A.D. 658-694), and such was their number that they used not to get but thrice nine ridges for each man in Ireland, viz., nine of bog, and nine of smooth or arable, and nine of wood;’ and we read in the Lebor na huidre that ‘there was not ditch nor fence nor stone wall round land till came the period of the sons of Aed Slane (the same period), but smooth fields. Because of the abundance of the households in their period, therefore it is that they introduced boundaries in Ireland.’^[165] Thus, as the land and the wealth in cattle of these Flaith or territorial lords increased, the freemen of the tribe who were still independent became poorer, and their lots diminished, and by degrees they began voluntarily to place themselves under these lords by accepting stock from them, in return for which they became their dependants. Where the Flath contributed merely an addition to the stock of the freeman who already possessed some, he became his Saer Ceile or free tenant, and had to return the value of a third of the stock annually for seven years; and besides this the tenant might be called upon to give certain services termed Manchaine, such as assisting in building a fort, reaping the harvest, or going on hostings, and had to pay a food-rent for his house, termed Bestigi, likewise did homage on paying his rent, termed Ureirge. Where the Flath furnished the entire stock for the tenant he had to give security for its return, and became his Daer Ceile or Bond-tenant, and had to pay a food tribute termed Biathad twice a year.^[166]

The Aire desa had ten such tenants, five bond and five free. He is described as ‘the son of an Aire and the grandson of an Aire, with the property of his house.’ The Aire echta seems to have ranked with the Aire desa. The Aire ard had twenty tenants or Ceile, ten bond and ten free. The Aire tuise, so called ‘because his race has precedence, and he takes precedence of the Aire ard,’ had twenty-seven tenants or Ceile, fifteen bond and twelve free; and the Aire forgaill or highest rank has forty tenants or Ceile, twenty bond and twenty free. Besides these Ceile or tenants, so constituted by voluntary contracts between the freemen and the Flath or chief, he had likewise Bothach or Cottiers and Fuiddhir, strangers, or broken men from other tribes, whom he settled upon his waste land in return for homage and service, and these, if they had remained nine times nine years on the land, became what were called Sencleithe or old standers.^[167]

This account of how the constitution of the tribe became modified and altered by the effect of internal change and external influence pretends to be nothing more than a speculative view of it, but we have now reached that stage in its progress when it fairly enough represents the tribe in the form in which we find it in the ancient Irish laws; but as these laws with their commentaries belong to different periods, some branches of them being obviously more modern than others, this must be borne in mind in endeavouring to extract a view of the organisation of the tribe from them.

The territory belonging to a tribe is now termed Tuath, the tribe itself Ciniol, as implying a race of men sprung from a common ancestor. The land of the tribe is now found in three different positions. There was first that part of the original territory of the tribe which still remained the Feacht Finne or common property of the tribe, and consisted of the common pasture lands, on which each freeman of the tribe had a right to pasture his cattle, and of the common tillage lands annually divided among those freemen who possessed cattle, a possession which entitled them to the usufruct of a share of the arable land and to a habitation in each township. The cattle each person had were termed his Cro, a name also applied to the enclosure in which they were housed, and the entire cattle of the tribe were termed their Creaght. Then, secondly, there was the official or mensal land set apart for the maintenance of the Ri or Toisech, the Tanist, and the other functionaries of the tribe, as the Bard, the Brehon or judge, the Sennachy or historian, etc.; and along with this land may be classed the Church land or Termon land given to the Church free of all imposition, which land was held to form a sanctuary. Lastly, there was the land held by individual ownership. This land was the Orba or inheritance land, which belonged to the Flaith or chiefs, and which was transmissible to their successors. The principal part of this land was retained by the chief in demesne, and on it he had settled the strangers called Fuidhir who consisted of two classes, Free and Bond, and formed a body of retainers entirely under his control; and here too were the Bothach or Cottiers, and those who by length of residence had become Sencleithe. The land not retained by himself was given off to freemen of the tribe to whom he had given stock either by Saer or by Daer stock tenure, and who thus became his Ceile or tenants.

The stronghold of the tribe was the Dun or fort, which the Ri alone had a right to occupy, and of which each king was bound to have at least three. The description given of it is as follows:—‘Seven score feet are the dimensions of the Dun every way; seven feet the thickness of the mound at top; twelve feet at bottom. Then only is he king, when he is encircled by the moat of servitude. Twelve feet is the breadth of its mouth and of its bottom, and its length is the same as the Dun. Thirty feet is its length on the outside.’^[168] The average number of fighting men which a tribe turned out on ordinary occasions appears to have been 700.^[169] The possessions of the Church within the territory of the tribe varied in extent from half a Ballyboe or ploughgate, till in some cases the Dun itself and the possessions of the king or chief were granted to found a monastery, and in those cases where the monastery was said to have consisted of 3000 monks, the tribe itself appears to have merged in the Church. There came to be a lay and a clerical progenies, and the head of the tribe appears to have been chosen alternately from the tribe of the land and the tribe of the patron saint.^[170] The free and bond Ceile then became free and bond Manachs, their position being substantially the same.

Such being the aspect in which the tribe is presented to us in the ancient laws of Ireland, it must not be assumed that these tribes, thus possessing a complete organisation in themselves, were at this period independent of each other. From even a much earlier period they seem to have been united in a constitutional framework, by which they formed a kind of federal nation. Several of these Tuaths were grouped together to form a still larger tribe, termed a Mortuath or great tribe, over whom one of the kings presided as Ri Mortuath. The normal number forming a Mortuath is in one place stated as three, and in another seven.

Then several of these Mortuath formed a province, called in Irish Cuicidh, or a fifth. The name is interpreted as implying that the Mortuath thus united were five in number, but the usual explanation is more probable, that as there were five provinces in Ireland—Meath, Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ulster—it means that each was the fifth part of Ireland. Over each province was the Ri Cuicidh, or provincial king, and then over the whole was the Ardri, or sovereign of all Ireland.

The succession to these several grades of Ri or king was the same as that of the Ri Tuath, and was regulated by the law of Tanistry, that is, hereditary in the family but elective in the individual, the senior of the family being usually preferred; but as, when the king was chosen, the Tanist would naturally be selected from the next most powerful branch of the family, it fell at length into an alternate succession between the two most powerful branches. This becomes at once apparent when we examine the actual succession of these kings as recorded in the Annals. The sovereignty over the whole of Ireland fell for several centuries into one branch of the great family called the Northern Hy Neill, and the throne was filled alternately from two branches of it. The succession of the kings of Munster shows the same peculiarity of an alternate succession between the descendants of two sons of the mythic founder of that kingdom, and furnished the illustration upon which a Dissertation on the Law of Tanistry, attributed to General Vallancey, but really written by Doctor John O’Brien, Bishop of Cloyne, was founded. The province of Ulster, where an ancient Pictish population was encroached upon and gradually superseded by Scottish tribes, exhibits the remarkable peculiarity of an alternate succession of the kings of Ulster between a family descended from its old Pictish kings and one of the earliest colonies of Scots, that of the Dalfiatach, who settled among them.^[171]

The tie which bound these groups together, and united the chain which connected the Ardri with the Ri Tuath, was the same which linked the latter with his dependent chiefs, and those with their Ceile. The dependence of one upon another possessed the invariable feature of a gift or subsidy from the superior to the inferior, and corresponding duties from the inferior to the superior. In one of the law tracts the gift from the superior appears as Taurcreic, or proportionate stock, and the return as Bestighi, or food-rent of the house, and ranges from a Taurcreic of five Seds, and a Bestighi of a wether, with its accompaniments, consisting of cakes, milk, and butter, as the lowest for the Fermidba to a Taurcreic of fifteen Cumhals, or forty-five cows, and a Bestighi of eight cows for the Ri Tuath.^[172] We derive the fullest information on this subject from the ancient tract termed the Book of Rights. We there see the gift or Tuarastach, as it is there called, made by the Ardri to the different provincial kings, by them to the kings of the respective Mortuath, and by the latter to the Ri Tuath; while the corresponding returns made by the inferior to the superior king consisted first of a small fixed rent, which in one case consisted of a Sgreaball, or threepence, from each Baile or township,^[173] and a tribute termed Cobhach, which included, in the case of Munster, a submission paid in cattle, termed Smacht, and a Biathad or refection; and each king was entitled to a maintenance when going beyond his own territory, called Coinnim, corrupted into Coigny; and besides these, service in war was due from each inferior tribe to the superior, distinguished into Feacht or expedition, and Sluaged or hosting. The number of fighting men each Tuath had to provide was 700, and each Mortuath three companies, or 2100 men.

Another feature of the ancient tribal system in Ireland, presented to us in the Brehon Laws, must not be overlooked, and that is the system of fines, in which respect it closely resembled not only similar regulations in the Welsh Laws but likewise in those of the Anglo-Saxons. In that early state of society the idea that the slaughter or injury of any of its members was a crime against the State, which required the punishment of the criminal in vindication of the law of the land, was entirely unknown. The slaughter or injury of the member of the tribe was considered as a loss to the tribe itself, which must be compensated for, and when compensation was made and accepted the criminal was free. Originally the compensation was probably simple retaliation, but afterwards this right of retaliation might be bought off by payment of a fine. That a tradition of this kind existed appears from a passage in the Introduction to the Senchus Mor, in which we are told that ‘retaliation prevailed in Erin before Patrick, and Patrick brought forgiveness with him. At this day we keep between forgiveness and retaliation; for as at present no one has the power of bestowing heaven as Patrick had at that day, so no one is put to death for his intentional crimes, so long as Eric fine is obtained; and whenever Eric fine is not obtained, he is put to death for his intentional crimes, and placed on the sea for his unintentional crimes.’ Sir Henry Maine, in commenting on this passage, justly remarks, that ‘it is impossible, of course, to accept the statement that this wide-spread ancient institution, the pecuniary fine levied on tribes or families for the wrongs done by their members, had its origin in Christian influences; but that it succeeded simple retaliation is in the highest degree probable.’^[174]

The system of fines was based in the main upon a fixed value put upon each person, estimated according to his position and rank, and expressed by a standard of value in cattle. This was his Enechlann or Honor price, and it enters as an element into all the pecuniary relations of the different members of the tribes with each other. This standard of value was expressed in two forms. First by what was termed a Set or Sed, by which single animals of different value were meant. The next was the Ri Set or milch cow, which was equal to two Samaiscs or three-year-old heifers or mules, and each Samaisc was equal to two Dairts or Colpachs, that is, two-year-old heifers or bulls, and the rule was that of every three Sets one must be of each kind.^[175] The other standard of value was the Cumhal, which originally meant a female bondslave, and was equal in value to three milch cows.

The Honor price of the Ogaire was three Seds, but they must be Seds of the cow kind. Five Seds that of a Boaire; ten Seds that of the Aire desa; fifteen that of the Aire ard; twenty that of the Aire tuisi; twenty-four that of the Aire forgaill; thirty Seds that of the Tanist or successor to the king of the tribe; and seven Cumhals, or twenty-one cows, that of the king himself. The king of a Mortuath has an additional Cumhal, or three cows more, to make up his Honor price. The Honor price of a son of each rank was equal to that of the rank immediately below it. The intentional slaughter, then, of one of these persons might be compensated by payment of the Eric fine, which was equal to the Honor price of the person slain. Other fines were the Dire fine for injury to a man’s property, and the Smacht or body fine. A share of these fines fell to the Flath or chief under whom the person injured was, and also to the king of the tribe, which formed no insignificant portion of his revenue.

In combination with the tribal organisation, there was also in Ireland an ancient system of fixed land measures adapted to it. The largest of these divisions was the Trichaced, which was considered as the normal extent of the Tuath or territory of a tribe. It contained thirty Bailebiataghs, and each Bailebiatagh twelve Seisrighs or ploughlands, also termed Ballyboes, and these were the townships, and the distribution of the land among the freemen of the tribe appears to have been separately allotted in each township to its occupants. An ancient poem,^[176] printed by Mr. O’Donovan in his edition of the Battle of Magh Lena, gives probably the oldest view of these land divisions over all Ireland, as it is attributed to the same Finntan who is said to have preserved the record of the ancient mythic colonisation of Ireland. The poem is thus translated by Mr. O’Donovan, the denomination of land being, however, retained untranslated:—

The Seisrigh or ploughgate, which represents the sown land, is here stated to contain 120 acres and twelve ploughgates, with as much pasture land as sustained 300 cows, or four herds of seventy-five each formed the Bailebiatagh. Thirty Bailebiataghs constituted a Tricha-ced, which would thus contain 43,200 acres; and as, according to the poem, there were 184 Tricha-ceds in Ireland, this represents about one-half of the acreage of the whole country, assuming that the ancient and modern acre was the same in extent. The other half would thus represent the waste lands, which were turned to no profitable account.

These measures of land make their appearance at an early period in the mythic history of Ireland, for it is recorded of Ollamh Fodla, one of the most remarkable figures who appears in this extraordinary catalogue of shadowy monarchs, and who is said to have flourished twelve centuries before Christ, that ‘it was he also that appointed a Toisech over every Tricha-ced, and a Brughaidh over every Baile, who were all to serve the king of Erinn.’^[177] They emerge also in the historic period in the tenth century, when a great fleet of Danes landed at Limerick and plundered and ravaged Munster, both churches and tribes (Cella ocus Tuatha), and their king is said to have ‘ordained kings (Rigu), chiefs (Taishechu), Maers and Reactdairidu or stewards in each land (Tir) and in each Tuath, as well as levied the Cis rigda, or dues of the kingdom,’ that is, confirmed the old tribal organisation, substituting Danes for Gael, so that there was ‘a king (Ri) for each Tir, a Toisech for each Tuath, an abbot for each Cill or church, a Maer for each Baile, and a Suairtleach in each Tigi or homestead.^[178] In the succeeding century it is told of Brian Boroimhe, the Munster king who reigned over Ireland from 1002 to 1014, and defeated the Danes in the great battle of Clontarf, that ‘during his time surnames were first given, and territories (Duchadha) allotted to the surnames, and the boundaries of every Tuath and every Tricha-ced were fixed.’^[179]

But although these ancient measures of land are represented as possessing a definite and fixed extent, yet there seems to be little doubt that they varied very much in different parts of Ireland. Thus the unit of the Seisrigh or ploughgate seems to have been of two kinds—a larger measure of 120 acres in some parts of Ireland, and a smaller measure of 60 acres in other parts. We also find the Ballybiatagh consisting of sixteen Taths in place of twelve ploughgates, the Tath containing sixty acres.

But not only do these measures of land vary in size and denomination, but the Tuath or tribe territory appears also to have varied in different parts of Ireland as well as the constitution of the tribe possessing it. The publications of the Irish Archæological and Celtic Societies afford specimens of this in four of the provinces in Ireland. Thus the preface to the poems of John O Dugan, who died in 1372, opens with reference to Meath with the general statement—‘His country (Duthaidh) to every Ardrigh and to every Urrigh and to every Taoisech of a Tuath in Erin.’^[180] In the district of Corca Laidhe in Munster, which represented a Mortuath, instead of containing merely three or seven Tuaths, we find eight Tuaths mentioned, and of seven of these the head of the tribe is termed its Toisech, and bears the same name, while the Flaith or chiefs are called Oclaich Duthaich, or the champions of the territory. The first is the Duthaich or country of O Gillamichil, with seventeen Oclaich. Then we have the Tuath Ui Chonneid, with O Conneid as its Toisech, and five Oclaich. Then Tuath Ruis, with O Laeghaire as its Toisech, and eleven Oclaich or chiefs. Then Tuath O’n-Aenghusa, with O h-Aenghusa as its Toisech, and fourteen Oclaich. Then Tuath O’Fithcheallaigh, with O’Fithcheallaigh as its Toisech, and eight Oclaich. Then Tuath O’n Dunghalaigh, with O Dunghaill as its Toisech, and nine Oclaich. Then Tuath Ui-Dubhdaleithe, with O Dubhdaleithe as its Toisech and seven Oclaich. The boundaries of these several Tuaths are likewise given.^[181]

In the province of Connaught we have also an account of four of the great territories, which furnishes us also with some information regarding the constitution of the tribes there. In a tract printed in the appendix to ‘The Tribes and Customs of Hy Fiachraich’ we find the following statement:—‘Connaught (and, I suppose, other provinces) was anciently distinguished into countries called Doohie (Duthaidh) or Tyre (Tir), named from such and such families or nations inhabiting them, as in the barony of Athlone, Doohie Keogh, the country or nation of the Keoghs. In the barony of Ballintobber, Doohie Hanly, the country of the Hanleys, and betwixt Elphin and Jamestown, that sweet country Teer O Ruin (Tir Briuin) and Teer O Byrne, the country of the Beirns. These countries were subdivided into townlands (in some other parts of Ireland known by the name of ploughlands), which were called Ballys, as in Doohie Hanley Bally nengulluh, or Gyllstown, Ballygilleclinne, (the(the town of the Chlinnes), Ballyfeeny, etc.; and each townland was divided again into quarters, which are generally known and distinguished by certain meares and bounds, and for that reason the name of quarter is used as though it signified a certain measure; and now the lands here are generally set and let, not by the measure of acres but by the name of quarters, cartrons, and gnieves, a quarter being the fourth part of a townland, and a gnieve the sixth part of a quarter, and a cartron also the fourth part of a quarter (although in other parts of Ireland a quarter is the same part that a cartron is here, and a gnieve the fourth part of a cartron). I have been sometimes perplexed to know how many acres a quarter contains, but I have learned it is an uncertain measure, and anciently proportioned only by guess, or according to the bigness of the townland whereof it was a parcel.’^[182]

From the tract termed the ‘Hereditary Proprietors (Duthchusaigh) of the Clann Fiachrach’ we obtain some further information. The territory possessed by the tribe appears under different names. These are Triocha Cheud, Taoisidheacht, or territory ruled over by a Taoisech, Tuath, and Duthaidh.^[183] The first is the Triocha Ceud of Ceara, and over it were three kings, O’Muireadhaigh, O’Gormog, and O’Tighernaigh. It seems to have been exceptionally large. Then we have five districts termed Taoisidheacht. The first is that of O’h-Uada and O’Cinnchnamha. Then that of O’Cearnaigh, containing the twenty-four Ballys of the termon of Balla, and therefore nearly as extensive as a Triocha Ceud, but the expression Termon indicates it as being church land. Then that of Ui Ruadin and of him is the Dudhchus of O’Culachan. Then that of O’Birn and that of O’Gorrmghiolla, the latter containing seven Ballys and a half, or the fourth part of a Triocha Ceud. Then there are three Tuaths mentioned. First the Tuath of Partraighe, co-extensive with the parish of Ballyovey. Of this Tuath we have two accounts. The first shows us the Ri tuath and the Taoisech distinct, for O’Gaimiallaigh was its Ri and O’Dorchaidhe its Taoisech. By the second account it was the Taoisigheacht of O’Dorchaidhe alone. O’Banan of Bally Ui Banan and Magilin of Muine were two Mac Oglaichs or inferior chiefs. The Tuath of Magh na bethighe contained the seven Ballys of Lughortan, the Duthaidh of Mac an Bhainbh. The Tuath of Magh Fhiondalbha, containing fifteen Ballys or half a Triocha Ceud, was the Duthaidh of O’Cearnaigh. Then twelve Duthaidhs or Estates are given, all connected with surnames. Of these seven consist of one Bally only. The Duthaidh of O’h-Edhneachan consisted of three divisions, each containing three Ballys. The Duthaidh of O’Faghartaigh contained three Ballys, and that of O’Caomhan containing the seven Ballys of Roslaogh. All of these tribes possessed a common origin with one exception, for it is added ‘that there was found no Tuath without its hereditary proprietor of the race of Earc Culbhuidhe except this well-known Tuath Aitheachda,’ that is, tribe of the older subjected inhabitants, called Tuath Ruisen, the old name of Roslaog.^[184]

The Tribes and Customs of Hy Many, another great district of Connaught, throw further light on the subject. This district was considered to be a third part of the province of Connaught, and the patrimony of the Clann Ceallaigh or O’Kellys. In a tract giving an account of its boundaries we are told that it consisted of ‘seven Tricha, seven Tuaths, seven Ballys, and seven half Ballys;’^[185] and in the tract called the ‘Customs of Hy Many’ we read: ‘These are the tributaries of the Clann Ceallaigh: the O’Duibhginns, the O’Geibhennaighs, the MacCathails, the MacFloinns, Muintir Murchadhan, and the Clann Aedhagain, until they become Ollamhs to the Ardri or head of the whole race. These seven tributaries correspond with the seven Tricha;’ and it is added, that ‘the third part of the Cuigid or province of Connaught, that is, Hy Many, is to be their Duthaidh for ever.’ They have also the ‘marshalship of the forces’ (Marasgalacht a Sluag), as Saer clann or free tribes, and they are freed from the Sluaged, or hostings of spring and autumn. The seven Tuaths were apparently smaller divisions, and corresponding with them we have ‘the seven Oirrighi or sub-kings of Hy Many, viz., O’Conaill, and he has the same patrimony as Mac Chnaimhin and O’Dubhurrla; the Oirrighs of the Sil Anmchadha are the O’Madudhains; the Righs or rather Oirrighs of Maenmaigh are the Muintir Neachtain and the O’Maelallaidhs; the six Soghans with their Tricha; to whomsoever of them they cede the lordship he is called Oirrigh during his lordship,’ and this makes up the seven. Corresponding with the seven Ballys we find that ‘the seven Flaiths of Hy Many are these, viz., Mac Eidhigan, Flath of Clann Diarmada; MacGelli-Enan, Flath of Clann Flaithemael and of the Muintir Chinait; the Flaith of Clann Bresail is the Muintir Domhnallan, and the Flaith of Clann Duibgind is O’Duibgind, and O’Gabhrain is over Dal n-Druithne, and O’Docomhlan over RinnnaRinnna h-Eignide, and O’Donnchadha over Aibh Cormac Maenmuighe, and O’Mailbrigdi is Flath of Bredach.’ The seven half Ballys correspond with the seven principal Comharbas of Hy Many, and were the lands attached to seven churches. We have then the following curious account of the termination of the tribal system in Hy Many. An agreement is entered into in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, on the 6th of August 1589, between ‘the Irish chieftains and inhabitants of Imany called the O’Kellie’s country,’ consisting of, first, the O’Kelly or head of the race; two O’Kellys, competitors for the name of Tanistshippe of O’Kelly; two other O’Kellys, and different chiefs bearing the names of O’Mannine, O’Concannon, O’Naghten, Mac Keoghe, O’Murry, O’Fallone, and Mac Gerraghte. It is there stated that ‘the territory of Imany, called O’Kelly’s Country, is divided into five principal barronyes, all which contain 665-1/2 quarters of land, each at 120 acres;’ and they agree ‘that the Captainshippe and Tanistshippe of the said country, heretofore used by the said O’Kellys, and all elections and Irish customary division of lands, shall be utterly abolished and extinct for ever.’ The O’Kelly is to have four quarters of land then in his possession, with a chief-rent out of other lands during his life, and the other two O’Kellys four quarters each.^[186]

The third great district or Mortuath of Connaught was that called ‘West, or H-Iar Connaught, the country of the O’Flahertys,’ and in connection with it we have a tract on the ‘territories of the hereditary proprietors of Muintir Murchadha of Clanfergail and Meadruidhe and Hy Briuin Seola and Hy Briuin Ratha and Muintir Fathy; their Toiseachs and high Mac Oglachs and Ollaves, that is, O’Halloran is Toiseach of the twenty-four Ballys of Clanfergail (or nearly a Triocha Ceud), and of these are O’Antuile and O’Fergus of Roscam. Mac Cingamain and Mac Catharnaigh are the two Toiseachs of Meadruidhe, having each their own people of the tribe subject to them. O’Dathlaoich is the Toiseach of the fourteen Ballys of the Hy Briuin Ratha (or half a Triocha Ceud), and of these are the O’Kennedies and the O’Duinns and the O’Innogs of Cnoctuadh and O’Laighin of Lackagh and O’Callanan, Comharba of Kilcahil,’ the latter being an ecclesiastical sept occupying church land. ‘O’Canavan was medical Ollamh of O’Flaherty in the Tuath of Toibrineadh, but others say it was O’Laighidh. The Flaith or chiefs of Hy Briuin Seola, with their correlatives, are O’Fechin, O’Balbhain, O’Duff, and O’Madudhain.’ This last tribe does not appear united under one head but broken up into septs. ‘O’Flaharty is Toiseach of the fourteen Ballys of Muintir Fathy, with their correlatives under them.’ We have then a list of the hereditary office-bearers of O’Flaherty, which it may be useful to insert as showing that this designation of Toiseach was not only applied to the hereditary leaders of tribes, but when coupled with a qualifying word designated a hereditary officer; thus Mac Gillagannain of Moyleaslainn is Toiseach scuir, or Master of the Horse to O’Flaherty. The O’Colgam of Bally Colgan are standard-bearers (go m-brataigh) of O’Flaherty. MacGinnain is the Comharba of Kilcoona. O’Maelampaill of Donaghpatraic is the Brehon or judge of O’Flaherty. O’Cleircin of Rathbuidbh, O’Laibacain, and O’Maoilin, are the Erenachs of Cillbile. The O’Dubains are the attendants (Lucht Comhideachta) of O’Flaherty at his common house. The MacKilkellys are the Ollamhs of O’Flaherty in history and poetry, and for this they have three half Ballys. O’Domnall of Ardratha is the Toiseach Comoil, or Master of the Feast of O’Flaherty, with his own correlatives under him—viz., O’Daigean of Ardfintain, who was O’Domhnall’s steward (Reachtaire), and O’Chichearan of Lis-chicheran, and O’Conlachtna of Ballyconlachtna, are the Beachadoir, or beekeepers, of O’Flaherty. O’Murgaile of Muinne-inradain is the high steward (Ardreachtaire) of O’Flaherty.’^[187] The king of Connaught, the head of the O’Connors, had similar officers; for we are told by O’Ferrall, in his Book of Pedigrees, under the O’Conor family, ‘that the king of Connaught kept twelve prince officers of the chief families of his country in his court, attending his person as his council, and to rule and govern as well his household as to manage the affairs of his kingdom in war and peace, and were called in Irish Taoisigh na Cruachan, or Toiseachs of Cruachan, the royal residence, which officers were hereditary from father to son. These chief lords had from the king certain subsidies for their services.’^[188]

These are given in detail in an ancient tract among the Stowe MSS. Four of them—viz., O’Flanagan, MacGerachty, O’Finnachty, and O’Maolbrennan—were termed royal Taoiseachs, and had each a subsidy of fifty milch cows and fifty sheep at Beltane, and fifty heifers and fifty pigs at Samheinn, as well as a domain of forty-eight Ballys; and of these officers, O’Flannagain had the high stewardship (Ardmaoraidacht), O’Feorinachtaigh was the Hostiarius or doorkeeper, and O’Maolbrennan was joint steward, and commanded the bodyguards. The other eight Toiseachs of inferior rank had a domain of twenty-four Ballys each, and of these O’Hanly had the guardianship of hostages and prisoners, O’Floinn the stewardship of the horse (Maoras Each), O’Flaithbertaigh and O’Maille the command of the fleet, MacDiarmad was high marschal, O’Teige was Taoiseach Teaghlach or marshal of the household, and O’Kelly was Taoiseach Seud or steward of the jewels.^[189]

The province of Ulster likewise presents us with the Tuath or tribe, several of which form a larger territory equivalent to the Mortuath. Thus a vast territory, consisting of the two districts of the Route and Glynnes, was granted by James I. in 1603 to the Earl of Tyrone, and was at that time subdivided into sixteen smaller districts termed Tuoghs or Tuaths, which are recited in the patent. The Route, which was co-extensive with the ancient territory of Dalriada—from which name indeed the modern word Route is a corruption—contained nine Tuoghs. These were the Tuogh between the Bandy or Bann and the Boys or Bush, containing six parishes; the Tuogh of Dunseverick and Ballenatoy; the Tuogh of Ballelagh; the Tuogh of Loughgill; the Tuogh of Ballemoney and Dromart, containing two parishes; the Tuogh of Killeoconway (Coil na g-Connmuigh), or the wood of O’Conway; the Tuogh of Killioquin, or the wood of O’Conn; the Tuogh of Killiomorrie, or the wood of O’Murry; and the Tuogh of Magheredunagh (Machaire Dun Eachdach), or plain of the fort of Eachdach, consisting of the parish now called Dunaghy. The district of the Glynnes consisted of seven baronies, six of which are termed Tuoghs. These were the Tuogh of Munerie, the Tuogh of Carey, the Tuogh of Glenmiconogh, the Tuogh of the Largie, the Tuogh of the Parke, and the Tuogh of the Larne. The entire acreage of the two districts of the Route and the Glynnes was 333,907 acres, giving an average of 20,869 acres to each.

The names of the tribes which were connected with these Tuoghs or Tuaths have not been preserved, but they are still retained in the district of North Clandeboy, which with South Clandeboy represented the ancient Dalnaraighe or territory of the Picts of Ulster. We find from an inquisition in 1605 that North Clandeboy consisted of twenty subdivisions, thirteen larger and seven smaller; the former are termed Tuoghs or Tuaths, and are named after the tribes occupying them. These are the Tuogh of Clanaghartie, containing the entire parish of Kilconriola and part of Ahoghill, and the Tuogh of Muntir Callie (Muintir Ceallaigh), or the tribe of Kelly, containing the rest of Ahoghill parish. These two together formed the barony of Lower Toome, and contained 36,000 acres. The Tuogh of Muntir Rividy, and the Tuogh na Fuigh. These two formed the barony of Upper Toome, and contained 64,000 acres. The Tuogh of Muntir Murigan (Muintir Mhuireagan), or the tribe of Murrigan. The Tuogh na Keart. The Tuogh of Moylinny, which is co-extensive with the barony of Upper Antrim, and contained 36,000 acres. The Tuogh of Killelagh. The Tuogh of Maghery-morne, the Tuogh of Braden IlandIland, and the Tuogh of Ballinlyny. These three formed the barony of Lower Belfast, and contain 56,000 acres. The Tuogh Cinament, containing part of the parish of Shankill, and the Tuogh of the Fall, containing the rest of Shankill and the parish of Drumbeg.^[190]

We have then a very instructive account of the counties of Monaghan and Fermanagh in a letter addressed by Sir John Davis, Attorney-General of Ireland, to the Earl of Salisbury in the year 1606. He states that Monaghan, otherwise called M‘Mahon’s country, ‘was divided into five baronies, viz., Dartry, Monaghan, Cremorne, Trough, and Donamayne; that these five baronies contain an hundred Ballybetaghs, viz., Dartrey 21, Monaghan 21, Cremorne 22, Trough 15, and Donamayne 21.’ These obviously represent Tuaths, four being about two-thirds, and the fifth the half of a Triocha Ceud. He then proceeds to tell us ‘that every Ballibetagh (which signifieth in the Irish tongue a town able to maintain hospitality) containeth 16 taths, each tath containeth 60 English acres or thereabout; so as every Ballibetagh containeth 960 acres, the extent of the whole containing 100 Ballibetaghs is 96,000 acres, besides the church lands.’ This territory having been forfeited to the Crown, four of the baronies were thus regranted to the M‘Mahons. ‘In the Dartrey five Ballibetaghs were granted in demesne to Bryan McHugh Oge McMahon, then reputed chief of his name, and the heirs-male of his body, rendering £30 rent, viz., £6 for each Ballibetagh; the other 16 Ballibetaghs were divided among the ancient inhabitants of that barony, some having a greater portion allotted and some a less; howbeit every one did render a yearly rent of 20s. out of every tath, whereof 12s. 6d. was granted to Bryan McHugh Oge McMahon as a chief rent in lieu of all other duties, and 7s. 6d. was reserved to the Crown; which plot was observed in every of the other baronies, so as out of every Ballibetagh containing 16 taths the lord had £10 and the king £6. In Monaghan, Ross Bane McMahon had likewise five Ballibetaghs granted unto him, with the like estate, rendering to the queen £30 rent, and the like chief rent out of nine Ballybetaghs more, and in the same barony Patrick McArt Moyle had three Ballybetaghs allotted unto him with the like estate, rendering £18 rent to the queen, and the like chief rent out of the other four.

‘In Cremorne, Ever McColla McMahon had five Ballybetaghs in demesne granted unto him, and the heirs-male of his body, rendering £30 rent to the Crown, and the like chief rent out of twelve other Ballybetaghs; and in the same barony one Patrick Duffe McColla McMahon had two Ballybetaghs and a half assigned to him in demesne, rendering £15 rent, and the like chief rent out of two other Ballybetaghs and a half.

‘In the Tuough, containing only fifteen Ballybetaghs, Patrick McKenna had three Ballybetaghs and twelve taths in demesne, given unto him, with the like estate, rendering £22 rent as aforesaid, and the like chief rent out of seven other Ballybetaghs; and in the same barony one Bryan Oge McMahowne, brother to Hugh Roe, had the like estate granted unto him in three Ballybetaghs, rendering £18 rent in like manner, and the like chief rent out of two other Ballybetaghs.’

These grants no doubt reflect the ancient occupation of the district, the various returns in kind and in service being commuted for a money payment, and the holdings being made direct from the Crown, part of each barony being held in demesne by the chiefs, and the rest by what Sir John calls the inferior inhabitants, who had, he says, likewise ‘their demesne and rents allotted to them, and their several portions of land granted unto them and to their heirs.’ Besides these temporal lands there were, he says, ‘the spiritual lands, which the Irish call Termons, which were granted to sundry servitors rendering 10s. to the Crown for every tath; which out of all the church lands amounted to £70 per annum or thereabouts,’ that is, to 140 taths, equal to about nine Ballybetaghs.

From the return with regard to the county of Fermanagh we obtain similar information, with some additional particulars deserving of notice. ‘For the lands of inheritance in Fermanagh,’ otherwise called Maguire’s Country, he says, ‘they stood not in the same terms as the lands in Monaghan. For the signorie or chiefry and the demesne lands, that were the inheritance of MacGuire himself, were reduced and vested in the Crown.’... But forasmuch as the greatest part of the inhabitants of that country did claim to be freeholders of their several possessions, who, surviving the late rebellion, had never been attainted, so as we could not clearly entitle the Crown to their land;’ and he adds, that ‘they held the same not according to the course of common law but by the custom of tanistry, whereby the eldest of every sept claimed a chiefry over the rest, and the inferior sort divided their possessions after the manner of gavelkind.’ Sir John tells us that, ‘First we thought it meet to distinguish the possessions, next to inquire of the particular possessors thereof. Touching the possessions,’ he says, ‘we found Fermanagh to be divided into seven baronies, viz., Magheryboy, Clanawley, Clankelly, Maghery, Stephanagh, Tirkennedy, Knockrinie,Knockrinie, and Lough Lurgh. Every of these baronies contains seven Ballybetaghs and a half of land, chargeable with McGuire’s rent, and other contributions of the country. Every Ballybetagh is divided into four quarters of land, and every quarter into four taths, so as a Ballybetagh containeth sixteen taths, as it doth in Monaghan, but the measure of this country is far larger; besides the freeland, whereof there is good quantity in every barony, is no parcel of the seven Ballybetaghs and a half, whereof the barony is said to consist. For these reasons Fermanagh, containing but fifty-one Ballybetaghs and a half of chargeable lands, is well-nigh as large an extent as Monaghan, which hath in it an hundred Ballybetaghs.’

‘Touching the freeland we found them,’ he says, ‘to be of three kinds—

‘1. Church land or termon lands, as the Irish call it.

‘2. The mensal land of McGuire.

‘3. Land given to certain septs privileged among the Irish, viz., the lands of the chroniclers, rimers, and gallo-glasses.

‘The Church land was either monastery land, Corbe land, or Erenach’s land. The monastery land lay in the barony of Clanawley, and did not exceed two Ballybetaghs, but the lands belonging to the Corbes and Erenachs are of far greater quantity, and are found in every barony. They told me,’ he adds, ‘that the word Termon doth signify in the Irish tongue a liberty or freedom, and that all church lands whatsoever are called termon lands by the Irish, because they were ever free from all impositions and cuttings of the temporal lords, and had the privilege of sanctuary.’

McGuire’s mensal lands, he tells us, were ‘free from all common charges and contributions of the country, because they yielded a large proportion of butter and meal and other provisions for McGuire’s table, ‘and that though lying in several baronies did not in quantity exceed four Ballybetaghs, the greatest thereof being in the possession of one M‘Manus and his sept.’ The certainties of the duties or provisions yielded unto McGuire out of these mensal lands were set forth in an old parchment roll in the hands of one O’Brislan, a chronicler and principal Brehon of that country. It was not very large, but was written on both sides in a fair Irish character, and contained not only ‘the certainty of McGuire’s mensal duties, but also the particular rents and other services which were answered to McGuire out of every part of the country.’ ‘Besides these mensals,’ he adds, ‘McGuire had two hundred and forty beeves or thereabouts yearly paid unto him out of the seven baronies, and about his castle at Iniskillen he had almost a Ballybetagh of land, which he manured with his own churles. And this was McGuire’s whole estate in certainty, for in right he had no more, and in time of peace did exact no more. In time of war he made himself owner of all, cutting what he listed, and imposing as many bonachts or hired soldiers upon them as he had occasion to use. Concerning the free land of the third kind—viz., such land as is possessed by the Irish officers of this country, viz., chroniclers, galloglasses, and rimers—the entire quantities if it were laid down together, as it is scattered in sundry baronies, doth well-nigh make two Ballybetaghs and no more.’^[191]

This presents us with a graphic enough account of the state of the Irish tribe as it existed at the time Sir John Davis wrote; and we may supplement what he says as to the position of the Termon or Church lands, and their freedom from the burdens to which the other lands were subject, by two charters preserved in the Book of Kells. The first is a grant by Conchobhar O’Maelsechlann, king of Meath, in the eleventh century, by which he gave Kildelga with its territory and lands to God and to Columkille for ever, free of all claim for Cis or rent, Cobach or tribute, Fecht and Sluaged or expedition and hosting, and Coinnim from king or Toiseach, and the precise signification of Coinnim appears from the second charter granted in the succeeding century, by which the freedom of Ardbreacain was granted by Muirchertach O’Lochlainn, king of Ireland, Diarmaid O’Maelsechlann, king of Meath, and Aedh Mac Cu-Uladh, king of Laeghaire. The people of Laeghaire had a certain tribute on the Church, viz., one night’s Coinnmeda every quarter of a year. O’Lochlain, king of Ireland, and O’Maelsechlann, king of Meath, induced the king of Laeghaire to sell this night’s Coinnmeda for three ounces of gold. The Church, therefore, with its territory and lands, is free for two reasons, viz., on account of the general freedom of all churches, and on account of this purchase.’^[192]

We thus see that the leading features of the Irish tribes, as we have gathered them in the ancient laws, can to a great extent be recognised in the state of the native population of the country, as we find it presented to us at a later period in four of her great provinces.