Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
term for the basic political and jurisdictional unit of
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland () was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late Prehistory of Ireland, prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Norman invasi ...
. ''Túath'' can refer to both a geographical territory as well the people who lived in that territory. The smallest ''túath'' controlled by a king was about the size of a later Irish barony (about 177sq miles) and kings with greater power would have two or more ''túatha'' under their control, according to ''A Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland.'' ''
Social structure
In ancient Irish terms, a household was reckoned at about 30 people per dwelling. A ''
trícha cét
The , also known as , meaning "thirty hundreds", was a unit of land-holding in eleventh and twelfth century Ireland.
Each ''túath'' was a self-contained unit, with its own executive, assembly, courts system and defence force. ''Túatha'' were grouped together into confederations for mutual defence. There was a hierarchy of ''túatha'' statuses, depending on geographical position and connection to the ruling dynasties of the region. The organisation of ''túatha'' is covered to a great extent within the
Brehon law
Early Irish law, also called Brehon law (from the old Irish word breithim meaning judge), comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwe ...
s, Irish laws written down in the 7th century, also known as the ''Fénechas''.
The old Irish political system was altered during and after the Elizabethan conquest, being gradually replaced by a system of baronies and
counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
under the new colonial system. Due to a loss of knowledge, there has been some confusion regarding old territorial units in Ireland, mainly between ''trícha céta'' and ''túatha'', which in some cases seem to be overlapping units, and in others, different measurements altogether. The ''trícha céta'' were primarily for reckoning military units; specifically, the number of fighting forces a particular population could rally. Some scholars equate the ''túath'' with the modern parish, whereas others equate it with the barony. This partly depends on how the territory was first incorporated into the county system. In cases where
surrender and regrant
During the Tudor conquest of Ireland (c.1540–1603), "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-Feudalism, feudal system under t ...
was the method, the match between the old ''túath'' and the modern barony is reasonably equivalent. Whereas in cases like
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
, which involved large scale colonisation and confiscation of land, the shape of the original divisions is not always clear or recoverable.
It has been suggested that the baronies are, for the most part, divided along the boundaries of the ancient ''túatha'', as many bog bodies and offerings, such as bog butter, are primarily found along present-day baronial boundaries. This implies that the territorial divisions of the petty kingdoms of Ireland have been more or less the same since at least the Iron Age.
Etymology
''Túath'' in Old Irish means both "the people", "country, territory", and "territory, petty kingdom, the political and jurisdictional unit of ancient Ireland". The word possibly derives from
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...
*''toutā'' ("tribe, tribal homeland"; cognate roots may be found in the Gaulish god name
Toutatis
Teutates (spelled variously Toutatis, Totatis, Totates) is a Celtic god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. His name, which is derived from a proto-Celtic word meaning "tribe", suggests he was a national god, tribal deity.
The Roman po ...
), which is perhaps from
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
*''tewtéh₂'' ("tribesman, tribal citizen"). In
Modern Irish
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
it is spelled ''tuath'', without the fada accent, and is usually used to refer to "rural districts" or "the country" (as in "the countryside", in contradistinction to "the city"); however the historical meaning is still understood and employed, as well.
Historical examples
*
Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuatha Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic ...
Osraige
Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of ...
- túath that later became the kingdom of the same name in the Christian era
*
Dál Riata
Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...
- the túath that became a confederation of túatha and eventually settled in
Alba
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...
, creating the modern nation of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
Trícha cét
The , also known as , meaning "thirty hundreds", was a unit of land-holding in eleventh and twelfth century Ireland.Tongu do dia toinges mo thúath
*
List of Irish kingdoms
This article lists some of the attested Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic kingdoms of early medieval Ireland prior to the Norman invasion of Ireland, Norman invasion of 1169-72.
For much of this period, the island was divided into numerous Irish clans, ...
*
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland () was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late Prehistory of Ireland, prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Norman invasi ...
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, 1962
* ''Early Irish Society'' Francis John Byrne, in ''The Course of Irish History'', ed. T.W. Moody and F.X. Martin, pp. 43–60, Cork, 1967
* ''Hui Failgi relations with the Ui Neill in the century after the loss of the plain of Mide'', A. Smyth, ''Etudes Celtic'' 14:2, pp. 502–23
* ''Tribes and Tribalism in early Ireland'',
Francis John Byrne
Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian.
Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. A ...
, ''Eiru'' 22, 1971, pp. 128–166.
* ''Origins of the
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta (Modern , ) were an Irish dynasty centred on Rock of Cashel, Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of De ...
'', David Sproule, ''Eiru'' 35, pp. 31–37, 1974
* ''Some Early Connacht Population-Groups'', Nollaig O Muraile, in ''Seanchas:Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of
Francis John Byrne
Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian.
Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. A ...
'', pp. 161–177, ed. Alfred P. Smyth,
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably ...
,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...