Túath
Túath (plural túatha) is the Old Irish term for the basic political and jurisdictional unit of Gaelic Ireland. Túath can refer to both a geographical territory as well the people who lived in that territory.[1]
Social structure
In ancient Irish terms, a household was reckoned at about 30 people per dwelling. A trícha cét ("thirty hundreds"), was an area comprising 100 dwellings or, roughly, 3,000 people. A túath consisted of a number of allied trícha céta, and therefore referred to no fewer than 6,000 people. Probably a more accurate number for a túath would be no fewer than 9,000 people.[2]
Each túath was a self-contained unit, with its own executive, assembly, courts system and defence force. Túatha were grouped together into
The old Irish political system was altered during and after the
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.[6] 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".
Historical examples
- Tuatha Dé Danann
- Cairbre Drom Cliabh
- Tir Fhiacrach Muaidhe
- Tir Olliol
- Corann
- Dartraighe
- Osraige - túath that later became the kingdom of the same name in the Christian era
- Dál Riata - the túath that became a confederation of túatha and eventually settled in Alba, creating the modern nation of Scotland
- Clandonnell, Glenconkeyne, Killetra, Melanagh, Tarraghter, and Tomlagh, which all once formed the ancient territory of Loughinsholin
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-901714-29-1.
- ^ ISBN 1-85182-177-5.
- ^ Ó Corráin, Donnchadh. "Nationality and Kingship in Pre-Norman Ireland". CELT. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-0268161460.
- ^ a b "Medieval Irish political and economic divisions". 3 March 2013.
- ^ Kelly, Eamonn P. (2006). "Kingship and Sacrifice". Scéal na Móna. 13 (60): 57–59.
- ^ "Tuatha de Danann | Etymology of phrase Tuatha de Danann by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "*teuta- | Etymology of root *teuta- by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977). "Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla". teangleann.ie. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
Further reading
- Colonisation under early kings of Eoin Mac Neill, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, volume 16, pp. 101–124, 1935
- Corpus genealogiarum Hibernia, i, M.A. O'Brien, Dublin, 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, Eiru 22, 1971, pp. 128–166.
- Origins of the Eóganachta, 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, pp. 161–177, ed. Alfred P. Smyth, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2000
- The Airgialla Charter Poem:The Political Context, Edel Bhreathnach, in The Kingship and Landscape of Tara, ed. Edel Bhreathnach, pp. 95–100, 2005