e kingdom of Meath for
his special use. The provincial king, Rig Cuicidh, also had an official
residence and kingdom of his own, together with allegiance and tribute
from each Rig-mor-Tuatha in his province, who in his turn received
tribute and allegiance from each Rig-Tuatha under subjection to him. The
Rig-Tuatha received tribute and allegiance from the flaiths or nobles
in his tuath. The tuath was the political unit, and the ruler of it was
the lowest to whom the term "king" was applied. For each payment of
tribute a king always made some return. Every king was obliged, on his
inauguration, to swear that he would govern justly and according to law,
to which he remained always subject. The Ard-Rig was selected by the
sub-kings and other leading men who legally constituted the Feis of
Tara, the sub-kings by those under them in their respective spheres. No
person not of full age, imperfectly educated, stupid, blind, deaf,
deformed or otherwise defective in mind or body, or for any reason
whatsoever unfit to discharge the duties or unworthy to represent the
manhood of the nation, could be king, even though he were the eldest son
of the preceding king. "It is a forbidden thing for one with a blemish
to be king at Tara."

_Tuath, Cinel_ and _Clann_ were synonyms meaning a small tribe or nation
descended from a common ancestor. A king and clan being able, subject to
certain limitations, to adopt new members or families, or amalgamate
with another clan, the theory of common origin was not rigidly adhered
to. Kinship with the clan was an essential qualification for holding any
office or property. The rules of kinship largely determined status with
its correlative rights and obligations, supplied the place of contract
and of laws affecting the ownership, disposition and devolution of
property, constituting the clan an organic, self-contained entity, a
political, social and mutual insurance co-partnership. The solidarity of
the clan was its most important and all-pervading characteristic. The
entire territory occupied by a clan was the common and absolute property
of that clan. Subject to this permanent and fundamental ownership, part
of the land was set apart for the maintenance of the king as such.
Warriors, statesmen, Brehons, Ollamhs, physicians, poets, and even
eminent workers in the more important arts, were, in different degrees,
rewarded with free lands for their respective public services. On the
death of any person so