Above : One Of Irish Clan Family Logo

The land was regarded as being the property of the clan or tribe which occupied it, and not as the private property of any individual. There were exceptions to this general principle however, for land could be held by individuals in different ways. The chief had a portion as mensal land for his support, for life or for as long as he remained chief. Another portion was held as private property by persons who had come to own the land in various ways. Most of these were flaiths or nobles, of the several ranks ; and some were professional men, such as physicians, judges, poets, historians, artificers, etc., who had got their lands as stipends for their professional services to the chief, and in whose families it often remained for generations. Again, persons held as tenants portions of the lands belonging to those who owned it as private property, or portions of the mensal land of the chief; much like tenants of the present day : these paid what was equivalent to rent—always in kind.

But the rest of the arable land, forming by far the largest part of the territory, belonged to the people in general; no part being private property. This was occupied by the free members of the clan, who were owners for the time being each of his own farm. Every free man had a right to his share. The non-arable or waste land—mountain, forest, bog, etc.—was ” commons ” land. This was not appropriated by individuals ; but every free man had a right to use it for grazing, for procuring fuel, or for the chase.

Rent and Subsidies to Chiefs.—The revenue of the chief was derived from three main sources. First, his mensal land, some of which he cultivated by his own labourers, some he let to tenants : second, subsidies of various kinds from the clansmen : third, payment for stock. But in addition to this he might have land as his own personal property. Every clansman had to pay to his chief a certain subsidy according to his means. The usual subsidy for commons pasturage was in the pro­portion of one animal yearly for every seven, which was considerably less than a reasonable rent of the present day. Probably the subsidy for tillage-land was in much the same proportion. A man who takes land must have stock: cows and sheep for the pasture-land, horses or oxen to carry on the work of tillage. A small proportion of the tenants had stock of their own, but the great majority had not. Where the tenant needed stock it was the custom for the chief to give him as much as he wanted at certain rates of payment. This giving or lending of stock was very general, and from it the chiefs derived a large part of their income.

The tenant was called a ceile (caila). Some tenants were, saer-ceiles, free tenants : some daer-ceiles, base or bond tenants. The free tenants were comparatively independent —the bond tenants “had to pay heavy subsidies, which always kept them down. The cedes or tenants hitherto spoken of were all free men, Each had a house of his own, the right to a shaie of the tribe land and to the use of the commons. In this sense the daer-ceiles were free men as well as the saer-ceiles.

The daer-tenants were bound to give the chief refection on visitation, called coinmed (coiney); that is, the chief was entitled to go with his followers to the house of the tenant, who had to supply the company with food and drink. The number of followers, the time, and the food were carefully regulated by the law, according to the amount of stock the tenant borrowed from the chief. This custom was adopted by the later Normans, but without its legal checks, and became known to them as ” coyne and livery.”

Land descended in three ways. First, as private property, in the usual way from father to children. Second, by tanistry, that is, the mensal land held by the chief went, not to his heir, but the person who succeeded him in the chiefship. Third, by gavelkind. When a c≤ or free tenant who held a part of the tribe land died, his farm did not necessarily go to his children ; but might be gavelled, or re-divided, amongst his immediate fine.

It should be remarked that all payments were made in kind; cows, horses, sheep, or silver. A cow was the unit of value, and as such was called a s£d (shade). A cumal was equal to three s£ds.