AN

HISTORICAL SKETCH,

OF THE

CONSTITUTION, and GOVERNMENT of IRELAND, from the moft early authenticated Period, down to the Year, 1783.

HE most antient form of government in Ire

THE

land feems to have been that of four or five provincial kings*; the most powerful of whom was commonly called monarch: durante pentarchia, qui regum potentiffimus dominium totius infula fibi arripiebat vulgo rex Hiberniæ dicebatur: this is the opinion of Ware, who profeffes his ignorance of the commencement of what he here calls the Pentarchy, but his certainty that it ceafed in the fifth century.

His account of it, however, does not fatisfy the author of Ogygia: "If," fays he, "by the pen"tarchy, Ware means five kingdoms separate from " each other, like the heptarchy of the Anglo"Saxons, in which the most powerful ufurped a fovereignty

* Under each provincial king, there were fubordinate toparchs or chieftains who did homage and paid tribute to those kings, in like manner as the kings did to the monarch. And as the monarch did not interfere in the internal government of the provinces, fo neither did the provincial kings interpofe in the regulation of his vaffals territory.

"fovereignty over the reft, then our continued feries "of government admits of no fuch form: but if by "pentarchy he means, a government in the fame "commonwealth, confifting of fometimes five "and fometimes four kings under one monarch, "then it is plain this conftitution took place, "though Sir James fays he knows not when "it began. I fay it commenced with the original "form of kingly government, and with Slane the "first monarch of the island; for then the whole "region was divided into five provinces, and a go

vernor fet over each province with the title of king. But none of thefe pentarchs ever ufurped "the dominion of the whole island, as Ware would "have it, because he was the ftrongeft. For there "were pentarchs of each province, aliens from the "blood royal of the monarch; yet not one of these, though ever fo powerful, ever once aspired to the fovereignty."

Now, from this ftrange account of O'Flaherty, one must conclude, there could fcarce have been any wars and fightings about the fucceffion, contrary to the whole tenor of Irish history. Besides, this hardy afferter seems to have forgot that the famous Brian Boiromhe, king of Munfter, and the great Turlogh, king of Conaught, ufurped the monarchy, though

*

aliens

"Nor was it unjuft or inglorious in him to make an attempt upon the crown of Ireland; for it appears, in this hiftory, that the course of fucceffion was often interrupted, and hereditary right laid afide; the monarchy was in fome measure elective, and generally fell into the hands of the most valiant and beloved by the people; nor did he violate any of the established laws, or act contrary to the conftitution of that kingdom. The greatest part of the island he fubdued by his arms, for he forced under his obedience all who refused to confefs his authority; but the justice and natural clemency of his temper foon procured him the affections of the people of all ranks and conditions, fo that he was proclaimed by univerfal confent, and Maolfeachlin was obliged to refign the fceptre and retire peaceably to the ftate of a fubject." Keating pag. 465.

aliens from the true blood royal. And, according to this theory, that pentarchy, which commenced with Slane, could not have ended but with Roderic.

But if fuch a form of government ever exifted in Ireland, it cannot be learned from the contradictory reports of our beft writers on the fubject. Charles O'Conor, Efq; tells us, that Hugony ftrengthened and that Eochy weakened the monarchy: and in proof of the strength imparted by the former, we are referred to Ogygia, p. 260; but there I find no mention of any improvement made. The great. eft part of what is there faid of this Hugony the great, is an enumeration of his twenty-five fons ; among whom he fhared the kingdom: and though two only of these survived him, yet the divifion is faid to have continued in force for no lefs than 300 years. But it seems that, fetting afide the pentarchy, and parcelling the kingdom into twenty-five regular districts or dynasties, widened the base of monarchical power.' Thefe are brave words; but I leave it to better politicians to understand the spirit of the regulation.

Let me, however, afk, what were the four or five provincial kings doing all this while that their government was so easily fet afide? It must have been a very plastic conftitution truly, especially in a turbulent and fierce nation, which out of the five, could at once be moulded into five times the number of dynasties according to the number of royal chil

dren.

It would be in vain to enquire, why Eochy weakened the monarchy by reftoring the pentarchal or provincial government, when our fagacious differtator gives it up and tells us, that he cannot so "much as guess at the motives which induced the "monarch to make fuch a change, as no revolu❝tion could be more fatal to the monarchy." Yet it has been obferved, that the countries moft fertile. of tyrants have been moft expofed to the conquests Y

of

of a foreign tyrant: for, being bound together by no tye of common intereft, they fall, in fucceffion, fo many victims to their mutual animofities: dum finguli pugnant univerfi vincuntur. Or, if the invader fhould not be able to fubdue them one after the other, then he fets up a weaker in oppofition to his ftronger neighbour, and fo makes him a tool in conquering the reft: habet inftrumenta fervitutis et reges.

But abandoning thefe chimerical ideas of a pentarchy, let us confefs that the times before the introduction of chriftianity are either unknown or fabulous. Mr. O'Conor, the fond advocate for our Pagan antiquities, admits, that "the licence of "the bards has thrown much obfcurity over them; "and that we muft derive the æra of uncorrupted "hiftory from the legiflation of Tuathal, and parti cularly from that of Cormac O'Cuin, who im"proved upon his great ancestor's plan.'

66

Now, Tuathal reigned in the fecond, and Cormac in the third, century. The former is faid to have new-modelled the conftitution, by affembling the ftates at Teamor, or Tarah, a hill of very commanding profpect in the county of Meath, and there establishing the famous fes, or, as it is fince ridiculously called, the parliament of Tarah. To him and his fucceffors it is alfo faid that Meath was granted as menfal land, for the better fupport of regal dignity, which before depended too much on precarious tributes from the provincial kings.

But

*It does not appear fo certain that Meath was always a Smental territory, as cafes might be produced when there was a monarch and a king of Meath, different perfons at the fame time. However, the revenue of the Monarch confifted of certain tributes paid in kind by the provincial princes, fuch as corn, cattle, &c. &c. exclufive of what he received from his own particular province. The revenue, common to all the provincial kings and chieftains, confifted of various exactions, fuch as Cofhery, Bon

naught,

But the glory of completing the Tuathalian fyftem was referved for Cormac O'Cuin, a monarch celebrated for his political and philofophical attainments, but ftill more renowned for his being father-in-law tó the fame-recorded Fin Mac Comhal, generaliffimo of that invincible body of troops called the Fiona Erion, or the army of Ireland.

The laft meeting of the fes of Tarah, which we read of, was towards the middle of the fifth century; convened, it is faid, at the inftance of St. Patrick, to revife the annals of the nation, and to publish an authentic copy of them; which from the place was called the Pfalter of Tarah. But as parchment and the Latin letter was introduced by St. Patrick, and, as it is faid that before him the Irish wrote upon beechen tablets with an iron style, we cannot fuppofe that this operofe method was very favourable to hiftoric purpofes. So that if ever fuch a work was compofed, it could be nothing more than a bare catalogue of traditional kings, or a meagre record of genealogies..

However, from that day to this, we hear no more of the Pfalter than of the Parliament of Tarah. The firft hiftoric document, to which this country now makes pretence, is the Pfalter of Cafhel, written in the tenth century. All which I only observe in this place to fhew what degree of ftrefs is to be laid on those declamations, which have of late been multiplied in this country, in fupport of its Pagan civilization and regular form of antient govern

ment.

naught, Cuddy, Cefs, Sorehin, &c.-Cofhery was free quarter for the chieftain himself-Bonnaught was free quarter for his foldiers Cuddy was a fupper and lodging which a chief had a right to demand, not only from his fubjects, but from his equals—there were other impofts for dogs, horfes, &c. the explication of which belongs rather to antiquities. However, the Church or Tearmon lands, were exempted from all taxes whatever; at least after the English revolution.