[52] See Babut, Le concile de Turin (1904), a valuable work.
[53] This has been well brought out by M. Babut.
[54] Novella, xvi.
[55] Commonitorium, ii. 33, 34.
[56] The chief source for the social and economic conditions of ancient Ireland is the collection of the Ancient Laws of Ireland (6 vols., 1865-1901). A clear account of the general framework of society, with interesting details and illustrations, will be found in Dr. Joyce’s Social History of Ireland, vol. i.
[57] Tuath = people, tribe, tribal district.
[58] Flaith = noble.
[59] The bó-aires.
[60] The tributes and presents which are due from the under-kings to the over-kings, the donations which the over-kings owe to the under-kings, the privileges which the various kings possess, are the subject of the Book of Rights (edited and translated by O’Donovan, 1847), which still awaits a critical investigation. It is easy to see that it was compiled in Munster in the tenth century, but it was based on older material of high antiquity, and clearly reproduces the general character of the mutual relations which theoretically bound together the Irish kingdoms.
[61] The king of Aileach was so called because his palace was at Aileach, near Londonderry. His territory was north Ulster to the Bann. Ulaid was east Ulster; Oriel, south Ulster.