MacNkill — Early Irish Population- Groups. 63 



25. Coica toii-gi laisna Deisi. A cuic fichet dib tarthatar raind, a cuic 

 fichet aile nach tarthatar ocus is dona toii-gib [sin] is ainm Deisi. Ar itt e 

 fil fo deisis ocus dligud ocus bodagas dona flathaib .i. do Dail Fiachach Suigde 

 ocus ui hainni doib-side Deisi. " The Desi had fifty migrations' (i.e. consisted 

 of fifty migratory peoples). Twenty-five got a share (of the conquered land), 

 another twenty-five got no share, and to these migratory peoples the name 

 Desi belongs. For it is they who are under {deisis) vassal-tribute' and law 

 and hodagas to the rulers, i.e. to Dal Fiachach Suigdi, and Desi is not a name 

 for the latter." 



26. The story professes to give a list of the migratory peoples who assisted 

 D41 Fiachach in the campaign. The hst names forty-seven peoples, not fifty. 

 The first three are mentioned twice in immediate succession, and so may have 

 been counted as six by the compiler of the list, who doubtless aimed at 

 collecting fifty names and ceased to extend his list when it seemed to reach 

 that number. These migratory bodies are described by a term (loinges, 1. 103), 

 indicating that they were already landless. Tlie account of the aithechtuatha, 

 BB 255a, has two lists, of which the first, ending on the hne 18, contaios 

 46 names. Most of these correspond to the names in the Desi story, and 

 the list was doubtless extracted from a version of the story. These premisses 

 fully sustain the interpretation of deis given by D'Arbois de Jubainville. 



27. *Airgeill is given by Hogan on the authority of the index to Stokes's 

 Tripartite Life. The gp. is Airgiall, but the np. in Mid. Ir. texts, as noted by 

 me, is only Airgialla. The name seems to be of comparatively late formation, 

 and cannot be classed with the old order of plural people-names. 



27a. Mac Fir Bhisigh (Geneal., p. 54) quotes a poem on the aithechtuatha, 

 which include "Absdanaigh for iarthar Erenn, for Luachair Chairbrighe." 

 Further it is stated that the Absdanaigh iarthair Erenn are of the Fu' Bolg. 

 See also Onom. Goed. Since Cairbrige is said to be an older name for 

 Ciarraige Luachra (perhaps for the territoiy, from a people supposed to 

 have anciently possessed it), the locality indicated is Luachair in western 

 Munster. 



28. As in Airgialla, so in several other plural names with 0-stem, Middle 

 Irish usage substitutes a strengthened nominative : Araid for *Ajrai, gp. Arad, 

 ap. Arada ; Erna, Ernai for Erain ; Fotharta, G-ailenga, ilugdorna, Mugdornai. 

 The added syllable is occasionally maintained in gp., e.g. septem genera 

 Gaihnga. Op. what has been said above on Crmthni, *Cruithin. 



' torche,toirge. For the meaning cp. " Isead cheados fochand toirehi Chianaidi . . . coMumain," 

 Lecan 253 b ; " Cuis toirche Chorco hOichi o Loch nEchach," ib. 271 a. 

 - For deisis Rawl. B 502 has chis = rent. 



