MaoNkim. — Earlfi Irish Population-Groups. 105 



correspond to the Irish tricha ait and the army oi' each province to the Irish 

 catli of 3,000 men. 



151. The century remained the theoretical basis of the Irish military 

 organization until the final overtlrrow of the Celtic system at the battle of 

 Kinsale, Christmas Eve, 1601. In the proclamation issued in that year by 

 O'Neill, it is ordered that " the constable of the hundred shall have eighty-four 

 men on the strength, allowing an abatement of sixteen men, and this abate- 

 ment shall be expended as follows : the constable of the hundred shall 

 have tire wage of ten men thereof, and the marshal of the territory shall 

 have the pay of five men, and the lord's galloglach shall liave the pay of one 

 man."' 



152. The facts here brought together appear to establish that the Irish 

 tricha cet, its thirtieth part the baile, and the Irish military organization 

 embodied a tradition common to many peoples of ancient Europe, and going 

 back to a time when these peoples formed one community or a group of 

 neighbouring communities. I trust that this superficial examination may lead 

 to a more thorough investigation at competent hands into the earliest 

 traditional form of the civil and military organization among the various 

 branches of tlie Indo-European race. 



153. Keating says that, " according to the ancient record {do reir an 

 tscanchusa), the baile contained 12 scisreacha, and the scisreach 120 acres." 

 The word for " acre," acra, is not of Irish origin, and must have replaced some 

 older term. Later on, Keating says that " the acre of Irish measure is twice 

 or thrice greater than the acre of the present foreign measure." "The acre 

 of the present foreign measure " probably means the Irish " Plantation 

 acre," which is greater than tlie statute acre in the ratio 196 : 121. Ireland is 

 said to contain 20,819,928 statute acres, equivalent to 12,853,114 Plantation 

 acres. According to Keating's statement, the 185 tiicha-cets should be equal 

 to 7,992,000 acres of (the older) Irish measure. But since his total of 185 

 is too much by at least 5, probably by more than 5, his total of acres must 

 also be reduced. Moreover, by the statement " twice or thrice greater " we 

 are to suppose, not that Keating was unable or neglected to give a more exact 

 ratio, but that in fact the Irish measure varied according to the nature of 

 the land. The Irish tradition of laud-measurement, still by no means obsolete, 

 was based on the quantity of live stock that a given area could support. 



1 II J)' fjiiachaibh ar an chonsabal ceid beith ceatkrar is ceithre Jiehid ar a geosaihh agtis d' fhol- 

 mhughadh se fir deitg, agns is S ceal a dteid an fqhnhughadh sin, add d^iclnieabbair ag consabal nn vhcid 

 de, agiis ciiid cuigir ag marasgal an tire fein agiis cuid fir ag galloglach lighearna." The whole 

 of this interesting document will be found in " An Leiglitheoir Gaedlieiilach" (Gaelic League publi- 

 cntions), p. 85, printed from the facsimile in Gilbert's National MSS. of Ireland. The Roman 

 centuria also in actual service suffered a customary abftlement, and contained only sixty men. 



