208 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



and sketch of the great hall of Tara' down to the coarse view in Derrick's 

 " Wood Kerne " in the reign of Elizabeth. Presuming that the doorway faced 

 the only entrance of the ring-mound, there was a sort of dais to the west of 

 the room. On it Brian sat, with the seats of the Kings of Ulster and Connacht 

 to his left and right. At the door-post on the north sat the King of Leinster ; 

 beside him, near the door, Donchad, Brian's eventual successor, the " Duncan " 

 of the Sagas. To the left of the last was the throne of Maelseachlain (the High 

 King,' deposed by Brian), the " legitimatist monarch." At a second table sat 

 Murchad, the eldest son, with his back to his father, between the Kings of 

 Tirconnell and Meath. Tadgh, his brother, the " Takt " of the Sagas, sat at the 

 south end between the Princes of Ui Maine and Ui Fiachrach Aidhne. The 

 lower tables filled the rest of the hall, the officers and guests having their 

 appointed places and portions. Behind the Princes stood the "esquires," 

 furbishing their masters' shields and arms, boasting, and even striking each 

 other at times.' Etiquette was very strict in other respects, for men were 

 passionate and alert for slights, real or imaginary ; and, though no such galaxy 

 of chiefs may ever have surrounded Brian at one time, the seats were doubtless 

 always ready to forestall some of the risks of misunderstandings. 



There were numerous gold-mounted cups (Brian's was taken to the north 

 by Torlough O'Brien as late as 1152; the great king's sword was recovered 

 from Dermot, King of Leinster, in 1068).^ The food consisted of beef, mutton, 

 fresh pork, game and fish, with oat-cakes, cheese, curds, cresses, onions and (in 

 their season) fruit, nuts, and honey.^ For drink there was plenty of wine, ale, 

 mead, and fermented bilberry juice. The wine was procured from the Danes 

 of Limerick, who paid it in tribute. 



Bealboruma Fort is so completely concealed by a fine mass of beech and 

 fir trees that no photograph or even sketch gives any idea of its appearance. 

 There are only faint traces of an outer ring ; the fosse is usually 9 feet wide 

 at the bottom and 4 feet to 6 feet deep, and is much filled up, probably 

 with the outer ring. It is 20 feet to 25 feet wide at the field-level, and 

 18 feet wide at the north entrance. 



The ring-mound, revetted by drystone facing for about 6 feet up, is steep 

 and well preserved for most of the circuit, being 75 feet thick at the base to 



' Petrie, " Tara Hill " (Trans. R. I. Acad., xviii.), pp. 196-211, Nalional MSS. of Ireland, vol. iii., 

 plate Liii. The early illustrations are in the twelfth-centui'y " Book of Glendalough," the other in 

 the "Yellow Book of Lecan." 



'At his death the Chronicon Scotorum (1020, i.e., 1022) records that he owned 300 forts (port). 



^ The original account is translated by Eugene O'Curry in " Manners and Customs of the Irish," 

 vol ii., lecture vi., p. 120. 



* Ann. Inisfallen. 



^Compare the description of the hall with tlie royal food supplies in the Book of Eights and 

 gther early books. 



