Chiefs of Ireland
Sir: There were several errors in Mary Kenny's review (Books, 12 January). Jorge O'Neill is the O'Neill of Clanaboy (from Clanaodhbuidhe or the Clan of Flaxen Hugh) and not The O'Neill which is a title relating to a more senior branch of the same family. The Chieftain of the O'Conor Dons is known as 'O'Conor Don' and not 'The O'Conor Don'. The holders of both these titles and the others mentioned in Miss Kenny's review rely for their claims upon primogeniture in the male line from the last inaugurated or de facto Chieftain. Primogeniture did not form part of the Gaelic system. It was imposed upon Ire- land with English titles and English sys- tems of land holding. The effect of the imposition is 'generally held to be dis- astrous' (Richad Berleth, The Twilight Lords, Allen & Unwin). It replaced a system of election of Chiefs by the clan, a process described by Camden as 'barbar- ous'. It had, however, the advantage that chieftainries did not become extinct, although the loss of the tradition of clan assemblies has meant that the titles of The McMorrough Kavanagh, The MacDermot Roe and O'Sionnaigh (called The Fox) now lie dormant and could presumably be conferred again by gatherings of the clan. These observations do not apply to the three Irish hereditary knights, the Black Knight, the Green Knight and the White Knight, which were feudal dignities con- ferred upon the FitzGerald family.
0. J. Leonard
36, Sandtoft Road, Charlton, London SE7
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