T

TÁNAISTE
The word tánaiste, anglicized as “tanist,” refers to the
candidate who, by the Gaelic method of succession,
was recognized as next in line to rule a lordship or
kingdom, and was so designated during the ruler’s
lifetime: literally, “second to the chief.” By choosing
a tanist, Gaelic lineages were able to avoid the turmoil
that would accompany succession by a minor. In its
original Old Irish form it meant “the expected one,”
which, within a few centuries, merged in meaning with
the Latin secundus. Recent scholarship has disputed
the suggestion that it was equivalent to the early medi-
eval terms ádbar rígandrígdamna(the former meaning
worthy and eligible, the latter referring to the head of
the main dynastic segment not in actual power). How-
ever, the fact that during later medieval times annalists
sometimes separately described certain known tánaist-
ighasádhbhar ríoghorríoghdhamhnashows that the
terms became interchangeable to some extent.
The nomination of a tanist usually took place at the
assembly gathered for the election of a new chieftain.
According to a late sixteenth-century description by
the English writer Spenser, the tanist was entitled to
place one foot on the chief’s inauguation stone, and
the chief had to swear, among other things, to deliver
the succession peaceably to him. Apart from high status,
being tánaiste brought other benefits, principally the
right to a share of the profits and revenues of the
lordship, and also the right to rule part of the dynastic
territory more or less independently, as a sublordship.
The English crown abolished the office of tanist and
the practice of tanistry early in the seventeenth century.
DAVID EDWARDS

References and Further Reading

Binchy, D. A. “Some Celtic Legal Terms.” Celtica3 (1956):
221–231.

Charles-Edwards, Thomas. “The Heir-Apparent in Irish and

Welsh Law.” Celtica9 (1971): 180–190.

Mac Niocaill, Gearoid. ‘‘The ‘Heir Designate’ in Early Medi-

eval Ireland.” The Irish Jurist3 (1968): 326–329.

Nicholls, Kenneth. Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle

Ages, 2nd ed. Dublin: 2003.

Ó Corráin, Donnchadh. “Irish Regnal Succession: A Reap-

praisal.” Studia Hibernica11 (1971): 7–39.

Simms, Katharine. From Kings to Warlords: The Changing

Political Structure of Gaelic Ireland in the Later Middle

Ages.Woodbridge: Boydell, 1987, 2000.

See also Inauguration Sites; Kings and Kingship

TAPESTRIES

SeeWall Paintings

TARA

Tara is a prehistoric sacred site in County Meath that

held a powerful place in the early medieval Irish imag-

ination and acquired national significance as a symbolic

center of sovereignty and over-kingship. Tara’s ritual

importance to ancient peoples rested in its situation,

which provided commanding views over an agricultur-

ally rich landscape. It is a ridge 2 km long, rising to a

height of 155 m, unimposing from the east but affording

extensive views over a great part of the central plain

from the west, while further afield Mount Leinster, the

Slieve Blooms, and the Mourne Mountains are to be

seen. Taken together these features place Tara in visual

contact with one-fifth of the surface area of Ireland. To

early farmers it was an ideal venue at which to intercede

with the gods for the fertility of the lands below.

Little is known of the earliest monument on the

hill—a large, possibly palisaded enclosure dating to

the Neolithic—but comparable sites in Britain were

used for seasonal gatherings. This was replaced around