Ireland, in the fifth century, was divided into five provinces, each governed by a king, under whom were several lesser chieftains. These provincial kings were themselves subject to the supreme monarch, who resided in the royal palace of Tara; but they appear not to have shown much regard to his authority beyond the payment of a regulated tribute. It might be supposed, from the way in which some writers have spoken of the Irish, that even some centuries later than this period they were mere savages; but there is no authority for such a representation as this, and if we admitted it to be well founded, it would be impossible to account for the fact, that Ptolemy,