orsemen, of which 6000 were Connachtmen, 4000
with the lord of Breifne, 2000 with the king of Tara, 4000 with the lord
of Oirgialla and the king of Ulster, 2000 with the chief of Ui-Failge,
and 1000 with the Foreigners of At-Cliat. They passed many good
resolutions at this meeting, respecting veneration for churches and
clerics, and control of tribes and territories, so that women used to
traverse Ireland alone; and a restoration of his prey was made by the
chief of the Ui-Failge at the hands of the kings aforesaid. They
afterwards separated in peace and amity, without battle or controversy,
or without anyone complaining of another at that meeting, in consequence
of the prosperousness of the king, who had assembled these chiefs with
their forces at one place."

Here is a foreshadowing of the representative assemblies of our modern
times, and the same wise spirit is shown in another event of the same
year, thus recorded: "A hosting and a mustering of the men of Ireland,
with their chieftains, by Ruaidri Ua Concobar; thither came the lord of
Deas-muma, the lord of Tuaid-muma, the king of Meath, the lord of
Oirgialla and all the chieftains of Leinster. They arrived in
Tir-Eogain, and allotted the part of it north of Slieve Gullion,--now
the eastern part of Derry,--to Nial Ua Lochlain for two hostages, and
allotted the part of the country of the clan to the south of the
mountain to Aed Ua Neill for two other hostages. Then the men of Ireland
returned back southwards over Slieve Fuaid, through Tir-Eogain and
Tir-Connaill, and over Assaroe--the Cataract of the Erne--and Ruaidri Ua
Concobar escorted the lord of Deas-muma with his forces southwards
through Tuaid-muma as far as Cnoc-Aine--in Limerick--and the lord of
Deas-muma departed with gifts of many jewels and riches."

While the Norse foreigners were a power at Dublin, Waterford, Cork and
Limerick, there were not wanting occasions when one of the native tribes
called on them for aid against another tribe, sharing with them the joys
of victory or the sorrow of defeat, and, where fortune favored, dividing
with them the "countless cows" taken in a raid. In like manner the
Cinel Eogain, as we saw, hired the fleet of the Norsemen of the Western
Isles of Scotland to help them to resist a raid of the Connachtmen. The
example thus set was followed repeatedly in the coming years, and we
find mention of Flemings, Welshmen and Saxons brought over to take one
side or other in the tri