The _tanaiste_ had a separate establishment and distinct privileges.

The primitive intention was, that the "best man" should reign; but practically it ended in might being taken for right, and often for less important qualifications.
The possession and inheritance of landed property was regulated by the law called gavelkind (gavail-kinne), an ancient Celtic institution, but common to Britons, Anglo-Saxons, and others.

By this law, inherited or other property was divided equally between the sons, to the exclusion of the daughters (unless, indeed, in default of heirs male, when females were permitted a life interest).

The _tanaiste_, however, was allotted the dwelling-house and other privileges.
The tenure of land was a tribe or family right; and, indeed, the whole system of government and legislation was far more patriarchal than Teutonic--another indication of an eastern origin.

All the members of a tribe or family had an equal right to their proportionate share of the land occupied by the whole.