Editing Tanistry (section)

==Origins==
Historically the tanist was chosen from among the heads of the ''roydammna'' or "righdamhna" (literally, those of ''kingly material'') or, alternatively, among all males of the ''[[Sept (social)|sept]]'', and elected by them in full assembly. The eligibility was based on descent from a king to a few degrees of proximity. Usually descent from the male lines of a king was the norm, however in Scotland, descent through the female lines of a king was also accepted, possibly because of an intermingling with the [[Picts#Kings_and_kingdoms|Pictish succession]] rules. An example of this is King [[Eochaid ab Rhun|Eochaid]] who claimed the Scottish throne as the son of the daughter of [[Kenneth MacAlpin|Kenneth I]]. 

The composition and the governance of the clan were built upon descent from a similar ancestor. The office was noted from the beginning of recorded history in Ireland, and probably pre-dates it.{{efn|According to the evidence in the annals, tanistry originated only about century after the Anglo-Norman invasion.<ref name="MacNeill-1934" />}} A story about [[Cormac mac Airt]] refers to his eldest son as his tanist. Following his murder by a member of the [[Deisi]], another ''roydammna'', [[Eochaid Gonnat]], succeeded as king.

In Ireland, the tanistry continued among the dominant dynasties, as well as lesser lords and chieftains, until the mid-16th/early 17th&nbsp;century when it was replaced by English common law.<ref name="Davis-1608" /><ref name="McGinty-2017" /> When in 1943 Ireland appointed its first new [[Chief Herald of Ireland|Chief Herald]], it did not reintroduce tanistry. The state granted courtesy recognition to Irish chiefs based on [[primogeniture]] from the last known chief.<ref name="Murphy-2010" />

The royal succession in Celtic Scotland was limited to the elective succession of the male descendants of ''Siol Alpein'' ([[House of Alpin]]) until the accession of [[Malcolm II of Scotland|King Malcolm&nbsp;II]] in 1005. This monarch was the first to introduce the concept of hereditary monarchy in Scotland. He did so to try to eliminate the strife caused by the [[elective monarchy|elective law]], which encouraged rival claimants to fight for the throne. The earlier [[Picts|Pictish kingdoms]] had allowed female-line succession to the throne and in middle age Scotland, Pictish and Gaelic succession rules were intermingled. Since Malcolm had only daughters, the throne passed to his grandson through his eldest daughter and later, their descendants. The Irish monarchies, for their part, never at any stage allowed for female line succession.<ref name="Warntjes-2004" />