formed the basis of society up to the 17th century. "Clan" or "Sept" Scholars sometimes disagree about whether it is better to use the terms "family", "clan", or "sept" when referring to traditional Irish family groups. Historically, the term 'sept' was not used in Ireland until the nineteenth century, long after the disfranchisement of much of the native Gaelic aristocracy. It is often argued that the English word 'sept' is most accurate referring to a sub-group within a large family, especially when that group has taken up residence outside of their family's original territory (O'Neill, MacSweeney, and O'Connor are examples); or if the branch of a name is substantially large enough or has a different surname (for example, Costigan and O’Dunphy are septs of the larger Fitzpatrick clan). Related Irish families or clans often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes, such as the Dál gCais, Uí Néill, Uí Fiachrach, and Uí Maine. Recently, the late Edward MacLysaght suggested the English word 'sept' be used in place of the word 'clan' with regards to the historical social structure in Ireland, so as to differentiate it from the centralised Scottish clan system.[1] This would imply that Ireland possessed no formalised clan system, which is not wholly accurate. Brehon Law, the ancient legal system of Ireland clearly defined the clan system in pre-Norman Ireland, which collapsed after the Tudor Conquest. The Irish, when speaking of themselves, employed their term 'clan' which means "children of the family" in Irish, though in Northern Irish the word has come to mean 'family'; this latter is teaghlach in Standard Irish, the other Irish dialects and in Scotland. The end of the clan system In the 16th century English common law was introduced throughout Ireland, along with a centralised royal administration in which the county and the sheriff replaced the 'country' and the Clan Chief. When the Kingdom of Ireland was created in 1541, the Dublin administration wanted to involve the Gaelic chiefs into the new entity, creating new titles for them such as the Baron Upper Ossory, Earl of Tyrone, or Baron Inchiquin. In the process they were granted new coats of arms from 1552. The associated policy of surrender and regrant involved a change to succession to a title by the European system of primogeniture, and not by the Irish tanistry, where a group of male cousins of a chief were eligible to succeed