TANISTRIES
Noun
tanistries
plural of tanistry
Source: Wiktionary
TANISTRY
Tan"ist*ry, n. Etym: [See Tanist.]
Definition: In Ireland, a tenure of family lands by which the proprietor
had only a life estate, to which he was admitted by election.
Note: The primitive intention seems to have been that the inheritance
should descend to the oldest or most worthy of the blood and name of
the deceased. This was, in reality, giving it to the strongest; and
the practice often occasioned bloody feuds in families, for which
reason it was abolished under James I.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition