Most of our knowlege of the High King system comes from texts written in the 8th Century. Ireland had over 150 tuatha each with it's own Ri (king). These kings are arranged in a pyramidal hierarchy. A lower king had to pay some sort of tribute or tax to the King above him. This was not however a well organised system that ran without flaw. Many Kings make claims of being the High King of Ireland. One of the first to justifiably make the claim was Mael Secnail (d. 862), of the Uí Néill family. Tara had specific prominence and in 427 Laeghaire was crowned first king of Tara However despite the system's flaws Ireland's system of High Kings remained quite stable. One of the most famous of the High Kings is Brian Boru (d. 1014).