The ''Annals of Connacht'' (), covering the years 1224 to 1544, are drawn from a manuscript compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries by at least three scribes, all believed to be members of the
Clan Ó Duibhgeannáin
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meani ...
.
The early sections, commencing with the death of King
Cathal Crobdearg Ua Conchobair
Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair (Anglicised as Cathal O'Connor/O'Conor and Cathal the Red-handed O'Conor) (1153–1224), was a king of Connacht. He was the youngest son of the High King of Ireland Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair and brother to the l ...
of Connacht, are exceptionally detailed and give a good account of Connacht affairs during the 13th and early to mid-14th century, particularly for the families of
O'Conor
The O'Conor family (Middle Irish: ''Ó Conchubhair''; Modern ga, Ó Conchúir) are an Irish noble house and were one of the most influential and distinguished royal houses in Ireland. The O'Conor family held the throne of the Kingdom of C ...
and
Burke
Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...
. The accounts however become more desultory, especially for the 16th century. Nevertheless, it is an invaluable document relating much that would have otherwise remained utterly obscure or unknown in the history of Connacht, and Ireland in general.
A comparison between it and the ''
Annals of Clonmacnoise
The ''Annals of Clonmacnoise'' ( ga, Annála Chluain Mhic Nóis) are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from prehistory to 1408. The work is sometimes known as ''Mag ...
'' reveal a common source, or perhaps one is a partial copy of the other.
See also
*
Irish annals
A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...
References
* ''Oxford Concise Companion to Irish Literature'', Robert Welsh, 1996.
External links
The Annals of Connacht
at CELT
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
Connacht
Irish chronicles
16th-century history books
Texts of medieval Ireland
Irish manuscripts
{{Ireland-hist-stub