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 Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly

chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , '' -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. I ...

feast days The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

. Over time, the

obituaries An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acc ...

of priests, abbots and bishops were added, along with that of notable political events. Non-Irish models include

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

's ''Chronica maiora'',

Marcellinus Comes Marcellinus Comes (Greek: Μαρκελλίνος ό Κόμης, died c. 534) was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople. His only surviving work, the ''Chronicl ...

's ''Chronicle of Marcellinus'' and the '' Liber pontificalis''.Ó Corráin, "annals, Irish", p. 69.

Chronology

The origins of annalistic compilation can be traced to the occasional recording of notes and events in blank spaces between the '' latercus'', i.e. the 84-year

Easter table As a moveable feast, the date of Easter is determined in each year through a calculation known as (). Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon on or after 21 March (a fixed approx ...

adopted from Gaulish writer

Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Sev ...

(d. ''c''. 423).

Extant

Manuscript copies of extant annals include the following: * ''

Annals of Boyle Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' * ''

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 ...

'' * ''

Annals of Connacht 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. The early sections, commenci ...

'' * '' Annals of Duiske'' * ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

'' * ''

Annals of Inisfallen Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' * ''

Annals of Lough Cé Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' * ''Annales de Monte Fernandi'', a.k.a. ''Annals of

Multyfarnham Multyfarnham or Multyfarnam () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. History First founded in 1268, the Franciscan monastery at Multyfarnham is still home to a community of friars. During the English conquest of Ireland in the 17th cent ...

'' * ''Annals of

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland, which in 2016 had a population of 5,446. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Saint Crónán of Roscrea, parts of which rem ...

'' * ''

Chronicon Scotorum ''Chronicon Scotorum'', also known as ''Chronicum Scotorum'', is a medieval Irish chronicle. Overview According to Nollaig Ó Muraíle, it is "a collection of annals belonging to the ' Clonmacnoise group', covering the period from prehistoric tim ...

'' * ''

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-centur ...

'' * '' Annals of Ulster'' * ''The Annals of Ireland by Friar

John Clyn John Clyn, O.F.M. (c. 1286 – c. 1349), of the Friars Minor, Kilkenny, was a 14th-century Irish friar and chronicler who lived at the time of the Black Death. Background Clyn was probably born in Leinster some years prior to 1300, possibly a ...

'' * ''Annals of

Dudley Loftus Dr Dudley Loftus (1619 – June 1695) was an Anglo-Irish jurist and noted orientalist. Loftus was born the second son of Sir Adam Loftus and his wife Jane Vaughan, daughter of Walter Vaughan, into a family of 17 siblings on his great-grandfather ...

'' * ''The Short Annals of Donegal'' * ''

Leabhar Oiris Leabhar Oiris () is a Gaelic-Irish manuscript and chronicle. ''An Leabhar Oiris'' was created by one, or more, author or authors, who drew on material in the Irish annals relating to the years 976 to 1028. It is believed to have been written in ...

'' * ''

Annals of Nenagh The ''Annals of Nenagh'' are a set of Irish annals composed in Latin at the Franciscan convent of Nenagh, County Tipperary, founded c. 1254. Its surviving portions covers the years 1336 to 1528, the majority of the brief entries concerning the ...

'' * ''

Mac Carthaigh's Book ''Mac Carthaigh’s Book'' is a collection of annals of the period AD 1114–1437 inclusive. It was compiled from earlier material by Fínghin Mac Carthaigh Mór (c. 1560–1640) an Irish nobleman who was imprisoned for years in London. He was a ...

'' * ''

Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' ("The War of the Irish with the Foreigners") is a medieval Irish text that tells of the depredations of the Vikings and Uí Ímair dynasty in Ireland and the Irish king Brian Boru's great war against them, beginnin ...

'' (large parts) * ''

Fragmentary Annals of Ireland The ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' or ''Three Fragments'' are a Middle Irish combination of chronicles from various Irish annals and narrative history. They were compiled in the kingdom of Osraige, probably in the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gil ...

'' (parts) * ''

Dublin Annals of Inisfallen The ''Dublin Annals of Inisfallen'' refer to a mid 18th century (c. 1765) compilation of medieval Irish annals reworked and augmented with material from later traditions in the form of interpolations, made by John O'Brien, Bishop of Cloyne and ...

'' * ''The Annals of Ireland by Thady Dowling'' * '' Short Annals of Tirconaill'' * '' Short Annals of Leinster'' * ''Annales Hibernie ab anno Christi 1162 usque ad annum 1370'', a.k.a. ''Pembridge's Annals'' * ''Annales Hiberniae'', a.k.a. ''Grace's Annals'' * '' Memoranda Gadelica'' * '' Annla Gearra as Proibhinse Ard Macha'', a.k.a. ''Short Annals of Armagh'' * '' A Fragment of Irish Annals'' * ''Annals from the Book of Leinster''

Other sources

Others which contain annalistic material include: * ''Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta'' * ''Lebor Glinne Dá Loch'' * ''Lebor Leacáin'' * ''Leabhar Uí Dhubhagáin'' * ''

Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil ''Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil'' ("The Victorious Career of Cellachán of Cashel")Donnchadh Ó Corráin writes that this title "was first given it by Eugene O'Curry in his transcript of the text. It has no title in the earliest copy, that in th ...

'' * ''

Leabhar na nGenealach ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' ("Book of Genealogies") is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add ...

'' Many of these annals have been translated and published by the School of Celtic Studies,

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

, or the

Irish Texts Society The Irish Texts Society ( ga, Cumann na Scríbheann nGaedhilge) was founded in 1898 to promote the study of Irish literature. It is a text publication society, issuing annotated editions of texts in Irish with English translations and related co ...

. In addition, the text of many are available on the internet at the

Corpus of Electronic Texts The Corpus of Electronic Texts, or CELT, is an online database of contemporary and historical documents relating to Irish history and culture. As of 8 December 2016, CELT contained 1,601 documents, with a total of over 18 million words. In 199 ...

(CELT Project) hosted by the History Department of University College Cork, National University of Ireland. (See External Links below) The famous epic political tract ''

'' also contains a great deal of annalistic material from the Viking Age in Ireland which is to be found in no other surviving sources. Much of this was taken from the same sources ancestral to the

, which have come down to us both abbreviated and lacunose.

Lost annals

Annals known to have existed but which have been lost include: * ''Annals of the Island of Saints'' * ''Annals of Maolconary'' * '' Book of Cuanu'' * ''Book of Dub-da-leithe'' * ''Book of the Monks'' * ''Leabhar Airis Cloinne Fir Bhisigh'' * ''Leabhar Airisen'' * ''Leabhar Airisen Ghiolla Iosa Mhec Fhirbhisigh'' * ''Synchronisms of Flann Mainstreach'' * ''

The Chronicle of Ireland The Chronicle of Ireland ( ga, Croinic na hÉireann) is the modern name for a hypothesized collection of ecclesiastical annals recording events in Ireland from 432 to 911 AD. Several surviving annals share events in the same sequence and wordin ...

Modern annals

* ''Chronology of Irish History to 1976'' * ''The Chronicle of Ireland 1992–1996''

Notes

References

* * ''The Medieval Irish Annals'', Gearoid Mac Niocaill, ''Medieval Irish History Series, 3'',

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, 1975 * ''The earliest Irish annals'',

Alfred P. Smyth Professor Alfred P. Smyth (1 July 1942 – 16 October 2016) was an Irish-born historian specialising in the mediaeval history of the British Isles. In 2002 he was named Dean of Arts and Humanities at Canterbury Christ Church University College, ha ...

, ''Proceedings of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

'', # 70, 1972, pp. 1–48. * ''Astronomical observations in the Irish annals and their motivation'', Aidan Breen and Daniel McCarthy, ''Peritia'' 1997, pp. 1–43 * "The Chronicle of Ireland: Then and Now", Roy Flechner, ''Early medieval Europe'' 21, 2013, pp. 422–54 * ''The chronology of the Irish annals'', Daniel P. McCarthy, ''PRIA 98'', 1998, pp. 203–55 * ''The status of the pre-Patrician Irish annals'', Daniel P. McCarthy, ''Peritia 12'', 1998, pp. 98–152. * ''The Historicity of the Early Irish Annals:Heritage and Content'', Patrick C. Griffin, 2001. * ''The chronological apparatus of the Annals of Ulster A.D. 82-1019'', Daniel McCarthy, in ''Peritia 16'', 2002, pp. 256–83 * ''The original compilation of the Annals of Ulster'', Daniel McCarthy, in ''Studia Celtica'' 2004, pp. 69–96. * ''The Annals of the Four Masters:Irish history, kingship and society in the early seventeenth century'',

Bernadette Cunningham Bernadette is a French name, a female form of the name Bernard, which means "brave bear". Notable persons with the name include: People * Bernadette (singer) (born 1959), Dutch singer * Bernadette Allen (born 1956), American foreign service of ...

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

, May 2010. * ''The Irish Annals: Their Genesis, Evolution and History'', Daniel McCarthy,

, 2008 .

External links

''Corpus of Electronic Texts'' (CELT)
at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

Irish Texts Society

''Jacobi Grace, Kilkenniensis, Annales Hiberniae''
- in Latin with English translation by Rev. Richard Butler
Publications of the School of Celtic Studies

DNA vs Irish Annals
by Brad Larkin {{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Annals Irish chronicles Medieval Ireland