A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was 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 ...

, 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 anna ...

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 ...

of feast days. 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 ...

's ''Chronica maiora'', Marcellinus Comes's ''Chronicle of Marcellinus'' and the ''

Liber pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (8 ...

''.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 appro ...

adopted from Gaulish writer Sulpicius Severus (d. ''c''. 423).

Extant

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

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'' * '' 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 2,242 ...

'' * '' Annals of Inisfallen'' * '' Annals of Lough Cé'' * ''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 ti ...

'' * '' Annals of Tigernach'' * ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

'' * ''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 at ...

'' * ''Annals of Dudley Loftus'' * ''The Short Annals of Donegal'' * '' Leabhar Oiris'' * '' Annals of Nenagh'' * '' Mac Carthaigh's Book'' * '' Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' (large parts) * '' Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' (parts) * '' Dublin Annals of Inisfallen'' * ''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'' * '' Leabhar na nGenealach'' 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 D ...

, or the Irish Texts Society. 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 '' Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' 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 Annals of Inisfallen, 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 Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, 1975 * ''The earliest Irish annals'', Alfred P. Smyth, ''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 learned society and one its leading cultural ...

'', # 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

: 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, Four Courts Press,

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

, 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 o ...

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