Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters

Entry for A.D. 432

The Annals of the Four Masters or the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entries span the dates between the Deluge in 2242 A.M. and AD 1616, although the earliest entries are believed to date from around AD 550. Image File history File links Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters Page from a 350-year-old book. ... Image File history File links Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters Page from a 350-year-old book. ... Image File history File links Annals of the Four Masters, entry for year AD432 Source: University College Dublin Archives Department [1] Page from a 350-year-old book. ... Image File history File links Annals of the Four Masters, entry for year AD432 Source: University College Dublin Archives Department [1] Page from a 350-year-old book. ... Events July 31 - Sixtus is elected to succeed Celestine as Pope. ... Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica, from Greek Χρόνος) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Deluge by Gustave Doré. The story of a Great Flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution is a widespread theme in Greek and many other cultural myths. ... A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. ... Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter. ...

The annals are mainly a compilation of earlier annals, although there is some original work. They were compiled between 1632 and 1636 in the Franciscan monastery in County Donegal. The entries for the 12th century and before are sourced from medieval monastic annals. The later entries come from the records of the Irish aristocracy (such as the Annals of Ulster), and the seventeenth century entries are based on personal recollection and observation. The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... Statistics Province: Ulster Dáil Éireann: Donegal North East, Donegal South West County Town: Lifford Code: DL Area: 4,841 km² Population (2006) 146,956 Website: www. ... The Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. ...

The chief author of the annals was Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, and he was assisted by, among others, Peregrine O'Clery, Fergus O'Mulconry and Peregrine O'Duignan. Even though only one of the authors was an actual Franciscan, Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, they became known as 'The Four Friars' or in the original Gaelic, 'Na Ceithre Maistir'. The Anglicised version of this was 'The Four Masters', a name which then became attached to the annals themselves. The patron of the project was Fearghal Ó Gadhra, a lord in County Sligo. Mícheál Ó Cléirigh (c. ... Peregrine ODuignan, Irish clergyman and historian, fl. ... The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... This article is about the modern Goidelic language. ... Statistics Province: Connacht County Town: Sligo Code: SO Area: 1,837 km² Population (2006) 60,894[1] Website: www. ...

The annals were originally written in Irish. There are several manuscript copies in existence, which are kept in Trinity College Dublin, the Royal Irish Academy, and University College Dublin. The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin or more commonly Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) is one of Irelands premier learned societies and cultural institutions. ... University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin - more commonly University College Dublin (UCD) - is Irelands largest university, with over 20,000 students. ...

The first substantial English translation (starting at 1171 A.D.) was published by Owen Connellan in 1846. The Connellan translation included the annals from the 11th to the 17th centuries complete, and was the only version to have a four-colour frontispiece and include a large folding map showing the location of families in Ireland. It lay nearly forgotten for over 150 years, but was finally salvaged and republished in the early 21st century. The Connellan translation was followed several years later by a full translation by the historian John O'Donovan. John ODonovan (25 July 1806–10 December 1861), from Atateemore, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunts Academy, Waterford, is recognised as one of Irelands greatest ever Irish scholars and first historic topographer. ...

The Annals are one of the principal Irish language sources for Irish history up to 1616. While many of the early chapters are essentially a list of names and dates, the later chapters, dealing with events of which the authors had first-hand accounts, are much more detailed.

The reliability and usefulness of the Annals as a historical source has sometimes been questioned on the grounds that they were limited to accounts of the births, deaths and activities of the Gaelic Irish nobility and often ignore wider social trends or events. Moreover, the Annalists came from a bardic tradition that relied on the traditional Irish upper classes for patronage and are reluctant to criticise them or their actions.

On the other hand, the Annals, as one of the few prose sources in Irish from this period, also provide a valuable insight into events such as the Desmond Rebellions and the Nine Years War (Ireland) from a native Irish perspective. The Desmond Rebellions occurred in the 1569- 1573 and 1579-1583 in Munster in southern Ireland. ... The Nine Years War (Irish: Cogadh na Naoi mBliana) in Ireland took place from 1594 to 1603 and is also known as Tyrones Rebellion. ...

See also

• Irish annals
• Annals of Boyle
• Annals of Clonmacnoise
• Annals of Connacht
• Annals of Inisfallen
• Annals of Lough Cé
• Annals of Tigernach
• Annals of Ulster
• Chronicon Scotorum
• Leabhar Breac
• Leabhar Clainne Suibhne
• Leabhar Cloinne Aodha Buidhe
• Lebor Gabála Érenn
• Mac Carthaigh's Book
• The Chronicle of Ireland
• Fragmentary Annals of Ireland
• The Annals of Ireland (by Friar John Clyn)
• Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta
• Lebor Glinne Dá Loch
• Lebor Leacáin
• Lebor na Cert
• Lebor na hUidre
• Leabhar Leacáin
• Leabhar Uí Dhubhagáin

An number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century. ... The Annals of Boyle, also Cottonian Annals, are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. ... The Annals of Clonmacnoise chronicle events in Ireland from pre-history to A.D. 1408. ... 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 Annals of Inisfallen are a chronicle of the medieval history of Ireland. ... The Annals of Lough Cé (also Annals of Loch Cé) cover events, mainly in Connacht and its neighbouring regions, from 1014 to 1590. ... The Annals of Tigernach (abbr. ... The Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. ... Chronicon Scotorum is an Irish chronicle. ... Home little village of Mr Basil Dervan which is in the suburbs of tynagh Leabhar Breac (Speckled Book) is the name given to a manuscript compiled by Murchadh Ó Cuindlis of Bally Lough Deacker, at Duniry in eastern Clanricarde (now east Co. ... Leabhar Clainne Suibhne (The Book of Clan Sweeney) is the title of a 16th century Donegal manuscript written in Irish. ... Leabhar Cloinne Aodha Buidhe is the title accorded to a dunaire or poem-book of the Clann Aodha Buidhe Clandeboye (Clann Aodha Buidhe) Ó Neill. ... Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland) is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages. ... Mac Carthaigh’s Book is a collection of annals of the period AD 1114-1437 inclusive. ... The entry for the year 432 in the Annals of the Four Masters, one of the works which is descended from the Chronicle of Ireland. ... The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland are a Middle Irish combination of chronicle from various Irish annals and narrative history. ... Brother John Clyn of the Friars Minor, Kilkenny was a 14th century Irish monk and chronicler who lived at the time of the Black Death. ...

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Annals of the Four Masters
• List of Published Texts at CELT — University College Cork's Corpus of Electronic Texts project has the full text of the annals online, both in the original Irish and in O'Donovan's translation.
• Irish Script On Screen — The ISOS project at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies has high-resolution digital images of the Royal Irish Academy's copy of the Annals.