annals

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annals, chronologically arranged records of significant events, are the most significant body of evidence available for earlier periods of Irish history, and remain an important source, for Gaelic Ireland in particular, up to the 16th century. Most Irish annals survive in relatively recent manuscripts, of which the earliest is that of the Annals of Inisfallen, from the end of the 11th century; the remainder are found in manuscripts ranging from the late 14th down to the 17th century, and are combinations of several earlier texts. Most annalistic texts are of monastic origin: the earliest set, the Iona Chronicle, of the 8th century, survives incorporated into later annals. Perhaps the most important surviving text is the Annals of Ulster, in two manuscripts of the 15th—16th centuries, but transmitted faithfully as far as early medieval linguistic forms are concerned. A substantial part of the Ulster text for this period reappears, sometimes abridged, in the so‐called Clonmacnoise group: the Chronicum Scotorum the Annals of Tigernach, and the Annals of Clonmacnoise, an English translation by Conell Mageoghegan in 1627 of a lost original; this group, from the 10th century onwards, is independent of the Annals of Ulster. A further text, the Annals of Roscrea, seems to be connected with the Clonmacnoise group.

Annals also survive from the south, e.g. the Annals of Inisfallen, in which much of the pre‐10th‐century material was probably taken from a member of the Clonmacnoise group, and compressed and garbled in the process. The first part of this was compiled in the monastery of Emly towards the end of the 10th century, and continued at Toomgraney in Co. Clare; thence transcribed in the monastery of Killaloe after the mid‐11th century; and the manuscript transferred to Lismore about 1119, where it was continued; from the later 12th century the text was in the monastery of Inisfallen. Some of the 13th‐century material in Inisfallen recurs in a rather later set of annals, the so‐called MacCarthaigh Book, a compilation drawing on various sources in Munster and the south Ulster area, and even Gerald of Wales. In the same way, Munster material has been incorporated in the Annals of Tigernach, as also central Leinster material of the 11th century; in the Chronicum Scotorum material from Munster and Leinster has been added for the later 11th century.

From the beginning of the 11th century the Annals of Ulster has a substantial core of material from Armagh down to 1189, as has the first part of the Annals of Loch Cé, and then annals from Derry for 1190–1220; in Loch Cé, this is matched by material from north Connacht, found also in the so‐called Cottonian Annals, which down to 1228 were probably compiled in the Cistercian abbey of Boyle; thereafter they were continued in the Premonstratensian abbey of Loch Cé. This latter, and the Annals of Connacht, are the two chief Connacht sets of annals; both derive from a text compiled by a member of the Ó Maolchonaire family probably in the mid‐15th century, and in the 16th century further processed by a member of the Ó Duibhgeannáin family. The ultimate compilation is the Annals of the Four Masters, produced in the 17th century.

Anglo‐Irish annals follow a similar pattern, though with more attention to English events, with early sets of annals incorporated into texts such as the Annals of St Mary's, Dublin; the Annals of Multyfarnham (down to 1274), compiled by Stephen Dexter, OFM; the Kilkenny Chronicle, also a Franciscan compilation, and the Annals of Clyn, going down to the Great Plague of 1348–9; Pembridge's annals continue accounts down to 1370, and this is bridged to 1421 by Henry of Marleburgh's chronicle. A number of 15th‐century compilations by Philip Flattesburg, surviving in several manuscripts, have yet to be critically edited.

Bibliography

Grabowski, K., and and Dumville, D. , Chronicles and Annals of Mediaeval Ireland and Wales (1984)
MacNiocaill, G. , The Medieval Irish Annals (1975)

Gearóid MacNiocaill

annals (from Latin annus, ‘year’) The yearly records kept by the priests in Rome from the earliest times. They noted ceremonies, state enactments, and the holders of office. The high priest (Pontifex Maximus) was responsible for maintaining the records in his official residence. The accumulated material (mainly dating from after 300 BC) was published in eighty books known as the Annales Maximi c.123 BC. The name came to be applied generally to the writing of history in strict chronological order.

an·nals / ˈanlz/ • pl. n. a record of events year by year: eighth-century Northumberland annals. ∎  historical records: the annals of the European discoverers. ∎  (Annals) used in the titles of learned journals.

annals pl. XVI. — F. annales or L. annālēs, m. pl. (sc. librī books) of annālis yearly, f. annus (see ANNUAL).
Hence annalist XVII; after F. annaliste.