A number ofIrish annals, of which the earliest was theChronicle 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 yearlychronology offeast days. Over time, theobituaries of priests, abbots and bishops were added, along with those of notable political events. Non-Irish models includeBede'sChronica maiora,Marcellinus Comes'sChronicle of Marcellinus and theLiber pontificalis.[1] Most of the Irish annals were written between the 14th and 17th centuries.[2]
The origins of annalistic compilation can be traced to the occasional recording of notes and events in blank spaces between thelatercus, i.e. the 84-yearEaster table adopted from Gaulish writerSulpicius Severus (d.c. 423).[1]
De Reir Book of Moytura a recommencement of the vulgate tradition of Irish Annals writing taking place at a scriptorium, an easy distance between where theAnnals of Boyle, of Lough Key, of the Four Masters, of Ulster of Kilronan were assembled. ( 2020 -
Many of these annals have been translated and published by the School of Celtic Studies,Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, or theIrish Texts Society. In addition, the text of many are available on the internet at theCorpus of Electronic Texts (CELT Project) hosted by the History Department of University College Cork, National University of Ireland. (See External Links below)
The famous epic political tractCogad 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 theAnnals of Inisfallen, which have come down to us both abbreviated andlacunose.
Ó Corráin, Donnchadh (2006). "Annals, Irish". InKoch, John T. (ed.).Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Denver, and Oxford:ABC-CLIO. pp. 69–75.
