Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition: G100005D

Annals of the Four Masters

Author: [unknown]

Background details and bibliographic information

File Description

Electronic edition compiled by Stephen Beechinor, Eoin Dunford, Beatrix Färber, Philip Irwin, Elva Johnston, Julianne Nyhan, Daithí Ó Corráin

Funded by University College, Cork and
Professor Marianne McDonald via the CELT Project and
Seoirse ó Luasa, An Caifé Liteartha, An Daingean, who donated a copy of the Annals of the Four Masters to the CELT Project.

1. First draft, revised and corrected.

Extent of text: 67 940 words

Publication

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork
College Road, Cork, Ireland

(2001)

Distributed by CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
Text ID Number: G100005D

Availability [RESTRICTED]

Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.

Notes

[The precise relationship between MSS 1–4 (below) is a matter for scholarly debate. Two views have been put forward, that of Walsh and Mooney (for bibliographical details of their publications, see below). According to Walsh, MSS 1 and 4 are what remains of the set presented to the patron, Ferghal Ó Gadhra; MSS 2 and 3 are the copies forwarded to Louvain for possible printing. According to Mooney, MSS 1 and 3 are the set presented to the patron, Ferghal Ó Gadhra; MSS 2 and 4 are what remains of the set forwarded to Louvain. It is more likely that Walsh's view is correct. For an excellent and fully documented discussion of the problem, see Nollaig Ó Muraíle, The autograph manuscripts of the Annals of the Four Masters, Celtica 19 (1987) 75–95.]

Sources

    Manuscript sources.
  1. (i) Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 1220 olim C iii 3; paper; s. xvii; five hands, including Míchél Ó Cléirigh and Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh; 522 folios. Annals from AM 2242 to AD 1171. Used by Dubhaltach Mac Fir Bhisigh, who refers to it as belonging to Fearghal Ó Gadhra. For a description of the MS, see Kathleen Mulchrone & Elizabeth FitzPatrick, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy fasc. 26 (Dublin 1943) 3276-82; Nollaig Ó Muraíle, 'The autograph manuscripts of the Annals of the Four Masters', Celtica 19 (1987) 75–95: 88–92.
  2. (ii) Dublin, University College L, OFM, A 13; paper; s. xvii; an autograph copy but scribal signatures are absent in the body of the text. The hands resemble those of Míchél Ó Cléirigh, but there are other hands including marginal notes by John Colgan. Annals from AM 2242 to AD 1169. For a description of the MS, see Myles Dillon, Canice Mooney, & Pádraig de Brún, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Franciscan Library, Killiney (Dublin 1969) 24–27; Paul Walsh, 'Extracts from the Franciscan manuscripts of the 'Annals of the Four Masters'', Irisleabhar Muighe Nuadhad, 1916, 17-24; Ó Muraíle, op. cit. 94–95.
  3. (iii). Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 687 and 688 olim 23 P 6 and 23 P 7; paper; s. xvii; the scribes are Míchél Ó Cléirigh, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, and Conaire Ó Cléirigh, and two others. Annals from 1170 to 1616. For a description of the MSS, see Lilian Duncan, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy fasc. 17 (1936) 2112–2114; Ó Muraíle, op. cit. 95; annals from 1170 to 1616); Paul Walsh, 'Manuscripts of the Four Masters (R.I.A. 23 P 6 and 7 [=MSS 687-8]) Ir Book Lover 24 (1936) 81-3; Ó Muraíle, op. cit. 95.
  4. (iv). Dublin, Trinity College Library, 1301 olim H. 2. 11; paper; s. xvii; the scribes are Conaire Ó Cléirigh; and two other Ó Cléirigh scribes. Annals from 1334 (beginning acephalous) to 1605 in 466 folios. For a description of the MS, see T. K. Abbott and E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the library of Trinity College Dublin (Dublin 1921) 82–83; Ó Muraíle, op. cit. 92–94.
  5. (v) Dublin, Trinity College Library, 1300 olim H. 2. 9 and H. 2. 10; paper; s. xviii (1734-5) scribe: Hugh O'Mulloy (Aodh Ó Maolmhuaidh); a transcript of MS (i) made for John O'Fergus. For a description of the MS, see T. K. Abbott and E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the library of Trinity College Dublin (Dublin 1921) 82).
  6. (vi) Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 988 and 989 olim 23 F 2 and 23 F 3; paper; s. xviii; scribe not named; the text was transcribed in the house of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, and apparently under his supervision. This is a transcript of MS (i). For a description of the MS, see Kathleen Mulchrone, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy, fasc. 22 (1940) 2829–30).
    Editions and Translations.
  1. Charles O'Conor (ed.) Rerum Hibernicarum scriptores veteres iii: Quatuor Magistrorum Annales Hibernici usque ad annum M.CLXXII. ex ipso O'Clerii autographo in Biblioteca Stowense servato, nunc primum uersione donati ac notis illustrati (Buckingham, 1826) [O'Conor's edition, though based on MS (i) is seriously defective].
  2. John O'Donovan (ed. & trans.) Annala Rioghachta Eireann: Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Edited from MSS in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy and of Trinity College Dublin with a translation and copious notes, 7 vols. (Dublin 1848-51; repr. Dublin, 1856; repr. Dublin, 1990.) [volumes i-ii: pp v-vi (dedicatory letter of the editor) + pp vii-liv (introductory remarks, including original documents) + pp lv-lxi (epistle dedicatory of Míchél Ó Cléirigh) + pp lxiii-lxxi (contemporary approbations of the work) + pp 2-1187 (text and translation) + pp 1189-93 (addenda and corrigenda); volumes iii-vi: pp 2-2375 (text and translation) + pp 2377-2494 (a genealogical appendix, including original documents) + 2494-8 (addenda et corrigenda); volume vii: pp 405 (indexes). There are three separate paginations: volumes i-ii, volumes iii-vi, and volume vii, each having separate pagination. The edition of volumes i-ii, AM 2242-AD 1171, is made from a corrected copy of Charles O'Conor's edition (Buckingham, 1826). This edition is based on MS (i) which was not available to O'Donovan. O'Donovan collated the text so derived with MS (v) and MS (vi) both eighteenth-century transcripts of MS (i). MS (ii) was not known to O'Conor or O'Donovan. The text of the remainder of the remainder of the Annals (volumes iii-vi) is edited from MS (iii) collated with MS (iv).]
  3. Owen Connellan, The Annals of Ireland, translated from the original Irish of the Four Masters (Dublin, 1846) [Annals from 1171 to 1616].
  4. Henri Lizeray, Le livre des quatre maîtres: Annales du royaume d'Irlande, depuis les origines jusqu'à; l'arrivée de saint Patrice (Leroux, 1882).
    Literature
  1. George Petrie, 'Remarks on the history and authenticity of the Annals of the Four Masters', Trans Roy Ir Acad 16 (1831) 381-93 [repr. O'Donovan, op. cit. i, pp vii-xix].
  2. Sir John T. Gilbert, 'The Celtic records of Ireland', Ir Q Rev 1 (1852) 588-700 [notice of O'Donovan's edition].
  3. Eugene O'Curry, Lectures on the manuscript materials of ancient Irish history (Dublin, 1861; repr. Dublin, 1878) 141-61 [note O'Curry's translation of John Colgan's remarks about Míchél Ó Cléirigh (143-45) and his sardonic comments on the Stowe sale of Irish MSS and the attitude of Lords Macaulay and Ashburnham].
  4. P. Mac Suibhne, 'A great historical work: the Annals of the Four Masters', J Ivernian Soc 7 (1915) 66-93.
  5. Paul Walsh, 'Extracts from the Franciscan manuscripts of the 'Annals of the Four Masters'', Irisleabhar Muighe Nuadhad, 1916, 17-24.
  6. E. J. Gwynn, 'Miscellanea', Ériu 9 (1921-23) 27-30: 27-8 [verse fragments in Annals of the Four Masters].
  7. Paul Walsh, 'Extracts from the Franciscan manuscript of the Annals of the Four Masters', in Paul Walsh, Gleanings from Irish manuscripts, 2nd ed. (Dublin, 1933) 69-85.
  8. Paul Walsh, 'The Four Masters', Ir Book Lover 22 (1934) 128-31.
  9. Paul Walsh, 'The convent of Donegal, 1632-36', Ir Book Lover 23 (1935) 109-15.
  10. Brendan Jennings, Michael O Cleirigh, chief of the Four Masters, and his associates (Dublin, 1936) [an inadequate account of the MSS, otherwise very valuable].
  11. Paul Walsh, 'Manuscripts of the Four Masters (R.I.A. 23 P 6 and 7 [=Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MSS 687-8])', Ir Book Lover 24 (1936) 81-3 [repr. for the most part in a chapter of his The Four Masters and their work].
  12. Paul Walsh, 'Slips in O'Donovan's Four Masters, vol. V', Ir Book Lover 25 (1937) 100-02.
  13. M. A. O'Brien, 'Miscellanea Hibernica, 5: a wrong entry in AU and FM [A.D. 603], Études Celtiques 3 (1939) 365.
  14. Paul Walsh, 'The dating of Irish annals', Ir Hist Stud 2, (1941) 355-75.
  15. Canice Mooney, 'Irish Franciscan libraries of the past', Ir Ecclesiast Rec, 5th ser., 60 (1942) 223-4.
  16. Colm Ó Lochlainn, 'John O Donovan and the Four Masters', Ir Book Lover 29 (1943-5) 4-8.
  17. Paul Walsh, The Four Masters and their work (Dublin, 1944).
  18. Michael Duignan [notice of Walsh's Four Masters and their work], Éigse 4 (1943-4) 312.
  19. Helena Concannon, 'John O'Donovan and the Annals of the Four Masters', Studies (Dublin) 37 (1948) 300-7.
  20. Colm Ó Lochlainn, 'Annals of the Four Masters', Ir Book Lover 31 (1949-51) 126-8.
  21. Alexander Boyle, 'Fergal Ó Gadhra and the Four Masters', Ir Ecclesiast Rec, 5th ser, 100 (1963) 100-14.
  22. Cathaldus Giblin, 'The Annals of the Four Masters', in Liam de Paor (ed.) Great books of Ireland (Dublin, 1967) 90-103, repr. in Benignus Millett & Anthony Lynch (ed.) Dún Mhuire, Killiney, 1945-95 (Dublin, 1995) 135-43.
  23. David Greene & Frank O'Connor, A golden treasury of Irish poetry (London, 1967; repr. Dingle, 1990) 107-9, 200-01 [edition of restored text and translation of four verse epigrams that occur s. aa. 606, 614, 1022, and 1088].
  24. Pádraig Ó Súilleabháin, 'Nótaí ar thrí fhocal ó na hAnnála', Éigse 15 (1973) 20-22.
  25. Alan Mac an Bhaird, 'Dán díreach agus ranna as na hannála 867-1134', Éigse 17 (1977) 157¨C168.
  26. Breandán Ó Buachalla, 'Annála ríoghachta Éireann is Foras feasa ar Éirinn: an comhthéacs comhaimseartha', Studia Hibernica, 22-3 (1982-3) 59-105.
  27. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, 'The autograph manuscripts of the Annals of the Four Masters', Celtica 19 (1987) 75-95.
  28. Donnchadh Ó Corráin, 'Vikings II: Ross Cam', Peritia 10 (1996) 236.
  29. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, The celebrated antiquary: Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (c.1600-71): his lineage life and learning (Maynooth, 1996) 6-10, 100-101, 186-89.
  30. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, 'Cathal Ó Mac Maghnusa: his time, life and legacy', Clogher Rec 16/2 (1998) 45-64.
  31. Donnchadh Ó Corráin, 'Ad Annals of the Four Masters, 823-24', Peritia 13 (1999) 141.
  32. William O'Sullivan, 'The Slane manuscript of the Annals of the Four Masters'. Ríocht na Mídhe [Journal of the County Meath Historical Society] 10 (1999) 78-85.
  33. Daniel P. Mc Carthy, 'The chronology and sources of the early Irish annals', Early Medieval Europe 10:3 (2001) 323¡ª341.
  34. Pádraig A. Breatnach, 'Irish records of the Nine Years' War: a brief survey, with particular notice of the relationship between Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill and the Annals of the Four Masters'. In Ó Riain, Pádraig (ed.), Beatha Aodha Ruaidh: the life of Red Hugh O'Donnell. Historical and literary contexts (Irish Texts Society, subsidiary series 12) (London 2002) 124-147.
  35. Daniel P. Mc Carthy, on his website at http://www.cs.tcd.ie/misc/kronos/chronology/synchronisms/annals-chron.htm offers comprehensive information on two traditions of dating used in the Irish Annals, together with two ancillary articles, 'Chronological synchronisation of the Irish annals', and 'Collation of the Irish regnal canon'.
  36. Bernadette Cunningham, O'Donnell Histories: Donegal and the Annals of the Four Masters (Rathmullan, 2007).
  37. Edel Bhreatnach and Bernadette Cunningham (eds.), Writing Irish History: the Four Masters and their World (Dublin, 2007).
  38. Bernadette Cunningham, 'The Ó Duibhgeannáin family of historians and the Annals of the Four Masters', Breifne 44 (2008) 557-572.
  39. Bernadette Cunningham, 'John O'Donovan's edition of the Annals of the Four Masters: an Irish classic?' in Dirk van Hulle and Joep Leersen (eds.), Editing the Nation's Memory: Textual Scholarship and Nation-building in Nineteenth-century Europe (Amsterdam, 2008), 129-149.
  40. Daniel P. Mc Carthy, The Irish Annals: their genesis, evolution and history (Dublin 2008).
  41. Nicholas Evans, The present and the past in medieval Irish chronicles, Studies in Celtic History 27 (Woodbridge, 2010).
  42. Bernadette Cunningham, The Annals of the Four Masters (Dublin, 2010).
  43. Pádraig A.Breatnach, The Four Masters and their manuscripts: studies in palaeography and text (Dublin, 2013).
    The edition used in the digital edition
  1. Annala Rioghachta Eireann: Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Edited from MSS in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy and of Trinity College Dublin with a translation and copious notes.. in Volume 4John O'Donovan (ed), First edition [Seven volumes. Volumes i—ii: pp v—vi (dedicatory letter of the editor)+ pp vii—liv (introductory remarks, including original documents) + pp lv—lxi (epistle dedicatory of Mícheál Ó Cléirigh) + pp lxiii—lxxi (contemporary approbations of the work) + pp 2—1187 (text and translation) + pp 1189—93 (addenda and corrigenda); volumes iii—vi: pp 2—2375 (text and translation) + pp 2377—2494 (a genealogical appendix, including original documents) + 2494—98 (addenda et corrigenda); volume vii: pp 405 (indexes). There are three separate paginations: volumes i-ii, volumes iii—vi, and volume vii, each having separate pagination. The whole work extends to 4167 pp.] Hodges & Smith Dublin (1848-51)

Encoding

Project Description

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

Sampling Declaration

The present text represents pages 656–1258 of volume 4, being the years A. D. 1373 to A. D. 1500, in the chronology of the compilers. That chronology deviates from the historical chronology, but it has not been corrected in this edition. All editorial introduction, translation, notes and indexes have been omitted. Editorial corrigenda are integrated into the electronic edition. Missing text supplied by the editor is tagged SUP.

Editorial Declaration

Correction

Text has been checked and proofread 3 times. All corrections and supplied text are tagged. The Annals of the Four Masters is an extremely large and complex work. Any corrections of errors in the original text, as edited by O'Donovan, or in this digital edition are welcome. They will be credited to the scholars who make them.

Normalization

The electronic text represents the edited text. The editor's divisions of words have been silently changed to bring them into accord with CELT practice. All compound personal names are segmented in accordance with CELT practice.

Quotation

Quotation marks are rendered Q.

Hyphenation

Soft hyphens are silently removed. When a hyphenated word (hard or soft) crosses a page-break, the page-break is marked after the completion of the hyphenated word.

Segmentation

DIV0=the whole work; DIV1=the individual annals (i.e. the annalistic matter gathered under one year); DIV2=the annalistic entry; paragraphs are marked; passages of verse occurring within paragraphs are treated as embedded texts and the stanzas are marked LG and metrical lines are marked L. Page-breaks are marked.

Standard Values

Dates, whether A.M. or A. D., are standardized in the ISO form yyyy-mm-dd. The same applies to Roman calendar dates.

Interpretation

Personal names, place names (kingdoms, lordships, churches, monasteries etc.) and organisational names (kindreds, lineages, dynasties, peoples etc.) have been tagged. Social and professional roles (king, lord, bishop, abbot, priest, scholar, lector, scribe etc.) have been tagged. Technical terms are tagged. Content markup is complete, but subject to revision. All female personal names have been identified as such in the mark-up. Where possible, monastic sites have been identifed and where these are obscure a two-letter code for the Irish counties has been added.

Canonical References

This text uses the DIV1 element to represent the Annal.

Refs: EVENT (<DIV2>)

This text uses the DIV1 element to represent the Annal.

Profile Description

Created: The material for the twelfth century and before is by unknown authors in Irish monastic scriptoria; later medieval material is drawn from the collections of Irish professional learned families; the material for the seventeenth century is drawn from contemporary sources and observations. Date range: c. 550-1616, at various and unknown dates.

Use of language

Language: [GA] More than 98% in Middle Irish and Early Modern Irish.
Language: [LA] Some words and phrases are in Latin.
Language: [EN] Some words are in English.

Revision History