{
Texts
Annals of the Four Masters
- Early Modern Irish
- prose
- Irish annals
Title
Annals of the Four Masters
The compilation was known originally as Annála ríoghachta Éireann (‘Annals of the kingdom of Ireland’). It came to be named after the ‘Four Masters’ since John Colgan applied this term to Mícheál Ó Cléirigh and his three chief assistants, even if two other scribes were involved in the project.n. 1 John Colgan referred to the Quattuor Magistri in his introduction to the Acta sanctorum Hiberniae. Joep Leerssen, Mere Irish and Fíor-Ghael: studies in the idea of Irish nationality, its development and literary expression prior to the nineteenth century (1986): 478.
Author
Mícheál Ó CléirighO'Clery (Michael) / Ó Cléirigh (Mícheál) (d. 1643) – Irish scholar, historian and scribe
See more Fear Feasa Ó Maoil ChonaireÓ Maoil Chonaire (Fear Feasa) (fl. 17th century) – Irish scribe; one of the scholars known as the Four Masters
See more Cú Choigcríche Ó CléirighÓ Cléirigh (Cú Choigcríche) (d. in or after 1664) – Irish scholar, poet, historian and scribe; one of the so-called ‘Four Masters’.
See more Cú Choigcríche Ó DuibhgeannáinÓ Duibhgeannáin (Cú Choigcríche) (fl. 17th century) – Irish scribe, known as one of the Four Masters
See more Conaire Ó CléirighÓ Cléirigh (Conaire)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more Muiris Ó Maoil ChonaireÓ Maoil Chonaire (Muiris)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more
See more Fear Feasa Ó Maoil ChonaireÓ Maoil Chonaire (Fear Feasa) (fl. 17th century) – Irish scribe; one of the scholars known as the Four Masters
See more Cú Choigcríche Ó CléirighÓ Cléirigh (Cú Choigcríche) (d. in or after 1664) – Irish scholar, poet, historian and scribe; one of the so-called ‘Four Masters’.
See more Cú Choigcríche Ó DuibhgeannáinÓ Duibhgeannáin (Cú Choigcríche) (fl. 17th century) – Irish scribe, known as one of the Four Masters
See more Conaire Ó CléirighÓ Cléirigh (Conaire)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more Muiris Ó Maoil ChonaireÓ Maoil Chonaire (Muiris)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more
The chief compiler and scribe is Mícheál Ó Cléirigh (d. c. 1643), a Franciscan friar from St Anthony at Louvain, who for many years had been active as a scribe and historian in his native Co. Donegal and further afield. Between 1632 and 1636, he undertook the project with a small team of assistant scribes, Fearfeasa Ó Maoilchonaire, Cú Choigcríche Ó Duibhgeannáin and Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh (the other three ‘Masters’). In addition, occasional assistants were Conaire Ó Cléirigh and at one time, Muiris Ó Maoilchonaire.
Manuscripts
- Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS C iii 3 (1220) [s. xvii] Annals run up to AD 1171.
- Dublin, University College, MS Franciscan A 13 [s. xvii]
- Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MSS 23 P 6-7 Annals from 1170 to 1616
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1301 Annals from 1334 to 1605
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1300
- Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MSS 23 F 2-3
Language
- Early Modern Irish
Date
Compiled, in two successive stages, between 1632 and 1636.
Provenance
Franciscan house of refuge at Drowes, Co Donegal.
Form
prose (primary)
verse (secondary)
Sources
Notes
John Colgan referred to the Quattuor Magistri in his introduction to the Acta sanctorum Hiberniae. Joep Leerssen, Mere Irish and Fíor-Ghael: studies in the idea of Irish nationality, its development and literary expression prior to the nineteenth century (1986): 478.
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] [tr.] O'Donovan, John [ed. and tr.], Annala rioghachta Eireann: Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616, 7 vols, 2nd ed., Dublin, 1856.
CELT – edition (vol. 1): <link> CELT – edition (vol. 2): <link> CELT – edition (vol. 3): <link> CELT – edition (vol. 4): <link> CELT – edition (vol. 5): <link> CELT – edition (vol. 6): <link> CELT – translation (vol. 1): <link> CELT – translation (vol. 2): <link> CELT – translation (vol. 3): <link> CELT – translation (vol. 4): <link> CELT – translation (vol. 5): <link> CELT – translation (vol.6): <link> Internet Archive – multiple copies: <link>
Secondary sources (select)
Cunningham, Bernadette, The Annals of the Four Masters: Irish history, kingship and society in the early seventeenth century, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2010.
Mc Carthy, Daniel P., The Irish annals: their genesis, evolution and history, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008.
page name: Annals of the Four Masters
page url: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Annals_of_the_Four_Masters
redirect: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Special:Redirect/page/1245
page ID: 1245
page ID tracker: https://www.vanhamel.nl/vhcodecs/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=1245
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
blog comments powered by Disqus
