A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle 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 yearly chronology of feast days. Over time, the obituaries of priests, abbots and bishops were added, along with those of notable political events. Non-Irish models include Bede's Chronica maiora, Marcellinus Comes's Chronicle of Marcellinus and the Liber pontificalis.
Chronology
The origins of annalistic compilation can be traced to the occasional recording of notes and events in blank spaces between the latercus, i.e. the 84-year Easter table adopted from Gaulish writer Sulpicius Severus (d. c. 423).
Extant
Manuscript copies of extant annals include the following:
MAP of Irish locales linked to Irish Annals writing assembled by De Reir Book of Moytura team
Annals of Boyle
Annals of Clonmacnoise
Annals of Connacht
Annals of Duiske
Annals of the Four Masters
Annals of Inisfallen
Annals of Lough Cé
Annales de Monte Fernandi, a.k.a. Annals of Multyfarnham
Annals of Roscrea
Chronicon Scotorum
Annals of Tigernach
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ireland by Friar John Clyn
Annals of Dudley Loftus
The Short Annals of Donegal
Leabhar Oiris
Annals of Nenagh
Mac Carthaigh's Book
Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib (large parts) Fragmentary Annals of Ireland (parts) Dublin Annals of Inisfallen The Annals of Ireland by Thady Dowling Short Annals of Tirconaill Short Annals of Leinster Annales Hibernie ab anno Christi 1162 usque ad annum 1370, a.k.a. Pembridge's Annals Annales Hiberniae, a.k.a. Grace's Annals Memoranda Gadelica Annla Gearra as Proibhinse Ard Macha, a.k.a. Short Annals of Armagh A Fragment of Irish Annals Annals from the Book of Leinster 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 the Annals of Boyle, of Lough Key, of the Four Masters, of Ulster of Kilronan were assembled. ( 2020 -
Other sources
Others which contain annalistic material include:
Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta
Lebor Glinne Dá Loch
Lebor Leacáin
Leabhar Uí Dhubhagáin
Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil
Leabhar na nGenealach
Many of these annals have been translated and published by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, or the Irish Texts Society. In addition, the text of many are available on the internet at the Corpus 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 tract Cogad 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 the Annals of Inisfallen, which have come down to us both abbreviated and lacunose.
Lost annals
Annals known to have existed but which have been lost include: