Chronicle lays bare Irish ancient history

A hugely influential chronicle of Irish history credited with helping to shape the modern nation went on full display today for the first time in almost four centuries.

The Annals of the Four Masters, a massive body of work charting the country from ancient times to the 17th century, have not been brought together since the 1630s.

Bernadette Cunningham, deputy librarian with the RIA and expert on the annals, said they were an invaluable and irreplaceable part of Irish cultural heritage.

“Their legacy is all around us,” she said.

“Place name evidence drawn from the annals formed the basis of John O’Donovan’s work in establishing the correct names for use on Ordnance Survey maps.

“The many illustrious men and women that peopled the pages of these early annals have become part of our national story and made their way into our history books because of the work of the Four Masters.”

The manuscripts, originally entitled the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, have been housed recently at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

They are being reunited at an exhibition at Trinity College as part of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Irish Franciscan college of St Anthony’s in Louvain in Belgium.

It was the Irish Franciscans who drove the project in the 17th century to draw together existing historical records along with new documentary evidence on Irish history at a time when the country was going through massive upheaval.

Micheal O'Cleirigh, a Donegal antiquary and poet, was sent to his native county from Louvain in 1926 to spearhead the ambitious plan.

He was joined by three lay writers, based at the Franciscan Friary at Bundrowes in Donegal, and under the patronage of Feargal O Gadhra, Lord of Moy Gara and Coolavin in Co Sligo.

“These annals are truly one of the foundational texts of the modern Irish nation,” said Ms Cunningham.

The free exhibition runs until December 21 in the Long Room of the Old Library at Trinity College.