The Chronicle of Ireland
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The Chronicle of Ireland is the modern name for a collection of ecclesiastical annals recording events in Ireland from 432 to 911 AD. It constitutes the principal narrative for early Irish history.
No original copies of the chronicle are known to exist, but its existence is inferred from the large number of entries for individual years which appear in the same sequence and wording in later chronicles which continue separate narratives beyond 911.
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[edit] Format
Events are listed in separate entries under the heading of a single year. Most entries consist of only one or two sentences, and some years contain only one or two entries. The Viking raid on Iona Abbey in 806, in which the entire population of the abbey was massacred, is recorded with typical brevity: "The community of Iona was killed by the gentiles, that is sixty-eight (referring to the number of dead)."
[edit] Authorship
There is no direct evidence for the identity of the Chronicle's authors at any given point in time, but scholars are confident that it was produced by annalists working in churches and monasteries and was intended for an ecclesiastical audience. The Chronicle was written in different places at different times; the earliest evidence for one of its authors places it in Iona sometime after 563, continuing until about 642. Around 639, another chronicle of uncertain origin was begun elsewhere and merged in with the Iona chronicle in the second half of the 7th century. The chronicle was then continued until about 740. From about 740 to 911, the Chronicle's annalist was working in the Irish midlands, probably in the midland province of Brega (sometimes Breagh) but possibly in the monastery at Clonard. Some scholars believe that work may have moved to Armagh by the beginning of the 9th century, and debate continues on this point.
After 911, the Chronicle breaks into two main branches: one in Armagh (which was integrated into the Annals of Ulster), and one in Clonmacnoise. Most surviving copies of the Chronicle's original content are descended from the Clonmacnoise chronicle.
[edit] Content
A large number of the Chronicle's entries are obituaries. The cause of death was significant to the annalists as an indicator of the death's "spiritual quality"; they felt it indicated whether the deceased would go to Heaven or Hell.
After 800, records of Viking raids (as in the example above) also make up a large number of entries. Other entries include observations of astronomical events, such as a solar eclipse that took place on June 29, 512. Some events outside Ireland also appear in the Chronicle; during some parts of the eighth and ninth centuries, its chronology for certain events in England is more accurate than that of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
[edit] Incorporation of outside sources
The Chronicle made use of Bede's Chronica Maiora and the annals of Marcellinus Comes, usually by noting the accessions and deaths of English kings and Byzantine emperors. These inclusions have provided scholars with a useful tool for identifying inconsistencies in the dating of the Chronicle.
[edit] Reference
Charles-Edwards, T.M. (2006). The Chronicle of Ireland. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-959-2.
