The Annals of Clonmacnoise are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from pre-history to A.D. 1408. The work is sometimes known as Mageoghagan’s Book, after its translator.^[1]

Contents 1 Translation 2 Provenance of the original chronicle 3 Contents 4 Notes 5 Edition 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Translation

The Irish chronicle was translated into English, in the style of the Elizabethan period, in 1627 by Connall MacGeoghegan (or Connell McGeoghegan) of Lismoyny (Co. Westmeath), near Clara, Co. Offaly. He dedicated this translation to his brother Terence, whose family was among the last to uphold and practice native Irish Gaelic customs. The translation was completed on April 20th 1627 in the Castle of Lemanaghan in County Offaly. The original manuscript of McGeoghegan's translation is lost, but there are several copies of it in both the Library of Trinity College and in the British Museum.

The original work was in Irish Gaelic. The translator more than once refers "to the ould Irish book out of which he wrote, to the old Irish book which he translates, out of which many leaves were lost or stolen.." Mc Geoghegan seems to have preserved the value of the original Gaelic phraseology and rendered it every justice as far as we can determine in the absence of the original manuscript.

[edit] Provenance of the original chronicle

The original manuscript or manuscripts of the Irish annals are lost, and the names of its compilers are unknown. These annals have usually gone by the name of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, because the work was thought to be based on materials gathered at the monastery of Clonmacnoise, though there is some doubt about this. In the book itself there is nothing to show why it should be called by this name. However, the Annals do give special prominence to the history of the parts of the country on both sides of the River Shannon at Clonmacnoise and to the families inhabiting the areas of Uí Maine (Hy Many) surrounding them, namely O'Kellys, O'Rourkes, O'Molloys, O'Connors and McDermotts. The principal value of these Annals arises from the historical details given of these districts and families which are not found to the same extent elsewhere.

[edit] Contents

The Annals give the history of Ireland and the areas surrounding Clonmacnoise from the creation of man to the year 1408. The translator points out that several parts of the original work are missing as from 1182 to 1199 and again from 1290 to 1299. He states that the originals were destroyed not merely by the books being burnt by marauding Vikings but also by tailors cutting the leaves of the books and slicing them off in long pieces to make their measures.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Edition

The translation of the Annals was first published in Dublin in 1896 and again reprinted by Llanerch Publishers in 1993.

• Murphy, Denis (ed.). The Annals of Clonmacnoise. Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Dublin, 1896. PDFs available from the Internet Archive here and here.

[edit] See also

• Irish annals
• The Chronicle of Ireland

[edit] References

• Oxford Concise Companion to Irish Literature, Robert Welsh, 1996. ISBN 0-19-280080-9

[edit] External links

• Annals of Clonmacnoise