Dr Dan McCarthy Examines the Irish Annals in his New Book The Irish Annals:Their Genesis, Evolution and History

Posted on: 24 November 2008

The Irish Annals: Their Genesis, Evolution and History, an analysis of the The Annals of the Four Masters by Fellow Emeritus and former Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science Dr Dan McCarthy was launched on November 6 last.

Originally entitled the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, The Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of Irish history from prehistory to 1616 AD, compiled by the Irish Franciscans. In the early 17th century, a period of massive upheaval in Ireland which included the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the Irish Franciscans began to reassemble the documentary evidence of Ireland’s history so as to write new histories of Ireland to meet the needs of their own time.

Dr McCarthy’s book gives a comprehensive account of the origins and the evolution of the Annals and presents an outline history of the principal locations and compilers involved in their compilation.

Pictured at the launch are Dr Daniel McCarthy, Fellow Emeritus TCD, Prof Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, MRIA FSA, Department of History, NUI Galway, Prof John G. Byrne, Fellow Emeritus TCD, Dr Bernard Meehan, Keeper of Manuscripts, TCD.

“This book is an example of multidisciplinary work as it crosses the scientific and humanities boundaries, bringing scientific and analytic approaches to bear on the material”, stated Dr McCarthy at the launch. “It systematically surveys the manuscripts of the Irish Annals providing a substantial review of the published research on them.”

Dr McCarthy has published numerous articles on the subjects of chronology, chronicles, Paschal tables, and astronomy. In 2003 he published an edition of De ratione paschali, the Paschal tract of Anatolius, late third-century bishop of Laodicea in modern Syria and he manages the Irish Annals website www.irish-annals.cs.tcd.ie

Further information available at www.irish-annals.cs.tcd.ie.