Annals of Inisfallen

This work was written by the Monks of the Abbey of Inisfallen, which was founded by St.Finian, in the sixth century, on an island in the Lakes of Killarney, and was long celebrated as a seat of learning and religion; the importance of this venerable sanctuary is shown by some interesting ruins, which still remain.

These Annals give some sketches of ancient history, but commence principally at A.D. 252, and terminate at A.D. 1320; thus giving a History of Ireland from the third to the fourteenth century; but they more particularly relate to the history of Munster.

Amongst the authors of these Annals are mentioned in O’Reilly’s Irish Writers, at A.D. 1009, Mal Suthain O’Carroll, lord of Lough Lein, and one of the Monks of Inisfallen, who died in that year, and is styled by the Four Masters one of the most learned men of the western world; and at A.D. 1197, Giolla Padruic O’Huidhir, Monk of Inisfallen, a famous poet and historian.

The original of these Annals is in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, and copies of them are in the Duke of Buckingham’s Library at Stowe; in the library of Trinity College, Dublin; and in that of the Royal Irish Academy.

These are also called the Annals of Munster, as relating chiefly to the history of Munster; and have been translated into Latin, and published in O’Connor’s Rer. Hib. Scrip., down to A.D. 1088.