Annals of Tigernach
The Annals of Tigernach ( Irish Annála Thighearnaigh , English Annals of Tigernach ) are among the most important medieval chronicles of Ireland . They are largely written in Irish with some Latin entries. The chronicle covers the periods from 807 BC. Chr. To 360 (as a copy of the chronicles of Eusebius ) and from 489 to 1178 with gaps 767-973 and 1004-1017.
The name of the annals is derived from a note in 1088: Tigernach wrote up to this point before he died . It is believed that Tigernach was a monk of the Clonmacnoise monastery .
History of origin
According to Kathleen Hughes' analysis, there are great similarities between the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Tigernach in the period from 489 to 766, so that it seems reasonable to suggest a common origin. Hughes assumes that these are the non-preserved annals of Iona .
In contrast to the Annals of Ulster , numerous additional entries from the history of the Clonmacnoise monastery stand out, which suggest that the Annals of Tigernach were copied and expanded either specifically for or in Clonmacnoise. An example of this is entry U614.1 from the Ulster Annals, which records the death of To Lua, the then abbot of Clonmacnoise. In the Annals of Tigernach in entry T612.1 there is an additional note that the deceased abbot comes from the Corco Mogha family.
Also closely related to the annals of Tigernach is the Chronicon Scotorum , which is also assigned to Clonmacnoise. Hughes suspects that it is a copy of an older version of the Tigernach Annals that is no longer available to us. In this respect, this copy is suitable, despite its smaller size, to fill some gaps in the annals of Tigernach.
Preserved manuscripts
The surviving manuscripts are divided into five fragments, of which the first fragment was created in the 12th century and the other fragments date from the 14th century. The first fragment covers the period from 807 BC. Until 160 from. The second fragment covers the years 322 BC. BC to 360. The remaining three fragments extend over the years 489 to 766, 973 to 1003 and 1018 to 1178.
All fragments come from the collection of the Sligo historian Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh . His collection went to Robert Ware, who sold it in 1686 to the Earl of Clarendon , who bequeathed it to Duke of Chandos , after whose death it was auctioned in 1746. Major parts of this collection, including all surviving manuscripts from the Annals of Tigernach, came into the possession of Richard Rawlinson in this auction , who passed them on to Oxford University , where they have since been kept in the Bodleian Library .
literature
- James Francis Kenney : The Sources for the Early History of Ireland. An introduction and guide . Vol. 1: Ecclesiastical . Columbia University Press, New York NY 1929, ( Records of civilization - Sources and studies 11), (Also: 2nd edition, reprinted. Four Courts Press, Dublin et al. 1997, ISBN 1-85182-115-5 , ( Celtic studies )) , (Here on page 88 there is the story of the manuscript collection of An Dubhaltach Mac Fir-Bhisigh).
- Kathleen Hughes : Early Christian Ireland. Introduction to the Sources . The Sources of History Limited, London 1972, ISBN 0-340-16145-0 , ( The Sources of History. Studies in the uses of historical evidence ), (Chapter 4 of this work contains an analysis of the Irish annals, particularly on the relationship of the annals of Ulster, Tigernach and the Chronicon Scottorum).
- Daniel P. McCarthy: The Chronology of the Irish Annals . In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Section C, 98, 1998, ISSN 0035-8991 , pp. 203-255.
Web links
Offers from the Bodleian Library for the MS manuscript . Rawl. B. 488 :
The University College Cork provides the Web to by Whitley Stokes to published Irish text:
Daniel P. Mc Carthy extensively compares the chronology and the content of the Annals of Ulster with the Annals of Tigernach and the Chronicon Scotorum on his website :