The Annals of the Four Masters Irish history, kingship and society in the early seventeenth century

‘The Four Masters’—what does that name bring to mind? A GAA club from Donegal, perhaps, but more likely the compilers of the seventeenth-century Gaelic history of Ireland. I’ve often felt that the somewhat eulogistic title of that band of authors in itself ensured for them a place in the canon of Gaelic literature, evoking, as … Read more

Peer pressure: the Irish House of Lords, 1780–1801

After the partial repeal of Poynings’ Law in 1782, the Irish House of Lords became a much more important body than before. The Lords represented the great landowners and the Anglican Church; therefore, from 1782 to 1800, it required the best efforts of government in its management, thus demonstrating its true political significance. Support of … Read more

Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters

Michael O’Clery led a team who compiled the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (more commonly known as the Annals of the Four Masters), a comprehensive history of Ireland. The team included his cousin Cucogry O’Clery, Fearfasa O’Mulconry and Cucogry O’Dugan (historians), his older brother Conary and Morris O’Mulconry (both copyists). They made two handwritten … Read more

Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell

Louis O’Clery’s Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell was generally unknown until Revd Denis Murphy’s 1895 English translation. Its style combined history, praise and reverence. He probably wrote the biography after 1616, perhaps as late as 1627. Louis, chief of his sept, lost his family’s Kilbarron patrimony in the Ulster Plantation. The English granted him 960 … Read more