Print edition of Annals of Four Masters to go on display for Donegal Town 550

As part of the Donegal Town 550th celebrations, scholar John O’Donovan’s edition of The Annals of the Four Masters will go on display. 

Donegal Town Library will host the seven volume edition which was published in 1856. The library on the Mountcharles road is open on Thursdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 1.30pm to 5.30pm. 

The Four Masters are synonymous with Donegal Town, with the iconic obelisk monument on the Diamond dedicated to them. The name has been used by businesses and organisations linked with or located in the town, including the Gaelscoil, GAA Club and bookshop. 

Much of the work took place while the Four Masters were trying to evade capture by the occupying crown forces. There are numerous places around the local countryside where they are believed to have found shelter to carry out their work. 

The Four Masters were Franciscan brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh and three laymen, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, Fearfeasa Ó Maolchonaire and Cú Choigcríche Ó Duibhgeannáin. 

Michael O'Clery, a native of Donegal, was a trained antiquary and poet, descended from a long line of scholars. He was sent from Louvain to Ireland in 1626 to collect manuscripts relating to the lives of the Irish saints. 

While in Ireland, however, he had the idea of collecting all the ancient vellum books of local annals throughout the country. This led to a new kind of all-encompassing chronicle which was originally known as the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland.

With the annals having been compiled at one of the most tumultuous times in Irish history, they are of major importance as a record of the events of the early 1600s which includes the Flight of the Earls in 1607. 

This display for the Donegal Town 550th is an excellent opportunity to view the information gathered by the Four Masters, from the earliest records up to the age in which they were written.