The sun., 1899-07-23


uary. l647. by northern frar called Mellon.
who was an eyewitness OF much OF what he re-
| lates. or a somewhat similar nature is the
| interesting description OF Montroses wars in
the Book OF Clanranald. manuscript written
In pure Irish and in Irish characters by a Gael
from the islands. the hereditary bard and his
torian of the Clanranads. The author gives
detailed accounts OF several OF Montrose's
battles, In which the Gaes. Irish and Scottish
! were engaged. There were several other prose
writer's In Irish during the seventeenth CEN
tury whose books. unlike those previously
mentioned had the good fortune to be printed.
| but whose subjects were mostly religious.
| /.
| Concerning the trustworthiness OF the Irish
| annals we pointed out In a previous notice
that from the fifth century onward they record
with great accuracy the few events for which
| we happen to have external evidence drawn
| eitherfrom Astronomical discoveries or from tho
| works OF foreign authors 1t will. OF course be
| borne in mind that although the documents
| upon which these annals were based were evi-
| IDENTITY OF great antiquity. yet the annals them
| selves were mostly com paratvely modern COM
| pilations from the now lost vellum chronicles
| which the early Christian monks had kept in
| their religious houses probably from tho very
| first introduction OF Christianity and OF Roman
| letters. The greatest. though almost the young
est. OF these compilations. Is the Annals of the
-Four Masters" This cspacious work is chiefly
| due to the labors OF the Franciscan Brother
| Michael O'Cleary, a native Of Donegal. born
about the year 1890 and descended from n
| long line Of scholars In furtheranca OF the
purpose which he had formed. OCleary set out
| from Louvain. where he had been educated.
| and. coming to Ireland. travelled through the
| length and breadth OF it, from abbey to abbey
| and priory to priory All tho vellum books
| and time stained manuscripts which he found
| he copied In an accurate and beautiful hand
| writing and transmitted to Iouvain. Tho
| material thus collected was turned to account
| by another Franciscan. Father John Col
| gan. who produced in 1645 two enormous
| Latin quartos. the first containing the
| lives of Saints Patrick. Bridget and Colum-
| ellie: the second comprising all the lives
which could be found Of all the Irish
saints whose festivals fell between the first OF
| January and the last OF March. Several OF the
! documents collected by O'Cleary and used by
| Colgan still survive. On the breakup OF the
| convent OF Louvain, they were transferred to
| St. Isidore's in Rome. and in 1872 were re-
stored to Ireland and are now In the convent
| of Franciscans in Dublin.
| We come now to the important fact that
| in his quest for ecceeiastical writings and
| the lives OF saints, O'Clearys eye fell upon
! manv other documents. These were the
ancient books containing the secular an
! mails OF the nation and the historical
| poems OF tho old bards. He made him
! self acquainted with this valuable material,
| and the results OF his labors in this d-
| recton were two books. The first Of these on
| titled "Successon Of Kings In Ireland" gives
| the names. succession and Renealogy OF the
Kings OF Ireland from the earliest times down
| 70 the death OF Malachy the Great in A. d.
| 1922: the second. called - Book OF Invasions."
presents an ample account OF the successive
| colonizations Of Ireland. including the inva-
| sion of the Danes down to the death Of NAL
achy. 1t was probably while engaged on this
| work that the scheme OF compiling the annals
| OF Ireland occurred to him. With the as
sistance OF five or six other antiquaries
| he set about his task in 1882. In the So
cuded convent OF Donegal and finished
1t In 1895, 1t was Father Colgan. at Lou
| vain. who first gave this monumental work tho
| title under which It Is now known that Tho
| Annals Of the Four Masters" 1t has been pub
| lished at least in part, three times. That Sec
| tion OF II which carries US down to tho year
| III. the year Of the Norman invasion, was
| printed at tho expense Of the Rev. Charles
! O'Conor. with Latin translation: the second
section. which begins in III and ends In 1915,
was published in English by Owen Comedian
| The third publication OF the Annals Of the
| Four Masters" that by O'Donovan. Is tho
| most impressive work accomplished by any
modern Irish scholar. In 1t are given tho
| Irish texts with an accurate English transla-
| ton. and an enormous quantity OF notes,
Geographical. genealogical and historical:
| the whole Is contained In seven large Quarto
| volumes
As to the contents Of these annals called "Oi
| the Four Masters" because O'Cleary had the
| pY dIatip III.
| quarians. We may say that they begin with the
| Deuge and end. as we have mentioned In tho
reign OF James I. They give from the old
books the relgns, deaths Renealogies not only
| OF the high Kings. but also OF the provincial
| Kings chiefs and heads OF distinguished fam
| iIies. men OF science and poets. with their re-
| spectye dates. They record the deaths and
| SUGGESTIONS OF saints. anbots. Bishops and
ecclesiastical dignitaries They tell Of the
| foundation and occasionally OF the overthrow
OF countless castles. churches. abbeys. con-
vents and religious institutions. They give
| meagre details OF battles and political changeA
| and not infrequently quote ancient verses In
| proof OF facts; none Of these verses. however
are OF date earlier than the second century
| A. d. Toward the end OF the annals tho sum
mary OF events becomes less arid. and. in part,
| elaborate detail takes the place OF outlines
| There is no event OF irish history since the
blIbn ol NuTlsJ 10 tHo DoRlnnlnR OF tne AeVen-
| teenth century as to which the students first
| inquiry will not be. What do the Four Mas
ters say or to- For the great value OF the
work consists In this. that 1t exhibits In con-
| densed form the pth and substance
OF the old Irish books which were then
| in existence. but which have long since
| perished. The facts and dates pre-
4 ssnted by the Four Masters were not invented