Annals of Ulster
chronicle of Irish history
The Annals of Ulster (Irish: Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa, on the island of Senadh-Mic-Maghnusa, also known as Senad or Ballymacmanus Island (now known as Belle Isle, where Belle Isle Castle is located), near Lisbellaw, on Lough Erne in the kingdom of Fir Manach (Fermanagh). Later entries (up to AD 1540) were added by others.
Entries up to the mid-6th century are retrospective, drawing on earlier annalistic and historical texts, while later entries were contemporary, based on recollection and oral history. T. M. Charles-Edwards has claimed that the main source for its records of the first millennium A.D. is a now-lost Armagh continuation of the Chronicle of Ireland.
The Annals used the Irish language, with some entries in Latin. Because their sources were copied verbatim, the Annals are useful not just for historians, but also for linguists studying the evolution of the Irish language.
A century later, the Annals of Ulster became an important source for the authors of the Annals of the Four Masters. It also informs the Irish text Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib.
The Library of Trinity College, Dublin, possesses the original manuscript; the Bodleian Library in Oxford has a contemporary copy that fills some of the gaps in the original.
The public source identifies “Annals of Ulster” as chronicle of Irish history. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Annals, Ulster and chronicle.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q564325. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1540 and 1489.
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This entry incorporates text from “Annals of Ulster” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.