The Medieval Sources
The histories of Ireland written in the seventeenth century were rooted in a long-established medieval tradition and medieval Irish manuscripts were regarded as the sources for the early history of the island
The Franciscans in Ireland and Europe
The Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans) was founded in the early 1200s in Italy by St Francis of Assisi. The friars were in Ireland by 1230 when the Irish province was established. Their influence on the culture and politics of the country was considerable and enduring.
The Annals of the Four Masters
A team of professional historians trained in the Gaelic tradition headed by the Franciscan lay-brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh worked together in the 1630s to compile a history of the nation of Ireland. They became known as the 'Four Masters' and their work as 'The Annals of the Four Masters'
The World of history, scholarship and cultural politics
The 'Four Masters' belonged to a world in Ireland in which there was a renewed interest in medieval sources and Irish history. Works were compiled for various, and often conflicting reasons, but as historians many scholars cooperated despite their very differing beliefs
The legacy of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Four Masters were edited in the mid-nineteenth century by the great scholar John O'Donovan and published in Dublin between 1848 and 1851. Their publication had a profound effect on the writing of Irish history to this day
