Annal Year592 CE
The annals preserve several notices for 592 CE, but they do not all present the year in the same way. The Annals of Ulster print AD 592 for notices under U593, while the Annals of Tigernach print Annal T592, and the Four Masters print the Age of Christ, 592. Within those notices appear the deaths of Aengus son of Amalngaid and, in another tradition, the killing of Senchán son of Colmán Mór. The same year also carries a battle notice for Belach Daithe or Eudunn Mór and a notice of Gregory of Rome. The records are brief and uneven.
Dateline
Year Dating
The surviving annal entries for this year are headed in different ways. The Annals of Ulster place the notices under U593 and print AD 592. The Annals of Tigernach give Annal T592. The Four Masters print the Age of Christ, 592. These headings show the same calendar year expressed in different editorial forms within the texts, without changing the notices themselves. [1] [2] [3]
The notices grouped under those headings are short and discrete. In the Annals of Ulster, the year heading is followed by the death of Aengus son of Amalngaid, Gregory of Rome, and an alternative battle notice. In Tigernach, the corresponding year begins with the battle of Eudunn Mór and then records the killing of Senchán son of Colmán Mór. The texts present separate items rather than a continuous narrative for the year. [1] [2]
Ulster Notices
Under AD 592 in the Annals of Ulster, U593.1 records the death of Aengus son of Amalngaid. The same entry sequence also includes U593.2, a notice on Gregory, described as Roman by birth and said to have sat thirteen years, six months, and ten days, with burial in the basilica of St Peter the Apostle. These are independent notices within the same annal year. [1]
The Annals of Ulster also add an alternative battle notice for the same year. U593.3 says, Or this year, the battle of Belach Daithe, in which Colmán Bec son of Diarmait fell, while Áed son of Ainmire was victor. The wording marks the notice as one possibility among the year entries rather than as the only record for the year. [1]
Tigernach Record
The Annals of Tigernach present Annal T592 with two notices. T592.1 records the battle of Eudunn Mór, where Gerthide son of Rónán, king of Cianacht, fell and Fiachna son of Baetán was victor. T592.2 then records the killing of Senchán son of Colmán Mór. The entries are separate and both are placed under the same annal year. [2]
Tigernach does not reproduce the Gregory notice found in Ulster, and it does not include the Ulster battle of Belach Daithe. In the retrieved passage for T592, the year is represented by the Eudunn Mór battle and the killing of Senchán only. This is a difference of contents between the two annal traditions as quoted here. [1] [2]
Four Masters
The Four Masters also place the year 592 in an annal sequence of their own. M592.0 gives the Age of Christ, 592, and M592.2 records that Colum Cille died in his own church in Hy, in Alba, after the thirty fifth year of his pilgrimage, on Sunday night precisely, the 9th day of June. This notice is tied in the text to the year heading that follows M592.1. [3]
In the Four Masters, the notice for Aedh Cerr, son of Colman, son of Cairbre, belongs to M591, while the death of Colum Cille is entered under M592. The sequence therefore keeps the two notices in adjacent yearly labels rather than in a single yearly block. That arrangement matters for reading the annals, because the heading and the internal label are not the same thing, and the 592 entry itself must be read on its own terms. [3]
Cross Text
The notices around 592 are brief, but each annal tradition arranges them differently. Ulster records the death of Aengus son of Amalngaid, Gregory the Roman, and the battle of Belach Daithe. Tigernach records the battle of Eudunn Mór and the killing of Senchán son of Colmán Mór. The Four Masters place Aedh Cerr in M591 and Colum Cille in M592, so their notices for these years are split across adjacent labels rather than grouped in one block. [1] [2] [3]
The Gregory notice is also handled differently in each compilation. Ulster describes Gregory as a Roman by birth, names his father Gordian, states that he was pope for 13 years, 6 months, and 10 days, and says he was buried in the basilica of St Peter the Apostle. Tigernach gives the same Roman identity, father, tenure, and burial place. The Four Masters do not place that notice in M592; instead, they record St Gregory of the Golden Mouth in M590 as appointed to Peter’s chair against his will. [1] [2] [3]
Year Context
The surrounding annal headings show where 592 sits in each sequence without expanding the record beyond the year itself. In Ulster, U592 begins after the AD 591 heading and before U593, with U592.4 marking the beginning of the reign of Aed son of Ainmire. In Tigernach, T591 comes before T592 and T593 follows it. These adjacent labels help fix the year block, but they do not move notices from one year to another. [1] [2]
Later or earlier notices in the same books should not be read back into 592 unless the texts place them there. The retrieved material includes entries that are explicitly marked as under another year, such as U593.3 being stated as Or this year and the Four Masters beginning the next annal block after 592. For the year 592 itself, the securely dated notices remain those already listed in each text. [1] [3]
Source References
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