Joint Kingship595 CE
The annals give a narrow but usable picture of Ireland in 595. In the Annals of Ulster, the notice for AD 595 records the repose of Colum Cille, the death of Eógan son of Gabrán, and other deaths, while the next year’s heading carries the battle notices often used for the following year. The Annals of Tigernach and the Annals of the Four Masters likewise place the first year of Aedh Slaine and Colman, deaths of churchmen, and later battle notices in adjacent annual entries. Read together, these texts show what each compilation places in or near 595, without allowing modern harmonization.
Dateline
Annals Dating
The clearest year-marker in the Annals of Ulster is U596.0: “Kalends of January first feria, twenty-sixth of the moon. AD 595.” Under that annual heading, U596.1 records the battle of Ráith in Druad, U596.2 the battle of Ard Sendaim, U596.3 the slaying of Aedán's sons Bran and Domangart, and U596.4 the battle of Corann. The notices stand together within one annual unit. The Annals of Tigernach show a comparable method. T595.0 reads “K. uii.”, and T595.1 records the death of Cumascach son of Aodh by Brandub son of Eochaid in Dún Buchet. [1] [2]
These entries show annalistic dating rather than continuous narrative. The compiler places deaths and battles side by side under the year heading, but gives no explanation for why the events are grouped together. The safest reading is therefore limited to the annual frame itself: the heading is explicit, while the relationship among the notices is left unstated in these brief records. [1] [2]
Church Deaths
In the Annals of Ulster, the block headed U595.0, under AD 594, opens with U595.1, which records the repose of Colum Cille on the fifth of the Ides of June in the seventy-sixth year of his age. U595.2 gives the death of Eógan son of Gabrán, and U595.3 adds, with cautious wording, the repose of bishop Áed son of Brecc and of Aed son of Brénainn. In the Annals of Tigernach, T595.1-T595.3 cover Cumascach, Sliab Cua, and Tibraite, before T596.1-T596.4 continue with Baithín and Dún Bolg. The Four Masters likewise place ecclesiastical deaths alongside royal and military notices. [1] [2] [3]
These entries are best read as memorial notices, not as connected biography. They mark the deaths of major church figures, but do not explain ecclesiastical politics or set out causal links. The three compilations preserve notices of clerical deaths and reposes within a similar chronological range, but the wording remains brief and separate in each annal. [1] [2] [3]
Royal Succession
The Four Masters frame the year differently from the Annals of Ulster and Tigernach. Under M595.0, “The Age of Christ, 595,” M595.1 states that this was the first year of Aedh Slaine, son of the son of Diarmaid, son of Fearghus Cerrbheoil, and of Colman Rimidh, in the sovereignty of Ireland. M595.2 and M595.3 then record the death of Baeithin son of Brenainn on 9 June and the death of Alithir, Abbot of Cluain Mic Nois. In Tigernach, the comparable statement appears in T596.3, which gives the beginning of the rule of Colmán Rimedha and Aodh Sláine at the same time. [2] [3]
The annalists do not place this pairing in the same year. The Four Masters give M595.1 as the first year of Aedh Slaine and Colman Rimidh; Tigernach gives T596.3 as the beginning of the rule of Colmán Rimedha and Aodh Sláine at the same time; and the Annals of Ulster place the joint-reign of Colmán Rímid and Aed Sláine in U598.5, under AD 598. The notices therefore run in parallel, but they do not by themselves establish a single shared starting date. [1] [2] [3]
Battle Notices
The evidence for conflict in or near 595 is concentrated in annual notices rather than narrative elaboration. In U596.1 to U596.4, the Annals of Ulster list four events in sequence: Ráith in Druad, Ard Sendaim, the slaying of Aedán's sons, and Corann. The text gives no location or outcome for Ráith in Druad and Ard Sendaim beyond their names, while U596.3 states the deaths of Bran and Domangart directly. The Annals of Tigernach include a distinct battle notice in T595.2, where Fiachna son of Baetán son of Ainmire is named as victor in the battle of Sliab Cua in Munster. They later preserve another battle tradition in a separate annual unit, but it should not be merged with T595.2. [1] [2]
Because the records are terse, they support only limited comparison. They show that battles and killings were being entered into the annals, but they do not let the historian reconstruct a single connected campaign from these excerpts alone. The Annals of Ulster, Tigernach, and the Four Masters preserve overlapping war notices, yet each compresses them into a different annalistic frame. [1] [2] [3]
Named Persons
The year 595 as represented in these annals is crowded with named individuals rather than generalized description. U595.1 names Colum Cille; U595.2 names Eógan son of Gabrán; U595.3 names bishop Áed son of Brecc and Aed son of Brénainn; and U596.3, under the same annual block, names the brothers Bran and Domangart in connection with their slaying. The Four Masters likewise name Aedh Slaine, Colman Rimidh, Baeithin son of Brenainn, and Alithir of Cluain Mic Nois. Tigernach adds Cumascach son of Aodh, Brandub son of Eochaid, Fiachna son of Baetán, and Tibraite son of Calgach. These notices are not a continuous story; they are compact records of death, victory, and office. [1] [2] [3]
The repetition of names across compilations is important evidence, because it shows overlap in what different annalists chose to preserve. Yet the entries remain discrete and should not be merged into a larger narrative without support from the wording itself. [1] [2] [3]
Source References
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