Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
Records for 1448 depict Ireland as a patchwork of lordships, religious houses and learned networks rather than a single national story. A severe plague in Meath caused deaths among laymen, a ruling family and friars. Killings in Leinster and Connacht, alongside changes in regional lordships, reveal persistent rivalry within and between political communities. Bishops, abbots and aristocrats died, while a couple drowned on an Ulster waterway, underlining travel’s hazards. Donal Mac Cárthaigh Mór supported the Observant Franciscan foundation at Muckross. The deaths of poets Tadhg Óg Ó hUiginn and Diarmait Ó Dálaigh highlighted institutions of education, hospitality, patronage and commemoration.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
In 1447, Ireland’s divided political worlds were linked by conflict, administration, religion and epidemic disease. Domnall Ballach Maguire was killed amid Fermanagh succession rivalry, while Hugh Maguire and Breifne constable Cormac Mac Cába also died. At Trim, Lord Lieutenant John Talbot imprisoned Feidhlimidh Ua Raghallaigh, who later died of plague and was buried in the Franciscan friary. Talbot’s parliament regulated trade, officials, coinage and English dress. Plague caused heavy mortality across several provinces, affecting clergy, lords, lawyers and scholars. Meanwhile, Thomas Óg Maguire rebuilt Aghalurcher church, and an Ó Mórdha lord founded a Franciscan burial house in Laoighis for descendants.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
In 1446, Neachtan Ó Domhnaill led an army from Tír Chonaill through Breifne and Connacht, where Mac William of Mayo received and escorted him at Dunamon, demonstrating interlordship alliances and negotiated military movement. Connacht suffered Ó Conchobhair dynastic violence, while Clanricarde intervened in Thomond and mediated a Mac Donnchada partition. Ó Conchobhair Fáilghe raided Meath, exposing the English lordship’s vulnerable frontier. Successions, feuds and retaliatory killings affected Ulster and Leinster, including murder within Fenagh church. Annals also commemorated poets, clerics and devotees. Together, these records depict Ireland as interconnected by kinship, routes and ecclesiastical institutions, but fractured among competing lordships.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
In 1445, Ireland’s fragmented political order was exposed by the burning of Sligo, attacked by O’Donnell, Maguire and discontented Ó Conchobhair kinsmen opposing Toirdhealbhach Carrach. Dynastic disputes also destabilised Annaly and West Breifne, where contested lordships prompted warfare, division or rival proclamations. Other annals record killings during raiding and travel, revealing pervasive local feud. English authority remained limited: John Talbot’s appointment as lieutenant did not bring immediate control, while Gaelic lords used written diplomacy and ecclesiastical seals. Irish nobles travelled to Santiago, clerics were commemorated, and Athenry’s Dominican friary housed thirty members, demonstrating religious networks amid conflict and political negotiation.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
In 1444, Aodh Buidhe O’Neill of Clandeboye died from wounds received raiding Iveagh, prompting Eóghan O’Neill of Tír Eógain to intervene. Clandeboye leaders, allied with the MacQuillans, ambushed and defeated him in Dufferin, taking hostages including his son. Eóghan also compelled Dundalk to pay money and wine, while English government met at Drogheda with limited reach. Thomond suffered a violent Ó Briain succession rupture, including Mathgamain’s blinding and Toirdelbach’s seizure of power. Rome appointed Cormac Mác Shamhradháin bishop of Ardagh, while Trim’s Marian miracle cult, charity, deaths, warfare, and learned patronage reflected Ireland’s interconnected yet fragmented political and religious world.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
In 1443, Muirchertach Ó Cellaigh briefly captured Athlone Castle, a key Shannon crossing, before James Dillon and William Boy Dillon recovered it; William Boy was killed, while Muirchertach received safe conduct. The episode illustrated contested authority and negotiated frontier politics. Annals also record deaths, feuds, raids, restitution and killings among Irish lordships, notably in Oriel, Ulster, Connacht, Ossory and the midlands. Aengus Mac Gilla-Fhinnein, abbot of Lisgoole, died on 17 September. Legal scholars Gilla na Naem Mac Aodhagáin and Hugh Mac Aodhagáin were commemorated. Differing annalistic dates complicate events in Thomond, showing Ireland's connected institutions amid persistent conflict and rivalry.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
In 1442, James Butler, earl of Ormond, resumed the Irish lieutenancy, governing through fragile alliances rather than centralised power. In the north-west, Énrí and Eóghan Ó Néill secured assistance from the English settlement and compelled Neachtain Ó Domhnaill to cede Castlefin, Cenél Moen and Inis Eógain’s tribute. Other struggles involved Enniskillen, Oriel, Ulster raiding and Wicklow warfare. After Muircheartach Caomhánach’s killing, his father won prisoners and compensation from Wexford. Obituaries recorded lords and clergy, while Ormond rental accounts reveal farming, rents and seigneurial justice. Together, the sources portray a connected, contested Ireland shaped by castles, kinship, tribute, negotiation and authority.
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Archived: 20 October 2026
Abstract
Annals for 1441 chiefly record deaths that exposed the importance of Ireland’s learned, ecclesiastical and lordly networks. Mailin mac Tanaide Ó Maolconaire, eminent historian and ollamh of Síol Muireadaigh, died in mid-February and was honourably buried at Cluain Coirpthe; other scholars, poets and churchmen also died. Conchobar Mac Donnchada, lord of Tír Oilella and patron of poets, was among them. Regional conflict continued through Mag Samradhain feuding, Maguire raids in Fermanagh, and Mac William Uachtarach’s capture of Ó Madden’s Shannon castle. Ecclesiastical offices linked kin, land and learning, while English administration remained significant chiefly in eastern Ireland during this year.
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