Moylurg’s Mortal Year
Archived: 23 October 2026
During 1349, a pestilence remembered as the Black Death became an all-Ireland crisis, although its arrival and mortality cannot be dated or quantified precisely. John Clyn recorded contagion, deaths among clergy and households, pressure on burial and care, and costly imported goods in Kilkenny. Connacht annals reported heavy losses in Moylurg, while warfare, raiding and contested lordship continued across Connacht and elsewhere. Ecclesiastical vacancies exposed institutional vulnerability, though individual causes of death remain uncertain. Clyn's final entries, ending amid violence and epidemic fear, symbolise the fragility of record-keeping. The year strained trade, worship, families and political authority without halting conflict.