Annals Obituaries
Archived: 2 November 2026
Abstract
In 659 CE, Ireland’s surviving annalistic record is unusually quiet about battles, harvests and royal assemblies, but it is not empty. The Annals of Ulster, in an entry whose calendar heading explicitly identifies the year as AD 659, records a cluster of deaths: Bishop Fínán son of Rímid, Colmán of Glendalough, Daniél bishop of Cenn Garad, Echaid son of Blathmac, Conall Crannamna, and Eóganán son of Tóthalán. This is firm evidence for what the annalist chose to commemorate, rather than a complete record of all that happened. It offers a revealing cross-section of the Irish world: an important Leinster church,