Snow, War and Mortality
The year began with destructive weather. The Annals of Ulster place a great snowfall on Wednesday, 3 January, reporting deaths among people, birds and livestock. The Annals of Inisfallen describes snow and heavy frost sufficient to freeze Ireland’s principal lakes and rivers, together with a great loss of cattle. These accounts agree on the seriousness of the event even though one records a particular day and the other summarises the season.