Dark Ireland
Archived: 8 November 2026
Abstract
Year MarkersThe annalistic record for 625 CE is compact, and its most explicit year-marker comes from the Annals of Ulster, which opens the entry with the kalends of January and then describes the year as dark. That same notice places several deaths in the year: Áedán son of Cumuscach, Colmán son of Comgallán, Rónán son of Tuathal, and Mongán son of Fiachna of Lurga. The entry also preserves a poetic aside attached to those deaths.A parallel compilation, the Annals of Inisfallen, presents the same year with a different selection of notices. Its 625 entry records the repose of Colmán Stélláin,