Comprehensive examination of Irish chronicles reveals the existence of two distinct and contrasting chronological traditions. The earlier of these used a 'Kł' or 'K' standing for the kalends of January, i.e. 1 January, to mark the commencement of each chronicle year, and hence I term this the 'kalend tradition'.This kalend tradition is known to have been used for a Paschal table compiled in the Eastern Mediterranean in the third century, so it long predates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. A Christian annalistic chronicle employing this tradition was introduced into Ireland in the fifth century and these annals were maintained and continued in Ireland up until AD 1590. This is the important chronological tradition for Irish historical chronology, that is for the accurate dating by AD year of historical events. Annals belonging to the kalend tradition include Chronicum Scottorum and the Annals of Tigernach, Roscrea, Ulster, Inishfallen, Boyle, Loch Cé and Connacht.
The second chronological tradition used a standardised list of the reigns of supposed 'kings of Ireland' as its chronological basis, and hence I term this the 'regnal canon tradition'. This tradition was initiated circa AD 1014 and continued in use up until AD 1685, and it is found in a remarkably wide range of literary forms, e.g. synchronisms, chronological poems, Lebor Gabála, prose histories and two annals.
For these two chronological traditions separate sets of tables have been constructed which tabulate in parallel the key chronological and entry data from their most important representatives. For each tradition these tables are accompanied by an ancillary article explaining the methods of construction, the conventions employed, and a summary of the conclusions.
These tables and ancillary articles have been made available in two formats, one for reading online and the other for downloading and printing. The tables have been divided into sub-tables of approximately 70 Kbytes in order to give efficient access across the Internet, and also to facilitate their ongoing maintenance. The online version employs conservative HTML and so it should be accessible to all popular Web browsers. The version for downloading has been made available in Word 6.0 since this file format is readily accessible and known to most readers.
These articles and tables are © D.P. Mc Carthy, and if you wish to quote them in a publication please cite my name, the title 'Chronological Synchronisation of the Irish Annals' or 'Collation of the Irish regnal canon' as appropriate, this URL and the date and edition from which you took a copy of the material you are citing. If you have any queries or comments, please direct them to me at mccarthy@cs.tcd.ie