6 - The chronology of the ‘Chronicle of Ireland’, 431–730

Summary

Introduction

The genre of the chronicle is by definition based on a structure of time, describing events in the past, present and sometimes even the future in a linear fashion. In order to place events in time in relation to each other with any accuracy, chronicles need to contain a dating system. In annalistic Irish chronicles, the main structural element is the year, each of which begins with K., Kl., Kal. (usually with an abbreviation stroke) or Kal. Ianair, standing for the kalends (first) of January. Before the late seventh century, AT, CS, AI, and the H² additions to AU also sometimes follow this with a ferial number, which indicated the day of the week on the first of January. Every year the first of January occurs on a different day, and every fourth year is a leap year, so the ferial number changes, going up by one for three years in a row and then by two for the following year. Each day of the week is given a number (numbered from one for Sunday to seven for Saturday), which, when combined with the changes each year produces a 28-year cycle. Much less common in this section of the Irish chronicles is the inclusion of the epact (the day of the lunar cycle), although it is found in some annals in AI and the H² additions to AU.