Importance
The reliability and usefulness of the Annals as a historical source has sometimes been questioned by presentists on the grounds that they were limited to accounts of the births, deaths and activities of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland and often ignore wider social trends or events. The reality of life in the Gaelic world was that it was a patrilineal and hierarchical society, and naturally the Annals reflect this.
On the other hand, the Annals, as one of the few prose sources in Irish from this period, also provide a valuable insight into events such as the Desmond Rebellions and the Nine Years War from a Gaelic Irish perspective.
Read more about this topic: Annals Of The Four Masters
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