The ‘Annals of Multyfarnham’: Roscommon and Connacht Provenance

This edition of the ‘Annals of Multyfarnham’ explores the reason why these annals were so named and it now suggests a Roscommon provenance. The annals begin in AD 45 and were written by Stephen de Exonia, who tells us that he was born in 1246 and entered the Franciscan order in 1263 when he was aged 17. His own personal contribution to the annals begins in 1261 and it is possible to determine, from internal evidence, that he was writing the annals during the period 1272 and 1274 when the annals cease. Roscommon, or its close environs, is the focus of interest, beginning with the building of the castle and a year later, 1269, the establishment of the Franciscans in Roscommon, which is the only extant medieval reference to that friary, which was burnt a year later. Richard de Exonia was then in charge of Roscommon castle and the names of his three wives and birth of a son are recorded. The Irish names in the annals also reflect familiarity with Connacht and the military activity of Aed O'Connor, king of Connacht, whose death is recorded in 1274.