Belleisle on Upper Lough Erne, Co Fermanagh with Séamas Mac Annaidh

Séamas Mac Annaidh speaks about the history of Belleisle.
Belleisle was the ancient territory of the Mac Manuses whose land lay to the east of the Upper Lough Erne. The Annals of Ulster were compiled here under the patronage of Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa who was a leading cleric in Fermanagh as well as the grandson of chieftain, Tomás Óg Maguire. Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa commissioned Ruaidhri Ó Luinin, a local scholar and scribe, to compile the Annals. Ó Luinín worked on the original manuscript at Ballymacmanus Island now known as Belleisle.

The Annals of Ulster are one of the most important historical sources for medieval Ireland. The Annals recorded Irish history in short entries arranged chronologically. They began with the coming of Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and continued up to the beginning of the 16th century. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the entries have a greater Fermanagh focus, particularly concentrating on the exploits of the ruling Maguires. The original manuscript of the Annals of Ulster was probably written between 1489 and 1505. It is now in Trinity College, Dublin. A copy of the original was made between 1505 and 1507 and is now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

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