An evaluation of astronomical observations in the Irish annals

McCarthy, Dennis D.; Breen, Aidan

doi:10.1016/s0083-6656(96)00052-9

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Extensive searches of relevant entries scattered through European (and some Near Eastern) historical sources confirmed the possible effects of the unidentified volcanic eruption revealed in the Crête record. A prolonged and widespread volcanic dry fog, starting in the October of about A.D. 626 (with an uncertainty of ±1 year) and lasting 8-9 months, dimmed the sun over Ireland and the eastern Mediterranean (Stothers and Rampino 1983a,b;McCarthy and Breen 1997;Stothers 1999Stothers , 2002. Distant ash fall in A.D. 626 at Constantinople was also recorded in European historical sources (Stothers and Rampino 1983b).…”

Section: Circa 626 Ad Volcanismmentioning

confidence: 90%

Circa a.d. 626 volcanic eruption, climatic cooling, and the collapse of the Eastern Turkic Empire

2007

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Section: Circa 626 Ad Volcanismmentioning

confidence: 90%

Circa a.d. 626 volcanic eruption, climatic cooling, and the collapse of the Eastern Turkic Empire

2007

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“…The large volume of accurately reported astronomical phenomena (e.g. solar and lunar eclipses) has led scholars to conclude that recording of natural phenomena in medieval Ireland was both systematic and sustained (McCarthy and Breen 1997a). One likely motivation arose from the ecclesiastical context in which the Annals were compiled and was an interest in foretelling the coming of the 'Last Days' as forewarned in the Bible by calamitous natural phenomena (McCarthy and Breen 1997b).…”

Section: Source Description and Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Medieval Irish chronicles reveal persistent volcanic forcing of severe winter cold events, 431–1649 CE

Ludlow

Stine

Murphy

et al. 2013

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Explosive volcanism resulting in stratospheric injection of sulfate aerosol is a major driver of regional to global climatic variability on interannual and longer timescales. However, much of our knowledge of the climatic impact of volcanism derives from the limited number of eruptions that have occurred in the modern period during which meteorological instrumental records are available. We present a uniquely long historical record of severe short-term cold events from Irish chronicles, 431-1649 CE, and test the association between cold event occurrence and explosive volcanism. Thirty eight (79%) of 48 volcanic events identified in the sulfate deposition record of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice-core correspond to 37 (54%) of 69 cold events in this 1219 year period. We show this association to be statistically significant at the 99.7% confidence level, revealing both the consistency of response to explosive volcanism for Ireland's climatically sensitive Northeast Atlantic location and the large proportional contribution of volcanism to historic cold event frequencies here. Our results expose, moreover, the extent to which volcanism has impacted winter-season climate for the region, and can help to further resolve the complex spatial patterns of Northern Hemisphere winter-season cooling versus warming after major eruptions.

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“…McCarthy and Breen (1997) identified the date of the Eldgjá eruption as the springtime of 939 AD after they collated and examined the Irish historical astronomical data. In the Crête ice core in Greenland, the largest acidity excess spanning about 3 years was dated at 934 ± 2 AD with high certainty (Hammer et al, 1980;Hammer, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Possible Climatic Impact in China of Iceland's Eldgjá Eruption Inferred from Historical Sources

Fei

Zhou

2006

Climatic Change

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Based on Chinese historical sources, the possible climatic impact in China of the prolonged Eldgjá eruption starting around 934 AD was investigated. An extremely hot summer was reported in 934 AD; hundreds of people died of the intense heat of this summer in Luoyang, the capital of the Later Tang Empire (923-936 AD). Snowless (and possibly also mild) winters probably occurred successively following the Eldgjá eruption until 938 AD. In 939 AD, cold weather set in abruptly and lasted for about 3 years; whereas peak cooling occurred in 939AD. In the summer of 939 AD, it snowed in the southeast of the Inner Mongolia Plateau (about 40-44 • N, 113-123 • E). From 939AD to 941 AD, hard winters occurred successively in China. Worse, unprecedented drought and plague of locusts broke out in 942 AD and persisted in 943 AD. More than several hundred thousand people were starved to death. This catastrophe was at least partly responsible for the collapse of the Later Jin Dynasty in China. By comparison with the tree-ring evidence and uncovered European historical evidence, the spatial response to the Eldgjá eruption appeared to be complex, whereas hemispheric or global cooling occurred in 939-942 AD.

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An evaluation of astronomical observations in the Irish annals

Cited by 28 publications

References 12 publications

Circa a.d. 626 volcanic eruption, climatic cooling, and the collapse of the Eastern Turkic Empire

Circa a.d. 626 volcanic eruption, climatic cooling, and the collapse of the Eastern Turkic Empire

Medieval Irish chronicles reveal persistent volcanic forcing of severe winter cold events, 431–1649 CE

The Possible Climatic Impact in China of Iceland's Eldgjá Eruption Inferred from Historical Sources

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