Oidheadh Chloinne Huisneach: The Violent Death of The Children of Uisneach

Cur síos

Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith (1992)

220 pp. ISBN 1 870 16656 6

Although the Middle Irish version of this tale, one of the so-called réamhscéalta of the Táin, was among the volumes proposed for publication by the Society as early as 1898, this never came to fruition. However, the present volume contains an edition of the Early Modern Irish version of the tale, which is often referred to as the Deirdre story. One of the most popular of the group of late medieval Gaelic Romances, collectively known as the ‘Three Sorrows of Storytelling’, the Deirdre story has served as an inspiration for many modern writers, including W. B. Yeats and James Stephens. The edition and translation of the Irish text by Dr Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith is accompanied by a lengthy introduction, which explores the relationship between this text and other versions of the Deirdre Story.