Tóruigheacht Gruaidhe Griansholus – The Pursuit of Gruaidh Grian-Sholus

Cur síos

Cecile O’Rahilly (foilsithe den chéad uair / first published 1924)

xxx + 158 pp. ISBN 1 870 16624 8

The story of the pursuit of Gruaidh Grian-Sholus belongs to the romantic cycle of Irish story-telling. However, like ‘the Martial Career of Flat-nailed Conghal’ (Vol. 5 above), it features characters, such as the main hero, Cú Chulainn, and Fearghus mac Rosa, who belong to the heroic cycle of Ulster tales. This edition was Cecile O’Rahilly’s first encounter with a text featuring Cú Chulainn; she was later to become the foremost authority on the tales of the heroic cycle and the editor of several recensions of Táin Bó Chuailnge, including that of the Book of Leinster (Vol. 49 below). Her excellent introduction to this volume includes an account of the ‘Cú Chulainn cycle’ of tales in its later phases.