Primary Sources Recommended for Study

The following reading list has been complied to offer current students on the Tripos with the primary sources for the Part I study of:

Part I Paper 8 - Medieval Irish language and literature

Paper co-ordinator: Professor Máire Ní Mhaonaigh

Poetry

  • Osborn J. Bergin (ed. and trans.), Irish Bardic Poetry (Dublin, 1970)
  • James Carney (ed. and trans.), Medieval Irish Lyrics (Dublin 1967; reptd 1985)
  • David Greene and Frank O'Connor (ed. and trans.), A Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry (London 1967; reptd Dingle, 1990)
  • Gerard Murphy (ed. and trans.), Early Irish Lyrics, Eighth to Twelfth Century (Oxford, 1956; reptd Dublin, 1998)
  • Donnchadh Ó hAodha (ed. and trans.), 'The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare,' in Sages, Saints and Storytellers: Celtic Studies in Honour of James Carney, ed. D. Ó Corráin et al. (Maynooth, 1989), pp. 308-31

Narrative Literature

  • Aislinge Óengusso, ed. Francis J. Shaw (Dublin, 1934); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 107-12
  • Aislinge Meic Con Glinne, ed. Kenneth Jackson (Dublin, 1990); earlier edition with trans. by Kuno Meyer (London, 1892)
  • Buile Shuibhne (the Frenzy of Suibhne) being the Adventures of Suibhne Geilt, ed. and trans. J.G. O'Keeffe (London, 1913)
  • Cath Maige Mucrama, ed. and trans. Máirín O'Daly (London, 1975)
  • Cath Maige Tuired, ed. and trans. Elizabeth Gray (London, 1982)
  • Echtrae Chonlai, ed. and trans. H.P.A. Oskamp, Études Celtiques 14 (1974-5), pp. 207-28
  • Esnada Tige Buchet, ed. David Greene, Fingal Rónáin and Other Stories (Dublin, 1955), pp. 27-44; earlier edition with translation by Whitley Stokes 'The songs of Buchet's house', Revue celtique 25 (1904), pp. 18-35, 225-7
  • Fingal Rónáin, ed. David Greene, Fingal Rónáin and Other Stories (Dublin 1955), pp. 1-15; trans. Lee J. Rayner, Legends of the Kings of Ireland (Cork, 1988), pp. 40-9
  • Fled Bricrenn: Bricriu's Feast, ed. and trans. George Henderson (London, 1899)
  • Fled Dúin na nGéd, ed. Ruth Lehmann (Dublin, 1964); trans. by R. Lehmann, 'The banquet of the fort of the geese', Lochlann 4 (1969), pp. 131-59
  • Immram Brain: Bran's journey to the Land of the Women, ed. and trans. Séamas Mac Mathúna (Tübingen, 1985)
  • Immram Maíle Dúin: the Voyage of Máel Dúin, ed. and trans. H.P.A. Oskamp (Groningen, 1970)
  • Immram Snédgusa ocus Maic Riagla, ed. and trans. Whitley Stokes, Revue celtique 9 (1888), pp. 14-25
  • Longes mac n-Uislenn, ed. Vernam Hull (New York, 1949); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 256-67
  • Mesca Ulad, ed. J.C. Watson (Dublin, 1941); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 199-218
  • Orgain Denna Ríg, ed. David Greene, Fingal Rónáin and Other Stories (Dublin, 1955), pp. 16-26; earlier edition with translation by Whitley Stokes, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 3 (1899-1901), pp. 1-14
  • Scéla Mucce Meic Dathó;, ed. Rudolf Thurneysen (Dublin, 1935); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 179-87
  • Serglige Con Culainn, ed. Myles Dillon (Dublin, 1953); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 153-78
  • Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster, ed. and trans. Cecile O'Rahilly (Dublin, 1967); Táin Bó Cúalnge: Recension I, ed. and trans. Cecile O'Rahilly (Dublin, 1976)
  • Táin Bó Fraích, ed. Wolfgang Meid (Dublin, 1967; 2nd edn, 1974); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 113-26
  • Tochmarc Becfhola, ed. and trans. Máire Bhreathnach, 'A new edition of Tochmarc Becfhola', Ériu 35 (1984), pp. 59-91
  • Tochmarc Étaíne, ed. and trans. Osborn J. Bergin and Richard I. Best, Ériu 12 (1934-8), pp. 137-96
  • Togail Bruidne Da Derga, ed. Eleanor Knott (Dublin, 1936); trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 60-106

Fíannaigecht

  • Kuno Meyer (ed. and trans.), Fianaigecht, being a Collection of Hitherto Unedited Irish Poems and Tales Relating to Finn and his Fiana (Dublin 1910)
  • Acallam na Senórach, trans. Ann Dooley and Harry Roe, Tales of the Elders of Ireland (Oxford, 1999)
  • Duanaire Finn: The Book of the Lays of Fionn, ed. and trans. Eoin Mac Neill and Gerard Murphy, 3 vols (London, 1908-53)
  • 'Macgnímartha Find', ed. and trans. Kuno Meyer, Revue celtique 5 (1882), pp. 195-204, 308
  • Tóruigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne: The pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne, ed. and trans. Nessa Ní Shéaghdha (London, 1967)

Hagiography and Other Religious Writings

  • Apgitir Chrábaid: the Alphabet of Piety, ed. and trans. Vernam Hull, Celtica 8 (1968), pp. 44-89
  • Bethu Brigte, ed. and trans. Donncha Ó hAodha (Dublin, 1978)
  • Bethu Phátraic, ed. Kathleen Mulchrone (Dublin, 1939); earlier edition with translation by Whitley Stokes, The Tripartite Life of Patrick, 2 vols (London, 1887)
  • John Carey (trans.), King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings (Dublin, 1998)
  • The Irish Adam and Eve Story from Saltair na Rann, ed. and trans. David Greene and Fergus Kelly (Dublin, 1976), 2 vols; vol. II contains commentary by Brian O. Murdoch
  • The Poems of Blathmac son of Cú Brettan together with the Irish Gospel of Thomas and a Poem on the Virgin Mary, ed. and trans. James Carney (London, 1964)
  • Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus: a Collection of Old-Irish Glosses, Scholia, Prose and Verse, ed. Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, 2 vols (Cambridge 1901-3; reptd Dublin, 1975)

Legal and Quasi-legal Texts

  • Audacht Morainn, ed. and trans. Fergus Kelly (Dublin, 1976)
  • Bechbretha: An Old Irish Law-tract on Bee-keeping, ed. and trans. Thomas Charles-Edwards and Fergus Kelly (Dublin, 1983)
  • Críth Gablach, ed. D. A. Binchy (Dublin, 1941); trans. Eoin Mac Neill, 'Ancient Irish Law: the law of status or franchise', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 36 C (1923), pp. 265-316, at pp. 281-306

Pseudo-history

  • Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil: The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, ed. and trans. Alexander Bugge (Oslo, 1905)
  • Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh: the War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, ed. and trans. James Henthorn Todd (London, 1867)
  • Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, ed. and trans. Joan N. Radner (Dublin, 1978)