1 Giolla an Fhiugha 'The Lad of the Ferule' and Eachtra Cloinne Rígh na h-Ioruaidhe 'Adventures of the Children of the King of Norway'
This first volume of the Main Series, which was edited, appropriately enough, by the Irish Texts Society's first President, Douglas Hyde, contains two tales belonging to the so-called cycle of romantic tales. The earliest examples of these tales date to the fifteenth century, but they are very common in the later manuscript literature of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Of the two tales edited by Hyde, one, the Adventures of the Sons of the King of Norway, probably dates to the seventeenth century, whereas the other, the Lad of the Ferule, may not be earlier than about 1800. A new Introduction to the edition, provided by Máire Ní Mhaonaigh in 1998, includes a full discussion of the thematic structure, style, and manuscript tradition of both tales.
Volume 2 Fled Bricrend 'The Feast of Bricriu'
The story of Bricriu's Feast, which is one of the best known tales of the Ulster or heroic cycle, is based on two separate motifs, the 'Hero's Portion' and the 'Champion's Bargain'. These motifs link the Celts of Ireland with those of Gaul who, according to the Greek writer Posidonius, told similar tales. Also, through survivals in Arthurian literature, they provide a link with the British Celts. Henderson 's volume, although calling out for a new editor, remains the standard edition of this text. Reassessments of the tale provided by various scholars to the annual seminar of the Society, held in conjunction with the Departments of Irish at UCC in 1999, were published in the Subsidiary Series (no. 10), edited by Pádraig Ó Riain.
Volume 3 Dánta Aodhagáin Uí Rathaille 'The Poems of Aodhagán Ó Rathaille'
The Society's publication of these poems in 1900, edited by P. S. Dinneen, represented the first scholarly edition of the complete works of any Irish poet and, as Breandán Ó Buachalla pointed out in his new introduction to the volume, published in the Society's Subsidiary Series in 2004 (no. 15), the 'touchstone by which all future editions of Irish poetry could be judged'. A second, much augmented, edition of this volume was published in 1911, under the joint editorship of Dinneen and Tadhg O'Donoughue (Torna). Summing up Ó Rathaille's achievement, Ó Buachalla stated: 'the local, the national, the personal, mesh inextricably as he depicts in well-crafted imaginative verse a poet's world that is out of joint'.
Volumes 4, 8, 9, 15 Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 'The History of Ireland '
This work, written by the Tipperary priest, Geoffrey Keating (Seathrún Céitinn), between c 1618 and 1634, has been described as 'the most influential of all works of Gaelic historiography'. Drawing upon the annals, Lebor Gabála, and the various story cycles of early Irish literature, Keating provided an account of the history of Ireland from the earliest times to the coming of the Normans, an event which marked the beginning of the presence of his own people on the island. Keating set the standard for Early Modern Irish prose and, in the early days of the Gaelic League, there were some who advocated the adoption of his style as the standard of Modern Irish. In his foreword to the 1987 reprint of these volumes, Breandán Ó Buachalla wrote: 'Not only did Keating successfully assimilate in one continuous narrative the various strata and components of traditional lore..., but he masterfully recast that narrative in an intelligible modern idiom.'
Vol 5 Caithréim Conghail Cláiringnigh 'Martial Career of Conghal Cláiringneach'
As with Volume 1 of the Series, the story of the martial career of 'Flat-nailed Conghal' belongs to the romantic cycle of Irish story-telling. However, like 'the Pursuit of Gruaidh Grian-Sholus' (vol. 24 below), it features characters belonging to the heroic cycle of Ulster tales. After completing warrior deeds in Norway, England (where King Arthur was involved), and Rathlin, Conghal attained the kingship of Ireland . The ideals of heroism, physical endurance, and equity are extolled in the tale. This volume, prepared for the Society by Patrick M MacSweeney, represents the only edition of the text.
Vol. 6 Imtheachta Aeniasa 'The Irish Aeneid '
This text represents an attempt by a medieval Irish writer to adapt Virgil's Aeneid to an Irish prose form. Erich Poppe, who provided the volume with a new introduction in 1995, views Imtheachta Aeniasa as 'the product of the fusion of a developed vernacular stylistic and narrative tradition with a learned and historiographical interest in the events of classical antiquity'. This text, and the Irish adaptation of the story of Hercules ( Stair Ercuil ; vol. 38 below), were made the subject of the Society's annual seminar held in conjunction with the Departments of Irish at UCC in 2005. The papers given at the seminar will be published in the Subsidiary Series (no. 17), edited by Kevin Murray.
Volume 7, 28, 43. Duanaire Finn 'The Book of the Lays of Fionn'
With the appearance in 1908 of the first volume of Duanaire Finn, edited by Eoin MacNeill, Tadhg O'Donoughue (Torna) wrote: 'It is books of this kind that show what great work is being done by the Irish Texts Society'. Alas, forty-five years were to pass before the third and final volume, edited by Gerard Murphy, was to be published. This final volume has been described by John Carey, who edited a Subsidiary Series volume of Reassessments of Duanaire Finn in 2003 (no. 13), as 'a formidable and enduring monument of Irish scholarship'. The Duanaire consists of a collection of poetic texts relating to Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna assembled by Aodh Ó Dochartaigh in Ostend in 1627 for the use of Captain Somhairle Mac Domhnaill of Clann Domhnaill of the Route in county Antrim. As Ruairí Ó hUiginn stated, it was this commission, rather than any of his military exploits, 'that ensured that Mac Domhnaill's name and fame would endure'
Vols 8, 9 Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 'The History of Ireland' see vol. 4
Vol. 10 Two Irish Arthurian Romances
The tales featured in this volume, which was edited by R. A. S. Macalister, are examples of Irish Arthurian literature. However, as Joseph Falaky Nagy pointed out in 1998 in his new introduction to Macalister's edition, these Irish stories, are, like the romantic tales to which they belong, 'the product of confluence and mutual reinforcement between the native and foreign sources available to the author-storyteller'. Among the native sources of these essentially romantic tales were the stories of Fionn and the Fianna. Nagy's new introduction is accompanied by an appendix edited from a critical review by T. F. O'Rahilly of the original edition, which does much to remedy the all too evident deficiencies of Macalister's editorial policies.
Vols 11, 13, 18 Duanaire Dháibhidh Uí Bhruadair 'The Poems of David Ó Bruadair'
These three volumes, first published by the Society between 1910 and 1917, and edited by John C MacErlean, still form the most comprehensive edition of the works of this major late seventeenth-century poet. The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature has this to say of Ó Bruadair: 'Along with the poetry of Pádraigín Haicéad and the prose text Pairlement Chloinne Tomáis, his verse registers the chaos that engulfed Gaelic Ireland in the seventeenth century, recording its emotional impact on a highly charged sensibility'. Reassessments by various scholars of Ó Bruadair and his poems were published in the Society's Subsidiary Series (no. 11), edited by Pádraigín Riggs, in 2001.
Vol, 12 Buile Suibhne 'The Frenzy of Suibhne'
This tale is the product of a late twelfth-century monastic scriptorium, possibly that of Armagh . Whoever its author may have been, he brought together a number of traditions to form a coherent and highly artistic composition, the verse of which has been described by Joseph Falaky Nagy, who provided a new introduction in 1996, as 'a remarkable adventure in the inner workings of the persona of the poet as he vacillates between power and powerlessness'. As several modern literary works, among others by Flann O'Brien, Seán Ó Tuama and Séamus Heaney, show, Suibhne's remarkable adventure continues to inspire. J. G. O'Keeffe provided the only full modern edition of this very influential text .
Vol. 13 Duanaire Dháibhidh Uí Bhruadair 'The Poems of David Ó Bruadair' see Vol. 11
Vol. 14 An Irish Astronomical Text
This volume, edited by Maura Power, is one of the very few texts of its kind that has been published in a critical edition. As Ms Power pointed out in her preface to the edition, 'the translations of medieval Latin texts into Irish, probably for use as text-books in the schools of the 14 th and 15 th centuries, would supply material for special study'. This text was adapted into Irish from a Latin translation of an Arabic treatise by Messahalah, a Jewish astonomer who lived in Alexandria before 800 A. D.
Vol. 15 Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 'The History of Ireland' see Vol. 4
Vol. 16 Life of St. Declan of Ardmore and Life of St. Mochuda of Lismore
These vernacular Lives of saints, connected with two of the historically most important Waterford churches, were edited by one of the most eminent historians ever produced by that county. Otherwise well known for his History of the Diocese of Lismore and Waterford and his Placenames of the Déise, Power applied his vast knowledge of Waterford's local history to his edition of the two saints's Lives. While the Latin Lives of the two saints have since been edited by Charles Plummer, who also edited the vernacular Life of Mochuda, Power's edition is still of value. As Brian Ó Cuív pointed out, it also marked a 'welcome extension' of the range of material being published by the Society.
Vol. 17 Amhráin Chearbhalláin 'The Songs of Cearbhallán'
This is the only volume edited for the Society by Tomás Ó Máille, former holder of the chair of Irish at University College Galway. It is also a unique volume in another respect, representing the only departure from the Society's first General Rule which requires that all texts be accompanied by an English translation. Of all the authors whose works were published by the Society, Carolan, who was a harper as well as a poet, is arguably the best known, largely because of his musical compositions. This volume has been chosen as the subject of the Society's annual seminar for 2006, held in conjunction with the Departments of Irish at UCC.
Vol. 18 Duanaire Dháibhidh Uí Bhruadair 'The Poems of David Ó Bruadair' see Vol. 11
Vol. 19 Gabháltais Shéarlais Mhóir 'The Conquests of Charlemagne'
The 'Conquests of Charlemagne', a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Irish adaptation of a Latin original, was edited by the Society's President, Douglas Hyde, later to become the first President of Ireland, from the fifteenth-century vellum manuscript, the Book of Lismore. Writing of this text, Nessa Ní Shéaghdha described it as a 'refreshing and sensitive' translation, made with the aim of rendering the story concise and readable by omitting long-winded and tedious passages.
Vols 20, 21 Iomarbhágh na bhFileadh 'The Contention of the Bards'
The bardic poems contained in Lambert McKenna's two-volume edition of the Iomarbhágh ostensibly reflect an argument between groups of Irish poets in the early 1600s as to which was superior, the southern half of Ireland or its northern counterpart. However, in his new introduction, published in 1994, Joep Leerssen wrote that it represented more than a final display of bardic erudition and eloquence, 'it was also a unique registration of an ancient literary tradition trying to come to terms with the drastic disintegration of both its social raison d'être and its cultural Weltanschauung'.
Vols 22, 23 A bhfuil aguinn dár chum Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn 'The Bardic Poems of Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn'
In his new introduction to Eleanor Knott's two-volume edition of the poems of Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn, Pádraig A. Breatnach stated that 'the work is at once the single most comprehensive scholarly account from primary sources of the life and works of an Irish poet, and also provides an exemplary model, establishing thoroughly grounded principles of editorial method for such studies in the future'. Among the features of Miss Knott's masterly introduction is a very valuable account of the bardic poets and their work. The poems are addressed to patrons who lived in the period 1560-1590. The poet, Tadhg Dall, was a native of North-East Connacht and, after a prosperous life, may have been murdered by some members of the O'Hara family in 1591.
Vol. 24 Tóruigheacht Gruaidhe Griansholus 'The Pursuit of Gruaidh Grian-Sholus'
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.
Vol. 25 Rosa Anglica seu Medicinae Johannis Anglici
This tract is a translation from Latin into Irish of a medical text written in 1314 by John of Gaddesden. The Irish translation, possibly made about 1400 by Nicholas O'Hickey, a member of a well known medical family, reads easily, is clear and to the point. Its value has been described by its editor, Winifred Wulff, as 'chiefly lexicographical' and as representative of a vast body of manuscript material containing 'great resources in scientific and medical terminology and expression'. Miss Wulff's introduction explores, among many other aspects of the text, the subject of hereditary physicians in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales . The same editor was preparing for the Society an edition of an Irish translation of Hortus Sanitatis Hibernicus, the so-called Herbal Volume but, very unfortunately, this remained uncompleted.
Vols 26, 27 Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh 'The Triumphs of Turlough'
As Brian Ó Cuív pointed out, this volume is unique among the Society's publications in as much as it had originally been prepared for publication by Cambridge University Press, when its editor, Standish Hayes O'Grady, died in 1915. However, it remained unpublished until the Society took it over, with Robin Flower, who also provided a short introduction, seeing it through the press. A very important historical source, the Caithréim was written, probably by a professional poet-historian of the McGrath family, in the interests of a branch of the O'Briens of Thomond. It contains a stirring account of O'Brien resistance to the advance of the Normans in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It is also an excellent example of the flowery style preferred by prose writers of this period. The two volumes contain several important indexes relating, among others, to the O'Briens, Burkes and Butlers .
Vol. 28 Duanaire Finn 'The Book of the Lays of Fionn' see Vol. 7
Vols 29, 29a Instructio Pie Vivendi et Superna Meditandi
The manuscript of this work was discovered in the nineteenth century 'in an inside wall about fourteen inches thick in the Hoar Abbey at Cashel'. The text, edited by John MacKechnie, is a treatise on the monastic life addressed by a spiritual advisor to a nun. It has been described as 'possibly the dullest of the Society's publications'.
Vols 30, 31, 32, 33 Cinnlae Amhlaoibh Uí Shúileabháin 'The Diary of Humphrey O' Sullivan'
Written from January 1827 to July 1835, the diary of Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin of Callan, County Kilkenny, has been described as one of the most significant non-imaginative Irish prose writings of the nineteenth century. It is certainly an extremely valuable source of information on the manners and customs of the ordinary people of the period. Tomás de Bhaldraithe noted: 'the struggle for Catholic Emancipation, the Tithe War, the secret societies, evictions, famine and cholera plagues...are frequently mentioned in the diary. [He] gives regular accounts of markets, prices and wages. He mentions many festival customs, games, sports meetings, patterns, wakes, dances, dinner parties et cetera, in addition to his daily notes on the weather, the crops, bird, animal and plant life, which were among his principal interests'. Father McGrath's four volumes, which represent the standard edition of the diary, were made the subject of the Society's annual seminar, held in conjunction with the Irish Departments at UCC in 2003. The proceedings of the seminar have since been edited by Liam P. Ó Murchú in the Subsidiary Series (no. 14). Concluding his contribution to the seminar, Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh described the Cín Lae as a 'remarkable document', which offers us an invaluable insight into the mentalité of the historically conscious Catholic bourgeoisie during what was the crucial decade of its emergence.
Vols 34, 35, 39, 41, 44 Lebor Gabála Érenn 'The Book of the Taking of Ireland'
This late eleventh-century text contains a record of the legendary history of Ireland. John Carey, who provided the Society's five-volume edition by R.A. S. Macalister with a new introduction in 1993, described the text as 'a sweeping, unified account of the origins of Ireland and of the Gaels, extending from the creation of the world down to the time of writing'. Originally consisting of a collection of poems by several writers, the author fitted these into a prose framework which paraphrased and elaborated upon the verse. And as John Carey also stated, while Macalister's edition has been deservedly critized for its many faults, and not least for its lack of an index, it continues for the present to be an indispensable work for all interested in this enormous repository of tradition.
Vol. 35 Lebor Gabála Érenn 'The Book of the Taking of Ireland' see Vol. 34
Vol. 36 Sgéalta Thomáis Uí Chathasaigh 'Mayo Stories told by Thomas Casey'
The title page of this remarkable volume bears two much honoured names within the annals of the Society, the first of which, Eleanor Hull, commemorates the Society's first Hon. Secretary, who served in that position from 1897 until her death in 1935. The second is that of the editor, Douglas Hyde, who held the office of President of the Society, then purely honorary, from 1898 to his death in 1953. However, the title page records his much more elevated title of (first) President of Ireland, an office to which he had been elected in 1938, while this Memorial Volume was going through the press. His choice of Mayo stories was not welcomed universally, with one critic unfairly describing it as trash. While a similar Memorial Volume was planned for P. S. Dinneen, this was to be the only one published by the Society.
Vols 37, 40 Aithdioghluim Dána 'A Miscellany of Irish Bardic Poetry'
These two volumes contain a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, which was drawn partly from the historical poems of the Duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan. The compositions edited here illustrate the various periods, styles and metres practised by the filí. The editor, Lambert McKenna, was a noted authority on this type of poetry. He also edited for the Society a two-volume collection of bardic poems entitled Iomarbhágh na bhFileadh The Contention of the Bards (vols 20, 21). Accompanying the text of the present volumes are extensive notes and glossaries.
Vol. 38 Stair Ercuil ocus a Bás 'The Life and Death of Hercules'
Gordon Quin's edition of this tale, justly described as excellent by Brian Ó Cuív, brought to the attention of a wider public the last of the notable Irish versions of the Greek myth of Hercules. This version, adapted in the fifteenth century from an English translation by Caxton of a French original, was described by the editor as a 'thoroughly Irish' tale, apart, of course from its central theme. This volume, together with the Irish adaptation of the Aeneid (vol. 6 above), were made the subject of the Society's annual seminar, held in conjunction with the Departments of Irish at UCC in 2005. The papers given at the seminar will be published in the Subsidiary Series (no. 17), edited by Kevin Murray.
Vol. 39 Lebor Gabála Érenn 'The Book of the Taking of Ireland' see Vol. 34
Vol. 40 Aithdioghluim Dána see vol. 37
Vol. 41 Lebor Gabála Érenn 'The Book of the Taking of Ireland' see Vol. 34
Vols 42, 45 Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill 'The Life of Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill'
This work, written about 1616 by Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, narrates the events of Aodh Ruadh's life, from his capture and imprisonment in Dublin Castle in 1587 to his death in Spain in 1602. It focuses particularly on the period of the 'Nine Years War', including the battle of Kinsale (1601), seeing in the latter the loss of 'the authority and sovereignty of the Gaels of Ireland to the end of time.' As such, it is one of the few native sources to have covered in detail the events that culminated in the battle of Kinsale. Combining the traditional modes of Gaelic narrative with the novel features of Renaissance biography, the real aim of this literary and political document, according to Mícheál Mac Craith, was to further the martial career of Aodh Ruadh's nephew. Its editor, Paul Walsh, was one of the most productive Irish scholars of the early twentieth century. His edition of the Life of Aodh Ruadh was the subject of the Society's annual seminar, held in conjunction with the Departments of Irish at UCC in 2001. The proceedings of the seminar have since been edited by Pádraig Ó Riain in the Subsidiary Series (no. 12).
Vol. 43 Duanaire Finn 'The Book of the Lays of Fionn' see vols 7, 28
Vol. 44 Lebor Gabála Érenn 'The Book of the Taking of Ireland' see Vol. 34
Vol. 45 Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill 'The Life of Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill' see vol. 42
Vol. 46 Lebor na Cert 'The Book of Rights'
Since its first edition for the Celtic Society by the great John O'Donovan in 1847, the Book of Rights had been regarded as one of the most authoritative sources for the study of early Irish history. However, many notable scholars, such as Eoin Mac Neill and T. F. O'Rahilly, cast doubt on its antiquity. And, as the editor of the volume for the Irish Texts Society, Myles Dillon, who was also the Society's President, showed, the text was compiled in the late eleventh century, much later than previously thought, probably as a means of promoting the political interests of Munster. By making the present edition available, Dillon performed what Brian Ó Cuív has described as a notable service to Irish studies, for even if of less importance than was thought, the text is still full of interest.
Vol. 47 The Poems of Blathmac son of Cú Brettan and the Irish Gospel of Thomas
The discovery and edition for the Irish Texts Society by James Carney of this unique collection of early Irish poetry represented one of the most significant developments in Irish studies of the twentieth century. The verse provides an unrivalled insight into the early Irish reception of Biblical narratives, and into the religious mentalité of the early centuries of Christianity. The Gospel of Thomas text is of particular value to the history of the spread of apocryphal writings in Western Europe.
Vol. 48 Tóruigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne 'The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne'
The Tóruigheacht, which involves the tragedy of a young girl betrothed to an old man, is one of the best known and best loved tales of the Fionn cycle, which in turn was the most popular of Irish storytelling cycles. One measure of the tale's popularity is the number of 'Beds of Diarmuid and Gráinne' dotted around the Irish countryside. Another is the number of manuscripts of the Tóruigheacht, at least forty-one, ranging in date from 1718 to 1850. The excellent introduction to this volume by its editor Nessa Ní Shéaghdha discusses, among other aspects of the tale, its survival in many folk versions.
Volume 49 The Book of Leinster Táin
Representing the only recension of the famous epic which has been worked into a unified and harmonized whole, this twelfth-century version of the Táin set the standard of prose in Irish for several centuries. Also, unlike earlier recensions, this version of the Táin found place for the celebrated 'Pillow-Talk' of Medb and Ailill. Its editor, Cecile O'Rahilly, was a noted authority on the Táin. This volume, the second edited by her for the Society (see also vol. 24), is exceptional in that it was simultaneously published by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. The Society's volume is thus for sale to members only.
Vol. 50 Cath Maige Mucrama 'The Battle of Mag Mucrama'
Despite the reference to a single tale in its title, in fact the volume contains editions of four texts, all of them bearing on the legendary conflict between Mac Con, heir to the kingship of Corcu Loígde of South Munster, and Ailill Ólum and his son Eogan of the central plain of the same province. Eogan was the eponymous ancestor of the Eoganachta, who controlled the kingship of Munster over a period of several centuries, and one of the tales here edited, Scéla Eogain, contains the origin legend of this family. The edition, by Máirín O Daly, has been described by Brian Ó Cuív as exemplary.
Vol. 51 The Poems of Giolla Brighde Mac Conmidhe
This is one of the very few editions of an entire corpus of bardic poems by a single poet to have been published up to now, another being Eleanor Knott's edition for this Society of the poems of Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn (vols 22, 23). The poet, Giolla Brighde, belongs in the early thirteenth century, and, as such, is representative of the beginning of the bardic period proper. His poems are thus not only of a high artistic quality but also of considerable historical value. N. J. A. William's edition and translation of the twenty-two poems is accompanied by very extensive notes to the text.
Vol. 52 Cath Maige Tuired 'The Second Battle of Mag Tuired'
This volume, edited for the Society by Elizabeth A. Gray, is the only modern edition of one of the key texts of the mythological cycle of Irish storytelling. The story of the epic battle between the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomoire, although written in the Old Irish period, is preserved only in a sixteenth-century manuscript. Set within the framework of early Irish pseudo-history, as contained in the Lebor Gabála Érenn (vols 34, 35, 39, 41, 44 above) the tale is in fact, as the editor points out, timeless. Moreover, its basic theme of a battle between the gods is often compared with similar stories in Scandinavian and Indic traditions. More than any other Irish tale, therefore, it has attracted the attention of non-Irish specialists in mythology, such as Jan de Vries and Georges Dumézil. Dr. Gray's edition is acoompanied by extensive notes on the various Irish divinities featured in the tale.
Vol. 53 Poems on the Marcher Lords
This collection of bardic poems, which is found in a manuscript from the Cashel district, reflects the literary taste of a march area of the Butler lordship at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The elegies for local lords, both native and Hiberno-Norman, reveal the extent of the cultural synthesis which had taken place by then, and also present a very valuable insight into the social circumstances of the time. This edition of the poems for the Society was begun by Anne O'Sullivan, who had previously edited one of the poems separately, and, after her death in 1984, completed by Pádraig Ó Riain.
Vol. 54 Betha Adamnáin 'The Irish Life of Adamnán'
The vernacular Life of Adamnán of Iona, here edited by Máire Herbert and Pádraig Ó Riain, is one of the latest of the pre-Norman biographies of Irish saints. It was written about 950, probably at Kells in co. Meath, which had by then taken over from Iona as the leading Columban church. The Life addresses issues of obvious topical importance to this church, such as its relations with mostly local kings.
Vol. 55 Stair Nicoméid 'The Irish Gospel of Nicodemus'
The apocryphal gospel, edited here for the Society by Ian Hughes, is a very good specimen of this type of writing, which became popular in Ireland and elsewhere from the twelfth century onwards. The Irish adaptation is based on two Latin texts dealing with Christ's Passion and Trial by Pontius Pilate and His descent into Hell. This volume is accompanied by a memorial notice of the Society's Hon. Secretary, Noel O'Connell, who died in 1991 while it was going through the press.
Volume 56 Oidheadh Chloinne hUisneach 'The Tragic Death of the Children of Uisneach'
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.
Vol. 57 Beatha Bharra 'Saint Finbarr of Cork the Complete Life'
The editor of this volume, Pádraig Ó Riain, provides a comprehensive edition of the various Lives, Irish and Latin, of St Finbarr, patron of the church and diocese of Cork . The Lives written for the saint range in date from about 1200 to the early seventeenth century, and there are more manuscripts of the later version than of any other Irish saint's Life. Besides considering previous work on the saint, this volume contains a full discussion of the manuscript tradition of each of Finbarr's Lives. The publication of the volume engendered a considerable amount of controversy, and dismay, especially in Cork , where the editor's thesis that the saint had in fact never set foot in the south of Ireland, was given a cool reception. The evidence for Professor Ó Riain's view that Finbarr of Cork was identical with Finnian of Movilla in Co. Down is set out in the first chapter of the companion volume, The Making of a Saint: Finbarr of Cork 600-1200 , published in the Subsidiary Series (no. 5). which also contains an interpretation of the historical circumstances that gave rise to the production of the saint's Life.
Volume 58 Baile in Scáil 'The Phantom's Frenzy'
This new edition of the early Irish vision tale, Baile in Scáil, prepared for the Society by Kevin Murray of the Department of Early and Medieval Irish at UCC, provides a modern treatment of a text last edited by the great German scholar, Rudolf Thurneysen, in 1935. Dr Murray's analysis of the text throws considerable new light on its origins and development. The tale is set on the ramparts of the hill of Tara, which is presented as a gateway to the Otherworld. Here Conn 'of the hundred battles' is said to have met the 'Sovereignty of Ireland' in the form of a beautiful maiden, and for every drink that she gave him, the god Lug named a future king of Ireland. The text thus bears important, and highly interesting, witness to the early Irish interpretation of kingship.
Volume 59 Cóir Anmann (Part 1)
This volume is the first part of a new critical edition of the Middle Irish text Cóir Anmann , 'Fitness of Names'. The only previous edition of this fascinating text, which is full of lore on the origin of the names of famous people, was by Whitley Stokes in 1897. The text, which is characteristic of medieval Irish interest in names, has been variously described as a handbook and as a storehouse of personal name and epithet explanations. Dr Arbuthnot's comprehensive edition contains much new material, which adds to the importance of the volume. The second part, which contains an edition of the latest version of the text, described by the editor as a 'greater Cóir Anmann ' is published as vol. 60 of the Main Series.
Volume 60 Cóir Anmann (Part 2)
In the previous volume, Part 1 of the edition, Dr Sharon Arbuthnot edited two versions of this fascinating text, which deals with the traditions surrounding some of the more important names of early Irish literature and mythology. She also explored in Part 1 the relationship between these two versions and a third, by far the longest, version, an edition and translation of which she now provides in Part 2. Last edited by Stokes in 1897, Dr Arbuthnot's critical edition, now complete, will doubtless also stand the test of time.
The tragic story of Cormac Connloinges, son of Conchobar mac Nessa, was last edited in 1900. The present edition by Professor Gregory Toner reflects the enormous advances since made in Irish scholarship. A lengthy introduction, translation, and full critical apparatus accompany the edition. The editor dates the work to the early twelfth century. Moreover, he presents a very persuasive argument for a Clonmacnoise provenance, and for use on the part of the author of the monastery's extensive library, then comprising, among other manuscripts, Lebor na Uidre (The Book of the Dun Cow).