The Tain Bo Cualinge, centrepiece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland’s great epic, on par with Beowulf and The Aeneid.

The story of the emergence of a hero, a paean to the Irish landscape, and a bawdy and contentious marital farce, The Tain tells of a great cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, Queen and King of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry off the great Brown Bull of Cualige.

The hero of the tale is Cuchulainn, the Hound of Ulster, who resists the invaders single-handed while Ulster’s warriors lie sick. In its first translation in forty years, Ciaran Carson brings this seminal work of Irish literature fully to life, capturing all of its visceral power in what acclaimed poets Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon individually called one of the best books of the year.

Paperback

Pages 256

CISEÁN

title

AG SIOPADÓIREACHT LE:

DEARTHÓIRÍ MÓRA

CÉ DÓIBH A BHFUIL AN BRONNTANAS

CÉN ÓCÁID A BHFUIL AN BRONNTANAS FAOINA CHOINNE

ÁBHAR

PRAGHAS

Ficsean Úrscéalta (1)

The Táin: Translated from Old Irish by Ciaran Carson