Overview

Irish literature has a long and rich history of wisdom-texts, from the Early Irish Tecosca Cormaic (Cormac's instructions) down to the robust modern proverbial tradition. Dánfhocail: Irish Epigrams in Verse brings together a vibrant strand of this literary heritage, the poetic epigrams scattered throughout Irish manuscripts of the modern period onwards (1600 - ). These epigrams contain pithy commentaries and reflections on universal aspects of human life and behaviour, on topics such as love, (mis)fortune, sense, drink and drunkenness, friendship, generosity and more. Collected and edited by the scholar T.F. O'Rahilly in 1921, the epigrams of Dánfhocail have been untranslated since their publication. This new edition provides a fresh introduction alongside translations of the epigrams, enabling access to a hidden gem of Irish literature which straddles the threshold of Irish literary and oral cultures over the course of many centuries.

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9781782050902

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Reviews

Wisdom never grows old, nor does it go out of date. These gems of wit, observation and advice from the Irish tradition have been made anew in this edition of the originals with sharp, pithy and crisp translations. Originals will always stand on their own but translations have to speak to the present. Aidan Doyle and Ken Ó Donnchú's versions bridge the ages with clarity and style and give accurate access to the Irish in which they were first composed.--Alan Titley, Emeritus Professor of Irish, University College Cork There is so much to like and to celebrate about this book. In offering translations of nearly 300 quatrains of wisdom verse, it brings vividly to life the richness of Early Modern Irish literature and the culture that produced and cherished it. Through their discussion of translation approach and of metrics, the authors provide valuable insight into the always-challenging process of rendering art penned in one language into the idiom of another; indeed, they invite the reader to try their own hand at working through the originals. This most enjoyable text - accessible and useful as it is to students, scholars, and the casual reader alike - will assume a place among the great popularising works on Early Modern Irish poetry such as those of Bergin and Knott. --Brendan Kane, Professor of History, University of Connecticut

Author Information

Aidan Doyle has written extensively on the structure of Irish as well as its sociolinguistics. His book A History of the Irish language was published in 2015. Other publications include North American Gaels (2020, with Natasha Sumner), 'Language and literacy 1730-1880' in The Cambridge History of Ireland III (2018), and 'Irish Gaelic', in Language in Britain and Ireland (2024). He has also translated Polish literature into Irish (Adam Mickiewicz, Olga Tokarczuk). Ken Ó Donnchú is editor of Tintúd-Aistriú (2022) a collection of essays examining Irish translation history. He has published on Early Irish literature and linguistics, Early Modern language and literature, Post-Classical translation literature (Spanish-Irish), and modern folklore collection. He edited the Irish Texts Society's reassessment of Caithréim Conghail Cláiringhnigh (2024). Ellie Farr is an illustrator, visual artist, and graphic designer from Vermont. She has a BFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute. Ellie loves creating whimsical scenes with vivid colors and flowing linework. More of her work can be found at elliefarr.com.

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