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  • Published: 19 November 2008
  • ISBN: 9780140455304
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $22.99

The Tain




A major new translation of Ireland's great epic of heroism, magic, bloodshed and betrayal - now in paperback

The Tain Bo Cualinge, centrepiece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's great epic. It tells the story 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.

  • Published: 19 November 2008
  • ISBN: 9780140455304
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $22.99

About the author

Ciaran Carson

Ciaran Carson was born in 1948 in Belfast, where he works as Literature and Traditional Arts Officer for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He has published four collections of poetry; his latest, First Language, was awarded the T. S Eliot Prize for the best collection published in the UK and Ireland. He is also the author of The Pocket Guide to Irish Traditional Music.