Heroic Romances of Ireland

Heroic Romances of Ireland is a book by A. H. Leahy, first published in 1906. It brings together some of the finest tales from early Irish literature, translating them into vivid English prose and verse for readers interested in Celtic mythology, Irish sagas, and the myths and legends of ancient Ireland. Drawing on medieval manuscripts such as the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, the Book of Leinster, and the Yellow Book of Lecan, Leahy presents a world of warrior-kings, fairy queens, tragic lovers, and supernatural battles that form the heart of the Ulster Cycle and early Irish heroic tradition. The first part of the book gathers five major romances: “The Courtship of Etain,” “Mac Datho’s Boar,” “The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain,” “The Exile of the Sons of Usnach,” and “The Combat at the Ford.” Together they move from enchanted fairy palaces and shape-shifting love stories to grim feasts, cattle raids, and single combat on the borders of Ulster. The second part turns to the shorter “fore-tales” or preludes to the great cattle-raid epic Táin Bó Cúailnge: Táin Bó Fraích, “The Raid for Dartaid’s Cattle,” “The Raid for the Cattle of Regamon,” “The Driving of the Cattle of Flidais,” and “The Apparition of the Great Queen to Cuchulain.” These fast-moving narratives follow warriors, queens, and raiding parties across a mythic Irish landscape, filled with enchanted herds, prophetic encounters, and the fierce rivalries of Connacht and Ulster. Arthur Herbert Leahy, a Cambridge scholar and Celticist, wrote with the conviction that Irish literature deserved to stand alongside the classics of Greece and Rome. His introductions and notes illuminate the manuscripts, metres, and historical background without overwhelming the tales themselves, making this volume ideal for students of Celtic studies and medieval literature as well as general readers.