Celtic Scholar's Opinions and Reviews

This blog will mirror my Wordpress blog from now on. It will include my thoughts on subjects, links to my essays, and book reviews on the subject of the Celts, their culture, and their religion.

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THE ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS

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FLED BRICRENN The Feast of Bricriu

FLED BRICRENN The Feast of Bricriu

I seem to have underestimated the number of little green books that I have so here are two more wonderful additions. As usual I will not be reviewing them in depth but I will talk about structure and the most interesting parts in them. As you must have read from the title of the post the books I will be taking about today are related to the Feast of Bricriu. And there are two books for this…

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Buile Suibhne

This review is not going to be about content but about what is available on this story in the Irish Text Society. I said a while back that I had finished all my Little Green Books but apparently I didn’t.

The three books discussed in the review.

Book One: A New Introduction by Joseph Falaky Nagy.

I read this Introduction two times, once before reading the main book and once after reading…

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Standish O'Grady's Cuculain and Other Books

Standish O’Grady’s Cuculain and Other Books

*This is a review of one book but along side reading this book I also read 3 others that are related to it. Those book are:

History of Ireland: The Heroic Period

History of Ireland: Cuculain and his Contemporaries

History of Ireland: Critical and Philosophical

Now back to the main book.

Full Title: Standish O’Grady’s Culculain: A Critical Edition

Series: Irish Studies

Editors: Gregory…

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Book Review Kings and Warriors

Full Title: Kings and Warriors in Early North-West Europe

Editors: Jan Erik Rekdal and Charles Doherty

Publisher: Four Courts Press

Published: 2016

ISBN: 978-1-84682-501-9

Pages: 480 including bibliography and index, the bibliography starts on page 433

Synopsis:

This book explores the representation of the warrior in relation to the king in early north-west Europe. These…

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The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel

The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel

Full Title: Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel: Kingship and Narrative Artistry in a Mediaeval Irish Saga

Author:  Ralph O’Connor

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford

Published: May 5th 2013

ISBN: 9780199666133

Pages: Hardcover, 386. Including GlosCsary, Works Cited and Index

Cover of the Book

Synopsis:

Irish saga literature represents the largest collection of…

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CATH MAIGE MUCRAMA

Full title: Cath Maige Mucrama – The Battle of Mag Mucrama (Volume # 50)

Edited by: Máirín O Daly

Publisher: Irish Text Society

Published: First published in 1975, Reprinted 1997

ISBN: 1 870 16650 7

Pages: 157 pages, includes Introduction, Appendix, Notes, Index to Notes, Names of Persons, Names of Peoples, and Names of Places.

Pretty Green Book

Title Page

Table of Contents

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Book Review OIDHEADH CHLOINNE HUISNEACH

Full Title: Oidheadh Chloinne hUisneach (The Violent Death of Uisneach

Edited and Translated by: Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith

Published by: Irish Texts Society

Published: October 1993

ISBN: 1 870 16656 6

Pages: 219, including Appendix I, Appendix II, Index of Personal Names, Index of Place and Tribal Names, Bibliography, and Abbreviations.

The cover of the book. It is green with…

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BOOK REVIEW: 2 books

Irish Text Society Books: The Book of Rights and Lebor Na Cert Reassessment

BOOK 1: Lebor Na Cert (The Book of Right)

Series: Volume XLVI

Edited by: Myles Dillon

Publisher: Irish Text Society

Published: First published 1962, Reprinted 1984, 1994, 2012

ISBN: 1 870 16646 9

Pages: 198, with 2 Appendices, Index of names and places, a map, and notes on it.

Review: There is no…

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BOOK REVIEW Language and Tradition in Ireland

BOOK REVIEW Language and Tradition in Ireland

Picture of the book cover.

Full Title: Language and Tradition in Ireland: Continuities and Displacements

Editors: Maria Tymoczko and Colin Ireland

Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press and American Conference For Irish Studies

Published: 2003

ISBN: 9781558494275

Pages: 240 including Notes on Contributors and Index.

Synopsis: If language and culture are intimately…

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BOOK REVIEW The Strange World of Human Sacrifice

Full Title: The Strange World of Human Sacrifice

Series: Studies in History and Anthropology of Religion 01

Editor: Jan N. Bremmer

Publisher: Peeters

Published: 2007

ISBN: 978-90-429-1843-6

Pages: 268 including Index of names, subjects and passages that starts on page 259

SYNOPSIS:

**description from GoodReads.com

REVIEW:

Essays

– Human Sacrifice: A Brief Introduction: this introductory essay…

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BOOK REVIEW Sacred Histories: A Festschrift for Maire Herbert

Full Title: Sacred Histories: A Festschrift for Maire Herbert

Editors: John Carey, Kevin Murray, and Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh

Publisher: Four Courts Press

Copyright: November 6, 2015

ISBN: 978-1846825644

Pages: 460 including

Synopsis: Sacred Histories is a collection of essays that focuses on the historical subtext of narrative (in Latin and Irish) from medieval Ireland. Contributions engage with…

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The Bell Beaker Transition in Europe

Full Title: The Bell Beaker Transition in Europe – Mobility and Local Evolution During the 3rd Millennium BC.

Editors: Maria Pilar Prieto Martínez and Laure Salanova

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2015

ISBN: 978-1-78297-927-2

Pages: 214, with each essay having its notes and bibliography at the end of the essay.

Synopsis:

Review: This text brings together 17 articles that were initially…

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Playing the Hero

Full Title: Playing the Hero – Reading the Irish Saga Táin Bó Cúailnge

Author: Ann Dooley

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2006

ISBN: 9780802038326

Pages: 298 including notes, Bibliography, and Index

Synopsis:

Review: I have never been utterly confused by a book as much as I have been confused by this one. I don’t know if it is because the author like to complicate things, or it…

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Tracing the Indo-Europeans

Full Title: Tracing the Indo-Europeans – New Evidence from Archaeology and Historical Linguistics.

Edited by: Brigit Anette Olsen, Thomas Olander, and Kristian Kristiansen

Publisher: OXBOW Books

Published: 2019

ISBN: 978-1-78925-270-5

Pages: 184

Synopsis: Recent developments in aDNA has reshaped our understanding of later European prehistory, and at the same time also opened up…

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The Otherworld Voyage

Full Title: The Otherworld Voyage In Early Irish Literature – An Anthology of Criticism

Editor: Jonathan M. Wooding

Publisher: Four Courts Press

Published: 2000

ISBN: 978-1-84682-556-9

Pages: 290, Includes an Appendix, Bibliography, and Index

Synopsis:

Prominent in the literature of early Ireland are the tales known as echtrai (adventures) and immrama (voyages), stories…

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The Wisdom of the Outlaw

Title: The Wisdom of the Outlaw: The Boyhood Deeds of Finn in Gaelic Narrative Tradition.

Author: Joseph Falaky Nagy

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 1985

ISBN: 0-520-05824-6

Pages: 338 with Appendix One starting at 209; the book includes Appendix One, Appendix Two, an extensive notes section as well as an index and bibliography.

Synopsis:

Review: It took forever to get my…

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