Hey friends. I've been researching Irish mythology recently, specifically the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians. I am looking for some primary sources in translation and I was wondering if anyone can recommend translations which are especially faithful to the original Irish. It would be great if they are readily available online, but I don't mind going out of my way to acquire them. Thanks!

JL

University College Cork have a lot of medieval literature online, in the original languages and translations. You might find what you're looking for there. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/publishd.html

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Thanks Mick! Thats a great resource.

To add to what Mick has given you, you might want to check out the Celtic Digital Initiative Archive, where much of the out-of-print material is to be found, which has been digitised by various other initiatives (e.g. by archive.org):
http://sulis.ucc.ie/cdi/textarchive-search.php

Likewise, you will also find Irish Sagas Online quite useful; especially Aislinge Oenguso, and the Tochmarc Étaíne: http://iso.ucc.ie/Irish-sagas-list.html

I would also recommend:

Gantz, J., Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Penguin Books, 1981): Not entirely faithful translations, as it is a book aimed at the wider public.

Koch and Carey, Celtic Heroic Age (Celtic Studies Publications, get the latest edition). (especially the wooing of Étaín)

Mac Cana, P., Celtic Mythology (Hamlyn, 1969) (Brilliant overview/ introduction to the Celtic gods and their analogous Túatha Dé Donann counterparts).

Since you are especially interested in the Túatha Dé Donann, I would highly recommend reading Cath Maige Tuired on CELT and comparing the description of Lugh with Caesar's description of the God he called the Gaulish Mercury from Celt. Heroic Age.

Cian

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Ah I love those beautiful digitized PDFs. Thanks for all the info Cian! Lugh is indeed an interesting god. Its been years since I last read Caesar but I will have to go back and read his description of "Gaulish Mercury."

Also, if you know what text you want to read, put the name of the text into Google with 'Van Hamal' and you'll be brought to a site where they ll tell you where to find editions/ translations, and a list of manuscripts (not exhaustive) where the tale is found:

E.g. http://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Cath_Maige_Tuired

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