Binding: Paperback
Date Published: 12 Mar 2026
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.