Little Island Books nets Titley's retelling of Irish epic The Táin

Little Island Books has acquired a chapter-book retelling of Irish epic The Táin, written by Alan Titley.

Publisher Matthew Parkinson-Bennett acquired world rights directly from the author. It will publish on 17th March 2023 (St Patrick’s Day) in paperback. Titley’s words will be accompanied by Illustrations from the comics artist Eoin Coveney.

Often called the Irish Iliad, The Táin tells the story of Queen Maeve of Connacht and her husband Ailill, who plot to steal the sacred stud bull Donn Cuailnge from Ulster. Much of the tale focuses on Cú Chulainn – "the Hound of Ulster" – a teenager who vowed to protect his homeland.

Parkinson-Bennett said: “As a child I adored the story of The Táin and Cú Chulainn, and it brings me great pleasure to be bringing a fresh version to today’s children. Alan’s sparkling adaptation is full of wit and wordplay, features of the medieval world which sometimes get lost in translation, and together with Eoin’s brilliant comic-book-style illustrations it will be very attractive to young readers.”

Titley added: “This is a mad, crazy, chaotic and anarchic story about heroism, love, jealousy, war, magic, other worlds, pre-history, friendship, loyalty and two bulls. What else would you want in a story?”

Titley has won prizes including the Children’s Books Ireland Éilís Dillon Award. The Dirty Dust, his translation of Cré na Cille by Máirtín Ó Cadhain, was published by Yale University Press to international acclaim in 2015. He is the Emeritus Professor of Modern Irish, University College Cork, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.