Mediation and translation in Irish language literature

More than sixty years after its initial publication in Irish, Máirtín ó Cadhain's epic novel Cré na Cille appeared in an English translation: two of them, in fact - each published within a year of the other and by the same publisher, Yale University Press. This chapter takes this unusual circumstance as a stimulus to investigate the wider literary landscape and to give a nuanced overview of pertinent issues and emerging trends in Irish-language literature. Special attention is given to the role of translation, both to and from Irish, in the publication, mediation, and reception of Irish-language literature. Although much is often made of the literary afterlives of Irish-language texts in English, the author contends that these issues are best examined and understood in a multilingual context.