The Yellow Book of Lecan
Leabhar Buidhe Lecain
TCD MS 1318 (olim H 2.16)
ca. 1390

Written on vellum, with 344 columns; the first 280 were written by 1391, the next 281-334 were written by 1401.

A Middle Irish manuscript, it contains nearly the whole of the Ulster Cycle (including the oldest version of "The Death of Fergus mac Roich" and yet another version of the Tain Bo Cuailnge), "The Voyage of Maelduin," Irish triads, a life of Saint Patrick written by Fintan (which includes the odd story of Trefuilngid Tre-eochair, a giant at Temhair who is the "first"[1] to hear of Christ's crucifixion), and the ogham tract also found in the Book of Ballymote.

It is currently housed at Trinity College, Dublin, with the Book of Leinster. It is not identical with The Great Book of Lecan, which is a later manuscript.

The text of the Tain itself was translated in a suppliment to Eriu, vol. 4, 1910.


NOTE
1. Though this text makes Trefuilngid Tre-eochair the first to hear of the crucifixion, according to "The Death of Conchobhor", the famous king of Ulster heard of the crucifixion as it happened, and died upon the news.


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Mary Jones © 2003