The Destruction of the Inn

Ulster #4

by Randy Lee Eickhoff

Randy Lee Eickhoff continues the Celtic Ulster Cycle; following up his highly acclaimed retelling of The Three Sorrows , with The Destruction of the Inn . Part impacted myth, part heroic saga, and part literary tour de force; this is the tale of a king who dares to ignore the prophecy that foretells his fate.

Conaire Mór's reign has ushered in a period of great happiness and good fortune, but his three foster brothers take advantage of his position and plunder the countryside. Conaire refuses to put them to death, however, and out of brotherly love banishes them to Scotland. Where they fall in with merciless sea pirates who raid the coasts of England and Ireland, brutally slaying all whom stands against them, until finally the three brothers come back to the land of Conaire Mór.

Filled with the adventure and tragedy, and told in the style that Randy Lee Eickhoff has made his own, The Destruction of the Inn is a story of Ireland's past, and one of her most enduring tales.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2001

Reviews

[J.S. Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Per many reviewers who have commented here, the ancient language of the original
[ Gaelic: Togail Bruidne da Derga ] lost some verve in this translation. Use of modern vernacular is one reason.

Other authors, mostly academics, have written at length about bits of this tale recycled by James Joyce in titles Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

I have read and re-read this translation for comparison with other translations of the old texts. A different approach than a pure linguistic translation is to look for the context of this story. I like to mix archaeology with the old myths and am not alone in that effort. The social upheaval hinted at in Eickhoff's The Feast is more striking in the translation found on the UC-Cork website, ucc-celt.ie .

Another aspect worth noting in this tale is the bull-feast at Tara used to select the next warrior-lord, which points to very early practices. For more on that, see Tara from the past to the future (Wordwell, 2013) and archaeologist John Waddell's on union with the land-goddess/white horse though that is omitted from Eickhoff for the most part;

and the article : Newman, Conor. Procession and Symbolism at Tara: Analysis of Tech Midchuarta (The Banqueting Hall) In The Context of The Sacral Campus. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 26(4): 415-38, 2007.

[Pody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not an expert in Celtic translation, so I can’t comment on how true this story is to its source material. But the book was great - 5 stars because the series is great and I want to boost it. True review is 4 stars because the three books prior in this series were better (in my totally subjective opinion.) looking forward to reading the next two!

[Pye Josephus Joestar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Destruction of the Inn was a fantastical tale that really drew me in with it's strange intro. the book tells the tale of early king of Ireland named Connaire but his origins were even more interesting than Connaires story, that's not to say his story wasn't interesting. I really enjoyed a lot of the characters in this book and was enthralled with what was going to happen to Connaire by the end of the book. the ending of the book is how you might expect, being predictable but it's still something you want to see through to the end. this book was enjoyable to read and a recommended read to people who have read at least the second and third novel in Randy Eickhoff's Ulster cycle.

[TC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps the saddest thing in literature is when a great work is re-written as pap. Modern colloquialisms and trite interaction between characters may produce a more accessible version, accessible to folks who cannot appreciate the story without the lowbrow treatment.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting blend of storytelling and scholarship.