Sweeney Astray. A Version from the Irish. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. 1984. First American Edition. Pp, 77. Quarter cloth over pale green paper boards, in publisher’s dust jacket. Neat ownership name & date to endpaper; a nice bright copy.

Signed by Seamus Heaney on the title page.

A celebrated translation by Seamus Heaney of the medieval Irish epic Buile Suibhne (The Madness of Sweeney). Published by Field Day Theatre Company in Derry, the work recounts the legend of King Sweeney, cursed to wander Ireland as a mad outcast after insulting a cleric. Blending poetry and prose, Heaney’s rendition captures the original’s lyrical intensity while making it accessible to modern readers. The translation reflects themes of exile, nature, and the clash between pagan and Christian Ireland, reinforcing Heaney’s fascination with myth and cultural identity.