#ccc35

When initially presented with the opportunity to work on this project, in spring of last year, the Celtic studies community at this university rejoiced. A project like this has never been offered in this department before, and to be able to graduate from an institution as prestigious as this with real, meaningful research under our belts was an experience we couldn’t pass up.

As a Celtic studies student at Berkeley, the presence of Brendan O’Hehir is almost impossible to avoid. Our department library is named after him and we have some of his students as our teachers. Even though he died before some of us were born, his influence is still felt on this program; his portrait observes our weekly meetings as we discuss his work. In a lot of ways, it is his continued presence at this university, and the fact that he can’t continue his work himself that makes this project so important.

However, it is not simply Brendan’s impact on the Celtic studies program that makes this project so special to us; Brendan was a brilliant scholar who made no bones about what he thought and why he thought it. While it’s true he had no qualms with publically voicing his academic disagreements; he also made no secret of those scholars whose work he respected. He brought all of this into his translations of the 24 Old Irish tales he had time to work with, which, as we all discovered, are highly source-based translations.

As far as we know, there has never been a translation like this published anywhere. Brendan’s love of the Irish language and his near legendary demand for excellence has produced a series of tales with a highly literal translation, and one that preserves the integrity of the original texts. Brendan’s translations are not some dumbed-down, sanitized version of the original texts, edited to ensure political correctness. They are gritty and graphic, as were the original tales. Nor does he retell the stories for the benefit of another academic; it is very obvious that the purpose of this compilation is to teach. It is possible that this translation is the most “valid”, if you will permit, that has ever been done, especially considering there has not been a new translation of these tales since the early 20th century. As we heard earlier, one of the defining characteristics of Da Derga’s Hostel is the poetry that, in many versions of the work, is left untranslated, and Brendan has not only addressed that, but provided what may be the first modern translation of this poetry. Not only that, but he has managed to keep the wordplay from the original texts.

For all of its innovations, this text brings up so many questions. Firstly, was Brendan going to stay with the 24 tales, or would he have added more to this collection? One can only imagine that if Brendan had lived longer, he would have translated more tales. It truly is a pity he was not able to complete this project (if that’s even possible), for in his head notes, he raises more questions about the tales, but he doesn’t presume to act all knowing about things he cannot answer. He shares his insights on his work, and his opinion of the other work that has been done, but he never tries to sound like his is the end all be all opinion.

In some ways, coming away from this project knowing that we were given the basic tools to do real research by being given access to Brendan’s work truly speaks to the nature of this program and how the undergraduates are treated like real scholars with minds and opinions of their own. For a lot of us, this is the first time we have ever been allowed to truly work with some of the texts we have been learning from since we decided to join the Celtic community, and being able to contribute insights into Brendan’s work is truly an incredible way to start our careers as academics. It is also absolutely incredible to work on this project under the supervision and tutelage of Dr Kathryn Klar, without whom none of this would have happened—at least not while any of us were still here. Not only does she guide us through the research process—something that very few teachers have time to do anymore, both in and out of the university setting—but she knew Brendan in a way that gives her a unique insight to his work. Without her, we wouldn’t know about his wit and passion for what he did, a passion, I think it’s safe to say, she instilled in us the first day we were presented with the tales.

That is not to say that we did not already have a deep instilled adoration for these tales before coming into this project; many of us had spent hours reading them before we knew we would be working with them. So being able to work with them first hand and then to be able to provide our own opinion and analysis that will hopefully be read by students of Old Irish literature for years to come is truly a dream come true. As mentioned before, Brendan’s research was highly source-based, so part of our challenge was to determine which sources Brendan actually used, which was no small task. However in doing so, we learned to compile a proper bibliography, as well as learning that there really is no such thing as having too many sources.

I don’t think it needs to be explicitly stated that Brendan is still teaching. Every day he shows us more about what it means and what it takes to be a scholar, and I know I for one, hope that what we have done thus far would make him proud.

The fact that I am working with one of his students on his work, and that she is working with me on my own work is honestly the thing I am most proud of in my undergraduate career. This man founded my department, founded the conference I will be speaking at and has contributed so much to the field of Celtic Studies.