An Marco Polo Gaeilge agus Fínghean MacCarthaigh Riabhach

Abstract

This article discusses the connections between the Irish adaptation
of Marco Polo’s Travels, which survives in the Book of Lismore,
and the patrons of that manuscript, Fínghean Mac Carthaigh Ri-
abhach and his wife Caitilín. It examines the principal alterations
that were made to the text as it was being translated, and suggests
that the war between Cublay Khan and two of his close family
members was emphasised in the adaptation in order to mirror the
struggles of Fínghean against his cousin Cormac, and Caitilín’s
brother’s conflict against their uncle Gearóid Mac Gearailt during
the 1460s and 70s. The article argues that the translator used spe-
cific narrative techniques to emphasise this episode in the text, that
he may have adjusted certain details in order to improve the paral-
lel between Cublay and Fínghean, and shows how the account of
the war is expanded within the text as a whole.