The Insurrection in Dublin

In the Land of Youth recounts the rivalry between the courtly Queen Meave and Eochaid, the earthy king. It is filled with scenes of ribaldry and revelry and acts as a prelude to Maeve’s war with the men of Ulster.

Stephens’s two novellas, Deirdre (1923) and In the Land of Youth (1924), are drawn from the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology. They were intended to be part of a five-volume work, recounting the great Irish epic: An Táin Bó Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), but Stephens abandoned the idea, discouraged by critical reaction.