The Fallen Swath (An tSraith ar Lár) was first published in 1967, fourteen years after Máirtín Ó Cadhain published Beside The Killary (Cois Caoláire). During the intervening years, Ó Cadhain was deeply involved in community organizing for various civil rights causes, lobbying, and protests. This period profoundly shaped his perspective, marking a time when he truly matured as a writer. From this collection onwards, he deliberately shifted his literary focus away from the rural settings of the Gaeltacht, turning his incisive attention toward the city and urban communities.

Accompanying this change in setting, Ó Cadhain's narrative focus also moved to men as his main characters instead of the formidable women that dominated his earlier work. This striking evolution in his storytelling style and thematic scope did not go unnoticed by critics. Widely celebrated for its profound impact on modern Irish literature, this masterful collection was awarded the Irish American Cultural Institute’s literary award in the year of its original publication.