An Chraobh Airgid

Person

Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn · as a boy, Sétanta

Say it: koo KHUL-in

The Hound of Culann: the great hero of the Ulster tales.

Open it on the full site There every name opens, and a web shows who is kin to whom.

Born Sétanta, son of Sualtam and of Deichtine, sister of King Conchobar, and reared in Mag Muirthemne. As a small boy he killed the hound of Culann the smith and offered to guard in its place, and Cathbad gave him his name. He took arms at seven, on a day Cathbad said would make whoever took arms famous, and short-lived. In the Táin, at seventeen, he stands alone against the armies of Medb while the men of Ulster lie under the curse of Macha.

Kin and bonds

In the tales

  • The Boyhood Deeds of Cú Chulainn A small boy walks alone to Emain Macha, kills a smith’s hound and takes its place, and on a day of prophecy chooses fame over a long life.
  • Bricriu’s Feast Bricriu of the Poison Tongue throws a feast, promises the champion’s portion to three heroes at once, and sits at his window to watch.
  • The Debility of the Ulstermen A woman walks into a lonely man’s house and stays, so long as he never speaks of her at the assembly. Then he boasts she can outrun the king’s horses.
  • The Cattle Raid of Cooley An argument in bed over who is richer ends in a war for a brown bull, and one young man holding a ford against all Ireland.
  • The Adventure of Nera On Samhain night a man goes out in the dark to tie a withe round a hanged man’s foot, and follows the host of the sídhe into the cave of Cruachan.

See also

  • Baile Átha Fhirdhia Ardee. The town of Ferdiad’s ford, where Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad fought.
  • Bricriu Nemthenga Bricriu of the Poison Tongue, the troublemaker of the Ulster tales.
  • Cathbad The druid of Emain Macha, who named Cú Chulainn.
  • Cú Roí mac Dáiri A king of Munster and a master of disguise, the last judge of the champions of Ulster.
  • Fedelm The prophetess of Connacht who saw Medb’s host crimson with blood.
  • The Fir Bolg The people who held Ireland when the Tuatha Dé Danann came.
  • The Gae Bulga Cú Chulainn’s barbed spear, cast from the fork of the foot.
  • Macha The woman whose curse fell on the men of Ulster.
  • Mag Muirthemne The plain of Muirthemne. The plain where Cú Chulainn grew up.
  • Medb Queen of Connacht, who went to war for the Brown Bull of Cúailnge.
  • Síd Fionnachaidh Lir's hill, Sliabh Fuaid. Lir’s house, on the highest hill of the Fews.

Sources

Medieval manuscript. Written down by Irish scholars between the eighth and seventeenth centuries.

Each tale above lists the sources it is retold from. Every source the site draws on is listed on the full site.