An Chraobh Airgid
On a grey frosty morning two spearmen with round shields face each other in the shallow, stony ford at Áth Fhirdia, a wicker chariot and horse waiting on each bank.

Ulaid · Ulster

Baile Átha Fhirdhia

Ardee · Co. Louth

The town of Ferdiad’s ford, where Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad fought.

Open it on the full site There it is marked on the map of the five fifths, where the road of a tale can be traced.

A town on the River Dee in Louth. Its Irish name means “the town of Ferdiad’s ford”, Áth Fhirdia. Here, the tellers say, Cú Chulainn and his foster-brother Ferdiad fought for four days in the Táin, until Ferdiad fell to the Gae Bulga and Cú Chulainn carried him north across the water. A bronze statue of the two stands in the town.

In the tales

  • 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.

See also

  • Cú Chulainn The Hound of Culann: the great hero of the Ulster tales.
  • Ferdiad Cú Chulainn’s foster-brother, who fought him for four days at the ford.
  • The Gae Bulga Cú Chulainn’s barbed spear, cast from the fork of the foot.

Sources

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