The Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology: CĂş Chulainn, the TĂĄin, and the Red Branch
The Ulster Cycle is the heroic-age cycle of Irish mythology. The gods have receded into the sĂdhe, humans rule the country, and King Conchobar mac Nessa holds court at Emain Macha with a band of warriors called the Red Branch. The cycle's most famous text, the TĂĄin BĂł CĂşailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley), follows the boy-warrior CĂş Chulainn as he holds off the army of Connacht almost single-handed. Around the TĂĄin sit a cluster of related stories: CĂş Chulainn's birth and training, his marriage, his death, the exile of Deirdre and her lover Naoise, the troublemaker Bricriu's chaotic feast. The gods still appear, but as visitors from another country.
If you're new to this series, the four-cycles overview sets the framework, and the Mythological Cycle overview covers the gods and the world before humans. This article focuses on the warrior court and the people in it. The Fenian Cycle overview comes next.
The world of the Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle is set in a heroic age of warrior aristocracies, chariot warfare, and cattle as the measure of wealth. By the cycle's internal chronology (synced by medieval scribes with the reign of Augustus and the birth of Christ) the Tuatha DĂŠ have retreated into the sĂdhe, and humans rule the island. Conchobar mac Nessa is King of Ulster, ruling from Emain Macha (the modern Navan Fort, in County Armagh). His warrior band is the CrĂĄebh Ruadh, the Red Branch.
The cycle's distinctive features are mostly social and material. Battles are decided by single combat between named champions rather than by massed armies. Heroes fight from chariots driven by trained drivers, fast and maneuverable. Feasts are competitions: the curath-mĂr (champion's portion) goes to the warrior judged best, and the dispute over who deserves it drives the plot of Fled Bricrenn. Insults are weapons. A satire from a poet can raise blisters on a king's face. Oaths and geasa (sacred prohibitions or obligations) bind heroes even when honoring them brings ruin.
Cattle are wealth. The TĂĄin BĂł CĂşailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) is a war fought over a single bull. Raids, counter-raids, and the protection of herds shape the cycle's economic logic.
The Otherworld stays close. Heroes can be lured into it. Gods visit the human world, sometimes in disguise. CĂş Chulainn is half-divine; his father is Lugh (most of the time), the same god who led the Tuatha DĂŠ at the Second Battle of Moytura. The MorrĂgan appears repeatedly across the cycle, sometimes as a crow, sometimes as a washer at a ford prophesying death.
A long-running scholarly debate runs through all of this: how much of the picture preserves real Iron Age Celtic culture, and how much was constructed by medieval scribes? J.P. Mallory's In Search of the Irish Dreamtime is a fairly accessible investigation of this question. The short answer is that the cycle is a composite, with archaic-looking features sitting alongside clearly medieval ones.
The manuscript layer, briefly
The series opener covers this argument in detail. The short version for the Ulster Cycle: the two foundational manuscripts are Lebor na hUidre (Book of the Dun Cow, c. 1100, compiled at Clonmacnoise) and the Book of Leinster (c. 1160). Most major Ulster Cycle texts survive in one or the other, sometimes in both, and sometimes in different recensions1.
Christian framing is present but lighter than in the Mythological Cycle. The scribes mostly let the heroes be heroes. The most overt Christianizing tends to be brief epilogues noting that this all happened before the coming of Christ.
The compositional layers matter for the TĂĄin especially. Recension 1 (Lebor na hUidre) is rougher and earlier; the Book of Leinster recension is smoother, more literary, more medieval. They can be read as two different versions of the same story, not as a draft and a final.
These are the people who keep showing up.
CĂş Chulainn Born SĂŠtanta, son of the god Lugh and Deichtire, sister of Conchobar. Renamed at age seven after he killed the smith Culann's hound and offered to take its place: "CĂş Chulainn" means "the hound of Culann." Trained by the warrior ScĂĄthach in Alba (Scotland). The cycle's central hero. Holds Ulster against Connacht almost alone in the TĂĄin. Dies young.
Conchobar mac Nessa King of Ulster, ruling from Emain Macha. His obsession with Deirdre triggers the slaughter of the sons of Uisliu and the defection of Fergus and many other warriors to Connacht.
Fergus mac RĂłich Former king of Ulster, displaced by Conchobar through the trickery of Nessa, Conchobar's mother. Defects to Connacht after Conchobar's betrayal of the sons of Uisliu. Fights for Medb in the TĂĄin with divided loyalties.
Conall Cernach CĂş Chulainn's foster brother. Hunts down those responsible after CĂş Chulainn's death.
Medb (Maeve) Queen of Connacht. Rules in her own right; her husband Ailill is consort more than co-ruler. Launches the Cattle Raid of Cooley to acquire a bull equal to one Ailill owns. Both ruthless and clear-eyed about her own ambition.
Deirdre Daughter of Conchobar's storyteller. The druid Cathbad prophesies at her birth that she'll grow into the most beautiful woman in Ireland and bring ruin to the kingdom. Conchobar plans to marry her; she escapes with Naoise, eldest of the sons of Uisliu. Dies by her own choice rather than be passed back to Conchobar.
Emer CĂş Chulainn's wife. Wooed and won in Tochmarc Emire. Outlives him and dies of grief on his grave.
Bricriu Nemthenga "Bricriu Poison-Tongue." An troublemaker who delights in pitting heroes against each other. Provides the plot engine for Fled Bricrenn.
The MorrĂgan Goddess of war and sovereignty (among other things), the same figure as in the Mythological Cycle. Crosses paths with CĂş Chulainn repeatedly in the TĂĄin: as a woman offering herself to him (he refuses), as various beasts during single combat, as a washer at a ford prophesying his death.
Macha Cursed the Ulstermen so they would suffer the pains of childbirth at the moment of greatest need. Her curse explains why CĂş Chulainn alone holds the border in the TĂĄin.
TĂĄin BĂł CĂşailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)
The cycle's centerpiece, often referred to simply as "the TĂĄin." Queen Medb of Connacht launches a war to capture the Donn Cuailnge (the Brown Bull of Cooley) so she can match a prized white-horned bull her husband Ailill owns. The Ulstermen are incapacitated by Macha's ancient curse: at the moment of greatest need, they suffer the pains of childbirth. Only the seventeen-year-old CĂş Chulainn, exempt from the curse, stands between Connacht and the Ulster border. He fights a series of single combats at the ford, killing one champion after another, including his own foster brother Fer Diad in the cycle's most famous combat sequence. The Ulstermen eventually recover and rout Connacht, but the bulls fight first; the Donn Cuailnge kills the Connacht bull and then dies of his wounds. The text survives in two recensions: Recension 1 in Lebor na hUidre, the second in the Book of Leinster.
Translations: Recension 1 (Cecile O'Rahilly, CELT), the academic standard; Book of Leinster recension (CELT); Irish Sagas Online overview and texts. Modern translations by Thomas Kinsella (1969) and Ciaran Carson (2007) are the most widely read but are not free.
Story Archaeology: the Circling the TĂĄin series (Episodes 1â7+) is a close reading of the prelude tales and the TĂĄin proper.
Candlelit Tales: the ongoing TĂĄin Mosaic series; the Combat of CĂşr (Ep 13)
Compert Con Culainn and MacgnĂmrada Con Culainn (CĂş Chulainn's birth and boyhood)
Two short texts that establish CĂş Chulainn's origin. Compert Con Culainn (The Conception of CĂş Chulainn) tells how Deichtire, sister of Conchobar, conceives after a strange visit from the god Lugh. The medieval text actually preserves two competing accounts of the boy's father: in the older version, Lugh is the supernatural father and Deichtire conceives by swallowing a small creature in a drink of water; in the alternate, CĂş Chulainn is the result of incest between Conchobar and Deichtire. Most modern retellings settle on Lugh, but medieval scribes kept both. MacgnĂmrada Con Culainn (The Boyhood Deeds of CĂş Chulainn) is preserved within the TĂĄin itself: how the boy SĂŠtanta arrived at Emain Macha and quickly outclassed his elders, how he killed the smith Culann's hound by hurling a sliotar (hurling ball) down its throat, and how he took up the dog's role and renamed himself the hound of Culann.
Translations: for Compert, see CELT (Irish text, A.G. van Hamel edition); English translation in Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas. For MacgnĂmrada, read it within the TĂĄin translations linked above.
Story Archaeology: Circling the TĂĄin 04: Boyhood Deeds.
Candlelit Tales: Who Was CĂş Chulainn (Explained)
Longes mac nUislenn (The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu)
The druid Cathbad prophesies at the newborn Deirdre's bedside that she'll grow into the most beautiful woman in Ireland and bring ruin to the kingdom. Conchobar refuses to have her killed. He sequesters her instead, intending to marry her himself. Deirdre falls in love with Naoise, eldest of the sons of Uisliu, and persuades him to elope with her; the three brothers and Deirdre flee to Scotland. Years later Conchobar lures them back with a false promise of safe conduct, then has the brothers killed and takes Deirdre. She refuses to live with him and ends her own life. Fergus, Cormac, and many other warriors defect to Connacht over Conchobar's broken word, and these are the defections that put Fergus in Medb's army during the TĂĄin.
Translations: The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu (Vernam Hull edition, CELT); the later "Deirdre" recension is at CELT T301020; also in Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas.
Candlelit Tales: Deirdre of the Sorrows Part 1 (Ep 220) and Part 2 (Ep 221)
Fled Bricrenn (Bricriu's Feast)
Bricriu Nemthenga ("Poison-Tongue") builds a great feasting hall and invites the Ulster warriors with the deliberate intent of stirring up trouble. He privately tells each of three heroes (CĂş Chulainn, Conall Cernach, and LĂłegaire BĂşadach) that the curath-mĂr (hero's portion) is rightfully theirs. The three nearly come to blows, and their wives quarrel over who deserves to enter the hall first. A series of trials and tests follows, including a beheading game in which a giant churl invites each hero to behead him on the condition that he can return the favor the next night. Only CĂş Chulainn keeps his side of the bargain; the giant reveals himself to be the druid CĂş RoĂ mac DĂĄire and confirms CĂş Chulainn as the champion. The beheading game is the same plot device that turns up centuries later in the Middle English Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Translations: Fled Bricrend (Henderson edition, CELT), Irish text with notes; English translation in Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne (Sacred Texts) and Jeffrey Gantz's Penguin volume.
Story Archaeology: Dindshenchas 04: Fled Bricrenn 1, The Feasting Hall, 05, 06, and 07; plus a shorter audio version for younger listeners.
Candlelit Tales: Bricriu's Feast (Ep 83); The Champion's Portion (Ep 85) on SoundCloud
Tochmarc Emire (The Wooing of Emer)
How CĂş Chulainn won his wife. Emer is the daughter of Forgall Monach, a chieftain who has no intention of letting a young hero of unknown reputation marry his daughter. CĂş Chulainn approaches Emer at her father's house, and she sets him a series of riddles and tasks before she'll consider him. To meet her conditions, CĂş Chulainn travels to Alba (Scotland) and trains under the warrior ScĂĄthach ("the shadowy one"), who teaches him the GĂĄe Bolg (a barbed throwing spear that can only be thrown with the foot) and the fighting techniques that make him famous. He also fights ScĂĄthach's rival, the warrior queen Aoife, defeats her in single combat, and conceives a son with her, the boy who will become the central figure of Aided Ăenfhir AĂfe. CĂş Chulainn returns to Ireland, takes Emer by force from her father's house, and marries her.
Translations: The Wooing of Emer by CĂş Chulainn (CELT); Irish Sagas Online.
Story Archaeology: Circling the TĂĄin 05: The Wooing of Emer; Audio Story 3: ScĂĄthach's Story; Circling the TĂĄin 06: Women Warriors and the Training of CĂş Chulainn
Aided Ăenfhir AĂfe (The Death of Aoife's Only Son)
CĂş Chulainn, before leaving Aoife in Scotland, leaves a ring for the son she'll bear and three geasa for the boy: he is not to give his name to a single warrior, not to turn aside from any single warrior, and not to refuse single combat with any warrior. Years later, the boy (Connla) sails to Ireland to find his father. He lands on the Ulster coast. The Ulstermen demand his name; he refuses. They send Conall Cernach to fight him; Connla defeats Conall. Finally CĂş Chulainn himself comes down to the strand. They fight, and CĂş Chulainn kills Connla with the GĂĄe Bolg before either realizes who the other is. As the boy dies, CĂş Chulainn recognizes the ring and learns he has killed his own son.
Translations: Aided Ăenfir AĂfe (van Hamel edition, CELT); Irish Sagas Online; also in Jeffrey Gantz's Penguin volume
Serglige Con Culainn (The Wasting Sickness of CĂş Chulainn)
Also known as OenĂŠt Emire (The Only Jealousy of Emer). CĂş Chulainn falls into a year-long wasting sickness after attacking two otherworldly women in the form of birds. One of them, Fand, the wife of the sea-god ManannĂĄn mac Lir, eventually invites him into the Otherworld to fight on her behalf against her enemies. He goes, defeats them, and stays with Fand for a month. Emer, his human wife, comes to confront Fand and CĂş Chulainn at their meeting place. The two women each offer to step aside for the other; ManannĂĄn arrives, shakes his cloak between CĂş Chulainn and Fand to ensure they will never meet again, and the druids give CĂş Chulainn and Emer a drink that erases their memory of the affair. The text is also notable for an interpolated political prophecy delivered by CĂş Chulainn's charioteer.
Translations: Serglige Con Culainn (Myles Dillon edition, CELT) for the Irish text; English translation in Jeffrey Gantz's Penguin volume; also at Mary Jones's Celtic Literature Collective
Aided Con Culainn (The Death of CĂş Chulainn)
The cycle's tragic close. The children of CalatĂn, three monstrous sorcerer-siblings raised in vengeance for their father's death at CĂş Chulainn's hands during the TĂĄin, conjure illusions of an army marching on Emain Macha. CĂş Chulainn rides out to meet them despite warnings. To force him into the field, they manipulate him into breaking the geasa that have protected him: he is tricked into eating dog meat (a violation, since his name binds him to the dog), and his charmed spear is taken from him by satirists who threaten to dishonor him if he refuses to give it up. Mortally wounded, he ties himself to a standing stone with his own intestines so he can die on his feet. The MorrĂgan finally lands on his shoulder as a crow; only then do his enemies dare approach. His foster brother Conall Cernach takes vengeance afterward.
Translations: Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne (Sacred Texts)
Candlelit Tales: The Death of CĂş Chulainn
Two more Ulster Cycle texts are worth flagging if you want to keep reading. The other Cattle Raid tales (TĂĄin BĂł FraĂch, TĂĄin BĂł Regamna, and others) are usually classed as remscĂŠla, "preludes" to the TĂĄin, and they fill in what happens before Medb crosses the border. ScĂŠla Mucce Meic Da ThĂł (The Tale of Mac Da ThĂł's Pig) is short, sharp, and one of the best demonstrations of how the cycle's honor-economy actually works at a feast.
The Fenian Cycle is up next. The shift between cycles is significant: the Fenian Cycle's heroes are not warrior aristocrats at a king's court but a roving band of hunters at the edges of settled society. Different rhythm, different geography, different relationship to the past.
Mark Williams, Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth (Princeton University Press, 2016). âŠď¸
