The Ulster Cycle

The Ulster Cycle is another of the four cycles that make up the main part of Irish Mythology and is set around the Ulaid people, who resided in the province of Ulster. The Ulster Cycle is full of stories based around the themes of honour, courage, and loyalty. As such, it is also known as the Age of Heroes, the Cycle of Kings, or the Heroic Cycle.

It is believed that the stories relating to the Ulster Cycle take place in the early part of the first century AD, and although originally they will have been told in the oral tradition of the time by bards, they were later written down into medieval manuscripts such as Lebor na hUidre (Book of the Dun Cow) and the Book of Leinster. As we previously discussed in the Mythological Cycle, the tales were put into written form by Christian writers and monks and so they became a mixture of pagan mythology and Christian theology as the early church tried to make a link between the stories of the indigenous people and the Christian church.

The Ulster Cycle can be broken down into a group of themes, unlike the Mythological Cycle where we were able to break it down into the different invasions and people. As with the other Cycles, we will look at the background to the Ulster Cycles here and then we will be doing more on the stories and tales at a later date.

The Themes Found in the Ulster Cycle

·       Loyalty and Betrayal – loyalty and betrayal are seen throughout the Ulster Cycle and is used to shape the relationships between the characters such as Fergus mac Róich and Cú Chulainn. These characters are put into places where they are faced with balancing complicated allegiances and choosing loyalty over everything else. However, loyalty can come with a price to be paid when the decisions may be the ‘right’ one for their alliance but can come at a severe cost to other people they care about. Being loyal to one person, can lead to a sense of betrayal to others and can lead to personal conflict and ruin. The Ulster Cycle is filled with tales of heroism, and unwavering loyalty to both individuals and the community in general.

·       Fate and Inevitability – fate and inevitability play a large part in the Ulster Cycle with the characters being bound by destiny and prophecies. In the Ulster Cycle, characters are seen to accept their fate, whether good or bad and this is seen as the way that heroes live. They accept that part of their journey will, inevitably, include loss and tragedy. There is a sense that some things are out of the control of human men and women, and the supernatural world plays a part in the fates of the heroes.

·       The Role of Women – within the Ulster Cycle, women have prominent roles both as protagonists and antagonists. Women within the Ulster Cycle are shown as strong, independent, and extremely capable. Within Irish Mythology, women are often prominent and play multi-faceted and complicated roles.

Important Events in the Ulster Cycle

The Birth and Youth of Cú Chulainn  

Cú Chulainn is the main hero of the Ulster Cycle, and he is described as being a warrior who strength, courage, and skill is unrivalled. Cú Chulainn was a character in the Ulster Cycle whose life was prophesised before his birth, his mother Deichtine being told that she would have a son who would go on to be the ‘greatest warrior of his time.’

The stories and feats of Cú Chulainn are collected together in the Macgnírtha Con Culainn (The Boyhood Deeds of Cú Chulainn), and they tell the story of an extraordinary child who grew into a great warrior who played a huge part in the Ulster Cycle.

Cú Chulainn’s strength and skill could be linked to his parentage. His mother was a mortal woman, who bore a son whose father was a god. It was told that his mother met and fell for the god of light and skill, Lugh and as a result Cú Chulainn was conceived. His conception and birth gave way to a link between the world of the gods and the world of mortals which added a supernatural element to the Ulster Cycle.

Having a parent who was from the world of the gods was used as an explanation for his powers and strength from such a young age but also allowed Cú Chulainn to show the vulnerabilities which come with being mortal. His powerfulness raised him above the average mortal at the time. Originally named Sétanta, he began his life in the court of King Conchobar mac Nessa, who was his uncle.

Cú Chulainn was known for the feats that he completed in his youth which set him above his peers of the same age. He was able to defeat much older, more experienced warriors with each and his agility and combat skills left people who witnessed them in awe. Even at a young age, he showed a determination and ability to be on the side of justice and to fight to protect this homeland.

Cú Chulainn was trained by the very best warriors of the time. He first trained under the legendary warrior Ferdia and following that he spent time being trained by the warrior queen, Scáthach. As with many famous warriors, the people who acted as his mentors as he trained and grew played a big part of the warrior he became, instilling in him their values and moral codes.

A story from his youth which shows how powerful Cú Chulainn was takes place when he asked to join the macred at Emain Macha. They were a group of young warriors who were trained together and were offered the protection of King Conchobar. It was believed he was only around the age of six or seven at this time.

Cú Chulainn was invited to join them for a feat which was being hosted by Conchobar’s smith, Culann. Cú Chulainn was late in arriving as because of this, the smith’s guard dog did not realise he was invited and attacked him. Now, any normal child of six or seven would be terrified by an approaching, snarling dog, but not Cú Chulainn.

Cú Chulainn killed the dog with his bare hands! However, following this he felt a deep sense of remorse as he had killed the dog that was just trying to protect its master. He pledged that he would take the place of the dog and he would stay and protect the smith Culann until a new guard dog could be trained to replace the dog he had killed. This was how Cú Chulainn came by the name ‘the House of Culann - Cú Chulainn.’

This story is important as it shows that even as a child Cú Chulainn had a seep sense of right and wrong and that he was always willing to stand up and make amends for his actions. This story is also important as it shows why he left the name Sétanta behind and became known as Cú Chulainn.

Dogs are fierce protectors, and by taking the role of protector for Culann, it implied further his willingness to be a protector of Ulster.

The Cattle Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúailnge)

The Cattle Raid of Cooley is a story that showed conflict between the kingdoms of Ulster and Connaught and was put into written form in around the 7th or 8th century. The full story can be found in The Book of the Dun Cow (c. 1100), The Book of Leinster (c.1160), and The Yellow Book of Lecan (late 14th Century).

The story starts as pillow talk between Queen Medb and his husband, Ailill who are comparing who is the wealthiest. Neither wanted to admit to being poorer than the other!

Ailill argued that his ownership of the white horned bull, Fionnbheannach, showed that he was superior to his wife when it came to wealth. Medb did not want to lose to her husband and so decided that if she could gain possession of the Brown Bull of Cooley from Ulster then she would gain superiority over Ailill. The Brown Bull was owned by Dáire Mac Fhiachna of Ulster.

Initially, Medb sent her most trusted messenger Mac Roth to ask if she could borrow the Brown Bull for one year to prove that she was wealthier than her husband. At first, Dáire was happy to lend his bull to Medb for a year in exchange for gold, and some heifers. However, it all went wrong pretty quickly when Mac Roth’s men were overhead talk about how Medb would have taken the bull by force if Dáire said no, so either way she would get the bull.

Dáire was understandably angry when he was told and send Mac Roth and his men back to Connaught empty handed. Medb was, understandably, furious at this and gathered her army to march to Ulster.

Medb took advice from a prophetess about her plan to secure the brown bull, and she was told that it was a bad idea and would lead to a bad ending. She was determined to go ahead as she knew that the men of Ulster were under a curse that Macha had put on them which would mean that they were not a threat to her armies.

Heading Medb’s army was a man named Fergus Mac Roich, who was an Ulsterman and as such, did not really want to fight against his homeland. He tried to drag his feet on the way to Ulster and constantly warned Medb that there was one person who was not affected by the curse as a result of being part mortal and part divine being - Cú Chulainn who was 17 years old at the time. Fergus was also reluctant to fight as Cú Chulainn was his foster brother and friend.

Cú Chulainn was prepared to stand and fight the entirety of Medb’s army on his own. Finally unable to put the meeting off any longer, Fergus and Cú Chulainn met to discuss terms.

Cú Chulainn said that he would take on all the greatest warriors of Medb, fighting one each day. Then came the day when the only warrior left was Fergus.

Fergus and Cú Chulainn fought for three days. At the end of the day, they would stop fighting and embrace each other, happy that they had both survived the day. On the fourth day, they fought for the last time and by the end of the day, Fergus was dead and Cú Chulainn was mourning the loss of his foster brother and friend.

Things went from bad to worse for Medb’s army when the curse that holding back Ulster’s men broke and they were able to join the fight, destroying her army. In the confusion, however, Medb was able to escape with the Brown Bull.

The outcome of the greed of Medb and Ailill did was tragic and did not end with the slaughter of Medb’s army. Bulls, by nature, do not take well to each other and when the Brown Bull saw Fionnbheannach he bellowed challenging him to fight. The bulls fought each other viciously until the Brown Bull was able to fatally stab Connaught’s white bull in the heart, killing him.

Despite his victory, the Brown Bull was badly injured and following the fight, he escaped and made his way back to Ulster where he succumbed to his injuries and died.

The greed and need of two people to be wealthier than the other caused the deaths of countless warriors and two great and mighty bulls.

The Tragic Fate of Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn’s life was shaped by prophesy from the before his conception, and so his death was not different. He knew that he was prophesised to have an early death, but this did not stop him from living his life as a warrior and protector of the people of Ulster. In reality, the life of any warrior was probably destined to be short and swift, especially in times of conflict which were ongoing throughout the Ulster period.

What would you do if you knew from the start you were destined to die young? Would you embrace it or would you hide away and try and prevent it at all costs?

Cú Chulainn embraced it and accepted his fate. In the end, his death came about because he was betrayed, not only by his enemies, but by those who he believed to be his friends and allies. The gods themselves even played their part.

Cú Chulainn did not make himself popular with Queen Medb during the events about the Cattle Raid of Cooley and she began to conspire with his enemies to bring about his end. 

One of the ways that Cú Chulainn’s enemies were able to get to his weaknesses was by exploiting the geasa that he was bound to. A geasa was basically a taboo that if broken brought about weakness and vulnerability to the person who was bound by them.

In the case of Cú Chulainn, he was tied to the Three Great Sorrows, and his enemies knew that they could be used against him. Cú Chulainn’s geasa were as follows: he was not permitted to eat the flesh of his namesake, which was a dog; he could not refuse alms from woman; and as was common in Ireland at the time, he was forbidden from refusing the hospitality of the others.

Before facing him in battle, which they were not guaranteed to win, his enemies needed to make Cú Chulainn break his geasa. They did this by sending an old woman to Cú Chulainn with food, which was the meat of a dog. This left Cú Chulainn in a no-win situation. If he refused the woman’s hospitality and alms, he would break his geasa, but if he ate the dog’s meat, he would also break his geasa.

Having broken his geasa, Cú Chulainn became much more vulnerable to attack from his enemies.

So, who were his enemies? Queen Medb had help from the sons of the men that had been killed by Cú Chulainn. The main of these was Lugaid, son of Cú Roi who had three magical spears made which were prophesised to kill three kings. Each of these spears played a part in the downfall of Cú Chulainn.

The first speak killed Cú Chulainn’s charioteer, Láeg who was known as the King of Charioteers. The second speer killed Cú Chulainn’s horse, Liath Macha, known as the King of Horses, and the final speer mortally wounded Cú Chulainn himself.

Despite being mortally wounded, Cú Chulainn refused to give up and die on the ground. He strapped himself to a large standing rock so he would be facing his enemies in death. Finally, a raven, who was actually the goddess Morrigan, landed on his shoulder and his enemies knew that the great Cú Chulainn was dead.

Cú Chulainn’s death was an important part of the Ulster cycle as it spelled the end of the Heroic Age and began the decline of the Kingdom of Ulster.