Cú Chulainn is believed to be an incarnation of the god #Lugh, who is also his father! His mother is the mortal Deichtine, sister of Conchobar mac Nessa, the King of #Ulster who ruled from #NavanFort near #Armagh. #CúChulainn #Irishmyths #Irishlegends #FolkloreThursday 
Born Sétanta, Cú Chulainn gained his name as a child, after killing Culann's fierce guard-dog in self-defence & offered to take its place until a replacement could be reared! Used a standing stone or by driving a sliotar down its throat with his hurley! #FolkloreThursday
Cathbad the druid announced one day that anyone who drew arms would have everlasting fame! So Cú Chulainn only 7 years old, asked for arms! But Cathbad grieved because he had not finished his prophecy-the warrior who took arms that day would have a short life! #FolkloreThursday
7 yr old Cú Chulainn by chariot killed the 3 sons of Nechtan Scéne, who had boasted they had killed more Ulstermen than there were Ulstermen still living! After, Ulstermen wrestle him into a barrel of cold water which explodes from the heat of his body! #FolkloreThursday
In Cú Chulainn's youth he is so handsome the Ulstermen worry that without a wife of his own he will steal their wives & daughters! He will have none but Emer, daughter of Forgall Monach who suggests that he should train in arms with Scáthach in Scotland! #FolkloreThursday
Cú Chulainn had a son in Scotland. Connla his 8 yr old son with Aífe who he had trained with, arrived in Ulster to see him. Cú Chulainn took him as an intruder & killed him when he refused to identify himself! It left Cú Chulainn grief-stricken! #FolkloreThursday
Cú Chulainn had rescued Derbforgaill a Scandinavian princess from being sacrificed to the Fomorians. She & her handmaid come to Ireland in search of him in the form of swans! Not realising who she is he shoots her down with his sling & then saves her life! #FolkloreThursday
Cú Chulainn gave Derbforgaill the Scandinavian princess to his foster-son Lugaid Riab nDerg who becomes High King of Ireland, but the Lia Fáil (stone of destiny), fails to cry out when he stands on it, so Cú Chulainn splits it in 2 with his sword! #FolkloreThursday
Derbforgaill is mutilated by the women of Ulster out of jealousy for her desirability & dies of her wounds & Lugaid (High King of Ireland & her husband) dies of grief. Cú Chulainn avenges them by demolishing the house the women are inside, killing 150 of them! #FolkloreThursday
When aged 17, Cú Chulainn single-handedly defended Ulster from the army of Connacht in the The Cattle Raid of Cooley! Queen Medb wanted to steal the stud bull Donn Cúailnge! He invoked right of single combat at fords & defeated champion after champion! #FolkloreThursday 🐂
During The Cattle Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúailnge), Cú Chulainn is visited by the Irish goddess of death, the Morrigan under guise of being a beautiful young woman! She turns into different animals to attack him-eel, wolf & heifer & old hag! He wins! #Ulster #FolkloreThursday
Finally in The Cattle Raid of Cooley, Cú Chulainn fought a gruelling 3 day duel with his best friend & foster-brother Ferdiad at a ford that was named Áth Fhir Diadh (#Ardee, Co #Louth) after him. Ferdiad had been persuaded when drunk! Cú Chulainn mourned him. #FolkloreThursday
Bricriu incited 3 heroes Cú Chulainn, Conall Cernach & Lóegaire Búadach, to compete for the champion's portion at his feast. In every test that is set Cú Chulainn comes out top but neither Conall nor Lóegaire will accept the result! Red the beheading story! #FolkloreThursday
Cú Chulainn has many lovers but Emer his 1st love's only jealousy came when he fell in love with Fand, wife of Manannán mac Lir. The problem was solved when he & Emer drank a potion to wipe the whole affair from their memories! #Ulster #FolkloreThursday
Cú Chulainn was raised on Muirthemne Plain in modern Co #Louth (at the time part of #Ulster)-the town of #Dundalk has the motto Mé do rug Cú Chulainn cróga (Irish) "I gave birth to brave Cú Chulainn"! #FolkloreThursday
Queen Medb conspired with sons of those he'd killed to draw Cú Chulainn out to his death. In Ireland there was a taboo against refusing hospitality so when an old crone offered him dog meat he had no choice to break his geis, thus he was spiritually weakened! #FolkloreThursday
Cú Chulainn tied himself to a standing stone so he could die standing up. Only when a raven landed on his shoulder was Lugaid convinced he was dead. As Lugaid cut off his head, Cú Chulainn's sword fell from his hand & cut off Lugaid's hand! #Ulster #Irish #FolkloreThursday
This is the Setanta Wall in #Dublin, #Ireland. Created in 1974 by the artist Desmond Kinney, it depicts scenes from the story of Cú Chulainn & The Cattle Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúailnge)! Cú Chulainn was only 17 when he fought for months to protect Ulster! #FolkloreThursday
Irish nationalists see Cú Chulainn as the most important Celtic Irish hero & thus important to their whole culture! A bronze sculpture of the dead Cú Chulainn by Oliver Sheppard stands in the Dublin General Post Office in commemoration of the 1916 #EasterRising! #FolkloreThursday
Ulster unionists see Cú Chulainn as an Ulsterman defending N Ireland from enemies to the south: in #Belfast e.g. he is depicted in a mural on Highfield Drive & was formerly depicted on 1 on Newtownards Road as a "defender of Ulster from Irish attacks"! #FolkloreThursday
The young demi-god hero Cú Chulainn is also depicted in #murals in nationalist parts of #Belfast & many nationalist areas of N Ireland! #streetart #Ulster #Irish #FolkloreThursday
The standing stone/menhir that young Cú Chulainn tied himself to, to die on his feet, facing his enemies is traditionally identified as #Clochafarmore, located near #Dundalk in Co #Louth in what was then Ulster! It is a National Monument. #FolkloreThursday
The field in which #Clochafarmore stone stands & where Cú Chulainn died is called the Field of Slaughter! In the 1920s a bronze spearhead was found in the field, perhaps showing it to be a genuine ancient battle-site! Co #Louth #Ulster #FolkloreThursday en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clochafar…
The South #Armagh Memorial Garden in #Mullaghbawn, created in 2010, commemorates 24 Provisional #IRA volunteers who died during #theTroubles. It is near Slieve Gullion mountain. It has a bronze statue of Cú Chulainn, again showing he is an #Irish hero today! #FolkloreThursday
The figure of the hero Cú Chulainn was used to commemorate the #EasterRising on the ten shilling coin for 1966. The 1916-1966 Survivors Medal & the Military Star for the Irish Defence Forces all have the image of Cú Chulainn on their Obverse. #FolkloreThursday
A sculpture by Martin Heron @MartinHeronism entitled "For the Love of Emer", depicting Cú Chulainn balancing on a tilting 20-foot pole, representing the feat of balancing on the butt of a spear he learned from Scáthach, was installed in #Armagh in 2010! #FolkloreThursday
The story is told that when Saint Patrick was trying to convert king Lóegaire (King of Tara/High King of Ireland) to Christianity, the ghost of Cú Chulainn appeared in his chariot, warning him of the torments of hell! #FolkloreThursday
Another place where you can see an image of Irish demi-god hero Cú Chulainn is at Tayto Park @taytopark #Ashbourne, Co #Meath! The Cú Chulainn Coaster is a wooden rollercoaster which features an overbanked turn & opened June 2015! #FolkloreThursday
In some stories Cú Chulainn became evil giant at odds with Finn McCool! Instead of Scottish giant it's Cú Chullain who came to Finn's house, but Finn disguised himself as a baby while his wife Oona baked cakes with griddle irons inside which he couldn't eat! #FolkloreThursday
Irish hero Cú Chulainn's appearance: small, youthful & beardless! Often described as dark, "a dark, sad man, comeliest of the men of Erin"! Sometimes blonde: "brown at the base, blood-red in the middle, and a crown of golden yellow." #FolkloreThursday
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