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Lugh or Lug is one of the most prominent gods in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a savior. He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts. He is also associated with oaths, truth and the law, and therefore with rightful kingship. Lugh is linked with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which bears his name. His most common epithets are Lámfada[ˈl̪ˠaːwəd̪ˠə] and Samildánach.
Conall Cernach is a hero of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He had a crooked neck and is said to have always slept with the head of a Connachtman under his knee. His epithet is normally translated as "victorious" or "triumphant", although it is an obscure word, and some texts struggle to explain it. Alternative meanings include "angular, having corners", "swollen", or "possessing a dish or receptacle". The original form of the name "Conall" in Ogham inscriptions was Cunavalas.
Deirdre is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish legend and probably its best-known figure in modern times. She is known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows". Her story is part of the Ulster Cycle, the best-known stories of pre-Christian Ireland.
Conchobarmac Nessa is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha. He is usually said to be the son of the High King Fachtna Fáthach, although in some stories his father is the druid Cathbad, and he is usually known by his matronymic, mac Nessa: his mother is Ness, daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide, King of Ulster.
Cú Chulainn, also spelled Cú Chulaind or Cúchulainn and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin, is an Irish mythological demigod who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx mythology. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, who is also his father. His mother is the mortal Deichtine, sister of Conchobar mac Nessa.
Súaltammac Róich is the mortal father of the hero Cúchulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. His wife is Deichtine, sister of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster. His brother is Fergus mac Róich.
Fergus mac Róich is a character of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Formerly the king of Ulster, he is tricked out of the kingship and betrayed by Conchobar mac Nessa, and becomes the ally and lover of Conchobar's enemy queen Medb of Connacht, and joins her expedition against Ulster in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. The name Fergus means "man-strength" or "virility", and Fergus is described as being of enormous size and sexual potency. This leads him into many a precarious situation as in the story of the Táin Bó Flidhais.
In Irish mythology, Naisi, Noíse or Noisiu was the nephew of King Conchobar mac Nessa of Ulster, and a son of Uisneach. He is mentioned in the tale known as the Tragic Tale of the Sons of Uisnech, or Exiles of the Sons of Uisnech, usually found within the set of stories in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, part of the Ulster Cycle.
The Ulster Cycle, formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and Louth, and taking place around or before the 1st century AD.
Cathbad or Cathbhadh is the chief druid in the court of King Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology.
Celtchar, son of Uthechar or Uthidir, is a character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology. In Scéla Mucce Maic Dathó he is described as "a grey, tall, very terrible hero of Ulster". When he challenges Cet mac Mágach for the champion's portion, Cet counters that he once emasculated Celtchar with a spear at Celtchar's own house. He lives in Dún Lethglaise, also known as the Mound of Down, or Rathkeltair in Downpatrick, County Down. His wife is Findmór of Dún Sobairche. He wields a spear or lance, the Lúin Cheltchair, whose lust for blood is so great it has to be dipped in a cauldron of poison to control it.
Ness, also called Nessa, is a princess of the Ulaid and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her father is Eochaid Sálbuide, king of the Ulaid.
Mugain, daughter of Eochaid Feidlech,, is a legendary queen in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology; characterized as the "Strumpet wife of Conchobar mac Nessa", the king of Ulster. Also styled Mumain, she bore him a son named Glaisne. She was also a sister of Medb by paternity.
In Irish mythology, Mesgegra was king of Leinster during the events of the Ulster Cycle, and was also the brother of Mac Da Thó aka Mes Róidia in The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig.
Cúscraid known by the epithet Mend Macha, is a son of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.
Tochmarc Emire is one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and one of the longest when it received its form in the second recension (below). It concerns the efforts of the hero Cú Chulainn to marry Emer, who appears as his wife in other stories of the cycle, and his training in arms under the warrior-woman Scáthach. The tochmarc is one of the 'genres' of early Irish literature recognised in the manuscript corpus.
Éogan or Eógan is an early Irish male name, which also has the hypocoristic and diminutive forms Eoganán, Eóghainin, Eóghain and Eóghainn. In more modern forms of Irish it is written as Eóghan or Eoghan (/'oːəun/).
Compert Con Culainn is an early medieval Irish narrative about the conception and birth of the hero Cú Chulainn. Part of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, it survives in two major versions.
The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig is a legendary tale in the Ulster Cycle.
Scéla Conchobair maic Nessa or the Tidings of Conchobar mac Nessa is a title invented by Whitley Stokes for a short prose piece from the Ulster Cycle preserved in the 12th-century manuscript, the Book of Leinster. It is interpolated with lore not found elsewhere regarding the branches (halls) of the Ulster court at Emain Macha and the shields of the Ulstermen.
References
- Meyer, Kuno, ed. (1894), "The Story of Mac Dáthó's Pig and Hound", Hibernica Minora, Anecdota Oxoniensa, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 51–64 (ed. & tr.) [Rawl. B 512, f. 105v.-]
- Kinsella, Thomas (1969), "Chapter: Exile of the Sons of Uisliu", the Táin, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 8–20, from text of V. Hull, Longes mac n-Uislenn (1949)