Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn is the great warrior hero of the Ulster Cycle, also known by his childhood name Sétanta. His defence of Ulster and single combats in the Táin are central to medieval Irish heroic literature.

In the Ulster Cycle, Cú Chulainn is the champion who single-handedly delays the armies of Connacht in the Táin Bó Cúailnge; his supernatural birth, battle frenzy and early death made him one of the defining heroes of medieval Irish literature.

In Morgan Llywelyn’s On Ravens Wing, His ferocity and extraordinary skill earn him the name Cú Chulainn, but the gifts that make him Ireland’s greatest champion also isolate him from ordinary life and bind him to prophecies of glory and an early death. In Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Hound of Ulster, The boy Sétanta claims the weapons of manhood and becomes Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster, whose courage and battle frenzy make him the greatest warrior of the province.