{"id":1260,"date":"2016-01-17T12:25:38","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T12:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2016-01-17T12:25:38","modified_gmt":"2016-01-17T12:25:38","slug":"stories-about-cu-chulainn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/stories-about-cu-chulainn\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories About C\u00fa Chulainn"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"t:seinnteoirin1\">Play recording: Stories About C\u00fa Chulainn<\/h2>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1260-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/stories-about-cu-chulainn.mp3?_=1\" \/><source type=\"audio\/ogg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/stories-about-cu-chulainn.ogg?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/stories-about-cu-chulainn.mp3\">https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/stories-about-cu-chulainn.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<div class=\"dmeite\">\n<p><span id=\"neasc-nocht-ceilth\" class=\"nmeite\">view \/ hide recording details [+\/-]<\/span><\/p>\n<ul id=\"clarMeiteashonrai\" class=\"meiteashonrai\">\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Teideal <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Title)<\/span>:<\/span> Stories About C\u00fa Chulainn.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Chatal\u00f3ige Ollscoil Washington <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(University of Washington Catalogue Number)<\/span>:<\/span> 840113; 840120.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Chnuasach Bh\u00e9aloideas \u00c9ireann <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(National Folklore of Ireland Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Roud <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Roud Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Laws <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Laws Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Child <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Child Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Cnuasach <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Collection)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Teanga na Cro\u00edmh\u00edre <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Core-Item Language)<\/span>:<\/span> English.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Catag\u00f3ir <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Category)<\/span>:<\/span> story.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Ainm an t\u00e9 a thug <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Name of Informant)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe Heaney.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Ainm an t\u00e9 a th\u00f3g <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Name of Collector)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">D\u00e1ta an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Date)<\/span>:<\/span> 22\/11\/1983.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Su\u00edomh an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Location)<\/span>:<\/span> University of Washington, United States of America.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Oc\u00e1id an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Occasion)<\/span>:<\/span> evening class.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Daoine eile a bh\u00ed i l\u00e1thair <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Others present)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">St\u00e1das ch\u00f3ipcheart an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording copyright status)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Background: The Ulster Cycle<\/h2>\n<p>Joe told a number of stories from the Ulster Cycle, a group of stories recorded in Old Irish in manuscripts dating from the twelfth century A.D., and which are believed to reflect customs and beliefs from around the third century B.C. Most of these stories involve C\u00fa Chulainn, the legendary hero and principal warrior serving Conchubhair, chieftain of what Joe calls the &#8216;Red Branch knights&#8217;, whose seat was at Emain Macha, near Armagh. His territory included the Cooley peninsula in County Louth, which was home to the Ulstermen&#8217;s prize bull, the Donn Cuailnge.<\/p>\n<h2>The Naming of C\u00fa Chulainn<\/h2>\n<p>At the age of eleven or twelve, C\u00fa Chulainn &mdash; whose name at that point is S\u00e9tanta &mdash; goes with his uncle, Fergus Mac&nbsp;R\u00f3ich and the Red Branch Knights to visit Culann, armourer to the Red Branch. When the knights have arrived and are gathered around the table, Culann asks if anyone else is coming, and Fergus says not; he forgets that S\u00e9tanta has stopped on their way to play a game of hurling, and has promised to come along after them.<\/p>\n<p>Culann&#8217;s guard-dog &mdash; a fearsome hound as big as a horse, high as a wall, whose baying shakes half of Ireland &mdash; is loosed into the grounds. The gathered men hear the hound baying, and rush out expecting to see S\u00e9tanta lying dead. But the boy has instead killed the hound by ramming his hurling ball down the creature&#8217;s throat.<\/p>\n<p>Culann is devastated by the loss of his hound, but S\u00e9tanta promises to take its place and ensure the safety of Culann&#8217;s property. It&#8217;s for this reason that S\u00e9tanta is given the name &#8216;C\u00fa Chulainn&#8217; &mdash; the Hound of Culann.<\/p>\n<h2>Queen Maedhbh and the Bulls<\/h2>\n<p>Maedhbh, Queen of Connacht, has an argument with her husband about which of them is the wealthier. On every point they appear to be equals in riches, until her husband boasts that he has a magnificent bull that has no equal among Maedhbh&#8217;s herds. Maedhbh enquires of some advisers, who tell her that her husband is quite right about this. At the same time, they tell her about a brown bull, at Cuailnge in Ulster, that is every bit as good as the bull owned by her husband.<\/p>\n<p>Maedhbh sends men to Ulster to see if Cuailnge<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">1<\/sup> will part with the bull or, failing that, if he will lend it to her for a few weeks in hopes that it will sire an equally good bull among her cows. After entertaining Maedhbh&#8217;s men lavishly, Cuailnge agrees to lend the bull to Maedhbh. But later that night, Cuailne overhears Maedhbh&#8217;s men, well lubricated with drink, boasting that if Cuailnge had not been willing to lend the bull, they would have taken it away by force. Hearing this, Cuailnge rescinds his offer, and the terms of the coming battle are set.<\/p>\n<p>Queen Maedhbh declares war on the men of Ulster &mdash; a war that rages for seven years and kills thousands. Finally the battle comes down to a contest between the bulls themselves and lasts for nine months. When the brown bull emerges victorious, he is so fed up that he kills himself.<\/p>\n<h2>C\u00fa Chulainn and Ferdia<\/h2>\n<p>Ferdia is Queen Maedhbh&#8217;s ace-in-the-hole, a young man who had received training from the same masters that had trained C\u00fa Chulainn himself. The two are like brothers; and even though they are on opposing sides, they take the care to dress each other&#8217;s wounds in the evening, after fighting each other during the day. But in the end, after a terrific combat, C\u00fa Chulainn kills Ferdia.<\/p>\n<h2>C\u00fa Chulainn Kills His Own Son<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">2<\/sup><\/h2>\n<p>C\u00fa Chulainn marries a woman from Scotland and they have a son. But when C\u00fa Chulainn wants to leave Scotland and return to Ireland, his wife is very angry. She raises their son to hate his father, and when he is old enough she sends him to Ireland to kill C\u00fa Chulainn. When he arrives in Ireland, he picks a fight with C\u00fa Chulainn, who only becomes aware that the boy is his son when, as the son lies dying from his wounds, he shows his father a ring that his mother has given him, that was given to her by C\u00fa Chulainn when they got married.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n\u00f3ta\u00ed-bun-leathanaigh\">\n<h2 id=\"t:notai\">Notes<\/h2>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">1. Cuailnge [In English, Cooley] is the name of a peninsula in County Louth, where the brown bull is said to have lived. Joe, or the tradition from which he learned the story, confuses the place-name for that of the owner of the bull.<\/p>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">2. Unfortunately a tape must have run out as Joe got to this part of the story, so that we do not hear how C\u00fa Chulainn came to be married. It is unsurprising that in this, as in other parts of the story, details of the story passed down through oral tradition differ significantly from those preserved in the earliest manuscript sources. What is remarkable, however, is that so many of the details have remained the same, despite the passage of years.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scealaiocht"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1261,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions\/1261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}