After defeating the warrior woman Aífe in single combat during his training in Alba, Cú Chulainn lay with her and fathered Connla, the son he would one day kill without knowing him.
The god Lugh came to Deichtine in a vision and begot Cú Chulainn, who would inherit his father's radiance and battle-fury to become the greatest warrior Ireland had ever known.
⚠ Compert Con Culainn exists in two recensions with different accounts of the conception — the earlier version involves a more complex sequence of events, while the later simplifies to Lugh visiting Deichtine directly.
Emer set Cú Chulainn impossible bride-tasks and her father Forgall Manach schemed to have him killed in training, but the hero won through every trial and took Emer as his wife by force from Forgall's fortress.
Fand, abandoned by Manannán mac Lir, summoned Cú Chulainn to the Otherworld as her champion and lover, but Manannán reclaimed her by shaking his cloak of forgetfulness between the two, severing their bond forever.
Fergus mac Róich took the boy Sétanta into fosterage at the court of Conchobar mac Nessa, training him in arms and the ways of the warrior before the child had even earned the name Cú Chulainn.
Conall Cernach and Cú Chulainn were foster-brothers and the two greatest champions of Ulster. They swore that whoever died first would be avenged by the other. After Cú Chulainn's death, Conall pursued and killed those responsible, fulfilling his oath.
Láeg mac Riangabra served as Cú Chulainn's charioteer through every battle of the Ulster Cycle, from the Táin Bó Cúailnge to the hero's final stand. He accompanied Cú Chulainn to the Otherworld in Serglige Con Culainn and was killed by a spear during their last fight.
Medb launched the cattle raid of Cooley to seize the brown bull, and Cú Chulainn alone held the ford against her entire army, slaying her champions one by one until she was forced to retreat — a humiliation she never forgave, scheming until she at last contrived his death.
Medb spent years after the Táin plotting Cú Chulainn's death, gathering the children of warriors he had slain and training them in sorcery and combat until Lugaid mac Con Roí cast the spear that struck down the hero as he stood bound to a standing stone, too proud to fall even in death.
Cú Chulainn unknowingly killed his own son Connla in single combat. Bound by geasa never to reveal his name, Connla fought his father until Cú Chulainn used the Gáe Bolga, recognizing his son only as the boy lay dying.
Cú Chulainn killed his foster-brother Ferdia at the ford during the Táin Bó Cúailnge, using the Gáe Bolga after four days of combat. His lament over Ferdia's body — 'All was play, all was sport, until Ferdia came to the ford' — is among the most moving passages in Irish literature.
Conchobar mac Nessa ruled Ulster from Emain Macha, and Cú Chulainn served as his greatest champion — bound by loyalty and honor to defend the kingdom, even when the king's own treachery drove other warriors like Fergus into exile.
The Red Branch warriors of Ulster gathered at Emain Macha, the finest fighting men in Ireland — among them Cú Chulainn, Conall Cernach, and Fergus mac Róich, bound by honor and curse alike, for when the pangs of Macha struck them helpless, only Cú Chulainn stood to hold the border alone.
Ferdia trained alongside Cú Chulainn in the martial arts under Scáthach in the Land of Shadows, where the two warriors became foster-brothers and the closest of companions before fate set them against each other.
When Cú Chulainn bound himself dying to a standing stone so he would face his enemies upright, Badb alighted on his shoulder in the form of a hooded crow — only then did his enemies know he was dead and dare to approach.
The druid Cathbad prophesied that the boy who took up arms on a certain day would gain everlasting fame but die young. Hearing this, the young Sétanta demanded weapons from Conchobar that very day, choosing glory over a long life and sealing his fate as Cú Chulainn.
During the Táin, Fergus mac Róich fought on Connacht's side despite being Cú Chulainn's foster-father. When they met at the ford, Fergus agreed to yield, and Cú Chulainn later called in this debt at the final battle, causing Fergus to withdraw and breaking Connacht's advance.
Scáthach bestowed the Gáe Bolga upon Cú Chulainn at the end of his training in the Land of Shadows — a barbed spear of terrible power that he would drive through Ferdia's body at the ford and through his own son Connla's heart.
Cú Chulainn struck the Lia Fáil with his sword when the Stone of Destiny failed to cry out beneath him, splitting it so that it never sounded again until the coming of Conn of the Hundred Battles.
During the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Lugh appeared to his exhausted son Cú Chulainn, healed his wounds, and held the ford against Connacht's armies for three days while Cú Chulainn slept and recovered.
Macha's curse on the men of Ulster — forcing them to suffer the pangs of childbirth in their hour of greatest need — left Cú Chulainn as the sole defender of the province during the Táin, as his divine blood exempted him from her affliction.
Fand, wife of Manannán, lured Cú Chulainn to Mag Mell where he fought battles on her behalf and became her lover — until Manannán reclaimed Fand and shook his cloak between them so they would never meet again.
Scáthach trained Cú Chulainn in the martial arts at her fortress Dún Scáith in the Land of Shadows, teaching him the salmon-leap, the apple-feat, and other impossible combat techniques. She gave him the Gáe Bolga upon his departure.
The Morrígan offered her love to Cú Chulainn during the Táin, but he rejected her. She attacked him at the ford as an eel, a wolf, and a heifer. Later, disguised as an old woman, she tricked him into healing her wounds with his blessing.
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