Cuailnge
Cuailnge
Also spelled: Cooley
The Ulster district where the Brown Bull lives and where the war is fought, in the peninsula south of Carlingford Lough.
Traits
| Type | District of Ulster |
|---|---|
| Province | Ulster |
| Modern name | Cooley, the district south of Carlingford Lough in County Louth |
| Held by | Dáire mac Fiachna, owner of the Brown Bull |
| Chief places | Finnabair, the river Cronn, Sliab Cuilinn |
Where it is
54.03, -6.25
Overview
Cuailnge is a district in the province of Ulster. Kinsella's note on the title says the name is anglicised as Cooley, "the district south of Carlingford Lough in County Louth," and the whole tale is named for it: the Táin Bó Cuailnge, the Cattle-Raid of Cuailnge. It is the home of the Brown Bull, Donn Cuailnge, the bull Medb wants.
The bull comes from here. When the two pig-keepers who have been fighting each other through a long run of shapes drop down as worms, one gets into the spring of the river Cronn in Cuailnge, and a cow of Dáire mac Fiachna drinks it up. The other worm goes into a well in Connacht and ends as the White-horned bull of Ai. When Ailill and Medb argue over whose property is better, Mac Roth names the Brown Bull in Dáire's house in Cuailnge. Dáire is delighted at the offer and agrees to bring the bull himself.
The army marches for it. Kinsella's route list ends at the river Cronn in Cuailnge, with Finnabair as the place the armies later fan out to look for the bull. Ailill orders them on day and night to reach the district. Cúchulainn does not kill anyone from the gloomy waters of Saili Imdorchi in Conaille until they reach Cuailnge, because he is at Sliab Cuinciu. From there he shoots at a woman he takes for Medb, and kills her bondmaid Lochu at Réid Locha, Lochu's level ground.
Once the army is in Cuailnge it does what armies do. It burns the country, rounds up the women, children and cattle, and brings them all to Finnabair. The bull has already gone off to Sliab Cuilinn with his fifty heifers, throwing off the boys who played on his back and tearing a trench through the land of Marcéni. The rivers rise against the army. The Cronn drowns Ualu and a hundred more die struggling at it, and the Colptha carries off a hundred charioteers. Medb leads the army over the mountain, tearing the ground for three days and three nights to make the gap Bernas Bó Cuailnge. They camp at Glenn Dáilimda, and move on into Conaille.
Cúchulainn keeps the district in his mind afterward. In his verse over Ferdia he says that from the first day he left Cuailnge to come against Medb she has had carnage and renown from the warriors he has slain. Ulster's companies at the end include the three sons of Fiachna from Cuailnge.
Events here
- One of the two worms that become the bulls gets into the spring of the river Cronn in Cuailnge, where a cow of Dáire mac Fiachna drinks it, and Donn Cuailnge is born. In The Quarrel of the Two Pig-keepers, and how the Bulls were Begotten. Involves: Dáire mac Fiachna, Donn Cuailnge.
- Mac Roth tells Medb that the best bull in Ireland is in Dáire mac Fiachna's house in Cuailnge, goes there, and is made welcome. In Chapter I: The Pillow Talk. Involves: Mac Roth, Medb, Dáire mac Fiachna, Donn Cuailnge.
- Kinsella's route list names the places the army must pass on the way to the rath in Cuailnge, from where the armies later split up to look for the bull. In Chapter II: The Táin Bó Cuailnge Begins.
- Ailill, hearing Cúchulainn mocked, orders the army to travel day and night until they reach Cuailnge, since the man will kill two thirds of the army if he goes on like this. In Chapter V: ‘Death death!’. Involves: Ailill, Cúchulainn.
- The Morrígan, in bird shape on a standing stone in Temair Chuailnge, chants to the Brown Bull that death is raging over Cuailnge, and the Brown Bull tears up a trench through the land of Marcéni in Cuailnge as he moves to Sliab Cuilinn. In Chapter V: ‘Death death!’. Involves: Morrígan, Donn Cuailnge, Forgaimen.
- Cúchulainn, at Sliab Cuinciu, shoots two stones at Lochu, mistaking her for Medb, and kills her at Réid Locha in Cuailnge. In Chapter V: ‘Death death!’. Involves: Cúchulainn, Lochu, Medb.
- The armies burn and plunder Cuailnge, gather its women, children and cattle at Finnabair, and fail to find the bull anywhere in the province. In Chapter VI: From Finnabair Chuailnge to Conaille. Involves: Medb.
- Medb's army crosses the mountain at Bernas Bó Cuailnge, camps at Glenn Dáilimda, and leaves Cuailnge for Conaille after the rivers rise against them. In Chapter VI: From Finnabair Chuailnge to Conaille. Involves: Medb.
- Cúchulainn says that from the first day he left Cuailnge to come against Medb she has had carnage and renown from the warriors he has slain. In Chapter XI: Combat of Ferdia and Cúchulainn. Involves: Cúchulainn, Medb.
- The three sons of Fiachna from Cuailnge are among the Ulster companies that assemble. In Chapter XII: Ulster Rises from its Pangs.
‘I know where to find such a bull and better,’ Mac Roth said: ‘in the province of Ulster, in the territory of Cuailnge, in Dáire mac Fiachna’s house.
Connections
Characters connected to this place
Chapters that mention this place
Related places
- Bernas Bó Cuailnge (The gap the army tore through the mountain)
- Conaille (The plain beyond, where the army goes next)
- Finnabair Chuailnge (The rath where the armies gather in Cuailnge)
- Ochaine (The hill Cúchulainn harasses the army from)
- River Cronn (The river that rises against the army)
- Sliab Cuilinn (Where the Brown Bull retreats)
- Ulster (The province it lies in)
Connected to
- Glenn Dáilimda (The district it lies in)
- Temair Chuailnge (The district the stone stands in)