Looking for Cú Chulainn - The Beginning

I've been listening to Horslips the brilliant '70's Irish rock band's CD, The Tain (1974), which AMG (All Music Guide) says was possibly the "most successful rock concept album ever done." Horslips' The Tain is based on 'Tain Bo Cuailnge' (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), which is the centerpiece of the 8th century Ulster cycle of heroic tales. The critics of the written translation by Irish poet Thomas Kinsella in 2002, call 'Tain Bo Cuailnge' Ireland's greatest epic.

One of the main characters, the hero, of The Tain is Cú Chulainn, whose name means "the hound of Culann, and known today as the Hound of Ulster. More about hounds later.

Cú Chulainn was a legendary Irish hero -- part god and part man -- who singlehandedly defended his homeland, Ulster from invaders. He was only seventeen when he defeated champion after champion of the invading troops of Queen Maeve of Connacht, attempting to steal a prize bull, the Dunn. More about bulls later, too.

When Cú Chulainn met his death, through the machinations of the vindictive Maeve, he lashed himself to a large rock, so that he would die on his feet. His ferocity and skill, his valour and courage as a warrior, and particularly his brave death , made him such a hero to the Irish that a statue of dying Cú Chulainn commemorates the Easter Rising of 1916.

Seems to me that we could use a Cú Chulainn today.