The Ulster Cycle
A warrior society, a royal centre and a cattle raid that turned into an epic.
The tradition
The Ulster Cycle is the modern name given to a major body of medieval Irish heroic literature centred on Ulster and its legendary warrior society.
Its stories are associated particularly with Emain Macha, traditionally identified with modern Navan Fort near Armagh, and with figures including King Conchobar mac Nessa and Cú Chulainn.
One of its greatest narratives is the Táin Bó Cúailnge — the Cattle Raid of Cooley — in which Queen Medb of Connacht leads an invasion of Ulster and Cú Chulainn becomes its great defender.
Rathcroghan / Cruachan is strongly associated with Queen Medb and the Connacht side of the tradition, while Emain Macha belongs to the Ulster side.
The world behind the cards
Several Celtic Clash Heroes are drawn from this cycle rather than from separate, unrelated stories. Cú Chulainn and Queen Medb stand on opposing sides of the same tradition, and the Morrígan moves through it.
Reading the cycle explains why these cards belong together in the base deck, and why their real-world places sit on either side of the same conflict.
Literature, not proven history
These are literary characters. Navan Fort and Rathcroghan are genuine archaeological landscapes, but archaeology does not show that the characters of the tales lived at them.
