Cuchulain
l´ən, –h
´lən), Irish legendary hero of Ulster, of prodigious strength and remarkable beauty. He is the central figure of the Ulster legends, the greatest work of which is the Táin Bó Cúalnge [the cattle raid of Cooley]. The great feature of this is Cuchulain's stand at a ford on the boundary of Ulster, where he defended single-handedly his province against the armies of the rest of Ireland.