Caílte (or

Modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

Caoilte) mac Rónáin was a nephew of

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of ...

, a warrior and a member of the

fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; gd, Fèinne ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young males, often aristocrats, "who had left fosterage but had n ...

in the

Fenian Cycle The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle ( ga, an Fhiannaíocht) is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the Ossian ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...

. He is described as being able to run at remarkable speed and communicate with animals, and was a great storyteller. Some

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

s of the Fenian Cycle are attributed to Caílte. In the short Middle Irish tale ''

Finn and Gráinne ''Finn and Gráinne'' is a short, probably Middle Irish anecdote of the Finn Cycle about Finn mac Cumaill and his wooing of and eventual divorce from Gráinne, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt. Date and provenance The text is preserved uniquely ...

'', his ancestry is given as "son of Oisgen or Conscen, the son of the Smith of

Múscraige The Múscraighe (older spelling: Músgraige) were an important Érainn people of Munster, descending from Cairpre Músc, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, both of Munster, and als ...

Dobrut; a son he of Cumall's daughter." Caílte's most celebrated fellow survivor was

Oisín Oisín ( ), Osian, Ossian ( ), or anglicized as Osheen ( ) was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, a warrior of the Fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the demigod son of Fionn mac Cumhaill and of ...

: according to '' Cath Gabhra'' (''The Battle of Gabhra''), Caílte and

are the only members of the fianna to survive that final battle. They are both central figures in the tale ''

Acallam na Senórach ''Acallam na Senórach'' (Modern Irish: ''Agallamh na Seanórach'', whose title in English has been given variously as ''Colloquy of the Ancients'', ''Tales of the Elders of Ireland'', ''The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland'', etc.), is an imp ...

'' (''Colloquy of the Ancients''), in which they survive into Christian times and recount tales of the Fianna to a recently arrived

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

. In Irish mythology, Cas Corach was a hero who helped Caílte mac Rónáin kill three werewolf-like creatures, the daughters of Airitech who would come out of the Cave of Cruachan every year around Samhain and destroy sheep. The she-wolves liked music, so he aided in their slaying by playing a harp to attract and distract them and by persuading them to change to human form, while Caoilte cast a spear that penetrated all three, thereby killing them. He had the sword Cruadh-Chosgarach, the Hard Destroying One. The 'Bodb Dearg', god in fianna time who is the son of the Dagda had a daughter called Scathniamh. She and Cailte loved each other. But they were forced to part from one another, and they never met again till the time Caoilte was old and withered, and one of the last that was left of the Fianna.

Primary sources

*''

'', ed. and tr. Kuno Meyer, "Finn and Grainne." ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' 1 (1897): 458–61
Edition
an

available from CELT. *'' Cath Gabhra'' ("The Battle of Gabhra") Caolte is characterized in the poem by W.B. Yeats, "The Hosting of the Sidhe." Fenian Cycle Mythological swordfighters {{Celt-myth-stub