In Irish mythology, Cumhal (earlier Cumal, pronounced roughly "Coo-al" or "Cool") son of Trénmór ("strong-great") was a leader of the fianna and the father of Fionn mac Cumhail. The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. ... In Irish mythology, the Fianna were Irish warriors who served the High King of Ireland in the 3rd century AD. Their adventures were recorded in the Fenian Cycle. ... Fionn mac Cumhail was a legendary warrior of Irish mythology. ...

He was a suitor for the hand of Muirne, daughter of the druid Tadg mac Nuadat, but Tadg refused him, so he abducted Muirne. Tadg appealed to the High King, Conn of the Hundred Battles, who made war against Cumhal. Cumhal was killed in the Battle of Cnucha by Goll mac Morna, who took over leadership of the fian, but Muirne was already pregnant with his son, Fionn. In Irish mythology, Muirne was the wife of Cumhail and mother of Fionn mac Cumhail. ... In the Celtic religion, the word Druid denotes the priestly class in ancient Celtic societies which existed through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ... The office of High King of Ireland (Irish: Ard Rí Érenn) was in origin a pseudohistorical construct of the eighth century that placed a king of all Ireland atop the fragmented pyramid of kingship that actually existed at that time. ... In Irish mythology, Conn Cetchatach or Conn of the Hundred Battles (c. ... Goll mac Morna (or Goal mac Morn) was a member of the fianna and an uneasy ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ...

Attempts to connect Cumhal with Camulos, a Celtic god of war, are now largely rejected. Old Irish cumal means "female slave", and it is possible that a noble father was invented for Fionn to obscure an ignoble origin. Alternatively, some early texts call the hero "Fionn mac Umaill", which may indicate his father's name was originally Umall. In Celtic mythology, Camulus or Camulos was a god of war. ... The word Celtic can refer to: the European Celtic people, ancient or modern the Celtic languages, spoken by these people and their modern descendents the Celtic (Lusitania), Celts from the Alentejo. ... A deity or a god, is a postulated preternatural being, usually, but not always, of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings. ... Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language which can be more or less fully reconstructed from extant sources. ...

Alternatives: Coul, Cool