In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology Donn Cuailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley, was an extremely fertile stud bull over whom the Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) was fought. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... 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. ... The Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, is the central tale in the Ulster Cycle, one of the four great cycles that make up the surviving corpus of Irish mythology. ...

He was originally one of Bodb Dearg's pig-keepers, who fell out with a fellow pig-keeper. The two fought, transforming into various animal and human forms, ultimately becoming two worms which were swallowed by two cows and reborn as two bulls, Donn Cuailnge and Finnbhennach ("White-horned"). Donn belonged to Dáire mac Fiachna, a cattle-lord of Ulster; Finnbhennach was born into the herds of queen Medb of Connacht, but considered belonging to a woman beneath him and joined the herds of her husband, Ailill. In Irish mythology, Bodb Dearg mac an Daghda (Bodb the Red) was a son of the Dagda and succeeded him as King of the Tuatha De Danaan. ... The Ulaid, also known as the Ulaidh and the Ulad, are a people of Early Ireland who gave their name to the Irish Province of Ulster. ... (, Medb, Medhbh, Meabh, Maeve, Maev) is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Connaught redirects here. ... Ailill (Aillell, Oilioll) mac Máta was king of Connacht and husband of Medb in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ...

The Mórrígan had a heifer which she took to Cooley to be bulled by Donn. The result was a bull-calf which fought Finnbhennach and narrowly lost. After seeing that, Medb was determined to see Finnbhennach fight the bull-calf's sire. The Mórrígan (Morrígan, Morrighan, Morrigu, Modern Irish Mór-Rhioghain pronounced as more ree-en) (great queen or phantom queen), is an Irish goddess of war and destruction. ...

When Medb discovered that owning Finnbhennach made Ailill richer than her, she resolved to even the account by possessing Donn Cuailnge. She sent messengers to Dáire with an extremely generous offer of land and treasure, and if necessary sexual favours, if he would loan the bull to her for a year. Dáire agreed. However the messengers got drunk, and one boasted that if he hadn't agreed Medb would have taken the bull by force. When Dáire heard that he backed out of the deal.

Medb raised an army to steal Donn, and marched on Ulster. The Mórrígan, in the form of a crow, warned Donn of the coming army, and he and his herds fled to Slieve Gullion. Medb ultimately tracked him down and captured him, although she lost many soldiers under his hooves. The Mórrígan (Morrígan, Morrighan, Morrigu, Modern Irish Mór-Rhioghain pronounced as more ree-en) (great queen or phantom queen), is an Irish goddess of war and destruction. ...

The army was prevented from taking Donn back to Connacht by Cúchulainn, who invoked the right of single combat, defeating a series of champions in a standoff lasting months. Eventually, after a pitched battle with the Ulster forces, Medb's armies were forced to retreat, but they managed to bring Donn Cuailnge back to Cruachan. He and Finnbhennach fought. After a long and gruelling battle Donn killed his rival. Mortally wounded himself, he wandered around Ireland inspiring placenames before returning to Cooley to die. Young Cúchulainn, 1912 illustration by Stephen Reid. ...

Julius Caesar, in his Gallic Wars, refers to a Gaulish ally called Valerius Donnotaurus, an interesting Celtic parallel to the Donn Tarbh of Cooley. Gaius Julius Caesar (Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS¹) (b. ... The Gallic Wars were a series of wars fought between the Romans and the people of Gaul during the first century BC which ended with the expansion of the Roman Republic across Gaul. ... Gaulish is name given to the now-extinct Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Romans, the Franks and the British Celts invaded. ... 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. ...