The Red Branch Knights were a semi-mythical group of warriors in ancient Ireland, associated with the legendary hero Cuchulainn -champion of hte province of Uladh (modern Ulster). Young Cúchulainn, 1912 illustration by Stephen Reid. ... Statistics Area: 24,481 Population (estimate) 1,931,981 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ...

The stories of the Red Branch Knights are thought to originate in the late Bronze Age. According to the Ulster Cycle texts, the Red Branch Knights were bodyguard of the king of Ulster. They are thought to have been based around the fort at Emain Macha (Navan fort) in modern county Armagh. Archeologists believe this site ceased to be used in around 90 BC, although the Irish language Annals of the Four Masters written in the 16th century claims it was abandoned after being burned in 331 AD. The stories of the Red Branch Knights and the Ulster court at Emain Macha are aristocratic in nature - the warriors being high born and in some cases semi-divine, or nemed in Old Irish. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... The Ulster Cycle, formerly the Red Branch Cycle, is a large body of prose and verse centering around the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster. ... Categories: Ireland geography stubs | Ulster cycle ... County Armagh (Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish) is a county in Ulster, Ireland. ... Irish (Gaeilge), a Goidelic language spoken in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, and the United States, is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. ... Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters Entry for A.D. 432 The Annals of the Four Masters or the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. ... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ... 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. ...

The name of the Red Branch Knights is thought to derive from the practice of cutting off their enemy's heads and displaying them on the branches of trees. Tales of their combat, particularly in the Tain Bo Cuailgne describe how the Red Branch warriors were driven to battle in chariots and fought either mounted or dismounted with spears and swords. A major feature of their warfare was the description of single combat, where a champion, such as Cuchullainn fought a nominated champion of the opposing army to decide the outcome of a battle. Táin Bó Cúailnge (the driving-off of cows of Cooley, more usually rendered The 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. ... Hittite chariot (drawing of an Egyptian relief) Approximate historical map of the spread of the chariot, 2000 –500 BC. A chariot is a two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle. ...

The stories of the Red Branch Knights, though centred around Emain Macha in Ulster, take place all around Ireland and even further afield. For instance, the hero Cuchulain gets his warrior training from a woman named Scathach in the Western Isles of Scotland.

The legends of the Red Branch Knights were originally part of a Gaelic bardic or oral tradition. With the coming of Christianity and Literacy to Ireland in around the eighth century they were written down by Christian monks. The oldest written account of the stories are in the Book of the Dun Cow, composed in the monastery at Clonmacnoise. Another early account appears in the Book of Leinster. Although written by Christian monks, the essentially pagan character of the myths seem to have been preserved -complete with traditional Irish deities. Gaelic as an adjective means pertaining to the Gaels, whether to their language or their culture. ... Clonmacnoise viewed from the River Shannon The monastery of Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis in Irish, meaning Meadow of the Sons of Nós) is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone. ... The Book of Leinster (Irish Lebor Laignech), formerly known as the Book of Noughaval (Lebor na Nuachongbála), is a medieval Irish manuscript compliled ca. ... Pagan may refer to: A believer in Paganism or Neopaganism Bagan, a city in Myanmar also known as Pagan Pagan (album), the 6th album by Celtic metal band Cruachan Pagan Island, of the Northern Mariana Islands Pagan Lorn, a metal band from Luxembourg, Europe (1994-1998) Pagans Mind, is...

Modern usage

Both Irish nationalists and Irish Unionists have found the stories of the Red Branch Knights appealing in modern times. Nationalists because they believed that hte stories encapsulated a pure Gaelic Irish culture before English or British influence, unionists because they liked the imagery of warriors defending Ulster from the rest of Ireland. An Irish nationalist is generally one who seeks (greater) independence of Ireland from Great Britain, including since 1921 the goal of a United Ireland. ... In the Irish context, Unionists form a group of largely (though not exclusively) Protestant people in Ireland, of all social classes, who wish to see the continuation of the 1801 Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern Ireland provincial state created...

The name Red Branch Knights was used by a loyalist paramilitary group from Northern Ireland that in September 1992 to claim responsibility for incendiary devices and a blast bomb left in a Dublin based bank in Newtownabbey. Statements that were sent to the media threatening action against anyone with political or economic links with the Republic of Ireland. They are not known to have been responsible for any casualties during the Troubles [1]. The term Ulster Loyalist is used to describe militant unionists from Northern Ireland. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organised in a military fashion. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Official Languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th UK 13,843... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, or white phosphorus. ... Blast bomb is a term used in Northern Ireland for a type of improvised explosive device. ... Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. ... The Troubles is a generic and euphemistic term used to describe a period of sporadic communal violence involving paramilitary organisations, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the British Army and others in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s with the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998. ...

Sources

• Bob Stewart, Cuchulainn, Hound of Ulster