Caílte mac Rónáin

Caílte (or Modern Irish Caoilte) mac Rónáin was a nephew of Fionn mac Cumhail and a member of the fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He could run at remarkable speed and communicate with animals, and was a great storyteller. Some poems of the Fenian Cycle are attributed to Caílte.

In the short Middle Irish tale Finn and Gráinne, his ancestry is given as "son of Oisgen or Conscen, the son of the Smith of Múscraige Dobrut; a son he of Cumall's daughter."

According to Cath Gabhra (The Battle of Gabhra), Caílte and Oisín are the only members of the fianna to survive that final battle. They are both central figures in the tale Acallam na Senórach (Colloquy of the Ancients), in which they survive into Christian times and recount tales of the Fianna to a recently arrived Saint Patrick.

Primary sources

Finn and Gráinne, ed. and tr. Kuno Meyer, "Finn and Grainne." Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 1 (1897): 458-61. Edition and translation available from CELT.
Cath Gabhra ("The Battle of Gabhra")

Irish mythology: the Fenian Cycle

Supernatural figures	Abarta Aengus Aillen Manannán mac Lir Mug Ruith Niamh Plor na mBan Sadb

Fianna	Caílte Conán mac Lia Conán mac Morna Cumhall Diarmuid Fionn Goll Liath Luachra Oisín Oscar

Others	Bodhmall Cairbre Lifechair Cas Corach Cormac mac Airt Dáire Fíacha Sroiptine Finn Eces Fintan mac Bóchra Gráinne Liath Luachra Muirne Tadg mac Nuadat

Creatures	Airitech Caoránach Enbarr Salmon of Knowledge

Locations	Binn Ghulbain Cnoc Alúine Connla's Well Fionntrá Teamhair Tír na nÓg

Texts	Fotha Catha Chnucha The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn Fionn and Gráinne The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne Cath Gabhra Agallamh na Seanórach Agallamh Bheag Fianshruth Cath Finntrágha

part of a series on Celtic mythology

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