The Cooley Peninsula (Cúailnge)

A mountainous peninsula in County Louth, and the setting of Ireland's great epic, the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

The Cooley Peninsula (Cúailnge) reaches into the sea in County Louth, between Carlingford Lough and Dundalk Bay, beneath the Cooley Mountains. It is famous above all as the setting of the Táin Bó Cúailnge ('The Cattle Raid of Cooley'), Ireland's great epic tale.

In the story, Queen Medb of Connacht invades to seize the great Brown Bull of Cooley, and the young hero Cú Chulainn defends Ulster single-handed.

At a glance

• A mountainous peninsula in Co. Louth.
• The setting of the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, the 'Cattle Raid of Cooley'.
• Where Cú Chulainn defended Ulster against Queen Medb.

In County Louth

The Cooley Peninsula is in County Louth, Lú in Irish, which means “named after the god Lugh (Lú)”.

More in Louth

• Monasterboice (Mainistir Bhuithe): An early monastic site famous for its towering high crosses.
• Carlingford (Cairlinn): A medieval village beneath the mountains on Carlingford Lough.
• Drogheda (Droichead Átha): A historic port town on the Boyne, scene of a notorious 1649 siege.

Other places of this kind

• The Burren (Boireann): A vast, silvery limestone landscape in County Clare, where Arctic and Mediterranean flowers grow side by side.
• The Glens of Antrim (Glinntí Aontroma): Nine green valleys running from the Antrim plateau down to the sea.
• The Curragh (An Currach): A great open plain of grassland, the historic home of Irish horse racing.
• The Glen of Aherlow (Gleann Eatharlaí): A lush valley between the Galtees and Slievenamuck.
• Sliabh Beagh (Sliabh Beagh): A wild upland of blanket bog and heather where three counties meet.
• Gougane Barra (Guagán Barra): A serene mountain lake and island oratory, source of the River Lee.

The Irish name

The Irish form of The Cooley Peninsula is Cúailnge. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.