Editing Ulster Cycle (section)

==Chronology==

The events of the cycle are traditionally supposed to take place around the time of [[Christ]]. The stories of Conchobar's birth and death are synchronised with the birth and death of Christ,<ref>[[Kuno Meyer]], "Anecdota from the Stowe MS. No 992", ''[[Revue Celtique]]'' 6, 1884, pp. 173–183; Kuno Meyer, ''The Death Tales of the Ulster Heroes'', Todd Lecture Series, 1906, pp. 2–21</ref> and the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' dates the ''Táin Bó Cúailnge'' and the birth and death of Cú Chulainn to the reign of the High King [[Conaire Mor]], who it says was a contemporary of the [[Roman emperor]] [[Augustus]] (27 BC&nbsp;— AD 14).<ref>R. A. Stewart Macalister, (ed & trans), ''Lebor Gabála Erenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V'', Irish Texts Society, 1956, p. 301</ref> Some stories, including the ''Táin'', refer to [[Cairbre Nia Fer]] as the king of [[Hill of Tara|Tara]], implying that no High King is in place at the time.

The presence of the Connachta as the Ulaid's enemies is an apparent anachronism: the Connachta were traditionally said to have been the descendants of [[Conn of the Hundred Battles|Conn Cétchathach]], who is supposed to have lived several centuries later. Later stories use the name [[Cóiced Ol nEchmacht]] as an earlier name for the province of Connacht to get around this problem. However, the chronology of early Irish historical tradition is an artificial attempt by Christian monks to synchronise native traditions with classical and biblical history, and it is possible that historical wars between the Ulaid and the Connachta have been chronologically misplaced.<ref>Francis J. Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', Four Courts Press, 2001, p. 50.</ref>