The Ring of Gullion has numerous associations with Irish legends and myths, and several remains from the pre-Norman, and indeed pre-Christian era. In the Táin Bó Cuailgne (the Cattle raid of Cooley) Cú Chulainn is reputed to have defended Ulster, single-handed, against the armees of Queen Maeve of Connacht at the Gap of the North, which lies at the south of the area. In another tale, Fionn Mac Cumhaill was bewitched by the Sorceress Miluchra on the summit of Slieve Gullion at the Lough of calliagh Bhirra and turned into an old, decrepit man. Although he managed to have the spell undone, his hair remained white thereafter. To this day the superstition survives that if you bathe in the lough your hair will turn white.