The most famous early account of hurling is found in the Ulster Cycle, a series of tales revolving around the heroes of the kingdom of Ulster in the early 1st Century. In one saga, the Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley), the hero Cú Chulainn fights the armies of Queen Maeve of Connacht over a prize brown bull.

The young hero, then named Setanta, uses a hurley andsliotar to kill a vicious hound. Hence forth he became known as Cú Chulainn(the hound of Culann), after the owner of the dog.