Caílte mac Rónáin was a nephew of Fionn mac Cumhail and a member of the fianna

Fianna

Fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, most notably in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill....

 in the Fenian Cycle

Fenian Cycle

The Fenian Cycle , also referred to as the Ossianic Cycle after its narrator Oisín, is a body of prose and verse centering on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna. It is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology along with the Mythological Cycle,...

 of Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

. 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

Finn and Gráinne

Finn and Gráinne is a short, probably Middle Irish anecdote of the Finn Cycle about Finn mac Cumaill and his wooing of and eventual divorce from Gráinne, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt.-Date and provenance:...

, his ancestry is given as "son of Oisgen or Conscen, the son of the Smith of Múscraige

Múscraige

The Múscraighe were an important Érainn people of Munster, descending from Cairpre Músc, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, both of Munster, and also the Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland, all being referred to as the Síl Conairi in...

 Dobrut; a son he of Cumall's daughter."

According to Cath Gabhra

Cath Gabhra

Cath Gabhra is a narrative of the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. It tells of the destruction of the fianna and the deaths of most of its warriors in a battle against the forces of High King Cairbre Lifechair...

(The Battle of Gabhra), Caílte and Oisín

Oisín

Oisín , also spelt in English Ossian or Osheen, was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, and is a warrior of the fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology...

 are the only members of the fianna to survive that final battle. They are both central figures in the tale Acallam na Senórach

Acallam na Senórach

Acallam na Senórach is an important prosimetric Middle Irish narrative dating to the last quarter of the 12th century...

(Colloquy of the Ancients), in which they survive into Christian times and recount tales of the Fianna to a recently arrived Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....

.

Primary sources

• Finn and Gráinne
  Finn and Gráinne
  Finn and Gráinne is a short, probably Middle Irish anecdote of the Finn Cycle about Finn mac Cumaill and his wooing of and eventual divorce from Gráinne, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt.-Date and provenance:...
  
  , ed. and tr. Kuno Meyer, "Finn and Grainne." Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 1 (1897): 458-61. Edition and translation available from CELT.
• Cath Gabhra
  Cath Gabhra
  Cath Gabhra is a narrative of the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. It tells of the destruction of the fianna and the deaths of most of its warriors in a battle against the forces of High King Cairbre Lifechair...
  
  ("The Battle of Gabhra")