Cú Chulainn

I pretty regularly refer to March 17th not as Saint Patrick's Day but as Cú Chulainn's Day. Perhaps you're confused by this usage (or not) but the main reason that I decline to celebrate the life of Saint Patrick is that I am not a Christian and Patrick is the patron saint of Christian Ireland. He's the guy who started the conversion ball rolling (or at least accelerated the rolling), convincing many Irish to abandon the religion of their ancestors for the new (to them) Christian faith. Of course if you're a modern Christian, this is an unalloyed good thing, and it could be argued historically that the Irish were much better off as Christians than as Pagans. But as a modern-day Pagan I choose to honor and reflect upon my Irish ancestry by honoring one of the legendary heroes of the pre-Christian era.

Cú Chulainn is the central character in many stories of the Irish heroic age. His birth name was Setanta. As a young boy he attempted to join a group of older boys in a game of hurley, but was set upon by them because he did not observe protocol by asking for their protection. The result, in modern parlance, was that he kicked all of their butts. The king, Conchobar, having seen this, invited Setanta to join him at a feast taking place at the home of a local noble, Chulainn. Setanta asked permission to finish the game and Conchobar went on without him. When Setanta arrived at Chulainn's home, he found it guarded by a large and vicious dog, which attacked him as he tried to enter. Setanta killed the dog. When Conchobar and Chulainn rushed out to find out what the ruckus was about they found the young boy and the dead dog. Setanta apologized for killing the dog and volunteered to take the dog's place as guardian of Chulainn's gate until a new dog could be raised and trained, and gained his new name, Cú Chulainn, or Chulainn's hound.

In an account similar to that of Achilles and other legendary heroes, the young Cú Chulainn overhears the prophet Cathbad predicting that the warrior who first takes up arms on that day will be a great warrior, remembered and celebrated forever. Cú Chulainn goes to the king, tries out many sets of armor and weapons, but only the king's arms are sufficient. He then is told the second part of the prophesy, that the warrior who takes up arms on that day will be a great warrior, remembered and celebrated forever, who will have a very short life. 

Cú Chulainn has many exploits, including training with the great woman warrior Scathach and defeating her sister Aife. He becomes the greatest and most feared warrior in all of Ireland, but manages to gain the ire of the Morrigan, a goddess of (among other things) battles, and is brought low when he is presented with a no-win situation. He has two geasas, or taboos. One is to always accept hospitality, the other is to never eat dog meat. When he is offered to share a meal of dog meat he has no choice but to break one or the other of the geaseas. He is weakened and is defeated by a conspiracy of men whose fathers he has killed. When he receives a fatal wound he ties himself to a standing stone so he can die standing.

Cú Chulainn's main weapon was the gae bolg, a barbed spear that would always find its mark.