Alisstor the Fili invites you to hear about the Hound of Culann~

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Name: Firstly called Setanta, he killed, at the age of five, the guarding hound of a blacksmith named Culann. In reparation, Culann asked him to replace his hound ('Cú' in gaelic) ; the little Setanta, learning the meaning of honour and responsability, did so, and earned the name of Cúchulainn, 'The Hound of Culann'.

Representative of: Ulaidh (Ulster)

Gender: Male

Age (human and historical) : Ulster was born in an Ancient time, when gods and men danced together, after the Mycenaean fought against the Tuatha Dé Danann and won the misty lands of the Green Island, at a time that cannot be remembered by any living soul. Our dear Cuchulainn, however, looks in his early thirties.

Brief personality: Ah gather all around, my dear fellow men, for today I, Alisstor, fili of the Green Island, will introduce you to the life of Cúchulainn, and how he became a true representation - and no one would argue against this right he earned - of Ulster.
Cúchulainn is born of the incestuous relationship between the king of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa, and his sister Deichtine. Already since his very conception, the man was uncommon. But ah, if you think this is it, you will marvel at what I will tell you here : for not only is he a prince, but Cúchulainn is the son of Lugh, the god of Light and Sun, whom rays burn us during the days of Elembivios and whom we celebrate at Lughnasadh.
We can see at an early age that he demonstrates the qualities of a very couragous and rightful boy. Like most of the heroes we know, especially Akhilleus, he has a burning fire in him, a rage, a determination, that makes him a berserker in battle, and already when he was a little lad, we had to put him in three baths of cold water to calm his ardours. But he isn't egoist like the Greek, nor strong-headed like him ; Cúchulainn thinks more, knows when to hold his tongue and when to strike to get his revenge.

Brief physical description: Ah ! More than a woman fell for the charms of Cúchulainn, for the greatness of his heart, aye, but also for the strenght of his arms. No hair more shiny as his, who, like the good Celt he is, puts lemon on his long and wavy red hair. He wears a white or light yellow tunic, sometimes embroidered at the edges, and has a little brown and messy fur put on his shoulders. His sandals are knotted around his calves. He has eyes of the green of his land ; misty and mystic...

Brief history: Ulster is one of the five provinces of Ireland, ruled by a rí ruirech ("king of over-kings"), and long opposed against the four others (Connacht, Leinster, Munster & Meath). Ulster was envied for its wealth : legends tell that during the early days of Ireland - the main wealth in the Green Island being cattle - the four provinces went in war against Ulster to gain a magical bull, Donn Cuailnge. But the armies of Ulster are, because of the goddess Macha (an incarnation of Morrigan)'s curse, unable to fight :
Macha, daughter of Sainrith mac Imbaith, was the wife of Cruinniuc, an Ulster farmer. After Cruinniuc's first wife died, she appeared at his house and, without speaking, began acting as his wife. As long as they were together Cruinniuc's wealth increased. When he went to a festival organised by the king of Ulster, she warned him that she would only stay with him so long as he did not mention her to anyone, and he promised to say nothing. However, during a chariot race, he boasted that his wife could run faster than the king's horses. The king heard, and demanded she be brought to put her husband's boast to the test. Despite being heavily pregnant, she raced the horses and beat them, giving birth to twins on the finish line. Thereafter the capital of Ulster was called Emain Macha, or "Macha's twins". She cursed the men of Ulster to suffer her labour pains in the hour of their greatest need, which is why none of the Ulstermen but the semi-divine hero Cúchulainn were able to fight in the Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley).

Ulster has always been culturally separate and distinct from the rest of the island. Ulidia, from where the name Ulster derives, existed long before an Irish nation came into being. In reality, the Irish perception of themselves as a nation only emerged into the Irish psyche in the 19th century with the fusion of Catholic emancipation and Gaelic nationalism under Daniel O' Connell.
Ulidia had it's own capital - Emain Macha, kings and border (the Black Pigs Dyke) in ancient times. The people were the ancient Cruthin and Ulaid - as recorded by a Greek geographer in the 2nd century A.D. This nation came under attack from Gaelic lead peoples from Ireland. The semi historical / mythical Tain describes this period telling how Ulster people came under attack by peoples from the south in a cattle raid and how Ulster was defended by her ancient hero - Setanta.
Ulster is not to be confused with the English province; it was under Elizabeth the First that the Provinces were drawn up as administrative boundaries. Irish nationalists who refuse to recognise a separate Ulster and proclaim they do not recognise 'British borders in Ireland' will often dishonourably dismiss Ulster as merely an Irish province - recognising a 'British border in Ireland' . Unfortunately a debate by the 'Northern Ireland' parliament in the 1960s to counter this confusion by renaming the country Ulster - it's rightful name - never came to fruition.
Gradually the Ulster capital fell (around 450 A.D.) and Ulster became a much reduced nation as it's border moved eastwards. In fact many of these ancient Ulster people, who the Romans called Scotti, fled across the North Channel and gave this name to Scotland. It was these peoples who had absorbed Gaelic from their overlords that gave Scotland this language.
In 637 the Ulstermen / Ulidians were defeated at the battle of Moira, and although they retained independence in the east of Ulster, this was the end of ancient Ulster.
Viking raids on the Island were followed by the Normans, who had recently seized the crown in England. These had been invited by a deposed king in eastern Ireland and the then Pope who had instructed the English crown to civilise Ireland. Irish nationalists often speak of 900 years of English interference in their affairs; in reality the 'invasion' of gable wall myth was by Norman French who were accompanied by many Welsh - in fact Walsh is the most common surname in Ireland.
This 'English invasion' reflects how myths can become official Irish history. In reality those who came to Ireland did so by invitation, were French not English and stayed under the authority of the Pope.
Ulster fell to the Normans in 1177 A.D., then to the Gaelic led clans in 1381. However resentment against the Normans and further English conquest continued and Gaelic rebellion resulted in 1594. Eventually the English forces were victorious in 1601. This led to the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century. Many who came to Ulster were from Scotland who were, not displacing the natives, but returning to the land of their ancient forefathers. In fact many intermarried w ith those in Ulster as comparison of surnames and religion today testifies. The settlers were mainly Presbyterian.
James II who had accessed the English crown, was forced to abdicate and William, Prince of Orange, was proclaimed King. In 1690 William defeated King James at the Battle of the Boyne, an event still celebrated in Ulster today as it allowed the Ulster people to remain a free people.
18th Century laws discriminating against the Presbyterian religion and forbidding Presbyterians from holding public office led a quarter of a million Ulster people to flee to America- particularly to Pennsylvania, W. Virginia, Kentucky and Carolina. The Americans called these people 'Scotch-Irish' - in those days Americans appreciated the difference between Ulster and Irish people.
Ulster people were in the vanguard of the inception of the new nation. They were the first pioneers west of the Appalachians. They were predominant in the declaration of Independence of 1776. The declaration was in the handwriting of, printed by, first publicly read by, and signed by Ulstermen. Ten Presidents have been of Ulster descent. Ulster has also influenced place names and music (bluegrass).
Ulster people were predominant in the revolutionary war such that Washington declared 'if defeated everywhere else I will make my stand for liberty among the Scotch-Irish of my native Virginia'.
An attempt at uniting the people of the Island under the United Irish rebellion of 1798 failed as it descended into sectarian in-fighting, Protestants not fitting the definition of Irish. The whole island, governed by London, was made part of the United Kingdom in 1801.
Catholic emancipation movements were formed and this fused with the Gaelic nationalist movement of the late 19th century to galvanise demands for a Gaelic, Catholic Republic. As Ulster people are neither Gaelic nor for the most part Catholic, they obviously wanted nothing to do with this - a point mostly ignored by Irish nationalists. Irish Republicans will often extol the Republican idealism of Patrick Pearse (one of the instigators of the Easter 1916 Rising and signatory of the Proclamation of Independence). Whilst therefore paying occasional lip service to the notional ideal that 'all who came to 'Ireland' - Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter - are Irish', they eulogise a man who defined Irishness as Gaelic and Catholic - betraying the underlying sectarian ethos of Irishness and Irish Republicanism.
The London government tried to appease growing Irish nationalism with a Home Rule Bill - to give Ireland limited self-government. The Ulster people mobilised to resist this, forming the Ulster Unionist Council and the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1912.
The First World War intervened and many Ulster and Irish men fought in the trenches. The 36th Ulster Division formed out of the UVF played a major role in the Battle of the Somme. The heavy losses affected all Ulster and the event has passed into the psyche of Ulster people.
The Irish then fought a war of Independence and in 1920 the Government of Ireland Act recognised the existence of two peoples and nations by setting up two states on the island, although Ulster was erroneously labelled Northern Ireland. This constitutional position by and large remains today. Therefore whilst Irish nationalists talk of the 'partition of Ireland by the British', the island never was one nation to be partitioned. It was merely governed as a whole under the British crown - ironically again Irish nationalists in Ulster are trying to recreate a British state of affairs on the island. When the Irish seceded from the United Kingdom, the Ulster people went there own way through their own inalienable right to national self-determination.

Religious affiliation: Celtic Paganism, Catholicism & Orthodoxy

Any special powers or abilities: I don't have to tell you that, I'm sure you already understood the amazing strenght he has !


-Quotation on the signature from the Táin Bó Cúailnge, an Irish Epic.
-Informations taken from there, from wikipedia, from Angelfire.com, and from the introduction of "The Hero of Hundred Combats" by Jean Markale.