@Thomas,
The great mythic hero of the Irish is Cuchulainn. His given name was Setanta, which means the pathfinder (much hilarity ensued among Irish monks in the middle ages writing stories of Cuchulainn getting drunk, and getting lost). When he was a boy, he lived at the court of Conchubar, the King of the Ullaegh (pronounced "OO-lee," and the origin of the place name Ulster). One day, Conchubar and his cronies and men at arms were going to visit the great smith, Culann, who lives at his own dun (fort) and rath (greensward, or meadow, with in the walls of the dun), and has no men at arms, because of his great, fierce hound, who protects the dun at night.
Setanta, a terrible braggart like all good Irishman, was at that time playing at the hurly with the other boys of the court, himself alone against all of them, and humiliating them. He told the King he would come along later, that he had not finished thoroughly humiliating the other boys. The King basically said fine, but get there before nightfall if you don't Culann's hound to tear you a new one.
Setanta enjoyed himself until all the other boys quit in disgust, and then ran along the road to Culann's dun, dribbling his solid silver hurly ball (in hurly, that means keeping the ball in the air off the end of your bat, which looks like a cross between a baseball bat and a hockey stick). The King and Culann and all the boys have already eaten and gotten roaring drunk, and Culann lets his hound out on the rath as the sun sets, and no one thinks a thing about it.
Setanta comes running up the side of the dun, onto the rath, and the hound bays out loudly and goes for him. The King and Culann and the men inside immediately realize what has happened, and rush outside, prepared to see Culann's hound ripping Setanta to shreds. What they see, though, is Setanta loft his hurly ball into the air, and bat it straight down the hound's throat, killing him instantly. Everyone is relieved, except Culann, who bewails the loss of his hound, the protection of his dun.
Setanta says that in the three days that the King and the boys are partying at Culann's dun (pretty standard practice for the Irish), he will find the greatest hound whelp in Ireland, and return with him, and that then he will guard Culann's rath for a year and a day, while he trains up the whelp to guard the rath. This he does, and at the end of the year, Culann is satisfied, and Setanta gets his new name--Cuchulainn, "the Hound of Culann."
