In this video we're going to learn a little bit about some Irish mythology
we're going to look at the story of Setanta and how he became Cú Chulainn,
along the way we're going to learn lots of useful words and phrases that will
help explain this transition from Setanta into Cú Chulainn
before we start I want to give a quick shout out to another great YouTube
channel I came across recently - Gaeilge i mo chroí by
Molly McHale, some great videos on there worth checking out and don't forget to follow
her on Instagram information on screen now
so the story of Setanta begins in
a place that is currently known as Dundalk, the Irish for Dundalk is Dún Dealgan
and at the time of Setanta this was within the province of Ulster
the Irish for Ulster is Ulaidh as a young boy Setanta was incredibly
adventurous brave and strong the Irish for adventurous is Fiontrach
strong is Láidir and brave Cróga
what the young Setanta wanted more than anything else was to join with his uncle Conor Mac Nessa who
lived about 25 kilometers away and under Conor's command was a band of youth
warrior's, apprentice warriors that would go on to defend Ulster from foreign
invaders, the Irish for a youth band or a group of youths is Macra and the
irish for a Knight as in a soldier is Ridire, this was Setanta's
dream and he constantly pestered his mother to allow him to join his uncle
at his fort so he could fulfill his destiny, eventually his mother relented
D'aontaigh sí she agreed so the young Setanta set
out on a journey, aistear is journey, to his uncle's fort nearby the Irish for
fort is Dún, before long Setanta reached his destination, Shroich sé is to
reach so he reached Shroich sé, once he got there he noticed that a game of hurling
was taking place - thug sé faoi deara he took note of or he noticed
the Irish for hurling is Iomáint and the boys were playing - ag imirt
Setanta being such a keen sports person and an athletic
figure immediately took part in the game of hurling - Ghlac sé páirt - he took part
however this was uninvited, gan choinne, and this
upset the other boys, in fact they were furious, ar buile is furious ar buile
so much so that they attacked the young Setanta - D'ionsaigh siad- they attacked
and a fight broke out the Irish for fight is troid, however
because Setanta was so strong and powerful he was well able to defend
himself, the Irish for to defend yourself is
cosain, so Chosain sé, Chosain sé é féin- he defended himself
all this commotion created a lot of noise Torann is the
Irish for noise, Torann, so the king emerged and although he was upset to see the
older boys picking on Setanta, at the same time he was very impressed at the
way Setanta was able to defend himself
so an-tógtha is very impressed or very taken, an-tógtha, so much so
that King Conor extended an invitation to Setanta to join him later that evening
at a feast at a local blacksmiths residence, so the Irish for invitation
is Cuireadh and the Irish for a blacksmith is Gabha Dubh, the
the blacksmith's name was Culann and he carried out a lot of work for the King
in terms of making equipment and weapons and things like that
the Irish for a feast is Féasta although you could also use Cóisir as
well for a party Cóisir, when it came time to leave however another game of
hurling had started and Setanta didn't want to leave the game early, so he said
he would follow the King through the woods and he would meet him later at the
blacksmith's house, the king although surprised, agreed with this so
the Irish for follow is Lean, and the Irish for cart tracks the cart tracks that he
would follow later on is Cabhsa, he would follow the cart tracks of the
chariot the Irish for chariot is Carbad, however, áfach is however
however the game went on longer than anyone anticipated so it was quite late
by the time Setanta was making his way to the blacksmith's, Déanach is the Irish
for late Déanach, at the blacksmith's however the King had forgotten to tell
the blacksmith, Culann, that there would be a guest arriving later
and because Culann was not expecting anyone
he let his huge hound loose on his property
this massive guard dog was known and feared throughout Ulster and he would
protect the land and property of Culann the Irish for land or property is Talamh
and the Irish for hound is Cú
so eventually when Setanta reached the property of Culann the blacksmith he was
very very surprised and shocked to see this huge hound running at him and about
to attack him, all that Setanta had with him was his hurl
and his hurling ball, the Irish for a hurl is Camán, and the Irish
for a hurling ball is Sliotar, instinct took over - what Setanta
did was he threw up the ball swung back with his hurl and hit the ball at the
approaching Hound so hard that it went into the hounds mouth and the hound
subsequently let out a huge howl the Irish for Howl is Glam, this howl
was so loud and so piercing that it could be heard all through the province
of Ulster, the hound would die almost instantly
and hearing all this commotion the revelers came out to see what was happening
when Setanta presented the carcass of the hound they were shocked and once Setanta
realized what had happened he was incredibly apologetic and distraught
there and then he made a solemn promise that he Setanta would take the place of the
Hound until a new one could be raised the Irish for promise is Gealltanas
Thug sé gealltanas = he made a promise
and that's how Setanta got the name Cú Chulainn
the hound of Culann and he was so dedicated to this task that legend has it he often
slept with one eye open as he protected the land of the blacksmith Culann
So if you enjoyed this video and you would like to see more like this please let me know in
the comment section and give it a like, thanks for watching
slán go fóill.