146 DOG 



descendant of the dog or hero Uladh ; Cu-mara, dog of the sea, 

 has now come to be Macnamara ; in Fermanagh there is a hill 

 called Sliabh-da-choin, the hill of the two dogs, and two townships 

 called Cu-mor agus Cu-beag, the big and the little dog ; Mac-Con 

 used to be quite a connnon name, it was even the sobriquet of 

 an Irish monarch called Lughaidh, in the second century; while 

 a proper name, now perhaps fortunately obsolete, was Cu-duilig 

 (cu-duilich), translated greedy or sad dog, and another, not over 

 complimentary to the "cloth" in Ireland, for a parson n'as Cu- 

 crichi (cu criche), dog of the boundary, his dwelling, manse (or 

 kennel), being known as Conbhair ; we have also Cubretan, a son 

 of Congus, signifying dog or hero of Britain. Cu-chulainn above 

 referred to, is short for Cu Chuailgne, hound of Culann, and is said 

 to have been so named because he had slain, when only eight years 

 of age, a huge watch-dog belonging to a smith, which barred his 

 way. Cu-ceaird, the artificer's or smith's dog, hence came to be 

 an old name for Cu-chulainn as he offered himself to watch in 

 place of the slain dog. Cu-chulainn was under geasan (charms or 

 vows) not to eat hound's flesh ; he is often called Cu nan con, the 

 hound of hounds, and in a note to " Laoidh nan ceann," Book of 

 Dean of Lismore, we are told that he was often spoken of simply 

 as An Cu, the hound. Another account says Cu-chulainn was so 

 called from "cu," a hound, and Ullin, the name of the province, 

 but this is not likely. In Gaelic, as in other languages, the names 

 of animals generally are frequently found forming personal names. 

 A few may be given by way of example, such as Faolan (St Fillan), 

 little wolf, from faol or faolchu, wolf, wolf dog; Sinnach, fox, 

 from sionnach ; Turk, boar, from tore ; Madden, O' Madden, little 

 dog, from madadhan, etc. The word cu, however, different from 

 these, always combines with some attribute in such formation. 

 Cu-connacht, hound or hero of Connaught ; Cu-Mumhan, hound or 

 hero of Munster, a different rendering from that above given ; Cu 

 Uladh, hound or hero of Ulster, a chief of Flinn or Flynn family 

 (O'Flainn); Cu-Sleibhe, a chief of the O'Leavy family (O'Con- 

 Sleibhe) ; Cubroc, badger hound or hero, a chief of the O'Connors 

 or Corcumree ; Cugeal, white hound, a chief of the Gilkelly family ; 

 Cucalma, brave hound, a chief of the MacGeoghagan family ; 

 Cumidhe, as above, a chief of the Macnamee family ; Cumeala, 

 honey-hound, a chief of the O'Meala family (O'Con-meala). 

 When that famous champion John de Courcy invaded Ulidia (a 

 part of Ulster comprehending the counties of Down and Antrim) 

 in 1177, the dominant family there was, according to Connellan, 

 that of Cu-Uladh Mac Dhunshleibhe O'h-Eochadha. who was a 

 brother of Rory, the last King of Ulster of the Clan Colla progeny. 

 The first part of the name has been Latinised Canis Ultonice. The 

 name Bancho is just Ban chu, white dog. Skene says a Pictish 

 name Constantine is derived from the Irish (Celtic) form cu, dog, 

 which forms chon in genitive — compare Milchu, Milchon. This 



