Variations: Cáthach
Ireland’s three dragon sisters Dabran, Farbagh, and Cathach were the offspring of the gatekeeper of Hell and the all-devouring sow; they were nursed by the red demon of West Ireland. Cathach, the youngest of the three, made her home on Inis Cathaig (now Scattery Island).
A horrible sight she was to see, a great dragon bigger a small isle, with a back like a round island covered with scales and shells. A rough bristly mane like a boar’s covered her foreparts. When she opened her cavernous mouth filled with a double row of sharp teeth, her entrails could be seen. A cruel eye gleamed in her head. Her body stood on two short, thick, hairy legs armed with iron nails that struck sparks on the rocks as she moved. Her belly was like a furnace. The tail of a whale she had, a tail with iron claws on it that ploughed furrows in the ground behind her. Cathach could move on land and swim with equal ease, and the sea boiled around her.
Farbagh was slain by Crohan, Sal, and Daltheen, the three sons of Toraliv M’Stairn, and Dabran was killed by Diarmuid O’Duibhne after the three brothers set her to protect their forts. When Cathach sensed the loss of her siblings, she went on a rampage, laying waste to the lands around the Shannon Estuary from Limerick to the sea, sinking ships and paralyzing commerce for a year. When the three brothers returned and saw the destruction wreaked by Cathach, they were so distraught that they flung themselves into the sea to their deaths.
Cathach herself was defeated by a far more humble and unassuming hero. When Saint Senan made landfall on Inis Cathaig, Cathach prepared to devour him whole. But the holy man made the sign of the cross in front of her face, and she was quieted. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, leave this island, and hurt no one here or wherever you leave to”. And Cathach did as she was told. She disappeared into the estuary and went to Sliab Collain without harming anyone; and if she is still alive, she has remained obedient to Senan’s command.
The ruins of the church of Saint Senan can still be seen to this day on Scattery Island.
References
Hackett, W. (1852) Folk-lore – No. I. Porcine Legends. Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, 2(1), pp.
O’Donovan, J. (1864) The Martyrology of Donegal. Alexander Thom, Dublin.
Stokes, W. S. (1890) Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Stokes, W. (1905) The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. Harrison and Sons, London.
Watts, A. A. (1828) The Literary Souvenir. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, London.
A Book of Creatures 
Ah yes, the classic “Saint Overcomes Reptile/Amphibian” myth. You’d think all of Christianity was just using magic spells to get rid of snakes, frogs, dragons, lake monsters, etc with all the stories of some guy (occasionally a gal) waltzing into town and getting rid of the local herpetological nightmare with all the stories of it.
And before anyone says anything: the idea that these creatures represent Paganism can be easily debunked by the sheer amount of stories where those same saints will duel Druids or other polytheistic clergy (these myths can often be found right next to each other in the same sources). It’s more likely that these myths are just Christian continuations of the usual “Hero Overcomes Reptile/Amphibian”. The religion might have changed but the monsters sure didn’t go away!
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Fun fact: Saint Senan also kills a druid!
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I’ll bet he did. After all, it was their favorite pastime back then: killing non-believers and then bragging about it later. If you ever want to read something appalling, read the early Christian accounts of what they did to the people that didn’t convert. Religion of Love, my ass…
And I’m not talking about the “Burning Times” that Wiccans like to talk about. I mean what really happened. What actually happened to innocent people who were just trying to live their lives. It’s sickening.
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Apologies but I deleted your next comment. Even if I agree with you, please try to keep this site relatively G-rated…
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I can’t say I agree with your decision but if that is what you felt was right then so be it
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Harsh but fair
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I hope you understand. This is a topic I have strong opinions on. Mainly because the injustices of the past are still prevalent today. In every degree, mind you!
For example, my colleagues and I had a co-religionist in the Middle-East. The last thing we ever heard from her was that Jihadists had taken over her village. No one has heard anything from her. Granted, this was a different religious group in this particular instance but it just goes to show that threats to my kind are very real
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Do the gatekeeper of hell,all-devouring sow and the red demon of the West have actual names ?
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They’re not given in the reference (“Porcine legends”) but I suspect the sow is Hen Wen.
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Is it possible the red demon is Caorthannach ?
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Possible!
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It might be a stretch but giving how Christians conflated the underworld with hell and that hills and mounds were considered to be gateways to the underworld,perhaps the gatekeeper of hell was none other than Crom Cruach himself.
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….Okay, I need to hear about the rest of this monstrous family now! They all sound fascinating!
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Agreed! Not much on them though.
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