Bran and Sceolang

Bran and Sceolang were the two faithful hunting hounds of Finn Mac Cumhaill. According to Irish myth, they were also Finn's cousins (or nephews in some versions).

Bran and Sceolang were the twin sons of Uirne or Tuirn (Tuireann, Tuiren), the sister of Muirenn (Muirne) and aunt of Finn. So Uirne was the daughter of Tadg and granddaughter of Nuada. In some versions, Uirne was Finn's sister. Depending on which text you are reading, different names were given to Uirne's husband, which related how she gave birth to two puppies.

In the earliest version her husband was named Imchad, the prince of Dál nAraide. However, she was the second wife. Jealous of Uirne, the first wife transformed her into a hound while she was still pregnant. After she gave birth to two puppies, Uirne regained her natural form, but her sons remained in the form of hounds.

In another version, it said that her husband transformed Uirne into a she-dog while she was pregnant. And like the first version, she regained her human form after the birth of Bran and Sceolang.

In the third version, her husband was Iollan (or Iollann Eachtach), but she was called Tuirn. Here, it was Iollan's jealous mistress Uchtdealb who turned Uirne into a dog, because Iollan abandoned her. The same thing happened as with the other two tales, where she regained her human form after the birth of Bran and Sceolang. However, in this tale she left her husband and married Lugaid Lága.

They were the swiftest hounds in Ireland. But it was their intelligence that most writers tended to emphasise. They had the intelligence of both their heritages as a hound and as a human/Danann. Finn often hunted with Bran and Sceolang. In some tales he had a third hound, probably named Lomair.

Bran and Sceolang were responsible for finding Sadb when they were hunting deer with Finn. Sadb was a Danann woman who was transformed into a deer by Fer Doirich (Dark Druid). Instead of attacking the deer (Sadb), they actually protected her from the other hounds. Sadb married Finn when the spell was broken, when she entered the fort on the Hill of Allen.