Werewolves of Ossory

The legends may have derived from the activities of warriors in ancient Ireland who were the subject of frequent literary comparisons to wolves, and who may have adopted lupine hairstyles or worn wolf-skins while they "went wolfing" and carried out raids.

They were frequently portrayed as wolves, hunting both animals and humans, and may have worn wolf-skins or a lupine hairstyle as part of a ritual transformation.

[5][6] The late 14th century Book of Ballymote may refer to this tradition in a passage which speaks of "the descendants of the wolf" in Ossory having the power to change themselves and go forth to devour people.

[8] De Ingantaib Érenn speaks of the werewolves as living in Ossory, but this detail is omitted in the 13th century Norse work Konungs Skuggsjá (King's Mirror).

The wolf replies: There are two of us, a man and a woman, natives of Ossory, who through the curse of one Natalis, saint and abbot, are compelled every seven years to put off the human form and depart from the dwellings of men.

After the priest has given communion to the woman/she-wolf, the male wolf leads him out of the woods and gives him a number of prophesies about the future of Ireland and its English invaders.

[15] As such, they are Christianised werewolves; they are people created in the image of God who have outwardly changed their appearance but retain their human intelligence and forms, albeit concealed.

[16] Gerald goes on to discuss the theological implications of his story, referring to accounts of werewolves in Augustine of Hippo's 5th century work The City of God.

He reiterates Augustine's views on metamorphisis: We agree, then, with Augustine, that neither demons nor wicked men can either create or really change their natures ; but those whom God has created can, to outward appearance, by his permission, become transformed, so that they appear to be what they are not; the senses of men being deceived and laid asleep by a strange allusion, so that things are not seen as they really exist, but are strangely drawn by the power of some phantom or magical incantation to rest their eyes on unreal and fictitious forms.

Catherine E. Karkov argues that the story implicitly portrays the Irish people themselves as being bestial in appearance, yet still redeemable through the Christian sacrament, as they were made in the image of God underneath it all.