The Werewolves of Ossory
Ossory was an old kingdom of Ireland, now comprised of Kilkenny and Laois. There have long been stories about werewolves associated with this region. 'Cóir Anmann', a 12th century manuscript, offers an account of a man named Laignech Fáelad, said to be an ancestor of a tribe of werewolves who were related to the kings of Ossory. According to the 'Cóir Anmann', ‘he was a man that used to go wolfing, into shapes of wolves he used to go, and his offspring used to go after him and they used to kill the herds after the fashion of wolves, so that it is for that that he used to be called Laignech Fáelad, for he was the first of them who went into a wolf-shape’.
Legend has it that when St Patrick preached to groups about Christianity, Laignech and his followers howled like wolves in protest in order to drown out his voice.