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Culann - Warrior Monk
7th century life in Ireland & Britain

Duncan MacDonald     
Jakarta   30  May   2012      
 Culann (b 640 CE - ) was raised by one of the leaders of the Fianna, a famous warrior named Breuse. After many adventures Culann later joined the Celtic church on Iona as a warrior monk. This is a historical novel based on actual events.

Some of the illustrations relating to the book will be posted on this web site for your consideration and comments.

We wish to show how people dressed and the type of buildings they lived in 7th century Ireland and Brit1ain. Hopefully this e-book will shed a little light on a period often referred to as 'the dark ages'.

Culann Celtic Warrior Monk Stop Press:     dMAC Digest is sponsoring the download of
Culan, Celtic Warrior Monk    e-book   absolutely FREE, for a limited time.
  Available on Apple iPad/iBooks, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo & most e-reading apps including Stanza & Aldiko
    >>Click here to download the  e-book from Smashwords



Celtic monasteries
     Celtic Monasteries in the 7th Century CE (Common Era)




Culann with The Smith
     Young Culann with his father, The Smith

Culann in the forest

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Breuse with Culann
Breuse waitched over his ward Culann with a father's pride. Culann could hold his own against Fianna twice his age.

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The cattle raid
     The Cattle Raid

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Culann of the Fianna

     Culann of the Fianna

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Odra's home
     Fea in her friend Odra's home.

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St Brigids
     Fea and Sister Mish in St Brigids.

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You may call me Fea

     You may call me Fea.

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Wedding march
     The dinner passed in a blur for Culann who sat mesmerised next to the real Fea.

 

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saving Fea
     Culann rescuing Princess Fea.

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King Sgmalls response
     Sigmall's little rag-tag force assembled at his hill fort.

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I need 4 brave men
     The Fianna looked listless, leaderless and demoralised. "I need four brave men to join me on a mission."said Culann.

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Culann raised the dead kings torc to the heavens
     Culann raised the dead King's golden torc up to the heavens and utterred a terrible war cry.

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fateful meeting
     Culann's fateful meeting with the Lady Fea at St Brigits.

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Hot heads
     Culann noticed the parchment lying on the ground. He carefully picked it up. It was addressed to someone, but the writing was in Latin. 'Great, I don't read Latin.' But he could understand one word at the bottom - Iona

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the voyage north
     Culann wished his young companion 'God Speed' and gave him his prized horse and chariot.

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monks
     Culann with some of his students from his self-defense classes. A warrior leaning to become a monk and quietly teaching monks to become warriors.

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Ardslignish
     Culann watched as the villagers' gasped in wonderment as they observed the carved cross on the ancient stone.

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Sirona with baby Fergus

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Fergus brae race

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Fergus playing shinty
Fergus excelled at 'Shinty' which was considered ideal training for typical Celtic warfare.

Shinty was played over two thousand years ago in Caledonia by the Picts. It was introduced by the Celts from Ireland where it is called Hurling. From it developed the modern games of Field Hocky, Ice Hocky and Lacrosse. Some shinty players have asserted that Quidditch, the fictional sport in the Harry Potter book and film series by J.K. Rowling was inspired by shinty.

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gaining knowledge
     Sirona briefed Brother Bec before he set off to Lindisfarne with Fergus. "Fergus needs to learn to read and write. I want my son to have great knowledge."

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Culann sitting
     Culann blindly turned and walked to the shore and sat there mindlessly on a rocky outcrop. He cried, covering his face with his cloak so no one would see.

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Fea novice nun
     Fea with young Sister Tamara and the milk maids.

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Fea treating the sailor


     Fea bathed the sailor. He had a rash with large pustules, some the size of her finger all over his face and most of his body. The skin had turned a dull dark colour. He had a high fever and was vomiting.
    A number of monks and sisters gathered at the doorway of the infirmary. They discussed in hushed tones the unprecedented event of a sister working in the male infirmary.

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Mullo and Fea
     Brother Mullo talking to Fea in the aftermath of the plague. "Why don't you take the Greek texts to a monastery where they can translate them."

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Hesus confessing to Fea
     Brother Hesus confessing to Sister Fea on Jura.

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visiting curach
     The two nuns watched the curach pull into the jetty far below. "Sister Fea" said the younger nun Tamara, "the boat from Iona is not due today. Whatever could they want?"

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on to Whitby
     Fergus 'borrowed' a small curach to follow the Lindisfarne and Iona monks as they sailed south to Whitby.

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Fea on Lios mor
     Sister Fea discovers Dandelion on Lios mor,(in Gaelic it means 'Great Garden') a fertile, low-lying island in the Inner Hebridies. It is now known as Lismore. It was a major centre of Celtic Christianity. The original monastery was founded by Saint Moloug in AD 562.

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Synod of Whitby
     Abbott Colman with his Celtic monks, Abbess Hilda and King Oswy, listen to Wilfred of Rippon deliver his presentation on behalf of the Church of Rome.

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Return to Lindisfarne
     Culann and Fergus paddled all the second day and into the night. They swapped roles of paddling and bailing with the drinking cup

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Abbot Colman
     Abbot Colman was quiet and withdrawn. His beloved Celtic Church was to be no more. Brother Bryan took it upon himself to organise their departure from Whitby.

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meeting Colman Culnn Fergus
     Culann, Fergus with Brother Bryan and Brother Bec, entered Colman's small candle-lit room.

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Pamp the Irish bard
     Pamp the Irish Bard at St. Abbs

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Bass Rock
Brother Bec waiting at North Bere-wick for Culann & Fergus to arrive from St Abbs. Behind him is the local landmark Bass Rock. North Berwick means North 'barley farmstead' ('bere' in Old English means 'barley' and 'wic' in Old English is 'farmstead'). The word North was applied to distinguish this Berwick from Berwick-upon-Tweed, which throughout the Middle Ages the Scots called South Berwick.

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Abernethy
"Don't . . ." yelled Fergus. But the king's head was yanked back and Culann's knife was at his throat. "We'll see who is safe around here" hissed Culann.

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Fergus and Lasair
     Fergus and Lasair in front of a crannog.

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Lugs Lookout
     "Well, well, we have more visitors." said the Angle leader.

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Dun Durn
     Gille Dhu, Lasair's uncle and local Pict leader in front of his hill fort Dun Durn, just west of Loch Earn.

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Loch Etive
     Culann and Fergus pursued by a Scotti currach on Loch Etive

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Culann hallucinating
     Culann hallucinating

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Lios mor Infirmary
     Sister Fea with Sister Tamara and her 'Milk Maids', observed by Brother Hesus at the Lios mor Infirmary

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saving lives
     Saving lives - Fea with her milk maids, Fergus, Hesus and Culann

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Culann and Fea
     Just then a beam of sunlight came through the window, bathing Culann and Fea in its golden light - an omen for a brighter future?

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The complete historical novel can be downloaded as a FREE e-book on Smashwords.
Available on iPad / iBooks, Kindle, Nook, Sony, & most e-reading apps including Stanza & Aldiko.
Just click the following link     >> download free e-book Culann Celtic Warrior Monk

      Britannia Bulletin #2                                                     Culann Chronicles #2Next