Crom Dubh is an ancient Celtic god and is the headless horseman called the Dullahan.
The worship of Crom Dubh is most closely associated with Tigernmas, the Irish high king who is said to have perished while worshiping the old Irish god of agriculture. Crom Dubh demanded human lives every year to be sacrificed in his name and the method of sacrifice that he asked for was decapitation. Christian missionaries denounced all such worship and under their influence, the old sacrificial religions of Ireland began to lose favour. Crom Dubh was not to be denied his annual quota of souls, and took on a physical form which became known as the Dullahan. The Dullahan is often male but some are female. The Dullahan is believed to use the spine of a human corpse for a whip, carries his own head in his right hand. The head's black eyes are either small or massive and constantly dart about like malignant flies, while the mouth is usually in a hideous, idiotic grin that touches both sides of the head, his eyes are constantly moving about and can see across the countryside even during the darkest nights. The flesh of the head is said to have the color and consistency of stale dough or moldy cheese, and quite smooth. The entire head glows with the phosphorescence of decaying matter and the creature may use it as a lantern to guide its way along the darkened laneways of the Irish countryside.
On nights of Irish feast days, it is advisable to stay at home with the curtains drawn; particularly around the end of August or early September when the festival of Crom Dubh reputedly took place. Once the Dullahan says your name, you die within the year.
