Saoirse Callaghan

Saoirse Callaghan is a seventeen year old Half-Selkie daughter of Orla Halloran and Aidan Callaghan. She came to camp at thirteen years old.

## Basic Stuff

### Alias

Sai-Sai, Seal Girl, Selkie, Sassy, Sasha, Sash, Seer-sha

### Affiliation

* Camp Olympia
* The Celtic Gods
* Selkies

### Residence

* Camp Olympia (Currently)
* The Ocean (Occasionaly)
* Dublin, Ireland (Formerly)

## Family

### Biological Family

* Orla Halloran (Mother)
* Aidan Callaghan (Father)
* Selkies (divine aunts and uncles)

## Appearance

### Outfit

* White shirt
* Blue tank top
* Sea green plaid and white skirt
* Pink wedges

**(A/N: The early life was based on a Tumblr post I saw and I don't know that much about Selkie lore**

## History

### Early Life

Saoirse Callaghan was born to Orla Halloran, a selkie and Aidan Callaghan, a mortal man who can see through the mist in Dublin, Ireland on June 8, 2004. Orla was a selkie, a woman who'd grown up the oceans of Ireland. But, she also a fondness for humans. Sure, her family (mainly her sisters and mother) had warned her about the dangers of humans, mainly human men, but Orla couldn't help it. She saw the beauty of human life. Lovers walking and holding hands, families spending time and children playing on the beach. Orla was espsicially found of the humans who went of their way to protect the ocean life. One day, Orla decided to sneak onto land to explore the city of Dublin. She spent most of the day on land, keeping her seal skin very close to her as she walked along the side walk, walking past stores. As she walked, she had unknowingly dropped her seal skin as she walked passed a small cafe. From behind her, she heard "Excuse me, Miss. You dropped your coat." Orla turned around in fear, but to her surprise, the nice and handsome young man politely gave Orla her seal skin back. This was... new. Orla had heard tales of human men taking selkie's seal skin and keeping them but this man... gave it back to her... Orla thanked the man, who introduced himself Aidan Callaghan and eventually had to return back to the ocean.

By selkie customs, Aidan had just proposed. She had returned to the ocean smitten with the young man "He didn’t take advantage of me and steal the coat like he could have,” she said to herself. They were technically married by custom and Orla decided, why not get married by human customs as well. The next day, Orla returned to land, and bought an engagement ring. She saw Aidan at the same cafe and shyly approached him. Aidan smiled when he saw Orla and was about to invite her to sit down when

"I... Isn't this... an engagement ring?"

"Well... We... We should get married by human customs as well

"... *What?*"

Orla quietly and quickly explained that she was a selkie and how when Aidan gave her her seal skin back, he basically proposed to him. Aidan understood and believed Orla, having been able to see through the mist and saw a few selkies leaving the beach as a child. The two came to a compromise where they'd go on dates to see if they actually want to be married. Over the course of their dates, the couple feel in love and would do things like meeting Aidan's family (though not the other way around, strangely and eventually bring up the whole marriage/accidental proposal. Both agreed they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. The two would eventually get married in October of 2003. A few weeks later, Orla got pregnant from Aidan and they had their daughter Saoirse in June of 2004

### Childhood

Saoirse grew up in Dublin, Ireland in a house near the sea. She was loved by both her parents, but took her father's last name with Orla having cut off her family ever since she met Aidan. She was raised on both land and sea, with a mother who took her swimming every summer since she was five and a father who read her a bunch of books on Celtic/Irish Mythology and Folklore. Saoirse grew up almost unaware of her selkie heritage since, when Orla introduced Aidan to her family, her mother and sisters were *super* disapproving of her falling in love with a human and so Orla cut ties with her family, never returning to the ocean ever again, unless it was to supervise Saoirse when she was swimming. At the age of nine years old, Saoirse was diagnosed with Dyslexia. At school, Saoirse was normally the shy and quite girl and was often left alone, which she preferred; she always found the other kids too loud.

### Not So Normal

Saoirse was around eleven years old when she began to discover her true heritage. The first instant, was when she was swimming by her home, she was swept out to sea and while her mother went to grab her seal skin to go get her, but when Orla returned, she found Saoirse lying on the beach with a herd of seals next to her. Orla was... confused. These could either be her family or some random herd of seals that her family would normally be around. Either way, Orla picked up her daughter and thanked the seals for bringing her back. Another time, that same summer, she found that same herd of seals and could actually understand them. One the day of her twelfth birthday, Saoirse discovered both her seal skin and her mother's seal skin. Saoirse confronted her mother about these strange coats and Orla and Aidan where forced to tell Saoirse about her true heritage. Saoirse, of course, was shocked and mad that her parents kept this from her, but her mother explained that she kept it from her since Orla cut of ties with her family, but her mother promised to teach her about selkie culture.

### Coming to Camp

At the ages 12 and 13, Saoirse's mother taught her about selkies. She showed Saoirse how the seal coat worked and was able to help Saoirse learn how to swim as a seal. Saoirse was thirteen when she heard about Camp Olympia. One day, the week after she had turned 13, a Each-uisge had attacked Saoirse and Orla while they were swimming. They were saved by a water nymph who told Orla about Camp Olympia. Orla understood, but before leaving, told Aidan about camp, who understood that this would be the safest place for their daughter. Then, Saoirse and Orla left, swimming as seals all the way from Ireland to California. Once in California, the mother and daughter made their way to Big Bear. Once at camp, Orla said that she would leave back to Ireland while Saoirse would stay here. Saoirse was sadden and a little upset at her mom leaving, but Orla promised to come and visit. When Saoirse entered camp, she was placed into the Hermes cabin as there was no cabin for selkies.

## Personality

Saoirse is shy and nervous in crowds and she often sits in the back of the class, just to make sure she can see where everyone is. She has a personal bubble that she doesn't let very many people into because she's simply scared to trust people. Her hesitation to trust people stems from her fear of them finding out that she's a Selkie and trying to find where she's hidden her seal skin. She's not hard to get along with, really, just hard to talk to because of her anxiety. It's the rare person that can befriend her and gain her trust. Even when someone does manage to gain her trust, Saoirse is slow to open up to them. She'll talk more and begin to smile, even joke, but it takes time for her to become comfortable with someone. Eventually, she proves herself to be a loyal friend, sweet and caring, and very protective. If someone threatens her friends in any way, Saoirse gets defensive, sometimes even bodily so, unafraid to tackle whoever is causing her friends trouble. Saoirse’s torn between staying at camp and returning to the sea. As much as she likes it at Camp Olympia, she misses swimming with her family and dancing on the beach under the moon with her mom. She loves being at camp, loves learning, but she's constantly nervous about her seal skin being stolen while she's training. She desperately wants to break away from her destiny, but because of her nerves, she's afraid to declare herself a Rebel and try to change her fate, so she takes a firm stand as a neutral party in the "pantheons" debacle. Saoirse is a kind and caring girl and always does her best to be compassionate to others. She believes that one should never be harsh or hateful when instead a person can choose to be gracious and kind hearted. Because of this, she is supportive of her fellow students who have decided to rebel to seek out their own happily-ever-afters (particularly those who are rebelling against their destiny to be villains) since she thinks that everyone is capable of being kind if they choose to be. She hopes that when it comes time to fulfill her destiny, she'll be able to convince the wicked fairy to change her ways and resolve any insult that may have been caused between her family and the fairies before so that she will not be forced to hurt the fairy in her story. While she recognizes that trying to always be kind will never guarantee that everyone will like her, she's happy to attempt to bring some sunshine and rainbows into the days of her fellow students. From a young age, the princess was taught to always mind her manners and tend to her appearance, so luckily Saoirse is an early-bird which gives her plenty of time to prepare herself for the day before class. She always makes a point to speak politely, even when just conversing with her friends, and can often be found with a small frown on her face at mealtimes as she tries to recall all of the table manners which she has been forced to remember through numerous lectures. Due to her quiet nature, Saoirse can be somewhat shy and can sometimes find it difficult to connect with people when meeting them for the first time. However,she is a friendly person, so given time, she is able to develop strong friendships once she musters up the courage to speak freely to those whom she wishes to befriend. She finds that most people at Ever After High can be fairly friendly, so she tries to push herself to speak first when meeting new people in order to conquer her shyness. Because of her destiny to save her prince from the clutches of the evil fairies, Saoirse has an adventurous streak and is constantly exploring any new locations she finds herself in. Between classes, she enjoys roaming the halls and grounds of Camp Olympia in search of any new hidden secrets. She is pleased to be given the chance to achieve her happily-ever-after rather than just having it handed to her. While she would not consider herself to be brave and can sometimes have trouble facing her fears (the greatest being her fear of fire, a fear which makes her somewhat hesitant about parts of her destiny since she is supposed to tend to a fire for several years) she is always willing to do what is necessary in order to lend aid to her friends and loved ones. A hopeless romantic, Saoirse looks forward to the day when she will finally meet the prince destined to be her true love and often wonders how their first meeting and conversation will go. Because it is part of her story that she will hear her prince's voice speaking to her through a rainbow and that is how she will know that he is the one, she wears plenty of crystal jewelry that casts rainbows, not wanting to miss her chance to meet him. Oftentimes, the princess can be rather indecisive, from being unable to decide upon which shoes to wear with her outfit to being unable to choose a favorite color. (How can a person choose one color over another when they’re all so wonderful?) Because of this wishy-washy trait, she is constantly asking her friends for their opinions on just about everything. She sometimes becomes concerned that her inability to make snap decisions will end up hindering her ability to save her prince and complete her destiny. Furthermore, her indecisiveness often causes her to be late for classes and meetings with friends. She always seems to think that she will not take as long to decide on what to wear or what to pack than it will in reality. This is not helped by the fact that Saoirse can often be a bit of a procrastinator as well. Saoirse's mother has tried for years to teach her that being punctual is the polite thing to be, but being on time is one aspect of etiquette that the young princess has a terrible time grasping. While normally very mild-mannered, Saoirse can get quite huffy and hot headed at times, particularly when she finds that someone is being particularly rude or cruel to another. It is then that Saoirse deems a confrontation necessary since she believes that the only thing that comes from being boorish and rude is that other people get hurt. However, once she's finished with the confrontation she often worries that she was too mean to herself and worries that it's wrong to be rude even if she's trying to prevent someone else from being the same. Saoirse has a love for anything colorful and shiny and therefore her prized possession is a rock collection of colorful crystals and glimmering stones which she keeps in a special wooden case beneath her bed.  She has a habit of bringing out her collection to polish when she’s feeling upset or stressed, or even when she’s just sitting on her bed gossiping with her roommate. She also greatly enjoys gardening and tends to a small flower box which sits on the windowsill in her dorm room.

### Fatal Flaw

Saoirse's fatal flaw is her shyness. She is often the quite type and often freezes up in times of danger

## Appearance

Saoirse is a seventeen year old Irish girl with wavy brown hair with periwinkle streaks in her hair with a side braid going across her head, light brown skin with freckles going across her skin, and sea-gray eyes. Saoirse is often seen wearing a white shirt with a blue tank top over it, a sea green plaid and white skirt, and pink wedges

## Powers and Abilities

### Selkie Powers

* Saoirse possesses all the abilities of a selkie, however hers are significantly weaker as they are overridden by her half-human heritage
	+ When she dons her 'seal skin', Saoirse possesses all abilities of a pinniped. This includes:
		- She has control over her internal body temperature.
		- She is insulated by internal fat, or 'blubber', and external fur, therefore has an immunity to the cold water.
		- She is extremely agile.
		- She has enhanced balance.
		- She can swim for as long as 30 minutes without becoming tired, and is able to dive as deep as 480 m (1,600 feet).
		- She can hold her breath for as long as 1½ hours, due to increased lung capacity.
		- She possesses hypersensitivity to movement while underwater.
		- She is immune to water pressure.
		- She is extremely swift due to wing-like flippers

* She can communicate with and understand seals and other pinnipeds.
* She possesses unnatural strength, speed, agility, balance and power (as in jumping) that surpasses that of other demigods in some cases.
* As a human Saoirse still possesses these abilities, however they are significantly weaker and work less efficiently, especially her immunity to water pressure
* She has the ability of water manipulation as a human

### General Abilities

* Dyslexia: Saoirse's brain is "hard-wired" for Ancient Celtic Runes instead of mortal languages.
* Swimming Skills: Saoirse, as a selkie, is skilled at swimming
* Swordsmanship: She is a skilled sword user
* Singing Skills: She is a skilled and talented singer
* Irish: Saoirse, being born in Ireland, speaks fluent Irish
* Superhuman strength: As a demigod, Saoirse is much stronger than the average mortal
* Superhuman durability: As a demigod, Saoirse is more durable than a regular human being
* Superhuman agility: As a demigod, Saoirse is more agile than the average mortal
* Superhuman reflexes: As a demigod, Saoirse's reflexes are greater than the average mortal

## Relationships

### Friends

#### Vixen Russell

Vixen and Saoirse somehow became good friends with each other, since they are bother spirits (Vixen a Kitsune and Saoirse a selkie) and are usually seen hanging out with each other

### Family

#### Orla Halloran (Mother)

Saoirse has a close relationship with her mother, who would often take her swimming and spend time together in the water. Saoirse was upset at her mother for keeping her selkie heritage a secret for so long but forgave her mother either way

#### Aidan Callaghan (Father)

Saoirse has a close relationship with her father, who would teach her about Celtic/Irish folklore and mythology as a child. She misses her father while she's at camp

## Etymology

Saoirse is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning **"liberty"** or **"Freedom"**

From Gaelic Ó Ceallacháin **'descendant of Ceallachán'**, a diminutive of the personal name Ceallach, possibly meaning **'lover of churches',** from ceall **'church',** or (more likely) **'bright-headed',** from cen **'head'** + lach **'light'**.

## Trivia

1. Saoirse's middle name is Ailsa, which means **"elf victory"**
2. She is the only Selkie at camp
3. Saoirse's worst fear is also having to go through what her ancestors did as a selkie whose skin was stolen. Due to this, she often hides her selkie coat in the attic of the Big House when she isn't using it, locking it in a chest with the key worn in a necklace around her neck.
4. Saoirse's lungs are larger than a normal person's, allowing her to stay longer underwater. She can also hold her breath longer than most.
5. Her favorite activity to do at the beach is either snorkeling or looking at rockpools.
6. She was not born with periwinkle in her hair, rather she started dying her hair at the age of nine
7. She sleeps with a seal plushi
8. She has a fear of loud noises