Irish myths behind engine name

Irish myths are the inspiration for the name of a new web search engine that aims to rival Google.

Husband-and-wife team of Stanford professor Tom Costello and former Google search architect Anna Patterson have launched rival search engine Cuil.

The search engine began processing requests for the first time on Monday.

Ms Patterson said Cuil's search index spans 120 billion web pages, but Google has said it believes its index is larger.

Mr Costello comes from Drogheda, and the website said their name came from Ireland's rich mythology.

It said Cuil is the Gaelic word for both knowledge and hazel, and features prominently in ancient legend.

According to the Cuil website, a salmon which ate nine hazelnuts fell into the Fountain of Wisdom and gained all the knowledge in the world.

Whoever ate the salmon would acquire this knowledge.