View source for Cailleach

{{short description|Gaelic female hag deity}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Celtic
| name = Cailleach
| image = Wonder tales from Scottish myth and legend (1917) (14566397697).jpg
| caption = Illustration by John Duncan in Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend (1917)
| alt = Print of old woman holding a hammer with a background of  mountains
| other_names = {{Plainlist|
* Cailleach Bhéara (Irish)
* Cailleach Bheurra (Scottish Gaelic)
* Caillagh (Manx)
* [[The Hag of Beara]]
* Beira, Queen of Winter
}}
| god_of = landscape, storms and winter
| abodes = {{Plainlist|
* [[Labbacallee wedge tomb]]
}}
| consorts = {{Plainlist|
* [[Mug Ruith]]
* Bodach
}}
| texts = {{Plainlist|
* ''The Lament of the Old Woman''
* ''The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn''
* ''[[Glas Gaibhnenn]]''
* ''[[The Hag of Beara]]''
}}
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
In [[Gaels|Gaelic]] ([[Irish mythology|Irish]], [[Scottish mythology|Scottish]] and [[Culture of the Isle of Man#Myth, legend and folklore|Manx]]) myth, the '''Cailleach''' ({{IPA|ga|ˈkal̠ʲəx, kəˈl̠ʲax|lang}}, {{IPA|gd|ˈkʰaʎəx|lang}}) is a divine [[hag]], associated with the [[Creator deity|creation]] of the landscape and with the [[Weather god|weather]], especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with this meaning in modern [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]],<ref name="dicdef">{{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Boyd |last2=McDonald |first2=Ian |title=Gaelic Dictionary |publisher=Hodder Education |series="Teach Yourself" series |isbn=0-07-142667-1 |pages=24–25 |date=2004}}</ref> and has been applied to numerous mythological and [[Folklore|folkloric]] figures in [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]], and the [[Isle of Man]].<ref name="Briggs1">Briggs, Katharine M. (1976) ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. New York, Pantheon Books. pp. 57-60.</ref> In modern Irish folklore studies, she is sometimes known as '''[[The Hag of Beara]]''', while in Scotland she is known as '''Beira, Queen of Winter'''.

==Name==
[[File:Hags_head_rock_formation_visible_from_ocean.jpg|thumb|left| ''Ceann na Caill'', [[The Hag's Head]], on the southernmost tip of the [[Cliffs of Moher]] in [[County Clare]]. One of many locations named for the Cailleach.<ref name="Monaghan">Monaghan, Patricia (2004) ''The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog: The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit''. New World Library. {{ISBN|1-57731-458-1}} p.23: "We see her silhouette on ''Ceann na Cailleach'' [recte ''Ceann na Caillí''], 'Hag's Head', the most southerly of the [[Cliffs of Moher]]".</ref>]]

{{lang|ga|Cailleach}} ('old woman' or 'hag' in modern [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]])<ref name="dicdef" /><ref name="IrCailleach">{{cite book |last=Ó Dónaill |first=Niall |title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla |publisher=Mount Salus Press |isbn=1-85791-037-0 |page=172 |date=1992}}</ref> comes from the [[Old Irish]] {{lang|sga|Caillech}} ('veiled one'), an adjectival form of {{lang|sga|caille}} ('veil'), an early loan from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|pallium}},<ref>Displaying the expected /p/ > /c/ change of early Latin loans in Irish.</ref> 'woollen cloak'.<ref>Thurneysen, Rudolph; ''A Grammar of Old Irish'', Vol. 1; Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946, p. 568.</ref><ref>Ó Cathasaigh, T. "The eponym of Cnogba", ''Éigse'' 23, 1989, pp. 27–38.</ref><ref>Ó hÓgáin, D. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition'', Prentice Hall Press, 1991, p. 67.</ref><ref name="Macbain">Macbain, Alexander (1998) ''Etymological Dictionary Of Scottish-Gaelic''. New York: Hippocrene Books, {{ISBN|0-7818-0632-1}}, p. 63.</ref>

The Cailleach is often referred to as the {{lang|ga|Cailleach Bhéarra}} in Irish and {{lang|gd|Cailleach Bheurra}} in Scottish Gaelic. Gearóid Ó Crualaoich believes this comes from a word meaning 'sharp, shrill, inimical' – {{lang|sga|bior}} or {{lang|sga|beur}} – and refers to the Cailleach's association with winter and wilderness, as well as her association with horned beasts or cattle.<ref name="Ó Crualaoich">{{cite book |first=Gearóid |last=Ó Crualaoich |date=2006 |title=The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer |publisher=Cork University Press |isbn=1-85918-372-7}}</ref> [[Nollaig Ó Muraíle]] mentions a colleague discovering a south-west Kerry dialect word {{lang|ga|béarach}} used to designate "rocks on the sea-shore against which the sea breaks with great force" and suggests this as an original meaning.<ref name="Ó Muraíle">{{cite web |last1=Ó Muraíle |first1=Nollaig |title=Béarra/Bear |url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/38 |website=Placenames Database of Ireland |access-date=15 September 2025}}</ref> However, the earlier forms of the word has a [[Irish language#Phonology|slender ending]], not a broad one: {{lang|ga|Béirre}} (Ó Muraíle),<ref name="Ó Muraíle" /> "{{lang|sga|Bérre}}, gen. {{lang|sga|Bérri}}, dat. {{lang|sga|Bérriu}}" (Meyer).<ref name="Meyer1899">{{cite journal |last1=Meyer |first1=Kuno |author1-link=Kuno Meyer |title=Irish Stories and Songs: II. The Old Woman of Beare |journal=Otia Merseiana |date=1899 |volume=1 |pages=119–128 |via=The Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/otiamerseiana01artsgoog/page/n142/mode/2up |access-date=14 September 2025 |publisher=University College of Liverpool}}</ref>

The 8th- to 9th-century Irish poem ''The Lament of the Old Woman'' says that the Cailleach's name is {{lang|sga|Digdi}} {{IPA|/ˈdʲiɣʲðʰi/}} or {{lang|sga|Digde}} {{IPA|/ˈdʲiɣʲðʰe/}}.<ref name="Meyer1899" /> In ''The Hunt of [[Slieve Gullion|Slieve Cuilinn]]'' she is called Milucra, sister of [[Áine]]. In the tale of the [[Glas Gaibhnenn]], she is called Biróg. Elsewhere, she is called Bui or Bua[ch].<ref>Ó Cathasaigh, Tomás. [http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/boyne/knowth2a.html "Knowth - The Epynom of Cnogba"].</ref> In [[Manx language|Manx Gaelic]] she is known as the {{lang|gv|Caillagh}}.<ref name="Briggs1" /><ref>Monaghan, Patricia. ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore''. Infobase Publishing, 2004, p.69</ref>

The plural of ''cailleach'' is {{lang|ga|cailleacha}} ({{IPA|ga|kɪˈl̠ʲaxə, ˈkal̠ʲəxə|pron}}) in Irish, {{lang|gd|cailleachan}} ({{IPA|gd|ˈkʰaʎəxən|pron}}) in Scottish Gaelic, and {{lang|gv|caillaghyn}} in Manx.  The word is found as a component in terms like the Gaelic {{lang|gd|cailleach-dhubh}} ('nun') and {{lang|gd|cailleach-oidhche}} ('[[owl]]'),<ref name="dicdef" /> as well as the Irish {{lang|ga|cailleach feasa}} ('wise woman, fortune-teller') and {{lang|ga|cailleach phiseogach}} ('sorceress, charm-worker'). Related words include the Gaelic {{lang|gd|caileag}} and the Irish {{lang|ga|cailín}} ('young woman, girl, colleen'), the diminutive of {{lang|ga|caile}} 'woman',<ref name="dicdef" /> and the [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]] {{lang|sco|carline/[[Carlin stone|carlin]]}} ('old woman, witch').<ref name="RossD">{{cite book |last1=Ross |first1=Davie |last2=Smith |first2=Gavin D. |title=Scots–English English–Scots Dictionary |location=New York |publisher=Hippocrene Pres |isbn=0-7818-0779-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/scotsenglishengl0000unse/page/21 21] |date=1999 |url= https://archive.org/details/scotsenglishengl0000unse/page/21 }}</ref>  A more obscure word that is sometimes interpreted as 'hag' is the Irish {{lang|ga|síle}}, which has led some to speculate on a connection between the Cailleach and the stone carvings of [[Sheela na Gig]]s.<ref name="RossA">Ross, Anne (1973, reprint 2004) "The divine hag of the pagan Celts", in ''The Witch Figure: Folklore Essays by a Group of Scholars in England Honoring the 75th Birthday of Katharine M. Briggs''; ed. by Venetia Newall. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. {{ISBN|0-415-33074-2}}.</ref>

==Legends==
[[File:Ben Cruachan - Flickr - Graham Grinner Lewis.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ben Cruachan]], highest point in [[Argyll and Bute]], home of the ''Cailleach nan Cruachan'']]
In [[Scotland]], where she is also known as Beira, Queen of Winter (a name given by 20th-century folklorist [[Donald Alexander Mackenzie]]), she is credited with making numerous mountains and large hills, which are said to have been formed when she was striding across the land and accidentally dropped rocks from her creel or wicker basket. In other cases she is said to have built the mountains intentionally, to serve as her stepping stones. She carries a hammer for shaping the hills and valleys, and is said to be the mother of all the goddesses and gods. According to Mackenzie, Beira was a one-eyed [[giantess]] with white hair, dark blue skin, and rust-colored teeth.<ref name="Mackenzie">Mackenzie, Donald Alexander (1917). [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tsm/tsm04.htm "Beira, Queen of Winter"], in ''Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend''.</ref>

The Cailleach displays several traits befitting the personification of winter: she herds [[deer]], she fights spring, and her staff freezes the ground.<ref name="Briggs2">{{cite book |first=Katharine M. |last=Briggs |date=1967 |title=The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature |page=40 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>

In partnership with the goddess [[Brigid|Brìghde]], the Cailleach is seen as a seasonal deity or spirit, ruling the winter months between [[Samhain]]n (5 November or first day of Samhain) and [[Beltane|Bealltainn]] (1 May or first day of summer), while Brìghde rules the summer months between Bealltainn and Samhainn.<ref name="McNeill">{{cite book |first=F. Marian |last=McNeill |date=1959 |title=The Silver Bough, Vol.2: A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Candlemas to Harvest Home |pages=20–21 |publisher=William MacLellan |isbn=0-85335-162-7}}</ref> Some interpretations have the Cailleach and Brìghde as two faces of the same goddess,<ref name="McNeill" /> while others describe the Cailleach as turning to [[Carlin stone|stone]] on Bealltainn and reverting to humanoid form on Samhainn in time to rule over the winter months. Depending on local climate, the transfer of power between the winter goddess and the summer goddess is celebrated any time between {{lang|gd|Là Fhèill Brìghde}} ([[Imbolc]], 1 February) at the earliest, Latha na Cailliche (25 March), or Bealltainn (1 May) at the latest, and the local festivals marking the arrival of the first signs of spring may be named after either the Cailleach or Brìghde.<ref name="McNeill" />

[[Imbolc|Là Fhèill Brìghde]] is also the day the Cailleach gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. Legend has it that if she intends to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on 1 February is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood to keep herself warm in the coming months.<ref name="Briggs1" /> As a result, people are generally relieved if Là Fhèill Brìghde is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep, will soon run out of firewood, and therefore winter is almost over.<ref name="Briggs1" />  On the Isle of Man, where She is known as ''Caillagh ny Groamagh'', the Cailleach is said to have been seen on [[Imbolc|St. Bride's day]] in the form of a gigantic bird, carrying sticks in her beak.<ref name="Briggs1" />

According to Mackenzie, [[Winter solstice|the longest night]] of the year marked the end of her reign as Queen of Winter, at which time she visited the [[Well of Youth]] and, after drinking its magic water, grew younger day by day.<ref name="Mackenzie" />

In Scotland, the Cailleachan (lit. 'old women') are also known as the Storm Hags, and seen as personifications of the elemental powers of nature, especially in a destructive aspect. They are said to be particularly active in raising the windstorms of spring, during the period known as ''A' Chailleach''.<ref name="McNeill" /><ref name="McNeill2">{{cite book |first=F. Marian |last=McNeill |date=1959 |title=The Silver Bough, Vol.1: Scottish Folklore and Folk-Belief |page=119 |publisher=William MacLellan |isbn=0-85335-161-9}}</ref>

[[File:The Corryvreckan Whirlpool - geograph-2404815-by-Walter-Baxter.jpg|thumb|right|The Corryvreckan whirlpool ([[Scottish Gaelic]]: ''Coire Bhreacain'' - 'whirlpool/cauldron of the plaid') washtub of the Cailleach]]
On the west coast of Scotland, the Cailleach ushers in winter by washing her [[History of the kilt#The great kilt|great plaid]] ([[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]]: ''féileadh mòr'') in the [[Gulf of Corryvreckan]] ([[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]]: ''Coire Bhreacain'' - 'whirlpool/cauldron of the plaid'). This process is said to take three days, during which the roar of the coming tempest is heard as far away as {{convert|20|mi|km|spell=in}} inland. When she is finished, her plaid is pure white and snow covers the land.<ref name="McNeill" />

In Scotland and Ireland, the first farmer to finish the grain harvest made a [[corn dolly]], representing the Cailleach (also called "the Carlin or Carline"<ref>Frazer, ''[[The Golden Bough]]'' 1922, ch. 45.</ref>), from the last sheaf of the crop. The figure would then be tossed into the field of a neighbor who had not yet finished bringing in their grain. The last farmer to finish had the responsibility to take in and care for the corn dolly for the next year, with the implication they'd have to feed and house the hag all winter. Competition was fierce to avoid having to take in the Old Woman.<ref name="McNeill3">McNeill, Vol.2 (1959) pp. 119-124.</ref>

Some scholars believe the Old Irish poem "[[The Hag of Beara|The Lament of the Old Woman of Beara]]" is about the Cailleach; [[Kuno Meyer]] states, "she had fifty foster-children in Beare. She had seven periods of youth one after another, so that every man who had lived with her came to die of old age, and her grandsons and great-grandsons were tribes and races."<ref>{{cite book |first=Kuno |last=Meyer |date=1994 |orig-year=1913 |title=Ancient Irish Poetry |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientirishpoet00kuno/page/90 90–93] |publisher=Constable and Co. |isbn=0-09-473380-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientirishpoet00kuno/page/90 }}</ref><ref name="Ó Crualaoich2">{{cite book |first=Gearóid |last=Ó Crualaoich |date=2006 |title=The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-woman Healer |pages=48–52 |publisher=Cork University Press |isbn =1-85918-372-7}}</ref>

===Ireland===
In Ireland, the Cailleach is associated with craggy, prominent mountains and outcroppings, such as Hag's Head ({{Irish place name|Ceann Caillí|hag's head}}) the southernmost tip of the [[Cliffs of Moher]] in [[County Clare]].<ref name="Monaghan" />

[[Labbacallee wedge tomb]] ({{Irish place name|Leaba Chaillí|the hag's bed}}) is located near [[Glanworth]], [[County Cork]] and is, according to folklore, the Cailleach's grave and former dwelling where she lived with her husband, [[Mug Ruith|Mogh Ruith]], who she threw a boulder at, pinning him to the floor of the [[River Funshion]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Leask |first1=H. G. |last2=Price |first2=Liam |last3=Martin |first3=C. P. |last4=Bailey |first4=K. C. |date=1935 |title=The Labbacallee Megalith, Co. Cork |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25515993 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature |volume=43 |pages=77–101 |jstor=25515993 |issn=0035-8991}}</ref>

[[File:Skellig 1.JPG|thumb|The 'Wailing Woman' rock on [[Skellig Michael]], [[County Kerry]], is associated with [[The Hag of Beara]]]]
There is a rock on the [[Beara Peninsula]] in [[West Cork]] at [[List of townlands of the barony of Bear|Kilcatherine]] said to resemble the Cailleach. In mythology she is said to have leapt across the bay from [[List of townlands of the barony of Bear|Coulagh]] to its present location.

The megalithic tombs at [[Loughcrew]] in [[County Meath]] are situated atop [[Slieve na Calliagh]] ({{Irish place name|Sliabh na Caillí|the hag's mountain}}) and include a kerbstone known as "the hag's chair".<ref name=hagschair>Cochrane, Andrew (2005) "[http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew-cochrane4.htm A taste of the unexpected: subverting mentalités through the motifs and settings of Irish passage tombs]". p.4: "To the north of Cairn T and on the exterior is located K29 or the ‘Hag’s Chair’. This kerbstone has visual imagery on its front and back face. The top of the central part of this kerbstone is believed to be artificially cut to create the chair appearance (Shee Twohig 1981, 217; contra. Conwell 1866, 371)".</ref> Cairn T on Slieve na Calliagh is a classic [[passage tomb]], in which the rays of the [[equinox]] sunrise shine down the passageway and illuminate an inner chamber filled with megalithic stone carvings.<ref name=knowth2>Documented in [http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew-equinox.htm photos and videos taken on site for six years running].</ref>

The summit of [[Slieve Gullion]] in [[County Armagh]] features a passage tomb known locally as the 'Calliagh Beara's House'. There is also a lake, where the Calliagh is said to have played a trick on the mythical warrior, [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]], when he took on the physical appearance of an old man after diving into the lake to retrieve a ring that the Calliagh fooled him into thinking was lost.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ringofgullion.org/news/calliagh-berras-lake-article-discover-ireland-e-zine/|title = The Calliagh Berra's Lake – Article in Discover Ireland e-zine}}</ref>

[[Aillenacally]] (''Aill na Caillí'', "Hag Cliff") is a [[cliff]] in [[County Galway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.logainm.ie/en/18159?s=Aill+na+Caill%C3%AD|title=Aill na Caillí/Aillenacally|website=Logainm.ie}}</ref>

The [[Carrowmore]] passage tombs on the [[Coolera Peninsula|Cúil Iorra Peninsula]] in [[County Sligo]], are associated with the Cailleach. One is called the Cailleach a Bhéara's House.<ref name=cailleachhouse>Meehan, Padraig. Listoghil, A Seasonal Alignment, 2014, Gungho Publications,</ref> [[William Butler Yeats]] refers to the Sligo Cailleach as the 'Clooth na Bare'.<ref name=clooth>Jeffares, Alexander Norman. A Commentary on the Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats, 1968, Stanford University Press</ref> In County Sligo she is also called the [[River Garavogue|Garavogue]] Cailleach.

<gallery widths="180px" heights="160px" perrow="3">
File:Cairns S(?) and T, Loughcrew.jpg|Remains of passage tombs on [[Slieve na Calliagh]], [[County Meath]]
File:11. Labbacallee Wedge Tomb, Co. Cork.jpg|[[Labbacallee wedge tomb]] or "The Hag's Bed", near [[Glanworth]], [[County Cork]]
</gallery>

===Scotland===
The Cailleach is prominent in the landscape of [[Argyll and Bute]], Scotland. In later tales she is known as the ''Cailleach nan Cruachan'' ("the witch of [[Ben Cruachan]]"). Ben Cruachan is the tallest mountain in the region. Tea-towels and postcards of her are sold in the visitor shop for the [[Ben Cruachan|Hollow Mountain]], which also features a mural depicting her accidental creation of [[Loch Awe]].<ref name="LegendCruachan">'[http://www.visitcruachan.co.uk/about/history.asp The Legend of Cruachan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028132707/http://www.visitcruachan.co.uk/about/history.asp |date=2007-10-28 }}', from the Ben Cruachan visitor's website. Access date 21-11-2007.</ref> Legend has it that the Cailleach was tired from a long day herding deer. Atop Ben Cruachan she fell asleep on her watch and a well she was tending overflowed, running down from the highlands and flooding the valleys below, forming first a [[river]] and then the [[loch]].<ref name="LegendCruachan" /><ref name="MysteriousBritain">'[http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/calleach.html Cailleach Bheur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009222651/http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/calleach.html |date=2006-10-09 }}' from the ''Mysterious Britain'' website. Access date 21-11-2007.</ref> The overflowing well is a common motif in local [[Gaels|Gaelic]] creation tales - as seen in the goddess [[Boann]]'s similar creation of the [[River Boyne]] in Ireland.<ref name="McKillopBoann">MacKillop, James (1998) ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-280120-1}} p. 45.</ref> Other connections to the region include her above-mentioned strong ties with the fierce whirlpool in the [[Gulf of Corryvreckan]].<ref name="McNeill" />

She is also associated with other Scottish mountains. [[Ben Nevis]] was said to be her "mountain throne".<ref name="Mackenzie" /> The two mountains on the [[Isle of Skye]] named Beinn na Caillich ([[Beinn na Caillich (Red Hills)|western]] and [[Beinn na Caillich (Kyle Rhea)|eastern]]) after her, from which fierce storms of sleet and rain descend, wreaking havoc and destruction upon the lands below.<ref name="McNeill" />

[[File:Tighnacailleach.jpg|thumb|right|Tigh nan Cailleach, near [[Glen Lyon]] in Perthshire, Scotland]]There is a Gleann Cailliche in [[Glen Lyon]] in Perthshire with a stream named Allt Cailliche which runs into [[Loch Lyon]]. This area is famous for a pagan ritual which according to legend is associated to the Cailleach. There is a small [[shieling]] in the Glen, known as either Tigh nan Cailleach (Scottish Gaelic for ''house of the old women''<ref name="MacLennan">MacLennan, Malcolm, ''Gaelic Dictionary'', Acair and Aberdeen University Press, 1985 photolithographic reprint of 1st edition, 1925</ref>)  or Tigh nam Bodach, (Scottish Gaelic for ''house of the old men''<ref name="MacLennan" />), which houses a number of heavy water-worn stones, resembling miniature human beings.<ref name="McK">McKerracher, Archie, ''Perthshire in History and Legend'', 1st edition 1988, John Donald Publishers, {{ISBN|0859762238}}, pp55-56</ref> Roughly rectangular, the building originally measured 2m by 1.3m by 0.4m high with a stone roof.<ref>''National Record of the Historic Environment'' (Canmore), ''Tigh Nam Bodach'', ''Archaeology Notes'', https://canmore.org.uk/site/23898/tigh-nam-bodach</ref>  A replacement roof of a wooden pallet having collapsed and the whole building having become somewhat ruinous it was rebuilt by a local dyker in 2011.<ref>''Tigh nam Bodach stones of Glen Cailliche get makeover from dyking expert'', ''Daily Record'', 11 May 2012, https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/tigh-nam-bodach-stones-glen-2729865</ref>

According to local legend the stones represent the Cailleach, her husband the Bodach, and their children<ref name="RossAnne">{{cite book |first=Anne |last=Ross |date=2000 |title=Folklore of the Scottish Highlands |pages=114 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |location=Stroud}}</ref><ref name="StonesInSun">''Sacred stones out in the sun'', ''Daily Record'', 4 May 2012, https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/sacred-stones-out-sun-2729746</ref> and the site may represent the only surviving shrine of its kind in Great Britain.<ref name ="McK" /> The local legend suggests that the Cailleach and her family were given shelter in the glen by the locals and while they stayed there the glen was always fertile and prosperous. When they left they gave the stones to the locals with the promise that as long as the stones were put out to look over the glen at [[Beltane|Bealltainn]] and put back into the shelter and made secure for the winter at [[Samhain]] then the glen would continue to be fertile.<ref name="RossAnne" /> This ritual is still carried out to this day.<ref name="StonesInSun" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/oct/30/there-is-power-in-them-mysterious-stone-figures-gaelic-winter-ritual-cailleach|work=[[The Guardian]]|title='There is power in them': mysterious stone figures to be moved in Gaelic winter ritual|first=Libby|last=Brooks|date=30 October 2020|access-date=31 October 2020}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
* In [[Scottish Gaelic literature]], the Cailleach was famously used to personify the internal [[literary critic]] of 18th-century poet [[William Ross (poet)|William Ross]]. Despite being widely viewed as a, "love-lorn romantic who died of [[unrequited love]]", due to the poet's many versifications of his loss and heartbreak over the 1782 marriage of his beloved Mòr Ros, Ross was also capable of poking fun at himself, as in the self-[[flyting]] poem ''Oran eadar am Bàrd agus Cailleach-mhilleadh-nan-dàn'' ("Exchange of Verses between the Poet and the Hag-who-spoils-poems").<ref>Derick S. Thomson (1993), ''Gaelic Poetry in the Eighteenth Century: A Bilingual Anthology'', [[Association for Scottish Literary Studies]], [[Aberdeen]]. Pages 161-167.</ref>
* According to American [[ethnomusicologist]] Amy Murray, the [[Gaels]] of the [[Outer Hebrides]] sometimes referred to [[Queen Victoria]] as ''"A' chailleach a-stùiradh"'' ("The Hag that's steering").<ref>Amy Murray's (1920), ''[[Allan MacDonald (poet)|Father Allan]]'s [[Eriskay|Island]]'', [[Harcourt, Brace and Howe, Inc]]. Page 5.</ref>
* Morna Young's dramatisation of [[Hans Christian Andersen|Hans Christian Anderson]]'s ''[[The Snow Queen]]'', produced by the [[Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh|Lyceum Theatre Company]], Edinburgh, in November/December 2023, conflates the characters of Beira, Queen of Winter, and the Snow Queen.<ref>Young, Morna, "Author's Note", ''The Snow Queen'' theatre programme, Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Edinburgh, November 2023, p. 11</ref>
* A version of the Cailleach appears in the 1978 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story ''[[The Stones of Blood]]'', impersonated by a long-lived alien and worshipped by a modern druid cult.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Baba Yaga]]
* [[Banshee]]
* [[Befana]]
* [[Bodach]]
* [[Carlin stone]]
* [[Carrauntoohil]]
* [[Celtic animism]]
* [[Cyhyraeth]]
* [[Imbolc]]
* [[Labbacallee wedge tomb]]
* [[Perchta]]
* [[Sheela na Gig]]
* [[Slieve Gullion]]
* [[Tempestarii]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*[[Carmina Gadelica|Carmichael, Alexander]] (1992). ''Carmina Gadelica''. Lindisfarne Press. {{ISBN|0-940262-50-9}}
*[[John Gregorson Campbell|Campbell, John Gregorson]] (1900, 1902, 2005) ''The Gaelic Otherworld''. Edited by Ronald Black. Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd. {{ISBN|1-84158-207-7}}
*[[Kevin Danaher|Danaher, Kevin]] (1962). ''The Year in Ireland''. Irish Books & Media. {{ISBN|0-937702-13-7}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Hull |first=Eleanor |title=Legends and traditions of the Cailleach Bheara or Old Woman (Hag) of Beare |journal=Folklore |volume=38 | issue = 3 |date=30 Sep 1927 |pages=225–54 |jstor=1256390 |doi=10.1080/0015587x.1927.9718387}}
*MacKillop, James (1998). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-280120-1}}
*[[F. Marian McNeill|McNeill, F. Marian]] (1959). ''The Silver Bough, Vol. 1 -4''. William MacLellan, Glasgow
*{{Cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Patricia |date=2004 |title=Encyclopedia of Celtic Myth and Folklore |location=New York |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=0-8160-4524-0 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Ó Crualaoich |first=Gearóid |date=2003 |title=The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer |location=Cork |publisher=Cork UP |isbn=1-85918-372-7 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Anne |date=2000 |title=Folklore of the Scottish Highlands |location=Stroud |publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd |isbn=0-7524-1904-8 }}
{{refend}}

==Primary sources==
*"The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare", ed. and tr. {{Cite encyclopedia |author=Donncha Ó hAodha |date=1989 |title=The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare |encyclopedia=Sages, Saints and Storytellers: Celtic studies in Honour of Professor James Carney |editor=Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Liam Breatnach and Kim McCone |series=Maynooth Monographs 2 |location=Maynooth |publisher=An Sagart |pages=308–31 }}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite journal |last=Krappe |first=A. H. |date=1936 |title=La Cailleach Bheara. Notes de mythologie Gaélique |journal=[[Études Celtiques]] |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=292–302 |doi=10.3406/ecelt.1936.1123 }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Carey |first=John |author-link=John Carey (Celticist) |title=Transmutations of Immortality in 'The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare' |journal=Celtica |volume=23 |date=1999 |url=http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/celtica/c23/c23-30.pdf |pages=30–7 |access-date=2010-05-04 |archive-date=2007-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119165842/http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/celtica/c23/c23-30.pdf |url-status=dead }}
*Strang, Dougie (2023), ''The Bone Cave: A Journey Through Myth and Memory'', [[Birlinn Limited]], Edinburgh, {{isbn|9781780278353}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQI3RCUFuYE&index=5&list=PLOhjfSlRDZPdp_352RmC4Wb0NqmglVl-a ''An Cailleach Bhéarra'' (2007)] - an [[Irish Film Board|IFB]] [[short film]] (8 minutes)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120209125300/http://www.visitcruachan.co.uk/about/history.asp Ben Cruachan, the Hollow Mountain] - The Legend of Cruachan, featuring the Cailleach Bheur
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071124210331/http://www.rte.ie/radio1/hagsqueensandwisewomen/ Hags, Queens and Wise Women: Supernatural Females of the Irish Otherworld] - RTÉ radio series, based on the work of Gearóid Ó Crualaoich
*[http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew-cochrane4.htm Photos of the Hag's Chair] and other megalithic features at Slieve na Calliagh, Ireland
*[http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACustom/AfterHarvest.html Putting out the hare, putting on the harvest knots] - don't get stuck with the Cailleach

{{good article}}
{{Celtic mythology (Mythological)}}
{{Celtic mythology (Scottish)}}
{{National personifications}}

[[Category:Creator goddesses]]
[[Category:Destroyer goddesses]]
[[Category:Irish goddesses]]
[[Category:Scottish folklore]]
[[Category:Scottish mythology]]
[[Category:Personifications of Ireland]]
[[Category:National personifications]]
[[Category:Celtic goddesses]]
[[Category:Crones and hags]]
[[Category:Ice and snow deities]]