The Cailleach Beara or the Hag of Beara - geograph

The Hag of Beara ( ga, An Chailleach Bhéara, also known as The White Nun of Beara, or The Old Woman of Dingle) is a mythic Irish Goddess (a ''

Cailleach In Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is foun ...

'', or divine hag, crone, or creator

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

; literally the "veiled one" (''caille'' translates as "hood", the implications that the woman is a nun) associated with the Beara Peninsula in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland, who was thought to bring winter. She is best known as the narrator of the medieval Irish poem "The Lament of the Hag of Beara", in which she bitterly laments the passing of her youth and her decrepit old age.Hill (1927), p. 226 The Hag of Beara is said to have been born in Dingle,

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, at "Teach Mor" or the Great House, described as "the house farthest west in Ireland", and today identified as Tivore on the Dingle

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...

. Along with County Kerry, she is also closely associated with County Cork, with the Great Book of Lecan (c.1400AD) detailing some of the stories around her legacy. In some tellings, she lived several lives, and is said to have been a mother or foster mother to the ancestors of a number of prominent clans, including the Corca Dhuibhne and Corca Loighdhe. According to legend, the hag had seven successive periods of youth, during which her sons and their sons rose some of the region's most prominent clans. She is said to have worn a veil, given to her by Saint Cummine, for a hundred years.Hill (1927), p. 228

Literature

The first extant written mention of the hag is in the 12th century " Vision of Mac Conglinne", in which she is named as the "White Nun of Beare".Hill (1927), p. 229 The long

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

medieval poem, "The Lament of the Hag of Beara", which she narrates, has been described by folklorist Eleanor Hull as "a beautiful example of the wide-spread idea that human life is ruled by the flow and ebb of the sea-tide, with the turn of which life will dwindle, as with the on-coming tide it waxes to its full powers and energy".Hill (1927), p. 227 The narrator is clearly unhappy with her lot, and remembers that in her youth she used to drink "

mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...

and wine" with kings, she now lives a lonely life amid "the gloom of a prayer" and "shriveled old hags".Yeats (1934), pp. 256-268 The following verses are excerpts from a 1919 translation by Lady Augusta Gregory. The manuscript in which the poem is found is held in Trinity College Dublin. The verses are preceded by a passage that identifies her original names as "Dirri", and connects her with three other poetesses: Brigit, Liadan, Uallach. Another Irish poem,

Mise Éire ''Mise Éire'' (, Irish for "I mIreland") is a 1912 Irish-language poem by the Irish poet and Republican revolutionary leader Patrick Pearse. Background ''Mise Éire is'' a 1912 Irish-language poem by the Irish poet and Republican revolutio ...

, composed by

Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...

in 1912, was also translated by Lady Gregory, and reads

Landmarks

A number of pre-historic archaeological and geographical features in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

are associated with her, in particular the "Hag of Beara" rock chair, in reality a natural boulder, in Kilcatherine, Bhéara,

, which is said to be either her fossilized remains, or the chair of which she sits waiting for Manannán mac Lir, the god of the sea, variously described as her husband or father.Zucchelli (2016), pp. 26-27 She is sometimes associated with the

Hag's Head Hag's Head is the name given to the most southerly point of the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland, where the cliffs form an unusual rock formation that resembles a woman's head looking out to sea. It provides a vantage point over much ...

(''Ceann Caillí'') rock formation on the southerly most point of the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare.

References

Sources

The Cailleach Béara or the Hag of Béara
''Article on The Irish Place'' * Augusta, Lady Gregory. ''The Kiltartan Poetry Book''. New York: G. Putnam's Sons, 1919 * Hull, Eleanor. "Legends and Traditions of the Cailleach Bheara or Old Woman (Hag) of Beare". ''Folklore'', Volume 38, No. 3, September 30, 1927. pp. 225–254 * O'Sullivan, Leanne. "On the Beara Peninsula: Written in Stone". ''New Hibernia Review''; ''Iris Éireannach Nua'', Volume 17, No. 3 2013. pp. 9–14 * Yeats, W. B. "Modern Ireland: An Address To American Audiences, 1932-33". ''The Massachusetts Review'', Volume 5, No. 2, 1964 * Zucchelli, Christine. ''Sacred Stones of Ireland''. Cork: Collins Press, 2016. {{refbegin, 30em Creator goddesses Irish goddesses

Literature

Landmarks

See also

References

Sources