Cailleach

In Gaelic mythology (Irish, Scottish and Manx) the Cailleach (Irish pronunciation: [ˈkalʲəx], Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈkaʎəx]) is a divine hag, a creator deity and weather deity, and an ancestor deity. She is also commonly known as the Cailleach Bhéara(ch) or Bheur(ach). The word cailleach means "hag" in modern Scottish Gaelic, and has been applied to numerous mythological figures in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Cailleach ("old woman" or "hag" in modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic) comes from the Old Gaelic Caillech ("veiled one"), an adjectival form of caille ("veil"), an early loan from Latin pallium (displaying the expected /p/ > /c/ change of early loans).

The Cailleach is often referred to as the Cailleach Bhéara(ch), Cailleach Bheur(ach), or variations thereof. Gearóid Ó Crualaoich attributes twin meanings to the name; the legendary context of cow goddess, or association with horned beasts, and a folklore attribution as a word meaning "sharp, shrill, inimical" – bior(ach) or beur(ach) – and refers to the Cailleach's association with winter and wilderness.

The 8th/9th-century Irish poem The Lament of the Old Woman says that the Cailleach's name is Digdi or Digde. In The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn she is called Milucra, sister of Áine. In the tale of the Glas Gaibhnenn she is called Biróg. Elsewhere, she is called Buí or Bua(ch). In Manx Gaelic she is known as the Caillagh.

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