CAILLEACH - Queen of Winter
One of the great Celtic ancestors, the Cailleach was the goddess of the cold and the winds. Sometimes known as the Veiled One or the Queen of Winter, the Cailleach determined the winter’s length and harshness. As both divine hag and creator deity, she remains a popular topic for poets and writers.
The Cailleach dwelled in Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, and many places remain dedicated to her within these regions.
Cailleach is a common word in both Scottish and Irish Gaelic meaning “old woman” or “hag.” This current word was derived from Caillech, a term meaning “veiled one” in Old Gaelic. These terms stem from a base root shared with many others that describe women, such as caillin.
Poets have given her different names across time: Digdi (or Digde), Milucra, Biróg (the fairy-woman who saved Lugh of the Long-Arm as an infant), Buí (one of Lugh’s wives), and Burach. Due to many of these being separate characters altogether, some scholars believe that Cailleach was more of a title than a name—any old woman could be called a cailleach.
Her most prominent title was Cailleach Bhéara, revealing her as master of winter. The many regions named for her often gave her unique titles reflective of their respective landscapes. Examples included An Chailleach Bhéara (The Hag of Beara) in County Cork, Ireland, and “the Storm Hag(s)” in Scotland.
The Cailleach appears primarily as a veiled old woman, sometimes with only one eye. Her skin was deathly pale or blue, while her teeth were red and her clothes adorned with skulls. She could leap across mountains and ride storms. In the Manx tradition, the Cailleach was a shapeshifter capable of transforming into a giant bird.
The Veiled One was a creator deity that shaped much of the known landscape; whether she did so intentionally remains unclear. Her tools of creation and destruction included her hammer, with which she was able to control storms and thunder. In some legends, she also controlled a well that would occasionally overflow and flood the land.
The Cailleach was neither fully good nor fully evil; her intentions varied from tale to tale. Through her association with storms and thunder, she was a natural and wild destructive force. Despite this, she also cared deeply for animals both wild and domestic during the dark winter months. In all three Gaelic-speaking regions, she was the patron of wolves emboldened by winter hunger; in Scotland, she also served as a deer herder.
The Cailleach was both ageless and immortal; as winter gave way to spring, she would take a drought that returned her to youth. In Manx legend, she spent half the year as a young woman and the other half as a old crone—she was only known as the Cailleach during the latter half. In Ireland, she had seven periods of youth, after which she remained old permanently.
The seasonal division between summer and winter—where the Cailleach ruled winter and Brigid ruled summer—highlighted the association of the two goddesses. On Samhain, or October 31st, the Celtic year ends and winter begins, marking the return of the Cailleach. In Scotland and the Isle of Man, the Cailleach transforms into Brigid during Beltane, a fertility festival held on May 1st.
The Cailleach was also a goddess of grain, a key resource in surviving winter. The last sheath of grain harvested was dedicated to her, and used to begin the next planting season.
Like many Irish goddesses, the Cailleach was linked to sovereignty and rulership. Before anyone could rule the land, they had to first garner her approval.
One of the Cailleach’s most remarkable attributes was her association with places. The Cailleach was tied to inhospitable locations across the Gaelic-speaking Celtic world. The Cailleach had more ties to local geography than any other Celtic deity.
