The Book of the Cailleach by Gearóid Ó Crualaoich

She is a Mother-Goddess, classified in Origin and Didactic Legends as a creator of mountains and lochs and the personification of winter, known in both Ireland and Scotland. Female deities play a large part in the early history of Gaelic folklore, and one such figure is the Cailleach Bheara. Celtic ideology contains elements that acknowledge the cosmic forces of fertility and reproduction that was governed by divine female agency. The legendary figures and mythical creatures found in Celtic folk tales have survived centuries of oral tradition.

Furthermore, the argument has implications for our understanding of other place-name elements, including the Gaelic elements coileach, achlais and dròbh (also drògh). It is argued that the namescape of north-west Muile/Mull is a microcosm of dynamism in language and lore.

It will be argued that, when considered together, these sources provide evidence of a dynamic namescape which has been shaped by its associated place-lore and which has, in turn, fed the creative imaginations of local place-name users. The evidence lies in a range of published and unpublished textual and oral sources in place-names, place-lore, linguistics and song. The main geographical area of focus is small but its namescape is dynamic and the analysis has implications for our understanding of this place-name element furth of the island and, indeed, furth of Scotland. This will be done primarily through analysis of a cluster of cailleach-names and associated place-lore from one area of the island of Muile/Mull in the Inner Hebrides. The principal aim of this article is to refine our understanding of the Gaelic place-name element cailleach.

The Book of the Cailleach by Gearóid Ó Crualaoich