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The Cailleach Beare is the tutulary (guardian) goddess of the Beare peninsula in the south-west of Ireland. Her counterpart, the Cailleach Bheur, is the name she is given in Scotland where she is regarded to be a primordial goddess, the keeper of deer which she milks. The word cailleach means ‘grandmother’ or ‘veiled one’, and is still used as a respectful term when referring to an old woman in the Gaelic language.

Cailleach Beare (sometimes known as ‘Cally Berry’) is a form of the goddess of sovereignty who bestows the land of Ireland upon a suitable candidate who can kiss her aged and ugly form without repugnance. As soon as she is kissed, she turns into a young maiden. She is the goddess Buí, the Yellow One, whose hair is the colour of ripened grain, the consort of the mercurial god, Lugh Lamhfada, (see Balor). The ability to renew her youth through seven periods of time is the Cailleach’s most wondrous gift. She outlives all her husbands and from her, races of people are born. A medieval Irish poem has her narrating her deeds and lamenting her fate, as a nun retired from her famous and lengthy existence, waiting for the ebb of the tide before she leaves the Earth.

The Cailleach Bheur is her Scottish-Gaelic counterpart. As a blue-faced hag she is the personification of winter. Once she has banged her staff upon the ground, ice begins to form and snow starts to fall. The Cailleach is in charge from Samhain (Hallowe’en) and Imbolc (Candlemas). She enters into a combat with her servant and successor, the goddess Brighid, who finally sends gentle showers of rain to melt the Cailleach’s ice and snow. This time is marked by the emergence of the snake from the ground who, like the bear in European folklore or the groundhog in American tradition, shows itself and inspects the elements to determine whether or not to continue its winter retirement. The Cailleach Bheur has a pool in the mountains in which she renews herself, like her Irish counterpart. Legend holds that the Cailleach once had several sisters who renewed themselves in its water; however, over time, they lost their virtue and one by one the sisters sacrificed themselves so that one of their number might live on. Cailleach Beare/Bheur is the Baba Yaga of Scotland and Ireland.