CLIODHNA
I'm not sure where the Carraig Chliona in Kilshannig parish Mallow is situated. Certainly, the Labbacallee lines go through Mallow to the south. The lines also go through Kanturk,but I'm not sure where Kilcor is.
In postmediaeval tradition, Cliona was regarded as one of the principal otherworld women of the province of Munster. She was said to reside in a palace under Carraig Chliona, a conspicuous large rock surrounded by smaller ones in a lonely part of the parish of Kilshannig, south of Mallow in Co Cork. To the poets she was an inspirer of their art but she also had the reputation of being a seducer, as evidenced by a poem composed as a colloquy in west Munster in the 18th century and which became very popular in the folklore of that area. In this text she comes to the celebrated poet Cearbhall O Dalaigh, inflicts a terrible thirst on him, and then promises to relieve him of it if he will lie with her. Cearbhall realises that to go with her means death, and so refuses to comply.
A folk legend, told in Co Cork, concerned Cliona and her reputed sister Aoibheall, who were claimed to have been daughters of a druid who lived in the rath of Castlecor, near Kanturk. Both of the ladies were in love with a young chieftain of the O Caoimh (O’Keeffe) family, but Aoibheall was his favourite and he was engaged to be married to her. Cliona enlisted the help of an old nurse skilled in magic, and so caused Aoibheall to pine to the point of death. She then told Aoibheall that she would have her cured if she renounced her love for O Caoimh, but Aoibheall refused and Cliona struck her with a magic wand, turning her into a white cat The unsuspecting chieftain later married Cliona, and they lived happily for a long time until the old nurse took ill and on her deathbed was struck by remorse. She sent for the chieftain and told him what had happened. The wand was by that time lost and the beautiful white cat could not be restored to its former shape, but O Caoimh in his fury ordered Cliona from his dwelling. She went to live at Carraig Chliona and remains there ever since. She had given birth to a son of O Caoimh, and was thus regarded as the otherworld ancestress of that sept.
According to local lore in north Cork Cliona was many times seen leading the fairies in a nocturnal dance at her conspicuous rock, and it was also claimed that she sometimes gambolled about in the form of a large white rabbit. The stone circle of Carraig Chliona was regarded as an eerie place, and nobody would venture there at night for fear of being abducted by her and her fairy host.
[Legend of wave] Whitley Stokes (1892). 123 and Revue Celtique 15. 4378 and (1900). 1089; Edward Gwynn (1913). 20615.
I'm not sure where the Carraig Chliona in Kilshannig parish Mallow is situated. Certainly, the Labbacallee lines go through Mallow to the south. The lines also go through Kanturk,but I'm not sure where Kilcor is.
In postmediaeval tradition, Cliona was regarded as one of the principal otherworld women of the province of Munster. She was said to reside in a palace under Carraig Chliona, a conspicuous large rock surrounded by smaller ones in a lonely part of the parish of Kilshannig, south of Mallow in Co Cork. To the poets she was an inspirer of their art but she also had the reputation of being a seducer, as evidenced by a poem composed as a colloquy in west Munster in the 18th century and which became very popular in the folklore of that area. In this text she comes to the celebrated poet Cearbhall O Dalaigh, inflicts a terrible thirst on him, and then promises to relieve him of it if he will lie with her. Cearbhall realises that to go with her means death, and so refuses to comply.
A folk legend, told in Co Cork, concerned Cliona and her reputed sister Aoibheall, who were claimed to have been daughters of a druid who lived in the rath of Castlecor, near Kanturk. Both of the ladies were in love with a young chieftain of the O Caoimh (O’Keeffe) family, but Aoibheall was his favourite and he was engaged to be married to her. Cliona enlisted the help of an old nurse skilled in magic, and so caused Aoibheall to pine to the point of death. She then told Aoibheall that she would have her cured if she renounced her love for O Caoimh, but Aoibheall refused and Cliona struck her with a magic wand, turning her into a white cat The unsuspecting chieftain later married Cliona, and they lived happily for a long time until the old nurse took ill and on her deathbed was struck by remorse. She sent for the chieftain and told him what had happened. The wand was by that time lost and the beautiful white cat could not be restored to its former shape, but O Caoimh in his fury ordered Cliona from his dwelling. She went to live at Carraig Chliona and remains there ever since. She had given birth to a son of O Caoimh, and was thus regarded as the otherworld ancestress of that sept.
According to local lore in north Cork Cliona was many times seen leading the fairies in a nocturnal dance at her conspicuous rock, and it was also claimed that she sometimes gambolled about in the form of a large white rabbit. The stone circle of Carraig Chliona was regarded as an eerie place, and nobody would venture there at night for fear of being abducted by her and her fairy host.
[Legend of wave] Whitley Stokes (1892). 123 and Revue Celtique 15. 4378 and (1900). 1089; Edward Gwynn (1913). 20615.