Nollaig na mBan “women’s Christmas”: Women, nuns, hags, the O’Byrnes and inaugurations
Downs/An Dún “the fort”
Dún Chaillí Béarra “the fort of the Hag of Beara"
(see logainm.ie #55524)
Date: 05/01/2026
The period between 25th December and 6th January is known in Irish as Idir an dá Nollaig “between the two Christmases”. The latter date — the Catholic feast of the Epiphany — is sometimes called Nollaig Bheag “little Christmas”, but is probably best known as Nollaig na mBan “women’s Christmas”. While we know of no direct mention of Nollaig na mBan in townland names, references to women occur frequently. Examples are very often found in respect of land held by religious orders, as in the case of Ballynagalliagh/Baile na gCailleach “the (town)land of the nuns” (#45165) in Sligo and Kilnagalliagh/Cill na gCailleach “the church of the nuns” (#7286) in Clare. It is important to note that in placenames cailleach (gen. sg. caillí) generally has the sense “nun”, which was formerly the primary meaning of the word — the now more commonly understood sense “hag, witch”, although it was used in the old sagas, is far less common in placenames (cf. eDIL s.v. caillech). However, in some cases verifiable examples of cailleach meaning “hag” can be found hidden in the historical evidence. One such example is the name of a place which will have been encountered during the week of Nollaig na mBan “women’s Christmas” by the tens of thousands who have resumed their daily commute to Dublin, namely Downs/An Dún “the fort” (#55524). The well-known Glen of the Downs in Wicklow is called Gleann Dá Ghrua “glen of the two hill-brows” (#113096) in Irish, but its English appellation actually derives from two neighbouring townland names: Downs/An Dún “the fort” (#55524) and Downshill/Cnoc an Dúin “the hill of the fort” (#55515), just west of the glen. The dún “fort” in question, which sits on a hilltop in Downshill, is usually referred to in historical sources as ‘the Downe’ or later ‘Downs’, which both clearly reflect the underlying Irish name. However, in 1547 we find it called ‘Down calybere’ in a pardon to ‘Caloaghe M‘Edo … O’Byrne’ [Calbhach mac Aodha Ó Broin (Calbhach the son of Aodh O’Byrne)], a form which suggests an underlying Dún Chaillí Béarra “fort of the Cailleach Bhéarra”. The Cailleach Bhéarra was the mythological goddess figure of native Irish culture generally called the Hag of Beara in English. The Irish form of the placename implied by the anglicized spelling ‘Down calybere’ happens to be confirmed in an account of the traditional inauguration sites of Ireland given in Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (FFÉ) (c. 1630) by Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating):
Ar Dhún Caillighe Béirre do gairthí Ó Brain, agus Mac Eochadha do ghaireadh é.
“Ó Broin/O’Byrne [i.e., the Chief of the Uí Bhroin/O’Byrnes] used be declared at Dún Chaillí Béarra, and it was Mac Eochaidh/Kehoe (Keogh) who declared him”.
FFÉ iii, p. 14
Interestingly, Céitinn also record that it was the same learned family of Mac Eochaidh/Kehoe who inaugurated the Chief of the Cinnsealach/Kinsella sept of north Wexford, at a place called Leac Mhic Eochaidh “the flagstone of Mac Eochaidh/Kehoe”:
Ar Leic mic Eochadha do gairthí tighearna Cinnsiolach; agus Mac Eochadha do ghaireadh é.
“Cinnsealach/Kinsella [i.e., the Chief of the Cinnsealach/Kinsella sept] used be declared at Leac Mhic Eochaidh, and it was Mac Eochaidh who declared him”.
ibid.
The site of Leac Mhic Eochaidh lies 15km northwest of Gorey on the Wicklow border (in the townland of Loggan/An Logán (#53297). The last recorded assembly at Leac Mhic Eochaidh was in 1592, and neither this name nor Dún Chaillí Béarra are now well-known.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)