The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise Woman Healer

by Gearoid Crualaoich

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Book cover for The Book of the Cailleach

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This powerful analysis of the 'wise women healer' from the oral traditions of Ireland's rural communities, is unique in its depth and perspective. Stories, told and retold, embedded in the texture of culture and community, collected and studied for many decades, are here translated and made available to the general reader for the first time. The figure of the 'wise woman', the 'hag', the Cailleach, or the 'Red Woman' are part of an oral tradition which has its roots in pre-Christian Ireland. In the hands of Gearoid O Crualaich, these figures are subtly explored to reveal how they offered a complex understanding of the world, of human psychology and its predicaments. The thematic structure of the book brings to the fore universal themes such as death, marriage, childbirth and healing, and invites the reader to see the contemporary relevance of the stories for themselves.
  • ISBN10 185918412X
  • ISBN13 9781859184127
  • Publish Date 1 September 2006 (first published 18 September 2003)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country IE
  • Imprint Cork University Press
  • Edition New edition
  • Format Paperback
  • Pages 320
  • Language English