Clíodhna

In medieval Irish narrative sources she appears as a daughter of the tuatha dé Danann (named in the Book of Lismore as 'Cleena Fairhead, daughter of Genann mac Treon of the tuatha dé Danann') and as an otherworld woman encountered by legendary figures. She is recorded in Acallam na Senórach (the Colloquy of the Ancients) in a story often called 'Clíodna's Wave' and in the Book of Lismore where she interacts with Teigue and companions; later folk tradition in Munster attaches her to particular families and place‑names (Carrig‑Cleena, Tonn Chlíodhna) in County Cork (sources: Book of Lismore summary; Acallam na Senórach summary; Wikipedia).

Textual descriptions in the extant summaries are limited. Medieval material gives her an epithet rendered as 'Cleena Fairhead' or 'Cleena of the Fair Hair' (Book of Lismore summary) but supplies no sustained physiognomic inventory. Repeatedly associated visual motifs include her three brightly coloured birds that eat apples from an otherworld tree and whose song heals sickness, and a palace 'in the heart of a pile of rocks' near Mallow called Carrig‑Cleena; beyond these motifs the provided sources do not give detailed clothing, stature, or monstrous features (source: Wikipedia summary of Book of Lismore and local tradition).

Across the recorded narratives she functions as a powerful otherworld leader and benefactor: she is called queen of the sióga and of the banshees of South Munster (Desmond). Specific abilities in the cited tales include provision of enchanted aids (the Book of Lismore reports she gives three birds to guide and provide music and an emerald cup that transforms water to wine and carries the warning that parting the cup from Teigue will cause his death), a healing function (the birds' song is said to heal sickness), transformation magic (an O'Keeffe legend summary describes a Cleena who could 'transform creatures to any form she pleased' and who used sleep mixtures and curses), and agency in sea/otherworld events (the 'Clíodna's Wave' episode in Acallam na Senórach in which music and the sea conspire to sweep her away in some versions). She thus acts as benefactor, lover, and dangerous otherworld power depending on the narrative (sources: Book of Lismore; Acallam na Senórach; O'Keeffe legend summary; Wikipedia).