Cailleach Aoife and the Crows of Ireland

This is another one of those untold legends, which live in a country´s imagery, full of wild ideas.

It is the story of a woman who lived ages ago on an island called Éire.

Like almost every witch, Aoife carries with her a terrible curse.

Once upon a time, there was an ugly girl called Aoife, but she had a kind heart. Because of her ugliness, she only complained about life: if it was day she complained about light; if it was night, she complained about darkness. However, even among so many complaints the girl dreamed too. Her life dream was to be beautiful and then find a good man to live a love story.

One day Aoife was walking alone through the woods when she heard a strange voice coming out from a cave. Aoife thought the voice was Cerridwen´s, the mighty Celtic goddess who was related to the moon and all its phases.

She was startled, not really sure how to act in the presence of a goddess, but decided to pay attention to what the voice was telling her. The voice said she could make any requests, choosing from all things in the world, and Cerridwen would grant it.

Without hesitation, Aoife made her request: “I want to be beautiful forever; I want all men at my feet”.

The mysterious voice said that she would get her request; however, there would be hha price, which was pretty simple: Aoife would light up in Cerridwen´s majestic presence, and during her other phases Aoife would be able to have all the men she desired at her feet. But this bond is not due to last, so she should have to give them freedom so that they could fly to wherever they wished.

Aoife accepted the conditions, she did not even consider not accepting it, since being beautiful was all she wanted.

By magic, she turned into a beautiful woman, with a charming smile and hair as black as a moonless night. Returning to her village, everyone was dazzled by her beauty, she looked like a new woman, and she stopped complaining about everything. It only took her a few days to have several men courting her.

Aoife soon aroused envy and jealousy in the other women, who did not understand how the ugly Aoife had changed so drastically.

Nevertheless, Aoife´s fairy tale started to crumble as strange drawings began to appear on her skin on the first full moon. It was as if they came out lit by the moonlight. They were strange shapes and symbols, which looked beautiful to Aoife herself, but to most people it revealed a curse. Marks made by evil gods, as if that woman belonged to them.

She even tried to explain that they were not evil gods. She said she had had a meeting with Cerridwen ... but who would believe her?

She was persecuted by all the villagers and her family put her out from home. They believed she had really been marked by evil spirits. Aoife had to flee aimlessly and her life turned into a saga, moving from village to village and waiting for the moon cycle to be cast away, stoned and pursued. Her beauty called too much attention, so it was hard to go unnoticed wherever she went. Being beautiful had become a burden. She decided that she would isolate herself in the forest. By then she was already known as Cailleach Aoife.

Cailleach Aoife rumors were already winding through the small villages of Éire. It did not take long for some men to gather to hunt and kill the witch. She was eventually captured in one of these attacks.

She got caught, then they took her to a village, where she was condemned to death. They tied stones around her body, put her on a small boat, and took her to the sea to drown her. Water had always been one of her biggest fears, so she thought there could be no worst death. She did not know what she had ever done to deserve such a terrible fate.

It was three men against a fragile woman with her limbs tied. Aoife, in an act of despair, as her final shot, decided to use the only weapon she had, her smile. As two of the men rowed to find the perfect place to drown the witch, the third one, Shane, a strong, red-haired young man, watched over her. At first he looked a little suspicious, not quite sure how to behave face to face with an evil creature. Gradually, Aoife's gaze was so intense that she dominated his entire body. It was as if she could get into his head and without a word could make herself understood. It was not long before young Shane pushed his friends into the sea, took the oars, and paddled off to find a place where he could finally be alone with the woman he was already desperately in love.

The man rowed, rowed and found a small beach. He took her by the hand and climbed the cliff. It was an arduous climb, but as they got there, he realised that it had been worth all the effort, since the place was so beautiful. He said they were in Ballintoy. They kissed, watched the sunset, and loved each other under the moonlight. Aoife wondered how lucky she was to be there, to have escaped death, and found such a wonderful man like Shane.

Aoife was awakened by a heavy rain, looked to her side and did not find her beloved Shane, just a black bird perched next to her. Just like her, the black bird got scared and flew away screaming in the air: crow, crow, crow ” .

What animal was that? Where was Shane? Had he abandoned her?

She searched for Shane, then for shelter, but found neither. She went down to the beach in the rain and wind and found that the boat was no longer there. The man had left her alone there.

And so days went by, months of loneliness and pain for having been abandoned and trapped in that remote place.

One night Aoife heard voices from the beach. It was a full moon night, so it was not wise to approach. She just watched a few men gathering on the beach, looking shipwrecked, and she thought they could help her leave the place.

She waited until the next day and then approached them. They said they were fishermen and were caught in a storm, their boat had sunk and they then they went to that island. They were getting ready to go back swimming, and said she could join them. However, Aoife said she would not go with them because she could not swim.

One of the men, probably seduced by the woman's beauty, said he would stay with her and find a way to get her off the island. His friends found the man's attitude weird, they tried to convince him to go back with them, but failed. Thus, they left the man behind.

Aoife and Ciaran, her new friend, walked all around the island, looking for a way out of it, but found nothing. So the man decided that he would build a bridge that would connect the top of the two cliffs and so that they could go to the main island, they would be free. They worked very hard and finally a suspension bridge was built.

Aoife had already got over Shane, the man who abandoned her and did not deserve her love. She felt free to live a new love story, so she decided to spend the night with the man who had stayed to save her. However, on waking up the next day, there was another black bird sleeping beside her.

- Crow, crow, crow. - It was the sound the bird made when it flew away.

She was abandoned once more.

But this time she decided not to feel sorry for herself. She decided that she would cross the bridge and live elsewhere. Aoife was feeling determined to face her fears and live her life, regardless of the challenges ahead.

After crossing the bridge on the way home, she met Ciaran´s friends, who were with one of the men on the boat that Shane had thrown into the sea. He had told them she was Cailleach Aoife, and had probably killed both men.

So they took her, beat her with pieces of wood and did terrible things to her until daybreak. When she woke up the next day, she was surrounded by black birds.

Now it all made sense in her mind. She had not been abandoned by Shane and Ciaran. They had been turned into crows. That was the price Cerridwen would charge for all the beauty she had given her.

Aoife was feeling very bitter about it all, and she wanted revenge. She outlined her plan.

She would continue living in Ballintoy and every night she would put her revenge into practice. She would leave the island by the bridge, and take revenge on every man she could, seducing them and thus turning them into crows.

And so she did, day after day she sought out her victims. She developed her seduction skills and she usually chose men who treated their wives and children badly, or those who liked to do bad things to others. Cailleach Aoife became a kind of avenger and has been fulfilling her saga for millennia, as her beauty and as her life are eternal.

It is said to be the origin of all crows seen in Ireland now from north to south. They are all men Aoife turned into crows.

It is also said that Aoife lives to this day and that if you are lucky - or unlucky - you may come across her, her body covered in tattoos, in some Irish pub.