Biróg
Biróg is a leanan sídhe, or female familiar spirit, in Irish folklore. She serves as the familiar spirit of Cian and aids him in his wooing of Balor's daughter Eithne. In later retellings by Lady Gregory and T. W. Rolleston, she is reinvented as a druidess.
↻ synthesized from 3 sources
When
- First attested
- 0 CE
- Attested period
- 1835 – 1835
- Historical notes
- Folktale recorded in 1835.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Eithne, Lugh, Glas Gaibhnenn, Gavidathe smith, Cian, Tailtiu, Mac Samthainn, Gavida, Cu, Cethen, Balor, Ethniu
- serves
- Cian, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh
- allied with
- Cian
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“But Biroge of the Mountain helps a man called Mac Cinnfhaelaidh...to gain access to the tower and seduce her...where he is rescued by Biróg. She takes the child back to his father...Lady Gregory refers to her as Birog the druidess”
#5909 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Looking for revenge, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh calls on a leanan sídhe (fairy woman) called Biróg, who transports him by magic to the top of Balor's tower, where he seduces Ethniu. In time, she gives birth to triplets, which Balor gathers up in a sheet and sends to drown in a whirlpool. The messenger drowns two of the babies but unwittingly drops one child into the harbour, where he is rescued by Biróg.”
#16851 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001