 | |
| Clodagh | |
|---|---|
| Character Description | |
| Name | Clodagh |
| Age | 12 (Child of the Prophecy)
16 (Heir to Sevenwaters) 20 (Seer of Sevenwaters) 23 (Flame of Sevenwaters) |
| Gender | Female |
| Title | None |
| Ethnicity | Erin |
| Alias | None |
| Physical Description | |
| Skin colour | Pale |
| Hair Colour | Red |
| Eye Colour | Green |
| Height | Short |
| Family | |
| Mother | Aisling |
| Father | Sean |
| Siblings | Muirrin, Deirdre (twin), Maeve, Sibeal, Eilis (II), Finbar (II) |
| Children | Ronan and Firinne (twins) |
| Other relations | Colum (paternal great-grandfather)
Niamh (paternal great-grandmother) Seamus Redbeard (maternal great-grandfather) Hugh of Harrowfield (paternal grandfather) Sorcha (paternal grandmother) Eamonn of the Marshes (maternal grandfather) Eilis Redbeard (maternal grandmother) Simon of Harrowfield, Liam, Diarmid, Cormack, Conor, Finbar, Padriac, Ciarán (paternal great-uncles) Niamh, Liadan (paternal aunts) Fainne (paternal aunt/paternal cousin) Eamonn (maternal uncle) Aisha, Fernando, Carmen, Dolores, Luis, Juan (paternal cousins once removed) Johnny, Fintan, Cormack, Coll (cousins) Danny, Niamh (paternal cousins/paternal cousins once removed) Oisin, unnamed boy (nephews) Emer, unnamed girl (nieces) |
| Significant Other | Cathal (husband) |
| Affiliation | |
| Allegiance | Sevenwaters, Inis Eala |
| Residence | Sevenwaters (formerly), Inis Eala |
Clodagh [klo-da] is the third (or second) daughter of Lord Sean of Sevenwaters and Aisling. She has a twin sister, Deirdre, an older sister Muirrin, and three younger ones: Maeve, Sibeal, and Eilis. Clodagh is the female protagonist of the fourth book of the Sevenwaters series, Heir to Sevenwaters, where she meets Cathal, one of her cousin Johnny's men, who would become her husband. In the fifth book of the series, Seer of Sevenwaters, she becomes the mother of a pair of twins, a boy and a girl.
Biography
Heir to Sevenwaters
Clodagh is sixteen years old and managing the household duties during her mother's pregnancy. While in the forest, she meets Aidan, a man she likes, and Cathal, Aidan's friend. Both are of Johnny's band. Clodagh immediately dislikes Cathal, as he seems a rude and brooding man and insults her during their first meeting.
After the birth of her brother, Finbar, Clodagh is tasked with looking after him while Aisling recovers from the difficult birth. However, Finbar disappears while under Clodagh's care, and a changeling is left behind in his place. Clodagh is convinced that the Fair Folk are involved in this somehow, and tries to convince her family. But Clodagh is the only one who can see the changeling for what it is; the others only see a doll made out of twigs and leaves. Clodagh's father, Lord Sean, believes that Finbar has been abducted by a political rival, and nothing Clodagh says can make him believe otherwise. Only Sibeal, Clodagh's younger sister, believes her about the changeling.
Clodagh smuggles the changeling from Finbar's room and begins to care for it as a mother would. She calls it Becan. She quickly decides that the only way to get Finbar back safely from the Otherworld is if she trades Becan for him. With Sibeal's help, Clodagh embarks on her quest and enters the Sevenwaters Forest. There, she has a chance meeting with Cathal who had disappeared from Sevenwaters a while ago. Together they manage to evade the hunting parties searching for Cathal and find the doorway into the Otherworld. During this journey, Clodagh begins to fall in love with Cathal, and understand him better. She discovers that Cathal can scry, and through Cathal's gift she watches the murder of Aidan by Mac Dara. Once they have arrived at the centre of the Otherworld, the Fair Folk appear and guide them into a meadow where they can rest before meeting with Mac Dara.
When the time comes, Clodagh goes to Mac Dara but Cathal doesn't. Clodagh expects Mac Dara to make the trade, but he doesn't care about either baby, and orders a maid to throw Becan into the fire just to make Clodagh scream. Clodagh's scream summons Cathal, who becomes trapped in the Otherworld because of the geis. A heartbroken Clodagh is forced to leave Cathal in the Otherworld and take baby Finbar back to Sevenwaters. Outside the hall, Clodagh is heartbroken over Becan's death, but the Old Ones appear and tell her that he can be brought back to life by stitching pieces of him back to together and breathing in his mouth. Clodagh does this, and returns Becan to his true mother. She then returns to the human world with Finbar.
When she is close to the nemetons, she meets Ciaran and Sibeal, who have been waiting for her. Clodagh gives Finbar into their keeping but tells them that she must return to the Otherworld to rescue Cathal. Ciaran helps Clodagh return to the Otherworld, and advises her on how to protect herself and Cathal. He also warns Clodagh that Cathal may not want to be saved.
Clodagh returns to the Otherworld and confronts Mac Dara, who allows her to see Cathal on the condition that if he is incompetent Clodagh will sleep with Mac Dara instead. Clodagh agrees to it, wording her promise very carefully so that she is not completely bound by it. Once she gains access to Cathal they plot their escape. They implement their plan, and manage to escape from the Otherworld, largely thanks to Cathal, who fulfills the final lines of the geis by calming waves of water he had created himself and gaining the trust of the Old Ones and the tree-folk. They then return to Sevenwaters, where a guilt-ridden Sean embraces Clodagh and apologises for not believing her about the changeling. Cathal gives his account of why he had left Sevenwaters and why he had told Clodagh that Illan was involved in the burning of Glencarnagh, and after giving an apology to Illan and the other chieftains himself Sean thaws considerably toward him. Clodagh and Cathal plan to be hand-fast and live on Inis Eala, and after Clodagh encounters Mac Dara in the garden of Sevenwaters it becomes even more urgent that they retreat to the island. Two days after their return from the Otherworld, Cathal and Clodagh are wed, and ten days later they leave with Muirrin for Inis Eala.
Seer of Sevenwaters
Clodagh is living on Inis Eala with Cathal, and is heavily pregnant with their firstborn child. Sibeal is visiting the island before she takes her final vows as a druid, allowing the sisters to spend time together. After the shipwreck occurs, Clodagh is worried about Cathal, for she knows he is afraid for her and their child and fears the extent of Mac Dara's reach. She also knows that he is frustrated and guilty at not having been able to prevent the tragedy, as Mac Dara would have been alerted if he had used his magic to do so, thus putting his family in danger.
Clodagh practically forces Cathal to accompany Sibeal, Felix and Gull to Svala's island to rescue the missing crew members of the Freyja, for she knows that Cathal would never forgive himself if he did not go. Not long after the Liadan leaves Clodagh goes into labour, and gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl.
Flame of Sevenwaters
Clodagh receives Ciaran's message through Deirdre, asking Cathal to return to Sevenwaters to confront Mac Dara. She is hesitant about this, as it would mean losing Cathal forever, as Cathal would be forced to take Mac Dara's place as Prince of the Otherworld should he defeat him. When Deirdre tells Clodagh that she should stay on Inis Eala with her children and let Cathal go alone, Clodagh snaps at Deirdre, and angrily breaks off their link. She is tempted not to tell Cathal of the exchange, but in the end does, as they have always known that it is his destiny to confront Mac Dara and take his place.
Cathal does not want Clodagh and their children to travel with him to Sevenwaters, because of the risk to them, but Clodagh insists on accompanying him. They part at Sevenwaters expecting never to see each other again, and Clodagh is overjoyed when Cathal is returned to her because of Ciaran's sacrifice. To Maeve, she describes it as 'the best moment of her life' when Cathal came running down the hill to her again, safe and sound.
Clodagh voices to Maeve her and Cathal's intention to divide their lives between Sevenwaters and Inis Eala, so that Finbar will have company and be cared for properly as he grows up.
Physical appearance
Clodagh is short with long red hair which appears wild and tangled when wet. She has green eyes like all of her sisters (except Sibeal).
Personality
Much like Liadan, Clodagh is very courageous and determined, though she does not realise it until Cathal tells her. She is said to be a rebellious spirit by the Old Ones, one who does not play by the rules and chooses her own path. This is seen when she refuses to allow Mac Dara to abduct Cathal and ruin their future together and returns to the Otherworld to rescue him. Clodagh can be said to be the perfect housewife, as her main talent is in the running of a household, something which she initially thinks to be boring and ordinary. Although she is accepting of the fact that she will not be wedding anytime soon due to Aisling's pregnancy and the birth of Finbar, she feels secretly disappointed, especially after seeing Deirdre happily wed. She is very like her mother, in her perfectionist ways and need to supervise everything in the household, and also in her habit of pushing herself into household duties to suppress her fears. After her and Cathal's return from the Otherworld, Clodagh is greatly changed.
Relationships
Cathal
Cathal and Clodagh have a very loving relationship. They first meet and fall in love in Heir to Sevenwaters. In the beginning Clodagh considers Cathal to be rude and unlikable, but as they journey together into the Otherworld to rescue Finbar she grows to understand him better and even finds herself falling in love with him. When Mac Dara succeeds in trapping Cathal in the Otherworld, it is Clodagh's love for Cathal and her determination for them to have a future together that compels her to return to the Otherworld and rescue him.
Aidan
Clodagh is initially in love with him and hopes for a betrothal, but she falls out of love after she realises that Aidan has been lying to her about Rathnait. However, she continues to like and respect him as a friend. She is grievously shocked and upset when she and Cathal see a vision of his death, and mourns for him.
Family Tree
- Father: Sean of Sevenwaters
- Mother:[1]Aisling
- Siblings: Muirrin, Deirdre (twin), Maeve, Sibeal, Eilis, Finbar
- Spouse: Cathal
- In-laws:
- Children:
- Firinne
- Ronan
- Grandchildren:
- None as yet