Cessair

Cessair is the leader of the first of the six legendary settlements of Ireland in the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions), compiled in the 11th century. She is the daughter of Bith, a son of Noah. In the usual version, her family is refused a place on the ark, so she sails for Ireland, the western edge of the world, hoping to escape the coming Flood.

She arrives with fifty women and three men: her father Bith, the pilot Ladra and Fintan mac Bóchra. The women are divided among the men, but Bith and Ladra soon die. In some versions Cessair dies of a broken heart before the waters arrive; in any case, when the Flood comes, all her company perish, except Fintan, who survives by turning into a salmon.

Scholars see the Cessair story as Christian historians' work of fitting Ireland into biblical history; some think she replaced an older native figure, such as the land goddess Banba. She is known only from medieval Irish texts.