It is certainly true that women do feature heavily in Old and Middle Irish literature. In the saga, Táin Bó Cúailnge, we are told that Queen Medb is the real leader of Connacht and occasionally takes part in the fighting. Boudiccea is a well documented case of a woman war leader.

How true are the claims of power and freedom enjoyed by women in early Celtic society? Granted, she enjoyed a much more liberated role than her classical contemporaries. However, the laws indicate that women actually had a more restricted role. The laws bar her from acting as a witness and she normally can't make a valid contract without the permission of her superior (usually her husband or father)

In the wisdom texts, reticence, virtue and industry seem to be the qualities most admidred in a woman. Triad 180 gives the three steadiness of good womanhood as 'a steady tongue, a steady virtue, a steady housewifery'.