Clever Irish mother extracted magnesium, and sorted it out (6)
I believe the answer is:
genius
'clever irish' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for genius that I've seen before include "great idea?" , "outstanding person" , "One has outstanding creative or intellectual ability" , "Huge mental ability" , "Maestro" .)