A banshee ( ;

Modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

, from sga, ben síde , "woman of the

fairy mound A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit ...

" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in

Irish folklore Irish folklore ( ga, béaloideas) refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture. Irish folklore, when mentioned to many people, conjures up images of banshees, fairies, leprechauns and people gat ...

who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or

keening Keening (Irish: Caointeoireacht) is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition, known to have taken place in Ireland and Scotland. Keening, which can be seen as a form of sean-nós singing, was performed in ...

. Her name is connected to the mythologically important

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

or "mounds" that dot the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

countryside, which are known as (singular ) in Old Irish.

Dictionary of the Irish Language ''Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials'' (also called "the DIL"), published by the Royal Irish Academy, is the definitive dictionary of the origins of the Irish language, specifically the Old Irish, M ...

:
síd, síth
': "a fairy hill or mound" and
ben
'

Description

Sometimes she has long streaming hair and wears a grey

cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and a ...

over a green dress, and her eyes are red from continual weeping.Briggs, Katharine (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. Pantheon Books. pp. 14–16. . She may be dressed in white with

red hair Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

and a ghastly complexion, according to a firsthand account by Ann, Lady Fanshawe in her ''Memoirs''.

Lady Wilde Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name Speranza and supporter of the nationalist movement. Lady Wilde had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she he ...

in ''Ancient Legends of Ireland'' provides another:

The size of the banshee is another physical feature that differs between regional accounts. Though some accounts of her standing unnaturally tall are recorded, the majority of tales that describe her height state the banshee's stature as short, anywhere between one foot and four feet. Her exceptional shortness often goes alongside the description of her as an old woman, though it may also be intended to emphasize her state as a fairy creature.

In O'Brien's Irish- English Dictionary the entry for Síth-Bhróg states:

"hence ''bean-síghe'', plural ''mná-síghe'', she-fairies or women-fairies, credulously supposed by the common people to be so affected to certain families that they are hears to sing mournful lamentations about their houses by night, whenever any of the family labours under a sickness which is to end by death, but no families which are not of an ancient & noble Stock, are believed to be honoured with this fairy privilege".

Sometimes the banshee assumes the form of some sweet-singing virgin of the family who died young, and has been given the mission by the invisible powers to become the harbinger of coming doom to her mortal kindred. Or she may be seen at night as a shrouded woman, crouched beneath the trees, lamenting with a veiled face, or flying past in the moonlight, crying bitterly. The cry of this spirit is mournful beyond all other sounds on earth, and betokens certain death to some member of the family whenever it is heard in the silence of the night.

Keening

In Ireland and parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the

woman (''bean chaointe''), who wails a lament—in ga, Caoineadh, pronounced (Munster dialect), (Connaught dialect) or (Ulster dialect), ''caoin'' meaning "to weep, to wail". This keening woman may in some cases be a professional, and the best keeners would be in high demand. Irish legend speaks of a lament being sung by a fairy woman, or banshee. She would sing it when a family member died or was about to die, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come. In those cases, her wailing would be the first warning the household had of the death. The banshee also is a predictor of death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing, giving rise to a banshee also being known as a wailing woman. It is often stated that the banshee laments only the descendants of the pure Milesian stock of Ireland, sometimes clarified as surnames prefixed with O' and Mac, and some accounts even state that each family has its own banshee. One account, however, also included the

Geraldines The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

, as they had apparently become "

more Irish than the Irish themselves "More Irish than the Irish themselves" ( ga, Níos Gaelaí ná na Gaeil féin, la, Hiberniores Hibernis ipsis) is a phrase used in Irish historiography to describe a phenomenon of cultural assimilation in late medieval Norman Ireland. History ...

," countering the lore ascribing banshees exclusively to those of Milesian stock. Other exceptions were the

Bunworth Banshee Reverend Charles Bunworth was an Irish harpist and the Church of Ireland rector of Buttevant, County Cork. Born in 1704, he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin with an M.A. in Divinity Studies in 1730 and was ordained the following year. He w ...

, which heralded the death of the Rev.

Charles Bunworth Reverend Charles Bunworth was an Irish harpist and the Church of Ireland rector of Buttevant, County Cork. Born in 1704, he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin with an M.A. in Divinity Studies in 1730 and was ordained the following year. He w ...

, a name of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the Rossmore banshee, which supposedly heralded the death of a member of the family of

Baron Rossmore Baron Rossmore, of Monaghan in the County of Monaghan, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1796 for the soldier Robert Cuninghame, with remainder to his wife Elizabeth's nephews Henry Alexander Jones (the son of Theophilus J ...

, whose ancestry was predominantly Scottish and Dutch. When several banshees appear at once, it indicates the death of someone great or holy.Yeats, W. B. "Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry" in Booss, Claire; Yeats, W.B.; Gregory, Lady (1986) ''A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore''. New York: Gramercy Books. p. 108. The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.

Origin

Most, though not all, surnames associated with banshees have the ''Ó'' or ''Mc/Mac'' prefix – that is, surnames of Goidelic origin, indicating a family native to the Insular Celtic lands rather than those of the Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or Norman. Accounts reach as far back as 1380 to the publication of the ''

Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh ''Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh'', or ''Triumphs of Torlough'' in English, is a historical account written in the 14th century in Irish by Seán mac Ruaidhrí Mac Craith, the chief historian to the Uí Bhriain dynasty.Moore, Norman. It depicts the w ...

'' (''Triumphs of Torlough'') by Sean mac Craith. Mentions of banshees can also be found in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

literature of that time. The Ua Briain banshee is thought to be named

Aibell In Irish legend Aibell (sometimes Aoibheall (modern Irish spelling), also anglicised as Aeval) was the guardian spirit of the Dál gCais, the Dalcassians or Ó Bríen clan. She was the ruler of a ''sídhe'' in north Munster, and her dwellin ...

and the ruler of 25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance. It is possible that this particular story is the source of the idea that the wailing of numerous banshees signifies the death of a great person. In some parts of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

, she is referred to as the ''bean chaointe'' (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Scottish folklore, a similar creature is known as the

bean nighe The (Scottish Gaelic for 'washerwoman' or 'laundress'; ) is a female spirit in Scottish folklore, regarded as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of ( ga, bean sídhe, anglicized as "banshee") that haunts desola ...

or ''ban nigheachain'' (little washerwoman) or ''nigheag na h-àth'' (little washer at the ford) and is seen washing the bloodstained clothes or armour of those who are about to die. In Welsh folklore, a similar creature is known as the

cyhyraeth The cyhyraeth () is a ghostly spirit in Welsh mythology, a disembodied moaning voice that sounds before a person's death. Legends associate the cyhyraeth with the area around the River Tywi in eastern Dyfed, as well as the coast of Glamorganshire ...

. Owen, Elias (1887). ''Welsh folk-lore: A collection of the folk-tales and legends of North Wales''. Felinfach: Llanerch. p. 142.

In popular culture

Banshees, or creatures based upon them, have appeared in many forms in popular culture.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Aos Sí Fairies Fantasy creatures Female legendary creatures Irish folklore Irish ghosts Irish legendary creatures Personifications of death Psychopomps Supernatural legends Tuatha Dé Danann