The Banshee
The Banshee was a fairy-woman who traditionally was a
portend of death for certain families of Celtic descent. She appeared as a
either a small shriveled old woman or else as a beautiful maiden with long
flaxen hair which she constantly combed while keening loudly in an otherworldly
voice. She is always seen alone and in a melancholy mood when found near
the doomed person's home. Some people believed that the banshee was
a ghost of a person who had suffered violence from some member of the
family. She repeats her keen from a particular place while announcing the
approach of death to his descendants.
Others believe that she is a friendly spirit offering
forewarning and guidance to the family. However it is not certain whether
she is a friend or an enemy to the chosen family to whom her warning is
conveyed. Her cry often comes from a spring, river or lake with which her
name is connected.
The word Banshee comes from the Gaelic - Bean Sidhe
- Fairy Woman/ Woman of the Mounds.
Stories, Myths
and Legends about The Banshee
O'Carroll's
Banshee and Terryglass Castle
The
Banshee and Reverend Bunworth
The
Banshee and the Mac Carthy's
Banshees
and Warnings by Lady Gregory
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