Hello and welcome to the first part of our five part series on Scary Stories. In this series, we’ll take a look at the most terrifying, most horrible creatures in Irish Mythology. Today, we’ll start with the scariest woman you could ever meet, the Banshee.
The Banshee comes from the old stories of Ireland, before the advantages of electricity and big cities we enjoy now. And yet, she is still to be heard crying out at night even now. In Irish, it’s easy to see where here name as the Bean na Sí, the fairy woman comes from. But who is the Banshee?
As Harbinger of Death, she has different ways of giving her warnings. It’s said that the myth of the Banshee comes from the Mór Righan, the Triple Goddess, made up of Badb, Macha, and Mórrigiú. In the story of the Táin, the Cattle-Raid, we saw the debut of the Banshee when the Mór Ríghan warns Cú Chulainn. She stood in the ford and washed his bloody clothes. It’s said that Cú Chulainn understood that it was his blood he was washing but he headed into battle anyway. After he died in this final battle, the Mór Ríghan flew in the body of a crow and landed on his shoulder to signal his death. Does this mean that the Mór Ríghan was the first Banshee? This is a belief shared by many.
But what about her agonising cry? Where did this come from? It’s said that the Tuatha Dé Danann could not be killed, since they were eternal gods. And yet, Ruadan, son of Brighid and Bres was killed and this was the first time that a lament was heard in Ireland. Brighid began to cry and weep for her son. After this, whenever anyone died, professional keeners were hired to follow the family, to cry and weep for the deceased. From this, there’s a chance that the Mór Ríghan was the first Banshee, but it is Brighid who should be credited with the creation of her bone chilling cry.
And, what does the Banshee look like? Well, it’s said that she appears differently from time to time. Sometimes, people see her in trees or crouching by the side of the road, weeping and combing her long hair. Other times, she stands in a field or on the top of a hill. When she stands, it’s said she’s very tall. Her face changes every now and then. She is seen as a young woman or an old woman. As well as this she has red hair or silver hair. She wears a long, white dress or a green dress with a black shawl around it. The only part of her that never changes are her eyes. Always, always, she has red eyes, not red with anger, but with sadness and pain, from her constant keening.
There are an awful lot of stories about people encountering the Banshee. As I said before, she gives her warnings in different ways. Sometimes she is seen standing or crouching and weeping and screaming without stopping close to the home of the person about to die. Other times, she knocks on the door of this house. It is imperative that you do not open this door when you here it, or you’ll be taken too. Every now and then, the Banshee leaves her black comb on a window sill or even in the middle of the road. Again, it is imperative that you don’t touch this black comb and definitely, do not take it into the house with you, or she will come to get it quickly.
There are a few theories on who hears the Banshee. Some sources say that only five Irish families hear her cry. These are the O’Briens, the O’Neills, the O’Gradys, the O’Connors, and the Kavanaghs. It’s said that she follows these tribes since they were noble houses. Other sources say that she warns any who have an Ó/Ní or Mac/Nic, in their names. The reason for this is because it is believed that these are all people with Milesian blood. The Milesians were one of the first groups to come to Ireland. However, it is also said that those who were part of Norman houses heard her screams. As well as this, it’s said that three Banshees (or more) keen when someone of great significance is to die. Because of this, we know that there is more than one Banshee. Like that, there’s a chance that every household in Ireland has a Banshee. The Banshee doesn’t move, she is settled in Ireland, especially in the South of Ireland. I believe that anyone in Ireland could hear here, if they listen hard enough.
Now, this is the most information we have on the Banshee. But there is a lot more information on the encounters that a lot of people in Ireland have had with her. This is the story of one such encounter.
There was once a man out in the country long ago. He was removing turf from the bog. He was late when he left the bog in the evening and he hurried home since there was a wake at home.
When he was walking by a ditch, he saw a woman washing in the ditch with a bright dress on. He stepped nearer to her. He gave her a blessing from the Christian God on her. She became angry. She followed him and told him that she would pull the hair from his head. The man said “stay away from me, for your own sake, or I’ll throw you in with the herd.” When he was nearing the wake she followed him and grabbed him by the hair with hands like claws.
She is always crying beside wells or ditches with water. You shouldn’t bother her since she wrongs those who have no good for her. The old people say that she cries after someone dies and she stays by the house. She only cries for some people.
This encounter came from Cluain Chumhra in County Kerry, on the Dúchas website. This is our story on the Banshee. We’ll have a new creature for you next week. Join us there.
Kommentare