To continue celebrating St. Patrick’s day, I thought I would talk about another Irish creature, the banshee.
The Banshee is a female Irish spirit with the ability to foresee death or appear at the death of someone important. The banshee legend also exists in parts of Scotland as well. In the Irish legend she is actually only tied to five specific families- the O’Neills, the O’Conners, the O’Briens, the O’Grady’s and the Kavanaghs.
Banshee’s can take on many different forms including old women, young maidens, crows, weasels or other wild animals. In female form she is usually thought to wear a black, white or grey cloak and have fair colored hair.
The most memorable part of the legend is the banshee’s cry, which is supposed to sound like the cross between a woman’s wailing and an owl. Banshee’s are not thought to travel long distances but will mourn a death of someone even living a great distance away. Some legends also say that the banshee carries a silver comb which she will often leave on the ground to entrap anyone who tries to pick it up.
It’s easy to see how people could hear strange cries at night and attribute them to something supernatural or see a bird or other animal before someone died and think it to be a banshee in disguise. There haven’t been any recent banshee sightings in years making this legend one that may just fade into history books and legends.