She’s known for her dramatic screaming andcrying, and her seemingly dark power to predict death, the Banshee is seen as a terrifyingfemale spirit in Irish mythology. But is she really all that terrifying? Although some of today’s pop culture hasweaponized the Banshee’s screams and made them an object of fear, the first banshees weren’t evil or even dangerous. She not only predicts your death, but helpsyou prepare for it. This is one monster you might actually wanton your side. Going back to at least the 8thcentury, Irishfolk tradition depicts the Banshee as the spirit or ghost of a once living woman. Banshees appear in two different forms: asa withered, tiny crone with white hair; or as a tall, thin, beautiful woman.
The typical banshee has long, flowing hairand appears dressed in white. Many times the woman’s spirit becomes abanshee because of some injustice in her life, because of bad or “improper” things shedid as a living woman, or was a victim of violence. Banshees only appear alone and don’t domuch of anything besides warn the living when death is coming. They forewarn the living of death by crying,screaming, and clapping. The Old Irish word “Bean sí” directlytranslates to “fairy woman,” but etymologists and folklorists agree that “sí” originallymeant ‘Otherworld’ so the name actually means ‘Woman of the Otherworld.” What’s especially unique about the bansheeis that they are only devoted to certain people; the ancient Gaelic nobility. Most often, people who have a surname thatbegins with an “O,” “Mc,” or “Mac” . A different banshee belonged to each noblefamily and would forewarn deaths, sometimes appearing to the families’ servants. She is said to be an ancestor of the familyherself. In many ways, the banshee is a protector ofthe family and its noble land, even a symbol of the family. If any part of the ancestral home is stillstanding, even if it’s a ruin, she will appear.
Side note: Although my mom’s ancestors camefrom the Munster province in Ireland, which is full of banshee myths, her family nameis Welsh, so unfortunately, no banshees for me. Banshee legends became less common in the16th and 17thcenturies—possibly because this is when the British government confiscatedIrish land. The English families who moved to Irelandcouldn’t have a banshee since they did not have Irish ancestry—even if they did seizea noble title. You can take my title, but you can never takemy banshee. Many old banshee stories are even classifiedby the name of the family they are loyal to. A famous author, Thomas Crofton Croker, includes“The Bunworth Banshee” and “The Mac Carthy Banshee” in his book of Irish folklore. In both stories, the male heir’s death ispreceded by the wailing and clapping of a banshee. So, the banshee’s appearance warns of impendingdeath. But why the screaming and moaning? These expressions of mourning come from Irishreligious and cultural history. Women have played a crucial role in the Irishculture of death from the very beginning.
In their mythology, the ancient Celtic battlegoddess Catabodva is also known as Badb. A variant of her name, just happens to bethe south-eastern Irish name for banshee. Badb was said to not only influence battles,but predict the deaths of notable warriors—by a loud, wailing cry. She could also shapeshift into a crow, anability some banshees have as well. Another goddess, Brigit, was said to be thefirst in all of Ireland to cry and lament a death, that of her son—yet another connectionbetween women, death, and crying…or rather keening. In the Irish tradition, keening is a rhythmicwailing and mourning performed by women as part of the death ritual. Keening was seen as necessary for the deadto pass safely into the next world. Keening women were respected professionalsand performers who guided mourners through grief with crying and singing. They were viewed as in-between worlds, thelink between the living world and the Otherworld. Oh, and did I mention that yet another namefor the banshee is bean chaointe—which in Gaelic literally means “keening woman.” Since their actions were seen as necessary,they were allowed to ignore social customs while performing. Keening women might walk barefoot, travelingnot on the roads, but through untamed countryside. They would appear disheveled, in torn clothes,and unpinned and uncombed hair. They were outsiders, and these physical attributesonly served to emphasize their otherworldly responsibilities.
Despite the supernatural air surrounding keeningwomen, they served a very practical function. In times of grief they acted as a catharsis. Since they were paid professionals, for atime only wealthy members of society could afford one, including those old noble families. So it makes sense that the banshee, who arein many ways the ghost form of the keening woman, would only be associated with the upperclass. Goddesses, keening women, and banshees. It’s pretty easy to see that women controlledthe voice of death in Ireland. But I also have another theory, one that Ithink explains the accounts of banshees “shrieking.” Barn owls. Hear me out. Barn owls make a truly terrifying screamingsound. While they are currently endangered in Ireland,they used to be widely spread across the country. Barn owls are nocturnal, hunting (and screeching)at night. In the stories that I read, banshees onlyappear at night. The owls horrifying screeching could havemade its way into the Banshee myth. Maybe someone heard a barn owl’s cry inthe darkness the night before a death in the family and connected it to the keening Bansheethat also marks death. The banshee legend not only links Irish peopleto their ancestors but emphasizes their belief in the supernatural. The Otherworld is important to the creationof their literary and oral histories. With elements of mythical ancient goddessesand real-life keening women, she connects other worlds as well: fact and fiction.
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