Jean M. Roberts : The Book's Delight

  The Banshee The Irish take their fairies quite seriously and despite years of American TV and movies portraying fairies as tiny flying objects, that is not what they are like at all. The origins of the fairy go back to the Tuatha de Danann, the people of Danu, the Celtic gods who came to the island and battled the Firbolg and the Formians for the land. A later invader, the Milesians defeated the Tuatha, and they were tricked into living under ground when the victors offered to split Ireland in two and choose to take the topside, leaving the Tuatha de Dannan to live under the Earth. The many burial mounds and ring forts across Ireland are the access points to the underground and are called the Sidhe. The descendants of the gods are called the Aos Sidhe, the people of the mounds. It is said that the goddess Brigid lost her son Ruadan during the second battle of Moytura against the Formians. Her cries of anguish at his death are said to the first keening in Ireland. The Banshee is a...