The Banshee

 

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 type of sidhe or fairy that wails as a harbinger of death. If a person hears the plaintiff cry or keening of the Banshee, they know that death is near, either for them or a family member. The Banshee is described as having long silvery hair, and the face and body of an old woman. Her name comes from the Irish words bean side, which means woman of the mound.

Keening was a common practice in Ireland, and professional mourners were hired to keen at wakes and funerals. It was eventually stamped out by the Catholic Church and the changing customs and beliefs of the Irish people. If you search the internet, you can find old recordings of keening. It sounds more like a lament than a cry.

I’m currently writing book 3 in The Midsummer Women Series, The Fairy Witch, and I’m pretty sure their will be a Banshee in there somewhere, too cool to pass up!