| A mournful wail shatters the stillness, rising and | | | | matron, as an old hag, or as an animal Irish |
| falling like ocean waves, echoing through the dark, | | | | folklore associates with witchcraft, such as a |
| lonely hills. It is the cry of the Banshee, an omen | | | | hooded crow, a hare, or a weasel. Some legends |
| that someone will die. | | | | maintain that she is a ghost, often of a murdered |
| According to Irish folklore, the Banshee wails, or | | | | woman or woman who died in childbirth. |
| "keens," for only the five major families of Ireland: | | | | In Ireland she is called Bean Sidhe (Sidhe |
| the O'Neils, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the | | | | pronounced "shee"), which literally means "woman |
| O'Gradys, and the Kavanaghs. Each Banshee | | | | of the fairy mound." Her Scottish counterpart is |
| attaches itself to a mortal family and follows that | | | | Bean Nighe, or "washer woman," which is another |
| family wherever it travels, even across the | | | | form she can take. The English word "keen" is |
| ocean. | | | | derived from the Irish caoineadh, which means |
| When someone in the family is about to die she | | | | "lament." |
| stalks the hills around their home, her silver-grey | | | | Traditionally, a woman would sing a lament, which |
| hair streaming like a gossamer waterfall to the | | | | was said to be an imitation of the Banshee's cry, |
| ground, her face pale and eyes red from weeping, | | | | at peasant funerals. |
| her grey-white cloak as fine as cobwebs clinging | | | | According to legend, Banshees would appear |
| to her tall slender frame. If you catch a Banshee, | | | | before the death of a member of the five major |
| she must reveal the name of the person for | | | | families and sing their laments. If several banshees |
| whom she is keening. | | | | appeared, it foretold that someone great or holy |
| The Banshee can take many forms. She may | | | | would die. |
| appear as a beautiful young woman, as a stately | | | | |