The sound begins as a faint, mournful, and wailing cry, reminiscent of muffled sobs. It then gradually escalates into a blood-curdling crescendo, a brutal sound that seems to constrict the very veins. Finally, it dwindles into a weak, strangled whimper. Sometimes, it manifests as the solemn beat of drums, accompanied by the desolate notes of a mournful flute. This chilling sound is the Banshee’s wail, a supernatural harbinger of impending death in Irish and Scottish folklore.
What is the Banshee?
The Banshee, derived from the Irish “bean-sidhe” (meaning “woman of the fairy mound”), is an ethereal spirit or angel in Celtic mythology. She announces the imminent demise of an individual, heralding the end of a life.
In Irish tradition, the Banshee often appears as a woman combing her hair, weeping and wailing outside the home where a death is soon to occur. Intriguingly, the person whose death is foretold does not hear her cry; instead, it is their family and relatives who hear the terrifying lament.
Conversely, Scottish legends portray the Banshee in various forms: a washerwoman, a solitary hunter, a headless horseman, or simply as the ominous sound of drums beating a funeral dirge. Regardless of her manifestation, her purpose remains the same: to forewarn of death.
Historical Accounts of the Banshee’s Cry
One of the most famous accounts of the Banshee’s ominous cry in Ireland took place on August 22, 1922, in the village of Safter Cross in southwestern Ireland. On that fateful night, Michael Collins, the head of the provisional government and army during the Irish Civil War, passed through the village en route to track down rebel forces. As Collins left Safter Cross for Cork, villagers distinctly heard the Banshee’s wail approaching, then fading away. They instinctively sensed impending doom. The very next morning, their fears were confirmed: Collins had been killed by a bullet to the head in a skirmish with rebels, mere minutes after the Banshee’s cry was heard.
The Banshee Across the Atlantic: Modern Encounters
Psychologist Frank Smith conducted a fascinating study on this enduring folk myth, discovering that the legend of the Banshee had crossed the Atlantic with Irish immigrants to the New World. Smith documented numerous similar stories from Irish immigrants in the United States who reported hearing the ominous sound before receiving news of a loved one’s death a day or two later.
One compelling account comes from a man named O’Barry, who recalled hearing the Banshee’s cry in 1930. The following morning, he found his father weeping, who then informed him that his grandfather had unexpectedly passed away in New York. It was only after this conversation that O’Barry learned about the legend of the Banshee.
Years later, in 1946, while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East, O’Barry awoke to the same ominous sound. “This time I knew what it meant,” he recounted, “and I became depressed, fearing my father had died. Days later, I indeed received news of my father’s death.”
On November 22, 1963, while reading his newspaper in a Toronto hotel room, O’Barry once again heard the harbinger of death. He feared for his wife or children but later that day learned of the assassination of family friend President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
Even more recently, in 1988, the terrifying cry of the death messenger was reported emanating from the North Sea shortly before news broke of the deaths of 160 workers on a floating oil rig. One survivor, 45-year-old Derek Ellington, confirmed hearing the terrifying, ominous screams just minutes before the platform exploded and his colleagues perished. He simply explained what he heard: “It sounded like the wailing of the Banshee.”
