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Banshee?

  • 23-12-2006 07:24PM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭


    Hi, just wondering if anyone there has experienced or heard of any stories with banshees. Reckon there's any truth in 'em? Some friends of mine have, which I'll share when I have more time. Sorry if there's already been a thread about this!


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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 994 ✭✭✭kshiel


    The stories I have been told about her is that she brings news of a death to this world and warns the other side a soul is coming.

    http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 409 ✭✭qwytre


    Have you ever heard cats "cry" at 4am ? They start this crying which sounds very like a baby crying but is really weird and scary. It is without doubt the scariest thing I ever heard in the dead of night just outside my bedroom window as I dint know cats do that. I bet the bansee story started from that...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭The Walsho


    Yeah you're dead right there, my sister was out one night with a few mates (a few of whom were usually fearless guys) and they all came home that night scared shítless because of the noise they heard, which they were convinced was a Banshee. She described it as sounding kinda like a baby crying, or a cat wailing.
    However I've heard stories of people actually seeing a 'Banshee' and both descriptions sounded the same (old hag screaming and combing her hair). Family members then died within the next week in both cases. :eek:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 460 ✭✭twanda


    I remember my mother telling me that her father saw the banshee one night sitting uder the ash tree out in the garden, crying and wailing. She had her back to him but he said she looked like a little old woman. Dunno whether he said she was combing her hair or something like that. He cut down the ash tree the next day.
    My mother couldn't remember if anyone in the family had died around that time or not.

    My brother and his girlfniend claim they heard the banshee one night, a week or so before my uncle died. They were too scared to look out the window to see if there was anything there. My mother tried to tell them it was cats but my brother had grown up listening to the neighbours cats wailing and he said it was definitely not the same..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 224 ✭✭Jotter


    yep piece of advice given to me by my granny whos sister saw a banshee sitting in ditch - not sure if that story was just aimed at scaring me! - is if you see banshee and she drops her comb never pick it up or you die in the coming days - they comb their hair saying o conoo or something to that affect and if you hear a knock on window at nite dont look out or someone in your faily will die:eek: my granny was from country so i took all her stories as gospel - still wouldnt mess with a fairy fort even though i dont believe in them!!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 37 Twinkers


    I believe I heard one the night before my Dad died. I heard what I can only describe is a woman moaning and wailing like she was inconsolable.
    Like Twanda's brother I've heard cats crying before but this was nothing like that.
    We got a call about an hour later to say that my Dad taken a turn and he passed away the next morning.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭The Walsho


    Thanks for the replies, I always find these stories very interesting!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,248 ✭✭✭Plug


    I heard a cat screaming last night, too terrified to look out the window after reading these post's:D


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,676 CMod ✭✭✭✭faceman


    I remember reading somewhere that the banshee only appears or warns or whatever to certain irish familys of certain descent. Cant remember the family names tho


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

    Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain.)The Banshee She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).

    Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, the keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone as "the sound of two boards being struck together"; and on Rathlin Island as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl".

    The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.

    Article: http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html

    The above is a nice short explaination but I personally believe that there is alot more to the Banshee than than is commonly known.

    The 'Banshee' seems to be a definition of a role or job title and its like saying what a baker is. You can define what it is that they are meant to do, the function they perform but as individuals who are they? I suppose you could be causual and ask: When a Banshee is wailing, what is she doing?

    I believe they exist, I believe there is more than one and whats more I believe there are people who know alot more about them than people who write articles about them on the net.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 575 ✭✭✭Muineach


    Where I live at the minute a lot of people must be going to die :P
    The crying, wailing, and sounding like a baby can be put down to the local foxe's, I've grown up with them so I naturally assumed everyone knew about it, it did frighten the bejesus out of a few friends from college while walking home on a empty road, with no street lights, and yes they were from Dublin and hadn't seen a road without street lights.
    Could be foxes or could be the real thing, who knows ?


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,676 CMod ✭✭✭✭faceman


    6th wrote:
    I believe they exist, I believe there is more than one and whats more I believe there are people who know alot more about them than people who write articles about them on the net.

    why so?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    Yep, I've heard foxes & cats .... but thats not to say that because there is something out there that sounds the same as what a banshee is believe to sound like that all accounts are of a fox or cat.

    Just going by a sound I couldnt answer what something was, if I dont see a cat, fox or banshee then I'm not going to say its any of those things.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    Because a personal experience a while back pushed me into looking alot closer at Banshee and similar entities. People forget that 100% information for everything is not available on the net. People seem to think that all the facts are available to us at the push of a button ..... do you really believe that?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 51 ✭✭macfran


    The families they were supposed to follow were the Os and the Macs/Mcs.
    Being a member of one of the clans it was passed on to me.

    I grew up in Dublin and heard lots of stories about the banshee but with street lighting and parents who were not superstitious I was not too impressed but in 1979 I moved to the country and one night I heard this screech like nothing I never heard before and the hairs on me head..never mind me neck stood on end. I wanted to move back to Dublin the next day but by asking locally the cause of the noise was a fox, it's a mating call or warning and as the foxes have realised that suburbia has a lot to offer..food wise.. they are very much part of housing estate habitat.

    I think a lot of the ghost and banshee stories are from the pre electrity times when the country was black dark and people mostly cycled on the country roads.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    Traditionally its just the 5 families.
    the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,676 CMod ✭✭✭✭faceman


    6th wrote:
    Because a personal experience a while back pushed me into looking alot closer at Banshee and similar entities. People forget that 100% information for everything is not available on the net. People seem to think that all the facts are available to us at the push of a button ..... do you really believe that?

    sorry i wasnt having a pop. Its just of all paranormal stories, i find the tail of the banshee most flawed. Although i have had quite a few supernatural experiences, i just have yet to be convinced on this one. But im open minded though and eager to hear tails from people who have seen her as opposed to people who know people who have.

    When we were growing up, everyone knew someone who had seen her, particularly older generations.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 575 ✭✭✭Muineach


    here's a sample of a typical fox "scream" http://www.vulpes.org/foxden/sounds/typical-fox-yell.wav
    It's easy to understand how it can freak you out if you never heard one before.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,584 ✭✭✭c - 13


    Hey all, first time poster on this board. Not usually big into the paranormal (I used to be) but have always had an intrest in the Banshee stories.
    Jotter wrote:
    yep piece of advice given to me by my granny whos sister saw a banshee sitting in ditch - not sure if that story was just aimed at scaring me! - is if you see banshee and she drops her comb never pick it up or you die in the coming days - they comb their hair saying o conoo or something to that affect and if you hear a knock on window at nite dont look out or someone in your faily will die:eek: my granny was from country so i took all her stories as gospel - still wouldnt mess with a fairy fort even though i dont believe in them!!

    I was told this one too with a slightly different spin.
    Basically if you took the comb the Banshee would come to reclaim it and would follow you anywhere until she got it. She would come in the night and wail outside the house.
    Thats why I blame my parents for me having a fear of combs lying ominously on the street when I was younger ! :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,678 ✭✭✭✭Owen


    You are banned from Paranormal.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    faceman wrote:
    sorry i wasnt having a pop. Its just of all paranormal stories, i find the tail of the banshee most flawed. Although i have had quite a few supernatural experiences, i just have yet to be convinced on this one. But im open minded though and eager to hear tails from people who have seen her as opposed to people who know people who have.

    When we were growing up, everyone knew someone who had seen her, particularly older generations.


    I didnt think you were making a pop at all. I was just making the point that I believe that information is passed on by word of mouth alot with regards to some aspects of the supernatural. Not everything is going to turn up on the net.

    My belief in the Banshee stems partially from an experience in Ross with a group from here. What I experiences may not (most likely) have been a banshee but someone experience it might interperate it as one. At the end of the day its all about the people who experience these things, how they tell the stroy will have an impact of the definition of the experience.

    The experience I had in Ross the first time is covered here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054982177 - but there was more on the second trip.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,688 Mod ✭✭✭✭stevenmu


    Ned, this forum is discussing the paranormal, in all it's aspects. Unless you have strong evidence to support a position that the banshee does not exist and is "stupid", then don't make such claims here. If you wish to continue posting here, please read the charter.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭Archeron


    My mum and her sister had an experience with a banshee when they were in their early twenties. Strangely, it was right in the centre of Dublin, which kind of goes against the grain of most stories I've heard. This episode did result in my mums brother dying within two weeks.

    Also, in the estate that I grew up in had a particular occasion whereby a families home burned down. Apparently (I didnt see it) a banshee was sighted on the homes back shed as it burned, and was witnessed by dozens of people. Possible mass imagination, but it was a popular tale at the time. I 100% believe the story from my mum though, as my whole family, (me included) have had numerous experiences with totally inexplicable events.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,510 ✭✭✭Tricity Bendix


    A Vixen's call has been described as the root of the banshee story. Its an absolutely gastly sound. I live in Dublin City, but we've got plenty of foxes. I spent many a night awake listeningto vixen calls as a child, although of course I didn't know what they were at the time.

    I've heard people tell stories of banshees before. They often speak of red-haired old woman who can move faster than a human. This could again be a red fox.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    Sure there are plenty of noises in the world that sound similar or to some the same but that is not to say that only one source can be the genuine cause for all accounts.

    I have heard a fox scream and its horrid but I've never heard what i believe t o be a banshee. Also the wail of the banshee is only one of the things attributed to her though I have never heard it said that she has red hair.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 43,044 ✭✭✭✭Nevyn


    The washer at the ford or the washer woman is another aspect or form of the Banshee, that form falls under one of the aspects of the battle Godess of The Morrigan.
    A warrior on the way to battle would see the washer woman washing his own cloak or tunic and if blood ran from it, such a vision was said to be a death omen.
    The red hair also ties in with The Morrigan, who could appear as any age.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,991 ✭✭✭Ziycon


    From what i remember the banshee was a woman years ago that went around to pickup people that were about to die or something like that back in the old'en days, it was a job! Im very rusty on the whole story!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 43,044 ✭✭✭✭Nevyn


    They are a death omen not a reaper of souls.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,991 ✭✭✭Ziycon


    Thaedydal wrote:
    They are a death omen not a reaper of souls.
    This is what i ment:
    She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).
    http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 255 ✭✭KBarry


    My mum told me her eldest brother saw and heard a banshee in Armagh city. It would have been late 50's/early 60's. Don't have any more details but I'd be interested to hear. Must remember to gently broach the subject next time I see my uncle.


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