What is a Banshee?

Answer 1

A banshee is an Irish or celtic spirit...usually not a good sign....the wail of the banshee did not bode well for you

Answer 2

Banshee Indian

Answer 3

The Banshee is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the Bean Nighe ("washer-woman").

According to legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die.Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament at their funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as "keeners". Legend has it that, for five great Gaelic families: the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the Kavanaghs, the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would appear before the death and keen. When several banshees appeared at once, it indicated the death of someone great or holy.[1] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a woman who died in childbirth.[2]


Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, and often having long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids - stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red or black with a grey cloak.

Banshees are common in Irish and Scottish folk stories such as those recorded by Herminie T. Kavanagh. They enjoy the same mythical status in Ireland as fairies and leprechauns.

Answer 4

They come from Irish folklore. Supposedly, they are women that wail really loudly. They have fair hair that they brush with a comb. No one in Ireland picks up a comb that they find outside, for fear that the banshees have laid it there for an unsuspecting victim. My friend is Irish and when I stayed at her house, she told me not to go into the garden at night, or anywhere alone when it's dark, because a banshee would get me. It was kinda creepy, because you can just imagine looking out of the kitchen window in the middle of the night whilst getting a glass of water, and a ghoulish figure is just standing there watching you,,,

Answer 5

In Irish legend, a Banshee is a female spirit/fairy that wails to warn of a death. The word 'banshee' comes from the old Irish words 'ben', a woman, and 'side' a fairie, and means 'woman of the fairies'. The legend of the Banshees has been an integral part of Irish folklore for hundreds of years

Answer 6

A banshee is a Celtic spirit. It is usually a woman. She can be young or old, but is usually dressed in all white, with white flowing hair. She wails or screams as she walks across the countryside. When you see a banshee it means that either you or someone in your family is going to die. The way to avoid death is to not look directly at her.

Answer 7

Yes, I have heard one before my loved one died. It came through the window, (mind you no wind) at all. I follwed the moaning and low wailing through the room and it went out to the front door and I heard it no more. A week later my mom hears piercing and wailing of a banshee that it woke her up and shook her to her soul that it was so deadly piercing that she would NEVER want to hear it again.

Then a week later my loved one died.

We are not Irish or Scottish nor an ancient family. But we heard it in different ways as described above. God help the family that hears it as death is imminent in the family.

Most people say it is an evil spirit, but I say it is not or it could be the death wail or soul grieving before it goes, either way it's a preparation of death. Is it paranormal? Who knows but it is not of this world.

Answer 8

A banshee is a female that forewarns of death. It's from the irish tradition of wailing at a wake for someone who has died.

Some alternate beliefs were that a banshee's wail could kill you because it was so horrible to hear.

Here's a quick wikipedia reference.

Answer 9

I believe the myth of a banshee started either in Scotland or Ireland. It is said that when a person dies, a banshee will appear and will wail, cry and moan about the loss of that person. It is usually in ghost form.

Answer 10

I do believe its a Celtic folkloric icon. The stories I've heard, is that if a young woman dies in child-birth, she will become a Banshee, a forewarner of death. When you hear her scream, you are done, my friend