Research Project

Origins of the Banshee

Vikraant V Singh

English 101 Section 3914

Yvonne A. De La Cruz
24 February 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ..

Introduction

Literature Review

Results.

Discussion

Works Cited

Works Referenced

10

Appendices..

11

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ABSRACT
The purpose of my research is to provide knowledge to the readers about the monster, the
Banshee (Bean Nighe in Scottish Gaelic). Ill explore its history and what its purpose is in the
Celtic Mythologies as well as try to understand what the moral behind it is. This Research will
examine the different views of the Banshee from a few different sources over the years from the
start of the myths themselves.
In order to complete this research, I will be incorporating several different articles found
in the campus library databases to discuss the physical attributes, history, and importance of the
Banshee. Additionally, I will do research on why these myths of the Banshee ever came along in
these Celtic mythologies. I would also use the Monsters in America book by W. Scott Pooles to
get a decent amount of information on the birth of the monster tale, if possible.
The main aspects of the research will focus on the moral of the stories and discuss the
fears, and/or benefits, behind it. This research will also provide what people, in our modern
times, think of the Celtic lore. There will be a decent amount of compare and contrast on
different stories that are researched about the Banshee, mostly on how or why the stories differ.
INTRODUCTION
The topic for my research project is the ever elusive tale of monster known as the Banshee, a
monster in the modern context but a fairy (goddess of nature) in original mythology. The
Banshee is a mythical creature of Celtic lore, found across Ireland and Scotland by far. The tale
of the Banshee is of significant importance because of its origins and how the tale is unique, in
that it seems to have no obvious moral purpose behind it, except for the foretelling of someones
death. I chose the Banshee because I had grown up learning about the tale of the Banshee and

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how she was something to be feared and avoided at all costs, yet it was also a great honor if she
foretold your own death. I wanted to learn why she is seen in such a light and how such a story
could come into being and for what purpose.
Have you ever wondered why the myth of such a creature would come to exist and for what
purpose? It still baffles me as to how and why the myth of the Banshee evolved in the way it did.
Even till this day our society uses it to stereotype a certain group of people the English described
as unwanted. Which, without a doubt, prompts me to ask how, exactly, have we not changed in
our views about ALL of humanity as a whole? The reason behind it being that we still portray
Banshees as being redheads (see appendix A) who are outcasts at most and misunderstood.
The reason why I chose this subject for my research is due to the fact that my grandmother
would tell me this tale and shed often say that the story was a misconception. I had no idea what
she meant by that but I was intrigued and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to find
out. The Banshee is important because of the fact that its story is unlike any of its time. Its the
story that the bases of racially motivated tales were derived from, whether knowingly or not. It is
also seen as a sexist story since it vilifies women, specifically red haired women, as being evil,
sex-craved monsters that need to be punished and their punishment is to become a undesired
creature, known as the Banshee.
Is it ironic that the first recorded sighting of the Banshee is by the Queen of Ireland, who was put
there by the English crown to subjugate the Irish? I think the other reason why I wanted to look
into this myth is because of the fact that it stood out to me more, due to the fact that there seemed
to be no obvious moral behind telling it to children. Why tell children about the tale of the
Banshee who is scary and warns them of their impending death? Why does the Banshee wash the
clothes of the soon to be dead? These were the reason this myth stood out for me.

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LITRITURE REVIEW
I started out by search the internet, as well as looking for credible books, on the subject of the
Banshee lore. I was able to find numerous stories of the Banshee, yet only a few that could be
credibly cited. One of these happens to be the first ever recored sighting of the Banshee by the
fleeing King and Queen of Scotland, the Franshawes, around the 1800s. The others are a range
of scholarly sites that hold the story of the Banshee.
Fanshawe, Ann, and Richard Fanshawe. Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe. Google Books. Google
Books Search, 1 Jan. 1829. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. Lady Ann Fanshawe was Queen of Ireland. She
had wrote in her memoirs about the tale of the Banshee after having encountered the Banshee,
herself, at the OBrian castle. She described the Banshee as being very ghastly pale in
complexion and having red hair. Hers was the first, ever, written account of a Banshee. She goes
on to say that the Lady of the castle had told her that it is customary to see the Banshee before
someone die and informed them that her cousin had died an hour after the Banshee sighting.
Fanshawe wrote that the Banshee was a red haired, beautiful woman who had an affair with the
king of the castle and was pregnant. The king didnt take this news lightly and, thus, killed her
and threw her out the window and into the river. ITs the ghost of this woman that haunts the
castle now as a Banshee.
"Irish Myths and Legends." AOH Florida State Board. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
"Banshee." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Mar.
2015. In this, it states that the Banshee only predicts the death of a member of Irelands five
major families. Over time, as bloods mixed, each family had its own Banshee. It also states that
Banshees are known to follow their family members overseas. It goes on to elaborate that the

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keeners accepted payment in the form of alcohol. Alcohol was frowned upon by the church
during the advent of Christianity and thus its said these keeners were punished and turned into
Banshees.
Monaghan, Patricia. "The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore." Stoa. Fact on File,
Inc., 1 Jan. 2004. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. The encyclopedia is a reference to many of Irelands myths
and legends, one being the Banshee. It goes on to elaborate on the same stories of the Banshee as
stated above.
Seymour, John, and Harry Neligan. "True Irish Ghost Stories: Chapter VII. Banshees, and Other
Death-Warnings." True Irish Ghost Stories: Chapter VII. Banshees, and Other Death-Warnings.
Ed. John Hare. Sacred-texts, 1 May 2009. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. This reading goes on to state how
the story of the Banshee has evolved to the one we know of now. It states how in the old days,
the Banshee was seen by the river, washing the dead head or bloody clothes of the person to die
until the waters were blood red. Which is very different than the Banshee of today, which just
lets out a horrifying scream and points to the victim while stating their impending demise.

RESULTS
The culture this myth originated from is the culture of the Celts. The Celts were the original
inhabitants of what is now Ireland and Scotland. The myth of the Banshee originates from the
stories of these Keeners (Appendix B) that were to sing a lament at the funeral of the dead. These
keeners were soon regarded as fairies by the wealthy families they served in order for the
wealthy families to claim their keeners were even more special compared to others that served
the commoners. Keeners were also regarded as beautiful women (appendix B). These keeners

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would normally be paid in alcohol, which became a problem during the conversion to
Christianity, since alcohol was seen as the devils drink.
Keening was forbidden after the Isles converted to Christianity, since it was seen as a Pagan
custom. And since the keeners took alcohol as payment, they were vilified by the church into
what became the Banshee. Later on, its said that the legend of the Banshees scream originated
from the misinterpretation of the cream of the owls in that region of Ireland. So, now the
Banshee was seen to have a ghastly scream attached to its name. Now we can slowly see the
legend of the Banshee coming to light.
The final part of the puzzle come from the first, ever, recorded sighting of the Banshee from the
account of Lady Franshawe. Her description of the Banshee is one of racism and hate of the
redheads the English so despised during the time. The Irish tales of the Banshee never mention
the Banshee as having a specific hair color or skin tone, yet her account paints a vivid picture of
what a Banshee ought to be (see appendix C). In her memoirs, she stated: through the
casement, in white, with red hair and pale and ghastly complexion (Frenshawe 85). It is because
of her telling of the Banshee tale that it has become common place for other regions outside the
Emerald Isles to view the Banshee as a devilish woman. It was around this time that the church
was vilifying redheads as evil temptresses as seen in the YouTube video.
DISCUSSION
As the story goes, it is said that the Banshee myth had two possible origins. The myth originally
comes from the tale of the Keeners of old Celtic funerals. These Keeners would wale in honor of
the person whose funeral it was. Its said that the Keeners of the rich were revered as fairies and
were even had rumors that these fairy keeners could foretell the death of the person even if that

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person were to be oceans away. These practices soon came to an abrupt ends as soon as
Christianity was introduced into the region and Keening became a taboo.
The second explanation seems to be that of the owl. Owls seems to somehow be connected to the
Banshee myth in that, they can also be the messengers of death to come. This myth possibly
evolved from the fact that owls in Ireland let out a strange scream that is mistaken for the scream
of the Banshee.
In the time of Lady Franshawe, redheads were seen as undesirables in the British Isles and were
savagely discriminated against and persecuted. The myth of the Banshee thus evolved to be a tale
on how redheads were undesirable and something to be avoided or killed. But in recent times, the
stereotype of the Banshee being a redhead still persists, yet it seems that the Banshee has gone
from being something that is feared to something that is useful. These, both, can be seen in the
MTV show Teen Wolf (Appendix A).
While looking closer at the story, the most plausible moral of the story that seems to surface is
that you shouldnt be fooled by the looks of a beautiful redhead. She may look beautiful, but
shes and evil temptress that needs to be avoided or killed. Its a moral that is more nudged at
than blatantly stated, as are the morals of its successor monster tales. A story about a graceful and
honorable cultural tradition of the Celts that is later used to vilify that very same group that
happens to have the highest number of redheads. I think the saddest part of the story is the fact
that this form of racism still persists yet isnt talked about as openly as others. Weve blatantly
avoided the subject of racism of Europeans that even Europeans dont like. How can a society
that pushes for racial equality still be so blind as to not pay attention to every one of every
background?

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The myths importance is clearly relevant in our generation if we are so blind as to not realize
what it shows us. Not only has racism and sexism been an issue for many years, but its an issue
that has been ignored wholly for these past few hundreds of years by everyone. That is to say, by
accepting these tales as they are, we accept subliminal racism, even if we dont intend to. In
modern context, the Banshee myth has no moral behind it, and no obvious purpose, except for
the fact that its a racially driven tale.

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Works Cited
Primary Source: Fanshawe, Ann, and Richard Fanshawe. Memoirs of Lady
Fanshawe. Google Books. Google Books Search, 1 Jan. 1829. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Secondary Source: "Irish Myths and Legends." AOH Florida State Board. Web. 4 Mar.
2015. <http://www.aohflorida.org/irish-myths-and-legends/>
Secondary Source: "Banshee." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001.
Encyclopedia.com. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Additional Source: Monaghan, Patricia. "The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and
Folklore." Stoa. Fact on File, Inc., 1 Jan. 2004. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
<http://stoa.usp.br/briannaloch/files/2564/13832/The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology
and Folklore.pdf>
Additional Source: Seymour, John, and Harry Neligan. "True Irish Ghost Stories: Chapter
VII. Banshees, and Other Death-Warnings." True Irish Ghost Stories: Chapter VII.
Banshees, and Other Death-Warnings. Ed. John Hare. Sacred-texts, 1 May 2009. Web. 4
Mar. 2015. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tigs/tigs09.htm>

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Works Referenced

Martin, Matt. "10 Real-Life Inspirations For Mythical Things - Listverse." Listverse. 5
May 2014. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. http://listverse.com/2014/05/05/10-real-life-inspirationsfor-mythical-things/

Simon, Matt. "Fantastically Wrong: The Surprising Truth Behind the Horrifying Banshee
| WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 11 June 2014. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
http://www.wired.com/2014/06/fantastically-wrong-wailing-banshee/

I.E.D. Teen Wolf. MTV. Los Angeles. July 21. 2014. Television.

"Interesting Facts About Redheads, Hot Fact Model Adrienne." YouTube. Target Public
Media LLC., 14 Feb. 2010. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=AF7TMiK9f6A>

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Appendices

Appendix A: (what is it?)

Appendix B: (what is it?)

Appendix C: (what is it?)