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The Banshee (Bean Sidhe)

She is one of the most feared of the Fairy Kingdom or Aos Sidhe (Fairy people) as she is considered a harbinger of death, weeping for someone who is about to leave this world. She is often depicted as a woman in white, almost ghostly, sometimes young and other times, a wizened older woman. It is said she follows the families of those with a “Mac”, “Mc” or an “O” as a prefix to their names. Some say it is only certain major Irish families within that group but because of intermarriage, the lines are blurred in that respect. She is not however malicious or there with evil intent, more sorrowful for the person and family left behind.

Illustration from an original by Margaret McKenna