The Banshee

The banshee is the legendary herald of death in Ireland. This book explores the social contexts and functions of belief pertaining to this remarkable creature of the folk imagination. Through a thorough analysis of folklore sources, a comprehensive picture of the banshee emerges. Many issues associated with attitudes towards life and death are expressed by way of the banshee tradition, and changes in such attitudes down through the ages are also revealed in shifting beliefs about the banshee’s presence and activity.

This searching volume unravels that network of beliefs, drawing on a large body of written and oral sources, including literary accounts from the Old Irish period to contemporary times, as well as folklore material collected over more than sixty years. Extensive fieldwork by the author broadens the source material to show banshee-related beliefs persisting into the third millennium.

This updated edition of a classic folklore study brings a wealth of archival research to a new readership. It will be of use to folklorists, historians, ethnologists, sociologists and also the general reader interested in supernatural beliefs. Extensive appendices containing the detailed source information, including the original field research by the author, is a valuable resource for researchers.