The Banshee,- Or Bean Sidhe, And The Bean Nighe...

The banshee, or as it is less spelled, but pronounced the same, - bean sidhe, meaning"faerie woman", is no one you would ever want to meet!  She is sometimes a withered old hag, sometimes a beautiful young woman with silvery hair dressed in flowing white, gossamer robes.

The ancient Irish keening at a funeral is based on her horrid, ear-piercing wail, a wail that could never come from an earthy creature; it is said to be able to shatter glass.  The bean sidhe is said to come at the deaths of members of the five great families of Ireland: the O' Longs, the O' Briens, the O' Gradys, the O' Neills and the Kavanaughs.

The bean nighe is similar to the bean sidhe.  She is a skeletal and weeping woman seen at a stream, or a ford; she bends over the water, washing the bloody garments of those who are about to die.