“It’s the Wail of the Banshee!” Examining the Bean Chaointe through history, film and fashion.
The Banshee Appears - Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
I’d never heard of a banshee, not until my dad showed me the Irish classic, “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” on a Sunday afternoon when I was a child. Most of the film was lovesome sunlit dappled fields, Oh Ma Dear Ma Darlin Dancing heels and fiddle-ee-oo-led-leprechaun céilis.
But then came The Banshee: “It’s the wail of the Banshee!” O’Gill’s terror-bled-blue eyes wailed, and her wails I heard too…in my stomach,…she had appeared the night that his wife died, and I hoped (along with Sean Connery) that it too was just the wind. But my childhood heart was shaking because vampires I knew, werewolves I knew, but these Banshee shrieks, which terrified the old man, were still unknown to me.
Then… on the darksome mountain, Darby screeched, “It’s the Banshee!” and this phosphorescent blue-green and hooded ghoul hovered ever closer to the body of Katie O’Gill with Darby begging to fend her spirit off.
– rewatching the clip, I now see its Scooby-Doo-iferous 1959 CGI tricks…but back then, it was my shivery introduction to a mythological, ancestral fear.
But what is the Banshee? Well, this article will trace the evolution of the wailing woman from her conception to her media representation to her inspiring fashion design.
The banshee is an omen of death. Legend has it that she would only cry for certain Gaelic families when death was near. More often, though, it was the neighbours or community who would hear the eventual wails rather than the family themselves. And the banshee wasn’t always seen as evil; she was perceived almost as one of the family, as storyteller Eddie Lenehan discusses. Families wanted to have and claim their own banshee as it proved that they were truly Irish and thus were entitled to stay.
The Bean Chaoninte’s long, lonesome cry is described as ‘keening’, which comes from the Gaelic word ‘caoine,’ which is a vocal lamentation for the dead. In Irish society, “keening women” used to be present at funerals to wail and sing for the deceased, improvising but within the confines of a few standard, traditional motifs. As Professor Patricia Lysaght (an authority on the Banshee) discussed back in 1986, the Bean Shidhe has reportedly been seen all over Ireland and is described as a small old woman, dressed in a cloak, crying and combing her hair in the Munster and Leinster regions. Children in Dublin were often told never to pick a comb up, for it might be the Banshees.
Now, how much of this rich mythology gets translated to the screens? Unfortunately, most of its adaptations are shlocky Horror films. To choose one example, there’s ‘Dead by Dawn’ (2010), where the banshee surprisingly moves to Australia; to quote a random review, if you “enjoy movies where you root for the heroine's head to explode via Banshee wail just so the interminable thing is over? Then I'd suggest Damned By Dawn.” Meanwhile, the Banshee makes its way into American television with the cartoon series ‘Monster High’ through Scarah Screams and then Ms O’Shriek, a teacher adorned with classic red hair and a green and blue outfit, harping to the source material. ‘Cry’ (2009) is a more inspired horror adaptation as it uses the Banshee to explore grief through the protagonist Kara Fallon’s struggles to maintain her sanity through increasingly intense encounters with a weeping spirit of Irish legends during the wake of her parents' death. Finally, a 22-minute short-film I had never heard of before but has been described as a better showcase of the Banshee’s folklore than Darby O’Gill is “Brady’s Bargain” (1970), directed by award-winning amateur film-maker, Roy Spense. It is a beautifully shot, grainy and quintessentially Irish film about capturing a leprechaun for greed, and its Banshee depiction is an eerie, floating doll with a skull mask that has just reopened the wound of my Banshee-fear. The short film is free to watch on the IFI player:
"Brady's Bargain" Leprechaun movie is the greatest
However, while the media may perceive the banshee as a source of horror, fashion designers view her as a source of “something powerful and real…a guiding force.” This is how iconic British fashion designer Alexander McQueen described the folklore’s inspiration for the SS25 and SS26 collections. The overall tone was darkly romantic, with a reprise of the extreme styling and experimentation that had characterised his previous collection. McQueen broke from tradition with subversive shapes on many designs. Sexuality was emphasised with sheer garments and silhouettes reminiscent of the ethereal spirit which exposed the body. Even knitwear was rendered provocative with the insertion of sheer panels that exposed the breasts. Meanwhile, historical elements included frock coats, naval dress jackets, and Elizabethan necklines. The collection was anachronistic and Celtically inspired.
So, from reported sightings to slasher films to founding fashion shows, whether the banshee is real or not is besides the point, for her influence is real enough. Furthermore, we all find the messenger of death in some unique way throughout our time here, and the banshee teaches us to listen out for it when the time comes.
Written by Ben Lynch (ben_lynch__)
Edited by Shaunamay Martin Bohan
