Ep1 Irish Folklore - Banshee of Ireland & The Faerie Realm | ‘Fairy Paths’ Gaelic Faith

This is just an introduction to the Banshee of Ireland and more to come on this fascinating subject. The Banshee is a much talked about figure in Irish folklore and may have its roots in a spirited and lively Gaelic people that still continues to this day. Firbolgs are also related to the Banshee as they were oriented half-giants in Ireland before the Celts. Their tribes cloister in remote forest strongholds, preferring to spend their days in quiet harmony with the woods. When provoked, firbolgs demonstrate formidable skills with weapons and druidic magic.

A Banshee Definition
A Banshee is a ghost or spirit usually associated with a particular family, usually a family of ancient Irish lineage or noble blood. The Banshee of Ireland is a derivation of the Gaelic words, Bean Sidhe or Bean Sí, which is interpreted differently by writers as “A Woman of the Fairy Race, "Woman of the Fairy Mound" or "the Female Fairy." More creative descriptions of the Banshee are as "The Lady of Death", "The Woman of Peace" "The Woman of Sorrow" "The White Lady of Sorrow", "the Nymph of the Air" or "the Spirit in the Air".

Banshees have been defined as being a "disembodied soul, that of one who, in life was strongly attached to the family, or who had good reason to hate all its members." However, this definition of Banshee associates the banshees as being or having been a human. All Banshees definitions describe female or feminine creatures at least. It is important to remember that in Irish folklore banshees are usually heard but rarely seen.

They say Banshees are know to heard and see around Ley-lines:
('Heilige Linien' to the Germans 'Fairy paths' to the Irish, 'Dragon Lines' to the Chinese, 'Spirit Lines' to Peruvians and 'Song Paths' to the Australian Aborigines - and so on around the world).
Most cultures have traditions and words to describe the straight, often geometric alignments that ran across ancient landscapes, connecting both natural and sacred prehistoric structures together. Usually the names given to represent these invisible lines are translated to an equivalent of 'spirit', 'dream', or 'energy' paths. However, apart from the physical presence of the sites themselves, proving the presence of a 'connection' between them is something that researchers have found notoriously elusive.

Amongst the widely differing (and often simplistic) theories that attempt to explain why ley-lines and landscape alignments first appeared, the following theories probably say as much about us now as at any time in the past, yet we are bound to acknowledge and respect the following writers opinions and conclusions as 'they', the following few, are the giants upon whose shoulders this field of study current sits:



The Banshee can also be divided into two types, the Friendly Banshee or the Hateful Banshee.

The Friendly Banshee, such as depicted in the banshee picture, loves the person whose death she is announcing and her song or wailing is a low soft chant with a tenderness of tone to reassure the person and his/her family as they go on their final journey to join their ancestors in the afterlife.

However, the Hateful Banshee is an enemy of the family whose cry is described as "the scream of a fiend, howling with demoniac delight over the coming death-agony of another of her foes."

‘Fairy Paths’ in the Gaelic world
The belief in Ireland (and elsewhere) that certain fairies were restless and compelled to wander from place to place caused a superstitious belief in ‘fairy paths’. These typically connected the various places where fairies were believed to haunt – their hills and raths, and ‘dancing grounds’ or meadows.

It is known that the hill folk in their nightly excursions, and in the visits of one tribe to another, go in a straight line, gliding as it were within a short distance of the ground, and if they meet any strange obstacles in their track they bend their course above them, or at one side, but always with much displeasure.