The Banshee Part 16

"I said:

"'When did you see it? I saw it when our father died.'

"And she said:

"'And, _I_ saw it when our mother died.'

"In describing it, we found all the details agreed, and learned not long after that it was without doubt our own Banshee we had seen.

"People have said to me that Banshees are heard, not seen. This is not correct, it all depends if one is clairvoyant or clairaudient.

"I remember when my mother was alive, how I came in from a walk one evening and found the whole house in a ferment, the most terrible screaming and crying had been heard pa.s.s over the house. Our mother said it must be the Banshee. Sure enough we heard of the death of a very near relation directly after. If I had been present, no doubt I should not only have heard the screams but I should have seen something as well.

"A few years ago in Ireland I was talking about these things, and a relation I had not met before was present. He said to me:

"'But as well as the Banshee do you know that we have a _headless coach_ attached to our family; it is proceeded by men, who lead the horses, and none of them have heads.'

"Like a flash came that never-to-be-forgotten vision of that awful procession I had seen as a child, and of which I had never made any mention till then. I remember now that after I saw the headless coach we heard that our grandmother was dead. I believe that the headless coach belongs to her family.

"PETRONELLA O'DONNELL."

The headless coach referred to in the foregoing account comes to us, I believe, from the Vize family. My grandmother before her marriage was Sarah Vize, daughter of John Vize of Donegal, Glenagad and Limerick. Her sister Frances married her cousin, David Roche of Cara.s.s (see Burke's "Landed Gentry of Ireland," under Maunsell family, and Burke's "Peerage under Roche"), their son being Sir David Roche, Bart.

The great-great-grandmother of Sarah Vize was Mary, daughter of Butler of the house of the Earl Glengall Cahir. Sarah Vize's mother, my great-grandmother, before her marriage was Sarah Maunsell, granddaughter of William Maunsell of Ballinamona, County Cork, the fifth son of Colonel Thomas Maunsell of Mocollop.

In the accompanying genealogical tree, tracing the descent of the O'Donnells of Trough from Niall of the Nine Hostages, the O'Briens of Th.o.m.ond and the O'Rourkes of Brefui, may be found the basis upon which my family's claim to the dual Banshee rests.

The original may be seen in the office of the King of Arms, Dublin. The following is merely an extract:

Niall of the Nine Hostages.

King of Ireland Conall Gulban Feargus Leadna, Prince of Tirconnell Feargus Lughaidb, and from

him, in direct descent, to Foirdhealbhach an Fhiona O'Donnhnaill, who had two sons, the elder, Shane Luirg and the younger, Niall Garbh. From Niall Garbh the ill.u.s.trious Red Hugh and his brother Rory, Earl of Tirconnell, were descended, from Shane Luirg, whose rank as "The O'Donnell" was taken by his younger brother, presumably the stronger man of the two, the Trough O'Donnells are descended.

The line goes on thus:

Shane Luirg Art O'Donnhnail (ob. circa 1490) Niall O'Donnhnaill (ob. circa 1525) Foirdheal bhach O'Donnhnaill _m._ Julia Maguire (ob. 1552) Shane _m._ Rosa, d. of Hugh O'Donnell (ob. 1581) Hugh O'Donnell of Limerick _m._ Maria, d. of Donat O'Brien of the House of Th.o.m.ond (ob. 1610) Edmund, of Limerick _m._ Bridget, d. of O'Rourk of the (ob. 1651) House of Brefui James, of Limerick _m._ Helena, d. of James Sarsfield, (ob. 1680) great-uncle of Patrick Sarsfeld, Earl of Lucan John _m._ Margaret, d. of Thomas Creagh of Limerick James _m._ Christiana, d. of William Stritch of Limerick John _m._ Deborah, d. of William Anderson (ob. 1780) of Tipperary +--------------------------------------------+ [18]John, of Limerick _m._ Sarah Elliot Henry Anderson _m._ Domina Jan, and Baltimore, of Baltimore, O'Donnell daughter of U.S.A (ob. 1805) U.S.A. (ob. 1840) nephew of Shah of Persia Elliot, of Limerick _m._ Sarah Vize, Gen. Sir C. R. _m._ Catherine (ob. 1836) of Limerick O'Donnell, Anne, d.

K.C.B., and of Gen. P.

Member of the Murray, Irish Academy nephew of (ob. 1870) the Earl of Elibank Rev. Henry O'Donnell Elliot (youngest son)

For particulars of the pedigree see Vol. X., p. 327, Genealogias, in the Office of Ulster King of Arms, Dublin.

From Niall to Shane Luirg, see Register XV., p. 5; from Shane to my grandfather, Elliot, see Register XXIII., p. 286; and down to myself, see "Sheridan," p. 323.

Referring to the Banshee prior to my aunt's death (see Chapter XIII.) my wife writes:

"I certainly remember, one night, when we were living in Cornwall, hearing a most awful scream, a scream that rose and fell, and ended in a long-drawn-out wail of agony. I have never heard any other sound at all like it, and therefore cannot think that it could have been anything earthly. At the time, however, I did think that possibly the scream was that of a woman being murdered, and did not rest until my husband, with other inmates of our house, had made a thorough search of the garden and premises.

"Shortly after we had had this experience, we heard of the death, in Ireland, of one of my husband's aunts.

"I also recollect that one night, shortly before we received the news of my sister-in-law's death, I heard a crash on our bedroom door. It was so loud that it quite shook the room, and my husband, apparently wakened by it, told me he had dreamed that the Banshee had come and was knocking for admittance. This happened not very long ago, when we were living in Norwood.

"ADA O'DONNELL."

PRINTED AT THE NORTHUMBERLAND PRESS, WATERLOO HOUSE, THORNTON STREET, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE

Footnotes:

[1] "Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superst.i.tions of Ireland," by Lady Wilde.

[2] "The Astral Plane," p. 106.

[3] This book was published in 1888.

[4] In the Addenda at end of this volume will be found a genealogical tree showing descent of author from the Th.o.m.ond O'Briens.

[5] In Addenda see tree showing descent of author from O'Rourks of Brefni.

[6] As a rule the Banshee is neither heard nor seen by the person whose death it predicts. There are, however, some notable exceptions.

[7] For further reference to the Banshee of the O'Neills see Addenda.

[8] See Addenda.

[9] See Addenda.

[10] It may be recorded here as a matter of interest that my ancestress, Helena Sarsfield, was a daughter of James Sarsfield, great-uncle of Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan and the defender of Limerick against the English.

[11] Neither of her stories have appeared in print before.

[12] See "The Ghost World," by T. F. T. Dyer, p. 227.

[13] See Sir Walter Scott's Poetical Works, 1853, VIII., p. 126.

[14] These extracts are taken from quotations of the poem in Chapter II.

of a work ent.i.tled "Ancient History of the Kingdom of Kerry" by Friar O'Sullivan of Muckross Abbey, published in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (Vol. V., No. 44); and Friar O'Sullivan, in commenting upon these pa.s.sages relating to the Banshees, writes (quoting from "Kerry Records"): "It seems that at this time it was the universal opinion that every district belonging to the Geraldines had its own attendant Banshee" (see _Archaeological Journal_, 1852, on "Folk Lore" by N. Kearney).

[15] See Records of the Truagh O'Donnells in the Office of the King of Arms, Dublin. Refs.: Genealogias, Vol. XI., p. 327; Register XV., p. 5; Register XXII., p. 286; and Sheridan, p. 323.

[16] The originals are still in existence. The diary was kept right up to the night preceding his death.

[17] Also spelt Truagh.