Has anyone heard a real live (or dead) Banshee?

She had the Banshee effect on de Laybur Pardee

1:55 minutes in, the true cry of the banshee forewarning of death (over a tatty bit of fabric)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-eSmCZA9xg

That's mighty. You literally have a bone fide link to the most ancient of Irish folk tales that were told to you by someone who was passed down these things to pass the dark nights in the same sort of imaginational zone people used to entertain themselves before radio, cinema and television. You are very lucky, I would have loved to have some genuine local person tell me these tales when I was younger. You should pass down these stories yourself and keep that link going.

I always heard that it was only some families that could hear a banshee. Not everyone.

Yes, they don't just wail at anybody.

But at this stage those families have been all over Ireland, so most of us probably have a drop or two of O'Neill or O'Leary etc

According to legend, the six noteworthy families of Ireland—the O’Neills, O’Donnells, O’Connors, O’Learys, O’Tools, and O’Connaghs—each had a female spirit who would act as the harbinger of death for their family. 

Actually, about 20 years ago, when I moved to a rural location from Dublin, I heard a noise out the back one night. Opened the back door, and it was a blood curdling mix between a woman shrieking and a baby crying, echoing all around. I had never heard anything like it before. I called my wife (who grew up in a very rural location) and she laughed and told me it was a fox. From hearing that, I can completely understand how people would have come up with the myth of the Banshee.

Yup its more than likely foxes. They make a sound that would make the hairs on your neck stand

"Fables" not stories 😁

She had tales of headless horsemen and a man who sprouted a tail.

The thing is she actually believed these stories!

And when I was 7, so did I 😬

She was a little woman all crunched up with a shawl and stooped back. Just exactly as you'd expect to see at a West of Ireland wake keening in the corner 😆

I know a woman from Carbury (very paranormal place in Kildare) who said she was driving home from work and she hit a woman that looked like a banshee. Fearing the worst, she got out to look and couldn't find a body anywhere.

One night, many years ago, I heard some ear piercing screams coming from a field near the home house. It actually sounded really scary but I was too curious so I went down with a torch for a look. I found 2 large badgers locked together in a vicious fight. Both had their teeth and claws dug into each other. I ran away when I saw them. I never forgot that sound.

Nobody died.

I've read up on plenty of Banshee (Bean Sídhe or woman of the fairy mounds) lore over the years and I find the origins and the stories fascinating. Not only do many prominent Irish families have their own banshees but there are also high ranking banshees associated with certain areas, especially in Munster.

Aoibheal who is also revered in county Clare is a Banshee who has her domain at Craglea on the shores on Lough Derg. She was said to have visited Brian Ború at his fort before he headed off to the Battle of Clontarf and she fortold his death. She is rivals with Áine of Knockainey in Co.Limerick (Cnoc Áine in Co.Limerick) and Cliodhna of Carrigcleena (Cliodhna's Rock in Co.Cork) There's also the shrieking demon Aoife, who was the jealous wife of Lir who turned his children into swans. There's the war goddess Morrigan (Mór Ríogan meaning Great Queen) who has her domain at Owynagcat in Cruachan in Co.Roscommon. One of her aspect is known as Badb (or "Bow" as she's known as in the South East) She appears as a carrion crow on battlefields, and when she landed on Cúchullain's shoulder as he was tied to the pillar of Cnocnafearmór in Co.Dundalk in order to keep himself upright, then and only then did Cúchullain's enemies know that he was dead.

Anyway I hope that's enough banshee lore for ye 😁

Every one of them are members of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, who retreated into the hills and mounds after their defeat by the Milesians (Supposedly the first Celts to arrive in Ireland). The clue is in the name Bean Sídhe (Woman of the fairy mounds) 😉