The Banshee's Choice

Dingle, a lovely village in County Kerry, Ireland, was a serene place to live in olden days. From the soft sandy beaches to the cliffs overlooking the sea, the village folk claimed to live in the most beautiful spot on God's earth. There were colorfully painted shops and cottages, ancient wharves haunted by riotous seagulls and and the greenest meadows that ever nourished a flock of sheep.

A couple of miles southeast of Dingle Harbor were the family homes of farmers and fishermen. They each tended to stick with their own kind; the farmers wives gossiped about their children and the land, and the fisherman's wives gossiped about their children and the sea. One thing they all gossiped about, though, was the weather.

For those families that made their living from the land, there was always the danger of drought, flood, storms and other unavoidable troubles. For the families of fishermen, the worst fear was losing their loved ones to a storm at sea.

There were two families that lived within one mile of each other. The Murphy's owned four hundred acres of land on which they grew potatoes and barley, and their sheep grazed on the meadow land. They were a rather proud and well-to-do family, but they were on friendly terms with the O'Sullivans who lived nearby.

The O'Sullivan family made their living from the sea. The grandfather, father and five sons would head out in their currach, named "Biddy Met", which meant "strong winds". It got its name from the many storms it had weathered over the long years on the ocean. This family, too, was known to be a bit uppity, but generally kind.

In the village of Dingle, there lived a beautiful lass by the name of Deirdre who lived in a modest cottage with her widowed mother and took in sewing. She was known for her sweet nature and the unrestrained laughter that accompanied her generous sense of humor. Most of the lads in the village tried to catch her eye, but the two who were most successful were Deegan O'Sullivan and Finnegan Murphy.

They were both handsome young men, and had been the best of friends since they were children. Both Deegan and Finnegan were determined to win Deirdre's heart, and as time went on, the friendship began to show the strain. Deirdre seemed unable to make up her mind between her two suitors, which didn't help matters one whit. This state of things affected the once harmonious relations between the two families; after nearly a year they rarely spoke to each other, and when they did, conversation was severely strained.

Things came to a head one autumn day when both of the suitors approached Deirdre ~ each within an hour of the other ~ and asked for her hand in marriage. Deirdre was a merry, beautiful creature, but her biggest fault was her inability to choose. She put both of them off, telling them she needed time to decide. Both Deegan and Finnegan left her cottage with heavy hearts to tell their families of her answer.

Soon the entire village knew what had happened, due to the fact the Deirdre was quite a little chatterbox. The town was abuzz with the gossip for a week about which young man would finally win her hand; by the end of the second week nearly everyone had chosen a favorite, which caused many arguments among families and friends. The rivals were dismayed at the turn things had taken, and began to hide their faces in their respective homes.

One night, in the deep hours of the dark, both of the families were wakened by an unearthly keening; it sounded as if someone was wailing from the very pit of despair. It went on for such a long time, and with such intense sorrow, that everyone was frozen in their beds with fear. When the lament finally ended, the listeners fell back to sleep only fitfully, waking up tired and despondent.

The next day no one spoke of the incident, either because of the unsettling feeling that hovered over them or because they believed that they had had a nightmare and were too embarrassed to tell anyone. The next night, when the mournful plaint sounded once more ~ this time lasting longer than the previous night ~ the members of the two families left their rooms and gathered in the hallways, murmuring and whispering as they tried to make sense of the agonized moans.

At the Murphy farm, Finnegan's grandmother, who had been whispering with his mother, turned to the rest of the family with a white face and trembling lips. "Tis a Banshee!" she breathed. "I've heard tell of them since I was a wee 'un, they are a herald of death!" Her declaration was met with a shocked silence. Everyone had heard the old tales of Banshees, but they had never had any experience with them.

Meanwhile, at the O'Sullivan home, the inhabitants had come to the same realization, which was being earnestly discussed. "Banshees warn of impending death," said Deegan's mother, as tears began to form in her eyes. "Me da used to tell us that they were the souls of young maidens who died a violent death come back to prepare folks for the impending demise of a loved one."

The Murphy's and the O'Sullivan's households were in a tizzy the next day. Bree Murphy made a rare, unannounced visit to the O'Sullivan's early in the morning. She and Mrs. O'Sullivan set aside the coolness that had grown between them in the last year and discussed the dire circumstances over a cuppa. Mrs. O'Sullivan even broke out the lemon pound cake she had locked away in the cupboard for Sunday dinner.

Mrs. O'Sullivan was fearful for her parents, who were getting on in years, and were the most likely to pass away. Suddenly Bree Murphy's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "But what of the boys? What if this passion they both have for Deirdre, which has already turned them into enemies, causes them to take up arms against each other?" They both turned pale at the thought. "They couldn't!" cried out Mrs. O'Sullivan. But deep in their hearts, they knew that sometimes love's longing turned men's minds to brutality.

Bree returned home with an unquiet mind. In both homes, little was discussed that day other than the Banshee and who the hapless victim might be. Late in the evening, Finnegan and Deegan came across each other at the local pub. Both were fluthered at that hour, having partaken in copious amounts of ale to soothe their troubled minds and aching hearts.

As the evening turned into the small hours of the morning, their mutual decision to ignore each other began to wear thin. Soon there were brickbats being thrown back and forth, and within an hour the two men had come to blows. The evening ended with their friends manhandling them, dragging them apart and bringing them to their individual homes.

The third night of the Banshee, the wailing began in earnest around about midnight and continued on almost until sunrise. The sense of loss was palpable about the clans as they gathered at the boundary between the two homes. All but Deegan and Finnegan were huddled together, attempting to console one another, past quarrels forgotten. When the sun tipped up over the tops of the trees, the assembly walked over to the Murphy's and wearily gulped cups of strong, black coffee, dunking homemade donuts sprinkled with sugar into their mugs.

They knew things must come to a head, because a Banshee appears only days before a death occurs. Except for Deegan and Finnegan, the families spent their day clinging to the knowledge that their friendship would outlast any tragedy if they could just make it through the coming threat. That evening they built a roaring bonfire and sat around drinking whiskey and cider as the darkness descended upon them.

Just before midnight, all of nature went still and silent, not even a breeze ruffled the trees. Suddenly, a soft sobbing was heard nearby, and it seemed to be creeping towards the gathering. It was a gentler sound than they had heard the previous nights, but no less disconsolate. Before long, there was a collective gasp as a beautiful young woman clothed in a black shroud stepped into the edge of the fire-lit circle.

The Murphy and the O'Sullivan families gazed in wonder at her tear-streaked face, as she held out her arms beseechingly to them, as if asking them to take away the grief she carried in her soul. They sat there, spellbound, for what seemed an eternity when she slipped away as quickly as she had appeared, and disappeared noiselessly into the night.

When the group regained it's senses, the kinfolk noticed that Deegan and Finnegan had joined the group from opposite directions, and were staring off into the starless sky towards the village. Soon they, too, seemed to break loose from the bewitching vision and drifted off to their homes once more. Without a sound the families separated and headed for home too.

The following morning they were all wakened by the clamoring of the bells of St. Bridget's church in the village. Loud and insistent, they called to all who could hear them, and quickly the village square filled with people wondering what the clangor was all about. Finally Father Killian stepped out onto the steps and raised his hands to quiet the townsfolk. Gently he informed them that during the night, a young maid had thrown herself off of the cliffs of Moher. He had just learned her name ~ it was Deirdre, who lived with her mother in the little cottage in town, who took in sewing from the townspeople.

The Murphy and O'Sullivan families turned and slowly made their way back towards their homes. It was a great shock to all of them, but Finnegan and Deegan were stunned. Their hopes and dreams for the future had been wiped out in a matter of seconds, and neither of them spoke on the long walk home. The question that plagued both of them was "Why? What had made her do such a thing?"

No one in the village ever learned why Deirdre had taken her own life, but many speculated that her conscience had finally bitten her when she realized how badly she had hurt her suitors and the disharmony she had caused in Dingle. Deirdre's mother was taken in by her son and his family in a neighboring town, where she lived quietly until the end of her days.

The following Sunday, the two families met on the church steps after Mass, and as they gathered together to discuss what had happened during the previous week, the two young men found themselves standing next to each other. Hesitantly, Finnegan spoke to Deegan, inquiring about how his fishing boat was holding up, and Deegan questioned Finnegan about the fields and flocks of sheep that grazed in the green meadows.

Slowly, relations between the families healed and they became even closer friends than before. Deegan and Finnegan never spoke of Deirdre, they tended to their broken hearts privately, but once again they became inseparable friends. In time they each found a lass with a true and loyal heart, and were married on the same day at St. Bridget's. The day was a lovely, sunny day in June, and their families and friends sat beneath the trees, eating, drinking and conversing about the golden days that lay ahead.

In time, the ordeals of the past were forgotten; even the Banshee seemed to be displaced from memory. No one ever heard her desperate cries again, and the Murphy's and the O'Sullivan's prospered and enjoyed a flourishing friendship that lasted through the years.