School: St Columba's, Cloonagh, Granard (roll number 12813)
- Location:
- Cloonagh, Co. Longford
- Teacher: Peter O'Reilly
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0762, Page 319
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Story
“In this part of the parish of Gowna there lived a young girl named Mary Brady who say a banshee.”
I heard this story from Mr Peter Cumisky of Cloonagh who is 81 years of age.
In this part of the parish of Gowna there lived a young girl named Mary Brady who saw a banshee
It happened that her old grandfather was sick in bed and Mary was sent to the well at nightfall to bring home water.
When she was at the well she saw a little old woman sitting on the ditch and in each hand she had a comb and she combing her long white hair. First she would comb down one side of her hair with the right hand and then the other side with the left, and each time she combed she gave a mournful cry. The girl returned home with the water but her people scarcely knew her as she had got so old and wizened looking and she never recovered her youthful looks and ways again.
When the girl's own father got sick the banshee visited them again and cried around the house first and then the cry came from the room where the sick man lay.
This girl got the broom and swept a lump of wool from under the sick man's bed and swept it out on the door.
The wool was blown away with the wind across a hedge into a field and the cry of the banshee(continues on next page)
- Informant
- Mr Peter Cumiskey
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 81
- Address
- Cloonagh, Co. Longford