Banshee

The Banshee is believed to be the spirit of a woman — sometimes a fairy woman, sometimes the ghost of a specific female ancestor — bound to a family line. She mourns with each death before it happens, her foreknowledge given by proximity to the otherworld.

Seen as a woman in grey or white, sometimes old and hag-like (the washer at the ford), sometimes young and beautiful. Long white hair, green eyes weeping red from grief.

Her cry (keening) carries across impossible distances. She appears before the death of family members of ancient Irish origin. She cannot be prevented from appearing, only heard and prepared for.