The Banshees Screams Mean You Are Doomed! But Maybe Not.

Tour guide Dominic said to us, "I don't think of myself as a nervous man, but I was terrified as a child by the Banshees.  They were old women who sat on the fence outside your house and screamed all the night long.  This meant that someone in that house was going to die!  Or, that someone far away had died!" and shuddered delicately.

He probably didn't know it as a child, but because his last name is Dixon, he is spared the Banshee's warning.  There are only five families in all of Ireland that need to fear them.  They are:   the O'Connors, the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Brians and the Kavanagh.  They are thought to be the first families in Ireland.

The Banshees are still feared today (by some) and the reason is that their legend has become increasingly evil.  In olden times, the Banshee's provided a service - a warning of death.  This devolved somehow into the Banshees want to kill you!  They are said to fly through the night looking to feed on sadness.  Their screams are believed to be so high-pitched that they can break glass and blow out every artery in your body so that you die, awash in your own free-flowing blood.
From a scholarly point of view, this blood bath (literally) conjures up visions that the traveling companions of the Banshees would be Vampires.  Pur them on the To Be Feared List, too.  And if visiting Ireland, stay in the town centers - not out in "the country" where they may still have Banshees.