This evil being has the appearance of a wretched old hag, dress shredded, matted grey hair, pointed rotting teeth and long, yellow fingernails. Once the Viscount had passed away, the foxes soundlessly faded into the night.īanshees have forever been known as portents of death, however there have been sightings of these wailing spirits seeking death for revenge and torment. Servants would do their utmost to drive the animals away, only for them to return to their place of vigil. With the first instance reported in the seventeenth century, it was documented that the foxes in the surrounding countryside would know when the head of the Preston household was dying, even if that fact was unbeknown to the family themselves.Īrriving in twos and amassing under the window of the Viscount’s bed chamber, the foxes would howl and cry all night long. Prior to that however, it was the location of one of the strangest occurrences for generations. The castle remained in the family until the 1950’s when it was sold to a Holy Order to create a school. In Irish Peerage the title of Baron or Viscount of Gormonston belongs to the patriarch of the Preston family and has been around since the late fourteenth century, their residence being Gormonston castle in Drogheda, County Meath. The most terrifying aspect is that one of these harbingers attaches itself to a lineage and hangs over them forever more, particularly when it comes to the families of high social standing and nobility. In Ireland it is extremely common for creatures and ethereal beings to appear in the days and moments preceding the demise of a relative. I first learned of such things as a child when my mother would tell me of the banshees and the accounts of local families here in County Limerick, who would have strange phenomena occur during times of impending bereavement. For centuries clans and bloodlines have been forewarned of imminent death within their walls by way of portents and harbingers.
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