a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.

In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe ('keening woman') whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Scottish folklore, a similar creature is known as the [[bean nighe]] or ban nigheachain ('little washerwoman') or nigheag na h-àth ('little washer at the ford')