Banshee
Mythological Irish Women Retold
Will be published approx. on 26. February 2026
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-4087-4935-7 (ISBN)
Description
'A mystical, magical, empowering modern re-imagining of the Irish goddesses, I LOVED these superb stories' PATRICIA SCANLAN
In this spellbinding anthology, Ireland's most electrifying female writers breathe new life into ancient Irish myths, reclaiming the stories of women who have too long stood in the shadows of warriors and kings.
Editor and journalist Ailbhe Malone was raised on these legends - but the women, always cast as mothers, warriors or witches, were never given the lead. And so, Banshee was born: not just a retelling but a radical reclamation.
Banshee transports you to treacherous landscapes and salt-crashing seas, generational curses and mystical islands. Here you'll find unruly mothers, rule-breaking queens, and women outrunning their destiny - stories pulsing with desire, danger and defiance.
With contributions from every corner of Irish literature, Banshee features luminous re-tellings by Naoise Dolan, Megan Nolan, Jess Kidd, Wendy Erskine, Nikita Gill, Sarah Maria Griffin, Jane Casey, Anne Griffin, Sheila O'Flanagan, and Salma El-Wardany. This is a celebration of womanhood - and an homage to the ancient stories that still shape us.
In this spellbinding anthology, Ireland's most electrifying female writers breathe new life into ancient Irish myths, reclaiming the stories of women who have too long stood in the shadows of warriors and kings.
Editor and journalist Ailbhe Malone was raised on these legends - but the women, always cast as mothers, warriors or witches, were never given the lead. And so, Banshee was born: not just a retelling but a radical reclamation.
Banshee transports you to treacherous landscapes and salt-crashing seas, generational curses and mystical islands. Here you'll find unruly mothers, rule-breaking queens, and women outrunning their destiny - stories pulsing with desire, danger and defiance.
With contributions from every corner of Irish literature, Banshee features luminous re-tellings by Naoise Dolan, Megan Nolan, Jess Kidd, Wendy Erskine, Nikita Gill, Sarah Maria Griffin, Jane Casey, Anne Griffin, Sheila O'Flanagan, and Salma El-Wardany. This is a celebration of womanhood - and an homage to the ancient stories that still shape us.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
524 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4087-4935-7 (9781408749357)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2026
John Murray
€14.99
Available for download
Persons
Ailbhe Malone is Senior Editor at the Strategist (New York Magazine). She has also worked for the Guardian, Irish Times, Wired and Nylon (US). Educated at Trinity College Dublin, Ailbhe spent summers in the west of Ireland, surrounded by the foundations of legends featured in this collection. From learning about the salmon of knowledge from a seanchai to reading Sinead de Valera's Irish Fairy Tales under the covers at night, she gobbled up every variant of folktale she could find. Yet the women of these legends are rarely the protagonists, even in the stories named after them. Banshee asks: why not let the women lead?