The Dullahan,
Ireland's headless horseman

The Dullahan, a headless horseman riding a headless horse is the most feared of the Irish fairies. No good comes from seeing one. No good at all.

For one thing if you do happen to see one he may take out your eyes with his whip. He doesn't like anyone to witness his actions. Another thing he does if you see too much is to throw blood on you. This is a sure sign you will be the next to die. Sometimes he is a portent of death, maybe even yours. Unlike the Banshee, that foretells only the deaths of noble families, the Dullahan can foretell anyone’s death.

The Death Coach

He was admiring the moon’s reflection in a small pond when suddenly the reflection disappeared. To his astonishment he looked up to see along side him a large black coach. He was further surprised to see dressed in black a headless driver on top of the coach, the coach being drawn by six black headless horses. What made this especially eerie was the fact that although the horses were in a fine trot and the coach’s wheels were turning they made absolutely no sound whatsoever. He didn’t even hear the crack of the driver’s whip. As you can image Mick’s heart was in his mouth. He said nothing. He could only watch in amazement as the coach went on its way to points unknown. He knew it was the Dullahan.

It was the next day when Mick heard of the death of his neighbor who died of a sudden illness. A neighbor Mick just spoke with the day before in a perfect state of health.

So beware because the headless horseman can come for you too.

The Headless Horseman

Charley Culnane was on the road from Ballyhooley to Carrick late one night. The rain on this dark night fell in torrents as he made his way. Charley’s mind was not on the rain but on the horse race this upcoming St. Stephen’s Day. You see he had made a foolish bet with a Mr. Jephson that the four-year-old mare he was now riding could beat Jephson’s young filly. He was now having second thoughts as he stood to lose one hundred pounds on this bet.

As his mind wandered he kept his horse at an easy trot. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the head of a white horse keeping pace with him. Upon further inspection he saw it was the head only floating along with them. He could see no body at all. The head passed them and up behind it followed the body of the horse. The rider of the white horse, to Charley’s surprise, was headless also. Upon closer inspection he noticed the head being carried under the rider’s right arm.

The head looked like an ash colored cream cheese hung with black puddings all around it. Skin was stretched over the skull like parchment. It’s two large eyes darted rapidly about with no apparent focus. It’s mouth stretch unnaturally from ear to ear.

Charley was a man of courage but this unnerved him. Even so he tried to strike up a conversation with the rider. Trying several times with no response the Dullahan suddenly challenged him to a race. Though it was a very dark night Charlie accepted the challenge. They ran helter skelter for some distance over wall and ditch until the rider called to stop. Charlie could not beat the rider because the white horse’s head was always ahead of the body.

This did not matter to the headless horseman. He was grateful to Charlie for the fact he accepted the challenge at all. It was the first time since he and his horse died in an accident one hundred years ago that anyone would race him. He told Charlie he would always be with him and that he would not lose a race from now on.

Needless to say Charlie won the horserace and the hundred pounds on St. Stephen’s Day. He had the Dullahan to thank for it..

The Good Woman

One dark night on the road from Cashel, Larry Dodd was riding home to his wife Nancy. When silently up beside him he noticed a dark cloaked female figure on foot keeping pace with he and his horse. Several times Larry offered her a ride since they were going the same direction. He was only greeted with silence. He thought she might just be shy. So he stopped and told her to jump up behind him, which she did. On they rode in silence.

Some ways up the road Larry had to stop because the horse had a loose shoe. With that the woman jumped off the horse and without so much as a word began running across the fields. Larry thought this was very rude. He followed her because he thought he should at the least receive a kiss as payment for the ride. It was clear her destination was the yard at Kilnaslattery church.

Larry caught up to her there. He snatched her into his embrace only to find no lips to kiss for she had no head. As fear like ice suddenly froze his body he had one thought. “So that's why she’s been so silent.” Then he came to the realization, he was holding a Dullahan. He looked around the yard to his horror at a ghastly sight. An old wheel of torture spun around with heads attached and bodies following along underneath. Headless skeletons rolled skulls back and forth between them for entertainment. This was bad for Larry surrounded by the Dullahan. Surely this was the end of him. All the floating heads called out “Welcome Larry Dodd”. The last he remembered was his head being separated from his body.

The next morning he woke up in the churchyard. The first thing he did was reach up to where his head should be. To his relief he found it firmly attached between his shoulders. He made his way down to where the horse should be and found it long gone. He had just bought this horse and still owed many an I.O.U. for its purchase. Now he had to go home and face his wife with the loss.

After he told part of the story to his wife she figured out through his guilty look that a woman was involved. She began to give him a piece of her mind and the worst tongue lashing of his life. When he tried to explain that she was headless it made no difference, the tirade continued. When she paused for breath he said “At least being headless made her a Good Woman because she had no tongue.”

How this last comment worked out for his marriage we don’t really know. But what is for certain for your own curiosity is that on this day his wife got in the last word.

I promised you this is the last Dullahan story. So I'll end this page here. I try to keep my promises

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