Shane’s Castle, an O’Neill stronghold on the northeastern shore of Lough Neagh in County Antrim, had an unusual domestic arrangement: a room was permanently kept vacant for the family’s own banshee, known as Maoveen (‘little Mab’ or Maeveen). The origin of this obligation is rooted in a legend from the time of the O’Neill chieftains: one of the lords, on his way to assist in a raid by McQuillan, passed a thorn tree held sacred by the fairy folk, in which a cow had become entangled. Taking pity on the animal, he cut a branch to free her, angering the fairies, who retaliated by seizing his daughter Kathleen and dragging her to the depths of Lough Neagh. They relented enough to allow Kathleen to tell her father she was safe, but imposed two conditions: that she appear and wail whenever misfortune threatened the O’Neill family, and that a room in the castle remain always ready for her.
The story
For generations the agreement was honoured, Maoveen regarded with a sort of affectionate awe — a protective spirit who gave warning rather than caused harm. The eighteenth-century accounts also mention a White Lady, a silent spectral figure who glides along the misty shores of Lough Neagh just before heavy fog descends. The crisis came when an Earl O’Neill held a party so large that every room was needed, including Maoveen’s. On the night of 10 October 1816 a fire broke out and destroyed most of the castle. According to the persistent tradition, Maoveen herself was seen floating above the flames.
LibraryIreland’s nineteenth-century account of Shane’s Castle, drawing on Belfast topographical writing, is the fullest early documentation of Maoveen’s name and origin legend. Shane’s Castle was originally known as Eden-duff-carrick before being renamed after Shane O’Neill, and has stood on the lakeshore in some form since its medieval foundation.