Program Notes

In Irish folklore there are two primary sídhe (pronounced “she,” also known as fairies or fae) related to death, the Banshee and the Dullahan. One of the most famous depictions of these two fae are in the 1959 Disney film Darby O'Gill and the Little People towards the end of the film. In Irish folklore the Banshee is always female, while the Dullahan has been depicted as both male and female. The Banshee’s wail is an omen of death, but she never takes part in the actual act of a person’s death, short of the belief that if someone hears a Banshee's wail either that person or someone close to them will die soon. The Dullahan however is a psychopomp, a guide for souls to the afterlife, however unlike Charon of Greek Mythology who only ferries souls to the afterlife, the Dullahan takes a more active role in the death cycle.

The Dullahan is often depicted as a headless rider who rides a black horse or a carriage decorated in funeral objects. The torches along the carriage are said to be skulls with candles in their eye sockets to light the way, the covering of the wagon is made of tanned human skin, and the spokes of the wheels are human thigh bones. They carry a whip made of a human spine to both stoke the horse and blind unfortunate bystanders. In addition to this horrific visage of their wagon, the Dullahan carries their head under their arm, and the head is a decayed visage with a hideous grin from ear to ear and its eyes blinking constantly looking for its target. In some stories, their heads are even described to have the consistency and color of moldy cheese.

The Dullahan is said to fervently pursue its quarry, riding so fast that its horses can light the area around it aflame. Once the Dullahan stops riding, a person is bound to die in that spot; sometimes, it is even said that the Banshee’s wail marks a person as the Dullahan’s quarry. The Dullahan is only granted the ability to speak once a night, and uses it to speak the name of its quarry, who drops dead immediately upon hearing their name.

This headless rider does not like to be seen, and anyone unlucky to see them during their ride has one of two fates. If they are lucky, they will simply have a bucket of blood mixed with a hallucinogen splashed onto their face. If they are unlucky, the Dullahan will take its human spine-whip and gash out the eyes of the passerby, permanently blinding them.

It is impossible to outrun the Dullahan, all gates and doors are said to magically open to grant it passage. It is near impossible to escape the Dullahan, but in some tales it is said that gold, as little as single gold coin, can drive it away. Unfortunately, there are also many tales where this is simply a brief respite and after getting past the gold, the Dullahan will chase down their quarry again with the same relentless fervor.

This piece combines various elements of the different myths to create a short programmatic work based on the following story:

“A man was on his way home one night in County Galway after a night at the pub. While drunkenly stumbling along the path he heard the sound of a woman weeping. When he went to investigate he discovered he was face to face with a banshee whose scream has marked him for death. The man starts running, but it is too late. He hears horse hooves pounding along the road behind him in the distance. With the sound of a whip crack, he soon sees the dullahan on its charger, hurtling towards him at a hellish speed. With a loud shout, he made to run but the thing came on after him, gaining on him all the time. Running over gates, and across bridges, the man attempts to outrun the dullahan, but it is as if every gate or obstacle flung itself open to allow the dullahan to pass. In a desperate last attempt the man throws his golden pin at the dullahan to cause it to halt in its tracks. When he thinks he is in the clear, the man sings one of his favorite tunes, but without his protection, it is only a matter of time before the dullahan catches its quarry again, and drags the man into the underworld...”

-JFH

Dullahan's Ride was originally composed as part of the 2019 University of Rhode Island College of Arts and

Sciences Student Summer Fellowship Program for Orchestra. This version for Wind Band was composed in 2026. This piece is dedicated to the students and faculty of the University of Rhode Island Music Department who live the ideal of "Make Music, We Do."