Banshee Awakening

Ireland, 1847, the village of Derryflynn, is in the grip of a potato blight. The best of the land is owned and controlled by Thaddeus Fitzgerald, while the rest of the occupants subsist on poor lands as tenants in servitude to Thaddeus. The O’Brien family has escaped the horror of their own village and traded in for life in Derryflynn. The new arrivals, Patrick O’Brien his wife Caitlin, and his daughter Aisling, are unwelcome and treated with suspicion. When Margaret Fitzgerald dies in childbirth, Thaddeus asks Aisling to be keen at her wake. With Patrick unable to pay rent owed, Aisling makes a bold move and accepts, on condition that rents are struck off. Thaddeus accepts. This irritates the other villagers. Thaddeus’ right-hand man, Lackie takes an interest in Aisling. Unknown to him, Thaddeus already has plans to replace his wife with Aisling. When the potato crops fail, Aisling ventures into the forest on Fitzgerald's estate to forage for food. She hears a strange unearthly sound and comes across a majestic red stag that is being trailed by Lackie. He warns her that the forest is dangerous and is off-limits to villagers. When more people start dying in the village and Caitlin performing Celtic rituals to ward off evil spirits, the restless village women exact their frustration on Aisling by throwing insults and flinging mud as she hauls water from the village well. Growing more fearful of the village, Aisling asks her father if they should go to America. Patrick refuses and reveals the reason for coming to Derryflynn. The O’Brien’s are the rightful heirs to the estate, their family driven from the lands. Patrick intends to use the hunger and unrest to stir rebellion and remove Thaddeus from the estate. Patrick has received a letter from his brother in America, offering passage, but he keeps this a secret from the family, as it conflicts with his goal. The local priest asks Aisling to join in prayer and is annoyed when she refuses. Aware that Patrick has a loyal group of followers; Thaddeus makes him an offer of a job at the estate, as a replacement for Lackie, which Patrick declines. Patrick and Lackie prepare the sheds for the grain that is ready to be harvested and Patrick questions Lackie on what Thaddeus intends to do with the harvest. His refusal to answer confirms Patrick's suspicion that the grain will be exported and sold, while the villagers starve. Lackie asks Patrick if he can court Aisling and he refuses. Aisling awakens one night from a strange dream and finds she cannot control her body. The sound she heard earlier in the forest controls her. She runs from the hovel and emits an unholy sound. Some of the villagers are awoken from their hovels and are terrified at what they witness. The next morning as Aisling hauls water from the well, the women of the village pelt her with mud, curse her and tell her to leave. As a mark of defiance and to feed the starving village, Patrick enters the forest and kills the red stag. The priest is outraged that the villagers are eating meat on a Holy day. The support for Patrick’s rebellion is crushed. Lackie watches events unfold from the shadows. He tells Patrick in private that Thaddeus wishes to meet him at the well and discuss the estate with him. While Lackie is at the village, Thaddeus has the grain loaded on to horse and cart to be transported to the port in the dead of night. The next day, Thaddeus and Lackie meet Patrick. He tells the story of how his family was swindled out of the estate by the Fitzgeralds. Thaddeus denies this and counters that Patrick’s grandfather had driven the estate to ruin and sold it to the Fitzgerald family for a shilling, believing it to be cursed. When Thaddeus and Lackie leave, Patrick is ambushed by Thaddeus’ loyal followers. Patrick is struck in the head and killed. Caitlin and Aisling find Patrick’s body at the well and are heartbroken. Thaddeus warns them both that it is unsafe in the village. Aisling is chased by a sack-wearing bandit and is rescued by Thaddeus, who shoots him dead. Caitlin finds silver coins on his body and is immediately suspicious. Thaddeus takes Caitlin and Aisling in to the estate, under his protection. The bandit is strung up from a great oak as a warning to the villagers that crime does not go unpunished. With her father now gone and aware there is passage to America, Aisling is torn between staying and finishing what her father started or leaving for the land of opportunity. Lackie tells Aisling about the legend of the woman in the woods, The Banshee. Lackie grows increasingly suspicious of Thaddeus’ motives. One night he unlocks the door to a forbidden room and discovers that the crest on the wall is the O’Brien family crest. Lackie wonders why the room is kept secret and what else Thaddeus is hiding. Thaddeus sees him leaving the room. When the horses are being gelded, Peter and James hold Lackie down and Thaddeus makes it clear that he is to stay away from Aisling as she is set to become his bride. The penalty is made clear. Caitlin can see that Thaddeus has plans for his daughter and confronts him with the silver coins she found on the bandit. When she accuses him of paying the bandit, a struggle ensues and Caitlin is pushed from the landing and killed. Aisling is held captive on the grounds, with Peter and James acting as sentries. Lackie and Aisling hatch a plan to escape and head for America. They set off at night, but are pursued by Thaddeus and his men. Aisling and Lackie head for the forest, with Lackie holding the men off with gunfire. Aisling becomes lost in the forest, only to meet The Banshee. The banshee recites an ancient spell, making a pact with Aisling. Lackie is captured and beaten by James and Peter. Aisling is eventually found and taken back to the estate in preparation for a hastily arranged marriage. After the ceremony, Lackie is forced to bring Aisling to Thaddeus’ room and wait outside and listen. Aisling invokes a spell and plunges a dagger into her heart, transforming her white dress blood red and unleashing the scream of the banshee. Lackie and the villagers restrain Thaddeus, assuming he has murdered Aisling. He is strung up from the same tree as the bandit. Lackie adopts baby Liam Fitzgerald. As Lackie leaves the house, Peter’s son, Jack steals an apple from the orchard and is crushed by a horse and cart carrying grain with Peter driving. Peter takes his own life in distress. The villagers watch, as Aisling emerges from the house, now a haggard, frightening Banshee. All Lackie can see is the beautiful young woman he fell in love with.