In Irish folklore, the headless horseman demon who carries his head and foretells death is the Dullahan.
The Dullahan is usually depicted riding a black horse while carrying his severed head under one arm or in one hand. The head may retain supernatural sight, allowing the rider to survey the countryside, although older stories are not fully consistent about this ability. In other versions, the Dullahan drives the Cóiste Bodhar, or “Soundless Coach,” a death coach drawn by black horses.
Its appearance is treated as an omen of imminent death or misfortune. Some legends say that the Dullahan calls out a person’s name, after which that person dies. The figure may also stop at the home of someone whose death is approaching. Gold is sometimes said to drive it away, creating one of Irish folklore’s stranger protective details.
The name is linked to Irish words meaning dark, sullen, or fierce, and the creature is also called Colainn Gan Cheann, “without a head.” The best-known written collections of Dullahan tales appeared in Thomas Crofton Croker’s 1828 Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland.