In Irish folklore, what headless horseman is an omen of death?

In Irish folklore, the Dullahan is a headless horseman whose appearance foretells death.

The Dullahan is usually depicted riding a black horse while carrying his own severed head under one arm. In other versions, he drives the Cóiste Bodhar, or “deaf” or “soundless coach,” a supernatural death carriage. Some tales say that when the Dullahan stops riding, someone dies; other stories say he calls out a person’s name before that person’s death.

The figure is generally described as a dangerous or unseelie fairy rather than a conventional human ghost. Irish folklore also associates the Dullahan with darkness, fierce behavior, and the boundary between the living and the dead. Gold is sometimes said to repel him or make him disappear.

The Dullahan is often confused with a banshee. Both can signal death, but a banshee is usually a female spirit whose wailing announces a death, while the Dullahan is the headless rider or coachman. The broader headless-horseman motif also appears in Scottish, Welsh, German, and American traditions.