The Coach That Comes for the Dying
In Irish folklore, the rumble of a black coach on a quiet road at night means someone is about to die. Its horses have no heads.
What was reported
The cóiste bodhar, 'the silent coach' or 'the deaf coach', is a black carriage drawn by headless black horses. It's said to be heard rumbling along roads at night, and sometimes seen, its coachman often said to be the headless Dullahan.
It comes to collect the soul of someone who is about to die. Anyone who hears it is told not to look out; opening the door to it might mean it stops for you.
Explanations offered
Death coaches are told about in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, and they may grow from the black hearses of the 1700s and 1800s. Folklorists see them as part of a wider tradition of omens of death, along with the banshee.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- As told across Ireland
- Witnesses
- Irish folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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