The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan ; dúlachán, ), also called Gan Ceann (meaning "without a head" in Irish), is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head held high in his hand or under his arm. Terminology Dullahan or Dulachan ( [Duḃlaċan]) referring to "hobgoblin" (generic term; cf. Dullahan described as "unseelie (wicked) fairy"), literally "signifies dark, sullen person", according to the lexicographer Edward O'Reilly, apparently containing the stem dubh meaning "black" in Irish. Dulachan and Durrachan are alternative words for this "hobgoblin", and these forms suggest etymological descent from "anger" or "malicious" or "fierce". Dullahan was later glossed as "dark, angry, sullen, fierce or malicious being" encompassing both etymologies, though Thomas Crofton Croker considered the alternative etymology more dubious than the dubh "black" ("dark") etymology. An alternate meaning can be derived from the family names Dulhanty, Delahunt. Coming from Anglicized form of Gaelic, "Dulchaointigh" is a byname composed of the elements dul ‘satirist’ + caointeach ‘plaintive’; according to Ancestry.com Legends Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1828) contained a section on "The Dullahan" with five chapters, devoted to the lore of headless beings, followed by his own commentary. A dullahan is the general term for the headless evil spirit. He may be depicted as a Headless Horseman, stereotypically on a black horse, who carries his own head held high in his hand, or under his arm. There are also legends and tales concerning the "Headless Coach" (also called "Coach-a-bower"; ), with its presumed driver being the Dullahan. The rumour of a Dullahan's appearance often develops near a graveyard or a charnel vault where a wicked aristocrat is reputed to be buried. Headless Coachman A dullahan may also be a headless coachman who drives the horse-drawn carriage out of graveyards, or conversely, arrives driving the Death Coach at the doorstep of a person whose death is nigh approaching. "Headless Coach" () or the "Soundless Coach" (literally "deaf coach", ; Hiberno-English: Coshta Bower, corrupted to "coach-a-bower") is the name given to the said vehicle driven by the dullahan. In the story "Hanlon's Mill", Michael (Mick) Noonan was walking back from his trip to a shoemaker at Ballyduff, Co. Cork, and passed the ruined mill of "Old Hanlon", which seemed to be issuing clacking noises as if it were in operation. He then