The Banshees of Inisherin Ending Explained- Purgatory, Self Destruction, And The Devastation Of Civil War

Whether you are discussing civil war within a country, among friends, or with oneself, war is always destructive. Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin is a masterpiece of grief, ignorance, confusion, and the lies we tell ourselves. McDonagh is adept at dropping us in the middle of an eccentric world filled with odd but larger-than-life characters. Frequent key players Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell, who paired in McDonagh’s In Bruges, display their comedic shininess in the gorgeous and absurd horror, comedy, drama, and ten other subgenres that are impossible to pin down.

It’s a bucolic existence with perfectly scheduled weather patterns and more sunshine than reasonable, especially for the often cloudy and wet Ireland. Pay that no mind, however, as this is a McDonagh production, and everything and nothing is as it seems. Farrell’s Pádraic lives with his sister in a small but cozy stone house. He spends his days cooing to his beloved donkey Jenny and yammering about nothing with his friend Colm at the pub every afternoon. He is happy. Gleeson’s Colm is not, and that is where the trouble starts. When Colm abruptly tells his longtime friend he is done wasting his time with him and wants to be left alone, Pádraic is shell-shocked. Their escalating feud has tragic consequences for many in their community.

Colm tells Pádraic he is tired of talking with him because he is dull. He claims he needs more meaning in his life and needs to focus on his music. He further warns Pádraic that if he insists on talking to him, Colm will begin cutting off his own fingers. It’s a strange threat as it is so inwardly aimed. He doesn’t threaten Pádraic. Instead, he threatens to harm himself. These two men have been friends their whole life, and the absurdity of the threat cause Pádraic to try fervently to change the older man’s mind. When fingers begin flying, and a terrible death occurs, the friends who have become foes face off over hurt feelings and things that can’t be undone. It’s a stunning fable with multiple layers of meaning. Here is everything you need to know about The Banshees of Inisherin and that bleak and strange ending.

Colm, Pádraic, and the island as metaphors for war

Everyone in the town is a part of the living, breathing organism of war. It is also the thing that makes so many of them suicidal and depressed. Ireland and the island are like Dominic(Barry Keoghan, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The Green Knight), neglected and abused. Dominic’s father is the corrosive fallacy of authority masquerading as concern. The gossipy and apathetic islanders who are too concerned with their own entertainment than helping a child represent so many people who would rather revel in the drama than face the horror of what is happening around them. Pádraic and Colm both were part of this group, with Pádraic leaning more toward positive action. He, at least, is disgusted with his fellow islanders’ disregard for Dominic and tries to help. Colm is consumed with his legacy or lack thereof.

The men’s fight is similar to what happens in a civil war. Families and friends are pitted against one another sometimes with no idea what or why they are fighting for. It’s ugly and often senseless, just like Colm and Pádraic’s fight, which turns bloody and deadly for several people.

War always destroys. It doesn’t matter if it is a personal war of will, a private war between friends, or an epic battle for sovereignty. Devastation will always be the result. Ironically, Siobhán was the only one who made it out by putting herself closer to the conflict. As a thinker instead of a talker, she spent more energy on learning than chattering. She is a living symbol of knowledge versus ignorance. That is why so many of her interactions are essential. For example, Colm, the musician, isn’t nearly as informed about Mozart as he thinks he is. He projects musical prowess, and for his small community, he is probably the closest they have, but that doesn’t mean he is anything other than a big fish in a small pond. Siobhán succinctly points this out.

Pádraic has always been a kind guy. He is the one that everyone likes. That is why he acts out when faced with the confusing and devastating loss of friendship. Colm’s perception of him warped this once lovely guy until he bowed under the pressure. The anger directed at him changed him into a bitter, vindictive man. Colm’s self-loathing was directed at Pádraic because it was too painful to acknowledge the real source of his pain. He’s dissatisfied with himself, and Pádraic is a convenient scapegoat.

Colm has spent his entire life on this island, and he is well-liked and had some success here. But, as he got older, he began to doubt his mark on the world. It’s a common concern. Will we be remembered when we are gone? Will we matter to anyone? Did anything we do in life leave a mark? Pádraic is not bothered by these concerns because he is younger and may never need anything beyond his simple life. He loves his animals, his sister, and the sleepy days that always include comfortable prattle and pints of ale.

Colm resents Pádraic for his contentment and the mirror that he acts as. In The Banshees Of Inisherin, Colm doesn’t have the luxury of time or ignorance and resents Padraic for both. Instead of facing possible failure with his music or making significant life changes, Colm rejects Pádraic. When Colm cuts off his fingers, he does so to punish himself more than Pádraic, even if he doesn’t realize it. The concept here is the proverbial cutting off of one’s nose to spite his face. He needs to blame Pádraic because the alternative is abhorrent to him. Colm can distance himself from his self-mutilation by removing his fingers and flinging them at Pádraic’s house. He is also able to provide a barrier to his success that he can blame on Pádraic.

Pádraic is Colm’s Muse

Inisherin is an apathetic place that frustrates Colm, but it is not the primary source of his malaise. He is deeply depressed. He wants to die but wants to secure his legacy before going. Ironically the person most equipped to carry on his memory is the one he pushes away. It is all part of his self-destructive nature. He projects his unhappiness with himself on Pádraic. He accuses him of being dull and simple, but that is what he condemns himself with. By cutting off his fingers, he allows himself to deflect the blame onto Pádraic while protecting himself from disappointment.

Colm tells Pádraic no one remembers a nice guy. This is ironic, considering that in his quest to leave an indelible mark on the world, he pushed away the person who would keep his memory alive. Who are we other than a collection of memories and feelings from those who knew and loved us best? Colm can feel the days behind him are far longer than those in front of him, and he is desperate to do something meaningful with the time he has left.

This is why he pushes Pádraic away, but by doing so, he actually created the catalyst for his song. When Pádraic keeps talking to him, Colm gets a push to finish his music before all of his fingers are gone. He is both a tormenter and a muse. Colm says he finished his song just before Pádraic confronts him in the final act. We have no way of knowing if this is true, but we next see him pumping his fiddle in the air with glee. Whether he finished it or not, he is free of the pressure to complete a masterpiece. Colm’s intense feelings for Pádraic and his refusal to end their relationship may have been the very thing he needed to create his song.

Cruelty versus kindness in The Banshees Of Inisherin

There are two sides to everyone. We are all capable of compassion and cruelty. You can choose to be kind and educated or cruel and ignorant. It’s about the choices we make in life. Pádraic chooses to be caring until he is faced with Colm’s rejection. Then, the baser side of his personality came out in his pain and confusion. He tricked Declan into returning home by claiming his father had an accident. It was mean-spirited, and it hurt Dominic because he viewed Pádraic as one of the only nice guys on the island.

Knowing even the “good guy” could be cruel was crushing for him. No one showed him much concern over the years, and losing the hero in his life, coupled with Siobhán rejection, destroyed him. Everyone on the island knew what his father was doing to him and did nothing. Like so many others who committed suicide in the pond, Dominic waded into the water and died—years of abuse and the loss of hope caught up to him.

The old woman and the folklore of the Banshees

The old woman is a harbinger of death. She is a banshee who no longer needs to shriek to take lives. The woman watches and waits, secure in knowing that time is on her side. She watches as Siobhán talks with Dominic because she is waiting for Dominic. The woman is not there for Siobhán because she is getting out. Unlike Colm, Siobhán understands this island will be the end of her. Colm admits to her that he is hurting himself while he staves off the inevitable and says she is doing the same. He is wrong, though. Siobhán leaves the island of willful ignorance to avoid being suspended in time.

She leaves behind her beloved books because she realizes that she has read them all and there is no hope for her on the island. Siobhán is the physical symbol of knowledge. She was running towards education and experience. Curiously she asks Pádraic to care for her books just as Colm asks him to care for his dog. Even though Pádraic has done some terrible things, he is still considered considerate.

The Banshees of Inisherin works on so many levels. It is an allegory for the civil war in Ireland during 1922-1923. It is also about the irony of stagnation. It’s about progress and honesty. Siobhán faced her fear and took action while the others remained mired in what once was. Colm thought he was taking action but was just readying himself for death.

Their home is the island that time forgot. Unfortunately, so many things are forgotten there, and Colm worries even more, will be lost. He isn’t entirely wrong. Dominic, the kindest and most tragic of the characters, is forgotten or ignored by almost everyone who turns a blind eye to the sexual and physical abuse that his father, the policeman, inflicts on him nightly. This is a community that has ceased to care. One of the few among them who did care succumbed to his anger when the perception of his reality was tilted. He thought he was happy with his home and his life because he wanted to be. Pádraic likes to be the affable man who is well-liked and satisfied with his uncomplicated pleasures. Colm’s rejection destroys that allusion, though and what remains is only regret and pain.

In the closing moments of The Banshees Of Inisherin, after Pádraic burns down Colm’s house with him in it, Colm sits with a hand with no fingers and tells his friend they are even now. Pádraic can’t forgive and forget, though. Too much has happened, and they can’t go back. He does agree to care for his dog, though, and maybe that’s the start of something. More likely, Colm will wade into the pond and die, leaving Pádraic lonely and sad.

When we choose to fight with ourselves and those we love, hurt feelings, smoke, a trail of bodies, and bloody stumps are all that’s left behind. The Banshees Of Inisherin is streaming on HBO Max right now.