Social Folk Custom

Written at a time when people had to rely largely on local medicinal resources it is not surprising to see Cures as a topic. The ailments and the substances used to treat them are valuable source material in their own right. A total of twenty-seven cures are given for toothaches, bleeding, warts, stomach pain, rheumatism, coughs, burns, sties and sore eyes. Some are herbal e.g. dandelion tea is mentioned as a cure for toothache. Other plant uses suggested are boiled seaweed for rheumatism and boiled turnip for a cough. Also of plant origin, poteen is mentioned as being (p. 309) ‘great to cure sick people.’ Other substances advocated are cobwebs for bleeding and a drink of soot for a stomach pain.

A charm for curing animals deserves mention (p. 309): ‘The Rucrapeist is a knot made over the calf’s back to cure the colic or gripe.’ According to Dinneen’s dictionary the ‘ruathar péiste is an attack of worms in cattle.’ [17]. A knot was made over the afflicted animal’s back with a piece of string. The knot, and presumably the ailment as well, vanished as the ends of the twine were pulled apart. [18]. My aunt showed me how this knot was made (1 Feb. ’02). Her mother used to make and loosen the knot over a sick calf with gripe, said to be a knot in the gut. She called the procedure ‘sníomh na péiste’ or ‘the reptile’s knot.’

Two girls and one boy wrote articles about Holy Wells. These places of veneration are examples of the landscape figuring centrally in the religious aspect of local life. [19]. The stories about the wells are what Taylor considers to be ‘points of power, mediating between this and other worlds.’ [20]. Diarmuid O Giolláin puts the well ritual in context. [21]. He points out that according to Genesis water existed before land. ‘It was the primordial element from which forms were created.’ [22]. Water has been recognised as a symbol of life from the beginning of time.

The nine different wells mentioned are associated with saints. Senan, the local patron saint is associated with three of these. The location of these sites, specific times for performing rounds, if any, and cures attributed to these wells are mentioned. Other customs and stories associated with individual wells are also mentioned e.g. writing about St. Senan’s well in Kiltenane graveyard (p. 314) the author wrote: ‘The water is sprinkled in gardens to kill wire worms.’ A boy on crutches was cured at St. Michael’s well in Querrin according to another writer. She goes on to say (p. 316): ‘He left the crutches after him there and went to America and got married. The crutches are there to be seen yet.’

Three girls wrote on Marriages (pp 317-321). Local marriage customs are related but matchmaking or dowries are not mentioned. Two contributions on the topic of Christmas relate local customs of decorating and feasting at Christmas and the New Year. The preserving of the dead wren in a starch box for St. Stephen’s Day is also recounted. Special Days recalls beliefs that some tasks should only be carried out on certain days. An example of this is (p. 338): ‘Tuesday is always counted a lucky day for putting any kind of fowl hatching.’ Michael Mac Mahon explains the belief in such practices.

‘In a society which was predominately rural and utterly dependent on the seasons and the forces of nature for survival, and where at the best of times people lived more or less at subsistence level, it is hardly surprising that traditions of lucky and unlucky days and months and superstitious rituals to placate the ever-present hostile forces took root.’ [23].

Local folk traditions associated with calendar festivals are also related in this section. For St. Martin’s Day on 11 November (p. 343) ‘People kill a goose or cock or duck and spill the blood and dip a piece of cotton wool in it and then afterwards if a person in the house gets a pain St. Martin’s blood is rubbed to him.’