It was said in tradition that 'there isn't an ailment or infirmity the cure of which doesn't grow in the fields or along the hedges', and indeed, our forebears employed a wide range of historical practices to drive out infirmity and illness. While a great deal of folk cures were entirely practical in their application, many others turned to the use of magic, sacrifice and the use of charms, rituals or prayer – modes of thought quite at odds with altogether more modern, secular perspectives.
Far from being casually forged in the half-light of ignorance, our folk cures reveal those measures which, being deeply concerned with human life and welfare, were called on in times of crisis, in order to provide reassurance and comfort in the face of insecurity, illness and anxiety.
For this episode of Folklore Fragments / Blúiríní, we examine definitions of folk medicine before taking a look at the healing deities of Classical European Paganism, and Irish mythology alike. Our explorations will then turn to consider the host of plagues, pestilences and infirmities outlined in our medieval chronicles, before we take a look at folk cures recorded in the archives of the National Folklore Collection University College Dublin.
As we presently accustom ourselves to life in varying degrees of 'lockdown', it is worth turning to the past, in order to draw on the endurance, strength and patience with which our forebears held themselves through hardship. As the saying goes, 'Ní neart go chur le chéile!' ('There is no strength without unity!')
Selected Readings of Interest:
Chapter Title: Talitha Qum! An Exploration of the Image of Jesus as Healer-PhysicianSavior in the Synoptic Gospels in Relation to the Asclepius Cult Chapter Author(s): Frances Flannery
Book Title: Coming Back to Life Book Subtitle: The Permeability of Past and Present, Mortality and Immortality, Death and Life in the Ancient Mediterranean Book Author(s): Bradley N. Rice Book Editor(s): Frederick S. Tappenden, Carly Daniel-Hughes Published by: McGill University Library. (2017) Stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvmx3k11.22
Some Notes on Homeric Folk-Lore Author(s): W. Crooke Source: Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Mar. 30, 1908), pp. 52-77 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd. Stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/1254711 Accessed: 20-03-2020 12:03 UTC
Indo-European Dragon Slayers and Healers and the Irish Account of Dian Céacht and Méiche: www.academia.edu/10246879/Indo-Eu…acht_and_Méiche
Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/index.html
The Identification of Some Pestilences Recorded in the Irish Annals Author(s): William P. MacArthur Source: Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 6, No. 23 (Mar., 1949), pp. 169-188 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/30006592 Accessed: 20-03-2020 12:41 UTC
The Ancient Irish Hot: Air Bath Author(s): Seaton F. Milligan Source: The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, Vol. 9, No. 81 (Oct., 1889 - Jan., 1890), pp. 268-270 Published by: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/25506556 Accessed: 20-03-2020 12:22 UTC
Dr. Pat Logan: Making the Cures: Ancient Cures for Modern Ills, The Talbot Press, Dublin (1972)
Seán Ó Súilleabháin: Nósanna agus Piseoga na nGael / Irish Folk Custom and Belief
National Folklore Collection - www.Dúchas.ie
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