Sunday, December 22nd, 2019

From the beginning of time people have attempted to treat illnesses with home or folk remedies. Today, many of the remedies that were employed 100 years ago may be unknown to most of us. In 1955, Walter Power of Jamestown, Glenmore was interviewed by Danny Dowling regarding folk remedies that Wattie observed prior to 1900.

Three times over the door or Trí hárd don doras

This was a rite to cure weakness or sudden illness and was observed in the parish of Glenmore down to about 1895. This remedy consisted of kneeling on the doorstep with one knee on each side of the trestle and at the same time picking a wee bit of dust from the outside of the threshold and dropping it into a small drop of water in a cup which was held in one hand. Another pinch of dust was taken from the middle of the top of the threshold and likewise deposited into the water. The third and final pinch was taken from the floor inside the threshold. When this was deposited into the water, the water was given to the sick person to drink three sups of it whilst what was left of it was emptied on the back of the fire in the kitchen. Wattie reported that this remedy never failed to revive a sick person. It used to be given to a person with amackum (bad appearance).

Cure for Rickets

Another cure which was in vogue up to about 1895, was that for rickets. This consisted of getting an ass and bringing him into the kitchen and giving him something to eat. The patient had to creep right under his (the ass’s) belly from one side to the other and back again. Then the patient went round to the ass’s head whence he crawled between the front legs right under it, and out under the hind legs and again back in under the hind and out beneath the front. This was repeated three times and corresponded to making the sign of the cross three times. Wattie Power told Danny that he went through this treatment when young and remembered it vividly.

In 1975, Danny Dowling interviewed his brother-in-law Tom Barron of Ballyconway, Thomastown, regarding some folk remedies that Tom had witnessed people use.

Measles

A cure or treatment for measles was sheep saffron (dung) and white wine mixed together. The mixture was then given to the patient to drink.

Warts

If you happened to find a stone with a hole in it containing water that water could be rubbed on warts to get rid of the warts. It was always a cure so long as the stone was found without looking for it.

Ringworm on Calves

Ringworm on calves was treated with waste oil and black sulphur mixed together and spread on the affected parts.

Worms in Cattle-tails

If a cow had a worm in her tail, a slit would be made in the skin of the tail and a bulb of garlic inserted.  According to Tom Barron this was always a success.

Foot Rot in Cattle

To cure foot rot in cattle the farmer would watch where the animal let down the affected foot on the ground. The sod would then be cut in the shape of a half diamond on the spot, and the sod would be turned upside down, and the sod squeezed back into from where it was cut. As the grass withered away, the foot is at the same time curing. According to Tom Walsh of Rathinure this treatment was referred to as treasluach in Glenmore (pronounced tras-loock).

Farcy in Horses

To treat farcy in horses the farmer would get two small pieces of the she dog root, slit the skin of the horse’s forehead, and then insert the two small pieces of the she dog root in the form of a cross. According to Tom Barron this was a great cure.

Sores & Cuts on Cattle or Humans

Nicholas Forristal, of Graiguenakill, Glemore, in 1977 reported to Danny that urine was a common remedy for sores on cattle, but humans also used it. If a man cut his finger the cure was to urinate on it a few times. For sore hands, “got from binding corn,” the old people always used to put urine on their hands. It was a sure cure. Nicholas Forristal believed it was the salt content of the urine that healed the sores and cuts.

Remedy for Rheumatism

Joseph Flynn, late of Busherstown, Glenmore, but then of Grantstown in Co. Waterford, in an undated interview, provided the following remedy for rheumatism.

1 ounce cream of tartar

1 ounce epsom salts

One lemon.

Put the lot into one pint of water, and bring to boil. Then allow it to simmer until the lemon is dissolved. Then strain into a bottle which must be kept corked. A wine glassful of the liquid must be taken each morning before breakfast.

Abuse of Remedies

In 1989, Tom Walsh of Rathinure, Glenmore was interviewed by Danny and provided information concerning the “cunnawee” for the treatment of warts, the headache stone of Kilcolumb, and misadventures that befell individuals who abused the cures.

The “cunnawee” (yellow hound) was said to be served to St. Patrick by the inhabitants of Ballincrea in an effort to poison St. Patrick. Before St. Patrick began to eat he blessed the meal presented whereupon the hound instantly came alive. The hound jumped off the plate and crashed into a stone leaving the imprint of its head in the stone. Water was always supposed to be present in the impression. People with warts went there to put the water on their warts and it would get rid of the warts. Often offerings were left.

A man named Murphy from Davidstown, who was very fond of drink, went to this stone at the “cunnawee” to see if he could find any offerings. He found seven pence and a halfpenny with which he went to the pub and drank it. Sometime afterwards, he got a sore throat that turned out to be cancerous from which he died. The locals used to say it was on account of taking the offering money from St. Patrick’s stone.

Saint Columbcill’s stone is in the field west of the Kilcolumb church ruins in the townland of Rathinure. The stone has three large hallowed out bowls and originally had two small holes in one side of the stone. It is believed that this stone was the holy water font of the church and it was removed from the church during penal times and dumped in the field where it has remained. Local lore has it that any person who can place his head in the centre “bowl” at the same time placing one knee in each of the other two  “bowls” will never suffer from headaches. This was a common cure for headaches in the old days. Tom Walsh related that one of the small “holes” where a thumb was able to fit in, by persons desiring to rid themselves of headaches, was knocked off by the swing of the plough striking against it. It appears that the man was ploughing the field and kept so near the stone that the damage was caused. He was dead before the next morning.

Update–New family information was added to the family page over the past week. To date 19 of Danny’s notebooks have been transcribed and only information from three notebooks has been placed on the family page so far.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh