School: Oileán Ciarraí (roll number 10956)

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1. Local Cures

   

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   It was a favourite cure of old to stop bleeding and and to heal a cut to put a cobweb on it, and no matter how great the cut was it would stop the blood. Salt was used to put on a cut too to heal it and prevent it festering while another cure was to get a leaf or two of Slánlus - chew it and then spit it on the cut and it was a reliable cure. A drop of paraffin placed on a cut was equally good.

   A burn from a dockleaf was prevented from blistering or piercing by rubbing a dockleaf to it. To cure or get rid of warts people had some cures too. One was to get a Sop (?) of straw and place it in a manure heap and as the straw would decay the wart would disappear also. Another to get a piece of meat and put it in the manure to rot and then put it to the warts, which would disappear. They used to get a paper bag and put a stone into it for each wart (?) and place it on the road and the person who'd take the bag, (?) examine it, would get the wart.

   Cures were also connected with holy wells, that is people would pay or promise to pay, rounds at a well at certain times of the year to cure various ailments. The affected parts would in some cases have to be bathed or washed in the well, and sometimes they would have to take a drink of the water. Prayers and a number of rounds round the well would have to be made. It was a common thing to see crutches etc beside the wells.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. medical practice
         1. folk medicine (~11,815)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Cornelius Hewitt

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Castleisland, Co. Kerry

   Informant

   Con Hewitt

   Relation

   Parent

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   40

   Address

   Castleisland, Co. Kerry