School: Cill Condae
- Location:
- Kilcounty, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Bean Uí Ríoghbhardáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0397, Page 019
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- XML Page 019
- XML “Old Customs and Cures”
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- There are many old customs for healing wounds and warts, but the strangest I ever heard was a snail as a cure for warts. The first thing to do is to get a snail and rub the slime from his back in the warts.
Then the snail is put on a thorn, and the thorn is driven through him and he is left to die on the white-thorn bush. While the snail is withering away on his uncomfortable perch the warts are supposed to disappear.
Another is a horse's tooth as a cure for a tooth-ache. They say that if a person had a tooth-ache and got a dead horse's tooth and took it around in his pocket his own tooth-ache is supposed to leave immediately.
The cure that I heard for rheumatism was to take a raw potato and take it in a pocket or to sew it in a fold of a frock and the pains are supposed to leave almost immediately.
The cure for a pain in the side is a leaf of red-cabbage, placed on the side, and left there for a while or at least until it gets warm.
There is a weed(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Veronica Walsh
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Ballyre, Co. Cork
- Informant
- Mrs J. O' Brien
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 44
- Address
- Ballyre, Co. Cork
