School: Cnoc an Éin Fhinn (Birdhill) (roll number 13991)

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1. Local Cures

   

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   Local Cures
   About forty years ago my father remembered the case of a man suffering from heart disease. His father took him to Killaloe and consulted surgeon John Mc. Keogh about him. In a very intimate position John Mc. Keogh scanned the man and whispered to his father and said, “He won’t live to go to Crotty’s corner because his heart is almost rotten.” When they were coming home they met an old man. They got into conversation and the man told the old man where he was and what was wrong with his son. The old man said, “ You can cure that boy for nothing”, and he looked around him and pointed to the dandelion and said, “ There is your cure.” He told the man to collect the dandelion and to give it to the man raw three times per day. He afterwards said, “ I guarantee that he’ll live for sixty years more.” He carried out the old man’s instructions for three months. The boy is alive to-day and his heart is as sound as the bells of Shandon. That man is my uncle Jack and he can tell you the same himself. He is living and working in Clanlare Co. Clare.
   In olden times there was a great remedy for a voilen toothache. The remedy was to catch a live frog and to cut the sign of the cross with the frog on the painful tooth. That remedy was never known to fail but now people go to the Dentist and have the tooth extracted immediately with the result that another tooth gets affected. There is a holy-well in Cragg and it is called St. Commenat’s well. The well was originally about two hundred yards away from its present position. There was a drain leading from the well to a little river that runs near by. There was a field near this river and in this field there were a great number of lambs. One morning the Shepard found five of the lambs drowned in the drain. He prayed to god to protect his lambs with the result that when he came the following morning the drain was closed up and the well removed to its pre-present position. Somehow or ever a small trout got into this well. He grew very large and it was said that the present Mr. Liongs grandfather caught this trout and took him home and gave orders to one of his servants to prepare him for dinner. When he was put on the frying-pan he leaped off it and he came together again. Mr. Liongs saw that there was something very remarkable about it and he gave order to have the trout taken back to the well again where he lived for a number of years and he died of old age. An old man named Liyleeson had him buried reverently in the old graveyard attached to the well. This well was also very remarkable for curing bad sight. The person affect should walk around the graveyard six times in succession. While going around they should recite the rosary and when finished they should dip their head three times in the well in order to get cured properly.
   A child suffering from wild-fire can be cured by passing the child in and out three times between a mare asse’s legs.
   The seventh son a daughter is supposed to be able to stop blood even if he didn’t see the person bleeding twenty miles away.
   Several old “quacks” were able to cure all kinds of diseases. There was a man one time and he was suffering from a blood-cancer on his lower lip. He sent for this man who’s name was Mr. Rohan from Castleconnel. He came to see the old man and he brought a case of instruments with him. Before he commenced the operation they adjourned to a local public house and drank a few pints. They came back and the quack commenced the operation and removed the cancer. He cut a piece out of the man’s leg and stitched it on to where the cancer was. In the mean-time the man’s son-in-law arrived in a motor-car. He saw that the man was suffering from a slight pain. He had him removed to St. John’s hospital in Limerick immediately. When the doctor arrived in the hospital he inquired who removed the cancer and they told him the quacks name. The doctor sent for the quack immediately. When the quack arrived in the hospital there were seven doctors there and they certified that it was a successful operation. No surgeon or doctor could do it better. They offered him a large sum of money if he told them the secret of the cure. He could not tell the secret to any of them as there were none of them the same name as himself. The above was told to me by my father.

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   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

   Thomas Teefy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Coosane, Co. Tipperary

   Informant

   Michael Teefey

   Relation

   Parent

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   54

   Occupation

   Railway worker

   Address

   Coosane, Co. Tipperary