Cures of Ireland: New book by Cecily Gilligan explores traditional cures, from rubbing a raw onion on the head to cure baldness, to holy wells and the special healing powers of a seventh son of a seventh son

​It might be for the mumps, a stye in the eye, or a sprain. Indeed the author of Cures of Ireland, Cecily Gilligan was herself cured of jaundice and ringworm by a ‘seventh son’ in her local Sligo during her childhood.

Cecily Gilligan has been researching the rich world of Irish folk cures for almost 40 years and, given the tradition has largely been an oral one, has been interviewing a broad range of people from around Ireland who possess these mystical cures, and those who have benefited from their gifts.

One has a cure for eczema that comprises herbal butter balls, another ‘buys’ warts from the sufferer with safety pins. There are stories of clay from graves with precious healing properties and pieces of cords from potato bags being sent across the world to treat asthma.

From faith cures to herbal remedies, Gilligan’s research covers several aspects of Irish folk medicine.

She writes: "I spoke to hundreds of people during the years of my research and travelled thousands of miles around Ireland, finding and visiting individuals with cures. Additionally, I documented a selection of holy wells, pilgrimages, clays and stones, all of which are used for healing.”

Gilligan’s book has plenty of references to those with ‘cures’ and those ‘cured’ in Northern Ireland. She writes that these cures have also been used to treat sick animals.

"In the folk medicine research Professor Michael Doherty carried out via veterinary surgeons, he also encountered the world charm in Ulster. With regard to the bleeding cure, feedback from vets in County Antrim reported that, ‘The person with the charm requires to know the sex of the animal and its colour’ and that, ‘A progressive pedigree beef breeder always calls the ‘charmer’ to resolve any bleeding problems’. This study found that faith cures for bleeding were equally utilised by Protestants and Catholics in contemporary Northern Ireland.”

Gilligan notes in the book that those with a cure can accept nothing, including money, gifts or thanks. She writes of a County Down man who had three cures.

“He accepts no monetary offering otherwise the cure would not work, nor is the person supposed to thank him.”

Gilligan lists the many cures she has gathered on her journey, including eating wild bilberries, raw or cooked, for bowel problems; placing raw meat on a bruise; applying your own spit to heal spots; rubbing the head with a raw onion to cure baldness; getting a hair cut on Good Friday to be free from headaches for a year; and many, many more.

She writes: “It is amazing that the old cures have managed to survive despite the modernisation of Ireland ...these cures work, not every time and not for everyone, but for many people….the cures live on because they are meeting a human need, more than a physical need, a psychological and a spiritual need too….”

*Cures of Ireland : A Treasury of Irish Folk Remedies, by Cecily Gilligan is published by Merrion Press, priced £21.99

​

​

​

​

​

​