I’m not sure if the same situation carries here in Dublin, it probably does up in North County anyways, but the mother said something today that put the notion of it back in my head… When I was younger, much younger, you’d hear tell in the house of “Oh, she has the cure for the croup” or “He has the cure for the shingles, he inherited it from his father.” This mysterious cure, administered in secret in the homes of even more mysterious septuagenarians was spoken of in hushed reverent tones in households and bars all over town, and was seen as a gift or a burden, or in some cases, a bit of both. The “man” or the “woman” was generally a bit… odd, and more often than not would be quite pious, but fond of a drop at the same time, their methods for ridding you of whatever they had the cure for, secret to only them.
My first memory of hearing something like this was many moons ago and was a story about the Da, who for thirty years had been burdened with a wart on his thumb the size of an old penny. On his rounds, this caused him great discomfort, be he tweaking at cars, fixing a lock, or replacing a door for the woman down the road or whatever job he was doing in his job away from a job, he often came home with his hand covered in blood. Not nice for him, and not nice to hear about either. One day, my brother in law stopped by for a cuppa on his break from work and said “Jaysus Dick, would you ever get that looked after. I know a man down in Caseys who said to write your name on a bit of paper and give it to him; he has the cure for the warts.” So, with that, the Da wrote his name on a bit of paper and gave it to the brother who went back to work that evening and passed it on to “the man.” Now, I’ve absolutely no idea of what the hell happened after he got the bit of paper, but within a week, that wart of thirty years was gone. Sounds mental, I know, but it’s true.
I could dismiss it as myth and superstition, had I not experienced it myself, having had a similar, though much, much worse ailment to the Da. This time, though, it meant a visit out to a whitethorn bush in an ancient, crumbling graveyard around 12 miles outside of Mullingar. Three visits, dipping your hands in a little pot of water in the middle of the bush each time, and the warts would be gone. Now I’m not superstitious in the slightest; but after three visits, the warts shrinking each time, and a week after my last visit, they were gone. I won’t shock you by telling how many there were but, to say losing them was a relief would be the understatement of the century.
I know of an old friend, crippled with shingles so much that he had to be carried into an old ladies house three times in a week, for “the cure.” He went from being crippled, to being up and about, though having shed four stone in the two weeks he was sick, (I jest not; he wasted away,) it took a lot longer to recover fully. But he went from being laid out in a bed in his kitchen, in so much pain it hurt to blink, to walking around again, it was close to a miracle. Now, I never would have thought this lady was one of the religious types of faith healer, she was closer to the mad cat lady type, but this “cure” worked anyways. The Ma had a similar complaint shortly after the Da passed away and went to the same lady and she described to me how it worked. On each visit, the woman would welcome the Ma into her home, take off her wedding ring, bless it, and touch the inflicted part of her body (In my Ma’s case, it was around her ear) with it, while muttering a few words, of prayer or what, I don’t know. She would do this for a few minutes, and then sit you up and talk the head off you apparently. She was a mine of knowledge, and would describe the healing properties of various common garden plants and herbs, lamenting the fact that a lot of the weeds and herbs are much harder to come by these days, and harping onto the Ma about the wonders of apple cider vinegar . I’d love to get an interview with this woman, the Ma says she’s a wonderful lady; sure we might have a look into it in the future.
My nephew, who is now in his eighteenth year, gave us many a sleepless night in the first year of his life, a small little thing but his body was wracked with croup (Think of the cough you hear from auld lads down the pub, forty a day and ten half ones before bed and put that cough in the body of a wee baba. The cough now IS probably from forty a day and ten half ones before bed but thats another story.) This went on for ages though, the medicine given by the doctor not having the slightest bit of effect, nor the nights of boiling kettles in the room, hoping the steam would clear the chest out. So “the man” was called upon to administer “the cure,” which, if I remember correctly involved him laying a hand on his chest and muttering a few words. Within a week, the cough was gone. I know, again with the jiggery pokery but…
Now it’s an odd tradition, I know. And certainly not one with my political persuasion I should have any time for. But whether it’s a psychological thing or whatever I don’t know, and to be honest, care; it’s an interesting one. So whether it’s a cough that ails you, or you have a wart you need rid of, give me a bell. I know a man.
It’s quite possible I went to the same person for the cure for shingles… Wedding ring, cider vinegar an’ all. I put it down to the cider vinegar really, you can use it to treat coldsores, stings like a fucker though. Dries the sores out, they wither and fall off… Tube o’ Cymex does the same job though, I’m now immune to Zovirax…
The best part about having shingles was missing my junior cert. mocks. The worst part was the possible connection to my MS! You win some, you lose some…
This is a REALLY good post, I’ve heard the same thing about people having a “cure”, but only once from this old lad from roscommon involving running barefoot through a bog! Seriously, good work on this.
You know that warts go away on their own right?
Great piece.
Coincidentally, my great aunt, a teacher and nun (who I saw today for the first time in months) wrote a book a few years ago called ‘Going For The Cure: Traditional Healing in Armagh Area’, “a study of the survival of traditional cures and charms found in the greater Armagh area”.
This really sounds a lot like a “cunning woman” (well, at least for the women in the story). If you google “Cunning Woman Virginia” you’ll see a blog post about Cunning Women, written by my significant other. See what I mean? It was the mention of herbs and weeds that made me see the connection.
I know warts go away on their own, but I had DOZENS for over five years, and without any other treatment they went away in the three weeks I was going out to this Whitethorn bush. And I mean disappeared completely. Thje power of the mind and all that…
My Nana used to tell me reams of stories about all those who had the cure. She was from Caven originally but she lived in Finglas most of her life and there was a few people round there with various cures. I seem to remember that all the GAA players used to go to some woman who would tie a red thread around the sprain. The cure went to her daughter who gave up using it, didn’t like the constant stream of people hobbling through her kitchen I guess.
She said a lot of the cures went like that. They would get passed to people say of my Mams generation who just stopped using them.Still I’d say there’s definitely a good few people with cures left around Dublin be really interesting to interview somebody.
Well hxci – didn’t I tell you ‘owl wans’ had their uses? And you thought I was bieng rude! Dude – how could you? It takes years of practice to become an ‘owl wan’. I’m still looking for the cure for ‘owlwaness’ – Any takers?
I discovered this post when I was trying to remember the name of the Armagh book Sr. Smyth wrote! She was a teacher at my school.
Ive recently become really interested in the cure, a friend of mine, a young fella, has the cure for the sprain. was passed onto him by dying aunt – Ive been waiting to get a sprain and test it out ever since!
Hi there, I came across your blog and the entry called: I know a man.
Im putting together a radio programme where someone speaks about ‘the cure’ and im wondering if you would grant me permission to use the following lines in it:
the lines are:
When I was younger, much younger, you’d hear tell in the house of “Oh, she has the cure for the croup” or “He has the cure for the shingles, he inherited it from his father.” This mysterious cure, administered in secret in the homes of even more mysterious septuagenarians was spoken of in hushed reverent tones in households and bars all over town, and was seen as a gift or a burden, or in some cases, a bit of both. The “man” or the “woman” was generally a bit… odd, and more often than not would be quite pious, but fond of a drop at the same time, their methods for ridding you of whatever they had the cure for, secret to only them”
I am happy to pay a small fee if you so require.
Many thanks,
Caroline
Caroline,
You’re more than welcome to use the passage, all I ask is that you accredit it and mention our website in the piece if possible! What radio station is it for and will it be available online? I’d love to hear the finished piece.
Ci.
Hi,
My 8mth has the signs for croup. Would you know someone who has the cure and is willing to do it over the phone.
Thanks
Michelle
Wld like to know if anyone knows of anyone with cure for shingles in dublin area
Geraldine did you find anyone with the cure for shingles. I also need it can you help
Please I need to find someone who has the cure for croup asap. Anywhere in ireland will do I am in dublin so will travel. am desperate, thank
I am looking for the croup cure also, anyone know who has it these days?
anyone got the charm for back pain?
A friend living in Scotland is in need of a cure for shingles .