Clonmany Genealogy
& Heritage Group
19.09.23
HERITAGE Week 2024 saw
Clonmany Genealogy & Heritage Group host a very
successful weekend in the Market House, Clonmany. In an
event titled ‘Cures, Remedies and Old Wives Tales’
visitors were able to learn about the huge numbers of
cures and treatments employed by local people in the
past.
Historian and folklorist, Dessie McCallion, presented a
very well attended talk on the first day of the event,
where people learned how our ancestors treated a
multitude of ailments including treating toothache by
licking a frog, using goose fat to treat scalds, curing
baldness by rubbing goats milk on your head under a full
moon, sticking a fox’s tongue in your shoe to treat foot
problems and any one of a dozen treatments to cure
warts. |
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Some of the exhibits on
show at the ‘Cures, Remedies and Old Wives Tales’ event. |
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Dessie was also able to
relate how women were relied upon to provide treatments
and cures, mostly employing herbal cures, many of which
may have been the basis of treatments available in the
modern day. The talk was supported by an exhibition of
many of the plants used in our ancestors’ herbal
medicine, and by group members providing some of the
cures for people to sample. One of the most popular was
the carageen moss, while the bogbine drink seemed to be
a case of the cure being worse than the ailment. |
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Mary Devlin provides local
GP, Dr. Fogarty, with a sip of bogbine, one of her
special cures. |
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Some of the other cures
included faith healing and remedies provided by the
fairies. Another very popular and well attended talk was
provided by genealogist, Eva Doherty Gremmert, who
provided many useful insights for people exploring their
family trees. Particularly useful was the advice on how
people can incorporate their DNA results into furthering
their family tree research. Some genealogists were
available to provide hands-on help and advice. |
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Kathleen Comiskey
introduces visitors to the wonders of carageen moss. |
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Chairperson of the
Clonmany Genealogy and Heritage Group, Marie Doherty,
said she was very excited by the success of the event,
and looked forward to the next presentation which was
already being planned. Marie thanked her hard-working
group for their efforts, and she also thanked the local
community for their continued support. Marie paid a
special word of thanks to Clonmany Community Centre
staff who have provided unending assistance. |
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