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drinking blood and other mourning rituals

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  • 31-07-2012 12:07pm
    #1
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭


    does anyone know anything about the practice of drinking the blood of the deceased? it seems to have been a practice in this country in times gone by. it is mentioned in the lament of Art O Leary (1773), but that is the only reference I have ever come across.


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    #2
    gobnaitolunacy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,073 ✭✭✭gobnaitolunacy


    Had assumed it was allegorical. The only thing I had heard of consumption of blood was taking blood from livestock in Famine times, just a small quantity at a time so the animal could recover. Presume they made a black-pudding type meal out of it.


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    #3
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭Fuinseog


    gobnaitolunacy wrote: »
    Had assumed it was allegorical. The only thing I had heard of consumption of blood was taking blood from livestock in Famine times, just a small quantity at a time so the animal could recover. Presume they made a black-pudding type meal out of it.

    indeed they did.
    I do not know if the blood drinking still happened in famine times.

    I just stumbled upon a reference to it The Faerie Queene. Spencer thought it was a sign of cannibalism but apparently it was done as a mark of respect to the dead.


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    #4
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,218 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Fuinseog wrote: »
    does anyone know anything about the practice of drinking the blood of the deceased? it seems to have been a practice in this country in times gone by. it is mentioned in the lament of Art O Leary (1773), but that is the only reference I have ever come across.
    Not quite what you are after, but worth a mention nonetheless.
    There is Giraldus Cambrensis' hearsay claim about the inauguration rite of Cenall Conaill, in Donegal.
    It is hearsay, because GC never went to Donegal.
    It was alleged that Conaill copulated with a white mare which was then slaughtered and the blood consumed by the new king.
    Scholars have largely dismissed the claim on various grounds (discomfort probably being a major factor) but the parallels with the Asvamedha are significant.


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    #5
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭Fuinseog


    slowburner wrote: »
    Not quite what you are after, but worth a mention nonetheless.
    There is Giraldus Cambrensis' hearsay claim about the inauguration rite of Cenall Conaill, in Donegal.
    It is hearsay, because GC never went to Donegal.
    It was alleged that Conaill copulated with a white mare which was then slaughtered and the blood consumed by the new king.
    Scholars have largely dismissed the claim on various grounds (discomfort probably being a major factor) but the parallels with the Asvamedha are significant.

    not quite what I was looking for but equally fascinating. thanks.


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    #6
    laoch na mona
    Registered Users Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭laoch na mona


    it used to be common i think it persisted among travelers longer remember paddy doherthy did it when his son died


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    #7
    Gee Bag
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,541 ✭✭✭Gee Bag


    You could try and get hold of a copy of Susan Leigh Fry's Burial in medieval Ireland 900-1500 AD. (It is pricey though).There are interesting accounts of funerary practice such as funeral games, burial with animals and markets being held in graveyards.

    The reviews in History Ireland and elsewhere does point out that it missed some important sources.
    http://www.historyireland.com/volumes/volume9/issue1/reviews/?id=113542

    All in all I thought it was a pretty good read and contained a lot of stuff I didn't previously know.
    it used to be common i think it persisted among travelers longer remember paddy doherthy did it when his son died

    Here's a link to Paddy Doherty talking about the death of his son. The relevant section starts at about 11 minutes in.



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    #8
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,218 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    That's fairly shocking - in the true sense of the word.
    Is what Paddy Doherty did a cultural tradition or was it purely an individual expression of his grief and loss?
    Or to put it another way, would travellers find his (re)action as shocking as I did?


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    #9
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,479 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    Never took Caoineadh Art uí Laoighaire to be strictly factual, to be honest, more of a formula,like the keeners.


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    #10
    laoch na mona
    Registered Users Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭laoch na mona


    byhookorbycrook wrote: »
    Never took Caoineadh Art uí Laoighaire to be strictly factual, to be honest, more of a formula,like the keeners.

    it has some soild facts in there such as the blood drinking


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    #11
    Gee Bag
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,541 ✭✭✭Gee Bag


    slowburner wrote: »
    That's fairly shocking - in the true sense of the word.
    Is what Paddy Doherty did a cultural tradition or was it purely an individual expression of his grief and loss?
    Or to put it another way, would travellers find his (re)action as shocking as I did?

    I have no idea if it is a cultural thing or not, but given the billions of people who have lived and died I doubt he is the first person to have done so.


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