The curious case of Father Moore and his magic hat

Muahahaha

Anyone ever hear the story of Father Moore and his magic hat? It has been curing people of depression and mental illness for almost 200 years now-
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/hearts-heads-and-a-holy-hat-irelands-keepers-of-religious-relics-reveal-all-36983030.html

"People go to Graceland to visit the tomb of Elvis, to Moscow to see Lenin, or to Père Lachaise in Paris to see Jim Morrison's grave," she says. "Their lives were meaningful to people, and visiting them allows people to feel closer to them."

There is also still folk tradition at work in Ireland, with a surprising number of relics in private hands. One of note is a silk chimney hat in Co Westmeath reputed to have healing properties and to have been owned by the 19th-century priest Fr John Moore.

"There's someone here to visit the hat nearly every day. It's extremely popular. It belonged to Fr John Moore, who died when he was 47, and he left it in our family to be handed down through the generations," says Anne Forde.

Along with her husband, Michael, Anne is one of the current custodians of the hat. The object has been in the family since Fr Moore's death in March 1826 and has been in their personal care for over 30 years.

"There are many cures attributed to Fr Moore, but the story of the hat is interesting. The Forde family owned a forge a long time ago, and Fr Moore rode a horse and would come to get his horse shod. One day, great-grandfather Forde had a very bad headache and asked for the priest to come and bless his head. Fr Moore couldn't come but sent his hat instead, and it seems to have cured the headache," says Anne.

After that, Fr Moore left the hat with the family and it's been an object of veneration ever since.

"The family tried to give the hat back after it first cured great-grandfather Forde's headache but Fr Moore said, 'No, leave it with the family.' He left instructions for it to be left on a specific dresser near the door. This was in an old thatched cottage and that's where the hat stayed until 30 years ago, when the cottage was sold. Obviously, we couldn't leave the hat so it came to our house."

Anne Forde feels it's important to say that the family doesn't charge for access to the hat. It is closely associated with a nearby holy well, also known as Fr Moore's Well. The priest is said to have blessed the well and some of his reputed healing powers passed into it. "Fr John Moore lived in Rathbride in Kildare and that's where his well is. People flock to that," Forde says. "There's someone there every day, and nearly every day we have someone here at the house looking to see the hat, hold it, maybe wear it and say a prayer." What kind of ailments are these pilgrims seeking relief from? "People mostly come with depression and illnesses of the head, as well as other misfortunes. We're very careful to tell them not to stop taking prescribed medication and that they should listen to their doctor, but we often hear later on that the person was cured," says Anne. "People do tell me it works and that it makes them feel great. It's a spiritual thing, not a material thing, so if people get relief from it, why not?"

She describes the family's relationship with the local Catholic parish and clergy as very amicable, but also says this wasn't always the case. "The local church are fine now, but years ago they weren't too keen on it for some reason."

Being entrusted with the care of the hat clearly means a lot to Anne and Michael. "We're very protective of Fr Moore's hat; it's a treasure. We used to bring it around the country to various hospitals when people would ring and ask for it because they had sick family members. We did that when we were younger but we're older people now, and it's hard work going from Tallaght to Kilkenny and then to Galway, for example. We can't be doing that anymore, but people are welcome to come to the house for it.

"It's a good thing to have in the family and it's part of the tradition. I feel privileged to have the chance to look after it in our lifetime and it will be passed down to one of our family - we have two boys and a girl - and it will stay in the Forde name."

So while attempting to heal an illness with one of Padre Pio's gloves - or turning to a relic of St Anthony to try to find something that's been lost - might now be a rarity, the practice of venerating relics, it seems, is likely to go on.

I think it was Tommy Tiernan who said that the great thing about living in Ireland is no matter how mad you are you only have to look around for a short while to find people who are clearly much madder than you and that in itself makes having just a little bit of madness okay. I think this is one of those occasions.