Irish superstitions, urban legends and local tales

donegaLroad · 13-11-2015 01:20AM

Pedro K wrote: »

Local cures... What a pile of ****e.

Turning sods of turf under sick cow's feet, licking lizards bellies, passing a whopping cough infected child under and over a donkey 7 times..

I was curious and googled this.. and it appears that donkey milk is a remedy for whooping cough... and in Italy whooping cough is referred to as Donkey cough. The donkey milk remedy for WC must have become lost in translation as it made its way to Ireland over the centuries.

http://www.eurolactis.com/en/introduction/to-who-donkeys-milk-can-be-of-use.html

13-11-2015 02:53AM

_Brian wrote: »

My wife's family here in Cavan also believe the whole Green is bad luck thing. No green clothes, car or anything green if possible.

I think green is unlucky as well.

But that's because I'm a Hearts supporter. :pac:

13-11-2015 03:03AM

There's a "holy" well somewhere in Kerry known as Tobar na nGealt (the well of the mad), because it was believed that drinking the water helped calm people who were insane.

Apparently, someone tested the water and found that it had a high concentration of Lithium.

topmanamillion · 13-11-2015 05:09AM

My mother believes that a picture falling off the wall is a sign of death.
When my aunt (fathers sister) died my mother said she was in the sitting room a few nights later and a picture fell off the wall.
Her sister also believes this and swears that the same thing happened when their mother died.
I just think they should learn how to hang a picture properly.

fizzypish · 13-11-2015 08:34AM

topmanamillion wrote: »

My mother believes that a picture falling off the wall is a sign of death.
When my aunt (fathers sister) died my mother said she was in the sitting room a few nights later and a picture fell off the wall.
Her sister also believes this and swears that the same thing happened when their mother died.
I just think they should learn how to hang a picture properly.

Did the picture fall on them? I see a common denominator here.....

mattP · 13-11-2015 08:47AM

topmanamillion wrote:

My mother believes that a picture falling off the wall is a sign of death. When my aunt (fathers sister) died my mother said she was in the sitting room a few nights later and a picture fell off the wall. Her sister also believes this and swears that the same thing happened when their mother died. I just think they should learn how to hang a picture properly.

When my aunt died her sister (my mother) took it very hard, and it really shook her faith as she was only in her 30s. My mam prayed and prayed to her sister and no response or sign came, so another sister said pray that she knocks down *this* picture in the house as a sign. Low and behold she came home from work two weeks later and it fell in front of her. It was the only time that picture fell off the wall, ever, in all its 30odd years in the house. 4 or so more years on and it still hasnt fallen again....

diomed · 13-11-2015 05:24PM

diomed wrote: »

About 30 years ago I was mowing the front lawn of my parents house in Blackrock, Co Dublin. They were on holidays in Spain so I called to their house two or three times a week to cut the grass and water the flowerbeds.

A man stopped and said he was the builder of the houses on the road (about thirty years earlier). He said he planned the road and footpaths to avoid cutting a hawthorn tree still there in the path/ grass between no 13 and no 15. Cutting a hawthorn is said to be unlucky. The tree is still there.

Still there about 70 years after the road and houses were built. Hawthorns live to 100 years and more.
The gardens behind the houses on the hawthorn side of the road are shorter, probably because of the "hawthorn re-design."
https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.2987131,-6.1923157,3a,75y,77.57h,76.74t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svaGy8Itqe05z15juDhMeKg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Irish superstitions, urban legends and local tales

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