When disease swept through a community, people would try anything that might help to save the ones they loved. In times before modern medicine, illnesses rarely seen today, like measles, pox and whooping cough, were killers, and traditions were passed down by families desperate for anything to give them the luck they needed to survive through the crisis.

But putting your trust in superstitious actions and legends of past cures could also lead to some very strange results...

With thanks to Con Ryan, my grandfather, for his unique and fascinating insight on these traditions.

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Sources And Further Reading

Thinking Critically About Coronavirus

• How to Spot Coronavirus Fake News
• Coronavirus: How Bad Information Goes Viral
• Coronavirus: The Fake Health Advice You Should Ignore
• Do Onions Fight Off The Flu Virus?

Old Cures

• Nosanna Agus Piseoga na nGael by Sean Ó Súilleabháin
• Ancient legends, Mystic Charms & Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Wilde
• Old Cures on Dúchas.ie

Minor Monuments by Ian Maleney

Music

• The Butterfly by Sláinte
• The Lark in the Clear Air by Shake That Little Foot
• Northern Lullaby by Sergey Cheremisinov
• The Irish Washerwoman by Howie and Ann Mitchell
• Lovely Maria by Aislinn

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