Cures and Treatments

The cure for a bad throat and a cough was to get one stallion donkey and feed it oaten bread. Then feed the invalid whatever dropped from the donkey's mouth and pass him or her under the animal three times for a full cure.

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Giving an invalid a loaf of bread boiled with milk and Epsom salts, or making him or her lie in a bed of nettles, was said to be a cure for anything.

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When a cow has a 'slip-tail' or weak spine, the condition must be cured or the animal will die. The cure was to cut a hole in the tail of the cow and put a garlic seed inside. The tail was then covered with a cloth and left for a few days until the animal was healed.

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The cure for arthritis was to fetch a bunch of strong nettles and sting the affected area of the invalid. A couple of days later the person should be cured.

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The cure for mumps was for a married couple to lead the invalid across a stream wearing a donkey bridle! This would only work, however, when the wife's maiden name was the same as her married name.

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The slime from a snail was believed to be very good for curing warts.

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There is a sweat house situated at Lecamy, one kilometre from Noon's Bridge on the Moville to Carndonagh road, and within sight of the Culdaff-Carrowmore road. It is approximately seven feet in height and remains perfectly intact in a beehive shaped structure. Decades ago it was used as a sort of sauna both for the cure of rheumatism and temporary madness. A turf fire was lit inside to warm the building. When the fire had burned out and the remnants cleaned, the sufferer was brought inside. The entrance to the sweat house was sealed off and the sufferer stayed in there to sweat it out until he or she was cured.

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It was traditional for the family of the bereaved to stop their clocks and turn all the mirrors to the walls at the time of death. Occasionally a window was opened.

The corpse was kept for two days and two nights after the death at a 'wake' and visiting neighbours and family were provided with tea, food, tobacco and whiskey. Twelve ounces of tobacco were meant to be smoked to signify the twelve apostles.

The most direct route to the church or graveyard was deliberately not taken to delay the final inevitable moment. As soon as the procession left the dead person's home, the woman of the house would immediately undo all the procedures required for the laying out of the corpse. If chairs had been borrowed to sit upon they would be put outside, but if the coffin had rested on them they would be placed upside down on the street in front of fthe house. A sip of whiskey was consumed by each member remaining in the house.

The day after the funeral all blankets and sheets relating to the corpse were washed and cleaned.

It was considered disrespectful to speak ill of the dead. People used to say, 'May God rest him' or 'May he rest in peace' and this is still prevalent today.

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