National Heritage Week is an excellent opportunity to celebrate Irish traditional medicine and its rich history.
LEGEND AND MYTH
We can be proud of this legacy since, like many indigenous traditions, it has roots in the distant past, and the only clues we have to this era's wisdom are in legend and myth.
To appreciate some of the knowledge from before written records, one must first comprehend the mythology and myths of Ireland. These can be found in the Lebor Gabála Érenn (LGE), a book that claims to explain the origins of the Irish people. The LGE is not an easy book to read, and I am grateful to the researchers who have dedicated their lives to it. According to Donncadh Corráin, one such expert, the majority of the information in these genealogy and historical narratives "is independently verifiable and, given the difficulties of transmission, extremely accurate." [1] The following are some of the more intriguing facts from this document:
HOSPITAL
Queen Macha Mong Ruadh established the first hospital in Ulster, known as Broin Bhearg. [2] in Eamhain Macha. Eamhain Macha is one of the most important locations listed in the LGE, and it was located west of modern-day Armagh. Eamhain Macha's history stretches back over four thousand years, with the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age being the most important period.
DÉIN CHÉCHT
Déin Chécht was the god of health for the Tuatha De Dannan, one of Ireland's legendary tribes. Miach and Airmed, two of his children, were both herbalists, and they are mentioned in some interesting stories in the LGE.
PAPAVAR SOMNIFERUM
Lugh (Lughnasa) was Déin Chécht's grandson, and there's an incredible narrative about his magical spear that teaches us about their understanding of the herb, Papaver somniferum. This weapon is claimed to have an insatiable blood craving, which was satiated outside of war by immersing the spear's head in a sleeping draught of crushed poppy leaves. The Irish name for this herb is codalian, which comes from the Latin word cada, which means sleep, and refers to the capacity of the herb Papaver somniferum to promote relaxation and sleep.
BREHON LAWS
Moving onto data that can be verified, we have The Irish system of law known as the Brehon law. This was passed down orally from one generation to the next but was written down in the 7th century AD. These laws reveal some fascinating details about the history of Irish medicine, specifically the conditions required for healing. The patient should not be forced to live in a residence he finds unattractive or in a location where his injury is likely to worsen. The hospital must be calm, and no glare must be caused by "the sea, waterfall, or cliff dazzles." Squealing pigs, scolding mothers, and children's laughter were all forbidden near the hospital.
The normal diet for those who were ill was two properly cooked loaves of bread every day, plus varied condiments based on the patient's rank. Celery was provided to patients of all socioeconomic strata in unrestricted quantities due to its medical properties, and garlic was also prescribed. Except for the noble grades, who were allowed to consume salted fish or flesh every day from New Year's Eve to the start of Lent and then twice a week during the summer, salted fish or flesh were often limited. Everyone was meant to consume fresh meat on a regular basis, although it wasn't specified how often. Regardless of socioeconomic background, boys and girls aged seven to ten were entitled to the fare they would get while in foster care. This displays an understanding of the significance of not changing a diet, as doing so would put more burden on a sick person's digestive tract. These laws also tell us that there are three nursing errors: failing to feed the patient, failing to see the liaig/physician, and failing to provide a substitute (locum). [3] I don’t think our current health care model has even come close to seeing loss of income as an important factor in health management, be it as a cause of illness or a worry during recovery.
Interestingly, the physician was viewed as a mechanic of the body and did not have the same high standing as the poet or brehon. This is because the physician required equipment or herbs to execute his task, just like an artisan. The poet or lawgiver simply required their mind and, hence, had a better standing.
MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE
Up until 1650, the practise of medicine in Ireland was well organised and developed. It was run by hereditary families, had a wide therapeutic range, and was receptive to new ideas and learning from the continent. Medical families were held in high regard and were active in developing their profession by seeking new knowledge and disseminating what they knew through the medical schools.
Few individuals in Ireland today with the surnames OCallinan, O'Cassidy, Hickey, Tully, Lane, Dunleavy, and Lee, to mention just a few, recognise they are descended from the great medical families that served the people well until the demise of the ancient Gaelic order in the 17th century.
More crucially, instead of relying solely on their local traditions, these physicians travelled to Europe to study the new form of medicine being taught from the 11th century at Montpelier and Salerno. More importantly, they translated these writings into Irish so that they could be taught in Irish medical schools, spreading Avicenna's medicine, adapted for the local environment, throughout the country.
Some of these books acquired the status of myth, such as the Book of the O'Lees, who were hereditary physicians to the O'Flahertys. This manuscript is also known as the Book of Hy Brasil due to its connection with the enchanted island of Hy Brasil off the west coast of Ireland, where the book's possessor claimed to have obtained supernatural knowledge of the cures therein.
DEMISE OF THE OLD GAELIC ORDER
Following the dissolution of the Gaelic order in the early seventeenth century, there was a pause in descriptions of Irish traditional medicine until the late nineteenth century. Nonetheless, herbals such as those published by Threkeld in Dublin in 1726 and Keogh in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, in 1736 provide a helpful record of what was likely available in Ireland during this period. Threkeld arrived in Ireland from Cumberland in 1713 and lived in Dublin, where he originally worked as a preacher and later as a doctor, eventually settling on the latter vocation as his income improved. (100) K'Eogh was born in Co. Roscommon in 1681 and was ordained into the established church after graduating from Trinity College, Dublin. He lived in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. In his herbal, he spelled the Irish names of herbs phonetically so that his readers might question the Irish for their whereabouts.
Culpeper's (1653) and Gerard's (1597) herbals were also likely in use among the English, as they were written in the vernacular and would be useful to an immigrant in a strange land.
EIGHTEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES
The eighteenth through twentieth centuries were marked by the growing power of professional medicine, with its university graduates and 'for-profit' base. This paradigm was in stark contrast to the free (save for a donation), local, and, more often than not, rural healers who could be found at their own home or local pub during a fair [4]. fair[5]. The traditional sacred spaces in the landscape were another feature that addressed the emotional and spiritual health of the people during this period, and they were also places where people could find solace. These wells, hills, lakes, and woodlands may also be viewed as a form of communion with nature, "a deeper mode of communication, more corporeal than intellectual: a sort of sensuous immersion, a communication without words." [6] The sweat house was another source of healing power and energy. Foley describes them as "looking like stone igloos covered in grass and earth; the interiors were heated with turf, and patients entered and spent time in the closed settings sweating out their fevers." [7]
These sweat houses are mostly found in Ulster and were used to treat arthritis, rheumatism, and influenza. Itinerant bath masters appraised the patient's ability to resist the rigours of the regime, and the existence of one of these in a small rural town provided a useful service prior to the arrival of all-encompassing state health care facilities and the hotel spa.
RECORDING THE TRADITION
After the famine, the increase in English as the spoken word and the spread of free primary education led to the recognition early in the twentieth century that the country's rich folk tradition would be irretrievably lost if it was not collected in a systematic manner. As a result, the Folklore of Ireland Society was founded in 1927 to preserve as much of this rich history as possible. This resulted in The National Folklore Collection (NFC), which is now housed at University College Dublin (UCD).
To commemorate Heritage Week, I recommend that you go to https://www.duchas.ie/en and search for your old school. Discover what folk remedies were spoken about in 1938, or locate and visit local healing wells.
If you're interested in the rich tradition of Irish traditional medicine, you can learn a lot more in my book, Ireland's Hidden Medicine, which is available here.
[1] Ó Corráin, D. 1998. Creating the Past: The Early Irish Genealogical Tradition Peritia 12: Page 207
[2] Keating G., The History of Ireland/Foras Feasa ar Éireann (Translated into English by Edward Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen): Ex-Classics Project, 2009, http://www.exclassics.com; 1632.
[3] Binchy DA. Bretha Crólige. Ériu. 1938;12:1–77
[4] Foley, R. Indigenous Narratives of Health: (Re)Placing Folk Medicine within Irish Health Histories J Medical Humanities. 2015;36(1):5–18.
[5] Foley, R. Indigenous Narratives of Health: (Re)Placing Folk Medicine within Irish Health Histories J Medical Humanities. 2015;36(1):5–18.
[6] Abram, David (1985) The Perceptual Implications of Gaia The Ecologist, 15 (3), Page 4
[7] Foley, Ronan (2015). Indigenous Narratives of Health: (Re)Placing Folk Medicine within Irish Health Histories. J. Medical Humanities 36 (1): P. 8
