 Winner Alright!
No Virgin Mary – maybe Hell is calling 
0 Comments
 In the twelfth century, King Canute ordered the tide, or his tide if you prefer, to stop rising. If failed to comply with his order. Kildare County Council do appear to be more successful as their order for there to be strong currents in the river appeared to be complied with on the evening of our visit. I have seen signs banning swimming due to strong currents but this is the first where strong currents have been ordered by a Local Authority.   As I waited for my takeaway in Leixlip a few months back, this sign had me thinking as to when might Ball Playing not be a Game  On Tuesday, I observed how the modern Covid-world met the folklore-world. Initially, I was surprised, but really I ought not to have been, and should have expected it. At many of the Holy Wells that I have visited, there has been a Rag Tree, upon which visitors would tie a piece of cloth. As I understand the practice, the visitor rubs the cloth on that part of the body with an affliction prior to fixing the cloth to the Rag Tree hoping to transfer the affliction to the cloth/rag and to leave the affliction behind at the Rag Tree when the visitor departs for home. Today I listened to the RTE Archive clip on Fr. Moore’s Well which is located just outside Kildare town, on the road to Milltown. On Tuesday, the well had very many items which would have been encountered at other Holy Wells that I have visited – a sign describing how to perform the stations/rounds; a donation box; a memorial card, and, a Rag Tree. Fr.Moore’s Well provided all of these and more. It had a crutch – whether cast aside in hope, in recovery, or, for effect is unknown. But it was the Rag Tree, or more particularly, the rags, that brought the tradition upto the year 2020. Among the items tied to the tree were, not just one, but two face masks – one was disposal-type of the medical sky-blue colour; the other was a reuseable-type of a bright purple colour with what appeared to be the initials ‘S.Q.’. A used face-mask is a perfect example of ‘only of value as homage’ and proof of the continuation of tradition.
 Grey Abbey, Kildare An rud is annamh is iontach is an Irish saying which translates as ‘that what is rare, is wonderful’. The word ‘killed’ is a rarity found on headstones, from my experience of visits to cemeteries. It does cause this writer to step back, consider, and, in the case of John Flanagen, do some further investigartion.
 I was unable to find any press report as to the traffic incident or the inquest. The death cert and the headstone differ slightly – Jackie derives from Jack which in turn derives from John – so that is understandable. I have previously written as to the use of the word ‘kill’. I had difficulty in its use in a non-intentional setting. It is interesting that among the options available as to outcome of an inquest, the only ‘kill’ is ‘unlawful killing’ – that is one way of avoiding any confusion as to the interpretation of the word ‘kill’.
Some enjoy a visit to Kildare Village. My preference, by far, would be the adjoining cemetery. The adjacent headstone is to Evelyn Flanagan, who died aged 7 weeks, in August 1934. If Evelyn was Jackie’s sister, one family would have lost two children in less than three years which may be enough to use ‘kill’ rather than ‘died’.
 A few weeks back, I declined the option of a few hours at the Kildare Village outlet centre. Instead, I enjoyed chill out time around the town of Kildare, ending in a trip around St Brigid’s Cathedral and the adjoining cemetery. On the corner of the building that I approached, I noted that one of the corner stones had a hole from one side to the other. I was intrigued. As I was leaving, I spotted someone looking at this closely. When I asked, I learned that this was a wishing stone – one had to pass one’s hand through the stone and make a wish. I was warned that one could not wish for love or money, as both were to come to you unbidden. The topic of wealth and money on Folklore Thursday on twitter brought the wishing stone back to mind – reason enough for a blog post.
|
AuthorFrom Cork. SUBSCRIBE
Unless otherwise specifically stated, all photographs and text are the property of www.readingthesigns.weebly.com - such work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
Blogs I Read & LinksThought & Comment
Head Rambles For the Fainthearted Bock The Robber Póló Rogha Gabriel Patrick Comerford Sentence First Felicity Hayes-McCoy 140 characters is usually enough Johnny Fallon Sunny Spells That’s How The Light Gets In See That Tea and a Peach Buildings & Things Past Built Dublin Come Here To Me Holy Well vox hiberionacum Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland Liminal Entwinings 53degrees Ciara Meehan The Irish Aesthete Líníocht Ireland in History Day By Day Archiseek Buildings of Ireland Irish War Memorials ReYndr Abandoned Ireland The Standing Stone Time Travel Ireland Stair na hÉireann Myles Dungan Archaeouplands Wide & Convenient Streets The Irish Story Enda O’Flaherty Cork Archive Magazine Our City, Our Town West Cork History Cork’s War of Independence Cork Historical Records Rebel Cork’s Fighting Story 40 Shades of Life in Cork Roaringwater Journal 
Best Newcomer Blog
|
