Bewitched by an Elf Dart: Fairy Archaeology, Folk Magic and Traditional Medicine in Ireland

Dowd, Marion

doi:10.1017/s0959774318000124

Cited by 9 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…Regarding the latter, distillations of human bone as a cure for epilepsy had been commonplace in Europe since the medieval period; 55 furthermore, belief in such cures was an established part of Irish folk medicine that still endures in some places. 56 Writing about Ireland in 1938, Eileen Hickey describes such superstitions, one of which may have been the fate of the Carolan skull: <sm. Type>Boils may be readily cured by a blacksmith who is the seventh son of a blacksmith.…”

Section: <H1>conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘One of our National Treasures’: the biography of the skull of Turlough Carolan the Blind Harper

Crooke¹

2018

Journal of the History of Collections

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Many Irish musicians will have heard of Turlough Carolan (1670–1738), frequently referred to as the Blind Harper. Less well known is that his skull was exhumed in 1750, twelve years after he was buried. Since that year and throughout the nineteenth century, a human skull, declared to be that of Carolan, was displayed in various prestigious locations. In the early twentieth century it was received by the National Museum of Ireland, where it still resides. This paper traces the story of the skull from grave to museum stores, providing an insight into the fascination exerted by remains of the deceased and the special significance given in Ireland to the remains of a revered musician. The skull is where multiple histories meet: it embodies a record of customs in rural Ireland; it tells us something of the display of collections by Irish gentry and the middle classes; and it is a route into exploring the cultural meanings of our collections.

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Section: <H1>conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘One of our National Treasures’: the biography of the skull of Turlough Carolan the Blind Harper

Crooke¹

2018

Journal of the History of Collections

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Amulets in Magical Practice

Johnston

2024

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This Element takes as its remit the production and use of amulets. The focus will be on amulets with no, or minimal, textual content like those comprising found stone, semi-precious gem and/or animal body parts. That is a material form that is unaccompanied by directive textual inscription. The analysis considers this materiality to understand its context of use including ritual and metaphysical operations. Through discussion of selected case studies from British, Celtic, and Scandinavian cultures, it demonstrates the associative range of meaning that enabled the attribution of power/agency to the amuletic object Uniquely, it will consider this material culture from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing together insights from the disciplines of cultural studies, religious studies, 'folk' studies, archaeology and Scandinavian studies. It develops the concept of 'trans-aniconism' to encapsulates an amulet's temporal relations and develops the proposition of 'landscape amulets.'

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Representing Magic in Modern Ireland

Sneddon

2022

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This Element argues that Ireland did not experience a disenchanted modernity, nor a decline in magic. It suggests that beliefs, practices and traditions concerning witchcraft and magic developed and adapted to modernity to retain cultural currency until the end of the twentieth century. This analysis provides the backdrop for the first systematic exploration of how historic Irish trials of witches and cunning-folk were represented by historians, antiquarians, journalists, dramatists, poets, and novelists in Ireland between the late eighteenth and late twentieth century. It is demonstrated that this work created an accepted narrative of Irish witchcraft and magic which glossed over, ignored, or obscured the depth of belief in witchcraft, both in the past and in contemporary society. Collectively, their work gendered Irish witchcraft, created a myth of a disenchanted, modern Ireland, and reinforced competing views of Irishness and Irish identity. These long-held stereotypes were only challenged in the late twentieth-century.

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Bewitched by an Elf Dart: Fairy Archaeology, Folk Magic and Traditional Medicine in Ireland

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

‘One of our National Treasures’: the biography of the skull of Turlough Carolan the Blind Harper

‘One of our National Treasures’: the biography of the skull of Turlough Carolan the Blind Harper

Amulets in Magical Practice

Representing Magic in Modern Ireland

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