Folk Medicine and Its Second Life

• Main Author: Rosari Kingston
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Asociación Española de Estudios Irlandeses 2017-10-01
• Series: Estudios Irlandeses
• Subjects: Irish Folk Medicine; Tradition; Second Life; Secrecy; Provenance
• Online Access: https://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DEF.Artículo-6.pdf

Irish folk medicine is perceived to be dying, if not dead already. It lies as a parallel system to modern biomedicine and is known only through word of mouth. However, no matter what modality is practised, be it bone-setting, plant medicine, charms or rituals, there are traditional characteristics common to all as a whole. An examination of these traditional elements allows us to see how Irish folk medicine is currently practised and to ascertain whether it has reached the second life that Lauri Honko suggested. If this were the case, “the recycling of material in an environment that differs from its original context” (Honko, “The Folklore” 42) should be evident.