“Fear of witchcraft is a contagious fear that spreads from person to person, sparking hysteria and leading to persecution and violence.”
Montague Summers
Art by Hugues Merle
The fear of witchcraft and supernatural effects turns up often in Irish folklore.
A good demonstration appears in the following account from Co. Donegal.
In this case a witch is believed to have dealings with the devil. When a man offends her she places the evil eye upon his two children. The children then begin to cough up pins. As the children cough them up flies appear around their heads to push the pins back into their mouths. The woman is then arrested and burned at the stake following which the children are cured.
This story is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are previous accounts of those who are cursed coughing up pins and small household objects. Examples of women and men being accused of witchcraft from Kilkenny and Cork come to mind immediately. The second intriguing aspect to this account is the burning of the woman at the stake. Ireland only has a small amount of documented witch trials but folklore often alludes to many others which have not been recorded. The destruction of Irish civil records following war and rebellion may have resulted in the loss of many more witch trial documents. That said, many witch trials involving the poor were undertaken on the spot by communities and landlords and did not make it to trial at all. In this instance the story may be an historic event or a made up warning. There is no way to tell, unfortunately. Here is the full account: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428259/4389223
In some cases it was believed that the evil eye was given as a gift by the fairies.
Why would such a powerful and seemingly destructive magic be given to a human by the good folk, though? We can only speculate as to why this is, alas. Perhaps it was a way for ‘themselves’ to have a human carry out revenge or retribution on a town which had been disrespectful or, perhaps, it was simply a way to reassert their power and influence.
Neither of these explanations may be the true case, of course.
It is interesting to note that in some strands of Irish belief it was thought that the person who had the power of the evil eye was often not aware of their ability to curse.
Sometimes it is inferred that they were ignorant regarding their responsibility for the terrible consequences which resulted from their stare.
An example of this line of thought appears in Lady Wilde’s 1888 essay on the evil eye where she writes that the people would go out of their way to avoid a particular woman whose glance would lead to misfortune and that it was safer to collect water early in the morning when there was less chance of meeting her. Another example is of a man whose neighbours made him wear a patch over his eye because of the effects of its glance. He later uses his power to catch a bird for a boy but without harming the creature. In this instance his glance has the ability to stun without killing.
https://www.libraryireland.com/AncientLege…/Evil-Eye-1.php
A possible association between fairy forts and afflictions of the eye in this context is also worth mentioning. We have encountered this in many manifestations but usually in cases of someone being struck blind or losing an eye to a fairy dart. Other examples include temporary blindness and an unwanted ability to see the good people and the Otherworld. Here is an interesting case of what I mean from the Irish folklore archives.
“In Gort Lamma in the border of Leitrim and Sligo there is a very famous fort known as “Jackson’s Fort.” Once a man was passing by this fort and as he was going by he heard some very sweet music. He lay down by the side of the road listening to the sweet music. He fell asleep but when he awoke everything he looked at, some great misfortune befell it. The people of the locality say he got the “evil-eye” from the fairies.”
Full account here: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4602764/4602517
David Halpin
David Halpin is a writer from Tallaght, now living on the Carlow/ Wicklow border. He has been writing about Irish Forteana and spirituality for over thirty years and has had his articles published in magazines and books throughout the world. David’s photographs of Ireland’s sacred sites have been published in journals and articles worldwide and in 2020 were included in An Taisce’s annual report on the Irish landscape.
David is also a reviewer of esoteric writing and as well as publishing for The Occult Book Review, he also contributes regularly to newspapers, magazines and online publications. His articles have appeared in The Wild Hunt, New Dawn Magazine, Coire Ansic, and he is a regular contributor to Ancient Origins. David also runs the blog, Circle Stories, where he focuses his writing upon the topics of consciousness and folklore.
Collaborative online journal on folk belief.
Leave a Reply