Patsy Noone, Kilcolgan from Tommy McDonald, Kilcolgan
Around my home and on our farm there are lots of herbs growing.
The thistle is a tall pricky weed and when it is over ripe the seeds blow around and destroy the land and hay. There is a white flower growing on our land named vinvan. It kills goslings. Garlic is another weed and when eaten by cows it puts a bad taste in milk. There is a tall purple flower growing on our land named foxglove which kills sheep. From the dandelion people make wine, also from sloes and blackberries. They make jam from blackberries as well. Stains are taken out of clothes by boiling them with ivy leaves. Budgire is a long plant like the centre of a lily, it is poisonous. Nettles are given to young turkeys when boiled as food.
Makenagumpna is a green weed. It is boiled and the juice is rubbed on a burn to cure it. The chicken weed is a long green one, found in kitchen gardens. The juice of it takes off warts. The weed is also given to caged birds and is very good for them.
This selection of lore comes from the duchas.ie website. It comprises part of the National Folklore Collection, property of University College Dublin held in trust for the people of Ireland. Content was collected by local children in 1937 and 1938, carefully transcribed under the supervision of their teachers and forwarded with great pride to form part of the Collection.
The Burren and Beyond 