We sat down with Anne Kenny of Bellefield House, who shared more stories that highlighted how common folk heading practice has been and still is in Shinrone. Anne’s stories came from her experience growing up in the local area and experiencing first-hand her family members engaging in these folk healing practices.

Located about a 10-15 minute walk from Bellefield House, where we met with Anne, is Kilmurryely Ruined Church and Cemetery. Along with the remains of an old monastery is a stone which is believed to cure headaches. People kneeled and pressed their foreheads onto the stone and prayed to seek relief from the headache which pained them. Anne recalls her own father visiting the stone on several occasions to rid himself of a regular headache, which was brought upon him after an unfortunate incident as a young man. He was convinced a visit to the stone did cure his headache, but Anne isn’t too sure herself, as never had a headache bad enough to warrant a visit. Still to this day, she has spotted the older generation heading to the stone after ecumenical services, so the legend of the stone still lives on to this day.

The conversation then turned to recalling healers local to the Shinrone area who had their own various methods to cure ailments like shingles, which was one which plagued a lot of people. Anne recalled a woman who used ashes from the fire and mixed them into holy water, and recited prayers to cure any ailments of people who visited her. Another woman seen as a much scarier figure in the village, would use her own blood in her potions by piercing her finger. Anne also remembers a local man who had a shop on the Main Street of Shinrone who created his own lotions and remedies. (This description sounds like Ernie Guest, whom we discuss more in the story called ‘The Cures of Ernie Guest’ found on our map.) All these healers were once very well known in the area and visited by people from all over the village and beyond. Today, healers such as the above are no longer active but the stone located in Kilmurryely Cemetery endures as a living link to the area’s folklore and spiritual past.