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Old wives tales from Ireland still going strong

Superstitions and beliefs from the old country

AGNES CLANCY,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Thursday, January 20, 2011, 5:24 AM

Updated Thursday, January 20, 2011, 6:12 AM

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If you come across a crowing hen or a whistling girl both are considering bad luck.

Our Irish ancestors were long considered a wise generation of people, but they were very superstitious. Your average Irish person nowadays would scoff at some of the superstitions of our ancestors, but they lived their lives mindful of these special beliefs which they often referred to as ‘old wives tales’.

Here are some of Ireland’s oldest superstitions:

Anyone that kills a robin will have a life full of misery.

If a magpie comes chattering at your windowsill it is a sign of death.

The shoe or a horse or donkey nailed above your door will bring good luck. But the shoe must be found, not bought.

You see a black cat it is unlucky, but if it crosses your path, it will bring the opposite.

If you come across a crowing hen or a whistling girl both are considering bad luck.

If a chair falls when a person stands up, it is an unlucky omen.

If your ears are burning, someone is gossiping about you.

If your nose is itchy, you will have a fight with someone.

If you stumble at a grave it is considered very bad luck.

If you break a mirror, you can expect seven years of bad luck.

If you spill salt, you must throw some over your left shoulder to stave off bad luck.

The seventh son of a seventh son has the power over all diseases and can cure them by laying hands.

You must never build a house on the site of a Fairy Fort for it will bring you eternal bad luck.

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joanngall | Mar 29, 2011, 09:39 AM EDT

How about the one that says it's bad luck to ever put shoes on a table. My Mother would be in a frenzy if she ever saw us do that!

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STEPcoach | Mar 28, 2011, 09:35 PM EDT

And, of course, pretty much all superstitions had their roots in common sense. They were just lyrical ways of teaching life lessons. (and it was more often the village idiot who denied them!) For example, Seven years' bad luck for breaking a mirror - it would take that many years to get another one! Only the fortunate farmer had enough livestock to have extra horse shoes to place above his door. and as for the fairy fort ... well now, who wouldn't be bothered eternally for disturbing the resting place of the magical ones!

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starwatts | Jan 23, 2011, 09:56 AM EST

If a bird pecks on your window, it brings a messege of death or very bad news. My Grandma said so!

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LinLinisme | Jan 21, 2011, 06:31 PM EST

how about the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. I think it goes back nore but not sure. I love all things Celtic

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darkrosaleen | Jan 21, 2011, 02:52 PM EST

"whislting women and crowing hens always come to no bad ends" Passed down from a grandmother I never knew....

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darkrosaleen | Jan 21, 2011, 02:42 PM EST

I heard many of these from my mother, who heard them from her grandmother.

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JimThompson | Jan 21, 2011, 11:20 AM EST

Quite interesting. Many of those superstitions carried over to the USA.

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eiriamach | Jan 21, 2011, 09:53 AM EST

Agnes, "The shoe or a horse or donkey nailed above your door will bring good luck." I hope you meant to write "the shoe OF a horse or donkey"! This sentence gave me a dreadful image of squealing, thrashing animals, cruelly treated indeed. Surely no Irish person would. . . .

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KAnderson | Jan 21, 2011, 03:12 AM EST

My dad invented one himself. He would say that you had to spit on a squashed animal (especially a frog) you found in the road bed before crossing past it. To do otherwise was terrible bad luck. He got quite a bit of enjoyment out of watching us kids during our family walks that he would also initiate, he only admitted it was bunk that he created when we finally became teens.

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Liamkeyes | Jan 20, 2011, 02:49 PM EST

Definitely a lot of pure unadulterated Bullshit. I was brought up on it. It was a way for some people to control others. In My time, the "Village Atheist" always had an answer for this nonsence. Thank God for the Village Atheist".

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