In the Boho highlands of West Fermanagh Scarplands in Northern Ireland, there is a longstanding belief that the soil from the local churchyard has miraculous curative powers. It was on this churchyard, in 1815, the Reverend James McGirr, who was a faith healer, was buried. On his deathbed, Father McGirr himself had supposedly declared that “the clay that covers me will cure anything that I was able to cure when I was with you while I was alive.” Since then, a local custom developed. Whenever a parishioner got sick, he or she will kneel beside Father McGirr’s grave and scoop up a spoon-full of dirt and put it into a cotton pouch. They will then take the pouch to their home, place it under the pillow and sleep on it. By morning the ailment will already be on the retreat.

A spoonful of dirt. Photo: J_R Images/Shutterstock.com