Irish Folklore

This assignment will attempt to look at pregnancy, childbirth and young children in Irish Folk tradition past and present. It will do this by focusing on the beliefs, customs and traditions that surround the above mentioned headings.   Even thought the three will be looked at individually, it is important to remember that it is inevitable that they will overlap at certain stages, most notably with pregnancy and childbirth.
          Firstly let us look at the idea of pregnancy in traditional Ireland and the beliefs, customs and traditions that came attached to it. Even though the pregnancy of a woman in traditional Ireland was seen as a joyous occasion, it was also known as a time that “is characterised by vulnerability and danger” (Jeay, M., 2002, 832) both for the mother and the unborn baby. The reason being is because the woman during pregnancy is considered not to be herself and “driven to extravagant desires” (Jeary, M., 2002, 832) and it is some of these desires that could cause harm to the unborn child. “To protect the infant from birthmarks and malformations, she must respect prohibition on sexuality, food […] and on some contacts, for example, with red fruit” (Jeay, M,. 2002, 832). Two of the more feared malformations that could come onto an unborn child were harelip and clubfoot. The harelip was believed to occur because the woman had come across a hare at some point. However, it was also believed that “if the woman, on meeting the hare, tore the hem of her garment, thereby transferring the blemish to it” (O Suilleabhain, S., 1967, 41). As for avoiding the child getting clubfoot it was advised that no “pregnant woman should enter a graveyard lest she turn her foot on a grave” (O Suilleabhain, S., 1967, 41/42). Other beliefs included that the woman would have a miscarriage if she was near an animal giving birth or where an animal was being slaughtered.   Also previously mentioned was the belief that the colour red would leave birthmarks on the child; this...