Cursing and blessing to be the focus of Offaly history lecture

“INSPIRED language: cursing and blessing in early modern Ireland” is the title of the February lecture from Offaly History Society.

The lecture takes place on Monday next, February 20 at Offaly History centre, Bury Quay in Tullamore at 8pm.

Attendance can be in person of by zoom. For the link email info@offalyhistory.com

Irish  cursing  traditions are often treated in a light-hearted way. One nineteenth-century observer commented that ‘Irish curses are always picturesque’. But close examination of accounts of the ritual curse and of other acts of ill-wishing, reveals deep fears about their power, danger and potential to cause real harm. Traditions of  cursing  are recorded as far back as the medieval period, and continue to the present day.

The lecture will give an overview of Irish  cursing  traditions, focusing in particular on the seventeenth century. Strong belief in the power of the parental blessing and the parental curse can be found in the surviving wills and letters of this period. Looking at the language of  cursing  and blessing as deployed in such documents tells us much about understandings about the relationship between parents and children in this period, about the cultural resources used by fathers to attempt to guide or control their children and wives, and about ideas about love and duty in early modern families.

The speaker, Dr Clodagh Tait lectures in History at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. She is the  author of  Death, Burial and Commemoration in Ireland, 1550-1650, co-editor of  Age of Atrocity,  and  Religion and Politics in Urban Ireland,  and  has  published articles on a variety of early modern topics including women, maternity, infant care, death, commemoration, martyrdom, belief and crowd violence. She wrote the chapter on 'Society 1550-1700' in the  Cambridge History of Ireland, volume 2.  Her current projects include  a history of Irish  cursing  and ill-wishing between 1550 and  1950 and several articles on aspects of Irish ghost belief. She is joint editor of  Irish Historical Studies.