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The Sick Call and the Drama of Extreme Unction in Irish Folklore
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 June 2023
Abstract
This article examines the priest's sick call in Irish folklore. The sick call normally involved the hearing of the dying person's confession; the administration of extreme unction, the last sacrament that a Roman Catholic was expected to receive; and (if possible) the reception of holy communion, viaticum, food for the journey. Drawing from the large body of stories in the Schools’ Collection (gathered in 1937–8), the article shows how the greatest concern in the popular mindset was ensuring that the priest arrived in time to perform his duties. However, all manner of difficulties awaited him in the exercise of this ministry, from diabolical apparitions to the wiles of other humans, including other priests, who purposefully attempted to thwart his path. In this sense, Irish folk tales dramatize the administration of this sacrament into a rite of passage.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Studies in Church History , Volume 59: THE CHURCHES AND RITES OF PASSAGE , June 2023 , pp. 411 - 432
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Ecclesiastical History Society.
References
1 O'Kane, James, Notes on the Rubrics of the Roman Ritual: Regarding the Sacraments in General, Baptism, the Eucharist, and Extreme Unction, with an Appendix on Penance and Matrimony (New York, 1883), 533Google Scholar.
2 Ibid. 408.
3 Briody, Mícheál, The Irish Folklore Commission, 1935–1970: History, Ideology, Methodology (Helsinki, 2007), 261Google Scholar. The Schools’ Collection has been digitized in recent years and can be found online at: <www.duchas.ie>. For a comprehensive introduction, see especially Lysaght, Patricia, ‘Collecting the Folklore of Ireland: The Schoolchildren's Contribution’, Folklore 132 (2021), 1–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
4 Giolláin, Diarmuid Ó, Locating Irish Folklore: Tradition, Modernity, Identity (Cork, 2000), 134Google Scholar.
5 Duilearga, S. Ó, ‘An Untapped Source of Irish History’, Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 25 (1936), 399–412, at 399Google Scholar. See also Daly, Mary E., ‘“The State Papers of a Forgotten and Neglected People”: The National Folklore Collection and the Writing of Irish History’, Béaloideas 78 (2010), 61–79Google Scholar.
6 For a broader discussion of the portrayal of the priest in Irish folklore, see Héalaí, Pádraig Ó, ‘Cumhacht an tSagairt sa Bhéaloideas’, Léachtaí Cholm Cille 8 (1977), 103–91Google Scholar, and more recently, Ryan, Salvador, ‘“Begorra, Paddy, the Clergy have the Power Yet”: Priests of the Province of Armagh and their Portrayal in the Folklore of the Schools Collection (1937–38)’, Seanchas Ard Mhacha 28 (2020–1), 56–81Google Scholar.
7 Lysaght, ‘Collecting the Folklore of Ireland’, especially 5–10.
8 See <https://www.duchas.ie/en/info/cbe> for a fuller description of the Main Manuscript Collection.
9 Strictly speaking, the Penal Laws can be dated to the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For a reassessment of their severity, see Bartlett, Thomas, ‘The Penal Laws against Irish Catholics: Were they too good for them?’, in Rafferty, Oliver, ed., Irish Catholic Identities (Manchester, 2013), 154–70Google Scholar.
10 When stories from the Schools’ Collection are quoted here, I have inserted some basic punctuation for clarity, and have occasionally corrected misspellings. I have also clarified some words or expressions which may be unfamiliar to readers by adding either an equivalent word in square brackets or an explanatory note. I have not otherwise amended the text.
11 Dublin, National Folklore Collection, The Schools’ Collection [hereafter: NFCS], Ballindaggan, Co. Wexford, vol. 892, 300–1.
12 That is, ‘passed on their way’.
13 NFCS, Baunreagh, Co. Carlow, vol. 907, 149–51.
14 NFCS, Mercy Convent, Kinsale, Co. Cork, vol. 319, 377–9.
15 NFCS, Scoil na mBráthar, Co. Wexford, vol. 880, 434.
16 NFCS, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, vol. 1028, 7.
17 NFCS, Aglish, Co. Tipperary, vol. 532, 20. The implication, of course, is that this Roman Catholic man died without a priest, or the consolation of the last rites.
18 NFCS, Terryglass, Co. Tipperary, vol. 530, 311.
19 ‘Letter from Rome’, Kilkenny People, 5 June 1937, 3.
20 NFCS, Glantane, Lombardstown, Co. Cork, vol. 363, 19–20.
21 A sidecar, or jaunting car, was a two-wheeled carriage for a single horse, popular in Ireland from the early nineteenth century. Most commonly, it had seats for two to four people, who were seated back-to-back.
22 NFCS, Ahane, Co. Limerick, vol. 523, 426.
23 The placing of the stole around the priest's neck is a significant moment, often leading to the banishment of the diabolical force, or the revelation of the true identity of some demon in disguise. On the significance of the stole in the administration of extreme unction, see O'Kane, Notes on the Rubrics of the Roman Ritual, 389.
24 NFCS, Tullaghan, Co. Leitrim, vol. 190, 180.
25 NFCS, Rahanavig, Co. Kerry, vol. 400, 36–7.
26 NFCS, Killyon, Co. Meath, vol. 692, 320–1.
27 A more accurate spelling, in this case, is ‘Cailín Deas Crúidhte na mBó’ (‘The Pretty Girl who milked the Cows’).
28 The implication is that it was two dogs that had been singing the song. The ‘after’ perfect in Hiberno-English can be used to express the perfect tense, using the word ‘after’ to indicate that something occurred in the immediate, or very recent, past.
29 NFCS, Lurga, Patrick's Well, Co. Limerick, vol. 527, 89.
30 NFCS, St Mary's, Drogheda, Co. Louth, vol. 680, 486.
31 According to O'Kane (quoting De Herdt), ‘The vessel of oil should be fastened around the neck, and carried under the surplice, so as not to appear’: O'Kane, Notes on the Rubrics of the Roman Ritual, 368.
32 NFCS, Connagh, Co. Cork, vol. 306, 257–8.
33 NFCS, Lankill, Co. Mayo, vol. 137F, 32.
34 NFCS, Mullinavat, Co. Kilkenny, vol. 850, 107.
35 NFCS, Gusserane, Co. Wexford, vol. 872, 163.
36 NFCS, Baile Dáithí, Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow, vol. 914, 467.
37 For ‘not great’, read ‘not very friendly’.
38 Allusions to priests having the power to ‘stick’ people to things, most often to the ground, are plentiful in Irish religious tales. I first heard of this tradition from Maynooth ecclesiastical historian, Mgr Patrick Corish, in a lecture delivered in September 1992. He recounted the tale of how a priest, who was travelling on horseback to a sick call at night, handed the reins of his horse over rather gruffly to a stable boy. When the priest barked, ‘Hold that horse for me while I go inside!’, the stable boy grunted reluctantly, precipitating the priest's sharp and more insistent retort: ‘Hold that horse for me, or I'll stick you to the ground!’ This prompted the stable boy to quip, ‘In that case, why don't you stick your horse to the ground?’
39 NFCS, Killeen, Co. Mayo, vol. 140, 574–5.
40 That is, who was mean or lacked generosity.
41 NFCS, Kilruane, Co. Tipperary, vol. 533, 318–19.
42 NFCS, Tullogher, Co. Kilkenny, vol. 846, 442–3.
43 NFCS, Scoil na mBráthar, Hospital, Co. Limerick, vol. 514, 393.
44 NFCS, Ballymahon, Co. Longford, vol. 751, 266.
45 Ibid.
46 NFCS, Gusserane, Co. Wexford, vol. 872, 162–3.
47 NFCS, Camross, Mountrath, Co. Laois, vol. 826, 436.
48 It is noteworthy that, in this tale, ‘Christianity’ appears to be solely equated with Roman Catholicism.
49 NFCS, Presentation Convent, Lucan, Co. Dublin, vol. 794, 20–1. The Schools’ Collection contains many prayers to St Joseph as patron of the dying.
50 The term ‘Jumper’ was used to describe Irish Roman Catholics who, in the period of the Great Hunger (the Irish Famine), were prepared to accept religious instruction from Protestant societies in return for material relief. This might come in the form of the provision of soup, from which the related term ‘Souper’ derives. Accusations against individuals and families who had ‘taken the soup’ would be long-lasting in the cultural memory of Irish Catholicism. See also Nuttall, Deirdre, Different and the Same: A Folk History of Protestants in Independent Ireland (Dublin, 2020)Google Scholar.
51 NFCS, Moyard, Co. Galway, vol. 6, 121. For the wider historical context, see Miriam Moffitt, Soupers and Jumpers: The Protestant Missions in Connemara, 1848–1937 (Dublin, 2008).
52 A rock, usually located in a remote area, which was used as an altar for the clandestine celebration of mass during the period of the Penal Laws in the seventeenth century.
53 NFCS, San Leonard, Ballycullane, Co. Wexford, Volume 871, 76. Of course, the throwaway lines in such stories are often more interesting than the main plot lines themselves. The subversive subtext here might be that you will never find priests too far from a dinner table! Such subtle references, encompassing a gently critical jibe at the lifestyle of the clergy, were not uncommon in Irish folklore, acting as release valves of sorts for the laity. These instances deserve further scholarly attention, and I hope to explore the topic further in a future article.
54 NFCS, Querrin, Co. Clare, vol. 632, 78–9.
55 NFCS, Borris, Co. Carlow, vol. 904, 328.
56 NFCS, Carniska, Co. Roscommon, vol. 253, 118–19.
57 NFCS, Ardfield, Co. Cork, vol. 317, 8.
58 NFCS, Curraghcloney, Co. Tipperary, vol. 572, 31.