Clonmel Chronicle, 5 October 1895

It was 1895 and Bridget Cleary was a little over 6 months in her grave. That horrific case highlighted the place of “pishogues” – traditional Irish superstition – in the mindset of the Irish peasantry, and the deep and strong beliefs that the people held in them. Many of these pishogues centred around agrarian practices, one of them being the milking of cows. One variant of the myriad of such superstitions was that if a farmer milked a neighbour’s cow they would get the benefit of that neighbour’s milk for the year. Butter was also a product that was heavily affected by pishogues, and if one had it in mind to sabotage another’s butter production there seemingly existed a raft of supernatural methods to bring it about. This case from Cahir Petty Sessions gives us some idea of the tensions that arose from the practice – or supposed practice – of some of these remarkable pishogues. It resulted in both parties being bound to the peace: