Moll Anthony, aka Mary Leeson (–1878), was an Irish ''bean feasa'' (
wise-woman) who lived at Hill of the Grange, but apparently originally from the Red Hills,
County Kildare
County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
. She was called after her father, Anthony Dunne. She was buried in
Milltown, County Kildare, in 1878.
Moll was able to cure both people and animals with potions she created from particular
herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...
s. Each
potion
A potion is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers." It derives from the Latin word ''potio'' which refers to a drink or the act of drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifica ...
was given in three porter bottles, two of which she gave at her first visit, the third bottle been given at the second visit. The charge was
half a crown a bottle. According to a website,
Folklore
Lord Walter Fitzgerald wrote of her
He furthermore stated that "Some believed that Moll Anthony of the Red Hills was a sort of reincarnation of a young dead girl. And that Moll's spirit had been left by the fairies in replace of the young girls dead body in the coffin." His account was as follows:
Fitzgerald claimed that Moll Anthony's name was Mary Leeson, that she died in 1878 and that her cure passed on to a James Leeson her son. This man lived in a comfortable slated house on the Hill of the Grange on the site of Moll's former mud-walled house. Local people accept that James had the cure and the house which still clings to the side of Grange Hill was his.
Tombstone
Two side-by-side tombstones in the graveyard of
Milltown, County Kildare, read.
See also
*
Biddy Early
Bridget Ellen "Biddy" Early (née O'Connor or Connors; 1798 – 1874) was a traditional Irish traditional medicine, herbalist and ''Cunning folk, bean-feasa'' ("seer, wisewoman") who helped her neighbours. When she acted against the wishes o ...
*
Cunning folk in Britain
The cunning folk were professional or semi-professional practitioners of magic (supernatural), magic in Europe from the Middle Ages, medieval period through the early 20th century. In Britain they were known by a variety of names in different re ...
References
* "How Moll Anthony came into being", Walter Fitzgerald, ''Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society'', Vol. VIII, p. 79.
* ''Wise-woman of Kildare: Moll Anthony and popular tradition in the east of Ireland'', Erin Kraus, Four Courts Press, Dublin, October 2011. .
External links
* http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Fairylore/Healers,Wise-Ones&Charmers/Moll-Anthony-of-Kildare/Page1.htm
* http://askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/folklore-of-ireland/folklore-folk-tales-and-c/moll-anthony-of-the-redhi/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moll Anthony
People from County Kildare
19th-century Irish people
Cunning folk
19th-century Irish women