Old Bones

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

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Kevin J. O'Brien
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:19 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA

Old Bones

Post by Kevin J. O'Brien » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:06 pm

Can anyone help me identify two bones that were found in my ancestor’s home in West Clare?

My Conole family ancestor’s farm in Miltown Malbay Parish was abandoned when my great uncle died in 1945 and left in ruins. A few summers ago I was visiting the farm and I found a couple of old bones on a shelf to the right of the main fire hearth. The old house does not have a roof and only the gable ends and a low wall are still standing. The bones were next to each other under some dirt and plant vegetation.

I recognized then as bones immediately and figured they were from a farm animal but I didn’t know if they were a horse, cow or donkey.

I inquired about the bones origins from a local farmer and was told that they were probably cow bones and was kept as a Pishogue. It was explained to me that if a cow had died that the farmer would keep the bone and sometimes place the bone in the thatched roof to protect the other famer’s livestock.

Two days later, I was exploring through an O’Brien Ancestor’s ruined house (1960's) in the parish when I walked into the main room of the house and found the exact type of bone on top of all the debris on the floor.

If anyone knows of such a custom used or why a farmer would keep these bones in the house it would solve a mystery for me. I would be interested in hearing more on Pishogue’s.

The bones are about 9 1/2" long.

Thank you and have a Healthy and Happy 2013!
Slan,
Kevin J. O’Brien
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Bones from Conole Farm 1.jpg
Bones from Conole Farm 1.jpg (835.78 KiB) Viewed 4073 times

Kevin J. O'Brien
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:19 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA

Re: Another Old Bones

Post by Kevin J. O'Brien » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:29 pm

I was expecting to get a few comments on these old bones. One of my ancestors houses was abandoned in the 1940’s and the other during the late 1960’s. I thought that this was two big of a coincidence to have the same bone in two locations in neighboring parishes.

The only comments I received was the story of a piseog and keeping the bone to protect the home and livestock.

I forgot about these bones until I was on vacation in Maui, Hawaii and I was walking around a flea market looking at all the local artists selling their art work, jewelry, and antiques when I spotted the same bone as I found in the two ancestral homes in County Clare. I asked the artist what he knew about the bone. He did not know where it was from originally and why someone would have kept such a thing. He thought it interesting and traded for it at the flea market. He said he has a lot of questions about the bone but not anyone has been able to identify the bone.

Do the Hawaiian’s and Irish share a custom or did St Brendan maybe sail round the entire world.

Slán,
Kevin J. O'Brien
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Hawaiian Bone in Maui.jpg
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