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| spudfan Member Since: 10 Sep 2007 Location: Co Donegal Posts: 4662  
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When my wife's niece was young she suffered from chronic asthma and was on a prescribed inhaler. Some one from the older generation mentioned to her mother that the hairs from the cross on a donkey's back were a cure for asthma. As luck would have it there was a donkey in a field not far away so myself and my wife's father headed off with a scissors to get some hairs from the cross on the donkey's back. Things did not go according to plan. Every time we got close to the donkey he ambled off out of reach. Maybe he distrusted two strangers or maybe it was the sight of the scissors in my hand that spooked him. Anyway we spent some time trying to corner the donkey without much success. Suddenly I noticed a tractor parked at the entrance to the field and a man striding towards us. "The owner" I surmised. This turned out to be a lucky guess.We quickly said "Hello" and I decided honesty was the best policy especially as I still had the scissors in my hand.
When I finished he said he knew of this tradition and had supplied hairs from the donkeys cross to others in the past. Anyway he called the donkey over and we got our hairs. My wife made a little pouch for the hairs and this was pinned to the inside of her niece's top. We were also told that "Poteen" or the local brew was good for asthma. So a bottle was obtained. So every morning before my wife's niece went to school she used her inhaler, had a drop of "vitamins" (she was told that the poteen was a vitamin supplement) and made sure the pouch with the donkey's hair was in place. She eventually got over the asthma. We never did decide whether this was down to the inhaler, the "vitamin supplement" (poteen) or the hairs from the donkey's cross. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel 1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali 2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu 2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai |
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20th Jan 2022 6:59pm |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5700 
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Had to look up what “poteen” was. Sounds like an interesting brew. Have you tried it?
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20th Jan 2022 8:48pm |
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| 90 Dreamer Member Since: 13 Jul 2019 Location: Oop North Posts: 2154  
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Irish moonshine basically......
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20th Jan 2022 8:54pm |
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| jomara Member Since: 26 Oct 2009 Location: Lanarkshire Posts: 1790  
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The vitamin supplement is a mad drink, my wife’s family are from the Causeway Coast in the north and had a local “supplier” they used. I brought it back for my ad who used it liberally to treat back pain internally
 2014 110 2.2TDCi XS Station wagon
1971 Bowler Tomcat 88 4.2 V8 Auto 2022 110 D250 XS Edition - Gone 2024 110 D250 X-Dynamic HSE |
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20th Jan 2022 8:58pm |
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| Paul55 Member Since: 03 Feb 2009 Location: Somewhere in my head! Posts: 511  
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Tried it once with an Irish friend of mine , never again
Cogito ergo sum |
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20th Jan 2022 9:21pm |
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| spudfan Member Since: 10 Sep 2007 Location: Co Donegal Posts: 4662
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Medicinal use only  Been a long time but it can taste strange and it takes a lot less of it to get you merry than the stuff with the fancy label and excise duty you buy in the supermarket
You remove the cap or sometimes cork from the bottle and hold a lighted match just above the opening. If you get a nice blue flame well you know it will do the business. 
Regarding the hairs from the donkey, if you are wondering about that.... In the bible story the donkey carries Mary on it's back when she travelled to Bethlehem and afterwards Joseph led her with Jesus away on the donkey. So the story goes that the cross on the donkey was placed there in memory of this. It would be interesting to know if there any historical references to crosses on donkeys' backs prior to this event. That is the reason for the belief in the efficacy of the hairs from the cross on the back of the donkey. Other beliefs from of old still persist to this day. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel 1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali 2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu 2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai |
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20th Jan 2022 10:44pm |
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