Moll Anthony, aka Mary Lesson (–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 ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the 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 authority for the county, ...

. She was called after her father, Anthony Dunne. She was buried in

Milltown, County Kildare Milltown (, meaning "town of the mill") is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. The village is in the townland of the same name in the civil parish of Feighcullen herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

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 ''potus'' which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically ...

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 Milltown (, meaning "town of the mill") is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. The village is in the townland of the same name in the civil parish of Feighcullen Biddy Early Bridget Ellen "Biddy" Early (née O'Connor or Connors; 1798 – 1872) was a traditional Irish herbalist who helped her neighbours. She acted against the wishes of the local tenant farmer landlords and Catholic priests and was accused of witch ...

Cunning folk in Britain The cunning folk in Britain were professional or semi-professional practitioners of magic (supernatural), magic in Great Britain, Britain, active from the Middle Ages, medieval period through the early 20th century. As cunning folk, they practis ...

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