PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 28, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, performs ‘the cure’ on David Hickey, a local farmer with ring worm, at his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland.With touch and prayers, every Sunday Joe gives ‘the cure’ to people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, who is also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age.Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 28, 2021: Religious icons can be seen on display in the house of Joe Gallagher, a Faith Healer and former monk living in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland.With touch and prayers, every Sunday Joe gives ‘the cure’ to people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, who is also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age.Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 14, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, performs ‘the cure’ for severe rash on Ely, a 1 year old local baby girl, at his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland. With touch and prayers, every Sunday Joe gives ‘the cure’ to people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, who is also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, browses through newspapers at the kitchen of his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland, where every Sunday he receives people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: The facade of Gallagher’s pub in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland, where Joe Gallagher, a former monk, receives people who visit him looking for treatment for various ailments. Joe, known for having faith healing powers since young age, is a seventh son. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 14, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, performs the third and final session of ‘the cure’ for thrush on Joe Sweeney, a local man, at his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland.With touch and prayers, every Sunday Joe gives ‘the cure’ to people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, who is also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 28, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, performing ‘the cure’ for ulcer on the leg of Nuala Tormey, an elderly from Atholne, at his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland.With touch and prayers, every Sunday Joe gives ‘the cure’ to people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, who is also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age.Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 14, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, during the first treatment session on a 3 year old boy with croup cough, at his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland. The child, Harley from Birr, a town nearby, was brought in by his mother who heard about Joe’s healing powers through word of mouth.With touch and prayers, every Sunday Joe gives ‘the cure’ to people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, who is also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age.Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
PULLOUGH, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: Faith Healer Joe Gallagher, smokes a cigaret in the pub adjacent to his house in Pullough, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland, where every Sunday he receives people looking for treatment for various ailments. As a seventh son, Joe, also a former monk, is known for having faith healing powers since young age. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
GEASHILL, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: Traditional faith healers, Peter and Patricia Quinn, at their potato farmhouse house in Geashill, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland, where people come to receive ‘the cure’ for various ailments. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others, like the Quinns, get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
GEASHILL, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: A weeding photograph of Peter and Patricia Quinn, a couple with traditional faith healing powers, can be seen hanging at the entrance hall of their farmhouse house in Geashill, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland, on November 10, 2021. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure ailments. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others, like the Quinns, get the “Cure” passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
GEASHILL, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: Traditional faith healer, Peter Quinn, shows the straws he uses to give ‘the cure’ warts and verrucas at his potato farmhouse house in Geashill, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others like Peter and his wife Patricia, get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
GEASHILL, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 10, 2021: Traditional faith healer, Patricia Quinn, at her potato farmhouse house in Geashill, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland, where people come to receive ‘the cure’ for various ailments. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others like Patricia and her husband Peter, get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
GEASHILL, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 14, 2021: A Virgin Mary grotto in Geashill, a small village in County Offaly, Ireland. In this deeply religious part of the country, many look for traditional faith healers to receive treatment for various ailments. Faith healers have been around since antiquity and many Irish believe that certain people have God-given gifts to cure diseases. According to old Irish folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son has special healing powers, however, others get ‘the cure’ passed on to them by a parent or an older relative. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
DUBLIN, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 24, 2021: Dr. Bairbre Ní Fhloinn, the Head of Subject in Irish Folklore, in the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore at University College of Dublin, browses through archives at the Belfield Campus in South Dublin, Ireland. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
BALLINA, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 11, 2021: Faith Healer, Andrew Keane performed “the cure” for ring worms on two dogs from a neighbouring house in Cloghans, a small location outside Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. A construction worker by trade, Mr. Keane is just one of hundreds dotted across the country who are healers or have “the cure” as it’s commonly known here. Some, like him, are seventh sons, believed for generations to be healers, but others are keepers of customs passed down through their families that range from rituals, prayers and charms to herbal tinctures that are offered up as remedies for everything from burns to sprains to shingles and other ailments. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
BALLINA, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 28, 2021: Faith Healer, Andrew Keane and his children Élia and Kay, walk by the lake leading to their house in Cloghans, a small location outside Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. A construction worker by trade, Mr. Keane is just one of hundreds dotted across the country who are healers or have “the cure” as it’s commonly known here. Some, like him, are seventh sons, believed for generations to be healers, but others are keepers of customs passed down through their families that range from rituals, prayers and charms to herbal tinctures that are offered up as remedies for everything from burns to sprains to shingles and other ailments. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
BALLINA, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 11, 2021: Portraits of Faith Healer, Andrew Keane (bottom-right) and his siblings, can be seen hanging on a wall at the farmhouse he grew up in Cloghans, a small location outside Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. A construction worker by trade, Mr. Keane is just one of hundreds dotted across the country who are healers or have “the cure” as it’s commonly known here. Some, like him, are seventh sons, believed for generations to be healers, but others are keepers of customs passed down through their families that range from rituals, prayers and charms to herbal tinctures that are offered up as remedies for everything from burns to sprains to shingles and other ailments. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
BALLINA, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 11, 2021: Faith Healer, Andrew Keane, at the farmhouse he grew up in Cloghans, a small location outside Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. A construction worker by trade, Mr. Keane is just one of hundreds dotted across the country who are healers or have “the cure” as it’s commonly known here. Some, like him, are seventh sons, believed for generations to be healers, but others are keepers of customs passed down through their families that range from rituals, prayers and charms to herbal tinctures that are offered up as remedies for everything from burns to sprains to shingles and other ailments. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
BALLINA, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 12, 2021: View of Rathduff Church as seen from the driveway to Faith Healer’s Andrew Keane family home in Cloghans, a small location outside Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. A construction worker by trade, Mr. Keane is just one of hundreds dotted across the country who are healers or have “the cure” as it’s commonly known here. Some, like him, are seventh sons, believed for generations to be healers, but others are keepers of customs passed down through their families that range from rituals, prayers and charms to herbal tinctures that are offered up as remedies for everything from burns to sprains to shingles and other ailments. CREDIT: Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
