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It’s said that for nearly 200 years, residents of a small rural area in Northern Ireland called Boho (pronounced “bo”), have practiced a strange and solemn pilgrimage to a local chapel. But they don’t come to pray within the chapel walls. Instead, they’re here for the dirt outside.
The Sacred Heart Chapel’s churchyard contains the centuries-old grave of Father James McGirr, a former priest. The soil above his body, it’s believed, has healing properties. The sick and ailing take a pinch of the stuff, pray with it for four days, then bring it back.
The “Boho cure,” as it’s known, is still popular today, and those who practice it hope it will heal anything from brain hemorrhages to cancer. John Corrigan, an elderly local man known as “the merchant” for his business acumen, says that over the years, he has fetched spoonfuls of the soil for various people in need.
Though the cure may be nothing more than a manifestation of the placebo effect, Corrigan says he’s convinced “that there is definitely power in it.” Thanks to the Boho cure, he says, a friend of his regained consciousness…
