The Hungry Grass
In Irish folklore, there are patches of grass that look like any other. Step on one, and you're struck with a hunger so terrible you can't go on.
What was reported
Féar gortach, 'hungry grass', is a cursed patch of ground in Irish folklore. Anyone who walks across it is seized with sudden, overwhelming hunger and weakness, unable to walk any further, and could die if no one came to help.
Some said the patches were where someone had died of hunger and lay unburied, or where fairies had cursed the ground. Travellers carried a crust of bread or a few oats in their pockets, just in case.
Explanations offered
The belief is older than the Great Famine of the 1840s, but became bound up with memories of it, when around a million people died of hunger. It may also reflect the real, sudden weakness that can strike on long walks without food.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Mayo, Ireland
- Witnesses
- Irish folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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