1. Head Carrying in Medieval Wexford and Modern Galway
Originally posted online on 21 March 2012 at rmchapple.blogspot.com
(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/head-carrying-in-medieval-wexford-and.html)
In my review of Anne Lynch’s recent publication Tintern Abbey, Co. Wexford:
Cistercians and Colcloughs. Excavations 1982-2007 I touched on the finding that some
of the women buried at the Abbey may have routinely carried heavy loads perched on
their heads. To be specific, O’Donnabhain (2010, 116) notes that among the sexed
females from the site, there was a marked increase in the rate of osteophytosis in the
neck than among the males. He notes that this observation correlates with an elevated
rate of arthritis of the cervical vertebrae. Taken together, it is postulated that these
conditions are evidence for the routine carrying of loads on the head. No published
references are cited in support of this thesis. Similarly, no parallels are drawn with any
comparable excavated skeletal collections from Ireland or elsewhere. From this I
understand that this is O’Donnabhain’s own theory. On one side, it is an interesting
speculation, consistent with the available evidence. On the other hand, it is an
observation not confirmed, as far as I am aware, in other excavated collections. Of
course, I realise that every change in our knowledge has to start somewhere, possibly
with someone bravely putting their head above the parapet to announce a previously
unnoticed fact. At one level my reservation about this theory was its apparent lack of
confirming data. At another level, I feel than my aversion to this proposal was that it
seemed too alien to my understanding of the Medieval past. I am familiar with the sight
of African and Asian women carrying loads in this manner, but to transport it to
Wexford seemed too much – it seemed ‘un-Irish’.

2. In short, I had plenty of reasons to like this intriguing and interesting speculation, but
just as many if not more for suspecting that it may be a bit thin on evidence. That is
probably where the matter would have rested for me. However, over Christmas 2011 my
mother, Maureen Chapple, and my sister, Katie, came to stay with my family and I in
Belfast. One evening our conversation touched on the fact that in the new year
(February 2012), my mother would be going to Kenya to assist the Building of
Hope charity. In the course of the conversation we discussed the traditional African
method of women carrying objects on top of their heads. As an aside, I mentioned that I
had recently read and reviewed the Tintern Abbey publication and how a number of
Medieval skeletons there had shown evidence of just such a practice. I remarked on how
I thought it was probably quite a local phenomenon, restricted to that part of Wexford,
around that time.
That was all well and good – properly scientific and logical - until my mother spoke up.
She told me that her Grandmother (my Great Grandmother) was well known in the area
where I grew up for being able to balance a full bucket of water on her head and carry it
home. Honor Mannion (nee O’Toole) was born around 1869 in Killeenaran, County
Galway. She married my Great Grandfather, John Mannion, in 1900, and died in 1947 in
Lissindrigan, near Craughwell, Co. Galway.
My reason for placing this anecdote on record is to, hopefully, increase the body of
knowledge surrounding this method of portage in Ireland. Until I found out about the
example from my own family, I was quite willing to downplay, if not wholly discount,
O’Donnabhain’s speculation. It may have been an interesting interpretation of the
evidence, but it would have been quite unlikely – or so I thought. Now I am starting to
wonder what other information is out there? Are there more stories of Grannies carrying
heavy loads around, perfectly balanced on their heads? Does anyone have a photograph
of an aged auntie doing just that? On its own it may have seemed odd, but as part of a
larger body of evidence it may just be a glimpse of a lost tradition. For the archaeologists
of Britain and Ireland reading this – do you have osteo reports that show elevated rates
of osteophytosis in the neck for female burials? Perhaps these may be interpreted or
reinterpreted in terms of head carrying. Maybe it is time to gather up the evidence and
reclaim head carrying as an Irish tradition.
Acknowledgments:
I am indebted to my mother, Maureen, for providing me with this anecdote and to my
sister, Kathryn, for providing me with the names and dates from her genealogical
research. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance provided by archaeologists Áine
Bradley and Philippa de Barra. Thank you all very much.
Notes:
Building of Hope is a county Clare based charity. Their 2012 project is to construct a
residential care centre for blind and partially sighted children in Likoni, Mombasa, in
Kenya. They are a wonderful charity and worthy of your support.

3. A Google search on this topic brings together quite an interesting collection of
references to research, videos etc. on head carrying.
Reference:
O’Donnabhain, B. 2010 ‘4.3 The human burials’ in Lynch, A. Tintern Abbey, Co.
Wexford: Cistercians and Colcloughs. Excavations 1982-2007. Dublin, 105-125.