There is a mysterious crystal ball which was said to have curative properties and was the property of Lord Waterford who had the object preserved at his Curraghmore estate. 

It is described as a globe of almost transparent crystal, two and a half inches in diameter, the crystal ball was bound by silver and protected by a leather cover. According to a nineteenth century article, the ball was a
Power-Beresford heirloom and had been in the family for as long as anybody could remember.

Presumed to be of Eastern origin, there is a reference to the crystal ball in the 'Ancient and Present State of Waterford' which was published in 1746 and, even then, the report said it had been ''time out of mind in the family''.

Whatever about its benefits on human beings, by the 1800s the Curraghmore Crystal was almost exclusively sought by tenant farmers who believed it could cure murraine or 'black leg'. They placed the so called magic crystal into the drinking water of the infected cattle and it must have cured at least some of the animals otherwise the farmers would not have kept coming back looking for it.

However, by 1881, the family had stopped handing out the crystal globe and, when farmers came asking for it at the estate office, they were handed a printed card which outlined how to prepare a medical compound for 'Black Quarter' using, among other things, 'Rue, Savin and Garlic'.

 The crystal globe is still preserved at Curraghmore and in good shape.  The Marquis of Curraghmore, Lord Waterford still allows the use of the crystal to cure and protect cattle. It was, he said, used extensively to good effect during World War II and during the bad Foot and Mouth crisis of the late 1960s.

 Lord Waterford claims that the cattle treated with the crystal remain healthy afterwards and
nobody had ever disproved its curative powers. 

Many people believe in the curative powers of crystals today and they can be bought at many alternative health shops and 'New Age' shops and even places like the Ulster Museum sell a variety of crystals from quartz to amethyst.  

see also: Charms by Crystals by Lady Wilde

source: from the munster express online. (outside link)

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