Dubliners reveal what they do to ward off bad luck and attract good luck.
Disguised as a painter and decorator broadcaster Shay Healy sets a ladder against a wall in a busy Dublin city centre street to test how many people will go around the ladder and how many will go under it,
To find out just how superstitious my fellow citizens are.
A woman admits she walked around the ladder because she is superstitious. If she walks under the ladder,
I believe that it will bring me bad luck.
Another woman avoids walking under the ladder, not out of superstition, but because she fears a pot of paint will fall on her head. This woman, and a number of others, may not be superstitious about walking under ladders, but they have plenty of other seriously held superstitions.
Two young women are superstitious about magpies. When they see a lone magpie they always give it a salute to guard against bad luck. A man is perfectly happy to see two magpies as this signifies good luck coming his way.
A woman who broke a mirror that morning is superstitious enough to believe she will have seven years bad luck as a result. An elderly woman is superstitious about seeing a new moon through glass. Another woman believes if she drops her gloves it is unlucky for her to pick them up herself.
An elderly man is not superstitious, but thinks there is something about the date 13 May. In 1917 it was the date of the the first apparition of Our Lady to the children in Fatima. In 1981 it was the date of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. However neither date fell on a Friday.
Another elderly man pays no heed to Friday the 13th,
I don't know that there's any difference to any other day, I don't think that it's an unlucky day.
He reveals his lucky number is 26 because it is twice 13, demonstrating he has some belief in the inherent power of the number 13.
The track accompanying this clip is 'Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder.
This episode of ‘Evening Extra’ was broadcast on 12 February 1987. The reporter is Shay Healy.
