Sweathouses

Sweathouse

This Sweathouse is located at Cleighranmore, between Drumshanbo and Ballinaglera. This Sweathouse is adjacent to a stream, for occupants to cool off in when they get out.

Courtesy of Leitrim County Library.

Sweathouse
Courtesy of Leitrim County Library.

Sweathouse

This Sweathouse is located at Cleighranmore, between Drumshanbo and Ballinaglera. This Sweathouse is adjacent to a stream, for occupants to cool off in when they get out.

Courtesy of Leitrim County Library.

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Sweathouses, a simple form of steam bath with physical and historical connections to saunas and Turkish and Roman baths, were once popular throughout the island. Small, beehive shaped buildings, built of clay, stone, or mortar, they were particularly common in counties Leitrim and Cavan, and have also been recorded in surrounding counties, as well as in Wicklow, Tipperary, and Cork. They were therapeutic, much like a modern day sauna; sometimes they were used by women as a beauty treatment. Sweating was said to cure rheumatism, pleurisy, pneumonia, colds, chills, fevers, headache, and pains.

A fire was lit inside several hours before the sweat house was used, and the ashes swept out. People stayed inside until they sweated. In some parts of Ireland, they then plunged into a cold river or stream – similar to the modern “plunge pool.” The practice has almost entirely died out – it has been recorded in a few places in recent years, largely as a revivalist custom in places such as Dunderry Park, a shamanic centre in Co. Meath – but the archaeological remains can still be seen throughout the country.