All you wanted to know about Hawthorn but were afraid to ask:
Jim Carroll

Crataegus monogyna   Hawthorn, Whitethorn or May tree 18 April-15th May
7th month of Ogam Tree calander
6th consonant of the Ogham Alphabet

The hawthorn, whitethorn or Maybush, with its white blossoms and thorns is a symbol of May time, and of magical powers and the 'little people' or fairies. As such the hawthorn, especially the 'lone bush', has always been regarded with a mixture of fear and respect.

FOLK BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
There are many stories of harm and even death coming to those
who interfere with the fairy thorn, especially the 'lone bush', growing by itself in the open.1 For example, one story tells of a man who had uprooted a few hawthorn bushes from a fairy circle was found paralysed in his bed the next morning. In another tale a man who took thorn bushes to build his house from the churchyard in Cill Rialaig in Kerry was visited night after night by the fairies, until he returned them. An Ulster story tells of a farmhand who gathered fallen branches from under a fairy thorn to use on the fire. As soon she threw the twigs on the fire the farmer's best red cow feil down in a fit. The girl gathered up the twigs at once and returned them to the bush, and the cow then recovered. Another possible danger told of was that the passer by might get enticed by enchanted music coming from the fairy thorn or rath and be taken away. But one story tells of how the fairies could be generous. A farmer who heeded their warning not to build on a fairy circle was told to build between a certain pair of whitethorns. As he dug the foundations he found a pot of gold.
A widespread belief in Ireland, and elsewhere, was that hawthorn blossom was unlucky. A recent survey carried out by the Folklore Society in Britain found that hawthorn flowers were considered to be the most unlucky of plants, with death resulting if brought into a house. Recently it has been shown that a chemical present in the early stages of tissue decay is found in hawthorn blossoms, so perhaps an association with the smell of death is the cause.2 In common with other 'unlucky' trees it was widely held that whitethorn was the tree upon which Christ was crucified, and Christ's crown of thorns was also supposed to be made of whitethorn. In west Cork it was wrong to hit anyone with a stick of hawthorn as it was believed that there was a temper in the tree. If a stick of hawthorn was brought into the house there would be trouble as long as it was there. Similarly in Kerry hawthorn was supposed to have a poison or venom in it. One story from Connaught tells of blood spurting from a lone bush when felled and the person who witnessed this dying.
Whitethorn was also known for its general magical and protective powers.5 In Scotland the work of a cattle thief was thought to be made easier by waving a wand of hawthorn and chanting a rhyme which called on 'every beast that bears milk' to come to him.
Similarly, if a neighbour in Ireland used a whitethorn stick to drive his cattle, he was suspected of the worst. An old custom was that the first milk of a ncwly calved cow was taken and poured under a fairy tree as a tribute. Hawthorn was planted around houses to keep away witches. In Wales hawthorns of a huge size are often found near old houses. Hawthorn was also known for its powers of fertility. At a stone circle near Naas, County Kildare called Longstone Rath, girls hoping to get married hammered pins into a hawthorn tree growing inside the ring. An English tale tells of how, when a certain thorn bush was cut down no chicken would lay eggs, cow would calf, or woman have babies. The situation was only rectified when a new bush was planted.
The hawthorn featured heavily in Maytime customs both in Ireland and abroad.6 Throughout Ireland a suitable bush, usually hawthorn, was cut down and brought before the house or other conspicuous spot and decorated with flowers, ribbons, eggshells, and other bright scraps of material. Sometimes candles or rushlights were attached to the bush and lit at dusk on May Eve.
In Dublin in particular the festivities were marked by rival groups trying to steal each other's hawthorn bushes. In many places bonfires were lit beside the bush, and at the end of the festivities the bush would be thrown into it. In some places the tradition of leaving small gifts of food and drink at the foot of a lone bush or fairy fort was carried
out. In Kerry the custom of some older people was to leave hawthorn blossoms on the dresser during the month of May to keep away evil. In Laois sprigs of whitethorn which had been sprinkled with holy water were stuck down in the field on May Day to prevent the fairies from taking the crops.
In Pembrokeshire, in Wales, on May Eve people would turn out in troops bearing hawthorn branches in full blossom. The branches would be stuck outside the windows of the houses. However, it was unlucky to bring the branches indoors. In Carmarthenshire it was customary on May Eve to plant a whitethorn tree by the door of the house, and in Gwent a cross of birch or whitethorn over the door on May Eve was the commonest way of counteracting a witch's spell. In Cornwall the maid servant who brought a hawthorn branch inside of the house on May was entitled to a dish of cream.

LEGENDS AND MYTHOLOGY
The whitethorn is closely associated with holy wells. A survey carried by A.T. Lucas of 210 randomly chosen wells found that 103 had hawthorns present at them. Usually the wells were known for their healing properties and pilgrims often left offerings of rags hanging on the tree. One famous example is St Kieran's well at Clonmacnoise. On the saint's day people would hang offerings of rags on the whitethorn next to the well while they circled the well and prayed. Another such was All Saint's well near Banaher,
County Offaly where offerings were also left on the trees. St Patrick's well in Downpatrick has a thorn bush growing beside it and was believed to overflow and effect cures on Midsummer Eve.
A well associated with St Colmcille was called Tobar an Deilg (well of the thorn). The legend says that the saint had a thorn in his foot which he bathed at the well. The thorn came out and grew into a tree. In Listerling parish in County Kilkenny a thorn bush beside a holy well is believed to have grown from St Moling's walking stick.
There are also many well-known Tone bushes' which do not grow beside wells.8 The Maguire chiefs were inaugurated at a thorn tree in Lisnaskeagh fort, County Fermanagh. In County Kilkenny there was a St Leonard's Bush, a sprig or chip of which was believed to guard against shipwreck. In County Offaly there is a whitethorn associated with St Kieran which stands in the middle of the public road because the local authority dared not cut it down when the road was being widened. In England a famous hawthorn which was said to have grown at Glastonbury was believed to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea.
Eugene O'Curry describes an old Irish method of satire known as Glam Dichenn or 'Satire from the Hill Tops' involving the hawthorn.9 A poet fasted on the lands of a king on whom the satire was to be uttered and then joined six other poets at sunrise to visit the top of a hill where a hawthorn was growing. Their backs were to be turned to the tree, with a north wind blowing. Having a perforated stone and a thorn in both hands, each man sang a satirical verse. All seven then laid their stone and thorn under the hawthorn.
If they were in the wrong the ground would swallow them up, but if the king was in the wrong then this fate would bef all him and his wife, son, steed and hound. In Cath Maigue Tuiread (battle of Moytirra) the poet Cairpre, son of Étain, declares he will carry out this procedure in order to satirise his opponents the Fomhoire. The magician Merlin is also linked with the hawthorn. An early Welsh poem describes the abode of Merlin as being in a bush of whitethorn laden with bloom, while according to Breton legend Merlin lies in an enchanted sleep in the forest of Broceliande under the shade of a hawthorn tree.11 The Welsh poem the 'Cad Godeu' says: 'the whitethorn checked all its virus ached in the palm'.
Ysbaddaden Pencawr or 'Hawthorn Chief Giant' features in the Welsh tale of Culhwch and Olwen. Ysbaddaden is the jealous father who sets seemingly impossible tasks for the suitor Culhwch. He has one huge eye which requires attendants to raise his eyelids by means of forks, and is the Welsh equivalent of Balor of the Evil Eye.
This image of the huge single eye is believed to symbolise the scorching sun. Similarly Ysbidinongyl is a giant's castle in the Welsh tale of Peredur, which means something like 'thorny castle'.
In Norse mythology Odin's father, who is a giant, is called or 'evil thorn'. In Indian legend the thorn tree was believed to have grown from a claw and feather of the god of lightning Agni who assumed the form of a falcon. It is commonly believed in many regions of England today that thorn trees provide certain protection from lightning. The evidence suggests a link between the hawthorn and the god Belinus who is the Celtic Apollo. Belinus, like Apollo, was a solar god associated with healing, and many healing wells and springs on the continent were known to be dedicated to him.
The name Belinus meaning 'bright' or 'brilliant', is related to Balor in origin and the Irish name for May, 'Bealtaine', is believed to derive from 'Bel-Tine' or 'The Fire of Bel'. Also, the smith god Goibhniu, who is a variant of the sun god, features strongly in Irish folklore. Smiths were traditionally feared for their ability with spells and charms, and Goibhniu is invoked in an old Irish charm to
remove a thorn: Very sharp is the awl of Goibhniu, let Goibhniu walk away from it'.
SEASONAL PLACING
All of the evidence clearly places hawthorn in the season of Maytime and the start of the bright half of the year in Irish tradition.
Hawthorn is associated with the Ogham letter hUath which means 'Fear'.

THE USES OF HAWTHORN
Hawthorn was classified in early Irish law as an Aithig fedo or Commoner of the Wood. Although hawthorn's wood is tough, it
does not appear to have been used much in Ireland. The haws have been eaten but usually only when there is no other food available.