Category Archives: Holy Well

Doon Holy Well Through The Ages

Doon holy well is one of the most popular wells in Co Donegal. The well

…..was established by a Lector O’Friel who is reputed to have lived in the Fahans area and had remarkable curative powers. When the locals asked him what they would do once he was gone from them, his answer was the creation of Doon Well. According to tradition, he was supposed to have fasted for 18 days and on each of these days he walked from Fahans to Doon a distance of some four miles. On the 18th day he blessed the well promising that if the people believed in the holy water then they would receive the same cures and blessings that he had imparted to them. According to local tradition it was a Fr. Gallagher in the 1880’s who blessed the well and he is still prayed for as part of the turas.

https://www.downmemorylane.me.uk/Donegal%20D1.htm

The schools collection record a similar origin story in the 1930s.

The well was founded by Father O’Friel about thirty years ago, and it was blessed by Father Gallagher. When any person goes to Doon well, they have to say one our father and one hail Mary for the intentions of these priests. It was people named Gallagher’s who put the shelter around it. When we go to Doon well, we have to go to the people that are in charge of it and get a penny ticket from which to say the prayers.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1083, Page 047 (Letterkenny, Co. Donegal).

Doon well is situated in the front yard of a farm house. The holy well is covered by a small stone walled rectangular structure, with a large flat flagstone roof. The area around the well is paved and a series of steps provide access to the interior of the well. The well and its surrounding are very well maintained.

Doon holy well photo taken in 2016

There are two small rag trees beside the well. The trees are covered in a wide variety of offerings left by pilgrims. The offerings include religious medal, hair ties, rosary beads, religious statues and scapula. The volume of offerings show how popular the spot is still with pilgrims.

Rag trees at Doon holy well photo taken in 2016

Doon holy well it is a living landscapes ever evolving. Its current vista was created in the early 2000s. This photo essay uses images of Doon holy well from the photographic collections in the National Library of Ireland (NLI) and the National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) to show how the well has changed over time and to provide a glimpse of how pilgrims experienced Doon well over a 100 years ago.

Landscape surrounding Doon holy well photo taken in 2016

At the turn of the twentieth century the well was located in an open marshy landscape.

Doon well is situated in the parish of Kilmacrenan. It is situated in a green field by the roadside. It is a hilly rocky place, and there are a lot of hills and rocks around it. There is white and purple heather growing on the rocks, and people when they go to the well, go in search of the White heather, as it is very scarce around our district.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1083, Page 047 (Letterkenny, Co. Donegal)
Doon_Well,_Donegal_Highlands,_Termon,_Co._Donegal_(25933945433)
Eason Photographic Collection Date: between ca. 1900-1939 NLI Ref: EAS_1042

The well was originally an open natural spring. It was covered with stones to keep the waters clean some time in the 1800’s.

It is a long time since the well was first sheltered by stones which are built around it to keep the water clean and a large flat stone known as a flag was placed on top.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1083, Page 036

A photo of two women praying at the well from circa 1870-1890 shows the well covered by a collection of large stones stacked on top of each other.

Women praying at Doon holy well from circa. 1870-1890 in The Eblana Photograph Collection (NLI)

Another early image of the well also in the National Library of Ireland (NLI) collections shows the well in a similar state. The photo show an elderly woman crouch in prayer beside the well. The woman’s expression is incredibly soulful and haunting.

Doon Well at Kilmacrenan in Co. Donegal. Date: 1860-1883 NLI Ref.: STP_1720

In later images the well has a more formal covering, with a large flat flag stone used as a roof. A photo was taken by Robert French in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century and shows the well surrounded by low wall on three sides covered with a large flat flag stone. The walls are made up by irregular shaped stones of different sizes. The area surrounding the well is without grass pointing to continuous traffic of pilgrims, who made “rounds” of the well.

Doon holy well at the turn of the 20th century taken by Robert French of Lawrence Photographic Studios, NLI Ref.: L_ROY_09330
Doon holy well at the turn of the 20th century taken by Robert French of Lawrence Photographic Studios, NLI Ref.: L_ROY_09330

A photo in the NMNI collections, from the 1930s shows additional changes to the well superstructure. In the photo the superstructure has been extended and a second flat stone used as part of the roofing of the well.

Doon holy well in the 1930s from the A. Hogg collection in the NMNI

Modern visitors may be surprised that the rag tree beside the well are a more recent addition to the landscape. In times past the well was surrounded by crutches and sticks covered in bandages and cloths. Rags were also tied to bushes close to the well.

In the past it was common for pilgrims who believed they had been healed to leave behind their crutches and bandages and rags at the the well. Interestingly when I visited Doon well in 2016 there were 2 crutches left at the rag trees.

A boy from the Ross’as was cured at Doon well. He was lying for seven years before that. It was his aunt that took him to Doon well at first. The first thing that a person notices at Doon well are the two new crutches that he left behind him when he was cured.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1054B, Page 09_056 (Meenagowan,Co. Donegal)
8516506172_ac2c9db660_o.jpg
National Folklore collection Flickr (https://flic.kr/p/dYzjzj)

Lots of people were cured at that well. Crippled people used to come with crutches to the well and walk home without them, cured.

Modern crutch left at Doon holy well photo taken in 2016

Along with reciting set prayers, pilgrims in search of healing washed their limbs in the wells waters.

Pilgrims in prayer at Doon holy well circa 1860-1883)

The people drink it and wash the affected parts with it. They also take bottles of water home with them. You have to wash your feet in moss water and lift the water while still on the bare feet.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1085, Page 126-7.

The tradition of leaving behind offerings at the well is a long standing tradition. In the 1930s pilgrims left handkerchiefs and strips of cloth along with religious medals (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1085, Page 126 (Woodland, Co. Donegal).

Two shawled woman kneeling in prayer at Doon holy well the NMNI the Bigger collection BELUM.Y10247

It is the custom always to leave something behind you at the well, some leave a hanky, others leave little things belonging to themselves. People take the water home with them from Doon Well.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1076, Page 431

Doon holy well is visited throughout the year. Two main vigils are held here, one on New Year’s Eve and the other on May Eve.

People go to Doon well on St Swithin’s day, St Patricks day, and Easter Sunday.
They very often go on any week day, but usually on a Saturday or a Sunday.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1084, Page 036
Pilgrims at Doon holy Well taken circa between 1865-1914 L_ROY_09332

A plaque at the well details the prayers made by modern pilgrims. Modern pilgrims say five Our Father and Hail Mary and the Apostles Creed for their intention. These prayers are repeated if the pilgrim decides to take water from the well. Pilgrims also say an Our Father and Hail Mary for Father O’Friel and also an Our Father and Hail Mary for Father Gallagher who blessed the well. An additional Our Father and Hail Mary is recited for the person who put the shelter around the well. Pilgrims throughout the decades have made their prayers in their barefeet while walking in circles around the well.

Plaque detailing pilgrim prayers at Doon holy well.

There are many photos from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with pilgrims making their prayer and barefoot at the well.

Pilgrims making round at Doon well barefoot in the early twentieth century

In the 1930s the pilgrim rituals are described as follows

To make a pilgrimage correctly one has to fasting and when he comes in sight of the well their shoes must be taken off as it is believed the ground is blessed. He washes his feet in the water, which is to be got all around. Then the prayers are proceeded with Five Our Fathers, Give Hail Mary’s, and Five Glorias in honour of Father O Gallagher and Father O Friel, and the same for the person who sheltered the Holy Well. Also a creed for every bottle of Holy water lifted.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1083, Page 036

I hope this post inspires some of you to visit Doon well, its such an interesting place. Its also located close to Doon Rock the former inauguration site of the O’Donnells. The Voices from the Dawn blog has a very interesting blog post on the Rock of Doon.


References

The Rock of Doon

https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000560011

http://hiddendonegal.town.ie/page/holywellsandabbey

https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000317831

https://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=Doon&t=CbesTranscript&p=4&ct=DG

The Holy Well and Medieval Church at Drumcoo, Co Galway

St Sourney (Sairnait in Irish), is the patron saint of the holy well and medieval church at Drumacoo, Co Galway (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 34). Sourney was a holy woman who lived in Ireland during the sixth century, little is known about her life. She is also the patron of the small early medieval church of Teampall Asurnaí (St Sourney’s Church) at the village of Eochaill on Inismore. Tradition holds she also founded a monastery at Drumcoo during lifetime. Her feast day was celebrated on the 3rd May.

The schools collection for Ballinderreen, Co. Galway record an interesting folk tale relating to the saint.

Saint Surney sent one of her servants to Island Eddy for a coal, the servant went and she got the coal from the woman of the house who put it into her pinafore and as she was coming home the coal burned ahole in her pinafore. The saint was vexed when she saw the hole and she cursed Island Eddy and she said that anyone would come from island Eddy to Arran with a dry feet and the sea came between Island Eddy and Arran and the people never come out without a boat. Saint Surney was a very holy woman and she never cursed until she cursed Island Eddy. A little girl always stayed with the saint till after her death. The saint used to pray for hours every day and every one knew she was a saint because she used to pray very often.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0033B, Page 03_004

The modern visitor to Drumcoo will find a multi-period church surrounded by a later historic graveyard.

2927
View of St Sourney’s Church, the site of an early medieval monastery at Drumacoo, Co Galway

The oldest part of Drumcoo church can be seen in the north wall and the west gable. The style of masonry and the flat lintel doorway (trabeate doorway) suggest the presence of a simple pre-Romanesque style stone church that was later modified.

The southern wall is later and dates to around the mid thirteenth century. This wall has a very fine pointed doorway with intricately carved features including the heads of a number of cats. The door is the work of a very skilled crafts person.

The beautiful S. door is one of the minor masterpieces of the Connacht Transitional style and seems, like the E. windows, to be the work of the Boyle-Cong-Knockmoy-Corcomroe school of masons.

(Killanin & Duigan 1967, 318).

The east gable of the church has two fine carved single-light windows, one of which was blocked up. On either side of the windows are finely carved pointed aumbry.

View of the east gable in the interior of Drumcoo Church

A large and striking mausoleum built in 1830, is attached to the north eastern end of the church. The mausoleum was built to house the bodies of Arthur and Harriet St George.

The earliest recorded evidence of pilgrimage at Drumcoo dates to the nineteenth century, but its likely the tradition of pilgrimage was much older.

The 1st edition Ordnance Survey map shows an extensive pilgrim landscape surrounds the church, a holy bush, a saints bed and the holy well, all were dedicated to St Sourney.

1st edition Ordnance Survey map for Drumcoo

The contemporary Ordnance Survey Letters Co Galway (1838) also records these religious stations.

Sórnach [Sourney] whose Bed (Leabaidh), bush (tseach) and well (tobar) are shewn in the townland of Drumacoo.

(Herity 2009, 75)

St Sourney’s bush does not appear on later ordnance survey maps suggesting devotions and local interest in the tree ceased after this time.

St Sourney’s bed was described in 1890 as

one of those stone cells in which many of our early Saints loved to do penance. It measures about 6 feet [1.83m] in length by 4 [1.22m] in width externally.

(Fahey 1893, 33)

In 1980’s the bed was described as

completely ivy-covered and consisted of a rectangular mass of stone (L 2.6m; Wth 2m; H 1.7m) aligned N-S. According to local information, it was subsequently destroyed during a graveyard clean-up.

Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG

Only St Sourney’s holy well has survived, although it was rebuilt in the 1980’s using stones from St Sourney’s bed.

The well was recently rebuilt by a work crew who unfortunately took the stones to build it from what was reputedly St. Sairnait’s cell or ‘bed’

https://www.visitgalway.ie/explore/religious-and-spiritual/holy-wells/st-sourneys-well/

The holy well is located a short distance to the southwest of the medieval church.  The well is enclosed by a circular stone wall.

St Sourney’s Holy Well Drumcoo Co Galway

A gap in the wall provided access into a circular area covered by gravel. The holy well sits at the centre, below ground level. Stone steps provide access to the stone lined interior of the well. When I visited the well it was dry.

Interior of the Sourney’s Holy Well Drumcoo

Its was said that the wells water was an effective cure for a pain in the head. In the 1930’s those in search of healing would visit the holy well and devotions performed on two consecutive Mondays and the intervening Thursday.

If a person is subject to a constant headache he goes to this well for a cure. He goes to the well three times, on Monday,Thursday and the following Monday. Every time he visits the well he should leave something, if only a button, on a bank of earth which is raised beside the well.
He says certain prayers at the well, then he brings a bottle of water from the well and washes his forehead with it every day.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0033B, Page 01_047

Details of the pilgrim rounds at St Sourney’s Holy Well

Bibliography

Fahey, J.A. 1893 (Reprint 1986) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Kilmacduagh. Galway. Kenny Gallery.

Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG. Church GA103-118001, https://maps.archaeology.ie/HistoricEnvironment/

Higgins, J.G. 1987 The Early Christian cross slabs, pillar stones and related monuments of County Galway, Ireland, 2 vols. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 375. Oxford.

Herity, M. 2009. Ordnance Survey Letters Galway. Dublin: Fourmasters Press

Killanin, M.M. and Duignan, M.V. 1967 (2nd ed.) The Shell guide to Ireland. London. The Ebury Press.

Harbison, P. 1970 (Reprint 1992) Guide to the national monuments in the Republic of Ireland. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan.

http://www.visitgalway.ie/explore/religious-and-spiritual/holy-wells/st-sourneys-well/

The Tybroughney Pillar Stone Co Kilkenny

The Tybroughney pillar, an early medieval pillar stone in the townland of Tybroughney/Tibberaghny, Co Kilkenny is one of the most interesting early medieval carvings in Ireland.

The townland of Tybroughney is associated with two saints. The first is St Fhachna, who is tthe patron of a holy well that gives its names to the townland. The name Tybroughney Tiobra Fhachna translates as St Fhachna’s holy well.

The second saint is St Modomnoc a hermit who founded a monastery here in the sixth century. The former monastery is said to be located at the ruins of the medieval church of Tybroughney.

Tybroughney church is located close to the site of a medieval castle and the main Waterford-Clonmel railway line. You have to cross a field to get to the church and graveyard. A fine stone gateway into the field has a plaque on commemorating St Modomoc,

Tybroughney Graveyard and Church in Ruin. 6th century monastery of St Modomnoc who brought the first bees to Ireland.

Information sign of the on pillar leading to Tybroughney church and graveyard.

Like St Gobnait, St Modomnoc has a strong connection with bee keeping and bees.

The patron saint of Tybroughney is St Modhomhnoc. He is said to have been the first to introduce bees into Ireland. During his sojourn with St David, in Menevia, he had charge of the bees of the monastery, and attended them with the greatest care, so much that they were fruitful of honey in his hands. When he was returning thence to Ireland, and had biddin farewell to the holy abbot and monks, and had entered the coracle, to set sail, the bees, forming a large swarm came and settled in the boat along with him. Modhomhnoc, unwilling to the monastery of this treasure, brought them back to their hive. A second time, however, as he again entered the boat, they followed him, and, when he again brought them back, they repeated the same a third time. St David hearing this told him to bring the bees with him to Erin

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0843, Page 345

The church is found beside railway gates. It is difficult to examine the church and surrounding graveyard as it is very overgrown. The 1st edition Ordnance Survey map dating to the 1840s, shows the church as a rectangular building while the later 25″map shows it as a nave and chancel church.

The Ordnance Survey Letters of Kilkenny 1839 described the church

The ruins of the church of Tiobtrait Fachtna (Note added: Tybroughney) stand in the Townland of that name and consist of Nave and Choir, the former 50 feet 8 inches by 30 feet 10 inches, the Choir 28 feet 9 inches by 18 feet 10 inches. The northern half of the west gable remains to about the height of 20 feet and half the north wall attached to it about 14 feet high, south wall and middle gable level with the ground…..The walls of the Nave are built of middle sized limestown and mortar, 2 1/2 feet think and not older I should think the 16th century, but the wall of the Choir are built of very large well formed, tho irregularly laid blocks of granite, and 3 feet 2 inches thick, very much resembling the wall of the Church of Kilcroney near Bray, in the County Wicklow.

(Herity 2003, 155).

Manning (2012, 154) describes the church as a medium-sized with antae. The west gable is still upstanding but it is very hard to say much else about the church.

Tybroughney medieval parish church is covered in thick vegetation

Part of the graveyard that surrounds the church was destroyed in 1851 when the by railway line was built. This event was clearly remember decades later locally. The Schools Collection for Piltown School,

The railway line now runs through this old graveyard. It was constructed in 1851. When it was being made the workmen came upon a large number of human skeletons. The skeletons lay along under the surface in single file and were so close together that there were no coffins used in their interment. This shows there was an ancient monastery here or if not it was the resting place of warriors slain in some local battle.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0842, Page 288
View of Tybroughney medieval church and graveyard from across the railway tracks

The holy well which gives its name to the townland is located on the other side of the railroad tracks in scrub. I didn’t have time to search for the well on my visit here but will hopefull get back there soon. In the early nineteenth century a pattern day was held here on the13th February (Herity 2003, 157).

The Tybroughney pillar stone sits beside the church ruins, on a small patch of ground defined by low curbing. This area also contains a plain undercoated stone with an oval shaped hollow and seems to be font. There is also a rectangular stone covered in moss.

Carved pillar and font at Tybroughney medieval church

The pillar stone is decorated on all four sides with very elaborate and unusual carvings. The top of the stone appear to have been damaged in antiquity. Unfortunately my photos don’t do justice to the carving on the pillars but at different times of the day the light does brings out many of its details.

The east face face of the pillar decorated with an elaborate pattern of spirals. The pattern brings to mind spiral designs on one of the carpet pages in the beautiful Book of Durrow.

Similar spiral patterns also appear on the nearby early medieval high crosses at Ahenny Co Tipperary and Kilkieran Co Kilkenny.

The pillar was drawn in 1908 by Henry Crawford for his article ‘Description of a Carved Stone at Tybroughney, Co. Kilkenny.’ The pillar was also photographed by Helen Role for the book The High Crosses of Western Ossory.

The west face of the Tybroughney pillar has a large creature possible a centaur – a half man and half horse- holding an axe in both its hands. A centaur ‘ by his dual nature was held to symbolise the conflict between Good and Evil’ ( Roe 1962, 33).

Two smaller creatures stand above the main figure, one is a lion and the other is whippet like creature.

The southern side of the pillar closest to the railway tracks, his two mythical creatures. The lower figure is a manticora – the body of a lion and the head of a man- above the manticore is a ‘whippet-like creature’ ( Roe 1962, 33).

This may possibly be the Hyaena of the Bestiary, which scavenges in burial places and consequently was taken as a symbol of the Devil who battens the flesh of sinners.

(Roe 1962, 33)

The north face of the pillar has two figures, a stag and a lion. The stag ‘has various association, chief of which is as a symbol of Christ and his victory over Satan’ (Roe 1962, 33).

I really think this pillar would be a great candidate for photogrammetry. I hope to pay another visit here again soon to see the holy well so will keep you posted.

Bibliography

Crawford, H. (1908). Description of a Carved Stone at Tybroughney, Co. Kilkenny. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 38(3), fifth series, 270-277.

Manning, Conleth. “Kilferagh, Co. Kilkenny: a Medieval Parish and Its Church.” The Journal of Irish Archaeology, vol. 21, 2012, pp. 139–156. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/jirisarch.21.139. Accessed 10 May 2021.

O’Kelly, O. 1985. The Place-Names of County Kilkenny- The Kilkenny Archaeological Society Rothe House Kilkenny.

Roe, H. M. 1962. High Crosses of Western Ossory. Kilkenny: Kilkenny Archaeology Society,

http://www.megalithicireland.com/Tybroughney%20Pillar%20Stone,%20Kilkenny.html

https://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/your-community/71035/Tybroughney-Castle—Bastion-of.html

St Ailbe’s Holy Well, Emly Co Tipperary

Over the last few years, I’ve visited alot of holy wells all over around Ireland. St Ailbe’s holy well in the village of Emly Co Tipperary is one of the most interesting.

The village of Emly can trace its origins back to a monastery founded by the Pre-Patrican saint known as Ailbe. The saint’s death is recorded for the year 528 in the Irish annals.

Repose of Ailbe of Imlech Ibuir

The Annals of Ulster 528

His monastery known as Imleach Iubhair ‘the lakeside at a yew tree’ went on to become one of the most important ecclesiastical sites in Munster and in later centuries Emly became a Diocesan centre.

The ecclesiastical site was located at the modern Catholic church and graveyard. Unfortunately little of the early or medieval ecclesiastical remains have survived.

St Ailbe’s Catholic Church Emly

The annals provide some insight into what Emly would have looked like. In 1058 the great stone church (daimhliag) and the round tower (cloictheach) were burnt.

Imleach-Ibhair was totally burned, both Daimhliag and Cloictheach.

Annals of the Four Masters 1058

A circular enclosure surrounded the main ecclesiastical buildings. The outline of the enclosure is still preserved in the modern road and field pattern surrounding the catholic church (Farrelly 2014).

Aerial view of the village of Emly Bing Maps

Further traces of the medieval past survive in architectural fragments incorporated into the modern graveyard wall. A stone plaque close to the main entrance to the graveyard and church which bears the inscription

LOCVS IN QVEM INTRAS TERRA SANCTA EST 1641 R. IONES PCENT

The inscription roughly translates as ‘The place wherein you enter is holy ground’ (Farrelly 2014 after pers. comm. Gerard Crotty).

Plaque with inscription LOCVS IN QVEM INTRAS TERRA SANCTA EST 1641 R. IONES PCENT’ located close to the entrance to Emly church and graveyard.

A medieval stoup, ‘consisting of bowl, shaft and base, composed of a conglomeration of sandstone, granite and quartz’ sits at the east door to the modern church (Farrelly 2014).

Medieval Stoup at eastern doorway at St Ailbe’s church Emly

The wall to the right of the entrance to the east end of the church incorporates two carved heads from the former medieval cathedral, along with the base of a medieval graveslab. All date to the 13th/14th-century (Farrelly 2014).

Medieval carved stone heads and graveslab in the wall opposite east door of the modern church.

St Ailbe’s holy well can be found in the north-eastern corner of the graveyard. It was probably used as a water source for the religious community. In 1898 the well supplied the surrounding village with water.

Image of St Ailbe’s holy well 1898 from Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1898, Vol. 4, No. 39 page 174.

St Ailbe’s well is a very deep spring found at the base of 5m deep circular dry-stone lined shaft (internal diameter of 1.2m). The Ordnance Survey Letter for County Tipperary written in the 1840’s suggests the well was 7m deep.  The upper section of the shaft was replaced in the nineteenth century by a cut limestone surround. Accounts from the late 1890s recall that a railing surrounded the well.

St Ailbe’s holy well Emly

During the twentieth century the top of the well was covered by low concrete capping, incorporating a metal door/hatch. Today hatch provides a view into the interior of the well.

St Ailbe’s holy well

Due to the depth of the well a torch is required to see the interior in any detail . At the base of the well you can still see the water.

View into St Ailbe’s holy well

According to folklore the well was formed when

St. Ailbe jumped from the top of the hill of Knockcarron to where the well stands now and that is what caused the well to be there.

Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0580, Page 013

The well is still visited by local people throughout the year but rounds are no longer performed.

  • View of interior of St Ailbe’s holy well with flash

I have not come across any medieval references to pilgrimage at the well. Rounds were performed by pilgrims up to the middle of the twentieth century. Local folk memory recalls that a pattern day was held at the well on the 12th of September, the feast of St Ailbe.

Local memory and historical sources suggest that in the past the pilgrimage rituals were focused on the holy well and an early medieval cross, known as St Ailbe’s Cross. The cross is located a short distance from the well.

St Ailbe’s Cross Emly

Tradition held that the cross marked the saints grave (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0580, Page 011). The cross is made of sandstone and has an imperforate ringed cross. A small stone sits on top of the cross.

In the past pilgrims traditionally visited the holy well on the feast day of St Ailbe or within the Octave of his feast day.

In the 1930’s, pilgrims began their prayers by saying five Our Fathers and Hail Marys at the holy well. They then recited three rosaries while walking around the graveyard.  If the pilgrim visited on a day other than the feast they carried out the same prayers at the holy well but recited nine rosaries while walking clockwise around the graveyard.  Other accounts recall pilgrims walking around the well nine times and every three times they circle the well they say the rosary. They then made five rounds around the graveyard reciting the rosary on each round.

Pilgrims also visited St Ailbe’s cross. Its was tradition for all who passed the cross to make Sign of the Cross.

The Sign of the Cross is made by the people on it with three stones which are laid on top of it. Long ago the people used swear by the Holy Stone of Emly. Every time people respect it as they pass it by carving a cross on it with stones.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0580, Page 016

The cross was also said to cure back pain when the back was pressed against the cross and a prayer to the saint uttered. People without back pain performed the same ritual to strengthen their backs.

When a person has a pain in his back he would get it cured by putting his back against the stone and praying to St Ailbe. When a person has no pain in his back and to do the same it would strengthen his back.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0580, Page 016

The waters of the well are said to be a cure for rheumatism and also to repeal birds from damaging crops.

People take the water from the well to drink. When St Ailbe was young he was sent into a garden to keep birds off of it and since that people go to the well, and take water from it and sprinkle it on the corn to keep the birds away.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0580, Page 013

Although there are no records relating to pilgrimage during medieval times, Emly would surely have possessed relics of the saint and attracted pilgrims. Perhaps the tradition of devotion to the holy well and cross may be much older then the nineteenth century.

Bibliography

Farrelly, J. 2014. TS065-013 (Emly) https://maps.archaeology.ie/HistoricEnvironment/

Long, R. H. 1998. ‘Cashel and Emly Diocese. With a pedigree of Cellachan, king of Cashel, and an account of some other kings of Munster’ Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1898, Vol. 4, No. 39, 170-­185.

O’Dwyer, M. and O’Dwyer, L. 1987. The parish of Emly: its history and heritage.

O’Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Tipperary collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840. Bray.

Irish Tourist Association, ‘Emly Irish Tourist Association Report,’ Tipperary Archive, accessed November 8, 2020, http://www.tippstudiesdigital.ie/items/show/1147.

Websites

Schools Collections https://www.duchas.ie

https://www.logainm.ie

St Leonard’s Holy Well at Dunnamaggin Co Kilkenny

St Leonard (St Léonard-de-Noblat) was a sixth century Frankish hermit. He went on to become a very popular medieval saint. The saint’s primary shrine was found at Noblat in France. Over the centuries vast numbers of people from all over Europe made pilgrimage here. Devotion to the saint was enhanced by his shrine’s location on the Via Vézelay – a well trodden pilgrimage route- to the St James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Pilgrim badge from the shrine of St Leonard at Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat, France dating to the 13th-14th century (https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/28996.html)

St Leonard was the patron saint of imprisoned people and women in labour. Medieval descriptions of his shrine recall that it was adorned with offerings of iron chains and shackles left by pilgrims who believed they were released them from their captivity due to the saint’s intercession (Gerson et al 1998, 47).

St Leonards cult also came to Ireland but never achieve a widespread popularity. A holy well dedicated to St Leonard can be still be found in the village of Dunnamaggin Co Kilkenny.

St Leonard’s Holy well Dunnamaggin Co Kilkenny surrounded by a circular hedge

I have come across only two other dedications to the saint. The first, St. Leonard’s Priory, a monastery of Fratres Cruciferi or Crutched Friars, was established in the medieval town of Dundalk in the twelfth century. The priory was, founded by Bertram or Nicholas de Verdun and was situated in the grounds of the present county library. The second dedication was located in the medieval town of Waterford where a chapel dedicated to St Leonard was located in the Benedictine priory. The saint’s feast day was also recorded in The Book of Obits and Martyrology of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin where the last entry for November 6th reads

Et sancti Leonardi abbatis et confesson

Crosswaith 1844, 71

St Leonard’s cult probably arrived in Dunnamaggin area with the Anglo-Normans. The holy well is located a short distance from the ruins of the medieval parish church of Dunnamaggin, also dedicated to St Leonard.

Medieval parish church of Dunnamaggin

The 1st edition ordnance survey 6 inch map for the area tentatively point to another cult associated with the well. The well is clearly marked as St Rynagh’s well on the map.

1st edition 6inch maps showing St Leonard’s holy well marked as St Rynagh holy well OSI map.

Rynagh is the anglicisation of Ríoghnach. The saint may be the early medieval female saint, Rioghnach of Kilrainy in Co Kildare. Interestingly the contemporary Ordnance Survey Letters of Kilkenny written in 1839 only associated the well with St Leonard and makes no mention of St Rioghnach at all. She is not mentioned in Carrigan’s The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory either or in any local folklore sources.

The well is located in a field beside the main road through Dunnamaggin village. The field can be easily accessed through a style in the boundary wall.

St Leonard’s Holy well Dunnamaggin Co Kilkenny is surrounded by circular hedge

The well is enclosed by a circular hedge and a small metal gate provides access to the interior. The hedge respects the line of an earlier circular enclosure, which was ‘ almost levelled’ by the 1900’s (Carrigan 1905, 38).

The holy well is a natural spring. Its waters fill a circular stone lined hollow set flush to the ground. On one side there is a over flow which takes the water into a stone drain.

ISt Leonard’s holy well Dunnamaggin

The well is over looked by a modern statue niche now filled by a metal cross bearing the saint’s name and a number of mature trees.

Statue niche at St Leonard’s holy well.

Some years ago the well was restored by the current land owner and a local committee. It is very clear that the well and surrounding area are maintained on a regularly basis, the day I visited the grass had been recently cut.

St Leonard’s holy well

The schools collections, local folklore and antiquarian sources record a number of traditions associated with the well. Like many other Irish wells it was said the water would never boil.

Another tradition held that St Leonard provided protection to local people from lightening.

St. Leonard prayed that no one within three mile of Dunnamaggin would be struck by lightning. His prayer was granted.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0853, Page 069

The well was once the focus of great devotion but was in decline by the mid-19th century. According the Ordnance Survey Letters 1839

There was a patron held here formerly, on Saint Leonard’s day, but what day that was nobody now remembers.

Ordnance Survey Letters [92-93]

It is not entirely true that the saints feast day was forgotten the schools collection for Dunamaggin school from the 1930s mention that

until recent years a pattern used be held there annually on the 6th November.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0853, Page 068

The 6th of November is the feast day of the saint. The schools essays for Newtown, Kells also note

The well was visited by people on the second or third Sunday in November and there are prayers said there by the people who visit it.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0858B, Page 02

Pilgrimages were also made in the summer months

Kilmaggany people visited it (St Leonard’s Well) during the month of July and took a drink of the water & washed their feet in the stream which flows from the well. It was believed to cure pains in the limbs.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0852, Page 294

Other cures are associated with the well’s waters include a cure for sore eyes.

The water would cure sore eyes when washed three times on different days. There is a big flag-stone at the side of the well.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0852, Page 295

The pilgrim landscape extends beyond the well and includes a tree called St. Leonard’s Tree. I didn’t have time on my visit to find the tree. In times gone by pilgrims visited the tree as part of their pilgrimage rounds. Carrigan noted that mass used to be celebrated beneath it. Like a number of other holy trees it was believed to have protective properties

Until recent years natives of the place would never think of emigrating without bearing away with them a sprig or chip cut from Crownsanleeanarth [name for the tree], as a preservative against shipwreck on their voyage to foreign lands.

Carrigan 1905, 38

During the cholera epidemic of 1832

people carried about with them little scraps from the bush to save themselves from the prevailing epidemic.

Carrigan 1905, 38

In the past people often turned to holy wells in times of crisis and outbreaks of disease. The well house at Abbeys well, in the parish of Kilshannig in North Cork was built in the 1870’s to give thanks for the saint expelling disease from the parish. Over the door is a stone plaque that reads “St, Abigal Expelling The Plague A.D. 1872,”

Carrigan in 1905 notes the order of the former rounds undertaken by pilgrims.

The pilgrimage used to begin within the enclosure, at the well ; was continued thence to the road ; and then along the road, to the present chapel, where it ended.

Carrigan 1905, 38

This is confirmed by the schools collections.

Rounds were made there long ago – people used go from the Well to the Church.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0852, Page 293

An alabaster statue of the saint was discovered at well in the 1800s and was then given to the care of St. Kieran’s College but is now in possession of the current owner of well.

In 1800, Brennans found a stone statue, which they kept in Dunnamaggan, in the well. It is about one foot high & represents a bishop dressed in sacred vestments & holding a staff in his left hand. The head was broken off & lost. The statue is the same as that on the foot of the Dunamaggan Cross. In 1875, Mr James Brennan handed it over to St Kieran’s College Museum where it is still to be seen

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0852, Page 293

Carrigan noted that after the statues discovered before it was given to St Kierans College it was used to swear upon. There are many medieval references to medieval statues and relics being used in oath taking.

… in cases of dispute among the neighbours, the contending parties were accustomed to make declarations with hand placed upon this statue, believing that testimony thus given had all the binding force of an oath.

Carrigan 1905, 38

The radio station KCLR has a made a lovely radio documentary about the well which is worth taking a listen to.

Episode 7 – St Leonard’s Well

Biography

Carrigan, W. 1905. The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory. Dublin : Sealy, Bryers & Walker.

Crosswaite, J. 1844. The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity: Commonly Called Christ Church. Dublin. For the Irish Archaeology Society.

Curran, A. 1971.“The Priory of St. Leonard, Dundalk.” Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, vol. 17, no. 3, 131–140.

Gearson, P., Krochalis, J., Shaver-Crandell, A. and Stones, A. 1998. The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela: A Critical Edition. London: Harvey Miller.

Hennig, J. 1944. “St. Leonard in Ireland.” Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society, vol. 10, no. 4, 297–301.

Herity, M. (ed) 2003, Ordnance Survey Letters Kilkenny. Dublin: Four Masters Press.

Website

Schools Collections https://www.duchas.ie

https://kclr96fm.com/documentary/episode-7-st-leonards-well/embed/#?secret=uFn1FTo1Sl

https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/28996.html

St Leonard’s Well, Dunnamaggin, Kilkenny

St David’s Holy Well, Woodhouse, Co. Waterford

St David’s holy well -Tobar Chinnín Dháithí – is one of my favourite holy wells in the whole country. This isnt a statement I make likely.

The main thing I love about the well is that it is very fortunate to have escaped the over use of cement that many Irish holy wells experienced in the 1950’s or some of the bad “restoration” work of the 1980’s-2000’s – the holy well at Brulee, Co Limerick immediately springs to mind. The charm of St David’s holy well is its simplicity. When you stand at the waters edge there is a real connection with the past and you can imagine your experience is very similar to pilgrims 100 or 200 years ago. The trees, flowers and bush that surround the well also help to connect the visitor to the natural world of which holy well are very much rooted.

Grove of trees surrounding St David’s Holy Well at Woodhouse

St David’s well is situated in an out of the way grove of trees on private land. In appearance it is very like the holy well at St Berriherts Kyle but more compact.

St David’s Holy Well in early March 2016

The well itself is a large spring that fills a circular pool defined by a low stone wall, set flush with the ground. The water bubbles up through white sands on the base, before escaping into an over flow channel that takes it the water from the pool into a nearby stream.

It is said “The well never dried even in the warmest summer” (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0643, Page 155).

The bubbling waters are magical and I have sat for long stretches of time here just watching the water and listening to the rustle of leaves and chatter of birds. The wells beauty is enhanced by a large oak tree that cast shadows over the water. When I last visited here in March 2016, it was surrounded by a thick carpet of yellow daffodils.

It is a round well and there are trees growing all around it. The people hang the tokens on the trees. The statue of St David is erected there. There is a lovely sand bubbling up out of the well. It is so clear you would imagine it was silver.

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0643, Page 167

Large oak tree growing beside St David’s holy well at Woodhouse

Unusually the well is dedicated to St David the patron saint of Wales whose feast day is the 1st of March. The south-east of Ireland has long established connections with Wales. St David and his monastery (at St Davids in Wales) are mentioned in several Lives of Irish saints. St Finbarr of Cork is said to have visited St David on his return from Rome, while SS Aidan of Ferns, Finnian of Clonard, along with Scothin and Senanus, are all said to have studied at the monastic school at St David’s.

St David’s holy well at Woodhouse is located in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. The patron of the diocese is St Declan of Ardmore who also spent time in Wales in the company of St David.

On one of these occasions Declan paid a visit to the holy bishop of the Britons whose name was David at the church which is called Killmuine where the bishop dwelt beside the shore of the sea which divides Ireland from Britain. The bishop received Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in affection and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a bond of charity which continued between themselves and their successors for ever afterwards. On the expiration of the forty days Declan took leave of David giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out himself and his followers to the shore of the sea to take ship for Ireland.

Power, Rev. P. 1914. Life of St. Declan of Ardmore, 25

A  large statue of a very serious St David, dressed as a bishop, sits a plinth of concrete overlooking the holy well.  The date 1923 is carved into the base.

Statue of St David at St David’s Holy Well Woodhouse

This statue was a gift, donated by Br Benigus Tracy in this year having experieneced a cure (NFSC, An Eaglais, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 1395).

The wells waters are said to have healing properties. The waters are especially beneficial to those suffering from headaches or migraines. The connection with healing of complaints the head is reflected in the Irish name for the well, “Tobar Chinnín Dháithí” translates roughly as the ‘Well of David’s Little Head’.

078
St David’s Holy Well Woodhouse

According to the Schools essays to obtain relief from sickness pilgrims had to walked three times around the well saying whatever prayer they wished (An Eaglais, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 1395). Other accounts tell us that the pilgrim were to drink water from the well and rub it to their forehead to obtain the cure.

three sups of the water is taken. People leave a medal or a bead or string, there as a token of getting cured.

Mount Stewart, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 0643)

In the past the well was visited throughout the year but a special pilgrimage was made on the 1st of March the feast day of St David. Pilgrims in the 19th century were said to ‘hang tokens on the trees’ around the well ( Mount Stewart, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 0643). The tradition of leaving offerings has died out some local people still visit the well on the 1st of March.

Like many other Irish holy wells, folklore relating to St David’s well suggests it is now in a secondary location.

People say that the well was further up the field. One day Major Fitzgeralds washed his face in the well, and from that second onwards it started, to dry until it was dry as the field. Then it sprang up in the field further down, and it is there to this day.

An Eaglais, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 1395)
  • Statue of St David at Woodhouse
  • Oak Tree beside St David’s holy well at Woodhouse

This is not the only holy well dedicated to St David in the south-east. Another more well known well one can be found at St David’s holy well at Olygate in Wexford. These two wells are reminders of the long established l links between the south-east of Ireland and Wales and the spread of the cult of medieval saints.

Thanks to Dr Ann Buckley for translating Irish language material in Schools Folklore Essays relating to the well.

Bibliography

An Eaglais, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 1395) http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428119

Mount Stewart, Ceapach Chuinn (roll number 0643) http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428120

Moore M. 1999. Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford. Dublin: Stationery Office, 203.
ITA. (Irish Tourist Authority Survey )[1941-45] Topographical and General Survey, 122.
Power, Rev P. 1907. ‘Place-Names of the Decies’, JWSEIAS Vol. 10, 193.
Power, Rev P. 1914. Life of St. Declan of Ardmore, and Life of St. Mochuda of Lismore, (edited from ms. in Library of Royal Irish Academy). London : Irish Texts Society.

http://irelandsholywells.blogspot.com/2013/03/saint-davids-holy-well-tinakilly-county.html

Save

Pilgrimage to St Declan’s Holy Well at Ardmore, 1910

Pilgrimage in honour of St Declan at Ardmore, Co Waterford, can be traced back to the early medieval period.  During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Ardmore was one of the most important pilgrim sites in the southeast of Ireland, attracting 1000’s of pilgrims for the annual pattern day celebrations.

Pilgrim rituals during this period have been extensively discussed by Dr Stiofán Ó Cadhla’s  in his excellent book The Holy Well Tradition. The Pattern of St Declan, Ardmore County Waterford, 1800-2000.

BooksTheHolyWellTradition

Although the numbers of pilgrims have fallen over the years, the saint and the celebration of his feast day (24th of July) are still a very important part of village life in Ardmore.

The nineteenth century pilgrim landscape was quiet extensive and included St Declan’s grave (at the eary medieval monastery),  St Declan’s stone and St Declan’s holy well (see map on below).

Capture

Image taken Google Earth showing location of the St Declan’s grave,  St Declan’s stone and St Declan’s Holy Well, nodal points in pilgrim landscape at Ardmore.

Today modern devotions are almost exclusively focused on St Declan’s holy well. They   include a prayer vigil on St Declan’s eve at the well, along with the traditional rounds on the feast day.

During the course of my research I came across a wonderful film on the Ardmore  pattern day, which I want to share with you. This short film was created by Horgan Brothers’ films in 1910. The Horgan’s began their careers as photographers and later worked with film, opening a cinema in their home town of Youghal, Co. Cork. It was here they screened their newsreel style short films, which they named the Youghal Gazette many of which can be seen on the Irish Film Institute Website.

It is most unusual for an Irish pilgrimage of this period to have been filmed, let alone  available to a wide audience today (through the Irish Film Institute).  I am very grateful to the Horgan Brothers for their efforts as their work provides a wonderful window into devotional activity in Waterford in the 1900’s.

 

The film opens at  St Declan’s holy well  the last station in the early modern pilgrimage.  There are many accounts which allow us to reconstruct the early modern pilgrimage at Ardmore but to see real pilgrims moving through the landscape is truly fascinating.

The photo below shows the location where the Hogan brothers set up their camera. They choose a position that over looked the well and church and also the approach route from the village.

Capture2

Image of St Declan’s Holy Well showing the site where the Horgans filmed the pilgrimage image from Waterford Co Museum Photographic Collection

 

As the film opens, directly in front of cameras are a group of six people, engaged, in what can only be described as people watching. Closest to the camera is  gentleman in straw boater hat.  He watches as people walk along the path to the well and is caught in the embarrassing act of picking his nose. Next to the man, is a lady dressed in a light coloured dress with a parasol.  It seems to have been a warm sunny day as many of the ladies present have parasols. The young woman relaxes on the grass after fixing her parasol behind her head to provide some shade. Again her position allows her to  comfortably view all who approach and leave. The remaining people in the vicinity of the camera are four ladies standing beside a wall adjacent to the entrance. They are watching the pilgrims complete their rounds and prayers with great interest.

At the time pilgrims began their prayers  in front of the well. They then walked clockwise around the church and well while reciting three decades of the rosary. They would then knee before the well, finishing  the rosary before moving to the well to say more prayers and take the water.

The film shows  people in different stages of their  pilgrimage. A cluster of people  are in front of St Declan’s Holy Well, they must have completed their rounds, while the stream of men and women, make a clockwise circuit of the holy well and  its adjacent church saying the rosary are only half way through theirs. It’s interesting to note the majority of men have removed their hats during the pilgrimage as a sign of respect for the place and the saint.

The landscape of the well has changed little since 1910. Below is a contemporary photo of the front of St Declan’s holy well which is obscured from view in the film.  The structure of well has changed little  over the years with the exception of the theft of the smallest of three medieval carved crucifix (on the left side of the photo) incorporated into the top of well superstructure.

 

Photo of three women at St Declan’s Holy Well  taken 1910 from Waterford Co Museum Photographic Archive

Part of the pilgrim rituals at the holy well involved  pilgrims carving crosses into the wall of the church and parts of the well superstructure. These actions are also caught by the camera. This practice is not unique to Ardmore but here as at the other sites,  it is unlikely to have begun earlier then the nineteenth century.

066 3

Crosses carved by pilgrims into the walls of the church at St Declan’s Holy Well

From the well  the film then cuts to St Declans’ Stone,  an erratic boulder located at the southern end of the strand some 500m to the east of the holy well. According to tradition  the stone carried St Declan’s bell and vestments, floating across the sea from Wales to Ardmore. The stone was used as a penitential station by past pilgrims.

DSCF2376 3

View of St Declan’s Stone as the tide comes in

In the film we see a woman wearing a Kinsale clock,  a traditional  garment worn up until the early twentieth century,  standing beside the stone. A man wearing a long trench coat can be seem crawling out from under the stone. Traditional devotions at the stone involved the pilgrim saying set prayers before crawling under the rock. Given its located on the shore devotions could only take place when the tide was out. Outside of the pattern day the stone was also visited for healing and was thought to be particularly beneficial for those with backache or rheumatism. The stone was a central part of the pattern day devotions until the mid-twentieth century but  pilgrimage has now ceased here.

The film then ends abruptly as the woman kneels in prayer and we do not get to see her crawled under the stone but she surely did.

climbing out of the srtone

Pilgrims performing rounds at St Declan’s stone (still from Horgan Brothers Film)

 

I plan to write a more detailed post about the post medieval and medieval pilgrimage rituals at Ardmore in the new year. I will also be discussing the site at an upcoming lecture for the Waterford Historical and Archaeological Society in February of 2019 so please come along if you want to find out more.

If you find this film interesting you may also want to check out some of the other films by the Horgan Brother that are on the Irish Film Institute website  at https://ifiplayer.ie/category/horgan/

References

https://ifiplayer.ie/the-horgan-brothers-collection-declans-well/

 

Barrigone Holy Well and the Crimean War: An unlikely Connection

This post  is a shortened version of an article that I wrote,  ‘Barrigone Holy Well and the Crimean War: An unlikely Connection’,   published back in 2016  in the North Munster Antiquarian Journal .

The article details a little known the story of the mother of a young man from West Limerick. who went to fight in the Crimean war and the rituals she carried out  at Barrigone Holy Well, in the townland of Craggs,  to petition God for his protection.

Image result for irish in the crimean war

The 8th Hussars, the ‘King’s Royal Irish’, circa 1855, during the Crimean War. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Crimean war took place between 1854-6  and was fought on the Crimean peninsula. It was fought  between Russia and an alliance of Britain, France and the Ottoman Turkish empire. Irish soldiers made up around 30–35 per cent of the British army in 1854, and it is estimated that over 30,000 Irish soldiers served in the Crimea War. Approximately 7,000 Irish men died  during the war. David Murphy has a very readable and interesting book called Ireland and the Crimean War which details the war and Irish involvement.

In 1855, at the height the Crimean war,  a letter entitled ‘The Way to Save Lives in the Crimea’ was sent to The Catholic Layman Magazine.  The letter was written by one Humphrey O’Leary  who recounts his interaction with the mother of the soldier fighting in Crimea mentioned above. The woman, who was illiterate,  wished Leary to write down her words in a letter to her son. She also wanted to provide instruction for the use of a small number of stones taken from the holy well at Barrigone, that were to be sent with   the letter. Unfortunately the names of the mother or son  are not mentioned and this was most likely deliberately done as Leary is sharing their stories in a very public venue. Its clear from his writing that Leary was a middle class Catholic and had advantages not available to the soldier woman including an education who is of a lower social standing.  Apart from detailing the story of the woman and her son, the letter also provides an insight in life in nineteenth century Ireland, changing attitudes to pilgrimage within the Catholic population and the poor levels of literary.

Leary tells us the woman’s son  was ‘fighting with the Rooshins in Sebastable [Sevastapol]’. He was part of the British forces who, along with their allies, laid siege to the main Russian naval base in the Black Sea at Sebastopol.  Its clear the man’s mother was concerned for his safety and anxious to keep him safe.

Fig.1 View of Barrigone Holy Well

Barrigone Holy Well

 

Leary agreeded to help the woman and he writes that he wanted to write the letter ‘as well as ever I could; for I thought it would look mighty disgraceful entirely to send a bad letter as far way’. When he had filled the first page he told the woman ‘I am going to put your name to it now’: To which she replied ‘Oh Humphrey, avourneen for the love of all the saints keep a little corner of it empty a while, for I am sending him something, and I want you to explain it to him.’

The woman then asked Leary to fill a second piece of paper containing instructions ‘for I want to send him a thing that will save his life.’ To Leary’s surprise the woman pulled out a small red silk purse ‘that was for all the world as big as a tailors thimble’ filled with some tiny stones. The woman went on to say:

I am sending him the blessed stones of Barrigowen [Barrigone] well inside this purse, and tell him, that if he’ll receive them, and wear them in this purse round his neck with the same faith that his own mother is sending him, please God; that he will come home safe and sound again; for any one that ever wore them blessed stones about his neck could not be harmed.

Leary was not too impressed by the woman’s plan and thought it ‘very quare entirely that a small little bit like that could save one’s life.’ He pressed her on the matter, asking ‘is it in earnest you are, or do you think them stones will save him?’ The woman was staunch in her beliefs as she replied ‘Oh I am sure if they overtake him alive that there will be no fear of him’. To persuade the woman to abandon what he thought was a superstitious act, Leary answered ‘I’ll bet my life, Father Mick won’t let you send the stones, nor go to the well at all at all’ to which the woman replied ‘deed then, Father Mick knows that I gave rounds at the well for him, and I sent him the lining of the well in a letter, and he did not say “ill you did it” to me when I told him’. Determined to make the woman see the folly of this task Leary persisted:

I am thinking it might be better for you to pray to God to spare your son to you than to go sending these little stones; and perhaps, you or your son may lose your life by provoking him against you.

Fig. 2 Pilgrims performing the rounds at Barrigone holy well 15th August 2015

Modern pilgrims at Barrigone Holy Well West Limerick

Leary response is typical of a move away from, and change of attitude within, the Catholic Church from favouring devotion at holy wells to it becoming perceived as backward and superstitious. The soldier’s mother was certainly not of this opinion and according to Leary became cross and replied ‘I will send the stones at any rate, for I am sure they will do him good’. Leary, realising his arguments fell on deaf ears, and accepting her sincere conviction they would save her son ‘from Rosshen [Russian] bullets’, continued transcribing the woman’s instructions about the stones. Leary ends his letter to the Catholic Layman by noting that after sending the letter with the stones the woman also had a Mass said for her son. He seems to have more faith in the benefits of the  latter. We don’t know if this poor woman ever saw her son again but I like to think these stone at least provided some comfort for him.

This account provides  a unique insight into folk tradition, beliefs and devotional practice in the mid-nineteenth century Ireland. It also highlights the changing attitudes of the middle classes who following the famine and renewed efforts to implementation of Tridentine values in the church, came to see holy wells and their ritual practices as superstitious. The full article which includes a discussion of the wells history and similar practices of taking stone can be found in the North Munster Antiquarian Journal

Nugent, L. 2016. ‘Barrigone Holy Well and the Crimean War: An unlikely Connection’,   North Munster Antiquarian Journal Vol. 56,

St Flannan’s Holy Well, Errislannan Co Galway

Just before Christmas I  spent some time at St Flannan’s Holy Well at Errislannan in the company of archaeologist Will Anderson.
Errislannan is a small peninsula, on the west coast of Co Galway, in the Connemara region, a few miles from the town of Clifden.  Errislannan or Iorras Fhlannáin in Irish, means “Flannan’s Peninsula”. The area gets its name from the seventh century St Flannan who according to local folklore spent some time in the area before settling in Killaloe. The saint is also the patron of a ruined the medieval church and  holy well.
The church and holy well are located on the shores of Lough Nakilla in the townland of Kill. Today the church  and surrounding graveyard are overgrown with briars and dense vegetation. We managed to get into the interior of the church which appears to be a rectangular structure, without any  internal division. It was impossible to examine the fabric of the building in any detail but a  number of gravestones were visible at the eastern end of the church.

20171218_105532

View of the interior of the St Flannan’s church at Errislannan.

 The Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I – West Galway, describes the church as follows
Small poorly preserved medieval church (E-W; L 10.3m, Wth 4.5m) dedicated to St Flannan of Killaloe. The only surviving features are a plain doorway in N wall and the Morris family tomb in interior. The oldest part of graveyard, oval in plan, surrounds the church. To S of church is a leacht consisting of a drystone wall (L 2.5m, H 0.5m) with a niche, set into the natural slope. A natural boulder, known as St Flannan’s Bed, lies c. 100m E of the graveyard and there is a holy well (GA035-048003-) to E.
According to the  seventheenth century Chorographical description of West or H-Iar Connaught by O’Flaherty, Roderic, 1629-1718, ‘the church has no burials within the walls‘ due to a belief that the body would not stay buried and would be found on the ground the next say.  During the ensuing centuries this belief changed and today there are a number of grave markers in the interior of the church including the Morris family tomb. The heavy growth of vegetation made it impossible to examine these stones. The Morris family were landed gentry who had inherited part of the estate of the Frenchs of Errislannan and they had a house in Ballinaboy.  The surrounding graveyard was also very overgrown and I couldn’t find the leacht.

20171218_104545

Terrain on the southern side of St Flannan’s church Errislannan

On the west side of the medieval church and historic graveyard, is a modern walled cemetery filled predominantly with modern marble and granite gravestones.  St Flannan’s holy well is located close to the gate leading into the modern burial ground.

20171218_103943

Modern burial ground attached to St Flannan’s Medieval parish church Errislannan

The holy well  was once a place of pilgrimage on the 18th of December and we came here on this day to see if people from the area still visit.  Unfortunately I didn’t see anyone  here but some pilgrims could have visited before or after my visits.  It was a very wet day which could have been a factor in the lack of activity but I was told by some people in Clifden that the tradition of visiting the well on the feast day has all but died out here.

20171218_103507.jpg

St Flannan’s Holy Well

The well itself is  a rectangular stone lined  feature with steps down into the interior. It is in turn surrounded by a low dry stone wall.

20171218_103422

The well has the most charming appearance which is enhanced by its lakeside location. Evidence of  recent visits by pilgrims to the holy well are represented by a broken saddle quern on the external wall of the well, filled with votive offerings of coins (mostly euro currency) and the odd religious medals.

 

American coin left as votive at St Flannan’s Holy Well Errislannan
Religious medal left as a votiveat St Flannan’s Holy Well Errislannan
Possible saddle quern broken filled with votive coins and medals at St Flannan’s Holy Well Errisflannan

I must come back here again during the summer or on a nice sunny day as the location of the well is stunning and there is a real sence of peace and calm.

20171218_103615

View of the Lough Nakilla from the holy well

 

Participants needed for Ireland’s Holy Wells County-by-County Project

Ireland’s Holy Wells County-by-County  is a very exciting project set up and run by Dr. Celeste Ray  Professor of Anthropology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.  Celeste has been carrying out research on Irish holy wells since 2000 and has spent a lot of time researching Ireland wells.  The project came about thanks to National Geographic Funding  and Celeste is currently in Ireland carrying out  fieldwork and research and promoting the National Database to be given to the National Folklore Collection.

L3

Holy well at Ahadagh Co Cork photo by Amanda Clarke

 

What is Ireland’s Holy Wells County-by-County  Project?

Ireland’s Holy Wells County-by-County  is a community-sourced survey of Ireland’s holy wells and their associated traditions. This citizen-research initiative encourages young people to interview their older neighbors and relatives and add their knowledge of well lore to a national database that will be given to the National Folklore Collection.
This freely-accessible and searchable resource will be an invaluable document of holy well sites, beliefs, and stories for generations to come.

Capture

Brochure of Ireland’s Holy Wells County-by-County

Holy Wells County-by-County Project Flyer 2017

What can you do to participate in the project?

As this is a is a community-sourced project so volunteers are need to populate the site with information about holy wells from their locality or region in Ireland.

So how can you help?

Do you know of a holy well which should be included in this project?  Then go to the project website at  http://ihwcbc.omeka.net

 

website

The website allows you to easily  uploads information on holy well(s) such as location,  accounts of traditional prayers or rounds, folklore about the well, along with photographs and video.  I uploaded  information on a holy well and its very straight forward process.  If you find the holy well you want to up load is already populated but you have additional information, stories or  photos  you can contact the project directly and they can up date the entry.

To learn more about the County-by-County survey, contact Dr. Celeste Ray at cray@sewanee.edu  or 087 091 7817 (Irish number valid through November 5th) or have a read Holy Wells County-by-County Project Flyer 2017

Celeste Ray is also  author of a wonderful book on the origins and history of holy wells called The Origins of Ireland’s Holy Wells. 

hW book