On the trail of St Finbarr

Today’s adventure was centred around the scenic back roads between Dunmanway and Crookstown, a day of exploration with my pals Robert and Finola from Roaringwater Journal. Several holy wells were of course on the agenda.

St Finbarr’s Well, Tobar na Daibhche, Dunmanway
First stop was St Finbarr’s Well just outside Dunmanway, an area of little shady roads, slow flowing rivers and old bridges and a seemingly favourite spot for dog walkers enjoying the unusually hot day. An attractive little gate on the side of the road informed us that we were close. The gateposts were whitewashed and the signage clear, a small cross on top of the gate hinting at what lay within.

The site is meant to be part of an early ecclesiastical enclosure – the old church, dedicated to St Finbarr, is just down the lane. It also seems to have been used as a cilleen, or burial place for unbaptised children, as the plaque testified.

A beaten track led down through the boggy meadow, large trees giving dappled shade. Small white crosses lay hidden amongst the long grasses indicating the path of the rounds.

The well itself is a large, stone built and circular, pretty much obscured by rampant vegetation. Although dedicated to St Finbarr and known locally as St Finbarr’s Well, another name for it is Tobar na Daibche, or Well of the Hollows, which seems fitting. It’s not a particularly alluring well although the setting is very peaceful and undisturbed.

The well was dry – just dampness at the bottom. It didn’t seem to have received many visitors lately but once was considered a potent and well visited site with a cure for sore eyes:

Kilbarry Well is the most important of the four and is known as St. Finbarr’s Well. People make ’rounds’  at this well every year on the last week of September, and recite the Rosary. During the process it is usual to throw money or relics of some kind into the well. If the people are afflicted with any disease they hope that by doing this, they will be cured. The story is told of a little boy of five years who was unable to walk. His mother took him to Kilbarry well and after applying the water of the well to the feet of the little boy, he was cured and able to walk. The water of this well is also supposed to be a great cure for sore eyes. There is a trout fish in the well too, and anybody who is cured of a disease is supposed to see it. The holy water was taken by the neighbouring people for household use, but when put in the kettle to boil, it remained quite cold, even though it was a long time on the fire. Loud crying was heard around the house that night and a voice was heard to say ‘Put back that water, and take care not to spill a drop of it. Beside the well is a bush, on which rags and pieces of material are tied. Some time ago, protestants to prevent the people from visiting the well cut down the bush and took it home in a horse and cart. From that day onward they had great misfortune. In the morning when the man got up, he found the horse dead in the stable. A few days after, his only daughter died and when he milked the cows, instead of giving milk they yielded blood. To retain his luck, the man had to replace the bush, and it is now growing again. Near the well are two mounds, where two priests are supposed to have been buried.

SFC:041:0303

St Finbarr is the patron saint of Cork, and rounds are performed here on his Feast Day, 25^th September.

Edit: April 2023 and the well is full to the brim, the surrounding area exceptionally damp.

The whole area has been tidied up and the mound, said to be the burial place of a priest, is clearly visible. It had a much more welcoming and active aura today.

St Brigid’s Well, near Crookstown
We also visited a second well that had connections with Finbarr, this time in Knocknaneirk, not far from Crookstown. St Finbarr is supposed to have stopped here on his journeying from Gougane Barra, where he established a monastic cell, to Cork city where the cathedral is still dedicated to him. Gougane is the most famous site associated with this local saint and is to be written up shortly!

This well is on private land and would have been impossible to find without the help of the landowner, Olive. She was busy tending the cattle but directed us to the grove and wished us luck, warning us that it wasn’t easy to find. She couldn’t remember anyone else ever having come searching it out and was quite impressed to see us. The grove turned out to be a little wooded copse on top of a small hill, Horn Hill.

We ducked under the electric fencing and hunted around in the bracken. I slipped into a hole, obviously a sign from St Finbarr for there in front of me was the well, heavily disguised with briars and ferns and bracken, a hawthorn tree growing above it. A bit of pruning and the structure came into view: a stone built beehive shape with a sturdy lintel, nicely made.

The well itself was semi-circular, a broken cup still at the bottom, but damp rather than flowing with water.

According to Bruno O Donoghue in his Parish Histories & Place Names of West Cork compiled in the 1980s, this well is dedicated to St Brigid. There seemed to be recognisable paths around it and presumably rounds were once paid here on St Brigid’s Day, 1st February. A little further to the west is a ringfort known as Bride Fort, another connection with the saint.

Lady’s Well,Tobar Mhuire, Kilmurry

The third well we visited was incredible! Also on private land, we knew we would have to ask at the farmhouse for directions for the track on the map seemed to peter out in the middle of nowhere. Thank goodness we did for we would never have found it without Eileen’s help. She very kindly dropped whatever she was doing and offered to show us where the well was, though she did warn us it might be a little overgrown! This proved to be a slight understatement for at one point we were hacking our way through swathes of bracken, way above our heads.

We walked through the farm and up a trackway, then across a field looking for the gap in the wall which led up onto Cnoc a ‘Tobair, Hill of the Well. There was a marker stone from the track which in fact pointed straight across the field to where there was a stile in the wall, heavily overgrown with ivy.

The wall itself was prickly with blackthorn and briars, but once we had scrambled over, the first thing we saw was a large bullaun stone lying amongst the bracken, some white quartz stones still on top of it (and a bit of fox poo). It turns out that this was originally included in the rounds and was part of a penitential station. What you can’t see from this photo is the extent of the rock and the white quartz pebbles that form a little fringe all the way around its base.

This looked hopeful if the way ahead didn’t didn’t. It was seriously thick and the bracken way above us! But we persevered heading towards the top of the hill which seemed a likely spot.  And there it was, a low stone structure, right on top of the hill with magnificent views out in all directions.

Beautifully made, it was a circular drystone structure with a corbelled roof. White quartz pebbles had been stuffed into every section – presumably left by pilgrims doing the rounds. A wooden lintel within kept the building stable. Stone slabs led to the entrance.

It was surrounded by a mass of wild flowers, especially yellow trefoil, and felt remote and special. The well itself was damp, but again no water was flowing. An inscribed cross on one of the stones on top of the well referred to its veneration and a track coming up from a different way showed someone else had visited fairly recently. There were two other inscribed stones lying around the well, presumably visited as part of the rounds.

A document on the Kilmurry Heritage website describes how the rounds were paid and includes information about the bullaun stone:

In front of the well, say the Creed, six Our Fathers, Six Hail Marys Six Glories. The same on the left hand side of the well. And then on the right hand side of the well. To be repeated three times in all. The Rosary is then started at the well and recite don the way to the stone south of the well and finished there.

The well is dedicated to the  Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) and rounds were traditionally paid here on the 8^th September –the Feast Day of the Nativity of the BVM. Eileen could remember when there had been a Mass held here a few years ago but it was not an annual occurrence. Kilmurry village just below also refers to the BVM, and means Church of Mary, the present church is also dedicated to her. I suspect the well may have been here first.

Rather nicely, it tradition has it that St Finbarr was baptised here.

What a very beautiful part of the world.

St Finbarr’s Well has public access. The other two are on private land and permission must be sought. With thanks to Eileen and Olive for showing us these remarkable wells. Many thanks to Finola Finlay for her photographs.

The location of these wells can be found in the Gazetteer.