Wild out East

The last few wells in East Cork beckoned and on paper they sounded rather a motley crew. The reality was pretty much the same but a very interesting story was revealed.

We stayed in Cobh overnight and enjoyed a beautiful evening light. The buildings glowed and we strolled along the Prom, admired St Colman’s Cathedral, smiled at the sculptures and staggered up and down the remarkably steep streets.

Well hunting began next day and the whole atmosphere had changed. Thick damp mist had descended but we continued stoically.

Tobar Loonan, Tubberloonaan

First stop was on the edge of the town in Ballywilliam. I had been warned that a new house had recently been built very close to the well and hoped that it still remained. Fortunately we bumped into Ciara who kindly showed us where the well was and gave permission to explore. The well is now more or less directly under the drive going into the house, tucked neatly into the slope.

It’s made out of slabs of stone, a sturdy lintel on top. The water, which is plentiful and clear, collects in a shallow basin and then streams off into the ground. Watercress was growing in abundance, attesting to the good quality of the water. We did a little gentle clearing just to reveal the shape and removed a holey bucket. The well is called Tubberloonaan on the historic maps and is also referred to as Tobar Luneen locally. I asked a friend of mine, a Gaeilgeoir, if he could offer a suggestion as to what the name meant. He gave a cautious interpretation, cautious as so many place names have been corrupted from their original forms, but wondered if it might refer to a lonán or little blackbird. The other possibility was that it might suggest a surname.

Tobar a Sillee, Walterstown

He also offered suggestions for the next well encountered – Tobar a Sillee. Could this mean saileach or willow, also known as a sally, or was it a reference to the goddess Síle?  We set off to find out. The Archaeological Inventory’s entry was less than promising:

At cliff-edge on S shore of Great Island. According to Coleman (1894, 53) named Tobar a Sillee or Sellee. No visible surface trace.

Although the mist was dense it was a beautiful drive east of the town towards Ballybrassil and Walterstown. We parked in the official car park for Marloag Woods, an attractive area with walking trails. One trail seemed to lead down to the strand and we followed it, catkins, daffodils and the odd violet just emerging.

Steep slopes complete with ropes led down to the strand. Everywhere looked ethereal on the beach – the ghostly shapes of industrial buildings faintly looming across the bay.

The GPS led to what looked a promising spot – water trickling down the steep banks, a scattering of stones here and there.

Could this have been the site of Tobar a Sillee?  There were certainly many willows in evidence. A man walking his dog said he had lived here 40 years and knew nothing about a well but thought this looked a likely spot!

Tobar a Sillee is marked on the historical 25 inch map but only as a well rather than a holy well.

Sunday’s Well, Ballyleary

Still on Great Island there was one more well to explore, Sunday’s Well on the other side of town. Again, information from the inventory was minimal:

On hillside. Enclosed by rectangular stone wall; roofed with slab; opening blocked. ‘Rounds” were made here chiefly on Easter Sunday (Power 1918, 221). No longer in holy use.

This well lay down a long boreen which led to a farm. Fortunately for us Denis was just departing in his landrover. We explained what we were up to and he said those wonderful words: I’ll take you!  I’m so glad he did for, even with GPS, this well would have been very difficult to find. He led us through a muddy farmyard watched by curious cattle, under electric fences and then up through a windy and slippery track onto a steep wooded slope. The original path was still clearly visible.

The well was in a poor state, and no sign of the stone wall as described in the Inventory. A slab, which I assumed was the original lintel, lay on the ground literally covering the well, water seeping out from underneath. An old ash tree, damaged in recent storms, stood sentinel.

Denis was not the landowner (he was now elderly and lived in Limerick), but he could remember his own parents and grandparents talking about the well when he was younger. Like all of us he hadn’t paid much attention and now wished he had. He explained that cattle had frequently been allowed up onto the slope and that accounted for the poor condition of the well. Once pilgrims visited on Easter Sunday but there had been few visitors in recent years though Denis spoke of a couple who used to come annually to pay their respects. Mostly forgotten now, Sunday’s Well is marked on the historic OS maps.

Edit: April 2021, the well’s fortunes are looking up as it is receiving more visitors. Eve and Jimmy made a special trek here on Easter Sunday.

Holy Well, Kilpatrick

We continued home via a clutch of wells near Minane Bridge close to Carrigaline. There was one well I really wanted to find just because it has the most extraordinary story attached to it – Kilpatrick Well, possibly dedicated to St Patrick or St Finian or some other saint altogether! Again the Inventory’s entry was underwhelming:

Near top of steep hill. Not marked on 1842 and 1902 OS 6-inch maps. Originally stone-lined; roof now collapsed; displaced stones visible. No longer in holy use.

I had tried to find this well once before but failed. Previously I had tried to climb the very steep wooded hill from the road below and was unable to get up but this time I decided to approach it from above. I felt sure something still remained having come across a photo of the well taken as part of the Irish Tourist Association Survey in the 1940s.

The approach from above looked no easier. I carefully skirted around two newly planted fields and headed toward the top of the slope, mist was rising ethereally from the valley below. It looked a steep descent.

The going was exceptionally tough and treacherous, thick foliage, fallen trees, heavy clay and a mass of briars. I was ripped to shreds but felt that the well had to be somewhere close. Eventually I glimpsed a hollow in the bank and could see water seeping out. Ducking under yet more fallen trees and clinging onto ferns, I finally managed to get down to the space and there was the well!

It looked very different from the 1944 photo. It was almost submerged under the undergrowth  and all that remained identifiable was the slab of the lintel and traces of stonework. Water was still in evidence though and trickled out from the bank and flowed sluggishly downhill.

It may be neglected and camouflaged yet there is more to this well than meets the eye. It has the most remarkable story attached to it. Several entries exist in the Schools’ Folklore Collection, worth giving in full as each adds a little nugget of extra information:

There are three holy wells in my district. There is one in the townland of Kilpatrick in a place called Conway’s Brake. It got its name from some saint that was living near Kilpatrick. This saint had a sister who remained out late one night and the saint said to her if this will happen again I will send my dogs after you. Next night she remained out later and when the saint went out looking for her he could not find her so he sent the dogs after her. They found her near Ahane and there they killed her. The saint changed the dogs into stones and they are seen yet at Ahane. The saint found her bones and he washed them in the well and she returned to life again. This the reason that well is called a holy well. Long ago people often made rounds. There is a tree near the well.

SFC: 172/173:0321

In this version the dogs have become wolves:

There are many holy wells in this district. The best known one in my district is in the townland of Tracton and about four or five miles from Carrigaline. Many people still visit this well on certain days. Rounds are not performed often now, if they are performed at all. There is a story told locally about the Saint’s sister who was out late at night. When her brother who was supposed to be St. Finian missed her he cursed her and said “that the wolves might eat you”. Immediately he had her cursed he heard the wolves howling and knew that some evil had befallen her so he set out in the night and found her at Ahane Cross which is not very far from this well and the wolves devouring what remained of her. When he saw what evil himself had done he cursed the wolves who turned into stones. These stones can plainly be seen some of them at Ahane Cross and more of them in the Tracton bogs near to this cross. After the wolves were cursed he gathered up the bones of his sister and he bathed them in this holy well and she came to life again. St. Patrick and St. Finian are mentioned in connection with this well.

SFC:216/217:0392

Can this really have been St Finnian who was noted for his scholarship and called the tutor of the Irish saints? It doesn’t sound like something St Patrick would have done either. This story is slightly kinder as a priest comes to the rescue of the unfortunate girl:

There is a holy well in the glen of Kilpatrick. In olden days there was a priest in Broomley Hall named McCaura. He had a servant and one evening she went to the Village of Minane Bridge against the priest’s wishes. The girl returning was attacked by wolf hounds. The priest heard the cries of the girl and went to her assistance. But not before she was torn to pieces. At once the priest turned the hounds into stones. He then took the girl’s body and dipped it in this well and the girl came back to life. Since that time it is known as the holy well of Kilpatrick.

SFC:173:0321

Things get even more bizarre:

There are many holy wells in this parish. One of them is in Conway’s field. It is called McCarty’s well. There was a saint who lived in Kirkpatrick and McCarty was his name. He was very holy and he used to eat water cake. He was very thin. The lord promised him that he would hear the bells of Rome at 12 o’clock. The servant made a cake with milk in it and he fell fast asleep at 12 o’clock. He drove the servant away but he followed her and found her bones, he cursed the dogs and he changed them into stones. He washed her bones in the well. There is an eel in it and a tree over it. When people went to visit it they had to leave certain things such as medals and crosses and rosary beads…

SFC:173.174:0321

And finally:

There is a holy well in Tracton about 4 miles from Carrigaline in the townland of Granig. This well has no name because many people give it different names. Some call it St. Patrick’s and some call it St. Finians St Finian had a sister and one day she did some harm and he cursed her and said “that the wild wolves may eat you”. Soon he missed her and went to Ahane Cross road and found the wolves eating her. He said a few words and the wolves were turned into stones. One wolf cub stone is still to be seen in Tracton bogs and the rest near Ahane Cross. This saint got his sister’s bones and washed them in the well and she came back to life. Some people say she used to get water from some well to make barley bread. People visit this well at night with a light to get cured of any disease. They drink the water sometimes.

SFC:217-219:0392

So what is going on here? A well where a sister killed by wolves was brought back to life by her cruel but saintly brother after she disobeyed him. A well that could cure all diseases and should be visited at night (how on earth did people get up there?). A well with a tree and an eel. And what does the water cake and barley bread signify?

Sadly the light was failing and the fog was dense so we had no time to see if we could find the petrified wolves at Ahane Cross. Does anyone know if these stones still exist?

St Brigid’s Well, Tubbrid 

The next townland is called encouragingly Tubbrid, meaning well, but the well, possibly dedicated to St Brigid, proved elusive as did the Inventory entry:

St. Brigids Well which it seems gave its original name to the place is situated at the eastern side of the road, coming past Broomley to Tracton. Exact location not known.

Springs are marked on the 25 inch historic OS map but there was no sign of anything except a large puddle. It was hard to tell whether this was a spring or the result of the weather.

Holy Well, Tobar na bhFirciní, Well of the Firkins, Gortigrenane

The final well lay in the delightfully named townland of Gortigrenane – Gort a’Ghrianain, field of the sunny spot. Well the sun was not making an appearance today and the very long and very muddy boreen was eventually blocked. I abandoned ship.

Edit: Deirdre Price has recently been in touch (March 2021) and sent photos of one of the wells in Gortigrene – it seems possible that there might be two. I am hoping to investigate further once lockdown has finished.

I have since visited the well at Gortigrene which has some extraordinary stories associated with it.

St Brigid’s well has also been correctly identified.

Thanks to Deirdre Price for information and photos of the well in Gortigrene.

Thanks to Eve Telford for the images of Sunday’s Well, Ballyleary.

Many thanks to Ciara and Denis for showing me the respective wells.

Thanks also to Pól for interpreting two of the well names.

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