St Fursey & the Holy Mountain

It’s been three years since I started this project to visit every holy well in County Cork and record what I found. I have visited approximately 300 wells and apart from a couple, think that the remaining 50 can mainly be classified as no visible trace. I have changed the introduction to the website and have updated the On Wells section to include information about what I have discovered on my travels. I can’t stop now and am extending my sights into County Kerry where 180 holy wells lie eagerly awaiting recording. I visited nine wells in Kerry last week, in the  excellent company of Himself and Robert and Finola from Roaringwater Journal, as we made our first official foray into the county. Valentia Island was our base.

Well of the Holy Cross, Tobar na Croiche Naofa, Tobernacrohaneeve

The day we did our major exploration was a stunning one. The previous day sleet, snow, gales and rain had prevailed but today the sun shone bright but bitterly cold. First a mooch around Cahersiveen, admiring the eccentric Old Barracks and pondering on the Pimpernel of the Vatican.

Then a visit to to the rather forlorn and forgotten Tobar na Croiche Naofa, Well of the Holy Cross, situated right in the centre of town in West Main Street. It’s down a little alleyway, the metal gate ajar but with no obvious sign of what lies within.

The  approach to the well is obscured by a sort of raised flowerbed and an old pump has been set set right in front of it. The arched stone wellhouse set into the wall looks a fairly recent construction.

A propped up sign refers to its name, reinforced by a rusty iron cross just seen behind the wellhouse.

The well itself is a spring, water collecting in a rectangular basin, flush with the ground. The water looks freshish and I suppose it may once have also been pumped directly from the old cast iron pump in front of it.

Rounds were once performed here on a Saturday and Sunday and a pattern was held on the 14th September, the Feast Day of the Holy Cross. The old abbey (KE079-037002), now in ruins, lies a little way off on the other side of the road and is also dedicated to the Holy Cross.

St Fursey’s Well, Tobar Naomh Fursa, Holy Well of Ahachoora, Tobar na hAbha Cumhra

On to Cnoc na dTobar – the name itself very promising: Hill of the Wells. It’s four kilometres outside the town and clearly signed.

It is one of the three sacred sites of County Kerry – Mount Brandon and Skellig Michael being the other two and all three are within sight of each other. Rising out of Dingle Bay to an impressive 690m it has been regarded as a sacred mountain for millennia and is considered to have been a Lunasa site where people gathered to celebrate the great Autumnal Festival. It’s still a holy mountain and one of the twelve pilgrimage routes in Ireland 

In 1885 Canon Timothy Brosnan, then parish priest of Cahersiveen, erected 14 Stations of the Cross leading all the way up, apparently, so the story goes, choosing as difficult a route as possible in order for the pilgrim to be suitably challenged. The path is marked on the 25inch historic map and it’s certainly very zig zaggedy. The crosses have recently been painted white by the local development group ACARD, who have also placed white way markers along the trail. Today the colours were astonishing and the little markers gleamed all the way to the top – much further than it looks in this photo.

A pilgrim was way ahead of us, noticeable by his bright red jersey, steadily climbing.  What an astonishing landscape: tumbling streams, huge rocks being embraced by sturdy holly trees and everywhere amazing views – upwards to the summit and out towards the sea with big views out towards Dingle and the Skelligs, Valentia Island and even Dursey Island in Cork.

We had intended to walk the full route ourselves but the day was fading and the weather bitter (note the snow on the summit) and we only managed as far as Station 2 but we shall be back. There is a stone cross on the plateau-like summit called the Canon’s Cross and the views are said to be mighty.

The mountain is sacred to St Fursey or Fursa, and there is of course a well, as the name of the mountain suggests. Actually it suggests more than one well and this short extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection gives a clue (spelling as written):

In the north of Cahirciveen town Knock na Dubber is situated which rears its peak about two thousand feet above the sea. By the side of the top leading to the top  there are fourteen Celtic crosses erected after Canon Brosnan’s arrival to Cahirciveen Parish. One of the crosses is situated on the top about twenty eight feet high and close by is a holy well called Clasha Curri and it is dedicated to St Furzey. People also visit this well during the month of September. At the foot of Cnoc na dTiobrar (is another well) called Glase an Cumra, in which people pay visits at certain times of the year. (238/39:0475)

I can find no reference the enigmatic Clasha Curri but the other well referred to as Glase na Cumra, also written as Tobar na hAbha Cumhra (the fragrant stream), still remains. On the  historic OS maps it is marked as the Holy Well of Ahachoora but today is called St Fursey’s Well.  But where was it? The pilgrimage seems to have sensibly started from the well but there was no sign to it from the car park and no sign of it as we ascended. It is actually about 100m away and is signed from the road but somehow we had missed it – a little Marian shrine another clue.

The route leads back up onto the mountain where more white poles mark the way, the hint of a white cross a clue that we were getting closer.

The well is a decent size, rectangular and stone lined. Above It a white painted plinth and cross proclaim its dedication – IHS on the cross and St Fursey carved at the base. Roughly painted white crosses are daubed on each side of the well.

The water is fresh, clear and copious and can be seen trickling into the basin. A smattering of coins lie at the bottom. St Fursey is said to have been cured from blindness by availing of the water which appropriately holds a cure for sore eyes.

A rather faded collection of offerings show that the well is still revered.

There Is a special blessing to be said at the well:

Lord, bless this water, source of life and nourishment. It gives fullness to all living things and refreshes us. Protect us from all danger, ill health and broken dreams. May we always thirst for you, knowing that you alone can satisfy our quest for freedom and wholeness. Give us your protection, strength and life-giving presence today and always. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen Lord, bless each pilgrim here today. Bless their families and friends. May their search for you, for meaning and peace, for health and happiness, find fulfilment in you. Grant these and all our requests through Christ Our Lord. Amen. (Diocese of Kerry website)

St Fursey was a remarkable man by all accounts. He was supposedly baptised by St Brendan and renowned for his aestheticism. Many miracles are attributed to him, including the revival of two dead infants. He was also renowned for his visions – in Cork for example he had a vision of a golden ladder set up at the tomb of St Finbarr which reached up to heaven, souls already ascending. He tried to embrace the simple desert-life of a hermit and aimed to be a wandering preacher for Christ. This prayer is attributed to him:

The arms of God around my shoulders, The touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head, The sign of Christ’s cross upon my forehead, The sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears, The fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils, The vision of heaven’s company in my eyes, The conversation of heaven’s company on my lips, The work of God’s Church in my hands, The service of God and neighbour in my feet, A home for God in my heart, And to God, the Father of all, my entire being, Amen

This beautiful section of stained glass is by Harry Clarke and can be seen in Ballinrobe Church. County Mayo and dates from 1925. St Fursey looks gaunt and thoughtful with a striking nose, a selection of crosses in his hands – a reference to the many monastic sites he founded perhaps?

He was one of the first Celtic missionaries to East Anglia and much of his life is recorded by the Venerable Bede in his great work Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum or The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

This is what Bede had to say about Fursey:

There came out of Ireland a holy man called Fursa, renowned both for his words and actions, and remarkable for his singular virtues, being desirous to live like a stranger for our Lord, wherever an opportunity should offer … he saw the angels chanting in heaven, and a vision of hell in which he saw four fires – the fire of falsehood, the fire of covetousness, the fire of discord and the fire of iniquity. (History of the English Church and People)

St Fursey eventually arrived in Neustria, one of the Merovingian Frankish kingdoms in modern day France where he established a monastery. He eventually died in Peronne, Picardy where he is still much revered. His Feast Day is the 16th January. This image shows the whole stained glass panel in Ballinrobe. It’s a two light window that St Fursey shares with St Feichin.

There is still an annual pilgrimage to Cnoc na dTobar which starts at the well, climbs the mountain via the Stations with Mass held on the summit. It usually takes place on a Sunday in mid May rather than St Fursey’s Day, for weather reasons I suspect. There’s a nice account of it  here.

There is a special prayer for pilgrims before beginning the ascent:

Bless this path before us Lord. We come as pilgrims to walk in your ways. Help us to see the world as you do. Help us to be quiet, to become still : let the rhythm of our walking helps us to tune our hearts to the deeper rhythm of your love. Help us walk gently o the earth, to give thanks….for land, for water, for all the wonders of your creation. We carry little for this journey but we carry many burdens in our lives. Help us with these, lighten our load. We are going to a holy place. Following the footsteps of holy men and women who went before us. Help us to learn from them and also to find in our holy places, a spring of life-giving water for our own lives, a place to come ever closer to you, a place to help us know the true goal of all our journeys. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen. (Diocese of Kerry website)

Well worth the trek.

There is also a very neglected well dedicated to the saint in North Cork near Banteer.

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