Water into Wine & Other Stories; three wells dedicated to St Brendan

There are a wealth of wells dedicated to St Brendan in County Kerry. So far I have visited where he was baptised, where he anointed two heathens, where he received the vision to go across the Atlantic and various others that are dedicated to this well beloved and wandering saint. Three more were on my agenda today, all in Corca Dhuibhne, the Dingle Peninsula.

St Brendan’s Well, Tobar Bréanainn, Ballyferriter, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh

First up St Brendan’s Well in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Ballyferriter. Once this had been an important well and later had been used to supply the village of Ballyferriter with its water. It lies on the outskirts of the village and I wandered up a boreen leading up onto the hillside. No sign of any well but there was an Irish Water plant, full of water tanks and activity. I wandered in and stopped to talk to a man with a clipboard. He knew of the well and pointed to a circlet of gorse, fenced off, where he though the original spring had been. He reckoned the well was still supplying the village’s water now via Irish Water. Somehow I managed to erase my own photographs but I did find this one, dating from the 1920s. The photographer is the rather magnificently named Carl W Von Sydow who was Professor of Folklore in the University of Lund, Sweden. The well looked a little meagre even then.

I was riveted by the distinctive name name and thought I recognised it – could there be a connection? Yes!  His son is Max von Sydow the actor who has had a most distinguished career, his latest role being the Three Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones!

I know Ballyferriter is proud of its Star Wars connections but did it know it had a very tenuous connection to Game of Thrones! Fadó fadó …

St Brendan’s well, Kilcolman, Cill na gColmán

In my last blog I concentrated on Kilmalkedar, one of the starting points for the Cosán na Naomh, the Saint’s Path that leads to the summit of Mount Brandon. Céann Tra, Ventry, is another possible starting point, pilgrims traditionally arriving by boat then following the path through Kilmalkedar and upwards. To find the next St Brendan’s Well I had to follow the Cosán from Ventry. The path is clearly signed – follow the posts with the little hooded pilgrim on them ( a symbol incidentally taken from St Gobnait’s stone in Ballyvourney, just discernible in the image below.)

An inscribed cross on the wall near Ventry Post Office further reminds you of the sort of path you’re travelling on.

The small and winding road leading steeply up the hill is hedged with colourful montbretia and fuchsia. Eventually an enigmatic sight appears in a field, a circular green- is it a ringfort? No, it’s the grassy walls of the enclosure surrounding Cill na gColmán, Kilcolman.

Leaving the road I tramped through a rough field, the grasses high and scented. A dilapidated fence and rickety gate offered entrance into the site. Today the interior was unkempt but beautiful, a riot of wildflowers in blues and yellows.

What a fascinating site this is: it might have once contained a church, still has the remains of several hut sites and was used as a callurgh, or graveyard for unbaptised children (known, as a cilleen in County Cork). The highlight is large boulder inscribed with an impressively rendered Maltese cross.

Snaking from the bottom right up and up and over the top of the stone is some unusually free flowing Ogham script interpreted as ANM COL(OLṬḤ)ṂẠṆ ẠḶỊṬḤIR. This is usually considered to be a mistake on the part of the craftsman who may have been trying to carve ANM COLMAN AILITHIR: Name of Colman the Pilgrim. It all went wrong and he attempted a creative patch up job. Corca Dhuibne 3D have done excellent work in analysing this stone – both in inspecting the stone itself and in interpreting what happened with the carving.

It’s an astonishing thing to come across in a field and you can’t help but wonder who Colman the Pilgrim was.

The well lay about 80m south of the enclosure but is hard to distinguish. The GPS led me to a gorsy clump, the area soft underfoot. A smattering of stones remain in the middle of the yellow flags. Referred to as a spring on 25 inch historic map, it not marked on the 6 inch or Cassini maps but is traditionally believed to be dedicated to St Brendan.

St Brendan’s Well, Tobar Bhréanainn, Kildurrihy, Cill a Ruith

The final well of this trio has some fascinating stories attached to it, including one where the water is said to turn to wine at Epiphany! This had to be investigated. The roads leading to Kildurrihy are exceptionally small but highly scenic. It’s a small townland nestling amongst rolling hills, a scattering of farmsteads.

We wandered down the boreen following the GPS. I sort of knew what to look out for as there are some photos of the well taken in the 1940s, now in the Folklore Photographic Collection. In this photo the water emerges from under two large stones which seem almost propped up against each other. There are the broken remains of a third stone in front.

The well has changed little though it is now dry and more overgrown than when the photo was taken in 1947. The two large stones propped against each other remain.

The broken fragments of other stones lie in front. mingled with some other broken stones.

There is a very interesting and strange story associated with the stones described in this extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection:

Uair eile do chuaidh fear agus a bhean agus a leanbh amach go dtí an tobar oidhche na dTrí Rí ag faire an iompóchadh an t-uisge go dtí fíon. An maidin ‘na dhiaidh sin do tháinig muinntir an bhaile amach ag féachaint an raibh an triúr ann ach ní fhuaireadar ach trí clocha, dhá cheann mhóra agus ceann beag in aice an tobair. Tá na clocha sin le feiscint in aice an tobair fós.

Roughly transcribed this reads:

Once more a man went with his wife and child out to the well on the night of the Three KIngs to watch the water turn into wine. The next morning the people came out of their houses looking for them and all they saw were three stones near the well, two large and a small one. These stones are still visible near the well. (76/77:0422)

So many questions – who first saw this transformation? What happened to them? Why did the water turn into wine? Did it ever happen again?

Other stories abound:

Tá tobar bheannuighthe i gCill a Ruith ar a dtugtar Tobar Bhréannain. Deintear an turas sin ar an naomhadh lá fichid de mhí Mheithimh. Deirtear go bhfuil leigheas ann do shúile tinne. Uair amháin do bhí tig a thógaint ag fear i gCill a Ruith agus thóg sé cloch a bhí in aice leis an tobar chun é a chur i gcúinne an tighe. An maidin ‘na dhiaidh san do cuaidh an fear amach ach ní raibh an cloch le feiscint. Chuadar go dtí an tobar agus do bhí an cloch san áit céadhna. Níor tógadh an cloch riamh ó shoin.Uair eile do thóg bean buicéad uisce ó’n dtobar agus do chuir sí síos sa chiteal é ach dá mbeadh sé ar an dtine go maidion ní bheireóchadh sé. Nuair a fhéach an bhean isteach sa chiteal is amhlaidh a bhí breach éisg istigh ann. Do chuir sí thar nais sa tobair arís é agus n’fheaca aoinne riamh ó shoin é.

Again a very loose translation:

There is a holy well in Kildurrihy called St Brendan’s Well. The turas is done on the 20th day of June. It is said there is a cure for sore eyes. Once a man from KIldurrihy took a stone from the well to put near his house. The next morning he went out but the stone was not to be seen. He went to the well and the stone was in the same place. The stone has never been built/moved since. Once a woman took a bucket of water from the well and she put it in her kettle but even though it was on fire it would not boil/take. When the woman looked into the kettle there was a fish. She put it back in the well and never saw it again. (76/77:0422)

Was this the broken stone, clearly halved and lying near the other stones?

 

The 20th June is unexpected for St Brendan’s feast day is the 16th May and there seems to be no relevant saint who has a pattern on that date. Could it be something to do with mid summer celebrations? The story of the kettle and fish is a very common one.

A dry channel, full of grasses wend its way downwards.

I followed it and was surprised to find what looked like another well at the end: a rectangular basin made out of large chunks of stones and a little run off point with more smattering of stones. This did contain water, albeit it fairly scummy stuff,

Is this the spring that is marked on the historic 25in map? Confusingly it’s where the Archaeological Inventory has the well marked but the map clearly shows the stones of the well photographed in 1947. Are they both part of the same?

Retracing our steps we came across another intriguing stone , classified as a bullaun in the Archaeological Inventory.

Look carefully and you can see several large crosses inscribed on its surface. In fact there are four crosses and three possible cupmarks, testifying to its use over the millenia.

The back of the stone holds more secrets – the bullaun, a man made basin .

 The stone is not in its original position and was once near the farmhouse on the western side of the road.  Was this  another contender for the stone that moved?  It’s not exactly liftable by one man. It must surely have played a part in the rounds which were once held here.

An enigmatic site and any information would be gratefully received.

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