Two wells on the Kerry/Limerick border

Finding ourselves tootling along the Kerry/Limerick border it seemed rude not to pop over and check out St Mary’s Well in Athea.

Mary’s Well, Tobermurry, Athea

The well is on the side of the road, instantly recognisable by the three statues looming over the wall.

However this is not it’s original position – it moved from the other side of the road because:

… people washed clothes at the mouth of it and one day a bird came and took a trowel from the mouth of the well and layed it in Tim Barrett’s field and the well sprung up where the trowel was laid. People still go to that well paying rounds.

Though I rather like this explanation:

In Athea there is a holy well called Tobar Mhuire. Rocky Walsh a Protestant lived near it and his wife washed her baby in it and next morning the well had removed. (032:0489).

There’s even a helpful drawing

Today the holy well looks firmly grounded, the walls are whitewashed and a small gate topped with a sun cross, leads the way in.

The three large statues are on a plinth and prove to be the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), flanked by St John the Baptist and St Bartholomew. The sign below them explains that they were erected by the women of Athea in 1914 for the many favours received. It seems the whole site was renovated at that time.

The well is circular, below ground level and approached by three concrete steps and is stone lined. A horseshoe-shaped concrete step surrounds the whole structure adorned with an assortment of cups.

The well looks deep and the water clear and fresh, water in some cups still frozen after a chilly night.

It holds many cures, including that for sore eyes. Caoimhín Ó Danachair in his paper The Holy Wells of County Limerick published in 1955 refers to a blind horse being brought to pay the rounds – the horse was cured but the unfortunate owner went blind!

It’s a peaceful spot, sparse but nicely kept. As noted on the plaque, there seem to be three patrons of the well, but in most accounts in the Schools’ Folklore Collection the well is referred to as Mary’s Well, Tobermurray on the historic maps. The BVM is even said to have appeared here:

The Blessed Well in this parish is in the townland of Temple Athea about a mile from this school. It is called Mary’s Well because it is said the Blessed Virgin appeared there soon after the monastery was burned. It is in the avenue leading to the grave-yard. It is said that it was at the other side of the road but it removed because a woman washed clothes in it.
People visit this well on certain days of the year, St John’s Eve, Saturday before May and the feast of St Bartholomew. (Schools’ Folklore Collection: 043:0486)

This extract refers to the patron as St Bridget:

The graveyard in Temple-Athea contains the dead of Athea parish & of other parishes around, because their mothers & fathers have been buried there. That graveyard has a blessed well of St Brigid near it & there is a wall all round it, with some ruins of an old church which is said to have burned long ago.

Whilst this entry refers to St Catherine, as well as giving lots of interesting details:

There is one holy Well in this Parish It is situated in the townland of Temple Athea in a field called the Kiln Field in the lands of Benedict Barrett Temple Athea. People still visit it on certain days. They visit it on the last Saturday of April and the 15th August and the 24th September. Rounds are performed and prayers are said. The people have to come every Saturday to the well for nine Saturdays. During the rounds they have to say three decades of their beads each Saturday. The wells were made in Penal days, about the year 1605. The saints mentioned in connection with it are St Catherine to whom it is dedicated St John, St Bartholomew and the Blessed Virgin. Many people have been cured by doing rounds there. The Late Peggie Walton Glenagore Athea who had sore eyes was cured there. The invalid people wash the affected part with the water and they also drink it. Relics are left behind at the well when people get cured such as small little pictures and strings and medals on the bushes, and cups are left to drink the water. There is also money left there on the last Saturday in April. The amount left there this year was nineteen shillings. No fish was ever seen in the well. Any person in this district never interfered with this well because the old people used to say that whoever would touch the well that they would get a certain sore which could never be cured. There are trees and bushes all around the and lovely flowers growing there also. (183/184:0485)

Whoever the patron it seems the BVM, St John and St Bartholomew, (the official patron saint of the parish), are all clearly revered and once pattern days were held on each of their feast days.

Days of special devotion are 25th March, 1st May, 24th June,15th August and 24th August and the Saturdays before these dates. Formerly a pattern was held on 24th August, the feast of St Bartholomew, the patron of the ecclesiastical parish of Athea, but was discontinued in the 1880’s. (Ó Danachair)

The well was usually visited on consecutive Saturdays and it’s interesting to read that money was specially left on the last Saturday of April.This extract gives a little more information about why the practice was eventually stopped:

… Long ago people used to leave pence and half-pence at the well but the priest objected to their doing so because if a thief came along he would take take it away and he said there was no need to leave any money there so the people left rags and ribbons there instead. There is a fence of white thorns around the well. (185:0485)

Leaving rags still seems an important rite in visiting the well and a tree in the enclosure is festooned with an assortment of rags (mainly tissues oddly) and rosaries.

Generally it is believed that a blessed trout lives in the well, bestowing the usual good luck on those who see it:

… People pay rounds at this well, three walks around the well is one round, and certain prayers are said. When people are leaving the well they leave pieces of cloth on the bushes as it were to leave their diseases after them. It is said when a person is going to be cured a coloured fish appears at the bottom of the well and then disappears instantly. (043/044: 0486)

A little further along the road are the remains of the old Medieval church,Templeathea, and its enclosed graveyard. It’s a wonderful spot, full of of flamboyant graves and memorials.

Clearly the graveyard, church and well are connected and there is an intriguing story about the space between them:

A man living near Athea dreamed that there was gold hidden between the blessed well and the Churchyard. He told two others of his dream, and one night they went to dig for it. They were not long at work when a light came out of the graveyard towards them. They got frightened and left. They went back another night, but as quickly as they removed the earth from the hole they made over the flag, it went back again and so they gave up and left it there.

Ó Danachair refers to a phantom bull guarding which bellowed ferociously when treasure-seekers approached! The space may look unassuming  but the treasure is still meant to be under there somewhere!

Lady’s Well, Tobar Mhuire, Duagh

Back in Kerry in and Duagh was the next destination, just off the main road to Listowel. This well has many similarities to the one in Athea: it’s dedicated to the BVM but may also have another patron, St Bridget; the BVM is said to have appeared here, it holds a cure for sore eyes; Saturday is the usual day for visiting and it is next to a remarkable and extensive graveyard.

Tobar Mhuire has a flamboyant gateway, resplendent in blue and white, and a gate complete with crosses welcomes you into the site. The enclosed area is large and sloping, encircled by mature trees, mainly oaks. A small stream flows to the left and then meanders around the graveyard.

The well is halfway up the slope and rather insignificant after the fanfare, though a cross above announces its presence.

It’s built into the side of the hill, and is a circular, stone-lined basin. It’s said to mark the spot where the BVM appeared:

There is but one holy well in the parish. It is situated to the north west side of Duagh village. It is called St Mary’s well because it is believed that the Blessed Virgin once appeared there. After the apparition the well burst forth from the earth where she stood and it is still there. It is a narrow little well but it is very deep. There is a stone step going into the well. Some years ago an old man who was blind was miraculously cured after paying a certain number of visits to this well. No cure has been affected there since. (027/028:0410)

The well is full today, and the water fresh and clear, although filled with oak leaves. It contains a cure for sore eyes and blindness.

Like many other holy wells, the water would never boil though there was always someone who tried their luck:

The waters of the holy well cannot be boiled and this is proved in a story which reads as follows: A woman sent her servant girl for a bucket of water and it chanced that the holy well was more convenient than the ordinary well so she decided to take the water from the holy well. When she went home she put the water into the pot to boil. After being over the fire for quite a long time, the woman of the house went to see if it was boiled. She put her finger into it and finding it cold she asked the girl which we she took the water from. The girl instantly confessed and then the woman bade her to throw it out as it would never boil. It is not definitely known if the well concerned was St. Brigid’s well or not. (099/100/101:0410)

A large statue of the BVM looks down from above, a snake at the feet, The path around her is well worn and remains part of the rounds.

As well as Saturdays, May Eve and Day were popular days for visiting and paying the rounds:

The last day of April is a special day for paying visits to this well and all the parishioners may be seen there on that particular day. The rules are to make three rounds around it saying a rosary each time beginning at the mouth of the well and ending there. (027/028:0410)

Offerings were traditionally left but there was no sign of any today:

Mary’s Well in the parish of Duagh. It is in a field the property of Thomas Dillon Duagh in the townland of Springmount. People still visit it on a certain day known as the 1st of May. The prayers performed at the well are three rosaries and a few rounds. It is called the Blessed Virgin’s well. It is said if you have confidence in it your request will be granted. It is rubbed to the affected part. Relics are left behind such as medals, money, a piece of cloth, buttons, or a rosary bead. It ran dry once and I don’t know whether there is water in it now or not. There is no bush or tree at the well.(09_027:041C)

Several entries in the Schools’ Folklore Collection refer to St Bridget as the patron:

There is one holy well in this district. It is situated in the townland of Springmount. It is about one foot and a half deep and it is very small. In the hot weather it dries up, and no water is to be found in it. It is situated near a fence and there are trees growing around it. It is known as St. Brigid’s well. People visit it on certain days. The days for visiting it are the first Saturday in October and the last Saturday in April. These visits are known as rounds. St. Brigid’s is mentioned in connection with the well.The water is recommended as a cure for sore eyes and all other pains. It is said that an old woman name Kate Sheehy washed her eyes with the water and that they were cured. (088/089:0410)

In fact St Bridget is patron saint of Duagh and the local church is dedicated to her. There Is also an altar dedicated to her in the nearby graveyard.

The graveyard is a large one with many old graves and memorials, including to those killed during the Civil War. As well as the altar dedicated to St Bridget there is a statue of the Sacred Heart in memory of the Jubilee of the Holy Cross Convent in Listowel in 1894, donated by the Presentation Sisters in 2007. A rewarding place for a ramble.

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