St Senan & Friends

Today we had an anticlockwise route planned from Listowel, up to Tarbert, through Longford, on to Carrig Island, west towards Ballybunion and then back to Listowel. It was an excellent day which will be dealt with in two blogs.

Sunday’s Well, Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh

First stop an explore of some very muddy fields and challenging hedges but no sign of Sunday’s Well, Tobar Rí and Domhnaigh, in the intriguingly named townland of Gortdromagownagh – the field of the ridge of the milch cows or calves! The well is: a small pool situated in a sunken area at the bottom of a field according to the the Archaeological Inventory but the GPS just lead to scrub and a dense hedge.

A shame as it is said to cure any disease and may be still revered – I may have to revisit this at some point. Onwards to what looked like a promising trio of wells near Tarmon, each close to each other.

St Senan’s Well, Tobar Seanain,Tobersenan

Wells in North Kerry seem to be as easily offended as those in North Cork, for this well had moved from its original position when disrespected:

A most interesting story is told about this well. At one time it was situated in a farm owned by Mr. Elliot. A servant who worked for the Elliots, one day drew water with which she intended to wash cloths. She put the water down to boil. There it hang for hours without ever heating. Next day when she went to the well to draw water, there was not a trace of it. Some days later a well sprung up in the field nearby. This field is owned by Pat Buckley of Ballintubber – the name given to that district ever since. (Schools’ Folklore Collection: 456/457:0403)

The well is now tucked up a small boreen on private land but with public access. It’s below the level of the road, approached via some rough flagstones.

 The well is a sunken circular pool with a chunky stone lining; large slabs, now mostly grassed over, around its rim. An ivy-choked elm tree stands over it.

The water is abundant, fresh and clear and can be seen percolating.

To the rear is a runoff channel, rich with watercress, attesting to the cleanliness of the water. The water holds a cure for sore eyes and bodily sores.

 A blessed fish has been spotted within:

It is said that there are some kind of fish in the well, and that when a person has great faith in the well, that the fish will come up in the water and spatter it up on the person and then he will get cured. Anyone that gets cured there leaves a stick or a crutch at the well. (169:0403)

It was once a very popular well:

Many people go to the blessed well during the year to pay rounds. They go on the Saturday before May, and on the Saturday before St. John’s Day and also on the Saturday before Michaelmas Day. (Schools’ Folklore Collection: 460:0403)

Presumably pilgrims also visited on St Senan’s feast day, 8th March. Devotions were clearly prescribed, seven rounds required, each round marked by a pebble, ending with three drinks of the water:

There is a well in Tarmons known as St. Senan’s. It is in the corner of Buckley’s field in Ballintubber. This well is not deep and a stream flows out of it. Always in the month of May people pay rounds at this well on every Saturday of the month. This is how people pay rounds. People pick up seven pebbles out of the stream and then kneel down at the well and start reciting the Rosary. Then they start at the right hand side of the well and walk slowly all round reciting a decade of the Rosary while going round. At the end of each decade they throw one pebble away. Then when the seventh round is paid they kneel down and finish the Rosary. Then they take three drinks out of the well and wash their faces at the stream. (Schools’ Folklore Collection: 093-095:0404)

An important part of the ritual was leaving a token rag on the elm tree:

… they usually tie a piece of string on an overhanging bush. It is said that according as the cloth wears away the disease wears off the patient.( 093-095:0404)

It’s good to see that this practice still continues.

The well is dedicated to St Senan:

It is called St. Senan’s well because it was St. Senan who blessed its waters. From the well you can see the ruins of seven churches and round tower in Scattery built by St. Senan.( 093-095:0404)

Try as I might I couldn’t see any hint of the round tower – though I did a bit later on in the trip.

St Senan (488-544AD) is a popular saint in counties Kerry, Cork and Clare and has several wells dedicated to him. He was born near Kilrush, County Clare and as his mother went into labour she grasped the branch of a tree, which immediately sprung into blossom – a very good indication of a baby’s future saintliness. An incident in his boyhood made him promise to devote his life to God. He was driving his cattle home at high tide when he found his path waterlogged. He prayed to God and miraculously the waters opened to let him and his beasts through. Eventually he made his base on Inis Cathaigh, Scattery Island, where he established a religious community. First he had to conquer the resident peist or sea serpent, called Cathach. This he did with the help of the Archangel Raphael. The community on the island lead an austere life and no women were allowed to set foot on it. There was one exception, and in a nice bit of serendipity, she came from my part of the world. This rather beautiful stained glass panel can be seen in St Finbarr’s Church, Bantry and it depicts Cannera, patron saint of the town.

Here’s the story: 

The tradition states, that feeling her end approaching she (st Cannera) resolved to go northwards to St Senan at Scattery Island. She saw in a vision all the churches of Ireland throwing up flames, and those sent up by the church of St Senan were the brightest of all. She set out for the island, but having arrived there the saint would not admit her. She then begged to be shriven by him, and having received absolution she died and was buried on the strand between high and low water marks, as the saint would not allow her to be buried on the island. A flag called locally ‘Leac na ban beannuighe’ is still pointed out on the strand, and is supposed to cover her last resting place. (010/011:0285)

A compromise then. St Senan himself is buried on the island and his bed remains a place of pilgrimage and healing. I especially like how the St Cannera panel also depicts Scattery Island, complete with flames and round tower. The glass is the work of the Harry Clarke Studio and was commissioned in the 1960s.

St Martin’s Well, Tobermartin

Close by lies another well, this one dedicated to St Martin. It’s midway down yet another boggy field, identified by its atmospheric clump of whitethorns.

The site has been acknowledged and fenced off.

The well itself is covered with a door of sorts and is overgrown and inaccessible. Caoimhín Ó Danachair in his paper The Holy Wells of North Kerry (1955) noted:

This small clear well comprises a circular area constructed of drystone and flagstones. It is now just used for domestic purposes.

Just below the well is another odd feature which I hoped was the third well in the trio, Tobar Lughan, but on looking at the historic maps I think it is probably the remains of an old lime kiln.

Tobar Lughan, Toberlughan

The third well in the vicinity proved elusive. Tobar Lughan is described in the Archaeological Inventory as:

 The well is circular in plan and constructed of irregular stones. On the WNW sector, the opening to the well displays three irregularly shaped slabs, the largest being in the centre.

Ó Danachair casts doubt as to whether it was a holy well, though it is marked in appropriate Gothic lettering on the historic maps, but adds a little information:

Legends: (a) A battle was fought in the vicinity and the soldiers refreshed themselves with its water, (b) People from Bauragoogeen (Barr an Ghúígm) in Moyvane parish, carrying butter to Tarbert, rested and quenched their thirst here.

Thwarted and now in need of coffee, we were directed to the wonderfully named Swanky Bar in Tarbert – excellent coffee.

Refreshed, we headed west towards our next destination, Carrig Island, near Ballylongford. We were now travelling  along the estuary of the mouth of the River Shannon, possibly named after St Senan, or Seanán. A strange flat landscape, looking bleakly beautiful and still in the mist. Carrigafoyle Castle, built in the 1490s by Conor Liath O Connor to guard the mouth of the Shannon, was an interesting diversion.

A little further on lay Carrig Island, approached via a causeway.

Friar’s Well, Carrig Island

The landscape remained bleak and flat, salt marshes with the haunting cry of the curlew; the tiny road fiercely potholed and bouncy; the sea dead calm, not a ripple of movement.

Six people live on the island today but once it was an important ecclesiastical centre connected with the monastery of St Senan on Scattery, which lies literally opposite off the Clare Coast – finally just glimpsed through the murk – that’s the round tower to the right!

We met Eamonn tending the house of a friend who was now in a nursing home. We wondered if he knew the best way to get to the ruins of the friary, which we could see enticingly in the field  but there seemed to be no access. Following his instructions, we retraced our steps and then proceeded over yet more boggy fields.

The remains of the friary date from the thirteenth century and are in a decrepit and forlorn state.

It all looks rather unprepossessing but from the air there is a different story:

Dating from the sixth century, an early Christian church and settlement that was connected with the major monastery of St. Senan on Scattery Island (almost opposite on the Clare coast of the Shannon), stood within the lios or large circular earthen-work enclosure. The traces of various buildings on the ground are clearly visible from the air, and also in times of drought. Within the site is a well known traditionally as the Friars’ Holy Well. The remains of a stone church, nave, tower, staircase, chancel and sanctuary dating from the medieval period, possibly 13th century, are still standing, and suggest that the building was once a very impressive structure. Following the reform of the Irish Church in the early 12th century, this establishment, like its mother-house on Scattery Island, was occupied by the Canons Regular of St. Augustine until 1580. (North Kerry Tourism Forum)

The holy well, simply known as the Friar’s Well (the apostrophe seems interchangeable), lay within the enclosure and not far from the friary but would have been impossible to find without the GPS. Its now in a hedge, roughly covered over with rotting slats.

Enticing glimpses of water could be seen but it was impossible to get a good view of the structure – it is said to be stone lined with steps going down into it.

We lingered a little longer at this remarkable place, some of us did drawings, others beachcombed or identified the abundant birdlife. Definitely a world apart.

Part two will chart the rest of the day: on to Astee, Ballybunion and back to Listowel.

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

Many thanks to Peter Clarke for his sketch of Carrigafoyle Castle.