A Peregrination part 1: the wanderings of St Gobnait

With time to think, research and mentally meander, St Gobnait has been in my thoughts. I thought it might be interesting to look in detail at her remarkable journey when she too (physically) meandered around Munster, as she searched for the site of her resurrection. It’s a long and complicated wandering and will be covered in two blogs.

St Gobnait was born sometime in the 6th century, possibly in County Clare. When she was a young woman, maybe due to a family feud, she moved to Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands.

Here she came under the tutorage of St Enda and eventually built her own small church, still called Cill Ghobnait. The accompanying holy well can be glimpsed in this enigmatic painting by Seán Keating entitled Thinking Out Gobnet, worked in 1917. Here he portrays Harry Clarke, his friend and renowned stained glass artist, who had recently been commissioned to create nine stained glass panels for the Honan Chapel in University College, including a depiction of St Gobnait. The painting is an allegory and includes several of the picturesque ecclesiastical ruins found on Inis Oír. The church is Teampall Chaomháin, St Kevin’s church and Clarke sits, somewhat dejectedly, on a stone grave slab, probably that of St Kevin himself which was renowned for its curative powers. The stylised depiction of the small holy well and accompanying bullaun stone may be based on the monuments still found near Cill Ghobnait. The cedar tree, known as the Tree of Inisheer, was associated with Gobnait and had healing powers of its own.

The photos below, taken by Professor Celeste Ray during her visit to the island in 2017, exactly a 100 years later, show the remains of the holy well and two bullaun stones with Cill Ghobnat in the background.

Whilst on Inis Oirr St Gobnait was visited by an angel who told her to search for the place of her resurrection. She would know when she found it for she would see nine white deer. From then on Gobnait took on the life of a peregrinatio – leaving her homeland to wander into the unknown, committing her life to Christ. What is remarkable is that it’s possible to track her journey through Munster, using place names, church and holy well sites, folklore and a bit of educated guesswork and imagination. She travelled, deiseal, clockwise, following the sun, through counties Kerry, Limerick, Waterford and Cork before finally finding her nine sleeping white deer.

First St Gobnait had to commandeer a boat of some kind to take her to the mainland- maybe a naomhóg, a traditional boat, which rather nicely means little saint. Incidentally a naomhóg called Naomh Gobnait was especially built in 2010 to take a crew of four on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, via a traditional sea route. They started in 2014 and it took them three summers. It’s a wonderful story – more here.

One version of events in the Schools’ Folklore Collection explains how Gobnait may have already had access to a boat:

It was on a voyage with her pirate parent that she received the call to a higher life, and resolved to break with her evil companions. An opportunity for doing so came when the vessel anchored at length somewhere off the coast of Ireland from one of those ancient kinds, Connaire the Great, St. Gobnait is said to have been descended. The crew landed, and presently arrived in a lonely wood whose sheltering trees suggested the hope of escape to the young girl. The puzzle was which way to turn. While she hesitated, she was favoured with a vision, in which an angel told her to fear nothing, but placing confidence in God, go straight on till she came to where nine snow-white deer were sleeping. The angel added that the spot where she was destined to find the deer would one day be the place of her resurrection.

SFC: 120:0342

Her first footfall then was in County Kerry,*either on the long strand at Ventry, escaping her piratical father, or maybe directly at Dunquin where there is the first concrete evidence of her arrival. Could she have clambered ashore at this iconic pier?

Tobar Ghobnatan, Dun Choin, St Gobnait’s Well, Dunquin (KE052-005)

Here in Dun Choin, Corca Dhuibhne, Dunquin, Dingle Peninsula, she saw her first deer- three of them. She fasted for 40 days, lingered a while and caused a well to spring up. The well, Tobar Ghobnatan, is still here, clinging to the cliff edge with huge and dramatic views out to the the Blasket Islands.

The holy well is still much revered, a pattern taking place on her feast day, 11th February. Nearby are the remains of a penitential station and the ruins of a medieval church dedicated to the saint. Traditionally people from the Blasket Islands came over to take part. As seems normal, the three day pattern included a fair, drinking and dancing and often ended in faction fighting. Apparently one parish priest objected to the merriment, cursed the people of Dunquin and was promptly thrown off a cliff! (Diocese of Kerry)

Tobar Ghobnait, St Gobnait’s Well, Tobar a’Rúin, Well of the Secret, Garfinny (KE043-233)

Continuing east, still on the Dingle Peninsula, the next clue is in Garfinny near Dingle where there was a holy well dedicated to the saint. Caoimhín Ó Danachair described the well as follows:

A spring about 3ft across, in  a marshy field overgrown with briars, sallies etc. Still visited by a few people on Easter Sunday. Three circuits of the well are made, a Rosary is said during each circuit. The water is drunk, and applied to sore eyes, of which many cures are related. Small objects are left as offerings .

The Holy Wells of Corkaguiney, O Danachair, 1960

Two photographs from the same period shows the marshy setting and dense foliage, the well hidden under the tree.

According to the Archaeological Inventory for County Kerry, this well is no longer evident, the field it was in having been reclaimed.

Edit: I can confirm that an expedition with Billy Mag Fhlionn from the Sacred Heart University, Dingle revealed that the well was still there – a small spring emerging from the bank and filtering into the stream.

It was fiendishly difficult to get to and I fell in the stream and Billy was lacerated! Worth it though.

Tobar Ghobnait, St Gobnait’s Well, Ballinagroun (KE045-095)

This well lies somewhere above the magnificent beach at Inch.

An Seabhac described it in 1939 as a natural spring with a cure for sore eyes. He also said rounds were no longer paid here. Twenty years later, Ó Danachair described the well as being in a marshy field surrounded by briars. It may possibly still exist as a spring but I have not yet visited the site.

Edit: The site was visited in October 2022 and I can confirm that it does exist. The well emerges from underground, impossible to get close by due to the briars and gorse, but the watercourse flows down hill exuberantly and seems to be being piped.

Leaving the Dingle Peninsula but still in Kerry, St Gobnait now moved down towards the Iveragh Peninsula and the next clue is a townland called after her, Kilgobnet, in the wildly beautiful country not far from the Gap of Dunloe.

St Gobnait’s Well, Kilgobnet, Beaufort (KE065-042002)

Just outside Beaufort, St Gobnait saw a white deer. A holy well and a small church were both dedicated to her. The well is no longer evident but was once marked by a heap of small stones, topped with an inscribed cross. The well seems to have been filled in around 1938 and the slab has vanished. It once it attracted a considerable pattern which died out due to faction fighting and the popularity of the nearby Killorglin fair:

St Gobnet is the patron saint of Kilgobnet. St Gobnet was not born at Kilgobnet but she spent long years there and was held in great respect by the people of the district. There are still some ruins of her little church. The gable of the church where the altar is supposed to have been is still standing. it is covered with ivy. It is called St Gobnet’s church … The place around her here is called Kilgobnet. There is supposed to be a holy well at Kilgobnet and there is another holy well at Shanara. The feast of St Gobnet falls on the 11th day of February which was kept as a great in the district in days gone by but is not kept as a holiday any longer. It was celebrated by a great feast called the Pattern fair. This was a famous fair and it was attended by buyers from all over the country. All sorts of enjoyment went on at this fair at this fair all the matches were settled. There were white tents all over the place and every house in the district was a Sheebeen on that day. Great faction fights also went on at this fair. The Protestants from Dingle came to fight with the Catholics of this district. The result of this was often sorrow and bloodshed as great numbers were often killed. This old fair was destroyed by a fair which was held on the previous day in Killorglin and although it is now held in Killorglin five miles away it is still called the Pattern Fair. The people of the district never worked on that day. The people of the district pay round to the old church on Good Friday and they say the rosary.

SFC: 318:0471

The church is just about standing though much ruined. The ringfort nearby is also named after the saint, Lios Gobnait.

Moving south-west down the Iveragh Peninsula, St Gobnait next stopped just above Cahersiveen.

St Gobnait’s Well, Tobar Ghobnait, (KE080-018003)

On a hillside 200 metres away from the ruins of Killinane Church and graveyard is a holy well dedicated to St Gobnait. According to Ó hÉaluighthe,in his paper St Gobnet of Ballyvourney (JCHAS , Vol 57, 1952, St Gobnait also founded a nunnery here of which nothing remains.

Having sampled the delights of Kerry, St Gobnait moved on into County Limerick where she made three stops.

St Dervila’s Well, Ballyacran (LI046-009)

St Dervila is usually recognised as being St Deborah, which is the Hebrew form of Abigail which is the English for Gobnait! Here St Gobnait saw a white deer.

It is another well I have not visited but from the Archaeological Inventory entry it sounds as though it remains as a spring:

In level marshy terrain. Set into N face of field boundary, travelling on WNW-ESE axis, is circular spring (diam. c. 0.5m; D c. 0.6m); stone facing, of small roughly-cut flags, only evident at SSW side of spring. Ground immediately surrounding spring is waterlogged and heavily poached by cattle drinking from spring; a recently cut field drain runs c. 1m in front of spring on same axis as field boundary. No indication that well still used for religious purposes.

Archaeological Inventory for County Limerick

A pattern was held here until at least 1870 and rounds were still made in the 1950s. Rather nicely Ó Danachair recorded that a white stag was sometimes still seen at the well. The well was renowned for its healing qualities and may have moved from its original position when a woman tried to boil water from it. A large ash tree and whitethorn grew up above it. A small mound nearby, now gone, was once called Cnocán na mBuachailli and whoever stood on it on St Gobnait’s Day would be married within the year!

Edit: the well was successfully located in January 2022 and although neglected is still flourishing at the foot of a tree.

Continuing east, the next stop was in Ballynahinch.

Deborah’s Well, Ballynahinch (L1040-110)

This well is recorded as Deborah’s Well on the historic maps and shows a small path leading to it. Ó Danachair was uncertain whether it was ever a holy well though Westropp (1904) recorded that a pattern was held here. Another for the list to visit post Covid.

Edit: visit achieved in January 2022, the well is still known by the land owner but very overgrown.

Her final stop in County Limerick was in Bohercarron, a little to the north east of Ballynahinch.

Tobergobinet, St Gobnait’s Well, Bohercarron (LI041-071)

Ó Danachair had little to say about this well other than no tradition survived. It seems its fortunes may have improved for there is obviously a structure there today, although it does not sound as though it is revered:

… a roadside well, built into the ditch, with an outfall continuing northward which eventually feeds into the Camogue. The stonework is mortared and neatly built. The roof is formed of a flat slate maybe one piece or two but in any event it is damaged and one part is gone. The slate is surmounted by large stones. The roadside section of the well is damaged, the side wall is slightly bulged, the ‘capstones’ are also at risk … The well is named ‘Tobergobinet’ on the 1927 OS six-inch map.”

Archaeological Inventory for County Limerick

An entry in the Schools’ Folklore Collection refers to St Gobnait blessing a pagan well here, so this well may have had a long pedigree.

Edit: this well was also visited in January 2022 and was found to be flourishing.

A post on the three wells dedicated to St Gobnait can be found here.

She then dropped down south east, heading into County Waterford where a townland is named after her north of Dungarvan.

Tobar Ghobnait, Tobar Aphoona, St Gobnait’s Well, The Pound Well, Kilgobnet (WA031-001003)

Here are the scant remains of a small Medieval church dedicated to her and the nearby Catholic church, built in 1880, is also dedicated to St Abigail. According to D Ó Éaluighthe in his paper St Gobnet of Ballyvourney ( JCHAS Vol 57, 1952) an old man had related that St Gobnait arrived here on a white horse and blessed the district against thunder and lightening. The holy well lies 100m away to the north, evident on digital aerial maps by a circle of trees. John O Donovan noted in 1841:

There is a well near it (the church) which was anciently called tobergobnet but now Tobar-Aphoona, the Pound Well, at which stations were performed on the festival of St Gobnait, the 11th February. I think the original name should given on the Ordnance Survey Map.

John O Donovan, Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the County of Waterford collected during the ordnance survey,1841

The well’s fortunes dwindled further when the Irish Tourism Association recorded in 1942 that:

This well is fed by a small stream which runs beside it and is dry in the summer. There is little sacredness attached to it.

ITA, Waterford, 1942

The well was still active in 1952 when Ó hÉaluighthe (St Gobnet of Ballyvourney, JCHAS, vol 57, 1952) mentions a rag tree over the well and described how the rounds began at the well and continued to the church door, pilgrims traditionally going on their knees. Steps still remain in the churchyard which leads into the Well Field but it is unclear whether anything remains on site or whether any water is evident. The Archaeological Inventory for Waterford has some interesting extra information and mentions that the well chamber extends into the hillside and may originally have been part of a souterrain. Reminders of the importance of the original patron saint of the area can be seen in a beautiful stained glass window in Scoil Naomh Gobnait, Coolnasmear National School. It was commissioned in 2017 and is the work of Joy McAllen.

It’s gorgeous work – lively and colourful, teeming with bees and deer and includes hints to the next part of her journey.

Edit: Two friends kindly went on a recce when they were passing through Waterford cycling the Green Way. This seems to be the well area, now too overgrown to get penetrate.

It does appear that water from this well may be being diverted into a more accessible area in the churchyard.

Edit: May 2023, the well was especially cleared when Cornelius Lynch visited as part of his research into St Gobnait. He has kindly allowed me to use his photographs which appear in his book: Gobnait: People and Places Associated with St Gobnait – highly recommended.

St Gobnait seems to have made only one stop in County Waterford, then she took the the N72 towards Mallow in County Cork. The trail for this enigmatic saint now becomes complicated and will be reserved for Part 2.

Please note this is only my interpretation of a possible route and there can be many interpretations and many conflicting reports of how many deer she saw and at which site! It must also be noted that I have not yet had the opportunity to visit all holy wells and sites mentioned and would be most grateful for any further information.

You can follow her journey on this map.

+Dr Joe Mannion has recently me contacted me with another possible link to St Gobnait in Chaplefinnerty, Athascragh near Ballinasloe, County Galway. Here there is a stone slab marking the burial place of a remarkable priest, Father James O Finaghty, which refers to his founding a chapel on the site during the mid seventeenth century dedicated to St Gobnait. Father Finaghty was renowned for his healing, he was even summoned to attend to the ousted English queen, Henrietta Maria in 1663. He died in 1669 but the reasons for his devotion to Gobnait have been lost.

Many thanks to Joy McAllen for her kind permission to use a photograph of the stained glass window depicting St Gobnait. Thanks also to Cornelius Lynch for permission to use his photographs of St Gobnait’s Well near Waterford. Thanks to Colin and Ginny Humphreys for visiting St Gobnait’s Well, Waterford.

Sincere thanks to Professor Celeste Ray for her photographs from Inis Oirr. And to Dr Joe Mannion for further information about St Gobnait connections in Athascragh.

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