A most enjoyable morning in the company of Patsy O Callagan and John Lane, two very knowledgeable and passionate local historians. They had invited me to explore two obscure wells in their parish of Iniscarra – how could I refuse.
Fuelled with good coffee at the Angler’s Rest we headed off down small country lanes, bedecked with cow parsley. A first stop was an interesting diversion in Matehy.
The Strand Bar was colourful and attractive but we continued to the graveyard nearby. Inside this circular enclosure with its enormous yew trees was an interesting collection of early gravestones, many with intricate carved inscriptions.
The remains of the old church were atmospheric and the doorway showed how floor levels had changed enormously over the years.
Denny Lane, one of the leaders of the Young Irelanders and author of the much loved song Carrigdhoun or Lament of the Irish Maiden, lies here. His grave, marked by an ornate Celtic cross, informs: He served his country and loved his kind.
Patsy had a story to tell and it was a good if grisly one, borne out by this entry in the Schools’ Folklore Collection.
During the Penal Days a priest was celebrating Mass on a hillside. A local informer betrayed him to the soldiers one of whom cut off his arm while the priest was in the act of raising the Sacred Host. The informer was killed. It was intended to bury him in Courtbrack churchyard, but during the night the graveyard moved away – rather than bear the remains of an informer. A man coming from Cork actually saw the graveyard moving – a portion of it fell into the river at his feet. He lived to return home and tell the tale.
SFC:133:0372
Other versions refer to a notorious priest hunter called Captain Fox and it was he who met his demise at a place still called Fox’s Bridge. The residents of Courtback graveyard, outraged to be spending eternity with a priest hunter, removed themselves at the stroke of midnight to Matehy. They carried their gravestones on their back but a couple slipped off and fell into the river where they an apparently still be seen! We didn’t have time to investigate, there were wells to be seen.
Well of the Fair Women, Tobar na mBan Finne, Tobar an Aifreann, Well of the Mass
Onwards to the Well of the Fair Woman, originally visited in May 2017. It’s a situated at the side of a small and leafy lane which has a surprising amount of traffic. John and Patsy had kindly cleared it a little before our arrival.
The well is large and rectangular, surrounded by fairly modern walls with a pillared entrance, now missing the gate.
The well is accessed by two steps downwards and although choked with leaves and other debris, the water is abundant and looks clean.
Patsy told us the tradition that roughly 100 years ago the well dried up. Holy water was promptly sprinkled in the well, whereupon it immediately filled up and has never dried again. Another story explains how the well got its name: a woman (presumably a fair one) who suffered from falling sickness, generally interpreted as epilepsy, came to the the well on her own, slipped in and drowned. The well is seriously overgrown and in need of some tlc but there is considerable local interest in its restoration so its future looks promising.
Blessed Well, Tobairin Beannuighthe
On to Carhue and a site that has recently undergone huge land developments and changes. Originally wooded, the fields have recently been cleared and dug over. We clambered over freshly dug earth, passing the tell tale crescent of of a ploughed out fulacht fiadh, following the path of a stream. This too had been diverted in places due to the land clearance.
Patsy and John were confident they had located the site of the enigmatic Blessed Well, Tobairin Beannuighthe.
The description in the Archaeological Inventory is somewhat vague:
O’Sullivan (1955, 4) noted a holy well in this townland -‘Tobairin Beannuighthe’. He described ‘collapse of stone work of old well’ with an ancient whitethorn tree nearby, at which ’rounds no longer made’ (ibid.). Exact location not known. According to local information, some older residents bless themselves when they pass place thought to be location of well, ‘somewhere along the road’ which runs N-S between Carhue and Ballymacoo townlands.
Archaeological Inventory for County Cork
There was no sign of any stone work nor a whitethorn but water could clearly be seen trickling down the banks from where Patsy and John were confident the well was originally situated.
It sounds as though the well had been in a decline for many years, possibly last cleaned in 1890:
There is a holy well situated about half a mile from my house by the side of the road called ‘The Stoney new Line’. It is said that this well was once in the parish of Donoughmore about three or four miles from where it is now. One day a woman came to wash potatoes in the well. As she was about to wash the potatoes the well arose from its place and it was never seen again in the parish of Donoughmore. About forty years ago a certain priest got the well cleaned and a crowd of people came to the well on Easter Sunday 1890. But now it is filled up with grass and weeds and is hardly visible at all.
SFC:084:0348
It’s always interesting to hear of a moving well, this one offended by the inappropriate washing of potatoes in it. The road close to the field is still known as the The Stoney New Line, although it’s well over a hundred years old by now.
O Sullivan, writing in 1955 and referenced above, also described seeing the coffin-shaped remains of a saint’s bed or grave not far from the well. Although we searched, there was no sign of anything remaining. Patsy mentioned that local tradition held that there was monastery close by. He pointed out the walls of what seemed to be a small building conspicuously left in the field and we speculated whether this could be it.
The stream marks the boundary of Carhue townland with that of Ballymacoo – could Ballymacoo refer to st Mochuda? There is a very attractive well, Tobar Kilmacow, dedicated to him not so far away in Kanturk.
A well rediscovered but with many questions unanswered.
Well of the Fair Women, Tobar na mBan Fionn, Tobernamanfune
A neat segue into the final well and another one connected with fair women, but this one is in Cahersiveen, County Kerry, also recently visited.
A path at the back of the bustling town of Cahersiveen takes you up through airy Carhan Wood on the slopes of Bentee Mountain and it is a pleasant walk to the well.
The first signifier is a red bench, helpfully labelled.
The well is tucked into a bank, bestrewn with fernery, a flat slab in front of it.
The water is abundant, fresh and very cold. I can find little out about this well except it seems to have been visited in May when goddesses gathered around it and cried! Quite why is unclear. It’s clearly marked on the historic OS maps.
One thing that comes up in your posts regularly is how hard some of these wells are to find, but when they move……?!
North Cork wells in particular seem very easily offended!
As a fair woman myself, glad to see us getting our own wells. Fionnghuala
Exactly!!
Very interesting Amanda. Local historians are passionate about their area. You have documented this beautifully. I’m gonna be careful washing the spuds in future
And no washing those petticoats either! Also a cause for great offence!