Trout & Tussocks: the Strangeness of Holy Lakes

I don’t know what the situation is in other counties but Cork and Kerry seem to have a fondness for holy lakes. In County Cork for example, the entire Lake at Gougane Barra was once considered sacred for it was here that St Finbarr wrestled with the resident water serpent, Tú, and of course won.

The defeated serpent slithered off towards the marshes, his tail leaving a meandering indent which later became the River Lee. Renowned for its healing qualities, pilgrims immersed themselves fully in the lake and swam their cattle across in May, the water considered beneficial to animals as well as humans. At some point a small section of the lake was walled off and became the holy well, still much revered.

There are other sacred lakes in Cork and Kerry, smaller ones and stranger ones and one of the fascinating aspects is that they all seem to be connected in some way. At each there is mention of miraculous tussocks which float across the lake on a specific day; they contain blessed fish and once were associated with riotous pattern days. Three share the same feast day, the July 8th. Three have already been recorded, here’s a quick refresher:

Lough Adereen, near Leap, West Cork

Lough Adereen was especially famous for its blessed trout. Pilgrims would bring with them copious amounts of bread with which to feed the fish but eating them was forbidden – should anyone try the fish would turn to blood. The lake was also famous for its moving tussocks, little floating islands, which miraculously self propelled on the feast day – probably St John’s Eve and/or St Stephen’s Day. The lake originally attracted large numbers of pilgrims and one gathering ended in a massive faction fight, after which the pattern was banned. Today much of the lake has been quarried but some water remains. Its interesting to speculate how pilgrims actually got down there.

Derrylough, Lake of the Oaks, Adrigole, Beara, County Cork

On the south side of the Beara, just past Adrigole, Derrylough, Lough of the Oaks, was famous for its blessed eels. It also contained five miraculous tussocks which moved on the feast day, the 8th July, St Kilian’s Day. Intriguingly this well shared the same feast day with another well on the north side of the Beara – pilgrims visiting each if they could. This meant quite a hefty hike over the mountain or a long sail around the coast. Today the lough is much overgrown and very hard to get close to but it still contains water.

Lough Mackeenlaw, Bunaw, Beara, County Kerry

Lough Mackeenlaw is on the north side of the Beara, just into South Kerry and was renowned for its healing qualities and for its miraculous tussocks which moved across the water on the feast day, 8th July. Rounds included the nearby church and a small hillock known as the Hermitage. The lake is now very hard to distinguish and all the tussocks seem to have joined up, yet a pilgrimage is still held here on the 8th July, in honour of St Kilian.

And there’s more! I recently visited a fourth holy lake, almost parallel to Lough Mackeenlaw, a brisk row across the Kenmare Bay.

Lough Askive, Hollywood Lake, Parknasilla, South Kerry

Peering at the map, Lough Askive appeared to lie almost directly opposite Parknasilla Hotel, in dense woodland. There seemed no obvious way to access the land so I inquired at a nearby house, complete with private shrine to the BVM which looked hopeful.

The bean an tí, woman of the house, was amused at my inquiry but did know of the lake and then surprised herself by remembering that she had in fact taken part in patterns many years ago. She could recall that the priest circled the lake, collected bottles of water and then processed the pilgrims to the nearby church in Tahilla. She said the lake was meant to be bottomless. She told me it was in the lands of Hollywood House, also owned by Parknasilla, and currently being renovated. I duly wandered up the driveway and rather reluctantly two workmen allowed me to explore. What a fascinating area, rich in plant life, a tangle of rhododendrons and willows, all jumbled but still retaining little paths, gateways and bridges, hinting at once extensive landscaping.

The lake is still there but impossible to get close to. The undergrowth is dense and tangled. As I was tussling with a rhododendron, my ear got caught in the branches and when I finally pulled myself loose I found my earring had gone – I reckon the good people had taken it in exchange for my disturbing them – fair enough.

Like the other loughs mentioned Lake Askive also was renowned for its floating tussocks. This extract from the Schools’ Folklore has an interesting explanation why:

Near Askive about a mile from Sneem in olden times people paid rounds for some diseases. It is said that Cromwell’s soldiers followed a woman named Ann and she ran into the lake but as she was entering the water they hit her in the leg and made her lame. She dragged a ‘sod’ in with her and every year it is supposed on her anniversary this ‘sod’ comes up and walks around the lake lame and it is supposed that it is the Saint herself who appears in this form so rounds were paid there long ago around a tree and tokens that were left there are still visible and it was in the month of July those rounds were paid and there is a well there still called Saint Anne’s Well.

SFC: 124:0468

In another extract the patron is clearly referred to as St Anne but the pattern day is given as the 8th July, as at the previous two loughs, and is St Kilian’s feast day:

The nearest holy well to us is in the village of Askive, two miles from Sneem. This well has for its patron St. Ann and is therefore called St. Ann’s well. On a tree overshadowing the well the shape of a woman’s body is said to be imprinted. At this well rounds are performed on the eight of July.

SFC:257:0467

The Archaeological Inventory suggests the name Anne has a more ancient provenance:

Askive Lake is alternatively known as Anne’s Lake (local information) and a nearby holy well, now closed in, was known as St Anne’s well or Hollywood well. According to one of Ó Cíobhain’s informants it was here, and not at the lake, that the pattern was held (1984b, 19). Local tradition relegates Anne to penal times and associates her with a nearby mass-rock called Com an Aifrinn. There are numerous versions of the tale of her encounter with Redcoats hunting a local priest, and of her subsequent drowning at their hands (local information; Lyne 1989, 31-2; Ó Cíobháin 1984b, 18). Lyne suggests that the lake’s association with St Anne may evidence a pre-Christian veneration to the goddess Áine (1989, 32). The Hollywood pattern may have originally been a Lughnasa festival.

Archaeological Inventory for County Kerry

St Anne’s feast day is the 26th July so that would fit with the Lunasa theory.

It’s interesting that both accounts refer to a sacred tree, possibly a holly in the shape of a woman. Rags and other offerings were left as was traditional:

… It was customary for the pilgrims to stick pins and coins into the trunk of the tree, as well as to tie rags to its branches. They also brought home some of the lake water. The pattern day was known as ‘the morning of the lake’. Graves noted that pilgrims travelled long distances to avail of the lake waters’ ‘miraculous power’, which was particularly efficacious in curing ‘sores’.

Archaeological Inventory for County Kerry

The bark of the tree was also considered to have its own specific healing properties:

The aged the sick and the infirm and even the young and healthy come to his sacred spot and with profound humility beseech labours cures and blessings of Almighty God. It is usually the custom to take a bit of bark from the tree and to leave a coin or something on it instead. The bit of bark is supposed to have a cure in it and the sick rub it to their affected part.

As always it would not burn:

There’s a little holly bush growing on the bank of the lake and it was half decayed and half green over the years. About twelve years ago, peat was very scarce in the district because it was a bad year and there wasn’t a dry sod of turf to be found, and because peat was their only source of heat, they were in a bad situation altogether. What did a couple of men do, only go to the holly bush beside Lough Askive, to cut it down. They did so, and they took it home, but if they did, the wood would not spark or catch fire, and they had to put it back where they got it. Those men thought there was a death-curse on them for life because they cut the blessed tree, but there wasn’t.

SFC: 338: 0467, translated from Irish

It is impossible to distinguish any particular holly tree today sadly. Further attempts were made to disrupt the site. One landlord, Protestant of course, tried to drain it by running a ditch down to the sea, things did not go smoothly as this cautionary tales recounts:

From the start of the plantations in Ireland there were English landlords in charge of that district. They drove off the Catholics and took the land into their own hands. Sometimes the Catholics were their tenants and sometimes their slaves. One of the landlords owned the land around Lough Askive. The land was wet there and he wanted to improve it. Consequently, he made the Irish dig a ditch from the lake down to the sea, to drain the lake. He didn’t give them any wages, but they had to do it. They did it, at any rate. The landlord went the following morning to see the ditch, and what did he see? There wasn’t a ditch to be seen but the lake as full as ever. He was furious because he thought they hadn’t done the job properly or they were trying to hoodwink him somehow. What did he do only force the poor slaves to do it all again, but if he did, it was the same result again. The third time it was the same, even though he was keeping watch on the crew doing the work. The third time, the landlord himself saw the ditch closing before his eyes. He got frightened, even though his heart was as hard as ever anyone’s had been. He had to stop the work in the end. He said then that there was some evil spirit consorting with the Irish and it wasn’t safe to be living among such a cursed tribe as this. He set himself to banishing every Catholic from the district, until there wasn’t a Catholic left within six miles of their own homes. That’s what he thought, but there was a Catholic priest to be found in the neighbourhood. He was in hiding inside in the valleys in the hills and saying mass without his knowledge. It wasn’t long after that that the landlord died. The person who came after him, even though he was hard on the Catholics, he didn’t sacrifice them. He allowed them to become his tenants again but they had to do all his work, sow and reap his crops, not to mention there was no payment coming from him. ‘Warden’ was his name and there was one of his breed in that district (Derryquin) until about sixteen years ago. His castle was burned and there’s nothing there now except a ruin.

SFC: 338: 0467, translated from Irish

References to a holy well suggest that perhaps part of the lake may have been eventually walled off for easier access such as at Gougane Barra. There was no sign of any structure today and no sign of any tussocks, though there were plenty of reeds.

The pattern began on the eve of the 8th July, three circuits of the lake were required and it’s suggested that some pilgrims travelled great distances to attend.

A small lake, titled ‘Askive Lough’ on the OS maps but known locally as Hollywood Lake, is located in Askive Wood on the N side of the main Sneem-Kenmare road. It occurs in low-lying ground SW of Knockanamadane and is virtually inaccessible due to heavy overgrowth around its shores. A pattern was formerly held at the lake on July 8th, beginning on the preceding evening (Ó Ciobháin 1984b, 17-18). The rounds, which consisted of making three circuits of the lake while reciting prayers, began and ended at a holly tree whose shape resembled a woman. It was customary for the pilgrims to stick pins and coins into the trunk of the tree, as well as to tie rags to its branches. They also brought home some of the lake water. The pattern day was known as ‘the morning of the lake’. Graves noted that pilgrims travelled long distances to avail of the lake waters’ ‘miraculous power’, which was particularly efficacious in curing ‘sores’ (1930, 117).

Archaeological Inventory for County Kerry

Lough Askive shares its feast day with Derrylough and Lough Mackeenlaw. St Kilian is traditionally believed to have set sail on his watery pilgrimage from Kilmackilloge Harbour, near lough Mackeenlaw, in a small hide covered boat. Did he and his twelve companions first sail across to Kenmare Bay towards Parknasilla and then on to Askive Lake, before continuing on their journey via Derrylough in Bantry Bay? They eventually landed up in German where St Kilian still has a cult following in Wurzburg, Bavaria. The story of St Kilian is a fascinating one and described more fully in this blog.

Many lakes have tussocks or floating islands (research shows they’re big in Florida!) but it’s interesting that each of these lakes refer to their miraculous propulsion on a certain day which in turn led to a belief in their potent healing qualities. Many lakes also contain fish, but catching the contents of these would bring misfortune yet seeing them brought good luck. Lake Adereen initially seems to have no connection to the other three but further exploration reveals St Kilian is believed to have been educated in Rosscarbery – very close to Lake Adereen. In the 12th century a priory was founded in the town by Nehemia Scotus who had originally been a monk in Wurzburg where Irish Benedictines continued to flourished. The connections remain to this day and an annual Kiliani Volkfest is still held in Wurzburg – President MD Higgins attended in 2019. It really is all connected.

Revisited in January 2024 and further clearance has been undertaken , the lake and the surrounding are now cleared.

Happily tussocks were in evidence but no sight of a separate well.

The location of these holy lakes can be found in the Gazetteer.

A map of the lakes can be seen here.

Many thanks to Finola Finlay for her translation of the entry in Irish in the Schools’ Folklore Collection (SFC: 338: 0467 )