Still in pursuit of St Gobnait

This post may only be of interest to serious St Gobnait devotees! Whilst limited by lockdown I researched, virtually and whenever possible in the field, the peregrination of St Gobnait as she went in search of the site of her resurrection – identifiable by nine white deer. From setting out on the Aran Islands where she was visited by an angel, I tracked her journey through counties Kerry, Limerick, Waterford and Cork and calculated that she covered a distance of approximately 934km, left a trail of 18 wells connected to her, gave her name to six townlands and saw 35 white deer!

Peregrination Part 1

Peregrination part 2

Peregrination part 3

I have visited all wells except for three, located in County Limerick – this seemed a good excuse for a quick trip across the county border. All three wells are fairly close together and in the Kilmallock area, our base for a few days.

St Gobnait’s Well, St Deriola’s Well, St Derivla’s Well, Ballyagran

The first of the trio was situated in Ballyagran. Known as St Deriola or St Derivla’s Well this references an alternative name for Gobnait – Deborah, which is Hebrew for honey bee. A sign to St Gobnait’s Nursing Home suggested we were on the right track. There was no immediate suggestion of anything well-like in the area but fortunately we came upon Garrett who gladly gave us his time and took us into a field. This he explained was the Fair Field and was where a large fair was once held around St Gobnait’s feast day, 11th February. Like many patterns it eventually disintegrated into ferocious faction fighting. This entry from the Schools’ Folklore Collection described common events:

Faction fights were common occurrences here up to 60 years ago. The most famous fights took place at the fair of the well which was held in Miss O’Brien’s field about a quarter of a mile from Ballygran on the road to Castletown. The fair was held on the 11th Feb and people used to come from all the districts within 20 miles of the place. It was last held about 60 years ago. This fair never passed without its faction fight. All would be quietness till the signal a red sod of turf was thrown up and someone shouted “Three years”. He was at once answered by an opponent with the shout “Four Years”. In a few moments the Fair was like a battle field. Sticks and stones were used freely yet rarely did anyone die from the effects. Knives were not used. Regrettable as the faction fights were we feel glad to know that even when passion was highest they rarely had recourse to the knife. Unfortunately women often took part in these fights. A stocking loaded with a stone made a terrible weapon. Faction fights did away about the same time as the fair of the well about 1870.

SFC:325/326:0497

The Three Year Olds and the Four Year Old were the most notorious gangs in the area, nothing to do with their ages. Rather bizarrely this is how the names had developed:

Long ago there used to be a large fair held at the cross of Ballinuveene. At this fair there was a three year old bull and a four year old bull. Being in the middle of the day the owners of the two bulls got careless and the two bulls came in contact with each other. The two bulls began to fight and the owners of the two bulls began to fight also. The people at the fair took sides with the two men From that day onwards when the people used to go to a fair and take some stimulants. They would come out shouting ‘I am a three year old’ and the other would say ‘I am a four year old.’Then they would wheel their black thorn sticks over their heads and would begin fighting again.

SFC:197/198:0510

Lieutenant John Fitzgerald who was in charge of a detachment of the 39th Regiment stationed at Ballyagran in 1824, described vividly what happened that year when things got particularly unpleasant:

At about half past four on the morning of February 12th, 1824, Mr. Massey (a local Magistrate) called to require our immediate assistance to prevent a riot. It was with the greatest difficulty we could separate the parties without resort to severe measures. We frequently succeeded in dispersing them but in spite of our combined efforts, military and police, they managed to recommence. However, we succeeded in preventing a great deal of blood-shed as stone throwing was the order of the day. I never saw fellows so determined on the destruction of each other. Mr. Massey’s chief anxiety was to take prisoners and we apprehended twenty four. One man affected his escape and broke one of our firelocks (guns) with a blow of a stick. We tried to retake him but could not, unless we fired on him. Another man’s firelock was broken from a stone thrown. Notwithstanding our efforts one man was killed and another not expected to live, which sufficiently shows what destruction would have been committed were it not for the intervention of the military and police. The combatants were the Three Year Olds and the Four Year Olds. Some of the Three Year Olds had firearms and numbers of them had scythes with which they cut the calves of their opponents legs.

Quote from granagh.com, original source uncertain

On a lighter note, the fair day was also reknown for its matchmaking and dancing!

Today the field looked quiet and unassuming, its shape much changed by quarrying and drainage. Garrett led us across the field towards two large trees on the field boundary, the terrain getting muddier and muddier .

He cleared the watercress and other debris at the foot of one the trees and there was the spring well, the water seeping out copiously.

Garrett thought it might have held a cure for sore eyes and it seems to be good for nosebleeds too. The water was said to never run dry and would never boil:

A woman carried water from St Gobnait’s well many years ago. She could not boil the water, and it is said that the well removed that night. A woman quiet near the well began to bleed from her nose. She sent one of the servants to the for moss. When the servant came home with the moss. She put it to the woman’s nose and immediately the blood stopped.

SFC:222:0368

Garrett recalled that there was once a very large ash tree over the well, and a small wooden altar bearing offerings. Traditionally four rounds of the well were paid reciting the Rosary. Directly behind the well there used to be a sort of tank where water gathered from the well and this was permissible to use for domestic purposes and to wash afflicted parts in. Here’s Garrett trying to locate it!

The well rarely has visitors these days but Garrett spoke of a man who, recovering from cancer having prayed to St Gobnait, promised to make a pilgrimage to each of her wells in gratitude and he had found his way here.

St Gobnait is said to have seen one white deer here and there are rumours that it still occasionally frequents the field. Nearby is a ringfort named Gobnet’s Fort.

St Gobnait’s Well, Deborah’s Well, Ballynahinch

I had very low expectations for this well and thought it had probably vanished. It is marked on the OS map which shows what looks like a long track leading from the road towards it. We parked and it was clear that the track was inaccessible. I went to investigate at the nearby farm. Billy had never heard of a well dedicated to St Gobnait on his land but after a bit of chat he remarked that he did have a Deborah well though! One and the same. He kindly offered to take us! It was a long trek across the fields, past an attractive enclosed cemetery adrift in the field that seems to be typical of this part of Limerick.

The surrounding landscape was magnificent.

As we walked Billy confessed he knew nothing of the well except his late father had always acknowledged and revered it. Like so many of us, he wished he had asked more questions when his father was alive. Billy knew exactly where the well was though and we arrived at another field boundary.

Much like the previous well, the area was very overgrown and wet, again rich in watercress.

Billy wasn’t sure if there was some sort of structure underneath all the brambles but it was too dense to find out.

How pleasing to find that St Gobnait’s Well still remains and may be now looked upon with more interest.

St Gobnait’s Well, Tobar Gobnatan, Tobergobinet, Bohercarron

The final well in the trio actually had signage, unlike its two sisters. It also appears to be called Cluen Well.

Situated on the side of the road, the well was tucked in a deep ditch almost concealed by briars.

A gentle clearing revealed an apse-shaped well house constructed out of mortared stone, large blocks on top offering some protection.

The water was abundant and clear. The well is obviously cared for by the local community. This short video puts it in context in the landscape.

It is good to know that these three wells dedicated to St Gobnait remain, each still acknowledged by a select few and each full of water.

A map of St Gobnait’s full peregrination can be seen here.

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

Sincere thanks to Garrett Barry and Billy Perkins for taking us to the wells on their lands. Thanks to Peter Clarke for permission to use his photographs.