Two wells on the Cork/Limerick border

Whilst in Limerick hunting down the Gobnait wells, it would have been rude not to visit a few others in the vicinity. In fact, I fear County Limerick might be calling! These two wells are literally on the border with Cork near Charleville, in fact they are both mentioned in the entries for County Cork in the Schools’ Folklore Collection.

St Colman’s Well, Colmanswell

St Colman’s well lies in the encouragingly named village of Colmanswell and is close to the relatively modern church built in the 1960s. The grounds are extensive and the area around the well was attractively landscaped in 1996. Further work was carried out to mark the Millennium when two trees were planted and blessed by the Bishop of Cloyne. The well is approached over a small wooden bridge.

The well is subterranean, protected by a multi-layered wellhouse. The first layer holds a niche containing statues and illustrations of Our Lady and is decorated with artificial flowers.

The shrine is surmounted by another stone built block containing a large icon of St Colman, the work of Rev Fr David O Riordan. It was blessed in 1998 by the Bishop of Limerick and is a rather handsome gilded portrait.

The well is below ground level and is semi-circular.

Although the water is copious and clear a notice stresses that it should not be taken and has been found to be contaminated.

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This is a shame for the water was once renown for its cures:

The water of St. Colman’s well is reputed to possess great efficacy, and is held in high veneration by the peasantry of the surrounding country who assemble here in great numbers on the anniversary of the saint, and at other times.

Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837

It was considered especially effective for the cure for sore eyes. Amongst the many people who resorted to it was Éamon de Valera, former Taoiseach and President of Ireland, who was raised in nearby Bruree.

There is another well in Colmanswell and it is called Saint Colman’s Well. There is a cure for eyesight in it. When Mr De Valera was going to school he had very bad sight. One day a woman brought him to the well and washed his eyes with the water. His sight was much better after that. A few years ago he went to Switzerland to have his eyes operated on. When he came home he went and washed his eyes again in this local well.

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It was also effective against other complaints including rheumatism, lameness and goitres:

Our ancestors here had great faith in the water from St Coleman’s well for curing various ailments. Some time ago, about fifty or sixty years, inflamed eyes seem to have been a common complaint. The remedy sought was water from the Blessed well. The affected ones came in the early morning and washed them in the waters of the well. In many instances they were cured and could be seen later paying rounds of thanksgiving to St. Coleman. The well water was not confined solely to curing sore eyes. About sixty five years ago a lady named Miss Mary Mannix, residing in Foxhall house was afflicted with a goitre. A friend of the family,
Dr O’Connor came to her and said she should rub her throat and chest with iodine. This she readily consented to do, but she had an entirely different idea in her mind. When Dr. O’Connor had left her sister enquired of Mary if she wanted to get the iodine, ‘I do not’, she made answer, ‘Because the iodine I will rub on, is water from St. Coleman’s well’. Accordingly she went to the well, made a round there, as was customary, when relief from any ailment was sought. She brought home a bottle of water from the well. With this she rubbed her throat and chest and in three days the goitre had completely disappeared.

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The feast day is celebrated on October 29th which is that of St Colman of Kilmacduagh though it is generally believed that the St Colman revered here is St Colman of Cloyne, feast day 24 November. The church nearby is also dedicated to him. This extract describes the pattern day:

St. Colman the patron saint of this parish was a Bishop as a picture of the saint with the words ‘Colman Bishop’, printed underneath was hanging overhead the blessed well on the little wall, about forty years ago. The people of the parish kept the 29th of October the pattern day a holiday just the same as the other church holidays until the year 1909. Until then it was the custom to have a special Mass at 11 A.M. in order that people from outside districts could attend. A sermon on the life of the Saint was always preached at this Mass. From an early hour that morning until night people could be seen coming and going to the holy well to pray. Some would bring flowers, others would hang little holy pictures on the walls while the majority would hang pieces of cloth on a little bush beside the well. The little bush was well decorated. Young and old, lame and blind, came and payed their rounds of prayer at the well and the crutch.People suffering from Rheumatism and defective eyesight got cured there from time to time…

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Originally it was a parish holiday when no one was expected to work:

There is a story told of a man who went to work on St. Colman’s feast-day thus showing disrespect towards the Saint. That night he got his hired but, when he arrived home he found that he had not a halfpenny in his pocket.

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A path leads off from the site through a series of kissing gates to another damp area containing a pump. Was this where afflicted limbs were once washed?

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A tranquil site, still much revered place, calm and untroubled. A short distance away lies Lady’s Well.

Lady’s Well, Tobar Mhuire, Castletown-Conyers

I had already seen photos of this well so knew there was something there and was excited! It was not far from St Gobnait’s Well in Ballyagran and was even signed, viewable from the road. We walked along the track, the well a distinct and unusual shape in the landscape.

It did not disappoint and I don’t think I have seen anything quite like it. The well is enclosed within neat walls erected in the 1950s, ornamental balustrades adding decorative features. A small gate, jauntily painted blue and white, opens into the enclosure.

The dominant feature is a striking conical shrine painted deep blue and a pink which Farrow & Ball might describe as Elastoplast. It comprises three niches, the large central one contains a large statue of the BVM and is flanked by the two smaller.

They are also full of statues and other offerings.

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We were especially impressed by one statue – a saint revealing a wound on his thigh with a dog resting at his feet. A quick Google and this was revealed to be St Roch, patron saint of, amongst many odd things, epidemics and dogs! St Roch helped many people who were suffering from the bubonic plague. Eventually he caught it himself, here he is revealing a bubo. He placed himself in isolation and retreated to a forest expecting to die. A dog found him, brought him food, cleansed his wounds and the saint survived! A useful saint to encounter during these Covid times.

The well is subterranean, large, circular and lined with stone. It is approached down a narrow flight of slippery steps. The water is clear and gently percolating.

More offerings are in the wellhouse itself: rosaries, bracelets and some plastic flowers, a faded blue.

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The well is dedicated to Our Lady and the main pattern days were the 15th August, the Assumption and 23rd March, the Annunciation. This account from the School’s Folklore Collection gives a charming and vivid insight into what happened, with an interesting referencing St Dympna:

Ireland from the beginning of time, has been celebrated for its holy wells. Long before the time of St. Patrick the very pagans venerated the holy wells, and down to this day, people perform certain religious ’rounds’ or exercises on the feast days of the patrons of these holy wells. Around this vicinity we have very few wells, but the nearest one to us all is Lady’s well, Castletown Conyers, called after St. Dympna. On every Pattern day, which is the 15th of August, multitudes of people gather, and come to the sacred spot. Over at the well throngs wait impatiently for the metal cup with its big long chain to come around, and when it comes each one dips it thrice into the well, takes three sips of the water, and sends a silent prayer speeding upwards to the saint in whose honour the pattern is being held. Old women, with feeble and faltering footsteps kneel on the grassy sod beside the holy well, they love with all the intensity of the Celtic nature. Some distance away in a little stream that flows from the well, sore hands and feet and ears are bathed, and many a cure that has been effected in this very spot is told of, in reverent whispers. Others kneel on the sod doing the Stations for themselves and for their friends, for some poor invalid at home, or for some beloved one whose lot is cast among strangers in an alien land. When the people are leaving this hallowed spot, they always leave a token after them for some request, and it is said, that if their request was granted, the water would bubble up.

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The pattern was still going strong in the 1940s and sounds a jolly affair:

For some weeks past, you will have noticed accounts of Patterns in the local papers. I was in Castletown Mac Eniry, on August 15th, for Castletown’s annual Lady Day pattern. A great crowd assembled to do the traditional rounds at Lady’s Well, where a handsome grotto with statue, and a neat enclosing wall, speak of the regard in which the people still hold this ancient place of prayer. In the evening there were two hurling matches -– or should I say a hurling match and a half –- for half way through the Castletown- Bruree contest the rain poured down, and the game had to be abandoned. The Broadford Pipers were in attendance in the field, and, until the skies opened, the ‘skirl and cronan’ of the bagpipes alternated with the clash of ash.

Rounds & Patterns by ‘An Manghair Sugach’ 1948 – from AskAboutIreland.com

Two rounds were required saying five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and five Glorias. Pilgrims also visited the nearby run off area which flowed into the stream and then on into the field. Here it was customary to wash your face, the water holding a cure for sores and cuts on the face. The water still gushes out plentifully.

Dominating this area is a large tree, an alder I think, liberally sprinkled with rags and other offerings.

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It seems that this is not the original position of the well and that it moved from a site near the old graveyard a few hundred metres away and sprung up here, offended when a woman did her washing in it!

We were fortunate to meet Noreen who owns the land and she explained that it was her husband who carefully tended the well and kept it is such excellent condition. She confirmed that Mass is still held here on the 15th August and, Covid permitting, a festival is held in the village around this time.

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

Many thanks to Noreen for the additional information.