Lady’s Well, Ballylanders

There is only one Holy Well in the parish of Ballylander Co. Limerick – it is in the graveyard about two hundred yards from the village. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and is patronised especially by those suffering from sore eyes. 15th August is the pattern day and for a fortnight before and a fortnight after is the special time for rounds though ’rounds’ are made all the year round too and very frequently during the month of May ‘Mary’s month.

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Tucked into the ancient cemetery in Ballylanders is Lady’s Well, first recognised by the sturdy and well made stone grotto, today bedecked with blue and white flags.

When viewed from the front it is is even more elaborate. The grotto is large and imposing with an unusual zig zag arrangement at the top. Our Lady looks down from her niche onto the figure of St Bernadette who is raised on a stone plinth. Everything is painted in fresh greys and white looking sparkling on this particularly sunny day.

The structure has hardly changed since this photograph was taken in the 1954, although the ivy has now gone. A pail and cup are in evidence for use by pilgrims.

The well is on the right hand side of the grotto and subterranean, a small boxed area protecting it. The rectangular basin is stone line and bestrewn with ferns.

The water is deep, icy cold and very clear and can be seen percolating. Many cures have been attributed to it including sore eyes, blindness, lameness and infant paralysis:

A child – Margaret Reilly Cullane Ballylander – had never walked and when she was six or seven years old her mother brought her to the well and made the ’rounds’on the child’s behalf. The child was put sitting on the grass and told to say her prayers. When the rounds were finished the mother bathed her limbs in the water from the well. The old woman – Mrs. Noonan still in charge of the well – took a flower from the vase near the B. Virgin’s statue and called the little girl – ‘Maggie come and take the Lady’s flower.’ The child moved from the mother’s arms and tottered across to take the flower. It was her first attempt at walking but she is now quite well able to walk and has just left school to go out working.

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The water should never be used for domestic purposes and will not boil. It also contains a blessed fish, a trout, good luck to those fortunate enough to see it.

To the left is a run off area, covered by a metal grill which can be easily lifted to reveal the copious water underneath. This was probably once used for washing afflicted limbs and is, as usual, separate from the drinking area.

The well is dedicated to the BVM and the main feast day is 15th August and during May when the whole month is dedicated to Our Lady.

The traditional rounds were lengthy and complex and included the ruins of the old church a few metres away. This illustration, taken from a sign on the site, shows the rounds being paid when the church was intact and the well unadorned except for a rag tree, which was once an integral part of the rounds.

This is how the rounds were paid in the 1930s:

There seems to be many ways of making rounds, but the general or most common way is to say a round of the beads for three rounds of the graveyard – kneeling at the kneeling places four of them – to finish each decade. At the wall to begin, five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys and five Glory be to the Father are said and at the well after each round these same prayers are repeated. Three visits are given on three different days, not necessarily consecutive days- and to finish up, on the third day after the ninth rounds – five Our Fathers Hail Mary 5 times O Glory five times are said in the ruined monastery or chapel in the graveyard and crosses made on the Altar stone with a piece of stone.

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These photos from the National Folklore Photographic Collection show the rounds being paid in 1954.

The main pattern day was the 15th August, the Feast of the Assumption. It was much anticipated and attracted a large and diverse crowd from throughout the county:

The 15th of August is the Pattern Day of Ballylanders Co. Limk. People make the rounds at Our Lady’s Well for 8 days before the 15th and many do so on the 15th itself. Its the great day in this part of East Limk. and people look forward to the Pattern for months before. hand. ‘Are you going the Pattern?’ is the usual question in August. Tinkers thimble-rigers, card-sharpers and sweet-cars begin to arrive in the village a week before hand.One old fellow with a shooting gallery always takes up his place at the Church Gate and shouts out ‘Two shots a penny or five for two pence, Two wagons of gold to be given away between his and 9 o’clock to night. Fire up my bold American fire.’ Another constant visitor at The Pattern is Paddy Mudfat who plays a gadget but has no tune and the old woman who gives a draw at a penny a chance and shouts ‘Come on boys, try your luck, only a penny a draw. All prizes no blanks.’ A football match and a hurling match are held also. It is a well known fact that never a Pattern Day passes without a row of some kind. The Bonnie Shoes i.e. the local tinkers, whose names are the O’Donoghues never leave the day pass without a fight. A great old character was Tom Hore, R.I.P. He usually made things lively in the evening and was known as ‘Hore the Rogue’. It always took five Guards to take him to the barracks.

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Paddy Mudflat and Hore the Rogue sound wonderful characters. During the pattern the well was decorated with flowers and the custodian, an elderly woman, sat by the well and doled out the water: ‘to get the benefit of the rounds’ as she says. (138-142:0512)

The pattern festival, as it is now called, remains an important event in Limerick’s social calendar and continues to attract crowds, who pay their devotions to the well but also enjoy the markets, crafts stall, sporting events and music and dancing. The last festival was in 2019 but hopefully this year, Covid permitting, it will return.

The location of the well can be found in the Gazetteer.