Sometimes I have not visited a well simply because it sounds as though it has long gone and there is literally nothing to see. This can be a dangerous assumption for several wells have been there when eventually visited, often covered in undergrowth but still there. I was contacted by Diarmuid a few weeks ago with reference to St Anne’s Well in Dunworley, West Cork, a well I knew about but had failed to visit simply because I thought it had gone. The Archaeological Inventory reported it had been destroyed due to coastal erosion but Diarmuid reckoned there might be something remaining. Fairly close by in Donaghmore was another well which, on the maps, looked difficult and unpromising but Diarmuid knew the landowner and was hopeful. We agreed to meet up. We travelled with the Roaringwaters who had a couple of monuments on their agenda too – Diarmuid knew who to contact!
We set off for Dunworley on a less than promising morning with rain and strong winds lingering from the night but the forecast promised a glimmer of sunshine. We proceeded. Dunworley is on the Seven Heads in West Cork, an area full of little roads, sandy strands, craggy cliffs and lush pasture. We met Diarmuid and Tim in a layby, perched above the sea.
This was the original site of the well as described here by Dr Bill Ó Riordan:
This is St Anne’s Well which still exists on the seashore at Lehina on the western side of Dunworley Bay at the end of the slipway that runs down to the sea. Originally, the well was at the level of the road and there was at least one house close to it on the seaward side of the road. But there has been a great deal of erosion of the clay bank, and the water from the spring which feeds the well is now collected in a stone structure at the top of the small, stony beach. The rocky path which leads down to the little beach shows the tracks of the carts which were used to draw sand and seaweed from the beach for fertilising the land.
Ó Riordan, Dr W: A Short History of Barryroe, 2011
The slipway remains and is interesting in itself, dating from pre Famine times, curling out into the bay, a small stony strand to its left.
Diarmuid described how the well had originally had a wellhouse which had literally collapsed into the sea along with a lot of the cliff. The spring continued to trickle down the cliff face and at one point the parish priest had made a small stone structure to contain the water, as described in the extract above. Was there anything remaining today?
We literally slipped down the slipway and Diarmuid pointed where the spring continued to trickle modestly down the cliff but there was no longer any basin, this too having been swept out to sea sometime after 2011.
Once the well was renowned for the quality of its water and its cure for sore eyes, Samuel Lewis describing it as :
… a spring of pure water dedicated to St Anne…
Lewis, Samuel: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837
A pilgrimage was held here on St Anne’s feast day, 26th July, though this had probably died out by the 1840s. It had one other claim to fame:
There is a persistent belief in the area that a local man, Charles Madden, found a bowl or goblet near the well which was discovered to be made of gold. He sold it to Mr Travers of Butlerstown House who is reputed to have sent it to the British Museum. However, the Museum was unable to locate it a few years ago and the matter remains a mystery.
Ó Riordan, ibid
An extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection suggests there were two cups:
Near Dunworley Strand, on the Lehena side, is a spring called St Anne’s Well. It was formerly visited by the people for devotional purposes. In the immediate vicinity of this well Patrick Madden aged 80 says there was an altar which it was said was used by the druids long ago. It has the form of a huge stone with a flat top. There is no appearance of it now. It is supposed to have been worn away by the tide or submerged in the boggy nature of the strand. About 60 years ago two cups of pure gold were found. There were offered for sale to a gentleman in the neighbourhood who declined to buy them, believing them to be brass. I can get no information as to what happened to these two cups.
SFC:098:0318
The well was still visited by a few in the 1940s as the Irish Tourist Association Survey records:
… a pure mineral spring dedicated to St Anne. A few lone pilgrims of the older generation pray there but there is no big pattern day…
Irish Tourist Survey, Ballyroe entry
No wellhouse, no cups and no druidic altar but it was satisfying to see that the spring at least remained.
Holy Well, Donaghmore
On then to Donaghmore where Gerard was waiting for us. We followed his jeep in a bouncy convoy across several fields until we came to the cliff edge. The colours were magnificent: yellow gorse, a myriad of blues in the sea and vivid greens of the pasture.
It was blowing an absolute hoolie!
Gerard had thoughtfully put the cattle (and bull) in another field and we followed him, carefully, down the steep cliff.
The well, it has to be said, has seen better days. Described in the Archaeological Inventory as two irregularly shaped hollows, it now resembles a large, triangular muddy pool. The dog watched everything with interest.
There seems to be a certain vagueness as to whether this ever was a holy well and it’s not marked on the historic maps but the ITA records that it was:
.. at one time much frequented as a Spa or Holy Well, as there is a local belief that either a monastery or nunnery was attached to the place.
Irish Tourism Association Survey for Cork, Ballyroe entry
The stories of monks coming down to use it remain but there are no obvious signs of a monastery. There was originally a castle nearby, and a cillín but no obvious connections. It was still there nonetheless and much appreciated by Gerard’s cattle who were a healthy lot.
Dunworley Promontory Fort
Bidding farewell to Gerard we now continued, under the guidance of Diarmuid and Tim, to Dunworley promontory fort where we met by the landowner, Jim. The journey to the fort was also adventurous, more bouncy fields and then a final and very bracing walk down to the fort itself, again perched on the cliff edge.
What is remarkable about this site is the small castle, or tower house, literally straddling the neck of the peninsula. Anything or anyone who wished to go to or fro had to pass through the narrow doorway. Finola has the details.
Another incredible site, wild and remote and now an Area of Special Conservation due to nesting choughs.
Seven Heads Signal Tower
We finished the day with a visit to Seven Heads signal station. The wind was now seriously ferocious and the cattle, frisky heifers, even more curious.
The signal tower was gaunt and atmospheric, quite a tough posting here I would imagine. Robert has the details.
By this time we were weather-beaten and starving. Fortunately I had the foresight to bring some cheese and biscuits, cafés in short supply in this part of the world. How good they tasted as we enjoyed our snack, watched by two young bullocks. A grand day out.
Who knows what lies beneath all that muddy water! It was a great trip.