Secrets, signs and sore eyes: Lispole part 2

After our early morning searching for heads, Billy and I left the others to coffee and went in search of Tobar an Rúin, the Well of the Secret, which proved to be exceptionally well named!

Tobar an Rúin, Toberaroon, Well of the Secret, St Gobnait’s Well

Encouragingly Billy had been to the well the year before and assured me something remained. He did mention that it was rather tricky to get to. This proved to be an understatement. First we knocked at the farmhouse to request permission but no one was at home so apologies for the next bit. With the sun now out we set off. Many gates were encountered.

Two photos in the National Folklore Photographic Collection, probably taken in the 1950s/60s, show a scrubby copse in a boggy field, the vegetation getting thicker towards the site of the well.

The copse remained but had expanded significantly along the stream and well into the field and was now dense for several metres on each side. Luckily Billy had borrowed Himself’s hiking pole and went in boldly, slashing in front of us. We clambered over fences, ducked under hedges, got shredded on briars and eventually ended up in the stream which made walking slightly easier. Just as Billy felt sure we were getting closer, I slipped and fell right in the stream and was soaked!

Nonetheless it was worth it for suddenly Billy recognised where we were and there was the well. A small gush of fresh clear water emerging from the bank of the wood into the stream. What was remarkable was, although it was right next to a stream, the only sound we could hear was the babbling of the little well.

We were both ridiculously pleased to have found it and even more ridiculously pleased that each other was ridiculously pleased. Many would have been less enamoured.

An Seabhac (1939) mentions that the well may have had St Gobnait as the patron which seems feasible as there are two other wells dedicated to her on the Dingle Peninsula – one in Dunquin, and another one at Ballinagroun, which was on the list for the afternoon. I’ve written extensively about St Gobnait – see a map of her peregrination – and am a big fan, so it was very exciting to find that this well existed. Another piece in the jigsaw.

There’s one entry in the Main Manuscript of the National Folklore Collection (MM0054:0466) referring to Tobar an Rúin, beautifully written in the old Irish script and as Gaeilge. Billy kindly translated for me and this is the gist: Apparently there was once a church near the well, now long gone. It was visited on Easter Sunday, the pilgrim making three rounds reciting the Rosary and Ave Maria during each round. Three pieces of cloth were then left on the trees. The water, which was considered to be exceptionally sweet, held a cure for sore eyes and was either rubbed directly into the eyes or could be drunk.

It was considered very efficacious as this story from the same extract relates:

There was a man living near here long ago. The poor man’s eyes were so sore that he was nearly blind, and because of the affliction, he couldn’t be enticed to do the round. His friends were at him constantly and in the end he relented a little. He said that he would go beside the well, but that he wouldn’t drink the water. When they reached the well they kneeled and bent to pray, but he was still standing. After a while, when he heard the prayer, he fell on his knees, he prayed to God and he drank the water. His eyes were healed on the spot.

MM:0054:0466, translated from the original Irish by Billy Mag Fhlionn

I suspect we were the first pilgrims to have visited for many years.

After all the excitement we went back to Dingle for a coffee, and a change of clothes, then Gail, Himself and I resumed our explorations, two wells on the agenda just past Inch towards Castlemaine.

St Gobnait’s Well, Tobar Ghobnait, Ballinagroun

I had put off looking for this well for it looked very remote and I suspected it might have disappeared. The current OS map shows a long track going up past some houses which then continues way up onto the mountain. Caoimhín Ó Danachair ‘s description of: A well in a marshy field, in a tangle of willows and briars didn’t sound that inspiring either, but we set off on what was now a beautiful sunny afternoon

We parked at the side of the road and proceeded up a narrow road, past three farmsteads. We knocked but there was no reply so apologies, again, for continuing. The road turned into a track, muddy but metalled and very wide.

Eventually it opened up as we arrived on the mountainside, spectacular views in every direction, the huge sandy expanse of Inch strand visible way below us.

A ford looked interesting but the well was further on in the next field according to the GPS.

Eventually we could hear water gushing out from the undergrowth, just as Ó Danachair had described. We couldn’t get close to where the spring was emerging from but a copious amount was flowing down hill, a pipe collecting some of it.

There was not much to see but I was pleased that something remained. I’ve not managed to find out much about this well so if anyone has any information I would be delighted to receive it.

Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh, Sunday’s Well, Tobar na Sceach, Well of the Briars

There was once another well further up the mountain, Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh, Sunday’s Well, but its position seems vague and has not yet been found. This is a shame for it sounds interesting. An Seabhac describes it in 1939 as:

Tobar na Sceach nó Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh: tobar beannaithe insa chuimín in aice an chnoic, in oirthear an bhaile fearainn. Tá an tobar taobh amuigh de chlaí Pháirc an Tobair atá ann leis. Tugtaí turas ar an dtobar san ar son leighis do shúile tinne. Roimh gréin maidin Domhnaigh a tugtaí é nó trí maidineacha Domhnaigh i ndiaidh a chéile. Tá driseoga agus aiteann ag clúdach an tobair anois. tá leac anuas ar chuid de.

An Seabhac, Tríocha Céad Corcha Dhuibhne, 1939

Translated by Billy as:

A holy well on the commonage near the mountainside, in the east of the townland. The well is outside the ditch of ‘The Well Field’. This well was visited to cure sore eyes. Before sunrise on Sunday, or on three consecutive Sunday mornings. Covered by briars and furze.

In his notes from 1960, Ó Danachair adds a little more information:

‘Tobar na Sceach’ and ‘Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh’-local. A small well in a little glen. No devotions now, but it was formerly visited on Sunday mornings for the cure for sore eyes. Legend: Pilgrims on the way to the well were warned by mysterious signs and voices of danger from ambushed robbers.

Ó Danachair, Caoimhín: The Holy Wells of Corcaguiney, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol 90, No1, 1960

When Billy tried to find this well he spoke to the landowner who was vaguely aware of its existence but believed there were two separate wells: Tobar na Sceach, Well of the Briars and Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh, Sunday’s Well. This entry in the Schools’ Folklore Collection specifically refers to Tobar na Sceach:

Tobar na Sgeach is situated in the Ballinagrown in a deep little glen. There is a cure for sore eyes in the water of this well and people make rounds there for that intention between sunset on Saturday evening and sunrise on Sunday morning throughout the year. The water of the well is used for nothing save to wash the sore eyes. Everybody that have gone there already their sight have been restored to them. 

SFC:327:0441

And another entry describes how an evil person, the Gadaí Dubh, the Black Robber, once lived by the well and terrorised everyone until he was tricked and killed by a young boy ( SFC:460-463:0424). The wells remain elusive and today all was quiet, no mysterious signs or lurking robbers.

We walked back down the track admiring the views and appreciating the weather, pondering on the connections with St Gobnait.

Our final destination was a little further on towards Castlemaine in Caherpierce and looked even more remote, but Billy had assured me that it wasn’t too difficult to find if we looked for the signs. More mysterious signs!

Well of the Cross,Tobar na Croise, Caherpierce

The OS map suggested there was another steep road which ended up on a track going onto the mountain – this one even longer than at Ballinagroun. We took the car as far as we could, the road narrow and potholey then, fearing for its safety, abandoned it half way up. There was a house at the top of the road and the young woman within kindly gave directions and permissions. The landowner appeared shortly afterward and pointed us in the direction of a long green boreen, warning us to eventually turn right and head down to the river. He seemed quite amused! We proceeded.

Soon we were ascending onto the mountainside, everywhere incredibly scenic, the Autumn colours dazzling. We were mindful of the various instructions to look for signs and to eventually veer right. How exciting to suddenly see a rickety fence festooned with blue baling twine, leading downwards to the river below – surely the sign.

It was a steep and skiddy ascent and the blue twine proved useful but not entirely reliable! One of us tumbled into the soft bracken and for once it wasn’t me. A mountain stream gushed down in the valley and below us we could see a stile and a water tank

The tank looked hopeful but the twine and rickety fence continued, skirting the banks of the stream. We followed it.

We were delighted to find it lead to a clearing in the bracken, flat stepping stones emerging underfoot.

We were looking for a small streamlet under a rock and sure enough there it was: a large boulder and underneath a clear spring emerging.

The name of the well, Tobar na Croise, Well of the Crosses is derived from four crosses that had been etched onto the overhanging rock by pilgrims over the years. We searched but were not entirely convinced we could see any crosses. Even the little crucifix, mentioned in the Archaeological Inventory as having been cemented onto the rock, had gone leaving a rather forlorn casing.

Not much seems to be known about this well either but there are suggestions that it was visited on St Brendan’s Day, 16 May.

Encouragingly, someone still cares for it. We breathed in the magnificent scenery and the sheer remoteness of the spot, again wondering how it has received its holy status.

We walked back, elated and satisfied. A wonderful day, shared with enthusiasts.

Many thanks to Gail Tangney and Billy Mag Fhlionn for their companionship and expertise.

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