Barrigone: an estuary well

An unusual well in County Limerick on the agenda today, one literally in an estuary.

Barrigone Well, St Jude’s Well, Craggs

I have long been intrigued by this well having seen images of it waterlogged, like a small ship afloat. It’s situated on the Robertstown River estuary which flows out to join the mighty Shannon and the sea really does surround and submerge it twice a day yet there it remains.

These black and white photos are from the National Folklore Photographic Collection and show the power of the sea and the sturdiness of the well, usually referred to as Barrigone Well.

We visited on a bright sunny winter’s day. Parking at the roadside, it is a short walk down a green boreen towards the sea. On this occasion, rather disappointingly, the tide was out, yet it gave us a good opportunity to explore the well and its surroundings.

Originally the well must have been a simple spring emerging from underground but in 1952 a cement platform was constructed, a wall erected around the well and steps built giving access to the water, clearly seen in the image below.

Further improvements were made in 2019 when a local councillor gifted a sum of money to improve the well. The old platform was replaced with new cement and the path laid that leads from the road to the well.

At the same time, the wellhouse, originally more angular and whitewashed, was faced with stone, and new railings added on top – they had once been painted a jaunty blue. The wellhouse remains pleasing and still reminiscent of a seaworthy vessel, its prow curved, its sides solid and reassuring.

It is approached from the stern, the metal railings ensuring you don’t lose your grip as you descend the steep slippery steps into the narrow interior.

A now empty niche above, topped with a cross, must have once contained a statue of the patron saint or maybe the BVM. This, and the plain cross, still retains its whitewash.

The well itself is small, circular and below tide level but the exceptionally clear water bubbles up vigorously and spills out of the basin into a shallow overflow area.

Although it gets inundated in salty water twice a day it retains its purity. Like most holy wells, the water is said to not boil and should not be used for domestic purposes, as this cautionary tale proves:

Barrigone Well is about three miles distant from Foynes. Every year on the fifteenth of August people visit it from all parts of the districts around it. Long ago, in olden times, there was an Old Protestant who lived near Barrigone. He laughed at the people doing their rounds. One day he went to the Holy Well and brought home two buckets of water to wash clothes. He put the water down on the fire and left it down for two days and at the end of two days the water was ice cold and the boiler was red hot so ever afterwards he had great faith in the well. Saint Jude is the Patron Saint of Barrigone Well.

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Another entry describes how the well spoke to a woman who had collected some water for her tea:

… That night she heard a noise outside her house. A voice spoke to her, telling her that the water in the well was blessed, and that she was not to abuse it, and that unless she put the water back a great calamity would befall her.

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She hastily took the water back!

The water is believed to hold a cure for sore eyes and an entry in the Schools’ Folklore Collection describes how a woman noticed moss floating on the water, yet no moss was seen growing nearby. She collected it, took it home and used it to sponge her eyes which were instantly cured. Tom Aherne, writing in the Limerick Leader in 2019 describes an occasion when a man, probably Protestant, brought his blind horse to the well in jest. The horse was cured but the unfortunate owner became blind. Tom also describes how older people in the community believed that full immersion in the well could avert imminent death.

Seven rounds of the well were required:

(The pilgrim) Says a decade of the Rosary each time. The first decade is said in honour of St. John. Then five decades is in honour of the Blessed Virgin, and the last again in honour of St. John. When this is done the person kneels in front of the well and says the Lord’s prayer, Hail Mary and Glory five times. Having said those prayers, pilgrims generally take a drink of the well water. Those who have ailments wash the affected part of the body with it. Others bring home a bottle of it, which they use during the year, in case of sickness. Pilgrims leave tokens near the well when they have made the rounds, such as crutches, sticks, bits of cord and ribbon, coins, medals and eye-glasses.

SFC: Ibid

It was customary for pilgrims to select seven pebbles as an aide memoire, discarding them each time a round was completed. Tom Aherne mentions an odd story about a young girl who was emigrating to America. She took with her some of the pebbles from the well. During a huge storm at sea she threw the pebbles into the ocean whereupon they found their way back to the well. There are several things to consider here. Were the pebbles chosen because they had been included in a round? Were they taken in the hope that a sea side well might offer protection from the sea? Why were they thrown overboard when they might have offered protection? And how did whoever recognised them at the well know they were the original pebbles?

Even more intriguingly, there is another story concerning pebbles from this well. The complicated tale can be read in full on the excellent Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland website but the gist of the story is as follows. A local woman had a son fighting in the Crimean War (1854-56). She was concerned about him and wished to send him a letter and being illiterate she hired someone to write it for her, Humphrey Ó Leary. She told Ó Leary that she wished to enclose something with the letter and produced a red silk purse full of tiny stones from the well and explained:

I am sending him the blessed stones of Barrigowen [Barrigone] well inside this purse, and tell him, that if he’ll receive them, and wear them in this purse round his neck with the same faith that his own mother is sending him, please God; that he will come home safe and sound again; for any one that ever wore them blessed stones about his neck could not be harmed.

The Way to Save Lives in the Crimea, part of a long article sent to the Catholic Layman Magazine, 1855, Cited in Medieval Pilgrimage in Ireland.

Ó Leary thought this was foolish superstition but she insisted and he relented and sent the letter plus stones. Sadly it’s not not know what happened to the son but the mother’s belief in the protection of the stones is evident.

In 1976 the parish priest, Canon Enright, revived the practice of an annual Mass on the site. An altar was built and a temporary canopy erected each year especially for the occasion. 1n 1997 a new building was purpose-built, a simple rectangle closed on three side with two windows, everything whitewashed, a Celtic cross on top. Although it was meant to be above tide level it isn’t always – you can see how high the water line is!

There are three niches within the shelter, one containing an attractive statue of the BVM. In 2009, a local family were erecting a new headstone on a family grave and removed a statue of Our Lady, donating it to the holy well. She is liberally covered in votives including a pair of glasses attesting to the continuing power of the cure.

Those who saw the blessed fish, said to live in the well, were hopeful of a cure:

A Woman went to Borrigone Well for to be cured while she was praying she saw a fish floating around in the Water. They do not know for certain whether the fish spoke to her or not. Some people say the Saint came in the form of a great fish. That woman went home from the Well quite cured of her sickness.

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Some people believe the fish was an embodiment of the patron saint – but which saint? St Jude is mentioned in one of the extracts above but I can find no other reference to him. Tom Aherne refers to a St Muirdebhair the Wise explaining that over time the M of his name changed to a B and somehow the word Barrigone appeared. Another contender is St John. Seán Diffley, in the booklet One Diocese Many Stories, (Limerick Diocesan Assembly) suggests that the name Muirdeabhair means Disciple of Mary and that he dedicated the well to St John: Barraig Eoin, barraig in this case meaning blessed. Another meaning for barraig is provided here:

The well is dedicated to St John (Eoin), and some old people say that the name Borrigone is derived from the name of the saint, ie Barraigh Eoin or the rough lands of St. John.

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The well seems to have had several pattern days including the eve of the Assumption, 14 August, the Saturday before May day and St John’s Eve. Large crowds once gathered to pay devotions and then enjoy the holiday :

… But it was not all prayer. Friends met friends from far and near. The news of the year was discussed, feuds were healed, and matches arranged. The local Pub (Corbetts) did well on such occasions with musicians supplying entertainment for everybody and their payment was a few pints, there were also some sweets and trinket stalls set up for the day.

Seán Diffley, One Diocese Many Stories

The pattern inevitably deteriorated into faction fighting:

When families in the locality had disputed in olden times, all settlement of them was postponed until Pattern day at Barrigone well, when the issues were decided in faction fights.

Ibid

Today the pattern is held on the 14/15th August and still attracts crowds. A remarkable site that has endured.

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